Thank you, Jesus, for paying the price for us on the cross. Thank you for forgiveness and salvation made possible because of your price. We're grateful to you, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen.
Now, sit down and turn around and greet somebody. It's a good day to serve Jesus. Good morning again and welcome. Whether online or in person, we are one church and one family. And you are in the right service today.
The A30 service, the temperature in the sanctuary at the beginning of it was 52 degrees. We got the heat fixed in the middle of the last service, and so by the end of this service, you're going to be like taking coats off. Don't take more than the coats. Just that's good. I'm glad you're here. Welcome.
And once already, please take a moment and check in. You can do that on the app or by shooting the QR code in the front of the bulletin. If you're a guest, God bless you and thank you for being here. I'd love to meet you and invite you to join me right after the service in the guest center, which is just out these doors and off the main lobby. No big pressure. I just like meeting people, and I'd love to know you.
Also, the guest center is a place if you're ready to be a member of our church. There have been people every service saying, "I'm going to start this year by being a member." Great time to do it. Or if you want to find your place in the ministry, we'll help you find that spot. So come on back.
For Sunday of the month, I'd like to update you on your missions giving. It is on the back of your bulletin there in a box. Now, these numbers will change a little bit by the annual business meeting because we haven't completely closed out 2023, but they won't change much.
You see, in 2023, you gave to missions over $3,300,000. We gave out over $3,700,000. You say, "Well, how does that happen?" It's everybody doing their part. We start at $5 a week. If you've never made a commitment to missions, there's a card in your bulletin today. I suggest you start at $5 a week.
As you just saw, everything you give to missions goes to missions. We gave out $400,000 more than you gave in. So we are committed. We support more than 220 missionaries and ministries around the world. The process is super easy. You just mark your gift online or your check or however you do it. The amount is tithe and the amount that's missions. Thank you. Drop that in the bucket when it comes by in a few moments.
Several things coming up I want you to know about. Watch the screens. You are there with a group of people who are going through the same thing, and it really touches you. It actually is 100% effective on changing your life.
At the start of the year, a lot of people are thinking about reordering their finances. A lot of New Year's resolutions have to do with money: save more, spend less, get out of debt—all good goals. But I want to challenge you today to start 2024 with kind of the foundation of good financial management, and that's by trusting and obeying God with your finances.
The starting point is to tithe, giving God the first 10% of your income. Over the next few weeks, I want to teach you what the Bible says about tithing from Malachi chapter 3, starting with verse 8: "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. And you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty. "See if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
So the first thing we learn is to not tithe is to rob God. Everything we have comes from God and belongs to God. He could ask for all of it back, and we'd say, "Of course, Lord, it came from me in the first place." He only asks for 10% back. When we keep for ourselves what belongs to Him, we're robbing Him. And obviously, you can't expect God to bless you as you rob Him.
So I want to challenge you to try tithing, giving God the first 10% of your income. Try the first three months of this year, January through March. At the end of those three months, if you don't believe God has been true to His promise, if you don't sense a greater peace about your finances, if God’s helping in this area, let me know, and I will refund all the tithe you've given for those three months.
So I'm taking all the risk out of it—not that there's any risk in obeying God. I suggest you set it up online so it's automatic. You don't have that "Do I obey? Do I not obey?" Just the first 10% goes to God. I've made that offer 19 years in a row because I'm confident God's system works. Over and over, people talk to me about their blessings, and they connect that to their tithing. They say, "We're so thankful for what God has done," and we just know that's because we're obeying Him. There's absolutely a connection.
I want to pray for you as you start that journey, and I want to pray God's blessings for those of you who are continuing that journey. When I'm done praying, the ushers will come to receive our tithing offering. If you're watching online, you can give at firstand.org/gift.
Lord, thanks for a really simple to understand way to have you involved in our finances. I pray, Lord, your continued blessing for people who this is their lifestyle. Would you just let 2024 be a year of abundance for them? And I pray for those that are taking the very first, maybe hesitant step of obedience. As they do, I pray they would discover a greater peace about their finances, and they would sense and see your hand at work in this area of their life. We love you, obey you, worship you as we give. In Jesus' name, Amen.
God bless you. Our goal is a healthy church. Now, for some of you, healthy may not be what comes to mind when you think of church because you have hurt and church in the past. Or you've watched church people spew hate. Maybe society, even social media, has turned you off church.
Well, we're not perfect. We don't get it right every time because we're a group of flawed humans. But our goal is a healthy church. So what does that look like? For the answer to that question, I want to take you to the first church in the book of Acts. Jesus told the disciples to wait in the upper room as He ascended to heaven. They waited, received the Holy Spirit, and they came out of that room ready to reach people with the gospel, and the church was born.
They quickly became the biblical picture of a healthy church, functioning as God designed and intended. Since becoming pastor, I've taught from the same passage in Acts chapter 2 at the start of each year. In it, we can identify 12 signs of a healthy, growing church. If you're new to First Sin A Lot, this is important for you to hear. We want to be a healthy church. We want all 12 of these signs evident. If you're just checking us out, perfect day. This will give you the full picture. This is who we are and what we're about.
If this is your 23rd time to hear this, way to go. Thank you for long-term faithfulness. You could probably preach this message, but I chose me today. We all need the reminders because each of us is part of making our church sick or keeping our church healthy.
Acts chapter 2, we start with verse 42, and then we'll walk right through it. "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching." A healthy church, number one, is a learning church. Our goal is to take what the Bible says, learn it, what it means, and how to apply it to our lives. We focus on Scripture, and we will not avoid commands and teachings that make us uncomfortable. Scripture must be our guide, not politics or preferences or opinions. The Bible is our guidebook for living.
In the last few years, even that statement has become polarizing. There is pressure to spend less time in Scripture and more time on opinions and politics. That pressure will increase this election year. For Sin A Lot, we will continue to focus on the Bible. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have opinions. I have lots of them. But my opinions don't change lives, transform futures, or heal broken hearts. That's why we stick to the Bible.
And I'm open to the slight possibility that maybe, just maybe, not all my opinions are right. We may not all have the same opinions, but we have the same purpose: to develop lifelong followers of Jesus. Opinions change. Jesus never changes.
We're going to make a few adjustments in our learning journey this year. In the last 22 years, I've preached more than 4,000 times. I averaged 200 to 220 times a year, and that's too much. I just can't sustain that pace anymore. So I'm going to preach a few less weekends. We've got a great team. It's not a downgrade. When Pastor Parker and another team member speaks, it might be an upgrade. Don't say amen there.
Yeah, I heard you. We've also been talking about the need to keep raising up young leaders and preachers. So occasionally, in one of our services, a younger communicator will speak. They'll do the same message as me, only better. And you're going to enjoy listening to them.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship." Fellowship is an old word that means being together, connecting, hanging out. This is about a church family loving each other. A healthy church, number two, is loving. The Christian journey is not designed to be walked alone. It's one reason I encourage you to be involved in a small group, or prayer group, or a connection class, or a ministry because we need each other.
If you're not sure where you fit or where you haven't found the place where you fit in, stop by the guest center. We'll help you find that. We must be a healthy church family that loves each other, and we must build healthy families. We want to help your family follow Jesus and live according to God's word. That's why your kids are in the same things we learn, so we can facilitate spiritual conversations in the family.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer." A healthy church, third, is a praying church. Prayer is not a ritual. It's a dynamic, ongoing conversation with God. One of our core values is we connect with God through worship and prayer. We want to do that in our services, but then I encourage you also to do that on your own, to have personal time and place where you connect with God.
Later in this year, we'll do a series called Powerful Prayers, and we'll teach you more about how to pray according to the Bible.
Verse 43: "Everyone was filled with awe." The people were filled with awe at what God was doing and the fact that God was using them. They weren't talking about how wonderful they were; they were talking about how wonderful God is. A healthy church, number four, is humble.
"And many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." Number five, a healthy church is supernatural. Supernatural is when God does something we can't do, what we call a miracle. When a drug addict or an alcoholic is set free, that's a miracle. That's supernatural. If one of your New Year's resolutions is to kick a habit, join our recovery ministry, Forever Free, Tuesday nights at 6:30. You'll find a bunch of people that are ahead of you or with you on that journey.
When a sick body is healed, that's a miracle. When a marriage is restored, that's a miracle. When someone considering suicide decides instead to live for Jesus, that's supernatural. When a person with a bad attitude gets a good attitude, how many know that's supernatural? It doesn't happen accidentally. When a greedy person becomes a giving person, that's a miracle. When someone who's been trapped in a cycle of depression finds joy, that's supernatural. When a destructive gossip becomes an encouraging friend, that's a miracle.
And the greatest miracle of all, the one that Heaven stops and celebrates, is when a sinner accepts Jesus. That's supernatural. On the way to church this morning, the Lord was just bringing to mind people who years ago were part of a church and now are not living for God. I just started praying, "Lord, would you let 2024 be the year they come back to you?" And, Lord, I would be so honored if you let me be a part of that journey.
God's supernatural power is in response to our hunger, so pray with me for more miracles in 2024. Notice something else in this passage: signs and wonders weren't exclusively the ministry of one or two guys; everyone was involved in ministry. Everyone was seeing supernatural things happen. They were a team. That's another one of our core values: everything's better in teams. God uses all of us, and God wants to use you in His supernatural plan.
Verse 44: "All the believers were together and had everything in common." This church had a wonderful sense of unity, so much so they shared everything they had. A healthy church is unified, and God will use a unified church in a powerful way.
I want to pause there because unity is something that's really been threatened the last few years. Too many people have decided that if you disagree with their position on an issue, that you're sinful or worse, that if you dare to disagree with them, that you're not really a Christian. Be careful. Remember, the goal is unity, not uniformity.
If everyone looks the same, acts the same, talks the same, votes the same, wears the same little outfits, and shares all the same opinions, that is called a cult. God's family should embrace our differences and rally around the cross of Jesus. When you don't act like, look like, talk like, or think like others in your church, going your own way and rejecting those who are different is not the answer. That is called segregation. And Jesus calls us to unify, to come together, and to stay together.
It amazes me the reasons people leave the church. I'd love to share some with you. I'm not going to, but my last message as pastor, I'm going to share them all. Until all the stories, you'll need to bring a lunch because we're going to be here a while. I don't understand it. I just wasn't raised that way. The only time we left the church is when we moved. My parents taught me, "Lois, stay. Good and bad. When we agree, when we don't, we stay."
Staying is not always easy because at some point, you're going to get your feelings hurt in church because there are people here. And at some point, you're going to hurt someone else's feelings because conflict is inevitable. One of our core values is the key to unity: we resolve conflict biblically.
Now, for some of you, this can be really new and really different from other churches you attended. So listen close. Jesus taught that if you have a problem with someone, you go to that person first and only talk through the problem in an attitude of love. We are committed to having difficult conversations in an attitude of love. If someone comes to you and says, "Pastor, I have a problem with you," they're a liar. If I have a problem with you, I'll come to you.
We love each other enough to address issues and stay current in relationships. We have to do that.
Verse 45: "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." A healthy church is a generous church made up of generous individuals. Generosity is not about what you have or how much you have. It's about what you do with what you have. And you're awesome at this. You're generous with your love and your attention. You're generous with your time. You're generous with your money.
We're going to start this year with a generosity moment. I can think of no better way to start than by giving to others. Convoy of Hope is our disaster relief partner. They've partnered with us many times. Last year, after the tornado, they sent semi-trucks full of food and supplies. We had the first help 24 hours after the tornado. Convoy was here. When we had the flood, Convoy was here. When a tornado hit Jonesboro, when a tornado hit Fallonia, Convoy brought trucks full of food and supplies to our campuses.
Every month, we haven't talked about this. It's pretty awesome. Every month, Convoy sends a truck of food to help us with Share Your Lunch. Every month. In December, they provided the thousand boxes of food that we gave away. But every time we have a need, Convoy helps us. They're an incredible partner.
And today, we're going to give back and partner with them with a desperate need in Africa. Watch. The Sahel is one of the most food insecure, economically and environmentally challenged areas in the world. Some of our own, Derek and Tammy Walker, are missionaries in that area. Convoy is starting a feeding program to help because hundreds and thousands of children are dying. Through their network, they're able to feed kids for an incredible price. $10 feeds a kid for a month. $10. You can't feed your kid at Chick-fil-A for $10. $10 will feed a child for a month.
I want to challenge everyone to do at least $10. $10 a month, $120 feeds a child for a year. Many of you can feed a child for a year. And then they're doing more than that. They're giving away food. They're also starting farming schools to teach people how to farm so that they're able to raise crops in spite of the climate. That'll let them have larger harvests, feed their family, feed their community. And we're going to scholarship people to go to farming school. It's $115 bucks.
So $10 a month to feed a kid. $120 a year. Cindy and I decided we have two kids, so we're feeding two kids. That just made sense to us. And then we decided we're giving seven scholarships at $115 for farming school. I want everybody to do something.
There's a lot of ways you can give. Just a moment, the ushers will come, and you can put a check or cash in the bucket. You can give online at firstand.org/give. You can give at the kiosk after service. If you use text to give, the keyword today is Africa. And everything you give is going to go to Convoy. It's going to feed hungry kids in Africa.
All right? Ushers are coming. As they come, we're going to pray. And we're going to pray the food will open the door to hearts.
Lord, that's our prayer. We understand the biblical mandate that when we see someone hungry, that we're supposed to feed them. We accept that. That's why we're giving. We couldn't imagine seeing starving kids who are dying of starvation and keeping the money in our pocket. We wouldn't do that. But, Lord, we pray that you would use the food we give to open hearts, that there would be a spark of curiosity, people wondering why. Why are people helping me? And it would create opportunities to share the love of Jesus.
And that people would not only be ministered to physically—that matters—but also spiritually as a result of what we do. I pray your blessings for every person and family who gives today to feed starving kids in Jesus' name. Amen.
Okay, usually as you give, we kind of have music playing. But I've got so much ground to cover that I'm going to keep talking. So if you can do two things at once, give and listen. If you can't, tune me out, give, then tune back in and listen.
Verse 46: "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts." Hold on just a second. As they're taking that offering, if God puts on your heart to do something and an extraordinary gift, I just—I didn't say anything to any of the other servers. I just sensed the Lord's prompting me to say this. This is a good place to give it.
See, I've never given that much money. This is a good place to give $10,000. It'll make a difference, and it'll feed hundreds of hungry kids.
Verse 46: "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts." A healthy church is committed. They didn't just meet together once a week; they met every day. One of the commitments our new members make is to regular, faithful attendance. And every once in a while, somebody says, "What does that mean? You don't want me to find it?" Because when I grew up, you didn't miss church. My dad had a rule: if you're too sick for church, you're too sick for TV or to even read the comics. You can lay in bed, stare at the ceiling, and pray that God will heal you or take you to heaven.
So as you can imagine, we didn't miss church much. So you probably don't want me defining regular and faithful. I've been here now for almost 32 years. In 32 years, I've never missed a Sunday because I was sick. Not one time.
Now, wait, because there's one kind of... When I had COVID, we closed the balcony that day when I had COVID and turned out all the lights. I got here before you did, dressed in black, sat in a back corner so you couldn't see me. And then I stayed till you were gone. I wiped my seat so you wouldn't get COVID from my leftover germs. So I was kind of here that day.
Six weeks ago, when I hurt my back so bad, when I wasn't out here talking, I was behind this green line flat on my back on a mat until it was the next time for me. I don't miss church. Now, that's not saying I never will. It could happen. If it ever does, pray. Because I'm really sick. Pray.
In the last several years, faithful has been redefined. The pandemic led to the formation of new habits that are proving difficult to break. We have more people attending less often. The statistics are concerning. During the COVID shutdown, I watched people post memes of people dancing in the aisles. They said, "I'll never miss church again." Liar.
Now, those same people have reprioritized their lives, and church attendance takes a way back seat. Travel teams, vacations, catching up on sleep, "Me time," binge-watching the newest series on Netflix, procrastinating homework, your kids saying, "I just don't feel like it today," sales at the outlets, and brands in three-day weekends. Too much going out work. In deer camp, I'll take a higher place than church attendance.
That's not healthy, and that's not biblical. I'm concerned. At a time when people need joy and hope more than ever, they're walking away from the best place to find joy and hope. We're instilling priorities in our children that we will regret. We are planting seeds now that we are not going to like the harvest.
And later, when your kids or grandkids don't want to come to church, you're going to blame the youth pastor or the church instead of looking to yourself and the seeds you planted. Be careful because you will reap what you sow. We need each other, and we need to be together. The early church did it every day. Every day.
Verse 46, and she didn't like that point. We're moving on. "They followed a daily discipline of worship in the temple followed by meals at home." Every meal was a celebration, exuberant and joyful. I love this one. A healthy church is fun. It is okay to have fun in church. In fact, it's biblical and it's healthy. We're going to laugh together. At times, we're going to be silly together. If you're against fun, you're going to be absolutely miserable here.
Now, I personally think chocolate is fun, so I've got a treat for you today. Here come the ushers again, this time with chocolate. Because it's just fun. They've got fun-size candy bars for you. Now, I disagree with fun size because I think fun size is the three-pound brick. But everything's better with chocolate. I always have chocolate within arm's reach of me. My desk, I have a chocolate drawer just filled with chocolate. And when you call in your mean, I meditate with chocolate. It's just wonderful.
It's interesting, but when the world gets more difficult, some people want the church to be more serious than intense. They struggle with fun because they're feeling the weight and pressure. They get upset when students are loud and laughing. They want children to be more serious. They're like, "Those kids need to be quiet and not run around the church." Where would you rather they run around? They're going to have fun somewhere. Why not here?
Now, we're going to make mistakes. I make more than a few. When we make them, we learn from them and we laugh at them. So here are a couple of my favorite mistakes from 2023. And we'll end with my favorite Parker mistake of 2023.
Obviously, we've begun our sanctuary renovation. And right now, this stage seems a little higher. But very soon, you're also going to be... I was about to say a little higher. I don't want you to come to your chai. You're going to sit a little higher than you are right now.
There's an insert in your bulletin. Yeah. You don't know how many times I've wanted there to be an insert in your bulletin. It was pretty awesome. That would make you read the bulletin. An insert in the week.
Insert in your bulletin: Christians aren't supposed to be boring. Serving Jesus is joy-filled even in difficult times. I love serving Jesus. I love being together. I like laughter and silliness and goofiness, and there's a time for everything.
You say, "Well, I'm serious, and I don't think we should have all that fun in church." You know, I do get that. I understand your intent, but don't worry because at the end of all the fun, we're still going to boldly invite people to follow Jesus. You can be upset that I just gave out a candy bar in church. People are going to make decisions and follow Jesus.
They were praising God. A healthy church is a worshiping church, praising God with passion and enthusiasm. The Bible tells us God enjoys our worship so much so He inhabits or He dwells in the praises of His people. I want to be more passionate and excited, more visibly in love with Jesus than ever before. That should be reflected in my worship.
If you go to a football game when your team scores a touchdown, was there a great deal? They're like, "Yes!" Everybody does it, and no one says, "You weirdos. Why are you raising your hands at a football game?" Come to church, and something happens, and people are like, "What's up with that?" We're celebrating. We're excited because Jesus died on a cross for us and gave us life eternal.
And so sometimes in our excitement, we raise our hands. I want to worship. If you love worship, join the choir. Join the worship team. If you play an instrument, join the band. Say, "How do I start?" Email me. My email address is in the bulletin, and I will connect you. I'll get you started.
"They enjoyed the favor of all the people." A healthy church is influential. The church was relating to the same people who just killed Jesus, but now they had the favor of all because they were loving, caring, unified, and healthy. And because of that, they were impacting their community.
There's something wrong with a church that doesn't influence its community. It's not healthy. Now, the result of all that unity, health, learning, loving, praying, giving, commitment, fun, worship, and influence was the greatest miracle of all. This is our prayer: "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
A healthy church, number 12, is outward-focused. If we do the other 11 things and we miss this, we might as well shut the doors. We must prioritize others before ourselves. We must continue to reach out to our community and into our world. An outward-focused church is made up of outward-focused individuals.
The easiest temptation, the quickest way for a church to die, is when we start caring about ourselves, our wants, our needs, more than we do reaching people who don't know Jesus. We refuse to turn inward, only caring about ourselves and what we want.
Think about it. If church is just the way you want it, then everyone who attends church will be just like you: your age, your stage of life, your color, your race. Now, wouldn't that be boring? If you don't think it would be, ask your spouse. They'll tell you the truth. That kind of church lasts one generation and dies.
I want to attend a church where people are different than me. I want to sing songs I don't like because I need to learn to like them. If you can't find a reason to like a worship song, let me help you. You can and should like it because at the very least, it's a song written to give God glory, the one who saved you and changed your life. That should be enough to make you lift your hands and sing along to even the most obnoxious melody and irritating beat.
If it's about Jesus being lifted up, then I can learn to like it. I want to be friends with people who are old and young and everywhere in between. It'd be easier for us to target one age group, but easier is not healthier. I want to be part of God's church, the whole church.
I want to see people from all walks of life experience the life-changing grace of Jesus. I want to celebrate with them as they discover His plan and purpose. I want to worship with people from different countries and backgrounds and life situations and those who speak different languages.
Hear me: God's church must be a diverse church because we're headed to a diverse heaven. So we will celebrate, and we will embrace our differences. I met a guy after the last service, and I said, "Tell me about yourself." He said, "I got out of prison Friday after five years." I said, "What'd you do?" He told me. I said, "Let me tell you, you'll be fine here. Nobody's going to freak out here because we all have mistakes in our past."
You're going to find this to be a place where people will accept you and love you. And then another guy who got out of prison recently said, "I told you." I said, "I told you those people were different. I've gone places; they kicked me out." They'll love you here.
And I said, "We'll love you. But if you try to go back to your old life, I will chase you down and kick your butt in the name of Jesus." I don't know if I can say that or not, but I just did. I'll be in next year's bloopers. It's fine.
I want to build and lead an attended church where my children and grandchildren would be challenged to grow and be lifelong followers of Jesus. If I have to choose, I'd rather church be designed for them than designed for me. Come on, you're an adult. You know what it means to serve Jesus. At this stage of life, your focus should be on the generations behind you.
Some of you are old. Right? Come on, you know you are. You look in the mirror and you're like, "I'm old." When I ask you, "What would you do for your grandkids to follow Jesus?" You say, "I'd give my life." As parents, the same thing. "What's it worth for your kids to follow Jesus?" Worth everything. "I'd die for them to know Jesus and go to heaven."
So if you'd die, then shouldn't you be willing to give up your preferences? It doesn't make sense to me. I'd die for them, but you better not sing that song. Okay, so you won't die for them. I refuse to be a selfish church consumer. People sacrificed for me, and now I get to sacrifice for them. That's the pattern of Jesus.
Now, I didn't know they were sacrificing. I was a kid. I thought everybody loved doing motions to songs. I thought everybody loved Father Abraham. That made sense. I didn't know they hated it. They were just excited because I was following and worshiping Jesus. It will be the same.
The mission of the church is to reach people with the love of God. We will not be shaken from our core value that influences everything we do. This is the essence of the gospel message. It's our guiding principle: every soul matters to God. Every soul.
Every soul, regardless of background. Every soul, regardless of race. Every soul, regardless of socioeconomic status. Every soul, regardless of immigration status. Every soul, regardless of political party. Every soul matters to God. And if every soul matters to God, then every soul must matter to us.
And here's what that means: you matter. You matter to God, and you matter to us. The reason why hundreds of people volunteer their time and thousands of people give their money, the reason why we do all this is not so we can perpetuate a church. It's because we passionately want you to know the joy of following Jesus and discovering His purpose and plan for your life.
We would give anything and do anything for you to know Him and to know the joy that comes from following Him and to know you have eternity with Him in heaven. That matters more to us than anything else. That's how important you are to us.
Would you bow your heads with me because I want to pray for you? I want to pray for two kinds of people. First, I want to pray for you. Say, "Pastor Rod, I just need to give my life to Jesus." Maybe you came to church, first Sunday of the year, and said, "If that dude gives me a chance, I'm going to commit myself to Jesus. I'm ready. I'm ready to live for Him." First Sunday of 2024, I can think of no better time.
If that's you, raise your hand and hold it up. I'm going to pray for you in just a moment. Thank you. Now, thanks. Thank you. Yeah. Just in that moment, heaven's celebrating because you know what? The moment they raised their hand, that was the commitment moment. It's not about the prayer I'm going to pray for you. That's the commitment. It's not a minute. I'm ready to follow Jesus. Heaven stopped and started a party.
Here's the second kind of person I want to pray for. Say, "Pastor Rod, 2023 was a bad year for me and God. I blew it. I did a lot of things I'm ashamed of, as disobedient, as disobedient for money, as disobedient with relationships. I developed habits that I know aren't pleasing to Him. I need 2024 to be different, and I want to live for Him with my whole heart." If that's you, raise your hand. I'll pray for you.
Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for being honest. Thank you. It is my honor now to pray for you. You already made the decision. You raised your hand to indicate that. But thank you for allowing me this honor.
Jesus, thank you. Thank you for your unbelievable love for us. Thank you for people who raised their hands a few moments ago and said, "I'm ready to follow Jesus." I pray with them right now. We open up ourselves to you. Our way has not worked. We ask your forgiveness for everything we would, and we invite you. We invite you in. Maybe not even sure everything that means, but we invite you to be center and Lord. We want to follow you.
Thank you. Lord, I pray for people who said 2023 was not a good year between me and Jesus. I pray as we begin this next year that you give them help to follow through on the decision they just made. I pray for people who need to change some friendships, people who need to leave some habits behind, people who need to begin some obedience. That this would not just be a raise my hand to feel better about myself, but this would be a decision that leads to action.
And they would follow you with their whole heart and all they have, and that 2024 would be a year of your presence and your blessing, your involvement in their lives in Jesus' name.
Then, Lord, I pray for this whole church. Help us to be healthy. Forgive us when we've been selfish, focused on what we want. That creeps into all of us every once in a while. Forgive us for that, Lord. We recognize it is stupid. Help us to be the kind of healthy church where the worst sinners in our city can come and experience your love and your forgiveness and your grace and see that modeled in us.
We pray these twelve signs would be present and visible in our church and in our lives in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Now, if you prayed there, pray with me. Pastor Randy is standing right here, and I invite you to come talk with him and talk to you about next steps. What to do next? We want to help you every step of the way.
I love you. It feels so warm in here compared to the other services. You came to the right place. Have a wonderful week.
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on Jan 08, 2024