Kingdom Expansion Principles from the Parable of the Lost Sheep

Luke chapter 15, we are, as a church, saying

Luke 15 · chapter mention

yes to the biblical mandate of our lives to expand

the kingdom of heaven on the earth. Jesus, when

he taught us to pray, he said, pray like this.

Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed honor,

praise be to your name. May your kingdom come

on this earth as it is in heaven. Okay? We are,

I'm not going to take the time to go over because

it's been years and years. We have a mandate

to operate in the kingdom of heaven and to expand

it in advance. That's what Luke is saying yes

to. He's saying yes, I will expand the kingdom

of heaven and the college campuses in San Antonio.

We each have spheres of influences, things in

our world, which we're saying yes to expanding

the kingdom of heaven. All right. So with that,

we're looking at these parables about the kingdom

in Luke chapter 14, 15, 16, and asking, Lord,

Luke 14 · chapter mention

what do you want to do in me, transform in me

to make me more effective for your kingdom? All

right. So today's message is titled Kingdom Expansion

Principles from Luke chapter 15, verses 1 through

Luke 15:1–7

7. So let's read Luke chapter 15, verse 1. Now

Luke 15:1

the tax collectors and sinners were all gathered

around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the

teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes

sinners and eats with them. Then Jesus told them

this parable, Suppose one of you has a hundred

sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave

the ninety -nine in the open country and go after

the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he

finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

and goes home. Then he calls his friends and

neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me,

I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in

the same way, there will be more rejoicing in

heaven over one sinner who repents than over

99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Okay? Such a good passage. Let's just... Ask

the Lord. Let's surrender to the Lord our heart,

mind, thoughts. Jesus, we thank you for your

words here in this passage. Once again, this

week we're pausing to say, we believe you, we

trust you, your word is true. It's more right

than we are, what we think, our past experience,

or our future hopes. And so we're asking for

a demonstration of Holy Spirit's power right

now. Take these words. Permanently transform

our lives to become more like Jesus, we ask.

Amen? You agree with that? Alright, let's take

a look at some kingdom principles. There's so

many good things in this passage. I'm going to

list some things out. I would encourage you to

write them down. Take notes. Be helpful. It helps

you to remember when you take notes. Use your

cognitive processes. It will help you. retain

the information and it might be helpful to use

the notes later on. So number one, kingdom expansion

principle number one, the presence of Jesus in

our daily lives should attract those who are

rejected and bound by their sin. Say that again.

The presence of Jesus in our daily lives should

attract those who are rejected and bound by their

sin. All right, we're looking at this passage,

seeing how Jesus operates in the kingdom, and

we're saying, Jesus, we want to be like you in

bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. And

so this principle is really important. What we

see here in this passage, before Jesus even opens

up his mouth, in chapter 15, verse 1, it says,

now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathered

around to hear him. Before Jesus even begins

with the parable, He's there, Jesus is there,

the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, they're

there, and there's this crowd of sinners, tax

collectors and sinners, and it says they're gathering

around Jesus to listen to him, to hear him. Why

does the Son of God, God in flesh, Why is he

attracting sinners, tax collectors? Do you know

who tax collectors are in the New Testament?

You know, tax collectors aren't real popular

in Parker County, but, you know, even more not

so in the culture because these were people who

were Jews, Israelites, who had joined forces

with their Roman oppressors to tax their own

people, okay? And many times... you know, skimmed

off the top, increased their own wealth on the

backs of their own people, right? So they were,

you know, hated and completely despised and rejected

by their own people. So here Jesus is attracting

the traitors, the rejected, the outcasts, and

the sinners. All right, I believe this is going

to be kind of, I want to break this into two

principles, A and B of this number one. A, we

have to start here. The goal of our lives is

to be obedient, to become like Jesus. This has

to be the basis that we understand as kingdom

people. As long as you look at Jesus and say,

oh, well, I could never be like him. He's Jesus.

The kingdom is already defeated. Did you know

that, yes, Jesus was fully God? but he became

a fully man to demonstrate what it looks like

for a real man, a real woman, to partner in relationship

with God, be filled with his Holy Spirit, and

to bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth.

Can you believe that Satan has so hoodwinked

through religion that Christians, like you understand

the word Christian, the suffix I -A -N, it means

to be like, to be like Christ. We have become

so hoodwinked by religion that we say, oh, we

want to be Christians, but we could never be

like Christ. You get the irony of it? I'm a Christian

to be like Christ, but I could never actually

be like him. What a lie from the enemy. Our whole,

the goal of our life is to become transformed

by Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to

be like Christ because the scripture says it's

Christ in me that is the hope of glory it's Christ

in you that is the hope of glory for the earth

we owe them a representation of Jesus on the

earth I listed a bunch of scriptures just because

I don't want you to think I'm making this up

so spend some time this is just a few of the

scriptures, the biblical commands for us to become

like Christ. It's very clear. Write those down.

Take a picture with your phone and spend some

time meditating on them. They're extremely powerful.

Now, this transformation becoming like Christ,

it must start with an event. And that event,

like Luke was talking about, is the event of

salvation in which a person realizes that the

debt of their sin is more than they could ever

pay. And they cry out to Jesus Christ and say,

Lord, I need you to save me. Would you please,

by your death and resurrection, forgive all my

sin? I surrender my life to you, and I receive

your Holy Spirit to dwell in me. Becoming Christ

-like is not a process of osmosis and going to

church. becoming Christ -like must start with

the beginning point, and that's you receiving

the salvation of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you

today, like Luke asked, out of one to ten, how

many of you are confident that you will be receiving

entrance into the presence of God in heaven if

you died right now? I hope that it is a 10 for

you because it's not based on anything that you've

done, but by receiving the gift of salvation

by placing your faith in Jesus Christ. You're

never going to earn your way in. And it wasn't

meant to be like that. I feel like we could spend

a lot of time on that. has to have a starting

point. Let me encourage you. I can't think of

anything more important for you to do this week

than to take five minutes alone with God and

make sure you're in the family. Now some of you,

you're like, I don't even, I don't need five

seconds. Okay, but maybe there's some of you

that you haven't actually walked. through that

decision. You've heard a lot about it. You've

known a lot of people that have done it. You've

gone to church. Maybe you've even been baptized

and taken communion. But there's never been a

time in your life where you've cried out to Jesus

to save you, forgive your sin, and surrender

your whole life to Him. Do that. If you need

help with that, call me. Find any pastor, anybody

on the ministry team wall, any elder, any staff

member, and we'll help you with that. So it starts

at salvation, and then we allow the Holy Spirit

to use the Word of God to shape and refine us

into the image of Jesus. This is the process

of maturity, right? We get saved. We get baptized.

The old man dies. The new man, the new life comes

up, and then we're in this process where we're...

completely yielded to the Holy Spirit, and he's

using the Word of God and the teaching of the

Scripture and the discipleship and the studying

of the Word and the house church and the Bible

studies. And those aren't things to make us smarter

about Jesus. They're things in which the Holy

Spirit uses to shape and refine and to knock

off what needs to be knocked off and to build

up what needs to be built up. Why? So that you

can feel better about your life? No. So that

you can look like Jesus. So that you can become

like Christ. So that the world can see Him. Because

if they see Him and know Him, they will want

Him and love Him. I want to encourage you in

this process of becoming like Jesus. Don't give

up. Don't give up. If you're like me, some days

you wake up and you feel so far from an image

of Jesus Christ that you just want to give up

and go back to your life when it was fun and

sinful. Does anybody else feel like that, or

is it just me? Like, I mean, can we be honest?

If sin isn't fun, nobody would do it. If you're

not having fun sinning, you're not sinning right.

Sin is fun for a season, but the wages are death.

You understand, right? The devil's not an idiot.

He's not going to tempt you with Brussels sprouts

when you hate Brussels sprouts. Sin is fun for

a season, but the Bible says the wages of sin

is death. And I want to encourage you. I know

that the tension of being shaped is not always

pleasant. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't

go backwards. What else is there to live for?

What else is there? We've tasted, like we sung

earlier in that song, we've tasted everything

that the world had to offer, and it did not fulfill

us. It left us wanting, so we're pressing in

to this image. I went to a revival meeting last

week at Fort Worth, and as I was driving into

the parking lot, this car was driving by me,

and there was this lady in there waving. In fact,

I'm at a church I've never been to in the middle

of Fort Worth. And this lady waving emphatically

at me like she knew me. And I'm thinking, is

she waving at somebody else? I'm looking around.

I don't see anybody else. And, I mean, I'm not

being rude, but I just keep driving because I'm

thinking, surely she's not waving at me. I don't

even know this lady. So I go into the revival

meeting. It's early before the meeting starts,

and I'm there. And this same lady from driving

in the parking lot walks up to me. And as she

gets closer, I realize I do know her. And about

10 years ago, she was here at the gathering.

And she was involved in a relationship with a

guy. They were not married. They were both struggling

with addiction, depression, suicide. And we did

our best. I mean, we... We loved on them. We

counseled them. We did deliverance ministry.

I mean, we spent a lot of time investing in them.

And then from our perspective, it looked like

it blew up and we never saw them again. And you're

just like, Lord, what is that? So here, this

is maybe 10 years later. Here's this lady. She's

married. And as I'm talking to her, I'm like,

oh, it's so good to see you. The pastor of that

church walks up and says, hey, do you know this

person? I said, actually, I do. And this is her

husband. He said, they are the most faithful,

powerful servants of my church. And I just walked

away from that going, thank you, God. Thank you,

God, that you are patient in our process. Right?

all of us at some point were the mess. That the

rest of us were going, wow, what a mess. We were

that. And maybe we are that now. But don't give

up. Because there's nothing more powerful than

the person of the Holy Spirit. And He, if you

will not give up, He will patiently, kindly,

gently. Shape you to become like Jesus. And it

probably won't happen overnight. And there will

probably be a lot of repentance along the process.

Failures and getting back up again. And falling

and getting back up again. But if you don't give

up. He will shape you to become like Jesus. It's

interesting. Jesus came. And the scripture says

he was the image of the invisible God. Anybody

glad Jesus came and showed us what God was like?

This whole sacrificial system that God enacted

to keep people's hearts close to him became so

perverted and so added to that God says, you

do all these things, but your heart is far from

me. And he was a distant. invisible God. And

he said, no, no, I'm going to come in the flesh,

Emmanuel, God with us. And the scripture says

that Jesus became the image of the invisible

God. We can look at him and say, that's what

God looks like. That's what God sounds like.

That's what God acts like. And that's such a

blessing that we don't have to guess anymore.

We don't have to feel like God's at such a distance.

No, we've seen him in the flesh. Jesus said,

if you've seen me, you've seen him. If you know

me, you know him. Could I challenge you today

that now Jesus, in the current state of the church,

has been resurrected. He sits at the right hand

of the Father with a real human scarred body

that is glorified and will be glorified again.

And could I just, you take it to the Lord, but

could I suggest that possibly you and I are meant

to be now the image of the invisible God again?

Because the world has forgotten or chosen not

to look at or has been so... put off by religion

that Jesus, the real Jesus, has become invisible,

unknowable, foreign. They don't even have a clue

who Jesus really is. And they're probably not

going to pick up their New Testament this week,

and they're probably not going to come into this

church next Sunday. But what they will do is

they'll work next to you. Their kids will play

sports, and you'll sit on the bleachers next

to them. Could it be? That like Christ, you now

can be the image of Jesus to them. Have you received

that mandate seriously? Do you take that seriously?

If not, let's just stop right now. If you need

to repent, the word repent means to change the

way you think. Let's just pause right now. If

you need to change the way you think and say,

God. I'm sorry I have not taken this mandate

seriously. And I surrender to the process of

being shaped into the image of Jesus. Good job.

Part B. We have to understand that our job, the

goal of our life is to become like Christ. And

then part B is Jesus' presence in our life. When

we do that, when we're faithful to that, Jesus'

presence in our life will attract outcasts and

broken sinners. This is the way the kingdom works.

If our king, in all his glory and righteousness,

walks among outcasts and sinners and they're

drawn to him, then you and I, as we become more

like Jesus, Jesus' presence in our life should

attract the outcasts and the broken. and draw

them to the presence of Jesus in us. Why did

outcasts and habitual sinners, the Scripture

says, draw near to Jesus? They were drawing near

to Jesus when you look at the original language

there. Why? Why were tax collectors and sinners

drawing near to Jesus? It's a really good exercise

to think about. Could I submit this from the

Scriptures? I believe that they were drawn to

Jesus, number one, because He operated in the

power and authority of God and it drew their

attention. And then secondly, He was a safe place

of love and mercy versus condemnation. He operated

in power and authority which drew their attention

to the God that... he served and was the image

of. And then he so was filled with love, mercy,

and compassion that he was a safe place for them

to gather around and he didn't condemn them because

Jesus had not come into the world to condemn

the world, but to save the world. And this is

so important if we're going to become powerful

and effective kingdom people. Yes, we are submitting

to the process of becoming like Christ. And I

would encourage you that the world is still,

the outcast and the sinners are still looking

for somebody that walks in the power of God and

the compassion of God. That's still what they're

looking for. They don't need religion that has

no power. Are we in agreement? I mean, when we

read this New Testament, Do we see an apathetic,

powerful church? I mean, powerless church that

just goes to services and gives tithe checks

and tries not to be a sinner? That's not what

we read in the book of Acts and Romans and Corinthians

and Ephesians. What we see is a church that is

full of the power of God. And I would submit

to you that part of becoming like Christ is not

just loving like He loves, but also releasing

heavenly answers to worldly problems like He

does. I don't know about you, I'm never giving

up on this. I'm not there. I'm not walking like

Jesus in so many ways. But I will not lower the

bar. I'm not going to change Him to look like

me. I'm going to let Him change me to look like

Him. Power and love. Power and love. Power and

authority that's real, that actually changes

people's lives, that changes... and compassion

and love in a safe place that doesn't condemn

people in their sin, but welcomes them. That's

what they said about Jesus. Religious people

grumbling, says muttering, who is this guy that

welcomes sinners and eats with them? Oh, that

we would have their reputation. Are we living

in power and love? And if not, why not? Are we

operating in the power and authority of God and

walking in the love and mercy of God in such

a way that people who have been rejected by the

culture and are completely bound up in their

sin are drawn near to us? And if not, why not?

Because I don't believe there's a good biblical

reason for why not. So let's press into that.

Let's not give up. Let's not lower the bar. Let's

keep going. Let's keep laying our hands on the

sick, like the Gospel of Mark says, and expecting

them to recover. Let's keep speaking life into

the depressed, fearful, and suicidal, and the

people that would come, and expect with faith

God to touch them in a way that radically changes

their lives. We cannot lower the bar. See if

you can go with me in this conviction. I honestly

believe that each of us should be the most Christ

-like person people know in our sphere. Haas,

you ought to be the most Christ -like air conditioning

guy and cowboy that anybody in your sphere knows.

They should. And when they're at a roping, they're

like... That hoss is the most Christ -like guy

I know. I mean, you just go around the room,

you know, and say whatever. Jonathan, you should

be the most Christ -like SWAT commander that

anybody's ever known. The most Christ -like private

chef that anybody has ever encountered and ate

their food. We could just go around the room,

right? It doesn't matter what your occupation

is. It doesn't matter what your sphere of influence

is. In that area, we should be the most Christ

-like person that sphere knows. Why? So we can

boast. Are you kidding me? We know nothing. We

are nothing apart from him. But so they can see

who Jesus is. I guess my greatest dream is that

one day the gathering could be known as the church

that produces the most Christ -like people in

their sphere of influence. And I want to be that.

I want to be the most Christ -like part -time

cop anybody's ever known. I believe He's worthy

of that. And I'm telling you, these are not magnets

with names and initials so we can have a cool

thing to look at on Sunday mornings. These are

names of people going to hell without Christ.

And they're not coming into the church. They're

not reading their Bibles. They're living next

to us. And they need to see Jesus. The presence

of Jesus in our daily lives should attract those

who are rejected and bound by their sin. Amen?

It's important. We have this kingdom mindset

thinking. Adam, you ought to be the most Christ

-like corpsman that the Navy has ever experienced.

That has to become our mindset. The reason I

exist on the earth is to be like Christ. And

offer His kingdom to the world around me. Does

that make sense? I hope it does. Could we just

pause right here? And could we just take a moment

to hear the Lord through the Scripture? And just

adjust our lives accordingly. If you need to

repent, would you do that? Change the way you

think? You need to commit to becoming the most

Christ -like person in your sphere. Amen. This

is why I surround myself with the giants in the

faith that I'm around. Because right now, I'm

not even the most Christ -like pastor on staff

in this church. Because I'm surrounded by people

that are amazing. You know what I'm saying? Like,

get linked up with people who are pursuing the

kingdom of heaven. Get linked up with people

who are committed to be Christ -like. Because

those people, you'll look beside you and go,

oh man, God, do what you're doing in them and

me. I need that. Number two, if you're taking

notes, we had number one, A and B kind of cheated

on you. There's a couple of extra ones there,

I know, but they kind of fit in together. Number

two, this is all we're going to get to today,

so have no fear if you're worried. You'll be

all right. All right? So just relax because we're

going to close with this one. The kingdom person

welcomes the rejected and broken. and invites

them into genuine fellowship with the desire

for their salvation and transformation. The kingdom

person welcomes the rejected and broken and invites

them into genuine fellowship with the desire

for their salvation and transformation. I know

that's a lot. That's a lot of words. And really,

when I sit down with the Lord, I really try not

to be religiously wordy. And I strike out, But

I feel like this is what God asked me to present.

Because when we read the scripture here, it says,

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering

around to hear him, but the Pharisees and teachers

of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners

and eats with them. This man welcomes sinners

and eats with them. The word welcome here that

we read in English is a Greek word originally.

This may be up there. It means to receive into

companionship. To accept. To look for. You got

tax collectors and sinners. Can we do context

here? Jesus is operating still in the old covenant.

You understand that? The new covenant has not

yet come. He has not died, been crucified and

resurrected and ascended. The Holy Spirit has

not been poured out. He's teaching the kingdom

of God to the old covenant people of Israel.

And when you have tax collectors and you have

those that are known to be sinners, They are

no longer clean and welcomed in corporate worship

in the culture. And it's not like the United

States in which we have our political system

and our religious system and the two rarely meet.

And I'm not saying that's right, but I'm just

saying the two. It's not like that in the Israeli

culture and the Jewish culture. It's all together.

Church, worship, politics, position, everything

is one unit. And so when you're rejected by that

unit, you become an outcast of all culture. Every

area of culture. And here Jesus is welcoming

the outcasts and the sinners. Welcoming them.

He is, according to the word, he's receiving

them into companionship. He accepts them. He

looks for them. He awaits for them. in studying

out that word. Like surely, surely we perceive

this. The world, the lost, the broken, and the

Christians who are backslidden, the ones who

have given up the faith, have walked away from

Jesus. I'm trying to be... They do not need our

online opinions about why they are wrong. They

need to be accepted. We don't have to compromise.

We have to compromise who Jesus is, who He's

called us to be. It's interesting, people are

so worried that, man, if I become a friend and

I welcome sinners in my life, the rest of the

church is going to think I'm compromised. Well,

join the club, because the Pharisees looked at

Jesus and said, who is this guy, the friend who

eats with sinners? And this is really important

in breaking out of the religious box of Christianity

into the kingdom. Because there's a big difference

in a lot of ways. Because the kingdom, we're

living like Jesus. We're walking in the power

of Jesus. We're loving compassion of Jesus. People

are being drawn to Jesus in us. And now we're

expanding the kingdom by saying, I accept you.

I want you. I've been looking for you. Come in.

I welcome you in my life. How many of you know

when you welcome outcasts and people known for

their sins, it might be a little inconvenient?

It's messy. It's going to cost you. It doesn't

change that it's the purpose of our lives. Right?

I think what's hard for us to get is in Jesus'

culture, And we've talked about it before, but

when he says, come eat with me, it's not some

random interaction at Jack in the Box, right?

Let's just grab some tacos together. When Jesus

dines with someone, he's inviting them into full

acceptance, into an intimate encounter with him.

That's the culture. When you eat with somebody,

it's real, it's genuine, it's intimate. You're

in their home, they're with you. It says to the

culture in Jesus' day, if I invite you to eat,

then I accept you for who you are. I'm just going

to close with this. I don't need a pity party.

I don't need you to feel sorry for me. This is

just part of my testimony. But my entire life,

I never felt like I fit in. Ask Jill. When I

was in high school, when I graduated high school,

I looked like I was 11. I don't know. I was a

late bloomer. I looked like an 11 -year -old

graduating high school. I'm a tiny, scrawny guy.

I was never wealthy enough to fit in with the

people that wore the cool clothes. As much as

I tried, I got the hustle of war, but I was horrible

at sports, even though my mom thought it was

all the coach and I should have been starting.

I love her. God bless her. Fuck, that's not coach.

You should be starting. You know, I just never,

I was never witty enough to fit in with the people

that could just give the comebacks. I don't know,

just growing up, I never fit in. I went to college.

I had to work three jobs going through college.

I didn't just have the kind of lifestyle. I didn't

feel like I fit in. I got out of college, I went

into the army, and I'm here, I'm, you know, 23

years old with a bunch of 18 -year -olds, and

I'm trying to follow Christ, and there are heathens

in the infantry, and immediately they call me

the professor because I'm old and I've been to

college, you know, at their point, and I never

fit in. I got into the infantry, and I was just

ready to shoot guns and all the stuff. and I

was picked out because of the college degree

or whatever, and I got plucked out to work for

a colonel of the brigade commander, and I just

didn't fit in. This is my whole life right now.

I'm a part -time cop. I love my world, but I'll

never fit in with the rest of the guys because

I do it one day a week, and it's their life.

Today, I'm going to go visit my family. I'm the

only person in my family who's not a Southern

Baptist right now. I'm the black sheep that left

the Southern Baptist Church. And it's nothing,

I love the Southern Baptist Church. But I'm just

saying, I feel like my whole life, I've never

fit in anywhere God sent me. Except for one place.

I have always felt at home with Him. There's

something... About being welcomed at the table

with Jesus. That so fortifies who you are as

a person. You can endure being rejected by anyone

else. You know what I'm saying? It's not a pity

part. I'm just telling you the way I feel. And

that could be misleading on my insecurities.

I mean, it's just the way I felt. But I have

always been accepted by God. Always. The world

needs to feel from us what Jesus radiated when

he walked the earth. And that's the ones that

don't fit in. And the ones bound up with sin

are welcome. And not welcome at a church as an

entity, but welcomed at a church as in you. As

in me. We're the church. This building ain't

it. It's us. You and me living our lives, welcoming

in the broken, loving them, fellowshipping with,

building friendships. When we first came out

and said, I need you to come up with a list of

10 people that are unsaved, I can't tell you

how many people came up to me and said, I don't

have ten, I might have one. And there was a lot

of people in this church that struggled to come

up with one friend in their life that was unsaved.

In one way, that's glorious. Because you're surrounded

by godly people and they're rocking your world

and you're rocking their world. But in another

way, it's kind of sad. Right? Because light goes

into darkness. Are you with me? Have we become

so insulated by the church and our safe Christian

circle that we are no longer welcoming and fellowshipping

with outcasts and sinners? Here's a really cool

part. Guess who's hanging out with Jesus that's

welcoming tax collectors? A former tax collector.

Matthew. It was the tax collector rejected by

culture, hated by his people, was welcomed and

received by Jesus. His identity is transformed

and now he's standing with Jesus welcoming in

other tax collectors. I want to encourage you

that your story is more powerful than a lot of

sermons that a preacher is going to preach. Who

you used to be. God will use to bring in the

people who are bound up with the things He set

you free from. Does that make sense? This is

so important for kingdom living. And you know

what? Matthew wasn't Christ -like yet and he

was still inviting other tax collectors to be

with Jesus. That ought to encourage you. It encourages

me because I haven't arrived. I'm not like Christ.

But it's not going to keep, not yet, but it's

not going to keep me from inviting people into

being welcomed and transformed and loved by God.

Don't use the fact that you're not Christ -like

enough as a cop -out for why you're not out there

welcoming outcasts and sinners. I think Matthew,

you see that, right? He proves that. He's had

an encounter with Jesus. He's not that far into

it. They only had three years together on the

earth. He's not that far into his discipleship.

And he's already inviting tax collectors in to

meet the Jesus that touched him. And we ought

to be doing the same. Amen? Alright. Would it

be okay if we just stand together and respond

to the Lord? I'm going to ask Jen and Crystal

to come. Jesus, we love you. Thank you for inviting

us into your kingdom. Thank you for inviting

us to be your kingdom representatives. And as

we read how you treated people, we want to be

more like you, God. Jesus, we want to be more

like you. And so today we're surrendering ourselves

again. May you fill us with your spirit in such

a way that we would be powerful and authoritative

on the earth like you, Jesus. And may we be filled

with love and compassion. And Lord, we ask that

if there's anybody in our life right now that

needs to be accepted and not rejected and received,

would you open our eyes to see it and we say

yes. Help us, empower us, that in the moment

that we need to reach out and receive. And may

those people see you in us and you get all the

glory. And may revival continue to roll in our

lives until we see you face to face, Jesus. And

hear you say, well done, good and faithful servant.

That's our desire. So we pray it in your name.

Amen.