 I am choosing to go, I am choosing to follow Jesus. I am choosing to obey the great commission. I am choosing to love the way that he first loved us. I will not settle for anything less. I am choosing to be a disciple of Jesus. Audi Radiant Church. It's good to see everybody this weekend. You guys feeling like falls in the air? It's feeling crisp, it's feeling good. It's time for some donuts, hot apple cider, and college football. Come on, big 10. College football's coming your way. Hey, this weekend, I want to make an announcement before I get into the message. For those of you who are joining us online, welcome and Portage family, we love you and wherever you're at, Radiant has a 24 year legacy and a big part of that legacy is my legacy. You guys have heard me many different times. Make reference to my grandfather and the role that he has had in my life and the mentor and the encourager that he's been. This morning, Saturday morning at 1130 a.m., my grandfather went home to be with the Lord and he is right now in the presence of the one that he served for 73 years and he is rejoicing in the presence of Jesus. And he was a disciple of Jesus for 73 years on the 22nd of September. Him and my grandmother celebrated 70 years of marriage and that's a rich life. And so you've heard me talk about how many, how many different times over the years I've mentioned that when I was a little boy, he taught me how to love God and how to love his word. He would let me sit on his lap and he would read the Bible to me. Well, this is the Bible and I've taken it out of my library. This is the Bible that my grandfather used to read to me when I was a kid and on the inside of it, it's dated from 1974. My grandmother gave this to him on their 25th wedding anniversary. And so grandpa, well done. You did really, really good and we love you, we celebrate you. So I wanna thank all of you. I've gotten a lot of texts from people because I posted it on Twitter and appreciate that so much and I'm doing well, I'm gonna miss him but I know that he is way happier right now than he's been in a very long time and I can't wait to see him but not too soon. So looking forward to that day when we get together again. Turn with me in your Bibles if you would to John chapter 14 and by the way, I just wanna shout out Pastor Tim Matthews crushed it last weekend. Amazing message. If you're online and you did not watch that message you absolutely need to go back in the archives and you need to watch that message. It was an incredible, incredible teaching and I'm gonna build on that. This is week number four of our series entitled, Disciple and the title of my message this weekend is the way in is the way on. The way in is the way on. John chapter 14, beginning in verse number one. Jesus said these words, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms and if it were not so, what I've told you that I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also and you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way? But Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me and if you have known me, you would have known my father also but from now on you do not know him or you do know him and you have seen him. This is an important text, an important conversation that Jesus has with these that he has called to be his disciples. He's talking to them about the way, the way of Jesus, the way to eternal life, the way to the father and it's a very popular, well-known, one of the very first Bible verses that we memorize is when Jesus says, I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life. What does Jesus mean by I am the way? I think it's interesting that especially in context of our technologically advanced culture, our DIY culture where you can basically do just about anything, technology has given us the ability to do just about anything. If you've got GPS in your car or you have it on your smartphone, how many know that that's quite in advance from the old days of having a Ram McNally map in the front seat of your car? I firmly believe that GPS has saved hundreds of thousands of marriages because of the fights and the arguments that used to take place about, you need to turn here, you need to turn there. Now you don't have your wife or your husband in the passenger seat telling you where to go. Now we have the voice of another on the GPS telling us where to go and my particular GPS voice is a British woman. I don't know why it's just easier for me to take instruction from a British lady. It's like, turn left in 500 feet. What is she doing? Technology has given us the ability to more better, I don't think that's good grammar, but it's good reality to more better find our way. And when it comes to trying to figure out a way to do something, well, you can pretty much Google just about anything or you can go on YouTube and you can find the way to do something. If you're looking for a way to do something, you can find it. You go to YouTube, millions and millions of posts on the way to do something. When it comes to finding the way to eternal life, Jesus said, I am the way. I am the only way. No man comes unto the Father except through me. Jesus claimed to be the way, not a way. And when Jesus invited his disciples to follow him, including us, how many know he's invited us in that same invitation to follow him, to come and to see. When Jesus invited us to come and follow him, he's inviting us more than just going from point A to point B. He's not just concerned about getting us from here to there. Jesus understood that he was inviting us to follow him so that we could become like him. Jesus isn't just the way to heaven. Jesus is the way to life. He's the way to live life. He's the way to find life. He's the way that leads to life. You know that the word way is really interesting because a lot of times when we talk about following Jesus, we have terms that are synonymous with what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. We use phrases like, well, I'm a Christian. Okay, that's probably the most common. Or I'm a believer. You may have heard people say that. I'm a believer. I believe in Jesus, so therefore I'm a believer. Some people would say, well, I'm a follower. All of those are accurate. But do you know that the earliest description of the disciples of Jesus was they were called followers of the way? Followers of the way. Listen to these scriptures. Acts chapter nine, this is very early on in the formation of the church. It says, but Saul, that's Paul of Tarsus. Still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and he asked him to give him letters to the synagogue at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to, here it is, the way, men or women that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. In Acts 19, verse nine, it says, but when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief speaking evil of the way. And then verse number 23, it says, and about that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the way. Then look down at Acts chapter 24, it says, but this I confess to you that according to the way, this is Paul. Now he's no longer hunting down Christians because he's antagonistic to him. He has encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. How many know that that was a life-changing experience? Saul went from Saul to Paul. He went from resisting Jesus to loving Jesus. He went from arresting Christians and followers of the way to joining them and following Jesus on the way. And later on, when he's describing what that event was, he says, but this I confess to you, he's talking to a leader. He says that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship God, the God of our fathers, believing everything that was laid down by the laws and written by the prophets. And then in verse 22, he's speaking to Felix who was a political leader. He says, but Felix having rather accurate knowledge of the way, this is Luke writing this. He said that Felix, even as a political leader, because he was Jewish in his ancestry, he had an understanding of the way. Notice they didn't call it, he had a knowledge of Christianity. He had a knowledge of a denomination. He had a knowledge of a philosophy. It was called the way. Early on, following Jesus was called following him in the way because what Jesus was concerned about was not just getting us to heaven someday when we die. Obviously that's the benefit of it. Jesus said in John chapter 14, where I'm going, you may also go, but he was also concerned with forming us and shaping us in the way of Jesus so that we could fulfill the mission of Jesus on this side of eternity. When Jesus invited the disciples to follow him, they had no idea what they were in store for. Jesus said, follow me, where are we going? You're going on a journey, but it's not from point A to point B. It's from point U to point me. A disciple is someone who finds, follows and becomes fully formed to be like Jesus. So what does it mean when we talk about a way, a way, Jesus way? I want you to get that phrase and maybe even write it down and begin to meditate on it. What is the Jesus way? Because there are lots of different ways for you to live your life. I'm a little bit of a coffee guy, if you know me. And there's lots of different ways to brew coffee. The worst way is a bun coffee maker. That's sin. But I like pour overs, I like Chemex, I like V60. There's lots of different ways. There's lots of different ways that people live their lives. There's lots of different directions that people point their life in. But Jesus said, I am the way. Jesus actually categorized ways as there's two of them. Listen to these words in Matthew chapter seven. When it comes to eternal life, when it comes to what we do with our hearts and what we are formed by, Jesus said there's two ways. In Matthew seven, Jesus said this, enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, the New American standard says is broad and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, the gate that leads to life is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. And few are those who find it. Jesus said that there's two ways. There's the wide way and there is the narrow way. There's the wide way, what's the wide way? The wide way is the way everybody lives their life. The wide way is the way of the world. It's the way everybody's going. It's the consensus. It's the way of the world. It's wide, which means it's easy to get through. Everybody's going through it. It's a wide road. It's easy to go that way. Why is it easy? Because it's our default setting. We're born into this world with sin and a heart, selfishness and death already at work in us. You don't have to practice being broken. You don't have to practice death. You don't have to practice sin. None of us have to practice being selfish. We're born with it. And so the easiest way to live your life is to just live the way that feels right. Think about what Proverbs says. Proverbs 14 verse 12 says there is a way that seems right to a man. But in the end, it is the way to death. So if we just live our lives based on what seems right to us, it's easy. Well, I'm just kind of going with the flow. Everybody else is living their lives. Have you ever figured out that everybody else is leading to death? There's only one human being who has ever faced death and beat it. There's only one human being. He was fully God and fully man. And he not only said, I'm the way, the truth and the life. He also said, I am the resurrection and I am the life. Jesus is the one that in the book of Revelation appears to John some 40 years after his resurrection. And he's holding keys in his hand. He says, behold, I am the one who holds the keys of death and eighties. But why is the way that leads to death? So many of us just like, well, the best way to live my life is the way that feels good. The best way to live my life is what I see other people living. The best way to live my life is the way of the world. And what we do is we end up being shaped by the very same things that are shaping other people and it forms us into being vessels, not vessels of honor that live out the purposes and the plans of God all the way until eternal life. But what ends up happening is we get formed and shaped into the mold of this world. And instead of being vessels of honor, we become instruments of death, not just for ourselves, but for other people. Have you noticed the default setting, the operating system that we're born in this world with is selfishness? Have you ever noticed that? You don't have to teach a kid to say no. You have to teach him how to say yes. Share with your little brother. No. Oh, he's working on it. He's getting really good at resisting. He just normally is so generous. I mean, we're trying to teach him to be less generous. Johnny, you can't give everything away and stop being so compassionate towards other people. And you know what? My teenagers, they just instantly jump on Facebook and they're not on Facebook because only people about 50 years older on Facebook, but they normally jump on whatever social media platform and they're encouraging their friends. I'm telling you, you gotta stop that encouragement stuff. You're giving away too many positive words. You gotta be a little bit more critical, a little bit more judgmental, a little bit more insecure. No, where does that come from? Our default operating system. There is a way that seems right to a man. Think about the way that just naturally seems right to us. But Jesus said that this wide, broad way that everybody else is going, it leads to one destination, death. Not just physical death, but the death of the purposes of God, the death of the life that Jesus came to give us and yes, ultimately, not only death in the grave, but a second death in hell. That's where it leads. But listen to what Jesus also said, narrow is the way that leads to life and few are they who find it. Jesus said, my way though, the Jesus way, it's hard, it's narrow, but it ultimately leads to life. And few are they who find it. It's rare, guys, it's rare. Why? Because it takes the work of God in us. The love of God is the only way that we end up loving God back. It takes humility on our part to say, my way is a broken way. My way leads to death, your way leads to life because the way of Jesus is so counter-cultural. It is so subversive. It is so opposite of what comes natural because it doesn't come natural. It comes supernaturally. It comes by the spirit of God at work on the inside of us. We don't wanna go the wide way, we wanna go the narrow way. Jesus said in Mark chapter eight, if anyone would come after me, in other words, if anybody would say yes to following me, if anybody wants to come after me, let him deny himself. In other words, deny his way of doing things. Say, you know what? My way is not the right way. God's way is the right way. Deny himself, take up his cross and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's sake will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? So think about this. All of us, whether you know it or not, have a way that we're living our lives. We all have a way. A way means these are the values. These are the priorities. This is the direction. These are the goals. We have a way of measuring a metric, a plumb line of measuring success in life. What's the success of the world? Well, if I'm rich, I've done well in life. If I'm popular, I've done well in life. If I'm famous, I've done well in life. If I'm happy, I've done well in life. If I've experienced the pleasures that I want to, if I express every desire and everything that I have on the inside of me and I get it out and I actually fulfill it, then I've succeeded in life. And Jesus said, no, that is not success. He said, well, what's wrong with that? That sounds like a pretty good life. It's fading. See, the trick of this world is it convinces us. If we do what we want, when we want, the way that we want to, it will bring satisfaction and life to us. But what it does is it just leaves us empty looking for something else to pursue. Ecclesiastes was written by a man who had everything. Solomon, Solomon was born into the royal family. His father, David, had stockpiled wealth, give all to him, and Solomon came into power. He built the temple, Solomon's temple that in modern dollars would cost somewhere around two to four billion dollars to build. He paid cash for it, lest anybody thinks our building program's out of control. He built it, the glory of God came and filled it. He had God's presence in the temple. He had between wives that he married and concubines which are sex slaves, he had 900. The Bible says there was not a wiser man who ever lived. People came from all over the world to ask him difficult questions because God put a spirit of wisdom on him. He had wealth, he had money, he had youth, he had pleasure, he had position. He had everything. And then he writes a book at the end of his life. And you know how he starts that book? Emptiness, emptiness, everything is empty. King James says it the best, vanity, vanity. It's all foolishness, it's void, it's just vanity. I've lived my life for all of these things and guess what, at the end of my life it took me my whole life of pursuing these things and living in a certain way to come to the conclusion I wasted my life. Jesus says if you try to gain your life, in other words, your life, your way of living, if you are pursuing all of those things, the trophies, the shiny little things and at the end of the day you get them all it's gonna be like sand that as you squeeze harder just bleeds out through your fingers. You can't hold on to it. Because nobody, listen, nobody escapes the grave. Nobody bypasses the grave. And all the things that this world can offer you, guess where they stay? Right here. Nobody pulls a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse because you can't take it with you. But Jesus said he who surrenders his life for my sake and follows in the Jesus way doesn't mean that you're not gonna have some nice things. Doesn't mean that you're not gonna be happy. Doesn't mean that you're not gonna enjoy some pleasures. Doesn't mean, but the author of life, which is Jesus says if you wanna experience the fullness of life, the abundant life, then you've gotta let me, the one who built you, the one who designed you, the one who knows every hair on your head unless you're bald and you have none and every atom and cell and molecule in your body. I knew you before the foundations of the world were ever laid. Before you took your first breath, before you were a person, you were a purpose and I was the purpose giver. If you will trust me, I will lead you beyond a way that seems right to you into the way that is right in me and it will lead to an abundant life here and in the age to come. That's what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus is the way in to the kingdom and he is the way on into our life. That's who he is. He's the way in and he's the way on. He's the way to our salvation. Acts 4-12 says that there is salvation in no one else. No other name given under heaven by which we must be saved than the name of Jesus. How many are grateful for the name of Jesus? Grateful for the cross, grateful for the salvation that Jesus won. But listen, in American Christianity, here's what we're focused on. All right, I pray to prayer, now I'm saved. Woo! My life should radically change right now. But then you wake up tomorrow and it's like, hmm. I love Jesus, but I still feel frisky. I love Jesus, but I'm struggling with some, how come I'm not a saint? Well, number one, you are a saint because when you get born again, here's what happens. Jesus saves your spirit but you are a spirit. You have a soul and you live in a body. Your spirit gets saved the minute you are born again. When you receive Christ, your spirit is saved. Your body will be saved when Jesus resurrects it and glorifies it and immortality puts on immortality. When perishable puts on imperishable. That salvation of your physical body will take place when Jesus returns. But between the resurrection and your salvation is a process called sanctification in which the Holy Spirit, who Jesus puts on the inside of you at the moment of your conversion, he now goes into overdrive of working, shaping, and forming you into the image of Jesus throughout the days of your life. And that's why Jesus said, follow me because he knew it was gonna be a journey. We look at salvation too much as an event instead of a journey. What did Paul mean when he said, work out your salvation with fear and trembling? It has a beginning. You're not gonna be any more saved in the eyes of God tomorrow than you were today. But what can happen is your soul and that part of you that is your mind, will and emotions and the way that you see the world, the way that you see God, the way that you see yourself and the disciplines, the practices, the way that you live your life begin to be shaped and changed by the Lord. On your way out today, and those of you who are aligned that's available for you, we've created something called the rule of life and over the next couple of weeks, we're gonna be talking about this process of spiritual transformation. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual transformation and it's very practical, you see because salvation happens in a moment but sanctification or spiritual formation takes place every day of our life to where we surrender to the way of Jesus and we begin to be formed and conformed into his image, not conformed to this world anymore. And when you pick this up on your way out, there's just some practical things in here that will help you begin to think about, what is forming me? What is forming me? And if you just allow yourself to, by default, say okay, I've made Jesus the Lord of my life, I prayed a prayer and now I'm just gonna kind of coast and let whatever happens, happens. Here's what I promise you, the same forces that formed you to this point will continue to be the obstacles that you face in your desire to serve Jesus but yet I have all of these other things that are shaping the way that I live my life. If you don't have an intentional redirection and intentional plan of repentance and submission and the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, then nothing will ever change but if you do have what's called, it's called a rule of life, some things that you intentionally decide are gonna change. In other words, I'm shutting some voices down and I'm bringing some voices of the Holy Spirit, of the Word of God, of solitude, of different things like this and I'm going to allow the Holy Spirit to begin to shape me and conform me to the way of Jesus. On your way out, I just wanna encourage you to pick it up and begin to read it, begin to think about it and sometimes in our messages and preaching as pastors, we can become so big ideas but there's no traction to it. And this has some traction to it. You'll be able to take this home and begin to look at your life and begin to look at your time, look at your rest and look at your focus and your attention and recognize that there are some things shaping you. Let me ask you a question today. If you were to really stop and think about the way you live your life, even you might be listening to me and you're not a disciple of Jesus but most of us probably are but if you just stopped and asked yourself the question, what are the things that are really forming me, shaping me today, what would those things be? Would it be some media? Would it be some people, some relationships? Would it be some pain and experiences that are shaping you to this day? I mean, think about it. Think about the things that form you. When you look at your life and if somebody were to ask you, explain to me the way of your life. They're not asking you, okay, what do you believe? They wanna ask you, okay, not just mental but how do you live your life? What's the way that you live your life and what shapes that? We would have to stop and really take some inventory about those things. What does Jesus want to shape us? How does he wanna form us? He wants to not just save us, thank God for salvation but our relationship with God does not end at salvation. If Jesus only came to save us so that we could go to heaven then when you got baptized we would hold you underwater until the bubbles stopped coming up and then we would celebrate another soul going on to heaven. Can you imagine? Hallelujah, glory to God, another soul has gone to heaven. But the fact that you go down into the water and you bury the old you and you come up in the newness of life, it means God has something for you in this life and he does not wanna be separated. God doesn't wanna be the fire insurance policy for when you die to avoid the flames of hell and you can live however you want to right now. God is not a God who is disinterested at all about your life. In fact, before you ever took your first breath he wrote the story of your life and he has plans and purposes for your life. You see, Jesus is not just the way in to eternal life. Jesus is the way on into transformation, change and purpose. And in following Jesus, the Holy Spirit continues the work that Jesus began at the cross. John 16 verse 13, Jesus said, when the spirit of truth comes, this is the Holy Spirit, when it comes, look at what it says. He will guide you into what? All truth for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears me speak, he will speak and he will declare it to you. The things that are to come, he will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Holy Spirit is not just like some Mark. He is the person of God, the presence of God who now lives on the inside of us and he's not a silent partner. He doesn't wanna be your co-pilot. He wants you to get out of the car, get into the shotgun seat and let him begin to lead and guide you. Have you ever gone on a road trip with somebody who thinks they know where they're going but they have no clue? I think you turn left here. No, maybe it was right. Okay, circle back. We're going, it's like, do you know where you're going? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, you're just driving around. It's like, you don't have a clue where you're going. That's what happens when we let the spirit of the world direct our lives. Well, my friend said, if I do this, then you know, woo, my life's gonna be good. It's like, yeah, they don't have a clue where they're going. But the spirit of truth, God, third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of you. Jesus called him the helper. He's your helper, he's your guide, spirit of truth. And what is he doing? He's leading us into all truth. First Corinthians chapter six says that he is the sanctifier. First Corinthians six, 11, it says, talking about such were some of you. In other words, your old identity before you came into Christ. But you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of God. The Holy Spirit's put on inside of you as a homing device towards truth and towards God's purposes. And he wants to lead, he wants to direct you. But so many of us, listen to me, so many of us don't allow the Holy Spirit to have his way because we're allowing other voices, the spirit of this age, our past, other people's opinions, our desires to be the guide and the leader of our lives. It's like, well, you know, I don't know why I don't have a desire to really serve God. I mean, I pray to prayer. Have you ever really had a moment where you just submitted your life and said, Holy Spirit, I'm not driving anymore, you are. Holy Spirit, your word is truth. Can't tell you how many Christians have said, you know, I love God, but I read the Bible and I just disagree with it. Can I just tell you, I don't care. When you can create the heavens and the earth, and when you can die on a cross and then be raised on a third day, and when you can go floating up in clouds with about 12 people watching you and you can take the throne over the universe, you get to dictate what's truth. But until that day, sit yourself down, bow to me and say, Jesus, you are Lord. I'm just, I'm just, Tim, I think you left a little residue up here because it's like, it's like getting on me. Think about these scriptures. Paul wrote this, Galatians 419. This was his prayer for the saints. My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth, until Christ is formed in you, until Christ is formed in you. Paul said, I'm like a parent. This is the apostle to the church at Galatia. He's saying, I'm praying, I'm laboring. Until I begin to see Christ formed in you. Romans 12 verse two, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why? So that you might prove what is the good, the acceptable and the perfect will of God for your life. Don't be conformed to the world, be transformed. Let Christ be formed in you. The goal of following Jesus, listen to me, and we're gonna break this down over the next several weeks. This is where the rubber hits the road of being a disciple for Jesus. It's not praying a prayer, it's going on a journey. It's submitting to a process, it's being fully formed to be like Jesus. I can't do that, no, but he can. The goal of following Jesus is that when someday we see him, we are like him. Let me end with this scripture. Just sit back and soak this verse in. See what kind of love the Father has given to us? That we should be called the children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is because it did not know him. Here it is, beloved, we are God's children now. And what we shall be has not yet appeared, but we know this, that when he appears, we shall be like him. We are children of God now, but when we see him, then, not only are we gonna be his children, but we're gonna be like him. We haven't yet seen what we're gonna be. Guys, you have no idea what God has in store for you. How he wants to transform you. How he wants to change you from the inside out. He doesn't want you to be some old raggedy sinner saved by grace, who just kind of barely gets up into heaven. He doesn't want you to struggle with the sins that so easily beset you and the weights that hinder you in the walk for Christ. He wants to begin to change you from the inside in quoting my grandfather's favorite hymn, his favorite chorus he used to sing in church. Jesus on the inside, working on the outside, oh, what a joy in my soul. Oh, what a joy in my soul. Can you imagine what that day's gonna be like when you see Jesus, whether by death or by rapture. When you see him to go, I look like you. Look at what he did. He changed me. My attitude changed. My heart changed. My purpose changed. The authority and the anointing on my life changed, transformed. I was a statistic, but I become a saint. I was an asterisk, but now he knows my name. You wanna know my name? It's carved in the palm of his hand. It's called I am loved. I am saved. I am seated with Christ in heavenly places. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. My shadow heals the sick. My words make demons tremble. His word in my mouth is agreement between heaven and earth, and it's how his kingdom comes. When I pray, my father hears. When the sick enter into my presence, they are healed. When the hopeless enter into my presence, there's a word in my heart of hope, and it changes atmospheres, and it shifts things. I have the ability to pray, to worship, and be changed into the one who laid his life down for me. Come on, that's good news. Jesus is the way in, and he is the way on. What do we need to do? Submit, just say, Jesus, I do not wanna be formed. I wanna be formed by the opinions of man. I'm not gonna be formed by the pain of my past. My sin no longer defines me. My future is not defined by my past. I have a new name written on a white stone that only he who created me knows. And the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that separated the mountains from the sea, put birds up in the air, fish in the ocean, stretched out the universe at the rate of 186,000 miles per second, the speed of light, is the same Holy Spirit that dwells on the inside of me. If he can make the heavens and the earth in seven days, just think what he can do in you. Would you stand with me? Oh, he's so good to us. Jesus on the inside, working on the outside. Oh, what a joy fills my soul. Heavenly Father, we're praying that you would teach us the way of Jesus. We've learned the way of the world. We've learned the way that seems right to us, but we know where it leads. Jesus, we wanna follow you in your way. We wanna practice your presence. We wanna be like Jesus when it says, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The Son of man can do nothing of his own, but only that which he sees the Father do. And he only speaks that which he hears the Father say, Lord, we want our desires to change into shift. We wanna become the full workmanship that you've created us to be. And so we say, Lord Jesus, have your way. Have your way in us. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. I wanna take this moment because many of us, maybe you're watching online, maybe you're in one of our buildings you may have thought to yourself, I've never really fully submitted to Jesus as Lord of my life. I know he said, follow me, but I just thought that meant prayer prayer. But I really wanna surrender, submit to the Lordship of Jesus. I want my sins to be really forgiven and I want to live a brand new way. How do I do that? Jesus said, if we'll believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if we will invite him today, he will save us, he'll forgive us. And he'll invite us onto the pathway, the way of Jesus. This is where it starts. If you find yourself right now in a way, the broad way that leads to destruction today, get off that road and get on the Jesus way. And when no one looking around if you're here and you'd say, I know I need to get right with God, I'm willing to submit to Jesus. I want a new way of life. Would you include me in this prayer, Pastor Lee, because I want Jesus to become my Lord, my Savior. If that's you, I wanna include you in this prayer, I just want you to raise your hand wherever you're at. Thank you, sir, I see your hand. Just scanning the room, if that's you, just raise it. If you're at home, just indicate that on the comment. And I want us to all pray this prayer just of invitation, wherever you are, whoever you are. Just say it with those who are raising their hands. Say, Heavenly Father, I submit to Jesus. I declare Jesus is Lord. Come into my heart, forgive me, save me. Holy Spirit, lead me. I wanna walk in the Jesus way. I reject the way of the world. I reject my own way. I'm choosing you from this day forward. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, a child of God and I will never look back in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Come on, let's celebrate that. It's good news. Here's the last thing I wanna do. I wanna invite our prayer partners ministry team if they would go ahead and step into place. Today, we're not just opening children's ministry this weekend, we're also reopening up our prayer teams because we believe in the power of prayer. We believe in the power of prayer and today you may need prayer. Maybe you say, you know I'm a disciple, but I'm wrestling and I just need God's grace, His empowering grace to meet me, to help me. Maybe you need a healing. Maybe you need forgiveness. Maybe there's a battle that you feel yourself in and you just need the Lord to come to your rescue. Here's what I wanna say is if you're online, you can right now go to the comment section and we have prayer partners online ready to pray with you right now. But if you're here and you just need prayer, I'm gonna pray and we're gonna dismiss and I'm just gonna invite you to come and receive prayer as you desire in our team. They've been praying for you and for this moment and we would love to agree with you that God is gonna work on your behalf. Lord, today send us from here as followers of Jesus. Send us from here as disciples and Lord, meet us. You're so good, Father. You see us, you love us and you're always intervening. Lord, let your kingdom come and your will be done in our lives. And send us out into the world as followers of the Jesus way. We pray in your name.