Lessons from the Dean of Faith (Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-11)

Well, it's good to be here today, good to be able to share God's Word with you from the pulpit this morning.

I do want to encourage you to be partnering with our pastor this week in prayer as he is on sabbatical.

And just pray that God will speak to him during that time and it will be a season of refreshing.

And when he gets back that his batteries will be recharged and all the staff is here ready to serve you so that he can have that quiet time away in the next week or two.

And so thank you for partnering with him in prayer.

I want to invite you to turn your Bibles this morning to Hebrews chapter number 11.

Hebrews chapter number 11.

You know, as a child growing up in church, I recall singing this song quite a bit in the children's choir.

And it went like this. Maybe you've sung it before.

Father Abraham had many sons.

Many sons had Father Abraham.

And I am one of them, and so are you.

So let's just praise the Lord.

And then we'd go right arm.

And you'd stick your right arm out there.

You might pump it a little.

And then you'd sing the whole thing again.

And right on cue, you would add another action.

And it became a spiritualized version of the hokey pokey.

You put your right arm in.

You put your left arm in.

You put your right foot in and your left foot in.

And you put your chin up.

And you turn around.

And then for the grand finale, what do you do?

You sit down.

Now, that's been a lot of years ago.

And I've given a lot of thought to that since.

And I have determined that actually that it's one great big trick.

All those folks wanted to do with us singing that song is to burn a little energy out of us

and then make us sit down and be quiet.

But I thought of those words.

Father Abraham had many sons.

Why on earth do we sing about Father Abraham?

Abraham.

Adrian Rogers, my favorite preacher of all time, once said this.

He said, when you came to Christ, when you were saved by the grace of God,

God enrolled you in the school of faith.

Life is the classroom.

The Bible is the textbook.

The prophets and the apostles, well, they're the professors.

And Abraham would have to be the dean.

Father Abraham, the father of faith, the father of them that believe, the dean of the school of faith,

whatever you call him, whatever title you give him, don't miss his faith.

I want you to look with me this morning.

Hebrews chapter 11, beginning with verse 1.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it, that is faith, the people of old received their commendation.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God,

so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Go down to verse 8.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance,

and he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,

living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Will you join me as we pray?

Father, I pray that in this time this morning, as we open your word,

Lord, just as we have been worshiping you through our singing and our praying and our giving,

Lord, we worship you now through the preaching of your word,

and Lord, I pray that we be active participants in it,

that we would listen carefully to your word,

that we would listen carefully, what do you have to say to us,

and that we would respond as doers of your word in obedience to your glory and to your honor.

Lord, thank you for those gathered this morning.

You brought us here for this appointed time,

and we give it to you in Jesus' name.

And all of God's people say it.

Amen.

If you look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 39 there as it closes out,

Hebrews 10:39

it's a reminder that we are not to shrink back, church.

We are to go forward, and we are to be people of faith.

In fact, if you go just a little bit further along,

you find in Hebrews 11, 6, it says,

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

And I bet to a woman, I bet to a man, if I walked around and I said,

Do you want to please God?

We'd all say, Of course we want to please God.

Well, without faith, it's impossible.

Going back to Adrian Rogers once more, he said,

If you please God, it doesn't matter who you displease.

And if you displease God, it frankly doesn't matter who you please.

John 3, 18 says this,

Whoever believes in him, that's faith, is not condemned.

But whoever does not believe, that's unbelief,

is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And throughout Hebrews, we have seen that God has provided that perfect sacrifice for sin in Christ.

And even though we're all sinners, and even though we're all deserving of death and hell,

because God has made a sacrifice for sin,

the only thing preventing us is unbelief.

We have to trust by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,

who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Jesus was one time asked,

What must we do to do the works of God?

And he had to get them back on course, had to get them back on track.

And so Jesus said in John 6, 29,

This is the work of God,

that you believe in him whom he has sent.

We have to place our faith in Jesus Christ.

But I want to share this with you.

Not only is it that we have to place our faith in Jesus for salvation,

but we are then to live by faith,

and faith becomes the mark of the Christian life.

This morning as we look at Hebrews, chapter number 11,

just listening in to the text,

looking at the life of Abraham,

seeing this man who is called the father of faith,

there are three pertinent lessons that I believe we need to learn today.

And then we can go eat fried chicken or whatever you want to have, okay?

Lesson number one is this.

We must hear what God says.

We must hear what God says.

Faith begins with hearing God.

Now it's so much easier for us to want to listen to ourselves,

and what we think and what we feel or what others think and what they feel,

because we maybe want to please them and listen to the world

and do what the world says so we can all get along.

But the reality is, if we're going to live by faith,

lives that bring honor and glory to God,

then the most important thing,

the most important one that we need to hear from is God himself.

Any other starting point will lead us astray.

Therefore, we have to begin with God's word.

Hebrews 11, 8 simply begins with these two words,

by faith.

Hebrews 11 has been called the great hall of faith chapter.

And if you read through there, you'll see 18 transitions

where it says by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith.

Clearly, God is wanting to show us something extremely important here about faith.

When we speak of the faith of Abraham,

it's a fair question to ask,

when did his faith begin?

And we find that not in Hebrews,

but we have to go all the way back to Genesis chapter number 12.

His name at that time was not Abraham,

it was Abram,

and I'll confess I'll probably refer to him both ways throughout this message.

But he was living as just a regular guy over there in the Ur of the Chaldees,

and he was going about his business,

going about his life until God sought him out,

until God spoke to him,

and it changed his life's course and his eternity.

In the Bible, it says in Genesis 12, 1,

Now the Lord said to Abram,

and don't miss it,

the Lord said to Abram,

it is God who is speaking to him,

it is God who sought him out.

And how many of us here today

understands that the only way that we know that we are a sinner,

the only way that we know that we need salvation,

the only way we know that Jesus is the solution,

and that he will save us,

is that God first speak to our heart.

He has to show us that in ourselves.

And so what does God say to Abram?

Does God say to Abram,

you know Abram,

I sure am impressed with you,

I sure am impressed with all of your accomplishments,

you have a beautiful wife,

you have a lovely home,

your cattle, they're legit,

you have possessions that are tremendous,

look at you, Abraham,

you're a handsome guy in spite of your age,

look at those muscles,

look how ripped you are,

you must be hitting the gym, Mr. Abraham.

You're the man,

how did you accomplish all of this?

Maybe you need to write a self-help book

and entitle it,

Live Ur Best Life Now.

Is that what God said?

No, what God said to him is,

you need to get out of town.

Genesis 12, 1-3 says,

Go from your country and your kindred

and your father's house

to the land I will show you,

and I will make you a great nation,

and I will bless you,

and I will make your name great

so that you'll be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and in him who dishonors you,

I will curse,

and in you all the families of the earth

will be blessed.

God spoke to Abraham.

Abraham heard what God said.

In fact, if you listen closely

to what I just read,

you'll hear God saying,

I will, I will, I will.

He said,

Go to the land,

I will show you.

I will make you a great nation.

I will bless you.

I will make your name great.

I will bless those who bless you.

I will curse those who dishonor you.

And all the families of the earth

will be blessed.

God's saying,

This is what I will do.

So Abraham,

all you have to do,

I'm going to do this.

All you have to do is go.

All you have to do is trust me.

All you have to do is obey.

And spoiler alert,

Genesis 12, 4 simply says,

So Abram went.

By the way,

when Abraham left Ur

and traveled and obeyed God

to leave that place,

he was 75 years old.

Hear me when I say it.

His journey of faith began

when he was 75 years old.

So perhaps there's someone here today,

maybe you're on up in age a little bit,

you've never trusted Christ,

and you'd say,

It's too late for me.

It's just too late for me

to turn my life around now

and give it to Jesus.

It's too late.

Or maybe there's somebody

you're praying for today

and you've been praying,

praying, praying

that he or she would be saved.

And maybe you're just about ready

to give up on praying for them.

And I would say to you,

that if Abraham could begin

his journey of faith at 75,

whether you're 5, 75, or 105,

today is the day of salvation.

And you can begin

your journey of faith today.

When our kids were very young,

we wanted to teach them the Bible.

And we bought some videos

that was called

What's in the Bible with Buck Denver.

I don't know if any of you

have seen those,

your kids or grandkids.

And we would use that

to help them remember.

And they would have silly songs

and things on there.

And there was one song written by

and sung by the fabulous

Bentley Brothers.

And they sung this

about the book of Genesis.

Genesis begins it all.

And most appropriately,

it's at the beginning

of the Bible.

Genesis really means beginning.

If it were anywhere else

in the Bible,

that would be kind of confusing.

And from there,

we taught the kids

the book of Genesis,

the beginning.

And when we look at that

book of Genesis,

even before Abraham,

even before we meet him,

what happens?

We see creation.

The very first verse

in the Bible,

Genesis 1-1 says,

In the beginning,

God created the heavens

and the earth.

Now, look right here

at Hebrews 11-3 once again.

See how it fits.

By faith we understand

that the universe

was created by the word of God

so that what is seen

was not made out of things

that are visible.

So Genesis begins

with creation.

But I don't know

if you've ever noticed this,

but the very last verse

in the book of Genesis,

this will bless your heart,

Genesis 50-26,

what does it say?

It says,

So Joseph died,

being 110 years old,

and they embalmed him,

and he was put in a coffin

in Egypt.

So think about it.

Genesis begins with creation.

It ends with a coffin.

It begins with life,

and it ends with death,

and we can all agree

something has gone wrong in there.

And what's gone wrong

is in the book of Genesis

we see creation,

and then we see the fall.

We see sin entering

into the world,

and the penalty of sin

following it,

and death comes into the world.

And we follow that on down,

and we see the flood,

and then we see

the Tower of Babel.

Remember, God said,

I will, I will, I will.

If you listen in

to what was said

at the Tower of Babel,

here's what you would have heard.

Come, let us make bricks

and burn them thoroughly.

Come, let us build

a city and a tower

with its tops in the heavens.

Let us make a name

for ourselves,

lest we be dispersed

over the face of the earth.

And the contrast

could not be more striking.

We hear mankind here saying,

let us, let us, let us.

It's all about us.

It's all about our name.

It's all about our glory.

It's all about our kingdom.

It's all about

what we can accomplish

on our own.

Do you hear the pride in there?

Who needs God?

Who needs it?

We've got this.

And so mankind chooses then

to worship and serve

the creature

and the created thing

rather than the creator.

But on the other hand,

in contrast,

that's Genesis 11.

Genesis 12,

right next door to it,

not by accident.

God says to Abram,

not what can you do,

not this let us business,

but God says to Abram,

I will,

I will,

I will.

Genesis 11 and 12

is a contrasting picture

of works apart from God

that are futile

and faith in the God

who is faithful,

who does a good work in us,

who produces those good works

in our lives.

Abram

hears God.

That's where faith begins.

It begins with hearing God.

I ask you this morning,

do you hear God?

Do you hear God's voice

in your life?

You know,

I believe sometimes

we think,

my goodness,

if I could have experienced

what Abram could experience,

that'd be awesome.

It'd be great

if God would speak to me

like that.

He would just appear

before me and say,

Jason,

this is what I want you to do.

This is what I want you to hear.

We may think it'd be great

if we could have an experience

like Moses

in front of the burning bush

or like Saul

on the road to Damascus

when Jesus intercepted him.

Maybe we would not

want that experience,

but we look at it

and we say,

you know,

I just wish that God

would speak to me that way.

And if we're not careful,

we'll begin to think

like we're at a disadvantage

in comparison to those guys.

But brothers and sisters,

be reminded of what it says

in Hebrews 1,

1 through 2,

the very beginning

of the book

that we've been studying.

Long ago,

at many times,

and in many ways,

God spoke to our fathers

by the prophets,

but in these last days,

he has spoken to us

by his son.

Church,

I want to tell you today,

we're not at a disadvantage.

We're at an advantage

and I'll tell you why.

We have the whole counsel

of God's word.

We have the whole Bible

in our hands,

the very word of God.

These Old Testament characters

and Saul,

they had to wait

for a visitation.

They had to wait

for God to break through.

But we can open

the word of God

and hear from him today,

right now.

We can have the mind of Christ.

God gives us his spirit

who lives within us.

You see,

the reality is

we don't have to wait

to hear

or have a visitation.

The reality is

we can blow the dust

off our Bible

and open it up

and read it

and have confidence

that we are hearing

the very voice of God

speaking to us

through his word.

Faith begins with hearing.

But the second lesson

is that having heard,

we have to believe.

We have to believe

what God says.

Our problem most of the time

is not that God's not speaking,

it's that we don't believe

and we don't do

what God is saying.

We may say that we do,

but our actions,

our disobedience

betray us.

Dr. Mark Lederbach,

one of my professors

at Southeastern Seminary,

would always say,

stated belief

plus actual practice

is actually

what you really believe.

Well,

what was Abraham's

actual practice?

He heard what God said.

I will,

I will,

I will.

He took God

at his word

and he believed.

Romans 10, 17

says that

faith comes by hearing

and hearing

by the word of God.

Abraham heard God.

He believed God.

And Hebrews 11, 8

says that

he was called

to go out

to a place

that he would receive

as an inheritance.

And he went out

not knowing

where he was going.

Where Abraham lived,

quite frankly,

he had it made.

A lot like us.

He had all that he needed.

He didn't have children yet.

That would be a different story.

He had a wife.

He had extended family.

He had servants.

He had wealth.

He had fame.

He was in a place

of comfort

and familiarity.

He had no reason

to leave all that behind.

In fact,

logically,

it wouldn't make sense

for him to leave Ur.

But,

except for God

called him

to go.

Abraham could have said,

I have everything

that I need

right here.

But the Bible says

he did go.

He went out

not knowing

where he was going.

Pastor John Phillips,

a great British preacher,

told a story here

about Abraham

that has stuck with me

through the years.

He said,

if you would sanctify

your imagination,

and just think of this,

that Abraham was

a very wealthy man.

He had a lot of possessions.

Can you imagine Abraham

walking up into

the National Bank of Ur?

And he walks up

to the teller

and he says,

I would like to see

the president of the bank.

And she says to him,

well,

he's a very busy man.

Do you have an appointment?

He said,

no,

I don't,

but just tell him

that Abraham is here.

So she calls

the bank president

and sure enough,

immediately,

he comes rushing out

because he's one

of the richest men in town.

He said,

oh,

Mr. Abram,

it's so good to see you,

Mr. Abram.

What can I do for you today,

Mr. Abram?

He said,

well,

I'm actually here

to make a withdrawal.

Oh,

yes,

sir,

Mr. Abram,

that's great.

How much did you want

to take out?

And Abram said,

I want to take all of it out.

And he said,

say what?

He said,

I want to take all of it out.

Well,

why,

Mr. Abram?

Did we do something wrong

if we not served you well?

Why would you want to

take it all out?

He said,

oh,

no.

He said,

actually,

I'm leaving town.

I'm moving.

You're moving?

Well,

where are you going,

Mr. Abram?

I don't know.

He said back,

you mean you want to

take out all of your money

and you don't even know

where you're going?

That's right.

What?

He said,

well,

God told me

to get up and go out.

Not knowing where,

but he said that

he will show me the land

to promise

he'll take me there.

The bank president said,

Mr. Abram,

are you feeling well?

Do you need to see a doctor?

What is going on?

Do you need a counselor?

How about a psychologist?

What's going on,

Abram?

And Abram said,

I'll take it all in cash,

please.

And off he went

and he left behind

everything that was familiar.

Years ago,

I was a missions pastor.

I led teams all over the world

to do mission trips

and when I would take a team out,

everybody wanted to know

the answers to all the questions

before you'd go.

Where are we going?

When are we going?

What are we going to do

when we get there?

Who can go?

What is the cost?

What is the weather?

Is there indoor plumbing?

Is there hot water?

Can I get a shower?

Is there fried chicken there

because we're Baptists?

All the questions.

And the reality is,

no matter how many

frequently asked questions,

flyers I put together,

I couldn't answer every question.

There were some things

that were unknown.

And I would teach my team.

I would say,

listen,

you know the song

Trust and Obey?

We're going to make it this,

Flex and Obey.

For there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus

but to flex and obey

because if you've ever

been on a mission trip,

nothing ever goes

according to plan.

And here's the deal.

Abraham was called to go.

And two things are clear.

God called Abraham to go,

but he didn't provide

the itinerary.

I want to ask you something.

Would you go on a mission trip

with Evan Alexander

if he didn't tell you

where you were going?

And yet,

that's exactly what

Abraham is facing here.

God called him to step out

towards the invisible.

We're back to Hebrews 11, 1

which says,

Now faith is the assurance

of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen.

For by it the people of old

received their commendation.

By faith we understand

that the universe was created

by the word of God

so that what is seen

was not made out of things

that are visible.

From Genesis to Revelation,

it's all been about Jesus Christ.

Today, on this side of the cross,

we look back by faith

on the finished work

of Jesus Christ

and what he has done.

And if we put our faith in him,

we are saved.

But in the Old Testament days,

what about Abel?

What about Enoch?

What about Noah and Sarah

and Isaac and Jacob

and Joseph and Moses?

And Abraham and the rest?

What about all of them?

Well, they too were commended

by faith,

looking forward to the cross,

looking forward to the promises of God,

looking at it from afar off,

but by faith,

trusting and believing.

You see,

we're either commended

or condemned.

Unbelief condemns us.

But belief,

faith,

through that,

we are saved

and we are commended.

Hebrews 11,

8 and 10

just reminds us

that Abraham

was justified

by faith,

not works.

But having been justified

by faith,

we see his works.

If we add Hebrews 11,

1 through 3,

end with Hebrews 11,

8 through 10,

it tells us

Abraham went out.

He didn't know

where he was going,

but he did so

with assurance

of things hoped for.

He did so,

he possessed a conviction

of things not seen.

He trusted in the one

who called him

more than he trusted

in his own eyes.

Can I just pause right there

and say in this day

of artificial intelligence,

AI and all the bit,

it would help us

to remember

that we need to trust

what God says.

We need to trust

what God shows us

in his word

even more

than what our eyes

may see.

Because our eyes

will deceive us.

We have to hold

to God's word.

We have to hear

and we have to believe.

Even when we're believing

in that which we cannot see.

There was a man

who came to visit

the doctor

and he was frantically

running around

in that waiting room

making the staff nervous

and they finally

went back

and told the doctor,

you've got to see this man.

We don't know

what to do with him.

He's here.

He didn't have an appointment

but he wants to see you

and he says

that he is invisible

and he needs help.

Can you imagine

a guy showing up

saying he's invisible?

What do we do doctor?

The doctor said

well it's easy.

Tell him we cannot see him.

In the same way

Abraham could have said

I don't see it Lord.

It's invisible.

I can't see what you're describing.

There's no proof

but instead

God spoke

and by faith

Abraham believed.

His confidence

was in the one

whom he heard

who is faithful

who is worthy

to be followed

more than even

what he could see

with his own eyes.

Why?

He was looking forward

to the city

that has foundations

whose designer

and builder

is God

and in that moment

his priorities

were completely changed.

He realized

he was no longer

a citizen of this world

but a citizen of heaven

and Romans 12

2 tells us

therefore

do not be conformed

to this world

but be transformed

by the renewing

of your mind

so that by testing

you may discern

what is the will of God

what is the good

and acceptable

and perfect will.

So we must hear from God.

We must believe God

and there's one more

to finish it out.

We must obey God.

We must do.

We hear.

We believe.

We do.

We hear.

We believe.

We obey.

Isn't that so simple?

By faith

Abraham

obeyed.

Again to quote

Adrian Rogers

my favorite preacher

he said

now don't tell me

you have faith

if you do not obey

and you have to obey

even when you don't understand

Noah had not seen a flood

but he had a word

and he obeyed

faith and works

are power

faith without works

is dead

true faith

is more than

intellectual belief

it's belief

with legs on it

it's not just

what you preach

it's what you practice

that counts

and so

I ask you

are you living

by what you already

know in the Bible

I mean

God has spoken

to us right

are we taking

what we've heard

and believe it

and are we

are we doing it

we must obey

what we already know

and by faith

Abraham obeyed

and he went out

not knowing

where he was going

and he could have

asked God

he could have said

hey what's the itinerary

where is the facts page

I want to look at all

the answers

to all the questions

and God could have said

it's none of your

of your business Abram

what you need to do

is you need to trust me

and you need to go

and you need to follow

you know it's not

our responsibility

to understand everything

it's not our responsibility

to have all the answers

it's our responsibility

to trust God

and to obey him

even when we can't see

Abraham stepped out

into the promises of God

even into the unknown

some of you know our story

some of you don't

but back in 2012

I was pastoring a church

and I was leading our church

through a time

of praying Luke 10 2

along with others

all across this country

it was a prayer initiative

praying for workers

in the harvest

and we were focusing

on the cities

across North America

and how there needed

to be churches planted

in these cities

and how there were churches

already there

that needed to be revitalized

and so we went through

a whole month long

season of prayer

that culminated

with a final prayer service

and throughout that process

and into that last night

when we were praying

I heard the voice of God

speaking to me

throughout that whole process

as we prayed

and it was as if God

just whispered in my ear

well you're willing to pray

are you willing to go

you're willing to pray

that God would raise up workers

for the harvest

are you willing to be one

are you willing to be an answer

to that prayer

and with fear and trepidation

we put our yes on the table

God whatever you'd have us to do

we're your servants

now I want to tell you something

that I believe

with all my heart this morning

it doesn't matter who you are

doesn't matter what your situation is

if you know Jesus

doesn't matter your age

doesn't matter anything

what matters is

are we living our lives

with our yes on the table

you see the Christian

ought to live his or her life

with the yes on the table

all the time

because if our yes

is not on the table

it means we're unwilling

to obey what God may call us to do

and so we put our yes on the table

and what wound up happening

is God called us

to what might as well

have been a foreign land

he called us to Utah

to pastor

in the middle of LDS country

and God put a love

in our heart

for those people

in fact I just returned

as Evan alluded to

I just returned from Utah

and I spent a good bit of time

out there

meeting church planters

meeting those

who are doing the work

seeing what God is doing

and there's some exciting

stories to tell

and I did that

as the associational missionary

also on behalf of our church

because when God is doing

this great work

what a privilege

we might have

to be a part in that

but it all begins

with our yes

being on the table

trust and obey

where there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus

but to trust and obey

sometimes we think

we have a faith problem

could it be that really

what we have

is an obedience problem

let me close out with this

verse 13 says

these all died in faith

having seen the promises

of far off

how blessed are we

these all

all these folks

that we're reading about

in Hebrews 11

by faith

we're looking forward

to the promises of God

and here we are

and we are looking back

at the finished work

of Christ

and anticipating

the coming of the Lord

what an exciting day

that we can live

Colossians 3 1

tells us

as we live out these days

if you then

have been raised with Christ

seek the things

that are above

where Christ is

seated at the right hand

of God

set your mind

on things above

not on things

that are on the earth

for you have died

and your life

is hidden with Christ

in God

when Christ

who is your life

appears

then you will also

appear with him

in glory

without faith

it's impossible

to please God

without faith

it's impossible

to experience

experience

victory

so we

have to turn

our eyes

upon Jesus

and look full

in his wonderful face

and the things

of earth

will grow strangely

dim

in the light

of his glory

and grace

I would tell you

this morning

if you have not yet

begun your journey

of faith

if 75 year old

Abraham

or Abram

as it were

could begin

a new life

and a new walk

in Christ

then so can

we

if you're here

this morning

and you have

the assurance

that you know

that you are saved

you know the Lord

you know that

you know your

eternal destination

is set

praise God

I would invite

you to pray

right now

because in this

room there's

somebody

there's some

probably multiple

people

who are here

and you've

never trusted

in Christ

for salvation

now notice

what I'm saying

and what I'm not

I'm not saying

you haven't been

a church member

I'm not saying

you haven't served

in the church

I'm not saying

those things

I'm saying

there's never

been a time

in your life

where you said

I need a savior

and that you

called on the

Lord Jesus

to save you

would you bow

your head with me

journey of faith

begins with a

small step of

faith

God your word

says to us

that we've all

sinned and

fallen short

of your glory

but it also

says the

gift of God

is eternal

life through

Jesus Christ

our Lord

today within

the sound

of my voice

maybe there's

a man

woman

boy

girl

who's here

today

and the reality

is even though

we talked

about faith

they've never

placed their

faith in you

Lord I thank

you that you

died for our

sins

I thank you

that you were

buried

and that on the

third day you

rose again

and I thank you

that today we

can have the

confident assurance

that we will be

with you for

eternity

if we trust

in you by

faith

and call on

you to save

us

confess with

our mouth

believe in

our heart

and we

will be

saved

Lord for

whomever it

is today that

needs to pray

this I pray

that they would

just pray something

like this

Lord Jesus

I realize that

I'm a sinner

and I realize

that sin

condemns me

to death

and hell

but Jesus

thank you so

much that you

died in my

place

and I ask you

today to forgive

me

I want to

turn from

my sin

to you

make me

a new

creature

Lord

from this

point forward

I want to

begin my

walk with

you

my journey

of faith

and thank you

Jesus for

saving me

and if you

prayed that

prayer this

morning and

you believed

in your

heart that

Jesus died

for you

that he was

buried

that he rose

again

and that he

will save

then you can

know for certain

that you're a

child of God

for all of us

here Lord

I pray that

we would live

by faith

that we would

die to self

daily

and take up

our cross

and follow you

so that we

might bring

honor and

glory to

your name

and now as we

have this time

of response

Lord may we

respond in

worship

may we respond

to whatever

you're saying

to us

as we hear

you

may we

believe

and may we

do

may we

obey

in Jesus

name we

pray

amen

let's stand

as we have

a time of

response