Embracing an Authentic Walk with Jesus

Crossing family, I love you and I'm so excited that we get to

spend time together today. I want to welcome those of you

joining at all of our different locations, those of you watching

online, and those of you who are part of our inside family.

I'm going to ask everybody all across this region to do me a

small favor. There is AQR code in front of

you if in all of your seats at all of our locations.

And I would like you to take advantage of that today for a

couple of key reasons. One, we are getting close to

Christmas and I know some of you are like, we haven't even

celebrated Thanksgiving yet. I know.

But we've got so much planned around Christmas that I want you

to start being prepared now. And one of the things that we're

going to be doing is the 12 days of service, and we would love to

have you join us in being in the corner of our different

communities. And one of the things that we're

going to be doing this year that we haven't done in the past,

this is a new thing that we're going to be trying to

accomplish, is we're going to be having a special ministry moment

called Blue Christmas at all of our locations.

If you are someone or know someone who is going to be

navigating their first Christmas without a loved one, would you

raise your hand? Yeah, we would love to do

something about that. The Bible says that we are to

mourn with those who mourn and that God is the God of all

comfort. And as his people, we are to

take the comfort that we have received from God and use that

comfort to comfort others. And what we want to do is we

want to have a very special service for people who are

navigating the Christmas season without a loved one.

And there is a great way for you to partner with us in there.

The second thing I want to make you aware of on the QR code is

we are nearing the launch of our Weaver location in Southeast

Iowa. And part of the promotional

piece or the launch piece that we're going to be doing for that

area is making a video about life change.

And what we're asking you to do is if you use that QR code or

save it or text it to yourself, there's a way for you to take

about 5 minutes out of your life.

You don't even have to talk if you don't want to, but for you

to write on one piece of a cardboard or a piece of paper

what life was like before Jesus and then flip it over and write

what life has been like since you found Jesus.

And why does this matter is because we want the people in

Weaver who look just like you to see somebody who looks just like

you find a relationship with Jesus and go, hey, I want what

they have. I'm, I'm in where you're at.

There's a lot of people. There's about 35,000 people in

southeast Iowa that do not have an intimate personal

relationship with Jesus Christ. And their life before Jesus

looks an awful lot like your life looked like without Jesus.

Except they can't do what you can do, which is turn it over

and talk about what it is now. And we would love for you to use

your story to inspire other people to allow God to write

theirs. And I would love it if you would

participate in that. Today we are concluding our

series on counterfeit fruit, establishing an authentic walk

with Jesus. And when you come into an

intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible

tells us that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And when you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, he begins to

produce fruit in the life of a believer.

What are these fruit, you might ask?

What we've been talking about every single week.

Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 through 23.

Galatians 5:22–23

But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and

self-control. And as I wrote today's message,

there were three groups of people that I had in mind.

And if I didn't hit you, enjoy the QR code and, you know, keep

track of what's happening in the world during the sermon, OK?

The first group of people that I had in my mind is I wrote it for

those of you who you're a little bit skeptical, you're a little

nervous about giving your all to God.

You've got some questions that need answered.

I also wrote it for those of you who the idea of being a

Christian isn't appealing to you because you think that when you

decide to become a follower of Jesus Christ, you have to be a

doormat for the rest of your life.

And you've got a bit of an edge to you, a bit of a rebellious or

revolutionary spirit about you, and you're going, I make a

horrible doormat. I'm more of a puncher, OK, when

it comes to lover or fighter, I'm a fighter.

I don't really want to love anybody.

And the third group of people that I had in mind was for those

of you who you've been saying no to Jesus because you think that

to say yes to Jesus, and with all of the rules and trappings

of Christianity, we'll leave you with nothing left in this life

to even enjoy. That being said, let's get into

it. Holy Spirit empowered

faithfulness is not blind loyalty.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is faithfulness.

And a lot of us, we've equated faithfulness with blind loyalty.

And for far too long, and for far too many of us, our

questions have gone unanswered because we were afraid to ask

them. We were worried that if we were

to ask our questions about God and life and purpose and meaning

and origins and the afterlife and everything in between would

push us further away from God and further away from His

people. And so we even came to faith,

but it was a marginal faith. It was 1/2 hearted faith because

there were all these questions rattling around in our mind and

we were worried that if we were the one in class who raised our

hands, everybody would walk away from us.

We thought that everybody else had it figured out, and we were

the ones who just didn't. But we were worried that if we

asked the question, the people around us wouldn't like it or

that God wouldn't like it. Let me be clear.

The Christian life is a life of faith, but it is a reasoned

faith. It is a faith that can stand up

to scrutiny and hard questions and can be tested.

Christianity is not for people who are intellectually stunted

individuals. It is for people who have put

lots of things on the table. They've put no religion and

atheism. They've put secularism and

humanism. They've put different world

religions on the table. And they've looked at it and

they've evaluated it and they've realized that there is a reason

to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living

God, and that we can trust him with our life.

Our questions. Hear me, don't push us away from

God. You asking your questions will

draw you closer to him. And Satan gets you to not ask

those questions because he doesn't want you to get close.

There's a special group of people, can't believe I'm doing

this because I don't have time to respond to all the emails.

But look at this Acts chapter 17, verse 11.

Acts 17:11

Paul talks about a specific group of people.

Look at them now, the Berean Jews, these were the Jews from

the town of Berea, were more of more noble character than those

in Thessalonica. So there was something different

about the Bereans than the people in Thessalonica, for they

received the message with great eagerness and examined the

Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Here's what these Bereans did. They showed up for church.

They heard the sermon. So far you guys are doing pretty

good. And then they went home and they

went, is what I just heard true? Why does that matter?

Because if you leave here and you go, man, I don't know.

I don't know if what Clayton said or what Jerry said or what

somebody else said was true. You will not put that thing into

practice in your life. And when you don't put that

thing into practice in your life, you won't grow in your

relationship with Christ. What the Bereans did is they

went home and they go. I got to find out if what this

guy said is true and they searched the scriptures and they

asked the questions and their or their or their faith was

strengthened. When you read your Bible, what

you will find out is that the people in the Bible trusted God

because over and over and over again God proved himself to be

trustworthy, to be faithful. And it is because God is

trustworthy and faithful and reliable that the power of the

Holy Spirit that He produces in US the fruit of faithfulness.

And He makes you and I loyal. He makes you and I someone that

other people can depend on. Because you and I have a God

that can be depended on. And you and I are made in His

image and empowered by His Spirit, you and I can become

faithful, reliable people. There should be a bumper sticker

that goes on the car of every Christian.

Please don't do this. I'm just using this as an

illustration. Our reputation in all of our

communities should be that Jesus followers are the most trusted

people on planet earth. On our bumper sticker it should

say you can count on us. Our word is our bond.

People should be going anytime you do any kind of dealings,

relational dealings, business dealings, the most ethical,

dependable, show up on time, do the hard work, should be

Christians. The worst possible thing is a

person who calls himself to be a Christian lies on the resume,

has a really horrible work ethic and gets involved in all the

drama at work. You're just slaughtering the

reputation of Jesus. Wouldn't it be great if when

somebody says, yeah, I'm a Christian, they're like, we got

to hire all the Christians because they show up on time,

they work really hard, they get out of the drama, they go above

and beyond. You can trust them with

anything. Why?

Why? Why?

Because we serve a God who's been trustworthy and his Spirit

is empowering us. Furthermore, check this out.

Jesus promises that people who have been faithful with a little

bit will eventually be entrusted with more.

And then he says that we will be blessed for how we have handled

our faithfulness. So in other words, when you

become a faithful, reliable, dependable person for Jesus and

for others in this area, God says that He will entrust you

with more things. And then he says He will reward

you based on what you've done with the things that He has

given you. It puts you on a path for you to

be a greater blessing to the people around you.

Here is a tough question, a really tough question for all of

us to wrestle with. Can God trust you?

Can others trust you? There's No Fear of consequences.

How would the people in your life rate you on the

trustability meter? When was the last time you were

completely and wholly obedient to God?

Can he trust you now? Others of you, you struggle to

embrace a life completely surrendered to God and a life

completely empowered by the Holy Spirit because you think that to

be a Christian is to forever commit your life to being weak

and wimpy. You have no desire to be a

doormat for the rest of your lives and have people walk on

you in perpetuity and you're going, man, I love Jesus, I love

his mission. I think that's great.

I just don't want to be used and abused by everybody for the rest

of my life. If you were to put it maybe a

different way, just talk to the fellas.

You're kind of going, listen, I'm not giving up my car hearts

and my Ariats for banana Republican scarves.

That's just not me. And if that's you, I was trying

to think, you know, scarves. If that's you, I've got really

good news for you. The fruit of the spirit of

gentleness is not weakness. I'm going to talk for just just

to the men for a second, women, I'm going to talk to them.

Please don't take offense. A life that is characterized by

biblical gentleness is a far cry from a feminine, passive, timid

life that many have tried to turn it into.

Let's take a deeper look. First off, gentleness is a fruit

of the Spirit that requires the power of the Holy Spirit, which

means that gentleness is a supernatural, powerful thing in

the life of a believer. You do not need the Holy Spirit

to be timid and passive. In fact, Paul when he is writing

a letter to Timothy who is the leader of a church in Ephesus,

he has this to say to Timothy in second Timothy chapter one.

For the Spirit that God gave us, so this is from God, does not

make us timid, but gives us power, love, and

self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the

testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner.

Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel by the

power of God. Paul is reminding Timothy not to

be afraid or passive or a doormat, but to step into the

fray and if necessary, suffer for God and for His mission.

And this is where gentleness shows up.

Gentleness shows up in how we step into these moments.

Galatians chapter 6 verse one gives us some great insight into

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

this. Brothers and sisters, if someone

is caught in sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore

that person gently. Let me explain this.

Some of you don't point, just go on the journey with me.

Some of you, you are you're, you're John Wayne Christians.

You come into you, people are sending, people are acting a

fool. Kids are fighting.

You come in, you shoot everybody, and then you start

asking questions. All right, now who started it?

And it's just bodies on the floor, right?

Your kids are yelling at each other.

And what do you do? You step in and you scream even

louder. And what do you do?

The kids start screaming louder because you're screaming louder.

So you can be a John Wayne Christian.

You can be a John Wayne parent, you can be a John Wayne spouse,

or you can be like a Liam Neeson.

I have a very special set of skills.

You can you can fix this issue before I fix you.

The clock starts now. That's gentleness.

Gentleness is stepping into the same situation.

And the louder they yell, the softer you get, because a

yelling person can't hear you if they keep yelling.

And if you get softer, they have to stop yelling to hear what

you're saying. You are strength under control.

A Christian can be bold, can be courageous, can be honest, can

be strong and still be gentle. In fact, the way the ancients

described the world, gentleness was all about strength under

control. They would use it to talk about

when they would tame a wild horse or an elephant.

A big massive creature full of incredible strength that could

be LED around by a small rope. Strength under control.

And if you took a wild horse and you trained it so that way you

could control it. That same wild beast that has

the strength to pull a log out of the forest to take a chariot

into war, would stand in a pasture and let a little girl

lay in its shadow on a sunny day.

It's an attack dog that is on alert.

It's always watching, always looking, but the kids can

wrestle and play all over it. But at the Masters command it is

go time. We have a dumb dog at our house.

Golden Dummy and we don't have that dog.

We have a dog who barks at everybody like he's going to

kill everybody, right? So people, Amazon persons coming

up to our house, open the door. He just comes out, pet me,

please, pet me please. That is not gentleness.

That is moron. That's what we have and

Christian shouldn't be that. Imagine having a dog that's just

looking at you going, do you want me to?

How do you want me to get into this?

You want me to get I'm not doing anything till you tell me I'm

not doing anything till you release me.

Strength under control is gentleness.

And how many of you, when was the last time you released

strength because God told you to?

A lot of times we release our strength and then we ask God and

everybody else to forgive us. What the Spirit wants to produce

in you is something that is powerful and effective and

productive and good and kind. He wants to produce something in

you that is gentle, that turns people around, that changes the

trajectory that a person's life is going on.

Proverbs 15. One says a gentle answer turns

away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Strength under control is useful and purposeful, and it is not

harmful. So parents, if you feel like the

last time you kind of dealt with the situation in your house, it

was not as productive as you wanted it to be and it was more

harmful than you intended. You probably weren't living by

the spirit because you probably were not gentle because

gentleness, strength under control.

Speaking of control, the last fruit of the Spirit is

self-control. And many people today believe

that self-control equals no fun. And so they feel like a yes to

Jesus is also saying yes to a boring, unenjoyable life.

Now I want to be clear. Crossing family, pay attention.

Fun should not be an idol in our life that you pursue.

How many of you guys all the time.

Work is fun, yeah, but we do it anyway.

Because it's good. How many of you parenting is

always fun? No, but we parent because it's

good. There are good things in life

that are not always necessarily fun, but that does not keep us

from doing those good things. However, there is absolutely

nothing wrong with enjoying the gift of life that God has given

us or enjoying ourselves on the mission of Christ.

Look what it says in John chapter 10 verse 10.

John 10:10

You've heard me say this like 100 times here the thief that

Satan comes only to steal and kill and destroy I this is Jesus

talking have come that they may have life and have it to the

full. The idea that life with Jesus is

mundane, archaic, not enjoyable. Hear me is a lie from Satan

himself, and Satan is out to destroy you, and Jesus is out to

save you and to give you the life that you were created and

destined to experience. And if you are saying no to

Jesus because you think that somehow life with Him will not

be better, you are listening to the voice of Satan.

You see, in our flesh we see rules and restrictions and

regulations, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, we see

righteousness and protection. For instance, when we tell our

kids not to touch the stove, is it because we are horrible,

rotten, despicable, unloving parents who never want our kids

to enjoy the fullness of a hot stove?

No, we're going. Look, man, that's not nearly as

fun as you think it is. Look at your brother, Nubs.

Like he kept touching it. You look at them and you say,

listen, I know this sounds appealing.

This looks like a lot of fun. Just don't.

And it's not because you don't love them, it's because you do.

This isn't a rule to keep you from enjoying life.

This is a rule to keep you from hurting in this life.

This one's going to hurt a little bit.

The area where you see Jesus as restrictive is probably the area

where your biggest idol resides and where Satan has his deepest

stronghold. Let me give you 3 illustrations.

If you see Jesus's teaching on enemy love as restrictive, it

might be because you want to just be an angry person, or you

want to have other people looking at all the shortcomings

of others instead of you having to own your own shortcomings.

If you see Jesus's teaching on generosity as restrictive, it

might be because you wrestle with greed or a scarcity

mindset. If you see Jesus's teaching on

let's do another fun one, sexual purity, it might be because you

would rather use people for your sexual gratification.

Let me explain. Jesus lays out a pretty awesome

hot stove argument that a hot stove is really, really good for

making warm food that's good and tasty to eat.

However, if you use the stove to touch it and play cards on you

and everybody around you will get hurt.

And God, when he set up sex, said sex is good.

It's desirable, it's beneficial, and it should take place in the

context of a husband and a wife, in the confines of marriage, and

anytime you operate sexually outside of that, you cause pain

and hurt and sorrow. When you stack multiple

partners, you have to ask yourself, am I actually loving

these people or am I using them to get what I want?

And in marriage we are to serve one another, not take from one

another. So you're taking a good thing

that God gives you and you are using that good thing for

yourself for self worship, and you are purposely using another

person to fill the hole in your heart.

Or you're inside of a marriage and you decide to start having

sex with somebody outside of marriage and then all of a

sudden that relationship disintegrates because the broken

covenant is just too hard to repair.

Or you're having sex outside of marriage and you end up getting

pregnant. And then you have to ask

yourself, do we, are we going to keep the kid or not keep the

kid? And let's say you decide to keep

the kid and then you decide to keep the kid and you decide to

get married, but you're getting married now because, you know,

we got a kid and we want this kid to work out.

But maybe you decide you're not going to get married.

And then this kid now doesn't get to have a, a home with a

father and a mother. He gets to live in a home with a

dad sometimes and a mom sometimes.

And you can trace all of that back to you just didn't trust

that God's way was the best way. And then you and all the people

around you are, are navigating a sexual pain from something that

God intended to be an incredible blessing in your life.

Like think about it. If you were to just take God at

his word, I'm going to just talk to the junior high and high

school kids. If you were to wait until you

got married to have sex, check this out.

This would be your story. You wouldn't ever have to worry

about St. DS Check.

Pretty awesome like that one. You don't ever have to worry

about getting a phone call that says I'm pregnant.

You don't ever have to navigate the issue of abortion in your

dialogue. You don't ever have to worry

about whether or not the person you married was marrying you

just because you you had a kid like you are in the spot.

You never have to navigate issues of comparison and whether

or not somebody else thinks you're a better kisser than you

like you. All of these things are a gift

that God gives you. And think about how much time

and energy and money the world is trying to get you to operate

sexually outside of God's design.

Because as soon as you operate outside of that, they can

monetize it, they can devalue for it, they can hurt you, they

can put you in bondage. Hear me now I know, I know.

I know the clientele of the Crossing.

So let me say something. I'm assuming that the

illustrations that I just gave apply to almost 98% of you.

Hear me? None of that, none of that, none

of that was designed to make you feel less valuable, less

lovable, or that you are a failure.

I just wanted to show you that when you control yourself and

you allow God to lead you, it leads to greater blessings.

And I need you to hear me. There is not a single decision

that you have ever made that our God will not send His Son to die

on the cross. For there is not a single sin

that you have committed that He cannot redeem and repurpose.

But I want us to operate where we are experiencing the blessing

of God more than we are experiencing the redemption of

God. When I began the sermon series,

I was really, really nervous because there was a part of me

that was going, some of the people are going to go, you know

what, I'm really going to start being a spirit LED individual.

I'm going to start allowing the Holy Spirit to direct the

affairs of my life and I'm going to operate in his power and in

his spirit. But I was nervous that some

people would use this sermon series to create a permission

slip. Man Clayton said that, you know,

godly love has boundaries. So now I don't have to talk to

my mother-in-law anymore. I drew a boundary crossing

family. Our our world is in desperate

need. Not of a better version of you

and me, but a you and me that has been made completely new by

the power of God. It is in desperate need of a you

and me that is Spirit empowered, spirit directed, spirit

controlled, a you and me that is producing something that could

only come from God. You might be asking how does

this fruit come about in the life of believer?

It happens when you and I remain, abide in God's Word and

prayer and biblical community and walk it out in obedience.

I've been doing the same chunk of scripture every single week

because I want to drill it into our souls.

John 15. Look what it says verses one

through 5. This is Jesus talking.

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every

branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even

more fruitful. You are already clean because of

the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me as I also remain in

you. No branch can bear fruit by

itself. It must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

Apart from Me, you can do nothing.

Let me unpack this crossing family.

God expects fruit in the life of a believer, and if there is not

godly fruit being produced in your life, it means that you are

not connected. You have been cut off, but a

good branch bears fruit. And when he sees fruit, he

prunes you so that you will become even more fruitful.

So you should be sitting here going, you know what?

I don't want to be cut off, so I want to produce fruit.

But I started produce fruit started being produced in me,

and now he's cutting me up. But let me tell you why he's

cutting you up. He's cutting you up every time

you feel a conviction over sin. He's cutting you up every time

you feel a pressure or a prompting to do something that

takes you outside of your comfort zone.

And when you do that, that's where you grow because you do

not grow in your comfort zone. So you're going, Clayton, I got

to produce fruit because that's what you say Christians do.

So I want fruit coming out of my life.

How does that happen? It happens when we remain and

when we abide in Him, when we become wrinkly or pruney.

Just like when you take a long hot bath, over time your fingers

will in your toes will get all wrinkly.

You can't force the wrinkles. All you can do is remain and

abide, spending time with God in His Word, in prayer and in

community, and walking it out in obedience.

Why? Because the fruit that this

world desperately needs and the fruit that God is looking for

can only come from Him. Because we have nothing to offer

apart from Him. Husbands, do you know what you

have to offer your wife? Father's, do you know what you

have to offer your family apart from God?

Nothing. Wives, Mothers, do you know what

you have to offer your husband and your kids apart from God?

Nothing. Do you know what you have to

offer the people that you are at work with, who sit next to you

and bump into you? Nothing apart from God Bosses.

You have dreams, goals and ambitions of being a great place

where people are be able to work hard and enjoy time with their

family and provide for their needs and retire in dignity.

Do you know what you have to offer?

All the people you think about on a regular basis and the

pressure you feel? Do you know what you can offer

them apart from God? Nothing.

A couple years back, I, I was thinking about getting ready to

to preach to you guys and there's a lot of different ways

to think through preaching. And as I was thinking through

it, like the task felt very heavy to me.

And so I just started doing something every time before I

get up and preach and I just spend a little bit of time on

one knee. I kind of like do a little Tebow

during the opening worship set. And I just started praying this

prayer and it has been the most freeing prayer that I've prayed.

And I'm one of those guys where like if I kind of stumble across

a prayer, like I'm just going to run that prayer forever.

Like I pray the same prayer over my kids every single day.

If you asked me to do your wedding, you get the exact same

wedding I give everybody else. You want to know why?

Because I asked myself this question.

If I could tell anybody anything on their wedding day, this is

what it would be. And so before I preached one

day, I just kind of prayed a prayer.

And I was like, you know what, I'm going to pour concrete on

that one and I'm going to just run that one over and over

again. Because for all the areas where

I have tons of confidence and I can step into those moments when

you come to the realization that you have nothing to offer

anybody if it is not spirit directed and spirit empowered.

So here's the prayer. I pray, Heavenly Father, I am

nothing. My sermon is nothing.

This church service is nothing. This church is nothing.

My life is nothing unless you are in it.

So fill this place with your spirit.

Do what only you can do in ways that only you can do it.

Start a fire in this church that Satan can't put out.

And sometimes you'll get done with the sermon and you'll go,

that was a really good sermon. And both me and you are really

surprised. And sometimes somebody will come

up and they'll go, man, you were speaking just to me.

Do you know why that happens? It is not because I'm gifted.

It's not because I'm creative. It's not because of the late

nights or the early mornings. It's not because of the amount

of pages I read and the amount of words that I wrote.

Man, I love you. And the most freeing thing is

when I came to the realization I have nothing to offer you but

him and I would love to find out what would happen in this region

if we started praying that prayer and God kept answering

it. We're moving to a time of

decision. If you are in this room or you

are watching online right now and you have yet to start an

intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you have yet

to experience the abundant life that God has in store for you.

It's been an incredible year here at the Crossing, and I'll

get to tell you more about that in a couple of weeks.

But every single week, usually on the front end, sometimes on

the back end of the service, we get to watch the baptism video.

And I wish that there was just enough time for us to hear

absolutely every single story of every single person who gets

baptized at this church. Because if you were sitting here

today and you've never started that journey, you've never been

obedient in that area and you've never come into that intimate,

personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you have no idea how

meaningful that moment is when you finally allow your life to

be directed by Him, forgiven by Him, redeemed by Him.

I wish I could describe it to you, what it's like when you

feel the love of God and the joy of God and the peace of God and

the patience of God and the kindness of God and the goodness

of God and the faithfulness of God and the gentleness of God

wash over your life. And so today, if you're a

skeptic and you've got questions about a life with Jesus and you

haven't asked them, would you in faith, would you ask him?

Today, if you've been saying no to Jesus because you didn't want

to be a doormat, but today you start asking the questions about

what it means to actively engage, not passively, actively

engage in furthering the mission of God.

For those of you who've been saying everything about

Christianity through the lens of rules and regulation, instead of

God equipping you for the good things he has in store for you,

I would just tell you, don't put it off.

And in just a few moments, when the people around you stand and

sing and other people come to the steps and pray, I want to

encourage you to walk right over there underneath that screen

next to the baptistry, and start a conversation that can

completely change your life and more importantly, your eternity.

To the rest of you in the room, to those of you already have a

relationship with Jesus Christ, would you start praying the

prayer that I pray and see what God does?

Would you stand with me? Heavenly Father, we want to be a

part of something so impactful, so meaningful, so special, that

the only one who could possibly get the credit, the only one who

could possibly get the glory, is you.

All of our talents, all of our abilities, all of our strengths,

we surrender them to You. Because we just want you.

We just want you to move you, to lead you, to direct you to

empower. We just want to say yes.

Yes to your promptings, Yes to your urgings.

Heavenly Father, we're asking you to do what only you can do

in ways that only you can do it. Yeah, we're asking you to start

a fire in us that Satan can't put out.

In your name, I pray. Amen.