Only God Knows (Girls Night) | Paige Straarup

I'm expectant for God to speak.

And tonight, as you grab your seats, I want you to tell the girl next to you, say, I see you, girl.

I see you.

Amen.

If you have your Bibles tonight, I want you to go ahead and get out your Bible.

We are girls who love God's word.

So we're reading an entire chapter of the Bible together tonight.

We're getting our Bible reading in this evening.

If you skipped it this morning, that's okay.

So we're going to be in Genesis chapter 16, if you have your Bibles.

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

If you're new to the Bible, you're lucky because it's like right after the table of contents.

It's the very first book, and then we're just slipping over a few pages to get to chapter 16.

We're going to read this entire chapter together.

So, Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar.

So she said to Abram, The Lord has kept me from having children, so go sleep with my slave.

Perhaps I can build a family through her.

And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

How many of y'all know that was a test, and he totally just failed?

So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai, his wife, took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife, and he slept with Hagar and she conceived.

Y'all, the Bible is spicy.

I don't know if you guys have been reading the same version that I have been, but okay, so then she knows she's pregnant and she began to despise her mistress.

I'm sure she did.

And then Sarai said to Abram, You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.

I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she's pregnant, she despises me.

May the Lord judge between you and me.

And Abram said, Your slave is in your hands, and do with her whatever you think best.

Like, truly, guys, are we reading the same Bible?

This is so much better than the reality TV that we watch.

Like, this is so much better.

Okay, we're gonna keep going.

And then Sarai mistreated Hagar, so she fled from her, and the angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert.

It was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.

And he said, Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?

I'm running away from my mistress Sarai, she answered.

And then the angel of the Lord told her, Go back to your mistress and submit to her.

The angel added, I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.

And the angel of the Lord also said to her, You're now pregnant, and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery, and he will be a wild donkey of a man.

Yeah, that one's fun too.

His we know the other word for donkey.

And everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her.

You are the God who sees me.

For she said, I have now seen the one who sees me, and that is why the well was called Beer Lehroy.

It is still there between Kadesh and Bared.

And so Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son that she had born.

Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael, a runaway slave, a pregnant woman that nobody was looking for.

And she's the one who give God gives God a name that he keeps forever, Elroy.

So tonight we're gonna watch what happens when the God who sees finds this woman in the desert.

Surely no one was looking for.

And the title of my message tonight is Only God Knows.

So let me pray for us as we get started, Lord.

We love you.

Lord, I just lift up any woman in this room right now who's been feeling invisible, lost, lonely, less than, left out.

Father, I pray that you just speak to all of our hearts tonight.

Holy Spirit, may you just have your way this evening.

Would you hide me behind your cross and would your word be spoken today in Jesus' name?

And all the girls said, Amen.

I love it, I love it.

Okay, so have any of you guys ever been stuck in like a really awkward situation that you 100% put yourself in?

Like you don't even get to blame anybody else because you put yourself in this situation.

Okay, so maybe it's happened to a few of us.

Well, it's definitely happened to me.

It was actually last September.

We were about to launch Spirit Church.

It was like the Friday before our big launch weekend is day that we've been preparing for, the first day of Spirit Church.

And I mean, I'm just a regular girl, so I want to look cute on our first day at church, right?

So I wasn't feeling too cute.

I had spent my entire first summer in Arizona inside the AC, so I was feeling extremely white.

I am white, and I was feeling extremely white.

I was also seven months postpartum, and I had this friend, she used to always tell me, if you can't tone it, tan it.

Okay, so some of y'all had the same friend.

So my friend tells me this: so I do what any rational girl in my position would do.

And some of my sisters out here who have been blessed with extra melanin, you're not gonna understand what I did.

But I went and decided to get a spray tan because I needed a spray tan.

So I had gotten a spray tan, I think the last time, probably like in high school for prom or something.

So yeah, I was like, okay, yeah, I know what this is.

Like you go into the machine, like Ross and Friends, you know, I didn't want it to turn out like that.

But Ross and Friends, you like, you know, the machine tells you to do all the things.

So I'm like, okay, this is great.

I look up a place online, find a place close to my house.

It's mother and daughter owned.

We love a woman-owned business, support local.

So I'm like, all right, great.

Or book the appointment.

I show up.

Sure enough, this cute, the daughter, cute girl, she's like so helpful.

She's like, okay, we're gonna get ready.

And she tells me, she's like, okay, go ahead and just get fully undressed into whatever, down to whatever you're comfortable with.

And I'm like, and she's she's not moving like into another room.

There's no machine.

So I quickly realized, what some of you may already know, that this is the kind of spray tan where she's gonna like, you know, like right here, and which is great.

I just hadn't really mentally prepared for this part.

So she said, get undressed to the level that you're comfortable with, and I'm thinking, okay, well, I'm not comfortable with any of this, but I'm also the kind of girl, like, I don't do the tan lines, like I'm about to pay money.

I want to be tan all over.

Like, why would I only pay money to be tan in like certain places and then not others?

So you see my conundrum.

And so I'm sitting there going, okay, you can do this, other people do this.

This is so normal.

And I'm giving myself a pep talk, and you know, like I'm like, my doctor sees me naked, and this is practically like a medical procedure.

Like, I think I think this is okay.

This is fine.

So your girl didn't want the tan lines, so I'm I'm here to tell you I did it.

And I fully get undressed, and I'm telling myself, I'm staying there, and she's spraying me, and I'm doing great.

I'm like, you've had two children, you've been in more vulnerable positions than this before.

You can do this, it's gonna be worth it.

Until she asks me this question that I was not prepared for.

She said, So, well, she sprayed me again, just get the visual.

She's all up in my business.

She's like, what, any special occasion, like any reason why?

Yeah.

So I had a decision to make in that moment.

Was I going to lie?

Or was I going to tell her that my husband and I are starting a church on Sunday?

And so I did what any good pastor's wife would do, and I'm alive.

I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding.

I wish I could tell you that I lied because it would have been better.

No, instead, I invited her to church on Sunday.

Come from me.

Okay, okay, come on.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

So I'm invited to church.

I'm sitting there, I'm getting to know her, trying to pastor her.

And I'm sitting there going, man, I really, oh man, do I want to get to know this girl right now?

I just really want to get to know you so badly, but I did not want you to know me like this.

And we're laughing, but so many of us, this is what we're doing with God.

We want to know him, but we don't want him to know us like this.

And tonight we're gonna talk about being fully known.

Being fully known.

Because I believe there are girls in this room who are so good at being known about, and nobody actually knows you.

And people know your highlight reel, they know the version of yourself that you're bringing to Sunday morning, they know the mom, you, the wife, you, the one who holds it all together, you.

But if I ask the girl sitting next to you what was really going on in your world, what you're really carrying this week, she couldn't tell me.

She doesn't know.

Because you've gotten so good at the spray tan version of yourself.

The no-tan lines look good from every angle, but it's not the real thing.

And can I just be honest?

I think a lot of us are doing that with God.

Maybe you're the strong friend, and I'm fine became the only answer you knew how to give.

Or maybe you smiled at three people before you walked in here today, but nobody knows that you sat in your car and you cried before you could even walk through these doors.

Or maybe you're the one that everyone calls when their world's falling apart, and you don't have anybody to call when your world gets rocked.

But I need everyone to hear this.

God already knows.

He's Elroy, in Hebrew Elroy, the God who sees.

He's not just finding out right now, he already saw it all.

And he gave himself this name, Elroy, through a woman in the desert who literally thought nobody was looking for her.

And so I want to talk about Hagar tonight.

I want to tell you more about her story because Hagar had nothing in this world that would have made her matter.

She was Egyptian, so she was a foreigner in this land.

She's a woman, she's enslaved, she has no power, no voice, and in this story, no choice, not even over her own body, it's not her own.

And she's a woman who's been used.

And notice even Sarai, her master, never once even says her name.

To Sarai, she's my slave.

She's her, she's just a function, she's not even a person.

And God calls her by name in verse 8.

He says, Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?

He knows her name, even when the people closest to her don't even use it.

And he asks her a question that he already knows the answer to.

Because how many of you know when God asks a question, it's rhetorical.

He already knows the answer.

He doesn't need the information, but it's because she can tell him what she was running from, but she doesn't know where she's going.

And God meets her right there in the running, in the in-between.

So tonight I want to share a few things that we can learn when we study Hagar's story.

And the first one, it's that you're already seen.

Not once you get it all together, not once you fix it all up, right here, if you're hiding right now.

Verse 7 says, The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert.

He found her.

She wasn't looking for him, she's actually running the other way.

And he was already there waiting at the spring.

And you've never once had to get yourself found.

So many of us live like we've got to clean it up, fix it up, put it all together before we can come to God.

And no, he found Hagar in the middle of running, not after she'd gotten it all together while she was still hiding.

In Psalm 139, verse 1 and 2, it says it like this You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

Psalms 139:1

You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar.

In verse 4, it says, Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely.

And then verse 13, for you created my inmost being.

You knit me together in my mother's womb.

It didn't just happen, it didn't just happen, he didn't just happen to notice one day.

He made you.

He knitted you together in your mother's womb.

He knows you.

And he's never once looked away.

So this version of ourselves that we somehow feel like we have to put together to bring to God.

That's never been the case.

That's actually what Elroy means.

Verse 13.

Hagar gives God a name.

She's the only person in the Bible who gives God a name.

And she's not a king, she's not a prophet, she's not a priest, she's a runaway girl in a ditch, and she gives him the name.

You are the God who sees me.

And some girls in this room, you're feeling invisible, but you're not too invisible to him.

He still sees you even in the hiding.

And the second thing I think we can learn from Hagar is honestly the entire invitation of our time together tonight, and it's that God sees you, and now it's time to let him in.

Because God seeing you and you letting him in are two very different things.

So if he's already seeing everything and there's nothing left to hide, then why are we still doing it?

It's because it's like, why is it like my first instinct when I do something wrong or I mess up or I'm hurting?

It's like I want to go to the dark, I want to go quiet.

And it's because it's the oldest instinct we've all got.

We go back to the garden.

If you're in your Bible, flip a few pages back.

Genesis 3.

Adam and Eve, they mess it all up for all of us.

And so the first thing they do is they sew some fig leaves together and they try to cover up.

And it's because the first thing sin ever produced in the human heart was this urge to cover up.

And then God comes walking in and they hide.

They really think they can hide from God.

Genesis 3, verse 9 and 10.

Genesis 3:9

God asked Adam, Where are you?

And Adam said, I was afraid.

So I hid.

Not I was ashamed, I was afraid.

Fear is underneath all of this.

But this hiding, it's not really about being fake.

I think sometimes we're scared.

If they really saw, if they really knew, they'd never stick around.

So if that's you tonight, and your gut reaction to your own mess is to cover it all up and go dark, then hear me.

You're not broken, you're just human.

And this goes all the way back to Eden.

These fig leaves we use to cover up, they never healed anybody, and covering up has never once brought healing or made someone whole.

It just makes us lonely and better lighting.

And look at what God does when they're hiding.

He comes looking, he says, Where are you?

Just the same heart as Hakar, where have you come from?

He walks towards the hiding people every time, and we're scared.

But why?

We're scared of the wrong thing.

He's not gonna embarrass us, he's not gonna expose us, he's not gonna lecture us, he's not hunting us down, he's coming to bring you home.

And Proverbs 28, 13 says it like this: Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

And staying hidden is just gonna keep us stuck.

But coming into the open is where mercy can be found, and it's waiting on us.

First John 1 9, it promises if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and he will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

He is faithful.

Not might be faithful, but sometimes faithful.

He is faithful.

And so before we go anywhere else, the first thing is we just need to come out of hiding from God.

Put the fig leaves down.

He became the God who sees to a woman that was certain that nobody was looking, and he already sees you too.

And so we have Hagar, and I just love this girl.

She gives the God the name Elroy, the God who sees, it's this girl that nobody wanted, and God chased her all the way down.

So if you've ever felt invisible, this is your girl, and that's your God.

But can I tell you what I think happened in this room just about 10 minutes ago when we started talking about Hagar?

There's some of you that are sitting here like, oh, this is so good for my friend Emily.

She should have been here tonight.

This word, this was for her.

I'm gonna text her on the way home, so I'm just gonna have to watch it.

Or some of you here tonight, just like, yeah, no, this is good.

Yeah, this is really gonna help some girls.

But I need you to stay with me because there's another woman in this story, and we walked straight past her.

Go back up to verse one before Hagar runs, before she's lost in the desert.

There's Sarai.

And we spent most of the chapter dogging on her, honestly, because she did some pretty crazy stuff.

Truth be told, she did some crazy stuff, and she did was kind of cruel to our girl Hagar, but it's so easy to make her the villain.

She has everything, she has the husband, she has the money.

The Bible literally says that she's very wealthy, she has the status, she has the actual spoken promise of God over her family.

Go read about Abraham and Sarah, plot twist, they kind of change their names, it's a whole thing.

You'll have to go read it later.

But she's this woman on paper that every woman wanted to be, and she's so empty.

She's restless, and she's desperate to feel this ache that she does something that she's going to regret for the rest of her life.

And that's not a villain, girls.

That's just a woman in pain.

A woman with everything who still lays awake at night because this hole in her chest that she would never say out loud, because how could she complain with this life that she's living?

And some of us just got a little more quiet because maybe you're not Hagar tonight.

Maybe you're not lost in this desert abyss.

Maybe you're not the one that nobody sees.

Maybe you're Sarai.

And I want to talk to you too, because maybe you've got the whole friend group, you've got the great marriage, the cutest kids, this life that people envy, and you still crawl in bed at night with this hollow ache inside.

Just even feeling guilty, naming it out loud.

Because look at how blessed your life is.

Or maybe you're the one that everyone assumes has it all together.

You lead, you serve, you're the first one to show up.

And not a soul in your life would guess how empty your soul is.

Maybe you're not empty because you have too little.

You're empty because you've packed every square inch of your life so full that nobody can actually get to you.

And you're the one that I've actually been worried about this whole time because Hagar knew she was empty.

But you've gotten really, really good at not knowing.

Known by everybody, but known by nobody, and you keep you're trying to keep up these appearances, going back to these same wells, busyness, achievement, the next yes, the next thing.

And Jesus is saying, You can drink and you can drink and you can drink, but you're still gonna be thirsty.

And now I just want to stop even teaching for a second and just be like another girl in the room with you guys tonight because I know Sarai.

I know her in my bones.

I know her.

And I know her because I've been her.

I've had the full life.

The people who want my time, my attention, my yes, a piece of me.

I've poured myself out for everybody in a room, only to get in my car and drive home and realize that not one of them knows what I'm actually walking through or how I'm actually feeling.

And then realizing I don't even know how I'm feeling.

Surrounded but completely unknown at the same time.

Known by everybody, known by nobody.

And here's the part of Sarai that really wrecks me.

It's because her ache, it's not vague.

She's waiting on a baby, she's holding on to this promise from God.

She's waiting and believing and waiting and believing until the weighting got so heavy that she started grabbing and started to force what God had promised.

And girls, I know that weight.

I know that desperation.

I know it so intimately.

I know what it feels like to give anything to want a baby.

I spent years there.

And I know what it's like to hold on to a promise from God in one hand and this empty ache in the other, and sitting in the dark and wondering, God, do you still even know my name?

I've been her.

I know what it's like to stop waiting on God and to start striving and try to build it and fix it and fill it myself, to smile on the outside when on the inside I'm just trying to do everything I can with my own two hands to make it happen instead of giving it to God.

And can I tell you what I found there?

It's the same thing that Hagar found in the desert, it's the same thing that Sarai found with this tired soul.

It's that God saw me and He met me there.

He saw the striving and the emptiness, and really everything I was trying to tuck so neatly and perfectly behind this full, good blessed life.

And El Roy, he met me there.

And he didn't wait until I had it all together.

I can promise you that.

It's not because I'm preaching at you.

It's because this message, I lived it, it saved my life.

So me too.

And it turns out there's two ways to hide.

You can run all the way out into the desert where nobody can find you.

Or you can bury yourself so deep inside this full, busy, blessed, envied life that nobody can reach you.

And Elroy sees you in both.

Hagar or Sarai, empty and alone, or empty with a full calendar, overlooked or overscheduled.

And God who sees us, it's the same.

And the way out of hiding is the same for both, because God can totally heal us in this secret place.

He's Elroy, He's the God who sees.

But there's a different kind of healing that happens.

There's a special healing that's waiting on the other side of being known by other people.

And this is the scary one.

Honestly, being known by God, that part's a little bit easier because like he already knows, and we're not keeping anything from him.

I mean, he's not gonna screenshot it, he's not gonna go tell his friend, he's not gonna gasp.

Like he already knows.

This is the scary one.

And honestly, I wrestled a little bit with God about this one.

Like, really?

Do we have to do this?

Because I would love to just tell you, just get right with Jesus in your own heart and your quiet time with him, and he's got you, girl.

But that's not what the Bible actually says.

James 5, 16, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed to each other.

God could have wired this healing to be totally private.

Take it up with him.

I didn't make this up, it's in the Bible.

And so many of us spent years trying to keep it right there between me and him.

Just me and God.

We got this, we're working on this, I'll deal with this alone.

And that's not what the verse says.

The healing is actually attached to each other.

That's the thing that actually heals you.

It's in front of another person, and it's not because God needed an audience, it's because we do.

We do.

You know, 13 years ago, yesterday, actually, I lost my mom to cancer, and I was 19 years old.

And I learned a lot that year.

But what I learned that year was not how to grieve, it was just how to be fine.

My little sister had started high school that year.

She was 14, she had just lost her mom, and so I kind of stopped being her sister and became something closer to a parent, making sure that she was okay, making sure my dad was okay, just checking on everybody, holding it all together for the people that I loved.

And nobody really asked or was checking on me, and I promise that's not because they didn't care, they really cared.

But I was so good at being fine.

I got so good that I carried grief alone for years.

Sure, I told God about it.

I promise I talked to God about it, but I never told a person.

And hear me, God met me there.

Elroy, He's so kind, He met me in that place, He did.

But the thing that finally broke it all open wasn't more quiet time.

It was the people who got all the way into my world, the people who asked twice, the people who didn't accept the first I'm fine answer, the people who loved me enough for it to be a little bit inconvenient, and that's when I started to heal.

That's this verse.

And it wasn't because I finally got seen.

I promise I was seen, I was surrounded by people, but it's because I let somebody really get to know me.

1 John 1:7 says it like this but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:7

Walking in the light gives us two things at once.

It gives us Jesus washing us clean, and it gives us each other.

And we can't have this deep friendship that we're aching for if we stay hidden.

They come as a pack, it comes as a package deal.

And I think some of us have been begging God for community.

A real friend, Lord, bring me a real friend who really gets it.

And I think sometimes God's just whispering, like, come on, girl.

Come out of hiding, come out of the dark, because that's where you're gonna find her.

Sometimes we have to just realize we were not built to do this life alone.

Ecclesiastes 4, verse 9 and 10.

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.

But somebody who falls alone is in real trouble.

Some of you guys are in real trouble tonight.

And nobody's gonna be able to pick you off the ground if no one knows you're even there.

Hebrews 10, 24 says, let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up, meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.

Yes, some of you are, and encouraging one another.

That's the entire reason why we do spirit groups.

And I'm not here to pitch another program to you.

No, real life happens in the context of relationships, and some of you need to be bold and get in a group.

Take the mask off.

Get in front of some other girls or some other people who are also looking to really be known.

I think there's a handful of people in this room that need to take that step today.

You're gonna have a chance to join a group.

You can tap the circle disc on the seat back in front of you or after the service.

We'll have a chance for you to do that in the connections area in the lobby.

I think some of you walked in here feeling known.

You felt known by some, but no one really knew you.

And I'm telling you, there's healing waiting for you on the other side of being known, and it's in this room tonight.

And you can be seen by every single person in this room, just looking around.

Yeah, I know them.

No, I know so many of these people, but no one really knows you.

But tonight is the night that that changes.

Because this hiding thing is exhausting.

Whether it's the desert of the good life, running from everybody, or drowning in everybody, it's okay to not be okay, but it is not okay to stay there.

And so I've got two invitations for us tonight.

In this order.

First, we're gonna come out of hiding with God, and second, we're gonna come out of hiding with one other woman here.

Not everyone, but one.

That's where it starts.

And before we actually do anything else, the God who found Hagar in the desert and Sarai in the middle of all her things and everything she owned in this beautiful life.

He didn't stay far off.

He came close.

He came as Jesus.

And here's what I want you to know about him tonight.

Every one of us has done exactly what Adam and Eve did.

We've sinned, we've hidden, and we tried to cover ourselves up with those fig leaves.

But sin separates us from a holy God, and there is nothing that we can sew together ourselves that's gonna fix it.

And so God did.

Remember in the garden when the fig leaf thing didn't work out?

Well, then God made us a covering and it cost a life, an animal sacrifice.

And that was just a picture of what was coming because God loved you so much that he sent his son Jesus to live a life that you never could.

He went to a cross and he took every sin, every hidden thing onto himself, and he died a death that we deserved.

His blood became our covering, but the fig leaves could never be.

And three days later, he walked out the grave, and death did not get the final word.

And neither is your hiding.

And that's why it's safe for us to come out tonight, girls.

The blood of Jesus is God's answer to everything that we've been covering up, and he doesn't want us to perform anymore.

You don't have to fix it.

This is one of those times you just get to show up and surrender.

So some of you have been keeping appearances your entire life with God.

And if tonight you are ready to stop running and be known by Him, really known by Him, and then made brand new, well, if that's you, tonight's your night.

And if you want to make God the Lord of your life, I'm gonna pray this prayer.

I'm gonna ask everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes.

We're all gonna pray this together out loud for the benefit of those that are praying it for the very first time.

Repeat after me, say, dear Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

I believe you came to this earth and you died on the cross and you were raised that I could have life.

I make you my Lord, I make you my Savior.

In Jesus' name, amen.

And with every head still bowed, every eye still closed, right now, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time, I want you to do something bold.

I want you to put up your hand on the count of three and let me know and just say, Hey Paige, that was me.

I would love to celebrate you with you.

So here we go on the count of three.

One, two, three.

Be bold.

If that was you, you just said, Jesus, you're the Lord of my life.

Thank you.

I see that hand.

I see that.

Thank you, Jesus.

Hey girls, can you do me a favor?

Can you put your hands together?

For new life and Jesus.

And the women who are living here forever change.

Man, whether you just met Jesus 30 seconds ago or you've been walking with him for 30 years, we've still got one more moment here together tonight, and this is for all of us.

You've heard me say it all night: God sees you and he wants you to come out of the hiding.

There's healing waiting on the other side of being known.

And so I I just can't let us leave this moment without practicing this, without a chance to step out of the dark tonight.

And so I'm not just gonna tell you about it.

We're actually gonna do it together right now.

So I'm gonna invite everyone to stand with me right now.

This isn't your time to slip out and leave.

It's not time to get your phone out.

I want you to pair up with a woman near you.

Get in groups of two or three.

If you see a lady that and you're in a pair and you can make it a group of three, right now, I know it's uncomfortable.

I want you to find her.

Once you've found your kind of girl, I want you to look back up at me.

Let's make sure there's no girl without a partner, groups of two or three.

Now it's time to come out of hiding, girls.

So I want you to ask, what's one thing that you've been carrying alone?

That someone can carry with you to the Lord?

And I'm gonna have you share that thing with that girl.

And then you're gonna pray for one another out loud.

And some of y'all are really scared right now.

I know this is really scary.

But this is what we want, right?

This is what community looks like.

So we're gonna do this, we're gonna be bold.

So right now, the band's gonna come up behind me and they're gonna be playing a song for us as we have this ministry time together.

But I want you to dig deep and share just one thing that you've been carrying alone that you can share with someone tonight.

So go ahead, start sharing and start praying.

Thank you so much for watching along with us.

This message was from our very first girls' night at Spirit Church, and we had so much fun.

And I just wanted to come on here and say, if you just said yes to Jesus, that that is the best decision you could ever make.

And we have a next step for you.

We would love for you to let us know and text the keyword Jesus to the phone number 480-485-3405 and let us know.

We would love to come alongside you.

We actually have a resource that we would love to get in your hands.

It's called You Said Yes.

And it's a 21-day written devotional to help you as you start this journey with Jesus.

And if you've been following along with us for some time, or maybe this ministry has meant something to your life, we would love for you to pray about two things.

First thing, we would love for you to pray about inviting someone, sending this message to someone to be a part of this.

You never know how much a simple share could really mean.

And the second thing is we would love for you to pray about partnering with us financially because you never know how much your giving makes this message possible for not only you, but people all around the world.

So thank you for the way that you give.

And if you'd like to do that today, you can head to spiritchurch.co forward slash give.

And we love you, church.

We're so glad that you watched along with us.

And we can't wait to see you next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.