What Really Matters | Alan Platt | John 17

Well, good morning, Calvary Chapel, would you stand to your feet? We're going to celebrate the Lord Jesus, we're going to celebrate what He has done, He has saved us, He has made us new, brought us out of sin and given us new life. So we sing together, come on. I was bound in sin, but now I'm free. My Savior broke those chains right off of me. My new life defeated my old grave. Oh, ever since the day that I got saved, set free and delivered. I was clean, my sin forgiven, glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. I was bought with blood on Calvary. I know this story ends in victory. Buried with Him, with Him I am raised. Oh, ever since the day that I got saved, set free and delivered. I was clean, my sin forgiven, glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. Hallelujah, since that day. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. Not who I used to be, I got the Holy Spirit down inside of me. My God calls me by a brand new name. That's how I know that I am chosen, spoken for and born again. Not by my life, but because of Him. He said it's right, every day is great. That's how I know that I am. Not who I used to be, I got the Holy Spirit down inside of me. My God calls me by a brand new name. That's how I know that I am chosen, spoken for and born again. Not by my life, but because of Him. He said it's right, every day is great. That's how I know that I am saved, saved, free and delivered.

Was clean, my sin forgiven, glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, saved, free and delivered. Was clean, my sin forgiven, glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. Glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. Thank God I'm saved. Thank God I'm saved. We are saved by one name, by one man, and one alone. We're going to sing about him now. You know this song. Join with us. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. I dare not trust the sweetest prayer, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ Dark thrones and dominions ♪ ♪ All powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ And the angels cry, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ And all creation cries, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are lifted high, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ But what we say as a people who have been forgiven and redeemed. ♪ If you've been forgiven ♪ ♪ If you've been redeemed ♪ ♪ Sing the song forever to the land, hey ♪ ♪ If you walk in freedom and if you pass this way ♪ ♪ We'll sing the song forever to the land, hey ♪ ♪ We'll sing the song forever in heaven and the angels ♪ ♪ In the angels, come on, lift your voice this morning ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ And all creation cries, you are, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are lifted high, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're holy forever, hey, people sing, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Holy to the king of kings, King Jesus, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're holy, holy, holy forever, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ The light is declared like He's sovereign, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Your name is the greatest, your name is the greatest of all the titles, all of thrones, all droit and dominions, all powers and presions, All the biggest, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Peace, love and peace around the world, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh-oh-ow, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Forever, Lord. And who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. Who else is worthy? today. Who else is worthy? King Jesus. Let's sing it again. Who else is worthy? Oh, who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, God. ♪ Jesus, who else is worthy, oh, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only Jesus ♪ Yes, there is no one worthy, no one more holy, more powerful, more creative, more pure than our God. And so for just a moment, Lord, we just wanna stand in awe of your holiness, your majesty, your perfection.

We just take a moment to settle into your presence. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you that we get to join with heaven crying out holy, declaring that you are worthy. And I'm just struck by the fact that of all the things that the heavens could sing, they sing holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. Just feel like there's something important in that that we need to pay attention to this morning, God. Something that you're inviting us into, something that you wanna teach us more about. So God, we ask you to do just that. And we ask you today, Lord, that as we worship and as we read your word, as we pray, that we would move into more complete devotion to you and to you alone. We lay down every idol, every love that's fighting for our attention, our affection. And we ask that you would realign us with our heavenly father, with the God of the universe, that our love would be first and foremost for you today. Holy Spirit, would you do that work in each and every individual here. And so God, we thank you that because of Jesus, you see us as righteous. Thank you for the cross. Thank you that he filled in that gap for us so that we could approach and have relationship with the holy God. Today, we are grateful, we are humble,

and we respond to your beautiful love. So quiet our hearts, quiet our minds, and help us to be grateful for you. We're blessed to hear from you this morning. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. And now today, we have a special guest speaker. We talked last weekend about long legacy as we finished the book of 2 Timothy. And when I think of long legacy, I think of Pastor Alan Platt. He has that sort of apostle, Paul-like, fatherly spirit, a visionary leader. And in 2014, he moved here from South Africa to help us as our church went through a crisis. And we were sort of stuck together at the hip for three months. And his wisdom and insight and love poured into this place has made this place what it is today. And every year, he comes back, a pilgrimage from Charlotte, North Carolina, to speak the word of God over us. And so will you please warmly welcome home Pastor Alan Platt as he comes to share this message with us. So good to see you, Alan. Bless you, thank you, Pastor Doug. I love the fact that he said, welcome me home. This really feels like home, it really does. Every time I have the privilege of being here,

we just rejoice what God is doing through this ministry. You are a ministry that many others look up to. And Pastor Doug, over these years, has really become one of my heroes in the faith. Just watching him, just being that leader over so many years and staying humble and open for God to speak into his heart. I think you can just honor God for your leadership in this church. Really, such a blessing for Liana and myself to be here and have the privilege of sharing the word with you here and online. But it's been interesting, you know, I've been doing this every year as a pastor. Pastor Doug says it's kind of my pilgrimage to come to Calvary Chapel, and every year they give me a portion of Scripture to speak on. And I have come to the conclusion that they always keep the difficult Scriptures for me. But this year, Pastor Doug said, hey, Ellen, we have an open Sunday, you can speak on whatever is on your heart. And I thought, this is my one chance. But as I was reflecting on what shall I share, my attention was drawn to this moment where Jesus is with His disciples. Jesus has now discipled them over three years. But it's the last moment He's gonna have to speak to them. It's this last supper, it's this last meal together,

and John, as he documents that time, gives it such importance that about a quarter of the Gospel of John is dedicated to this one event. And it's sometimes referred to as the last discourse. Here from John 13 all the way to John 17, Jesus' communication and His prayer is documented. And it's as if in that time, Jesus looks at His disciples and says, if you forget everything else I've taught you, remember this. And so I wanna use this opportunity to go and just try to capture the heart of what Jesus was communicating to His disciples, realizing that this is what really matters. This is what's really, really important as He shares this with His disciples. Now, it's very interesting when you study the communication of Jesus, you can really boil it down to three major areas of focus. And if I have to use words to capture these three key concepts that Jesus was sharing with His disciples, I would use these three words, union, unity, and mission. Union being this privilege of once again being reunited with our Father, welcomed into relationship with the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unity being this community of faith that was to rise up as people who would manifest

the culture of the kingdom, which would be known by love. A whole new way of living in relationship with one another. And then mission, recognizing that we are sent into the world as the ambassadors of God to go and affect our world with faith, love, and hope. Now, I want you to just to think about these three concepts. Union, unity, and mission. And then for those of you that have been journeying with Calvary Chapel for quite some time, will recognize that when you speak about your discipleship journey here as part of this faith community, there are three things that we see as fundamental outcomes in this ministry, and that is connecting people to God. Union, connecting people to people. Unity, community, and connecting people to God. people to outreach, mission. It feels as if Calvary might have got this thing right. These are the three fundamentals that Jesus shares with these disciples just before he's about to leave, just before he's about to entrust this whole mission into their hands. He says, guys, these are the three things that are vital for you to understand. And so you're gonna get a quick crash course in the discipleship framework of Jesus as we gather today.

But it's very interesting that as Jesus communicates these different truths, he gets to what is now documented in John 17, and he starts to pray for his disciples. Now what's fascinating about the prayer that is documented in John 17 is Jesus starts to pray everything for the disciples that he has just explained to the disciples. And what really excites me about this prayer is that Jesus does not just pray for his disciples. Would you read with me a portion of Scripture in John 17? If you have it in your Bibles, otherwise follow with us on the screen. John 17, verse 20 is where we cut into this prayer of Jesus and Jesus says the following. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. Now can I see how many of you believe in Jesus Christ? Will you just shout amen? Here's what's so important to understand. Jesus was including you in this prayer. He says I'm not just praying for these disciples. I'm praying for all those that are far off that will believe in this Word. Jesus includes you in this prayer and listen to what he prays over your life. He says that all of them may be one Father just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us. Wow, that is incredible.

Listen to the depth of what Jesus is praying. Father, may they experience this union, this sense of togetherness, this no more separateness. May they be one in us that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me. Oh man, this is just beautiful. That they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Oh man, that's just powerful stuff. Jesus praying that over your life. You should reflect in this portion of Scripture very, very often because this is what Jesus believed to be true over your life. And this unity, you know, when you listen to this, this sense of union, let me unpack the thought of union just for a few moments. This is covenantal conversation. This means by implication that you are not just some disconnected sinner trying to make heaven one day. You have to understand, many Christians live by this. their lives as if this miraculous invitation of God is not real in their lives. God is still far and they're trying to prove themselves to qualify for wonder.

Instead of recognising you are invited to share in the very life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, you are invited into union. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. It's amazing how Jesus shares about this. In John 14, He's speaking about the Father. The Father and I are one. He would say things, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. He's constantly speaking about the union with the Father. In John 15, Jesus says, now let me explain to you the union that I will have with you. I am the vine, you are the branches. You must abide, abide, abide in me. And then in John 16, He's speaking about the Holy Spirit. He says the Spirit will be with you and He will be in you. He'll be your comforter, He'll be your strengthener, He'll be your guide, He will be with you. What is Jesus speaking about? Union, union with God. This is the most amazing revelation that any human being can get. That you have the privilege of being invited into relationship with God. When Jesus wants us to understand our union with the Father,

it's so amazing in John 14, He starts in verse one and He says, let not your hearts be troubled. Jesus knew that there's a lot of things that will trouble our hearts. He says, let not your heart be troubled. But then He explains a lot of things and He gets to verse 27 and He says, do not let your hearts be troubled. It was from let not to do not. From an invitation to a commandment. Why, because Jesus knew that He had just shared some information that if you get the revelation of what that means, it will settle your heart in the midst of a confusing and challenging world because you know something that is to be real about your life and what is this? What is this thing that you can know that can settle your heart? It's found in verse 23. Listen to what Jesus says in John 14, 23. Jesus answers and said to him, if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My Father will love him. And listen to this, and we will come to him and make our home, our abode. Listen, you have become the address of God here on earth. This is not just a visiting God. It's you hosting the presence of God in your life. I remember years ago when I was still a youngster in South Africa, we had a visiting speaker

from the US, Carlos Ortiz. He was a Spanish-American guy and he spoke with a Spanish accent but he made a profound statement that deeply impacted my life. He said, when God comes into your life, trying to be Spanish, he says, He does not just come to visit. He comes with all the luggage. I saw that picture. God comes to move in, into my life. Oh, how I pray. This was what Jesus was saying to His disciples. Guys, if you forget everything else I've taught you. If you get this, if you get this, it will reposition your life. But you can only get this if you recognize what Jesus was praying. Father, may they know that you love them exactly as you love Me. Listen to that statement. You have loved them even as you have loved Me. Do you believe that? I don't mean just theologically, I mean emotionally. Do you truly believe God loves you? to the way he loves Jesus. Because if you don't believe it, you know what happens? Your spirituality becomes performance. You start living with this orphan spirit where you're trying to achieve something

that God has already settled in Christ Jesus. He's made up his mind about you in Jesus Christ. God loves you and he wants you to understand that no more performing, it's an exhausting way to live. No more trying to achieve favor. We don't work for favor, we work from favor. This is so important to understand because if we understand this, if you understand this, your heart will be settled and it will change the way you do life. I have this story about one day I had to go to the bank. I needed the bank to help me with a complex financial deal. And as I was walking to the bank, I'm sure this happens to you too. You know, I heard myself speaking to myself and saying, Alan, you're wasting your time. The bank's not gonna help you. And when I got to the door of the bank, I was about to open the door and I heard myself say again, Alan, you're wasting your time. The bank's not gonna help you. And the next moment, I don't know exactly know how to explain this, but I sensed just God speaking to me. I hear just God challenging me and this is what I hear God say to me. Why are you walking into the bank like a loser? I thought, Lord, I didn't know you use language like that. It's like, I hear God say to me, when you walk into this bank, lift up your head,

put your shoulders back because you belong to me. I'm your father. And when you walk into this place, I, the creator of the universe, will walk into this place with you. And then I sensed God say to me, and whether the bank helps you or not, when you walk out of this place, I, the God of the universe that has become your father, that promised that I will never leave you and never forsake you, I will walk out of this bank with you and I will be your security. Man, I put my shoulders back, lifted my head up, I walked into that bank, I looked around, I said, where's the manager? I said, the bank did not help me. I remember when they said no, just sitting there saying, Lord, the bank did not help us. You see, I'm now living from union. It's God and me. God's made His dwelling place in me. I remember walking out of that bank with so much sense of peace in my heart, why? Because my heart is no longer troubled, why? Because I know He has made His home in me. The God of the universe is with me. Why would I be afraid? Why would I be troubled?

Why would I be anxious? The God of the universe has made His home within my life. Think about this, this is what Jesus is trying to say to His disciples, guys, if you forget everything else, remember this, you have the privilege of union. Connecting people to God. Fact is, later God did come through for me, but in a whole different way, the way God does things. Why? Because He's my Father and I can journey with God even in the challenging times. But you see, it's not just union with God that is this incredible new life, it's also God connecting us in unity to a community. Us connecting to one another. Because you see, this vertical union produces horizontal unity. God is connecting us in unity to a community. Unity. And Jesus wants to model this to his disciples, saying, guys, this is gonna be so different. It's gonna be a whole different way of life because you're gonna live beyond yourself. You're gonna live as people who give, who serve, who are there for one another. It's gonna be so different to what the world chases and how the world thinks. The whole value system of the kingdom is gonna be different. But it's gonna be life.

And so Jesus starts that discourse that evening. He takes a towel and wraps it around him and he goes down on his knees and the disciples can't believe what's really happening. This is our rabbi, this is our teacher, this should not be happening. And Jesus says, bring the bowl, I'm gonna wash your feet. You know, when he does this and you go read John 13, it's not because these are great guys. Jesus knew that he's about to be betrayed by one, he's about to be denied by another, and the rest of them are gonna scatter. He says, but let me show you a whole new way of life. It's the way of love. Because it's in that conversation, knowing all of these realities that Jesus says, guys, a new commandment I wanna give to you guys. I wanna challenge you with a whole new way of thinking. A new commandment I give to you, love one another as I have loved you. By this, everyone will know you're my disciples. Live a different way of life. This is gonna manifest that you're my disciples. Not how well you know the Bible or what your dogmatic positions are or how beautiful your worship is, it's gonna be through your love. And this is not the first time Jesus was speaking about love. You know, just prior to that,

people asked him, what's the greatest commandment? And Jesus answers them when he quotes actually passages from the Old Testament, when he says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength and your soul and your mind, he's quoting from Deuteronomy. Then he goes on and he says, and the second that's connected to this is love your neighbour as yourself. This is Leviticus. So it was already there in the Old Testament, love. But Jesus comes and he says, I'm giving you a new commandment. Jesus, well, what's new about it? Well, the only thing that was new about this was that word, as. Love one another as I have loved you. Have loved you. You see, the Old Testament was the demand on your willpower, all your strength, all your, you gotta try and love and love. Jesus says, no, no, I'm inviting you to another reference. When you discover how loved you are, when you discover the love of God in your life, when you truly come to the revelation to recognise that you are loved unconditionally, it would so affect your life, it will empower you to be able to love in a different way. As he loved. Jesus looks at these disciples.

I mean, they were an interesting squad. If you study the disciples, and they were very different from one another, right? Jesus telling them, you guys love as, but they are so different. I mean, just think about personalities. You get Peter, I mean, Peter was a challenge. Wherever Peter was, there was drama. There was always commotion. Peter was always doing something that nobody expected. He either gets out of the boat when he shouldn't, he always chopping off somebody's ear, or there's something that Peter is doing where everyone just says, Peter, Peter, Peter. And then you get John. John is this incredible, loving, just beautiful demeanour. Everybody loves John. He knew that. He even writes when he writes about himself. In the Bible, he says the disciple that Jesus loved. He was just one of those guys, I mean, you just get people like that. It's like they were born Christians. They're just so beautiful in their demeanor. And here you get these two different people in Jesus' team. The one really a wrecking ball, the other one is this beautiful. And guess who are the two disciples

that are always quoted together? Peter and John. Why? Here's what you gotta hear. When Christ comes into the picture, it elevates us to a higher level of appreciation and engagement with one another. And this is the key that we need to understand. This does not mean agreement on everything. This means an allegiance to a higher reference, Jesus Christ. We even see this in terms of spirituality. You get the different disciples. I mean, here's Philip. Philip is just this immediate believing guy. Jesus says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Oh, Jesus, show us the Father. This is Philip. He's immediately there. He's in the zone. He's just believing. As a matter of fact, Jesus even has to reprimand him and say, what are you talking about, Philip? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I've been with you so long. And then there's Thomas. Thomas is the intellectual, the cerebral guy. I don't really believe, unless I see it, I wanna feel it. What does Jesus do? He brings these guys together and go, read your Bible, who are quoted together?

Philip and Thomas. But it gets even more interesting than that. Even ideologically, we find people believing different things. Who has Matthew, the tax collector. The tax collectors, these were the people hated by the people of Israel. Why? Because they had now committed themselves to the oppressing government of the day. They were working for Rome. They were taking the money of the people of Israel. And they had abandoned this vision of Israel once again rising up and being an influence and throwing off the yoke of Roman oppression. And Matthew was one of them. And in the same team, there is this other guy called Simon the Zealot. I don't know how much you know about church history, but the zealots were the most right-wing group that you could get. I mean, they were out on the extreme. They were far more extreme than anything that you think you know. Out there, right out there. And when Jesus says, I'm gonna pick my team, guess what he does? He says, I'm gonna take one of those and take one of those. Why? Because in Christ, we are elevated to a higher vision

where God bonds us together in a different way. But not just union and unity. Jesus says, guys, there's a mission. There's something that I have on my heart for this world. And we recognise that when we speak about mission, Jesus says, he says, listen, as God the Father has sent me into the world, he's now speaking to the Father. Father, as you've sent me, I am sending them into this world. Into this world. Christianity, folks, is not an evacuation plan. It's a sending programme. Sent, not escaping, sent. We are not just rescued from the world, we are sent to this world. And so as Jesus is praying, listen to what he prays in his prayer in John 17. And we go to verse 15 to 18. Listen to how he prays. He says, my prayer is not that you take them out of this world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of this world, even as I am not of it. I have to just stop here. here and say, you know, I grew up in the church. This was one of my favorite Scriptures. I am not of this world. How many of you are glad that you're not of this world? Right?

That's a good thing. You're not of this world, but here's the thing you need to hear. You that are not of this world, you are sent to the world. He says the following. He says, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. Now, you know, I read that many times and I struggled with this portion of Scripture until one day I got a revelation. And I got this revelation when I was trying to set my dog free from fleas. So I share with liberty today the parable of the fleas. My dog had fleas and I decided I was going to comb through the hair of the dog and catch every flea that I can and set my dog free from the fleas. I don't know if you've ever tried that. It's a very challenging exercise. But while I was doing that, a friend of mine arrived and asked me what I was doing. So I explained to him my project. And he looked at me and he said, Alan, why don't you just go buy a flea collar at the store? I thought, well, there's an idea. So I went to the store, got the flea collar,

put it around the neck of the dog. Within three days, all the fleas are gone. I'm intrigued. I'm trying to figure out how does this system work? I mean, how did the fleas at the tail end know there is now a flea collar around the neck of the dog? How did they know it was a flea collar? I mean, I'm grappling with all these challenging thoughts. And so I go back to my friend. I said, how does this thing work? He says, it's actually very simple. He says, on this flea collar, there is a powder. And as the dog moves, the hair brushes on the collar, the powder is released. It sits on the skin of the dog. It's then assimilated through the skin into the bloodstream and it builds an immunity in the bloodstream. And now as the blood circulates through the dog, when the flea at the tail end bites the dog, the flea dies and the dog lives. And I said, hallelujah. I now understand John 17. This is what Jesus was praying. Father, I don't pray that you take them out of the flea nest of this world. Put them right in between the fleas. It's a new translation, all right? But do something to them. Sanctify them by your truth. Let truth find such opportunity in their lives

that it will build an immune system within them that when they enter into the world, they will not be affected by the world, but they will affect their world. Wow. And suddenly I realized this is why we do what we do. This is why we gather every Sunday and Wednesday and whenever you come together and look at the Word of God, what are you busy doing? You're allowing the truth of God to rest your soul so that it can build a capacity within you that when you enter into a broken, damaged, sinful, confused world, you are not intimidated or infatuated by the world, but you represent the kingdom of God as you enter into the world. It's this truth, this truth that can empower a life in such a way that it can reposition you to be on mission. Folks, listen, here's the three big things. Union, connecting with God. Unity, connecting with people, being part of a faith community. And mission, connecting to outreach, being a representative of the kingdom of God. That through your life, faith, love, and hope can start to flourish in every home, every workplace, every community within this environment. I wanna pray for us today and I wanna pray for everyone that is hearing this Word, that some.

Somehow this short rendition of this incredible reference just finds new and fresh opportunity in your life. But I do wanna give an opportunity for people that have walked into this place today, saying, I don't know what it is to have relationship with God. I don't know what it is to even experience the love and the embrace of God in my life. I would wanna pray for you and really just trust God for incredible release over your life and that you can come to this revelation, this very revelation, that your heart will not be troubled and you will have a settleness in your life, that your sin is forgiven, that you are set free and that God wants to journey with you in this world. If this is you, and I'm asking everybody, would you enter into just a moment of prayer as we pray together for people that now have to make a decision. I'm gonna challenge you. If you want to receive Jesus Christ today as your Lord and enter into this whole new life that I'm speaking about, which is so real for so many of us that have experienced this, we wanna cheer you on. I'm gonna ask you, would you quickly stand up, come out, come stand in front,

and we're gonna pray over your life. This is gonna be your greatest moment of your life. I invite you, come forward, come and receive Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Thank you. Please come forward. ♪ Here is where I lay down ♪ ♪ Every burden, every crown ♪ Praise Jesus. ♪ This is my surrender ♪ Praise the Lord. ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ Here is where I lay it down ♪ ♪ Every lie and every doubt ♪ Wonderful, wonderful. ♪ This is my surrender ♪ Bless you, Jesus. Hallelujah. ♪ So I won't make room for you ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. ♪ To do whatever you want to ♪ Welcome. ♪ To do whatever you want to ♪ Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Come, oil. Let Jesus to change your life. Bless you, Jesus. ♪ To do whatever you want to ♪

Bless you, Jesus. ♪ To do whatever you want to, Jesus ♪ Bless you, Jesus. ♪ I will make room for you ♪ Bless you, Jesus. ♪ To do whatever you want to do to me ♪ Bless you, Jesus. ♪ To do whatever you want to do to me ♪ Bless you, Jesus. Blessed are you, Jesus. Bless you Lord. Glory to you, Jesus. ♪ To do whatever you want what to me, Jesus ♪ Thank you, Jesus. ♪ To do whatever you want what to me to you, Jesus ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Bless you, bless you, bless you. Yes! Thank you, Jesus. Oh, come on. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Bless you, bless you. Hallelujah.

Praise God. Isn't this just beautiful? So many people making a decision for Jesus. Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. It's difficult for me to say how important this moment is in your life. Your whole life is about to change if you give Jesus opportunity within your life. And we know that things change drastically when we start to align ourselves to the grace of God over our lives. This is the step that you're taking. Thank you for making it public. Thank you for stepping out and being bold about making this commitment. This is something many of us in this room have done in our own journey. And we celebrate that as such an important moment in our lives. And I just want to pray for you. And I'm going to speak just God's grace over your life. And then we just need about five minutes of your time because I want to encourage you. I urge you to consider what it would look like just to take your next steps, because the enemy would want to come and steal from your life. He wants to challenge this decision that you're making right now. And we wanna put some stuff in your hand and just make sure that we set you well for the journey ahead. And so before we do that, can I just ask everybody just to extend your hands to these people as we just bless them

in the name of the Lord. Father, we thank You for the decision that every one of these people have made today. Thank You, Lord, for what is happening in every life. We thank You for Your cleansing of every sin and iniquity and thing that has brought separation between them and You, our Father. We thank You, Lord, that the blood of Jesus cleanses us. We know the power of the blood of Jesus to set every life free. And so we speak that over every individual. We thank You, Lord, for just a sense of the peace of God and the embrace of God and the love of the Father that is just becoming real to every individual in this moment. And so we speak over your life, the new life in Christ, as a reality that is dawning in your hearts, that you will be awakened to the very life of Jesus Christ. We bless You in the name of the Father, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. And all God's people say amen, amen, amen, amen. All right, we're gonna ask you, would you please just follow that gentleman over there? We're gonna take five minutes of your time. Just speak into your life, pray with you, put something in your hand. Thank you so much. Let's give them a hand as they go in that direction. Let's take a moment to respond to the work of the Holy Spirit and to His loving kindness through a song together.

Join with us. ♪ Your name is the highest ♪ ♪ Your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ For all roles and dominions of all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ Stands above them all ♪ ♪ Your name is the highest ♪ ♪ Your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ For all roles and dominions of all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ And the angels cry ♪ ♪ Holy, our creation is ♪ ♪ Holy, you are lifted high ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, you are holy forever ♪ ♪ You'll be forsaken, you'll be forsaken ♪ ♪ Holy, to the king of kings ♪ ♪ Holy, you will always be ♪ ♪ You will always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ You will always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ You're holy forever ♪ Church, we just wanna remind you that this Tuesday night we have prayer, but it is not gonna be in this space. It's gonna be on the east side of our campus in the HSM room, but it is still at the same time at 6.30. And before you go, if you're in need of prayer, please come forward.

We have a prayer team that's gonna be right up here at the altar ready to pray with you. We hope you have a wonderful week, and we can't wait to worship with you again next Sunday. Have a great rest of your day.