I'm Going Under | Chet Pete

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, again, my name's Chad, and I'm a pastor at Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I'm so honored, so honored to be back with you guys.

Always say this the first time I go and uh uh visit a church.

Um, you know, it's a trial run.

It's sort of like, you know, a first date.

Kind of like we don't know how this is gonna work.

Um but if you invite me back, then we're friends.

Like, you know, uh I'm your boy, I'm your boy.

Uh but if I get to come back a third time, if I don't bomb today, uh if I don't bomb today, then we're family.

I'll be your your brother from Charlotte, your cousin.

Uh you can come down south anytime you want to to be able to get some bojangles um in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Uh but I am excited uh to be able to open up God's work with you today.

Uh I'd love if we all could stand for the reading of God's word.

Uh everybody stand.

Those that are in the room, uh, those that are online, uh maybe in the overflow today, uh that we just stand.

Um I think standing when we read God's word in this space uh kind of sets an expectation because we're not just reading any book, um, we're spending time with God.

And um I believe that the power of the preached word of God isn't found in what happens in this room, but really how you apply it this week.

That I'm believing that maybe something said in this space you'd come back to on a Thursday afternoon when your boss has been getting on your nerves, um, that maybe something in this space would um impact your spirit.

But we're gonna be in Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Um, if you don't have your Bibles, the team will have it on the screens.

Can we thank God for all of the volunteers and staff, the band, the worship team show up each week to be able to create an atmosphere.

Um, let's let's jump in.

Luke chapter 7, we're gonna start at verse 1.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Here's what it says it says, when Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.

Now, I I just want to pause for a second.

I don't know if you're nosy like me, but I want to know what Jesus was talking about.

All this?

What was all this he was saying?

Uh keep that in mind, keep that in mind.

We're gonna come back to that later in the experience.

Um, but but that caught my attention.

What was Jesus talking about before this moment?

Verse 2, it says, There a centurion servant who his mastered highly, um valued highly, was sick and was about to die.

Somebody say he was down bad.

He was down bad.

Verse 3, it says, The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.

When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him.

This man deserves to have you do this because he loves our nation and has built our synagogues.

So Jesus went with him.

I just want to notate that this centurion was a Roman general.

He oversaw at least a hundred soldiers.

I want to note that he did not grow up as a Jew.

He did not grow up learning about Jesus, learning about Yahweh.

And so, in some ways, this would have been like an outsider that Jesus was going to heal.

I want to notate that because maybe you came in today and you're like, hey, I'm not like all these church people.

I'm kind of rough around the edges, I don't have it all together.

I just want to notate that Jesus came for you too.

That it doesn't matter what you walked in with or looking like, I believe that he can speak with you and that you can have an encounter with him today.

Verse 6 says, So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him, Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.

What a what a picture.

I don't, I don't even, I don't even deserve you to come to my house.

Verse 7.

That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.

But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me.

I tell this one go and he goes, and that one come and he comes.

I say to my servant, do this and he does it.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him.

And turning to the crowd following, he said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith, even in Israel.

Then the man who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

That verse may bless somebody.

It blessed me.

Then the men who had been sent returned to the house.

After a moment with God, what could happen when you return to the house today?

Do you have enough faith to believe that the thing that kept you up all night last night, that the thing that had you all bent out of shape, who knows one moment with Jesus, you can return to the house and that thing be made well, things be restored.

When he returned to the house, he found the servant well.

The title of my message is I'm going under.

I'm going I'm under.

Can you announce it to your neighbor for me?

Tell him, say, I don't know about you, but I'm going under.

You can be seated.

You can be seated.

You can be seated.

I wasn't able to bring my family with me today, but I do have a picture.

I'm going to put it up on the screen.

Uh, here's a picture of my wife and our twin boys, Carson and Carter.

Uh, my wife and I, we've been married 17 years.

17 years.

She's amazing.

And uh, our twin boys, uh, they will turn 14 in the next couple of weeks.

Now, uh, I chose this picture intentionally.

You see that we're all sitting down.

Uh, they have now grown to the point where they're almost taller than me, and uh I don't like it.

Um, so from here on, our pictures, we're all sitting down.

They're sitting down or I'm sitting down, that they will not be standing next to me in any pictures.

Uh, no matter how tall they grow, they're still under my authority.

I will knock them little pretty boys out.

I'm telling you.

I am telling you, I'm telling you, I'm telling you.

You're gonna take the picture down.

You can take the picture down.

Uh, to get into this message, I want to tell a story.

Um, a few years ago, my wife and I uh went on vacation.

Um, and I said that intentionally.

My wife and I went on vacation.

Um, if you take the kids with you, that is a trip.

We take trips with the family.

Uh but my wife and I, we went on vacation.

Uh we went to the Dominican Republic and um we went with some friends.

It was an amazing time, and one of the couples that we went with had the idea that we would go and do an excursion.

And so we got out into the boat and they were like, we are going to go find Nemo, okay?

And so we're excited about it.

Let's go.

And we get to the spot where we're gonna get out and snorkel a little bit, and I look over at my wife, and she is fastening her life vest.

Now, you would think that that would be normal, but uh, let me break this down.

I love my wife, she's amazing, she's beautiful, she's smart, um, she is so generous, she is like the realest person I know.

She will tell you how it is, and not that.

And I I love her, she's amazing.

17 years, best decision I ever made was choosing her to be my bride.

But um, Whitney can't swim.

She can't swim.

So we're on vacation.

I'm thinking this part of the trip, you're the designated social media manager.

Your job, pull out your phone, take pictures, take videos.

You can't get in the ocean.

But she's fastening her life vest and she says, No, I want to see Nemo too.

So I step back and I just watch.

I want to see how this plays out.

Uh, my wife jumps into the water, and immediately the light vest starts to come up.

And I look in her face in face and she looks like she's about to die.

She's like death all over her face.

Now, before I could jump out and save my wife, um, the guy, the captain of the ship, he jumps out, swims over, grabs her, sets her out of the water on the boat, and she says, Are you okay?

And he said, You stay right here.

Okay, you stay right here.

You see, I'm so glad that there was a captain of this boat that had authority to make sure that we were safe, to make sure that we were okay.

And as I was thinking about that story, I wondered if there were anybody that would be in the room today that you feel like you're drowning.

You feel like you're going under.

You feel like you're under attack, under pressure, uh, that there's there's anxiety or depression that's creeping and it's weighing you down, and you're like, I'm going under.

Well, I got some good news, church.

Is that I was just talking about this man on the boat that snatched my wife out of the water, but who has a testimony on a Sunday morning of how Jesus snatched you out of a moment when you were going under.

He saved you, he healed you, his mighty hand snatched you out of harm's way.

Is anybody?

I thank God he snatched me.

I thank God he saved me.

I thank God he delivered me.

You see, what I want you to know is there's never anything in this life that you'd be going under that my God isn't over.

I don't care what kept you up all night, but he's over it.

He has all power and authority, he hasn't left his throne, he's king of kings, he's lord of lords.

Now, one of the reasons I love the book of Luke is because when Luke writes this gospel, he's not writing it to a Jewish audience.

He's actually writing it to people that don't know about God.

And one of the things he wants them to know is hey, listen, I know y'all worship all kinds of other stuff, but Jesus is the Messiah.

He's King of kings, he's Lord of Lords, he's the one that has authority.

And so one of the ways he does this is he has these moments where he demonstrates Jesus' authority.

He shows when Jesus speaks, things change.

In Luke chapter 4, uh Jesus rebukes a demon, saying, Be silent and come out of him, and the demon immediately flees.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

In Luke chapter 4, you see, Simon Peter's mother, she was sick.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

She had a fever that just wouldn't break.

Jesus rebukes the fever and it leaves her instantly.

And then you get to Luke chapter 8.

Luke 8 · chapter mention

Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves of this storm that was attacking this boat.

And immediately he says, Peace be still in the wind and the waves.

They obey.

And in Luke chapter 8, we see Jesus with Jairus' daughter, who had died.

Luke 8 · chapter mention

He she he closes the door behind him and goes and says to this daughter, he says, Child, arise.

And she is raised from the dead.

Anybody that has a shout in their spirit, uh, uh, I want to take a moment to break this down.

Jesus speaks in demons obey because Jesus has authority over every demonic force that would ever come against you.

Jesus speaks in sickness, has to obey because Jesus has authority over every virus or illness that could ever attack your body.

Jesus speaks in wind and the waves have to obey because Jesus has authority over every element that could create a storm in your life.

Jesus speaks in death obeys because Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave.

Can we praise God for about 10 seconds?

Because he has authority.

He has authority.

He has authority.

Now I set you up.

I'm gonna be honest with you.

Here's the counter.

Um demons obey God, but why do you and I struggle so much with disobedience?

Why do you and I struggle with saying yes, Lord?

Let your will be done.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but uh God told me to call you higher today because today I'm believing that somebody's gonna make a decision to go under the authority of God.

But this this is a problem we've been struggling with since the beginning.

Adam and Eve had one job.

One job.

This one tree.

Stay away from that one.

This is good.

Try some of this.

Moses, I've called you to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery.

No, not me.

I don't even speak well.

You're gonna call somebody else.

Jonah, I need you to go to Nineveh and teach them about God.

Nineveh?

I'm going to Tarshis.

What you talking about?

Since the beginning of time, we struggle with doing what God called us to do.

And so today, maybe you're here today and you're like, I don't know any of those references.

All right.

I want to take a moment and just not, I don't want you to be convicted of that.

I want you to just be challenged to say, what does it mean for you to get in the book?

What do you mean?

What does it mean for you to spend some time with God?

In John chapter 1, it says this in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

John 1 · chapter mention

If you want a word for God over your life, open up the book.

Spend some time with them.

Give yourselves a round of applause of being in church today.

Your pastor every single week laboring over the word to be able to present the gospel.

And so here's what we're gonna do today.

We're gonna spend some time making a decision to go under, to go under the authority of God.

So here's the first thing.

If you're taking notes, the first thing I want you to write down is you need to go under control.

Under control.

Um, many many of you don't like that word control.

Um, you're like, I'm grown.

I do what I want to do when I want to do it.

The problem with that is when you made a decision to give your life to Christ, your life now is under the jurisdiction of Jesus.

And Jesus is a king.

That means that he has authority and he has he has he has order, he has standards, and there's things that he tells us and calls us to do.

But we struggle with being under control.

And I think the problem is because some of you, when you hear authority, when you hear the word authority, the first thing you think of is a belt.

Or if you're from a different generation, the first thing you think about is the switch that you went.

Took off the tree for yourself.

Are you clapping about that?

Let me see what I'm talking to.

Let me see what I'm talking to.

Um, a hard head means a some of y'all still need counseling.

Still need counseling dealing with this.

When you when you think about authority, what do you see?

And I think many of us we struggle with going under the control of God when it comes to submitting to his authority, is because we see authority through the lens of anger.

And when you see authority through the lens of anger, your relationship with God will be driven by fear.

It's hard, it's hard to trust a God that's angry with me.

It's hard to trust, it's hard to follow his commands if he's just angry.

I'm just scared.

I don't know what to do with this.

And and so, as I was thinking about this point, um, I was reminded of when I was in middle school.

Um, I played basketball growing up, and and um I still got it, just so you know.

Um you know, I can't wait to go and see the new gym and and get a couple jumpers up.

Uh, I digress.

Okay.

Um, when I was in middle school and I got to eighth grade, I started to get really serious about basketball.

And uh I played football during this time.

I didn't love football, just play with my friends.

It was just, you know, something to keep me in shape, but I didn't really enjoy it, but I love basketball.

And my dad came up to me and he said, Hey, um, you're starting to get good at basketball.

Like, what do you want to do?

What are you thinking?

I said, I'm gonna get a full ride to play in college, then I'm going to the NBA.

What you mean?

Any middle school boy, this is their answer.

And so he said, Okay, okay, okay.

If this is what you want and this is what you want for your future, there's three things I need you to do.

Okay?

First thing is, I need you to fall in love with training.

I need you to fall in love with practicing, I need you to fall in love with the process.

I was like, okay, I can do that.

And then he said, I need you to stay away from these fast girls.

That's my dad, that's a different generation.

That's what he said.

And I said, I'll try, I'll do.

And then the last thing he said, the last thing he said was, for some reason, I feel like it's time for you to hang up the cleats.

It's time for you to just focus on basketball.

He said, son, these kids are getting bigger.

I just don't want you to get hurt.

And if you're serious about basketball, I think this is your opportunity to really just focus on basketball.

And I was like, Pops, like, I there's one more, how about this?

One more year.

I'm in eighth grade.

Let me just play with my friends this year, and then I'll hang it up when I go to high school.

My dad was like, No, I don't think you should play, son.

But you know what?

Do what you want to do.

If you want to play, go ahead and play, but I don't think you should play.

So I signed up to go play football.

Before the season starts, we are in a scrimmage in the summer.

I get hit by the biggest guy on the team.

His name is Jonathan Bushwhack.

This is his real name.

This is his real name.

Jonathan Bushwack.

He hits me, I break two bones in my leg.

I'm on the ground.

You want to know the first thing I thought?

I should have listened to my dad.

I wonder what brokenness are you experiencing?

Because you didn't listen to your heavenly father.

I wonder what pain you're in right now.

Because you struggled to just submit and go under the authority of God.

My dad was trying to keep me from being hurt.

He he saw something that I didn't see.

He loved me enough to give me direction.

So, some of you, today's the day that you renew your relationship with authority.

You go from seeing authority through the lens of anger.

And here's the thing that we see in the text.

Let me show you, let me show you what we see in the text when it comes to the picture of authority.

Go to verse 1.

Uh, yes, yes, yes, verse 1.

It says this when Jesus had finished saying all of this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.

Verse 2, there a centurion servant whom his master valued highly was sick and was about to die.

Do you feel the love in the way that this master valued this servant?

I looked it up, I wanted to see what did that uh whom his master valued highly.

It's a Greek word, uh, intimos.

It means held in honor, prized and precious.

It doesn't seem like an angry leader, it doesn't seem like an angry God.

You see the love in this text.

The reason why he's given commands is out of love.

So here, we got to redeem your relationship with authority.

I said it earlier.

When you see authority through the lens of anger, your relationship with God will be driven by fear.

But when you see authority through the lens of love, your relationship with God, it'll be driven by appreciation.

You will live your life saying, Thank you, God, for the direction.

Thank you, God, for your guidance.

Thank you for leading me.

I don't know exactly where you're taking me, but I trust you.

You see, when I see it through the lens of love, I'll be grateful for God's words.

That's what leads me to the next one I want you to write down.

After you go under the control, you renew your relationship with authority, then you gotta go undercover.

You gotta go undercover.

Now, many of you watch way too much Netflix, and you're thinking about a detective or you know, some special agent.

Um, that's not what I mean.

That's not what I mean.

You know, when I was reading this, I just had this picture in my mind of the covering of God.

And I realize a lot of the times that the words that we get when God speaks, it's to protect us, it's to guide us, it's to cover us.

And and and one of the things that I think we struggle with is acting.

Taking that step of obedience because I think we actually struggle with trusting God fully.

Look at this at verse 8.

At verse 8, you see this picture of authority.

It says this, for I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.

I tell this one, go, and he goes.

I tell that one, come, and he comes.

I say to the servant, do this, and he does it.

You see the rhythm?

This should be the rhythm of our relationship with God.

When he says go, we go.

When he says come, we come.

When he says do this, we do it.

But I'm gonna I'm gonna just talk about me.

I don't know if you be like this.

But when God says go, I'll be like, where?

How long it takes to get there?

Who's gonna be there?

Hey, hey, I don't like driving at nighttime, so what time am I coming home?

I'm trying to ease into this because some of you, the word of the Lord is, I need you to forgive.

I need you to, I need you to let that go.

It's hurting you, it's not hurting them.

There's some places you're going, he says, that's not where I need you, son or daughter of God.

I need you to make a pivot.

And you're like, but I maybe you're dating someone today and you've already heard the verse's voice of the Lord saying, That's not the one.

But it's it's comfortable.

It's comfortable.

We need to learn to trust God enough to when he says go, we go.

We go.

And here's the reason why is because I say go undercover, it's covering you.

I'll say it this way: we we love God's covering, his protection, but we tend to reject his commands.

We love the covering of God, protect us, God, but we reject his commands when he tells us what to do, that actually will lead to you being protected.

I have a picture in my mind.

Who in who in the room?

Somebody in the room, you drive a convertible.

Who in the room you drive a convertible, drive a convertible?

Are you right there?

Did you raise your hand?

No, no, somebody drives a convertible, it's gotta be someone in there.

Oh, okay, cool, cool, cool, put your hands down.

You can put it down.

They just didn't want you to ask them for a ride after church.

That's why it took so long.

So, so she drives a convertible.

Okay, if you're driving on the interstate and you see her driving with the top down, but you're in the middle of a hailstorm, you would think that something was wrong with her.

You would wonder if she was off medication or something.

You would be you would be concerned.

Why are you driving with the top down in the middle of a hailstorm?

She has a covering, she just hasn't gone under it.

This is what life looks like when we don't follow God's ways, when we don't follow God's commands.

The inside of the car is getting all messed up.

She's being hit in the face over and over again simply because she won't go under the covering of God.

When you make a decision to go under God's authority, you make a decision to go under his covering.

So I want to slow down for a moment to get you to recognize he's trying to protect you.

I know some of these decisions are difficult.

I know some of these decisions are hard.

But when you make a decision to go under the authority of God, you go under his covering as well.

The last one that I want you to write down is you have to go under construction.

You gotta go under construction.

I don't know about you, but uh I believe God's called me to have a beautiful life, life filled with joy and peace.

But here's the thing: in order for that life to be built, he has to be the general contractor, he has to be the one with authority.

If you didn't know this, Jesus was actually a carpenter.

So Jesus knows how to build some things, he he knows how to work a hammer, he he knows how to do these things.

And I want a life, I want a life that he has authority, he has final say of the decisions.

And so you see this in this text.

It was beautiful to me when you get to verse six.

Watch this, it says, So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to him saying, Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I don't deserve to have you come under my roof.

That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.

But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Watch this.

For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me.

You don't have to come under my roof.

Here's why.

Because I understand authority.

What he's saying is, you don't have to come under my roof because everything under my roof is under your authority.

There isn't anything in my house, there isn't anything that I have access to that you don't have authority over.

I started to realize, is there an area in your life that you've reserved for yourself to have authority over?

You can take care of all of this, but this part right here I got by myself.

I'll handle this by myself.

He says, You don't have to come under my roof because everything under my roof is under your authority.

So I love this.

Under construction, who's building the life you have?

Is it you?

Is it you?

Or are you allowing God's hands to touch every area of your life to build a life that He has designed?

What does it look like for you to make this decision to say, God, you construct this the way that you want to?

So remember earlier in the message, I said right at the beginning.

I said Jesus was just talking.

It says, Jesus said all of this, and I was like, we're gonna come back to it.

Do y'all remember?

Do you remember?

You remember?

So you want to see what Jesus was saying right before he met this C centurian?

Let's go to Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

This is the end of chapter 6.

End of chapter 6.

You want to know what it's called?

The wise and foolish builders.

Listen to how this starts.

Luke chapter 6, verse 46.

Luke 6:46

Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?

That preaches good all this myself.

I'll just let that sit for a second.

I'll let that hit you wherever you're at.

Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?

It's almost as if Jesus just finished teaching this and then had an example for it with the centerior.

It was like, here's a picture of what I was just saying.

Why do you call me Lord Lord?

Well, why do you why do you come to church and not put this to practice?

Why do you sing the songs and declare all of these things and then on Tuesday you do it your own way?

Why do you call me Lord Lord and not do what I say?

Is he Lord or not?

Is he king or not?

Listen to what happens when you listen to the voice of God.

It says this, and for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.

They're like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on a rock when the flood came and the torrent struck that house, but could not shake it because it was well built.

Who wants a life that's well built?

That God's hands, He's checked every corner, He's dotted every I, crossed every T.

That's well built.

49.

But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed, and its destruction was complete.

Two people building a house, building a life.

Both of them go through this storm.

One obeys the voice of God, puts it into practice, one doesn't.

In this life, you will have trouble, you will have things that you walk through.

There will be difficulties, but I don't know about you.

I don't want to go through anything without being under the authority of God, without his protection, without his guidance.

Listen to what it says.

Uh uh, right at the end, it says the moment that the torrent struck the house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.

You ever see a business they go bankrupt?

Another way of saying that is that what it went under.

Because I made a decision to go under the authority of God, that means everything under my roof will not go under.

You see, the voice of God isn't only the roof that protects me, it's the foundation that I walk on.

Today's a day where you can make a decision and say, God, I'm yours.

Have your way.

Everyone stand on your feet.

I want to give you a picture of this.

One of the greatest honors of my life is being a pastor, and uh I don't I don't just get to celebrate, you know, high moments with people, moments of celebration and success.

God calls us into moments of pain and sorrow.

And uh and so one of one of the times that God had called me to minister to a family, they had just lost a loved one.

And this family loved this man.

He was a man of God, man of faith, and and we couldn't understand why or why they were going through this, and they were grieving.

Maybe you're here today online or in the room or in the overflow, and you're grieving today.

Maybe this is just for you.

So we finished the the the funeral service, and then we make our way over um to the burial site where we were going to put the casket in the ground, and and um I look over and there's this woman that works for the funeral home, and I looked at her, she had an interesting look on her face.

Um, now looking back on it, I know exactly what the look was.

It was a look of anticipation.

And so I came over to her and I said, Are you okay?

Um, are you okay?

And she said, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm good.

She said, I'm waiting for it to happen.

And I said, What do you mean?

What are you waiting to happen?

She says, I call it joy rising.

Joy rising.

I said, Tell me what that means.

I've never heard this before.

She says, Well, look around.

You see, these are sons and daughters of God, they've given their life to Christ, they have a faith in this room.

And she said, There'll be a moment that all of a sudden somebody's gonna tell a joke or tell a story, and all of a sudden you're gonna see their sorrow turn into smiles.

They're just gonna start laughing, they're gonna start hugging each other.

Just wait for it to happen.

It's gonna happen.

Joy's going to rise.

And so I sat back with this woman and I watched, just like clockwork, joy began to rise.

This family starts laughing with each other, hugging each other right at the gravesite.

It was it was beautiful, it was so powerful to see.

And then she looked at me and she said, That's beautiful, innit?

She said, You want to know what's so sad?

Is that there have been times where I was sitting at the gravesite and the family did not know Jesus.

And I sat there and I waited to see if joy would rise.

And they didn't have a hope that would anchor their soul.

See, here's the thing: when you make a decision to go under the authority of God, you have a hope that anchors your soul.

You can't drift but too far because your soul is tethered under the jurisdiction of a king that loves you.

He's gonna pull you back to him, he's gonna pull you back to joy, he's gonna pull you back to peace.

You gotta make a decision to go under.

What does God have to say about your marriage?

What does God have to say about your finances?

What does God have to say about your dating life?

I I know you can see a lot of cool things on social media or you can search a lot on Chat GPT, but who has authority?

I'm afraid that there's a generation that will give Chat GPT more authority than God.

I'm not saying that it's not a good tool, I'm just saying who has authority.

And maybe you're here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, you've never given your life to him.

You know, you had a picture of God that he was angry.

Your picture of God was with a belt or with a switch.

But today I come to demonstrate that his authority is from a position of love.

And he sent his son to die for you.

You see, Jesus, when he was going to the cross, you know he went to a garden with his closest disciples, and he was sorrowful.

It says that he began to almost sweat drops of blood.

And he's asking his father, he says, Heavenly Father, hey, if you could please take this cup away from me.

He knew he was going to the cross to pay for the penalty and the weight of our sin and shame.

He knew the pain that he would endure, so you don't have to.

And he's having this moment where he's thinking about it, he's like, God, if there's any other way, could you please take this away?

But then he says something.

He says, Not my will, let your will be done.

What is he saying?

Hey, listen, God, you have authority over my life.

And so if you're here today, you don't have a relationship with Jesus, you've never given your life to him, or you used to walk with God, you used to talk with God, but you walked away from the faith.

Trying to do it by yourself.

We're going to say a prayer.

This is a prayer of salvation, this is a prayer of surrender for the benefit of those that are coming to God.

Everybody bow your heads.

Those online, those in overflow, bow your heads right where you are.

We're going to say this prayer together as a church family for the benefit of those that are coming to God.

Many for the first time, many coming back to Him.

Bible says, whoever believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will be saved.

Repeat after me.

Say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on a cross and rose from the grave to forgive me of my sins.

So I give you my sins.

I give you my shame.

And from this day forward, I'll follow you.

This is my new beginning.

I am a child of God.

With all heads bowed, all eyes closed.

If you just said that prayer, you meant it.

Making a decision to put your faith in Jesus or your coming back to Him.

Not committing to be a good person, but saying, I am going under the authority of God.

My life belongs to you, Jesus.

If that was you, on the count of three, I want you to do something bold.

I want you to just shoot your hand up boldly so we can celebrate this moment with you.

I'm gonna count to three.

If that's you, today's your day of salvation.

Today is your day of coming back to God.

I already see hands raised.

Here we go.

One, two, three.

Shoot your hand up if you're making that decision today.

Come on, come on, church, lift up the name of Jesus.

Help me celebrate what he's doing in this place.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

God bless you, son of God.

God bless you, daughter of God.

God bless you.

God bless you.

Hey, listen, if somebody near you raised their hand, can you give them a hug for me?

Put your arms around them.

Tell them welcome to the family.

Tell them God bless you.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.