Accept or Decline | Pastor Daniel Floyd

Do we come ready to worship this morning? Come on, let's praise Him! Oh Lord I've got the joy of the Lord deep down inside of my soul And I can't hide it no more, I've got to praise Him I've got the joy of the Lord deep down inside of my soul And I can't hide it no more, I've got to praise The One who broke my chains and bought my freedom What else can I say but thank You, Jesus Cause You're just so good, just so faithful And You're just so kind, I'm so grateful That You saved my life like You said You would So with my hands up high, heart open And in a faithful mind, singing and dancing Cause You saved my life like You said You would Cause You're just, cause You're just so good You put a song in my heart, I sing with all that I've got And tell the world who You are, I'm gonna praise Him You put a song in my heart, I sing with all that I've got And tell the world who You are, I'm gonna praise Him The One who broke my chains and bought my freedom What else can I say but thank You, Jesus Cause You're just so good, just so faithful And You're just so kind, I'm so grateful That You saved my life like You said You would So with my hands up high, heart open And in a faithful mind, singing and dancing Cause You saved my life like You said You would Cause You're just, You're just so good You're just so good

Praise the One who broke my chains and bought my freedom What else can I say but thank You, Jesus You're the One who broke my chains and bought my freedom What else can I say but thank You, Jesus Cause You're just so good, just so faithful And You're just so kind, I'm so grateful That You saved my life like You said You would So with my hands up high, heart open And in a faithful mind, singing and dancing Cause You saved my life like You said You would Cause You're just, You're just so good You're just so good You're just so good Oh my God You're just so good Oh my God Jesus Yes Lord, we thank You for Your goodness We thank You for Your faithfulness today We remember who You are We remember that Your nature never changes And we thank You Lord We worship You today Come on, let's sing this together The Lord is my shepherd The Lord is my shepherd My refuge and my shelter Though enemies surround He's my defender Thank You Lord

Oh He's faithful and patient He's loving and He's gracious From age to age His goodness never changes Come on every voice Oh I will sing praise, I will sing praise For the Lord is good always All of my days held by His grace For the Lord is good, the Lord is good ♪ Always, always, always ♪ Sing my prize. ♪ My prize, my treasure ♪ ♪ He's good beyond all measure ♪ ♪ Oh I've tasted and I've seen there's nothing better ♪ ♪ So forever I will sing praise, I will sing praise ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ All of my days held by His grace ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ I will sing praise, I will sing praise ♪ ♪ I will sing praise, I will sing praise ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ All of my days held by His grace ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good, the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ Always, always, the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ Always, always, the Lord is good always ♪ Come on, we sing together. ♪ Oh I'm standing on the rock, the rock of ages ♪ ♪ Holding to the hope that's never failing ♪ ♪ I've got all I need, cause I've got You ♪ Come on, sing it like you believe it. ♪ I'm standing on the rock, the rock of ages ♪

♪ Holding to the hope that's never ever failing ♪ ♪ I've got all I need, because I've got You ♪ ♪ Yes I do, yes I do, I'm standing on the rock ♪ ♪ The rock of ages, holding to the hope that's never failing ♪ ♪ I've got all I need, cause I've got You ♪ I will sing. ♪ I will sing praise, I will sing praise ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ All of my days held by His grace ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ I will sing praise, I will sing praise ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ All of my days held by His grace ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good, the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ Always, always, we know the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ Always, always, the Lord is good ♪ ♪ The Lord is good, I'm standing on the rock ♪ ♪ The rock of ages, holding to the hope that's never failing ♪ ♪ Oh, I've got all I need, cause I've got You ♪ Come on, sing it out. ♪ Oh, I'm standing on the rock, the mighty rock of ages ♪ ♪ Holding to the hope that's never ever failing ♪ ♪ I've got all I need, cause I've got You ♪ ♪ I've got all I need, cause I've got You ♪ ♪ So I will sing praise, I will sing praise ♪ ♪ For the Lord is, I'm gonna sing it out ♪ ♪ All of my days, held by His grace ♪ ♪ For the Lord is good, the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ Always, always, we believe the Lord is good always ♪ ♪ Always, always, we'll sing it again, the Lord is good always ♪

The Lord is good, always, always, always The Lord is good, always, always, always The Lord is good, always Yes. Our God is good, amen? Worthy of praise, yes Lord. You are so, so good. Well, church family, we get to sing a new song this morning, and I want you to know the songs we sing in these times of worship, it's so important that they're grounded in the word of God, amen? That they're rooted in God's word and the scriptures, and this new song we're going to do today is rooted in the scriptures, and it steals from a lot of different psalms. I don't know about you, but I think David was a pretty good songwriter to write all the psalms, but primarily it's out of Psalms 8, and so I thought it'd be appropriate before we sang this new song if we read that psalm. Is that okay with us this morning, to open the word? Psalm 8 goes, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes. Distill the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all the sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field. The birds in the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. God, there's no one like you. And there's nothing more majestic than your name, nothing more beautiful than your name. So we've come this morning to lift it high, to praise you in this place. King of kings, Lord of lords, worthy praise. Lift your voice and magnify the Lord. Earth and heaven sing in one accord. Holy and most glorious, the one true living God. Lift your voice and magnify the Lord. We sing, O Lord, our Lord. And O Lord, our Lord, you are greatly to be praised. How majestic is your name in all the earth. O Lord, our Lord, hallelujah, God, you reign. How majestic is your name in all the earth. O testify that all that he has done. Bear witness to the cost in his goodness. Victorious in Calvary, the final battle won. O testify to all that he has done. Come on, we sing. And O Lord, our Lord, you are greatly to be praised. How majestic is your name in all the earth. O Lord, our Lord, hallelujah, God, you reign. How majestic is your name in all the earth. It's Jesus. There's no one like you, Lord. Come on, we praise him this morning. Praise the Lord. No other name is worthy. Praise the Lord. Worship the King of glory.

Praise the Lord. No other name is worthy. Praise the Lord. Worship the King of glory. ♪ Worship the King of glory, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ No other name is worthy, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Worship the King of glory, oh Lord our Lord ♪ ♪ You are greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ How majestic is your name in all the earth ♪ ♪ Oh Lord our Lord, hallelujah, God you reign ♪ ♪ How majestic is your name in all the earth ♪ ♪ Oh Lord our Lord, you are greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ How majestic is your name in all the earth ♪ ♪ Oh Lord our Lord, hallelujah, God you reign ♪ ♪ How majestic is your name in all the earth ♪ ♪ So lay your whole life down before the King, come on ♪ ♪ We joyfully surrender everything for Jesus is our King ♪ ♪ Jesus is our great reward for all eternity ♪ ♪ So lay your whole life down before the King ♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus is our great reward for all eternity ♪ ♪ So lay your whole life down before the King ♪ ♪ We surrender Lord, there is no one like you Jesus ♪ ♪ How wonderful, how beautiful you are, oh Lord, yes God ♪ ♪ And what a beautiful name it is, what a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my God, yes God, yes God ♪ Come on. ♪ What a beautiful name it is, oh and nothing compares to this ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my God ♪ Come on, what a beautiful. ♪ What a beautiful name it is, what a beautiful name it is ♪

♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my God, yes God, yes God, yes God ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is, oh and nothing compares to this ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my God ♪ Come on, death couldn't hold him, we sing. ♪ Cause death could not hold you, the veil's not before you ♪ ♪ You silence the voice of sin and grave, the hell's not before you ♪ ♪ Heaven's our life, the praise of your glory Lord ♪ ♪ For you are raised to life again ♪ ♪ You have no rival, you have no equal, now and forever ♪ ♪ Forever God, you reign, joy's the cure, you're the cure ♪ ♪ You're the kingdom, yours is the glory, yours is the name above all names ♪ ♪ And death could not hold you, the veil's not before you ♪ ♪ You silence the voice of sin and grave, the heaven's not before you ♪ ♪ The praise of your glory, for you are raised to life again ♪ ♪ You have no rival, you have no equal, now and forever ♪ ♪ Forever God, you reign, joy's the cure, you're the cure ♪ ♪ You're the kingdom, yours is the glory, yours is the name above all names ♪ ♪ Name above all names ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ And nothing can stand against ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ We praise you, hallelujah. I'm gonna read from this book this morning. This book's called The Bible. I've gotten pretty good at my house right now. I've got a three-year-old who loves to dance,

but she will not dance unless she is properly introduced. It's not just Everly, will you dance? It is ladies and gentlemen. And if I don't do it right, we start over. And then she gets in front of us and she does a dance that is not a dance. And then she gets in front of us and she does a dance that is not appropriate for me to do for you this morning. You know, sometimes I think we could come to church and we'll introduce pastors, we introduce speakers, we introduce all these things, we introduce our services. I thought this morning, we're gonna read out of this book and I wanna properly introduce this book to you this morning. If you didn't know, this book, it's called The Bible. It's the most historically reliable, manuscript-backed, geographically accurate, academically scrutinized book that's ever existed. 66 books written by 40 different authors, written over roughly 1500 years on three different continents. It's had years of scrutiny, debate, attacks, and attempts to disprove it because it is the breath of God. And even with years of scrutiny and attacks, it still stands as the most reliable document the world has ever seen. And here's what it says this morning, Philippians 2, verse six.

Here's what it says about Jesus. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God. He was a man of God. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare, and let's say this together, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's good news this morning. If you're in church, God, we declare this morning that you are good. You are a good, good father, and you shared your word with us this morning. God, we as a community of people, we don't gather for man, we don't gather to feel good, we gather to worship you this morning. So God, you are, we declare the King of kings

and the Lord of lords, and we say together this morning, this is for your glory alone. God, thank you for the opportunity to be in your house this morning. In Jesus' name, and everybody said. Amen, amen. Amen. Hey, we're so glad that you're with us. If you're watching online, our prison campus is welcome. Do me a favor before we get into the word this morning, why don't you turn around, greet one another. We're so glad you're here. Welcome to Gateway. We're so glad you're here. Welcome to Gateway. All right, welcome to church, everybody. How are we today? Feeling good? Come on, let's put our hands together one more time to give God the worship that he's due. We are so glad you're here. I want to say hello to all of our campuses, everybody joining us online or on demand later in the week. Of course, all of our gateway gatherings and our prison campuses, you're not a project to us, you are family to us, and it is an honor to serve you. Of course, if you're here for the first time or the first

time in a long time, we want to say welcome. Come on, let's put our hands together at every campus for those that are with us for the first time or the first time in a while, welcome home. We have been in this series called TikTok Theology, and we're going to continue that today. And I hope that you have listened to the first two messages. If not, I'd encourage you to go back and get those. And I want to talk to you today around this idea of accept or decline. If you're the note-taking type, write that down. If not, go ahead and write it down anyways, everybody. But before I get into that, I want to remind you two weeks from now, you saw it just a minute ago, beginning a new series called Best Days, and that weekend is going to be a special weekend for a couple of reasons. One is off of the recent live recording, Gateway Worship will be leaving or sending out a new song, publishing a new song that is called Best Days. And it's all around this idea that your best days are in front of you and our best days as a church are out in front of us. How many of you believe that? Yeah. And then also on August the 16th, I'll actually be celebrating one year since the Lord brought us to Texas. Can't believe it's been a year. It's wild. A year goes by like that, y'all, by really fast.

But what an honor to be assigned here. And Texas has been wonderful. The last two weeks have been hot. Everybody warned us. I get your warning now. Hey, let's pray together and let's get into the Word of God. Lord, we love you and we're grateful for you. And we ask that you'd speak to us today. We believe that we'll never be the same because of time in your Word. You have the ability to transform us. So do that today. And we ask this in Jesus name. And everybody said a big amen. Amen. How many of you love a good invitation? Good invitation. Let me say it this way. If someone were to come and say, hey, I got a couple extra tickets to Sunday's round of the masters. How many of you love an invitation? Right. Okay. It's a little bit different, right? How many of you know that invitations can change your life? Invitations that you accept can change your life. Invitations that you decline can change your life. Can they not? I think about an invitation that changed my life. I was in my late twenties and got a phone call from a group

of people that wanted to start a church inviting us to come and be a part of that. And that became what we pastored for 20 years. One invitation that we accepted changed our life, right? A friend of mine in my mid twenties, around 25, a friend of mine said to me, hey, I'm in this theater production. Why don't you come back, come by after work? Will you bring me some coffee? I want you to meet somebody. That somebody's name was Tammy. And here we are 22 years later, like one invitation, right? How many of you know invitations you decline can change your life? So before I was engaged to Tammy, I was engaged to somebody else. Hey, it's been a year. You're learning all new things about us, right? It didn't make it down the aisle. Obviously I made it down the aisle with her. I think my mom prayed that one away. She's here with us this weekend. She's shaking her head yes right now. She prayed that one away, prayed Tammy in. Praying moms, all right? Just encouragement for you right there. If you're, if you're in a situation like that, encouragement for you right there. If you're concerned, just keep praying mom. But invitations can change your life.

And I want to give to you today two invitations that I think really affect your destiny and potentially your children, your grandchildren, a future family that maybe you don't even have right now will affect it about more than any other decision you'll make in your life. And it's two invitations that God gives us in the scripture. There's a lot of invitations in the scripture, but I think there's two primary that God wants us to give our best yes to over about any other invitation. It's, and these invitations will shape your purpose. They'll shape destiny in your life. They'll shape the. the level of fulfillment you live with in life or the level of fulfillment you don't live with in life. And the first invitation is this, one that we would be familiar with if you've been around church, and that is the invitation into a relationship with Jesus. That's the first invitation. It's the invitation not to religion and not to church and not to membership or not to any of that, but to a authentic, genuine relationship with Jesus. That's the first and the primary. Matter of fact, the scriptures have, as one theologian said, a scarlet thread that is woven throughout all of scripture, and it is this, is that God loved the world so much that he sent his only son into the world

so that we could be redeemed unto himself. That is the first invitation. And it's not to you being a better person or turning over a new leaf or trying harder. It is to surrender, really, at the end of the day. It's to saying, Jesus, I can't do life on my own and the way I'm doing it doesn't work, and I make you the Lord. Lord isn't a word that we use very much these days, but it's making him in control of our life completely and totally, authentically, to knowing God. Not having intellectual understanding of God, not an intellectual assent to the facts and the principles and the precepts even of scripture. It's to full surrender. It's to a relationship. It's not just a fire insurance. Are y'all with me? Like, I wanna pass hell, I wanna get to heaven. No matter of fact, Jesus said our prayer should be heaven come to earth. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. All of us are trying to escape earth, and one theologian said God is trying to you to bring heaven to earth. So the first invitation is to Jesus, but the second invitation that I wanna spend our time today is the invitation for you to share with others

about the first invitation. It's the invitation he makes for us to let our light so shine, we're gonna see in a minute, Matthew chapter three, to others around us that the world would be impacted by the life that we live and the light that we shine. That is the second invitation, and here is what's so interesting is that many of us are great with the first invitation. Jesus saved me, I wanna go to heaven one day, I wanna know what it is to have relationship with you, but then when we begin to ask about, have you told anybody about your acceptance of the first invitation, it's like, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't know about all that. That makes me a little uncomfortable, I don't know if I wanna do that. Can I just say something to you? Your faith is personal, but it is not private. It's never meant to be that way. And so I wanna give you a few thoughts on that, and then I'm gonna train us all. This is my goal this weekend, to train our entire church on how to tell people about the first invitation, because the world desperately needs it. So number one, let me give you a few thoughts, and then I'm gonna give you some very practical steps. Thought number one is this, it's why you're here. I wanna propose that it's why you're here.

I know you're running the business, and I know that you're pursuing the degree, and I know that you're trying to figure out life, and you're post-graduation, and you're wondering is AI gonna take my job, or am I gonna have a job in the future? And I get all that, but I just wanna say, above all those things, the mission of Jesus is why you're here. Matter of fact, Matthew said it in Matthew chapter three, I referenced it, it says, let me tell you why you're here. I love the way the message paraphrase says this. So the Bible's about to tell us why we're here, why you exist, why you're breathing today. You're here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavors of this earth. Here's another way to put it. You're here to be light, bringing out the God colors in the world. God's not a secret to be kept, everybody. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. And if I make you light bearers, do you think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand, shine, keep open house, be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous father in heaven. Why are you here?

You're to be a seasoning to the world around you. You're to be a light that shows what God is like to the world around you. When I grew up in church, we sang this song and you held up your finger. This little light of mine, I'm gonna, we got some other church people here. This little light, was it? Hide it, hide it, hide it, hide it, hide it, hide it. under a bushel. No! Right? I mean, we were forceful with it. It's little kids in church. Under a bushel. No! I'm going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. It's why you're here. It's why you're here. It's why you're in that neighborhood. Oh, you thought you just made the offer and negotiated the right deal. No, it's why you're here. It's why you're in the job you're in. It's why you're in the dorm room you're in. And you know what? It's natural in us to tell people about the things we're excited about. I mean, just think about it. I was having a conversation this morning. Someone telling me about a restaurant they went to this weekend. They liked the restaurant. It was great food. Then we ended up on other restaurants. Why? Because we like to talk about the things that we enjoy that maybe we've stumbled upon. I mean, you usually don't have to tell people or ask people if they have kids. They'll end up telling you. Right? You know how someone's a grandparent? They're going to let you know. It's kind of like CrossFitters. Come on, you know I'm telling the truth. That's funny right there. I don't care who you are. They're going to let you know. I was out doing the Murphs the other day. So anyways, I'm for it all. I'm

for it all. Why? Because we like to share with people the things that we're excited about. But for some reason in this one area, the enemy has caused us to believe this lie that you can tell everybody about everything. About the things, the vacation you went on, the restaurant you liked, the new peptide you're on. You can tell them about everything, but when it comes to God, you better be quiet. Better keep it to yourself. No, it's why we're here. We're here to be on the mission of Jesus. We're here to be a part of what he's trying to accomplish. It's why you're here. Number two, it's what people need. Man, if there was ever a day when people need you to shine your light, it's right now. Look what John chapter four, if you've been around the Bible, you know this story. The good Samaritan or the Samaritan woman, Jesus comes and he's sitting by the well. She comes out to draw water. And Jesus said to her, will you give me something to drink? Because his disciples had went to Taco Bell. They weren't back yet. Kidding. And the Samaritan woman said to him, you're a Jew. I'm a Samaritan. How can you ask me for a drink? Because they didn't get along. There was a lot of racial tension between these two groups. And Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asked you for a drink. In other words, he's saying, if you knew who I was, you would be asking me for a drink and I would give you living water. And the story goes on to unfold is that the reason she's even at the well at this time of the day is because most likely she was avoiding the early morning of the hour when all the women from town would come to get the water. And she wanted to come in another time because she was known as one of those women in town and she probably didn't want to put up with the scrutiny. So now she or she is alone with Jesus and she has

been thirsty. So thirsty. She's went to man after man after man trying to quench this thirst in her soul. And Jesus said, if you knew who I was, I'd give you living water. And he goes on to say, you'll never thirst again. And can I tell you something? We have a thirsty culture. We have a thirsty world around us. There's millions and billions of dollars being spent every year because we're trying to quench thirst. We think this brand will quench it. And we think this purchase will quench it. And we think getting on this program will quench the thirst and we're spending, spending, spending all around us. People are thirsty and we have living water. It's kind of like someone stranded out in the ocean and they're parched with thirst, but they can't drink the water they're floating on. Why? Because salt water will dehydrate you and only make you more thirsty, which will dehydrate you only making you more thirsty and eventually you die. And people all around you, some you even care about, are drinking salt water thinking it'll quench their thirst. And we have living water, everybody. It's what the world needs. They need the love of Jesus that we have to live. to offer to them. It's what the disciples said to Jesus in John six. He just, before this, he said, are you going to leave too? Because all these people that had been following him left because he gave them a hard teaching. And they say, master, whom would we go? Where else can we go? Because you have the words of real life of eternal life. And they said, we've committed ourselves. We're confident that you are the Holy one of God.

Where else do we go? There's only one source of living water and his name is Jesus. And who are we that have the cup of living water to not offer it to everybody that we come in contact with? It's what the world needs. Number three, I hope you can say this. It's what's changed me. It's what makes me better than me. Are y'all following me? A relationship with Jesus, the power of the Holy spirit in my life. I like to say it this way, the Holy spirit and walking with Jesus doesn't make me better than you. It makes me better than me. And I need something that makes me better than me because I'm limited and I've got a parent and I'm limited. And I need to be a good husband and I'm limited. And I need to be a good leader and a pastor. I need something that makes me better than me that can change Daniel from what he naturally wants to do so that supernaturally I do what God wants me to do. And if it's changed you, it can change other people. Are you with me? Can I just remind you, the gospel is still transforming lives. It's what happens in according to Galatians when we begin to show the fruits of walking with God, this is the message paraphrase,

but it's the list of the fruit of the spirits. What happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts to our lives in much the same way fruit appears in the orchard. Things like this, affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. We're able to have self-control. What is this saying? It's saying that there are some things that are supernatural that cannot be produced in your natural. And it is the spirit of God, it's faith in Christ that changes us. And if it's changed us, we are walking testimonies, we're walking witnesses of the goodness of God and the power of the transformation of the gospel in our lives. And so if all this is true, then why are we not sharing it? I think there's a couple of reasons. One, I think for some of us, we've seen it done so horribly, we'd rather not do it at all.

We've seen it done so offensively and so negatively, and we're like, we don't wanna become that. Or we've just seen, Trent, I gotta say this kindly. We've just seen it done weirdly. Are y'all following me? And we're like, I don't wanna be that person. I don't wanna be the one they avoid at the coffee table at the office. Or I don't wanna be the one that's like kicked out of the dorm. Like, can I just say something? You can shine your light and not be weird. You can love people like Jesus and not be weird. Are you following me? Like Jesus doesn't make people weird. People are weird before they meet Jesus. And so I wanna give you some really practical tools on how to do this. Because I just believe if our entire church were to leave the doors of our campuses, were to close the screen, and this week simply be the light, it would transform homes, transform communities, transform your office, transform your school, transform the dorm you're about to go move back into. If you'd simply do this, and it's not rocket science. If you're all with me saying this, if you're all with me, say amen. All right, if you've never written down anything

in the last year, write these down. Number one, simply be aware. That's it, simply be aware. In other words, have eyes. Let's see, Psalms 37 says this, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And then Proverbs 16, very similar to that says, in the hearts we plan our ways, but the Lord establishes our steps or orders our steps. In other words, in your day to day, I'm not asking you to like rearrange your whole day, be like, man, I'm gonna go stand on the corner and I'm gonna hold up some signs. I'm gonna really be a light today. No, I'm just saying, as you go throughout your day, I'm gonna wake up and the Bible says, you plan your day. I'm gonna go to the gym. I'm gonna have my quiet time. I'm gonna get ready. I'm gonna take the kids to school. I'm gonna go to work. I'm gonna run errands, whatever it is. I just want you to be aware that you may have planned the day, but give God space to ordain some things in the day. So just maybe the stop at Starbucks and the conversation with the barista was a God ordained moment, even though you plan to go there yourself. And maybe that whenever you went to run the errand

and the person that you just happened to run into in the store that you haven't seen forever, that you would just have an awareness to go, oh, this could be a God moment. This could be an opportunity for me just to shine my light. Does that mean that you gotta go, hey, I wanna make sure you understand John 3, 16. Wanna make sure that, no, shining your light just means I'm gonna be loving. I'm gonna be kind. I'm gonna be there. I'm gonna be present. I'm gonna be who Jesus is into the people that I interact with every day. I'm just gonna have an awareness for it. And can I tell you something? If you'll have an awareness, you'll start to see the God moments in your day. But if you just got your head down thinking about you and all the things you gotta do and all the things you gotta check off the box and all the lists that you gotta get through, you'll never see the God moments because you're not aware of them. I'm reading this book currently called The Science of Scaling and it's irrelevant what it's about, but it's so interesting this little paragraph that I read. And I was like, I was thinking about this message.

I thought, man, this is psychologically what happens to it. He's talking about pathway thinking relies on this. That's what I want you to get. A deeper psychological insight known as selective attention. So our brains have this ability to do this thing called selective attention, which is our human ability to mentally filter for the most relevant information while ignoring all other data. So some of you wives are like, okay, it all makes sense now. I'm kidding. I'm joking. Put simply, here's what I want you to see. The quality and clarity of your goal as well as your commitment to it shapes both what you see and the actions you take. So if your goal every day is to say, God, make me aware of divine moments where I can be a light in somebody's life and I'm committed to it, your brain will start to see those moments. All you got to do is be aware. It's like this. You bought the white Tahoe and now it feels like everybody on the road has the white Tahoe. The white Tahoe is always there. You just now see it. Listen to me, church. Look at me.

There's people thirsty all around you. Every day, all day, people are thirsty and you have living water. You just have to see it. Just have to be aware of it. Sit and rock it, science. How do you shine your light? Just be aware. Number two, be intentional. Just be intentional about it. Be intentional about being a light. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians. He said, to the weak, I became weak to win the weak. I've become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some. You know what Paul is saying here? I'm gonna give you the Daniel translation. Look for common ground, not battleground. Look for common ground, not battleground. How do I shine the light of Jesus to the world around me? I look for common ground, not battleground. Too much of church these days, in my opinion, is we look for all the things we disagree on and we give that 100% of our attention. If you can only find one thing you agree on, give that 100% of your attention so that. the door may open for the opportunity for the gospel to be shared and the love of Jesus to be given to somebody. And it may, and you may be, we agree on nothing.

We'll just be like this. Hey, we both are breathing. That's cool. Like, we both like inhale oxygen. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it crazy how oxygen, I mean, I just love it. I love oxygen and the fact that it keeps us alive and I love that you're alive. I'm being facetious, but you get what I'm saying, right? What is the thing that we can agree on that we might find common ground? Paul said, if you're weak, I got weak. Why? I tried to become all things to all people. Why? So that I may win some. Paul said, I became weak. I became whatever I needed to be so that I could share the good news of Jesus with the people I came in contact with. Paul also was great at coming in from people's perspective, trying to see life from their lens, stepping out of ourselves and into somebody else's shoes. I want to show you one example is when he was in Athens, Acts 17. So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus. It's a place where philosophers would speak and he laid it out for them. He said, it's plain to see that you Athenians

take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed to the God nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to this God so that you can worship intelligently and know who you're dealing with. I want you to notice what Paul didn't do. He didn't come into Athens and get the attention of all the people, say, hey, seen all your shrines, dumb. You ignorant people, what is your problem? No, when he come in, he came in to find their perspective. Did you see how he opened, walked through the door? He said, hey, I walked around and I saw how serious you are about religion. It's almost commending them in order to win them. And then he said, and I even saw one to an unknown God, the God nobody knows. And he says, I want to introduce you to that God. He came in on their perspective. He stepped to the place of connection with them, not saying you got to come over to my side. Get their perspective. Are you with me? Let me show you what else Paul said this to Timothy. He said, again, I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone,

be able to teach and be able to be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change these people's hearts and they will learn the truth. In other words, here's what Paul is saying. Hey, Timothy, I want you to operate with patience. Can I tell you somebody? Everybody is at their own pace in this journey of faith. And just because they're not running at the pace you're running at, doesn't mean that you're there to prod them with a stick. Are y'all with me? Some of you go to family gatherings and see people you haven't seen in years. You know you need to get things right with God. How about, how are your kids? How about we start there? I'm not saying we don't get to that place. Are you following me? I'm just saying some people get so shut off to the gospel because we're not able to walk with them at a pace that they're moving at and how God is working in their lives. We just need to be like, hey, I'm not. Are y'all tracking with me? Paul says, don't get in these foolish arguments. Like why are you showing up with your end times magazine? Let's start with Jesus loves you. And he loved you so much he died for you.

And I want you to know I love you. And I want the best for your life. Come on, somebody. Like, be intentional. Number three, be the light. I wanna revisit Matthew five again. He says, if I make you light bearers, do you think I'm gonna hide you under a bucket? No, I'm gonna put you on a hilltop. Why? So you can shine. And I want you to keep an open house. I want you to be generous with your lives. Words, I want you to open, I want you to be closed off to people. It's the opening of your heart to people. It's the hospitality of people. That's what is gonna prompt people to open up with God. So I have this torch and these candles, right? I'm gonna get one of these, my new favorite toy. So you and I both know that if we were to shut the lights down, that all the focus in the room would come to here, right? Because these would be illuminated. They wouldn't illuminate the entire room, but it would illuminate this part around the room, but it would grab the attention of everybody in the room. But here's what's interesting about these candles. Whenever you light a candle, the candle doesn't go. Look at me, I'm being a light.

I'm shining, I'm shining, look at me. No, all the candle has to do is just be lit and be a candle. And wherever it goes, it's gonna light up the room because it's just being a candle. Can I tell you something? That when you're the light that Jesus wants you to shine, you don't have to walk in a room and go, look at me, I'm being kind, look at me, I wanna tell you off, but I'm being loving. No, you just have to shine. You just have to shine. And in a dark and thirsty world, you will be a bright light and living water. But here's what's happened to some of you is that you're like, pastor, I tried to shine. I tried to shine in my dorm room and I tried to shine on work and I tried to shine. And every time I try to shine, they just wanna blow out my light. And then pain comes along and just wants to blow out my light. And the disappointment came along and just wants to blow out my light. But here's what I wanna show you is that because you're filled with the spirit of God, you just keep reigniting and reigniting and reigniting and reigniting. Come on, let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.

You were meant to shine. He didn't put you on a hilltop for you to hide and to cower. Just shine, just be Jesus. And here's what'll happen, 1 Thessalonians. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. So what Paul is saying, you should mind your own business. It's a good word for somebody. And work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders. Time out, I want you to see this. How you handle yourself and how you work with your hands is a testimony of who Jesus is. Let that sink in. It's not just you're there doing a nine to five job because that's when you got to clock in and clock out. No, no, no, that nine to five is either telling people about Jesus in a great way or not a great way. Paul says one of the greatest apologetics is how Christians work with their hands. And what will it do? It'll win the respect of outsiders and so that you'll not be dependent on anybody. Lead a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work hard with your hands. And that life, living that out every day, be in the light, just letting your candle burn will win people over to Jesus.

So be aware, be aware. Just say, God, give me eyes to see. Just help me to see in my every day, where are you moving and how can you use me? And then be intentional about it. Find common ground, not battleground. Don't pressure people, have patience with people. Try to see life from their perspective. and then just simply shine. And then when the door opens, someone says, why are you that way? The Bible says, be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you. What do you do? Share your story. What if they asked me about where the dinosaurs went? That's rarely the question, everybody. Usually the question is, how do you have peace? It's like you have, I don't have that. How are you able to be that kind of parent? I don't know how to, that's where people are thirsty. You just share your story. I met Jesus, he changed my life. Got around a community of believers. Share your story, share your church. You have a great church to share about, by the way. Phenomenal church, a resilient church. Hold your head up high because the church is not a building and the church is not a name. The church is the people

and they're remarkable people here. People in love with Jesus, people that want to help people journey in the journey of faith. And so you get to decide what you'll do with the two invitations, the invitation to Jesus and the invitation to share with others about the first invitation. You can accept or you can decline, but they will shape your destiny. They will shape meaningfulness in your life, purpose. And I promise you, they will shape your family for generations to come. So I pray that you will simply let your light shine. Will you pray with me? With every head bowed, every eye closed. Maybe you're here today and you've never accepted the first invitation. The invitation into an authentic relationship with Jesus. As I said earlier, not into church or into religion, but a real relationship with Jesus where you've really surrendered your life to Him, where it's authentic, it's every day. It's not just on the weekend. It's not when things are in crisis, but it's an ongoing, growing relationship with Jesus where you surrender to Him, make Him the Lord of your life. Or maybe you're here today and there was a moment in your life when it was like that, but you know in your heart, you've strayed away.

Well, today's the day for you to come back home. The arms of the Father are open and waiting for you. And so in just a moment, we're gonna pray together, just making that the confession of our heart. God, I wanna receive your gift of salvation or Lord, I wanna come back home to you. I wanna recommit my life. But before we do that, I just wanna know who I'm praying with. No one's gonna come to you or embarrass you. I just wanna know who I'm praying with at every campus. Myself, your campus pastor is there to see, but as I count to three, I just want you to shoot your hand up high. You say, pastor, that's me. I need a fresh start in God today. I want today to be a day of a new beginning for me. And if that's you, when I count to three, you just shoot your hand up high, then we're gonna pray together. So on three, one, two, three, you just shoot your hand up high. God bless you. God bless you. All over the room, God bless you. I see you. God sees you more importantly. You can put your hands down. Church, will you pray this out loud with me for the benefit of those who just slipped 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 amen. Amen. Come on, let's celebrate those who made that decision at every campus. You just made the greatest decision of your life. And according to the scriptures, all of heaven is rejoicing. So there's a party going on over you right now. And we would love to celebrate with you too. A few ways you can let us know you made that decision. One is very easy. You can just text the name Jesus to 71010 and our team will respond and follow up with you. Promise you're not gonna spam you. We just wanna help you in this journey of faith. And we'll see you next week. You could also stop by Connect Central in the lobby afterwards, tell one of the team members, but one of the best ways is in just a moment, our prayer team is gonna be down front and up in the lobby. Would just be to walk down and just say, hey, I made that decision today. I prayed that prayer. We would love to connect with you. For the second group here, you've said yes to Jesus,

but even right now in your mind, or as I was speaking, I believe God was just bringing maybe a name or two to your mind of people in your life that are close to you, but far from God that you need to be the light to. So here's what I'm challenging you to pray and maybe even come and pray with a team member. It's maybe the boldest prayer you've ever prayed, but here it is. You ready? Are you ready? God, this week, give me an opportunity to be the light in someone's life and then be aware and be on the lookout for the opportunity to be the light in someone's life. Will you pray that? Hey, let's stand together. We'll ask our prayer team to make their way down. The team's gonna lead us in one more chorus before we're dismissed. You have any prayer need at all? Maybe you have someone in your life that is heavy on your heart that needs to know the Lord. Let's join together. Let's believe God to move in their lives and to open the door for you to be the light in their lives. ♪ Holy, holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪

♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those who are holy ♪ ♪ You are holy, You are holy ♪ ♪ There is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ As we dismiss today, is there anything we can, if there's anything we can pray with you for, we'd love to do that. Our team will be down here as we dismiss. As everybody else goes that way, we'll stay here as long as we need. Can we do something? Can we make some noise for everybody We are pleading with you. We want to talk with you before you leave today. I know there's a lot of people in this room. This could be, feel a little overwhelming, a big church, but we have a team of pastors and volunteers that would love to connect with you, love to walk alongside you.

So before you leave today, go by Connect Central, tell somebody you gave your life to Jesus. We would love to celebrate with you. I've got two quick announcements for you before we dismiss. Number one is if you're not in a small group, we'd love for you to be in one. Outside as you exit today, our groups team is in the lobby. Go meet some of our groups team, join a group, do life together, be a part of the Gateway community. And next week is a very special weekend. It is baptism weekend next week. So if you want to take your next step in your walk with Jesus, we would love to do that with you. We will be having a party. It's going to be a blast. Bring your family. We'd love to share that moment with you. So if you come, we'll have everything you need. If you want to pre-plan it, bring your own clothes, you can do that as well. But that'll be next weekend. Let me pray with you before we dismiss. God, thank you so much for this weekend. God, thank you for your word. God, I pray as we move forward in our week that you would give us the opportunity to be a light, that we'd be aware and be able to share your good news with the people around us. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen, amen. So good to see you.

Have a great week. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪