God Is In Controls Of My Purpose

Well, Cross Church, I'm so glad y'all came here. If you're glad to be in the house of the Lord, let's put our hands together today. It's such a good day to be in God's house. You know, one of the beautiful things when we gather is we remember the faithfulness of God. We remember the goodness of God in our life and how he has displayed that over the theme of our life. So as we do that, let's remember our story and our testimony. Come on, I want you to sing this with me. ♪ Our God has been faithful to all generations ♪ ♪ We've all got a story to tell ♪ ♪ The stories of rescue, rebirth, and redemption ♪ ♪ We've all got a story to tell ♪ Come on, every voice, sing this with me. ♪ Oh, if he's been faithful, if he's been good ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, if he's been able when no one else could ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ We sing hallelujah today. ♪ Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ Come on, with your feet. ♪ Oh, let the redeemed of the Lord lift their voices with him ♪ ♪ For the good things he has done ♪ ♪ We've heard from our fathers who've lived ♪ ♪ Tell our children no longer the things he has done, yes ♪ ♪ Oh, if he's been faithful, if he's been good ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, if he's been able when no one else could ♪

♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, we lift our voice, we remember the day ♪ Come on, he's good. ♪ He is good, his love endures now and for eternity, oh ♪ ♪ He is good, his love endures our history and our time ♪ ♪ And our legacy, yes, he is good ♪ ♪ His love endures now and for eternity, oh ♪ ♪ He is good, his love endures our history and our legacy, yes ♪ ♪ Our history and our legacy, yes ♪ ♪ He has been faithful, yeah, he has been good ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Yeah, he has been able when no one else could ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Yeah, he has been faithful, yeah, he has been good ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, he has been able when no one else could ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing hallelujah, we have a faithful God, yeah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah for our members ♪ ♪ Well, good morning, everybody. It is great to see all of your faces here at Springdale today. I wanna welcome our Pinnacle Hills Campus for your first service up there. I love you guys, so glad that you are here today. And I wanna begin today in the appropriate manner. I want to just honor all of the mothers in both of these campuses. If you're a momma in the room, why don't you stand up all over these two rooms?

Let us give you praise and honor. There we go, mommas. All right, happy Mother's Day. Hope that you get all that you deserve today. Hope you can take a nap, amen? You deserve, somebody cheered for a nap over here. That was good. We're glad that you are here today. And really, we do honor you for what you mean to our church and to all the families of our church. We're glad that you are here today. If you're brand new, welcome. My name's Nick, I'm a pastor here, and I hope to get to know you at some point. And I'm really thrilled that you are here on Mother's Day. Got two exciting announcements as we get started here before we even get into the Word of God today. Number one is, as you know, about two and a half months ago, we began our new Highway 62 campus down in Farmington. That campus is already averaging over 1,000 people every single Sunday. They are meeting in Farmington. Yeah, we can praise God for that. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. They are meeting right now in Farmington High School. As you know, we have purchased a building and we've been in renovation mode for several months now.

And we have a grand opening date of our building. We're gonna open up that building on June the 7th. And here's what that means for you at Springdale and Pinnacle and Fayetteville today. Do not come. That's what that means, all right? We believe that it's gonna be a packed house already. What I do want you to know is we do plan on doing an open house so that you can go through there, you can see it, you can rejoice with what God's doing. And so be praying with us for June 7th and all that we believe is about to happen in Farmington, Prairie Grove, Lincoln, Arkansas. I was down there in the building Friday night. The door was open. I walked in and it was great. And I can't wait to see what God's gonna do there. The second is something that really happened this past Thursday morning. This past Thursday, we graduated the first class of cross theological student graduates. Come on, somebody. Let's give it up for Jesus. You'll see the footage behind me right now. We graduated 39 men and women. And they are on their way to serving Jesus through His church all over. And we believe some will even go into missions. And so it is our desire that this would be really one of the main mission sending things

that we do as a church. All 39 of these received an accredited degree, which is incredible on the timing there. And all 39 of these, and there's others who are in the second cohort right now, all of these are receiving a fully funded tuition scholarship because of your generosity. Let's praise God for you right now. Thank you, church. You all like my hat right there? Look at that hat. I look like an idiot, don't I? We like have this processional in and I walk past some of our pastors like sitting over here at the Pinnacle Hills campus. And they're all laughing at me and taking pictures as I walked by. So all for the students, right? All for the students. Hey, if you got a copy of God's Word, let's grab it. Genesis chapter 42 is where we're gonna be today. You are here on a great day. We are ending our series called God Meant It For Good, which also means we are ending our journey through the book of Genesis. We have been going through the book of Genesis since the month of September. So a long, long, long journey, several months long through the book of Genesis. And in all reality, I gotta be honest with you,

it could have been much longer. We cut out certain things just to kind of give you the main thrust of this foundational book of the Bible. And so Genesis 42, I'm gonna get there in just a moment. I don't know about you, but I've had some really high highs in my life. Anybody else? I remember where I was in 1994 when the Hogs won the national title in basketball. Really high high. I was in this room as like a sixth grader and I saw DC Talk live in concert. Some of you are like, who's that? Don't worry about it, all right? I had a lot of great times in high school, in college. I met the most amazing woman in the world, Meredith, in college, who would become my wife. Together we have now four children that are just amazing gifts to our lives. I learned to smoke a brisket, something that every man should do, every real man should do. I've seen God do amazing things in the various churches that I've served or been a member at and just got to see the activity of God. Like I've had some really high highs in my life. And on the flip side of that, I've had some really low lows. I've battled crippling anxiety. I have had dark moments of despair when I had no idea what God was doing.

I've been hurt by people, just like you've been hurt by people. I was in kindergarten when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I stood by the bedside of my dying grandmother who was dying of leukemia. I've had friends and loved ones suddenly pass away that just kind of leaves you at a moment of shock. And if your life is like my life, sometimes the highs and the lows are all happening at the same time. Anybody else's life? Of like, what is that famous literature? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That is the life of Joseph. And here's what I want you to understand. And this has really been the theme throughout this series that we're in right now. And by the way, I just say it's a theme of the Bible. Here's what it is. God is in control. He is in control. When we titled this sermon series, God Meant It For Good, you could say, well, how else could you say that? Here's how else you could say it. God is in control. And we've been talking for several weeks now about various aspects of God's control. And today, here's how we're gonna wrap it up. It's like this, God is in control of my purpose in life. God is in control of my purpose.

Now, if your life is like my life, whenever times are good and it's the mountaintops, I feel like, man, I'm really living out my purpose, and I'm really, God's using me, and life is just good. And then in the valleys, it's like no purpose happening, and I'm frustrated, don't know where God is, don't know what He is doing. And yet, here's what you gotta understand. And we learn this just all the way through Joseph's life, is that living out God's purpose is not relegated to the high times in life or to the low times, but you really can serve God on the mountaintops and in the valleys. And that's exactly where Joseph has been. He has lived out the purpose of God in prison, and now he is living out the purpose of God in the palace. Today, as we wrap up the book of Genesis, I wanna speak to you about how God works in your life. Is that okay today? I wanna speak to you about the activity of God, and really, I wanna do it under this banner. I wanna give you three truths about God's work in your life. If you've got your journal today, I want you to grab a pen. Three truths about God's work in your life, and we see these from Joseph. Some of these are review of what we've already learned, and we are learning yet again in our passage today, and then we'll move on to some new things from his life and new truths.

Truth number one is this. Through every season of waiting in your life, God is working for your good. Do you believe that truth today, church? Through every season of waiting in your life, God is working for your good. Anybody today find yourself in a season of waiting? Anybody here wondering when God is going to come through? Anybody maybe full of faith in what God is doing, but frustrated at the timing in which it's happening? This perfectly describes the position that Joseph is in. Think about his life so far. Again, let's back up, and let's look at the whole of his life that we learn through the book of Genesis. He's the favorite son of his father, who was then hated by his brothers, who was sold into slavery in Egypt, who then rises to leadership in Potiphar's house, who's then falsely accused and sent to prison, who then spends two years in prison. We talked about that the last few weeks. And then now he has been raised to leadership by Pharaoh. If you remember what we covered last week, last few weeks here, Joseph has interpreted Pharaoh's dream. There's about to be a famine across the land. And Pharaoh in Egypt, you need to store up food for the down times, for the times of famine. So Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of this process. And I want you to notice what's happening. He's gone from the prison to the palace here.

This is a dude who has had some high highs and some very low lows. This is a guy who's had to live through some weird family dynamics. Anybody else in the room? This is a guy who has experienced the deep wound of family betrayal. Anybody else here today? This is a guy who's been faithful to God in his work only to be misrepresented. Anybody else here today? This is a guy who has lived in a jail cell and now finds himself in leadership for a whole country. I don't know if you've ever had somebody come up to you and you meet them for the first time and they begin to describe their story. And it's so wild that you almost don't believe them. And you're like, man, are you serious? I read a book about a year ago and I can't even remember the title off the top of my head here, but it was all about a mega church pastor who got caught up with the Mexican drug cartel. It's a fascinating read, okay? Ask me later, I'll remember what it is, okay? Right, but it is one of those stories, one of those books you read where you turn the page and you're thinking to yourself, there's no way. I mean, there's no, and then you go to the next chapter. Are you kidding me?

Like somebody needs to make a movie about this guy's life. I don't know if you've had that same sense walking through the book of Genesis as you turn page by page thinking, you gotta be kidding me. I mean, what a miraculous story this is. Somebody needs to make a movie about Joseph's life. Are we all in agreement on that? I mean, this is one of the most wild and most clear pictures of the sovereignty of God anywhere that you find in the Bible. And yet all of that, again, it begins with a period of waiting. You said, well Nick, how long was the season from when Joseph got sold into slavery to the point in the Bible that we're gonna get to today? Here's what I can best estimate, 13 years. 13 years, like that is one long season of waiting for Joseph and here's what you find as you read the Bible. This whole time, God meant it for good. God was working for his good. Some of you really need to get a hold of that truth today as you're in your own period of waiting, he is working for your good. And here's what I would tell you, he really is worth the wait. He's worth the wait. Now today, I'm gonna teach you a long story. It spans eight chapters. So I apologize, but the sermon is three days long. So cancel your Mother's Day plans.

I'm just kidding. Okay, I'm gonna read some and I'll summarize some. Let's begin in chapter 42. Look at verse one. It says, now when Joseph learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, excuse me, when Jacob learned that, he said to his sons, why do you look at one another? He said, behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt, go down and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die. So this is key. So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt, but Jacob did not send who? Yell it out, what's his name? Benjamin, Joseph's brother with his brothers. For he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Now pause there for a moment. Everybody got what's going on? The famine has begun. Joseph's family is now living back where they came from in Israel, in Canaan. They have heard that, okay, Egypt has food. We can go there and we will not die. So Jacob, the father, sends 10 of his sons. But what does he do? He holds back the youngest Benjamin.

You say, well, why would he hold back the youngest? This is a father who's already dealt with deep pain. What he believes is the death of his son Joseph who is now alive and he does not realize it. Keep on reading, look at verse six. It says, now Joseph was governor over the land and he was the one who sold all the people the land. And Joseph's brothers came and what do they do? They bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Verse seven, Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them, where do you come from? He said, and they said, from the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph recognized his brothers, here's key, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, you are spies and you have come to see the nakedness of this land. Verse 10, and they said to him, no, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies. Now, pause there. Do you remember how this story all begins? Joseph, favorite son of his father, Jacob. He has a dream one day that all of his brothers, you remember this?

All of his brothers would bow down to him. And he tells his brothers, and like you would feel if your brother said this, all the brothers are ticked off. They ultimately hate him. They deeply resent him. They ultimately sell him into slavery. And at this very moment, as Joseph stands before his 10 brothers, he remembers this dream about his brothers bowing down before him. And he starts to mess with his brothers a little bit. You're spies. Listen, once a brother, always a brother, right? I'm gonna make them suffer a little bit. If you keep on reading the passage, let me summarize it. He accuses these brothers of being spies and he contrives a plan. One of your brothers will remain here in prison and the rest of you will go back. and you will bring back your youngest brother, this is how I will know that you are not lying to me. Now, you may be wondering, they're reading the Bible, how do they not recognize their own brother? You gotta imagine, this has been 13 years since they have seen him. He is most likely in Egyptian garb, he is speaking the Egyptian language, he is working through a translator, he looks nothing or sounds nothing like the brother that they sold into slavery.

And the brothers begin to talk with one another and they are reminded of what they did 13 years ago, and they view this moment as being caught finally. The judgment of God has finally caught up to us for what we did to Joseph, and now we are under God's judgment. The Bible says here that Joseph has to run out of the room because he's about to burst out into tears. And he sends them home and he keeps one brother in custody, his name is Simeon. The brothers go home and they tell their dad, and he is beyond grieved at the thought of sending his youngest son back to Egypt, imagining the worst is about to happen. You get to chapter 43, let me summarize the chapter here. Joseph tests the brothers to see if they've really changed, and there are a lot of details to give, but I will keep it high. The brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin, the youngest son, what he finds here is that they have changed. They're treating Benjamin much better than they treated their other brother, who was Joseph. I want you to flip over a few pages, skip to chapter 45 at the very beginning of the chapter here. Chapter 45, Bible says this, then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, make everyone go out from me.

So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it, and Joseph said to his brothers, can you imagine being in the room that day? Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? For his brothers could not answer him. Underline this last phrase, for they were dismayed at his presence. I want you to circle the word dismayed right there. I'm gonna come back to that here, again, can you imagine being present in the room that day? You have no idea that this guy, an Egyptian garb, speaking a different language, you have no idea this is your brother, and they're so shocked that they can't even answer him. The Bible says that they were dismayed at his presence. I had you circle the word dismayed a moment ago. The Hebrew word for dismayed means that they were trembling in horror and terror. Again, put yourself in their shoes. They've carried this deep, dark secret for 13 years, and now they're being outed, and the very brother that they wronged is now the brother that's in charge of their future. This word carries the idea of sudden dread or panic. They all think they're toast. So here's the question for everybody in these two rooms.

Everybody at Pinnacle, listen up. Will Joseph respond with grace or with judgment? I think if you put this through a New Testament gospel lens, what a powerful picture this setting is of our own position before God. We all stand guilty before a holy God because of the wrong things that we've done. We stand before him who is a righteous judge, and every one of us deserves the punishment and the penalty of hell, yet what did God do? God, in his grace, sends Jesus, who died on the cross for my sin and for your sin, to cover our sins on the cross. Joseph gives us quite the beautiful picture of grace here. Now, I really believe what I'm about to say is a word for somebody today, because some of you have entered into church. You've entered into Springdale or entered into Pinnacle Hills. Maybe you're even watching at home today, and you'd say, Nick, I have hit rock bottom. Here's what you gotta find. When you hit rock bottom, it's a great place to meet the rock. So you think that it's a bad place, but it's not. Spurgeon once said, I was on the phone with a friend this week, just talking through some things.

He's a pastor in Houston, and he said this. He said, you remember Spurgeon said this, I've learned to kiss the wave that throws me upon the rock of ages. If you're here today, and you're at rock bottom, maybe you're in a season of waiting that has squeezed the very life out of you, you've come to a place where you can be a part of it. to church here wondering like is this a, you're throwing like a lifeline out to God of Lord, You've come to a place where you can be a part of it. just please do something in me today. You've come to a place where you can be a part of it. Speak to me. You've come to a place where you can be a part of it. God will meet you at the point of your waiting. God will meet you at the point of your rock bottomness. And this leads right into the truth number two. This is what we've talked about the last few weeks. Through every season of pain, God is working for your good. Have you grabbed a hold of that the last few weeks? Are you responding in faith yet to that, that through every season of pain, God is working for your good? Let me say it a little bit differently. Anytime you find yourself in the valley, anybody there today? Anytime you find yourself in the valley, God is there working for your good, turning pain into purpose.

As we've discussed, Joseph is a man well acquainted with pain, deeply betrayed by his brothers. He's been misrepresented and falsely accused. He's spent years as a slave and as a convict. He has spent 13 years of his life in a diversion that he never would have planned nor he would have ever chosen for his life. And yet here's what we see throughout these 13 years looking back in hindsight. Anybody ever have hindsight moments with God? Where in the moment, God, where are you? I got no sense of your presence, no sense of your action. Years later, you look at hindsight and go, God was working the entire time. That's Joseph's life, by the way. 13 years, God has been working in his life. It is clear God has been speaking and God has been working. You say, well, Nick, why do you say that? Keep on reading. Look at verse four. He says, so Joseph said to his brothers, "'Come near to me, please.' And they came near and said, "'I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. "'And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves "'because you sold me. "'For God sent me before you to preserve life.'" Can we just pause there and just marvel

at the work of God in Joseph's life to think this way? For God is the one who has sent me before you to preserve life. Verse six, for the famine has been in the land these two years and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. Golly, look at it, guys. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He's made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler over all the land of Egypt. Can we just pause there as the people of God today, looking at the word of God together. Here's what I'm gonna tell you. Only God can work in a person's heart like that. Only God can give perspective like that and only God can explain purpose into a man's heart during a season of immense pain. Anybody else need the work of God in your life right now? Anybody trying to process what's going on? Seasons of waiting, seasons of pain, seasons of what it appears the inaction of God in your life and you're kind of like juggling life, I don't know what to do with all this. I don't know how to process this. I don't know what file to put that in. I don't know what category to put death into

or suffering into. I don't understand. Only God can bring perspective into seasons like this. Only God can give perfect perspective in hindsight or even here in the moment. The chapter ends with Joseph telling his brothers, go get my dad and bring him here. And chapter 49, I don't have, or excuse me, really the next few chapters, I don't have time to read it all, but it's a beautiful reunion between Jacob and Joseph, the son that he thought he had lost. Genesis 49 records the death of his father Jacob and I wanna wrap up the book of Genesis. I wanna wrap up this series by looking all the way to chapter 50. So grab your Bible, turn all the way to chapter 50. Told you we're covering several chapters today. And I want you to look all the way down at verse 15. Again, the father Jacob has passed. And if you're a brother, guess what you're worried about? Dad's now gone and he's about to give it to us now. Like judgment's about to happen through the brother that we wronged. And they begin to ask for forgiveness and they begin to tell him, this is what dad would want. Dad would want us to be together. And this is the key passage in the entire life of Joseph right here.

Look at it with me. Skip all the way down to actually to verse 18. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, behold, we are your servants. But Joseph said to them, do not fear for I am the place of God. You ready for this, church? You ready? This is it. As for you, you meant evil against me. Let's just read it together. But God meant it for good. What perspective, right? As for you, you tried to harm me. You tried to ruin me. You tried to sell me as a slave into a foreign country. But God meant it for good. Why? To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Verse 21, so do not fear. Gosh, what a gospel lens here. Do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. You remember the two truths I've given you already? Truth number one, through every season of waiting, God is working for your good. Truth number two, through every season of pain, God is working for your good.

Let me give you a third one as I wrap up. Through every season that seems wasted, God is working for your good. Anybody here in the room at Springdale or there in the room at Pinnacle? Who you find yourself in a season that seems wasted? You thought to yourself, nothing good will come from this. There's no way this will benefit my family. Nothing can happen that's good right now. Joseph had every reason to be angry, every reason for the pain of his past to rule his present. And yet here the principle comes about again. God was in control the whole time. Joseph could have viewed these last 13 years as a wasted season, living as a slave, living as a prisoner. Maybe that's where you're at today. I have no idea what I'm walking through, what I'm walking through. I have no idea why God's making me go through this season of life. I have no idea how this can turn for good. Literally there seems like nothing here is good, only bad and only wasted. And it's as if God is giving no explanation for any of it. Here's what Joseph learned after a season of waiting, after a season of pain and after years of it looking like a wasted season. Write this down as we wrap up. God's purpose is greater than my purpose. By the way, I could have saved us five weeks.

I know week one of this series I could have just said, hey, y'all wanna know the life of Joseph? Here's what it is. God's purpose is greater than my purpose. That's the story right there. That really is the life of Joseph through all the ups and downs. God was in control, giving us purpose. I met Jesus, I got saved about 30 years ago. Hard for me to say I did anything 30 years ago, right? I got saved in this room. I got saved right there on the second row where some of you are sitting right there. Sitting with my friends, I heard the gospel. So I've walked with Jesus for about 30 years as a Christian. You wanna know some deep things I've learned? Like this, this is deep. You ready for this? What I think is really not that important. What I think God should be doing is really not that important. What my opinion is is really not that important. Anybody else learn those truths yet? What I have learned is that the most important thing that I can do in my Christian life is to surrender to God's plan for my life. And what I found is this, when I surrender to the purpose of God for my life, I find purpose. So some of you are kind of aimlessly wandering

through life thinking, man, I just feel like I have no purpose. Could it be? It's because you've not submitted to God's purposes for your life. Therefore, you feel like you're wandering aimlessly with no purpose in your life. God is here and God is ready for you to submit, to surrender to his plan, to his will, to his authority in your life. And here's what you'll find in the midst of that, you'll begin to find your purpose. When I have stopped worrying if God knows where I am, I realize he's been here the whole time working all things for my good. So what is it that God is speaking to your life about today as we wrap up this series? Maybe you're here today and you've come to church with really a sense of desperation of God, I need to know if you're here, I need to know if you see me. From the authority of God's word, he sees you and he's working for your good. Perhaps you're here and you've been wondering what in the world God is doing in your life and he's calling you to trust him today, that he really is working for your good. If you're here today and you fit into that category, I'm just gonna ask you to come here and at Pinnacle Hills in just a moment,

just come here to the altar and just surrender to what God's doing in your life. Maybe you're here like Joseph and you're finding yourself in a long season of waiting. His was 13 years, maybe yours is shorter or longer than that. But it's just really hard, you need the strength of God. I'm just gonna ask you to come to the altar today and ask God for his strength. Maybe today you find yourself in a valley just like Joseph found himself many times for these 13 years. The wounds are deep, you really don't know how to move forward, don't know how to heal. I'm just gonna ask you to come and just ask God to bring healing that only he can bring. Maybe you're here today and you fit into the category that I ended with, you need to surrender to the purposes of God for your life. You've been trying to live on your own, you've been trying to do your own thing, but today you need to just come back to God and just say, Lord, I'm going with you. I wonder how many moms just wanna bring your kids to the altar today and pray the purposes of God over their lives right now. You come in just a moment. Maybe you're here today

and you've been convicted that you don't know Jesus. And just that picture I gave from this story of you standing before God, the righteous judge, you know that you're guilty of sin, you know that you need the forgiveness and blood of Jesus to cover all of your sin. Today, I'm gonna invite you to come. Would you bow your head and close your eyes at both of our campuses today? Our staff is gonna make their way to the front right now. And if you're in that last category, if you would say, Nick, I know that I need Christ, that is my step today. In just a moment, we're gonna sing a final song and I'm gonna invite you to come to one of these men or women. All you need to do is take them by the hand and say, I need to give my life to Jesus. They'll lead you to faith in Christ today. There are others of you who you fit into one of those other categories. You would say, Nick, I'm a Christian, but man, I need to surrender to the Lord. I need the strength of God. I need the healing of God upon some deep wounds from my deep valleys, whatever it is. However, God is speaking to your heart. I'm just gonna invite you to come in these final moments. Lord, we trust you to do the Holy Spirit's work

that we are literally incapable of doing. And Lord, I pray that you would speak to your people now. Brother, you draw lost people to faith in Christ. Brother, you draw Christians back to you. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.