Arise! | Dr. John Ewart

Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood

Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

Thank you so much for tuning in to our podcast.

You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word

about important issues facing your life that can guide you

according to the Bible. Hey, man.

Well, good morning, Inglewood. Happy sort of 4th of July.

I hope you survived your neighborhood illegal fireworks,

bombardment competitions, the most unenforced laws in the

state of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Appreciate those facts as many of you hopped the border and Bob

bought those bombshells. So I hope you had a good time.

We appreciate you being here. I am excited about Vacation

Bible School. I really do hope you'll pick up

a, a, a set or two or sixteen of those cards and pass those out.

And we got a several thousand of them available today, about 3000

more on Wednesday night. Again, as Pastor Charles said,

if you can't physically go out and hang door hangers, don't

worry about it. We got stuff for you to do right

here inside as well as if the weather's bad, we're doing this

rain or shine. So come on in.

Be good to see you. We were in Ukraine.

Teresa and I were in Crane a few years ago and and one of our,

one of our missionaries there took Teresa out to an ice cream

parlor. Now, maybe this is common for

you and maybe they serve these at the, at the local Dairy Queen

now. And I just don't know it, but

they bought what's called a bubble waffle.

Now, I don't know if you've heard of these or not.

I think they actually started in Hong Kong.

But but what it is is think of a ginormous waffle cone, right?

And they packed, they packed a bunch of ice cream in there, you

know, probably a three scooper at least.

And you and you got syrup and stuff Portal.

You know, that's not that unusual.

Fancy waffle cones, right? And then the cone itself is

covered in chocolate nuts again. I see that, right.

That's not that that's not that big a deal.

You see that at different tourist spots.

Lots of ice cream, caramel and chocolate, just kind of drill,

you know, just kind of dripping off the ice cream the the cone

itself covered in chocolate. But that's not the trick to this

thing. You know how you got the little

squares in a waffle? They have this machine that

injects caramel and chocolate syrup inside the squares so that

the the cone itself bubbles out, right?

And so you have this this almost honeycomb looking thing.

So not only are you working through the ice cream and the

chocolate syrup and the whipped cream and the nuts and the

cherry and the cone, but then when you bite in the cone, it

just kind of squirts out all over the place.

I mean, this is just a fantastic invention for a diabetic.

Now, what was fascinating, Teresa took a picture of this 3

1/2 LB ice cream cone she was trying to hold in her hand and

she ate a little bit of it. Didn't even hardly get to the

cone itself. Hardly.

Whereas the missionary hate the whole thing.

I couldn't imagine. I just couldn't imagine that

thing. But just think about this

thing's just dripping. You know, you got goodness and

sweetness just dripping down your hands and all over your

face. Kind of makes you want to go to

lunch, doesn't it? You know, life can be like that,

can it? So sweet, overflowing, the

goodness just dripping over the side.

Maybe your 4th of July, camp out, cook out, whatever it was,

was like that. But friends, sometimes,

sometimes life is not like that. Sometimes it feels not so sweet,

less tasty, less satisfying, but certainly still dripping with

messiness. Anybody with me?

You hear me? All right, any, anybody here

experience the overflow of mess and not necessarily the sweet

kind or do you know somebody? You know, somebody needs a

little hope today? Know somebody needs a little

encouragement? Know somebody who needs a little

comfort, something to fill life with overflowing, gripping

grace. You know, in today's confused

culture that seeks to cancel anything or everyone or anyone

frankly, who does not agree with their own invented self defined

truth, we need to in this culture today, we need to

remember God's grace can't be cancelled.

His love can't be cancelled. Nothing separates from Him from

us, and us from Him. His sovereignty cannot be

cancelled. His Word cannot be cancelled.

His perfect plan and purpose for us cannot be cancelled, altered,

postponed, or rescheduled by anyone except by us if we're not

obedient. And so today's passage is

special for us because God's not just sitting in heaven surprised

by what is happening in our insane world, or He's not

surprised by the mess of your life or someone you know, maybe

it's not you. Maybe it's a friend, maybe it's

a family member who's having some struggles.

So let's find hope in him today and let's come join the King's

mission. Today's message is a testimony

to his complete sovereignty. It's a message of hope.

It's a message of comfort. It's a message of faith.

It's a message of healing. And I encourage you to listen

closely to this one because we're going to testify of his

perfect timing. We're going to testify of the

incredible majesty of a loving God who cares for his people.

In fact, testimonies of change, testimonies of restoration,

testimonies of new life in the passage this morning because

it's time to arise. And I like the sound of that.

So here's where we're picking up in Acts.

We've been walking through Acts, if you're our guest.

We've been working through the 1st 13 chapters of the book of

Acts, looking at the first church, and we're going to look

at another one toward the end. We're almost there.

Saul's back in Tarsus now, so the story shifts back to Peter

for just a bit. And So what we see is he's

ministering in the greater Judean area.

You got to remember Acts 18 is being fulfilled.

You got to go to Samaria. You got to go to Judea.

Peter's helping do that in the coastal cities of Judea.

And we pick up in Acts Chapter 9, verse 32.

Acts 9:32

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down

also to the Saints who lived at Liddam, where he found there he

found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who

was paralyzed. The first thing we're going to

see in this passage, and we're going to go through two

different stories that are connected this morning.

The first thing we're going to see is just the restoration of a

life. What we see is he's visiting

believers in this place called little.

We don't know how Christianity began there.

It's one of the interesting parts about the gospel because

after the day of Pentecost, you got to remember that some of

those people didn't stay in Jerusalem.

Some of those people went home and we don't know, maybe they

took Christianity back with them, or maybe maybe Phillip

passed that way on his way to Caesarea, or or maybe

persecution had already driven believers to this place, but but

he found a man there. Peter finds Anita's bedridden,

paralyzed and then notice it says for eight years.

And the Bible points out this kind of detail and it really

helps us to be aware of how and how real his need was.

These are real people who really lived and experienced the

difficult realities of life. These are these are people who

really experienced pain and problem and that this man had

not been bread ridden his whole life.

He was a grown man, but something had happened.

Something tragic, something life altering, something that got him

stuck, paralyzed. Well, maybe that's maybe that's

you this morning. Or maybe it's somebody you know,

maybe somebody that you know. Something's happened.

Something tragic, something life altering, something you can't

overcome on your own, Something that makes you feel trapped,

something that makes you unable to cope, something that makes

you feel stuck. And Aneus needed help.

He needed hope. And maybe you do too.

Or maybe you know someone who does.

This morning, look at verse 34. And Peter said to him, Aneus,

Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed.

And immediately he rose. Now there's the answer, Jesus

Christ heals you. There's the answer.

There's the true cells, the true source of real help, the true

source of real hope. Peter had already learned he

could never consider trying to do this by his own strength.

He could never consider taking credit for this, or doing it by

his own name or in his own power.

See, Peter knew this because Peter had been stuck himself.

Peter had been trapped before. He needed to be restored by

Jesus too. At one point in his life,

remember, he had denied he even knew Jesus three times when he

was paralysed with fear. So he knew what it was.

He he pretended he was not a follower of Christ when things

got tough, when it when it wasn't convenient, when he

thought he had a better way out. So he knew what it was to be

stuck. But Jesus freed him and look

around. If you look around this room, I

don't care what you're in the middle of.

I don't care how messy it is in your life.

I don't care what's dripping down your face or your wrist

this morning. I'm telling you, if you look

around this room, you need to realize we've all been stuck at

one time in our lives or another.

All of us were stuck before we met Jesus.

And so if you're here this morning and you need hope and

you need help and you feel stuck, you're in great company

because we've all been there and we're cheering for you and we're

here to encourage one another. I promise.

We've all been broken. And now we seek to give Jesus

the credit for our restoration because Jesus is the name that

people must hear and believe, and we must be eager to make

certain he receives all the praise, the credit and the

glory. So the time we're experiencing

together here is not is not about the name of Inglewood.

It's certainly not about me, and it's not even about you.

It's about him. And this world must hear of the

only one who can heal, the only one who can restore, the only

one that can give true hope. And Peter says, rise and make

your bed. In other words, you don't need

to stay there anymore. You don't need to stay stuck.

You don't need to stay trapped. You can have a new freedom.

This is a weekend where we celebrate freedom and you can

have new freedom. You don't have to stay in the

same old place where you've been these past days, these past

weeks, these past months, these past years, anymore.

Maybe that place is emotional. Maybe that place is relational.

Maybe that place is spiritual. And maybe you felt like you just

can't get out of this on your own.

You just can't move on from this by yourself.

Listen to the name of Jesus immediately He rose.

Don't miss it. Don't miss the power of the

Creator God. Don't miss the one who has power

over everything. The restoration.

Aeneas must have felt that the strength.

He must have felt the overflowing.

He must have felt the freedom. He must have felt the ability to

stand and rise again. Now imagine his excitement,

imagine his emotion, imagine his thankfulness.

But friends, that very same sovereign God of all power is

right here, right now, and he wants to be known by you, all of

us. He wants to help you to arise to

a new life, a new outlook, a New Hope, a new purpose.

But look at verse 35. There's an amazing word in this

verse and it says and all and all the residents of Lyda and

Sharon saw him, the healed man. They saw the healed man and turn

to the Lord. They saw a healed man, but they

turned to Jesus. Now that that's a powerful

testimony. So that's a powerful testimony.

When people see you, when people see us, when people know us, how

are they going to turn? Are they going to turn to

Christ? Are they going to recognize

there's something different going on over there at

Inglewood, Something different in that man's life, something

different in my neighbour's life, Something special going on

in that marriage, Something restored, something healed,

something overflowing. The Shains, the the plains, the

Shains of Plarin, the as the plains of Sharon were huge.

They went on for miles. Interesting how news spreads

rapidly when lives are really changed.

You didn't hear that. When lives are truly changed, I

promise you, it'll be standing room only.

People are going to want to come see what's going on when lives

are truly changed. They'll pack out a Chapel on a

college campus at Asbury when revival breaks out.

And so we need to see what what we need to do in service to him

to watch that happen here. Listen.

News spread rapidly, all the residents, entire communities

can be impacted. And you know, it's also amazing

to me and it's always been true that bad news travels fast.

Our culture feeds on it. Our culture, our social media

world now feeds on bad news like a shark frenzy, gossip,

self-serving rumours, truth spinning rush through our

culture and often even through the church because it's their

nature. It's their nature to be known,

those false things. It's by their very nature they

want to be known. They seek to be known.

They seek to be spread. Spread because the father of

lies, Satan himself, who's going to fry forever in eternal lack

of fire. And you know, I like saying that

out loud because he can hear me. He likes to make sure they

spread. So let's spread the good news.

No, let's spread the great news. Let's spread the different news.

Let's do something different. Let's not be cynical, negative

people. Let's talk about how Jesus

Christ saves, He restores, He frees, He forgives, and he can

bring an overflowing sense of sweet grace into our very, very

messy lives. See.

So let's arise and spread that news to all the residents of

Rocky Mountain in the area, news of transformation and salvation.

But you got to understand it was vital for this news from Lita

and Sharon to spread so that the next story can take place.

Look at verse 36. Now there was in Joppa a

disciple named Tabitha, which translated means Dorcas.

She was full of good works and acts of charity in those days.

She became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they

laid her in an upper room. We saw a restoration.

Now let's look at the recognition of a life, just for

a few minutes. It's special because there's

something unique in the New Testament right here.

She was a disciple. This is the only time in the New

Testament that the feminine version of that word is used.

And so it's really interesting, the word for disciple, a version

of matthatase or matthatross. Actually.

See, we here is Matthatria where we see this is one time where

this special lady received this kind of commendation.

In Greek, her name's Dorcas. In Aramaic, her name is Tabitha.

It means gazelle. And so we see that this blessed

servant, this believer is described as a loving and caring

person who's full of good works and charity.

And the point of that is her life was known by her community.

People knew her. People knew what she was about.

They they knew her life of love and service.

Makes me kind of want to look in the mirror and say, how is my

life known? How is my service known?

Is your discipleship mature enough to lead you to the

service of others in Christ's name?

It's an important question. Have you, in fact, this morning

two different people came up and said, we want to do this because

I'm, I'm asking you, have you officially joined the church so

that you can serve in ministry here?

See, we're going to be recruiting volunteers to serve

in some of our family ministry areas very soon.

And we need you to take your turn because we're growing.

And I promise you, as fall hits, we're going to grow a lot more

and we're going to need help. And So what has, what has his

calling in your life meant? What has calling yourself a

disciple actually LED you to do? See, I want to say thank you.

I really do, because last Sunday we had more people in Connect

groups than you all have had, maybe except for a couple of

exceptions since COVID, you understand, at least in the last

year. I mean, no, seriously, no, no.

And I, and listen, the reason I'm sharing that with you, I'm

not trying to set some attendance record.

I'm not looking for a trophy. What I'm, what excites me about

that is that just means a higher percentage of you are in Bible

studying communities that are soon going to become ministering

communities that are also prayer communities and discipleship

communities. Because a whole lot of things

getting ready to happen to connect groups around here.

And I need you. I've been telling you I need you

there. So I just want to say thank you

because I know I get it. I know I've been asking you to

buy a ticket and get on board the train without you

necessarily understanding where the train was going.

And I appreciate you trusting me enough to do that.

I've been hearing how we we're, we got a lot of people in our

connect group together, got a lot of people in our connect

group. And man, that's fantastic news

to me. So if you're not in one of

those. Listen, I've been telling you

and telling you and telling you. We've written definitions of the

essentials of biblical discipleship together as

leaders, and I'm going to preach them to you very soon.

We're almost done with Acts and we're going to be moving into a

different series, and I'm going to be teaching you and we're

going to be implementing so much of this in our small group

ministry. But for now, this week, how are

you serving in sacrificial service right now to meet the

needs of others? Because people are calling you,

asking you to serve. How will your life, how will

your disciples think of Dorcas? How are you going to be

remembered? How are you going to be honoured

like this in the Pacific? You know, Teresa and I were

raised in Native American culture, cultural background,

where we were from. But in the Pacific Northwest,

there are Native American tribes that have totem poles.

And you've probably thought of totem poles.

You see them in movies and different things and very often

they get misunderstood. Now, not every tribe is does

what I'm about to say. Some tribes, they are idolatry,

but most of the time those are not gods.

Those are not idols. What what totems in the Pacific

Northwest represent? These are teaching tools for the

elders. They actually represent

characteristics of the people. So the elders would gather the

children of the village around the totem pole and they would

teach them about their us as a people.

So there might be an image of a fox.

Our people are wise. There might be an eagle, Our

people are swift and fly with the wind, there might be a bear.

Our people are strong and endure.

For some of you there, there might have been a picture of a

bull, you know, and you take that wherever you want to go.

But anyway, there might be in that, but but they they

represent the characteristics of the people kind of like European

family Crest sort of, but more literal.

And I often I've actually in men's conferences, I'll use

that. We'll talk about what, what

would your life or how would your life be represented?

What, what would be the carving, what would be the imagery that

would express, this is who I am and this is how I'm known.

See, this faithful servant was known by her community and loved

by her community. And she grows ill and she dies.

Now we don't know how, but in a moment we're going to know why.

Look at verse 38. Since Little was near Joppa,

This is why these two stories are importantly connected.

The disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to

him, urging him. Please come to us without delay.

So Peter rose and went with them, and when he arrived, they

took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him

weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made

while she was with them. Now, it's interesting because

earlier we read that rather than anointing the body for burial,

they just washed the body and put it upstairs.

Now we don't know for sure, but perhaps this was actually out of

faith because they knew that Peter was only three hours away

and they knew what God was doing through Peter and they believed

that if we sinned for Peter, God could do something miraculous

here. In fact, this story reminds me

of the raising of Lazarus in John Chapter 11 where we see

John 11 · chapter mention

Jesus, you know, he dies and Jesus is in another place and

they sin for the Master knowing that he could heal, that he

could restore. So Peter arrives, found the body

surrounded by the mourners and, and they're showing how they

benefited from her ministry. They're showing testimonies,

physical testimonies of her service and love to them.

What a testimony. It reminds me so much of when I

worked for what's now called the International Mission Board.

When I worked when I lived in the Philippines.

And one of the things we used to do is every month we would go to

a leper colony. Now, sometimes I talk fast and I

know sometimes I talk fast. And sometimes when I say the

word leprechaun, I used to have kids who'd come up to me after I

talk about this and I say you work with leprechauns.

I'm like, no, no, no leper colony and, and, and this was a

very biblical place. In other words, this is leprosy,

just like you would imagine leprosy in the Bible.

There's a lot of things that can be called leprosy, but these

were horrific situations. People disfigured, people dying.

It's very serious. Their lifespan was not, was not

long. And this, this leprosarium was

being, was being run by charity and we would go out and minister

and share the gospel and just love on people sing hymns

together and share the gospel and preach.

And what a wonderful experience it was every time we went out

there. And those people just loved us

when we came. And, and, and they, if you can

imagine, many of them have been shunned.

Their families had disowned them.

Society had cast them out and literally separated.

I mean, it's as if they had to scream unclean almost because of

the way they were separated from the rest of society.

But some of their family, some of their talented, gifted family

made dolls, beautiful dolls that they would sell in a gift shop

there to raise money to support the colony.

If you'll come to my home at Christmas and everybody's

invited to all come at once. But if you'll come to my home,

you'll see that I have some of these dolls that came from the

Philippines that remind me so much of the love that some

people, family and friends, were showing to these people who are

in great need. Are you a contributor?

Are you a consumer? Are you a spectator or are you a

servant? Do you give and invest or you

just receive and take? What are you getting out of the

church thing? Do you simply attend or do you

fully participate? And you know what percentage

this crazy man's expecting in participation, don't you?

What percentage isn't that crazy?

Crazy man? You got to believe Inglewood.

What's about to happen? It's coming, it's coming.

Are you serving in ministry here to bless others?

Look at verse 40. But Peter put them all outside

and knelt down and prayed and turned to the body.

He said, Tabitha arise. And she opened her eyes, and

when she saw Peter, she sat up and he gave her his hand and

raised her up. Then calling the Saints and

widows, he presented her alive. We've seen restoration,

recognition. Let's look very clearly at

resurrection, the resurrection of a life.

Peter requested that they leave him alone.

Now this is very interesting and I want to make this connection.

I'll try not to get too technical with you because I

know it bore. It's boring sometimes, but but

there's a parallel between what Peter's doing and what Jesus had

showed them before. And one of the passages you

could look at is Mark 5. It's in more than one gospel,

but there's a very similar to what Jesus did when he raises

Jairus's daughter from the dead. So you'll see a parallel here

both in language and action. Peter has learned this, it's

been demonstrated to him, and now this authority is being

delegated to him for him to do ministry.

So in Mark 5, we see that Jesus kneels down and prays in

Aramaic. Peter does the same thing in

Mark 5. Jesus in Aramaic will say

Talitha Kumar, Talitha Kumi. Peter sits there and says

Tabatha Kumar, Tabatha Kumi. There's only one consonant

difference. And I guarantee you the early

readers would have picked up on this in original language.

They would have seen he's mimicking Jesus.

So Dorcas or Tabatha opens her eyes.

Can you imagine opens her eyes first thing she sees Peter and

Can you imagine the thoughts, the emotions swirling through

her heart and head? God still has a purpose for you

here Dorcas. It's not time for you to go home

yet. There are things for you to

still do here you are a testimony once more.

And my friends hear me. No matter what you're facing

right now, no matter how big the mess, no matter how dumb you've

been, how far away you've run, don't give up.

You're still here, and there are things for you to still do.

You're not home yet, and your life can still be a testimony.

So Peter helps her up. Peter presented her to her

friends. I can only imagine the joy, the

tears, the hugs, the emotion there.

And don't miss these lessons. Church, we, we, we must rejoice.

And next week we'll baptize again, you know, and, and we,

we, we can't get tired of that. We can't grow used to that.

We can't grow accustomed to people who say, I want to trust

in Jesus. I want to be baptized.

I need to join. We need to, we need to rejoice

when God saves, when God restores, when God heals.

One of the great values of being a church member is that shared

joy, that shared struggle even we experienced together.

And that's one of the beautiful blessings you thought I was not

going to say it, but I'm going to say it.

That's one of the blessings of being in a connect group.

It's engaging with each other in life and service.

Don't stand alone. We can overflow with sweet grace

together. Now look at verse 42.

It gets even better and it became known throughout.

There's that word again. All it became known throughout

all Joppa and many believed in the Lord.

Look at the response to our life that must happen.

The good news spreads rapidly. Once again, many believed in the

Lord. Don't rush past this.

Many people were saved. Entire areas were impacted.

Now you're beginning to hear my prayer for Rocky Mount.

Now you're beginning to hear my prayer for Red Oak and Nashville

and this entire area. And we have to celebrate this.

Listen, listen, this is a fact. One day we're going to meet

these brothers and sisters and we're going to hear how the

resurrected life of Dorcas was used to impact their salvation.

But my friends, here's my prayer is that we're going to have

testimonies to share with them about how God used our

salvation, our forgiveness, our repentance, and our restoration

to impact the salvation of many in the area as well.

Listen, God used these very difficult moments for redemption

and what at times and that you can't escape the human suffering

side of this. What at times must have made

absolutely no sense to those who are going through these life

altering stories and tragedies. It made no sense to them at the

time, but how they begin to realize it was part of a greater

plan and that and that pain or loss that you're going through

that just seems to make no sense to you right now or, or it

doesn't seem to serve any purpose right now.

Maybe just waiting for a God of miracles to make miraculous use

of them. And we may never have the

opportunity in this life. We may never understand the

purpose while we're here. But one day, my friends, 01 day,

all the whys will be answered. I've been to Mystic camp in

Texas. I don't understand that.

While at a children's camp in Texas, children die in a flood.

I don't understand that. Been there, I know that place.

And, and yet I do know that, that even in the midst of this

fallen creation, and someday I'm going to teach a whole lesson,

whether it's Sunday morning or Wednesday night, I'm going to do

a whole session on the problem of evil.

Why? Why does evil exist?

Why do bad things still happen? We live in this fallen creation

and, and I know things are allowed for now.

And I don't always understand it, but I do know that God knows

and that that a plan and a purpose is still in effect.

And I might never know. I might never know the person

being impacted who's watching me walk through something, right?

Who's watching you walk through what you're going through right

now. And we may not understand that

till we all stand together before him.

But don't waste the pain. Don't waste the tragedy of your

life. Recognize an incredible God who

can use it to change others and bring Himself great glory.

Embrace the responsibility that the gifts of life and salvation

bring with them in His Kingdom. So what is God doing to you or

through you that could be used as a testimony?

What has God already done? What has God already done in

your life to redeem and restore that you might that that must be

shared or might be shared with others because the world needs

that message of hope. How can we spread hope over the

plains across this city? Inglewood, my friends, it's

time. It's time, it's time to arise.

It's it's time to confront this culture.

The cross can't be cancelled. The resurrection can't be

cancelled. His gift for us has never been

cancelled. His calling upon our lives can't

be cancelled. Our responsibility to serve Him

must not be cancelled because the King's mission can't be

cancelled. And then this ends with verse 43

and it says any state in Joppa for many days with one Simon a

Tanner. Again, this is important because

it's going to set up the story for next week.

Another one of the Holy Spirit's next triumphs is going to take

place next week. And extremely unique and

powerful way. So he stays by the sea.

I'm sure he's continuing to preach and teach and disciple

and reach people. But this really does set the

stage for a very unique moment in history.

You got to come back to hear that one because his story's

still working out and it's still working out today.

It's working out through us. So are you stuck?

You feel trapped. Maybe you're lost in some

problem. Maybe.

Maybe you're lost in some sin, some habit from which you cannot

free yourself, Maybe some addiction or hidden sin that

that is so exhausting because you're working so hard to try to

keep it a secret and you just keep spiraling in fear and

anxiety. Or, or maybe you're, you're

facing real health or life issues that are confusing and

scary. Listen, you want to be someone

other than you are right now. Some of you, you want to be

someone other than you are right now.

And you know you must become that someone, but you don't know

how on your own. Had someone come up to me after

the service and said I'm not, I need to join.

I don't, I need to join the church, but I don't know how.

I just appreciated the honesty. We're going, we're going to help

you understand. You know, God wants you to serve

him in a new way, but fear, some fear, some anxieties locking you

out. I've mentioned my grandfather

multiple times. He was a major figure in my

life. One day he set me down on the

front porch and he said, Johnny Life, it's like a man in a canoe

in the middle of a river, he said.

You're either have to paddle upstream or you're going to

float downstream. But it's very difficult to stay

in the same place when you're a man in a canoe in the middle of

a river, in the middle of this thing called life.

Perhaps your life's even filled with white water and Rapids

right now. Maybe that's what's going on.

It's time to do something. It's time to respond.

And so I say to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, arise.

Come to Him with all your mess. Come to Him right now.

He has grace that can overflow and it'll just drip down in your

life all over you. But you must trust.

You must faith, you must obey, you must respond, and He can

help you to be free. And after all, this is a weekend

where we celebrate freedom. Father, thank you for the

freedom that only you can bring. Father, I'm so grateful that you

don't give up on us. Because Father, you know what a

mess my life was. And Father, even in the midst of

dripping in messiness, you restored.

So, Father, there may be someone sitting here today or listening

online, and they recognize that they do not know you personally.

They've never been saved. And Father, I pray right now

that your Holy Spirit would just move that in their heart they

would know that you're real and that Jesus died on the cross for

them and rose again. And he is absolutely the only

one who can save them, and He's absolutely the only way they can

be saved. Others here may feel trapped,

trapped in sin, trapped in unhealthy patterns in their

life, feel trapped by bad choices, addictions, whatever it

is. I just pray, Father, this

morning that you would bring them freedom, that you would

help them to know that it's not too late, that it's not too far,

but they can come to you. Others recognize that they need

to do something. They need to do something

different. Maybe they need to join, maybe

they need to be baptized. Maybe they need to serve.

Maybe you're calling them to missions or ministry and we need

to obey. So Father, as we sing, in just a

moment, I pray that people would come.

Pastors will be here. They can come and talk to one of

us. We'll pray with them.

We'll be glad to help them. Or Father, maybe they just want

to come and pray at these steps, like an altar, like people did

in the first service. So whatever we need to do, it's

time to do it. It's time to arise and do it

right now. Because we come to you in the

only name that we can. We come to you in the name of

Jesus, Amen. Stand with me if you would.

We're going to sing together. I invite you to come.

Come and talk with me. Come and talk to another pastor.

Just come and pray. Whatever you need to do, you

come right now as we worship Him.

Thank you so much for listening today, and I also hope that

you'll go to [email protected]

as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless

you and your families. Thank you once again.