Sermon
How to Increase our Hunger for God | Pastor Matt Keller
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
What's up next level church? Hey, I want to say welcome to
-
all of our locations today. We are a multi site church,
-
which means we are one house with many rooms.
-
And so that means there's a whole bunch of us worshipping
-
Jesus all across Southwest Florida right now.
-
So I actually want to say a quick welcome to our E location,
-
downtown location, Cape Coral here Fort Myers if you're an
-
additional seating. Also, I want to welcome so many
-
of you who are listening to me right now in Espanol via
-
Veniros. Yes, and so church family.
-
Let me just remind us at all four of our locations that we
-
have Spanish translation of the message UN Mensahe every single
-
weekend, Todos fiende Semana. And so church family, if you see
-
someone with headphones in, they're not listening to the
-
newest and latest thing on Spotify.
-
They're listening to me in or one or whoever's our teaching
-
team, they're listening to us in Spanish.
-
So come on one more time. Just welcome everybody who's
-
listening in Spanish. We're so thankful for you and
-
fam, let me say this, if you've got friends or family members,
-
maybe coworkers who Spanish is their heart language or is their
-
preferred language, don't be afraid to invite them to church.
-
Just stop at our welcome center on the way into church and our
-
team will do the rest and help them hook up their headphones
-
and listen to us in Spanish. So we're so thankful that we can
-
serve our Spanish speaking family.
-
Also want to say real quick, welcome to all of our our ladies
-
from Saint Matthew's House at our downtown location.
-
Yeah, Church. I was able to go down to our
-
downtown location because this past week we celebrated one year
-
of our Saint Matthew's House women and children's shelter and
-
listen to this church, fam, just in the first year of that
-
ministry, our partnership with Saint Matthew's House, an
-
incredible ministry. They they have.
-
We have served together over 340 women and 142 children through
-
our women and children's shelter.
-
Yes. So ladies, welcome want you to
-
know we love you. We're so thankful for you.
-
Ophelia, I see you. I'm so thankful for the
-
conversation we got to have this week.
-
You mean the world to us ladies? And we are covering you in
-
prayer. Well, hey, Speaking of prayer,
-
we are in the middle. We're on day 7.
-
Come on. See that Day seven.
-
I'll get there. I'll get there. 7 something Day
-
7. We're in day seven of our 21
-
days of prayer and fasting. And can I just tell you how
-
thankful I am for all of you that just hundreds and hundreds
-
of you who are diving in and just going hard for God.
-
The church, between our four locations yesterday and our
-
Saturday morning 8:00 AM prayer meeting, we had over 400 people
-
in the house praying. Yeah, come on, let's celebrate
-
that. That's awesome.
-
And but here's what I know. What I know is all of us are 7
-
days in and we're going OK, this is good.
-
But like, what else? Like am I missing something like
-
is there is like, like what else do I need to be doing?
-
So today what I want to talk about for the next few minutes
-
is how to increase our hunger for God.
-
Maybe we want to write some things down.
-
Maybe we want to take some notes.
-
I want to talk about how we increase our hunger for God
-
because I get it. I've been there in seasons in
-
the past where I've, where I've, I've looked on, I've went, OK
-
God, I'm praying, I'm fasting, I'm turning down the noise of
-
the world turning down, you know, so many desires of the
-
flesh and I'm, I'm trying to turn you up.
-
But but how do we increase that? How do we, how do we do that?
-
How do we increase our hunger for God?
-
That's what I want to talk about one more time before we turn to
-
God's word. Let's pray.
-
Father, I thank you, thank you for your Holy Spirit.
-
We ask you like the song fall like rain, fall like rain.
-
Even in the midst of these consecrated 21 days, Jesus, fall
-
like rain. We pray.
-
We give you permission to speak. Your sons and daughters are
-
listening. And everyone who agreed with
-
that prayer said Amen, Amen, Amen.
-
So as many of you know, last August and September, Pastor
-
Sarah, my wife and I, we took 50 day sabbatical.
-
Every seven years we take a sabbatical in leadership and
-
just are able to disconnect and get away and just focus on Jesus
-
and just rest and hear from him. And it was such a such a
-
powerful time when we started our time in Europe, as most of
-
you have heard us talk about. Well, the last three days we
-
were in Europe, we were in Paris.
-
And so one of the days that we were in Paris, we were we were
-
on this guided tour, walking tour and seeing the different
-
sites of Paris. And so as we're walking, all of
-
a sudden our tour guide stops and he goes, oh, and hey, by the
-
way, I want all of you to see this.
-
And, and while we were approaching this window of this
-
storefront, not only are we hearing our guides say, I want
-
you to see and experience something, but we started
-
smelling what I can only describe as the fragrance of
-
heaven because he was walking us up to the window of a bakery.
-
And in the window of this Parisian bakery, we saw this.
-
That, my friends, is what I would call the world's.
-
Or at least biggest mats. Ever seen croissant in the
-
world? OK, this is a normal pastry down
-
here. Look, this is the these are the
-
handheld ones you and I are used to in our life.
-
Us plebs, right? Us.
-
Right. This.
-
OK? These are the ones we're used
-
to. Look at this thing.
-
I know what you're thinking, Pastor Matt.
-
We can barely see that. OK.
-
I got you. And now you're thinking, what
-
are you doing to us? We're trying to fast.
-
OK, €37. By the way, did you buy it?
-
We did not, no, because we wanted to pay our mortgage at
-
the end of the month. That is pretty much actual size.
-
I mean, that thing was probably 20 to 24 inches, 2/3 of a meter
-
wide. So we so, so our tour guide kind
-
of walks up, shows us this and is like, yeah, yeah, so and just
-
keeps right on walking. And I'm like, that's it.
-
Like we don't get to like we don't get to go in and like
-
sample some pastries. Like what are we all of a
-
sudden? Sure enough, there were several
-
of our people on our tour who like 3 minutes later, started to
-
lag behind and then about 8 minutes later showed up with a
-
handful of pastry. Right.
-
Why? Because something had gotten
-
awakened. A hunger had gotten awakened in
-
them. And here's what I think, Church,
-
I think that this week, these first seven days of our 21 days
-
of prayer and fasting, for many of us, something is getting
-
awakened. Can you get rid of the picture,
-
please? Pastor, I got you.
-
Let's do that. Something has gotten awakened in
-
US and what I want to do today is I want to see if we can't
-
take that to the next level. Anybody ready?
-
So let's ask and answer the question.
-
How do you and I increase our hunger for God?
-
How do you and I increase our hunger for God?
-
Let me give you 4 thoughts. And again, maybe we want to
-
write some of these down. Here's the first thought.
-
Number one, we have to examine what we're eating.
-
Everyone say that with me. Examine what we're eating.
-
Anybody grow up with a mom or a teacher or a gym coach somewhere
-
in your life who used to tell you you are what you eat?
-
Anybody heard that phrase, right?
-
Here's another one I remember from childhood.
-
Garbage in, garbage out, right? And listen, that's true,
-
obviously, in terms of our nutrition and our bodies.
-
But church family, here's where I want to go today.
-
I want us to slow down for a couple minutes because that you
-
are what you eat and garbage in, garbage out is true on a soul
-
level as well. In church.
-
I'm I'm so burdened for us and I'm so thankful for my wife,
-
Pastor Sarah's message last weekend.
-
And we heard from so many of you about how that was, as she
-
prayed at the beginning of her message, an awakening moment for
-
us that we we cannot, I'm we're where's your pastors?
-
We're so burdened right now by by by the content that is
-
contaminating our souls. It's not neutral social media,
-
the news, the alerts that you get that we get on our phone,
-
although I've minimized most all of them, the hate, the division.
-
Here's my wife and I, we find ourselves saying now to the
-
young generation, and if you're under the age of 30, hear me,
-
'cause we used to, we, we used to find ourselves saying this to
-
the young generation. It didn't used to be like this.
-
It didn't used to be the vitriol, the hate, the division
-
of our culture, the fear. It didn't used to be this way.
-
And so church, listen, when we eat this stuff consistently, we
-
have to not be naive to think that it is not absolutely
-
affecting us at a soul level. As all of you know, we have not
-
only we lead next level church here in Southwest Florida, but
-
we also lead the next level relational network of churches.
-
And so we have a whole network of churches, 192 churches now
-
across the United States, Canada, over 20 churches now in
-
Europe. Come on, somebody.
-
And one of our pastors from Europe is actually right here in
-
the service I'm in from Zurich. They're planting the church.
-
Come on, somebody. That's awesome.
-
Welcome. We're glad you're here.
-
I don't know that language, Spanish.
-
I'm working on that one. I got nothing.
-
OK, here's here's the deal though.
-
I I lead a brotherhood group in our we have brotherhood and
-
sisterhood groups for pastors as well.
-
And so in my brotherhood group, we have one of our pastors in
-
Phoenix, AZ. His name is Pastor Justin
-
Hamilton. And in December, we were talking
-
about this subject about how what we eat at a soul level,
-
what we're consuming, it does affect us.
-
And he said, he talked in our group and he said, I, I have, I
-
just preached about this. And the message he preached was
-
a revelation from God's. I watched it, I listened to it.
-
And he in it, he had this quote. I want you to see this quote.
-
We will eventually be consumed by what we consistently consume.
-
I want us to get that. I actually quoted a version of
-
that in week 1 of this series. Some of you caught it.
-
I wanted to say it again. We will eventually be consumed
-
by what we consistently consume in church family.
-
The Bible has a ton to say about this.
-
Let me show us. The Apostle John said it this
-
way. He said do not love the world or
-
anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, look
-
at this. Love for the Father is not in
-
them, for everything in the world.
-
The lust of the flesh. Should I hold it up or did you
-
get the point? The lust of the flesh, the lust
-
of the eyes, the pride of life. Look at this comes not from the
-
Father, but from the world. James, the half brother of Jesus
-
takes it up another notch. He says this.
-
You adulterers, you cheaters, don't you realize that
-
friendship with the world makes you look at this an enemy of
-
God? I say it again.
-
He's like, maybe you didn't hear me the first time.
-
Let me say it a different way. Look, if you want to be a friend
-
of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
-
Now, church, I'm not telling us to give up all social media.
-
Never be. I'm not telling you to go join a
-
commune. What I'm telling us is we have
-
to be aware of what we're eating.
-
So what's the remedy? Well, Paul gives us the remedy
-
in Romans chapter 12. He says this, well, here's what
Romans 12 chapter mention
-
we got to do then, in light of what is coming at us, do not
-
conform to the pattern of this world, but be, look, a whole
-
different word, transformed. There is a way to be in the
-
world, not of the world. That's what we're gonna talk
-
about next Sunday, by the way, be in the house.
-
Come on, somebody, do not be conformed to the pattern of this
-
world. Instead, be transformed.
-
Live different, live higher, live better.
-
How? By the renewing of your mind.
-
Then you'll be able to test and approve.
-
In other words, you're gonna know what God's will is, His
-
good, pleasing and perfect will. Church, we have to examine what
-
we're eating. OK, so how do we increase our
-
hunger for God? Number one, we got to, we got to
-
examine what we're eating #2 we got to examine why we're eating
-
it. We got to examine why we're
-
eating it. Of in different seasons of my
-
life, I've seen a, a mental health therapist, a counselor,
-
which by the way, counselors aren't for crazy people, they're
-
for normal people. So you and I all qualify.
-
We got to take that stigma out. So for several years after we
-
moved here 24 years ago, I, I saw a counselor once a month.
-
And man, oh man, it was just the best money I could spend, best
-
investment in me and just loved it.
-
And my counselor would say to me often when I start to describe
-
something, oh God, why do I do this?
-
You know, whatever, help me, man.
-
And he would, he would always say to me, He'd always say,
-
Matt, every action in your life is linked to something deeper
-
within you. And I remember, like, being in
-
my late 20s at the time and like, hearing that and being,
-
like, really like everyone. I even asked him that a couple
-
times, like, really like, like, like everyone.
-
Well, now at 50, looking back on five decades of life, yeah, he
-
was right. He was right.
-
See church family. If we're going to increase our
-
hunger for God, we have to examine what we're eating.
-
But secondly, we have to examine why we're eating it.
-
Here's why. Because everything we consume is
-
motivated by something. And we have to slow down and ask
-
the question, why am I consuming this?
-
Why am I? Why am I eating this?
-
Why am I putting this in my mind, my body, my soul, my
-
spirit? Everything we consume is
-
motivated by something. Am I avoiding something with the
-
scroll? Some of us are medicating pain
-
and it's time we get honest about it.
-
Some of us, we are addicted to it.
-
We crave the dopamine hit of it. We got to get honest because
-
everything we consume is motivated by some, by something.
-
Some of us. We, we, the reason we scroll
-
like we do, the reason we engage with all of that like we do, is
-
because we're trying to find people who agree with our point
-
of view to fuel something in us. Some of us, we're, we're trying
-
to fuel our anger toward the others, whoever they are who
-
aren't like us, who don't believe like us, who don't think
-
like us, who don't see the world like us, who don't vote like us.
-
And we're, we're engaging, we're eating this, we're consuming
-
this to fuel. So we got to examine what we're
-
eating, but we got to examine why we're eating it.
-
Some of us, it's just to distract ourselves.
-
We don't know how to be quiet anymore.
-
We don't know how to be still and know like we talked about in
-
week one, that he is God Church. When was the last time we asked
-
ourself why am I consuming this from food and junk food?
-
And all the nutritionists in the room said Amen to social media
-
and news headlines because everything we consume is
-
motivated by something. In my prayer for these 21 days
-
is God open our eyes to why we're doing what we're doing.
-
Let me show you scripturally. Proverbs 16 verse 2 says this
-
all a person's ways seem pure to them.
-
Here's what I know because I've preached on social media before.
-
Here's what I know. The vast majority of us
-
listening to me right now are a Manning on the outside and on
-
the inside going. That's so good for them and we
-
have a picture of whoever they are.
-
We don't think we have the problem.
-
I can't tell you how many older generation people I talk to who
-
go, yeah, that's right, those young people.
-
And I can't tell you how many young people I talk to who go,
-
yeah, wow, those old people in their Facebook.
-
Thank God I'm in the middle. So it's clearly it's not me.
-
And all the Gen. X said it's never been us.
-
All a person's ways seem pure to them.
-
But look at this. But motives are weighed by the
-
Lord. In other words, the Bible says
-
we don't even know our own motives.
-
What if this 21 days church, we said, God show me my motives.
-
Stop texting me. Some of you are like, oh, watch
-
this. You're blowing up my phone man.
-
I live on do not disturb. Just so you know, God, show us
-
our motives. The Lord says the motives are
-
weighed by the Lord, which means what do we have to do?
-
We have to pray. Psalm 139.
-
Search me, God, know my heart. Church, I challenge you to pray
-
this prayer. Search me, God, test me.
-
Know my anxious thoughts. No, God, reveal to me why I'm so
-
anxious. God, show me what's going on in
-
me. You are what you eat.
-
See if there's any offensive way in the church.
-
Jesus is going to return one day.
-
We believe soon and he's coming back for a pure and spotless
-
bride. That's my heart's desire that we
-
as next level church and we'll talk more about this in March.
-
Don't miss he's coming back for for purity any offensive way in
-
me and then he says, and then leave me in a different way.
-
Is it possible the way we've been doing, it's not working.
-
Let me read it like I wrote it and you receive it.
-
We're not mindless animals who don't have the ability to
-
control our impulses. We can and must examine our why.
-
Well, it's just how it is. Well, everybody's on social
-
media. No, they're not.
-
No, they're not. Well, everybody spent two hours
-
and 20 minutes a day is the new average for Americans on social
-
media. And again, right now you're
-
hearing that going, well, that's not me, OK?
-
On the count of three, here's what I want you to do.
-
I want you to turn to the person sitting next to you, look him
-
straight in the face. Just choose one, it's fine.
-
And just tell him, wow, that's intense.
-
Ready, 123. Go.
-
Now look at the other person and say, wow, that was a lot, 123-GO
-
and a collective deep breath. Ready 123.
-
All right, let's move on #3 How do we increase our hunger for
-
God? We got to examine what we're
-
eating #2 we got to examine why we're eating and #3 let's have a
-
little fun. We got to pray around the
-
fridge. Come on, say it with me.
-
We got to pray around the Now here's what I'm not telling you
-
to do. Some of you're like, OK, first
-
the croissants, now you're telling me I have to go pray
-
around my fridge? You're killing me, Smalls.
-
Right, OK, here's, here's here's I'm not telling you to go do
-
prayer walks around your refrigerator in, in your, in
-
your, your kitchen. OK, But if the Lord leads you
-
that way, do whatever you want, do whatever he says actually,
-
But here's here's what I'm talking about, K.
-
So you'll notice that it's, it's this.
-
So in June of last year, I woke up 1 morning and, and this
-
happens often to me. I woke up and the first thought
-
I had was I heard what I believe the Holy Spirit said Matt pray
-
the fridge. And I saw the word fridge in my
-
mind FRIDGE. And I just got up and I went out
-
to my living room and I started to pray and I'm like, Lord, what
-
does that mean? And the Lord started to break
-
down for me the acronym of fridge.
-
And so this is just how my brain works.
-
It's a gift. You're welcome.
-
So here's here's what I want to do.
-
I want to help you for the next couple of minutes because some
-
of you we're we're always looking for new ways to stir up
-
this prayer thing in US. And maybe even though you go
-
over these first seven days, you've been like, I want to fast
-
and pray, but got it. Got a latest tool?
-
I do. It's called the fridge.
-
Ready. Here you go.
-
So let's break it down. So the F is forgive.
-
Everyone say forgive. So watch this every day ask this
-
question Lord, who do I need to forgive from yesterday?
-
Bible says keep short accounts. Can I just tell you this is so
-
important. You know why 'cause there's so
-
much to be offended by. Every day I'm amazed that when I
-
pray the fridge it literally I'm like F forgive.
-
Who do I need to forgive from yesterday?
-
And like, just kidding, but there's usually several.
-
Here's the R repent, everyone say repent.
-
So we're going to start, Lord, where do I need to?
-
Who do I need to forgive yesterday from yesterday?
-
Repent though, says where do I need to repent from yesterday?
-
This is a moment for us to just pause in His presence and
-
examine our own hearts. Say God, search me, is there
-
anything in me? God forgive me when I lost my
-
cool yesterday, God forgive me. When I misspoke yesterday.
-
God forgive me. When I exaggerated the truth
-
yesterday. God forgive me when I lied to my
-
spouse yesterday. God, is there anything in me?
-
God forgive me. This is where we repent.
-
Then the eye is invite. Everyone say invite.
-
Now we turn it to today. What do I need to invite God
-
into today? So now watch this forgive from
-
yesterday, repent from yesterday.
-
Now we turn it forward and we say, God, in terms of today, we
-
start to zoom forward and we say, where do I need to invite
-
God into today? God, I've got this lunch meeting
-
today and it's with a client and it's really, really important.
-
And so God, I invite you into that.
-
Lord, would you move on their heart?
-
God, would you touch them? God, I've got this meeting today
-
with my boss, this presentation. Would you help me with that?
-
God, I'm, I'm meeting with someone.
-
So God, my wife and I are headed out on a date night tonight.
-
God, would you be with us and be in the middle of our marriage
-
because a three stranded cord is not easily broken.
-
We invite God into our day. Then D is discern.
-
Everyone say discern. And here's the question we ask,
-
Where do I need God's wisdom and discernment today?
-
So we forgive, we repent, we invite, but then watch we go.
-
God, I'm facing this decision today.
-
Give me your wisdom beyond myself.
-
God, business leaders, this is for you, for you, God, give me
-
wisdom on this. Parents, I've got this situation
-
with my teenager, with my preteen.
-
God, I need your wisdom. God, I need your discernment.
-
Where do I need God's wisdom and discernment today?
-
Then the G is gratitude. Who and what am I thankful for
-
today? So watch.
-
We forgive, we repent, we invite, we discern, then we
-
praise God. God, I thank you for my family.
-
God, I thank you for my wayward teenager that you're bringing
-
them back. God, I thank you for my
-
marriage. God that it is blessed in you
-
and it is holy before you got to thank you for my job.
-
God, I thank you for my car. It gets me back and forth even
-
if I don't have air conditioning.
-
Got to thank you for do you see it?
-
We move to gratitude. Then lastly is encounter.
-
So forgive, repent, invite, discern, praise him gratitude,
-
and then just pause. Here's what I encourage you to
-
do church family, just pause in God's presence and just say,
-
God, I need to encounter you right now.
-
How do you how do you want me to encounter you?
-
Maybe you just need to encounter his love.
-
Maybe you just need to encounter his peace and his hope.
-
God, I want to encounter you. Do you see it?
-
Is that helpful, everybody? Did you take a picture of it?
-
Did you get it? Because it's going to be gone in
-
a second fridge. Forgive, repent, invite, discern
-
gratitude, encounter. Since last June, I've been
-
praying this way often. And man, it's been so helpful.
-
It's just brought a new freshness to my prayer life.
-
So I hope that helps you today. See, it wasn't all intense.
-
There you go #4 I want to say #4 how do we increase our hunger
-
for God? We have to examine what we're
-
eating, examine why we're eating it.
-
We got to pray around the fridge.
-
And then #4 we have to ask God to make us hungry for better
-
things. Everyone say better things.
-
I'm invite the worship team to come back before we move on with
-
our time together today. There's a story in John chapter
John 4 chapter mention
-
4 where Jesus has this encounter.
-
He's in Samaria, just the wrong side of the tracks.
-
And he's has this encounter with this woman at the well, a lot of
-
us know the story and they have this incredible conversation and
-
she tries to pin him on some stuff.
-
And he obviously being God, you know, knows better and
-
eventually reveals that he himself is the Messiah, that
-
he's the chosen, He's the savior of the world.
-
Well, this woman is overcome by this.
-
And so the Bible tells us in John four that she runs into
-
town and she essentially tells the whole town the Savior of the
-
world is at the well, you got to come and talk to him.
-
So the whole town starts to come out and Jesus is there.
-
Well, what I failed to tell you was the beginning of the story.
-
Jesus sent his disciples into town to get some lunch.
-
So now this whole crowd is back and the disciples come back to
-
Jesus and they see him just ministering.
-
And clearly this is, we've gone through the lunch hour here and
-
these guys are not OK. And in verse 31, look at what
-
they say to Jesus. They looked at Jesus and they
-
said, meanwhile, his disciples urged him, rabbi or teacher, eat
-
something. But he said to them, I have food
-
to eat that you know nothing about.
-
Look at his disciples love this. Then his disciples said to each
-
other, did somebody bring him Taco Bell?
-
Guys, you so are missing the point.
-
Jesus says I'm on a different wavelength.
-
You're looking at things on this level.
-
I'm up here church, can I just tell you I want to be on that
-
wavelength. That's what I want for these 21
-
days. That's what these are all about.
-
So I just want to encourage you today, fast food this week, not
-
go get fast food, fast food. And of course, as always,
-
consult your medical professional, of course, fast
-
food this week and pray instead. Fast social media in the news
-
and pray instead. Several weeks ago I was praying
-
and the Lord said to me, Matt the faith of your 40s isn't
-
going to be enough for your 50s and church.
-
Can I tell you what I've been praying since I heard the Lord
-
speak that to my heart. God increased my faith.
-
God put me on a new level. God take me higher.
-
God, I don't want to settle as and we sang this in the song a
-
minute ago that fall like rain song.
-
I don't want to settle for lesser things when you have
-
better things. So my challenge question for you
-
this week is this. What better thing should you be
-
after rather than a lesser thing?
-
This week, what better thing should you be after instead of
-
chasing the scroll or chasing a headline and following it down
-
some rabbit trail? That's a lesser thing.
-
Let's be about a better thing. Amen.
-
Amen. Can we stand together at every
-
location, examine what we're eating, why we're eating it,
-
pray the fridge, Ask God to make you hungry.
-
That's how we increase our hunger for God.
-
Here's what I want to do. I want us before we move on
-
together. We're not anywhere close to
-
being done. You're fine.
-
You don't have to rush out. God wants to speak.
-
I believe God wants to speak to every single one of us.
-
For some of you, the closest thing you get to stillness is
-
when you attend Next Level Church every Sunday.
-
And that's OK. We're happy to provide that for
-
you. Let's make the most of it then,
-
shall we? Maybe you just want to open your
-
hands in front of you like this, just as a posture and symbol of
-
openness, readiness to receive from the Lord.
-
So, Father, right now we just thank you for your word.
-
We thank you, Lord God, but you want us to increase our hunger
-
for righteousness, our hunger for you.
-
And so, Lord, right now we just pause in this moment.
-
We don't mind taking time, God, we're just going to pause in
-
this moment and just give you space to speak.
-
The Holy Spirit, would you turn on your Searchlight in our heart
-
and in our mind? Would you show us with the
-
precision that only your Holy Spirit can give to us when
-
you're doing that, when you're engaging, that when you're
-
reading that son, daughter, it doesn't please me.
-
that we might be consumed. Filled is Matthew 5-6 word
-
filled with better things. God, would you fill us as we
-
hunger and thirst for you this week we pray, staying in this
-
atmosphere of prayer right now. You can just keep listening to
-
Jesus, to Jesus as he's the Spirit speaking to your heart.
-
If you're in one of our locations today, our online
-
family, you 2 and you're not in relationship with Jesus, I want
-
to give you an opportunity to do that right now.
-
It's as simple as acknowledging you're a Sinner, believing that
-
what Jesus did on the cross was payment for your sin, and then
-
confessing on the outside. So with every head bowed, every
-
eye closed, nobody's looking around.
-
It's just between me, you and Jesus.
-
If you every location, if you're ready to surrender your life to
-
Jesus. You've never said yes to Jesus,
-
but you're ready to go his way. You've tried everything else,
-
but you want to go God's way. I'm going to count the three.
-
And when I hit the three, when I hit 3 in just a moment, would
-
you throw your hand up whatever room you're in right now?
-
123, Pastor Matthews, Me. Awesome.
-
Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
-
Keep it up, just for a second. Yeah.
-
That's it all over the room, young and old, front to back,
-
it's happening. That's it.
-
Pastor Matt. Thank you.
-
Pastor Matt. That's me.
-
I'm ready to surrender my life to Jesus.
-
I want to say yes to him. Awesome.
-
You can put your hands down. Listen, for the sake of those
-
who lifted their hand, can we all repeat this prayer after me
-
just to make them feel comfortable?
-
And if you raise your hand, I want you to pray this prayer
-
from your heart. And God's going to hear and come
-
in and and begin to transform your life from the inside out.
-
Come on, let's pray. Say, dear Jesus, thanks for
-
loving me and bringing me here today.
-
I acknowledge that I'm a Sinner, that I've missed the mark and I
-
need a Savior. Thank you Jesus for dying on the
-
cross from my sin. I receive you now and right now
-
I surrender my life to you. Help me to go your way because
-
it is the best way for all of my days.
-
In Jesus name I pray Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen wow wow wow, wow hey
-
listen, if you just pray that prayer with me, raise your hand
-
and that you know we want to we want to help you don't leave
-
your location today. Just go out to the welcome
-
center and at your next steps area at your location, we have a
-
Bible we want to give you for free and inside this Bible
-
there's AQR code that in my wife pastor Sarah and I have recorded
-
videos to help you take your next steps in this new
-
relationship with Jesus. So don't leave your location
-
today without grabbing this free gift.
-
Amen. Hey, let me pray one more prayer
-
over his Father. I thank you.
-
Let your word God continue to come alive in our hearts this
-
week. Lord, as we hunger and thirst,
-
as we fast and pray for more of you.
-
I bless your people today in Jesus name.
-
And everyone who agreed to that prayer said Amen.
-
Come on, let's give God praise.