Take Up Your Cross

Are you ready? Oh, what is up? Celebration family, how are you guys feeling? Are you feeling good? Yeah? That's good, that's good. If I haven't had the opportunity to meet you, it's your boy, Avery, and I've been a pastor here for 10 years, and I do want to pause and just honor our senior pastors. Can we just give it up for your senior pastors? I love them. I'm so grateful for their yes, to Georgetown, to Austin, and also I'm so thankful that they would trust a brother like me, come on, to share the word today. How was yesterday for everybody? Fourth of July, was it good? Was it good? It was good? It was good. I know that at this service, you know, y'all got to sleep in because last night was kind of crazy. Y'all don't want to talk about it in the church? Okay, it's all right, it's all right. I love what DG brought up, that man, think about it, 250 years of this nation, and the fact that this is such a historical moment, and God has chosen for you to play a part in it. It's like we're here in this moment in time for such a time as this, and it makes me wonder, like, what then is this responsibility? What then are you calling us to in this moment of history?

When it comes to 250 years, I think about the next 250 years, and in the next 250 years, what will it mean to be a disciple? What will it mean for us to follow Jesus? And as we dive into today, I just want to let you know that as you play a part in this, your personal walk with Jesus, how you define disciple and how you define follower when it comes to Christ will be the foundation of the legacy of how other Christians will walk this thing out. Let us be the one then to set the tone for what comes next. Can I get an amen? If you got it, say, got it. If you got it, say, oh yeah. I can't believe y'all did that, that's crazy. If you have your Bibles with you, please turn with me to Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8, starting in verse 27, the Bible reads like this, Jesus and his disciples went on to the village around Caesarea Philippi, and on the way, he asked them, who do people say I am? The disciples replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, just one of the prophets. But what about you? Jesus asking the disciples, who do you say I am? Then Peter responds, Lord Jesus, the disciple Peter. But this one's good. Peter answers and says, you are the Messiah. And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him, and then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed.

And after three days, he would rise again. He spoke plainly about this. He made it clear, and then all of a sudden, Peter, again in the text, Peter does something cray-cray. Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke him. Peter done lost his mind. I'm sorry, I can't go further without letting y'all know, Peter done lost his mind. My mama's here, and I know this means that's a whooping. That's too far, that's too far. Ain't no way this man, you just called this man the Messiah, and then you have the audacity to pull the Messiah to the side to tell him how it's going to go. Jesus' response to this is Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, and he rebuked Peter. He said, get behind me, Satan. That's what you get, dog. Don't let the Lord tell you something like that. Woo. He said, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Your mind is not on the things of God. Your mind is on the things of man. Then Jesus goes on and called the crowd to him along with the disciples and said these words. He says, whoever wants to be my disciple, they must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Come on, let's pray real quick. God, we just come before you right now

so thankful for who you are, so thankful for your word today. God, it says in your word that your word, when it goes forth, that it will accomplish what it was sent out to accomplish. God, I just pray right now that your word will do a work in us that no man can do for themselves. Bring life change, bring transformation. It says in your word that the word gives life and light to all mankind. If we've been in the dark around something, if we've missed something, God, would your word just shine a light on it today? If there's any death, death to a call, death to an assignment, if there's any death that we've been sitting and living in, God, I just pray that your word would breathe life on that thing. God, I'm asking that you would help us to apply what you have called us to apply when it comes to following you. And may we be the generation that sets the foundation of what it means to be a follower of you in the days to come. In Jesus' name I pray. Everybody say, amen, amen, amen. I wanna share a word with you that I've been wrestling with. That word is interpretation. Now, this word is a normal word. I guess I don't know what comes up in you

when you hear this word, but this word has caused me a lot of problems in my walk with Jesus. I'm sorry, I'm having a moment to myself as I look at it. A lot of problems when it comes to my relationship with others. Interpretation. The power of interpretation. Interpretation defined means this right here. It means the act of explaining, reframing, or demonstrating your understanding of something. Let's go to class real quick. This derives from the Latin noun, which means interpress, which meant an agent, a go-between, a translator. Hmm. Interpreter, a translator. But during the Latin evolution, the verb interpretare, ha-ha, that sound fire. Interpretare, that's how you gotta say it. Sorry, go back to it, all right. Interpretare involved to encompass not just literal language translation, but also explaining, expounding, and understanding the underlying meanings. What am I trying to say? That with this, we began to add our personal perspective to interpretation. That we don't translate no more. But instead, we interpret what was said

and the meaning behind it from our viewpoint and then move forward from there. Are you following me? The power of interpretation. I would love to unlock this for you. You really need to understand this because interpretation can determine behavior. You can hear a truth, but based on your interpretation, it will lead and guide you into the course of your actions or the next steps that you are going to take. I'll give you this example to bring it to life. Some people will hear this statement. Jesus is coming back. This is a truth. One person hears this truth and interprets it as, Jesus is coming back? Oh my gosh. If Jesus is coming back, we gonna need to live it up. We will have to do everything we can before he come back. We gotta try everything, do everything, go everywhere. It's time to live our lives before the Lord come, before Jesus come. We have to go all out. This is the moment. Let's jump out of the airplane. No, fam, I'm sorry. Just start thinking, oh, what this. means, and now hear me out, another person hears this, Jesus is coming back, and this person interprets it as, oh my gosh, I have to begin to pack and get ready

and prepare and get all the canned goods from H-E-B. Okay, you know what I mean? Wish they got all the canned goods. Okay, you know what I'm saying? And we have to stock up and prepare, prepare, the Lord is coming, and let's just stock up, stock up, stock up, as if you gonna stay here when he get back. We gotta stock up on paper towels, get the darn soap, as if when the Lord is coming back, you not going with him. Sorry, interpretation. I have not changed the statement, Jesus is coming back, but you know these two people, don't you? And how they heard this truth and then interpreted and boom, their behavior exposed what they thought that meant. Let's go a step further, the power of interpretation. Not only can interpretation determine or can determine your behavior, it can determine outcomes for you. I will bring this to light for you. Me and my wife, can I go there? I asked her every service. You gotta double check, every service, okay, okay. My beautiful wife is here, she be Jamaican me crazy. I love you girl so much, love her my life. And when Z or Zion was pregnant, she asked me to go to the store to get some cinnamon sticks. So I fully heard it, I know what my baby needs, she needs some cinnamon sticks.

I hit up John, one of my best friends, like my brother, literally. And I said, hey, we gotta roll, my wife is pregnant, we gotta go to the stove, get some cinnamon sticks. He like, we out, that's our friendship, sorry. We go to the store, everything's good. We go to the frozen section, I get the cinnamon sticks, I come back home and Z is upset, she is mad. And hear me out, pregnant mad is different. I just letting the next generation know. Before y'all get married, pregnant mad? Okay, any, nevermind, we don't need to go there. Just put your hand down, okay, great. So she is, are you kidding me? Are you serious, like what is going on? And I am so confused. Look, I heard what you said and I know you and based on my interpretation and me knowing you from my own perspective, I completed the assignment. How in the world can I miss the mark? For I came to the house with your favorite thing and that is French toast cinnamon sticks. I know my baby, I know what you like, you're pregnant. You know, sorry, that's another subject. But this is your snack, what are you talking about? She is so mad because I brought this but she meant cinnamon sticks. And I'm here to let y'all know, I ain't never bought these things ever in my life. My mama never sent me to go get these cinnamon sticks.

Interpretation, I heard what you said and I have completed the assignment on what you said based on what I know about you and I missed the mark. And I dropped the ball, the outcome, the power, the power of interpretation. In the book of Mark, chapter eight is right in the middle. 16 chapters and right in the middle, the centerpiece of this whole text, there is something that is unlocked. There is this revelation that changes the game for the rest of the book. Jesus goes from this miracle working Jesus now to this suffering servant, Jesus. And it's all centered around this revelation. You are the Messiah, Jesus. You are the one that we have been waiting on. And in this culture, you need to fully understand so we don't misinterpret this. In this culture, this is what we've been living our lives out for. This is everything has been for the Messiah. I have prepared my life through generations for the coming of the Messiah, that you are actually here. And that is what is on their mind. I'm here to let you know that they understood what he meant by him being the Messiah. The problem though was that they brought to that understanding their own interpretation of what that meant. For the promised Messiah for them meant

that this is the king, that he is a conqueror, he is a liberator, he is a redeemer. We are oppressed by Rome. You are here to set the captives free. It is go mode. We are overthrowing this whole thing. And all of that is true, but hear me out. Hear me out, Jesus then defines what he means by this revelation of him being Messiah. Jesus begins right after this statement to say, hey, let me teach you what that actually means. The summary of this is it means the Messiah must suffer. The Messiah must be rejected. The Messiah must be killed. The Messiah must rise up again. But for them, what they heard was the Messiah suffering. You done lost your mind. The Messiah being rejected, the Messiah being killed, our liberator, our king, our conqueror. So guess what? Peter, in his interpretation of what he meant, he pulls Jesus aside. Get over here. And in this moment, begins to rebuke Jesus. Now, some would say because of this, get behind me, Satan, that this is Peter, some evil came out of him. Something, oh my, this is malicious. But what if this is love? What if Peter loves Jesus so much I have walked with you, you have changed my life.

I have been with you. I'm rocking with you. I'm not just a part of the 12, I'm a part of the three. And you gonna talk about you dying? There's 11 other people over there that heard you talk about you dying. But for me, I love you. I'm gonna pull you aside. Step out of my own self to be like, yo, this is not happening. This is not happening to you. What if this was just misguided compassion? Paul defending Jesus, but not realizing that he's actively coming up against him going to the cross. Actively coming up against Jesus dying. Jesus dying. The power of interpretation. The interpretation determined his behavior. The interpretation began this spiritual spiral for him. He could not wrap his mind around this. When he heard death, it means death to him. Look, let's go a step further. Peter, hear me out. Even when it came to the garden for them to come get Jesus, he's the only one who steps out, cuts the man ear off. Do y'all hear what I'm trying to say? You're not taking him to the cross. You're not taking.

So now I have spoken against you coming up to the cross. I have tried to verbally manipulate you to not go to the cross. Now I'm physically violent and fighting against you coming to the cross. And now when he's actually carrying this cross to Calvary for you and me, Peter is found disassociating himself with Jesus. I don't know that man. I deny knowing that man. This man has chosen death and I told him not to. I swear I did everything I can so that this would not be done. So I don't know who that person is. From the rebuke to the refusal to the rejection, then Peter goes right back to that boat. That's an interesting thought because he's Peter now. God has called you Peter. And in all that spiral of your own interpretation, you went back into Simon living. That's not where you were meant to be. How has your interpretation led you to this place? Have you ever been there before? That's what I love about the word. You ever been... Hear me out. Have you ever pulled Jesus aside and told him, hey, here's how it's going to go? Y'all laughing because in your heart, it's like, I did it yesterday. It's like, it was the 4th of July, Lord.

Sorry, sorry. Have you ever like, for real though, like, I thought it was going to go this way and it's not going that way. I thought that this is what it was going to look like and it ain't looking like that. Like, what is going on? And even that right there, I would love for us to reflect. Just put it up. I thought blank. What is that for you in your walk with God? Okay, I thought parenting. Yeah. I thought parenting would be the best, but these kids is crazy. These kids is crazy. I thought marriage. Sorry, had to check. I thought marriage would like, make me happy. I'm going to start all over, okay? Sorry. I thought marriage would make me happy and I'm just stressed. I'm stressed out. Like, so much responsibility. And I did that for y'all to bring it to y'all in real world, you know. But I know we laugh about it, but these are two God titles in my life. What I mean by that is to be a husband, to be a father, and God, I wanted this. I thought it would be this, and man, some days it looks like this. And I need to step into this position, but I have a hard time sometimes interpreting what this call looks like. Are you following me? The power of interpretation. You know, I'm at ACU now, and I'm just a pastor at ACU, you know, campus pastor, and a whole

bunch of people who got doctorates, you know what I mean? I'd be like, yeah, y'all smart, but you know, I went to University of Alabama. They'd be like, what'd you study? Oh, I studied communications, you know, like, look at me. Oh, you're doing your PhD on the Gospel of Mark? That's crazy. Like, I'm going to go back to school. I'm going to go back to school. That's what I'd be saying. I'm going to go back to school, you know, like, try to hang with them. And there's this one guy, his name is Preston. He's an awesome, awesome theologian, and getting his doctorate from Wales online, you know what I'm saying? All right, dude. All right. It's my brother, and he tells me about this theologian, and it says that the moment Peter realizes what Jesus intends, he comes apart. He comes undone. He panics, and in his panic, he tries to take Jesus apart, and he takes Jesus aside, trying to find a side of Jesus he can reason with, and appeal to a side of Jesus that answers to his own preferred self-image. And this is a game-changer. We need to understand that out of that mindset of thinking on the things of man, concerns of man, it's shifting this cultural thing that I grew up, this cultural conditioning that I grew up in. It's shifting my interpretation of truth, of what God is trying to say. Just think about that. If the statement is said, you are the Messiah, then Jesus says, don't tell nobody, because he know everybody going to interpret it their own type of way, boom, boom, boom, and all, what does that mean?

So knowing Jesus, knowing our human tendency around this, that we have a fallen translator, we be misinterpreting some things, he makes it plain for you and me. He makes it clear what it means, and the cost of being a disciple and a follower of Jesus. He makes it known for each and every one of us. And Mark, he calls the crowd and the disciples and he says it like this, very clear. You want to be with me? You want to follow me? You want to be my disciple? Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. I would like us not in this next 250 years or at least at the beginning of it, you know, a lot of people right now are online, they're doing the six months in, it's July, six months in, I'm calling it halftime, come on somebody. And in halftime, it is go mode to realign, to reassess, to really understand this commitment of this walk that I'm taking. This sets the tone for my kids and my kids' kids, for them to fully understand and not misinterpret what the Lord meant by when he said, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. The first thing I want to look at is deny, deny yourself, deny ourselves. I want to go to the amplified real quick. It says, if anyone wishes to follow me as my disciple, he must deny himself, set aside selfish interests. This text reads it like this, forget, ignore, disown and lose sight of himself and his own interests. This is important, this word, self-interest.

This does not mean to set aside self. There is a self that we all have and it is valuable and important, do you understand? Self-interest is different. Self-interest means that I am the aim, that I am the target, that I am advancing my own kingdom in the earth, not the kingdom of God. But denying self to set aside this self-interest means then that the self becomes the avenue in which we bring Christ into the world. It goes from I am the aim, I am the target to Christ is the aim, Christ is the goal. And then this revelation shifts then how we steward our self, body, soul, spirit. The denying of yourself transforms you into being a others-centered person. You go from not what's in my best interest to God, what is your best for the people in front of me, for the people around me. The Bible says in Philippians 2, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the other. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus Christ who being in very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage,

rather he made himself nothing, denying himself by taking the very nature of a servant. Come on, watch this, others-centered person being made in human likeness and being found in the appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. If anyone wants to follow me as my disciple, I need you to not set aside Jesus and say, this is how it needs to fit in my life, in my lifestyle, in my patterns, and what I want to do. No, it's to set aside my own self-interest for his. To set aside my own goal and trade it for your goal in the earth. It continues to say, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Take up the cross is something we should really investigate here. This statement is low-key cray-cray, I'm gonna be honest with you. To take up the cross to the Jew when they heard this, this was the ultimate like, fence, like this is very offensive to say, for in their mind, how they would interpret this is based on lived experience. The picture painted in their mind would be a condemned man forced to carry his own heavy wooden execution beam on his back through the city in front of everybody,

being mocked by a crowd, spit on, cursed at, stones thrown at. And then die, like somebody on their way to the cross, there was no turning back. The trauma attached to this, for this nation, the Romans would have people up on crosses alongside the roadside. You just see this dead man on display. Go deeper, this is my people. That's my brother, that's my cousin, that's my mom. And you're telling me Jesus, the Messiah, to take up the cross, I'm sorry. I'm trying not to misunderstand this, but just like how Peter heard it, death means death to me. So I'm going to speak against death, I am going to fight against death, and if you rock it like that, I'm disassociating myself with that. That is my interpretation. The denying is one thing, but the denying to the dying, is another thing. And this is the progression for the disciple. The Bible says in Luke 14 that whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. And in this text, it immediately goes into parables, trying to unlock what this means. Would you not build this building and count the cost first? There's another one of a parable of a king. Would you not go to war, but before you go to war, count the cost first?

And then I love this in the message, Luke 14, 33. Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it goodbye, you can't be my disciple. This is showing us to really count the cost required, to really assess the sacrifice that is required before committing your life to this wall. And he makes it plain for you and me. It's plain that we can't avoid the cost, it's plain that we can't avoid suffering, it's plain that we can't avoid putting our life on the line. I personally wrestle with this. Denying self, dying to self. But also as I sit in this reflection, I realize that Jesus isn't asking us to do something that he wasn't willing to do. Jesus himself denies himself. Jesus himself takes up a cross for you and me. So then the question is, what motivated you, Jesus, to take up that cross? And the motivation for Jesus was love. And in the service of love, Jesus denied himself and took up a cross. John three, verse 14. As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For this is how God loved the world.

This is how he displayed his love to you and me, that he gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, will not die, but have eternal life. This means that love is the thing that brings this man to death, which led to life for you and me. So Peter interpreted death as death, but Jesus turns the symbol of death into a symbol of life. When you hear, take up your cross, it does not mean that you will be on it. Oh man, it means that this is the only way so that I can get life to you. Do you understand? That this is the route that we have to take so that victory and resurrection can be on your family, be on your kids, but something must die. Something must die. Follow me, follow me. Second Corinthians 5.17, this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, but a new life has begun. The old life has to die and a new life has to be birthed in you. Follow me, if nothing in you ever dies, nothing in you ever lives. The more you die in one area, the more you live in another. There is something in your life that you're trying to keep alive that God is trying to kill because it's killing you. This walk of death and defeat, Jesus,

turns it into the walk of victory and resurrected life. Take up your cross. The Bible says that for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us we are being saved. It is the power of God. This is the power of God. The Bible says that you are dead because of your sins and because of your sinful nature that was not cut off, that was not denied, that you did not die to. But then watch this, God made you alive with Christ for he forgave all your sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us. He took away all of it by nailing it to the cross, whom you spoke up against, who you fought up against. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. The cross is a symbol of life. Y'all are not hearing me. Isaiah 53, surely he took up our pain, bore our suffering. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. See, this punishment, this punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his stripes, we have been healed. By his wounds, we have been healed. Taking up a cross, but it's not that at the end of the road, death for me, but at the end of this road, it's life for me.

Let's go a step further. There's this man named Simon of Cyrene, and in the crucifixion story, there is this moment that Jesus has been flogged. He is beaten. He is bruised. He is bloody. He has a crown of thorns on his head, and he's weak. You can't recognize this Messiah, our King, our Redeemer, our Savior. You cannot recognize this man out of all the stuff he's been through. So weak, so weak that as he's carrying the cross, he cannot carry the cross any longer for he's fully God, but he's fully man. And in his humanity, can't do it no more. The Romans. Then look at this man named Simon of Cyrene and say, hey, you pick up the cross. You bear the cross and go the distance. You just pick up the cross and follow Jesus. You do it for him. Now, hear me out. Simon of Cyrene, this is not in his best interest. In the Jewish culture, I can't touch nothing that's dead. I can't associate myself with a criminal. I can't, yo, this ain't got nothing to do with me. He sets aside his own selfish interest. Simon, hear me out. You could have ran.

You could have rebuked him. You could have refused this. You could have rejected it, but you accepted the call. And now you have this man bearing the cross that Jesus was carrying for you and me. He is feeling the weight of this cross. And then he's getting blood all over him. Because of Jesus' blood, it was everywhere. And now, not only am I understanding the weight of the cross, carrying this weight, also this blood. His blood is on my back. This is the passion of my life. This is the passion of my life. Passover festival, in the Passover story, there's this moment in Egypt where you were supposed to take the blood of the lamb and apply it to your doorpost. And when death passed over, when they saw the blood applied, death passed over their life. In this Passover, the blood is not applied to a doorpost. The blood is now applied to this man. I understand the weight of this cross, and I understand that this blood on me that is shed for me, I'm feeling it. Nobody else has been in this position, but for me, this experience is changing my life. In front of him, in front of him is Jesus. This unlocks something. This illustration is so real, to follow. I have this...I've denied myself, I've picked up this cross, but to follow you, but the Jesus in front of me is beaten and bruised and bloody with a crown of thorns on his head. This is the Jesus I am following. And I have a confession. The Jesus I have placed in my life that has determined, based on my interpretation, my behavior in the body of Christ, has been Jesus, the miracle worker. Jesus, the provider.

Jesus, the king. All this to be true, but in this picture, when's the last time you've put that image of Jesus in front of you, so that you can understand what it truly means to be a disciple? He goes, and as he goes, he doesn't die. Jesus takes his place. What was meant for you and me, though I wanted you to feel it, though I want you to understand the magnitude of this, I'll take your place and I'll die so that you can have life. Hear me? There's only one man I know in the Bible, outside of Christ, who took up a cross and then lived to talk about it. This is the picture, that in true discipleship, it is a road of denying, of dying, so that I may walk and follow the one who died for me. And it's going to shift how I move moving forward. What I want to do in this moment is, once again, the goal is to set the tone for what it means to be a follower of Jesus, to really understand the weight, the cost of what it takes to be committed to this walk with him. I've asked the worship team to come up, because when you hear a gospel message, when you hear about the cross, it's not just words. The Holy Spirit will begin to pierce your heart. God is going to move and we're going to give him room to do so. And I just want you to know that as we sit in this song, only for a little bit, don't focus on leaving out of here. Don't disassociate yourself with this. Don't rebuke it, don't deny it. Sit with yourself and ask the Holy Spirit, where do I need to deny? Where do I need to die? How can I better walk with you moving forward? And so, if everybody could please stand, and we're just going to take a moment. God, we sit in this word. We sit in this word and we take a moment to reflect. God, speak to us in a mighty way. We want you to get the glory out of our story. God, we're here with you. We want to be with you. Jesus, your name is like the morning light. The one the darkness can't deny. The resurrection and the life.

Jesus. ♪ Jesus, Jesus your name can change a man to be ♪ ♪ Your name can make the storm be stilled ♪ ♪ You never fail, you never will, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ The great God, prepared for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one ♪ ♪ The first and last and soon to come, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, the healer, the hope, the love, the grace ♪ ♪ The Lord, who will forever reign ♪ ♪ The name above all other names, Jesus ♪ ♪ Won't Jesus be the name? Won't Jesus be the name? ♪ ♪ Won't Jesus be the name? Against all the glory? ♪ ♪ Won't Jesus be the name? Won't Jesus be the name? ♪ ♪ Won't Jesus be the name? Against all the glory? ♪ With every head bowed and eyes closed. If you've never said yes to Jesus, if you've never given your life to him, began to follow him, and you've heard this message today, I wanna give you that opportunity, but hear me out. This is the cost. It's not French toast sticks and cinnamon sticks. It's not sweet. It means something else. It will cost you your life. This decision that you make will be a line in the sand that my old life is gone and I'm stepping into a new life. It's the reality of understanding, God, you have died, not so I can live and stay in this condition, but step into new life. This is available to you today.

God is fighting for you today. God has went to the cross for you, for you to make this decision in time. For such a time as this, if that is you, I just want you to understand what it takes, what it's gonna cost. If you wanna say yes to Jesus, I want you to slip up your hand right now. You can begin to slip up your hand, say, that's me. I see your hand, do it with confidence. As you raise your hand, I'm noticing and realizing that you understand the weight and you understand the blood applied and you understand that the road is leading to a resurrection life, not the old life. I see your hand, I see your hand. Come on, all over the room. Celebration family, would you repeat after me? Say, dear God, I thank you for your son who died on the cross for me. I know I'm a sinner in need of a Savior and today I accept you as the Lord and Savior of my life. From this day forward, I choose to deny myself. I choose to die to self and I choose to walk with you rightly all the days of my life. My life will never be the same. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Can we just give it up for those who say yes to Jesus. Thank you.