The Courage to Come Back - Jen Timberlake

Hey, I'm Tim Timberlake, and I want to thank you so much for listening to the Celebration Church podcast.

I hope this message encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and gave you something you can carry into your week.

If you'd like to stay connected, I encourage you to join us live every Sunday at 9 a.m.

or 11 a.m.

on YouTube.

We would love to have you there.

And if you're ever in the Jacksonville, Florida area, come see us in person.

We have a seat saved for you.

Thanks again for being with us.

We're so grateful for you and see you next time.

We're so grateful you're here.

Welcome to Celebration Church.

I'm giving you a wave online if you're new.

We love you.

Our Celebration Everywhere family.

Welcome to Celebration Church.

Perhaps you've come here for the first time expecting to find my husband.

Or maybe you don't even know who I am.

The man who's usually here is my husband.

My name is Pastor Jen Timberlake.

I have the honor and privilege of serving alongside him, and we're just so grateful.

He is ministering in North Carolina today.

He has our little boy with him.

I said, I want to go too, and he said, No, you have to stay home and preach.

But I did get some quiet this week, which was quite glorious, I must say, for mom.

You know, you know.

Um it was uh I just had a beautiful time with the Lord this week, and I'm excited to share.

We're gonna be in Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Surprise! Um, and we're gonna pick up in verse 22.

That's where Pastor Tim left off last week, but I really want to pick up there.

And we'll read through verse 26 and we'll see if God lets me get through my notes.

I didn't last service.

Um, we have a little more time.

I know you can wait to go watch the Jags beat the bangles.

Just a little bit.

I'll get you out in time to get home, okay?

I mean, of course, I'll get you out in time to get home.

That would be weird.

That would be lock the doors.

Just joking.

Just kidding.

Um, okay, I'm gonna read our scripture.

If you're if you need a little more time to get there, wave at me.

Is everybody there?

Just a little, I see you.

Acts chapter 9, verse 22.

Acts 9:22

I'm gonna read our scripture, I'm gonna pray for us, and then we're gonna jump in.

So we start in verse 22, and it says, But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul.

They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

So, Father God, I just thank you so much for this beautiful day that you have made.

We choose to rejoice in it and be glad.

We thank you, God, for what you want to speak to your people.

I thank you, Lord, for the word that you have placed in my heart.

May every word I speak come from you.

Lord, I pray that I would decrease and that you would increase it.

All glory and honor belongs to you.

And so may you be glorified in this moment.

I pray, God, that you would minister to your people.

I pray that you would do a deep work in their hearts, sow your seed deep, that it would take deep and beautiful roots, not to be plucked up by the attacks or distractions of the enemy, but that we would be transformed in this moment.

Thank you, Lord.

I thank you, God, that as people hear me and see me, that they would see you.

I thank you for your love for your people that goes beyond our comprehension or understanding.

I thank you that you long for your people to come to you, to be with you, to sit with you, to receive you, Jesus, as our Lord, so that we can be your redeemed people in eternity.

Thank you for every heart that's come in here that may have come a little hard.

I pray that you would soften the soil of our hearts to receive your ready word.

And I pray and plead the blood of Jesus over every person in this room or watching online, that they are covered by your blood, that they are surrounded by your protection, that no distraction, no weapon formed against them will prosper, no tongue that rises up will succeed, that nothing the enemy would try to do to distract would be able to keep them from the revelation that you have for them today.

I thank you that you cover your people when we ask.

And so I bind every attack of the enemy, I bind every distraction in the name of Jesus, and I lose freedom in this place, I lose your spirit in this place.

I submit this time to you and ask God that you would move and have your way.

Do with this service what you will.

Amen.

Amen.

You can take your seats.

Um of the things I want to remind us of as we've read this scripture is just how educated Saul was.

I think going back and looking at his past a little bit gives us a deeper perspective as we work through these parts of scripture that we've been in and also that we'll be in today.

If you're taking notes, I've titled this message, The Courage to Come Back.

And so I want to go back to some things that we know about Saul.

If you're new to your faith, and these might be new to you if you've been if you've been following and walking with Jesus for many years, and this is just a good reminder.

But I found it so important as I was studying this week to remind myself of his past.

So we know Saul was from Tarsus.

Tarsus was a place at this time known for its wealth, cultural diversity, and its educational prominence.

It had a renowned university that brought scholars and philosophers from across the Roman Empire to Tarsus.

It was a hub for trade and an intellectual environment that would foster a diverse group of people coming to Tarsus for many reasons, but it was a diverse city, a metropolitan city of the day.

And the diversity of the city and intellectual environment would certainly have influenced Saul as he grew up.

We know this because he was well versed in Greek philosophy, cultural rhetoric, and he had a very impressive Jewish education.

He even describes himself in Philippians as a Hebrew of Hebrews.

His education and training was superior to many.

He was trained as a Pharisee and equipped with a deep understanding of Jewish law and tradition.

And I remind us of all of this because as I prepared, I found myself sitting with the magnitude of what we see in Saul's life throughout these scriptures.

See, prior to his Damascus road encounter with Jesus, we see Saul as an enemy of the church.

But we actually have to remind ourselves that his upbringing affected his outlook, as it does for so many of us.

Right?

Prior to his Damascus road encounter with Jesus, Saul persecuted the church.

And when he was persecuting the church, he thinks he's doing the right thing.

We have to remind ourselves of that because we can think of Saul before his before he he meets Jesus, before he gets a revelation of Jesus, we think of him as this like evil enemy.

But he's actually this vibrant, energetic young man, extremely zealous and committed to Yahweh, dedicated to preserving and protecting the sanctity of the holy scriptures.

And to him, this new wave of this apparent uh uh heresy rising up was a danger to Jewish law and tradition.

He fought against the early church because he truly believed he was fighting the Lord's battle, protecting his faith, and standing for righteousness.

And then he has this radical encounter, this supernatural encounter with Jesus.

And then with the same zeal and conviction that he once defended the traditional Jewish faith, he walks into the same place that he went against Jesus and instead proves that Jesus is the Christ.

That has to, like, we have to sit with that.

There's a there's a depth and a power to that.

Reminding ourselves of his past is what makes the scripture so powerful.

Again, in Acts 9 22, it says, Saul increased all the more in strength.

And he confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

And this word confounded, when I first read the scripture, I thought, man, he convinces the Jews that Jesus is the Christ, and they still try to kill him.

But the word confounded in this context actually means he stirs up.

So though though he proves that Jesus was the Christ, they were unwilling to receive it.

I think it's what makes his transformation all the more powerful.

It's not only do we see this radical transformation, but we see Saul, who knew more than anyone exactly what it would mean for him to walk into the synagogue and declare that Jesus is in fact the Messiah.

He knew the message that he now proclaimed meant that he would no longer be the persecutor.

But in his proclamation, he would become the persecuted.

And he declared it anyways.

See, grace doesn't make you innocent of your history, it makes you honest about it.

If you're taking notes, point number one is this repentance doesn't erase what happened, it changes what you do with it.

Saul couldn't pretend that his past life didn't happen.

But what he could do when he realized he was wrong, no matter the cost, he spoke the truth.

Some of you need to hear that again.

Repentance doesn't erase what happened, it changes what you do with it.

He didn't deny what he had done.

He had participated in persecution against those that followed Christ.

Families had been affected by his actions.

Stephan had been murdered.

Believers had been dragged from their homes.

And though Jesus forgave Saul completely, forgiveness didn't rewrite his history.

What it did was cleanse it.

See, the blood of Jesus covered his past so that his future would look different.

And then Saul takes that and he's brave enough to make it right.

He had the courage to come back and correct himself.

And there's a lot of us.

We can so easily, this is a big one, right?

Of course.

Saul is persecuting Christians and then comes to know the Christ.

But he could have just gone on and he could have hid his new revelation.

But he's courageous enough to come back and try to correct his wrong.

And every single one of us has moments in our life where we know we've gotten it wrong.

Maybe it's the way we've talked to our spouse.

Maybe it's where we've hurt somebody.

Maybe it's when we snuck out of our house and our parents caught us.

I'm not speaking from experience, I'm just saying.

Whatever it might be.

Are you courageous enough to correct where you've gotten it wrong?

We can often pass by moments of apology and just go, it's not that big of a deal.

They'll get over it.

But what it means to a person when you come back and correct your mistakes, it could be the difference between them holding resentment in their heart or walking in freedom.

And I don't know about you, but I'd rather say I'm sorry for something someone perceives that I've done to ensure that they get to walk freely and lightly throughout their life than be prideful and be like, I didn't, they they're overreacting.

I don't care.

If I've ever hurt you, I'm sorry.

He had the courage to come back.

See, one of the clearest signs that grace has changed you is that you can finally tell the truth about who you were without defending what you did.

I will say it again.

One of the clearest signs that grace has changed you is that you can finally tell the truth about who you were without defending what you did.

You know repentance is real when you stop explaining what you did and start grieving about it instead.

I know that the Lord changed my heart because I still grieve over the way I hurt him.

It's not the way that I was hurt, and it's different.

And at the beginning of your faith journey, we often have this wrestle and we're still grieving what was done to us.

But you know you've come to a point and depth in your relationship with the Lord when He's healed you enough that it doesn't grieve you because it happened to you, but because it happened to him.

The way that I think about my past is different now.

And I grieve it.

And I told the first service this my dad told me the last time that um I was up here a few weeks ago.

He's like, if you could just keep the details of your past mistakes just to yourself because I can't handle it.

I said, okay, for now.

Um, so I won't get into details, Dad.

Uh but I think about the way I once lived my life.

Oh my gosh.

I can't even imagine how it grieved the heart of the father.

And that's what grieves me now when I think about it.

And my gr and then my grieving over the way I hurt him turns to joy and a different kind of tears, knowing the great grace that has covered me.

It's absolutely incredible.

But some people want a new life without ever admitting what was wrong with the old one.

And it doesn't work like that.

Paul didn't spend the mess the rest of his ministry time not acknowledging where he got it wrong, he didn't act holier than thou.

He didn't ignore the fact that he once persecuted the very people that he now walked with.

He acknowledges it.

He actually says, if you know me, and I'm sure you've heard, I once was a persecutor of the church.

I once went after Christians and followers of Christ.

But I was wrong.

And I received God's great grace and mercy in my life.

Point number two your testimony doesn't become powerful because you cleaned up your past, it becomes powerful because Jesus met you in it, and that's what we see in the life of Saul.

The scripture continues in verse 23.

It starts with when many days had passed.

Because we can read verses 23 through 26, this account of Saul and how there's plots to kill him, but he escapes, and the his uh disciples lower him in a basket, and then he goes to Jerusalem to meet the disciples, and they don't receive him, but he goes to Jerusalem anyways.

And it's easy for us to think that chronologically this is happening rather quickly.

It's easy to think like maybe this is a couple weeks, maybe a month, maybe even a few days.

But Luke actually compresses a significant amount of time into the phrase many days, and this is very important.

Thankfully, we do get to see a look at what actually happens by Paul's own account.

We get a glimpse into his journey as he tells us in his letter to the Galatians a few more details that we don't actually find in Acts.

It's interesting that three sentences of scripture, three scriptures, fairly, fairly short, 23 through 26, can actually have so much in it.

In Galatians 1, verse 15 through 18, Paul writes this when he who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through his grace was pleased to reveal his son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.

Galatians 1:15–18

Listen, listen carefully.

I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me.

But I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus.

Then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem, where he says, to become acquainted with Cephas, who is Peter, and stayed with him for 15 days.

So again, verse 16 reads, To reveal his son to me so that I did not preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia.

So although the narrative of Acts 9 moves quite quickly, Saul's formation was anything but.

See, there appears to be this period where he's in Damascus and then he goes away to Arabia, then he comes back to Damascus, and then and only after three years does he go to Jerusalem.

And we don't know.

It doesn't give us a detail of how long he spends in Arabia and then back in Damascus.

Maybe he spent more time in Arabia, maybe he spent more time in Damascus.

It doesn't tell us that.

But we know that he goes away.

This man who had been moving aggressively now has a season where God slows him down.

This matters.

Because Saul had received revelation instantly, but becoming the Paul that we know required formation over time.

See, sometimes God will pull us away before he sends us out.

My prayer for all of us is that that would be the case.

Saul had encountered Jesus, he had received the Spirit, he had started defending the faith, yet Galatians tells us that there is also Arabia.

It says he did not immediately consult with flesh and blood.

Here's the reality: there are things God will teach you in obscurity that you will never get in a crowded room.

We can not come in on a Sunday morning, and this is the only time you get in the presence of God.

You will never be transformed that way.

This is the cherry on top of the rest of your time with Jesus.

Corporate gatherings are extremely important.

I am not telling you, do not come to church.

That is not what I'm saying.

If you're watching online and you're within 20 miles of the church, you should be in the building if you can be.

Corporate gatherings are important, but it is not where you're gonna get the majority of your directive from your Heavenly Father.

There are things He will tell you when you get quiet with Him that He will never speak in a crowded room.

Point number three is this revelation can happen in a moment, but becoming someone who can carry it takes time.

God will get you away from everybody because everybody has an opinion about who you were, and God wants to tell you who you're becoming.

I'm telling you right now, I know it from my own experience.

I said it in the first service, I will say it in this service.

Young people, you have to learn a rhythm of sitting with the Lord and learning who you are from the one who created you.

Older people.

And I'm can I'm counting myself and older people, so don't be offended.

You know, I'm looking so young, but uh I'm older.

And we have to get into a rhythm, and sometimes it's even harder for us because you have kids, you have a spouse, you have a job, you have so many other things that you're trying to juggle.

You have to make time to spend time with your father.

It was not until I learned to sit with him for hours that I started to unravel all of the lies that had been spoken to me.

Young people, you have to get your identity from Christ.

Do not make the same mistake as I did.

It took me, I was calculating in the moment in the first service, it took me decades to untangle the ugly of my past, the lies of the enemy, the things that had been spoken over me.

There's still little seeds of doubt and insecurities that I have to uproot daily because of a one really bad relationship when I was a teenage girl that affected me for decades.

Please hear me, hear my heart for you.

You have to find your identity in Christ.

Do not invite other people to speak to you about who you are before you go and speak to your father.

Hear me, all of us need hidden seasons.

There is more holiness in a hidden season than anywhere else.

There is more direction and transformation and revelation and restoring and renewing in a hidden place.

Don't confuse being hidden with being forgotten.

Often God will hide what he wants to grow.

Remember, Saul had spent years learning scripture through one lens.

Now imagine having to revisit everything you thought you knew after discovering that the Jesus you had been fighting was the Messiah you were waiting for.

He didn't just need information, he needed reinterpretation based on this new revelation.

And it says that he did not seek flesh and blood.

You know, another place where scripture mentions flesh and blood is Matthew 16.

Where Jesus asked his disciples, Who do they say that I am?

And then he says, Who do you say that I am?

And Peter answers him, You are the Christ, the Son of God.

And what does he say to Peter?

He says, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonh, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.

But my Father who is in heaven.

You can go to a thousand therapy sessions and in one moment sitting with him, he will tell you, you're holding on to this.

And I'm all for it.

Go and talk to people, but don't talk to them before you talk to him.

You have to learn to depend on Jesus.

We have to learn to go to him first.

So many of us want to pick up the phone.

Hey, man, I'm just I'm having this hard time.

Can you pray for me?

Have you prayed for yourself?

I cannot, and I can't like it's a natural thing.

Like, I just no, my prayers are not more powerful than yours.

The same God in me is the same God in you.

The Spirit of the Living God lives in me just like he lives in you.

If you have given your life to Jesus, received him as Lord, then he lives in you.

You have authority, you have authority.

Start standing with your chest up a little bit, your head back, and say, hmm, he's giving me all authority to drive scorpions.

When the enemy comes to tell you a lie about yourself, stop telling him I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I'm the true living God.

In the name of Jesus, and then a lie to go back to the paragraph where it came from because I am a daughter of the king of kings, and the lord of lords.

That makes me royal.

That gives me authority.

We spend too much time seeking the opinions of other people.

They don't matter.

What Jesus says about you matters.

But here's the tension that we live in.

We want Damascus Road revelation with Arabian desert formation without Arabian desert formation.

We want Damascus Road Revelation without the Arabian desert formation.

We want encounters, we want callings, we want platforms.

But what if God says, Come away with me into the desert?

What if he says, come sit with me first?

Wait on me.

You don't need to start that TikTok ministry when you just gave your life to Jesus 15 days ago.

Like, and God bless all the TikTok ministries out there.

I don't have TikTok, so I don't really know how that works, but I hear about them and I hear about people like, oh, I'm starting a ministry.

I'm like, didn't we just baptize you?

Like an amazing, like if God is calling you to those things, praise the Lord.

But are you sitting with him long enough to get the ugly out of you so that he can transform you, mold you, shape you, tell you who you are, and then tell you exactly what he wants you to do.

Because he will, he will give you clear direction.

You will have a peace when you walk with the Lord, when you are obedient to what he has called you to do.

There is a peace that cannot be explained.

I remember I was in neurotherapy and I was doing a bunch of testing, and they were like, you know, I probably shouldn't say this, I'll probably get in trouble, they'll probably use it against me, but it's fine.

Use it against me if you want.

Um and they were like, I mean, I couldn't do anything.

But they were like, they have to take you back if you want to go back to work.

Even if you can only do 10 minutes a day, they have to find a way to make it work.

And I knew that the Lord was calling me to something different.

That's all I'm gonna say because you know, the things.

But I knew that the Lord was calling me to something different, and so I said, God, whatever you have, whatever this means, y'all.

I was I could not hold a job, I was in pain every single day, all day long.

I could not walk up a flight of stairs without stopping because I was literally like I was 90 years old.

I could not function.

And somehow I knew I had a peace that God was going to do something in my life.

And I followed him.

I followed him.

When he told me to go to a conference, I went to a conference, I found a way.

That's not a shameless plug for sisterhood, that is just the truth.

I was just saying.

I I when he told me to go somewhere, I went.

When he told me to sit in a coffee shop and share the gospel with a group of Muslim men two times my age, I did.

And I didn't even, I didn't even know it.

What I wasn't trying to do was lead a ministry.

I was just trying to share what Jesus did in my life.

I didn't even know that I would be in ministry.

I didn't know I would, my gosh, I didn't know.

It's crazy.

It's crazy that I'm standing up here.

Not like you guys are in danger, but it's crazy.

I tell you, on Monday, I was sitting with the Lord, and it's my favorite thing to do.

My favorite thing to do is not to, I like I'll be honest, I I put my notes together.

It started on Thursday.

I I don't want to put notes together.

I just want to sit in the presence of God.

And on Monday, I was sitting, we have this little area, um, it's like this little patio area, and it's got some plants on it, and it's just my favorite place to sit.

And Monday it was cool, it was like actually kind of manageable in the morning, and so I was sitting outside, and I was just listening to worship, praying a little bit, but mostly just sitting with the Lord.

I had my coffee, and I like to just sit and not say anything, and he doesn't have to say anything, I just know that we're together, and coming to him without motive is the most beautiful thing we can do.

I didn't ask him for anything that morning, I didn't ask him for a word for this weekend, I didn't ask him, God, what do you want of me to do today, even?

I just sat, and as I sat there worshiping him, he started to remind me of what life looked like 14 years ago.

Because I would sit in a similar way I did on Monday, I would sit, I was living in Oakland, California at the time, and I had this little patio that I would sit on and listen to worship.

It's how I came to know the Lord deeper, how I came to have a deeper relationship with him because at the time I couldn't do anything, so I would just sit, and he reminded me of that time so similar, sitting on a patio, just sitting with him, worshiping him, but how different my life is, and I I wept and wept in gratitude, knowing that it is only because of him that I stand here today, and it is only because of his word, his faithfulness to never leave me.

I did not seek flesh and blood for direction, just as I don't seek flesh and blood now.

The word I have is because of God.

I do research, of course, I prepare, of course, but it's him and him alone, his spirit that breathes through me, that fills up my lungs with breath, that I can declare that he is God and there is no one like him.

To him be all the glory.

Never lift up myself or Pastor Tim or anyone else on this stage.

We are no different than you.

We need to sit with him just like you.

On days where I don't sit with him long enough, or maybe I've got an early morning meeting and I've I'm tired and exhausted, and I don't get up early enough except to say some prayers, and quite honestly, aren't enough.

Yes, we have those moments too.

And you know what?

I'm just no good for anyone.

You don't need my flesh, you need the spirit of God, and I can only be filled and filled and filled again to pour out into you and anyone I encounter if I sit with him long enough to receive him.

And the same can be said for you.

There are certain things that you will only receive in the secret place.

And I will tell you, those are the things that will change your life.

No man, no woman, no amount of money, no degree will change your life.

Like sitting in the secret place and getting a download from the creator of the universe, and so went away.

He did that, he went to Arabia, he sat with the Lord, he received revelation from God that would not only transform his life, but perhaps the entire world.

Can you imagine if he didn't seek God after this great revelation?

Would we have most of the New Testament?

I think not.

Thank God there was a man obedient to not just receive a great revelation, but to sit and get an understanding of what he should do with it.

May we be like Saul in that way.

And I love that he's still Saul.

God did not change his name right away, he changed him so that we could know that Saul, the Saul that persecuted the church, would be transformed, could be transformed, renewed and restored in such a purposeful way that he would use him as Saul to give us a model and an idea of what it looks like after we have been transformed by Christ revealed to us that we would get away and sit with the Lord.

So let me remind you of the rest of our scripture.

I'm in the red already, so buckle up, everybody.

Yeah, give me like, you know, some more minutes.

Many more.

Not like three years, but you know, like many.

The rest of the scripture says, when many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him.

But their plot became known to Saul.

They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Imagine.

Saul once entered cities with authority and letters, and now he's leaving Damascus in a basket.

What a reversal.

In Acts 9, verse 1, we read of Saul breathing threats to the early church.

Acts 9:1

In verse 2, he has these letters given to him from the high priest that say that he can take captive Christians who are declaring Christ.

And then in verse 3, he gets knocked down and encounters Jesus.

And then he has to be led in verse 8 by his hand because he's lost his sight.

And then in verse 25, he's lowered in a basket.

This man who once dragged Christians out of cities now needs Christians to carry.

Him out of one.

Saul came to Damascus carrying credentials and he leaves carrying nothing but Christ.

He came with authority and he left in a basket.

He came surrounded by men following his orders and he leaves departing and dependent on disciples he once would have arrested.

See, sometimes the greatest evidence that God has changed you isn't that you're stronger, it's that you're finally humble enough to be carried.

Don't think because you've found Christ that you actually have to be stronger.

It actually we know that we've encountered Christ when we become weaker and dependent on him.

Jesus isn't asking you to be stronger, he's asking you to be submitted.

He doesn't desire your intellect over intentional time with him.

He doesn't care about your apologetics if you won't operate in obedience.

You can defend the faith all you want, but if you're not desperate to get in his presence, you are missing the point.

Your gifting is meaningless if it doesn't give glory back to him.

Your revelation does not matter if it doesn't result in a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What feels like moments took years.

Saul knows Jesus has forgiven him, but the Christians he terrorized don't automatically trust him.

Acts 9, verse 26 says, and when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

Acts 9:26

They thought that he was trying to trick them.

But that didn't mean their caution was unreasonable.

Remember, repentance doesn't erase what happened, it changes what we do with it.

So as I close, point number four is this.

You can't rush people into trusting the version of you that they haven't experienced yet.

Saul knows that he's changed, but they don't.

Trust has to be experienced.

Sometimes repentance means being willing to live changed long enough for people that you've hurt to discover that the change is real.

You may have changed overnight, but you cannot demand that people forget what they had to survive.

Real transformation doesn't need everybody to believe it immediately.

It's willing to become undeniable eventually.

If your change is real, you won't have to pressure people to trust it.

You can give them the time to witness it.

I think all of us can relate to Saul.

Maybe now, maybe in your past.

All of us have experienced Christ in a way that has absolutely transformed us in a moment.

And then the people around us, they don't see it.

Please don't get frustrated.

Be patient and live the life that Christ called you to live.

Let his love grow within you, let his joy overflow from you.

Let his peace guide you.

Let him transform you daily and over time.

They will see the difference.

But we do not get to push people to forgive and move past when we have hurt them.

The greatest reflection of Christ is to be willing to wait, to serve them, to love them, to cherish them, to repent to them, and then be willing to wait.

I just feel the Lord so strongly right now for couples, specifically those who are married, there are people that you, there are people in here, and your marriage, one of you may have really hurt the other.

And you have done everything you can.

You have made perhaps it's how you got here.

Maybe you found Jesus because you made an awful mistake.

You have to live your life long enough reflecting Christ that your spouse can actually see it.

And it is not up to you how long it takes.

Acknowledging our past failures and flaws and the pain that we have caused in someone else's life is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to our fellow followers of Christ.

Learn to say, I'm sorry.

Learn to repent to one another.

Learn to wait on the Lord long enough for Him to transform you so that everyone around you can see it.

So in this moment, please, nobody get up.

This is the most important part of service.

I want all of us to just reflect.

Where have we missed it?

Maybe you have not yet had the courage to come back and acknowledge where you have gotten it wrong.

Maybe you have not sat long enough in the presence of the Lord.

Maybe lately you have forgotten your first love.

Or maybe you have tried to rush the process of forgiveness.

Whatever it might be, you know what God is speaking to you.

So my prayer for you is that you would go home and actually sit with the Lord.

That you would ask him to put his finger on the very thing that he has been speaking to you today, the very place that he wants to grow you and shape you and transform you.

Because he will.

And you owe me a dollar if it happens.

That if you sit with him every day and you don't rush him, and you spend time with him, not for your own agenda, but for his, you will feel different by the end of the week.

You would be amazed what real time sitting in the presence of the Lord will do for you.

It's selfish, really.

And that's just how good our God is.

That He would let us sit with Him, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who separated light from darkness, the one who stretched out his arms on the cross and died so that you could be with him in eternity.

But you do not have to wait for eternity to spend time with him.

So I encourage you, don't.

Please.

As your pastor, I love you all enough to tell you that this is the greatest thing that you can do.

I want that for all of you.

Because I know what it's done for me.

So I do want to give everyone an opportunity who's here, because I know we have visitors, and I don't know if you've been walking with Jesus or not.

And perhaps this message has stirred something in your soul.

Perhaps you realize that you have not spent time with the Lord.

Perhaps you realize that you have actually fallen away from Christ.

So with every head bowed and every eye closed, only those moving that are designated to please.

If you know that you have fallen away, if you know that Christ is calling you home, would you be courageous enough to come back?

If you know that you've never actually given your life to Jesus and said, I accept you as my Lord, if that's you, would you raise your hand right now?

Raise them high so I can see them.

I see those hands.

I see that hand.

Keep them raised for me.

I think there's a few more.

And you don't have to be embarrassed.

No one can see you.

So I'm gonna pray for you, and then I'm gonna repeat, have you repeat this prayer after me.

Father God, I just thank you, Lord, for every person in this room, every person watching online that has heard your word, that has been stirred in their spirit, man.

I ask, God, that you would not let this word be sifted or stolen, but it would take deep root, that each of us would walk away with a deeper desire to spend time with you, to be transformed by you, to learn the rhythms of rest that come in your presence, God.

I pray, Lord, for your people, for your sons and your daughters, who you know and who you love.

I pray that each person that takes time this week to spend time with you, to sit with you, to be transformed by you.

I pray, God, that you would speak to them, that you would move in their presence, God, that they would not come out of that moment the same, but that they would realize what a God we serve, that we can sit with you, our supernatural Savior.

The King of kings and the Lord of Lords, that you would look upon us and desire to spend time with us.

Lord, would you move in their lives?

I plead the blood of Jesus over them, Lord, over their homes and their secret space, Lord, that it would be a holy, sanctified place where your presence dwells.

The enemy is not welcome in your presence, and so I just ask God that you would minister to your people, that they would be transformed by your love.

That it would not just transform them, but the whole world around them, Lord.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Now I want you to repeat this after me, everybody.

Father God, I thank you, Lord, for the gift of your Son.

So I give my life to you today.

I receive you, Jesus, as my Lord and Savior, and I declare with my mouth and I believe in my heart that you are Lord, that you died on the cross for me, that my sins were buried in the grave, and that I am raised to new life with you.

So I turn away from my sin and I come back to you.

Help me to find rhythms of rest in your presence and to be transformed into who you have created me to be.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.