Destination Unknown | Pastor Mark Jobe

Let's praise Him together. The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. And so let's worship Him in spirit and truth this morning. ♪ I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening ♪ ♪ You keep me dancing in every season ♪ ♪ Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy ♪ Thanks, dear. Yes, Lord. ♪ Why would I not sing of Your praises ♪ ♪ Even when trouble's come ♪ ♪ Why would I not worship forever ♪ ♪ Cause I've seen the good You've done ♪ ♪ And I'm not ashamed, I'm sinless saved ♪ ♪ No, I'm not afraid anymore ♪ ♪ What the world calls foolish, You have called freedom ♪ ♪ Now I won't hold back anymore ♪ ♪ I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening ♪ ♪ You keep me dancing in every season ♪ ♪ Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy, yeah ♪ ♪ I'm letting go, I'm wild in Your presence ♪ ♪ Until the sun comes up, You make me strong ♪ ♪ Whenever I praise You, Jesus, You fill my cup ♪ ♪ And I'm not ashamed, I'm sinless saved ♪ ♪ No, I'm not afraid anymore ♪ ♪ What the world calls foolish, You have called freedom ♪ ♪ Now I won't hold back anymore ♪ ♪ I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening ♪ ♪ You keep me dancing in every season ♪ ♪ Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy, yeah ♪ ♪ I've got joy in the sunshine, joy in the rain ♪

♪ You keep me dancing again and again ♪ ♪ Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy, yeah ♪ ♪ I've got joy, I've got the joy of the Lord, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, we praise You, yes, we praise You ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart, God ♪ Come on, church. ♪ Joy, joy, joy down in my heart, God ♪ Come on, tell yourself this morning. ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart, God ♪ It's all for You, yes. ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening ♪ ♪ You keep me dancing in every season ♪ ♪ Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy, I've got the joy ♪ ♪ I've got the joy, I've got joy in the sunshine, joy in the rain ♪ ♪ You keep me dancing again and again ♪ ♪ Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've got the joy, I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart ♪ ♪ I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah! Oh, we welcome You with praise. We welcome You with praise.

We offer fun, creation, and aways when You speak. Dark turns to light, death comes to life. ♪ You are Jesus when you breathe ♪ ♪ You are the one calming the wind in the waves ♪ ♪ You'll make a way, your promise remains ♪ ♪ Thank God you never change ♪ ♪ You were, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, King of all majesty ♪ ♪ You reign in victory, you were, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ You are, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, Jesus be glorified ♪ ♪ Forever lifted high, we lift the name of Jesus high ♪ ♪ Oh we lift the name of Jesus high ♪ ♪ You are the one, the lion who roared from the grave ♪ ♪ The storm rolled away and you overcame ♪ ♪ You're worthy of all praise, yeah ♪ ♪ You were, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, King of all majesty ♪ ♪ You reign, you reign in victory, you were, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ You reign, you reign in victory, you were, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, Jesus be glorified ♪ ♪ Forever lifted high, oh we lift the name of Jesus high ♪ ♪ Oh we lift the name of Jesus high ♪ ♪ Cause he's everything, you are everything ♪ ♪ All the glory, it's yours, it's yours, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, come on sing to him ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, now and forever ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, yes it is, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, yes it is, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, yes it is, hey ♪

♪ Now and forever more, all the glory is yours, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, yes it is, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, yes it is, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, yes it is, hey ♪ ♪ Now and forever more, all the glory is yours, hey ♪ ♪ Yes you are, you are, you always will be God, hey ♪ ♪ God, you're seated on the throne ♪ ♪ King of all majesty, you reign in victory ♪ ♪ You are, you are, you always will be God alone ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, Jesus be glorified, hey ♪ ♪ Be glorified, forever lifted high, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, all the glory is yours, hey ♪ ♪ Now and forever more, all the glory is yours, hey ♪ ♪ Always, always, always, always, always, always, hey ♪ ♪ All the glory is yours, all the glory is yours, hey ♪ ♪ Now and forever more, all the glory is yours, hey ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Hail to the Lord, all the glory to your Jesus ♪ ♪ It's all for you, all the glory to your Jesus, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh the glorious Lord Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Oh the glorious Lord Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Oh the glorious Lord Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Oh the glorious Lord Jesus Christ ♪ Let's sing You are. ♪ You are, You are, You always will be God alone ♪ ♪ God alone, seated on the throne ♪ ♪ King of all majesty, You reign ♪ ♪ You reign in victory ♪ ♪ You are, You are, You always will be God alone ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, Jesus be glorified ♪

♪ Forever lifted high, we lift You high, Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes we lift high the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes we lift You high, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one like You, there is no one like You ♪ Come on, let's sing all the glory. ♪ And all the glory is Yours, all the glory is Yours ♪ ♪ Now and forevermore, all the glory is Yours ♪ ♪ All the glory, all the glory is Yours, it belongs to You ♪ ♪ It belongs to You, all the glory is Yours ♪ ♪ Now and forevermore, all the glory is Yours ♪ Yes, Jesus. Thank You. And this is called How It's All Gone Let's find out how. It's all gone, hands over heart, let's sing again. ♪ Thank You Jesus, thank You Jesus more than Mars and fire, ♪ ♪ I thank You, all my hands to You ♪ Come on, thank You, thank You. Now that we sing, thank You Jesus more, ♪ I could sing these songs, as I often do, ♪ ♪ But every song will stay in me, and You never do. ♪ ♪ So I throw my hands, praise You again and again, ♪ ♪ Because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else before a king, ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ I've got one response, I've got just one move, ♪ ♪ With my arms stretched wide, I will worship You. ♪ ♪ I will worship You. ♪ ♪ So I throw my hands, praise You again and again, ♪

♪ Because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else before a king, ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Oh. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ All that You made me to be ♪ ♪ All that You made me to be ♪ Everybody jump! ♪ I'm not afraid, I'll follow You all my days ♪ ♪ And be who You made me to be ♪ ♪ All that You made me to be, yeah ♪ Come on, I don't need a way ♪ I don't need a way ♪ ♪ I can start today ♪ ♪ With Christ in me, I don't need, I don't need a way ♪ All right, one more. ♪ I will stand afraid ♪ ♪ Whatever's in my way ♪ Come on, church. ♪ With Christ in me, I don't need, I'll stand afraid ♪ ♪ And I'll let our talk and the things I do ♪ ♪ Jesus, let it look like You ♪ ♪ Jesus, let it look like You ♪ One, two, three. ♪ I will believe, I'm not too young to be ♪ ♪ All that You made me to be, all that You made me to be ♪ ♪ I'm not afraid, I'll follow You all my days ♪ ♪ And be who You made me to be, all that You made me to be ♪

Come on, everyone, dance. Let's all play this together. ♪ I've got bones to break through ♪ ♪ Faith to fight all fear ♪ ♪ Love like water ♪ ♪ Shining bright for all to see ♪ ♪ I am a child of the one true King ♪ ♪ Full of the Spirit ♪ ♪ Jesus, You're alive ♪ Everyone, hands up. ♪ I will believe, I'm not too young to be ♪ ♪ All that You made me to be, all that You made me to be ♪ ♪ I'm not afraid, I'll follow You all my days ♪ ♪ And be who You made me to be, all that You made me to be ♪ Come on, everyone, dance. ♪ Who You made me to be, yeah ♪ ♪ Who You made me to be ♪ Yes! Listen, you gotta be in shape to be on the Kids Worship Team. I don't know if you know that. Hey, can we give it up for them one more time? So great, thank you guys so much. You know, it reminds me of Jeremiah chapter 1, when God actually calls Jeremiah. The Bible says that his first response is, Lord, I'm too young to speak for you. And then God responds and He says, don't say you're too young, you have to go where I tell you to go and say what I tell you to say.

In other words, Jeremiah, it's not your age that qualifies you to be used by me, it's your willingness to obey. It's your willingness to obey, and that's why church, we say often in Gateway Kids, we say there is no junior Holy Spirit, that the same Holy Spirit that's in Pastor Daniel and Pastor Tammy is the same Holy Spirit that's in your kids and your grandkids and God is just looking for someone available, amen? And so here's what we decided to do today. Normally in a time like this, we would actually have you as the parents, grandparents, adults, older brothers and sisters pray over the kids, but we're gonna flip that today. We're actually gonna have Luxton Williams, who's one of our kids on our team here. He's actually gonna come and he's gonna pray over you. In fact, what he's gonna do is he's gonna speak over what we call the word declaration. So every single weekend in every single kid's classroom, we declare God's word. And the reason why we do that is actually a collection of biblical principles or promises that we speak over the kids and they speak over themselves. And so Luxton is actually gonna speak this over you today. And here's what I'd love for you to do. If you feel comfortable,

would you just turn your hands upward like this? And this is just an outward expression of an inward posture of receiving. And he's just gonna speak and declare God's word over you and then he's gonna seal the moment in a prayer. And so here you go. You are the head and not the tail. You are above and not beneath. You will be blessed coming in and blessed coming out and everything that you do. set your hands to will prosper dear Lord I thank you for this amazing day I thank you for each and every person in this room I pray that you would bless them in Jesus name I pray amen come on one more time give it up give it up for Luxton give it up for our kids praise the Lord listen and speaking of our kids team I started serving in kids ministry almost 20 years ago and it was an awesome opportunity to make a difference but also God used it to transform my life and maybe you're here and you you've been wondering what's my next step how can I serve how can I be involved if you're interested at all in serving in kids ministry out in the lobby there is a table set up that says gateway kids and pastor leader Rupert who's one of our kids pastors will be out there after service she'd love to talk to you because this is an awesome opportunity to make a difference in a generation amen and so I want to encourage you if you're interested go out there also how many like that song yes made me is out it's actually out anywhere that you can find music and so we encourage you to get that single pastor Mark Job our very own is going to be preaching this weekend's got a great message but before we turn our attention to him why don't you turn to two or three people greet them and welcome them the gateway church not the biggest thing for me as time went on I started to become more atheist and I was just leaning more into what I thought was right and not what was

really the truth it was the summer of my grade year where everything just went wrong I was trying to find what true love actually is my brother dragged me to student conference the potential that sits in this room is earth-shattering it was at student conference when I met God for the first time and I just felt this peace just wash over me I was on fire for the next two years and I was willing to do anything for him as my junior year came a lot of really rough stuff happened and I really just felt alone about two weeks before camp I had this miraculous encounter with the Lord it really felt like everything was just leaving me in a very very very painful way I knew I needed the Lord so I started blasting worship music I started praising because I knew I wasn't gonna go back to what I was ever again when we got to camp pastor Steven gave a message on how we need to slay our Giants and those Giants being our pride and our ego I just bawled my eyes out I felt my ego just finally let go and I felt so at peace with everything I remember seeing a video online and it was like people putting Bible verses on people's cars so I brought it up to my friend and I told her hey wouldn't it be really cool if we did them as Easter eggs and instead of putting them on people's cars let's go put them around the school so instead of us bringing them to the church let's bring the church to them we were originally only gonna do like 75 eggs But someone decided that it would be a good idea to give us 200 more eggs. So we brought it to our youth group and we asked them, hey, can you guys help us out with this? I asked them to put my number on the back of the paper so that we can see how the Lord moves. I think it was in the first two minutes, someone had already found the first egg. And when they opened it, you can just see the change in their mood. And afterwards, when I checked my phone, I realized that I actually had several people contact my number. There was a shift that had happened in the school that day. And you could really feel God's presence just move inside everyone. Well, hey, Gateway family, how are you doing? Good to see everybody.

Well, wasn't that a great video? I love testimonies like that, when God invades a teenager's life. That age group, that's the perfect time because there's enough maturity to really know what God's saying. And then when they begin to hear from the Lord about their future, that's when lives are radically changed. Sandy and I led a youth conference for 25 years. And those are some of the best memories that we have. So YouthCon, our youth conference, 2026, is coming up here in July. I think it's around the 15th. And students, if you have not gotten registered for that, register today. You can text the word youth to 71010 and get that process going. Parents, get your students there. I mean, for a life change. You heard Pastor Jelani say, there is no junior Holy Spirit. And so when the Holy Spirit begins to move on their life, I happen to have met my wife at a youth conference. Just saying, just saying. And so grandparents, hey, listen, you can be involved too. Sponsor these students. And if you don't have any grandkids, sponsor somebody else's students to go. All right. So that's coming up this next month. That's exciting. Well, I want to greet everyone watching online, all of our campuses as well. And I'm so glad that you've chosen to join in with us. We're going to be finishing our series today on the road trip. So this being the conclusion of the road trip, you'd think that we'd finally have a destination, right? I mean, let's park the car. Of course, every time I see that opener, I see that small car, I'm thinking, that was one small family. Because it took more than that to get us on vacation. But, you know, you think, all right, we've got a destination in mind. We're going to finally get there.

But today I'm going to be talking about the life of Abraham. And one of the things the Lord said to Abraham when he started his journey was, I'm going to send you to a place that you've never known. He stepped out in faith. So basically, I'm going to be talking about a destination today, but it's destination unknown. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the Word of God. I ask today, Lord, that you would speak to us out of the Scripture. God, I pray today that you would impact our hearts and impact our lives. And, Lord, I pray more than anything else that we would not settle our life in the wrong place. But, God, we would press in to what you have for all of us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8, the Scripture says, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. He goes on to say, and he went out not knowing where he was going. I love this layout in this passage. I mean, you could just stay right here all day. But I love the fact that when Abraham obeyed God, when he heard God, he obeyed God immediately. I mean, how many times has the Lord had to work with us for weeks, if not months, maybe even, God forbid, years, to get us to step out in obedience to that next thing that God has for us to do? You know, Sandy and I love road trips. Sometimes we'll plan an entire month just for a one-day trip. But we love to take these one-day trips in Texas. And a lot of the trips we have done numerous times because it's something we love to do. We love to plan. We actually bought a book on road trips in Texas. But my dad, it was a different story. Some would call it spontaneous. I called it no planning. But hey, it was a vacation. Nonetheless. I remember one year. He said hey, let's go to Colorado and it meant grab your stuff

We're going like right now. And so he he he bought a new to us car. You know what I'm talking about? 1975 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Oh Yeah Can I just say at age 15? It's impossible to look cool climbing into that It did have a really cool backseat though the backseat faced outward, you know, so you could look at where you'd been Okay, that was fun but we we broke down along the way and You know, like I said, there were no plans And so my brother and I's we would come through these small towns. We'd start looking for the hotel We'd beg we'd beg dad Please stop before it gets dark and we'd look for these hotels that had I said hotels I should say motel I don't know that I stayed in a hotel until after I got married. I Didn't know they existed, you know all the places I stayed you pulled the car out out in front of the door But we looked for a swimming pool that had a diving board I mean that was like a hit, you know, we can find that was vacation I remember that week we stayed in some godforsaken town so the car could be fixed, but we had a diving board That's all I remember I'm not saying the car was old, but that's the exact model that Abraham and his family owned. Okay, just sad Yeah, I was thinking the other day Oldsmobile you think you'd get a clue by the name Old Mobile, you know, never mind. Never mind. I love the fact that our life is the life of faith a Life of faith basically is made up of steps of obedience one after the other What I love about this story of Abraham it says when he was called he obeyed When he when he was called he went so therefore when you're called the next step is go Obey, do what you what you feel like you listen I'd rather miss God by trying to obey God than the miss God by holding back. I don't want a life full of regrets. I Can't tell you how many times I've said to myself. I won't do that again But I'm glad we stepped out and we tried to hear God and obey God, but what does it mean to be called? Abraham was called

Being called is more than an occupation There's a difference between an occupation and a calling the word calling comes from a Latin word Volcaire, which is the same word we get the word vocal and the word vocation. Isn't that interesting? So an occupation it's not the same as a vocation it basically means this to call out or to call up Something in you for instance if you have a calling that means there's there's a desk There is a destiny laying dormant inside of you and when God calls to you there he calls up and out of you your calling and When it happens your whole life will be redirected toward that burden and that passion that's in you All of you in this room have a calling Some of you will be in full-time ministry. Some of you will be in full-time Marketplace ministry, but all of us have a calling we're called to make an impact for Christ everywhere we go You're called But God seldom gives us all the details. It requires faith. Now. There's a difference between blind faith and biblical faith Blind faith is just launching out hoping everything falls in place. That's kind of the way my dad planned vacation Okay, I don't like blind faith, but biblical faith is different biblical faith is based on a promise from God for instance Romans 10 17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Basically this when you walk with God you develop a relationship with God and out of that relationship with God God begins to communicate To you the best way that you hear what your future is and then there are steps of faith involved Sandy and I live by a passage. We quote this all the time We basically live on on making decisions based on the peace of God. The scripture says let the peace of God Rule your heart so if we're thinking about something an act of faith a decision in faith and we pray together if we have peace even though we Don't have all all of the details. We'll step out in faith because there's peace. I Believe Abraham understood that I believe Abraham walked with God because hearing God is all part of a Relationship with God in Romans chapter 4 verse 3 the scripture says about Abraham Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness It wasn't like he he heard God one time and said I believe that no, it was a relationship so I want to take this relationship back to Abraham's original city original town where he grew up the town called Ur.

In Acts chapter seven, starting in verse two, Stephen was speaking here and here's what he said. He said, brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia. That's where the city of Ur was. So he spoke to Abraham in Mesopotamia and the Bible says before he lived in Haran, that city of Haran is gonna become important in a moment. And here's what God said to him. Leave your country and your people. And God said, and go to a land that I will show you. Now, according to some of the early stories about Abraham, he knew he was headed to Canaan. So it's not a contradiction to scripture, but it'd be like me saying to you, we're going to Colorado. I didn't say what city and I didn't talk about all the things that would happen along the way. So basically he knew he was headed to a region, but he knew also he would have to go before he'd know. He'd have to walk it out before the revelation would come along the way of all the details he needed to know. Now, historians believe that because God spoke to Abraham while he was still in Ur, that it was all wrapped up in the family saga that was going on. For instance, Abraham's brother had passed away. His name was Haran, H-A-R-A-N. Abram's dad, a man by the name of Terah,

was walking through grief because of the loss of his son. And so Haran's son was Lot. How many of you remember Abraham's nephew, Lot? And so they all load up. And here's my thinking behind it. Terah was willing to go with Abraham because in his grief, he didn't want to be left behind. And it was the custom of that day for families to stick together. And so they headed out from Ur to Canaan. Now you gotta understand, Canaan was only 600 miles on the other side of the Syrian desert. But to cross over from Ur to Canaan by crossing the Syrian desert was absolute death. A shortcut to kill you, basically. So knowing that they couldn't go that way, they headed north up the trading path up the river Euphrates. And as they headed north, they landed in a city called Haran. Now, where's Haran? Glad you asked. You know, we make statements like this about the Bible. We say, in its original manuscript, we believe that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. How many of you believe that? I do, right? Inerrant basically means there are no errors in it. And infallible means you can absolutely trust it.

So what we're saying is we trust this book. And I not only trust the scriptures in this book, but I'm gonna preach for just a minute out of the back, which is the maps. I believe this book so much, I believe the maps, okay? But where did they go? Well, as they headed up, I have a map for you to look at here. As they headed from Ur, which is in the lower right corner, they headed straight up the Euphrates River and they landed in a city called Haran. Now, the interesting thing about Haran, that's the same name of Abram's brother. Historians believe that that city was named as a memorial to his brother. And the reason it was named there is that's where his dad, Terah, ended up living. And that's where they stayed. Let me pick the story up here, if you don't mind. In Genesis chapter 11, 31, it says, when they came to Haran, they settled there. And then it goes on to say Terah lived 205 years and he died in Haran. Now, let me tell you why this is not a good thing. I understand they had to go, but when it says they settled there, according to that map we just looked at, Haran is halfway to the promised land. I wanna say to us today, we cannot settle halfway.

Let me go back and say it this way again. Every one of you has a promise in your life. Every one of you has a destiny in your life. Every one of us are on a journey. We cannot settle halfway, especially when halfway commemorates or is in memory of your pain. Some of us has settled. Why would you wanna settle in Haran? The name Haran means parched, burnt land. Why would you wanna settle in a parched land when God's called you to a promised land? Somebody needs to say amen right there. I'm telling you, we can't settle halfway. Abram and his dad and his whole family, they're walking through such a difficult season in their life. Their brother and his son had passed away and Haran then represented a place of grief and sorrow. It was. the place of pain. I'll say to you this, we'll all have hurrahs in our life. Well, we all have places of pain. Some of us have different levels of pain. Some pain takes longer to get through and to get over. Some of you have lost children and you can identify. We've lost a granddaughter. We can identify somewhat with the pain of losing someone that you love. But I have to say to you,

no matter what you've walked through, no matter the level of your pain, if you stay there, if you settle there, you will die there. And that's not the plan of God for you. From time to time, we're gonna be tested. We're gonna be pushed to the limit. We're gonna be tempted to quit. We're gonna be tempted to throw in the towel. We're gonna be tempted to find something else easier to do. But when there's a calling on your life, when there's a purpose on your life, you cannot settle halfway. You just can't do it. Some point you've got to draw a line in the sand and you've got to say pain will not stop the call of God on my life. Several years ago, I was doing some mission work in Honduras and I had this young girl on our team. She was in her 20s. Her name was Amy. Amy had cystic fibrosis. There was a lot of things that Amy couldn't do, but her parents let her go on that mission trip because she begged them. She always wanted to be a missionary. She always wanted to go to a foreign country and they let her go with us. I remember that week vividly because I got to see an incredible miracle happen. We were walking through a barrio, an old poor village,

and there were kids running in the streets and we kept noticing that there were these gang members and they were watching us and the local missionary told us, those are gang members. They're policing the streets and they're making sure you don't get out of line. About this time, a young girl walked up to us and she was very young. I'm gonna guess around 13, 14 years old and she appeared to be pregnant. And so we troubled, you know, we were all troubled by the circumstances and we walked up, began to talk to her, found out she wasn't pregnant at all. She had a tumor in her stomach. As we began to share the gospel with her, Amy just said, hey, we wanna pray for your healing. And Amy put her hand on that little girl's stomach and we put our hand on top of Amy's and as Amy began to pray, that tumor disappeared. We all were just shocked. The little girl, listen, the little girl began to cry. We began to cry. The gang members thought we did something to hurt her. So they just rushed in on us and as they found out what had just happened, they all started crying. I'm talking to these tough guys. And that day, seven people gave their hearts to Christ because of Amy.

Are you listening? Now, let me go forward. Amy got sick on that trip. We had to put her in a hospital and get her on oxygen because of her cystic fibrosis. One of the guys on the trip, I mean, when I think about the details here, I think God knew. One of the men on our trip was an American Airlines pilot. And on our trip home, he said the pressure is gonna be too hard on her lungs. He made provision and called American Airlines, made provision so that the flight would fly at a lower altitude. Who does that? And they got oxygen on the plane and we flew Amy home and she got into the hospital here and just a few weeks later, she was improving enough. They let her come to the church and give a testimony. But after she gave the testimony, she went back to the hospital and a few days later, she passed. That's pain. That's pain I don't ever wanna know. But that daddy went back with me to Honduras that next year. And we preached a crusade there in that city and many came to Christ because of the Amy Pack Memorial Crusade. But let me tell you the rest of the story. Jim Pack's now 80 years old.

He's been back to Honduras 61 times because he wouldn't let his pain stop him halfway. Is anybody listening to me? You can't let your pain stop you halfway. You gotta go on in the things of God. Which brings me to the last points this. It's time to take the next step. You can't let pain control you. I'm gonna tell you the Lord will meet you in that pain and heal you. I'm not saying wait till you get completely healed before you step out. I'm sure Abraham still carried the pain. He stayed in Huron by the way for five years. He was 70 when he got there, 75 when he left. He died at 150. You can't make these numbers up. That was his halfway point. But it's time to believe again. It's time to dream again. I don't know what you've been through. And I'm telling you, you have a divine appointment with the Holy Spirit today to lay down your pain. Genesis chapter 12, starting in verse one, says, now the Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country, from your family, from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. This is where he spoke to him when he was in Haran. Now we know he spoke something to him in Mesopotamia there in Ur,

but he speaks this again when he's in Haran, as if to say, I'm still true to my promise, Abram. I still want you to finish what you started. Let me read on. It says, go to the land that I will show you, verse two. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. And in all the families, or in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Can I just give you a side note? God said, when you leave here, leave your family. Lot somehow got on the trip. I don't know if that was disobedience or what, but can I tell you, when Lot jumps on the trip, there's gonna be a lot of problems, okay? And there was. But on this word, Abram stepped out again, and this time, he made it all the way to Canaan. Now, it wasn't without some setbacks. For instance, when they got there, you'd think it'd be Disneyland. You know, everything's paid for, and you're gonna have this great time, but no, when they got there, it was famine. How many of you know your journey

doesn't always look like you think it should? How many of you know what you thought you'd do in high school and what you thought you'd do in college, what you thought you'd do 20 years ago, you're not doing today? There are turns and challenges and changes, but God's promise and calling have never changed. When he got to Canaan, there was a famine, so he detoured over to Egypt for a while. While he was in Egypt, though, some things began to come out of his heart that needed to. Sometimes under pressure, God begins to show us what's in our heart. Sometimes we're shocked. We're like, I didn't know I'd say that. I didn't know I'd do that. And the enemy tries to get you locked down so you never reach your destiny. What began to happen was some things began to come out of Abram's heart. We know from the scriptures that he lied to Pharaoh to save his own skin and his wife, but he lied to Pharaoh. Another thing that happened, he tried to speed up God's promise about having a son. So he had a son by his maidservant. How many of you know that wasn't God's plan? But how many of you know all of us have taken matters in our own hand from time to time, but God still didn't back off of the plan? And all these things basically funneled down to a day

when Abram was 99 years old. I know people don't live quite that long these days, but at the same time, how many of us would have waited that long to the end of our life for the promise to happen? And here's what I wanna say to you. The promise was not fulfilled until Abram laid it all down. Let me read it to you. Genesis 17, verse one. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am almighty God, walk before me and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you. That right there is the turning point. I'll explain in just a moment. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. And then Abram fell on his face and God talked with him saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham, for I have made you the father of many nations. Before the covenant, Abram's name meant exalted father. After the covenant, God changed his name to father of many nations. Before the covenant, Abram made all kinds of selfish decisions. After the covenant,

Abram's attention turned to the nations and the promise of God to fulfill the original thing God told him to do. So what happened? What's this covenant thing? Well, basically this. When they would cut covenant, they would take sacrificial animals and basically cut them in half and separate them. And then if I was gonna cut a covenant with you, I would walk a figure eight through those pieces. Then you would walk a figure eight through those pieces. We'd be bound together, blood brothers, blood sisters, that kind of a thing. That's a covenant. Today, we have a covenant of marriage. And that's that's the two of us agreeing and bonding together, but it happened different that day with Abram The Bible basically says that after Abram cut the pieces and separated them a deep sleep came upon him And I'm thinking that's so he couldn't mess it up How many of you know some of us guys just need naps every now and then or we'll just mess it up But it says a deep sleep came upon Abram and then it says God walked through the pieces God walked through the pieces for both himself and for Abram basically meaning this Covenant is bound because I bound it It's not bound because of performance meaning if you do something wrong covenant broken No, God said I'm forming this covenant sounds a whole lot like the cross to me Jesus saying I'll pay your Penalty so that you can enter covenant with me and be born again It's a beautiful beautiful picture, but I got to thinking the other day Why did he put it? Why did he put Abram in a deep sleep? the first time you remember in Scripture someone went into a deep sleep was Adam and

Under under that godly anesthetic or anesthesia. God took a rib from Adam and formed woman deep sleep I'm thinking deep sleep again. God's doing surgery on Abram Because this wasn't just about a name change. This was about a heart change on by the way Why did you change his name from Abram to Abraham because God took part of his name and Meshed it with Abram's name and Yahweh Now was a bra ham Sarah Sarah I his wife was now Sarah Took part of y'all way Sarah God said I'm cutting covenant. You're mine Such a beautiful picture But can I tell you that the only way the promise ever could happen was when Abram laid it all down and became one with? God therefore the only way you and I Will ever fulfill the call of God on our life is in covenant with Jesus walking in obedience to him when we stray There's no way We've got to draw near and when we draw near and we walk in relationship Although sometimes we've got to walk in forgiveness and in restoration and being rebuilt and being restored and being redeemed We need all the all of that Relationship with God. That's why religion will never work. It has to be relationship with God That's why performance will never work. It has to be relationship with God on by the way When Abram became Abraham and he cut covenant We were beneficiaries of that obedience. Let me read it to you. This is the last passage Galatians 3 verse 7 therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham and the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles. That's us. I know we have some Jewish people in the room I understand that but we're brothers and sisters through Christ now We got included when Abram saw the stars of the sky and God said I'm giving you children

More than the stars of the sky when Abram saw the sands of the sea and God said I'm gonna give you more children than The sands of the sea Abram was seeing us We were the ones being included every nation Can be saved through the power of the blood that started with Abram and now ends with Christ That's a beautiful covenant. Let me read on Says in you all the nations shall be blessed So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham and then verse 29 says and if you belong to Christ Then your Abraham seed airs according to the promise You've heard the song father Abraham How many sons How many sons how many of you know that as father Abraham help me out I am one of them and so are you so let's just praise the Lord right arm left arm You remember that come on that's talking about you. That's talking about us. Oh What an incredible story you can't make this stuff up The journey was halfway. Are you kidding me? You can't make this stuff up I'm so grateful. I Declare over you right now There's a calling of God on your life You can't settle for halfway It's time to believe again. It's time to take the next step of faith God will meet you there Because he has a great purpose for your life on May the 26th in the year 1700 Count Nicholas Zinzendorf was born in Dresden, Georgia Germany into one of the wealthiest noble families in Europe. He was a count, which means he inherited wealth, land, influence, and a future in government. He could have spent his life chasing power and prestige, but as a young man, he stood

one day before a painting of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, and beneath the painting were these words, This I have done for thee, what hast thou done for me? That question changed everything in his life. He later said, I've loved Jesus for a long time, but I've never really done anything for him, and from this day forward, I will do whatever he asks. Instead of building a greater estate for himself, he opened his land to persecuted Christians from Moravia who were fleeing for their lives. They formed a little village called Hernhut. At first, the people argued and struggled to get along, but after months of prayer and repentance, the Holy Spirit moved in a powerful way in 1727, and out of that revival came a prayer meeting that never stopped. Someone was praying every hour of every day for more than 100 years. Think about it, a 100-year unbroken prayer, prayer chain. That prayer meeting didn't stay in Germany. It produced missionaries known as the Moravians who carried the gospel around the world, including to the American colonies and the Native American Indians. Years later, a discouraged young preacher by the name of John Wesley met those Moravian believers. Their peace, their faith, and their love for Christ changed him. Wesley's own spiritual awakening helped him not ignite the Methodist revival, which became one of the great engines of the first and the second great awakening in America. I'm telling you, if it hadn't been for all of this trail and the great awakenings in America, Christianity would not look like it looks right now in this country. It all traces back to one man who simply said, Lord, everything I have belongs to You. One act of obedience became a village. One village became a prayer meeting. One prayer meeting became a missionary movement. One missionary movement helped spark revival on two continents. And to this day, there's a prayer meeting 24-7 in Moravian Falls, North Carolina because

of one man's obedience. I want to say something to you. When Pastor Daniel got here, one of the first things he did in January was a 12 days, was 12 days of prayer and fasting. I felt something shift in me during those 12 days. Amazing news going on in this place. You see, we weren't called to just be a church that prays. We were called to be a praying church. That's different. God's raising up something in this place, and every one of you has a calling to step into. If you don't know the Lord, your next step is to step into salvation. But if you know the Lord, then your next step is to step into the obedience of baptism. But what after that? Then step into getting discipled. Step into getting Spirit-filled. Step into whatever it is. Go on a mission trip. Go somewhere. Go across town and give some food to someone in need. What is the next step? Because as you step into it, then God begins to show you more of the future. It's much like Psalms 119. Thy word, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. You'll only see that far until you step. And as you step and the lights begin to move, you begin to get your future just revealed because of your obedience. God's speaking to you. It's time to obey whatever your next step is. Would you bow your heads with me and close your eyes?

There are some of you in this room I really, really want to help you with your next step. When I was 16 years old, a pastor helped me. That night as he was preaching the gospel and talking about how much Jesus loved us, he asked a two-part question that I want to ask you. But before I ask it, I want you to go with me to this mindset for just a moment. Some of you have grown up in church, and because you've believed in God for a long, long time, you just believe that everything that you're experiencing right now must be salvation because you've believed in God a long, long time. I've heard it said that Christians, or those, should I say it this way, church members, sometimes are the hardest ones to convince they're lost. And at the age of 16, a church member, this is the question that was asked. If you died right now, where would you go? The second part of the question was if you're saved, how do you know? I couldn't answer either one of those. I was a church member. I was religious. I'd actually been baptized, but I didn't know the Lord. There are some of you in this room that fits you, and I want to help you. I want to pray with you. I want to help you invite Jesus into your life to begin a relationship of faith. If you say to me right now, Pastor Mark, if I died today, I don't know where I'd go, but I want to settle this with the Lord. I want to help you do that. I'm gonna lead you in a prayer. I'm not gonna embarrass you. I'm just gonna help you, but I want to know who I'm praying with. So if you'd say to me right now, Pastor Mark, that's me. If I died right now, I don't know where where I'd go. I want to settle this with the Lord. I want to know that I'm saved. Would you just lift your hand all over this auditorium just quickly? I just want to know who I'm leading in prayer. I'm gonna pray with every one of you as a group. I see those hands, some in the balcony, across the middle. I see you. I see you. Over to my right and to your left. I see you. Anyone else before we pray, just say, I want to be part of this prayer. I don't know if I died today where I'd go. I don't know, and I want to. All right, for the sake of those that raised their hand, you can put your hands down. For the sake of those that raised their hand, let's pray this prayer out

loud together. Let's all help them invite Christ into their life. Would you pray right now? Would you just say, Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross. Thank you for paying for my sins. I ask you today to forgive me and to cleanse me. I turn my heart toward you, and I declare that you are my Savior. I accept you as my Savior and Lord. Come into my heart and save me and cleanse me and give me that assurance that I might know. In Jesus' name, amen. Can we thank the Lord for those that just prayed? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Those of you just prayed, your next step will be baptism, and we'll help you with that. All you have to do is text the word Jesus to 71010, or in a moment, we'll have some prayer team members here, and you can come tell them, I prayed that prayer. What's my next step? And they'll help you, all right? I want to go back to something I said in the message. Some of us, some of you, we carry a lot of pain, and you've not been able to get past that pain and start that journey of faith again. And today, we want to help you do that. We want to pray with you. If that's you today, in just a moment, we're going to all stand, and we're going to have a prayer team here at the front. We're going to have prayer teams at each door. I know it's not everyone in the room, but there's enough of you. If you don't lay down the pain now, you'll die in the pain. You'll live halfway. You'll never leave and go to your promised land. You'll stay in your pain. Don't let your pain become a prison. Lay it down today, and let somebody pray for you. Some of you have lost children. You've lost your jobs. You've lost your marriages. You don't know what tomorrow is going to hold. Let somebody pray with you today, and let's believe God together for that chapter of your life to come to an end and a new chapter to begin. So we're going to do one more song, and as we stand, let's stand right now. Our prayer team is going to come. During this song, would you come and let them pray for you? God bless you. We sure love you. You are holy and I will give my life as an offering. You are worthy, so worthy, and I will lay my crowns down at your feet. You are holy, holy, and I will give my life as an offering. You are worthy, so worthy, and I will lay my crowns down at your feet. ♪ At Your feet ♪

♪ You are holy, so holy and I will give my life as an offering ♪ ♪ You are worthy, so worthy Lord ♪ Amen, amen. Hey, I wanna let you know, even as I get ready to close our time, if you have a prayer need, we have lines here, we have people there in the balcony. We will stay here as long as we need to. We would love the opportunity to pray with you. So just keep coming forward. We'll stay here so we can minister to you. I do just wanna take a moment. Can we just put our hands together and honor Pastor Mark for such a powerful word. He's having to step out to actually head to a funeral, but such an encouraging word. And really he finished by challenging us with the next step. And so I wanna just encourage you with a couple of opportunities for next steps for you. Number one is Growth Path. And if you haven't been to Growth Path, Growth Path is really an opportunity for you to learn more about the church and really get connected into the life flow of the church. And we have it every first Sunday of the month at nine o'clock and you can sign up for it by just texting CONNECT to 71010, or you can go out into the lobby. There's an area called Connect Central and you can sign up there, but we would love for you to go to Growth Path

as a next step. Also, don't forget about signing up for Youth CONN. You can just text the word YOUTH to 71010. We wanna see as many young people come and be a part of our youth conference because we believe God's gonna do something amazing there. So I encourage you to be a part of that. Also this Friday, everybody say this Friday, this Friday from seven o'clock to 10 o'clock, we are participating with the city of Southlake in something called Stars and Stripes. And we take a moment and really celebrate Independence Day. In fact, what we do is we kind of open up the campus. You can bring lawn chairs, anything that you can sit in and we'll actually be out in the parking lot in the grass area. We'll have food for kids. There's actually gonna be food trucks there, but basically it's a time to hang out. And then from 9.30 to 10 o'clock, we'll watch the fireworks show from the Southlake Town Square. And so it's a neat family time where we can come together as a church. And so I encourage you to be a part of that. If you are here for the very first time or maybe the first time in a long time, we are so honored you chose to worship with us this weekend. Church, can we put our hands together

and welcome all of those that are new to Gateway Church? So honored you chose to be with us and we would love the opportunity to personally connect with you. There's a couple of ways to do that. First of all, you can text the word connect to 71010 and we'll follow up with you there. Or if you're watching online, just text connect to 71010 and we'll connect with you. But also after service out in the lobby, there's an area called Connect Central. I'll be there along with some of our leaders. We'd love to meet you, get to know you a little bit, answer any questions that you have. And so if you have a moment after service, just stop by there. Let me pray a blessing over you out of Numbers chapter six. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless you, we love you, and we'll see you next weekend.