Crossing family for thankful to be a church.
They let me hear a whoop-whoop. I have been looking forward to
getting together and being with you all week long.
It is so nice to be able to kind of pull ourselves out of our
circumstances and kind of lift our eyes from the lower story,
fix our eyes, on the upper story of what God can do and what God
can redeem. And I am so glad that you're
here today here at 48th Street at all of our different
locations. And of course, those of you
watching online and inside on the front end, I want to make a
couple of announcements. First one is next weekend on
this stage. Jerry Harris will be back and
he'll be preaching. He's my wife's favorite preacher
and so when he gets back it's going to be a great time.
If you're excited to have Jerry back.
Put your hands together, it's gonna be good.
He's going to be closing out this sermon series, and the
sermon that he's going to be preaching, is there has to be a
place that gives people truth. And in a world that is full of
shifting sand and all kinds of challenges.
We got to have something to hold on to.
We have to have something to cling to and I can't think of
anybody. You better to bring that word
than Jerry and I can't think of any better truth in the truth of
God's word. The second thing I want to make
you aware of is on Super Bowl weekend.
We are going to have an incredible service planned at
all of our different locations Jerry and I are switching it up
a little bit this year. It's gonna be something new.
We haven't done this before. We actually brought somebody in,
we interviewed them. I don't want to tell you who
they are, but I am rooting hard for the Chiefs to win today, and
they are going to be sharing. A story we got to meet with them
this week an absolutely incredible person and a truly
touched by just the way that they interacted their love for
the Lord. And I think you guys are going
to be absolutely blessed. The second thing we're going to
be doing and we're going to be doing this at all of our
locations is we are going to be celebrating and coming along
side of all of our communities schools and their Sports
programs and after-school activities.
How many of you when you were in high school or Junior?
Hi. You were a part of choir.
Show choir jazz band band. Football basketball wrestling,
baseball volleyball, all the sports cheerleading.
Yeah. Okay, how many of you you had a
great time with those directors. And those coaches, they invest
in you, they helped shape who you are parents.
You get this. You are not the only voice that
your kid is hearing. You are not the only voice that
they respect. Sometimes you're like, they
don't respect my voice at all, and you are Super thankful for
good. Godly coaches teachers and
directors. And what we want to do is a
church is we want to come alongside of them and we want to
celebrate them that weekend. So here are a couple things that
we're going to be doing to celebrate them one.
We're going to be doing, I believe are the largest giveaway
in our Church's history because we've committed to giving 25,000
dollars a way we could give up to 50,000 dollars away that
weekend. And here's how we're going to do
that forever. We're going to we've already
been talking to all the different school systems and
their after-school activities. Going to have a chance to
register. And then what we're going to do
is we're going to give you guys all the chance to vote and for
you, you get to pick. Hey, I am a part of this school
and this is the activity that we really love, or my kids really
love and however, many people pick that one.
They're going to get five bucks. We're going to be donating $5 on
behalf of every single person who attends to whatever it is
that you choose. And our hope in that is that
it's going to be an incredible encouragement to our schools
because they've had a rough two years.
Would you guys agree. Second thing is we want to
change the narrative. If churches are known for taking
money but they're not necessarily known for giving it
away. And so we want to kind of flip
the script on that. We're not doing it because we're
flush with cash. We're doing it because we love
our communities. We want them to love Jesus and
we're going to do everything in our power to make that a
reality. Is that deal with you?
Okay? Great.
Now, what I want you guys to do is I want you to pray or and
we're going to price, would you stand up real quick?
This is going to get deep quick, so I'm sorry for the rough
transition. But even though I have those
announcements stuff, this is something I really wanted us to
pray for all across our region. Don't put your hand up yet.
Let me just talk to you first. Okay, we've been praying for
different groups of people and if you're brand new to our
church, this might freak you out a little bit.
Just know you're surrounded by just unbelievably awesome people
and you're going to see that in just a second.
The specific group of people that I want to pray for is I
want to pray for people who are battling addiction depression,
anxiety, mental health, challenges eating disorders,
self-harm and suicidal thoughts. And I don't want to just pray
for for those people for you, but I also want to pray for
those of you who are on a journey with somebody who's
struggling in one of those areas because I know that there can be
an awful lot of weight that you end up carrying through that
process. You have a lot of worry because
of their anxiety or their challenges in the last two
years, we've seen a huge spike in all of those areas that I
just mentioned. We know it's hard.
We know that it can be heartbreaking and we know that
it can be exhausting. And so whether you are
experiencing them personally or somebody that you care about is,
we know that sometimes these situations can feel hopeless.
So real quick, if you are either battling these things or you are
doing life with somebody, Because battling things, maybe
you're a friend, a co-worker, a parent, a brother, or sister, a
grandparent. Would you guys just raise your
hand at all of our different locations?
Okay? Now what we're going to do is
we're going to pray for you and if you're going, I don't want
anybody to come over and get any closer to me because the cove
and stuff like that, I completely understand.
But if you would like someone to come and put their hand on you
and pray with you leave your hand up.
People on our church, our difference-maker staffing.
People are going to move around when someone puts their hand on
your shoulder. Go ahead and put your hand down
if You're a super strong Christian and your have your
hand up, but you're seeing that somebody else has their hand up
to, would you go and find that hand?
Put your hand on their shoulder, so we can pray for him.
I'm seeing a couple people in the back over there.
Campus pastors, if you need to kind of direct traffic at your
location because I want to make sure we pray for some people
today. Okay.
All right, while you're there, before you start praying, let me
give you three. Verses pay attention to me
because these verses are life-changing versus one first.
Peter 5:7. It says, cast all your anxiety
on him him as God because he cares for you.
You can give him all of your worries, all of your fears, all
of your pain, all of your cares to God, because he cares about
you. How do I know that he cares
about you? Because he's got holes in his
hands. How do I know that?
He cares about you? Because he God, sent his son,
Jesus to die on the cross, for your sins, and for my sins for
your pain, your struggles, he came for those.
You need to know that when you're praying to God, you're
praying to a God who cares second thing.
Psalm 99 says the Lord is a refuge for the A stronghold in
times of trouble, and if you were to go through the list of
things that I just mentioned, you would say that sounds like
trouble. Doesn't it?
And I want you to know that in your troubles, you can cling to
Jesus. He is a stronghold that will
never let you down. Here's the most important one,
Romans chapter 8. No, in all things we are more
than conquerors through him. Who loved us for?
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels,
nor demons, neither the present, nor the future nor any powers
neither height nor Dep or anything else in all of creation
will be able to separate us from the love of God.
That is in Christ. Jesus, our lord.
I know, right now those of you who are battling this, you could
be tempted to say, God doesn't love me because I'm wrestling
with this. God doesn't love me.
And those of you who are part of this church and your loving
people who are in that, I need you to be able to look them in
the eye. I need.
You be able to pull out Romans ER, 8 and say, you need to know
that nothing can separate and nothing can stop God from loving
you. That is hope that every single
person needs and it's a hope that every single one of us
should share, would you guys pray with me?
Heavenly Father, Right now, I know that I'm praying a prayer
that is stretching over 10,000 square miles and I cannot even
imagine how many people are hurting.
God, I know that there are a lot of people that feel like their
situation is hopeless, but there's no way out.
I know there's some people that are just tired and worn out from
the long battle on the long journey.
And God, I pray that you would make your presence known to them
that you would confirm in their spirit that you love them that
you care about them and that you are close and that you will not
leave them and you will not abandon them.
Help us as a church to be people.
Care. And are your hands and your feet
in those situations. Give us a wisdom to know what to
say. And when to say it and how to
say it in Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
God bless you guys. Would you have a seat?
Well, we're in a sermon series called there has to be a place
Week 1. We said there has to be a place
for everyone and it's going to take every one of us to make
that happen. And we looked at this spiritual
Spectrum. And we realized that we have an
obligation and a responsibility to everybody on this Continuum
to those who are far from Jesus and to those who've been
following Jesus for a really long time.
And we also recognize that we have a spiritual obligation to
our region and that our hope is to make this region and whatever
God grows it to be the hardest place on planet Earth to get the
hell from that many years from now multiple Generations from
now. People would say I was fortunate
enough to be born in a The they had a church that believe that
God could change things that there would make a place a home
where anybody was welcomed. And if anybody could find Jesus
and then we talked about there has to be a place that gives
people time and that sometimes we acknowledge this truth that
we can get frustrated because it takes longer than we would like
for people to grow in their relationship with.
Jesus are fine. Jesus and we committed as a
church that we're going to be a place that's going to continue
to give and love and serve. Serve and care and pray for
people until they find their relationship with Jesus.
We want to give them the time. They need, we're going to be
patient with them because we recognize that Jesus has been
abundantly patient with us. And then we talked about there
has to be a place for Water Walkers for people to take their
steps of faith. And we want to root for them and
cheer for them and celebrate them and encourage them on that
Journey. But we also recognized that we
can't cheer for people from Boat that it's only after we take our
Steps of Faith that we're able to turn around and encourage
other people to take theirs. And then last week, we talked
about there has to be a place that tells people, it's not over
that while we may fail our failures, do not have to be
final that we learned about Jesus and that we serve a Jesus
who went set walked 70 miles out of his way to cook breakfast on
a beach for a guy who betrayed him.
And that there has to be a place that reaches out.
And restores people that proudly proclaims, that when Jesus is in
the story, the story isn't over today.
My sermon is called there has to be a place for lost causes turn
to your neighbor. Say lost causes There has to be
a place for lost causes. I'm guessing.
That just a couple of moments ago when I asked you to raise
your hands. some of you that raised your hand, you feel like
a lost cause you feel like, because of everything that
you've been through and everything that you're going
through, But there's not much to look forward to. you think that
if the people around you could use a phrase to describe you,
they might, they might whisper, they're a lost cause maybe
you're a person who's been journeying with somebody for a
really long time. and while you don't say it to him publicly and
while you still hop in your car and drive over when they need
it, there's times where you just feel like the situation that
you're in is a bit of a lost cause And so on the outset of
this message, I want to tell you my my desire is today, I'll my
hope is to give you hope. Is to rekindle a belief in you
that when Jesus is in the picture, there's no such thing
as lost causes that when Jesus enters the scene, everything can
change. Today, we're going to look at a
story of what happens when Jesus encounters a lost.
Cause tell me if you think that this guy sounds like a lost.
Cause Mark, chapter 5 verse 1 through 5, then they went across
the lake member, we've been talking about there has to be a
place to the Region of the gerasenes when Jesus got out of
the boat. A man, with an impure Spirit, if
you look at this in the original language and depending on what
Bible you use, they would say he's demon-possessed, okay?
So this is a pretty soft rendering.
He's he's he's got it. He's demon-possessed came from
the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs and
no one could bind him anymore. So he's been tied up.
What's he been tied up with not even with the chain.
For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he toured the
chains apart and broke the irons on his feet.
No one was strong enough to subdue him night and day among
the tombs and in the Hills, he would cry out and cut himself
with stones. Do you feel the pain of this
moment? I mean, if you are just reading
through this, would you have read through it so fast that you
wouldn't have allowed it to sink in.
Can we take just a little bit of time?
And just explore what it would have been like to be this guy.
I mean, what was it? What was he like, before this
moment? Can you see him?
Can you see him playing in the dirt as a small child?
Can you see the smile on his face?
As he learned to ride a bike with his father?
Can you see his cheeks? Get red as he experiences his
first crush? Did he excel at sports?
Or did he have a gifted mind for learning?
What was he like when he was a boy?
Parents, you've been there? You remember that there is this
day where your kids would come down and you would talk them and
they still have their baby voice.
And then one day they came downstairs and they talk to you
and it was gone and you didn't know it was gone until you watch
an old video and you hear it parents.
Do you remember what it was like when your kids?
I'd still give you a kiss on the lips before they headed off to
school but one day you kissed him and that was the last time
that you got a kiss, but you didn't know.
It was the last time when you gave it, What was it like to be
this guy? And now he's something
different. I mean, he possesses
Supernatural strength, but not the kind of strength that's used
to help people. It's the kind of strength that's
used for Destruction. His once baby soft.
Skin is now. Tarnished with the marks of him,
cutting himself with stones, his four arms and legs are a
tattered mess telling the story of a life of pain and suffering.
Can you see the people who tried to bind him?
This is a small town. We get small towns.
Who were the people that tried to bind him?
Was that the very same guys that he went to homecoming and prom
with? Who were the his former
classmates was at the ones that he hung out with after school
that had to try and put the irons around his feet.
This wasn't some unknown face. This was somebody that they grew
up with that. They skipped rocks on the very
Shores, that Jesus docked on. Can You Feel It?
Do you see his parents, the one small child that they held in
their hands and dreamed about what his future would be?
Would he take over the family business or what he venture out
on his own? Did he marry somebody?
Oh, he wasn't this way when he got down on one knee.
But over time, he became the sky.
Does she? They have kids?
Is the son picked on at school because he doesn't excel at
sports because he doesn't know how to play the game like
everybody else because he's never had a dad around to show
him. What's the daughter like Does
she moved from relationship with one guy to a relationship with
another guy to a relationship with another guy?
Desperately trying to fill the hole in her heart, that should
have been filled by a father, What's it like at Christmas
does? The mom give them presents from
dad even though they know that dad's not around.
Did she tell him? What happened or does she keep
it a secret? What's it like for this guy and
his family late at night? Do they turn on the sound
machine? Do they get a box fan and turn
it on high to create as much white noise as possible to make
sure that they don't hear the cries of their father, as they
try to go to sleep. Because night and day, he cries
out from the tombs. if there was ever a lost cause I think this
guy was it. If you and I were to chart this
guy on the spiritual Spectrum. Where would you put him?
I mean I think we can all agree. He's not a minus one.
Probably not a -3. If I were to say -5 some of you
would go Clayton. That's way too.
Conservative, where would you place him at this point in the
story on the spiritual Continuum, I'm guessing most of
us would put him off screen because let's just admit this
guy's a lost cause Let's keep reading in the text.
What happens next when he, this is the demon-possessed man saw
Jesus from a distance way off. He ran and fell on his knees in
front of him. He shouted at the top of his
voice. What do you want with me?
Jesus, Son of the most high God in God's name.
Don't torture me. For Jesus had said to him come
out of this man. You impure Spirit then Jesus
asked him, what is your name? My name is Legion.
He replied for. We are many Now, we found
ourselves in a spiritual standoff.
On one side, we have Jesus, Son of God, most high.
Who's the one who says this? What's the demon-possessed, man?
Well, how did the demon-possessed man know who
Jesus was? Well, it's because, you know,
this in your Bible and James chapter 2, it says even demons,
believe that there is one God and they shudder at the thought
of it, the demons know exactly who's in the presence.
It's everybody else who's trying to catch up.
So you have Jesus on one side and then on the other side, you
have this man who's possessed by a legion of demons, which is an
odd thing to say, Allegiant is a military number.
It's this used to describe a Detachment of 6,000 soldiers.
So are there a thousand demons in this man?
Or is we just trying to go? There's lots of demons.
It appears. I'm just being honest, that
Jesus is outmatched. I mean, maybe maybe Jesus could
do something. If it was one.
Jesus verse one demon Or maybe one Jesus verse a couple smaller
demons. The odds are not in his favor.
This is one. Jesus first thousands of demons
if there was ever a lost cause this had to be it, this guy's
finally in the presence of Jesus, but Jesus is so vastly
outnumbered This guy's a lost cause and everybody can see it.
Let's keep going and he begged Jesus again and again not to
send him out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding
on the nearby Hillside, the demons begged Jesus send us
among the pigs allow us to go into them.
He gave them permission and the impure Spirits.
The demons came out of the man and went into the pigs.
The heard about two thousand in number rushed down the Steep
Bank into the lake and were drowned.
Now pause for just a second, we've been given a bunch of
numbers in this story. We were given a legion that's
6,000. And then we were given a group
of pigs about 2,000. So it's reasonable to believe
that all of the pigs have the exact same effect.
As soon as they experience the demon, they ran off the hills
and they died. So, I think it's safe to say
that there were at least two thousand demons that had taken
up residence in this man's life. Let's just say, it was a real
number of 6,000 and each Pig got three demons.
There's a lot of math for this early in the morning.
I get it. Look what happens to the pigs?
The moment three demons interim that run down the bank.
They jump into the water and they drown and die.
And this man has had all of those demons Waging War in his
life. For, who knows, how long if
there was ever a lost cause this was it.
Well let's keep going. Those tending to pigs.
Ran off and reported this in the town and the countryside.
Well this would be big news. If 2000 pigs showed up dead in
any of our communities today. There'll be an awful lot of
news. I mean I'll be right there in
the middle of it with my smoker I would have been right there.
Like this is a tragedy, I'm hoping one happens in a couple
weeks, okay? And the people went out to see
what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they
saw the man who this is past tense.
For those of you like, English had been possessed by the Legion
of demons sitting there. Dressed.
And in his right mind and they were afraid, This man had an
encounter with the Son of God, and now all the people are
seeing him sitting there. Remember our previous
descriptions here, and about night and day among the tombs.
Now, he's just sitting there, he's not cutting himself, he's
not Breaking Chains, he's under control.
They see him dressed. Luke goes that this man had not
worn clothes in a long time. He just ran about the tombs
naked. Furthermore, he's in his right
mind, he's no longer running around the tombs.
Crying out, cutting himself, he's sitting there dressed and
in his right mind, something had happened to him.
Something had gone on. He had been changed.
He had been made new. It was almost as if second
Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ there, a
new creation and the oldest. On.
And the new has come. He's interacted with somebody
who specializes in lost causes. Oh, that's right.
He met Jesus. And Jesus loves lost causes and
Jesus specializes in lost causes.
And if I were to be honest with you, and I think if you were to
be honest with me, we would agree that there are a lot of
lost causes in our communities. There are a lot of people that
we would not not publicly and definitely not a church that we
would call lost causes and I'm here to tell you that there has
to be a place for lost causes. And I'm saying that place should
be right here right now and it should be with us.
It means that they're going to be people welcomed into the
different doors that are different locations that you
don't like and you don't agree with and they're going to be
people that you see here that have hurt you and have wronged
you but the one who hurt you and wronged, you maybe hasn't met
Jesus. Just yet there still - there's
still - 5 or whatever you would classify him as there, might be
a person that comes to this church that you are praying to
God that they would leave you alone and I need you to know.
That's fine. I just need to know that there's
other people praying to God, that they would be saved.
There has to be a place. That means that Jerry or myself
or campus pastors are different staff.
Might hang out with people that frustrate you because of who
they are, how they are but I'm telling you there has to be a
place for lost causes because I was a lost cause you see me
standing here in front of you. Dressed.
Thank you. Jennifer and in my right mind,
mostly, and every week you let me come up and I get to talk to
you about Jesus. Because what you're seeing is
you're seeing a snapshot of me after Jesus got a hold of me,
but I didn't date your daughter in high school.
I didn't run with your son in high school.
You want the police officer that picked me up?
That's not who you are. You just know me after Jesus.
and if you had a place to bet on me before Jesus got ahold out of
me, you do lost And I'm willing to wager that if somebody placed
a bet on you before Jesus got a hold of you they do lost to
there, has to be a place that looks at people, in their pre
Jesus and has an imagination about what they could be post.
Jesus. Because when Jesus gets ahold of
somebody, there's no such thing as a lost cause look what
happens. Those who had seen it.
Told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed
man and told about the pigs as well.
Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their
region. These people don't want to be
around. Let's keep going.
As Jesus was getting into the boat.
The man who had been demon-possessed begged to go
with him. Jesus did not let him but said,
go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has
done for you and how he has had mercy on you.
So the man went away and began to tell in the decapolis, that's
the 10 cities. How much Jesus had done for him
and all the people were amazed. All the man wanted to do after
Jesus had rescued him. It's just stay with Jesus.
Can you blame him? Isn't that kind of what you want
to do from time to time it happens every year at camp with
our kids. They go there and they have such
an incredible experience and they'll say things to the small
group leader. I just wish I could stay here
and sometimes you guys have that experience that are different
locations. You like I just wish they'd sing
another worship song when Jerry's preaching.
Like I wish there was just another sermon, if we could just
stay here a little bit longer because listen, it is great to
be in The Fellowship of Christians.
It's great to be around. People who love you and who love
the Lord, but that's not why we exist.
We exist to take our story and go out into the world and tell
people what can happen when Jesus gets a hold of him.
And that's exactly what he did. That man went and he told his
story, he lived out his testimony in front of the very
people that they saw, right? That testimony, when you met
this guy on the spiritual Spectrum.
When we were looking at him, Where would you have placed him
before he met Jesus? Well, he meets Jesus he wants to
stay with Jesus, but Jesus sends him out.
And the next time Jesus comes to that Region, 4 thousand people
show up and they get fed by Jesus, how did that region go
from one dude, in a region where they said, get away from us?
Jesus to the next time he comes back?
There's 4,000 people ready to hear the word of God.
How does that happen? I'll tell you Like I was a lost
cause now, where would you place in now, where would you place
the guy who brings 4,000 people, to the feet of Jesus?
Where would you put him on this spiritual Continuum if you're a
three Maybe. Maybe we shouldn't spend so much
time. Looking at how lost a cause
might be and start thinking about how big our Jesus is.
When he enters a situation or a person who is a lost cause there
has to be a place for lost causes there has to be a place
for lost causes so they can be loved and cared for until they
become face to face with Jesus. There has to be a place that
helps them turn their lives around and then sends them out
to share what God can do with a person.
Just like them. if you would have, if you were like me, you
would have put him at -1000. But when Jesus got a hold of
him, there was no stopping him. I don't just think that that's
true for that man. I know it's true and me and I
know it's true in some of you and there's not a person that is
listening to the sound of my voice that God, can't redeem
repurpose and restore. You are not a lost cause as long
as Jesus is Alive, and we know that Jesus is Alive.
We also know he's coming back. We want to help you get ready
for that. We're moving to a time of
decision. There are some of you in here
today that you've never started an intimate personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, I just need you to hear me
say this. When Jesus is in the picture,
there's no such thing as a lost cause there's no situation, no
circumstance, no challenge that he can't overcome.
And I know that for some of you in here, you're going Clayton, I
get it. But you just don't know how lost
I am. And I just need you to know
you're right. But you don't know how jacked up
the people of that you're sitting next to really are.
You don't know how messed up the people in your row really are
because you're just seeing there.
After Jesus life, you don't know the depths of their pre Jesus
life. You don't know how much that he
can redeem and restore and repurpose and reuse because
maybe we owe you an apology. And we haven't shared the depths
of our pre Jesus life. And you might be sitting there
going man, Clayton. I hear that but I mean I'm a
really, I'm a really bad person and I've done really, really bad
things and I just need you to know.
Yeah, that's the room, you're in.
That all of us have sinned, all of us have fallen fallen short
and continue to fall short. but it's Jesus, that changes it and
redeems, it and I would hate for you to be in this room or
watching online and believing that the good news of Jesus is
good for everybody, but you Because the real power of Jesus
is when you realize it's for you.
That when he comes into your life, everything can change.
And I've said this a ton of times here and I'm just going to
keep saying it. I know you think that if I just
need to get a couple more things figured out and then I'll say
yes to Jesus. I just got to fix a couple
things on my end. I just need you to hear me.
They call him the demoniac in the scriptures.
Here's what he would have said, if he was you, I just got to get
these demons down to like 5,000. 998, then maybe Jesus can 6000.
She's too much. He's like, you know what, if I
can just get, if I could just get down to four thousand
demons. Maybe then Jesus could I got to
do my part. I maybe, if I could get, if I
can Whittle these demons down, if I could just get rid of these
issues down to, like 2,500, you know, that'd be great less than
half. What would you say to him?
What would you say to the guy? Who's like, I've only got one
demon. I don't even need Jesus.
No, you'd look at that guy and go one demon, that's all you
got. But you can't get rid of it.
You can't shake it on your own power because you and I can't
fix sin. We can't no matter how big or
how small you think it is, you can't fix it, which is why God
sent Jesus on your behalf. So whether you send a lot or a
little, every single one of us equally needed the grace, that
was provided to us through. Jesus Christ on the cross and
you can have it, and you can experience it and you can place
it in your heart today. And if you want it, it's just a
few moments. There are people here.
That would love to answer some of the questions that you have
and they're going to be right over there by the baptistry.
When the people around you stand up.
I want you to seriously think about coming up here and get
talking to them and start that relationship to the rest of you
in the room. I want to talk to you about two
different groups one. I know that some of you you're
dealing with it, your journey with somebody and it's hard
right now. I just need you to remember
that. Jesus is bigger than anything
that they face. Do not lose, hope do not be
discouraged. He is ever present.
He is the helper you've always wanted and he can supply more
than you could ever imagine. Don't give up the person.
You are walking with is not a lost cause they just haven't met
the full power of Jesus yet, and God might be using you.
Yeah, you yeah. You to be Jesus to them.
So don't hold back. I want this to be a church that
bumps into a lost cause and says you can come to church, you can
come to my church and you can sit with me and that we would be
a group of people that take joy and sitting amidst what other
people would call lost causes. But we proudly oh no that's
exactly where I want to be because that's where Jesus is
You notice. Jesus, just hopped on a boat
came over interact with the demon-possessed, man, and then
got back on the boat. It's all he wanted to do.
There's a demon-possessed man over there and I'd love, I'd
love to spend some time with him.
Those of us who are Christians, we need to be people that are
willing to spend time with people that others have called a
lost cause because we know there's no such thing.
Maybe some of you. You need to pray about the
situation you're in. It's so close to home, and
you've been seeing the problem, get big, and your Jesus somehow
has gotten smaller. You've been fighting the fight
for a really long time. You've been answering the phone
calls, you've been making the emergency trips for so long,
you're just worn out, and maybe you need to just get down on
your knees for the Lost Cause in your life in the Lost Cause and
your family and you need to just lift them up in prayer.
Maybe you need to lift yourself up and go God.
I'm just tired and I'm worn out. In my perspective has been jaded
over time, I need you to give me fresh eyes.
I need you to Kindle in my spirit, that you still move, and
you still heal, and you still change people.
I keep wondering. What could God do with the
church like that? All I know is it's only going to
happen if you do it and I do it because it's going to take
everyone to make this place that kind of place.
Would you join me? But stand Got them believe in
right now that you're going to do something special in our
hearts got to whether we get to see it or not.
We want to be a church that's committed to you.
That believes in you that chases after the people that you came
for. God, I can't imagine the amount
of pain and discouragement and frustration and hurt.
That's being carried by people in this room and online right
now. But God, I rejoice in the fact
that you are big enough to manage it.
All you're big enough to hear every prayer to pay attention to
every need that nothing escapes. You So, we got over these next
couple of songs. Would you just Have a genuine
encounter with all of us. Make it clear what we're
supposed to do. In your name.
I pray. Amen.