Living in Denial

All right, how many of you have been blessed by the service already?

Yeah, I have too.

That worship was powerful, and I'm grateful to the choir and our musicians and Jared for

leading us to the throne of God already this morning.

Let's go to the Gospel of Luke chapter 9 and verse 23 if we can.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

Is this any better?

It's not working.

It's weird.

Can you all hear me okay?

I'm not sure what's working.

Sorry.

Luke chapter 9 and verse 23.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

We're continuing in our series this morning on be a disciple.

Be a disciple.

Last Sunday, we talked about choosing the Jesus way.

Choosing the Jesus way.

Back during Pioneer Union, our choir blessed us on Sunday morning and again at the Power

and Praise event at the Cowboy Church with the song entitled, The Jesus Way.

We talked about that last Sunday morning, choosing the Jesus way.

What does that look like?

Our takeaway was commit to the Jesus way and watch God transform you into becoming his disciple.

So all of our sermons are available on our YouTube channel at FBC Henrietta on YouTube.

So you can get caught up if you'd ever like to do that.

But that is our challenge from last Sunday.

Watch God transform you into becoming his disciple by choosing the Jesus way.

If you wouldn't mind, if you're there in Luke chapter 9 with us, would you mind joining me in standing

Luke 9 · chapter mention

as we read this opening text, Luke chapter 9 and verse 23.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

Let's read down through verse 25 together and it's on the screen as well.

Then he said to them all,

God, I pray that you would teach us this life transforming lesson from your words that you spoke to your disciples.

I pray that it would change us from the inside out, that we would give you the glory for it.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Thank you for standing.

The title this morning is Living in Denial.

Living in Denial.

Now, I want to go back to Luke chapter 9 and verse 23 so you know what kind of denial we're talking about.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

He said, if anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself.

Just so we're clear, Mark Twain said denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

We're not talking about the kind of denial you might be thinking of, okay?

We're not talking about denial river either.

We're talking about denying ourselves.

I want to pivot and go a place that you probably didn't wake up and your mind wandered to this place this morning.

I want to go to the concept of asceticism.

Did anybody start thinking about asceticism when you woke up this morning?

Just me?

Okay.

Only me because I had been studying for this passage.

So that was the only reason.

I want to talk to you about Simeon the Elder.

All right?

Simeon the Elder was a monk from Aleppo, Syria.

He was a stylite.

A stylite is someone who believes that physical suffering is necessary to be right with God.

An ascetic, a stylite is a form of an ascetic.

Someone who ascribes to asceticism.

So an ascetic is someone who is characterized by or suggests the practice of severe self-discipline

and abstaining from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.

So it's someone who takes self-denial to the extreme, usually for the reasons of faith.

This is an early painting of Simeon the Elder.

Simeon the Elder became a monk, like we said, only over in Syria.

He joined a monastery in Aleppo.

And his views and his ideas were so extreme, they kicked him out of his monastery.

How extreme do you have to be to get kicked out of a monastery?

Because they think you're too strict, you're too rigid.

He moved to a tiny little hut.

But people wouldn't leave him alone in his hut.

So he built a nine-foot pillar and a little three-by-three-foot platform on top of the pillar

and refused to come down.

Problem was, people would still come talk to him on top of his nine-foot pillar

and they would seek his wisdom and his advice

because they thought this guy must have found the better way.

We've got to come find out how he's cracked the code to this higher way of life.

See what I said, this higher way of life?

Problem was, he was still too accessible to people for his liking.

So he kept building his pillar higher and higher until it was 50 feet high.

And he stayed on that pillar, true story, for 37 years until he died.

And you don't want to know what physical condition he was in when he died.

This guy took self-denial to another level.

Did anybody get that?

Thank you.

It just wasn't that funny, was it?

I thought it was pretty funny, personally.

He took self-denial to a level 50 feet high, all right?

Sorry for another bad joke.

The most ironic thing is this guy was trying to get closer to God.

He was trying to set himself apart.

In reality, by his own writings and teaching,

he was trying to deny himself.

But the irony in it is that he was living in actual denial.

Because he was denying the actual fact.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that God calls us not to self-absorption,

not to isolation.

He calls us not to lift ourselves up on a pedestal,

not to ignore the world around us,

but to come down from our self-erected high place,

to deny our inner pride and self-righteous attitude,

and to follow Jesus himself as he leads us on mission

among those all around us who need him so desperately.

That's what a disciple is.

It's not Simeon the Elder.

It's not asceticism.

It's not being a stylite.

It's not lifting ourselves up.

That's what denying self actually looks like.

In trying to deny himself,

he actually prioritized himself above everyone else.

So when Jesus calls us to deny ourselves,

we have to be very careful to look at what he actually means.

I found a very accurate,

I believe,

I believe description at what Jesus actually means from the Bible teacher,

Kylie Dunn.

She wrote this,

Jesus does not have broad generic ideas about self-denial.

He has something very specific in mind.

From Luke's writing and elsewhere in scripture,

components of self-denial start to take shape.

Self-denial is not about you,

but it's submission to a very particular person.

Because of that person,

when properly motivated,

self-denial is not asceticism.

That's why I wanted to give you that definition a minute ago.

It's not asceticism.

It's not Simeon the Elder.

It's not being a stylite.

It's not this extreme form of rejecting all indulgences

and lifting yourself up and being a hermit.

It's not any of that.

It's worship.

It's worship of Jesus Christ himself.

That is self-denial.

So let's go back to the word of God.

Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

Would you turn with me over to Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8?

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

We're going to look at Colossians 2 and verse 8.

Then we're going to skip down to verse 16

and read down through the end of the chapter

and into chapter 3.

Colossians 2 and verse 8.

Be careful that no one takes you captive

through philosophy and empty deceit

based on human tradition,

based on the elements of the world

rather than Christ.

Let's read that again.

Be careful that no one takes you captive

through philosophy,

through empty deceit,

based on human tradition.

Did you catch that?

Based on the elements of the world

rather than Christ.

So what's the lesson here?

Human tradition rarely comes from God.

Simeon's tradition here

became something that became a tradition.

It's still actually practiced today.

In modern day Turkey,

there's a guy on a pillar,

there's a monk on a pillar

who's been up there for,

I want to say 12 years.

You'd have to fact check me on that.

But he's trying to be the modern day Simeon.

He's over there right now.

You can go visit Turkey if you want

and go see him up on his pillar.

It's a tradition still alive today.

He thinks he's closer to God

because he's being a stylite.

That's a tradition that's nowhere commanded in the Bible.

It's not getting him one ounce closer to God.

He's actually disobeying God's commands

rather than obeying something

that God commanded his people to do.

So human tradition rarely gets us closer to God.

Now that's an extreme example,

but let's bring it a little bit closer to home.

Are there things that we have incorporated into our lives

that feel like maybe that's something that came from God,

but when we break them down,

it really never came from God.

And it might actually be leading us

a little bit further from God

than closer to God.

Or it might be distracting us

from what God actually wants for us

rather than helping us accomplish the mission

that God actually has for us.

Let's look at our home lives.

Are there things that have become

so important to us in our home lives,

we can't think of our life without them,

but they're actually keeping us

from the best that God has for us and our families?

How about our church?

Are there things that have become so important

that we're used to seeing in our church,

but it's keeping us from the best?

That God has for our church

and accomplishing the mission that he has for our church.

The questions that we've got to ask,

tradition not only doesn't always come from God,

rarely comes from God,

sometimes it can keep us from the best

that God has for us.

Matthew 15, verses six through nine,

Jesus was, man, really laying it down for him,

and he said, you cancel the word of God

for the sake of your own tradition.

He was calling out the Pharisees.

And he said, you cancel the word of God

for the sake of your own tradition,

you hypocrites.

Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you,

for he wrote,

these people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is a farce,

for they teach man-made ideas

as commands from God.

They teach man-made ideas

as commands from God.

Now y'all, I'm all about learning

from the culture around us.

I'm all about,

you know, Jesus used a donkey

and made it talk.

You know, Jesus quoted different people.

Paul quoted different people.

On Mars Hill, Paul quoted philosophers

that had nothing to do with God.

It absolutely stood counter

to what God believed.

But, you cannot quote those man-made ideas

as commands from God.

You can't have a man say something

and then put it in the mouth of Jesus.

You can't come up with an idea

and then force it on people

as though it came from God.

That's what the Pharisees tried to do.

And then enforced those rules on people.

And then legislated their commands

as though they came from God.

That's what Jesus called out.

He said,

you honor me with your lips,

but your hearts are so far from me.

That worship is a farce.

That is not worship.

You're not denying yourself.

You're lifting yourself up

so far above me.

You're not my disciples.

So when he calls you to be a disciple,

he's calling you to deny yourself.

We're starting up a Sunday school class.

Can't really call it a Sunday school class,

I guess,

but it's a class that will meet

for a period of Sundays

during the Sunday school hour,

but it's a discipleship class is what it is.

For new believers,

we've had a lot of baptisms recently.

It's a discipleship class

that'll meet up,

meet during the Sunday school hour

for just a few weeks

called Starting Points.

And it's for some of our new believers

or people who maybe just never got discipled.

Maybe were saved,

maybe were baptized,

maybe recently joined the church

and just never went through

those foundational level steps

toward being a disciple and follower of Jesus.

We're starting that up

in just a couple of weeks.

And that is going to be

one of the key elements of that class

is what Jesus says about being a disciple.

And one of the key elements is denying yourself.

It's saying,

I don't run my life anymore.

Jesus runs my life now.

Because on the outside,

you can follow one of two paths.

This isn't in my notes,

but this is free here, okay?

There's two paths you can follow

to be a Christian or a church person.

You can say,

I'm going to look like I am on the outside

and then I'm just going to live

like everybody else does

the rest of the time.

Or you can say,

I'm going to let Jesus take over my life

and even though I'm going to be imperfect

and I'm going to fail a lot,

God's going to transform me

from the inside out.

So it's going to be from the outside

or it's going to be from the inside.

The majority of people sitting in church

will follow the first path.

They're going to let God change their outside.

They're not going to give Him much access

to the inside.

The choice you have to make

is are you going to be part of that one

or are you going to let God change the inside?

And that's what I'm going to talk about

with the discipleship class.

Are you going to be part of the group

that's going to let God change the inside?

That's what Jesus is challenging us here

in Matthew.

So let's get back to Colossians 2.

Colossians 2.

First, human tradition rarely comes from God.

Second, rules cannot conquer sin.

Rules cannot conquer sin.

Back in Colossians 2.

Let's look down at verse 16.

Verse 16.

Therefore, don't let anyone judge you

in regard to food and drink

or in the matter of a festival

or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

These were all controversies back then.

These are a shadow of what was to come.

The substance is Christ.

See what he's calling you here?

He's not using these words lightly.

He's saying shadow and substance.

This stuff isn't real.

It's not important.

The substance, the real thing, is Jesus.

Let no one condemn you

by delighting in ascetic practices.

There's that word again.

That's why I gave you all the definition

at the beginning

because we were going to be using it, okay?

Okay.

Ascetic practices and the worship of angels

claiming access to a visionary realm.

Such people are inflated by empty notions

of their unspiritual mind.

You ever met anybody who was inflated

by empty notions of their unspiritual mind?

It's really harsh language, isn't it?

Say, man, Christians are just supposed

to be nice all the time.

Well, that's true,

except Jesus was pretty hardcore over there,

and Paul's kind of rude here.

Man, he's calling them

inflated by empty notions

of their unspiritual mind.

He doesn't hold on to the head

from whom the whole body,

nourished and held together

by its ligaments and tendons,

grows with growth from God.

If you're not holding on to the head,

where are you going?

Well, you're not part of the body anymore.

If Jesus is the head

and you become disattached from the head,

you're on your own.

Where are you wandering off to?

The mind, the thinking,

isn't going to control you anymore.

You're off on your own.

If you died with Christ,

verse 20,

to the elements of this world,

why do you live

as if you still belong to the world?

Why do you submit to regulations?

Wow.

Why do you submit yourself

to regulations?

Such as, quote-unquote,

don't handle, don't taste,

don't touch,

verse 22.

All these regulations refer

to what is destined to perish

by being used up.

These are human commands

and doctrines.

These were made for the law.

When the law controlled you,

when you were subject to the law,

when you belonged to Satan,

when you belonged to sin,

this is what controlled you.

Verse 23.

Although these have a reputation

for wisdom,

by promoting,

what do they promote?

Self-made religion.

False humility.

And severe treatment of the body,

otherwise known as asceticism.

They are not of any value

in curbing self-indulgence.

They won't help you

with self-denial.

These laws,

these regulations

will fail every time

because you won't keep them.

Time and time again,

we see in the Bible

people don't keep the laws.

They can't.

And you're no exception.

And the minute you start thinking you do,

like the rich young ruler

who came to Jesus,

I kept the law every day

since I was a kid.

And Jesus quickly shows him,

you missed the whole point of it.

Give up all you have.

Sell it and give the money to the poor.

Well, I can't do that.

Well, you missed the whole point of it.

You're never gonna measure up.

You're never gonna be good enough.

That's the whole point.

The whole point is

God is so much greater than we are.

You're never going to be good enough.

So then quit trying to do

this self-promoting religion.

Quit trying to do this man-made,

I gotta keep the law

and I gotta be good

and I gotta keep all the regulations

and I gotta do it myself.

Fall into the arms of grace.

Thank God that he's a God of love

and compassion

and he's willing to forgive you

and let you start again

every day with him.

And then treat others that way.

And quit holding yourself

and everybody around you

to a standard that you can never meet.

That's what I gotta remind myself of every day.

And that's what I gotta remind you of every Sunday.

So, rules can't conquer sin.

Sin will conquer rules every time.

But Jesus can conquer sin.

And Jesus can conquer the rules.

He conquered the law.

He instituted it

and then he conquered it.

Joel 2 verse 12.

Joel 2:12

Let's get back here.

Sorry, I jumped ahead.

Romans 8 first.

Romans 8, here we go.

What the law could not do

since it was weakened by the flesh,

God did.

Man, I love that verse.

One of my favorite in Romans 8.

And that's like saying,

which one of your kids do you like the best?

I like them all, right?

But Romans 8 verse 3,

Romans 8:3

just one of the best

in an amazing chapter.

What the law could not do,

God did.

God did.

God did it.

The rules couldn't do it,

but God did it.

So quit trusting the rules

to make life better for you.

Trust God.

Y'all.

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Back at it now.

We finished chapter 2.

Let's jump into chapter 3.

So if you have been raised with Christ,

seek the things above.

So now we've proven

that the law,

the rules,

the regulations

can't fix it for you.

They can't make your life better.

You have to rely on Jesus.

When problems come,

when your flesh fails you,

when your kids' flesh fail you,

when your wife's flesh fail you,

when your husband's addictions

and problems and lust fail you,

you can't run back to the rules

and say,

why didn't you keep him

on the straight and narrow?

You must run to Jesus.

Now we turn to Colossians 3,

and it says,

so if you have been raised with Christ,

seek the things above,

where Christ is seated

at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above,

not on earthly things.

For you died,

and your life is now hidden

with Christ in God.

When Christ,

who is your life,

appears,

then you also will appear

with him in glory.

Therefore,

put to death

what belongs

to your earthly nature,

sexual immorality,

impurity,

lust,

evil desire,

greed,

which is actually idolatry.

all these things

that the law,

the rules,

the regulations

tried to control

and couldn't,

Jesus can help you

put them to death.

Because of these things,

God's wrath is coming

on the disobedient,

those that are still

under the law.

You once walked

in these things

when you were living in them,

but now,

put them away.

put away all the following,

anger,

wrath,

malice,

slander,

filthy language

from your mouth.

Now we're getting

out of that

immoral area

and getting into

the anger area.

How about this one,

verse 9,

do not lie

to one another

since you've put off

the old self

with its practices

and have put on

the new self.

You're being renewed

in knowledge

according to the image

of your creator.

In Christ,

there is not

Jew nor Greek.

There is no more

circumcision and uncircumcision,

barbarian,

Scythian,

slave and free,

all the dividing lines

that separate us

from one another,

but now Christ is all

and in all.

Verse 12,

therefore,

as God's chosen ones,

holy and dearly loved,

here's what you put on.

You put all this stuff on,

but you gotta put,

I'm sorry,

you put all this stuff off,

but you gotta put

something on instead.

Okay?

That's a tale

as old as time.

You don't just stop something,

you start something

in its place.

Alcoholics Anonymous

and whatever other

addiction recovery program

will always tell you

you don't just try

to stop doing something,

you have to start

something in its place

or eventually

you'll go back

to what you were doing

before, right?

So instead,

this is what you put on.

You put on compassion,

kindness,

humility,

gentleness,

and patience,

bearing with one another,

forgiving one another.

Y'all,

some of you,

that is not in your nature.

You're not naturally

the kind of person

who bears with one another.

You're the kind of person

who wants to pick a fight.

That's your old flesh.

Put it off

and let God help you

put on

something new

and different.

God can do that

through you.

You can't.

Your spouse can't

make that change in you.

But God can.

Now if you believe

God can do anything,

then He can make

a change in you.

Trust me,

He's made a change

in me.

And He can make

a change in you.

If anyone has a grievance

against one another,

we forgive one another

just as the Lord

has forgiven us.

So we also

are to forgive.

Verse 14,

Above all,

put on love,

which is the perfect

bond of unity.

And let the peace

of Christ,

to which you are also

called in one body,

rule your hearts

and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ

dwell richly among you

in all wisdom,

teaching and admonishing

one another

through psalms,

hymns,

and spiritual songs,

singing to God

with gratitude

in our hearts.

Man, we had some of that

this morning,

didn't we?

And whatever you do,

in word or deed,

do everything

in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God

the Father

through Him.

Now,

here's the last one.

Godly self-denial

transforms us

from the inside out.

Talked about it last week,

how choosing the Jesus way

will transform us.

Well, that happens

through godly self-denial.

Godly self-denial

is not saying,

well, I'm going to give up

cokes for a year

and I'm going to deny myself that.

Now, maybe,

maybe your doctor

thinks you ought to give up

cokes for a year.

Maybe your waistline

thinks you ought to give up

cokes for a year.

Right?

But God is not

in the scripture

saying,

you have to give up

cokes for a year

or you're not going to be

close to me.

That's not what

godly self-denial

is about.

Godly self-denial

is what we just read

in Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

That is how it transforms us

from the inside,

not from the outside.

The inside change

will change the outside.

Us Christians

have got it backwards

so much

that if we change

the outside,

eventually the inside

will catch up.

It doesn't happen.

It's a lie.

It's a lie.

The truth is,

eventually,

the outside

will fail

because the inside

is rotten.

Godly self-denial

must begin

on the inside.

We deny

our flesh

because

Jesus

has shown us

so much love,

we fall in love

with Him.

When you love someone,

you're happy

to give something up

for them.

When you're in love

with someone,

you're happy

to say,

you know what?

I love you so much,

I'll do what you need.

I'll do what's better

for you.

That's where

transformation comes.

Now we're going to go to Joel

and we'll be done.

The Lord says,

turn to me now

while there is time.

Give me your hearts.

Come with fasting,

weeping,

and mourning.

Don't tear your clothing

and your grief,

but tear your hearts

instead.

Y'all,

this is such

a powerful concept here.

Don't miss it.

This is the last thing

we're going to read

before we're done.

Please don't miss this.

Do you see

the last sentence here?

Don't tear your clothing

in your grief.

Tear your hearts

instead.

Talk back to me

for a minute.

What do you think

he means by that?

When they would mourn,

they would tear their clothes.

And it was a regular practice.

It was something

they regularly did.

Why do you think

he's telling them

not to do it?

Superficial.

Don't let this be

like every other time.

Let it be meaningful.

Let it be real change.

Let it be change

on the inside,

not the outside.

Maybe they were

doing it for show.

They would tear their clothes

when somebody would die.

They would have their,

in certain cultures,

you go down to New Orleans,

anybody ever

been down to New Orleans,

Louisiana,

for a funeral?

Seen the wailers

walk through the streets?

If you have a real

New Orleans funeral,

you'll see people

walking down

through the streets

of the French Quarter,

and you have the people

that are wailing.

Like literally,

they'll be,

whoo,

oh,

I mean,

it's a thing.

It is a cultural thing.

And I'm not mocking it

at all.

It is just a part

of their culture.

You're just not used to it

if you see it.

You know,

it's different.

Sometimes you can hire

some wailers

if you don't have people

that are equipped

to do that.

That's a little weird

to me,

but whatever.

But back then,

yeah,

definitely a similar thing.

You know,

they would have

their wailers.

So,

yeah,

I mean,

people are wailing

in their grief

and tearing their clothing,

and it's an outward show.

Maybe sometimes

it was sincere.

Maybe it wasn't.

But the prophet

is saying from the Lord,

don't tear your clothing

in your grief.

Tear your hearts

this time.

Let it be on the inside.

And that's what he says before.

Turn to me now

while there's still time.

Give me your hearts.

Give me your hearts.

That's what Jesus

is always saying to us.

We'll give him our tithes.

We'll give him

our attendance on Sundays sometimes.

We'll give him

our membership.

We'll give him

lots of different things

before we give him

our hearts.

We hold back our hearts.

We guard him

very closely.

And all he really wants

is our hearts.

God bless you.

He wants us.

He wants us.

He wants us.

Because he can do

so much

better

than we're doing.

He can do so much

with our families.

He can do so much good

through us.

You underestimate

the power

that God can do

through you.

the good

that God can accomplish

through you.

You give him

your heart.

So I ask you

would you give God

your heart

today?

The Jesus way

is a way

of transformation

from the inside

out.

Our takeaway

this morning

is to deny yourself

and that starts

on the inside

as God

transforms you

into becoming

his disciple.

Would you pray

with me?

God I pray

that we would be

a people

who give you

our hearts.

That we would

tear our hearts

on the inside.

That you would

convict me.

that you would

convict the men

in this room

to man up,

to step up,

to take the lead.

Say family,

we're going to

follow Jesus.

We're going to

choose the Jesus

way.

over sports,

over work,

over politics,

over money,

over comfort.

We are going

to choose Jesus.

Over tradition,

over reputation,

whatever idols

might be standing

in our way,

we're going

to deny

ourselves.

We're going

to choose

the Jesus

way.

God,

I call on

the women

in this room.

So many

times,

you've used

women to

stand up

and take

the lead.

And I call

on women

to

be women

of God

and if

that's

your will,

let them

say,

God,

make me

a woman

of faith

to be

a godly

mother,

a godly

wife,

a godly

single

woman who

would say,

I will

choose the

Jesus way.

I will

keep myself

pure.

I'll keep

myself right.

I'll be

an example

of

what a

holy woman

of faith

would look

like.

and I

will

choose

the

Jesus

way

above

all

else.

God,

I

give

you

my

heart.

I

pray for

the

teenagers

and for

the

children

in this

room.

They

are

growing

up

in an

age

when

the

outside

world

is

continually

coming

after

them,

trying

to get

their

attention,

trying

to pull

them

away

from

the

Jesus

way,

from

being

God's

disciple.

I

pray that

they

would

listen

to

the

voices

in

this

church,

in

godly

families,

in

their

youth

group,

in

their

Sunday

school

classes,

in

their

lives,

that

would

say,

don't

listen

to

that.

You

choose

the

Jesus

way.

You

listen

to

the

Lord

Jesus

in

your

life.

That

they

would

come

to

faith

in

you

at

an

early

age,

that

they

would

follow

you

in

baptism,

that

they

would

publicly

name

your

name

and

choose

to

be

your

disciple.

That

we

would

rally

around

them

as

a

church

and

lift

them

up

in

prayer

and

participate

in

their

discipleship

journey.

Thank

you for

what you're

doing in

our

church.

We

ask

you

to

multiply

it,

continue

to

bless

it and

move

it

forward.

Church,

right

now,

with our

heads

bowed,

I ask

it every

Sunday,

I'm

going to

ask

this

question,

is there

anybody

here

who

needs

to

give

your

life

to

Jesus

for

the

first

time?

Say,

I'm

going to

turn

from my

sin

and turn

to

Jesus.

I

believe

that

I'm

a

sinner

and

that

Jesus

died

on

the

cross

for

me.

He

rose

from

the

dead

and

I

want

to

ask

him

forgive

me

of

my

sins

and

become

my

Savior

today.

Would

you

slip

your

hand

up

if

that's

you?

Say,

I'd like

to do

that

today

before

I

leave.

Thank

you.

What

about

the

rest

of

you?

Is

there

someone

who

says,

God

convicted

me

about

something

this

morning

and

I

need

prayer?

Would

you

slip

your

hand

up

and

I'll

pray

for

you?

Anybody?

I

need

prayer.

Thank

you.

Thank

you.

Thank

you.

Thank

you.

Thank

you.

Thank

you.

God,

you

just

move

in

the

hearts

this

morning.

Church,

if

there's

anybody

who

needs

to

come

down

in

front

and

pray

with

me,

I'm

here

and

available

for

that.

Jared's

going

to

lead

us

in

a

song.

If

you'd

like

to

stand

and

sing,

you're

welcome

to.

If

you'd

like

to

keep

your

seat

and

pray,

that's

up

to

you.

We're

just

going

to

have

a

couple

of

minutes

where

God

has

the

liberty

and

freedom

to

move

in

our

hearts.

Let's

enter

into

that

now.