The Acceleration Mandate l New Wine, New Wineskin, New Generation | Marcus Mecum | 7 Hills Church

Thank you. Thank you so much. You're so kind. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You can be seated. Thank you. What a joy to be here. Guys, listen, I've been waiting six years to tell you this, all right? Now, I'm not kidding. Six years ago, I called your pastor and said, God's put something in my heart for your church. And right when I was scheduled to come, the pandemic hit. And what began is when God was something that I thought was showing me, generally just for me, turned into what I saw was a move of God that's happening in the earth. And I want to talk to you about that today, the acceleration mandate. You know, your pastor, I've known him since he was a young guy. Now, I'm 65 years old, and you don't look 65. It's so nice of you to say that. So yeah, don't lie in church. It's okay. But I met him. He was in his early 20s. He had mentioned Larry Betancourt. Larry was, at the time, he pastors now, but he was our youth guy. And I got to meet him. We went to lunch and got to spend some time with him. And when we finished lunch, I told Larry, I said, that young man, I'm telling you, Larry, God's hand is so mightily on his life. Only heaven knows what's going to come out of his life. And these years have come and gone. Gosh, I guess working on 30 and watching how God has just so poured his spirit and his grace out upon him. I love this church. I love your pastor, his family. It is such an honor to be with you. And I want to talk to you today about a mandate that's upon the generations, the acceleration mandate. And it began for me in 2018. I was 58 years old, and I was in a meeting. We were worshiping just like we were here just a little while ago. And I really didn't anticipate that God's presence would fall in this manner. And if you have a relationship with God and you worship and you pray, there'll be seasons when the Holy Spirit will drop what will feel like finished paragraphs into your soul, just completed sentences. And when it happens, it's wonderful. And it was one of those times we were just worshiping and the presence of God just fell on me. And I heard these words in my heart, I'm bringing new wine out of you. I'm going to bring new wine out of you. Now, I'll take you to the scripture to clarify that for many of you that may not understand that terminology. But I did understand it. And so in the presence of God, out of my heart, I said, Lord, well, what is the wine skin? You see, the wine has to have, if you will, a distributor. This is a wine skin, and you just pour wine in it, and it's not a storage device, it's to pour out. And so I'm asking him, okay, this new wine you're going to give me, what's the wine skin? And for two years, nothing. And I don't mean I'd pray about it every day, but pretty regularly I'd say,

Lord, what's the wine skin? What's the wine skin? And for two years, heard virtually nothing. So let me read you what Jesus said about the wine skin and the new wine. In Mark 2.22, and if you understand this, this is pretty clear to you already, but I want to make sure that in case you don't, listen. Jesus said, and no one, no one pours new wine into an old wine skin. If he does, the new wine will burst the skin, and both the wine and the wine skins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into a new wine skin. Now, what's that got to do with you? I want to help you to understand what this means, how God wants to move in the generations and cause us to live undivided. Two years go by, beginning of 2020, I'm again, just one of those times in prayer, and I just said, just as I did, I don't know, a hundred times over, Lord, what's the wine skin? And again, his presence falls, and here's what he said to me. He said, don't ask me, I won't tell you. And I thought, that's not very helpful. He said, now, listen, this is so important. He said, your generation has already built its wine skin, and now it's old, and it's ready to be thrown away. I'm building another wine skin, a new wine skin, through another generation, the emerging generation. Listen to these words, and it's none of your business. Don't touch it in thought life. Don't judge it. Don't have any opinions about it. What does that mean? Listen, a wine skin is just a distributor of the gospel. That's all it is. My generation of leaders in the church, as it were, and by the way, the pulpit is the starting point. It's the starting line. The finish line is for every believer to step into this mandate. It's so important, and as the Holy Spirit was dealing with me about the wineskin is I'm saying this is old throw it away it's a container my generation planted more churches at any time in the history of the church and and and those church services began to look a certain way in certain things happen the prior generation though fought us I don't have time to go in some of the experiences I had but it was ruthless they didn't fight just against what we were doing they fought us see the church is the only place where parents have forced their kids out of their life it's the only place where our preferences matter more to us than our own children

and I want to help you not to do that today I want to help you whether wherever you fall into the generations whether and we'll be talking about Abraham Isaac and Jacob and when you understand what the Holy Spirit was saying to me John it's dead you don't take an old wineskin and make a museum out of it you throw it away and he's going to build a new wineskin through a new generation and I'm asking him again so but what do I do with this new wine you're speaking of I knew it was going to be transformative in my life as it will be for you but Lord where do I put this new wine here's what he said to me said if you will humble yourself I will permit you to pour your aged wine into this new wineskin now it's none of your business what it looks like but I'm gonna permit you to take your aged wine to pour it into that wineskin if you'll humble yourself and you will age their wine overnight and mature it and you will become an accelerant to the next generation see as an Abraham you get to be an accelerant that's the fun part that's pouring gas on a fire I don't know if you've ever done that disclaimer at all of our locations don't do this but if you're a teenage boy you likely have done it at some point we'd be in the woods everything's wet we bring a jar of gasoline and baby you can light something with it and you just step back man when it hits boom it blows up the accelerant is the fun part cutting down the woods hard work and what God was dealing with me is that I'm building a new generation to distribute the gospel to a new generation and listen you have nothing to do with it stay out of it don't judge it now the reason it's so important for me to be here I've now been speaking about this for a while in churches all around and but this was the place when I was praying

that the Holy Spirit said to me that Marcus Pastor Marcus he said he is one of the leaders that will build the new wineskin this is 2020 and it's being built right now by the way it's not done it doesn't fully exist yet and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and he said I'm calling you John to trust me in them like others trusted me in you when you were young let me tell you something God's grace on a human being is greater than experience God's grace is divine power in human weakness that's all grace is that it has multifaceted but Jesus scripture said my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in human weakness grace is God's power listen listen in the midst of human weakness imperfections experience can make you feel like you can perfect everything I've been there I'd I've run that road I've been in the ditch I know how to get out and you can have a presumption that you know what should happen next now I'm not being critical when I say this that a new wineskin right now is being formed that's the first point I have you a new wine right now right now right now a new wineskin is being built in this church is with your pastor and the leaders is is is is is literally God's using to form the new wineskin and I've watched these six years since 2020 it began to emerge and how the generations of this church are starting to expand now what do you do if you're of the older generation here here's the second point I want to get to you whether you yield or resist the Holy Spirit in this move of God and it is a move of God because the church historically has divided by

generations God calls himself the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob he is the God of three generations listen to me at one time we divided him historically the church has made him the God of Abraham then the God of Isaac and then the God of Jacob and we have forced our children out of our lives by preference now we've not only forced them out of the church and forced them to start over spiritually which is exactly what happened to my generation men and women in my generation could have prevented so much sorrow and pain in my life if they didn't fight against me but fought for me they didn't know the young man sitting in front of them them that was so inexperienced that they had every reason to discard would pastor a church some day that in its 32 year history in the church services would see over 25,000 people come to Christ. They could have killed it and they almost did. See the Abraham generation you matter and you can either disappear and go find a place to sing songs you like or you can watch a new wineskin being built and you can be a part of accelerating the next generation and maybe building a house, listen to me, that you may not ever sit in and if you do it you'll live in a joy that's unspeakable and full of glory and there is a mandate and a move of God. So the wineskin, simply the new one, is just the methods. You know there's not a word in the Bible about how to conduct a church service? Three books written to pastors, not a sentence on how to do church. Now there's some caveats on what you don't do in church, don't be crazy, that's the scaled down version of first Corinthians, don't be stupid and crazy in church, but for the most part it doesn't tell you because it doesn't matter. What matters is that every generation deserves to get the wine of the gospel distributed to them in a way that will impact them and God's building one right now.

It's going to reach into the parts of our world that my generation didn't touch, that we made enemies rather than mission fields. The LGBTQA plus and every other initial that you can add because people want to be included. It is the most sexually broken and desperate generation in American history. My generation could tell you where you were wrong but there wasn't a wineskin to get behind that broken wall and redeem precious human beings trapped. If you're not careful, you will make enemies out of what is a mission field. Politically my generation has done it as well, so you don't think we should be involved in politics. I believe every Christian should have the privilege of having a voice, you should represent the values of scripture in every way including politically, particularly if you're called to be a politician, every one of us. My generation is struggling not to make it the first. It's not the first kingdom, it's seek first the kingdom of God. The only hope of this nation is not the next election, it's the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and his people, it's the only hope of the world. So let me show you a scripture in the book of Malachi, last book in the Bible of the Old Testament and last verses in the Old Testament and they're prophetic scriptures pointing to these last days and I just have to check, I am from Pittsburgh, I'm also, you could tell I'm Swedish and I'm an Italian and so are there any Italians in church today? Well there you go, that made me feel real good, they make you sit in the back here, I heard something in the locations, I know you got an Italian or two over there, how about this, any Steelers fans here? Okay well I know the Bengals fans that are here, hey on my phone I have pictures of Super Bowl trophies if you want to see what those look like, we got six, you guys have none, that's okay though, hey you could be a Cleveland Browns fan and I love Joe Burrow and listen I mean this sincerely, if the Steelers don't win a Super Bowl, I would love to see the Bengals win one, I really would, so I love Joe Burrow, I think he's a great quarterback but I hope you lose twice this coming year to the Steelers, that's okay. See Malachi chapter 4 verse 6, this is so important, speaking prophetically about the

last days, he's speaking of God ultimately and he God will turn the hearts of the parents of the children and he will turn the hearts of the children to the parents or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction. The breaking down of the generations brings destruction in the earth and it has been catastrophic to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ over the generations. You can go into any small town, any small town anywhere in America today, you don't have to go far from this place and you will find beautiful old church buildings that are empty, been converted to apartments, restaurants, bars, something or torn down for the land or just dilapidated or they're full of 70, 80, 90 year olds singing songs from the 18th century waiting to die and there's not a thing wrong with those songs, you're allowed to have preferences. Listen, I have preferences. I have songs I like. I was somewhere where I was at a John Maxwell meeting and John had a small group of people together and he brought in Michael W. Smith. And by the time he was done, I was in tears because that's when I was starting to walk with God. And it was so meaningful to me. And in my mind, I thought, man, we gotta get Michael W. Smith to our church. And I went, no we don't. Maybe we should get Brandon Lake. You know, it's a new wineskin. But I'm allowed to like Michael with the W and the Smith. Ain't nothing wrong with it. But it can't mean more to me than the next generation. It just can't mean more than my kids. Church can't be the place where we force our children out of our life or disappear.

He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is the God of three generations at one time. Would you all agree with me that we should never profane the name of our God? Do you understand when we divide the generations, we profane the name of God? He named himself the God of three generations, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And when we divide over something as ridiculous as preference, as our church has gotten, it's actually getting younger all the time. But people my age sometimes will come to me and go, they want one of these and not one of these. Because they don't know. And they'll say, you know, Pastor, I just want you to know I just really didn't like the worship today. I said, well, we weren't worshiping you, so you're good. And they're all right. Full disclosure, sometimes we sing songs in worship and I just close my eyes and pray. Say, don't you like the songs? I don't know them. You say, why don't you learn them? I'm trying. But I don't care about a song. You know what I care about? That my heart is turned to the next generation by God. And that God, listen, it isn't just the Abraham.

Abrahams are those, say, 55, 80, 55 up through whatever. And you could say, I don't wanna be an Abraham yet. Then stay where you are, you're good. But say 60 and above. But anything from 20s, 30s, 40s, even into your 50s certainly is that Isaac generation. You're building something. You're building, listen to me, this church is called of God to build a wineskin for the kingdom of God that doesn't exist yet. And you get to be a part of it. Abraham, you could stick around and help accelerate it or disappear and waste your aged wine. Don't go away. And don't demand, don't demand that we make a relic out of the style. Church is the only place we do it. Now, I'm not a grandparent yet, but I'm working on it. I got one, my youngest daughter's married. They've been married almost two years, pretty regularly. I guess every day now, I text her. I'm like, baby, when I get a grandbaby? Like, daddy, I love you, but we've only been married like two years, not quite two years. We wanna get to know each other. And I'm like, it's overrated. Have a child, you'll get to know each other, trust me. I told her, I said, I pray the gestation period for a child is a day. Bring me a grandbaby.

Now, let's take me into my living room, two-year-old, little boy sitting on my lap. Let's call him Enzo. That's an Italian name anyway. They can name him whatever they want, just so it's Italian. No, I don't care what they name him. Just bring me a kid, that's all I'm asking. Not much, because I'm gonna ruin me some grandchildren. Now, listen, when they come pick them up, they're gonna go, no, don't make me go with those bad people. It's like, Papa would give it to you. Papa would let you have it. You watch, I'm gonna ruin some children. Anyway, I got my little two-year-old Enzo on my lap. And Enzo wants to watch something on television. I go, Enzo, how come you wanna watch the news with your Papa? Enzo gonna go, Papa, what's the matter? You wanna watch the news? I wanna watch a program you're gonna hate. And Enzo's gonna watch a show that I can't stomach. You wanna know why I'm gonna watch it? Because I love Enzo. And my heart is pouring toward Enzo. And he's gonna be on my lap. And I'm gonna squeeze him and twist him and bite Italian's bite. No, we do, we do, it's an ethnic weakness, but we just bite our children. You ever see an Italian do this? That's so they don't bite their child.

Or grandchild. And I'm gonna watch a show I can't stomach. And I'm gonna squeeze that baby, and I couldn't care less what's on that television. I grew up with a purple dinosaur named Barney. My kids grew up, I should say. I hated Barney. Now, listen, full disclosure, God had to give me peace. and bitterness had to go. I had a root of bitterness. I despised that purple thing. I hear his voice to this day. No, I'm not joking. Hi, kids. You see, if I can really hear a voice in my head, it'll come out of my mouth. I hear voices. I don't answer them. And I hear, I love you. You want to know why I had that voice in my head? Because God turned my heart to my children. In the church, historically, it's not happened. And there is a move of God afoot right now. Because, see, Jesus said this way, a house divided against itself cannot – listen to me – cannot stand and will come to desolation or decline. A house united will accelerate. What'll happen if the Abrahams stick around over the next 10 years in this church? What'll happen if they don't? Isaac, let me tell you something. This generation of people who are my age and older can accelerate you. And they can put you on second base instead of starting at home plate like my generation had to. And many of us in this room, not just in ministry but in life, you know what that means. You know what it was like. But there is a move of God where I'm seeing men and women in the kingdom, in the pulpit, in the church – more importantly, in the church. This is the starting line. The finish line is every one of you having God turn your heart to the next generation. What will it look like if every Abraham in this church sticks around and accelerates the next generation very intentionally? We will step into the next great awakening. Or we can divide and become desolate. And we can force our children to start at home plate. And Isaac, let me tell you something. When you started second base, you didn't hit a double. You didn't swing and put it against the left field fence. You were placed there. What does that mean? It means God's gonna turn our hearts toward one another. And the generational divide that

has plagued the church for centuries. God has said in the last days, I'm gonna change that. And the destruction that was intended upon the earth, it can be mitigated and changed by the power of the gospel. There is a cost, dear one, to division. There is a cost. Jesus spoke of the parable of the talents, the five talents, the three and the two that he gave to individuals who did not own them but stewarded them. And the one who had five doubled them. The one that had two doubled his. And the one who had one buried it in the earth. And to the two that doubled it, he said this, when he came and they gave a reckoning for what God entrusted to them. And this is gonna get very practical in a minute. And he said, well done, good end, faithful servant. Now enter into the joy of your Lord. Everyone say joy. Joy. Now listen, God calls faithfulness multiplication. If you live your life without focusing to multiply others in the kingdom, you are unfaithful. I don't care if you watch Christian TV, podcast, pray, read your Bible, do whatever you want, you're unfaithful. You must live your life to multiply others. Here's another thing the Holy Spirit said to me, if you'll hear my voice in these final years of your life, this final season of your life, I will cause you to live with joy. There's an epidemic of depression and anxiety in our land. And those 60s and above, it is brutally, I mean it is wipe you out, wanna make you wanna die, depression and anxiety. So you're saying the younger generation doesn't have, yes they have it. Of course, it's epidemic everywhere. But let me tell you something, that's baby anxiety compared to what happens when you have no more purpose in life. And you got more life than you have purpose. You'll wish you were dead. I don't care how much money you have, how much you golf, it won't be enough. And he said to me, if you'll hear my voice and obey me, you will die with empty hands but a full heart. You can live your life till the final breath. It's one thing to seek God, all of us want God, God I ask you for this answer. It's even an amazing thing when you receive an answer from God. And that's available to every Christian. But your greater calling is to be an answer. Your greater calling is to be a voice and if you will a resource to take your aged wine. Aged wine is the expensive stuff. The new wine is cheap. New wine has to be aged before it has any value to it. But God said, John, I'll let you take your aged wine and you can accelerate the next generation. And so I have found My Isaac, who's yours?

Let me make it practical. Let me take you to the group of people that people would consider to have very little and low influence in our culture. Let's take a mom who's a single mom, who maybe was married, divorced, or maybe her husband died, but let's just say she's had, or wasn't married and has, pregnant and had a couple babies, maybe two different, two other guys or whatever, and she's trying to raise these kids now. She's a Christian, she's just trying to figure it out, and life is beating her like a rented mule. And she's here today at one of our locations. She barely got there. She could barely pay for the gas to get there, but she's there, and she just could barely, she's trying to stay awake, because it's the first time she sat down. But let's say you're a single mom who's in her 60s, and you raised your kids, and you went through all of that heartache, and God brought someone into your life. I'm talking to you now about our third point, that we are a part now of a multi-generational move of God. Let me tell you how you do it. It's so,

I'll tell you why we don't do it. We think we have nothing to offer. Let me tell you now. You're that single mom, you're in your 60s. You went through misery. It was so difficult for you. You worked two, three jobs, and you just, you'd have paid $1,000 to take a nap. And now you come to church today, and I promise you, in all of our locations, there are single moms right now hearing my voice going, oh God, I wish somebody would help me. Listen, what if you found that single mom, and you went up to her, and listen, here's how you would do it. Hey, sweetheart, somebody was telling me that you're a single mom. When you say that, watch, she'll do this, because she thinks you're going to shame her. No, no, no, no, sweetheart, lift your head up, lift your head up. I was there. I know what it's like. I had three kids without a husband, without a dad. Now I got married later on, and man, God's restored my life,

but let me tell you, sweetheart, I want to help you. Listen to me. I want to take my aged wine and pour it into your life to accelerate your future. I want you to miss some of the heartache that's avoidable. Listen, dear one, there's enough heartache in this life with the devil that you can't avoid. You've got to fight battles, but some of it can be avoided, and here's what you tell her. You go, sweetie, listen, I want to take you out and we're going to grab some coffee or lunch, and I don't have anyone to watch my kids. Do you have a babysitter you trust? Yeah, I'll pay for it. Okay, yeah, I'll pick you up, and we'll go have a couple hours, two whole hours, and I get to eat and talk. Can I sleep? And you sit with her and you say, here's all I want to do, baby. I want to tell you the three things if I could go back and change that I would, and I want to tell you the three best decisions I made, and I want to help you miss some of my sorrow

and some of my pain, and listen to me now. This isn't mentoring and mentorees. God didn't say I'll turn the hearts of the mentor to the mentorees. He said I'll turn the hearts of the fathers and mothers to the children and the children to the parents. This is family. You don't run from family. I mentor people. They don't follow through. I'm done. Not because I'm mad. It's like, hey, you don't want this. I'm good. No more mentoring. You don't get to do that with kids, do you? You don't get to run when it gets ugly. They don't fulfill their task. You might have to have some boundaries, but you can't turn my heart away from my kids. You can't do it. You have to kill me to do it, and you begin to talk to that little girl, and God turns your heart, and you in your latter years of your life have a relationship that you accelerate somebody, that you change their life, their future, their children's lives.

Say, sweetie, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? Well, yeah, well, we were gonna, yeah, well, because they don't have any money for Thanksgiving. Babe, come on over to our house. Bring the kids. Yeah, but they might break something. Yeah, well, throw it away. I don't care about stuff because their kids may be unruly. What are you gonna, oh, they might break something. Throw it away. They're not throwaway kids. It's throwaway stuff. Or put it up somewhere. What do I have to bring? Your bodies, and then you give them Christmas, and you bless them, and you say, sweetie, what do you wanna do with your life? I always wanna, let's, and you help her, and you accelerate her. Then you go to her 14-year-old little girl who's so vulnerable without a dad, and your husband brings her over, and you're all sitting together, pulls her aside, saying, and now this relationship's being forged, and your husband looks at that little 14-year-old girl and says, sweetheart, listen to me. You matter, you matter, and no man has to make you matter. You matter. Any boy that comes into your world,

it's gotta come through mine. We good? because I love you and you need to know there's somebody willing to go to jail for you I'm willing to put someone in the ground for you I'm Italian give me a break pull him aside I'm gonna make you an offer that you can't refuse you hurt her feelings I'm gonna break your legs I'm a Christian I'll pray for you now imagine that little girl now how many little girls today hearing my voice at our locations aren't little anymore that your life was devastated because there wasn't a man willing to die for you or kill for you what if you'd had that listen listen come here Abraham listen to me listen to me don't be that for someone else you can do it at the level of a single mom entrepreneur maybe you're gone through addiction or a blended family what would you go back and tell your 20 year old self your 25 year old self go find someone that God will permit you to turn your heart toward and he'll turn their heart back to you and you can accelerate them in their purpose in their life and their family and you can cause them to miss the sorrows and the pain that may be sidetracked you for a decade if you live that way you will get to live in joy unspeakable and full of glory and if you don't here's what happens there was one that took his talent and buried it in the earth let me read it to you Matthew 25 he said now you take that one talent from him the one who buried it in the earth because he was afraid and you give it to the one that has ten talents for everyone who has will be given more and he will have abundance whoever does not have even what he has will be taken from him now you throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth you see when you take your aged wine out of an aging wineskin and you pour it into your own life as you age you're wasting what God entrusted to you the part of your life that can multiply others and you're wasting it in the earth he said now you throw them out into the outer darkness theologically I don't people say did they go to hell that's not my that's not the real key the real key here is he said the first two brought joy I want

you to see what happens when you waste what I've given you to pour out into others there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth if you divide weeping weeping weeping and gnashing of teeth we don't say gnash teeth much anymore you have the power in your jaws if your brain would let you to break your own teeth but your body won't let you do it unless you're in such physical distress or emotional distress you literally can break your own teeth he said when you take what I've given you single mom entrepreneur blended family someone who's walked through addiction addiction with a child fill in the blank we've all had places where Jesus has has brought us through and we made a ton of mistakes ah you can take that aged wine and you can accelerate the next generation God has called us to do that very thing like David and Solomon David took the plan God gave him and handed it to his son because he was not permitted to build it and then he took his money and he paid for it and then he gathered his generation and said let's pay for the temple listen that we will never sit in David abdicated the throne and stepped away from authority before he died the only king of Israel to ever do it and he stepped away from his position of authority put his son who was inexperienced and then he poured all his resources into a future that he would never see a house he would never sit in Seven Hills Church is just getting started listen to me I'm telling you this is six years I've been waiting to tell you this this isn't built yet it's gonna be in the next ten years Abraham I'm telling you by the Spirit of God don't go away let God turn your heart and your wallet just like David pay for a house you won't sit in build it and watch a great awakening occur in this nation because it's not just happening here it's happening all over the world as God turned the hearts of fathers to the children children to the fathers and I'm praying for every one of us today that we will open our hearts and let the Spirit of God cause us to be undivided nobody did this on purpose guys nobody wanted these beautiful old churches to be empty no one nobody would do it on purpose we do it because we don't understand what we're doing and I have my hope today is that I can arrest those of you of my generation to let God turn

your heart And whatever it looks like in the future, be all in and make a difference and accelerate the next generation. If you're the Isaac generation, receive it with honor. Let sacrifice fall down and honor rise up. And if they kiss what will occur here, it is impossible to calculate the acceleration. I want to pray for all of us today, in all of our locations, would you just bow your heads with me today? Father, I pray today that you would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. You have called this church to build a wineskin for the future. Help us understand how sacred that is and that we would not waste our aged wine, that we would pour it into the next generation, that you would cause us to live with a joy unspeakable and full of glory, that we might live and ultimately die with empty hands and a full heart. It's with every head that's bowed, every eye that's closed, in all of our locations, listen, if you've never given your life to Jesus and if you were to die today, do you know where you'd spend your eternity? So with every head bowed, every eye closed, if you don't know where you'd spend eternity and you believe that Jesus is the son of God, he died on the cross for your sins, so that you could know God, you could be free of your sin debt that you cannot be free of your own. I believe he died for me, buried, rose from the dead for me and I want to receive him. He only comes by invitation to be the Savior and Lord of my life. If you've never done that or you're not sure, I want to pray with you right where you're seated. In fact, in all of our locations, I'm going to invite you right where you're seated to join me in a prayer to invite Christ in your life. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, the first thing I simply want you to do, with heads bowed, eyes closed, if you want to receive Christ today, you've never done that or you're not sure, say, pastor, please include me in a prayer to invite Christ into my life

so I can have the free gift of eternal life and make Jesus the Lord and the governor of my life. With every head bowed, every eye closed, say, pastor, please include me in that prayer. In all of our locations, heads are bowed, eyes are closed, would you raise your hand real high so I can see it? Just do it right now. Right now, as your hand's raised, there are going to be ushers, they're going to be putting this book in your hand, starting strong, how to start strong. It's going to help you with your next steps, but I want to pray with you as well. In all of the locations, if you can go ahead and put your hands back down, would you celebrate with those that raised their hand to receive Jesus today as we pray in a moment? Best decision of your life, if you raised your hand, listen to me, at all of the locations, or you should have, pray this out loud when you hear it with your very own ears, we'll all pray it out loud and together with you. Pray it out loud when you hear it, say, heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, and I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. He died on the cross to bear my sin debt. I open the door of my heart and my life, and Jesus, I invite you in. I receive you now to be my Savior and Lord. Thank you for coming. I am now a child of God. My sin debt is canceled, and when I die, I'm heaven bound because Jesus is the Lord of my life. Amen, amen, amen. Give them a hand, everybody, would you?