Fishermen

And it's exciting to see all that's happening in our church. We do want to welcome those that are joining online from one of our campuses here in Austin, or Mozambique, or in Italy, and then our 13 correctional facilities. Celebration Church, can we just welcome everybody that is with us today? So we wanted to kind of camp, as we do every summer. We'll take a book, and we just dive deep into that book. And it may be the book of Mark. It may be the shortest gospel. It may be, in terms of length, the smallest gospel. But it probably packs the biggest of punch. One of the truths that you'll learn in life is that you do not let the size of someone or something fool you. Can I get an amen, somebody? That it takes time for you to realize just because it's small doesn't mean it's insignificant. Or just because it's large doesn't mean that it is better. And I think that when we get into this book, and though we see that it is a smaller, concise gospel compared to the other gospels, but it is filled with spiritual life. And that really is part of what even Paul the Apostle would talk about in life. We don't walk by appearances. We don't walk by sight. We don't walk based on how big something is or how little something is.

That's why the Bible says, do not despise the day of small beginnings. Do not despise or don't look down on something that looks little or insignificant. You just may be a part of something that's gonna change the world in the coming days. When we planted the church almost 26 years ago, we were in a library, the Round Rock Library. And I look at Albert and I see a few others that endured those days of us in a library with a little sign, Celebration Church. And putting that sign out in the library there where they would come to the back of the library in a conference room with two little rooms. And on one side would be your children and daycare. And the other side would be me and the preaching of the gospel. And half the service, no one was in there with your children because Lori was playing keyboard and then she would run and go take care of the children before they started swallowing some of the things that we had back there as toys. It was insignificant. It was sad, it was small, it was pathetic, it was lonely, it was embarrassing. And that's why most people didn't stick around. It got down to one Wednesday night, I think we had seven people. And there was just those Sundays where I'd just look out and I said, Lori, there's more on this platform

than there is in this congregation. Which meant there was two on the platform and one in the congregation. And we just kept going because we had spiritual life. We had life. And we kept going into that life. It doesn't matter maybe how sad your life may be right now or how sad that marriage may feel right now or how insignificant that company may be, you got to maintain the spiritual life. And you've got to battle for that life and that's what God does say to us even throughout all the scripture. God isn't attached to the size of something but to the substance of that something. God isn't attached to the size of something. He's attached to the substance or you can say it like this, the ingredients. What's valuable on the inside? It's intrinsic. This is why the Bible talks about Saul when in the day of Israel looking for a king which was not God's will but they said, give us a king like Saul, head and shoulders above the rest of all the Israelites. Give us Saul, head and shoulders standing tall and of course that would be a disappointed king. David was a man after what? God's own heart. In other words, they weren't judging by the spiritual life.

They were judging by the natural life. And anytime you go through life looking at it naturally, and anytime you go through life discerning and it could be a relationship, it could be a decision and if you're looking naturally, it's going to cost you. What makes something valuable is its intrinsic value. It contains, it has a mark that is of course in relationship to God. There's something inside of that vessel and that's where Mark, when you read as it was talked about last week, this vessel Mark, John Mark, he had some values because he went through some lessons. John Mark, the same writer who write these words in the Gospel of Mark. Was a man that went through a lot of disappointment and a lot of suffering and and frankly a lot of embarrassment he disappeared from Paul and Silas He just one day in the middle of a journey They allowed him to go and he checked out of the Hampton Inn before they even had a chance to go to the conference And they went down for breakfast as they were downstairs waiting and of course there was there was no John Mark He had left and of course Barnabas did not want to give up on John Mark in their next journey But Paul says I'm not taking anybody that deserted me the first time But later on years later Paul the Apostle would say John Mark is profitable for the work of the ministry How many are thankful for a Barnabas? That didn't give up on you when you gave up on God How many are thankful for that Barnabas that encouraged in fact, that's what Barnabas did he's called the son of encouragement He found John Mark and he goes. I know Paul the Apostle. He doesn't want you, but I'll want you It's just amazing that even as great as Paul the Apostle was even as valuable Paul was writing two-thirds of the New Testament Paul didn't always see it the way God wanted to see it

And that's why you and I've got to have people in our lives. And this is why the Gospels are written This is why you don't just get one gospel you get Matthew get Mark you get Luke you get John and a lot of Mark is Written also by another man who had a lot of failure in his life. And that was Peter That many theologians will tell you that Peter probably as they sat down Mark inscribing and penning what was on the heart of Peter We're not even sure if Mark saw Jesus personal There's some thought that it was Mark Following in the tombs there at the very end of the life of Jesus that there's a thought that maybe it was Mark following closely behind Jesus But we're not exactly sure about this. But what we do know is that both Mark and Peter emphasize the works of Jesus This is what I really love so much about the gospel of Mark Mark gets right down to it. In other words, he says let's get to work That's the gospel of Mark, let's get to work. Let's get down to the bottom line Mark focuses on what Jesus did Matthew focuses on what he said the reason why the gospel of Mark becomes very concise is that even the whole dialogue of the Sermon on the Mount is not included and So there's a lot of that which Jesus would say that Mark does not include That's why the concise that's why it constricts so many of the long discourses of Jesus were not included and so what I think Mark is getting down to and what Obviously the influence of Peter is getting down to is that they wanted to get there quickly 42 times the word immediately is used when you read the book of Mark You'll see this word and immediately and immediately and immediately and immediately Luke only uses the word seven times. In other words, there's this getting down to business. There's this movement There's this affecting there's this going to something new Mark was also using this word as it relates 11 times in how there comes this and further on it's just a continual book 26 times Mark records the word and the fact that people were blown away

People were flabbergasted There's 26 events that people's breath have been taken They're left speechless So I'm just giving you a big picture that when you read the book of Mark Yes, the emphasis of Mark it does speak of his kingdom and it does speak of him being king But it really does get down into Jesus being a servant and Be Jesus being the kind of servant that isn't standing around It's getting to work How many have worked with people who has? co-workers Who when they get on the job they stand around? Just kind of stand around they're new on the work they're like hey, I'm new on the jobs like Get to work Hey, why don't you just talk to me a little bit about what I'm here to do and what time is break and what time? do we have coffee and I worked in the oil field many of my summers many of The times after college even I worked in fact before I went into ministry. I was working in the oil field and I was laying flow line working on pumping units and and we would go into production. So after the well would be Drilled we would go in and set up the pumping unit and the flow line And and so all that to say I I was the only guy in a six-man crew that had a tooth in his mouth It was wonderful. It encouraged me to brush my teeth and all that to say When I'd show up for work, I showed up because I'm green now I'm even though my family had been in the oil business and I've been out to these kind of wells and these kind of These places but but never as a worker. I Was a boss. I like the idea of being a boss boss because my dad was the boss or my uncle was the book But I showed up and I got my new boots in the oil field. I got my new jeans in the oil field One of the things you don't want to do is buy new boots and show up in the oil field So when I showed up in the oil field and we got let's just say there's an oil spill Let's just say there's a flow line that has that has broken and there's oil everywhere and guys on this crew Their job is to get involved

Well, I got new boots. I Got new jeans I'm trying to work like this I'm trying to fix a problem Like this How many know you can't fix anything like this? You hurt your back and as I'm trying to stay out of the dirt, I'm trying to stay out of the hole I'm trying to stay out of the oil. I have new boots Look at these boots. It's all about the boots. It's all about the look It's all about what people think that's an oil, man and then as I'm trying to work at a distance and Trying to get my hands on something that frankly it's gonna require more than my hands. It's gonna require my whole life. I Felt someone from behind pushed me into the hole And somebody's clapping as I hear that right now And They pushed me into a hole of mud and a hole of oil And they said now get to work. I Think there's a lot of Christians Who are wanting people to be saved, but you're doing it like this You're wanting people to come to Christ, but you're doing it like this There's a lot of people that want the new boots and the new shoes and the new life and all that's good But then when it comes to winning souls When it comes to winning people when it comes to investing in people when it comes to reaching out to people. We're like this and What I want to show today is that when Mark writes and Mark gets down to it He's giving us his I think ultimate message at the very beginning in Mark chapter 1 and verse 16 as it relates to Jesus Jesus is going along by the Sea of Galilee and He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea For they weren't afraid to work They were fishermen

The sea is always a type in a picture whenever you read the scriptures The sea is always a type in a picture of the world and humanity lost How many know God doesn't call us fish he calls us sheep So when you look at this connection to fish, you're gonna see God never said you are his fish We are his sheep Therefore these are people that are not yet people sheep They're in the world. They're lost they're without hope and Jesus sees What is necessary in the lives of those who are going to do what God called us to do? Like these four seeing Simon, of course Peter and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea he goes follow me and What you're doing what you're doing is it relates to catching fish You're gonna now from now on catch people Verse 18 immediately there it is. They left their nets and followed him Going on a little further he saw James the son of Zebedee I always like to say the James of Zippity-doo-dah, but it says He sees James and John his brother who were also in the boat Mending their nets notice Casting their nets mending their nets casting their nets mending their nets Do you see how the church is supposed to be built we cast we grow we expand we reach we evangelize We share we bring and then we mend them we assimilate them We hold them We keep them by discipleship by family by prayer Jesus wanted us to see even as it relates to what is necessary. There are those who really are Emphasizing and they have an emphasized gift from God to reach new people to talk about the gospel to share, to reach, to invite, and then you've got other people who are more inclined to pasture, more inclined to get people rooted and grounded.

This is the way the church should be. And so as he sees these mending their nets, he calls them, verse 20, and immediately they leave their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went away to follow him. I want to put on the heels of that scripture, 2 Timothy chapter four, verse five. The Bible talks about, but you being sober or keeping a clear mind, keeping your life clear, keeping your mind clear, clean or focused. He says, don't be afraid that, yes, you're going to have some suffering. Yes, you're going to have some hardship, but never allow for you to stop doing the work of an evangelist, fulfilling your ministry. When it comes down to it, this is what Jesus said, follow me, and following me, you will become, what? A fisherman of men. I think of all the things that Jesus tells us we will become by following him is probably the least I see in the church. It's amazing how we can follow him and we want to follow him to our dreams. We want to follow him to our vision. We want to follow him to success. We want to follow him to breakthrough. We want to follow him to healing and to deliverance.

We want to follow him into favor. We want to follow him for that which is going to bring life to our children. And all of that is true. All of that is right. All of that is good. But what I often don't see is an emphasis when I go to conferences or when you go to conferences and we have conferences around the word and conferences around prayer, conferences around healings and deliverance and breakthrough and we can go through all the various, even conferences around the return of the Lord and talking about what are the last days looking like and are we in the end times and all of these various emphases and all these various angles that I think, yes, they're not off, they're not wrong. But the thing that Jesus said is, by you following me more than anything else, what is gonna come out of your life is that you have a heart for people and you have a heart for lost people. In other words, you begin to be like me, burdened for souls. Follow me and I will what? Make you. Understand something. Maybe you don't really care about people's lost condition and I'm not saying that in a negative way.

Maybe you didn't wake up this morning thinking about people's eternity without Christ. It's either, listen, it's either heaven or hell, which probably is the root. The root of why we often don't care about people's eternity is that we really just don't believe what Jesus said, that there is an eternity called hell. And the reality is, is throughout the scriptures, there is an eternity. There's an eternity without Christ that results in eternal death. And that eternal death is eternal judgment because Christ came to bear and he took the judgment. He became the Lamb of God to take away our sins and without forgiveness, no man can have eternal life. Without forgiveness, no man can be right with God. Without being reconciled to God, this is why Paul says, we have been given a ministry of what? Reconciliation. That Christ came and he declared through what he did for those 33 and a half years, but publicly those last three, three and a half years, ultimately leading to a cross was for this reason, to end death and to end judgment. You could say it like this, he killed death. He came to triumph over death. He came to destroy death, the works of the devil. He came to kill, steal, and destroy. He came for this reason so that man can be reconciled,

that God was satisfied in his son, Jesus, through his sacrifice, through that which was shed on that cross God, he was offered up, not by man, but by God himself. as the Lamb of God. He says, I'm not being taken, you're not killing me. I have laid my life down. God sent his son. God sent his son, God so loved the world that he sent his son as a sacrifice. But if we don't believe this, in fact, if we just believe, well that's great, yay God. But we can still have eternal life without you. We can still have heaven without you. We can still go on without you. We can still live forever without you. Oh, you will live forever, the question is where? And without the cleansing blood of Jesus, and that which has been applied by each an individual's own faith, and confession of faith, and believing in one's heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, we can't have eternal life. And so when I look at this whole story of Jesus saying, follow me and I will make you become fishermen of men, he gives the invitation, come. There's an invitation, come. Come after me, come follow me, that word there, come. It just simply means come behind me. Come behind me, step behind me.

In other words, make your focus be about me. And as it relates to even where you go in life, I often say I didn't move to Austin to plant a church. I moved to Austin because I'm following Christ. And as you would see in the gospel of Mark chapter 16 and verse 15, he says go into all the world and preach the gospel. The imperative is not in going, the imperative is in preaching. In other words, the thought is, as you're following me, you preach. I followed the Lord and following the Lord, he led me to Austin. When you go where you go, you're going as a result of following the Lord and following the Lord, he leads you to specific companies, or specific places, or specific positions. You don't get out of line. You don't get out of focus of following or staying behind Christ. Your whole life is following Christ, oh and he will lead you to places in those worlds. I was listening to one of my mentors who probably died 100 years ago. They captured a little bit of his message and he talks about his going to Africa. He says, I wasn't called to Africa, I was led to Africa. He says, I was following Jesus. And following Jesus, I found myself being led to Africa. See, the emphasis, I make you, I mold you.

And so to say that you, in fact, I would ask the question, how many of you are followers of Christ? Who would say, I am a follower of Christ? So to become a follower of Christ simply means that the molding and the shaping and the development that is going to come by following him is always going to put you into contact with people. This is why the Bible tells us that we are never to stop doing the work of an evangelist. Or that we are never to stop doing the work of fishing. The Bible tells us that we are called as fishermen. And you can put it in this category. We're just simply witnesses. The Bible tells us in the book of Acts, chapter one, verses seven and eight. He said to them, it is not for you to focus on times or seasons, which the father has fixed by his own authority. I know many people often ask, Pastor Joe, when are we going to talk about the end times? The end times are talking louder than you'll ever imagine. It's exactly happening the way that it said it was going to happen. It gets really bad. Yeah. It doesn't get any better. You, can I just tell you something? Some of you are like, this is too early in the morning to hear that. The world is going to become more and more intense.

In the last days, people are going to become more and more selfish. In the last days, more and more disobedience. In the last days, more and more disloyalty. Read it. In the last days. And the Bible talks about this intensity, this polarization. How many believe that we are polarized like never before? Our government is polarized like never before. But in a way, things are becoming clearer and clearer. It's not about politics. When people say, Pastor Joe, what's your position on politics, I'm just going to be honest, there's a lot of politics today that have nothing to do with politics. It used to be roads and bridges and buildings. Yeah, we always had the conversation about taxes and those things that, of course, affect us. But today, it's not about roads and bridges. It's about what is a marriage? It's what is a male? What is a female? Or is God binary? See, we're dealing now not with politics or politicians. When people say, you as the church, stay in your church, it's amazing how they're following us all the way to church to tell us how to believe. See, we're in a world that, in my opinion, though it is getting more and more difficult, it's getting more and more easier to do the work of an evangelist. Endure hardship. It's not going to be easy. But if you're a follower of Christ, if you're a believer in Christ, if you are in line with

Christ, if your goal is Christ, if your heart is Christ, if your burden is Christ, if your goal is Christ, to bring Him pleasure, how many of you know what I'm talking about? Following me makes you aware of people. It makes you aware of people's eternity without Christ. Pastor Joe, who can tell if someone's going to heaven or not? Paul the Apostle makes this statement, their name is not written in the book. Well, that's Paul the Apostle. No, that's Paul by the Spirit, recognizing that people have fruits. And Jesus said, you will know a tree by its what? By its fruit. You see, we're going into waters, says Ignatian. We're going into waters as a world that we would probably have never thought that we'd be going into. How many would have thought? Let me just give a few of my gray hair people an opportunity before we go to that. Who would have thought the Lord is going to and would have returned by now? Let me see your hand. All you need to do is read some of the accounts from the 1400s. William Grinnell, who wrote a book, The Christian in Complete Armor, the unabridged version was 1400 pages of Ephesians chapter six, seven verses, 1400 pages, seven verses. I am a very weak man. He talks about the disobedience of children to their parents. And if you would have read it, not knowing the time when he wrote it, you would have thought this was 2026. We do not know. We do not know why. But what I can tell you is if you're on this planet, and if you are a follower of Christ, you are supposed to be a fisherman of men. That your life is sensitive to what Christ was sensitive to, people. And not just people, not just sensitive to people.

I am, I guess, and I've been just given this gift from the very beginning. I think it was just part of the plan of God for my life to do what I'm doing. I know it was. But from early on, when my parents would check into a hotel, I'd go to the hotel lobby. And I'm eight, nine, 10 years of age, and I'm down in the lobby working it like I am the manager of the lobby. Welcome. Is there anything we can do? I'm helping people get checked in. I'm helping people carry their luggage to their rooms. You could have done that back in 1972. But the reality is that there's this God thing that was on my life even before God came to reality in my life of taking care of people. And Jesus is giving us what happens when you are a follower of him. In fact, Isaiah, this has been the plan for Israel, or you can say it, the new Israel. But he says in Isaiah 43, he told the Israelites, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord. You know, Israel was raised up to be a witness for the testimony of God, the glory of God, and to bring in the scripture. And then, of course, usher in and to fulfill what was written, the Messiah. But all of that was to be a witness. You, if you want to know what your purpose is in life, you are a witness. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. In other words, you are my witnesses so that the world will know that I am he, that I am God. And before me there was no God formed, and there will be none after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and there's no savior besides me.

It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there is to be no strange God among you. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am your God. Sadly, when you read the context of Isaiah 43, when you read before and after, the sad thing is they had strange gods among them. And the Bible goes on to say in verse 21, the people whom I formed for myself would declare my praise. You know God saved you for the purpose of declaring, witnessing, expressing, sharing, evangelizing. And I'm not saying a program. I'm not saying we're gonna give you today five evangelism keys. Hello, yes, I'm Joe Champion from Celebration Church. My pastor has given us five keys to share the love of God. I, I love you. So much. Do you feel it? Hello? Could you open that door again, please? I'm not talking about something plastic. I'm not talking about something fake. I'm not talking about something that is of a manuscript. I'm talking about because you love God, you love people. And you may say, Pastor Joe, I'm just not really that into people. Well, then that just means you may not be into God.

Follow me. And following me shapes you, molds you, creates in you, fashions in you. Literally that word, make, to fashion. It's supernatural. It's not something human. It's not something that comes through a program. It's not something that is even sustainable through your natural discipline. It just simply comes by your own personal relationship to Christ, your own personal time. And what you do privately with Christ is reflected in how you treat publicly people. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Are people more aggravating than ever before? Those are the last days. That's what the last days are gonna look like. It's not gonna get easier. But Mark says, let's get busy. Let's get busy. Let's not talk about it. I think Mark is saying, you've already read the sermons. And rightfully so, Matthew covered that at length. John covered that at length. You could talk about it, even though it was an earlier and probably the first of the Gospels. But to some degree, he's almost saying, they're gonna cover that. But I wanna get down to souls. And I was thinking about fishermen before we go today.

I wanna think about fishermen. Do we have anybody that are, people that like to fish? Let me see your hand, you got some fishermen around here? Yeah, I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna give you a boat today. Your wife is gonna buy you a boat or your husband. Something that I've learned about fish, and my mom was a fisherman. Fishermen loved to fish. You never have to say to a fisherman, do you wanna go fishing? Yes. Yes, let's go. When it comes to love of people, Jesus said, I'll make you a lover of people. I'll put that, watch this. I'll take that stony heart out and put in you a heart of flesh that will love people. Paul the Apostle says, the love of Christ controls us, concluding this, that one died for all, therefore all died. See, he died for the world. The Bible says he's reconciled the world, but there has to be a transaction. And the Bible says, this is now why I do what I do. The love of Christ constrains me. The love of Christ moves me. I can't do anything else knowing the love of Christ that was displayed on the cross. How could I not share the love of God?

That there is forgiveness, there's mercy, there's peace, there's hope. Fishermen love to fish. Number two, fishermen will pay any price necessary. Well, we're gonna have to get up at three in the morning. Yes! It's gonna cost a lot of money. Yes! There's nothing that they won't do. There's not a price they won't pay. Paul the Apostle makes this comment in 1 Corinthians chapter nine. He says, for though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all so that I may win people. I don't care what it costs me. I don't care if I gotta be beaten. I don't care if I have to suffer. I don't care as Paul would die a martyr's death. Paul did not care. He goes, I'm not worried about the brand marks on my body because it's what Jesus did for me. You see, let me just say to you, you don't need a script. You just need your own story. Do you understand that? You are the greatest evangelist that will ever live because you have a story that no one else has. You're just sharing your story. Number three, fishermen never get tired. One thing about fishermen, they don't walk away. They don't give up.

They'll just say, let's go to the other side of the lake. Now, I don't think they waste time, but I also know this. They just don't get tired of catching fish. They don't get tired. And I've been, my mother, bless her heart, at 60, 65 years of age, she's like, let's go fish. And that was just cane pole. We're talking crickets and a worm. And I'd have to pick her up out of the water because she'd fall off the boat half the time because she brought Jack Daniels and she brought a few other things with her that gave her energy and encouragement. That's what the Bible says, be filled with the spirit. Be ye filled with the spirit, not with wine. And wine and water don't go together except for Jesus. Don't ever grow tired of loving people. If our church stops loving people who are walking in for the very first time, we're just kind of tired of those stories. Let's just stop and just take care of ourselves. How many know our church is done? Let's never get tired of hearing stories of people saying, I was lost and now I'm found. I was in addiction, but I've been set free. I hope there's somebody here today watching and somebody here physically, you are hung over. You are in a deep, dark pit. I don't want that to be, but I will tell you this. There's a God who can get you out

and there's no shame and there's no embarrassment. And it never gets tiresome pulling people out of death into life, seeing those shackles come off. I believe most churches stop growing because they're tired of people. Then what are you doing on this planet? If the Lord did not take you, he has you here for a reason, to be evangelical or to put it in a theological term, to reach out to other people. Number four, fishermen are students. Fishermen are students, which means fishermen are always learning. They're always studying. Proverbs 1130, it's a great truth. Look at this, even in the Old Testament, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. And he who wins souls is wise. You're wise, you learn, you're studying. Like great fishermen, they're not just jumping into something. They're listening, they're watching. They take the temperature. They know the sky. They know the lake. Learn to spend time with people, learn to listen. Most of the job is just listening. Let me give you one more. Fishermen smell like fish. How many of you know when you have a fisherman in your life

and they come home, they don't smell like fish? Don't ask them how'd it go today? You may get slapped with a plastic fish. The reality is, is that Jesus said, get into the water with people, get close to people. Smell like fish. Just like he is a shepherd smelled like sheep. Church, you got neighbors. You got people that work all around you that are lost. Their name's not in the book. And you are a witness, you are a light. And how many know you are there to display and to put salt? That word fishermen literally means salt. You are salting them. You're putting something around them and in them that says, what's the hope that lies within you? And boy, when they go there, you got them. God put them on your hook for you to tell about a man that came into your life, that's given you the peace that surpasses all understanding. Can we stand? our feet all over this place today. I wanna ask a question. At the end of this life, when it's all said and done, there's only one thing that lasts forever, souls. The question is, what impact did you make on souls? What impact did you make on people? How many wanna leave the greatest of all testimonies of a human being meeting its maker?

You have been called to fish for people. Lord, may we have the greatest summer of fishing. May we have the greatest summer that we've ever had. May we have the greatest season in the 25 years of our church as we follow you, Lord, as we spend time with you. Lord, would you take our hearts and our lives and make it all about souls? Soften me, Lord. I know I get hard, I get tired, but Lord, soften my heart to reach people. If you're here today and you'd say, Pastor Joe, I am one of those that, frankly, my name is not in the book. I'm not in the book. I know my name's not in the book of life. Jesus is not my Lord and Savior. Would you pray for me? If that's you, would you just slip up your hand? I'd like to pray with you before we go today. Is there anyone here today that would say, I want my name in the book, the book of life? I would fall under judgment today if it wasn't for Christ today. I wanna acknowledge him and confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, if that's you, all over this place. Yeah, I see that hand. Anybody else here today? Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Can we just say this out loud? Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for dying for my sins. You died for me. You will raise from the dead for me. And the same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise me to live forever in heaven with you, Jesus. I confess you today as my Savior. Thank you for saving me. And all of God's people said, can we just thank God for his kindness and his mercy?