Beyond ‘Skin in the Game’: Is Your Spiritual Hunger Man-Made or God-Given?

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Jesus, precious Jesus, we have a victory.
[00:00:18] All victory's in the beyond tomorrow.
[00:00:19] Victory's in our hearts tonight.
[00:00:20] Jesus is in our hearts tonight.
[00:00:21] Oh, if you know that Jesus is still
[00:02:29] Let's pray.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Rejoice and be glad in Him!
[00:03:25] This is the day!

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Good morning, Cove Church.
[00:07:09] We're so glad that you're here today on this first Sunday of 2026.
[00:07:12] Would you stand to your feet?
[00:07:15] We're gonna put our hands together and worship the Lord with everything we've got.
[00:07:42] I have changed my mind You never break a promise
[00:08:44] All the hearts!
[00:09:53] We submit and give ourselves to you.
[00:10:17] Our worship is for your name.
[00:10:18] I won't stand on the dead man.
[00:10:18] God, I'll stand on the world to stand.
[00:10:19] All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in your name.
[00:10:20] And the world cannot deny all that you've done in my life.
[00:11:07] Yes, we declare it!
[00:11:12] Every low, every high

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Come on, let's sing it out together.
[00:12:11] Sing it.
[00:12:22] The darkness has to retreat Yes it does in your mighty name Jesus Sing just one touch I feel the presence of heaven Just one touch My eyes were opened to see My heart can't help but believe There's nothing that my God can't do
[00:12:50] There's not a mountain that He can't move Oh, praise the name that makes a way There's nothing that our God can't do Come on, we believe that today You trust one word You heal what's broken inside me Oh, You're my healer, Lord
[00:13:19] Come on, is somebody ready to dream again?

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Sing just one touch I feel the power of living This power in your mighty name Lord Just one touch My eyes were open to see My heart can't help but believe There's nothing that our God can't do There's not a mountain that He can't move
[00:13:50] Praise the name that makes your way There's nothing that our God can't do There's nothing that our God can't do There's not a prison wall He can't break through Praise the name that makes your way There's nothing that our God can't do

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Come on, we believe that today.
[00:14:42] There's power in the mighty name of Jesus.
[00:14:43] And there's nothing too hard for our God.
[00:14:44] Come on, let's sing it.
[00:14:44] Sing.
[00:14:44] I will believe for greater things.
[00:14:45] There's no power like the power of Jesus.
[00:14:46] Let faith arise.
[00:14:46] Yeah.
[00:14:46] Let all agree.
[00:14:47] There's no power like the power of Jesus.
[00:14:47] You sing.
[00:14:48] I will believe.
[00:14:49] There's no power like the power of Jesus I will believe

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
We praise the God that makes the way

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Lord, we believe it and we proclaim it.
[00:16:50] There's no name greater.
[00:16:51] There's no God stronger than our God.
[00:16:55] And there's no one and nothing on this earth who can compare to His awesomeness, to His greatness, to His power.
[00:17:04] and so today all across this room and online come on let's lift our hands to the heavens and declare there's no one more powerful there's no one more great there's no one more worthy and more deserving of our praise than jesus christ lord we declare today who else is worthy nobody nobody but you lord come on let's keep praising his name today

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I am an instrument of exaltation I was born to lift your name above all names You hear the melody of all creation I have songs of praise that only I
[00:18:06] Who else is worthy?
[00:18:10] Who else is worthy?
[00:18:42] Yeah, You chose to make my heart Your dwelling place You healed my brokenness Showed me Your glory So I have songs of thanks Not even angels sing Who else is worthy?
[00:19:08] Let's sing Who else is worthy?
[00:19:09] There's no one
[00:19:14] and Recompense.
[00:20:17] The one who was and is and is to come Seated on the throne above Holy, holy Righteous one who shares blood He'll pour to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted we sing
[00:22:24] Who else is worthy?
[00:22:42] Who else is worthy?
[00:22:43] There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy?
[00:22:44] Who else is worthy?

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
And all the elders cast their crowns before Thee
[00:23:59] Come on every voice, lift it up together.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
God, as we move out of 2024,
[00:25:06] Let's take a moment just to reflect on all that you've done in our lives this past year.
[00:25:13] God, for some it was a wonderful year full of blessings and new beginnings.
[00:25:19] God, for others it was a difficult year with some trials and some difficulties.
[00:25:27] But God, you were right there with us, all the same.
[00:25:32] God, because even though our lives change and our circumstances change, you remain.
[00:25:39] You are the same God yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:25:44] Your love, Your peace, Your patience, Your kindness, Your gentleness, Your joy, God, it never changes.
[00:25:53] And no matter what we are going through, we know that You are right there with us, all the same.
[00:25:59] We rejoice with You in the good times.
[00:26:01] We lean on You for peace and comfort in the difficult times.
[00:26:05] And God, we are looking forward
[00:26:07] to all that you have in store this upcoming year.
[00:26:10] God, we love you.
[00:26:12] We praise you.
[00:26:13] And it's in your holy, mighty name we all say amen.
[00:26:18] Amen.
[00:26:19] Well, church, why don't you take this moment to greet somebody around you and grab your seats.
[00:26:29] Well, good morning church.
[00:26:30] My name is Josh and welcome to the Cove.
[00:26:34] If you're joining us for the very first time, or maybe your first time was during our Christmas season, we are so glad that you're here.
[00:26:41] We would love to get you connected.
[00:26:43] There's a few ways in which you can do that.
[00:26:46] You can scan that QR code on the seat in front of you, click new here, get connected digitally, or we would love to meet you in person.
[00:26:54] Our Next Steps area, it is right through those double doors in the back.
[00:26:58] Our team members are there.
[00:26:58] They would love to meet you, to pray with you, to hear your story, and to tell you all about who we are here at The Cove.
[00:27:06] Our mission statement is simple.
[00:27:08] It's to introduce our friends to Jesus, learn to follow Him, and celebrate His presence in our lives.
[00:27:16] And we can't wait to see how God continues to move in all of these areas as we go into our new year.
[00:27:22] Church, your generosity, it creates a lasting impact here in our local communities, but also all across the globe.
[00:27:30] Tithing is a biblical principle in which God calls us to give our first and to give our best.
[00:27:37] So church, thank you for your generosity.
[00:27:40] If you'd like to be a part of all that we are doing here at The Cove, you can give online at covechurch.org slash give, or in the silver boxes in the back of the room or in the atrium.
[00:27:50] and as you are leaving today church we're going to be passing out these magnets these are a calendar a save the date of some of our biggest events that are coming up all throughout 2026 and if you're like me and you're a planner you can go ahead and mark these down for all of the can't miss dates that are going to be coming up this year you can put it right on your fridge right on your calendar and make sure to grab one of these on your way out
[00:28:16] But for now, we're going to welcome our lead pastor, Will Kranz, to the stage as we kick off our new year with a new series, Prayer and Fasting.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
2026 Cove Church, can you believe it?
[00:28:32] Good morning.
[00:28:33] Some of you guys sat through some traffic this morning.
[00:28:36] We broke some New Year's resolutions in traffic, didn't we?
[00:28:40] I just learned that my wife was sitting in the traffic trying to get in here and my eight-year-old said, well, mom, I've been praying for lots of people to come to the Cove Church.
[00:28:52] So that's a good thing, I guess.
[00:28:54] That's a good thing.
[00:28:55] Hey, what a great year.
[00:28:56] I'm so excited for 2026.
[00:28:58] Anyone else excited?
[00:29:00] Let's take a second.
[00:29:00] Let's welcome
[00:29:02] All of our campuses, let's make some noise here in the house and make some noise at Statesville, Salisbury, Denver.
[00:29:08] Let's welcome all together that we're together as a church.
[00:29:14] How many of you guys have already got done your Christmas decorations?
[00:29:18] Christmas decorations are down, you're on top of things.
[00:29:22] You're like, I don't need the month of January.
[00:29:24] We got our tree out of there yesterday.
[00:29:28] How many people had New Year's resolutions this year?
[00:29:32] Just show of hands, come on.
[00:29:33] Yeah, the New Year's resolution is dying, right?
[00:29:36] It is a dying thing because we've identified it's just the thing that we are starting in January and quitting by halfway through January.
[00:29:45] And so no one likes to even say that they do a New Year's resolution.
[00:29:48] I mean, there was a few hands up here, but in a room this size, I feel like there's been an evolution on the New Year's resolution.
[00:29:55] It was a resolution at one point, then people started having like a word for the year.
[00:29:59] Is anyone doing the word for a year this year?
[00:30:02] Yeah, yeah, that's a thing.
[00:30:03] and then it's like I just have goals you know I don't want to call them resolutions just like goals for what I'd like to do this year and it's um it's it's because you know we start with all the best intentions in the world but we can't figure out how to make things stick and how to really make things change but it's undeniable
[00:30:22] that the new year does provide really just a patented made in our calendar time period for us to do a mental reset and really begin to decide what's important to us in the upcoming year.
[00:30:36] What are we gonna do next?
[00:30:39] I am an emotional stone as my wife calls me, I don't cry.
[00:30:45] And so I'm trying to be more emotionally in touch this year.
[00:30:48] So I wanna start by sharing about one of the times I cried tears of joy.
[00:30:52] There's actually only one time I can think of in my entire life that I cried tears of joy.
[00:30:57] I did not cry on my wedding day.
[00:30:58] I did not cry at any of my three kids' births.
[00:31:01] I caught all of our kids and didn't cry, shed a tear at any of them.
[00:31:05] I cried the day the Cubs won the World Series.
[00:31:10] I cried.
[00:31:11] It was unbelievable.
[00:31:13] and you know you gotta understand if you're not a baseball fan uh the cubs
[00:31:19] I hadn't won a World Series in 108 years, so needless to say, nobody alive had ever seen the Cubs win a World Series.
[00:31:28] And it was the way they won was so poetic.
[00:31:31] It was game seven, you know, which is win or go home, winner takes all, right?
[00:31:36] Last game, the Cubs were winning by three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
[00:31:41] The other team rallied back, and with
[00:31:43] Four outs away from our first World Series Championship in anyone's lifetime.
[00:31:48] They hit a home run to tie the game, and every Cubs fan in America was like, here we go again.
[00:31:54] You know, we are gonna blow this game.
[00:31:57] We got through the ninth inning, and of course, a rain delay hits in the bottom of the ninth, right as the bottom of the ninth closes, as they're getting ready for extra innings.
[00:32:07] It's already midnight, and I remember it being like a two-hour rain delay.
[00:32:11] That's what I remember in my mind.
[00:32:12] It was 17 minutes when I went back and looked it up.
[00:32:15] I had to look it up like three times.
[00:32:18] I seriously remember it being a two-hour rain delay.
[00:32:22] I'm just freaking out, so stressed out.
[00:32:25] But the story is that the Cubs went back and they were in the same state that all of their fans were.
[00:32:33] They were dejected, they were frustrated, like we just blew this game and now, you know, we are back to zero and feeling like we're gonna lose.
[00:32:43] And one of the team captains,
[00:32:45] He was the highest paid guy on the Cubs roster, and he had been severely underperforming for his entire contract, if I can be honest.
[00:32:55] But he called the guys together into the weight room, and this was his moment.
[00:32:59] His $180 million was for this moment.
[00:33:03] and he pulled the guys together and he gave them a speech he said we're the best team in baseball and we're the best team in baseball for a reason now we're gonna go show it we play like the score is nothing nothing we've got to stay positive and fight for your brothers stick together and we're gonna win this game that's it it's a pretty standard rah-rah sports speech like there's nothing really that special about it if i'm being honest he delivered it with a ton of vigor
[00:33:27] but I mean there was nothing about what we have to do better there was no tactical adjustments there was nothing about what we need to do on defense or hitting in fact he came up and struck out in the top of the 10th inning but the team was so inspired they came out and immediately scored two runs and won the World Series and Will and his dad hugged and cried in the backyard of the house and
[00:33:53] and you know when they interview these guys and they ask what was the key to that game what made that game what won you guys that game no one says anything about a hit no one says anything about a defensive play or a pitch that was made most of the guys attribute the win to that what happened off the field that locker room
[00:34:14] 17 minute rain delay.
[00:34:16] They said that rain delay saved us because our captain got us in a room and delivered a rousing speech and it changed our mindset.
[00:34:25] It put us in a new frame of mind.
[00:34:27] It was $180 million two minute talk.
[00:34:30] I'm being underpaid is what I'm learning.
[00:34:35] Just saying.
[00:34:39] In all seriousness,
[00:34:41] Not about the underpaid thing, in all seriousness.
[00:34:46] You know, it's an amazing thing, right?
[00:34:50] We know this, that really it's true.
[00:34:53] Lasting change doesn't happen from some habit that we build or trying to do things a different way.
[00:34:59] Lasting change really happens when our heart changes, when our mindset changes, when even our spiritual changes.
[00:35:09] And so today, I mean, I'm sure many of us come in here today and we have some form of resolutions or things that we want to be different this year.
[00:35:23] Maybe those things were already broken during the Panthers game yesterday or during traffic.
[00:35:29] But you probably have some spiritual goals for this year.
[00:35:33] Some things you'd like to see yourself growing, you know?
[00:35:36] Maybe it's that you'd start coming to church.
[00:35:39] We got a packed house today.
[00:35:40] Hey, air high-five someone.
[00:35:41] We got the flu going around, so air high-five someone.
[00:35:45] You know, you guys are part of the perfect attendance of 2026 Club.
[00:35:50] Fantastic job.
[00:35:53] Maybe you wanted to get in your Bible or read the Bible in a year or learn how to pray better or have a better quiet time or open the Bible with your kids.
[00:36:03] Maybe you wanna get in serving or get into community with a life group or really begin to pursue the thing God's calling you to.
[00:36:13] And all those things are great things, but we know this, if it's just those things alone that we're just trying harder to do,
[00:36:21] We know that's gonna fizzle out by February, amen?
[00:36:24] What really needs to happen, and this is my prayer and my hope for our church, is that your goals and the changes you wanna see in your life are rooted not in a list of things that you wanna do differently, but it's rooted in one very simple idea, that I have a hunger, a mental, a physical, a spiritual hunger
[00:36:48] to grow closer in my relationship with the Lord.
[00:36:50] Can I get an amen?
[00:36:51] And so here's my hope, my desire for you that we would be hungry coming into this year, spiritually hungry to experience the realness of God, the presence of God, the closeness with God of walking with Him.
[00:37:05] And so today I'm not gonna focus on a list of things to do, but really focus on just how do we grow that?
[00:37:11] How do we grow our hunger for the Lord?
[00:37:14] Because for so many of us, we're just going through life and we believe in Jesus.
[00:37:18] We believe in God.
[00:37:19] He's there.
[00:37:20] We love it.
[00:37:21] But we don't have that hunger.
[00:37:24] And so today we're talking about how do you find that hunger?
[00:37:27] How do you nourish that hunger?
[00:37:29] And so if you've got your Bibles, we're going to open them up to Matthew.
[00:37:33] Chapter 8 to start and Matthew coincidentally we're gonna be in Matthew the whole time today Matthew is a great place if you're trying to figure out where do I start reading the Bible I'm trying to read the Bible where do I start Matthew is a wonderful place to start it's the eyewitness account of one of the disciples Matthew of what it was like to follow Jesus it's the first book in the New Testament
[00:37:59] And check this out.
[00:38:00] This is very early in Jesus's ministry.
[00:38:03] We're talking probably in the first months of Jesus's ministry.
[00:38:07] This is when he began to travel around.
[00:38:09] And look at this.
[00:38:11] When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
[00:38:16] And a scribe came up to him and said, teacher, I'll follow you wherever you go.
[00:38:21] and Jesus said to him foxes have holes birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head another of his of the disciples said to him catch that this is one of the disciples said to him Lord first let me go and bury my father and Jesus said to him follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead
[00:38:45] You know, that word disciple stands out.
[00:38:47] Now I wanna be clear, this isn't necessarily one of the 12 disciples.
[00:38:50] Jesus hadn't yet selected what would be called the 12 apostles, who we commonly refer to as the 12 disciples.
[00:38:58] But we know this is someone who wasn't just on the outside looking in.
[00:39:01] He was starting to follow Jesus.
[00:39:03] He was interested in Jesus.
[00:39:05] He was bought in on the teaching.
[00:39:07] He was bought in that this is someone special.
[00:39:10] And so he...
[00:39:11] The word used here is the same word that will later be used for the 12 disciples.
[00:39:16] He just hasn't selected them yet.
[00:39:18] And so that one of the disciples, this means this is not someone on the fringe.
[00:39:23] This is someone who's starting to pursue Jesus, and he seems to have a really reasonable reason that he can't follow Jesus right now.
[00:39:34] He says, I've gotta bury my father, you know?
[00:39:37] I've gotta...
[00:39:39] Stop and focus on that for a little bit.
[00:39:41] And Jesus' response, you would think would be something to the extent of, well, you take care of what you need to take care of, meet up with us in this city, or you can catch up with us later.
[00:39:51] But that's not what Jesus' response is.
[00:39:53] His response is literally, the time is now.
[00:39:56] This is it.
[00:39:57] And you have to realize, I mean, as unfortunate as the situation is, I don't think Jesus is saying this harshly or rudely, like, I don't care about your dad, you know, deal with it.
[00:40:07] I don't think that's what he's saying.
[00:40:09] I think what he's saying though is very clear that you know he's Jesus is three years away from being on the cross there's just not time right now there's there's time for uh this is the time right now for the kingdom of God to begin to be built
[00:40:27] and even with all these other things that could be reasonable things to focus on, he's like, this is the time.
[00:40:35] It's now or never.
[00:40:37] How many of you guys grew up with now or never in your household?
[00:40:41] Did you ever hear that from, yeah, that was like, I remember my dad specifically saying that to me a lot, which is, you know, it's an anxiety-inducing statement for an eight-year-old.
[00:40:51] It's now or never!
[00:40:54] You know, I mean, that's an anxiety-inducing statement, right?
[00:40:58] We don't say stuff like that today.
[00:41:00] We're like, it's now or later, you know, anytime.
[00:41:04] We can come back around to it.
[00:41:05] It's no big deal.
[00:41:06] You know, it's different.
[00:41:08] I mean, many people raise, has anyone like never heard the statement now or never before?
[00:41:12] Any young people just like, I don't even know if I've heard that.
[00:41:15] Like, I don't feel like I ever hear that now in our culture today.
[00:41:19] And I, you know, the biggest example I can think of is when I was the youth pastor, I was, you know,
[00:41:26] Not even that old.
[00:41:27] I mean, it was, you know, but I'd have kids that, and 25 to 50% of the students would just be like, I'm just not going to get my license until I turn 18, you know?
[00:41:38] I don't want to deal with taking the class.
[00:41:40] I turn 16 and I'll just wait until I turn 18.
[00:41:43] And that was so not the attitude when I was a kid, you know?
[00:41:47] It was like, you got your license the day you turned 16.
[00:41:50] It was now or never, you know?
[00:41:53] It's like, if I don't pass this, you stressed about that test.
[00:41:57] He was like, if I don't pass this test, I'll have to wait a month, you know?
[00:42:00] It's, no!
[00:42:01] I couldn't wait to get my Grand Prix and get away from my family, you know?
[00:42:08] RIP Grand Prix, it's no longer with us, you know?
[00:42:12] I remember...
[00:42:14] When I became old enough to start working and like have a real job, you know, where you pay taxes and stuff, my mom kicked me out of the house in the morning during the summer.
[00:42:24] She kicked me out of the house and she said, you can come back at six o'clock for dinner or when you have a job.
[00:42:30] Goodbye.
[00:42:32] I don't even think I had a cell phone at the time.
[00:42:34] She was like, she was like, it would be good if you get in front of a manager.
[00:42:38] That's your best shot.
[00:42:39] Good luck.
[00:42:39] You know, she didn't send me anywhere.
[00:42:41] She was like, go find one, go figure it out.
[00:42:43] You know?
[00:42:44] And I remember driving, I was like, this is completely unreasonable.
[00:42:47] I had a job by three o'clock.
[00:42:48] Can I just tell you?
[00:42:49] I came back, I had a job by three o'clock at Fast Fills gas station.
[00:42:52] You know, I mean, it's just a different time.
[00:42:55] I feel like I sound like an old man.
[00:42:57] Maybe one of my goals this year, be more ornery.
[00:42:59] You know, I mean, I'm just like, this isn't the back of my day.
[00:43:04] But you know, that's so us, is we have this mentality now of, I'll get around to it, you know?
[00:43:12] There'll be time later.
[00:43:13] Right now is just not the right time.
[00:43:15] And specifically in our spiritual walk, how many times have we been like, one day?
[00:43:21] You know, one day I'll get to it.
[00:43:23] One day I'll figure out how to get my quiet time going.
[00:43:25] You know, I just haven't had the time, got young kids, it's just hard right now.
[00:43:28] You know, one day.
[00:43:30] One day, one day I'll get back to that.
[00:43:33] One day we'll get back to being in community, or one day we'll make church a priority again, or one day we'll follow that calling that we know God's calling us to.
[00:43:42] One day we'll get there.
[00:43:44] And the thing is, we don't have this mentality anymore when it comes to following the Lord of now or never, because, well, Jesus is always gonna be there.
[00:43:54] Jesus isn't sitting there like, it's now or never.
[00:43:57] You don't choose me now, never.
[00:44:00] We know that's not what Jesus sounds like in our mind.
[00:44:05] And that's true.
[00:44:06] There's nothing that makes me say that's what Jesus is saying to us.
[00:44:11] But it's much more now or never than we realize, not because of Jesus, but because of our own hearts.
[00:44:18] Because we get comfortable saying, eh, not right now.
[00:44:22] I'll get around to it.
[00:44:23] I'll come back to that, God.
[00:44:25] This just isn't the right time right now.
[00:44:26] I've got legitimate reasons, and maybe you do have legitimate reasons right now why there's not a hunger for God.
[00:44:32] You know, there's just other things going on that just are really pressing right now.
[00:44:37] But we've lost this mentality of now or never, because we know, oh, Jesus will be there later.
[00:44:43] And our hearts grow calloused, and we grow used to saying to the creator of the universe, maybe later, I hear you, I got you,
[00:44:55] I'll get around to it.
[00:44:55] I know that's important.
[00:44:57] I'm just not there right now.
[00:45:00] And we grow used to that.
[00:45:02] And what Jesus says here to a disciple, to someone who is actively seeking Him, He says, it's now.
[00:45:09] I know you got other things going on.
[00:45:11] It's now.
[00:45:13] Now's the time.
[00:45:15] And I believe for so many of us, the reality is Jesus is saying to us, it's now.
[00:45:20] Now's the time.
[00:45:22] That thing that you've been putting on the back burner, that you know the Lord's calling you to, it's time.
[00:45:27] We've been putting off the community.
[00:45:30] We've been putting off the figuring out my quiet time or figuring out my prayer life or figuring out my journey of generosity.
[00:45:37] There's all these reasons that now's just not quite the time.
[00:45:41] But I believe as the new year strikes, it's a time to step back and go, why don't I have that now or never mentality?
[00:45:49] Why am I assuming that I'll figure it out one day?
[00:45:52] Why isn't today that day?
[00:45:55] This year, I want us, before we talk about a bunch of habits that we'll talk about throughout the year, but before we talk about any of those habits, first and foremost, it starts with this.
[00:46:05] Do you have a genuine hunger before anything else to seek after the Lord?
[00:46:11] To desire the Lord.
[00:46:13] How do we grow that?
[00:46:14] Check this out.
[00:46:15] Am I getting a little feedback?
[00:46:16] Is that just me?
[00:46:18] It's just me?
[00:46:19] Okay.
[00:46:20] Jesus... Jesus... Matthew 4.
[00:46:28] Let's go there.
[00:46:30] That's where I'm trying to get at.
[00:46:31] Before Jesus... Before Jesus...
[00:46:36] Had this statement about the foxes and about let the dead bury their dead.
[00:46:42] Go back to Matthew 4.
[00:46:43] And Matthew 4 is right after Jesus gets baptized.
[00:46:46] This is right at the beginning of his ministry.
[00:46:49] This is how he prepared for what the next three years would be.
[00:46:53] And I want you to see this in Matthew 4, starting in verse 1.
[00:46:57] Jesus, right after he was baptized, was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
[00:47:05] and after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.
[00:47:10] That's like the understatement of the century right there.
[00:47:12] I mean, he didn't eat for 40 days and 40 nights and guess what?
[00:47:16] He was hungry.
[00:47:18] And look at this, the tempter came and said to him, if you're the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.
[00:47:27] But Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
[00:47:38] You know, this is it.
[00:47:40] This is where we see how Jesus displayed his hunger for the Lord.
[00:47:44] He displayed his hunger for the Lord by being hungry.
[00:47:48] Even we can remember that, right?
[00:47:49] The hunger for the Lord starts with being hungry.
[00:47:52] Amen?
[00:47:52] You guys can do that, right?
[00:47:54] We got that?
[00:47:55] It says that he spent 40 days and 40 nights just alone, just fasting, pursuing the Lord, seeking the Lord.
[00:48:05] And look, you know, at the end of all that 40 days, his reward wasn't some, you know, magic feeling.
[00:48:12] His reward was he talked to Satan.
[00:48:15] Satan challenged him at the end of that 40 days and Jesus talked down Satan in out of a place of spirituality and so we see right here that Jesus's hunger for the Lord that he displayed for us he manifested that hunger for the Lord that desire to see God's kingdom come he displayed it by literal physical hunger where he got away from everything and just fasted
[00:48:45] and prayed and did nothing for 40 days.
[00:48:51] So we're gonna talk about this idea of prayer and fasting.
[00:48:54] And next week, we're gonna talk about prayer more.
[00:48:57] But this week, I do wanna touch on fasting because fasting is something we don't talk about very often in the church.
[00:49:02] I don't think we've taught it really, really clearly.
[00:49:06] And I think we actually haven't got it really backwards in a lot of ways.
[00:49:11] I'm not saying everybody,
[00:49:13] There's a lot of things that are really backwards about the way we fast in America.
[00:49:17] Now, Jesus had this example of fasting where he actually lived it out.
[00:49:21] He also taught about fasting in Matthew chapter six.
[00:49:24] If you fast forward just two chapters, look at this.
[00:49:27] He said plainly about fasting, when you fast,
[00:49:30] Do not look gloomy like hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others.
[00:49:38] Look, they're making a big show out of it.
[00:49:40] They're making sure everybody knows that they're fasting.
[00:49:43] Oh, we're so spiritual and fasting.
[00:49:45] He says, truly I say to you, they've received their reward.
[00:49:51] You know what their reward is?
[00:49:52] Other people are gonna go, man, they're so spiritual.
[00:49:54] Man, they're so deep.
[00:49:57] Man, they're so hungry for God, literally and metaphorically, you know?
[00:50:02] I mean, they're amazing.
[00:50:04] And Jesus said, that's it.
[00:50:05] That's their reward.
[00:50:06] That's what they get.
[00:50:08] Look at it.
[00:50:09] But when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face.
[00:50:12] It's just good advice in general.
[00:50:13] Wash your face.
[00:50:16] So look presentable.
[00:50:17] Look like you got it together.
[00:50:18] Don't make it a big deal.
[00:50:19] Don't make it a big show.
[00:50:21] He said that your fasting won't be seen by others, but only by your Father who is in secret.
[00:50:26] And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
[00:50:31] Then you'll actually get reward for it.
[00:50:34] So here we get,
[00:50:36] Some practicality.
[00:50:37] We get, I think, what is an obvious don't do, right?
[00:50:40] I think we've probably heard this if you've heard the concept of fasting, that your fast shouldn't be a big public thing.
[00:50:46] It shouldn't be focused on everyone else knowing that you're fasting and making a big deal.
[00:50:50] Oh, I'm so hungry, I'm dying, you know?
[00:50:53] I mean, that that's not the point of a fast, you know?
[00:50:57] That when Jesus fasted, we see this, that he went off on his own
[00:51:02] and completely isolated himself and for 40 days and 40 nights he he just prayed preparing for this showdown with satan to start his ministry and you know what's significant about this is what i think we actually miss about the fast is that what jesus was doing was getting away from it all right this is this is why
[00:51:26] You know, we make it like about as long as other people, I'm not like talking about it all the time, I'm doing it right, right?
[00:51:31] It's just a part of it.
[00:51:33] There's a deeper purpose why Jesus is saying, don't make it a big public thing.
[00:51:37] Because what the whole point of a fast is, is to slow everything down.
[00:51:43] is to clear out everything and just focus on your prayer life and your spiritual life and pursuing the Lord and knowing the Lord and talking to the Lord and seeking God's presence.
[00:51:54] And don't be distracted with telling everybody about it.
[00:51:59] And so we can fast, but we actually aren't still getting what the purpose of fasting is.
[00:52:07] I remember one year,
[00:52:09] We did a January fast for our staff many years ago, and everyone got to kind of choose their own fast, but everyone told each other what's good and healthy.
[00:52:19] Everyone told each other what their fast was, so everyone was judging each other based on how deep and spiritual their fast was.
[00:52:25] Now some people, not me,
[00:52:28] We're doing a much gentler fast.
[00:52:30] It was a sun-up fast.
[00:52:31] You know, they got to eat eggs and bacon in the morning, and then didn't eat during the day, and then at night they had a ribeye, you know?
[00:52:38] And I was like, that's barely even a fast.
[00:52:40] I mean, get out of here with your fast.
[00:52:43] I did the Daniels fast, you know?
[00:52:46] I'm showing a lot of ego because I already know I get no rewards for this fast in heaven.
[00:52:50] I've already known that for a long time.
[00:52:53] I did a Daniel fast which was no meat, no sugars, no any of this stuff.
[00:52:59] It was basically
[00:53:01] Like, kale and almonds is what I could eat, you know?
[00:53:04] I mean, it was just veggies and nuts, and that was it.
[00:53:07] And, you know, I got absolutely nothing out of this fast, can I just tell you right now?
[00:53:13] Because, one, I was comparing my fast to other fasts, and our group's fast to other fasts, but two, and probably even more so, I didn't, we did this for 30 days, and I was just, all I was thinking about was food the whole time, you know what I'm saying?
[00:53:28] I mean, people told me stuff like, well,
[00:53:30] Well, tofu burgers are as good as cheeseburgers, and let me just...
[00:53:35] If you say that...
[00:53:38] I am so sorry, you don't know how to cook a cheeseburger, okay?
[00:53:42] Like, you need to have someone over to teach you, because there is no tofu burger as good as a cheeseburger.
[00:53:47] But all I was thinking about, me and my wife, we were doing it together, was what are we going to eat tonight?
[00:53:53] You know, we had to do special grocery shopping for it.
[00:53:56] Every time we went to a restaurant, we had to ask 80 questions about the menu.
[00:53:59] I mean, we were miserable, you know, for the Lord.
[00:54:02] We're so hungry for you, Lord, you know.
[00:54:06] But there was nothing spiritual about it at all.
[00:54:09] We spent more time thinking about food, not less time thinking about food.
[00:54:14] We spent more time trying to prepare our food, trying to figure out what we could eat.
[00:54:18] We spent more time complaining about our food situation than if we were just eating a burger every night, you know?
[00:54:25] I mean, we completely missed the point of the fast.
[00:54:30] You know, when you step back and thinking about it,
[00:54:34] In just a normal day, we think about food a lot during the day, you know?
[00:54:38] I mean, you have to grocery shop.
[00:54:41] You have to prepare it.
[00:54:42] You go out to eat.
[00:54:43] That takes time to drive there.
[00:54:45] You grab something during your lunch break.
[00:54:48] You know, you actually have to sit down and eat the meals.
[00:54:50] When you start doing the math on how much time we spend with food and food-related activity, we spend three to five hours almost every day on food.
[00:54:58] Isn't that crazy?
[00:54:58] Even for you skinny people, that's crazy.
[00:55:01] you know just so you can eat a kale salad what's the matter with you we spend so much time on food and so the point of a fast is not just be hungry because God wants you to be miserable it's that you don't have to worry about that it's that you get away from all the distractions
[00:55:21] all the things that can fill up our time.
[00:55:24] It's much like the Sabbath actually in this way.
[00:55:27] It's not about like God's like furious if you pick something up on the Sabbath.
[00:55:30] It's the principle of slowing everything down, clearing everything out and just focusing on the Lord.
[00:55:39] Jesus did it for 40 days.
[00:55:42] He's a bad man in a good way.
[00:55:45] You know what I'm saying?
[00:55:45] I mean, that he could do that for 40 days, that's crazy.
[00:55:50] But it's not the principle of being hungry because somehow that pleases God.
[00:55:57] It's the principle of clearing everything out.
[00:56:01] It's the principle of,
[00:56:03] Getting away from all the distractions and things that can fill up our time and just seeking after the Lord.
[00:56:10] And this is what Jesus did.
[00:56:11] He got away from it all and he just sought after the Lord.
[00:56:14] And he even responded to Satan, right?
[00:56:17] Man does not live on bread alone because Jesus had actually experienced this for himself.
[00:56:22] He wasn't just saying this as like a theological idea.
[00:56:25] It's easy for us to have the theological idea that all I need is God, but Jesus is living that, right?
[00:56:32] Like, my soul needs more than just food.
[00:56:38] He does say alone, you do need bread at some point.
[00:56:40] Let's not get crazy with this, right?
[00:56:43] But he's saying, look, he's living it.
[00:56:46] He's experienced it.
[00:56:48] I need more than just,
[00:56:51] He's saying, I'm so hungry for God.
[00:56:54] I'm so desiring God's presence that even at the expense of the thing that sustains me physically, I will seek the Lord.
[00:57:05] Look at this.
[00:57:06] I mean, he goes on and he closes it out with,
[00:57:13] when he's teaching about fasting.
[00:57:14] Your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret.
[00:57:20] And your Father who sees in secret, look at this, let's see this together, church.
[00:57:24] What will He do?
[00:57:26] Reward you.
[00:57:27] Now, I don't want us to get confused.
[00:57:29] This isn't me saying, like, if you fast over a certain issue, God will give you exactly what you're asking for or is forced to give.
[00:57:36] Like, we want to use, like, coercion.
[00:57:38] Well, that's how I get God to do what I want Him to do.
[00:57:40] Okay, I'll fast, you know?
[00:57:41] That's not what we're saying.
[00:57:43] But it's saying that God sees our step of faith and He responds to it.
[00:57:50] It might not be exactly the way you wanted Him to, but you will see it.
[00:57:54] You will recognize it.
[00:57:55] Maybe in time.
[00:57:56] It might not be immediately after one day.
[00:57:58] But God sees our faithfulness.
[00:58:00] God sees that step of faith.
[00:58:03] Maybe you're here today and you're saying,
[00:58:05] Well, I mean, you're talking about fasting and praying.
[00:58:07] I don't even really know how to pray.
[00:58:08] You know, I don't really get how to pray.
[00:58:10] But the reality is we haven't really practiced either.
[00:58:13] You know, if you're sitting here today and you're going, I just don't really know how to pray.
[00:58:17] I don't feel like I have a very thriving prayer life.
[00:58:19] You know, the answer to that probably isn't going to be, you know, pray for a couple minutes before each meal and pray right before you go to bed for a few minutes.
[00:58:27] And eventually you'll start rocking it out, you know?
[00:58:32] Gotta put it into practice.
[00:58:34] You gotta get intentional about it.
[00:58:35] You gotta have a hunger for a deeper prayer life, a hunger for God's presence, a hunger to see God working in your life.
[00:58:43] And so what we see here is Jesus said, look, God responds to our step of faith.
[00:58:52] This is putting skin in the game when you say, I'm gonna fast.
[00:58:56] You know, it's easy to sit back.
[00:58:59] and let our faith be this thing that we just go about our life and we believe in God, right?
[00:59:04] We talked about that.
[00:59:05] We just believe in God.
[00:59:06] We believe in Jesus and we just go about our life, you know?
[00:59:09] And then we have these things that come up in life that we go, I don't know what to do with that.
[00:59:13] I'll just pray.
[00:59:14] I'll just give that to God, you know?
[00:59:16] It's really easy to say, God, I need you to show up in this situation.
[00:59:21] I don't know what to do.
[00:59:22] God, I need your presence in my life.
[00:59:24] I'm not feeling it right now.
[00:59:25] God, would you show up more clearly in my life?
[00:59:27] God I I need an answer I need wisdom God I I have a loved one who needs healing would you would you show up and bring healing you know there are certain things that we just turn to God we go I I can't do anything about this so God it's going to be on you and we're just sitting back and just just asking God God you know would you go ahead and take care of this and really it costs us nothing other than a few seconds of our prayers you know it reminds me so much of
[00:59:52] When we take our kids to Target, it doesn't matter how many times you tell your kids, like, we are not buying anything for you.
[00:59:59] This is Christmas shopping for mom, you know?
[01:00:03] This is grocery shopping.
[01:00:05] We get into Target and they want everything.
[01:00:07] Can I get an amen, parents?
[01:00:08] They're like, we need this.
[01:00:09] This is for the collection.
[01:00:10] They're big on collections right now, you know?
[01:00:13] My middle one, he's big on gum.
[01:00:14] Dad, we need this gum.
[01:00:15] Look at this gum.
[01:00:16] I've never had this gum before, Dad.
[01:00:18] You think that's a good gum flavor?
[01:00:20] You know, tries to be sneaky about it, like, you know?
[01:00:23] And now they're at the age, I love it so much, they're at the age that, I've told you, they make their own money picking up dog poop in the backyard.
[01:00:30] And so I get to just say to them, go ahead, you can buy it.
[01:00:34] And they go, well, I don't want to buy it.
[01:00:36] I wanted it if you're going to buy it, you know, not, I have to buy it?
[01:00:42] No, I don't want it that much, you know.
[01:00:44] I wanted it, you know, two seconds ago it was like, we need this.
[01:00:48] You know?
[01:00:49] And then it's like, go ahead.
[01:00:50] Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[01:00:52] We don't need it that bad.
[01:00:54] You know?
[01:00:55] I mean, at the moment that there's skin in the game, not interested, right?
[01:01:00] And man, it's so the same way.
[01:01:04] Fasting is our way of putting skin in the game.
[01:01:08] It's our way of saying, God, I'm not just sitting back and saying, oh, I know you can do it.
[01:01:14] Go, God, go do it.
[01:01:15] Go do it.
[01:01:16] Do it.
[01:01:18] I'm putting skin in the game.
[01:01:20] I'm invested.
[01:01:20] I'm invested in seeing a deeper relationship with you.
[01:01:24] I'm invested in finding the answers and finding the next steps for my life.
[01:01:29] I'm invested in seeing this miracle happen.
[01:01:31] I know the two don't seem related in our minds.
[01:01:34] We're sitting there going, well, I mean, how does me fasting at all help with
[01:01:42] Wisdom or an illness or seeing a miracle happen.
[01:01:46] I don't know how else to explain this unless you've lived it and experienced it.
[01:01:51] The game changes when you fast around praying for someone rather than just praying for someone for two seconds.
[01:01:59] Can I get an amen if you've seen this before?
[01:02:01] Actually, don't amen, I'm sorry.
[01:02:03] I don't wanna make it a public thing, right?
[01:02:06] But the game changes.
[01:02:08] Your investment changes.
[01:02:09] Your mindset changes.
[01:02:11] Your hunger to see it happen changes.
[01:02:14] It is so different when you actually fast, praying over something.
[01:02:19] And again, it's not to manipulate God and say, God has to do it now.
[01:02:23] But it changes.
[01:02:25] Our investment changes.
[01:02:27] Our hunger for God changes.
[01:02:30] You know, we're not just sitting back and going, God, you're the only one that can do it.
[01:02:34] Gonna need you to do it before anything can happen.
[01:02:37] I'm investing in it.
[01:02:38] I'm stepping out.
[01:02:39] It's a step of faith to go a day without food.
[01:02:42] Can I get an amen to that?
[01:02:44] Some people are gonna think you're a weirdo.
[01:02:46] Can I get an amen to that?
[01:02:47] They're gonna be like, oh, you're doing that for health reasons?
[01:02:49] No, for the Lord.
[01:02:50] What?
[01:02:50] That's weird.
[01:02:53] Why does God not want you to eat?
[01:02:55] God created steak, come on.
[01:02:58] It's weird.
[01:03:01] It's different.
[01:03:02] It's out there.
[01:03:03] But here's the thing.
[01:03:04] What Jesus modeled for us and taught us plainly is that the fast is there for us to have more intense focus, more intense desire.
[01:03:15] And what you're going to see is as you start to fast, and look, maybe you do it one day and you're going to go, I didn't really feel anything.
[01:03:20] Look, Jesus did it 40 days.
[01:03:22] He got to meet with Satan at the end.
[01:03:23] That was his reward.
[01:03:25] You know?
[01:03:26] I'm not saying you're gonna but it's the practice it's beginning to learn that you know what I'm not reliant on all this stuff I fill my day with maybe for you accompanied with your fast is not just no food but really the biggest distraction is the screens in your life let's can we be real for a second if you're if you're if you're fasting from food but sitting on your phone all day that probably ain't gonna get you there either
[01:03:51] Maybe it's the distraction of all the other things.
[01:03:55] I wanna encourage you, church, I'm not here today to shame us or to...
[01:04:02] I just think we have not understood what this fast is for and probably haven't been able to practice it.
[01:04:07] So I'm gonna invite us as a church to start fasting this month and just try it out.
[01:04:14] And I want you to start with just one day a week, not...
[01:04:18] Seven straight days.
[01:04:19] You know, some of you have never fasted before.
[01:04:21] You're like, oh, 40 days.
[01:04:22] Don't do that.
[01:04:22] That's a bad idea.
[01:04:23] Okay?
[01:04:25] It's a bad idea.
[01:04:27] I'm gonna tell you how I'm gonna do it, but you do it how you wanna do it, you know?
[01:04:31] I'm gonna tell you just to encourage you.
[01:04:33] I'm gonna be doing Thursdays, a Thursday fast, 24 hours.
[01:04:40] My plan is from like six to six, Wednesday night, six o'clock to Thursday at six o'clock, I'm gonna do water and black coffee.
[01:04:46] If you wanna ask questions about the black coffee and come at me, that's not the point of the fast, so just settle down.
[01:04:52] The caffeine helps keep me awake so that I can be praying harder, okay?
[01:04:58] Actually, I mean, you will notice the dip in energy, for sure.
[01:05:04] But maybe you're here and you're going, well, I'm concerned about my health about doing a 24-hour fast.
[01:05:08] That's fine.
[01:05:08] That's not the point.
[01:05:10] If you want to grab a bag of almonds and munch on almonds, grab them in advance so you're not thinking about the food during the day.
[01:05:16] The point is to simplify all the stuff out of your life and just spend a day of focus on prayer.
[01:05:21] Spend a day focused on walking with the Lord, even if you're at work while you're doing it.
[01:05:25] You will see how much more time there is to get focused on spiritual things.
[01:05:33] It can be a day focused on certain prayers in your life.
[01:05:35] It can be a day focused on certain direction in your life.
[01:05:38] It can be a day just focused on feeling connectivity with God.
[01:05:43] I wanna encourage you, whether you do it Thursday or some other day,
[01:05:47] Or maybe you do it a slightly different way.
[01:05:49] That's fine.
[01:05:49] If you have health stuff, that's fine.
[01:05:51] Find out what works for you.
[01:05:52] But the principle is this, because what God's concerned with is not, well, did you do it the right way?
[01:05:59] It's the principle of really getting serious about, Lord, I'm seeking connection to you.
[01:06:06] I'm not just standing back going, yeah, I believe in God.
[01:06:10] I'm desiring connectivity to you.
[01:06:12] I hunger to be in your presence.
[01:06:15] I hunger to hear your voice.
[01:06:17] I hunger to see you at work in this situation that I don't have the answers to.
[01:06:21] And I'm telling you, the skin in the game changes it.
[01:06:24] God responds to acts of faith.
[01:06:26] Faith is not just sitting back and believing that God will do something or God is this or God is that.
[01:06:33] Faith has an implied action to it.
[01:06:37] That's why there's the tithe.
[01:06:38] That's why there's serving.
[01:06:39] That's why there's the fasting.
[01:06:43] It's the idea of putting our faith actually into action.
[01:06:49] And so I wanna encourage you,
[01:06:51] This month to try, just once a week, I'm gonna be more focused and try out the fast.
[01:06:57] Maybe this will be the first time you've ever fasted.
[01:07:00] It's gonna begin to stretch you in your prayer life.
[01:07:03] Maybe you're like, I don't even know what I pray about or talk about.
[01:07:06] It'll stretch you.
[01:07:08] You gotta start somewhere.
[01:07:11] But I wanna encourage us, don't make it about a show.
[01:07:15] Don't make it about, you know, all these crazy dietary things where you're thinking more about food.
[01:07:21] Make it simple.
[01:07:22] Clean.
[01:07:24] The point of the day is I'm going to be able to walk with the Lord throughout the day as I fast.
[01:07:31] Look at this.
[01:07:32] Jesus said it really quite plainly.
[01:07:34] He told his disciples in Matthew 16, If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
[01:07:43] Look at this.
[01:07:43] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
[01:07:51] You know, fasting so lines up with the entire Christian walk that there are going to be things in this life that we deny ourselves in order to follow Jesus.
[01:08:01] Amen?
[01:08:03] There's going to be things we say no to.
[01:08:05] And Jesus isn't mincing his words when he says this.
[01:08:08] He says plainly, I get it.
[01:08:10] It feels like you're losing your life.
[01:08:13] It feels like you have a better chance of saving your life by not trying to follow me sometimes.
[01:08:21] But the one who is willing to lose his life is going to find it.
[01:08:31] The one who is willing to put their faith into action is going to find it.
[01:08:38] The one who is willing to lay down certain things to follow me and be in my presence is going to find it.
[01:08:46] the one who's willing to slow everything down you know let go of all the craziness that needs to happen to be still with me we'll find life church that's my desire for us before anything else that this would be a church that is hungry to be in the presence of the Lord that is hungry to find life in walking with him let me pray for us today
[01:09:16] Father God, thank you so much for Jesus.
[01:09:18] We can't thank you enough for Jesus Christ, that you sent your Son not only to die on the cross for us, not only to save us and give us life, but also to model for us, also to teach us plainly.
[01:09:35] God, thank you for the teaching on fasting,
[01:09:39] Sorry for the ways that really we've gotten off track with this.
[01:09:42] We've made it all these other things and about all these other things and about how fancy we can do it.
[01:09:47] And we've missed the simplicity of just hungering for you, desiring to be in your presence, desiring to know you, and letting that transform every part of our life.
[01:10:02] And so today, would you make it your prayer, church?
[01:10:05] God, I hunger to be in your presence.
[01:10:07] Maybe that's a hard prayer for you right now.
[01:10:09] Maybe in your heart you know, I really haven't been hungry.
[01:10:15] But I hear today and I know today that you have a life for me that goes beyond the one I'm living.
[01:10:25] And God, I hunger for that life.
[01:10:28] I hunger to know you, to understand your voice, to hear your calling,
[01:10:37] To have skin in the game with you.
[01:10:40] To walk as you walked.
[01:10:43] To not just treat you as God with my wish list, but to walk with you, experience you.
[01:10:50] That's what we desire, Lord.
[01:10:54] So I pray that you'd bless this church.
[01:10:59] Bless those who take that step to
[01:11:02] to just be faithful in the fast and just put you to the test in that and just seek you.
[01:11:13] God, we thank you so much that Jesus said plainly, you reward that when we do it not as a show, not for everybody else, but just to genuinely be in your presence, to genuinely seek your voice.
[01:11:30] Thank you, God.
[01:11:31] Thank you that you are not far off.
[01:11:33] Thank you that you're not just sitting up in the skies, that you're right here with us.
[01:11:39] So Lord, we're sorry for the times that we've been so distracted with so many other things.
[01:11:43] You're here today and you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
[01:11:48] I need you to hear this really quite plainly.
[01:11:52] Becoming a Christian, as it's called, is not about, do you believe in Jesus?
[01:11:59] Is He Lord?
[01:12:00] Is He your Savior?
[01:12:05] Are you choosing to follow Him today?
[01:12:10] Maybe for you, you're right now realizing, you know, I haven't really asked Jesus to be my Lord and my Savior and really desired to know God, be in His presence, walk with Him all the days of my life.
[01:12:27] And today, would you make this your prayer?
[01:12:28] God, thank you so much for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins.
[01:12:33] Thank you that you do not hide from me, but that you sent your Son, laid down his life so I would know you, be able to walk with you.
[01:12:42] And today, Lord, I call Jesus Christ my Lord and my Savior, that he died on the cross for my sins.
[01:12:50] And God, I want to know you.
[01:12:52] I want to walk with you.
[01:12:53] I want to live for you and with you.
[01:12:56] And I'll call you Lord, my Savior, my King.
[01:13:03] I'll follow you all the days of my life.
[01:13:08] Father God, thank you for this church.
[01:13:11] I pray that we'd have a hunger just to be in your presence, to know your voice.
[01:13:15] And that God, that would be the place that everything else flows from.
[01:13:20] We thank you for Jesus.
[01:13:22] We come to you in his name.
[01:13:24] Amen.
[01:13:25] Amen.
[01:13:26] Hey, let's celebrate with those today, making Jesus their Lord and Savior.
[01:13:29] I got one thing before we go.
[01:13:31] I wanna say that's an awesome decision.
[01:13:35] Make sure you let somebody know about it.
[01:13:36] We have our prayer team out here in the prayer area.
[01:13:39] They'd love to pray with you or pray over anything you have going on right now in your life.
[01:13:43] Within the church's size, we have prayer requests.
[01:13:45] Don't leave here without someone getting to pray with you.
[01:13:47] The last thing is we are going to be doing a special prayer and worship morning just at the Mooresville campus at 7 a.m. on Thursdays, all right?
[01:13:56] If you're choosing to maybe do your fast during that, this will be another opportunity just to get focused.
[01:14:01] I'm not expecting it to be massive.
[01:14:02] We're planning on doing it
[01:14:03] Just back in A2, but you're all invited along with our staff to come and join us as we have a time of prayer and a time of worship together just to get the day focused and get ourselves in the right mindset.
[01:14:17] And so it'll be nice and early.
[01:14:18] Kids are welcome and all that stuff, but we won't have Cove kids or anything.
[01:14:22] It'll just be a simple time of prayer and worshiping together.
[01:14:27] And so I love you guys.
[01:14:28] I hope to see you at that if you're able to make it.
[01:14:30] and I can't wait to see you next week.
[01:14:34] Make sure you eat before the Sunday morning service.
[01:14:36] I don't want you hangry when you get here, all right?
[01:14:38] I love you guys.
[01:14:39] I hope you have a great rest of your week and I'll see you guys next week.

[01:15:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
He reigns without rival He calls by the name of Jehovah Jehovah
[01:15:38] Let's sing together.
[01:16:27] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[01:17:02] Let's sing together.
[01:17:32] All the glory and praise is yours To openly see factual battles To openly see factual battles
[01:17:58] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[01:19:03] For the day, for the day
[01:22:43] Get your voice inside with me

[01:23:36] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thanks for watching!

[01:24:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Let's sing it again.
[01:24:56] This is the day the Lord has made.
[01:25:10] Oh, I'm filled with joy, send me glad in it.
[01:25:11] Rise from mourning to dancing, from glory to glory.
[01:25:12] This is the day the Lord has made.

[01:26:02] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
and more.

[01:26:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I'm not saved as the