Engedi Church | August 30, 2026

has come it says the oldest gone and the new is here come on is anyone a new creation today come on look to your neighbor say what your new creation today come on look to the other neighbor say how you're ready to praise the lord come on if you have joined today put your hands together come on y'all sound good this morning let's see go across the room come on you know it listen and purify us the thing I'm living in the light of a knee that I'm always the nothing in my own way praise the lord I've been falling in your eyes today I'm living in the light of a knee that I'm always the nothing in my own way praise the lord I've been born again I've been born again you know I've been born again I've been born again I'm always the anything in your eyes today I'm always the nothing in your eyes today I'm always the nothing in my own way goodbye yesterday I'm living in the light of a knee that I won't waste the nothing in my own ways praise the lord I've been born again goodbye yesterday the spirit of the lord is upon me I've got resurrection in my veins ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again ♪ ♪ And again and again and again ♪ ♪ You're asking me out of the mess ♪ ♪ Out of the bed ♪ ♪ Trainin' a sorrow ♪ ♪ Confencing ♪ ♪ I'm blessed with all the people ♪ ♪ I'm blessed with all the people ♪ ♪ And again and again and again and again ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ Trainin' my sorrow for something ♪ ♪ And I'm blessed with all the people ♪ ♪ And again and again and again and again and again and again ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ The world behind the cross before ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ And I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ The world behind the cross before ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ The world behind the cross before ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ The world behind the cross before ♪

♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ The world behind the cross before ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ I won't turn back ♪ ♪ I won't turn back ♪ ♪ The world behind the cross before ♪ ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ ♪ And again and again and again and again ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪

♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ You're wrestling me out of the best I was in ♪ ♪ Dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ ♪ Dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ ♪ Dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ ♪ Dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ ♪ Dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ It's the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I can't fall in the pain ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪

♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪

♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪

♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪

♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪

♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ ♪ I'm dancing on the great that I want to be ♪ is when the only one who conquered death, he reigns. He reigns. Christ the king, the king, the king. He round the grave, he holds the keys, he reigns. He reigns, and he reigns forever, holy of me. All of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns forever, holy of me. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns forever, holy of me. All of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns forever, holy of me. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns forever, first and last response is when the only one who conquered death, he reigns. He reigns, he tries to dream the victory. He round the grave, he holds the keys, he reigns. He reigns, and he reigns forever, holy of me. And he reigns forever, holy of me. He reigns forever, holy of me.

King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns for the Lord. And he reigns forever, holy of me. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns forever. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. And he reigns forever, holy of me. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. King of the long things were needed for the Lord. ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ The Lamb of the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪

♪ The Lamb is all to come ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ The Lamb is all to come ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ The Lamb is all to come ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ The Lamb is all to come ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ The Lamb is all to come ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ The Lamb is all to come ♪ ♪ But forever He is glorified ♪ ♪ Forever He is lifted high ♪ ♪ Forever He is risen He is alive ♪ ♪ He is glorified ♪ ♪ Forever He is glorified ♪ ♪ Forever He is lifted high ♪ ♪ Forever He is risen He is alive ♪ ♪ He is alive ♪ ♪ So let Him lead me ♪ ♪ Come by me for the kingdom change ♪ ♪ Let Him lead us ♪

♪ Confess that He is the Lord ♪ ♪ For the love we are ♪ ♪ And the storm with all of heaven ♪ ♪ And the Lord ♪ ♪ We sing that I believe ♪ ♪ Let us bring Him ♪ ♪ Bow before the kingdom change ♪ ♪ Let every song ♪ ♪ Confess that He is the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the Lord shout ♪ ♪ Let us join with all of heaven ♪ ♪ We sing that He is the Lord ♪ ♪ Let every be ♪ ♪ Let every be ♪ ♪ Come by before the kingdom change ♪ ♪ Let every song ♪ ♪ Confess that He is the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the Lord shout ♪ ♪ Let us join with all of heaven ♪ Sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all. Sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all. Sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all, sing it all. ♪ Of exaltation ♪ ♪ Doppas born to lift your name above all these ♪ ♪ You hear the melody of all creation ♪ ♪ There's a song of praise that only I can bring ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪

♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Who, be you, Jesus ♪ ♪ You are the King ♪ ♪ God of the ages ♪ ♪ And you chose to make my heart tell me ♪ ♪ You choose my broken hand ♪ ♪ You choose me, your glory ♪ ♪ So I have lost gangsta ♪ ♪ Even they just say ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ No one, no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ If the heck to you, Jesus ♪

♪ Our demons ♪ ♪ Our rocks ♪ ♪ Our rest in life ♪ ♪ The speed that you want ♪ ♪ The love again ♪ ♪ The name of God, anointing one ♪ ♪ But what is it, is it peace to come ♪ ♪ The speed in all of our own love ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ God is the one that we shed His blood ♪ ♪ Who to us, the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, we lift it up ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ The name of God, anointing one ♪ ♪ But what is it, is it peace to come ♪ ♪ The speed in all of our own love ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ The righteous one that we shed His blood ♪ ♪ Who to us, the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, we lift it up ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy of Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy of Jesus ♪

♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy of Jesus ♪ - Our church, if you know it for it, you can give us 10 seconds of your best praise. 10 seconds of your best shout to Jesus. 10 seconds of your best clapping, 10 seconds of your best letting Jesus know that you are grateful He has turned your life around. He has given you the gift of salvation. He died on a cross for you. He was raised to life again so that you and I might own new life. See you love Him, church. (upbeat music) (dramatic music) [MUSIC PLAYING] right now. And thank you for your presence that is in this place. Pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Go ahead and grab a seat if you'd like. Well, it's so good to see everybody today. And if we haven't met, my name is Brian. And I'm glad to welcome you to church. We've got a good day in store. And first thing I want to do is just welcome some special groups of people join us from different locations. So I want to say first off, good morning, Grand Rapids, campus. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good morning and Gedi Espanol. Good morning to all of you who are joining us in jails and prisons around the country and studying the word of God with us and meeting with us for worship. We're so honored to be one church in many different locations. And, man, we picked a great day to be in church today. Come on. I got a few things to share with you. It's fall. So that means there are some great things happening in the life of our church. Jordan already shared baptisms. Come on, somebody. Let's go 150 plus. What a testimony. What a testimony. So please come out for those. And, man, if like you're like, hey, man, I know that they've been having the signups and I missed it

and I know God is telling me I need to, like the Bible says, believe and be baptized. And I didn't do the be baptized part. Man, you can still sign up. It's super helpful if you can sign up online before one o'clock today. But if you can't just come a little early, we'll help you get signed up so you can be baptized and declare your faith in Jesus. I saw the regeneration video that we played today. And, man, I'm so excited about this ministry at our church. If you're here and you have trauma in your background, you have addictions, you have hurts or struggles and you've just like, man, I would love to experience freedom. That's what Regen is all about. And our team is going to be in the lobby today. And so whether it's learning for yourself about Regen or maybe you know somebody that like, man, they need to plug in, we just did our first year, kind of our trial year of Regen. And can I tell you, friends, those who are part of Regen said it was one of the single most powerful freedom-giving experiences of their entire lives. And so I want to encourage you, check it out, check it out, check it out. And then I want to just say one last thing and then I promise we'll get to the message. This really begins the series of weekends where we get all kinds of college students coming back here to get a hope and grand valley and they haven't poured all kinds of college students. And how many of you know to get it? We love our college students. Number one, all right? You need to know we love college students. Here's my challenge, though, to you, for this coming year. I just want every single college student that comes in here to just know they are loved and appreciated. They're making one of the, they're in a season of life where they're making some of the biggest decisions of their whole lives. Even these opening weeks will set their trajectory in many ways of the next maybe four years. And so what we want to do is we want to love college students. We want to disciple college students. We ultimately want to help send colleges students out to the world to make more disciples of Jesus. And so my challenge isn't getting, keep your radar up for students, love on them, man, let them know you're glad they're here. Maybe invite some college students over to lunch once in a while and let's pray God does a great thing in all of our college students' lives this year. Amen? Amen. And now we can get to the sermon. All right. So we've been in a series called Tons of Fire. Every shout out Tons of Fire. And every time I say fire, I get made fun of at home because I tend to say fire. I don't know if that's an Indiana thing or what, but I go fire, Tung of Fire in here. You can say fire. I like fire. And we've been talking about the Holy Spirit. And the first week we looked at the Holy Spirit's

ministry to empower us for a life that is really quite a bit bigger than what we could do on our own. That message a couple weeks ago is really the headliner of the series. If you missed it, please go back and check it out. Last week Pastor Gerald talked about the Holy Spirit as our comforter, as our helper, as our advocate. And I appreciated the words he shared. But this week, I want to highlight for you a different aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry. I don't know if you ever had this. Anybody ever had a question that you can't answer or a problem you can't solve? Anybody been in that place before, right? Yeah, you're just like, I don't even know what's next, right? Guess what? You are in the right place today because today we're talking about the Holy Spirit as wisdom giver. And man, some of us today are like, should I start dating this person? And others are like, should I keep dating this person? You know, as a time to whatever. And some of us are like, maybe I should propose and some of us are like, man, should I stay in this job? Should I look for a new job? Some of y'all college students, you got a major right now. You're like, I know exactly what I'm doing for the next four years. You were going to change your major 14 times before you graduate, all right? But we all have these questions. And how many of you know you need to hear from God on these questions? Right, church? You need to hear from God. Don't just figure them out on your own. Many times we can't figure them out on our own. So I'm going to pray and I really believe watching online, you're in G.R., you're in Holland here, I think Holy Spirit has something He wants to tailor make for you today a word from heaven. So Father in these next moments, we just give you our best attention. This is a sacred time, it's a sacred place. We're not here to play church, we're here to receive a word from the living God. I pray for the person who's here and does not have a relationship with you yet, that this would be the time and this would be the day where they will sense you reaching from heaven towards them saying, "I love you and I am for you." Would this be the day they surrender their life to Jesus Christ? I pray for each one of us, God, that wherever it is that we have a place of need, you would speak a good, strong, encouraging, authoritative word over us. We pray and ask for it in faith in Jesus' name. And everyone said, Amen. Recently Christina and I were at home having a conversation and she shared something with

me that was sensitive. I don't know what it was, but it was something that it was personal to her, and so she shares it with me. And after she shared it, I responded, okay? And I don't remember exactly what I said, but what I do remember is Christina was very clear, that was not the right response. He let me know that in no uncertain terms. And so I said, all right, all right, all right, I get that that wasn't, but here's the question I have for you. Last week, you shared something very, very similar, and last week you told me exactly how you wanted me to respond, and that's how I just responded. So I said, help me understand right now, how am I supposed to know how exactly you want me to respond in any given moment like this? And my dear bride sitting right here smiles real big at me and she goes, you're just supposed to know. Good luck, husbands. Good luck, all right. And I was thinking about that phrase and we had a good laugh at it, you're just supposed to know, and I was thinking about that phrase when it comes to what it means to flourish under God and with Jesus. What does it mean to flourish in life? And can I just tell you today, church, I am so glad that when it comes to flourishing in this life with Jesus, he doesn't just say, you're just supposed to know how to do it on your own. In fact, just the opposite, God comes to us and helps us understand the path of flourishing of full life in Christ. It really starts all the way at the beginning of the Bible. If you were to read Genesis 1 and 2, first two chapters of the Bible today, you would find the very first two humans, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. And God doesn't just stand back and say, here you go, Adam and Eve, figure it out, figure

out what it means to flourish here. No, God comes to them in the garden and it gives them detailed instructions. Here is what it means to experience full life in me right here and right now. And then if you continue on in the biblical story after the Garden of Eden, God sends the law to his people, what we call the law, this is this collection of teachings on what it means to flourish before God, both as individuals and as a society. And then God would go on to send prophet after prophet to the people of Israel and each time the people, the prophets would come to the people and encourage them, sometimes correct them, encourage them towards the path of flourishing, correct them if they got off course. And then even after the prophets comes Jesus. And I want you to hear what the Word of God says about the ministry of Jesus Christ. This is Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1. In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. Listen to this, the son Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. And so Jesus comes to the earth as God and he starts helping us understand in his three years of public ministry what flourishing before God looks like. This is what Jesus teaching was all about. Friends, if all Jesus did was to die on a cross for sins, he didn't need to teach us did he? He could have just come to this earth, lived a perfect life, gone to the cross, died for the forgiveness of sins, ascended to the Father, boom, all done. Jesus taught for three years straight. Why? Because he wants to help you and me understand what it means to flourish before God, amen. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, just before Jesus is about to go to the cross, to die for the burdens of your sins and mine, he looks at his disciples and he says this, "In John 16, I have much more to say to you." Can somebody say much more?

He's like, "I'm not done yet." He says, "More than you can now bear, but when he the spirit of truth, but when he the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide you into all truth." Jesus is like, "Listen, I know you want to flourish before God. I know you want to understand what it means to live a life of full abundance, but listen, I've got more to say, we don't have time, you don't have capacity, so what I'm going to do is send the Holy Spirit. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, God, the Holy Spirit will come and dwell in your lives and reveal even more of God's wisdom to you." Fast forward to Pentecost Sunday, Acts chapter 2, it says, "The Spirit of God descends from heaven like tons of fire on each one of those earliest Christ followers." The moment the Holy Spirit takes up residence, inhabits the lives of those Christians, they start getting moment by moment, step by step guidance from the Holy Spirit. Can I show you some examples? This is just from the book of Acts, I'm going to go through these rapid fire. Acts chapter 8 verse 29, the Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." Acts chapter 10 verse 19, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you, so get up and go downstairs." Some of you, the alarm went off today, you're like, "I want to go back to sleep." The Spirit said, "Get your butt up and go downstairs, make some coffee." Acts chapter 13, "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me, Bartimis and Saul, for the work to which I've called them." Acts chapter 16 verse 6, Paul and his companions are traveling and it says, "They were kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in the province of Asia." Can I tell you and just remind somebody today, not only does the Holy Spirit call you to go, sometimes the Holy Spirit calls you to stay. They're like, "Yeah, but we want to preach, we want to go do this amazing thing." He's like, "I need you to stay right where you are." Last example, Acts chapter 20 verse 22, the Apostle Paul says, "And now compelled by the Holy Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem."

And he says, "I only know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me." What we're seeing here, friends, is that when God wants to speak to us about the flourishing life, he does not stand at a distance and simply say, "You figure it out and I'll kind of drop an occasional word of wisdom in now and again." What you see particularly in the New Testament after the Holy Spirit comes is God wants to speak to coach, mentor every single Christ father into flourishing life. God is not silent, he does not say to those early Christians, "You're on your own. Just figure it out." No, he is walking with them every step of the way. Do you see a church? I'm going to share two verses with you that are so important and I would encourage you even to write them down, maybe even memorize them. Because can I tell you the same thing the Holy Spirit was doing in the first century? He is doing right now. It says this in Romans 8, "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God." Can I read it again? If you are a child of God, listen, for those who are led by the Spirit of God, those are the children of God. One of the hallmark attributes of someone who is a true Christ follower is they do not simply lead their own lives. They can say, "It is the Holy Spirit who is calling the shots in my life." We have many people in church who think they are Christians merely because they are attending church or because they grew up in a Christian family or something like that, friends. The children of God are the ones who are being led by the Spirit of God. That's the witness of Scripture. We say, "Well, what does it mean to be led by the Spirit? How does that happen? What does it look like?"

Back when Christina and I were in college at Indiana, we had some electives, our senior year, where you can take whatever class you want. We had this idea. We were getting married a few weeks after we graduated. have this idea. What if at IU, what if we took a class? Don't laugh, you never know when you'll need a good fox trot. I'm just saying, all right, you never know. And so we took this class in ballroom dancing, and I hate to say it to y'all in front of public, in all in public like this. It was a rough class for Christina. It was rough, rough. And the reason why it was so rough for Christina was because I was her dance partner. And anybody who knows me well knows, I have a very difficult time remembering a close sequence of orderly steps about anything. I mean, you give me directions to anywhere. It's a bad situation, all right? And so what happened in this ballroom dancing class is like we'd be supposed to step forward and I'd be stepping back, step to go to my left and then she'd go to the right. I mean, it was a disaster. And Christina would always coach me too. She'd be like, Brian, you don't need to lead every dance step with your head. That's what she'd always say. Because apparently every time I was supposed to move, I'd be like, like this, all right?

That's not, you don't do that in ballroom now. Oh, here we go to the left now, you know. It was terrible. And I think, I literally, I think the guy, like he just passed me, I did not deserve to pass that class. It was a train, I could not keep in step with Christina. And I think he only passed us because he's like, I do not want to ever see you in one of my classes again. I don't want you to come remedial dancing or any of that stuff, like just here's your grade, get out of here, right? And the problem was I just couldn't keep in step. And so we were kind of a mess on the dance floor, which is why I say Christina had a very bad time in ballroom dancing. Now, listen to this verse describing what it means to actually be led by the spirit of God. It says in Galatians chapter five, verse 25, since we live by the Holy Spirit, watch this. Let us keep in step with the spirit. Somebody say keep in step. This is the picture of what it means to relate to the Holy Spirit. Not just why, not just. Oh my, I got a really big decision. God, I need to hear from you now. Holy Spirit, we got to decide if we're going to stay in this house or we're going to move. We really need to speak. Man, the Holy Spirit speaks to those things,

but keep in step with the spirit, speaks to the Holy Spirit's desire and ability to guide every moment and every step of your life. Do you see a church? See too many of us were like keep, when we think of the Holy Spirit, we just think of the big moments. The Holy Spirit speaks to the big moments, but can I tell you the Holy Spirit speaks to every moment. Keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Pay attention to Him throughout your day. What is He saying about that meeting, about that conversation, about that job, about being in church today, keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Now here's what's so good. Once you actually start practicing this, and I'm going to get to what it looks like a little bit later, once you start keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, once you start living in it is day by day, moment by moment leadership. It's not just, oh, I asked the Holy Spirit to speak on the big things alone. Once you keep in step throughout your day, you're going to see some things shift in your life. I'll tell you the first thing I discovered shifting in my life when I started keeping in step with the Spirit is I discovered a confidence that was not my own welling up from within me.

See, I'll just tell you, I know some of you are real bold by nature. I don't know if I put myself in that camp. If I were like up here preaching to you right now, and it was just me and my own strength friends, I can promise you I would be plagued by fear and insecurity. I'd be thinking about what you're thinking. Was this a good sermon or not? Are you going to go home and say, "Hey, I'm Brian Conanelter. I'm like, "Oh, man, let's come back next Sunday and see what happens," right? That's what I'd be thinking about. But watch this. The reason why I can stand up here with a confidence, the reason why I can preach the word with boldness, is not because I'm doing this in my own power, but rather because I have sought the Holy Spirit. He has spoken to me. And so when I'm coming to you, I'm not bringing something from Brian. I'm bringing something from heaven. There's a confidence that comes when you walk in the Holy Spirit. This is an ambivalical term, but I call it the Holy Spirit swagger, all right? I got some Holy Spirit swagger whenever I'm walking. If I'm just walking in Brian's strength, I'm insecure and fearful. But when I'm walking in the Holy Spirit, I walk in confidence and I walk in courage

because I know my God is with me. That's what's going to shift in your life when you start keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Not only will you have greater confidence, but can I tell you, you start keeping in step with the Spirit. You're going to experience greater joy. Somebody shout out joy. Listen, some of you, I see all around I'll see you down time. Oh, a lot going on, pastor. Oh my goodness, just a lot going on. I'll see you at church. Well, how you doing? Man, hanging, hanging in there, you know? Like, you're never doing well. Just, I'm just surviving, pastor. Here's why you're surviving and why your spirit is not marked by joy because you are trying to pull off your life apart from the Holy Spirit. You're probably doing things you shouldn't be doing and the things you're supposed to be doing, you're doing in your own strength instead of gods. You know what happens when you try to do life that way? You get tired and overwhelmed. When you start keeping in step with the spirit, bringing your daily life before God, God, which way am I supposed to go? How am I supposed to live?

All of a sudden you're going to experience a fresh joy because you realize your life is not up to you, it's up to him. Somebody just reminded me, just after the first service today, they reminded me of Awakened Nights last year and we had a speaker last minute who canceled and I had to speak with almost no preparation and she said, man, what God did in that night was so powerful and I remember prepping for that night and I remember as I was prepping, I had almost no time to write a full message and I remember just laughing while I was prepping and I was laughing because the Holy Spirit, normally I need like 12 to 15 hours for message. I had like less than 60 minutes. The Holy Spirit is just like downloading everything I needed for that night. I had so much joy, church. It was so much fun. It'd be so easy. Oh, Mark, what am I going to do? We got a thousand people coming. We've promoted this whole thing. Oh my gosh, I got to bring my A game. I've got to come up with something awesome. Holy Spirit, you got this. You got it. And I'm telling you what, the Holy Spirit showed up in power that night

and it was so much fun. He's going to bring confidence into your life when you keep in step with him. He's going to bring joy in your life when you keep in step with the Spirit. But the third thing he's going to do is bring stamina into your life for the hard times. There is no way of voiding. I don't care how much you walk with the Holy Spirit, how much you worship Jesus. There is no avoiding hard times, obstacles, difficulties and setbacks in life. Y'all understand that, right? There's no secret pass where if you just align things just the way, the right way and you're just in church enough. Oh then, then I get to be exempt from difficult things. I got news for you. On this side of the grave, you and I are going to suffer. You and I are going to struggle at times. And listen, I'm not proud of this about myself, but I can tell you my natural response to struggling, my natural response to opposition isn't like, oh, it's a hill to climb, let's go for it. I just want to quit. Anybody been there? Like things get difficult. And my natural, I know some of you are like overcomers, right? I'm like, I want to go home, all right?

And drink a Diet Coke and watch TV. That's what I want to do. I want to give up. But can I tell you what I've learned as I'm keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, when the opposition hits, when the difficulty hits, when even sometimes the persecution hits, even though my feelings tell me that I want to quit, what I know from the Holy Spirit is, I have everything I need in Christ Jesus. I will persevere through whatever that opposition is. He's got a good hope for me. He's got a good plan for me. He's got a good purpose for me, and he will provide what I need to get to the other side. How many of you know the Holy Spirit is God's greatest gift to us, church? After salvation, he has such a gift. Confidence, joy, stamina. I was thinking of my friends, John and Katie Barst, and they're sitting over here. And John and Katie, they've had kids go to hope, and so they've made trips up here from Indiana for years coming up on the weekend, and hanging out here and all that. And John's had a very successful law practice for many years, and he's really at the top of his game. And last year, it was just about this time, Awaken Knights, for right around the corner. And Katie says to John,

"Hey, I want to go up to Holland early this weekend, "so we can be part of Awaken Knights." And John's like, "I don't want to go." But he's like, "No, I really want to be there. "I really want to be there." And so come on, John, let's go. How many of you know, sometimes we need a spouse or somebody, a friend, to kick us in the pants, right? We need that. That's a ministry of love right there. She's like, "Well, let's go." And so he's like, "All right, we'll do it." So they come up here, and John is still, at this point, eight to 10 years away from planned retirement, retirement, again, top of his game and his career, just doing great. And he's sitting in the various seats that you're sitting in. And that second night, Awaken, the night, by the way, that the speaker canceled on, he is sitting in the very seats that you're in, and the message is being given. And he feels the Holy Spirit tell him, "Very clearly, John, you are supposed to quit "your law practice." It's a massive level of prompting. But he heard it so clearly. Katie can tell. Katie's like, what's going on?

Did you hear something from God? He said, yes, God just told me, clear as a bell, I'm supposed to quit my law practice. And so they spent a next season figuring out how to do that well and wisely. They're fasting and praying because John walking away from his firm is a very significant impact on the firm. How do we do this well? That's part of it, right? John ends up following through with the Holy Spirit's prompting and ends his firm, his work at the firm in June, all right? After he closes up shop in June, just a few weeks later, Katie finds out that she has cancer. Now they begin this process of saying, what's this going to look like for our future? But he said, the moment I found out that Katie had cancer, he said, apart from the healing, she's going to have divine healing. She's going to have some serious medical treatments ahead of her. And he said, the moment I heard my bright head cancer, I realized why the Holy Spirit told me to quit my job. He wanted me to be with Katie so I could be every bit the husband and the coach and the supporter and the teammate and the friend she needs me to be and the time she most needs me to be it. How many of you know the Holy Spirit knows what he's doing, Church? How many of you know God knows what he's doing

when he tells you to quit your job at 10 years before you were planning on retiring? And so I think what most of us would say is, Holy Spirit, how do I experience you more and more? Anybody hungry for more of the Holy Spirit? Anybody just like, I just want to hear more of the Holy Spirit. I want to hear his voice. I want to keep in step with the Spirit. How do I do that? How do I keep in step with the Holy Spirit? It's funny for years I would see the Holy Spirit's work in the Bible and I'd be like, God, can you just show me one chapter that gives me like five simple steps to keeping in step with the Holy Spirit? That's what I want to give me. I just want one chapter of God. I don't need a lot that just says, these five things out, bam, Holy Spirit in your life. That's how it works. And it used to frustrate me that there's not a chapter like that in the Bible. In fact, if you read all the examples, some of them I just read and asked today, not only is there not like a five simple steps, sometimes it just seems like the Holy Spirit just falls on people randomly. Like John didn't even plan it. He didn't even come here like, yeah, I'm going to awaken 'cause I need to hear from God about my job.

He just showed up and they just got, drop something on him, right? Bro, you're lucky by the way. You didn't even want to be here and God dropped that on you, right? I mean, that's crazy. And so for a while, I'd be like, man, you know, Father, why does it feel like keeping in step with the Spirit is such a mystery? And then I realized it's actually not nearly as much of a mystery as I thought. If you've got a Bible, I want to ask you to turn to Luke chapter two. Yes, these verses are going to come up on the screen, but I'd love for you to keep them in front of you the whole time. In chapter two, verse 25, the story is going to talk about a man named Simeon and the story takes place right after Jesus Christ was born. And I want you to see Simeon's specific experience with the Holy Spirit, Luke chapter two, verse 25. It says, "Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, "who was righteous and devout. "He was waiting for the consolation of Israel "and the Holy Spirit was on him. "It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit "that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah." Verse 27, "Moved by the Spirit, "he went into the temple courts. "When the parents, Jesus' parents,

"brought in the child Jesus to do for him "what the custom of the law required, "Simeon took him in his arms and praised God." Now I read that story and we just have a few verses on Simeon's life. And three times there, we see the Holy Spirit's on him, the Holy Spirit's speaking, the Holy Spirit's doing this. And the whole time you're like, "Hold on, what does Simeon do to get all that Holy Spirit?" I mean, how did he end up having such a powerful experience? Step by step, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. And at first it seems like a mystery and then you look a little closer and you notice some things about Simeon's life. Verse 25, it says, "Simeon was devout." Everybody shout out, devout. Devout speaks to Simeon's reverence for God. For Simeon, watch this. For Simeon, going to church was not a hobby, it was his life. For Simeon, following Jesus was not a Sunday morning thing. Following God was not simply a Sunday morning thing or a church thing, it was his whole life. For Simeon, it wasn't like, all right, this is what some people say. In my life, man, it's God first, then my family, then my country, then football. I don't know how football snuck up in there, but it is what it is. Simeon's like, first is God. Let me just ask you, when you look at your life, is there a reverence for God?

Is God first above everything else by far? Not God up here and then your kids number two. God up here and everything else, a distant second. Simeon had reverence for God and his life was marked by the Holy Spirit. Verse 25, not only was he devout, he was righteous, somebody say righteous. Righteous or righteousness has to do with how you live, how you interact with people, how you do your job. It speaks to having a holy lifestyle, a holy lifestyle, someone like Simeon who lives a holy lifestyle, does the right thing and lives with integrity when people are watching and when no one is watching. Simeon is the kind of guy who does his 100% best work, whether his boss is paying attention to his performance or no one will ever know that he did his very best work. Simeon is the kind of guy who is watching what comes into his eyes, what comes out of his mouth and what comes into his ears. He is living a holy lifestyle. Let me just ask you, how you do live in a holy lifestyle? How are you doing resisting sin? Can I challenge some of you? Some of us right now are listening to music or watching TV shows that celebrate the very sins that Jesus died on the cross to set us free from. Holy lifestyle, holy lifestyle. And so we see this reverence for God. That's really the most important of them all, we see a holy lifestyle. In verse 25, there's this really puzzling phrase, it says, "Simeon is waiting for the consolation of Israel." What's it mean to wait for the consolation of Israel? At this point in biblical history, Israel had fallen to the Babylon's, the southern kingdom specifically, had fallen to the Babylon's about 600 years prior. And so think about this, for 600 years the Jewish people had been hanging onto this promise that someday God would raise up a Messiah who would set them free, that someday they

would come out from exile, they would come out from foreign oppressors, and that this God's Messiah would lead them into restoration and into wholeness. Here is Simeon with a 600 year old hope, and he is still praying, "God would you send your Messiah? God would you do something in my generation? God would you show up in our time, 600 years they've been waiting?" And here is Simeon praying with what, faith-filled expectation. Simeon, "God would you do a move, God I'm not giving up, God would this be the generation that you show up, God would you bring the prodigals home, God would you raise up a new spiritual movement in our generation?" Faith-filled expectation, you guys hear us talking about awakening, when we're talking about awakening, I'm going to be like, "Oh, that's so nice, they're having three extra nights of church." Oh, that's very nice of them to do all that work. Some of you, we're having these special, like, awakened nights for all the kids to all special programming for the kids, and some are like, "Oh, isn't that cute? They're having, like, awakened for the kids too, that's so delightful. Friends we are not doing awakened to be nice or cute. We are doing awakened because we are hungry for a move of God in our generation. We are crying out with faith-filled expectation, God. In our generation would you stir up hearts? In our generation would you raise up faithfulness? In our generation would you pour out spirit? In our generation would you bring back prodigals? That's why we're doing awakened. We are not satisfied with doing church as usual. We're saying, "God, we want to experience you." And if you're comfortable today, I need you to know there's nothing wrong with comfort, but you are in one of the most spiritually dangerous places you can be because comfortable people have a hard time developing faith-filled expectation.

Life's good. And yet Jesus says this, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Nothing wrong with being comfortable. Just make sure your comfort does not dull your hunger for a move of God in our generation. Let's be faith-filled that God might move over these awakened nights. Let's be faith-filled that he's going to do a new thing in our generation. And I love this last phrase so much, it's verse 27. It says, "Move by the Spirit," he went. Move by the Spirit, somebody say he went. It's real simple, right? Move by the Spirit, he went, notice what it does not say. It does not say, "Move by the Spirit." He prayed about the Spirit's prompting for a week and fasted, "Is that you really God? I need you to confirm it." No, none of that, right? It doesn't say, in my Bible at least, it doesn't say, "Move by the Spirit." He went and talked to fifteen of his closest friends and said, "Hey, what do you think about this? Do you think like this is God talking? Do you think I should really go to the temple? I mean, what's your two cents? Could you pray for me about this? I'm not sure. Try to discern this right now." No, no, no. It says, "Move by the Spirit," what church? He went. He went.

Here's what this tells me. Tells me Simeon has a heart of reflexive obedience. I say reflexive obedience because it's like a reflex. You know the doctor gives you the hammer on your knee, you ever done that? It's funny, isn't it? Evan and I were once sitting in the doctor's office. We're waiting and we just kept hammering each other's knee. We're laughing hysterically. They're like, "What are they doing in there? Oh my gosh. Keep me away from the reflex hammer." That's all I can say. But Simeon's reaction immediately, he hears the Holy Spirit and he goes, "I'm so proud of all those who are getting baptized today because you've been practicing this reflexive obedience." You heard the Word of God, it says, "Believe and be baptized," and you said, "Sime me up. I want to be baptized." And I have to tell you, Church, of all of the people that I'm just proud of for their obedience. I don't know if I could be more proud of one person in particular and that's Heather who's getting baptized. We got a picture of Heather. Heather was at our last baptism and you can see Heather's in a wheelchair and she heard that Word of God, "Believe and be baptized," and she's like, "Listen, I don't want anything in my life, anything in my life to get in the way of me being faithful to the words of Jesus Christ." And so Heather calls us up and she's like, "Hey, I got this wheelchair but I wonder if somehow we can figure out how to baptize me because I believe in Jesus Christ and I wanted to clear it through baptism and can I tell you, on this night tonight we are going to baptize Heather and we are going to say, "You are baptized and free in the name of the Father

and a name of the Son and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Reflects of obedience, reflects of obedience. And so, man, here's what I want to say to you, you say, "How do I hear from God? How do I receive the Holy Spirit? How do I walk with Him step by step? I'm going to give you four words, you ready for them? Here they are. Draw close and listen. Draw close and listen. Here's what happens. You see an example like Simeon's and too many of us go, "Oh, thank you, Pastor." So those are the four levers that I pulled to get God to do what I want. Too many of us are looking to just do certain things so we can get certain things from God. Simeon did not do those things just because he wanted something from God, Simeon did those things because he wanted the very presence of God. The gift of Simeon wasn't the Holy Spirit, the gift of Simeon was being with God, being close to Him. That's why I say, friends, don't sit there and try to make it a formula. The most important thing in your life is, do I want God? Because what we saw for Simeon is when you draw close to Him, that's the kind of person He speaks the Holy Spirit too. That's the kind of person that keeps in step with the Spirit. Draw close. What's it mean? It means you're reading your Bible. It means you're in your Bible every day. We got Bible reading plans going online for this series, every kind of series we do. Read your Bible and listen, maybe if you're starting out your journey, it's okay to be a verse or two a day, but man, you need to saturate yourself in the Word of God and you got to grow up out of verse of day stuff at some point and you got to say, "I'm going

to saturate myself in the Word of God so I know what the Father's voice sounds like." What's it mean to draw near to God? It means when the people of God come to worship, you come to worship. What's it mean to draw close to God? It means to get in a community where other people who love Jesus are going to encourage you and pray for you and you're going to have a chance to encourage and pray for them. Draw close to God. And then as you're drawing close to God, you listen. [BLANK_AUDIO] I've had God at different times. I've had the Holy Spirit specifically say to me, "Brian, you need to actually, you know, stop reading your Bible right now." You're like, "What? That sounds a little weird. Stop reading your Bible. Here's what I've learned." Sometimes it's easier for me to engage in the reward of reading and avoid the labor of listening. And so sometimes Holy Spirit says, "Brian, you need to put down learning more stuff, and inputting more information, and listening to the next podcast, and having the next…" And you just got to be quiet and say, "Holy Spirit, a lot of times I'll put my hands like this. Holy Spirit is there anything you're saying to me right now." I'll pray that prayer before meetings. I pray that prayer before every time I sermon prep. I pray that prayer before I send emails. "Holy Spirit, can I draw clothes to God? I've got to listen. Holy Spirit, what are you saying right now?" And I believe on many occasions, if you're a blood-bought follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will say, "Here's what I'm saying right now." And so we're just going to close with a little bit of time to listen to the Holy Spirit. And I believe again that if the Holy Spirit is everything that Scripture gives witness to, he's got some things to say to us right now. So I'm asking you to bow your heads. Make space in your heart to just receive. For some of us, maybe you want to put your hands out with palms up, that posture of receiving. And God, we just want to say thank you that you're a God who talks to us. Thank you, God, that when it comes to flourishing in this world and in this life, you don't leave us alone and say, "Just figure it out. Just got to know." Instead, you come into the life of every Christ follower through the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, and you teach us. You reveal your wisdom to us. And Father, there are some right now that just need an encouraging word from heaven today. Some here who are in a hurting place, and they need a word from you that says they're accepted, they're loved. They need a word from you that says there's hope. They need a word from you that says you are fighting for them. And so in these next moments of quietness, I pray Holy Spirit, would you speak to each person who needs a word that they might receive it and be encouraged in their heart? We're listening. [MUSIC] Staying in this place of listening.

There are no doubt some of us that the Holy Spirit has a word for us about something we're either supposed to start or something we're supposed to stop. Might be he's calling you to forgive someone or offer a kind word to someone or give help to a person in need. It might be that there's a sin in your life. He's saying, "It's time to stop. It's time to draw a line in the sand and say no more." And so right now, Father, we're listening. Holy Spirit, would you speak to us? Would you give those who need to start something, a prompt for what it is they are to start? For those who seem to stop something, would you give us a prompt even right now, Holy Spirit, of what we need to stop? [MUSIC] And then this final place of listening. Father, we know your heart is for every person around us who is far from you. And I have no doubt that there are some who are apart from Jesus right now, who you are prompting us to be the ones who can reach out to them, maybe invite them over for coffee or for dinner, maybe invite them to church or even awaken nights. And so Holy Spirit, in this next moment of listening, we're just going to ask you to put the name and face of the person that you're calling us to reach out to with the love of Jesus. Would you let us know who they are and give us conviction to go to them? We're listening. [MUSIC] And I think in this place of prayer, it is quite likely that there's... who have not yet put your trust in Jesus. And God loves you and he is for you and he so badly wants to have a relationship with you. But that can only happen when you acknowledge or sit before God. You say, "Jesus, I know you died on the cross for my sins, so today I'm gonna receive you as my Savior. And I'm also gonna put my trust in you as the Lord and leader of my life. And the moment you make that decision, God says you become a child of God and the spirit of God comes to dwell within your life. And so I'm gonna count to three and if you're here today and you wanna give your life to Christ, I'm just gonna ask you to put your hand in the air as a way of declaring today is the day I want to become a child of God. One, God loves you so much he gave his son Jesus

to die on a cross for you. Two, the same Jesus who died on a cross was raised to life three days later in victory so that as you would put your trust in him, you too could experience his victory. And three, if you want to receive Jesus into your life today and become a child of God, could you put your hand in the air right now as a way of declaring it, I see it in the middle, that's awesome, who else is saying I see God bless you? Anybody else who's saying today is your day, awesome, good job man, good job over there, awesome, okay? Anybody else who's saying today is the day God is calling me to put my trust in Jesus to become a child of God to receive his forgiveness. You can put your hands down Father, thank you right now that your mercy is real, thank you Holy Spirit that you are coming to us, speaking to us personally. For those who just had hands raised, we put our trust in you Jesus Christ, forgive our sins through your death, your sacrifice on the cross. We put our trust in you and both for now and for the rest of our days, we say Jesus, you are the lead and Lord of our life and Holy Spirit, would you guide us and take us into our good path, flourishing with you to pray in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen and amen, can we celebrate new life in the house? This is what the Holy Spirit does, friends, this is what the goodness of God does.

And listen, if you had your hand raised, I wanna encourage you, our ushers gonna kind of walk by, they've got a Bible as a gift to you and they've got a book that we give to anybody who takes that step, so as we're gonna stand in just a second, wave them down, they'll get that free book to you, so let's stand up. What do you say we end this day, worshiping Jesus? Can we do that church, let's make some good noise for God. (upbeat music) ♪ The man who's got anointed one ♪ ♪ Who wasn't his and his to come ♪ ♪ He seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ I just want to share his blood ♪ ♪ You move to us, the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ They've never got anointed one ♪ ♪ Who wasn't his and his to come ♪ ♪ He's seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ I just want to share his blood ♪ ♪ You move to us, the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up ♪ ♪ The world is worthy ♪ ♪ The world is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you Jesus ♪ ♪ The world is worthy ♪

♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ (upbeat music) You