Love The Lou Weekend

Welcome Crossing family. I am so excited that you've

decided to join us for this incredible weekend.

I want to welcome those of you at all of our locations.

Those of you who are part of the crossing inside, and those of

you who are joining us online for probably some beach or some

fantastic time delay. God bless you.

We wish we were you next week. We are starting something great

here at the crossing at all of our different locations that

will take us all the way through the summer.

And we believe here at the Crossing that this could be one

of the Best seasons of spiritual growth in your life and I'm

hoping that you will join us. You're going to get more

information about that at the end of the service but I really

am hoping that you will join Jennifer and I on this journey.

But today I am excited to welcome, one of our Premier

Mission Partners to the crossing Lucas R ugly started.

Love the loo a Ministry that specializes in doing physical

and spiritual work in neighborhoods to bring about Out

healing his brother. Actually, attends our Keokuk

location with his family and they are dear friends, too many

who call The Crossing home. In fact, many of you have gone

on mission trips to partner with them in St.

Louis as a part of the great work that they're doing and I am

hoping that many more of you will choose to do the same.

One of the many things that I love about Lucas is that he is

not doing Ministry in the Inner City from a house in the

suburbs. Instead he moved Get him himself

and his wonderful wife and they are raising their four kids

right on. And right Street.

He has brought with him a dear friend and partner in Ministry

from love, the loo to share with us today.

So here's what I need after this video that you're going to see

it's a short video. I would love for you to give one

of the warmest. Crossing, Welcome to our

partners and dear friends in Ministry.

At one point, I felt like we had a shooting death every weekend.

Yeah. And it was so fresh.

It was the fear was just like, I mean, you could just feel it.

well, I don't like hearing the sirens and I you know some of

the best come up with a you know when the sirens when the

ambulance comes If I hear gunshots, I can say, oh, that's

two blocks away, half the time now, I don't even go inside

because I'm like, that's a block away.

We'll be fine. You don't get your faith.

Like to me. Get yellow tape for a murderer,

some bait, but shooting with that.

It really saw somebody die. Doesn't that mean teletype mean?

Somebody's death? Yeah.

So my family has lived in North st.

Louis all the and write for 11 years now.

And I've always wanted to make a difference in God's kingdom and

so moving into the neighborhood. I felt like was just a real

tangible way to do that, but I was really surprised when the

script got flipped and I was the one who was learning all the

lessons. I guess I was just surprised at

the amount of work, he was going to do in my life.

So this is a story of a White Guy, moving into a black

neighborhood hoping to do good. But then finding out that I'm

the one who needs got, this is heavy stuff, but even in the

heaviness There's Hope. and so, today we want to share with you

not a story of loss but that story of redemption

So, what happens is, you'll hear a siren off in the distance and

you won't necessarily pay attention to it.

And then you'll hear a second one.

And it's usually coming from the opposite direction and the third

one. And then by the time you hear

the ambulance wine and the low Rumble of a fire truck, you

begin to realize that all of these Sirens are converging onto

one spot where you are and they get louder and they get louder,

and they get louder and then the sirens stop.

And when the sirens stop, you know, that distress is on the

doorstep. When the siren stop.

You know, you shouldn't watch the news that night because

you're not going to just know the story.

You're going to know the names attached to the story.

There Are Places. In America, where the sirens are

stopping every night and it's the scene of trauma where trauma

becomes just the normal reality that we live through.

Places of suffering places of grief.

My daughter told me that, as she's falling asleep, she's

learned how to time the sirens once every 10 minutes, there's a

siren going off in North st. Louis on, in Wright Avenue,

which means that, as kids are falling asleep, On in, right?

They're not counting sheep. Accounting sirens.

And guys, I could stand up here Keyshia and I could stand up

here. And we could tell you story

after Story of grit. We could tell you of the trouble

that we've seen, but that is not the story.

Actually got good news. You guys ready for it?

Okay, here's some good news. Jesus is putting North City back

together again and he's not going to stop until he's

finished. He's not quittin, he's not.

He's just getting started. And in some of the hardest

places, some of the hardest environments is where, where God

likes to do his best work and so if you've walked in these doors

and you're suffering and you're struggling and you're depressed

and you're down and out, and you're broken and you don't even

know why you're here is a really great Sunday.

Because we can relate, we know what that's like.

I've got one scripture to share with you guys this morning.

This is in Philippians 3:10. It's actually just one verse and

Philippians 3:10

Paul writes this as he is in Chains and so if you would, I

just want you to picture Paul in prison in chains for just a

second. And he writes this.

He says, I want to know Christ. Yes, to know the power of his

resurrection and participate with him in his sufferings,

becoming like him in death. Paul isn't writing from

Starbucks, he's not journaling, he's not doing his personal

devotees, I'm with the, with a Bible study, he's in Chains and

he says, I want to know Jesus the power of his resurrection to

participate with him in suffering.

Becoming like him in death. And so, Paul equates suffering

with Jesus, To knowledge to a mental assent.

And he kind of likes it. He's looking forward to those

times where we're all of his flesh can be stripped away, and

he can know what it's like to be with Jesus, to suffer, like

Jesus, to suffer with Jesus. Like I said, there are places in

the United States. Like North st.

Louis. Our people have suffered.

It's become a reality. And the thing that I've learned

in 12 years of ministry, is that God has not left the city.

He's actually forging and forming through this refining,

fire. Some of the best faith that

you're ever going to see. And for those of you who are on

the mission field where you're at and you're in, you're serving

and you're you're with the poor, you know that it's not it's not

a Poverty of the wallet. It's a, it's a Poverty of the

mind that Jesus can can take and transform in a heartbeat, and

he's doing it. And so, because that is the case

I get too. And it is my honor to hand.

This microphone over to a dear friend, a neighbor a CO minister

in the gospel Keisha Williams. Good morning.

I always after have to come after Lucas, I like what am I

supposed to say? Oh my God, so I have had the

unique ability to live in the city of St.

Louis my entire life, right? Except for two years, why

ventured off? And I thought I was an adult and

I went out and lived in Pacific and Eureka and I have to tell

you it was nice. It was quiet like it is around

Quincy and I was like, this is nice.

This is nice. But unfortunately because As I

have been in the city, all of my life it was too quiet.

I'm used to you know the sirens I'm used to the No, that was,

that was, that was until my street so it became too quiet

for me. And I love the neighborhood, you

know, I had the ability to forget my keys in the door, and

the car was still there in the morning, and we were still there

in the morning. So that, you know, all of those

things were nice when I lived out in Pacific in Eureka.

But what I missed the most about living in the city, when I moved

out. Of it was the sense of

community. Like there is a sense of

community in the city of st. Louis.

And I'm sure you guys probably have it here, but in the city of

st. Louis, we watch out for each

other. We are concerned about each

other. Sometimes, you can even say that

we're nosy about each other, right?

I'm reminded of a story of a woman that I've come to find to

know And she reminds me of all of the reasons, why the city of

st. Louis is like Ground Zero for me

because first of all, there's a lot of gyms there, there's a lot

of Legacy there, there's a lot of generational work wealth

there, on top of death Calamity. You know all of that is true but

I promise you it's true. We do have a lot of that, but we

also have hidden gems. We also have life.

We also Have wealth inside the city of st.

Louis that the news is not talking about.

So it takes us as individuals of the Gospel to come and bring

forth what God is doing. So, the young lady that I was

speaking about, she was a product of her environment, her

mother died at the age of nine of disease.

Her father was an abusive alcoholic her older siblings

because she was the youngest of five were already, you know,

doing life. They were out in the streets.

They were Adapting to their environments.

So it left her being taught by the streets.

It left her being taught and Trauma it left her being

self-raising self-taught, which is not always a good thing

without the rearing of an adult's, right?

So she went on to high school and before she graduated, she

had three children. Her teachers and the peers kind

of told her. Hey, you know what you've done?

All you were going to do might as well drop out.

You know, just just be a baby mama.

That's what You're going to do, you're really good at it, you

know, do that. She had already became a

statistics by everybody's concept, right?

But then, she had a community of people around her, the community

made sure that they were empowering her with love.

They were empowering her, letting her know that you can do

anything, you set your mind to, not only do they Empower up

Empower her with their words, they put their words into

action, they watched her kid. They made sure that she had

enough to eat. They made sure that her children

were clothes, they made sure that she was on her way to

school. She had time to do her homework

so that she can Excel. So she does not have to be what

they called her. Tom passes on, she graduates.

High school with honors. All three of her children in

attendance. Comes up out of that at the age

of 25. She moved back into the same

neighborhood, one of the roughest in St.

Louis buys a house. Becomes a pillar in the

community. She drives out the drug dealers.

This is my house. This is where I live.

You guys can't do this here. She starts a neighborhood of

watch, not only for her, three children, but for the children

in the community at Large, when they were hungry, she made sure

that her doors were open when they needed somewhere to stay.

She made sure that they had a place and it became a safe haven

for the community. She walked up and down the

streets, cleaning up, the alleys cleaning up the streets.

Making sure that her community was beautiful, regardless of

what they heard about it. On the news.

Regardless of we seen someone dying on the street next door to

her, she made sure that she was taking care.

Care of her community. Not only did she engage and be

impactful on contact. She engaged the neighbors to

also do the same things. Those are the hidden gems that

are within the city of st. Louis that the news is not

talking about. Those are the people that we

stand on their shoulders saying that yes we can.

God is still working. God is still doing the thing and

he's going to do it through us. Thank you.

So, I'm from Jackson Missouri, which means that my neighbors

were cows and we didn't have streets.

Where I grew up. We had roads and you were lucky.

If yours was paved moved, my family, like it's been

mentioned. Move my family on to end right

Avenue about 12 years ago and God's just done this work in my

life and it's frustrating. Because I moved to help all

these people. And God says, you're the one

that needs help. And he keeps showing me all

these ways that I need to grow. I want to share with you just

some, some of those ways that God is has grown me.

When we moved on to Enright Avenue, I saw, I saw poverty, up

close and personal, we met kids like day one who didn't have

beds, who would roll up a sweatshirt sleep in the kitchen.

There was a partment across the street from my house where we're

neighbors would pack in, you know, 12 or so.

Into a one-bedroom apartment, I would meet kids that would steal

from the grocery store, not because they were devious and

destructive but because they didn't know what they were going

to eat that night. And and so my view pretty

quickly was man. I need to help these poor kids.

I need to help these poor kids and it and I inadvertently I

went from looking at them as like, Hey, we're all in this

together to us helping them me coming in to them.

And this was the same time that the term white savior,

industrial complex was being coined.

It was the Same year that the book when helping hurts came

out. And I was doing that,

inadvertently, not not intentionally, I love Jesus.

I want to go where the need is, but I at different points failed

to recognize that I had the same need In 2014, there was a kid

that was shot on our block. And it set off a gang war where

the neighborhood kids 15 16 year old children not thugs. but

these kids didn't know what to do with their grief and so they

formed this group that would Kind of mourn together every

evening and I would go over and I would hang out with them and I

take bottled water and and pray and ask him to come over to my

house and charge their cell phones and and so I got pretty

tight with these guys. And after a few months they

still didn't know what to do with the the inside pain.

And so one of them went and got revenge on somebody up the

street and then I was back and forth for two years of drive-by

shootings. Until every single one of those,

those kids was either dead or in jail.

We lost an entire generation to gang violence.

Just like that. And if you would ask me at that

time, like like, how are you doing?

What's going on? I don't know that I had any good

news. There's a felt like everything

was death around us and all of the neighbors, were were scared.

We were holding on for dear life.

It felt like the prayers were hitting the ceiling, and I don't

know if you've ever had those times in your life or in your

ministry but he just felt like God, where are you?

It was a weekend where we took the younger brothers and sisters

of those gang members and we started taking vacant lots and

turning them into Gardens and and I remember back then saying

to them and we can either go death or we can go life.

We can keep going this wide Road where where it's easy but

everybody's dying all around this.

Or we can try a different way and narrow road.

Every single one of those kids chose that.

Narrow road that path to life. And at the time, I thought path

to life meant, let's just get these kids some jobs.

Let's get them, different trajectory where they can make

some money and have some opportunities and have some

resources. Jesus says, you can gain the

whole world and lose your soul. And wouldn't it be a shame if if

our whole Ministry was just to get kids, a couple bucks.

So they could what, Be rich. Is that our purpose?

Is that our call? Is that what we're trying to

lead? People to know.

And I know we're trying to lead people to Jesus, but there's

been times in my life where I thought, man, we just we just

need resources. We just got to get some better

education, and that's true. We're at a point now with our

work. And I know there's more lessons

coming, but, but a few weeks ago, I sat down with 15, boys.

Age is 12 to 23, bunch of young uns compared to, I'm not going

to tell you that, it's getting bad.

My back is, you know, given out and and so everybody's young

compared to me. Now, I'm looking at these kids

and, and And I wasn't getting through to him.

I don't know why, you know, but it just wasn't Landon.

And finally I said, How many of you should not be alive to this

day? Like what?

Like you, none of like, like you shouldn't be here.

And every single one of those kids raised their hand from 12

to 2 about 21:15 kids, all raise their hand believing that they

should not be alive. And that's, that's the reality.

That's true. so, I followed it up and I said, What are you

alive for? Why are you here?

We got into some good stuff that night.

Because God has them alive, not just to survive. not just to get

rich, not just to get some education or have some power

here on Earth, but to have abundant thriving life in

Christ. Wow look it's a it's crazy to

me, right? Because I live in that

neighborhood and I see those same kids right into know that

that is their reality not knowing you know what, tomorrow

holds but the difference is we have the ability to Know Who

Holds Tomorrow. And so with that it's it

changes. Our perspective, it changes how

we do things. And it just it's I think God

forgot, that's all I can say. But the woman that I was

speaking about earlier I know her intimately, right?

Because she was my mother growing up.

We didn't have a lot. There are times that we may have

went to sleep with, you know, by choice.

Because there's always peanut butter and jelly to eat, right?

Like you have that no matter what we weren't raised up on

steaks and shrimp and lobsters and things like that, but we

never had an opportunity where we you missed a meal.

But what I could say is that we were able to engage our

community in such a way, that it made such an impact on us as

adults, right. And I love my mother so much

because even though we didn't have a lot, she gave out of what

she had. That's where that wealth came

from. That's where she took on the

principles of what God said, if they're hungry, I'll feed them.

If they're without clothes, I'll make sure they're fed.

If they are hurting, I'll bandage their rooms.

I think she took the heart, the parable of the Good Samaritan.

And if you don't know that, I'm going to give you the real

quick, Keisha version, it is in Luke.

You can go ahead and find it for yourself.

It's a really good read. It really helps you to

understand who your neighbor is. Sometimes we have a question

about. I don't know if those people are

my neighbors because we don't Look alike.

We don't share the same things, but I'm here to tell you that we

all go through the same things. There's different seasons of our

lives and we all come out different, depending on the

lesson that we've learned, right?

So, Jesus is talking a synagogue.

And someone asks, hey so what who do, who is my neighbor?

Like, who am I supposed to take care of God, said, I'm glad you

asked. So, he gave them a parable of a,

man, a Jewish man walking, and he was beaten he was robbed, and

they left him for dead. And as I'm telling this story, I

want you to kind of put in your mind, the things that Lucas and

I are saying that happens in the city of st.

Louis, we've been broken, we've been robbed.

We've been kind of Left 4 Dead. No one wants to bother with us.

We're sitting in despair. We're sitting in tragedy.

We're sitting income Calamity and Chaos, so then the priest

came by and he seen the man. He was like, nope, not me.

Today, I'm busy. I got to get this sermon.

I got to do this. So we just kept on walking not

only to keep walking. He removed himself from the The

situation and he left. Then came a levite.

He seen the man, the man seen him.

He said not my problem. Somebody else behind me that

somebody else is going to see him so that will let them take

care of it. Let it be someone else's

problem. So he kept moving then came a

Samaritan man. Him and his donkey their walk

in. They see the man and they took

pity on him. They seen him they'd seen him

better. They seem him near death, they

seem them bruised. They seen him without hope and

he stopped to take care of him. Not only, did he see about him,

he used his oil and back then, you know, oil was priceless.

They needed that. That was a part of their living.

He used his oil to minister to his wounds.

He didn't know this man. All he seen was someone who is

considered God's child. He didn't see that, you know,

maybe they were he didn't take no thought of what could have

happened to him. But all likewise he ministered

to the man. He did not leave him there.

He picked him up. He put him on his donkey he took

him to the end. Told the Cake, The Innkeeper.

Hey so I found this man, I need you to minister to this man.

I need you to make them. Well, I have to leave but on my

way back, I'm going to check back in to make sure that he's

okay. And he's on his way the man that

the Jewish man that was hurt was full of gratitude.

What I love about this is that that is what God is calling us

to do. He's calling us to remove

ourselves from us. Like, we're so stuck in our own

way, sometimes that were not able to see the need of those

around us. I get to see the need because

his smack dab in my face, but sometimes the need is not always

present, right? Like we have so much trauma in

our lives that again, we all are suffering from the same.

Trauma, abandonment. Disapproval, shame.

Guilt. That's the city of st.

Louis, the difference is someone walked alongside you.

All walked alongside me and gave me direction.

They gave me Jesus who gives me strategy G for tomorrow.

How he teaches me, that I can use my time, my talent, and my

treasures, for my neighbors. And not keep it all to myself.

I'm like my mother. I don't have a lot of anything.

But what I do have I give freely because I know that there's a

God who sits high and looks low and he's going to take care of

my household because I'm taking care of his God is amazing.

He is putting the city of st. Louis back together again, bit

by bit, he is strategically placing individuals like myself

and Lucas and some of you who have come down and volunteered

your time your talent and your Treasures to build up.

A seemingly forgotten community. God deals in broken things.

I'm a witness. He deals in batter.

That's where he does his best work.

He said those who are well do not need a physician.

There are already. Well, I come to seek those who

are lost. that is our job as people go, ye therefore Preach

and teach to All Nations. The city of st.

Louis is a nation. Quincy is a nation.

It is our responsibility. It is our reasonable response.

To get in the trenches and to help pull someone else out.

Thank you. Want to give you some more good

news this morning. This is a weird statistic but we

haven't had a shooting death on our block in over six years.

I know that's strange but the sirens are literally stopping

you guys. This is what Jesus does when

Jesus hangs on the cross. He is saying he's proclaiming an

end to suffering when he raises from the dead.

He's saying, hey those those places those environments he has

power and dominion over any of that.

His perfect love drives out fear.

When I tell you one quick story, I think it'll be quick, we'll

see the video that you saw. There's a woman in that video.

She's older, her name is tuwana, she'll never be on this stage.

She'll never be a keynote speaker.

She doesn't want any of that when I met to wanna and she's

allowed me to share her story. When I met her, she might have

been labeled as homeless She's amazing.

And over the years, we've gotten to know her to bring her on

staff. She's that incredible of a

minister. Last year, I was sitting with

her and, and it was all of our staff at love to Lou.

And I said, twanna, what is it that keeps your heart healthy.

How do you keep going? She's been through a lot.

She's seen it and she goes, she was well, every morning I pray

and I read my Bible with my auntie.

And that's a really sweet Sunday school answer.

And so I said that's great and I was getting ready to move on and

so I was like, no, no. You guys need to hear this

story. And and she's not boasting,

she's not bragging in herself, but she told us the following

story. She said her aunt and her used

to be really close. We used to be best friends, had

a falling out because Tawanna got pregnant.

And this is, this is you know decades ago.

Towanda got pregnant and the father to her children cheated

on her, with several women but one of them including her

auntie. And her auntie got pregnant.

They're pregnant at the same time and they became very

distant. The Auntie didn't want the baby

and Towanda said, at some point, I'll take that baby.

And she did and she raised two girls on her own.

Turned out the the father of the children was was abusing the

kids and Tawana spoke out against it to the family and the

family said we should. We should just solve this in

house and Towanda said, no, we have to go to the authorities

and she turned him in. He went to prison.

And everybody turned their back on Tawana.

And for 20 years they hated her They said all kinds of terrible

things about her, the whole family was ripped apart, covid

happened, and the Auntie walked into a situation where there's a

robbery and she got shot in the face.

Towanda came to me at that point.

And and and she said, hey Lucas. I feel like I might have caused

this because I prayed for Revenge, You know, those psalms

where, like David goes off and he's just praying against his

enemies twanna. Had prayed that this is a little

prayer challenge for, I guess, I know now that she, she she had

prayed this prayer that that God would get even in.

And her enemy got shot in the face and lived.

And to want to then was guilty. And she's like, what do I do

with this? We talked about it and I guess

the only church answer I had was something about forgiveness and

so she took that and she ran with it.

And she she said I this is after about a week of praying, God Has

Lifted it off of me. I forgiven her She told me about

how she was going to go to the hospital and to tell her and she

did Tawana went to the hospital reconnected with her.

Her Aunty said I forgive you. It's all, it's all behind us.

They cried, they prayed. They started reading their Bible

and every morning to wanna reads her Bible and praise.

With her auntie. God is doing some really cool

stuff in the city. And he continues to do this work

and we're here to share a lot but there's really just to

prayers that I have today. The first one is that if you're

suffering. If you're struggling, if you're

in it. So is God.

And I'm praying that he would reveal himself to you today and

that the suffering can be used for his glory.

The second prayer. Is that God?

We are asking. That on each campus.

You would be raising up your people.

To be connections. To be Bridge Builders into these

pockets, in our society, that are broken, Jesus, we absolutely

need you to lead us. Give us an identity of Truth.

Tellers of bold, Proclaimers to go into places and to be with

people, where might seem crazy. God, we need you.

We pray all of this because of you and your name.

Amen. There is hope because there are

still people that want to see in our city Drive.

Because we live here. The what I see a community want

to see, he is playing us and I we always got to come together

and make it happy. That's witnessed a lot so I'm

saying like so hope you think Dom was you serve when you don't

like it you give up time and energy and effort supposing.

You don't know you feel the void.

I don't know for what that person is missing, they could be

missing my mom uncle and we helped by filling that void.

Yeah. And anyway, I saying nice things

compliments, even smiling. I think this probably the

biggest thing is just the parent for your nasal.

I'm still able to love and I'm still able to smell I believe

that st. Louis will be changed when we

just all learn to love each other and be more neighborly.

I think the biggest meet in St. Louis is love.

I know, there is hope for St, Louis, because Jesus is not done

with this city yet. There's a lot of good here.

There's a lot of talent in St.Louis, there's a lot of

smiles. There's a lot of Joy.

There was hope for st. Louis because of the people who

are in it and it starts here, it starts now And I just thank God

for his people. The good outweigh the bed

because it's not every day, it's not every hour.

Like I have a lot to be thankful for and the things that God has

helped me through, I think it's really important for people to

understand that God hasn't left the city and in fact, he's doing

really Cool stuff here. This is God's work.

He takes death and turns it into life, and we're literally seeing

that on a regular basis, the sirens stop when Jesus enters

the story, it's when the kid gets fed or learns to read where

the neighbor is helped with their house.

It's win. The vacant lot goes from being

overgrown and kind of like a jungle.

And turned into a garden like it's really tangible stuff.

It's not rocket science. This isn't something you need a

degree for like this is like very practically showing love.

It's loving actions that are going to transform our city.

And our DNA is the church. Is that love?

You want to know where the hope is right here with us?

This is a story of when the siren.

Top and it's a story of Hope and it's a story that I want to

invite you into tomorrow might be different.

But today right now we do Have you listened just a little

bit closer? You may hear some Sirens having

to this place right now. They may be heading to this.

This room, they may be heading to maybe wherever you're

watching online right now. And you have to ask yourself.

Why? Why are the sirens heading here

is because some people That people and and even myself we

love dearly. They are in need of some

immediate help, they are in need of some immediate attention,

they're needing rescued. And even though we may not be

able to right now to hear you verbally or vocally screaming

out, help help help. And your lives.

Your lives are crying it out. The situations that you are

currently in and they're crying out.

The looks on some of your faces scream, that you are needing

help and you don't know where to turn.

And their situations and in this world that we live, in this

reality that we have is this state of being separated from

God and almighty God, because of the sin that exists in our

lives. and for some of you what you've been trying to do, you've

been trying to do in your own power, you've been trying to do

in your own strength, you've been trying to rescue yourself

But there's good news. There's help available to you.

This is happens when, when you start an intimate, personal

relationship with Jesus, you no longer have to do it within your

own strength. You no longer have to do it with

your own power. You've been walking around

outside of relationship with Jesus, with this kind of this

homemade first aid kit, you've been, you've been hurt.

So you put a bandage on yourself.

You can't walk. So you get your own crutches and

you try to do things your own way.

But again, when you're doing things on your own, It doesn't

last, it's not possible. So the hope that we have and the

hope that we get to share every single time that we get the

opportunity to do it is that help is here and it's found in

the person. It's found in the name of Jesus.

He's our rescuer. He's Our Redeemer.

He is the one that saves us that that pulls us from the pit.

He's the one that takes our homemade bandages and he gives

us something new. What I love about Romans Romans

10 it says this that everyone Every single person.

Anyone and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be

saved. Anyone who calls on the name of

Jesus will be saved and I'm encouraging for those of you,

you've not started that relationship with Jesus In This

Moment, call on the name of Jesus, throw away that first aid

kit. Bring him your pain, bring him

your shame, bring him, the sins that have kept you separated

from God. And you say, Jesus, I'm turning

away from those sins and I'm turning NG to you.

Put your life In His Hands today.

Let him transform you. Let them take this old heart.

Let them do surgery to it. Let him give you a new one.

I'm encourage you in this moment, start that relationship

with Jesus right now and just a little bit.

We're gonna sing some songs couple songs and just we're

going to worship, we're going to just celebrate all that he's

done for us. And and if you are in that spot

where you're just like, I've been doing this for too long on

my own and I need Jesus, I need to transform my heart and I

don't want to do it myself. I need him to do it.

There's going to be someone right by the baptistry that

would love to help you walk through what it looks like to

have. A relationship with him to take

that next step to get into the Waters of baptism and and really

declared you are made new. You are a new creation.

The old has gone. The new has has come.

You can start that relationship with Jesus today.

For the rest of us in this room. All of us who have said, yes to

Jesus. All of us who are pursuing

Jesus. We're trying to do this thing as

a Christian and it's hard. But one of the parts in that

video that I heard that stuck out to me, just the one we just

watch, you may have missed it, but it said this, it says it

starts here. And it starts with us

Christians, it starts here in this moment and it starts with

us and love the loo and credible.

Incredible things that God is doing in and through them.

There they are committed to reaching people in the greater

st. Louis area and their

neighborhoods all around them men but our call and our

commission right here is to reach as many people as possible

to tell them the good news that I just shared with you to the

whole world whether that's in Quincy Illinois, whether that's

in the surrounding area, maybe you're in Liberty, maybe you're

in Camp point, maybe you're in mended, maybe you're in

Hannibal. Maybe.

I don't know where you're at. Maybe, Um we're in Missouri,

somewhere in Iowa, maybe somewhere in Indiana.

Maybe you're about to travel to Florida.

You're going to Hawaii on vacation.

It doesn't matter where you're at.

Where ever? Your feet are hitting the

ground. The our mission doesn't change.

We Can't Stop. We won't stop as Christian

because it starts here and it starts now, we got to tell

people how they can be rescued And so my personal burden and I

know so many of you Christians, your personal burden is the

same. It's how do we reach more people

for Jesus? And a question.

I keep asking myself. the thing that breaks my heart the most

Is, what am I doing about it? Like today, what, what am I

doing about it to share with someone that they need?

Jesus, because we are called to be missionaries for him.

Everywhere we go. And so in this time of decision

for you as a Christian is a simply just come up here in a

humble way. And the way that we humble

ourselves, as we get down on our knees and we just enter into a

time of prayer and we say, God, I need I need boldness.

I need, I need you to use the words that are going to come out

of my mouth. I need you to use the actions

that happened through my fingertips.

Gotta pray that as a people that come into my path that you would

soften their hearts. I pray God that you can and that

you will use me and that he will and he can use you.

There is hurt and there is pain all over this world.

But we have the greatest news. We have the greatest hope.

So why should we keep that to ourselves?

And I don't think we should and the way we do that, is it starts

right here in this moment. So if you would stand with me,

let's go to him in prayer. Let's go to him.

As we humble ourself, let's go to him as we asked him to come

with us. In this moment to give us the

direction we need. Jesus, we are so thankful God

for this time. So, thankful for these moments,

maybe to be just re-centered to your gospel, to be re-centered

to the call that you you put on our lives.

God, the way that you call us to go out into the The world.

To reach people for you. To tell them about you to not

stop until this whole world knows about you.

God, that our personal burden. God, this is that more people

would know you. And God, I pray that because of

this moment right here, because it starts right here and it

starts with us, God, I pray that you would do something in the

parts of the people. Listen, you do something in my

heart. God, that would make your

kingdom grow. That would bring hope to someone

who doesn't have hope that lives would be turned around in this

moment. Jesus, we love you.

We pray all this your name. Amen.