No One Is Greater | Rodrigo Vargas

What's good, Houston, Texas? Let me hear you out there. And Happy New Year's. Hey, it's so good to be in the house of God today and see so many new faces in the room today. I want to tell you something that if this is your first time, this is not by coincidence. It is not because someone brought you here or invited you here. You're an answered prayer is what we want you to know. We want you to know that Union Houston exists to connect people to God with the life given message that is called the gospel of Jesus. It's what we're crazy about here. That gospel says that it doesn't matter what your past looks like. It doesn't matter what your present struggles may be. I know some of us are going through things and it doesn't matter what doubts may weigh in our hearts that Jesus loves you right where you are. And he also loves you too much to leave you where you are, which is why today he's going to speak to you through his spirit. And that is always this includes every person that is incarcerated. Can we welcome every man and woman watching from our union prison campus to the Pando Act? Listen, I'd say every week you may be out of sight, but you're never out of our hearts. And we can't wait for the day that you come and join us in worship. And every week we receive more and more men and women being released. Amen. Now we ended the year last year. I want to tell you, we ended the year with one of my favorite sermons of the year. It was called the heart of Houston. For those of you that don't know that, uh, your spring branch is called the heart of Houston. So we, we did a sermon called a sermon series called the heart of Houston. And in one of those sermons at the end of the year, I talked about aiming small with big faith. Remember that we looked at how Barnabas became great in the eyes of the gospel, but he didn't start with a global movement. He started one, one small step, one field, one act of generosity, one act of faith, one target. And that led to a global revival. Now, every year I, at the end of the year, I asked God to give me a singular word to shape what the coming year is going to be like. And, and the word he gave me, kept talking to me about was greater. And this is why, as I spent more time in prayer, because every year we begin a new years with new goals. How many of you got new goals? Who has new goals this year? Amen. Good. Who in new year's resolutions? How many of y'all got resolutions? All right. Let's be honest. Many of your resolutions will quickly fizzle within the first week. Are you with me? The gyms are really busy the first week. And then they go back to normal

this year. I don't want us to try harder. I want us to focus on becoming greater, but I come to you with a little bit of what they call a bait and switch. What do they call that? Catfishing. I'm going to catfish you. Or I'm going to reframe this in a holy way. The series isn't about becoming great. The way the world teaches us to be great. I'm talking about becoming greater and becoming greater requires more surrender, more obedience and more Christ likeness. So we're starting this year with a new declaration. No one is greater. No one is greater than Jesus. No one is greater. Jesus is the only great we want in our lives. Now the disciples journey isn't about surpassing Jesus, but becoming like Jesus. So when we say we want greater this year, what we really mean is we want greater faith. We want greater obedience. We want greater maturity that leads to greater fruit. Aiming small one day at a time, one scripture at a time, one meeting at a time, one prayer moment at a time so that God can do something God sized in our lives. That's it. What we've settled as a church isn't working. We don't want more comfort. Can I tell you something? I'm not going to make your life more convenient. I'm not going to make you more comfortable i'm gonna make you more christ-like my goal is to make you more christ-like we don't want more knowledge there are too many pastors preachers teachers leaders ministers youtube with a lot of knowledge we want more jesus we want more this year we're shifting from being informed to being transformed oh i like the way that sounds we're going shift from being informed to being transformed becoming greater only happens through two things the word of god and the holy spirit this is called sanctification that leads to edification for the glorification of our god that's our goal if you want to know what greatness looks like we got in the kingdom of god we've got to look at jesus and jesus shows us not with a sermon not with a parable but with a single act and one towel i want you to turn to your bibles to john 13 and would you stand for the reading of the word of god verse one is it was just before the passover festival jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the father having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end the evening meal was in progress and the devil had already prompted judas the son of simon iscariot to betray jesus jesus knew that the

father had put all things under his power and that he had come from god and was returning to god in other words he knew he had all power and authority and he knew who he was so he got up from the meal knowing that took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet drying them with a towel that was wrapped around him he came to simon peter who said to him lord are you going to wash my feet peter's a little dense you remember that he's got to ask the obvious of course no he's gonna you what do you what do you what do you think he's gonna do brush your teeth jesus replied you do not realize now what i am doing but later you will understand peter just like many of us when the lord wants to do something in our lives says no no no you shall never wash my feet jesus answered unless i wash you you have no part with me let that sit there for a little while we need and then there's this whole argument because peter to recover and to brown nose well then give me a bath jesus says don't be silly you just need your feet washed buddy when he had finished washing their feet he put on his clothes and returned to his place do you understand what i have done for you he asked them you call me teacher and lord and rightly so for that is what i am now that i your lord and teacher have washed your feet you also should wash one another's feet i have set you an example that you should do as i have done for you very truly i tell you no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them let's pray father god we thank you lord thank you for this new year and a new opportunity in this year we consecrate ourselves to you lord jesus through word and spirit that we may become greater in other words we become more like you lord speak to us through the holy spirit today speak to our hurts our pains our doubts our worries our struggles open our spiritual eyes and open our spiritual ears to hear what we need to hear soften our hearts to receive the seat of the gospel and holy spirit help me deliver that which you have imparted into me and i pray this in jesus mighty name and the church gave me a big old loud amen you may be seated Now, before we go any further, I want to give you some cultural background on why Jesus washed their feet. You have to wonder why was he washing their feet? Because this wasn't random.

That's why it wasn't random. You must wonder because it's something he planned to do. This wasn't a gimmick. This wasn't some fancy dramatic illustration like Pastor Rod likes to do from time to time. He didn't come up with this on the spot. This was intentional. John details this was just before the Passover. You catch that? There's a reason why he puts that. In fact, this was the Passover meal they were about to have the same night in which Jesus broke the bread and gave the wine and instituted the sacrament of communion. In Judea at this time, people ate at tables that were low to the ground about knee high. And they were the meals were eaten around the sitting on the floor around the table with your feet stretched out with your legs stretched out behind you and your feet were exposed now in Judea. They didn't have the pothole ridden, you know, fulfilled the streets that we have here in Houston, Texas. God bless the potholes. Instead they had dusty, dirt, rock filled streets where camel, donkey, horse, and lamb would and inevitably you would kick some. Are you with me? Their feet were full of filthy with dust, dirt and dung. So it was customary that a host would provide a servant a sign to wash all the guests feet. This was a sign of hospitality and honor. But here's the kicker. The host never did this and certainly not a rabbi host. Yet Jesus didn't come to reinforce the world system, a religious system or the way culture does it. He came to establish what I like to call an upside down kingdom. So even though he already revealed himself to be the Messiah, God's son, God in the flesh,

he took the position of a servant. I've studied this passage many times. I've probably taught on this, okay? But a couple of months ago, it hit different in that moment. Something shifted for me from holy information to divine revelation. And I didn't understand it fully what God was trying to tell me at the time, but now I see it as very prophetic. Jesus knows the cross is coming. It's right in front of him. He knows his authority and he knows who he is. He knows his identity. And because he knows who he is, he kneels. No one is greater than Jesus. And Jesus chose humility. The Lord Jesus takes a towel. The king of glory washes feet. And when he finishes, he asked the questions, do you understand what I have done for you? And then he declares, no servant is greater than his master. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. The questions we have to ask ourselves is, is he my master? And do I do the things he did? Philippians 2 tells us this. He humbled himself, taking the form of a servant. If Jesus, who is greater and no one is greater than him, chose humility, how much more should we choose humility? Our savior, our Lord, the king of kings, the Lord of Lords, doesn't lead with a towel, with a title, doesn't use that title to lead. He leads with a towel. Here's where this becomes personal. The world we live in is broken.

So we do wrestle with intrusive thoughts. We do wrestle with the wrong attitudes. We do. We do wrestle with unholy desires. We do wrestle with pride convincing us we're better than fill in the blank. We are tempted. We are gonna be tempted. We feel things that aren't holy. And too often, we hide it instead of letting God cleanse it. Pride is the devil's fruit. And some of y'all are on a steady diet of its fruit. Fruit salad. Here's the revelation. Just as Jesus knelt to wash his disciples feet with water, when we open the word of God and spend time in his presence through the Holy Spirit, through the Holy Spirit, with the Holy Spirit, he washes us with his word. Watch this. He cleanses our minds with his word. He renews our hearts with his word. He reshapes our desires with the word. This is how we become greater, not lifting ourselves up, but by humbling ourselves before the Lord. You need to know that he washes your mind in the word. Jesus used water to wash their feet, but he washes us with the word.

Now, hang on there. I know what you're thinking, but I can prove it. Well, wait a minute. Aren't you just jumping to conclusions and using wordplay? Well, Jesus says in John 15, verse three, you are already clean because of the word. That's straight from Jesus' words. And then Paul connects these dots in the book of Ephesians saying he cleanses the church by the washing of water through the word. And we've got to be honest, y'all. We've got to be honest. We have bad habits. We picked up some bad habits in the culture. We don't pick up our word. We try to do it with self-will. We let the news dictate how we feel about things instead of the word of God forming the opinions you have of such things. You let your politics, you let your love or, recently, your hate of certain politicians form how your theology is. This is a bad habit that only exists in the West. And I'm going to tell you why it exists, because we're privileged and entitled. We picked up these bad habits from culture. This is what we do. We try inviting Jesus into our world.

You treat them like an Amazon account. You know what I'm talking about, where you hit the Buy Now button? My wife has a problem with TikTok. You know, she buys stuff on TikTok. Doop, doop, then she blames me. Well, we do that with God and the word of God. We don't open up a paper Bible. We have a problem and we go and we buy now on the YouVersion app. And we try to invite Jesus into our world, asking us to bless our plans and to fit into our schedules. The world is always... Let me tell you something. This doesn't change. I didn't pull it up on Scripture, but the world is always going to try to soil your perspective. Whether it's the news, whether it's social media, whether it's every toxic conversation you had at work with the boys, all it is is dust, dirt, and dung for your spirit. And yet he kneels before you with the word. You won't be greater by working harder. That might work for self-help gurus, leadership coaches, Forex and crypto influencers, fitness coaches. It seems everybody's a fitness coach these days.

Right? But it ain't that way for the Upside Down Kingdom, y'all. going to grow in our faith when we wash our mind in the word. Stop asking Jesus to bless your plans. Stop asking the word to fix your heart, to fix your problems. Maturity is when you stop using the Bible to fit your lifestyle and you start making your lifestyle be shaped by the Bible. I piss off a lot of people, I'm going to be honest with you. Right? Especially those outside of the church that are kind of like into the political realm because the word of God has me have opinions this way and that way and I don't conform to appease people. I don't conform to being threatened to being canceled or being called something. You can miss me with all that. You know, I have to shape my life around what my father in heaven says, not what the pressures of society says. This is called spiritual maturity and greater is developing spiritual maturity and that happens when we align our lives with the word of God. The word of God cleanses our thoughts. Listen, lustful, greedy, envious, angry, immoral, worry. The word of God says, Isaiah 55, eight through nine, my thoughts are not your thoughts.

Washes. Colossians three, verse two through eight says, set your mind on heavenly things, not on earthly things. He goes on to say in later verses, put to death your earthly nature. And Paul wants to make sure y'all understand in the Western church, y'all in the church, in the Western Christianity where we make excuses and you walk by churches and you can tell by the things they post outside, they just let any kind of old sin going on in there. You know what I'm talking about? He says, fornication. You can't be out here fornicating, right? And then coming into church, I love the Lord. You can't be out here fornicating and expect God to answer your prayers. He says, uncleanliness. I can go into a whole bunch there. Passion, evil, desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. Read yourselves of all these things and then he lists them for you. Cause Paul knew he's writing to a church in Colossus just like us. We're like pagans. He says, you got to get rid of your anger. You got to get rid of your wrath. You got to get rid of the malice you have in your heart. Blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. I want to define filthy language out of your mouth.

It's when you talk bad about people. It's when, you know what filthy is? It's not when you say a cuss word, like hit your toe and you say, shh, you're good. Pastor Rod, all the time, you know. Pastor Sarah say, hey, can you use less foul language in 2026? I surely try. But what I never do is I never say, man, they'll never amount to anything. They're going to relapse again. That's filthy to God. That is filth to God. That is filth to God. Hear me out. Hear me out. I never want to talk about a creation of God in any demeaning way. I see the best in you. I see the best in what you, I want the best for you. There is hope in Jesus. Now, our mindsets, you got to wash your mindset with the word. I can't do it. I won't make it. I know you've said these things to yourself. Come on now. I'm not good enough. I am this, I am that. You know, we're so like enthralled into being something.

But the word of God says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Ain't that good? Romans, Romans, hey, I can't, I won't, I'm not good enough. Romans, Paul tells us we are more than conquerors. He's not just a conqueror, you're more than a conqueror. He's not saying, hey, you're gonna overcome. No, he says you're gonna do more than conquer it through him who loved us. And then in our attitudes, this is the place we're all affected. Maybe you don't have thoughts or mindsets, right? But maybe you have attitudes, right? I know some of y'all, y'all are some of my spiritual children, you're like, attitude, right? Negative, prideful, self-centered. Some of y'all like to play the victim. Oh man, it happened to me again, pastor, you know what I'm saying? Some of y'all are hard-hearted, right? No, Charlie, I'm done with that guy. I had to tell my disciples, it's a good thing I wasn't taking that attitude with you. Philippians two, have the same attitude as Christ. He loved, he washed, and he fed Judas and he knew the devil had already entered him. You do the same. Romans 12 tells us that we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Just because it's up here doesn't mean that it's right. I know that's a lot of Bible. I know I just gave you a lot of Bible, but if you want greater, but if you want greater, the word has to have the loudest voice in your life. This is the most important thing I came to teach you today. I came to encourage you with for 2026. As a matter of fact, I wanna urge you that I tell you every week, get on the learning platform. How do you get on there? You can grab your phone, scan the QR code on the back of those chairs, or you can go see someone at Connection Point and tell them to teach you how to get on there and start taking the devotional Bible study lesson. It'll teach you on how you can properly study. Another thing I want you to know is that we're gonna have connect groups are coming up and connect groups are gonna have one that is called what we believe. I've spent a lot of hours, a lot of time developing this so that we can teach you proper biblical theology, not denominational theology, but what the Bible says and how we should believe in God and how we should think of God, biblical doctrine. But aim small. Don't try to overhaul your whole life today. It won't happen.

I've tried that. It doesn't work. Just take one step today. Just let the word wash one thought, one attitude, one mindset. When you aim small with a laser focus on the word of God, God builds a firm foundation on Jesus. And then it becomes more than just a song. That helps us see the world, the church, through the way Jesus saw the world and the church, not ours. Western Christianity has got a toxic habit of inviting him into our world instead of surrendering our world to Jesus. We're gonna change that at Union Houston in 2026 because maturity comes when we stop customizing faith and we start shaping our lives with the word of God. And it's actually really simple. It's not hard. It's not religious. It's not, I'm not gonna go around checking on you. You know what I'm saying? This is your relationship with God because just as he washed his disciples' feet, they didn't quite understand when all his promises came to pass, their faith grew and matured to be like, ooh, he told us about this. I'm gonna show you this. You know how Peter said, no.

He said no to Jesus in confusion, but later no became what he said to the religious leaders with conviction and confidence when they told him to stop preaching the gospel. He said, nope, I'm gonna keep preaching it. That's what happens when the word and the Holy Spirit does the transformation through conviction. However, Peter said no to Jesus in that moment because he didn't understand what Jesus was doing. Watch this. But he, you notice he allowed Jesus to go ahead and do it. Do you know why? Although he didn't understand, he still trusted Jesus and he was blessed by it. That transformed his latter response because he had lived with Jesus, he had been with Jesus, he had seen Jesus, and that allowed him to trust him. How can you trust him if you don't spend time with him? Which is why for you to get greater, you need to spend time with the Holy Spirit. Don't make it weird. For those of y'all that came from Pentecostal background, okay, it ain't just praying in tongues for 45 minutes if you're not listening to what he's trying to tell you. Spend time with him. Let him speak to you. Spending time with the Holy Spirit isn't optional. It's how we stay close to Jesus, and staying close to Jesus is the only way

we're gonna be able to trust him. How are you gonna trust someone if you're not close to them? That was the key to Peter's power, to preach. He was close. Let me say, hear me out. Proximity doesn't come from greater performances, okay? The disciples didn't just know Jesus. They walked with him for three years, day and night. And that kind of relationship builds trust. So when he said something that didn't make sense, it didn't shake them. When he spoke, they didn't second guess it. You know what they did? They followed. Time with the Holy Spirit does the same for us. When things are coming up and it doesn't make sense, trust him. It changes our faith. Spending time with God changes our hope. It changes our strength. It reshapes our perspectives about things. It reshapes our desires. It reshapes the fruit that we produce. You don't grow greater by performing. You grow by proximity. See, proximity is what produces the power in your life. He said, I have set you an example. No servant is greater than his master. I want you to think about your phone, right? It doesn't matter how great your phone is.

Doesn't matter if you got the new iPhone, whatever it is. I lost track of the numbers already. If you don't know how to use it, right? If you don't know how to use it, how is it going to work for you? If you don't know how to use it, how are you going to be able to use it? If you don't know how to use it, now watch this. Well, you use your phone all day, right? If you don't plug it into the source, if you don't plug into the source, hello. It's just a piece of glass and metal, expensive at that. Proximity requires the word of God and the Holy Spirit. You cannot be like Jesus if you aren't with Jesus. You're not going to get greater faith by accident. You're not going to get greater faith by osmosis. That means being close to. In other words, just because your friend knows the whole Bible, just because you sit in front of YouTube and you watch the new latest and greatest YouTube teacher and preacher is God knows what, what else is going on out there, right? It doesn't mean you're going to grow, grow to faith. Nope. It's not going to get you that it's not by accident. You don't get greater peace by wishing for it. Sometimes, you know, I wish I had the peace. I just want some peace. No, you're going to, you're going to get peace by spending time with him.

You get it by staying in his presence, daily meditation, prayer, periodic fasting, weekly church gatherings. This is exactly the reason why Paul, I mean, the writer of Hebrews said this, let us not abandon the fellowship of the brethren as is the habit of some. I love how the Hebrew writer wrote that in there to let you know, he knows that some of you right forsake, abandon the fellowship of the science, but also don't leave here and leave Jesus in the sanctuary. Take him with you. Carry his presence into your world, into your company, into your boardroom, into your classroom, into your break rooms, and into your living rooms. Proximity gives us the power we need to grow and mature. I told you this before, big vision gives us, starts with big faith. Big faith is built on the quiet moments with the Holy Spirit. Don't get overwhelmed by the big picture of what you want to accomplish by December. Don't do that. Just take one small step that the Holy Spirit is asking you to take today, that's it. That's how you're going to hit the target. Be present in the present, in his presence. Are you with me? Be present in the present, in his presence. It starts by prioritizing his presence. Be present in his presence. The problem isn't that God is unavailable. The problem is you're distracted. We got to stop secularizing Christianity and living in Christ on Sunday, just on Sunday. We got to live it out Monday through Saturday. Stop coming to church for spiritual entertainment, to check off some religious list, because

if we're honest, some of you, I just scanned the room, some of you are present physically, but distracted spiritually. Instead of really taking in what I'm saying, scrolling on the phone, texting, doing this, wondering. I know this is someone, what am I going to eat for lunch, my stomach's growling. And distraction will never produce transformation. Being present in his presence is the only way we grow. The disciples had been with Jesus. We have Jesus in us. The disciples were described as being bold, courageous, and powerful because they had been with Jesus. You remember in that book of Acts? Can the same be said of you? Can the same be said of us? We have him in the word of God. They did not have these Bibles. They had to remember everything, and in the Holy Spirit. The challenge is not availability. The challenge is our attentiveness, and it's called priority. You must be present in his presence. You must prioritize his presence. There are far too many of us who know a whole bunch about Jesus. Praise God. You know a whole bunch. Oh, you got the Bibles, and you got all the notes, and you got the cool, pretty journals, and man, you got this course, and you got this degree, and you're taking this course by prophetess so-and-so, and this, that, and the tongue, and you speak all the prayers in tongues in your prayer time. You fast. You do all these things.

You know all these things about Jesus. We have been blessed a ton by Jesus, and I know some of your stories. Some of y'all have been blessed financially in your workplace, in your businesses. Some of you have been blessed relationally. Some of you have been blessed with children. Some of you have been blessed with healing. Some of you have been blessed with so many things. God, praise God, okay? We have even used Jesus's teachings to get us ahead in the world, because that's what Jesus's teachings will do. It will get us ahead in the world, but I have a sobering question for you. Are you really known by him? Would Jesus say to you, if you stood before him today, well done, good and faithful servant, would he say that to you? That question should make you very uncomfortable. It's meant to. It's not a verse in which we can. run around the whole church house. It's one that should make our spirit quiver. But I want to tell you something. This isn't about what you do, it's about the posture. Humility over pride. Jesus knelt before the future leaders of the early church. It was an example. You remember that? An example that we should do and follow. An example that starts with posture. A posture of towels, not titles. Serving over success. Spiritual wealth over material wealth.

So I leave you with my last thought and encouragement to start off 2026. Take the posture of the greatest because there is no one greater than him. Jesus knew, got that? He knew that the father had put all things under his power. He knew that. In our culture, the greater you become, the more people you have serving you. But look at Jesus. He had all things under his power. He held the blueprints of the universe in his hands. And what did he do with it? What did he do with those very hands? He picked up a dirty towel and washed some feet. Pick up a towel around here, y'all. Start serving. That chair knows your butt real well. Start serving. Stop making excuses. Stop making church a checklist of things you do for you. See, we come to church and we come to listen to the worship song and we come to sing the songs about Jesus and the name of Jesus and lift high Jesus. And we come here and I love it when they sing that last tagline in Spanish. I love it. I love it too. I'm telling you, my first language is se manifestara.

Yes! They forgot the part where it goes into hallelujah. I already told them, second service, I need the hallelujah, hallelujah. That's when I start running. You're going to see me run second service on that one. But listen, I'm doing church for me. When we do that, we're doing church for you. And we got to start doing what Jesus asked us to do for him. You need both. You do need church for you, but then you need to do what he asked you to do for him. Are you with me? Because if you aren't willing to wash feet, you're not ready to lead. And you might be wondering, well, I don't want to be a leader. You aren't ready to lead yourself. You ain't ready to lead your family. You ain't ready to lead your children. You ain't ready to lead your spouse the way church leads his church. Are you with me? Listen, some of you are trying to lead your spouses the worldly way. Okay? You got to lead your spouse the way Jesus leads us. Greater living starts on your knees. Jesus didn't wash their feet because he was lower than them.

He washed them because he was greater than their mess. So what are you waiting for? Because Jesus says the following, now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. Some of us have been living in the comfortable mediocrity of Western Christianity. Blessed, informed, and talkative. Boy, y'all like to talk a lot. Talk a lot about Jesus, talk a lot about that preacher, talk a lot about this, talk a lot about blessed and highly favored. But real faith is greater. Western Christianity has made us information rich and application poor. We know the verses. We have the T-shirts. You got the playlists. But are you doing the work that he's called us to do? The blessing isn't in the hearing. The blessing is in the adherence. hearing in other words obeying in 2026 isn't going to be greater because you had a better resolution or you worked harder it's going to be greater because you had greater obedience you had greater adherence to the word of god for too long the western church has been comfortable in what i like to call satan's lullaby that he sings to us you know what that song is we're blessed we're informed we know we've got the answers we got a lot to say that's the that's satan's lullaby but are we any different see that's the key real faith is greater than a new year's resolution because greater faith is greater humility greater obedience that leads to greater transformation it's the kind of faith that says i will aim small at the

target you gave me because i know and trust the big god that you are if god could take a broken city like antioch and a man like barnabas at just one small act in the beginning of the book of acts right and turn it into a global movement what can you do with a church in the heart of houston that stops the plane stop playing it safe stop playing church and start becoming the church because no one is greater than jesus and the closer we get to him the more our lives should reflect his life let's stop being overwhelmed by the big picture and let's start being obedient in small steps because when we aim small with big faith god changes everything in our lives and at the end of 2026 you'll remember this sermon and be like my life is greater my life is richer because all i did was on that first sunday in 2026 i took one small step would you stand with me got prayer partners up at the front here they're here to minister for you don't leave here if you have a prayer need if you're going through something if you need discernment if you need a word if you just need god to speak to you come get prayer i want to give you that opportunity i want you to bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment what's god saying to you in this moment i want you to put your worries aside i want you to put your problems aside and i want you to think about the one who created you i want you to know that the gospel we teach here is this god loved you because he created you he knows your flaws and he loves you still he knows where you failed and he loves you still and he wants to have a relationship with you that's greater than any relationship you've had in your life this is the key what do you have to believe well all it takes is belief in your heart you don't have to jump through religious hoops you don't have to do a whole bunch of this that and the third all you have to do is decide in your heart that jesus is the son of god that he came to live he suffered and he died for all my sins and because he did when we come to believe the word of god says that we come to believe in the name of jesus we will be risen in him as well we shall be saved if that's you if you've just made the word of god says that we come to believe in the name of jesus we will be risen in him as well we shall be saved if that's you if you've just made that decision in your heart i want you to

raise your hands so i can pray for you shoot it up real quick shoot it up real quick shoot it up real quick yeah thank you god father god we thank you we thank you for the first sunday of 2026 and we declare this year to be greater lord be with us speak to us in a greater way give us greater things to achieve but lord most importantly we lift high your name and say there is no one greater than you i want you to be with every prayer partner that's here lord may you be with them as they minister the word of prayer over your people lord may every person that's here needs prayer find the simple faith to just walk out of that chair and come to the front and i pray this in jesus mighty name