Letters: 2 Thessalonians 1

Fireworks fade fast, but the questions linger: what does freedom actually require, and what does it cost to keep your faith when the current is moving the other way? We start with something simple and surprisingly powerful, the practice of writing letters, then we open Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 1 and let them challenge us. When Paul praises a persecuted church for growing faith and increasing love, we hear a message many of us need today: keep going, stand firm, and don’t let pressure rewrite your convictions.

We talk honestly about what persecution can look like in modern life, not always dramatic, but often personal. Being left out by friends, misunderstood by family, or punished professionally for living by Christian values can wear you down. We anchor the response in Scripture and in a clear call to live with courage and love, while also praying for America with gratitude for the freedom to worship and the responsibility that comes with it.

Then we give a practical framework we can all pray: recovery, restoration, repentance, and release. We ask God to restore awe, rebuild what’s been broken, turn hearts away from sin, and break chains of addiction, trauma, and strongholds. We close with an invitation to follow Jesus, plus next steps so no one has to walk alone.

If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs strength, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. What’s the one “R” you’re asking God for right now?

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Transcript

Holiday Welcome And Letter Stories

Celeste Brown 0:00

Well, good morning. Happy Independence Day weekend. I am so grateful that you were here. That means that you actually slept last night. And um, yeah, and they go on all night long. Yes. But I am so glad that you're here for the 9 a.m. Um, how many of you lost your pet last night? No, we didn't. We didn't. Um, but I know ours was very, very scared. Uh, we're continuing on this morning with our series on letters, and um, I just wanted to share a little bit about Jay and I. Um, we used to write letters to each other all the time, and I just thought it was really cool. I did not live in the same area as him, I lived a couple hours away, and he lived in the city, and so when we started dating, uh, we talked all the time on the phone. Yes, we had cell phones um during our dating time, uh, and we would text, but there's something about a letter when you get a letter, and every now and then he would send one to me in the mail and I would send one to him. And it was just those warm feelings you get when you're like, I got a letter, and you open it up and you're reading it and you're rereading it and you're dissecting it, and you're like thinking of the different things that it said and those two words and um just all the things, and we used to do that quite often. And um, once we were married, we would still write letters to each other. Uh, when we got ready to go into missions, Jay traveled a lot, and so he was always speaking at different locations, and so uh I would write letters to him and I'd slip it in his bag before he left, and then he would find it when he arrived at a hotel. And it's just again, those feelings of just trying to express something inside of a letter. Uh, I've actually saved all of the letters, and I know you're hoping I brought one with me to read this morning, but I didn't. Uh, but we do, we saved all of our letters, and maybe one day our kids uh will get all of those and they'll be like, oh my goodness, my parents are crazy. Uh but we did. We saved everything, we have them, and it's just something that is very special to go back and to look at and to read over and over. But letters are valuable, there's just something about them. Um when you receive a letter or when you write a letter, there's just intentionality in that letter. Um, it shows that you care. Somebody actually took time and they thought through things and they put it into words, and they just wanted to say something to you. I don't emails are different. I don't really feel the same about emails as I do about letters because it's something physical that you can carry with you. I know your emails on your uh on your iPhone or whatever you carry, but the letters, something about the letter, and you took intentionality to write it, it also helps the writer think through things before they send it. So if you write in pen, you probably wrote many drafts. If you write in pencil, there's a lot of erasing marks. But you get to think it through, and then you put thought into it. It also helps the reader to feel valued and loved and respected. Because you open up that letter and you're like, wow, this is directly to me, and

Freedom To Worship With Gratitude

Celeste Brown 3:20

I completely understand what's being written here. As we celebrate 250 years as a nation this weekend, we are reminded of God's faithfulness. He's faithful. He's faithful. You need to see America exists as a unique idea. One nation under God. One nation under God. It was founded in liberty and not dictated by royals. That's why I think America has such a fascination with royal families, because we don't have one over us. All citizenry have the opportunities given to them by God. We are created equal. We have the freedom to worship. And I pray that you never take that for granted. Ever. Ever. That you don't have to be stopped by somebody on Sunday morning asking you where you're going. I've been in churches in other countries where if the church started to grow, you would be questioned. Because only the foreigners should be going there and nobody else. I hope you do not take for granted your freedom to worship. You get to freely come into the house of God this morning and lift up the name of Jesus. Today we're gonna look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And Paul is writing to the church again. So this is another letter that he is sending to them. And I want you as we dive into it to consider our own country and the applications of the lessons that were learned and how we live those out today. So if you're a guest with us, I want to just say welcome. We're it's an honor to have you here today. Maybe you're visiting from out of town, maybe you're just coming for the first time. Welcome. Uh, we pray that you um just understand that we are a church who believes that Jesus is the Son of God and He has risen and He has set us free from many, many things. And so we are here today to just honor and lift up the name of Jesus and to dive into the Word of God. Um, so I pray that you feel welcomed here today. We desire to be more like Jesus, and it is not easy. It's not easy at all, but every single day that's what we do. We try to be more like Jesus. We love God, we make disciples, we reach the world, and uh we have a season of life groups. They are on pause right now as we get ready to enter into a new season of life groups. So I want to encourage you to get ready, because I tell you all the time, try to be a part of something, at least one. Jump in. So when those open again, I pray that you find yourself in an amazing group where you can grow in the word of God.

Reading 2 Thessalonians On Steadfastness

Celeste Brown 6:20

Uh, we're gonna start by reading 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. If you have your Bible with you, you can open it up. Maybe you have your iPhone, open that. And uh we're gonna go into chapter 1, starting in verses 1 through 4. It says, Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as it is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. You see, Paul's writing another letter to the church. And when a letter is received, you want to dive in and look at it because he has something to say. He wants to get a message across to everyone there. And it says in this letter that he's boasting in God's goodness to the Thessalonians for preserving their faith and allowing them to remain steadfast. So something's going on in the city, and it's going on and it's so big that he needs to take time to write them a letter and say, hey, listen, I'm proud of you. Because you are not giving up, but you are pressing on. And so, good job. How many of you just need a good job every now and then? You just need somebody to say, good job, good job, good job. I'm proud of you. That's what he's doing. He's sending a letter to the church saying, Listen, I am proud of you for pressing onward. Good job. The believers in Thessalonike endured intense persecution because they had taken a firm stand for Christ. Good job. Good job. Despite facing many trials and great persecution, the Christians have remained devout to the message of Jesus. Scripture says that people will rise up and they will say that they are the leader or the God. Don't listen to them, but only listen to the truth that is in the word. And so I am sure in that city, people were saying all types of things. And Paul's telling them, good job for sticking to the message of Jesus. Yesterday, about 50 people gathered together in this sanctuary to pray. It was amazing. Um, 4th of July weekend, Independence Day, you can be doing a lot of things, but people showed up to pray. And our movement organized an all-day event across the United States, and it was called America Prays 250. And what they asked the churches to do was at 9 a.m. local time, wherever you are, organize a prayer time where you open up the sanctuary, you let people come in, and you have prayer points and you begin to pray for our nation. We need it. We need it. We have so much to be thankful for, and we must continue to pray. And so this weekend there was a big marker for our nation, as you know. 250 years ago, we fought and we won our independence as a nation. A new land was sought where people could practice their faith without hindrance. A people fought through famine, disease, and war to establish a nation with God's help. And again, if you want to appreciate what you have, I encourage you to go and live somewhere else for just a little while and you'll realize what you don't have very quickly. And so when you sit here in the land of the free, it's always easy to find things to complain about because that's what we do by nature. We complain. But man, look at the freedom that you have and say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Just

Modern Persecution And Standing Firm

Celeste Brown 11:00

as Paul wrote to the church, I want to tell you this here today. That I boast in God's goodness for preserving your faith and allowing you to remain steadfast. Just because we live in a nation that is founded on God does not mean that this culture has a heart after God. And you know that is truth. You can see it in your own family, you can see it in your neighborhoods, you can see it in your workplace, and of course you can see it on the news. It means that each and every day we die to self and we choose. We choose to follow Jesus. We choose. And you have to do everything you can to stand and stand firm and to push your way against what is happening in the water. Because I know what it is like to live in this world, but you do not have to be part of this world and what they're doing. And you stand and you stand strong and you stand firm. Some of you, just like the church in um Thessalonica, they endured persecution. And I know maybe you think, oh, well, we don't endure persecution here the way other parts of the world do. Maybe not. Maybe you're not gonna be beheaded before this service is over. Thank God. But there is persecution that comes in other forms, and you have felt it, and maybe you're enduring it even now. Maybe there's family and friends that have cut you off because of your faith in Jesus. Let me tell you this, they just don't want to feel guilty around you. So they just don't invite you. They don't want you to see what they're doing, so it's easier to not invite you so that they don't feel bad that you're there. They feel like maybe you let them down and now you're doing your own thing and you forgot about them completely. Oh, it's all about them and the church. It's actually about you and what God is asking you to do. Right? I have a good friend, we grew up together, and um the day that she made the decision to follow Jesus, she had to go back to her family who was who were not Christian, and she had to let them know that now she was a follower of Jesus. This was not an easy decision for her. It actually took her over a year to make that decision to follow Jesus. And when she went to her family and she told them, and I'm talking her family here in Arizona, she was an Arizona girl born and raised. She went to her family and she said, Hey, listen, I'm gonna follow Jesus now. So that means that I'm gonna be going to this other church that actually preaches from the Bible, and I'm just gonna do everything I can to let my life reflect Jesus. And her mom and dad just kind of laughed, and they said, Oh, it's just a season, she'll grow out of it. And they just kept saying that over and over again. Oh, it's just a season, she'll grow out of it. Oh, don't mind her, it's just a season, she'll grow out of it. And when she graduated high school, she went on to be an amazing kids pastor for many, many years. Her parents would come to visit her and they'd say, Oh, Dre, are you almost done doing this? Constant,

America Prays 250 And National Thanks

Celeste Brown 15:40

constant, constant. And today her family is serving in missions. She's been following Jesus for about 30 years now, and the season is not over. So I want to encourage each of you who may feel like you are going through those moments where you are being persecuted, even by your own family, stand firm. Because following Jesus is worth it. Some of you have even lost jobs because you stood up for your values in the workplace. Stand firm. Stand firm. Even when the current is moving quickly, you stand firm. It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verses 13 and 14, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men. It says that in the Bible, I'm telling you right now. I did not put that in there. It says, act like men, be strong, let all that you do be done in love. So I applaud you this morning for holding on to your faith. As we apply that to our culture and as citizens of our nation, we want to be people who are a true example of Jesus wherever we go. Collectively, as a fellowship of churches across the United States this weekend, we're joining together to pray for the hand of God upon our nation. And we're asking Him for His continued blessings. They call America the land of the free, the place where you can go to make dreams come true. It is a place where you can be whatever you want. You can come and start a business, you can come and do anything. And we want to pray for God's continued

Four R Framework For Renewal

Celeste Brown 17:35

blessing upon this land. So this morning we are gonna focus on four Rs. And I'm gonna have people that are gonna come up and they're gonna lead us in a prayer over each one of these R's. The first one we're gonna talk about is recovery. Recovery is a renewed odd and reverence for the name of the Lord. Recovery refers to the process of regaining or returning to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. It is to live or revive. How many of you are ready to be revived? It is to live or revive, it is to um let people stand amazed at who God is. That our fire inside of us would burn bright for the Lord. In our English vocabulary, we have taken the word awe and awesome and we use it for a variety of things. We even use the word amazing a lot. But then when we get to focusing on Jesus and we're trying to give him these words of adoration, it's almost like we don't have another word to use because we use those words for everything else. I have to say, watching World Cup, I've been using on that is amazing. That was amazing. I just uh I'm shocked at some of the things they can do because in my mind I can do those things too. But there it's amazing, it's amazing. But I want to come to a place as a church and as a nation under recovery that we stand in awe of God again. Really, the true awe and wonder of who he is, it's just there. And we begin

Recovery And Awe Of God

Celeste Brown 19:35

to reverence him over and over and over again. And so this morning I'm gonna ask my friend Brendan to come and we're gonna pray over recovery. We're gonna pray to have the awe of the Lord again. It says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And so join me as we pray.

unknown 19:56

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Lord, we just thank you, Lord, for this message this morning. Lord, we just thank you for our country, Lord God. We thank you, Lord God, for all the soldiers, Lord, all of us, Lord God, that are uh proclaiming the name of Jesus. And as soldiers, sometimes we get injured, injured. And we need recovery, Lord. We need to stand back and get health once again, Lord. Some that have been injured in different churches or in their past, Lord God, I just pray for a recovery right now. In Jesus' name, that we can get back in the fight. Lord, I just thank you, Lord God, for all of our soldiers, Lord, that have persevered through injury all over the years, the 250 years, Lord God, to protect us, to keep us uh thriving, Lord, as a nation. I think of uh amazing Navy SEAL Adam Brown that recovered after injury after injury, a brother in the Lord that uh got through drug addiction, through teen challenge, but then continued to uh fight and recover. Even when everybody said, just take the pension, just forget about that, just retire. But no, he he went through recovery after recovery. May we have that same uh tenacity, that same moxie, Lord God, to persevere through injury, Lord God, to stand for your name, that we can see revival in this land once again. In Jesus' name. Amen.

unknown 21:30

Thank you.

Celeste Brown 21:31

Amen. Amen. Amen. The second one we're gonna talk

Restoration And Building God’s Kingdom

Celeste Brown 21:35

about is restoration. It is the rebuilding of God's kingdom. You know that God has a plan for your life? If you don't know that, I need to tell you that this morning that God has a plan for your life. And we, all of us collectively, we are here to build God's kingdom together. It takes every single person following after Jesus to build the kingdom. And may each of us turn back to God and be whole inwardly. Just as Brendan prayed, maybe we're injured. Revive us. Pick us back up. Clean us up. Make us whole. Let us keep moving forward. We pray every morning with our kids the Lord's Prayer, and there's a line in there that says, Your kingdom come, your will be done. I know we have a lot of strong apersonality types around us. But man, it is one of those things to lay it all down. Say it's not about me. It's not about me. It's not about what I want. But it's about him. It's about his kingdom. It's about what we're doing for the Lord. And I lay it all down because it's so much more worth it to build the kingdom than to try to build something for ourselves to only see it fall eventually. And this morning I'm going to ask Amy to come up and we are going to pray for restoration. Restoration maybe in your own life, maybe in something that you're going through, but also for this nation. We want to see it restored, building the kingdom of God together as a whole. So join me as we pray with Amy.

SPEAKER_03 23:15

Lord, we thank you for the country that you've given us. We thank you that it was founded on your principles and on people who by people who worshiped you. And we pray that we would turn back, turn our hearts and our eyes to you, and that you would restore the years the locusts have eaten, the things that we have allowed to come in that were not of you. We pray that you would uh do away with those things that have come in, the places where the enemy has attacked. And instead, we declare that we are turning back to you, and we want to watch you restore everything that has been lost. We pray that you would give us your vision for this country, your vision for our churches, your vision for our families, your vision for our own hearts, and that we would see through your eyes, not seeing what we have selfishly desired, but what you want for us, what you have in store. We thank you for the things that we can't even imagine that you are going to do. And we pray that as you start this restoration, we would come along for the ride, uh, just holding on to you with everything that we have. We thank you for all that you are doing and all that you are going to do in Jesus' name. Amen.

Celeste Brown 24:50

If you have your Bible open, I'm going to keep reading in 2 Thessalonians, the last two uh verses, 11 and 12, it says, To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified

Repentance That Turns And Changes

Celeste Brown 25:15

in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Number three, the R word is for repentance. Repentance is a turning away from sin. It is doing a complete 180, not a 360 where you go back into it, but a 180 where you just say, no more, I'm walking away. I'm walking away from it. No more. I'm done. It's to have a complete change of mind. Not a what if or oh, could it be, but just completely changing your mindset and going the other direction. And it's not just to say sorry, but it's to take action steps, to turn away from sin and to turn to God. We use sorry pretty flippantly if we use it. We say sorry all the time just to get ourselves out of an immediate discipline. I'm sorry. Well, it's the way you said it. I'm sorry. And we just we just say it because we know that it'll smooth things over for a little bit. But this is talking about true repentance. Saying, God, I know that this is not good for me and it does not glorify you. So I'm just gonna walk away. I'm just gonna turn the other way and just keep on going. Not just in our own lives, but as a nation, there's some things that we need to be repentant for. And so I'm gonna ask my husband to come on up and pray over this. Repentance is to be reminded that we are dead to sin and alive in him. And so join me as we pray this morning.

Jason Brown 27:16

Lord, we're so very thankful. Lord, that you paid the price for us that we could come to repentance. Lord, that we know we can't buy our way into your grace, we can't buy our way into your love. You loved us first, and so, Lord, you came all the way to us and you paid the price for us instead of us paying for it. And so, Lord, we can come to repentance. We can be made washed clean, we can be a new creation, it says in Scripture, Lord, that all these things are dead and we are alive in you. So, Lord, we want to walk in that freedom. We want to be those that have a repentance of a heart, Lord, that we are brokenhearted, Lord, after the things we do against you. Lord, that we're not getting away with it, but Lord, instead we want to honor you. We want to walk after the things of God, Lord. We want to be empowered by your spirit to be different than we were before. So, Lord, we ask, Lord, we have repentance and Lord asking forgiveness for anywhere where we've broken your heart. Lord, forgive us of our sin today. Lord, forgive us of things that we've done that would bring shame upon the name of Christ. Lord, that we ask, Lord, as Christ followers, Lord, that you forgive us, Lord, of how we've treated others, Lord, what we've done as a church, what we've done in our society that has broken your heart. But instead, Lord, we want to turn towards you and what you want to do in and through us. Personally, corporately, Lord, in all these ways, have your way in us, we pray. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.

Release From Chains And Strongholds

Jason Brown 28:45

Amen.

Celeste Brown 28:46

Amen. Amen. The last R today is release. And it talks about freedom and deliverance from evil. You see, release is to be set free from those things that have you bound. So maybe there's areas in your life that you feel, man, I I've tried, I've struggled with this, and I've tried, I've tried to let it go, and it just feels like it just keeps attaching itself to me. We're gonna pray that you are released this morning. Maybe it's an addiction, maybe it's a mindset. It's the way that you speak, you're claiming it all the time over yourself. We're gonna pray that God releases it off of you. It's to see chains falling off your life. I have never been handcuffed ever. I've never been. Thanks be to God. They're so funny. I have never been in the back of a police car or in a jail. But I will tell you, if those chains came off, there would be this complete freedom that comes over you. That, oh my goodness, I never want to be in that situation again. And as a believer, as somebody who's following after Jesus, my prayer this morning is that you are released from addictions, you are released from mindsets, you are released from things that have you bound, the same as our nation, that we are free. The enemy will do whatever he can to silence you, to silence our nation, to make it impossible for us to speak the name of Jesus or to send it outside of this country. It's becoming harder and harder to get into other countries around the world with the name of Jesus. They find every reason to kick you out. And so this morning we're gonna pray for a release, a freedom, and a deliverance from evil. I'm gonna invite my friend Barb to come up and join me. And we're gonna ask that the Lord would break chains this morning and that there would be freedom inside of you and inside of our nation. Amen. Join me as we pray.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Lord Jesus, we thank you that your name is the chain-breaking name across the land. There's other names that other people raise up, but it's the name of Jesus and Jesus alone that breaks the chain. So we pray for that release. We pray for our minds to be sound. Anything that chains our minds in the name of Jesus, we just speak sound mind and a healing over our minds, over our hearts, Lord Jesus, where they're bound by um uh emotional turmoil or uh trauma or whatever it is, Lord Jesus, that we find ourselves picking things up. We lay it at the altar, we pick it up. We lay it at the altar, we pick it up. Lord Jesus, that we lay it down and experience that chain-breaking freedom in the name of Jesus, because it is you that does all the work. We just simply bring things to you. And Lord, I pray for the strongholds to be broken and the scheme of the enemies to be exposed so that we would know I see it and I'm not stepping in that hole again, that we would be able to go forth on even ground, on balanced ground, as you guide our steps, as you lead us one step at a time, as a lamp under our feet, as we go step by step, that we are free from the things that the enemy tries to bind us with and cover us with. And Lord, in our land, that we would be freed as we worship your name, Lord Jesus, that we would be able to go forth in freedom and continue that, that we wouldn't be swept along with the current as Pastor Celeste was talking about, that we would stand firm, that we would have them the Hutzbutta stand there and say, no, it is Jesus and Jesus alone, why I stand and I'm not giving them up. None of that other stuff works except the life lived in honor of Jesus. And Lord, that we would not be overcome by evil, as the word says, but overcoming evil with good. So that no matter what comes our way, our response isn't equal equal, our response is good. Our response is compassion, our response is prayer, our response is uh holding up and testifying to the name of Jesus. Lord, we pray for that release and that the evil would be uh decimated, just totally annihilated. We know we're you're already victor. We know you already have overcome. So as we process through day to day in our lives, that we would be able to stand firm and again take ground for the kingdom and just have those chains fall, and not just in our lives, but we witness it time and time again so that it your name is so glorified. And people say, What happened in you? What changed in you? And we can say it is the chain-breaking power of the Most High who made us free in Jesus' name.

Celeste Brown 34:25

Amen, amen, amen. I'm gonna invite the worship

Invitation To Follow Jesus

Celeste Brown 34:30

team to come up and uh I want to read this scripture again to you. 2 Thessalonians 1:12. It says, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm proud of you. I know the journey of following Jesus is not easy. There are sections of living this life that you just want to give up. But stand firm. Stand firm because God has an amazing plan for your life, but you have to keep taking the steps with Him. I'm gonna ask each of you to stand this morning. I want to read out of Romans, you'll see a picture of a cross behind me. And that cross means a lot. In fact, in our culture, we wear it a lot. I have one on this morning uh from Cyprus. But we do, we we wear crosses a lot. And it's a symbol for us as a believer that we have been free, and that Jesus is no longer dead, but he is alive. And that cross has brought me freedom because he paid a huge price for me to be free. Says in Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. God is good. I'm gonna ask you just to close your eyes for a moment. Maybe you're a guest with us. We're so grateful you're here. Maybe you're visiting. But this is a moment to give people that opportunity just to search their own heart right now. And I want to give you the chance to accept Jesus into your heart. And I have a question that is have you embraced Jesus ever in your life? Maybe you grew up in the church and you just haven't really asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life personally. Today's your day. Maybe you've been searching for something and you didn't know what it was. It's Jesus. It's the living God who created you, who sent his son on your behalf that you can be free. And so this morning, if you're here, just with everyone's eyes closed, it's just a private moment. I'm just gonna ask you if you want to make a decision to follow after Jesus, if you just lift your hand. I'm gonna look around, only so that I can pray with you. But if that's you, amen. I see your hands, amen. Amen. Amen. I see your hand, amen, amen. God loves you. He would put a whole service on just for you, that you could know him. That's how good he is. So this morning I'm gonna pray a prayer. There's nothing magical about the prayer, but it's a confession that we are gonna rely on Jesus and we believe that he is the one who can set us free. And so as I say this prayer, I'm just gonna ask for you to repeat it after me. God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe that Jesus died for my sins. And I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name. Amen. Amen, amen, amen. There were several people that raised their hand. I just want to tell you, we have all been there. We have all had to come to that place where we make a

Altar Response And Prayer For Freedom

Celeste Brown 38:40

decision to follow Jesus. And we don't want you to walk out without any resources in your hands. And so there's a QR code you can scan. It'll kind of guide you through the next steps. If you need a Bible, come find me. Come find my husband, one of our team members. We will get you a Bible. Um, but we want you to be successful in following Jesus. As I explained, there's a current that just moves. And if you're not standing firm in what you believe or in the word of God, you will move with the current. And then you'll get somewhere and you'll go, How did I get here? I was following Jesus, and here I am a year later. I have no idea how I got here. And so we want you to be surrounded by other believers in faith who can walk this through with you. We're proud of you. We're gonna have a response this morning to the altar, and we're gonna have it open for anybody, but we're gonna focus on recovery, restoration, repentance, and release. Just those four alone, it applies to everybody. But what I love about the altar is it's a physical movement of your body saying, Yes, I need Jesus. So I'm gonna get out of my seat. I don't care what anybody else thinks, and I'm gonna go up there. Because you need more of Jesus. I need more of Jesus. We've never arrived. So this morning, as we open up this altar, I want you to feel free to just come. And if anything this morning has touched you and spoken to you, begin to pray that in your life. If you feel like you're at a good spot, pray for this nation. So, Lord, this morning we thank you for 250 years as a nation. We thank you for the freedom to lift up your name this morning, the freedom to come together with other believers and to worship freely and to hear the word of God. The freedom to carry our own Bible, the freedom to buy a Bible. God, we say thank you for that. We say thank you that we can share our testimony everywhere we go, and no one can take that from us. So this morning I pray as this altar is open that you would meet people here. I know there are people who are just desperate for more of you, and I pray that you would revive them this morning, that you would set some people free who feel bound. Let them know they are not alone. That God, you are here and you are about to break some chains off their life. God, we just pray, Holy Spirit, that you would move, that you would have your way,

Announcements, Blessing, And Closing

Celeste Brown 41:30

and we honor you in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Jason Brown 41:34

Hey, on your way out, if you're here in the building with us, we we ask you to grab an America 250 sticker and uh just honoring America and then grab a sweet treat on your way out. And uh, you know, just a little refreshment because we want to beat the heat today.

Celeste Brown 41:47

Also, we are two weeks away from the Mercy House event, so we would love for you to help volunteer. You can go onto the app on the website, you can call the office if you have questions. Um, but we need you. We are going to bless the community and um everyone that can help. It would be amazing.

Jason Brown 42:03

Before we go, I want to pray this blessing over us. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, that you would pour your spirit out upon us, that we would live your love out to those around us. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and happy America's birthday!