Obedience and the Necessity of Being Born Again

I will rejoice and be glad in it! Hallelujah! It's so good to see you this morning. Are you ready to worship? Yes, yes! Go Hallelujah! Live, come on everybody, victory, victory, sailing the blood of Jesus, thank you beautiful Christmas, Jesus, foreign, praising this baby, praise hey baby, alive, come on let everything that hath breath praise the Lord, somebody praise God.

You're watching us online from all around the world, somebody shout hallelujah! Aren't you glad you came to church this morning? Turn to two or three people, give them a high five, come on! My name is Resurrection, my name is, sing the praises of the spirits, foreign, greater things, greater things, come this morning.

Has anybody got a testimony this morning? Hey, this is what is my testimony: Jesus Christ, you're righteousness, me foreign. There's joy, Father, there's joy that's coming in the morning. We will not be shaken, we will not be moved. His eyes in Him we cannot know. If you know evil, thought he was real forever, foreign, and we cannot lose, 'cause I know George, is to Jesus.

Come back, come on morning! Morning is not a time, morning is it when you wake up, amen! Come on everybody clap your hands, everybody clap your hand with me! In the morning, in the morning, just sing that with me, come on! You're like and drown your darkness and bring God for the life he won't submit your Sodom. Our joy is coming in the morning, do you believe it? Sing it again! Somebody needs to hear it again, say your life is done and bring my joy to life.

Spirit joy is coming, coming in the morning. All praise to King Jesus! Darkness enjoy tonight, good morning! Joy is coming, coming is, come on weepy man, you're a fun moment. Weeping may endure for a moment, but joy comes in the morning time, amen!

I heard it said a long time ago we equate morning with a time. It suddenly realizing my own life, if it's not so much a time, it's just when you wake up. Joy comes when you have the revelation of God's love for you. You're watching online, you're here in New York, would you just lift your hands down?

And I've said it before, they're not holy hands, their hands are redeemed. They've been sanctified by Jesus. Those of us who know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, nobody's perfect in God. Father, we thank you, we thank you for the opportunity that you've given us to gather together to celebrate, to dance.

Father David wrote, "I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praise shall continually be in my life." Regardless of where we are in this world—South Africa, China, South America, New Zealand—you promise to be with us.

We come to the altar, the Father's arms are open wide, forgive and forget as far as the east is from the west. Yeah, and I'm so glad for that freedom that is ours in Christ.

We love you, Jesus! We thank you, Father, for the promise of your presence. This morning, we are going to continue our worship as we prepare to come to the Lord's Table. We invite you to go to your cupboards and get some crackers or some bread and get some juice as we prepare to continue our worship as we partake of communion together.

This week, as a nation, we celebrate Independence Day and the freedoms that we are able to enjoy as citizens here in this nation. But we are so glad for the freedom that is ours in Christ. We were just singing about how the blood washes us as white as snow, and prior to that, we were singing a song that says, "Come to the altar," and we were thinking about that one particular line that says, "Oh, come to the altar, the Father's arms are open wide, forgive and forget as far as the east is from the west."

We are so glad for that freedom that is ours in Christ. As we come to the Lord's table today, I'm reminded of a particular passage of scripture that's found in Romans chapter 8. In chapter 7, the Apostle Paul is talking about the struggles that you and I go through in this life, where we want to do good and we're not able because we have a sinful nature that's raging within us.

He talks about that battle where you want to do good and you don't, and the bad things you don't want to do, you end up doing. He says, "Who's going to deliver us from this body of death?" He says, "Thank God it's through Jesus Christ," and that's in Romans chapter 7.

But in Romans chapter 8, he says this, starting with verse 11: "The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you." He says, "And just as God raised Christ from the dead, He will give life to your bodies by the same Spirit living within you."

So the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, when you are a born-again Christian, when you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes and lives on the inside of you and I. But not only that, the Bible says He will raise us to new life; He'll cause us to walk in the newness of life.

Verse 12 says this: "Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do, for if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live."

So as you and I partake of these elements, the bread representing His broken body, the juice representing the cleansing of the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins, be reminded today that because of the Spirit of God, we are under no obligation to obey the sinful urges within us. Amen.

We thank God for His mercy and grace that He has given us. We praise Him, exalt Him, honor Him, and acknowledge Him. We welcome Him into our hearts and give Him praise for being so good to us. His mercies endure forever, and there are new mercies for us every day. We love Him because He first loved us and has won our hearts. We honor Him today and trust Him in Jesus' name.

All God's people said amen and praise the Lord. The ushers are going to pass a bucket around to collect the cups so that they can be properly disposed of at the end of every service. Please do not put your offering in this bucket; there will be another bucket for your offering.

We would love to hear from those who are joining us online today. If you are watching, please let us know in the chat. We also have a space on the second floor of our education annex for those with crying babies.

This coming Tuesday, even though it is the Fourth of July, we do have midweek service. Pastor Claude Hood will be joining us from Montreal, Canada, and will be here with us to worship and preach.

We also want to thank our partners in the nation of Timor-Leste who run a training center to equip and empower people through leadership training and animal raising. This year, with our support, we provided funds for new goats to be purchased and distributed to families, which generates income. Denny is on staff at the center and ensures the animals at the farm are healthy and provides encouragement to the families in the program and checkups for the animals.

Thank you for your continuous support. We want to thank all of you at the Church for your support and generosity. This year, our planning is to benefit families in this community with the gold dispersal program. We are honored and privileged to partner with each of you to help spread the message of Jesus.

There are five ways you can give here at TSC: you can text "give TSC NYC" to 77977, you can download the Pushpay app and give that way, you can give online at tsc.nyc/give, you can set up a recurring gift on our website, or you can mail your check or money order to our office. If you're with us in person today, you can give by putting your tithes and offerings in the basket that our ushers will be passing out in a few moments.

We love sharing these stories with you as a reminder of how God is using your giving to help others all around the world. On behalf of the Church, I want to thank you for your support and God bless you.

We say thank you, Jesus, for all that you have done. Come on, let's lift up a shout to the Lord today! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! We bless your name, O Lord. Glory to God, for His presence is here today.

We welcome you here to Times Square Church. Thank you for being here this weekend at Fourth of July. We also want to welcome those that are watching around New York City, around the country, and even around the world.

We remind you that if you're watching from around the country, even around the world, do not forget August 2nd through the 4th is a very special time here. It's called the Fire in Our Bones Conference. It is a conference that is really divine; it's designed. We are not here to popularize names or people or anything else. We just want the fire of God to fall upon leaders and pastors around the world.

They'll be joining us from Norway, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Russia, Kosovo, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Australia, Pakistan, Israel, Canada, Belize, the Dominican, Chile, Barbados, Jamaica, Bahamas, Mauritius, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Uganda.

We pray for the peace of Jerusalem today. Let the cry come from the heart, let it come from the heart. Hallelujah, hallelujah, bless your name, oh God. Bless the name of the Lord. Come on, lift Him up in Puerto Rico, lift Him up in India, lift them up in Norway, in Belgium, lift them up in Ireland, come on, lift them up in Indonesia, in the Bahamas.

Oh hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. I've always believed, one of my spiritual fathers, Leonard Ravenhill, always said this: he said maturity comes from obedience, not necessarily from age. I've seen many old immature believers, and I've seen many young mature believers. And folks, the determining factor on everyone is obedience.

One decision of obedience is more powerful and produces more growth than listening to a hundred sermons. I want to say that one more time: one obedient step is worth more than listening to a hundred sermons. For this reason, because truth without obedience is really hypocrisy, that's just what it is if you just hear, and you're going to see that today.

So with that, we have to cover this today in our growth and what God has called us to do in biblical warfare. O is for obedience, and we're going to believe for the Holy Spirit to come and speak to us.

Father, we thank you for what we heard resonating today from this stage. Thank you for the choir that reminded us when they shouted out yes for the rest of our days. That's what our prayer is: yes, Lord, for the rest of our days, God. That's our cry, that's what we want, God.

I'm reminded of Psalm 24: "Who shall ascend through the Holy Hill of the Lord but those with clean hands and a pure heart?" And I pray in these next few moments may our hands be clean and our hearts be pure. May the word of God come and work all over the world and right here in 51st and Broadway, and we pray this in Jesus' name, and everybody said amen and amen.

God bless you, you may receive it.

Thank you, Mark, thank you so much. Some of you may not be familiar with the name E. Stanley Jones. E. Stanley Jones was a missionary to India and a Christian statesman. Most of his biggest rise or many heard of him in the 40s and the 50s for his work in the nation of India as a Methodist missionary.

He tells of a time that he was about to board a plane in India, and he heard God speak to him that said, "Do not get on that plane." He learned later that the plane crashed and there were no survivors. He shared his experience with a fellow missionary, and these were the words I want you to see: the man said to him, "You mean to say that you were the only one God told not to get on that plane?" And E. Stanley Jones said, "By no means, but it's possible I was the only one listening."

Folks, I believe God has called us from all over the country and all over the world, and for those three days, it is going to be a powerful time that heaven is going to fall down in those days. If you've not signed up, you can go to fireinourbones.org.

Our series is called "The Bible Says." It's a Biblical worldview from A to Z that we've been taking each letter of the alphabet, and it's really recovering those definitions that have been lost both through culture and even, I hate to say it, even lost in the church today. We've lost definitions in the church because the culture has gone in, and our goal is to equip you to speak and to stand in these last days. That's what our goal is.

God is always speaking to us. He speaks through His Word, His servants, His Providence, His Acts, and His Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, we often miss hearing God's voice simply because we are not paying attention. The Latin word for obedience actually means to listen with great attentiveness, while the Latin word for death means to be absurd.

When God speaks and we know what we are supposed to do, we are faced with two choices: obedience or disobedience. Joy Dawson, a godly woman who worked for YWAM, said that disobeying God is the same as telling Him to hold back all of the blessings that come from obedience.

When God's grace changes our status from rebel to redeemed, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey Him. Obedience can be inconvenient, lonely, and difficult at times, but it does get the attention of Heaven and God every single time. A.W. Tozer said that the true follower of Christ will not ask if embracing something will cost them, but rather they will say, "This is truth, and God will help me to walk in it."

This is what obedience is. Obedience is doing God's will, God's way, in God's timing. As one of the greatest verses on obedience, 1 Samuel 15 states that God takes greater delight in obedience than in offerings and sacrifices. Rebellion is the opposite of obedience and is seen as the sin of iniquity and idolatry.

Jesus spells out in John 14:15 that if we love Him, we will obey His commands. We cannot rewrite, revise, or modify what God is saying. Doing God's will, God's way, in God's time is the best way to show our love for Him.

Sunday morning means a lot to me because after I finish praying, I get to reflect on the story of Saul in 1 Samuel 15. In this story, Saul has rejected the word of the Lord and has been rejected from being King. This is why in verse 22, when you read that part that says, "To obey is better than sacrifice," you can replace the word "sacrifice" with the word "worship."

Samuel then gives us five words to describe disobedience: rebellion, witchcraft, stubbornness, iniquity, and idolatry. Saul has forfeited his future and anointing through disobedience.

God is the only employer that will fire you and let you keep your job. He fired Saul in 1 Samuel 15, and Saul was still King for 20 more years. Joy Dawson went on to say that delayed obedience is disobedience, partial obedience is disobedience, and even doing what God has asked you to do with murmuring is still disobedience.

Psalm 119:60 says to hasten and not delay to keep God's commands. Deuteronomy 28:45 says that all these curses shall come on you and pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and statutes. God wants us to serve Him with joy and a glad heart.

Sunday morning is a special moment for me. I take time to pray for churches around New York City and ask God to send revival to our city. I also pray and believe for God to send revival to other countries such as Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Uganda, and Israel.

As I pray, I often feel an impression from God to send texts to certain people or pastors. Recently, I heard a story from a pastor who told me that four months ago I had sent him a text. He said that he had been praying to God, feeling exhausted and ready to give up, when he received my text. He said it was a reminder to be strong in the Lord and that God's strength would anoint him.

This story reminds me of the passage in 1 Samuel 15, where God speaks to Saul, the first king of Israel, and tells him to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Saul goes, but he edits God's command and brings back the king and the best of the stuff. This is a confrontation between the prophet Samuel and Saul, and it results in Saul losing his kingdom.

This is a reminder of how dangerous it can be to disobey God's commands, even if we think we are doing the right thing. Samuel said to Saul, "Blessed are you of the Lord, I've carried out the command of the Lord." However, Samuel was not convinced and asked, "What then is the bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

Saul had been sent by God to punish Amalek and to utterly destroy all that he had. Saul was instructed to put to death man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey. However, Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly. Everything despised and worthless they utterly destroyed.

Mark Twain once said a businessman came to him, well known for his ruthless business practices, and said he was going to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, climb Mount Sinai, and read the Ten Commandments on top of Mount Sinai before he died. Mark Twain suggested it would be easier to stay in Boston and keep the Ten Commandments.

Obedience is hard, but the consequences of disobedience are much harder. It is a lot easier to do what God tells us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the consequences of not doing it.

Saul was trying to fight through his disobedience to God. He was trying to justify why he had taken the spoil from the Amalekites, saying that it was to offer up to the Lord. However, Samuel said that to obey is better than sacrifice. Saul had rejected the word of the Lord, and therefore God had rejected him from being King.

Saul's response was, "I have sinned." This is a reminder that to obey is better than sacrifice and that God's word should not be edited or revised. Saul had disobeyed God's command, and when Samuel showed up, Saul should have said, "I have sinned." However, Saul instead said, "I feared the people and listened to their voice."

Samuel then told Saul that the Lord had rejected him from being King over Israel and tore the Kingdom of Israel from him. Saul then begged Samuel to pardon his sin and return with him so that he could worship the Lord. Samuel refused and told Saul that the Lord had given the Kingdom to someone better than him.

Saul then said, "I've sinned, but please honor me now before the elders and the people and then go back with me and let's worship the Lord." Samuel went back from following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

This story is a warning about the dangers of being a "worshiping backslider." This is someone who can worship with intensity while living in blatant disobedience. This is happening with preachers, leaders, believers, musicians, and stages all over the world. People think that their worship is their repentance, but this is false theology. Worshiping does not excuse disobedience. Saul's worship meant nothing because he was living in disobedience.

We need to be careful to not fall into this trap and make sure that our worship is accompanied by obedience. With that, I want to bring it down to my mistakes, my regrets, my shortcomings. I would love for the song to sing my disobedience, and I needed God to forgive me.

Listen in, I think in the spirit world, repentance rhymes with disobedience. Some of you may be thinking that doesn't make sense to me, but let me explain what backsliding is. Backsliding is the easiest thing to do because you do nothing—that's how it happens. People don't lose their fire from God from a blowout; it's a slow leak. That's why Samson was asleep when he lost his strength.

An old pastor from Fort Lauderdale, Jerry Vines, describes a heart of backsliding the best. He said, "Are you backslidden? I'm going to help you answer that question. A backslidden Christian is any Christian who is not as close to Jesus as he used to be. Was there ever a time in your life when you were more consecrated to the Lord than now? Was there ever a period in your life when you felt the presence of God more than you feel it now? Was there a moment in your life when your love for Jesus was more real than it is this very minute?"

If so, we need a revival. I started to even question my own heart. I'm asking, "God, is the fire alive? Do I protect the fire inside of me?" When was the last time I was singing, playing an instrument, taking communion, and felt the presence of God?

Jesus said this will happen to listening disciples. He said, "Therefore, if you're offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you, stop worshiping, leave your gift there, and go make it right with them."

Folks, I'm just telling you, in today's language it would read something like this: "While you're singing 'All My Life You've Been So Faithful,' the Holy Spirit will come in and convict us and say, 'I'm faithful, but you haven't been in this area.' That while you're lifting up your hands, you're sleeping with your girlfriend. While you're lifting your hands, you're speaking evil of this person. While you're singing loud and kneeling on the floor, you're robbing me of tithes and offerings."

God would go, "Put your hands down and let's get this right now." Folks, I'm just telling you, I mean let me just say this: I get it. Some of you are looking at your husband or wife and thinking, "This is the church I wanted to go to today." Folks, I'm here to tell you, I'm here for our future to be spared. I'm here so God can become and speak to us today.

Folks, I'm just telling you, think whatever you want. I'm still amazed that you keep showing up. We're in letter O and you keep coming to church, so that you have problems. I'm just going to say this: keep coming to church.

I remember as I was getting ready to take communion and reading the passage, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "Don't take communion until you make this right with this co-worker that you spoke sharply to today." I had to go back and apologize and said, "Hey, today I didn't speak to you with kindness; I spoke to you with sharpness. Would you please forgive me?"

I knew that before I could take communion seriously, I had to take worship seriously and take God seriously. Saul wanted to worship but not be obedient. He wanted to sing but not obey. He wanted to lift his hands but not take care of the disobedience that he brought back into Israel.

Saul lifted his hands when he should have had a sword in his hand. Samuel had to be the one that went in and finished the disobedience of Saul and killed Agag when Saul was worshiping.

The end of the story is 20 years later, and we learned something devastating about Saul's death just before David is about to take the throne in 2 Samuel. Don't minimize what God has asked you to do. Don't edit what God has asked you to do. Don't come up with your own rewrite of what God has asked you to do.

Times Square Church, don't minimize what God has asked you to do. Don't edit what God has asked you to do. Don't come up with your own rewrite of what God has asked you to do.

Here's the ending: 2 Samuel chapter one, David is just a chapter away from becoming the next king, and David and Saul have just been killed. David said to the young man who showed up in his presence, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

The young man replied, "By chance I happen to be from Mount Gilboa, and behold Saul was leaning on his spear and the chariots and horsemen pursued him closely. When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. I said, 'Okay, just hold this for a moment.'"

Saul was about to die in a battle, and this young man was standing right behind him. Saul called him over and asked, "Who are you?" The young man answered, "I'm an Amalekite; I'm part of the people that you're supposed to kill."

In 1 Samuel, folks, he shouldn't have been in the Malachi Fair; that the thing he spared. Saul was killed by the thing he was supposed to kill. He edited God's command and kept what he thought was best, and in the end, his edits would become his demise.

When God speaks, obey Him. Listen to what God says. The best and greatest thing I've learned is this: decide obedience even before God commands anything. Decide to say yes even before.

We get it backwards. We think it goes like this: God speaks, I listen, and then I decide. But it's actually this: I obey regardless, then God speaks. Us choosing whatever. The only command the Virgin Mary ever gave was this: "Whatever he says to you, do it."

I learned a prayer from an Alabama youth pastor. I was going to say some people know just go on; we love Alabama. A youth pastor taught me a prayer of obedience that I have whispered so many times. Here's the Alabama prayer I learned: "God, the answer is yes even before you ask."

It's God speaking to us, saying yes. It's not taking another step without going, "God, I submit. I want to do exactly what you've called me to do."

Peter Marshall was a pastor right here in New York City. He was the pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, not only in New York but also was pastoring in Washington DC and eventually appointed as the chaplain of the United States Congress and greatly used by God.

The name Peter Marshall is seen to be so powerfully used there on Capitol Hill. Peter Marshall was telling his story and that he felt the call of God but was trying to avoid ministry. Instead of going into ministry, he prayed, "God, the answer is yes even before you ask."

Peter Marshall said he was going to serve in the Navy, but he failed his Navy test back in the 1950s. He was walking home dejected when he heard his name called three times. He stopped and fell to his knees in the dense fog and surrendered his future to God, vowing to go into the ministry.

He then realized he was at the edge of a precipice, and if he had taken one more step, his life would have ended. This moment of obedience kept him from plummeting to his death and going into an uncertain future.

God is saying to us now to yield to Him, kneel and bow, and be obedient to what the voice of God is speaking to us. We should look over our lives and ask God what He is asking us to do and not take one more step until we kneel down and say, "God, I will obey."

People have said to Pastor Tim that he is "boringly consistent," and he responds that he is "consistently boring." He is not willing to take one more step until he kneels down and says, "God, I will obey."

I could care less about your opinion of me. I used to care, but I don't anymore. I love you, but I will obey my orders from the master until he says stop. That's what it is. I will obey until God says I'm not.

I'm talking about the altar. I'm not kicking anybody out, but if God is speaking to you, listen. I don't care if all of you leave. I just want God. If there's an area that God is dealing with me on some areas of disobedience, I put everything down and I say yes, Lord, yes, Lord, I choose You.

Preaching can't cover it, singing can't cover it, and church attendance can't cover sin. The only thing that covers us is the blood of Jesus. Come to the altar. Come to the altar. Come to the altar.

I just feel so strongly that God is speaking to us here. Before we take any step forward for where God wants to bring us, even as a church, let's go, God. I'm coming not to church, just simply to worship. I'm coming to obey God, whatever God wants.

If there's an area that God is speaking to you, go and lay that down. Deal with this. Let this be the day that we move forward in that. If that's you, I want you to get out of your seat and come.

Come down here just quickly, as fast as you can. God is speaking to me about some areas. Come on, let's come to the altar and sing a tune. Come on, as we sing this, come to the altar. Oh, come to sing it, sir.

Come on, church, come on. Was brought away the precious love songs four years ago. Your eyes is one sing a church, oh come to the altar, sing it, sing it one more time.

Oh, come to the altar, sing a tune, come on. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Those with this altar just look at me for a moment. Let me just tell you what we're doing here. It's before taking that step you're going, "God, if I know if I take this one more step I could plummet."

At this point, you know what he's doing. Let me tell you what's happening here. Those tears, you know what he's doing? He's saving your future. Right now, he's saving your future.

Father, right now in the name of Jesus. God, we're believing that futures are going to be saved right now. Futures are going to come on, lift those hands right now. Just say, "God, I'm giving you everything right now."

God, this is a moment of repentance; this is a moment, God, of you calling me back to obedience. And Father, with our hands lifted up, Lord Jesus, we are just saying to you that anything you're asking us to put away, cut off, we say yes, Lord Jesus.

If you're saying cut off that bitterness, that same talk, that evil speaking, Father, some, some you're even dealing with it. There may be adultery, there may be Father promiscuity, there's some lifestyle that you're speaking to right now, and God we've tried to mask it.

We've tried to mask it with "blessed be the Lord, I've obeyed the voice of the Lord." But God, today, today you have used this service to come in and say, "Then what's the bleeding of the sheep? What's the, uh, what is these other things that I hear?"

But God, you're rescuing our future here. God, these are moms and dads, these are single people, these are students, these are businessmen, these are Father, these are your precious people, these are visitors today that God you're speaking to and say enough, enough.

Today is going to be a day of liberty, today is going to be a day of freedom, today is going to be a day that we're going to walk into our future. That God we've heard our name in the middle of the message, just as Peter Marshall kept hearing his name, "Peter, Peter."

God, you spoke these names today, and this is a day of not just repentance, but this is a day of freedom in this house today. It's a day of renewing, calling and renewing our futures. This is a day, Lord God, that you're going to come with your power over these lives today.

Hallelujah! I feel strongly to say this, and I'm going to say this once. A balcony, I want you to listen carefully. Annex, and I'm going to say this just one more time. It's not to embarrass anybody; I feel strongly about this that there's some about.

Today is a day of freedom. God is calling us to get out of our seats and get this right. We are feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit that is speaking to us. We are not going to leave this place without the Holy Spirit speaking to us.

God is getting us ready for something, but He has to do a cleansing first. He is telling us to stop using profanity and to fill our mouths with blessings and pure words. We will obey God and say yes to whatever He asks of us with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Before we leave, we will sing a song and have times of prayer at the end. Jesus said in John 3:7, "Don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'" Those are Jesus's words, and He says to us, "You can't edit that command. Your religion can't edit that command. Culture can't edit that command."

Jesus said the only way you get to Heaven is by being born again.

So what does "born again" mean? Jesus said just as you had a first birth physically, you need a second birth spiritually, and that can happen right here.

How does that happen? Pastor Tim says it's as simple as ABC: A - admitting that I'm a sinner; B - believing that God sent His Son two thousand years ago to die for my sin and to be my sin bearer; C - confessing Him as Lord and saying He's in charge of my life.

If you're here today and you're going, "Pastor Tim, I have to be born again if that's what God says," then don't leave this place without praying the Born Again prayer. Make me part of that prayer. Hold your hands up as high as you can and keep them up.

Look at them. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Keep them up. Yes, yes, keep them up.

Let's all pray this together.