Summer in the Psalms - Week 9, Pastor John Mozingo

Summer in the Psalms is a sermon series from Family Church that journeys through the beauty, honesty, and depth of the Psalms. From songs of praise to prayers in seasons of struggle, this series shows how Scripture gives words to every part of our lives. Each episode explores a different Psalm, offering biblical insight and practical encouragement to help you grow in your relationship with God. 

Thank you so much for listening to Family Church's Sermon of the Week! If you would like to learn more about Family Church, please visit our website myfamilychurch.com or follow us on Facebook or Instagram at @myfamilychurchVA.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Family Church's Sermon of the Week. We're so glad you're here. Each week we share a message from God's Word to encourage your heart, strengthen your faith, and help you grow in your walk with Jesus. We hope this time blesses you and draws you closer to the heart of God.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Thank you guys so much for being here. Let me let me just say this. If if you're a small group leader here at Family Church, if you're a small group leader, would you just stand up real quick? Just stand up real fast if you're a small group leader. Awesome. Awesome. And there are there are a lot more. Some of them are uh working with kids uh out in the lobby or whatever, but but I'm so grateful to our small group leaders. And and let me just say, if you're not in a small group, put that at the top of your priority list that you you start making a plan to connect with a small group, you know, and for for a couple of reasons. First, you know, you everybody needs people in their life that they can count on, people that are gonna pray for them, people that are gonna be there when they need somebody. And and not everybody has that, you know, but but through the family at family church, you can have that. And you might think, well, you know, I've got a family, I've got all that covered, you know, my my life's pretty easy, I don't need people that much. And that's fine, that's awesome. But, you know, what what you don't want to find out is that, hey, now I need that family, and I don't have anyone. I I need those people in my life. So you're gonna you're gonna have a much easier time connecting with a group of people now than when you really need them in your life. So don't wait until then. Second thing is you were designed to grow as a believer in fellowship with other believers. That's part of the plan. It's kind of like if you're a if you're a gardener, any gardeners out there, if you're a gardener, you know that some plants, most plants grow, especially fruit-bearing plants, grow better around other fruit-bearing plants. Okay? Because some plants will will, like, you know, they give off, you know, uh gases under the ground, you know, with the roots and stuff that benefit the other plants. Some of them, some plants uh uh chase bugs away that will attack the other plants, and and you know, having lots of plants together attract pollinators, you know, so it's just better, they grow better among other fruit-bearing plants. God made you the same way. You're gonna grow better among other believers. And so connect with one of those small groups, do that soon. We were we were made to to uh grow in the context of relationships. That's just the way God designed it. But I really do appreciate all the small group leaders. Thank you, those that stood. I tell you, the ones I really appreciate, though, the most are the ones that invite their small groups into their home. Okay? Because when you when you go to their home, you know, you get there and and you know, everything looks great, and you walk in and they are smiling and welcoming you and all that, you know, they got a little buffet put out. You know, if you got there an hour earlier, it would be a completely different scene, man. Totally different scene. I mean, they'd be running around trying to get that house cleaned up at the last minute and prepare food. And uh, and and you know, they're they're barking at their kids like a drill sergeant trying to get them to get the house clean. You know, that's what it's like. Because when you're when you're bringing somebody into your home, you want to, you want, you want a clean house before they come in. You know, you you want to present a clean house when you're inviting someone into your home. Now, the mistake that lots of believers make is that we assume it should be that way when we're inviting God into our life. We assume that we should have a clean house before we invite him in there. We should have all our ducks in a row. Everything should be right, you know, and that that before God can be a part of our life, that we have to we have to reach some uh a milestone spiritually where we can say, okay, now I can I can have God in my home. Now I can invite God into my life. You know, but but that's not the way it works. And I want to I want to look today at Psalm 139 and and uh use that as an example of not just you know how how you know God is part of our life, but really how how pointless it is to say, hey, I need to I need to clean house before I invite God into my life. I want to show you how pointless it is to do that and how it's not accomplishing anything in your life by saying, I'm gonna clean house before I make God a part of my life. Now, last week we we talked about how uh uh from Psalm 19, you know, how God reveals Himself to us. You know, how he reveals who he is to us. And he does that through through nature. We look around, we see the sun and the moon and the stars, and and we see we can see God in that. We can see God throughout history, see the hand of God throughout history, and it reveals himself to us that way, but he reveals himself to us in a more intimate and specific way through the Word of God, through the Bible. He does that. And so I want to use Psalm 139 to show you here is how God reveals himself. You know, here's the thing God is telling you. But but that's, you know, and so I'm gonna point some of that stuff out along the way. That's that's and that's kind of an extra thing. The real point in all of this is that I want you to understand that that uh uh you you can you can invite God into your life. If you're if you're uh not saved, if you've if you're considering accepting Christ for the first time, you don't have to clean house before you do that. You don't have to be at a point spiritually or or or in your behavior or whatever before you can say, okay, now I'm ready. Now I'm ready to accept Christ. If you're already saved, you know, and you're just you you you know that you need to take one more step in the right direction towards God, or or God, you're you're just waiting for God's will for your life or to follow a calling on your life. You don't have to wait until you've got your act together. Okay, and Psalm 139 tells us why. Let me let me read it to you. Verses 1 through 6. It says, Oh Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down, when I stand up, you know my thoughts, even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You even know what I'm going to say before I say it. You go before me and follow me, you place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand. So the big Bible word there of God telling us who he is in that is that it's the word omniscient, means that God is all-knowing. There's nothing about you that God doesn't know. And if God is all-knowing, that means God knows you. God knows you more than you think that he does. All right? The first phrase in that it says, Oh Lord, you have examined my heart. Um, in some translations, actually in most translations it says, Oh God, you have searched my heart. I want you to remember that word searched, because you're gonna see it again later in this in this psalm. But nothing about you is unknown to God, not a thing. And and David said, Even when I'm far away from you, you know my thoughts. You know what I'm thinking, even when I'm far away from you. So when you begin to spiritually drift from God, you know, and that happens, we get we get kind of lazy in our spiritual life, we get we get too comfortable, and we start we start to drift. You know, all that drifting starts in your mind. That's where it begins. Starts in your mind. And and that drift might start with something real simple. Might it might start with something like, oh, I'm just I'm just so busy right now. I'm just so busy right now. Or or it might be uh, you know, just it's it's hard to read the Bible, it's so confusing. You know, it's so confusing. Or, you know, about church or or fellowship or whatever, you know, I just don't fit in with those people. You know, it could it could just be something that simple that starts the drift. Or it could be something a little a little more harmful, uh, harmful thoughts could be more like, oh, I'm not good enough. I can never do this, I'm not good enough. Uh why would God ever have time for me? You know, no one loves me anyway. Or it could be just thoughts that are downright, downright uh uh in defiance of God. It could be I don't need God. I I I'm gonna do this my way, not God's way. Or I'm not even sure there is a God. Those kind of thoughts start the drift, you know, and all of those thoughts are things that will that will ultimately turn into actions. They'll ultimately turn into actions. And and some may assume that, you know, God doesn't know what I'm thinking until it turns into an action, until he actually sees me doing something, you know, God doesn't know. But that's not how it works. Bible says God knows everything you think. God knows everything you're thinking, everything going on in your mind, God knows about it. And and before those things go on in your mind, or after they go on in your mind, before they become actions, they become words. They become words before they become actions. You start talking about those things. And and David said, You know what I'm gonna say even before I say it. That's how well God knows you. Before you say those things, God knows you're gonna say it. Before David sinned, before he said, Go get me Bathsheba, God knew he was gonna say it. God knew he was gonna say, Take Bathsheba's husband and put him on the front lines so that he is he is uh killed in battle. Before David said that, God knew that he was gonna say it. And so David's saying, God, you you know my thoughts, you know my words before I say them, and and and even in even with that, I still screw things up all the time. But look what he says next. David says, You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Even though God knows our thoughts, he knows what we're gonna say, and even even though he knows when we're gonna fail, it says he still puts his hand of blessing on our head. That's how that's how much God knows, that's how well he knows us, that's how much he loves us, still puts his hand of blessing on our head. Okay, look at the next verses, verses 7 through 12. It says, I can never escape from your spirit. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to heaven, you're there, if I go down to the grave, you're there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I can ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night, but even the darkness, even in the darkness I cannot hide from you. To you, the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. So the big Bible word there is omnipresent. Okay? That means God is everywhere. Wherever you go, God is there. Can't hide from him. And if God is everywhere, that means God is always with you. No matter what, God is always with you. And you know, there's times throughout the Psalms, if you read through the Psalms, you see sometimes David will say things like, God, God, uh, you know, I don't I don't feel your presence right now. Where are you? Where are you, God? Where are you when I need you? David says that multiple times throughout the Psalms. And and all of us go through times like that. And if you've never gone through time like that, you're due. Because you're gonna go through times like that sometime in your life where you just feel like, man, where is God right now? Why is all this happening? Where is God when I need him? You know, but that verse is assuring you that even though you don't feel it, God is there. God is always there with you. You know, when when and it starts, it starts by saying, Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I go from your spirit? David, when when David was a young boy and the the prophet Samuel came to him and anointed him to be the next king of Israel, which wouldn't happen for another another decade. You know, he anointed him. It says that the spirit of God came over David at that point. You know, and the spirit of God worked differently. He his function was different in the Old Testament. You know, the way it works now, and Jesus promised us this, said we can never get away from a spirit, because if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then what the moment that happened, the Holy Spirit took up residence within you. The moment you were saved, the Holy Spirit took up residence with you in you. Look at Ephesians 1, starting in verse 13. It says, And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth. The good news that God saves you, and when you believe in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised, and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in you, and and with that, he comes as a guarantee of three things. The Holy Spirit is your guarantee of three things. First, it's a guarantee that you have an inheritance. Okay? That inheritance means that you are going to heaven. If you are saved, no question in your mind, you are going to heaven. That's your guarantee. The second thing, it's a guarantee that you have been purchased. You have been purchased. There is no need for you to do anything to earn your salvation or to buy your salvation. There is nothing that you could do, but you don't need to because Christ, through his death, burial, and resurrection, has purchased you. He has purchased your redemption. And the Holy Spirit living within you is a guarantee of that. And he is also your guarantee that God is always with you. David said, Where can I go from your spirit? If you are saved, you can't go anywhere without the Holy Spirit living within you. And you may feel like, hey, where is he right now? He's there. Because you have that guarantee that he's always with you. Now look at the next verses, verse 13 to 18. It says, You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book, every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered. I can't even count them. They outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me. You're still with me. The big Bible word for that is God is omnipotent. God is all powerful. There is nothing he cannot do. And if God can do anything, then you can be sure that God created you. God created you. God knit you together. God wove you together in your mother's womb. Every cell, every strand of DNA, God created very specifically to be you. And because he's omnipotent, because he's all powerful, he could do that. And if he is all-powerful, that means he is incapable of making a mistake. That means nobody is a mistake in here. There's nothing about you that is a mistake. You might make mistakes, you definitely make mistakes, but nothing about you that God created is a mistake. And everything about you is intentional. And that's because God has a purpose for you, and he has a purpose for your life. God has a purpose for you. Then it says, every day of your life was recorded in his record book. Long before your feet ever touched the ground on this earth. God recorded every day, every moment, every second of every day, God recorded it in a book. He knows the next breath you're going to take. He knows everything about it. And that means that he has a plan for your life. If it's all recorded in his book, it means he has a plan for your life. And I have to say, it's hard to look at this passage without considering the intricate design of God on a child in the womb. I mean, he says, You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out for me before a single day had passed. God values the unborn child in the womb. And he had a plan for that child before that child was even there. That's how much God values. You know? And, you know, this was honestly, this was not the plan to be part of this sermon. I planned this weeks ago. I didn't plan it in response to what happened this week. I planned the sermon weeks ago. And then this week, and I can't, I can't, I can't talk about this verse without talking about what happened this week in the state of Massachusetts. The governor signed legislation that will allow abortion up until the moment of birth. And when she signed it, the supporters that were in the room with her cheered. But just remember, every hero in the Bible stood before kings and governors and pharaohs. Paul stood before Emperor Nero. Okay? These men stood before these politicians because when politics oversteps its bounds and and and uh goes in in direct opposition to the truth of God's word, the church needs to step up and be political. Because these are not political issues. These are biblical issues. And and you are the church, so you have a responsibility to respond biblically to these things. There's there's an amendment to the to the Virginia Constitution that will be on the ballot in November that will allow for the same thing for our governor to do. Now, now here is here is the state of Virginia's explanation of that proposed amendment. The proposed amendment would add to the Virginia Constitution's Bill of Rights. That means it would it would codify it. The fundamental right to make and carry out decisions about a person's own reproductive care with only certain specific exceptions. The proposed amendment specifically allows the state government to pass laws to regulate abortion care in the third trimester of pregnancy, but requires any such law to allow for abortion care when it is medically needed to protect the life and health of the pregnant person, or because the fetus is not viable. There are so many things wrong with that statement. Okay? But don't let this phrase regulate abortion care in the third trimester. Don't let that confuse you because it sounds like, oh, well, they will regulate that so that it doesn't happen. That's not what it's saying. It's saying they, according to our bill of rights, if this passes, according to our bill of rights, any legislature going through the process can establish any law they want concerning an unborn child in the third trimester. Establish any law they want. So that would give our governor legal right to sign the same law into fact into effect in Virginia as they just did in Massachusetts. And I'm gonna I'm gonna just guess that if that amendment passes, they're gonna start that on Wednesday. If the election is on Tuesday, they're gonna start it on Wednesday. Not this Tuesday, in November. They're gonna start that process on Wednesday. So so we have a biblical responsibility to stand up against what is uh uh in the in complete opposition to the truth of God's word. We have a biblical responsibility to stand up for that. So, so remember that come November. Remember that come November that we have a responsibility to do that. You know, and if that's politics, if that if if that issue is politics, then the church has to be political. You are the church. We are the church, and we have responsibility to do it. Now, let's keep moving. Look at verse 19. The psalm kind of takes an odd turn, kind of takes an odd turn here. Um, verse 19, it says, Oh God, if only you would destroy the wicked. Get out of my life, you murderers. They blaspheme you. Your enemies misuse your name. Oh Lord, shouldn't I hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. You know, and that's that's kind of odd for us to hear because you know, we're used to the teachings of Jesus says, Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. But I don't think anybody in here has had to live the life that David did, who for uh a decade or more had to run for his life. He had to be on the run in hiding because King Saul was trying to kill him. You know, none of none of us have had to live a life like that. Then later he had to be on the run for up to a year when his son Absalom and the army of Israel was trying to hunt him down and kill him. You know, so so you know, I get it when David says this. You know, I don't come understand completely, I'll admit that. But here's the takeaway from this. Here's the takeaway from this. God protects you. You know, God protected David through all of that when he was on the run. God will protect you too. All right, the Lord, uh the Psalm 28 7 says, The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. He is our protector, he's our strength, he's our shield. Now, now think back on the four things we just we just talked about. Okay? God knows you, God is with you, God created you, and God protects you. Okay, for for many. Many people in this room, those are just those are comforting thoughts. Man, they just to hear to hear those things and to say those things and read them from God's word, they are comforting. They just reassure everything I know and feel about God and about my relationship with Jesus. To other people, those statements can be pretty uncomfortable. You know, and and and maybe even frightening. So when you when you repeat those statements and they sound more like this, you go, God knows me? He really knows me that well. And he's with me right here, right now, can be a frightening, can be a frightening statement. God created this. Seriously? God created this? Or or you know, really he protected me? Do you know what my life has been like up until this moment? Do you call that protection? So some for some people, those words are not terribly comforting. But, you know, to that question, do you call that protection? Yes. Yes. It may not have been the protection you wanted, but the fact that you're sitting here right now tells me you were protected through that. You know, and maybe God protected you for this moment. Maybe he protected you for this moment. And because you're sitting here right now, you are protected, and no matter what your life was like up until this moment, God redeems you. God redeems you. Look at verse 22. This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life. God redeems you. The moment you're saved, God redeems you. God pays the penalty for your sin. Jesus died so that you don't have to. But but that decision for you to follow Jesus and the moment that you got saved, that was not the end of your Christian experience. That was not, whoo, finally, we're done. It's not that. That's the beginning of God's work in your life. Okay? That moment you got saved, we call that salvation. The big Bible word for everything after that is called sanctification. And when it comes to salvation, you had nothing to do with that. It's all Jesus. It's everything He did on the cross. It's all about Him. When it comes to your sanctification the rest of your life, you have skin in the game. Because you have to make the decisions, you have to embrace the habits that help you to grow to become more and more like Jesus. Here's a definition of the word sanctification. Biblical sanctification is the work of God by which he sets a believer apart for himself and progressively transforms that believer to become more like Jesus in character, conduct, and holiness. Nothing was required of you at salvation, but there is much required of you when it comes to your sanctification because you have to do the things that it takes to grow as a believer and for your life to be transformed, daily transformed. You know, when the when the scripture in the original Greek in the New Testament, when the scripture talks about, you know, you were saved or you were redeemed, anytime it says that, it used, I think it's the present perfect tense in the Greek, which implies that it is an ongoing process. So sometimes it could be better translated, not you got saved, but you started being saved, and you are continuously saved every moment of every day. You were you were redeemed, instead of you were redeemed, you started being redeemed. So I got saved November 3rd, 1981. But I didn't, I didn't just get saved, I started being saved, and every day since then, God has saved me. He has redeemed me. It's an ongoing process. And that process is what we call sanctification. So if you want to be, if you want to be on the road to that kind of transformation, and you say, okay, I'm I'm ready, I'm gonna I'm gonna take that next step. I'm I'm gonna do whatever I need to do to follow God's will for my life. I've accepted Christ as my Savior. You know, I I'm I I go to church, I go to a small group, I do all these things, but I know there's more, okay? And you're ready to say, I want to take these next steps. Here's three things that you say to God if you want Him to transform your life. And we just read Him in that verse. First, first thing you say is, Search me. Search me, O God, and know my heart. You know? And again, to some people that might be a frightening thing. Because when you say, God, search my heart, it's kind of like you're saying, God, I want you to come into the darkest recesses of my heart. I want you to come in there. You know? And and you know, you you may have in the in those things, you know, these are these are these are this is a place that you've not revealed to anyone else. You know, and it and it might be full of secret sin or hurt and pain from your past, regret, regret, guilt, whatever it is, it's in there. And you're saying, okay, God, search that spot. Search me. And then it says, then when you search me, I want you to show me. You say, search me, then you say, show me. And he says specifically, show me two things. Show me me, show me what I'm afraid of. Show me my anxieties, show me what I'm afraid of. Secondly, he says, show me the sin in my life. See if there's anything wicked in me that offends you. Show me, show me what I'm afraid of. Show me the sin in my life. And then he says, lead me. Lead me along the path of everlasting life. That's what the process of sanctification looks like. That you do that. And so let's say you take you take everything in that that dark, that dark closet in your life that has all those things that you didn't want anybody to know about. You take it and you put it all in a sack. You know, some of you, you're gonna walk out of that closet with a sack like this. You're gonna walk out and everything's gonna be cool, you're gonna feel good about yourself, but you're still gonna say, Search me, O God, and know my heart. God, search my sack. Okay? And God searches it and and he says something like, Hey, you know, you were you were uh you're pretty hard on the kids this morning. You know, you lost your temper, you said some things you shouldn't have. You probably gotta take care of that. So you say, Okay, God lead me. And God leads you to talk to your kids, to confess that, and then to talk to your kids and say, hey, I'm I'm sorry, I lost my I lost my temper. I lost my temper. You know? You know, he looks in there and says, Hey, you know, you were you were pretty short with your wife today. You know, she was just trying to help, you know. She's never she's never gonna make your coffee perfect unless you drink it black. That's that's the key, guys. She's never gonna make your coffee perfect. You don't have to you don't have to jump all over her when she puts too much cream in your coffee, you know. And you say, okay, lead me. And he leads you and says, You confess that sin. And you go and you make it right with your wife. You know? So if you got a if you if if you're caring or if the contents of the dark places of your heart look like this, man, God bless you. That's awesome. But some of us, you know, we take the contents of that, that dark place, and we put it in and we fill a bag like this. You know? And and it's so full, it's so full, and we've let things pile up so much that we have just drifted and walked away from God. And the cool thing about this is no matter where you are, you know, if God's that way and you're headed this way, you can stop and turn and say, God, search me. No matter where you are, God search me. And God says, Okay, well, let's open that bag. Let's open it. He said, Search me, oh God. And he said, God, show me. And God pulls something out and he goes, How about this? And you go, Yeah, no, no, let's let's put that back and we'll deal with something else. You know, God says, No, no, no, no, let's deal with this. You said show me. And he goes, Well, that's that that's not even sin. You know, there's you know, you tell God, that's not even sin. That's this is stuff that happened to me. You know, I didn't do anything wrong here. This, you know, this is my my my wife was unfaithful. You know, that's that's what this is. That's not my sin. You know, my my my dad abandoned me when I was a kid. You know, I was abused when I was a kid. You know, I I I've got all these things, you know, and and he goes, Yeah, but you said, show me what you're afraid of. This is what you're afraid of. And all the things that are in that bag that you need to deal with, you might need to deal with this first. And you say, Okay, God, you searched, you showed me, now lead me. You know? And then you go a little bit further, and then God and you say, God, search me. God says, Okay, let's look in the bag. And he says, show me. And he pulls out one more thing. And you go, Oh, you know what that was just a one-time thing. You know, nobody even knew about that. So we we can put that back in the bag, we don't have to deal with that. And God says, No, no, no. You said, show me. Show me what you're afraid of, show me where your sins are. So let's deal with this. And you say, okay, God lead me. As hard as it is, you say, okay, God lead me. And that leading might mean repentance, it might mean making relationships right. You know, whatever it is, if you're gonna transform your life, if you say, God, search me, show me and lead me, this is what it looks like. And it's hard, and it's painful, but you say, God, lead me, you confess that sin, you move on, you make it right with other people, and you take another step, and you say, Show me, God. And he says, Okay, and he pulls one more thing out. And you say, Okay, lead me, God. And with everyone that he pulls out, everything he pulls out of there, you follow him. You keep following. As hard as it is, you know, you might be bringing up some of the most painful things from your past. You might be bringing up some of the hardest things that you've ever had to deal with. And you might be bringing up sin that nobody else knows about. And here's the thing God could even bring up sin that you don't know about. Okay? Because he knows you that well. And sometimes you might have attitudes or something that God just says, hey, this is what we need to deal with, and you go, wow, I didn't even know I didn't even know that was a problem. Or maybe it's something that that God's word reveals, hey, this is wrong. You shouldn't be doing this. And whatever it is, you say, God, search me, show me what I'm afraid of, show me where my sin is, and then lead me. That's what it looks like to transform day by day. You know, your salvation did not begin and end the day that you asked Jesus into your heart. Your salvation ends the day that you look Jesus face to face. And every day between Salvation Day and the day you look him face to face is all about you transforming to become more and more like him. So that process of search me, show me, and lead me is a lifelong process. And if it's hard for you now, but you keep following and leading, it gets easier because you see the hand of mercy on you, you see God's mercy in your life. You see that, man, God, God wants me to make these things right. God wants me to put the past behind me. God wants me to conform to the image of his son. And that takes effort on our part, and it's something we have to commit to. Let me have every head bowed and every eye closed. God, thank you so much for everybody that's in this room. Lord, this for some people this was this was a tough subject because Lord, some of us have duffel bags that are full of stuff we've never dealt with. Lord, for other people, it's very comforting, and you know, we we have our little little pink backpack, and it's not very full, and Lord, but but those are the that's where the drift begins when we think the things in the little things in the pink backpack are okay and don't need to be dealt with. God, I pray that you would help all of us to understand that that this is a a continuous process that we we surrender to conform to the image of Jesus. So still with heads bowed and eyes closed, you say, say, John, I I gotta I gotta start letting God open that bag. I gotta, I gotta let him search me and show me that I gotta I gotta I gotta let him lead me. If you're if you feel like, man, I I I've gotta do that, I have, I have neglected that, I've not not made that a priority in my life, lift your hand for me, let me know, and let me pray for you. Okay, hands going up everywhere. Really, you know, all of us should have our hands up because all of us could do this more. All of us need need to surrender daily to Jesus. We need to, before our feet hit the floor, we need to say, Jesus, I am yours today. Show me. Search me, show me, lead me every day. God, thank you for those that were brave enough to raise their hands. I pray that, Lord, that that you would you would just make this, Lord, make this part of our everyday routine. Search me, show me, lead me, Lord, that that we are constantly looking to transform. Lord, what is the next thing you have for me? What is what is your will for my life? What what do I need to change in my life to become more like Jesus? Lord, I pray for everybody that that raised their hand today. Lord, those that didn't, that know they need to, Lord, I pray that you would just bless them. Lord, give them strength and wisdom to do this. Lord, Lord, the Satan is gonna give them every reason in the world why to keep walking in the opposite direction. And it's all gonna sound awesome. It's gonna sound like there are people at the other end that love me. There's money at the other end. There's whatever at the other end of that path. But the thing is that it's not at the end of that path is God is you. So, Lord, I pray that you would just help everyone to have the courage and the boldness to make that turn and turn back to you and say, search me, show me, and lead me. Still with heads bowed and eyes closed. You know, maybe, maybe the first step you need to take towards Jesus today is that you need to you need to be saved. You know, you've never accepted Christ as your Savior. There's never been a time in your life where you've said, I'm going to become a follower of Jesus. I'm going to trust in his death, burial, and resurrection for my salvation. I want to know for sure that I'm going to spend eternity in heaven. And if you're here today and that's what you're thinking, that's how you feel, then you just know that there's nothing that you have to do to be able to walk out of here and say, Man, I know I'm going to heaven. There's nothing you have to do because it's already been done. And it was done on the cross when Jesus hung there. And because of his death, burial, and resurrection, you can have eternal life because his blood was shed, you can have forgiveness of your sin. So if you want to accept Christ, it's just a matter of you saying that and telling Jesus the intent of your heart and mind. And if you're struggling to put uh into words, you can just pray something like this. And it's not about repeating a prayer. Anybody can repeat a prayer. This is about from your heart and from your mind committing and accepting Christ as your Savior. And you can just say, Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you that he paid the price for my salvation. He took my place in death on the cross so that I can have eternal life. So today I trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for my salvation. I trust in his shed blood for the forgiveness of my sin. And I ask Jesus to forgive me and make me whole, make me clean. And I choose to follow Jesus. Now, if you just prayed that, the Bible means what it says. The Bible means what it says, and it says that if you just prayed that, that you you have the Holy Spirit living within you now. It says that you have a guaranteed home in heaven. That's the inheritance that you were promised. And nothing can change that because God's the one that saved you. There's nothing you can do to change that. So if you're here today and you accepted Christ, you just prayed that. Here's a couple things I want you to do. First, I want you to tell somebody, hey, I prayed that today. Tell somebody you came with. You can come in the me in the lobby and tell me, come down here. Our prayer team is down front. You can tell one of our prayer team members. Just let them know, hey, I pray to receive Jesus today. Second thing I want you to do on your way out, there's some black bags. In that black bag, there's a Bible and some other information that will help you take your next steps in understanding the decision that you've made to follow Jesus. But but don't keep this a secret. Tell somebody. Tell somebody that you accepted Christ today. But let me pray for you all. God, thank you so much for your love for us. Lord, thank you for for those that accepted Christ today and those that that uh um are now on a journey uh, Lord, to to become more and more like Christ. Lord, help them to make make uh part of their vocabulary. Search me, show me, and lead me. Lord, I pray that you would just bless everyone in here. Lord, whatever people are going through, I know there's so many different things people are going through, illness, relationship struggles, financial struggles, just so much that's going on, so many broken hearts, so many heavy hearts. Lord, Lord, help us to know that that you are uh uh that you are there with us, Lord. You know us so well, and you're there every step of the way, as hard as it is, you're with us. Help us to never assume that you've abandoned us. You're always there. And Lord, use this, protect us and use this to strengthen us to make us more like your son. And Lord, we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

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