I Believe; In the Church

- Well, good morning, church. How is everybody doing today? (audience applauding) It's so good to have you guys. Of course, here at Lakewood Ranch, and we have those that are other locations, those online, and also in our county jails. Come on, let's welcome the rest of our family. Good to have you with us. Yeah. (audience applauding) Well, happy birthday, Baysai. 24 years. My goodness, I can't believe it. It's gone by so fast, and in other ways, I feel like it's been an eternity, right? And so, I just so honored, Amy and I are so honored to lead this church. And, you know, we moved here. We started, left Louisiana, it came here to Florida, and we started Bayside, and it's been an incredible journey, and I'm just so honored to be your pastor, and to celebrate all the things that God has done over the last 24 years. And I love it, 'cause God's not done, amen? I don't know about you, but I feel like we're just getting started. So, everybody say, get ready. - Get ready.

- So, today, we are continuing a series on the Apostles' Creed. We're calling it, I believe. And the whole idea behind this series, in case you haven't been here, is we are looking at the Apostles' Creed, which is, it's called the Apostles' Creed. It wasn't written by them. But early on in the church, the church was growing so rapidly that the early church, the first century church, was really trying to decide, okay, we have to figure out how to create this foundational statement that we can talk through so that people can understand what Christianity and what being a Christ follower is really all about. And even though that it was growing so fast, they had to figure out how can we make sure that we all have unity in all of these things, and they created what is called the Apostles' Creed. And some of you maybe grew up in a church, and maybe you recited it, or talked about it at your church a lot. Raise your hand, come on, you were a part of church, and you guys, okay. So you know this, and you can probably recited. We should do it a little test. We should have you guys come up here to raise your hand, and you have to say it all in front of everyone. How many of you are like not putting your hands up now?

Okay, right. And so we've been taking the points out of the Apostles' Creed and teaching so that we can understand what is the baseline for this Christ, this being a Christ follower, really what is it all about? And so as we get ready, we're gonna declare the Apostles' Creed even right now. So actually, let's all stand up as we read it today, all right? If you guys, all of our locations, if you'd stand up, they're gonna put it on the screen at your location, and let's all say this together. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there, He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. All right, come on, y'all, give God some praise and then you guys can be seated.

Yeah. (congregation applauds) You guys can be seated there. Here's the whole idea. Today, we're gonna be talking about the part in the Apostles' Creed that says the Holy Catholic Church. And let's be clear that when this was written, the Catholic Church wasn't what it is today. In other words, there wasn't necessarily an endorsement of a particular church. It's a Latin word that we get the English word Catholic from, which means the universal church. And so in other words, even though there are many denominations, there are many different locations. There are people praising Christ and singing about the Lord all around the world. And maybe there's many different expressions, but there's one God. Come on, there's one Savior. There's one Lord, there's one Bible, there's one communion, there's one Christ, there's one Savior in his name is Jesus Christ, amen? And so, yeah. And so I wanna bring some clarity to exactly what this means. And so the best way that I thought that I could do this is today is we would go study the scriptures in what is the very first mention of the word church in the Bible. Now, if you go to Bible college, they teach you this thing about the law of first mention.

And that the first time you see something in the Bible is God's purest intention of what it's supposed to be. Now, the word church in the New Testament is mentioned, this word church we're gonna study, I'm gonna give you what the Greek word is, but it's mentioned some hundred and 15 times in the New Testament. In other words, the church is established on Jesus Christ. It's not based on a denomination. It's not based on a pastor. The church is not built on a person, but it is built on the person of Jesus Christ. Somebody say amen to that. And that's the way this church is. It's a Jesus church, somebody. So we're not gonna read the paper or look on the social media and decide what culture is saying. We're gonna preach Jesus Christ around here. Amen? Because he's the only one that really matters. Amen? First time. The word church is mentioned is in Matthew chapter 16. And it says this, "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the son of man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah, who still others Jeremiah are one of the other prophets.

But what about you?" He asked, "Who do you say I am? And then Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God." Jesus answered, "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah. But this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven." Would you close your eyes for a moment, open your hearts in this pray? God, thank you for your word today. As we study this, God is your holy church. This is your church. God, based on this is yours. This was your concept thousands of years ago that people would be gathered like this under your name. So Jesus, I pray that you would give us hearts to be receptive to your word. I pray that this wouldn't be a talk. But God, this would be a message that would just penetrate our lives. And that you would stir inside us a new love, a new passion, a zeal for your church. God, the reason why you have us all gathered here today. And I pray that you help me communicate your word

with clarity. And I pray I wouldn't get in the way, but God, may you be lifted up in all that we do. In Jesus' name, everybody said, amen. Okay, so to understand the church, what Jesus was talking about, the first thing you have to understand is that the church itself, and being a part of the church, it begins with this word, right? This down confession. Because Jesus asked the question, who am I? That was, I want you to confess, like you tell me who you are. Look, Jesus has to be more than just a good teacher. Or he has to be more than just a good example. The church has to be more than a bunch of religious activities that I'm a part of. Jesus has to be more than somebody that I quote some of their sayings sometimes. Like, God won't give you more than you can handle. I mean, y'all know, people say that all the time. That's not even biblical. I think it's great that God would allow things that we can't handle to be upon us. Because it's not till we get to the end of ourselves that we actually can begin to trust in him. So Jesus has to be more than just somebody who's saying you quote, a confession is something this that is an agreement with what God is saying regarding your beliefs.

And it must show itself in our daily actions. A confession is a belief that aligns with what God says about us and it shows itself in regards to our daily actions. The Apostle Paul said this in Romans. He says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. What the Apostle Paul was trying to say here and what Jesus was asking them, hey, who do you say that I am? He was asking them this because what we have to realize is that what we say has to line up with our actions. There can't be duplicity in our lives. We can't say that we're Christ followers and our actions in our life look a different way. Now, none of us are perfect. Come, raise your hands if you did something dumb already today. So the fact that you didn't raise your hand, you guys can raise your hands 'cause you did something dumb just now, all right. (congregation laughing) And listen, I think about it like this. As I was preparing, I was trying to help us understand how is it that we, a lot of times, will put the label on as a Christian but our life doesn't match the label. I was thinking about, you know, since we've been here now for 24 years, it happens regularly, people come up and they go, "Kaserane, I found this Cajun restaurant in town."

Me and you're gonna love it. It was awesome. We ate there, did the crawfish, did the jumba liar. It was so good. And I'm like, "Okay, I can't wait to go try it out." And I show up. The menu, they got gumbo. They have bootamballs. You guys don't know what a bootamball is, do you? Can I just take a moment? Can we pause for a commercial break? A bootamball is rice and meat and seasonings. And the best way to do it, you can get it in like a sausage link, but they would put it in a ball, look like a hush puppy, and then bread it, and then deep fry it. Woo, yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes Lord. All right, that's a bootamball. And it's so good, when you take a bite of that, a party happens in your mouth. Like instantly there's dancing going on, right? Actually, bootamballs, that reminds me, I gotta tell you this Boudreau joke. So, it's one of my favorite ones, it's about bootamb. So, Boudreau runs into Tippido, and Tippido is walking out of store, and he has a little brown bag in his hand. And Boudreau said, man, Tippido, if y'all don't know I'm from Louisiana by now,

and you knew, then it's everywhere. Okay, I'm sorry. That's kinda who I am. And Boudreau and Tippido are coming last names for people in Louisiana. So, Boudreau sees Tippido, and he's carrying a brown bag out of a store, and Boudreau said, what you got there Tippido, he said, man, I got some bootamballs. Boudreau said, I want a bootamball, would you please give me one? Tippido said, I tell you what, you tell me how many I get in here, I got in here, I'll give you both of them. (audience laughing) And Boudreau gets three. (audience laughing) So, I don't care who you are, that's funny, right? (audience laughing) Okay, so you show up at a restaurant, and it's cajun, I mean, the menu, the everything, even the decor, you can just, like, whoa, it looks real, and then they deliver the food. And it's not that it's terrible, it's just not authentic. It did not deliver on what it said it was. Let me just tell you guys something, you can label yourself as a Christian. You can put a bayside swirl on your car, and the label says, I'm a follower of Christ, but are you a dupe, or is it the real thing?

That's why you have to answer the question for yourself. Jesus said, who do people say that I am in any, always brings it to personal, you have to make a personal decision. Who do you say Jesus is? And that word say is the Greek word lego. Imagine that, we think of legos, you build something with that. Let me tell you right now, it was your life built on the foundation that Jesus Christ is your Messiah, is your Lord, is your Savior, he's the one and only, he's the beginning, he's the end, he has the final word on everything in my life, he is just either you're wearing the label as a Christian, or he really is your Messiah and your Lord. And we have to decide. See, you can say Jesus is Lord, but is your life actually built on and built around that? How about when we look at your calendar? Does it say you're a Christ follower? What about your activities and the things that you do on a regular basis? How about how you spend your money and what you do with it? How about your relationships, your decisions, your character, they reveal what you actually believe. And today we have to understand that being a part of his church is not like, yeah, I attend this church, we're gonna get in that in a minute, but it's are you really building your life around Jesus Christ?

In other words, Jesus didn't ask Peter, what do you think about me? Rather, what do you say I am? Christianity is not an admiration of Jesus, it's not an addition of Jesus in our life. It's actually a surrender to Jesus of our entire life. Do you want Jesus to just keep you from going to hell? Do you want a Jesus who just helps you in your marriage? Do you want a Jesus who just deals with your anxiety problems? Are you looking for a Jesus who helps you with your relational problems? Are you building your life on Jesus in its entirety? Are you authentic? Are you saying, yes, I'm a Christ follower in my whole life, I want it to reflect him? And it's not that we're perfect all the time 'cause none of us are. But is our life being built on? Is it being surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ? I can just ask this question then. Outside of this place, this campus or wherever you're worshiping outside of here, but the people there automatically know that you're a Christian. Do you live the same way out there as you do here? Our life has to begin as a confession of who Jesus is, starts with a confession. And then it goes to this and this the word community. Because Jesus used this word, he said,

I'm gonna build my church, here by say church. It's actually the Greek word ecclesia, which means a group of people gathered It is a duplicity in that. In other words, yes, we're here to worship Jesus, but it's also we're here together as a group. The problem with us here in America is our western mindset with church. See, when the church was originally started and God's original intention for the church, it really isn't the way that we see church all the time now. We turn church into something that we shop for. Now, I get it when you move somewhere and it's a funny thing to say, "I always shop in front of the right church." You know, I talk to people all the time, we moved in. We were shopping for a church and I was like, "Well, I'll bet that's fun." Right? How many of you are not from Florida? Raise your hand. Okay, it should be most of you. Actually, let's do it this way because these are always fun things to know. Who is a native Floridian raise your hand? Well, you can't raise your hands for both. I saw some of you. You either. You either a Floridian or not. Raise your hand again if you're a Floridian. Okay, now in the foyer at whatever campus you are, we'll be taking pictures with these guys later on because we need to show people that native Floridians really exist, right? No, but you move to a new area and you're like, "Yeah, we need to find a church." But I think it goes beyond just we need a place to worship. We wonder, "Well, I don't know if I want to go there because I don't know if I like the music." I mean, that doesn't happen here. Some of you are like, "Yes, it does. I could hear about the laugh." You weren't our first choice is what you were saying when you laughed like that. No. I don't know about the kids' programs. I don't know if I like the service times. I don't know if I like the preaching up there, that Cajun gets up there, whatever it is. And so, we kind of see church as we like to consume church, but the beginnings of the church, they didn't consume church, they actually became the church. And there's a difference between consuming it and actually letting our lives be consumed with it, right? In other words, the church in the old beginnings of the church and God's intention of the church is not rose like we have here. God didn't intend it just to be rose. He intended it to also be circles. In other words, relational for it to be community, but you have to understand something. It wasn't just community that was inward facing. There was always an empty chair because you know what God, there's other people in this

community that don't know you. And we need to make sure that there's always room for one more. Somebody ought to say, "Me into that." Look at what was going on at the beginning of the church. Remember Jesus said, "I'm going to build my church." And then the church is established and look at what it describes the church as in Acts chapter 2. It says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings." In other words, they were receiving preaching and teaching like this, but there was something even greater than that that they were devoted to fellowship. Everybody say fellowship. They were breaking bread and they were committed to and devoted to prayer. Everyone was filled with all. There were wonders and signs that were performed by the apostles. Look at this, all the believers, everybody say all. They were together. They had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts. They were praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Look, in the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. In other words, the church was more about community than it was attendance. They were devoted. That word means to be in constant readiness for something. No, they were always looking for an opportunity to build community and to help and to serve one another. They didn't show up at the temple, take a box and then leave. It was part of their life and who they were. They were more concerned about the community than they were anything else. It was a great picture reminds me of when our daughter was in middle school and the school she was at decided to start a middle school girl soccer team. How many of you know that was exciting? Middle school girls soccer. None of them had really ever played, but they were having a good time together. So they didn't understand the concept. It was to me it looked as if more as as a group of friends just wanted to have something to do together. So they were playing soccer and I never forget watching this game one time. And the opponents kicked the soccer ball and hit this girl right in the stomach. And she fell to the ground in pain. Well, all of the rest of her teammates, they could care less about where the ball was and the score of the game. They just all rally. Are you okay? And I'm like, this team is getting ready to score. Y'all got to protect the goal, but they didn't care about Man, what an incredible picture. It's not about us getting in and out of church and taking the box and its attendance and sitting in a row.

It's about the people that I am connected to. It's more important in my relationships than it is just attending a church. And that's what God, yeah, y'all gave God some praise. In other words, church wasn't about showing up for a service. It was about showing up for each other, about being there for one another. That's why Peter said this, and now this word to all of you, you should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy towards each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. You're supposed to be like one big happy family, everybody smile, little happy family. How many of y'all got some crazy people in your family, though, you're like, come on, how many of you got a crazy person in your family? Yeah, like that uncle, that cousin, right, whatever. Thing about it is not all of you raised your hand. I could see some of you. You were sitting there going, yeah, we don't have one of those in our family. That's because if your family were here, they'd all be raising their hands thinking about you. So if you're unaware who the crazy person is, it's because you're the crazy person. But you know what? We all have that family, but there's one thing that unites us, and it's Jesus Christ. I love how I'm driving around and I see these swirls, and I'm like, I'm a big little right here, and I'm like, what's up? You see somebody on the side of the road, they got one of these, you're pulling over, like, what's up? You need some help? What can I do to help you? It'll get you out of tickets sometimes, too. I mean, I've heard of heard. I don't know, guys. I just think it's time for us.

As your pastor, I'm calling us to be the church God intended us to be. In other words, we're committed to one another. And when we do that, it says, "And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved." I mean, I see God adding a lot to this church all the time. I'm amazed that what he does, people giving their lives to Christ, people making a confession of Jesus, saying, "No, he is my Lord and my Savior. I'm going to surrender to him." In fact, listen to this. This is our 24th year and this year alone, year to date, like, as of Wednesday, we've had 7,842 people make decisions for Christ this year alone. Come on, let's welcome them to the family. Yes. And they don't come here all pretty. None of us do. Some of these facades and these smiles and it's how you do it, great praise the Lord. Hallelujah. All the time. All the time. God is good. But if you get past all that stuff, there are a lot of things that we're trying to work through. And I'm just here to tell you God adds to your life when you go beyond just a confession of him and you realize that he puts you in community and it is in that community that we can serve and build one another up so we can walk in all that God has for us. That's where it happens right here. And just a few of those stories from people whose lives have been impacted even this year, I want you to see some of them right now. Take a look. I gave my life to Christ because I wanted to see a change in my life and the influence

that I made on others. I gave my life to Christ because it fulfilled so many holes in my life. Feeling his presence in my life just made me feel so much more valued. Forgiveness is a big thing that I've been working on with him, with my family, with my past and myself. I realized in reading God's Word and getting built up in the Word, it pushed out every fear, doubt and anxiety and brought me to freedom that I was so desired. Well, I know one thing that the love of God never ever left me, that I left him and I want him back. I feel like I see the more positives in my life and I just carry myself way stronger and way better and I feel like I handle things way easier. I was really going through a tough time and I was doing all the wrong things and looking for happiness in all the wrong places but when I came I truly just felt true peace and joy. I've had a lot of broken stuff going on in my life so I hadn't been to church in about four years and when I walked in the front doors I had goosebumps. I knew that I was home. I gave my life to Christ because I feel like it makes me more happy and it filled a big hole in my life. I've been going to church for a long time. - I've never met so many welcoming people that are willing to do things, trying to find a place to sit and how everyone's so welcoming. - Just made me happy to hang out with the right people. I found all the volunteers at church and I evangelized now. I hosted Bible study at my house. - I have learned so much here. He is in my life and everything is so good in my life now.

Everything is true and pure. I can't thank God in this church enough. (inspirational music) (audience applauding) - Come on, there's 7,842 of those this year alone. Thank you, Jesus. And many of you would have stories just like that. And many of you wouldn't. And all I can tell you is I know in my own life that everything that I needed, everything that I lacked, everything that God had to add to my life in order to live the fulfilled life that he called me to God provided. He added it to me in the church. Father figures, mentors. I found forgiveness. I found relationships. I found deliverance. I found a wife, hey. (audience laughing) And he who finds a wife finds a real good thing. I love you, babe. You're a real good thing. I found purpose. I found provision not because of attendance. I went beyond confession. I found it in community. And that's what the Lord wants you to have in his church, which leads us to this last point.

And that is catalyst. I'm gonna go back to our scripture in Matthew 16, 18. And let's look at how God catapults us into some things when we are involved in this church. It says again, and I tell you that you are Peter. In other words, he said, you're the Messiah. And on this rock, on this revelation of this understanding of who I am, I'm going to build my church. And the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven. See, the church is founded on confession of Jesus Christ. It is designed by Jesus to be relational, not religious. All right? And then Jesus says, I'm going to build it. I'm gonna promote it. I'm gonna establish it. I'm gonna cause its foundations to not be shaken when you'd make a decision to be a part of that kind of community. I'm gonna build my church. And he says, I'm gonna give you authority. That's what keys, keys represent authority. And I love the fact that Jesus says the same authority that I have, he has victory over death in the grave as well. Jesus says, now you have the keys and I'm giving him to you. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven. In other words, the same thing that God has for us

in his viewpoint from heaven, he wants us to operate in that while we're here. Now, not what we want, but as heaven wants. Our prayers don't always get answered just because we're part of the church. Our prayers get answered when we line ourselves up with what heaven says about us. But his word says about us. And I love that authority that he gives us. Listen, gates also are to create boundaries. And it says the gates of Hades. You know, the devil wants to keep you from living in all that God has for you? But it says there that the gates of Hades will not overcome. It doesn't say that they won't come, but they won't overcome. I'm here to tell you right now, you are victorious. In fact, you are more than a conqueror. You are more than an overcomer because you get to live in and enjoy all the things that Christ paid for. You don't have to do the battle. The battle's already been won. You don't have to earn salvation. Salvation's already been paid for. Then the devil will come, but he cannot overcome you when you're involved in his church because God says, I'm going to build my church. He didn't say he's going to build your business.

Not that he doesn't want you to be successful. God's not going to build peace and comfort in your life. Not that he doesn't want us to have those. He says, I'm going to build my church. In other words, God doesn't give us authority so that we can have him bless our lives, but God will bless our lives when we're a part of what he's building. I knew we'd get quiet. (congregation laughing) See, here's how this happens. Jesus says he does all the work that he's going to do, right? He comes, he lives a sinless and a perfect life, and then he dies on a cross with our, Three days later, he comes back to life again. For 50 days, or 40 days, he shows himself, he appears 12 different times to the disciples, and he's like, okay, now it's gonna be time to build the church, all these things I'm talking about. But before you do that, I want you to wait. Everybody say, wait. And what is it that was gonna be the catalyst for the authority of God to begin to work on this earth? Let's look at what Jesus says. In Acts chapter one, he says, he gave the apostles, the disciples, his followers, this command, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised. Everybody say, it's a Holy Spirit. Everybody say, Holy Spirit.

You have heard me speak about him for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and you will receive power. There it is, everybody say power. When the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. I like that word power, it's the Greek word dunamis, where we get dynamite from. How is it that you and I can have the power to overcome the devil? We gotta be involved in the church. In other words, we gotta give in a confession of Jesus. And our lives has to line up with everything. The word of God says, we can't pick and choose. We have to be in community. And then God gives us the power to walk in the authority that he's called us to live in, and that happens through the Holy Spirit. Look, God doesn't want you just to be an overcomer, so you can say, isn't this great being an overcomer? I think of my life overcoming my addiction. God didn't do that for me just so I can go, God is good, look what he did for me. No, he did it so that I could be a witness to other people and help build his church. I'm standing here right now to declare to you the same God that delivered me is available to deliver you. The same God that the stories we heard of these people on this platform and how God has brought them peace

and fulfillment and direction and wholeness and community and all of those things is available to you as well. But we have to make a decision to confess Jesus. In fact, maybe some of you are in need, like why is the power of God not operating in my life? Starts with a confession, with a surrender in totality to Jesus. Say, I don't want to live my life for me anymore. I wanna live it for you. Then you gotta get involved in community and then the Holy Spirit will be a catalyst for you to operate and walk in all that he has for you. That's God's plan for your life right now. Look, as I reflect back on what Pastor Jordan, would y'all give it up for Pastor Jordan last weekend, man? He did a good job, didn't he? He talked about eternity, the life everlasting. He talked about that part. Next week, we're talking about the Holy Spirit. You don't wanna miss that week. And then we're gonna go into a two week series on the Holy Spirit. So I would really suggest don't miss the next three weeks. So it's gonna be powerful, I'm excited about it. Anyway, Pastor Jordan was talking about eternity and how we need to live our lives in view of eternity. And he talked about how this little part of this rope right here is red. And this represents our life on this earth. And all the rest of this, as he said,

represents eternity. I mean, it just goes on and on and on and on and on. And we're so focused on our lives and what happens right here that we forget about all of the eternity. And so here's what I want to help you understand. I wanna land the plane with this. That while we are here, the only thing that we can do that impacts all of this is what you do right there in your seat. In other words, what you do while you're here, that impacts all of eternity, has everything to do with what you do while you're here in this church. Let me prove this to you. You guys, everybody, all of our campuses, I want you to stand up. Come on, everybody, stand up. Like being in Catholic church again. I'm gonna have you kneel down in a minute. No. I want you to turn around and feel your seat that you just were sitting on. Is it warm? Feels good, doesn't it? Can I tell you something? Jesus didn't do all He did so that you could warm a seat. Jesus didn't call you to be a part of this church so you could be warm and comfortable

and have a nice place to sit. No, Jesus came and He called us to be courageous. And courageous doesn't happen by being comfortable, by being a seat warmer. Jesus wants a confession of who He is, a surrender of your life. He wants you to understand that the church is not a service you attend, but a people you belong to. And He wants to empower you with the Holy Spirit to be an overcomer so you can share with others what God has done for you. Back when you all sit back down, you need to warm your seats again. (congregation laughing) I think they're getting cold. Guys, this is so important. And what you're doing right now is the only thing on earth that impacts all of this. I grew up in a youth group and my youth pastor loved to play this board game called Risk. I don't know if you guys ever played it, but it's a strategy game and you try to conquer the whole world. And so we used to play the game and it's a long game. Like it takes hours to play this game risk. And we'd play for hours and hours and hours and we'd take a break around midnight a lot of times and we'd go to Krispy Kreme 'cause that's when the sign was red hot. And you gotta go to Krispy Kreme when it's hot 'cause you take a bite, it's like a baby angel,

it just melts in your mouth. It's the most beautiful thing on earth. I've been praying for Krispy Kreme in Lakewood Ranch for 24 years now. We're gonna hear my prayers, Lord. We would, we'd take a break and we'd go get a hot Krispy Kreme. We'd come back and finish playing the game. And someone always won. Somebody ended up conquering the whole world. And we'd be like, "Oh, you won, okay." And then we'd take all that stuff, fold up the board and put it all back in the box. Because whoever won eventually, it all had to go back in the box anyway. Listen, your life, what you build and what you accumulate, most of it's gonna go back in the box at the end. What are the things that you're doing that are not gonna go back in the box? But they're gonna be a part of this eternity, part of the life that you're gonna be living. And I submit to you, it has everything to do with this church. Would you do me a favor and bow your heads and close your eyes? God, I just pray that you would help us to... It'll be on the label of a Christian, a church attender. It'd be a Christ follower. In fact, with your heads still bowed, no one looking around. If you haven't made that confession of Jesus, I don't mean a label, but I mean a total surrender.

If you've never done that, I wanna give you a chance to do that right now. All of our campuses on the count of three, why don't you say, "Pastor Andy, I'm ready." I'm ready to let him be my Lord, the Savior, my Messiah. One, two, three, come on quickly. Right there where you are, that you raise your hand. That's right, all over the place. Yes. I don't wanna just be a Christian in some thing that I talk about on Sunday, but it's how I live my life, yes. Okay, can we all pray this prayer? Say, "Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me." Thank you for sending Jesus on this earth to die in my place so that I could live. So today, in this moment, I confess, Jesus, you are my Lord and Savior. And I want my actions to line up with what I'm saying. Holy Spirit, I need your power to be an overcomer, to say no to sin and yes to the Lord. Thank you for my community. Thank you for my church. I make a decision not to attend, but to belong in Jesus' name. Amen, come on, can we praise God now for what he's done? Yeah.