This is Us! Pastor Dave Divine
Pastor Dave begins a new series about our core values. The first one being "We put God first". An awesome message for anybody!
- Hello men and women. Such an honor and a blessing to be able to speak to you guys again from right here in McKinney, Texas at Life Fellowship Church, through the PANDO app and the facilities that you're at. What an amazing blessing to have that tablet, man. My name's Logan Williams. My TDC number's 1490218. I have four numbers after that. Round and round and round the system here in Texas. I know a lot of you are watching from other states, but man, it's the same, right? It's easy to come back once you've been in the system and it's so hard, man. Like we really, really have to be intentional and put all of our energy and focus on trying to live this life, this spiritual life, getting all in with God because the deck is just so stacked against us, man. I didn't have the PANDO app when I was in prison. I wish I did. I probably would have done my time a little bit different. I was the guy that would just go to church, check the boxes and then just keep on living. However, I wanted to live while I was in prison. Telling myself, hey, when I get out, I know I'm gonna, what to do. I'll read the word when I get out. But while I'm in here, man, this prison sucks.
I just wanna get through this. So I'm gonna continue to do the hustling and the gambling and engaging in whatever you got while I'm in there. But when I get out, I'll do this. That never worked for me. I never walked out of prison and then just walked it out. I fell every single time. And thank God, man, he came after me. I was in a nasty hotel room. August 11th, 2021 had enough drugs to stay high for about a year, surrounded by crazy. And man, God just invaded my heart and just called me up out of that room, said, man, I got a plan for you, Logan. And I need you to just get up and leave this room and I got you and he did. And I never, ever thought that I would be working at a church or speaking to inmates or anything like that. And I wanna encourage you with that. I want you to have in your heart that perhaps God has a plan for you, that you have no idea what's coming, man. The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. It says that in Romans 11, 29. So I want you to, if you're a born-again believer, ask the Lord, man, what's your plan? What's your vision? What's my purpose? What would you have me be? How will I enlarge your kingdom and make much of your name?
'Cause guys, there's nothing better than that. Being in the lane that God created you to be in, that's where true fulfillment, true joy will truly come from. And when we don't have that, we're gonna seek that in other things, like everything else but God. And most of those things land me right back in prison. That's why I was came back four times. Tell your friends and family they can download the same Pando app on their phone. They can watch the same messages, all the stuff that you get and y'all can talk about it. You can do this walk together, even though you're behind bars, when you see them in visitation, when you talk to them on the phone, when you write them letters, y'all can talk about this stuff. And this is so important because we've never, God never intended us to do this walk alone. Thank God I have good faithful friends, man, in my life. God fearing we're same like-minded friends that will call my butt out. They will. I got people in my life that have permission to walk my butt, literally. If I'm acting up and I'm not listening, 'cause I need it, man. We can't see certain things about our life.
I use this analogy all the time. If this bottle is my life, all I can see is this side of it. And this side of it, it says nutrition facts. And there's zero calories, and there's one milligram of sodium, and this is all I can see. I have no idea on the other side, there's a giant watermelon piece. And so if this is my life and I'm looking at it, I need someone on this side looking in, telling me, "Hey, man, there's a watermelon piece over here. "Hey, man, you can't see it, "but you're being selfish right now. "You can't see it, but pride is welling up in you, Logan. "You can't see it, but you've got entitlement, man. "And you need to look at that, pray about that. "Confess that, get that in the open. "We gotta have that in our lives, man. "We have to, because we just can't see. "I got a mentor that says it all the time. "I can't see my own ears. "So I need those people in my life. "And if you don't have that in your life, pray for that. "There's someone on that unit that you can walk with. "Say God, bring that person into my path, "because it's so and so, so important. "So interesting today, I was gonna read and talk about And we're having a hard time getting all this stuff on and I was just up here and I'm over here Killing Tom and I'm reading
This other thing and the Lord's just like I want you to not read that Which is what I planned and I want you to read this So I'm gonna speak this over you guys, okay, but but first of all this is only true if you're a born-again believer If you're not a born-again believer, this is not true about you But it can be Romans 10 says anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved If you've never done that man, it's just that simple You don't have to repeat a prayer after someone you can just cry out to him in your own language Those are the prayers those are the cries that he's gonna hear anyway The legit ones the the real ones when you're in your bunk at night man when it's just you and him Man, talk to him He wants a relationship with you so bad Talk to him verse 43 Isaiah Starting in verse one it says this but now oh Jacob listen to the Lord who created you Okay, this is what God wants me to tell you because I was gonna tell you this other thing But he wants me to read this thing, okay, so that's important to know okay He downloaded it on my heart as I he messed up the computers and he messed up everything in here So you could hear this because I wouldn't have done that I wouldn't have seen that and I wouldn't have done that But now oh Jacob listen to the Lord who created you oh Israel the one who formed you says do not be afraid for I have ransomed you I Have called you by name you are mine Man just even as I read that now man. I just felt this warmth come over me like it's so comforting to know That we're his man that when he looks down from heaven He doesn't see dope fiend Logan who used to just shoot dope and run crazy on the streets. He doesn't see Logan the thief that would just hit licks on anybody just to get some more dope He doesn't even see pastor Logan when he looks down He says he sees the blood of his son on my life, and he's like he's mine. She's mine That's what he's saying right here, man. I have called you by name You are mine when you go through deep waters. I will be with you When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown
When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned the flames will not consume you. I Know you guys are going through this on a daily basis. I Mean we go through it out here, but it's nothing like Being behind the wire. I know man. There's nothing like it, but but God is saying I'm with you Like these are words. This is God's word that when you're in that valley you need to speak and declare it over your life You're not going to drown in the rivers. You're not going to be burned in the fire for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel You're Savior. I Gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom. I gave Ethiopia and Siba in your place Others were given in exchange for you says God. This is God's word. I Traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me You are honored and I love you. This is what God says about us, man. I Have spiritual Mentors in my life that tell me things man nuggets that I take with me and early on one of them said this He said Logan you don't have to have this whole thing memorized You don't have to be this great theologian, but you need to have a scripture that you can declare and fight with When the enemies coming against you when life looms large when you're going through the fire and man This is a good one Isaiah 43. That was verses one through four Man write it down. I used to write these key key verses when I was locked up down on The back like cardboard piece of the of the note the little note pads that you can buy on commissary You know that cardboard piece that's because it's durable and I could just I just throw it under my mattress And I pull it out and just read these key scriptures, man over my life It's so valuable the just declaring God's word over your life, man That he loves you you're precious to him And that and that even though you may be going through the fire you're not going to get burned And I can tell you from experience that the fires that I went through the things that God got me through While I was going through it man Yeah, there's doubt there's anxiety man. Does this how's this gonna pan out? I wish that things were different and I wish that But he got me through that, and he got me through that,
and God got me through this, and he got me through this. And so not only do I have this confidence that the next thing he's gonna get me through, but I see that, man, he used all that to forge me, to mold me, to prune me, so that I can be better in large his kingdom and make much of his name. And I can see now that I wouldn't even be the person that I am today, if I hadn't have gone through this and this and all the things that he got me through. So, man, I want you to be encouraged today. Man, God has a plan for your life, and he is with you right now, and you're precious to him. He traded lives for yours. He traded his own son's life for your life. He said, man, he looked down on you, man, even on your worst day, when you were doing whatever you were doing, and you didn't care about God, and maybe you even hated God. He still said, man, that's my beloved, and he's worthy of dying for. She's worthy of dying for it. Guys, we gotta get this out of our head as information and in our hearts as revelation, because this kind of stuff changes things. This changes the environment, and I'm just so grateful and so glad that the computers messed up and I was able to read this, man. I want y'all to go read this and meditate on it. Isaiah 43, one through four. And then just keep reading, man.
You'll get to verse 15 through 20, which is what I was gonna read. It's just so rich, so rich. I just wanna encourage y'all. We love you here at Life Fellowship Church, you're part of our church family. When y'all show up here on a Sunday, man, you're treated like royalty. You get introduced to everybody, we get you coffee, we get you whatever you need, I'll sit with you, man. So even if you don't live in the Metroplex, if you're anywhere near here on a Sunday, man, come, stop in, when you get out, man, call the church, ask for Logan Williams, and just tell him, I just got out of prison and I need to speak to Pastor Logan. And they will run that message to my desk and we'll connect, we'll connect, bro. I love you guys, man. I love what God is doing. I love what God is doing behind the prisons. It's just amazing thing to be a part of, and I couldn't have said that six years ago. So let me pray for you, Father, we love you so much. And I just thank you for all the men and the women that are watching right now, God, the ones you're after, the ones you've left 99 to chase after. They wouldn't have clicked on this video today if you weren't after them. And so God, I pray that if anyone doesn't know you, man, that they would be saved today by the power
of your Holy Spirit, that they would call on your name and see John 3, 16, that you loved the world so much that you gave, you went first, you gave your only son, you bankrupted heaven, you gave it all. So anyone who believes in him would never perish but have eternal life and that they would call on your name to be saved, but it's just that simple, just believing that simple gospel truth and confessing it out loud. God, I just pray that. I pray that you would bless their families while they're gone, that you would be a provider for their children, for their wives, for their parents, for their elderly, grandmothers and grandfathers, those people that we worry so much about when we're incarcerated because we have absolutely no control. And if something happens to them, we can't go see them. And oftentimes we don't even know, God, I pray against that anxiety that wells up in those moments. And I pray that you would let them know that you have their families in the palm of your hand. And God, I pray that you would meet them right where they're at, that they would read these verses and that they would get a better understanding of how much you love them, that love that passes knowledge, man, that love that changes things, that changes the environment. God, I pray that you would raise up some environment changers right now that are watching this video and the places that they're at,
that revival would just sweep across the facilities, the departments of corrections all across America. And God, that you would have your way. Man, we give you all the praise and glory and we love you so much in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, guys, I just have one more question. Who's house? God's house, let's give him some praise. (gentle music) (upbeat music) - Good morning, Life Fellowship Church family. We are so excited 'cause today is back. Whoo! Hey, if you want to get baptized and you didn't sign up, it's not too late to jump in and also know the last Sunday of every month, we're doing baptisms, every service, you'll have a chance. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you, God, that you brought us here today. God, I thank you for the lives of those who are being baptized. God, I thank you for your faithfulness in that today, they are being marked for Christ. And Jesus, we give you all the glory, the honor and praise, and all God's people said, amen. Let's get to baptisms. - Amen, amen, good morning, my fellowship. We're so glad you're here with us this morning. Let's celebrate together. (upbeat music) ♪ I was very busy ♪
♪ My shame ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ We carried that kind away ♪ ♪ It was time ♪ ♪ 'Til I failed ♪ ♪ I was breathing but I ♪ ♪ Oh, I ♪ ♪ All my failures I tried ♪ ♪ Too high ♪ ♪ It was time ♪ ♪ 'Til I prayed ♪ ♪ You called my brain ♪ ♪ And I ran out that way ♪ ♪ I am the darkness ♪ ♪ Into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my brain ♪ ♪ And I ran out that way ♪ ♪ I am the darkness ♪ ♪ Into your glorious day ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ I was breathing but I ♪ ♪ The comfort I saved ♪ ♪ My soul ♪ ♪ And the breathing on its own ♪ ♪ In your eyes, oh ♪ ♪ The only one ♪ ♪ Jesus, we are the new ones ♪ ♪ You called my brain ♪ ♪ And I ran out that way ♪ ♪ I am the darkness ♪
♪ Into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my brain ♪ ♪ And I ran out that way ♪ ♪ I am the darkness ♪ ♪ Into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my brain ♪ ♪ And I called my brain ♪ ♪ Come on guys, let's just take a second to reflect ♪ ♪ Where we run for the Lord has us today ♪ ♪ Thank you Lord for what you've done ♪ ♪ We thank you for being with us Lord ♪ ♪ For taking us out of the pit that we were in for ♪ ♪ And making us new God ♪ ♪ Thank you and we celebrate today ♪ ♪ I hear you read ♪ ♪ See you last year last year ♪ ♪ A chance break at the rate of your goal ♪ ♪ I need a shelter ♪ ♪ I was in love ♪ ♪ You called me a sweet and sweet ♪ ♪ When I was born ♪ ♪ Give you my feeling ♪ ♪ Now you're the only one who is the only one who is the only one ♪ ♪ I'm gonna give you a chance ♪ ♪ I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And you'll spread your heart by day ♪ ♪ I'm ready now that I'm done ♪ ♪ I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ I'm gonna drive you ♪
♪ Into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Come on take your chance ♪ ♪ I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna drive you home ♪ Jesus, for thank you so much for your sacrifice on the cross night. Thank you to all your sacrifice, you beautiful, your love for your children. Thank you, Lord, for your healing, and for your healing. I want to thank you for this love. I thank you, Jesus, for thank you, Lord. It's hard to let the mountains that I've faced will stronger than the power of their dreams. And it's hard to do the trial, and change this world through. I want to give you the praise, come on, give us enough. For what's higher than the mountains that I've faced
is stronger than the power of their dreams. Jesus, through the trial, and change this world through. It's a great day. Come on, sing that again. This world through. Yeah. [Music] We see who your love never fails and never dies and never runs out on me. Your love never fails and never dies. Now come on. [Music] Your love never fails and never dies and never runs out on me. Your love never fails and never dies. It's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard. [Music] Your love never fails and never dies. [Music] Your love never fails and never dies. Your love never fails and never runs out on me. Your love never fails and never dies. Your love never fails and never dies. Your love never fails and never dies. It's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard. Your love never fails and never dies. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
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(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Let's create a pride that we say ♪ ♪ In Jesus' freedom ♪ ♪ Breathe it by, cause it ain't enough ♪ ♪ In Jesus' life we pray ♪ ♪ We don't do it today ♪ ♪ Our eyes burst, we'll hear your cry ♪ ♪ And we'll say, Jesus, we go ♪ ♪ We pray for those we hear ♪ ♪ Jesus, we go ♪ ♪ We pray for our cry ♪ ♪ So feel through upon the praises of ♪ ♪ But not in the generation ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ We'll say, Jesus, we go ♪ ♪ And we'll say, Jesus, we pray ♪ ♪ And we'll say, Jesus, we go ♪ ♪ We'll have to tell boys ♪ ♪ We don't wanna see your body ♪ ♪ We don't wanna see your body ♪ ♪ We don't wanna see your body ♪ ♪ God, the generation ♪ ♪ We don't wanna see your body ♪ ♪ And we'll say, Jesus, we go ♪ ♪ We'll say, Jesus, we pray ♪
♪ We'll have to rise and dance ♪ ♪ We'll hear worthy ♪ ♪ Lord, Lord, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, we give you the highest praise ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are the only one ♪ ♪ We'll say for generations ♪ ♪ And you are the only one ♪ ♪ We'll say highest ♪ ♪ presence ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ God is presence ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ Come on, lift your hands. ♪ We give you the highest ♪ ♪ presence ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ This is what you're here ♪ ♪ For highest ♪ ♪ presence ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ presence ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Christ ♪ ♪ Christ ♪ ♪ Praise him ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are the only one ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ We'll be in the world ♪ ♪ And for the praise ♪
♪ And so the highest ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ presence ♪ ♪ We give you the highest ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ We give you the highest ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ We give you the highest ♪ ♪ presence ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Christ, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Christ, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Jesus, we give you the highest ♪ ♪ Christ, we give you the highest ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ You are my head ♪ ♪ You are my head ♪ ♪ You are my head ♪
♪ You are my head ♪ ♪ So be enthralled upon the praises of ♪ ♪ You are my lead ♪ ♪ Come on, I'm here ♪ ♪ And I'll see you in the sleigh and risen king ♪ ♪ We're singing well in ♪ ♪ Lord, you are my last singing of your time ♪ ♪ The enthralled upon the praises of ♪ ♪ A thousand generations ♪ ♪ You are my lead ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ And I'll see you in the sleigh and risen king ♪ ♪ We're in the voice of heaven ♪ ♪ You are the Lord ♪ - God, we lift our voice right now and we just say you're worthy. Come on, right now, everyone just lift your voice and tell them how worthy he is, how much he means to you. What he's done in your life, come on, this is the time to give him the highest praise. What we're singing, this is what you're worthy of God. God, we give you the highest praises or because you are worthy of all honor, of all glory, of all power, of all riches, of all kingdom, of everything, Jesus, you are Lord of all. And us as one body's here, God, we just say you are worthy, God. We love you, Jesus, we love you, God. And everyone in the house says amen and amen. - Thank you guys so much for worshiping me,
that's you, Amy, see you there. - Amen. - I don't know about you, but the presence of the Lord is strong. We're so glad that you're here at Life Fellowship. Thanks for joining us this morning. And by the way, if you're new to Life Fellowship and you haven't connected with us, we'd love to be able to do that. And we're not gonna overwhelm you. We just wanna come alongside you and we wanna find a way to serve you. So if you would text new to 51010, text the word new to 51010, and we'd love to be able to come alongside you. And by the way, if you don't wanna do that, that's okay, after the service today, you can go out into the hallway, into the lobby, check with our front desk and just tell them, "Hey, I'm new here." And again, we wanna just connect and find a way to serve you. We're grateful. Well, it's a great day, it's baptism Sunday. Are we excited? Yeah, one of the things we've done a little differently over the last few months and it's been such a blessing is we're doing water baptisms more frequently 'cause we don't want people to wait to take that next step in the relationship with the Lord.
And so we're doing it about every 30 to 45 days, weather permitting, of course. And by the way, the water is warm. We warm it up just in case you wanted to know. So if you're encouraged and want to actually be water baptized today, it's not too late, we're gonna do one next service too. But for some chance you wanna have friends and family and invite them November 29th as our next water baptism. But I wanted to say thank you for your generous giving. Because of your giving, all the ministries we do, we're able to connect with people, we're able to walk alongside them, we're able to disciple them and actually take the next steps in the relationship of the Lord with things like water baptism and it's because of your generous giving. So we wanna say thank you for that. You know, in the last 30 days, not today included, we had 28 people water baptized, 28. In August alone, we had over 30. Praise God. So whether it's one or whether it's 30, it doesn't matter, they're rejoicing and having and let's take that step together. So thank you for your giving. And I wanna leave you with a challenge that's gonna fit depending on where you are at, okay? I wanna challenge you today. If you've taken that step in tithing, you're giving the first 10% to the house of the Lord.
I wanna encourage you to find someone this week and tell them about your giving story. Tell them how God has blessed your life. And by the way, if you're like me, I was in 2001 and I was struggling with that concept. All I ask is go to the God's word, read about the principle of tithing in his word and then ask the Holy Spirit, what do you want me to do? And watch out, God blesses your life. Let me pray over you. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful for the gifts into this house. We're so grateful that we get to walk alongside people. We get to minister people. We get to see people's lives changed eternally. And that's obviously because of your power, Lord, that allow us to reach out and touch people in many different ways. So Lord, I wanna play a blessing over everyone's generosity, their time, their talent and treasure. There's people in the sanctuary, Lord, that are running businesses that need breakthrough. I ask for your breakthrough and blessing for them. Or there are people that need promotions. They've been wanting and desiring and dreaming of a promotion. I pray that there be a breakthrough this week of a promotion. Lord, there's people that are trying to figure out what to do with their career.
I pray that you would encourage them and show them the path that you want them to take. I pray for your blessing in their finances in the mighty name of Jesus, amen. Prepare your hearts for the message. (gentle music) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) - Hey everybody, how are you? Wow, look around this room. You look so good, glad you're here. And I'm Pastor Dave, I'm the transition pastor. I've been here since August 1st. And I'll be here until the baton is handed to the next senior leader. And we're looking forward to that and praying for that. Good to have all of you, all of you watching online, all of you at the Department of Corrections. Let's give it up to our church family that's on the other side of the camera. Good to have everybody here today. Enjoy that time of worship, that time of ministry. Last week, just if you weren't here,
I'll just worry, or if you were, I wanna remind you that we talked about being made for more. And I took you to Ephesians chapter two, we looked at the first 10 verses and we landed on verse 10 that says we are God's workmanship, creating in Christ Jesus for good works. Yes, for good works that he planned for us long ago. And those are works that he says that we should do. So we just wanna encourage you, if you've not yet taken your next step to use your serving gift and get involved with the serving team. And by the way, when you're involved with the team here at Live Fellowship, that kind of becomes your people. I mean, that's your friend group that maybe you don't even have right now. So I've just encouraged you to consider that. Go to the lobby today of the next few weeks, we're gonna have these blue T-shirts where it says made for more. Just ask them questions, say, hey, how do I get involved? Or what ministries need servants and leaders? And I'll help. So if you haven't done that yet, I hope you will. Today, we're beginning a brand new series. I'm glad you're here. I hope you're ready, get your notepad, whatever you're taking notes on.
But the title is this is us. This is us living our values. And over the next five weeks, we're gonna talk about the kind of church the Bible calls us to be. And declaring five things as our core values. And by doing that, we're saying, this is what we do. This is us. This is what we do. In fact, let's just say it this way. It's coming up on the screen that our core values are the foundational, unchanging biblical convictions that dictate our identity, our church culture, our everyday behavior, and the unique ministry style of life fellowship church. I think that's so important to know. Our values are really what we do. They are about our behavior. Or we could say probably we do what we value. We do what we value. Touch your neighbor and say, we do what we value. Okay, for instance, how many of you have a gym membership? Okay, I'm not gonna ask the next question. We do what we value, right? You may believe in working out. You may believe in being physically fit, but just having a gym membership doesn't mean you value fitness. I'm evidence of that.
Don't have the membership anymore. I'm evidence of that. I could go on with many examples of what we value and what we don't. But every, here's this, every life healthy, every life giving church has values. Whether they display them on the walls or not, or if they're even stated or not. They have values because it's what they do. It's their behavior. They have things they do that honors God. They have things that honor people. They have things in their culture. what's going on in a local church based upon their values. Now through prayer and conversation with our executive team and with our leadership staff, I just want to say to you that we've outlined some things that we believe that God has done in us in previous years and months prior to this. I mean, some of you have been here for quite some time here at Life Fellowship and you are living out values that have been put in your hearts that you've developed over many, many years. And that's us. You're part of this and you help bring those values to the church today. But it's also what the Lord is doing in us right now. It's a part of that and preparing for us to do together in the future. So as together as Life Fellowship and church, we can say when we share these five things, this is us. And I hope at the end of the day, you'll say, "You know what? I love my church. I love this place. I love this because I love what we value." I'm going to quickly share these five things, these five values, and spend the remainder of our time on one of them, the first one, and then we'll explain the rest in the weeks to come. I'm not going to try to explain them all today. I'll explain the first one. Are you ready? Let me give you the five. Here they are on the screen. The first one is, we put God first and then the second one is, we equip people. Third one is, we show up. The fourth one is, we choose unity. And number five is, we bring our best. In fact, why don't you just say I'm out loud with me? I want
you to get them in your heart, in your mind, and hopefully we would memorize these five things. Number one, we put God first, say it with me. We put God first. We equip people. We show up. We choose unity. And we bring our best. And you can see some words on the right hand side, on the right column, that kind of help define what we're talking about. So we limited it to just five phrases, but you will see that they encompass so many things. So we're going to begin here. Number one, are you ready? We put God first. The order matters. It matters. If God isn't first, if God isn't front and center, the other four values can, they can just become a list of things that we're just trying hard to do, yet we're just trying harder and harder in our own strength. And without Jesus, and here's what I've learned and I know, without Jesus being at the center of everything, and without the Holy Spirit's enablement, we can serve until we're exhausted. Am I right? You can talk back to me. And we can show up at everything while accomplishing very little. But when God is truly first, and the Holy Spirit has empowered us and is enabling us, then these values become a response to what He's doing in us, remembering that Jesus is the center of it all, that Jesus is first. Now you might say, Pastor, I've been doing this a long time. I've got that. God is first in my life. And I hope you can say that. That's wonderful. But there's also a difference between us saying that and then arranging our lives around Him. Be patient with me. Because our priorities show up in what receives our attention. Our priorities show up in our decisions and what we protect when life gets busy. What do we make sure of that's most important? Look what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 33. He said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." In fact, this is another good word I think we should say aloud together. Would you do that with me? Ready, read. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these... I mean, when we're reading this in the gospel of Matthew in chapter 6, the setting is this. Jesus had been speaking about worry. He'd been speaking about food. He'd been speaking about clothing and the future. And he knows that his followers have real needs. They have real fears. They have real questions. And in Matthew 6, Jesus is teaching us to bring those needs under the care and the authority and the lordship of our Heavenly Father. Because he knows that when we fully surrender and recognize Jesus as sovereign Lord, and we begin to then order our whole lives around Him. And that's the
value we want us to live out. That's the value that we order our lives around God first. So today we're saying, "This is us. This is us." So this series really is an invitation. Jesus together? Many of you, you've been walking this out for a long time, praise God. But who are we becoming together? Who are we becoming? And our first answer is simple, even if it's just a statement of faith right now. Here it is. We are people who put God first through prayer, worship, and the word. We are people who put God first through prayer, worship, and the word. So let's go and begin here in Acts chapter 2. It was the first church. It was our model. It's a model church for us. And here's what I think about the first. And that is the first kind of determines the rest. The first determines the rest. So here we are in Acts chapter 2 verse 47. And it says, and they voted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship. So we have a model here. They devoted themselves to the word, to the teaching of the word, to the breaking of bread and the prayers and prayer. And all our reverence came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. They were sharing their possessions. They were selling the possession belongings and distributing the needs to the proceeds to all as any had need. They were just taking care of one another. They were being generous for 46 and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking
bread in their homes, a lot of fellowship going on. They received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the number day by day those who were being saved. And the Lord added to the number day by day those who were being saved. What an example, what a model for us. Now you may already know that Acts chapter 2 begins with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and Peter powerfully preaches Jesus. And 3,000 people are saved in one day. People are responding to the ministry of the word and to Peter's gospel message. And a new community of believers are being formed and beginning to be shaped by the work of the Holy Spirit. Then Luke gives us this picture of their life shared together that we just read in for bread verses 42 through 47. They spent time together. They shared what they had together. They prayed. They worshiped. They were devoted to the word and the Lord kept adding to their number. It's a beautiful picture. It was a beautiful church that was being birthed, that was growing. And underneath everything that this first church was doing was a clear center. Here it is, God had their attention. God had their attention. Let me ask you this question today with all this going on in the world today. All this going on in this Metroplex area. All this going on in your community, does God have your attention? I hope he does. I hope for many of you he does. In fact, for all of us that would come here today at some level, he does. Or you wouldn't have probably gathered today.
You came, I think, because God has your attention. Here's what I also know. Sometimes we have to go through some stuff for God to get our attention. How many of you have been through some things? And it was through that stuff that you went through and you kind of felt slapped up beside the head, but God had your attention, wave your hand at me and say, "God got your attention that way." How many of you are saved today because God got your attention through some of the stuff you went through? Yeah. I got one guy over here with both hands going up and legs that are flying right now. I mean, God got my attention. And sometimes we as a church have to go through some things for God to get our attention. He has my attention. I know he has your staff, this church staff's attention. I've spent a lot of time with him over the last ten weeks. I love them, but he has their attention. The Acts chapter 2 church was putting God first. So once you write down three things, we're going to keep it simple, but these are powerful things that's very important for us individually and as a church to do. We put God first, number one, through prayer. You can talk back to me and say, "Man, we put God first to Him through prayer." Good. He says, "They devoted themselves to prayer." Prayer wasn't just an occasional addition to the life of the church. It was part of their shared rhythm before the events of Acts 2 in Acts chapter 1 verse 14. It describes the disciples joining together in prayer. And at that time they did it because they were waiting on the promise of the Father. They were waiting on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
And after they prayed, they waited. They prayed and they waited. They waited and they prayed. And here's what I've learned about prayer. While I'm waiting, God is working. While I'm waiting, God is working. Sometimes I'm praying and then I'm waiting. Sometimes I'm waiting and then I'm praying. But all the while, God is working. They were waiting in prayer for the outpouring of Holy Spirit. Jesus had given them a mission and that mission was bigger than their ability. And by the way, God loves to do that. How many of you've ever had God give you something? He gave you a vision, a mission. You said, "Ah, that's too big for me." Me too. When God called Cindy and I almost 26 years ago to plant a church in the Atlanta metro area, we had a vision, God gave us a vision for that church. But the vision was bigger than our ability. And we're thinking, "God, how can we do that? "How can we possibly do that?" And a godly friend came to Cindy and I and he said, "I've got a word for you." And we know to this day that it was a word from the Lord to us. And he said this is the word, that this is God's work.
He'll carry the burden and you can expect miracles. We're like, "Oh, that's our word for us." 'Cause we need miracles bad. We needed God to work. This is God's work. He'll carry the burden and you can expect miracles. And so we knew that was a word for us. So what did we do? We started praying as a brand new church with just a few people we called prayer meetings. We consistently gathered in prayer. Prayer was our response. And for over six years, that brand new church, for over six years, we gathered in prayer every Saturday night at six o'clock for one hour. We just opened up the doors and we just said, "Come, we're gonna pray." And it was a simple time of just gathering people kneeling in chairs. Some people were walking the room. Some people were laying on the floor before the Lord. But we spent an hour and we just prayed and then we'd gather at the end of that hour and we'd pray in unity and pray in agreement. And it was a powerful time. And the only reason we stopped after six years is 'cause the church had grown so much. Now we've got a third, a fourth service and we needed a place to put the fourth service. So we put it on Saturday night at six o'clock.
He said, "Well, so'd you quit praying?" No, we moved the prayer gathering to four o'clock on Saturday. Now four o'clock on Saturday is the worst time in the week to have a prayer gathering. SCC football, everything's going on at four o'clock on Saturday, but still people came because we were committed to pray before we entered into the weekend. We gathered and God met us. Like us, the early church didn't have a strategy they could produce that could produce the power that they needed. They couldn't organize their way into God's power and God's plan so they obeyed God and they gathered and they prayed and they waited because watch this, prayer is where we humbly acknowledge that we need God. Prayer is where we humbling, knowledge we need God. It's where we say, "God, we don't know what to do, "but you do, God, we can't, but you can. "God, I'm weak, but you are strong. "God, I don't have a word for this, but you do." I don't know what to say, but you do. Prayer is where we humbly acknowledge that we need God and acknowledging that can really be harder than it sounds. I mean, many of us know how to work hard. We know how to make a plan and solve problems and keep moving and some of you do that very, very well. You're very good at that and that's wonderful. We've got some great leaders in this church,
but is it possible, even for some of us leaders, to move through an entire day of doing good things, making decisions, making calls, but without one stopping to say, "Holy Spirit, "I need you today. "I need you involved in this decision. "I need you to give me an answer. "I need you to give me some clarity and direction." Last weekend, because of the hurricane that came up from the Gulf and came to the Southeast, we were afraid we weren't going to be able to get to Dallas on Saturday. We were afraid our flight would be canceled on Saturday, so we jumped in the vehicle on Friday evening and we drove to Dallas, and then we drove home Monday. And as we were driving home on Monday night, it's in Tuesday morning, I looked over at Cindy, and I said, "I just, I got to make a decision on something "and I just don't know what to do." And then right then, the Holy Spirit just stopped me, and my next phrase to her was, "Well, I guess I could pray about it." How many of you struggle with that sometimes, just like I do? Yeah, I need to stop. Because how many of you know he has an answer? He has clarity. He has direction. And prayers will be just humbling knowledge that we need him, but it's harder than it sounds. Putting God first means we bring him into the real parts of our lives. Some of you may here put God first through prayer and immediately think how inconsistent you have been with prayer. Listen, I want you to hear this. You do not have to be consistent in prayer before you become consistent in prayer. I'll let that sink in.
No. No, no blame and shame game here. Nothing at all. No. We just start. We just say, Lord, I'm going to make some new commimes to you regarding prayer. And I'm going to just ask you to help me be consistent. Lord, help me. Lord, forgive me. Lord, thank you. Lord, show me what is true. Lord, show me what is not simple prayers. Pray for your family. Pray for your friends. Pray for your church. I'm asking you to begin to pray if you haven't already for life fellowships. Next, senior pastor. God knows who and he is and she is. And we just need God to reveal that to us. And we need you to help us pray about it. John Wesley famously said, God does nothing but an answer to prayer. So therefore, prayer is not an option for us, especially in this area, but it's not an option for us. It is a necessity. We put God first through prayer. So this is us. And I just want to say this church has prayer opportunities for you to come and gather. Did you know on Saturday morning at 7.30 a.m., there's a group that gathers here just to pray and to see God, you're welcome to come and join them Saturday morning at 7.30. I asked them this morning, okay, but do you have donuts? They said, no, we're coming to pray. I said, okay, okay, I got you. Maybe coffee. Monday evening, there's a prayer group that gathers at 7 o'clock and they welcome you to come and pray. And I was feeling convicted about this that, you know, as the transition pastor, we're praying for a next senior leader. I want an opportunity to pray with you. So I'm committing that starting this Saturday at 6 p.m. so we can get from DFW to here. We're going to meet right here from 6 to 7. And anybody that wants to join myself and win cities with me, she'll be here. And we're going to pray for an hour from 6 to 7. And we're going to kneel, we're going to walk, we're going to pray. It's going to be very informal. I'm not going to come with this long prayer agenda for you. No, you just come and pray with us. And at the end of the hour, we'll come and gather around the front for a few minutes and we'll pray in agreement for some very specific things and for our next senior leader. And I hope some of you can do that. And you may not be able to do it every Saturday. You may not be able to do it, you know, a couple times a month or even once a month or maybe for 30 minutes, but just come if you can. No pressure, nothing at all. I'm not even expecting the staff to come unless they can and they want to. And I'm sure some can and will. So I hope you can do that with us. Number two, we put God first through worship. Acts 2 and 47 says this new community was praising God and having favor with all the people.
They gathered together in the temple and in their homes. Sounds like a large group and small group right there. And worship for them was more than just a moment in a meeting. It was the response of people, a response of people that knew Jesus was alive and that the Holy Spirit had been poured out. And because of that, they were different. So there was response that they wanted to give to God as they put him first and that response was worship. And by the way, I love it when we gather to sing. I love it when we gather to worship on Sundays and that's awesome. And when we worship together, we're doing something precious. We're doing something spiritual. This isn't just to sing the next new song. We're doing something powerful. Our worship is worship. It's declaring him his worth and his worth for me is beyond anything else. He's more precious than silver, more costly than gold. He's more beautiful than diamonds. So when we gather together, it's not just clapping our hands and lifting up our hands. It is all of those things, but it's declaring his worth. And we need that and we need to come prepared for that. Nothing, Lord, that I desire compares to you. So I want you to know that when we worship sometimes when we come, we come because we've had a really good week and we're full of gratitude and it just kind of spills out. And how many of you know even out of that you can have sincere worship. And you can know, you can know, you can know when you're living a God-first life because your worship continues when the music ends. That means when I put God first, my worship reaches over into Monday morning and reaches over into Tuesday. And Wednesday, it shapes the way that I speak to my family and lead my family. It impacts the way I treat my coworkers and if you're a business owner, your employees, it shapes the way I use my time and the way I respond when nobody's watching. Worship tells the truth about who has my heart. Say that with me, worship tells the truth about who has my heart. It reflects to whom I give my allegiance to. You know, in my quiet time, I regularly sit on my front porch in these warmer months and I love this time and our house sits off the highway and we've got some timbers and the trees between us and the highways. So I'm kind of back away in the woods a little bit, just me in the squirrels.
And I'm on my front porch and oftentimes when I've had some time of a moment of prayer and kind of prepared my heart, I'll throw both hands up in the air. It's just me in the squirrels. I throw both hands up in the air and I just bend some moments in just worship. And when I throw my hands up in the air, what is that kind of a universal sign of? It's surrender. I mean, somebody gets arrested, but well, I've been arrested by the Holy Spirit by the, I'll just tell you that right now. And so I throw my hands up in the air and I say, God, you have me today. You have my heart today. I know you had me yesterday, but this is a new day. Jesus in the morning rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and Jesus himself prayed. So God today, I'm going to do it, your son Jesus did. Jesus, I'm going to do what you did. I'm going to throw my hands up in the air and I'm going to say, God, you have my heart. I give you my allegiance and I worship you and I surrender to you. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God. If you don't have a quiet time or a chair time, I so encourage you. This isn't going to be the last time you're going to hear this. I'm so encouraged you to start that with your day. In that moment, you can have your heart and your mind renewed and transformed by the work of God and the Word of the Lord and the God's Word and through the Holy Spirit. My mind is renewed when I have that time with him in the morning. So he's worthy of my praise. He's worthy of my praise when I'm in this room, he's worthy of my praise when I'm in another room when I'm on my porch, wherever you are when you're spending time with him, he's worthy of your praise. And then number three, we put God first through the Word, through the Word. I hear it, I want to hear it. That's why I want to be here on Sunday morning. I want to hear it, read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it.
I want it, I need the Word. Jesus says, my words are spirit and they are life. And Hebrews says, it's quick and powerful and sharp and they need to head sword, piercing even to the dividing a center of soul and spirit and of the joints and moral. And it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. How many of you need something to discern your thoughts and your intents? Yes, the Holy Spirit will do that through the Word. Jesus says the Word is spirit, John 663. It is spirit and it is life. And when I take the Word in me, I'm taking life into me. It's Word and it's spirit and life. Acts 2.4 says the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. I believe that's Acts 2.42 that says that. The people who had just experienced a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit wanted to learn and grow. And so they also listened, they listened to the teaching and the testimony of those who Jesus had sent. And they were being formed as followers of Jesus through this teaching of the Word. In the same way, we need to be shaped by the truth of the Word and by those teachers and preachers that He has sent. And when we do that, it helps us to know God. It helps us to trust God and helps us to obey God. Because here's what I know, the Word does convict us. The Word does impact, it convicts our attitudes. We get our world view. This is where we should get our world view, not from your newsfeed, not from other groups you attend. You should get your world view from scripture. And I'm saying we need a biblical world view. It helps us to be convicted even about the values that we pick up from the world. And how many of you know, we have a lot of things that we do because we have values that are connected to the world
rather than are connected to God in his word. Jesus said in John 17, "Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth." Psalmist said in Psalm 119, 105, "The word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path." He shows us where to go, a lamp and a light. A lamp kind of shows what's in the immediate. A light shows us what's beyond. It's a lamp to do my feet and a light to our path. A few years ago, I was coming home late from an elder meeting at our church that I had led. And some of those meetings got rather long. And this was one of those nights. And it was about 10, 30 when I arrived at home that night. The house was already dark, Cindy had already gone to bed. And I was just a little bit hungry. I hadn't had, you know, I'd eaten an early dinner. And so before I go to bed, I thought, you know, I'm just going to get a little something. So I went over to the counter in the kitchen and we just traditionally have a fruit and nut mix jar that are on the counter just for that quick little something. And so I just went in, it's dark. I just opened the lid, put my hand down there, put a big handful of fruit and nut mix in my mouth and started chewing. And all of a sudden I realized there's something in my mouth besides fruit and nut mix. And all of a sudden it felt like it was swarming. And I dove over into the kitchen sink
and I got it out of my mouth, I won't be too graphic. But I got it out of my mouth as quick as I could. And like we guys do, I got my mouth underneath the faucet. I'm trying to wash it out. And as I come up out of the sink, I say, Cindy, I'm trying to get her help. I don't know what's happened. And she runs down, turns the lights on and we immediately see this parade of ants. Yeah, they're coming down the wall. They're marching across the countertop, up the side of the fruit and nut mix jar. They're having a neighborhood fruit and nut mix party at the divine's house. And it is swarming, they are swarming, carly in this jar, they've been in my mouth. Lesson, never grab the fruit and nut mix again in the dark. In the same way, let me just say, you don't have to live life in the dark. When we can spiritually live in the light and the word becomes that lamp into our feet and a light to our path, maybe just start every day. Maybe just start it this way. Every day, just open up the one of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, read a passage and say, what does this show me about Jesus? What light is Jesus giving me today? What is he inviting me to do to trust him more or what to do or not to do? And if you've read the Bible for years,
just keep coming to him with an open heart and letting the word speak to you. Here's what I know. It's easy to love the idea of being a church that values the word. And if I say we value the word, everybody claps it, yeah, we value the word. But the deeper invitation is to truly allow the word to convict us and to shape us when it speaks to our choices, as it speaks to our relationships, as it speaks to the things that we'd rather hold on to because we like it. And yet the word is saying, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, need to let go of that. Need to repent of that, repent of that. Repentance means to turn and walk the other way. Let go of that. And I guess I could ask you as we begin to close the days is what are you still holding on to? But the word has already convicted you to let go of that. And yet you argue because it's so acceptable culturally and your friends do it or somebody else seems to be a strong Christian and they are involved in that. So it must be okay. Here's what I know. I'm putting God first when Allah, His Word, to determine what I do. You know, we can have an adopted core values. We can print them on the sign. We can put them on the LED wall. We can repeat them from the stage over and over again. But the real question is whether they become visible in our lives. And we can say this is us. That's the big question.
And that holy work only begins as we turn our hearts to a Holy God, to a wonderful Savior. And we turn to Him in full surrender. We throw our hands up. I don't care if the squirrels see me, but also I don't care if the world sees me. I don't care if anybody who has different views and values sees me. I lift my hands to a good, good God, a good, good Father who loved me so much that He allowed His Son to give His life fully for me. I lift my hands to a holy, holy God, a good, good God. Why don't we just do that right now? If you feel comfortable, you don't have to, if you don't feel comfortable. But if you feel comfortable doing that, just lift up your hands right now to a holy, holy God, a good, good God. Heavenly Father, we want to be able to say this is us. We want to be able to say, Lord, thank You for prayer. We want to commit ourselves to prayer in a new way. Lord, we want to be true worshipers that just surrender and give You our allegiance, but also declare Your worth. Help us to do that on a consistent basis, not just Sundays, but even on a regular daily basis. Help us to take You at Your Word and obey Your Word and follow You because we know You're good and You're faithful and You're true to Your Word. Help us, Lord Jesus, to submit our hearts and lives to You. And if you would lift up your hands, if I lift up your hands say, Pastor Dave, there's areas that You talked about today that I just feel some conviction towards. Maybe it's prayer, maybe it's the Word, maybe it's worship. And you just lift up your hand just signifying and saying, okay, I hear You. I heard what God was saying today. I heard with the Holy Spirit saying, I want to be different. I want to be different. I don't want to put God last, so I want to put You first. I don't want to ask glass for Your help. I want to ask first for Your help, Lord. So while we just lift our hands up to You, we declare You're faithful and You're holding Your good. Or Jesus, we just praise You and thank You for the work that You're doing in our hearts. We want You to do a deep work, a deep work. We don't want to just say things. We want to be. We want to do. We want our lives to reflect what You're calling us to. And Lord, I just pray that You'll allow that to happen as people surrender fully to You today. In Jesus' name. For Thou, O Lord, our high above all the earth. Thou art exalted far above all. I lift up up my hands in the sanctuary and I bless the Lord. For Thou, O Lord, our high above all the earth. He loves it when You worship Him. Thou art exalted far above all. No matter where You are in Your walk with God, He loves it when You lift Your hearts.
He loves it when You lift Your hands to sing to Him. Oh, I exalt Me. Oh, I exalt Me. We bless You, Lord. You are first. We put You first. Holy, holy are You Lord. I exalt Me. Lifting up holy hands. I exalt Me. We take You at Your Word today, God. Oh, I exalt Me. Think this would begin, for thou, O Lord, are your high and lifted up, Lord. We give you our allegiance. Thou art in something, for all God. Holy Spirit, we invite you here today. We welcome you. For thou, O Lord, are high. If you're watching online, throw your hands up in the air right now. Throw your hands up in the air right now. The correctional facilities, throw your hands up in the air. And just exalt him. Just declare him as Lord, God. Declare his worth. You're worthy, Lord. Come on, let's lift it up together strong right now. For our exalt of thee, yes, we see. God, take all of thee, O Lord, I take all of thee. Go, O Lord, I'm drowning, I take all of thee.
I take all of thee to you, O Lord, I take all of thee. O Lord, one more time, we need you, God, we need you, God, we need you, God. We need you, Lord, I take all of thee, God, we need you, Lord, I take all of thee. Based on what I just since and saw, I think after week one we can say, "This is us." This is the heart of Life Fellowship Church. We're going to be a church that passionately pursues God in prayer. We're going to passionately pursue him in his word, and we're going to passionately pursue him as true worshipers that love Jesus with all of their heart and their soul and their strength. In just a moment, we're going to have prayer leaders that are going to come to the front and Pastor Trent is going to invite you in just a moment. If you're here today and you just need someone to pray with you, maybe it's about your spiritual walk, your spiritual condition. Maybe you don't have a relationship with Jesus. They would love to invite you into that relationship and pray with you. That is your next step. So I don't want you to leave before you've done that, okay, Pastor Trent, would you come? Thank you, Pastor Dave. Thank you. Amen. Amen. You know, something new stood out to me, different from last service, Pastor Dave, in what he spoke, and what stood out was our priorities show up in our decisions. So the question is for all of us, me included, is when we look at our decisions, do they reflect our worldly intellect alone? Do they reflect our emotion? Or do they reflect submission to the Lord through prayer? So that's the question we can use intellect. That's okay. And for a reason, but the most important thing is submission and prayer.
So thank you for their reminder, Pastor Dave. And as he mentioned, if you have taken a new step with the Lord, whatever that may be, you've come back to the Lord, you've taken a new step and a new beginning committed your life to Jesus, or you're just water baptized, you want to be disciple, text new to 51010. We want to connect with you. We want to help you. We want to walk alongside you. I want to invite the prayer team forward, please. And I do want to encourage you that everybody needs prayer. So please don't be bashful, this is a house of prayer, okay? And today, if you've never come forward and had prayer, I just feel convicted to tell you if you've never, you feel like that's embarrassing or maybe you just feel awkward, I wanna encourage you to take that step today. Just for whatever it is that's on your heart, come forward and let us unite with you in prayer and let's watch how God moves in your life, all right? So please do that. I wanna leave you with a couple announcements before we dismiss you. Water baptism, like we said, November 29th, if you can't sign up for this next service is water baptism and you wanna schedule it out a little bit, then November 29th, we welcome you to come alongside and we'd love to be able to water baptize you. Also, as Pastor Dave mentioned, we're continuing our maid for more campaign. And you know what, it's not just about finding more volunteers, it's about plugging you
into your giftings and building a community. As Pastor Dave mentioned, that's gonna be a new family and friendships, whoever you serve alongside. We have all kinds of areas, you can help us in production and worship, be a greeter, usher, behind the scenes. We've got volunteers that aren't needed on Sunday, but on other days. There's something for you and you can build a community and we can walk alongside together. So let me pray over you and dismiss you. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord, make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turned His face to you and give you His peace. God bless you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]
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