See & Become | John Challinor

Well, good morning. Go ahead and have a seat

as you do so. Church family, what a God. What

a God who shows up when you didn't expect him,

right? Like what a God that shows up in moments

like this when you thought you were just coming

in on a Sunday morning. And God's like, I'm going

to surprise you and I'm going to show up. And

I hope I hope what you get is just a sense of

like God is up to something. Right. Like I hope

that what you get is just that that. OK, God,

like we're here. And I hope the posture is that

you are expectant. Right. That you're expectant

that he is going to show up and he is going to

do something. And that may be here in the room.

Good morning to those of you on our online family.

Welcome on in. Clint in Kuwait is there this

morning. Yeah, we can get up for Clint. Welcome

to you and then also Baghdad, Paulding, our entire

online family. You just need to know we have

been praying for you. We continue to pray for

you and we are expecting for what God is going

to do there in whatever space you are, whatever

screen, whatever sound that you happen to hear

this. Same as in the room, God is present. And

here's the thing with God being present, right?

Like we can come in and go, God, we expect you

to move and we expect you to work. And I don't

know if you've noticed, but it's a little full

in here today. And within it being a little full,

it creates all kinds of dynamics. We're just

looking at this and going, okay, God, you are

moving within our community and we want to move

with you. We want to be flexible and have the

ability to shape however God needs us to shape,

not the other way around. What's happening is

that, I mean, let me just give you a picture,

okay? You ready? 41 kindergarten and first graders

in a room together. Some of you got that because

you're like, I had a kindergarten and a first

grader. 41 in a room, right? Like, it's amazing.

We celebrate it. But we also recognize that's

a little chaos. Right. And so then what we've

realized is because of what God is doing and

how he's moving and the amount of people that

one of the things, one of the realities we have

is there's about a 20 minute turnaround. And

so what we're working on to make you happier

as you're coming or leaving and what hopefully

the 11 o 'clock, I got a picture last, I think

it was two weeks ago that the entrance to the

kids thing had a hundred kids standing and waiting

because somebody was talking too long. So, you

know, there's that. So here's what we're going

to do. We're celebrating that God is moving and

we just want to meet a minute. So the 11 o 'clock

is moving to 1115. And what that buys us is that

turnaround time that we need to hopefully not

make everything chaos all the time. And hopefully

make your... Okay, can I be real honest with

you? If Heights is home, I don't care if you

have to wait. Like I'm not being mean. Like if

this is home and you're like, I'm here for the

mission that God has us on. I don't really care

if you're like grumpy getting out of your car

because you got to walk from the gravel. I don't

really care. I'm not being mean with that. What

I really care is the people that do not know

Jesus that are giving church a chance. Like how

do we love them, right? How do we create space

for them? And one of the ways we create space

is we just move a service time. I know it's not

convenient for some, for others. I do need to

say this because you are consistently the largest

gathering. You realize we have identical services

at eight in the morning and 1115. And there are

seats. I'm just saying, just saying. I want to

say good morning to one more group of people.

And I need you to give them a hearty cheer because

they are. doing something that y 'all aren't

doing, right? And they're sitting in overflow

right now in the next room over. So good morning

to you in overflow. But here's the thing, God

is on the move. That's what we don't wanna miss,

right? And we were at an offsite with some of

our staff this past week. And one of the things

came out of that was just like continuing to

walk by faith and not by sight. And one of the

leaders came back to the middle school that meets

on this location and came back on Wednesday night.

And they were telling their team about walking

by faith. And someone on that team goes, hey,

well, why don't we pray intentionally for 20

students to meet Jesus tonight? And then the

speaker who was there that night wasn't in the

room. And so the speaker comes in the room to

speak. And halfway through, he's like, yeah,

I just felt like God going, hey, forget what

you're going to say and do this. and see who

needs to meet Jesus tonight. And wouldn't you

know it, 20 students gave their lives to Jesus.

Why? Because God is on the move, right? Like

God is on the move. And so in this room, the

next night at Elements, which is our recovery

ministry. The elements team were praying to see

a move of God and they were praying for five

people, right? Like out of that group that they

would meet Jesus. I got a picture from the back

of the room, I'm assuming it was. And there's

like 30 people down here praying with other people.

And that's just a night later. And then on the

same night, on Thursday night in Prescott Valley

with our youth, they are praying big prayers

that people will meet Jesus. And they had like

20 kids that went, hey, I need to step into faith

in some way, shape or form. And that's all in

a week, you guys. I've been around church enough

to know that's not normal. That's not normal,

right? Like God is up to something. God is moving

and doing something. And we get to be a part

of it. And I don't want to miss, I don't know

how you feel, but like I went to the doctors

a couple of weeks ago and I'm sitting with the

doctor and kind of a few months before that,

they told me something that a couple of weeks

ago, they're like, they're like, so your numbers

are really bad in this area. And I'm like, well,

what does that mean? And they didn't say this.

This was my conclusion. Basically, you've lost

10 years of your life. I was like, well, that's

not good, right? Like, and so I see this report

and what happens is, is inside, I got these feelings

all of a sudden. And these feelings are like,

I'm going to miss out, right? These feelings

are all of a sudden, oh, this moment really matters.

And so out of those feelings, then there's a

response. And my response was, I was spiraling

by the time I got home. And as I'm spiraling

when I get home, I hear this voice. Hey, John,

who numbered the days of your life before your

doctor's visit? Well, you did, God. You got every

one of them. Yeah, who's got them after? Well,

you got them. Right? Isn't it funny how we fool

ourselves? All of a sudden I'm like, I'm in control

of the days of my life. You ain't in control

of the days of your life. And what it did for

me is all of a sudden there's just this holy

like drive inside to go, God, I see you moving

and we're just so desperate. God, I'm desperate

in my lifetime to see a movement of God that

is undeniably, it's just you and you alone. That

it's not any human that's getting the praise

it's deserved. It's you and you alone. And here's

what I wonder. I wonder, we celebrate like God

and life change in other spaces, but I wonder

how many of us come into this room expecting

that God is going to change your life today.

By the response, not many. Okay? I'm just going

to throw that out there. Right? Like the idea

that, wait, wait, you didn't just show up to

something that's on your calendar. You know how

church people attend church? They attend church.

It's an event. They show up when it starts and

they leave when it ends. And they leave the same

person that came in. Why? Because church holds

a marker on their calendar. Isn't it interesting

that with your calendar... You think about the

calendar and you think you got all these days

because you got a vacation planned out there.

What if today was your last? What if that worship

set that you just went through was the last time

on this planet you would stand and by choice

use your voice before Almighty God? Did you leave

anything back? Right? Did you leave stuff that

you were like, I don't know if I really feel

like it today. My coffee hasn't hit yet. Right?

What would it look like if you stepped into moments

and you go, wait, the God of the Exodus, right?

The God who has gone 10 rounds with all the little

G -gods that we've talked about over all these

weeks. The God who is your lifeblood. The God

who controls light and darkness. The God who

controls your breath. The God who is big enough

to protect. Who is your provision. Who is your

healer. He is here and he wants to meet with

you today. He's here and he's present. That God,

that God that can do anything is here. And guess

what? He wants a conversation with you. Why?

Because he loves you. He loves you. He's not

okay for you to be where you are because he's

got so much more. But it's by faith that we have

to step in. This might be a terrible example,

but you ever play the VR headset game? I got

to play a couple of years ago. My son -in -law

bought one at Christmas. And, you know, you put

it on and it's like, okay, you're in an elevator,

right? And it feels like you're in an elevator.

And then the doors open and there's a plank.

And the game is called Walk the Plank. Fun game,

you know? And so you're however many stories

up, but you got the VR headset on, so it's all

you can see. And so all you can see now is creating

essentially the life around you. And so instantly

what you see creates fear because now how high

am I? I have a fear of heights. That's terrifying,

right? But then the goal of the game is what?

To step out onto the plank, right? So what happens

is what I see creates these feelings. And it

determines how I respond. Like some people would

be standing at the edge of the doors and it would

open in the planks there and you could see them

in the living room backing up, right? Because

what they see and cause feelings, which creates

a response that there's this anticipation of

fear. And so you step back, right? Or you step

into it and you begin to move towards your goal.

And you're going to become the greatest of whatever

the leaderboard is. By accomplishing what's there.

What you see, what you see is really important

to who you become. What you see is really important

to who you become. Because what you see shapes

how you feel, and how you feel often shapes your

response. And how you respond will determine

how you move, and how you move will be who you

become. See, if you walk in here and all you

see is a spot on a calendar, or you join online

because it was just popped up in your feed, if

it's just a spot on your calendar, you're not

going to see God today. And you have to see that

God is present and that he wants to speak to

you. He wants to change you. He wants to have

an intimate conversation with you. Right? And

you have a choice in what you see. And so we

see this played out in the Exodus story. And

so kind of part of the story we're up to is Pharaoh,

the Egyptians or the Israelites leave and Pharaoh

goes, that's a bad idea. I want them back. Right?

And we know subplot, like God gives us the details

in the background. that he is hardening Pharaoh's

heart because he is making his name known. And

through this, he's going to make his name known

for all time, all human history, that you're

going to get to see God and who he is and what

he does and how he rescues. Pharaoh doesn't know

that, so Pharaoh just does what Pharaoh does.

And in verse 10, it says this, chapter 14, verse

10. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked

up, and there were the Egyptians marching after

them. they were terrified and cried out to the

Lord, right? So what we're told is that as Pharaoh

now comes, and you gotta put yourself inside

the story, right? Because as you're inside the

story, there is an army and it says that they

are marching towards who? Towards the Israelites.

This army is by far the most advanced military

on the planet. Right. And so they are coming.

And what happens is it says that the Israelites,

they look up. What happened? They changed from

what they were looking at to something else.

They see something. And what they see, what they

see is this army that is barreling down on them.

This army is coming to destroy them, which then

which then creates some feelings. And what you

get is. And there were the Egyptians marching

after him. They were terrified. They were terrified.

They were full of fear. And it caused them, right,

like these emotions that well up inside. Because

what you see, what you see will lead to what

you feel. What you see will lead to what you

feel. And what they're feeling is their eyes

go up. They see this military. And now what they

feel is fear. What they feel is that they're

terrified. What their feel is overwhelming. So

that carries on in that same verse. It says they

were terrified and cried out to the Lord. Verse

11, they said to Moses, was it because there

was no graves in Egypt that you brought us to

the desert to die? Okay, you guys have been along

for the journey. Do you remember at any point

in this whole journey that Moses shows up and

he goes to the Israelites and he goes, hey guys.

God told me there are no graves here. So I'm

going to take you to the wilderness so that we

can bury you. Anybody remember that part? Good.

I don't either. But that's where they go, right?

That's part of their response. What have you

done to us bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we

say to you in Egypt, leave us alone. Let us serve

the Egyptians. It would have been better for

us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the

desert. Okay, what they are saying is, leave

us in slavery because at least we will be alive.

Okay, they're going, let's go back from here

to slavery under the Egyptians because at least

we would be alive. Anybody relate? You don't

have to raise your hand or nothing, but you ever

been stuck in slave to sin? You ever had a season

of life where you're a slave to sin? And what's

interesting is that you were promised that sin

would make you feel alive. You were promised

that if you did this thing, this would make you

feel alive. And what it actually feels like is

a slow death. That is what they're saying. Like,

let us go back to slavery, which is a slow death

versus being out here in the desert and we'll

just be dead. They see something. What do they

see? All right, sometimes we gotta get like out

of this world and into the actual story. Like

you gotta kind of set yourself there. If you

were here last week, what did Pastor Todd talk

about? This pillar of what? Cloud and this pillar

of fire. God physically represents himself in

power and size and majesty, and he protects them.

It says that this fire moves around and protects

them, that he controls the light and dark. One

side is light, one side is dark, that God's presence

is there. And here's what's stunning with this,

right? The pillar was still there. The pillar

hasn't moved. They can still see God. And what

happens? They look up and what happens? They

leave looking at God and they see what? It's

not a trick question. They see the army, right?

And the army is marching towards them, advancing

towards them. Remember, who are they? They're

just a bunch of slaves. They're now free, but

they don't have any military. They don't even

have a plan of, okay, we're going to close ranks

and do this. They don't even have that. So what

happens is what they see now determines what

they feel. What do they feel? And now what they

feel, they respond to. And how do they respond?

Negatively. God, it would have been better. Just

kill us. God, it would have been better. How

many times, how many times do you see something

and you miss, you miss that God is there? What

do I mean? The pillar is there and they see the

army and they change and go, we want to go back

to slavery. Send us back to slavery. Remember

what happened in slavery? They cried out because

of their oppression. And so what you have is

you have this in front of them. And so sometimes

what we can do is we can get really judgmental.

Why were they so dumb? Did they not see the pillar

in front of them? Can I ask you a question? Why

are you so dumb? Why am I so dumb? Here's what

I mean. The cross of Jesus Christ is stained

red for all of eternity for God to tell me how

much he loves me. It's a permanent fixture in

our history. Our calendar is geared around it.

That stands in front of you every single moment

of every single day. If that's not enough, above

that is the resurrected Jesus who conquered death

and the grave. And that stands in front of you

every single day. Right? That is God. That is

who he is. That is what he's done. That is our

Savior. And so isn't it interesting that that's

all true? And we're down here going, I think

I want to go back to slavery. Right? Jesus saved

me. Jesus saves you. And then Jesus goes, hey,

it's a narrow road. Ooh, that looks hard. That

doesn't look very fun. You mean I'm going to

suffer for your name? I'm going to go back to

slavery. It's got some promise of fun and health.

And so we get over here, right? And we're like,

oh, this feels like death. Jesus saved me. Jesus,

okay. Wow, there's a narrow road. Same one you

had before, Jesus. Your plan hasn't changed.

That's too hard. I'm going back to slavery. Slavery

feels like death. Jesus saved me. We do this

all the time. And Jesus goes, still the narrow

road. I'm still going to call you to make the

choices that I'm calling you to make. I'm still

going to call you to live the life that I created

for you in Jesus. And isn't it interesting how

easily, how easily we can see something and lose

sight of who, and we just sang about it, right?

Like, what a God. I mean, don't miss it. The

God of the pillar and the fire, he's the God

that released them from Egypt. He's the God of

the Passover. He's the God that controls light

and darkness. He's the God that controls your

breath. And they miss it. Why? Because they see

a bunch of humans coming towards them with really

cool weaponary technology. And they freak out.

Because all we got, all we got is, who knows,

bread troughs and silver and gold. What are we

going to do with that? Throw it at them? And

it's amazing that we do the exact same thing.

You got a resurrected Jesus who has conquered

death for you and grave. That has set you free

that you even have the choice of thinking of

going back. And so what does Moses do, right?

Because there's these responses we have. Moses

answered the people, do not, verse 13, do not

be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance

the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians

you see today, you will never see again. What

does God do in the midst of it? They're freaking

out. They see this. They're like, you know, let's

get out of here. And Moses goes, he goes back

and he reminds them of what? Who God is. Remember

what a God you got. Don't you dare fall into

the trap of that. Why? Because in this moment,

as you stand here, all you have to do is remain

firm. Remain where you are. Remain where God's

brought you. I know the path is hard. I know

the steps are hard. I know this isn't what you

would choose, but stay where you are. Why? Don't

you dare run away. Stay where you are. Because

if you do, you'll see the deliverance of the

Lord. What is he saying? You're going to see

the power. power of the hand of God. So what

does he do out of their response? He moves them.

He moves them back to a place of trust. He moves

them. Your responses will lead you one of two

ways. It will lead you away from God and trusting

yourself, or it will lead you into a deeper trust

with God. And when you step and you move, what

happens is when you choose to trust God, listen,

listen, what happens in verse 14, the Lord will

fight for you. You need only to be still. The

Lord will fight for you. All you got to do is

stay still, Israelites. Don't run right now.

Your step of faith right now, Israelites, is

to not take off and not run. I don't know what

it is for you today that you are seeing that

feels so big, that seems so great. For me, in

my humanity, it's sitting with a doctor and a

laptop. And he starts to quote some numbers.

And inside of me, what starts to happen? I got

to get this figured out. I got to do this. I

got to, all the things. And with one word, God

goes, just be still and know that I am God. I

don't know what yours is. Maybe you received

a bill, right? You got a payment you got to make.

And you're like, I don't have the money for that

payment. And so you're spiraling. Like, what

does this mean? What's going to happen? You just

need to know. Stay still and let the Lord fight

for you. Why? Because he is your provision. That's

what he showed the Israelites. That's what's

true today. He's your provision. Don't move and

all of a sudden start to trust yourself. Well,

for some of you, it's the idea of loneliness,

right? It's the idea of isolation. It's the idea

that you feel like, man, I am isolated. What

I see is I see that I'm alone. And what that's

creating is these feelings. And what that's doing

is leading me to a response. And I want to go

solve it. And you just need to know that what

God is calling you to is to trust him in your

loneliness. For some of you, it's your marriage.

For some of you, it's your status. And God's

going, will you trust me? For some of you, it's

salvation. That you're still trusting yourself

to save you. You're still trusting yourself.

You believe this self -help that you can just

be better. You just got to try harder. You don't

got to try harder because you're dead. What do

I mean by that? It says that everybody that is

born into this life post, The Garden of Eden

is born into separation with God. If you are

separated from the source of life, that means

you are dead. And what you need is you need life.

And for some of you, you see, you see your brokenness.

And in your brokenness, right? You want to go

solve it. You want to go fix it. You want to

go change it. You want to go. And what you really

need is you just need a moment where you go,

Jesus, I am done. You have to save me. And what

he's doing with the Israelites here is he's reminding

them of who God is. He's reminding them of the

greatness of God. He's reminding them that this

is the God that showed up. This is the God that

has done this. This is the God that, so just

stay still and you'll see his deliverance. What

I love about God is God always provides the receipt.

What do I mean? Between the verses we just read.

It talks about, hey, raise your staff over the

water. I'm going to separate the water. You guys

are going to walk through. And in the midst of

that, right, in the midst of that, it says this

in verse 26. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch

out your hand over the sea so that the waters

may flow back, because the Egyptians are pursuing

them, flow back over the Egyptians and their

chariots and horsemen. Moses stretched out his

hand over the sea at daybreak and the sea went

back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing

towards it and the Lord swept them into the sea.

The water flowed back and covered the chariots

and horsemen. Here's what I need you to know

about that. That was the best weaponary technology

of the day. And what does God do? He just used

a little water to wipe it all out, the entire

army. Whom then shall I fear? Verse 28, the water

flowed back, covered the chariots and horsemen,

the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed

the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them

survived. Wait a minute. What had Moses told

them that God had told him? Stand still and you

will see what? The deliverance. Those Egyptians

that you're so scared of today, you will never

see them again after today. What is the receipt

that God provides? He provides a receipt where

they're all swallowed up in the sea. Why? Because

your God, my God, always comes with receipts.

What do I mean by that? Beginning of the book.

God said, let there be light, and there was light.

That's a receipt. He hands you. Right? God creates

everything in creation. You know when you go

outside and you look up at the stars? You know

what that's supposed to do? Remind you of the

receipt that God has provided that he is the

creator so that you instantly are framed by who

he is. You look at the story of the nation of

Israel. What does he say? He shows up and he

goes, I'm going to rescue you from the who? The

Egyptians. What does he do? He brings them out.

Then he tells them, hey, you won't see him again

after today. What does he do? Swallows them in

the sea and it says that every single one of

them was gone. Why? Because God always provides

the receipts. God also said that he would be

born, that the Savior would be born of a virgin.

What do you have in the story of Scripture, in

the narrative of Scripture? You have a receipt

that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary. What

else did Jesus say? He's going to go to a cross.

They're not going to take his life. He's going

to lay it down. So he goes to a cross and lays

it down. And he says, after three days, I will

rise again. Guess what happened? After three

days, he rose again and the receipts were in

500 witnesses that saw it. Why? Because God always

comes with receipts. This whole book is God's

record keeping his receipts. He said he would

do something and he did it. Why is it so important?

So that you could sit here today and know that

your God is faithful. You can sit here today

and know that your God is love. How do I know

that God loves you? There is a cross stained

red for all of eternity that declares his love

for you today. God has provided receipts over

and over. Why? So that you would trust him. Why

is the story of the Exodus captured for us? So

that you could sit here and go, God, you're the

one that controls breath. You're the one that

controls the light and darkness. That even though

I see darkness, I will not be afraid. Why? Because

you control it. That's how this works, right?

Like God is providing receipts all the way through

so that you could stand here confidently today.

And when somebody looks at you and goes, how

do you know that God's going to do that? You

go, let me, hang on a second. Let me take you

back to the story. Let me show you where God

was faithful. The lives around you have receipts

of God. You remember old school church, some

of you? Show up and give a testimony. You remember

that? No, just me? Cool. Hopefully some of you

online know about that. What were testimonies

back in the day? A testimony for those of you

that didn't grow up in church, weren't around

it. A testimony was you could come up and you

could share, hey, this is what God has done.

This is where I've seen God this week. This is

what God's been doing this week. Why? Because

in the confession, we started this way. We started

with the receipts of God's movement. He rescued

this week people in our community. He rescued

people in our church family this week. So how

do I know my God rescues? Not only do I have

these receipts, I have the receipts of the lives

around me. And what that does is when I see somebody,

you ever meet somebody and you're like, man,

I knew you years ago. You ain't the same cat

no more. I don't know who says cat. I've never

said that in my life. You're not the same. What

happened? And you hear the receipts of their

life and something triggers in you and goes,

how do I get that? That's how this is supposed

to be. It's a fire, you guys. This is supposed

to transfer. Why? Because you're seeing the goodness

of God all the time. You're not questioning the

love of God. Why? Because you know the love of

God. You've experienced the love of God. And

what you are is a walking, living, breathing

receipt that you get to take into any situation,

in any circumstance. And when people want to

talk about who God is, you go, that ain't my

God. Let me tell you about my God. Why? Because

I've experienced it. The greatest proof that

this is true is what it's done in your life.

People are always like, John, John, I want to

live on kingdom mission, but I don't know how

to talk to my neighbor. Really? You're talking

to me. So I think you figured out the talking

piece. Well, I just don't know what to say. I

don't want to sound dumb. So is it about you

or is it about your neighbor meeting Jesus? Because

all your neighbor needs to know is what? The

same love that has been poured out of me, I'll

pour out into you. The same stuff that God's

done for me, I'll just give to you. And so I

don't know, like once I was lost, I was in slavery,

felt like death, and now I'm found. We make it

so complicated, don't we? I love that God shows

up with receipts. You ever want to question?

or you are questioning, maybe you got questions

about God, the greatest thing you can do is read

this book. The greatest thing you can do is read

the book. Why? Because it will tell you over

and over and over who God is. The greatest thing

you can do is sit with this book and the God

of the Exodus will meet you. He will speak to

you. He will lead you. He will guide you. One

last story. Luke 17, verse 11. Now on his way

Luke 17:11

to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border

between Samaria and Galilee. So Jesus is traveling.

He's heading towards Jerusalem. Verse 12. As

he was going into a village, ten men, ten men

who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance

and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master,

have pity on us. When they saw him, he said,

go show yourselves to the priests. As they went,

they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw

he was healed, came back praising God in a loud

voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked

him. And he was a Samaritan, meaning he was an

outsider. Jesus asked, we're not all 10 cleansed.

Where are the other nine? Has no one returned

to give praise to God except for this foreigner?

Then he said to them, rise and go. Your faith

has made you well. There was 10 of them. And

don't miss what happens. 10 of them are there

and they're all together. You know why they're

together? Because in that culture, in that context,

they were dying together. They were literally

dead people walking because of leprosy. There

was no cure, and you couldn't be around other

people. Ten of them. And they see, they see,

don't miss it, they see the one that they have

heard about, the Messiah, the Savior, the one

who is healing people. And when they see Jesus,

they recognize in them, all of a sudden, this

feeling of hope. And as they have this feeling

of hope, they respond. And they cry out, Lord,

have mercy. They move towards Jesus. They use

their voice. And guess what? They become healed

and whole. But it doesn't end there. Because

as they move, as they move to go do what Jesus

told them to, one of them goes, hey, wait a minute.

I'm alive. I was dead and now I'm alive. I got

to go back to the source of that life. And he

goes back to Jesus. And on the way, what's happening

is, is inside, he's so excited to be alive. He

can't believe that he is healed. He can't believe

that what was death is now life for him. And

on the way, this praise breaks out. He can't

contain it because he's gone from death to life.

And now this life is bubbling up and overflowing

and it gets to Jesus and his response, right?

Because what he has seen is healing, what he

has seen is life. And so now it moves him to

praise. And he ends up and he bows down. His

movement is to bow at the feet of Jesus and to

worship him and thank him. And what does Jesus

do? Not only are you healed of your leprosy,

You're healed in your soul. Your faith has saved

you. Okay, church people in the room, and by

church people, I mean this. You gave your life

to Jesus, okay? You had a moment where you gave

your life to Jesus, okay? So church people in

the room, I just wanna talk to you for one second.

Maybe, maybe, and I'm not judging you. But maybe

the lack of the ability to praise is you forgot

who you were. You are the leper. You were dead

in your sins and transgressions, as the Bible

talks about. And you were saved by God himself

in the form of Jesus. He paid every penalty for

you, every sin for you. He took you from death

to life. He took you from having no identity

to now you are a child of God. And sometimes

we just need to be reminded of who we are so

that what? So that what we see, what we see erupts

inside of us into praise. I think sometimes we

forgot who we are. So what happens is we become

stoic. Why? Because all we see is a time slot.

All we see. And you are so much more. But there

are some of you. And my heart is burdened for

you today, right now. Because you, you have not

stepped into a relationship with Jesus. You've

been standing at a distance. And you keep showing

up to church. You keep hanging out with those

people that know Jesus. But what's happening

is you see from a distance, but you also see

all of these other things that don't make sense,

that you don't know how to reconcile, that you

don't. And the burden is that you would see Jesus

as your Lord and Savior today. That you would

see Jesus on that cross with his arms stretched

out. And if he could look at you, he would say,

just trust me. That sin that you think you can't

defeat, just trust me, I'm paying for it right

now. That marriage that you think can't be healed,

just trust me. Because there's healing in my

wings. Just trust me. Those questions you have

that you keep spiraling into, just trust me,

give them to me. Because I got them. I think

he would look and he would go, I love you. And

I got a life planned for you, but you got to

give up you. You got to give up you. You got

to stop wanting to run so that I can deliver

you and I can heal you. So here's what we're

going to do. None of this is planned, by the

way. If you're here and you're a cynic and you're

going, well, I bet they planned, we didn't plan

this. I just feel called to it. I don't want

you to miss the opportunity to see Jesus today

for the first time. If you are here and you don't

know Jesus, like you're like, John, I don't have

a relationship with Jesus, but I want one. Today's

your day. The Spirit's calling. On the inside,

you feel like your skin is crawling. It's been

one of those things. That's the Holy Spirit not

letting you settle, not letting you run. Your

head's gonna wanna turn. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

And it's real simple. It's just, Jesus, I give

you my life. It's yours. So we're gonna do this

because faith requires a response. It requires

movement. It's who we're becoming. We're becoming

free. So here's what we're going to do. We're

not even going to hide because this is supposed

to be a moment of celebration. And this includes

you online. This includes you in Baghdad today.

There's a response. There's a response needed

in Paulding. There's a response needed in Kuwait.

There's a response needed in... You pick your

place where you are. So if you are here today

and you go, today is the day when I meet Jesus.

Jesus, I give you my life. Save me. If that's

you, I'm gonna count to three and I'm gonna invite

you to stand right where you are. If you are

new to church, you go, there is no way. Trust

me, there's gonna be a holy celebration. But

if it's you, you're just gonna stand. Jesus,

I give you my life. If that's you, one, he loves

you very much. Two, he died to save you, that

your life can be free and alive. Three, if that's

you, go ahead and stand up right where you are.

I see you. See you. Let's go, church. Let's go.

Let's go. For those of you that think you should

have got up, that didn't, there's still time.

You can get up. We'll celebrate you too. Here's

the thing, you guys. The promise is that he delivers,

that he saves. He sees you. He saves. Welcome

to the family. Welcome to the family. I'm going

to pray and then we're going to worship. Yeah?

All right, let's pray. God, we come before you.

You are the maker of heaven and earth. God, you

see these people standing. Thank you for their

courage. Thank you for the way that you are changing

them today. That you have saved them from death

to life. We trust you. And you alone, thank you

for the way that you rescue us. God, this seed

of faith that has been planted, would you grow

into a tree that flourishes in each of them?

God, we love you and we're just overwhelmed and

grateful. And everybody said, amen.