The Send Part 2 | How Would You Answer? with Chris Schlotterbeck

Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward

slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at

any time you feel called to make a change in

your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

message. Hey, good morning, everyone. Everyone's

favorite, Mr. Rick, right? Bringing you the Gen

Z report. If you're joining us from home, thank

you for welcoming us into your space. Hey, just

a couple things I want to challenge you with.

I just checked the board. As Mr. Rick was saying,

we have 14 spots to fill. That's it. So 14 spots.

Remember, our goal. It's one week of 24 -7 prayer

where for every hour for an entire week, we're

praying for our community of faith. We're praying

for our local community, the nation, the world.

I saw one person that had signed up. They put

online, hey, I'm going to be praying an hour

for 24 -7. Do you have any requests? And people

are putting requests into her message box, and

she's going to be praying for them. So just sign

up. We have 14 spots left. If you still want

to do it and there's a spot taken, Partner with

somebody and come with them and pray together.

Now, if you signed up and you did not get an

email from Rudy, that means you're not in our

system. He sent an email, either it was yesterday

or this morning, to everybody that signed up.

So check your emails. If you didn't get that,

it gives you details of how to get in, what to

unlock, your code, all those things. And if you

didn't get that email, see him today. And it's

very important. Last year, we overwhelmed Turner

Skate Palace for our skate night. We had hundreds

of people show up, which is a good thing. So

now we want hundreds of people to show up at

two different time slots. So get your ticket

to be a part of the family skate night at the

Welcome Hub. Now, I normally don't do this, but

because of the direction that I feel God leading

this gathering, I'm going to share the words

of knowledge right now. Okay, that way if you

hear them and you think, oh, that's me, their

prayer team will be up here at the end of the

gathering to pray for you. And you'll understand

why I'm doing it now in a little bit. So you

have a painful big toe. You have an injured or

damaged ear. You have left elbow pain. You have

pain in the jaw or teeth that moves into the

ear. Right wrist joint. is painful you have complications

with your intestines it's causing dull pain in

your stomach and you have pain associated with

shingles so if any of those are you at the end

of this gathering we will pray for you and believe

that god wants to heal for heal you now as i

was praying for our sunday gatherings this week

listen my spirit was full of expectation for

what god wanted to do in and through us today

so i'm going to pause i'm going to invite the

holy spirit to come silence distractions Because

I want you to be all in on this word. Holy Spirit,

come. Speak to us, God. We are listening. God,

we silence distractions in Jesus' name. Open

our minds, ears, and hearts to receive all that

you have for us. God, transform us. Amen. So

listen, I want to remind you this talk is for

you. It's not for your neighbor. It's not for

your spouse. It's not for the people in front

of you. This talk is for you and me. See, God

wants to give us a fresh vision for this new

year that I believe will transform our daily

routines, our daily schedules into abundant encounters

with the living God. But for that to take place,

we need a fresh vision for our lives. We need

a fresh encounter with God that will set our

hearts on fire. for all that he's called us to

do. Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing

at an early age, distinguished between physical

sight and inner vision by saying this, the only

thing worse than being blind is having sight

but no vision. Having sight but no vision. I

believe that's a wake -up call to the church.

It's a challenge for us to wake up and live lives

with purpose and meaning. Now, I've noticed every

single week you turn in prayer requests. And

as a community of faith, we love it when you

do that. We've got a team full of people who

are called to pray over those requests every

single week. But here's what I've noticed. Week

after week, most of the time, people have prayer

requests for things directly impacting them or

their loved ones. It's, God, I need a breakthrough

in my finances. God, would you heal my grandmother?

Would you? Help me get into this dream school.

God, would you help me find a job? I need a job,

God. Would you lead me in a decision I need to

make? I need you, God. And listen, we should

absolutely continue to pray those prayers. But

instead of just praying, God, would you do this

or do that for me? A dangerous way to pray is,

God, what can I do for you? God, what can I do

for you? Not just God bless me, keep me safe,

but God I'm your servant. And I'm available for

whatever you want me to do. Now this prayer is

called the prayer of availability. And I believe

this will be a foundational talk for many of

you. And some of you think, well what's a foundational

talk? Well over the course of your lifetime,

I believe if you're in a relationship with Jesus,

there will be certain messages or talks. that

when you hear them, you encounter God in such

a way it literally changes the trajectory of

your life. Changes what you do. You'll say, before

that moment, I remember it, I was bored. I was

stuck. I was going through a routine. Fill in

the blank. But when I heard that message, God

spoke to me, and my life has never been the same.

I believe that's what today is. The prayer of

availability is a dangerous prayer. And when

you pray this prayer, God could move you in a

lot of different ways. He may reveal a calling

in your life that you never expected before to

happen. He might lead you to get a different

job. He might call you to serve somewhere in

our community of faith, like the nursery. He

may lead you to go to a different city. He may

call you to serve a group of people that are

very different than you. Don't look the same.

Don't act the same. Have nothing in common with

them, but you're called to serve them. He may

move you to break up with the person you're in

a relationship with right now because it's not

God's best. And I don't know what it could be,

but I do know when you make yourself available

to hear God's voice and pray dangerous prayers,

he'll radically change your life. Now all throughout

the Bible, from the old to the new, you're going

to see that God calls people. And it doesn't

mean that he literally calls their phone. It

means he speaks to people. He prompts them. He

moves them. He gives them pictures. He leads

them to say something, to do something, to go

somewhere, to encourage someone to speak truth.

God will call those who know him to do something

he wants done. We are his vessels. Now, there's

several different responses to God's call, and

I want to discuss four of them this morning.

And the first response is this. We hear it from

Samuel. Here I am. What is it? 1 Samuel 3, verses

1 Samuel 3:4–5

4 through 5. Suddenly, the Lord called out, Samuel,

yes! Samuel replied, what is it? And notice,

he got up and ran to Eli, who was his mentor.

Here I am, Eli. Did you call me? I didn't call

you, Eli replied. Go back to bed. So he did.

So scholars believe that Samuel is probably around

12 to 14 years old when God began speaking to

him. And notice, Samuel did not know God's voice.

He thought it was Eli's voice. And what does

that mean to us? Fast forward to today, we live

in a noisy culture, true or false. Whether it's

the big game on the TV. And all the advertisements

in between, our cell phones, music in the background,

or even billboards on the side of the road were

constantly bombarded with voices and distracted.

And every one of those voices is telling us to

do something, eat something, go somewhere, be

somebody. And if we want to hear from God and

do what he says, we must first put ourselves

in the right surroundings. The main reason we

don't hear God's voice clearly or know his voice

It's not because he's not speaking, because he

speaks to us every single day. It's because we're

distracted or we're not listening. Or we're too

busy. And that's why it's so important to put

ourselves in the right surroundings to hear God

and listen. And it's not just about the right

time and place, it's about our relationships

as well. I firmly believe and I challenge you

every single Sunday to give time to God every

single day. To have daily devotions. To put your

phones on hold or silence or whatever it may

be. To get an devotional plan where you're reading

through the Bible. And to daily pray and communicate

to God all the time throughout your day. You

say, what does it mean to pray to God? Talk to

him. Share your heart with him. Jeremiah 29,

13 says, you will seek me and find me when you

seek me with your whole heart. And listen, if

you're distracted, you're not going to seek God

with your whole heart. But we also need to do

life together. It's not just about our devotions.

We need to invest in each other so that we can

pray for and encourage one another to recognize

the voice of God. This past Friday morning, if

you would like to join us for the next two weeks,

6 a .m. prayer here every morning. I led that

morning prayer. My focus, prayer focus, was on

worship. So we listened to our worship song,

and then we walked through the auditorium and

prayed. We listened to another worship song and

we walked through every seat and prayed over

every seat and every stage and every worship

team member and tech team member. We prayed over

them all. Then we listened to another song. And

then had everybody sit in the hot seat. And we

broke into groups of four and we prayed for each

person. Laid hands on. And you say, well, Chris,

why'd you do that? I thought you were praying

for worship. Well, I saved time at the end, 15

minutes where we prayed for one another because

we need to hear from one another and God uses

us to speak through us. We need to be in community.

If you're not connected in community, you're

missing an opportunity to hear God's voice. Which

leads us to our second response. Good old Jonah.

Here I am. I'm not going. Jonah chapter 1 verses

Jonah 1:2–3

2 through 3. Get up and go to the great city

of Nineveh. Announced my judgment against it

because I have seen how wicked its people are.

But Jonah, good old Jonah, got up and went in

the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.

What did Jonah do? Jonah ran away from God. He

said, here I am, God. No way, I'm not gone. And

we all laugh. And we all point fingers at Jonah.

And we think, how could he do that? But I wonder

how many of us have had similar experiences.

You feel prompted to do something. Hey, I'm supposed

to reach out. I'm supposed to encourage and pray

for the person sitting beside me. But I don't.

Here I am, God. Oh, I'm too busy. Sorry. I'm

not doing it. I can almost guarantee that all

of you that are in a relationship with Jesus

had times this week, just this past week, that

God prompted you to do something. Maybe you were

convicted of a sin that you know is wrong. The

Holy Spirit was speaking to you, challenging

you, saying, Chris, say no, say no. But the temptation

was too much, and you chose to indulge. You know

what that is? Here I am, God. Oh, I'm not listening.

Maybe you were called to give a $5 McDonald's

gift card to the guy standing at the street holding

a sign, I'm homeless. And you wonder, and you

pray for him or her. And God prompts you, give

them a gift card so they can have some food.

And you just drive right by. Maybe God brought

a friend or family member to mind. You were supposed

to simply reach out, text them, call. And you

got distracted and forgot. Maybe there's a co

-worker or classmate that needed a high five

and a smile. But you were running late and you

missed the opportunity. Maybe, just maybe, God

wanted many of you to attend our 6 a .m. prayer

gatherings with our community of faith, but guess

what? You're too insecure believing that you

can't pray in front of people so you don't show

up. You know what that is? That's, hey God, here

I am, but I'm not doing it. And we point fingers

at Jonah and we make fun of Jonah when in reality

we're just like him. Which leads us to our third

response. Good old Moses. Here I am. Send someone

else. Exodus 3, 10 through 11. Now go, for I

am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people,

Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses protested to

God. Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am

I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?

This is a call that Moses agreed needed to happen.

He knew his people had to be freed from the slavery

in Egypt. But instead of saying, sure, God, I'll

go, what's he say? Send someone else. I'm not

good enough. Who am I? I'm not talented enough.

Who am I? Someone would be a better person to

speak and share your truth. Send someone else,

God, Exodus 4, 10 through 13. But Moses pleaded

with the Lord. Oh, Lord, I'm not very good with

words. I never have been, and I'm not now. Even

though you have spoken to me, I get tongue -tied

and my words get tangled. And look, Moses shares

his concerns. God speaks back. Who makes a person's

mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do

not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not

see? Is it not me? Is it not I, the Lord? Now

go. I'll be with you as you speak, and I'll instruct

you in what you have to say. Now, I don't know

about you, but if I heard God speaking those

words to me, I'd be like, let's go. Not Moses.

Moses again pleaded. Lord, please send anyone

else. And it's so easy for us to respond this

way to God, especially in the American church,

unfortunately, especially in the large church.

You know, we're considered a large church now.

We have to add extra chairs on Sunday morning.

And so many people, when they show up to our

community of faith, they think, oh, well, this

church, they got it all together. They don't

need me. I don't need to give. Let that person

give. They got more money than me. I don't have

any money. Dare I say that's a lie? That's the

enemy lying to you? Because everyone in a relationship

with Jesus is called to give, and it's not about

the money. I don't talk about money that much.

Many of you know that. And it's not about the

money. I don't challenge you to give to our community

of faith for the money. I challenge you to give

for your heart. Jesus connects our money and

how we spend it to our heart. And he says, hey,

church, it's a heart issue. If you're not willing

to give, if you're not willing to tithe, it's

a heart issue. You're not fully surrendered to

me. Or I hear, oh, Chris, I just don't have time

to serve. I'm too busy. You mean I have to arrive

30 minutes early to hold the door and welcome

someone and smile? Oh, I have to show up 45 minutes

early to make coffee and serve coffee? Wait a

minute. You mean I got to come to the kids and

teach them and then come to another gathering?

Wow, Chris, I work all week. Hey, church, so

do I. I work all week. I work a lot of hours

in a week. But guess what? I show up. Because

God's called me to show up. And God's called

you to show up. And I'm tired of the excuses.

We all have excuses. You know, I have to fix

my refrigerator. My fence is broken right now.

My fence. And I was going to fix it yesterday,

but what did it do? It rained all day. I wasn't

going to go out in the rain because many of you

know if I go in the rain, I'll melt. I didn't

want to go in the rain. So my fence is still

falling over, waiting to be fixed on Monday when

it's sunny. Okay, but the point is, I did not

show up today. I did not serve today because,

oh, I got to get to my fence. I got to do this.

I got to do that at home. I have all these chores.

Oh, wait a minute. I got to go relax. I got to

ride my bike. I got to go on my four wheel. All

good things. But when they get in the way of

your relationship with God, they're bad. It's

a sin. Call it what it is. Because if you're

not serving, who's going to? Here I am, God.

Send someone else. Which leads us to our final

response. Go to Isaiah. Here I am. Send me. Then

I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall

I send and who will go for us? Here I am. Send

me. And notice, when Isaiah prayed this prayer,

he did not say this. Where are you sending me?

Is the weather nice? What about the cost of living?

Pay range? I need a new job. Are there benefits?

Wait, do I get vacation time? Like he didn't

ask any of that. What did he do? He simply said,

God, here I am. I'll say it together. Send me.

Send me. So he said, send me. He was obedient.

And I want to encourage you this week. I believe

that God wants this to become a daily part of

our prayer life. As soon as you wake up, right,

you begin to pray. God. Give me my, give my mind

to you. I give my mind to you. May my thoughts

be like your thoughts. God, I give my eyes to

you. May I look at people as you see them, not

lust after them. I give my mouth to you. May

I speak words of life. May I read your truth

and live it. Not just read it and then go do

something else. Here are my feet, send me. Here

are my hands, use me. Essentially, God, here

I am, send me. And I want to dare you. I want

to challenge you this week, motivate you to pray

a prayer like that. Hey, God, I'm available.

You have permission to interrupt me. You have

permission, God, to change my schedule. If you

want me to say, I'll say. If you want me to speak,

I'll speak. If you want me to shut up and be

quiet, I'll listen. I want to give it away, God.

I want to serve you. I want to use my time to

follow you and point other people to you. Here

I am. God, send me. And listen, it's an incredibly

dangerous prayer. Because when you start praying

like that, I guarantee you, you know what's going

to happen? God's going to interrupt you. God's

going to change your schedule. God's going to

highlight an area of your life you need to change

and get rid of it. God's going to point out a

sin. God's going to invite you to retire early

and get into ministry. Here I am, God. Send me.

And some of you are thinking, okay, Chris, let's

see it. I want to be bold this week. How do I

get there? Three simple steps that we learn from

Isaiah to surrender our lives to God. And the

first is this. We need to experience the presence

of God. Isaiah 6 .1, it was the year of King

Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting

on a lofty throne and the train of his robe filled

the temple. What happened here? Remember, Isaiah

was a young man. He was not yet a prophet. This

was his calling into the ministry. And what did

he do? He saw Jesus in all of his glory. Last

week, I shared about the Bible teaching about

angelic beings named Seraphim. The only time

they appear in the Bible. And what were they

doing? They were worshiping. They were praising.

They were singing to God. Holy, holy, holy is

the Lord God Almighty. And there's something

powerful when people gather and sing. I was in

the worship room for the last song, and just

hearing your voices sing out to God brought me

to tears. And that's what these angelic beings

were doing. And when Isaiah saw the presence

of God, that's the presence of God, church, when

he experienced the glory of God, it transformed

who he was. Why is it that you may not make yourself

available to God? Well, perhaps it's because

you haven't recently experienced his presence.

You haven't made time for his presence. Or for

some of you, you're in a relationship with God.

You've never experienced the presence of God.

Listen, I've been pastoring this church for nearly

20 years now. It'll be 20 years this Easter.

And many of you have commented on our weekend

of rest that we shared a few weeks ago. Jess

and I made a video sharing the story of HTV and

everything. we've been through, the places we've

been, and I've heard from many of you saying

you appreciated the honesty and the transparency

of the story of HTV. You commented on how awesome

it was to see Phoenix wipe tears from my wife's

face as she shared her heart and was vulnerable.

But can I be brutally honest with you? It's been

a very difficult journey to get here. Everybody

sees our community of faith and praises it and

talks about the explosion and everything that

God's doing and 55 people baptized. But in 20

years, there's been many ups and downs. There's

been a lot of tears shed. There's been seasons

where I didn't think I was going to make it.

Whether it be anxiety, heartbreak, personal attacks

on me personally, my family, my character, on

my physical body, on my family's physical body.

Each and every time those attacks or that stress

or that heartache happened, I had to back away

and renew my connection with God. I had to escape.

I had to get in my car and drive and just listen.

I had to work out extra hard because that's where

I hear from God. See, the presence of God brought

me to a deeper place of real submission. Made

me realize, Chris, it's all worth it. Lives are

being changed for eternity. God, I've been with

you, and I'm your servant. Anything you want,

I will do. And many of you know from the testimony

of that video, we do it. I mean, just this past

year, I'm going to bring this up gently, because

next year it's probably going to happen again.

So I played the video, and then that same day

I get a call. Chris! What are the chances of

doing a polar bear baptism tomorrow? I'm like,

oh, man. So New Year's Day, I was in the Potomac

River. Baptizing somebody. God bless you, John.

And it was cold. But the point is, it was all

because of what God wanted to do. Now some of

you may say, that's never really happened to

me before, Chris. And I want to tell you right

now, it can happen to you today. 1 Corinthians

3 .16, don't you realize that all of you together

are a temple of God and the Spirit of God lives

in you? Friends, you don't have to be in the

middle of a crisis to experience the presence

of God. That verse right there tells us that

if you're in a relationship with Jesus, right,

the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. There is

no more... Old Testament temple where the presence

of God rests. That has now been shifted. The

New Testament temple is you and me. So we literally

have the very presence of God. And you say, well,

Chris, what is that? Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Does everybody remember Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Throwback, right? Remember that ark? Everyone

remember the ark and the destruction and the

power? Where does that live now? In you. In you.

Not that you're going to go out and destroy someone,

but that you release God's power in you and through

you. And listen, experiencing the presence of

God doesn't happen here on Sunday mornings. You

could be driving in your car, listening to a

worship song, and suddenly the presence of God

comes over you. You start weeping, and you realize

God is in my car. You could be praying for your

five -year -old son in his bedroom. praying a

prayer of blessing over his life as he goes to

sleep and realize the presence of God is in this

bedroom. And you begin weeping and sobbing. See,

when you invite the Holy Spirit to come alive

inside of you, it can happen at any point, in

any place, no matter what is happening. And guess

what? No one has to push you over. So maybe you're

not able to pray a dangerous prayer because you

haven't experienced the presence of God yet.

Because when you experience the presence of God,

not just do you experience him, but you get full

of joy, Psalm 16. You will show me the way of

life, granting me the joy of your presence and

the pleasures of living with you forever. See,

unfortunately, in the church world, some people

are afraid of the Holy Spirit because of past

experiences or rumors or churches that you've

been in or whatever it may be. There's nothing

to be afraid of. It's the very living presence

of God that just speaks to your heart and allows

you to change. But when the presence of God comes,

number two, you have awareness of your sinfulness.

See, currently one of the biggest cultural lies

that people believe today is, I'm a good person.

You're a good person. She's a good person. We're

good people. Look all over social media. Can

I be brutally honest with you? Without Jesus,

I'm not a good person. In fact, without Jesus,

I'm pathetic. We're not good people. In fact,

without Jesus, we're pathetic sinners. And in

the eyes of God, who is holy, remember, holy,

holy, holy, God can't relate to sin and brokenness.

Right? And I know from experience, 23 years of

experience, Before Jesus, I was a horrible person.

I was selfish, mean, rude, disrespectful, angry,

upset, addicted, anything to take away the pain.

I wasted a quarter of my life being a horrible,

sinful, pathetic individual. Welcome to HTV,

where I build you up and encourage you to get

closer to God. Friends, that's the truth. Our

natural sin nature is self. We're consumed with

ourselves and selfishness. And when we're consumed

with selfishness, it leads us to making bad choices.

Right? I just started my fourth year journey

through the Bible. I've already completed three

straight years of reading through the entire

Bible. I'm on my fourth year. And man, I'm in

Jacob right now. I tell you what. You want to

realize how pathetic. People are, just read about

Jacob. I mean, he lied, cheated, stole, manipulated,

got in a wrestling match with God and lost. I

mean, he's pathetic. But yet God used him and

his family to what? He was the line that Jesus

was born into. And see, it was when Isaiah saw

the goodness of God, he realized his negativity

and sin. Isaiah 6, 5. Then I said, it's all over.

I am doomed for I am a sinful man. I have filthy

lips and I live among a people with filthy lips.

Yet I've seen the King, the Lord of heaven's

armies. Now, other versions, I took other versions,

NIV, message, and I compiled them all. Listen

to this. Other versions read like this. I'm done.

I'm nothing. I'm pathetic. I'm a sinner. I have

nothing to offer. He's holy, I'm not. He's righteous,

I'm unrighteous. He's full of glory, I'm full

of sin. Woe to me, I'm ruined, for I'm a man

with unclean lips, and I live among a people

of unclean lips, which we know is true, and my

eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. See,

what does it take to get to a place of fully

surrendering to God and saying, here I am, send

me? It takes a genuine experience with his presence,

and it takes a genuine awareness that we are

sinful people. Now, if you're in a relationship

with Jesus, listen, I'll declare over you, you're

a son and daughter of God. You don't have to

continue to be a sinful person. It's a choice

now. James writes it this way in chapter 4, verse

8. Come close to God, and God will come close

to you. But when he comes close to you, notice,

wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts,

for your loyalty is divided between God and the

world. Which leads us to our final step. We have

to understand God's grace. And when you understand

just how amazing the grace of God is, it brings

you to a point of fully surrendering. Isaiah

6, 6 or 7. Then one of the seraphim flew to me

with a burning coal he had taken from the altar

with a pair of tongues. He touched my lips and

said, this coal has touched your lips. Now your

guilt is removed and your sins are forgiven.

With one touch. From the goodness of God, from

the presence of God, his sins were forgiven.

He was completely restored. Imagine this, church.

Your lying lips, forgiven. Your lustful attitudes,

forgiven. Your self -centered thoughts, forgiven.

Your angry outbursts, forgiven. Your secret sin

that nobody knows about, but God does. Forgiven.

As if they had never happened, Psalm 103. He

does not punish us. See, when we confess our

sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive

us of all sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.

We don't bring anything, church. Jesus did everything.

And when we sense God's presence, when we're

aware of our sinfulness, and we experience the

undeserved grace of God, the only reasonable

response is Isaiah 6, 8. Here I am, God. Send

me. One of the most dangerous prayers you can

pray. God, I'm all yours. Anywhere. Anytime.

Anyplace. For. And listen, this isn't a begrudgingly,

oh man, I gave my life to Jesus, now I gotta

serve God. No, it's, I'm in love with Jesus.

I wanna give him everything. And it's not a one

-time prayer that you prayed in 2002 and got

baptized in 2004. See, church, it's a daily prayer

of saying, God, here I am, send me. But you must

realize when we pray those prayers, there's a

war inside of our bodies. The Bible calls it

the flesh. And it's not your skin. It's your

selfish desires in your heart. And you have the

selfish desires in your heart and you have the

spirit side. And they're at war with one another.

And when the flesh wins, and you say, well, what

does it mean the flesh wins? Give me, give me,

give me. I need to consume. I need more. I need

new. I need this. I need that. Give me, give

me, give me. The flesh one. I'm not going to

do that, God. My life's too important. I'm not

going to do that, God. I'm busy. Somebody else

can do it. Anybody but me. I can't talk. I don't

know the Bible. Excuse after excuse after excuse.

Instead, Instead of making an excuse, you deny

yourself. Paul writes it this way. My old self

has been crucified with Christ. It's no longer

I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So I

live in this earthly body by trusting the Son

of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

And when we battle with the Spirit against the

flesh and we crucify it, that we become a church

that says, yes, God, send us. Yes, God. Send

us. But unfortunately, so many people are afraid

to pray that dangerous prayer. Break me, God.

Search me. Change me. Send me. Use me. They're

all dangerous prayers. And so many people are

afraid to pray those prayers because they think

if they pray those prayers, God's going to send

them somewhere to Africa to use a toilet that

they'll never use like they have here in the

United States. And here's the reality. Yes, that

may happen because I have a son that's doing

it right now. But chances are, you know what

God wants to do with you? He wants you to be

a good dad and a good mom to your kids. He wants

you to make time for them and coach them and

pray for them and love them and lift them up

and serve them because you're the example of

Jesus to them. And you know what he wants you

to do? He wants you to love your wife and to

love your spouse. And he wants you to go into

your workplace and treat it like it's Africa.

And find people that are hurting and broken and

in need and you become Jesus to them. That's

what he's calling you to do. And we're afraid

to pray dangerous prayers because we think we're

not good enough. And I'm here to declare over

you, all of you, it doesn't matter if you're

in a relationship with Jesus or not, you're good

enough. Because when the love of God comes over

you and you experience the Holy Spirit, you'll

be transformed into a new person, a new creation,

and you'll never go back to those old ways because

you want to be used and empowered by God. Will

you stand with me? Now remember what I said.

Listen. Today's special. This is a foundational

day for some of you. We're not even near being

done, so don't pack your stuff up. Put it under

your chair. Hide it. Throw your keys out the

window. We're going to pray a simple prayer like

we always do because I believe God brings people

into our church, into our midst, into our gatherings

that are distant, far from God, have walked away

from God, have never been in a relationship with

Him. And we don't single you out. We all pray

it together. Amen? So if that's you, I invite

you to pray that with me right now. Jesus, I'm

broken. I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.

Change me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's

son. I believe you died for me. Make me new.

Set me free. Fill me with your spirit, God. Help

me, God, to serve others. In Jesus' name, amen.

So if you prayed that prayer for the first time,

listen, welcome to the family. See us, text me,

do something so I can get you baptized, so I

can get you started on this journey. We love

you. Welcome, welcome. Come back every single

week. But now, like I said, for some of you,

this is a foundational moment in your relationship

with Jesus. As I was praying for all of you this

week, I felt like God wanted to release his presence

into your life that some of you have never experienced

the tangible presence of God. You're afraid of

it. You're intimidated by it. It's kind of unknown.

You're not really sure what to do about it. Listen,

that's your lifeline. That's your source. And

I believe God wants to bring it alive inside

of you this morning. But listen, it takes a step

of faith. So I'm going to open up the front.

You heard the... The words of knowledge, if any

of those are you, this is your time. But for

the rest of you, the worship team is going to

lead us in worship. But if you want to experience

the tangible presence of God, or you need a refilling

or a refreshing, I'm going to invite you to come

right now. Just come up front. Come Holy Spirit.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come Holy Spirit.

That's it. Plenty of room. Plenty of room. Now

listen, for the rest of us, we're going to worship.

And as you worship, God may convict you of something

you need to get up here. God may reveal something

to you you need to get up here. Doesn't mean

that just because you didn't come forward now

doesn't mean you won't. It means be open to what

God wants to do for you. Amen? Let's sing together.

for life for mine if the warrants turn water

into wine please fix my heart things inside