Is God a Partner or a Vending Machine? A Review of ‘Worship Service’

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
Well, good morning, Lake City Church.
[00:00:50] Let's stand on our feet as we worship Jesus this morning.
[00:00:54] Are you guys excited to be in the house?
[00:00:56] Come on, let's put our hands together.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:02:35] The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Hold my soul, hold my soul
[00:03:07] Come on, sing this with me.
[00:03:34] So let it rise up like a river Overflowing Holy Spirit Let it pour out with no limit Overflowing Holy Spirit
[00:04:01] Holy Spirit Who rules the world with truth and grace And makes the nations prove The only reason is righteousness
[00:05:21] The way of the Lord is my strength To hold my soul, hold my soul, bless His name All that is within me, save Hold my soul, bless His name
[00:06:07] Come on, give a shout of praise in the house this morning.
[00:06:34] The same creation's glory now proclaim Messiah's birth Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the Lord
[00:07:10] God is shining, God is shining
[00:08:30] Worship Christ the miracle king God is with us even now His love is here Come and worship, worship Christ the miracle king

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
Emmanuel, God with us.
[00:10:13] Man, what a time and season it is for us.
[00:10:15] Amen?
[00:10:16] Well, before we see you this morning, turn around, high-five your neighbor, and welcome to Lake City Church.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Good morning and welcome to Lake City Church.
[00:10:44] If it's your first time here this morning, go ahead and pull out your worship guide.
[00:10:48] On the inside flap is a guest card.
[00:10:50] You can fill it out and take it to the Welcome Center and we have a special gift just for you.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Hey guys, it's Aaron out here at the tree lot.
[00:10:55] I just wanted to let you guys know it is the last week to buy a tree.
[00:10:59] Remember, every single proceed goes to fight human trafficking and to send kids to youth care.
[00:11:03] For more information, visit lakecitychurch.org.
[00:11:06] If you're a man, you know it, you need to come to the Ironman Breakfast.
[00:11:09] If you've never checked one out, come check us out this Saturday morning.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
We have a great breakfast, awesome time of fellowship, we get in the Word together, and we can't wait to see you.
[00:11:18] So be there or be square.

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Hi y'all, I want to invite you to the Christmas Candlelight Communion.
[00:11:23] It's happening on December 23rd this year, not on Christmas Eve, but on the 23rd.
[00:11:30] Christmas Eve Eve and there will be music there will be the reading of the Christmas story there will be communion there'll be the lighting of the candles it's going to be awesome it's a family service and we can't wait to see you there thanks again for joining us this morning make sure to check us out on our socials or our website at lakecitychurch.org and remember we love you God loves you make it a great day

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Well, good morning.
[00:11:57] It's good to have you together to worship this morning.
[00:12:00] And I'm going to answer questions on all of your minds with a no.
[00:12:04] We are not up here practicing for our role as the three wise guys or three wise men at the Christmas Eve Eve service.
[00:12:10] But it will take three of us this morning because it is an incredibly special Sunday morning.
[00:12:15] Because today Susie and I get to
[00:12:18] The privilege of leading you in the pastor's love offering, the pastor's Christmas love offering.
[00:12:23] It's something we do once a year to show our pastors how much we love and appreciate them.
[00:12:30] And personally, I can say and I always feel like I can look at them and I can see the heart of God and I can see what it's supposed to look like to have that personal relationship with Christ and how it works itself out in every situation.
[00:12:42] And we've often talked that in our house,
[00:12:44] There is not one area of our family life that has not been affected by these people.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
And originally, you know, this was taken, this love offering was taken for our lead pastors, Pastor Diana and Pastor Rob.
[00:12:57] But through the past several years, they've graciously shared that love offering with all the other pastors and their families.
[00:13:03] And we want to continue to do that today.
[00:13:06] We want to continue to love on all of our pastors, their families, and bless them the way they bless us from week to week here.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
So if you'll take out your worship guide on the back as a QR code, I think it's going to appear on the screen behind me too.
[00:13:20] We just want to encourage you to be generous this morning to let our pastors know that from the bottom of our hearts that no one can replace them and we love them deeply and are so thankful for the way they pour into us day in and day out.
[00:13:33] and also today is our time when we or this time in our service when we come together to support our regular ministry so there are as always there are four ways to give and they'll be up on the screen and we ask you to continue to support that you are an incredibly generous family and with that being said i think we have another very big announcement yeah so uh christmas has come a little bit early for lake city church and that's because over the next few weeks you're going to start seeing some bulldozers show up some fencing going up around this property

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
On Thursday evening at 5 o'clock, the town of Mooresville has officially approved our plans.
[00:14:13] So it's time to go.
[00:14:15] Can we all stand this morning?
[00:14:17] Lord, I just thank you that you are the reason for this season, Jesus.
[00:14:21] Jesus, I thank you for coming to this earth and giving us hope and joy and peace, Lord God.
[00:14:26] And I pray as we continue throughout this season that everyone in this room would experience that joy and then spread that joy to others, Lord.
[00:14:33] Lord, I just give you praise and glory.
[00:14:35] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
It was my cause you bore so I could live in the freedom you died for
[00:15:14] Now my life is Yours and I will sing of Your goodness forevermore
[00:15:27] Worthy is your name, Jesus You deserve the prize Worthy is your name Worthy is your name, Jesus You deserve the prize Worthy is your name
[00:16:10] Now my shame is gone I stand amazed In Your love undeniable Your grace goes on and on And I will sing of Your good
[00:17:01] Let us pray.
[00:17:47] Be exalted now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise You're the name above all names Be exalted now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise
[00:18:16] In our heavens as your glory fills this place
[00:18:50] You alone deserve our praise
[00:19:40] God is your name Jesus You deserve the praise God is your name God is your name Jesus You deserve the praise
[00:20:10] Jesus, You deserve the praise What is Your name?

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
What is Your name?
[00:20:33] Jesus, You deserve the praise What is Your name?

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
God, we thank you that you're worthy of our praise.
[00:20:56] You deserve everything we are and everything we have.
[00:20:58] It's yours, Lord.
[00:21:00] We receive what you have for us today.
[00:21:02] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:21:04] You can be seated this morning.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
O come, all ye faithful,

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
How y'all doing?
[00:22:03] Somebody pumped!
[00:22:06] I hope so.
[00:22:07] I am pumped.
[00:22:08] I'm excited.
[00:22:09] So glad to be with you.
[00:22:10] I'm glad you're here this morning.
[00:22:11] If you're watching online or in the overflow areas, all of our Hispanic friends, Gloria Dios, Jesus Señor, that's kind of it for me.
[00:22:21] But anyway, I love you guys back there.
[00:22:24] I was thinking, you know, it's only two and a half weeks approximately before our Christmas candlelight communion.
[00:22:34] Now I don't know how many of you remember last year we had four services last year and it was so packed that we couldn't get everybody in the building so some people were turned away and I hate to turn people away so this year we've moved it it's not on Christmas Eve but rather on Christmas Eve Eve which is December 23rd everybody say 23rd
[00:23:00] Because if you show up on the 24th, you're gonna have a wonderful time all by yourself.
[00:23:06] Or if the other three people, you guys can get together and have your own thing, I guess.
[00:23:09] But, yeah, on the 23rd, coming up in about two and a half weeks, we actually have five services.
[00:23:17] The first one starts at 4 o'clock.
[00:23:19] The last one is at 9 o'clock p.m.
[00:23:22] So regardless of what your schedule looks like, there's a service for you.
[00:23:27] So I want you to just make plans, and if there are any push signs left out in the lobby,
[00:23:33] Take those push signs, put them in your yard.
[00:23:35] Don't put them in your neighbor's yard, but put them somewhere.
[00:23:38] Also, we have some invite cards on the Welcome Center desk.
[00:23:44] Pick up some welcome cards and blitz your friends, your neighbors, your people at work.
[00:23:49] Invite everybody you can because this event
[00:23:52] The Candlelight Communion is one of the most amazing services of the year.
[00:23:58] A great opportunity to invite people to come and at that season God just really moves in hearts and many people will come to Christ over this season.
[00:24:08] So do that.
[00:24:09] Alright, are you guys ready to jump into God's Word?
[00:24:12] Let's do it.
[00:24:13] Let's pray.
[00:24:14] Father, we love you.
[00:24:16] We've just loved singing the songs of Christmas, the songs of worship to you.
[00:24:21] And now, Lord, we turn our focus to your Word and what you have to say to us.
[00:24:26] Lord, I ask that for the next few minutes that you would just open your Word to us.
[00:24:31] I pray that some of us that maybe have heard some of these things before would have a new openness to hear not what I say, but what your Word has to say to us.
[00:24:42] Lord, challenge and change us.
[00:24:43] I pray all this in the mighty and the powerful name of Jesus.
[00:24:47] And everybody said amen, hallelujah.
[00:24:49] Thank you for some yo's out there in the crowd.
[00:24:52] Today we're continuing our series, our Christmas series called Come to Worship Him.
[00:24:58] Our theme verse comes from Matthew 2, verse number 1, where it says, After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
[00:25:08] During the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?
[00:25:18] We saw his star in the east, and we have come to worship him.
[00:25:24] Now I know that most of us, I think all of us who have come here today, we have come to worship Him, haven't we?
[00:25:30] We have come to worship Him.
[00:25:33] Yes, we have.
[00:25:35] And while many people around us, maybe they're focusing on reindeer and Santa Claus, we have come to worship Him.
[00:25:43] Last week we talked about worshiping Him with the posture of lifting our hands to Him.
[00:25:51] If you missed it, you can go on lakecitychurch.org and you can watch the service.
[00:25:56] But this morning, I want to talk to you about worshiping Him by bringing your gifts to Him.
[00:26:06] King Herod was an evil king, and he was threatened by the news of a new king, the king of the Jews.
[00:26:16] And so he lied to the wise men.
[00:26:18] He said, when you find him, tell me where he is so that I can go and worship him too.
[00:26:25] But, of course, his intention was to kill the Christ child.
[00:26:30] Matthew chapter 2 and verse 9 tells us, After they, the wise men, heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them, until it stopped over the place where the child was.
[00:26:47] This is pretty amazing, isn't it?
[00:26:50] I mean, they followed the star all the way from Persia, which is modern-day Iran, to the very place where Jesus was, a distance of about 900 miles.
[00:27:02] It was a very long journey.
[00:27:03] It was a very tedious journey.
[00:27:05] It was a very dangerous journey.
[00:27:08] And they did it for one reason, and that was they came to worship Him.
[00:27:12] They came to worship Him, the Christ, the Savior of the world.
[00:27:17] And then in verse 10 it says, When they saw the star they were overjoyed.
[00:27:23] One version says they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
[00:27:29] The Greek words used here for overjoyed mean big.
[00:27:34] Humongous overarching joy so it's almost impossible to describe how joyous these wise men were because for centuries people were waiting for the Savior who would be born to save them from their sins to save all of us from our sins and the wise men they found him
[00:27:56] and that's why they came and that's why they were overjoyed.
[00:28:00] Now I don't want to sound like a party pooper but it seems to me that some professing Christians today are underjoyed rather than overjoyed.
[00:28:11] Folks, we should be the most overjoyed people on earth because God sent his son Jesus to save us from our sins and we have found him.
[00:28:22] We have found him.
[00:28:24] Yes, come on.
[00:28:26] Actually, He found us and then we found Him.
[00:28:29] As Christ followers, your joy and my joy should be big.
[00:28:34] It should be humongous.
[00:28:35] It should be overarching because no matter how tough this life may be, we have the promise of eternal life.
[00:28:45] The wise men traveled 900 miles and they just couldn't wait to worship Him.
[00:28:53] Matthew 2.11 says, On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him.
[00:29:02] Then they opened their treasures and they presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and of myrrh.
[00:29:12] Notice they presented him with gifts.
[00:29:16] It has been debated for years what those gifts actually symbolized, and the popular thinking is that gold represented his kingship, he being the king of kings and the lord of lords.
[00:29:30] Frankincense represented his priestly role.
[00:29:32] He is our high priest.
[00:29:35] Myrrh was used to embalm the dead, so it represented the fact that Jesus was born to die for the sins of every one of us.
[00:29:43] The wise men were overjoyed because they had the opportunity of bringing their gifts as an act of worship.
[00:29:51] They were overjoyed.
[00:29:54] Today, we can still bring our gifts to worship Him and we too should be overjoyed.
[00:30:02] You know why?
[00:30:02] Because we love Him and therefore we love to give to Him.
[00:30:08] Think about this.
[00:30:10] Lovers love to give.
[00:30:13] Lovers love to give.
[00:30:14] When you fall in love with Jesus, the Holy Spirit inside of you makes you want to give, doesn't He?
[00:30:21] Oh, He does.
[00:30:22] He makes you want to give.
[00:30:25] Almost every year, Diane and I agree not to give each other a Christmas gift that year because we agree, hey, we'll use that money to help other people in need.
[00:30:36] We'll use that money for our kids and our grandkids.
[00:30:39] They always need something.
[00:30:40] You know how that is.
[00:30:41] And we do all of those things, but every single year, we end up breaking our own agreement not to give gifts to each other.
[00:30:51] You know why?
[00:30:51] Because we love each other, and love gives.
[00:30:55] Love gives.
[00:30:58] Here's a question.
[00:30:59] Is it even possible to love someone and not give to that person?
[00:31:05] You know, it reminds me of the most well-known verse in the entire Bible, and that's John 3.16, and it says, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
[00:31:22] God loved and He gave.
[00:31:24] The wise men loved and they gave.
[00:31:27] When we love, we will also want to give.
[00:31:33] The wise men, they gave three gifts.
[00:31:36] And we can also give three gifts, three valuable gifts to God.
[00:31:41] Now, you might be sitting there thinking, well, what three things that I have that are so valuable that God would want them?
[00:31:48] Well, there are three things, and they all come from God, but it becomes an act of worship when we give these things back to God.
[00:31:57] What are the three things?
[00:31:58] Number one, your time.
[00:32:00] Number two, your talent.
[00:32:03] And number three, your treasure, the material resources that God has entrusted to you.
[00:32:10] And here's the thing, a healthy Christian life involves giving not just one or two, but all three things back to God.
[00:32:19] I have no idea how to assess the value of frankincense and myrrh,
[00:32:25] But as of December 1st, last Monday, the price of gold was $4,249 per ounce.
[00:32:31] And that was up $5 from the day before.
[00:32:37] It was up $1,610 from one year ago that same day.
[00:32:43] Anyone investing in gold, don't raise your hand, but maybe you should be.
[00:32:48] The wise men certainly were.
[00:32:50] My point is the wise men brought their time, they brought their talent, and they brought their treasure, their gold, as a gift to God.
[00:33:00] And it was received as a beautiful act of worship.
[00:33:05] Remember what Jesus said to us about our treasure.
[00:33:11] In Matthew 6, 19, he said, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
[00:33:21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[00:33:27] Isn't that an interesting statement?
[00:33:30] Your heart follows your treasure.
[00:33:34] Your heart follows your treasure.
[00:33:36] Usually we think, well, if I love someone or something, that will motivate me to give, and that's usually true, but Jesus is saying something a little bit different.
[00:33:44] In essence, he's saying giving produces loving.
[00:33:50] Giving produces loving.
[00:33:51] You may be thinking, well, I love God now, but when you start to give to God, you love him even more.
[00:33:57] I mean, it's like your love just explodes right off the charts.
[00:34:02] No wonder the biggest givers are often the biggest lovers.
[00:34:07] And when I think about the gifts that the three wise men gave to Jesus, I wish I could have followed their experience afterward because I can only imagine how their love for God just exploded within them.
[00:34:20] Their heart followed their treasure.
[00:34:23] Their heart followed their treasure.
[00:34:25] If you want to know where your heart really is, then simply identify the location of your treasure.
[00:34:33] Who or what are you giving your time, your talent, and your treasure to?
[00:34:40] See, these three mysterious wise guys, they knew something a lot of modern Christians don't seem to know.
[00:34:47] And that is that your giving to God increases your love for God.
[00:34:53] and then God receives it as a momentous act of worship.
[00:34:58] Now it's totally true that God doesn't need your money.
[00:35:01] How many of you know God doesn't need your money?
[00:35:05] I know it's humbling but no, God doesn't need my money, all two dollars.
[00:35:10] God doesn't need your money.
[00:35:12] But something happens when we give our money, we're simultaneously giving our heart to Him.
[00:35:19] And God is honored by that.
[00:35:22] And so we can honor God by giving Him our time, our talent, our treasure.
[00:35:27] And all of these things we give to Him and they're inseparably connected to our heart.
[00:35:33] Proverbs 3 verse number 9 makes it really practical.
[00:35:37] It says, Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all of your crops.
[00:35:45] Now I know that you guys aren't farmers today, at least not most of you, but they were back then.
[00:35:51] It was an agrarian society.
[00:35:54] And whenever they had a harvest of one of their crops, they would bring what they called the first fruits.
[00:36:01] And they would bring it in and they would give it to God.
[00:36:04] It reminds me of the early days of our ministry, Diane and I, when we were pastoring back in the late 70s and 80s, that many times people would have a garden and they would bring the first fruits
[00:36:20] They would bring the first fruits of their corn.
[00:36:23] They would bring the first fruits of their green beans and their tomatoes.
[00:36:26] And I'm sure God really felt honored by their gifts.
[00:36:30] And in the same way, when we bring our wealth and the first fruits of our harvest, which is usually our paycheck, and we give it to God, He's honored.
[00:36:41] He's honored by that.
[00:36:44] No doubt you've heard the term tithe.
[00:36:48] Tithe literally means a tenth or ten percent.
[00:36:52] Both the Old Testament and the New Testament talks about giving a tithe.
[00:36:57] Malachi 3.10 reads, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
[00:37:06] Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
[00:37:17] And so we bring Him the first fruit of what He gives to us and it becomes a beautiful act of worship.
[00:37:24] But that's not the end of it.
[00:37:26] Then God opens the floodgates of heaven and He pours out blessings, so many blessings we can't even hardly contain it all.
[00:37:36] Folks, this is so true, it is predictable.
[00:37:41] Whenever I talk about tithing, I can always spot the tithers in the crowd.
[00:37:47] I can't.
[00:37:48] You know why?
[00:37:48] Because they're the ones sitting there nodding their heads.
[00:37:51] Because they have experienced the open floodgates of heaven.
[00:37:54] They know from experience that 90% with God's favor and God's blessing goes much further than 100% without it.
[00:38:04] When I was a small boy, my parents gave us an allowance.
[00:38:09] My allowance was 50 cents a week.
[00:38:13] And they taught me, as a young boy, they taught me this act of worship.
[00:38:20] and Reconciliation.
[00:38:26] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:38:47] Amen.
[00:38:49] Well, I just cleaned up in the neighborhood.
[00:38:52] I did all of the yards in the neighborhood.
[00:38:54] It was amazing.
[00:38:55] I got $2 per yard.
[00:38:58] Doesn't sound like a whole lot, does it?
[00:39:00] But back then, it seemed like a lot to me.
[00:39:04] I did a whole lot of yards.
[00:39:05] I was making, on average, $60 a week just mowing lawns.
[00:39:09] I thought I was rich.
[00:39:11] I bought my first King James Bible from my lawn money.
[00:39:16] I bought my first study Bible from my lawn money.
[00:39:19] But out of that $60 a week, I carved out 10%
[00:39:24] And I'll never forget how I felt.
[00:39:26] I always will remember putting that 10% in the offering basket.
[00:39:32] In those days we had baskets.
[00:39:34] And I would put my 10% in the offering baskets and I was just filled every time with a sense of joy because I knew that I was honoring God.
[00:39:45] Over the last 51 years of marriage, Diane and I have always given our first fruits, the first fruits of our income, a tithe of our income to the Lord.
[00:39:58] And God has blessed us, He has blessed our family immeasurably.
[00:40:02] Now listen to me, please hear this.
[00:40:04] I'm not telling you that if you tithe, God is gonna give you a brand new BMW.
[00:40:10] I'm not telling you if you tithe, God is going to give you everything that you could ever want.
[00:40:15] But I am telling you that when you honor God, He will prove Himself faithful to you in your finances, in your family, in every area of your life.
[00:40:26] Diane and I are truly overjoyed to be able to give.
[00:40:30] And the more we give, the more we love.
[00:40:34] But it's so much more than giving money.
[00:40:37] It's about giving our lives to Him.
[00:40:42] In Romans chapter 12, verse number 1, the Apostle Paul tells us something that is so powerful.
[00:40:49] You gotta get this.
[00:40:50] He says this, he says, Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy.
[00:40:57] How many of you have experienced God's mercy?
[00:40:59] I sure have.
[00:41:00] The truth is that none of us would be here today without God's mercy.
[00:41:05] I mean, we would all be french fries.
[00:41:08] Zap!
[00:41:08] We're out of here.
[00:41:09] God's mercy.
[00:41:11] And Paul says, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
[00:41:20] This is your spiritual act of worship.
[00:41:24] To give your body, to give your soul, to give your spirit, to give your whole life to Him.
[00:41:28] This is your act of worship.
[00:41:33] The wise men were overjoyed with the Savior and they brought their gifts to Him.
[00:41:39] This Christmas season and throughout the year, will you focus on Him?
[00:41:46] Will you bring your gifts to Him?
[00:41:49] And will you come to worship Him?
[00:41:53] Let's pray together.
[00:41:54] Father, we're just so thankful that You sent Your Son, Jesus, the greatest gift of all, and You sent Him to us as a little baby born in a manger, but literally the Son of God, and He came and He died on the cross for us so that our sins could be forgiven.
[00:42:17] Thank You so much.
[00:42:18] And oh God, today, I just pray that you would help us to grasp the great gift that you gave to us and now we have an opportunity to give our gifts back to you.
[00:42:31] And we thank you for receiving them.
[00:42:33] In Jesus' name.
[00:42:34] Would you go ahead and stand together with me?
[00:42:39] And as we stand in this moment of quiet with our heads bowed and our eyes closed,
[00:42:46] This morning, I just want to give...
[00:42:50] My gifts to God.
[00:42:53] I want to give my time, my talent, my treasure to God.
[00:42:57] And I know that many of you would say the same thing.
[00:43:00] And if you want to give your whole life to God, would you just raise your hand with mine and say, yes, God, today I'm just making this statement.
[00:43:09] I want to give my whole life to you.
[00:43:11] While we have hands raised all over the building, if you want to give your time, your talent, your treasure to God your whole life,
[00:43:18] I want to pray for you.
[00:43:19] Father, you see the hands all over this room, and God, you know our hearts.
[00:43:25] Lord, my prayer is that this Christmas season, that we remember the greatest gift of all that you sent to us in the person of your Son, Jesus.
[00:43:35] And now we give the greatest gift that we could possibly give back to you.
[00:43:39] We give our whole lives.
[00:43:42] Lord, help us as we give our time, our talent, our treasure to you.
[00:43:47] Lord, may you receive it as a beautiful act of worship.
[00:43:52] Lord, I pray for your peace and your blessing to be upon your people today.
[00:43:57] May we grow in love with you more and more.
[00:44:00] I thank you for it, in Jesus' name.
[00:44:04] You can go ahead and take your hand down.
[00:44:06] While we're still in this,
[00:44:10] Christian is praying really strong right now.
[00:44:14] I want to pray one more prayer.
[00:44:16] Maybe you're here this morning and you're not really sure about your relationship with God.
[00:44:22] The question that I always like to ask is this.
[00:44:27] If you were to die today,
[00:44:29] Do you know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you're ready to stand before God?
[00:44:34] If you're not sure, in just a moment I'm going to say a little prayer.
[00:44:38] I'd love to pray for you and include others in that prayer.
[00:44:41] Maybe you would say, well, years ago I prayed a prayer, but maybe you strayed away from that.
[00:44:47] And today you just know that God wants you to give Him your life.
[00:44:53] And you need to be assured of your salvation.
[00:44:56] And so if that's you, you say, I just need to know that I am right with God.
[00:45:01] Would you just lift up your hand right now and allow me to pray for you along with others?
[00:45:05] Just lift it up and say, please pray for me.
[00:45:07] I want to know beyond any shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord.
[00:45:12] God bless you.
[00:45:13] Others, just lift it up.
[00:45:14] God bless you.
[00:45:14] Thank you.
[00:45:15] Others, just lift it up.
[00:45:19] Yeah, I see that hand.
[00:45:20] Anybody else?
[00:45:22] I'd love to pray for you.
[00:45:23] Don't leave this room today without knowing with all assurance that Jesus Christ is your Savior and your Lord.
[00:45:30] Anybody else want to get in on this prayer?
[00:45:32] Just lift up your hand.
[00:45:36] Yeah, in the back.
[00:45:37] Glad we waited just an extra second.
[00:45:41] Father, thank you for these that have responded.
[00:45:43] And now, Lord, I pray that you would give them the assurance of their salvation.
[00:45:48] In just a moment, I'm gonna say a simple prayer.
[00:45:51] I'm gonna ask everyone in the room to repeat this prayer after me.
[00:45:54] If you raised your hand, you just pray this prayer from your heart along with the rest of us.
[00:46:02] Maybe you didn't raise your hand, but you felt a tugging on the inside.
[00:46:07] I want to invite you to pray this prayer along with the rest of us because God will hear your prayer.
[00:46:14] So let's pray this prayer together.
[00:46:15] Say, God, I know that you love me.
[00:46:19] Because you sent your son Jesus.
[00:46:22] And he died on the cross for my sins.
[00:46:27] Today I repent of my sins.
[00:46:30] I ask you to be my Savior, my Lord.
[00:46:33] And from today on, I'm going to live for you.
[00:46:40] In Jesus' name.
[00:46:42] Amen.
[00:46:44] Amen.
[00:46:44] Come on, y'all.
[00:46:45] Let's give God praise.
[00:46:47] Lord, we give you honor.
[00:46:48] We give you glory.
[00:46:50] Thank you, Lord Jesus.
[00:46:52] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:46:54] Hey, if you prayed that prayer, I'm so proud of you, and I just want you to know I'm going to be praying for you this week.
[00:47:01] The Bible says, Old things have passed away, all things become new.
[00:47:04] So God has some incredibly exciting new things ahead for you.
[00:47:07] But I want to ask you to do one favor for me.
[00:47:10] In just a few minutes, this service will be over, and I want to invite you to go out into the lobby.
[00:47:16] Right in front of the living room, we have a stand-up sign.
[00:47:20] It says, I said yes to Jesus.
[00:47:22] Some of our leaders will be back there.
[00:47:24] And I have some literature that I want you to have.
[00:47:27] They have a bag.
[00:47:29] I call it a goodie bag.
[00:47:31] I kind of like that name, goodie bag.
[00:47:32] And I've got some literature I want you to have.
[00:47:35] Also, I have a Bible that I want to give to you.
[00:47:38] It's a special Bible that will help you understand what God is saying to you.
[00:47:43] So make sure after the service is over here in just a few minutes, please go out there in the lobby, get that goodie bag because it will help you in your journey of faith.
[00:47:52] And just know that I'm praying for you.
[00:47:54] I know God has incredible things in store for you.
[00:47:58] Maybe you're here this morning for the first time at Lake City.
[00:48:02] Welcome.
[00:48:03] Glad you're here.
[00:48:04] Hope you'll come back.
[00:48:05] But one of the things we do every Sunday morning is we share together in the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion.
[00:48:11] And when we do so, we're celebrating the fact that God the Father loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus.
[00:48:20] Jesus loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself for us.
[00:48:25] The Bible says that without the shedding of His blood, there would be no forgiveness of our sins.
[00:48:31] When Jesus hung on Calvary's cross, He shed His blood so that every single sin of ours could be swept away, removed forever.
[00:48:41] and Forever.
[00:48:42] So in communion, we're celebrating God's love.
[00:48:45] We're celebrating God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
[00:48:49] And so Father, in the next few moments,
[00:48:53] As we prepare to take these little emblems, the little cracker, it reminds us of the body of Jesus that was bruised and broken for us.
[00:49:03] That little cup of juice reminds us of the blood of Jesus that was shed on Calvary's cross.
[00:49:10] Lord, as we receive these emblems today, may we be reminded once again of your love
[00:49:16] and of the forgiveness that we have of all of our sins.
[00:49:20] Lord, today we surrender our lives afresh and anew to you.
[00:49:25] We give you our whole lives in Jesus' name.
[00:49:30] Amen.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Daily, daily I surrender Grace for today is all that I need Surprised by a mercy that's new every morning
[00:50:25] Awaken my soul to sing Oh, awaken my soul to sing And I will trust where You lead I will trust where I can see Morning by morning, great is Your faithfulness

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I will trust where you lead and I will trust when I can see Morning by morning great is your faithfulness to me
[00:52:02] Faithfulness to be found
[00:52:42] Christ is everywhere And I will trust Oh, I will trust Morning by morning Oh, morning by morning And I will trust Where you lead And I will trust
[00:53:11] When I can see Morning by morning Great is Your faithfulness To me And I will trust With all my heart You are good You always are Morning by morning Great is Your faithfulness

[00:55:16] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[00:55:40] Let us pray.
[00:56:11] In Jesus name we pray.
[00:56:37] Amen.
[00:56:51] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:57:17] Amen.

[00:59:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I will trust Morning by morning By morning I will trust Where you lead I will trust
[01:00:30] I will trust, oh my heart, you are good, you always are Morning by morning, great is your faithfulness

[01:00:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
God, we thank you for this moment.
[01:01:01] We thank you for today.
[01:01:02] We thank you for the time and the place and the season of your birth.
[01:01:15] Do you feel the presence of God this morning?
[01:01:21] You know, Israel wanted
[01:01:24] A king and they wanted a warrior and instead God came as the baby and said watch what I'm gonna do and so I want to speak to the season that God has you in
[01:01:39] God, we thank you for the gift of your presence, God, the challenge of your word that you don't come in the way that we always think you will, but you have a plan.
[01:01:48] And so, God, we thank you for the time and the season that is symbolic of the plan, God, that you have from the beginning of time, that you've appointed this time.
[01:02:01] God, we are so grateful, so thankful.
[01:02:05] God help us to bring the gifts in our lives that you've given God and lay them at the feet of Jesus to give them back to the person that they came from God we thank you that you came God we thank you that you've given us something that we can give back God I speak a new blessing over every family that's represented in the room
[01:02:29] Every family watching online, every family in the overflow, God, we say thank you, thank you, thank you.
[01:02:37] We are grateful people this morning.
[01:02:40] In Jesus' name, in Jesus' name.
[01:02:44] And everybody said...
[01:02:45] Amen.
[01:02:47] Amen.
[01:02:47] Amen.
[01:02:48] Yeah, give God some praise.
[01:02:50] Today was a crazy day.
[01:02:52] So go out today with some joy.
[01:02:55] We love you.
[01:02:55] God loves you.
[01:02:57] Make it a great, great day.

[01:04:14] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[01:04:58] Thank you.

[01:05:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The Lord is with you.

[01:06:04] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you.

[01:07:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
.

[01:08:10] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
.
[01:08:10] .