Experiencing God: Week 4

Do you believe that God has an assignment for you?

Do you believe that God has a purpose for you?

Or another way to put it, do you believe that

God has a mission and his purposes for you to

join that mission? Have you heard from God so clearly

seen God working in your life without a doubt that

you can't ignore it until you do something. And at

the same time, do you feel a little bit nervous,

maybe even wondering, my sure that was God? Maybe a

little anxious or even fearful hesitant. Well, good, because you're

right where God wants you to be. I have a

friend named Dale who I want to share a quote

he often says this. He says, following God's assignment is

the combination of feeling so excited you can't sleep, and

feeling so nervous you might get sick. Actually, I think

Dale says, you might throw up, but I kind of

polished it up for us. But that's what faith is.

That's what that following that assignment, following God is that

intersection where you're so excited and you're coming out of

your skin like yes, and so nervous that you might

get sick. I have felt that faith excited sick feeling

many times in my life and ministry. I'll tell you

about one very vivid memory, years and years ago when

I was a youth pastor. Those years of youth ministry

in my life, what was the training ground where God

tested my faith, grew my faith taught me valuable lessons,

hard lessons, and years ago, as a youth pastor in Pennsylvania,

one morning I found myself standing in a basketball gymnasium

at a public middle school, preparing to talk to the

entire school assembly, six hundred plus students, middle school students,

and I was nervous. I was excited, but I was

also anxious. My hands were sweaty, my heart was pounding,

my mouth felt like a cotton ball, and I could

I could feel hear my pulse in my ears. I

was excited, but I was also nervous because I've learned

that there is very little difference between a middle school

class assembly and a stampede of wild buffalo. They're both intimidating,

they're both chaotic, they're both noisy and a little bit smelly.

And that day I was sharing the vision for a

new after school program. I was inviting students to sign

up for this faith based after school program the church

I was serving was starting once a week. Volunteers would

mentor the students after school, disciple them and leadership, faith

based leadership and tutoring and all these activities. And that

day I was gonna announce this to the student body,

and I had all these thoughts, like what if they

don't listen? What if I can't keep their attention? What

if they heckle me? Or they ask a question? You know,

in a middle school class assembly, there is no such

thing as a rhetorical question. But faith helped me say

what the words that came out of my mouth? And

I'll tell you what I told those students. I said, everybody,

look at me. I'm not talking to your neighbor. I'm

not talking to the person sitting next to you. I'm

talking to you. You have a purpose, you have a calling.

This world is full of problems and challenges, and this

world needs leaders who are going to solve those challenges

and problems. You can be a leader. You may not

think you can be a leader. You may feel small,

you may feel unimportant. But I'm here today to tell

you I believe in you. You can be a leader. Today,

I want to say something similar to you as what

I said to those students. You have a purpose, You

have an assignment on God's mission, You have a calling.

There is a plan that God is unfolding, and He's

invited you to fulfill your part in his mission. Now,

your assignment, your calling, cannot be fulfilled in your own

power and your own strength and your own intelligence. The

only way to fulfill your God given assignment is by faith.

We need faith. Faith Taking a step of faith is

that feeling, that intersection of feeling so excited you can't

sleep and so nervous that you might get sick. That's

where faith meets your soul. And this is what brings

us to Hebrews chapter eleven. I want to draw your

attention to verse six. Read what verse six says with me.

It says and without faith, it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists,

and He rewards those who earnestly seek him. I'm sure

that most of us here want to please God. We

want to obey God, we want to honor God. We

want to do what God has called us to do.

But we can't fulfill our assignment without faith. We can't

please God without faith. Faith is the it's the stuff

that enables you to fulfill your assignment. And so here's

the big idea today. The main point of this message

is faith moves you where God is moving. Faith moves

you where God is going. Faith takes you where He's leading.

When I stood in front of that school assembly and

shared about this after school leadership program, I hoped that

maybe we'd see like thirty students sign up and we

could do like a pilot test run. I was blown

away when more than seventy students signed up for this program,

and I was even more shocked when the next term

one hundred and fifty or more signed up, and then

the next term. It continued to grow, and over those

few years, hundreds of students came through this program. It

expanded to a high school program, it expanded to another

middle school building, and it grew to the point where

the school asked our program, our ministry to run the

entire freshman orientation for incoming ninth graders. I mean, it

was just it was a move of God, and my

job was to keep up with him. Nothing I did

it was a move of God, and I wanted to

go where He was going. Faith moves you where God

is going. Now. You may not be called to be

a youth pastor or start a youth ministry. And I

know some of you just breathed a sigh of relief.

This is not a recruiting message for youth and children ministry.

But you do have an assignment. You have a purpose,

you have a calling. You might say you have a responsibility.

Is God calling you to step up leadership? Is God

giving you a vision for your family, a vision for

your work. Has God put a passion inside of you

that is burning so strong that you cannot ignore it

until you do something about it. You have an assignment.

God's calling you to change something, to do something, to

start something, maybe to stop something. And when God has

an assignment for us, sometimes is a large, grand, daunting assignment.

Starting a new business, relocating a job, change that's big,

investing capital in something, selling the business like those are big,

daunting assignments. And God's assignments come in the everyday course

of life, following him daily. The assignment to share the

Gospel with a coworker, the assignment to pray for a stranger,

to invite someone to church, if you're a parent, it's

raising your children each day. There's plenty of assignments in

the home. It's the assignment to go where God is going.

And no matter how grand something may seem, or how

simple it might seem, God's assignment is just that God's assignment.

And it takes faith to fulfill the assignment. Faith to

move where God is going. And so our big ideas

faith moves you where God is going. And I want

to break apart this statement word by word that first part,

faith moves When we look at Hebrews chapter eleven. The

chapter lists out and highlights heroes of the faith, great

heroes in our history. It's heroes who were men and women,

diverse people, young and old, heroes who who had faith

on the field of battle, heroes who were in prison,

heroes in different environments, in different contexts who had this faith.

But even though it was all different, even though they

were diverse in different backgrounds, they all shared one quality

in common, and that is action. They took action. Just

look at what Hebrews eleven says. Some highlights here by faith,

Able brought God a better offering. By faith, Noah built

an arc to save his family by faith Abraham obeyed

by faith. Sarah was enabled to bear children by faith.

Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God.

By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea by faith.

The walls of Jericho fell. Faith takes action. Do you

see the action? They did something by faith? Did this?

By faith? Did that? They acted? They moved. Faith gets

up off the couch, It gets out of the seat

and laces up its shoes. Faith rolls up its sleeves

and walks out the door on the mission of God

to do what God God has assigned. Faith moves you

where God is going. So what are these steps of faith?

If we're gonna get going in faith and we're gonna

be stepping out in faith, what are the steps of faith?

I think faith works like this. Step one is belief.

You gotta believe that God exists, and you must believe

that God sent his one and only son, Jesus to

die on the cross as payment for our sins so

that you can be forgiven, so that you can be saved.

You must believe that three days later Jesus rose from

the dead to give you eternal life. That's where it starts.

It starts with believing. Do you believe that God has

an assignment for you? Do you believe that you have

heard from God? Do you believe that God's leading you?

Step two is trust. When you believe that, then you

trust him. Trust Jesus as your Lord and savior. Trust

Jesus as a director, as the choicemaker, the decision maker

in your life. Do you trust him to provide what

you need for your assignment? Do you trust him to

give you those resources for what He's called you to do?

Do you trust him? Which brings you to step three?

And that is action. Faith that does not move is

not really faith. We can have belief, but that can

just be a mental agreement, an intellectual belief. But we

can say we trust God. But until we move, that

trust is not tested. James Chapter two says, faith by itself,

if it is not accompanied by what action, is dead.

Faith moves you where God is going. So what is

your next step of faith? What's your action? Step? Ask

the Lord? Even today, in this moment, what is that step?

Make the phone call? What is that step? Book the ticket,

send the email, write the check, sign up for the class.

What is that step? Schedule the appointment, the interview, take

that step, because faith moves faith is action. The next

part of our big idea is faith moves you where

God is going when you act in faith. When you're

moving in faith, you better make sure that you're going

where God is going. You want to go where He's leading.

I want to draw your attention into verse eight in

Hebrews eleven, and I really really like what this verse

says about one person named Abraham. Abraham eventually became the

father of the nation of Israel, but long before he

was the father of a great nation, long before his

son was born, Abraham was just a farmer, a shepherd,

raising his herds and flocks, minding his own business. When

God gave him an assignment. And here's what we read

in Hebrews eleven, verse eight. By faith, Abraham, when called

to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,

obeyed and went, even though he did not know where

he was going. That sounds illogical, Doesn't that sound crazy?

He doesn't that sound poorly thought out? I mean, any

one of us who's going to a place we haven't

been to before. What's the first thing we do? We

put the address into our phone GPS, and we look

at how many miles it is, how long of a drive,

how many fuel stops we need. We calculate all that

because we want to know where we're going. But Abraham

didn't know where he was going because he was following God.

And when we look at Genesis chapter twelve, God gave

Abraham all the information he needed. Genesis twelve says the

Lord said to Abram, go from your country, your peace,

your father's household, to the land I will show you.

Abraham didn't know where he was going, but he trusted

God to show him. Because Abraham said yes to God,

not to a roadmap. God will show you the way.

God will show you the next step. God will show

you the path. Have you said yes to him? Do

you trust him? Hebrews eleven, Verse one says faith is

confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what

we do not see. You may not see all the answers,

because faith moves you where God is going. Even if

you don't have all the answers. I told you about

standing in front of that middle school class assembly and

that intersection of faith feeling you can't sleep, so nervous,

you might get sick. Well, I want to back up

from that moment, several several months, back up, before that assembly,

before that after school program was even an idea way,

back up, back up. One afternoon, I found myself sitting

in the school district superintendent's office, and no, I wasn't

in trouble. Actually, I had been volunteering periodically with the

school and friendship had developed with the superintendent, and so

we would meet together often pray together. And on this

day I was sitting in her office and listening to

her share about her hopes and desires for the school district,

her her dreams for the students, but she wanted to

offer them for more development and more opportunities. And then

I was shocked when she said this. She said, Andrew,

I've got a big question to ask you. She said,

would you and your church consider starting and running and

after school program for our students? And then she said,

the school will provide a space on campus, the school

provide bussing and transportation whatever is needed. We will help

support if you would run it. I was shocked. I

wish I had a picture of what my face looked like.

I mean, this is like every youth pastor's like dream.

On the inside, I was just erupting with excitement and

energy and all of that. But on the outside, I

was trying to stay calm, and I think I said yes,

I think that is something we can explore. But I

said yes. And I remember leaving that meeting and walking

out into the parking lot and standing in front of

my car. I started thinking, what did I just get

myself into? What did I just sign up for? How

are we gonna staff this, where are we gonna get

the volunteers, What's it gonna cost, how are we gonna

pay for it? What if this? What if that? But

I didn't have all the answers in that moment, But

in that conversation, in that moment, I had to say

yes because I wanted to go where God was going.

I didn't want to miss out on a move of God.

So I said yes. See, even though I don't have

all the answers. Are you moving in God's direction or

are you planning your own course? Are you smart enough

to plan your own way? Are you moving in God's direction?

Do you feel stuck spinning your wheels, stuck in the

over analyzing, over arguing, overprocessing. Maybe God is waiting for

you to move, to take that step in faith and

he will lead. Are you moving in God's direction? Fear

can keep you stuck. Fear can paralyze your faith from moving.

Remember Abraham, God called him to go to a land

he would show him, and Abraham obeyed and he walked

out faith and Abraham on that journey of faith. Abraham

found himself in Egypt, and a terrible famine in the

land forced Abraham to stay in Egypt. It was for

a long time. It was a detour or a layover

in his journey of faith. But while Abraham was in

Egypt his faith, his fear was greater than his faith,

and Abraham gave in to fear. Here's what we read

in Genesis twelve. Abraham was about to enter Egypt. He

said to his wife Sarah, I know what a beautiful

woman you are. Now, just for a moment, men in

the room, you can compliment your wife or your girlfriend

and memorize scripture at the same time. If you would

just use these words, I know what a beautiful woman

you are now. Every lady listening is thinking, Yeah, what's

the catch here? It comes when the Egyptians see you,

they will say this is his wife. Then they will

kill me. But will let you live. Say you are

my sister, so that I will be treated well for

your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.

Instead of walking in faith and trusting God, Abraham gave

into fear, used his wife as a human shield to

save his own skin. Fear can paralyze your faith from moving.

I'm not proud to say that fear has gotten the

best of me from time to time. Again, going back

to my days in youth ministry, there was one particular

year that I was responsible for taking our church youth

group on a mission trip where they would serve out

of state in a local community, a service project that

have a camp experience, much like what our church today

does with our high school students, and these trips are

profound and transformative for students. They hear the gospel, they

encounter Jesus. And the way it worked when I was

leading this trip is I would contract a trip company,

a mission company, to do all the logistics. We would

pay them. They would arrange where we would sleep and stay,

the projects, the logistics, what we would eat, all that,

and we would just pay them. So I would pre

register and pay for a certain number of participant spots well,

that particular year, we came up short in our participants,

less than what we had paid for, so I had

to go ask for a refund. I begged for a refund,

and it was embarrassing and it was awkward and humiliating,

and I told myself that I never wanted to do

that again. And so when the next year came around

and we were going to do the same thing with

this trip company, they informed me but that they now

had a no refund policy and the minimum number of

pre registered spots was more than double the number of

students we took the year before. And so instinctively, fearfully,

I said, no, we're not going to do that's that's irresponsible,

that is risky. I don't want to risk that embarrassment again.

But then I felt God speak to me, and God said, Andrew,

is your faith in a plan or will you plan

in faith? If you know me, I'm a planner. I

like a good plan. I just had it backwards. Will

you plan in faith? Because I knew that God wanted

our students to experience him that I knew these trips

were profound. I knew they were going to hear the gospel,

many of them would be called in the ministry, called

and take their next step. Some of them would be

healed from stuff in their past and wounds in their hearts.

Like I knew this was what God wanted. And so

God was challenging me, where is your faith? And so

in faith I made the commitment, paid the deposits, and

then I got to work. I was nervous, I was anxious,

but I was motive, and I was recruiting and promoting

and working and praying and praying and praying and praying.

And you know what God did. God brought that minimum

number that we had preregistered and seven more participants. He

did beyond what I had hoped for. He did exceedingly

more than what I was praying for. He did more

than what my expectation was. Which makes me think of

what we read in the Book of Ephesians. To him

who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that

we ask or think, according to the power at work

in us, to him be glory in the Church by

Christ Jesus, to all generations. God can exceed our prayers

and hopes and desires and dreams because he is greater

than our fear. He's greater than our insecurity. He's greater

than our weakness. Our God has the power to open

prison doors, to shut the mouths of lions. Our God

has the power to move mountains and raise the dead.

Your situation, your obstacle, your challenge, is no match for

our God. He can do exceedingly more than we hope

or imagine. So where do you need faith today? I

wonder if someone needs faith to come clean about a

sin issue that you've been hiding, or it takes faith

to go to recovery and overcome an addiction. It takes

faith to fight for a marriage. Where do you need faith?

It takes faith to start tithing. I mean it takes

faith to follow God, to obey God where he's leading us.

Where do you need faith? And I believe the people

of church are the crossing. Are people who respond in faith,

who move where God is going. I'll tell you just

this week, I've heard stories of people in our church.

One person told me that they felt God prompted them

that they needed to fill twenty three grocery bags with

groceries for the market this week. Another person told me

that God prompted them to raise their hand and volunteer

in the two year old's class on Sunday. Now that

takes big faith, because my son's in that room. Where

do you need faith? Where is God leading you to move?

I wonder do you feel like you can't do it?

Do you feel like you're ill prepared, unequipped, unqualified? Do

you feel weak? Good? Because that's where God meets you.

I love what Hebrews eleven says in verse thirty two.

There's kind of a summary of the whole theme of

the chapter. Look at verse thirty two. It says, what

more shall I say? I do not have time to

tell about Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jephtha, about David and Samuel

and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administer justice,

gained what was promised, Who shut the mouths of lion,

quench the fury of the flames, and escape the edge

of the sword. And look at this last line, who,

through faith, whose weakness was turned into strength. Our God

is in the business of turning weakness into strength. Our

God is the god of turning doubt into confidence. Our

God transforms insecurity into boldness. If you feel weak, if

you feel inadequate, good because you're in good company. God

turns weakness into strength. Faith depends on God's power, not

your will power. Sometimes we can just try so hard

on our own strength and our own willpower, own ingenuity.

Oh I've done something like this before. Oh I've got

this experience. I could. Sometimes we're hitting a brick wall

because we put our trust in our own ability, our

own power. Faith is trusting in God's power. I'll tell

you about someone I know who many years ago, is

facing a very legal battle. This legal battle, if it

did not go this person's way, they would likely lose

their family and never see their child again. It's very serious.

So this person did all the things, paid all the money,

got the attorney, got the documents, got the paper where

it got, all the things, advocating and working and you know,

doing the system. But nothing was moving for them, and

the window was closing. And so then this person made

a decision to take their hands off and to hit

their knees in prayer, and they fasted for eight days,

no food, just praying and fasting, and on that eighth day,

things moved, Things opened up, They were reconciled to their family,

and they were able to raise their child from that

day forward, like that's the power of God. When sometimes

we let go in our own power and we trust

in His power, then we can move in greater power.

I want to back up in this story of youth ministry,

long before I was in that school assembly, long before

I ever met with the superintendent, years before I even

knew who the superintendent was, Long before all that I knew,

years and years before I knew that God wanted our

ministry and our church to partner with the school in

some way, to serve and to help. And so I

tried everything I could in my own power, in my

own strength. I remember emailing the principal asking for a meeting,

but no reply. I visited the school office to introduce

myself and asked about an appointment, but no follow up.

I even showed up one morning with coffee and donus

just to give to the teachers and staff to bless them,

to try and just make a connection of some kind.

But nothing came of my own power until God started moving.

One spring, there was a crisis in the school, very

serious crisis. The community was divided facebook. You could see it,

all parents angry at the school board, pointing fingers administration.

There was one very contentious school board meeting that went

viral and was picked up on local news like it

was ugly and during the season of conflict and crisis,

I felt the Lord prompted me to reach out directly

to the superintendent. Had never met them, didn't even know

their name. But somehow I'm trying to remember if this

is how it went, but I think I found the

superintendent's name and did like a piece together of their

initials and the school url website to try and get

an email, and just sent an emails said Hey, I'm

a youth pastor here in the area. I work with

a lot of our kids. There's anything I can do

to help. Be happy to help. That same day, superintendent

called me and we spoke on the phone and she

shared the struggles, she shared the challenge, she shared the

difficulty of what was going on with this crisis. And

then I felt God speak to me. I felt the

Lord say, Andrew, this person needs a pastor. Will you

pastor them? That was the assignment. The assignment was not

go speak in front of a big school assembly, go

start a program, a ministry. The assignment was right there,

right there, in that moment, love this person, pastor, this person.

Sometimes the most important person is the person right in

front of you. That's your assignment. And so from there

we met together, we prayed together and built this friendship,

and through that friendship, God brought about open doors and

opportunities and grew his kingdom. Because it's a work of God.

God is moving. I just wanted to keep up with

where he was going. Faith is more confident in God's

capability than your own ability. God is capable of far

more than you are able to accomplish on your own.

He has far more resources, and you have access to him.

Jesus once said, what is impossible with man is possible

with God. Our God moves mountains. Our God changes hearts

and transforms situation. Does your situation seem impossible? Does your

assignment seem too big or too challenging? Nothing is too

big or too difficult for our God. This week, as

I was preparing this message, I was had my Bible

open to Hebrews Chapter eleven, and I was just looking

at verse one, and one phrase in verse one spoke

to me. It caught my attention and I just kept

looking at it and reading it. Where it says faith

is confidence in what we hope for. And I kept

looking at this what we hope for? What we hope for?

And they're at my desk with these words in front

of me. I just prayed and I said, Father, what

do you hope for Church at the Cross? What do

you hope to do among the people of Church at

the Cross. Can I tell you what came to my mind?

I think, I think this is so funny. The first

thing that came to my mind was this thought, what

if so many people are coming to Christ through our

church that we have to keep the water in the

baptistry full at all times, like we just never empty it.

I mean for sanitation, we you know, drain it and cycled.

But you know what I mean, every Sunday it's full,

it's ready. We're just baptizing people. What if our church

is so full of disciples and making disciples that there

may be a day that we run out of small

group leaders because people are being discipled in small groups.

I can see many different languages being spoken in our ministries.

I can see diverse ethnicities across all of our services.

I can imagine a generation of young people of teenagers

rising up to reach their peers with the gospel. I

could see us commissioning and deploying missionaries and church planters

to every college campus in our region, from from from

from IU to Purdue to Butler to bring the gospel.

I could see our church meeting every need in our community,

whether it's helping single moms with with with auto repair,

having a garage where we can do that here on

our property, to helping with business and employment training, to

helping meet the food gaps. I mean, we've got this

property out by the highway. What if that was this

huge community garden where we were helping bridge the gap

with the food needs. I can see our church expanding

our children's ministry to have a thriving program for families

with children who have special needs learning needs in an

environment where we are helping those students encounter Jesus in

a way that's relevant to them and their parents feel

safe so they can attend church and also worship God.

Like I could see us stepping up to solve the

foster care crisis here in Indianapolis. I imagine that God

would do miracles, that God would provide, that there'll be

signs and wonders, that diseases and illnesses would be cured.

I could see God doing a move. I mean, does

any of that sound impossible? Does this sound crazy? I

serve a God who specializes in doing the impossible through

people who are crazy enough to move where He is going.

And speaking of people crazy enough to move where God

is going, recently, I was reading this old book, old

book written in the nineteen fifties, and it was a

history of church history in the US after the Civil War.

As I was reading this church history book, I came

across this one little paragraph that talks about a group

of people who had faith to go where God was going.

And I'd like to just read you the short little

paragraph this old book said, about nineteen oh four, there

were probably a dozen believers meeting in the homes of

the Church of God people in Indianapolis. After a few months,

they were able to secure a small room at nine

oh eight West Washington Street. Then a little later they

moved to one twenty four West Washington. Shortly after that

they were able to secure a larger room, and after

a few months they again moved upstairs over a dry

goods store. In nineteen oh seven, brother and sister Fred

Peterson donated a lot at twelve forty Roach Street and

the first church building was built with quite a lot

of donated labor. This is the history of Church at

the Crossing, just a few handful of believers more than

one hundred and twenty years ago, who had the faith

to move where God was going to go, where He

was leading them. I mean, they were meeting in the

attic of a grocery store, but their faith was motivating them.

It makes me think about what Hebrews twelve says, Therefore,

since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

these are our witnesses one hundred and twenty years ago,

these believers, these are our witnesses who had the faith

to move, who had the faith to go, who had

the faith to follow and do what God was calling

them to. They had the faith to donate that labor

for the building. Brother and sister Peterson had the faith

to donate the land, like they were moving where God

was going. This is our legacy, This is we're surrounded

by such a great cloud of witnesses. Let us throw

off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily

in tangers, and let us run with perseverance the race

marked for us. That's our assignment. Fixing our eyes on Jesus,

the pioneer and perfector of our faith. Those believers over

one hundred years ago had the faith to go where

God was going. That's our heritage, that's our legacy. I mean,

do you think that they could have imagined when they

were meeting in that that attic room that what they

started would grow to do what God is doing today,

reaching our community, serving our community, launching a preschool to

disciple generations of young children in our in our area,

bring the gospel to our community and around the world.

Could they have imagined it. I don't know if they

imagined it, But they had the faith to go where

God was going. And now it's our turn. And now

it's our turn to follow in their footsteps, to take

a cueue from their lead, to follow their example, to

roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty, and to

do what it takes to get what God's calling us

to get done. The journey of faith always starts with

the first step, and then the next step, and then

the next step. You may not see all the steps

or have all the answers, you may not see where

you're going, but we follow him one step at a time.

I want to invite us to respond to what we've

heard today. Would you buy a head and close your

eyes with me. I want to invite you to take

a moment to turn your heart and your attention to

the Lord. And would you ask him to show you

what is your next step? What is he calling you to?

What is he inviting you to take a moment turn

your heart to him? And then I'll close in prayer.

Father God, I'm reminded that as we're praying about following you,

that faith is a gift from you. It's not something

we can manufacture. It's something we work up in our

own strength. So God, I pray for an increase of faith,

that you would pour out more faith, that you would

grow our faith, multiply our faith, that we may have

the faith to go where you're going to follow as

you lead, help us to trust you a faith increase

in Jesus' name. Amen. Right now, we're gonna receive communion

also called the Lord's Supper, and our communion servers are

invited to come forward and prepare. Communion is a step

of faith. It is a practice of our faith. Because

our faith is not in the bread or the cracker.

Our faith is in the broken body of Jesus. Our

faith is not in the cup. Our faith is in

the shed blood of Jesus, by his sacrifice. By his

shed blood, we are forgiven. The Bible teaches us that

when we receive communion, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus.

We express our faith in that sacrifice. And so before

we receive, we're going to take a moment to search

our hearts. If you are a believer, to ask the

Lord is there any sin, Is there any conviction to confess?

And if you are not a believer, this is your

opportunity to respond in faith, to trust Jesus as your savior.

Would you go ahead and take this moment, And if

you want to put your faith in trust in Jesus

as your savior, simply tell God this prayer. Say, Dear God,

I admit that I'm a sinner and I need your forgiveness.

I believe Jesus died on the cross for me, and

three days later rose from the dead to save me.

I confess Jesus as Lord of my life. I receive

your Holy Spirit. If the Lord has brought any conviction

or any clarity or sin to mine to be confessed,

be encouraged today. The Bible says in first John one nine,

if we confess our sins, he faithful and just to

forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We don't make up for it. We don't pay it back,

we don't work it off. It is grace by the

blood of Jesus that we are forgiven that sin is

washed clean. Amen. So logistically, our ushers will release us

row by row, and you're invited to come forward and

receive from the nearest communion server. You're welcome to receive immediately.

You're also welcome to take the elements back to your

seat and receive when you're ready. The Lord's table is

now open.