Make It Make Sense | Tear Your Eye Out | Anthony Morgan

Hey, good morning, Compass. It's so good to be working in the house of the Lord. Come on. Sing this with me. It's Vagabond. And I tried with all my might And I just can't win the fight I'm slowly drifting Vagabond And just when I ran out of blood I met a man I didn't know And he told me that I was not alone He picked me up He turned me around He placed my feet on solid ground I thank the Master I thank the Savior Because He healed my heart He changed my way Forever free, I'm not the same I thank the Master I thank the Savior I thank God I cannot deny what I've seen Got no choice but to believe My hands are burning Like ashes in the wind So long to my old friends Burdened in bitterness Yes, you just keep on moving

Oh, you ain't welcome here, no Now, still I walk the streets of gold I sing about Him who saved my soul His way was done He found His way back home He picked me up He turned me around He placed my feet on solid ground I thank the Master I thank the Savior Because He healed my heart He changed my way Forever free, I'm not the same I thank the Master I thank the Savior I thank God I am free I am free Hell lost another one I am free Hell lost another one I am free Hell lost another one I am free Hell lost another one I am free Hell lost another one I am free He picked me up He turned me around

He placed my feet on the solid ground I didn't matter I made the same Because he healed my heart He changed my name I am free I am not the same I thank the master I thank the savior I thank God I thank God For who you are For what you've done I thank God Hey, welcome to Compass, where our mission is navigating people to God. My name is Marshall. I'm one of the pastors here. Man, if you're in the room, if you're online, if you're part of our All Red Campus, we are just so grateful that you are spending time with us. Hey, I just believe that every time we gather, that the Lord has something special for us. That when two or more gather, that he is present, that he is here. So I just want to pray. I just want to acknowledge that God is in our midst. I want us to unify our hearts, our minds, our voices in these moments to honor and worship him. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, we love you. Jesus, there is no one like you. And so we come now and we just center our minds, our hearts. our hearts, our attention is centered on you. God, with whatever we have brought in this week, the good, the bad, the ugly,

God, may we come with open hands, laying it at your feet. And may you just come and you take it all and you just wrap your arms around us and you just say, hey, we're in this together. So God, as we just come and we worship you now, may you be honored and glorified. Amen. ♪ I could sing your name for all my life ♪ ♪ And still find more to love each time ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name ever on my lips ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on it ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ You have been the friend who never left ♪ ♪ I won't forget your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name ever on my lips ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on it ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪

♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name, Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ You're worthy God, you're worthy Lord ♪ ♪ We worship you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, your name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one the darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the life, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name can save, your name can heal ♪ ♪ Your name can make the storm be still ♪ ♪ You never fail, you never will, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, the bread and life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy ones ♪ ♪ The first and last and still to come, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ The King who overwhelmed the grave ♪ ♪ The one who held forever in the name above all other names ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ And it's all the glory, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ And it's all the glory, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ Oh, Jesus Oh, Jesus There's healing in Your Name There's healing in Your Name There's healing in Your Name

That makes me cry holy There's freedom in Your Name There's freedom in Your Name There's freedom in Your Name That makes me cry holy We sing all about Jesus We lift up the Name of Jesus I just wanna speak the Name of Jesus Over every heart and every mind Cause I know there is peace within Your presence I speak Jesus I just wanna speak the Name of Jesus Till every dark addiction starts to break Declaring there is hope and there is freedom I speak Jesus Come on, can we declare this together? Your Name is power Your Name is healing Your Name is life Break every stronghold Sign through the shadows Burn like a fire Come on, let's declare the Name of Jesus I just wanna speak the Name of Jesus Over fear and all anxiety Till every soul held captive by depression I speak Jesus Your Name, Your Name is power Your Name is healing Your Name is life

You break, You break Break every stronghold Sign through the shadows Burn like a fire We sing Your Name is power Your Name is power Your Name is healing We believe that Your Name is life Break every stronghold Sign through the shadows Burn like a fire Come on, can we sing this together? Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus of every darkness Over every enemy Jesus Come on, let's declare this out I speak the Holy Name Jesus Oh Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Come on, declare this out Jesus of my family I speak the Holy Name Jesus

Your Name is power Your name is healing Your name is life Break, break every sorrow Shine through the shadows Burn like a fire We believe your name is power Your name is healing Your name is life Break, break every sorrow Shine through the shadows Burn like a fire Your name is power Your name is healing Your name is life Break, break every sorrow Shine through the shadows Burn like a fire Your name is healing Your name is life Break, break every sorrow Shine through the shadows Burn like a fire Your name is healing Your name is life Break, break every sorrow Break, break every sorrow Break, break every sorrow Hey, 2,000 years ago, the world was changed forever.

In one moment, this man who was so influential, he split time in two, B.C. and A.D. from this one person birthed the greatest movement in all of history, Christianity. It was the early followers of Jesus who believed so much in the sanctity of life that all people were created in the image of God that they started opening up their homes and the early churches to let sick people in. They started what we now know as hospitals. It was those people who had walked with Jesus who followed Jesus closely that when the Romans, they would take their unwanted babies or their sick children out to the river to perish, it was the Christians who went and raised them. It was the early followers of Jesus who started adoption. It was this early Christian writer who writes these words, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus. This was a radical idea to the culture at the time that women would be seen as equal in Christ. So what we are looking at today from the words of this man named Jesus wasn't just an inspirational speech. These are the words of God in the flesh that have the power to change the world and that is not hyperbole, that is reality. Jesus had and has the power to heal, to set people free, to challenge people's belief, to help the hurting, correct the proud, encourage the outcasts because what he spoke

wasn't just good philosophical ideas, it was the literal words of God. That's a good place to say amen, right? But sometimes we can read the words of Jesus and you can kind of turn your head to the side and say, huh? Like I thought you were blue eyes, white Jesus with the little baby lamb in your hand. Like how could you say that, Jesus? Today as we get into this series, Make It Make Sense, I'm hoping to make some of the statements of Jesus make sense. By the way, my name is Anthony, one of the pastors here. We're so thankful that you're joining us today. If it's your first time, would you give us the next six Sundays, see if you can't call this place your home. Thank you, that was just a little ad break. I know you guys wanted to skip it, but we're back in it, all right? I want you guys to picture this. The first recorded sermon of Jesus. He is sitting on a hillside near the Sea of Galilee. We have a picture of it. The Sea of Galilee was a freshwater lake. It was about 13 miles long and eight miles wide. It's surrounded by a small fishing village such as Capernaum and Bethsaida. Fishing was the best thing. backbone of the local economy and the shoreline. You can just imagine it was popping with these boats,

these fishermen and these merchants, they're moving their catch to the market. Where Jesus is preaching this message, there could have been anywhere between five and 10,000 people at a time. Many people had walked long distances just to hear the word of Jesus. Because they heard that he was preaching with authority and he was healing with compassion. And he is teaching on this mountainside. Let me give you some context before we jump into our core verse for the day. Matthew four, verse 25 says this. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region across the Jordan followed him. This is significant because the people who are following Jesus, the Galileans, they were the ordinary blue collar workers. They were the marginalized people who had been outcasted by the elites. The Decapolis were the pagan worshipers of other gods. They're coming to see Jesus. They're like, who is this guy? Jerusalem and Judea represented the politically elite and the religiously elite. And the Jordan are the people who the word had spread to them from a far distance. They said, I got to see who this man named Jesus is. Jesus, he gathers these people on this mountainside

and the Bible says in Matthew five, he sits down. Because in this day, the teacher or the rabbi would sit as they taught and everyone else would stand as they would listen. And he begins to preach the first recorded sermon of Jesus ever. And with his first words, he flips the culture upside down. Matthew chapter five, verse three says this. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, if you're sitting in the crowd, you would have heard this. God's favor is on the completely dependent beggar, the ones whose souls are destitute, the ones who recognize their inner depravity for they have ownership in the kingdom of God. And as Jesus is speaking his first ever message, he immediately offends people. It would have been like if I started my message and said, you know what, church? Kansas City barbecue is better than Texas barbecue. Amen, you should have booed me, you should have. Because we know it's not true, but that's what Jesus does, he gets up, he immediately offends the people. Because the religious people are in the crowd, the elites in the crowd would have turned to each other and said, what did he say? No, we're the ones who are blessed. We have the favor of God.

But on the other hand, there would have been the outcasts, the person who had been pushed to the side, they would have been sitting in the crowd and as Jesus says these words, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom, and their eyes would have welled up and they would have said, that's me. That's me, I'm poor in spirit. Jesus begins to teach after he preaches that first line, he teaches what we call the beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those are those who have a humble heart. Blessed are those who mourn, those are those who have a heart that is softened, not hardened. Blessed are the meek, not the powerful and oppressive, but those who have a heart surrendered to God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, not those who assume they already possess it, but those who hearts desire deeply to do what is right before God. He said, blessed are the merciful, not the morally superior who enjoy picking up rocks and condemning others, but those with a heart that is compassionate. He preaches the beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers, not the religious fighters who confuse hostility with holiness, but a heart that desires shalom, peace, and unity.

Jesus is teaching his first ever message and he's saying, you have been taught to recognize blessing by looking at the outside of someone's life, I'm teaching you to recognize blessing by looking at what God is doing inside someone's life. In his first recorded sermon ever, Jesus is flipping the religious system upside down because they had reduced righteousness to output and they had neglected an inner relationship with God. I can just picture as Jesus is sitting there and they are standing there and he is teaching, they're turning to each other saying, who does this man think he is? The elites are standing there in their press tunics. sweating, and they're slowly drifting backwards, stepping away from what Jesus is saying as the broken people, the outcasts, start to lean in to the words of Jesus. And then Jesus, the master communicator, as he has one group leaning in and one group pulling away, he drops this bomb in Matthew 5, verse 17. It says this, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly, I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. Therefore, anyone who sets aside

one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus, as he's preaching the sermon, he's building this tension. The outcasts are feeling drawn in, the elites are feeling pushed out. And I'll be honest, oftentimes when I read the Bible, I put myself in the hero's shoes. Does anyone else do that? That's what I do. But I actually resonate with the religious elites right here because if I'm in the crowd, I'm like, yo, Jesus, you can't just tell people they can live however they want to. So I get why they're feeling this way. But then watch what Jesus says in verse 20. For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, what does he say? You, kingdom of God. The religious elites, they wipe their brow, they say, whew, man, we knew we liked this Jesus guy. And then it sets in, they're like, wait, righteousness surpassing ours? There's no way. The large crowd is standing there listening to Jesus who just said, unless your righteousness

surpasses those of the Pharisees, the most outwardly righteous people on earth, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God. Now everyone is mad at Jesus. The outcasts thought, man, Jesus, why even try? I can't live up to that standard. The elites are thinking, how can anyone be more holy than us? Who does this guy think he is? And Jesus, he levels the playing field. But then he continues to raise the stakes with this statement. And we read this all through Matthew five. You have heard it said, but I say to you. In Matthew five, verse 27, our core verse for the day, it says this. You have heard it said, you shall not commit adultery, but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out, and throw it away, it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Amen, that's my message. God bless, bye y'all, we'll see ya. Could you imagine, like just end it right there.

In this message today, make it make sense. I hope that I can help make sense of this statement of Jesus. Because honestly, if you're like me and you read that verse, you're like, oh my gosh, like I'm gonna make an appointment, I'm getting reverse LASIK surgery. Like I am not gonna stumble, I am not going to hell, amen. Some of y'all on the way home, you're calling Verizon, like can I get a downgrade? Like what, a downgrade? You're like, I want the Nokia phone, the brick one, with snake on it, I still want snake. Yes, no internet connection. Some of y'all just ordered on Amazon the little goggles that Seabiscuit had on, so when you go to the gym, amen, okay, y'all got it. In my time remaining today, I wanna make this make sense. Jesus corrects the religious belief that I can think anything I want to, but as long as I don't do it, I'm holy. And he draws a clear picture. I wanna break this down in three parts. Number one, sin starts in the heart. Sin starts in the heart. Now there is a base level, on the surface, understanding of this verse, and it's real simple. If you are in this room, and you are listening to the words of Jesus, and you have been walking towards an affair, or currently are in one, it's time to stop, repent, come clean,

confess, and cut it off, amen. If you are struggling with pornography, or sexual sin, it's time to get help. because it will destroy your life. If every time you look at a man or woman, your first instinct is lust, you have turned the image of God, a person, into a product for your desires. And I hope y'all hear this. I am not up here preaching down at you. I am right there with you. I have had to put accountability people in my life. I have men I trust, I lean on when I'm struggling. I call, I text them. I have had to cut out social media, social situations, and certain people in my life in order that lust, which is not just a sexual thing, does not control me. Is that too real for church? Is that okay? Can we be honest in church? Praise God, thank you, Jesus. One Hebrew word for lust is hamad. This word is so interesting. It's to desire strongly, to covet, to take delight in something you want to possess. Watch this. It's an inner hunger that begins to control you. In the Greeks, the Greek idea for lust, it means not just to feel desire, but to cultivate it,

to move towards it with intention. Lust is the deep desire for something or someone that you start to cultivate. And what I've noticed is this. When someone's heart is not satisfied in Christ, lust reigns in their life. I'm gonna say that again. When someone's heart is not satisfied in Christ, lust reigns in their life. Because the longing in your heart is for something more. It's always more. It's always something else. It's never enough. He's never enough. She's never enough. The money is never enough. Lust always wants more. Let me give y'all something practical. When your eyes see something or someone and the temptation comes to lust, you have two options. You can say yes to sin and entertain it, or you can say no to sin and cast it out. Are we allowed to be real in church? Will y'all be real with me? I know this is a spicy sermon. Come on, Jesus. This is the words of Jesus, by the way. These are not Anthony's words. All right, don't be mad at me. What I have learned as someone who has struggled with this

was every time my eye would catch something and my flesh would tempt me to sin, I would do three things. I would pause, take a breath. I would push it out. The Bible says you can cast thoughts out. So you can either cast out a thought, or like the Greeks thought, you could cultivate a thought. So pause, push it out, and then I pray. And I actually had to discipline myself to use temptation as a trigger to pray. And here's what I noticed in my life. The devil does not like to tempt you into praying more. Amen, obviously. Here's what happened. I was 19, 20, 21 years old. I started following Jesus, and I'm really struggling with this. And I got so mad at the devil. I was like, I can't physically punch you in the face, but I want to. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna punch you with prayer. I know, that was like 19-year-old Anthony. He was an idiot, but it worked. And so every time I would struggle with temptation, the temptation would come. I would use it as a trigger to pray, and I spiritually punched the devil in the face. Amen. Making this make sense.

Jesus, he is teaching us. Number two, our actions are the fruit of the root of our heart. Jesus, he has raised the stakes. He's told the outcast, hey, you aren't even close to making it to the kingdom of God. And he's told the religious leaders, I know you've devoted your whole life to this, but there's more. He's teaching them, you can't achieve it on your own. It's harder than you think. And adultery isn't just that physical act. It actually starts somewhere else. It starts in your heart. And the whole crux of the Sermon on the Mount hinges on one thing. For you and for me, it's your heart. And here's why this is so important for us, is because the religious leaders, the good followers of Yahweh, they had all the actions that proved that they feared God, but their heart was not near him. And the outcast, the people who are doing their own thing, they had a heart that was humble and softened, but it didn't fear God. And so instead of living for God, they lived for their own desires. And Jesus is getting to the root of the issue in this sermon, that you and I, our hearts, the Bible says in Jeremiah 79,

The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it? And that's why I hate when people are giving each other advice, and they say, you know what? Just follow your heart. I'm sitting there like, no! Don't do that! It's deceitful! It's wicked! It will lead you down a path of self-satisfaction and self-destruction, and in the wake of all that is the people that you've hurt along the way. And the God of the universe is begging you, saying, don't follow your heart! Follow me! That's what God is calling us to, and Jesus is helping us understand what has become so popular in our culture, this idea of follow your heart. Do what feels good. You are what you feel. Your identity is in your desires. Satisfy yourself. No! Jesus comes and says, deny yourself. Pick up your cross and follow me. Follow Jesus.

As Jesus followers, it's not follow your heart. It's follow Jesus. We are not what we feel. We are not the desires of our heart. Our identity is not in our wants. The direction of our lives, church, is not determined by our instincts. We are not higher evolved apes. You are created in the image of God, handcrafted by the universe maker. Our feelings are not the drivers of our lives. They are indicators of something that is happening inside of us, not the determining factor of our actions. Can I get an amen for that? You are not a slave to your wants. You are a servant of God most high. And as Christians, we are committed and submitted to the word of God. So what that means is if my desires say one thing and the Bible says something else, we cut it off. We submit it to the word of God. If my wants say something and the Holy Spirit says something else, we cut it off. If there is something getting in the way of us getting closer to the Lord, Jesus says we gouge it out and we throw it away. We don't treat sin like a pet. We cut it off, we gouge it out, we get rid of it. So Jesus says, if your eye causes you to stumble,

gouge it out, throw it away. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Why would he say that? How do we make this make sense? I'm sitting there and I'm reading this and I have this moment of revelation. It's like, wait, your eye can't cause you to sin. Your hand can't cause you to stumble. It starts somewhere else because sin starts in your heart. And the whole statement from Jesus as we make this make sense is that Jesus, he's not looking for a bunch of disciples who have gouged out their eyes or wearing the little Seabiscuit goggles everywhere they go. He's not looking for us to put a cleaver in the back and a spoon in the back. Or if you stumble with this, if you're struggling with this, go ahead and take your hand off, put it in the offering bucket. Jesus is looking for followers who have taken their desires, their whole self, their heart, every part of you and laid it at the altar and said, God, here is me, all of me, the broken parts, the dark parts, the things I'm ashamed of, the things I don't wanna talk about. God, I can't do this on my own. So Lord, I lay it down at the altar

and I say, God, it's yours to cut out every part of our lives that does not give him glory and praise. And it starts in the heart. And Jesus, he came to fulfill this prophecy, Ezekiel 36, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from your heart, remove you from your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And watch this, and I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Jesus isn't asking for us to cut off a physical body part. He's asking us to say, yes, Lord, remove my heart of stone. Remove from me the things that you do not want in there anymore. And what happens is when we submit our hearts and our lives to Jesus. Ezekiel says this, it will be his spirit in us that moves us to follow his decrees. It's his spirit in us. It's not your grit. It's not your discipline. It's not how strong you are. It's the spirit of God inside of us that when we say, God, I can't do it on my own. I'll try to fight this by myself. I've been a slave to sin.

I'm addicted to this thing. I can't control it anymore. It's God cut out this heart of stone in my life and put your spirit inside of me. And that's what begins to lead you to live according to his law. This is so important because number three, following Jesus isn't behavior modification. It's heart transformation. And what happens is when the primary focus of Christianity is I must be a better person, we end up being Pharisees. And on the outside, man, we look good, but on the inside, we're far from God. And we will justify our sin because the outside looks good. And guess what? It's not as bad as them. And we condemn others because they aren't living the way that I am. And on the other end, when our drive is our own desires, when we live according to our will, when we pursue what we want, not what God wants, we end up separated from God for eternity. And as I'm studying this, I'm reminded of what Paul the apostle writes. Paul, he writes two thirds of the New Testament. He writes this to the church in Philippi. And he starts by, he's talking about his own accolades. He's talking about how holy he's been. He says this, Philippians three, verse five,

I was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews in regards to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But watch this, whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness on my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. The faith, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Paul gets it, he understands what Jesus is teaching in our own ability, on our own accord, with our own righteousness, we can never earn or deserve the holiness of God. It only comes through the sacrifice of Jesus. That as Jesus' followers, when you stepped into a relationship with him, he traded your sin for his righteousness because we could never earn it. We could never live up to the holy standard. Are y'all thankful that God has poured out his righteousness on you? Because we can never do what Jesus says,

that no matter how good you think you are, no matter how holy you think you are in comparison to the perfection and the glory and the holiness of God, the Bible says our good deeds, our holiness is like dirty rags compared to the holiness of God. And I know this, I know there are people in the room today, you feel like the outcast when Jesus is speaking or maybe you feel conviction today or shame today. And you just keep thinking, man, I can't live up to that standard. And you're right, you got it. None of us can. Because the self-righteous need Jesus, that's me. The sinner needs Jesus, that's me. The saved, the depraved, those who think they're holy and those who know they're not. We all need the saving grace of God, the sacrifice of Jesus. Let me remind you today that good people don't go to heaven, redeemed people do, amen. Thank you, God. It's those who've been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus. And when you realize and when you come to grips that Jesus died for us, that he paid the price that we couldn't pay for our sin, it's not just enough to give him good deeds.

It's not just enough to say, I'll do the right thing. It's God, I will give you everything, every breath. Every moment, my heart, my life, everything is laid at the altar, God, because you saved my soul, because you gave up your life for mine. So God, I give you everything as a living sacrifice. And everything else I had, I count it as lost when compared to knowing Christ. And when we catch a glimpse of the goodness of God and the holiness of God and the grace of God, the only reasonable response, church, is take it all, Jesus, my whole life. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that you saved me because we can never live up to the perfect standard that was set out by a holy God. So today I wanted to close with worship. And I know this, this is like, it's like, hey, worship starts, let's just go, let's beat the traffic. I'm gonna say this. If you are thankful that Jesus saved your life, if you wanna tell him how grateful you are, stand here and worship with us. And I wanna open up the altar. I just, man, I was praying about this all night last night. I could not sleep. Man, there's something so heavy on me. And I think it's this message. I'm gonna open up this altar.

And if you are in this place and you need to repent, you need to come before the Lord and say, Lord, I have not given you at all. I've played religious games. I've been walking towards sin. Come to the altar. And this is not just like a student ministry thing. This is a disciple thing. This is what Jesus followers do. We repent before the Lord. And so I'm gonna open up the altar. I'm gonna pray, we're gonna worship. We're gonna sing this song together. Don't leave, man, sit here and tell the Lord how grateful you are for him. Can y'all do that with me? Y'all can stand to your feet, let me pray. And if that's you, the Holy Spirit's drawing you to the altar, to put something on the altar. Come on, Lord, we thank you. Spirit of God, would you move in this place? God, would you convict? God, would you encourage? God, would you speak to us? Would you remind us it's not by might, it's by your spirit, says the Lord. God, would you move in power today? Would you show up and heal? God, as we lay things at the altar and repent, God, would you begin to remove a heart of stone

and place a heart of flesh in us, that your spirit would begin to indwell us and lead us to follow the ways of Jesus? Spirit of God, we come to you humbly and say, Lord, whatever it is, take it, it's yours. It's not my ability, it's not my holiness, it's you, Lord Jesus. So today we give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name, amen, amen. ♪ There's no way until you made it ♪ ♪ Grace upon grace, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it, you did it ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind, God? ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God, just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side, God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God, just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there's only one ♪ ♪ I give you glory for all that you've done ♪ ♪ Even though, even though I don't deserve it, you did it ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, even though I couldn't earn it, you give it ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind, God? ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God, just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side, God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God, just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Who am I, who am I that you keep me on your mind, God? ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God, just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side, God ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side, God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, I'm just grateful for you ♪

♪ Yeah, oh we're grateful for you Jesus ♪ ♪ We're grateful for you Lord, let's sing this out ♪ ♪ And I, I'm lifting up both of my hands ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me, come on let's shout your story this morning, let's sing this out ♪ ♪ And I, I'm giving you all that I have ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance ♪ ♪ And I, I'm lifting up both of my hands ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance ♪ ♪ And I, I'm giving you all that I have ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance ♪ ♪ Who am I, that you keep me on your mind God, I'm just grateful for you, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Who am I, that you keep me on your mind God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ Let's just worship him in this place right now. Come on. Thank you Lord.