You're Running a Race... But Are You Winning? | Game Plan Week 1

Amen. Faith Promise, who's excited to be at church this weekend? Come on, I know that I am. Amen, amen. My goodness, I'm excited, not just for this weekend, but for this season that we are rolling into. You may have heard us in other ways, but I believe it is church time in Tennessee. Can I get an amen? Faith Promise, come on. It's gonna be great. Man, no matter where you are joining us from, if you're live at a campus, online, God Behind Bars, Wynn Community Gatherings, we are gathered together. Hey, God Behind Bars, I was coming the other week. I haven't got clearance yet. Maybe they're not gonna let me out when I get in, but I'm coming to you. Faith Promise, can we welcome our God Behind Bars campus? We love you guys so much. We're proud of you. Keep on going. Hey, the best days of not just our church, but your life and your family are ahead. You don't have to be here long. I met a lot of first-time guests already today. You don't have to be here long to know that we believe that you are a winner. We have built the culture of our church

around the fact that God has made you to win. And I pray that when you're at church, you feel more believed in than anywhere else you go, all week, that you actually can't wait to get back to church. You wanna come every week because you feel God's presence. You're filled with it, and you go out to pour it out all week. And we don't just believe that because we're positive. We don't believe that because we have a good attitude. We believe that because that's what God's Word says, and we take what God's Word says seriously. Can I get an amen, faith promise? Amen, we do. And so, hey, if you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, today we're gonna be in 1 Corinthians 9. But God says that you're a winner. And so, let me read you this out of 1 Corinthians 9. Yeah, 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24. And it says, do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to win. Run in such a way to win. Now, just keep that verse up there. I just want you, or look at your Bible. I want you to see, it starts with, do you not know? And can I ask you, do you not know?

Do you not know that you're running a race right now? My question is, what finish line are you running towards? Are you running towards a big bank account? Are you running towards a lot of followers? Are you running towards somebody thinking, well, what race are you running? Paul is trying to wake us up here. God wants to wake you up today. Do you not know that in reality, you're running a race that is spiritual? Do you know that you are made to run? Do you know that you are not just made to run, but you're made to win? Can I ask you, are you winning? And not just are you winning, but are you winning where it matters? God's game plan for you, all throughout His Word, all throughout the church history, is that you would win, not just in your world, but that you would win your world to Jesus. And I'm telling you, I just, I pray, if you only leave with one thing today, I pray that you would just, today, you would get a dissatisfaction. You would get a bad taste in your mouth for what the world has to say to you and about you. And you would start to get a desire for what God's Word says about you, the promises and the purpose and the provision that God has over you, a dissatisfaction for the world

and a desire for the Word and all that He has, that you would lean into who He has made you to be. And I pray that, not just for you, but I pray that for the people in your life that God has called you to. We don't just, we don't live our lives just for us. We live our lives for the people that God has put around us that need God so desperately. And listen, I know that sounds good, but just before we lean in today, because we're gonna take action today. Whatever God has to say today, we're gonna obey, all of us. But can I just lean into you for a second? Do you, right there in your seat, not the person beside you, I know it's easy to believe for somebody else, not somebody else you know, but you, do you know that you are called to win? Do you know that you're called to win those around you to the love of Jesus? Do you know that He loves you? Do you know that He has a purpose for you? Do you know that you're made in His image? Genesis 1, 27, that He's made you on purpose, with a purpose. Ephesians 2, 10, He has so much for you. And He desperately wants us to get it. And we're gonna get it in this series as we follow God's game plan. I wanna help us see this today.

I'm gonna need your help. Okay, so I'm gonna need your help. But there's a guy, we've already read a little bit from him, but his name's Paul. He's really just so impacted the world for the gospel. The first church planter. Actually, a lot of what we do here at Faith Promise is modeled after Paul, because he was a church planter. He was a witness and he did all this stuff. And so we're called to live our lives like he followed Christ. We follow Paul and Christ. We live our lives this way. And I love how he described his life because he lived a life of walking and winning with Jesus. It's a thrilling life. It's the life that you were designed to have. And so I'm gonna read you a couple of verses out of 1 Corinthians 9 again. We're gonna read verses 19 through 23. But I need your help. Every time the word win comes up in this verse, I need you to say it. It's either in your Bible or it's on the screen. I just need to make sure you're awake. All canvases everywhere. On the count of three, I want to hear you say win. Okay, one, two, three. Win.

Ooh. Well, that's good, we're ready. I'm not sure if the blunt canvas was that ready. One more time on the count of three, win. One, two, three. Win. That's what I'm talking about. I need that same sort of power when we read this verse. When we hit a win, I need you to say it. So starting in verse 19, Paul writes this. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone as to? Win. As many as possible. To the Jews, I became like a Jew to? Win. Ah, you're slowing down a little bit to win the Jews. To those under law, I became like one under law, though I myself am not under law as to? Win. There you go, those under law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law, though I am not free from God's law, but under Christ's law as to? Win. Those not having the law. To the weak, I became weak to? Win. The weak.

I have become all things to all people, so that by all means possible, I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I might share in its blessings. Listen, that you are called and equipped to win your world is not some fancy thing that we say. It is absolutely biblical. And listen, the only thing that we know we won't get to do in heaven is win one more person to Jesus. So I just need you to feel this. God didn't make losers. God didn't make mistakes. In Psalm 139 when it said he put you together piece by piece, he didn't make a mistake, he didn't make a loser. God makes winners. And because that's true, because God's word is true, and his design and desire for your life is true, that's why you wanna win some places. We all wanna win somewhere. Again, maybe it's in your finances. Maybe it's in your followers. Maybe it's in how people think about you. Maybe it's a sport. I don't know what it is. We all have a desire to win somewhere, right? And if we never take time to dip that desire in God's design, you will continue to try to win places that don't matter in eternity.

But that's where you were called to win first. All the other gifts that we've been given should point to, should pull us towards winning people in eternity. And if we're called to win, if that's a major part of God's game plan, then let's do it together. I don't know about you, I love to win, but I like to win together even more. It's one of my favorite things to do. So something we did all together in January is we started praying for our one. Who's the one person that God is calling you to go after with the love of Jesus? Who is that? And I'm telling you, it's working. Actually, I got, listen, I promise you, I did not stage this. I got this text this week from a friend of mine named Jesse, and this is exactly what he said. I didn't doctor it, I promise. He said, so good, man. I try to tell him every other time I see him how proud I am of his growth and his transformation. He was my main one this year. I knew that he believed, but also knew that he wasn't actively pursuing God and walking with him. So cool to see your one be on fire. Listen to what he says.

Listen, lean into this. From sixth grade to senior saint, listen to what he says right here. He says, makes me wish I didn't wait so long to pour into others spiritually. And also believe that I could. It's all about him. Can I beg you? This guy, he was at the early service. If he got a microphone, he would beg you, please believe sooner rather than later that you can win your one, that you can pour into people spiritually. This guy, he sells homes. He's not a pastor, but the generations are being impacted because of him going after his one. Can I ask you, who is your one? Who's your one? I wanna ask you to write on this card, put it somewhere you see it every day, put it on your mirror where you brush your teeth, put it in your car, but let's pray together. During the 21 days of prayer, let's believe for revival. And maybe, and again, Like you heard in FP News, we have a baptism on the 16th, just in a couple weeks. Let's push, let's push. What if all of us, can you imagine?

What if half of us, what if half of us brought somebody that got baptized? We'd be baptizing for hours. Can you imagine what that would do to our cities? Can you imagine what that would do to our states? Can you imagine what that would do while school's starting back? And we can do it. I'm not talking about something that's impossible. I'm talking about something that God said He wants us to do, something that He'll help us do, and something we can do. And you may ask, give God some praise. Come on, get excited about it. It's good. It's happening. Now, a lot of us have never done this. You may say, Zach, I'm kind of in. Help me know how. There's something called the Engel Scale in church history, but let's look at it this way. I'll look at this graphic up here. So let's just, obviously, even if you're new, hell or fire is hell, okay? And what we've got down here, it's the easiest 100 yards I ever ran. Team Jesus, that's somebody following Jesus. Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do this month. Help your one take one step. Help your one take one step. Help your one take one step.

We've got people that don't know God right now, and if somebody dies, they don't know God, there's only two places they go. They go to heaven or hell, that's it. That's what the Bible says. And so we have people, maybe they're aware of the basic facts about Jesus. If they're not there, can you get them there? And then can we help them take one step? Maybe understand the gospel and personal implications, like what it means for your life. Can you help somebody just take another step? Can you help somebody take another step? I'm not asking you to run a Hail Mary. I'm not asking you to break loose for a 99-yard run. I'm asking you, can you help your person take one step? Can you pray for them? Because right here, aware of the basic facts about Jesus, the fact that when we pray, Jesus hears us, is a huge fact that people should know. And if they're around you, they should know it. And just praying for them, just loving on them, just reaching out to them, just inviting them, just serving them, just being there is gonna start to help them take one step. I'm asking you to help your one take one step. You know what I'm committing to? I'm committing to do that for everybody I see. So when I go out to eat, and I pray for my waiter or waitress,

and it's somebody that you're helping take one step, I'm gonna help them too. And my friends that I'm helping take one step, you might bump into them at Kroger. And when the Holy Spirit promises you to say, hey, I just think weird, I know this sounds weird, God has a plan for your life. You're gonna help them take another step. And we're gonna help take another step. And then at some point, we'll just be, we'll just be in the stinking end zone, just dancing. And we're gonna get there together. I never really scored a lot of touchdowns, but that was what I was planning on doing. I'm more of a defense guy, okay? But hey, help your one, that's not in the notes. I don't know, babe, it's just happening up here. Help your one take, well, my wife's up front. She just gets a little crazy for me, okay? You're welcome. Help your one take one step, okay? Listen, but for us to do this, and I know it's got, it's exciting here. For you to do this on a consistent basis, you have to see yourself as the winner that God has made you to be. So in this series, what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at habits to help us see ourselves as the winners that we are. So hey, maybe you're out of shape.

You wanna see yourself as somebody who's in shape that takes care of their body. You're gonna have to start the habit of maybe going to the gym. You're gonna have to stop the habit of blizzards, your car breaking down at Dairy Queen every time you drive by. There's habits that if you wanna be something, you have to start some, you have to stop others. And so in this series, I wanna look at some habits that if you will start, if you will lean into, it'll help you know, see, and live like the winner that God's made you to be. Something I want you to know. I've seen it in my life. I've seen it in thousands of people's lives. And it's just true. In God's game plan, old habits still win new battles. It's just how it is. Old habits still win new battles. Again, I wish, I wish that you could lose, I wish there was an ice cream diet where you could just lose weight. I wish. And if you've cracked that, I'll let you do a weekend and we'll make all the money in the world if you've done that, right? But if you wanna lose weight, it is still, you have to meet a caloric deficit and you have to burn more calories than you eat.

I wish it wasn't true either, I promise you. But it's just true. It's same is true spiritually, that old habits still win new battles. Now, let me give you an example. I wonder if you've ever heard of a guy named George Mueller. George Mueller. I love this guy so much. The guy in church history. And George actually was just living a normal life. just live a normal life until God got a hold of him. George was living his game plan, and then God got a hold of him with God's game plan for his life. And so he felt called to be a missionary. And when George told his dad, his dad cut him off. He was in college at the time, his dad cut him off and said, nope, I don't believe in that. I don't think that's what you should do. I'm not gonna support that. But George kept on following what God had for him, and God provided every step of the way, and God kept providing in supernatural ways. There's a resource on the app for more about George's life. It'll really encourage you. Maybe read it as a family this week. It'll encourage your students and your kids just to challenge him, right? The best highlights we see shouldn't be on Instagram. They should be in men and women of God

who've just wrecked the world for Jesus. So let me tell you one story about George and his testimony. Because George raised millions and millions of dollars for orphans. He cared in orphanages that he built. He cared for over 10,000 orphans. But here's the crazy part. He never asked for money. Imagine that. Some of you guys are leaders and maybe you raise money or you manage budgets, even your budget at home. He cared for over 10,000 orphans, raised millions of dollars and never asked for money. Here's one story from George's life just to help you see kind of what he did. One morning, George woke up and he got news that one of his orphanages that housed 300 kids, imagine 300 orphans are in this home. He gets news that they don't have any food. There's no more food. So George gets ready, he heads down there, he goes down there, he shows up. Guess what this crazy man did? First of all, can you imagine the pressure of 3,000 orphans under your care and you have no food for them? But listen, winners do not hide from pressure. Victims hide from pressure. Victors stand in the gap and push on pressure. And that's what you're gonna do.

That's what George did. Listen to what this wild man did. He goes to the orphanage, he gathers all 300 kids and he brings them where? Brings them to the dining hall. Sits them all down at their tables. This man has the audacity to stand up and pray for the food they're about to eat. Can you imagine that? It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it. He has them all sit down, stands up and prays for the food they're about to eat. There's no food, none. And then while he's praying, he gets done praying, guess what? There's a knock at the door. George goes, opens the door, there's a baker there. The baker's out of breath. He said, Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night. Every time I would fall asleep, I had a dream that you needed bread. So I stayed up all night, all night baking bread. I've got three big units of bread. Do you need bread? Yes! They bring them in. They start putting out the tables. They're doing that, God's showing up. If you're, I'm getting the gooses, I hope you are too. These kids are gonna get to eat.

They're sitting down, they're doing that. And then George sits down. There's another knock at the table. He goes, opens the door, it's the milkman. This is not, this is a documented story. And the milkman says, my cart broke down right outside the orphanage. And by the time they get here to fix it, all the milk will be gone. All the milk will be expired, it'll all be bad. Could y'all use this milk? Can you imagine that? Can you, and listen, that's, he wasn't praying to a different God than we're praying to when he sat down and thanked God for the food that he would provide. He saw God move this way time and time and time again. Why did he see that and a lot of us don't see that? Because he was praying like a winner and he was serving like a winner. I'll make you a money back guarantee. You pray like a winner and you serve like a winner, you're gonna win, you're gonna live a winning life. You cannot lose praying like a winner and serving like a winner. And this is the kind of life that God is calling us to live. A lot of us, maybe I just wanna ask you, are you seeing God move in mighty ways in your life? Or are you wondering if God might move at all? Where are you at right now?

Do you feel like God has suspended you from his game plan and you're wondering what's happened? I promise you that is not God's design or desire for your life. But can I remind you, the devil has a game plan for your life too. He's got a game plan where you don't pray like a winner, where you don't serve like a winner and you and the people around you live like losers. And that's not what you see in God's word. That's not the problem. promises that he has for you, for your kids, and those people that you're connected to. Do you know, can you imagine this? Do you know the people around George, the people in the city, the leaders, hated George? Can you imagine that? They hated him. Do you know the main reason they hated him? Because he was helping poor people rise above their station. And they thought there wasn't enough wealth for everybody. Rich need to stay rich, middle need to stay middle, poor need to stay poor. The devil would love nothing more than you to stay poor spiritually. He's fine for you to be rich financially and poor spiritually. Actually, he'd prefer it that way. He desperately wants you not to rise above your station as a man of God, as a woman of God,

as a servant, as a prayer warrior, as a world winner. I'm telling you, but God has so much for you, and it's there. It's on the table. It's time to eat. But you have a choice. What life do you wanna live? What game plan do you wanna follow? What identity do you want to live in? Listen, I'm telling you, we're all trying to win somewhere, but are you trying to live where you were designed to live? Let me ask it to you this way. Are you trying to win the world's way, or are you trying to win the word's way? We're all trying to win. How are you trying to win? The world says you win by serving yourself. The word, Jesus, says you win by serving others. And can I push you? I love you. Can I push you? School's about to start. It's about to get crazy. A lot of you guys are picking serving others, but you're really serving yourself. If you're not willing to tell your kids no to sports or to hangs or whatever for their discipleship, you're taking the easy way and you're serving yourself. If you're unwilling to make the sacrifices to tithe and do what God's called you to do

because you're doing something else, hey, I genuinely, whenever I was writing this, I just felt really prompted by the Lord. A lot of us feel like we're serving, but we're really serving us. Can I remind you how Jesus put it? Jesus said this in Matthew 20, verse 28. He said, the Son of Man, that's Jesus, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. I wanna remind you that Jesus is our leader. Jesus is our example. If this is how our leader and our example lived, shouldn't our life look this way too? And I just need to push you, I need to push you. Some of you guys are gonna get this reference right away. I'm gonna explain it for the rest of us. As I was praying and preparing for this moment, I believe that selfishness only comes out by prayer. In the book of Mark, telling the story of Jesus' life, there's a young boy that's demonically oppressed and his father is asking Jesus to heal him. And the father asked the disciples to heal him, but they can't. And Jesus heals him and lets him go. And the disciples say, hey, why couldn't we do it? And Jesus says, this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting. Can I tell you, selfishness only comes out by prayer and serving.

If your marriage is having a hard time, is there any prayer and service in it? If your kingdom impact is nonexistent, is there any prayer and serving in it? If you feel like you don't have a purpose, you feel like you wake up, you're always behind, you're always anxious, you're always depressed, is there any prayer or serving in your life? We're about to enter into one of the most, one of the greatest harvest seasons we've ever had as a church. And part of that's gonna be our 21 days of prayer. This starts tomorrow morning at six o'clock. For some of you, yes, there are two six o'clocks in the day. There's an AM one too, I promise, it's there. I'd love to celebrate it together with you tomorrow. But hey, I wanna take some time and pray. And here's what we're gonna do. Because selfishness only comes out by prayer and serving. So I wanna take some time and pray. And this is gonna stretch you. This is gonna stretch you. If you're here for the first time, if you're just humorous, just follow along. But here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna put three questions up on the screen. And would you take a moment and pray? Read it and ask the Lord to speak to you. The Holy Spirit's gonna talk to you right now. My question is, will you listen?

My question is, will you obey? So these questions, I'm not gonna talk. The most important words you can hear today are from the Lord. My question is, will you listen? So let's take some time. It's gonna stretch us. That's okay. You wanna see new results, you gotta do new actions. This kind, this selfishness, only comes out by prayer and serving. Let's take a few minutes, please read these questions, and let's listen for the voice of the Lord in our life. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. We wanna keep on praying right now. And got right now we wanna think about, are we living your game plan for our life? Are we living your game plan. Right now, God, as we read that question, we prayed, God, I believe that you put stuff on our minds. Are we living the game plan? And right now, you put next steps. You put the ones you want us to go after. And right now guys, as I'm praying for ya, we usually just ask God for boldness. We just ask God for boldness for whatever it is you put on your mind whenever you ask, God, am I living the game plan that you have for me? The things that he asks you to do, we just ask God, give me boldness. And then say it. Give me boldness to share my faith. Give me boldness to serve. Give me boldness to tithe. Give me boldness to sing and worship. Give me boldness to do quiet time with my kids. Give me boldness to get up early. God, give it to me. Give me what I need. Give me what I need, God. We don't know how to change some of this stuff. God, we also thought about, what are the places that we're losing right now?

You've called us to win in our identity, in our relationships. And God, right now, we used to give those to God. Maybe you already did it, but together, what are those things? What are the things whenever we ask? What is it that God's told you you're a winner in that you feel like you're losing? You're losing the battle in, in your purpose, in your relationships, in your physical health, your emotional health, your spiritual health, your discipline, your purity, your holiness. Right now, God, I just pray that you would let us know, God, that we can win, that we will win, that you put these habits in place for us to do it. And God, as we do things in the natural, you bring a win to the supernatural that pushes a place we've never been to, God. Change our lives, change our trajectory, change our mindsets, God. Those places that you, that we feel like we're losing, God, you have given us victory. So God, ask that last question. What could God do if we live the life of serving and winning? God, right now, I just wanna speak life. I wanna prophesy. Ephesians 2.10, sorry, Ephesians 3.20, over our church, that you are able to do exceedingly and abundantly, more than we could ever think or imagine.

God, I pray that over our marriages right now. I feel like a lot of us, we thought, gosh, my marriage, what can you do in my marriage? You can bring intimacy and communication and joy back to our education, to our students going back to school, the anxiety, the depression, God, you can relieve those things. And you can give, you can give desire, you can give anticipation, you can give joy and love and peace and patience. God, you can bring wind into our sails, into our relationships, God, something that we thought were broken, prodigals that are gone. God, you can restore all those things. God, I just want us to just get a vision, get a thought for what you can do in our lives. If we would just live the life you caused to live, the winds that you could bring to our lives, if we would just walk in these disciplines that you've given us, God, you're a good father. Luke 11, 11, if we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our kids, how much more so our father in heaven will pour out the Holy Spirit on those that ask. God, I pray for a breakthrough in our lives. I pray for a belief in our lives. I pray for an excitement in our life that you have so much for us, so much you wanna do through us. God, please, please, in this season of 21 days of prayer,

in this season where we're starting these habits, would you just change our lives? So many of us feel like we've tried before, we try to do it ourself, and God, you wanna set us free, and you wanna let us know, if we'll just do these little things you've asked us to do, you're gonna do the big things. God, we love you, we believe in you, we trust you. In your name we pray, all God's people said. Amen, can we give God some praise real quick? He's so worthy, he's so worthy. Oh, we love you, God, we love you. Hey, I pray in those moments that you heard from God, because God's speaking, he's absolutely speaking. And hey, here in a moment, if you need help praying, if you need help hearing from God, in a few minutes when we end our service, we'll have prayer team members up front that would love to pray for you. But can I just tell you, there are over half. of you. I don't, we don't have to guess what your next step is. Like a lot of times we're like, oh spiritualizing is sitting in a dark room and just discern from the Lord. No, it's very clear. I'm gonna help you out, right? Can I tell you right now, what over half, almost, almost 75% of our church, can I tell you what your next step is? It's next steps. Can I tell you that? I promise you. And let me tell you why. You learn two things in next steps. The first thing you learn is how to have a daily winning relationship with Jesus. And I'm not gonna make you raise your hand, but the lion's share of you, if I asked you over coffee, do you know how every day to have a winning relationship with Jesus that's gonna lead to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,

faithfulness, self-control. Do you know how to have a personal winning relationship with Jesus that leads to a great marriage, that leads to holistic health? A lot of us say no. Next steps. That's where we start. We start with knowing Jesus every day, and God wants that for you. Can I tell you what else we have in next steps? You learn, and listen, listen, some of you guys are trying to tune this out. It is an attack from the enemy. Something else you learn in next steps is you're designed by God. God has designed you right there in your seat to serve and make a kingdom impact. You right there, not the person by you, not me, you. He has designed you on purpose, with a purpose, to be a part of what the Bible calls the body of Christ. In the Bible, in Romans chapter 12, the church is called the body of Christ, and without you, we are missing your gifts. God designed you to come and be a part. Maybe God's hand in the body of Christ is missing the fingers. Do you know how hard it is to reach out and grab somebody who needs it with no fingers? It's impossible. God is asking you, will you not? I promise you, I'm not asking you. Will you step out and use the gifts that God has given you? That's my action for you today. If you've never been in next steps, if you've never served, today's the day. Now is the time. He has so much for you. You may wonder, gosh, why do I feel like I don't have purpose? Why do I feel like I'm wandering? Why don't I have joy? You were made to serve in the body of Christ, right? A hammer was made to nail nails, a surfboard was made to surf the waves, a plane was made to fly, and you were made to win the world through the power and the gospel of Jesus and his church. I mean, you can give God some praise if you want. I'm telling you. Guys, today at 12 o'clock, next steps. Today at 12 o'clock, next steps. We should have, at every campus, standing room only. We're expecting a move of God. Here's my question. Single moms are gonna show up with their kids, and they're gonna walk into FP Kids, and they're gonna be here for the first time. We only get one shot. She's gonna walk in, she's gonna have her baby. She's gonna walk into FP Kids. Will she find a man waiting at the door that says, I can't wait to hold this baby. We're gonna take such good care of him or her. We're gonna love them. We're gonna be there. Hey, you go. Don't worry about a

thing. We'll be here when you get back. And she can come in here and experience the presence of God. What about FP students? There's a move going on. 90 of our students felt called to ministry. So many are getting saved and baptized. On Wednesday, whenever our students who are inviting, when they come, will they find group leaders that are there that'll love them on Wednesday, seal them on Sunday, call them on Tuesday, go to their game on Friday. Will it be there? If not, maybe it's because you're not serving yet. I'm just, hey, hey, everybody calm down. Calm down, everybody. The answer to everything we're seeing in the world is the gospel of Jesus. And the vehicle that God has handed that gospel to is his church and his people. Please, please, would you obey whatever God has to say? Next steps today at 12 o'clock. You can register, just show up. I just, please, please. Maybe you're here today and you've never started a relationship with Jesus. Maybe you've been in church your whole life and it's always been religion. It's always been checking off boxes. Can I remind you what I read about Jesus a few minutes ago? That it says in Matthew chapter 20, verse 28, that the Son of Man, Jesus, did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus died on the cross. He died on the cross and he rose from the grave so that he could have a relationship with you today, every day. and in eternity. Can I ask you, do you have that relationship with Jesus? Are you winning with Jesus? Are you scraping by, living like a pauper, just trying, you're like a servant, like a slave, just trying your best to make through the day, trying not to be depressed, trying not to be anxious. That's not the life that Jesus died to give you. So today, right here, right now, are you ready to stop playing? Are you ready to stop losing?

Are you ready to step in the relationship that Jesus has for you? If so, we're gonna pray a prayer right now. It's the prayer that we're told to pray in Romans 10, nine, and 10, confessing that Jesus is Lord of our life. And I know you still have questions, and we cannot wait to walk out to answer those questions with you, but let's not pause. Let's give our life, if that's you today, and there's hundreds of you, let's give our life to Christ today. Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me? If you're ready right now to give your life to Christ, we're gonna pray a prayer all together. Nobody prays alone at Faith Promise, we're a family. So let's pray this all together. Say, Jesus, I know I've sinned. I know I'm not perfect, but I believe you are. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the grave because you love me, because you want me. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that you are my Savior. With heads still bowed and eyes still closed, hey, if you'd prayed that prayer today, if you gave your life to Christ today, here in a second, I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand. And listen, if you can't be bold here, you will not be able to be bold out there.

I'm just gonna put something in your hand so that you know your next steps and we can walk them out together, but on the count of three, if you gave your life to Christ, I just want you to raise your hand boldly. I'm telling you, he died boldly on the cross. Let's be bold together. On the count of three, if you prayed that prayer, I just want you to raise your hand. One, two, three. Go ahead and raise them up high. Awesome, come on, raise them up high. Come on, be bold, raise them up. Give us just a minute to get these out. Praise Jesus. Just one second, awesome, awesome. Just give us just a few minutes, praise the Lord. Come on, best days are ahead. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. Amen, amen. Faith Proverbs, can we celebrate with the people that gave their life to Christ today? Come on. Amen, amen.