Prayers Beyond Words

- Good morning, everybody. Good morning, happy Labor Day weekend. If you're able, will you stand on your feet? Come on, this is a good day to praise the Lord. I know it's been hot this weekend, but we can still come together. We can lift our hands. We can thank God for what He has done and what He is doing in our lives. If you're watching us online, thank you for joining us. Come on, the King of Glorious with us. We get a chance to sing to Him. So let's do this together. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, don't lose heart on my soul on my soul ♪ ♪ Don't give up there is hope ♪ ♪ There is always hope ♪ ♪ And there is peace in the storm, in the storm ♪ ♪ Don't don't forget He is Lord, He is Lord of all ♪ ♪ Somebody help me sing it out, say ♪ ♪ Let me keep on glory, let me to God who saves ♪ ♪ One who's strong in my freedom is in his name ♪ ♪ Hoping the gates of heaven ♪ ♪ Lift up the shadow of praise ♪ ♪ There is a light in glory ♪ ♪ Jesus, we keep on glory ♪ ♪ So lift your eyes ♪ ♪ Sticking off, slipping off ♪ ♪ Oh, there is one, only one ♪

♪ Where my health comes from ♪ ♪ Lift up, raise, lift up, raise, we sing ♪ ♪ There is a kingdom glory ♪ ♪ Let me to God who saves ♪ ♪ One who's strong in my freedom is in his name ♪ ♪ Hoping the gates of heaven ♪ ♪ Lift up the shadow of praise ♪ ♪ There is a light in glory ♪ ♪ Jesus, the King of glory ♪ ♪ Welcome here ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're welcome here ♪ ♪ Come and have your way today ♪ ♪ Mission's found ♪ ♪ Mountain shake ♪ ♪ At the sound of just one name ♪ ♪ Over all ♪ ♪ Jesus reigns ♪ ♪ We lift our eyes to you and say ♪ ♪ What we say ♪ ♪ Mission's found ♪ ♪ Mountain shake ♪ ♪ Mission's found ♪ ♪ At the sound of just one name ♪ ♪ Just one name ♪ ♪ It's over all ♪ ♪ Jesus reigns ♪ ♪ Jesus reigns ♪ ♪ Come on, this kingdom reigns forever ♪ ♪ This kingdom has no way ♪ ♪ Come on, Jesus, you're high and exalted ♪

♪ We lift your name higher in this place ♪ ♪ You're welcome, keep up your glory ♪ ♪ You're welcome, keep up your glory ♪ ♪ Who is the king of glory ♪ ♪ The Lord strong in my name ♪ ♪ Everybody say ♪ ♪ There is a king of glory ♪ ♪ There is a god who saves ♪ ♪ One who's strong in my name ♪ ♪ Freedom's in his name ♪ ♪ Hoping the gates of heaven ♪ ♪ Lift up your child of praise ♪ ♪ There is a lion glory ♪ ♪ Jesus the king of glory ♪ ♪ There is a lion glory ♪ ♪ Jesus the king of glory ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ He's faithful, he's true ♪ ♪ Come on, he cannot be stopped ♪ ♪ Jesus is alive today ♪ ♪ His presence is with us ♪ ♪ Just one word ♪ ♪ You calm a storm that surrounds ♪ ♪ Just one word ♪ ♪ The darkness has to retreat ♪ ♪ Just one touch ♪ ♪ I feel the presence of hell ♪ ♪ Just one touch ♪ ♪ My eyes are open ♪ There's nothing that I can't do

There's not a mountain that he can't will Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do Just one word you heal is broken inside Just one word and you re-live every dream Just one touch I feel the power of heaven Just one touch My eyes will open, you see My heart can't help but believe There's nothing that I can't do There's not a mountain that he can't do Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do There's nothing that I can't do There's not a reason for it can't break through Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do Now we're both for greater things There's no power like the power of Jesus There's no power like the power of Jesus Now we're both for greater things There's no power like the power of Jesus There's nothing that I can't do There's not a mountain that he can't do Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do There's nothing that I can't do There's not a reason for it can't break through Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do Oh, praise the name that makes no way

There's nothing that I can't do Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nothing that I can't do Oh, praise the name that makes no way There's nobody like me I am an instrument of exultation And I was born to lift your name above all names You hear the melody Of all creation But there's a song of praise that only I can't bring Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one only to Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one only to Jesus You are the engine God of the engine Then He chose to make my heart your death You heal my brokenness Show me your glory So I have songs of things that I need And just Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? And who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus. And who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Christ, who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Christ. We lifted up, holy, holy. Never got a door to one, a door to knees and knees to come.

We lifted up, holy, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy, holy. Never got a door to one, a door to knees and knees to come. We lifted up, holy, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy. Jesus Christ, we lifted up, holy. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Christ. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Christ. There is no one, only you Jesus. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who is worthy of our attention, of our focus, of our worship? It's a question that all of us have to answer at some point, and if you are new or you're new on this faith journey, just want you to let you know that you are not alone. Everyone in this room has to answer that same question. And even that question is being asked in the heavenlies, this song was pulled out of the fourth and fifth chapters of John's Revelation. And the angels are rhetorically crying out, "Who is worthy?" And they know who it is, and they see Jesus, seated on the throne, who was and is and is to come, and they say, "He is worthy of our praise." So wherever you're at this morning, "He is worthy of your past, your present, and your future." And for many of us, we know that, and that's why we're breath in our lungs that we worship Him today. You give light, you are love, you bring light to the darkness, you give hope, you restore every heart that is broken. Call the singing out together. Great are you, Lord. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. We pour out our praise. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. hope, you restore every heart that is broken, great are you Lord? It's your breath, I love so before I'm raised, before I'm raised, it's your breath, I love so before I'm raised, you go, it's your breath, I love so before I'm raised, you go, it's your breath, I love so before I'm raised, before I'm raised, it's your breath, I love so before I'm raised, you go, it's your breath. The Pittsburgh uses this kind of fruit in our lives, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of this sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives, let us not become conceited or provoke one another or be jealous of one another. And all the earth will shout no praise, our hearts will cry, these folks will sing, great are you Lord?

And all the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these folks will sing, great are you Lord? And all the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these folks will sing, great are you Lord? It's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, before I'm raised, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, you go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, you go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath, our hearts, so before I'm raised, we go, it's your breath. We pour out our praise, we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise to all of you. We pour out our praise, we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise to all of you. This is your time. It's your breath in our lungs. Let's take it out so we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise to all of you. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise, it's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise to all of you. [BLANK_AUDIO] I thank you, Lord, even as we were talking as a team, Lord, that shame has to go in the presence of Jesus. Thank you for freedom this morning. Thank you, Lord, that the accuser of the brethren has to leave at the sound of the name of Jesus. Thank you, God, that we are forgiven, that we are free, that whom the sun sets free is free, indeed. We are free to live for you, we are free to praise you, we are free to worship you, we are free to exalt your name above every other name. Thank you for the freedom today. I thank you. We have freedom today in the name of Jesus, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And so I declare freedom all across this room and everyone that's watching online. We are free in Jesus' name. Free to choose you today, God, free to let go of the past, free to walk in the future that you have for us, free to walk into the unknown, knowing

that you're walking with us. You have promised never to leave us, never to forsake us. And we give your name the praise, and all those who agree, said amen. Come on, aren't you glad you can be free today? That is good news, and it's such good news. Why don't you say hello to some of the people around you that you could have a seat. Well, good morning, my name is Dave, and I am one of the pastors here at the Crossing. And here at the Crossing, we love to explore truth. We love to ask questions. We love to perfectly consider what is true, and we like to examine it and then follow it, because I do not want to follow a lie. I don't want to live in a lie. I want to know what the truth is, and then chase after that. And we do believe that the scripture is God's truth. And I don't know if you know this, but during that last song, you heard a snippet of our first five that starts again on Monday. So first five is an opportunity for you to engage God's word throughout the week. You find it on the app, and on Monday, you'll have three opportunities to read scripture in three different translations. And then Wednesday, somebody will read the scripture over you. I can't promise. It's always going to have that fantastic accent with it. I can't promise that, but it may happen more often than not.

And then at the end of the week, you get to engage scripture by somebody sharing what they have a takeaway from, and then you can also reflect on your takeaway. So that starts on Monday. We're going to be going through the fruits of the spirit. Congratulations, chapter five. And so make sure you download that if you don't have it. If you have problems downloading it, go to the connection point, see a pastor, see somebody around you and help you get that app, and then get to the first five. That is a way to engage God's truth and explore it personally. But we also want to do it in community. We don't want to do it alone. So our groups start in the next week and a half. They're going to start. So if you're not involved in a group, then go ahead, go to our groups page, go to the connection point. Again, talk to somebody. We get you involved in a group. It's an opportunity for you to sharpen each other, to ask those questions and really engage truth with other people. It's also a way to make a large church seem small, get to know some relationships and build community in that way as well. So we encourage you for the first five and get involved in a small group as well.

We are in the third week of our closer series. And today we have a special guest. She is co-lead pastor of Soul City Church in Chicago. She's an author. And her most recent book is What's Here Now. Would you please welcome in a moment, but we're going to welcome her now. Will you welcome Jeannie Stevens right here? (audience applauds) We look forward to having you up here in a moment after the offering. So this is also a time for us now to worship through our ties and offerings. So thank you for your investment and what God is doing in our community and around the world. Those of you who call crossing home, this is your opportunity to give and be a part of what's going on. Everybody's invited, but if you have questions about money in the church, again, we love to explore truth. Ask that question, come down to the front as well and meet some pastors after the service. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Well, happy Labor Day crossing. How are we doing today?

I think you can do better than that at nine o'clock on a Sunday morning. How are y'all doing today? Good, good. It is so good to be with you. My name is Jeannie Stevens, as Dave just said. And, you know, my husband, Jared, has actually been coming to the crossing every summer. I think since 2010, we tried to figure it out. Last night, I think he's been coming since 2010. And every time he comes back, he just raves about all of you. You are like his second church home each summer. And so I'm hoping this feels like you're getting a bit of an upgrade with me here today. (audience laughing) And I'm just so thrilled to be with you. And as Dave mentioned, Jared and I, we started a church in downtown Chicago 16 years ago called Soul City Church. And it's just an incredible community, beautifully diverse and transforming Jesus loving community of thousands of people trying to find and follow Jesus. And so it's just a privilege to co-pastor, together, but we also co-parent. We have two kids. We have a 20-year-old, Elijah. He is a junior at Baylor University, and they lost by one point to Auburn last night. It was painful. It was painful.

I'm still recovering, so I'm gonna go down for prayer after the service. And he is a part of the basketball program there. He wants to be basketball coach one day. So that's Elijah. And our daughter Gigi is 18 and she is a freshman at Pepperdine University. And so she is, you should pray for her. She is struggling in Malibu, California. (audience laughing) It's a really, really hard place to go to school. But we obviously just entered a whole new era of our life. We are now empty nesters. And for the last three weeks, this little guy right here, Louie, he thinks this is the best season we've ever had. He is getting more attention than he has ever had his entire life. He's hoping the kids never come home. He loves the empty nesting life. And Jared and I have found that our favorite new television show is Life 360. We just watch our kids on our app and just watch them walk around the campus and wherever they're going and whatever they're doing. So three weeks into this new era is going great. And this past August, Jared and I, not only are we empty nesters, we celebrated 30 years of marriage, which is kind of hard to believe.

(audience applauding) The strangest thing about celebrating 30 years of marriage is I'm only 39. So I don't know how that all works out. But when Jared and I got married, obviously we spoke words to one another, right? We shared vows. We communicated our commitments. And while those were meaningful words, I'm pretty sure that if Jared and I had only depended on the words that we spoke, on August 10th, 1996, and never spoke them again, I'm not sure the kind of marriage we would have today. Because words matter, but it's also the words we don't say. Those also matter. And I know that there are many times, probably when Jared is just gazing at me and loving me and thinking to himself, "Gosh, I just, I have no words for this woman." (audience laughing) And I know I can have testimony to the fact that there are many times he has said words, and I have thought to myself, "I have no words over what it is that you just said." This is true in every relationship, isn't it? There are times when we have words, and then there are times when we don't have words. It's true in friendships, it's true with work colleagues,

and it is true in our relationship with God. And many people describe prayer as a conversation with God, it is about the life we live with God. And so much of that life is evident in the moments when we don't have words, when we don't know what to say. And having a conversation with God is not the only way that we connect with God. And that's true in our relationship with one another. Our relationship with one another is not just about what we say to each other. That moment when we were dropping Gigi off and we were leaving her, there was a moment when I was just hugging her and tears were streaming down my face. And I had no words. I had no words. There have been times probably like me where you have found yourself overwhelmed or you have found yourself frustrated and you just had no words. And how many of us would be honest enough today to say there have been moments even in your relationship with God where things just seemed to not be moving in the way that you thought that they were going to be moving. And if you were honest, can you just say like has there been moments when you just didn't know what to say to God? I know I have been there.

And I love what John Bunyan says. He says that in prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without heart. Sometimes our hearts are just overwhelmed. Sometimes our hearts hold so much and there are no words to say or even to pray. And that is the question that I wanna wrestle with this weekend. How do you pray when you don't know what to say? How do you pray to God when you don't even know what to say anymore? And I'm not just talking about like structuring your prayers and making it sound like you really know what you're doing in prayer. We've all been there. And especially those of us that are exploring a relationship with God and we're not even sure about all of this, right? Like how do you talk to God when you don't know what to say? But what I'm talking about this weekend is what do you do when life starts lifeing? When life gets really hard, when you are blindsided by something that you didn't see coming, moments when you feel overwhelmed or you have questions or there's doubts, when you feel shame or regret over a decision that you made in your past,

when you look at all that's happening in the world right now and everywhere you look, it just feels like there's pain. Or maybe one of the hardest moments is when you flat out feel disappointed with God because you've prayed and you've waited and you've hoped. And for whatever reason, God has not answered your prayers, the way that you wanted. How do you pray when you don't know what to say? And the Bible gives us so much hope when we find ourselves in those seasons, when we need to move beyond words with God. And I wanna dive into one of those particular passages this weekend. It's actually found in the book of Romans. And so if you brought along a Bible, I'd love for you to open it up or maybe you wanna open up the Bible app on your phone or something like that. Just don't check your texts. But we're gonna also put it up here on the screen for you real quick. Romans 8, 26 through 27. And I actually, I love this passage of scripture. And it is from a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Rome. And this little part of the letter is entitled Present Suffering and Future Glory. And essentially Paul is writing this whole chapter and he's talking about what do you do?

How do you endure life's hardships? Because Jesus himself said in this world, you will have trouble. He wasn't saying like maybe every once in a while, things are gonna be difficult. He said, he said, you will face challenge. You will face trouble. And now we're not gonna go through the entire chapter here, but there are many theologians that believe that Romans 8 is one of the richest chapters in the whole Bible. And what I most appreciate about this is, because he's not just writing as somebody that lived a charmed life and nothing ever went wrong for him. Paul did not ascribe to Christian platitudes. He did not have a bumper sticker on the back of his chariot that said, "Let go and let God." Paul had significant suffering in his life. He was imprisoned. He faced character attacks. Paul was canceled long before cancel culture. He faced relational pain. Most historians believe that Paul was never married, so he undoubtedly faced loneliness. He had financial struggles. He carried lots of emotional burdens. And so there is no doubt that Paul faced moments in prayer where he did not know what to say. And this is what he says in his letter. He says, "We do not know when we are in a moment, when we do not know in the same way, when we don't know what we ought to pray, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don't know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." So when you feel weak, when you are without words, it says the Spirit, the Spirit helps us. So who is the Spirit? Well, the Bible describes the Trinity, that there is Father, Son, and Spirit, and that Jesus, after he ascended to heaven, left behind the Spirit as this guide, as this counselor. And so Paul is saying, "This counselor is with you in the moments when you are without words, in the moments when you are most troubled, the Spirit helps you." Now, when I'm trying to understand Scripture, I often like to go back to the original language, so I understand, like, what do all of these words actually mean? What does it mean that the Spirit helps me? Like, how do I know that? And the word help is translated in the Greek to this word,

"Sunanti lobonami." "Sunanti lobonami." Can you try saying that? "Sunanti lobonami." Very good. You can say that you learned a Greek word at church today. "Sunanti lobonami." And "Sunanti lobonami" is an action verb. It is an active verb, and it literally is translated, like someone comes alongside another person that is carrying something heavy. They're carrying something that they actually can't carry themselves. It's too heavy for them. And essentially, "Sunanti lobonami" means that the Spirit picks up that heavy thing. Literally picks up the burden. So imagine two people trying to lift something far too heavy for either of them alone. And essentially, one comes along and says, "I got that. I'm going to carry that thing for you, that thing that is too much, that thing that is overwhelming, that thing that feels like it is just dragging you down. I got it." And that's what Paul is saying. The Spirit does for us. "Sunanti lobonami." "I got it. I got you." I know that this doesn't make sense in your life. I know this feels like too much. This diagnosis, this pain, this loss, this breakup, this direction that you're not sure to take. The Spirit says, "I got you." And the Spirit doesn't just help us. What the passage actually is specifically saying is it helps our weakness itself. And this is a powerful truth for us to consider theologically, because when it comes to the intimacy that we can have with the Holy Spirit, when you have no words, it means that the Spirit isn't just like often another room waiting for you to call upon the Spirit. Spirit's not distant. Spirit's not far away. When you have no words, the Spirit inside of you literally says, "I'm going to carry that." I'm going to lift that off of you. I am going to share in the burden. to just muscle yourself through the difficulty. The spirit is not just sympathetic. The spirit is active and does something. The spirit lifts that burden. And Paul says, when we don't know what we ought to pray for acknowledging that there are times, there are times in our human weakness that we can even be led to a loss of spiritual clarity. Like God, I don't even know what to say anymore. I don't know what you want.

I don't know which way to turn. That the spirit even is able in those moments when we feel disoriented to guide us. And essentially what Paul is saying is that there are even times, there are even times when we have no words. The passage describes those moments as a spiritual groan. A spiritual groan. I want you to give me your best groan. Like just, ugh, oh, you're much better than that. Give me your best, like, ugh, I'm so frustrated. Yes, yes. Groaning, groaning essentially, Paul is saying in this moment when you are so frustrated, you don't know what to do, you don't know where to turn. Paul is saying groaning is what prayer sounds like when weakness replaces words. When your weakness is just at a point where you don't have words anymore, that's actually prayer. And the scripture goes on and it says, and he who searches our hearts in verse 27 knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. So the same way that there is a perfect connection of oneness with God, the Father, Son and Spirit, you get to have that same connection in prayer as well. You know, I can tell you that there have been many times in my life where I am not aware that I have that kind of connection and intimacy with the Holy Spirit, knowing that the Spirit lives and breathes inside of me.

Like when I went to Starbucks this morning to get my coffee on my way to church, right? I did not go to the barista and say, "Good morning, how are you? I hope you're doing well." Me and the Spirit here are ordering my coffee. But that's really what's true. The Spirit lives and breathes inside of us when we're in relationship with Jesus. When you're talking to another person and you're trying to discern what to say, the Spirit can literally give you words, give you understanding as you're listening. When you're trying to make a decision, Holy Spirit, I know you live and breathe inside of me, what would you have me do? And this passage is saying that the Spirit searches our hearts. The Spirit knows the mind of God and can actually lead us towards the will of God. I love what Henry now says. He says that prayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us. And the Spirit always prays for us in alignment with God's will. You know, early on when I started following Jesus, I just had no idea what all of this meant. And I remember getting to a season in my life where the normal things that I was doing as I was following Jesus, they just weren't working. I was having a hard time connecting to God in Scripture. I was having a hard time connecting to God,

even in worship and prayer. And I had a mentor at the time, her name was Ruth. And I remember reaching out to her and just saying, Ruth, I feel like I'm at a wall. I feel like all of the things that you're supposed to do, I'm struggling to connect with God. And part of it was I was walking through a really, really difficult season. I was in the midst of grief, and it rocked our family's world. Jared and I were hoping to start a family and it just, it wasn't working. And so we were disappointed and we weren't sure if we were gonna be able to have kids and just walking through that whole process was so hard. Things were challenging at work and I was having a hard time navigating through that and I remember reaching out to this mentor in my life Ruth and saying, can we talk, can we connect? And she said, of course, Jeanne, why don't you come over and let's spend some time together. And I remember going into her living room and sitting down on her couch and she had a candle, very similar to this and she lit the candle and it was very quiet and she just said, come Holy Spirit. And that was it. And over the next hour,

I just began to weep. I began to release all of the things that I was holding, all of the pain, all of the grief, all of the sadness, and it wasn't through words. It was just through the quiet. And what I learned in that experience is that there are times in our life when there are no words in prayer. I talked to a handful of people last night that were navigating grief, navigating loss, loss of spouses, the loss of children. And they just said, I'm in a season like that where I have no words. And there are times when we pray through the spirit that first sometimes we just have to sit in God's presence. Sometimes prayer doesn't require sentences. Sometimes the most honest prayer is not in what we say, but in our ability to stay. To just stay with God. Sometimes we pray with our breath. A slow inhale and exhale offered to God. God, I don't have any words, but I'm here. You know, so many of us, we live our lives in two different locations. We live our life over here. Rehashing the past, or we live our life over here, rehearsing the future. But you know where God is? God is here in the present. The present is God's zip code if you're ever wondering.

And so many of us, sometimes the best way to praise to just say, God, I am here. In the present. One of the ways that I've been praying often is through Psalm 4610 where I will just say, be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be. To just be in the present moment. To pray through the spirit. We invite the spirit to intercede for us just like the passage says. Holy spirit, I don't know what to pray. That counts as prayer. Holy spirit, I don't have words today. That counts, that's prayer. That's you saying, God, I don't know. I don't know what to say or to pray. Sometimes we release like we just did a groan or a sigh, a deep exhale, a deep cry, a sound without language, a healthy. This doesn't just release what we're holding often times. It regulates our emotions too, which are needed. Sometimes we invoke a single word, Jesus. Help. Mercy. Right now, the single word that I have been using in prayer, trust. [BLANK_AUDIO] Jared. I trust you with Soul City Church. I trust you with the crossing. I trust you with these people. That's prayer. Finally, sometimes you just have to trust that your body knows what to do.

Sometimes you get on your knees, you open up your hands, you let tears fall. So many of us, when tears start welling in our eyes, we try to fight those tears. We try to push those things away. We even often apologize. I'm so sorry for being emotional. You're not emotional. You're emotion full. Do you know how many emotions are running through your body this very moment? You are full of emotions. So stop saying, "I'm so sorry. I'm emotional." You're emotion full. You know what tears are? They're liquid love. They're just liquid love. They have no more room inside the body, so they got to come out of your eyes. That's all they are. Sometimes you just need to release those tears. Listen, I know I just gave a whole message on what to do when you have no words, and then I put a prescription and a formula on the screen. I give this to you as a way when you are without words to have some handles to know what to do, so to try some of these. There's a very famous quote about the gospel from St. Francis of Assisi that says, "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words." And if I could borrow that quote ever so slightly, I would say pray at all times and when necessary use words. And some of you know what this is like when you find yourself in a season where you have no words. And I get this sense that some of you may be in that season here today. And I just want you to know I see you. God sees you. You are not alone. You are not alone. And when you find yourself in a season like that, often it's good to borrow the words of Scripture when you don't have words. And so to close our service today, I would love to do what Ruth did for me many years ago. To just remind you, the Spirit's here. And if you wouldn't mind closing your eyes and maybe even opening up your hands, I would love to speak the words of God to you for those of you that have no words in this season. And so come Holy Spirit. To those of you who wonder if God sees you, Matthew 28 20 says, "I am with you always." To those of you who feel like you are out of words, Psalm 139 4 says before a word is even on your tongue. I know it. To those wondering what step God is asking you to take next, Psalm 32 8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go." To those of you walking through a heavy season, 1 Peter 5 7 says, "Cast your cares on him because he cares for you." For those concerned if things are going to work out, for loved one, for a decision that you're making. Philippians 1 6 says, "He who began a good work will carry it on to completion." For those of you here today that need a very specific provision from God,

Matthew 6 32 says, "Your Father knows what you need." And so God, we trust that when we have no words, when we don't know what to say, [MUSIC PLAYING] for us, and we thank you, Holy Spirit, that you intercede for us, and we pray this in your name, and all God's people said, amen. Crossing thank you so much for letting me be with you this weekend. May you go in peace. God bless. [Applause] [MUSIC PLAYING] You