Planted In The Gospel

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. I'm so glad that you made it here today. We are in for a special treat. So one of my most amazing friends in the world. You have got to hear some of the stories, which probably we're not out of the statute of limitations on. So we need to make sure that we. We can't tell you everything. We can't tell you everything. One of my good friends is all the way here from Graham, Texas, High Ridge. Graham. So would you stand to your feet, show your love. As he comes to bring the word to us today. Pastor Zach Grider from High Ridge, and Graham is in the house. Show your love. [00:00:48] Speaker C: Thank you, Pastor Tim. Well, love you guys so much. So good to be here with you. I say it every time I'm here, but it just feels like family here in East Texas. And so for those of you who don't know, in January of this year, I accepted the lead pastor position in Graham, Texas. And so I've been a lead pastor for eight months now. Still watching YouTube videos, trying to figure it out, but it's. It's. It's going good so far. And so, man, just appreciate you guys. Many of you have asked how things are going in Graham. As many of you know, over the past few weeks, we had the huge Ross fire in our area, and so it was stressful for a little bit. We had a lot of our church people evacuate their homes. Some of them had to evacuate multiple times. But God is good, and no one has lost their home. And so we're being super blessed with that. Yeah, come on, give the Lord some praise. You know, it was a very interesting time because, you know, anytime with natural disasters, you obviously see the suffering side, the very difficult side of a situation like that. But what's crazy is during that week, in the midst of suffering, we actually saw God do some miracles as well. And so I just want to thank you guys for your prayers. I want to ask that you continue to pray. And here's what you can specifically pray for. Rain. We need it. All right. In fact, when it started raining here yesterday, you can ask Pastor Tim. I ran outside and just sat there but one because I wanted to remind myself of what it felt like. But then I needed some of that East Texas anointing so I could take it back to Graham. We need some rain, so be praying for some rain. But we love you guys so much. Continue to pray for us. God's doing amazing things in High Ridge at Graham, just as he is here in Longview as well. And so we love you guys so much, and they send their love to you. [00:02:29] Speaker B: All right. [00:02:30] Speaker C: All right. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn with me to Isaiah chapter 61. If you're new to the Bible, that's in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 61. And if you don't have your Bible, that's totally fine. We're going to have the scripture on the screen for you. Now, before I read this passage, I want to give you some insights to what we're about to read, because by sharing these things, it's going to bring a lot more weight to what we're about to read. So Isaiah chapter 61 is known by scholars and theologians as a messianic prophecy. If you're new to church, prophecy means a foretelling of what's to come. So throughout the Old Testament, there are scriptures and even chapters in Isaiah that are specifically talking about the coming Messiah. All right, this is one of those chapters. Isaiah, chapter 61 is talking about the coming Messiah. And what's interesting about the book of Isaiah is it was written about 700 years before Jesus was even born. Now, another interesting fact About Isaiah, chapter 61, if you fast forward to the New Testament and you look at Luke chapter four, you see a scene where Jesus comes into the temple. He brings out the Isaiah scroll because it was written in scroll form. And he goes to this part of the the book of Isaiah, and he reads this out loud in the hearing of everyone in the temple. And when he finishes reading this passage, he says, today, this has been fulfilled in your hearing. So, again, why is this so significant? What we're about to read is a foretelling of the future Messiah. It is God revealing to us what the Messiah is going to do for you and I. And again, it's significant because Jesus claimed that this was written about him and that this has been fulfilled. All right, so keep that in mind as we read this passage. Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1 through 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news. Somebody say good news? Good news to who? The poor? He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison. To those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord, Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn, and to grant to those who mourn in Zion to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks. Everybody say oaks. This is important for the message today that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. So again we have Isaiah 60:1, and in Luke chapter 4, Jesus is reading this and he's saying, today, this has been fulfilled in your hearing. What is the point when you give your life to Christ? You have been adopted into the family of God. You are now a son and a daughter of the one true King. Not because of your good works, but because of the good works of Jesus Christ. And the scripture here, references, describes you and I, those who are in Christ, as oaks of righteousness planted by the Lord. This is strong language. This imagery of an oak tree is strong imagery. And what it's describing is that you and I, as we're planted in the Gospel, as we're planted into the family of God, our lives should be as an oak of righteousness, where our roots are strong, where we're able to withstand the elements around us, where we're producing fruit in our life, representing God and glorifying God with our life, we should be planted, rooted in the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Let's pray as we get ready to unpack that this morning. Lord, we love you so much. And we just pray over the next few moments, Lord, that you would speak to us. God, we thank you for our salvation. We thank you for your mercy and for your grace. And so, Holy Spirit, I invite you into this moment to use my voice to build and encourage your people for your glory and for your namesake, in Jesus name. And everyone said amen. You know, every time I come to East Texas, I'm reminded about how much I miss trees. Like, you guys are spoiled and you take it for granted. And I took it for granted. For those of you who don't know, I was born and raised in Louisiana. All right? North Louisiana. I'm a redneck, not a Cajun. There is a difference. Another message for another time. Okay. But I grew up with trees like you guys. Like, we have the huge pine trees, we got the huge oak trees, white oaks, red oaks, pin oaks, all the things. But now I live in Graham, Texas. And some of you think, well, don't they have trees in Graham, Texas? They say they have trees, but what they really are is just tall shrubs, all right? Ski trees, post oaks, et cetera. So I miss trees. You can ask my wife. Like every time we're driving down the road, I just, when I see a fascinating tree, I'm like, babe, look at that tree. It's amazing. Maybe I'm getting old, I don't know what's happening, but I miss trees. And just coming here, seeing these beautiful trees, man, I just. I love trees. And so I'm fascinated with them. And so when I see cool, interesting facts about trees on social media or tv, I really dig into those. In fact, not too long ago, I came across this tree that grows in the Kalahari Desert. It's known as the Shepherd's Tree. You can see a photo here on the screen. Now, again, for you East Texans, this isn't that impressive. This is what our trees look like in Graham. Yeah, just not that. Not that impressive. But it is a very impressive tree. What's interesting about this tree is, again, it lives in the Kalahari Desert. And the Kalahari Desert is a harsh environment. I mean, it'll get up in the hundred degree, over 100 degrees in the summer and below 21 degrees in the winter. I mean, it's just a very, very harsh environment. Very, very little rain. But what's fascinating about this tree that you're seeing on the screen is it has the deepest roots of any tree on this planet. It has been discovered that this tree has roots that can go 223ft straight down. It's fascinating, isn't it? Now, the reason it has such deep roots is so that it can survive the harsh environment that it's in. Again, the weather's always changing, the wind's blowing. You don't know what the rain's going to be. It could be hot, it could be cold. And so in order to survive this harsh environment, it has to have deep roots in order to get the nourishment that it needs to survive this harsh environment. Now, I think most of us in this room, if we were honest with one another, we would all admit that even though we live in the greatest country on this planet, we still live in a harsh environment. And in my lifetime, for sure, this is as crazy as I've seen the world. We have exposure through social media, which causes us to constantly compare ourselves to others to make us focus on what we don't have instead of what we do. Have. We're constantly exposed to horrible things in this world. And what we're finding out is that the human brain is not meant to take in that much negative information. We also live in a time in this country, despite how blessed we are, we live in a time in this country that for the first time since its founding, trust is at an all time low of all institutes. We don't trust the medical institutes, we don't trust the media, we don't trust our government. And unfortunately, we don't even trust religious institutions. So we live in a time when where things are harsh, they're difficult, they're ever changing, we're at war. We're not at war. Gas prices are up, gas prices are down, the economy's good, the economy's bad, the government's working, the government's not working. And we're just constantly in this flux of an ever changing environment, in a harsh environment. And what I'm seeing happen as a Christ follower and as a pastor is I'm seeing a lot of people's faith in being shaken. And I'm watching people have one of two responses in the midst of this harsh environment. Either one, they're pressing more into the Lord. So we are seeing a revival. And some great things happen, especially in Gen Z in our country that we should be thankful for. However, simultaneously I am seeing people whose faith is being so shaken that they're walking away from church, they're pulling back from their relationship with Jesus. And so what I want to point out today is that in the midst of this harsh environment, the one thing that you and I need to be willing to do is we have to make sure that our roots run deep in the gospel, not in the church that we attend, not in our favorite worship song, not in all these other great things. Our roots, the foundation of our faith is Jesus. The reason we're here today is because of him. Everything that's happening today, from the amazing volunteers, loving on your kids, and next door in the building, from the awesome worship team that was up here, from the lights and the smoke and all, it's all about Jesus. He is the foundation of everything that we do. And if your faith is built on anything other than the gospel, you have built your faith on shifting sand. And this is a harsh environment. And that house of straws that you've built on shifting sand, it's just a matter of time before it falls. So how do we survive this environment? How do we not just survive? Because here's what's interesting about the shepherd's Tree. It's not just surviving, it's thriving. How do we thrive in this environment, in this ever changing, harsh environment? And I think the key to all of this is that we have to stay planted. Everybody say planted, planted in the gospel. So how do we stay planted in the gospel? If you're taking notes this morning, I want you to write this down. First and foremost, if we're going to stay planted, if we're going to make sure our roots are in the gospel, we've got to be willing to accept the gospel. We've got to start there again. Everything we do is founded on a relationship with Jesus and what he's done for us. And what can happen to us in this country, especially in the south, is that we can hear the gospel and be exposed to the gospel so much that it loses its power because we've been so exposed to it. So we know the Christmas story, we know the Easter story. We could recite the gospel because we grew up in Sunday school or we've been to church enough. And then again, what can happen is the more you're exposed to something, the more you take something for granted. May I remind you of what the gospel is? The gospel is the fact that there is a God who created the heavens and the earth. And he created us in his own image, but because of our sin, we've been separated from Him. And because God is a loving God, but also He's a just God, he had to do something about our sin because, can I just remind you, you are created in his image. And the reason that he created you is because he wants a relationship with you. Hey, listen, I don't know your story. I don't know where you come from, how bad you think you've been, but I am telling you what the Bible says, not Zach Greider, that God created you for relationship with Him. But we have a problem, and the problem is your sin. The problem was my sin. It separated me from that God because, again, yes, he's loving, but he's also just, which means he has to deal with sin. And what's awesome about our God is that he made a way for you and I to be in right relationship with Him. And you know what's great about God is He didn't create a religion for us to have to do all these good things to make sure when we get to the end of our life that the good outweighs the bad. And then we can stand before him and then he'll judge. And then hopefully we've done enough good Deeds that we can be welcomed into heaven. That's not what he did. That's what other religions have created. That's not what our God did. The one true God. Instead, what he did was that he sent his son down here to live a perfect, righteous life for you and I. And then he killed his son on that cross to take on the punishment that you and I deserve. So what is the good news? There is a perfect, holy, righteous God that you and I have been separated from because of our sin, but out of his love for us, sends his son to die on the cross. And through his death, burial, and resurrection, you and I can stand righteous before God and reconcile with our Creator and spend eternity in a place you can't fathom in your wildest imagination, sitting at the foot of the one who died on that cross for you. That's the gospel. Now, most of you in this room, you've heard that before. But again, if we're going to play Stay Planted in the Gospel, there has to be times for us as Christians, especially American Christians who live in the Bible. But there's got to be moments where we remember that. Because here's the thing about that gospel. You don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. It doesn't matter how many sermons I preach, how many years I pastor, the fact that I have a theological degree, none of that matters. It cannot earn me my salvation. Let me tell you what Zack Greider deserves. I deserve to be eternally separated from my Creator. I deserve to be punished for all of eternity because I have sinned against a holy, righteous, perfect God and in some cases, did it on purpose. That's what you deserve. That's what I deserve. The beauty of our God. And the good news is, yeah, that's what we deserve, but that's not what we're gonna get because of what his Son did on my behalf and your behalf. And one day, many of us in this room are going to get to go into eternity and be at the feet of Jesus. And it's not because of our church attendance. It's not because of how much money we gave or how much we served. And those are all good things. It's going to be solely because of what Jesus did on our behalf. That is the gospel. And if we're going to. If we're going to endure this harsh environment that we're in, we have to remember, you don't get to move on from the gospel. [00:17:32] Speaker A: Come on. [00:17:33] Speaker C: Can I remind everyone in here that no matter what you're going to face when you walk out of here today, your problems that you came in with, most of them are still going to be out there when you walk out today and tomorrow, when you go to work and at your school, when you show up Tuesday, man, my prayer is that you, you leave here today. That you take time this week to meditate on the fact that you are so loved and you have been saved. And nothing, everybody say nothing, nothing can change that. Not what's happening in your business, not what's happening in this relationship, not this suffering that you're enduring, not what's going on in the economy, not what's ever happening in our government, not whatever happening overseas in this world. None of that can change that fact. You have been saved. You are a son, a daughter of the one true king. The Bible says you are joint heirs with Christ, which means you are royalty. And it is not because you are awesome. It's because Jesus was awesome for you. Listen, for all the believers in the room, no matter how long you've been a Christ follower, I don't know about you, but for me, I just can't get over the fact that Jesus has saved me. Because like many of you in this room, I've got things in my past that I've done horrible things. And it still blows my mind that there is a perfect, holy, righteous God that despite the things that I have done, still chose to love me, still chose to go to Christ. Listen, when Christ went to the cross, all your sins were future to him. And yet he still chose to die for you. Is that not amazing? If we're going to stay planted in the gospel, we have to accept the gospel, meditate on, realize. Let it, man. Let it light a fresh fire in you. Once again, there's some Christians in the room. You've been a Christ follower for a long time and you feel dead in your faith. You feel bored and go back to the beginning. How good is our God that he loved us, to save us despite our sin? Amen. So again, how do we stay plain and we accept the gospel? Oh, and before I move on, maybe you're in here or maybe you're watching online and you're still trying to figure out this whole Christian thing to decide if you're all in with Jesus. Let me just encourage you, go all in with Jesus because again, there is a debt attached to your sin. And you can either allow Jesus to pay that debt or you can stand before your Creator one day and you're going to pay that debt for all of eternity and can I just tell you about this debt that you owe God. You can't afford it. Accept what Christ has done on your behalf out of love for you. Let him pay the price. Amen. So we accept the gospel. Number two. We live out the Gospel. We live it out. Philippians 1:27 says this. Whatever happens, whatever happens, whatever happens with the government, whatever happens with this war, whatever happens with your finances, whatever happens in this business, in this relationship, this marriage, this health situation, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Whatever happens then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one spirit. Striving. Everybody say striving. Striving together as one for the faith of the Gospel. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. Listen to me, friend. If you have given your life to Christ, you are free and you are saved. And it's time for us to start acting like it. If I were to audit your life, would I know that you love Jesus and that you're following him? Not that you're a religious person, but do you love and follow Jesus? Do you spend time with him? Do you talk to Him? Do you make sacrifices for Him? If I were to audit your life, could I tell that you love Jesus? Someone in your room? You may not know, but I've been married as of this past July 10th. I've been married for 16 years. We've been together, like, 22, 23 years. That's a long time. I'm getting old. I'm liking trees. And I've been married a long time. Time's passing. I love my wife. And here's the deal. If you spend any amount of time with me, it's not going to take you very long. And you don't have to look at my ring finger. It's not going to take you very long to find out that I'm married. If you audited my life, you're going to see me spending a whole lot of time with this particular woman. You're going to see that I spend time with her, that I talk about her. If you audit my finances, you're going to find out that I'm married. See all the Amazon purchases, all the things. No, but the reason you'll see that I'm married, even if you audit my finances, is because I spend time with her. I spend money on her. I do all those things because I love her. You cannot spend any amount of time around Zack Grider and not know that he's Married and in love with Miranda Grider. And how much more should be said of my relationship with my Lord and Savior? Now, I'm gonna be honest with you, not to brag, but to inspire you and to encourage you. If you are to audit Zach Greider's life, it will not take you very long to find out that I love Jesus Christ. Of course. Zack, you're a pastor. Nope. Remove my job title. I don't even have to show up to work for three months. And if you follow me around and spend time with me, it won't take you very long to find out that I spent a whole lot of time with this guy named Jesus. And I'm still in process, just like many of you. But you're going to find out that when I wake up in the mornings, I talk to Him. You're going to see that I have a prayer journal where I write things to Him. You're going to see that I open up His Bible and His Word to spend time with him. You're going to look at my life and see sacrifices that I've made to follow him. You're going to see that there are certain things that Zach doesn't do because he loves Jesus. If you audit my finances, you're going to find out that I love this man named Jesus. I was like, you're a pastor. No, no. I trust God with my finances and I give to the church, not because I'm a pastor, but because I love Jesus. If you are. And listen, I am not perfect. I'm not saying that you won't see sin and mistakes in my life, but you are going to see that I love Jesus and I'm doing the best I can to follow Him. Now, let me ask you a question. If we are auditing your life, what will we see? I mean, if we looked at where you spend your time, how much you spend in His Word, how much you talk to Him. If we were to audit your finances, would we see that you are in love with Jesus? And listen to me, friend. I do those things not because I have to, but because I'm in love with Jesus. I don't do those things because I'm a pastor. Listen, I'm a pastor because I love Jesus. I'm not in love with Jesus because I'm a pastor. I'm a Christ follower first. So what about you? Again, if we're going to stay planted in the gospel, if we're going to live this life in this harsh environment and not just survive, but thrive, we've got to accept the gospel, and we have to live out the gospel. Do you live as if you love this person that you say you love, whose name is Jesus? And again, Jesus should infiltrate and impact every area of your life. Not just some, but every area. Are you living out the gospel? Number three, as we wrap up today, not only should we accept the gospel, not only do we live out the gospel, lastly, we share. Everybody say share. We share the gospel with others. This sounds so simple, and I know it's not super deep, but the reason I made this a point is because something has changed in our American church over the past 10 to 15 years. Now, the American church has done some incredible things. I mean, there has just been some amazing churches that have started have done amazing things. But there's something that has happened in the American culture and we've gone into this season of come and see and have forgotten that Jesus tells us to go and tell. And so what's happened is out of convenience, is that we have a whole generation of Christians now who their way of sharing the gospel is just inviting their friends to church for the pastor to do it. Now, the great thing is you go to a church, if you bring them here, they're going to hear the gospel and your pastor is going to tell them about the gospel. But the sad part about that is, is that we have an entire generation of Christians in this country that have relieved themselves of the responsibility to go and make disciples and tell people about Jesus. And the reality is that you're going to stand before your Creator one day and you're going to give an account for your friends and your family and your neighbors and the people you go to school with. It won't be Pastor Tim and it won't be Zach Grider. I've got my own people that I've got to answer for. It is our responsibility to share the gospel, to tell people about Jesus and what he's done for us. Romans 10, 14, 15 says this. How then will they, by the way, they are lost people that they, in this passage, are the people you go to school with, the people you work with, the people in this community, the people you live by, your family members. How then will they call on him, Jesus in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him? Jesus in whom they have not heard. And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach? Good news. You and I are in this room today because over 2,000 years ago, after they killed Jesus on that cross and after he walked out of that tomb three days later, there was a small group of people that began to just talk about what Jesus had done for them. And here we are. You think about that. Here we are, over 2,000 years later, on the other side of the world, and the church is still growing. It's still expanding, expanding. And that points to something supernatural. But listen, the way that God has done this for 2000 years is by using men and women who are sent out to go and tell the world about Jesus and what he's done for them. Second Corinthians 5:20 says, Therefore we are ambassadors. Everybody say ambassadors. Ambassadors for Christ. Hey, here's another way to think about that, friend. You are an ambassador, which means you don't represent you anymore. At the moment that you accepted salvation, when Jesus saved you, you became a son and a daughter of his. You now represent him. You don't represent you anymore. We are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us again. Remember, God desires a relationship with your neighbors and your friends and the people you go to school with, your co workers. He desires a relationship with them, and he wants to make an appeal to them. How? Through us. Making an appeal through us. So therefore, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. We should be not only accepting the gospel, living out the gospel, we should be sharing the gospel. So let me ask you this, friend. When's the last time you told somebody about Jesus? I know it can be scary, [00:30:41] Speaker B: but [00:30:42] Speaker C: that's the beauty of the faith that we walk in. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to do what he's called us to do. And again, can I just tell you, if you've signed up for Jesus, if you are a part of his family, you have been given the mission, just like I have. Just like Pastor Tim has to go out into the world and tell people about Jesus. I'm not asking when's the last time you prayed for someone, when's the last time you served or you did good or talked about a Bible verse. I'm asking when's the last time you shared Jesus? Because the Bible instructs us. That's the mission we've been sent on. We've got to be willing to share the gospel. I want to take you back to the Shepherd's Tree. You can see it here on the screen again. It has these roots that go 223ft deep. The thing about the Shepherd's Tree is that everything under the surface really blesses the tree. It's the roots that allow it to create the foliage and the fruit, et cetera. But everything above the surface brings life to others. The reason they call it the shepherd's tree is because when shepherds would be out taking care of their flocks in this desert, this is the one place they could go and find shade, which represented rest. It brought rest to the animals and the people in the desert to help them survive. Not only that, it creates this fruit that animals can eat and humans as well. What is the point? Because the tree has these deep roots, it's not only able to survive in this harsh environment, it's thriving. And because it's thriving, it brings life to all that encounter it. Listen to me, friend. When you are rooted in the gospel, when you are living out the gospel, when you are sharing the gospel, you are bringing life to those around you. Jesus desires to impact those around you, but he desires to do it through you. I like to say it this way. Can I remind you that the church, who is made up of people, the bride of Christ, we're plan A. We're the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. And here's the thing, my friend, there is no plan B. There's not. We are the plan. So if we're going to reach your friends, reach your family, your co workers, the people you go to school with, then we've got to be planted in the Gospel. Accept it, live it out, and we've got a shared Jesus with others. Amen. Be planted in the Gospel for his glory and for his namesake. Let me pray for you today. Maybe you're here today and you'd say, man, Pastor Zach, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure if I were to die today, if I would spend eternity with Christ, here's the thing for you, not I want to give you the opportunity today to do the same thing that I did many years ago and it changed my life, which is encountering a life changing relationship with this person that we call Jesus. And I'm not inviting you into a religion. There are plenty of those out there for you to get connected to. I'm inviting you into a relationship. And that is what separates Christianity from all other religions. We're inviting you into a relationship, not a religion. You cannot earn your salvation, you cannot earn the forgiveness for your sin. Jesus has already done that for you, but you can accept that. So if you're here and you want a relationship with Christ, then what I'm going to do is invite you into a relationship so I'm going to pray a prayer. This is not a magical prayer. In fact, you can use your own words if you'd like. We're just going to surrender our life to Christ in this moment. That's you, friend. I want to invite you to pray with me quietly to yourself. And you can begin a journey today, a relationship today that is forever going to change your life and your eternity. So if that's you, friend, I'm just going to invite you to pray with me quietly to yourself. Just pray with me. Dear God, I know I'm a sinner and I know I've messed up. And, God, I want to ask you to forgive me of my sins and my mistakes today. God, today I want to turn from doing life my way, and I want to start doing life your way. And right now, Jesus, I want to invite you into my heart and into my life to be my Lord and my Savior. And I want to thank you, Jesus. I want to thank you for dying on that cross for me, for conquering sin and death, and for just now hearing my prayer now with heads bowed and eyes closed. There are some of you that just prayed that with me. And I'm not going to embarrass you or call you out or anything like that. I just want to celebrate your decision. So with all heads bowed and eyes closed, for those of you that just prayed with me, would you just lift up your hand real quick? Just those that prayed, no one else looking up, no one looking around. Awesome. Just those that pray, just keep your hand up. Great. With heads bowed and eyes closed, those of you that prayed with me, would you just look up at me for just a moment? Make eye contact. Just those that prayed. Man, I'm so excited about your decision, but this is just the beginning of a journey. So here's what I'd love for you to do. Pastor Tim's gonna tell you in just a moment and how to take a step, filling out a connect card so that we can walk on this journey with you. You're taking a step today, and we want to help you take your next step. And so make sure to tune in. And he's going to share with you how to do that. But, man, I'm so, so excited for you. Hey, church, can we celebrate those that took a step towards Christ today? Come on, show them some love. Listen, I love you guys so much. Thank you for having me. Pastor Tim, tell us what's next. [00:36:35] Speaker B: Come on. One more time for Pastor Zach Grider, High Ridge Church in Graham, Texas. Show your love Always a privilege, always an honor to have you here, my friend, who is redneck, not Cajun, but Louisiana, it's all the same. I'm just kidding. No. So I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad you joined us today. Go ahead and stand to your feet, if you would. I'm going to invite our elders and their wives forward. And as our service ends today, these guys are going to be available to pray for you about whatever situation you may find yourself in today. If you were coming to this church this morning and saying, man, I wish somebody would pray for me. I wish. I wish I could just. I wish I could tell someone what I'm walking through and get somebody to ask the Lord for help. We would love to pray for you. So once again, these guys will remain right here at the front of this platform available to pray for you about whatever needs that you may have. Also next week, we are launching groups all across this city in our several outlying cities. We have more groups this year than we have ever had before, and they're almost completely full as it is. Is that right, Pastor Paul? Where'd you go? Let me see. Where. There you are. Of course, you're one of our elder. How close are we to being completely full on groups? Like, how. Okay, so what does that mean? That means that some of you are called to be group leaders and you're just living in disobedience. Let's sit in that for a moment. So, and also, it does mean that. That there unfortunately may be maybe no spots left after this week. If you don't sign up today, please don't complain to me. I wasn't able to get a group. They're all full. That's on you, boo. Boo. 100 on you. What we do have is we do have some. There are some curriculum books that we've created, like some discipleship books that if you're not able to get into a group, you can have one of those books and be able to walk through this stuff on your own. But please don't say, I just want one of the books. I don't want to be in a group. No, try to. Try to get into a group. We want you in a group. You need to find your tribe. You need to be connected to the body of Christ. It is good for you. So people need your story. They need you. You need them. Iron sharpens iron, right? It's supposed to be some sparks flying. So I'm praying, I'm hoping that you'll be a part of those groups. It's going to be a beautiful thing as we're walking through our super series together. We're excited about that. That's going to be launching next week. And so as we finish up today, I'm going to pray over you. I'm going to bless you. We're going to join hands across the aisle and pray for my Dallas Cowboys as they embark on our world championship season. Don't laugh at me. You don't know. I'm prophetic, not pathetic. This is going to happen. No, I'm just kidding. Then also, I just want to say I appreciate you. I appreciate you as a church. You guys are an amazing group of people and people like Zach and our friends from Harvard Church, Graham. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of a family of churches where we hold each other accountable, we lift each other up. It's a beautiful thing to know I'm not alone. So I want to thank you for your prayers, your support for me, for my family, our prayers of support for Pastor Zach and for what's happening out in that area of the world where they've dealt with a lot of fires, a lot of controversy, a lot of things that have hit them. It's a beautiful thing to just be a part of a family of churches. And I love you guys and love what's happening there. So let me pray for you, let me bless you, and then we'll wrap it up today. Father, I thank you for the word that was presented today. I pray that that would plant a seed deep in our hearts. We would remind ourselves of the simple truth of the gospel that you loved us so much to send your son to save us from our sin, what we could never do for ourselves. Thank you, Lord. We accept the gospel now, Father, I pray that we would share it, that we would live in it, that we would live it out, that we would not be ashamed of you. It would represent you well to our world and how we treat people, how we speak, how we love, Lord, how we give. Let us live out the gospel as representatives of you. Thank you, Lord. We ask that you bless our friends with an incredible week in Jesus name and all of us said together. Amen. Thank you for watching today. God bless you as you go. I hope you have an awesome week. [00:40:24] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayers is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community. Connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.