The Wait And The Walk | Jon Laurenzo

I love you. Good morning. Are you doing well today? Good, it's good to see you, man. You can be seated in here. I'll make you stand again in a second. So we're gonna do some aerobics this morning, get our blood flowing. It's good to see you today. My name is John, and it was an honor to be at Youth Conference. Isn't it amazing what God's doing in young people's lives in this church and this generation? I'm thankful for churches that believe in young people, that believe in the next generation and right away when I walked in, I was like, oh, this church is like family to me. I do come from California, but whatever part of California you think it is, is not what you think, okay? I know we're the ones that are buying your houses and driving up all the prices and stuff like that, but I live in a place called Vacaville, which if you don't speak Spanish, it literally means cow town. So that's where we live, and we're blessed to be part of a church called The Father's House, and it is family. Pastor Dave and Donna send their love today.

And also, I wanna honor your pastors. Are you thankful first for Pastor Tyrone in Virginia? Do you love them? I don't know if they're watching online, but I said it last night. When I was a young man, I used to really look up to preachers that were charismatic and all these different types of leaders, and the longer I go in life, I just look up to men and women that have built amazing churches, that kids respect them, that have been faithfully responding to the call of God, and you have some amazing pastors. When I ran into him a couple weeks ago at our church conference, he put a hand on my shoulder and was like, son, I'm excited for you to come. I'm like, dad, are you my dad too? I don't know. This is, but I love them. And are you thankful also for Pastor Tyrone and Karina? Do you love them? They're amazing. And I do wanna show a picture of my family. They're not able to be with me today, but I believe we have a picture. That is my wife, Natalie, and then I have three daughters. So you can start interceding for my sanity,

my bank account, all of it right now, all the girl dads know. So that's my wife, Natalie. Our oldest daughter, her name is Ava Noelani. She's my wife's like carbon copy. My second daughter, her name is Nina Lulu, and she's as crazy as she looks in that picture. So you better pray for, I already know what I'm going back to. My wife's been alone with them for two days. So I'm not tired. I'm gonna get to work when I get home. And then we have a baby. His name is Lola Joy, and she's just turned a year old. And so we're blessed. My wife, if you can't tell, she's Chilean and Paraguayan, and I'm Italian and Japanese. So my kids are confused. I either say we're gonna raise the most confused children or the most scholarships children on planet earth. I'm checking off every single box on that list, okay? So even if you don't know me, man, I'm like all of you guys, right? I have a cousin that married that white dude, and that's who I am, okay, in the family. So I'm a part of it right now. And it's an honor to be here today at this church. And I wanna preach to you a word

called the weight and the walk. I'm gonna preach out of one chapter of scripture in Genesis 13, out of the life of a man named Abraham. And we get to this part of Genesis. Abram has been introduced to us the chapter before. Abram is one of the most important figures of the Bible. He is the patriarch of both the nation of Israel, of the faith of the Jewish people. But in addition to that, the New Testament will tell us that every family on earth, not just Jewish families, but every family on earth will be blessed through Abraham's life. And in Genesis chapter 12, God speaks to Abram and tells him that he is to leave a land of his father, that he's to leave the land that is comfortable and go to a land that God will show him. Oh, right away, I'm gonna start preaching to you. Isn't it interesting that God tells Abram to go without all of the details? I'm really good at going when God gives me details and God's really good at saying, I'm not gonna do that. Abram gets told to go and he says, go to a land that I will show you. So he settles in the land of Canaan, which will become the promised land. Here's a brief stint down in Egypt. And then in Genesis chapter 13, which will be our primary text today, we are going to read together. So if you would stand one more time over,

read the preaching of God's word today. We're gonna read seven verses to begin. It says, so Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had and lot with him into the Negev. Now, Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. That's gonna be really important for where we go today. When Abram returns to the land from Egypt. He doesn't go to where it's easiest. He doesn't go to where it's most beautiful. He doesn't go to where it's most fertile. He says he goes back to the place that God spoke to him the first time. What an idea that when a transition comes in our lives, the place that you ought to go back to is where you heard God's voice the clearest. We continue on and it says, and Lot his nephew went with Abram. He also had flocks and herds and tents. So the land could not support both of them dwelling together for their possessions were so great they could not dwell together. And it says there was strife

between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. And at that time, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. See the tension of this text is offered to us in these verses that these two men that God has blessed and made wealthy are shepherds, they're agriculture people. And it's actually just a literal problem. It says that the land cannot support both of them. And then here's what we get in verse eight and nine and then I'll let you sit back down. It says, then Abram said to Lot, let there be no strife between you and me and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen is for we are family, we're kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left. You can be seated here this morning. I wanna talk to you for a moment for the time that we have together about vision and about knowing the will of God for your life. As I've been in pastoral ministry now for close to 15 years, which I know is not as long as some, but it's long enough to notice some recurring patterns. And I would say that one of the most crucial and important questions that people will set up meetings with me about or will come to the altar is they're asking for God's direction for their life. And I'll just tell you where I'm headed today.

I believe that in Genesis 13, we are offered two types of decision-making. We are offered decision-making that comes from the spirit, being a man or woman of the spirit, and decision-making that comes from being a person of the flesh. And I believe today that at CTC, here on a Sunday morning in February, God has called every single one of us to be people that make decisions from the spirit. Amen. So why don't we pray together? Jesus, we thank you, Lord, that your word is alive and well. God, we thank that your spirit is in this room. And if both of those things are true, God, then we can believe for an on-time, in-season word today. God, we didn't come to sing songs or just to have fun times. God, we came to hear from you. So would you speak to us in your name, Jesus? Amen. Amen. I've just learned in life, we're not as good at making decisions as we like to think we are, okay? And especially for the men in this room. Men, we are not as good at making decisions as we think we are, okay? And this begins at a young age.

Like, when we are young, our brains are not actually formed correctly. I've been a long time in youth ministry, and there's actually scientific evidence that the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that is good at making decisions in teenage men of God is not quite formed yet. And so now there's like a scam against you, insurance costs more, because they're like, y'all make dumb decisions with cars. That's why we don't let you, we make you pay more. And I have a lot of stories I could tell, but one of those stories where I learned this lesson came when I was 16 years old. Now, I grew up in a very small town north of Seattle, Washington, like farm town. I had to drive through dairy farms and cornfields to get to school. And it wasn't my favorite place to grow up, but something I learned that I did enjoy about it is that from my school parking lot, you could make it up to the ski resort, one of the best ski resorts in the state of Washington in about 45 minutes. Now, you may ask how I learned this, how fast we could go up there. And it all came from realizing that, hey, we drive now and going snowboarding sounds a lot more fun than going to school, shockingly. Now, to the young people that are in this room,

this is like, I'm not that old, but this is like back when you could get away with a lot. Now, this is before you could track people's phones. This is before the Life360 app and all these different things that the young people in our youth ministry go through now. Back in the day, they wouldn't even send out emails about missing school. The only thing that would happen is that you would get a phone call home and it would say, hey, a student missed one or more periods today. So let's just say you had a younger brother. They got home before your parents got home from work. And as long as you let them know to go delete the voice memo before your parents got home, you were good. And so let's just say this may have become a pattern for me during snowboarding season. And at one point, again, because my brain wasn't fully formed, my friends and I were in the car. are driving up, and we got this idea. We were like, hey, why do we go through the trouble of having someone delete the voicemail? Why don't we just take turns calling the attendance office for each other to call each other out of school? You know, 16 years old, voice cracking. I sound like a dad, totally, right?

So we think we're brilliant. You know, we call each other out of school, and we're like, man, best idea ever. And so we get up to the past, and it's one of those amazing days. If you've ever been skiing or snowboarding, it's a bluebird day. I remember I took a lift called Seventh Heaven up to the top of the mountain, and I am sitting in the snow. I'm strapping on my board. I'm like, man, what a great day. And my phone starts going off, and it's my mom. And my mom, you know, she calls me. She says, hey, where are you? And I go, mom, I just stepped out of class. What are you talking about? She goes, try again. It's never what you wanna hear. I go, well, you know, I might not be in class. Something else might've come up. She goes, yeah, where are you? And I go, I'm on the mountain. I'm about to go snowboarding. She goes, good, you better enjoy it. It's the last time you're gonna leave the house for a while, which is like such brilliant mom tactics. It's like, it ruined the whole day. Like, I did not have a single good run the rest of the day. It's just lingering in the back of my mind,

the wrath of God that is gonna come down from my mother. Of course, I finally give up. I go home. I get grounded. I get my license taken away. All the stuff that goes on. And I think back on those times, and I like to think, you know, after all of these years, I've just gotten so much better. But the reality is, is that you and I stumble towards good decision-making in life sometimes. Now, I wanna give you two caveats to this message to begin with when it comes to hearing the voice of God. The first one is this. God has grace that is sufficient for your and my decision-making. This message is not supposed to cause fear, or anxiety, or worry. I do believe that when there's three elements in your life, the word of God, prayer, and community, they're almost like those bumpers that are at the bowling alley, right? If you got those things in your life, you're gonna bump to the left and to the right, but you're eventually gonna end up at the pins. God's banner of grace is over our decisions. In addition, the second caveat I will give you is you don't need a word from God to stop sinning. Sometimes I'll talk to people, they'll be like,

man, God, what do you think about, you know, this unethical thing I've been doing in business? If you need a word, I just gave you one. Stop doing it. God, do I need a word from you to stop having lunch with my married coworker? If you need one this morning, I just gave it to you. Stop doing it, okay? So with both of those things being our caveats, that God has so much grace for your decision-making, and two, that you do not need a word from God at heaven's open moment to stop operating in sin, what do we do with the reality of our day-to-day life when new jobs open up, when there's new enlistment opportunities to being sent to another base? What do we do when we have to make decisions about where our kids are going to school? What do we do when we're faced with trials, when we lose a job, when there's a death in the family, when all of the reality, the things that make up our lives happen? And I believe that Genesis 13 is gonna lay out a blueprint for some really simple ways that you and I this year in 2026 can make decisions from the Spirit. This contrast is very specifically made between Abraham and his nephew, Lot, and Abraham, like we said before,

he is the patriarch of our faith. However, what's fascinating is the New Testament, it will say about Abraham that he never wavered concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in the faith as he waited on God and gave glory to God. However, when you read Genesis, I'm like, Abraham, you wavered in your faith constantly. Genesis is a whole book about all the times that you wavered in your faith, and I'm gonna read you some encouragement today that God has grace for the times that you waver, that he looks upon your life and will look at you at the end of times as we stand before the judgment seat, and he will look at you through the grace of his sacrifice of his son, Jesus. Abraham wavers all the time, and isn't that true for us? We are the scatterbrained, prone to wandering, people that bump, get nicked, and we stumble our way into the promises of God, ultimately being propelled and motivated and ending up in the place that he would like us to be. So that's all great, but what about today? How do you set yourself up in a way to be a person that makes decisions? from the Spirit. The first way I think is very obviously shown to us in this passage, it's this, you have to go back to Bethel.

Remember what it said in the beginning of this passage, it said that when Abram returned from Egypt, he went back to the place where at first, he had heard God's voice. At first, he had made an altar to the Lord. Now, today you have found yourself at church at 8.30 in the morning. You are a spiritual person. So I'm gonna guess today that you are at least vaguely interested in what God has to say for your life, or at minimum, your girlfriend or your wife is very interested in what God has to say for your life. Think about what it's saying in this passage, that when we are set up to see a man that makes decisions from the Spirit, all of it as a foundation is that it began in the presence of God. That it began in the house of God. That it began being influenced by the wisdom of God. I don't believe it's an accident. What a difficult question to ask, God, what is your will for my life? And what a silly thing that we do, that we have fractured our lives to where there are secular decisions and spiritual decisions in our life. I actually think that we get those things wrong all the time. For some reason, if you are in here and you don't do ministry, you think that your career and your work,

oftentimes when I talk to people, is a secular thing. How silly that is when the first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and to multiply, and then to go into the world and have dominion over it. Now, that word dominion has more to do with cultivating. It has more to do with using the gifts that God had given them in creation to make new things. So how silly would it be if we got up here and said, yeah, because you don't do ministry, because you're retired, hey, this one and a half hours that you're in a week and that you're at pursuit, you're at prayer, and you're at group, that's all that God cares about. And the other 40, 50, 60 hours that you spend, that God, it's somehow secular in your life. That's not what God thinks. I think God cares deeply what you do with your life. God cares deeply what you do with the hours that he gives you on this planet. That's not secular, that's spiritual. And then sometimes I think we over-spiritualize things that God doesn't care about at all. God, what translation of the Bible is the correct one? Like, yes, there's some that are more accurate than others. I know that pastor, I'm sure has taught you on this, but overall, I think God's just happy that you're reading the Bible. God, I need a word.

You need to tell me what team I'm supposed to serve on. They're talking about this mission strip. God, I need a word. Can I tell you, it's just good for your soul to serve people. Like, the worst thing that happens if you join a serve team without a word is that someone who needs some help gets some and you make a friend. And we're like, God, I need open heaven. I need a word. No, I think we get these things backwards. And when decision-making moments come in life, I think that you need to have well-tread-on paths of where you know that you need to go and the people you need to talk to in order to hear God's voice. You need to have Bethels in your life to say, man, God, this decision is coming up and I've got to do that. Years ago, I was preaching in Washington State where I grew up and I didn't have a huge memory that I'd been to this camp, but I'll never forget. I was the young man and one of our youth leaders that was with me were walking over to the sanctuary and I was walking by and I saw this little chapel and I got floored. I was like, man, this is where my intern retreat was when I was 18 years old. And I walked into this chapel

and man, I just felt God's presence in that place. And I was taken back to being 18 years old and sitting in that chapel. And guys, I was a radical 18 year old. I remember going to that altar and saying, God, whatever, if he had told me in that moment to sell everything I had, move to China, move across the world and be a missionary, I would have done it. Now, I also owned like four things, so that would not have been that hard, but I felt in that moment, even in my 30s, the Holy Spirit tugging on my heart and saying, do I still have your yes like that? That's what Bethel is for, to take you back to the place that you heard God's voice in the beginning. And isn't it funny that the older we get and the more we go in life, we mature our way right out of radical faith. Oh, I could have done it when I didn't have respect. Responsibility when I didn't have the kids and the mortgage and the employees that are looking to me and the people in the team I have to manage and the unit I'm in charge of yeah that all sounds good John, but what about me right now? Regardless of age God has called us to radical faith Then when he speaks my response is yes, then when I get a word from the Lord my responses Go do not forget my friends that Abraham is 75 years old when God speaks to him for the first time And he's got to go back to his Bethel and see if God still has his yes for him So then we begin to contrast Abraham a man of the spirit that goes to Bethel with Lot a man of the flesh Thirteen and ten this is what it says and Lot lifted up his eyes. He saw the Jordan Valley

It was well watered everywhere like the Garden of the Lord Like the land of Egypt the direction of Zohar this is before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah Now there's an interesting thing that happens in the Hebrew where it says that Lot Lifts his eyes up and looks to the land, but when we get Abraham's description It says that Abram lifted up his eyes and looked to the Lord So I want you to understand something at face value What Lot is doing is not technically wrong. He is a shepherd so he looks out at a valley and says Oh, there's grass and there's water there in this passage this verse gives us a great breakdown says he looks up The Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere at the Garden of the Lord praise God that sounds awesome But then there's some pretty intense foreshadowing that happens. It's like the land of Egypt. Well, that's not as good Egypt is a place of slavery. Egypt although a fertile place was the place of Israel's slavery and Then if you know the story it says in direction of Zohar, that's a bigger Uh-oh, that is where the biggest worst part of Lot's life happens And then we get the biggest uh-oh of all he says this is before the Lord chose to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah It's hard to put in words How destructive this moment for Lot's life is this decision that he makes Proverb that I learned when I was a young man and committed to memory Proverbs 14 and 12 there is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to his destruction And Lot in this story in Genesis. He is a living example of This proverb so the second thing that we have to do if we are going to make spirit-filled decisions in 2026 is we have to analyze our humanity. I Was reminded of a passage in the gospel of Matthew we don't have time to read it all today But it's the story of Jesus's temptation in the beginning of his ministry Matthew 4 it says that after Jesus's baptism the Spirit of God drives him into the wilderness It says that in the wilderness he is tempted by the devil and scholars will say that these temptation narratives in Matthew chapter 4 Outline the way that human beings are most often tempted First it says he's fasted for 40 days and Jesus is tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread Second it says that he is brought up to a high place And he is tempted with using his power putting God to the test Finally it says he's brought up and in a vision he sees

Every nation on earth and the enemy says hey if you would just bow down to me I would give you control they all these people would worship you see These three areas the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh and the pride of life I think are the most common sinful influences of our decision-making and It's really important in life that you analyze Which of those that you have the propensity towards some of you are like pastor all three of them, okay? But as I look at my life There are certain times when I've looked at decisions that I've made poorly Some of them stick out more than the other lot. I do believe in this passage Operates in all three of them. He looks to the land. He doesn't look to God. It's simply what his eyes see Second we are told there are large cities there that at face value. I'm like probably think I'm gonna be a great man the pride of life begins to be exposed Yeah, Abraham you got a lot of land and God spoke to you, but I could be great, too We had an interesting season after we pastored our youth ministry in Florida I've lived in every corner of the nation every time I tell people everywhere. I've lived at my daughter's school they always assume we're a military family because We're in the Lord's army. That's the worst joke ever, okay? But we were pastoring in New York City, and I had a season where we're operating as lead pastors in Manhattan which was as crazy as you can imagine. It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of craziness too. And I had this moment where, to be really honest, the pride of life had sunk in a little bit. I remember church started growing and I'd been praying for an opportunity and I was getting to preach every Sunday in Manhattan. And man, I'm not gonna lie, I felt like we were doing pretty good. I remember I would get done with services and people who had no business speaking into my life would come up to me and say,

pastor, that was one of the best messages I have ever heard. And before long, I started saying, yes, it was. Thank you. I don't know that I ever actually said that, but there was something happening inside of my heart. So I'll never forget, it was a Sunday morning and I'm up there yelling and preaching my guts out and doing all the things that I do. And I'll never forget my team. I could tell they were trying to get my eye contact like just a little bit. And I was like, yeah, amen, come on, let's go. I didn't even know what was going on. So I get off the stage and some well-meaning person comes up to me and yeah, they say, man, pastor, that was such an amazing sermon. I'm like, yes, thank you. But one of my spiritual team members came up to me and said, hey, pastor, we were trying to get your attention because the whole time when you were up there, you had a name tag on your butt. And they were like, we didn't know if we should put it up on the screen. We didn't know, I was trying to get your attention. Hey, this, this, this, but you just kind of kept going and kept preaching. See, what had happened is that my daughter, her little kid's name tag that she had thought

the best place that thing could go was right here on dad's butt right before he went up to preach. You know, I walked out of that moment and I put a name tag on my Bible. It has since come off because that was years ago. But every time it comes off, I put a new one on. And there's a very specific reason why. Because I need constant reminders in my life of how susceptible I am to the pride of life. Every time I want to get off the stage like this and say, yeah, that's right, John, you're the man. I go, dude, you have a name tag on your butt. I think that the only way that we stop ourselves from the patterns that we live in is to analyze our sin patterns. This seems to be the thing, and not in a condemning way, but this seems to be the thing that I struggle with the most. Seems to be the thing that I'm blinded by the most. And I just have to wonder from this story, if Lot had known that, how different it could have been for him. Like I told you earlier, it would be hard to say in words how destructive this decision was for Lot. The Bible says that from there, Lot went east. That's a big red flag. Anytime in Genesis it says that someone goes east, they go towards their destruction. The first opportunity that we see someone to go east,

it is when Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden and they go east of Eden. This decision alone will lead to the destruction of all of Lot's property, all of his livestock. It will lead to the death of his wife. And in one of the most horrible stories in the Bible, Lot is hiding and living in a cave. And through an incestuous relationship that he has with his children, there are two children that are born. And these children will become the enemies of the nation of Israel for all time. And I'm not here to scare you. I'm not here to freak you out. But what I do believe Genesis 13 offers us an example of is that the fruit of decisions made from the flesh is destruction. It's Proverbs 14, 12, there's a way that seems right to man, but in the end, it will lead to their destruction. As we get ready to conclude today, I wanna read a last section of scripture after Lot goes and settles. And in verse 14, it says that the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, lift up your eyes, look to me, look from the place where you are, look northward, southward, eastward, westward. For all the land that you see, I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth

so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land for I will give it to you. So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the Oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron. And there he once again built an altar to the Lord. My final point of application for you today, if we're gonna be people that make decisions. from the Spirit is that we have to make decisions from faith rather than clarity. We have to make decisions from faith rather than clarity. At our church conference a few weeks ago that Pastor Tyrone was at, there was a preacher from Las Vegas, Nevada called Pastor Jabin Chavez, and he had a timely and prophetic word for us. He got up at the end and he said, the great enemy of the church in 2026 is not sin, it's not pride, it's not politics. It is the church's desire for clarity before it moves. I want you to look closely at what God just said to Abram. He has just chosen unquestionably the worst portion of the land. His nephew goes to get the well-watered, lush garden land, and we can only assume then that he takes a desert portion. In addition to that, God's promise is that he is going to have offspring, and so many offspring, that if someone can count the amount of dirt

that's in Yuma, Arizona, he could count how many offspring that Abram is gonna have. In addition to that, he just told him to walk the land, go north, south, east, west, go everywhere. Why? Because I'm gonna give it all to you. Now that's all great, and oftentimes our struggle is that we know the end of the story. God just told a childless, homeless man that he's gonna have so many offspring, they can't be counted, and that the entire area that he sees, he will occupy. Abram has no kids, and he lives in a tent. I think that one of the biggest dangers for our faith in this season as a church is that we would say, God, I am not going to move until you show me exactly how it's gonna happen. He doesn't know about Isaac. He doesn't know about Zion and the city of David that will once exist there. He doesn't know about the Holy Land. What he has gotten is a word, and God tells him to go, and I love what he says. He says, you waited at Bethel, you waited at the altar, you went back to where I first spoke to you, but he doesn't say just wait, he says, now you gotta walk. You waited, you did it right, and now you need to walk. Church, let me speak to your life for a moment. If you wanna be a person that operates by faith, yes, you are gonna have to wait on God,

but eventually you're gonna have to start walking. What does that look like in our life? It looks like when there's a job transition and you're sitting there and you see an option that makes less money, that makes less sense, but you think God is on it, and your friends and your coworkers are saying, what are you doing? Why did you do this? And you have to go, I waited, God spoke, now I gotta walk. What does it look like? It looks like when your time is done on this base, and I've heard this testimony of people that ended their time in the military and said, something erupted in me, I had to stay in Yuma. Why? Because you found a good thing. And you got family and friends that are saying, move home where you have support. No, I heard, I waited, and now I gotta walk. What does it look like? It looks like single parents who are working all week and then bringing their families to church, who are the heroes of this church, what is that? Because they can catch a vision and see that there is a life for their kids that is not the life that they have. I waited on God, and I know it doesn't make complete sense, but now I got to walk.

For our seasoned saints that are in the room, they're talking about serving and joining groups and opening up your life to other people, and you're sitting there saying, why would I do that? Why should I do that? What are you doing? I'm waiting, God spoke to me that I have something to offer to the next generation, and now I gotta walk. Today, that's what making decisions from the Spirit looks like. Not fear, not trepidation, not worry. I waited. He did on God, and now I gotta walk, amen. Why don't you bow your heads with me today? I wanna give two simple responses for you in church. The first one is this, if you're in here and you don't have a relationship with God, today is your day, this is your moment. You're the reason why this church was started and you're the reason why I'm here preaching today. The first decision you will ever make from the Spirit is salvation. It is God's kindness, it is His Spirit that beckons you to the cross. And today, if I was to sit down with you afterwards and ask if you had a relationship with Jesus, if your answer was anything else but yes, yes, yes, not I got baptized when I was a kid, not hey, I think I might, I've been coming here for a while. If you do not know that you know that you know,

this is your moment. So if you're here today and you wanna begin a relationship with Jesus, I want you to raise your hand. One, two, three. You wanna begin a relationship with Jesus today. Amazing, I see some hands in the room today. Come on, that's amazing. God's so proud of you, He loves you. He welcomes you home today. You can put your hands down in this place. My second question for you today, Pastor Tyrone will lead you in your next steps for salvation, but my second question for anyone in the room today, if at any point in this message you began to feel like God was pulling on your heart a little bit, like you've been making decisions from the flesh and not from the Spirit, I believe today that is not a pull over, fix the entire car thing. God just wants to do a little course correction in your life. If that's you today and you say, God, I just need some help with that, could you just raise your hand in the room? Could you just raise your hand in this place? Say, God, I want more of that in my life. It's been a while, I've maybe matured my way out of radical faith, I wanna get back to the faith I once had. Jesus, I thank you that you see every hand

that is raised and you know every heart that is attached to it. I pray right now in a church that already is so in depth and in tune with your Spirit, I pray that your presence would overwhelm these people's lives right now. God, would you see this act of faith? Would you see this moment of response and would you do what only you can do? We thank you for it and we trust you for it in your name, Jesus, amen. Come on, can we thank God for what he did in church today? Amen, amen, amen. Come on.