This weekend is the biggest. Game of the year 192 million
adults plan to watch. The game.
Well, it's the most important thing to 42% of the viewers.
The commercials are the most important thing to 19% of the
viewers, and the halftime show is the most important to 18%.
An estimated 16.5 billion will be spent on food, decorations
and furniture. Usher is going to headline the
Apple Music halftime show. Last year, over 50 million
Americans, or about 15% of the entire US population, placed a
bet on the Super Bowl. Their estimates that between
legal sports, books, illegal bookmakers and friends, around
$16 billion is going to be wagered during the game.
For the players, the stage could not be bigger.
Their whole lives have been leading them to this moment,
from the early beginnings, throwing the ball with their
fathers and friends to the first game on a Saturday with Pop
Warner. Eventually they were able to
play underneath the Friday Night Lights, surrounded by the cheers
of family and friends. Their success?
Well, it LED them back to Saturdays, but this time with a
statewide fan base as they exerted their efforts on the
college stage. They survived the combine, the
draft and beat out all the other talent to finally play in the
NFL on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays.
They've managed their diets, their workouts, the recoveries,
their surgeries, their rehabs, their practices, countless hours
of watching tape, a tough season and intense playoff bracket to
arrive at the Super Bowl for the chance to become a champion.
There was a time when my boys wanted to be preachers.
However, since Patrick Mahomes rose to prominence, my boys both
dream of one day playing in the Super Bowl.
They regularly tell Jennifer and I about the nice things that
they're going to buy us, and I'm just going to give you a heads
up. Both of my boys plan on buying
Jennifer and I jets, so if you want to go somewhere almost
every single weekend, they'll be an extra jet in our family
hangar and I hope you pick some place nice to go.
Well, after the singing of the national anthem, the game will
begin and it will become readily apparent if the teams are ready
or not. Some players will rise to the
occasion and others will not. Some will make the play of their
lives and others will make a mistake they'll never forget.
Four quarters later and the game will end and one team will raise
the Vince Lombardi Trophy. News outlets, social media,
bloggers, merchandisers will all cash in on the coverage and for
the winners, it will feel like they are the center of the
universe and no one will ever forget what they did on that
day. However, in the not so distant
future, very few will remember the details of the game and who
won? My boys can barely remember Tom
Brady or Peyton Manning. They know nothing of Joe
Montana, Elway or movie. Come on.
While the games and players will eventually be forgotten, too
many of us either carry scars or have caused scars that will
never be forgotten. We've said things we wish we
could take back. We've done things we deeply
regret. We've not been the spouse or the
parent that we knew we were supposed to be.
Others of us have deep wounds, words from a parent or a friend
that are etched into our hearts and in our minds, unspeakable
things have been done to us. Many of us have been sacked in
life because those who are supposed to protect us abandoned
us and our moment of greatest need.
Some of us have never become all we were supposed to become
because we didn't have the coaches or parents who would
grow us, shape us, and guide us to become all that God created
us to be. There's so many of us who wish
we could make a spiritual difference in this world, but
every time we get the opportunity, we end up fumbling
the ball. You and I both know, but unless
my boys put in a ton of work, they will never set foot on the
NFL turf last year on Super Bowl.
Weekend we had Steve. Weatherford, come and speak to
us. He was the fittest man in the
NFL and a Super Bowl champion is a punter for the New York
Giants. He said something I have not
been able to shake. He said this you.
Start to GoPro spiritually so the difference between an
amateur and a Pro is an amateur makes decisions based upon his
feelings and a pro makes decisions based upon his
commitments. Say it one more time and say it
a lot slower, because everybody needs to hear this.
Amateurs. The difference between amateurs
and pros. And I believe that we all inside
of this room, we all want to GoPro in life.
We all want to be excellent. So the the way that we GoPro is
we figure out what we're committed to.
Amateurs make decisions upon their feelings.
Pros Pros make decisions based upon commitments and so.
But like when a pro goes to sleep, a pro decides what
tomorrow holds and what they're committed to.
And so when they wake up, they don't wake up and say, well,
well, what are my feelings saying?
Because I'll let them be their my.
Leader between you and me. I really.
Don't care if they GoPro in sports.
But I do care about whether or not they.
GoPro and the things that matter the most.
Next Let's go. Oh boy.
This is why when I take my kids to school, part of my prayer.
Over them is this. I pray, Heavenly Father, help my
boys grow up to love you with all of their heart, mind, soul
and strength, and help them to embrace the Great Commission and
make disciples of all nations. This comes right out of
scripture. In Mark chapter 12 we find this
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your
soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.
The second is this love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no commandment greater than these.
Then in Matthew chapter 28 we find these words.
Then Jesus came to them and said all authority in.
Heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make. Disciples of all.
Nations baptizing them. In the name of the Father and
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything, I have commanded you, and surely I am with you
always to the very end of the age.
It's time for us as a church to GoPro and loving God and loving
others. And helping people find what?
We have. Found in Jesus, It's time.
For us to GoPro in the things that matter the most.
That is why today we are launching the 50 for 50
initiative. We're asking every person who
calls the crossing home to give 50 minutes a day for the next 50
days to live out the Great Commandments and the Great
Commission. Our team has been working
diligently behind the scenes to build out workbooks and videos
and Bible reading plans and challenges and sermons to help
each of us GoPro in the things that matter most.
A while back I had a friend that I spoke to you regularly on the
phone, but I didn't see all that often.
And he was sharing about how he was trying to get a little bit
more healthy and he was trying to eat right and he was going to
the gym, but it really didn't register to me.
And then I saw him and the change was dramatic.
However, that change did not happen overnight.
It happened a little bit at a time, over a long period of
time, and I'm sure that there are a lot of times when he
wanted a shortcut, wanted a cheat day, wanted to quit.
But the important thing is, he didn't.
He kept pushing himself even when he didn't see immediate
results. And that's the tough thing about
a journey like this. One day of working out doesn't
produce dramatic results, just a lot of pain and a lot of
soreness. Skipping a day doesn't cost you
all that much, however. Whichever thing gets repeated
consistently will shape you. For better or for worse?
50 days from now our church will be gathering all across this
region to celebrate Easter and my question is what do you want
to be different about you 50 days from now?
And I don't want you to make a decision based on your feelings.
We all have feelings that we need to be a better follower of
Jesus. We all feel like we need to be
better spouses and parents and friends.
We've had these feelings before and we will have these feelings
again. What I want to know is there
somebody who's ready to make a commitment.
There was an old song that was saying at my ordination when I
committed my life to full time ministry.
The song was I have decided to follow Jesus.
The lyrics go like this. I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back. No turning back though none go
with me. I still will follow though none
go with me. I still will follow.
Though none go with me. I still will follow.
No turning back.
The world behind me and the
cross before me. The world behind me.
The cross before me. The world behind me.
The cross before me. No turning back, no turning
back. At the CrossFit gym where I used
to work out, emphasis on used to.
There's a saying painted on the wall, and it reads like this.
Find out what happens if you don't quit, and I'll never know
because I quit. 50 days from now, there are going to be
people who will have a closer walk with Jesus 50 days from
now. They're going to be people who
are experiencing a deepening of their faith and a widening of
their impact. The question is whether or not
you will be numbered among them. I want to know, is there
somebody out there, somebody who is at one of our locations who's
ready to make a commitment? Is there somebody at one of our
locations who's ready to make a difference?
Is there someone today at 48th St. in Macomb and Kirksville
who's ready to make a change? Is there someone today at 929 in
Pike County and Hannibal who's ready to make a decision?
Is there someone today at Lima and Mount Sterling in Keokuk, in
Monmouth, who's ready to make a difference?
Is there someone today in Jacksonville watching online or
part of our crossing inside who's ready to GoPro in the
things that matter most? I know I do, and I hope you'll
join. Me.
For far too long, for far too long, many of us, we've been
playing the wrong game. We have been so focused, if you
could be honest with yourself. We have been so focused on
everything. But what's most important, and
that is Jesus and his mission for our lives.
For some of us in this room, and for those of you who are
watching online, you maybe have been winning at work, but we're
not really doing very well in the area of worship for others
of us. You've wanted money.
You've accumulated the money. You're doing really well, and it
feels good, but not so much in your generosity.
A lot of us, or some of us, or just a couple of us, you've won
at material wealth. But if I had to, if I had to
guess that the spiritual temperature in this room, some
of you feel very spiritually empty.
And for far too long we've won at being comfortable doing
things the way that we want to do them.
But a lot of us are not making that big of a difference.
Matthew chapter 16, verse 24 says this If anyone wants to
follow after me, if we want to follow after Jesus, let him deny
himself, take up his cross and follow me.
Jesus saying, listen, it's not about comfortability, it's about
denying yourself, picking up my heavy cross and following me.
And for far too long we've been playing the wrong game and I
need somebody in this room to join with me to say, listen,
it's got to stop, It's got to come to an end and that that
comes to an end today and someone's going to have to say
I'm done. I'm sick of it.
For far too long we've been playing the wrong way, haven't
we? Think about it.
We see the world. You just walk out these doors,
you get in your car, you go to Walmart.
You go to your workplace, and we see a world that is in shambles.
We see the hurt and the havoc and the lives and the people
that we love. And we see all that Satan is
trying to do, not only in our lives but also in our culture.
You don't have to look far. A lot of us, and in those
moments we we turn to what do we do?
We turn to shaming instead of serving.
We we turn to pointing fingers like, hey, that's you, that's
that's not me, that's that's you.
Instead of helping this year as we get into an election year,
it's going to be one of the most divisive years in, in our recent
history. Maybe since last election we'll
turn to elections instead of being on our knees, praying for
the process, praying for our government officials, praying
for unity that can be found within this country that we live
in. And I know you know this is
true, but our hope is not found in ourselves.
Our hope is not found in those elections or government
officials. Our hope's not found in
psychology. What you can read in books, our
hope's not found in the science class or what scientists have
said, our hope's not in the mindless and the endless
scrolling of social media where we just keep.
Is it just meat or we just keep scrolling thinking like are we
going to find what fulfills us? Are we going to find what
satisfies us? Our hope is not in those things,
but our hope is in a blood stained cross in an empty tomb
that we're going to celebrate on resurrected Sunday.
We keep wanting when I say we I am putting myself in this boat
with us. We keep wanting everybody else
to take their faith seriously without taking hours.
Very serious at all. Here's what I know.
We all want the harvest that God produces.
We want to see man, just the Providence of God.
We want to see what he can produce.
But a lot of us in this room, we're not willing to work the
soil, are we? Or or even sow the seed.
We're not willing to get our our knees dirty and our our hands
dirty and get calluses on our hands.
We we just want the harvest. And somebody in this room and
somebody online, you have to stand up at some point.
And you got to say, that has to end today.
For far too long, Satan, he has been taking ground in the lives
of the people that we care about, the people that we love
the most. He takes ground in different
habits that we've been talking about over this last series.
These habits of he takes over in anger, he takes over in
selfishness, he takes over in our own, our own selfish pride.
And what happens is he starts when he does that, he starts
stirring confusion, he starts messing with things around us.
And through all those different habits, he starts producing
depression and suicidal thoughts and self harm and even
addiction. You're just like, man, if I
could just feed this addiction, maybe some of those things will
go away. I got so much anger and so I'll
just resort to something else that will fill me up other than
going to the source of hope that we have in Jesus.
We keep thinking this is almost like insanity.
Insanity is when we keep doing the same thing, expecting
different results. But we keep going back and
saying if I just try harder, if I just resist more, then I can
win this thing. I can do this.
I'm strong enough. You don't know me.
I got tough skin. You don't know my childhood.
You don't know what I was raised with.
You don't know what my parents did to me.
You don't know anything. I will win this battle.
But I need to tell you, listen, if that is you, these are not
physical fights that we are fighting.
These are not physical battles. These are spiritual ones.
And scripture is very clear about that in Ephesians chapter
6. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood. It's not of the body.
It's not a flesh and blood. It's not a physical fight, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers
of The Dark World, and against the spiritual forces of evil and
the heavenly realms. This battle, this battle is a
spiritual one and for far too long, way too long we have been
ill equipped to fight these spiritual battles because what
we have been doing again is we've been resorting to our own
strength, our own weapons. But Paul the Apostle Paul, he
goes on to remind us that spiritual battles, they require
spiritual weapons. Let's check this out in
Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13. Therefore, put on the full armor
of God. Notice it says full armor of
God. Not just a couple pieces, not
just one piece. The full armor of God.
So that when the day of evil comes, is evil here.
Yep, it's here. You may be able to stand your
ground. And after you have done
everything to stand, stand firm. Then here's the pieces of armor
with this belt of truth buckled around your waist, with this
breastplate of righteousness and place, and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up this shield of faith for which
you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Listen, some of you, you're like, I can't hold this up much
longer. There are arrows flying at me.
You've been holding up this shield of faith, and that's what
I love about this place, That's what I love about the church, is
that there's going to be someone in times of those fiery arrows.
They're going to come, and they're going to help you hold
up that shield of faith. And I'm telling you, don't let
it down. Hold it up.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which
is the word of God. Thanks be to God for this helmet
of salvation that we have through Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God for this full armor of God.
But here's what I need you to realize about this armor of God
is almost all of those pieces are defensive weapons, right?
Think about it. Except for one.
And that's the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.
And that is why it is so beneficial for us as a people of
God to be so committed to his word.
Because it fights our battles. It is our offensive weapon.
And for far too long we have made excuses.
I have made excuses for my own passivity.
Have you? We've complained about our
ignorance of the scriptures. I don't know enough.
I don't even know where to start.
I don't understand that verse. I got lost in the book of
numbers. I got lost in in Revelation.
I don't understand what God's word is saying.
So what am I going to do? I'm going to leave it nice and
clean, right in my living room, right when people come in and
they'll see it. But I will never open it.
For far too long we've neglected our spiritual birthright and our
inheritance in the Kingdom of God, that we are His children,
that we have a savior in Jesus. And for far too long, Satan,
who's good at confusing He's been able to get us to forget
who we are, whose we are, and the power that we have through
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
And we're told clearly, very clearly in Romans chapter 8,
verse 31. If God is for us, who can be
against us? If God is for us, who can be
against us when those fiery arrows are coming?
If God is for us, who can be against us when evil is coming?
We're in this spiritual battle. If God is for us, who can be
against us in just a few verses down in 37?
Says We you in Christ, we are more than conquerors through
Jesus, through him who loved us. He loves you and he cares for
you. And when you have that
relationship with Jesus Christ, you're no longer doing it on
your own. It's no longer your battle.
He gives you a helper. The Holy Spirit takes residence
inside the believer. And inside of that, the Holy
Spirit produces something that we can't produce, at least for
very long, in Galatians chapter 5.
But the fruit of the Spirit, here's what it's produces,
Lovejoy. Peace, forbearance, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And you may be like, well, Corey, listen, I have joy.
Maybe for a moment the world and you you can manufacture
something for a little bit. I have peace right now, but how
long does that last? I I'm a kind person, but the
Holy Spirit produces these things inside of us.
We can manufacture it for a little bit and for far too long
our walk, it's been weak. If you could be honest with
yourself, if you could do this, this gut check, if you could
look back in the last 10 days, 30 days, last year, five years,
our walk has been weak. Our witness it's been diminished
and our light and this very Dark World has been dimmed.
As I was reading in Exodus yesterday my quiet time I was
reading about Moses and he was going up the mountain to talk to
the Lord and and this is the second time he he got the 10
commandments and and it says when Moses came back down this
this radiance filled just his face and around him and when
when he came down people were looking at it.
Do we look like that? Does the radiance of God go
around us as we spend time with them, as we walk out of here, as
we go into this Dark World? Today's the game, right?
There's some football game going on today.
It's called the Super Bowl. And wouldn't it be weird that if
you showed up to the Super Bowl just to watch the huddle, you're
like, yo, Brock Purdy. That's a good huddle, dude.
Thanks, man. I got my coke and I'm out.
Hey, yo, Pat Mahomes, you led that huddle.
Very good. That was an awesome huddle.
Great job. We don't show up to see the
huddle. We show up to see what happens
after the huddle and when we gather in this place, when we
gather online. Can I I need to give you
something here. Here's maybe a revelation for
some. This is the huddle.
This is not the game. This is not the end zone.
It's what we do after this that makes all the difference in the
halls of heaven, doesn't it? It's what happens when you go to
work tomorrow morning. Come on.
It's what happens when you go to work tomorrow morning and that
coworker is just he's hurting or she's hurting and and what you
do is you say I'm going to step up in the gaps and I'm going to
pray for them. It's what happens when you go
home after this huddle and you start pouring into your kids
spiritually reading the Bible, praying with them.
It's what happens when you take your spouse and you say we are
going to do this together. This is not the huddle.
And for far too long we've been coming in, these auditoriums,
we've been watching online and you're wearing the jersey of
Christ. You've got it on.
You look good. And I'm not talking about the
Chiefs jersey out there. That's not the the, the.
Yeah, no, you've been wearing this jersey of Christ and it's
messy. It's got some stains on it, some
of our coffee stains, some I see there's probably some Mac and
cheese stains out there. If you had some before you came
in, a little dribbles of milkshake.
If you would have got those out in the lobby, they they got some
stains on it. But it's time to turn all those
stains in and actually get in the game and get some grass
stains on our jerseys, isn't it? Because for far too long we've
settled from watching in the seats instead of playing on the
field and that has to end today. And I'm asking, is there someone
in this room? Is there a group of people in
this room that says I'm with you that has to go to an end today?
And I get it. There's people who are like, you
love it. There's other people who are
like, Nope, Corey, I don't understand what what could 50
minutes a day for 50 days, What difference could that make in my
own walk? What difference can that make in
my life? To those of those, to those
people, I would say this. I know a God who can draw water
from a rock. I know a God like when you read
his word, it comes alive. I know a God who can.
When the Israelite people are walking through the desert and
they're they're begging for food and they're like, why did you
bring me here? I know a God who can provide
manna from heaven and feed his entire people.
I would remind them that nothing is impossible for God.
If God is for you, who can be against you?
That you are more than conquerors through Christ?
I would remind you that he used a virgin to give birth to the
Messiah. I would remind you that he could
feed 5000 people. He did in fact feed 5000 people
plus women and children with five loaves of bread and just
two fish. I would remind them that he took
2 pennies and he made it the largest offering.
I would remind them that he took two pieces of wood and a stone
and he used it to save the world through Jesus.
I would remind them that Jesus said, if we have faith just the
size of a mustard seed, that you and you and you and you and me,
we can move mountains. I would remind you that the
disciples of Jesus, his friends who followed him, who saw the
miracles, who saw his ministry when he was crucified, they were
running. They were hiding.
They were scared. Wouldn't you be?
You just saw your best friend, the guy that you, you, you said
his, your Lord and savior, and you saw all the cool things he
did. But all of a sudden, now they're
timid, they're worried, they're embarrassed, they were sad, They
were. They were distraught and they
were discouraged. Wouldn't you be?
You just saw your friend, this guy that you gave your life to.
You fought. You left all those fishing Nets,
and you followed him. You left your life.
And now all of a sudden this happened to Jesus.
They have all these different emotions.
Maybe you have those same emotions right now, but I need
you to know this. Not 300 days.
Not 200 days, not 100, not 75. But fifty days after the
resurrection on Easter Sunday that we celebrate the
resurrection of Jesus, These disciples, these followers of
Jesus, they went out and they boldly proclaimed the message of
the gospel message of Jesus. And three 1000 people came to
faith. 50 days. See what God can do.
You're wondering what He can do with just 50 minutes a day for
just 50 days. I'm here to tell you what can't
He do? The question is that you have to
answer as an individual, not as a group, not as a family, but as
a person, as a creation of the Lord.
What will you do it with it? Will you let them do it inside
of you? We're moving to a time of
decision. This is a message that I have
been looking forward to for a long time, one because I need a
jump start, but also because I feel like our church needs a
jump start. For too many times, we've been
living based on feelings, and we have not been living based on
commitments. And for those of you in this
room and for those of you who are watching online right now,
for those of you who don't have a relationship with Jesus
Christ, listen you need to hear this.
If you haven't heard it already. You have been living your life
on your own terms. You've been doing it with your
own control. You've been calling your own
shots. And you have to really reflect
how is that working out in your life?
You've neglected this life that God has created for you, and for
far too long you have been driven by your feelings too much
and not by your commitments. But today on Super Bowl Sunday,
when everyone's going to get into a round of TV, around the
smartphones, around the computer or in the stadium, they're going
to make some ginormous celebrations when there's a
touchdown or whether it's an interception.
But for those of you who don't have a relationship with Jesus,
and you say today's the day I lay my life down.
I deny myself, I pick up the cross of Jesus and I start
following him. You get into the waters of
baptism. You make a decision for him.
Listen, that has no comparison to the cheers we're going to
hear in Vegas. There's going to be louder
cheers in this room. There's going to be louder
cheers in heaven for one Sinner who repents and turns to Jesus.
And I'm saying, is it you? Is today the day that you make
that decision? He wants to have the intimate,
personal relationship with you. And I'm saying in this moment of
worship, in just a little bit as we get ready to worship myself
and Chuck and Karen, we're going to be right over there.
If you're like, hey, I want to talk to somebody.
I want to figure out what that looks like to have that
relationship. But I have so many questions.
We would love to pray with you, talk with you, and figure out
how you take that next step today and how the Holy Spirit
can now take residence in your life and produce all the fruit
that He produces inside of you. And I would tell you this,
although that's the greatest decision you can possibly make,
you can also make the decision to go on this journey with us
for 50 days. To grow in your faith, to commit
to them for 50 minutes a day, for 50 days to help mature and
your faith, to read the word, to pray, to exercise your heart,
your your soul, your mind, your strength.
I would encourage you in this moment.
Don't let it pass up. Don't let the the events of
today and the busyness of today or the excuses of tomorrow get
in the way of your greatest decision.
And for the rest of us in this room, as Christians, as
followers of Jesus, you gave your life to Jesus Christ.
You've committed it, you've laid it down, and you said, I'm
following you. I need you to know that you're
not alone on this journey. Sometimes you just need to hear
that there's others going on this journey with you.
They may not have the same story as you.
They may not have the same hurts as you.
They may not have the same past as you, but I want you to know
that Clayton and Jennifer, they're going on this journey
with us. My wife Katie and I, we are
going to fight for 50 days on this journey together.
Our staff across 10,000 square miles along with their
congregations. We're going on this journey
together. And my biggest thing is this.
What would it look like as a church 10,000 square miles, to
be unified for 50 days, to say, Lord, I want to love you with
all my heart, soul, strength and minds.
You're not alone, so don't ever feel like you are.
There's someone rooting for you. There's somebody that's in your
corner, specifically this church.
What would happen and your family?
What would happen in your marriage?
What would happen with your kids?
What would happen in your workplace?
What would happen in your heart if you just said this is
something I have to do. And so in just a little bit one
of the ways that I'm going to encourage you to respond, it's
going to take some movement it it might even take some
uncomfortability. And and for some of you, you've
heard this so many times and you're just like, I know, I know
Corey, I know Clayton, I know Jerry.
Like I know it's coming. But this is a movement that I
want to see our whole church take one.
When you take it seriously, there is a commitment card on
every single chair in this auditorium.
You can look at it right now. Pull it out.
Pulled out. Some of you already maybe threw
in the trash. Go get in the trash and pull it
back out. Some of you put in your pocket.
But I want you to hold it out right now.
In your hands there's a pen. Even these last few moments that
I'm preaching, I want you to right now ask Is this the
commitment I'm willing to make to spend 50 minutes a day for 50
days with the Lord? Will it hurt you?
Will it benefit you? And during this next song, as we
sing, I have decided to follow Jesus.
And when you fill that out, you would just come late.
At these steps. You drop it at the steps.
Maybe you get on your knees and you pray over it.
Lord, I'm scared. I'm scared.
I've never made a commitment this big.
Lord, would you help me? I don't want to fail you.
And he will be there with you. You'll see an army of brothers
and sisters that are doing this with you.
We make a commitment today. I'm begging you.
The Lord is begging you. Spend time with him, invest in
this relationship with him and see what he can do over the next
50 days. Would you stand with me?
Let's pray together. God, we love you.
Thank you, Jesus, for this time. Thank you for our leadership,
our elders and and Father for Clayton and God, just for this
vision that they have felt that you just lead them in and lead
them through. And God, I pray right now and
for every heart and every person that's listening to my voice as
they hold a pen in their hand, as they hold the card in their
hand that they would declare, I can do this.
I can grow in my relationship with you.
There's room for growth. That for far too long we've
settled for mediocracy. But today we we we want to
surrender at all. We want to join you in this
journey. God, I pray for this moment.
I pray for the fear that it's going to find somebody, the
excuses that's coming through their minds and their hearts.
And I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would remove those and you
let them see and be encouraged by movement in this room.
But they don't respond because of their feelings.
They respond because of their commitment.
That day one starts tomorrow. We thank you so much, Jesus.
We pray all this in your name. Amen.