1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,280 Oh, welcome crossing family. Today we are starting a brand 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,120 new series. There has to be a place, but 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:11,480 we've heard we've done that. There has to be a place a bunch 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,120 of times. But the new tagline is with real 5 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,560 stories of real people with real faith. 6 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,040 I want to welcome those of you joining at all of our different 7 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,200 locations, those of you watching online, and those of you who are 8 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,080 part of our inside family. Last week we talked about what 9 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,960 God did in US and through US over the past year. 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,960 And in addition to all the stuff we talked about, we broke ground 11 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,200 on the new multi site building starter repairs on the Camp Dam. 12 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,320 So that way it'll be full of water next year. 13 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,880 Set records in every measurable area, updated our app. 14 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,840 But you guys know this. Our work remains undone. 15 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,560 And So what we, what you may not know is what we're going to be 16 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:54,160 doing this year. And so I figured I'd take a 17 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:56,680 little bit of time today to kind of let you know what is going to 18 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,920 be coming at you over the next 12 months. 19 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:01,800 And one of the things I want to do is I want to walk you through 20 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,760 the sermon series that we're going to be taking you through. 21 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,320 Now. I love all the sermon series 22 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:09,720 that we do as a church, but I am incredibly excited about what we 23 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,720 have in store for you in 2026. We're going to be doing. 24 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,760 There has to be a place for the next 4 weeks and then on Super 25 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,960 Bowl weekend we will be having a Defend Your Turf weekend and we 26 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:25,560 will be inviting in Sean McDowell. 27 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,600 Now Sean McDowell is the son of Josh McDowell. 28 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,000 Those of you who grew up in church, you probably know that 29 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,160 name. He was the author of More Than a 30 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,040 Carpenter and helped shape the faith and defend the faith for 31 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:41,400 millions for decades. And his son Sean is a professor 32 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,680 of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, and his main 33 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,680 focus is on apologetics. Or how do you know that your 34 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,520 faith is in the right thing, in the right place? 35 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,040 How do you have a reasons for the faith you have? 36 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,840 Because Christians, we do not have some blind faith. 37 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,440 It is a measurable faith. It is a faith that is tangible 38 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,800 and it is backed by history and science and reason and 39 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,280 rationality. And he has a YouTube channel 40 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,600 focusing on the biggest questions about God, morality 41 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,880 and culture with over 374,000 subscribers. 42 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,320 His videos have been seen over 54,000,000 times. 43 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:24,240 And I mean this, he will become a great resource for you and 44 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,920 your family when you're trying to make sense of the world or 45 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,280 trying to make sense of the word. 46 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,640 And it will be a great weekend for you to invite the people 47 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:36,760 that are close to you but far from God. 48 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,120 Then right out of that, we will jump into a seven week series on 49 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,680 the names of God. You've heard me talk about this 50 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,240 before. Lots of people will say negative 51 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:50,200 things about the God of the Old Testament, but what they might 52 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,600 not know is that the Old Testament gives God some of the 53 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,280 most beautiful and meaningful names. 54 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:04,800 And these names contain power and promises for every seeker 55 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,040 and for every believer. And then we're all going to have 56 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:10,880 an epic Easter weekend at the crossing. 57 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:14,240 And then right after that, we are going to launch into a five 58 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,480 week series on marriage and family. 59 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:23,720 We know that one of the biggest challenges people face is having 60 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:31,800 a godly marriage and raising a godly family, and we want to 61 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,080 help. Then we're going to do a 62 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,640 three-week series on generosity and Kingdom impact. 63 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,080 And when we do that, we're going to be looking at behind the 64 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:46,640 scenes of every great movement of God stands a few generous men 65 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:48,800 and women. And we're going to learn from 66 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,800 their stories, from history, and hopefully as a church, we will 67 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:57,320 follow their example to believe in God, to step out in faith, 68 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,600 and to serve the purposes of God in our generation and in our 69 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,320 region. And then we will step into what 70 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:09,200 I believe might be the most powerful sermon series of the 71 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:15,320 year where we are going to take 4 weeks to learn about the Holy 72 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,519 Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit in 73 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:22,960 the life of the believer might be one of the most overlooked 74 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,680 and most needed issues in our day. 75 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,640 Now one of the ways you can help us is that way we don't have a 76 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,200 huge fight between our different teams that work here at the 77 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,560 crossing is we don't have names for a couple of these series. 78 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:42,120 So if you hop on your app right now, you can actually vote on 79 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,480 what the next those two series, the marriage and family series 80 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,080 should be called and what the series on the Holy Spirit should 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,480 be called. And I'm hoping you guys make the 82 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,280 right choice because there's one that I desperately want in both 83 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:59,560 of those categories, but I'm just trusting the Holy Spirit to 84 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:04,240 guide you into what the sermon series on the Holy Spirit should 85 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,320 be called. But whatever, whichever, you 86 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,120 only get to vote once, so make it count. 87 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,600 But whatever you vote is what we're going to end up calling 88 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,280 it. And we'll reveal it when we get 89 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:13,720 into the marriage and family series. 90 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,800 And we'll reveal it when we get into the Holy Spirit. 91 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,800 When you open up your app in the For You section after you take 92 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,320 it, say, hey, I'm here. You can pick on the options for 93 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,960 marriage and family. The marriage and family ones are 94 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:27,480 fun. Just so you know you're going 95 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,360 to. You'll dig it if you have it and 96 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:30,800 you can do it right now. You don't have to listen to me. 97 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:31,840 You can pull up the app and vote. 98 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,480 Then we are going to launch into another Bible engagement 99 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,480 initiative. In 2022 we did Ecclesiastes and 100 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,640 the Gospel of John. In 2023, we did the book of 101 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,960 Romans. In 2024, we did Decisions in the 102 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,160 Desert, which took us through Exodus and Leviticus. 103 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:57,280 Last year we did First Corinthians, but this year, the 104 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,560 sermon series that I am the most excited about. 105 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,520 We are going to walk you through the longest recorded sermon in 106 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,800 the Bible by none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 107 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,480 That's right, we will be doing an entire sermon series on the 108 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,160 Sermon on the Mount for 17 weeks. 109 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,520 And I'm telling you, if you're a new to faith, when you realize 110 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,640 what Jesus is doing, not just for believers, but he's wanting 111 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,840 to do and invite you into you and the Sermon on the Mount, 112 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,960 it's going to be transformative. Then we'll do what we always do. 113 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,120 We'll have a powerful Christmas series and get ready to remember 114 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,440 to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And then we'll be at State of 115 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,200 the Church and 2026 will be behind us. 116 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:40,160 Now, I should probably clear the air on a couple of things. 117 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,200 One, I absolutely love preaching to you. 118 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,400 I love that you allow me to be one of the primary spiritual 119 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,920 voices in your life. However, I don't want to be the 120 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,680 only voice that is spiritual in your life. 121 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,000 And how many of you? Now, don't mess this up, 122 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:57,360 especially if you're sitting with your mom. 123 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,640 How many of you enjoy mom's mom's cooking? 124 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,200 If you didn't raise your hand there and your mom sit next to 125 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:03,680 you? That's weird. 126 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,760 OK, guess we're going out to eat. 127 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:11,720 All right, OK, yeah, I love moms cooking, man. 128 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,560 I love it. But sometimes I like it when we 129 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,880 get to go out to eat and we get to try something that we haven't 130 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,800 tried before, eat something we haven't eaten before, or we just 131 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,680 get to show up and allow somebody else to to service in a 132 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,720 really big way. And so every year what I try to 133 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,640 do is I try to give you as much of Mama's home cooking as I 134 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,360 possibly can, but over the course of the year, I actually 135 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,680 like to take you out to eat and allow other people to come in 136 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:38,920 and speak words of wisdom into your life. 137 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,880 And so this year we're going to have another incredible lineup 138 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,320 of leaders and pastors from across the country that will 139 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,040 come in, I think four or five times that we're going to come 140 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,120 in and share with us. And I am really excited about 141 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,120 our guest speaker lineup for 2026 especially. 142 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:55,360 Well, I don't want to give it away. 143 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,120 The hope is that through these series and through all of our 144 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:04,000 speakers that this will be a great year of spiritual growth 145 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:11,720 for you and for those you love. However, you will not grow as 146 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:18,160 much as you need to grow if you are only eating spiritually once 147 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,840 a week on the weekend. If you are wanting to become all 148 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:27,280 you are to become in Christ, it will not happen if you have a 149 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:32,280 weekly routine but you don't have a daily discipline. 150 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:37,039 So how do you establish a daily discipline in the Lord? 151 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,200 Let me walk you through it. The first thing you need is you 152 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,720 need a time. You need to make a commitment. 153 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:49,120 Hey, when am I going to spend time with the Lord? 154 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,400 For me it is. I don't say it's the first thing 155 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,440 I do in the day. It is the first thing I do once 156 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,440 my kids are away from me. Because trying to have a quiet 157 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,160 time and your kids ask you questions is hard. 158 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,880 So for you, depending on your season of life, you need to pick 159 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,680 a time. Then you need to pick a place. 160 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,320 Where are you going to go to have that time? 161 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:18,440 For me, it's either my Home Office or the desk in my Home 162 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,400 Office, or it is the desk at my office at work. 163 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,480 That as soon as I get there, before I do anything else, 164 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,720 Jennifer rehabbed one of our closets upstairs. 165 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,200 Sometimes she goes up there, sometimes she just does it on 166 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,120 the bed, 'cause you know, she's cool. 167 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,160 You might choose. And then you're going to need a 168 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,360 Bible. Now when I talk about Bibles, I 169 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:39,640 want to give you a little insight. 170 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,000 I'm a big fan of all the apps and all the things that are out 171 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,000 there. But one of the reasons why I 172 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,560 really like a paper Bible is because it doesn't send you 173 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:52,120 notifications from your friends. It sends you notifications from 174 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,800 God. And if you're like me, you pull 175 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,360 up your iPad and next thing you know, you get notifications on, 176 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,040 you know, how the bears did last night. 177 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,840 And that can, you know, you can go, yeah, that was for a couple 178 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:04,120 of. No, you guys are asleep. 179 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,360 All right, Well, listen. So what I want to do is I want 180 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,320 to give you a couple of notes on how to get a Bible. 181 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,360 So one the translation that our church uses almost all the time 182 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,960 is the NIV and if you are a person who's going I want to 183 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:19,520 understand the word of God a little bit more, I'm going to 184 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,760 encourage you to get an NIV study Bible. 185 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:29,440 This is the Bible I got before I started the campus up in Macomb. 186 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,000 In fact, inside of here it has Jennifer checking in Kennedy. 187 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,280 The first time Jennifer was no was was a Hensel. 188 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,320 I put that in there. I was like you belong to me now. 189 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,880 So you now for those of you who are young in your faith, let me 190 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,280 say something. When you get an NIV study Bible, 191 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,440 there's a line at the bottom of every study Bible. 192 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,920 Everything below that line is a really smart person who has 193 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,680 spent a lot of time learning about Jesus talking to you, but 194 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:04,280 it is not Jesus talking to you. Everything above the line is the 195 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,160 word of God. So everything up here is the 196 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:09,000 word of God. Everything below it is the 197 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,600 people of God trying to help you understand the word of God. 198 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,560 But the stuff below the line is not the word of God. 199 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:17,600 And if you get one of these because you're going to have 200 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:19,600 questions when you read the Bible, I still have questions 201 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,080 when I read the Bible. It will help you navigate it. 202 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:24,800 Now, some of you you may have already had one of these for a 203 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:26,960 long time. You're looking for something new 204 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,000 and something fresh. If this this is like your you 205 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:36,120 know, fellas, this is like your this is like your all-purpose 206 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,360 Bible. This is this is your this is 207 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,080 your super black eagle. This is that's what this is OK, 208 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,600 now this right here, this is your Barrett 50 Cal all right, 209 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:48,800 this bad boy, look how pretty this is. 210 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,040 OK, now this is super expensive. This is called a Skylar NIV 211 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,800 Bible. It is an absolutely beautiful 212 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,880 Bible and it will become like an heirloom if you get one of 213 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:00,760 these. It's going to the kids, they're 214 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,160 going to want it. It lays flat, it's beautiful to 215 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,120 read. It's got decent sized print, and 216 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,720 here's why I wear it. You know how sometimes when you 217 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,520 get dressed up like you just feel a little bit better about 218 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:11,320 yourself. You get up, you take a shower, 219 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,560 you clean yourself all the way up, you put a tie on or 220 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:15,840 whatever. You just feel Sometimes I want 221 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,040 an elevated experience with the Word of God. 222 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,720 And so I have a Bible that gives me an elevated experience. 223 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,600 When I open this, I feel like something special is going on. 224 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,680 You, you might be going. I've been reading my Bible for a 225 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:28,640 long time. I need a little change up. 226 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:29,920 That's a great change up for you. 227 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,760 What's the next one I got? OK, now this is totally nerddom. 228 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,040 This is total nerddom. OK, this is also super 229 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,240 expensive, but I'll tell you, this is one of my favorite 230 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,480 purchases I've made and I can't tell you how long. 231 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,040 This is called the Bibliotheca Bible. 232 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,560 All these are in the thing. OK, this is turn to your 233 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:53,880 neighbor and say he's a nerd. Oh boy, get ready. 234 00:12:55,080 --> 00:13:03,320 This is a hardback lay flat special font. 235 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:09,920 That watch has no verses and no chapters. 236 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,520 If you were to like open a scroll in the Old Testament and 237 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,400 you were to just read it, it didn't have verses, it didn't 238 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,920 have chapters. You just read it. 239 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,160 Here's why I like this. You're reading in the Gospel of 240 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:28,080 John and John 316 just jumps out at you because you didn't 241 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:33,760 realize you were in 101112131415. 242 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:39,080 It's just it springs up on you. It is designed. 243 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:44,800 Listen to the sentence to create an immersive literary 244 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,920 experience. Girls, you know how you're 245 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,320 reading a book like Harry Potter or whatever it is you girls read 246 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:52,840 and you just keep turning the page. 247 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:55,280 That's what this is designed to do. 248 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,640 It is designed to have a font that is easy on your eyes. 249 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:03,200 So you start reading your Bible and you don't stop. 250 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,160 Now here's what I'm doing. I did this. 251 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,760 This was my I think this was 24. I went all the way through. 252 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,080 This is just the New Testament I've got right now. 253 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,520 I'm doing the old, I'm doing the, the Pentateuch. 254 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:20,640 Then it's got this is the writings, this is the profits, 255 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,520 OK? The only downside is now they 256 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,120 only sell this with the apocrypha. 257 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,000 So it's kind of expensive because you just throw the 258 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:28,400 apocrypha in the trash. You don't need it. 259 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,840 Sorry about that, Catholics. We'll talk about that when we 260 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,760 later. But here's why I'm telling you 261 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,080 all this, OK, here's what I did with this one because it's so 262 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:43,400 immersive. I wrote in the margins all 263 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:45,520 across it, and that's completely OK for you to write in the 264 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,800 margins of your Bible. Now here's what I'm doing with 265 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,240 this. I'm taking all of the margins 266 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:51,680 once I go all the way through the Bible. 267 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,320 And this is what I have for my sons. 268 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:07,880 This is an NIV journaling Bible that is designed to allow you to 269 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,600 write in the margins. And what I will do once I get 270 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,120 all the way through the Bible, writing all my notes in the 271 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,760 margins, is Jennifer and I are going to go through and 272 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,640 highlight everything that I wrote and highlighted in my 273 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,560 Bible. And this will become a gift to 274 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,040 my boys on their wedding day. And it will have all the things 275 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,400 that their dad learned in the scriptures for them. 276 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,200 The reason why I'm telling you this is sometimes you're going, 277 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,360 man, I'm having a hard time engaging in God's Word. 278 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,800 I'm having a hard time learning and growing. 279 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,120 And what I would, what I'm telling you is start an 280 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,920 adventure. Pick a different Bible that 281 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,160 might change the way you interact with the text. 282 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,120 Pick a reason why you're getting involved with the text and start 283 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,240 allowing the text to form you and shape you. 284 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,960 And the nice thing about the journaling Bible is it already 285 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,040 has space on the sides for you to do a spec so you can every 286 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,760 time you're reading a scripture, you can look for a sin to avoid, 287 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,840 a promise to claim, an example to follow or a command to obey. 288 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,200 Now, once you have a time, a place and a Bible and there's 289 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,080 you can get all kinds of Bibles, but we are this one doesn't come 290 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,200 in NIV. It's a special one off 291 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,120 translation. All the rest of these are NIV's. 292 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,760 The only reason I'm telling you NIV is that's what we use 99% of 293 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:20,680 the time at our church. So if you're going, hey, I want 294 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,960 to be when I read my Bible, I want it to be the same Bible we 295 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,200 were talking about. But the next thing you're going 296 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:26,720 to need is you're going to need a plan. 297 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,600 And the reason why you need a plan is because you need a 298 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,200 guide. You know, if you're trying to 299 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,360 lose weight this year and you're only going to eat right one day 300 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,760 out of the week, you're going to stay fat. 301 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,360 If you're trying to get in shape this year and you're only going 302 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,480 to work out one day a week, those jeans are going to get 303 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,160 pretty tight. And so I want you to have a plan 304 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,720 to grow spiritually, not a regret that you didn't grow 305 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,760 spiritually. And one of the best tools I 306 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:02,360 think I can give you is Mark Moore was one of my favorite 307 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,040 Bible college professors. He's actually preached at our 308 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,200 church multiple times. And he's written a bunch of 309 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,720 books, but his three most recent books will help you grow in a 310 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,720 meaningful way. In 15 minutes a day. 311 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:18,599 Every single one of you has 15 minutes. 312 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,280 If you were to get Core 52, it is a DAILY GUIDE that will help 313 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,480 you build your Bible like you. If you're looking to build 314 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,440 confidence in God's Word, have a guide to help you get through 315 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,520 the maze of Scripture. This is like your Disney fast 316 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,400 pass on Bible knowledge. You'll love it. 317 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:40,120 Then there's Quest 52 and that is a DAILY GUIDE all about 318 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,760 Jesus. It is a year long pursuit 319 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,720 designed to help you not just know Jesus more or know more 320 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,160 about Jesus, but to know Jesus more. 321 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,840 And then his most recent book is Wisdom 52 and it is a 52 week 322 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,160 guide through the Proverbs that helps you live with clarity, 323 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:03,880 character, and peace. Now you can get resources all 324 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,680 that on your app so that way you can grab as many of the things 325 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,080 you want to get so you don't have to remember it. 326 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:10,840 All right now why am I telling you that I want you to do this? 327 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,680 I'm going to give you 2 reasons. 1, you need a light for your 328 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,520 path. The world is dark and it is 329 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,560 going to try and trip you up this year. 330 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:26,480 Psalm 119105 says your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on 331 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,000 my path. Second thing is, is the Bible is 332 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:34,480 our weapon against the enemy. The Bible tells us that our 333 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,360 struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the 334 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,200 spiritual forces of evil in this Dark World. 335 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,920 And Ephesians chapter 6 says that you and I are to take up 336 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:51,120 the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. 337 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:56,480 In other words, unless you are a person of the Word, you will not 338 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,360 be able to make a difference in the world. 339 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,160 If you don't commit yourself to the Word of God, you will be 340 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,040 susceptible this year to the schemes of the enemy. 341 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,120 Now, to illustrate this, I've asked one of our elders to come 342 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:12,080 up and share a bit of his story. For those of you who don't know, 343 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,760 our church is overseen by a group of men called elders. 344 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:18,880 They are deeply committed not just to Christ, but deeply 345 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,520 committed to this church. They oversee our vision, our 346 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,400 mission, our theology, our initiatives, our expansions, and 347 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,360 our finances. And there are ten of these men 348 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,040 in our church and they come from five of our locations. 349 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,840 Now, they are not like a House of Representatives where we're 350 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,120 trying to get, you know, elders from each and every single one 351 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,680 of our locations. That role is reserved for our 352 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,680 campus pastors who are the point leaders at all of our locations. 353 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,040 And I am incredibly grateful for that group of men. 354 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,800 I lovingly refer to our elders as the our Supreme Court Justice 355 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,480 Justices, OK, because they have lifetime appointments and their 356 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:59,200 job is to be prepared to stand before God for the decisions 357 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,000 that were made at this church. And did we accomplish the 358 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,960 mission of this church? And for the last four years, 359 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:07,400 Craig Helbing has served as the chairman. 360 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,960 And before each of our elders meetings, he gives a devotion to 361 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,520 make sure that our hearts are in the right place as we prepare to 362 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:16,400 make decisions regarding the present challenges and our 363 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,640 future possibilities. And one of his devotions was so 364 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,720 moving that I told him that one day he would share it with our 365 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,840 whole church. What you might not know is that 366 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:34,360 Craig is a man who regularly lives out what I just talked 367 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:38,160 about. Craig is a man who has a time, a 368 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:43,400 place, a Bible, and a plan. And it is because of the years 369 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:48,800 of regular daily devotion that he can share with power and 370 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,760 confidence what you are about to experience. 371 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,360 So, crossing family, would you give Craig Hill Bing a warm 372 00:20:54,360 --> 00:21:06,410 welcome? Wow, thank you. 373 00:21:07,410 --> 00:21:09,690 I just came today. I just wanted to share with you 374 00:21:09,690 --> 00:21:12,530 the fact that God doesn't give up. 375 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,800 And in Colossians chapter one, verse 29, it says it this way in 376 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,440 the NCV version. And I love the way that it says 377 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,920 it. It says I work and I struggle 378 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:29,080 using Christ's great strength that so powerfully works in me. 379 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,000 And you know, all throughout the Bible there's a pattern that you 380 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,400 can't miss. And that pattern is this, that 381 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,400 when people doubt themselves, when they feel unqualified, when 382 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,800 they fail, God doesn't give up. You know, in the Bible, when 383 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,840 Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers and then thrown into a 384 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,560 pit, abandoned and forgotten, God didn't give up. 385 00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:00,320 When Moses stood in front of the burning Bush and he said, Lord, 386 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,480 you've got the wrong guy. I don't even speak. 387 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:09,240 Well, God didn't give up when an entire nation of Israel, they 388 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,640 were freed slaves. They stood on the edge of 389 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,240 freedom and they said we'd rather go back to Egyptian 390 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,440 slavery than to trust God with what's next. 391 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,240 God didn't give up. And when Peter promised loyalty 392 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,000 that Jesus had dinner during the Last Supper and then denied even 393 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,880 knowing him a few hours later, God did not give up. 394 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,240 And when the human hands of the soldiers fasten the divine hands 395 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:41,480 of Jesus to the cross with spikes, it wasn't the soldiers 396 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,240 who held him there. It was the love of God who held 397 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:50,280 him steady, a God who would give up his only Son before he would 398 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,720 ever give up on us. And, you know, everyone thought 399 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,560 that the story was over, but God took the crucifixion of Friday, 400 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,680 and then he turned it into the celebration of Sunday. 401 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:07,240 But oh, how Satan loves to make us think that God won't do that 402 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,680 kind of reversal in our own lives. 403 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,440 I mean, he's the master at making our worries over our past 404 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:19,160 mistakes and our fears over our future haunt us because he uses 405 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:24,240 things like our guilt and our shame and our lack of 406 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,440 self-confidence to cause us to step out of the race. 407 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,400 But that's a lie straight from hell. 408 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,400 And as followers of Christ, we need to know this, that the 409 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,680 Spirit of God lives in us, that He will do what we cannot. 410 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,960 He doesn't give up. And I definitely don't say that 411 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,360 as someone who has it all figured out, God is teaching me 412 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:52,520 every day. But over time, God has patiently 413 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:57,320 taught me what it means that He doesn't give up, even when I was 414 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:02,280 convinced that He should have. And this truth, it became clear 415 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:03,920 to me. I don't know exactly when, but 416 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,320 it was probably about 12 years ago. 417 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,600 And I remember that year clearly because it was the same year 418 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,560 that I had just started to be an elder in training. 419 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,920 And some of you may know my story, but for those of you who 420 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,920 don't, I just want to say this so that I can put this in 421 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:28,560 context. When I was 16 years old, I was 422 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,720 driving a car and I was involved in an accident that killed my 423 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,960 best friend, and it was negligent. 424 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:43,240 Alcohol was involved and I was 100% responsible. 425 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,840 And for many years after that, before the Lord really opened my 426 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:53,480 eyes to the truth of the gospel, my life was marked by bad 427 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,440 decisions and trying to deal with the things that I had 428 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,440 broken. So like I was saying, about 12 429 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:05,200 years ago I was asked to go on a mission trip to Florida with 430 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:11,360 some high school kids and a young pastor who's since become 431 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:15,080 a great friend of mine, Josh Bailey was leading the trip and 432 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,960 it was him and I going down and we had quite a few kids going, 433 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,320 so we needed larger vans to fit everyone in. 434 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:28,360 And a few days before the trip, Josh called me and he said, hey, 435 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,480 I need to pick you up from work because we need to go down to 436 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,920 the DMV and get the classification changed on your 437 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,120 driver's license so that you can be the driver of one of the 438 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:40,320 larger vans and then I'll drive the other one. 439 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,840 And so he picked me up from work and we went to the DMV and, and 440 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,600 Josh stayed in the van while I went inside to get the changes 441 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:54,320 made. And I went up to the counter and 442 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,320 I told the woman I was going on a mission trip and what I was 443 00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,400 doing. And she pulled up my 444 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:05,240 information. And she paused, and she looked 445 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,040 at the screen. And then she called another 446 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,560 employee over. And after a moment, she said, 447 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,720 I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to do that. 448 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:18,760 You were involved in an accident where someone died. 449 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:23,000 And because of that, you'll never get that classification on 450 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:30,120 your driver's license. And so with all the guilt and 451 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:34,000 the shame that Satan could put on me, I had to walk outside, 452 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,280 back outside and tell Josh what had happened. 453 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,160 And that was hard and it was embarrassing. 454 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,680 And I don't remember us having much conversation on the way 455 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,920 back to work. If we did, I don't recall it. 456 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:57,560 But what I do remember is the voice in my head that was 457 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:02,600 saying, do you realize what you've done? 458 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:10,000 Like you're a fake and you're a phony and you shouldn't even be 459 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,040 on this trip, You see, because Satan knows what he's doing. 460 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:20,200 And when things break in our lives or were damaged in certain 461 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,880 areas, he knows exactly where to attack. 462 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,120 And what I didn't know was that after Josh had dropped me off, 463 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,880 he went and found another van that was smaller and one that I 464 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:36,280 was licensed to drive. And he what we did was is he 465 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,520 drove 1 van, I drove another and then my wife and his wife drove 466 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,600 our minivan and we were able to fit all the kids and, and make 467 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,960 it work. And you know, we went on that 468 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,840 trip and God did some incredible things. 469 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,720 And I just think if Satan would have had one in that moment, in 470 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,040 my mind, God would have missed. I would have missed all that God 471 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,680 was doing at that time. I mean, during the trip, two 472 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,320 kids were baptized in the ocean, and it was really special. 473 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,520 But what really stands out to me is what happened on the way 474 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,800 home. You see, we had to leave about 475 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,040 4:30 in the morning because we were going to drive straight 476 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,680 back and drop the kids off that evening. 477 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,520 And so we were driving on this really busy Interstate. 478 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,440 It was 4 lanes. It was going in each direction 479 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,240 and, and I would I was leading and, and Josh was in the van 480 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,240 behind me and we have been driving for a few hours. 481 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:38,360 So it was daylight when a drive shaft fell out of a pickup truck 482 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,680 in front of me and I was able to avoid it. 483 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,320 But when I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw that Josh had hit 484 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,480 it and the van bounced up in the air. 485 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,720 And he immediately pulled over to the inside lane of the 486 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,560 Interstate and, and there was barely enough room there because 487 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,320 there was concrete barriers on the side. 488 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,720 And I pulled off on the outside shoulder a little ways down the 489 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:06,080 road, and my wife pulled in behind me and we had walkie 490 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,200 talkies. And I heard Josh say in a panic 491 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,520 voice, the van's on fire. Everybody out. 492 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,640 And so I jumped out of the van and I took off running across 493 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,520 this four lane Interstate and there was cars coming and my 494 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,680 wife was screaming at me to stop, but I didn't care. 495 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:28,160 I, I just kept going. And when I got to the van, there 496 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,360 was smoke everywhere, but it wasn't fire. 497 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,840 It was, it was antifreeze that was spraying on the hot exhaust 498 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,960 pipe. Because you see, when the the 499 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,920 drive shaft had ripped off from the underside of the van, it had 500 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,120 broken those lines loose and they were spraying on the 501 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,000 exhaust. And so knowing that the van 502 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,240 wasn't on fire, we were able to get all the kids back in the 503 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,560 van. And there was antifreeze all 504 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:54,960 over the ground and it was hot. And I laid underneath the van 505 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:56,920 and we had a roll of duct tape in the van. 506 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,640 And I was able to hook the lines back up. 507 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,680 And then we took a case of water that we had inside the van and I 508 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,240 was able to fill the radiator back up and we were able to limp 509 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,680 the van to the next exit where there was an AutoZone. 510 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,400 And and Josh and I got the parts and we fixed it. 511 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,800 And we got back on the road. And I remember driving the rest 512 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,680 of the way home knowing that, you know, all the kids were 513 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:27,360 fine, but I was covered in antifreeze. 514 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:35,160 But I had this tremendous sense of peace and my necklace was out 515 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,400 because I've been crawling on the ground so much. 516 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:42,360 And it's a necklace I got when I accepted Christ. 517 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:48,640 And on it was Galatians 220 and it said I have been crucified 518 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,640 with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but 519 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:55,240 Christ who lives in me. And this life I now live in the 520 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,200 flesh. I live by faith in the Son of 521 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:04,520 God who gave his life for me. And that's when I realized that 522 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:09,320 God did have a purpose for me on that trip, that I wasn't 523 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:14,960 disqualified, and that Satan is a liar because our God doesn't 524 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:25,950 give up. And I said all that to say this, 525 00:31:26,710 --> 00:31:31,390 that every day, you and I, all of us, we face things that we're 526 00:31:31,590 --> 00:31:34,230 we can't do by our own power and strength. 527 00:31:35,110 --> 00:31:39,240 And we just have to remember to tap into the one with the power 528 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,960 that lives inside of us. I love this first and 2nd 529 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:48,440 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9. It says this, My grace is all 530 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,280 you need. My power works best in weakness. 531 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,120 You know, there is a reason that the windshield is bigger than 532 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,360 the rearview mirror. And it's because our future 533 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,920 matters more than our past. And we need to say this with the 534 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,680 Apostle Paul when he wrote this in the book of Philippians, he 535 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:11,520 said, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies 536 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,320 ahead. I strain to reach the end of the 537 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,520 race and receive the prize for which God is calling us. 538 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:20,560 Thank you. Great. 539 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:24,840 Job. Thanks man. 540 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,880 I don't know where you are on your spiritual journey today, 541 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,280 but I want you to know that Satan is a liar and God can 542 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:40,600 still use you. You might feel unqualified. 543 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,720 You might feel like a failure. You may have walked in here 544 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,000 today covered in guilt and shame. 545 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,840 You might be right now on the verge of giving up. 546 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:58,640 But our God is undefeated at using broken and willing people 547 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:05,360 in a mighty way, which means He can still use you. 548 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,960 The question is, will you let Him? 549 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:09,960 We're moving to a time of decision. 550 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,400 Yeah, it's really not a matter of if or is it, you know, real, 551 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,000 like there are broken people in this room and there's broken 552 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,320 people who are listening to my voice right now. 553 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,240 And, and if I had to guess that brokenness, what you have been 554 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,280 trying to do over and over and over again is just saying how 555 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,920 can I fix myself? How can I get out of this 556 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:33,760 brokenness? What can I do? 557 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,760 What can I read? Where can I go? 558 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,960 And I just need to give you some really, really good news for 559 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,040 those of you who do not know Jesus Christ as your personal 560 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,240 Lord and Savior. There is no better day. 561 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:49,640 There is no better moment, there is no better time, and there is 562 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:53,320 no better place than to completely surrender and start 563 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,640 this relationship with Jesus that you were made for, that you 564 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,440 were created for, and you could be wrestling with all sorts of 565 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:01,760 things. But I need you to hear this. 566 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,760 When Craig said yes to Jesus, he had no idea how God was going to 567 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,000 use him in the future. He had no idea what God could do 568 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:12,880 or would do in him or through him. 569 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:14,560 But here's what you need to know. 570 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:19,440 He knew enough. He knew enough to know that he 571 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,280 needed Jesus. And I'm just going to tell you 572 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,880 this in this room, if you've been listening, if you've been 573 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,480 here for a while or you just been here for today, you know 574 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,840 enough. You know that Jesus loves you, 575 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:35,920 He cares for you, and He wants to walk with you step by step, 576 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,960 that you don't have to go through this journey by 577 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:39,560 yourself. You don't need to continue 578 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:43,560 trying to do things on your own. He says you can be saved through 579 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,440 faith, through grace that Jesus provides, not because of 580 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,800 anything you can do. And here's what I know. 581 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:55,560 Every time we get to this moment, there's probably another 582 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,920 voice you're hearing, There's probably some things that 583 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,040 you're, you're thinking and your subconscious that keeps telling 584 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:03,720 you, man, he's not talking to you. 585 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,400 He's saying, hey, hey, maybe you just wait. 586 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,640 Maybe next week, hey, maybe when all the the world and the 587 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:16,040 galaxies all align, that's when you can go all in for Jesus. 588 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:18,200 You're not ready. You don't know enough. 589 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:19,720 Do you know what you did last night? 590 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:21,760 Do you know what you said on the way to church? 591 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,840 There's no way you can get in the waters of baptism. 592 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:26,680 There's no way that God would accept you. 593 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,040 Can I just tell you something and can I just declare 594 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,080 something? That is the voice of Satan and 595 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,120 you heard it time and time again. 596 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:37,840 Satan is a liar. And we will stand on that truth. 597 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,320 We will stand on that ground. And here's what I want to invite 598 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,200 you to do instead of listening to that voice say not today, not 599 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:46,000 you. Maybe it's the person next to 600 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,400 you. Maybe it's next week. 601 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:53,080 Start listening to the voice of the Father calling you, calling 602 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,480 you home when you come into that intimate, personal relationship 603 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,960 with Jesus. There's a story that Jesus 604 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,840 tells, and I just got to give you the imagery real quick, the 605 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,640 story of the lost son, the prodigal son, the voice of the 606 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,880 father's calling him like he's waiting for his son. 607 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,680 And when the son comes back home, finally the father meets 608 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,680 him, greets him, puts a a coat over his shoulders, gives him 609 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,520 sandals on his feet, puts a ring on his finger, and he he 610 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,720 celebrates with a meal because his son, who was once lost, is 611 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:22,040 now found. His son who was once dead is now 612 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:23,200 alive. And when you start a 613 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,160 relationship with Jesus, the Father wants to embrace you. 614 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,720 And so in just a moment, the worship team is going to come 615 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:31,800 out like they always do. And we're going to sing some 616 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,280 songs in response. Some are going to come to the 617 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,360 steps and they're going to pray. But if you are here, you're 618 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,160 like, Nope, today's the day. I'm going to give my life to 619 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,160 Jesus. But you have questions or you're 620 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:42,480 like, hey, what? What's next? 621 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,080 There's going to be a couple right by the baptistry that 622 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,920 would love to help you take your next step, your most important 623 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:52,040 step of following Jesus. For the rest of us in this room, 624 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,200 to those who know Jesus, who are walking in that relationship, 625 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:59,240 maybe you're one of the 1389 people who started that walk 626 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,320 with Jesus last year, or you've been walking with Jesus for five 627 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,920 years or 20 years. Listen, can we just be honest? 628 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,960 Satan still tries to lie to us. He still tries to get us to 629 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:13,560 believe that we cannot be used, that we've gone too far away. 630 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:18,440 And I just want you to know, listen, God can still use you. 631 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,640 And I believe that there's something God is wanting to call 632 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:26,680 you to do. And so maybe for you, you just 633 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:31,000 simply need to just listen a little bit more, lean in a 634 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,720 little bit more, commit to spending more time with him. 635 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,360 Maybe during this song, your step would just to become up to 636 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,280 these steps to get down on your knees and ask God to do this. 637 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,760 Would he light a fire inside of you to pursue him even more on a 638 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,320 daily basis? Would you ask God to give you a 639 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:54,800 direction or a word or a or a name that you could go, but just 640 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,400 trust that he wants to lead you to your next step? 641 00:37:57,800 --> 00:37:59,920 Would you stand with me? Let's pray and let's let's 642 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,520 respond. Let's ask God to light a fire 643 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,200 inside of us. God, you are everything. 644 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:08,800 You are everything, everything we do. 645 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,600 You are so good. What a God you are and we're 646 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,640 going to sing that out. What a God you are that you made 647 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,440 away when it seemed like there was no way like it. 648 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:21,200 It doesn't make sense the type of love that you have for us. 649 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,600 But God right now in in humility, I pray God that we 650 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,760 just OfferUp our praise, OfferUp our surrender, OfferUp our time, 651 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,360 OfferUp our mind and our hearts to you in this moment. 652 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:35,120 Would you speak to us? Would you move in us? 653 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:37,840 Would you use us? In Jesus name I pray. 654 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:38,400 Amen.