Seeds of Life: More Than Just A Seed - Pastor Destiny Deas

Welcome to SC Church Podcast! We’re so glad you could join us. Today Pastor Destiny Deas shared with us her message:

“Seeds of Life: More Than Just A Seed"

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Man, I am so excited to be here with you guys today. You know, um actually the offering has always been my favorite part of the service because it's a reminder to me that God lets us be involved with what he's doing in the earth. And he allows us to cooperate with him, and that just blows my mind. And it makes me so excited because I think to myself, wow, there's a God in heaven who doesn't just want to do great things in the earth, but more than anything, he wants me to be connected to him and together for us to do great things. Well, for those of you who don't know me, um, my name is Destiny. And actually, Alex, that is so beautiful. Can you just follow me around and like play everywhere? I mean, wouldn't that just be the greatest? I feel like that would be great. Can we give Alex a huge hand? I'm good. I'm good. Oh no, I'm good now. I'm good now. I'm gonna just talk now. You want me to sing? No, I'm not gonna sing. Not gonna do it. I did it the other day though, Alex. I just want you to know that. It was my first time ever in a sermon singing. Yeah, okay. All right, back to the matter at hand. Um, for those of you who don't know me, um, my name is Destiny, and I am um better known as Frances Duron's granddaughter. And um I grew up in this house um in this beautiful church. I can point to places at the altar where I prayed and I cried and where God met me. And it's a place that is the walls are literally soaked in prayer of people who believed not just that we're supposed to be a lighthouse for you, but we're supposed to be a lighthouse for this city. So I want to say thank you to you for continuing a legacy that's almost a hundred years old of standing firm and loving and caring for those who are most in need and being a light to this entire area. Why don't you give God a hand? I'm gonna read a scripture this morning that's not in my notes and will not be on the screen, but just listen to it for a second. Jesus is talking and it's in Matthew 13. And the thing about Jesus is Jesus was talking to crowds that were full of three different kinds of people, um, at least. Uh the first group was really excited about him, just like thrilled, they were following him, they were somewhat all in. Then you had the people who were just curious, and also they heard that occasionally he handed out a free meal. So they were like, Yeah, we're gonna hang out, we're gonna see if he does any miracles, and we're just curious. But then he always had in the crowd these people who were completely against him. And so Jesus spoke in parables a lot. A parable is just a story, it's used all throughout different kinds of literature all over the world, but Jesus used parables and he used it for a reason at the time that he was living on this earth, but he also used it for a reason right now. And there's two important reasons there. One is because you can tell a story in front of a crowd of both those who care about you and those who are against you, and the people who are with you will get one message, and your real message can be protected from those who are against you. So it's a way of communicating to those who, in Jesus' terms, had ears to hear. But the other reason that I believe that Jesus used stories is because stories transcend time. Stories transcend culture. Stories speak to us today in the same way that they spoke to people back then. And so through using stories rather than just principles, Jesus ensured that we would get the message too. But it frustrated people, especially those who opposed him, because they wanted him to speak clearly and plainly so that they could more accurately attack him. And so they asked him in Matthew 13, verse 10, why do you speak to the people in parables? Jesus replied, Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Let's pray. Father, let us be the kind of people who have ears to hear. Lord, I pray that the people in this room would not just hear the words that come from my mouth, but that they and that I would truly hear the words that come from your heart. Because we know that those are the only words that can truly change us and transform us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I I wanted to add, and please let Duke win out in March Madness. But I know that Susie Warlin and her Kentucky loving ways is in the audience, so I didn't. Um, you are in this beautiful series talking about seeds in this year of harvest. And in this verse, Jesus references something that I don't think you probably talk about in your daily life. Maybe it is, maybe, maybe you're super spiritual and you hang out with super spiritual people, and you guys are always talking about the kingdom of heaven. Most of the time, we kind of like shorten it if we are talking about it at all, and we say something like the kingdom, right? But what we're talking about is we're talking about what Jesus is talking about, which is the kingdom of heaven. This concept of God's ways and God's power invading the world and setting everything right. If you'll remember, the whole reason that we're here, the big picture of Christianity, is that God created the world completely perfect. All of the death, the disease, the dysfunction, the division that we see in the earth today were not part of God's original plan, and instead are a product of mankind's rebellion against him. And yet we as Christ followers believe that God didn't give up on us, but instead he came up with the rescue plan of all rescue plans, and he sent himself in the person of Jesus Christ through time and space to show us a brand new way to live. And his new way of living was such a threat to the status quo that the religious and the political leaders of the day conspired together, despite hating each other, to kill him. And yet we don't serve a martyr, but we serve a God that we believe willingly laid down his life for you and for me, just so that we would have a chance to have a relationship with him, to live the new, the abundant life that he died to give each and every one of us, and one day to spend eternity with him in heaven. And if that was the end of the story, it would be a great story. But we as Christ followers believe that three days later, the power that was inside of Jesus was so great that it raised him from the grave, and that on the day of Pentecost, 50 days later, that that power was made available to you and to me for the purpose of participating in the kingdom of heaven. God's power coming to the earth and setting things right. And we're right in the middle of it with these verses. See, the kingdom of heaven redefines everything. In a world where power was about conquering and dominating, Jesus said power and status are really about serving others, because the greatest among you will be the servant of all. In a world where defending oneself meant taking up arms against the oppressor, Jesus gave us a model of instead turning the other cheek, a model that was so powerful that even people who do not follow him who have adopted that model of nonviolent resistance have seen empires crumble. It's an amazing way of life that is completely upside down. The kingdom changes ethics. Instead of just love those who are in your camp, it says, love your enemies. And when Jesus was talking about enemies, he was not talking about people that you mildly disliked. He was talking about people who were actively seeking your doom. And he said, look at those people and love them. It's countercultural and it is offensive and it is threatening to every single culture and political ideology because it requires us to submit our entire lives to something brand new. Unlike kingdom, human kingdoms, it's not built on force or dominion, but rather love, service, sacrifice, and transformation. It requires us to put value on what God values, something higher than our own benefit, our own safety, and our own preferences, because it's the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of destiny. It's the kingdom of heaven. And when Jesus told these stories, because so many of his stories start with the kingdom of heaven is like, he is trying to evoke our imaginations and shift our way of thinking and help us to see something that is not natural for us to see, something that did not exist in the earth. And when we look at the parables, we always have to think about those two ways that Jesus was communicating, because the parables are always first about him. They're always first about him. But they are second about us. They're first about the new that he was bringing and that he did bring, but then they are also about us because the kingdom of heaven is God reclaiming his world through Jesus, but it is also an invitation to a radically different way of living. It is a present reality in that Jesus has established his kingdom through his sacrifice, but it is also a personal invitation to a process of transformation that will last our entire lives. It's the most confrontational of all messages. It can't help but be because it asks the question: Will you submit your life? Will I submit my life to his way? And will I allow his story to redefine every aspect of my life from my identity to my relationships to my motives to my values and my preferences? We call it the good news. It's the news that Jesus came and brought something new and died for our sins. Yes, that is the good news. But the good news is also his teachings of this brand new way of living. And his teachings center around this idea, this concept, that by laying down our life, by submitting our way to his way, that we can be a part of something bigger than we could have ever imagined. And over and over again, Jesus tells us about this kingdom by telling us parables that start with, and the kingdom of heaven is like. And so today we're gonna study one of those parables again in Matthew 13, starting in verse 31. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it's the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches. I think I have a picture of a mustard seed. Do we have that picture of the mustard seed? Is that tiny or what? That's a crazy tiny little seed. Can you show me the mustard plant? Now I did this with AI because I couldn't find one that I liked as well. But but this is a mustard plant, and it's not really a tree. But it kind of looks like one, doesn't it? It's an herb, and it can get up to like 10, 12 feet tall. It's so big. I mean, look again at that seed just for a second. Something so tiny turning into and the tree. Something so big. Can we give a hand for those who have the misfortune of having to do the slides today? Now there's some things right on the surface that we can see from this parable, can't we? And the first one is this small things matter. Small things matter. Um small things matter. What you do daily has a lot bigger impact on your life than anything else. It's the small daily habits. I love to learn languages. It's one of my absolute favorite things in the world. But the thing about languages that's interesting is you can study a language for three hours at a time, but it will not have the benefit of studying it for 15 minutes every single day. Why? Because our brain is wired so that daily matters most. Small things matter. Small things add up. It's one of the reasons that um I automate my giving. You know why I automate my giving? Not just to my church, not just to different things, because I want to make sure it happens. But also what I have learned is that when I decide what I want to give weekly, it feels more doable. And then I look at my annual impact and I go, wow, that's incredible. Look what I did. But if I had sat down and I had said, hey, I'm gonna do that, why? Small things matter. Small things matter. Exercise that can feel so daunting. Did you know that if you just started going for a walk every single day, it would start to transform your life. You could stretch for seven minutes and have a completely different view on things because your anxiety would go down, your back pain would start to dissipate a little bit. It's amazing. Small things matter. So that small little seed matters. The second thing that seems kind of obvious on the surface is that change is possible. Now, guys, we live in a world where we have lived so long in linear time that we forget that it's not normal because most cultures lived in what they called circular time. And the expectation was that everything would stay the same. Now hear me for a second. For for hundreds of years, that was the expectation. Things will stay the same. If I am born a servant, I will have children and they will be servants, and they will have children and they will be servants. If I am born a king, I will have children and they will be kings, and they will have children and they will be kings, and for hundreds of years everything was just staying the same, and then boom, industrial revolution happens, and we're just like into the future. And so we go, well, of course, change is possible. But this is the thing. I think that sometimes culturally within the microculture, we still have circular time going on because we'll say things, well, people are just people, and people can't really change. Well, you know, my mom had an anger problem, so I have an anger problem. Well, you know, that just runs in my family, and we can make excuses that keep us from the very change that Jesus died to give us. It doesn't matter what runs in your family, you've been given an invitation to a new family, and change is possible. But the third thing that seems kind of obvious at the at the top is that change requires sacrifice. Change requires sacrifice. That little bitty seed.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

That little bitty seed.

SPEAKER_02 19:14

Small things matter in your life, in mine. Change is possible, but change will require sacrifice. But like all of Jesus' stories, it's so deeply multi-layered. Jesus was writing in the tradition of Jewish meditation literature, which um is just so incredibly beautiful. You can look it up later. It's so much fun to read about. But within Jewish meditation literature, all of the details matter. And so I'm looking at this and I understand that like mustard seed was used kind of like colloquially, you know, like um, you know, to just denote something that was small and insignificant. But also it made me hungry because I like mustard. I love mustard, in fact. I would I um I I studied in uh France for a little while, and the family that I lived with made their own salad dressing, and the base was mustard, and to this day I dream about their salad dressing. I love it so much. And then I've learned how to make a bunch of salad dressings, and a lot of them have mustard in them. And as I started kind of like reading about mustard, did you mustard is like in every cuisine around the world? I mean, it's nuts. It's really important in Indian cuisine, it's important in Chinese cuisine, it's all over parts of the continent of Africa, Western and Northern Africa has a lot of different mustard. And here in Louisiana, we have the best use for mustard that exists ramen sauce. Come on, somebody, right? And we even have Creole mustard that you can buy and you can put it on your po'boys and your sandwiches. Who's hungry and wants me to hurry up? Oh my goodness gracious, right? We love mustard. It's just absolutely fantastic. And just in case some of you are confused, because Philip was at first when I started talking about mustard and the mustard seed. Mustard is made from grinding up mustard seeds and adding a liquid to make it into a paste. He found that out two days ago. He was very excited to know that it wasn't just the seeds are flavorable, but they're also nutrient dense, too. It's amazing. Mustard is like this phenomenal thing. And you know, this is what I was thinking about. It has to be great fun to be a mustard seed. Right. I mean, you're a showy ingredient, the base across all these countries. Mixed up with some of like the high flyers of international cuisine. Mais oui, bien sûr. Making a mark on taste buds everywhere. After all, you only get to be a mustard seed once, right? Better make sure it's a ramelade. It's your only mustard seed life. You only live once. But this is the problem. One mustard seed, let's put it back up there. It doesn't make much mustard. In fact, it's more of like a smudge. But if that mustard seed forgoes that pursuit of individual culinary glory and instead is planted deep in the cold earth for a time, it produces something completely different. Put the tree back up there. See, this tree produces between 1,200 and 2,000 seeds per year. It's enough for a couple bottles of mustard, plus the leaves, which can be eaten as well. In addition to its consumable properties, it's as Jesus noted, a staple in the garden and a place where birds could make their nest. But there's even more. Did you know that mustard plants benefit the entire garden? They act as natural pest control. They suppress weeds, they prevent erosion, they attract beneficial insects with their flowers, they improve soil structure and health and are considered a miracle plant for sustainable gardening. They pull nutrients from deep, deep in the ground and make them available for all the other plants around them. If you think we're talking about mustard plants, you've missed the point. Because when we take our lives, our one lives, and instead of going out and just doing what makes us happy and just living for ourselves, instead, when we plant ourselves into the ready soil of God's kingdom, when we choose to lay down our way and choose God's way, we too become more than just a seed. Oh, make no mistake, a mustard seed's enough to make a big impact. Jesus makes it clear that if we have faith that is small as a mustard seed, when it's planted into the ready soil of our own lives, it will blossom into something that is big enough to move mountains. But if we imagine just for a moment this morning that we are the seed, we too can take our own lives and plant them into the ready soil of the kingdom and allow ourselves to grow and be transformed into something that God can use to sustain and care for the generations. It's a bigger life. Makes me think about Psalms 1, which is my mom's favorite psalm, or at least it was the one that she read to us most. I always wondered whether it was the one she read to us most because she intended to start reading us the whole Psalms and just kept starting over, but we're gonna say it was one of her favorites. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not prosper, does not wither. Whatever they do prospers. See, planting, just like the psalm makes it clear, requires us to turn our back on the behaviors and the habits of the past and choose instead to be planted in God's ways. Choosing to be planted in the kingdom of God, and then just staying there long enough for the transformation to happen, and then staying planted a little longer until we begin to produce what God intended. Choosing God's view on everything, accepting his definition of greatness is truly serving others, accepting his command to forgive everyone and to love our enemies, even the ones who are trying actively to hurt us, and then allowing that transformation to permeate the very fiber of our being until it transforms the way that we live and the way that we speak and the way that we post and the way that we exist in our lives. So, this is my question for me today, and my question for you. Are you planted? Am I planted? Where are you planted? Are we seeking out the ready soil? Or are we just excited about using our one little life to make a smudge of happiness? Three things this morning I want to talk about that show we're planted. One, our time. Our time. What do you do with the time that belongs to you? Oh, I understand that there's time that we've already sold. We we've sold time so that we can have a roof over our head and we can have food on our table, but what do you do with the time that is just yours? Are you planted in the kingdom? Are you using that time to make sure that you are surrounded by an environment that will provoke and even force transformation? What do you listen to when you can listen to anything? I like Star Trek a lot, which fits with my overall nerd persona. I like it. You know, if I get to choose anything I want to listen to, I'm gonna guilty confession. I like to just listen to Star Trek episodes. It's fun, right? It has no bearing on my life, and it was made in the 1990s when everybody had hope. So I mean, it's nice, it's great. And I hate it when Phillips says, you know, you should probably turn that off and listen to a podcast or a sermon that would make you better. I get very angry and I start listing all the things that I do that he doesn't do. Don't tell him I said this. But the reality is if I want to be planted, if I want transformation in my life, then I do have to evaluate what I do with my free time. I do have to evaluate what I listen to when I can listen to anything. I do have to put myself in the uncomfortable position. Oh, it's so nice over here where I'm just making myself happy, but I have to put myself into the position with my time to grow. What about your treasure? Oh, she's talking about the offering again. Oh, I can't talk about the offering enough because I believe with all of my heart that so many times the thing that keeps us from going all in is because we have a poverty mindset about our pocketbook that keeps us and the kingdom of God from flourishing in the way that it should. But that's not even what I'm totally talking about here. You can see whether you're planted in the kingdom, not just from what you give in terms of money and stocks and all of those kinds of things, but also what do you give in terms of your treasure, your expertise? Philip, um, my husband went from being full-time pastor to now he runs an uh executive coaching business for high performers. And he's working with these like billion-dollar companies, helping their best get better. But we sat down and we had a conversation and we said, we are planted in the kingdom. Our life is not about us. What are we gonna do to make sure that this business is never really about us? And so we came up with this idea that we would give away 20% of his time to build the kingdom. 20% of his time to coach pastors and leaders and missionaries and young people who couldn't afford what he does but need his services so that he could grow the kingdom. Why? Why not just, you know, give his time handing out things at a food bank, which is really nice, but that's not his expertise. See, he wanted to give his treasure, he wanted to give what he was very best at, the thing that the world had placed the highest value on. He wanted to give his treasure. What are you doing with your treasure? It's important because the Bible says that where your treasure is, your heart will be too. And if we want to be planted, we have to have our heart planted into the kingdom of God. And the third thing is this your tribe. Your tribe. Who are the people in your circle? Who are the people that you call when things go wrong? Who are the people that are closest to you? Are they people who are planted in the kingdom too? Are they people who are gonna encourage you in the ways of the kingdom? Who are gonna challenge the way you think rather than just affirm it and give you an excuse to think more like that? I can remember when Philip and I were pastoring, there was this one couple who we loved so much. And they would come to church, and you could just tell they wanted to be in the kingdom. But there was a problem. They had a group of friends that they hung out with every weekend. They did everything together, they did vacations together, they were together all the time. But this group of friends did not want to go into the kingdom, they they were going a different direction, and so I watched over and over again as this couple would start showing up and start leaning in, but they couldn't stick because they were never willing to sacrifice their tribe. Oh, you can't abandon people. I'm not talking about abandoning people, I'm talking about who's your tribe. Who are the people that you rely on the most for the support and for the friendship and for the kinship? If you're gonna plant yourself into the kingdom, you may have a lonely moment as you switch tribes. You may have to distance yourself, and instead of it being every weekend, maybe it's once a month for a while, so that you can get planted into the kingdom. Oh, I'm gonna bring them with me. Well, either bring them with you or put yourself into a place where you can transform to the degree that your transformation will speak to them. But this in-between causes us never truly to be planted. That's why groups are really great. Well, I went to a group and there was weird people. Quit that group and find another one. They're not weird because of Jesus, they're weird because they were weird before. It's okay. Good news is they probably thought you were weird too, and wanted you to go find your weird people. We have to be planted. I'm gonna ask Alex to come back out and play as we kind of finish. Planting's uncomfortable. I wish I could tell you that once you get really nice and planted, it'll stop being uncomfortable. It's not. It continues to be uncomfortable. You continue to have to choose to grow. You have to choose to lean in with your time, to lean in with your treasure, to check your tribe and ensure they're going the same way. But this is the kingdom way, choosing God's path over our own, and this is the model of Jesus. See, I said before that the parables are always first about him, he was always first communicating about what he was about to do. And he tells us in John 12, now the time has come for the Son of Man talking about himself to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth. Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels, a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me because my servants must be where I am. See, this parable about the mustard seed is also a prediction and a description of what Jesus would do for us because everybody thought this little preacher from Galilee was so insignificant. This little preacher from Galilee was so backwoods. This little preacher from Galilee was so unqualified. This little preacher from Galilee, oh, he couldn't really even make any kind of difference. And Jesus was speaking to us and saying, I know that it looks insignificant, but what you have to understand is that when this little preacher from Galilee is put to death, like thousands were put to death by the Romans, there will be something different that happens. And that death will cause a movement that will multiply and will begin to change the very fabric of reality. Oh, he was speaking to those who had ears to hear about what he would do and about his triumph. He was saying, like Romans 8 tells us, that we know God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance and he chose them to become like who? Like his son. So that his son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. He's talking to us about himself, but he's also talking to us about us and giving us a picture of who we can choose to be, that we can give up our one little mustard life, and that we can become a tree that does so much more. There's one more thing that I learned about mustard trees. Even though they're one of the earliest cultivated herbs, they weren't included in Jewish gardens in Jesus' day. Do you know why? Because they were considered too wild and unruly and uncontrollable, they kind of took over the garden. They were invasive, they grew bigger than they should. And see, Jewish gardens were all about order. Everything was supposed to be in its box, and the mustard plant just would not stay in its box. Instead, it just kept growing and multiplying and moving and becoming. That's why it flourished in the wild, that's why it flourished all kinds of other places, because it just couldn't be overcome. And the only way to overcome it was to exclude it completely. And that's what I think is a picture of what happens when a lot of us decide that we're gonna take our one little mustard life and we're gonna be planted in the kingdom. Suddenly it's something that can't be controlled. It's spilling out into government, it's spilling out into business, it's spilling out and changing the way that we do things. It's spilling out and starting to become an answer for violence and corruption and all of these different things. And people want to point and say, oh, it was that law we passed. Oh, it was that new DA. Oh, it was that new thing. When what it really was was a group of people who understood that they weren't just supposed to be seeds. Instead, they were supposed to be planted until they became something so powerful they took over. Will you stand with me all over this place? This is my call to you and to me. Don't just be a seed, plant yourself and be something more. Believe that the small things matter. Believe that change is possible, and be willing to make the sacrifice that makes that change happen. This is what I know in this room. There are some of you who know you are called to be more than a seed, and you've known it for so long. But you thought it had to look like a position. You thought it had to look like permission. You thought it had to look like a job. You're supposed to be a seed right where you are. That's planted in the kingdom of God and become something more. It's time for you to go all in. It's time for you to start spitting your time and your treasure and your tribe to the Jesus way. For others of you, you've planted for a long time, but honestly, you're kind of a little bit of a weary mustard plant. And you're wondering if it was worth it. I want to encourage you that you have not even seen. And only when you get to heaven will you see the impact that your life of service, your long obedience in the same direction will have made. Be encouraged. It was worth it. All those cold and lonely moments, it was worth it. It was worth it. It was worth it. Will you just bow your heads with me all over this place, Father? We only want what you want. God, I don't just want this to be an emotional moment. Even though that's important. Father, I pray that this would be a decision moment. A decision to say. To be more than just a seed. I was born to be a part of something bigger. I haven't been willing to embrace the sacrifice that it takes, but I am now. I am now. I want to be more than just a seed. Father, I pray that you would speak to all of us about areas of our life that we are holding on to that you are asking us to submit to your way. Attitudes, habits, beliefs. Lord, speak to us so that we can change. With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to ask a question. If you say, Destiny, I know that I'm meant to be more than just a seed. But if I'm honest, I've kind of settled. I've settled, but I feel stirred up today, and I want to plant myself deeper than ever before in the kingdom. I want to respond to the call on my life to be a part of this worldwide movement that just cannot be suppressed. I'm willing to reevaluate my time, my treasure, and my tribe. And just submit my way to his way.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

If that's you, would you just raise your hand? If that's you, I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

So I'm gonna ask that if you raised your hand, you just come down. Oh, Destiny, somebody might see me. That's kind of the point. Oh, but they might think that I'm in sin. Everybody's got issues. But sometimes when we say we're gonna submit ourselves to God's way, submitting our ego is like the first step. Some of you need to come down, husband and wife, because you both raised your hands and you both know, and you can feel that strike in your spirit. There is some of you, there is some of you in this place that know God has literally called you and your spouse to full-time mission work, whether it's here in the US or it's overseas, and you've been resisting, and this is your moment to get out of your seat and submit to the call of God. I'm gonna give you just a couple more minutes. Just a few more seconds, just a few more seconds to make that decision. To say, I wanna be more than just a seed, and today's my day to submit my life. Today is my day to submit my life and my family and my time and my treasure and my tribe. Today is my day. You see the callings that are on their lives, you see their desire to be more than just a seed. Right now, I just want you to, if you're down here at the altar, if you'll just lift your hands, both hands, up to the floor and begin to tell him, I surrender, and then just say right out loud the thing he's asking you for. For some of you, it may be something so silly, it may be a Star Trek, it may be a time waster, it may be something that you do, it may be your profession where you say, I'm gonna start leaning in and giving it to the kingdom. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's your life, and you say, God, I know you've called me, but I'm ready to do the sacrifice that it takes to follow your call, no matter what. Father, you see every person who is down here, and God, I pray that you would do more, that you would do more than we could ever hope for. Father, let us be people who are not just seeds, but we allow you to transform us, that you allow us to be transformed into your image, that you allow us to be a part of what you're doing in the earth. Use us to transform everything around us. Father, we need you, we need you, thank you that you laid down your life for us. Thank you for what you have done. Thank you that you didn't hold on to an earthly existence, but instead you laid down your life so that we would have a chance to choose you. Father, thank you that you sent your power, your Holy Spirit, into the earth to make it available for every one of us to live out the new that you called us to. And Father, I pray that we would be baptized again, that we would be filled again, that we would be surrounded again by your power that changes us and transforms us.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

Thank you for connecting with us today. The first step to a new life in Christ is receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, repeat this prayer after me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross and rose again for me. I ask that you come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Whether you committed your life to Jesus for the first time today or are already on your journey of faith, we would love to stay connected with you. Please visit SCchurch.com and follow SCchurch on all social media platforms. And remember, the best is yet to come.