Alright, we can come on in and get a seat. Everybody that's outside, come on in. Thank you, Jesus.
Is anybody else expecting tonight? We just thank you for who you are. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us. Lord, you're so kind.
If you don't leave us alone, we're so grateful, Lord. I just want to read from Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord. To inquire in his temple, for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me.
He shall set me high on a rock. My head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy upon me and answer me.
When you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, Lord, your face, Lord, I will seek. Lord, I want to seek your face. Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.
Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me. and such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. Can we all stand together? Lord, we just say that you're good, you're faithful, you're worthy of all praise, oh God. Lord, I pray that our praises would be a pleasing aroma to you tonight. Not flippant words, not like thoughtless kind of talk.
But Lord, we ask that our worship would be pleasing to you. We just lean into you, Jesus. So we'll go ahead and open the altar.
If you want to come and worship up here, you're welcome to. Let's worship the Lord together. He's good.
I'm just going to sing out a sound of praise to him. The word says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. How many of us have been set free tonight?
Set free of the chains of darkness in this world? Set free of the bondage? We've been brought into this marvelous light. Thank you, Jesus.
Jesus. So tonight we're going to sing about our freedom as we open up our praise for the King of Kings. Here we go. You came to set the captives free You came to bring us liberty You came to set the captives free My sin and my rejection Met your blood in my mouth Where the Spirit of the Lord is to bear his freedom Where the chain is broken through you, Jesus Spirit of the Lord, it's the baby spirit of the Lord Oh, Your blood has covered every sin Your grace and power's Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom Every chain is broken through your Jesus Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to dance and sing. I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to shout it out.
I'm free, I'm free. I'm free to dance and sing I'm free, I'm free I'm free to worship you I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to dance and sing I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to shout and I'm gonna worship you. I'm gonna worship you.
There is freedom in the spirit of the Lord. There is freedom. Jesus, it's where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Every chain is broken through you, Jesus. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Oh, Thank you Jesus that we are free tonight, free to lift up your name.
Lord, that the devil does not have any hold on us any longer, that darkness has no hold on us any longer. Come on, who is set free in this place tonight? Come on, it's something to be able to testify tonight.
You are not bound by sin. You are not bound by what the enemy and what this world has to offer. But the Lord has set us free for the sake of freedom. And for that, when we rejoice, we release a sound into the atmosphere. I pray in the name of Jesus that if there's anyone in this place that has been battling through darkness, that doesn't know what it's like to be in the light, or has at one point had that feeling or had that experience, that you would have freedom tonight.
That you would be set free tonight. Because the one that breaks chains, the anointed, is here tonight. to break chains, and I'm a living testimony of someone who has been set free from the bondage of sin, from addiction and despair. He set me free.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, cause you are freedom, Jesus. Oh, freedom reigns in this place. Showers of mercy and falling water.
There is freedom. The Spirit of the Lord is. There is freedom. And the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, oh, it's you, it's you, oh, and the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom where the spirit of the Lord The Lord is, there is freedom.
Oh, cause freedom reigns in this place. The showers of mercy and grace. Falling on every... things there is freedom but I oh and freedom reigns in this place with showers of mercy and grace glory This Jesus is here, so fear has to go, cause Jesus reigns in this place. Taking off the old, I trade it all for new garments of praise, new garments of praise.
Oh, we're trading fear for faith, anxiety for complete. He, oh when he comes, is a king in the world Like sea, river, my Lord, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well. Swell with my soul It is well in my soul.
It is well. It is well. The day of faith shall be my sight The clouds be rolled back Trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, and even so, it is well with my soul. It is well, So let go of my soul Waves and winds, you know Do it Fix my eyes, fix my eyes on you When the storm comes, when the droughts come I'll fix my eyes on you I want to see you, see you rightly, Jesus, I want to see you.
I want to see you, see you rightly, Jesus There is no one like you, there's no one like you Jesus, you're beautiful, and there is no one like you in the heavens or on the air. There is no one like you. I'm so beautiful, and there is no- Jesus, you're beautiful Jesus, you're beautiful Jesus, you're beautiful If you just raise your hands across the room right now we're we just want to connect the bible makes it very clear that with clanging that with the symbols with the harps, with the string instruments, with our voices, that right now this is not just recreational. This is connecting with the heartbeat of our Father. We were created to bring adoration.
We were created to stare. At the one who is worthy of all of our attention. Your eyes were made to stare at beauty, and Jesus is beautiful. Just as everyone in this room, as your hands are lifted and as your eyes...
are looking, maybe you close your eyes to allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten your imagination as we are told in Ephesians 3 that he's able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to this power that's at work within us saints, that if you are born again, this is not on your willpower. You have to understand that your willpower will fail you. But when you surrender to the power of his will, that is when your faith finds the wind and you're able to sail into eternity with the right affection. So right now, I want us to sing it as well again.
And I want you to sing this from a place of faith, a place that there might be people in this room That if we walked up to you and we asked you, is your situation well? You might not say, my situation is well. If we walked up to some of you and we asked you how you were doing, you might not feel it as well. But I'm here to tell you that if Christ lives in your heart, that if the Holy Spirit...
is alive in you and you have accepted the promise of salvation. I want to remind your mortal body that it is well. It is well with your soul. And just as David had to in the Psalms, there is times, multiple times, that David had to speak to his soul that what he knew to be true oftentimes was not felt in the depths of his being and he had to call it out as deep calls out to deep that you stir up the wells of your heart and you say i know that logic reason and a lot of natural evidence proves that it is not well right now but this world is not my home that i am a citizen of heaven that i abide in the vine you And that fruit is bearing in my life.
And as Paul prayed over the church of Philippi in chapter 1, he says, I am convinced that God is faithful to finish and complete that work that He has started in you. Saints, tonight, before we feast upon the Word of God together as a corporate body, to become more unified over the words of Christ, So we can be representatives in our community, in our families, and in this region. Can we bellow out, it is well, and put our soul on notice that it is time to tap into the joy of the Lord. It is time to tap into the peace of the Lord.
It is time to reimagine what we're seeing and what we're facing. And we sang it, and the team has led us so well. The reason it is well is because Jesus is beautiful. So I know everyone got a little tired and put your hands down. Could you get your hands back up?
And let's declare this in unity. And if your arms get a little tired, ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength to be in unity. Because it's hard to be in unity sometimes.
But this is an exercise of our faith. Now don't feel condemned if you put your hands down. That's the opposite of the right affection. If you got to grab the hand of the person next to you, it'll help you keep it up longer.
Let's declare this together. Yes, Lord. His words are so interesting Ways and ways to know His name So interesting So interesting in the waves and wind, I'd still know Oh, this day, I'm already A shout of praise!
Declare! Yeah! At the end of the age, when we pass from linear time into outside of time, when everything we heard about God that we've believed in our heart becomes vivid, crystal clear on streets of gold, a sea of glass.
We will all declare it is well with our souls. If you're in this room and you feel any discouragement, I want to encourage you that your soul is precious to God. The blood of Jesus says so.
You are precious. Not my words, you were worth. The God of the cosmos, the God of the universe. Becoming a man. Subjecting himself to the process of being in the womb of a woman.
Grew up as a boy dealing with the systemic sin that we had caused, the infrastructure of wickedness. He dwelt among us in purity, full of grace and truth. And even when he was on the cross, he still looked at the people in that moment who were putting in there and said, forgive them for they know not what they do.
Who is this man? He's the reason it is well with our souls, and He is all things beautiful. Can we lift up one more shout of praise to Him? We love you, Lord. Yes, yes.
If you're being ministered to at the altar, please, we're not rushing you. Those that are able to, if you would love one of few people, because you know what's so amazing about being in the presence of God? is extending his character to one another in the room.
We didn't come here to- Tonight, just to consume, we came here to love on one another. Yes, Lord. Hey, Peyton, if all the kids could come forward, all the kids for... Thank you so much. Kindergarten through fifth grade, if you would make your way to the altar, we want to pray over you real quick.
While we pray over the kids, we're also, I want to pray over the storm that's coming. I know that that's probably even another reason why it's a little light tonight because people are preparing. We don't have anything to fear, right, saints? Right? So we're going to pray over the children.
And Jessica, would you pray over the children? Okay, let's come into agreement for an awesome night tonight. Father, we're so grateful and so thankful for who you are, God, and who you are in each and every one of these children and their families, Father.
We pray tonight, God, that there will be just such a deeper revelation of who you are, Holy Spirit. I pray that you will move in the room tonight. And I pray, God, that these children will continue to grow in Kids Church here as they're growing at home with their parents, Father.
That there will just be a union and just a connection. as we grow and as these children grow deeper in you. I thank you, Father, for your anointing to rest on Reggie and Joe as they teach tonight, God, that you will speak to them divine, specific words for each and every one of these children, Lord. We thank you for what you're doing.
In Jesus'name, amen. We love you all. Love you, Betsy. Love you, sweetheart. So, I wanted to, there was one announcement I needed to make.
I know last week we addressed the building. If you weren't here, you can check out the, I think it's on Facebook. We made a statement last week regarding the building.
We really want to encourage you all that first off we were blown away that so many people even reached out to us last week and just starting to give whatever information they can to help us find a 24-7 habitation are you guys still in a full agreement with us please Do not grow weary in that prayer posture. And I also just really want to encourage that. I want to make it very clear that whenever we have a time for tithes and offerings, you know, it's really important.
The scriptures make it very clear that tithing is a base of trusting in God 10% of what an individual makes or whatever, that they bring it before the Lord as the first fruits, as Proverbs even shares with us. And as we read in the Levitical law and so forth. And I know some people are like, well, we're not under the law anymore.
And I would say, amen, in a certain degree. But one of the things that we see in the new covenant is that everything that was in the Old Testament is now magnified to a greater standard, but the Holy Spirit empowers us and it's no longer by our own strength. So with that being said, a big muscle in the body of Christ is generosity. And it's one of those.
those things that we're believing for a facility and through prayer and through community and through us coming together, all of the home groups that come together for something huge that were little stones and we come together to do something over a region. That's why when Paul would write letters, he didn't write it to just a home church. He wrote it to the church of Philippi, the church of Galatia, the church of Corinth. It was to a region and we represent a part of the region of Penelope.
And some of us come from Pasco, some from Hernando County now is with us, with Immerse. And I just really want to encourage you in your giving that this is unto something. This is unto us being able to labor like never before.
Because if we have our own space, that means we are able to have discipleship intensives. I've had things in my heart that I would, and we're going to see these come to pass. But There's just so much more we could do, not to burn out or have a false burden, but just to have space to really be able to do more things as a body and to be able to win more people to the Lord through our evangelism, through just the things that we have to offer. So I just want to encourage and I want to say one big thing.
Kids are a huge priority in this house, and they need to become an even bigger priority to us because if we give the vibe that the kids are a burden, or the kids are not a part of what we're doing or going after, what is that going to say to them as they grow up? Our parents get to do something and that we're not, no, they're being trained, but they also, we want them involved with the things that we're doing and growing at the speed and being able to have all those resources is essential. So with that being said, if you call Gold Street your home or say you're...
you're visiting and you just want to be generous to what God's doing and help us reach goals, just raise your hand. We'll get an offering envelope into your hand. We also have text GSG to 727-351-6160.
We have Venmo and Cash App. I'm so thankful that, you know, over the years, My wife and I, it is a joy to continually give where you see life happening, where you see lives being changed and a community that is effervescent and glowing with the glory of God. I also, while that's being done, I am gonna hit the announcements. real quick, but I did want to make a big announcement just so nobody is, Matt and Sarah, who have led worship for Gold Street for years, they were supposed to be here tonight, but they caught a virus and on their vacation, but we haven't formally announced this.
Some people probably already know but Matt and Sarah are actually gonna be moving and they're actually gonna be moving over an hour away and they have some new endeavors that they're going after and we've talked with them and prayed about it about almost two months ago now. So they're either gonna be here next week or the week after and we're gonna celebrate and pray over them before all that transition because we believe in honoring and celebrating and loving people that we adore. Matt and Sarah. are some of our closest friends and we're so thankful for them.
But I just wanted to make it known to you all so that way it's like, it doesn't seem like there is a weird transition. We love them and they couldn't be here tonight and we can't wait to pray over them together. But I also wanted to say that tonight with Javin ministering, I do wanna make it very clear for this season, the next few months, I want you all to know Justin and Bonnie very well. I know the rest of our team you see often, but Justin and Bonnie are gonna- going to be with us and we love you all so much.
And you know, as they're with us for this season, we're, I mean, we're blessed to have the Immerse team with us, Caitlin, and we're just so thankful. And while they're here, we really want to be a blessing to them as they're a blessing to us. Amen. With all that being said, let's pray over the offering and then we'll do the quick announcements.
I want to get Javin up here to share just all the Lord has been doing in their family. Father, I thank you that, Lord, we have tangible substance to bring to the altar tonight. Lord, I thank you that this is not in vanity. This is not just whimsical, church superficial exercise, but Lord, Father, we genuinely want to touch your heart with generosity, that the generosity that you've shown us, we want to reciprocate to you in a tangible, real, heartfelt matter.
Lord, we thank you for the building. buildings that you have for this family to be able to do all the work that you've called us to do. And Lord, we will continue to be good stewards of whatever we have, the little that we have at moments. Lord, we know that you can turn five loaves into enough to feed over 5,000 people. We are not concerned with limited resources.
We just know that you have a heart for Pinellas County, and we thank you for the overflow. that you're giving us wisdom to steward and to cultivate. We thank you for the generosity of this house and every family under the sound of my voice right now.
Lord, I thank you that they are blessed. They are blessed. In Jesus'precious name, everyone said amen.
At this time, you can bring your offerings to the left and to the right. And just for the record, if anybody ever is, if there's anybody that's not able to bring their offering forward at any time, I know we don't make an announcement like this, but even if you want to. to raise your hand and like you have a if you're not able to to walk up for any reason we want to make sure we're able to help you out so the announcements i'm gonna hit them there was a few that i got today that i had to shoot off So I'll hit Kohl's first because she just let me know that this Saturday, the GSG Rescue America Hub, who's been a part of that? I heard it's been so amazing. They're going to be meeting here on the church property at 8.50 to noon.
And all these calls are to get women to safety. This is all in. evolving, advocating against human trafficking by ministering the gospel.
It's precious. So giving hope to Jesus. And Jesse shared this one with me for the young adults.
October 24th, I know it's a little bit a ways, but we want to make sure you get registered. There's a QR code up there, and I'm sorry, I'm probably doing these all out of order for you up there. There we go. Thank you so much.
Thank you for helping. So the Young Adults Takeover, it's Gen Z Worship and Prayer Night. If you get that QR code, I'm sure it will give you all the information. But it's going to be at the chapel upstairs at Trinity Bible College. So that'll be right in Trinity and the big chapel church that has the amazing coffee place, Rulu, I think.
Oh, sorry, it's not at the cool church. It's at, uh, it's just at the lame college. No, just no, I am totally joking. I'm, that was just because it was the coffee thing. So forgive me, Lord.
Um, what's another cool word? Uh, it's, uh, amazing or something. Um, that's what I meant to say.
I can't recover from that. Um, A couple quick announcements is that this Thursday, because of the storm impending, we are not going to have prayer this Thursday. Just to be safe and just to, since we do prayer every week, I think it's okay for you to pray. Pray at home and make sure you stay off the roads that day.
It might not be anything, but we just want to take precautions. So Thursday. Friday is the women's group. And you know what's so funny is you guys are going to take a walk on the beach. after the hurricane.
And you know, you know, what's funny about that is the most beautiful sunsets happen the day after a big storm. So I'm telling you all women, you want to be a part. This is something that is going to be great.
You all praying together, enjoying the sunset together. And I think that that would be such a great time. So make sure you register up there for this Friday. Say some of you are in the house and you haven't gotten to know some of the women the way that you desire to, and you need more friendship, more accountability. Just want to want to get more prayer warriors in your life, be there.
It's going to be amazing. And then next Tuesday, Joe Turnbull and Bailey Redman are going to be with us. And we're so excited about that.
I do want to let everybody know it's going to be packed next week because Bailey Redman has some cachet with Gen Z. And there's going to be a lot of Gen Z here next week. And we're excited about it. But I do want to let you know it's going to probably be a a packed room.
It's going to be a little loud, but we'll do our best to honor. But the Bible says, make a loud praise. But we want to, you know what I'm saying.
And then we also have the conference at the end of October, Zeal for His House. We got Eric Gilmore, Alan Hood, and William Hinn will be with us. And we're really excited about those three days.
Do whatever you can to cancel everything you got going on those evenings. You want to be with us. want to lock into that to have these precious men of God and their families come and deposit a word over our region in this house it's going to be amazing so we're so excited for that and um our regular regimen uh Joe is going to make an announcement if you want to come up now and then I want to give a huge plug for home groups how many love the home groups in GSG you see that that's not a that's not a fake like just shout real quick I want you all to know if you are are now plugged into a home group, why don't you find out some more information?
Let us hear your heart, what season you're in, and see if it's something that would fit you. But we want everybody to know home groups are the DNA of GSG. We really believe in those burning times together where we're able to look each other in the eye, allow to be able to ask questions, talk about the scriptures.
We're going through the life of David right now. We're only in the first three chapters of 1 Samuel, so we haven't even touched David yet. You still got plenty of time.
And even if you jumped in halfway through, you'll feel completely caught up when you're in a room with the family of God. So you can get more information, that QR code. I do feel it in my heart. There are some people that are dragging your feet in this house or maybe watching online. You're like, I really feel like I need to check more into what's going on with these home groups at GSG.
Do it. Thus saith Nike. Um, just do it. Um, all right, Joe, tell us what's going on for outreach.
Praise God. So this Saturday, we're going to be We're going to the orphanage. How many are excited about that?
How many have actually been a part of going to the orphanage on a Saturday once a month? Okay. You guys can testify how amazing it is, the impact that it has on your own heart, right?
It's more than just the impact we're having on these kids. When you go, God touches you in a special way. Because you get to go in and see the heartache, the brokenness.
But these kids light up, right? And River's been telling me that the director there, she's been emailing after every time we show up saying, it's amazing, the kids won't stop. talking about you guys coming back again. If we could come every week, they would want it, right? Am I right, River?
They would want us to be there every single week because they're that excited about us coming. But it's an awesome opportunity that we have to be able to go into the orphanage to love on these kids. And God has really opened that door for us, right? And everyone knows that we stand on the scripture in James where it says, what is true religion?
It's to take care of widows and orphans and to keep yourself pure from the world. Amen? And so we're following God's outline of what it is to reach our city in a different way. Outreach isn't just the bold evangelism.
It's a major part of it, yes. But outreach is also impacting every area of society, right? You can't go out on the streets and find the orphans.
They're going to be in the orphanage. So sometimes you have to redirect. Amen?
How many know that we're looking at all facets of outreach? Amen? With that being said, I want to give a...
a quick plug for next month. October, Joe's going to be here. Joe Turnbull's going to come on October 1st and he's going to preach. And he's going to talk about Pasco Alive. How many have heard about it yet?
Pasco Alive. It's going to be a major citywide gospel crusade. They already have over 6,000 people registered to come.
And Joe Turnbull is believing for 15,000 people to come out to Sims Park in Newport Ritchie, and we're going to preach the gospel for three nights straight. Kim Walker-Smith is coming out. Eddie James just booked and said he's coming.
It's going to be amazing. That Gen Z thing at Trinity. to Bible college, that's part of the Pasco Live. But Gold Street, as our outreach, I am challenging all of us. We're gonna be a part of what's going on this coming month.
They're gonna be doing trainings and bold evangelism outreaches. We're gonna be going out with them. We're gonna be hitting the streets.
We're gonna be preaching. preaching the gospel. We're going to be loving on people. It's going to be awesome, right? Come on, who wants to be a part of that?
Bold evangelism. Every weekend, we're just going to hit it. We're going to go hard because I believe that there's a move of God that we're going to be a part of. We're going to see a city shaken for the glory of God.
Amen. We're going to see the power of God changing hearts. Amen.
You have an opportunity to press in and be a part of that. And you can sow with your time, but also you can pray. Pray that God moves, right? Intercession is powerful.
Amen? Listen, I'm challenging you guys. Check out, go to the outreach slide.
There's a QR code. I'm going to be posting updates probably at least two or three times a week on what's going on. So if you guys want to be updated on it, make sure you get added to the church center app.
Because I'm going to be posting where we're meeting, what we're doing. We're just going to pop up. We're going to preach the gospel. We're just going to go after it. But I want you guys to hear something.
After Pasco alive in November, then what? Right? A big event shows up, the gospel's preached, God moves, then what?
I'm going to tell you something, I'm going to challenge all of us. We're going to keep going. We're going to do the same thing here in Pinellas.
Amen? And I'm talking about Gold Street. I went on a fast recently and I asked the Lord for the keys to the city. And I'm telling you, there's... big things coming.
There's a move of God coming. That's why we need a building because we need to facilitate what God's going to bring in. There's a harvest. The harvest is ripe. The harvest is ripe.
Are we ready for it? Are we ready for it? It's time to be workers in the field. Amen. Be doers of the word, not only hearers of it.
We're going to go out and we're going to preach and we're going to see God do something amazing in Pinellas County. Amen. God bless you guys.
Amen. All right. Well, what we're going to do is, oh, you said you are going to come up here, right? Do I need to move this for you? I will.
I'll move this for you. So I want to just, we are so thankful. I really want our body to understand. Some of you have been with us long enough to know Javin and Caitlin a little bit and the Immerse team, but these people, are our people.
I want you to know that from like there is this is a seat these are seamless friendships in the kingdom of God. Javin has uh just so people even know Javin is on the board of Gold Street Garden. He is intimately involved with big decisions that take place in this house and has been. And Javin's heart for the Lord is second to none. He always, every time I've called him, just wanting to get, whether we're talking theology, whether we're talking life, whether we're just talking a certain situation, this man. only points to Jesus.
And I don't say that whimsically. I don't say that with any type of just generality. He is the real deal, him and his family.
And we love you both so much. And the fact that we're able to run closer in this season just makes me want to fly through the roof. And I mean that with everything.
So without further ado, could you welcome my dear friend, Javin Marabella. First, I just want to, you can turn your Bibles to John chapter 14 and put a little placeholder there. We're going to start in John chapter 14 and we'll end in Luke 6. But before I even begin, if I can impart anything to you this evening, it's to love Him.
Love Him with all your heart. with all your soul, and with all your strength. And even as we sang this evening where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
We sang freedom reigns in this place. And I believe that's speaking not just over this room and this building that we gather in on a regular basis, but it's he reigns. in this place.
And when the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. And no matter what struggle or what hardship you might be walking through right now, there's freedom in this place. Amen?
You know, I want to just thank Pastor Dominic. I mean, you guys are more than just friends. You guys are family.
And I mean that, I don't say that to anybody. And I believe the Lord has placed us even together for such a time as this. He's going to be doing something radical here in this community, not just because we're here together, but because what God's doing, what I feel that God is doing in this space, even as we're in worship and praising Him, what I feel in this atmosphere, it's ecstatic, it's electric.
And if we grab a hold of it, it's not only going to change our lives, It's going to change the world around us. I want to thank you, Pastor, for even just the challenging words that you bring to us. I believe that we're supposed to come into spaces like this not just to be edified, but to be challenged. It should challenge our perspectives, challenge our lives, and we should be walking through this door going, Lord, challenge me today. I want to thank you for bringing a challenging word because the reality is I'm tired of the preaching that we have across America today.
I think it's actually more about worship to ourselves than it is worship to God. And it's all about you, it's all about me, it's less about Him. But I think if we just captured Him alone, the things that we are searching for and longing for and all the things that we're trying to build up within ourselves...
would be found. But we live in a cupcake world with cupcake preachers preaching words that are just simply just to edify us. But the reality is, is his word is an offensive word. It's offensive to our goals.
It's offensive to our ambitions. To all that we think life is, it's offensive to it. And even if we have to be in a place where we're looking for things to challenge us, and even I just speak to the people online tonight, that if you're not going to a church that's challenging you, run. Run from that place.
Because we need to long for correction. Long for alignment. Because it's our lives depend on it. Instead, we search for things that gratify us and tickle our ears. It reminds me of some scriptures we've read.
That even in 2 Timothy, it talks about people will live to gratify themselves. Idolize themselves. And that's ultimately what's being preached.
And my heart is broken this evening. And in this hour, because our generation that is going to churches that are not preaching his word and correcting us. And it's like Ephesians 4 where it says we're on social media listening to different ideas and theologies.
And if our theologies are being built off those words, it's like what Ephesians 4 says that we'll be tossed to and fro by waves. and carried about by every wind of doctrine, but it's here and here alone. And we should look at this word and say, we should take this and study this, a longing for his word like never before. Because we're living in an hour that takes this and corrupts it, tries to corrupt it, and gives you a shade different than what it is. And we need to align ourselves to it.
And if our lives don't look like this, we don't try to change this to look like our lives. We change our lives. to follow this, and what we'll find is it's actually an impossibility. But yet, with the Spirit of the Lord dwelling on the inside, it becomes a reality, and it's supposed to be a sign and a shock to the world around us.
There are people that align themselves to this, look like this because it looks like something. It's not just a belief system, but it looks like something. And so Lord, with that, Father, we just ask you to give me the strength this evening to preach a word that I'm not qualified to preach without your spirit qualifying us. I ask that you fill these words because they're empty without you.
And I ask, Lord God, that you would do something within us. Even just put your hand on your heart right now. Say, Lord, convict me where I'm off. And align me to your word, in Jesus'name, amen. I'm not here to sell books today, but I want to encourage you.
We have this book that we put together as a team. It's a 30-day journey, and it's about a 3-minute, 4-minute read every morning, but it's 30 days of devoting yourself to making him known. And what this book does is only point to the book. You know, and I believe that this word will convict you that's in this, because it's just pointing to a word that shows what people look like, who are fully devoted to Him, and that that can be the reality for us, in this day and in this age.
But those of you, I know we've been here a few times, but I'm sure there's people here that don't know of us. My name is Javin Mirabella. My wife is here.
Kaylin, can you just stand up real quick? This is my wife. And I have two beautiful daughters, one is 12, the other one is 2. They are ours, and I am a proud, proud father of two beautiful girls. And I wish they could be here with us, but they're with their grandma tonight.
But I also stand in front of you as one person, but I represent a team of people called Immerse Ministries. And not only are we here in Florida, but we have teams now in Indiana, we have them in Tennessee and in different places. around the world at this point, and ultimately all we're saying is, Lord, what would you do with a people who have fully given themselves over to you? And not saying, like, making the list of all the things that I believe I want to do in life, and then saying, Lord, I'm believing for that list, but we take that list and we throw it away.
And we say, Lord, you made me, you created me, that list, who am I to determine what it looks like? Actually, my biggest visions in my... ultimate things that I can envision, maybe it falls short of that. Maybe it doesn't look like anything I've put together. The reality is, I'm sure many of us in this room can say tonight that if 10, 15 years ago, maybe five years ago, some of us even, you know, a year ago, if we were to write down what God was going to do in our lives and then look where we are now, it looks nothing, my plan looked nothing like where God has brought me as an individual.
You know, we're part of a team. You heard Justin and Bonnie. Caleb is also here.
Justin and Bonnie, we've traveled around the world. We've been to nations where it's dangerous. We've brought the gospel to never-reached areas. I've climbed mountains, talking to witch doctors that are threatening us, trying to poison us, knives pulled on us, bombs exploding in our city.
I've gotten the opportunity of sharing some of those stories here with you guys of how God shows up in the impossible situations. And never did I realize that though we had done all those wild things, you know, smuggling tens of thousands of Bibles in the Middle East and doing crazy stuff, that my hardest hardship was actually still ahead of me. And this year, you know, last time I was here, I stood up and preached.
This evening, I could stand right now, but the pain that I would have to endure, I wouldn't be able to make it through the service. And the fact that I even have to use sometimes just a resting place to rest my arms because my shoulders will begin to get so tired because of the weakness that I've been dealing with that by the end of the evening, I wouldn't be able to even find... place of being comfort because the pain is just uncontrollable. At the beginning of this year, I just had a fever, nothing crazy, and that fever lasted longer than it should have, and all of a sudden I started feeling tingling in my fingers and tingling in my toes, and that tingling began to increase up my foot and into my legs, same thing into my hand and into my arms. And then all of a sudden before we knew it, I was paralyzed from the neck down.
Couldn't move. And long story short, now I've been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, a very rare autoimmune disease that attacks my nervous system and attacks my muscles. And even within the first couple of weeks, I lost over 35 pounds just because of what it was doing in my body. And different medications, I gained all that weight back. We went back and forth, but the first thing was I started feeling it come up my legs, and all of a sudden I realized, man, I can't.
Actually, I went to change my daughter's diaper, who's two years old, and I realized I couldn't even lift her up to slide the diaper underneath her back. And I said, okay, something's wrong. And we went to the hospital, and by the time we got there, it started to increase up my body. And the way it works is it could eventually get to the part where it affects your heart and affects your lungs. And I got to the point where it's hard to swallow.
There was points where I couldn't even talk, and I couldn't even move, and it was in the most pain that I've ever experienced in my entire life. I think a few times back here, I got the opportunity to share with you guys a story of when I broke my back in the middle of Africa, and I had to drive myself out of the bush two days. And I've experienced tons of pain, but never like what I was going through in that moment.
I decided that, you know, my life, I live to see others find life. That's what I do. We've risked our lives doing it on a regular basis. And it was in this hospital time that I said, you know what, every single person that walks through this door, I'm going to pray for them. And 146 staff members in the hospitals that I was in got prayed for or heard the gospel.
And it's... It's all glory to God, because I went from hospitalization to hospitalization. I'd finally get to the point where, wow, I remember there was this one day where even if someone came in, we began to pray. I finally began to move one arm, and it was another Sunday morning. I had so many churches praying for us during that time.
I was able to move my second arm and eventually began to move again. I got released from the hospital, finally got to the point where I'm learning to walk again. I literally can't feel my feet or where I am, so your balance is off. And I remember it's a weird feeling to teach your daughter how to walk, and then never would you realize that one day she's going to be cheering you on as you take your first steps. And then finally getting into the walker and being able to walk with a walker, and then all of a sudden it hits you again.
You can't move from the neck down. And that proceeded to happen over and over again four times this year, ending back into the hospital, not being able to move, with doctors trying to figure out what's going on. And I can tell you that there's so many stories that took place, and in the midst of it, how many of us know where the Lord is, where the Spirit of the Lord is?
There's freedom! And never once did I sit there and question, God, why? I've given my full life over to him. My full life.
And I've decided that, Lord, whatever happens to me, happens to me. Because I know I'm in your perfect will. I've surrendered my full life to you. And I said, Lord, whatever you want to use me in this moment, use me.
I remember there was a time where it was 2 o'clock in the morning. And a lady came in. And I said I was praying with every single person. She came in to take my blood.
And as she came in, it was 2 o'clock, I'm in so much pain, I'm like, maybe I'll just skip this time and sleep through. I need my sleep, all the things that you could come up with. And I said, no, I'm going to pray for her. And I prayed for this, I said, lady, can I, excuse me.
Can I pray? I know you're helping me out, but can I pray for you for something? And she looked at me and she said, yeah, you can pray for me. She said, my son is actually was just hospitalized in this hospital and he's in ICU right now. And I said, how many years have you been working here?
And she said it was like over 15 years she had been working in the hospital. I said, and how many times out of all the time that you've been working here in the hospital, how many times did someone ask you to pray? if you needed prayer.
She said, never. I said, so you're saying that the first time that this has ever happened is when your son went into ICU that exact day. She said, yeah.
I said, don't you think God is showing you that he's real and alive? And she's going, yeah. I said, well, let's pray for him right now.
And in that room, we warred over her son that was in the ICU in the very hospital we're in. And I said, just like your heart burns for your son. I want you to know that the Lord also burns for you as well.
And in that moment, she gave her life to the Lord. And I could have been sitting there worrying about me and wondering what was going to happen next with all the fear and worries that can fill your heart. But I chose to look at him because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom.
There's hope, there's joy, and it got to the point where I started praying with every single person and they started to actually go out, I'm guessing, going out and telling people that I was praying for them because they started to tell so many people that I had even two different people sign in as Javin's guests come into my room and say, I'm here, introduce themselves, and said, I heard you're praying for people and I know you're hurting and you're in this situation, but can you pray for me? And I had the opportunity of telling them, I don't have the power, but I know who does. Who will change everything in your life. And it got to the point where people were checking in that I didn't even know. There was other people who were hospitalized saying, could I go to room 542 to have him pray for me as well?
That even in the midst of your storm, in the midst of the craziest crisis that has ever taken place, in my life, his light was shining because he is hope. Hope isn't in something. It's in someone, and his name is Jesus, and it's available to every single one of us here in this room, just no matter what you're going through.
I remember one of the things that I'd say broke my heart the most was actually some of the encouragement. that I got from a lot of the believers that came to encourage me. And I say this because not for any other reason but to realign us. Because I know their hearts were in the right place, but they would say things like, Javin, you just need to get mad at the devil. What made me sad is rather than getting mad at the devil, I started to feel pity.
for that perspective. Because if anger towards the devil incentivizes me more than Jesus himself, something's wrong. Jesus is what incentivizes us.
I don't need a cherry on top. Although it might sound right, it might sound like, yeah, that's what should make us enthusiastic about something. Jesus is actually worth more than that.
Or they'd say, Jabin, you know, you're here reaching the hundreds, but God's going to use you to reach the thousands. That sounds awesome, but if he wants me to reach the hundreds, I don't want to reach the thousands. I want what he wants in this moment, and it might be to reach one doctor in one moment.
And if I put the value in the thousands, then I might be living in disobedience. obedience, doing what I think is right. But we have to align ourselves to his word and know that he is the prize. He is what incentivizes us.
He's what I'm willing to give my life for every day, willing to do bold evangelism for. This man has died a long time ago. And I can tell you that there was very many moments where my wife and I have looked each other in the eyes thinking that was the last moment we were going to see each other.
And people would come into the hospital bed and say, Jeb, the doctor's being shocked. Why are you not, are you not, I just have to ask you, you're young, you're unable to move, and I've seen a lot of people in this situation. What brings a smile to your face? How is it that you have this joy? And you go, I'd love to tell you my secret.
Because I have... Died a long time ago. I wasn't afraid to lose my life because I'm already given over. Mahatma Gandhi said this, I like your Christ, but I don't like your followers, or his followers.
I like your Christ, but I don't like his Christians. Because there was a difference, he saw a difference between Christ and the way he walked versus those who said they follow him. There's something wrong with that.
It should never be that way. We should be a reflection of who he is. And that's what he makes available for us. And it is what shocks the world around us. So even in that time of being in the hospital, I would search through the scriptures and I had so much time with the Lord and it was an awesome, incredible time that I had and I actually got to the point where I would look where Jesus questioned his followers.
And obviously Jesus doesn't ask questions because he's looking for the answer. He asks questions because he's looking to reveal something in us so that we can recognize. And he would ask... A lot of questions, but some of those questions he would say, why are you afraid on the boat?
Why are you afraid? He would say, where is your faith? He would ask them questions like, who do you say that I am? He would ask questions like, do you love me?
And so that's what we're going to be looking at tonight. I know Pastor Dom, you did an incredible job talking about... God's love for us, and said, if you even knew God's love for you. So I kind of wanted to turn around and say, do we actually love him? Because what I find is, throughout my traveling around the world and being in different places, is we all can show love differently, right?
I've actually seen Christians... falsely look at it with a perspective where they're even saying, you know, I want to sacrifice even my food. Like as if he was an idol, they would have a statue there and they would leave food there, almost like Buddha.
And they would leave food there and they thought in their minds that this was a way that they can love God, is by giving them some of my food. And we can look at situations like that and be like, that's silly. They're loving Jesus their own way or a different way.
But I want to ask us to examine our lives tonight. Is there areas of our lives, maybe that is kind of foreign to us, but maybe we've begun to love Jesus our way. And I want to look at the scriptures tonight to how Jesus says we ought to love.
Amen? Let's look at John 14, 15. He says, if, I want to say if. And you can look at it in your scriptures, your phones, or your Bibles, but I also brought some slides for us as well. But he says, if you love me, what will we do?
If you love me, you'll keep my commands. He continues in 1421, he says, whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.
Like we could stop. there and go, he's going to do what? Show himself to us. He continues in 14, 23-24. He says, anyone who's that?
It's us. Anyone who loves me will obey my teachings. My Father will love them and I will come to them and make my home in them where the Spirit of the Lord is.
His freedom in us, because he's making his home as if you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teachings. These words you hear are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me. And he makes a clear line.
Those who love me obey my commands. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teachings. Very clear. And so I imagine myself now, 2,000 years ago, as a follower of Jesus.
And I'm walking with him in the streets and watching him do what he does. And I want us all to get taken back for a moment and walk those streets as if we were there with him. And because these are the commands, he says, if you love me, you'll obey my commands.
So we're going to look at seven commands tonight. There's more commands, but just seven of them, of what he commands his followers to do. And I want to imagine us in that space, in that time, while we look at these scriptures.
Because I, like I said from the beginning, don't feel qualified. I actually looked at my wife this evening. I said, somehow I have to relay how Jesus wants to be loved.
How can I do that rightly? To the manner that he would see is right. And the reality is, I will not. I will come short tonight, but we're going to look to the scriptures of what he says as much as we can and not what I'm saying.
Because as followers, he said, those who love me will obey me, those who don't, won't. And so we're looking at those commands. First he says this, man came to him in Matthew chapter 22. And he asked him, what's the greatest command?
And many of us know this command. We've heard this many times. But he said, what's the greatest command? Now he's looking at the greatest commandments in the Old Testament, right?
And now he's asking, what are the greatest ones? And Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest command.
Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. What he's basically trying to say is love him with everything you have. Love him. He's worthy of your love.
If you love me, you'll love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. This is the greatest command. Check our hearts.
Have we loved him this way? They're three separate things. It's not just a love for him like I love you, God.
But it's loving him with our being, with our soul. And he displayed what that looked like. I had the honor of talking to this lady. She was a doctor. I came into the emergency room.
And she was seeing us trying to figure out what's going on. I started to feel, literally, I got to the point where I can tell my wife it's in my calf. And my calf would stop being able to move. Or it's in my tricep and my tricep couldn't work or my bicep wouldn't work. And I literally feel it climbing up my body.
And this lady came in, I'm talking to her, and I just asked her, can I pray for you? And she said, yeah, it's really interesting that you're asking me to pray with you right now because I'm actually on a faith journey right now. She said, and I don't know how to pray to God. She said, and so I've been asking people that I know, how do you pray to God? And she said, I talked to this Christian the other day, and they said, if you don't know how to pray, just throw on worship music and sit in that atmosphere.
And she's like, so I've been trying to do that, but I don't know how to pray. And I again asked her, out of all the times that you've been here, how many times has someone asked you? She said, never.
Again, that breaks my heart. No one should be able to say that in America. that I didn't have the opportunity to have a Christian want to pray with me. We have 2.4 billion people in the world that claim Christianity, and this lady had never had the opportunity to be prayed with. What is happening to us?
Do we love him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our strength? We got to pray with her for the first time. So this is how you talk to God. Who am I to even open up that opportunity?
We have the privilege and yet some of us don't even take it. Got to show her how to talk to the creator of the universe. And in that moment, she said yes to making Jesus her Lord. A doctor in the ER. We have these opportunities every single day.
And what I said to her is, I said, you know, the issue with a lot of Christianity today is sometimes we say, you know what, in that moment of us receiving the Lord, we try to say, Jesus, we make you a part of our lives. He can never be a part of your life. He is what we turn over to him, our lives.
It's not just making him a part of our lives, it's our lives turned over to him. Surrendered to him. So he continues on, he says, love your neighbor as yourself.
He says, the second is like this, love your neighbor as yourself. Our love towards our neighbors is supposed to be a demonstration or evidence. of God's existence.
A third command, he said this, love one another. He says in John 13, as he's washing their feet, he says a new command, a new what? Command, not suggestion. This is what I'm hoping one day my people will do. He's saying, if you're going to be a follower of me, if you love me, you'll obey my commands.
A new one I'm going to give to you. Love each other. And he doesn't stop there. He says, love each other as I have loved you.
That's how we're supposed to be known by the world around us, is they love like Jesus. And we'll never know what that looks like unless we understand what he's done, what he's given up, what he surrendered to the Father, every word he gave unto the Father. His life was a demonstration of the purest love the world has ever seen.
And he says, love each other like that. And I love what happens here in these corporate moments of coming together. But I believe the greatest growth that we see is going to be in those home environments where we get to see each other and how we live.
And then we get to actually express that love. when each other offends each other, when you don't do what's right to me and I get to do what's right back and you get to do the same and we get to see that laid out and they get to see that lived out in your life. That only happens and really in moments like that when we're out in the streets and they see that and I love all the opportunities that the gold street provides for us to do that and but we have to be able to step into it.
It's great that the opportunities are there. But we want to become a people that live like that. Then we know this one very well, coming to the fourth command that we're looking at today.
He says in Matthew 16, he says it in Mark 8, he says it in Luke 9, but he says this, Jesus said to his disciples, whoever wants to be my disciple must, everyone say must, deny themselves, take up their cross. and follow me, and he gives you those three other commands. I want to recognize, first, there's three separate commands.
They're not one command. Deny yourself. And I can tell you, if I didn't deny myself, there wouldn't be 146 people reached in that hospital. If I focused on just getting angry at the devil and what he's done, They wouldn't have been reached because I would have been focused in that moment. I remember there was even another time in the ER, another head nurse actually comes in.
He was the one that, like, you want working on you. He was with it. And I said to him, I said, before you go, you've helped me out.
Can I pray for you? And then he's like, sure. So I prayed for him. And then I shared the gospel with him. And he goes, I asked him, after the gospel was presented, I said to him, now, If you want, you can make a decision right now.
You've seen people lose their lives here in the ER. And life is at stake. Your life is at stake.
Do you want to make a decision to follow Jesus? And he said to me, he said, you know, it's wild that you just shared that to me. I said, why? He said, this morning, my best friend who I grew up with is right now in Bolivia.
He called me this morning and just shared with me what you're calling the gospel. He said, now I'm here, and you're sharing it with me. And you almost saw the fear of the Lord on him. Like, my life is at stake.
My soul is at stake. And now this is a second sign that this is happening to me. And I got to be that second line that the Lord is reaching out to his heart.
And I remember him standing at the glass door, and he looked back, and he said, I'm not yet ready to make that decision, but I'm going to. And I just felt like in my heart, he wanted to make that decision with his friend because there was that connection. But he walked away in that moment, and he has the choice to do that. But we should never be the ones that don't give the opportunity.
Let that be on that side where they get to make that decision, but we get to give the offer that Jesus gave us. Deny yourself, church. Pick up your cross. When you picked up a cross back then, you know what it meant. But when you picked up a cross back then, it's an event you couldn't survive.
Your life would not be there at the end of that. He's saying, pick it up. And when you picked up that cross, what that meant is you lost all your rights. You have no more rights.
People can spit on you. People can throw rocks at you. People can steal your clothing like they did to Jesus and pawn it off.
And gamble for it if they wanted to. It doesn't matter. You have no more rights.
It's given over. He's saying, do that. If you love me, you'll obey my commands.
And then he said, follow him. To be a follower of Jesus means... to embrace Jesus as our example. No longer just being believers in him, but followers of him. There's a big difference.
And one of the things that we do as a ministry is our goal is to knock on every single door. Every single door. And we're doing that in our own community.
We've already reached over 25,000 homes this way. Because we want to say, in my lifetime, I'm not going to give anybody in my neighborhood, in my city, or in my county, not having the opportunity of hearing about his love. And we've been stirring up churches across our community to work together to reach every single home. And we've developed an app that helps us do this. And our goal is to do this across America and across the world.
And I'm going to be able to say, our team is going to be able to say, in our city... There's not one home not reached one day. There's very, and as we've knocked on doors, there's countless people that we knock on their doors and they say, yeah, I believe in Jesus.
And we have to ask the question, that's great that you believe in him, but do you follow him? And I think there's a possibility that even in this room we have believers. I think across America we've done a great job making believers of Jesus, but we've made few followers of Jesus. Followers is something different than just believing.
To be real, the devil believes in Jesus. He believes that he died. He believes that he resurrected.
But he doesn't follow him. There's a big difference between believers and followers. May we do what he commanded and follow him.
Commanded. And lastly, number seven. There's more than this.
This is not an exhaustive list. We'd be here all night. He says this. He says, Matthew 28, we all know it. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.
And he does something interesting here. He tells us what to also do. Baptizing them in name of the Father and Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then what does he say here?
Teaching them. to obey everything I've commanded. We just talked about it, the commands of Jesus, that those who love him do what he commands. And he's now teaching us that when you make disciples, you teach them to do those things.
That's not just about going and making believers. It's making followers. It's making people who will love God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their might. Who will love their neighbor as themselves.
Who will love each other as he has loved us. Who would deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him and also go make disciples. Loving God looks like something. You can even see it when he talks to Peter. I could have the worship team come on up.
I don't want to keep you guys here too long. But he says this to Peter, and we know these words as well. After Jesus is resurrected, he meets them on the beach, and he starts talking to Simon Peter, and he asks him if he loves him. Do you love me, Simon? Right?
And he asks him again, and he asks him again. And on the third time, we take up on 17, he says this. A third time, he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And this is the question we're asking ourselves tonight.
Do you love me? And Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things, like we talked about. It's not for him to gain knowledge, it's to reveal something in us. He says, Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, what? So, if you love me, feed my sheep. Love for God looks like something.
James tried to explain that. He did a good job. He says, you say you love God, but you have no works. But I show you my faith because I do what he commands.
It's a byproduct of his love for God. It's not just loving him his way, it's loving him God's way, and it looks like something. So I end with this scripture here.
It's Luke 6. And yes, I've used a lot of scripture because it's his words and not mine. It's him that we say we follow. He ends with the second question, right? We talked about the first question.
The second question that we're going to look at real quick is just, he says this, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? I've read about this in Matthew. He says, Many will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, have I not done this? Have I not done that in your name? He says, depart from me for I never knew you.
You didn't love me. You may have done those things, but you didn't love me. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say, not just doing what you say?
As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man who builds a house, who dug down deep and laid a foundation on a rock. That rock is Jesus.
When a flood came, the turn... struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who builds his house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the turrent struck the house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. Do you love him?
If you love me, you'll do what I command. Love the Lord your God with all your strength, with all your might, with all your soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love each other as he has loved you.
Deny yourself. Pick up your cross. Truly follow him and go and make disciples. When we host the presence of God, it will carry us through any storm that we would go through. And I want to encourage you to lean on Him.
Can we stand up for a second? As we've examined these words upon our lives, upon our actions, upon our heart, upon our mind, I'm going to ask us just to take a moment here in worship. And ultimately it's a place of repentance. Repentance for silent Christianity.
I don't believe there is such a thing. Prioritizing the filling of seats rather than making disciples. Idolizing man, rather idolizing the influencers. rather than God himself. And I'm asking us to take this moment in this song and truly examine our lives and ask ourselves the question, do I love him his way or have I made up a way that I like to love him?
And let these things be the byproduct of our love for him. And then I also believe that there may be people in this room where maybe the reality is that heaven and hell is weighing in the... balance over your soul.
And you have yet to make a decision that you've recognized maybe even tonight that I believe in Jesus, but I haven't made him Lord of my life, Lord of my decisions, Lord of my goals, Lord of my ambitions. I'm going to ask for the prayer team maybe just to come forward here. If you're part of the prayers team here at Gold Street. And if you're needing someone to stand with you, pray with you, they're here up front.
But also I want to ask, if you are looking to make a decision for Jesus tonight, and saying, no longer am I going to sway back and forth with my feelings and all the things that try to distract me, but right now I want to make a decision to make Jesus Lord of my life. If that's you, raise your hand. Amen.
There's one here. I know there's more in this room. I'm going to ask you to come forward. If there's anybody else here that wants to make that decision tonight.
He's broken the ice. Come forward. And just in case there's maybe someone that says, I'm staying here, but if he says it one more time, this is your one more time. I'm going to ask that you come forward. I'm going to ask you guys, you three, to turn around real quick.
I'm going to ask that you just take a moment. And just talk to the Lord. Just reveal your heart to Him.
Because there's places in our lives that when I came to the Lord, I had to repent of all the things that I did that was of myself, that was sin. It was wrong. It separated me from the love of God. The Word actually says that If we don't receive Jesus, that we're walking this life in enmity, almost enemies of the Lord, because of the sin that is in our lives. And there is no way in this world that we can do enough good to enter heaven.
We can't. And if you know how much, please tell me. What is the amount of good that we have to do to stand next to perfection?
It's impossible. And when we recognize that, we go, Lord, it's impossible for me to get to heaven because I've made mistakes in life. But then we have to recognize that even though we've made mistakes, Jesus died on the cross. And he gave his life to pay the debt of the sins that we have committed. And because of that, when we make him Lord of our lives, not just believing in him, but Lord of our lives, it gives us access.
to who he is, not just one day when we die, but right now. So I'm just going to ask that you guys close your eyes for a moment and just speak to him. Say, Lord, forgive me for what I've done. I have made mistakes.
I have done things in my own way. And Lord, in this moment, I want to give myself to you. Say it in your own words.
So I'm just going to ask you guys to repeat after me, say, Jesus, I thank you for what you've done. And Lord, I ask that you forgive me for every sin that I've committed. And I thank you that your death on the cross has wiped my sins away.
And that right now, I stand pure and spotless. right here, right now, and I make you Lord of my life, and from this day forward, I will honor you with my words, with my thoughts, with my actions. I surrender myself to you and I give you full access to everything that I am and nothing held back. And in your name, the name that has power over death, I say amen. Can we celebrate that church?
The Bible says that it's in this action that all of heaven is rejoicing. All of heaven is celebrating what you just did right here. And now he lives in you. And you become a host of him. And you get to carry him everywhere you go.
And you will never be alone. Because he's with you. And turn around.
You've got a family here. And this family will love you. And they'll walk with you through your hardships. And when you struggle, you get to call on them, and they'll stand with you and pray with you, because we're family now.
So with that being said, Lord, we just give you honor in this space, in this place, in our hearts. And even as the prayer team is up here, we're going to sing this song, but I'm going to ask if there's anybody here... that just wants prayer and wants to just reveal themselves to the Lord and turn themselves over to the Lord in a real, real way.
You can make that decision right here.