Crossing family. Are you excited to be at church
today, man? It's good to be with you.
I love you. So stinking much all are welcome
to join us from all of our different locations, those of
your part of our online family, and those who are part of the
crossing inside. I also just want to welcome all
of you who are joining us for the first time or the first time
in a long time. And I want to let you know,
we're glad you're here. And if at any point in time
during the service, you'd like to get connected taking next
step, learn more. There's a QR code on the seat
and In front of you and we'd love to take that opportunity to
connect before we get into all of the festivities of today.
There's a couple things I at least want to make you aware of.
First thing is summer camp. Sign up, are officially open.
We are incredibly excited about that.
Because here at the Crossing we will develop leaders who honor
God and inspire people. And in turn, they will change
the world and every kid needs time away with to grow and
develop in their With Jesus Christ crowd participation.
You guys know how to do this ready.
How many of you would say that the greatest decision you ever
made was making Jesus your lord and savior.
Yeah me too. That's exactly right and hands
down. How many of you would say that?
What your biggest regret is that you didn't make that decision
sooner? Yeah, so now you know the
importance of camp we want to make sure we give our kids an
opportunity to get the love of Jesus in their heart as soon as
humanly possible. The second thing I want to make
sure that you are aware of is that camp?
Scholarships are open here at the Crossing.
We will gladly give up the things we love for a future
generation. We love even more.
And there are some of you who have the capacity and the desire
to help other kids go to Camp, some of you can give $20 some of
you 50, some of you could pay for kid, just to go to Camp,
others of you might be in a position where you could send
one kid to all seven of our weeks of Camp.
Whatever your participation looks like.
I want to give you an opportunity to dig.
Big today so that other people can drink tomorrow.
Here's what I can promise you before.
This night is over Jennifer and I will sign both of our boys up
to go to camp and we will start setting aside monies that way we
can send one kid to all seven of the camps that we're going to be
offering this year as a church, and I would like to invite you
to join with me in that mission. The final thing I want you to
know is next weekend, Jerry and I are going to be starting a new
sermon series called reclaim. Reclaim restoring what was lost
and fixing what is broken. He's going to be preaching, a
couple of them. I'm going to be preaching a
couple of them, and we believe that every single person wants a
better life, a better family, and better relationships.
And there are things that have been lost and broken along the
way. But here at the Crossing, we
don't believe they have to stay that way.
So when I would encourage you invite a friend, invite a
neighbor be here for all seven of those weeks, as we try to
help our families become more god-honoring and better.
I'm in the process. But the real reason why you're
all here today and some of you didn't hear a word.
I said, because you keep seeing this and you're going Clayton,
is that a replica? Nope.
This is a real Super Bowl championship ring.
And is it on your pinky? Yeah it is on my pinky finger
because I'm just that big but this weekend we have a special
guest with us. He played ten years in.
The NFL is a Super Bowl champion.
He was also called the fittest man in the NFL.
We have so much in common. He is a father of six.
Six and serious about his walk with the Lord.
Would you please give a Crossing?
Welcome to the stage? My man, Steve Weatherford.
I don't have a Wikipedia page, but if it did, it would say that
I beat Steve in a 5k. Because yesterday, that's
exactly what I did. Now out of fairness, I was a
mile ahead of him before he started and he walked, but I
walked faster. Okay.
And I won. So I've beat I'm not going to
let this go. I just need you to know that you
you hang on to that. Yeah that's that's That's not.
All right, I'll give you your ring back.
Dirty now, thank you for that introduction.
I'm so honored you, look at this place.
It's packed, man, I'm so honored to be here Quincy, Quincy
Illinois. I've been here for three days.
I've gotten a chance to go work out with Sam dancing.
I've gone to several of the restaurants around here.
I've gotten to build some relationship with some of your
staff. It has been such a Joy and such
an honor. I even miss my 16th wedding
anniversary to be here with you. And I say that to say, I'd love
to show you a picture of my family and what I said no to.
So I could be here with you, because that's how important you
are to me. This is my family.
Pastor said, I have six kids, thank you.
And I actually have ties to this church.
I went to the University of Illinois and I met my wife, when
I was on my recruiting trip to play football there and her
older sister Shanna actually. Goes to the Macomb campus.
So this is this is home to me, you know, so thank you for
having me. And these are the rest of my
kids. My I have two sons and I have
four daughters. My son is Ace.
He's 15 years old. He's about to drive and I can't
believe it. And then my daughters are 13, 10
7, and 4, and their names are carne Aurora golden and Josie.
And then my son that I'm holding was born almost two years ago
and and my wife, if you combine all of the weights of Children,
my wife has had nine pounds, nine pounds, 29 pounds 10, 10
pounds, 5, 11, and my son was 12 pounds in 3 ounces.
Did you hear all the ladies gasp?
I'm so proud of my wife's. He is like a pro at multiplying
children, you know? So I know that she's watching at
home. So virtual toddler.
I know. That's so babe.
I love you walk. Thank you for giving me all
those babies. Thank you for loving me and
knowing that what I'm doing right now is is just as
important as being a father and a husband.
So thank you for trusting me. And thank you Pastor for trust.
Me and allowing me to come, because you and I have known
each other for very long. We're beginning a really great
relationship, but thank you for trusting me and building such an
amazing, amazing audience and then allowing me to share some,
some things of my journey that have to do with identity, they
had to do with purpose. They have to do with burdens
that we all carry around but ultimately, I believe it's
becoming more clear. Why I'm supposed to be here.
It's to challenge each and every one of you in a loving, but in a
firm way, it's time for us to go pro.
There's a difference between an amateur and a pro and I'm not
saying that because I have a Super Bowl ring in the trophy.
I'm saying that because there are areas of my life and
especially with God I was, I was such a rookie or I didn't even
show up for the game. So I really just wanted to put
that out there that I'm so happy to be here, but I feel like I'm
a part of this family because my family is a part of your family.
Yeah. And my roots were in Illinois.
So I know that there's a reason that I'm supposed to be here and
I'm not at home watching the Super Bowl with my family.
I'm going to be on a plane and I'm making that sacrifice
because I believe that. What I have to share with, you
can shift things in your life. So I just need everybody to
pause right now and I need them to repeat.
After me I'm going to make shift happen.
One, two, three. I'm going to make shift happen.
Yeah, you were very young and very careful with that, but
that's what I believe can happen inside of this church and inside
of every single location is shift can happen.
But there's going to have to be a few things that you need to.
Side. But I can't wait to get into our
Kelsey's. Well, it's, let's talk about
that, you know, before all the glitz before, all the glamour
before you're on the cover of the magazines or winning Super
Bowl rings, there was a 6 7 8 9 10, 11 year-old Steve and he was
navigating all kinds of hardships, all kinds of
realities, all kinds of trauma that most of these people
wouldn't get from the Wikipedia page.
Talk to us about that. Yeah, I feel like those are the
formative years, you know? Like I feel like that.
That's looking back on it and learning more.
Now from like two years to eight years, or the most formative
years, that's the years. When we decide who we are, we
decide what we deserve, we decide where we belong.
And so my parents are amazing, parents like they took me to
church and we had Sunday school and, you know, I went to a
decent School in a decent area, but every place that I went in,
my family had two brothers at a sister and my family and Sunday
school and also in Therese. Cool.
I felt like an alien. I felt like I just didn't fit
in. I felt like a renegade.
I felt like a lost with felt like a weirdo and the reason
being is one of those reasons is I have ADHD.
So you know I'm one of those guys like very rare.
Will you find a child that gets kicked out of Sunday School?
Pastors giving a microphone? Yeah, somebody like that, but I
got kicked out of Sunday school almost every single weekend and
it wasn't like, I was trying to be bad.
I just, I had ants in my pants and so I remember going to
kindergarten the first five days in a row.
It was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they could
paddle you without calling your parents.
And I remember getting freaking worn out five days in a row.
And we could all kind of laugh about it now because I'm a Super
Bowl champion. And from what you know, like I'm
I'm living in full Freedom with Jesus Christ, so we can laugh
about it. But man when I was 5 and 6 years
old, I began to hating myself because everywhere that I went,
I felt like I was making a problem and I was ruined it for
everyone else and I didn't want to do that.
I didn't want to be that but I couldn't control it and then
around 8 or 9 years old. I discovered that God had
blessed me with something. Through this ADHD with
athleticism and I would play these Sports and it didn't
matter if it was basketball or track, or if it was the first
time, Tried the sport. He came natural to me because of
my abundance of energy, but also my split-second making
decisions. And I remember the first time a,
another man of authority, like really gave me words of
affirmation, because I love my dad.
And I honor my dad, but he grew up with a father that didn't
like Pat him on the back and say Steve, you're such a good boy
and you ride and I'm proud of you.
You know, he was more of a disciplinarian, I have a great
relationship with my dad and I'm we've we've healed those Father
wounds, but my dad was doing his best, my dad, coached, all of my
team. So it wasn't like he wasn't
around, but I remember when this, when this other parent
came up to me after a game, he's like my goodness, he's like, you
are unbelievable. He said, you're so talented when
we played this team last year, they blew us out.
In this year, we beat them by three goals, it's because you're
on the team. I remember getting in the car
and just feeling like I was seven feet tall and it was at
that moment that I decided when I win, I'm valuable.
And so Went all in on Sports at like 8 years old because it was
the only place where I felt celebrated and so as I say those
words I don't know if that connects with you in a certain
place in your life or a certain place during your story of there
was a place where you felt valuable.
And so when I found it, I went all in on Sports because I felt
like if I could win I could be valuable because I desperately
wanted people to tell me who I was because my identity
everywhere that I went, I didn't feel like I fit in with anybody
else. But when people told me that I
was great and that I was special and I'm that I was number one
point that that made me feel really, really good.
So that I feel like sets an accurate context, you're like,
what kind of little boy I was up until about 10 years old but if
I can share like with things when my relationship with Jesus
began, was it 11 years old? And it was a church kind of
similar to this a bigger church and I was invited by a friend
has Anybody ever seen The Power Team?
Yeah. There's a couple of hands that
have raised up. So for those of you that don't
know what the power team is, just imagine WWF wrestlers, kind
of like this. Look like me, but maybe even
bigger with tank tops on, on a stage like this breaking bricks
bending bars busting handcuffs and they're doing the strength
concert but they're doing it as a Ministry.
And I had never seen anything like that.
I grew up in a church where people were khakis and they took
their shirts in and they didn't drive Cadillacs and how dare you
for wanting to have a big house. And so I had these big dreams
and I felt like I didn't fit in in the church but at 11 years
old Pastor, I saw possibility and it was then that I gave my
life to Jesus and I felt like finally I fit in and I had like
six months of fitting in and then the most traumatic thing of
my life happened. Really where I feel like the
enemy really tried to take me out and there's a scripture in
Romans 12:2 that says, do not be Form to the patterns of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your spirit.
Well, this is when the world really tried to conform me?
I had a teacher and I didn't really realize that in the
moment, but he was grooming me everyday.
He would tell me how special I was every day.
He would tell me how good my work was and I would get like a
b-plus and he was just showering me with these words of
affirmation that I wasn't getting other places.
So I, I begin to trust this guy and after a few few weeks and
months of that he did, Things to me that nobody should ever do to
a little boy. And it left me with questions of
it was at a Christian School and it left me with questions of
like, if God is real, how could he let something like this
happen? To me?
And then I'm left with the ultimate question of like, does
this make me bad in mi gay but I didn't have anybody to ask those
questions to hmm, But the only thing that I knew they could
make those feelings. Go away was winning.
And so I'm going to zoom through.
Probably a lot of my life High School I played for sports, I
was for sport Allstate and then I was introduced to under
underage drinking drugs sex and so anything that would make like
the trauma or the pain. Go away of like me being so
dirty or broken or unlovable. Very my God just pushed me
further into Athletics, earning a scholarship going to the pros
and I always thought to myself and what's I get to this place?
I got want to feel better once I get to To the pros, right?
Kind of, like I challenge, all of you all, like some of us
before we walked in here. Think they?
Like, once we get to an area of life, we get to this amount of
money, we're getting to this house.
We married this woman. We fix this thing, then, we're
going to have peace. Hmm, But but ultimately, going
pro isn't taking responsibility for everything.
Going pro is actually releasing things, receiving things in
committing to things, but I didn't know that I went pro.
Sports and so that just drove me to have the all of these
different goals. And really, my life reminds me
of the story of a ronin. So I really love Japanese
culture and discipline and, and having Legacy.
And one of the things I read about that, I really connected
with, but not in a way that inspired me in a way that really
convicted me that my life was, I was wasting, it was I read the
story of the Ronin and a ronin is somebody who has very special
gifts and I feel like God has placed a special gift site of
each and every one of us. Us.
But I used my special gifts for Missions for me so I'm 40 years
old. So for 35 years hmm I was on
these different missions of earn a scholarship.
Go to the pros, make a million dollars, become a Super Bowl
champion become the fittest, man in the NFL.
One thing we didn't mention, I was the most philanthropic.
Voted the most philanthropic man in the NFL, but all of those
were born out of the insecurity of I need to do more because I'm
not enough. Hmm?
And so, the Ronin takes his If sand goes out and Do's and goes
on all these missions for himself.
So, I was living a life on Mission but not on purpose.
And so, it wasn't until I really submitted to the Sensei to God
and really received everything that he had for me, not half of
it. Not like, okay, I've received
enough to go to heaven, but I'm gonna carry the rest of these
burdens on my own because you said earlier, are you just told
me earlier that? A ronin is a, is a warrior, a
masterless samurai but he has no master.
And how many of you you are becoming disciplined in an area,
but you haven't submitted that discipline to the lordship of
Jesus. And so you can be going out and
winning all these missions, but it has no ultimate purpose and
that was like a big shift for you and you're talking about, as
you're zooming forward. This is the thing that would be
the hardest for us. We're looking at somebody in
many respects was at the Pinnacle of success.
And this is actually a pretty interesting story about you.
It's the Super Bowl. Hmm, and your team want one at
half time, you're going to get into that.
You're being praised at an incredibly high level and so
you're experiencing from the outside in the highest of Highs.
But from the inside out, you're actually navigating one of the
lowest of lows. Yeah.
Walk us through that. I think that's the goal.
Probably, you know, I got a chance to meet your dad back
stays and you were sharing some wisdoms with me for my kids.
Oh, my dad's a sense. Yes.
Well, I have notes on my phone Miyagi, how he walked away and I
was like, yeah, please. Nobody else asked me Super Bowl
quite a bit. My dad's favorite parenting line
when he was growing up with me, is this a father had two sons
and then he'd tell the ideal son and then he described me and
going, which one do you think the father loved more?
Yeah. Sorry Dad, he didn't need a, he
didn't need a hammer. When you use wisdom that way,
it's kind of like, when the dad says, I'm not mad at you, it's
really disappointing. The pointed at the Super Bowl
night, yeah, you've your you're destroying the game.
I mean, you're having the will talk you talk about it.
So so the Super Bowl Super Bowl. 46 was against the greatest
football player that's ever lived.
Tom Brady, I think we can all agree to that.
Now we can say blue but here's the deal Hardware's Hardware
man. He's got he's got seven of these
me and Tom you guys invited me because I have one, you know,
the guys to go, right? So it's February 5th. 2012, it's
11. Years ago, and it's 46 miles
from my home, town of the greatest game of my life, to
give you context at halftime Cris Collinsworth, until Michael
said, man. I don't think we've ever said
this, but if we vote for a Super Bowl, MVP at halftime, we give
it to the punter, Steve Weatherford.
So I say that giving glory to God because I performed well,
but the ball bounced my way every single time and and the
game gets over to confettis coming down.
We defeated Tom, Brady, the greatest of all time and I
remember pulling my son out of the stadium stairs and can
Fetty's coming down actually. Post a picture of it on
Instagram yesterday. I can't believe how big he is
now. Like holding him would be really
difficult now but every like all of all of the things that you
you and I probably dreamed like I mentioned your dad, because
you probably threw the football with your dad in the backyard.
Imagining you're catching a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
Notre Dame with Touchdown. Jesus.
Yeah, I did too. I mean but I mean, I'm not
telling the story of how I caught a touchdown, so I don't
want to give you any misrepresentation but I played
in the game and so here I am. Everybody that I love my mom and
dad my grandma my my coaches everybody that's close to me and
everybody that's not at the game they're watching on TV 124
million people and had the greatest game of my life and in
the confettis coming down and everybody's telling me how
amazing I am and then I remember when everything got over and I
got to my hotel room at night and I walked in and my bed was
made up and I remember hearing a noise as I walked up to, to the
window and I looked down it was just an ocean of pixels.
People in all different NFL jerseys taking pictures, taking
shots, taking selfies just make him the most amazing memories
and here I am I had the greatest game of my life in the biggest
game of my life in front of millions, hundreds of 100
million plus people. And I remember looking down and
seeing them be so happy. And I remember taking a deep
breath in, and before I could, exhale it out.
I just remember this wave of depression coming over me
because I'm realizing that this was like the highest thing that
I imagined would like make this thing in my chest to go away.
Like, get the elephant off like fix that god-sized hole.
And it was that moment, right? Then that I knew that my numbers
in the NFL were numbered because I knew if this didn't do it,
there was nothing else that I could do that.
I could achieve that would do it for me.
And so from that moment, I played three more years in the
NFL and retired much earlier than probably what I needed to
but would have brought me to the moment of really searching for
not another mission but searching for a purpose and I
knew that I had a relationship. I knew that I made a decision
for Jesus when I was 11 but it was more of a, like a decision
of religion. And I don't know if you guys
know the difference between religion or relationship, but I
had a 1986 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham.
Pam was my first car when I was 16 it was as long as this stage,
it was I loved it. It was terrible gas mileage, but
it was really roomy. All my buddies wanted to roll in
it, but I remember much like we all do.
I made a mistake driving my first car, and I remember taking
an illegal U-turn in here in a crunch of the metal.
And then, thinking to myself, I gotta call my dad, he's gonna
freaking kill me because my dad was, if you make a mistake,
you're going to pay the price. The disciplinarian doesn't make
him a bad dad but I knew what to expect and I feel like that's
That's that's how I formed my relationship with God.
Was my relationship with my father's, like, man, when I make
a mistake, I want to hide it from my dad, that's religion
relationship. With God is so much different
and that's when everything changed for me because it's
making the same mistake, making the same illegal U-turn that,
you know, that you shouldn't do. But as soon as you hear the
crunch of the metal, you think to yourself, I got to call my
dad because he's gonna know what to do.
Yeah. Now you take your problems, your
like that Dad hears, the porn that I started because I didn't
know what else to do dad. Here's the drugs that I started
because I had so much pain. I needed the memories to go away
Dead. All of this winning that I did
to try to earn it. I'm going to give it to you,
too, because I'm tired. I'm tired, dad, that's
relationship. And so for 36 years, I'm trying
to earn something from God when The whole time God is just like
dude you haven't you haven't given it all to me because I
want to do it all for you. There's been a price that was
already paid for each and every one of us that are in this room
right now. God put a uniqueness inside of
you and he wants you to go pro. He wants to pull it out of you
and he wants you to say, don't be committed to, you be
committed to me, let me be your Sensei because I have everything
that you need in Jeremiah 29:11. It says Thank God.
It says, for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord
plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope
and a future. And I'm one of those people.
And I want every single one of us to be the type of person that
said, God's talking about me when he said that.
So, I'll pause right there, because I know that there's a
few things, you you teed it up, and I want to, I want to get
into it. You started your relationship.
Jesus at 11. Then you went pro athletically,
but you didn't start going pro spiritually.
Till much later. I feel like I can't sit down
right now. So, yeah, well, I want you to
preach this. I want you to preach this.
I want you to talk to them because you made this statement
that was really profound about the difference between amateurs
and Pros. Yeah.
So talk to them about that. Yeah, so it's like, my life
Mantra because for so many years I was led by my feelings and
your feelings are a liar, the difference between, and I'm
going to say it two times, I want everybody to just hear my
voice. The difference between an
amateur and a pro is amateurs. Make decisions based upon their
feelings and pros, make decisions based upon their
commitments because I know that there's some days Like you maybe
you don't feel God, it doesn't mean that he's not there.
And I feel like in order for us to go pro in life, it's going to
require us to make a decision in about five minutes.
We're going to come to a time of decision and so if you would, I
would love to read you a poem. Yeah.
That I read every single morning, I have it printed out.
And if you want to just message me on Instagram, and I'll find a
way to get it to you, but I print it out and I put it on my
mirror and I read it every single morning and it helps me
to recalibrate who my Sensei is and what my purpose is on this
planet. So my mentor actually wrote
this, his name is Keith craft. And the poem is called choose
your hard because every single day is hard.
Being your best is hard, being normal is hard.
Making wise decisions is hard, making bad decisions to start
being in shape is hard. Being out of shape.
As hard losing weight is hard being fat.
As hard being disciplined, his heart, being lazy as hard
getting outside of your comfort zone.
Some of us are going to be called to do that today.
I hope all of us are didn't outside.
Your comfort zone is hard but staying inside your comfort
zone, how it always used to be. That's hard to come on, starting
a business is hard working for someone else to start making.
Lot of money to start making a little bit of monies.
Are being rich is hard. Being pores are having great
relationships as hard having bad relationships as hard.
Having friends is hard. Having no friends.
This hard hear me. When I say this guy's, this is
part of my testimony. Get a chance to share today.
Fighting for your marriage is hard.
Divorce is hard. Having a lot of things.
It's hard, having nothing to start living on.
Purpose is hard. Living off.
Purposes hard, doing life. God's way is hard doing life.
Your own way as hard? Everything is hard, we have to
choose our hard. So if I had, like two minutes to
speak to you before, you went out for the game of your life on
this Super Bowl Sunday, you know, I would have three things
for you to do, just three things, I would ask him going to
walk you through them quickly. I task for you to think about
releasing some things, receiving some things and committing to a
thing. Because for me I did so much of
my life trying to earn it when God was just looking for me to
lay something down, I feel like what God has for each and every
one of us is so big. We need two hands to to download
it and we're still stuck with hanging on to depression or
anxiety, or drugs, or drinking or porn, or just these different
things. God wants us to lay those things
down so we can receive everything that he has for us.
So there's got to be a release. There's got to be.
I'm going to say it again. There's got to be a release
happening in order for you to receive everything that God has
for you. Because I feel like God gives me
a picture. When I talk about receiving.
I've seen this meme of this really cute precious little girl
looks like, she's like six years old.
It's a cartoon. And she's hanging on to this
teddy bear so tight because she loves it so much and she's He's
looking up at Jesus and Jesus is standing here and he's got his
hand out. He's like, just just give me
what you have, she doesn't realize it and I didn't realize
it for 36 years. God had a teddy bear bigger than
I could ever ask think or imagine right behind his back
but in order for me to receive that, I needed to release
something. So I'm believing on this morning
when we pray this prayer when we make this This decision.
Did it has staying power in the last thing that I'm going to ask
you to do is to commit. Don't commit to just Jesus being
your savior. Because that's the JV team, I'm
calling you up to the pros. God's calling you up to the
pros. Jesus wants to be your Lord.
He's the wants to walk alongside to you.
He wants to empower you. He doesn't want to stop you from
doing the things that are fun. Look at me.
I'm not a football player, I'm a freedom fighter.
They grow here to deliver a message to you to challenge you.
So, I've got 58 seconds. To stir everybody up.
But instead of me doing that, I'm just going to ask Holy
Spirit to move in your heart. Yo because the root word of
decision means to cut off and in John 10:10, it says that the
enemy comes to steal to kill and destroy.
Don't let him steal your identity.
Don't let him kill your, your ability to multiply and don't
let him destroy your legacy. It's time to make a decision.
Yeah. And when we get ready to make
that decision here in a second. Yeah.
You guys you're going to we're doing a bonus round real quick
because I want to I want to hit one more thing that you said
earlier. You're asking people to receive
something from God. You're asking people to make
commitments to God, but we talked about a stat that had an
impact on both of us about what happens when the men in the home
gets serious and decide to go pro in their face.
What kind of impact that has on the family?
And what kind of impact that has generationally?
Now we're already going on. Long but let's let's make this
let's make that count before we before we sign off.
Yeah this is the last challenge. I read this that two weeks ago
and I shared it with pasties like I'm a pastor.
I knew that eight years ago. That's not what I'm going to
shove. It is share with you guys.
He didn't say that but he did know that much before I did.
And this challenge is to the men.
I want every single person to make a decision this morning,
but I'm speaking to the men because when the men come come
forward, there's a statistic that says, there's a 93% chance
that your wife and your children will follow you into the house
of God and let God move on them, the way that God moves on them.
If the woman comes forward, there's a 17% chance that is
husband and his kids are going to follow him and if a child
comes forward, there's a three percent chance that the husband
and the wife are going to follow him if we want to change,
Quincy, Illinois. If we want to change, Illinois,
if we want to change America, it starts with the men.
And so, for the challenge, when we, when we have this time of
decision, I want to see the men, the first people up here.
I want to see them sprinting to the Want to to assume their
place as the prophet, the priest, the king, and the
warrior of their home. Not just the provider, not just
the, the strongman the spiritual leader in their home because
there's a 93% chance that God will move on your family as
well. It's time to make a decision.
Let's do it. We're moving the time of
decision. Great job.
There you have it. We have a play call.
They just threw it out to us. So, for those of you in this
room, are those of you still watching online?
Man, I need to talk to just one group of people real quick.
It's that person who has not fully committed to stepping over
that line, and making Jesus, their personal Lord, but also
their savior. You've not just gone all-in on
that decision. You've been holding back.
Something you haven't fully released all the areas of your
heart to Jesus, and I know that there's still inside of their
yours. I mean, that's he's talking to
me. I know that I'm still living for
myself. I know that I'm still living on
My Own Strength In my own power. And but for some reason, there's
still things in your head saying, I just don't think it's
for me, you're disqualifying yourself.
You, you're probably going back to a moment in your childhood.
A lot of us probably experienced before were your end in PE class
and you can name, whatever sport that you're at in PE class.
But you're lined up and there's two people who are the Captains
and they're picking the teams and you're just like, there's no
way they're going to pick me. And the reason we say that is
because we start disqualifying ourself right away?
We start saying I'm not fast enough.
I can't I can't kick the ball high or far enough and you start
disqualifying yourself. And that is what happens inside
of a relationship with God. That you're just like, there's
no way he wants me. I'm not good enough.
I know what I did yesterday. I know what I did this morning.
I know what I did in the car on the way to church today.
I know how I talk to my wife or I know how I talk to my husband.
I know how I, how I treat my kids.
I know how I talk to my boss or how I talk about my boss behind
his back. Fill in the blank.
You start disqualifying yourself.
And for those of you in this room, listen.
If you've not stepped into that because you've done that, I want
you to hear this truth. That Jesus is for you.
And he went to the cross for you and he paid the debt of your sin
on your behalf. And he looks at you every single
one of you, he looks you in the eye and he says you are mine.
You are my daughter, you are my son, you are my child.
And today, when I want to tell you is this, it's time to get in
the game. It's time to accept that he's
picked you and that you can say, Jesus, I give you everything.
I believe that you save me and I want to start believing that you
are my Lord and all areas of my life.
And for those of you you've never stepped into that.
You've never started that relationship with Jesus in just
a little bit. There's going to be an
opportunity for you to do. Just that there's going to be
Someone up by the baptistry, one of our pastors will be here,
48th Street. And you may be like I have
questions. I don't know what that means.
And what do I do next? Do I get in the waters of
baptism? Do I start making that
declaration today? And the answer is yes, you move
today and I can tell you this tonight, most likely there will
be a touchdown there. Will for sure be a turnover.
There will be some type of Celebration and in Her home in
the stadium, all across the world.
There are going to be cheers but when someone when one person a
sinner, who says I'm going to repent, I'm going to turn to
Jesus. I'm going to give my life and
I'm going to be in the waters of baptism and they go under and
they come out of that water. There will be a celebration in
this room today that will be much louder than any Stadium.
And if we're not loud enough, the heavens will be rejoicing
and they will be declaring how good that is because of what
Jesus has done for us. And so on, just a little bit, I
invite you to do that for all of us in a room.
Listen, there's for those of you who are Christians you made that
decision for Jesus. You remember that moment.
There might have been something you carried into this room that
you haven't released yet. You haven't given full authority
to Jesus. You're just like man.
I've been dragging this thing. Round and it's been weighing me
down and I keep carrying it in church.
I keep carrying it out of church, I keep carrying it in my
car. I keep carrying it in my house.
I keep taking it everywhere, I go.
And quite frankly, it's exhausting today might be the
day where you just say Lord. I am going to release that to
you and I'm ready to receive what you have for me today.
And one of the best ways to do that is just to come up to these
steps right here, this campus and to commit, Lord hears the
The things that's holding me back here is the things that is
holding me from what you have, for me, holding me from my
purpose that you've given me and you can just come to these
steps. Get on your knees and just say,
Lord, I'm committing them to you.
I'm committing my full allegiance to you.
I want you to have every area of my heart. but also, as I look in
this room and as I think about that person who's watching
online, every single, one of you have a story, Those of you who
have called on the name of Jesus, he is rescued, you you
remember where you were before Jesus?
And you can think about where you are now, you have a story,
Steve has a story and he shared it with you and it brings a lot
of like, man just like, oh, that was awesome.
That's cool. But listen, you have a powerful
story. I have a powerful story.
Maybe God wants to tell you today.
Today's the day you use your story to tell somebody about
what Jesus has done in and through you and not mine.
Courage them this week. And so, wherever you're at,
Church. What I love about this moment
and Steve set us up men, women. Wherever you're at, we have an
obligation to move and to respond and to refer to just
move closer to what he's calling us to do.
And I think this moments right here, I think it's right now.
Would you guys stand me? Let's, let's pray together.
Let's go this time of decision. Let's Get Right with the Lord.
Let's let some things release, and let's receive what he has
for us. And let's commit that we're
going to just draw closer. To him in this moment.
Heavenly Father God I give you. Thanks and praise for this
weekend. I give you thanks and praise for
you. Jesus for the way that you you
love us. You look at us and you call us
yours. God I pray that in this moment
as as a body of Believers are in here.
I pray God that we just ask you to search our hearts.
You allow us to spend these moments with you on our knees
and we can just say, hey where do I go?
And to start releasing some things in these moments.
God, I pray for that person. I pray for that group of people
who there's just trying to do it on their own, I pray, today's
the day, they let go of some of those things, they release it
and they receive you. Jesus as their personal Lord and
Savior, I pray not in this moment that it's just abundantly
clear. That the spirit of God you are
talking directly to that person and they respond God, help us.
Move closer to you help us respond in this time in Jesus
name I pray. Amen.
Move closer to you help us respond in this time in Jesus
name I pray. Amen.