[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. Grab your Bibles, if you wouldn't mind. Turn to Proverbs, chapter four. We're gonna start right there. As we kick off this brand new series, I was thinking.
I always found it super awkward when the teacher would ask me when I was very young, what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you remember those moments, those. Those questions? And I, I understand the point was to get us to have a. A big vision for our life. I understand that they're trying to get us to see ourselves as more than just a little kid, but to have a. A longer view for our existence. But I never understood some of the answers that other kids would give. Most of them would, would. Would unavoidably say, astronaut. I want to be an astronaut. And I, I was thinking in my, in my young mind, you're going to have to have a lot of math and science skills. And you've been cheating off me the entire semester. We're both in trouble in this situation. You ain't no astronaut. You're never going to be no astronaut.
Because I thought the perfect answer to give a teacher that asked you, what do you want to be when you grow up? Was always the answer, I want to be a teacher just like you.
That's the perfect answer because it's extra brownie points.
Now, what I really wanted to say honestly was I want to be the principal so I can fire you, change this whole school. But that was my life before Christ. We all have a past. I'm just saying. I know that the point was to try to get us to see beyond just being a kid, just being a student, but to have a bigger vision for our life. But maybe the question is not really what do you want to be when you grow up? But who do you want to be?
We understand that at different points of our life, we have to have goals in mind. We have to have a path in order to reach those goals.
You understand this in your finances, that if you don't have a financial plan, if you don't have a budget, if you don't spend less than what you're bringing in, you're never going to reach your financial goals. And some of you, like, that's the only word you needed to hear today.
That was good, Pastor. That's what I needed.
But you also understand this in your, in your health journey, like your, Your. Your health journey cannot just be a bunch of wishes. You have to be willing to take some steps.
But what about when it comes to the condition of your soul?
What does. What does your soul look like in the next 10 years? What does your spiritual walk with Jesus look like in the next 10 years? What you comfortable with where you are? Or could it be that God has more for you? That God has a path for your life, that God has steps for you to take?
And just like when you're dealing with your finances, your. Your goal financially cannot be to win the lottery. Okay? That's not a goal. That's a wish. There's a big difference.
And in order to find God's plan for your life, there are steps that each of us must take. And at each step of obedience that you take, in the truth of God's word, God begins to light up your path. And I say this based on long years of experience. God does not want to hide his will from you. The plan for your life is not something that God is hiding, hoping that you'll somehow figure it out and win the lottery of finding God's plan, His purpose for your life. He. He wants to reveal it to you. God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. He. He wants you to ask Him. He wants you to seek Him. He wants you to look for his plan for your life.
So we're basing this series, the Long View, on this simple scripture found in Proverbs, chapter four that says the path of the righteous. By the way, if you've received Christ, if you've accepted him and what he did on the cross for you and for your sins, you have been forgiven. You are now made righteous. That is you. This is a scripture for you, the path of the righteous, the path that God has for his people. Look at this. It's like the light of dawn. It's like daybreak.
And it gets brighter. It shines brighter and brighter until full day. And this is what your life is supposed to look like.
If you're righteous, if you're one of his.
A life outside of Christ means you're going to stumble around in the dark. You're going to live your life according to what people think is the best possible option for you.
But when you have a relationship with the Lord, his plans, his purposes, his ways, his thoughts are for you. And the path of the Righteous gets illuminated. Now we understand this concept for those of us that grew up in the 70s and 80s and 90s, because we, we have seen what it means to have our footsteps light up.
Some of you remember John Travolta's Saturday Night Fever with the disco floor lighting up as people were dancing on it. You remember that some of you watched the music video Billie Jean from Michael Jackson. Some of you were. Some of you had a life before Christ.
And you remember what it was like to see him dancing and everywhere he puts his foot like the. The sidewalk lights up. Do you remember that?
Not a single person is going to confess that they had a life outside of Christ where you actually listened to the greatest artist of all time.
It's okay, we'll get you there.
Some of you remember the movie Big with Tom Hanks. Some of you remember him still stepping onto the big piano on the floor. And everywhere he puts his foot, the. The keys would light up and they would play a song. We understand that, we get it. But that's actually a very biblical concept for the steps of the righteous. The Bible says in Psalm 119, your word is a lamp to my feet. Your. Your word, Lord, is a. Is a light on my path. Your Word shows me exactly what my life's purpose is supposed to look like. Your word illuminates my path.
The key to becoming who God has called you to be, the key to the long view version of your life is found right here.
Now, does that mean it's easy?
Not so much.
Does that mean I'm going to want to do it? No. It means it's worth it.
There are several keys, several principles, several steps that God's Word clearly outlines for believers to walk into in order to become who God has called them to be.
Unfortunately, many believers don't want that. We want to get our fire insurance. We want just enough Jesus to get me out of hell. And then we want him to stay out of our business and let me have some fun.
No, not you. Just the weirdos in third service. Not us.
But unfortunately, in order to become who God has called each of us to be, there are tests. There are things that God will allow in your life in order for you to trust him and to trust his goodness.
Here's what I want you to see with me, is that God has a path for me.
And the more I step into it, the brighter it becomes.
So let's decree that out loud together. You can talk in church. Let's say this out loud together. Come on, say it with me. God has a path for me. The more I step into it, the brighter it becomes.
Walking with God and finding his paths and his plans and his purposes for you is not some great mystery.
God will light up your path with the truth of his word. He will show you. And in those moments, you're going to be like, lord, I don't like this, but I'm going to do this, because this is what your Word tells me to do. And then you take a step, and then the light bulb comes on.
Now you're your own Billie Jean. Now you're your own Tom Hanks. Now you're your own side of the fever. John Travolta. Now you see that the floor begins to light up and you say, oh, I see you, God.
I see you. Okay, if I trusted you with that step, what else do you have for me? And the next step of faith illuminates God's perfect path for your life once again. It's not easy, but it's not a mystery. It's steps of faith, steps of obedience, steps that His Word clearly outlines to be a lamp to your feet and to a light to your path.
When we're looking at God's Word, there are specific things that it tells us to do. Once again, a lot of believers will not do these things because they sound a lot like work.
But I want to start out with one simple principle that many believers will reject, and it's this. Number one, if you're a note taker, write this down.
You're going to have to stay teachable.
Can I be taught?
So when Jesus calls his disciples, when he calls them from their various jobs, he says, follow me. And by the way, that's not just on Twitter. This is not just fall in line behind me. Follow me is a very biblical and powerful theological term for doing more than just pay attention. The word disciple literally means learner.
Learner. And when God calls you to be a disciple, when God calls you to a relationship with him, it's a call to be a lifelong learner. You are called to know him and to learn from and to follow his ways, to do what you he does.
Now, some of us may say things like, well, Pastor, you don't understand. I wasn't much for school.
I didn't graduate. I'm not a very good learner. I get it.
Good for you.
The good news is following Christ is something that you will never graduate from, so you're in good company.
And then there's others that say, I've been following Christ all of my life. I know more than so and so. So I'm not. I'm not really teachable anymore because I know enough. Good for you. You're very wise.
But let me also tell you this. There's a wonderful scripture found in Proverbs 9, says, Instruct the wise. Look at me and they'll be wiser still.
So whether you feel like you can't learn, you're not a good learner, or you've learned enough, there's always more. You're in good company. God has space for you. We are called to be teachable people. We are lifelong learners.
What does it mean to be a lifelong learner? What does it mean to be teachable? Let me just say it this way. Long term growth in Christ is going to require lifelong humility.
Humility. Am I humble enough to allow the Lord to teach me something?
What can God show me?
One of the wonderful things I learned from watching stuff from Tim Keller.
He has a great section of his teaching that talks about things that fake Christians can't do. And one of those is to answer the question, what is God teaching me right now?
A fake Christian can answer that, but one who has a real relationship with Jesus Christ, we're always learning something.
Let me ask you that question. What's the last thing God taught you? And how long ago was that?
Our God loves those that are hungry, those that want a relationship with Him. We, we must be lifelong, humble, teachable disciples.
We are learners.
Humility opens the door for God to speak and for God to tell you exactly what he needs from you and to show you what he needs for you.
Be teachable and stay teachable.
I love this scripture that's found in Psalm 25. It says, God guides the humble in what is right.
And along the way he's going to teach you, you're going to learn more. So humility means that the Lord begins to order my steps. He shows me what to do. He guides me along the way. And then as I'm walking, I learn. I learn about him. I learn of his ways. I learn his heart. And I recognize that his ways are better, his thoughts are higher.
His methods work.
And you start realizing that I don't like the way that I operate. I like the way he operates. This is, this produces life. This produces good things. This is a better version of me when I'm following in the path that the Lord has for me.
Some of us just had to learn the hard way.
We're not very good at making our own decisions.
No, just third service, not us. We.
Some of us had to learn the hard way. Some of us would say, you know, I'm, I, I, I know that I'm mature and I know that I've, I've learned a lot. And I'm, I'm to the age where I've got a lot of wisdom because I'm.
Whatever age you are, let me just remind you of this. Age doesn't produce maturity. Come on, somebody, teachability does. I know a lot of people that are really old and got a lick of sense.
You spent 97 years learning nothing.
But the real issue is not your physical age. The real issue is your spiritual maturity.
The issue is how long have I been in church? And what is God showing me? Am I teachable? Or am I to the place where I've gotten comfortable just knowing more than this person?
As long as I know more than you and I must be doing good.
Am I teachable? Is God showing me? What is he teaching me? What am I, what am I learning? And am I doing it in the spirit of humility or am I just doing it so that I can tell somebody else what I know to show how much smarter I am than them?
The way that we approach God matters.
Humility matters to God. Being teachable, being hungry to learn from him, to, to, to draw things out of his word is critical to ever find the path that God has for you. Whether you've been walking with God for five minutes or for 500 years, there's always more. You will never reach the end of the depths of God. He has more things to teach you. If you're still breathing, you're not done.
So can we be teachable?
Here's the second key that we see that most believers won't do. But in order to find the path, the purposes, the plans that God has for you, not only do you need to be teachable, but, but number two, you're going to have to stay submitted.
Now that one is one we have a lot of issues with. And let me just preface this by saying the word submission has long been misused within the body of Christ. That word submission has been used to subjugate women and to keep people in line, to keep people from acting up. And trust me, I know a lot about just wanting people to just stay in line and not act up. I'm a pastor. Please stay in line, don't act up. You make my job so much easier. Help me help you.
And even though the word has been misused and abused to make people fall in line and act right, just do the right Thing and keep tithing.
I understand that word submission has been misused, but that does not negate the concept that is Biblical.
Just because people misuse something does not mean God doesn't have a purpose for it.
By the way, look at your life. You ever been misused?
You ever been betrayed? Ever been used in a negative way?
That does not negate the purposes God has for you and his principles are the same. Just because people have misused that word submission doesn't mean it's not right. All of us, at some point when we want to see the plans, the purposes, the path that God has for us, will have to pass the submission test.
Let me ask you a question. Who gets to tell you no?
Who can look at you and say, what in the world are you thinking? And your response would be, you're right. Help me.
Who gets to do that?
Because a lot of believers will never pass that test. Why? Because we're American.
Back to back. World war champs, baby. Get some. And also, we're Texan and we're proud.
We're even East Texan. We are the buckle of the Bible Belt.
We know more. It's difficult for us to be submitted because of the pride in our hearts. But your submission is the key for God to do incredible things with your life.
Your ability to stay submitted to the timing of the Lord and to the spiritual authority that God has put over you.
By the way. Even if that spiritual authority is a little whack.
Case in point, by the way, David was submitted to two prophets in his lifetime, the prophet Samuel and the prophet Nathan. Not only did they pour oil on his head and prepare him to become king, they also confronted him when he was wrong. And he listened.
He listened.
He submitted himself to the authority, even if he was the king. So remind yourself. When David was a young shepherd boy and he kills Goliath and he gets anointed to be the next king of Israel, he ends up going to work for the most toxic box of all time. And I know you may have it weird. Don't need my staff. Say anything. No amens right there. You may have it weird at your boss, with your boss, and on your job. I understand that. But David submitted in an unhealthy work environment. He kept his heart right before the Lord. He submitted as unto the Lord.
That's a big deal.
Now, I don't know how bad your boss is, but his boss tried to kill him twice.
That's one time too many for me. I'm filing with hr.
He threw a spear at me.
You Mean a stapler? Same thing.
Well, what did you do? Like, it doesn't matter.
David goes on the run. He's in danger of losing his life. Remind yourself he's already been anointed the next king.
But he's not there yet. There's the period between the promise and the position.
And in that in between season, he has to pass the submission and the spiritual maturity test, by the way. Just like you. Just like me. In between the promises that God has for your life and the position that God brings you into is the submission test.
So David's on the run with his men. He. He's in fear for his. For losing his life. He ends up going and hiding out in a cave. And unbeknownst to Saul, King Saul walks right into David's cave to use the bathroom. His eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness of the cave yet. And David sees him and he's like, wow, he walked right into me. He's completely unguarded. Here is the king. All I gotta do is kill him and I can have the promise that God has given me. By the way, you're going to find this Old Testament, New Testament, you'll find this all over as a recurring theme throughout God's word, the opportunity to jump ahead of the promise that God has given you and to make it happen for yourself.
But David was submitted to the prophetic authority that was over his life that had told him, you're going to be the next king.
And David understood something. If God promised it, I don't have to manipulate it.
Please hear me.
So David's friends tell him one thing. Look at this. In 1st Samuel, chapter 24, I put it on the screen behind me. It says, this is the day that the Lord told you about. This is the day that God promised you. This is your opportunity.
God says he's going to give your enemy into your hand and you can do whatever you want with it. Short term thinking says, lord, if you want me to kill this person, give me no sign that will be done.
David understood. If the Lord promised it, I don't have to make it happen on my timeline. The Lord can absolutely do this and he doesn't need my help. My job is to be submitted.
My job is to be spiritually mature enough to not take matters into my own hands and make something happen. That's not the way I'm gonna become king. The Lord's gonna have to do this.
That's a submitted heart.
The Bible tells us in the same story that David takes his knife and creeps up to Saul and he cuts off just the corner of his robe. And by the way, as soon as he does that, it says he feels horrible about it.
What is that? That spirit spiritual maturity. Like, I shouldn't have even touched him. I shouldn't have done that. After all the things that Saul had done to David. David felt bad about even cutting off the corner of his robe. Playing a little prank on him. Could have killed you. Didn't do says David felt bad at spiritual maturity.
That's a submitted heart.
Well, Pastor, submission is weakness. No, no, no, no, no. Biblically, Biblically, submission is not weakness. Submission is what is. It's strength surrendered to God's timing.
As a matter of fact, submitting is one of the hardest things you're going to ever have to do.
Placing yourself in a position where someone can tell you no, and you say, you're right, I trust you.
You don't have to submit to everybody and you should not submit to everybody. But those are, those there are, those are worth submitting to that God has placed around you. The question is, who gets that authority in your life? But the submission test is one that very few believers will ever pass. Because we don't like it.
You're going to have to stay teachable and you're going to have to stay submitted.
Here's the last and final thing I want to close with this. Number three, not only got to stay submitted and teachable, but number three, you got to stay faithful.
Now we have a different understanding of what that word faithful really means. I found a lot of believers will use the word faithful as an excuse for doing nothing.
I'm just over here being faithful. No, you're just taking up space. Help me less.
I'm just being faithful. That's what it means to just do nothing. Faithful does not mean. It doesn't mean doing nothing.
As a matter of fact, James says, faith without works is dead. What are you doing with your faith?
Remind yourself. When Jesus talks about the good stewards, the faithful stewards, when he talks about the landowner leaving and he gives his stewards a set amount of money, he says, I'm going away. When I come back, let's see what happens. And one of them reproduces and gathers. He gives them 10, he comes back with 10 more and one gets five. He comes back with five more. And then the other one says, oh, I'm just here being faithful. I'm just gonna take what you've given me and I'm gonna give it right back to you.
We would call that faithful. Just Giving God back what God has given you. That's even.
I don't owe you nothing. God, you don't owe me nothing.
But what we would call faithful, Jesus calls wicked.
He calls it lazy.
Why?
Because God designed your life to do more than just take up space. God wants to produce fruit. God wants to use you to do incredible things. Faithfulness doesn't mean doing nothing.
Being faithful means, Lord, everything that you've given me, I want to reproduce exponentially more for the kingdom, not for myself, but for you. That's what it means to be faithful, to have the right attitude with which we approach everything that we do. How can this bring great glory to God? Lord, what do you want through what I have? That's faithfulness.
There's a wonderful scripture in Galatians, chapter 6, where the apostle Paul says he tells the saints gathered there. He tells them, let us not grow weary in. Look at the next two words and say it with me doing good, not doing nothing, doing good.
And look at the promise that the Lord makes to his people if they are not going to quit doing good.
He says, for in the proper time or in the right season, when God says it's the next season, look what's going to happen. It's going to produce a harvest. You will reap a harvest. If you don't say the next two words, give up.
You know, there are three seasons located just in that one verse, three powerful truths.
And Paul uses this agricultural terms to kind of help illustrate the point. And he. He sees the three seasons. He says, there's the. There's the sowing season, there's the reaping season, and then in between there's the waiting season. By the way, out of those three seasons, we love two of them.
We love when we're sowing because we have so much vision of what could happen. We understand that, that you reap what you sow and that you reap more than what you sow, right? You plant one seed. You don't get back one plant.
You plant one seed. And that one plant produces exponentially more, right? That's the kingdom of God. That's the law of the harvest.
It's not a one to one ratio.
So when we're planting and when we're sowing, so much vision, so much excitement. And oh, when the reaping season comes, when God has produced more than we can ask or think or even imagine, when God has blessed and he has prospered and he has given so much of himself, and you see the things that you invested in A long time ago start to come to pass in your family, in your relationships, in your spiritual walk, and in your maturity. But God begins to bless those things. And he does. We celebrate that big, but it's the in between season, between the sowing and the reaping.
We don't celebrate a lot.
The most dangerous season for a believer is right there.
It's in that part of your life where you've been sowing long enough to get tired, but you haven't been waiting long enough to see the harvest. And that's exactly the moment where Paul says, don't quit.
Don't quit.
Don't quit what?
Being nice? No, no, no, no. Doing good doesn't mean being nice.
It doesn't mean being polite. That's not what that means.
And it doesn't mean doing nothing. As a matter of fact, when Paul says don't quit doing good, those two words right there, the Greek word is tokalon, which translates to us doing what is noble, what is the right thing, what's good?
I'm over here doing good.
What does that mean? I'm just staying out of trouble. No, no, no. Doing good means doing the right thing. Doing what is noble, what honors the Lord, what brings the most glory to the Lord. In this season, Paul says, don't quit if you're doing the right thing. Keep doing it. Keep taking those steps of faith. Stay teachable, stay faithful, stay submitted, read your word, spend time leading and teaching and investing into your family. Spend time doing the right thing. Pray again, forgive again, go to church.
Don't stop doing the right thing.
Because in the right season, that pays off.
When you take a long term view of your life, what are you planting today that you know is going to pay off? In spiritual fruit?
What are the promises that we were able to plant in our lives knowing that God's word doesn't return void that God absolutely will back up what he's asking of each of us. The question is, where do you want your soul to be?
10 years.
Are you teachable? You faithful submitted?
Are you willing to take the steps?
Well, Pastor, you don't understand. I've been doing this a long time. I'm just kind of wore out. I'm tired of doing all that. You're in the waiting season. It's okay.
Let me introduce you to, by the way, I want to show you some video of a man named Cliff.
And as a matter of fact, Cliff was 61 years old and his name is Cliff Young.
Cliff Young entered a marathon.
He shows up in work Boots and overalls.
Now this is not just a 3k or a 5k. This is not one of those kind of marathons. Cliff Young enters this marathon. It ends up being a 544 mile ultra marathon with elite athletes. He's 61 years old in work boots and he has a funny way of running that people would make fun of him. As a matter of fact, he takes out his dentures because he says they rattle too much when I try to run.
Cliff Young didn't even have the right shoes. As a matter of fact, somebody felt sorry for him and gives him a pair of running shoes just to help a brother out.
And Cliff Young takes off on this race. The starter's gun goes off and all these elite athletes just blow past him. Cliff Young is only missing one thing.
He doesn't know the strategy.
All the rest of these guys begin to sleep at different points of this multi day race. They sleep for about six hours and they take off running at their full pace to conserve energy. Cliff Young doesn't know that. He just keeps running.
By the end of this 544mile race, Cliff Young breaks the world record by two days.
Because he just wouldn't stop. Not because he was the fastest, not because he has the best strategy, not because. Not because he has the best equipment. He doesn't even have his teeth. What does he have?
He just keeps stepping.
He just won't quit.
He gets to the finish line, by the way, and he is shocked. And he feels a little guilty because they give him the prize that he didn't even know existed of $10,000. He takes the prize money, he divides it up amongst the other guys that finish behind him. Cause he felt bad.
I didn't know they were giving away money. I'm just running like you are the original Forrest Gump.
How do you do this?
Just kept stepping and he didn't quit.
So maybe you're looking at your life and saying, pastor, you don't understand. I don't have a squeaky clean past like everybody else in this room. Just don't quit. Just keep showing up. Pastor, you don't understand what I've done. It doesn't matter. His grace is enough. Just don't quit. Keep taking the next step of faith, whatever that might look like for you. Pray again, but believe again. Serve again, show up again, go to group again.
Because what God can do with a life of someone that just won't quit is incredible.
Stay faithful, stay teachable, stay submitted. A powerful life in Christ is built by giving God one teachable submitted, faithful, day at a time.
Don't quit. It's a season of miracles. It's time for us to take some steps of faith.
Would you bow your head and close your eyes? As we finish up today, I want to speak to those that might have gotten discouraged, might have find themselves in the. In a place where life has not been going too well lately. And you find yourself questioning, Lord, do you even have a plan for me? I feel so dry.
Feels like I can't even hear you. Like I'm kind of just going through the motions, just doing what I'm supposed to do. But to be honest, things have been a little stale in my walk with Christ. My friend, you are in the right place.
As a matter of fact, if you could see it right now in the Spirit, God himself is reaching out his hand and saying, let's go.
You are as near to God as you allow yourself to be. Be.
And he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.
He's inviting you into a new season.
Some of us have been sewing and waiting for a long time.
Some of us have promises from God, but we haven't been at the position that God promised us. You're in the waiting season.
That's the good stuff.
God's preparing you for what's coming.
Listen to Him. Let him do his work.
I want to invite you right where you are, everyone within the sound of my voice. Even if you're watching online. Would you do me a favor? Would you. Would you close your eyes and just open up your hands to the Lord? Maybe put yourself in a position where it seems like somebody's just handing you something. This is a.
This is submission posture where we're open.
We're saying we're open to the Holy Spirit. We're asking him to help us, to change us, to show us, to lead us.
Would you open up your hands to the Lord and pray one simple three word prayer? Holy Spirit, come. Can you say that with me? Holy Spirit, come.
Holy Spirit, come. We invite you, Holy Spirit, into every part of our lives.
To correct us, to show us, to encourage, to challenge, whatever it takes. Lord, we don't want to waste this gift of life that you've given us. Help us to have a long view mentality of what you want to do to a submitted and faithful teachable disciple of Christ.
Father, we humble ourselves before you and ask for help.
Help us, Lord, we pray.
And now with heads bowed and eyes closed, maybe you came to church today, or maybe you were even watching online and you're saying, pastor, I am so far from God, man. I've been running from God.
All of us have our excuses and reasons why. You've got yours. I've had mine.
The most important question is, what are you willing to do about it?
God himself wants to welcome you home with open arms. And if you've been running from God, if you've turned your back on them, if you've fallen into sin, my friend, you are in the right place.
God himself is saying, come home, come back to me.
Or maybe, like me, you're at a place in your life where you say, I don't really have a relationship with Jesus. I need that. My friend.
Yes, you do. And let us help you meet Jesus today.
So whether you've been running from him or you've never known him at all, I want to lead you in a prayer and I want to make sure that you understand I'm not here to embarrass you or single you out in any way. I would never do that. But you need to make a decision. This is your moment. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, all of us are going to pray a prayer together. We want you to join in and pray this prayer out loud. It's a prayer of repentance. It's not a magical prayer. It's a prayer of submission. It's a prayer of humility.
A prayer asking for God's forgiveness for our sin.
And this is where everything begins to happen for you with this prayer. So, saints, let's pray this out loud together. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.
I believe that you came and died.
I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for my sins.
Please forgive me and I'll give you the rest of my life in Jesus name, with heads bowed and eyes closed with no one else looking around. If that was you and you say, pastor, I prayed that prayer. I meant that prayer. I'm getting serious with Jesus right now. I just see just those of you that pray that prayer. Would you lift up your hand all across this place and say, that was me. That was me. Good, good, good, good. I see you. You guys can put your hands down. Maybe you're even watching online. I want you to know that there's a phone number that's going to be appearing on the screen behind me and on the screen that you're watching right now. I want to ask you if you. If you made that decision. I'm not going to ask you to walk some aisle or to stand up or make some public confession. Simply going to ask you to text me, text the words I prayed to that number. I'm going to send you back the link to some things that will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next. It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus, to help prodigals come home, to help lives start fresh and anew.
And I'm proud of you in the decision that you just made.
How rich family, go ahead and look up at me if you would. Let's stand to our feet together as we end our service today, as we always do. I'm going to have our elders and their wives step forward. And let me just tell you once again that if you're walking into this church saying, I need a, I need a helping hand from the Lord. I need, I need some help, my friend. This is where that happens. As our service ends today, these guys are going to stay right here to be available to pray for you about anything that you might be needing prayer for.
Also, if you're watching this online, you enjoy what we're hearing today. You think, you think people need to hear this message? Click the share button. It's a big help when you do that. It costs a lot to run this operation and it's only made possible by the faithful generosity of people that are watching, people that are here saying, I want to contribute, I want to help. I believe that this is important into our world. So when you can, click the share button, when you're willing to stand behind the vision of this place, financially, we're able to do a lot of great things all, all around the world. And I want to just say thank you for being so generous. You guys are amazing. Also, there's a couple of important things happening. Groups are launching all over the town this week. So I do want to tell you we have set the all time record for the most groups and that's a good and bad thing. The bad thing is there's still a lot of people that want to be in groups and those are pretty much closed. So there might be a couple spots still left. But if you are not able to get into a group but you still want to follow along, maybe you have a difficult work schedule schedule or you can't commit to a certain time or whatever. We do have some, some single devotionals for you.
Now once again, those are not for everyone. Those, these are very expensive for us to make. It costs a lot of money. So I don't have books for everybody, but if you weren't able to get into a group, we have a book for you in the lobby. Let it be our free gift to you. And if. If the Lord moves on your heart and say, I want to help pay for some of that, meet Pastor James somewhere around here.
Or, you know what? Talk to pastor Mark. Just as good. Just as good.
There you are, Pastor James. I see you in the back. Okay. He's British. He just kind of blends in.
But we would appreciate that also. Hey. Unite is coming up this Thursday night. So we're gonna be meeting at the Belcher center with a lot of other churches gathering together to worship the Lord. Seu worship is coming right here to Longview to lead us in a concert. We've got a speaker named Marcus McFoling. It's a beautiful thing. There are still some tickets left for that. If you're in a place where you say, pastor, we're walking through a tough financial season, I would love to come. I can't afford it. Then please don't let that stop you. I have some. I have some personal tickets. James will have those. Please be my guest. I would love to be able to invest into you. I just want you there. So don't let money be the thing that keeps you from. From following and seeing what God is doing in this city. It's a big deal. We are watching churches work together to accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. We're not in competition. It's not us bashing some other church. That's not the thing that's happening here. We're not in gangs.
We're actually able to work together. It is happening. That's something that, by the way, most cities will never see.
All they do is go from church to church, talking about how bad the other one was.
Only difference in those churches is you were there.
But that's for to next. That's for next week's sermon.
We want to see you this Thursday night. Tickets are still available. There's a few of those left if you need some help. Pastor James has some of my tickets. They're. They're my gift to you. We would love for you to come.
And then if you're at a place where you're like, I want to support somebody else. Maybe our family's being blessed. Can I. Can I buy some tickets for somebody else? You absolutely can do that. We love your generosity. It's a lot of generous people. Thank you for that. Let me pray for you and bless you as we go. And then I want to request that you would make some intercession this week for my cowboys. We are officially undefeated right now. Things are going really well so I just want to praise the Lord for that and give him honor and glory. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Would you bless their families, bless their marriages, bless their finances, help them Lord to find your path and walk in it all week long in Jesus name and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. I hope you have an awesome week.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer 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.
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[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 life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
