Willow Welcomes Jud Wilhite

Hey, Willow, this weekend is a really special one because one of my favorite people on planet Earth is here to teach for us here at Willow, my brother-in-law, Judd Wilhite. Now, I've known Judd for over 30 years. He's been a mentor, a friend, someone who consistently points me back to Jesus. Here's a fun fact about Judd. When Gene Apple left Las Vegas to come here to Willow in 2003, Judd stepped in as lead pastor at Central Church in Las Vegas. This has been leading for the past couple of decades. And over those last two decades, I've had the privilege of watching God use him in incredible ways as that church has grown to reach people across multiple states and even around the world. But here's what I love most about Judd. Before he was a pastor, he was just a guy whose life was transformed by the grace of Jesus. And he'll tell you, he's just a grace guy. If you've ever heard him teach, you know exactly what that means. He has this incredible way of opening God's word in kind of an honest, hopeful, practical way that is just full of grace. So Willow, would you give a very warm welcome to my friend, my mentor, my brother-in-law, Judd Wilhite.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. All right, all right. Willow Creek Community Church, what a joy to be here. We have had a great morning so far, and I'm so honored to be with you today. This church has had a huge impact on myself, on my wife, on our church. And so we're very indebted to you. And I got to be a part of the Global Leadership Summit attending the last couple of days. And the summit was amazing, but I told Pastor Sean, I said, truly, the thing that blew my mind the most was the staff and volunteers of Willow Creek and how kind they were, how they went above and beyond for people, such incredible servants' hearts. And so well done, Willow, and thank you for who you are. I love your pastor. Sean, now I have known him a very, very, very long time. I took him to seventh grade camp. So I'll be available, you know, around after service. Anything you really want to know, I'm your guy. Just find me and I'll tell you, I'll give you all the dirt. But no, you know, Sean is exactly who you think he is. What you see on the platform is who he is off the platform. Tremendous servants' heart, humble, kind, but also courageous and tough and smart.

And I've seen him grow into all of these amazing leadership gifts over the years. And I hope you know how blessed you are, Willow Creek, to be under Pastor Sean's leadership. Thank you. Well, I bring you greetings from Las Vegas. There are churches and Christians in Las Vegas. We should probably start there for some of you. Just like everywhere else, mostly, except for when it's not. I remember when our kids were little, we pulled up to a stop sign, and at the stop sign, there was a billboard. On the billboard were four or five ladies, and it was like their back size. They were bare-backed, they had bikini bottoms on, we just saw their hair. And my son was still in a car seat at the time, from the back seat. He was in this whole season of like, what's your favorite thing? What's your favorite color? What's your favorite, you know, whatever. And we hear him say to his sister, Emma, Emma, who's your favorite naked girl? He says, I like the one with brown hair. And I remember like all the air just sucked out of our car, and we thought, what are we doing raising our kids in this God-forsaken place? But we love it, you know, we've been there now. This year, we'll start our 24th year serving in Las Vegas,

and it's been a dream and an honor for us to do that, by the grace of God. But I wanna talk to you today about something I think we all have some experience in, and that is seasons that are hard or difficult, seasons we might call being stuck in the middle. You ever felt like you're just stuck in the middle? You're stuck in the middle between a hard situation, you're stuck in the middle in a, you know, in a tough moment? I, it's kind of like, I remember not too long ago, I flew on a Southwest flight, and Southwest Airlines. This was before they changed their seating policy, because back then, they were like a school bus with wings, right, like it was open seating, it was kind of like, you're on your own, you get on the plane, you just had to like try to find the best seat you could. And I grew up riding a school bus to school every day. Anybody, any school bus people? A few of you? Man, school bus, that was like an alternate universe, you know, like I got bullied on the school bus, I got in fights on the school bus, I pierced my ear on the school bus, like I, you know, somewhere along the way, my parents wouldn't let me pierce my ear in middle school, and I'm like, all right, so I brought a needle, and I had some ice, and I got my. and we all went to the back of the bus, and as the bus is bouncing along,

it's like, just do it, do it! You know, boom, they'd stick it in the mist, and then they did it again. There was blood, there was pain. It was bad, it was bad. But the worst part about riding the school bus is when you get on and the bus is full, and you have to do the walk of shame and just hope somebody lets you sit beside them. And that's what this Southwest flight felt like. It was open seating, but there were only some middle seats left, and so I'm walking down the aisle, one of the last people on the plane, and nobody wants to make eye contact with you, and everybody's looking away and acting like they're reading a book or putting their headphones on, because nobody wants you to sit in the middle seat. And so I took this middle seat, and as soon as I sat down, I sat next to one guy who just didn't have proper boundaries, you know what I mean? Like, his arms were way over where they should have been on the armrest. You may be sitting next to somebody like this right now. Anyway, look at them later, but he's like rubbing arm hair with me, and I'm like, ah!

And then on the other side, this person gets sick, and they're coughing and sneezing, and I am like, the middle is stressful, right? The middle is exhausting. All you wanna do when you're in the middle is not be in the middle anymore. Just get me off this plane. And I think some of us right now are in the middle in life. We're in the middle of a tough situation. We're in the middle in our career. We're in the middle with our kids. We're in the middle with our health. We don't know where it's going. We don't know how it's gonna end up. We can't understand what God is doing right now. Nobody wants to really be in the middle, but can I just encourage you today, Willow Creek, that it's in the middle that God does his best work, and it's in the middle that God prepares you for the next chapter and for the next blessing he has for you in your life. So I wanna share from the Israelites' journey in the Old Testament and from my own life as I've navigated some times in the middle this last year, and we're gonna be in Exodus chapter 13 today if you wanna follow along in your Bibles, beginning in verse 17, Exodus 13, 17. Now, the Bible has a term for the middle,

and it's the term wilderness, being in the wilderness. And the Israelites found themselves in the wilderness. The Israelites had been captive for 400 years. As you read through the story of the Old Testament and you get to the book of Exodus, and God raises up an incredible leader named Moses who leads the Israelites out of captivity, and now they're headed towards Israel, towards the promised land. It's gonna be amazing, it's gonna be good, but they're between the promise of God and the full fulfillment of that promise. They're in the wilderness. And it's interesting the journey God takes them on. Exodus chapter 13, beginning of verse 17. Check it out, it says this. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. Remember that, it was shorter. For God said if they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. In other words, God's leading his people, but he's not gonna lead them the direct way. Why? Because they weren't ready to go the direct way to the promised land.

They weren't ready to face battle with the Philistines. They weren't ready for all that would mean. So God took them what some translations call the roundabout way. God took them the long way so that they would be ready for the situations that they would face to deal with and inherit the promise that God had given them. Now this is a word for somebody. All right, you ready for this? Because some of you right now are in a situation where you feel like God's taken you the long way around. You know what I mean? Like you thought your career was gonna go one way and it hasn't gone that way. You thought your kids were just gonna do everything you said and that didn't happen. You thought life was gonna like flow in a certain pattern and it's flowed in a completely different direction. And you are like, God, what are you doing? God, where are you? God, like I need you to move. I need you to work. I need you to show up in my life. But listen, it may be that the blessing you've been praying for, you're not yet ready to experience the burden that comes with the blessing. And so God has taken you the long way so that you're ready and prepared

so you can step into the blessing that he has for you at the right time. This is what he's doing with the Israelites. He's taken them the long way, not to punish them, but to prepare them. And can I tell you that when we find ourselves in the middle, in the wilderness, we grow more than we ever will in the comfort of not being in the middle. When we're in the difficult seasons, we grow more than we ever will on the mountaintop. You can do decades on the mountaintop. One year in the valley, you'll grow more. And so God will change us and mold us. shape us to prepare us for the blessing that we've been praying for and holding out for. So if you're in the middle today, take heart. If God led you to it, he can lead you through it and you can see you through it on the other side. What are we doing? We're stuck in the middle. Here's a couple thoughts I'm gonna share with you today from the Israelites. The first is this, trust God in the uncertainty. Trust God in the uncertainty. My wife, Lori, just went on a mission trip to Peru. She's goes, this is Pastor Sean's sister. And so, you know, I met this cute little innocent girl 30 years ago in Amarillo, Texas, and I had no idea she was gonna grow up

to be Indiana Jones's daughter. But that's who she is. I mean, she's like, if there's a mission trip, if it's dangerous, if she's, you know, going into whatever country and, you know, underground, whatever, like Lori's like, I'm in. So they're going up into Peru and they're going to work in these villages that you can only access by way of the Amazon River. Now, a friend of mine, his fiance was also going on this mission trip, and so he's really kind of concerned and he's sending me thermal images of the Amazon River, like thermal images where you see there are anaconda snakes everywhere. I'm not talking five or 10, I'm talking hundreds of them under the water of the Amazon River, where our girls are gonna be on a little boat, nyeee, you know, cruising along. And so he's just like, oh my gosh, he's calling his fiance, he's texting his fiance, he's checking in on her, like, are you okay? How long were you on the boat? Did you see any anacondas? What about pythons, you know, all this, like the whole thing, and this goes on for like two or three days, and finally, Lori calls me back in the States. She says, Judd, like, you haven't called me once. He's calling every day, he's texting every day. You haven't reached out to me once.

I said, I surrendered you to God 30 years ago, girl. I realized I couldn't control you anyway. Like, I'm more worried about what you're gonna do to the anacondas than what the anacondas are gonna do to you. Those anacondas don't understand what's coming. Anyway, my favorite moment, by the way, from the summit was we were sitting there and this guy told this story about, you know, using technology and using phones, and I elbowed Lori like, ha ha, that's you, and she goes, yeah, you know, and then he kept talking, and so then I elbowed her again. I'm like, that's you. She goes, you need to stop now, and he kept talking, ha ha ha, and then I elbowed her again. She says, you do it one more time. We're gonna fight right here. Okay, anyway, I sent Lori this story, the anaconda snake that I found online. It's what to do if you're attacked by an anaconda snake. An anaconda is 35 feet long. It can swallow an animal three to 400 pounds, and so here's what it says. Number one, if you're attacked by an anaconda, don't run. The snake is faster than you are. Number two, lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides and your legs tight against one another. Number three, tuck in your chin.

So I don't know if you're putting all this together, but if I see an anaconda, like, what I'm supposed to do is stop, lie down, put my arms together, and tuck in my chin. I mean, that's feeling like bait, right? And then it says this, like, it says, the snake will begin to nudge and climb over your body. Do not panic. After the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you from the feet in. Always from the feet in. Permit the snake to swallow your feet and ankles. Do not panic. What planet are these people living on? The snake will now begin to suck your legs into its body. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time. Number eight, when the snake has reached your knees, slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down to get your knife and very gently slide it into the snake's mouth between the edge of its mouth and your leg, and then suddenly rip upwards, severing its head. Number nine, be sure to have your knife. You imagine? Well, thankfully, Lori didn't get attacked by any anacondas, but I tell you that story because basically what it's saying is, if an anaconda comes, what do you do? You become bait.

You know what God is doing with the Israelite people in the wilderness? He's taking them the long way around, and he's using them as bait. He's basically saying, I'm gonna take you over here, and then I'm gonna take you over here, and then Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt, is gonna think you're confused. You're lost in the desert. You don't know what's going on, and so Pharaoh is going to attack you. Then I'm gonna defeat him, and I'm gonna get all the glory. And so we see it. God basically breaks it down for the people. Exodus chapter 14, beginning of verse one. Check this out. "'And the Lord said to Moses, "'Tell the Israelites to turn back "'and encamp near Pi-ha-hi-roth, "'between Migdal and the sea. "'They are to encamp by the sea "'directly opposite Baal-zaphon. "'Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering "'around the land in confusion, hymned in by the desert, "'and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them, "'and I will gain glory for myself "'through Pharaoh and all his army, "'and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.' "'So the Israelites did this.'"

So God is basically using them as bait. He's leading them over there, and then he's leading them over here, and then ultimately he's gonna lead them to where their back is against the Red Sea, and they have nowhere left to go, and the Egyptian armies form in front of them. What do you do when God's taking you the long way, and it doesn't make sense? What do you do when you can't figure out what God is doing in your life right now? Well, you trust God in the uncertainty. You trust him in the uncertainty. I went through a season this last year that was the toughest leadership season I've ever faced in many, many years of ministry, and so I knew I needed help and counsel, so I hired this outside coach to help me and give me perspective, and he had spent 20 years as a performance psychologist in the military. So he had been a performance psychologist for primarily special operators, Navy SEALs, all these people doing these incredible missions, but also like one-star generals all the way up to four-star generals. He had done it all, and so one of the things he told me when I started working with him is he said, Judd, there's a thing that we do in SEAL training,

and we take Navy SEALs. We don't give them any explanation about what we're about to do, but we blindfold them. We tie their hands behind their back. We tie their feet together, and we push them into a deep body of water, and he said the whole point is to see what you will do when everything within you says you're gonna die because you can't survive more than a few minutes without oxygen. You can fight against the things that bind you, but you're not getting out of those, and that actually takes up more energy, more oxygen if you do. What do you do? Some people panic. Some people try to get out of the binds. Some people have to be rescued in that moment, but the point of the exercise is that there are a few who will control their minds, and they will not panic in that moment, and if they will control their minds, they'll realize that if they push up strong enough from the base of the pool with everything they've got, they can go just high enough where their nose and their lips can break the plane of the water, and they can take a breath, and then they sink all the way back down to the bottom, and if they push up with all they've got,

they can take a breath, and he said if you're actually in good enough physical condition, you could live for 24 hours in that situation, but most people can't control their minds when you can't see, and your hands are tied behind your back, and you don't know what's happening, and you're thrown into a body of water, and so what he told me in my situation was this. Judd, right now, you've done everything you can do. Some of you are in this situation with your kids, your family, your friends. You may feel like this is where you're at with work. Done everything you can do. He said now, the key is control your thoughts. Take every thought captive to Jesus Christ. Do not let the enemy get in your mind. The enemy will tell you you're finished. The enemy will tell you this is where you drown. The enemy will tell you this is where it's game over. The enemy will lie, steal, cheat, and kill, but the Bible says fix your thoughts on what is good and true and noble and righteous. Fix your thoughts on Jesus Christ. Fix your thoughts on all God has done for us, and if you can do nothing else, breathe. Push and breathe, and keep your thoughts fixed on him until he rescues you, and he will.

Can I tell you in my own experience, even in all of the uncertainty, what I went through this last year has changed me. I've prayed more in the last year than in any year of my life. I've depended on God more in the last year than any year in my life. I have been humbled in a good way. I'm not the same leader I was. Can I tell you something, though? I'm better, and what I mean by that is I'm less about myself, and I'm more about God and his glory, right? God will take you through the wilderness, not to punish you, but to purify you, to prune you. to shape you so that he can use you for his glory and for his story. Trust God in the uncertainty. And here's another thought then, just keep going if you're in the middle. Just keep going if you're in the middle. I know for me, when I played high school football, I mostly just warmed the bench. I wasn't very good. And I can remember my one game that I had near the end of my football career was when I was, we were playing Dalhart, Texas, y'all. And it was, they had the ball, game was almost over. So we were on defense, they were driving.

It looked like we were gonna lose. I think they were down by like three points. And all of a sudden, one of our defensive players got hurt, probably was the second one to get hurt because they called me off the bench to come in and play. And that never happened. And the coach was like, Will Hite, get in there. And I'm like, what, huh, did he call my name? I remember I couldn't find my helmet. That's the one thing I remember is like, oh, where's my helmet? Somebody find my helmet, because my helmet never got used. Anyway, I grabbed my helmet, put it on. I run out on the field and they snapped the ball. I'm playing defense. I get through the line. My friends get through the line. He's my buddy. He sacks the quarterback, amazing. And the quarterback fumbles the ball. So now the ball is like bouncing backwards or towards our end zone, right, where we can score the points. And I'm just running. I don't know what I'm doing. Just keep running, just keep running. I don't belong here. I'm never out here. And then my other friend falls on the football.

And when he falls on it, it like squirts out and it like bounces another 10 yards. And I literally am just running. And the ball, no lie, no exaggeration. It just bounces right up. I didn't even catch it. Like literally my hands were just there and it just like fell right into my hands. And I just stopped. Forrest Gump style. And I was in the end zone. We scored a touchdown. We won the game. It was amazing. I didn't even know what happened. My coach, Coach Todd, who hated me, came running out onto the field, ran over to me. I mean, the guys were going, it was like I was Rudy Ruediger for a minute. You know, like, Rudy! We won the game. Amazing. And after that, I quit football because I'd already had the greatest moment I was ever gonna have. And you just need to go out on a high note. Y'all remember that. Everybody remember that. I'm out. You know what that is?

That's a picture of grace. Grace is undeserved favor. I didn't do anything to deserve that win, to deserve that football. I just, I was in the right place at the right time and it had very little to do with me. And when the Bible talks about the undeserved, unmerited favor and forgiveness of God, it looks a lot like that. It's not because we're so together. It's not because we did everything right. It's not because we have it all together. It's because Jesus in his goodness and in his grace chose to call us, forgive us, restore us, heal us, empower us, put his spirit in us and deploy us on mission. That's the grace and the goodness of God. And it's about what God did more than it is about what I did. And so grace. And what you see in the book of Exodus chapter 14 is the greatest grace picture of the Old Testament. It's the salvific moment, if you will, of the Israelite people in the Old Testament. Exodus 14 right here, what we're about to look at is the first time the word save ever occurs in the Hebrew language of the Bible as you begin to read it, because God is gonna save the Israelite people as they cross through the Red Sea

and then the waters ultimately take out the Egyptian forces who are about to attack them. And so here's what we read in Exodus chapter 14, beginning in verse 13. It says, Moses answered the people, do not be afraid, stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. So what's happening here is God has led the people over here and then over there and then over here and then over there so that the Pharaoh thinks these guys are dumb. They don't even know where they're going. They're lost. And then he leads them to where their back is against the wall, their backs against the Red Sea. They're facing the Egyptians. Pharaoh's got his 600 best chariots. He's got all of his best foot soldiers and they're charging towards the Israelites. And the Lord sends Moses out to say, do not be afraid. Right? Reads a lot like the Anaconda story. Do not be afraid. Just stand still. Now can you imagine how hard that would be in that moment? Cause it's not like you're.

to stand and still like I'm just standing up here, stand still, you're standing still when an army is potentially charging down on you and you can feel the ground move from the horse's feet. Stand still. Watch the Lord rescue you today. Do not be afraid. And so I went through the Bible because I thought that was so rich and so good. And one of the things that's interesting when you go through kind of the Bible and you look at all the times we're commanded to not be afraid, it's often connected to who God is, to his character and his goodness. It's not just don't be afraid, right? Some of you are in a tough situation, your back's against the wall, and I'm not here to just tell you don't be afraid. I'm here to tell you don't be afraid because of who God is and because of what he can do in your life. And so I wanna share with you, I just went through the whole Bible. I just flew over it 50,000 feet and wrote down all the times it said, do not be afraid, and what it said after that. So here it is, do not be afraid for God is with you. Do not be afraid for your God hears you. Do not be afraid for the battle belongs to the Lord. Do not be afraid for God is coming to save you.

Do not be afraid for God is here to help you. Do not be afraid God will strengthen you. Do not be afraid God will hold you up with his victorious right hand. Do not be afraid the Lord personally goes ahead of you. Do not be afraid. God will not fail you. Do not be afraid God will never abandon you. Do not be afraid for the Lord will protect you. Do not be afraid for he knows your name. Do not be afraid for he knows the number of hairs on your head. Do not be afraid for he's out to bless you. Do not be afraid for he will help you. Do not be afraid for he will heal you. Do not be afraid for he will give you a great reward. Do not be afraid of the insults. Do not be afraid of the future. Do not be afraid of the powers of people or the powers of hell. Do not be afraid he has overcome them once for all. Do not be afraid because nothing can separate you from his love, his value, his greater future. Do not be afraid because he has given you the victory and it's his pleasure to give you the kingdom. Do not be afraid because he's the first and the last. Do not be afraid he's the alpha and the omega, the king of all rulers. Death couldn't defeat him, the grave couldn't hold him, and the world couldn't overcome him.

Do not be afraid because Jesus is alive today and tomorrow and forever and he is coming soon. Do not be afraid. So when your back's against the wall, you remember who God is and you remember who you are to him. He's got you, he's got you. Don't be afraid, stand still and watch the Lord rescue you. Just keep going in the middle. Here's a few things I wrote down that have helped me, just some learnings from this last year. They're very simple, but they're very profound for me. The first one was simply this, to keep going in the middle, lean on God and others. Lean on God and others. And I think for me, as I was honest with friends and with family about some of the things we were going through is I was transparent. I was just so moved by how, you ever feel like you show up for people, but you're not really sure if they'll show up for you? And what I learned this last year is that they will. They will show up for you. They showed up for me and they carried me along. And they said, Judd, if you can't walk right now, we're gonna hold your arms and we're gonna help you walk. If you can't keep going right now, we're gonna show you that you can keep going. We're gonna pray for you and we're gonna walk with you and you're not alone in this. And I'll tell you, it changed me.

It changed me. It's okay to rely not only on God, but to rely on others. And can I tell you today, church, you are surrounded by an amazing community of people. They will pray with you. They will encourage you. This is a special, what God is doing here right now, right now is special and sacred and holy and beautiful. And you can be part of that. And as you open your life up to somebody, they will encourage you and walk with you and you'll find mutual strength together. Lean on God and others. Here's another thing I wrote down that helped me keep going in the middle. Embrace today as a gift. Embrace today as a gift. When you're in the middle, all you wanna do is get out of it, right? Come on, all you wanna do is get to the other side. All year, I've just been like, God, get me out of this crazy situation that I didn't create. Just get me out of it. But what you realize is the greatest work God can do in your life will happen when you stop fighting against it. And when you embrace it, it is what it is until the Lord moves. until you have a breakthrough and you start to embrace every day as a gift

and you learn to sit in it, even if it hurts, even if it's uncomfortable, even if it's difficult, you embrace today as a gift and you realize tomorrow is not guaranteed in this life, but today is a gift, I don't want to miss it. Third thing I wrote down is this, don't borrow trouble from tomorrow. I have a PhD in borrowing trouble from tomorrow. I got a PhD in worry, anxiety, I can imagine all your worst case scenarios, some of you are conspiracy theorists, I don't even need to be a conspiracy theorist, it just happens naturally for me, I imagine all the stuff. But here's what I've learned in my own life, it's like, man, Jesus said it, right? Don't worry about tomorrow, today has enough trouble of its own and all worry and anxiety really does, look, it doesn't fix tomorrow, it only ruins today. And so, man, don't borrow that stuff from tomorrow, let God carry you through today. The fourth thing I wrote down was this, this too shall pass, whatever situation you're in, whatever your struggle is right now, this too shall pass. Being in the middle means you're in a season, seasons come and seasons go and life is a journey through the ups and the downs and the difficulties, but God will bring you through it. This too shall pass is something my father always said. My father, he's an older generation,

he dropped out of high school so that he could serve in World War II like many people did in his generation and my dad was like a master sergeant in the army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge and went all the way up into Germany with the allies and was a part of the Korean War, like, you know, he was a military guy. And then later was like a small business owner and really just a great person of faith and a great role model to me. I was a crazy teenager, addiction, drugs, partying, all the things, got into all kinds of trouble and my dad was so amazing in the way he walked with me and loved me through all of that. So I just wanna honor him, I'm grateful for who he was and if you had a great dad, then that's a sacred thing and I encourage you to honor them. If you didn't have a great dad, you have a great heavenly father and you have some incredible men around you and you can be the great dad that you didn't have and make a difference for the people and the kids in your life. But in my life, I remember I got the call a while back, several years ago that my dad was really sick and I needed to get home so I went back to Amarillo, Texas and I went into the hospital

and my dad was like already kind of not conscious and so I'm sitting there and he would have these moments where he would all of a sudden become lucid and I mean, my dad kind of died like a master sergeant in the army would die, right? Like he's completely unconscious, all of a sudden he would like open his eye and look at me and the first time he looked at me, I'm not even sure he fully recognized me, he said, it's about time we wrap this up. And then he was out. I was like, I got it, dad. I hear you loud and clear, I understand. Another time I'm sitting there and he looked up at me out of the corner of his eyes and he goes, it's about time we let her rip. Yep, dad, got it. We're working on that. That's kind of in the Lord's hands right now, but yeah. At one point his defibrillator went off and he thought it was keeping him alive and so he got zapped and it wasn't keeping him alive but he kept thinking it was like restarting his heart or something, he gets zapped, he sits up, he's all angry, he's got fire in his eyes. He looks right at me and he goes, you better get that heart doctor in here right now. I paid him a lot of money and I should be dead by now. Boom, back on his back. Got it, dad.

My sister and I, we finally go in, they say, you need to say your last words. Many of you have had this moment. So we go in and I'm holding his hands and kneeling down beside his hospital bed, thanking him for not giving up on me and loving me through all my crazy stuff and just telling him I'll try to be a good man, following his footsteps. And all of a sudden he just opened his eyes, he looked at me, he looked at my sister and he gave us a gift. He said, you're good kids and I love you. I'm going for a walk in the sunshine. I'll see you on the other side. It was the last thing my dad ever spoke. And you know, walking out of that hospital room kind of changed me. She realized so much of the stuff we give ourselves to in life just doesn't matter at the end of your life. What matters at the end, it's not your golf game. And I hope it's good. Yeah, it's not your fishing catch. I hope it's amazing. What matters at the end is your love for God, your love for people. It's a short list. And my dad taught me in that moment, seasons come and seasons go, but the Lord is faithful.

And if you will hold on to him, if you'll trust him in the uncertainty, if you'll keep going even in the middle, what you'll find is he will see you through every season, even the last season and the final transition. My dad went out with peace because he had made peace with his maker and he trusted him in his life. And maybe some of you are here today, maybe you've never crossed that line of faith. I wanna give you that opportunity just to reach out to God, to ask him to forgive and heal and restore, to place your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ. I'd love to lead you in a simple prayer, just to open your heart to God. It's not the final step, it's just a first step to help you reach out to him and begin that spiritual journey. So could I just ask all of you to please bow your heads and close your eyes. And if you'd like to become a follower of Jesus, you can begin that journey by repeating this prayer after me. You can say it out loud, you can just say it in your own heart and mind. I believe God hears you. I wanna say, dear God, I thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus into the world. I believe he died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again.

Forgive me for my sins. Give me the gift of eternal life. Help me face the challenges I'm up against. God, I surrender my life to you in Christ's name. Friends, with every head bowed and every eye closed, if that's your prayer today, if it's your commitment, I wanna ask you to just lift your hand in the air, just to acknowledge you're gonna follow him, you're gonna trust him today. Just reach out to him. God, we thank you. We thank you for each of these individuals, just reaching out to you. We thank you for what you're doing in their life. We pray for them right now. We pray that you bring healing and hope, forgiveness, restoration, that you guide them, that they may find their path as they reach out to you in faith. God, we give you praise for them. We thank you for them in Christ's name. Amen. Amen, amen. Let's put our hands together for those who made spiritual commitments. God bless you guys. Thank you.