The Holy Way

>> Thank you so much for joining us today. My name is Tim Powell and I have the privilege and the honor of being the campus pastor at our new life church, Greenbriar campus. We are a non-denominational church located in the state of Arkansas with 19 about to be 20 campuses across the state. Our heart behind partnering with Pando through God Behind Bars is to allow your family an opportunity to connect to biblical community so that they can be growing in their walk with Christ at the same time that you were growing. So if you do have family in Arkansas, encourage them to check out newlifechurch.tv to find a campus that fits them. Thank you so much for being here. Now let's listen in to today's message. [ Music ] >> So new life church, do me a favor and welcome everyone that is listening in this morning with God Behind Bars. Can we give them a Greenbriar welcome? [ Applause ] It's an honor to have you guys with us. Thank you so much for joining us today. This weekend we are kicking off a new series on vision. So every year about this time we take a few weeks, we carve it out and we focus on what it is that God is calling us to do as we move forward. Now I want to let you know that any given weekend we have 19 soon to be 20 campuses and any given weekend, if the Holy Spirit leads a campus to teach in a particular area or a particular scripture or a different direction, then we have the freedom to do that.

We're led by the Holy Spirit but we are united as a church. Well I can tell you that these next three weeks we are completely and totally aligned across the state of Arkansas. And this isn't something that we just pulled out of the air. I was thinking in between services. We've come together with all of the pastors from around the state at least three times in prayer and fasting and seeking God's direction for where he's calling us as a church. Our elders have been in prayer. Our executive team has been in prayer. The campus pastors have been in prayer. We as a matter of fact, our region met right here to do the exact same thing, to spend time in worship and to seek the Lord's direction and to give us clarity of what this is supposed to look like as we move forward. I love the unity of our church. We operate differently than, I guess, any multi-site church. We are led by the Holy Spirit of what we are teaching but we have unity in the fact that we come together and we write collaboratively sometimes. We pray together, we seek God's direction. And when you have confirmation that this is the way the Lord is calling us, when you get in a room with 20 or 30 other pastors that have the same heart for their community as I have for hours and you hear how the Holy Spirit is speaking to them and it's in line perfectly with what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. You know that's from God. That's not something that's just been made up because it's a cool slogan. It's something that the Lord is calling us to. We have been, I believe, receiving clear direction and vision

from the Holy Spirit for our church for all 25 years we've been up church. The last three years, though, have been very unique. We have been aligned over the last three years across the state in ways that only God can align us with our leadership, with our vision, with where we're going. Well, why is vision so important? Well, I'll tell you why it's important because Proverbs 29, 18 tells us, it reminds us that where there is no vision, the people perish. So we know that vision is important to God and we need to make sure that we have clear vision as we move forward. We are only given a set amount of time in our life. The time that we are given is short. For some, it's shorter than others. I taught a message many years ago on the dash. We each have a born on date and an expiration date in our life. Each one of us, each one of us are going to die. Glad I could encourage you this morning, on Sunday. But unless Jesus comes back first, but the reality is, is we only have a set amount of time in between those two dates with what we're going to do with that time. And we are called by God to steward that time. Well, it's important that we as a church, we're not wasting the time that God has given us to steward. Would you agree with that? Let's take vacation, for example. How many of you, when you go on vacation, you want to pack in as much as you possibly can? Like you want to see as many sites as you possibly, I'm the only one. OK, well, OK, three of you. Well, when I go on vacation, when I get to a place that I've never been or I've never visited,

man, I want to see as many places and do as much as I possibly can. It drives my wife crazy. She says, you exhaust me on vacation. I need to vacation from vacation. Some of you probably know what that looks like. Well, we believe that God is calling us to steward the time that He's given us. Well, why? Everybody say, be careful. Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. The days that we live in are evil. This year the Lord is making our opportunity very clear of what we're called to do. Two years ago, it was becoming fully devoted. We knew that, and it's the reason we exist as a church. New life church exists to see our friends and our family become fully devoted followers of Christ. That's why we're here. We don't come together because it's a cool thing to do on Sunday to have an event. We come together, it should be like halftime in a football game. Maybe not the razor box halftime. (audience laughing) We won't go there, but it should be a moment where we come together, we make some adjustments, and then we get back in the game. God never called us to come in here and just be consumers and just be discipled.

No, He called us to come together, to be discipled, and then to go out and disciple others. There is a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives, and that plan and that purpose is unique. The circle that you're in looks different than the circle that I'm in. They may overlap in times, but God has calling us to be good stewards with what time He's given us. This past year has been that it's go time. We know that God is calling us to go from the neighborhoods to the nations. It's something that's big on our heart as a church, and it's something that's big on our heart as a campus. You know our heart for global missions and local missions. It's important. We have been called to go out and share the hope and the love of Jesus. There's a hope that can be found in a relationship with Christ that you can't find in anywhere else. And that's what we wanna talk about today. But let me ask you this. Have you ever been on a road before where it felt like you were going nowhere? Like you're working really hard, and it seems like you're just never arriving at the place that you hoped you would be. It's like, did I take a wrong turn? Did I take the wrong exit? Have I found myself on a dead-end road?

Is this ever gonna lead to somewhere? Am I ever gonna see the destination that I set out on? Am I ever gonna see the fruit of the labor? Well, the people that Isaiah is speaking to knew exactly what this felt like. They'd experienced judgment, they'd experienced loss, even exile. But God gives them a path to something much different. And I believe this is the path that God's calling us to get on. In Isaiah 35, verses eight through 10, he says in a highway will be there. It will be called the way of holiness. It will be for those who walk on that way. The unclean will not journey on it. Wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there nor any ravenous beast. They will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there. And those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them. And sorrow and sighing will flee away. How many of you want to end up on that road? I know I do. That's the reason that we're here. But when God makes a way, the destination does not lead to destruction.

When God makes a way, it leads to redemption. And it leads to freedom. And it leads to joy. And it leads ultimately to happiness that you cannot find in this world any other way. But it says a highway will be there and it will be called the way of holiness. The way I believe God is calling us to go as a church is the holy way. I believe God's calling us to live a life set apart from the world. There you go, well, that's a simple slogan. It sounds simple, doesn't it? But sometimes it can be very difficult to stay on. Sometimes the path to holiness when you know the truth and you know where God's calling you can be very difficult to stay on because of the distractions in this world. I mentioned this the last service, but we live in a very dark time. What are you talking about? I've gotten to the place that I don't even want my grandkids watching a football game because of the commercials. I mean, when I was a kid watching sports on TV, if they played the commercials, we would have blushed. But it's almost as if we're becoming so normal, it's seeing as becoming so normalized that we've just allowed it to be part of our own life. I believe God's calling us to wake up every day

and to choose a life set apart from the rest of the world. When making big decisions, when raising our children, when leading a business, when walking into school or on the football field, I believe God's calling us to do so in such a way that is holy. Well, why does that look like? How is that even possible? Well, I believe God's word gives us very clear direction on that. In John 14, 6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Church, he is not just a way, he is the only way. There is no other way. But there's a lot of distractions in this world that try to take our attention off of the Lord, isn't there? I think you would agree with that. But this is important. I know we have a lot of people here who are following the Lord. And I'm so thankful for that. As a matter of fact, if we were to do a survey and I had everyone that considered themselves to be a Christian to raise their hand, the majority of this room would raise their hand and self-identify as a Christian. And so the question I want you to process today, I believe, is whether or not you're a follower of Jesus, but rather are you following him in a way that is holy? How does your life become more of a reflection

of this world than it does of God's word? Because I believe that he is calling us to live a life worthy of his death. There you go. Well, Pastor, I make mistakes. So do I. There's not a person in this room that is without sin. And let me be very clear. I don't stand up here and talk about holiness because I think I'm holier than that. I don't stand up here and talk about the importance of holiness because I've never sinned as a Christian. I don't stand up here and challenge you to live a life set apart from the world because I've never lived in the world because I have. I stand up here and I teach on holiness because I've seen the consequences of sin and what happens on the backside of it. And if you know my heart, if you've been around here any amount of time, you know the heart that I passed her from. And I love you guys. And I don't wanna see you on a highway that leads to death and destruction. I wanna see you on a path of holiness that leads to life and joy. Are y'all with me this morning? If anyone knew about the importance of being set apart and going the holy way, it was God's people in Joshua 3.

You know the Israelites, they'd followed God in the wilderness for 40 years. And now finally, finally they're standing at the bank of the Jordan, getting ready to enter into the Promised Land. But Joshua tells them before you possess the Promised Land, you're gonna have to make some corrections in your heart. You need to make some adjustments. He challenges them. You know Moses was not able to enter into the Promised Land because he disobeyed God, but Joshua, he's up, his turn. But he knows the importance. By the way, I believe that there are a lot of Christians in this room right now that you have been following the Lord for 40 years and you've tasted and seen the blessings of following Christ. I believe that as I look around this room, I know the stories for so many of you. But I still, even if you've been following the Lord for 40 years, I still believe that if there's breath in your lungs, that God still has a plan for you moving forward. So I'm not just speaking to the people that have somehow exited at the wrong exit and turned their back on the Lord. No, no, I believe regardless on what roads you found yourself on, regardless of where you're headed, I believe God has something for each and every one of us. Now I believe that God's calling all of us to get on the same path.

And some of you, you may just need to jump back on the interstate. Some of you, you may have taken the wrong turn and you found yourself at a dead end and your GPS is just setting their spinning. Let me update your GPS. I'm gonna give you the directions to get back on the path that God has called us to live with. standing at the Jordan Rivers. As a matter of fact I was blessed with the opportunity to be baptized in Jordan. I know Ms. Sheeran was as well. My wife and at the time we were there the Jordan was only about a hundred foot wide but this is during flood stage so it wasn't a convenient time to cross into the promised land. God had to show up and make a way. He had to. During flood stage a Jordan can be as wide as a mile. Why? So it wasn't like they picked the most convenient time to make that decision to step into the promises that God has given us. If you're waiting on a convenient time to follow the Lord maybe God's saying it's time for you to step up and get your feet wet because what I have planned for you is far greater than what you will ever understand. Some of you in this room right now God has a promise that he's given you. Maybe you haven't seen it come to light yet. Maybe you haven't received that job promotion that you've been praying for and that you believe you deserve. Maybe you haven't found that spouse that you've been praying for. Maybe your spouse isn't coming to church with you yet. Maybe you fill in the blank. Maybe you haven't stepped into that promised land. Well it may just be that God is telling you this is the point. Today I want you to take care of some things. I want you to make the decision that you're going to live a life set part. There's some holiness that I don't need you to address before I fulfill the promise that I've given you for tomorrow and I believe as a church that's exactly what God's calling us to. If you have been around here any amount of time you cannot deny that the Lord is doing something. You cannot. We've witnessed miracles in this room we've witnessed oh my goodness we've witnessed so much growth. You people are having to come set on the front row with me. Let's heart somebody came up here I said you know you get on the front row I'll make you get on stage and talk. She's like really? No thank you for being here. My name is Tim. That's probably not the way I should introduce myself. I learned I told you I make mistakes all

the time but I believe that God is doing something special in our church but I believe for us to be prepared for what he is calling us to do tomorrow there's some things that we need to take care of today. Maybe there's some freedom that you need to find. I had the privilege of stepping in during our sisterhood event this past week and I saw so many of you in this room these two sections were filled with ladies. They're wanting to draw closer to the Lord and you made the decision to lay a lot of things down at this altar. Well what was that? I'll tell you what that was that was the path to holiness that was choosing the holy way that was choosing to to live a life of freedom because it's for freedom that Christ set us free it wasn't for bondage, distraction, distortion but I believe God's calling each one of us to make some corrections. First thing we have to do is do an honest evaluation is the life that I'm living today truly a reflection of God's love in my life. Do people see me and want to know about Jesus? Well you're the only one that could answer that but I believe he's calling us tomorrow. Joshua 3 5, Joshua told the people consecrate yourselves. For tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. This is big on my heart right now. God was about to do some amazing things before the Israelites but before God does any of these things he says consecrate yourselves first, consecrate yourselves. Another word for consecrate is to make holy and go well that's just a Christianese word no it's not. No we need to understand what living a life set apart from the world looks like. Now does it mean that we're going to reach holiness in our lifetime? No but it does mean that every step we take in this life should be growing closer to becoming holy. Are y'all with me on that? So is it because we're not going to reach completeness does that mean that we just give up? No we strive every day to draw closer to the Lord. It's like anything else that we desire. I mean I desire to be in good shape but I really dislike doing burpees. I usually when they say we're doing burpees I usually use a restroom or something. I just go in there and mess around for a few minutes. It's like anything that we want to achieve in life. We desire financial security, don't we? Well, oftentimes our wants are greater than our disciplines. You're like, God, I want you to bless my finances. God's like, are you stewarding your finances? Well, are you putting me at the head of your finances? Or is every time you have a new want take priority on the discipline of getting to a place where you can bless others instead of just blessing yourself? I believe God's calling us to get a hold of this. We all desire healthy relationships, but not everyone desires to be the first one to apologize. Listen, if you have a relationship that is worth having sooner or later,

somebody is going to say something or do something to hurt your feelings. And the world's way says, write them off. Beat on with them. Now, there's some relationships that maybe you need to distance yourself from, because they're not encouraging you to get on the holy way. They're encouraging you to take the way away from holiness. But if you have people that love you and care about you, sooner or later, the spirit of offense is going to move in and the enemy is going to try to use it to destroy it. So it's as we desire relationships, as we desire security in our finances, as we desire the things that God has promised us, we have to do a true evaluation and ask ourselves the hard questions. Am I doing everything that I can to live a life the way that God's designed me to live it? Now, most of us in this room would say no. You know, bear Bryant made a statement says everybody has the will to win, but very few have the will to practice. Practice. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to see God's spirit pour out on this church. How would love to have so many baptisms that we have to just keep filling the baptism? Wouldn't that be cool? Like we don't even hear from Pastor Tim today because we've got 50 baptisms. Well, we can't even, we can't even start service because the altars fill with people, find in freedom and in prayer. You walk through the door and the presence of God is so tangible that all you can do is hit your face. That's what I desire. That's the church I desire. I don't want to be a place that you're entertained. I'm not here for your entertainment. I want to be a place that when the world's falling apart and you've tried everything else that you can come through these doors and you can get on your face before the Lord and you know that God's going to meet you there. Well, I guess my question really is, is are we expecting God to make the first move? You go, well, he should. Okay. He made the first move on the cross. Let me put it this way. Let's just say a farmer never plows his field, never plants the seed and then blames God because nothing is produced. Is it God's fault that nothing was produced or the farmer's fault because he didn't plow the field and plant the seed? Well, I think we can all agree with that. Well, maybe God's calling us to plow this crown and to plant the seeds and prepare our own prepare. That's a new word. I'm not sure where that came from. You guys remember the old computers that they used to just like my brain was defragging there for a second. Okay, now we can move on. The internet must be slow today. I should tell the brains just not working this fast. This is my third service. Y'all give me some grace. Let's stop fooling ourselves in believing that God's going to

pour his spirit down on his church if we're not preparing ourselves to receive it. Now, there's something that I need to hit on. I believe it's important. There was a pastor that said one time, the most dangerous topic to teach on is holiness. The most dangerous topic is holiness. And the reason being is because when you begin to teach on holiness, it can get to this place where you almost allow a religious spirit to rise up. And you start thinking, well, okay, well, if I can do this, if I can serve more, if I can give more, if I can be there more, if I'll show up to church more, if I'll pray more, if I'll do this, and the more I do, the more God will love me. Can I just tell you right now? That is a lie. We don't serve to make God love us more. and we're thankful for all these done for us. We don't do it to get something in return. I am not a prosperity preacher. If you want somebody to tell you you do this and you'll make more money, you're at the wrong place. I'm not a poverty preacher either. I don't believe that God wants everybody to just be broke, broke, broke. I'm a provision pastor. I believe God provides exactly what we need when we need it. And at times he blesses us. And sometimes he blesses us just to see how we're going to steward that blessing before he blesses us again. I don't have all the answers. Scripture tells us right now we look at things like a puzzle reflection. We don't see things clearly, but when we're face-to-face with Jesus, we'll be able to answer some of these questions that we haven't quite been able to understand and comprehend completely.

But as of right now, we're going to trust that the Lord's calling us to live a life that's set apart from the world. Amen? Good news, bad news. Good news is, this is the second and last service for the day. Bad news is, I'm not stopping when we run out of time because there's not a service after this one. So y'all are stuck with me a little bit longer, amen? The Bible says it this way in Leviticus 1144, says, "I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves, and be holy because I am holy." Why should we be holy because God is holy? If we're called to live a life as the Lord would call us to live and be a reflection of Him, He's calling us to live a life set aside or set apart. Write this down if you're taking notes. He's still leading the way. As the Israelites went the holy way, they witnessed God do some amazing things. But I want you to know that those amazing things that God did in Joshua, He's still doing to this day. He's still leading the way. And Joshua, chapter 3, verse 13 through 16, it says, "And as soon as the priest who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priest carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priest who carry the ark reach the Jordan and their feet touch the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. As soon as the priest's feet touched the water's edge. You know, 40 years earlier Moses, his generation, had come to the Red Sea. And the Bible says that God allowed them to stand still as the Lord made a way. Now I want you to miss this. Some of you, God may be calling you to just stand still and let God be God. But there's others that I believe just as Joshua's generation. It was time to take a step. Some of you are waiting on God to take the next step, and he's calling you to take it. Because if you have been following the Lord any amount of time in your life sooner or later, he's going to tell you to get off the bench and get your feet wet. Yeah, there's a season to stand still and let God be God. But I believe we're in a season as a church that he's calling us to get her feet wet and to take that step. Now Psalm 32 8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go." His Word tells us that, "I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." To me, a loving eye on us is conviction from the Holy Spirit. Condemnation is not a loving eye on us. And if it's condemnation that you feel because you found yourself taking the wrong exit, I speak against that in Jesus' name.

But I do pray for conviction that convicts our heart when we do get away from the life that God's called us to live. I'll tell you something else. He's still tearing down walls. Even after you follow God's instruction, sooner or later, you're going to need a miracle from the Lord. That's just reality. You're going to find yourself in a place where you don't know what to do, where to turn, and how to make it, or how to survive. And you need God to show up. You're going to get a report from a doctor and the doctor's going to say, there's nothing we can do. You need to touch from the Lord. Maybe your marriage has fallen apart. And everybody says that it's over. You're going to need a miracle from the Lord. Maybe your children are away from the Lord. They're following the ways of the world because man, the world says if we do this and if we do that, then we'll be happy. The world tells you that your happiness is based upon your circumstances and the word of God says no. When you find happiness is when you begin to walk the life that I created you to live. And that happiness, well, it's called joy. And the joy the Lord cannot be found anywhere else in anything else, if any accomplishment. The good news is that God's still the same God today as He was in the book of Joshua.

You see, in chapter 5 verse 13, where we pick up, says, "Now when Joshua was near Jericho," you guys know the story, "he looked up and he saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand." Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" You know, can you imagine what Joshua must have felt when he got the response? "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for His servant?" The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so. We want a word from God, don't we? But God says, "I want holiness first. I'm not going to bless your disobedience. I'm going to do it." But look what God is able to do through our obedience. You get to Joshua 6-1, it says, "Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites." No one went out and no one came in. When you get to verse 20, oh my goodness. When the trumpet sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed. So everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. Everybody say the wall collapsed. When problems linger long enough in our life, and we don't do anything about them,

and we try to hide them, keep them to ourselves, eventually those problems become strongholds in our life. Strongholds need a God to break, and our God is the only God that can break the strongholds that the enemy tries to place in your life. I believe God's knocking down some walls right now through this ministry with God behind bars. I believe that. We watched God knock down some walls in our youth conference this year. We had youth walking to the altar and laying razor blades down that they were using to cut and harm themselves. We had students walking up and laying down babes, illegal substances that had a stronghold in their life, and God broke those strongholds. Now when we break those strongholds, does that mean that everything's easy from then on? Does that mean that we don't need people in our life to help hold us accountable? No. God can break the stronghold, and He'll also invite you to get connected to the biblical community and have people in your life that you can be fully transparent with and pick up the phone and go, I'm in a moment of weakness. I need you to pray for me right now. I opened that website, and I was tempted. Pray for me right now. I went to the store, and I almost picked up that bottle of liquor.

Pray for me right now. That pain medication that the doctor prescribed me, I almost turned to it again. Pray for me right now. We need people in our life that love us enough not to leave us when we get weak, and you can find that around here. I have, and you can too. But it may mean that you need to get your feet wet. It may mean that you need to take the step and get out of your comfort zone and get connected. Maybe you need to get connected to a life group. Maybe you need to get connected to a serve team. Maybe it just needs to start with confessing to someone else. The word tells us that when we ask the Lord that He'll forgive us, when we confess to one another, we'll be healed. When that healing begins, when we take that step of really uncomfortable obedience, to ask for those that love us, and that care about us, that's not gossiping about us, but that care about us and love us enough to not leave us where we're at. David wrote in Psalm 97.5, "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord all the earth. The presence of God is like an all-consuming fire. It can melt granite. So there's no problem too big or no wall too high that God can't tear down. There's no chain too strong. and I want you to live a life that is honoring of it. God is the same God today as he was in Joshua 6, and this is the third point, and I'll wrap it up. He's still redeeming our time. Can I just tell you that when I first surrendered to the call of ministry on my life, one of the first things that the enemy tried to tell me was that you wasted too much time?

You're too old. You wasted too much time. Can I just tell you that God can redeem that time? He can make time stand still. You go, "What?" He did it in Joshua 10, verses 12 through 13. He says, "On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, "Son stands still over Chibion, and you moon over the valley of Azulon, so the sun stood still and the moon stopped till the nation avenged itself on its enemies." As it is written in the book of Yeshar, the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. God redeemed their time. Look at Joel, Joel 2, 25, says, "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten." I believe God wants to restore some years that you've wasted, but you've got to take that step to allow him to. Invide him in. Let him be the person that's most important in your life. God's a redeemer of our time. He's still leading the way. He's still tearing down walls, and he's still redeeming our time, and he can do it for you today. You know, the via Dolorosa is the route in which Jesus willingly chose to carry the cross. From where he was sentenced to the hill called Calvary, where he was killed, and Latin it translates to the sorrowful way. So the reason that we can go the whole way, the whole reason that we're even able to get off the path that we're on and to follow him, well, it's because the son of suffering took upon our sorrow so that we could be forgiven. Everything that we do here, everything, is because of the sacrifice that Jesus made. The reason that you're here, the reason that we're able to be forgiven is because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for you and for me. And I don't know where you're at. It may be that you would tell me, TMI, I'm closer to the Lord now than I've ever been in my life. I'm getting up every morning, and I'm making the decision that I'm going to live a holy life as holy as I possibly can. I know I'm going to make mistakes, but I'm going to make the decision every day to put one foot in front of the other, and I'm going to keep Christ the most important person in my life. There's some strongholds, or maybe there's some areas in my life that I'm working on, but I've got people helping me and supporting me and holding me accountable. Or it may be that you're still in park, and you've never made that decision to invite Jesus into your life and be forgiven of your sins. I don't know where you're at. Some of you

may be here, and maybe you've just drifted a little off course. Maybe you just took the wrong accident, and you can jump right back on. I don't know where you're at, and it's not for me to know, but God knows, and you know, but he's also calling us to make the decision today to prepare ourself, prepare our heart, prepare our life for what he has for us tomorrow. I'm going to ask you to buy your heads. If you're in this room, and you've never made the decision to invite Jesus into your life to be forgiven of your sins, I want to give you that opportunity right now. If you're listening in right where you're at, you see, God is not limited by bars or walls or proximity. Now right where you're at, he can meet you as well. So if you're here today, and you've never made that decision, or you're listening to the sound of my voice, but you know that today is the day, just as the word says, you believe in your heart, and you confess with your mouth that you will be saved. And you say, you know what, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that He was crucified on the cross for my sins. I believe that He was buried, and three days later He rose again, and I believe today He's setting at the right hand of the Father. And I believe that the blood He shed for me was enough to cover the sins that I have created, and I have done. If that's you and you're in this room or you're listening, I just want you to slip your hand up. Anybody Amen. The next question I have for you is very simple. As I've been sharing his word with you, has there been anyone in here that the Holy Spirit has said, you know what, you're a few degrees off course. And it's time for you to make some adjustments and make some corrections. Maybe some things that you need to eliminate from your life and maybe some things that you need to replace in your life. If that's you and you're in this room and you just say, God, yes, I've drifted off, but I'm ready to get back on track. Raise your hand, I wanna pray for you all over this room.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. All over. Father, I thank you so much for the obedience and the courage that it took for each person that raised their hand today. God, if there's anyone that doesn't know you as their Lord and Savior, I just pray that they come to you right now and they say, Jesus, forgive me of my sins. The ones that I have committed, the ones that I remember and the ones that I have forgotten all about. Father, I want you to wash me as white as snow. I confess today and I receive your forgiveness. Father, for every person that's here that's drifted off course, holy spirit, I'm just asking that you reveal to them the next step that they need to take to draw near to you as they move forward and as we lean into the life that you've called us and created us to live. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said, amen, can we give God some praise in this place? (audience clapping) You You