BACK TO BASICS | Spiritual Habits for a Healthy Life | Part 1

Heat. Heat.

Good morning everybody.

I like the little uh hair thing too,

Zoe.

It's a Pastor Benism. Pastor Ben is not

with us today. Um I'm Pastor Dan, one of

the pastors here. And so good to see

everybody. You all doing okay?

God is good. Um there was a tornado just

a little north of here um a couple days

ago and it really did some damage. Three

Rivers in Union City, Michigan got hit

really hard. Uh we need to pray for them

and and keep those families in prayer. I

I heard four people died in Union City.

Um I'm not sure about Three Rivers, but

it was an F3. It was a serious tornado.

So keep that in mind. Um I do have a

praise report, too. Tom Pierce was in

our first service,

and that is a miracle. That is really a

miracle. And he's looking good, and he's

hugging as tight as ever. So,

um, good to see everybody. I'm going to

talk to you about three habits of

healthy Christians today. And it really

is a message that I feel like ties into

Pastor Ben's sermon last week. Um, in

fact, as he was preaching, the Lord was

kind of ministering to me. Um, he was

talking about proximity to people last

week and and all the different

relationships we have. So, proximity to

to sinners and scorners and saints and

shepherds. And you know, it just kind of

struck me because these relationships

are all impacted by what I'm talking to

you about today because healthy people

attract healthy people.

And so if you are healthy, you're not

likely to have toxic relationships.

I could drop the mic right there. it

really because so if you have a toxic

relationship going on I would encourage

you to look at your health because toxic

people are drawn to unhealthy people and

when you're healthy and you have

boundaries like Pastor Ben was talking

about um toxic people will kind of be

repelled from that. So we're talking

about three habits and it's really

nothing new but it is still an issue.

You can be a Christ follower, you can be

a Christian and not be healthy. Would

you say that's true?

You can be out of Egypt and still have a

lot of Egypt still in you. And so

Jeremiah 8:22, the question is posed,

Jeremiah 8:22

"Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no

physician there? Why then is there no

health for the daughter of my people?"

Gilead was known for this healing sav.

And so there was really no reason why

people weren't being healed. And so it

is spiritually we have things God has

given us, disciplines, habits if you

will, that will help us to get healthy

and stay healthy if we'll simply apply

them to our lives. Now, full disclosure,

I have always struggled with multiple

services.

I really have. The first time that I was

uh asked to preach at a multiple service

was last minute. I think you were with

me, but I I didn't get word till the day

before. someone else fell sick. And so I

filled into a church in Ionia, Michigan

that had three services. And I was like,

I'd never preached two ser sermons twice

in a row or the same sermon twice in a

row. And so I was just kind of like,

God, what am I going to do? This is

freaking me out. And so, uh, I went to

that church and I preached my first

message and then I went and prayed

somewhere and I came back and preached a

different message. And then I came the

third time and preached something

completely different. And that one had a

lot of my testimony in it. And come to

find out at the end of the service,

Pastor John Prinsky came up to me and he

said, he said, "I don't know why he was

here, but the biggest drug dealer in our

in our county was in service today and

gave his life to the Lord when you

shared your testimony."

And so I say all that to say, we we

shouldn't approach a second service as

if as just a repeat, as if God's just,

you know, it's just scripted and we're

just going to give you the same stuff.

Um, I can't operate that way. And so I'm

on a journey because y'all are

stretching me in Grace Summit Church. Um

I've never gotten used to it, but what I

have is an outline. And so it may be a

little different than the first service.

Um but there's different people in this

service and God knows what we need to

hear.

>> Amen. So is there no balm in Gilead? Is

there not a way that we can help

ourselves get healthy? Now, when we talk

about habits,

some of us are more familiar with that

than others. Um, if you came out of a

life of addiction, you're you understand

what I'm saying. How many have an

addictive personality, whatever that

means? Yeah. You're my people. You're my

people. But you can get addicted to

Jesus.

>> I had somebody tell me early on, you

know, they're going to brainwash you.

And I said, good,

because my brain needs a good scrubbing.

And I picked up habits. I traded in my

habits for drugs and alcohol and all the

rest for Jesus and prayer and study. A

and it's working out pretty good. Some

habits are good to have, but it it is

not true. They're finding now that 21

days is all it takes to establish a

habit. The latest studies indicate that

it takes 66 days on average to establish

a habit.

So, as we go through this today, I want

you to just think about the fact that

this is going to take some effort, some

initiative. But here's the beauty of

walking with the Lord. When you get

these habits into your life, it does it

does, it is true, begin with discipline.

But then you'll find that discipline

turns to desire and desire turns to

delight

to where like I get up and spend time

with the Lord every day now. and and and

if I miss a day, I feel really weird and

you don't want to be around me because

it is so deeply set in my life. And I

believe that that's what the Holy Spirit

wants us as the church to know today to

hear maybe to be reminded of these three

habits. Number one is Bible reading.

Surprise, surprise. Christians should

read their Bible.

The key verse here I want to share is

Psalm 119:11. Your word I have hidden in

Psalms 119:11

my heart that I might not sin against

you.

It's hidden in our heart. It's a

strategy against sin. Sin of course

separates us from our creator.

And the longer you get the the farther

you get from him, the more miserable

life becomes. And what seemed enjoyable

at the first can become a bondage.

That's the the result of sin.

Every man is drawn away of his own lust

and enticed. And when when he's uh given

into that, then it becomes sin. And sin

when it's finished becomes death. It

kills us every time. And it kills our

relationship with God. Bible reading,

hiding his word in your heart is a

strategy against that.

The heart is where the issues of life

come from. So the heart is where we hide

his word.

It also insulates you from false

teaching. And there's a lot of it out

there. There always has been people that

take the Bible and take a few verses and

twist it and distort it and present it

in in a way it was never meant to be

presented. And if you don't know your

Bible, you're not going to know the

truth when you hear it. But if you know

your Bible, then you will automatically

be red flags will go up. That doesn't

sound right. That doesn't sit right. Let

me look at that and find out for myself

for myself. Uh the Bible says that those

of Berea were more noble than those of

Thessalonica in that they searched the

scriptures daily to see if what Paul

said was true. Don't just take what I

say or what someone else says as truth.

You've got to know the book all by

yourself. Are you with me so far? So it

insulates you from false teaching. It is

the primary way that God speaks to us.

God speaks through his written word. In

fact, Jesus said, "It is written, man

shall not live by bread alone, but by

every word that proceeds from the mouth

of God." Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of

Hebrews 4:12

God is living and powerful and sharper

than any two-edged sword, piercing even

the division of soul and spirit, and of

the joints and marrow, and as a

discerner of the thoughts and intents of

the heart."

My relationship with my Bible is

complicated. If I were to put it on

social media, in a relationship with my

Bible, it would say complicated

because it's not just fluff. And it's

not just encouragement. And it's not

just pat me on the back and tell me how

wonderful I am and how much God loves

me. It's also corrective. It's also

rebuking me sometimes. It's complicated.

It's sharp. It pierces. It hurts. It

cuts sometimes. He prunes me. He cuts

things off. And that doesn't feel good.

I was once uh praying and talking to the

Lord and and I brought an issue to him

and I was asking him to fix my wife

because I felt like she was broken.

And God dealt with me there and said,

"She's not the one that's broken. You

are."

>> And and his word cut deep. His the

scriptures penetrated and pierced me and

showed me where I'm wrong and where I

have bad attitudes and where I'm not

loving and patient enough.

It cuts deep.

In fact, the Bible says, "Preach the

word. be instant in season and out of

season. Correct, rebuke, and exhort or

encourage with all longsuffering and

doctrine.

A good message has two things going on

at the same time. One is rebuke and

correction, and the other is comfort and

consolation. I don't want to come to a

church where you just tell me how

wonderful I am and tell me to go home

and live my best life. Now,

>> I want to be a little uncomfortable, but

neither do I want to be beat up with a

Bible and told how rotten I am and then

told to get out there and fix it.

>> I need to find something in the middle

to where because I know I'm still

walking out my own salvation and working

out my own salvation. And I still have

things that God's trying to work in and

out of me. I know I'm not going to be

just able to to hear everything's

wonderful, go home. I know God's got to

dig on me a little bit, but don't beat

me up and then send me home. Beat me up.

Comfort me and then send me home. That's

the measure of a good message.

Conviction and comfort.

That's been my gauge whenever I listen

to preachers. Uh I don't I'm not

comfortable when you just tell me how

wonderful I am because I know you're

lying.

I know you are.

So the Bible, all behavior, it is the

authorative rule of faith and conduct.

All prophecy and all behavior is

measured by it.

Somebody gives you a word of prophecy,

that's wonderful. Measure it against the

book

because it's going to say the same thing

tomorrow that it said today that it said

a thousand years ago.

And for those of you that struggle with,

well, how do I know that's not just

man's book? How do I know that that's

God's word? I encourage you to go on

that journey. There there's a wealth of

of uh evidence that that is indeed God's

word. In fact, in the late 1940s, the

Dead Sea Scrolls were uh found in the

caves of Quamran around the Dead Sea.

And they found there a version of the

Old Hebrew Bible that was a thousand

years older than anything they had in

existence.

And it was striking how accurate after

all of those years, the word hasn't

changed. God is watching over his word.

I encourage you to do the do the study

on it. It was written over 1500 years,

40 different authors, but God watched

over every single word. It's still

relevant. It's still real. And it is how

God talks to us today.

I don't need to hear another podcast as

much as I need to read my Bible. I don't

need to go uh listen to somebody preach

as much as I need to read my Bible. I

need to hide his word in my heart.

Because when you're not there and

someone else isn't there to help me, I

got his word hidden down deep inside of

here. And I can do battle with the enemy

all by myself.

1189 chapters in the Bible, 31,12

verses.

If you start tomorrow, and I just

finished my reading plan this morning.

I'm starting again tomorrow fresh. And I

encourage you to join me. Start reading

your Bible tomorrow.

If you read one verse a day, you'll get

through it in about 85 years.

So, there's a finish line. If you want

to get through it a little sooner than

that, just read a little more. If you

read 3.3 chapters a day, you'll read it

through in a year. Does anyone in this

room not have a Bible? Because we have

some. We want to give you one right now

for real. Just raise your hand if you

need a Bible. Would like one,

everybody? There you go. This this

beautiful young lady's going to bring

one over to you. There's a young man

back here. Anybody else? You want a

Bible? Rose in the back.

There's another young lady over here.

We want to get the word of God into your

hands.

And I would challenge you to start

reading tomorrow morning. Work it into

your schedule. So you say, "Pastor, I

don't have time. My life's too busy.

Let's see if we can find you some time."

The average American spends four to five

hours a day staring at smartphones.

I think we can borrow a little of that

time

to get into the word of God.

Look at somebody and just say, "Put down

the phone."

>> Put down the phone.

>> Just put it down. Put it down. Put it

down.

Some of you are like, "Whoa." I

understand you may be reading your Bible

on it. I'm just using I'm not trying to

tell you to put it away. I'm just saying

when it comes to Bible reading, you need

to put it down. At least put down all

the notifications

and all of the the text and the messages

and all the stuff that's competing for

your attention because our dopamine

receptors are burned out. Our attention

spans have diminished. There was a study

done where they took uh some people and

they put them in a in an isolated room.

There was nothing in there except a

button that would shock the person if

they pushed the button.

And so they took these 42 people and and

they shocked them all. So they knew

exactly what to expect. Now they said,

"We want you to go in there for 15

minutes with nothing but your thoughts."

Do you know 67% of the men couldn't sit

15 minutes with their thoughts and were

shocking themselves rather than sit

there in silence?

25% of women, y'all in this case are

much smarter.

They were they were shocking themselves

rather than just sit there because we've

lost the ability to just focus.

And when it comes to the word of God,

there's a lot of things competing for

our attention.

And so, we need to make time, carve time

out a and make sure there's no

distractions from it. It'll feed your

soul. It'll correct you. It'll encourage

you.

I try to pull out of the archives of

what's what's in my heart, what I've

hidden there. And one scripture that

always comes to me, it is of his

compassions that were not consumed

because or it's of of his mercies that

were not consumed because his

compassions fail not. They're new every

morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

In the beginning was the word, and the

word was with God, and the word was God.

And the word became flesh and dwelt

among us. He came unto his own, and his

own received him not. But as many as

received him, to those gave he the right

to become the children of God.

There's scriptures hidden in my heart.

And that just came through years and

years of reading the Bible.

And so I want to encourage you to get

this habit established in your life.

Again, it'll start as discipline, but

you'll find it turning to desire and

eventually to delight. I love his word.

I love it. I love my relationship with

it. Even when he's cutting me, it feels

so good. The second habit I want to talk

about is prayer. When I think of prayer,

I think of the secret place. In fact,

Jesus said, "But you, when you pray, go

into your room, and when you have shut

your door, pray to your father who is in

the secret place, and your father who

sees in secret will reward you openly."

There's a place that we can go. I love

this place called the secret place where

God meets with us.

And again, Jesus is teaching to to keep

the distractions out. Go into your room,

shut your door,

and your father there in the secret

place, which incidentally is a place of

no secrets.

Your father, that's where you can get

real. That's where you can get

vulnerable. That's where you can get

honest. Did you know you can talk to God

about anything that's going on in your

life? You can shake your fist at him if

you're frustrated and and angry. It's

people have done that throughout

biblical history and throughout the

generations after Christ. People people

come to God and you can get real with

him and you're not going to shock him

with anything. And he sees that. He sees

that closed off place that you've made

where you visit with him and you talk

with him and you commune with him. And

that has a direct effect on your life

outside of prayer.

The one who sees in secret rewards you

openly. The Bible says in Psalm 91, "He

that dwells in the secret place of the

most high shall abide under the shadow

of the almighty."

When you've dwelt with him, when you've

lived in his presence, when you've made

a point of getting with him, the shadow

of the Almighty is over your life.

I know personally when my heart is right

with God, like like I'm not resisting

him or fighting him on anything,

everything just seems to fall into place

no matter what I'm doing. Even traffic

isn't such a headache. Anyone else ever

noticed this? Like like I've had times

where it's green light after green light

after green light and I'm like, "God,

you're so good." And he's like, "I'm

just rewarding you openly.

You're under my covering. You're under

my protection. You're under my power.

You're under everything that I have to

offer because you sought me out in the

secret place. I saw that and I'm going

to reward you in the open place.

Amen.

Jesus in Mark 1:35, it is said of him in

Mark 1:35

the morning, having risen a great while

before daylight, he went out and

departed to a solitary place, and there

he prayed.

Prayer is like air to us.

Prayer is our line of communication. And

can I say

it's not always about us talking, it's

about us listening, which has become

increasingly difficult

in this culture where we have we're

bombarded with so many voices. Jesus

went to a solitary place.

Solitude is the absence of external

voices.

So you can see how your phone, which has

five million people all fighting for

your attention and and all the social

apps and billion-dollar companies that

that that spend all of their time and

research trying to figure out how to

addict you. You see how that works

against you having time in the secret

place. So go into that place, shut the

door, shut out the distractions.

Somebody say, "Put the phone down."

>> Somebody else say, "Put the phone down."

>> You're like, "But I don't want to say

that cuz then I got to do that. I don't

want to do that.

It competes against this kind of

relationship

purpose to just get quiet before him

and listen." Listen to what?

When you've spent time reading the

Bible,

see the scriptures come to you in the

quiet place. Most every sermon I ever

preach is because a scripture pops into

my head at some strange moment and I

quick write it down and it evolves into

a a message.

So, if you read your Bible, you'll know

how to pray

because his promises direct our prayers

and our prayers bring to pass his

promises.

So, the two are tied together. The more

words you can get in you,

the more it'll come back to you. Even if

you don't think you're retaining it,

trust me, it's getting in there. It's in

your heart, not in your head. So, read

it by faith. If you don't think, I'm not

going to remember this, or you know, you

you close the chapter and you're like, I

don't remember anything I just read.

Trust me, do it. It's in there. And the

scriptures, can I get a witness? They'll

come back to you at a time when you

needed it and you didn't even know it

was in there

because God's word is living and

powerful and active. And that's what it

does.

Oh my God, I'm so grateful for the

opportunity to get into his presence.

Prayer changes things. You've heard

that.

Most importantly, prayer changes us.

It is there where the sword of the

spirit cuts into our life and affect and

adjust our attitudes, our sin.

We change in his presence. So if nothing

else changes,

everything changes when you've been in

the secret place.

There's a template that I'd like to

share with you out of Lukeap 11. They

asked Jesus, "Teach us to pray."

The text says in Luke 11:1, "Now it came

Luke 11:1

to pass as he was praying in a certain

place when he ceased, one of his

disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to

pray as John also taught his disciples.

So he said to them, when you pray, say,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your

name. Your kingdom come, your will be

done on earth as it is in heaven. Give

us day by day our daily bread and

forgive us our sins for we also forgive

everyone who is indebted to us and lead

us do not lead us into temptation but

deliver us from the evil one. I want to

give you five Ps to prayer that have

helped me. It starts with our father in

heaven hallowed be your name. I would

suggest to you that is praise.

Always praise God when you pray. Tell

him how good he is. Tell him how awesome

he is. Sometimes you have to adjust your

attitude just by looking around. And you

know, I have a I have a car with 210

211,000 miles on it now. And and I'm I'm

quicker than I should be to tell people,

"Yeah, that old thing 211,000 miles."

But what if I turned that to praise and

God and said, "God, thank you that that

old car is still running. It starts

every day. It gets me where I've got to

go. It ain't half bad. And I praise you

for providing that for me. I praise you

for my wife. I praise you for the house

that I'm in and the food that I eat. I

praise you, God, because you are good

and your mercies endure forever. I

praise you.

That's a good way to to set the tone for

your prayers. Even when you're hurting,

especially when you're hurting and

you're going through something. Oh,

discover this truth. I've been so broken

and hurt and and spiritually beat down

at times. And and I remember against all

normal tendencies, I just said, "God, I

love you. I praise you. I worship you

through the pain." Those were some of

the most powerful prayer times I ever

had in my life. Don't wait for

everything to be perfect and in order

where you're feeling great. Praise him

anyhow.

>> Praise him anyhow.

And then he says, "Your kingdom come,

your will be done." That's purpose.

Your will in my life. your will in our

church. Your will and my family, not

mine, not my agenda, your will. Fulfill

your purpose. Give us day by day our

daily bread. That's provision,

God. We're going to need food. We're

going to need clothes. We're going to

need housing. You know the things we

have need of. And you are Jehovah Gyra,

our provider. And so, Lord, provide the

things that we need.

Forgiveness of our sins. That's pardon.

Pardon for sin. The old song says,

"Pardon for my wrongdoing, for my sin,

and pardon for those who have sinned

against me because I can't expect you to

forgive me if I won't forgive them."

Make sure repentance is a part of your

prayer template.

And then finally, protection. So praise,

purpose, provision, pardon, and then

protection. Don't lead us into

temptation, but deliver us from the evil

one.

I know the devil's out there trying to

take me down. I'm not ignorant of that.

I'm not a demon chaser. I don't go

running around looking for the devil

under every book, as some do. But I need

to pray that God will protect me from

the attack of the devil that would try

to shut me up and stop me from living

for him and take my testimony and

diminish it somehow through through my

own foolishness or a pitfall or whatever

happens. God protect me from that.

I'm not scared of the devil, but I need

God to walk beside me because his rod

and staff comfort me. I will fear no

evil. So, there's just a little template

for you.

I'll also challenge you, as I did, to

start reading your Bible tomorrow, to

start carving out some time to be in the

secret place with God.

I would say, according to the scriptures

we've read,

the quieter the better, the more

isolated the better.

And I don't want to ruffle feathers, but

I've talked to a lot of people that pray

on the way to work and pray this and

pray and pray and music. And we do all

of that. We do it in the church on

Wednesdays. We play music and pray in

here. But I also have my secret place

where I'm alone with nothing more than

my thoughts and I'm not shocking myself.

I'm listening to what God would say. And

I challenge you to carve some time

into your day. And I I feel like Jesus

gave us an example. He went up out into

the wilderness a great while before the

day.

I think it's wise to get your prayer in

your secret place in before you attack

your day. I've done it different ways. I

think that's the best. But either way

you do it, pray and then pray without

ceasing. So it never really ends, does

it?

Finally, the third discipline of strong

Christians is fellowship.

When I think of fellowship, I think of a

place to belong.

I shared a couple of months ago about

just my testimony and how my family was

kind of fractured and I don't have any

close relationships within my family.

Um, last Christmas came and went. I

didn't receive a single text or phone

call from anyone in my family.

I thought y'all would feel bad for me or

something. You're just like, "So,

no, don't I don't want you to feel bad

for me. I I don't feel bad for me

because that's my earthly family and it

is what it is." And there's not like

resentment or bitterness. We didn't have

fallings out or anything. We're just

kind of each went our own way and that's

just the way it is. But the church

became my family the day I started

following Jesus Christ.

The church became closer to me than than

any of my siblings or any of my

biological relatives. Um the church is a

place for you to belong. When you start

following Christ, you've been immersed

into another family.

So look at someone next to you and just

say, "Ah, you're stuck with me."

Sorry,

but you're stuck. I'm your brother. I'm

your sister. That's just the way God has

it. Hebrews 10:25, "Not forsaking the

Hebrews 10:25

assembling of ourselves together, as is

the manner of some,

but exhorting or encouraging one

another, and so much the more as you see

the day approaching.

The day of his return is is approaching.

He's coming back. Don't get too

comfortable with this world the way it

is.

Jesus is coming back." And some people's

practice is to stop meeting together.

The pandemic pushed us back about three

spaces. And I got to admit, I loved

sitting home and and having my coffee

and sitting in my sweatpants and

watching watching TV, you know, for my

worship service, for my sermon. I liked

it for a while, but there's something

about being together that you can't

reproduce. So, all of you online, we

love you, but if you can get back to

church.

Some some can't, and that's fine. I

talked to someone this morning and he's

got a terrible migraine. Couldn't make

it, but he texted me and he's tuning in.

And there's a place for that. But when

you can get to the building, why?

Because there's something about us being

together. Matthew 18:20, where two or

Matthew 18:20

three are gathered together in my name,

I'm there in the midst of them. Now God

is omniresent. He's everywhere all the

time. We already know that. But there's

something special about two or three

coming together. Ecclesiastes 4 910 and

12. Two people are better off than one

for they can help each other succeed. If

one person falls, the other can reach

out and help. But someone who falls

alone is in real trouble. And the devil

loves to isolate us.

He loves to get us away from protected

areas, protected, you know, where people

are surrounding us and protecting us.

Verse 12, a person standing alone can be

attacked and defeated, but two standing

back to back and conquer.

Three are even better, for a triple

braided cord is not easily broken. We're

better together. We're stronger

together. The presence of the Lord is

different when we're together. Now this

does not negate our responsibility to

have our own secret place and to have

our own time of of Bible reading.

The church was never meant to take the

place of that. But it does supplement

that. So think about if we all starting

tomorrow started reading our Bible every

day and started getting into the secret

place and talking to God every day all

by ourself

and then came together

with that wholeness, that health that

only comes from those disciplines.

Imagine what church would be like.

There's always going to be people that

are hurting and broking and dealing

dealing with things in the church that,

you know, we're going to weep with some

at times. But if we if we make it a

habit to establish these disciplines in

our life, we'll come to church a lot

more healthy and we can handle and hold

each other up much better than if too

many of us are unhealthy for no other

reason than that we don't have these

habits in our life.

This is a message that I believe could

change your life. As I look back on 35

years of walking with the Lord, this is

what has kept me. And I've been through

some stuff. I've been through some

failures of my own. I've been through

some hard times. I've been through

unemployment. I've been through

sickness. I've been through challenges

with my child. All kinds of things.

And the thing that has held me is these

disciplines right here. His word is

deeply embedded in my heart. I know how

to get to God all by myself. There were

times when, you know, you might have a

stressful job and there were times I had

a stressful job and it's like I can't

get away from these people for three

more hours.

And I developed a strategy because

nobody ever tried to stop me from going

to the bathroom.

practical application.

It's like, "Boss, I got to go to the

bathroom cuz you driving me nuts right

now. If I don't get to Jesus, I'm going

to punch you in the face." That's that's

the inner dialogue. And then I get with

Jesus and he's like, "I got you. It's

cool." And I come back out. What do you

want me to do, boss?

I mean, I know how to get to him. Give

me two minutes with him. I can be in the

worst trial. I can have the worst thing

happen. Give me two minutes in his

presence. I'll be all right. And you

will be too.

And then don't neglect to come together.

There's so many places where you can get

involved. There's so many groups that

can help you heal in specific areas or

areas that you can serve and give back.

It's just this is a vibrant church.

There's a lot going on. There's a place

for you to get involved.

That's what I wanted to share with you.

But I also want to just mention as I was

wrapping up my through the year plan,

I was reading through Revelation and

the seal judgments and the trumpets and

the bold judgments and

tribulation and

all kinds of things that are coming

on this earth.

And I can't read just the parts that I

like and then look at that and say,

"Well,

I'm not sure I buy into all that."

It's hard to understand what John is

talking about when he wrote Revelation.

But

the thing that stood out to me is the

lamb's book of life

is a book. The lamb is Jesus. And he has

a record, a register in heaven of all of

those that have said, "Jesus, what you

did on the cross, I accept that as

payment for my sins so that I can have a

right relationship with God, and I don't

have to worry about wrath and judgment

anymore.

I only have to look forward to an

eternity with you in perfection where

there's no more tears or sorrow or pain,

for the former things have passed away."

And as I read about the great white

throne judgment, all of the the

judgments led up to this. It culminated

in the great white throne judgment. And

those not written in the book were

thrown into the lake of fire which burns

forever.

And I begin to cry

because of how real that is.

And we forget sometimes

that if we don't choose Jesus

and we persist and throughout Revelation

as all these judgments are happening,

people shook their fist at God and still

refuse to repent.

God will have done everything he could

do to save us and redeem us, but he's

given us free will. And we can say no.

And there will be those at that judgment

that never had their name written in the

lamb's book of life that will be cast

into the lake of fire forever and ever.

And it breaks my heart. And it breaks

God's heart

cuz it doesn't have to be.

Father, I just pray

for everyone in this room and everyone

watching online that

we would be alert and aware

that we would take the tools you've

given us, Lord

of the word of God and of prayer and of

fellowship and would be healthier than

we've ever been and be stronger in you

than we've ever been.

And God, those that are here or online

watching that have not ever chosen to

follow you, I'm glad they're here. I'm

glad they're tuning in

because this gospel is for everybody.

And whoever calls on the name of the

Lord shall be saved. We have your word

on that.

So, I'm praying in this holy moment,

Lord, that those that have never made

that decision, that choice to follow

you, to have their name written in the

Lamb's Book of Life, and thereby be

forgiven of every and all sin, never to

be brought up again, and to look forward

to an eternity spent with you. I pray,

God, that that would this would be the

moment that they choose you.

And so if that's you, I'm going to pray

out loud and I'm not asking you to

repeat after me. But if if you are a

person that just wants to make a

decision to follow Christ beginning

right now, I just want you to pray these

words in your heart. Father, I know that

I need you. I sense you. I feel you. I

hear you.

I'm lost without you. I know that.

And I know it's my sin that has taken me

away from you. But I come to you now

having heard that Jesus paid the price

for all of my sin to be washed away.

I accept that gift.

I receive you, Jesus, into my life

as my Lord and my Savior. And I will

follow you from this moment on as you

show me how.

I'm yours.

I belong to you.

Amen. With your eyes still closed,

if you prayed that prayer just now,

would you just raise your hand? I just

want to know who you are. We had several

people get saved in the first service.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

If y'all would just open your eyes now,

if if you did that, tell somebody.

Tell somebody, man, I prayed in my

heart. I'm accepting Christ into my

life.

Yeah, we can we can applaud that. That's

kind of

kind of a big deal.

And find a leader in the church. We'd

love to walk with you into the next

steps and help you get established in

your journey of faith.

Uh we're going to take the last few

moments of my time here and talk about a

new program that we're really excited

about called Rooted.

And this is a disciplehip track

that we're introducing. Today's the

first day. We're going to promote this

for three weeks and give opportunity for

people to sign up for three weeks. And

then on April 8th, we're going to begin

doing this. This is a small group

format. no more than 15 people per group

where we come together and and are

discipled really. It's not a class. It's

not just somebody lecturing you. It's

somebody facilitating conversation and

we learn from each other. Our staff

started this um about 9 and a half weeks

ago. We're wrapping up this Tuesday and

even though we all work together and

some of us know each other quite well,

it it was really another level of

relationship

where we began to just be vulnerable and

honest with each other in some areas and

grow together. And some of the people in

that circle have been serving God a long

time. But this is really for anybody

that wants to go on a journey of

disciplehip and you're willing to commit

to that for 10 weeks. It's a 10-week

duration. Um if you could put up the

slide that has Yeah, that one. Wow,

we're in sync.

So this is what the 10 weeks look like.

The first week we just get together and

talk about um the model and and

introduce ourselves to each other, hear

a little of each other's story, maybe.

And then we get into some cool stuff

like who is God? So you don't even have

to be a believer coming into this. It's

designed for wherever you're at. If

you're just like I just want to check

this Jesus thing out. We talk about

who's God. How does God speak to us?

That's about prayer. Where's God in the

midst of suffering? These are all

different weeks. There's an enemy.

That's kind of spiritual warfare. How

can I make the most of my life? Like

what what can I do for the kingdom of

God? How does God view money?

Why and how should I tell others? And

why is church important? So, kind of

basic things,

but it's disciplehip. This is how you

learn how to live out the Christian

faith or learn more about the Christian

faith and get really real with people in

a way that it's hard to do in a big

auditorium like this. And so, we want to

present that to you. There's two days

you can sign up for. One is going to be

Sunday morning during first service and

the second will be Wednesday nights at

700 p.m. Again, this is starting in

April 8th and 12th, I believe. Um the

tap dots in front of you or behind you

if you're in the front row. Um you'll

see rooted right at the top of that.

Now, couple things. It is a $20 charge

for the material

and it is something you really want to

make sure you're committing to all 10

weeks. It's not something you want to

like come in and out of. That changes

the whole dynamic of the group. And

you'll you'll get much more out of it if

you come every week. If something

happens, you know, that's

understandable. But but we would

encourage you if you if you can't commit

to 10 weeks straight, wait till the next

time we run this. This is going to be a

part of our normal model in the church.

It's a disciplehip track and then it's

going to help people plug into the

smaller groups and continue to grow in

their faith in Jesus. It's a really

powerful tool and our staff put together

a little testimony video of how it's

impacted them. And so they're going to

we're going to share that video right

now. The worship team's going to come

back and lead us in another song. But um

a few people signed up for this this

morning. I already saw. And so there's

limited space. We can run up to four

groups. So a maximum of 60 people is is

our ability and space um that we're

working with. So if you want to be a

part of that, you know, look into it.

There's more information on the tap dot

under rooted and then you can sign up

right there too if you want. Let's watch

this video.

>> Hi

coordinator.

>> I'm John. I'm an elder here.

>> My name is

Church.

>> I am excited about because I've been a

Christian fourth grade and I have

learned so much going through

that word is new to us every day and

doing the fundamentals and there's just

so many different ways to live your life

because it

staff learns

you can help you

questions

and the interaction

will help you deepen your relationship.

So it's really

great for people

and how

you live a life of service. It's not

just

a life of learning to look out for

people because

people see a lot of

relationship making

question.

What are we doing?

of my favorite

people that are followers of Christ's

life.

you'll realize how

I would encourage you all to some point

or another

understanding of why we do some of the

things we do and what God expects of you

as a father of Christ.

outside.