Power Up - Church At My House

So excited about what God wants to do in our homes and in our hearts this morning. Hey, let's pray together and let's jump into God's word. Jesus, we do praise you. We thank you, God, because we don't take this opportunity to spend time with you for granted.

Lord Jesus, thank you. That we can approach the throne room of God. Thank you. That because of your sacrifice, we can offer sacrifices of praise. And father, today, as we talk about your Holy Spirit, as we talk about the giftedness that you have placed inside of us.

Lord, I pray that our hearts would be open, our ears would be open to hear in Lord Jesus, you would speak to us in a powerful way. God, I prayed that we would be different because of your word, God, not the words that come out of my mouth, but because of your word.

Oh, God, Jesus, we love you and we praise you in Jesus. It's in your name. We pray a man. So I love playing Mario as a kid. In fact, I still like playing Mario. Now, my favorite part was hitting those special blocks to see what kind of power up I could get to help me through the level

. Maybe it was a fire flower so I could shoot fire. Maybe it was a leaf so I could fly through the level regardless of what it was, though. The power that was available was always the right tool that I needed to get through the level or through the specific situation that I was in.

Thankfully, I have found that our God also has given us tools or what I like to call power ups that help us navigate the circumstances of life. In fact, God has given us very special gifts that actually build his church, advance his kingdom and minister to his children.

The problem, however, is that too many Christians are walking through this life. Powerless. They don't know who they are in Christ and they don't understand what God has placed inside of them. I want you to look at this scripture with me for a moment.

Luke, for 14, this is after Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. It says, Jesus return to Galilee, filled with the holy spirits power. You see, God did not intend for us to just suffer through this life.

He wanted you to have purpose and he wanted to give you his power. He placed us on planet Earth to be his ambassadors, and he has equipped us for every good work that he has planned for us through the power of his Holy Spirit.

Listen, Fran, you can love Jesus and you can be a Christian. And you cannot have an overcoming life, did you realize that you can continue to struggle over and over with the same junk? You can go to church or go to a small group or go to a conference and get on a spiritual high.

And then you can go back to the same old struggle. If you don't have power, we need God's power to live this life. So today we're starting a brand new series called Power Up. And what I want to do this morning is I want to lay a foundation as we seek to understand the spiritual gifts, or some

people call them the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God has given us. And we're going to talk about these over the next few weeks. But before we go any further, I need you to recognize that your life is not a mistake.

Your life is not a mistake. Listen to what Psalm 139 says. You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous.

How will I know it? You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Friends, you may feel like a mistake. Your parents may have told you you were a mistake. You may have a life that is full of mistakes that you have made, but you are not a mistake.

Because that's the truth of God's word. In fact, the Bible teaches us that God has a purpose for your life. I want you to look at a conversation that took place in the Old Testament between God and the Prophet Jeremiah.

We see it in Jeremih, one versus five through seven. I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb, before you were born. I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations, that's God speaking.

Oh, sovereign Lord Jeremiah said, I can't speak for you. I'm too young. And the Lord replied, Don't say I'm too young for you. Must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. You see, God had preplanned before.

Jeremiah was can see that Jeremiah would be a prophet to the nations. And if that is what God had planned for Jeremiah all of those years ago. I wonder what he has preplan for you and preplan for me now.

I'm not talking about one specific thing or one specific event. And if we miss, the opportunity is gone. I think that we often see life and our choices like a tightrope. We have to walk this thin line. And if we fall off, we've done for we've messed up our entire life.

We messed up our entire future. I don't think it works like that. I believe that living life as a follower of Jesus Christ is more like playing on a playground than walking on a tightrope. God gives us clear boundaries because he doesn't want us to get hurt and he doesn't want us to hurt other people.

But God also gives us huge freedoms. He gives us the opportunity to make choices like sliding down the slide versus swinging on the swing. God is interested in the big picture of our lives. And that big picture is our relationship with him and what we are doing with the gifting that he has placed inside of us.

Ephesians two, 10 four. We are God's workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. You see, God has equipped every Christian with one or more of his specific spiritual gifts that he wants us to use to impact the world around us.

So you may be asking yourself, OK, Jason, what are spiritual gifts, if you're taking notes, write this down A spiritual gift is a special supernatural ability that God gives to each of his children so that together we can advance his purposes in the world.

Listen to that. Again, a spiritual gift is a special supernatural ability that God gives to each of his children so that together we can advance his purposes in the world. Listen to what Paul tells the church at Corinth in First Corinthians 12.

This is verse one and then versus four through seven. Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the spirit gives us. I don't want you to misunderstand this verse four. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit is the source of them all.

There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways. But it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

See, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth explaining there are many different gifts, and over the next few weeks we're going to study all of them were going to be in First Corinthians 12. We're going to be in Romans 12.

We're going to be in a Ephesians four to see how many gifts there really are. But I believe the point that Paul was trying to make here is that all of the gifts come from God. God gives them as he wants to, and no gift is better than another.

We need all of these gifts in order to advance the kingdom and live purpose driven lives. Now, towards the end of First Corinthians 12, Paul uses the human body as an example by reminding us that one body is made up of different parts.

Each part has a role. Each part has a function that I cannot do with the ear can do. The ear cannot do with the foot. Can do. They need each other? And he concludes by telling the readers in verse twenty seven.

All of you together are Christ's body. And each of you is a part of it. And this sentiment remains the same today church. All of you together are Christ's body. And if we are going to reach a divided world, we must be a unified church.

So, Jason. Tell me more about the spiritual gifts. Help me understand them better. To help you understand them better. I want to start by teaching you what spiritual gifts are not so if you're taking notes. Write these down.

Spiritual gifts are not your personality. I've had the privilege to study human behavior and personality over the years. And it is amazing how God has made each of us so incredibly unique. But your personality are not your spiritual gifts and your spiritual gifts are not your personality.

Because spiritual gifts are super natural. Your spiritual gifts are not your natural talents or abilities. Some of you are talented speakers. Some of you are talented athletes. Some of you are incredibly talented with numbers or with people. And God put that in you.

But those are not your spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts are not the spiritual disciplines. You see, there are disciplines that we can incorporate into our lives that help us become more like Jesus. Things like Bible study and prayer and meditation and serving in worship.

And those are important. We need those to become more and more like Jesus. But those are not the spiritual gifts. In the spiritual gifts are not the fruit of the spirit or character traits. Sometimes we might say, oh, that person is a person of peace, they're a peaceful person, or maybe they've got a lot of joy or

a lot of love. Those are important things. But those are not the gifts of the spirit. There's a difference between the gifts and the fruit, the fruit or love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. Those are things that we should all exemplify.

Those are things that the spirit wants to cultivate inside of all of us. And he wants to cultivate all of those, not just one or two. Spiritual gifts are more specific. Their supernatural abilities that God has placed inside of you, so if this is what they're not, it is vital to understand what they are.

Not only understand what they are, but why we have these gifts and how to use them in a God honoring way. Why, Jason? Why is this important? Because we live in a world that desperately needs to know Jesus Christ.

And we all have super natural spiritual gifts. So that each of us can play a unique role in God's plan to impact our generation. You see, not only does your life matter, not only are you not a mistake.

Not only do you have purpose. But God placed you in this time access. God placed you in this generation. Some of you. You're upset. You're upset because you're in this generation. You're upset because you're having to see everything that you have to see.

You're having to deal with everything that you're having to deal with. You're having to live in a world that seems like it is falling apart. They've got placed you here on purpose. And he put something inside of you that you can use to make an impact in this world.

This world needs you. So maybe you're saying to yourself, OK, Jason, I'm big in the spiritual gifts stuff, I want to operate in God's power. I want to walk in my purpose. Jason, you have gotten my attention. What do you want me to do?

There are three things that I want to ask you to do over our next four to five weeks together. But please, now we are going to cover a lot of information over this month. So I need you to be patient.

And I need you to understand that these messages are going to build on each other week after week and we're going to try to cover everything that we can about the gifts of the spirit. But it's so much we're going to have to break it up over several Sundays.

So these are three things I want to ask you to do over these next few weeks together first. I want to ask you to discover your gifts. Romans 12 six says We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us.

What I want to do towards the end of this series is I want to give you the opportunity to discover what your spiritual gifts are and want you to know who you are. You will never do what God has called you to do unless you know who you are.

Know how he created, you know your purpose and know what he has given you. You've got to discover it. And that's going to take a little work, that's going to take a little searching. But I want you to discover your gifts.

Now I want you to number two, develop your gifts. First, Timothy, one six says For this reason, I'll remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you. You're going to need to study God's word for yourself.

You're going to need to learn for yourself. There's no way you can get everything that you need to know about spiritual gifts over the next few weeks. So I'm asking you to dig in, to lean in. We're going to give you resources.

We're going to give you things that you can use. And I'm going to need you to do a little homework on your own to spend time in prayer, asking God to help you to develop these gifts. And I need you to understand that God gifted you a certain way for a certain reason.

He gifted other people certain ways, for certain reasons. So we don't need to be jealous of other people's gifts. We need to know who we are and develop who we are. So we can do what God called and created us to do.

And then number three, I want to ask you to use your gifts. First, Peter Forten says God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you.

You've got to use what God has given you. Not for yourself. You see, we can use these gifts and we can use them in the flesh. But that's selfish, that's not what God gave us these gifts, he gave us these gifts so that we could use them to minister to other people so that we could bring the

kingdom of God to this earth. So that we can build the church so that we can reach people so that they can experience the power and presence of Jesus Christ. And I to ask you to begin to make a difference.

The church needs you. Your local church needs you, we need you. But the global church needs you now more than ever. We need believers who are passionate about Jesus. Who know who they are? Who are ready and willing to make an impact in this world.

If there is nothing else you hear today. I want you to hear this. Your life will be more fulfilled. I mean, your potential will be realized. The more you exercise and understand the unique gifts that God has given you.

Do you want a fulfilling life? Do you want to look back and not have any regrets? Do you want to live a life full of potential being everything that God has called you to be? It starts here. It starts with what God put inside of you.

But in order to access these gifts, in order to use them. There is even a greater gift that you need to receive first. And that is God's gift of salvation. A free gift that he has given us through his son, Jesus Christ.

You see every one of us, we are born sinners. We are born separated from God. We say things and think things and do things that dishonor and disobey God. And because of that, our relationship with him is broken.

We are separated, and we are destined for a very real eternity in hell. But God loves you and God loved you so much, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

Jesus took the punishment that we deserved on himself. Jesus experienced hell so that we wouldn't have to. Jesus died so that we can live. He willingly gave himself up to die all across. He spilled his blood so that you and I could be forgiven and set free.

But Jesus didn't stay dead. He rose again from the grave to prove to everyone that he was exactly who he said he was, the son of God in the flesh. The one with the power to forgive, the one who showed great mercy and great grace.

The one who showed. Unconditional love. Jesus loves you. And he has a gift of salvation for you, if you will, place your faith in him, if you will place your trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross.

The Bible says that you will be saved. You will be rescued from sin. You will be rescued from hell. And you will be given eternal life with God in heaven. And right now, while you're on this earth. God will give you the gift of his spirit.

To walk with you, to guide you, to lead you, to give you peace, to give you joy. And he will never leave you. He will never abandon you. It does not mean life will be perfect, but it will be fulfilled and it will be blessed because you get to do life with God.

And I want to give you the opportunity today to receive that free gift. By placing your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ today. If you're watching, if you're listening and you know that you need that free gift of salvation, I invite you to pray this prayer along with me today.

Dear God, I've been going my own direction with my life. I've been making my own decisions. Honestly, God have been trying to be you. I've been trying to be in control of every detail in every moment, but I realize that I'm a sinner separated from you.

And I need to be saved. And that savior is your son, Jesus. God, I believe that Jesus died on a cross for me. And I believe he rose again from the grave so that I could be forgiven and set free.

God, I'm asking you to apply what Jesus did on the cross to my life today. Thank you, Jesus, for my second chance, for my fresh start. Thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for purpose. And thank you for my brand new life today.

Jesus, you are my Lord and I love you and I'm going to follow you for the rest of my life in Jesus. It's in your name, I pray. Amen. Now, if that is you, I want to say congratulations.

The Bible says all of heaven is celebrating right now and we are celebrating along with heaven, the decision you made to follow Jesus. But I want to ask you, please don't change the channel. Please don't turn this video off without letting us know, because we want to reach out to you this week.

We want to pray for you by name. And we want to give you resources that help you grow in your faith. Your faith doesn't stop today. It starts today. And we want to help you become more like Jesus Christ.

So you can go to our website and fill out the digital cornette card, or if you're online, the link is in the post above or the comments below. Reach out and let us know. And if you're watching and you don't have a church home, can I just be the first person to say welcome home?

I would love the honor of being your pastor and we would love to be your church family. Now, at the end of every service, we dedicate time to worship in prayer. And today is no different. And so in just a moment, we're going to worship together one last time corporately today.

And we're going to focus on prayer. And so if you're watching, if you're listening and there's something going on in your life, a situation of circumstance, you say, Jason, I just need you to pray for me, it would be our honor.

If you're online, you can put your prayer requests in the comments below if it's private. You can reach out on our prayer card on the website. In our prayer team is on standby to lift your name up to Jesus.

But I also want to remind you and challenge you and encourage you in this 21 days of prayer and pray no matter what's going on. No matter what's happening, no matter how you feel. Take time to stop. And praise Jesus, maybe it's as simple as saying thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. That's OK. That's one of the most powerful prayers that you can pray. It's thank you, Jesus. Let's pray together. And if you need specific prayer, don't hesitate to let us know. Jesus, again, we love you, we glorify you, we magnify you, we bless your name and we praise you, and I thank you, God, for

everyone who can hear the sound of my voice. God, I know people are going through tough situations and circumstances. And God, I just ask you through the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would pour out mercy and that you would pour out grace and you would pour out peace and joy and provision.

Oh, God, father, I pray that you would meet people right where they're at, that they would experience your power and your presence in their lives right now. God, I pray that over the next few weeks together that God, we will understand and recognize the gifts you have activated inside of us, God, that we would understand that we

are uniquely made, that we are wonderfully made, that we are masterpieces, not mass produced by God. We are works of art that you have made for a reason and for a purpose. And Lord Jesus, I pray that you would give us more power, more purpose, more presence.

So God that we could be everything you have called and created us to be Jesus. We love you and we honor you. And it's in your name. We pray. And everybody said amen.

Hey, everybody, good morning, Pastor Jason here. We've been praying for you all week long. We believe God has something special for us this morning. Listen, I am coming to you from the Huntsville Botanical Garden, which is going to be the home for our twenty twenty two night to Shine that we told you about just a few weeks

ago. The night to shine is sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. And it is an unforgettable from that experience centered on God's love for people with special needs in our community. And we are honored and privileged to get to be a part.

It's going to take place right here at the Huntsville Botanical Garden on Friday, February 11th. More information will be coming out soon. And we hope that you'll want to be a part of this special night. I also want to remind you that next Sunday morning, September the 12th, we're going to be throwing our eighth birthday celebration as

a church family. We're going to have some snacks. We're going to have a special surprise, and we're going to have an incredible time praising Jesus together and thanking him for what he's done over these past eight years of our church.

Hey, let's pray together and then let's jump in to God's word. Jesus, we love you and we adore you and we praise you. And we thank you, God, for your word. We thank you, God, for your power and your presence.

And God, we ask you to speak to us today. Father, through your living word, would you change our hearts and change our lives? And Jesus, we're going to give you the honor and the glory and Jesus, it's in your name.

We pray. And everybody, said a man. So this month, we're continuing our series called Power Up Understanding the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you'll remember from last week, we said that too many Christians are walking through life powerless.

They don't know who they are in Christ or what God has placed inside of them. So during the month of September, we are learning more about the spiritual gifts by spending time in Romans 12, First Corinthians 12 in Ephesians four, because God never intended for us just to suffer through life.

God wants you to walk through life with purpose and power. Now, as a reminder from last week, our definition of spiritual gifts for this series is this a spiritual gift is a special supernatural ability that God gives to each of his children so that together we can advance his purposes in the world.

In First Corinthians 12 verses four through seven, it says there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit, the Holy Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.

God works in different ways. But it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of this so that we can help each other. God has given you supernatural special spiritual gifts so that you can play a unique part in bringing his plan and his purpose and his

kingdom into your generation. Now, in week one, we talk to you about what the spiritual gifts are not. So let's lay a little more foundation today and talk about what the spiritual gifts actually are. First, spiritual gifts are gifts from God given through the Holy Spirit.

This is the common ground of all the spiritual gifts on this basis. If they all operate as they should, apart from the flesh, these gifts should unite us and not divide us. They should empower us, not frighten us.

Why? Because they are gifts from God. And the Bible is clear that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord. Spiritual gifts are given to all Christians. The Bible says we see this in first, Peter, for Forkin.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a spiritual gift. It is a part of who you are. It is a part of your unique and special design. Remember, you are God's masterpiece. You are not mass produced.

You are a work of art. And God has placed a gift inside of you. Spiritual gifts, they are essential to the help of the church we see in Ephesians four. These gifts are essential because they are vehicles. They are channels through which the Holy Spirit ministers to the body of Christ.

My gifts are for you, your gifts or for me and for each other, for the body to be healthy and grow. All of the gifts must operate. In unity, spiritual gifts, they may come in combinations. We see this in second, Timothy, for believers in Jesus Christ.

Usually have a gift that's dominant. But you may have more than one gift. We call this your spiritual gift mix. And you can have gifts and not even be using them. We talked a little bit about this last week.

Sadly, this is the case for most Christians. But friends, I want you to know your gifts. I want you to discover them. I want you to develop them. I want you to use them to be everything that God has called and created you to be.

I want you to make a difference in this world. Spiritual gifts are not necessarily a sign of spiritual maturity. We've got to be careful. All believers possess gifts. Even in mature believers in gifts can be counterfeited and they can be operated in the flesh.

Having a gift of the spirit is no guarantee of being right, even in the area of your gift. Even one who has gifts can use them in a fleshly manner. The enemy, Satan. He can also pervert gifts to his use.

So we have to understand that the possession of certain gifts of the spirit does not signify either maturity or spirituality or infallibility on the part of the one who exercises it. What is from the spirit will always be done in harmony with the scriptures.

Now, when we talk about the Holy Spirit, there are many, many different viewpoints about the gift of the spirit in churches today. I want you to remember, at our church in the essentials, we have unity. There are some things that are just non-negotiable to being a Christian.

And there's those things. We have unity in the nonessentials. We have liberty. There are some areas of scripture that we're just not sure on. And there's not widespread agreement. And so in those areas, you have the freedom, you have the liberty to search God's word for yourself and come to a conclusion.

But in all beliefs, we show love and charity. And the gifts of the Holy Spirit are one of those non-essential areas where you have the freedom to study God's word and determine what you believe, as long as you can back it up with God's word, like in the in Tom's series.

My goal is to teach you what I believe is the most biblically accurate view on this topic. So what I want to do is I want to share with you five of the major beliefs about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in churches today.

Some people believe that all of the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. There are some people believe that the gifts of the spirit are not active at all anymore. Some people believe that only the miraculous gifts of the spirit have ceased.

But all the others are operational. They believe that God does it necessarily do the miraculous any more. But these other gifts that we talk about still exist. Some people believe that some of the miraculous gifts are operational, but not all of them.

Some people believe that all of the gifts of the spirit are operational, and you must use one or all of them to prove that you're saved. And then even some people believe that all of the gifts of the spirit are still operational.

But you do not have to use one or all of them as proof of your salvation. Now, when we started our church, we really leaned in to that last belief as a church leadership. We believe that all of the gifts of the spirit are still operational today.

But you do not have to use any of those gifts as proof of your salvation or your spirituality. We believe that the fruit of the spirit, that's the evidence of your salvation, not the gifts of the spirit, but really friends.

We've got to remember that the gifts of the spirit. They're not about us at all. They are to build and strengthen the church. They're designed to minister to people, to advance God's kingdom and ultimately point people to his son, Jesus Christ.

Bible scholars have categorized the gifts of the spirit into three categories based on where you find them in the scriptures and their purpose. So I'm going to share those with you this morning first. We have what are called the motivational gifts.

We see these in Romans Chapter 12 verses three through eight. The motivational gifts are how God works in a believer to shape his or her perspective on life and motivates his or her words or action. These gifts are used for serving in the church and ministering to people.

In addition to the motivational gifts, there's also what we call the ministry gifts. We find them in Ephesians Chapter four verses 11 through 13. The ministry gifts are how God works with a believer to build his church and to edify and build up other Christians.

These gifts are used to lead and grow the church and advance God's kingdom on earth. And then finally, we have the miracle gifts, and they're found in First Corinthians 12 verses seven through 11. And this is how God works through a believer in a given situation that demonstrates his supernatural power.

These gifts are used to demonstrate the power of God and point people to his son, Jesus Christ. So today, what I want us to do is I want us to start with the seven motivational gifts that we find in Romans Chapter 12.

We're only going to get through one of them today. But I want you to remember, as we spend time in Romans Chapter 12, listen, pay attention to all of the gifts that God has for us. It says for by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do you not think of yourself more highly

than you are, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you for just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function.

So in Christ, though, many from one body and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.

If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. If it is to encourage, then give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

You see, every Christian receives at least one of these gifts at the time of salvation. And it is the tool through which God works in him or her to see the needs around them. And to do something about them.

These gifts equip believers to take a vital role in the church, in the seven gifts or prophecy, or some people call it perceiving serving. Some people call it the gift of helps teaching, which can also be called the gift of research encouraging, which is also called exhortation giving leadership, which is also called administration and the gift of

mercy. So let's spend time with the first gift that we see in the scripture, and that is the gift of prophecy or the gift of perceiving is to a person with the motivational gift of prophecy. APPLAUSE, the word of God to a situation.

So that sin is exposed and relationships are restored. He or she has a strong sense of right and wrong and speaks out against compromise and evil. When talking about this gift, I like to use the term incite. People with the gift of prophecy can often see things that other people just miss.

Now, the motivational gift of prophecy does not necessarily refer to speaking prophecies. We'll talk more about that gift later on in a few weeks. This gift of prophecy perceiving it's all about having inside people with this gift have a more direct, intuitive sense about how people and things really are.

They can can they can discern really well the inner motives of people in a way that other people just cannot. The basic. That sea of this gift is to view any person, group or situation in light of their life before God and his word and moral standards.

The results of this gift are people with this gift bring other people to accountability. They help reveal inner heart motivations. They bring inner conviction and they bring awareness to the presence of God. Now, we have to be careful.

Like I said before, because all of these gifts can be operated in the flesh instead of the spirit. So this gift, the gift of prophecy in the flesh can come across as harsh or unloving. Now, next week, we'll finish the other six motivational gifts.

But before we close today, you're going to hear me say something every week of this series. And that is there is even a greater gift than this that we need to received. And that is God's gift of forgiveness.

You see, every one of us is born a sinner. We're all separated from God because we say things and we think things and we do things that dishonor God and disobey him. But God loved you and God love me so much.

He wanted to reconcile the relationship. He wanted you to know how much that he loves you. He wanted to forgive you for a sin. And so he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life. Jesus died on a cross as a sacrifice for you and for me.

Jesus took the wrath of God. He experienced hell so that you and I wouldn't have to. He died so that you could. You and I could have life. Jesus spilled his blood so that we could be forgiven and set free.

But the most amazing thing is this Jesus didn't stay dead. In the Bible says that three days later, he rose again from the grave to prove to everyone that he was exactly who he said. He is the son of God in the flesh.

The one with the power, with the ability, with the propensity to forgive sin. And Jesus is at the right hand of God right now. And he is calling you to himself because of his great love for you. And the Bible is clear, if you will trust in what Jesus did for you on that cross, if you will

place your faith in him, if you will follow him as your Lord and savior, he will save you. He'll rescue you from hell. He'll give you a home in eternity with God. And right now, while you're walking on this earth, he will feel your life full of purpose and peace and forgiveness.

But friends, it is a decision that only you can make. A pastor can't make it for you. A priest can't make it for you. Not even your parents can make it for you. It's a decision that you have to make for yourself.

And I want to give you that opportunity today to place your faith and trust in Jesus. And so if that to you and you would say, Jason, I want to follow Jesus with my life, I want to make Jesus my Lord and savior today.

I invite you to pray a prayer with me this morning. You can pray something like this. God, I've been going my own direction with my life. I've been doing my own thing. Honestly, I've been trying to be God in my life.

And the day I realize that, God, you have a better plan, that you have a better way, God, that you sent your son Jesus to die on a cross for me and to rise again from the grave so that I could be forgiven and so that I could spend eternity with you.

God, I believe in what Jesus did on that cross. And I ask you to apply it to my life today. Jesus, would you forgive me? Would you change me? Jesus, you are my Lord, and I'm going to follow you for the rest of my life in Jesus.

It's in your name. I pray. Amen. If that was you and you prayed that prayer. I want to congratulate you. It's the greatest decision that you could ever make with your life. The Bible says that all of heaven is celebrating for you right now.

And we celebrate along with heaven. But I want to ask you, please don't change the channel. Please don't turn this video off without letting us know of the decision that you made. You can go to our website and fill out the Digital Cornette Court, or if you're watching online, you can find the link in the post above

or in the comments below. But I want you to know, we have a prayer team that wants to pray for you by name. And I want to send you some resources that will help you grow in your faith and become more like Jesus Christ.

And if you don't have a church, how can I be the. First person to say welcome home. We would love for you to be a part of our church family. It would be an honor to serve as your pastor now at the end of every service.

We end with worship in prayer because we believe that prayer is powerful and we believe that there are things in your life that you need to take to God. And so in just a few moments, we're going to worship together one last time today.

And if you have a prayer request, I invite you to let us know. You can fill out the prayer card online if you're online. You can actually tell us your prayer requests in the comments below. If you're OK with it, be in public.

But we want to pray for you by name. We want you to know Jesus loves you. And so do we. Jesus is for you. And so in a way. So let's worship together. And if you need prayer, let us know.

Jesus, again, we come before you and we say thank you. Thank you, Jesus, for what you've done in our lives, but more importantly, Jesus, thank you for who you are. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the empty tomb.

Thank you for change lives. God, I know that people watching and listening, they're going through tough times. God, I know that there are things happening that God I don't even know about. But I acknowledge that you know, that you are aware in God, you care about what people are dealing with.

And so I got to ask you, in Jesus name, would you meet people right where they're at today? God, would you give them the grace that they need? Would you show them great mercy and God? Would you show up in great power in their lives?