Morning, everyone.
Hey, while you're on your feet, can we welcome all of our campuses: Napa, East Bay, Roseville, Calgary, Canada, everyone watching at our prison networks and online. We love you guys. Are you excited to be in church today? I'm excited to preach.
Take a seat, turn to your neighbor and say, "Glad I'm sitting next to you."
Hey, before we jump into the word, I'm excited today because I have some special friends in the house: Pastors Mike and Melissa Cervelo from Redeemer Church in Utica, New York. Man, I love you guys so much. They've had a massive impact on my life. I've known them since I was younger than Lucy's age. My dad used to speak at their summer camps back in the day. So thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being here. And thank you for the impact you've had on my life. I'm grateful for you. If you know anyone in Utica, New York, send them to Redeemer Church.
We've been in a series called "Making a Place." Last week, Pastor Hillary preached an awesome message. So good. If you haven't listened, go on YouTube and listen back to that.
Today, I want to talk about this idea of making a place for your purpose. Making a place for your purpose. You know, recently I was reading a book about this guy named Dan Gable. He's a famous American wrestler. I'm not talking about WWE type of wrestling; I'm talking about real wrestling. Like the kind of wrestling that God did with Jacob. The only sport God played, recorded. It's a real sport. I'm a wrestler.
And man, we always have to defend that this is a real sport because people only like watching basketball and football. But wrestling is the only sport that God did, and I'm going to leave it at that.
So Dan Gable is an American legend. He's one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He got gold at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He's one of the most winning wrestlers in the world. He's one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. He's a true legend.
In his book, one of the chapters, he talked about this wrestler named John Peterson. John Peterson was a follower of Jesus, an awesome man. But John Peterson was a good wrestler, but he wasn't considered an elite wrestler. He wrestled in college. Wasn't Division One, but he wrestled at a junior college.
His senior year, his career in college culminated with him getting fifth at nationals. So he got All-American honors, which was a big deal. But when you compare that to, you know, the level of wrestling at NCAAs, there's a drastic difference. And then if you compare that to Olympic wrestling, that's like the elite of the elite. There was a massive gap between getting fifth at junior college and going to the Olympics.
It would be like, you know, being an okay basketball player at your junior college versus being an All-Star in the NBA. If you're not an athlete, it would be like acting in a TJ Maxx commercial versus winning the Oscars. Like, there's a huge gap.
So it got to the end of his college career. He got fifth. He's like, "Okay, I guess I'm done. I guess that's it." But his brother called him and said, "Hey, come and train with me in Iowa this summer." Because his brother went to college with Dan Gable.
So John left where he was at, went to Iowa, got into a new atmosphere, a new training room with people who were better than him, higher perspective. So he won. He got fifth in nationals in 1971. By 1972, he qualified for the Olympics and got silver in the Olympics. Four years later, he got a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics.
You know what's so crazy? I heard him say about the end of his senior year, he said, "I almost threw in the towel thinking that was the peak of my career." Little did he know he had so much more in him. The right atmosphere with the right people unlocked something in himself that was so much greater than he could have ever thought or imagined.
Here's what I want to tell you today. No matter where you might be right now, here's what I believe: God has more for you. God has not called you, saved you, redeemed you so that you could stay right where you're at. I believe that the potential that rests on the inside of you is so much greater than you could ever hope or imagine.
And here's what I believe today: God wants to invite you into that more. He wants to invite you into the greater potential that lives on the inside of you. But here's what you have to understand: The potential on the inside of you is directly connected to the purposes of God for your life.
I love what Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 2. If you have your Bible, open it up. 1 Peter chapter 2. In verse 1, it says this: "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander. Like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good."
He's telling them, "Hey, it's time to grow up. It's time to grow. You can't stay where you're at."
"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
I'm going to skip to verse nine. It says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
What is Peter saying? He's saying to the believers that there's so much more in you, but the so much more in you is directly connected to God's purposes. And he lays out so clearly in this passage what those purposes are.
First, it is this: God is building a house. He's building a house, not with physical stones or physical materials, but he's building a spiritual house. And he says that Jesus was rejected by the Jewish people, by the nation of Israel. He was a rejected stone, but God chose him to be the cornerstone, the pinnacle, the part that holds the rest of the house together.
And he's saying we, the body of Christ, followers of Jesus, we are living stones that are forming this house together. What does this show me? God's first purpose for us is that he would dwell with us. God wants to dwell with his people. He's building up a holy house made up of us so that he can dwell with us. God wants to live with you. He wants to walk with you. He wants to talk with you.
And the second purpose I see in this passage is that God is calling us to be a royal priesthood. He's building a house where he could dwell, and he's calling a people, a royal priesthood, to work with him. I think sometimes we get it wrong. We think that Jesus saved us so that we could just be attenders on a Sunday. No, that's not his purpose for us. There's something more.
He has called you, each and every one of us, to be priests. Who are priests? Priests are representatives of God to the world. That's who you are called to be. A priest's main function is to first minister to God and worship him, and then help and serve and minister to people. We are called to be a priesthood.
And I think that many of us, we put a lid on our potential because we never step into our full purpose, which is being a royal priesthood. You are called to be a royal priesthood.
Like, "Ah, you don't know me. You don't know what I've done." Let me help you. God's plan and purpose for you is that he would dwell with you and that you would be a royal priesthood. God is calling us to be a royal priesthood. This has been his intention since the very beginning.
Like, you go back to Genesis in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was the first temple. It was the first house. God dwelt with Adam and Eve. And then he said, "Let us make man in our image." What does that mean? We were created to reflect the image of God. We were created to reflect the image of God. We were created to reflect the image of God, created, worshiping God.
And not only that, he said, "Let's give them dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every tree that bears fruit." We were called to rule. We were created to work with God. He didn't just create Adam and Eve lazing around in the garden. No, they were working with God. And he said, "Be fruitful and multiply."
So we see even in the garden, God's desire, original intent, purpose for which we were created was to dwell with God, was to work with God as priests. But then we see it clearly got messed up. We're not in the Garden of Eden anymore. Why? Because instead of worshiping God, we started worshiping ourselves. Instead of serving God, we started serving ourselves. Instead of trusting God, we started trusting ourselves.
And we turned our back on a good, gracious, holy God, and sin entered the world. Evil entered the world. And we chose that over God. And that sin separated us from our purpose, dwelling with God. And it ruined our ability to function as priests and work with God.
Maybe you felt that before. No matter how hard you try, no matter how good your life is, it always feels like something is missing. Why? Because you weren't just created to live. You were created with a purpose: to be with God and work with God. That's why you can gain everything in this life, and if you don't have those two things, you're still missing everything.
Why? Because that was never God's intended plan or purpose. But because of sin, it separated us from God. Here's what you have to understand: God didn't change in this scenario. His plans and purposes never change. They stay the same. We're the ones who changed.
We're the ones who turned our back on God. We're the ones who changed. We're the ones who turned our back on Him. Here's what you have to understand about God: even though we sinned, His plans and purposes remain the same. He still, even though we are sinful, wants to dwell with us and wants to work with us. That's His desire.
You even see after the fall, He initiated this plan to restore and redeem us back to that purpose. But if you read through the Old Testament, it's a pattern of God chasing after us and us rejecting Him and turning our backs on Him.
We even see in Exodus, it's still God's plan and purpose that we all be priests. It says this in Exodus 19: "You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." That was His intention for the nation of Israel. Not just one or two or three, that everyone would be a representative of God, working with God, working for God, and serving people. That was His intention.
But the children of Israel had other plans. Instead of worshiping God, they built a golden calf and rejected God. Here's the thing: God wants to dwell with us. He wants us to be a royal priesthood, but God doesn't change. He's holy.
So the question is, how does a holy God dwell with a sinful people? How can a sinful person work with a holy God? God doesn't change, so we have to meet His holy standard.
And if you read halfway through Exodus, all the way through Leviticus, you begin to see God's holy standard. It's a high standard. It's a standard that I can never meet. Even this picture on the background here, this is like kind of a snapshot of what was happening, how God intended to dwell with His people when we worked with Him.
See, this is the nation of Israel encamped around this thing called the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the place of worship. It's the place where the priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people so the people could be in right standing with God. But you'll notice here there's the outer courts, there's the inner courts, and then there's the Holy of Holies.
The Holy of Holies was the place where God's presence dwelled here on the earth. So instead of being with everyone, all places, all people, it was confined to a single space. And to get into the Holy of Holies, there's a list of processes, sanctifications, sacrifices, washings, that allowed one person, one time a year, to be with God.
Why? Because God is holy, we are sinful, and He has a standard. Even the process of sanctifying the priest, what they would do is they would slaughter a goat, they would take its blood, put some on the ear of the priest, some on the thumb of the priest, and some on the big toe of the priest. Then they would be washed with water. Then they would get rid of their clothes, put on new clothes. And then they were anointed with oil. They went through this sanctification process.
And once they went through that process, then they were allowed to be priests. Select few, the best of the best, and even they got it wrong.
We were talking with a friend this week, and Sierra was telling him, "Hey, you should have come to church this week. I was leading worship; you should have come and saw me." And they said this to her, you know, this is an abbreviation of what they said. They said, "Ah, it's probably good that I didn't go, because if I stepped foot into the building, the whole building would collapse in on me."
How many of you ever felt that way before? Like, I believe there's a God, I believe He knows what I've done, and if I was to step foot in His presence, there would be judgment. Like, even right now, some of you are sitting in here nervous, like, "Are the walls okay? Are they gonna collapse in on me?"
We know who we are. We know that we're sinful. And I was thinking about it as I was studying for this message, and I was reading about the Old Testament, and I was like, "That's actually pretty good Old Testament theology right there."
Like, if I stepped foot in God's presence, there would probably be fire from heaven. Because that actually really happened. Aaron and his sons, first day on the job, consecrated, everything's good. Aaron's sons go up, offer a sacrifice that was not authorized by God. What happened? Boom, fire from heaven, barbecue done, over.
It is, this is the way it was. Only the best of the best, and it had to be perfect. Or else you'd be burned up. Why? Because God doesn't change. He cannot coexist with sin.
So how do we get from this to where we're at today? First Peter, I want a nation, a royal priesthood, for all of us. It's like, "God, do you know who I am? Do you know the mistakes that I've made? Because if you knew me, you would know there's no way I could ever be a priest. There's no way I would ever deserve to be in your presence, because I am sinful and I am broken."
What's the difference? Because God doesn't change. How do we get to where we are at? The answer is very simple: it's Jesus.
What you have to understand, friends, is Jesus is our perfect high priest. We are not invited into our purpose of being a royal priesthood because of how good we are, or how perfect we are, or because we did all the right things to get to the right place. No, we are invited because we have a heavenly Father who loved us so much that while we were still sinners, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be our perfect high priest and to be the perfect sacrifice so that we could enter into our purpose.
It's not because I'm good; it's because He's good. It's not because I'm perfect; it's because He's perfect. We have a high priest who intervenes on our behalf, who stands between us and God, inviting us into this royal priesthood.
So friends, today, if you feel like, "Man, I'm not good enough; the building's probably about to collapse on me," I want to let you know that's not true. Why? Because we have a God who loves you and gave His Son, Jesus, for you, just the way that you are. He's inviting you into a new way of living.
Why? Because He wants to dwell with us and He wants to work with us. It says this in Hebrews 4: "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but who in every respect has been tempted as we were tempted without sin. So let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace and help in our time of need."
We have a high priest who is tempted in every way like we are. He can sympathize with what you're going through, and He was a perfect sacrifice. And because of Him, we now have access.
It says this in Hebrews 9: "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, He entered once and for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by the means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."
Jesus shed His blood, died on the cross. Why? Because the wages of sin is death, a punishment we deserve. But Jesus, our high priest, shed His blood so that we could enter into our purpose.
It says this in Matthew 27:51: "And at that moment," this is the moment Jesus died on the cross, "the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks split."
Here's what you have to understand. In the Holy of Holies, there was a curtain. There was a barrier that kept us sinful people from entering into the presence of a holy God. But it says this, that when Jesus died on the cross, that barrier was split.
No longer is God's presence restricted from us, but we now have free access to it. Why? Because we have a high priest who made a way for us, even in our brokenness, to enter into God's presence.
So here's what I want to invite you into today: God is calling you up. God is calling you into your purpose, which is to be a royal priest. A priest of your home. A priest of your workplace. Everywhere you go, you're ministering to God and ministering to people; you're a representative of God here on this earth. This is what you were called to do.
Let's not settle for anything less. But for us, sinful, broken people, how do we become priests? Well, I actually want to look at the symbols that were used to sanctify the priests in the Old Testament and how that applies to us today through the work of Jesus.
How are we able to be a royal priesthood? First is this: we've been covered by the blood. We've been covered by the blood.
What's all this talk of blood? When I was young, blood made me squeamish. It's like, "Ugh, I don't like blood. I don't want to touch it. I don't want to see it. I might faint. I'm not into that."
Why is the Bible always talking about blood? Because blood represented life. So when you sacrifice an animal and you spread their blood on the altar, it represented a life. And so Jesus, when it talks about Him shedding His blood for us, He gave up His life. He died in our place. He faced the wrath and punishment and rejection of the Father so that we don't have to. He was the perfect sacrifice.
And it says that they would take the blood, they would put it on the ear of the priest. What does the ear represent? Hearing. Faith comes by hearing. To receive the covering of the blood of Jesus, it requires faith. Not good works, not good deeds, but putting our faith in Jesus.
Next, they would put blood on the thumb. What does that represent? It represents what we do. Our work. The blood covers who we are in every aspect. Not just us on a Sunday morning, but every day of the week, we are covered by the blood of Jesus.
And lastly, they would put blood on the big toe. That represents anywhere I go, anywhere I step foot, I am covered by the blood. What does the blood do? The blood washes you clean. What does the blood do? The blood removes shame, guilt, condemnation.
God used to view us as sinners, but when we are covered by the blood, we are justified, and we are seen as the righteousness of Christ Jesus. He no longer sees you for your past mistakes. It's by the blood we now have access to the Holy of Holies.
You don't need a pastor to connect with God for you. You can connect to God directly. Why? Because you're covered by the blood.
The second thing, the reason we're able to enter into our faith, a royal priesthood, is because we've been washed with water. I love what it says in Ephesians 5:25. It says this: "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with the water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain, wrinkle, or any other blemish, but holy, holy and blameless."
I love this. When the priests would wash and cleanse themselves, they would go to the brazen laver. It was a brass bowl, and it was polished so clean that when they would clean themselves, wash themselves with the water, they would see a reflection of themselves in that brass bowl.
This is such an amazing picture of what the word of God does to us. It says that we are washed by the water of the word. Here's what happens when you open up the word of God: You begin to get a clear picture of who you are. It's like, "Okay, I have something in my teeth. My hair's a little messed up." You begin to see the flaws, the mistakes, but it doesn't end there. Not only does it reveal, it restores, and it heals, and it washes clean.
So many of us live with a distorted view of ourselves because we are giving more power to words spoken over us than the word of God. We're giving more power to information that we hear on the internet than to the word of God. If you want to be washed clean, you have to open up the word of God.
If you want to step into the purpose of priesthood, you have to open up the word of God. Because as you do, you begin to see like, "Oh, I need help." But then as you read it, it begins to wash you. It begins to clean you. It begins to make you new.
The third thing that happened is they got rid of their old clothes and they were dressed in new clothes. What is it to take a shower, get clean, but put on your old clothes that you were wearing before? Doesn't make sense.
It says this in Galatians 3: "So in Christ, you are all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves in Christ. There's neither Jew, nor Gentile, nor slave, nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ."
So he's saying when we are baptized, when we enter into a relationship with Jesus, we get rid of our old clothing, the things that we used to identify with. "Hey, this is who I am. This is who I'm always going to be." No, you've put on new clothing. What is the clothing we put on? It is the righteousness of Jesus.
What is righteousness? It's God's holiness in action. We live differently now because we've been saved, redeemed, covered by the blood, washed in the blood of Jesus. We've been saved, redeemed, covered by the blood of Jesus. We've been washed clean, and we have new clothes.
It requires us to live differently. It requires us to live in righteousness. God's calling you to live differently. He's calling you to a new way of living.
But maybe we've never stepped into the full purpose of God for our life because we've been covered by the blood, we've been washed clean, but we've never made the choice to live differently.
"Now, I can't live that way anymore. I can't put myself in that environment anymore." Why? Because I put on some new clothes. I put on a new way of living. God's calling you to a higher standard. It's not just Sunday; it's every day of the week, when you're at work, when you're at home. It's new clothes.
So they put on new clothes. And the last point that happened when the priests were being sanctified so that they could serve God and step into their purpose was this: we're able to do it because we've been anointed with oil.
And this is so important. God doesn't just save us and redeem us so that we could stay where we're at. He anoints us to accomplish the purpose He's created us for. Pastor Dave says the anointing is divine enablement to accomplish a God-given task.
So some of you look at what God's calling you to do and you're like, "I can't do that." That is the best place you can be because you're not going to be able to do that. You can't. I can't. We can't do this out of our own strength. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. We need the anointing.
The anointing was oil that they poured on the head. And when they were anointed, they were stepping out of their own gifting and ability and stepping into the grace and mercy of God, that divine enablement.
I love what it says in 2 Corinthians 1:20. It says this: "For all of the promises of God find their yes in Him. That is why through Him we utter our amen to God for His glory. And it is God who establishes us in Christ and has anointed us and who has also put His seal on us and has given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
We receive the Holy Spirit. We receive that anointing. What does it do? He puts a seal on our hearts. Some of you have been so almost living in anxiety. "Has God saved me? Has He delivered me? Am I actually saved?"
When you receive the anointing, there's a confidence in the sealing, knowing that I am not my own, but I was bought with a high price. Here's what Pastor Dave also said: "No anointing, no ministry; no oil, no ministry." Just like a car cannot run without oil, we cannot run without the anointing of God.
Man, it's something supernatural. It's something that can transform your life. It goes beyond gifting. It goes beyond understanding. It's a supernatural encounter with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Some of you, maybe you've come to church and you've sung the songs and you've had a few experiences with God. I want to let you know that there is so much more that God wants to meet with you when you're at home, when you're at work. He wants to give you an anointing.
Some of you feel like a failure. I want to let you know this is not the end of your story. I believe there is a fresh anointing that God wants to give you. I'm a testimony of this. I would not be where I'm at without the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
It's a process. There's oftentimes a breaking. It breaks us, gets us to a place where we're like, "God, I can't do this without you." And that's a perfect place where God can bless and anoint.
I love what it says in Psalms 133: "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. It is like the precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is like the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion, for where the Lord bestows His blessings, even life forevermore."
What is he saying here? When they would anoint the priest, they would anoint them on the head, and it would go down to every other part of their body. It's the same way we experience the anointing. Who's the head? It is Christ Jesus. He is anointed, but we are the body.
When we are connected to the head, the anointing flows down. Here's what you have to understand: Anointing requires connection. You cannot be separated from the body and receive the anointing.
The anointing to accomplish all that God has called you to do requires connection to the body. It requires unity. Oftentimes we think of the anointing as this mystical thing that we can feel.
I found that oftentimes receiving the anointing, that divine enablement, oftentimes is not a physical thing. It is a practical thing. When I get connected with the body of Christ, I receive something that goes beyond my own ability.
It's like, "Okay, I want to do better as a father." I join a small group with other men, and they help build me up, and there's oil, and there's anointing that's released. When I'm connected, when I choose to start serving, there's an anointing that's released.
Where there's division, there's no anointing. Anointing requires unity. And I love this: The anointing goes to every part of the body. My hand is unique from my foot. My eye is unique from my mouth. You are unique, and God wants to anoint the true you.
We have too many people trying to be something they're not, and we don't experience the anointing because God can only anoint our true self. It's like a custom suit that only fits you. You are unique. God has placed you uniquely in the job you're in, in the place you're in, with the giftings and passions He's given you, and God can only anoint that.
Man, I've experienced that firsthand. I used to be deathly afraid of the idea of even getting up on the stage and speaking.
I remember being an intern at a leadership college, and I got invited to preach at our youth conference, a breakout session. Guys, that was a wreck. I was so nervous. I was done.
And I had an amazing youth pastor. His name was Judah Smith. He was probably one of the greatest communicators at that time. I had my dad, who's an amazing preacher. And I remember sitting in my car. I can like see the area in the parking lot where I was sitting. And I was having this conversation with God. I was like, "God, there's no way I'm going to be able to get up there and preach like Pastor Judah. There's no way I'm going to be able to get up there and yell and get passionate like my dad. I just can't do it. I just can't do it."
But then I heard the Holy Spirit, probably one of the clearest I've ever felt Jesus speak to my heart. Very simply, I heard Him say, "You don't have to. You don't have to. Just be yourself. Just be you. Be who I've created you to be."
I want to free someone here. Stop trying to be someone you weren't created to be. God wants to anoint who He's created you to be.
And I remember like, "Okay, I can do that." There was an anointing. There was a divine enablement that brought freedom from fear, freedom from trying to win the approval of people. And I was able to step into my purpose and calling.
Why? Because I received the anointing. Friends, it's time to step into all that God has called you to be, a royal priesthood. And I believe today, God wants to give you a fresh anointing.
Some of you, I'm sure you've heard this before. If you feel dry, you feel weary, there's going to be a fresh anointing. He says that anointing is like the dew that rests on Mount Zion. Man, dew shows up when you're sleeping. It's a restful thing; it appears.
I think for your life, that's the way the anointing is. Like, "God, I'm just going to sit back. I'm going to trust you." Then the anointing begins to flow.
And I believe there are things that God is calling you to do that go so far beyond what you think is capable in your life. And just like that one guy thought that was the end of his wrestling career, he had no idea. He got in the right environment around the right people. He was connected to something that was released.
The same can happen with you. God wants to dwell with you. He wants to work with you. This is our purpose as the church. This is why we exist. We exist so that people far from God can find life in Christ.
You're called to be a priest. Priests take responsibility for the atmosphere they're in, no matter what atmosphere they're in. You are a priest. You're not just an attender. You're a priest. You don't just work a job. You're a priest. You're not just a father or a mother or a husband or a wife. You're a priest. You're not just single. You're a priest.
And first and foremost, you need to take responsibility of the temple, which is you, of your life. And say, "God, I'm not going to settle for anything less than that which you've called me for. And God, if you've called me, I trust that you're going to anoint me."
God's calling you up to something more.
So we're going to take communion today across all of our campuses. So get ready. And I believe that as we do, there's going to be a fresh anointing that's going to wash over you.
Hey, but before we do, can we do this? All across our campuses, would you close your eyes, bow your heads? I do want to ask you this one question before we take communion.
If you would say, "You know what? I'm a sinner. I know I'm sinful. Today, I want to get right with God. I want to experience the blood of Jesus. That washing, that cleansing, that restoring. I want to start a relationship with God."
If that's you today, nobody looking around, I want to pray with you. But if that's you, just so I can see you on the count of three, I'm going to ask that you'd raise your hand and say, "You know what? I know I'm a sinner. I want to start a relationship with Jesus today."
One, two, three. You can lift your hand all across this room if that's you. And I see you, I see you, I see you. Greatest decision you could ever make. You're going from death to life. God's restoring you back to His purpose.
As a family, can we say this prayer together? Say, "Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I believe you died on the cross and that you rose again. You are my high priest. Your blood has washed me and cleansed me. And today, I choose to follow you all the days of my life until I see you face to face. In Jesus' name, amen."
Can we get up for every person who prayed that prayer? Awesome.
With our final moments, before Jesus died on the cross, He was eating dinner with His disciples back in His intended place, dwelling with humanity. It's the way God wants to dwell with you.
He told His disciples, "This new covenant that I give you is predicated on my body being broken," which is represented by the bread, "and my blood being poured out," which is the forgiveness for our sins, the perfect sacrifice, which is represented by the cup.
So today, as we take the bread, know this: that there is a divine enablement, a restoration, a healing. Something supernatural happens when we remember the broken body and we remember the broken body. I believe He wants to heal and restore minds and hearts, marriages. He was broken so that we could be made whole.
So let's eat together.
Jesus, we thank you for your body that was broken for us. God, I pray that you would bring healing and wholeness to this room. God, you would release that fresh anointing, God, that can only come from the sacrifice that you gave us.
Next, we have the cup, which represents the blood of Jesus. Remember, this blood washes us clean, makes us new. If you have any area where you're like, "God, I know I've sinned," today, as we remember Jesus' shed blood, I believe there's a washing and a cleansing for every person here today.
Let's drink.
Jesus, we thank you for the power of your blood. It washes over our minds, hearts, every area of our life, everywhere we go. God, I pray that your blood would cover us.
And God, I just pray over every person right now. God, that there would be a fresh anointing, a fresh oil, God, that brings power, that brings authority. God, that causes them to operate in giftings and callings that go so far beyond their personality type.
God, I thank you for a renewed sense that we are called to be a royal priesthood. And God, if you've called us to do that, God, you've anointed us. God, we pray in these days, we would be those that bring the glorious light of your grace and forgiveness to the dark world around us.
God, I pray that you would help us realize the gravity and responsibility of what it means to be a royal priesthood. So God, I just pray for a fresh anointing, no more striving, no more trying to be something you're not, but a fresh anointing today.
So God, we thank you, God, that you made a way so that we can step into the purpose for which you've called us. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, if you guys need prayer for anything, we're going to have pastors up here. Thank you. We love you. We'll see you next week.
on Jan 19, 2025
