Chosen for Purpose

Hello, hello.

Thank you very much.

You may be seated.

I'm very grateful to be here.

Anytime we get to come into town, me and Elaine, this is our home away from home, get the time to relax, be back in Cowboy Country.

So it's an incredible time.

The Texans aren't that good, but maybe one day we'll get there.

So but no, it's really good to just be back.

We watch from a distance, and we're so excited about all that God is doing here.

Obviously, last week with a big announcement.

But I want to say and really honor Pastor Robert for his heart for the next generation and the way that he's poured into me and my life, but even honoring and building a church that will reach the next generation.

And I'm excited for Pastor James as he steps into his new role as well.

I believe that the best is still yet to come.

That God has more in store for what God is going to do here at Gateway and really across the world.

I'm excited to be a part of it and to be an extension of that in Gateway Houston.

As he mentioned a second ago, the church is doing well.

We've been through a season, but God has us in a very strong place.

Family is doing well as well.

And I want to share a brief story about my daughter Kate.

Whenever we go to school, that's a time for us as parents to kind of instill some spiritual principles.

So we pray with our kids on the way to school, and they'll pray about everything.

They'll pray about what they're going through, they'll pray for the church, they'll pray for their friends, they'll pray for the lesson, they'll pray that they pass the test.

But there was one time my daughter Kate was praying, and she prays, Dear Lord, I pray that nobody would rip the back of their pants today.

In Jesus' name, amen.

And I so when they pray that, it leads me to ask some questions, like, hey, what's going on here?

Kate, did you split the back of your pants?

She's like, Oh no, that never happened to me.

I'm just praying for someone else just in case that might happen to them that it wouldn't happen.

So if you did not split your pants that day, it's because my daughter prayed for you and you're well taken care of.

But God loves to hear every single detail of our lives when we pray.

So it's always fun with our kids, and I'm excited to be here.

Well, let's dive into the word today.

Uh, the message title is Chosen for Purpose.

Chosen for Purpose.

We've been walking through our own kind of dream to destiny type series while you've been talking about Joseph.

We've been focusing on the life of David.

And so every single season of David's life, I believe there was a gift that God gave, and it's a gift that every single one of us can receive from him as we walk throughout this process.

And I'm gonna talk about three of them today.

I'm gonna dive right in with the first point.

And the first point is this the gift of anonymity.

The gift of anonymity.

All three of these points, by the way, start with the letter A, so I know my father-in-law would be very proud of me in this moment.

But whether we realize it or not, anonymity and obscurity is a gift.

It's God's gracious way of allowing us to develop in the dark.

I remember my very first message that I preached here at young adults.

It probably should have been my last if they were honest, because it was terrible.

But I'm glad that no one can actually find it.

I believe they've actually thrown the message away, it's been archived, it's gone.

But I'm glad that it was when I was obscure and not as known.

And in David's life, as we begin to look at him, he starts from the middle of nowhere.

He's actually a shepherd.

And at this moment, Samuel is looking for a king and he goes to Jesse's house because that's where God tells him to go.

And 1 Samuel 16 is where we're going to pick it up, starting in verse 6.

It says, When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, Surely this is the Lord's anointed, thinking, This is simple.

But the Lord said to Samuel, Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them.

People judge by the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Verse 10.

In the same way all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel.

But Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these.

Then Samuel asked, Are these all the sons you have?

They are still the youngest.

He didn't even mention them by name, by the way.

Jesse replied, But he's out in the fields, watching the sheep and the goats.

Send for him at once, Samuel said, We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.

So Jesse sent for him.

He was tall, dark, and handsome with beautiful eyes.

If you wonder what David looked like, you look like me.

Just wanted to throw that out.

I'm kidding.

I am kidding.

Let's get back to the word, okay?

And the Lord said, This is the one, anoint him, and the spirit fell upon him.

So David is out in the fields.

He's anonymous.

Whenever Samuel asks for all of Jesse's sons, he's not even invited to the party to be the potential king.

But Samuel starts out the way that many of us start out when we have a big decision to make.

We base our decision on what's appealing on the outside.

And how many of you know you can get in trouble making decisions that way?

I think we've all made decisions in that manner.

But when you make surface level decisions, you get surface level results.

When you make surface level decisions, you get a saw.

When you actually take the time to hear God's voice and get his perspective, you find the David.

So it's important for us to realize this, and God shapes this perspective, but because here's what he was looking for.

And it's in Acts 13, 22, it says this about David.

It said, but God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, by the way, it's important what God says about you, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.

He will do everything I want him to do.

See, God's scales of what he measures is different than what man looks at.

We need to realize that what man notices, God doesn't always anoint.

He has a specific purpose in mind and he's looking at the heart.

But here's what this also means: that God's vision for your life is not limited to your resume or your education.

See, David was a shepherd.

It was not a glamorous or exciting job.

This is not the job that you put on social media and take a selfie with sheep.

That's not something you would do.

It's actually a job for a servant, not a son, but he does it faithfully in this moment.

But here's what you need to do if you find yourself in the field.

You need to develop your identity in the Lord.

While no one else is watching, you can be secure in who God has created you to be.

David wrote psalms during this time.

Think about this for a second.

Worship songs are being sung today that are based on psalms that he wrote thousands of years ago.

Because he had the time to sit down and be with God.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Where do you think that came from?

From him ultimately being a shepherd.

Because David wasn't chosen by men, but he was chosen by God.

And here's why this is key.

Because you're always loyal to the one who chooses you.

If you are chosen by man, which is what Saul was, he was a man, he was a king in their nature, like the other nations, is what they asked for.

Saul was chosen by man, so he tried the fear of man.

David was chosen by God, so he continued in the fear of God all the days of his life.

It's important to understand that God has chosen us so we can seek for his approval and seek to please him, not the people around us.

But when we're in the field, here's what we need more than anything else: we need faithfulness.

We need to be faithful because faithfulness in the kingdom of God is actually the pathway to significance.

You will not get where God wants you to go if you are not faithful.

Now I'm gonna say a very obvious statement, but whenever they went to look for David, he was actually there.

Very obvious statement, right?

I think it's important though, because it shows his faithfulness.

He could have slacked off on the job, he could have gone somewhere else, they could have had to search for him, but he was being faithful in the place that God wanted him to be.

And an opportunity was about to come because he was in the right place.

Being anonymous, but still serving and being faithful.

See, one thing that I believe is a nagging voice in our generation is hurry.

We're always in a hurry to get somewhere, we're always in a hurry to do something.

This is the way that we say it.

Oh, how are you doing?

You say, I'm busy.

I'm busy, I'm just I'm here and I'm there, and I'm and I'm just busy.

But many times when it comes to the promises of God, we create deadlines.

And the problem is when you create deadlines, you also create desperation.

You begin to substitute what's important for the things that are urgent in that moment.

And you begin to walk away from what God has.

Because if you're going to embrace trusting in God's sovereignty, you also need to embrace submission to God's timing.

God knows exactly where you need to be, and he knows the exact time that you need to get there.

But many times we have so much pressure and anxiety in our lives because we're trying to make it happen on our own timing.

We have their own pace, and it's impossible to experience God's peace if you don't have God's pace.

We need to walk step by step with him, and he will bring us to the place where we're able to live a meaningful life and a life of purpose.

Because the barrier for many of us is not our lack of commitment, it's our overcommitment to living a meaningful life.

And we need to come to the place where we trust God and also trust in his timing.

My first job here at Gateway, it was in 2012, I believe, was content tagging specialist.

And I added the specialist part just to sound important.

So, what my role was in 2012, from the very beginning of the church up until that moment, my role for three months was to take all of Pastor Robert's messages that he had taught and really break them down into the uh into clips so that people can watch them, whether it be on grace, generosity, stewardship, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, all of these different things.

But I was in a closet at this time, there wasn't really there was one light, but I had to have a lamp to even do my job, and it was in the middle of nowhere.

But I I enjoyed it.

But here's the thing that I really want to say about that time.

Do you think that moment where no one knew who I was and no one knew where I was when I was listening to all of those messages by Pastor Robert, that it was preparing me for what I'm doing today?

See, you never know with God there is no wasted time, his training time for what the purpose that he has for you over the long haul if you would simply trust what he wants to do in your life.

So anonymity is a gift.

Here's the second thing: the gift of adversity, the gift of adversity.

You will face battles as you walk out the promise that God has for your life.

You will face adversity.

As a matter of fact, Jesus says, in this world you will have trouble.

The problem becomes whenever we stop at that part of the verse.

Because the second part is even more true.

But be of good cheer, take heart, I have overcome the world.

So you have the ability to overcome anything you face.

But here's the thing we need to understand about adversity.

God uses adversity not to crush us, but to craft us.

He can shape us in the moments, even when adversity happens.

Adversity can actually be the place where God, that God uses it to promote you to what he has for you next.

But the question for all of us when adversity shows up is what will our response be when it appears that there's conflict between God's promises and our circumstances?

Because David faces a lot of adversity.

I'm covering a lot of ground right now today, but if you read his story, it's adversity after adversity after the next.

And he's facing all of these moments.

Proverbs 24, 10 says this if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

I used to read this as this means you're weak.

If you faint in a day of adversity, this means you're weak.

Here's what adversity is to me, and the way that I really want to shape it and frame it today.

Adversity is a measurement of capacity, not capability.

It tells you where you are today.

It does not tell you what you can be in the future.

If I were to lift weights and I would go to my max, uh, which is pretty high, by the way, obviously.

But if I would max out, there'd be a point where I'm not able to lift it anymore and the adversity would crush me.

But if I kept working towards it, I would be capable of much more if I continued to push through the adversity.

See, it's just a measurement of where you are today, not the future possibilities that God can do in your life.

So don't disqualify yourself if today you're in the place of adversity, because it's not meant to disqualify you, it's meant to prepare you for what's next.

In 1 Samuel 17, the Israelites faced a Goliath-sized problem.

And Goliath was, he was over nine feet tall, and he had armor that weighed over 150 pounds.

In the Guinness World Records, the tallest man that we've ever recorded was Robert Waldlow, and he was eight feet 11 inches tall, and he had a size 37 shoe.

But Goliath, with Goliath being there, there's a massive problem in this moment.

And for 40 days straight, twice a day, he was doing two a days, he'd show up in the morning, he'd show up at night, and he would talk smack to the Israelite army.

And here's what it he would say.

1 Samuel 17, we're gonna pick it up in verse 9.

If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.

But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be mighty, our servants, and serve us.

And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day.

Give me a man that we may fight together.

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

See, when you look at this battle at first glance, it looks like a physical battle, but it sounds like a spiritual one.

This word defy, when he says, I defy the armies, he it literally means to heap shame on them.

And this is what the enemy loves to do with us whenever we're facing adversity.

He wants to heap shame in that moment.

To say, This, because of your sin, because of whatever that this is why you're going through what you're going through.

This is what the enemy loves to do to us.

And he won, he was winning this battle by fear and intimidation.

And this is how he wanted to work in our lives.

But I want to say this when it comes to adversity adversity is normal, but fear is a choice.

They did not have to walk in fear, and we're about to see in a moment David shows up with a different heart and a different attitude.

But the Goliaths or the adversity in our lives do not go away because we pretend they don't exist.

Actually, delaying the confrontation only serves to fortify the fear.

In a moment here, we're about to see their response.

But first Samuel, we'll pick it back up in uh chapter 17, verse 23.

Then, as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines, and he spoke according to the same words.

So David heard them.

And the and all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.

Because they didn't deal with the beforehand, now they were running and they were dreadfully afraid.

Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?

And ultimately the reward was wealth.

Uh he got to marry the king's daughter, and he got uh his taxes removed.

And basically he was like, No taxes, I'm in, you can count me in.

Which many of us would be the same way.

But but he he says this, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

See, these were the same words that were spoken beforehand, but they fell on different ears.

While the rest of the Israelites were afraid, David was agitated because of the anointing that was on his life.

Just so you know, with what God has placed on you, we don't all see the same way.

There's things that God has called for you to do, which is why when you see it, when you hear about it, you get agitated, because that's where the Spirit is speaking to you to step out and do something about it.

Because we're all ministers here, and he's called us to reconcile the world to himself.

So it's important that we realize this.

And David got his confidence from the covenant, he understood that he had a covenant with God, and even though there was conflict, and even though his problem and his adversity was large, because he had a covenant, he was sure of the victory in this battle.

So he was he was positive that he had a covenant, but there was also one other thing.

Whenever he goes and talks to Saul, he says to Saul, Hey, I know you don't think I I can win this battle, but see, when I was in the field, when no one saw me, I killed a lion and I killed a bear.

It was actually his past adversity that fueled his current purpose.

See, we all have life experiences of adversity that we've had to overcome.

Don't discount those, because God can use those in the future to bring life, healing, and hope to other people if we would step into the place that he has for every single one of us.

This is where he had the confidence to move forward in this.

And after he wins the battle, obviously, most of us know the story where he takes out Goliath, throws a stone straight in his head, and then cuts off, cuts off his head, his popularity begins to rise.

And you would think the praise that he would receive would actually be good for him.

But ultimately, it causes Saul to turn an eye against him.

And Saul becomes envious when he hears that David had slain his tens of thousands and that they were only attributing a thousand to Saul.

But it says if you read this story that David behaved wisely, and I think this is very important because we don't behave our way to salvation, but our behavior much matches the purpose that God has for our lives.

We have to behave in the way that God has called for us to behave and live a righteous life because it matters.

But I brought a picture with me today of what it looked like for David to walk out the process of his purpose.

And when he's running from Saul, this is what it looks like to walk out your purpose.

I don't know if anyone else, it's never a straight line from A to Z.

This is what it looks like.

I'm a church planner.

This is what it's felt like, okay.

But he ultimately gets to the place that God wants him to be.

But here's the thing: whenever you're facing adversity, you cannot take shortcuts.

Because if you take shortcuts, you'll end up cutting short the process and the purpose that God has for your life.

I remember many times me and a family will come up, and obviously we'll we'll drive to Dallas, and sometimes I'll come by myself on a business trip.

When I'm with the kids, I know it's probably gonna take me about five hours or so to get here.

But when I'm by myself, uh I can push it a little bit.

And so I use the Waze app because those ways are God's ways, obviously.

But I use the Waze app, and there's this uh thing that you can see that measures and tells you the ETA.

And here's what the ETA stands for stands for me this estimate estimated time for the average person to get there.

But I'm above average, so I can beat this time.

So when I'm about myself, I can just I can just cruise.

And on I-45, which is what we typically drive, there's always a lot of traffic.

And since I'm gonna race basic with myself because I'm a competitive person, I was coming up to this one uh traffic jam, and there was an access uh road exit right here.

So Way said, hey, to stay on, and I couldn't really see the course that was up ahead of me, so I was like, you know, I'm gonna beat this time.

I actually got off the access road and thought I was gonna enter on after I just went through one stop sign.

But unfortunately, where I exited, there wasn't another entry point for another 12 to 15 miles.

And I was just frustrated because everybody had passed, then passed me.

Don't worry though, I caught back up to them, I ended up passing them again, okay?

See, we can make it this we can't make the decision of how fast the process is gonna go, but here's the reality decisions that we make can actually slow the process down.

We can't take shortcuts to reach the purpose again.

God has for every single one of us.

Goliath, whenever he came against David, he came against with fear.

But there's another enemy that is really a battle on the inside.

See, many of us face battles from the outside, but some of the biggest wars and the battles that we face are the battles that are on the inside.

And in 1 Samuel 27, it gives us a little bit of a picture of this.

And it says this, and David said in his heart, Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul.

This is after God's delivered him.

This is after God's rescued him.

And here's what he says There is nothing better for me than I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines.

And Saul will despair of me to seek me to anymore in any part of Israel.

So I shall escape out of his hand.

In verse 7, now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

See if fear, if the enemy can't use fear, he'll use discouragement.

What you say in your heart is important.

Proverbs 4 tells us to guard your heart, because out of it flow the issues of life.

It determines the course of your life.

Whenever adversity strikes, what do you say to yourself?

It doesn't even say he said it out loud.

He said he said it in his heart.

But David's discouragement actually deceived him to the point where he tried to find refuge with the enemy.

But many times we can be the same way whenever we face discouragement.

Whenever times get hard and our faith isn't as strong as it can be, we try to find refuge in the world instead of going to God.

See, Psalm 46 tells us that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.

It's crazy for us to try to find peace in the world when we can only find a refuge and peace with God.

But there came a time in David's life where it actually says he found his strength in the Lord.

So I want to encourage you today.

If you're in that place where you're facing adversity, relationships, marriage, whatever it may be, find your strength in the Lord.

He will give you the strength necessary to overcome the adversity that's in your life.

So it's important that we realize that adversity can be a gift.

And here's the final thing: the gift of authority.

The gift of authority.

We all like authority.

We all like to be in charge in some way, shape, or form.

My kids even like to be in charge.

This is why they love Alexa.

Because Alexa will do whatever they tell Alexa to do.

But my sons, I have two sons, they're now six and four.

And I'm at the age as a father now where I have to keep my head on a swivel because I never know when they're gonna come and try to tackle me, and we wrestle a lot and we play together, and it's great.

But there was one day I remember that my son was thinking very highly of himself.

And he he walked into the living room, and I was sitting there on the couch, probably watching football or something, and he comes in with his chest kind of sticking out a little bit.

And he says to me, looking me dead in the eye, I'm the alpha.

How many of you know we have some problems in the house when your five-year-old son at the time is saying that to you?

And I wish I had a very spiritual moment, and I just said to him, No, Preston, Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

But no, these are the moments that fathers pray for when their kids are young and they can put them in their place.

So I got down on his level, so we were eye to eye, and I told him, in order to be the alpha, you have to beat the alpha.

And then I picked him up and body slammed him in the couch, and that was over with.

Authority is simply a magnifier.

They were always that person, they just now have the authority to be able to carry certain things out.

The question for us when it comes to God giving us authority is will you leverage the authority God gives you to love people or to benefit yourself?

I'm gonna walk through several different instances where God or David chose to benefit others.

Because here's what we need to know about authority that God never gives authority without bringing accountability.

Authority and accountability always come together.

In 1 Samuel 22, verse 2, these are this is the group that God first brought to David.

1 Samuel 22:2

It said, and everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him.

So he became captain over them, and there were about 400 men with him.

This is the first group of people that God decided to bring.

This word discontented means bitterness of soul.

And they come out to meet him, and David at this time is in the wilderness in a cave, and they come and they meet him, and there's four hundred men, and a new community and a new kingdom were launched with this group of people who are discontented, who were distressed, and who are in debt.

And they followed him.

But here's what I love this same group later on is described as part of his mighty men, because the longer they followed David, the more their character and their nature changed.

And I want to let you know that the kingdom of God was started with people who were distressed, that were in debt and had it were bankrupt to pay it back, and that were discontented, and they came to Jesus, and he gave them rest from the burdens that we were carrying.

And the more that we follow him, we are shaped into people who can be used mighty for his purposes in this earth and in this world and bring the kingdom of heaven here to earth.

This is what God wants to do for every single one of us.

And David begins to lead these men.

But there comes a time where he's in the cave, and Saul actually comes in the cave, and David has a chance to take the kingdom in this moment.

As a matter of fact, his men wanted him to.

But David decided not to do it.

He figured that uh God is the authority, and if God wants me to be king, he'll make me king in his timing.

And I want to say this, and I think this is a good point.

David didn't have to defend himself.

See, God desires to be our defender, but many times he can't defend us because we're too busy defending ourselves.

We're too busy trying to get people to believe a certain thing about us.

We're too busy fighting our own battles instead of trusting God to do it.

But here's actually Saul's response after this.

In 1 Samuel 24, verse 19 and 20, it says, Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power?

1 Samuel 24:19

May the Lord reward you for your kindness you have shown me today.

And now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule.

So, who what type of person would do this?

A person who actually understands the true authority.

That it has to be given by God that all authority is delegated authority.

See, corruption is actually the fruit of forgetting where power comes from.

Because you have no fear of God.

This is what Saul was doing after chasing after David year after year.

But it's interesting to me that Saul said to David, You're going to be king.

But it was actually in an act of restraint, not in a resolve for power, that Saul noticed it.

That Saul noticed you're gonna be king and the kingdom is gonna flourish under your rule because you understand authority.

But one of the biggest tests when it comes to authority is what happens when God says no.

We've all been in that place where God tells us no.

See, David had a heart to build the temple, he had a heart to create a home for the ark.

And God basically tells him, Hey, those are good intentions, those are good desires, but the answer is no.

He's like, I have a different responsibility and purpose for your life.

See, David was a man of war.

His job and his role in that moment was actually to establish the kingdom, and it would be Solomon who would expand it and build the temple.

And I say this, and it's this is important for all of us to understand that when God tells us no on something, it's because he has a better yes on the other side of it.

See, he wanted to build God a house, and God said, No, but I'm actually gonna build your house and I'm gonna make a covenant with you, and that your kingdom will last forever and is ultimately fulfilled in the incarnation through Jesus, where Luke 1 tells us he is the of he will take the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

God wants to do something great for every single one of us, but many times we have to understand and give him the authority in our lives to tell us no, for him to define the boundaries in our lives, and for us simply to defend them, because that's what he desires for every single one of us.

And I want to end this message today in 2 Samuel chapter 9.

2 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

And this is a story where David used his authority to bless the people and the family that have betrayed him.

And it says this in 2 Samuel 9, verse 3, it said, Then the king asked him, that's David, is anyone still alive from Saul's family?

2 Samuel 9:3

If so, I want to show God's kindness to them.

He didn't say, I want to show my kindness, I want to show God's kindness.

He's the one that's giving me the authority.

I imagine what the world would be like if every single one of us decided to show God's kindness to people every single day.

Zebra replied, Yes, one of Jonathan's sons is still alive.

He is crippled in both feet.

Jonathan had a son named Mephiboshev.

Try to say that five times fast.

It's awesome.

I'm gonna refer to him as M in the rest of the message, just so you know.

But but M was living in a place called Lodabar.

Lodabar means no pastor.

He was away from his inheritance, he was away from his family, he was hiding, and because they were fleeing after his father was killed in battle, he was dropped and he was lame in his feet.

But David made a covenant with his father, and David was about to now walk that out and called M to him.

2 Samuel chapter 9, verse 7.

2 Samuel 9:7

Here's what David says to him Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat bread at my table continually.

See, David uses authority for the benefit of others.

But David's grace to Mephibosheth is a picture of God's grace to us.

That we are the lost sinner, but we serve a gracious king.

Because in the same way as Mephibosheth, we are born rejected and fearful.

We experienced a fall and could not walk.

We would perish without help.

We are hiding, poor, weak, lame, and fearful before our king comes to us.

We separated ourselves from the king because we didn't know his love and his care for us.

But Jesus, our king, sought us out before we sought him and accepts us into his family.

The king's kindness is based on covenant.

The king restores to us more than what we lost in hiding from him.

He has given us a new life and an inheritance, and we have the privilege of provision at the king's table.

God restores every single one of us to a rightful place with him.

Whenever we have dinner as a family, it's an awesome time to have conversations with our kids.

And my daughter Kate, she had her wallet that was on the table and there was some money in it, so I was like, hey, whose wallet is this?

And she grabbed it from me and said, Hey, those that five dollars is mine.

And I was like, Okay, that's great.

Uh, but I'll make a deal with you, all right?

I'll I'll make this deal.

What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours.

Immediately trying to defend the five dollars she had, she said, no.

But the other kids around the table looked at her and they're like, no, no, no, no, no, that's a good deal, that's a good deal.

And her eyes got real big.

It was like, Yes, I'm in, I'm in, I'll take it.

Because she realized that compared to her, what I had was infinitely greater, and I was willing to share all that I had with her.

See, when it comes to our relationship with God, he says to us, What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours.

I'm gonna share with you my mercy, I'm gonna share with you my grace, I'm gonna share with you my forgiveness, I'm gonna share with you my love, I'm gonna put you in my presence and I'm gonna provide a place for you to flourish if you would simply trust me and submit your will and your life to who I am.

This is what God desires to do for every single one of us.

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes today.

In a moment here, we're gonna have a chance to respond.

Some of us at every single campus, there are gonna be people that are down front that would love to have the opportunity to pray with you.

Others of us, we we we're gonna respond in worship.

I want to encourage you today, no matter where you are, don't leave today with the same burdens that you came in with.

You don't have to be a member of Gateway Church to come and receive prayer, but God wants to meet every single one of us.

You don't have to carry the adversity on your own, you can find strength in the Lord.

But I want to pray for you because I believe that God has something special for every single one of us.

So, Father, we thank you for your goodness, we thank you for your love for your people, that you bring us to the place where you have called for us to be, that we can trust in your sovereignty, we can trust in your grace, we can trust in your mercy to become the people that you desire for us to be.

We say that we want to be a church that exhibits your kindness and your authority in this world to a world that needs you more than ever before.

And I pray that you would use us to be your hands and your feet.

And I thank you for that right now.

It's in Jesus' name I pray, and everyone said, Amen and amen.

Thank you guys for letting me be here today.

I love you.

I hope to see you soon.

God bless.