One Day Closer To A Miracle | Jentezen Franklin

If you have your Bibles, I'd love for you to open them with me. We're going to do a little study today from The Book of Luke, Chapter 2. And I'm believing God to move in this service in a mighty way. I'm preaching today on "One Day Closer to Your Miracle." One day closer to your miracle. One day closer. You are one day closer to your miracle.

I want to show it to you in the scripture. Luke Chapter 2. Begin reading with verse four. Joseph went up from Galilee to the city of Nazareth, which is basically 70 miles, by the way, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. From Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

That's a powerful verse. That she had to go through all the days to get to the day. Deliverance day, birthing day, miracle day. The days had to be completed. Nine months, 274 days had to be. We only hear about the last day, the Christmas day. But all the days she had to walk through. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now, there were in the same country shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over the flock by night. And the angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. And the angel said, "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." And this would be a sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

I love verse 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, on Earth peace, peace, not worry, peace, and goodwill toward men." Ain't that beautiful? That never gets old. One day closer to a miracle.

The Bible said in Proverbs 27, in verse one, "Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Sometimes the greatest accomplishment for a child of God is just weathering the day, getting through the day, making it through 24 hours of one of the worst days of your life. It's not the years that are the great accomplishments. It's not the days that everything is beautiful and miracles are happening. It's not even the decades or the lifetime. It's the days that we complete. "I made it through that day. I won that awful day when that report came, that news came, that situation came. I made it. I won the day."

Days that present a great reason to quit and give up. Days that whisper hopelessness and despair. Days that try to convince you that, "Here's how you know you're having one of those days where the enemy whispers, 'It's always going to be like this. Just give up.'" Days that tempt you to lay aside your commitment and to abandon your calling. I've had days where Satan tempted me when I was at my weakest. He would say to me, "Just abandon your calling and walk away." Days that try to silence your worship. Days that try to assault your faith. Days that seem to outlast their allotted 24 hours. You ever had one of those? This day seems like it will never end.

But Psalms 118 and verse 24 lets us know that sometimes the greatest accomplishment in living for God is when you can say, "This too is the day the Lord has made. I will be glad and rejoice in it." Not when I get to that day when the birthing of the miracle happens, but in this, the morning sickness day, in this, the swollen ankle day, in this, the back ache day.

Mary's pregnant and been on a donkey for seven days, riding 70 miles in the ninth month of pregnancy. She would have never got to the day of deliverance and a miracle had she not made it through the days of 273 days of morning sickness or whatever she was going through that nobody ever saw. There were no angels there. There was no glory there. There was no bright shining star. There was no singing choir in heavenly host rejoicing. It was just the enemy whispering, "Listen how they're talking and making fun. You idiot, you fool. You think that you've heard from God and you're carrying a promise, and it's not going to happen. You're a fool."

What I want you to understand is this is the day the Lord has made. I may not like what I'm going through, but this is the day the Lord has made. This is how you get maturity and you become a strong believer. This day too is the day. God doesn't just make the days of plenty and blessing. He makes the days of tears and sorrow and brokenness and bad news and tough times and hard trials. He's making something inside of you. The journey is part of the miracle. And there's no way that you can get to that day without getting and winning these days that are hard and tough.

It's dancing through a diagnosis that's bad. It's praising through pain. It's singing through sorrow. It's testifying through tears. It's deciding that the future may look bleak, but I tell you this, I can praise and rejoice today. I know that I've got some challenging things coming up ahead, but I will give God glory. And I'm preaching today. I'm faithful today. I'll make it through the day. I'll win this day and the next day, one day at a time. And I will get to my day, that is the day of my deliverance, where I will see and handle and wrap in swaddling clothes the miracle that nothing was happening in seemingly on the outside, but something was growing through those tough days.

Every day, one day at a time. Just make up your mind. "I'm gonna live for God today. I'm gonna deal with this addiction today. I'm not going to get high today. I'm not going to get drunk today." This is how you win. "I'm going to read my Bible today. I'm going to praise the Lord today." I don't have to worry about tomorrow. I know the enemy will try to pull me into tomorrow, but I don't need to go into tomorrow, especially when I'm going through a tough time. I need to just win this day.

Because one day, if you can make it through these days, the days were completed, then the miracle, that day came. The days were accomplished that she should be delivered or complete that she should be delivered. And then the labor started. The pain started. And Mary's biological mission to be the womb in which the Christ child grew and developed was completed. And it was time for that thing that had been invisible to come out into a lost and dying world. It was time for Messiah's physical arrival into our world.

For nine months, her body had been at work supplying that miracle. When there were no Magi and wise men bringing gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh and blessing her and singing choirs, her body was supplying God Almighty a body. Was supplying that baby inside of her blood and oxygen and nutrients. It was a miraculous combination of humanity and deity. Day by day. Listen carefully. Day by day, she was producing the body that would one day hang on Calvary. Day by day, while people were gossiping about her and saying, "She claims God got her pregnant, but I heard she had a boyfriend." And while they were lying and talking about her, day by day, she was producing the body that would heal the blinded eyes and walk on the water. She was producing the body in tough days and days of morning sickness when she was throwing up and having a hard, awful day. She was producing in those days. It was draining the life out of her, but he was getting bigger and bigger and bigger. She's carrying a watermelon. By nine months, she's slew-footed, she's her nose is swollen, she's going on a journey at nine months on the back of a donkey every day for hours and hours. Seven. Nobody singing, nobody shouting, but she. She's losing herself, her blood, her nutrients. Her body is being drained, and he's getting bigger and he's getting bigger.

It's what Galatians 4 talked about when Paul said, "I pray I travail in prayer that Christ would be formed inside of you." This is not a get it all in one altar call and boom, you're a saint and you're living right. This is a day by day. This day, a tough day. This day is a hard day. This day, I really feel like I need to give up and go back to the bottle or go back to the drugs or just give up on this marriage. This day is a hard day. But it's this day that will take you and prepare you. And it teaches you while you're walking through it how to trust God, how to serve God when you don't feel like it, how to praise God when nothing's going right, how to trust God when people are laughing and mocking at the promise God has given you.

I heard the story, and there's... I heard the story, and that's the baby crying, giving me a big amen on that right there. I know I'm preaching good when the devil starts pinching babies all over the place. Seems like that happens right when I'm preaching good. It's just... or either somebody doesn't like the sermon and they pinch their own baby. I've learned some of you. I don't know where all this is coming from. Let's just keep moving. I have suspected that once or twice. Let's keep moving.

Heard a wonderful story this week. This is the funniest story to me. Oh, not funny. It is. It is a marriage, uh, in the, in the history of marriage. This is the greatest advice I can give to a young man who is about to get married and who is married. In other words, if you are a young, new husband, you are young and you are dumb, and that's just how it is. And you're about to learn how young and dumb you are the moment you say "I do." You will learn, "I am a young, dumb man." I promise you, that day is coming.

So he marries this girl, and about a year and a half later, she gets pregnant. And she's in about eight and a half months of pregnancy. And, and, and he gets up to go to work. And she's laying on the couch in her bathrobe, and she didn't have any breakfast or anything for him. And, and of course, you know, nobody expects that. She's, she's, she's pregnant. And, uh, and so he just walks over and kisses her on the cheek and says, "Bye, honey. I'll see you later. And hope you have a good day." And he comes back home, 6:00 that afternoon, after working hard. Comes into the house. The house is still kind of undone. No meal, no food. She's still laying on that couch in the same little bathrobe. Doesn't look like she's hardly moved. Maybe flipped over to the other side. And now, now this is the part for the young dummies in this room. Now, if you ever find yourself with your wife eight and a half months pregnant and she's laying on the couch and not getting much done, the dumbest thing you could ever say is what this young man said. He, he said, "My God, what have you been doing all day long?"

Now, see, I saw women turn. And you, you get that attitude. I saw the moment I said that, women out there said, "That's right." And I, I just... Now watch her answer. It's the greatest marriage retort I have ever heard. She looked at him and she said, "What have I been doing today? Let me see. What have I been doing today? Oh, I made a lung today." And if you're a young, dumb man at that point, there is no comeback. Shut your mouth. I'm trying to give you a marriage clinic right here, right now. Shut your mouth. Go in the kitchen and start cooking and bring it out to her, and you'll have a better day.

I'm making. Isn't that profound, though? In other words, what she was saying is, "When it looks like nothing's happening with me, I'm going and having one of those days. But don't you dare think nothing on the outside is not going to be affected by what's going on on the inside." "This day I'm making a lung. The next day I'll make little hands. The next day I'll make little feet. And I'll give him a body that'll carry a cross to Calvary. I'll give him a body that will resurrect and leave an empty tomb behind and give you and you and you eternal life because of my life and my death."

What I'm saying to you is, today was one day out of nine months that she had to get through. And if we're going to get to that day, you're going to have those days. And you got to get something in your heart. Those days of warfare for your business, warfare for your family. My children, uh, you may say, "My teenagers driving me crazy." Well, just keep walking through those days because that day of deliverance will come. God is faithful. Great is Thy faithfulness.

Many of you are dealing with sicknesses and diseases right now. And the Lord laid you on my heart for the last two weekends, actually. I was out walking and praying yesterday, and I saw this in my mind. The Lord said, "When you get to this part in the sermon, I want you to have every person who has ever had cancer, been diagnosed with cancer, and gotten, had to go through whatever they had to get through to get their health back, but they're back. And they had to walk through days of pain, days of agony, days of fear, days of worry, days of mental torment, sleepless nights, tears and sorrow, and a gloom, a gloom." I want you to have them stand because they got to their day of deliverance when the doctor said, "Cancer-free. I don't see any more cancer." If you've been, if you're a recoverer of cancer, stand up on your feet. I want you at every campus, do it. Stand up on your feet. Clap your hands. Everybody. Now, this is that day that you get to say, "I'm free. I'm free."

But people don't know when they were hooking you up the chemo. People don't know. They weren't there when you were losing your hair. They weren't there when it felt like you were going to go bankrupt because you had so many bills coming in. They weren't there when the worry was racing through your mind about your babies. That's what I'm preaching about. Sometimes when you are in an inescapable trial in life, and they come to all of us. I cannot tell you how many times I've had this day here, only down the road to say, "Thank God I didn't quit because that day was coming." And that's what I'm preaching. You're getting closer and closer and closer. When you make it.

Some days it's not songbirds singing in the morning when you get up. Some days it's vultures and buzzards circling you. And you just say, "I'm gonna win this day. This is a hard day. I'm depressed today." I have days. I still don't know why. I just feel depressed. I have to shake it off. I have to double up that day. I have to push through. I have to. I have to do something. I have to. There are hard days. There's no reason for you to give up. There's no reason for you to be tormented. Don't worry about tomorrow. Jesus said, "Sufficient for the day." Listen to this great verse. Jesus said, "Don't worry about tomorrow." It's one of my verses. Throw it up there. "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." You know what he's really saying? He's saying, "Don't take thought about tomorrow when you're going through a hard time because that's what the enemy plays off of." The fear is out there. The worry is out there. The torment in your mind is out there. So just... this is a hard season I'm in. You could say. And then you make up your mind right here.

"This day is the day the Lord has made. I, I, I'm preaching right now. I'm worshiping right now. I can't control tomorrow. Don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Don't know what's coming down the road. All I can do is say today. Today. This day, I'm going to win this day." I'm in God's house. You're winning. I said, you're winning. If you're watching, you're winning. You may be up in a hospital facing surgery. You may be facing something that I can't even describe. You may be facing an addiction that you're terrified that you're going back to. But you see people saw the graduation of these women in New Beginnings today. This is a great day. The families. They didn't see the DTs. They didn't see them with the shakes. They didn't see them getting that demon out of their system. They didn't see the suicidal whispers from the demonic world saying, "Just take your life. Just take your life." That's what blessed me about the families is because that's what the enemy does. When somebody falls prey to an addiction, demons circle not only that person but the whole family and tries to reap havoc. But I'm here today to say, "Hell, I've got bad news for you. Every day I just make it through." I didn't have angel's choirs. I didn't have glory of God. Woo, Hallelujah. I didn't feel chill bumps, and I didn't walk in the Holy presence of God. I just got up and with grit and determination and faith and belief that what He promised, He will bring it to pass. And I made it through that day, and the next day, and the next day. And here's my point: I'm getting closer. I'm one day closer to my miracle.

Every day, I just throw my hands up one more time and I give Him the praise. Everybody take a praise break and say, "I'm not quitting today. I don't know about tomorrow, but I just made up my mind. I'm gonna win this day." And I'll win tomorrow, and I'll face that when I get to it. Come on, praise Him just a minute. Just a minute. Praise Him. The Lord is in this place. There's going to be a miracle if you don't quit. Get through this day. Get through it. Your breakthrough is coming. Christ is being formed in you through the process.

I mean, it's pretty remarkable. Mary could have said, "You weren't here when I had morning sickness. You weren't here when I rode that stupid donkey like a pauper. I'm carrying the King of Kings, the God of Glory. He owns the silver and the gold and the cattle of a thousand hills is His. But I look like a pauper." But she'll endure these days. Because I'm coming to my day of deliverance, where He'll bring out into the visible what I feel kicking in, the invisible. The accomplishment is not that day. The miracle comes, and it's in all the days you go through to get there. We celebrate the miracle, the deliverance. Nobody writes about the whispers of your "just a failure." Nobody writes about the devil's whispers, "You missed the will of God." Nobody writes, before you get to that day, how the enemy says, "You ought to just walk away."

I want to say to you that you have to make up your mind. "I'm going to win the hard days." I've not seen a miracle yet. I've not seen a healing yet. I've not seen a supernatural manifestation of the promise yet. But my job is not to worry about when and how and where. My job is to win this day in faith and in trust and in absolute obedience to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Those are the days that make the miracle possible.

I'm almost done, but let me finish. You know, they came to Jesus one time and they said, they said, "Jesus, Herod's trying to kill you. He asked us where you were because he wanted you to... he wants to know. He's in Jerusalem. He wants to know where you are. He's going to send assassins and take you out." Watch what Jesus said. Believe it's in Luke 13. Matthew 13. Luke 13. Jesus said, "I love Jesus." "You go tell that fox. He thinks he's slick. He thinks he's going to make me have a panic attack 'cause he's after me. He thinks I'm going to worry about tomorrow. He thinks I'm going to be all upset and lose all my peace. In the biggest week of my life, I'm headed to Jerusalem. I'm going to die on a cross. My destiny is to leave an empty tomb and give people life eternal." And he said, "You tell that old fox that I'll be doing a few healings today, and I'll do the same thing tomorrow. I'll just win that day, and that'll be day two. I'll cast a few devils out." What an itinerary! "Today, I'll cast some demons out and I'll kick the devil in his fangs. And tomorrow, I'll heal some blind people and some lame people, and I'll kick the devil in his beehive. And then when I get to the third day, I'm entering into my destiny. The third day, I'll be perfected. The third day, I'm going into Jerusalem and I'll be arrested in the garden, and the miracle will begin to happen of eternal salvation." That's how you face. Now, he didn't... he didn't sweat it. There. He was sweating in the Garden of Gethsemane when nobody was watching. But on that day when he rose from the dead, it was the angels. It was the glory. It was the big day, just like his birth. But nobody was there in the garden that day. It was just him and G and the Father. His response is, "You go tell that old..." I love the fact that Martin Luther, the famous reformer, had the statement, "There are only two days this is worth coming to church for this morning if you don't get nothing outside this sermon." He said, "There are only two days on my calendar." Woo! This has set you free from worry. Some of you are so anxious, so, so anxiety, fear, worry. But Martin Luther said, "There are only two days on my calendar. This day and that day." All I got to worry about is right here, right now. This day, I gotta... I gotta keep myself on track with Jesus Christ. And the only other day that concerns me is that day when I see Him face to face. To get to that day, I've got to make it through this day. And the only two days that matter is this day and that day. Woo! Hallelujah! I tell you, that day is a coming. The trumpet's going to sound. We shall be raised. And this mortal will put on immortality. This corruption will put on incorruption. And we shall be like Him and with Him for all eternity. If you believe the gospel, give Him a big hand for the truth of the word. Thank you, Jesus. Woo! I'm preaching myself happy this morning. Tomorrow, I'll be one day closer to my destiny. Even for Jesus, it was a process for Him to get there. He didn't just go straight to the cross. It was the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day.

You young people, you have a dream, and it could be a very good talent that God has given you, a calling to some field that you could be something great in. Sheriff Couch is sitting down here with his precious wife, the Sheriff of Hall County, and we honor you, sir, and appreciate you. And I'm sure, I'm sure when you won that election, everybody thinks that was the day. But all the way through your life, because it's your calling, this is a calling. All the way through your life, there were days where the enemy would whisper, "Don't do it. Give up. Give up. Give up." But see, when you have a destiny on your life, you need to just expect these days. They're going to come. The closer you get to it, the tougher it gets. It's just like a football team down in the red zone. You know that they, they, the tougher those last five yards are, way harder than the other 95 yards. And even for Jesus, it was a process of getting there. But I've come to tell hell, they have a problem. Hell has a problem today. Everybody shout, "Hell has a problem." Say, "I'm one day closer than I used to be, and I still love Jesus." Can I preach three more minutes? Give me three more minutes on the clock. Three minutes. And in three minutes, I'll be perfected.

Christopher Columbus, 1492, in his journey across the cold Atlantic Ocean, in searching for a land that he suspected was there, wrote these words. Multiple days in the log, in the journal. "Sailed on today." That's all he'd write. "Sailed on today." Didn't see any land. "Sailed on today." Didn't see any excitement. But I sailed on today. No breakthrough. But I sailed on today. No, no, no discoveries. No excitement. Just sailed on today. And when he finally stepped foot on that new shore, America, the nation we're in right now, when he finally stepped shore on it, the only reason that he made it there was he just sailed on today. I'm going in the right direction, and I'm just going to sail on.

You know, you keep waiting on perfect days, you're never going to be happy. You're going to be a miserable little pit person. All you're going to do is count your losses and count what you don't have and count how bad. And you're not going to have a Merry Christmas. You can have a Merry Christmas, or a Merry Christmas, and everything doesn't have to be right. You don't... It doesn't matter if you can give your family everything you wish you could give them. You may be going through a financial crisis, and it's tough, and it's hard. But you can absolutely have peace and have joy and have all that you need to have a Merry Christmas, walking through challenges, pressing through discouragement. You just keep sailing on. Every day is not a glorious day. Every day is not a joy ride. Every day, some days are just "get through it." Some days you just need to make up your mind, "I've got to win this day." There's a miracle coming. It may be a day of pain, but there's a miracle coming. It may be a day of defeat and disappointment, but there is a miracle coming.

And the Bible says in Psalms 37 and verse 18, "The Lord knows the days of the upright." He knows when you're having a bad day. He knows when it's the anniversary of your child who died. He knows when the breakup happened. He knows when something is heavy and it just pulls you down, it sucks the life out of you. I love that verse. I love... throw that up one time. "The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall shall be forever." The Lord knows the days. He knows what kind of day you're having, what kind of doubts you're having, what kind of struggles you're having in your marriage. He knows all about it. Thank you, Lord. The fears, the questions, the worries. But if I can win this day, I'll get to that day.

I close with this. If somebody asks you, "What did you get done today?" You need to remember that every day you have a profound promise in Psalms 23. He said, "Surely, surely, as sure as we're walking through good days and bad days, surely goodness and bodyguards." You can't see them, but I've got two bodyguards behind me right now: goodness and mercy. And he said, "They will follow me." Listen to that. All, not some of the days. Not the good days. Not the days of high favor and incredible breakthroughs. Ain't God good that He would say, "I have goodness just following you. I have favor just following you. I have mercy, mercy, mercy." Don't when you get a disease or get sick, don't you dare let the enemy tell you in your down, worst day that this is God getting you back. No. He said, "When you turn to me, goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." And that's why I'm still in church. My mama sitting down here on the second row beside Rena, my sister-in-law. Uh, uh, she brought me and all her babies, five of them. She brought us to church as soon as she could walk after she had babies. I was in God's house when I was one year old. I, I think I was thinking about that. I've been around a long time. I felt like an old elephant or something. Amen. One year old. And she was sitting on the road. My daddy preached a little country church in Ramseur, North Carolina, up in the mountains. Lived in a trailer. Little country church. But I was in God's house when I was one year old. I was in God's house when I was five. I was probably cutting up a little bit. I have always had that in me. It's probably... I was in God's house when I was 10. Every Sunday, every week, youth group, Wednesday night, everything, everything, everything. Church, church, church. When I, when I became a teenager, I was in God's house. Goodness and mercy all the days of my life. Teenager, everybody doing everything, and I fell off the wagon a few times and did some stuff. But in general, I could never get away from it. All my friends would get high and see pink elephants and psychedelic colors. I'd get high and see Moses, see Elijah, Four Horses of the Apocalypse, be afraid the Rapture was going to take place if I drank a Budweiser. Good God. I'd call my mama, "Are you, are you home?" Just make sure she didn't get raptured. I wouldn't have called some of you. But I would have called her. I wouldn't much expect. I'm just saying. Let's go. I thought about it. I was, I was 16 when the Lord saved me. Truly, truly, truly. I was born again, filled with the Holy Spirit. 16, 16 years old. Changed that. That day changed my life. I was, I was 20 when He called me to preach. All by myself. Preached for five years. Me and Richie, my brother, for five years on the road. I was 25, 24 when I walked into a church preaching a revival in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I was from North Carolina, living in North Carolina. Sharice was sitting in that building. She had come to see me 'cause she had heard me preach at youth camp. And I told her, "I'm coming back to town. You need to come to my revival." And she showed up. And when she walked in, Hallelujah. I found my wife in the house of God. I got saved in the house of God at 20. I found my calling. I found my purpose. I learned how to play the drum in the house of God. I started playing the piano in the house of God when I was 16 after I got saved. I just... I don't know why. One summer I wanted to learn the piano. I didn't know chords. I just... I just had to learn the piano. And I was dumb enough to think, "I can learn the piano." And I look at it now, and I don't know where the chords came from. I was 12 years old in church when Mom bought me a saxophone. She said, "You're going to play that horn for the Lord." And I played my first recital when I was 12 years old. And I played a Christmas song 'cause it was Christmas time. In the recital called "Go Tell It on the Mountain." And I played the tenor sax, which was a bigger saxophone. And I could not play it. I could barely get the noise out of it. And it sounded like that's what it sounded like. A horn sounded like a goose was dying. But I played the fire out of it. I got married to my wife in the house of God. God gave me my first baby in the house of God. Sitting on the front row now, she preaches. Hallelujah. God gave me my second daughter, my third daughter, my fourth daughter, my son, while I was in the house of God. Come on, somebody. God called me and gave me the church, the chapel, everything. My house, my car, my clothes, everything I have. I'm so glad I just kept sailing on. I just kept moving forward. I had hard days, but I said, "This day is taking me to that day." Don't give up. You're one day closer to your miracle. Do you believe that?

Without anyone moving in and out, I'm going to ask you to stand very reverently. You've been amazing. Thank you. Thank you. I went a little over this morning. I apologize. Every head bowed and every eye closed. If you would say, "Pastor Jensen, at every campus, this is the day of salvation. This is the day that I need forgiveness. This is the day that I want a change to happen in my life." I'm going to ask you if you're in this room. I'm going to let people just... I let you go because it's very important what we're doing right now. Holy Spirit, I believe you can change families this morning. I believe you can heal marriages this morning. I believe you can heal physical bodies and diseases this morning. I believe that all things are possible to him that believes. And today, I ask you to save gloriously, save backsliders and lost people. And I give you all the praise and all the glory. If you'd say, "Pastor, I've had enough. I want to commit my life to Jesus Christ this day." Today, Isaiah said, "Is the day of salvation." Today, don't boast of what you'll do tomorrow. You can win this day by walking that aisle. "Pastor, pray for me. I need to get right with God." If that's you, lift your hand high. I want to see it all over this room. High and unashamed. Quickly, quickly, quickly. There, there, there. Yes, yes, yes. Hold it high and unashamed. High and unashamed. All the way across the top at every campus. Lift them high. Every one of you that raised your hand. This is the biggest decision. This is how you win the day. This is how you win the day. This is how you change course. This is how things turn around in your life. It's little things that lead to big things. Little big doors swing on little hinges. This is the big door, but it's on a little hinge of your obedience. "Pastor, pray for me. I want to get right with God." If that's you, get out of your seat and walk down the aisle and come stand right down here. We still believe in old-fashioned altar calls. So come, give your life to Jesus. Come on, come on, come on. It's important. He died on a cross for you. Just obey Him. Just obey Him. If you raised your hand, just obey Him. Just step out. Just say, "I've got to have a change this day." Not another day. Not one day. Not someday. You control whether or not the miracle is released in your life. Not God. You. Here they come. Clap, clap, clap. Rejoice with the angels. Here they come. Here they come. Here they come. Here they come. If God's speaking to you, Dad, get out of that seat. Mom, get out of that seat. Teenager, get out of that seat. Young man, young lady, serve the Lord in the days of your youth. Don't waste your life outside the house of God. Don't waste a day, a year, a decade. This day, you can serve the Lord. This day, you can serve. Surrender yourself to Jesus. Come on. Anyone else? Anyone else? Anyone else? Wonderful. Come on, come on. Pray this prayer, everybody, and say, "Lord Jesus, I come to you this day just as I am, and I surrender to Your will. I surrender, and I ask You to cleanse me of all my sins. Wash me and cleanse me in the blood of Jesus Christ. I believe in You. I believe this day You are my Savior, and I receive You for the rest of my life. I will walk with goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven."

Now, I want to do one more thing. I want every person in this room who has been struggling with excessive worry about tomorrow, what could happen, what might happen to your family. It's a tormenting fear and worry, worry, worry. For two weekends, I cannot escape the fact that the Lord wants to heal people physically, heal them in this church. Every one of you at our campuses. So if you need physical healing, right where you're standing, lift your hand up high. I want to see it. Just stand right there, and we're going to take time in this service. They're going to sing this song, and people can slip out. When you need to leave, feel free to leave. But we're going to take a little time, and we're going to pray for the sick. I'm going to ask the pastors to come up like we did in the first service. I'm going to ask you to come, and if you need to have people lay hands on you and anoint you with oil, you don't appreciate this until you need a miracle. When it's you and your family that needs a miracle, then you want to get around somebody who believes in miracles and believes the Bible is not just a history book, but Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is still a healer. So if you need healing, if you need freedom from worry, I want you today to lift your hands up high. And I want those of you who need physical healing specifically to slip out into the aisle and come down as close as you can get. And we're going to wait out and just begin to pray for people. And at some point, just as they sing, if you need to slip on out, I totally understand that. Get, go out. We'll see you next Sunday. Oh my God, we're going to have a powerful day next Sunday. That's going to be unbelievable. But I'll dismiss this service in a few minutes, but I'm not going to be restricted by time for the next few minutes. So if you need healing, and guys, I want you to take the oil, and I want you to go down all the aisles, and I want you to begin to anoint people with, with laying on of hands and anointing with oil. And now, lift your hands high all over this room. And if work has been tormenting you, just give it to Jesus. Cast all of your cares upon Him right where you're standing. Let's do it. Let's worship Him. Let's worship Him. Let's worship Him. Those of you in this altar, just lift it up to Jesus. Just say, "Lord, I'm going to win the day by surrendering completely to You." Come on, play's go. Surrender now. I give you everything. Your goodness is running after it's running after me. You need a miracle. If you need a healing, you're in the right place this morning. Your goodness is running out. It's running out to me. With my life laid down, surrender now. I give you everything. Your goodness is running. Sing, "Miracles, miracles, miracle after miracle, open door after open door. Here it comes, so get ready for another one 'cause another one is all the way." Miracle after miracle, open door after open door. Here it comes, so get ready for another one. Sing, "Miracle, miracle, have a miracle, open door after open door. Here it comes, so get ready for another one." There's another one on the way. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door. Here it comes, so you're ready for... And if He said the change anything, He told the change when the prince and they did, He will again. And if He told the come alive, and they did again. And He told the stone, "Roll away," and He did. He will again. And if He told the grave, "Let it go." And if He told the grave... the grave... the grave... and He told the grave, "Let him go." And he did again and again and again and again and again. Again and again and again. Again and again. Again. Another one. Another one is all the way. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door. Here it comes, so get ready for another one 'cause another one is all the way. Miracle after a miracle, open door. Here it comes for another.

I want you to do something old school. I want you to find a person and pray with them for just a moment. Lay your hand on their shoulder. If you're by your husband, your wife, by somebody that you know, just take a moment and pray for one another. We're that kind of church. You never know what people are going through. This may be the weekend and the day that somebody is facing their greatest trial. And I tell you what, the Lord quickened this verse to me after service when I was praying for somebody. There's a scripture in Deuteronomy that said, "As your days are, so will your strength be." Which means there are some days that are harder than the other, and you need more strength. And He said, "As your days are, or your season that you're in, goes, so will your strength be." He's giving you extra strength to get through harder days. So right now, just agree in prayer all over this room. Just declare in the name of Jesus Christ that, "Lord, we agree for miracles. That we're one day closer to our miracles." And Father, we present everything to You. The whole situation that we've been worrying about. The whole... the person, the family member, the issues, the situations, the children, the grandchildren, the marriage, the family, in the name of Jesus. The business. We just commit it to You. We just allow You to to to do what You've said You would do. On the cross, You bore our sorrows and carried our worry and carried our diseases and sicknesses. And so today, we receive all that You have bought on the cross through Your blood. And we praise You for it. And we thank You for it. And we call it done by faith. Prayer changes things. In Jesus' mighty name. Let the church say, "Amen."

Now, raise your hand and receive this because this ancient blessing has the power to loose you from worry about tomorrow. When the day you worry about today, and you worry about that day, and don't let your mind time race about anything else in worry. Receive this. And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you. I'm going to add from worry. Amen. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you. May the Lord be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance and shine His face on you. Listen, and give you peace, not worry, in Jesus' mighty name. Now, shout Merry Christmas! Hallelujah! Win the day! Walk in victory, one day at a time. We love you all. God bless you. Merry Christmas, everybody. You don't want to miss our candlelight services, December the 24th. We're going to have a full orchestra with our choir, children's choirs. It's going to be amazing. 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. only. We normally do a lot more. We just decided we're going to take a little break this year from our production and all of that. So show up when we offer these and come early to get a good seat, or you'll be in the overflow of the overflow. Amen. God bless you. We love you. And we'll see you next Sunday, Christmas Sunday. Oh, we got some special surprises next Sunday. Don't miss it. God bless you.