Sermon

Faith That Keeps Moving

Crossing Church with Clayton Hentzel

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  1. Several years ago my boys were young.

  2. The snow was falling and so we bundled up and went outside for

  3. a walk. I led the way and they took full

  4. advantage of the snow that I was packing down due to my weight.

  5. When it comes to packing snow, God purpose built me for such a

  6. task. I don't know how many of you

  7. have ever been in this spot, but last Sunday after church, I went

  8. to pick up some groceries for the family because it was cold.

  9. I was like, I'll just take care of it.

  10. And I accidentally bought a cake.

  11. Has anybody else ever accidentally bought a cake?

  12. That's what happened, kid. True story.

  13. I was like, there's not enough Donuts out there.

  14. And so I, like, I just was directed by the Holy Spirit to

  15. my left and there was a buttercream cake there.

  16. Yeah, you know. And then I was like, what do I

  17. do? Because I want it?

  18. And I was like, I can't just go home with a happy birthday cake.

  19. So I asked them if they would personalize it.

  20. So they did. And I personalized it.

  21. It said best family ever. So I took home, I took home a

  22. cake, said happy birthday, best family ever.

  23. And then then two of us ate it and one of us did a majority of

  24. the eating. Like I said, when it comes to

  25. packing snow, I'm purpose built for such a task.

  26. And as my boys and I were outside, every step that I took

  27. made it easier for my kids to take their step.

  28. If I stopped, they stopped. If I quit, it became harder for

  29. them to continue. They needed me not just to take

  30. a step, but to keep taking steps.

  31. I want to welcome all of our different locations.

  32. Those of you watching online and inside.

  33. I am so glad that you are here today.

  34. And I want to encourage you, if you're willing to, to lean all

  35. the way in because this series has been building to these

  36. precious moments that we're going to share today and I hope

  37. will set the tone for us all as a church and as individuals in

  38. 2026. The series has been called There

  39. has to be a place with the tagline, real stories of real

  40. people with real faith. And through the stories of Craig

  41. and Brandon and Lauren and Johnny, hopefully you saw this

  42. tagline lived out. Every single one of them in

  43. their own way, took a step of faith.

  44. And because they took their step of faith, others have been able

  45. to take a step. That is what it means to be a

  46. follower of Jesus. Followers of Jesus are in

  47. motion. They are following Jesus.

  48. Where do we get this idea from? Probably the best theologian

  49. ever, Jesus. Matthew chapter 4, verses 19

    Matthew 4:19–20

  50. through 20. Look what it says.

  51. This is Jesus talking. Come follow me.

  52. We are to be in the business of following him.

  53. And what are we going to do when we are following him?

  54. And I will send you out to fish for people.

  55. He's talking to fishermen, He's going.

  56. That is your occupation. But your preoccupation is to be

  57. finding people and helping them come into a right relationship

  58. with me. And what did these guys do?

  59. Well, at once they left their Nets and followed Him.

  60. Following Jesus is not just about taking a step or taking

  61. one step, but about continuing to take steps.

  62. Baptism is a very important step.

  63. It is a big step. It might be your first step, but

  64. it is definitely not your last one.

  65. Serving is a step, but it's not your last step.

  66. Your baptism is not your diploma.

  67. Serving is not your associate's degree.

  68. Giving is not your certification.

  69. Sharing your story is not a box that you check, but a life that

  70. you and I are invited to live. We are to use our stories, your

  71. story and my story to bear witness to the reality of the

  72. existence of God and the power of the cross of Jesus Christ and

  73. His empty grave. Jesus describes what his fathers

  74. would do. We unpacked a little bit of this

  75. last week. Acts chapter one, verse 8.

  76. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, and you

  77. will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and

  78. Samaria into the ends of the earth.

  79. The expectation of Jesus is that those who follow him would be

  80. about the things that matter to God.

  81. Well, what are the things that matter to God?

  82. We're told in Scripture that God sent his Son Jesus to die on the

  83. cross to save us from our sins. And the reason Jesus came.

  84. Look what it says, Luke chapter 19, verse 10.

    Luke 19:10

  85. We've unpacked this one before. The Son of Man, that's Jesus

  86. came to seek and save the lost. There is a special priority that

  87. God places on helping people who don't know him to be found in

  88. him. And to those who claim to be

  89. Jesus followers who stop taking steps, who stop doing the things

  90. that he calls them to do, they take a step and they think

  91. they're done. Jesus issues this warning.

  92. Luke 1427 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me

  93. cannot be my disciple. So how do you and I keep taking

  94. steps of faith? Super simple.

  95. You keep being obedient to the things that God reveals to you.

  96. That is why I spent a little bit of time at the very beginning of

  97. this series talking to you about having an anchoring time.

  98. An anchoring time allows you to grow spiritually.

  99. And if you want to grow spiritually, you don't just need

  100. a weekly routine, you need a daily discipline.

  101. So when we were on anchoring time, it keeps you.

  102. I call it anchoring because it keeps you from being blown away

  103. by the winds of culture and circumstance.

  104. An anchoring time allows you to build your life and your day on

  105. a firm foundation. An anchoring time creates space

  106. for you to grow in your relationship with Jesus.

  107. When you have an anchoring time, it makes room for you to hear

  108. His voice, see what your next step of obedience is, and

  109. invites you to join Him in His mission.

  110. And it sharpens you so that way you'll be useful for the things

  111. that he assigned you to do. And when we were talking about

  112. it, I said, you need a time. So you know, you got to pick,

  113. hey, when am I going to prioritize?

  114. It's not going to be the only time I connect with God today,

  115. but this is when I'm definitely going to connect with him.

  116. You need a place. Where are you going to do this?

  117. I got word that some of you, you cleared out a spot in your

  118. house. You made a place in a closet,

  119. you cleared off a desk, whatever you got to do, you just need a

  120. place. Listen, if you got no place,

  121. wherever you are for a little bit is your new place.

  122. If you're going, hey, the only place I got is in my truck

  123. before work. Great, you got your place.

  124. You just need a place where you're going to go.

  125. And hey, you know what, I'm going to make this time about me

  126. and my relationship with the Lord.

  127. And then you need a Bible. And hopefully you guys have

  128. grabbed a hold of those links. And I think those links are

  129. still available in the app if you want them.

  130. And then you need a plan. What am I going to do in this

  131. time at this place? Well, there is one more thing

  132. that you need to incorporate into your anchoring time, and it

  133. is a time of prayer. The Bible assumes that the

  134. followers of Jesus would pray to God and hear me.

  135. I want you to hear me, hear me, hear me, hear me.

  136. I know that there's a lot of baggage when it comes to prayer.

  137. There's a lot of things that are a little confusing and hard to

  138. understand and even hard to work through.

  139. I know that there's some of you who are going, hey, I mean, if

  140. God is omnipotent and he knows everything and he's all powerful

  141. and he can do all these things, why do I have to talk to him?

  142. If the Bible already says that He knows what I'm going to ask

  143. before I even ask him, Why do I do this?

  144. Well, I can just tell you, I get all of that.

  145. I also just know that Jesus prioritized prayer and he

  146. expects that his followers would communicate with him in prayer.

  147. Over 300 times prayer is mentioned in the Bible.

  148. There are 25 recorded prayers of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke,

  149. and John Paul. When he writes a majority of the

  150. New Testament over 40 different times he talks to people either

  151. mentioning prayer requests or offering up prayers.

  152. When he sends his letters to the churches, Edwin Harvey has this

  153. to say about prayer. A day without prayer is a day

  154. without blessing. But here's the part I really

  155. want to key in. A life without prayer is a life

  156. without power. And so some of you you might be

  157. wondering what a time of prayer could look like.

  158. And I know the Bible warns about hypocrites who stand on street

  159. corners or in front of a bunch of people in churches to be seen

  160. by others and instead tells us to go into a private room, into

  161. a secret place. And your father who sees what is

  162. done in secret will reward you. But this is about doing in

  163. public what you don't do in private.

  164. You see, corporate prayer and communal prayer are expected in

  165. the life of a believer. Furthermore, when Jesus and his

  166. disciples were together in Luke Chapter 11, when it says when

    Luke 11 chapter mention

  167. Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples raised his hand

  168. and said, Lord teach us to pray just as John, that's John the

  169. Baptist, taught his disciples. This informs us of at least two

  170. things. Teaching to pray in public is

  171. OK, and two, Jesus modeled it for them.

  172. How do we know this? Because if you have ever recited

  173. the Lord's Prayer, it's because they said teach us to pray.

  174. And what did Jesus do? He prayed in front of them.

  175. And so today what I want to do is I want to give hopefully what

  176. will be received as a gift. I want to show you just a slice

  177. of my morning prayer time. And I want to say this, the, the

  178. target that I have on the wall are those of you who are very

  179. new to faith and you're trying to live the life that God has

  180. called you to, the life that you want to live.

  181. And yet you're not really sure how to maybe put all the pieces

  182. together. And what I'm going to show you,

  183. hear me, is a way, not the way. But if you're going, I don't

  184. have any kind of clue and direction and your prayer time

  185. is mostly frustration. I'm wanting to kind of give you

  186. or guide you into a way for you to connect with God in prayer

  187. that will become meaningful over time.

  188. And so like I've told you guys, I have a desk.

  189. I have a desk at home and I have a desk and the church office,

  190. it's not this desk, but I have two desks.

  191. They're exactly the same. And I got my nerd Bibles over

  192. here like I told you about. And then I have a can't stop,

  193. won't stop mug because can't stop won't stop.

  194. And then I have a this is my journal from 2025.

  195. Some of you guys have heard me talk about this is just my

  196. prayer journal and don't zoom in too tight.

  197. But the most important thing in my OK Part 1 is getting a thing

  198. to write stuff down in. And I'll tell you why you want

  199. to write stuff down is because you start writing all the areas

  200. where you want God to move in your life and your prayer life

  201. will grow because you'll start going, I want him here and I

  202. want him here. I want him here.

  203. You'll start to go. There's not a place in my life I

  204. don't want him to be. And then this has been the

  205. single biggest faith builder in my life.

  206. I don't know how much these cost because I buy bougie ones, but

  207. it's a highlighter. And I'll tell you why it

  208. matters. It's because sometimes when

  209. you're praying, if you don't have a record of what's

  210. happened, you start to think that your prayers are bouncing

  211. off the ceiling. You start to feel like it's not

  212. working. And what a highlighter does is

  213. it shows you all the areas where God came through.

  214. And so when you get to a part of your prayer list that isn't

  215. highlighted, but it's surrounded by other prayers that are

  216. highlighted, it builds faith for you to keep praying in the areas

  217. where you haven't seen God come through yet.

  218. Does that make sense? OK, now, and some of you guys

  219. are going to ask and I'm not going to have time to respond to

  220. e-mail. So the team, if you go to the

  221. app, if you're going, hey, I want my own journal and I want

  222. my own highlighter and cup and all.

  223. You know, you can get all that stuff in the at the app down at

  224. the the merch link and you can get it.

  225. But listen, you can go to you can go to Dollar General and get

  226. whatever they sell there. I'm sure they have one.

  227. You can get a post it note you can write on a Kleenex if you

  228. got, you know, whatever you need.

  229. But here's here's what I do. I get in my so this is my 26th

  230. journal. And on the back I have sections.

  231. So I have a section for church. I have a section for staff.

  232. I have a section for healings. I have a section for let's just

  233. personal. I have a section for salvations.

  234. And then I have a general, which is where like, I don't know

  235. where to put these. And what I do is in the morning,

  236. I just, I go to my time, I go to my place and I pray over these

  237. things and I have a soundtrack and I'm going to, you're going

  238. to hear my soundtrack. We're not going to do the whole

  239. thing, but we're just going to do a slice.

  240. But let me give you some context so you guys don't get weirded

  241. out. One of the songs that you're

  242. going to hear is a song from I'm, I'm assuming Africa.

  243. And the reason why I started listening to music that I can

  244. understand that you won't be able to understand is the Bible

  245. says that we get to heaven. There will be people from every

  246. nation, tribe and language and tongue.

  247. And I'm going, I want to start getting used to what it's going

  248. to be like in heaven. And I don't know what they're

  249. saying, but I know who they're worshipping.

  250. And so that's part of it. And then there's going to be a

  251. second song. And I got to tell you this in

  252. advance. I know this sounds, it's like a

  253. weird setup, but I don't want you to freak out and think that

  254. like, the tech guys did something wrong.

  255. And now we're listening to Clayton's, you know, Romance

  256. playlist, OK. Because the second song is like

  257. the best R&B I've ever heard in my life.

  258. But it's called Spill House. And what they do is they do the

  259. Psalms, but they do it with like art.

  260. It is it just hits so hard. I fell in love with it.

  261. So you I don't want you going. Whoa, where's Jennifer at?

  262. OK, I just want you to know this is this is I'm giving you the a

  263. real slice. Now.

  264. I've, this is the most anxious I've ever been at our church.

  265. So let me kind of give some of you some permission slips for

  266. some of you in here, order something online like you don't

  267. have to go on the journey, OK? It might if it's too weird for

  268. you. That was not my goal.

  269. If you want to pray with me, you can pray with me.

  270. If you want to just watch, you can watch.

  271. But my target is there. Some of you who you've never had

  272. a spiritual father, you were not raised in a spiritual

  273. environment, you do not have a spiritual track record or

  274. legacy, but you want one. And I just want to show you how

  275. a simple thing can lead to massive impact and change in

  276. your life. So if you would, I would like to

  277. pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you so

  278. much for this church. I thank you for the people that

  279. you bring in here every single week.

  280. And God, I'm so thankful for the work that you're doing.

  281. God, I'm thankful for how you've been so good to me.

  282. It will take all of heaven for me to understand how many times

  283. you rescued me, looked out for me, made a way for me, and got

  284. so far this year. The thing that you keep

  285. impressing on me is how faithful you've been to me.

  286. I've given you every excuse you could ever want to give up on me

  287. and walk away from me. You've endured my sin.

  288. You've endured my doubt, my unbelief, my selfishness, my

  289. anger, and my pride. Thank you.

  290. Thank you for even making a way for me to have this time of

  291. prayer with you today. Can I ask that right now you

  292. would be with the churches in this region got specifically the

  293. pastors who aren't a part of the crossing?

  294. God, I don't know what they're feeling today.

  295. I don't know if they feel encouraged or discouraged.

  296. I don't know if they're hurt, if they're sad, if they're

  297. frustrated, if they're beat down.

  298. But God, I pray that today while they're preaching their sermon,

  299. that they would feel your presence, God, that somebody

  300. would come up and put their hand on their shoulder and give them

  301. the encouraging word that they need to hear to keep showing up

  302. and trusting you. God, impress upon their spirit

  303. that they are not responsible for the fruit, but they are just

  304. responsible to be faithful to the work that you've called them

  305. to do. God, I ask that you'd be with

  306. all the people in our church who have recently been baptized.

  307. God, it blows me away how many people keep saying yes to you.

  308. We got to help them to realize that their journey is not over,

  309. it's just starting. And God, when Satan comes after

  310. them, help them to realize that he has no power over them, that

  311. because of who they are in you, they can overcome.

  312. And for all the people in this region that are contemplating

  313. starting their relationship with you, God, I pray that you would

  314. watch over my words and my actions and the words and

  315. actions of the people who call the crossing home and help us to

  316. love them and encourage them as they get ready to take the step

  317. that's going to change everything.

  318. God, I pray to you at the Super Bowl weekend and all the people

  319. that are going to be walking in these doors.

  320. And God, there are some tough questions that we know we're

  321. going to get the answers to those when we get to heaven, but

  322. we want some answers right now. And so, God, I pray that you

  323. would be with all of the services and all the volunteers

  324. and all the invites and all the people who show up, and God,

  325. that you would bolster our faith and help us to chase after you

  326. more fully. God, I ask that you would be

  327. with all of our elders and the directional team and the campus

  328. pastors and the staff. God, my prayer for them is

  329. consistent. Watch over their marriages and

  330. watch over their parenting. And God, would you watch over

  331. their relationship with you? They're at their identity would

  332. be found solely in the fact that they are a child of God, not

  333. that they are on staff or married to somebody who's on

  334. staff. And God, that we would seek you

  335. personally, not just professionally.

  336. That we would crave your presence in every area of our

  337. life. Keep us united and focused on

  338. you and God, through the power of your Holy Spirit.

  339. Would you make us effective? God, that fruit would come from

  340. the things that we do for you and for your Kingdom.

  341. God, there's some people that are in my life and in my sphere

  342. that are just struggling right now with all kinds of health

  343. challenges. And I want to thank you for the

  344. fact that chapter got a clean bill of health on his tests.

  345. And God, I know that he would have been faithful to you even

  346. if it had come back negative. But God, thank you for that not

  347. being a burden that he or my faint or my family or his family

  348. had to carry. To God, there's other people

  349. that haven't got that news yet. So God, I want to lift up N&R

  350. and their daughter WK and M and their son O and their daughter

  351. P. Got to ask that you be with JJ.

  352. She's battling dementia and cancer.

  353. And got to ask that you be with SH.

  354. She's, she's in it right now. God, this one's probably been

  355. the heaviest. You know this, I just love how

  356. every time I'm around her you can't help but smile and laugh

  357. because everything she does is contagious and got.

  358. My biggest prayer is that her joy wouldn't leave her in the

  359. midst of the diagnosis or the treatment.

  360. God specifically, I'm asking that you would help her husband

  361. serve her and love her and care for her in ways he didn't even

  362. think possible. That it would only be through

  363. the power of your Holy Spirit. Make him attune to her needs

  364. before she even knows she needs them.

  365. And God, I ask that you would protect their daughters

  366. specifically, that they'd be able to see their mom walking

  367. with joy and trust. God, we know that you're either

  368. going to heal it in heaven, heal it immediately, or heal it

  369. through the practice of medicine and everything that the doctors

  370. have learned in the years of medical school and in practice.

  371. And God, I'm coming to you asking that you would heal her

  372. here on earth and that this would just be another person

  373. crying about how good and how faithful and how powerful you

  374. still are. God, I want to pray over my

  375. family. God, thank you for putting

  376. Jennifer in my life. Thank you for all the ways that

  377. you made her completely different from me.

  378. Thank you for saving her and bringing her into your home and

  379. your family. Can I ask you to be with Zayn

  380. and Maddox and Genera? Help them to grow up to love you

  381. with all their heart, mind, soul and strength and embrace the

  382. Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

  383. Help them to be leaders of others and followers of you and

  384. God. I pray that when they start

  385. looking for a spouse that they will find one who loves you

  386. first and foremost and they find somebody who will love them.

  387. Well. God, I want to pray right now

  388. for some people to find a relationship with you.

  389. God, Rs and KJM and AD and MF God, I want them to find what I

  390. found in you. So God, would you use my words

  391. in my life to make a difference in theirs?

  392. But God, would you not just surround them with my words and

  393. my voice and my testimony, but God, would you put people in

  394. their path every single day who care for them, who will pray for

  395. them, who will invite them, be an example to them.

  396. God, that the walls would start to come down, but they would get

  397. tired of the lies of the enemy. And they would start seeking for

  398. your truth and realize that there's something more out there

  399. that they've realized that that something is you.

  400. God, I thank you so much for what you did in SVT this year.

  401. Pray for her all our last year and this year she decided to get

  402. baptized. And God, I'm asking that you do

  403. the same thing in these names that one of these days they'd be

  404. a part of the baptism video. They'd be part a part of the

  405. testimony of this church and your faithfulness in your name.

  406. I pray, Amen. What happens when you start

  407. praying is your eyes and your ears start moving.

  408. You see things differently, you hear things differently and it

  409. is not hard. It is not scripted.

  410. It just requires the discipline to go.

  411. I want you, I want you. I want you in my parenting, I

  412. want you in my marriage. I want you in my workplace.

  413. I want you in my phone calls because you get to a point where

  414. you don't want more of you. You want more of him.

  415. And I knew all of those things for years, but it was until I

  416. started writing them down and I started highlighting that God

  417. started to bring about a significant shift in my life.

  418. This is not the way to pray, but it is a way for you to have a

  419. meaningful encounter with God. And what will happen is your

  420. time with Him will increase and your joy to spend that time with

  421. Him will increase. If you're thinking that

  422. tomorrow, this is not my testimony that I did this day

  423. one and I couldn't wait for day 2.

  424. I did it because he told me to do it and I wanted to be a

  425. follower of Jesus. But over time, things shift.

  426. I got a letter in December from a girl in our church named

  427. Riley. This is what she said.

  428. Words cannot even begin to describe how incredibly grateful

  429. I am. I'd like to share my story with

  430. you. On September 15th, 20231 of my

  431. grandmother's passed away from a heart attack.

  432. That day it felt like the world stopped spinning.

  433. A few weeks later, I lost my other grandmother.

  434. Unfortunately, due to the scheduling, I was only able to

  435. attend one of the services and that absolutely broke me.

  436. I tried to move on with my life. It was like trying to run a

  437. marathon with a leg that was shattered into thousands of

  438. pieces. It was painful and extremely

  439. difficult. I decided to ignore my feelings

  440. and shut everyone out of my life and spiralled into depression.

  441. There were multiple nights that I would lie in bed and think

  442. about how if I died in my sleep then I wouldn't care because at

  443. least I would be with them. That was the only sliver of

  444. faith that was left in me. I didn't believe that God

  445. existed because if he did, then he wouldn't have let my

  446. grandparents die. I have the mindset that if God

  447. were real that I wouldn't have been experiencing so much pain

  448. and suffering. We're going to answer both of

  449. those questions next week on Super Bowl weekend.

  450. This depression and mindset stayed with me for what felt

  451. like an eternity. That was until an old friend of

  452. mine asked me if I wanted to go to church.

  453. She took a step, I was scared to go back again but I was just as

  454. scared to say no. February 4th 2024 I woke up with

  455. an immense amount of anxiety. I had already told my old friend

  456. that I would go to church with her, but I was terrified.

  457. Anxiety was taking over my body, I felt like throwing up.

  458. I just wanted to stay home. However I was scared of bailing

  459. on her. So I got up and drove to church.

  460. Her friend step led to her taking her step.

  461. As I was listening to the sermon about anger.

  462. Everything was going in one ear and out the other.

  463. So if you've ever had that experience at our church, you're

  464. not alone. I decided to give church one

  465. last shot and that was it. The next sermon was the Super

  466. Bowl Sunday sermon about going pro in what matters the most

  467. that day. All the pieces aligned and

  468. everything clicked. Listen to this line.

  469. Jesus was the missing piece to my story.

  470. I started showing up to church every weekend and praying more

  471. often, but I was still convinced that I was too far gone.

  472. Week after week I felt like I was being called out and it was

  473. like God was sending emails to the church every week about my

  474. life. We've all been there.

  475. Slowly, my heart began to soften and I started to have a

  476. relationship with Jesus again. This time, my relationship

  477. wasn't filled with dread and resentment as it had been in the

  478. past. It filled me with a happiness

  479. that I had never experienced before.

  480. My favorite line? I got my smile back and I was

  481. filled with hope. I started to see church as a

  482. privilege instead of a chore. Every week at church, I sit in

  483. the same section and listen to the sermons.

  484. Sometimes I'm filled with hope and joy for what is to come.

  485. Other weeks I feel ashamed because I realized of how much

  486. I've screwed up. However, every time, without a

  487. doubt, I hear that we are not too far gone from God and that

  488. He still loves us. Every week I'm filled with the

  489. hope that Jesus will guide me through my darkest valleys and

  490. my highest mountains. No matter what my day looks

  491. like. He's right by my side and if it

  492. weren't for that, I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am

  493. today. I got baptized on March 2nd,

  494. 2025. That was her step and I have

  495. baptized 2 of my best friends. Their steps.

  496. If you were to ask me at the beginning of 2023 where I

  497. thought I'd be in 2026, I probably wouldn't have had any

  498. idea. But if you ask me now where I

  499. think I'll be in 2026, I can tell you with full confidence

  500. that I'll be at church on Sunday, Collective on Tuesday,

  501. DBS on Wednesday, and Kids ministry on Thursday.

  502. No matter how chaotic life gets, I still try my absolute best to

  503. make it to each of those commitments, along with reading

  504. my Bible and praying daily. Again, From the bottom of my

  505. heart, I'd like to say thank you.

  506. Words cannot truly begin to express how ungrateful, how

  507. incredibly grateful I am for everything that this church has

  508. done and for everyone in it. Crossing family.

  509. Hear me. I want to see this happen again

  510. and again and again and again and again.

  511. Hear me, we are not trying to grow a large church, we are just

  512. trying to make sure that there is room for the next person to

  513. find what we have found in an intimate personal relationship

  514. with Jesus Christ. We have an audacious, God sized

  515. goal to make this region the hardest place on planet earth to

  516. get to hell from. And I need you to know.

  517. I know that sounds crazy and idealistic and completely

  518. unrealistic, but I don't care. I want to see it happen.

  519. It's my unreachable star, and I hope it will become yours as

  520. well. It reminds me of the story of

  521. Don Quixote, published in two parts in 16 O 5 and 1615.

  522. Considered the first modern novel, it was Harry Potter

  523. before Harry Potter was Harry Potter.

  524. It follows Alonso, an aging Spanish gentleman who becomes so

  525. absorbed in tales of chivalry that he reinvents himself as Don

  526. Quixote de la Mancha, a wandering knight determined to

  527. revive knighthood, defend the helpless, and uphold honor.

  528. Eventually, the story was transformed into a musical

  529. masterpiece called Man of La Mancha.

  530. It opened on Broadway in 1965 and became an immediate success,

  531. running for 2328 consecutive performances.

  532. At its emotional core is the song The Impossible Dream.

  533. How good is this song? Very good.

  534. So good, in fact, that hundreds of artists have covered it

  535. spanning decades. Sinatra sang it.

  536. So did Elvis. So did Andy Williams.

  537. So did Luther Vandross. Neil Diamond, Jennifer Hudson.

  538. I could list 100 more. The lyrics To dream the

  539. impossible dream. To fight the unbeatable foe.

  540. To bear with unbearable sorrow. To run where the brave dare not

  541. go. To right the unrightable wrong.

  542. To love pure and chaste from afar.

  543. To try when your arms are too weary.

  544. To reach the unreachable star. This is my quest.

  545. To follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.

  546. To fight for the right without question or pause.

  547. To be willing to March into hell for a heavenly cause.

  548. And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest, that my

  549. heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to rest.

  550. And this world will be better for this.

  551. That one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove

  552. with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable Star

  553. Crossing family. I have good news.

  554. We don't have an unbeatable foe and our fight is not hopeless

  555. because we have been empowered by the same spirit that raised

  556. Christ from the dead. I wrote this sermon series like

  557. I do all sermon series with a soundtrack.

  558. We sang the song last week. We're going to sing it again in

  559. a few moments. I got deep into black gospel

  560. music and the song that played was the two songs that you heard

  561. during my prayer life, and it's the song called Believe for It.

  562. Our region right now is saying that this mountain can't be

  563. moved. Our region believes that these

  564. chains will never break. But they don't know you like we

  565. do. There's power in your name.

  566. Our region has heard that there's no way through.

  567. Our region has heard that the tide will never change.

  568. But they haven't seen what you can do.

  569. There's so much power in your name, so much power in your

  570. name. Verse 3 We know that hope is

  571. never lost, for there is still an empty grave.

  572. We believe no matter what, there is power in your name.

  573. So much power in your name, the bridge.

  574. You are the way when there seems to be no way, we trust in you.

  575. You have the final say. You are the way when there seems

  576. to be no way, we trust in you. You have the final say.

  577. And then the chorus is nothing but a beautiful prayer of people

  578. begging God to move the immovable, to break the

  579. unbreakable God. We believe.

  580. We believe for it from the impossible.

  581. I don't know where you're sitting today, and I don't know

  582. what you're sitting in, but I know that there's some of you

  583. right now. You are in the impossible.

  584. Marriage isn't where you thought it would be.

  585. Life isn't where you thought it would be.

  586. Family's not what it's supposed to be.

  587. Your faith isn't where you hoped it would be.

  588. The diagnosis isn't what you thought it would be.

  589. From the impossible, we'll see a miracle.

  590. We believe for it. We believe for it.

  591. This year I am believing and praying for a move of God in

  592. your life, in the life of your family, and in the lives of the

  593. lost of this region. Will you join me?

  594. We're moving to a time of decision.

  595. To those of you who don't know Jesus, there is no better time

  596. than today than to get your life right with Jesus and hear me in

  597. a way that only God can work. The step you take today could

  598. not just change your life, but the life of your loved ones.

  599. Over and over again our waters have testified when we hear

  600. someone start to share their story saying I got baptized and

  601. I found Jesus just a few months ago and now I'm here with my mom

  602. and my dad and my aunt and my uncle.

  603. You have no idea what God can do through you and in you once you

  604. belong to Him, and the start of your spiritual journey will help

  605. somebody else start theirs. And so in just a few moments,

  606. when the people around you stand and pray and people begin to

  607. sing, encourage, would you walk right over there and say today's

  608. the day? This is the time.

  609. To the rest of you in this room and to those of you watching the

  610. line who already have a relationship with Jesus Christ,

  611. I'm going to make this super simple.

  612. What step do you need to take? Because somebody else's step

  613. gets easier after you take yours.

  614. And would you join me and asking God to give you a can't stop,

  615. won't stop attitude of pursuing him and the lost in our region

  616. this year. Would you stand with me?

  617. Heavenly Father, we're asking you to do it.

  618. We're coming to you asking you to make it so that you would

  619. write our hearts in your direction, that you would allow

  620. everything that is not of you or for you to fall off of us so

  621. that way we can just chase after you got in a supernatural way.

  622. We're asking that you would give us eyes to see the things that

  623. you're calling us to do and give us the courage to be obedient to

  624. it and God, that through our obedience, other people could

  625. come to faith. In your name I pray.

  626. Amen.