Student Takeover Weekend | Brock O'Dell

My name is Lucas Sivres. I am a campus pastor here at Southeast, specifically the Blinka Baker campus where we're at today. And I just wanna say welcome. We're so glad that you've tuned in today for church. It's gonna be a really great, great day. We love hearing from you guys. In fact, I've had a number of you right in. We've been able to just communicate back and forth. We love to hear from you. And so we would love for you to continue to do that. You can get the address and the description box below. And we'd love to hear from you guys. As well, we would love for you to subscribe. We drop content weekly. I believe it drops on Thursdays, but it's a podcast. You get to tune in, dive in, sink your teeth into more content, journey with us as a church. It's a really great experience. So we'd love, love, love for you to subscribe to Southeast. And so this weekend, I'm so pumped. It is student takeover weekend, which means quite literally at all of our campuses, students are taking over everything. So from the front door, from the street to the seat, to the stage, the students are taking over. You're gonna see students as greeters and ushers back in kids ministry, singing worship.

And we just believe that the next generation isn't the church of tomorrow. It's the church of today with the Holy Spirit. They are able to glorify God and be the church. And so we're really, really excited about that. And so what that means is that Braco Dell, our student pastor here at the Blank Baker campus, is gonna be preaching for us. He's gonna be preaching about praying big prayers to a big God. And so we just believe that through faith, we can trust that God wants to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond anything we could ever ask to think or imagine. And so I wanna encourage you, would you lean in today? I believe that God has a word for you, wants to encourage you. And I believe that we're gonna be better because of it. And so would you lean in? Would you take some notes? Let's jump on into service. (upbeat music) ♪ Have you been comin' and saved by the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ Let's celebrate and let's sing this morning ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Sing I'm clean, sin will stand on me ♪ ♪ But shame was runnin' deep ♪ ♪ Beloved with spirit or cavalry ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ ♪ My God, I can't even be ♪

♪ I'm rantomed and redeemed ♪ ♪ I'm standing in your victory ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, I'm as good as ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, all because of you ♪ ♪ Come on, we sing ♪ ♪ Then I'm clean ♪ ♪ It's not what I have done ♪ ♪ Oh, boy, you've done for me ♪ ♪ You played it all upon that tree ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ ♪ Your love has overcome ♪ ♪ And your mercy is supreme ♪ ♪ I'm dancing in your victory ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, I'm as good as you ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, all because of you ♪ ♪ Singing again, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood ♪ ♪ Sing, oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, all because of you ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, come on declare ♪ ♪ That you took away my shame, that's true ♪ ♪ And you led it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, here I come ♪ ♪ 'Cause you took away my shame, that's the gospel ♪ ♪ And you led it to the cross ♪

♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, here I come ♪ ♪ 'Cause you took away my shame ♪ ♪ And you led it to the old rugged cross ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, you took away my shame ♪ ♪ You led it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running, got me running, got me running ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ See Harley Villiers Hey! Hey! Hey! Ooh, thank you for your pain We see Harley, Harley, Harley Villiers Harley, Harley, Harley, I've been to you Harley, Harley, I've been to you Come on, sing the chorus I've been washing the water, washing the blood I'm as good as Washing the water, washing the blood Because of you Oh, I've been to you Hey! Good morning church, lucky to hear you Worship our gods together We lift our hands to the heavens And we are here for you We reach for the hem of your garment 'Cause we know what it can do We know what it can do We refuse to go through emotions When the king is in the room

Hear the sound of our devotion Let it build a love for you Let it build a love for you Let everything that has grace Praise, praise Everything that has grace Praise, praise Everything that has grace Sing a new song to the Lord O let our praises roar Praise, praise We praise the Lord We've come to pour out all your Just to wash our Savior's feet Every draw from every bottle We can't compare to your glory We refuse to bring it all free It doesn't cause us anything 'Cause you're with everything Everything that has grace Praise, praise Everything that has grace Praise, praise Everything that has grace Sing a new song to the Lord O let our praises roar Praise, praise We praise the Lord Yes we do We praise the Lord

If you irreverent Or instead they would join Well, 6 or never ending We love to bring you praise If it's based on before you Or a victory shot With our hands raised to heaven We love to bring you praise For the God of salvation And you're the great I am You're the Alpha Omega We love to bring you praise Praise, praise Everything that has grace Praise, praise Everything that has grace Praise, praise Everything that has grace Sing a new song to the Lord O let our praises roar Praise, praise We praise the Lord Yes we do We praise the Lord ♪ We praise the Lord ♪ - Amen, amen. We praise the Lord who is worthy of all the praise. Let's read His word together. This is Psalm 24 of David. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it,

the world and all who live in it. For he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord, who may stand in His holy place, the one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. When David wrote this Psalm, he was looking at a physical tabernacle. One that hosted the holy of holies. But today, because of the finished work of Jesus, we are the dwelling place of the holy of holies. A huge, huge blessing from the Lord. But who gives us pure hands and a clean heart to approach? That's Jesus. And so as we worship today, let us remember and ask the Lord to be the proper dwelling place for His presence, that He would clean our hearts and purify our minds so that we can be holy just like He is. Let's worship together. (gentle music) ♪ God your world ♪ ♪ I don't wanna play a part ♪ ♪ In anything that isn't hold me ♪ ♪ I don't wanna creep your heart ♪ ♪ Lord I pray that You would need me ♪

♪ A place for You to rest ♪ ♪ A place for You to speak ♪ ♪ For You to have your way ♪ ♪ Make me a dwelling place ♪ ♪ This room for You to move ♪ ♪ And room for You to breathe ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit's day ♪ ♪ Make me a dwelling place ♪ ♪ Make me a dwelling place ♪ ♪ All for You ♪ ♪ Do it all You can do ♪ ♪ I'm lonely with holy fear ♪ ♪ Never to abuse Your mercy ♪ ♪ Consecrate and keep me near ♪ ♪ It's my joy and honor to be ♪ ♪ A place for You to rest ♪ ♪ A place for You to speak ♪ ♪ For You to have your way ♪ ♪ Make me a dwelling place ♪ ♪ This room for You to move ♪ ♪ And room for You to breathe ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit's day ♪ ♪ Make me a dwelling place ♪ ♪ Make me a dwelling place ♪ ♪ So long a place for You to breathe ♪ ♪ Hold hands, pure heart ♪ ♪ Holy instead of heart ♪ ♪ Oh, then a sun ♪ ♪ That's what You're worthy of ♪ ♪ Clean hands, pure heart ♪

♪ Holy instead of heart ♪ ♪ Oh, then a sun ♪ ♪ That's what You're worthy of ♪ ♪ Clean hands, pure heart ♪ ♪ Holy instead of heart ♪ ♪ Oh, then a sun ♪ ♪ That's what You're worthy of ♪ ♪ Clean hands, pure heart ♪ ♪ Holy instead of heart ♪ Clean hands, pure heart, holy and set apart Boy man, a song, that's where you're worthy of Clean hands, pure heart, holy and set apart Boy man, a song, that's where you're worthy of That's where you're worthy of That's where you're worthy of A place where you rest, a place where you speak For you to have your way, make me a dwelling place Oh, this room for you to move, and run for you to free Holy Spirit, stay, make me a dwelling place Oh, this room for you to move, and run for you Clean hands, pure heart, holy and set apart Boy man, a song, that's where you're worthy of ♪ That's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ That's why you're worried ♪ ♪ That's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ That's why you're worried ♪ ♪ That's why you're worried ♪ ♪ That's why you're worried ♪

♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ ♪ 'Cause that's why you're worried ♪ - Feel your presence, keep our eyes on you. We need you, Jesus. Come have your way, it's in His name we pray, amen. You all can grab a seat. - There are 143,000 students near our campuses who don't know Jesus. But Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. And today, we're committed to changing that. We are committed to praying for the Lord to raise up the workers to invest in the next generation. And it starts with intentional life-changing relationships,

relationships that help us move together and unleashing this generation. We are all in, investing in our kids, students and young adults across our communities. The right foundation is critical, making sure every person is building their life on biblical truth. This year alone, we've put over 575 Bibles into the hands of our kids. That's 575 kids that have access to the word that changes everything, access to truth. That doesn't stop when Sunday morning ends, helping them discover God's story and their place in it. But it's not just about what is being taught. It's about inviting the next generation to experience transformation. It's about sending students out. They're stepping into the reality that we look most like Jesus when we serve others. And since move began, we removed barriers from more middle school and high school students to serve throughout our campuses. And they've responded. More than 700 students have stepped into serving regularly right here at church. And this weekend, students are opening doors. They're out in the parking lot, directing traffic. They're teaching in kids classrooms. They're welcoming, first time guests. And they're serving because they know it matters.

And this summer at camp, 160 students stood to their feet to declare the calling of full time ministry in the local church. They're standing and they're saying, here I am, send me. The harvest is ready. So let's pray for the workers, but let's pray for more. Because the next generation is not simply a hope for the future church. They are moving the church of today. [MUSIC PLAYING] And I hope as you watch that, you can see and you can feel how you are a part of that. Through our move initiative, your generosity is making a huge difference. Like what we just watched is not just a collection of like cool photos and videos and stories. Like that is quite literally the fruit of a church that is choosing to invest in the next generation. So as a student pastor here, thank you. Sincerely, thank you for giving and for praying and for going all in. God is using your generosity. Hey, before we open up God's word today, I want to start with a question. When is the last time that God answered one of your prayers? When is the last time that the God of the universe answered one of your prayers? I asked myself that question recently, and as much as I hate to admit it, if I can be honest, my answer was, I don't know. And it's not because God hasn't answered my prayers before. He has. It just was having a hard time remembering the most recent time, and as I pondered my answer to that question, I realized I think it's because sometimes I can be guilty of praying small prayers to a big God. God make today a good day. Lord, bless this food to nourish my body. Like good prayers, absolutely.

Nothing wrong with those prayers, but they're not very specific, are they? In fact, it might be so small and so unspecific that even if God were to answer one of those prayers, I might not know if it was him answering the prayer or something that just happened because it happened. Like was today a good day because I asked you to make it good, God? Or was today good because I got a free Chick-fil-A sandwich on my receipt, right? Like, have my prayers been so unspecific that I wouldn't know if God answered the prayer or not? You know, I think sometimes I can be just as guilty of the flip side of that equation. Sometimes I can pray big prayers to a small God. Like I'll throw out the big prayer. God bring revival into this nation. God transform this city. I'll pray the big prayer. But then I don't live with this holy anticipation, this eager expectation that God is answering that prayer. That God wants to answer that prayer. Church, I guess what I'm confessing before you is sometimes my view of God is too small. Listen, while today is student takeover weekend, today's message is not about students. Today, we're going to be opening up God's word and seeing what it wants to teach us about prayer. So whether you are nine years old or 90 years old, today's message is for you. Today's sermon in a sentence, write this down. Desperate faith prays big prayers to a big God. To explore that concept further, you can turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9 verse 18. Let's get a view of what desperate faith actually looks like. Let me give you some context around what's happening in Matthew 9, 18. Jesus, he's been traveling around, he's preaching, he's teaching, he's performing miracles. And at this particular moment, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd, surrounded on all sides by a large crowd, verse 18.

As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. My daughter has just died, he said. But you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her. We can learn some more information about the synagogue leader by looking at Mark chapter 5 or Luke chapter 8. We learn that the synagogue leader's name is Jairus. And Jairus is a part of the crowd on this day, but Jairus isn't there to get Jesus's autograph. No, Jairus is desperate to get to Jesus. And when he desperately gets to Jesus, he can barely let the words escape his mouth. "My daughter is dead," he said. But you can bring her back to life. It's not a small prayer, is it? That's not a blessed food to nourish my body kind of prayer, like that's a big prayer. There's some big expectations baked into that prayer. Look at how Jesus responds, next verse. So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. So picture this moment, Jesus was surrounded by this crowd. And now Jairus is desperate to get Jesus to come to his daughter's funerals. We have this crowd. The crowd is following Jesus as Jesus is following Jairus. And then another unlikely character is going to emerge from this crowd, verse 20 and 21. Just then, a woman who had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe for she thought, "If I can just touch his robe." Again, by looking at Mark chapter 5, Luke chapter 8, we can learn some more details about this bleeding woman, as many have come to call her. We learn that this woman has tried everything. Every doctor and every specialist,

she spent all of her money on different options in clinical trials, but nothing has worked. 12 years of suffering, 12 years of searching for hope, but nothing. And then she hears of Jesus. And she makes her way through a crowd and says, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed." That's not a small prayer. That's not a help-me-sleep-good-tonight kind of prayer. Like, that's a big prayer. And there's some big expectations baked into that prayer so much so that she desperately makes her way through this crowd. She touches the hem of Jesus' robe and look at how Jesus responds. Verse 22, "Jesus turned around, and when he saw her, he said, 'Daughter, be encouraged, your faith has made you well,' and the woman was healed at that moment." Now, there's so much we could say here, but I just want to focus on these words that Jesus says, "Your faith has made you well." Is Jesus actually implying that this woman who has suffered for 12 years, that she was healed because she believed, because she had faith? I mean, if that's true, then we need to wrestle with the question, what is faith? You know, I think in American church culture, like many of us, we might define faith as belief. We'd say it's an inner belief, an inner hope that you have in something.

Like, for example, I might say, I have faith that the bears are going to go to the Super Bowl this year. And you're laughing because that's a terrible thing to put your hope in. But what's interesting in the case of this woman is that it doesn't appear that her faith is just an inner belief. Like, yes, she wholly believed something on the inside, but it was her inward belief that affected her outward behavior. Said a different way, faith is not something this woman possessed, faith is something she decided. And there's something so profound about that for us. Faith is not something you possess. Faith is something you decide. And what is it that this woman decided in faith? Well, she internally believed, Jesus is going to be stronger than my suffering. She believed that so much that it led her outward behavior to decide to touch Jesus' robe. Listen, it's not lost on me that many of us here today are suffering. Many of you, you are in a season of suffering. Maybe you've been in a season of suffering for a long time. Maybe for some of you, you can relate to this woman because you feel like you've been physically suffering for a long time. It's a body breaking down. It's a mind-wearing thin. Some of you, your suffering has been more mental suffering. It's the anxiety or the depression or the hopelessness. For some of you, it's been relational suffering.

The family blew up. The friend group dismantled. The relationship ended. Some of you, you know what it feels like to be suffering for 12 years. Some of you, you've been suffering for 12 months. Some of you, you've been suffering for 12 days. Regardless of how you've been suffering or for how long you've been suffering, the point of this story is not to minimize your suffering. It's to magnify Jesus' authority. Here's what I'm saying, church, desperate faith. It doesn't pretend your suffering is small. It just believes that Jesus is bigger. I mean, look at Jairus, look at this bleeding woman. They bring their suffering, their pain to Jesus. And Jesus meets both of them in compassion and he responds to their big prayers because of their faith. Because of her faith, she's healed. Let's get back to the story, because Jairus, he's still trying to get Jesus to come to his daughter's funeral, verse 23 and 24. When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. Get out, he told them. The girl isn't dead, she's only asleep, but the crowd laughed at him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in, took the girl by the hand, and she stood up. And the report of this miracle spread

throughout the entire countryside. Y'all, Jesus just raised a dead girl, in desperate faith and Jesus responds. A suffering woman prays in desperate faith and Jesus responds. They're two completely different people. They have two completely different kinds of pain, but they have the same desperate faith. They bring the impossible to Jesus. You remember what Jaira said? You can bring her back to life. The woman, she says, I will be healed. Those are some big prayers, some specific prayers. Mark Batterson, he's a pastor and author out of Washington, D.C., he wrote a book called The Circle Maker. This is what he says. The more specific your prayers are, the more glory God receives. And this makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, think of Jairus. Jairus couldn't raise his own daughter back to life. So Jairus brought the impossible to Jesus and asked Jesus to perform the miracle. And then when Jesus performs the miracle, now Jesus gets all of the credit and all of the glory for doing the thing that Jairus couldn't do himself. It's desperate faith that led Jairus to pray, big prayers to a big God.

And this feels like an appropriate time to stop and ask the dangerous question. What about you? Is there anything in your life that you are desperate to see God do? What impossible things are you asking God to do these days? What if you asked God to do something so big, so specific that if he actually did it, the only logical explanation would be that God showed up and showed off? If you keep reading in your Bible, you're gonna see more people bring impossible things to Jesus. We've already seen the dead rise and the sick healed. But over the next 10 verses of your Bible, you'll also see the blind are gonna see, demons are gonna flee. I'm gonna skip down to verse 33, just 'cause I wanna show you what the witnesses of all of these miracles of Jesus, like how do the witnesses that are there, how do they respond? Check out verses 33 through 34. "The crowds were amazed. "Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel," they exclaimed. But the Pharisees said, "He can cast out demons "because he is empowered by the prince of demons." Okay, did you catch that?

Jesus is performing miracles. The crowds are like, "We've never seen anything like this." And the Pharisees are like, "He's demon possessed." It's an interesting contrast, for sure. If you don't know what a Pharisee is, a Pharisee was a devout follower of God. They were basically the spiritual overseers of the Jewish people. So they were trained in the scriptures and in the practices of God. Basically what you need to know, a Pharisee was the most spiritual person of the day, the most religious person of the day. Yet here they stand, they're witnessing Jesus' miracles. And they reach a completely different conclusion than the crowds, which raises some interesting questions, doesn't it? Because how is it that the most religious people, the people who know the most about God completely miss what God is doing right in front of them in the person of Jesus? How is it that the most religious people believe in Jesus' miracles the least? How is it that the people that are watching for God are actually completely blind to God right in front of them? They're blind to the power of the God that they are praying to, because here's the thing, Church.

The Pharisees had been praying. The men of faith, they'd been praying, they'd actually been begging God to send them the Messiah. They'd been praying that God would send them a new king, a king that was going to save their nation. So the Pharisees are praying that God would send a king to wear this crown and God sends a king, but to wear a very different crown. God sends Jesus and Jesus doesn't meet the expectations of what the Pharisees thought the Messiah, this king should look like. Here's the point. God answered their prayers, just not in the ways they thought he should. And maybe there's a challenge in there for some of us. Because sometimes we pray, we'll pray the big prayer to a big God and God answers how we want and how we expect. The cancer disappears. The prodigal child returns to faith, money shows up out of nowhere, and now we can pay for the bill that we had no way of paying for otherwise. Sometimes we pray big prayers to a big God and God answers how we want, how we expect. But other times, he doesn't. It's not that he doesn't answer. It's that he doesn't answer how we want or how we expect. You see, God always answers our prayers. Sometimes it's with a yes.

But God always answers our prayers. But this is the difficult side of desperate faith, isn't it? Because faith is not believing that God must follow my plan. Faith is deciding to trust that God is good. It's deciding to trust that the Bible is true, even when I can't currently fully understand His plan. It's kind of like a single thread in a master tapestry. Sometimes our big God has a bigger perspective on the tapestry of creation that we can't quite fully understand because we are a small single thread. We don't have the full picture. Church, here's what I'm trying to say. The size of your suffering never determines the size of your God. And some of you, some of you have lost faith, some of you have been losing faith because God hasn't answered your prayers the way that you want or the way that you expect. And today, I just want to remind you, I want to challenge you. I want to encourage you. I want to give you courage to follow the same words that Jesus says to Jairus. Jesus says, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith. Decide to trust that God has better plans for you than you have for you. Don't settle for a life of small prayers. Don't settle for a view of God that is too small. God is bigger than you think that He is." I want to keep going. Verses 35 through 36, Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. He healed every kind of disease and illness. And when He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He had compassion on them. In the original language, compassion is the word splogna. We've talked about this before as a church. Splogna, it's a deep gut level compassion. It's a compassion that you feel so fiercely that you feel it physically in your stomach. And so as Jesus is looking at that crowd that day, He's full of splogna. He hurts for them. Why does Jesus hurt for the crowd? Because they are confused and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus is seeing in front of Him what sin has done to this world. Jesus is looking at this crowd and He sees what suffering and darkness is doing to their world. And here's the thing. When Jesus looks at you, He sees what sin has done to you. He sees what darkness and suffering is doing to your world. And He's angry. He's not angry at you. He's angry for you. And Jesus isn't angry at them. He's angry for them. He's full of splogna. He's full of this compassion. And sometimes we hear these explanations of Jesus in the Bible. And then we're like, "Great. I'm happy to know that Jesus is aware of how much I'm hurting. I guess it gives me a little bit of peace to know that He knows how bad it hurts,

but what's He doing about it?" And that is a great question. And it's one that the Bible happily answers. The Bible points to the fact that Jesus came to set everything right. Everything. Anything in your world that is dark or causes you suffering, Jesus came to set right. Jesus came to make all things new. Jesus came to die on a cross for us. This is why Jesus came. Check out what Romans 5.8 says, "But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." This is what Jesus did about your suffering. This is what He's doing about your suffering. Jesus came to die on a cross for all of our sins. Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could be connected to God again. Here's what I'm saying. For those of you who submit to Jesus as Lord, if Jesus is your Lord, then this earth is not your eternal home. If Jesus is your Lord, then He is creating a new world for us, a new home where there is no more sin and no more pain and no more suffering. So the answer to the question, "What's He doing about your suffering?" Jesus literally stamped an expiration date on suffering itself. If you are a follower of Jesus, then your suffering has an expiration date, but you do not. Jesus literally signed the death warrant of death itself. If you are a follower of Jesus, death will one day die. Jesus came to die for all of Jairus' sin. Jesus came to die for all of the bleeding woman's sin. Jesus came to die for all of Brock's sin and all of your sin. Why? Because he loves you and he wants you to be with him forever in a place where there is no more suffering. That's what he did about it. But be reminded that you can only be with him. Through faith and faith is not something you possess. Faith is something you decide and it's a decision that you can only make for yourself. It's an internal belief that Jesus is Lord. It's an outward obedience to turn from your sinful ways, to submit to Jesus in baptism

and to walk under the guidance of the Holy Spirit daily. If there's some of you in here, you haven't made that decision for yourself. I hope and pray that today is your day. We would love to talk to you about making Jesus your Lord because there is no other hope in this world that you will find, I promise you that. Let's keep going as we jump back into our text for the day. Jesus, he's looking upon that crowd. He's filled with compassion for them. And there's gonna be a really interesting turn. Check this out, verse 37. He's looking at the crowd. He says to his disciples, "The harvest is great, "but the workers are few." He says, "The harvest is great." Maybe your translation says plentiful. There's this large, vast, big harvest, whatever that is. But Jesus is communicating. There's a ton of people that are a part of this harvest. But what is the harvest? The harvest is a farming word. I don't know if we have any farmers in here. I am not a farmer. Closest thing I do to farming every week is plucking the right bananas out of the grocery store, right? Like not a farmer, but I did some research. Here's what Jesus means when he says harvest. Harvest equals ready. It's the season where the plant is ready to be picked.

It's time. So Jesus, he's looking at this crowd and he's saying, look at all of the people. Look at all of the confused lost sheep before you. Not only do they need to be rescued, they are ready to be rescued. And he's not saying they're ready because well, now they're mature enough. For now they know enough. For now they've tried hard enough. No, he's actually saying the opposite. Jesus is looking at this crowd and he's saying, they are so lost, so confused that they are ready for something real. He's saying they've tried everything else, but now they're ready for something that lasts. And I see this exact same sentiment being lived out in the next generation. I recently read an article in relevant magazine.com about Gen Z church goers, kids that go to church. Look what it says. A new study from Life Way Research found that Gen Z church goers attend worship services more frequently than any other generation. They go to small groups at the highest rates. They're among the most likely to serve and share their faith and invest in spiritual growth. Like that's all great. Gen Z is showing up to church in droves, but I wanna show you the shadow side of these statistics.

The article went on to explain that only 35% of Gen Z church goers pray. Only 57% of Gen Z church goers. 57% of church kids say the Bible is significant to my life. Most alarming. 54%, half, half of Gen Z kids who go to church say, eternal life is possible through other religions. Scott McConnell, he's the executive director of this research. Here's what he had to say. My biggest concern for Gen Z is not that they are disconnected from the church. Our research shows that Gen Z is deeply involved. The greater concern is that they are not being deeply formed. In other words, Jesus would say, the harvest is plentiful. There are crowds of young people in our midst who are spiritually open, but they are underdeveloped. And that's why the next words out of Jesus' mouth are, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Because these students, they need harvest workers to help them. They need shepherds to shepherd them. They need disciple makers to disciple them. Students don't need another program or church service. Those things are great. Students need a journey of discipleship. They need an older, wiser Christian to follow and to learn from. And some of you are starting to squirm because you're like, here we go. Student pastor is about to try to guilt me into serving in student ministry. Hang on, look at what Jesus says next.

He says, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest. Ask Him to send more workers into His fields. or show a good video, we could've got 'em to come volunteer, we need strategy, Jesus. That's not what he says. Jesus says, pray. Pray to the Lord, who's in charge of the harvest. In student ministry, we have a saying, we say prayer is the strategy and there is no other strategy. The reason that prayer is our strategy is because our church recently did a study to find out what is the reach of Southeast Christian church when it comes to reaching Gen Z. Kyle talked about some of this data last week. The study revealed that there are 143,556 students within reach of a Southeast campus that are either unreached with the gospel or unconnected from a local church. That is 143,556 students who will spend an eternity away from God unless we tell them about Jesus and they are right in our backyards. But here's the thing, I look at that number and my honest thought is, that's impossible. It's too big, I don't know where to start. It's overwhelming, but church, I need the reminder to my soul this weekend that God is not overwhelmed by what I think is impossible. With him, anything is possible.

And that's why Jesus says, pray. That's why our strategy is prayer. That's why we are going to be a church that prays big prayers to a big God. And here's what we are praying for and I would love to ask you to join us in praying these big prayers to our big God. Number one, we are praying that our connected students would be missionaries in their schools, that they would be sent out to reach their lost friends and baptize them in Jesus name. Church, this won't happen by our own efforts, but if we pray, this can happen. Will you join us in praying? Number two, we are praying for over 500 more adults to step into student ministry with the mission of making disciples. Be careful to react to what I just said. I'm not asking you to come serve, I'm asking you to pray. And if we are a church that commits to praying for this, some of you might pray and you might answer the call to come serve, but that's not what, I'm not asking everybody to come serve, I'm just asking you to pray. Will you join us in praying this big prayer to a big God and let's see how God responds? Number three, we are praying that by the end of December, 2029, that we are a church experiencing the majority of our growth by reaching the next generations. This is what move is all about.

Two years of radical generosity to seek and save the next two generations means by the end of December, 2029, we want to look at our church. We want to say the demographic that is growing the fastest and the most disproportionately is the young people. That will only happen if we are a church that prays, so church will you join us in praying this big prayer to a big God. Last school year, we had a young man by the name of Nick Young. He's a college-age student who's going to jump in and serve with us in high school ministry. He's going to lead a group of freshmen boys. At the beginning of that school year, Nick and his co-leaders, they started doing what's called a prayer card, it was just an index card. And Nick was prompted among his co-leaders, hey, we want you to write down a prayer that is so big that only God could do it. Now, Nick had already spent a couple of weeks serving as freshmen boys group leaders when this prayer card moment happened. Some words that would best describe his experience those first few weeks, the boys were disengaged, they're disinterested, disrespectful even. So when the prayer card idea came on Nick's front door step, he was like, I'm going to write down the name of three boys that only God could do it. I'm going to write down the name of three boys that I want to see get baptized and go all in with Jesus and then Nick made a commitment to carry that prayer card

on his person every day. In fact, if you saw Nick out in public, you had the right to say, hey, show me your prayer card and if he couldn't show it, you got to make him do something embarrassing, which was awesome. But Nick committed to carrying that prayer, he committed to praying big prayers to a big God. Month one, nothing happened. Month two, month three, maybe God didn't hear him. Month four, month five, month six, maybe God doesn't care. Nick would show up Wednesday after Wednesday wondering, am I just wasting my time, Lord? But he kept praying. Church, I'm so happy to tell you today that a high school camp this past year, all three boys, all three boys repented from their sin, put their full faith and trust in Jesus and were baptized in this water and Nick got to be a part of it. And it didn't happen because Nick is awesome. and God responded. And so my question to you today, church, is this. What big prayers are you prayed? What is your big prayer? Do you want to see healing? Then pray big prayers to a big God. Do you want to see your family restored? Then pray big prayers to a big God. Do you want to see your marriage renewed?

Then pray big prayers to a big God. Do you want to see your sister-in-law healed? Do you want to see your brother return to faith? Do you want to see 143,556 students put their full faith and trust in Jesus? Then pray big prayers to a big God. Listen, I'm not saying that I know how he's going to respond. I don't know what God will say. And I don't know what God will do. But I do know that Jesus tells us to ask, to desperately, persistently, specifically ask, are you asking church? God is not annoyed at you. He's not annoyed at you. You can keep asking. And he's happy to receive it. Are you asking desperate faith? Prays big prayers to a big God. Let me pray for us. Lord, my prayer is simple right now. I need more faith. Our church needs more faith. Lord, I pray that you would make us uncomfortable with how powerful you are. I pray that you would grow our faith to pray the biggest prayers that we have ever prayed. And I pray that when you answer some of those prayers, that you would get all of the glory and all of the credit, that you would just wreck the dimensions in our minds, the boxes that we've put you in. Would you just show off, God, and show us how big and powerful

you are? But some of the prayers we pray, we also know that your answer might be no or not yet. And I pray that even in those moments you would grow our faith, that you would give us the courage to decide to trust that you are still good, to decide to trust that the Bible is still true. Because we are not living for this world. We are living for the new world that you are creating for us because of Jesus. So would you grow our faith? Would you grow our desperation? In Jesus' name, everybody said, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] Does God even see me? Serena grew up as a pastor's kid and coming into high school. Serena was not sure about who the Lord was in her life or how he played a role in her life. She just knew that he was a person in the Bible. I was just floating around. So I wouldn't show up to any of the H.S. and stuff. I was just kind of thinking, Lord, do you even see me? I feel like it's just me, I'm by myself. I can't hear you at all. I had so many parents go through different things in ministry. I saw a lot of the hardships in ministry and a lot of things that people don't see in the background of it. But then I started not wanting to even speak the name

of Jesus around people. I thought that it was kind of a burden, and I did not want to hear his name at all. Going into high school camp, my freshman year, I was still kind of like iffy about Jesus, but it took a year later for me to actually get baptized. I thought, I'm about to do so much for the Lord. I'm about to go out there, I'm about to tell everybody about him. I was just on fire. Then I ended up getting baptized, and a whole lot of stuff happened after that. I feel like I've always kind of struggled with a little bit of depression. It was kind of just one of those that is hitting. It was really bad. I had really bad anxiety. I went online, switched online to school, because I was getting bullied too, trying to instead lean on God, but I was just carrying all the way by myself. You didn't see me Lord, like, have you seen me this whole time? Like, I was supposed to be, I was just on fire for you. You could tell that Serena started asking the question and wondering if God was really seeing her. There was lots of nights that Serena didn't know that me and her other leaders prayed a lot I wanted to be a leader that I would want my daughters to have, and I just wanted to be someone in her life to remind her every day that God loved her and that God saw her and that she was beautiful

and that she had such a bigger... God had such a bigger plan than what she thought her plan would be. So, when she showed back up in the spring, we really pushed her to go to the next camp. It was the last session of camp, and I was already really emotional at the time because I was still carrying all this stuff on my head, and there was this leader that I had never talked to before. She turned around and hugged me and then started praying over me, and she spoke every single thing I had been struggling with over the past year, even ones I haven't told anybody about. She started praying that over me and was declaring the name of Jesus over it. That's such a God thing. She knew nothing about me. God really showed me that He does see me, just seeing the different perspective of me being in relationship, a true relationship with Jesus, versus me being lost. It was just such a big difference for me because I got to see, like, my eyes fully fixed on Jesus. Eva is somebody who's always been influenced in my life. She's always someone that I can go to to talk to about things that I need to. She's really helped me get out of that hole that I was in. She was one of the ones that invited me into this prep team that I'm doing with the C kids and serving in the nursery. This past camp that happened a few months ago, towards the end of the camp, they had done a calling, say if you wanted to go into ministry to stand up. So I stood up, a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I had such overwhelming peace about it. There's been a lot of moments with Serena where I felt unqualified and I didn't know what to say, but in those moments,

I literally prayed to the Lord, like Holy Spirit, let me know what to say or what to do. And even in moments like where I was just in a text, when she would cross my mind, like, I never knew the impact that it would have on Serena. Just walking with her day by day and doing life with her and just letting her know that she's loved. Desperate faith prays big prayers to a big God. Every single year it's student takeover weekend, I'm reminded of something. And it's a simple truth that I want to share with you. It's that every generation is desperate for the life that we find in Jesus. Every generation in human history has actually been desperate for the hope in life that we find in Jesus. And although today we're having students up on stage and we want to make a big deal about what we're doing in the next generation, we're actually just allowing them to join the work that God has always been doing. It's a generation after generation after generation to seek Him desperately. You know, a number like 143,556 is big. It's a big number, but we serve a big God. I've been a part of this church for my entire life, and something that I know about this church is that when we hear a big number like that, we don't get discouraged, we get desperate. Then we get desperate for God to move, the way that He has always moved, that the strategy for their generation is the same as it was for mine and it was for yours. The strategy is to pray desperately to the Lord of the harvest. You know, Jesus, who said all those words in Matthew 9, said something in Luke 19, 2, He said, "I have come to seek and save the lost." And we are a church that is desperate to rush into the harvest fields to seek and save those that were lost.

By the way, Jesus in Matthew 9, when He said that about the harvest being ready, nobody did because leaders go first, He ran first. As a good leader into the harvest fields, desperate to seek and save those who are lost. And what we want to do right now is we want to take some time and pause because maybe it's been a while since you remembered and thought about when you were lost. Maybe it's been a while since you thought about the moment when you needed Jesus to seek and save you. It may be right now for the next few minutes to be a good time to pause and remember how the Lord of the harvest saw you and saved you. So we have the opportunity to do that right now. Just like Cameron said, we have this opportunity to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. remember the reason that we're here to remember the reason we and the reason that we fall on our knees and beg God to show up. We call this communion. The bread represents Jesus' body broken for us, and the juice represents his blood that was poured out on our behalf. And when we take communion, we are reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us, for me and for you. And we are reminded that because of what Jesus did, we don't have to live trapped in that brokenness. We don't have to live stuck in our sin anymore. But if you haven't made that decision, Brock was talking about it earlier. If you haven't put your faith and trust in Jesus, we would love to talk to you about what that looks like, to talk to you about what that means. You can head right over here to our next step room and we would love to pray with you, talk with you, and maybe even make that decision today. But if you are a believer in Jesus, and if you already put your trust in Jesus, I would love to invite you to take these next few moments to sit and remember the gift that communion is to remember that we serve a big God who answers big prayers. So, Lord, thank you that that is true. Thank you that we get to sit in your presence, Lord, and that that is the reality that we get to live in today, Lord, not just today, but tomorrow and forever for generations to come. Father, I pray that we wouldn't forget the truth, the truth of your word,

Lord, the truth that you're here right here right now, God, that you're moving, that you're moving in our church, that you're moving in our city, Lord, that you're moving in the world. Father, we just want to be a part of that. So, we invite you to come here right now today, Lord, and to move in us, Lord, to move through us, to move in the city, Lord, to make a change. Father, we want to show you to show up, Lord, we want you to move. So, would you remind us of that today would be able to partner with you today, and to come, and to sit, and to receive. Father, thank you for who you are, and thank you for what you are doing. We love you. It's your name, we pray. Amen. [Music] [Music] When did I start to forget all of the great things you did? When did I throw away for the impossible? How did I start to believe you were sufficient for me? And why do I talk myself out of seeing miracles? Come on, we see, you are more than they go, it's your fault, you are more than they go, I believe all, you are more than they go. You are more than they go, who am I to the night where the Lord can do? And I see all that I have, oh, I've got my confidence, God, I've got my trust, I've got my love, I've got my trust, I've got my trust, I've got my trust, I've got my trust, ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Let's go, go, go, go ♪ ♪ You are worthy, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen it, I've seen it gone ♪ ♪ You are worthy, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny what the Lord can do ♪ ♪ Make you imagine ♪ ♪ He's gone to the face in the room ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ And it's gonna happen ♪

♪ It's just like the way make it through ♪ ♪ He's gonna do ♪ ♪ Yes, he's gonna do ♪ ♪ So can you imagine ♪ ♪ He's gone to the face in the room ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen ♪ ♪ It's just like the way make it through ♪ ♪ He's gonna do ♪ ♪ Yes, he's gonna do ♪ ♪ So can you imagine ♪ ♪ He's gone to the face in the room ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ Yes, he's gonna happen ♪ ♪ It's just like the way make it through ♪ ♪ He's gonna do ♪ ♪ What's he's gonna do ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible, anything is possible, anything is possible, so who am I to deny? ♪ But the Lord of castle is possible ♪ ♪ So anything is possible ♪ ♪ Everything is possible ♪ ♪ Anything is possible ♪ ♪ Anything is possible ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny ♪ ♪ What the Lord of castle is possible ♪ ♪ So anything is possible ♪ ♪ So anything is possible ♪ ♪ So anything is possible ♪

♪ Anything is possible ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny ♪ ♪ What the Lord knows ♪ ♪ Who am I ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny ♪ ♪ What the Lord knows ♪ ♪ Who am I ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ They can choose, they can choose ♪ ♪ You need your father ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ I've seen it right now ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Show yourself stronger ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ More than we can see ♪ ♪ From our new world ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do ♪ ♪ There was no way ♪ ♪ Until you made one ♪ ♪ Grace upon grace ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it ♪ ♪ You didn't ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't earn it ♪ ♪ You gave it ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on ♪

♪ You're my God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Oh, my, my ♪ ♪ You've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ And there's only one ♪ ♪ I'll give you glory ♪ ♪ We're all that you've done ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it ♪ ♪ You didn't ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't earn it ♪ ♪ You gave it ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you Oh my life, you've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Ooh, where am I that you keep me on You're my God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Oh my life, you've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Ooh, yeah, yeah I'm lifting both of my hands You gave me chance after chance after chance I'm giving all that I am

You gave me chance after chance after chance Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm lifting both of my hands You gave me chance after chance after chance Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm giving all that I am You gave me chance after chance after chance Ooh, where am I that you keep me on You're my God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Oh my life, you've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Ooh, where am I that you keep me on You're my God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Oh my life, you've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you I've survived and I'm here to test it But God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you I'm alright if they say I'm out of my mind God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Well, what an incredible service Man, I hope that you were encouraged as you listened You know, one of the things that I took away from it The story at the very end that Brock shared about Nick actually know Nick very well

He's a student leader here at the Blanket Baker campus And I am just so convicted by the intentionality And the faith that he decided to believe that God was bigger than his circumstances And through trusting God and following his path You know, there were so many that were affected in the process And I just wonder if God is wanting to do the same with you If God is wanting to by faith walk with you As you trust him for really big prayers So I don't know what those prayers are I know I'm praying some in my own life But over this next week, would we trust God intentionally? Would we pray those specific prayers so that God could get all the glory this week? Well, hey, again, thank you so much for listening I want to encourage you, like I said at the top of service We would love for you to subscribe to the Southeast channel We've got a podcast that drops every Thursday It's going to be a great opportunity For you to tune in, for you to go deeper On a journey in your faith with us as we follow after Jesus I'm going to pray for us We're going to head out of here Let's pray Father, we love you God, I am so thankful God for your word I'm so thankful for your people God, we pray that as your word goes deep into our hearts Lord, I pray that it would take root And God, I pray that it would bear and pray big prayers asking you to do more than we could ever ask to think or imagine.

So Lord, we love you. God, thank you for today. God, we worship you. We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]