 Let's stand together and enter the presence of God together. Let's lift our hands in the sanctuary. Lord, we enter your gates with thanksgiving. Lord, we enter your courts with praise. Boldly, we approach the throne of grace. Not in fearful expectation of judgment, but approaching our Father, who's gracious, who's kind, who's loving. It's the sound of the Savior's robe as He walks into the room where people pray. Power forever and ever. We join with the angels. We join with the saints around your throne, God. We join with all of creation, singing, you are holy, you are worthy, and you are the only one we worship this morning as we gather together. Church, I want to draw your attention to the sacraments of the Lord's table. Communion, we're going to celebrate together. If you came in, hopefully you were able to grab. But if you didn't and you would like to, you can raise your hand. We have some usherers who can get those to you. We have just a couple over here. We want to do this for several reasons. One that Jesus said, one of the only times in scriptures, he said, when you do this, remember me, remember this moment, remember the cross. Also, it's sacraments like communion and baptism and the Nicene Creed, the Apostles Creed, those connect us to thousands of years of church history. That's who we are. We're not out here on an island. We're part of something that God has been orchestrating for thousands of years. And so we want to be part of that rich history of the people of God for generations. And so I was just praying into this, and you don't have to be a radiant member to take communion. You just have to be a follower of Jesus. And what he said on that night of the Last Supper, when he knew what was going to happen to him, his body was going to be broken, his blood would be shed. He said, I want you to do this. And I want you to do it in remembrance of me, literally remembering the work of the cross, where the broken body and shed blood of Jesus ransomed us, healed us, delivered us, not just from sin, but from shame and condemnation and guilt and the accusations of the enemy in our lives. And sometimes when we come together on Sunday mornings like this, it's important to remember that God is not enduring us. God is not saying, where have you been? God is not taking inventory of how good or bad your week has been. The presence of God is here. And the heart of the Father is to connect to you, is to show you love, is to make his face shine upon you. And so as we pray through this and do this, I want you to just remember the way that God sees you. Remember what the cross signifies, which is the absolute perfect love of Jesus, the perfect and spotless lamb, saying your sin, your shame, your issues and mistakes, I'm taking to the cross. I'm paying the price for them so that you can walk in freedom and you can walk in true identity as sons and daughters of the living God. So let's do that this morning. I'm gonna invite you to take the bread if you would and just hold it. And Jesus said on that night, as he broke the bread and gave thanks for it, that this is my body. And he knew it's about to be whipped and beaten and scourged. And it's going to be a symbol of me taking upon myself your brokenness, your inability, your sickness, pain and disease is gonna be upon me. And we remember that. We remember that Jesus took that for us as we take the bread, let's take it together. And then he took, the Bible says wine and he poured it and he said, this is the representation of my blood. Shed for the complete remission of your sin. So when we remember, when we do this together church, we're remembering that there is no sin greater than the shed blood of Jesus Christ. There is no power in hell greater than the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The spirit of this age is not stronger than the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And we don't take this for victory. We take it from a place of victory over sin, over death, over shame. And so let the blood of Jesus renew your spirit today. Let the reality of the strength of the blood of Jesus bring hope and encouragement and peace and joy into your life where the enemy has tried to bring shame or guilt or condemnation. Let's take the cup together. And Jesus, we remember, we remember that when we were separated from you because of our sin, that when we were still dead in our trespasses, you gave it all. You shed your innocent blood. You allowed your body to be beaten. And God, now, just like the prodigal son's father in Luke 15, you're searching for us. You're wanting us. You're desiring us. And so we come into this room, into this moment, not fearfully, God, not groveling for your attention or your forgiveness, but as sons and daughters of the living God. And we say, let this representation, this cup and this bread remind us that your body was broken and shed so that we could have fellowship with you, so that we could have communion with our God and our Father. We worship you. We honor you and we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, amen. Good morning, Radiant Church. Thanks for worshiping with us today, taking communion with us today. We're so glad that you're here. Hey, before you sit down, greet a few people around you and we'll continue with our service. Hey, good morning. So glad you're here. My name is John. I'm the Campus Pastor here in Richland. And welcome to October. Welcome to fall. Welcome to beautiful fall weather. What a blessing. That floor out there is not a Halloween trick. We're actually not leaving it that way. It's going to be finished. It's going to look beautiful. Thank you for your patience. And it's going to be, it's going to be fantastic when it is finished. And I can just say this by faith, no, actually with certainty. We'll not take as long as the parking lot. Hallelujah. So glad you guys are here. Hey, if it's your first time and you're worshiping with us, we're so honored honestly to have you here. We don't want to single you out or make you stand up or anything like that. But there is a communication card and the seat backs in front of you. If this is your first time, you'd be willing to fill that out. Fantastic. You can actually take it with you after service. We have an area to the right called Radiant Central. Some leaders from our church. We want to just answer any questions you have. We actually have a gift we want to put in your hands. We'd love to meet you. And then you can do it digitally as well. You can just scan the QR code and do it that way and not get your gift. It's fine. No one's kidding. Anyway, we'd just love to know that you were here. It's our honor to have you as a guest. We're excited about what God's doing in our midst. I want to ask our ushers if they would to come forward and we're going to continue to worship with our giving. You know, the writer of Hebrews says this in chapter 11 verse six. He says, without faith, it's impossible to please God. For all who come to God must believe first that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And I just want to remind you every time that you give into the kingdom of God, it is an act of faith. It is saying, God, I trust you as my provider. God, I want to honor you with every area of my life. And God, I'm not going to allow fear or the, you know, doubt or lack be my leader. I'm going to give because I believe not only are you going to open the windows of heaven, but what I'm giving is helping people in our city and our region in our state and around the world and counter the love of Jesus. And I just want to remind you of that, whether it's Brother Abraham in India, whether it's the Deacons Conference in downtown Kalamazoo, your giving and your faithfulness is making a difference in people's lives. So we thank you for that. We encourage you, become a giver, be generous. As always, you can give online at our website, radiant.church. Buckets are going to pass. Let's just pray and ask the Lord to bless what we give as well as open our eyes and ears to the word as it's proclaimed. Father, we love you and we want to be people of faith because we want to please you with our lives, God. And so when we pray, when we serve, when we give God, it is all an offering unto you. So I thank you for every single person who is partnering with us financially. I ask you, God, to open the windows of heaven, pour blessing into their lives. And, God, we thank you that it is creating opportunities for the lost to hear the good news, for people to be reconciled to Jesus Christ, Father. And we just thank you so much. God, open our spiritual eyes and ears as Pastor Lee brings the word, Father, the word, Father, that the Holy Spirit would speak to each one of us in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, everyone. We're so glad that you're joining us. Whether you're in person or online, here are a few things that you need to know. There are so many great ways to get involved here at Radiant. Here are just a few. To check out all that's going on, head over to our website at radiant.church. You can also follow us on social media. If you would like to give today, you can visit our website, use our mobile app, or drop an envelope into any of our offering boxes at any location. There are so many opportunities for you to grow, get plugged in, and be encouraged here at Radiant. Head over to Radiant Central today for more information and a gift for us. We're so glad you've joined us today. Thanks for being here. Jump in and join our next term that begins on November 14th, where we will be diving into the Old Testament and personal evangelism. Want to learn more about Radiant and explore the next steps for getting involved? The Be Radiant class is designed to help you partner with the vision, purpose, and heartbeat of Radiant Church. Sign up today for our upcoming Be Radiant class taking place on October 16th at all of our locations. Good morning, everyone. Want to say good morning to Portage and Downtown. Hey, everybody. First Lady Jane. I'm not preaching, so... She's not preaching. But we are up here. We wanted to start this morning by celebrating with all of you and introducing you to the newest member of our family. If they would come out. This is Zach and Ashley and our beautiful granddaughter Celia. Oh, my goodness. She's a beauty. So, we are just so grateful for all of you and for your prayers. Celia's been home for a week. Almost two weeks. Okay. What would you get? You want to say anything, guys? Yeah, we would just love to thank everyone for the support we felt. This is past four months. Celia was in the NICU 119 days. Ashley and I were in the hospital for 126. And we had just felt the support of your prayers. And it's amazing being a part of a church family and a body of Christ who will stand with you when you need somebody to stand with you. So, we just want to say we're so grateful or we'll always be grateful for just the support of everyone this past year. We love you guys. And we're excited to get to introduce Celia to you guys. So, we love you guys. It's just such a blessing. It wasn't how we had planned it. But God was good through it. And we miss Rhys. And what would have been, but we're thankful for his plan, for the family, for Celia, for Rhys, for Ashley, Zach, and Owen. So, I just want to thank everyone so much. And we love you guys so much. Thank you. I'm going to walk Jane down here. We are, thank you. You guys can be saved. You guys are so kind. I'm going to transition to this mic. We wanted to just say thank you because over the last four months for our family, we are not exempt from the battles that every other family goes through. Sometimes there can be a misnomer that thinks that if you're a pastor or if you're a person who's devoted to the Lord, that you're going to be exempt from difficult times and challenges and battles or even disappointment. And the reality is none of us are. None of us have been guaranteed that in this life. What we have been guaranteed is that he would never leave us and he would never forsake us and he would always be with us. And we can testify today that God has been with us. He's been with us in the laughter. He's been with us in the tears. And today we celebrate the fact that Celia is home and God has been faithful and their family is strong. Ashley and Zach are incredibly strong and faithful. And we are looking forward to see what this little girl is going to do and become for her generation. And so real quickly, I want to also show you a picture of Celia when she was first delivered. This is Celia at 25 weeks. 24 weeks, five days or six days. And the reason why I show you this picture this morning is I'm going to do something that I have rarely done in the 26 years of being the pastor of Radiant Church. I am going to speak to you for a few minutes on an issue that is coming up in our political spectrum. A proposal has been put on the ballot of the state of Michigan called Proposal 3, which basically would make it legal to abort my granddaughter at 25 weeks. And in fact, it would become one of the most permissive abortion laws in the world. Proposal 3 would basically enable 25 weeks for children to be aborted on demand and in some certain cases, if there's emotional or mental stress, basically you could extend that all the way up to 40 weeks to the point of delivery. And it is a terrible, terrible bill that is being propagated as a middle ground, as being a common sense law, but there is absolutely nothing common sense about it. And I am speaking up because we have a responsibility. You know 150 years ago, many Christians did not speak up on the issues of slavery. And when the abolition movement was trying to overthrow slave laws in America, many in the church argued three main things. They argued number one, that blacks were not human. They argued number two, well, I would never own slaves, but I don't want to get into other people's businesses. That's their private freedoms. And number three, that it would be an economic disaster, both for the slaves and for the slave owners. And so therefore it would be an economic hardship because of the different wealthy class versus the poor class. These are the very same three arguments that in our day are being used, even in the church, to advocate for the remaining of abortion laws. That babies are not human. That I would never have one, but it should be safe, legal, and rare. And that number three, that it would be a cause of economic disparity. And I want you to know that all three of those lies were a lie 150 years ago. And thank God we overthrew slavery in America, which was a tarnish and a sin upon our nation. And we're still bearing the fruit of those sins of our nation. And the sin that is currently facing our nation is the sin of abortion. And let the redeemed of the Lord say so. I'll tell you what, I will not be silent in the face of an injustice against the unborn. And I want you to know this. I want you to know that proposal three, you need to vote no on it. I don't know if I'm going to get in trouble for saying that or not, but I don't care. We need Proverbs 24 verse 10 says this, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it, does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it. And will he not repay according to every man's works? So we have a responsibility to defend those who have no voice and to protect those who are being led away to slaughter. Listen, we're not talking, there are so many lies that are out there. There is no woman that is going to be forced to have a baby if her life is threatened. All of those are, those are complete lies. And what this is, is it is a sin in our nation where we have been willing to offer our unborn children on the altar of convenience. And it is time that as the church of Jesus Christ, we stand and defend those who are being taken away to slaughter. I've been a part of this movement since I was 17 years old as my first job, and it's because I believe in the sanctity of life. I believe that Exodus is true when it says, thou shalt not murder. I believe Psalms 139 is true when it says that I'm fearfully and wonderfully made and you knit me together in my mother's womb. I believe Jeremiah 1-5 is true when it says before I was formed in my mother's womb, you knew me. I believe Proverbs 6 is true when it says that six things the Lord hates, seven are an abomination. And one of those is the shedding of innocent blood. And I believe Luke 141 is true when it says that when Elizabeth came into the presence of Mary who was pregnant with Jesus, John the Baptist leapt within her filled with the Holy Spirit. If you can read this and recognize that life and that unborn children are image bearers, then we have become more disciples of the spirit of this age than we have disciples of Jesus Christ. And so I am as your pastor, I am telling you this is not a difficult issue. I know that there are people in a radiant church that sit on both sides of the political aisle, and we respect that. Every citizen has a right to cast their vote. But on this issue, on life, I am strongly exhorting you and encouraging you that we need to take a stand at this time. I made a statement about this in June and summarily we had abort God sprayed across the front of our property in our downtown location. Abort God. I think that about says it all. What we want is we want God removed. We don't want God to be God. We want to be God. We want to determine what's right and wrong. And we've had backlash in social media posts over this issue. And I ran into somebody yesterday at the grocery store. They said, we've seen all the stuff that's come against the church. We're so sorry. And I'm like, I'm not. Jesus said, blessed are you when you are persecuted for my name's sake. And it's like, if people think that Lee Cummings is going to back down because of a little social media pressure and because some bad press, they have not met Lee Cummings. I will not back down. We will lean in. And I'll tell you that this is an issue that we want to stand and we want to love. We understand that there are circumstances and situations and there are probably many women that are in the sound of my voice and in our congregation that have gone through this. We want you to know, we're not casting shame or stones or judgments on you. You are a victim just as much as those babies because you have been lied to because you have been put in a position where you've been told that nobody loves you and cares for you. This is the only way out for you. And I want you to know the church, radiant church will always stand not just with the unborn but with the mothers of unborn children. And you listen to me. If you don't want your babies, you let us know. We will take your babies. We will raise your children. We will put them in families. We will financially support them. We will do whatever it takes. And it's interesting to me that as soon as you talk about abortion and this generation, people immediately raise up and say, oh, these people just don't want abortion but they're not willing to take care of the mothers or they're not willing to take care of the children after the fact that they're born. But yet it is Christians who are the largest people involved in the adoption and foster care industry. And in our own city, we have pregnancy resource centers and alternatives of Kalamazoo that are right now being blacklisted and told that if you do business with them, then you're going to be blacklisted and we've got pregnancy resource centers around America who are trying to do nothing but help, give women who are in very difficult situations, all the resources and all the knowledge that they need, and we're burning them down. We're attacking people. We're spray painting over the face of them. This is not about taking care of women and children, but that is the heart of God. It may not be in the world, but it is in the heart of God. And so if you are a woman and you ever find yourself in a situation where you are on an unwanted pregnancy, let me tell you something. You will have no better friend than Radiant Church. We will love you, support you, stand with you. We will do whatever it takes to help you. And if you right now are looking back on your life and you made a decision that you've had an abortion or you were put in an untenable situation, I want you to know, nobody casts a stone. Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. And just like he sat down and he told the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, it was a different situation, but same type of guilt that comes along with that. He says, where are your accusers now? We don't accuse you. We love you and we stand with you and we want that we all need the grace of God. We all need the forgiveness of God. And so we offer that. You don't have to walk around with shame or feel any contempt. If you've brought that to the Lord, his forgiveness for you is the same as it is for any of us. And while I'm at it, I want to encourage you to turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 714. I oftentimes tell my video crew who I send my notes to, I'm much more like jazz than I am classical. Because if you play classical music, which by the way, I do not, if you play classical music, you play every note that's on the page. And you know, you've watched somebody sit down and play and they play like a Mozart piece and it's beautiful, it's inspiring. But I'm much more like jazz, which is, here's the key, just follow. Because I have no idea where we're going. And this morning I'm shifting gears. I'm shifting from classical music into jazz this morning. And I want you to look with me at 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. It says, If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and heal their land. Verse 15, Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be over and forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. This was God speaking to the nation of Israel at a time when their national sin was being confronted. God was saying to the nation of Israel, he was saying to the, let's put it in these terms, he was speaking to the church, as I believe he is speaking in our day, that there is an if that is hanging over our nation right now. And the if is not if God can turn the tide, if God can bring revival, if God can strengthen the church once again. That's not the if. The if is if my people. The if is up to us. The if is up to us. And here's the promise that God made to them. He said, if my people who are called by my name, notice that's not the world, but it's God's people. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, will humble themselves, will pray, will seek my face, will turn from their wicked ways. God promises that if we will do those things, he will hear it from heaven, he will forgive our sins, and he will heal our land. But you notice where his eyes are on. His eyes, if you read the verse number 15, he says, my eyes are on this house. In other words, my eyes are on the church. First Peter chapter four says that it is time for judgment to begin in the house of the Lord. Because if judgment begins with the house of the Lord, what's it going to look like when judgment comes to the world? I've been asked, do you believe that America is under the judgment of God? And my answer to that is complex, but I will say it like this. I believe that before our nation will experience the judgment of God, the church will experience it first. And I believe that that is the hour which we are in. And when I'm talking about judgment of God, I'm talking about where God's eyes are zoomed in at the church. In a tipping point moment, an inflection point in which we will either fully turn to the Lord and humble ourselves and repent and seek his face and turn from our wicked ways, or we will harden our hearts. And in that point, the Lord will remove the blessing that has been on the church. And then what happens when there is no salt and light in a culture, in a generation? What happens when those who name the name of Jesus don't look like Jesus, don't act like Jesus, don't even believe Jesus? What happens when we take God who made us in his image and we begin to make him in our own image? I'll tell you what happens is we will see the removal of God's favor in his blessing off of the church. And then the judgment of God will then extend to our nations. Let me listen to me. We are at an inflection point in this nation. And it is much bigger than a political. I could sit here and I could talk to both sides of the political spectrum right now about our national sins, how we've responded. But the focus of the Lord is not in Washington. The focus of the Lord is not so much on the news media. The focus of the Lord right now is how the church will respond. If my people, that's us. And oftentimes we can be in the church and think, well, there's so many problems out there. Yeah, there's so many problems out there. The biggest problem is actually the church not humbling itself before Jesus. That is the problem of the hour. The problem of the hour is that God's people, we have to humble ourselves and we have to turn back to the Lord. And guys, this is such a pivotal hour in human history because I believe with all my heart that God has scheduled a third grade awakening for American culture if his people will pray. If God can get his church's full attention, his people's full attention, if he can actually move us from consumer Christianity to consume the devotion to Jesus once again, he's got something to work with. I believe that that's God's, I don't think God's in heaven with his arms crossed going, I'm mad at everybody. I think God's in heaven gone, please, turn back to me. And before we can ever expect the world to turn fully back to God, the church has got to come to a place where we humble ourselves. The days of taking God's word and reinterpreting it according to the culture of the world around us have got to come to a close. The days of us thinking that we can take principles from the world and build the church on them has got to come to an end. Business as usual is over. It is time for God's people, all of us, myself included, to bow our knee before the Lord Jesus and to come back to the old boundary markers and the old landmarks of truth, of justice, of love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. If we come back to those things, if we come back to the great commission that we're called to go into all the world and we begin to put aside all of our convenience mentalities and we begin to put aside all of our distractions and our apathy and our complacency, I believe God will hear us and I'll tell you what, I want my kids and my grandchildren to not just read about moves of God, I want them to experience a move of God. And we owe it to the next generation to pave the way for that because without that, I'll tell you what, I don't have a whole lot of hope for where we're going, but because I know Jesus, I have lots of hope. I believe God's call in the church is to arise and shine for the light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. This is what I believe but it starts in us. You know, in the course of the last several years I have seen so many people walk away from following Jesus. I have seen so many pastors refuse to teach the Bible. Do you know that right now across the world the only place where it is happening, where people are walking away from Jesus at a faster rate than they are coming into the kingdom is in America. You go anywhere else in the world and the church is growing, it is flourishing, it is exploding with the presence and the power of God. And yet here we are in Western civilization, the inheritors of the great Christian faith, the greatest senders of missionaries, the greatest printers of Bibles, the greatest preachers in pulpits. And yet now we are in a state of people walking away or people at best being apathetic and saying, I'm a Christian but I believe but you know what all that is? It is arrogance on our part. It is the arrogance of the church. And all the while, well our eyes are on ourselves, our eyes are on the political pundits, our eyes are upon the stock market, our eyes are upon all the distractions on every subscription app on our TV and phones, our eyes are focused on the things that we should never set our eyes on because we've made a covenant with our eyes not to put anything profane before us. Our eyes are inundated with the God of sex, with the God of money, with the God of perversity, with the God of convenience and the Lord has got his eyes on his people. He's like, wake up! It's time for you to seek the Lord. Wake up, it's time for your fellow ground to be turned over and to be plowed. It's time for you to surrender once and for all because we don't understand the hour in which we're living in because if you can't look at what's going on right now politically around the world the shifting and the signs I'm telling you Jesus is coming soon it's not an hour to think, oh, he's been saying that he's going to come for 2,000 years if you put that type of attitude into your heart, you're just fulfilling Scripture that Jude and Peter said what happened in the last days and the last day scoffers are going to come and say, oh, he's been saying he's going to come forever and he hasn't come yet and guess what, here we are today and Jesus told us 2,000 years ago when you see these things begin to happen know that the hour is near Pastor Lee are you saying you believe Jesus is coming? I do I know that he's coming, I believe he may be coming very soon and I'm telling you this is not an hour to be messing around business as usual putting it on pause and thinking that you're going to get right later on this is time to get your life right with God right now and to humble ourselves and to seek God one of the mandates of radiant church is we are going to be we're going to do everything in our power short of sin to provoke the church to be a praying church once again but before we can ever be a praying church we have to be a humbled church and I would much rather humble myself than be humbled by God this is an hour for us right now to be people of prayer to respond to the hour by not allowing our hearts to grow cold in apathy but to turn in prayer say God forgive us forgive me I don't want to have a hard heart I don't want to be laxotasical I don't want to be apathetic Lord I don't know how I got here but Lord would you turn would you put the plow into my heart and would you turn the soil over once again because I want to be a real follower of Jesus I want to know that I'm being shaped and I'm being guided by the principles of heaven and not the principles of God forgive me and to turn our hearts into believe that really our prayers really does matter church I believe with all of my heart but if God could get a hold of the church in this generation and we would really pray I mean really pray intercede not weak prayers I'm talking about dangerous prayers I'm talking about faithful prayers I'm talking about prayers where tears stain the carpets every great revival that we see across the landscape of history has started with tears soaking pews and floors and carpets God's people crying out to God forgive us heal our land on October 23rd Sunday at 4 p.m we are going to have a prayer gathering in Arcadia Park downtown Kalamazoo for the sanctity of the unborn life and to give us of our sins and we're not just doing it as Radiant Church just last Monday I I was so provoked on Monday when I read a couple articles about this subject that I reached out to three or four pastors in our city and I said how quickly can we mobilize the church and so we've spent this last week texting and phone calls and emails and we have secured Arcadia Park at 4 p.m. on October 23rd afternoon and we are rallying churches and Christians across Kalamazoo to do two things, number one it's important that we know that we are the church of Jesus Christ and we are not alone we need that, we need to see one another it's like sometimes we can be like Elijah and think oh it's just me I'm the last one and God's like no no no I've reserved thousands in this city that have not bowed their knee to bell that love me and are trusting and believing God, that's number one the second thing is I believe that second chronicle 714 is true if my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face this is what we're going to do this is not a political protest don't bring signs, don't bring any that we want you to bring your soul and we want you to come and we're praying for a thousand people from radiant church who are going to gather with us and churches from all over the city we're going to have brothers and sisters from every denomination that are going to be present there and we're going to worship and we're going to pray from the heart of our city outside for God to forgive our city for God to forgive our nation and our national sins and to open the windows of heaven and send revival where there has been all kinds of messes including we're going to be praying for the life of the unborn specifically for this situation and church I want you to be there I want you to DVR your football game it's the lions you don't got to worry about it I'm not sure what time they play I'm asking you listen I really do this I'm asking you to inconvenience yourself to come and stand shoulder to shoulder and pray from the heart of our city I don't know if there's going to be people that are antagonistic towards us or not but you know what we're going to do every single time somebody comes and calls us names every single time somebody spray paints across our properties every single time somebody writes an article you know what we're going to do we're going to love them we're going to bless them we're going to serve our city and we're going to pray to Jesus for him to move because that's what we're called to do is faithful followers of Jesus church this is a sober hour this is a lounger and you enjoy this is not that time this is a time for us to be people of prayer and wherever you're at all three of our locations and online I want you to just stand to your feet with me right now here's what I want you to know two big things number one I love you I'm proud of this church Jane and I are proud of all of you this is the greatest privilege of our life besides knowing Jesus is to serve this congregation I want to say this because some of you right now are mad at me and that's okay I love you and my job as your pastor and your shepherd is not to not to pet you on the back always and just tell you what you want to hear I'm a shepherd which means I'm leading you and the second thing I want you to know it's not only do I love you but I believe in you I believe that you are not here by accident you are not alive in the year 2022 living in this century living in this location living in this city a part of this church by accident before the foundations of the world were ever laid God had you in mind and he placed you exactly where he wanted you you may have thought I just kind of landed on the planet earth now what am I going to do with the time that's been given to me now before you are formed in your mother's womb God knew you see I was born to a 20 year old woman who would become a single mother within 9 months living in the inner city of Pontiac, Michigan and in my childhood did not have a father had a lot of questions and felt alone but it would just be a few years before Jesus would break into my life and reveal to me that I was never alone and that my life was not an accident that before I even knew it he had a purpose for my life and I want you to know today you may have felt like you were all alone you may have felt like you have no purpose but you were in his heart and in his mind before the foundations of the world were ever laid one thing that he's desired most for you is that you would know him that you would know him and that you would yield your life 100% completely to him in church I feel compelled this morning that if you are listening to me within the sound of my voice and you have not yet fully surrendered your life to Jesus I'm not talking about checking a box now I'm a Christian my life is going to be the same now I'm talking about a radical call to obedience to leave everything behind be willing to pay the ultimate price deny yourself so that you can be saved and forgiven there is forgiveness in Jesus there is eternal life that is far beyond compared to anything that this world is promising to us but there also is a day in which every single one of us are going to stand before God and give an account for what we've done with our lives nobody escapes that moment you are going to stand before God give an account for what you've done with your life and live with Jesus and today if you are not right with God you might be here and say I've never made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life but I believe and today I'm ready to abandon everything to follow him and you may be here today and say I've made Christ the Lord of my life but I'm cold my heart is cold and I need to re-up I need to go all back in Jesus my spirit within me stir me provoke me plow up the soil of my heart you just know you need to get right with God here's what I'm going to do this morning with every head up and every eye looking around no bowing of the heads no closing your eyes today with everybody looking and with heaven looking if you know you need to get your life right with Jesus you need to be saved you need God to forgive you maybe you need to turn from your wicked ways you need to get right because you recognize today that the hour in which we're living in this is a significant hour I'm not going to beg you Jesus is willing to save you and forgive you but you've got to cast off your sin you've got to cast off your apathy you've got to cast off your indifference and if today you will call upon him he will save you, rescue you and give you eternal life and on that day when you stand before God with your life you can say I was a mess but Jesus saved me and that will be what brings you entrance into his kingdom with every head up and every eye looking around the Holy Spirit is moving in this room you say pastor Lee today I need to get my life right with God whether it's the first time or you're just I'm cold, wandered away but today I need to get right right where you're at I want you to raise your hand I want you to hold it up don't you dare put it down all over the room God's moving thank you I'm going to ask you to do one more thing I want you to get out of your seats and I want you to come down to the front if you're raising your hand this is where we take a stand for Jesus and as they're coming church let's welcome them just come just come for wherever you're at just come right down here guys come if you didn't raise your hand and you know you need to come you come this morning right now come on break the shackles break the power of sin off of your life break apathy right now Jesus will save you now is the time come we're not playing games anymore Jesus is Lord come on make room there's still more they're coming come on if you've not you know you need to come thank you young lady beautiful young lady just slipped in right over here who else I'm going to wait one minute this is a a pivotal 30 seconds right now because it can mean the difference in eternity if you did not come right now you're wrestling in your heart should have come but come on right now we will wait 30 seconds thank you church this is thank you young man come on church this is what revival looks like come on there's more that are coming thank you young man thank you guys young lady come on this is this is what revival looks like when God begins to move in the hearts of his people again church I want you to just extend your hands towards these who just come down I want those who just came down to look at me we absolutely love you and stand with you stand with you we're not like hey we got it together and you don't we all stand before God needing grace I'm standing with you today thank you right now as we pray we're crying out to God just like he said to do and he's going to hear us and he's going to move in our lives so if you're down here in the front we're we're praying this prayer I want you to pray it out loud with me say dear God I repent of living for myself coldness of my heart the deception and sin and being in charge of my own life I lay my crown before your feet Jesus I'm saying you can have it all I believe Jesus that you died for me to save me and to rescue me I believe that you have a purpose for my life and today I surrender to that and I turn my back on the world I turn my back on the devil and I choose from this day forward to follow Jesus save me give me a new heart fill me with your Holy Spirit awaken my soul within me and plant me in your house from this day forward I belong to Jesus and I will never turn back in Jesus name amen and amen come on church I gotta come give hugs here's what we're gonna do I want all of our pastors and prayer partners and leaders to come I should break it back up here so that you guys can see me I want all of our pastors elders prayer partners to come down and we're just gonna take a few moments and those of you who came down just stay right where you're at and everybody else we're just gonna dismiss this is just gonna be a couple of minutes that we do this but it's so important those of you who just came down we just wanna just love on you just give you a hug and pray for you because this is the beginning of God moving in your life in a really powerful way this is the shift and everybody I'm just asking on your way out to remember two things number one, prayer on the 23rd at 4 p.m. Arcadia Park and number two, proposal three vote no God bless you you're dismissed prayer partners move into place so let's just take a few minutes for all of those that just came down