Levi Lusko - Brought To Bring
This weekend, turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. Be careful. I brought my big Bible, and I am not afraid to use it. I'm going to smash a demon in the mouth today. Mark chapter 2. If bring a special message from God's word. One of probably what is the most beautiful parts of scripture, I think one of the most just touching stories we find in the gospels is Mark chapter 2. And here's what we find. If you don't have a copy of scriptures, you can just join us on the screens. We always put the scriptures up there. I'm reading out of the New King James version.
It says, "And again He entered Capernaum after some days. And it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men". Everyone say four men. Four men. "And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'sons", son, singular, "'your sins are forgiven you'".
So one man, a ton of sin. I made the plural singular and the singular plural. But, son, your sins, not sons your sin because that's a bunch of people but just one sin shared amongst them. Son, your sins are forgiven you. So I'm still recovering from all that hiking I was doing. I lost a little bit of my mind on the trail. "'Son, your sins are forgiven you.'"
Someone said, did you preach all that on a green screen. I said, no, I did not, but I considered it after the first one. I thought just put a green screen. We'll just project scenes from Lord of the Rings behind me and say that I'm in Utah or something. "'Son, your sins are forgiven you.'" And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 'Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?'"
They're like, this guy shouldn't do it because only God should do that... ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Only God can forgive sins. He shouldn't be doing it. Just keep working that out a little. You're really close, warm, warmer, cold, cold, cold.
"But immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them, 'Why do you reason about these things in your heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you or to say arise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins". He said to the paralytic, 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house immediately.' He rose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all so that all were amazed and glorified God saying, 'We never saw anything like this.'"
Father, we pray that you quiet our hearts. I pray that you'd speak to us even now as we consider your word, which we've just read. I pray your spirit would speak to us and that we would experience the kind of breakthrough that comes from doing what these men did, persisting and breaking through. And we pray that, if even a single person who is with us this week doesn't know you as Savior, maybe watching at Church Online, maybe sitting in the back of the room in Missoula, or sitting in the fourth row in Salt Lake City, we just pray every one of us would be aware that you see us, that you care about us, and that you want so much more for us than we're currently experiencing. And we pray for just a special blessing on this time of Bible study, and we ask this in Jesus' name, and everyone who agrees said, Amen.
When I was in junior high, I used to go to lock ins, and we would, lock ins, if you've never been to church, that's an excuse for young people to make out. That's what that is. And it's also a way for youth pastors to live shorter lives. I don't know who came up with the idea of the lock in. But if you don't have a Christian upbringing, didn't grow up in church, this is where you invite the whole youth group to show up at the church facility around 8 PM or something. Everyone has a healthy dinner of pizza and Mountain Dew. And then basically, the parents just leave and the youth pastors and the youth workers are basically just trying to keep these kids occupied and from getting pregnant throughout the night hours, the long night watch. And the parents don't come to pick these kids up. Like, this is a really bad idea. Like, there are so many ways this can go wrong, and I can't think of any possible way in which this could go right.
Now you have to know something about me. A good night ends with me in my bed at about 9 PM. And that's on a weekend. You know what I'm saying? So when I was a student pastor and the tradition was handed to me... well, this is a part of the year where we always have a lock in. I was like, well, that used to be how we do things. But that's not, because I did one of them. And ever seen that movie Princess Bride? A lock in is a lot like the machine that raises the bar and lowers the life of the person on the table. And for every human involved, there's nothing good that ever has come from staying up all night.
Let me just tell you that. But one of the games, when I was in junior high, that we would play was sardines. And I don't know if you've ever played the game sardines. But basically, here's what happens. You have this enormous facility, this church facility. This church was enormous. It was formerly a fitness club with tennis rackets and racquetball courts and basketball. And then eventually, it got purchased and was made into a church facility. And I love that kind of creativity because this sporting club went out of business. And I think we're living in an era where so many box stores are going out of business, as traditional retail has to make sense with the internet these days. And who's a perfect person to jump into an old bookstore or old retail store? It's just amazing to think about the creativity of finding a business.
When we first started the church, we stumbled into that kind of an opportunity. When someone had purchased all of the movie theaters in town and had put 100 year deed restrictions on those theaters so they could never be movie theaters ever again or anything that would compete with a new chain of movie theaters that were opened up in the newer part of town, and we stumbled into the opportunity to purchase a number of these movie theaters and had the chance to see people come to know Jesus in buildings where there once was entertainment and there couldn't be entertainment any more because of those deed restrictions. And so it was just a perfect opportunity.
Well, anyhow, we would play this game called sardines where somewhere would go hide. And basically, it was hide and seek backwards. You have someone hiding, and you have everybody else trying to stumble about in the dark. This is why it's a problem with teenagers, you see? You stumble about in the dark and lie down next to you. Yeah? You see how this could go wrong? Lie down next to you and hide with whoever is hiding. But when you found them, listen, the goal was to be as quiet as possible to make it as difficult as possible for anybody else to find out what you successfully got to. You see, because the loser was the last person to find the hiding place, and the winner was those who continued to be there. So really the goal of the game was to be somewhere and to have as few people find out where you were as possible.
Let me tell you something. Church should be the exact opposite of that. Those of us who have stumbled into, that's what we see here in this passage. Those of us who have stumbled into the opportunity to be gathered, to find our way to the house, to find our way to the base, to find our way to the safety, to find our way to the place where there is healing, to find our way to the place where there's shelter, to find our way to the place where there's a harbor, where we found, the goal isn't to be as quiet as possible so that as few people who are still out there looking, looking in the dark, looking, groping about trying to find, looking for Jesus, but don't even know it, hoping to find something our hearts are aching for, but they're looking to things like alcohol and drugs.
Listen to me. Our goal is not to see as few people come to be where we are as possible. And that's what we're going to discover in a message that we're calling brought to bring. Everyone to write that down, brought to bring. Here's the big idea of this message that we are calling brought to bring. What God has done for you and in you is not just for you. Look at that on the screen and write it down. What God has done in you isn't just for you. If you've come to know Jesus, if you've come to experience his blessing and to walk in his power and to understand what it is to know Him, that is not just for you. God always blesses us that we might be a blessing to other people. We are to do what these four men did and to be a bringer. And to help us unpack that, I've invited people at every single Fresh Life Church location and at Church Online as well to tell us four things that we need to know if we're going to be a bringer. Would you help me welcome them up to stage?
Hey, church. So great to see you. My name is Kimberly Bowles, and I just want to say, standing here on this stage is a complete honor. And my family and I have been planted in this Fresh Life house for 7 and 1/2 years, and we have received nothing but blessing and abundance from these walls. I was once asked in a job interview, who was someone that I looked up to. And with tears in my eyes, that isn't awkward in a job interview? I said actually two people, my pastor and his wife. I said, it's because of their obedience and their step of faith in planting this church that my marriage was restored and each member of my family, my children, my husband, and myself came to know that perfect love of Jesus. Thank you pastor and Jennie.
I also want to say a huge hello to my online church family. I have the complete honor in serving on our online hosting team on the weekends, and it is such a joy. And it is so much fun. I want you to know that I know those of you that come every weekend. I might not know your face, but I know who you are. But I also love to see those new people that come in and the impact that this platform is having across the world, what Fresh Life, what God is doing in Fresh Life to people everywhere. Thank you for being here.
Let's get into this message. Four points you need to know if you dare to be a bringer... point number one, we must see a need. God first sees a need in us. We, when we encounter and are brought to the feet of Jesus, that is when God has saw the need in us. And then we are called given an assignment to step out and see the need in others. That was exactly what happened with my encounter with Jesus God saw a need in me. Then I took that assignment, that fire was lit in me, and I took that assignment out to bring others that needed to know Jesus. Let's look at verse 2 through 5. This is what it means for Jesus to see our needs.
"Soon the house where He was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room even outside the door. While He was preaching God's word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd. So they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 'My child, your sins are forgiven.'" This imagery, this picture immediately brings me back to Easter 2011. That would be the very first time that my family and I would experience what Fresh Life was, and it all started with a simple invite... hello? The invitation starts now. That invite came from my niece, and I said yes for our entire family.
I remember that morning. We were driving down the road, and my niece called and she said, hey, Kimmy. I don't think you're going to get in. And I was thinking in my mind, this can't be. I know the Event Center. It's huge. That's not possible. And we turned the corner and the vast crowds of people lining the highway made both my husband and I go, oh, boy. But I was not going to let that stop me. So we literally fought our way into the doors and immersed ourselves in the crowd, and it was that morning that Jesus said to me, child, your sins are forgiven. And God then, yes. God then saw a need in the rest of my family, and He gave me that assignment to go out and find those that needed to know Him. This need will be in our workplace. It'll be in our schools. It'll be at the gym. It'll be in our own home. Our encounter with Jesus is not meant to be withheld. It's meant to be shared.
Point number two: it isn't convenient. OK, let's talk about what convenient is. Convenient is, for my family and I, to walk to the farmer's market because we live in Whitefish and we live five blocks from the farmer's market. Convenient is my kids to walk to their schools, three blocks and five blocks. When I said yes to that invite, I thought this is convenient, because that place was familiar to us. My kids, myself, we had grown up in that rodeo arena on the backs of horses, chasing cows, running around barrels, playing in the dirt. And so it was familiar. It was comfortable. But that morning would be anything but convenient, and it reminds me of those men on how they carry that paralyzed man. That wasn't convenient for them.
I guarantee you that, carrying some man that they didn't even know. And then they would have come up to this house where Jesus was preaching and saw the crowds, and they have could easily looked at each other and gone, you know what, we're not going to get in, and put him down and walked away from why they were there. They saw a need in that man, but I love God saw a need in every one of those men that were coming to the feet of Jesus. Isaiah 62:10. "Walk out of the gates. Get going. Get the road ready for the people. Build a highway. Get at it. Clear the debris. Hoist high a flag. Signal to all the peoples". You guys, we have to eliminate any excuse to bring people to the feet of Jesus. Just like those men pushed their way through the crowd, took that man, dug through the roof, just as we pushed our way in as well, we have to get people to the feet of Jesus.
Point number three: it's not for the faint of heart. Let's look at verse 11. Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, stand up, pick up your mat, and go home. I love this because that man came to the feet of Jesus on his mat. Then Jesus said, pick up your mat. The same thing happens for us. When we come to know Jesus, we are now taking our mat out, taking an assignment and walking out to find the next person that needs to know Jesus. Those men that carried that man, they had courage to carry some guy that they didn't even know. They were bold to push through those crowds. They were fearless, because I can guarantee you that, when they were pushing through those crowds, people were not nice. People were crabby. And if they're digging through the roof, things are going to be falling on their head. So they're making people uncomfortable.
We have to be fearless just like those men were. And they worked under pressure because they knew the day was short and the need was high and that man needed to know Jesus. Matthew 9:36 and 37. "When He, Jesus, saw the vast crowds of people, Jesus' heart was deeply moved with compassion because they seemed weary and helpless like wandering sheep without a shepherd. He turned to his disciples and said, the harvest is ripe, is huge and ripe, but there are not enough harvesters to bring it all in". You guys, we are going to face the same things that those men did as they carried that man to Jesus. We are going to need courage to go into our schools every day, declaring Jesus is our Savior, being called to stand out and not fit in. We're going to need to be bold.
When you're at the grocery store and you lock eyes with that checker and you just see the need but you walk out. And then there's the Holy Spirit tug that's just like, uh. And so you turn around. And you are going to have to be fearless because I know exactly what happens because it's happened to me. Then my heart starts racing and I'm like, oh, they're going to think I'm weird or they're going to say no. But we have to break through that fear. We have to be fearless to reach that blessing that Jesus has on the other side. And we are working under pressure because nothing more the enemy wants to do is divide us than allow us to be united. We will face what those men did as they brought to Jesus. Easter 2011 was when I was carried in on my mat to Jesus. Then my that was my assignment.
My next assignment was my husband. Being married to an unbeliever is not for the faint of heart. You're going to need to have courage to take your family to church every weekend. You're going to need to be bold in declaring that Jesus is your Savior every single morning. You are going to need to be fearless of what your spouse is going to say because they're going to see this fire that's lit in you and they don't understand it. But then they're also going to be feeling something inside of them. And we are going to be working under pressure because the enemy will want nothing more than to divide your household and not allow you to be united. So people, we have to fight for our family. We have to fight for our spouse, and we have to fight for the perseverance to not give up.
Galatians 6:9 says, "So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time, we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up or quit". So we know these three things when we're brought to bring. We must see a need. It isn't convenient. It's not for the faint of heart. And fourth and final point, it's rewarding. Daring to be a bringer has the sweetness that comes with it. Every time you bring somebody in, you get to experience that love of Jesus again. It also gives you that fuel, that energy to pick up your mat and go back out again and find the next person. The enemy will do everything they can at that point to fight for that person that you're bringing in. And that person you bring in, you might not see them raise their hand.
This reminds me of the story of when my husband told me he gave his life to Christ. We were driving on our way home, getting ready to start our first Fresh Life group as a couple the following week. And he said, I should probably tell you when I gave my life to Christ. I said, hmm? Yeah, when? He said November, during the Majesty Series. I said, that's amazing. It's August. Why didn't you tell me sooner? He goes, because I didn't think you'd believe me. And I love this because this is such a beautiful reminder of how the enemy wants to divide us. And so we don't know if that person we bring in, they might not raise our hand, but you don't know what's going on in their heart. All we are called to do, carry our mat, plant the seeds, and the wake of blessing that's coming off of us is affecting people more than you even know.
So that person that didn't raise their hand when you brought him in, that spouse that still isn't coming to church with you, don't give up on them. We are simply called to carry our mat. Jesus will do the rest. Back to you, pastor Levi. So fantastic, can you imagine with me how different this story would be if these four men hadn't brought someone with them to church that day? And we know what the story looks like by the end. I mean, the last verse, verse 12. We could put it back up. This story ends so powerfully, literally with people chanting out we never saw anything like this. We never saw anything like this. It's a pretty good end to a church service, I think.
Feel free at the end of this month, we never saw anything, that's the mind explosion emoji. How is church? We never saw anything like this, people amazed, glorifying God. Can you imagine? How with this passage and had these four not brought their friend to church that day? Can I use my imagination? It will go like this. Jesus is in the house. Most commentaries think this is Peter's house because Peter opened up his home for Jesus to live with him when Jesus came to Capernaum after he was rejected at Nazareth. And Jesus took up the invitation. Why? Because if you invite Jesus into the house, He always comes. If God's not working in your life, if God's not working in your marriage, if God's not working in how you approach work, if God's not working in your parenting, it's not because He doesn't want you. Perhaps it's because you haven't opened up the door. Once He came in, He promptly healed Peter's mother-in-law.
Many people think this is why Peter later denied Jesus. These are the jokes, people. So that's what happened. Stay with me. Stay with me. That's funny. Come on, you gotta give it up. That's pretty good. OK, so, in the Middle Eastern culture, there was this tradition that, as long as a door was open, anybody in the village come in. If you didn't want visitors, you would just shut the door. So how is it, on this day, as Peter's just hanging out with Jesus at his house that the house just fills up? Well, it's because obviously they left the door open. Jesus always leaves the door open. He wants our church to always have the door open, that it's not a mentality that says, oh, it's just for us, oh, let's just all get together and fellowship, oh, let's just get together and let's just bless each other.
No, our mentality always has to say, let's be the church with the open door. Let's be the church that says what God has done in us is not just for us. Let's make more opportunities. Let's build bigger buildings. Let's offer more worship experiences. Let's make our church online experience more robust. Let's be a church with a door open so people just come in. And pretty soon people are coming in. And pretty soon people walking by are going, wait, why are those people coming in. And eventually they're coming in just because they're seeing people come in. So now the house is just so filled up to overflowing and Jesus is there, and they're all waiting for Him to say something.
So He begins teaching. And then these four men, they've been down at the Applebee's. They were having lunch, and they came out. There was a ghost town, nobody anywhere. And they asked someone, where is everybody. They're like, oh, they're over at Peter's house. The fishermen? Tue guy who's always cussing? Real crazy? Oh. So OK, I know where He lives. And so they start heading over. And imagine these four men, like, I wonder what Jesus' going to talk about. And we heard Him speak one time. That was pretty good. And yeah, that guy's amazing. Jesus is the best. I got his podcast. I love his sermons. They encouraged me so much. Oh, you got the app? I got the app. Oh, I download the messages. It's amazing. I love that guy. He's such a good communicator. And so they are all just talking about how good it's going to be as they came.
I wonder who's going to be leading worship. I wonder if they're going to do my favorite song. Do you think they're going to do "So will I"? No, I think they're going to do that new recreate one. It's an original. I think they're going, so they're all talking about what the service going to be like. And then, eventually they get there and see how crowded it is. And they think, well, it's going to be difficult, but we can make our way to an area we can hear. And they would have sat down somewhere, and Jesus would have done his sermon. They're just sitting there just eating it up. This is so good, isn't it? Yeah, this is way better than the last one I heard. One of them is, like, I think actually the first time I heard Jesus speak, it was a little bit funnier. But it's cool. Let's just give them space, you know?
And they're listening. Maybe they're taking notes down. And then Jesus finishes. And eventually, they say, that was such a good church service. Let's make sure we come again next time Jesus in the house. Then these four men would have gathered themselves and said, what do you want to eat. One of them said, didn't we just eat. It's like, it's OK. Let's do like what the American's do. Let's just eat again. And so, they would have gone from church to eating. And you know what? No one would have been amazed. No one would have been blown away. God's glory wouldn't have been palpably felt, and they certainly wouldn't have ended the text with, we never saw anything like this. But the only reason the story ends with power is because these men who already had obviously heard about Jesus at some point, they didn't go alone.
They realized they were brought originally so that they could carry it forward and pay it forward by bringing someone with them. They knew what we need to know, that what God does in you isn't just for you. You were brought in so you could help bring someone out of their sin, out of their pain, out of their hurt, and out of their loneliness. That's what Mordecai told Esther, isn't it? This is Esther chapter 4 verse 14, one of the most powerful parts of the Bible. She had been made the queen of Persia. She had this power and pomp, and she had she had won a beauty contest to get there, amazing. She had privilege. She had servants. She had all of this that God had done for her.
God did it for her, and you know what? God does want to bless Esther, and God does want to bless you. And God is grateful that you get to be in this relationship with him. He loves that. He loves blessing you. He loves that you know Him. He loves that you love the Bible. He loves that you love to worship. He loves that you love your church. He loves that. But he also knows what you need to know, that it's not just for you that He's done everything He has inside of you. Mordecai said, Esther, you need to put yourself out there because there's a whole bunch of people in danger. You have a palace. That's great. They're going to lose their lives. They don't have this that you have. So here's what Mordecai told Esther. He said, "Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this".
And I dare you to believe, as we move towards a brand new series, as we move toward this brand new season, this opportunity, was once a man twice a child, that there are people in our lives, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our families, people we work with, people we sit next to in school, people that we're going to bump into randomly. And they are there, and you are there for just such a time as this. You were brought to bring. God wants to use you. Because, listen, where church is concerned, listen to me carefully, when you bring someone with you, you're available for God to work through you. The empty seat beside you that could be filled with someone that needs to know Jesus is a missed opportunity. Let's make ourselves available for God to work through us by bringing someone with us. But like our talented team of teachers taught us, it is going to be inconvenient. It's not for the faint of heart.
There's going to be times where it's really challenging. We have to go out of our way. I'll close with a story where just really recently I had this, just this summer actually had the opportunity to bring someone with me, but it came through my plans being interrupted. I was in Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I was asked to come and preach to a gathering of pastors and leaders. And while I was there, someone invited me, a friend. I was headed home, but a friend reached out to me and said, hey, you're already on the east coast. Why don't you just pop over to this city, just a quick half hour flight away, and hang out for the day? There's a bunch of us getting together. It would be a chance for us to just not to speak. I wouldn't be speaking. I would just be hanging out with some good friends that I don't see very often and just to soak it up and really, and I was like, this is going to be the perfect thing.
I told Jennie I'm so excited about it. I'm going to have this day. I've just had my heart set on what it was going to look like. I'm going to be encouraged by my friends. How many of you all know we need that? And so we text each other all the time, but to be with them, there's something about that, and really excited. And so would you believe it? I missed my flight to Virginia Beach, Virginia. A storm happened in Atlanta, all kind of crazy, and I missed my flight. And so I missed my speaking engagement. Never happened in all the years I've been preaching and traveling, never missed, I missed it. And so I wasn't there when I was supposed to preach, but luckily a friend of mine who was going to preach the next night happened to be there early.
So he preached to my place. So the organizer said, would you stay an extra night and preach the evening spot the next day, which of course would mean me not having the day that I thought I would have that in the city with my friends because, of course, getting to stay and preach. Of course, I knew the right thing to do was to live up to my obligation. They had advertised I'd be speaking. To blow that off to go hang out didn't really seem quite right. And so I said, of course, I will. We made the change to the itinerary. And now I had a whole day to kill in Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I looked in the mirror and realized I needed a haircut. And so, I said does anybody know a good barber in the area. And they said, oh, we got just the guy. This guy's the, he's opened like nine barbershop. He's like the mafia don of barbers. Everyone come to him to learn and sit at his feet, a barber. And I was like, we'll do it. That's fantastic.
And so we made an appointment. I sit there. His name was Jay. He cuts my hair. And as we're cutting, we're talking. He's asking me about my story, my life. I mean, you've got a captive audience. The guy with a razor blade at your neck, you need to be careful. But you have the opportunity. And so I told him I was speaking at an event, loved to have him come. He asked what I was speaking on. I told him that my family had gone through a significant loss, and we had had a child die and go to heaven. And I was going to talk about how God can use even the worst thing you've ever gone through to be a powerful thing in your life. And I saw tears form in his eyes as he heard that. And just as I was leaving, I said, would you like to come tonight. And we gave him the number. Text with number if you're going to come. We'll have a seat right next to me for you to sit in.
And just before I took the stage, the host who had facilitated the trip turned to me and said, your guest is here. I turned back behind me, and there's Jay the barber sitting right behind me. I gave him some knuckles, jumped up on the stage, preached my message. At the end, I asked as I always do when I finish preaching, would anybody here like to give your life to the Jesus who has upheld my family in the worst throne we've ever faced? And Jay the barber, sitting right there in the second row, raised his head up in the air, raised his hand up in the air. 5 o'clock in the morning the next day, I open up my Instagram, and he had messaged me. And look what Jay wrote me. He said this. You can see right there. He said, changed my life today. I will be forever grateful to have met you.
I had the chance to give him copies of both of my books and encourage him and pray for him and just believe that he's going to be used to touch many people all across the area, but it wouldn't have happened had my plants not been interrupted that I would have never been sitting in that barber chair. I'd never been there that day. I'd be hanging out with my friends. But you know what? I'll see my friends in heaven. We'll see each other forever in heaven. Jay the barber now is going to be in heaven because God gave me the chance to bring somebody. That's what I was brought for. That's what you were brought for. That's what we were born for. Let me pray for you.
Father, I thank you for every single person in our church and the way you're going to use us all, appointed and anointed, sent out on mission, even through our hurts, through our jobs, through our schools, to be used to bring people to a place where they can hear the life saving message of Jesus. And I pray we would give the people in our lives the grace to know that, before they are touched inwardly, they're not going to walk with you outwardly, that forgiveness always comes before healing. And so may we not be shocked by the world that they sin. May we not be shocked and surprised that people who don't know you don't act like those who know you. We do know you, and we don't always act like we should, as know you. Help us to have grace with those who are lost.
And with every head bowed, every eye closed, I just want to give the simple invitation because the truth is, yes, our emphasis today is on what we're going to do with expectation for next week. But perhaps you're here this week and you've never given your heart to Jesus. You'd ever open up your life to Him. If that's you I'm describing and you're here and you've never said yes to Jesus, inviting him in to be the Lord of your life, I want to give you the space and the opportunity to make that decision.
So with every head bowed, every eye closed, would you like to give your life to Christ? Would you like to know that you're forgiven? Would you like to begin to watch God work in your life, work in your family, work in your marriage, work in your leadership? It starts with your heart. It starts at the cross where Jesus paid for your sins. So if that's you are describing and you would like to make that decision, I'm going to pray a simple prayer. I'm going to ask the church family to pray with us to show that we're supporting you. But I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me, meaning it in your heart, and God will hear you. Say this:
Dear God, I know I need you. I know I need you. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. Come into my heart. Come into my heart. Make me new. Make me new. Invade me with your grace. Invade me with your grace. In Jesus' name I pray.
With heads still bowed, all of us praying, give each other that privacy, if you gave your heart to Jesus, if you just said that prayer and meant it, if you just turned from your sins and turned to him in faith, I'm going to ask that, when I count to three, you'll shoot your hand up in the air. When I get to three, just shoot your hand up like Jay the barber did. Put it up in the air, saying, I'm giving my heart to Jesus today. I'm going to walk as a new person day. I'm going to believe God's going to work in my life, starting now. If that's you I'm describing... one, two, three... shoot your hands up in the air. All across the church. Search online. Click the link right below the screen. Praise God for each of you. You can put your hands down. Hey, come on. Can we celebrate? What a wonderful thing. So good.