We Equip People

- Hello men and women, such an honor and a blessing to be able to speak to you from right here in McKinney, Texas at Life Fellowship Church into your tablet and whatever facility that you're in. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number was 149-0218. I have four numbers after that. Did nine and a half years running around in the correctional system in Texas. Man, God radically got a hold of my life and my life is completely different. I want to give you guys this hope. You know my heart for you guys and you know my excitement and encouragement because he's just completely wrecked and transformed my life. Like for 20 years I was in and out on the streets doing drugs, doing crime, in jail, in prison, get out, little go for a little while, back into it, all that stuff. And I know many, many of you can relate to that. Many of you can. And many of you can relate to come into prison or getting into some type of situation. Life looms large because of our behaviors or because of the stuff that we're doing. And you have a moment when you're like, man, I gotta change. I gotta do something different because gosh, man, this sucks.

I don't want to be in prison. I don't want to come back here again and then to have those good intentions and then to get out and to fall right back into it again. I know that frustration and that anxiety. And I just, man, we just want to encourage you and let you know, man, you are loved to hear at Life Fellowship Church. You are part of our church family. We pray for you guys daily. Anybody that mails in prayer cards, it gets prayed over in three different prayer groups because we love you. You know that I love you. And man, if you're anywhere in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex when you get out, I don't care where you live. If you're anywhere around here on a Sunday, man, come up here and at least say hi, visit us. We love meeting you guys. And of course, if you do live here, man, we want to walk along with you and do this life and do this walk with you. Hey, remember to tell your friends and family that they can download the same Pando app that you watch on your tablets. They can download it on their phone and they can watch the same teachings, the same messages, the same, they can read the same books. They got the chosen on there, the Bible recap. You know what all is on there.

Well, yo, your family can do the same thing that you're doing and when you speak to them in visitation or when you talk to them on the phone or when you have write letters or messages through the tablet, man, you can have a few moments of, hey, what did that message say to you? What did the Holy Spirit say to you during that teaching, during that message? What did He reveal to you? And you can do this walk with your loved ones. It's so important to start getting into that habit. We are never intended to do this walk alone. Never intended to. We've got to have good, golly people and it starts with our families. I don't want you to fall victim to the lie that you can't lead your families just because you're behind the wire. I know men that are freer than inside there than they are out here, men that are more spiritually fit, more sound in there, you have got to not fall victim to that lie. Lead your family, lead your kids over the phone, however God allows you to, man, He will honor that. He will. So, man, I was reading, actually I was thinking about, I wasn't reading it. I was thinking about the parable of the farmer that scatters seeds. 'Cause I'm thinking about you guys and I'm thinking about all the hundreds of thousands

of views that we get on our messages and stuff. And I know that there's 180-something churches on the Pando at the last time I checked. I know you guys are getting lots and lots and lots and lots of word. You're getting lots of good stuff. Like what a miracle that tablet is. I didn't have a tablet when I was locked up. What a miracle, what an amazing thing to have to be able to actually have life spoken into you in your downtime, in your free time. Lord knows there's plenty of that in there and there's plenty of other things that you could be doing that will lead you off another path. But man, to have this, it's awesome. But it's not thinking about all the seeds that you guys are getting. And I'm just gonna read the parable. It's in Luke chapter eight, I'm gonna start in verse four. It says, "One day Jesus told a story "in the form of a parable to a large crowd "that had gathered from many towns to hear him." This is Jesus talking. A farmer went out to plant his seeds and as he scattered it across the field, some seed fell on a footpath where it was stepped on and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell. planted. And when he said this, he called out anyone with ears that he here should hear and understand. Guys, this is a prayer that I would be praying while I'm in there while man like we need to be doing everything we can in the situation that you're in right now to get as strong spiritually as we can to grow as much as we possibly can. So guys, ask God for ears to hear and eyes to see so that we can hear and understand the mysteries of the gospel. So his disciples asked him, Hey man, what's this parable mean? And then down in verse 11, it says, this is the meaning of the parable. The seed is God's word. Y'all got exponentially more of God's word coming into your life because of that tablet. Yes, we have open church services. Yes, we have the Bible. Yes, we have an occasional thing that you can watch on TV if everyone in the pot agrees to it and all that kind of stuff. But man, now you've got a bunch of seed coming at you. He's saying the seed that fell on the foot path represented those who hear the message only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. So you hear it, but it doesn't take long and the enemy comes and snatches it away. He comes with a lie. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy. I say this all the time, devil's not just running around like trying to poke you with his pitchfork and make you bad and drink more and cause more and smoke more. No, no, he's trying to devour you. He's trying to completely take you out and he's going to do everything he can to keep these words, the word to keep the seeds from taking root. And he's really, really good at it. He's been around from the very beginning. He knows exactly how to get us. So another prayer I'd pray is God, man, protect me from the enemy, bind the enemy that's going to come and try to rob these seeds from me because he's coming. He is and he's good at it and he succeeds a lot of the time. Because the word says what's bound on earth is bound in heaven. That's a prayer that you're holding God to his word. It says it in his word. I would pray that prayer. God help me, man. Protect me from the enemy. I bind the enemy. Any assignments that are on me or even this pot or even this prison that I'm in. I just bind that and I just pray that they fall to the ground powerless. And so that's the first one. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. That was me a lot of the times. I would come to

open church when I was locked up. I would hear a message. I would get fired up. It would really, oh, man, that was a great message. But then I had no roots. I didn't do anything to get rooted. I just kept living any other way I wanted to live. I kept doing the hustles and I kept doing the gambling and I kept doing the, you know, if you had some stuff or whatever you had, man, I'd partake in it because in my thinking, I'm like, you know, yeah, that was a good word. And yeah, I'm going to need God because I don't want to come back here. But I know this. And so what I'm going to do is, man, while I'm in here suffering, I'm just going to do whatever I can to make this comfortable for me. But when I get out, that's what I'm going to start doing this stuff and see no roots there, no time in the word, no prayers, no worship. There's nothing that I'm doing to grow those roots deep. I just keep on living the same way I was living. And then when temptation comes, I'm easily fall away. When I hit that gate, man, he hits me with my flavor of temptation and I easily fall away. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, our flesh, right, lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the enemy, the lies. Like we get focused on, man, I was just talking to one of my co-workers 10 minutes ago about this, how, man, we can get so distracted in life with good things that there's no time left for the God things, the things that actually root us, the things that actually will produce treasure and heaven, the things that actually God might look at us one day and say, well done, my good and faithful servant. So guys, we've got to stay rooted and to do that, it takes effort. You know, he talks about there's a wide road that leads to destruction and a Many will search for the narrow road, but few will find it. Why? Because it's a difficult road. It's a difficult road not going along with the crowd and on the wide road, going along with the crowd, whatever they're doing in your dorm, whatever thing is happening, to go against that man and to say, "No, no, no, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to go over here. I'm going to read the word. I'm going to stay.

I'm going to get rooted because I don't want the word to be crowded out." I want to be strong in the faith, and so they never grow into maturity, and the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, clean to it, patiently produce a huge harvest. Honest, good-hearted people, or any of us that, that's what the word says, but we have to check our motives, man. We have to truly desire a relationship with the Lord. He is not going to force himself upon us. He wants us to choose him. We can be the gods of our life as long as we want, and we make terrible gods, and it'll just keep getting worse, and worse, and worse, and worse until we finally get to a point where we're like, "Okay, God, I need you. And not only do I need you, but I'm willing to do anything I can to sever that sin from my life, anything I can to get rooted in you, anything that I need to do to have a stronger relationship with you because I need you, God." Those are the ones. Now, if you look here, there's four options for seeds. Three of them aren't good. So like 70% for her, 5%, according to the word, are going to fall off. So I want to ask you, man, like what is your soil? How is the soil of your heart? Are you bent towards the world? The answer is yes. We're all bent towards the world. We're all bent towards the flesh. We're all bent towards that. But, man, if we don't recognize that and start doing everything we can to come against that. I mean, we're going to end up in one of those three camps that it's either going to get taken away by the enemy choked out or it's not going to be rooted and spring up.

And I just don't want that for you, man, because I feel like God revival is happening behind those walls. I believe God is raising up an army for these end times because he always does things that you would never expect him to do. He always answers prayers and ways that like not always, but oftentimes he answers prayers and ways you would have never seen it coming. And I just believe because I see it when I'm in there, God is raising up an army for these end times and it's going to take the world by surprise, man. And I want you to be in that army, man, not only that, I want you to have a life with purpose and meaning and calling because it's so good, man. How many decades did we spend, man, doing drugs, doing drink and drugs and sex and crime and trying to stack paper and get a bunch of stuff that we, material things, trying to find that fulfillment, trying to find that joy, man, true joy, true fulfillment will never be found in any of that stuff. And, man, it takes so much revelation of that and then effort to come against that. Man, I'm telling you, it's so worth it. I want that so much for every single one of you. So I just invite you all to examine your heart, examine your hearts, man. What kind of soil are you? What are you? And you can always ask God in prayer, man, God, change my heart. David did it before. Search me, God, and know me. Search my heart. Bring anything to the surface that offends you because he will sever that thing. If you're willing, again, he won't force himself on you, but she got to be willing. Let me pray. Father, we love you. I love these men and women who watch. God, I love that you're raising up an army behind the wire.

God, I love what you're doing, man, in the hearts of men and women who have just finally reached the end like I did. God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would fall on them right now, that your convicting spirit would just illuminate in them that, oh my gosh, I'm not rooted, oh my gosh, I've been listening to the enemy. Oh my gosh, I've been letting the cares of this world, what little things of the world that I can have when I'm in there, I'm letting that dominate me, man, and I don't want to do that anymore. And so God, I pray that they would cry out to you and ask you for your help, your power and the last God that you would strengthen them. Your love that changes things. Man, that love that passes knowledge. God, just let your Holy Spirit fall on every one of them and let them know how much you love them. God, if there's anyone watching today that's never called upon your name, God, I pray that they would be saved right now by the power of your Holy Spirit, that God, you would just draw them unto you, God, you would just chase after them with all the desperation, leaving 99 to go after them. God, I just pray that for them. I pray that you would bless their families while they're gone, be a provider to their families. God, remove that anxiety that all of them are feeling about their families and loved ones that they can't communicate with and they don't know what's happening with God. I pray against that in Jesus' name. God, I pray that if their kids need a healer

that you would heal them in Jesus' name, that if they need provision that you would be their provider in Jesus' name. God, I pray that you would just let all these men and women know that their kids, their loved ones, their grandparents. Man, that they are your sons and daughters as well and that you love them with a love that we can't even fathom or imagine that that would bring them comfort, God, and that that wouldn't be a distraction in their walk. And so, God, I just thank you. We praise you, we love you. We give you all the praise and glory in Jesus' name. Amen, and you know, I just got one more question for you guys, whose house? God's house, let's give him some praise. (gentle music) (upbeat music) - Good morning, my fellowship. We're so glad you're here with us this morning. Go ahead and stand up for the worship together. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ This is the day you made ♪ ♪ So I'll rejoice and be glad ♪ ♪ Rejoice and be glad at it ♪ ♪ This is where I believe ♪ ♪ That you are more than enough ♪ ♪ More than enough for me ♪

♪ You are faithful to your promise ♪ ♪ You are strong when I am me ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence ♪ ♪ I have everything I need ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Oh my soul bless his name ♪ ♪ All that is within me is death ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Jesus come with me ♪ ♪ You are worthy of all ♪ ♪ worthy of all my praise ♪ ♪ What's faithful to your promise ♪ ♪ You are strong when I am me ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence ♪ ♪ I have everything I need ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Oh my soul bless his name ♪ ♪ All that is within me is death ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪

♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ They let it fall around ♪ ♪ With all the amen ♪ ♪ All the glory ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of my strength ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ Come on guys, sing it out loud ♪ ♪ And joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ And joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ All my soul is my strength ♪ ♪ All that is to give me strength ♪ ♪ All my soul is my strength ♪ ♪ All that is to give me strength ♪ ♪ All my soul is my strength ♪ ♪ All that is to give me strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ All the glory of my strength ♪

♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ And joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Thank you for the joy ♪ ♪ For all we make is Jesus ♪ ♪ You're still holding on ♪ ♪ You've been thrown in glory ♪ ♪ My Savior keep you ♪ ♪ Your loving God is as well as you ♪ ♪ Though I'm a boy of you ♪ ♪ Of majesty ♪ ♪ You're at the Lord in royalty ♪ ♪ And I will lay my crowns down at your feet ♪ ♪ You are holding, holding, and I will ♪ ♪ In my heart as an offering ♪ ♪ You are worthy, so worthy God ♪ ♪ You're so worthy, oh ♪ ♪ Here are your long turn ♪ ♪ To seek your face ♪ ♪ Broken and tore it out ♪ ♪ With our research ♪ ♪ Before the fountain ♪ ♪ Before my kingdom ♪ ♪ Here are surrendered to my enemy ♪ ♪ Here are your long turn ♪ ♪ To seek your face ♪ ♪ Broken and tore it out ♪ ♪ With our research ♪ ♪ For the bed and full of empty ♪ ♪ Before my kingdom ♪

♪ Here are surrendered to my everything ♪ ♪ And I will lay my crowns down at your feet ♪ ♪ You are holding, holding, and I will ♪ ♪ In my life as an offering ♪ ♪ You are worthy, so worthy ♪ ♪ And I will lay my crowns down at your feet ♪ ♪ You are holding, holding, and I will ♪ You are worthy, so worthy What is it you like? This man is calling you home We hear you all the more We say You are the only citizen I'm the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, there's actually a storm We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one, the one

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We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one We try to go to heaven In the end, the one

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(dramatic music) - The Book of Revelation talks about the fact that day and night and night and day, the angels, the elders, will bow out of the throne, and all they will sing is holy, holy, holy. Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who wasn't as it is to come. Holy, holy. So right now here on earth, we're just making what's happening 24/7 in Heavens. We're just singing holy, holy, holy to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And I can't wait for the day in eternity that I will forever and only sing holy. (dramatic music) ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the elders ♪ ♪ As they cast their crowns ♪ ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the angels ♪ ♪ As they cry ♪ ♪ And we've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the creatures ♪ ♪ As they bow down ♪ ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the saints ♪ ♪ As they cry ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the elders ♪ ♪ As they cast their crowns ♪ ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the angels ♪ ♪ As they cry ♪ ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the creatures ♪ ♪ As they bow down ♪ ♪ We've come to join the soul ♪ ♪ Of the saints ♪ ♪ And they cry ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see, I see, I see ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're my heart, you're my heart, you're my heart ♪ ♪ You're my heart, you're my heart, you're my heart, you're my heart, you're my heart ♪ ♪ Everything we're both, and every time we dance you are all, you are all me ♪ ♪ And they seem to feel you in your box, they seem to feel you in your box ♪ [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] You are so worthy. You are seated on your throne. You are worthy of all praise, all glory, all honor, all power belongs to you and you alone. You are the reason we are gathered in this place. We worship an audience of one, the holy one, the mighty one, the matchless one, the worthy one. Thank you for your presence in this place. None of this means anything without your presence father. And so we thank you. We thank you for your presence in this room. We thank you for the lives you are transforming. We thank you for the shift in the atmosphere because of you, because of your spirit. And we thank you for what you are going to continue to do in the rest of this service today, Lord. We bless you. We honor you. Jesus, name, amen. [MUSIC] All right, you can be seated. Give somebody a high five on your way down. Right now, you'll see we have families coming to the stage, coming into the auditorium with their children, and we're gonna have a special moment here of child dedication. Let's go ahead and give it up for all these families and these children that are coming for this special dedication moment. We're so thankful for this.

I love these moments in the life of the church. And Cindy and I have three kids that we've dedicated to the Lord, but also we have 14 grandkids that we did this with, and we got to participate in that dedication as all those dedications as well. So I know how special this is, and I know there's probably family and friends here of these families, and so so glad that you're here with us today. And I just wanna say a couple things about what's happening here, and then we're gonna pray a special prayer of dedication for these children. And that is the child dedication is important because it's a decision on the part of the parents. To say, Lord, we are trusting you with these beautiful kids you've given us. We don't believe that water baptism should be handled with children. We believe that ought to be at a point when children make a personal faith decision to follow Jesus. But when they're young, their parents are equipping them, they're discipling them, they're training them, and the parents' heart is saying, Lord, we're first giving them to you, but we're also gonna fulfill our responsibility as the leaders of the home. And so, ladies and gentlemen, welcome.

We're so glad that you're a part of life fellowship. We're so glad that you chose them to do this today. (audience applauding) And I wanna take just a moment and say that we're gonna give them a charge, and it's a three-point charge, and it's to train and to model and to release your children to the Lord. When I'm finished, I'm just gonna ask you to say, we will. All right? So first of all, we're gonna ask you, will you train up these beautiful kids in the ways of the Lord? Will you teach them God's word? Will you bring them to the place of worship? Will you let them send under Bible teachers and ministers? Will you personally help them know what it means to follow Jesus? The second part of that is to model what it means to follow Jesus. They'll probably learn more by watching you in these early years than they will by what you even say, but train and model for them what it means to follow Jesus. And the third part of this is so important, and that is I do know that even as parents as the children get older, you kinda wanna hold on and help direct their lives and say this is what we think is best, but how many of you know God knows what's best? And I wanna ask you that if God would see fit

to actually even call your children into full-time gospel ministry, would you be willing to say, Lord, they're your children, and I want you to take them wherever you wanna take them 'cause I know you have a purpose and a plan for them. So if you will train them in the ways of Christ, if we will model for them, but also we release them into the hands of a loving and a faithful God who knows much more about their future than we do, if you will do those three things, will you say we will? Amen, amen. Would you just stand with me and I'm gonna ask you to stretch forth your hands and we've got some pastors and leaders up here that are gonna lay hands on these families and these kids. And we're gonna pray a very special prayer of dedication at this time. Would you join me? Dear Lord Jesus, we come to you and we thank you, Lord, that we can gather together in your name and in the very presence of God. Lord, we sent your presence here today. And in this moment, these parents are making a faith-filled decision, a faith-filled commitment to say, we will train our children in the ways of Christ. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would help them, that you will anoint them for this work

of leading their children, in knowing what it means to be a follower of Jesus, to teach them to doctrines, the truths of your word, but also Lord, help them as they model the way, as they make decisions to let their children see what this looks like and how they can follow after me as I follow Christ. So Lord, help them as they model the way. And Lord, we ask that you would just open their hearts to say, Lord, we know what you know, we know that what you have for our children is what is best. So Holy Spirit, I pray that you help them to release, release into your hands the children that you've given them, at the appropriate time, that you would guide them into their purpose and the future that you've laid out for them from the beginning of time. And Lord, we thank you now, and in Jesus' name, we dedicate, we dedicate these children to you. And we praise you and thank you for your blessing. God bless you. Give me your bed up one more time for these families here while they come down. Yes. Thank you. Well, while all the families are going down, this is an amazing moment together. I want to, if you can take your seat, it's your first time here in our church. My name is Marcella. I'm the Connections Director here at Church, and I'm so glad to have you with us. And I want to make sure you don't leave the store unnoticed. I want to know that you loved and you chose to be in this place. So if you have your phone, text the word new to 510, and we love to connect you with the group, with a bunch of people that you're not going to walk alone in community. Amen. So I'm a mom of three kids, and my third one, he's about to turn six, and we were in the restaurant, me and him, and his grandma, and his grandma gave him two dollars. And we were in those restaurants that you have, those little machines that you can take,

whatever is it, squishies, stuffy, whatever it is, but there's something in there. He was so excited. And I was like, "Mommy, I got two dollars. I got to be able to do twice and two times." And then when he got there, the machine was broken. So he was like, "Oh, mommy, I'm so frustrated." I was like, "Okay, Levi, it's fine. It happens." And all of that. And then it's a guy from the restaurant. He was even trying to help him, like to put a, to work and all of that, but he couldn't. So he was serving us. He's a servant. And then I told, I saw in the cash, in the cashier, a little cup, say tips. I was like, "Levi, let me tell you something. What do you think we blessed someone with maybe the money the grandma gave it to you? You know, what is that thing? Like kind of teaching him to bless others?" And he's like, "Well, how that works? Like we have two dollars in that tip. So if he served you to do something for you, we blessed that person. You know, and then it's a pretty nice way to do. So kind of teaching the God's heart." So he got his like, "Mm, I'm not sure. I just got two dollars. You want to give it away?" Anyways, he thought a little bit and he saw in my face and he, he run to that cup and put his two dollars and come back, "Mommy, mommy, I get it. I give it two dollars to him. My blast feels like, wow, Levi. This is so cool." And I kind of encouraged him and showing God's character on him. And then it reminds me in Acts 12, chapter 35, it says, "It's blessed to give and receive." And he was so excited about that. And I saw God's heart in that. And I want to encourage us this morning. It's better gives than receive. The joy that you give, the joy that you give is like my child. I was like, "Yes, I made it." And many times we're just so attached to that thing. Maybe in the money, but maybe it's your time. Maybe it's something that is attaching God to give. So this is a moment that was just remind us that God, he gave his son first to us. And then what we're doing, what he gave in to us. So just the ways to give in the screen and then you take your time. And I want to pray and then we go to the message. Amen? "Dear Lord, I thank you for your presence in this place Lord. I thank you because you gave first. You taught us how is the blessed to give and receive. So teach our heart Lord to give to your kingdom, to give to so many people that we're sharing your gospel all over the world. I'm so thank you for this church. It's so generous. We bless you. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Prepare your heart for the message. All right. Welcome again everyone to Life Fellowship and to those who are watching online. We welcome you. Thank you for tuning in. And if you're at the Department of Corrections, we welcome you as part of our church family. Come on everybody. Give it up for those

who are watching on the other side of the camera. So glad that you're here today. And I just want you to say for those of you who are out there, I just want you to know that God sees you. He knows you. He's with you. And we love you. And I can honestly say that from my heart because from the very first Sunday I was here, God had already put a supernatural love in my heart for you. And I'll tell you that story real quick. Six days before my first Sunday here on August 2nd, that night I had a dream about you. I had a dream about Life Fellowship. And I don't remember the details of the dream, but I do remember waking up, sensing this strong love for you and looking forward to being with you and just I've gotten to know the staff very well. Pastor Tran is just a joy to be with every day that I'm here. And so it's just good to know that you can talk to people that you already love. And so I do have that love for you and love for those who are watching today. We're talking about the kind of church that Jesus wants us to be, that I think the Bible calls us to be. And we're titling this series, this is us, living our values. And I shared a definition with you of what core values for a local church really are all about. And I shared that last week, I'm going to share it again because I think it's that important. If you take a look at it with me here on the screen. 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. Values are what we do. We do what we value. And I think this is a very, very important definition about where we've been, who we are today, and where we're going. And once again, I'm going to quickly give you what those five values are and spend the remainder of our time on the second one today. Last Sunday, we talked about we put God first. And we talked about we put God first through prayer, through word, and through worship. And we also learned that we should never eat fruit and nut mix in the dark. If you were here, you know exactly what I'm saying. And I'm far too emotional about it to even say it again today. It was so much of an emotional experience. But anyway, we're talking about equipping people today. And then we're going to be talking about we show up next Sunday. So on we show up Sunday, guess what we need to do? Ah, we show up. All right, so come because that's an important, important message that encompasses a lot of things. I'm going to be talking about we choose unity in a couple of weeks and we bring our best. How do we do those things? What does the Bible say about those things? And what does that mean for us as a local church? Today,

we equip people. If you have your Bible, so you can see it on the screen, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11. The word equip is a Bible word. And we see it in the job description for pastors, but we see it beyond there. And I'm going to show you. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, 11. So Christ Himself gave the apostles the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip His people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. To do what? To equip His people. He gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip His people. Pastors equip God's people, the church. We equip people for works of service. It says right here. But we equip people to do lots of things, to have strong marriages, to be people of faith, to raise godly kids and to be godly men and godly women, and how to be strong in the Lord and how to be wise with our money and to practice biblical stewardship, how to walk by faith and not by sight, how to overcome fear and anger and some of these things. These are all equipping teachings that we do and should do as we equip the body of Christ and build the body of Christ up. But I want to show you that it doesn't begin here or end here because for each of us as the church, as followers of Jesus, we are all called as equipters, meaning as you are being equipped, as you are being built up, as you are becoming mature, you are also to equip and disciple others. For instance, as parents, you just saw it. We equip our children and I charged and called these parents to be equipters of their kids, train your kids, teach your kids, equip them in the ways of Christ. Yes, model for them and then release them into the hands of a faithful and a wonderful, generous, merciful God. And God gives all of us grace for that. In the New Testament, Jesus called and equipped his followers because he had more for them to do and he expected more from them. A couple weeks ago, we talked about being made for more and I hope that you will take your next step and get involved in an area of service. We will help equip you for that area of service. But Jesus was calling his followers to a new life, to a new way of thinking with new values and new behaviors. And he began by saying, "Repent and follow me. Repent and follow me." I mean, that's the first thing that has to happen. If you're going to follow Jesus, you've got to repent and turn from your old way of life, the old way of life is not just a physical turn. There's a mind change, a heart change and a mind change from the old way of life into the new way of life. So as we equip people, which I hope I'm doing that today, we're committed to preaching and teaching and modeling,

what it means to be followers of Jesus. And that's what the church should be doing. And so we have a value, we're saying we value this so highly, we're gonna make it one of our five main things. We value this, we equip people. This is us, somebody say this is us. All right, you can talk back to me if you want to. All right, write this down if you take notes. Discipleship best happens in community. That's really important. Discipleship best happens in community. It happens in biblical and God honoring relationships. And as we see Jesus discipled his first followers in a community, a community of 12. You know, it was one thing for them to learn from the master teacher himself. It was another thing to rub shoulders with 11 others and go through life with them and how to live out these teachings and these behaviors that Jesus is modeling with other people. How many of you don't get to go through life in isolation? You go through life with people and we need to learn how to walk with Christ with others. See, as Lewis once wrote this, he said, "If the church is not making disciples all the cathedrals, "the clergy, missions, sermons, "even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time." God became man for no other purpose, he said. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. How many of you think see this?

Lewis felt pretty strongly about biblical discipleship. I mean, those are some pretty strong words. Think about this, we are all being discipled by someone or something, including our kids. So either you can disciple them or someone else will. We can be discipled by default or by design. We can let the world, the culture around us, mold us and shape us and shape our kids by default. And many people are, they're just kind of walking through this life on spiritual autopilot. A little bit of this, a little bit of this, a little bit of this. And they are becoming products of a culture that is not favorable to God and to the Lord Jesus or even believes in the Holy Spirit. Or we can be discipled by design, by pastors in a faithful church community and a God who desperately loves us and has a preferred, not just a preferred, but a purpose and a plan for us. Author and theologian Eugene Peterson gives us a good working definition, I think, of discipleship when he said this. To be a disciple says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ. And I love that. We are in a growing learning relationship always. A disciple is a learner, but not in the academic setting of a school room, rather at the works side of a craftsman. We do not just acquire information about God, but skills in faith.

Some may say skills in faith. There are skills of faith we have to learn, that we don't just acquire, just because we're around people, we've got to learn. Discipleship is in part about growing and acquiring faith skills. If I were to desire to acquire skills as a pianist, I would have to sit with a piano teacher. And some of you've done that, and I'm jealous, that you play the piano so well. And I see these keys, keep more people in them like, "Man, I wish I had learned that at a young age "because I would sit and I would sing "and I would leave worship from the keys." (sighs) I can't do that. Can't do that. 'Cause I never sat at the foot of a pianist. If I want to acquire skills as a plumber, which I don't, I would apprentice with a plumber. If I really wanted to be a good golfer, which I say that I do, Andre, I'd say that I want to be a good golfer. I say I do, but not bad enough to pay the price, to have the professional, have the coach that could just analyze the swing and work with me day after day and week after. I just haven't spent the money or spent the time to do that. So I must not want it bad enough. If I wanted to be a great fisherman,

well, you get the idea. And so to grow with Jesus, we must be watching. We must be with Jesus. And we must be with those who follow Jesus. That's not very deep, but that's pretty deep. That's pretty profound. We need to be with Jesus and be with those who follow Jesus when Jesus called people to follow him and be his disciples. You might be thinking, well, I know what you're going to say. If you're going to say about making disciples, you're going to tell us we've got a 10 church, a 10 growth track, and serve, and be water baptized, and give you a tithe, and be a part of a small group, and all those fantastic things. Yes, I think all that's wonderful, but that's not it. It's not it. That's not the heart of discipleship. There's just this discipleship, things that happen in all of those things. But that's not the heart of equipping. Equipping is in the following and the doing. The following and the doing, it's in the things that Jesus did. Yes, the things he said and learning what he said and then doing what Jesus did. One of the most important elements I think of what it means to follow Jesus is knowing, knowing some very important things, which means there's teaching and training involved, and we need to know. We need pastors and teachers, pastors really can't be pastors and effective pastors, unless we're also teachers, pastors and teachers. Teachers can be teachers without being pastors, but pastors really can't be pastors without being teachers. Did you get all that?

Some of you looking at me like a calf staring at a new gate. OK. So we pastors need to be pastor teachers. Your next senior leader will be a pastor/teacher. Be someone who not only pastors your loves and cares for you but teaches you the word of God. Like I want to be while I'm working here as a transition pastor. We can't assume that people just get it by osmosis, spiritual osmosis or just by hanging out with us on Sunday, but we have to teach. I mean, some people have been in church for 60 years and they're still mean as a snake. I mean, we've got to teach people, you can't do that. Those people aren't in this church. No, no, no, no, don't miss this. We must know and help others to know some things. We need to know what it means to love Jesus wholeheartedly. We need to know what that means. We need to know what it means to serve Jesus by serving other people. You know that we serve Jesus by serving others. We need to know what it means to forgive if we want to be forgiven. We need to know what it means to love our enemies. What does that look like? Have you seen that recently? Well, I hope you have. I hope you've done that. You have some enemies, you know. But you are to love your enemies. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Jesus said, bless those who curse you. No, I'm going to curse those who curse me.

No, no, you're not. That's the way of the world. Jesus says you're to bless those who curse you. Do good to them who hate you, he said. He said to pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. That's how we respond. Now, that's rewind the last seven days. How have we done with all that? That's no good questions. If we truly want to follow Jesus, how many of you have seen the chosen series? I mean, to me, when I'm reading this stuff and I'm preaching and teaching this stuff, my mind goes back to some of those images, and I'm watching the twelve and the others who are actually with them, walking with Jesus, following Jesus, and Jesus stopping and talking and saying, "Time out. We got to talk about this. We got to talk about what just happened with those Roman soldiers." I need to tell you why I said what I said, and next time you can do that. So, we got to know these things, we got to know how to give and give from the heart. And knowing I give, the Bible says he's going to give back, good measure, press down, shaken together, running over. We need to know what it means to be generous, because Jesus put a spirit of generosity in us. We just have to activate it by faith. Sometimes we just want to, what is this? That is not giving, that's holding on to, but he wants to open our hands and open our hearts to give and bless others. That's the kingdom of God. We need to know that we live in a very different kingdom, and maybe, just maybe, maybe we hold on to this world with much too tight of a grip. And probably, and maybe most importantly, I think, we must know the gospel.

We must know the gospel. So I want to do a little equipping today and make sure that when you leave today, you will know the gospel if you want to know it. Every learner, every student has to want to learn what the teacher, pastor/teacher is sharing and giving. But if you can't share the gospel or articulate the gospel or explain it to others, and disciples must do that, just know this, you're not alone. I'm not trying to make you feel bad about something. sure if I talk about this or I talk about this or I say this. But since it's so foundational to following Jesus, I want to equip you and make sure you know that. And I hope you will learn it. We equip people. So right now I'm going to put my teacher's hat on. If you have some paper, if you haven't pulled any out yet, or maybe your notes app on your phone, you could probably put it in there. Or maybe you just want to take a picture of some of the things coming up on the screen. Or, I mean, lots of options here on the Life Fellowship app. There's the notes that's coming up on the screen. They're there every Sunday. So you can look there also. Bible scholars and theologians agree that most of Jesus' apostles were in their late teens and early 20s. Now think about that. They were young people. Jesus turned the world upside down with teenagers and young adults. But think about that. Like today's Gen Z and Gen Alpha, not millennials. I mean they're you're older now. You're too old. Millennials are 30 to 45, I understand now today. So but he can use you too. He sure can. And these young Jewish men were products of orthodox Jewish homes and local synagogues where they had learned the scriptures and they were familiar with the great Messianic passages from the prophets. The only thing they knew of this new kingdom that had come is from what Jesus taught them and showed them. And Jesus spent three years teaching them about the kingdom of God. They learned that the kingdom was here and the kingdom was within them because of their faith in the king. That the kingdom of God was already here but it was kind of not yet as well. Have you ever heard that phrase? The kingdom of God is already but not yet? That simply means the kingdom of God has come. The kingdom of God is here because Jesus is here because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the earth and in the hearts of men. The kingdom of God is here but the kingdom of God is not yet because there's still a kingdom to come, an eternal kingdom. But if you're already in the kingdom of God, you will just step right into the kingdom to come

and experience the full reality of the kingdom of God one day. So all that's really, really interesting to me. So there's seven key ingredients to this kingdom. I want to show you the gospel of Mark chapter 1 includes the call to follow Jesus. Look at what it says. Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe the gospel." So these young men took the most logical action possibly. They said, "Okay, we know Jesus is the king. We know he's here and they repented. They had a change of mind and they made a 180. They believed and they began to follow Jesus." Verse 17 and 18 confirms it. "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.' And immediately they left their nets and followed him." So I want to take a moment. It's coming up on the screen. I want to show you seven things. And this is what you might want to just make sure you get a hold of today. I said, "You're going to learn this if you want to." Seven main ingredients or seven elements of the gospel message. And it's taken out of Mark chapter 1 and Mark chapter 8. We won't go into those passages, but it's taken from those two places in Scripture. So get this. The first seven elements of the gospel. The first one is this that we need to know is that God's kingdom is here. Say that with me. God's kingdom is here. The kingdom of God is at hand. And I've already said the kingdom of God came through Christ. Secondly, Jesus is the Christ. He is the anointed one. He is the Messiah. He is the one, the Savior, the Lord, the king of all. Jesus is the Christ. We've got to know that. The God's kingdom is here. Jesus is the reason for that. Number three, He died for our sins. Jesus died a sacrificial, substitutionary death for our sins. Number four, He was resurrected on the third day. He came back to life. We celebrate that. We should celebrate that. We celebrate it on Easter, but we should celebrate it every day, every Sunday. Jesus is alive. I think I said this in one of our services in the last few weeks, in the mornings, in my quiet time with Jesus, I regularly say Galatians 220 that says, "I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live." Why? Because Christ lives in me. He's alive. So I make that faith declaration. It's part of the gospel. It's powerful. And I make that declaration saying, "Okay, that's my reality. I live this way. I do these things because of that." He died for my sins. He was resurrected. And those four things, I want I want you to see those four things. It is my son, Jesus. And he can live in you that he'll be with you. And then Jesus, he sent his son, Jesus. Jesus is in order one. He was resurrected. And we believe that. So those four things are

on God. The next three things are our response to that. I love this. This breaks it down for me. It makes it simple for me at least. Four things that God did. And then he says, okay, do you believe that? Believe the gospel. And then if you believe the gospel, what's your response to believing the gospel? I repent. I, in the chosen, they got, they threw away their nets and got up and followed Jesus. They, they repented and turned and had a change of mind and did what? Number seven, they followed Jesus. So, and those first six truths lead us to number seven. Do you see that? The first four on God, the last three are our response. And so when you read this and see this, you'll find that Jesus always calls people to follow him. If you look to read through all the gospels, that was Jesus's call to people to follow him unconditionally and with no excuses, no matter the cost and always to the end. I know that's a lot. I've just given you a lot right there. Now we could just put our notebooks, close them, pray and go home. That's a lot right there. And by the way, that's enough right there. That's enough right there for you to go live a life for the glory of Jesus this week. Okay, I got that. It's in my phone. Okay, I'm gonna go back over that tomorrow morning. That's so, so important. I'm gonna back up and say that last thing one more time that Jesus always called people to follow him unconditionally. Now you want to write that down. You may want to write this down with no excuses, no matter the cost and always to the end. And that is a great question to ask yourself when you wake up in the morning, am I gonna live that way today? See, there was never this, never this in the Bible. Jesus, I really feel like maybe I'm called to part time with you. None of that. Or Jesus, if it's okay with you, I know you said to follow me. But if, hey, I'm just, I'm gonna tell everybody, I'm gonna give it a try. But if it doesn't work out, none of that. There was never this, this, can we do it? Jesus, can we do this 90 day trial period and see if that works out? No, did you hear me? No matter the cost, unconditionally, no matter the cost, always to the end. Jesus never taught that you could be a Christian and not be a disciple. In fact, he warned against that kind of teaching. Look what it says in Luke chapter 6 verse 46, Jesus asked the question, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?" And that's a really sobering question for all of us. Look at that. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?" And far too often, I think we want to rationalize why we can't or why we don't. We can probably all come up with some pretty good arguments, except Jesus said, "Why do you not do what I tell you?" Here's the reality, if you would. It's impossible to separate

true belief from action. When disciples followed Jesus, they weren't disciples because they said they were. I could say I'm an NBA basketball player, but that doesn't make me that at all. I could say I'm a great chef, but just because I wore a racing brand in the morning and put milk on my in my bowl does not make me a chef by any means. I'm no chef. But these disciples entered into a new realm of who they were when they said yes to Jesus. Their entire identity changed and their behaviors, and they put their lives on the line for Christ. Why? Because they recognized number one. There's this new kingdom. This king has come, and Christ is the king. And now I'm repenting and turning to follow him. So everything changes for me. For instance, Jesus began to teach him how to seek first the kingdom of God. And he equipped them to do it. So Jesus in Mark 633 says, "Seek first the kingdom of God in his righteousness." And he actually takes time to show them what that means and how to do that. I love that about Jesus. He doesn't just tell us to go on our own, but he teaches us. And so his band of followers are growing. and they're interested in his message, and they're more interested in his miracles, but they love his message, or they're interested in his message anyway. How many of you know miracles draw a crowd? And they drew a crowd in that day as well. So Jesus and his executive team, with this big crowd now that's following him, they say, you know what, we need to have a seminar. We need to have a conference where Jesus, you can just sit and teach for a long time. And so they go to this mountain, actually it's a hill near the Sea of Galilee, and they'd say, okay, we're gonna have a lengthy teaching session, Jesus, and there's gonna be a lot of people show up, and so you need to be on your A game. How many of you think the disciples did not say that?

No. So Jesus, this crowd gathers, I've been to that place, it's a beautiful place. And it's kind of like this natural amphitheater, and people are sitting, I can sit and visualize it in my mind, and Jesus begins to teach the places packed. What's he doing, he's equipping people. And he's hitting topic after topic after topic, he's hitting prayer, and giving, and fasting, and anger, and adultery, and divorce, and all those things, you just don't talk about in church. Now, pardon my sarcasm, okay? So no, those are things that Jesus talked about, Matthew chapter five, six and seven. He's going on and on, and people have never heard anything like this. His teaching is completely upside down to that of the Pharisees and other teachers. And he gets to this section of this very long sermon, and he says this in verse 25, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, and they're like, what do you mean? That's all we worry about. Don't worry about our life. What you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear is life not more than food. They have foodies in the first century. He's saying life's more than food, and the body more than clothes. He says look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? What's he doing? He's teaching them of their value. He's teaching them how they need to trust God for all things, that they don't need to worry. How many of you know worry changes zero? Nothing changes when you worry. It's not healthy, it's not mentally healthy, it doesn't accomplish anything, and it just simply says, I don't trust God today. Gee, say no, trust me. Seek first the kingdom of God. He's teaching them. Verse 26 says, instead of worrying, just look at the birds. Look at the birds. How many of you have at least one bird feeder in your yard? Wave your hand to them. Yeah, for some reason in the 845, like everybody lifted their hands. What's that say about 845? I think that's funny, I don't know. I'll tell you what it says. I remember when my dad was in his late 60s, early 70s. He might be watching today. Hey dad. I'm about ready to say something you don't know about, but anyway.

He was in the late 60s, 70s, and I was visiting mom and dad, and he said, Dave, let's go in the backyard and show you something. He takes me in the backyard, and he has all these bird feeders. And I'm like, why? And I'm thinking to my mind, I didn't say this out loud, but I'm like, Jesus, is this what I have to look forward to? I mean, I'm gonna live a bird feeder life, like my dad, and what's going on? And so I'm sitting on the deck this past summer. Now, this is almost 20 years later. I'm sitting on my dad's deck this past summer. The bird feeders have multiplied greatly. And quite honestly, I'm sitting on the deck one morning before he and Wanda came out. And I'm looking at those bird feeders, and I'm enjoying it. And those birds are doing the little thing, they're eating the food, and I'm thinking, I wonder what kind of bird that is? Who here comes to another bird? And they're like, all of a sudden, like, I wonder who's gonna refill, when he's gonna refill these bird feeders. I'm just engaging, enjoying it, and I'm thinking, Lord, what is wrong with me?

But I did remember this, and I thought it this this week. Jesus said, look at the birds. Now, when Jesus says something, we should listen to what he's saying. See, when you look in the face of that bird sitting on the window ledge, or the bird feeder, guess what, he's not concerned about where his next meal's coming from. Do you know why? Because God has put himself on the line for that bird. And somehow the bird knows it. I mean, between God and my dad, (congregation laughs) They're just taken care of because they're valuable to God. And my dad gets joy from it. Jesus keeps teaching in verse 27. He says, "Can any of you by worrying "at a single hour to your life? "And why do you worry about clothes? "See how the fires of the field grow. "They do not labor or spend. "Some of you think I just switch messages, "sermons on you, no, this is still the same sermon." Verse 29, "Yet I tell you that not even Solomon "and all of his splendor was dressed like one of these. "If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, "which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, "will he not much more clothe you,

"you of little faith? "So, do not worry saying what shall we eat, "or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear, "for the pagans run after all these things. "And your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, "and these things will be given to you as well." In other words, seek first, put God first. Therefore, when you put God first, you don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will do what? Tomorrow will worry and take care of itself. Every day, each day, has enough trouble of its own. And the thousands that were listening to Jesus that day, overlooking the Sea of Galilee are like, "What? Seek first, his kingdom? "Don't worry about our food, don't worry about our clothes, "don't worry about our drink, what about Rome? "What about how that's changed our lives, "the oppression, the unfairness to everything? "What about how are we gonna get through this time? "And today, God, what about America? "You say, "Don't worry? "As disciples of Jesus, here's what I know, I'm with you. "We're closing out another brutal "and very divisive election season. "But as a reminder, we love America. "We pray, we vote, we promote our candidates, "and we sing God, bless America, "and all that is right and good.

"But, America is not our home. "I just spent the last 25 minutes talking about "there's another kingdom, and the king has come. "And he's established another kingdom. "I love America, I love it. "I have a nice home, but it's not my home. "Not because I was born someplace else, "but I'm born again for someplace else. "That's why I can say it is not my home. "My grip is not very tight on this home. "The Bible says followers of Jesus belong "to another kingdom, another king. "The king has come, the king is Christ. "He died for our sins, he was resurrected. "But the question is, number five, "how do I respond? "Do I believe the gospel? "Do I repent of my sin? "Am I willing to follow him? "That's my part." So Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God." Now you can justify worry all you want, and we do, and I understand. And even these elections seem worthy of our worry. But no, that's not what Jesus told us. Our king told us, "Do not worry, look at the birds." So yes, I will say pray for your preferred candidates, but I would say even better, "Pray that God's preferred candidates would be elected." He said, "Well, that can't be different

"than my preferred candidates, can it?" Jesus said, "Pray this way, thy kingdom come. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So seek first the kingdom of God in his righteousness, and your heavenly Father will take care of you. And so these early disciples did that. And guess what? Jesus became their everything, and their needs were provided for, and they followed him. And then Jesus died, a sacrificial death for them, and for us, and he rose again, and his followers said, "Now we got to do what Jesus said." He said, "Go and wait for the promise of the Father "to come and the power of the Holy Spirit was poured out, "and now they went and began to equip others." And this is us, this is us. We put God first, and we equip people. And that's the call, that's valuable. I hope you feel a little bit better equipped today. Would you bow your heads with me? Let's take just a moment and just let some of that just sit on us better than that. Let's just ask the Holy Spirit to quicken us, convict us, speak to us. What does the Holy Spirit want to remind you of right now that you heard today? [music] Come Holy Spirit, I need you. Come Holy Spirit, help me. If there's anything in my life that's contrary to the way of Jesus, Holy Spirit would you show me and convict me, convict me of doing it my way instead of your way, Lord. [music] And if he shows you, just believe him and repent. The Bible says if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all in righteousness. Now I'm going to call all of us 100%. Those watching online, all of us, to the last three

points of the elements of the gospel and that is to believe it, believe it, believe it and repent of sin, repent of your own ways, your own will and surrender all to Jesus and follow him and follow him. There's an old song that says, "I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender, all to thee I freely give, I will ever love and trust him in his presence daily live." And then the simple prayer was, "I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Jesus, my blessed Savior, I surrender all." But yeah, it's about eyes closed for just a moment. If you hear, you would say, Pastor Dave, "I'm not a believer, even if I am a believer right now," that's my heart cry right now, "I want to surrender all to Jesus, throw your hand up in the air right now, I want to follow Jesus with full surrender, yes, hands going up all over the room, yes, yes, yes." On the other side of the camera, just say yes to I surrender all. Now I'm going to ask you to pray with me, and those of you who have never made a decision to follow Jesus, make this your heart to prayer right now, say yes to the gospel, yes to Jesus. Let's just all pray this together, "O dear Lord Jesus, I give you my life, and right now I surrender all to you, I surrender all, I believe the gospel, I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus I know you died for my sins on Calvary's Cross, and I believe you rose again on the third day, so I repent of all my sin, I ask you to cleanse me and wash me, make me brand new on the inside, I ask for you to give me a brand new heart today, and a brand new start today, and help me to follow you Jesus, help me to follow you, help me to be equipped and to equip others, and I'll give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name, amen. Come on, put your hands together and praise them for that. Lord, that's my heart. I have decided to follow Jesus. Why don't you stand with me right now as Marcella comes back? Yes, thank you, Pastor Dave, the amazing word. Can we give it up to Jesus one more time? And thank you for Pastor Dave for this amazing word. If you make the decision today to follow Jesus, you may just pray for the first time. One of the highlights of the mess that says the discipleship has happened in community, so don't walk alone. I will encourage you if you make this decision today, get your phone, text the word Jesus to 51010, and as I'll go with next step, how you can be with us as a church. And also, I would encourage you, maybe it's your first second, I don't know what time, or maybe here for a long time, you've never done a growth track, and growth track is basically two Sundays and take 10, 15 here, the first and second Sunday. We're going to talk about who we are as a church, our values, and also the second one is my favorite that we take a gift, spiritual gift test, and you find out what's your gifts. And that's the most

amazing thing, that's how we can equip you, and then you equip others and make a difference in the purpose that God has for your life. So next Sunday is the first Sunday, a growth track, Second thing no less important is May for more campaign. Who knows what May for more campaign is? Good, so I'll explain really fast. Make more as a campaign for us first to let you know that you may for more. You're not just made to just sit on this and just get fed, fed, fed. We are here to serve. We are here to equip people. That's how we are as Christians and also in our church. So I would encourage you, we is basically showing all the opportunities you have in our church to serve. And you can see the connect corner right here. It has a big banners there. People there with the shirts they made for more. They can help you. They can find you away in the team to serve. Got it? Are we good? Are we ready for lunch? Let's pray together. The Lord bless you and keep you. Let him make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord, turn his face towards you and give you peace. In Jesus name. Amen. Have a blessed week. Love you guys.

See you next Sunday. (audience applauds) (gentle music) (gentle music)