Prepare The Way | Ps. Nate Capshaw

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Amen.

Amen.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Keep clapping for hope.

Keep clapping for hope.

Man, it is so good to be back.

So good to be back this morning.

It has been uh a few weeks, right?

Who is thankful to be back in our home here at the Orlando Museum of Art?

Yes.

Yes, absolutely.

On behalf of our lead pastors, Pastor Keith and Pastor Megan Pittman, uh, I just want to extend a welcome to you.

Especially if this is your first time here this morning, I want to extend a special welcome to you.

My name is Nate, like Hope said, I'm one of the pastors here, and uh it's an honor to serve here.

Pastor Keith and Pastor Megan are with our DC family this morning, our celebration DC family.

And so uh we are wishing them well, our thoughts and prayers as uh hopefully they return home soon.

Uh to all of those who are tuning in online, we're so thankful that you're here as well.

Thank you guys so much for joining us.

Uh, we would love uh if you're able to come see us in the building, we'd love to get to know you as well.

Well, we can finally say it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, right?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

And this is a time for me that I have a lot of fond memories and there's a lot of joy that that wells up inside of me when I think about the season of Christmas.

But uh, like Hope mentioned earlier, it can also bring sorrow and despair because you know many of us have lost loved ones, or or maybe there are is family tension, and so the dynamics during Christmas time isn't as joyful as it would be.

Let me tell you something, church.

Take advantage of the care that is offered here.

We we don't just have a care ministry because it puffs us up and it makes us look legit.

We have a care ministry because that is the heart of Jesus Christ, and we are here to care for you.

Anything from prayer to a hardship to, like Hope said, if you're suffering with depression, we are equipped and ready to care for you.

Please do not leave here today without letting somebody know.

Amen.

Amen.

We are going to begin our new series called In Expectation.

Inexpectation.

You know, the Christmas season, I think what will what brings the magic about it is the expectation of the day, the anticipation of Christmas morning, getting up with your PJs still on, having some good food, being with your family, opening gifts, giving, giving gifts, and seeing the reaction of the people that you're giving the gift to.

But but as a believer, I think the the flip side of that coin is the expectation and the anticipation to celebrate the birth of our Lord, to celebrate God putting on flesh and bone and coming to a lowly manger and being born in a barn for you, for me, God with us, Emmanuel.

Now, now, this series we're gonna go over a myriad of topics, but uh it's all going to lead up to Christmas Eve.

We're gonna be having two Christmas Eve services right here at the Orlando Museum of Art, and we can celebrate that.

I know some people are excited about that, yes.

Here's what we want you to do.

Here's what we want you to do.

We want you to be thinking and praying about who you can invite to this service.

Because what we believe is we believe that this could be an opportunity for God to plant a seed in someone's heart that can eventually lead to life change and eventually lead to salvation.

Because we know that there are friends that you have, there's family members, there's co-workers that may not be so inclined to come to church on a Sunday, right?

But a Christmas Eve service, yeah, okay, I'll go check it out.

We're believing that God can use that and eventually see uh and celebrate life change through that.

So we're thinking and praying about who you can invite to Christmas Eve.

Go ahead and open your Bibles this morning to Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 1, we're gonna be starting in verse number 5.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And for all you uh Christmas fanatics out there who are like, give me baby Jesus.

I want Luke chapter 2, give me baby Jesus.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Before we get to Luke chapter 2 and before we get to baby Jesus, we gotta talk about Luke chapter 1 and John the Baptist.

Luke 2 · chapter mention Luke 1 · chapter mention

Before we read, uh just some quick context for you.

Uh this gospel was written by uh the physician Luke, hence the name Luke.

The the physician Luke, and so it's no surprise that it's very detailed, it's very meticulous, it's methodical.

Luke went to extreme lengths to make sure that what he was writing gave full detail.

There's no surprise that there's a ton of miracles in it.

There's no surprise that that the first two chapters of this detail the miracle of birth.

And before we move on, I just want to celebrate our past series.

I want to celebrate unique November because we had an incredible series based on on John.

And if you missed any of it, go back and check it out on the podcast, go back and watch it on YouTube.

Man, uh on on the 14th, we were able to celebrate uh the resurrection of Lazarus.

We had an evening service, and if you were following along with us, we had some change of plans last minute, right?

But we wanted to say thank you to the Crossings Church, we want to say thank you to Vita Church for opening up their facility because we were able to have our evening service uh there in Winter Garden.

So thank you guys so much for that.

And then the following week, we were we were able in unique November to have our serve Sunday with with U.S.

Hunger, and we were able to pack over 20,000 meals for people in Orlando who are suffering.

One of the things that Pastor Key said that day that resonates with me is he said uh today we had church.

He said after that event we had church.

It wasn't our traditional service, right?

It wasn't our typical way that church looks, but but we were able to actually go, be the hands and feet, and serve.

And y'all get ready because uh Pastor Key said we're doing that every year.

And for those of you who could not make it, we're gonna work towards uh a way to be able to open that up to more people, maybe take over the place for the whole day, but I digress.

And then finally, last week, church at home, uh, we were able to hear an amazing word and to worship God in our homes with our friends and our families.

And I want to say a special thank you to our production team for doing an incredible job at putting that on for them.

So let's go ahead and celebrate unique November.

Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse number five.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zachariah.

He was a member a member of the priestly order of Abajah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God's eyes, careful to obey all the Lord's commandments and regulations.

They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.

One day Zechariah was serving God in the temple, for his order was on duty that week.

As with the custom of the priests, he was chosen by Lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.

While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside praying.

And while Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear, and he saw him, but the angel said, Don't be afraid, Zechariah.

God has heard your prayer.

Your wife Elizabeth will give you a son, and you are to name him John.

You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.

He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks.

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth, and he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.

He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah.

He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.

He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.

Zachariah said to the angel, How can I be sure this will happen?

I'm an old man now, and my wife's well along in years.

Then the angel said, I am Gabriel.

I stand in the very presence of God.

Actually, it was He who sent me to bring you this good news.

But now, since you didn't believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born.

For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.

If you uh want to take some notes this morning, I would encourage you to do so.

You can go ahead and jot this down.

Uh prepare the way.

Prepare the way.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for the moments that we share.

We thank you for uh the gift of this facility to gather.

Uh God, I ask that uh you would uh prepare us so that we can hear what it is uh you want us to hear.

I pray that uh everything that comes out of my mouth would be pleasing to you.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

And everybody said, Amen.

Anyone remember their first concert?

You remember the first show you went to?

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

I I vividly remember my first concert.

Uh it was uh a band that I actually spent my own money to buy the first C D and I played it, yeah, it was a C D.

I played it in a little uh Walkman CD player.

I listened to them on the radio, and and I was incredibly excited to go see them live.

Uh that day we were we were standing on the sidewalk getting ready to enter the venue, and to the left of us was a tour bus, and you know, the wheels start turning.

I wonder if that's them.

Maybe it's the opening band, or or maybe they're actually in there right now.

Well, a few moments pass, and I turn around and I happen to look, and the lead singer from the band is walking up.

The front man for the band is walking towards us.

And and all the people that are there, he stands because I'm standing right in front of the door, and he looks at me and he says, Hey, what's up, man?

And uh I blacked out.

I don't remember, I don't remember if I responded, I don't remember if we shook hands, I have no idea.

But uh the next part I do remember.

He he walks into the door, closes the door behind him, and I turned to the people next to me, the group of people that I'm with, and I let out the most high-pitched shriek of a scream you have ever heard.

I sounded like a 12-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.

Uh uh I was able uh a few years down the road to to go to uh uh a different show of a band that I was really uh uh fond of at the time.

And uh it so happened that my father worked with uh the father of one of the guitarists uh of the band.

So his uh he set up an arrangement for me to be able to meet the guitarist before the show and hang out.

And I'm sure that guy was really thrilled to be hanging out with a teenager, but nonetheless, he was gracious enough to do that.

So his dad gave me uh a phone number where I could call him.

Unfortunately, I still don't have that number to this day, but uh uh he told me where to meet, he told me what we were gonna be doing.

He said you're gonna be able to get on the tour bus and meet the rest of the band and all that good stuff.

And so I get there, I meet him, it's just as he said, I'm on time.

Uh I go into the tour bus, I meet the rest of the band, and it's a it's a phenomenal time.

It's a fond memory, it's a great memory.

You know what the difference in scenario number two is versus scenario number one?

I was prepared to meet the men in scenario number two.

I was prepared to meet the band in scenario number two, whereas number one, I was definitely not prepared to meet the band.

God knew in the beginning, God knew in Genesis that he was going to send Jesus to be the remedy for sin.

God knew as soon as the fall happened, he already knew the solution to it.

But God also knew that he was gonna send someone ahead of him to prepare the way, to get people ready to meet him.

Jesus, before he ascended, knew that he was gonna send the Holy Spirit.

And he knew that that Holy Spirit was gonna live and dwell and walk with us.

But he also knew that he was gonna need people to prepare the hearts of men to get them ready so that when the Holy Spirit does encounter them, they're familiar and they're ready to answer the call.

We pick up our story at the close of the uh intertestamental periods or what we would refer to as between the testaments, and and this is basically chronologically between Malachi and Luke or Malachi and Matthew, and these are considered dark days for the children of Israel.

These are considered some some some dark days for them.

They're under tyranny of Roman oppression, tyrannical kings.

There's uh there's religious oppression, there's there's religious elites who are being corrupt in this time, and and and some would also refer to this as the silent years or 400 years of silence where where they felt like God wasn't speaking, where they felt like there were no major prophets who who were declaring uh God's goodness.

However, not all is lost.

There are some who are still expectant.

There's a remnant, and part of that remnant are Zachariah and Elizabeth.

Scripture tells us that Zachariah and Elizabeth were careful to obey all God's regulations, and they were considered righteous in God's eyes.

Now, why is that significant?

Why point that out?

Well, I think it's significant because uh it says that they were careful to obey the laws and regulations, whereas we know the Pharisees, the religious leaders, were also careful to do that, but we don't consider them righteous in God's eyes, do we?

What's the difference there?

I think the difference is Zachariah and Elizabeth were careful to obey the laws and regulations out of a response instead of for a response.

They knew God's goodness, they knew how good he had been to his people, and so the way they responded with that is through obeying God's commandments, and God counted it as righteousness.

Religion demands applause, but a relationship built on love seeks nothing in return.

Religion demands applause from men, but a relationship built on love seeks nothing in return.

The Pharisees wanted right standing.

They wanted Jesus warned us uh to be aware of them because they want to be honored, right?

They want to say the prayers that that make them look pious, and but religion demands that applause, whereas a relationship built on love doesn't ask for anything in return.

Do the days seem dark?

Do your days seem dark?

Does the world seem dark to you?

Does it seem like God is silent?

Does it does it seem like things are getting worse as opposed to getting better?

God is looking for people like Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Let me tell you, the perpetuation of evil does not deny the existence of God.

The perpetuation of evil does not deny God's existence.

He was there in the silent 400 years, and he was looking for people like Zechariah and Elizabeth.

He was looking for people who were expectant of his coming.

He was looking for people to prepare the way.

Now, righteous, sometimes I think we get a little bit confused because righteous doesn't mean perfect, right?

We all know that we all have fallen short of God's glory.

And that's no exception to Zachariah and Elizabeth.

You know, Elizabeth was flawed.

She was unable to conceive that the scriptures tell us that she was barren.

Do not disqualify your flaws.

Do not disqualify yourself based upon your flaws.

Do not disqualify yourself based on your shortcomings.

God's strength works best in our weakness.

The apostle Paul says, the only thing that I can boast about is my weakness, because that's when Christ shines the brightest, right?

Do not disqualify yourself because of your flaws.

If God can bring life from a woman who could not conceive, man, I believe God can bring life through your situation as well.

I believe God can use you as well.

All it takes is someone willing.

Are you willing?

Are you willing to give it to God?

Are you willing to be someone who will prepare the way?

We read on that Zachariah is inside the temple and he's burning incense and the people are outside praying.

Now, now what a priest did was a priest goes to God on behalf of the people.

Whereas a prophet would go to the people on behalf of God.

So the priest is in the temple and he's burning incense, and we're not a hundred percent sure about this, but we think that the incense is uh for practical reasons, but also a symbolic gesture of the prayers being offered up to God, right?

So the people are outdoors praying, and Zechariah is interceding on their behalf.

He's going before God on their behalf, and the incense represents those prayers going to God.

And so what Zachariah was doing in this moment is he was doing his normal duty.

He was he was going before God on behalf of the people, he was preparing the way, he was interceding, and what happens?

An angel of the Lord shows up in the midst of what he's doing.

My question to us is are we being faithful where God has us?

Are we consumed where we want to be or what we want from God or are we being faithful with God has us?

Is our consumption with where we want to go paralyzing us into passivity?

Because expectancy is an action, right?

We have to be expectant for God to show up.

Are we moving forward and being faithful with what God has instructed us?

You know, Moses met God while he was tending sheep.

Gideon met the Lord while he was threshing wheat.

The disciples met Jesus while they were fishing.

Are you being faithful or God has you?

It may not look like what you think it should, but God still needs people to prepare the way in the midst of whatever you're doing.

You know, Zachariah could have said, you know what, these days, it's over.

It's it's dark.

It's God, you're not even speaking anymore.

I'm giving up.

My wife, we've been praying for years for a son.

I'm giving up.

Where does God have you right now?

And in the midst are you preparing the way?

We continue to read on, and the angel says, God has heard your prayers.

Now the scripture tells us that Zachariah and Elizabeth were well along, right?

They're they're they're older.

So no doubt they've been praying for this for a really long time.

No doubt they've been praying to have a son.

No doubt, because of the days that they were in, they were praying for the Messiah to come down.

They were expectant.

They were praying for a son, they were praying for the the Messiah.

The sound of silence is not the indication of deaf ears.

God hears the prayers of his people.

Let me say that again.

The sound of silence is not the indication of deaf ears because God hears the prayers of his people.

Scripture reminds us of that over and over and over again.

We cannot give up on God.

We cannot give up on God.

We cannot stop praying.

We cannot stop asking for his kingdom to come and his will to be done.

We cannot stop going before God on behalf of our friends and our coworkers and the family members you want to see meet Jesus.

We cannot give up on God.

The Bible says, take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

We shouldn't be surprised when God answers.

Zachariah was surprised.

We also shouldn't be surprised when the things that we start praying for evolve into things that we weren't originally praying for, because the first part of this says, take delight in the Lord.

So your prayers as an early Christian are probably going to evolve as you become closer to Christ, and they start to sound like the prayers that Jesus had.

Jesus is in the garden, and he's saying, God, I don't want to do this.

Father, I don't want to do this, but it's not my will, it's your will.

We must continue to go before God.

We must continue to pray.

We must continue to prepare the way for people to meet Jesus.

We read that Zachariah responds with doubt.

How can I be sure?

You know, I mean, my wife and I were up there, and the angel reminds him, I am Gabriel.

Just like that.

He did that too.

I am Gabriel.

I stand in the very presence of God.

And Zechariah asked for a sign.

Boy, did he get one?

Boy, did he get one?

Isn't that just like us, though?

Man, we pray and we pray and we ask God, use me.

God, God, God, show up in this situation.

And then when he answers, we go, Well, I didn't really mean it like that.

Do we know that God is asking us to be generous and but we're saying, well, I need I need a sign?

Do we know, like, well, well, I know you want me to share the gospel with my neighbor, but can you show me a sign?

Do we know that God is asking us to give up some of our time so that we can serve others and prepare.

Well, I need you to show me a sign.

Think about how different the next nine months of Zachariah's life would have been if he would have said, Amen, as it is in heaven or he would have said, Yes, Lord.

He would have been able to celebrate the next nine months.

You guys are not going to believe what happened.

I was in the temple, I was burning the incense, I was on the inside, people were on the outside, angel of the Lord came, boom.

Now my wife's pregnant.

He would be able to celebrate the goodness of God.

Instead, we notice that he's struck dumb, and some believe even deaf.

So he couldn't speak and probably couldn't hear for the next nine months.

But the thing that I love about this is that God had his mind made up.

When God decides to use us, our response should be yes.

God had his mind made up that despite the doubt of Zechariah, that despite the barrenness of Elizabeth, John the Baptist was coming through them.

John the Baptist was going to prepare the way, and it was going to be through Zechariah and Elizabeth.

There are times when God has his mind made up, and I think he says to me, Nate, I'm going to use you whether you like it or not.

I'm going to use you whether you believe it or not.

I'm going to use you and you can either praise me in it and you can celebrate me in it, or I'll do it with your mouth shut.

There was a season around this time, this very time last year, where I believe God was trying to show me something, and I and I believe He did, but I didn't like what He was showing me.

And so instead of celebrating Him, instead of praising Him in the midst of that, my mouth was shut.

But I look back on that, and I was even reading in my journal from a year past, and I look back and see how God still used me to prepare the way.

He still used me to get people ready to meet Jesus.

We have a choice to make.

We can either celebrate the goodness of God.

We can either be doing it with a thankful and a glad heart, or we can have our mouths shut and God will do it anyways.

We fast forward and John the Baptist grows up.

And the scripture said he goes grows strong in spirit and he moves out into the wilderness until it's his time to prepare the way.

What we notice here is that John moves out into the wilderness to be prepared so that he can prepare others.

Are you in a time right now where it doesn't seem like there's a lot of fruit from your life?

Maybe you need to be thinking about how am I being prepared so that when God decides to use me, I'm ready.

Maybe you need to be thinking about this wilderness is actually God's way of blessing me so that when it's my time, I'm ready.

How can you prepare the way?

Well, I think there's a few things that we can learn from John the Baptist's life.

And I would encourage you again to jot these down.

Number one, know your role.

Know your role.

John knew his assignment from the womb.

Because when Mary was with Jesus, she went and visited her cousin, who is Elizabeth, who was pregnant and well along at this point.

And the scriptures tell us that when Mary shows up, John the Baptist leaps in the womb of Elizabeth because what we read is the Spirit was with John the Baptist even from the beginning.

So John, even in the womb, he knew his assignment.

He knew he was set apart.

He knew that he was set apart to not touch a wine or any any other alcoholic beverages.

He knew there were some things that he had to do in order to prepare the way.

He knew what the Old Testament scripture said about him.

He quoted it.

He said, I'm a voice in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord.

My question to you is, do you know your assignment?

My question to you is, do you know your role?

Do you know that you're set apart?

So many of us are suffering with identity crisis, and the answer is right here in Scripture.

What God says about you is in this book.

Do you know your role?

Do you know that you are a child of God?

Do you know that you were called according to his purpose?

Do you know that?

Romans 12, 8 says, In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things.

Well, so if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out which is much which with as much faith as God has given you.

If your gift is serving others, serve them well.

If you are a teacher, teach well.

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.

If it is giving, give generously.

If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.

And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

God has given all of us different gifts.

Yes, there are the ascension gifts of the pastor and the evangelist and the apostle and all that stuff, but but right here in Romans, it tells me that generosity is a gift, that leadership is a gift, that teaching is a gift, that just being kind is a gift.

How can you use your gift to prepare the way for others, to get people ready to meet Jesus, so that when the Holy Spirit shows up and encounters them, they're ready to answer with a yes.

Number two, know your limits.

Know your limits.

When the Pharisees found out that John was out in the wilderness, he was actually drawing quite a crowd.

And when you start to take away followers from someone else, it causes a stir, doesn't it?

So so they go and try and figure out who in the world is this guy and why is he taking people away from us?

So they ask him, hey, uh, are you Elijah?

Are you the one that that the Bible talks about preparing the way for the or actually are you the Messiah?

Are you the chosen one?

Are you the anointed one?

Are you the one who's who's supposed to come and put the kingdom here on earth?

And John responds, I'm not even worthy to tie the guy's shoes.

I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals.

I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way.

When's the last time you change someone's mind on Facebook?

I'll wait.

When's the last time you were in an argument and you changed someone's mind?

When's the last time you changed their heart?

The Holy Spirit's job is to do that.

Our job is to prepare the way.

Our job is to get people ready so that when they encounter Jesus, they can say yes.

Isn't that a relief?

Doesn't that feel good to know?

It's not to be complacent because we've already established that expectancy is action.

But it's it's good to know that I don't have to change someone, right?

I need to prepare the way.

John chapter 6, verses 44.

John 6:44

No one can come to me unless the Father who sends me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

It's God's assignment to change the hearts and minds of men.

Ours is to get them ready for that.

Go ahead and uh ask the band to join me.

So the first one, know your role.

Know what God has assigned you to do.

And if you don't, we're here to help you with that.

We can help you with that.

Number two, know your limits.

Know that the Holy Spirit's job is to convict and to change.

Our job is to prepare the way for that.

Number three, know your way.

Know your way.

What's the way?

Well, I believe it's in the last verse of this chapter here, Luke 1.77.

You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins because of God's tender mercy.

The morning light from heaven is about to break upon us to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.

That's good news.

We don't have news that is hard to bear.

We have the good news about the gospel of the kingdom of God.

What does it say?

Salvation.

That's good news.

You can let somebody know, hey, you can be forgiven.

Light, you can let somebody know, hey, the dark time that you're in right now, it doesn't have to be that way.

And peace.

You can let somebody know that the chaos that they're currently experiencing, they can actually experience peace through the spirit of Jesus.

What is the way?

Well, more importantly, I think it's who is the way?

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me, Jesus says.

God knew he was sending Jesus.

God knew long ago that the remedy for sin was going to be his son.

And just like that, Jesus knew he would send the Holy Spirit.

And our job is to prepare the way.

You know, the the early church, when they first began to gather, uh, it was different for the Roman society that they were in because male and female were on level playing fields and slaves and free were being treated as equal, and there was generosity like no one had ever seen before.

And so people from the outside looking in didn't know what in the world was happening.

They didn't know what to call it.

So they simply referred to it as the way.

They're people of the way.

An ambiguous term, a broad brush to try and describe what's happening.

They're people of the way.

My hope and my prayer for the city of Orlando is that they look at Celebration Church and they go, There's something different.

There's something happening.

There's white and black and Hispanic, and they all are equal.

They all are treated equal.

There's male and female, and they're all equal, and they're incredibly generous to a community, even if the community doesn't recognize them for it.

I hope that we can be a church where people look at us and they see the way, the truth, and the life.

They see Jesus.

Let's get people ready to meet him, huh?

Let's get people ready to meet the Holy Spirit when he encounters them.

Let's prepare the way.

Will you bow your heads in prayer with me?

You know, before, like I said, you can prepare the way for someone else, you have to know the way.

Do you know your role?

Do you know your limits?

Do you know what you're called to do?

Do you know the way?

Everybody in here has a next step.

They know that next step.

Somebody gets up and in a godly hour every Sunday to prepare this place so that you can come in here and worship.

What can you do to prepare the way for someone else?

Maybe you don't know Jesus though.

Maybe you don't know the way, the truth, and the life.

And you want the peace.

You want your forgiveness, you want the dark days to be over.

Right now, today, you can make that decision.

Because someone has prepared the way for you, and that's why you're sitting in this seat.

So with every head bowed, every eye closed, if you want to know Jesus, I'm just gonna simply count to three.

I just want you to lift a hand up.

It doesn't save you, but the but we believe that the that the the raising of a hand is confirmation of what's going on in the heart.

So if you want to meet Jesus because someone prepared the way for you, on the count of three, would you lift your hand?

One, two, three.

Raise them.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

God bless you.

Yes, church, we can celebrate that.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Father, we thank you for every hand, and most importantly, we thank you for the hearts that are changed because of your Holy Spirit, God.

We know our limits, we know it's you, but we are so thankful that you have called us to prepare the way.

You've called us to get people ready to meet Jesus.

I pray a blessing on each family, each person that is in here this morning, God.

I pray that you would give them peace.

I pray that you would forgive them.

I pray that you would equip them to prepare the way.

It's in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

Everybody go ahead and stand to your feet.

I want to bless you as you as you walk out of here.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May make his face shine upon you and give you peace in Jesus' name.

Lord bless these people as they leave here this week.

We love you guys.

We'll see you next week.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening.

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