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00:00Well, today, we're in chapter two of the book of Jonah,
00:04and I wanna show you my favorite verse
00:07in the entire book of Jonah.
00:11Hang on a second.
00:15Did I say chapter, what chapter did I say?
00:18Chapter three, what chapter are we in?
00:20Three.
00:23It's been a long week.
00:24So, can I start over?
00:28We'll just cut, like a little cut, we'll start over.
00:30Will you give me a second chance?
00:31You wanna give me a second chance?
00:32Okay, here we go.
00:33Okay, hey, here we go.
00:34All right.
00:36Hey, today, we're in chapter three of the book of Jonah,
00:39and I wanna show you my favorite verse
00:42from the entire book of Jonah.
00:44Jonah chapter three, verse one says,
00:47the word of the Lord came to Jonah.
00:49Somebody help me, say it aloud.
00:51A second time.
00:52The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
00:56Type it in the comment section.
00:57The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
01:01How many of you are thankful for a God of second chances?
01:04Woo!
01:07Which raises the question, did I mess up on accident,
01:11or was that on purpose to illustrate
01:15we have a God of second chance?
01:17Okay, that might've been an illustration.
01:19If I mess up from here on out, it is for real,
01:22just so you'll know.
01:24Now, before we dive into chapter three,
01:28I wanna review where we've been,
01:30in case there are those of you
01:31that missed the first two weeks.
01:33We've been in the book of Jonah,
01:35and we read that the word of the Lord came to Jonah
01:38and said, go to Nineveh and preach to the people,
01:40because what, were they holy or wicked?
01:43They were very, very, I mean, they were horribly wicked.
01:45And they, I mean, they would torture people.
01:47They were like, they were horrible.
01:50And so God told Jonah to go.
01:53Did he say yes or no?
01:54He said no, and God said, whoa.
01:58I'll show you on the map what it looks like.
01:59One more time.
02:01Jonah was in Joppa.
02:02God said, go to Nineveh, 550 miles.
02:05He went the opposite direction,
02:07got in a boat sailing for Tarsus.
02:09When he was in the boat, God sent a big storm in the boat.
02:13The sailors thought that they were all gonna die,
02:15so they didn't want to,
02:16but they ended up throwing Jonah overboard
02:19to try to save themselves.
02:20And we get to the last verse in chapter one that said,
02:24now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah,
02:30which is almost kind of funny.
02:32The Lord provided a big fish to eat Jonah.
02:37Doesn't sound like provision.
02:39It sounds like a problem.
02:41And last week we learned that sometimes
02:43what we call a problem, God calls provision.
02:47The Lord provided a fish and it swallowed Jonah up,
02:51and he's in the fish and he prays.
02:54And we read last week that he prayed
02:56and the Lord heard his prayer.
02:57But do you remember, did anything happen immediately?
03:00Nothing happened immediately.
03:01He's waiting three days and three nights.
03:03He's waiting and he's waiting.
03:05And we learned the principle last week
03:07that while you're waiting, oh, God is still working,
03:11which is incredible news for those of you
03:13that have been praying for a long time.
03:14When you pray, God hears your prayer.
03:17Even if you don't see anything,
03:18it doesn't mean God's not doing anything.
03:19While you're waiting, God is still working.
03:22And then last week we ended with the very last verse
03:26of chapter two, verse 10 says this,
03:27and the Lord commanded the fish
03:31and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
03:36The word in the Hebrew translated as vomited onto dry land
03:40is literally translated as beach barf.
03:45I just made that up.
03:46But wouldn't that be cool?
03:47So, I mean, it's kind of gross.
03:49The fish throws Jonah up.
03:51He's on the shore.
03:52He's alive, but he's a mess.
03:55His salvation is like some of yours.
03:57It wasn't clean.
03:58You went through some stuff.
04:00And he went through some stuff.
04:01He's there, he's in fish guts, fish bile.
04:04This is nasty.
04:06And chapter three starts with my very favorite verse.
04:11And chapter three says the word of the Lord came to Jonah.
04:16Somebody help me, a second time.
04:19How many of you are thankful
04:21that we serve a God of second chances?
04:24We serve a God that doesn't just call,
04:28but our God calls back.
04:31And some of you may take a moment
04:33and you may just in your own heart,
04:35just tell God, thank you, because you're like Jonah.
04:38You couldn't save yourself
04:40and we couldn't save ourselves.
04:42And Titus 3, five tells us this, that God saved us,
04:46not because of righteous things that we have done, but why?
04:50Because of his mercy, because we serve a compassionate God,
04:54because we have a God of grace,
04:56because we have a God that calls back.
04:59We serve a God of second chances.
05:01And there is not a single person
05:04that's ever saved by your own righteousness.
05:06Scripture tells us that we're not saved by works,
05:09but we're saved by grace through faith.
05:11So no one can brag about it.
05:13We're saved by the grace of Jesus, the risen Christ.
05:17And we can thank God that everyone,
05:20it doesn't matter who you are.
05:22It doesn't matter how dark your life is.
05:24It doesn't matter how much you've messed up,
05:26but everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
05:30will be saved.
05:33Somebody thank God that he is a God of second chances.
05:38Our God doesn't just call,
05:40but he calls back the God of second chances.
05:44This is in many ways the story of the Bible.
05:49From Genesis all the way to Revelation,
05:51we serve a God of second chances.
05:54I'll show you some highlights and let it just sink in.
05:57There's a lot to look at because God is a gracious God.
06:01Adam and Eve, they sinned against God,
06:03but God displayed grace and made a covering for them.
06:08Moses murdered a man, but God displayed grace
06:12and still used him to free Israel.
06:15David committed adultery
06:17and then committed murder to cover it up,
06:19but God displayed grace.
06:22And when he repented, God forgave him
06:24and still called him a man after God's own heart.
06:27Rahab, she lived as a prostitute, but God displayed grace.
06:33And used her to help protect the spies
06:36and redeemed her in the lineage of our savior, Jesus.
06:40Zacchaeus, he was a corrupt tax collector.
06:44He stole from people and was greedy,
06:46but God displayed grace and Jesus came to his home
06:50for dinner and forgave his sins and made him new.
06:54Peter denied Jesus three times before his death,
06:58but God displayed grace and forgave Peter
07:02and reinstated him and used him
07:04to help build the early church.
07:05And Thomas doubted Jesus after the resurrection,
07:10but our God is a good God of second chances.
07:14Our God displayed grace and met Thomas in his doubt
07:18and in his need and gave him what he needed to believe.
07:24I thank God.
07:27I thank God.
07:29I thank God for my salvation.
07:32I thank God for his grace after my salvation.
07:36I thank God that he is a God of compassion,
07:38that he is a God of mercy,
07:40that he is a God of second chances.
07:42And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
07:49Now, why did he run the first time?
07:52The word of the Lord came to him the first time,
07:54why did he run?
07:57We're gonna find out next week in chapter four,
07:59and I gotta tell you, chapter four is odd.
08:03It is weird.
08:05You gotta take my word for it, you gotta come back.
08:06It's interesting and it's odd,
08:08but we're gonna find out next week very clearly
08:10why he disobeyed God the first time.
08:12And the reason, chapter four tells us Jonah didn't wanna go
08:15because he knew God's character, he knew God's nature,
08:17and he knew God would show compassion
08:19to the people that he hated.
08:21He didn't wanna do it
08:22because he didn't want them forgiven,
08:25which is really kind of funny when you think about it,
08:28because Jonah enjoyed when God showed him grace,
08:32he just didn't want God to show them grace,
08:36which kind of honestly is a lot like some people
08:38you may know right now, or maybe even you.
08:42Like we want God's favor, we want his grace,
08:45we want his mercy, but all of those people over there,
08:48I mean, you know, on the other political side,
08:53I shouldn't even say that out loud in church.
08:56You know, I just said the other one,
08:57I didn't tell you which one,
08:58so just keep your britches on right now,
09:01just we're gonna survive this thing,
09:02we'll just move on, we'll go back to the Bible,
09:04so don't freak yourself out, we're gonna be okay, okay?
09:09The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time,
09:14and verse two tells us this,
09:16what did the Lord tell him to do?
09:18God said, get up, everybody say get up.
09:21Get up.
09:22And go, get up, say go.
09:23Go.
09:24Everybody say it all together, what did he say?
09:25He said, get up and go to the great city of Nineveh.
09:28Now, do you remember in chapter one,
09:30which direction did Jonah go?
09:31Did he go up or down?
09:33When he ran from God, he went down, down, down.
09:37Now, the Lord says, you're not going down anymore,
09:39now it's time for you to get up
09:41and go to the great city of Nineveh
09:44and deliver the message that I have given you.
09:50Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh.
09:54The word get up and go in the Hebrew
09:56comes from the word kumyalach, kumyalach.
10:01That sounds to me like what a fish would do
10:02when it's vomiting someone up, kumyalach,
10:05that's just, I just spend way too much time
10:07studying this stuff, just bear with me.
10:09Kumyalach.
10:10This means go now, it means go immediately,
10:16it means go today.
10:18Go now, go immediately, go today.
10:23And that's why I wanna say to you,
10:25whenever God speaks to you through his word,
10:29do it now, do it immediately, do it today.
10:34Whenever the Holy Spirit prompts you,
10:37maybe to be generous to somebody,
10:38and you're like, is that God telling me to be generous
10:42or is that the devil telling me to bless him?
10:44You know, that's God, of course it's God, okay?
10:46You think the devil's gonna tempt you to be generous.
10:49Whenever God prompts you to do something,
10:51do it now, do it immediately, do it today.
10:54I always honestly try to do something immediately.
10:56If God prompts me to call someone,
10:58I try to do it immediately.
10:59God prompts me to get, I do it immediately
11:01because if I don't, I'll talk myself out of it.
11:03Well, maybe that wouldn't God, maybe I'll do it later.
11:06No, do it now, do it immediately, do it today.
11:11The first time the word of the Lord came to Jonah,
11:14he ran from God.
11:16This time, what did he do?
11:18Verse three tells us that he obeyed.
11:20This time scripture says that Jonah obeyed
11:23the word of the Lord and he went to Nineveh.
11:26Now, Nineveh was a very large city.
11:30Historians tell us that there would have been
11:32about 120,000 or so Ninevites living there at the time.
11:37So he's gonna go preach to 120,000 people
11:41that he despises with all of his heart.
11:44Go to Nineveh, this very large city.
11:47And so he went in there.
11:48It took him three days to go through this city.
11:52And he began by going on a day's journey
11:56in the city proclaiming dot, dot, dot.
11:58Now, what comes after the dot, dot, dot
12:01is the sermon that he gave them.
12:03But before I show you the sermon he gave them,
12:05I just want you to pause and recognize where we are.
12:08He is one man in enemy territory.
12:12His life is in danger.
12:15He hated them, they hated him,
12:17and he didn't wanna be there.
12:19He didn't like them.
12:20He probably thought there's no way
12:21they're gonna hear this message.
12:22And so he preached this message.
12:25Now, this is just a little advice
12:26if you're ever gonna do like a Bible study or something.
12:28One of the things I suggest
12:30is oftentimes do a little opener.
12:32Something creative to get people's attention.
12:34Like, pretend like you mess up
12:38and then show them that God has got a second chance.
12:40That's intentional to try to help bring you in.
12:43Or you might wanna say something
12:45that speaks to someone's felt need.
12:48And like, you know, like God loves you.
12:50You know, God has a wonderful plan for your life.
12:53Jonah did not do any of that.
12:55Let me show you what he did.
12:56Scripture says he went on a day's journey
12:59proclaiming, here's a sermon,
13:0140 more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
13:0540 more days, Nineveh's gonna be destroyed.
13:07That's a sermon.
13:0840 more days and God's gonna wipe you
13:10off the face of the earth.
13:12That's a sermon.
13:14That's what he said.
13:15He probably said more.
13:16We don't have any record of it,
13:18but we know he said 40 more days from now,
13:20God's gonna destroy all of you.
13:24Why is he doing this?
13:25Well, that's what God told him to say.
13:27God said, go tell them the message I'm proclaiming.
13:29If you don't repent, then you don't get to stay here.
13:33And he's probably thinking this is just dang stupid.
13:38These people hate God.
13:40They hate me.
13:41They're not gonna listen.
13:42There's no way this is gonna work.
13:44Some of you right now, you have someone,
13:47you're a follower of Jesus,
13:48and you have someone in your life
13:50that you think there is no way
13:53they will ever meet the grace and the love of Jesus.
13:57Someone in your life, you're like,
13:58they are so far from God.
14:00There's no way that they would ever turn from their sins
14:05and surrender their lives to Jesus.
14:07And I wanna say specifically to you,
14:09never underestimate what God might be doing
14:13in someone's life.
14:15I've found in 33 years of ministry
14:18that oftentimes when someone looks very, very low,
14:21there's only one way they have eventually to look,
14:24and that's up.
14:24Don't underestimate what the Holy Spirit
14:27might be doing in someone's life.
14:28You might have someone right now that you love.
14:30It's maybe your dad, and you think, no way.
14:33Maybe it's a friend.
14:35Maybe it's one of your children.
14:36There's no way that she's ever,
14:37or he's ever gonna come back.
14:39Don't give up hope.
14:42Because Jonah preached this very short
14:45and this very blunt sermon.
14:48And what happened?
14:49Verse five says, the Ninevites believed God.
14:55What?
14:57These evil, horrible, wicked people?
15:03The Ninevites believed God.
15:08There's a whole word right there.
15:12The Ninevites, they believed God.
15:16How many of you know there is a big difference
15:19between believing in God and actually believing God?
15:24Some of you right now, you just believe in God.
15:27Like, well, of course I believe in God.
15:28Like, I'm at church, right?
15:29I mean, I'm here, right?
15:31I'm watching this YouTube video.
15:33Of course I believe in God.
15:34Just because you believe in God
15:36doesn't mean you believe God.
15:38The Ninevites believed God.
15:40James said this.
15:41He said, you believe there is one God, good.
15:44Even the demons believe that, and they shudder.
15:47Believing in God is different than believing God.
15:50Some of you here, the problem is,
15:51you believe in a loving God,
15:54but you don't believe that God truly loves you.
15:58Or you believe in a God that answers prayers,
16:02but you don't have the faith to believe
16:04that He'll hear the cries of your heart
16:06and answer your prayers.
16:08Or you believe in a God that will save the lost,
16:12but you don't think that God will save that person
16:14that you're praying for.
16:16I wanna say to somebody here, don't just believe in Him.
16:21Believe Him.
16:22Don't just believe that God can,
16:24but believe that our God will.
16:27He can and will do abundantly more
16:31than all you can ask, think, or imagine.
16:35Don't just believe in, believe Him.
16:37The Ninevites believed God.
16:39Verse five says this.
16:41They believed God, and a fast was proclaimed.
16:46That means they're not gonna eat for some period of time.
16:49From the greatest to the least, they put on sackcloth.
16:52That's a form of mourning for their sinfulness.
16:56When Jonah's warning reached the king of Nineveh,
16:58the evil king, what did he do?
17:00He rose from his throne, he took off his royal robes,
17:04and he covered himself with sackcloth
17:07and sat down in the dust.
17:10Very, very interesting.
17:11The Ninevites believed God,
17:13and this evil pagan king stepped away from the throne,
17:19took off his royal robe, and covered himself in sackcloth,
17:24saying, God, I'm sorry.
17:27I've sinned against you.
17:28In humility, he removed himself from the throne.
17:32In a similar way, there may be someone here.
17:35It's time for you to take yourself
17:37off the throne of your life
17:39and say, I'm no longer the Lord of my life,
17:43and I'm gonna turn away from my sins and turn toward God.
17:47The word in the Bible is the word repent.
17:49It's like a Bible word,
17:50but it means we're turning away from our sins.
17:54We're grieving from our sins.
17:56And in verse eight, Scripture says this.
17:58Let everyone call urgently on God.
18:01The king says this.
18:02The king's like, hey, call on God now.
18:04Call on God now.
18:06You need him now.
18:08Call on him now.
18:10Call on God.
18:12Don't sit around.
18:15Don't wait for later.
18:18Call on him now.
18:21Some of you right now, if I can just say it,
18:23you're like putting off, fully, completely calling on God.
18:27Okay, I'm gonna wait until I get older
18:31and I'm finished adulting and life gets serious,
18:34and then I get married one day,
18:37or maybe when we have kids,
18:39or maybe I'll call on God, you know,
18:42when I really need him.
18:45You need him now.
18:47Like you need his grace now.
18:49You need his power now.
18:50You need his mercy now.
18:51You need his Holy Spirit now.
18:52You need his love now.
18:54You need his strength.
18:55You need him now.
18:57The king said, call on him now.
18:59Now, today, with the urgency, call on him.
19:01And the king said, repent.
19:04That's like, don't let the angry guy on the corner, repent.
19:08Don't let him mess up this word for you.
19:10It's a beautiful word.
19:11Re, it just means to turn.
19:13It's to turn away from going the wrong way.
19:15Turn toward God.
19:16Pent is that which is highest, like the penthouse.
19:20We're not going down, down, down.
19:22We're getting up and we're turning toward God.
19:24We're turning away from the lower things of this world,
19:27and we're looking up to God.
19:29It's a turn of a heart.
19:31It's a beautiful thing to repent.
19:34To truly repent is to change your mind so deeply,
19:39it changes you completely.
19:41It's, I'm changing my mind.
19:43I'm not the Lord of my life.
19:47I'm no longer on the throne.
19:50It's no longer about my desires and my wishes
19:52and what I want.
19:53And no, it's everything.
19:56God, everything.
19:59I surrender to you.
20:03Jonah preached.
20:06And the nation, by the power of God, turns to him.
20:13The Ninevites repented.
20:14Now, here's what's interesting.
20:16How did God respond when the Ninevites repented?
20:21I'll tell you right now.
20:22Can we just be real?
20:24Don't hate me.
20:26I am a pastor who happens to be a person too, regular dude.
20:33Long before I was a pastor, I used to be a man.
20:37That's a joke, in case you're wondering, okay?
20:39I'm still a man, I'm still a regular guy, okay?
20:43If I were God, and I am not,
20:46and everybody should be glad I'm not,
20:49if I'm God and they're repenting, I'm gonna say, prove it.
20:54Let's see if this lasts.
20:56I mean, I wanna see if you really mean it.
20:58I'm gonna give you a year to see if you're on good behavior
21:01because I'm not gonna just let you turn one little day
21:05and tell me you mean business.
21:06I wanna see it.
21:07If I were God, that's what I would do.
21:11Thank God I'm not God.
21:14Verse 10 says this, when God saw what they did
21:18and how they turned, how they repented,
21:20how they turned from their evil ways, he relented.
21:24He said, I'll destroy you if you don't turn.
21:26They turned, and so he relented and didn't bring on them
21:30the destruction that he had threatened.
21:33I love this.
21:34Whenever they repented, God relented.
21:39Whenever they turned to him,
21:41God took back from his threat to destroy them
21:44and he showed them compassion
21:48in the very same way that when you mess up again,
21:56how many of you have a mess up again story?
21:59Anybody?
22:00Raise up your hand.
22:00Anybody else, you can just polish your halo
22:02and sit there and all.
22:03I mean, I'm talking about to the real people today
22:06who had that thing that you really don't wanna do
22:09and you do it again.
22:11God, I'm never gonna cuss again, blah, blah, blah, blah.
22:14Right?
22:15You know, I'm not gonna yell at my kids again
22:18and you lose your temper at your kids again.
22:21God, I'm not gonna listen to those negative voices
22:23and then all of a sudden you get sucked
22:24into those negative.
22:26God, I'm not gonna be hateful.
22:27I'm not gonna be critical, God.
22:28I'm not gonna do that.
22:30I'm not gonna look at the thing
22:31I'm not supposed to look at again.
22:33I'm not gonna be mean to my spouse again.
22:37Here's great news.
22:39Here's great news.
22:43When you mess up,
22:51the Word of the Lord comes to you again.
22:57And you mess up again
22:59and the Word of the Lord comes to you again.
23:04And God shows compassion to you.
23:07In fact, Scripture says in Isaiah 30,
23:10yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you.
23:15Therefore, He will rise up and show you compassion.
23:20Look at what that says.
23:21The Lord longs to, He desires to, He wants to,
23:25He purposes to, He longs to show you compassion.
23:29He's not looking like going,
23:30hey, I'm gonna catch him doing something wrong.
23:32No, He's longing to show grace to you.
23:34He wants to show you His compassion.
23:36He wants for you to feel it when you turn from Him,
23:38when you repent, He relives, He shows you compassion.
23:43The Word of the Lord is coming to someone again today.
23:48And the question I want you to ask yourself,
23:50we're gonna ask this in our life groups,
23:51and if you're not in a life group,
23:55you need the body of Christ.
23:57I need the body of Christ.
23:59I need people praying for me, praying with me,
24:01serving with me, by my side, strengthening me,
24:03iron sharpening iron, we need the body of Christ.
24:05In the body of Christ, I want you to ask this question
24:08in your life group, and it's very, very simple,
24:10because the Word of the Lord is coming to you again,
24:12and the question is this, what is God trying to show you?
24:17What's He saying to you?
24:20What message is He sending your way?
24:24Just ask yourself, ask the Holy Spirit,
24:25talk about it with people around you.
24:27What is God trying to show you?
24:30Here's what I've discovered in my own life.
24:32In years of walking with God in His goodness,
24:36I've found that it's usually one of two things
24:37God's trying to show me.
24:38Either it's a sin He's trying to save me from,
24:42or an opportunity He's trying to call me to.
24:45Most of the time when God's trying to show me something,
24:47it's either a sin, something in my life
24:51that is displeasing to Him,
24:54something that's dangerous to me,
24:57something outside of His will that hurts His heart,
24:59hurts others, and hurts me.
25:00It's a sin, it's pride, or it's anger,
25:05or jealousy, and comparison,
25:07or financial insecurity, or greed,
25:10or He's trying to show me something in my life
25:13that He's trying to remove, protect me from,
25:15or He's trying to call me to do something, an opportunity.
25:18And it's usually to be generous, to serve,
25:22to be a voice of encouragement, to pray with someone.
25:26It's usually a sin He's trying to save me from,
25:29or an opportunity He's trying to call me to.
25:33What is the Lord trying to show you?
25:38God, what are you trying to show me?
25:40And the good news for you is this,
25:43that the Word of the Lord is coming to you again,
25:47and He's giving you a second chance.
25:50He's given you a second chance.
25:53He's given you a second chance.
25:55He's given you another chance.
25:57And the Word of the Lord is coming to you again,
26:00and He's giving you another chance.
26:02Remember this, He's giving you another chance.
26:04Don't forget this, remember this,
26:05He's giving you another chance.
26:06Don't ever forget this, He's giving you another chance.
26:08Remember, every chance from God demands a choice from you.
26:17Don't ever forget it.
26:18The Word of the Lord is coming to you again,
26:21and He's giving you another chance.
26:23And every chance from God demands a choice from you.
26:29He's coming to you.
26:31Some of you, you've brushed Him off.
26:34You've taken Him for granted, and He's coming to you again.
26:39Some of you, you were close to God,
26:40and you drifted from Him, and He's coming to you again.
26:45Some of you, you've never really known Him,
26:47and you've considered it, you've thought about it,
26:50and you've kind of been close,
26:50you kind of flirt with it,
26:53and He's coming to you again.
26:55And the good news is, we serve a God of second chances.
26:58Our God doesn't just call, but He calls back,
27:01and maybe God is calling you again today.
27:05Please, think about the compassion of our good God.
27:14He didn't give up on Jonah when Jonah turned his back on God.
27:19He didn't give up on the sailors
27:22who were far, far from Him.
27:24He didn't give up on the king who was evil and wicked.
27:28God didn't give up on the Ninevites,
27:31and God hasn't given up on you.
27:35Our God is the God of second chances.
27:38Come on, church, come on, church,
27:39come on, church, come on, church, come on.
27:41If you screwed up in your life,
27:43the Word of the Lord is coming to you again.
27:47If you feel ashamed or stuck in the same old sin,
27:50the Word of the Lord is coming to you again.
27:53If you're away from God,
27:55and you feel like you've lost all hope,
27:58you've been too bad,
27:59the Word of the Lord is coming to you again.
28:02And if you think for a moment,
28:04after what I've done and who I've hurt
28:06and how dark my life is and how bad my sin is
28:09and how much I've hurt people,
28:11remember God's grace is greater than your greatest sin.
28:14The Lord longs to show compassion.
28:18The Word of the Lord is coming to you again.
28:23The Word of the Lord,
28:28He is so good,
28:32is coming to you again.
28:36He's given you another chance.
28:38And just remember,
28:40every chance from God demands a choice from you.
28:46The Word of the Lord is coming to you again.
28:49So Father, we pause and we tell you, God, thank you.
28:54We worship you, we love you, we need you, God.
28:58You are the only one worthy of our praise.
29:00Today at all of our churches,
29:02nobody looking around,
29:04trying not to move if you guys could help it.
29:09Nobody looking around.
29:11Would you take a moment and just ask God,
29:15what is He trying to show you?
29:18What is He showing you?
29:20If you're willing to pray that prayer wherever you are,
29:24God, what are you trying to show me?
29:25Would you just lift up your hand in acknowledgement?
29:26You're gonna pray it, lift it up today at our churches.
29:29Lift up, you'll leave it up for just a moment,
29:31just almost like an act of worship to God.
29:33And online, you can type in the comment section,
29:35God, what are you trying to show me?
29:38Just pray that right now.
29:39You can leave your hand up or put it down,
29:40whatever's most comfortable to you,
29:41but just ask God, just quietly.
29:44You don't have to say it out loud in your mind
29:46or just kind of whisper, God, what are you trying to show me?
29:50Just listen.
29:52Some of you know immediately.
29:54If there's something that you think He's trying to show you
29:57and you're resisting it,
29:58prance are pretty good, that's God trying to show you.
30:01And just think about it, what are you trying to show you?
30:04Probably, most likely, it might be a sin
30:08that He's trying to save you from
30:10or it might be an opportunity
30:12that He's trying to call you to.
30:16Holy Spirit, what are you trying to show us?
30:17God, speak to us, we wanna obey.
30:20God, even if we've rebelled in the past,
30:22God, we wanna obey.
30:25God, speak to us.
30:26I pray, God, that this week in our life groups
30:29and over meals with loved ones,
30:31that we just talk about this for accountability
30:34and because we wanna obey.
30:35Here's what I believe, God, you're showing me
30:39and then God, help us to obey.
30:42As you keep praying today, nobody looking around,
30:45I wanna try to say this as lovingly as I can.
30:50As your pastor, I am sincerely afraid
30:55that there are some of you,
30:56that you're what I'd call a cultural Christian.
30:59You kinda like believe in God
31:00because you kinda believe in God
31:01because we're kinda like in places
31:03where most people kinda like are good people
31:04and believe in God and such.
31:07But if we look at the text,
31:09like you're still kind of on the throne of your own life,
31:11you're still calling the shots,
31:12you're still doing what you wanna do.
31:16And that's not being submitted to Jesus.
31:20Who is Jesus?
31:21Jesus is the sinless, perfect Son of God
31:24who came to earth not to condemn, but to save us.
31:28He didn't come for the perfect people,
31:30he came for the broken people, he came for sinners.
31:31That's really, really good news
31:33because all of us have sinned, the Bible says.
31:35You know it, you've done things that are wrong
31:37and you may feel distant from God or feel some guilt.
31:41The good news is he came for those who are broken.
31:45He came for those who are hurting, he came for the lost.
31:48He came to seek and save those who were lost.
31:52Jesus, on the cross, he was the sacrifice
31:57for the forgiveness of our sins.
31:59The Son of God died in our place
32:01and God, in his mercy, raised Jesus from the dead
32:08so that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord
32:12would be saved.
32:13Today, there are those of you
32:14that you know you're not following him.
32:17Maybe you don't know where you stand with him.
32:20And I just wanna say, today, now, do it today, now.
32:23Now, today, yes, fully in.
32:26Don't think about it, don't hold back, call on his name.
32:29Call on his name, today, today, today.
32:32I'm stepping away from my sin, I'm repenting,
32:33I'm turning my life over to him.
32:34I'm not playing, this is now.
32:36When you call on him, when you repent, he relents.
32:40When you call on his name, he hears your prayer,
32:41he forgives you immediately, you become brand new.
32:43That's how good his grace is today.
32:45All of our churches, those that say, that's me,
32:47I need his grace, today, by faith, all in,
32:50not holding back, I give him my whole life.
32:51Jesus, I turn from my sins, I give you my whole life,
32:55that's your prayer.
32:56Lift your hands high right now, all over the place
32:58and say, yes, that's my prayer.
32:59Lift them up and say, I surrender to you.
33:01Right back over here, praise God for you.
33:03And right back there and right over here in this section.
33:05Others today say, Jesus, I need you, I surrender to you,
33:08I trust you, I give you my life, be the Lord of my life.
33:12Online, you can type in the comment section,
33:15I am surrendering my life to Jesus.
33:18And today, at all of our churches,
33:19would you pray with those around you?
33:21Pray, Heavenly Father, today, right now,
33:27I give you my life.
33:29I put you first.
33:31Jesus, save me.
33:33My Saviour, the Lord of my life, forgive all of my sins.
33:39I turn from my sins, I turn toward you.
33:43Be first in my life.
33:46Fill me with your Holy Spirit, so I could know you,
33:51so I could serve you.
33:53Thank you for new life.
33:55I give you all of my life, in Jesus' name, I pray.
34:01Church, could you celebrate today?
34:02Could you worship God?
34:03Welcome those born into a family.
34:05I don't know about you,
34:06but I needed to hear that message today.
34:08I hope that it encouraged and challenged you.
34:10We can learn so much from listening to God's voice
34:12and loving people the way that he's loved us.
34:15Click here to watch more.