Share Your Story - Saddleback Weekend Service

♪ All the house of God tonight ♪ ♪ Why don't we see it into our feet ♪ ♪ And let's praise Jesus as everything we've got ♪ Come on! ♪ I have felt the heads that bear the scars ♪ ♪ Reach out and rescue me ♪ ♪ I have known the love of the Father's heart ♪ ♪ A broad-aggle down routine ♪ ♪ From where I was to where I'm now ♪ ♪ It's overwhelming ♪ ♪ But more and more, I see you move ♪ ♪ Father, I'll be your ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but race ♪ ♪ Race for ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but lift up ♪ ♪ The chance of joy ♪ ♪ If we're not thinking about good to bear ♪ ♪ Faithful now to eat ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but race ♪ ♪ You, race you are ♪ ♪ For the boy you still have to save my life ♪ ♪ And did I keep nothin' pain ♪ ♪ All the cross you pour with open arms ♪ ♪ Salvation, they call my name ♪ ♪ From where I was to where I'm now ♪ ♪ It's overwhelming ♪ ♪ This is my testimony ♪ ♪ But more and more, I see you move ♪ ♪ All around me ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but race ♪

♪ Race for ♪ ♪ I can't help but lift up ♪ ♪ The chance of joy ♪ ♪ When I think about good to bear ♪ ♪ Faithful now to eat ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but race ♪ ♪ Race you are ♪ ♪ For the boy you still have to save my life ♪ ♪ My days cause I'm free ♪ ♪ Got no chains on me ♪ ♪ I'm healed and redeemed ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but fall on the knee ♪ ♪ That buried my shame ♪ ♪ Who walked in my grave ♪ ♪ I can't help but dance cause I'm free ♪ ♪ I've got chains on me ♪ ♪ I'm healed and redeemed ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't fail but fall on the knee ♪ ♪ Oh, buried my shame ♪ ♪ Who opened my grave ♪ ♪ I can't help but race ♪ ♪ Race you are ♪ ♪ I can't help but dance ♪ ♪ The chance of joy ♪ ♪ When I think about good to bear ♪ ♪ Faithful now to eat ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but race ♪ ♪ Race you are ♪ ♪ I can't help but race ♪ ♪ Race you are ♪

♪ I can't help but race ♪ ♪ Race you are ♪ - He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our worship and our attention. So, Lord, we set our eyes on you, the perfecter of our faith, for the joy set before you you endured the cross for us. We thank you, the singers of the September. ♪ It was my cross you for ♪ ♪ So I could live in the freedom you died for ♪ It's what he did for you and me. ♪ Now my life is yours ♪ ♪ And I will sing of your goodness ♪ ♪ For evermore ♪ ♪ And so I will praise you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy, how wonderful ♪ ♪ Love will run ♪ 'Cause it's good news And now my shame is gone I stand amazed And your love went in the eye of all When your grace goes on and on

And I will sing Of your goodness for evermore Worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise How worthy is your name Sing worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise No more worthy, come on I'll sing that again Worthy is your name Jesus 'Cause you deserve the praise So worthy is your name Sing worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name No more worthy is your name Don't like the Lord And all the earth No other name will get our praise But King Jesus So we declare be exalted Sing be exalted Now in the heavens As your glory fills this face You will only serve our praise As he dies It's a name above all names

Be exalted Now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You will only serve our praise He's the name above every other name Come on, be exalted Now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You will only serve our praise You're the name above all names Be exalted now As the glory fills this place You will only serve our praise You deserve the praise So worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name Sing worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name As Jesus is so worthy

We read in Ephesians It says for we are His workmanship Created in Christ Jesus for good works Which God prepared before Him A little further along it says So then you are no longer strangers And aliens But you are fellow citizens With the saints and members Of the household of God Built on the foundation Of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus being himself the cornerstone In whom the whole structure Being joined together Grows into a holy temple in the Lord In Him You also are being built together Into a dwelling place For God And I love what Paul is saying here He is saying that we are His workmanship Which means that we were created On purpose For a purpose And really that is what we have been talking about This entire Live Sense series But a lot of the times I feel like We can overcomplicate what it means To live out that purpose

We get so bogged down down and hyper fixated and all the things to simply be with God. Before everything else that we can do for Him, He just wants you. He wants your heart. Because when we accept Jesus, He welcomes us in to His household. He calls us sons and daughters of the Most High, and when we give Jesus, His rightful place has the cornerstone. All of our life begins to be molded around Him. It's not just the few hours that we spend here at church. It's our whole lives that are meant to be His. So as we sing this next song, Church, whether you have sung it before, whether it's the first time you hear it. As we sing, let this be your heart's prayer, let this be your heart's posture. That no matter what we do, that Jesus would always be the center, receiving all of the glory and all of our praise. Amen. Amen. Let's sing this together. We've made this complicated more than it was ever meant to be. Hasn't it always been about the same things? Before, bring me back to simple things, for you be the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my Savior all in all, you're the one I hold on to, for the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, "Jesus, I love you." Teach us to discern the moment, when to serve, and when to sit here at your feet. Keep us away to what's important, and just like Mary, shows the better things. Come on, sing this with us, and you be the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my Savior all in all. You're the one I hold on to, for the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, "Oh, Jesus, I love you, see you, oh you be the center of it all."

My heart belongs to you, my Savior all in all, you're the one I hold on to, for the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, "Oh, Jesus, I love you, oh how I love you." In all how I love you, Jesus, I love you, in all how I love you, in all how I love you, Jesus, I love you, in my whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for you only everything for the honor of your name, and in my days tell the story, let it be, of you only everything for the honor of your name, come on, let this be our prayer, my whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for you only everything for the honor of your name, we hope nothing bad in your days. For the honor of your name, and my holy life, my holy life For the honor of your name, for the honor of your name And in my gaze, tell the story that it be of your only everything For the honor of your name, for the honor of your name Oh, how I love you, Jesus, I love you Jesus, I love you Oh, how I love you, Jesus, I love you Jesus, we sing this tonight And my holy life, tell the story that it will be of your only everything For the honor of your name, for the honor of your name, my holy life Tell the story that it be of your only everything For the honor of your name, Jesus, it will be of your only everything For the honor of your name, for the honor of your name And in my gaze, tell the story that it be of your only everything Oh, how I love you, Jesus, I love you Oh, how I love you, Jesus, we're standing in front of you tonight Oh, how I love you, Jesus, I love you And my holy life, for your glory, my holy world For your holy everything, for the honor of your name And in my gaze, tell the story that it will be of your only everything And everything, for the honor of your name, for everything Hold nothing back, oh, everything, oh, everything For the honor of your name, for everything For the honor of your name, my holy life

My holy life, for your glory, my holy world For everything, for everything, everything And in my gaze, tell the story that it will be of your only life For the honor of your name, for the honor of your name In all, how I love you, Jesus, I love you For what you say, in all, how I love you In all, how I love you, Jesus, I love you What a great time of worship that we have had so far together And I just love that song that we just sing And may it ring true that our lives would glorify God In everything that we say, everything that we do Every interaction that we have, may it show the goodness of God And how He has moved in our lives, and now I love that when we come together in worship each week for these services. It's not just cool melodies that we get to listen to, but they are powerful declarations and powerful prayers as well that we get to sing together. Well, welcome to Saddleback. We are so grateful that you are here and we're so grateful that you decided to spend these next couple moments with us. And if it's your first time checking out the church or checking out our services, we just want to say welcome. We hope that you feel seen and known and loved. And we also would love to get to know you as well, but it starts with you letting us know that it's your first time watching. And so you can do that. If you're watching on YouTube, there's a link that you can click in the description or even better. You can scan the QR code that you see on the screen and download our Saddleback app. That's going to help you to access our digital program. Set your campus to online community and then fill out that new year form.

Someone from our team would love to personally reach out to you, get to know your story and help you to take a next step in your faith. And also I want to invite everybody to pull out our digital program right now, because later in the service, Pastor Andy is going to talk about this live cent covenant. We have been in a series right now called Live Cent, where we have been challenged in really practical ways to live out our faith and live our life on mission for Jesus. And I want to encourage you, Pastor Andy is going to talk about this and what this means. And you can access this form through the digital program as well. So I want to encourage you to be ready for that moment. This is a step that we're going to take to not just talk about living set, but actually commit to it. So make sure you're ready for that by scanning the QR code and opening the app as well. Well another next step that you can take if you are new to our church is by attending activate. Activate is what we like to call our starting point here at Saddleback, because it really is a great place to hear more about what our church believes, what it looks like to be a part of the church, especially in an online context. And so it happens on zoom. We would love to personally need you face to face, get to know you and help you get connected as well. And so it's actually happening this weekend. And so if you're watching and it's Sunday, it's not too late to join us. You can register through the Saddleback app. And another thing that you can do through the app as well is join a small group. We are about to step into our fall small group semester. It is kicking off on September 12th and we would love for you to join us because we believe that life is better in community, walking through life with other people, walking through the highs and the lows together, a community of people to support you, to love you and to pray with you. And so we have a ton of online small groups that you can be a part of no matter where

you are in the world, you can browse them in the Saddleback app as well. Well church family, there's a lot going on in the life of our church and we are so excited because God is moving and we want you to be a part of it too, so let's join the rest of our church family as we listen to this together. Hey Saddleback, last Sunday thousands of women from across our campuses gathered for an incredible women's gathering. It was a powerful way to begin the fall season. If you were there, we hope you left feeling encouraged and filled up. And speaking of fall, our next small group semester is almost here. My wife and I have been in a small group with three other couples for the past three years. We're all raising young kids and truthfully I've never been more tired in my life, but these people have become a crucial part of our village. If you want to grow in your faith, can I encourage you to consider starting or joining a group? You can sign up for a small group leader training in the Saddleback app or explore the group finder while you're there as well. Also, we hope you'll join us for a return night this Thursday at Lake Forest. This is a night for all generations to worship, pray and close out our Live Sense series together. And finally, just last week, we got to celebrate some of the amazing missions teams and their stories at Global Missions Night. This year, teams have been serving in places like the Philippines, Rwanda, Poland, Costa Rica and Baja California. Because of your regular giving, our church has the privilege of serving people and local churches around the world all year long. We do this by equipping ordinary people to Live Sense and their mission field, providing practical tools and training and supporting local churches to strengthen families and their communities. I've been on several trips as a student and as an adult and they have changed how I have seen God's global church and how I serve as a believer and a pastor today. If you'd like to worship God today by giving your tithe or offering, you can do that through the Saddleback app or one of the giving envelopes.

We're so glad you're with us today at Church. Now let's hear from Pastor Andy. Hey Church family, I'm so grateful that you're with us. I want to welcome all of our campuses and those of you joining us online. We are in the last week of our Message Series Live Sense and I've loved these last few weeks. We've been looking at Jesus' invitation. And this whole series, if you were with us in the beginning, you'll remember that we said, God put something more inside of you. That more is not fulfilled by any amount of money or job. It's fulfilled by relationship with God. And the more that we know Him, the more we find meaning and purpose. But God doesn't save us just so that we can stop. He saves us and then sends us on mission. And so if you're just joining with us, welcome, we're glad that you're here. I wanna do just a little bit of a review of where we've been this entire series. In fact, when you walked in today, you got a little card, all of our campuses should have one. It looks like this. If you can grab it for just a moment and pull it out. And you're gonna see here on the screen, there's a place that it talks about one life surrendered, one life reached. And you'll notice on the front, this really is a review of what we've been talking about in terms of living sin.

We said in the first week that God gave you an identity as an ambassador, that He calls you a representative if you're one of His followers. We talked about praying boldly and believing that God wants to use our prayers to impact eternity, that the moment I say yes to live sin, I say yes to living at war. And we're in a spiritual battle that we live in. We're gonna look today at that third part of sharing our story and then the mission of going with good news wherever we go. Now today, if you're here for the first time, you get that little bit of a review, but we've been really stepping into this call that God has for our lives. And at the end of the service, we're gonna make a commitment together as a church family to say yes to Jesus, to say I wanna live my life on mission for you. But I really wanna get there through this very important truth that as you hear it, it really does impact the way that you see yourself. And this is the principle I want us to look at today. There is power in your story. Now I don't know your story. I don't know what brought you here to church. I don't know what your background is, but I do know that there is power in your story. And I know this because the Bible actually says this in Revelation chapter 12 verse 11,

we're gonna get right into it. I love this verse and I wanna invite you to read it out loud with me, Revelation 12 11 says this. And they have conquered him, let me start again. All right, you guys ready? There's like four people. All right, Revelation 12 11 says, "And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb "and by the word of their testimony, "for they loved not their lives even unto death." Now this is straight from the book of Revelation, the End Times, but the image is the saints that are persecuted. It says that they overcame by the word of their testimony and the blood of the Lamb. So what happens in this passage of scripture, your story, think about this for just a moment, your story is put right next to the blood of Jesus when he was crucified on a cross so that we could be forgiven. There's power in your story. And one of the greatest tools that you have to impact those around you is your story. And that's what I wanna convince you of today. I want today at the end of all of our campuses, I want us to make our commitments together, but I want you to walk out of our services with confidence that God wants to use your unique story to make a difference in the world around you. So today we're gonna look at John chapter nine,

I love this particular story. If you have your Bible, you can open it and we're gonna have some fun. Look in this story of a man who is blind from birth that Jesus intervenes and gives him sight. Now we're gonna see in this story, an interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees, this man and the Pharisees religious leaders who did not like the ministry of Jesus. And the story begins like this. It says as he, talking about Jesus, went along, he saw a blind man who had been blind from birth and his disciples asked him Rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind. Now you're gonna think about this for just a moment. Here's his disciples walking around and there's this guy on the side of the road. He's blind, he can't see that they wanna know, is it his fault or his parents fault? Whose fault is it? And you kinda gotta wonder like guys, he's not deaf, he's blind, okay? Like you don't need to be saying all this in front of him. Like wait till we get past him. But as they're asking the question, Jesus makes the statement, neither this man nor his parents were the ones that sinned to cause this condition. See the Pharisees and religious leaders always wanted to pin circumstances and conditions

on somebody's sin. And as Jesus says, actually, no, this one is different. This happens so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. So as long as it is today, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work and while I am in the world, I am the light of the world. So there's some things in your life that oftentimes are circumstances outside of your control that God is setting you up for his power to be displayed in and through your story. This is so crucial. It says this, having said that, and put it on the man's eyes. Somebody just said, I would like a healing where he just speaks, not spits. And so Jesus takes his spit, he puts it in the mud, wipes it on his eyes. Now the word that John actually uses in the original language is the word anointed. So the spit of Jesus with the mud, anoints this man's eyes. John is actually doing a little subtle dig at the Pharisees because it was Sabbath. And apparently you're not supposed to spit on Sabbath. So Jesus is breaking their Sabbath rule, he's mixing his saliva with creation, and then he says to the man, go, he told him, wash in the pool of Siloam. So the man went, washed, and came home sing.

So the man went, he washed, and he came home sing. Now his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked the question, isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg? Some claim that he was. And then others said, no, he just looks like him. It's not really him. But then this man insisted, no, I am the man. I am the same one that was blind. And then he continues. It says, how then were your eyes open? They demanded, they wanted to know. And he replied, the man they called Jesus, made some mud, and he put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. Where is this man? I don't know, he said. Now what I love about this is there's so many things that this man does not know about Jesus. He does not know of Jesus is the Messiah. He does not know at this point that Jesus is sinless. He has no idea who this man is other than the fact that he couldn't see, and now Jesus touched him, and he has sight. And in the interaction between the religious leaders, you see a couple things that are really crucial. Anytime God is changing lives and stories are being altered, there's always going to be a measure of curiosity one, but there's going to be a measure of criticism as well.

And so these Pharisees are trying to criticize the ministry of Jesus, so they go to the man's parents, and they want to know, well, was he blind at birth? And the parents are like, yes, he was blind at birth. He sees now. So the story's going, well, they come back to the guy and they want to know again, like, what happened? Who is he? And he multiple times, the guy says, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. And then finally, in verse 24, it says, a second time they summoned him, the man who had been blind, give glory to God. Now they're not saying give glory for the miracle, they're trying to put Jesus in what they think is the place he should be in. Give glory to God, they said. We know that this man is a sinner, speaking of Jesus. And he replied, the man who had been healed, whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. But one thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. I was blind, but now my eyes are opened. And in this passage of scripture, there's this beautiful display of God's intervention in a man's life, the miraculous work of Jesus. There is power, not just in that man's story, there's power in your story. And I want to talk today about how do you share your story in a way that the power of God comes through and transforms the lives of those around you.

And the first point is this, we see it here, that if my story's gonna carry that power that God designed it for, I have to make it personal. Notice even in the Revelation passage, it says they overcame by the word of their testimony, not their mom's testimony or their sister's testimony, it was the word of their testimony. And this man made his story personal as he shared it with those around him. What did he say? He said, I was blind, but now I see. You might even circle the word I. I was blind, but now I see. And the natural temptation, if you're a follower of Jesus, is to wanna come up with airtight logic and theological explanations. And there's so many great resources on that. And certainly there are times where that kind of conversation is significant. But this is important. There is more power in a personal story than a perfect argument. There is more power in a life that has been transformed by Jesus than someone who contains the perfect argument and can argue all day long. And what Jesus does is in this instance, he changes the man's life, he opens his eyes and he has been doing that for thousands of years since. And sometimes what happens is that our eyes

get close to the reality of what God is doing all around us. And what I love in this passage is it's a call for us to come back to, open our eyes to see what is it that God is doing right around me in my life right now. Now here in our church family, there are so many thousands of examples that I could share with you of what God is doing. transformation of what God is doing. But this last week, I heard this story of a woman from our prison from our prison campus inside of the Manila prison. And the story of God's radical transformation of her life. We're so grateful for the ministry of what God is doing at the CIW women's prison in Manila. We're grateful for grace and her leadership there of that campus. We can even show some love to those ladies right now. And I want you to see one story of what God is doing in lives at that campus. [MUSIC] Dear Sadawak family, my name is Mary Jo. You don't know me, but I'm a part of your family. My campus is in Manila inside the correctional institution for women. I came from a loving family, but I made choices that pulled me away from them, and I left to build a life with my partner instead. We got involved in drugs together. And when it all came apart, he walked away and I was the one who went to prison. I was so angry, so bitter. I couldn't understand how my life had come to this. The way of my decisions was so overwhelming that there were nights I thought about ending my life, but my church friends in my dormitory wouldn't give up on me. They kept inviting me to church. I didn't think church was for

people like me, but with their encouragement, I finally said yes, and saying yes changed everything. That morning, I heard about the resurrection, and for the first time, I understood it. Jesus is alive. He could forgive me, and my life wasn't over. I could have a new beginning. Since that day, everything has been different. I enrolled and activate to grow in my faith. I joined a small group. I study God's word every day with other women. They tell me I'm different now, but I don't know how to explain it, except that I can't get enough of Jesus. For the first time in my life, I feel accepted. I feel loved like I belong. I learned that my past doesn't have the final word God does. And now I'm inviting others, telling other women around me what I found, and praying that they will take their own first step. So I just want to say, keep reaching out to your one life. Don't stop. Keep praying. Keep inviting, because I'm proof there is no one beyond God's reach. He is still transforming hearts one life at a time. Your sister in Christ, Mary Jo. That story, just one example of God's faithfulness. Mary Jo, we loved you, and we were grateful that you shared your story with your whole church family. And one more time, can we give it up for the women of the C-I-W prison campus? Now, you have a story as well of God's faithfulness in your life. And part of my prayer for us is that God would give us eyes to see, to be able to connect the doubts of what he's doing all around us. There are miracles that he's performing. And sometimes those miracles are so subtle and so small that we miss them, but over the time that the miracles add up to the faithfulness of God displayed in our lives. And I got to ask you this question, what is Jesus done for you?

And perhaps it might even be better to ask, what is Jesus done for you that you've missed? And what he wants to do is open your eyes to see what he's doing all around you. Now, when you ask that question, I'm sure there's a lot more questions that come to mind. What stories should I actually share with the people around me? And not only do we want to make it personal, but it's very important that we also make it specific to what God has done in our life. So that one verse, even coming back to it, I think about the practicality of what he said. Not only did he say I was blind, he says I was blind and now I see. So he describes what Jesus actually did for him. So if you can break down and look at your life and notice the faithfulness of God, what Jesus has done for you, sometimes it's easier when you have categories to begin to look at what Jesus has done for you. And I love in Psalm 103, King David, these few verses really are an encouragement to me. I pray these verses often to open my eyes to what God is doing around me. And even as I'm praying through these verses, God will pop things in my mind even from the last week or so of my life. And David gives us some categories that I want us to notice from Psalm 103, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of his benefits because sometimes we forget how good he's been to us." He then describes, "He who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with love and mercy, who satisfies you with good things so that your youth

is renewed like the eagles." So these are the things that God is doing all around us. And what Jesus does for us, there's so many categories of what we could see, but I'll give you a couple of them that you can write in your notes. He forgives sin, so whoever turns to him receives mercy and forgiveness because of the cross of Jesus. Psalm 103 later on says, "As far as the east is from the west, that's how far he separates our sin from us." In addition, he's a God who heals. Not just wants, he still heals today. He's healing souls, he's healing bodies, he's healing minds, he's doing it right now around us. He's a God who redeems. So he reaches down into the pit and there's no life that's beyond his reach. He's a redeemer. In addition, he's a God that restores. So he takes things and puts them back into their rightful place the way that they should be. He's a God who crowns us with a crown of victory that's not based on our goodness, but his kindness towards us with love and compassion. He's a God that satisfies our soul, that he renews our desires. He's a God who provides for us. He's a God that strengthens us. And the list goes on and on and on and on of what he does. He's a good God that is moving in our lives.

And when we see specifically what he's done, we ought to be able to break down so that we can begin to share out of the examples of what he's doing in our lives. So for you, has God provided for you? Well, that's a story that you can share. Has God forgiven you? Is there something in your life that he set you free from? That's a story that you can share. Is there something that God has healed you of? That's a story that you can begin to share. Now, part of what helps me personally is not only to ask what Jesus did, but to ask then when did Jesus do it? Because if I don't see when it happened, then it's still very vague in my mind. And this last week I put out online this question, what has Jesus done for you and when did Jesus do it? Somebody said he died on a cross from my sin and rose again. That's awesome, that would be enough. But thank God, that's not all he does. So we wanna notice those things. Let me give you a couple examples. These were literally hundreds of people responded to this question on my feed. Jesus restored my relationships with my two adult daughters. He did it after my small group prayed. How about that? Somebody in a small group got prayed for and relationships got restored.

These are the things that God is doing in our church right now, okay? So check this out. Jesus saved my marriage four years ago. Jesus set me free from same sex attraction at 18 years old. Aren't you grateful that he does that kind of work in our lives? Jesus in addition, this next person said, Jesus restored my relationship with my father when I was 16 years old. Jesus never abandoned me when my dad committed suicide. Jesus provided opportunities to care for my family beyond my needs. Friends, he's faithful. He's doing these things in our lives. Jesus filled me with peace when I prayed on my knees for my critically injured mom. Jesus showed me that my disabilities are tools to be used to grow his kingdom. Jesus gave life to my son when the doctor told me there was no heartbeat and he's now 42 years old. Jesus saved my husband from addiction and he did it when I let go and stopped trying to fix him. He's doing great things. So one more time. I wanna just read this verse, Revelation 12, 11. I don't know if you can put it back on the screen and they have conquered the enemy by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. There is a word of testimony in you

that needs to be declared with your lips to the people around you. And when you can slice it like this, when you could share it with people in your life and in sentences that is just coming out of you from what God has done. He's been so good. He's been so faithful. God uses it with power to transform the lives of people around us. It's not about perfection. It's not about argument. It's not about spiritual maturity. It's not about age. It's about the work of God in you. God is at work in nine-year-old's hearts. God is at work in 90-year-old's hearts. God is moving across our church. And the challenge that I have for you is to write down three specific examples of a personal story of what Jesus did for you. and feel like you got more stuff on your to-do list. If three is too much for you, fine, make it one. You wanna go Father, Son, Holy Spirit, or you just wanna go one, triune God, both work. Just don't do two, right in the middle, okay? So don't leave anybody out. One or throughout that was funny. Nobody thought that was funny. But if three's too much, fine, make it one.

But write down something that Jesus has done for you. Make it a sentence, two sentence. It doesn't need to be a novel. It's just, this is what he's done in my life. Now when I share that story, the other thing I wanna do is I wanna make sure that in sharing the story, Jesus is the hero of the story, that we wanna make sure he's the one that gets the credit for what he's done in our lives. And even as you look at this story of the man who talks about what Jesus has done, John 9/11, he says this, "The man, they call Jesus, made some mud and put it on my eyes. The anointed one, anointed this mud and put it on my eyes. The man they call Jesus has done it." So the challenge for us is to have these open eyes, but then for it to hit our lips, to declare the faithfulness of God. Now in Deuteronomy chapter 11, this verse, Moses is speaking to the Israelites about the decrees of the Lord. And what I noticed this last week, in my time alone with God one morning, I noticed how as Moses is declaring the decrees of the Lord, two times he puts the decrees of the Lord, but right in the middle of the decrees of God, he puts the deeds of God. This is important because a lot of people are so focused on the decrees without the deeds.

Parents, this is important. Like if you only focus on the decrees and the rules and the laws and all of that without how good God is, it hardens the hearts of people around you. And so Deuteronomy chapter 11, 5, and 7 says, "It was not your children who saw the things he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place, but it was your own eyes that saw all these great things that the Lord has done. In front of you, he split the Red Sea and the Egyptians drowned. He did it in front of your eyes. So the Bible says one time in Psalms, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, speak it. If God has been good to you, it ought to hit our lips and let him be the hero of your story. I wonder if there's anybody at Saddleback Church at all of our campuses that Jesus has done some things that he deserves some glory in your life for it. And let it be the thing that comes out. I'm not the hero of my story. You're not the hero of your story. Jesus is the hero of the story. He's the hero of this entire story. So he wrote the gospel in the scriptures, but also he's writing that on our hearts over and over and over again as he moves in power in our lives. So the challenge for us is to get a highlight reel of his goodness. Now, maybe some of you are on Instagram

or some social media channel and you post your stories. How many of you post your stories online or you watch stories online? So on Instagram, there's like the story feed and the stories are like 45 seconds to a minute long, pictures of what you're doing, all the wonderful things, sunsets and California for all your friends that moved to Tennessee. You know, this is what a real sunset looks like, baby. You got farms, we got beaches, come on. So you're posting that on there just to, you know, show the highlight reel of your life. And you know, at the same time you're watching the sunset, you're, you know, kind of messing with your kid and trying to like put them in time out so you can take the perfect picture. And you know, the tendency is just to put out the highlight reel to let people see how awesome it is. But what if you and what if I, instead of putting our own highlight reel out there, we started putting more of Jesus highlight reel out there. This is how good he is. This is what he's done. He healed me, he saved me, he restored me. My marriage is different. My relationship with my kids has changed. I got peace now, I got joy now. He provided for me these little highlights that when you slice it up and make Jesus the hero, sometimes Christians, when they share their faith

through a couple of critical errors, they give too much or they give it out of obligation. We ought to give it out of a place of joy. We want to give it from a place in our lives. He's awesome. Jesus is amazing. He came from heaven to earth. He rose again from the dead. He's changed my life. And it should hit our lips in a way that people see the goodness of God in and through our lives. And that leads me to the fourth and final point that we're going to spend some time on. Not only do I want to make sure when I share it, Jesus is the hero, I want to make the good news digestible. I want to make sure that when I'm sharing it with somebody that they can digest the thing that I'm giving to them. Now, let me explain it like this. The team is going to come out. They're going to bring out this beautiful illustration that will help me explain what it means to make Yes, thank you guys. (audience applauding) Now they just brought me this straight from the grill. Thank you guys. And what you're gonna notice is this has actually just been seared. Maybe that's why it took a little bit 'cause they just got it off of the grill.

This is a piece of steak. Mm, ooh, it looks so good. Prime rib, baby. Now imagine for just a moment, like you come over my house, right? And when you come over my house, let's say I have you over for dinner. And when you get to my front door, I'm just standing there with a piece of steak like this. And what would you think? You're like, this is a little bit weird. Now let me say this, some of you, I can just feel it right now in my bones. There are some of you that are judging me because I have a piece of steak. You might be a vegan. But I would remind you in the Bible when the prodigal son returns home to the father, it's not a fat and carrot. It's a fat and calf, okay? So, glory to God, thank you for me. Now if you came over my house and I just put a piece of steak in your face, no matter how much you like steak, it's gonna be a little bit weird. Now when people come over my house and we have steak, one of the things I like to do is I like to take the steak and I'll cut a little bit of it up. And then I'll invite somebody over.

I'll say come on over. Let me just get you this perfect piece. Oh, doesn't this look so good right there? Oh my goodness. Oh, this would be a great time to bring up a few guests. But this is not a sermon on generosity, just might I add. So, I'll share it with myself. But what I like to do is just say, "Hey, try this, check this out." So I give a piece of steak and, hmm, I eat up, ooh, oh my goodness. This is so good. Ramell from our team. Put this sauce on it. Holy smokes is a small group on Monday night from men. They have meat. Oh man, so good. Wow. Glory to God. Thank you. Thank you. Wouldn't it be awesome if I could like give everybody a piece of steak at all of our campuses after church? I'm not Oprah, okay? So, but I love this verse in Psalm 34, verse eight. Can we read this aloud together? It says this, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." So this steak right here is a perfect, perfect. It's coming out of my mouth. I've tasted it a lot.

This is a perfect example of what it means to taste and see, to slice up your story so that by the time we sit at the dinner table and somebody comes with a piece of steak to sit at a piece of steak, they're hungry. They want to eat it because it smells good. And I haven't put it in their face. I just kind of wet their appetite for what they're about to eat. And the same is true with your story. There are slices of your story. Maybe even, I didn't even think of this illustration. Maybe even your story. You got to cut out some of the fat. That'll preach right there. That's not the part you share, okay? We all got some fat in our story that we need to cut out and just say, ooh, that's for over there. We'll give that to the dogs. But this part of the story right here that I take it and I share it in such a way that it breaks it down so that people can digest what God has done in my life. So my encouragement to you is to take what God has done and share it in bite-sized pieces. I'll give you an example from my own life. I love the eight-sleep mattress. It is wonderful. It's changed my life. My REM sleep and my deep sleep have gone way up since I got the eight-sleep mattress. You need an eight-sleep mattress.

It will change your life if you get it. Some of you are searching right now online for eight-sleep mattress and I just gave you a little bit. So what is the little bit that you can give to the people in your life? I was down and he redeemed my life from the pit. He gave me a strength I did not know I had. I was walking through a terrible divorce. I was walking through addiction and he set me free. And those little pieces of what God has done, you cannot argue with a changed life. You cannot argue with the work of God. You can take all kinds of theological arguments and poke holes in them, but your story is powerful. If you are a follower of Jesus, you don't have to go like do drugs tonight and then come back to church tomorrow or next week and say, "Oh, this is my story." You've got little examples along the way and God has these dramatic stories of what he does. And then some of you, maybe you grew up in the church, but they're little things that God has done. Your story matters just as much as every other story for the people around us. Now, when we do this, we're gonna see the power of God at work through our story. There are people in your life that God has strategically placed you right next to them, that there are parts of your story that they need to hear from your life

and the more ready you are with those stories, the more powerful it's going to be for God to use them to transform the lives of those around you. So I wanna bring this whole Live Sent series to a conclusion. The thing I'm asking of you is simply to say yes to God in this moment. To say God, I wanna live my life on mission for you. I wanna build your kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. I want my one life to make a difference and other one lives that people would be changed through me. And in the next few moments, we're gonna make a commitment together as a church family, all of our campuses, to say yes, I wanna live sent with my life. Now this is the point at which I wanna invite you to go ahead and pull out this card that says on the top, one life surrendered, one life reached. And that's the call that we would surrender our one life with the hope and the prayer that Jesus would use our one life to reach one person who doesn't know him. And in just a couple of weeks, we're gonna have a service as we start our new series called Stronger and it's gonna be a great weekend to bring somebody to church with you. And I just want you to imagine for a moment if that person in your life was far from God, if God were to use you to reach into that person's life and at that service or some service in the coming weeks

that God would use you to be a part of their story, being changed for all eternity, wouldn't that be wonderful? That our one life could make a difference. So on this card, what I'm asking of you is to write down the name of one person in your life that God has placed you next to, that he wants to use you to reach. It could be a friend, could be a family member, co-worker, neighbor. And as you do that, what we're gonna do in a moment, this top part of the card is gonna be for us to individually take home. And then the bottom part of the card is for us to make our commitment to live sent, to live on mission for God. You're gonna see here there's a place where you can write down that name that we can pray with you. And every week at our prayer meetings, we're gonna be praying for these. You can start filling this out now. I'm giving you time to go ahead and start taking these steps, put your name, your phone number, your email. And then there's a place at the bottom right here that we can sign together as a church family, just to say, I'm making this commitment with my life to let God use me to make a difference in the world around me. Now, I know there are a lot of things that go through our mind.

Like, what does this mean? Listen, nobody is like coming to your house with a clipboard saying, all right, how'd you do? This is not about religion. This is about us between us and God and then as a church family, being able to pray for each other and celebrate what God has done as we say yes to Him. So if you're a follower of Jesus, man, there ought to be something deep within your soul that says, I want God to use me. And there's so many things in our life that maybe even you've said, well, God can't use me because of that thing in my life. And the truth is God's not asking you to clean it up before you say yes to Him. There's something about the simple yes that over time God changes and transforms our life. This is also not saying that you're the one that's gonna save people because that's the Holy Spirit's work. Our work is to say yes, I will be an ambassador. Yes, I will bring good news where I go. Yes, I will share my story with the people around me. So in just a few moments, we're gonna take a chance to turn these in. We're gonna sing a song of worship all of our campuses together. And this is gonna be an opportunity just to say, as a church family, my life for your glory.

I'm giving it to you. Now, some of you are right now thinking, I don't wanna be the first one to rip my card 'cause it's gonna make a loud noise and everybody around me is gonna hear it. So go ahead and pull your card out right now. We're gonna rip them together. If you don't do this, you're gonna miss one of the most satisfying experiences of your entire day. It just rips, it's glorious. Ready? You guys got it? One, two, three, just rip it together. Oh, that was nice. That was a glorious rip right there. Now, in just a moment, we're gonna go into worship and I'm gonna ask you at all of our campuses just to stay seated. And as the buckets are passed, once the buckets are passed and you drop this little card in, then you can stand up at all of our campuses. And what I love about this moment is just like when you make vows as a wedding at your wedding or you make a commitment in a job or you sign something, some of us do this with cars and phones, there's something that you point back to in that moment that you remember your commitment. And the encouragement is that we would look back and say, I remember, I said to God,

I wanna be sent by you into the world. Now on Thursday night or the 10th of September, to come to Lake Forest, and we're going to pray over every person that makes this commitment right now, sending you, blessing you as you, love the community around you, but I just want to encourage you, make sure to take this step as the buckets come by. This has been in our DNA since 1980 as a church family, that we are a church that says yes to live sent, and I wonder if there's anybody today that you want God to use your life. Anybody's saying, deep in my soul, I want God to use my life. So I want to pray over us, and then we'll make these commitments together. So Father, we thank you today for the commitment that you've made to us to come from heaven to earth. We thank you that you've conquered the grave, that you've sent your spirit, that we might live lives empowered by you. And now we're asking Lord, we know that we're imperfect. We know that there are areas of our lives that are being cleaned up, but we want to give you our yes in this moment, Lord. So here are our hearts. See our yes before you as a church family, that we're saying God, use our lives. Our whole lives for your glory, be the center, and Jesus mighty name, we pray, amen, amen. I'm going to remind you, drop this in as the buckets go by, let's sing, and as the buckets pass, you can stand to worship. In my whole life, for your glory, my world, for you owe me every day, for the honor of your day, and in my days, tell the story, let it be, for you owe me every day, for the honor of your day, my whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for you owe me everything, for the honor of your day, in my days, tell the story, let it be, for you owe me everything, for the honor of your day, in my days, tell the story, let it be, for you owe me everything, for the honor of your day, in my days, tell the story, let it be, for you owe me every day, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for you owe me every day, for the honor of your day, in my days, tell the story, let it be, for you owe me everything, for the honor of your day, for the honor of your day, for the time we save my whole life,

for your glory, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, What a great way to wrap up our Live Sense series, I love that as a church family, we are taking a step of commitment, to commit to living sin and living on mission for Jesus. Pastor Andy talked about this Live Sense covenant and we really want to encourage you to fill one out as well, not just so that you can fill out another form, but truly because as a church family, we want to be coming alongside you, praying for you by name and also praying over your one life to know the love of Jesus by name as well. And so you can fill out one of these cards by going to our Saddleback app or if you're watching on YouTube, click that link in the description. And church family, if there's another next step that you want to take, whether you need prayer for something or maybe you want to join one of our small groups as we kick off our fall semester next weekend, you can do that through the Saddleback app. We're so grateful that you're with us today, thank you for spending the last couple of moments with us. We love you so much, we hope that you have a great week and we'll see you again next weekend. [Music] (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)