You Don't Have to Be Good Enough for God

If some of you say, "Why are you doing this?" Because I've been pin up for three months. I've been watching service for three months, and now I've got to get it out. That's like therapy. Okay. But God isn't hiding. We're going to look at Acts chapter 10, a story there that I believe is very pertinent for ours today. And life can feel like one giant search. We're searching for purpose, searching for meaning, searching for answers, and for a lot of people, even spiritually, life feels like one big game of hide and seek. God is hiding somewhere, and our job is to find Him. If I can just figure out the right answers, if I can just find the right church, and if you're here, you've found it, if I can just pray the right prayer. If I can just get spiritual enough, maybe one day I'll finally find Him. The Bible does tell us to seek God. Jesus said it Himself in Matthew 7.7. Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be open to you. So we need to seek Him. Absolutely we do. We need to seek God. And here's what is amazing about the gospel. We are not on some great treasure hunt, trying to discover a God who has hidden Himself from us. We need to seek God in His ways. We need to seek Him for answers. We need to seek Him because He's God, and He's the one that holds everything in His hand. But we don't seek Him to find Him.

If people talk about it all the time, God is always here, He's always been here. In fact, He was here before we were here, humanity was here. He created it. And so you don't have to look under every rock and every corner hoping you'll get lucky one day. God is not hiding from you. And the story of the Bible is actually the opposite. God came to us. That's the gospel. That's Jesus. In fact, chapter 10 might be one of the clearest pictures of that in the entire Bible. When the story starts, it looks like a man named Cornelius is searching for God. But by the time the story is over, you find out God has been coming after Cornelius the whole time. God is working in two different cities with two different men at the same time. And neither of them knows what God is doing with the other one. Let me pray. Father, in the powerful name of Jesus, I thank you for being here. Thank you for teaching us. I thank you for opening our eyes or understanding that we may more clearly see the glorious light of the gospel. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. So my first point is God is already working. Acts 10 verses 1 and 2. In Caesarea, there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius who was a captain of the Italian regiment. He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. Cornelius is an interesting guy.

He's a Roman centurion. Here's why. He's a Roman centurion. He's got about a hundred soldiers under him. He's a Gentile. He's not Jewish. He's an officer in the army that occupies Israel. On paper, he is the last guy you'd expect to find a revival story about. Luke tells us, "This man fears God." He gives, he prays, he's seeking God with everything he knows. But here's the thing, Cornelius is a good man. But Cornelius still needs Jesus. You know, we talk about good, and people are good, and these people are good, and that people are good. The reason the world is in such a mess is because the church has refused to be the church. We are the moral compass of this day. God uses his people, not in a bad way, in a good way, to do his will on this earth. And we get caught up in good people, good things, where they're good. Folks, let me tell you something. Islam has targeted Albuquerque to change the whole atmosphere. Islam's goal is to take over the world and everybody be under Sharia law, which is the antithesis of our constitution of these United States. In the Quran, it teaches that you can kill the infidel. Well, just so we're clear, you're the infidel. That's why I'm not for Palestine. I'm not for any Muslim nation. You know what their mantra is? We'll take it over. We'll take America over by bullets or by the ballots.

You know I saw me one day that showed a bunch of Muslim women in a hospital, full pregnant, having their babies, and then they showed the Americans in the abortion clinics murdering their babies. And we sit back and say nothing. And we come to church and say, "I don't want to hear nothing." We come to church sometimes and people want to be ostriches. Stick your head in the sand and act like the world doesn't exist. People tell me all the time, "I just wish you'd preach the Bible." I do preach it. There's no question I preach the Bible. But, well, I just want to hear the gospel. Well, part of the gospel is to be a good citizen and know what's going on. In Islam is a wicked, evil group of people. They don't serve the God we serve. They have been brought up by doctrines of demons. The Koran was not given by God. It was given by a demon to Muhammad. The Book of Mormons is the same way. It is not godly. It is ungodly given to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni, which is a demon. And yet we say, "What are good people?" We should reach these people. We should reach the Muslims. We should want to reach the Mormons. We should want to reach the Jehovah Witnesses. But to say, "Well, they're okay because they're good people." They believe in something that is against what you believe, if you believe the Bible. You shouldn't let them into your home. Leave them at the doorstep and talk to them. You can witness to them because we should.

Folks, they serve something different than we serve. Everybody says, "All is God. All is not God. All is nothing." I mean, there's only one God. We're going to find out today. There's only one God. And the only way to the one God is through Jesus Christ. You can't get there any other way. Should we reach these people? Yes. But folks, the Muslims are coming into Albuquerque because they're one of the six cities that they've targeted to take over. And the church is so passive, Christians are so passive, that they say, "Well, it's not a big deal." Yes, it is a big deal. I don't want any mosque in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And I don't believe you should be able to build a mosque when you don't believe in our country and our constitution. Well not every Muslim, things like that, yeah, but they're still part of the Muslim world. If they didn't really think like that, they would get out and become born again or start serving the only true God. But see, we don't like it when I talk like this, and it's amazing to me why. I'll tell you a couple of reasons. One, because you almost never hear it. Two, we live in the most liberal states in America. And when truth is taught, people freak out. And it shouldn't be the truth you get mad at. You should get mad at the lies that you've been believing for all this time.

And if we're not, and if we're not to speak to these things while God was never political, He's been political from the beginning. Jesus was, and we, but I don't want to hear that in church, well where do you want to hear from? CNN, MSNBC, even Fox News. We should want to hear what the gospel of the Bible, and we've got to learn to stand on godly principles, and we can't be afraid. This will go all over the state, all over the country that He's talking about how evil Islam is. And listen to me, they need to know we know, and they want to kill the infidel. Well, you're the infidel. I'm an infidel. They don't believe in Allah, and submit to their Sharia law, believes, I mean they're called infidels. And all the Quran says is kill the infidel. I don't know about you, but you come in here trying to kill us. There'll be a fight happening, you know. So Cornelius being a good guy doesn't save him. He still needs Jesus. Being devout doesn't save us. Being generous doesn't save us. Praying regularly doesn't save us. You can be the nicest person on the block and still be lost. Cornelius needed Jesus, and God was about to make sure He heard about him. Acts 10, verses 3 and 6. One afternoon about 3 o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward Cornelius stared at him in terror. What is it, sir? He asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and gifts

"to the poor have been received by God as an offering." Now, since amended Japa, and summoned a man named Simon Peter, he is staying with Simon, a Tanner, who lives near the seashore. So God tells him to do it. Cornelius is praying, and God answers him with three words. Go get Peter. But don't miss what's happening here. Cornelius isn't looking for God, but God isn't hiding either. Or Cornelius is looking for God, but God isn't hiding. Before Cornelius even knows what he needs, God is already moving to bring him the answer. And God doesn't just tell him to send for somebody, he gives him the name, the city, the address, and even the guy's landlord. God knows exactly where Peter is. And here's the thing I want you to hear. God knows exactly where you are also. There's people in here doing well, there's people in here struggling, there's people in here sad, there's people in here grieving. There's probably people in here who are contemplating suicide. Don't do it. You're being lied to. You're being told there's no hope. No one cares.

People do care. You know, I've seen lonely people that have their family and friends around them all the time, and they'll still say they're lonely. 'Cause loneliness is a state of mind. It's not about being with people or not with people. It's a state of mind. And we have to rebuke those thoughts. That's what we're teaching on Wednesday night, Tuesday and Wednesdays, to be battle ready, to take authority over those thoughts. And some of you in here, I'm encouraging you, and some of you online, take authority over the spirit of suicide. 'Cause it is a spirit, and it usually happens in clusters, 'cause it is an evil spirit. And so in the name of Jesus, nope, I'm not gonna do that, not gonna harm myself. I'm gonna do what God wants me to do. God, I need you. God's not hiding from you. He knows exactly where you are. And so don't ever forget that. When you can take nothing out of this message, always know this. God knows exactly where you are. See, Cornelius may be seeking, but God is the one orchestrating the search. And some of us need to hear that today.

You think you're the one who started looking for God, but the only reason we're hungry for him at all is because he started working on us first. See, God is preparing Peter. The next day while Cornelius' men are on the road, Peter goes up on the roof to pray. It's about noon, he's hungry, lunch is cooking downstairs, and God gives him a vision. He sees something like a big sheep being let down from heaven. And it's full of animals. The Jewish law said we're unclean. Animals Peter had never touched in his life. Acts 10, verses 13, 15. Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat them." No, Lord, Peter declared. I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure unclean, but the voice spoke again, do not call something unclean if God has made it clean. In Acts 10, verse 16, the Bible says it happened three times to Peter. And then God tells them in Acts 10, 20, to go with the men that Cornelius sent. You see, Peter said no, Lord, those two words don't belong together. If he is truly Lord of your life, you don't get to say no. You might hesitate, it might take you a minute to do it,

but you don't say no. Peter said, I mean, can you imagine, okay, I've never had a vision, but if I had a vision like that, an open vision, what they're called, and I had an open vision, and the Lord said, Steve, get up and do this. I don't know if I would ever have the audacity to say no. But yet he's speaking to us through his word all the time, and we still say no. No, I'm not gonna do this. Think about why God searched and sought after Cornelius. Said he was a good man, he wasn't a saved man, but he was a good man. He prayed to God, and he gave to the poor. Do you know, when we come to Christ, praying and giving is a huge deal to the Lord. Huge deal. And so just honor him. Pastor, I don't make that much, but you can at least do the tithe. But that blesses your life. Serve, get involved. Help somebody else so God can more help you. Have a passion, I'm going through so many things I need help, yeah, but when you start helping somebody else and God helps you. See, we missed it like the church. You know, I can go to work and feel bad, I can go to work and hurt, I can go to work and do that. But come to church, I can't help

because I'm going through something. Well, you go to work, going through something. You go to school, going through something. You hang out with your friends, going through something. You go to Wally World. That's Walmart, by the way. (congregation laughing) I mean, seriously, but somehow church, I can't help somebody because I'm hurting. Folks, let me tell you something. Every one of us in here has either been hurt or hurt, will hurt at some point in their life. Every one of us, but we don't quit on God. We don't tell him no. But that's Peter. And if we're honest, when he said no, we're honest, that's us also. Now, look at what Peter, look at where Peter is when all this happened. I think this is just an interesting side note. He's in Japa. Do you know who else was in Japa? Jonah. This is interesting how the Bible is. And Jonah 1-3, but Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. And why was he running from the Lord? 'Cause the Lord told him to go to Nineveh and preach the gospel and preach about God. But he didn't want to go 'cause he was afraid

they might repent, but he wanted God to just destroy them. 'Cause if they didn't repent, God was gonna wipe 'em out. So Jonah says no and runs the other way. He went down to the port of Japa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarsus. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by selling to Tarsus. You and I can never escape from the Lord. You can go across the world and not escape from the Lord. We may hide from him, but he's not hiding from us. Hundreds of years earlier, God told a Jewish preacher to go to a Gentile city and preach and Jonah went to Japa and ran the other way. Now God has another Jewish preacher in Japa. And he's about to send him into a Gentile home. Only this time, the preacher's gonna go. And then while Peter is still scratching his head over the vision, there's a knock at the door. The men from Cornelius have arrived. Cornelius thinks he's looking for Peter. God told Peter to go with these men. Peter thinks he's having a strange vision about food. Neither one of them can see the whole picture, but here's who can, God can see the whole thing. While Cornelius is seeking, God is working. While Peter is praying, God is working. While the servants are traveling, God is working. When you go through your life, God is still working. God's purposes are not limited by your ability to see them. He sees what you don't see.

He knows what you don't know. And sometimes what you call your search for God is really the moment you start to recognize. God has already been at work. Peter walks to the door. Now I don't want you to miss this because this is massive. This is huge in this story. When Jonah refused to go to Nineveh, we need to realize what God was asking Peter to do. And Peter walks to the house. And the first thing out of his mouth is this, Acts 10, 28. Peter told them when he walked up to Cornelius' door, you know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you, period. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. You have to understand what that doorway meant. For a devout Jewish man in Peter's day, walking into a Gentiles home was a line you didn't ever cross. The religious traditions had built a wall so high that a faithful Jew would not go in, would not sit down and would not eat at that table. You want to see how serious this is? They are about it. Look at the night Jesus was arrested. Look at this night. John 1828, Jesus' trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning.

Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor, being accused. They want to crucify him. His accusers didn't go inside because it would defile them. And they wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So here they're taking Jesus, they're taking them. They're taking him to the Roman governor, and they wouldn't even go in. They're like, "We can't go in." That's how serious this was, because they would be defiled. They couldn't experience or celebrate the Passover. Think about that. They're plotting to kill the Son of God, but they won't step through a Gentiles door. That's the wall Peter grew up behind. His whole life, he's known who is in and who is out. Clean and unclean, Jew and Gentile, insider and outsider, us and them. And now Peter is standing at the door of a Roman officer, an officer in the same army that nailed Jesus to the cross. And Peter walks right in. When Peter crossed that threshold, the gospel crossed the line, it was always meant to cross. And Peter doesn't just preach from the front porch and leave. At the end of the chapter Cornelius asked him to stay, and Peter stays several days. He's sleeping under the roof and eating at that table. You gotta realize no one had ever done this

in the Jewish culture. Jesus came, they got saved, they believed in him, but they've never crossed that line because it was unclean. They'd be defiled. Think about what it is. We looked, we'd read these stories and say, "No, that was simple." It was a very difficult moment for him that God had to give him the same vision three times in a row. And Peter still said, "No, Lord." No, he said, "I could hear the Lord." Are you kidding me, Peter? Don't you call unclean what I call clean? And then he said, "There's some men coming, you gotta go with them." And Peter knows as he's going with these men, he's gonna go to a Gentile home. Just imagine all the things because of religion. It was a huge, huge deal to him. Huge, but you gotta read it with that understanding that it was a big deal. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, because it cost Peter, this whole thing cost him. When Peter crossed that threshold, the gospel crossed the line, it was always meant to cross. And Peter doesn't just preach again from the front porch, he goes in.

And it costs him. Acts 11, verses two and three. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, listen, the Jewish believers criticized him. You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them, they said. Can you imagine that? Like you went in their home and ate with them. I mean, can you imagine the criticism? It was pretty tough. When you read the story, James, who was, they believed the pastor in Jerusalem, the half-brother Jesus, who came from Mary, 'cause Catholicism teaches a bunch of junk that somehow married her husband didn't consummate their relationship and have other kids. James stood up and said, "Wait a minute, boys. We've got to chill out here because we don't be fighting against what God is doing. But they criticized him. He got in trouble with the church for doing exactly what God told him to do. Listen, obedience doesn't always get the applause. Sometimes when you walk through the door, God opened, religious people are going to have something to say about it. Listen, folks, religion kills.

It just makes everything good, bad, whatever. There's no life in it. But serving Christ has freedom. Not freedom to go do what we want, but freedom to serve God. Realizing will make mistakes. Realizing will blow it. Religion says, you know what? You just go confess this and do all these penance and you're forgiven. You can't do enough penance to be forgiven by God. The only way you can be forgiven by God is to ask Him to forgive you. There's no other way. And people are being deceived all over. Because Peter was tearing down that wall on his own, it wasn't on his own. Jesus had already done it. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14, "For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people. When in His own body, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. The wall came down at the cross. And Peter just finally walked through the opening. So let me ask you something. Is there a door God is asking you to walk through, a neighbor, maybe you've written off,

a co-worker you figured would never be interested, a family member you quit praying, is beyond God's reach. That is not our decision to make. And what we need to realize is Jesus is Lord of all. Now Peter finally gets it and he says it out loud, Acts 10, 34, and 35, then Peter replied, "I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism." In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. And doing what is right is not what you think, it's what God's word says. And hopefully when we do right, we're doing what God wants us to do. Now don't misread that. Peter is not saying good people get into heaven by being good. If that were true, Cornelius wouldn't have needed Peter, because he was already a good guy. Peter is saying the door is open to every nation. And then he tells them what the door is, Acts 10, 36. This is the message of good news for the people of Israel that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. There it is. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Now not just Lord of the Jews, not just Lord of the religious crowd, Lord of all. Peter tells them about Jesus, about his life. He tells them about the cross. He tells them about the empty tomb, and then he lands the plain. Acts 10, 43. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name. Everyone, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We're all a bunch of whoever's. Are you going to do this call? Now we understand why God sent Peter. God wasn't rewarding Cornelius for searching hard enough. God was bringing Cornelius the gospel. Cornelius prayed. He gave. He feared God, but he still needed Jesus. And can I tell you something? So do we. God isn't hiding himself beyond behind your background. He's not hiding himself behind your family, your education. He's not hiding himself behind your failures or your past. Cornelius didn't have to become Jewish enough for God to want him. And you don't have to make yourself special enough for God to notice you. You don't have to be special, outstanding. All we need is the Lord Jesus to come into our lives and God notices everything. See, God came to us and look what happens next. Peter doesn't even get to finish his sermon. Acts 10, 44. Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. Peter is still talking and God moves. I've done lots of sermons, but I've never had God move like this. I've been interrupted a bunch too. Acts 10, 45. The Jewish believers who came with

Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles or two. And Acts 10, 46. And after they say that, they, because they heard them speaking in other tongues. And now there's no question. These people aren't second-class Christians. They're not outsiders who get to stand somewhere near the family. They're in. Same spirit, same savior, same family. And Peter says, let's get them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Think about how this chapter started. Two men in two cities who had never met. And by the end of it, a Roman household is filled with the Holy Spirit. Think about what he did. Let's get them baptized. Folks, when you get born again, you must be water baptized. People use the argument, well, I don't need to do that to be saved, but you do need to do it to follow Christ. That's the bottom line. Well, I don't know. I don't think. No, the Bible wants you to be baptized. Why was Peter so big on? Let's baptize them. You don't need to go to classes for six months. You don't need to learn all about it. You get baptized, then you learn what God has done in your life. Because the quicker we obey, the more blessing will come to your life and the more help. Even though you may have problems because none of us are problem-free, God is there. You always can look to Him. And He's not hiding from any of us. See, God came to us. And that's what we need to understand that God is not hiding. God was working the whole time with these two men. And that's been the story since the very beginning. Go all the way back to the garden, Adam and Eve, and their sin. And what do they do? They hide. [BLANK_AUDIO] God didn't hide, they hid. Not God hiding from humanity. He was the one who comes looking for them, that we need to understand, Genesis 3.9, then the Lord called to the man. Where are you? God came looking. Now he knew where he was the whole time. But he's getting, "Where are you?" God came looking, he never stopped.

God doesn't stand at a distance and yell instructions about how to get to him. He doesn't do that. He comes to us, John 1, 14. So the word became flesh or human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness and we have seen his glory, the glory of the fathers, one and only son. Muslims don't go to heaven until they're born again and they get out of that. Mormons don't go to heaven until they come and get born again and get out of that. Joe witnesses don't go to heaven. The problem is we've allowed them to make themselves mainstream so we think they're like us, but they're not like us. Unless you're born again, you cannot enter the gates of heaven, or where do I go? Hell. There's only two places to go, heaven or hell, because you will live forever somewhere. We never just die like we're dead like a, you know, going the grave you're done. You are alive either under God or alive to this world and the enemy. And the only way we're alive to God is through Jesus. Say all the time, oh, I'll just come to God on my own. No, you won't. You'll come to him. Humble yourself before Jesus. Well, me and God, we got our thing. There's no such thing as your thing. God has his ways, his thing, and we either honor him or we don't. And when you blow it, you honor God by repenting quickly. How may I have blown it like today, yesterday? How may I know by the end of the day if you watch the Cowboys, you're going to get mad and say something, I mean, think about it. We all blow it. He didn't say, don't ever blow it.

He just says, when you do recognize who's the only one that can forgive you. And then you stay in fellowship with him, it doesn't matter what you do. God forgive me and we, we stay in fellowship with him. I tell people I'm quick to forgive and quick to repent. I've said to me, I'm a professional repentor. I think we all need to be. And when you repent, he forgives you the things you have no idea you did that violate his work. That's how good God is. Quit trying to be perfect because you'll never be perfect. Quit trying to make your kids perfect because they'll never be perfect either because they're little humans. And the things you don't like in them, a lot of times are the things they've seen in you. So if you're hyper critical and your kids start being critical and you say, I don't, why are you so critical? Because you are. They do what they see more than they do what they're told. Come on somebody. Say, man or owe me, but say something. And God is just trying to help us walk this earth. We have a nature that's against God. We get born again and we fight. It's a fight, a spiritual fight for the rest of our lives. No matter how old you get, you're like old people. That's why you can get older in this house, but you're not allowed to be old. Because old people get cantankerous and stuck in their way, "Ah, it's got to be like this." Like, dang. Because you got old. Don't get old. Just get older.

You can't stop it as much as you lie about it. You can't stop it. But they get kind of mean sometime, not all the time. Thank God. Because I know some sweet older people. And some say, "Well, you're older. I know, but I don't see myself as older. I know I'm older. I just said that all the time. I said, "Those older folks over there?" And she goes, "They're probably our age." I'm like, "No, say it ain't so, Athol, say it ain't so." But Jesus became flesh the word. Jesus, Jesus stepped into our world, Jesus took on flesh, Jesus lived among us, Jesus went to the cross for us, Jesus rose from the dead. So look back at your own life for a second and think about everything that brought you Somebody talked to you. Somebody handed you a Bible. You went through something that made you start asking questions and walked into a church. And at that time, none of it seemed connected. Maybe you thought you were the one searching. But somewhere along the way, Jesus was put right in front of you and you found out God was never hiding from you. He had already come to you. And church, if that's your story, then somebody walked through a door for you to be here also. Somebody crossed the line to get to you. Now it's your turn. So I'm going to give you an assignment if that's OK.

This week, name one person. Pray for them by name. And then go knock on their door. Be somebody's Peter. So before we pray, let me tell you where Jesus is right now. Revelation's 320. Look, I stand at the door knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. And we will share a meal together as friends. Peter walked through a Gentiles door because Jesus sent him. Now Jesus himself is standing at yours. He's not afraid of your house. He's not afraid of your past. He's not afraid of the mess on the other side of the door. He is knocking. Someone said, well, you're knocking a lot because I'll keep knocking until you open. Until you open that door. He never stops knocking on the door of your heart and mind. You say, that's irritating. Then open. And maybe you spent your whole life searching. Searching for purpose. Here's one, searching for meaning which I don't even understand that I'm just searching for the meaning of life. Like, oh my gosh. They say the dumbest things people do. And we kind of like, OK, and everybody plods them. And I'm like, nobody knows what they meant. Searching for meaning.

Thinking if you search long enough, behave well enough, get religious enough, you'll finally find him. See, you don't have to solve some cosmic riddle. God has revealed himself already and his name is Jesus. So today, open the door right where you are right now. Just understand that God is for you. God wants to help you. He's knocking, and he'll keep knocking. He'll knock, and knock, and knock. All he wants us to do is open the door so he can come in and begin to change our life. When you ask Jesus, be Lord, your life will change your perspective. It will. Because God is a good God. His mercies are new every day. I don't know about you, but I need His mercy every day. I need it every day, just like anybody else. We all need His mercy. But the only way you get it is by allowing him to come in. Don't let him stand there forever. The freezing cold, and the hot, and the rain, and not open the door and say, Lord, come in. I don't understand it all, but come in. So if you're here today and you walk with the Lord, this is your moment to get it right, to come home. Quit hiding from him. God's not hiding from you. He continues to knock on your door of your heart and mind and say, just let me in, or let me back in.

If you're here and you've never asked Jesus, be Lord, if you're like, this is your moment to say yes. Don't say no, Lord, say yes. And just because you do it your way doesn't mean it's God's way. We read in Matthew 7, 7, where he says, seek. Later on that chapter in verse 20, 21, 22, they say, he says in that day, men will come up to him and declare all the great things they've done. We built buildings in your name. We cast out demons in your name. They gave the Lord God their resume of how great they were. And they called him Lord. They knew who he was. And Jesus looks and said, I'll look at them and say, I don't know you. You knew me, but you never honored me. You did things for your own self, but you did nothing for me in the kingdom. And he says, I don't know you. Or they'll be weeping and gnashing a teeth is called hell So many people know Jesus is Lord, but not as many follow him as Lord and Just knowing his Lord is not the same as following him So if you're here, and you've never asked you just to be Lord of your life He's been knocking you believe in God. You believe you like the church maybe even but you've never truly said Jesus Be Lord of my life This is your moment because he's knocking on the door of your heart And it's up to you to decide whether you open it or not My hope and prayers that you open it today with every head vow just for the next few moments, and you say pastor would you pray with me? I've walked with Jesus, but I walked away from pastor. I'm ready to make sure that Jesus is Lord of my life I'm ready to ask him to be Lord of my life. I'm unsure if he is

But I want to be sure this is how you can be sure You call on his name, and he'll save you Doesn't matter what you've done what your past is how mess your life is God knows and he's okay If that's you in the powerful name of Jesus, I'm gonna ask you to do something very simple Very simple, but it's so profound. I Want you to acknowledge the Lord I want you to be able to Acknowledge him in your life If that's you and Jesus name right where you see then you say preach include me in your prayer If that's you right now in Jesus name, would you just lift your hand and say include me in your prayer? God I want you in my life. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you God bless you over here. God bless you over here. God bless you I see your hand waving God bless you God bless you God bless you all those folks up this up on the top As I look over to my right you're left anybody else Thank you right here. God bless you God cares He's not hiding He knows where you're at and he wants he's still knocking. Yeah, but my life's a mess He's still knocking. There's not a mess too big for God to walk into All you have to say yes anybody else before we close look at the top section one more time anybody else up there It hasn't already lifted your hand so many lifted their hands on the bottom section anybody else Father in the powerful name of Jesus. I lift up all these folks to you And I ask you to help them and bless them You're knocking and now they're opening the door Come into their hearts and minds flood their hearts of minds with your love your mercy your grace Let them know that you're real and you do care about them In Jesus name if you lifted your hand. I want you to pray this prayer aloud to me right where you're seated. I Want you to pray loud enough for your ears to hear what? What comes out of your mouth And if you didn't lift your hand, but you know you should have I

Want you to pray this with us and I want to introduce you to Jesus But I want everybody in here. That's right with God in in serving and letting people know you for them Would you pray with us and no one's praying alone? Would you pray this prayer aloud with me? Would you pray God? I? choose to believe Today that Jesus is your one and only son and he is Lord of all You raise them from the dead To give me a new life So according to your word, I believe that in my heart and now I willingly confess With my mouth Jesus be Lord of my life Thank you for saving me Thank you for forgiving me Thank you for helping me in Jesus name a man and a man and a man