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Our verse that we've been reading from week to week on this topic of transformation, this series which we're on week, I believe, 22 of called Still Transforming, are I haven't spoken to you in about three weeks, uh so let's get back to here. And do not get to get back in the role of this thing. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. And be transformed by the renewing of your mind. For weeks now, after speaking about transformation and the need of transformation, we've gone to this thought of renewing the mind, about how the mindset needs to change, our thinking pattern needs to change. If you want your life to change, the way you think needs to change. If there's areas of your life that you know need to change, your thinking needs to change. Transformation is needed in your life. If you need it, well, what you first need then is a change of the way you think, a change of your mindset. And be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And don't get it twisted. All of us here have some things that need to be transformed and changed in our lives. Say amen to that. Tell your neighbor, God's still working in me. Tell your neighbor, God's still working in me. He's still working in me. Alright? It's a good old song. I don't have time to sing it right now. But, anyways, he's still working in me. He's still working in you. Tell your neighbor, especially you, right? Uh he's still working in all of us. He's working in all of us. And we see in Romans 12, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by what? By the renewing of your mind, by changing the way you think. I think we're in putting the next slide. I think this is week 22. Did I say that right? Uh I think we're in week 22. And uh today, I'm not gonna get through this. I already know. So it'll be 22 this week, and next week will be our Georgian week 23. Um, week 23. Um, but for today, let's go ahead and um let's pray, then we'll get into Romans 8. Father, we thank you for your word. I think you according to Acts 2.42, your word is received gladly. According to Acts 19.20, your word will prevail. I pray now, Father, you use these lips of clay to speak your word with excellence and accuracy according to your desire. I pray now, Father God, that the heart of every person is open today, the ears open today. Father, we're ready to hear, Father, and receive what you want to say. I give you thanks, Lord, for every every person here, Father, for they are a vessel you are pouring into, Father, right now. And I pray, Lord, that as we continue to do our service, that that flowing in, Father, will be an overflow, Father, that not just helps us within, but helps us on the outside as well. For you are moving in us and through us today. I give you thanks, Father, for every word spoken. May it be your words, not mine, according to Matthew 10, 20. Even as I stand here, the Spirit of my Father speak through me. We give you the honor and glory, Father, for all that you have to say. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Now, let's go to Romans 8. And I want to recap on some verses in the beginning of Romans 8 that we've been reading. Um, verse 1. So this is Paul speaking. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our nature, of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own son in a living body, like the bodies we sinners have, and in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving us his son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death, but letting the Spirit control your mind leads to peace and life, or life and peace. We're gonna get into at some point here how the mind is uh related to all these things, and how the mind is uh, we'll say, highlighted within this passage. But I want to say show you a few things in Romans 8 that are building up to this. And uh first, in order to do that, I want to remind you of some things that we've recently said. Uh, one of those things is this is that Jesus did not move us past warfare, Jesus made warfare possible. The battle, the war with sin that we have in our life, as we read here in Romans, we see sin no longer controls us. So that that war with sin, we can say at once we were losing the war, but now we're able to win the war. But hear me, nonetheless, there's still a war we're on. We're in. Look at me. If you're saved, there's a war in your life against sin. There's a battle going on against sin. Jesus, yes, washed our sins away, but now we're at war with sin. We're at war with my will, my desires. I want God's will, God's desires, the enemy's will, the enemy's desires. No, I want God's will, God's desires. There's a war going on. So, and we'll talk about this here in a second. Thank Jesus, thank you. Lord, we are saved and on our way to heaven. Say amen to that. But here's the other side of it. There's a warfare going on. Before we get there, we're in this warfare. Jesus made warfare possible. I want to remind you of something else. That one of the reasons we desire a renewed mind is so we can win our battle with sin. I want to win this battle. I hope you want to win this battle too. I'm not saying perfection, because we all fall short, we all miss the mark, but I want to be able to live a holy life, a righteous life, a life where I can stand before the Lord one day and say, Lord, my goal was to be like Christ. That I fall short at times, yes. But Father, you know my heart, you know what I was striving for, my desire to live for you, to obey you in every area, at every time. And if we want that, if we desire that, we need a renewed mind to change the way we think. The mindset before Christ won't work. We need a new mindset. And hear me. These two thoughts, Jesus did not move us past warfare, but made warfare possible. And one of the reasons we desire a renewed mind so we can win the battle with sin. We are going to continue to build on these thoughts as we look into Romans 8. Because in Romans 8, there's good news. Paul highlights more of the, we'll call it more of the role of the Holy Spirits in addressing our battle with sin. Listen. Say it again. We cannot win this battle with sin without the Holy Spirit. And I tell you today, and I remind you today, that, put on the board, while the power of sin, sin's power, influences us towards destruction, the power of the Holy Spirit influences toward life. The power of the Holy Spirit is persuading, motivating, pushing, encouraging, driving, leading, going, going, uh, starting within us, going through us, saying, Hey, I'll simplify it for you. Holy Spirit, every day saying, Let's live the life we are called to live with the power of God. Let's be like, let's be more like Jesus today. Church, the Holy Spirit is not our enemy, He is our partner. He is God, the Spirit. Church, we need Him every day of our lives. Every single day. Hear me? And maybe you've never heard talks about this person called the Holy Spirit. I tell you today, he is real. Absolutely real. And he is a gift given to us from Jesus Christ. And if Jesus gives me a gift, I don't want to just do nothing with that gift. He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit because we need the Holy Spirit. Whenever you're victorious, I know you're smart and you're strong and you're so cute, I know. But whenever you have victory in your life, you know who you first give thanks to? God Almighty. And you give thanks to the Holy Spirit. Because there is no victory without God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Church, we absolutely need him. And in Romans 8, as the chapter goes on, he starts to get into depth about how the Holy Spirit helps us in this battle with sin, how the Holy Spirit helps us with our mindset, and how with the right mind we're able to live a life, a life of peace, a life of obedience. And we see Paul, as he goes deeper into the passage, he's fully aware. The necessity of the Holy Spirit is real. But before he gets into the depth of that, before he gets into verse 4, 5, and 6, his mentioning of the Holy Spirit, he does something very special in verse 3. He does something I would say as a reminder to all of us that this is so important that even though there's shortcomings in our lives and areas of our life where we needed God to rescue us from, that God didn't fall short in meeting that need. So hear me, go to verse 3. I want to show you verse 3 in the Living Bible. There's no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power that leads to death. Then he reminds us in verse 3 We aren't uh we aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the commandments of God. Because we can't and don't keep them. How many can testify to that? That I know what God says, but I'll be the first to admit, especially what before I was saved, I wasn't doing it. I was aware of right and wrong. I was aware of what God said and God's commands, but I wasn't even doing them. And then on the flip side, you're saved and you still fall short. And here's Paul highlighting, and before again, before getting into this depth of the Holy Spirit, he says, let me remind you, you, you, me, all of us, we aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the commandments of God because we can't and don't keep them. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. Say amen to that. Go to the next slide. What is it? He sent his own son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful, and hear me, and destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He is reminding the people, reminding everyone that the power of the Holy Spirit is possible in our lives. But don't you ever forget this is only possible because of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for you and for me. You can walk in the power of God, but it began with Jesus Christ dying on the cross for you and for me. You can have an anointing, but it begins with Jesus Christ dying on the cross for you and for me. You can be healed, you can be saved, you can be redeemed, you can walk in obedience, you can answer God's call on your life, you can do it all, but it always begins with Jesus Christ laying down his life for you and for me. This is why every day I pray we should get up, and one of the first words out of our mouth should be thank you, Jesus. You died for me, I can live for you. I was once lost, but now I am saved. I was blind, but now I can see I didn't have a father. Now my God is my father. Church, there's good news. Jesus Christ died for you and for me. And because he did it, all things are possible for us. Great things can come to pass, amazing things can take place in our life, but don't ever get it twisted. Don't ever forget the fundamental thought. It all began with Jesus Christ saying yes to the cross of Calvary. Because, because he gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He, hear me, destroyed sin's control over us. And you may think, sin had control over me? Me? I wasn't that bad? You were on your way to hell. That was pretty bad. Me? I I did so many nice things for other people. Yeah. That's great. You were still on your way to hell. Me? Sin controlled me? Everyone likes me. You know who don't? The devil. And he had you on the way to hell. And here's Jesus dying so we can be forgiven. New life. On our way to heaven. Say amen. But that sin's control could be broken off of your life. So that it's no longer your will, but my will, but thy will be done. So it's no longer the enemy's desires. God, what are your desires? So that the life God has called me to, I can now live it. Church, remind you today, none of us, none of us, no person was ever capable of completely obeying the law of God. This is why animals were being sacrificed, and daily they had to come with their sacrifices to say we've sinned and fallen short. Nobody was able to live out perfectly the law of God. They needed Jesus. We needed Jesus. And we still need Jesus today. And church, it was Jesus that did what nobody else could do. Lived a perfect life, died on a cross for you and for me. And church, the control of sin can now be broken over our lives. And it's all because of Jesus Christ. Can we give Jesus a big hand clap today and thank him for doing such a powerful work? Destroyed sin's control over our lives. Before I go further, just a side note. Because believe it or not, you are being controlled. You say, Yeah, I control myself. No, no, no, no. You are being controlled. Sin has a power to control. But good news, the Holy Spirit has a power to control us as well. The Spirit has the power to control us as well. Any former NES players around here, you know, any the the real NES, Nintendo NES, A B up down. I can't play the new games anymore. There's too many buttons. I get carpal tunnel just trying. The controller controls the character. When I was in youth classes, I was a teenager. I'll never forget that one of the teachers said this one time you're that character on the screen. The only question is who's controlling you, the devil or God? You're the character in this game of life. The only question is who's controlling you? And the good news, church. Once it was the enemy, but the cross destroyed his control. God stepped in and said, Alright, let's start living the right way here. Man, he is so good, isn't he? Why? Because sin was controlling us and leading us to hell. But now we can be led by the Spirit and we're on our way to heaven. One last time, let us give God thanks today for leading us to heaven. Isn't that a beautiful reminder right there? A beautiful reminder to the people. That's a beautiful reminder right there. And I think Paul kind of strategically puts this verse within the passage because after the beautiful reminder and the acknowledgement, I submit to you, in verse, in the next verse, he actually begins to challenge us now. Here's the reminder of what Jesus did. Here's the acknowledgement of the great work of Jesus. But then he goes into the next verse in verse 4, again, the living Bible. So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. Oh, wow. So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. I submit to you that this verse reinforces what we've been repeating. I remind you again that Jesus did not move us past warfare, Jesus made warfare possible. That old evil nature within us still longs for control, still longs for power over us, and we're at war with it. And I I hear me today. I want to point something out to you, and we might kind of decide this here. Help me, Holy Spirit. Go back to verse 3. Can I go back to verse 3? The second slide of verse 3. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own son in a human body like ours. Can you hear me? And destroyed sin's control over us by giving us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. You see what he did in verse 3? One more time. Destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. I have this slide here and help me help me. Verse 3. Slide forward. He sent his own son in a human body like ours. Except that our sins, ours, are sinful, and destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Hear me. So now. Can you say those two words with me? Say so now. Those are powerful words. So now. It's the first words of verse 4. And I want you just to kind of hang on those words with me for a moment. And at the bottom of the screen, you see how it says, I paraphrased it for you. Sin's control over us is destroyed. So now. I need you to catch this before today's over and before we get into next week. Sin's control over us is destroyed. So now. Listen, we can't just settle in verse 3. We gotta continue in verse 4. It's so easy to get caught up in verse 3. Sin's control over us has been destroyed by Jesus giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. And I'm gonna be honest with you, it's so easy to stop there. It's so easy to settle there. But then Paul's next words, so now I'm saved, I'm rejoicing, I'm on the way to heaven. Oh, thank you, God. And believe me, I'm excited with you. Child of God, there's still more work to do. And that's the part I think at times if we're not careful. We get stuck in verse 3 and we don't want to sow now in verse 4. We rejoice in salvation, which we should, and thanks be to God for it. But church, I remind you today, there's still more work to do for the kingdom of God. There's still more work to do in my life and in your life. Sin's control is over us, is destroyed. And we cannot think it's all over. It's done. No, no, no. There's still more to do. So now. And I think to myself, hear me, I'm guilty of staying in verse three at times. I'm guilty of thinking, God, I mean, what more do you want to do? God, life is good. Everything is great. Everything is swell. And here is verse 4 calling out to me. Hey, manual, there's still more to do. Hear me. There's still more transformation in your life. There's still more change in your life. There's still more change in the way you're thinking. There's still more of my will that I want to accomplish. I'm calling you to greater things. I'm calling you to more things. I want to work more through your life. Let's not get, let's not get stuck in verse three. We got to remember there's a verse four, and we got to continue on seeking God and praying God and calling out to God and saying, God, I need you. Thank you, you saved me. But now, God, what do you want to do with my life? And I know this is a challenging thought today, and it's a challenging message today, but I don't want you to miss out because you know what I've learned? I've learned that amazing things can take place after a so now. I've learned that beautiful things can take place after a so now. I'm reminded of Noah as he built the ark. He built the ark and he built the ark. Why did he build the ark? So now that his family could be saved. I'm reminded of somebody like Abraham in the Bible, where the call goes out to him and he doesn't know where he's going, but he gets up and he goes. So now there can be an entire nation of people that can receive the promise of God. Church, it doesn't just stop when you get saved. I want to encourage you today and remind you there's still more to do for the kingdom of God. I'm reminded of somebody like Joseph, who's thrown in a dungeon in a prison, and he interprets the Pharaoh's dream. So now he becomes the second most powerful man in the world. I'm reminded of people like Daniel in the lion's den, thrown in the lion's den, but God rescues him and saves him, so now he becomes a person in charge of so many people within the nation. I'm reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They're thrown in a fiery furnace, and God saves them so now they come out and they become leaders of a nation. What I'm trying to let you know today is be glad God saved you. Rejoice that God saved you. Give them thanks that he saved you. But remember, there's a so now in your life. There's more to do because he saved you, and that'll probably be the greatest miracle of your life. But I just don't want to settle for one miracle. I want all the miracles God has for me. I want the movement God has for my life. I want the change. Don't just change me. Now change my family, God. How about this? I got saved, so now my whole family's gonna get saved as well. I got set free, so now my friends and my relatives can be set free. God's doing a great work in my life so now I can testify and help others get things going in their life as well. I'm telling every person that you may think you have nothing to offer, nothing you can do, but I challenge you to think about this. There is a so now in your life. I love you. Angel, right? My man, Angel. Nice to see you today. Erica? Alright, love you too. Don't leave after I say this. But here's the part that breaks my heart. I I there's a lot more to this message, but this is where we're gonna end. I already feel it in my heart. Grab your purse. We're gonna have to run after I say this. Gotta take her with me, right? Right. The other day we were at home and they said a tornado warning, like, a tornado's coming your way, we live behind East Central. And I was like, hey, if a tornado comes our way, you will run out of the house and we'll drive to the church. And she was like, What about the dog? Oh yeah, he can she can come too. You know what I mean? So, anyways, if I leave, yeah, you can come too. All right, now hear me. You know what I've learned, and it breaks my heart, and I'm guilty of it too. That we can be so selfish with our so nows. We can be selfish with them. God answered the prayer that I lifted up, so now I never pray another day in my life. I was begging him, asking him, crying. God, change it, and he did the miracle, and I got stuck in verse 3 and I did not go on. You're selfish with your soul now. I'm selfish with it too at times. God, you he answered the prayer, he did the miracle, could not believe it. Now, when's the last time he heard from you or from me? He he did the miracle, so now. Sometimes people's marriages are on the rocks and destroyed and ripped apart, and God does a wonderful reconciliation and brings people back together, but then afterwards, He healed my marriage, so now what are you doing? Well, I you know, we get to church when we can. I was sick, and the doctor said this and that and this and that. Oh, but thanks be to God, he healed my body. Oh, so now what's going on? Well, you know, I'm just doing my best, trying to just keep trusting the Lord. We're selfish with our soul now. He answered your prayer and you celebrate you celebrate the blessing and never come back to the one who blessed you. He he restored your marriage, but you never come back to the one who healed your marriage. He he he kept you while you were stuck in that prison cell, kept you alive, kept your child alive, and your child gets out or they get out, and God never hears your voice again. You're selfish with your so now. I'm guilty of it too. I'm guilty of it too. That we got God, I need you, God. God, where are you, God? And he shows up and he heals and he delivers, he sets free and he saves, and there's a movement. So now nothing, crickets. God gave you now, they're gonna get mad at me. God gave you the job you were praying for, and I never see you on a Sunday ever again. Answer the prayer, so now, and my heart breaks because something amazing happened in verse 3, but there's still greater things to come in verse four, and yet we're stuck in the celebration of the blessing, we're stuck celebrating how good God is, which we should. But, church, I beg of you, I implore of you, as Paul would say, I beseech of you. God's not done yet, he still wants to do more, he's still on the move, he's still trying to show you how amazing he is, he still wants to build you and heal you and restore you. He wants to work in your heart and in your mind. Why? Because there's greater things to come. Lear me. We sometimes think to ourselves if I just get through this, God, don't look at me, funny. We've offered prayers. God, just get me through this. Okay, I'll do it. So now, and my heart breaks because I I know what that I've been there too. I've been there too. And don't look at me, funny. Some of us were right there right now where we have to look at ourselves and say, My God, how good you've been to me. My God, how great you've been to me, and yet my worship has been lacking, my my dedication to obedience has been lacking, my desire to follow you has been lacking, and you've done so much for me. I got stuck in verse three. And church, I am here to tell you today that there's still a soul now in verse four. He can still pick you up and change you and help you. He's not gonna condemn you and beat you down. The grace and mercy and compassion of God is still real. You don't have to be stuck there thinking, my God, I made this promise and I made that promise, and I said I was gonna do this. Yeah, he's gonna remind you of it because he's still ready to help you do what you promised him you would do. He's still ready to help you accomplish what you asked him to accomplish. And even some of you right now are in situations and in battles where you're praying, you're asking God, help me, God, get me out of this, and thanks be to God hear me. I will join my faith with your faith and say he's gonna do it in the name of Jesus. But don't forget this message today, after he does it. What's your response? What are you gonna say back? How are you gonna react? How are you gonna move forward? Because there's still more to come. Don't get stuck right there. Let's keep moving and let's see what God can do in your life. Does this make sense, my man? Because I'll give you an example. Let's wrap this up. Uh 17-year-old Manuel was not behaving the best, right, mom? She said, Amen. Okay, yeah, he wasn't behaving the best. And I remember I cut my dad's grass this one day, and uh, he has a pretty big lawn, riding the lawnmower like Hank Hill, and cut the grass, and all of a sudden we're done. And I was just going through a lot personally at that time that just had a lot going on in my mind and my life. I knew I knew God's commands. I obey, I I know what it grew up in church, grew up in a Christian school, no verses of the Bible, quote the books of the Bible in order to, by the time I was 10, all these things, Christian school, Christian home, Christian family. But here I am at 17, broken, scared, worried about my life, things I had questions about, things I was worried about, didn't really know where my life was going. And you had parents praying for me. Side note, mom, dad, don't stop praying for your kids. Say amen to that. They may look the worst, keep praying for them. They may have walked out, you keep praying for them. They may say, I don't want to, you keep praying for them. They may say that God is your God, you keep praying for them. And in the name of Jesus, lift up your hands, mom and dad. You're gonna see breakthrough in their life, change in their life, healing in their life. For as for you and your family, you shall serve the Lord, train up the child the way they should go, and they will not depart. You're gonna hold on to those promises of God. Say amen to that. And some of you kids here, you should go to your mom and dad after church today and just give them the biggest hug because some of you, the only reason you're even here today, is because mommy and daddy were praying for you. Grandma was praying for you, grandpa was praying for you. You have a lot of thanksgiving to give to God and to some adults and parents in your life that have been lifting you up before the Lord. I am a product of praying parents. I got a long way to go, but thanks be to God. I'm a product of praying parents who can testify to being a product of praying parents today. I know I can, and many of you can as well, so stay with me. I cut the grass, I'm sitting in front of their front door. I get choked up here. I start crying. I start crying. I just say, God, I don't know what to do. I'm scared. But but I remember praying, I say, God. Worship can come up. I say, God. I know you hear me though. Because I was taught. God, I know you hear me. And believe me, I wasn't close. As far away as I am from you right now. I know you hear me. I said, God, I need help. I need help. I don't know what to do, I don't know what to think, I don't know what I'm doing. Just life just seems all wrong right now. I went to be just like God. I heard nothing. Nothing. The very next day, I drive home, I don't know where I was, but then I drove home. It was the afternoon. I checked the mailbox. And in the mailbox, in the mailbox angels, there were two postcards in the mailbox addressed to Manuel Magania. Straight to me. And they were postcards from Bible schools. One from Florida, and I think another one was like from Arizona or somewhere like that. And the reason why this verse stuck out to me is because I remember the words. I claim, I believe, I tell people, for me, I've I feel like I believe I've only heard the audible voice of God, like the actual audible voice of God, a handful of times in my life. And this was one of them. When I look at the postcards from Bible schools with my name addressed to me, all I hear is, so now what are you gonna do? And I literally said, I literally said it because I heard it. I literally said, You got to be kidding me. Christian home, Christian school, Christian family. Now Bible school? I literally said, You people in my Christian school, they would sometimes throw out, Anybody want to go to Bible school? I would laugh. I said, I know more of God than you do, teacher. Like, I just I grew up in this thing. No, like I did, but you never know it all, right? But that was just Manual being dumb. And after I said, You got to be kidding me again. So now what are you gonna do? Manual had a choice to make. Are we stopping in verse three? Man, God, you heard me! Nah. The miracle wasn't gonna come from hearing him. The miracle wasn't gonna come from hearing him. The miracle was gonna come from obeying him. Because I heard him. So now what are you gonna do though? Alright, God. Five minutes later, I'm on the phone. Texas Bible Institute of Columbus, Texas. I need an application. Will you please mail it to me? I'll be going to school there in the fall. And I'm not saying that's the reason I'm here before you today. But I am telling you this. I do believe that God gave me a so now. I heard you, Manuel. So now, what are you gonna do? The miracle wasn't in hearing, the miracle was in obeying. Church, I thought I knew God, but in the next nine months, my life was radically changed for the kingdom of God. And I stand before you today, testifying to you that I'm so grateful that I didn't get stuck in verse 3. I said, God, so now, whatever you want, that's what I'll do. Don't be selfish with your so now. For some of you, he he pulled you out of a relationship that wasn't good. He saved you. So now what are you gonna do? For some of you, you're on the brink of suicide and heartbreaking and just every night crying yourself to sleep. So now you're saved, you're redeemed. Hallelujah. But so now, what are you gonna do? Because I'm a firm believer that when he restores and reconciles and heals, he doesn't like just taking trophies and putting them on a shelf. He likes to empower you, anoint you, equip you and say, Child, go live for me and see how I can use you for what I made happen for you, I can make happen for someone else as well. It's beautiful to think you're not a trophy on God's shelf, you're a child of God with purpose, identity, power, and anointing. Who he says, if you're willing, let's keep going. I've done so much for you. So now see me more than I can do because he's not done with you yet. Hear my heart. I love you, and the only reason I preach messages like this and I cry before you is because sometimes I believe, I see, sometimes what you don't. I see men that are praying with other men and encouraging other men. I see women that are reaching out to people they'd barely know, but are saying, Hey, I know Jesus, can I pray with you? Can I help you? Because I see teenagers in schools, not ashamed and not worried of what friends will say, but are ready to invite others and say, Come, let me come to church with me and come check it out. I see college kids that are ready to stand up in classrooms where there's so much false doctrine being ministered and say, But I know the truth, and the truth is in me, and I can share it with whoever wants to know. And that may sound like crazy, that fine, I'll be the crazy one, but I'll tell you this much. I'll be the crazy one, but I'll be the crazy one believing for you. I don't want to see you stuck in verse three. There's a so now in your life. Hear me. Have you been answering the so now? He saved you, he protected you from that thing that should have killed you. So now. So now. One last time on the count of three. Will you say those two words with me? One, two, three, so now. I hope you never, ever see those two words the same ever again. He's been a good God. So now, what are we gonna do? Let's not be selfish with it. There's more to do. He kept you on that battlefield, didn't he? He watched over you in those bunks, he watched over you on that plane, he kept watch over you. I'm not trying to embarrass you, I'm just saying, I'm just saying, you think that was an accident? You think that was a coincidence? You think he kept his hand over you in those places where you felt alone and by yourself? No, he kept you, he watched over you, he was there for you. Why? Because he knows there's a so now in your life. He healed you and he kept an eye on you when mom and dad weren't around. I felt like nobody cared for you, felt like who else is here for me, who else can help me, and yet here you are, strong, grown man. Don't have it all figured out, but hearing the truth of God's word. So now there's throughout this sanctuary. You're looking at somebody, right, mom, right, mom. I shouldn't even have been born. People don't know my story from the time I was born. I was shouldn't even be in front of you today. Mom literally told you have a choice, you are the child. That's what she was told. But here I stand before you today. You better believe I have a so now in my life. You were born, young man, so now. You made it through that womb, young man, so now you are alive, young man, so now. Parents, you're praying for kids, you're praying for them. When you see them saved, you remind them, so now. So every person here, I ask you today to go with me and remember from here on forward, I'm not stuck in verse three. There's more to come in verse four. So now we'll talk about that in the weeks to come. I'll show you the so now in the weeks to come. It'll blow you away, but pawn you what he was doing. He was reminding everyone. Man, he's so cool. He's so cool, George. Man, Jesus did a great work. So now. Who's ready to answer their so now? Lift up your hand today. Lift up your hand, lift up your hand, lift up your hand. Let's get the worship team up here. Lift up your hand, keep your hand up, Father. I pray today in the name of Jesus. There's so nows across this room. There's people breathing today, alive today, moving today, Father. Miraculously, they're still alive. Miraculously, they're still living for you. Miraculously, Father God, they're still exalting you and worshiping you. Miraculously, Father. Somehow they're here. Who can testify to that? Miraculously, miraculously, I am here today. I am alive today. I am breathing today. There's a so now in your life, man. There's a snow now in your life, lady. So now, so Father, I pray. Their hearts are gripped today. They're reminded today, Father, that you're not done yet, that you have not completed yet the work of their life. There's more to do, there's more to see in the name of Jesus. So, Father, I pray today, Father, we're about to see some Sonna house lived out. We're about to see some Sonows, Father my God, completed. We're about to see some Sonna House fulfilled. We're about to see some Sonna House, Father my God, carried out for the honor and glory of God. Hallelujah. Hey, get to this altar. Come on, let me pray for you.