I Have A Testimony - Part 3

Speaker: We're talking about a journey.

Speaker: My journey as Miss Linda comes up to read an opening reading

Speaker: here for us.

Speaker: Again, I want to reiterate this

Speaker: is not about me, but is what

Speaker: Jesus Christ can do in a

Speaker: person's life.

Speaker: Do we understand that I am not up here pounding my chest

Speaker: saying, look at me.

Speaker: But in a sense, look what God did for me.

Speaker: And again, everybody has a story.

Speaker: Everybody that is born again who has repented of their sins,

Speaker: living for Christ.

Speaker: They have a story.

Speaker: Miss Linda, if you will.

Speaker: Oh, yes.

Speaker: There we go.

Speaker: This reading is entitled God's Timing.

Speaker: What is meant for you is not late.

Speaker: It is not lost.

Speaker: It is not confused about your address.

Speaker: God's timing moves differently than human urgency.

Speaker: We rush because we fear we are missing out.

Speaker: God waits because he sees the whole road.

Speaker: When doors stay closed, it's not always denial.

Speaker: Sometimes it's protection.

Speaker: Sometimes it's preparation.

Speaker: Sometimes it's alignment.

Speaker: Quietly moving pieces into the right place that we can't see.

Speaker: You're not being punished by the pause.

Speaker: You're being shaped by it.

Speaker: Seeds grow in darkness first.

Speaker: Roots deepen before branches appear.

Speaker: And just because nothing seems to be happening doesn't mean

Speaker: nothing is happening.

Speaker: Trust that what arrives late to you arrives.

Speaker: Ready?

Speaker: And what leaves early was never meant to stay.

Speaker: Breathe.

Speaker: Stay faithful in the waiting.

Speaker: God has never missed a moment yet.

Speaker: Thank you, Miss Linda.

Speaker: When I was searching for a reading like this.

Speaker: So many of those words spoke in this testimony to my own life.

Speaker: Now, if you've missed out on part one, part two, I encourage

Speaker: you to go back, check it out on our Facebook page or YouTube.

Speaker: So it all makes sense.

Speaker: But last week we ended up where Brother Jim had this calling to

Speaker: go up and say, Hey Pastor Ron, I'd like to say a few words.

Speaker: And he had said, okay.

Speaker: And within a few weeks we're off and running, giving my first

Speaker: sermon up here, which eventually led into me being a lay leader

Speaker: for rocks for church.

Speaker: But again, do you think the devil leaves you alone?

Speaker: No. Sometimes the devil is just getting started with you.

Speaker: True.

Speaker: He wants to keep you bound in chains.

Speaker: And here's a shout out.

Speaker: Wednesday nights we started a series on being chained.

Speaker: So if you're interested, come on

Speaker: out Wednesday night and hear

Speaker: about that.

Speaker: Because how many of you, even

Speaker: though you belong to Christ,

Speaker: you're a walking, talking

Speaker: Christian.

Speaker: You still have chains.

Speaker: Something to think about.

Speaker: But anyway, the devil would not leave me alone.

Speaker: So I was still in limbo.

Speaker: One foot right on the fence line, one foot over here, one

Speaker: foot over there, struggling.

Speaker: Which opens up with our first verse, John ten ten.

Speaker: The thief does not come except.

Speaker: Excuse me.

Speaker: Let me start over here.

Speaker: The thief does not come except

Speaker: to steal and to kill and to

Speaker: destroy.

Speaker: I have come that they may they

Speaker: have may have life, and that

Speaker: they may have it more

Speaker: abundantly.

Speaker: Now that first part very true.

Speaker: Just like how we had Teresa come up today.

Speaker: But here's the praise Teresa requested.

Speaker: Instead of sitting in the chair back there.

Speaker: That pew.

Speaker: She knows I've got a family.

Speaker: I got brothers and sisters in Christ who will pray for me.

Speaker: So, church, I want to encourage you anytime.

Speaker: Anytime you feel you need anointed, you need prayer.

Speaker: You let me know.

Speaker: Let somebody in this congregation know.

Speaker: We will not hide behind the fear

Speaker: standing in front of others to

Speaker: pray.

Speaker: And that's not pride that is doing what we are called to do.

Speaker: So one day I am serving and loving God, and the next and the

Speaker: next day so frustrated and feeling like a complete failure.

Speaker: Why?

Speaker: Because deep down, I was not completely committed to God and

Speaker: His calling on my life.

Speaker: Say that word with me.

Speaker: Committed.

Speaker: Committed.

Speaker: How many of us are committed?

Speaker: One hundred percent to God right now, this very morning?

Speaker: Or how many of us kind of go out

Speaker: throughout the week, up and

Speaker: down, up and down, struggling,

Speaker: kind of like in a ship, out on

Speaker: the ocean.

Speaker: The big waves are coming.

Speaker: We're up, we're down.

Speaker: Still afraid to jump into the deep end.

Speaker: Because the devil has a way of bringing up your past and your

Speaker: failures, always reminding you that you are not good enough and

Speaker: in my case, not good enough to stand behind a pulpit.

Speaker: Let me tell you something, my friends.

Speaker: He can mess with you right here and right here.

Speaker: Notice though, my friends, I just stated a few moments ago

Speaker: that I was not fully committed to this calling.

Speaker: I was still holding back.

Speaker: How many of you sitting here today or listening in can maybe,

Speaker: just maybe, identify with full commitment to God and His

Speaker: calling on your own life.

Speaker: Now, that's a fair question this morning.

Speaker: If you turn to Matthew twenty two thirty four to forty.

Speaker: Hearing that Jesus had silenced

Speaker: the Sadducees, the Pharisees got

Speaker: together.

Speaker: Oh, and by the way, we're going to be starting a series on the

Speaker: Pharisees next week.

Speaker: Them good old Pharisees, the Pharisees got together kind of

Speaker: like a little clique.

Speaker: One of them, an expert in the

Speaker: law, tested him with this

Speaker: question.

Speaker: Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?

Speaker: Verse thirty seven Jesus

Speaker: replied, love the Lord your God

Speaker: with all your heart, and with

Speaker: all your soul, and with all your

Speaker: mind.

Speaker: This is what.

Speaker: This is the first and greatest commandment.

Speaker: Verse thirty nine, and the second is like it love your

Speaker: neighbor as yourself.

Speaker: All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

Speaker: So I guess the question is, was I loving God with all my heart

Speaker: and my soul?

Speaker: Again, confusion.

Speaker: Confusion.

Speaker: Now here's the thing.

Speaker: You ever have them God moments, especially in a vehicle?

Speaker: You ever talk to God while you're driving?

Speaker: One of the best ways to talk to God in my book, Windshield Time.

Speaker: Now, I was working down at, uh, Muskingum Watershed.

Speaker: I was on my way out to Clendenning Marina.

Speaker: Going out eight hundred.

Speaker: If you're familiar with eight

Speaker: hundred, you know where Todd's

Speaker: mowing is.

Speaker: So right there, going past there.

Speaker: And of course, I'm salivating

Speaker: all over the new Steiners and

Speaker: the Ventrix while talking to

Speaker: God.

Speaker: A little distraction there, but right up the road, there's that

Speaker: sharp little bend.

Speaker: And this is where it happened.

Speaker: Happened right here for the man standing before you today out of

Speaker: my mouth said, okay, God, you get the last ten percent of me

Speaker: cannot explain it.

Speaker: Those words came out of my mouth and those words, they were

Speaker: almost a relief, if you will, for my very heart and soul.

Speaker: You ever have that a relief just to confess, to say something, to

Speaker: get it off your chest.

Speaker: And you feel better, don't you?

Speaker: Oh, little did I know.

Speaker: The next course of events.

Speaker: And maybe, maybe today.

Speaker: Someone hear God's knocking on your door right now.

Speaker: Relatable.

Speaker: Maybe you're holding back.

Speaker: Maybe you're fighting.

Speaker: Given that last little percentage or this God calling.

Speaker: Like Kelly, praise God.

Speaker: Over six months ago she had a calling for this, his ability

Speaker: again, moving in your life.

Speaker: And here's where it gets good

Speaker: again Isaiah six eight comes

Speaker: into play for my own personal

Speaker: journey.

Speaker: Now, many years ago, I was sitting over here.

Speaker: Pastor Ron used that verse, Isaiah six eight and it stuck

Speaker: right here and here.

Speaker: I don't know why, but for later use.

Speaker: And at verse oh baby, it took root.

Speaker: And again little did I know church what God had in his plans

Speaker: next for me.

Speaker: Now of course Isaiah six eight, my favorite verse in the Bible.

Speaker: Also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send?

Speaker: And who will go for us?

Speaker: Then I said, here I am, send me.

Speaker: That was a Thursday afternoon, my friends, when that last ten

Speaker: percent came into play.

Speaker: Now that very next Saturday

Speaker: afternoon, we met right over

Speaker: here in the chapel with our DS,

Speaker: along with our SBR committee,

Speaker: and we were meeting our new

Speaker: pastor and her husband due to

Speaker: Pastor Ron's retirement

Speaker: approaching.

Speaker: And again, as I said, our DS, she was there to introduce and

Speaker: as the committee was showing the couple around, the couple around

Speaker: the church, I went up to carry the DS and I told her that I

Speaker: would like to get more involved on the preaching side.

Speaker: Okay.

Speaker: And that ten percent was coming into play.

Speaker: I was thinking now, in my mind,

Speaker: I knew with the upcoming

Speaker: separation of the United

Speaker: Methodist Church, churches were

Speaker: already hurting with lay leaders

Speaker: stepping in.

Speaker: There was a shortage.

Speaker: So I was thinking I could be used as a fill in here, there,

Speaker: everywhere for a Sunday.

Speaker: Friends, that was not God's plan for this old boy.

Speaker: Proverbs sixteen three commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he

Speaker: will establish your plans.

Speaker: very vital there.

Speaker: That following Tuesday, if I

Speaker: remember correct, I know it's a

Speaker: following week.

Speaker: We had instructed the DS that we were not accepting who they had

Speaker: sent to be our new pastor.

Speaker: So now we as Rockford Church were in a pickle if you would.

Speaker: Under the UMC United Methodist

Speaker: Church, you only get one deny

Speaker: per pastor.

Speaker: Now that was back in the day when the cabinet got together.

Speaker: They interviewed the the SPR

Speaker: and, you know, basically got a

Speaker: feel for who you were looking

Speaker: for.

Speaker: So you only get one deny the second pastor they send you.

Speaker: That is your new pastor.

Speaker: No ifs, ands or buts.

Speaker: And the United Methodist Church,

Speaker: New Rockford Church, was leaving

Speaker: their organization because we

Speaker: did not agree with what the

Speaker: future held for them according

Speaker: to their beliefs and the new

Speaker: policies that would come into

Speaker: effect.

Speaker: The only pastors that were left,

Speaker: let's just say, did not line up

Speaker: with the way Rockford Church

Speaker: believed.

Speaker: And most importantly, did not line up with the Word of God.

Speaker: It just it is what it is.

Speaker: And just my opinion, a liberal

Speaker: pastor would have destroyed our

Speaker: church.

Speaker: But once again, God's plan came into play.

Speaker: Now, the same week, now again,

Speaker: maybe some of you thinking maybe

Speaker: you got your timeline a little

Speaker: off.

Speaker: No I don't.

Speaker: That Friday night, Carrie and I get home from work.

Speaker: I think we had a date night dinner and going to Walmart.

Speaker: Groceries.

Speaker: Remember the answering machines?

Speaker: Remember the good old answering machines you see in the light?

Speaker: You got excited.

Speaker: Hey, we got a message.

Speaker: There was a message from Kara that night.

Speaker: Our des saying, give me a call back.

Speaker: and Kerry had a smile on her

Speaker: face and she just knew, knew,

Speaker: knew she was going to ask

Speaker: something.

Speaker: Now, being the loving and supportive husband that I am, I

Speaker: said, nah, we'll call her back when I get home.

Speaker: And you know, maybe, maybe I was being a little bit of a stinker

Speaker: on that one because I wanted to see her squirm.

Speaker: So when we got home, I called Kara the DS back.

Speaker: Jim, how would you feel about

Speaker: stepping in as a special DS

Speaker: appointment and taking over as

Speaker: pastor?

Speaker: Now, here's the honest to God truth.

Speaker: I can say this, brothers and

Speaker: sisters, I cannot remember

Speaker: speaking with more authority and

Speaker: confidence.

Speaker: No, it's either full time or nothing because she had offered.

Speaker: Would you be considered, you

Speaker: know, part time, three quarter

Speaker: time?

Speaker: No. This church needs a full time pastor.

Speaker: Second Timothy one seven For God has not given us a spirit of

Speaker: fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Speaker: Now, I'm sure my wife and many of you would argue with my sound

Speaker: mind, but let me tell you, my friends, this one I just knew.

Speaker: Ever happened to you?

Speaker: Happened to you.

Speaker: You just know.

Speaker: And I gotta be honest with you, I could hear the surprise and

Speaker: Kerry's voice with the authority I had in my voice.

Speaker: Because that wasn't me speaking.

Speaker: That was a God moment there.

Speaker: Now, the next step was to ask

Speaker: Pastor Ron his thoughts, along

Speaker: with Nicole and the SPR

Speaker: committee.

Speaker: Could I do the job?

Speaker: Now, that's a big question.

Speaker: And let's be honest, I think it was more out of desperation on

Speaker: the United Methodist parts to eliminate a headache in dealing

Speaker: with the exiting Rockford church pastor along with us exiting.

Speaker: But again, my friends, God plans his plan, not mine.

Speaker: Not mine.

Speaker: So a few Sunday later, Sundays.

Speaker: After all this back and forth,

Speaker: Miss Nicole stood up here with

Speaker: the entire SPR committee, along

Speaker: with myself and Kerry, and

Speaker: announced to this congregation,

Speaker: which many of you were sitting

Speaker: here that day for this

Speaker: announcement, that I'd be taken

Speaker: over.

Speaker: Now, I wish I could go back and look at the faces of the

Speaker: congregation that morning, because I know some of you,

Speaker: there was a big question mark on your face with this decision.

Speaker: And, you know, talking with some

Speaker: of you, being very honest, they

Speaker: were concerned.

Speaker: But I appreciate the honesty because even myself, I gotta

Speaker: admit, there's a little doubt there coming from the secular

Speaker: world to being a pastor.

Speaker: And I'm going to say this now, my friends.

Speaker: Anything in life you don't know what a person goes through until

Speaker: you walk in their shoes, right?

Speaker: Who had no clue.

Speaker: Still trying to figure it out.

Speaker: But that's okay, because who's leading the way?

Speaker: God.

Speaker: Two things I announced to this

Speaker: congregation that morning from

Speaker: my mouth.

Speaker: Number one, I will be the

Speaker: ugliest, biggest, ugliest

Speaker: cheerleader that you'll ever

Speaker: have.

Speaker: And number two, I have no doubt I will let you down sometime

Speaker: down the road.

Speaker: Now, I don't want to, but I know it's going to happen.

Speaker: And I know it has happened.

Speaker: But you know what?

Speaker: That's okay.

Speaker: Because God's taken this twisted piece of clay just like you.

Speaker: And he's forming warts and all, cracks and all.

Speaker: He's forming it into what he had designed you and I for.

Speaker: For his kingdom.

Speaker: For his glory.

Speaker: So in a nutshell, the long journey of denying God's plan.

Speaker: Turning away from God and through it all, God kept on

Speaker: loving this broken man.

Speaker: All the way to this very pulpit.

Speaker: Now again, I encourage you go back and watch one and two

Speaker: because it tells the story.

Speaker: And trust me, I was way, way out there.

Speaker: And again, you go back to Isaiah

Speaker: six eight and I heard the voice

Speaker: of the Lord saying, whom shall I

Speaker: send?

Speaker: Who's going to go for us?

Speaker: And this bald headed man said, here I am.

Speaker: Send me.

Speaker: And here I am, God, a fish out of water in his calling.

Speaker: But I'm here willing, willing to send me.

Speaker: my friends and reflecting on our unworthiness, we can come to

Speaker: realize that as humans, we fall short in God's perfection.

Speaker: First to admit that one.

Speaker: Yeah, I fall short every day.

Speaker: The Bible teaches us that we are inherently flawed and sinful.

Speaker: Can we all agree that on that today?

Speaker: It's just inherently we're flawed.

Speaker: We're sinful.

Speaker: However, this acknowledgement is not meant to bring us despair,

Speaker: but to invite us to an experience with God.

Speaker: God's grace.

Speaker: You ever experience God's grace every day?

Speaker: God's grace and mercy.

Speaker: And thank you, Lord, for that.

Speaker: Understanding our unworthiness.

Speaker: My unworthiness allows you and I to embrace.

Speaker: Embrace like a bear.

Speaker: Hug.

Speaker: God's love more deeply, making us at least it should make us

Speaker: grateful for his unwavering acceptance if we choose to.

Speaker: This journey in our walk with

Speaker: Christ helps you, and I

Speaker: appreciate that God does not

Speaker: love us because of what we do,

Speaker: but simply because we are his

Speaker: children.

Speaker: And it took a long time for me to figure that out.

Speaker: And trust me, there are still

Speaker: days I have a hard time

Speaker: embracing that.

Speaker: I was telling Carrie last night, you ever wonder?

Speaker: I mean, how does God really love us?

Speaker: Great question.

Speaker: I mean, what we're doing to ourselves, what we've done

Speaker: Ourselves throughout from the beginning of time.

Speaker: That's the love that I just don't understand.

Speaker: But I know it's great.

Speaker: I know it's beyond great.

Speaker: And just think of the patience

Speaker: God has with each one of us

Speaker: here.

Speaker: Because again, you each have your own journey from the back

Speaker: pew to the front pew.

Speaker: Every one of us have a story to tell.

Speaker: So I want to encourage you today.

Speaker: Tell your story.

Speaker: Now, you don't have to do a three part series, but the best

Speaker: part is just say, hey, this is what Jesus did for me.

Speaker: And brother, he can do it for you.

Speaker: That's the main thing.

Speaker: Quit preaching the people,

Speaker: judging people and be there with

Speaker: them.

Speaker: Walk with them again.

Speaker: Who did Jesus go with?

Speaker: The ones who needed it most.

Speaker: Ephesians two eight to nine for

Speaker: by grace you have been saved

Speaker: through faith, and that not of

Speaker: yourselves it is the gift of

Speaker: God, not of works, lest anyone

Speaker: should boast.

Speaker: And maybe church.

Speaker: That's where so many of us get it wrong.

Speaker: Once we're saved, once we're part of the flock.

Speaker: Yes, works comes into play.

Speaker: But you gotta belong to Jesus first.

Speaker: You gotta repent first.

Speaker: You gotta give your heart to Jesus first before works can

Speaker: come into play.

Speaker: If you're doing the works without the relationship.

Speaker: I can say, good job, little buddy, but it's not getting you

Speaker: any further with God.

Speaker: And my friends, I am walking proof.

Speaker: An example of what God can do and will do in someone's life.

Speaker: Why did God choose this

Speaker: bumbling, loud, unpolished,

Speaker: uneducated man that stands

Speaker: before you?

Speaker: I can only come up with three answers.

Speaker: Number one, through my own sin

Speaker: and denial, God did not give up

Speaker: on me.

Speaker: God's plan for me.

Speaker: And that means God has a plan for each one of you.

Speaker: Number two, compassion for those around me.

Speaker: I do care about each one of you,

Speaker: and especially your eternal

Speaker: well-being.

Speaker: Maybe you believe that.

Speaker: Maybe you don't, but I do.

Speaker: And I pray as this journey

Speaker: continues, you will get to see

Speaker: that.

Speaker: Because again, me allowing the

Speaker: Holy Spirit to open myself up

Speaker: more compassion, peace, love,

Speaker: but also knowing right from

Speaker: wrong, not condoning what is

Speaker: sinful.

Speaker: That is all our jobs.

Speaker: We're called to love, right?

Speaker: But we don't have to agree and we best be agreeing with this,

Speaker: following this versus our own little fairy tale, if you will.

Speaker: And number three, and I think

Speaker: this is one of the biggest ones

Speaker: relatable.

Speaker: How many people out there and here at times find it hard to

Speaker: connect with a pastor?

Speaker: For many pastors, they took the route they were supposed to at

Speaker: an early age that God had laid out for them.

Speaker: Well, Brother Jim was a knucklehead.

Speaker: I took every route that avoided

Speaker: a life of holiness and servitude

Speaker: for God.

Speaker: But that's okay, because it prepared me and this to me.

Speaker: I smile on all through my

Speaker: mistakes, my denial, my

Speaker: darkness.

Speaker: It prepared me that I can help walk with people in the dark.

Speaker: I've been there.

Speaker: Some pastors, I'm going to be honest, have never been there

Speaker: and that's great for them.

Speaker: I thank God for that now.

Speaker: The heartache, the anger.

Speaker: Through it all.

Speaker: Through it all.

Speaker: But.

Speaker: And there's that big but Bob

Speaker: Armstrong, my messed up sinful

Speaker: journey.

Speaker: And through my experiences, as I said, I can relate with those

Speaker: who walked away from the flock.

Speaker: The one that walked away as I did it too.

Speaker: Just like I said earlier in part one or two.

Speaker: I walked away.

Speaker: Or maybe, maybe.

Speaker: Never knew the love of the shepherd.

Speaker: Always on the outskirts, looking in on this whole God thing.

Speaker: You ever encounter someone like that?

Speaker: Or maybe you've been one like that looking in.

Speaker: And I tell you what, my friends, looking in is a very dark,

Speaker: lonely place to be.

Speaker: And maybe, maybe that is what

Speaker: this world needs more than ever

Speaker: right now.

Speaker: Men and women who have been in the darkness and were delivered,

Speaker: brought out to the light, to share, not judge, to share.

Speaker: Their Experiences to give hope to others.

Speaker: No judgment from me.

Speaker: And I'm going to be very honest on this one.

Speaker: No judgment for me.

Speaker: If you come through them doors.

Speaker: I do not care if you got pink purple hair.

Speaker: It's a mohawk.

Speaker: Whatever.

Speaker: I don't care if you're covered in tattoos.

Speaker: Smoking a Marlboro light before

Speaker: service out in your car with the

Speaker: smell of last night's

Speaker: extracurricular activities on

Speaker: your breath.

Speaker: You know what?

Speaker: Because you need to be here, and

Speaker: I'm finding more and more people

Speaker: that have this conviction on

Speaker: their heart.

Speaker: They need to come.

Speaker: Who am I to judge?

Speaker: That's the Holy Spirit, is it not?

Speaker: That's the Holy Spirit working on somebody.

Speaker: Hey, if they come in with their best LED Zeppelin t shirt on,

Speaker: they got at a concert, I don't care, because you're here.

Speaker: I am here to give you something

Speaker: to chew on, to think about and

Speaker: let the Holy Spirit work with

Speaker: you.

Speaker: And just think, if we would all do that, my friends, clear the

Speaker: judgment out of our minds, our hearts and our souls.

Speaker: Because let me tell you what.

Speaker: What if Jesus was to sit in Sue,

Speaker: we're coming into a little

Speaker: conference room, you and Jesus,

Speaker: and he's going to start

Speaker: checking.

Speaker: Judging.

Speaker: Wouldn't feel so good, would it?

Speaker: So what makes you think people

Speaker: feel good coming into a church

Speaker: where they're automatically

Speaker: judged?

Speaker: And I'll throw this one out at you too.

Speaker: Talking about this the other day

Speaker: with a good friend, why do

Speaker: people why do men go to bars so

Speaker: much?

Speaker: Because they feel accepted.

Speaker: And that's a sad thing.

Speaker: Church.

Speaker: When people when men who are desperate, who are hurting, need

Speaker: to go to a bar, to feel companionship, to feel like they

Speaker: belong instead of a church.

Speaker: So I put that on all of us, starting with me.

Speaker: Are we inviting?

Speaker: I think we're doing a pretty good job of being open.

Speaker: All our welcome.

Speaker: You have been brought here to Rockford Church for a reason,

Speaker: and I pray that we can all make that connection with one another

Speaker: and with the Holy Spirit.

Speaker: Mark two seventeen tells us, and when Jesus heard it, he said to

Speaker: them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those

Speaker: who are sick.

Speaker: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Speaker: My friends, who does your heart truly belong to?

Speaker: I want to ask each one of you that this morning.

Speaker: Your heart.

Speaker: Who does it truly belong to?

Speaker: Are you like me way before?

Speaker: Right in that fence.

Speaker: All holy and mighty.

Speaker: On a Sunday morning.

Speaker: And then come Monday morning.

Speaker: Oh, boy.

Speaker: Back to the world.

Speaker: Love and compassion for the

Speaker: needy, the sick, the lost, the

Speaker: hurting.

Speaker: The ones who are barely hanging on, who need to know that there

Speaker: is a better way.

Speaker: What if Jesus, what if you never made that connection where

Speaker: Christ could show you there was a better way?

Speaker: Where would you be now?

Speaker: That scares me.

Speaker: Where I would be.

Speaker: Think about it.

Speaker: Put down your guard this morning and think about it.

Speaker: Where would I be today without Jesus?

Speaker: And again, that better way

Speaker: simply is through Jesus and

Speaker: Jesus alone.

Speaker: Not through the drugs, the alcohol, the lust.

Speaker: The list goes on and on, my friends.

Speaker: Oh, it'll give you a quick fix, but it never compares.

Speaker: It never lasts to what Jesus

Speaker: Christ can do for you in your

Speaker: life.

Speaker: People out there and even in

Speaker: here need to know more than

Speaker: ever.

Speaker: There is hope.

Speaker: Say that with me, church.

Speaker: Hope.

Speaker: Hope is a good thing and it comes from Jesus.

Speaker: It comes from that cross.

Speaker: And again, I'm a walking,

Speaker: talking billboard, warts and

Speaker: all.

Speaker: And yes, still falling so short

Speaker: in times in my walk of what

Speaker: Jesus Christ can do in your

Speaker: life.

Speaker: But by golly, as Dave knows, once you get to taste of the

Speaker: Holy Spirit and many of you know that there's no going back.

Speaker: It's just like that oh so mouthwatering piece of

Speaker: blackberry pie or ice cream or coconut cream pie.

Speaker: Sorry, I'm going with food, but

Speaker: once you get a taste of it, you

Speaker: know it.

Speaker: You love it.

Speaker: You want it more, do you not?

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: And Jesus is the same way.

Speaker: The Holy Spirit is the same way.

Speaker: My friends, what have you got to lose?

Speaker: I'm looking at all of you.

Speaker: Now.

Speaker: If you've never been involved with the Holy Spirit, why not

Speaker: open up and say, Lord, start taking Ahold of me.

Speaker: Use me.

Speaker: I want to know this.

Speaker: It's a life changer.

Speaker: It's a game changer.

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: Praise God for that.

Speaker: And I'm still standing, still

Speaker: telling my story and most of

Speaker: all, telling people about the

Speaker: Lord and what he did for me,

Speaker: what he did for everybody on

Speaker: that cross.

Speaker: He did it for me.

Speaker: And by golly, he can do it for you.

Speaker: I finish with this.

Speaker: If you do not know Jesus, you

Speaker: walk with a weight you cannot

Speaker: name.

Speaker: Carrying questions at midnight,

Speaker: wearing a smile that hides the

Speaker: ache.

Speaker: You try to be good.

Speaker: Try to be whole.

Speaker: Try to outrun regret and fear.

Speaker: But the past keeps calling.

Speaker: Oh, keeps calling your name and peace never stays very near.

Speaker: If you do not know Jesus.

Speaker: You may feel rich yet somehow poor, owning the world in your

Speaker: two hands while longing for something so much more.

Speaker: But there is one who knows your debt.

Speaker: Every tear, every hidden scar.

Speaker: Who paid in full.

Speaker: What you and I could not and meet.

Speaker: Oh sweet Jesus, I love this and meet you exactly where you are.

Speaker: If you do not know Jesus, know this truth.

Speaker: Before the night ends, you are seen.

Speaker: You are loved, you are wanted.

Speaker: And Grace is waiting to call you friend.

Speaker: Amen.