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00:00 If you could ask God for one thing,
00:04 and only one thing,
00:06 what would you ask God to do for you?
00:11 Think about that.
00:12 If you could ask God for one thing and only one thing,
00:15 and you cannot say, I know what some of you are thinking,
00:18 you're thinking I'd ask him for more wishes.
00:21 You can't do that, that's off the table.
00:23 If you could ask him for one thing and not more things,
00:26 what would you ask him for?
00:27 I asked some people, and some of my friends are funny.
00:31 I asked somebody, what would you have God do?
00:33 And they said, I'd have God help me win the lottery.
00:36 Someone else said that I would ask God
00:39 to eliminate cellulite.
00:41 Another person said they would ask
00:42 for a lifetime gift card for Chick-fil-A.
00:45 Christian chicken for the glory of God,
00:49 that's what they would ask for.
00:50 But more people were really serious when I asked,
00:53 if you could ask God for one thing,
00:55 what would you ask God to do for you?
00:57 And a lot of people said, I would ask God
00:59 to heal someone that I love that is sick.
01:03 There were a lot of people that said I would ask God
01:05 to save a marriage that's very broken.
01:09 There were a lot of people that said I would pray
01:10 that God would bring someone that I love
01:12 who's far from God into a relationship with God.
01:16 There were a few people that said I would ask God
01:18 to help me overcome this addiction
01:21 that I've been unable to overcome.
01:23 A few people said I would ask God to deliver me
01:25 from anxiety.
01:27 There were some that were kind of even thinking
01:29 bigger than that.
01:30 One person said I would ask God to end human trafficking.
01:34 And someone else said I would ask God
01:35 to eliminate world hunger.
01:37 It's an interesting question.
01:39 If you could ask God for one thing,
01:42 what would you ask God to do for you?
01:45 This question is very, very important
01:50 because it reveals what you value most.
01:55 Today, we're gonna look at King David
01:59 from the Old Testament.
02:01 When we talk about King David, I don't know about you,
02:03 but sometimes when I read about him,
02:04 he seems like bigger than life.
02:06 He killed giants, he wrote Psalms, he defeated nations.
02:11 But I wanna show you today that you actually have more
02:14 in common with David than you might realize,
02:18 especially when it comes to his decision making.
02:23 Because just like you, he had really good intentions,
02:27 but just like me, he didn't always make the best decisions.
02:31 When you look at King David, you know he valued family,
02:34 he valued relationships, but he decided many times
02:38 to avoid conflict to his detriment.
02:42 He wanted to please God with righteous living,
02:45 but he gave in to different types of temptation
02:48 including compromising sexually.
02:51 And when he did, what did he do?
02:53 He decided to lie about it, he decided to cover his tracks.
02:58 His unwise and unhealthy decisions
03:03 ended up hurting his marriage,
03:05 it ended up costing him the life of a child.
03:08 His boys were a mess, one of his sons
03:12 got into all sorts of trouble.
03:14 Another one of his sons turned against him
03:16 and literally led a revolt trying to take the life
03:19 of his own father.
03:21 And then David in a painful moment,
03:23 made a decision that negatively impacted
03:26 thousands of people.
03:27 I hope this is encouraging to you.
03:31 Because even with all of his shortcomings,
03:36 and there are so many, David was still known
03:39 as a man after God's own heart.
03:45 Today, we are launching into a new message series
03:48 called "Think Ahead" based on a new book
03:50 that I have launching this Tuesday, "Think Ahead."
03:54 Seven decisions you can make today
03:56 for the God honoring life that you want tomorrow.
04:00 In this message series, we're gonna talk
04:02 about decision making, because let's be honest,
04:05 all of us wanna make really good and wise
04:09 and healthy and helpful and God honoring decisions,
04:11 but we often don't live up to our good intentions, right?
04:16 To make sure I'm not up here by myself.
04:18 Some people, none of you, but some people
04:23 that go to another church eat more than they should.
04:25 Some people, none of you, but people that I've heard about
04:30 spend more than they make.
04:32 Some people say things they shouldn't say.
04:36 And a lot of us, we do things we shouldn't do.
04:39 So instead of waiting to make decisions later on,
04:44 when we may not be at our best, when we might be tired
04:47 or we might be emotional, as often as possible,
04:51 what we're gonna do is we're going to think ahead.
04:54 We're going to pre-decide.
04:56 In fact, the book "Think Ahead" is based on a message series
04:59 we did a few years ago called "Pre-Decide."
05:02 We're gonna do all new content in this message series,
05:05 and we're gonna look at six different people in the Bible
05:08 and see how they actually thought ahead.
05:12 And we're gonna study the pre-decisions that they made,
05:16 and I'll show you where we're going
05:17 over the next six weeks.
05:18 Today, we're gonna look at King David,
05:21 and we're gonna see that he pre-decided
05:24 to prioritize intimacy with God.
05:28 Next week may be my favorite in the whole series,
05:31 certainly perhaps the most important for our culture today.
05:34 We're gonna look at Job, who made a decision
05:37 to pursue purity no matter what.
05:40 Then week three, we're gonna look at Hannah,
05:42 who made a decision to trust God,
05:44 pre-decided no matter what happened, she would trust God.
05:47 Then we're gonna look at Nicodemus,
05:49 who decided that he's always, no matter what,
05:51 going to seek truth.
05:53 And then we're gonna look at Abraham,
05:55 who pre-decided no matter what God asked me to do,
05:58 I will obey him.
06:00 And we're gonna look at Joseph, who decided ahead of time
06:03 that even when it didn't make sense,
06:05 he would pre-decide to believe God's calling for his life.
06:09 Today though, we start with David,
06:13 who before anything else,
06:15 and amidst all of his shortcomings and mistakes,
06:19 he pre-decided to prioritize intimacy with God.
06:24 Now, why would he do that?
06:30 Why would he decide that being close to God
06:34 is a worthy pursuit?
06:38 And the answer is he pre-decided to do that
06:40 because you never end up close to God accidentally.
06:45 I've been in ministry for over 30 years,
06:48 and I've never met anybody who said,
06:51 I was just binge watching Netflix, scrolling on the 'Gram,
06:56 and all of a sudden I was full of the Word of God
07:00 and started quoting the Word powerfully.
07:02 No one ever said that.
07:04 No one ever said, I was just sitting there
07:06 smoking a ciggy and drinking my drink,
07:07 and suddenly I was witnessing to people
07:10 and leading them to Jesus.
07:12 Nobody ever said I was cussing out traffic,
07:14 and all of a sudden I had the fruits of the Spirit,
07:16 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
07:17 gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
07:19 Nobody did that.
07:21 Because there is no such thing as intimacy
07:26 without intentionality.
07:28 You know this, in your marriage,
07:31 you don't get close if you don't work on getting close.
07:35 You'll never be really close with your children accidentally
07:38 and the same is true with God.
07:39 You will never be close to God accidentally.
07:44 It takes intentionality to experience intimacy with God.
07:49 So we're gonna watch as David teaches us how to think ahead,
07:53 how to pre-decide to pursue intimacy with God,
07:58 and we'll see it when he answers the question.
08:01 If we ask David, if God could do one thing for you,
08:06 what would you ask God to do?
08:09 This is how David would respond.
08:11 Psalm 27, David would say,
08:14 "One thing I ask from the Lord,
08:19 "this only do I seek."
08:24 Before I tell you what he said,
08:25 let me tell you what he didn't say.
08:27 He didn't say, "This one thing I seek from the Lord,
08:30 "that I may be the happiest person that ever lived."
08:32 He didn't say, "This one thing I seek from the Lord,
08:35 "that I may have more money than anybody else alive."
08:39 He didn't say, "This one thing I want from God,
08:42 "and that is a bigger palace with better countertops."
08:46 He didn't say that, but he could have.
08:48 He didn't ask for world dominance.
08:50 He didn't even ask for TikTok fame.
08:53 David said this, "The one thing I ask from the Lord,
08:56 "this only do I seek."
09:00 "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
09:05 "all the days of my life,
09:10 "to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
09:14 "and to seek Him in His temple.
09:17 "This one thing I ask above anything else,
09:22 "that I may be in the presence of God,
09:25 "that I may experience the glory of God,
09:27 "that I may dwell and see His beauty in the temple."
09:32 If God would give me one thing,
09:35 it would be that I would be close to Him,
09:37 intimate with Him, hearing His voice
09:40 and having Him direct my steps.
09:43 If you want to be close to God,
09:45 you will never be close to God accidentally.
09:49 I would suggest that if it's a value to you,
09:52 you pre-decide to prioritize intimacy with God.
09:57 This is something that I do,
10:00 and I wanna tell you why I do it,
10:03 because the reasons that I do it
10:05 will be the very reasons that you will want to do it as well.
10:08 Why do I prioritize intimacy with God?
10:12 Number one, I'll just tell you right now, point blank,
10:14 is I am desperate for God's presence.
10:17 I'm desperate.
10:20 I'm desperate.
10:21 Right now, today, in this moment, now,
10:25 I need His comfort, I need His strength,
10:28 I need His power, I need His wisdom,
10:31 I need His Word directing my steps.
10:34 I'll tell you what's going on in my life,
10:38 it would be very similar to yours.
10:40 I don't say this to complain,
10:41 this is just kind of where we are, to be transparent.
10:44 I have daughters who are battling
10:47 ongoing significant health issues that wreck me as a dad.
10:52 Amy and I have a very, very close couple friend
10:57 who is living in, the only way I can describe it,
10:59 is an ongoing daily nightmare that is indescribable
11:04 to see what they're going through
11:09 and to try to support them.
11:11 We are pastoring a family that experienced
11:14 a very, very horrific and tragic death.
11:18 Oh, and I have a book coming out on Tuesday
11:20 and I'll preach four sermons this week
11:21 in three different cities.
11:22 And my fourth and last daughter
11:25 is getting married in one month,
11:27 which is breaking my heart and I actually like the guy
11:30 and I wish I didn't like the guy
11:32 and I'm trying not to like the guy,
11:34 but I do like the guy, which makes it even worse.
11:36 And in the middle of the church,
11:38 there are always painful and complicated decisions
11:44 with ongoing stress that I try to give to God,
11:47 but sometimes I don't give it to God
11:49 and it manifests in this really nasty skin problem
11:53 that I continue to battle with
11:54 that keeps me awake at night and I can't sleep, so yes.
11:59 I am desperate.
12:01 I'm desperate for God's presence.
12:06 David was like this.
12:08 One thing I ask, I want the presence of God,
12:11 because if you look through his life
12:13 over and over and over again,
12:15 even when he had the blessings of running the kingdom,
12:18 he was desperate for the presence of God.
12:20 I'll give you just one example of what would be dozens
12:22 in Psalm 63, commentators tell us he was likely
12:26 in a wilderness running from his son.
12:28 Imagine if your son wanted to kill you
12:32 and is leading an army to come after you
12:34 and he's most likely hiding from his son
12:36 when he wrote these words.
12:38 You God are my God.
12:43 Earnestly I seek you.
12:45 I thirst for you.
12:48 My whole being longs for you.
12:51 In a dry and parched land where there is no water,
12:55 I've seen you in the sanctuary
12:57 and beheld your power and your glory.
12:59 Because God, your love is better than life,
13:03 my lips will glorify you.
13:07 Man, that's intimate and that's desperate.
13:10 I thirst for you, I long for you.
13:13 The Bible talks about the reality
13:16 that we can actually be friends with God,
13:17 which is an amazing thought,
13:18 that the holy God would allow us to call him a friend.
13:22 But let's be honest, what David wrote there,
13:24 that's like beyond friendship language, right?
13:28 I mean, I've got some pretty good friends.
13:30 I mean, some guys I've been friends with for a long time.
13:33 And I have never one time ever said,
13:36 "Dude, earnestly I seek you."
13:40 My soul thirsts for you because I've seen your power.
13:44 You can bench press 225 pounds 15 times
13:47 because I've seen your power.
13:48 Your love is better than life.
13:50 I've never said that.
13:51 That's like way beyond friendship.
13:54 That's deep, that's personal, that's desperate.
13:59 I need you, God, today.
14:06 My very being longs for you.
14:09 Some of you say, "I don't have that.
14:12 I don't have that."
14:13 You might say, "I believe in God and everything,
14:16 kind of, you know, but I don't have that."
14:19 And I would say to most of you,
14:20 "Of course you don't have that."
14:22 Why?
14:24 Because every demon in hell will lie to you
14:29 and tempt you to distract you from chasing after God
14:34 and instead of pursuing anything and everything else,
14:37 but God, and that's where people are today.
14:42 Maybe this will make me happy
14:44 and maybe that'll make me happy,
14:46 maybe this and maybe that, maybe anything but God.
14:49 And that's why I wanna tell you,
14:51 just like me and just like David,
14:54 whether you know it or not, you are desperate for God.
14:59 I don't know what your story is,
15:03 but you go long enough and you're gonna do something dumb.
15:06 You're gonna, you know what I do is dumb?
15:09 You know how you shave your eyebrows?
15:11 Some of you know this, like I noticed,
15:12 I had a little shaver thing and I took the filter,
15:17 blocker off, I thought maybe I can get it tighter.
15:20 I shaved the whole thing off.
15:21 I need God, I mean, just like,
15:23 I thought that, I thought I looked good.
15:25 We do dumb stuff, we do sinful stuff.
15:28 Some of you, like you need the forgiveness of God now.
15:32 Some of you, you've been trying to change something
15:34 and you cannot change it on your own.
15:37 You need the power of God to change in you
15:40 what you cannot change.
15:42 Some of you even right now,
15:44 you are thinking there is some external something
15:50 that will fill that longing on the inside,
15:53 maybe a little more money, maybe a little more stuff,
16:00 maybe a little more luxury, maybe a little more time off,
16:05 maybe a little better person
16:08 than the person I'm with right now, whatever it is.
16:11 Nothing can or ever will fill that void
16:15 because it's a God shaped void that only he can fill.
16:20 That's why we pre-decide.
16:24 I choose ahead of time to intentionally,
16:28 passionately, faithfully, and consistently
16:32 pursue intimacy with God, because like David,
16:36 I am desperate for God's presence.
16:39 Number two, I am desperate for God's Word,
16:44 desperate for his Word.
16:46 Why do I need his Word?
16:49 Well, Amy and I have been married now for almost 33 years.
16:56 And I love this girl with all of my heart.
16:58 We just had Valentine's Day last week.
17:00 I'll tell you what we do, we ignore Valentine's Day.
17:02 This isn't a part of the sermon, this is extra.
17:04 You didn't pay for this, this is free.
17:06 We ignore Valentine's Day
17:07 because we're not gonna let society tell us
17:09 to be extra loving on some random day.
17:12 So we love each other every day.
17:15 February 13th, she gets flowers and a card.
17:18 February 15th, she gets half-priced chocolates
17:21 because we're good stewards and we're honoring God.
17:25 And how do I know her and why do I love her?
17:28 Because we talk intimately.
17:32 It's the words that we exchange that create the knowledge
17:37 that leads to the love and the intimacy that we have.
17:39 How do you get to know God?
17:41 It's by reading his Word.
17:43 His Word is his love letter to you
17:49 that reveals who he is and what his purpose and will
17:54 is for you and for us as a body of Christ.
17:57 We don't read his Word because we have to.
17:59 We read it because we want to.
18:02 I read it because I'm desperate for it.
18:06 In fact, if you watch the way David described
18:09 the Word of God or what he called the law, the Scripture,
18:13 this is how David described it in Psalm 19.
18:16 He used several adjectives to describe the Word of God.
18:19 This is what he said.
18:20 He said, "The instructions of the Lord,"
18:22 this is the Word of God, "they are perfect
18:26 and they revive the soul.
18:29 The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy.
18:32 The commandments of the Lord are right,
18:35 bringing joy to the heart.
18:38 The commands of the Lord, they are clear,
18:41 giving insight for living.
18:43 They are more desirable than gold,"
18:46 the most valuable imagery that he could give at this time.
18:49 "They are sweeter than honey."
18:52 David said, "This is the Word of God."
18:55 What does the Word of God do for you?
18:58 God's Word will do whatever you need it to do.
19:02 God's Word will give you whatever you need to receive.
19:06 When you're sad or hurting,
19:08 God's Word encourages you and builds your faith.
19:12 If you're confused, God's Word is a lamp unto your feet,
19:15 a light to your path.
19:16 God's Word will guide your steps.
19:19 Whenever you're lonely, God's Word will comfort you.
19:22 Whenever you're hurting, God's Word will give you hope.
19:27 Whenever you're weak,
19:29 God's Word will build your faith and give you strength.
19:34 I don't know when it'll appear,
19:35 but 2 a.m. in the morning, if you can't sleep
19:38 because you're anxious about something,
19:40 you can quote the Word of God that you're desperate for
19:45 and tell yourself, "Do not be anxious about anything."
19:49 But in every situation with prayer and petition,
19:53 I make my request known to God,
19:55 and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
19:59 will guard my heart and my mind and my soul in Christ Jesus.
20:04 When you're wearing down and don't feel like you can go on,
20:08 you'll quote the Word of God.
20:10 "Do not grow weary in doing good,
20:12 "for at the proper time I will reap a harvest from my God
20:17 "if I do not give up."
20:19 Whenever you're afraid of what's coming at you,
20:22 you just preach the Word to yourself.
20:25 "My God has not given me a spirit of fear,
20:28 "but of power and of love and a sound mind."
20:32 When you feel stuck, you tell yourself,
20:33 "I am confident of this,
20:35 "that He who began a good work in me
20:38 "will bring it about into completion."
20:42 When you're hurting 'cause your daughter's still sick,
20:46 you run to God who promises
20:48 that He is your refuge and your strength,
20:52 your ever-present help in a time of trouble.
20:57 And no matter what happens,
21:00 you tell yourself the Word of God.
21:02 "The Lord my God is with me,
21:05 "therefore I will not be shaken."
21:11 Whether you know it or not,
21:13 you are desperate for God's Word.
21:19 It's sweeter than honey, it's better than gold.
21:24 You're desperate for it.
21:25 I am, I'll tell you right now just as plainly as I can,
21:29 I am desperate for God's presence.
21:32 I need His strength, His wisdom, His comfort,
21:35 the power of His Spirit.
21:37 I am desperate for His love.
21:39 I am desperate for His Word.
21:41 I need it to convict me, to correct me,
21:44 to strengthen me, to encourage me,
21:46 to give me wisdom and to guide my steps.
21:48 And the third thing I'm desperate for,
21:51 I pre-decide to prioritize intimacy with God
21:55 because I'm actually desperate for God's church,
21:58 desperate for God's church.
22:01 And I want you to see just how desperate David was as well.
22:05 This is what he said in Psalm 122.
22:07 He said this, David said,
22:09 "I rejoiced with those who said to me,
22:14 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'"
22:18 Leave the verse up there if you don't mind.
22:19 "I rejoiced with those who said,"
22:21 hey, let's all go to church together.
22:24 Notice what David didn't say.
22:25 He didn't say, "I rejoiced with those who said,
22:27 'Let's sleep in today and maybe we'll go to church next week.'"
22:31 Didn't say that, right?
22:33 He didn't say, "I rejoiced with those who say,
22:35 'I am a Christian, but I don't need the church.'"
22:38 He said, "I rejoiced with those who said,
22:41 'Let's go together corporately as the body
22:45 to worship the goodness of God in his temple.'"
22:49 Why do we do that?
22:51 Because God is good, because he is worthy of our praise,
22:55 and selflessly, 'cause we all got stuff.
22:58 I mean, I do, I've got a hurt.
23:00 And I actually don't just need God,
23:03 I need God through you, honestly.
23:06 Sometimes I like the presence of God with skin on.
23:09 When someone else prays with me and for me,
23:16 I need the body of Christ, like I need you.
23:21 And whether you know it or not, you need me,
23:23 we're desperate for each, we are desperate for the church.
23:27 And I got to thinking, it's pretty special,
23:30 virtually every blessing in my life, in my marriage,
23:35 virtually every blessing I can trace back
23:37 to God's faithfulness through the church.
23:40 I'll give you just a short rundown,
23:42 I could go much longer than this, I don't wanna bore you,
23:44 but this is true for me, every blessing.
23:47 If you go all the way back to when I was like five
23:49 or six years of age, at First United Methodist Church,
23:52 back in Beaumont, Texas,
23:54 communion, Christmas Eve service,
23:56 I told my mom afterwards, I feel called to be a pastor.
23:59 No reason, no foreshadowing, just in the church,
24:03 that's what I felt as a kid.
24:04 I was drawn to God going to the Methodist youth group.
24:10 I was voted to be the president of the Methodist youth group,
24:12 but I wasn't a Christian.
24:13 And I realized when they asked me to pray out loud,
24:15 I didn't know how to pray, and that was confusing.
24:18 I went to college on a partial athletic scholarship,
24:21 partial church scholarship, because I was the president,
24:24 even though I wasn't a Christian.
24:25 And it was in college that someone gave me a free Bible,
24:28 and I read the Bible, and I gave my life to Jesus.
24:31 And the very first thing I did was find a church nearby
24:35 and went to church.
24:37 It was in the church that I made new friends
24:39 that were Christians.
24:40 It's funny, before I was a Christian,
24:41 I thought all of my friends were Christians.
24:44 After I became a Christian,
24:45 I realized none of them were Christians,
24:46 that's what happened.
24:47 It was in the church that I made new friends.
24:50 It was in the church that I was discipled
24:53 to learn the Word of God,
24:55 and to help walk away from some of the sins
24:57 that had held me hostage for so many years.
25:00 It was in the church I started to learn God's Word.
25:04 It was in the church that I learned
25:05 how to not be selfish and to give and to tithe.
25:08 It was from someone in the church that I heard about Amy,
25:13 then someone else confirmed that she is a very godly,
25:17 passionate Jesus follower, you should go out with her.
25:20 And our first date, we went to my Bible study
25:23 and went to a Bible study from her church.
25:26 We grew together spiritually in the church.
25:30 We felt called by God to serve Him together in the church.
25:34 I proposed to Amy in front of everybody at the church.
25:39 We did our premarital counselling
25:40 with my pastor at the church.
25:43 We were married and shared our vows before God at the church.
25:46 I preached my first sermon in the church.
25:48 Today I have the richest group of friends
25:52 you could ever imagine, lifelong friends,
25:55 that I found and formed all through God's church.
25:58 All six of my children were baptized in the church.
26:04 They all found out who they are in Christ
26:08 through the church.
26:09 They are all grown now and all serving Jesus in the church.
26:13 My four daughters met four guys in the church
26:17 and married them.
26:18 My son met his girlfriend in the church and married her.
26:22 My extra son is dating a girl that he met in the church
26:25 and that's kind of how it goes.
26:26 All of them are serving Jesus today and you say, why?
26:31 And I'll tell you right now,
26:32 it's not because we were good parents,
26:33 it's because the church helped disciple my children
26:38 to become followers of Jesus.
26:39 I'll tell you this, and this is just true.
26:42 Never, ever one time did we ever say,
26:45 are we gonna go to church this weekend?
26:47 And of course you didn't 'cause you're the pastor.
26:49 Listen, when we were not pastors and we were dating,
26:54 we went to the church.
26:55 We didn't go to church because we're pastors,
26:57 we went to church because we're Christians, period.
27:00 When we go on vacation, what do we do?
27:02 We find a church and go to church because that's what we do.
27:07 The church blessed my children, discipled my children.
27:12 What is the church?
27:13 The bride of Christ.
27:15 Jesus said, "I will build my church
27:17 "and the gates of hell will not prevail
27:19 "against every blessing that I have in my life."
27:22 I can trace back to God's hand through the church.
27:26 David said this about those who are planted in the church.
27:29 He said, "The righteous are planted,
27:34 "rooted in the house of the Lord.
27:38 "They will flourish in the courts of our God."
27:40 The blessings, the best blessings of God,
27:44 I believe with all my heart,
27:45 are found with His people in the church.
27:48 And a lot of you are gonna say, "That's not my story.
27:52 "I don't have that."
27:54 Well, let's just start there and say, you know what?
27:58 You can start today.
28:01 You can pre-decide, you can think ahead
28:04 and pre-decide today to pursue intimacy with God.
28:08 Because whether you know it or not,
28:10 hear me when I tell you,
28:11 you are desperate for His presence
28:15 and you are desperate for His Word
28:18 and you are desperate for His presence
28:22 through His people in His body that He calls the church.
28:27 And so I just encourage you to think ahead and recognize,
28:33 not only do you need Him today,
28:34 but you are really going to need the presence of God
28:38 in the future.
28:40 And so what do you do?
28:41 You pre-decide to seek Him today
28:42 because you're never gonna have intimacy
28:44 without intentionality.
28:45 If I could ask you, what one thing could God do for you
28:52 if you realize just how desperate for Him you really are,
28:58 your biggest answer, your immediate answer would be,
29:03 "God, I just need you.
29:04 "I need you.
29:06 "I need your presence with me.
29:10 "I need your Word correcting, convicting,
29:12 "and strengthening me.
29:14 "And I need you, your love through your people
29:17 "in the church."
29:20 Because whether you know it or not,
29:22 every single moment you are desperate for Him.
29:26 And so I don't know about you,
29:30 but I'm gonna decide today.
29:31 I'm not waiting for an emergency in the future.
29:35 I wanna be very, very close to Him today
29:39 because whether you know it or not, listen to me,
29:42 you are desperate for God.
29:48 So Father, we come to you.
29:51 And God, we thank you for your love, your grace.
29:55 We thank you that you are everything that we need.
29:57 Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do, church,
29:59 a little something different.
30:00 Why don't you go ahead and open up your eyes right now.
30:01 I'm gonna assume that all of you are gonna have
30:04 one of these three things you need.
30:05 We're just gonna assume you're gonna need
30:06 one of these three things.
30:08 Some of you need to seek God's presence.
30:10 In other words, you need maybe intimacy with Him in prayer.
30:14 Some of you, you've been neglecting His Word.
30:16 You need to seek Him in His Word.
30:18 Others of you, by you guys are kind of the choir,
30:20 you're here today, some of you online,
30:22 maybe talking to you right now, we miss you.
30:23 If you could come to church, like we really miss you.
30:25 Like we're still here and we miss you, miss you.
30:28 Some of you are hit and miss,
30:30 like right now with as busy as schedules are.
30:32 Some of you, you come to church once a month,
30:34 once every six weeks or so.
30:36 And you might just pre-decide,
30:37 hey, no matter what, if we're in town,
30:39 we're not gonna talk about it.
30:40 We're just people of God, we come to church.
30:42 I'm gonna ask you, if you had to choose one of these three,
30:45 which one would be yours?
30:46 Presence, seeking God in prayer and presence,
30:49 the Word, or church?
30:52 Is it a consistent part of your life?
30:53 Let's raise your hands, the first one, presence.
30:55 Lift up your hands right now, lift up your hands.
30:58 Those of you who say the Word,
30:58 I gotta seek God in the Word, yeah.
31:00 Those who say church, it's gonna be,
31:01 I'm gonna pre-decide church as a part of what we do.
31:03 Praise God for you.
31:04 God, I just ask that,
31:05 (gentle music)
31:07 in this moment, we would make some decisions,
31:12 maybe just one decision,
31:13 that would help us become more intimate with you.
31:17 And God, I thank you that it says,
31:20 "When we draw near to you, your Word promises."
31:22 Whenever we draw near to you, you draw near to us.
31:25 So God, in whatever way we pre-decide to draw near to you,
31:29 we thank you, God, that you will meet us
31:31 exactly where we are.
31:35 And God, I praise you that you have exactly what we need.
31:39 We choose to seek you, God.
31:42 As you keep praying today, nobody looking around,
31:46 there are some of you, if we just kind of sat down
31:48 and could have an intimate conversation,
31:51 and I just kind of ask, where do you stand with God?
31:54 Some of you would answer like, "Um."
31:56 First thing you do is, "Um."
31:59 And then you kind of tell me some kind of story,
32:01 but it would lack confidence,
32:03 and it would lack intimacy, and it would lack clarity.
32:06 I believe with all my heart that God doesn't want you
32:09 to have a, "Um," when you answer that question.
32:12 I believe he wants you to know him intimately.
32:18 Let me tell you about how good he is.
32:20 Our God is a relational God.
32:23 The first thing he did is he spoke,
32:25 and when he spoke, he created man.
32:28 He created man because he wanted to love man,
32:31 and he created a woman for man,
32:33 and God showed his love for us,
32:36 not by shouting from heaven, but by coming to earth
32:39 in the person of his son, Jesus.
32:41 Who is Jesus?
32:42 Jesus is the Son of God, who was perfect in every way,
32:46 never sinned.
32:48 Jesus gave his life on a cross
32:52 for the forgiveness of our sins.
32:54 You could say God pre-decided to send his Son,
32:58 but for a while, we were still sinners.
33:00 Scripture says Jesus died for us,
33:03 and the good news is we know he did not stay dead.
33:06 Three days later, the stone was rolled away
33:07 and the tomb was empty.
33:08 Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave.
33:12 Why did he do this?
33:13 He did this so that anyone, and this includes you,
33:16 no matter what you've done, no matter where you are,
33:19 anyone who recognizes your desperation for God
33:23 could call out to him through Jesus,
33:26 and when you do, God hears your prayers.
33:29 Scripture says God forgives your sins.
33:32 He separates your sins from you
33:34 as far as the east is from the west.
33:38 Today, there are some of you,
33:39 it's time for you to decide on this day.
33:42 As for me, I am a follower of Jesus.
33:46 You may feel unworthy.
33:47 You may feel like you need to clean up first.
33:49 No, you just come to him exactly as you are.
33:50 Right now, you come to him and say, yes, God is loving you.
33:54 You are not here by accident.
33:56 Those who say, I don't really know where I stand with him.
33:59 I don't really know.
34:00 Today, by faith, as you call on his name,
34:02 he will hear your prayer.
34:03 He will forgive your sins.
34:03 You will never be the same.
34:05 All of our churches, those who say, yes, that's me,
34:07 I'm ready to decide to give my life to him.
34:09 I'm not playing around.
34:10 I'm stepping away from my sin.
34:12 I am surrendering my life to Jesus today.
34:14 That's your prayer.
34:15 Would you lift your hands high right now
34:16 all over the place and say yes?
34:17 But praise God for you right here.
34:19 Others of you say, I choose today to surrender my life.
34:22 Lift up your hands high right now, right back over here.
34:24 Both of you, God, praise God for you.
34:26 Others today who say, yes, Jesus, I surrender.
34:29 Would you be the Lord of my life?
34:31 And I'm gonna ask all of you today at all of our churches
34:34 to pray with those around you.
34:35 Pray, heavenly Father, would you forgive my sins?
34:40 Jesus, save me.
34:41 Make me new.
34:44 Fill me with your Spirit
34:46 so I could walk in your presence,
34:49 so I could know your Word,
34:52 and so I could be strong in your church.
34:58 Thank you for forgiveness.
35:00 Thank you for new life.
35:01 I give you all of mine.
35:04 In Jesus' name I pray.
35:06 Could somebody worship Him right now
35:08 and give thanks to God today.
35:10 Welcome those born into God's family.
35:12 Do you wanna keep learning how to think ahead
35:14 and make better decisions?
35:16 We've got even more videos ready for you right now.
35:20 Click here to get more content
35:21 on how to make great decisions.
35:23 (upbeat music)