Tremble Part 4 | First Pick Shepherds with Chris Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come for us.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

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Thank you and enjoy the message.

Hey, good morning everyone.

How's everybody doing here this morning?

Good, good to hear.

Look at your neighbor and tell them Merry Christmas.

Hey, thank you for welcoming us into your space.

We're so glad that you're here with us.

Merry Christmas.

So I'm excited that you've chosen to gather and worship

with us here at HCV.

And isn't it true that Christmas is a time for stories?

We all can remember stories from our past,

stories about our children.

And here at our Community of Faith,

we've been discussing the different angelic encounters

that took place in the Christmas story in our December series

Tremble.

Thus far, we've looked at Zechariah

and his questioning of God, just shared about Mary

and her walk of obedience.

And last week, I talked about Joseph being

the unsung hero of Christmas.

This morning, you may have guessed it,

we're going to be looking at the story of a squad of shepherds

who encountered an angel and many more angels

on the night of Jesus' birth.

Speaking of stories, I heard about a 10-year-old kid

who really wanted a new bike for Christmas.

Of course, it was a few days before the big day

he's really been wearing his parents out.

Hey, mommy, dad, I would love a bike for Christmas.

Mom, all I want for Christmas is a new bike.

Hey, dad, wouldn't it be great

if I got a new bike for Christmas?

And finally, his mom, fed up, says, son,

I've heard enough about this Christmas bike.

Of course, she's all stressed out about holiday prep

and having the family over for dinner.

And she says, if you really want a new bike,

go on up to your room and talk to God about it.

Take some time to pray.

The son responded, okay, headed up to get theirs

to his room and suddenly begins to pray.

But the mom hears this screaming and yelling

coming from her son's room, Jesus,

I really want a new bike.

Hey, God, wouldn't a new bike for Christmas

be a great idea?

The mom quickly runs up the stairs, opens the door,

looks at her son and says, what are you doing?

You don't have to pray like that.

God's not deaf.

To which the little boy responded,

I know God's not deaf, but grandma is.

Now the shepherds definitely were not deaf.

And I want you to think about the simple scene change

that takes place in Luke chapter two.

Most of us have heard this story before,

but this will be read in Luke two, six through seven.

And while they were there,

the time came for her baby to be born.

She gave birth to her firstborn son.

She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth

and laid him in a manger

because there was no lodging available for them.

So two verses that many of us know.

And then in verse eight, listen to this,

that night there were shepherds staying in the fields

nearby guarding their flocks of sheep.

Now, if you really ponder that for a second,

isn't that a little odd?

Almost like it's a little out of place,

a sort of unusual.

Luke, here he is talking about Jesus

being born of a virgin who is the savior of the world.

I mean, it's a miracle, it's good news.

And then in the next verse,

oh, by the way, there's this squad of shepherds

minding their own business out in the fields,

working in all nighters,

sipping on a cup of black AC and tea coffee.

And I thought to myself this week,

as I'm reading over these verses,

so many people, they just skip over that verse.

They don't truly read it or observe it

for the truth that God is trying to teach us.

This morning, I just simply wanna zoom in on the shepherds.

Why the shepherds?

I mean, what's the meaning of Luke so quickly moving

from the birth of Jesus that we were just singing about

to the shepherds hanging in the field?

What's the motivation of God adding a bunch

of low class shepherds

to this incredible, miraculous story?

For many of us, we don't realize that shepherds

were actually outcasts in their society.

They worked the night shift for a reason.

Their best friends were animals.

Shepherds were unable to worship in the temple

because they were ceremonial unclean.

We have to remember that shepherds were constantly touching

and burying the dead.

Shepherds, right?

Their witness couldn't be used in a court of law

because they were untrustworthy.

Shepherds, shepherds in the Christmas story.

Fast forward to today.

If a baby is born to British royalty, guess what?

It's not the cab drivers or the fishermen on the docks

that hear this news.

Who gets the news?

It's the media, the TMZers, the multi-billionaires,

those with power.

A new royal line is born.

They're the first ones to hear.

I believe if Hollywood was writing a script

for the birth of Jesus, where would he be born?

Ritz Carlton, right?

Followed by mass email and direct messages

to the most important people in the world, but not God.

God chooses the lowest of the low.

He chooses shepherds.

And I want us all just to ponder for a few minutes

three simple reasons that God would do this for us,

which leads us to our first one.

See, humanity, you and I, we can relate to the shepherds.

Shepherds were so low, so destitute and downtrodden

that we can connect with them.

I mean, not only, think about this, are they shepherds,

but they're the shepherds in Bethlehem,

which means they're the B-team shepherds.

They're the JV squad because they're not in Jerusalem,

because the Bible tells us nothing good

comes from Bethlehem.

In other words, they're the ones they weren't afraid

to get their hands dirty, right?

They're daily working hard to protect their flocks from harm.

And think about their life.

They live a boring life.

All they do is stare at animals.

They don't want anything to happen.

Because if something happens,

that means that they have to fight off predators.

Think about this.

The shepherds would become the first ones to follow Jesus

and truly believe.

So this speaks directly to all of us.

Listen, it doesn't matter who you are.

It doesn't matter where you come from, what you've done,

rich, poor, high, low, male, female.

It doesn't matter about your nationality.

Everyone is invited to come to Jesus.

And that's why it's so important for us

that we've adopted the tagline on all of our shirts,

come as you are, because we believe that's who God is.

He wants people to simply come.

That's the good news of the gospel.

Listen to this truth in Luke two, eight through 12.

That night there were shepherds

staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

And suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them

and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.

They were terrified,

but the angel reassured them, don't be afraid, he said.

I bring you good news that will be great joy for all people.

The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord,

has been born today in Bethlehem,

the city of David, and you will recognize him by this sign.

You will find a baby wrapped in snugly strips of cloth

lying in a manger.

And we must remember, right, for those of you

that are fearful that the ceiling's gonna burn down

because you're in a church.

These men, they viewed themselves as unworthy, unwelcome.

That's why they're terrified.

When God sends a messenger, which is an angel,

and it visits a person who is unclean,

you know what they're thinking in those fields?

I'm dead.

They thought it was over.

But notice the angel says, no, no,

God wants you to see and receive this good news.

And the same goes for us this morning,

which leads us to our next reason.

See, Jesus compared himself to a shepherd.

I believe the shepherds were the first to receive

the birth announcement simply because they were shepherds.

Moses was a shepherd, David was a shepherd,

Jesus was known as a lamb.

I mean, when he began his public ministry,

John the Baptist in John 1.29 says,

look, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,

the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

But not only was Jesus known as a shepherd,

not only was Jesus known as a lamb,

but a shepherd as well.

Look at John 10, verse 11 and 14 to 15.

John 10:11

I'm the good shepherd.

The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd.

I know my own sheep and they know me

just as my father knows me and I know the father.

So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.

And then Jesus says in John 10.27,

my sheep listen to my voice, I know them,

and they follow me.

See the shepherds that were invited to see Jesus's birth,

many scholars believe, were responsible

for guarding the sheep that would be used

as a sacrificial offering in the temples.

But what did the shepherds do?

They chose to leave their lambs, to leave their sheep,

so that they could go and worship and see

the one true lamb of the world.

God again highlighting for all of us

that animal sacrifices, they're not needed anymore.

With the arrival of his son,

because he would be the one sacrificed

for the sins of the entire world.

Which leads us to our next reason.

You see fear, fear's real,

and negatively impacts humanity.

So the angels show up,

and this is where the Christmas story for some of us

gets a little tricky.

Because in our rationalistic minds,

we begin to reason, well, Chris,

is there really a such thing as these angels?

Isn't this just a story, isn't this just something made up?

Well, let's read what the Bible says.

In Luke two, nine through 10, and 13 to 14,

suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them,

and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.

They were terrified.

But the angel reassured them, don't be afraid,

he said, I bring you good news.

There will be great joy for all people,

and not just one angel, but an army of angels.

Then join Gabriel praising God and saying glory to God

in highest heaven and peace on earth

to those with whom God is pleased.

I mean, I don't know about you,

but I love the honesty we read from the shepherds.

They were terrified.

I don't know about you, but I'd be freaked out too.

If I was in some dark field looking at an animal,

and suddenly it just lights up,

the sky lights up, and there's angels everywhere.

And then you have Gabriel just spreading his wings,

speaking to you, right?

And you're like, well, Chris, it doesn't say it's Gabriel.

Well, Gabriel's the one that showed up with messages

from God.

And sometimes when we read this, we begin to question,

because for many of us, I don't know about you,

I've never encountered an angel.

Never seen an angel.

And therefore, when it comes to you and I,

we begin to question, well, is there such a thing as angels?

Hmm.

But what if we just pause for a second

and think about what the eye cannot see?

Have you ever thought about that?

I mean, God just briefly pulling back the curtains

of the supernatural, giving these shepherds

a glimpse of God's kingdom.

Is it really impossible?

Think about what your eye can't see.

My eyes, your eyes.

We can't see atoms.

We can't see molecules.

We can't see infrared light, but we know they're all there.

We can't see germs, but I guarantee you,

you know someone that's sick right now.

We can't see a lot of things.

And then you think about quantum physics.

Right now, if you read about quantum physics,

it's suggesting that the past, present, and future

are all happening right now, at the same time.

You say, well, Chris, what's that have to do with God?

Well, listen to what the Bible says about God.

A day is like a thousand years to God.

And a thousand years is like a day.

See, there's all sorts of things

that we can't see that are true,

but then we begin to reason, is there really angels?

I've never seen a thought, have you?

I've never seen determination.

I've seen the results of determination.

I've never seen it.

So for some of you, well, this story is nonsense.

No, it's not nonsense.

It's an angel, followed by a chorus of angels

communicating to a squad of first century shepherds.

Are you open to receiving all that God has

for you this morning?

I love the way Luke 2, 10 is read in the Amplified,

but the angel said to them,

do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good news

of great joy, which will be for all people.

Now that word behold, it means to grasp, to relish.

The fact that the good news, which brings great joy,

has come to the earth for all people.

Friends, it's Christmas.

That's why we celebrate it.

And Luke is communicating to us that if we just grasp it

and if we grab ahold of it, if we relish this good news

about Jesus coming to the earth, you know what it does?

It flattens or destroys any phobias or fears

that you and I deal with.

I mean, just like I said at the beginning, fear is real.

And we must remember at the beginning in creation,

there was no fear.

It was perfect.

But then we read this in Genesis 3, 6 through 10.

So she took some of the fruit and ate it.

Then she gave some to her husband

who was with her and ate it too.

And at that moment, their eyes were open

and they suddenly felt shame.

So there's shame coming in at their nakedness.

So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

And when the cool evening breezes were blowing,

the man and his wife heard the Lord God

walking about in the garden.

So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.

Then the Lord God called to the man,

where are you who relied?

I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid.

I was afraid because I was naked.

See, that was the first time fear entered

into the equation of human existence.

It's just something that you and I deal with

every single day, it's fear.

People fear rejection, loneliness.

People fear the future.

We fear we're never gonna be good enough.

Some of you fear spiders.

Some of you fear heights.

Some of you are afraid to fly.

It's amazing all the fears that we deal with.

But the angels, notice what the angels say to the shepherds.

Guys, I know you're afraid.

Because anytime someone in the Bible gets near God,

they become fearful.

They become fearful because they're reminded

that they're no longer in control.

That there's someone in charge.

And these angels are saying to the shepherds,

focus on Jesus.

Focus on the Savior, focus on the baby born in Bethlehem.

Because prior to sin, there was no such thing as fear.

After sin, after humanity, after you and I

tried to gain control of our lives,

that's when fear came in.

And here's the reality.

Whenever we're in charge, whenever we try to run the show,

whenever I'm in control of my life, I'm the man,

I'm gonna do this, this is how I'm gonna do it,

that's when fear quickly consumes our lives.

That's when we begin to question our decisions,

our actions, our jobs, our relationships, our purpose.

We're constantly struggling with fear, with doubt,

we're overwhelmed with stress and anxiety.

God is inviting us to return to the manger.

God is inviting us to return to Jesus, why?

Because 1 John 4.18 says, such love has no fear.

Because perfect love expels all fear.

If we're afraid, if we're fearful, if we have anxiety,

it is for fear of punishment.

And this shows that we have not fully experienced

this perfect love.

God's perfect love, which came in the form

of a baby named Jesus, arrives on the scene.

Why?

To free us from our selfish agendas

and to allow us to focus on what is important.

Now, something that I want us all to see here

is that the shepherds received the message.

And every single day, even on Christmas Eve,

we're gonna receive a lot of messages.

We've received text messages, direct messages,

emails, voicemails, some of you still use Post-It notes

and put messages all over your house.

But most of the messages we receive, let's be honest,

we just scroll right past.

Or we silence, or we ignore, or we send a voicemail

because we feel like they're just a waste of time.

This morning, all of us here gathered or watching online,

you're receiving a message.

You received a message when you walked through our doors.

You got a smile, a handshake, a high five,

you grabbed a cup of coffee.

You worshiped, you sung.

You saw a short video.

This is a place with a message.

And it is my prayer that you just don't

scroll past the message.

It's my prayer that you don't delete this message.

It is my prayer that you take this message to heart.

You personalize it and you do something with it

because that's when life change happens.

Which leads us to our four simple action steps

of responding to the good news.

Notice, all based on the shepherds.

What did the shepherds first do?

They received it.

And we must do the same.

The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord,

has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David.

And you will recognize him by this sign.

You will find a baby wrapped snugly

and strips of cloth lying in a manger.

And hear me out.

There is nowhere else this type of wording

is used in the announcement of Jesus' birth.

Notice what Luke writes.

The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.

Three powerful words spoken to you and I regarding Jesus.

Now, I was never a basketball player.

Okay, I grew up a wrestler, never played basketball

in my life, but having children,

I learned to become a basketball coach.

So I've coached my daughter, I've coached my son

in basketball, and I had to learn from one of the best.

Thank you, Kevin Murphy.

But he taught me how to be a basketball coach.

He taught me about this thing called the triple threat.

Okay, can you pass me the ball?

Okay, here you go.

So when you pass a basketball,

you're supposed to receive it like that.

And when you receive it like this,

this is called the triple threat position.

You know why?

Because when you're in a triple threat position,

I can dribble, I can pass,

or I can drain a three to win the game.

You have three different options.

Someone needs to hear this this morning.

Three powerful words.

Jesus is your savior.

Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus is the Lord.

And when you think about those three words,

there's no battle, there's no storm,

there's no struggle, there's no stress

that can stand up to Jesus who is savior,

Christ, and Lord.

And something else important about this message

to the shepherds, it tells us more about God

than it does the shepherds.

In other words, God's always working.

He's supernaturally synchronizing your life and mine

to meet right here at this moment in time.

Have you ever thought about that?

The shepherds were seeking, but God was seeking them more.

And so you're here this morning for a divine reason,

a divine purpose.

And I believe that if you hear the message

and you receive the message and you do something with it,

your life will be radically changed.

And hear me out, it's real easy to hear something

and not do anything with it.

Married couples, can I get an amen, right?

If you've been married for any length of time,

you quickly learn how to silence or ignore the voice

of the one you love.

And if you're in a relationship with God,

we can do the same as well.

But listen to the message that God wants you to receive

this morning, 1 John 4, nine through 10.

God showed how much He loved us

by sending His one and only Son into the world

so that we might have eternal life through Him.

This is real love.

Not that we love God, but that He loved us first

and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Will you receive the good news?

Which leads us to our next step.

Not only do you receive, but you gotta respond.

When the angels had returned to the heaven,

the shepherds said to each other, let's go to Bethlehem.

Let's see this thing that's happened

which the Lord has told us about.

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph

and there was a baby lying in the manger.

See, when we hear the message and then we respond to it,

you know what it equals?

It equals faith.

See, the shepherds, they didn't hesitate.

But notice the Bible says they hurried to the village.

I love that image in the chosen clip

where the man with the crotch, he's just running.

So much that he's running that he's healed.

And where were they running to?

They were running to the village or they were running

to the village or we could say they were running to the crib.

See, I believe that Bethlehem was the site

of the first MTV cribs.

If you don't know anything about the show Cribs,

it shows these fancy homes of the rich and famous

and how they just spend all their money.

And you say, well, Chris, how is Bethlehem

the first MTV cribs?

Well, cribs, if you break it down,

it equals a crucial relationship initiated by the Savior.

It's not about us going to Him,

it's about Him already initiating it with us.

And see, those shepherds, they didn't stand there

frozen in fear, they didn't question what they just heard.

What did they do?

They ran, they responded.

And quite often what happens during our Sunday gatherings,

during our Christmas gatherings, there's people that come

and they're overwhelmed, the music is special.

It's beautiful in here.

I love being around the people, they love me

and they accept me, right?

I love the high fives and the coffee

and the welcoming environment

and I can sense there's something different here.

It's like I wanna weep or I wanna cry

and I have this peace coming over me.

But if you leave here without responding,

you know what that equals?

A beautiful service, a memory.

If you do nothing with it

and you don't initiate the relationship,

then nothing changes.

The shepherds responded and found.

And the Greek word for found means an intense search.

They intentionally searched and found.

The shepherds were the first ones to have faith.

And what is faith, Romans 10, 17?

Faith comes from hearing,

hearing the good news about Christ.

They heard, they received, they responded.

And that equals faith.

And that's what happened to the shepherds.

But for so many of us, we have a tough time surrendering,

surrendering to God.

It's just human nature

because we wanna be in control of our own worlds.

We wanna take care of ourselves.

And there's two ways that we show our hostility

or our ignorance towards God.

The first is very overt and outspoken.

Hey, God, I'm the man.

I'm gonna do what's best for me, stay out of my way.

Well, until I'm in a crisis, maybe I'll talk to you then,

but I'm in control of my life.

We all know people like that,

self-consumed, focused on self.

The second way is the covert or religious person

who says, well, I'm gonna read the Bible.

I'm gonna follow the Bible and kind of do what it says

because if I do what it says, then God has to bless me, right?

The church has to listen to me if I show up and I give

and they have to do what I want.

But in both instances,

these people are struggling with control.

Becoming a follower of Jesus is about surrendering control.

It's what it's about.

It's about saying, hey, God, you're in control.

Lead me into abundance.

The shepherds received, they responded,

and next, they worshiped.

And the cool thing about the angelic visit is the angels,

right, gave them example of what it looks like.

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vastness of others,

armies of heaven, praising God and saying,

listen to the song they sung,

glory to God in the highest heaven

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.

Friends, this is a song of praise.

It's a song of presence.

He was sending his presence onto the earth

and it was a song of purpose.

God is pleased with us when we're serving others.

When it's worship, it's a time of connecting with God.

And I want to encourage you to continue to connect with God

during the holidays.

Christmas music's great, don't get me wrong,

it's great for a month.

Okay, we all love to sing the Christmas songs.

They all come back around for a month, a year, perfect.

And then they go away.

But I want to encourage you, just don't focus on

last Christmas, focus on the worship songs of the season.

Because isn't it true?

Yes, Santa Claus is coming to town,

then he leaves for a whole nother year.

Jesus is with us 365 days out of that year.

And when we come and adore him, when we come and adore

his presence and his peace and we sing to him,

that's when we connect.

The shepherds worshiped.

They went to Bethlehem to visit the child, they worshiped.

And then in Luke 2.20, what do we see them doing?

They returned to their flocks and what do they do?

They're glorifying God, they're praising God

for all they had heard and seen.

It was just as the angel had told them.

See, all of us gathered here, even watching on last Christmas,

all of us gathered here, even watching online,

we all worship something or someone.

To worship simply means to put someone or something

on a high level to show high esteem.

And within our culture, there's a lot of people

that worship money, the need and desire to have more stuff

because it makes them feel like they're successful.

When in reality, it just leads to emptiness.

For other people, they worship or desire relationships.

They need people.

And unfortunately, they realize that it's work.

There's no such thing as happily ever after.

For still others, they wanna find success in a job

or a position or a title.

That's the reason I live.

Only to find emptiness in hours and hours and hours

of hard work.

God is the only one worthy of our worship.

And he wants to know you personally this morning.

He wants to have a relationship with you.

And those shepherds, those lowly outcast shepherds,

they understood that truth.

And that's why they rapidly, without haste,

went to worship the newborn son.

This is what true worship looks like, Romans 12.

And so, dear brothers and sisters,

I plead with you to give your bodies to God

for all he has done for you.

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice,

the kind he will find acceptable.

This is truly the way to worship him.

And if you don't copy the behavior and customs of this world,

but let God transform you into a new person

by changing the way you think,

then you'll learn to know God's will for you,

which is good and pleasing and perfect.

It's amazing.

It's just a crazy story about shepherds.

One minute, they're in the dark,

then boom, they're in the light.

One minute, they're unwelcome, they're unclean,

they're spirits are power washed with God's grace.

What did they do?

They received, they responded, they worshiped,

and then they shared.

They couldn't hold it in.

After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone

what had happened and what the angel had said to them

about this child.

All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished.

They simply told others what happened to them.

Think about it, the shepherds heard it from the angels,

saw it with their own eyes,

and then they simply shared that good news

with anyone and everyone.

They didn't say they were a theologian.

They didn't go to seminary.

It doesn't say that they had the Bible memorized.

They just said, this is what happened to me.

And the people were, how did the people respond?

They were astonished.

Remember, the shepherds were the first ones

to exercise faith, and God calls us to do the same.

But for some of you here this morning,

I have a question for you.

Are you willing to say goodbye to fear?

Are you willing to say goodbye to the fear of man

so that you can boldly share this good news?

Romans 10 tells us,

everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call on him to save them

unless they believe in him?

And how can they believe in him

if they have never heard about him?

And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?

That is why the scriptures say,

how beautiful are the feet of the messengers

who bring good news.

Will you stand with me?

Holy Spirit, we just invite you to come, God.

God, we just pray that you would move in this place.

God, there would not be a person

that doesn't sense and know that you are here.

Listen, for all of us gathered here this morning,

for you watching online,

we pray that you would move in this place.

Listen, for all of us gathered here this morning, for you watching online,

this gathering has left a message.

At first was a message in my heart that God downloaded to me

that then I then shared with you.

And I want to challenge you.

Don't scroll past it.

Don't delete it.

Don't look at it.

Reflect on it

and respond to it.

And for so many people, they struggle with these decisions

because of that simple word, fear.

They're fearful of what other people may think.

Now, I want you to take a second, humor me,

and look at the people beside you.

Look around, look at the people.

Be sure if you know them or not.

Look at them.

Make eye contact.

Go ahead.

It's just people.

That's all it is.

There really are just people here.

Isn't it amazing?

But we're all just people.

But yet, some of us, we won't raise our hands in worship

because we're afraid that the person beside me,

oh, Jesus for you.

Some of us won't even sing on a Sunday morning because,

oh, they might judge my voice.

Who cares?

Some of you won't go all in and say,

yes, Jesus, I believe in you because your family may judge you.

Listen, can I be honest with you?

It wasn't my dream.

It wasn't my desire that I would stand on a stage

and teach about Jesus.

I didn't want to do that.

But God called me.

I received it.

I responded.

I worshiped.

And now I share.

And I share because I know that God wants to change lives.

Can I share a testimony about last night real quick?

Last night was our traditional Christmas Eve gathering.

Okay, and for the vineyard, it was traditional, which is great.

We love it.

We do it every year.

We will continue to do it every year.

I shared the same message.

And before I left here, before I'm sorry, before I started to clean the toilets,

I had a little old lady, grandmother.

I don't know her name.

I don't know how old she was.

I know she's older than me.

And she came up with a tear in her eye, gave me a kiss on the cheek and a hug and said,

I gave my life to Jesus tonight.

And you know, they're the ones, according to statistics, that never do that.

Because they're past their prime.

And they're not going to make those decisions.

But God does the miraculous.

And I believe that God wants to change some of your lives this morning.

So don't let fear stand in your way.

I speak against fear now in Jesus' name.

And Holy Spirit, I invite you to move in this place and change lives.

And we're all going to pray together.

And we pray this prayer every single week.

Because I don't want to single you out.

I don't want you to raise your hand.

I don't even want you to come forward.

But here's what I want you to do.

If you pray this prayer for the first time, I want you to find me after this gathering

in that cafe and tell me.

Because you know what I'm going to tell you to do?

Get baptized next Sunday.

Because that's your next step.

Do something with it.

So let's pray together.

Jesus, I'm broken.

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

Change 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.

The King of Glory is here.

Come and be whole.

The King of Glory is here.