The Church at Sardis | Pastor Grant Ethridge | Liberty Live Church

♪ Oh, we welcome you ♪ ♪ We say yes to your praises ♪ ♪ Yes to your ways ♪ ♪ Yes to repentance ♪ ♪ Concase upon race ♪ ♪ Break open your church ♪ ♪ Break open our praise ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We say yes to your praises ♪ ♪ Yes to your ways ♪ ♪ Yes to repentance ♪ ♪ Concase upon race ♪ ♪ Break open your church ♪ ♪ Break open our praise ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ In this place ♪ ♪ We ask you to rise among us ♪ ♪ As we go upon your name ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ In this place ♪ ♪ We ask you to rise among us ♪ ♪ As we go upon your name ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪

♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ In this place ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ We ask you to rise among us ♪ ♪ As we go upon your name ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ We welcome you ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You're not keeping track of my mistakes ♪ ♪ ♪ Even when I struggle to obey you ♪ ♪ ♪ The love I know is the love that runs away ♪ ♪ But your kind loves the kind that always stays ♪ ♪ ♪ It's not a feeling ♪ ♪ Not so sickin' ♪ ♪ This is a copy love ♪ ♪ ♪ It's boundless ♪ ♪ Your love is fearless ♪

♪ This is a cup of love ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪ ♪ This ain't the pounding heart or the butterflies ♪ ♪ While I like the steady sacrificial kind ♪ ♪ There's no loss me and I could break in my heart ♪ ♪ But take me up inside ♪ ♪ This kind of love will die to give me life ♪ ♪ 'Cause it's not a feeling ♪ ♪ It's not self-speaking ♪ ♪ This is a cup of love ♪ ♪ It's my life ♪ ♪ Your love is real ♪ ♪ This is a cup of love ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪ ♪ It's a practice my passion ♪ ♪ It gives no commissions ♪ ♪ Against every instinct ♪ ♪ Ignores and convenience ♪ ♪ It's risky ♪ ♪ It's costly thank you ♪ ♪ That you love like that ♪ ♪ No way you won't turn your back ♪ ♪ You can't believe that you love like that ♪ ♪ It's not a feeling ♪ ♪ Not self-speaking ♪ ♪ This is a cup of love ♪ ♪ It's balanced ♪ ♪ Your love is fearless ♪ ♪ This is a cup of love ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪

♪ It's not a feeling ♪ ♪ It's not self-speaking ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪ ♪ And it's balanced ♪ ♪ That love is fearless ♪ ♪ This is a cup of love ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is a cup of love ♪ (upbeat music) (audience cheering) (audience cheering) (audience cheering) [BLANK_AUDIO] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - We welcome to Liberty Live Church. We're so glad you're here with us today. - We are one church in multiple locations and we believe God has a purpose for your life. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) - If today's your first day at Liberty, we'd love to meet you. So, text connect to 40371. Tap the seat back in front of you, or visit us at one of our next staff centers after the service today. We can't wait to meet you.

(upbeat music) - Every week, we hear inspired stories about how your generosity is making a difference right here in Hampton Roads and around the world. When you give, you're helping to share Jesus, serve our communities, and see life change for eternity. You can give through our website, tap the seat back in front of you, or use it given on the globe right at your campus today. So, friends, thank you for your ongoing generosity and faithful partnership with all that God is doing through Liberty Live Church. - Did you know that we were all made to worship? That's right. And we are so proud of our Liberty Live Worship team. How they take the stories about our church, turn them into songs, and share them with the entire world. And you can listen to Liberty Live Worship, too, on your streaming platforms. Come on, follow, listen, and worship with us all week long. - You know, there's never been a better time to get connected to Liberty Live Church than right now. Whether you're a young adult, maybe you're a student, maybe you're raising a family. Hey, maybe you're a senior adult. We have something for everyone here, because when we say it's not just church, it's life, we mean it. There's so many exciting things happening. Let's check out a few of them right now.

♪ ♪ - We're so excited you're here with us today because no matter where you are or where you are in life, we believe God has more for you. So come on, Liberty, let's all stand to our feet and get ready to worship together. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - Good morning, Liberty. What a great day to be in the house. Lord, no matter where you're streaming from right now, you can be on vacation, you can be at home. Maybe you're not feeling so well. No matter where you're at this morning, we are so glad you're joining us, and we love you and you're part of the Liberty family. - That is right, Kyle, and we would love it to meet you. I'm Jenny, like I said, this is Kyle. Put your name in the chat. Let us know where you're streaming from today. - Yeah. - Because we might give you a shout-out. - Shout-out. - You got some shout-outs today, Kyle? - We got Jenny's been keeping us up to date on the shout-out. - Let's see.

Who's in the chat? - We got VCG from Pensacola, Florida. Michelle from Ohio. Got another one from Florida, no name. But shout-out you Floridians. - Yes, maybe they're on vacation. - Maybe, or maybe they just live in Florida. - Or maybe they just live in Florida. - Shout-out out Florida peeps. George from Lynchburg, Kyle W from California. - Hey. - And then we got some more North Carolinians. - I love it. - People join in from all over the country, all over the world. It is one big Liberty family. - That's right. And if it's your first time joining us ever, we would love to know about it because we want to put a free gift in the mail for you. No matter where you live, we'll drop it in the mail. You can text, connect. - Yes. - Almost said yes. You can text yes too. But text connect to 40371 or just scan that QR code on the screen. Let us know it was your first time here. And let us know your address so we can give you a gift in the mail. - Yes, and if it is your first time, you are joining us at an exciting time in our church life,

I guess you could say. - Yeah. It's coming up soon, and it's a great time to be a part of the Liberty family. - That's right, such exciting days ahead. Plus, we're continuing in our sermon series. I'm gonna see if I can get it right today. - Go for it. - Seven letters to the churches. - Bingo! - Did I get it? All right. - We got it. - We're not gonna want to miss the sermon today before we jump right in. I have a scripture for us. - Oh, give it to us, Jenny. - Yeah, here we go. Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name, make known among the nations what He has done and proclaim that His name is exalted. So as we get into worship today, you ready to proclaim His name, make the Lord. - I am. It's gonna be an awesome day in church. We're so glad you've joined us, and we hope you enjoy service, and we'll see you later. (gentle music) (audience applauding) - Give God a better praise in His ways. We're so glad you're doing us for church today. We serve our God, we should cross word. He's faithful, heaven where He says is true.

It never times glory. Come on, we sing this out together. It's worth it. (gentle music) ♪ You are Holy ♪ ♪ He's a little brought to my feet ♪ ♪ Your way is the only way for me ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that leads to life ♪ ♪ But I wanna be on you ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road but the mercy is wide ♪ ♪ 'Cause you're good on promise ♪ ♪ Come on, sing it out ♪ ♪ I'll take you out of your world ♪ ♪ If you said it I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it was ♪ ♪ And you started your complete ♪ ♪ I'll take you out of your world ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Don't think you spoke ♪ ♪ You spoke and the chaos fell in love ♪ ♪ Well I know 'cause I've seen it in love ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that leads to life ♪ ♪ But I wanna be on you ♪ ♪ Oh, it's a narrow road ♪ ♪ And the time is high ♪ ♪ From your time in the water ♪ ♪ I'll take you out of your world ♪ ♪ If you said it I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it was ♪ ♪ And you started your complete ♪

♪ I'll take you out of your world ♪ ♪ If you said it I believe it ♪ ♪ I'll see how good it was ♪ ♪ And you started your complete ♪ ♪ I'll take you out of your world ♪ ♪ Oh, you're going for it ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, I've seen my promises of magic ♪ ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget ♪ ♪ All forsaken, it's true, it's true ♪ ♪ You said I'm safe, you called me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future is full of your hope ♪ ♪ You never felt so I know that you're never felt ♪ ♪ You feel what's upon me ♪ ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget ♪ ♪ I'll say the place that I say ♪ ♪ You said I'm safe, you called me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future is full of your hope ♪ ♪ You never felt so I know that you're never felt ♪ ♪ I'll take you where I'm going ♪ ♪ If you're standing, I'll believe it ♪ ♪ I'll see how good it was ♪ ♪ If you started ♪ ♪ I'll take you where you were ♪ ♪ You said I'm safe, you called me yours ♪ ♪ I'll see how good it was ♪

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Good morning, Liberty. You know what, I am super excited today. We have four people that have gone from death until life. And they're here to give testimony of that. And I'm starting off with two sweet girls here.

We have Journey first or Justice. Come on up here, girls, one of you. There we go. They are so sweet, and you can stay right there. And their mom was telling me that they had been asking about baptism. And mom has been walking them through this, and kids. And so they stand before you saying, we know Jesus, and we want to be baptized. So what a great story. Have a seat right there. Now, baptized you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, married with Him. All right. [LAUGHTER] You should go on over there. And I'm going to let her sister come right up here. And her story is exactly the same. His are twins. But baptized you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, married with Him, raised to walk. All right. And this is Jaden. Man, Jaden knows his stuff. I started asking him backstage about everything. And boy, he had those answers popping right away. Come on up here, Jaden. And he has gone from death into life. And you know what, family, you know what's really cool? The parents were such an amazing influence in their lives, leading them to the Lord.

And I just love that. And Jaden has the same story. You know, he was just asking questions, and through kidville, and through Amanda, and some of those, he just finally said, I want to follow Jesus. And I asked him, where did he do? And he said, I asked Jesus in my heart at home. So that is a great story. Jaden, having heard your testimony, what a privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit, buried with him. And I want to introduce you to Anthony, and I'm going to have Greg come on up here just a couple of weeks ago. It was so cool. I'm going to have you stand right there, Anthony. Anthony had gone through a rough time. He lost his job, five kids that he loves supremely, and lost his cell phone, lost his car, lost his job. And he was just going to go on a walk, kind of clear his head. And the coolest thing happened. He lives over by Central Hospital. He makes it by liberty. He was just going to cut through the parking lot. And one of the parking lot guys said, hey, why don't you come on in and go to church with us? Now, is that not cool? That's just cool. And he came in, and one of the first people he sees is Greg,

and he used to work for Greg. And so Greg pulls him into the service, and at the end of the service at the time, man, Anthony was just before the Lord, and I knew God was working on him, and Greg and I were talking. We both gathered around him, and we got to be there when he accepted Christ. They're at the altar. And man, it's, you know what's really cool is, Greg didn't just leave it there. By the next morning, he had a whole team of guys mobilize, and within two weeks, Anthony has a job. He had his cell phone back. He's got his car back. And what Liberty partnered with Greg, and man, we're just moving on. He's already been to Bible study. And you know what? He said, I just want my kids to know that this is the new dad. This is the new me. And so, what a great story. So Greg. You baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with him, raised to walk, and nearness of life. ♪ ♪ And I will build my life ♪

♪ Upon your love is the light ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in you ♪ Come on, this is a test of glory. ♪ I want to say ♪ ♪ Say God will build my life ♪ ♪ Come with me ♪ ♪ He's got his arms on me ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in you ♪ ♪ And I will build my life ♪ ♪ Glory, there is no one I can ♪ ♪ There is no society ♪ ♪ Both of my eyes and one I can show me ♪ ♪ Who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ More from you all of these ♪ ♪ And to you all of these ♪ ♪ You deserve your all of me ♪ ♪ Find out the size of ♪ ♪ In your life, the night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ Let in sense arise ♪

♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ No worry of it all ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ No worry of it all ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ The crazy design ♪ ♪ Is for from you are our beings ♪ ♪ As you are our beings ♪ ♪ Is our glory ♪ ♪ Of life alone ♪ ♪ No worry of it all ♪ ♪ No worry of it all ♪ ♪ That's like the world ♪ ♪ For from you are our beings ♪ ♪ And to you are our beings ♪ ♪ Is our glory ♪ ♪ How can a violent change be ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're the world ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ There's such a sweet spirit in this place, and I just want you to know, God's been at work. And some of you women know he was at work on Friday night in this place at the women's event. And just amazing stories like Anthony's that was just shared. I wish you could just get a glimpse into what God's doing in people's lives.

The first service was so sweet and so anointed. There was such a freedom in this place as people responded to him. And I tell you all that for you to know that Jesus is here, and he loves you, and he's for you, and he has more for your life. You made me unaware of it. You made me new to all of this. But I'm telling you, God has more for your life, and he sees you. And this hour God wants to move in your life. What I love about what God's doing in this season of our church is that I look up there in the bow of this tree and I see somebody like Ken Macklemore served on this church staff over 30 years, was a missionary through the 90s on the mission field, came back home, has been over our mission department for all these years. Somebody standing next to him like Greg. Greg was at Eastover when they originally decided to relocate the church. And yet these men are still leading people to the feet of Jesus, still bringing people to the Lord. And I want you to know that God is ready to do something so fresh in his people. Now I'm talking to the crowd who's been here 30 years plus. God wants to do something so fresh in and through your life. And some of you haven't even been here 30 minutes yet. And I'm telling you welcome home, you were meant to be here. And I'm so excited that you're here for church today.

We're getting ready to go into a brand new series in the month of October, October 18th. We're starting a series called more. Everybody say more. I'm telling you God has more for your life. And I've never had more anticipation for what God is going to do in the life of our church. But I've never had more anticipation for what God's gonna do in me. And I hope you know this morning that God has more for you. And on October 18th, we're gonna have a service like we've never done before. We have a documentary. And it's gonna be aired originally in that service on October 18th. We're gonna show you a glimpse of who the church is and where we've come from over the last 126 years. And I'm telling you that in advance because I want you to be here that day. because these are gonna be Sundays in the life of our church that you're never going to forget. Some of y'all remember walking over from Todd's Lane. Some of you remember the revivals in 2006, 2007. That was when I rededicated my life to the Lord, was called the ministry. Some of y'all remember before this worship center was built, we gathered under a large tent and worshiped and prayed right here before this worship center was built.

And I'm telling you, these are the types of Sundays we're about to experience. Sundays you'll look back on in decades and years to come and say, is it God so good? It's so faithful. So I don't want you to miss it. We're gonna start in the more series on October 18th. You'll wanna be here. But I want you to meet the people all around you right now. Give somebody a high five a handshake. Tell them you're glad to see them at church this morning. (upbeat music) (gentle music) You can be seated and turn your attention to the screens. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) - Well, good morning, Liberty. Anybody glad to be in church today? (audience cheering) I wanna welcome all the Liberty family at every location in those of you who are joining us online. We always like to give a shout out to military families, missionary families, men and women in the correctional facilities. We love worshiping Jesus and studying the word of God together, come on everybody, put your heads together and welcome the whole family. (audience applauding)

Let me remind you that this coming Tuesday, the It's Life Podcast is going to drop part two of US for it. Where I spent over an hour answering your questions. They divided it in two parts. And so that second part is coming out this Tuesday. I hope that you will watch it sometime this week and tell somebody about it. Well, we're in a series called Seven Letters to the Churches. We're in the book of Revelation. Today we're gonna start at chapter three. Revelation chapter three, you'd be finding that. You know, we've had a great time of worship in the first service and there was a great freedom. The Spirit of God was here. May have something to do with all of the women that were at the Women's Conference all over the weekend. Let me tell you. You ladies did more than I asked for. I asked you to sign up. No, only did you sign up, listen, we had double, more than double what we had a year ago for the Women's Conference. We had like almost 3,000 women meeting at the sites. So come on and praise God for what it did in the Women's Conference. (audience applauding) We are excited today to worship the Lord and He's already moved in the first service and I believe He's gonna work for you today. In this series, we're looking at seven letters to seven churches.

And I want you to see the mouth that we have put up every time. Literally, these are local churches in Asia Minor. The Apostle John is writing to seven churches and it was a postal route. It just goes clockwise here. Emphasis and then Smyrna and then Pergamum and then Thyatira and today we're going to be looking at Sardis. And these letters are very personal and I'm looking forward about a year from now to actually going to that site. I'd always wanted to go to Israel and I did not get to go until after I was 50 years old. Ms. Tammy and everyone to go. She was always afraid to go. And so finally, when I had my 50th birthday and the kids were grown and the house was empty, she said, "Okay, if you really want to, I'll go, but I don't want to." And so seriously, she always had the attitude. I'll go during the millennium, during the thousand year reign of Christ when there's peace on earth, amen. And but we went and now she would go every year. She's disappointed we hadn't been able to go back since 2023. And God willing, I will preach next Sunday. And then the following Monday we'll be going back to it. and the Gospels. When you go on the journeys of Paul you get the epistles and now this is the seven letters in the book of Revelation and a year from now October of 2027 I plan to go.

It's on my bucket list and if you're out there and you like to travel and some of you are already making your plans for 2027 you got three trips planned, four trips planned. If I don't announce that today you'll be planning 2028. I know you and so I just want you to know that we're going and we'd love for you to join us. It's going to be a great trip but today we're going to look at Sardis, the church at Sardis. Sardis was a wealthy city. It was polytheistic. Some of the first coins that were ever minted were minted in that city. It was known for garments for wool for carpet and they have found the remains of the early church building right near the temple of Artemis and I think it's awesome that right there where this pagan temple was right near it beside it is the church of Jesus Christ because the light all to shine bright in the darkness, amen? Well when we study about this church you see that there's seven letters to seven churches and no two letters are alike and that tells us that church membership is important, that they're writing. Jesus is speaking to the members of that congregation. He does speak into the guest. No he's speaking to that congregation, a letter that is very personal to them and the first thing he talks to him about is reputation. Reputation. We see it here in verse one and to the angel of the church at Sardis right, the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the, everybody say it. Come on everybody say it. You have the reputation of being alive but you are dead. And so he talks to them number one about reputation and you can see today the outline comes straight from the text. Now if you had been living in Ephesus and you were moving to Sardis everybody would say you got to go to that church. If you lived in Smyrna or Pergamum or Thyatira and you're moving to Sardis everybody said you got to go to that church. Man they had a reputation, they were alive. And so there's nothing wrong with having a good reputation. In fact the Bible tells us that Christians ought to have a good reputation. Proverbs 22, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. The early deacons were chosen based on their reputation at 6-3. Brothers and sisters select from among you seven men of good. Everybody say it. Reputation. Full of the spirit and wisdom whom we can appoint to this duty. When you look in first Timothy chapter three at the qualifications of a pastor, a bishop, an overseer, one of the qualifications is they had to have a good reputation of those who are on the outside even in the community there to have a good reputation. Nothing wrong with having a good reputation. The problem comes when the reputation doesn't match reality. And so Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in Matthew 23. What are you teachers of

the law and Pharisees? You hypocrites. Y'all think I'm a strong preacher. You're to listen to Jesus. He said you Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like white wash tombs which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead. Now what did he just say to the church at Sardis? You have a reputation. You're alive. You look pretty good on the outside but you're dead. I'm just saying right here that that he is reminding us that appearance can be deceiving. Appearance can be deceiving. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 16, people look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Outward appearance can be deceiving. You've seen artificial flowers that look real but they're fake. You've seen artificial fruit. It looked real but it's fake. Did you know astronomers tell us that light from some stars takes 33 years to get to the earth and by the time the light gets to the earth the stars already dead. It is lifeless. And so Jesus says hey you look good on the outside but I know reality. That's the bottom line. Let that sink in. You may fool yourself. church and the community, you may fool your boss, but you're not going to fool Jesus. So he talks to him about reality. Number two, write that down, reality. He says, but you are dead. You're dead. That's happening. I used to say that a ministry goes through four stages. It starts with a man. It becomes a movement and then it becomes a machine and then it ends up a monument. The classic example, the Alamo. Think about it. The Alamo there in San Antonio, Texas, it started out as a Christian mission. It started out as a church. It ended up a battleground and today is some museum and that describes a lot of churches. Man, they were, they had a vibrant witness trying to reach the community with the gospel of Jesus Christ and then all of a sudden they started fighting with one another and they have a battle and then they end up a museum just talking about the glory days and days gone by. Sardis was a funeral home with a steeple. Let that sink in. I'm telling you, everything looked good on the outside, but Jesus said on the inside, you're dead. Now

hear me. The Bible says that life comes from the spirit. Life comes from the spirit and notice the emphasis on the Holy Spirit. That's the way it starts out and in every one of these letters, it says, hear what the spirit says. Watch this. And to the angel of the church at Sardis, right, the words of him who has the seven spirits. Now they're not seven spirits. There's only one God. There's only one Holy Spirit. God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. So the number seven there is symbolic of completion of perfection of the fullness of the spirit. Often people will say something like this and I think it's well, the greatest compliments we could ever receive. They'll say, I just pulled up and I felt the spirit of God is here. I came into the service and the spirit of God is here. oftentimes if we don't get that compliment, we get this one. You preach the word. You preach the Bible. And I'm just telling you, those are the two greatest compliments. I think that when people say, Hey, we recognize that you preach the Bible and we recognize the spirit of God is here. The Bible says in John chapter six. Are y'all saying amen? Now if you go to sleep on me, I'll start this sermon all over again. Hey, I love this time of the year. Falls here feels like football season. I love it. And you weren't sleeping yesterday when you were watching your favorite team. All right? You won't be sleeping this afternoon. Don't be sleeping in church. Here we go. John 663. The spirit gives life. The flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you. Jesus said, they're full of the spirit and life. And I'm telling you, that's exactly what we must have. We must be tied to the word of the living God.

And we've got to always realize we can't do anything in the flesh. Apart from him, we can do nothing. So we've got to have the power of the spirit. The church today needs the word in the spirit. And unfortunately, there are word churches and spirit churches. And when I just say that, you know of names of churches that come to your mind. Word churches are described as those who are committed to the authority of scripture. They believe in expository preaching, just like we're doing that, just preaching through a text in the Bible. They believe in sound doctrine, justification by faith. They believe in the sovereignty of God. There were churches. But sometimes, if they're not careful, they believe in God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Bible. They don't talk about the Holy Spirit. They don't recognize their need for the Holy Spirit. They're scared of the Holy Spirit. And I'm just saying that we got to have more than our flesh. We got to plug into another world. And spirit churches, they focus on let's get back to the Bible. Let's see miracles again. Let's see science. Let's see wonders. Let's get back to prayer meetings where the place is shaken. And let's see the spiritual power of God. But unfortunately, a lot of word churches and spirit churches just spend their time criticizing one another rather than learning from one another. You know, I grew up in a Baptist church. I went to church nine months before I was born. And that little Baptist church, small church, on a dead-end road, you didn't go by to get anywhere. You had to be going out there. And man, we had great services and great preaching. I heard a lot of great preachers preach the Word of God. All right?

But I was also blessed to be a part of a singing family. And this, what we would do is this, we go to church at the Baptist church on Sunday morning, but the all day singing was at the Pentecostal church. And we would always go to the Pentecostal church and have dinner on the grounds and sing all day and even into the night. And I'm telling you, they had incredible worship. And you could sense and feel the presence of God. And I said to my bride to tell me, "Well, we got married." I said, "Honey, if we never bring those two worlds together, we can grow a church." That's what you want to be. You want to be a word church and a spirit church. And so, RT Kendall, who preached here, 91 years old, he preached here on total forgiveness. He said this in one of his books. He said, "There's been a solid divorce, and like any divorce, some of the kids went with one parent and the other kids went with the other parent. Some churches sided with the word, some churches sided with the spirit, but you need both." Here it is. John 3, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit." If you go out in a sailboat, you put up that sail, but you've got to have the wind. And without the wind, you're just dead in the water, you're not going anywhere. But not only do you have a sail, you have a rudder, and the rudder keeps you on course. It keeps you from crashing into the rocks. It keeps the boat from sinking, and so you've got to have both. I'm telling you today that the Word of God is our rudder, that the Word of God keeps us on course, keeps us, the Bible says, from being tossed to and fro with every wind of false doctrine and false teaching. And likewise, you've got to have the spirit. The spirit keeps us from being lifeless.

And the spirit makes the presence of God real in our lives and in our services. You can't separate the two. The spirit is the author of the Word, and the Word tells us about the spirit. Here's what Jesus said to the Sadducees, and you know, they didn't believe in miracles, they didn't believe in the resurrection, they didn't believe in the supernatural. They're Sadducees, that's why they're Sad you see. Yeah, Jesus replied, you're in error, because you do not know the Scriptures, that's the Word, or the power of God, that's the spirit, that's the supernatural. Hey, A.W. Tozier said this, if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on, and no one would know the difference. God help us. I tell you, there are a lot of churches, if they closed their doors, the community wouldn't even know. Anyone care? We need the presence of God. Activity's not always a sign of life, let me illustrate that to you. Some of you are going to go eat today, because you're trying to be healthy, you're going to eat some grilled chicken. Now our forefathers will eat some fried chicken, amen. All right. And you're going to go get it with ease. You're just going to order it, and they're going to bring it to you. No, our grandparents, let me tell you, they would go home after church, and they would go out in the yard, and they would get a chicken. And you young people, I know this is going to just shock you. But your grandmother, my grandmother, your great-grandmother, would take it by the neck, get it up to about 50 RPMs, and pop that neck, and throw it down on the ground. And at that moment, it was the most active chicken in the yard, kicking, flapping, but that chicken was dead.

Let me give you another illustration that might be a little more modern that you can relate to. If you see a snake, let me tell you what you need to do. If I say a snake, I'm gonna cut his head off. And when you cut the head off, you know what happens? There's movement. I tell you that snake is gonna be more active than it was before you cut its head off. The head has been severed from the body, but yet there's a lot of activity. Hey, that describes a lot of churches. A lot of activity severed from the head. Jesus is the head of the church. And so I'm saying your activity is not a sign of life. In fact, this has been said throughout the ages. It's anonymous, so I don't know who to give credit to. The great sin of the Old Testament was the rejection of God the Father. The great sin of the New Testament was the rejection of God the Son, and the great sin of the church today is the rejection of God, the Holy Spirit. And so I want you to understand all across America, churches are dying and closing their doors. Many of them are being bought by Islam, turned into community centers, turned into mosques. I know God has called us as a church, to launch campuses where people are driving in from. I know he has called us to adopt struggling churches so we can reestablish the gospel witness in that community

and make sure it continues on for generous races to come. Can I have an amen? Hey, our church is 126 years old. It's seen a lot of changes. It started in the year 1900. Think about all the pastors. Think about all the staff members. Think about all the different buildings and locations, and even the name of the church has been changed. Oh, but I want to tell you two things that have not changed. The source of life is still the spirit, and the word of God will last forever. It's never going to change. And so we've got to stay committed to the word of God, empowered by the spirit of God. Pastor John up at York River said something to me I didn't even think about. He said the parking team, when our church started, they were parking horses and buggies. True story. Did you know it was 1910 to 1920 before the Model T4 became popular? And so I'm just telling you, there's always been a lot of change out there. When you look at church history, remember a couple of Sundays ago, I put up how each church, it's an individual local church, but also they can represent a different era in church history.

The one we're talking about now at Sardis represents the era of the Protestant Reformation. Why was there a Protestant Reformation? Because the church was dead. It was just going through the motions. And so I'm saying to you that when you look at this, hey, the greatest danger for our church or any church is complacency. Just getting to the place that you got a great reputation, that the church is alive, but Jesus can say it's really dead. That means that revitalization is not a one-time process. You gotta constantly be revitalizing. The church is always in the process of revitalization. I thank God he's given us a new vision. I thank God that he is constantly calling us to revival and to a fresh time of refreshing. Let's talk about it in the book of Acts. And the prayer we better be praying today when the altar call is given is God. Thank you for giving us a vision and don't ever let us be a dead church. Don't ever let us be a dead church. God's not dead, he's alive. The whole story is Jesus conquered death. He rose from the dead. That's our message. So God's got more, everybody say more. More that he wants for our church and more that he wants for us.

Listen, you can't live in the glory days. That's what Sardis was doing. They're living in the glory days of the past. God is the great I am. Not the great I was. What he has for you, not in a rear view mirror. What he has for your life is straight ahead. And I'm telling you, you stay committed to this book and you stay empowered by the spirit of God and the best is yet to come. Put your hands together and praise God. (congregation applauding) Listen, what a church has to decide is are you going to be a yesterday church or a tomorrow church? King Saul was a yesterday man. He was a known and if God, but he lost that anointe and sinned, just like Samson. Do you remember Samson was anointed? And yet they're naughty left him, the Spirit of God departed, and he didn't even know it. Jonah ran from God. Jonah got mad at God. But let me tell you the difference. Listen, because they were willing to repent. God gave Samson another chance, and God gave Jonah another chance. And I'm telling you, if you will say, "God, don't put me on a shelf and be done with me." I repent of my sin and I want to be used of you today and tomorrow believing, listen, that the latter years can be greater than the beginning. If you'll make that your prayer today, God will use you. God will use you. Repentance. And that brings me to the response. Look at the response here, straight from the text. Wake up. That's what some of y'all need to do right now. Putch a person next to you and say, "Wake up." Have you ever had a wake-up call? You know, twice this city Sardis, which was built way up on a hill and was a military fortress. Twice it was overtaken by foreign armies because the watchmen on

the wall was not watching. And I'm telling you, we got to wake up. I got a wake-up call in 2005. Miss Tammy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Just a few weeks later, I got a call from my doctor and he said, "You have liver failure." And I thought, "My soul, we got four kids." God, my wife's under attack. I'm under attack. Somebody's got to live. Hey, man. I mean, and so I got -- it was a wake-up call. I got serious. And so I went and got me a workout partner. And I got somebody that was committed to go to the gym every single morning early when it opened up. And I mean, he was a horse. He was a stud. He was a young guy in our church. His arm was so big, it was bigger than both my legs put together. And so, man, I mean, he immediately said, "We're going to GNC and we're going to get the right vitamins and supplements." And he said, "We're going to go to the gym." And he didn't take me to planet fitness. Nothing against planet fitness. But planet fitness has this slogan, "The no-judgment zone." Oh, no, he took me to world-class gym. And that's where all of the people who were in competition worked out early in the morning. I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Universe. And I walked in and they all staring. Man, I was intimidated. And honestly, I thought he was going to kill me. I mean, we had a back day, shoulder day, arm day, leg day, chest day. I mean, he worked me. And the first thing he made me do in front of all those people staring at me right in the middle was where you do pull-ups. And he said, "Get up there, preacher, and show me how many you can do." It was embarrassing. I hung there between heaven and earth. And he said, "Preacher, show me what you got." I said, "This is it." He said, "Give me your foot." And so he said, "Put one foot behind your ankle." And he took my foot and put it on his knee. And he would help me. And he did that every Monday morning. You milliated me to death until I got to where I could do those pull-ups. And I'm telling you, he would look at me and he'd say, "Come on, just, we'd be bench-pressing." He said, "Come on, just one more. Just one more." He lied. He said, "Just one more." I'd do one more. He said, "Come on, you got two more in you." I'd do two more. He said, "Come on, one more final one." I'd do one more. I'm just telling you. Over time, watch this. I was strengthened. I got stronger. And so my wake-up call helped me get stronger. I was in the best shape I was ever in in my life. Isn't that the truth, honey? Now, the problem is she'd just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and she looked at me and she said, "You're just getting ready for your new wife." True story in the baby. Yeah. But no, I was a liver failure. I'm just going to die.

She's going to die. Somebody hadn't stayed alive. And so it strengthened me. And I tell you that story, not to be funny. I tell you that story because it didn't matter how much weight I was lifting, the weight did not decrease, but I'm telling you my strength increased. He made me better. He made me stronger. And I'm looking at you right now saying, that's the importance of the local church. That's the importance of getting in a group. That's the importance of having Christian family and friends that you're closer to than your own blood kin because they make a stronger. And we need one another in the body of Christ, amen? (congregation applauding) Hey, he says here, "I've not found your works complete." See, dying churches think, well, if we just add something else to the calendar, if we just add a few more works, few more programs, few more activities, no, that's not gonna bring life, it's gonna bring death. No, you don't need more works. You gotta remember, everybody say remember. You gotta remember where God brought you from. Why are we gonna have a documentary on the history of this church? Not because we were to live in the past, but we were to remember where God brought us from. It's important that you do that. And I'm saying to a lot of couples out there today,

you need to remember, spend a long time since you said I do. You gotta remember how you got together in the first place and how he proposed or she proposed, amen? I have her work. And you gotta remember what attracted you to each other. I mean, you didn't look at that person and say, that person drives me crazy. That person makes me the most miserable I have ever been in my life. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with her. I just wanna say I do, amen, no. You actually were attracted to one another at one time. Hey, remember, remember. And then right here, remember what you've received and heard. You know what we've received from God? Grace, forgiveness, mercy, love. He gave us another chance. And then you gotta repent, repent. It's a forgotten word of the gospel. Repent means, not I'm just sorry that I got called and sin or I'm sorry for my sin. No, it means that you have a change of mind, a change of direction. You stop following the world and you start following Jesus. All right, you repent. And he says, if you don't wake up, I'm gonna come like a thief and you will not know of what hour I will come against you. Now, he's really not talking about the second coming here, but I wanna apply it that way.

Whether you live to see the second coming or he delays his coming in your lifetime, either way he's coming or you're going. And some of you are not ready to meet God. And so I wanna ask you today to respond the right way. We've been talking about the Holy Spirit brings life. You know something else about the Holy Spirit? He brings conviction. And he's not convicting you to hold you back. He's convicting you so you can go forward, so you can receive God's best. And so I want you to listen to the Holy Spirit, repent today. Just like the doctor said, hey, you're in liver failure. You gotta change some things about your life. Jesus, as the great physician is saying to you today, you gotta change some things about your spiritual life. And if you do, it's gonna be worth it. There's gonna be reward. That's my last point. Reward, look at this. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not spooled their garments, and they will walk with me and white, for they are worthy. He says here, not everybody at Sardis is dead. There's a remnant. There's a few, thank God for the fateful few. Last Sunday I was over at Fairview Heights.

They launched with almost 600 people. Now they started, remember it was about 50 that voted to join and be part of Liberty. And I'm just saying, hey, those 50 were the fateful few. And now God's made it many. And he's made us one family. Just like I said, that spider, that person who came along and helped me, made me better. The Bible says two are better than one. And even two churches can come alongside each other, partner together and do more for the gospel and advancing the kingdom than they can by themselves. Thank God for the fateful few. In fact, let me say this. I believe it's Mark's gospel, where it says Jesus went to many cities and towns where he could do no mighty work, but he healed a few. You wanna be one of the few. And no matter what anybody else gets out of this sermon today, you be one of the few that you say, I have heard from God and it's changed my life. And listen, he says, what, sold their garments." I told you they were known for their garments and known for their wool. And they would stain it certain colors. They understood what soil meant, it meant to stain it. You know, I told the first service. I don't know if it's the age or season of life I'm in.

Everywhere we go, I have to eat. I get it to go, usually on my shirt. I mean, it's just crazy. It's like I stain my shirt. That's the soil my shirt. It's awful. But let me tell you, it doesn't matter where you've been, what you've done, how much sin has stained and sold your life. Look at me. Look at me. You know, Washington, why this snow? And just like you get on a tux or you get on a nice dress or gown ladies to go out somewhere special, we're going to the married supper of the lamb. And he's going to dress us in a white robe. Oh, so much in Revelation. It talks about, I'll robe you in righteousness. And so it's a white robe. It talks about the, he's coming back on a white cloud. He's coming back on a white horse. Listen, the throne is called the great white throne. I'm just telling you, we've got something special that God will make us like himself. He'll purifies to bring all of your mistakes and your mess ups and all your sin to Jesus today and let him wash your whitest style. Well, it says, if you'll do that, also he'll never blot. Never blot your name out of the book of life. Now, that's an incredible promise. And it says here he'll never blot it out.

Many scholars believe that because kings in that day had every citizen written in a book. And when they died, when they passed away, they would blot their name out or struck their name off. That what he's saying here is this. Every person who has ever lived is in the book of life. And if those who reject Jesus die, their name is blotted out. What will get your name blotted out rejecting Jesus? But all those who receive Jesus, you'll never be blotted out because what you have left is the Lamb's book of life, amen. And so I was talking about the Word and the Spirit. So let me apply it there for a moment. I find it interesting in ironic that those who lean strong toward the Spirit believe you can lose your salvation. And yet those who lean strong toward the Word believe in eternal security. Once saved, always saved. But let me tell you, let me explain that to you. The real issue is once saved. Listen, eternal security and once saved, always saved. That means you can just pray a prayer, live any way you want to and go to heaven. No. No, if you once been saved, your life's going to be changed. And even if you drift away, you're going to come back because he won't let you go. Not a matter of you holding on to God. He's holding on to you. But those who hold to the Word and believe in eternal security

so strongly, forget that it is the Spirit who seals us to the day of redemption. You don't have any security apart from the Holy Spirit. He seals us. He seals the deal. I love this illustration. If you've been here in the last 20 years, you've heard me tell it. My mentor, Sam Cathy, got it from a pastor-free in an African American pastor up in Michigan. He said, when you get saved, God covers you with the blood of Jesus. Put you in the hand of Jesus and shut it up real tight. Then he takes that hand, puts it in the hand of God to Father, and he shuts it up real tight. And the Holy Spirit seals the deal. And for the devil to ever get to you or you lose your salvation, the devil would have to unseal, unwrap the Holy Spirit. They had to probe in the hand of God the Father. And if you ever did that, he still had to open the hand of God the Son. And if you ever did that, he'd still have to come through the blood. And if the devil ever comes under the blood, he'd be a saved devil. Amen. [APPLAUSE] And so I'm saying to you today, listen, the Bible says, for those who have come to Jesus

and received his forgiveness, your name's never going to be blotted out. But the same Bible-- and this is mentioned. The book of life is mentioned seven times in the book of Revelation. Twice, it says it was written before the foundational world. And then it says, if you trust God, you're never going to be blotted out. But it says, those who reject Jesus, those whose names are not found in the book. I'm just saying, you want to make sure your name is written in heaven? Isn't that what Jesus said? Don't rejoice that demons are subject to you. No, you rejoice that your name is written in heaven. And so today, make sure you leave knowing that your name is in heaven, that you have assurance you've accepted God's gift to salvation. We are all born, every one of us, dead in trespasses and sin, the Bible says. But the same book and Ephesians says this, but because of his great love, because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ. Even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved. And anybody leave church today, still dead in your sins. No, I'm telling you, you need to leave church alive in Christ. Look at what he offers you. He loves you. He offers you mercy. He offers you grace. He wants to bring you from death to life. And as we approach the altar, in fact, I'm just going to ask you to stay in, not to leave, but at every campus, I want you to stand to get ready to come to the altar. Because I really believe coming to the altar today at all of our campuses, and if you're

watching online, make this that very place where you are, an altar of prayer, we need to remember our God is alive, and he brings dead things to life. What do you come to the altar praying for? Praying for friends and family workers, co-workers, acquaintances who are dead in their sin and far from God, praying they'll wake up, that they'll find new life in Christ. What do you come praying for? Praying for friends is dead in your life. Praying for dead marriages to come back to life. Praying for dead businesses to come back to life. You pray for whatever it is dead. I don't know if it's a relationship, I don't know if it's a dream, I don't know what it is in your life, but you bring it to the living God and let him breathe on it. I think about that Baptist church where I grew up, even though we were committed to the Word and they preached the Word so well, we're still saying hymns like this about the Spirit. Breathe on me, breathe on me, Holy Spirit, breathe on me. We sing brethren, we've met to worship and we sing these words, all is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down. I want to ask you today to prepare to come to the altar and just bow with me right now. Don't leave church without knowing that you have a relationship with God without having a shirt so when you die heaven is going to be your home. Just pray in your heart something like this, God I know I'm dead in my sin. I cannot save myself, forgive me for going my own way and rebelling against you. I repent of my sin. I turn my life over to you, Jesus I believe you died on the cross and rose from the dead to save my soul. I give you my everything and I ask you to fill me with the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name and everyone say amen. Amen. Whether you're right here in the room or watching online, we would love to know if you took that step.

But today you said yes to Jesus. You can always text us yes at 40371. It's our way of connecting with you and of being able to follow up, Pastor said it earlier, but this isn't about one prayer. It's about making this the pursuit of your life and so if you pray just now we want to come alongside you. We want to help you on your journey as you follow Jesus. We want to see you become a fully devoted disciple of the Lord. And my prayer is that today you wouldn't just take the step of saying yes, but you would be prepared to follow in obedience after the Lord and it would be such an honor to be able to partner with you as you take those steps toward Him. All throughout this room I don't know what God's been speaking to you. But I know that the most important thing is that we respond no matter how timely or good the word is our response is what brings it to fruition in our own lives. And over these past few weeks especially I've been praying over our campus that God would give us not just the faith to hear, but the willingness to obey and respond. So like we normally do I want to invite our staff and our prayer team down front. The worship team is going to come. going to sing together and my prayer for you is that you would not leave The altar's open. And I pray that you feel the freedom to come and to pray and to get right. To ask God to move in miraculous ways like only He can, you need a breakthrough in your life, in your home, in your family, you need a miracle. I'm telling you God's here and He's willing and He's waiting to meet you right where you are. I wanna pray and then we'll all respond together. Holy Spirit, would you come? God, we're asking that you would do what only you can do

for your namesake and your glory. I pray that now you would take the word and plan it deep within our hearts. I pray that you would not allow the enemy to steal away the seed that's been spoken. I pray that it'll take root and it will grow up in us to maturity for your namesake and your glory. I pray that you give people courage to step out in faith. I pray even now that those burdened with circumstances that are beyond them, that those struggling in their life to find hope would come and find you at their point of need. God, I pray that you would do miracles right now among us. I pray that you would open the eyes of the blind, that you would bring lost sons and daughters back to you. I pray you'd bring the wayward children home today. God, I pray that you would restore relationships. In our church, God, I pray we would be unified for your namesake and your glory. God, I'm asking that you would heal people and heal her completely. We need you. We're desperate for you. And so will you come and meet us right now as we respond to you in Jesus' holy, precious name we pray. Amen. The altars open. Let's worship and respond together. (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Open the eyes of my heart ♪

♪ Open the eyes of my heart ♪ ♪ I want to see ♪ ♪ Open the eyes of my heart ♪ ♪ I want to see ♪ ♪ Would you open the eyes of my heart ♪ ♪ Open the eyes of my heart ♪ ♪ I want to see ♪ ♪ Open the eyes of my heart ♪ ♪ I want to see ♪ ♪ To see if I'm lifted up ♪ ♪ He's shining in the light of your glory ♪ ♪ For out your power is on ♪ ♪ That is me singing ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ To see you ♪ ♪ I am lifted up ♪ ♪ He's shining in the light of your glory ♪ ♪ But you pour out your power in love ♪ ♪ Let us be safe ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We stay holy, holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ It's holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ You are Your holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Oh, I want to see You ♪ ♪ 'Cause You are holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ You are holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ It's not what You are ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see You ♪ ♪ I want to see You ♪

♪ Holy Holy Holy, Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Holy Holy Holy, Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Holy Holy Holy, Holy Holy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ All the leaders, still the right ♪ ♪ Holy Holy Holy, Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Holy Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ You are Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ Still the Lord, Holy Holy Holy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪

♪ Jesus be with me ♪ ♪ I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I want to see you ♪ - I'm telling you, there's been such a sweet spirit. - We've been all there. - Thank you so much for joining us. We continue on this journey letters to the seven churches, such a powerful message today. Hey, if you made a decision to believe and follow Jesus for the very first time, let me be the first one to tell you. Congratulations, that's the best decision that you will ever make. And we as your online family want to come alongside you on this journey, and we want to equip you in your new walk of faith. We actually want to send you a Bible. So scan this QR code text button, right? Bible in one of those boxes, and we're gonna send you a Bible straight to you because, hey, this is your new playbook for life. This is how the Lord is gonna speak to you each and every morning as you dive into his words. And I just want to remind you of this verse in scripture in Romans chapter six, it says, for we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should be no longer be slaves to sin,

because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. And then it goes on to say how we are now alive in Christ. You are now alive in Christ Jesus, and he is over your life and wants to do incredible things in and through you. So, hey, scan this QR code, write Bible, let us in your free Bible, and join us back here each and every Sunday so you can continue to grow in your faith, and we can come alongside you on this journey. Liberty, we love you, and we'll see you right back here next Sunday. ♪ Even the night is light to you ♪ ♪ Even in the night ♪ ♪ Even the night is light to you ♪ ♪ Even in the night ♪ ♪ Even the night is light to you ♪ ♪ I know the day is coming ♪ ♪ One night will be normal ♪ What was lost will be restored The sun who reigns for death Won't burn the night away The day will have no waiting The morning is saved [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] ♪ I've got a reason, a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, a reason to pray ♪ ♪ A reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, a reason to pray ♪ ♪ A reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪

♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to pray ♪ ♪ When you're me ♪ ♪ I don't need anything else ♪ ♪ When you're me ♪ ♪ ♪ When you're me ♪ ♪ Don't wanna be anywhere else ♪ ♪ Anywhere else but here, right here, here, right here, right here. I want to say but everywhere you speak, I want to capture everything you're doing. Open my eyes so I can see you clear, see right here, see right here. When you're near, I don't need anything else. When you're here, don't I need anywhere else, no, no. Anywhere else but here, right here. There's nowhere else I give on my attention, cause nowhere else has total satisfaction, nothing else is said.