The Mystery of Choice | Pastor Chris Kouba

Well, good morning.

Grab your Bibles, open them up to Romans chapter nine.

Romans chapter nine.

I want to take this opportunity to give a special word of greeting to all of the men at the Ramsey Unit and all of the women at the Plain State Correctional Facility.

We are so grateful to bring this message to you.

God has been moving in a big way in the life of our church.

Last week we launched United City Espanyol.

They've been meeting kind of as a core group, getting ready to officially launch.

And we not only launched here on this campus, but we also had a team that actually went out to the Ramsey Unit.

And now once a month, we are going to be taking our services here from United City Espanyol, and we're going to be showing them there at the Ramsey Unit.

So God just keeps opening up some pretty amazing doors and not only English but in Spanish.

We're just going to continue to ride the wave of what he is doing and excited to see how that is going to take place.

I want to ask everybody, if you would, to please take your memory to the third grade basketball court at recess.

Third grade basketball court at recess.

I want you to picture this.

If you've had this experience, you know how much of a life-changing, life-altering experience that it is.

If you have not yet been able to have a third grade basketball experience, just know it's coming and I'm going to prep you for what's about to come, okay?

This, of course, is a situation to where it happens.

Most schools, I remember it very vividly, like it was yesterday.

We basically go out there at third grade, we're at recess, there decides to be a friendly little game of basketball.

It quickly turns in from a friendly game of basketball to clearly a life and death moment that is going to determine the future of my existence going forward.

You have the two team captains that are chosen.

These are most likely the two best players in the school at third grade, or most likely the most popular kids in the school at third grade.

And then everybody has to line themselves up, and then all of a sudden it's selection time.

It's a nerve-wracking experience because in your mind you're sitting there and you know I'm gonna suddenly see how my team captains view my ability to be able to be on their team.

And you at that point don't have an opportunity to kind of express how many years you played basketball or how good you are or show your skills.

Instead, it is purely based upon how they look and choose you.

Now, let me just go ahead and give you a heads up.

How that experience goes is determined by how much value you see in yourself at that moment.

This is me whenever I was in third grade.

I want to just show you a little picture here.

I know what some of you are thinking, and all was not what I was hoping for, all right?

I was hoping instead you would see this picture and think, man, the athletic prowess of that kid.

Unbelievable.

Like he is just a warrior, right?

I mean, just unbelievable.

And I'm telling you, I actually at third grade was pretty good at basketball.

I had pretty good handles.

I could actually shoot when a lot of the other kids could not shoot.

I was out in the front yard all the time practicing basketball.

But I had one big problem though.

I was pretty short at the time.

Now I had the heart of a champion and I had the heart of a lion, but I had the size of a little bitty deer.

It was not good.

It was not a good thing, all right?

And so, therefore, at third grade basketball recess, when you roll the ball out there and you're about to have a game, here's the thing.

They look and they're trying to put a winning team together, and they look out across, and the assumption is height equals winning.

Here's the problem, okay?

That's not always the case, all right?

It certainly is the case at some level and at some stages, but at third grade recess basketball, that is not necessarily true.

And so, without question, every time we go to recess in third grade, they would look over at me, they would see that I'm short, they pick the first pick, the second pick, the third pick, you start to get down to the bottom at that point.

You're looking at the other people and you're sizing yourself up.

You know what I'm talking about?

You look over there and you're thinking, I'm way better than him.

Surely that I'm gonna get next.

And then all of a sudden you look up and it becomes this time whenever you're gonna determine how you feel about this.

There's this guy named Brian.

I'm not gonna tell you his last name because I don't want to, you know, hurt the innocent here in this situation.

But Brian was a very tall kid.

He always was a tall kid.

He was also a tall kid in third grade.

Brian was always the number one pick when it came to recess and basketball in third grade.

Here's the problem Brian couldn't walk, all right?

Brian was no good.

Brian couldn't shoot.

Even though he was tall, it didn't mean that he was skilled.

Yet every single time you had the third grade team captains that would choose Brian, then they choose a kid that was kind of near his size, and I would look up and I'm sitting here thinking, I can beat all of these kids, not only in one-on-one, but in one-on-two.

You can tell I'm still working through this, can you not?

You see, I was mad every time we played basketball.

Because I knew I was better than those kids.

I knew that I was more skilled than those kids.

And because in my mind, I deserve to be a number one or at lowest possible number two pick, if I ever got lower than that, I began to get frustrated, I began to feel slighted, I began to feel like I'd been wronged, and I played with a chip on my shoulder the entire time.

Let me compare that to another kid that was in our grade named Joe.

I'm not gonna tell you his last name, uh, again to protect the innocent, but Joe was a kid who couldn't spell basketball, all right?

Joe had no idea how to catch, Joe had no idea how to shoot, Joe didn't even know the rules of basketball.

Literally, he was a complete train wreck when it came to his athletic ability.

That being said, Joe looked athletic.

And Joe was about average height.

And so, therefore, every time we go and we'd play this, Joe had to basically play with everybody else.

And so, therefore, he'd go along with it and he'd stand there.

But the entire time, all he was thinking was, all right, well, I'll just wait till the very end and I'm gonna get picked because that's what he assumed he was gonna do.

And every once in a while they'd switch the classes up or something like that, and you'd have new team captains who didn't necessarily know how everybody actually was, and they would go and they would make their picks and they would look at Joe and they would say, Joe, you're on our team.

And if that pick wasn't the last pick, Joe would be blown away.

Literally, he would be shocked, like, whoa, like me, meet me?

Like you, you really?

Oh my gosh, he has no idea.

And they just kind of go on his team, right?

Like, I can't believe he just chose me.

The difference between me and Joe wasn't necessarily in terms of our athletic ability in the minds of those that were picking, it instead had to do with how we perceived our athletic ability in response to where we were picked.

Here's what I want you to realize.

What is true on the third grade playground at recess is also true in life.

You see, you never outgrow that.

Have you ever been there before?

Have you been in a situation, maybe you're a student that's here today, and you you have you try out for a team, and whether you make the team or whether you don't, or whether you make the play, or what parts you make in the play or not, or whatever it is may be, all is determined by whether you see yourself as worthy of being picked where it is that you are picked.

You see, if you get picked really high up and you thought you were good anyway, then you feel validated.

It wasn't necessarily because they had such a good eye for talent, instead, it's because you were good.

How could they not have you on their team?

Or if you get passed over and you get overlooked for multiple rounds and you're gonna get mad and you're gonna get upset.

Why?

Because in your mind, I deserve to be up here.

On the other hand, if you're Joe and you know you're not any good at basketball, you know you can't play basketball, you don't even care about basketball.

And somebody sees something in you that you know doesn't exist in you, you're static and you're thrilled.

Happens at work.

You see somebody that gets promoted, you see somebody that gets accolades, you see somebody that gets recomm recommended or or recognized, and if you're somebody who thinks that you should be, then you're gonna get upset and you're gonna get mad at them.

Why?

Because it's not you.

On the other hand, if you're brand new to the company and you're brand new to the business and you're trying to do the best that you can, you really have no idea what in the world that you're doing, you're just really working and hustling and trying really hard, and then all of a sudden the boss says, Hey, you're doing a great job.

Man, that makes you feel like a million dollars.

Why?

Because you know, if you only knew what I don't know, you would never tell me that.

What is true on the third grade playground at recess is also true spiritually.

We're gonna look today at a brand new series in Romans chapter 9 called End to the Mystery.

Romans 9 · chapter mention

We're gonna be look in the mystery, and what we're gonna look and see is gonna look over the next three weeks, Romans 9, 10, and 11.

I want to just give you a heads up as we begin to wade into these waters, that these waters are very deep.

I want you to know that there have been many, many uh pages of ink that have been spilt.

There's been many, many hours and hours long of discussion that have taken place with theologians over the time over how to interpret Romans 9, 10, and 11.

And we are not gonna crack the code in the next three weeks.

And I want you to know, though, as we walk into these waters, as we begin to look at Romans 9, 10, and 11, it's important that we do so, recognizing that your response to what we talk about today and over the next three weeks is gonna largely be determined by how you value or perceive your value to God.

If you think you're a big deal, if you think you deserve certain things, this is gonna be really, really hard for you to hear.

Instead, if you realize that you deserve and have earned nothing, and you instead realize all of that God has given to you, you're gonna be able to embrace what the Bible calls is a mystery.

We're gonna talk about this idea of God's sovereignty and how this meshes with human responsibility.

I'm gonna tell you up front, I don't I don't know how all of this works, but I do know this.

We wanna be faithful as a church to preach what the Bible says.

One of our core values is the Bible speaks.

I know most pastors, many of them, as they walk through the book of Romans, will just skip Romans 9 through 11 and tell you to read it on your own.

We're gonna try to wade through this, but please hear me, we're not gonna be able to conquer it and complete.

You're gonna need to study some of this on your own, which I hope you always do when it comes to God's word.

The doctrine that we're gonna talk about today is the doctrine of election.

The word doctrine is a fancy word that basically talks about a biblical truth.

Election is this idea and this concept that says this God chooses those whom he saves.

God chooses those whom he saves.

And in Romans chapter 9, there's really kind of two different perspectives that are implied here, and it's encouraging us to have the second perspective.

Romans 9 · chapter mention

The first perspective is a man-centered view of God.

This basically sees God primarily is existing for me.

God's meant to make me comfortable, God's meant to make sure that I am, I have understanding.

God's meant to make sure that he bends and is shaped by what I desire and what I want.

Let me just tell you, if that's the view of God that you have, it's gonna let you down.

It will never work.

It is not at all what God's word is calling and leading us to have a man-centered view of God.

On the other hand, what's what's preached here and what's taught here in Romans 9, 10, and 11 is a God-centered view of God.

This is a this is a perspective that says, God is God and I am not.

God gets to make the rules, God is the one who gets to decide what it is that we we should do.

And I over here, even if I don't understand it or hear me at times even agree with it, I must submit what I think to what he says.

And because of that, if you have that perspective, that's what's being taught here in Romans 9, you will discover God can always be trusted, and God has a track record of always being faithful, as we just sang.

Romans chapter 9, let's pick up reading in verse 6.

Romans 9 · chapter mention

It says, But it is not as though the word of God has failed.

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

For this is what the promise said.

About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.

And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of his call, she was told, The older shall serve the younger.

As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.

I'm going to give you three points today that I encourage you to write these down, particularly in a difficult passage like this.

The first thing I want you to see today is this God chooses based on his calling, not our performance.

God chooses based on his calling, not our performance.

Paul's first argument out of the gates is okay, who's the really the true Israel?

We've seen in the Old Testament over and over again that these promises were given to the nation of Israel.

There was this assumption that God was going to bless them, and through them all the other people of the world would be blessed.

And so he says there, the fact that we see this in the beginning of Romans 9, and we'll see it continuing on as we go, that basically there was a setting aside of the nation of Israel and an allowance for those outside of the nation of Israel to now enter into the promised land, to enter and enter into the promised covenant, if you will.

And so, because of this, what we see is it looks as though on the surface that God's promise to Israel has failed, which means can we trust God in the first place?

That's really the debate that's being brought up.

And so Paul answers by saying, no, no, no, no, no.

We don't need to worry about whether God can be can be trusted or not.

Of course he can.

The issue that we have is the fact that you're defining Israel differently than you should.

You see, you think that Israel means that it is based upon race, it is based upon heritage, it is based upon how they do their performance.

And what I'm telling you is that Israel has always been based upon calling.

This is important for us to hear because a lot of times we assume that because we have Christian parents, we assume because we have Christian grandparents, we assume because we were born into a particular church, or that we went there more often than not, or every once in a while, we assume that must mean, okay, we're in two.

And what he's saying is has nothing to do with that.

The Bible is super clear.

None of us deserve to be able to have our righteousness before God because it never stacks up.

And so, in light of that, what God does, what Paul does here is he uses an argument.

He gives two different examples of this.

His first one is of Abraham's sons, Isaac and Ishmael.

Both of them were legitimate heirs to the promise of God, but God chose Isaac, he didn't choose Ishmael.

We then see that Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau.

Even though Esau was the firstborn, by that, by the definition of that culture, that meant that he was entitled to the blessing and all of the promise that he should have received this.

But it says, before he was even born, God chose to choose Jacob instead of choosing Esau.

What does this show us?

God doesn't operate the same way that we do.

God isn't bound by our rules as to how things work.

Well, you owe me this.

Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 is such an important passage of scripture.

Ephesians 2:8

It says, For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Can you imagine if you were able to bring your righteousness and your goodness, and that is what got you into heaven, what heaven would be like?

Like it'd be it'd be exhausting, right?

I mean, you have all this spiritual trash talk going on up there, right?

Like, you know, well, I mean, I yeah, look at my house.

My house is bigger than yours.

Well, of course it is.

I'm way better than you.

Let me tell you all the stuff that I did along the way.

And the assumption would be a bunch of people in heaven have just been given what they in their minds all along think that they deserve to experience.

Or maybe you've got people that are up in heaven and they look and see what they have compared to what somebody else has and think, I promise you I was a way better than that guy.

I promise you I was more righteous than them, and it becomes this comparison thing.

Instead, the Bible tells us over and over again the reason why heaven is gonna be a place that has exceeding joy is because everybody that's there knows they don't deserve to be there.

They're not able to like look up at the record and say, Oh, look at me.

They're gonna be like, I can't I can't believe I got picked.

Are you?

I know me.

Like I know all that I deserve, I know all that I have done, and I promise you I don't deserve this.

Yet God has not only given me this, there's more and more and more for me to discover and for me to see, and I get to be in the presence of Jesus.

I know that I don't deserve all of these things.

Please hear me.

A man-centered view of God, this idea of God choosing some and not others, though.

You can imagine you're probably even thinking about them.

Okay, well, wait a second, wait a second.

How does this exactly work?

Paul anticipates these arguments and he and he begins to address some of them beginning in verse 14.

Look at what it says.

What shall we say then?

Is there injustice on God's part?

By no means.

For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

The scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Second thing I want you to see this morning is this God chooses based on his justice, not our idea of fairness.

God chooses based on his justice, not our idea of fairness.

This is where having a man-centered view of God is gonna leave you with a God who can't be trusted.

You know why?

Because if you assume that God is for you, God is all about you, God is wanting to make sure that you feel comfortable with whatever it is that he does, as though somehow he needs to check in with you and get permission from you before he chooses what he does, you're gonna look up along the way and you're gonna be like, no, time out.

That is not right.

I don't like that.

Maybe you along the way have also operated in such a way and you see God do certain things, and you're like, wait a second, that is not fair.

And the assumption is that God has to bend to your will and your desires.

What he says here is this is that God doesn't owe you an explanation.

Because while you think that it is fair or not, God says, Look, my justice is declared in the courtroom, and I'm the only one that's there.

He uses the example of Moses and Pharaoh.

He chose to give Moses mercy, but it says he hardened Pharaoh.

Well, that's not fair.

Well, hang on a second.

Wait a second.

The Bible is super clear.

None of us deserve mercy.

None of us deserve grace.

None of us have done enough things that somehow we're worthy of being chosen.

Yet the Bible says that God has in his mercy chosen some for salvation.

So if God decides to show some mercy, he's allowed to do that.

And if God decides to give judgment to those who deserve it, he's allowed to do that.

Does that mean that God is not fair?

Well, the Bible's super clear.

We can't say that.

What it does mean though is this we have to recognize the fact that any of us that are chosen, it's mercy.

All of us deserve judgment.

So therefore, if somebody gets judgment, they get what they deserve.

If anybody gets mercy, it is getting something that they don't deserve.

I know what you're thinking, because I'm thinking it too.

Well, then what's the point?

Like if we're all just kind of a bunch of robots and we're all just kind of doing our thing and God's gonna choose and it doesn't make any difference, then how does this whole thing mash out between God's res God's sovereignty and about human.

And responsibility.

I'm going to talk about this a lot more next week.

So I encourage you to be back for Romans 10.

But he starts to address it in verse 19.

Take a look at what it says.

He says, You will say to me then, why does he still find fault?

For who can resist his will?

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?

Or what does molded say to its moulder, Why have you made me like this?

Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.

Third thing I want you to see this morning is this God chooses based on his glory, not our understanding.

God chooses based on his glory, not our understanding.

This is where having a God-centered view of God helps, because let me just tell you, all right, spoiler alert.

God is interested in his glory.

God is interested in making himself known.

God is interested in making his fame throughout all of the nations.

We were actually created not to be glory stealers, but instead to be glory revealers and pointers of all that God is.

And because of that, it is so important that we embrace this because here's the thing: whenever you begin to question God over and over and over again, what you will see in the scriptures is God will allow you to run your mouth and then he will shut you up.

Because at the end of a day, he owes you no explanation.

You are not entitled to him telling you all that he has done.

I love the image that he chooses to use to express this.

I don't know if you've ever seen this take place before.

It's absolutely incredible what they do.

Literally, they get this big old lump of clay, sometimes it has rocks and stuff in it, they throw it on this potter's wheel, and that potter just begins to throw water on it and he goes to work.

You look at that at first, and you're like, there's no way this is going to turn into anything of significance.

It doesn't look like it's going to be of any value.

And you begin to see his hand begin to move and these tools that he begins to use, and he begins to shape something that is literally beyond description.

It's amazing.

As you are watching this, and as you watch this live, whenever I've gone there to Waco, not one point did I say, man, that's some awesome clay.

Like that clay is uh incredible.

Like it's it's it's spectacular.

Instead, you look at the lump of clay thinking it is worthless and has no value.

And then you see the potter go to work.

And you see him begin to shape.

And you see him begin to do stuff.

Along the way, I want to stop and be like, ah, you you you you clearly messed up right there.

Like that does not look good.

Like you you and then what do you do?

You just wait and he begins to shape some more, he begins to shape some more, and then you have the opportunity at the end of it, and you see something, and you're amazed, not at the clay, you're amazed at the vision and the execution of the potter.

In fact, I had the opportunity whenever I've gone there before, they've got some of the pottery that's up for sale, and it's already been, you know, kind of hardened and it's been it's been been through the heat and it's it's solidified.

They painted it, and it's beautiful pieces of pottery, and you kind of know that it came out of a little meaningless lump of clay previously, and now it's turned into that.

And whenever you see this finished work, again, you never look at that and say, Man, that must have been some amazing clay.

You look at that and you say, Wow, the skill and the mastery of the artist of a potter.

You guys gotta realize life's gonna be a lot better when you realize you're the clay and not the potter.

When you realize that you are just moldable, and if you look at it and you judge the situation and see how the potter is using the tools, and see how the potter is using his hand, and he's shaping and he's doing all of these various things, there's no doubt along the way you're gonna want to look up and say, Hey, do you know what you're doing right now?

Because this doesn't feel very good.

Do you realize, like, I don't look very good?

This isn't this isn't comfortable, this is this is inconvenient, this is difficult, I don't understand, but instead, if you will just recognize the God-centered view of God says this God, you are the potter, and I'm gonna trust you, and I'm gonna wait on you, and I'm gonna allow you to do your thing.

What you will discover is every single time he takes something that was nothing and he makes it into something beautiful.

And then here's what you'll begin to discover it's not to celebrate you, it's because in God's beauty of how he has made, designed, shaped, and formed you, he gets the glory.

You see, the goal is that we're not a big deal.

The goal is that he gets to be an even bigger deal, and we get to be the mouthpieces of that.

The goal is not that you're the star of the movie, the goal is that you're an extra telling everybody else about his movie.

That's what God desires for us to do and for us to be.

I want to give you two points of application.

They're for two different audiences.

The first audience is for those of you that are here and you already have a relationship with Jesus, you've already experienced the life change that comes as a result of experiencing his grace and his mercy.

You've come to the place where you've recognized what God has done for you.

You've received his grace, you've received his mercy.

Here's my application to you of this message today.

Celebrate that you have been chosen.

Celebrate that you have been chosen.

This is not time to brag.

This is not time to get on the high horse and talk about how great you are.

This is instead an opportunity and a time for you to realize that it is God who told us early on, back in their ugly truth series.

Remember last fall in the book of Romans?

None of us deserve this.

None of us are worthy.

We are all dead in our trespasses and sin, according to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

It tells us that we have nothing to bring to the table, that we have nothing to offer.

And so, therefore, the fact that God chose you, you need to act more like Joe and less like me.

You need to recognize the fact that me?

You hold on, you would really choose me?

I don't even know how to play basketball.

And you want me on your team?

This is what God has done for you.

If you're a believer in Jesus and you've experienced the grace and the mercy, and what you will begin to discover if you operate from a perspective where you are so blown away by the fact that God would choose you and that God would allow you to be on his team, then here's what happens.

Not only do you get to celebrate that salvation, it also leads for you to share that salvation.

Because here's the deal: whenever you ask somebody to give their testimony, how foolish would it be for them to say, well, you know, I was kind of a big deal, and I just thought God may want me on his team.

Instead, God, I know that I'm a sinner.

I know that I've turned from you.

And so whether you are coming out of a lifestyle of reckless living or you are coming out of a lifestyle of religion that doesn't save, regardless, you all come the same way, and that is by the grace and the mercy of a God who didn't deserve, who you didn't deserve, yet chose you.

Next Sunday, I'm gonna be walking you through very practically how you can personally share your faith with somebody else.

I encourage you to be here and I encourage you to be able to take notes and be ready because I'm gonna teach you what it looks like to share the joy of your salvation.

But let me tell you what this also looks like.

When you come into worship every single week, and whenever you're coming in here and you're looking you're you're you're singing, please hear me.

Don't just sing out of somehow obedience, or don't just sing because it's what you're supposed to do.

You sing because God chose you.

You allow your worship to be a reflection of like, I can't believe I get to do this.

Let a guest come into this room and say, I don't really understand all this stuff, but I want what those people have.

Because it is so obvious they have reached into something, they've experienced something that is life-changing, and we can begin to tell you.

Let me tell you about the God that I serve.

Let me tell you what he's done.

Let me tell you how he's changed my life, he's changed my heart, he's changed everything about me.

The second group that I want to speak to and the application point for you today, uh, or for those of you that are not yet believers.

Maybe you've never received Jesus, you've never ever gone to the place in your life whenever you've expressed your faith in him.

Maybe you know about him, maybe you've been religious, you've done a lot of activity, assuming that that activity would equate into some sort of like, okay, you've arrived moment, and it never has.

And please hear me, that's because that it never will.

Or maybe you've been at a place where you've been kind of doing your own thing, making yourself your own God.

You've basically maybe been ignoring God, and you find yourself here today, maybe the invitation of somebody else, or maybe you've been coming because you're curious and you've never received Jesus.

Here's my application to you today.

Choose to be chosen.

Choose to be chosen.

I'll tell you, I don't really know how all this stuff works out.

I mean, I got thoughts, I got opinions, I mean, I got people I guarantee I'll be getting emails this week asking me if I'm this particular label of theology that they necessarily have and whatever else.

And I don't know how all that stuff shakes out, so just save the email.

But I would tell you this.

What I do know is this without question.

As the gospel goes forth, more people get elected.

And so, therefore, I would tell you this that if you're hearing my voice today, if you're hearing this message, if you're hearing about God who sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for your sins and that he rose from the dead three days later, the very fact that you are alive today and hearing this message, you have the opportunity to choose to be chosen.

The idea of election isn't meant to determine ahead of time who's in and who is out.

Instead, the idea of election is meant to give comfort to those who may question whether God can fulfill his promises.

We know that he can, but I would also tell you this: if you're here today, God wants to choose you.

The Bible is so clear it says that he died for all.

And his desire is that all would come to faith and knowledge of their sins and that they would come to a place of repentance.

That means you.

You can't come if you think you're worthy, you can't come if you think you're a big deal, but instead, if you will humble yourself today and you will recognize that you can't spell basketball and you don't even know the rules.

But guess what?

God says, I want you so that you can be saved.

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

If you're online, I invite you wherever it is that you are that you would do the same.

We're about to enter into the most important, significant time of our services.

I know your tendency is going to be to pack up.

Some of you may be already planning your exit, and I would encourage you not to do that, please.

Instead, if you're a believer in Jesus, would you pray because you know how significant this moment is?

When I was six or seven years old, I don't know the exact time.

I'd heard the gospel literally hundreds of times.

But it was that specific Sunday morning when the pastor began to share the gospel that it just hit different.

Prayed and fasted all week, and it is my prayer that this would be the case for some of you this morning.

That you would recognize that you have a God in heaven who knows and calls your name.

You don't deserve it.

That is the good news.

Today, if you want to give your life to Jesus, I want to invite you to pray a simple prayer of faith with me.

There's nothing magical about the words that I'm gonna say, however, I do believe that the praying of this prayer does solidify in your heart the expression of what God can do in and through you.

If you want Jesus today, would you just pray these words?

If you want to choose to be chosen today, pray these words.

Dear God, I want to be chosen.

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a savior.

I believe that you died on a cross for me and that you rose from the dead.

And right now, in this moment, I choose for you to choose me.

Thank you for saving me, for forgiving me of all of my sins, and I receive you into my life.

Would you continue to keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed?

If you're here this morning and you want to join United City Church, we have seen an unbelievable amount of people that have joined our church in the last few months.

If God's calling you to move from just being an attender to becoming a member, an accountable member.

I want to invite you to lead the way today.

Maybe you've already gone through growth track, or maybe you're not really sure what that is, but you know you want to be a part of what God's doing here.

Would you come and begin that process of membership with us?

Maybe some of you need to be baptized like these two that we saw today.

Olivia and Jeff.

To give public expression of your faith.

You see, we believe that our faith is not meant to be kept to ourselves because it is too good not to share with somebody else.

We believe the Bible teaches one of the first acts of obedience after one has received Jesus is to be baptized.

Encourage you, if that is you today, that you would come forward and let us schedule your baptism for a later day.

Maybe some of you just need prayer today.

Maybe you've got things that are heavy on your heart that are difficult, maybe that you're walking through.

Maybe you have a celebration that you just want to share, whatever it may be, each and every week, we want this time of invitation.

To not only be a time of next steps, making public decisions, but also a time whenever you can be prayed with and prayed over.

So I'm gonna pray for this, and in just a moment after I do, I'm gonna say, Amen.

I'm gonna ask you to stand up.

And when I do, I'm gonna ask that no one be moving around and no one be leaving.

But instead, as God is leading you to respond today, you would be faithful to do so.

Father, we come before you and we thank you so much for how you've moved this morning in our services, for the two that we already have seen getting baptized for this public expression of the fact that they've been chosen.

God, I pray that right now you'd give people boldness and courage to respond to you publicly.

I pray, God, that prayers could be answered today, that you would allow us to be able to come alongside those who maybe need to make a decision, and that God, you would allow us the privilege of being able to celebrate that together.

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

Amen.

What an incredible message.

Hey, if you made a decision today to give your life to Jesus, we'd love to know about it.

We'd love to celebrate with you.

We'd even love to pray with you.

And so if you made that decision, would you text next to 55498?

And someone from our team would love to follow up with you.

In the meantime, I would love to pray with you even right now as God continues to do things in your heart moving.

And so, Jesus, we love you so much.

We say thank you for the truth of your word.

Thank you for still showing up in people's lives and still doing only what you can do.

Jesus, I pray that you continue to heal hearts and heal lives.

Uh, bring peace to minds.

And Jesus, once again, just do what only you can do.

It's in your name.

United City fam, this has been an incredible service.

It's been so fun worshiping with you.

Hey, to stay in the know on everything going on in the life of our church, we'd love for you to follow us on Instagram and on Facebook to stay up to date on everything happening.

And we'd love to see you either in person or online right back here next week.

Services are at 9 30 and 11.

We hope you have a fantastic week, and we'll see you soon.