Is Jesus’ Invitation a Self-Help Plan or a Sovereign Rescue?

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Good morning, Christ community.
[00:05:00] Can we stand together?
[00:05:01] Happy New Year.
[00:05:02] We're glad you're here in the house of the Lord.
[00:05:04] God's Word says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
[00:05:08] We're going to praise Him, yeah?
[00:05:10] Come on.
[00:05:18] I'll praise in the valley.
[00:05:21] I'll praise on the mountain.
[00:05:23] Come on, hands together.
[00:05:25] I'll praise when I'm sure I'll praise when I'm doubting I'll praise when I'm numbered And praise when surrounded Cause praise is the water My enemy's drowning As long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to pray
[00:05:55] Praise the Lord, oh my soul Praise the Lord, oh my soul I praise when I feel it I praise when I don't I praise cause I know You're still in control My praise is a weapon
[00:06:25] It's more than a sound My praise is a shout that brings Jericho down As long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul
[00:06:56] And I won't be quiet, my God is alive, how can I keep it inside?
[00:07:04] I'm gonna praise the Lord, oh my soul
[00:07:13] All right, come on, let's sing this out together.
[00:07:15] I praise cause you're silent, praise cause you reign, praise cause you rose and defeated the grave.
[00:07:23] I praise cause you're faithful, praise cause you're true, praise cause there's nobody greater than you.
[00:07:30] I praise, come on, cause you reign.
[00:07:36] I'll praise cause you're silent, praise cause you're true, praise cause there's nobody greater than you Praise the Lord, oh my soul Praise the Lord, oh my soul
[00:08:05] I won't be quiet, my God is alive, how can I keep it inside?
[00:08:26] I won't be quiet, my God is alive, how can I keep it inside?
[00:08:58] Praise the Lord!
[00:09:00] Praise the Lord!
[00:09:01] Yeah, give Him praise!
[00:09:06] I know that I know that I know that my God is for me.
[00:09:09] Can you turn to your neighbor and say that?
[00:09:11] I know that I know that I know that my God is for me.
[00:09:15] Come on!
[00:09:45] Good for all my life Nothing could ever change my mind And you never break your promise You're constant in all you do
[00:10:04] I know that I know You won't ever let me go Every low, every high You are faithful all the time I've tasted and I've seen You've been so, so good to me God, I know
[00:11:00] I know I will not be shaken And nothing is moving me Cause I've got a faith that's sure of the things I cannot say Oh I know, that I know You won't ever let me go Every low, every high
[00:11:30] All the time I've tasted and I've seen You've been so, so good to me Oh, I know
[00:11:58] Let's sing this together.
[00:12:01] I won't stand on words of men God, I stand on yours instead All of my hope, all of my faith All of it's in your name And the world cannot deny All that you've done in my life All of my days, all of my praise All to live Jesus

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
All in my days, all in my praise, Jesus' name Oh, I know that I know you won't ever let me go Every low, every high, you are free

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let's pray.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
He's so faithful.
[00:14:06] And you're faithful all the time.

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
You're faithful all the time.
[00:14:20] You're faithful all the time.
[00:14:23] He's faithful.
[00:14:24] Give Him praise.
[00:14:27] There's power in the name of Jesus, yes?
[00:14:30] The power that rose Christ from the grave is alive in us as sons and daughters of the Most High King.
[00:14:36] And He's here in this place and He wants to move in power.
[00:14:38] So whatever you need this morning, He is here and He wants to do it.
[00:14:43] So whatever you could dream, whatever you could imagine, whatever hope, whatever desire you have, the Lord can give it to you through the power of His name.
[00:14:51] Salvation is here today.
[00:14:53] If you need to call on Him as Lord and Savior, if you need to run back to His open arms of mercy and grace, He is here.
[00:15:00] There's no other name by which we're saved.
[00:15:02] Amen, church?
[00:15:04] There's power in the name of Jesus.
[00:15:10] There's a name that levels mountains Carves out highways through the seas
[00:15:38] I've seen its power unravel battles right in front of me There's a faith that stands to fight Sends Goliath to his knees
[00:16:04] I've seen His praise unravel shackles right off my feet
[00:16:16] That's the power of your name Just a mention makes a way Giants fall and strongholds break And there is healing That's the power that I claim It's the same that rolled the grave There's no power like the mighty name of Jesus
[00:16:57] There's a hope that calls out courage In the furnace unafraid The kind of daring expectation That every prayer I make Is on an empty cross
[00:17:21] The power of your name Just a mention makes a way Giants fall and strongholds break in
[00:17:43] Every voice, lift it up.
[00:18:06] I see you taking ground.
[00:18:14] Your power is dangerous to the enemy's camp You still do miracles You will do what You said For You're the same God now as You've always been Your spirit breaking out
[00:18:52] Sanctification, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:19:23] Jesus, there's no power like you

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning Christ Community Church can we just give him more praise in this place I'm so thankful man aren't you thankful we get to worship Jesus and his power this morning you guys can go ahead and have a seat as we kind of get into a couple things if we haven't had the chance to meet yet my name is Nick I'm the youth director here at Christ Community Church I'm just so glad they're here even if you are a Panthers fan and you're still upset about last night we're so glad that you've joined us this morning man
[00:20:08] We're here to worship Jesus and the Falcons still have a chance.
[00:20:11] So anyways, there's a few things that I need to go over other than football scores, but I'm so excited that you're here on behalf of Pastor David, his wife Katie, and just our entire staff and team.
[00:20:21] We're so thankful that you've decided to worship with us this morning.
[00:20:24] If this is your first time here this morning, welcome to church.
[00:20:28] One thing that I just asked the first time guests is,
[00:20:30] is that you fill out the there's a little blue connect card in the seat back pocket in front of you if you would just fill that out if it's your first time and then as you leave today you'll see three black connect cards at the back of the lobby if you take that card and you give it to someone they'll be there to say hi and to put a gift in your hand before you leave church today church would you just join me in welcoming our first time guest this morning
[00:20:56] Awesome, awesome.
[00:20:57] And if you are a first-time guest or if you've been here plenty of times and you're not yet sure what we're about, it's right there in our name, Christ Community Church.
[00:21:05] We exist to see people come to know Christ, to love through community, and to live as the church.
[00:21:09] And as part of that heartbeat, we have lots of different things going on.
[00:21:12] If you would look at your news and note sheets with me super quickly, I want to highlight two things.
[00:21:17] The first one that I want to highlight is this there is a small group leaders training coming up on January 22nd January 22nd our next semester of small groups is launching in February and if you feel called to lead a small group take that next step like I really encourage you if you feel called to do that take that next step but also if you feel called to do that
[00:21:44] You need to attend this small group leaders training on January 22nd so we can get you onboarded with leading a small group.
[00:21:51] Also, small plug for small groups.
[00:21:53] If you want to join a small group, we've got so many small groups for so many different things.
[00:21:57] They're all also listed out there in the lobby.
[00:21:59] We have for all different groups.
[00:22:01] Seasons, all different people, stages of life, anything like that.
[00:22:06] All the small groups are listed out there.
[00:22:07] Join a small group.
[00:22:08] You can do that on our church center app or on the website cccmorrisville.com.
[00:22:13] The next thing I want to highlight super briefly is on January 25th, that's our next steps class.
[00:22:18] You'll see that right at the bottom of your news and notes sheet.
[00:22:21] Our Next Steps class is an awesome opportunity to just find out more what the church is all about, what our values are, and things like that.
[00:22:28] You'll have an opportunity to do that during that class.
[00:22:31] That class is on January 25th, and if you would, sign up for that, RSVP for that, because we do have food for that class, and we just want to know how many people, so we have enough food.
[00:22:42] There's always plenty of food there, trust me, but just so that we know how much food to order for that.
[00:22:48] Alright, if you would just go ahead and stand back up for me as we go back into a time of worship.
[00:22:52] Two more things really quickly as the youth director.
[00:22:54] I want to encourage, if you are in 6th to 12th grade, we had a movie night last week because it was New Year's Eve, but man, come to youth on Wednesday nights at 6.30 to 8.30.
[00:23:05] I'm so excited about this year.
[00:23:06] I've been praying a lot about what God wants to say to, not just me, obviously, but what He wants me to speak to everybody.
[00:23:13] So if you're in 6th to 12th grade, come to youth on a Wednesday night.
[00:23:16] and I'm so excited for what God's going to do this year also as we go back into a time of worship as we consider our giving would you also just consider that as an act of worship as well that it's not something that we do out of obligation but as an overflow of what God has done for us in our lives and so if you want to give today if you brought a physical tither offering you can put that in one of the black boxes as you exit as you exit this room but you can also give online on church center or on the website
[00:23:45] Would you bow your heads and pray with me as we go back into this time of worship?
[00:23:54] Heavenly Father, God, we're so excited to just worship you more in this place.
[00:23:58] We know that you are in the midst right now because your word says that you are, and God right now,
[00:24:05] I just ask that your peace would just overflow in this room God I pray that as we go into this new year that if there's any anxiety or fear in the room that it would just go right now God that it would just flee from this room that it has no place here God that it would just be that cast out in this room right now in your name God fear and anxiety do not belong here because your peace will pass over us right now God we just ask for your
[00:24:27] Grace and your love and your mercy in this place.
[00:24:30] God, we invite you into this time and we just worship you with everything that we are.
[00:24:38] Thank you so much for your power that rolled the grave.
[00:24:40] Thank you so much that there is nobody else worthy.
[00:24:45] you are the only one worthy Jesus and we are so thankful that we get to worship the name above all names that gives peace that passes all understanding this morning thank you Jesus for all that you've done in your name we pray amen amen thank you Nick you know I love the new year and the symbolism that it gives us

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I'm reminded of the scripture that says, your mercies are new when?
[00:25:12] Every morning.
[00:25:13] And so I'm so thankful that the Lord loves us and he gives us a chance to start over multiple times if you're anything like me.
[00:25:21] And so this year, maybe that's you, maybe you need to start over, maybe you need
[00:25:25] As Nick said, to get plugged into a small group or some other ministry.
[00:25:29] And I want to encourage you, if you have a musical gifting, if the Lord's gifted you in that way to join the worship ministry all through January, we have open enrollment.
[00:25:38] And so whether it's through singing or playing an instrument or running sound or lighting or our live stream,
[00:25:45] We need your help.
[00:25:47] And it's a great opportunity for you to be a part of what the Lord's doing here.
[00:25:50] And I say worship ministry because it's not a band and it's not a show.
[00:25:54] It's for His glory and for His honor so that the church, the bride of Christ, can worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
[00:26:03] I'm so thankful for this body.
[00:26:05] I'm so thankful that we get to come together and we get to worship every week.
[00:26:10] There's churches in other nations that do it in secret because they're scared.
[00:26:16] They're fearful of what might happen if someone were to find out.
[00:26:19] We have the freedom to do that here.
[00:26:22] And I'm so thankful for all that God's done for us, aren't you?
[00:26:26] When we look back to what He's done in 2025 and we look ahead to 2026,
[00:26:34] I've witnessed his faithfulness.
[00:26:36] I've witnessed his goodness.
[00:26:38] And I know that he wants more for you in this room than what you've ever had before.
[00:26:45] He wants to reveal himself to you like never before.
[00:26:49] And so this morning as we worship, as we continue to worship in 26, I want us to just be all in.
[00:26:54] Can we say that together?
[00:26:56] All in for Jesus.
[00:26:58] Listen, the songs aren't really for you.
[00:27:00] they're for him and so when we worship we sing to him the king of kings the lord of lords and we declare our freedom we declare his goodness and his worth we've witnessed it and we continue to witness it this year amen amen

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
When I was lost and all alone Your presence was where I found home You were there and You're here right now In every high and every low You never left me without hope
[00:28:04] and you're good right now I've witnessed your faithfulness I've seen you breathe life within So I pour out my praise again You're worthy
[00:28:29] Your promises never fail I've got stories I'll live to tell So I pour out my praise again You're worthy
[00:28:51] And chose the cross down your life to rescue us, the Savior there.
[00:29:09] The end you conquered hell so I could live Resurrecting then, resurrecting now Oh sing it out like you mean it He's resurrecting Resurrecting then, resurrecting now I've witnessed your faithfulness I've seen you breathe life within
[00:29:50] I've got stories I've lived to tell So I'll pour out my praise
[00:30:22] You're strong and I've witnessed it You're constant, I've witnessed it And I'm confident I'll see it again and again You love and I've witnessed it You heal and I've witnessed it
[00:30:47] You save and I've witnessed it And I'm confident I'll see it again and again You're good and I've witnessed it You're strong and I've witnessed it You're constant I've witnessed it And I'm confident I'll see it again and again You love and I've witnessed it
[00:31:20] You say that I'm witnessing and I'm confident I'll see it again and again I've witnessed your faithfulness I've seen you breathe life within So now pour out my praise for you and your worthy God, you're worthy of all we bear Your promise is never there
[00:31:50] I'll tell my stories, I'll live to tell So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy, God, You're worthy of all of it To the broken I'll witness it To the hurting I'll witness it To the lost I will witness it And I'll tell them this I'll tell them what I believe

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Can we just celebrate what he's done in 2025 and since we've been in this building the Lord has brought 217 souls to salvation.

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Can we give him praise for that?
[00:33:01] He is so good.
[00:33:03] He wants to continue moving and what's beautiful about that is that you get to be a part of it.
[00:33:09] You don't have to be.
[00:33:10] You get to be.
[00:33:12] It's your choice.
[00:33:13] He allows you this freedom of will.
[00:33:17] and this year, more than ever, I believe that God wants to do even more.
[00:33:22] God cares about numbers.
[00:33:24] I hear that many times in church where, oh God, all you guys care about are numbers.
[00:33:28] Yes, we care that souls are saved and they come to know Jesus Christ and we make disciples and we go make more, amen.
[00:33:35] The message of the gospel wasn't made for this room.
[00:33:38] It was made for our city, our nation, our world.
[00:33:41] That's the call on our lives.
[00:33:46] One way,
[00:33:48] That we reach others in Christ is just by worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.
[00:33:55] When I think about worship I think about in Revelation where there's this big worship service going on even right now where all the elders are bowed down before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and they sing in unison day and night.
[00:34:12] Night and day, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
[00:34:18] Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.
[00:34:23] There's no one else worthy of our worship.
[00:34:25] There's no one else worthy of our praise.
[00:34:28] He alone deserves our everything.
[00:34:33] So this morning we worship you, King Jesus, the lamb that was slain, the blood that was shed to make us righteous when there was no other way.
[00:34:44] And we cast down all of our idols, whether it's a thing, a person, a possession.
[00:34:50] And we say, Lord, you alone are worthy.
[00:34:56] You alone deserve.
[00:34:58] Our prayers.

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I am an instrument of exaltation I was born to lift the name above all names
[00:35:32] The world's his world The world's his world
[00:36:22] So I have so many things that I need in me.
[00:36:44] Who else?

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Who else is worthy?
[00:36:45] Who else is worthy?

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
He is the Lord, only Jesus.
[00:36:46] Who else is worthy?
[00:36:46] Who else is worthy?
[00:36:54] Jesus.
[00:36:56] Who else is worthy?
[00:37:00] Who else is worthy?
[00:37:04] There is no one, only you, Jesus.
[00:37:10] Who else is worthy?
[00:37:21] Only you Jesus Oh who else is worthy but Jesus Oh you're worthy for eternity You are, you're worthy
[00:37:49] We just sing this out, Lamb of God Oh Lamb of God, anointed one Who was and is and is to come He's seated on the throne above Holy, Holy
[00:38:08] Holy, righteous one who shed his blood You proved to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted up Holy, holy Lamb of God Anointed one who was and is and is to come He's seated on the throne
[00:38:36] Holy righteous one who shed his blood You proved to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted up Who else is worthy?
[00:39:01] Who else is worthy?
[00:39:03] There is no one Only you Jesus Who else is worthy?
[00:39:07] There is no one, only you, Jesus There is no one, only you, Jesus There is no one, only you, Jesus
[00:39:39] Who else is worthy?
[00:39:43] Who else is worthy?
[00:39:47] There is no one only in Jesus.
[00:39:54] Who else is worthy?
[00:39:56] Sing it out.
[00:39:57] Who else is worthy?
[00:40:01] There is no one
[00:40:04] Only you Jesus There is no one Only you Jesus There is no one Only you Jesus You worthy Jesus
[00:40:36] There's no one else who is like you God
[00:41:05] Who is like you, Jesus?
[00:41:11] Oh, there's no one There's no one higher There's no one greater There's no one better How you love me, Jesus How you love me, Father
[00:41:35] Oh, we thank you for your love, Jesus, the Lamb of God.
[00:41:41] Can we just sing that again?
[00:41:43] The Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come.
[00:41:50] He's seated on the throne.
[00:41:53] Tell him he's holy.
[00:41:55] Holy, holy.
[00:41:58] Sing that again.
[00:42:15] God anointed One who was and is and is to come He's seated on the throne above Your holy, holy, righteous One Who shed His blood, You prove to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted up
[00:42:42] Who else is worthy?
[00:42:45] And who else is worthy?
[00:42:50] There is no one, only a Jesus Who else is worthy?
[00:43:02] Who else is worthy?
[00:43:06] There is no one
[00:43:09] Only in Jesus there is no one.
[00:43:14] There is no one.
[00:43:18] Only in Jesus.
[00:43:22] There is no one.
[00:43:26] Only in Jesus.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you, Jesus.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Can we give him praise in his house?
[00:43:42] We thank you for your presence here.
[00:43:43] We thank you, God, that you love us, that you see us, that you know us, that you came to rescue us, and God, that you are the God of the second chance.
[00:43:59] Over and over through Scripture, over and over through my life and the life of others, I've seen your faithfulness and your mercy and your grace and your unending love.
[00:44:14] But Lord, this year, can we just focus more on your worth and your holiness?
[00:44:28] May we come into your presence in awe of you.
[00:44:36] So Lord, as your Spirit has filled this room, as we continue to worship you, as we open your Word in this place today, God, may we be in awe of it, of just being in your presence.
[00:44:57] I'm so thankful that your Word says that you inhabit the praises of who?
[00:45:03] Your people.
[00:45:04] So Your people are here.
[00:45:06] We praise You, Lord.
[00:45:07] We welcome You to move in this place.
[00:45:09] Speak through Pastor Garrett this morning.
[00:45:12] May Your Holy Spirit guide his every word.
[00:45:17] And may Your name be glorified.
[00:45:19] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen, amen.
[00:45:24] Go ahead and have a seat.
[00:45:25] As you do, you can look at your neighbor and say, you look better than I remember you did last year.
[00:45:32] New Year's jokes, we can only make them once a year, and today's the Sunday.
[00:45:37] And my name is Garrett, if we haven't got the chance to meet, I'm one of the pastors here.
[00:45:44] And our senior pastor, Pastor David, was looking forward to being here this morning.
[00:45:49] and this week his his wife was in the hospital for for a little bit and I'm happy to be able to say that she's home now everything's good but pastor is there taking care of her today he does send his New Year's greetings and he is looking forward to being back in the pulpit next week so you definitely have to make plans to to come back next week and hear pastor David bring the word for the first time in 2026
[00:46:17] He did call me this week and asked me if I would go ahead and start the series.
[00:46:21] I told him I'd be honored to serve in that way.
[00:46:24] And I took a deep breath and started prepping.
[00:46:27] So we're going to go ahead and start our series this year.
[00:46:30] So if you've got your Bibles with you or your smartphones or tablets, whatever...
[00:46:35] You can turn with me to John chapter 1.
[00:46:38] John chapter 1.
[00:46:39] Today we're going to start a new series called the Invitations of Jesus.
[00:46:43] Invitations of Jesus.
[00:46:45] Looking at what is God inviting us into this year in 2026.
[00:46:50] 2025 for you may have been a year of highs, may have been a year of lows, but what is God inviting us into in 2026?
[00:46:58] How many people stayed up all night on New Year's Eve all the way to watch the ball drop?
[00:47:04] How many people did not were in bed by 10 30 at the yes amen amen how many people and i just found this out showed their kids youtube video from last year and then just rocked and rolled at 8 30 and said all right bedtime you made it to midnight
[00:47:20] I can't wait to be able to steal that one when our kids get old enough so that me and my wife can still have a few hours a few hours while they go to bed so New Year's resolutions New Year's resolutions who makes resolutions resolution people where my resolution people at who who's like goals because resolutions don't work for me
[00:47:45] I never stick to them.
[00:47:46] He was like, I'm over all of it.
[00:47:47] I'm just tired.
[00:47:48] I gave up.
[00:47:49] My resolution was to not make any more resolutions.
[00:47:53] There's a couple of popular ones.
[00:47:55] I found the list of the top 10 New Year's resolutions for 2026.
[00:47:59] If you haven't made your list yet, there's still time.
[00:48:02] Quitting Day is the 21st of January, so you have a whole two weeks before you've got to give up on those resolutions.
[00:48:11] uh here's here's one exercise more was number one and then lose weight was number two i think those two kind of go together but you know you do you get organized learn a new skill or hobby uh live life to the fullest but what does that mean like there's no way to quantify living life to the fullest so i don't really understand save more money and spend less money that was one uh as well i thought it said spend more money whenever i read this the first time and i was really excited i was like man i want my life to be
[00:48:39] Spend more money is my New Year's resolution this year.
[00:48:42] Quit smoking.
[00:48:44] Spend more time with friends and family.
[00:48:46] Travel more and read more.
[00:48:47] I'm going to add one to this list and that's sleep more.
[00:48:49] And that was for my kids.
[00:48:50] I just pray right now that they sleep more.
[00:48:54] I would challenge you to choose a model of consistency instead of intensity whenever you're making your new year's resolution.
[00:49:03] Garrett, what do you mean by that?
[00:49:04] I mean this.
[00:49:05] In 2023, Planet Fitness added 1.7 million new gym goers in the month of January.
[00:49:13] And I bet you those folks hit the gym real hard all January long.
[00:49:18] I wanna know how many of those people were still going to the gym in February.
[00:49:23] And then how many of those elite brothers and sisters were going to the gym in March.
[00:49:28] And then maybe the five or six of them that cleaned it out in December.
[00:49:31] Man, I tell you, the best time to go to Planet Fitness, December.
[00:49:34] Let's go.
[00:49:36] Choose consistency over intensity.
[00:49:38] Whatever goals you choose to set for yourself, choose ones that you do consistently over time, but build upon each other.
[00:49:46] Instead of saying, you know what, I'm gonna run 100 miles this week.
[00:49:50] Say, I'm gonna run one mile a day for three weeks
[00:49:54] In a row you know like that's what I want to do consistently consistency over intensity as you continue to develop your spiritual goals and the things you feel like the Lord is calling you into to pursue him more this year choose things that you can consistently do don't say I'm gonna pray all day for 24 hours one day this year instead take five minutes every single day ten minutes every single day dive into the word ask what he's saying and then get to know his heart
[00:50:22] Spend time with them daily and you'd be surprised at who you will become in December if you consistently pursue God every single day in this new year.
[00:50:35] 2025 for you may have been a highlight year, 2025 for you may have been a low year, but either way we get to move into 2026 and ask God what is He inviting us to this year.
[00:50:49] Hopefully while I have talked you have found John chapter 1 and if you would for the first time this year would you go ahead and stand up to honor the reading of scripture as we look at John chapter 1 verse 35 and see our very first invitation of Jesus.
[00:51:05] It says this starting in verse 35.
[00:51:08] The following day, John, this is Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, was again standing with two of his disciples.
[00:51:15] As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, look, there's the Lamb of God.
[00:51:20] When John's two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.
[00:51:24] Jesus looked around and saw them following.
[00:51:27] What do you want, he asked them.
[00:51:28] They replied, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?
[00:51:32] Come and see.
[00:51:33] He said it was about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying and they remained with Jesus the rest of the day would you pray with me Jesus right now we just invite you into this room into this place
[00:51:51] Jesus we know your word is alive and powerful and sharper than any sewage sword cutting between soul and spirit joint and marrow and revealing our innermost thoughts and desires father i pray that you would reveal who you we really are in light of who you really are and change us today to be more like you and it's in your name jesus we pray and everybody said amen you may be seated how many people love flying
[00:52:13] How many people hate flying?
[00:52:15] How many people think if we were made to fly, God would have gave us wings, so I'm gonna drive everywhere we go?
[00:52:20] There's usually those three people in the room, in any room.
[00:52:25] I'm of the, I actually enjoy flying mindset, and I don't get to fly often, but at least once a year whenever we go to Mexico, get to fly.
[00:52:35] Since the first time I flew, I've made a lot of progress.
[00:52:37] The first time I flew, I feel like I've shared this story here, but just the highlights.
[00:52:41] I was 20 years old, flying with my senior pastor.
[00:52:45] The plane turned to go from Charlotte to Atlanta because we were flying Delta, and their planes just don't make it that far, I don't know.
[00:52:50] and as we turned I thought we were going down but no one else is freaking out I just stopped talking put the tray table down and held on to it the flight attendants definitely saw me and they knew that wasn't allowed but I think they knew he needs that right now so I'm just gonna give him that moment
[00:53:05] and as I'm sitting there gripping the tray table the person I'm sitting next to he's not talking to me anymore he's pretending he doesn't even know me and we get there and everything was fine and since then I have flown several times in some different scenarios the scariest of which
[00:53:23] I was flying into and taking off out of a hurricane in Atlanta that was fun we were on the plane with the one seat on one side the two seats on the other side which are already just an adventure adventure in the sky as it is and then we were flying in a hurricane and so that was that was fun when we landed the pilot said we made it and I'm like I've never never heard that like did you doubt us
[00:53:48] All right.
[00:53:50] So I've been flying long enough to know, you know, I'm not going to get freaked out or unsure about anything going on unless it's like brand new.
[00:54:00] And so this year we had one of those moments going into Mexico.
[00:54:04] And as we're flying into San Diego, it's foggy as we're getting ready to land, landing gear comes out, the pilot gets ready to land, and then all of a sudden just jets up.
[00:54:13] And I'm like, okay, this is a go around.
[00:54:14] I've done this before.
[00:54:16] I know what's gonna happen we're gonna fly around and then we're gonna land one more time something wasn't right the first time that we were landing we're good not unsure we go to a second time there's fog all over you can't see the buildings you don't know where you're at landing gear comes down and all of a sudden we jet back up again and at that point I'm starting to get a little bit unsure if this guy knows what he's doing right I'm thinking to myself
[00:54:38] Is this guy qualified to land this plane?
[00:54:41] Has he ever done it before?
[00:54:42] Is this his first time?
[00:54:43] This is not a good time to be the first time that you're landing a plane in the fog in San Diego.
[00:54:47] Can we maybe land a plane?
[00:54:49] Can we parachute another pilot into this plane to help land the plane?
[00:54:53] Can I try to land the plane?
[00:54:55] I don't know.
[00:54:57] What the stuff is, and we got there, we were fine.
[00:55:00] We landed the third time, it was just runway problems.
[00:55:02] But for some reason in my mind, while all this is going on is, I don't know what's gonna happen to us right now.
[00:55:10] And there's a lot of times in life
[00:55:12] That whenever we're experiencing something either brand new or something that's the beginning of something new, the start of something or something new in the process of that, that we can tend to get unsure.
[00:55:24] For me, whenever I was flying, that was something that I'd never experienced before, so I was a little bit unsure.
[00:55:29] And I feel like in our Christian life, it works the same way.
[00:55:33] Whenever we start something brand new, whether it's to give our lives to Jesus for the very first time, or we believe that God is calling us to the next step, something new to us, we can begin to feel a little bit unsure of what's going on.
[00:55:46] Maybe for you, as you sit here today, you're like, Gary, it's the first Sunday of 2026, and I made a decision to come to church to explore who Jesus is.
[00:55:55] And I'm a little bit unsure of what my life will look like if I say yes to Him.
[00:55:59] Maybe for you, you're deciding whether or not it is to start
[00:56:02] Pray together as a family and you feel like God's calling you into that next step and you don't know how it's going to be received with the rest of your family as you pray together, have meals together and share stories about how God's working in your life.
[00:56:15] And you're like, man, I don't know what that next step looks like for me.
[00:56:18] And you begin to feel a little bit unsure.
[00:56:21] Wherever you find yourself in the room today, you can take heart in knowing this, the first invitation that Jesus gives to us from Scripture is the invitation to come and see.
[00:56:33] The invitation to come and see.
[00:56:37] John, Jesus' cousin, who was baptizing people to reveal who Jesus was to the world,
[00:56:42] Sees Jesus one day and he doesn't see his cousin.
[00:56:46] He sees the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world.
[00:56:49] And then a few days later he sees him again.
[00:56:51] And he can't help but say it.
[00:56:52] Look!
[00:56:53] The Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.
[00:56:56] And then two of his disciples.
[00:56:58] See Jesus.
[00:57:00] And they decide to start following after Jesus.
[00:57:03] I love it.
[00:57:04] The word for look that is used in the Greek doesn't necessarily mean look to the left or look to the right or look at the TV screen as the Panthers are losing to the Buccaneers last night.
[00:57:14] And now we all have to be Falcons fans today whenever they play the Saints so that we can get into the playoffs still.
[00:57:20] No, it doesn't just mean look to casually observe.
[00:57:22] It means look to consider, to see the possibility, to examine, understand.
[00:57:27] The word might be translated behold in your version of the Bible because it means more than just to look with your eyes.
[00:57:33] It means to understand and process with your mind.
[00:57:37] John's invitation, his proclamation isn't just
[00:57:40] to look and see that that is Jesus.
[00:57:43] It is to examine Him, explore Him, understand Him.
[00:57:47] The Bible in Psalms invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good.
[00:57:53] Our God is a God that wants to be experienced and maybe you're in this room today on the first Sunday of 2026 and you walked in either having been in church a long time ago or this is your first Sunday and I want you to know you are in the right place this morning.
[00:58:09] if you're here to explore and ask questions of your faith we pray that we can be a trailhead as you begin to journey in your faith the place where you can safely ask difficult questions that are hard to process about who God is and how he relates to you but the invitation of Jesus is is to is this to come and see he doesn't say hey get it together guys before you come and follow me he just says hey
[00:58:34] I'm going this way.
[00:58:36] You can come and see with me.
[00:58:39] Journey with me.
[00:58:40] If you're here today and you are in that camp where you're like, Garrett, I don't know how I feel about Jesus quite yet, but I'm in this room because I'm exploring who he might be to me to begin a decision of faith.
[00:58:52] We pray that you would decide to follow Jesus before you leave the room today.
[00:58:57] And I can speak from experience that that is the greatest decision that I have ever made.
[00:59:02] Charles Spurgeon famously said that anytime someone asks a spiritual question it is evidence that God is working on their heart and so I believe that it is no accident that you are in this room today or that you are watching online for the first Sunday of 2026 and we are so happy that you are exploring Jesus and know that his invitation for you is to come and see but his invitation for all of us
[00:59:25] Whether you've been following Jesus for five minutes or 50 years, it's to still come and see because there are different parts of who God is that he wants to reveal to us this year.
[00:59:37] I love that song that we were singing, Who Else is Worthy, because the angels that circle the throne every single day, day and night, 24-7, they cry out, holy, holy, holy.
[00:59:47] because every time they turn they see another picture of who God is and that part makes them cry out holy yet again.
[00:59:53] God wants to show us different parts of who he is for those of us that are mature in the faith that make us stand in awe of who he is even this year.
[01:00:04] The second invitation that Jesus gives us is to come
[01:00:09] and Follow Me.
[01:00:10] Come and follow me.
[01:00:11] We're gonna bounce around a little bit in scripture today and look at three different encounters with Jesus from his disciples getting called.
[01:00:21] So come and follow me is the second one.
[01:00:23] I'll read it here out of Matthew chapter four.
[01:00:26] It says this, one day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, also called Peter, Andrew, throwing their net into the water for they fished for a living.
[01:00:36] Jesus called out to them, come.
[01:00:38] Follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.
[01:00:41] And they left their nets at once, and they followed him.
[01:00:44] A little further up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in the boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets.
[01:00:50] And he called to them, Come.
[01:00:53] And immediately they followed him, leaving the boats and their father behind.
[01:00:58] We'll get to why that's important in a second.
[01:01:00] Jesus' invitation to us
[01:01:03] is to come and follow him.
[01:01:04] Yes, if you're in the room today and you haven't made a decision to follow Jesus, today might be the day to take the first step in faith to follow him and accept that invitation.
[01:01:12] For those of you that have been following him for a while now, maybe the decision is to follow him into what's next that he's leading you into.
[01:01:20] I love that it says as he calls them to follow him that they leave their nets
[01:01:26] That they leave their boats and James and John leave their dad in the boat because oftentimes whenever we follow Jesus into the future it requires us to leave behind something from the past.
[01:01:37] I remember whenever I gave my life to Jesus that required me to change a lot of different relationships and people that I was currently living with and associating with.
[01:01:46] And sometimes that's an easy decision and sometimes that's a more difficult one.
[01:01:50] But I would ask you today, as Jesus is calling you to follow him in a deeper way in 2026, what do you need to leave behind from this past year or in your past to follow him in a greater capacity in 2026?
[01:02:06] Is he calling you to leave behind something that you were doing?
[01:02:10] They were fishing.
[01:02:11] They were left behind their nets.
[01:02:12] Is he calling you to leave behind relationships?
[01:02:14] They left their dad in the boat.
[01:02:16] Is he calling you to leave behind something that's altogether normal for you?
[01:02:20] They left behind their boats and their way of life.
[01:02:23] What is God calling you to leave behind as you follow him in a greater way in 2026?
[01:02:29] Now they did leave their dad in the boat and I know that we can look at that and say okay well they left their dad in the boat that's kind of beat up.
[01:02:34] Why would they leave their dad in the boat?
[01:02:37] Well one thing to note here is that most of Jesus's disciples were teenagers so they weren't leaving a 75 year old man in the boat by himself to fend for himself.
[01:02:46] And two, it's worth understanding that whenever Jewish boys would turn five years old, all of them would go to a school called Bet Sefer.
[01:03:02] And that was the house of learning.
[01:03:04] That was the first school that all Jewish boys would go to at five years old.
[01:03:09] Contrary to popular belief, literacy rates and education were very high in Palestine at this time.
[01:03:16] And all of the boys would go there and they would start learning the scriptures from a very early age.
[01:03:20] By the age of 13, every single Jewish boy would have the first five books of the Bible memorized.
[01:03:30] Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
[01:03:34] So I want everybody to do something with me.
[01:03:35] Close your eyes.
[01:03:37] Think of a 13-year-old boy that you know.
[01:03:40] Now, they have the first five books of the entire Bible memorized word for word.
[01:03:46] I mean, I do too, but I don't want to brag about it or anything.
[01:03:50] No, I don't.
[01:03:51] Not even close, man.
[01:03:52] The first five books memorized.
[01:03:54] And so after that, after that, first five books memorized, the best and brightest, smartest ones would move on to Bet Midrash, which was the next school that they would go to.
[01:04:05] But again, you had to get into this one.
[01:04:07] This was like Yale.
[01:04:08] So you had to get in, and then you would learn more advanced scripture study.
[01:04:13] And you would memorize, by the age of 17, the entire Old Testament.
[01:04:20] All of the books of the Old Testament you would have committed to memory by the age of 17 in hopes that one day you would become a rabbi.
[01:04:31] But that's where the journey would end for most of the people that made it to Beth Midrash.
[01:04:37] because they would have to apply to a rabbi to take them under their wing and they would apprentice under this rabbi.
[01:04:46] And the rabbi, whenever he would choose to accept them into his apprenticeship, would say something like this, come follow me.
[01:04:56] But most of the boys would not go on to become rabbis.
[01:05:02] Instead, they would be told either after Bet Sefer or Bet Midrash,
[01:05:07] Hey, go home, get married, have kids, and pray that one day they will become rabbis.
[01:05:17] So when Zebedee's sitting in this boat with his two boys, they've already picked up the occupation of a fisherman.
[01:05:23] So they're feeling like they've already been passed up on this rabbi thing.
[01:05:28] They're in the process of praying that one day their kids might grow up to be rabbis, just like their dad who's in the boat with them.
[01:05:36] And they see Jesus walking along the edge of the shore at 30 years old, which is when rabbis would start to call their first disciples.
[01:05:45] And Jesus passes them by and says, hey, come follow me.
[01:05:51] Of course they left everything to follow Jesus.
[01:05:55] Because whenever we're talking about leaving things behind, it's all a matter of perspective.
[01:06:00] What are you leaving behind?
[01:06:01] You can focus on it being a bad thing or what are you heading into?
[01:06:05] For James and John and for Peter and Andrew, they knew that what they were pursuing was so much better than what they were leaving behind.
[01:06:13] And I want to tell you this, Jesus might be asking you to leave something behind from this past year as you move into 2026 to follow him, but it's not about what you're leaving behind.
[01:06:22] It's about who you are pursuing in 2026 and who you are chasing and who you are choosing because he has something so much better for you than anything that you could leave behind.
[01:06:33] The last story and somebody can come up and play the keys behind me as we get ready to close is found in Luke chapter 5.
[01:06:41] Luke chapter 5.
[01:06:43] It's a similar story to the one that we just read and this one the emphasis is on coming and being.
[01:06:52] Coming and Being.
[01:06:53] I was talking to Pastor David this week and I said, Pastor, is there anything that you would like to share with the congregation today?
[01:07:02] I know you can't make it, but is there anything you would like to share?
[01:07:04] He said, this thought's been percolating in my brain for a while.
[01:07:06] He said, you become like what you behold.
[01:07:10] You become like what you behold.
[01:07:12] In other words, whatever your gaze is fixed on, you're starting to become like that thing.
[01:07:17] And so as we look at coming and being,
[01:07:20] Thinking about being with Jesus.
[01:07:24] It says this in Luke 5, starting in verse 1.
[01:07:27] One day, as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.
[01:07:35] He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.
[01:07:41] Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push out into the water.
[01:07:46] So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
[01:07:49] When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Now go out where it's deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish.
[01:07:57] Master, Simon replied, we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing.
[01:08:03] I'm going to stop right there.
[01:08:05] What Simon was telling Jesus was, hey, Jesus, listen, I know that you're a carpenter.
[01:08:10] I know that you're a rabbi.
[01:08:12] I'm a fisherman.
[01:08:13] This is what I do.
[01:08:14] This is my area of expertise.
[01:08:16] This is something that I'm really good at.
[01:08:18] And right now it's the middle of the day.
[01:08:20] The best time to fish is at night.
[01:08:22] We worked hard all night long and we didn't catch a thing.
[01:08:28] So now you're telling us to let down our nets that we just washed and so we'll have to wash again to try to catch some fish at a time that doesn't make sense.
[01:08:40] Sometimes we look at the circumstances instead of listening to the voice of Jesus.
[01:08:45] Maybe you think back to 2025 and you're like, man, Garrett, I tried really, really hard to be a better parent in 2025 and it just didn't work out.
[01:08:55] But Jesus is calling you to try again right now.
[01:08:58] Instead of looking at the circumstances, listen to his voice.
[01:09:02] Maybe for you, you tried really, really hard to work on the marriage and you felt like still it was trending in the wrong direction.
[01:09:10] But you feel like God's saying, it's not over yet.
[01:09:12] Keep trying.
[01:09:14] Instead of looking at the circumstances, listen to His voice.
[01:09:17] Maybe for you, you have a major that you feel like God is calling you to pursue, an occupation that you feel like He's calling you to pursue, but the finals didn't go the way that you had planned.
[01:09:27] And now you're looking at reevaluating everything that you thought God was calling you into,
[01:09:32] but instead of looking at the circumstances listen to his voice and so what Peter does here is he says look I understand the circumstances and it doesn't make sense to let down our nets again but I'm gonna listen to you he calls him master this word just means boss in other words he understands that even in his boat Jesus is the one that has authority in your boat who's got the authority is it you or is it Jesus that's just a question that wasn't in my notes
[01:10:03] He goes, we didn't catch a thing all night, but if you say so, I'll let down the nets again.
[01:10:11] You know something?
[01:10:12] Obedience is not a prerequisite, or I'm sorry, faith is not a prerequisite for obedience.
[01:10:20] Faith doesn't necessarily have to be a prerequisite for obedience.
[01:10:23] I can't tell you how many times I felt like I had to have the faith to act on what God has told me to do.
[01:10:31] And I don't know how many things I missed out on seeing because I waited to have the faith to do the thing God was telling me to do.
[01:10:38] Instead, I should have just obeyed and said, God, obedience is the greatest sign of faith that I could possibly have.
[01:10:46] You don't need to feel like it's gonna happen.
[01:10:48] You don't need to feel or believe.
[01:10:49] You just need to obey what God is calling you to do.
[01:10:52] You don't have to have it all together and understand.
[01:10:54] Just take the first step into what God's calling you to do this year.
[01:10:58] And it says this,
[01:11:00] and this time their nets were so full of fish that they began to tear a shop for help brought their partners in the other boat and soon their boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking when Simon Peter realized what had happened he fell to his knees before Jesus and he said oh Lord please leave me I am such a sinful man he's got fish in his boat his boat's on the verge of sinking this is a great miracle that he just sees and for some reason it clicks Jesus is the Messiah and his next reaction is and I am not perfect
[01:11:31] There's this dating adage that I believe is still true and good, but whenever I was dating, instead of trying to find the right person, try to be the right person, right?
[01:11:43] You're working on yourself and not worrying about who you're trying to be with.
[01:11:48] I think that we apply that inappropriately to our relationship with Jesus.
[01:11:52] We say, Jesus is perfect, so if I'm going to be with Him, I need to get my life together.
[01:11:59] But that's not how Jesus works.
[01:12:01] He came because we could not get our lives together on our own.
[01:12:06] The cross is an invitation into a relationship that we could have no other way.
[01:12:12] And so, Peter realizes that he's a sinner.
[01:12:15] In the presence of Jesus, he doesn't have it all together.
[01:12:19] In Jesus' next words to him, I'm going to skip a few verses, he says this, don't be afraid.
[01:12:25] In other words, don't let the fear of the distance, don't let the fear of whatever you're thinking right now about being a sinner in the presence of me keep you from the relationship that I want to have with you.
[01:12:37] And then he says this, from now on, you'll be fishing for people.
[01:12:43] and as soon as they landed, they left everything and they followed Jesus.
[01:12:49] They left the big fish catch, they left their boats, they left their nets, they left it all and they followed Jesus.
[01:12:56] What's God calling you to do this year?
[01:12:59] Maybe it's to start a small group like Nick was talking about.
[01:13:02] Like, man, but Garrett, I don't have it all together quite yet.
[01:13:05] I don't know theology as well as I could know it, but I feel like God's calling me to do it.
[01:13:13] Then start it.
[01:13:15] Maybe it's to tell your neighbor, a coworker, about Jesus.
[01:13:19] Like, Garrett, I don't even know if I understand Jesus enough on my own.
[01:13:23] But he's calling you to do it.
[01:13:25] He tells Peter, hey, you're gonna be fishing for people from now on, but I don't know how to do it.
[01:13:34] Well, just stick with me, and then you'll become like me.
[01:13:37] Because that's the invitation of Jesus.
[01:13:39] It's to be with him, become like him, and then do what he did.
[01:13:44] because you become like what you behold.
[01:13:48] So where are you at on the journey?
[01:13:50] Maybe all three places, come and see.
[01:13:53] Do you need to experience Jesus today?
[01:13:56] come and follow me do you need to make a decision to follow him to leave something behind to follow him into greater intimacy this year or to come and be like him to do something where are you at today would you close your eyes and bow your heads with me just so we can have a moment to reflect on what jesus is saying to each individual heart this isn't a spiritual thing it's just a moment where you can have
[01:14:20] Privacy between you and God and reflect on your own life.
[01:14:24] And maybe you're here today and you've never began a relationship with Jesus.
[01:14:30] And for you, come and see was why you showed up today.
[01:14:36] And you need to respond to following Jesus.
[01:14:39] And I want you to know that we're happy to be a part of the journey with you, to answer questions and to process things in the faith with you.
[01:14:48] And while the Bible does promise many things, tomorrow is not one of them.
[01:14:54] So before you leave today, I'd love to give you an opportunity to follow Jesus and make that first decision of faith.
[01:15:00] And you can do it by just simply praying in the quiet of your own spirit, Jesus, right now, I give you my life.
[01:15:06] I choose today to follow you Jesus right now I give you my life I choose today to follow you there'll be other things you and God are going to have to talk about along the way but the conversation has to start there with Jesus I give you my life I'll figure out the rest but right now I know I need you more than anything if you did did pray that prayer would you please fill out the blue connect card on the seat back pocket in front of you
[01:15:35] and then take it to the Black Connect booth that Nick talked about earlier.
[01:15:39] And then let somebody give you a book to tell you what happens, what you can do now as you begin the journey of faith.
[01:15:45] But more importantly than that, just to celebrate the decision that you made to follow Jesus.
[01:15:52] For everybody else in the room that's a follower of Jesus, even if you just made that decision two seconds ago, I want us just to have a moment where we can do what pastor challenged us to do.
[01:16:05] This year, to become like who we're beholding, just to behold Jesus.
[01:16:10] I just want to read a couple of passages of scripture from the book of Revelation for us to consider that show us a picture of who Jesus is.
[01:16:18] John is writing here in Revelation 1.12.
[01:16:23] and standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.
[01:16:27] He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.
[01:16:31] His head and his hair were white as wool and white as snow and his eyes were like flames of fire.
[01:16:37] His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace and his voice thundered like the mighty ocean waves.
[01:16:44] He held seven stardust in his right hand and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth and his face was like the sun in all of its brilliance.
[01:16:53] In Revelation 5, we see Jesus looking like a lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, the one who has won the victory, the one who is worthy to open the scroll into seven seals.
[01:17:05] But he also looked like a lamb that was as though it had been slain.
[01:17:09] And in Revelation chapter 19, we see Jesus
[01:17:14] When heaven opens and a white horse was standing there, its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.
[01:17:25] His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns.
[01:17:29] A name was written on him that no one understood except himself.
[01:17:33] He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.
[01:17:37] And on his robe and on his thigh was written this title, King of all Kings.
[01:17:44] and Lord of all Lords.
[01:17:48] Jesus, our lives are transformed in your presence.
[01:17:52] We love you today.
[01:17:55] That's the reason we showed up.
[01:17:58] Not to hear words, not to sing songs, but because you're real and you can change our lives.
[01:18:08] And as we look ahead expectantly to what you're gonna do in us and through us in 2026,
[01:18:15] I pray that we would keep our focus on who you are and not the activities surrounding who you are that we would not lose sight of your beauty that we would continue to behold you and we would be more like you Jesus have your way in us today and it's in Jesus name that we pray and everyone said
[01:18:40] Amen.
[01:18:41] I'm going to invite Will Adair.
[01:18:42] He's our Elder of the Week to come up for the first time in 2026.
[01:18:45] If you need anything this week, you go to our website.
[01:18:50] Will's the person that you're going to be talking to.
[01:18:52] This week he'll also be at the fireplace if you need to pray.
[01:18:55] Would you go ahead and stand as Will prays a prayer of blessing on us?
[01:18:58] And then we're going to leave and go watch the Panthers play.

[01:19:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Let's pray.
[01:19:07] Lord, thank you for today, Lord.
[01:19:11] Thank you for your word.
[01:19:16] Life can be so busy.
[01:19:17] We're just, you know, school, work, family.
[01:19:21] So I pray that we just pause.
[01:19:27] Pause so we can get to know you more.
[01:19:31] Pause so we can help the people that just need to be helped, Lord.
[01:19:38] Paul's to help the people that don't even know you, Lord.
[01:19:45] We love you, Lord.
[01:19:46] We ask these things in your name.
[01:19:47] Amen.

[01:19:54] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Hands up!