Vision for a New Tomorrow

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

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

Hey everyone! So good to be here today.

Now I've met many of you over the years and at the campuses.

Hey campuses.

Maybe I've met you at an event here or a conference.

Some of you know me as Pastor Robert and Pastor Debbie's daughter-in-law, which Pastor Robert will be back in the pulpit next week, so make sure you join us again next weekend.

Some of you know me as James' wife.

True.

But if you're new to Gateway or I just haven't met you yet, hi, I'm Bridget.

Nice to meet you.

I get to oversee and lead our women's ministry here.

Pastor Debbie passed the baton to me four years ago for that.

I also get to oversee some other ministries and departments within the church.

And women's and men's really partners together.

So men's summit is coming up, guys, right around the corner.

And if you didn't get a seat here, if you didn't get a ticket for in-person, we still have plenty of opportunity for you to join us online.

So make sure you do that.

So that's my work life.

At home, I have three kids.

So I'm a mom, and um, which you'll hear a little bit about them later.

Uh, and it's a special weekend for me.

It's my birthday weekend.

So, y'all, I'm preaching on my birthday.

It is so awesome! I'm just so excited.

I'm pumped to be here.

So, I don't know if your allergies have informed you that spring has sprung.

But my allergies have informed me of this.

So I have a bottle of water in the event I need it.

Just warning y'all.

Uh, okay, so something around this season of the year is wedding season.

I just talked to a woman at a store who attends here at Gateway, and her daughter's getting married this weekend.

I know a bunch of other people have their bridal showers coming up, wedding parties, all of that.

So, congratulations, everybody.

And like, I'm a girl, so I love love.

But even more than the lovey-dovey, mushy gushy stuff of a wedding, I love weddings for people watching.

Bridesmaids, I'm watching.

But by far, my favorite are the groomsmen.

They hands down, never fail, to level up the entertainment value of a wedding.

Whether they're trying to or not.

So uh, quite a few years after James and I got married, we had some friends getting married.

And it was a very formal, it was a very um, you know, uh uh elegant type of wedding.

And um one of those weddings that's a little more traditional.

And so, you know, we're sitting in our pew, because it was a pew, and there was this elaborate stage, and there are all of these steps, you know, that kind of go up the front of the platform.

So we're sitting there and celebrating our friends, we're getting married, and the groomsman, who would be on this side, starts doing this action and starts looking around.

And then all of a sudden his face like starts contorting, and I'm like, Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?

So then he starts doing this.

Oh yeah.

And I was like, whoa.

So I'm like, James, James.

You know, we're both like, oh my gosh, it's happening.

So he starts swaying, and then he puts out his arms and he turns to the crowd, and he says, I can't see anything.

We were like, well, apparently you can't hear anything either, because you are shouting.

The acoustics in this place are like phenomenal.

So he he starts doing this robotic walk towards the edge.

So the dad, this is the groom's man, this is the groom's brother.

So the dad comes, like trying to save this show, you know, comes to the edge and it's like, come on, follow my voice, come here.

And he's going, I can't see you, I can't see anything.

And he does this Frankenstein walk to the edge.

And I think he was trying to go down the stairs.

Well, he went down.

Brrrrrrr.

Rolls all the way down.

The dad like picks him up and drags him off to some faraway place.

I have no idea where he ended up.

Probably he's never been seen since after those shenanigans.

I have no idea.

Y'all, he did the thing that every wedding planner tells you not to do.

They're sending out the bridal party and they're like, it's your turn.

Go, don't lock your knees.

Hey, it's okay, wait, hold.

Remember, don't lock your knees.

Okay, go.

What did he do, y'all?

He locked his knees.

He locked his knees.

Think about being the bride.

You got up at what time to make yourself all elegant and poised?

And your brand new brother-in-law just steals the show.

You know, I know what she was thinking.

You're dead to me.

We just became family and you gone.

Think about being the groom.

This is your brother.

You're like, are you kidding me?

If my brand new wife is at all upset on our first night together, you are so dead.

I will kill you, you know?

So as I'm thinking about this, I'm like, wow, you really missed like a big moment in your family's life.

Like, you know, your family legacy.

This is like your best friend, your brother's getting married, and you missed it.

Because you locked your knees, cut off circulation to your brain, fell down some stairs.

He lost his vision.

I think there are times in our lives when we can be in a season, a transition.

Maybe it's a big moment, maybe it's like not your favorite moment.

And we can spiritually lock our knees.

Which causes us to lose the circulation to the spirit, and we lose our vision.

And vision does a lot more than just inform us of what's going on around us.

Vision actually forms us, it forms who we are.

Proverbs 23, 7 says, For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

What we see in our minds shapes the decisions that we make, which in turn shapes who we are.

And now, depending on what picture you're painting of your life and of your future, you may or may not like who you are, where you're going, or what situation you're finding yourself in.

The enemy wants to come steal, kill, and destroy the vision that God has given you for the plans and the purposes that He has for your life.

So the title of my message this weekend is Vision for a New Tomorrow.

And I need to give a disclaimer because I'm about to read a decent sized chunk of scripture.

But it's church.

It's what we do.

Y'all are used to it, it's fine.

It's in story format, so it's easy to follow along.

And it's from the book of Joshua.

Now, I also want to mention, I love the book of Joshua.

And if you are like new to reading your Bible, or maybe you finished a Bible reading plan and you're like, what am I gonna read now?

You may consider Joshua.

It's like an action movie.

I mean, there's a lot happening.

The first 13 chapters are just like boom, bang, yeah, yeah.

After that, it becomes more like a documentary.

Still good, but proper expectations, okay?

So we're gonna start in Joshua.

Start at the very beginning.

Okay.

One.

Joshua 1, 1.

The Lord's charge to Joshua.

After the death of Moses, the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of nun, not a nun, just son of nun.

Moses' assistant.

He said, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I'm giving them.

I promise you what I promised Moses.

Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you.

From the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.

Just put a little marker there.

All the land of the Hittites.

We're gonna talk about that in a minute.

No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live, for I will be with you as I was with Moses.

I will not fail you or abandon you.

Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.

Be strong and very courageous.

Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.

Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.

Then you will be successful in everything you do.

Study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.

Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

This is my command: be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready.

In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the Lord your God has given you.

And then I skipped down to chapter three.

Three days later, the Israelite officers went through the camp.

Then Joshua told the people, Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.

Great wonders among you.

Here's what I felt like the Lord said for this weekend.

God has given each of us promises for our lives.

And our part is to partner with the Holy Spirit, with God, to accomplish everything that He has called for in our lives.

We partner with Him, we obey His word, and He will walk with us every step of the way.

Now, I don't know if your promise is going to come into fulfillment in three days, like we just read.

I don't know about that.

Could be three days.

Could be tomorrow.

Could be 40 years from now.

I don't know the times or the terms in which your promises will unfold.

But I do know this.

God has a promise for your life, and his promises stand true yesterday, today, and forever.

So point number one is know your territory.

It is very important that we know our territory.

What we just read said, wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you.

And then God lines it out north, south, east, west, all the land of the Hittites.

So the promised land was a real place.

I picture God taking Joshua up on a hill and he's lining out the boundaries of their territory.

Now, why is God doing this with Joshua?

Well, for one reason, Joshua had never had territory before.

Think about this.

He was born in Egypt as a slave in captivity.

Then they go through the Exodus, they go through the Red Sea.

Now they've been wandering for 40 years.

He has never been a homeowner.

He's never had a fence.

He's never had the boundary lines.

They would set up camp in the wilderness, but that was not their territory.

So God is clearly lining it out for them.

Also, I think he's telling Joshua what is their land versus what is not their land.

Joshua's got his binoculars and he's like, oh yeah, I see that.

Ooh, they have a pool.

And God's like, no, no, no, no, no, come back over here.

He's like, oh, but that, I think that's a water slide.

God's like, yeah, not your land.

This is your land.

Clearly outlining the boundaries.

God has given us a real territory.

He's given us a spiritual territory, but he's also given us real territory.

For you, maybe it's that you are gonna be the first person in your family to go to college and graduate.

Maybe for you it is being a homeowner or a business owner.

God has given you vision and a promise for a business, for a family, for a way in which your family is going to function.

God gives us real promises, tangible things that we can have in our lives.

He gives us spiritual promises as well.

Are we having the vision from the Lord for our lives?

And sometimes you may be thinking, like, well, I don't even know if I've ever asked for a vision.

I don't know, I mean, I have a vision.

Is it my vision?

Whose vision is this?

Well, I have great news for you.

If you don't know that it's from the Lord, first you can ask him.

And he'll do exactly like what he did with Joshua.

He'll take you up and he'll say, okay, let's talk about this.

This is the vision for your life.

Now, he's not gonna give you every little detail of this vision, but he will help you see what he wants to accomplish in your life and give you the next step so that you can be obedient in that.

So knowing our territory is just as important, you know, today as it was years ago.

So we live on five and a half acres outside of city limits.

So we're kind of like in this little country bubble.

And all of my neighbors have you know some acreage, so we're kind of really spread out.

So it's kind of like a neighborhood, not really, but kind of.

And all of my neighbors are very like country sweet, they're really very nice people.

But the type of person that wants to live out there likes the space, they like some distance.

Let's be real.

They want to stand in the backyard in their underwear and shoot their guns.

Reasonable.

Um, so when we first bought our land though, we didn't have any fences.

There's no like wooden picket fences like in a in a neighborhood.

So we really couldn't tell where our our lines, our property lines were, and the the land was full of cactus.

Like we would try to go walk around and we would just come out like prickly pears, you know?

So it was really difficult to see where are we gonna put a land uh a house?

What's back there?

I don't know, I can't find it.

So my brother-in-law, Josh, who's been way more techie than James or I, was like, oh, I have a drone.

I'll just go check out your land and get some footage for you.

We were like, that would be amazing.

We don't even know what's out there.

So he goes, driving his drone.

Thing is, people who like to shoot their guns in their underwear do not like drones.

He got what I call a country talking to.

Can make your knees shake a little after you have those types of experiences.

Like, apologies all around.

Sorry, everybody.

Like, so so now we are pretty clear on where our territory lines are.

And so we tell the kids like, this is our land, this is our land, that over there, not our land.

Don't go over there, this is our land.

You can run, you can frolic, you can pee on a tree on this land, don't go on anybody else's land.

My firstborn Parker is very like, he's the planner in the family, so he was like, hold on, hold on, I have a question.

If there's an emergency, I'm like, okay, yeah, if there's an emergency, you can go to you know Bob's land, you can go over to Donna's land, but otherwise, go nowhere.

It's very important that we know where our territory is.

And God does, He will show us.

I realize that's like a practical, you know, funny story about our land, but what land has God given you?

What land has he given you?

All right, so point number two is be strong and courageous.

Be strong and courageous.

This is my command to you, be strong and courageous.

Now, why is God saying this to Joshua?

Joshua is not a newbie leader.

He's not a wimpy guy.

Like he's already been the number two, basically, like he's already been in leadership.

He would have had to fight some battles, like he's a he's this strapping young man, you know?

So why does God say this three times in the matter of four scriptures?

And just in Bible reading world, that's a lot.

We should take notice.

Three times in four scriptures means ding ding ding, highlight.

So why is he saying this, Tim?

Because even though he is called by God, anointed by Moses, filled with the Spirit of God, he's still a human.

He's still a human like you, and he's a human like me.

And God knows that he is gonna have to go in and take some land.

He's gonna have some battles to fight.

So when he does, and he's seeing his brothers, his friends fall in battle, he's gonna think to himself, be strong and courageous.

The Lord said to me, be strong and courageous.

God is actually putting courage into Joshua, God is prophesying a land that is not currently in his possession, but God is saying, That land is yours.

It includes the Hittites.

You remember reading that part?

And I found that intriguing because I thought, why does it say the Hittites by name?

There would have been a lot of people groups already in that land.

It wasn't just like empty, you know, vacant land ready to be inhabited.

So why does it specifically name the Hittites?

Because they were a historically ruthless group of people.

They were some bad dudes.

And I think when God is outlining the territory, he's saying, This is your land.

Joshua's like, yes, yes, yes.

God's like, yeah, I know who's in that land, and you know who's in that land.

And I'm still telling you, that's your land.

And Joshua's thinking, well then I have an idea of what it's gonna take to get that land.

And that's why God says, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you.

I will be with you as I was with Moses.

Joshua had a choice here to lock his knees or stay open to what God was calling him to.

Joshua hears, be strong and courageous seven times.

Three from God, three from Moses back in Deuteronomy, and once from the Israelite people.

This is like this guy's life motto be strong and courageous.

Now, this is all in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, Jesus says something very similar to his disciples.

Jesus says this in John 16, 33, I have told you all this, so that you may have peace in me.

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart, because I have overcome the world.

Jesus is telling his disciples, be strong and courageous.

You will have trials, you will have sorrows, you will have battles here on earth, but have an eternal perspective.

And that's an eternal perspective of forever, eternity in heaven, and then that's an eternal perspective for the right here, the right now.

We have the power of the Holy Spirit, and we can take authority over the enemy when he comes at us and tries to mess with our territory.

I almost named this message Vision for a New Territory, but I really don't think that's where we struggle as much.

I don't think that's as daunting as having vision for the same territory that you've been looking at for years on years.

You've seen that promised land, maybe somebody's prophesied that over you, and it just still hasn't happened yet.

I think that's a lot more difficult to keep our hearts pure.

Think about Joshua.

He was one of the 12 spies to be sent by Moses into the promised land to scope things out.

So they go in there, they're scoping things out.

He's snacking on some grapes.

He brings back the word hey, yeah, there's giants in the land, but we can take them.

We serve the Lord God Almighty.

Think of the Red Sea.

We can take them.

And then it doesn't happen.

Then he wanders for 40 years.

You think he had to overcome some past disappointments, some past unmet expectations in that moment?

God's lining it out, and he's like, Yeah, I've been there.

He could have become jaded.

He could have let other people's unbelief and fear get all over him and taint his vision, put a filter of that on his vision, but he didn't.

He kept a pure heart.

40 years he's scrolling through, you know, media is trying to paint a picture.

And he's like, you know, giants in the land, we're like grasshoppers.

What?

Unfollow.

I mean, really, y'all, what are some things that we need to unfollow to keep our hearts pure?

What are some things that we let other people's junk get on us and it starts tainting our perspective, discouraging us for what we know is the truth and the promise of God for us.

I've had this in my own life.

Where I've had, you know, visions and prophecies spoken over me.

And then I haven't actually like walked into that promised land.

And I'm like, okay, yeah.

And you know, the Lord just keeps lining it out, and I'm like, you know, I remember when you told me that when I was 15.

And then again when I was 22.

And then you reminded it, you know, when I was 30, you know, and I just kind of go through, okay, I can't let my unmet expectations, which I just want a disclaimer here, some of my unmet expectations were just me having the wrong expectation.

And I think that's one of those reasons why God says, have my vision.

If we have his vision, we don't have unmet expectations.

He'll be like, Bridget, this is the plan.

And I'm like, I love that.

And then I have this whole thing over here that I've created.

And then I'm like, Lord, where are you?

Where are you?

And he's like, I'm over here where I told you you should be too.

He just like carefully like, come on, let's go back over here.

I'm like, okay, okay.

I have locked my knees in my life.

Maybe you're in a season where you've locked your knees, and you're like, I'm gonna be stubborn.

I don't want to believe this anymore.

Somebody else said this, so I'm just gonna lock my knees.

You know what is just such good news for us as believers.

We can just unlock our knees.

And God will pour out his vision on us.

If we turn back to him, read the word, have good, wise counsel around us, we can get on track like this.

It's just keeping our vision and our heart on the things of the Lord.

Sometimes we're too busy worrying about other people's territory to have effective authority over our own.

Sometimes maybe there's a marital issue, and instead of really warring for your spouse, you start entertaining ideas of somebody else's.

You're actually just like welcoming the enemy into your territory.

Maybe for your business, you know, you're you're searching after more, more acquiring, acquiring, acquiring, and then you look at what you originally prayed for is kind of in disrepair.

So you haven't really been stewarding the original vision.

You've been out searching for more.

Maybe you had the vision for the business and it was too big for you, so you just never started.

It's not too big for God, though, and it's not too late.

The things that God has called you to, we can unlock our knees and be open and submitted to the Lord, and he will reveal the next step to us.

A lamp into our feet is what this book is.

That means we get little bits and pieces.

Like he's not gonna give us all at once.

We have to take little bits and pieces.

And he'll be with us every step of the way.

Luke 145, Luke 145 says, Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her.

It does not say, Blessed are those people who see the promises and believe once they see them fulfilled.

Say, believe.

It hasn't happened yet, but I'm just I'm believing.

And that scripture is actually talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, which Pastor Robert just did a whole message on the divinity and humanity of Jesus last week.

It was amazing.

So you think through the humanity that he had.

Well, he had a mom who had a promise, but she had a long road to walk it out.

She kept her heart pure.

We cannot let past experiences limit our future potential.

So I told you we live on five and a half acres.

We have like a whole homestead thing happening.

Originally, we started with a few chickens because we wanted eggs.

It escalated.

And now we have a whole homestead happening.

We've got cows, we've got a ton of chickens now with a big old chicken coop.

Uh we've had quail, they're no longer there.

Uh, some of you ladies may remember my ram story from Pink Impact last year.

So we no longer have any sheep.

They gone.

Um, and then we have these great Pyrenees dogs.

They're like a step below wolves.

So, like they love us and love, you know, the flock.

That's what they're there to protect.

But if you're not one of us, they know their territory and they're gonna protect it.

And so, you know, a whole homestead thing happening.

And then we have a big garden, y'all.

It was so beautiful.

A few years ago, it was stunning.

It could have been on the cover of a magazine.

It was phenomenal.

It is not so phenomenal at the moment, you know.

We're growing.

So the way that our property is set up, we have like three tiers.

So our house is at the top, then you drive down a little bit, and there's a pond, and you drive down a little bit, and there is the garden and all the animals and all of that.

And so we have to take down all of our gardening tools and our feed, you know, got these 50-pound bags of feed.

James does this.

I do this, you know, barely making it to the ranger.

So we have a ranger.

Does y'all know what that is?

Some of you, it's like an off-roading golf cart.

So we have that in our garage, so we all load up in the garage in our ranger.

James, me, three kids, Sunday afternoon.

It's a normal thing.

So we're going down to the garden to do some work.

So that, you know, we go through the gate because it's fenced.

The garden is fenced because it's vegetables and fruits.

If it's not fenced, my animals are gonna think it's like a free buffet for them.

So we go through the gate, shut the gate.

The kids are playing.

I'm sitting at one of our raised beds, gardening, you know, just weeding.

James is over there doing some work.

And my daughter Bray comes skipping by and grabs the egg basket.

And so I'm like, oh, no big deal.

She's like, I'm gonna go get eggs.

I'm like, okay, great, go.

So I'm sitting there weeding.

She goes through the gate, shuts the gate, goes on.

And all of a sudden, I hear her screaming bloody murder.

And like, as a woman, definitely as a mother, when you hear your child screaming in terror, you don't like stop to assess the situation.

You just like get there.

So I immediately like jump up and I have an overactive imagination.

So in the moment, I turn into like the female version of Rambo.

And I've got like the bandana, I've got war paint, I've got like the belt buckles with all the bullets all over me, and I'm like, let's go.

All in my mind, remind remind you.

Okay, so I'm I'm running.

I mean, I l I just take off, and I bush through the gate, and I see her like a ways away from me, and she is turned with her back towards me, but she's covering her face like this, and she's just screaming, screaming in terror.

There is a giant rooster like hovering above her, flapping its big, nasty wings, and it's got its talons just go.

If you don't know this about roosters, they're like the raptors from Jurassic World.

They've got these big old talons, and it's just going at Bray, and she is screaming.

The thing about chickens is they are birds of prey, so they attack things, but then you know, everything loves chicken.

So when they are being attacked, you know, they go back at it.

Either way, they go for the eyes.

Yeah.

They try to take out the vision.

My daughter is screaming.

I am running.

So I bust through the gate.

I'm just yelling, flailing my arms, I'm yelling at James, and like, James, James! And so I get to her, I pick her up, it's like a drive-by, y'all.

I like pick her up, I kick at the rooster, and I round.

And James is just now coming through the gate.

He has so much longer legs than me.

I'm like, babe, what is your reaction time?

So I have her, I'm seeing blood, I'm mad.

Oh, y'all, I'm so mad.

So I've got her, and as I'm coming, I see my boys on our ranger, you know, that we drove down.

They're on top of the ranger, and they're like fist pumping the air, they're yelling, they're screaming, it looks like Lord of the Flies up there.

Just going to town, and my middle son says, You've done it now, rooster.

Your nuggets.

I was like, nah.

Ain't gonna be any meat left for nuggets on that thing.

So James picks up the first thing he can find, which is a half-broken rake.

The whole like handle part, wooden part is broken off.

All that's left are like the rusty teeth.

And I'm like, get it.

So he dispatches the chicken.

It's like a polite way to say it is no longer with us.

R IP.

So I get Bray to the ranger, and I'm checking her out because I'm seeing blood, and y'all, praise the Lord, her face was totally fine.

But she had these scratch marks all down her arms and they were bloody.

It didn't take long for those to heal, but what took a little longer were her like internal wounds.

She was so devastated.

Like totally terrified.

And we have a lot of chickens.

So this was going to be a problem.

We'd had chickens since she was born.

She used to love them.

She would like carry around those fat hens.

She was like tiny and like barely making it, you know, they were bigger than she was.

And then the babies, she would just snuggle the babies.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, you know.

So now we had the chickens, and she was terrified.

She would run and hide behind me.

She would just scream.

I was like, okay, we gotta work on this.

She used to love those little babies, and she would hear the beep, beep, beep freak out.

I was like, honey, you could just.

I mean, baby, if it's you or the chicken, I choose you.

But this took a little while.

I mean, I was doing like chicken therapy with my daughter.

And I started asking the Lord, like, one, how do I help my daughter overcome this irrational fear of chickens?

And also, how many times have I done something very similar to this?

I'm in my territory.

I've been given authority over this land.

I'm doing my thing that I always do.

And the enemy comes and tries to take out my vision.

And maybe doesn't fully take out my vision, but he scares the living daylights out of me that I don't function the way I'm supposed to function.

He confuses me and causes me to just lose my sight.

And then instead of functioning and being strong and courageous, I'm just waiting for the next beep, beep, beep.

I don't want to live like that.

That's not what God has called us to.

So now, Bray is doing much better.

But when we go out to the chickens, I'm like, Bray, you are strong.

You are courageous.

Also, take this stick.

And if anything comes near you that you don't like, you just wallop it.

Well, here's what I want to say to us today.

Y'all.

Be strong and courageous.

And when the enemy comes at you, because he will, that's why he's called the enemy.

If he were a friend, he'd be called friend.

But he's not.

He's called the enemy.

So he is going to come for you.

And when he does, we don't have to be afraid.

This is what we do we take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

And we give him a good old wallop, putting him back in his place because he doesn't tell us where our territory is.

He doesn't tell us our authority.

He who did not create you cannot tell you who you are.

So tomorrow, when you wake up, know your territory.

Be strong and courageous and partner with the Holy Spirit to live that out.

God has promises for each of us.

Every single person in this room.

If you have had disappointments, failures, do not let those hinder you from the vision God is giving you.

And if you don't know your vision, don't let that hold you back.

Ask the Lord, and He will give you a vision.

He wants to give you His vision, not your own, but His vision to accomplish everything He's called you to.

Now, before we close, I really can't have a message like this and not invite you to have a more intimate relationship with the Lord, a deeper understanding of His love for you.

Because maybe you've had vision, but it's your own vision.

It's really hard to have God's vision for your life without a relationship with Him.

So if you're in this room at one of the campuses online and you're listening to this and you're thinking, my heart's starting to beat a little bit.

I don't know if I've actually given control of my life to Jesus.

I don't know that I have fully made him the Lord of my life.

Why wait another day?

He loves you so much and wants to pour out his love on you.

He wants to share his vision for your life with you so that y'all can accomplish it together.

Maybe for you, your next step is being baptized.

Maybe you were baptized as a kid or as, you know, earlier in your life before you really gave up control of your life to the Lord.

Go ahead and make that step today.

We actually have baptisms at every campus this weekend.

Ta-da! Just for you.

I mean, really, for you.

We have everything you're gonna need for that.

So, like, don't let things like, then my hair's gonna be wet.

Don't worry.

Don't let that hinder you.

Oh, I don't know, what pants do I wear after that?

We have shorts you can wear to be in there.

And then you can put your church clothes back on.

God wants to have a deeper relationship with you.

So let's start that journey today.

All right, if you'll close your eyes, just so we have no distractions.

Close your eyes, and I'm gonna ask the same question we ask every weekend.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

And that's not just like a saying, that's a real question for you to ask the Holy Spirit.

Because there should be some sort of action from this message.

Lord, do I have an area of my life that I have had my own vision in?

Maybe I've asked you for vision for other areas, but for some reason, this area I've just held control of.

I want to release that.

I don't know what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, but he wants to speak to you about something.

Maybe he just wants to encourage you.

Lord, thank you that you are a loving Father who cares for us and loves us, who has a plan to prosper us.

You have good plans, you have good thoughts towards us.

We are your children.

So, Lord, we just submit ourselves to you and say, speak to us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks, guys.

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.