Powerhouse: | Ps Luke Harrison

In the beginning, the spirit moved.

He moved with power. Power over the

darkness.

Power over the deep.

Power that speaks.

And chaos obeys.

Fire from heaven. Tongues of fire. Gifts

of power falling in the upper room. Not

just on the leaders,

but on every heart. It lit the church

ablaze.

He rushed in like a mighty wind. Wind

that shatters silence. Wind that breaks

chains. Wind that fills lungs. Wind that

wakes the sleeping soul.

The same spirit

lives in us.

That same fire,

that same wind,

and the same gift.

[music]

[singing]

Wind that breaks [music] chase. Wind

that feels lost. Wind that breaks love.

Sleeping [music]

soul

that breaks.

Wind that

breaks down.

>> Wind that feels

wind.

>> Given to build,

given to serve,

given to speak,

given to heal.

So stir it [music] up. Stir the fire.

Stir the gift.

Open your mouth

and let his power flow.

>> Winds.

>> Hey, I'm Jeremiah. This is Maddie. This

is Banks. This is Wyatt. And this is our

story.

>> I've been a part of Elevation for 24

years. [music] And Maddie's been a part

of Elevation for 15 years.

>> A couple years [music] into being

married, we wanted to start a family.

And for most people, that's quite

simple. But little did we know the

complicated journey that we were going

to be on to start that. We were told

that most likely wouldn't happen on our

own, and we would need to do IVF and go

down that path. But in that [music] same

appointment, it was exactly 2 weeks

later, we found out we were pregnant.

Not only with one baby, but two.

>> With two.

And after the journey that we had been

on, we just felt like, wo, like life

could not be any better. We had a 24-w

week scan and that's sort of when the

story started to fall apart. So we get

to the hospital, they do some more

checks. You could, you know, give birth

at any time and if you're still pregnant

on Monday, like we'll talk about it.

From there, I was just told I was not

going to be leaving that hospital until

the babies came out. By the end of the

second week, things were not looking so

good. By that same time, the next day,

the twins were born. As we're having

cuddles, a doctor comes in and he's

like, "Oh, we're gonna have to have a

family meeting later." Instantly, we

just knew that something wasn't right.

They both had a brain scan. Whites

[music] presented normal. And then they

said, "But Banks came back with some um

complications and the doctors explained

to us that that meant was that we didn't

know what her future was going to hold."

They then gave us the option that we can

either like keep her alive and to see

how she goes or basically we could turn

off her life support.

Straight away we were like, "No, we're

fighting through this. We're trusting

God through it all." I was saying to

God, "God, she's your daughter.

If she's going to be healed and healthy,

you can take her [music] up to heaven,

but if you know, you'll grace us with

her on earth. We know that she's going

to be 100% healed and 100% okay." We

started to write the declarations on the

wall.

We got lock in and he did some worship

and [music] sung over the kids. We got

Isaac Lenton in and he prayed for the

kids.

>> Basically, when she had her brain bleed,

she ended up developing um a condition

where her brain was filling up with

fluid and it wasn't draining on its own.

Every day we just prayed that that fluid

would start to drain on its own and her

brain would

>> work the way that God originally

designed it to

>> and she ended up having three of these

needles and after the third one instead

of her head circumference growing quite

quickly um it actually shrunk and her

brain is doing exactly what it's

supposed to do. We were 5 days out from

her coming home. We knew something

wasn't right with her. She just wasn't

breathing properly and things just

weren't good. And then overnight we got

a phone call saying that her breathing

wasn't getting any better and they

weren't really sure what was going on.

4:00 a.m. we get another phone call and

they've told us that Banks has gone back

to NICU and there's a surgeon in there

standing over her assessing her whether

she needs emergency surgery.

>> She was not looking good to be honest.

How could she go from off everything to

now being back right back to the

beginning? Actually even worse than when

she first went there. I sat with her for

the hour and just kept declaring all

these scriptures and praying.

And at this time, they hadn't put her

medication back on yet to help with her

blood sugars. And pretty much over the

next week, her blood sugars stabilized.

And then it was crazy to see like our

original prayer of her to come home

without medication happened. And what

felt like the worst thing in the world,

now we look back and think, God, it was

actually such a blessing. Banks' story

like I think a lot of the time we think

of miracles [music] as like happening

like you pray they're healed and it

happens straight away but her healing

has been over time allowed us to heal as

well to see God's promises continually

happening and this was over like a

course of a year we ended up going to

one of their milestone appointments and

the same doctor who had to deliver the

information about [music] her brain

bleeds um did this assessment with us at

the end of the appointment I said so

[music] where are we at like is she

showing signs of disability she showing

signs of cereable pausy and the same

doctor confirmed to my face that there

are zero signs.

>> And it was just such a

surreal like full circle moment to

have these two like polar opposite

conversations. And for me on this

journey, I feel like I learned that you

can pray [music] those crazy audacious

prayers that God will come through, that

he is trustworthy and his promises will

always stand.

>> Is that the first time you seen last

year?

>> Yeah, I'd say so.

>> Come watch this video.

>> Do you have a story to tell?

>> Sure.

Do you want to say that you're having a

baby?

>> Having a baby brother?

>> You excited?

>> Yeah.

>> Come on. Praise God.

[applause]

Not sure how you're supposed to preach

after that.

It's okay to admit, man, it was uh lots

of sinuses in this room. heard people uh

sniffing how good's our God

and as you could have told we are

stepping into a uh a new series called

Powerhouse. If we've not had the

opportunity to meet yet my name is Luke

and get the privilege of being one of

the associate pastors here and just get

the privilege of serving this beautiful

community. Uh we're just ordinary people

that love an extraordinary God. And if

you don't have a place to call home, if

you don't have a local church where you

go to weekly, could I encourage you to

find one? Uh we think this one's pretty

good uh because the people are pretty

good and we serve an extraordinary God

and we think uh we love him and uh we

love the people in this house. And so

I'd encourage you find a local church.

The reason I bring that up is um when we

do these series, this is not a once-off

message. We actually build week upon

week and so consistency matters. I

encourage you be in church, be there

consistently. Um every week we are going

to step into a new topic. And so I get

the privilege of sort of setting a

foundation, a platform from where we can

launch on for the next few weeks.

The series as we've done every October,

November will not just be on the power

and the presence of the Holy Spirit, but

ultimately how we can increase our faith

this year for the miraculous.

And so my aim therefore is to create

this foundation for the rest of the

series,

helping us increase

in the faith for the miraculous. But

before we go on, I want to address a few

things. Before we step through the

scriptures, I want to highlight a few

things.

The first thing I want to highlight is

within this series, what we're not going

to be able to cover is everything when

it comes down to the sovereignty of God.

There's a reality that no one truly can

understand

why we see some miracles and why we

don't see others. Why some prayers go

answered and why others don't.

And so I'm mindful as you sit in this

room and even online that there will be

people in this room that are sitting in

the pain and the hurt of unanswered

prayer.

That they have not had their miracle

yet.

That they still carry the confusion and

the pain of that that they believed so

dearly in their heart for.

And friend, my only consolation is this

is that we serve a God that is sovereign

and just.

And we've got to find an understanding

in the fact that his ways are above our

ways. So much so Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us

Isaiah 55:8–9

that. Says, "For my thoughts are not

your thoughts, and neither are your ways

my ways, declares the Lord. For as the

heavens are higher than the earth, so

are my ways higher than your ways, and

my thoughts than your thoughts." But my

pastoral heart is this, that it doesn't

diminish

or or or sort of make you feel like

what's happened to you in the past or

the fact that you've not seen your

miracle. I'm not trying to diminish any

of that. But what I am trying to say is

that no matter how you've landed in the

service today, that God can and still

wants to through the power of the Holy

Spirit see the miraculous happening and

through your life.

The second thing I want to raise before

we continue is this. I'm mindful that

many of you would be would you would you

you would see the uh Gez, that was a

tongue twister. [laughter]

I'm mindful that many of you would have

seen the powerhouse series coming up.

And if you've got to be honest with

yourself, you've got a lens of

skepticism as you enter the room.

Because many of us will say, Luke, well,

I believe the Bible.

So, I believe that Jesus performed

miracles. Luke, I'd even concede the

fact that I believe the fact that the

apostles perform miracles through the

power of the Holy Spirit. I'll concede

that, Luke. But beyond that, I'm not

sure if he still wants to do that.

Well, church history time and time again

tells us that he is able and willing.

400 years after the death and

resurrection of Christ Jesus, we see

that St. Augustine says this of

miracles.

So this is the fifth century says this

of miracles which they of miracles which

were wrought that the world might

believe in Christ. Now listen miracles

that have not seized since the world

believed that have not seized.

The 13th century St. Thomas Aquinus

reports of a woman being healed of

hemorrhage. This is in Bible in church

history time and time again during the

great awakening of the year 1743. There

was a lady by the name of Hannah Wheeler

who was bedridden with a trophied

muscles, couldn't get up, needed

assistance to do everything, listened to

a message in her house, and she reports

the fact that through the power of the

Holy Spirit, started to feel her body

shake, stood up out of bed, and was

completely healed.

Time and time again, we see it.

2022 October,

the 12th of October,

a 5-day old boy lied in Westme Hospital.

Doctors walking into the room telling

his parents, "Hey, you better get

ready."

Get ready for what? Get ready for the

worst. Because your son's 5 days old and

we don't know how to treat a 5-day old

baby. We don't know what's wrong. We

just know he's dying. So, get ready for

the worst.

12 hours later,

that father and his baby would walk out

of the doors of Westmeat, confusing

doctors and himself alike.

Within 12 hours, I sat in that hospital

room. And I watched doctors take off

heart monitors, and I'm going, "Why

don't take that off?" Like, we're not

done.

And it started to confuse doctors

because they kept taking off heart

monitors cuz he no longer used it. that

that that boy who was told he was going

to die now runs through these foyers and

through these classrooms

through the miraculous power. So it's

hard for you to convince me

as I watched my son go from death to

life in the space of 12 hours that God

isn't able or willing to perform

miracles.

And so my goal today is simply this. Is

to help you increase your faith and your

understanding

that you are loved and the presence of

the Holy Spirit is here

and we can see the miraculous happen in

and through our lives. So we're going to

pray and we're going to jump into some

scripture

and then we're going to get into it.

Amen.

>> We good?

>> Buckled up. I'm ready to preach. I'm

only preaching two services today. So,

I'm leaving the I'm leaving it all here.

Whether you're coming or not, I'm going.

So, here we go. Jesus, we just thank

you, Lord, for the privilege and honor

it is to come around your word. I pray,

Lord, that we would never grow familiar

with your presence, but rather that

you'd call out to us, Lord. Help us

understand what it is you're calling us

to even right now in this moment. Lord,

where people need a miracle, Holy

Spirit, I pray where they sitting right

now that power in the name of Jesus

would flow through these pews

that we'll see testimony upon testimony

of healing and restoration and chains

being broken and addictions being

broken. In the name of Jesus,

we believe

that you are able and willing

to do the miraculous.

So, we thank you, Jesus. And all God's

people said, "Amen." What I want to do

over the next few minutes we've got to

get together is simply do this. I want

to read you an account within the Bible

across two gospels. And I want to

highlight two things for you. two things

that I've identified that prevents

people from stepping into all that God's

calling them to when it comes to the

power of the Holy Spirit and the

miraculous. And the second thing I want

to do is then give you three keys, tools

that you can take into your day-to-day

life about how we can confidently then

step into the miraculous. So, if you've

got your Bible with you, would you open

with me to Mark 9 vers 14? We're going

to read a bit of scripture if that's

okay.

It's where I feel comfortable.

To be honest, I'll just stand up here

and just read scripture all day long.

But

thank you, baby.

All right, here we are. Mark 9 vers 14

says this. And when they came to the

disciples, they saw a great crowd around

them and scribes arguing with them. And

immediately all the crowd when they saw

him were greatly amazed and ran up to

him and greeted him. And he asked them,

"What are you arguing with them?" And

someone from the crowd answered,

"Teacher, I brought my son to you, for

he has a spirit that makes him mute, and

whenever it seizes him, it throws him

down, and he foams and grinds his teeth

and becomes rigid." So I asked your

disciples to cast it out, and they were

not able. That's important to note. And

he answered them, "Oh faithless

generation, how long am I to be with

you? How long am I to bear with you?

Bring him to me. And they brought the

boy to him. And when the spirit saw him,

immediately it convulsed the boy and he

fell on the ground and rolled about.

There is power in the name and the

presence of Christ. Friends, remember

that. And Jesus asked his father, "How

long has this been happening to him?"

And he said, "From childhood." And he

has often cast him into fire and into

water to destroy him. But if you can do

anything, have compassion on us and help

us. And Jesus said, this is important.

If you can, all things are possible for

one who believes. And immediately the

father of the child cried out and said,

'I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief.

Man, that's powerful. And when Jesus saw

that, a crowd came running together. He

rebuked the unclean spirit, saying, "You

mute and deaf spirit, I command you.

Come out of him and never enter him

again." And after crying out and

convulsing him terribly, it came out.

And the boy was like a corpse, so that

most of them said, "He is dead." But

Jesus, took him by the hand, and lifted

him up, and he rose. And when he had

entered the house, his disciples asked

him privately, "Why could we not cast it

out?" And he said to him, "This kind

cannot be driven out by anything but

prayer." There's a parallel verse or or

scripture that we see in Luke, so excuse

me, in Matthew 17.

where Mark's traditionally writing to

the Gentiles, Matthew typically is is

noted in writing to the Jewish culture.

And so Matthew highlights something

slightly different that that Jesus says

as well in Matthew 17:14-21.

Matthew 17:14–21

It says this, then the disciples came to

Jesus about the same account and story.

Then the disciples came to Jesus and

said, why could we not cast it out? And

he said to them, "Because of your little

faith. For truly I say to you, if you

have faith like a grain of mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain, move from

here to there, and it will move, and

nothing will be impossible for you." Two

things that I'd love to highlight and

address that I see within scripture that

prevents us from seeing the miraculous

in our life. Here's the first one. You

could have guessed it. It's unbelief. If

ever there was a statement that

highlighted and summarized human faculty

and you human nature, it's this. I

believe,

but help my unbelief.

I believe,

but help my unbelief, Lord.

Lord, I've heard about the miracles.

I've seen the miracles with my own eyes.

I watched the testimony videos. I heard

the funny pastor with a mustache tell me

his story. I've heard it all, Lord. So,

I believe, but help my unbelief.

You see, the enemy's goal is not to try

and

encourage you to believe that miracles

don't happen. He knows he doesn't have

power there because it's written.

His

goal is to make you think that you're

not worthy enough of receiving it and

that he won't do it for you.

And so unbelief is rooted in doubt

that makes us think not that Jesus is

enabled, but makes us think that he's

not willing to do it for us.

I'm here to remind you friends that

there's no way that you can earn the

love and the grace of Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:38 tells us that that nothing

Romans 8:38

separates us from the love of Christ.

For I am sure that neither death nor

life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things

presence, nor things to come, nor

powers, nor height, nor depth, nor

anything else in all creation will be

able to separate us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus. You are as loved as you

will ever be. And here's the good thing

for us. Our God is no respector of man.

If he's done it before, he can do it

again.

Yes. The second thing that I see that I

notice that prevents people when it

comes to seeing the Holy Spirit work for

us, it's this.

We read in Matthew that Jesus says, "If

you have faith the size of a mustard

seed that you could say to the mountain,

move."

The problem with this verse is so often

it's misinterpreted

and we think the onus of faith

is on us.

Maybe not you, but I know growing up I

was like, Lord, I'm pretty sure I've got

that like that amount of faith.

But then it started working up against

me because I was like, Lord, I've been

praying like I'm pretty sure I have a

little bit amount of faith. Like why am

I not seeing the miracle? Lord,

why am I not seeing it for my life?

Lord, you said all I need is faith this

big. Almost fell off the stage

so passionate. I wanted to sit with you

guys. I need faith this small.

And I said, Lord, why is it not

happening to me? And the problem is when

we don't read and study our Bible is

that we miss contextually what's

happening.

Because it's not about the measure of

faith, it's about the object of faith.

It's saying that no matter how big your

faith is, even faith this small directed

towards Christ will move mountains. And

so we can't earn or change or increase

his willingness by believing more. We

just got to take what we have and direct

it towards him. And so it's not about

the measure of faith we have. It's about

the object of our faith. And so my

question to you to you today is

what's the object of your faith? two

things that I see preventing us from

stepping into all that God has when it

comes to the power of the Holy Spirit

and seeing the miraculous. So now let me

give you three things that we can do

about it.

Simple things to say. I say this often.

Not always simple to do. Here we go.

Here's the first one.

We've got to ask.

Matthew 7 7-11 says this. Ask and it

will be given to you. Seek and you will

find. Knock and it will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the

one who seeks finds, and to the one who

knocks, it will be opened. Or which of

you, if his son asks him for bread, will

give him a stone? Or if he asks him for

a fish, will give him a serpent? If you

then, who are evil, know how to give

good gifts to your children, how much

more will your father, who is in heaven,

give good gifts to those who are asking.

There's a parallel verse of this in Luke

Luke 11:9–13

11:9-13

where Luke specifically focus on the

gift of the Holy Spirit and the power of

the Holy Spirit that's on access to us.

So it's there that we and we can ask the

problem again when we read scripture

just at face value in the English

language is we lose power contextual

power because in the Greek we actually

call this ask knock and seek. We call it

the uh present imperative tense which

means that it's not just ask, knock and

seek. It's actually an ongoing

action. So it's not ask, stop, seek,

stop, knock, stop. It's keep asking,

keep knocking, keep seeking, keep

asking, keep knocking, keep seeking.

It's not asking when I don't see, stop.

And so you think about the father that's

brought his son to Jesus.

He's embodied this because the Bible

says that his child has had it for a

long period of time

and he's probably tried everything he

could.

Then he hears about the disciples that

are coming

and he goes, "I'm going to ask again."

Goes to the disciples, the Bible says

that they couldn't they couldn't see the

miracle app in that moment. I don't know

about you, but I would slightly feel

discouraged like Lord, I I went to your

people and they couldn't perform it.

But he doesn't ask stop. He doesn't

knock stop. He doesn't seek stop. He

keeps asking and keep knocking. And

that's when he finds himself at the feet

of Christ and saying, "Lord, I need I

need help." He says to the Lord, I

believe, but help my unbelief.

In asking Jesus, he understood his

inadequacy.

Would you have compassion on my

unbelief, Lord?

Lord, I need help, but help my unbelief.

I need I need help, but I need help from

the place of doubt. I need help and

compassion from my place of unbelief.

Which leads us to the second point,

which is guess what? Believe.

So, we ask and then we believe.

Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.

Lord, that I've heard you've done it

before. I've seen you do it before, but

would you help my unbelief for me, Lord?

Will it do it for me?

Will he do it for me? Is the question

that we plague ourselves with daily.

You see, the issue with unbelief is that

it's rooted in distrust and skepticism.

And if I going to be honest, if we're

all going to be vulnerable, many time

unbelief is rooted in past hurt and

pain. And so we tell ourselves

that I've not seen it before. So I can't

afford to have hope

because I'm worried that if I hope one

more time, I'll get hurt one more time.

Unbelief is built in and rooted in

distrust and skepticism of what he's

able to do and his willingness to do it

for you.

Mark 9:23 says, "If you can, all things

Mark 9:23

are possible for one who believes."

There's a statement. We need to ask

Jesus to increase our faith in order to

continue to believe for miracles in our

lives, in our world, even when we've not

seen it before.

So, we ask,

then we believe.

Sounds kind of simple. Here's

the third one.

And this is where it matters. We

contend.

We need to contend for miracles. We ask

for miracles. We believe for miracles.

And then we contend for miracles. That

sounds cool, Luke. But how

how do I contend?

Mark 9:28-29 says this. And when he had

Mark 9:28–29

entered the house, his disciples asked

him privately, "Lord, why could we not

cast it out and he said to them, "This

kind cannot be driven out by anything

but by but by prayer."

You see, contending for the miraculous

actually starts with submission in

prayer.

See, prayer brings you into alignment

with the perfect will of God. Being in

the will of God then ultimately helps

you understand what prayers to pray, how

to pray.

We're called to contend for miracles,

not just allowing the world to happen to

us. Imagine that father just went, "I

guess this is my lot."

You know the thing I didn't mention

about those 12 hours.

They were probably the felt like the

most longest 12 hours of my life.

It was just after co

no visitors allowed. One parent in a

room

with the beeping of a heart monitor

being the cadence to every breath I

took.

Just sitting there alone, I had two

choices.

Could have sat and allowed the world to

happen to my son

or I could have contended.

It's all I did.

I prayed the most simple prayers I could

fathom up and must up.

It was the moment I've never been as

brave as I could.

Took all the faith I had, every ounce of

energy and strength just to pray a

prayer of boldness.

Not your will, but not my will, but

yours, Lord, but I'll contend until I

see it happen.

See, prayer also doesn't just stir up

the power of God. It brings us closer to

the one that has the power.

Brings us into the will of God. And

Awtoer,

I love this quote by him, says this.

Says, I believe in the kind of miracles

that God gives to his people who live so

close to him that answers to prayer are

common.

And these miracles are uncommon.

So my question to us all is

when lost, were you willing to ask,

believe, and contend for the miraculous

in your life?

The thing that I find that prevents us

is because we think we own the outcome

of the prayer.

Here's a bit of insight into a pastor.

Uh we also get nervous praying prayers

when you come up to us.

I've just had to learn to deal with it.

I remember a couple of years somebody

came up to me and said the simple line

to me and it changed the way I I

approached praying and it changed the

way that I approached the miraculous. He

simply said, Luke, you don't you don't

give yourself the credit when you see

the miraculous.

So why would you give yourself the

credit for the unanswered prayer?

And I wonder if we if we entered prayer

for the miraculous with the heart that

whatever the outcome might be, we don't

own it.

If we would have the boldness to contend

more than we do.

You see, we need to have the confidence

that this is what God's called us to.

Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive

Acts 1:8

power when the Holy Spirit comes upon

you." Power.

You see, Ephesians 1:13, I encourage you

Ephesians 1:13

to go read it, tells us that at the

point of salvation that we are sealed

with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy

Spirit comes to dwell within us.

But then we believe that there's a

second infilling of the Holy Spirit, a

baptism of the Holy Spirit. Luke 3:16

Luke 3:16

tells us that John the Baptist [music]

tells us that Jesus will baptize with

fire and with spirit. And so, there's a

second infilling. And we see this happen

on the day of Pentecost in the in Acts

two. But then we sit sometimes wondering

what we do with this power.

But thankful for scriptures, the living

breathing word of God. In in 1

Corinthians 12, Paul tells us how to

approach this. And one of the ways that

the spirit manifests through us is

through the miraculous. And so have the

confidence that this is not a man-made

concept.

That's what the word of God says.

I want to contend for miracles.

If ever I want to have naivity is for

this,

that my God can and is able. And I'll

believe it. Not that it always works

out, but I'll believe it. I'll have the

boldness and courage to know I don't

answer and I don't own the miraculous.

And so I don't own the unanswered

prayer. and I won't allow my pride to

step in the way from me walking up to an

altar and believing that in a moment God

can change things for me.

So, as I land this plane, I want to

leave you with something I've been

pondering over the last few weeks on one

of my favorite verses around faith and

many of you would know it out of the

faith chapter in Hebrews 11 simply

starts by saying this.

It says, "Now faith is the assurance of

things hoped for, the conviction of

things not seen. For by it the people of

old received the commendation." And I

was [music] thinking and studying this

verse and I came across a commentary

that really just stirred my heart. A

commentary on this verse, Matthew

Henry's commentary says this, and I want

to leave you with this. A definition of

grace, a definition of the grace of

faith in two parts. It is the substance

of things hoped for. Faith and hope go

together and the same things that are

the object of our hope are the object of

our faith. Faith is a firm conviction

and expectation that God will fulfill

all [music] he has promised to us in

Christ. And when believers exercise

faith, they are filled with joy

unspeakable and full of glory. It is

also the evidence of things not seen.

See, faith demonstrates to the mind the

reality of those things that cannot be

discerned by the physical sight. And

here is the the line that got

faith. It is intended to serve the

believer in the place of sight and to be

to the soul and to be to the soul

all that the senses are to the body.

So my simple question to us all today is

this. As we step through the next four

weeks together into the rest of the

year, as we believe for the miraculous,

as we ask, believe, and content, [music]

not just for ourselves, but for one

another in this room,

who's the object of your faith?

Is your object unbelief?

Is the object of your faith trying to

increase the measure of faith you have?

Or is the object of your faith

the pioneer and perfector of your faith

Christ Jesus?

Ask, believe, and contend.

a willingness and a boldness to be

uncomfortable

with every head bow and eye closed.

I said that um the Bible tells us in

Ephesians 1:13 that we are sealed by the

Ephesians 1:13

Holy Spirit at the point of salvation.

that when we accept Jesus as a Lord and

Savior of our lives, that the Holy

Spirit dwells within us.

There are people in this room, I

believe, that need to come into right

standing with Jesus.

I want to pray for two groups of people.

The first is you're saying, "Luke, I've

never said yes to Jesus. If I got to be

honest, Luke, I've been coming to church

for a while, but I've never actually

accepted Jesus to be the Lord and Savior

of my life. Not a moral compass, but the

Lord of my life.

Second group of people I want to pray

for is that one time you allowed him to

be the Lord and Savior of your life, but

you know in your heart that you've

turned away from him. Friends, there's

no condemnation for those who are in

Christ Jesus.

You can never run too far from him. No

height, no depth

can separate you from the love of God.

Friends, today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day you come into right

standing. [music] If that's you, on the

count of three, if you'd be bold enough

just to put your hand up high enough and

long enough for me to see. I'll ask you

to slip it straight back down and we'll

say a prayer together. One friend, know

that Jesus loves you so, so much that

even if you were the only person on

planet Earth, God would have sent his

son for you. Bible says that for the joy

that was set before you before him, he

endured the cross and he hung there on

that cross with you in mind, with

relationship with you in mind.

Three, if that's you, would you have the

confidence just to raise your hand high

enough and say yes to Jesus? You don't

say yes to me

saying yes to Jesus either for the first

time

or you're recommitting your life to the

Lord.

Thank you for that hand. Thank you. Come

on.

Anybody else want to say yes to Jesus?

Bible says that today is [music] the day

of salvation.

As a church family, whether you raised

your hand or not, we're going to say

this prayer out together.

We do this because we are family. But

listen, church, for one second, every

eye focusing on me, I pray we'd never

take this moment too lightly or just

something that we do. The Bible says

that when even one sinner comes into

right standing with God, that with one

unbeliever, with one person who felt

like they are far from God, when one

person [music] comes into right standing

with God, that the heavens celebrate.

But we never take this for granted, this

[music] moment right here. So, as a

church family,

we're going to say it from our hearts to

God's ears. and we're going to support

our brothers and sisters that have made

a decision today to follow Christ. So

repeat after me. Say, "Dear Lord Jesus,

thank you for dying on the cross for me.

I pray you'd forgive me of my sins.

Lord, I invite you to be the Lord and

Savior of my life.

not just a moral compass

but to be Lord and Savior

of all of who I am.

Would you guide me? Would you guard me?

Would you give me peace in Jesus mighty

name? And all God's people said, "Come

on, let's celebrate with those