Clutch | Pastor Chris Kouba

Grab your Bibles, open them up with me to Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

What an incredible, incredible time of worship.

What an amazing way to just end that time of just singing about the fact that here's what you're going to hear about today over and over again.

God provides.

Do you believe that to be true?

Do you do you realize that is the case?

God provides.

We we serve a God who is like undefeated.

Like his track record is just over and over again.

He just he just provides.

And we can know, that's why we can sing and say the words that no matter whatever my lot, God has taught me to say, it is well.

It is well with my soul.

Let me just tell you something before we get going today.

Whether you feel that today or not, I want you to know this, it is still true.

Whether it is experienced in your life yet, to where you can be able to sing that song out of the heart of where you are, or whether you are trying to get your head down to your heart, I want you to know this.

It's still true.

It's still true.

That no matter what happens, you can say, it is well with my soul.

Let me take this opportunity to welcome all of the men and the women at our correctional facilities, those on the other side of this camera today.

Let's give them a hand and celebrate so many that we get the chance to minister to.

The adjective form of the word clutch can be defined as denoting or occurring in a critical situation in which the outcome of the game or competition is at stake.

I had the great privilege of growing up in an era where I got to see the most clutch player of all time play and perform the GOAT, Michael Jordan.

I can tell by the reaction that there is some perhaps controversy.

Let's just get a little feel for what I'm dealing with in this room today.

How many of you would say you are on team LeBron?

He is the best player of all time.

Would you raise your hands?

Okay.

Okay, got a few of you.

All right.

How many of you would be on team not LeBron or not Michael Jordan, but somebody else?

Would you raise your hands?

Okay, a few of you, all right.

How many of you would say that you were on team Michael Jordan?

Would you raise your hands?

Okay.

You just all look wise.

I can see that being the case.

And how many of you have no idea of any of the names that I've just mentioned so far?

Okay.

I respect that too, all right?

No problem at all.

No judgment zone here.

Uh, but I would argue, and I feel like I've got a pretty good argument.

Michael Jordan is the most clutch and the greatest player of all time.

Let me just give you some stats.

Uh, he was a six-time NBA champion.

He won the NBA finals every single time that he'd competed in the finals.

He won five league MVP trophies.

He made 14 All-Star games, was rookie of the year, was defensive player of the year, and averaged 30.1 points per game for his career.

But what made Michael Jordan so great was when the game was on the line, he not only wanted the ball, but he also came and delivered time and time and time again.

In closeout games, Michael Jordan averaged 34.2 points per game, not even giving the opponents a chance, but just taking them out.

He had a lethalness to him.

When when he saw there was just a little bit of give, he would just run with it and demolish his opponent.

Jordan never even reached game seven in his six NBA finals because he was so dominant during his run.

His statistics for game tying or game winning shots is better than everyone else in league history by a lot.

This is one of my favorite Michael Jordan quotes.

He says, I've never lost a game.

I've only run out of time.

If you know Michael Jordan, that's who he was.

He was lethal.

When you needed a shot, when the game was on the line, the series was down, it was a critical game.

The guy you wanted on your team, even if he had the flu, it couldn't stop him, was Michael Jordan, greatest of all time.

When you needed him, you could always count on him to provide.

This morning we're continuing in our series called Names, and what we're trying to look at are the names of God, and we're being able to see who the nature and the character of who he is based upon who he claims himself to be.

You don't have to make up who you want God to be.

You instead can learn more about him and you can relate to him in light of who he says that he is by the various names by which he goes by.

The name that I want to present to you this morning is a name that we've already sung.

It's the name Jehovah Jireh, the Lord provides.

Jehovah Jira, the Lord provides.

This is one of those names that we all kind of gravitate towards because we all have needs.

We all have things in our life that we need to get taken care of.

We all have things in our life that we want to be satisfied.

We all have problems and issues and struggles and all the various things that come up with the normal routines of life.

And so, therefore, many of you may have related to God many times without realizing it where you have prayed this prayer.

God, I need you.

And what I want you to see today in this passage is that we can trust that God will provide.

Trust, God will provide.

What you're gonna see is in the very name of God, it is in his character to be a God who provides what we need.

And because of that, we don't have to question it.

We can instead trust him that he will be faithful to do it.

We get this name from Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

I want to read for you.

It's found in the story of Abraham and Isaac.

We're gonna kind of pick up in the middle of the story and see where this name is mentioned in verse 14.

So Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide.

As it is said to this day on the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided.

Today I want you to know that God provides.

And because God provides, you can trust him.

I want to mention a couple of things about this.

First of all, I want you to see that you can trust God will provide because of what he did.

You can trust God will provide because of what he did.

In order to understand the depth of verse 14, you've got to understand the full context of what is taking place to get to this moment.

Back in Genesis chapter 12, we see that God comes to Abraham and he tells Abraham, I am going to bless you.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

I am going to, through your lineage, I am going to set up a nation set apart from all other nations called the Israelites.

I'm going to bless them.

And through me blessing them, they are going to become a blessing to all other nations.

Fast forward to Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

It's now 25 years after the initial promise had been made.

Abraham is 99 years old.

Sarah is well past the age of having kids.

And God comes along and he says to Abraham, I am going to bless you.

I'm going to give you so many descendants.

If you were to look up at the stars in the heavens, you would not be able to count how many descendants I have compared to you counting the stars in the sky, which of course you could never do.

There's so many of them.

And Abraham's like, That's awesome, Lord.

That's really great.

However, I'm 99.

Sarah's not getting any younger, and we don't have any kids.

So what are we supposed to do about that?

God tells him within the year you will have a child.

And sure enough, we see that Sarah got pregnant.

Sarah ended up having a child.

They named this child Isaac, and Isaac became the father of many nations.

And so what we see is that Abraham is approaching this passage in Genesis chapter 22, and he knows that God will provide.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

And here is his proof.

He just has to look at his son, he has to look down and see the visible representation of the fact that God miraculously, supernaturally came through in a way that he did not expect and did not plan.

But however, it's an evidence that God provides.

Folks, here's what I want you to know: God still does the same stuff.

Did you realize that God still provides?

God still comes through, God is still faithful.

And time and time and time again, what we are called to do is to look and see in front of us all of the ways in which our God has provided for us, and it can serve for us the same way that it served for Abraham, where when Abraham wondered, will God provide all he had to do and look and see that God does provide by looking at a son.

Folks, just think about this.

How has God provided for you?

How has God come through in the past?

How has God shown and proven himself?

Because what we're talking about isn't just Old Testament stuff.

What we're talking about is the fact that you can look back and you can see the hand of provision from God in your life if you will stop and reflect long enough and be able to see, oh, I see he showed up there.

I see you showed up there.

I see he was with me there.

Our church, let's think about this from a corporate standpoint.

Our church was founded in 1906.

This was a booming new area where oil had just been discovered.

And so people began moving out to the Northeast Houston region of Houston here in order to try and uh get in on the oil boom.

And so, therefore, a church was planted and started in 1906 where the Baptist church and the Methodist Church got together and shared a building.

I don't know who got the prime spot in the prime time.

I'm not real sure what that looked like, but I know this from the very beginning, there was the idea that they needed a church in order to be a lighthouse for the gospel to reach the people in Northeast Houston that were moving in.

This church over the years have had ups and downs along the way, but one thing that's been consistent is that there's always been a faithful remnant of prayer warriors, people who have prayed and asked that God would move mightily in this church.

And there's also been a faithful remnant of people who have not lost the mission that God has given to us, which is to go and to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

And while the church has changed over time, it's changed names, it's changed buildings, it's changed locations.

One thing has not changed, and that is the mission.

That mission was clarified with even more uh clarity a couple of years ago, whenever God gave us the mission statement that we now have, which is everyone, every day, crossing every divide to live united in Christ.

And here's what we've been able to see: God's been faithful to do that in the midst of the history of this church, but now also in the present of our church, we are seeing God move in profound ways in the life of United City Church.

We've been able to see people added to the church.

We've been able to see people baptized into the church, we've been able to see people take next steps in their faith journey as they not only follow in obedience to what God calls them to do, but also to have their hearts closer and connected to him and to all that he does.

And God is allowing us to do amazing things in the life of United City Church.

Hunter kind of mentioned it in his prayer, but I think it's worth even pointing out even more so these seniors that we have that were celebrating today.

You guys bought in to the whole idea of finding life and bringing life.

You seniors, you didn't just hear this as a thing that we just say as a phrase and a service, but instead you began to invite your friends.

And I'm telling you, our church is radically different because of you.

And even though you may not necessarily be physically with us in the fall, if God decides to take you somewhere else in terms of his location, I want you to know this the impact that you have had on our church will continue long after your presence is here.

We're grateful for you, we're thankful for you.

And this church is just built on a legacy of people who have said, Hey, I'm gonna buy into what God desires for me and for the desire for him to reach people in this community.

And as a result of that, we can now look up and we can see God's faithfulness and his hand of provision on our church so that we can say with confidence, no matter what comes in the future for United City Church, based on what he has done in the past, we can trust him.

We can believe in him, we can lean on him.

This isn't just true at a corporate level.

This is true at a personal level.

How has God been faithful to you in the past?

I know for me personally, about eight years ago, I was involved in a pretty serious burn accident, and I look back and I see how God kind of worked in my life at that time, how God worked in my family's life at that time, how God ministered to us through the testimony of the local church that I happened to get to be the pastor of.

And I would tell you, man, God was faithful at a dark season.

I know that five years ago, whenever we moved here, it was a big deal, and I was nervous about that, and I was, it was a time whenever our kids were at an age where it wasn't gonna be an easy transition, and I was certainly very anxious about that and prayed a lot about that.

And now I'm sitting here five years later, and I would tell you, man, God has been faithful so many times.

I look back at what he's done in the lives of my family and my kids, and I'm just grateful.

I'm so thankful for the way that God has ministered to us.

I've experienced the whole financial stuff that you hear stories about.

I literally have had a mailbox go into my mailbox, and there'll be an anonymous letter with money in it, exactly what we needed at the time, whenever we found ourselves at a difficult spot.

I had a lady that I met one time in my life who walked up to me on a Wednesday afternoon and she handed me a check for the exact dollar and cent amount that she said she felt like God told her two days ago to write this check and give it to me.

It was the exact amount to get my car out of the shop that had been left in there for the last two days because we didn't couldn't afford to get it out.

But I'm just telling you, like that stuff's real.

And if you begin to think through in your own life, if you maybe stop and reflect and look in the past, what you will begin to see is God was faithful to you too.

God allowed you maybe to get that job that you now have, or maybe God kept you from getting a job that at the time you didn't think you could live without.

You may look back at those relationships and see that God protected you from a relationship that you thought would be the end all, be all in your life, and now you look back and you say, Man, God was so good that He didn't answer that prayer.

I'm so thankful that God said no there.

You may look back on your life and realize it was because you were at this location, at this specific time, around this specific person, that your life began to take this certain directory, and you may think in your mind, man, that's just a coincidence.

That's not a coincidence, that's God providing for you.

Here's what I want to ask.

I want everybody to get a piece of paper out, whether it's something that you can write on in the little seat back in front of you, or maybe if you can get your phone out and you can handle it.

Don't check Instagram, Facebook, or your email.

All right, don't do it.

Get the notes app out, open that up, and I want you to complete this sentence.

I want to give you some time to do this.

I'm gonna ask everybody to be participating on this, please.

Just finish this sentence.

I can trust God because He did blank in the past.

I want you to write that out.

I can trust God because he did blank.

But when it does, here's what I want you to remember.

You can trust God because of what he did in the past.

He has a track record of faithfulness to you.

You seniors, you're about to go into another stage of your life.

And you're about to face opportunities and exciting things that are literally gonna be the best time of your life.

You also are about to face challenges and difficulties that are far beyond what you ever thought you signed up for.

And in those moments, you're gonna have a choice.

Here's what I want you to remember: God's been faithful.

He's been faithful in your life.

He's not gonna stop based upon a new location.

Instead, you can trust him because of his faithfulness in the past.

You can lean on him and you can look just like Abraham did to Isaac, knowing, well, I know God's gonna come through.

Look at Isaac, he's here.

Of course he is.

You can say the same thing and you can realize that God will provide for you.

God is Jehovah Jirah.

He provides, and you can trust him because of what he did in the past.

Second thing I want you to see today is this you can trust that God will provide because of what he does.

You can trust that God will provide because of what he does.

One of the things I think we don't give nearly enough credit to is just how much we have been provided for in the everyday normal things of life.

Unfortunately, there have been so many storms in Northeast Houston in the last few weeks, it's reminded us that AC and not flooding are not a given in our lives, right?

Uh we realize that electricity can't just be assumed, right?

Uh praise God for all of our local officials working to do all that and get it wherever it needs to be.

But it's showed us just how fickle life can be and how often we are provided for in things that we never even think about.

Did you know this?

There are 3,162 fast food restaurants in the city of Houston.

There are an estimated 126 McDonald's and 53 Whataburgers in our city.

Okay.

In addition, there are 20,000 healthcare and social assistance establishments in Houston, including 180 hospitals.

We have within close driving distance one of the most prestigious and top medical complexes in the world in the medical center downtown.

Literally, people flying from all over the world to come to a place that we could drive to in 30 to 45 minutes.

I think we have so much provision we don't even notice, and we don't even appreciate it.

Matthew chapter 6, verse 25 reads like this.

Matthew 6:25

Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing.

Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, oh you of little faith.

One of the anecdotes to worry and anxiety, which can plague all of us, is just to be aware and mindful of the constant, daily, continual provision of the Lord in our lives.

It doesn't even have to be the big miraculous stuff.

It could just be the normal, everyday stuff that God so faithfully provides.

Philippians 4 19.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

Every need.

This means your food, your clothing, your housing, your daily breath.

We are some of the richest people in all of the world, and most of us don't realize that.

Most of us don't appreciate that.

I got to go on a vision trip recently to the Dominican Republic through an organization called ICM, which stands for International Cooperating Ministries.

It was an incredible trip.

We got a chance to basically see this ministry which builds and plants churches.

What's really cool about it is the fact that they not only build physical church buildings, but these churches are then required to go and to plant five more churches after the building has been built.

So it's a true gospel multiplication ministry.

It was a really, really cool thing just to see the church of Jesus Christ all over the world, specifically there in the Dominican Republic.

But what really made it awesome was the fact that I got to bring my son with me, Hudson, on the trip.

It was great.

And it was great because Hudson and I've been on trips before, but we've never been Been around together, this much abject poverty.

That's such a radical departure from what the way that we live.

And on that trip at night, at one of the little kind of debrief times, we were at dinner and we were talking through stuff.

And I feel like Hudson's comment just summed up the trip so absolutely perfect.

He was asked, So, what are you thinking about the day today?

His comment was this it's amazing they have so little, yet they have so much joy.

That's it.

Like that's it.

Can I tell you what my story is?

I'm not gonna blame it on you.

I'll just tell you what my experience typically is.

I have so much, but I complain about what I still don't have.

I feel like God's holding out on me while sitting in an abundance of things that at the end of the day I probably could get rid of and not even notice.

God has just been so good.

And instead of me recognizing, appreciating, and and thanking him for all of his daily, constant provision, which can lead to joy, I instead of complaining because I don't have more stuff.

And you can trust him because he provides each and every day all around you, even when you don't notice or appreciate what he has done.

Finally, you can trust that God will provide, not only because of what he did, not only because of what he does, but trust that God will provide because he will provide.

Because he will provide.

Certainly something that is not normal or typical, but it is something that's going to require a lot of trust and obedience.

It says here you're supposed to make a sacrifice, and that's not something that's super surprising to Abraham.

However, the the context of who the sacrifice is, that's the part that strikes him as very difficult to be able to accomplish.

We think about sacrifices, we typically think about something bad or or some kind of distraction, or we need to remove a bad influence.

And all of those things are true.

But that's not what he's saying to do here.

Instead, he's asked to sacrifice something that was good, something that was a gift from God, something that was so obviously, clearly the will of God for him to have the son who he waited for.

Abraham literally was asked to give up the most important thing in his life.

I want you just to make sure you notice this.

When God calls and asks you to make a sacrifice, he usually doesn't give you the opportunity to volunteer what you sacrifice.

Because here's what's going to happen you're going to do something that seems really big, but you're fine to do without.

Instead, what God does is He actually goes to you and He says, Hey, I want to talk about that one thing that your heart can't live without.

That's what I want.

That thing.

That thing where you say, God, you can take everything in my life.

Just don't take this.

That's the thing he wants you to sacrifice.

Folks, I want you to know you just saying, Well, I'm going to give God this, or I'm going to go on a mission trip, some hard place, or I'm going to do whatever.

That's that's great and that's wonderful.

But at the end of the day, that's not called a sacrifice.

That's just basically trying to make sure.

God seems pleased enough for him to leave you alone, not ask for anything more.

And what I want you to see is that God asked him to sacrifice the very thing that was most important.

But here's what it says the key is found in verse 7.

Isaac said to his father, Abraham, My father, he said, Here I am, my son.

He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

So they went both of them together.

How could Abraham know this?

Was he lying to his son?

How could he say with such confidence that God called him to do this, but in his mind he knew there's no way that God could call him to actually go through with it?

And so it says there, no, God will provide something for us.

We just have to trust that this will be the case.

How could he say that?

We know one, he trusted because he looked at Isaac and saw that God provided for him in the past.

We know that he trusted because he knew that God had provided for him in the present.

In fact, Hebrews chapter 11 actually gives us some insight.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

It says this by faith, verse 17, by faith Abraham.

When he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

Verse 19.

He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

He didn't know how, but he knew that God would.

The story goes is that Abraham ended up putting Isaac on the altar.

He was about to make the sacrifice and go through with it, and the angel of the Lord stopped him, and it says in Genesis 22, verse 13.

Genesis 22:13

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked.

And behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his thorns, by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

We don't know how long the ram was there, and we don't know how long it had been stuck.

But here's what I want you to see.

While Abraham was walking up the mountain, God was providing on the other side of the mountain a sacrifice.

What does this show us?

This shows us that sometimes in order for us to receive the provision of God in our lives, it requires us to first act in obedience to unlock the ram.

You see, here's the problem.

Many of us, we say, God, I'll follow you, but I want to know exactly how it's gonna happen.

I'll follow you, but I want it to be this, this, and this.

And if you do this, this, and this, then I'll follow you.

And God says, No, that's not how it works.

You see, some of you, you've got a ram waiting in the thicket that's requiring you to lay down the thing that you think you want most, which is actually the thing that God says you can't have.

Let me ask you what's on the other side of your obedience for some of you.

The issue you need to think through and pray through and deal with today is this.

What is it that you're holding on to that you think you can't live without?

Whereas if you would just simply let it go, you will discover that God has things way better and way more abundant waiting for you.

What is it that you need to do in order to experience the blessing and the mercy and the grace and the provision of God in your life?

What is it that God needs to provide for you?

He is a good and a gracious God that we can trust and lean on.

What area of your life do you need to lean into him instead of questioning him?

Where do you need him to provide for you?

He this is who he is.

You don't need to be hesitant to ask him.

For some of you, there's a ram in the thicket just waiting to be provided, but you're holding something back.

You're asking God to bless you, but you're holding on to something.

It could be sin.

It could be that blessing that you've already received that you've turned into an idol that you can't live without.

Would you release that thing you're holding on to?

Would you lay it down at the feet of God and say, God, I'll take whatever you have for me, knowing it's better than whatever I have to give up.

Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes all across this room?

If you're online, I invite you to do the same.

Some of you need to realize the story of God's provision is actually a sign of his ultimate provision.

That ended up coming through God the Father, sending his son Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.

Because of our sin, there had to be a penalty paid and the cross.

Jesus offered himself as that sacrifice, but this time he went completely through with it.

He died.

He was buried.

But ultimately he rose from the dead, he defeated sin and he defeated death.

And he now offers you the chance to receive him as your Lord, as your Savior.

Experience the joy and the privilege of heaven of Him.

You have the promise of eternal life in the future, you have the promise of abundant life in his presence right now.

If today you want to receive Jesus, you want to give your life to him, you want to receive the ultimate gift, which is a relationship with your creator.

Would you just pray this simple prayer with me?

Dear God, I want Jesus.

I believe that he died for me.

I believe that he rose from the dead, and I want him to live in my life.

Thank you for forgiving me of all of my sins, for making me new.

Thank you for sacrificing your life for mine so that I could have eternal life.

It's in the name of Jesus that I pray.

Amen.

Would you look up here if you just prayed that prayer of faith with me?

What I'm going to ask you to do is our team's going to come up and they're going to be up front and on the sides.

And what I want to ask you to do is just simply come forward.

We want to celebrate with you.

We want to rejoice in the decision that God has led you to make.

We believe it's the most important, significant thing that you've ever done is you've received Jesus.

And so therefore, we want to ask in just a moment, we're all going to stand up.

That's going to be your cue.

You step out from where you are.

You just come forward and tell us.

Let us have the opportunity to get some information and to pray with you today.

Others, if you need to come and join United City Church, we are a church that has a long legacy and history that we are building upon for the future.

And that legacy is a history of God's faithfulness to his people.

We're so grateful for the fact that we can stand on the shoulders of so many who've gone before us, who believed in a God that always provides.

God is leading you to be a part of that mission with us for everyone, every day, crossing every divide to live united in Christ.

Would you come forward and let you, by you joining, lead the way today?

We'll encourage others to follow us along as well.

Others need to be baptized.

What an amazing picture yet again of just seeing people come forward and making their decision public and following through in believers' baptism and being obedient to Him.

Would you come forward today and let us schedule your baptism?

I know there may be some that are here today and you need prayer today.

Maybe you have a need that you need to be prayed for.

You have a need that you feel like is overwhelming to you and you're wondering and you're needing God to provide for you.

I want you to know we want to pray with.

We want to pray for you.

Maybe you want to use this front area as just a source and a place that you can come and receive prayer today.

I'm gonna pray for us.

And when I do, I'm gonna say amen.

I'm gonna ask no one to be leaving, no one to be shuffling around, but instead, believers, you're praying and you're asking God to move for those who need to make the most important decisions they will ever make.

Father Heaven, I come before you and I thank you.

Thank you for your faithfulness, thank you for your goodness, thank you for your consistency, thank you for the fact that we can trust you.

I pray now, Father, as we move into this time of decision that you would call people to yourself to have boldness and courage to respond to you by taking their next step today, by giving their lives to you, by joining this church, by receiving prayer, Father.

I pray that you would move in these moments.

In the name of Jesus, I pray.

Amen.

Would you stand up?

And as you stand, our team is up front, ready to receive you.

Come, come on.

Do me a favor really quick, just can bow your heads, close your eyes, please.

If you're here today and you would say, Man, I got a need.

I got a thing.

I got something I'm wrestling through, working through, I got something that I just need God to provide for me.

Maybe provide wisdom, maybe provide health, maybe provide finances, maybe provide relationally, whatever it may be.

No one looking around, would you just raise your hand?

I want to voice a prayer over you today.

Just raise your hands all over this room.

People are raising their hands.

Just raise your hand so I can see it.

Father in heaven, I pray that you would just, in your great mercy and grace, meet us in our time of need.

You're so faithful.

We thank you, Father, that you know exactly what it is that's causing us to even raise our hands right now.

I pray, Father, that you would meet our needs in exactly the way that we are asking.

But God, I pray that in humility we also submit to you that if you want to answer our prayer in a totally different way, that it's actually better for us if we knew better.

God, we'd be willing to receive that too.

We ask, God, that you would just be faithful as you always have been, Lord.

This is who you are.

You are enough.

And so, Father, we submit these things to you.

We ask God that you would go before us.

You would guide us, you would lead us, you would direct us, you would protect us from ourselves or from danger.

And God, we submit the outcome to you, knowing ultimately, Father, that you will get the praise and that you will get the glory and you will get all of the honor.

Because yet again, the Lord provides.

Thank you, Father.

Thank you for being so good to us.

It's in the name of Jesus that I pray all of these things.

Amen and amen.

Wow, what an amazing message we got to hear this morning.

I hope the Lord showed himself to you in a fresh, new way.

Hey, if you made a decision today to follow Jesus or a decision for Christ, we would love to process that with you.

And so text the word next to 55498, and someone from our team will be more than happy to reach out and process that with you.

If you missed the message or you missed a note or two and you want to go back, don't worry.

We've got the option for that as well.

It's gonna be available on Spotify as well as Apple Music.

This has been an amazing morning.

We love you guys so much, and we hope to see you next week.

Bye-bye.