What Won't You Bow To? - Far From Home - Pastor Trey Hildebrant

(dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) - First Orlando, it is so good to be with you today. There's a lot going on in the life of our church, there's a lot to celebrate. Now, before we get into the sermon, I need to do a couple of things. First of all, the amount of jokes I've gotten this morning from people saying, "Hey, Florida State had a good weekend "because they didn't play is inappropriate." Okay, so, but here's what I do wanna do because I am fully embracing being an Orlando guy is go nights, you see after their thing last night. So, yeah, knocking off the second team in the country. So that was fun, you know, embracing what it means to be a part of Orlando. And I know many of you love the University of Central Florida. And then also, I just wanna mention baptism Sunday next week. I am so excited.

Those are the type of Sundays that change things in the life of our church. We're gonna have baptisms up here on the stage. It's gonna be messy, it's gonna be wonderful. And we hope that if you trust in Jesus even today or you've trusted in Jesus but never taken the step of baptism that next week you'll join in on that incredible experience for baptism Sunday. And today, we continue in our series that we're calling Far From Home. It's an old test, a study of an Old Testament book called Daniel. And what we've learned is that there are two kingdoms. There are two loyalties. There's the kingdom of God and there's the kingdom of this world. And the way we saw it in first John chapter five is the world is under the power of the evil one. And we refer to this as the kingdom of Babylon. There's Babylon and Jerusalem. Daniel, his story encourages us. Stand firm and to love well. And we're gonna be in Daniel chapter three today, learning from a pivotal collision between the two kingdoms. Now, I grew up learning about King Nebuchadnezzar and this story from a classic church TV show. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Veggie Tails. Who remembers Veggie Tails?

For some reason, I still have a problem of picturing King Nebuchadnezzar as a person. I tend to picture him as a cucumber. And you'd learn about Rackschach and Benny instead of me shacking a bed to go. You'd learn about these biblical stories through the picture of vegetables and you'd learn a biblical story and then you'd end up singing a song about a water buffalo. I don't know why. If you're new to church or new to faith, I promise we're not always that weird. But Veggie Tails taught me a lot about this story and what we're actually gonna see is that this story is a story of hope. A story of hope because we follow the God who holds the whole world in his hands. We can have hope no matter what we face. Think about hope. I think about a story from our church that we saw all over the past couple of months. There was a man named George Hollins in our church. He was an usher at the 830 service for years and years and years. George's funeral was my first Orlando funeral. And George was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago. He died a few months ago. And here's what I love about George's story. From diagnosis to death, he was at peace.

Not dread, not fear, but from diagnosis to death, he was at peace. I was thinking back to a conversation that Pastor David had with him while George was literally on his deathbed. And Pastor David looked at him and said, "George, is there anything in your heart that's in conflict or anything you need to let go of?" And George just said he was at peace. Why? Because George had hope beyond this life. And you can have that type of hope today as well. What we're talking about is where does true hope come from? Where does true hope come from? Daniel chapter three is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the hope that carried them through the fire. Now, where are we in the storyline of Daniel? If you back up, Israel was exiled to Babylon. Israel was defeated in war. Yet Daniel and his three friends from Jerusalem have been promoted in Babylon. You can go read about it. Daniel chapter two verses 46 through 49. That while their hearts were still rooted in God, their hearts still rooted in Jerusalem, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were appointed to high level administration positions in Babylon. But that promotion sets the stage for a collision. See, when leadership in Babylon brings them face to face

with the pressure to bow. See, as we live for God in Babylon, as they live for God in Babylon, Babylon will expect us to bow to what Babylon bows to, and we simply cannot. So we're gonna move through this whole story starting in Daniel chapter three, verse one. King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, a statue of gold, whose height was 60 qubits and its breadth, six qubits, about 90 feet tall and nine feet across. He set it up in the plane of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces. He gathers up all the leaders, all the prominent people. And here's to do this. For the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So King Nebuchadnezzar makes a statue, puts it in a field so that everyone could see it. And then he gathers up all the leaders of Babylon, which now includes these Israelite men who love God. And here's what happens next, verse four. And the herald proclaimed aloud, you are commanded, you are commanded. So the expectation is clear. O peoples, nations of all languages,

that when you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the liar, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, in every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the pipe, the liar, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples of the nations and languages, fell down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the rule is simple, from this point forward, whenever people are to hear the music, which apparently included a bagpipe, I didn't know that was part of Babylonian history, everyone was supposed to bow down and worship the golden statue. And if they don't, it's death by a fiery furnace. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could not bow. Their loyalty is to the one true God. And this is the report about them given back to the king down to verse 12, Daniel 3. There are certain Jews, by the way, pause. What that sentence, what that phrase indicates, is that even among other Israelites who had come from Jerusalem to Babylon, some of them bowed. So the pressure begins to build

on anyone who's in Babylon, despite who their God is, well, let's just bow. It's no big deal, let's just bow to this king. There are certain Jews who decide not to. Certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and listen to this, this sounds a little bit like they're targeting these three men. These men, O king, pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Man, I pray that is our testimony. That we would not worship with Babylon and Sis, that we worship. But how did it get to this? How did it get to this? Let's back up a little bit, because if you remember some of the story from Daniel 1 and Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar, the king who's now demanded that they bow and worship a false idol, King Nebuchadnezzar had had moments where he expresses admiration for Israel's God. And Daniel 1 and 2, here's one, Daniel chapter two, verse 47. The king answered, remember this is King Nebuchadnezzar and said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries." How does this man go from saying something like that,

yet to demand that people bow to a false idol? Think there are a few reasons, one of them, as King Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream that his kingdom was gonna be defeated. Daniel had interpreted that dream and said, you're gonna lose your kingdom. What happens when we feel like our little kingdom is slipping out of our hands? King Nebuchadnezzar says, you know what? I don't wanna lose my kingdom, so I'm gonna tighten my grip around this kingdom. I'm gonna force people to do what I ask 'cause I'm scared to lose my kingdom. See, what's interesting is King Nebuchadnezzar had made a statement about God, but it was not rooted in his heart. This is a haunting piece of Nebuchadnezzar's story. The Nebuchadnezzar had experienced a religious moment without spiritual transformation. He said the right words about God, but it didn't reflect a true heart for God. This is unfortunately the story of many, even today. How many people, how many of us, how many people you know have had religious moments but never bowed their lives to Jesus, lip service, but not from the heart. Be careful, people. We are surrounded, especially in the Southern United States, by people who will claim God for personal gain rather than being people

who have actually surrendered their life to Jesus. Pay attention. And we have to not only be aware of that. We are people who are trying to use God rather than love God, but we have to check our own hearts. Maybe you had a moment with Jesus at VBS growing up because your friends had a moment or maybe you grew up with parents and grandparents who love God. And if you wanted that sweet Southern home cooking after church, you had to go to a church with grandma. And you begin to think, I'm good, I'm good. But if you're honest, you never actually bow to Jesus as your savior and your king. You see, it's easy to warm our hearts with what the church and God offers, but never really bow to Jesus as savior and king. But the source of hope is deeper than just lip service. The source of the hope is when we give Jesus our lives because watch what happens when we do that, he transforms us. And hope is not something that you have to go looking for and try to find in your life, hope springs up from within us. So hope comes from a transformed heart. Hope comes when it's real. The New Testament teaches that when we give our lives to Jesus and we have faith in Jesus, that the old is gone, that the new has come, that you are a new person, you're a new person, that there is grace and forgiveness offered

for anyone who has done anything because of the work, the life and the death of Jesus, that he will make you a new person. That's where hope comes from. And now that I have a new heart, I have the strength and assurance needed to walk through all of life. Hope comes from a transformed heart and King Nebuchadnezzar was not transformed. See, but when we live a transformed life, Babylon notices. What's so interesting to me is how surprised and offended others are when we don't worship what they worship. Pressure forms against us when we don't bow to the same ideas, ideology, idolatry meaning feelings and ambitions as Babylon. But let's be clear, someone is always offended when we worship. Someone is always offended if we worship, either the culture, Satan or God. And we get to pick who we want to offend. Man, I'll choose to offend culture and Satan all day. I do not want to offend my God. So the three, the three resolve that they can't bow to the idol because they could not offend their God. Verse 13, Daniel chapter three. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in a furious rage, commanded that Shadrach, Neshek and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them,

"Is it true, O Shadrach, Neshek and Abednego, "that you do not serve my gods "or worship the golden statue that I have set up? "Now, if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, "the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe "and every kind of music, that I have made well and good. He's given them one more chance. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And in this next statement, this is the arrogance and the pride at the heart of the issue. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? They have this invitation. There's one more chance to bow to his idol and their resolve is tested. Remember the word resolve in the original language here means to make up your mind. They had made up their mind and their resolve is being tested. You see, many might stand once, but how many would keep standing? Well, they keep standing as the temperature literally and figuratively rises. What's happening here, this is their testimony. Their souls belong to another. Bow to an idol? Of course not. My soul belongs to the one true God. You see, they were saved from the King's hands

because they were already in God's hands. Hope, we have hope because my soul, I have hope because my soul belongs to God. And because my soul belongs to God, because your soul can belong to God, we can handle the pain of life, any opposition and the pressure to bow to something else because we know that our home and our belonging is with him. He has all of me. My soul is his, your soul can be his and we cannot bow to another. See, it all comes back to worship. The question is not if we worship, but who or what we worship? Worship is simply what we bow to, what gets our attention, what gets our affection, that's what we worship. We are all, every person on this earth is a worshipper by nature. Everyone worships. The question is, do we worship God or something or someone else? You see, people worship because there is an eternity gap, a gap the size of eternity in everyone. Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse 11 says that God has placed eternity in the heart of man. Therefore, because God is the one that put eternity in your heart,

no idol, no false God can satisfy the eternity size gap in our hearts. There's no money, no sex, fame, success, false idols, politics, politics, pay attention, or other religions, nothing can fill the eternity gap in our heart. Listen, listen, all of the striving that we see happening around us, don't miss what it is. Everyone's trying to prove something, earn something, protect something, all of the striving happening around us. And if we're honest, all of the striving happening in our heart is an attempt to satisfy a soul longing for God. And he's the only one who can fill it. But because we have this eternity gap in our heart, everyone bowels to someone or something. Here's the tension though. What you bow to binds you. What you bow to binds you. What you bow to controls you. Whatever you worship, shapes you, controls you, and directs you. If you bow to money, you will never feel like you have enough. If you bow to a substance, the next drink or high is what you'll chase in life. If you bow to people's approval, you will become a prisoner of opinions. If you bow to comfort, convenience will be your God. And if you bow to success, you'll realize you can never reach the top.

First Orlando, and everyone watching online Mary and Correctional Institute, our brothers there. What do you bow to? These three men, their souls were bound to God. How could they bow to another? Verse 16, back to the story. Shadrach, Neschach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, by the way, I'm gonna read this the way I hear it in my mind. They have a little bit of a swag to them, a little, they're a little smug, they're confident. Listen to this, listen to their tone. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, sweet baby. We have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, from the burning fiery furnace. Hey, pause, whatever you're walking through, I want you to know our God is able to deliver you. Do you feel that today? (audience applauding) You're in the fire. You're in the fire of a struggle, of a circumstance, of a sin habit that you can't break. I promise you, our God is able to deliver. Listen, listen, and he will deliver us out of your hand. That's a little bit of a dig. I don't know if he's gonna deliver me from the fire. I do want you to know this. He's gonna deliver us from you. Verse 18 is my favorite verse in the whole story.

But if not, some scripture or some translations say, even if, but if not, even if, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. You see the power in this moment. This is the defining moment. When faced with the demand to bow to an idol or stand for God, they choose God. And they carry with great confidence, this tension of God's power and their commitment to God. They believe in his power and they're committed to him no matter what. Even if, even if he doesn't literally deliver them from the fire, don't miss this. These three men knew the stories from Abraham to Moses to David, they knew the stories. They'd seen how God had worked in the past, how God had provided for Abraham, how God had started the nation of Israel. They had seen how God had delivered from Egypt. They had seen God work. They knew his power. The original word used here for the phrase, if not, communicates this idea of being unaltered. It was almost like, I read in one commentary, it was almost like you could think of it as the phrase of nothing, like think nothing of it. So you could almost translate their response to the king like this. Oh, that fire?

We think nothing of it. Our worship of the one true God will not be altered. I feel the strength and the confidence. They were willing to die rather than bow. See, the king threatens them with death, but their hope was firmly rooted in God. There it is hope, a God that would not let them down. Whether in saving them from the fire, don't miss this, or welcoming them home with him in death, like George, hope like George. They knew that God in his love would rescue, don't miss this, because whether he rescued from the fire or into eternity, God would rescue. We have hope, we have hope, because we know the end of the story. We wake up with the truth. When we wake up to the truth that God has already won, we can handle anything in these temporary moments. (congregation applauding) These three were unthreateningable. I'm gonna say that again. These three were unthreateningable. They had an unshakable hope. The threats against them could not get through to crush their spirits. Don't we want to live with this type of hope? Not dread, not worry, not concern, not watching the election in a couple of weeks on the verge of despair, no matter what side of the spectrum you live on.

If you know Jesus, we can be the type of people who stare down the biggest threat, the worst news, and the scariest possible outcome. And we can say even if, even if. (congregation applauding) See, Shadrach, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego demonstrate an even if hope. And so I want to read through to the climax of the story. It's gonna be a good chunk of scripture. So follow with me starting in verse 19. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression on his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind, to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, I don't know why their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent, the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and these three men fell bound, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. But we know that wasn't the end of the story, verse 24.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the fire? And they answered and said to him, true, O King. and they are not hurt, and the appearance of the forth is like the sons of God." Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and he declared, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." Notice what changed. Servants of the Most High God come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire, in the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men, and the hair on their heads was not singed, and their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire was upon them. It's just the Scripture bragging a little bit when it's like not even their clothes smell like smoke. You know, you get around the bonfire for even two minutes. You're wondering if you should throw that shirt away. God wanted to demonstrate something. The Most High God protected them from the fire, and the same God they worshiped back then is the same God we worshiped today. Hold on, guys. Hold on, and it just keeps getting better because there was a fourth of man in the fire. And this fourth man was not an angel. The fourth man in the fire was Jesus himself. This is referred to as a Christophany. A Christophany is a pre-New Testament appearance of Jesus. See, Jesus, the Son of God has been fully God. He turned and he passed. He's part of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, fully God, won one God three persons. He was there from the beginning, and he shows up as the Son of God in this moment. You see, the Son of God was with them in the fire and saved them from the fire. And notice this. I noticed this for the first time this week as I read this story. When Jesus showed up in the fire, not only were they protected, but they were freed from their bounds. Nebuchadnezzar said, "I see four men unbound. Pay attention." The only thing burnt up in the fire was what bound them. Nothing burned up except what tied them up. In Jesus, not only are we saved for eternity, but we find freedom today. This is the promise of the gospel. Embrace Jesus for your soul, for your eternity, but give him your life and find freedom. Are you bound today? Are you bound by alcohol or addiction or shame and lust and habits or people pleasing or broken thinking? Are you living in lies? Satan is trying to keep us bound, but when we trust Jesus in the fire, he can break what binds us. Some of you are here today, and you need to take the very first step, the first step you've ever taken to truly trust Jesus for your soul. Not just lip service, but faith in your heart to bow your life to Jesus, and he'll save your soul, but trusting Jesus also brings healing and freedom. Now, I'm not saying it happens like that, but I am saying that there is no healing apart from Jesus, and we have hope because of Jesus. Do you have this hope? Do you have this hope? Just like they came out of the fire, we can be saved from eternal fire because the Son of God was not only with us, but went into the fire. Don't miss this part for us. He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. For us, he went in instead. Jesus' life, he was perfect. He never sinned. Therefore, he would not die. The Son of God lived as a human, but then out of love, he chooses to die in our place to pay the penalty for our sin. He goes into the fire for us, but then he rose again. The resurrection three days later is the guarantee that we can make it out of the fire, too.

Today, if you don't have this hope, I'm speaking to a very specific group right now, if you don't have this hope, you have the invitation to bow your life to Jesus right now, to be forever rescued from the fire, and the rescue of Jesus is applied to your account, Not by performance, not by religious activity, but by faith and belief. And that can happen right now. A moment when you believe in Jesus, you bow your life to Jesus. A starting line, not a finish line. There's growing, there's things God wants to do, things God wants to free you from. But in a moment, you can be rescued. The New Testament says it like this in Romans chapter 10, starting in verse nine. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Not might be, not maybe, you will be saved. For the heart, for from with the heart one believes and is justified, that is made right and forgiven. And with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. Do you have this hope? We wanna help bring a moment where you could confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. And today could be the day where your new life, that transformation happens. So we wrote a prayer.

It's a prayer to put words to anyone in the room who for the first time truly understands the gospel and you're choosing right now to give your life to Jesus. It's salvation for your soul and freedom from your sin. And after I read this prayer, if you believe it, today is your day, your day of faith in Jesus, I'm gonna actually ask you to stand for God if this is the moment where you become a follower of Jesus. So I'm gonna read this prayer one time and then I'm going to ask all of us to pray it together, to give strength to the room, to give hope to the room together. So if you're saying yes to Jesus in your heart right now, let these words begin to move around in your mind, in your heart. God, I realize now that I have bowed to another. I am a sinner and have broken your heart in your ways. But today I truly bow to you alone so that I can stand with you forever. I believe that Jesus rescues me from the fire. I choose faith in Jesus right now. Forgive me of my sin and make me new. I love you, Jesus, amen. And then for all of us, even if you're already a follower of Jesus, I'm gonna ask you to read this, pray this loudly because there might be someone around you who's praying it and believing it for the first time. So let's give strength to this room as we pray this together on the count of three. One, two, three.

God, I realize now that I have bowed to another. I am a sinner and have broken your heart and your ways. But today I truly bow to you alone so that I can stand with you forever. I believe that Jesus rescues me from the fire. I choose faith in Jesus right now. Forgive me of my sin and make me new. I love you, Jesus, amen, amen, amen. (audience applauding) All right, here's what we're gonna do. Here's what we're gonna do. For some of you, your heart was just made new by the offer of Jesus Christ and I'm going to invite anyone who prayed it and believed it in faith to stand. Those of you who prayed it and believed it for the first time, I'm gonna ask you to stand. Right here, stand, no, stay standing. Here's the deal, here's the deal. Hey, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause. If you believed it for the first time, pause. Keep standing, keep standing, keep standing. Guys, something happens when we go from just in our heads and hearts to public. God seals something. So I'm gonna give the invitation again, 30 seconds of courage. If you just prayed that and believed it, no more live service, but real for the very first time

around this room, would you stand to your feet, around the room would you stand? I see you, there you go. Let's keep standing, there it is, there it is. Praise God, praise God, praise God. Way up there, praise God. Praise God, keep standing around the room. Keep standing, keep standing, praise God, man. Stay standing, stay standing. Hey, we're gonna join you in a moment and I'm gonna come back with some direction on what's gonna happen next, but here's what I know what's gonna happen in this room, is everyone feels a little bit of the urge to stand for God. If you're a follower of Jesus, you're thinking I'm ready to stand. So with that in mind, knowing I'm coming back in just a moment, would everyone stand for God in this moment and let's worship together church. Let's worship together. ♪ Come on, I need just to raise this high ♪ ♪ We gonna lift it high ♪ ♪ We gonna stay together ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I use it ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪

♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I use it ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why ♪ ♪ Come on, say it again, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him, God ♪ ♪ Come on, everybody, my Savior ♪ ♪ The one who will never let me ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Jesus will never let me ♪ ♪ I trust, I trust, and God has ♪ ♪ My Savior, the one who will never let me ♪ ♪ He will never let me ♪ ♪ He will come through a hand in the end, that I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He said ♪ ♪ That's why I trust the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He said ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He said, and He said ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him, God ♪ - Whoo! - Let's go, let's go. (audience applauding) - Whoo!

- I mean, I hope that you don't miss this. The same God we're talking about in Daniel is the same God we worship today. He's here, He's with us. He's drawing some people to His heart. And several dozen of you stood up saying today's the day, and I want you to know how much we care about you. So I wanna give you two options, two ways to respond today. They'd almost raise your hand and say, "Okay, I'm ready. "I'm ready for somebody to help me walk with Jesus, "to live as a follower of Jesus." The first way is very simple. It's text the word Jesus to 40777. Simply text Jesus to 40777, fill out the form. Our team gets that, and we can't wait to call you and see what God did in your life today. Here's my promise is that Jesus sitting behind His iPhone, waiting on that text, he'll respond, will respond. So if you stood today, that is your next step. Text Jesus, but then also next week, baptism Sunday. You may have said yes to Jesus today, and you're gonna be in the tub celebrating it next week. Baptism, listen, baptism is like standing for God. You're willing to be public about your faith. If that's you, sign up for baptism. We're gonna have tubs all over this stage. It's gonna get messy, it's gonna have a lot of water, it's gonna be a blast next week as we celebrate new life in Christ. I wanna invite our deacons and some of our pastors.

They're gonna come up on the front of the stage, around the front of the steps. If you want to pray with somebody, if you have questions about faith, maybe you're just thinking God's doing something and I cannot leave until I pray with someone or talk with someone. The people coming forward right here are here for that. So pick someone, come down, wait in line if you have to, but don't leave until God has settled what's happening in your heart. I love you guys so much. We'll see you back next week. (audience applauding)