WEBVTT 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:21.439 Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, welcome to our online worship gathering here at Church at the Grove. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:23.280 So glad you're joining us. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:29.599 We're praying for you regardless of your situation as you still worship at home. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.480 We're excited if you're a new worshiper, a new guest with us. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:40.000 I encourage you to make sure you fill out an encounter card on our app or online at our website. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:41.120 My name is Russ. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:49.200 If I hadn't had a chance to meet you, excited as we continue our series, The Good Life, as we dive in in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:57.599 Jesus' first extended sermon teaching, and we start in the Beatitudes, what I call the harditudes. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:04.879 Where we're taking one beatitude per week and we're diving into what Jesus is teaching. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:06.959 I love what Dallas Willard says. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:15.599 He said, Jesus is in in these beatitudes, he's saying that the kingdom of God is close enough for you to live in it. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:25.599 And so he he says that basically what Jesus is doing is saying, the kingdom of God is come, you can live in it, and here's the house rules. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:30.560 And so we've been diving in, and what we're doing is looking at each one of these beatitudes. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:39.199 And the first one a couple weeks ago is where Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:45.759 And this last week we looked at uh where Jesus says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:52.000 And so we're I love how Jesus um embodies these beatitudes. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:59.599 He um uh this this past uh week we looked at how Jesus said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.319 And we say, Jesus embodies these beatitudes. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.599 He he became poor so that we might become rich. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:12.639 He he mourned over the loss of innocence and the loss of the relationship between humanity and God. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.599 And so he mourned enough that he did something about it. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:18.159 He gave his life, he surrendered himself. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:26.879 The apostle Paul gives us this beautiful hymn in Philippians 2, 5 through 11, where he says he became a servant to the point of dying on a cross. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:33.599 And so Jesus embodies what it means to be meek, reserved strength, or strength under control. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:36.639 He he had all power. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:50.400 He had angels at his disposal, but he fulfilled his mission by dying on the cross, and he proved that he had power over death and sin in the grave by walking out of that empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:04:01.439 And so we we move forward today into verse 6 where it's he says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:05.120 And so he moves in to this verse this week. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:10.400 What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.000 I know what it means to be hungry. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:24.560 I mean, I I love the story of when I was driving down to South Georgia where my in-laws used to live, and I love both my mom and my mother-in-law can cook. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:28.560 Man, they can cook, and I mean home, southern cooking. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:39.040 And so I was traveling alone without my family, but I was gonna stop by my mother-in-law's house, and she told me, she said, get ready because I'm gonna cook you a home cooked meal. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:46.560 And man, I was so excited, I didn't even eat that day, and it was getting later in the afternoon as I passed through making, I got really, really hungry. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.519 And I thought in my mind, I'll just stop and get a snack. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:55.759 Well, the snack turned into a Mickey D's super size value meal. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:02.240 And and you know what, I'm gonna be honest with you, it it was it was good because I love I love an extra large fry. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:10.480 Um, I I love their hamburgers, um, and and so you know, I had a supersized Diet Coke, and it was really good. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:22.800 But what it did is it it satisfied a hunger uh and it caused me to miss out on that good home cooked meal that would have been so much more satisfying. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:29.199 And so that's a little bit of a picture of how easily, how easily we are satisfied as human beings. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:34.720 We're so easily satisfied with less than God's best. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:35.839 I love what C.S. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:37.920 Lewis says in his book, The Weight of Glory. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.639 He says, our desires are not too strong but too weak. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.199 We are half-hearted creatures fooling around with drinking sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:06:01.360 He said, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum, because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea, he says, we are far too easily pleased. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:07.600 And so this idea that we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness, it reminds me of what a pastor said. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:14.639 He said, he said, when we hunger and thirst for the right things, we will be filled. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:19.120 But when we hunger and thirst for the wrong things, we will hunger still. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:24.879 And it's this truth and this reality that we're far too easily satisfied. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:32.879 We hunger and thirst for the wrong things, um, and and man, we're missing out on what God really wants to fill us up with. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:40.240 And so we've even said in the series as we get began it, this idea of Jesus saying blessed or happy. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:46.319 That word blessed, it's the Greek word makarios, it can be translated accurately as the word happy. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:55.120 Now, I I hesitate to use the word happy because typically in our culture, happiness is tied to our circumstances. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:04.720 But Jesus is talking about a happiness that is a divine, grace-given, supernatural happiness that comes through a relationship with Him. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:17.040 And so it's this idea of happiness that far, that, that, that, that exceeds what is offered us, that far exceeds what is offered us in earthly or temporary things. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:21.360 He's talking about this happiness that is eternal. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:33.439 And for us Americans who are affluent and have access to all types of material things, we're so easily satisfied with those things. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.079 And we miss out on an eternal satisfaction. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:51.759 And I think some people around the world that live in maybe less than affluent type of circumstances, they they easily hunger and thirst for eternal hope and eternal satisfaction. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:59.040 An associated press poll from late this past year, late 2020, said it's been a rough year for the American psyche. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:00.079 Folks in the U.S. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:03.920 are more unhappy today than they've been in nearly 50 years. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:09.439 And so we we know intuitively something is wrong. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:19.519 Something's wrong with disease and something's wrong with pandemic, something's wrong with social issues that cause strife. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:21.120 There's something wrong. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.199 Um people ask often, they've asked this past year, where is God? 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.600 If God is all-loving, how could he allow? 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.079 If he's all powerful, how could he allow? 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.000 Things like this past year. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:38.240 Um The Atlantic is a is a monthly publication about about world events and U.S. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:43.679 events, and the cover in this past September was in big black letters. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.600 How did it come to this? 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:53.039 And it was speaking about the COVID and situation and the pain and the hurt and our culture this past year. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:09:06.559 So I believe Jesus addresses all of this in verse 6 of Matthew chapter 5, where he says, Happy are are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:09.039 And so we know something's wrong. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:22.240 We're creating the image of God, and because of that, we are able to identify with what God deems as wrong, or what God deems as less than the best. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.399 Um if you're a note taker, I want I want to give you this. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:32.000 Um it says, we hunger and thirst for happiness that can only be filled with God Himself. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:52.240 And listen to this, in the person of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, and so um and so we we hunger and thirst, and so it's only it can only be fulfilled and only be filled this void with God Himself and through the person of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:00.000 See, Jesus meets us at our greatest need, and our greatest need is for righteousness. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:08.399 Our greatest need is for this broken relationship with Creator God, our Heavenly Father, to be made right. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:14.240 And he made it right through the person of Jesus and by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:27.600 So 2 Corinthians 5.21 says this, for our sake he made him, uh, God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:34.320 For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:47.360 And so through faith in Jesus, we are made right with our Heavenly Father, and he gives us this gift of righteousness that allows us into the presence of God and gives us hope that he's eternal. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:49.679 And so, so, but we don't stop there. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:53.519 We don't stop with the get out of hell ticket. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:11:14.399 I mean, for for many of us in the church, we've settled for, you know, the eternal salvation when God offers us eternal hope, even in this world that we live in, the kingdom of God has come near and it's near enough for us to live in it now in our earthly existence. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:17.039 And so we move forward. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:24.559 We hunger and thirst for a happiness, listen, that arrives in discovering the life and the way of Jesus. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:29.120 So it's not just the gift of righteousness so we can get into heaven. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:50.080 It's for us to understand the way of Jesus in the earth, in our lives now, that really begins to prepare us for heaven and allows us to share the hope that Jesus has given us with the people that are hopeless that we encounter every day in our life. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:12:02.240 Luke 9, 23 through 25 says, And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, daily, and follow me. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:07.519 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:14.080 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses it or forfeits it himself? 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:26.799 And so our pursuit of happiness and true fulfillment comes from moving beyond just the personal encounter with Jesus that gives us heaven, gives us the hope of escaping hell. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:36.240 It moves us into the way of Jesus, a fellowship with Jesus, a a relationship where we follow him. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:43.279 He is our not only our Savior, he's our our friend and our our hope in the present. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.759 He is our rabbi that teaches us and guides us. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:58.559 And so it's this idea of me joining in with the work of Jesus in my life now, which means I move into community with his people. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:06.960 And I understand that my faith and my relationship with Jesus, it is personal, but it doesn't remain private. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:13.759 A lot of people I talk to, they'll say, man, my my whole, my religion or my approach to God, it's very personal with me. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:17.840 But really what they mean is it's really private with me. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.840 And so our relationship with God is personal, but it's not meant to be private. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:30.000 It's meant to be shared, it's meant to be lived out, it's meant to be observable and approachable for people to see. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:32.000 So how do we become happy? 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:33.519 How do we become blessed? 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:34.639 How do we move into this? 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:36.879 Happiness is found in joining Jesus. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.960 Listen to this, in meeting another person's need. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:50.320 We always talk about this triangle at Church at the Grove where we're this three-dimensional relationship that results from us meeting Jesus. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:59.919 It results in us living up, in and out, up with our relationship with the Father, in with relationship with our brothers and sisters in the community of faith. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:05.840 But it also points us out toward people in need, toward people that need Jesus. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.960 I love what Isaiah says in chapter 1, verse 17. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:16.480 He says, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.000 What he's saying is look for the people that are hurting. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:29.279 Look for the child that's without parents, without family, look for the the widow that's been left, or that's um whose husband has died. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:35.120 Look for the people who are in need and are in and that are hurting. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:40.879 And be willing to step into the way of Jesus and meet their need. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:45.360 And by doing so, you you can introduce them to the hope that is eternal. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:53.840 Proverbs 19, 17 says, Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.440 And so this idea of joining Jesus and meeting another need. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:09.840 I love telling practical stories, and especially stories that are right here in our community, related to our church or in East Metro Atlanta, or even right here in Walton County, you know, Loganville and Monroe and Social Circle. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:17.039 And so, you know, prayer was taken out of public schools in 1963, and a lot of people are upset about that. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:23.120 They throw their hands in the air and they get mad and they get angry, and that it's that righteous anger. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:28.000 But it's one thing to feel righteous anger, it's another thing to do something about it. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:50.879 And so rather than just giving in and saying, man, all hope is gone, they've taken prayer out of the schools, some people begin to pray and begin to have a vision for how can we get Jesus and prayer and the Bible back into the lives of students that are going to public school but may not be able to open the Bible in their public school. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:55.679 And so this vision for the Christian learning center came out of that. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:28.879 And it's kind of close to home to me because my brother and my sister-in-law were part of that group of people that began to pray and have a vision for the Christian learning centers and this idea of release education where students could take classes as long as they were off campus and they could study the Bible, learn about marriage, learn about comparative religions, learn about the way of Jesus, and they could actually get credit that would be applied to their high school transcripts. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:42.960 And so what began in the high schools has now led to every school, including middle schools and elementary schools in Walton County having a Christian learning center where students can learn about Jesus and study the Bible. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:52.720 And so that first year, 47 students signed up for Loganville High School and Monroe High School to take these Bible classes. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:07.839 Sharon Shackelford was the first teacher at Loganville High School, and Eric Whitley was the first teacher at the Monroe High School, and they began to invest in students. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:16.480 And over time, um uh Caitlin Boyd, who took classes under Sharon Shackleford, she took over the Loganville High School CLC. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.160 Well, you recognize that name. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:23.519 Uh Caitlin is the wife of our campus pastor, uh Nathan Boyd in Social Circle. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:28.480 And so Nathan and Caitlin met in a Christian learning center class. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:39.359 And then Caitlin began to pour into students, and now Megan Sorrow, which was one of her students in CLC, Megan Sorrow now teaches CLC in the Loganville CLC program. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:44.799 And it's just like this pipeline of leadership where God has worked. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:54.960 And so what became, what was started with 47 students is now over 1,400 students in 2019 and 2020 school year. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:01.680 And um and that that last school year, there was over 145 students that turned and put their faith in Jesus for the first time. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.559 Because somebody saw a need. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.519 Somebody identified and said, we're going to join Jesus in meeting the need. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.039 Because we hunger and thirst for what is right. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.480 And so we join Jesus in his mission. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:24.480 We hunger and thirst for the right things, we will be filled, but we hunger and thirst for the wrong things, we will hunger still. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:29.759 And so happiness is found in joining Jesus to heal a hurt. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:37.839 Um, Hebrews 13, 3, remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated since you were also in the body. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:47.920 Um and then in Luke 4, we've read this a couple times in this series, verse 18, the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus says, is upon me because he's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:57.519 He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:11.359 And so that happens in our community, but it also it gives us, it provides a hunger for a even mission that's beyond our community, a mission that goes to our state, our nation, and even globally. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:19.599 Um, you know, we have a heart for planting churches and partnering with people that that are meeting needs like what is described here. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:35.039 Um and so we've recently partnered in the last number of several years, we've partnered with a church plant and an orphanage and a school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and that's led to us being partnered with two new churches in the Dominican Republic. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:40.480 All because God changed Steve and Esther Santos' life. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:49.119 Um, and and and they went back to Haiti after being in the United States following the earthquake of 2010. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.079 They saw the need and said, we need to go back to our people. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:20:11.440 Well, Steve's story is dramatic, and I can't go into all the details, but he moved to the United States as a very young child, grew up in Miami, came to Atlanta, and after the 2010 earthquake, he felt led to go back to his country to plant a church and to meet the needs of his people. 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:21.920 And what's so interesting about Steve's story is he grew up with a father who was a voodoo witch doctor, a voodoo priest, and he still is. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:28.319 And so Jesus, Steve's life was changed by Jesus in a dramatic way that led him to go back. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:41.039 And we've partnered with him because we want to partner with people that answer this call to heal the hurts of people around the globe and in our own community in Jesus' name. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:43.839 And so here's the question I have for you. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:55.359 That's a couple of stories about how this hunger and thirst for righteousness has impacted the individual lives to respond and join Jesus. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:59.920 So the question is, what difference does it make in your life? 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:12.559 What is God doing in your heart, and how can you personally join Jesus in this making a difference way of life? 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:18.960 I love what Rodney Stark says in The Rise of Christianity, one of his books. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:33.119 He talks about how when the community of, when the individuals that follow Jesus and the community of people that join Jesus, when they begin to live out the way of Jesus, it makes a difference. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.839 And he speaks about the early church. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.039 And here's what he's saying during the Roman Empire. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:51.440 He said Christianity revitalized life in the Greco Roman cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with many urgent urban problems. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:57.359 To cities filled with homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:03.119 To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachment. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:08.880 To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and extended family. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:15.920 To cities torn by violent strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:24.400 And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:36.319 And so basically the Christians in the early church, while they were being persecuted and living in poverty, start rights, began to work together to meet the needs of their community. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:52.160 They took care of the hungry, they made uh gave homes to the to the homeless, they offered friendships to the to those without any family, and they extended they offered widows and orphans basic needs. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.240 And so it's this idea that we join Jesus. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.799 We hunger and thirst for righteousness. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:10.240 And in that hunger and thirst for righteousness, and this desire to see Jesus make right what has been wronged, we are filled. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.759 And in that filling, we respond to the needs around us. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:16.720 So here's what I want to ask you is are you filled? 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:17.920 Are you filled with Jesus? 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:19.759 Are you filled with His righteousness? 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:28.799 That word filled, it means literally to be full to the point of feeling like you can't eat anything else. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.720 Almost to be gorged. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:36.319 And it's this idea that we are so full of Jesus, we can't keep it to ourselves. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:44.000 And so we've got a community that has people that don't know Jesus, has people without basic needs. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:50.880 And so the question is, how will we respond and join Jesus in his mission? 00:23:51.920 --> 00:24:02.240 Through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, through an encounter with our Savior Jesus, through this reconciled relationship with our Heavenly Father. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.119 The question is, how will we respond? 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:13.599 And so I want to encourage you, if you've never met Jesus, maybe today is your first step toward Jesus and putting your faith in him. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:32.079 The Bible says you respond by calling upon the name of Jesus, asking him to save you, asking him to come and live inside of you, and then turning and repenting from your old way of life or trying to do it by yourself and putting your faith in what he did in his life and his death and his resurrection. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:41.279 And for those of you that have already maybe responded to Jesus, how do you, how are you responding to God speaking to you to join him in your mission? 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:45.920 Can I pray with you and for you as we close this time together? 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:47.839 Father, would you speak to us? 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:48.960 Would you lead us? 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:51.119 I pray for that person that needs Jesus. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:56.960 God, that they would take their first step in responding and repenting, putting their faith in Jesus. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:10.880 I pray for the person who maybe has put their faith in Jesus but but still hasn't been satisfied completely with Jesus to the point that they can join him in his mission, in his way of life. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:13.039 God, would you work in their life? 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:17.839 Um, Lord, may we be a church that joins Jesus in his mission. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:23.440 May we be a church that invites people into community and into the way of Jesus. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:27.519 Father, would you meet our need and encourage us? 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:29.599 So in Jesus' name we pray. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:30.000 Amen. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:30.720 So I want to encourage you.