“Made for Worship” by Pastor Daniel Floyd

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

Good morning, everybody.

Welcome to church.

Come on, put your hands together for Jesus one more time.

Oh, you can do better than that.

You should be well caffeinated.

So glad that you're here.

It's a great weekend to be in church.

And uh somebody said this is fall.

And enjoy it for the next 48 hours.

Because it'll go away again.

I want to say a special shout out.

Last weekend we got to visit our Dallas campus, and uh God's doing wonderful things in Dallas, met so many wonderful people.

We're making our way, slowly but surely, around to every location.

And I'm telling you, it is a great season to be a part of Gateway Church.

Do you believe that?

What a wonderful season that we're in.

God is doing so many beautiful things.

We're seeing people place their faith in Jesus every single Sunday, everybody.

Every single weekend.

And um engagement in groups is up, and uh engagement in growth path is up.

There's just God's up to a lot of great things, and God is on the move.

Come on, let's give him praise for that.

We're so grateful.

What a great season to be a part of the church.

And uh if you're new or new to church the way we do it, um, we are one church that meets in ten different locations, nine in the DFW area, one in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which isn't a bad place to visit, everyone.

Um, and then of course, we're doing every our full expression of who we are into prisons and then gateway gatherings all across the country.

And and so if you're here for the very first time, then uh you can you can stop looking.

Welcome, you found your church.

We're glad you're here.

Um, first time you're a visitor, second time you're family.

Amen.

And uh so we're glad that you're here.

We're in week three of the series called Made for More.

And uh in week one, we talked about your made for relationship.

We're talking about the things that God hardwired you for.

Last week talked about your made for mission.

You're made to make a difference in the lives of other people.

You're you're made to plant the seed of the gospel everywhere that you go.

Today I want to talk to you around this idea that you're made for worship.

Uh falls on a great weekend.

You're made for worship.

We've been working off of this as kind of our foundational text, and it's this the thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it to the everybody shout that last word, have it to the you might have it to the full.

So God just doesn't want you living life.

It's what the average person is doing.

He wants you to have this full life, and that's what we've been talking about.

And I don't know the particulars of God's call on your life, but I do know some things that the scripture tells us we are made for.

And if you'll engage and embrace these in your life, you will live the full life that God intended for you.

Let's pray together.

Father, we open our hearts and minds.

Holy Spirit, speak to us.

We believe we'll never be the same because of your word.

It's alive, it's powerful, it's active, and so we're ready to receive it.

In Jesus' name, everybody said, Amen.

Amen.

So uh you'll learn this about me, massive football fan.

More of a college football than pro football, but I'm coming around.

Um, I grew up in Tennessee where we had no pro team when I grew up, and so it was all SEC football.

And uh we got beat last night.

I'll go ahead and take that one on the chin, and we lost to Alabama, which I pull for anybody playing Alabama.

Amen in the house of God.

Okay.

So, anyways, years ago, I uh living in not too far outside of DC, someone gave us tickets to go see the commanders, who were the Redskins then, play.

And so I was like, my first pro game ever, and I thought this is gonna be great.

And the reason I wanted to go is because they were playing the Colts, and the Colts at the time, some of you are thinking, are we gonna get to the Bible?

Hang on.

The Colts at the time had Peyton Manning, which, if you grew up in Tennessee, Peyton Manning made the University of Tennessee what it is, and so I wanted to go see Peyton Manning play in person, and so that's the reason I went.

And I'm walking up to the game.

We park and we were, you know, doing the long walk to the stadium, and I've never seen anything like this, y'all.

People were painted, jerseys on.

People had gotten there three hours early to tailgate, RVs in the parking lot.

I don't know if they slept there or if they just brought the RV, big flat screen TVs on this side.

I thought, man, I bet these same people can't get to church on time, but but they could get to the game early.

And so they're out, and I mean, necklaces, weird things on their head, the whole thing.

I'm like, this is the best people watching I've ever had in my life.

And so then we get into the stadium and it's another level.

I mean, the music, the team runs out, people are losing their mind, they're excited, they're clapping, they're cheering, they're raising their hand, nothing has happened.

And guess what?

It was a good chance the commanders would lose because that's what they do usually.

But they would be back next week, and they would cheer, and they would paint, and they would put on the jersey.

And you know what I thought?

What I'm seeing is an expression of deep devotion.

Because it's hardwired, I would propose, in all of us as humans.

Maybe you're here and you're not even sure about your relationship with God or the Bible or any of it.

Someone dragged you here, you did a favor for your mom and showed up at church today.

You're made to worship.

It's hardwired into the DNA of who we are, and our worship comes out of this deep devotion.

And so all of us, and and we wouldn't phrase it like this in 21st century America, but we all worship something.

Because we're all devoted to something.

And out of that devotion comes an expression.

Matter of fact, the word worship comes from a Saxon term that simply means this to ascribe value or to ascribe worth.

And all of us ascribe value, and we all ascribe worth to things.

And a lot of times in our life, we end up empty on the inside because we're ascribing value to things that are not worthy of our worship.

We worship our possessions, we ascribe value to our status, we ascribe worth to what we drive, or the size of the house we live in, or the brand that we can wear, and we find worth in that.

And because we find worth in it, we wouldn't say it this way, but it's what we're doing.

We worship that thing.

And when that thing can't fulfill what only God can fulfill in us, we think we need more of that thing.

So we give more value, more time, more honor, more credit to us, and it's this ever-ending cycle that it leaves us empty because our devotion was meant only for God and nothing else.

Matter of fact, yeah, you can clap if you want to there.

That was a good spot.

Matter of fact, what happens when you place your faith in Christ is you redirect your worship.

And you redirect your worship to the thing, the person that you were meant all along to be giving your worship to.

It's what 1 Peter tells us in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9.

1 Peter 2:9

It says, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

You are God's special possession.

Can I just time out and say that to you right now?

Let that sink into your heart.

I don't know what lies the enemy has sent after you, but if you've placed your faith in Jesus, he said, You're my special possession.

That you may, this is why, this is why you're a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

That's that's good amening moments, but this is why.

This is the purpose of it.

That you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

He didn't save you just to save you, he didn't transform you just so you can have a better life.

He didn't radically, you know, save you from sin, pull you out of the miry clay, as the King James says.

Come on, I grew up on the King Jimmy version of the Bible.

He didn't just pull you out of the miry clay just to like give you a better life and so you could live a more comfortable life.

And maybe that happens, maybe it doesn't.

In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I've overcome the world.

He saved you so that you could declare the praises of him who called you out.

And the word declare means this: to make known and to make public.

So you can't praise God in your heart.

I just prefer to praise him in my heart.

Well, the very essence of the word means that I declare publicly the praises of him who called me.

I've got to make it.

One definition says to make it widely known.

In other words, I'm not hiding it from anybody.

That doesn't mean that you're going into the office tomorrow and God wants you just to be like, hey, everybody, gather around.

What a beautiful name it is.

No, it means this.

It means that in my everyday life, I'm not ashamed to make known the goodness of God in my life.

It means this.

Let me say it this way.

That when I'm telling a story of something good in my life, I don't sanitize it down to pull out the supernatural.

I'm not I'm not afraid around people that may not understand the movement of God in my life.

I'm not afraid to go, no, God did that.

No, we prayed and then God came through on that.

And I can't explain it and I don't completely understand it, but it's God that opened the door for that contract.

It was not me, and it was not my team.

And it was God that got me into that college.

And I don't know how else it happened, but just God did it.

I'm not saying you've got to like get a bullhorn and you know have everybody gather around at the dorm and start singing.

I'm saying I'm not afraid to declare the praises of God.

I'm not afraid to say only God's put me here.

Only God did this.

I look over my life and go, it's just one God thing after another God thing, and I'm not gonna sanitize that and make it my thing.

I'm gonna declare the praises of Him who called me out of darkness into His wonderful life.

If you're with me, say amen.

Okay.

I want to give you two thoughts about this idea of worship.

Um and you're like, you're gonna be done fast.

No, there's a lot of thoughts under the thought, okay.

I want to give you two thoughts.

Number one, I want to talk to you about the power of praise, and then number two, I want to talk to you about the posture of worship, the power of praise and the posture of worship.

If you're in the note-taking type, write that down.

If you're not, go ahead and write it down, anyways, all right?

I'm gonna talk to you about the power of praise.

But before we talk about the power of praise, we need to define praise.

So, what is praise?

Praise isn't just the first song in a worship set, but that's the praise song.

Are you with me?

I grew up Baptist.

The first song was the praise one because it was upbeat.

You know, that was victory in Jesus my Savior.

You gotta clap on the offbeat, all the white people clap on the on-beat.

You gotta get on the okay.

That was standing as we sing.

That's what I grew up in.

Are y'all following me?

And if you went more than three songs, you were Pentecostal.

We gotta keep that tight.

But praise isn't that.

The Bible actually defined praise in the book of Psalms, 150 chapters, it's the largest book in the Bible, and it primarily is about worship.

It's primarily this expression to God of worship in the good times and worship in the bad times, and worship when it's hard and worship when it's easy.

And our our English language is so limited, you may know this, but like in the in the New Testament, the it was written in the coin in a Greek, biblical Greek, and there's four words for love where we have one word for love.

Right?

Well, there's seven words for praise, but we have one English word for praise.

And so to get the capture of what is praise, it's not just a song and a set, it's the expression.

And my pastor years ago taught this to me, and I want to give this to you before we talk about the power of praise.

What is praise and why do we express our worship through praise in certain ways?

And it's rooted in scripture and in the Psalms.

If you're with me, say amen.

All right, listen fast.

Number one, first word that we see is um this word called halel.

It means to rave, to boast, or to celebrate.

In Psalms 35, 18, this is where we see this word, then I will thank you in front of the great assembly, I will praise you, I will rave, I will boast, I will celebrate you before all the people.

So there's something God likes about our praise when it is exuberant.

So exuberant praise isn't the result of a style of worship or a denomination or, you know, what is a preference of a church.

Are y'all tracking with me?

It's it's what is God like?

Matter of fact, let me say it this way: um, for Tammy to receive love from me, I've got to love her the way she likes to be loved, not the way I like to be loved.

She's gonna want quality time, she's gonna want words.

She's gonna tell her why I love her.

And it can't, it's gotta be more than you're pretty.

It's gotta have some details to it.

It's gotta be I'm I'm grateful for the kindness you show to other people and the compassion, like the other day, whenever you interacted with that person, and then she's gonna be like, oh, I'm seen and I'm valued and I'm loved.

And I'm gonna re- Does that make sense?

So that's gonna fill the tank of love.

Well, there's a certain way God likes to be worshipped.

And he tells us in these Hebrew words, and he says, I like it when you boast, I like when there's exuberance to your worship.

I like that.

And he's and and the use of it in Psalms is I want, and I want you to do it in front of people.

I like it when there's a when we gather and you publicly are exuberant before me, God goes, I like that.

So here's what I want you to understand praise isn't a personality type.

Matter of fact, part of my sacrifice of praise, because believe it or not, I'm I'm actually a very introverted person.

I am fine to sit at a dinner by myself and eat.

Like I'm I'm much more introverted.

That's what fills my tank.

Extroversion drains my tank.

But just because I'm more introverted, it means I sacrifice my preference to worship God in the way that He prefers.

Are y'all tracking with me?

Number two, word, number two, is the word yadah.

It means to acknowledge in public.

I will, yada, I will acknowledge you in public, Lord, with all of my heart.

It's that whole idea that God, I'm not I'm not keeping this quiet.

I'm not, you know, putting my candle under a bushel.

I'm gonna I'm gonna let it shine.

I'm gonna acknowledge you in public.

Number three is the word barak.

It means to bless by kneeling or bowing.

So why do we why do we sometimes kneel before the Lord because God likes it?

And I want you to notice this in this Psalm 103.1.

It says, Praise the Lord.

So bless or kneel before the Lord, my soul.

All my inmost being praise his holy name.

I wanted to point that out before you that he says, bowing or kneeling, my soul.

Because he's after the heart of your worship and not just the outward expression.

Let me say it this way: you can physically be kneeling before the Lord, but in your heart be standing in pride.

I love that the psalmist says and uses this particular word that I want you to kneel in your heart.

It's a posture that I come before the Lord with, that I kneel before Him.

Number four, Zamar, it means making music to God with strings.

So God likes the guitar, He likes the bass guitar.

He likes a good upright piano, everybody.

He likes the harp.

He likes the stringed instruments that this is worship unto God.

He says it is good to praise, to use stringed instruments of the Lord and make music to your name almost high.

God likes it when we make music to his name.

And can I challenge you with something?

That there is a song in your heart that probably embarrassment keeps you from singing.

God isn't just talking to songwriters.

That there's something unique God's done in your heart.

That there's something wonderful God's done in your heart.

But you're like, I'm not a lyricist and I can't make them rhyme, and I don't know how to put together the right adjectives with the right.

God, He's not looking for that.

Matter of fact, aren't you thankful he says, make a joyful noise, not a beautiful noise?

Because some of us would be out of the game.

We just have to stand here quietly.

Some of you are wondering why is it so loud in here?

So we can hear your joyful noise.

Because sometimes it's not a beautiful noise, but you can just let it rip.

Are y'all with me?

Come on, are you with me?

So he's like, I like it when you do that.

And somebody there's a song in your heart.

And just maybe while you're driving down the road.

It may not make sense to anybody else, but it'll make sense to you, and it'll bless the heart of God.

He says, I like it when you make music to my name.

Number five Shabbok means to address in a loud tone or to shout.

He says, Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will shout unto you as long as I live.

I will praise, I will address you in a loud tongue as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Now, some of you, you may not have come from a church like this, and even in worship, you're like, why are people raising their hands?

Like, did someone score?

Are they watching the game on their phone?

Like, what's going on with that?

No, no, no.

We we do it because it's what God likes, it's what brings pleasure to the heart of God.

And it doesn't mean and some of us, I think sometimes some of us are waiting for worship, our worship to be expressed, like the Holy Spirit's gonna take over us, and we're all of a sudden gonna lift our hands.

And no, that that could be the devil, and we have a ministry we'll help you get free from that, all right?

I never once I remember growing up and I went into an environment where people lifted their hands and I was like, oh, it's getting weird in here.

What are people doing?

And I really thought one day, I was like, if God wants me to worship, He'll make me.

I had this thought in my head that one day, like, God was gonna put a string around my finger and I was gonna be like, what's going up?

Oh my goodness, what is happening right now?

This is crazy.

No, just like praying is a choice of your will.

Lifting your hands to worship God is a choice of your will.

It's a decision you make.

God, this is what you're like, and by faith I believe your word.

And so if that's what you want me to do in worship, at that time I'll worship you.

And some of you, you may start here like holding a TV.

You just may be like, I gotta start here holding the TV, right?

You may not get to touchdown, you may be right here, and that's fine.

But just take a step.

Are y'all with me?

Okay, I'm just making sure you're still with me.

Number six.

Toda means to a sacrifice of praise.

This is interesting.

Whoever offers praise, a sacrifice of praise, glorifies me.

And to him who orders his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of God.

Whoever offers praise, this word is sacrifice of praise.

This means this.

This is a praise that you give before God's done or come through on what you're believing for.

This is that worship.

This is I came in today and my child still hasn't returned to God, but I'm gonna lift my hand anyways, and it's a sacrifice of praise.

This is I got the diagnosis this week, and I don't know what's gonna happen, but I'm gonna clap my hands anyways.

It's a sacrifice of praise.

And look what God says, this.

He says, Who offers that to me, who orders his conversation, I will show the salvation of God.

God goes, I will come through on your behalf.

I will come through, I will do what I said I would do when you come in.

And there's some days I get it where tears are coming down and one hand is up, and you may not even be able to sing the words, and your voice may not even be able to engage like Hannah whenever she was praying before the Lord, and Samuel thought she was drunk.

But she wasn't.

She was doing this.

She was offering a sacrifice of praise.

God haven't seen it yet, but I'm going to worship you anyways.

And the prayer hasn't been answered yet, but I'm going to worship you anyways.

I'm going to come into your house with thanksgiving, and I'm going to enter your courts with praise today because you are the God that will show salvation.

Come on, if you believe it, put your hands together and give him a sacrifice of praise.

I heard one old preacher say this is praising him on credit.

It ain't happened yet, but it's gonna happen.

Because he's a God that's faithful to his promises.

And he's a God that comes through on what he said he would do.

Number seven.

It's tahili, it means exuberant singing.

I will extol.

The word extol means to make room for the Lord at all times.

His praise, exuberant singing will always be on my lips.

I will praise the Lord with exuberant singing.

All right.

Now, why are you showing all this, Pastor?

Let me show you this, because this is why praise is so important in your life.

And this is the power of praise.

Isaiah 63 or 61, 3 says this to give them the joy, the oil of joy for morning, and the garment of everybody say it together, the garment of what?

For what?

The spirit of heaviness.

I don't know if you've noticed, but we live in a heavy world.

And we face heavy things.

From the news headlines to the challenges you face in your own life.

There's heaviness around us.

There's heaviness in your home, there's heaviness in the dorm, there's heaviness all around, and the enemy is not out to make your life easy.

He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

And the Bible says that the way you lift heaviness is not to fix the situation because the situation doesn't always get fixed, but it is to put on the garment of praise.

And I'm wanting to teach you this because you can't wait for the next Sunday to come around so you can finally get heaviness off of your life.

You've got to be able to learn yourself that on the drive into school on Monday morning, that if heaviness has come on you, no, no, no.

I know how to get this off of me right now because I know how to give God a clap offering of praise.

I know how to lift my hands.

People may think, can I tell you how many times I've praised myself happy on the drive to work over the times of my life?

That when the enemy has come in like a flood, I'm like, I don't have to wait to get back in church.

I don't even have to wait to get to my small group.

I know how to praise him myself.

I know how to clap my hands, I know how to lift my hands, I know how to sing exuberantly to the Lord.

Well, people will think I've lost my mind.

Why are you caring about what people think that can do nothing for you when there is a God in heaven who responds to your praise?

Come on, somebody.

He responds to the praises of his people.

This is how we do it.

We receive joy when we do that.

The Bible says this that we enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.

I call this the protocol of the presence of God.

Yes, are there moments where you're just like, God, I need you and come through right now?

Absolutely.

But you want to enter the presence of God, he tells you, start with Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving will begin to change your perspective.

And you enter his courts with praise.

And what does praise do?

It lifts the spirit of heaviness.

There was a spirit of heaviness on the people in Nehemiah's time.

The walls of Jerusalem were torn down, they were in disarray.

The walls represented so much.

They represented protection and economy and fortified city, so many things.

And the walls were broken down, and Nehemiah comes in, and what does he say to them?

He says this he says, Do not grieve.

For the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Now watch the flow of thought here.

If you need strength, then you get it through joy.

And if you need joy, the oil of joy, you get it through praise.

Are y'all tracking with me?

You want joy to come into your life, then be a person of praise.

If you need strength in your life, you need joy.

And if you need joy, you need praise.

There's power in praise.

Number two, I want to talk to you about the posture of worship.

The posture of worship.

I love this thought in John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

Jesus is speaking, and he says this.

He says, Yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

So he's talking about a kind of person.

He actually says it next, for they are the kind.

Follow this.

And the type of worshipers that he's looking for are ones that worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

For it's this kind of worshiper that the Father seeks.

So watch, watch what the scripture is saying.

That God is looking for some kind of worshipers.

And the kind of worshiper he's looking for is the ones who worship him in spirit and in truth.

Now, this word worship is this idea here.

It's the Greek word proscuneo.

And it means kiss toward.

It means the kiss toward.

I want you to follow this with me.

This word proscuneo is comes from this ancient idea of a king, and people would bow to kiss the ring of a king.

So it's this, it's I this idea of like the king enters and like you're like, oh my goodness, he's here.

Are you attracting with me?

I think of uh my my imagination goes to the song.

You know the song, all hell King Jesus.

You know that one?

Okay.

So I just pick up I picture like this, you know, ancient castle and these big doors open, these big wooden doors on these massive hinges, and like the king enters, and the whole room goes, Oh my goodness, he's here.

This is that idea.

Let me explain it this way.

Um, Owen came home last weekend for fall break from Florida, and we didn't tell the little two uh that he was coming home, we made it a surprise for them.

And so uh it was time for him to come from the airport or fly in, and so I said, Hey, let's all get in the car and let's go to In N Out, because that's what Owen wanted as soon as he landed.

And I said, We're just gonna go out for dinner tonight.

And so we start driving and we get to the airport, and um Abigail from the back, very back seat is like, Why are we here?

Who are we picking up?

And I was just like, Don't worry about it, we're on our way to In N Out, just watch your iPad.

Don't judge me, one of those parents.

Okay, and uh so then Owen comes out and Abigail goes, she calls him, they call him Bubba and or Bubby, and so she was like, Is that Bubby?

Is that Bubby?

And she climbs over because they're in the third row, she climbs over the seat, Jonas climbs over the seat, Faith runs out, gives him a hug, I give him a hug, and then Abigail comes and this happens, and I did not expect this at all.

Tammy and I were like shocked.

Abigail and Jonas start bawling, and she jumps on him and wraps her arms and legs around him, and Jonas wraps his arms around Owen's leg, and they're just like mauling him, weeping that he's home and they got to see him.

And the rest of the night was can I sit by buddy?

Can I sit with you?

Will you wrestle with me?

Can I be about you?

Now, before we got there, it's how long is it gonna take?

When are we gonna get there?

And all these complaining and arguing, but now he's here and he's the center of attention.

That's proscuneo.

That's oh my goodness, the king's in the room.

Oh my goodness, he's here.

All of a sudden, I'm not thinking about what I want, and God do this for me, and God make this happen for me, and God, what do you want?

It's like, oh no, the king is in the room.

Oh my goodness, all I want to do is make it about him.

All I want to do is express my love to him.

All I want to do is worship him.

It's not about me, and it's not about y'all, it's all about him.

This is the idea.

It's what the magi did at the birth.

Same word, it's it's Revelation chapter four and five.

This the view around the throne room.

It's the same word.

It's this in John chapter four, same word.

Oh my goodness, he's here.

And all I want to do is express my love to him, and all I want to do is worship him.

This is the posture, and he says, this is the kind of worshiper I'm looking for.

I think of the word where it says that the eyes of the Lord are scanning the earth to and fro.

I don't even know what fro means, but it was in the King James, and that's how I memorized it.

And he's looking for those who he can show himself strong on their behalf.

In other words, those kind of worshipers, the eyes of the Lord are seeking.

The ones that go, it's not about me.

Yes, do we receive and worship?

100%.

Should that be our posture to enter worship?

Never.

Is God somehow in his mercy does this divine exchange?

Yes, he does.

I mean, Acts chapter 16, right?

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Paul and Silas are in prison and they begin to sing hymns, songs, and spiritual songs at midnight, and an earthquake happens and all the doors fling open and God does a miracle.

Does he do that?

Absolutely.

Am I believing tonight that in the presence of God, God's gonna do some instantaneous supernatural things?

100%.

But my posture tonight is God, not what I can get from you in night of worship, it's what can I bring to you.

The king is here.

Come on, the king is here.

And we've come to worship him and honor him.

Can I pastor you for a moment?

This is why in corporate worship, that when your personal worship begins to attract the eyes of people on you and not on Jesus, you may need to chill a little bit.

In your closet, get as weird as you want.

But when my worship makes you look at me and not Jesus, I'm in the way.

And I can't do anything but want to kiss his ring, bow low, get out of the way, and let the king do what he wants to do.

Reminds me of a hymn I grew up on that says this turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Look for in his wonderful faith.

Here's the part.

And the things of earth will grow strange leading in the light of his proscuneo.

The king is in the room, and all this stuff I'm worrying about gets a little more insignificant in the light of his glory and of his grace.

You receive the word of God today in your heart.

Amen.

Will you pray with me all across the room, our friends and family online, with your heads bowed and your eyes closed?

Maybe for some of you here today, you've never placed Jesus in the rightful place in your life.

He's king whether you acknowledge him or not.

But there does have to come a moment where you acknowledge him as king.

Scripture says it this way, where you make him Lord of your life.

And I wonder if there's ever been a moment in your life where you did that.

Has there ever been a moment where there's a before Jesus U and an after Jesus U?

A moment where your life was changed by the grace and the gospel of Jesus.

If there hasn't been, I want to give you the opportunity to do that.

Give you the opportunity to receive forgiveness of sin, to have a fresh start.

Maybe you're here today and you know in your heart you're far from God.

Maybe there was a moment where you follow Jesus, but it's been a while.

You've stepped away and you've taken back the reins of your life and you've tried to control it and do it your way, yourself.

And today you need to return.

The heart of the Father is calling for you.

He's knocking on the door of your heart right now, even in this moment.

And you sense it.

And the only appropriate response to the call of God is surrender.

It's 100% yes.

In a moment we're going to pray together, and there's nothing special about how I pray.

It's just me helping you communicate your heart to God that you want to surrender your life to Him today, the greatest decision you'll ever make.

If that's you, I just want to know who I'm praying with.

No one's going to come to you or point you out, but in a second, I'm going to count to three when I do.

I just want you to shoot your hand up high enough long enough for myself to see it.

If that's you, then I believe that hand up is your first step of faith, saying, God, that's me.

I need that today.

So when I count to three, you with no shame, just boldly shoot your hand up on three.

One, two, three.

Just shoot it up high.

Keep it up high.

God bless you.

God bless you.

It's beautiful.

All over the room.

Amazing.

Best day of your life right here.

Best day.

You can put your hands down.

Church, will you pray this out loud with me for the benefit of those who slip their hand up?

Just say, Jesus, I confess my sin to you.

I believe you died for me.

I believe God raised you from the dead.

Today I make you my Lord and Savior.

I thank you for a brand new beginning.

I surrender my life to you.

In Jesus' name.

Everyone said amen.

Amen.

Can we celebrate those who made that decision?

Incredible, all over the room.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.