Bill Johnson - Family Is God's Plan for Belonging and Impact
Yeah, beautiful, nice to see you! Glad you showed up. A husband and wife were shopping at the mall, and he went missing. So his wife called him on the cell phone and said, «Hey, where are you?» He said, «Well, you remember that jewelry store that had that beautiful diamond necklace that I told you someday I would buy for you?» She said yes. He said, «Well, I’m in the coffee shop right next door.» That’s so bad! That’s just rotten! I’m talking about families. I’m just trying to be uplifting and encouraging. I saw another one: a guy calls his wife, «Happy anniversary, hun.» She says, «Thank you! Happy anniversary to you.» He says, «You remember I told you on our anniversary I’d have a surprise for you?» She said, «Yeah.» He said, «I’m ducking the surprise.» That guy—we’re going to send him to Barry and Lori Burns' class because he needs healing and deliverance and everything. So I didn’t make that one up. I’m just reporting the news to you. It’s not me.
Then I have one more. It’s so bad! I read this one a while back, but it deserves a repeat. Several men were in a local lounge at a golf club when a cell phone begins to ring on the bench. A man engages the hands-free speaker function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen. «Hello,» he says. A woman responds, «Hi honey, it’s me. Are you at the club?» He says, «Yes.» The woman says, «I’m at the shops, and I found this beautiful leather coat. It’s only $2,000. Is it okay if I buy it?» He said, «Sure, go ahead, if you like it that much.» She said, «I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked.» He said, «Well, how much is it?» She said, «It’s $200,000.» He said okay, but for that price, I want it with all the options. The woman says, «Great! Oh, and one more thing, I was just talking to Janie and found out the house I wanted last year is back on the market. They’re asking $2.2 million for it.» He said, «Well, go ahead and make an offer of $2 million. They’ll probably take it. If not, we can go the extra $200,000 if it’s really what you want.» She responds, «Okay, I’ll see you later. I love you so much.» He says, «Bye, I love you too.» The man hangs up, and all the men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths wide open. He turns and asks, «Anyone know whose phone this belongs to?» That’s funny! It’s funny because it’s not my phone!
But Leah brought this to me today from my grandchildren. Look at that! It says «Papa.» Is that cool or what? It’s beautiful! I just thought it was so cool that she brought it today when I’m speaking on family. So it just seemed like I didn’t need confirmation, but I did need a church. So it’s perfect, and I’m glad for that. Right, let’s get going.
Open your Bibles. We’re going to read two portions of scripture and let’s just mess with those for a bit: Psalm 68 and Ephesians chapter 3. We’re going to read one right after the other, so go ahead and go there—Psalms 68 and then Ephesians chapter 3. I love the opportunities that I have now and then to talk about family. I like it so much because I remember, as a young dad, the things I prayed about the most, the things I researched in scripture the most, were about being a dad. You know, you would think maybe as a pastor I’d study building healthy church life and all that, but the thing that consumed my time before the Lord and my time in the Word was just on being a dad, just being a husband. I didn’t want to succeed in ministry and fail at home. I didn’t want to impact all the people that we impact and then not have it successful at home because I’m an exporter by nature. I don’t want to travel in ministry, for example, and go out there to other places and not be able to export what we experience here. I’m an exporter by nature, and the same applies to family.
I was thinking about it. Jesus—well, Paul in Ephesians 5 talked about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church, and then he goes on to talk about how a person will nourish and cherish and care for his own health, his own physical body. Then he makes a statement; he says, «But I’m referring to Christ and the church,» not just your human body. The point is that he was giving a natural lesson that had spiritual implications. It would be clearer to say he was giving a lesson in the natural world that spoke of a superior reality in the spiritual world. So good!
Now, just think about this: husbands and wives love one another, absolutely right, absolutely true. But it is actually a prophetic foretaste—it would be better to say it’s a prophetic imagery of his love for his bride, which is the church. The concept of family is the exact same: the husband, the wife, the children. I realize we have a lot of single people, so I don’t usually like to talk about subjects that would exclude people. I tend to stay away from this subject, except today, primarily because we’re dealing with family, which includes all of us together as the family of God. When we talk about the nucleus of a family—a husband, a wife, the children—we’re talking about something that prophetically portrays or illustrates what it is to be a part of the family of God.
The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray is «Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed Be Your Name.» The part that we pray and sing and declare so often, «Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,» all kingdom subjects, all kingdom manifestations, expressions have to do with the context of family. Once you leave the concept of family life—once you leave the concept of the relational component—you have left the subject of the kingdom. So often the church becomes an organization, an institution, instead of the living, loving family that God ordained us to be, and that is his design.
Learning how to live in that relational component is the actual essence of the Gospel. I tell people all the time—I’ve told you before—if you weren’t in my life, I wouldn’t need the fruit of the Spirit. Here’s another way to put it: without you in my life, I could think I have the fruit of the Spirit. You know, when you never interact with people, you can think you’re the most patient person on the planet. Then you have somebody that crosses you, and you realize, «Oh, that’s me. That’s ugly!» We discover through relationships, and it’s just the gift of God—it’s the gift of God to put us together with people. Years ago, I think it was Dick Mills who told us, «God blesses or afflicts you with the people you need.» What a great promise! Put that on your refrigerator! Quote it every day; that’ll help you.
So here’s this concept of family: the nucleus, the husband, the wife, the children is an illustration of what the church is. There’s order, but order is always for the purpose of life. Order never serves itself. You only have order because order releases life. There’s a process to the development of everything that’s so good. Structure and order in all that we do always serve the release of life.
So when God creates order in the context of relationships, He’s always saying, «Listen, this is how you get the most out of your life if you do it in this order.» For example, when He says, «The seventh day is a day for rest,» don’t try to figure out how to change it; just do it! Just rest! Take time to rest. Why? You’ll live longer; you’ll be happier. It just works! Don’t try to rewrite the owner’s manual. Don’t get the new and revised version—the twenty-first-century version that says, «Oh, do whatever you want every day of the week.» No! Don’t do that! It’s just better to rest!
Alright, Psalm 68. Let’s read a passage here. Then we’ll read one out of Ephesians 3. Alright, verse 5: «A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy habitation.» That reveals the heart of God right there! God is leaning towards… Here’s what impacts me so much: do you remember where it says, «Let the weak say, 'I am strong? '» Or another one where Paul talked—oh goodness, I’m sorry— that verse just slipped my mind. The concept is that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be what? Comforted. So what does it say? The Holy Spirit is attracted to the brokenness of heart that would create mourning. Do you see that? He’s actually attracted to broken things.
So when we’re in a place of weakness, when we’re in a place of vulnerability, we don’t want to live there; we don’t want to stay there. But we can be assured that in that context, in that situation, as long as we’re turning towards Him, He is drawn to that situation, the context we are in, to help us and to heal us. So this tells me right here that God has a heart and is looking for the widow, is looking for the fatherless. Why? Verse 6: «God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.» Verse 6 again: «God sets the solitary, the individual, in families.» That’s true for every person in this room. It really is true. It really is a reality. It is available and possible that the Lord would actually connect every person in this room, and that’s one of the primary things that Eric and Candis champion here for all of us, repeatedly week after week: to be connected, to be known, and to know people and to be connected relationally.
Because that really is the context where revival is sustainable. If there are relationships—it’s not sustainable outside because it depends on meetings. If there’s not relationship—so good! A move of God depends on activities. If there are not relationships, that’s good! But if there are relationships, the relationships become like the setting in a ring where you put the diamond. You take the great move of God, put it in a context, and relationships become the context in which we take this move of God, this presence of God, this confidence that nothing is impossible with God.
Carrying that kind of mandate in life thrives in the context of relationships because, you know, one week you’re doing strong, and your friend is struggling a bit because they just lost a loved one. What do you do? You just walk together. There’s something about that context of family that helps. Alright, here is verse 6 again: «God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity.» Man, I like that one! «He brings the bound out into prosperity!» Prosperity! The theme of this whole six weeks is «Foundations for Abundance.» Say this with me: «It is the will of God that I prosper.» That’s true! Now there’s a purpose for prosperity; we’ll deal with that another time.
But to think that God has intended to keep us below—I mean, it says you’re the head, not the tail. You’re to be the lender, not the borrower. The Lord is working on every one of our lives to bring us into places of blessing and increase. Why? I’m off subject now, but that’s normal for me! Actually, I’m not off subject because I can talk about anything I want to! I thought I’d throw that in. To think that you could do life without abundance just tells me you have a small vision. Wow! Your vision should always be for the more that you would release to impact the course of history around you. Always! And if we don’t have that, then we’re very self-centered in the way we think.
Religion wants to teach people how to live confined, restrained, restricted; the kingdom wants to build people that believe they can change the world! Alright, Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3, verse 14. Actually, you know what? I’m going to read it to you out of the Amplified because it’s louder. That’s so bad—thanks for laughing! Anyway, it’s a courtesy laugh for most of you. Ephesians 3, the Amplified, verse 14: «For this reason, seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ, I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that father from whom all fatherhood takes its title and drives its name.»
The whole concept of family emanates from the Father. So we have this prayer that we pray: «Our Father.» It doesn’t say «my father.» There’s a place for that—a place for the individual relationship. But to be really honest with you, I think in the North American church, especially in the Western world, we are blind to our own deception. As Leif would say, deception is so deceiving. We are blind to our own ignorance that we have, for the most part, a very self-centered gospel—a gospel that is fashioned to help us as individuals when, in fact, He has designed us to be members of a body.
We are actually members of one another; the body is one illustration, a metaphor to show that principle. Another concept, another way that it’s illustrated is the concept of family—that we are the family of God. We are family together. Dick Joyce, who is such a dear friend of ours—I love that man. I owe him so much. He’s impacted this church tremendously over the years. I remember he came to Weaverville during one of the times he helped us more than any other speaker. He would come just regularly and serve us so well, as though it was the center of the universe—which it is! It was! It has moved, it has moved! He would serve us so well. But I remember one particular message that he brought that impacted how I think.
He talked about the loyalty and the values that King David had as a great leader. If you know David’s story, you know that he was extremely close to his best friend, Jonathan, Saul’s son. They were trusted friends, and Jonathan profoundly recognized that David was going to be the next king. Even though, as the son of the king, he was the heir apparent, he knew the anointing was on David. He literally, in friendship, warned his friend to become what God wanted him to be even though he, in the natural, had a right to the throne, if that makes sense.
So it is just this crazy display of love, friendship, and support for one another—really illustrating what family is. When David became king, of course, Jonathan had died in the last battle with his father; they both died, I believe, the same day. David became king and said, «I want to help Jonathan’s family if there are any family members left.» They did this search throughout the land and found one of his sons named Mephibosheth. He was lame because during the upheaval, a servant picked him up as a small child and started to run with him and dropped him, and probably—I don’t know what happened—broke his legs or something; they grew back incorrectly. Anyway, he was lame and crippled for the rest of his life.
They get him, and Mephibosheth thinks he’s going to die because when somebody becomes king, they wipe out all the previous king’s family. David brings him in before him and restores to Mephibosheth all the wealth that was in Jonathan’s line in his family. So he gave him all these acres, crops, land, and the cattle, the sheep—all the stuff that he would have owned. He just restores it all to this son. Mephibosheth is extremely wealthy now; he’s got the palace, he’s got whatever home he needs, and he’s got all these servants to cook for him, to help him. But David adds this one little part: «You got all this wealth, you got all this stuff that’s yours, but I want you eating at my table.»
He insisted that this guy would eat at his table every day, even though he had the best cooks he could find and all the food that he would raise and everything set up for Mephibosheth to have a good life on his own. Yet David says, «I want you at my table.» Here’s the part that Dick hit us with so profoundly: Mephibosheth is lame, but when you sit at the table of the Lord, when you sit at the table of family, all your lameness is covered. So good! It’s covered! And there’s something about the connection of family that just covers lameness. When you’re at the table of family, the table of fellowship covers the blemishes, the brokenness, the things that don’t work well—the lameness. That’s family! That’s the context of family.
That’s the whole concept of communion. It says «Our Father,» and there’s something about the nature of God that can only be discovered in the context of relationships. In fact, let me put it this way: I experienced—I had a rough patch earlier this year with some health issues. I would just sit in my bed and read prophecies and promises over my life. I would read primarily the Psalms— which I’ve told you before I feast on, especially if I’m in pain. I remember reading Psalms 23 as one of my regular readings frequently. I read the 23rd Psalm: «The Lord is my shepherd,» etc. Then I remember coming to this phrase: «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.»
So think through the words: «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me.» I realized in the experience—not beforehand—but in the experience that there are realms of the presence of God that you can only find in the valley of the shadow of death. It’s the only place you’ll find that manifestation of God! You have to go there to get it! There are parts of His nature, there are parts of His person, there are aspects of God that can actually only be discovered through relationships with people.
Yeah, you can’t get it on your own. It’s not that it’s not that—it’s just that He locked it up in people. Just there are certain things He locked up in this friend, He locked this up in this friend, locked this part up in this friend because He wants us to see the face of God in the face of people—the nature of God as displayed through a Jonathan who knows he’s not going to be king; it’s going to be you! It’s the person that says, «You know what? My ambitions, my goals, are secondary in my life. I’m actually going to champion what God has called you to do.» And you run into that kind of person. You know, you expect that from God to do that, but when you see it happening through a person’s life—through flesh and blood—living this out in front of you, it leaves a mark on the way you think more than if you would have heard it in a sermon.
I mean, you know what I’m talking about here! You have a Jonathan in your life that just makes this decree over you, saying, «I know that I have a natural right to this, but you’re the one God’s hand is on for this.» When you see somebody making personal sacrifices because they see what God is championing in you, you will never forget the lesson! If you hear it in a sermon about the way God is, you might forget it by tomorrow, but when you have people—there’s stuff that’s locked up in the nature of relationships, friendships that can only be discovered in the context of relationship.
And relationships mean that we work on this together. I saw a great picture of an old couple—an extremely old couple—they were older than dirt. They were so old it was actually a very cute picture: a cute picture of the husband and wife walking away from the camera, holding hands. Somehow the question was posed, «How did you make your marriage last for 60 years?» Their response was, «We were born at a time where when something broke, you didn’t get a new one; you fixed the broken one!» Oh my goodness, what a profound statement!
We have this throwaway culture; it’s scary, actually. It’s just cheaper to buy another one than it is to repair the old one on so many things. We have this concept; it’s almost a part of our natural thinking: «Well, if something doesn’t work right, you just replace it.» Tragically, it spills over into marriage, into the way we raise children, into the context of friendships and churches and relationships in general. It’s just, «Well, we just get another one.» When, actually, the Lord is calling us to true biblical maturity that can contain a move of the Spirit of God that will endure for multiple generations.
I don’t know that the move of God has ever fully fit in the context of family and relationships. I’m a dad. That’s me! This is what I’m anointed to do—to be a dad. When your kids grow up and start having kids, you’re still a dad. I mean, I’m a dad. That’s what I prayed about more than anything else. I would go into my kids' rooms at night; you know, honestly, until they started staying up later than me. I don’t think I ever missed one time in all the years—if I was in town. Even if I got home way late, they had been in bed for hours; I would still go in there and I would lay hands on each one of them very lightly. I didn’t want to wake them, and I would pray—I would prophesy and I would do it night after night after night for years!
I remember praying! I remember I would pray, «Oh God, I want my kids to have a heart to know you.» And I knew it was a good prayer, but one day I found this verse in Jeremiah 24 where God says, «I’m going to give them a heart to know Me.» I went, «It’s legal! It’s a biblical prayer! That’s awesome!» So I became all the more confident in my praying over the kids! I’d lay hands on them! I’d say, «God has given you a heart to know Him,» and just prophesy that you’re going to impact nations and do all these kinds of things. I’d do it night after night after night. I’d do the same when they were awake.
I would often tell them one of two things. I would say, «Honey, I want you to ask God what is there that’s impossible that you want me to do.» The other was just kind of an exhortation: «Remember, you’re part of a team that’s here to change the world.» I want you to go to sleep with those things in mind. So I would go and lay hands on them and prophesy. I found out just a few years ago that sometimes they were awake while I was doing that, but I didn’t know! But I did; I loved that part!
You know, you don’t stop being a dad when they grow up, so now I’m in the context of having nine grandchildren. I’m championing them as much as I know how, and I’m reading. You know, I love these scripture promises! I would study the Bible just to find promises and insights on family! I mean, that was—I’m a pastor of a church, but my main goal—I don’t want to succeed everywhere else but at home. That’s not success for me! I want to succeed at home and let that spill over into everything else. I want to be an exporter of what it’s like to have a healthy family, healthy relationships, and then let that be the inspiration outside of that.
And so I would pray. I remember finding the scripture that says, «And your children will be taught of the Lord.» Man! I champion that verse day and night. My children are being taught by God! I would just pray that! And that’s what you do; that’s what you do in your family. But it’s also what you do now when the family increases in size. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one rejoices, we all rejoice. But that’s family! I feel so bad for people that live outside of that because you can live under the illusion that all is well when it’s not all well. Why? Because you cannot become what God intended by yourself.
There’s a great African proverb—it’s one of my favorites I’ve ever heard in my life: «If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.» Is that a good one or what? If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others. Just makes me want to hold hands right now! Just teasing.
So here we’ve got this thing that has to change in our culture. Now, let me be honest: I feel like the Bethel family does this really, really well. I’m not preaching to a problem as much as I’m saying, «You know what? There’s more!» And it’s in this area—it’s «Our Father!» There’s something that happens when you intentionally bring someone to the table whose feet are lame, but you welcome them because, in the context of fellowship, their problems are under the table—they’re hidden, they’re put away. They’re not pronounced; they’re not emphasized because they’re covered! They’re covered by the table of communion of fellowship, and that’s who we are as a church body.
Husbands love your wives, but I’m speaking of Christ in his church. In the context of family, I’m speaking of Christ in his church—your relationships here. Let me say it this way: there’s this, I call it a moral insanity that has been released in many ways across our country. There’s a lot of instability, and there are a lot of lines that used to be firm that are now adjustable—that shouldn’t be. I’m not trying to crucify anyone. I don’t hate anyone. I’m just saying, «Why don’t we show them what healthy families are like? Why don’t we show them what healthy relationships are like?» Where there’s actually value placed in another person. I remember in Weaverville, Chris and Kathy—we had people live with us at various times. Sometimes they were healthy people, and sometimes they had issues. Some of them had a life subscription to issues!
But there’s a context in which you do life, and I remember as just a family that would do life together—Charlie and Julie, such a huge part of our life for almost 40 years now, Chris and Kathy, and Danny and Sher. All these people were all young families when we met them, and we just learned to do life together, raise our kids together, and learn from each other. Somehow, something happened in that context that became exportable; it became transferable. To be really honest, a lot of what you see and experience right now only exists because 30 years ago there were some young couples that chose to raise kids as an offering unto the Lord.
And now we see all these wonderful things, but it started a lot smaller. It started with some people that learned to say, «It’s our Father!» It’s not mine; it’s not «I’m in this for what I get,» but I’m in this because I’m part of a tribe. I feel like we have an opportunity to illustrate stuff that can set the temperature. You know, we’re all either thermometers or thermostats. Every single one of us! We either pick up on the environment or we change the environment. We either become the thermostat that changes the temperature or we become the thermometer that says, «Oh, things are difficult.» I’d rather be the thermostat.
You may be single; He puts the solitary in families. You may be a widow; He puts the solitary in families. You may have a broken home; He’s attracted to those who are mourning because He comforts them to a place of strength where they become a source of life for other people. Every one of us has been through success and failure.
The last point I want to make is one of the strongest parts of our family life is the missional component. The title for today is «The Mission of Family,» and I believe so much in missions. I realize that’s not the context, but I believe so much in missions! I believe in sending people! It’s such a huge part of what we do. We got people all over the planet, and in a few months, we’ll be sending a couple thousand more for short-term missions. It’s just a part that we love! Matthew 28: «Go into all the world.» The go of the Gospel is a huge part of the Gospel for us!
But there’s another part that we’re learning to emphasize: it’s the come of the Gospel. It’s the passage «Arise, shine, for your light has come. The glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Behold, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the people, but his light will appear over you; his glory will be seen upon you.» Listen to this next phrase: «Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.» The other aspect of the Gospel is that we become something people come to. Now, I’m thankful for all the guests that we have here today and all the people that come on a regular basis. We are so thrilled that you would give us your time to be here! It really is a tremendous honor for us, and I don’t ever want to discount that or take advantage of that.
However, when He says, «Kings will come to your light, nations to the brightness of your rising,» He wasn’t saying, «You’ll have visitors attend your church service.» In the same way that you go to a spring to draw water or you go to a tree to find shade, people are looking for those who know how to reign in life in relationships—a place that is safe for them, where they can find people to trust that will actually care for them. The Lord has called us to reign in life—not to reign over people, but to reign in life! And that is the call of every believer.
That’s why I love this title of this series, «Foundations for Abundance,» because I believe every person in this room is being set up by the Lord himself to step into another measure of abundance—in relationships, in health, in business, emotional, mental stuff, ministry—all the dreams of your heart! Some of you are about to have childhood dreams awakened, and you watch as the Lord fulfills those things because He is the Father who rewards. That’s the nature of fatherhood.
I told you I had one more point to make, and this is the second part of that last point—even though it won’t sound anything like it! I’ve often asked the question about raising kids and stuff, which I love to talk about. I learned early on that my children and my wife always had to pay a price for who I was. Wow! See? Even the angels agree at that point! Even the angels! I didn’t know they played that kind of music, but they’re with me! I know that!
In growing up, I knew always that I couldn’t control it. My children, my wife—anyone who’s a part of my family would have to pay a price for who I am. Now my grandchildren, they have to pay a price! I can’t control it; it’s a fact of life! What I get to control is the reward they receive for who I am. It’s been my ambition since my kids were small to always make sure the reward was greater than the price because that’s the way He is! That’s the way He is! He is the one who rewards those who seek Him. Yes, there’s a price for following Jesus, but what I’ve learned so far is that the reward is way greater than the price! Way greater than the price!
So moms and dads, whether it’s in the nucleus of husband, wife, and children or grandchildren or in the context of church family—make sure you’re a reward giver! If you want to represent the Father, learn how to give rewards! Let’s stand; we’ll pray together now.
Before we do, if we could just have all movement come to a standstill—the most important thing that could happen today. We’ve worshipped the Lord, and we’ll get to do that throughout all eternity. We make it a priority whenever we come together. We do look in the Word; that’s a huge priority for us. But the most important thing is that everybody in this room would have a right relationship with God. There’s nothing more important in this moment than this opportunity.
If I could have everybody please stop moving—I need to have nobody walking around because I don’t want anyone distracted by somebody’s need to get to the restroom. Smile at me! Smile! Smile big! That was a joke; it was half joke, half grenade! There are people here who have never given their lives to Jesus. The Bible calls it being born again. Really what it means is we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior; He forgives our sin and actually changes us from the inside out.
It’s not church membership that won’t help anyone; it’s a relationship with God. It’s God inviting you into his family. If there’s anyone in this room that needs that today, you’d say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave until I know I’m right with God.» It may be that you’ve even tasted of His love sometime in your past, but you’ve been going your own direction. If you want to get things right with God today, then I want you just to put your hand up right where you are, and I just want to see you, acknowledge you, and we’re going to pray. I’m going to wait like 10 seconds, maybe. Put your hands up if that’s you!
Right back over here—beautiful! Anyone else? Wave it if I don’t see it, because I want to make sure to see everyone that would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave until I know I’m right with God.» Right down here—there’s another one—beautiful! There’s another one over here—excellent, excellent! Yes, I see another one back there. Alright—beautiful! Thank you, Lord! Beautiful! That’s wonderful!
What I’m going to ask is I think it was four—might have been five. I’m going to ask if you would just come up here real quickly. We’ve got a group of people that we know and trust that are going to pray for you. Come quickly! I want to have the ministry team come down to the front right now as well. Now we’re going to close in prayer, but ministry team, if you would come at the same time. Those who put your hands up, just come quickly right over here to my right, right over here. We have a banner over here called the Freedom Banner. Anyone who just needs to get free— we’ve got a team down here that’s going to pray for you. Come right, yeah, put your hand up again over here. All of you coming to Jesus, come right over here to my right, all the way over here!
Yeah, come on, come on down! Yeah, way over here—beautiful! Okay, put your hand up over here. Yeah, there we go—right here—excellent! Church, would you bless these guys? This is so wonderful! Such a beautiful thing! All the angels in heaven rejoice when people come to Jesus! I think we ought to join the angels and just give that celebration! Lord, we give you thanks! Lord, we give you thanks! We give you praise for this day! We bless you now. As people are coming to the Lord over here and we’ve got a ministry team that will talk to each one—I need someone to make sure that each one has someone praying for them. There’s a guy right here—I need somebody with her!
Alright, excellent! Now I want us to pray that the Lord would deepen our understanding of what it means for us to be family. While they’re coming— they’re coming not to a church service; they’re coming because they’re hungry for family! Amen! It’s in the context of belonging to people who care for them that they find out about this amazing Savior, named Jesus Christ!
So Father, I ask in the wonderful name of Jesus that you would release a grace over our church family about family, about our Father. I pray this: that you would be exalted and the world would be impacted. In Jesus' name, amen.