“Chasing Bubbles” by Pastor Daniel Floyd

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

Well, welcome to church, everyone.

How are we today?

Come on, let's put our hands together for Jesus at every location.

What a great day to be in God's house.

And as you just saw, we have an incredible opportunity to live on mission, one of the things that we're here to do.

And that is through Operation Christmas Child.

And if you've never done it, it's simply or very simple.

You just grab a box in the foyer, and there's going to be a list of things that you can pack and can't pack.

And then you bring it back at the drop-off time, and then that goes to a warehouse, and from there it goes all over the world to bless children in the name of Jesus.

And uh so I want us to I want everybody to be involved.

I think everybody can be involved in some way, and so take part of that at every service at every campus.

And then next Saturday or this coming Saturday, the 24th, is Serve My City, everybody.

And uh it's gonna be a big day.

So many of you have signed up.

If you haven't yet, I think you still can.

I don't really know.

I just work here.

Um but uh so make sure you're if you signed up, you're on your project and all that Saturday, just thousands and thousands of red shirts are gonna be all over the DFW in Wyoming, giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name, as the scripture tells us.

And uh then we're gonna let that bleed over into Sunday as well.

And so next Sunday, if you're like, man, there's just no way I can be a part of a Saturday project, then on Sunday you can be involved.

We're gonna bless our local food banks in the areas that we have campuses.

And so if you could bring canned goods or non-perishable food items, just bring them to church with you, drop them off when you're out grocery shopping or doing your Walmart Target order or however you get it.

Um, just add a few more things to the cart and bring it with you next Sunday.

And I know for many of us, we eat more than we should sometimes.

Amen, everyone.

And we forget there's people that have barely enough to eat.

And uh so why don't we bless them and be a part of blessing our community, all right?

We're not here just to do church.

Amen.

We're here to be the church, and that's one simple way that you can live on mission, all right?

Um we're kicking off a brand new series today called Fool's Gold.

Uh, going to be looking at the book of Ecclesiastes for the next four weeks.

And uh anybody remember Little House on the Prairie?

Okay.

Anyone watching the new Little House on the Prairie?

It's making a comeback.

You know, Netflix, I think it's in the top ten now.

Um but there was this, I watched the original one back in the day.

When you had when you were the remote.

I was my dad's remote.

Get up and turn the TV, son.

I was the remote, all right?

And so uh there was this episode wherever Lara, where Laura was out one day, she thought she found gold in the creek, and then she panned for gold, and she built this whole pile of gold, only thinking it was going to change her family, only to find out that all the effort, all the work she'd put in was for gold that was fake.

It was fool's gold.

And uh so I think Ecclesiastes is going to show us that there's some things we're given so much energy to in our life that at the end of the day they don't have the value we thought they had.

It could be we're chasing fool's gold.

And uh, if you're the note-taking type, today's message title, you can write this down.

If not, go ahead and write it down anyways, is called this Chasing Bubbles.

Chasing Bubbles.

Let's pray before we get into the Word.

Father, we open our hearts and minds to you, and we ask you to speak to us.

Holy Spirit, would you transform us from the inside out by your word and by your spirit?

Um, we we want to hear from you today.

We love you.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Everybody said a big amen.

Amen.

How many parents you've ever uh bought one of these?

Yes, or you've been at Disney, you paid 75 bucks, and it ended up in the garbage by the time you get home.

You know, whenever I was a kid, it wasn't this advanced, it was simply uh a little wand or something.

You had to blow it or whatever.

Now you just pull the trigger and there they come, all out.

And what what does every kid want to do, every grandkid?

What do they want to do?

They want to try to catch the bubble, right?

What happens the moment that you try to catch the bubble?

It's gone.

And the writer of Ecclesiastes discovered this uh thousands of years ago, that sometimes life can be that way.

That life can be like bubbles that we're chasing, and the moment that we try to grab it, the moment we try to think we got it in our grip, it's like it disappears, it's like it's vanishing.

And most believe that Solomon is the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, and they believe that it's written later in his life.

And if you're new to church, Solomon was the son of David.

He was king over Israel, and he was said to be the wisest man that ever lived and the richest man.

He he prayed that God would give him wisdom to lead the people, and God said, I'll not only give you wisdom, but I'll give you wealth and riches as well, because he prayed with the right motive.

And so this is Solomon.

And if anyone had the resources to pursue and to try everything that life had to offer to bring pleasure, it was Solomon.

And so then he comes down to the end of his life, and he's it's almost like he's journaling the conclusion that he's come to.

Um, someone said that Proverbs is probably written in the middle of his life, it's very principle-based.

It's very, if you do this, then this will be the outcome, and if you walk with wisdom, this will be the outcome.

Then he gets to the very end of his life, and he's writing Ecclesiastes, and he's like, Yeah, at the end of the day, it's all meaningless.

It's like I got to the end of life and I poured my life into everything.

Matter of fact, this is what it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 1.

Ecclesiastes 1 · chapter mention

It says the words of the teacher.

This is why I believe it's Solomon, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

That describes him.

He says, Meaningless, meaningless, says the teacher, utterly meaningless.

Everything is meaningless.

All right, let's pray.

Y'all have a great week.

Like the most depressing scripture in the Bible.

What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?

So this is how he starts the book.

Like, you know, not a very encouraging.

We're gonna get encouraging by the end, everybody.

Okay.

Don't worry, it's not gonna, you're gonna leave depressed today.

I hope not, in Jesus' name.

But he says, meaningless, meaningless.

In other words, Solomon had the ability and had the bank account to pursue any and everything that could bring pleasure in this life.

Um, the the philosophical word would be he he tried the hedonistic life.

That life is about me and life is for me, and life's ultimate end is that I find pleasure, and wherever I can find pleasure, however I can find pleasure, that's what I'm living for.

And Solomon says, I've done it all.

I've owned a lot, I've had a lot of relationships, I've had all the pleasures that this life can bring, and at the end of it, I found that it was meaningless, meaningless.

Everything is meaningless.

Now, the word meaningless there is this Hebrew word Havel.

All right, and Havel has several meanings.

One of them is this is that it's a vapor.

It's actually Havel Halim, which this construct of meaningless, meaningless, it's kind of like um Song of Songs or Vanity of Vanities.

Are y'all with me?

This is the it's like reinforcing the meaning of this.

One one scholar said this that what he's saying is life is the breathiest breath.

But it's a vapor, it's a mist.

You can see it, it's real, but then it's gone like that.

And this is our life.

That that the life lived under the sun is this way.

It's and he says, this this kind of life is a meaningless life.

It's so quick, it's it's it's you can't grasp it.

It's the moment you try to get it, it's chasing a bubble.

But it also has this idea that life has purpose, but it seems out of reach.

That there is a meaning to life, so he's not saying that it's meaningless in the sense, the translators aren't saying it's meaningless in the sense of your life is meaningless, so just wait till heaven, and then you can have some purpose in life.

That's not what he's saying.

What he's saying is this life has meaning, but the life that we live under the sun doesn't have meaning.

He says under the sun 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes.

He uses this word Havel 38 times in the book of Ecclesiastes, and so here's what he's saying.

When you frame your life without God, you will get to the end and find it had no meaning.

That when you live your life without pursuing the things of God, you're gonna get to the end of it and find it was like chasing a bubble.

Because how many of you know that the line keeps moving?

Well, whenever I get married, then it's gonna do the thing that I thought it would do.

Well, then whenever we have kids, then I'll have the feeling, the fulfillment that I thought I would have.

And then you had the kids.

I was like, wow, that brought a lot of work, but then it's if I could get into this neighborhood.

And then if it's if I could drive that car, if I could get this promotion, if and it's not saying those things are bad, but if that's the motivation of your life, if you're living life for just what's under the sun when you were created for what is above the sun, then you're gonna find out that life is meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless if it's all about what you can get, enjoy, feel, do under the sun, because you and I were not created just for what's under the sun.

We were created for something that's much greater than that.

We were created for so much more than that.

And matter of fact, your soul longs for something more than just what's under the sun.

That's why there's this dissatisfaction.

That's why the next thing is never enough.

Because your soul longs something more than a promotion.

More than the next deal.

More than the business.

More than the next sexual encounter.

More than the next hit.

Your soul longs for something more.

This is why we have a culture that medicates it with binge watching.

Because I need my soul is longing for something more.

We're doom scrolling because my soul is longing for something more.

This can't be all there is.

And we know that intuitively.

And Solomon shows us that whenever we live for just what's under the sun, he shows us three things.

And after these three things, then we're gonna kind of get encouraging, okay?

Y'all with me?

Say amen.

Okay.

Number one, he says, this life is fleeting.

Look what he says in the very next verse, verse 4.

He says, Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains.

It's it he's talking about a funeral and a sunrise in the same sentence.

Generations come and generations go, and guess what?

You and I, we're the part that goes.

We're not the part that remains.

That this life is fleeting.

That there were people that came before you and now they're gone, and there'll be people after you, and then they'll be gone, and you'll be gone, and we'll all be gone.

Because this life is fleeting.

This life is evaporating quickly before us.

You know that you have 4,000 weeks if you live to be 80.

I pray you live way beyond that.

But you have 4,000 weeks.

I'm through about 2,600 of mine because life is fleeting.

This is why they say things like, Wow, go so fast.

We we took faith to a college visit this week.

And I'm like, how am I already here?

How is this little girl now gonna be moving out of my house?

I'm not okay with this, everybody.

I'll need therapy next fall.

Oh, when I was fine, I was like, go get them, son.

Her, I'm like, can you stay?

Girl dad, all right.

Because life is fleeting, right?

Life is just moving on.

Maybe it's why Tom Brady, whenever he was 27 in a 60 minutes interview in 2004, 2005, said this to the interviewee, how how do I have three Super Bowl rings and feel like there's still something I'm missing?

It's because it's bubbles.

It's I'm grasping for it, I'm chasing it, I'm trying to get it, I'm trying to hold on to it, I'm trying to grasp it, but the life is fleeting.

It kind of goes through our fingers.

Solomon says, if you're living for just under the sun, then your life, it's a mist, it's a vapor, it's the breathiest of breath, and it is fleeting.

But he also says this that life is exhausting.

Look what he says in verse 5.

He said, The sun rises and the sun sets and hurries back to where it rises.

The wind blows to the south and turns to the north, round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.

All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from, there they return again.

He talks about the sun, he talks about the wind, and he talks about these streams.

He's given us three different things that are exhausting in life.

And number one is this the exhaustion of repetition.

The alarm goes off every morning.

You hit the snooze every morning.

I mean, some of you I don't know.

Right?

I mean, it just goes again.

You you get all of your bands and loops created on your Apple Watch, and what happens?

Come midnight, it resets.

You gotta do it all over again the same day.

How many of you know there's a repetition?

Same commute, same drive to school, same thing into work, same office, just the same.

There's just this exhaustion of repetition that happens in our life over and over and over, same laundry pile.

Oh, the parents said amen, right?

I mean, there's just this exhaustion.

The sun rises, the sun sets, the sun rises, the sun sets, the sun rises, the sun sets.

Then also there's this exhaustion, he talks about the wind of control.

Right?

The wind, it goes to the north and it goes to the south, and round and round it goes, and you never know which way it's coming from.

And this is the metaphor of life, and there's this exhaustion of control or the illusion of control we have.

That we think we're in control of things, and then something happens and we realize we're not in control, that life is kind of like the wind.

You can't control which way that life goes.

You didn't control the diagnosis.

You didn't control the decision that someone made that had impact on your life because ultimately we're not really in control.

It's like the wind.

The wind goes where it wants, and the wind does what it wants.

And then he talks about rip rivers.

He says they they come out of the stream and then they return right back into the stream.

This is the exhaustion of never full.

You pour your life out and out and out into things that never say we're full, like the ocean.

We just give of ourselves.

This is when we're living for things just under the sun.

When we're living for the things that are just under the sun, he says there's an exhaustion to life.

And it's not that, it's not that you maybe don't need a vacation, maybe you do, I don't know.

But I'm talking about something deeper, that there is this exhaustion in the soul whenever I'm living for things that are just under the sun.

When I'm living in the rat race, thinking that this is the pinnacle, that this life is it, that this is where I need to pour all of my energies, I need to put all of my eggs in the earth basket.

And Solomon says, you live that way, you'll be exhausted.

Because here's what Lily Tomlin said.

This is kind of funny.

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.

I didn't call you that.

More spiritual is what Augustine said in his confession.

He said, You have made for us yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

We were made for God.

And until we find our rest in him, you'll forever be restless.

It'll forever be exhausting.

It'll forever be fleeting.

Because we were made, you were made.

Even if you don't know him yet, you were made for God.

And you were made to find your rest in God.

He also says this in verse 8.

He tells us that life is never satisfied.

So it's fleeting, it's exhausting, and it's never satisfied.

Can you be more encouraging?

Sure.

I want to encourage you that it's fleeting, it's exhausting.

Okay.

Verse 80 says this: all things are wearisome, more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear it's fill of hearing.

The two gates into our life, our eyes and our ears.

What has been will be again.

What has been done will be done again.

There is nothing new under the sun.

This should take a little bit of pressure off of you.

There's nothing new under the sun, everybody.

The new iPhone they're trying to sell you.

It's still a phone.

Right?

I mean, this is new color, new packaging.

But the camera's better.

Okay, whatever.

No, but we put all this pressure on us, and we gotta find something new.

I gotta do something new.

And he just says, listen, what's been done has been done.

What's gonna be done has already been done before.

There's nothing new under the sun.

And he goes on to say, is there anything of which someone can say, look, this is something new.

It was already there long ago.

It was here before our time.

And then he says this really sad phrase no one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not.

Will they not be remembered by those who followed them?

It's like the one-two punch.

Solomon says, Life won't fulfill you, and people will forget you.

God bless you.

Hope you make it.

How true is it though?

I mean, how many, how many generations do you go back in your own family before you don't even know the names of the people that came before you?

Because generations come and generations go, and one generation doesn't remember the next generation.

Here's what he's trying to say.

In this whole story of life, you're not the star.

You're not the main actor.

That the stage will outlast your appearance.

That God is the main story.

God is the main star of the show.

He's the producer of the episode.

Are y'all with me?

And at the end of the day, the best we are are extras.

The best we are is we're in the background, in the crowd, in the choir, in the ensemble.

That is the best in this life that we are, because life is never satisfied.

It's never enough.

I love what C.S.

Lewis said in Mere Christianity.

He said, if I find myself, listen to this, a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy.

No amount of money, no amount of pleasure, no amount of travel, no amount of whatever you want to fill in the blank, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

And listen to me, church.

You were not made for this world.

This is not your permanent home.

And so to try to find pleasure, fulfillment, whatever you want to put in the blank, under the sun, will be meaningless.

Meaningless.

Everything will be meaningless.

But if you live the life you've been given under the sun, in light of the life you will live above the sun, then life can have purpose.

And life can have meaning.

And no matter how brief your life, the breathiest of breath, it can still have value.

Matter of fact, I would propose that God set the whole thing up this way.

Look at what in Romans 8.20 says this.

It says, For the creation was subjected to frustration.

So we're subjected to frustration, not by its own choice.

So all of creation wasn't subjected by its own choice, it was subjected by the will of God, the will of the one who subjected it.

And this was the hope.

The hope that the creation itself would be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Here's what Paul is telling us in Romans.

It's subjected to this is meaningless, and there's got to be something more than this, and my soul doesn't fulfill in this, that God set it up this way.

Why?

In hope that you would long for something beyond this world.

In hope that there would be something in you going, This can't be all there is to life.

This can't be it.

This can't be what I was put on the planet to do.

And you're right, because all of creation has been subjected to that frustration.

Why?

So that you would look to the hope and the freedom and the glory that comes from being a child of Almighty God.

If all you're living for is under the sun, meaningless.

But if you begin to live your life for what is beyond the sun, fulfillment, purpose, destiny.

I love how John Piper put it.

He said the great hindrance of worship is not that we are pleasure-seeking people.

There's nothing wrong with seeking joy, seeking enjoyment, pleasure, whatever you want to fill in the blank, but that we are willing to settle for such pitiful pleasures.

And we spend our life settling for pitiful pleasures.

When we could find full pleasure in relationship with God, in serving God, in enjoying the presence of God.

Piper is saying that what gets in the way of you living that kind of life of worship to God is that you settle for pleasures like entertainment.

You settle for pleasures like the next promotion.

You settle for pleasures like the next house.

And not that any of that is bad.

Are y'all hearing me?

But when that becomes the pursuit of pleasure of your life, you're missing it.

Because the greatest pleasure you'll find in life is in the presence of God, walking in the will of God.

Then what is under the sun starts to have some meaning.

And when you live that kind of life, your life lives on beyond you.

I don't know about you, but I want to live a legacy kind of life.

I want to make sure that what I spend under the sun, generations don't forget about.

Because I lived it for what is beyond the sun.

This is the life and the story of Abel.

Hebrews chapter 4, the hall of faith, we call it.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

It says, and by faith Abel still speaks even though he's dead.

I don't know about you, but I want that to be the story of my life.

That my life is still speaking even though I'm not here anymore.

That my life still tells a story, even though I may not be.

See, it's not the problem, isn't the brevity of life.

The problem isn't Havel.

The problem isn't that life is short.

The problem is what do we do with this life?

That we don't invest this life as if this place is the permanent place.

Because this is not your permanent home if you don't know that.

Your permanent home is in heaven in the presence of Jesus.

See, Abel, if you don't know the story, Cain and Abel, they were brothers.

Cain was the older brother, and Cain and Abel brought gifts to God.

And Abel, or Cain brought just a half-hearted offering to the Lord, but Abel brought his very best offering to the Lord.

And the Lord blessed and honored Abel's offering, but he did not honor Cain's offering.

This made Cain really, really mad.

And so Cain decided he would kill his brother Abel.

And when he murdered his brother Abel, he dies.

But the Bible says his story still speaks.

Did you know the name Abel literally means vapor?

So with his vapor, he gave his best to God.

And because he gave his very best to God, his life still speaks thousands of years later.

We're talking about it on this Sunday morning in October because he used his vapor for the purposes of God.

I just want to ask you, what are you using your vapor for?

What are you using the breathiest of breaths that you've been given this time on earth?

I don't know how many years it will be, but what are you doing with it?

How are you investing it?

How are you using it?

Are you using it just to make life about you?

Are you using it for the glory of God?

Because life is like chasing bubbles.

The moment you get your hand on it, it disappears.

If all you're living for is what's under the sun.

So how do we combat this?

How do we combat this gravity pull of life towards meaningless?

Three things real quick.

Are y'all with me saying that?

Alright.

Here, you're gonna be encouraged now.

Number one.

Number one, I'm not saying these are easy.

This is what you do.

One, you gotta release your grip.

You gotta, let me say it this way, you gotta release the illusion of control.

Because at the end of the day, you're not really in control.

All you need to do is be a parent to know that.

Right?

I was always like, Lord, couldn't you give them a free will at 25 after their brains developed?

Why do we gotta?

Psalm 3115 says, My times, my days, the number of my days, they're in your hands, God.

You gotta release control or or the illusion of control.

Say, God, I trust you.

God, I'm gonna live open-handed before you.

I'm gonna live for your purposes.

Live for what you want in my life, God.

I'm gonna I'm gonna get the grip off thinking I'm managing this, I'm stupid.

Man, if if your whole life is on your shoulders, no wonder you're exhausted.

Scripture says we come to God, his burden is easy and his yoke is light.

He carries it with us so we release.

Control number two, we rest in God's goodness.

Matthew 11, 28, come to me.

All you who are weary and burdened.

Some of you, that's you.

And I'll give you rest.

Some of you, you're not vacation tired, you are soul tired.

You're exhausted in your soul.

You're weary in your soul.

Because you've been on the rat race.

I'm gonna make it happen.

I gotta make this.

It doesn't give you an excuse to be lazy.

It's just what are you depending on?

More hours?

More work?

More of this?

More striving?

More on the treadmill?

Are you saying, God, use all my efforts for your glory?

And I believe you're good.

And I believe your intentions towards me are good.

So I'm gonna rest in your goodness.

I'm gonna trust you with everything that I have.

Number three, how do you combat this meaninglessness?

You rely on God's grace.

Paul told the church in Corinth, what the Lord told him was this: that my grace is sufficient for you and my power is made perfect in your weakness.

I think it's interesting how we want to come to God and hide our weaknesses like he doesn't know.

When he actually says it's in the place of your weakest moment where I get to show myself the strongest.

When you go, God, I don't have this figured out, and I am running this rat race, and I do feel exhausted.

And when you just get honest enough to go, God, that's my weakest area, he goes, guess what?

My strength can be made perfect.

Not my strength is enough, my strength is perfected in the place of your weakness.

So, God, I'm gonna rely on your grace.

It's sufficient for me.

I got sufficient grace for today.

I'm not gonna stress about tomorrow because when tomorrow gets here, I'll have sufficient grace for tomorrow.

And when the next day gets here, then I'll have sufficient grace for that day.

So I'm not gonna get all wound up tight.

I'm not gonna live chasing, I'm not gonna strive, I'm not gonna think it all depends on me.

I'm not gonna be on the phone 24-7, seven days a week.

Because if I miss something, the ball falls, then all life will fall apart and all the dominoes will fall over, and life will get- No, no, no, I'm resting in your goodness.

I'm relying on your grace that you've given me the grace I need for today, and you'll give me the grace that I'll need for tomorrow, and you'll give me the grace for the need for the day after that.

Come on, do you believe that church?

You don't have to strive, you don't have to run, you don't have to live under the sun, only for under the sun.

Now, if I had to guess, some of you are thinking, well, Pastor, are you just saying that like I need to go home and just like sit on my couch and just chill?

Like, just chill, just rest in God.

Does that mean I don't have to go to work tomorrow?

Does that mean I don't have to have ambition?

No, you may get fired.

The Bible says you don't have selfish ambition.

And so there's a tension that we live in.

Of God, I want to expend everything I have in my life.

I want to be a good steward of everything you've given me.

And here's the tension.

But I'm gonna do it for the glory of God.

I'm not living for just what's under the sun.

I'm living for what is beyond the sun.

I'm living with an eternal mindset.

And when we do that, it's not meaningless, meaningless.

Everything is meaningless.

It's purpose.

Purpose.

Everything becomes purpose.

Did you hear that?

Everything becomes purpose.

Your job becomes purpose.

Your relationships become purpose.

Your home becomes purpose.

Your going to the gym has purpose.

Everything becomes purpose, not everything becomes meaningless.

If you're living for what is beyond the sun.

You receive the word of God today.

Will you pray with me?

With every head bowed, every eye closed at all of our locations.

If you can, where you are online.

Maybe today you're here and chasing bubbles describes your life.

Thought, wow, that's me.

I'm chasing things and can never seem to get it and never seem to hold it.

And I just want to encourage you that maybe you're chasing the wrong thing.

Maybe what you should be chasing is an authentic relationship with Jesus.

Because until you have that, everything under the sun will be meaningless.

Until you know your creator and you begin to discover why he created you.

And so if you've never taken that step of releasing control, surrendering your life to him, of saying, God, have my life.

I'm done calling the shots, I'm done being the director of my life.

I thought I was the star of the show.

And I'm releasing control to you.

If you've never done that, I want to give you an opportunity to do that today.

To give your life to Christ.

Maybe you're here and there was a moment in your life where you were really walking with the Lord, but you know that you're really far from Him right now.

And today is a day that you need to come back.

And so, with no one looking around, we're going to pray in just a moment.

There's nothing necessarily special about the words I say, but it's about your faith.

It's just me helping you communicate to God the desire of your heart.

But if you'd say, Pastor, that's me, I want to know who I'm praying with.

And so I'm going to count to three in a moment.

When I do, I just want you to shoot your hand up high enough and long enough for me or the pastor at your location to see.

No one's going to come to you or point you out.

You just say, That's me.

I need a fresh start in God today.

I need to release control.

I need to stop chasing bubbles.

I need to start chasing Jesus.

And so if that's you on three, you shoot your hand up high.

One, two, three.

You just shoot your hand up if God's speaking to you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

Keep it up.

God bless you.

God bless you and you.

God bless you and you.

The very, very back row.

God bless you and you.

Both hands up.

God bless you, brother.

God bless you.

You can put them down.

Church, will you pray this out loud with me at every campus for the benefit of those who just slip their hand up?

Just say, Jesus, I need you.

I ask you to forgive me of all my sin.

I believe you died for me.

I believe God raised you from the dead.

Today I make you my Lord and Savior.

Thank you for a brand new beginning.

In Jesus' name.

Everybody said a big amen.

Amen.

Come on, can we put our hands together for those who made that decision?

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.