Chris Hodges - He's Still Making Appearances
Come on, one more time, let's give Jesus our praise, everybody. Come on, you can do better than that. It's Resurrection Sunday! Oh, yeah. That's awesome. And how about a good hand for our worship teams on that song, everybody, come on. I know, so incredible. Welcome, welcome, welcome, we're so glad that you're joining us here today, a big hello to all of our campuses, our locations around the state of Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. We're so glad you're along for the ride today. I want to say a big hello to the men and women in the Alabama Department of Corrections. For those of you that are new to our church, we are bringing not only this service but all that we are as a church into more than 20 of those facilities across the state of Alabama, and there are people streaming this service live, online, somewhere around the world. We get cards, letters, emails, and texts from our service, men and women who are serving our country but celebrating Easter.
How about the biggest hello you can, everybody, to everybody that's joining us? God bless you. And I know the campus pastors have already done this at every location. They've had their own services up to this point, and now we're joining together. But I wanted to give my heartfelt welcome to everybody who's here for the first time. We have a deep passion to not be a church of just church people in our people. But we really feel like we exist to reach out to those that are at every stage of the spiritual journey, invite you into the journey. And as Miles said on the little testimony video, that we even invite you to come, give us a year of your life, and just kind of go all in, and we make this guarantee that you really won't recognize yourself for the better, that God really has more for you than you're currently experiencing, and there's a journey, and we just invite you into the process.
And I always tell people, if God doesn't change your life, it'll happen less than a year, but if he doesn't, I'll go to another church with you. I mean, I just make that promise to you, honestly, and we would just love for you to come be a part in our worship. God will tell you more about what those stages look like. In your worship guide, I think your campus pastor has already talked about this. But would you one more time grab the little connection card, everybody, everybody? Even if you're not gonna fill it out, just fake it. Just kind of hold it in your hand, move your hand across it, like, it doesn't bother me a bit, but I'd love just for you to look at it just for a second. And we do offer these every Sunday, but it's a little different on Easter. On the front side is what it looks like every Sunday, and it gives you a place to put a prayer request, somethings going on in your life.
And I just wanted to tell you that every single card gets prayed over individually, every single one. And if you mark it confidential, it actually comes to me personally and to a select group of our pastoral team, and we'd just love to stand with you in prayer, and your information is safe, which is why it's perforated. We separate your personal information from your prayer request. We treat it with great respect. We don't call you or come by your house. It's a very, very safe card for you to fill out. But on the back side of the card is something we only do one Sunday a year on Easter Sunday, and that is I use the occasion of all of you coming to church on the same Sunday to do a survey. And we have over the years have asked a variety of questions that have actually helped us direct the church and program the church that serves you better. For instance, we've asked questions like, "If we were to add more service times, when are you most likely to come to a service"? Or "If we were to add more locations, where would you want one of our locations"?
And today, I just have one question at the beginning, one at the end, and the question today I'll actually use my little screen here to show you what it is, and that is if you could answer this question, I would like to hear messages on what the Bible says about, and then we've given you some suggestions. You certainly don't have to use those, but I have a deep passion to make sure I'm addressing the issues that you're facing every day. And so, if there's something we're not covering that you need to know what the Bible says, would you please write it down? Or if it already is there, to mark it. We're going to take the top six responses, and I'm going to create a message series. I think it's going to happen in September, where I'll answer the questions and make sure we're covering those things. And if you're thinking, "Well, come on, PC, that's your job to come up with the messages".
Jesus actually did this. He actually, a lot of his sermon content were answers to questions that the crowd was posing to him. So, I want to do the same. So, take a minute and do that. Hold onto the card for now, and we'll come back to it at the end of the message. We are in part number seven and the conclusion of a series that we've called "Seven Days," where we've taken an in-depth look at the last seven days of Jesus on planet Earth, beginning with Palm Sunday, and then the next Sunday, we did what happened on the Monday of the holy week, then the Tuesday and on and on. And if you ask, "Why are you doing that"? what's interesting to me is Jesus lives 33, a little over 33 years here on planet Earth, and the gospels are the account of his life here on earth from birth to ascension into heaven. And what's so interesting is the vast majority of the focus of the gospels isn't stretched out over his entire life.
In fact, one-third of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, one-third of the gospel is in one week, the last week, the Holy Week. In fact, the gospel of John, it's nearly half of his gospel, his writing about Jesus's life is on the final week. So, we thought if the Bible focus is on it, we should, too. And today is the culmination. It is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, and that Is the resurrection of Jesus. And I want to show you today Johns' account, but I'm gonna surprise you in there's something else that he talked about other than the Resurrection, and that's gonna be my message today. But let's show you the resurrection account. John chapter 20, and in verse 1, and here's how it goes: "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance".
Now, before I read you the next verse, I have to pause right here and tell you that I'm a Cajun from South Louisiana, all right? And that means I'm not very smart, but we're a whole lot of fun, everybody, okay? In fact, there are about seven reality shows on television right now about Cajuns, and it's just 'cause they're a blast. They're actually crazy, but they're so much fun to be with. In fact, we always say if you can't have fun with a person from Louisiana, it's your fault, all right? So, that's just how it goes. Okay, so I see humor in Scripture 'cause I have a sense of humor, and I'm from Louisiana, okay? So, I see a lot of humor. The next line, and there are a few more, they're just funny, and I'm getting ready to find out how many of you have a sense of humor, too, so here it goes, watch this. "So, Mary came running to Simon Peter, and the other disciple", John's talking about himself, "and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved", all right?
I just think that's hilarious that he refers to himself, like, come on, John. He already said that he so loves the whole world. Get over yourself, dude. And so anyway, and the Holy Spirit allows him to put it in there, like, you know, "Yeah, of all the disciples, and then the one he loved". You know, and it gets better. Watch this. "And they've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they put him". So, at this point, they actually think the body of the Lord had been stolen, not resurrected. So, Peter and the other disciples, John speaking of himself, started for the tomb. Watch this. "And both were running, but the other disciple..." Okay, more of you are getting a sense of humor. Hey, everybody, let's have some fun in church today, everybody. Does this sound good? All right, so I'll just, all right.
So, we'll get serious, but this is just hilarious. The other disciples outran Peter. He was faster. And it's not necessary, but the Holy Spirit allows him to include it. Anyway, "And he reached the tomb first, and he bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. And then Simon Peter," who was really, really late, "came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. And Peter saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus's head, and the cloth was still lying in its place". In other words, it had the shape of a body. So, if you'd have taken off the cloth, it would've been like laid out, but it was in the shape of Jesus, which now they're getting the first clues that maybe he wasn't stolen, that he was actually alive.
And so finally the other disciple, and that's John speaking of himself, who by the way had reached the tomb first. He adds it again. I know. "...also went inside". And that's the point where John goes, "Wait a minute. He's alive". And one more time, I know we've celebrated a lot together, but can we one more time celebrate the fact that our God's not dead, everybody? He is alive! That's right. Okay. Now here's the striking part of the gospel writing. So, I actually read Matthew's account, Mark's account, Luke's account, John's account at least 12 times, looking for a message. This is how I study the Bible for you. I started months ago, and what I notice for the first time in my life, this is my 39th year of ministry, and I've never spoken on what I'm getting ready to bring to you, that that's the entire account of the resurrection and nothing else.
But John has a whole lot more in chapter 20 left to talk about and chapter 21, and so did the other gospels, that they gave the vast majority of the real estate of what happened on Resurrection Sunday not to the Resurrection but to something else, and that is that Jesus would now appear to people. He's now going to show at least five appearances after his resurrection on that Resurrection Sunday alone, and then at least ten more times after that before he was ascended into heaven. And I think it tells us something. I think it shows the heart of God, who already had spent 33 years on earth appearing to people, interacting with people, loving people, relating to people, and he just couldn't help it. He had to keep doing it. And I think it shows something that he wants to do, listen to me, in you. He wants to do this in you, as well, that, here's my message, that God is still appearing to people. He just can't help it. He's reaching out to people.
So, I actually had this thought, and this is just for fun, just for a couple of minutes here. So, this is how my study goes. I actually had this thought. How cool is that to be, that everybody thinks you're dead, and now you get to show up. And then I thought, "Who would you want to show up to"? And I had a lot of fun developing this idea. In fact, I'll ask you the same question. If you were dead or if you were Jesus, and he's dead, and now alive, who would you want to appear to first? Now, it's a different list than what Jesus would end up doing. I actually, my first thought, my first thought was, man, I'd like to go back to mom because last time he saw mom, she was at the foot of the cross watching her son be crucified. She saw him bleeding and dying, and I think I'd have to go back to mom and then say, "Mom, I just want to let you know, you don't have to cry anymore. I'm okay".
And I don't know, that was actually my first thought, but my second, they kind of, you get to get into the head of Chris Hodges for a minute, and you may want to pray for me after you hear this, okay? So, because I would like to go back to Pilate. So, like, I'd have to go tell the brother that convicted me, in fact, if you know anything about the story in the book of Matthew, there's some fun details there. You ought to go read it. Scripture is incredible. In the book of Matthew, it's the only gospel that records the fact that Pilate's wife did not want him to convict Jesus. So, she actually says, "Look, don't do it, don't do it. He's innocent". You'd better let the guy go. It reminded me of this Cajun joke that we tell, that I'm not gonna tell you, but I am gonna tell you in a couple of Sundays.
So, you have to come back just to hear this joke 'cause it's hilarious, and it's a joke, and the punch line basically is you'd better listen to your wife because that's the kind of... anyway, I'll tell it to you later. But it's where Marie warns Boudreaux, and he doesn't do it, and when he doesn't do it she goes, "That's one". And then he doesn't do it again. She goes, "That's two". And he doesn't do it again, and she goes, "That's three". And that's where the punch line is, and I'll tell you in a couple of weeks. You have to come back, all right? So, I thought of this joke. So, when Pilate's wife says, "Look, don't convict him", I could see her saying, "That's one". And then it actually says in the book of Matthew that she slips a note in to him during the trial. Like, "I'm telling you don't do it. I'm having bad dreams. I'm troubled about this". And I could see her putting on the note, "That's two".
So, if I'm Jesus, I think I'd just have to appear to Pilate and go, "That's three". I'd just have to do it. I'm so sorry. Y'all see what kind of a warped mind I have now. There's one more. So, it wasn't just the Romans that were responsible for convicting Jesus. Of course, the Jewish leaders did, they played a role in that, as well. And back in those days, there were different sects, they called them. There were two different groups of Jewish leaders. One were called Pharisees, and one were called Sadducees, and the Sadducees were different from the Pharisees in the fact that they did not believe in bodily resurrections. So, that was part of their theology, that there was no such thing as a disembodied spirit. They didn't believe in it, and there's no resurrection of the dead. So, wouldn't it be fun to show up to that group and just go, "Boo". I mean, I'd just have to do it. I'm so sorry.
All right. So sorry, okay. Not really. I'm having fun. I love my job, and I love reading the Bible. It's all there, everybody. What's interesting though is the unlikely people that Jesus did appear to. And I hope in some way it can be something that you can relate to, because the first one was not a disciple, and it wasn't at church, and it wasn't to religious, and it wasn't to holy. It was to a woman named Mary, and it shows us that Jesus values everybody, everybody, even the ones that society does not value. Jesus values everyone. And it goes like this, where I'm just going to show you John's gospel and the three that he highlighted, the three appearances, and the first is to Mary, who stood outside the tomb.
Now, the guys had left, but they saw the linen there, right? They saw the garments. And Mary stays, and she's heartbroken. And I pause right now to every person who deep down in your soul, there's a wound or a hurt. There's something going on where you're really not okay. And if you're like most church people, you have put on, and everybody thinks you're okay. You're smiling, but you're deeply hurting because of something, maybe a child, maybe a marriage, maybe your health, maybe your emotions. Something's going on, and the Bible says that while she was crying, as she wept, the Bible says she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw angels, two of them, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head, one at the other, at the foot, and they asked her, notice what they... they are drawn to the fact that her soul is hurting.
Listen to me. When you cry, heaven notices. I just want you to know that. And here's the catch: you don't think heaven does, but it does, because when you're hurting, you're hurting so bad sometimes you can't even see it. And so, she's crying. She said, "Well, they've taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him". And at this, she turned around, and you get the very first appearance of Jesus after his resurrection. And it wasn't to a disciple, and it wasn't to someone who's gonna praise him, and it wasn't someone who's gonna worship him. It was someone who was crying, and she still did not realize that it was Jesus. And I love telling people, who are going through something difficult, I've been in many situations where people were hurting at ways that you can probably imagine, given the job that I do. And they're at the darkest place of their soul, but there's something about that brokenness that heaven is attracted to.
And the Bible gives you a promise today that the Lord is actually close to broken hearted. He's attracted to it, which is why that's the first person, he had all of the earth at his disposal to appear to, and I had a few suggestions for myself, right, that he didn't come to, and the first one he went to, you need to hear this, was to someone who was brokenhearted, and that he's attracted to them so that he can save those who are crushed in spirit. And so, here's what I love, here's what I love to say. Listen, listen, you've gotta hear this. So, look for him. You don't think he's there, but he's there. And so, I think Mary, the very first appearance, and the appearance to Mary reminds us that Jesus isn't as far away as you think.
So, look for him. In fact, can I even tell you that in this service? We've intentionally created a service that is not only celebratory and honoring of the King that is risen, but we create it in such a way through the testimonies, or the music, or the message, or some portion of it, so that wherever you are in your soul, if you'll just look for him, listen to me, I promise you that you'll find him, because he's here, he's here. Okay, so this is John's gospel. He highlights three, after he tells the Resurrection account, which is very short, the vast majority of the real estate of the book of John and the other gospels are to these appearances, and the second one was to a guy that you probably have heard his name, even if you're not a Christian, and that is doubting Thomas.
Okay, poor Thomas has this attached to his name for... he doubted one time, and forever now he's an idiom for anybody who actually doubts. You're just a doubting Thomas. I don't know. Maybe that's where they got the word lazy Susan. I don't know. But anyway, okay, if your name is Susan, I apologize. All right, but Jesus actually appears in another place to the entire group of disciples, but the Bible says that Thomas didn't show up. And Thomas didn't show up because he cashed it in. He decided, "I'm done". He actually did not believe that Jesus had been resurrected. He thought that their whole mission had ended, and he now is officially a doubter. And the Bible says in the book of John, I'm just showing you these appearances on this day that we celebrate that Thomas, one of the 12, was not with the disciples when Jesus came for the first time. What you would think, actually, you would think, well then he missed out. Tough luck for him.
And so, the other disciples actually rubbed it in. "We saw him. Too bad you missed it". And I actually think that's how doubters feel. Like, doubters aren't really bad people. It's almost like they miss out on something. "I don't understand why you're jumping up and down. I don't know why you're sitting. I don't get you people". And there's something in your mind that thinks there's either something wrong with you or there's something wrong with me, but there's something wrong here. And he actually draws a line in the sand. And this is what doubters do. They say, "Look, I could go there, but you're probably not gonna want to go where I'm wanting to go. Because unless I see the nail marks in his hand, put my finger where those nail marks are, and actually, I will even need to put my hand in his side where the spear went in. Until I do that, line in the sand, I can never be a believer".
And what I would want you to hear, for every person who's looking around and thinking, "What's up with you people? I don't think I can go there. What's happening here"? Listen to me, that Jesus isn't turned off by your doubts. Your doubts won't keep Jesus away 'cause he loves Thomas so much he intentionally goes back to him a second time. A week later, his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them this time. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. So, that means he popped through the wall, which makes this last line very necessary, everybody, okay? There's humor in the Bible if you look for it, okay. And then he said to Thomas, "Really? Three years discipling you wasn't enough? Really? You saw me on the cross. And here I am standing in front of you. So, I'm obviously resurrected. That's not enough? Dude, I just popped through a wall. Really"?
He doesn't say that. And I think that's somehow, sometimes how we treat doubters. Really? Really? But Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus comes to where he is, and he says, "Okay, here you go. I'll come to where you are. Here, touch it". But then he asks the doubter to do something. "But I'll need you to take a step, too. I'll take a step towards you, but you take a step toward me. Reach out". And I would say to everybody in this room, it's like I don't know if I get it, and you may have even heard what we call the one-year challenge. And I'm not asking you to go all in all at one time. I'm just asking you to reach out, keep taking a step and find out that he's better than you think, that he can change your life. Reach out, stop doubting, and believe. And for Thomas, that's all he needed. He now was able to cry out, "My Lord and my God".
And this portion of the service, if the first person he came to was someone who was hurting, the second is to someone who was doubting. And I would want you to know and remind all of us that Jesus isn't bothered by your doubts, so just take another step and reach out for him. And here's the third one, and this is the one I think I like the most. Because the last one that John's gospel will highlight of the appearances of Jesus, after the resurrection, so the resurrection day wasn't all about the resurrection. It was about the heart of God who loves reaching out to people that are far from God. He now finds a failure, like a bad failure, like a miserable failure, and his name was Peter.
So, Peter the disciple, who would go to be the apostle Peter, was having a bad weekend, really bad; because on the Thursday might at the Last Supper, Peter told Jesus in front of everybody, "I'll never let you down. You can count on me. I'm all in". And Jesus looked at him and said, "Man, I hate to tell you this, but before the sun comes up tomorrow, you're going to have denied me three times". He goes, "No way, that's not gonna happen". But you all know he did. And his response, watch this, to his failure is the same thing that people today still do 'cause they think our failures, you think your failures drive Jesus away. And it, actually, your failures attract Jesus to you. In fact, in Mark's gospel, when Mary told the disciples, "The Lord's not here," and they ran and told the other disciples, the angel said, "Go tell the disciples and Peter".
Well, he was one of the disciples. And Mark's gospel highlights the fact the Jesus you had failed and probably knew what condition he was in because of the failure, and that is shame. It's called disappointment. You missed your appointment. Do you know what disappointment is? Disappointment is the gap between expectation and reality. Now watch this. Don't miss this. But God knows everything. So, there can be no gap with God, which means God cannot be disappointed. In other words, God can never say, "Wow, didn't see that coming, can't believe you did that". No, he knew it. He knew it before you did it, and he still appears to you. And I just love that. So, he didn't go to Pilate, and he didn't go to the people that would jump up and down, excite... no, no. He found someone crying, doubting, and failing.
Here's how the story goes. So, he comes to the disciples, all of them, and they were eating fish together. It's a cool story. You can read it in John's gospel. But he pulls Peter off to the side when they had finished eating, and he said to Simon Peter... now don't miss this. This is so huge. Simon, son of John... Simon was his other name. Simon Peter. Simon, son of John, watch this, "Do you love me"? And Jesus uses right here this word "love," one of the four Greek words for love. Real quick, your New Testament original manuscripts are all in Greek. That's what they were written in. The problem is, is that the Greek language is more expressive, has more words than English does.
So, you'll see in your Bible the word "love," but they could be one of four different Greek words. One of them is called storge, and it's the kind of love that a parent has for the child. They call it natural affection. The second word, you just get love, it's like eros. It's where we get the word "erotic". But it's physical love like when you say, "I love chocolate". That's that word. The third word is phileo, where we get the word "Philadelphia," the city of brotherly love. It's the love between friends. And the last one is agape, and it literally means there is no condition in which I will stop loving you. It's an unconditional love, and that's the word Jesus uses. "Peter, do you love me unconditionally"?
Now watch this. He said, "Yes, Lord, you know that I..." But he changed the word. He said, "I can't go there. I love you. Lord knows I love you". And that's how failures feel. It's not that they've fallen out of love for God. They just feel like they disappointed God so much that they cant re-up again. And so he says, "I phileo you. I can love you like a friend. But obviously, probably before Thursday, it would've been agape, but I guess I really can't. I'm disappointed in myself". But watch what Jesus says. He said, "That's okay. I'll still use you. Go feed my lambs". Jesus is the only one, 'cause society will not do this to you anymore, where your past can be your past, and he'll still use you. So, he tries again, and he goes, "Well, maybe we got past that". So, Jesus said a second time, "Do you agape me, unconditionally love me"? And Peter said, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you". And he uses the word phileo again. And Jesus said, "That's fine. I tried a second time. That's fine. Take care of my sheep. I can still use you".
Now watch this. This is so huge. And then the third time Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me"? And Jesus changes the word to phileo, and he came to where Peter was. And I dedicate this part of the service, if your heart's not broken or if you're not a doubter, but you feel like a failure, the appearance of Jesus reminds us that Jesus isn't giving up on you, so you're free to love him 'cause he'll love you back even with all your mistakes. And I just love the fact that this is what the resurrection day was all about.
So, here's what happens. When I study something, I start noticing it in other places, so I was reminded in my study time this didn't just happen on that day. God has always been treating people this way. And I was reminded that the very first story of the Bible, I mean, after creation, the first story of the Bible is the fall of man, and the Bible says that the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened. In other words, they had a loss of innocence, and they realized they were naked, they had shame, which is the two things that sin does. You have a loss of innocence, and you feel shame. So, they did what people do: they sewed fig leaves together and tried to hide what they had done, but that doesn't stop God, and he wasn't turned off by Adam and Eve, because "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord".
They were hiding, and God was making a noise. They were hurting, and God was making a noise. They were failing, and they were doubting, and that doesn't stop God. He still makes appearances. And the Bible says that they still hid, even though he made another opportunity for them to come to him, and that's why God cried out, "Where are you"? And he's crying it out today. "Where are you"? And it's not that he doesn't know where you are. He knows where you are, and he's inviting you out of that and letting you know he accepts you right where you are.
So, one more thing, and I'll close. So, the first story in the Bible not only says this, but so does the last one. So, let's go to the other end of the Bible. That was Genesis. Let's go to Revelation. And Jesus actually appears to John in this revelation of the end times, which by the way I'm studying right now because I think it's in August I'm gonna bring you a message series on the second coming of Christ and help you make sense of all the stuff that's happening in the world right now. It's going to be awesome. So, you go to the end times where Jesus is speaking, and the last place where you see the words of Jesus is in chapter 3, where Jesus says this: "I'm still looking for you, so look. I stand at the door of your heart and knock".
And there he is making another appearance, and that's to all of us this time. In fact, if Jesus is 1000 steps away, he'll take 999 and just knock on your door and let you take the next, the last step. He says, "And if you'll open the door..." And that's all you have to do today is open the door. He says, "I'll come in, and I'm just not going to save you. I'll share a meal with you, and we can be friends". And here's my Easter message for you in 2022, and that is this clearly shows us in every encounter in the book of John and the other gospels, at the beginning of the Bible and at the end, and that is that God is still making appearances. He's still reaching out for every single one of us, and I think we ought to thank him for that. Amen, everybody?
Yeah, come on. And that little rumble of thunder, it was God saying a big amen, too. All right. I just love it when God amens. That's awesome, okay. Okay, listen to me. I'm gonna close. Please, everybody, take this card out one more time, everybody. Just humor me. Look, I've worked hard. Come on, everybody help me, all right? Come on. Just humor me, even if you're not going to do it. And by the way, I get it. I'm that guy. I probably wouldn't do it, either, okay? But just, I understand. But you see at the bottom there are four boxes, A, B, C, and D. This is the last survey. We call it the spiritual survey. In fact, if you're watching online, you can text the word "Survey" to 74000, and you can participate, as well.
Now listen to me, let me say it this way. All of you are one of those four. Everybody, without exception, you are spiritually either A, B, C, or D. I'll put it on my screen really quickly, and I'd love for you to tell me which one you are. A stands for "I'm already in a real relationship with God," and you can join the tens of thousands already that have checked A this weekend and say, "Look, this is not a religion to me; it's a relationship". The B stands for "I think I'm ready to have that kind of relationship. I want to begin a real relationship with God".
And for some of you that have been in church your whole life, you want to begin again, because it's not what you think it should be. You know it, and you're ready to have something real and meaningful, and you're ready to begin again. That's B. C stands for "I'm not ready yet, but I'm not turning it away, either. I just need to consider it a bit more first. And I've always dreamed of having a church that's filled with people who just want to consider it a little bit more". And I want you to know, if you're a C, you're welcome here. We're not asking you to serve, give, worship. Just sit back and figure out if this is for you. And the last is, "I don't ever intend on making that decision".
By the way, we had somebody in the last service. The team brought me the card, brought me the card of a person who checked C and said, "I came into the room an hour ago and said D". And then we had three people who checked B, and they said, "Last year, I was a D". And whether you like it or not, you probably don't, if you're a D, have the guts to check it, and we're going to pray with you 'cause this is what I know: God is still making appearances. We had hoped it had been today; but if it's not today, it'll be another day 'cause he never stops searching for you. I promise you that, I promise you that, all right.
So, campus pastors, campus pastors, come join me on the stage. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Work on your card, work on your card. I'm gonna give you one minute, and then the campus pastor is gonna lead you in prayer. Be very still. People are in the valley of decision, making decisions. Choose which one's yours, and please trust us with the information on the card. We'll safeguard it, but pick the one that applies to you.