Sunday Service - Pastor Dillon

Heat. Heat. Well, good morning, church. Good morning. So good to see you all this morning. I trust everyone had a great Fourth of July. Hey, if you would, would you stand with me? We're going to enter into worship. Would you stand all across this place?

I want to open with a psalm. This is Psalms 95. And it says this, "Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with a song of praise. For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods."

You see, some parts of scripture are descriptive. Some parts of scripture are prescriptive. Meaning, it's giving us a command. When it's telling us to sing, it's not a suggestion. It's a command of a response that we're supposed to do as the body of Christ. Because as St. Augustine says, he who sings prays twice. There's nothing magical or special about just singing a song or doing Christian karaoke. Rather, it is a means. It is an avenue, a way that we can together corporately as a family pray and to give God the glory due his name. Come on. Is anyone wanting to do that this morning?

So, if you would, would you just lift your hands all across this place? Would you just lift your hands just as we enter into worship, we're going to sing. We're going to lift our voice. Hands are a sign. In the Old Testament, your hands were a sign of blessing. If you if if you didn't weren't able to work and have your hands, you could have nothing essentially. So, hands when we lift our hands, yes, it is a sign of surrender, but even more than that, spiritually, it is a sign of blessing. Saying, "God, all that I am, all that I have, it is yours. Every part of me, Lord, is yours."

So Jesus, we come before you today. We come before you as your people to sing, to lift our hands, to corporately give you the glory, to ascribe unto the Lord the glory to his name. Jesus, would you come and meet with us? Holy Spirit, would you come dwell with us today? Holy Spirit, you are invited. You are welcome to come and do what only you can do. God, nothing is off limits for you. No part of my heart, no part of my affection, no part of my emotions, no part of my mind, God, it is all for you. It is all for your glory. So together as a family, come on, let's sing and let's give the glory, good glory to the Lord and praise the Lord this morning. Come on, someone say amen. Amen. Amen.

I'll turn your ear to heaven and hear the noise inside. It's the sound of angels. is the sound. Angels songs and all this for bringing all Christ. Oh how constant divine song and bars will rise. Oh, how costly and how divine this cross will rise. Come on every voice. Heat. Heat. Oh, turn your gaze to heaven and raise a joyous voice. Is the sound of salvation. Oh, is the sound of rescue once in all this for angels joining sing. Come on. All for Christ our king. Praise him. Heat up here. Oh, how infinite and sweet this love so resuing. Oh, how infinitely sweet this great love that pass. Oh, how infinite and sweet this love so rescued. Oh, how infinite sweet this great love has. Oh, how this how it Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Praise him. No, praise him. He is holy. >> Come on, lift it up, church. >> He is. >> Oh, praise. >> Oh, praise him. Oh, praise him. He is holy. He is Oh, come on. Let it rise this morning. Oh, praise him. Praise him. He is holy. Oh, come on. Let it rise in praise. Oh, come on. Let's go. Single. Come on, just your voice. Hallelujah. And hallelujah. He is holy. He is. Sing. Oh, praise him. And oh, praise him. And oh, praise him. He is holy. He is holy.

Maybe we've made this complicated. More than it was ever meant to be. Has it always been about the same thing? Oh Lord, bring us back to simple things. Let's sing that again. Sing maybe. Maybe we've made this complicated. More than it was ever meant to be. Has it always been about the same things? Oh Lord, bring us back to simple things. You be the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. All you're the one I hold on to. For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, "Jesus, I love you. Teach us to discern the moment. When to serve and when to sit here at your feet. Keep us awake to what's important. Just like Mary, she chose the better thing. Oh, you are the center of you. My heart belongs to you. My savior. You're the one I hold on to. For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you. You are the center of my heart. My savior for the beauty of your name. My soul will live to say Jesus I love you. Oh, heat, heat. I love you and my whole life for your glory. My whole world for you only everything for the honor of your name. And if my days tell a story, let it be of you only every day for the honor of your name. And my whole life for your glory my whole every day of your day. If my Hey, Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Jesus. Oh, I love you. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, how I love your presence. Oh, how I love. Oh, how we love you. Oh, how we love you, Jesus. We love you. Oh, how we love you. Oh, how we love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, for you are the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior all and all. You're the one I hold on to. For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, "Jesus, I love you. For you are the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. falling on. You're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name. My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you. Oh, how I love you. We thank you, Jesus. Oh, how I love you. Jesus, I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, how I love you. Come on, just tell him that this morning. Oh, I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, I love you. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, how I love Oh, how I love Jesus. I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, I love you. Oh, I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, I love you. I love you. Oh, I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, I love you. Oh, I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, I love you. Hope for you are the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. All in all, you're the one I hold on to. For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, "Jesus, I love you. So there upon there upon a cross when blood and water flow a crown of thorns is pressed upon the king. Obedient in death, wounded for our sins. The king of all is slain upon the tree. You have overcome. You have overcome Jesus died. But behold, he's alive forever more. He holds the keys to death and grave. This is our king, the name above all names. Oh, holy are you. Sing your holy your holy body still. Your face is bowing low. He who hung the stars as hung. The rocks begin to cry if all creation mours. The ark of glory now as they do. Oh, come on. with one final way. There is no son of man as adver. for you. Oh Jesus die forever more than this is our Heat. Heat. Hey, Oh, forever you will reign. >> Christ, >> the perfect lamb was slain. >> Our king, >> you conquered death and grave. All glory to your name. >> Whoever you will the perfect lamb was slain. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. He together. This is our king. Come on. Let's lift this up. Jesus. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Yeah. Heat. Come on. Take you. You're worthy. And you're coming back to rain. >> You're coming back to rain. >> Oh, you're coming back to rain. You're coming back to rain. Oh, >> come on. Lift this up, church. >> You're coming back to rain. >> Thank you, Christ our King. Oh, you're coming back to Christ our King. You're coming back to You're coming back to Christ forever. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Oh, heat, heat. Jesus Christ. He's alive. He holds a key to death and grave. This is our king. The name of our >> Oh, come on church. Lift it up. Jesus. Jesus died. Oh, he's alive forever more. He holds the keys to death and grave. This is our king, the name above all names. Holy are you. Holy holy holy holy holy holy, holy, >> holy are you Lord God Almighty. Mighty worthiness of lamb. Worthiness of lamb. You are holy. Holy. Are you Lord God Almighty? What do you say? What do you say? You are holy, holy. Are you Lord God Almighty? Heat. Heat. Are you God? Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Holy, holy are you Lord Oh my heart. Come >> on. Every hand lifted in this room. Let's sing this to the Lord. Come on. He's here, church. He's here with us this morning. >> Worthy. >> You are holy, >> holy, holy, holy. >> Come on. He's with us this morning. He's here. His presence is here. >> Lord God, >> precious Jesus. >> Precious Jesus. Worthy is the lamb. >> Worthy is the >> Worthy is the lamb of God. >> Jesus, there is no one like you. Won't you just tell him this morning, church? I know we have busy schedules and busy weeks and and I know there's time restrictions and things that happen, but I think every once in a while we need to pause and and realize that the King of glory is here with us. That his presence is here with us. And we're not in a hurry to move on. and we're not in a hurry to to leave and do something else or to go somewhere else. Our lives are busy and inundated with things and and schedules and times and appointments, but for for one time in the week, can you just settle your heart in this moment? Could you just look to heaven? Could you lift your hands? And could you just sit in the presence of the Lord? Stand in the presence of the Lord. Let your soul be still in this moment. Be with your maker. be with your king. For so many of you, he's he's been trying to get your attention all week. For so many of you, he's been trying to heal your broken heart all week, but you've been busy. For so many of you, he's trying to touch your soul. He's trying to restore your broken soul. For so many of you, he's trying to touch your body, heal your body. For so many of you, he's trying to restore your mind, but we're too busy right now. Jesus, in this moment, in your holy presence, we come to you, Lord. Still, we come to you with no ulterior motive or with no other thing on our agenda. Lord, we come to you alone with gratitude in our hearts, Lord, with affection in our hearts. Jesus, thank you for what you've done on the cross. Thank you for healing our bodies, our minds, our our hearts, the wounds that we carry with us every single day. Lord, we turn to you right now with those things. We thank you, God, for all that you've done, all that you do for us. Your presence is a great treasure to us, Lord. And I pray that this would forever be a place that welcomes and reverences and honors your presence, Lord. That spends time in your presence, Lord. Where else? Where else can we go? What else can we run to? What else brings life? What else restores? What else heals? Come on. In this moment, I just feel the Holy Spirit bringing the conviction of the Lord over many of us in this room. And it's not a conviction over lustful sin. It's not a conviction of of substance abuse or alcoholism. It's a conviction this morning. Hear me. It's a conviction of your busy schedule. It's a conviction over our time. Holy Spirit, I pray that we would be convicted of our time this morning, of our busy schedule where we're too busy for you, Lord. Would you show us the things that are truly important in life? Would you help us define the things that are meaningful and significant? And Lord, I pray that we would be a people who always have time for you. Regardless of the hour, regardless of the season, we always have time for your presence, Lord. We love you and we bless you. In your name I pray. Want everybody said with me, "Amen." Come on, give it up for the Lord this morning. I'm going to have my ushers, if you guys can prepare our communion elements. You guys can be seated. The worship team's going to stay up here. Thank you.

A few things as we receive communion this morning. Uh this is a family meal, so we don't believe anybody should be taking this alone. Um receiving this meal alone. And so if you're by yourself, find somebody that you can slide over next to. Um we do believe that this is a family meal um given to those who are in Christ. And so if you wouldn't uh don't consider yourself a Christian, you don't have to be a perfect Christian, a one that does has done everything right cuz the Lord knows that's none of us in this room, but you have to be somebody who who's following the Lord. This has been given to us. And then once you receive your elements, why don't you bow your head, close your eyes, and the Bible instructs us to look inward. look at our hearts and examine our hearts as we receive this. I want to read this scripture verse to you out of Psalm chapter 116 as we receive Oh yeah, you're going to have to bring up your own water. I'm thirsty. Okay. Psalm chapter 116, it says this in verse 12. And I I want to hear this. I read this yesterday and it was so incredible. I couldn't wait to receive communion this morning with you all. This says this in verse 12. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? Come on. Has anybody experienced benefits from the Lord? Has anybody experienced salvation and healing and goodness? And even when you didn't deserve it, right, the Lord extends his kindness toward us. And you think to yourself, what what can I give back to him? my my love, my affection, my faith, all of these things. Says, "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" Verse 13, it says this, "I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord." You know, as we receive communion, this isn't just a symbolic gesture. This isn't a formality. What we have in our hands right now today is the highest form of worship. Those songs were beautiful and being able to lift our hands and experience the presence of the Lord is such a beautiful thing. But partaking in his broken body in his shed blood is the pinnacle of our worship. And we think to ourselves, what can we offer the Lord? What can I give back to the Lord for all that he's done? All that he's given to me. me. I'm reminded of what Jesus prayed in John chapter 17 when he asked the Lord that they would be made one as he is one with the father. Today as we receive this cup, as we receive this bread, we are answering the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane by being made one with him and with his body. And this is such a beautiful, beautiful thing not to be taken lightly because this meal connects us as one. One body, one flesh, together with all of those that have gone before us, together with all those that will come after us from all over this world. Men and women are gathering in in buildings like this. And they're receiving this very meal today. And we are became we're being made one in his precious body. This is a holy moment. And so, can you take the bread and hold up the bread before the Lord and I I think of what an incredible gift this is to Jesus this morning that his children come to celebrate his beautiful sacrifice. that his children come in agreement in unity as one coming together to remember the Lord. What a precious gift this is to Jesus this morning. Why don't as you hold up the bread as I bless it. Jesus, we thank you for your sacrifice on the cross. We thank you for your body given for us. We thank you that you are the bread that descended from heaven. And we partake in today, Jesus, something better than the angelic mana that they parttook in in the book of Exodus where you rain down bread from heaven. No, this is not temporary bread. This isn't just a meal that that we have to go and find every single day, but this is a meal that has been given for us once and for all. And we come to this same table, receive from you, Lord, the same way every single week, every single day. And it is that sacrifice that took place 2,000 years ago that still nourishes your people today. We thank you for your body broken, Jesus. And we rejoice in your sacrifice. I bless it in Jesus name. You may break it and receive. We hold the cup up in the same way. Jesus, thank you for your blood that was shed on the cross. And just as your word said in Psalm 116, what shall we do? What shall we render to the Lord for all of his incredible benefits that we hold up the cup of our salvation today? the blood of the Lord that was given for us for the remission of our sins. What other fountain can we run to? I pray as we receive the precious blood this morning that you would wash us clean again, Jesus. You would cleanse our mind, cleanse our soul. I just feel I feel this so heavily that there there are so many in here who are have heavy souls, broken souls. Your soul is downcast. I feel believe right now that the Lord is restoring our soul in this moment. We thank you Jesus. We thank you for your blood. It's in your name I pray you may receive. Come on. Can we lift a shout of praise to the Lord? Thank you, Jesus. You're so good. Amen. Amen.

Awesome. Well, do me a favor. Why don't you turn to somebody to your left or to your right? Welcome them. Let them know how happy you are to see them here at Fountain Gate. We're so grateful that you guys are here this morning. Thank you, worship team. You guys are awesome. Come on. Can we thank our wonderful worship team? Can you give it up for them? Thank you guys so much. Leading us into the presence of the Lord every single week. You guys are amazing. Hey, I want to say welcome to Fountain Gate Fellowship, everyone. And happy birthday to America, 250 years old. Did you guys celebrate yesterday? Awesome. Hopefully no one blew off any fingers. We have all of our appendages. Everything's good. Um, man, we saw some crazy fireworks last night. We were at We Lake Brownwood and I think we might have saw somebody blow up their dock. I don't know. But they lit a firework off and it didn't go up. It just went boom. It was crazy. So, yeah, that was awesome. But today, we're excited to celebrate. Many of you might have saw as you walked in, our our corn dog truck is outside. We've got hot dogs ready for you guys. We've got some fun things for the kids. And so, after service, don't run out here. Just head on out and you can grab a free hot dog and a drink and just um hang out with us for a little bit. Amen. Okay. Anybody like hot dogs? You You didn't eat too many hot dogs yesterday, did you? Did you eat too many hot dogs? Hopefully, you got room for a few more. You ready to give to the Lord this morning? you ready to give your tithes and offerings? Come on. That's so awesome. So excited to give. Um I want to invite up our our ushers if you guys can come forward. Uh we're going to give. You know, I was praying about just this morning and I I spend a lot of time in prayer for every Sunday morning. Um man, I I just don't believe that what we do here is like a formality. I I I truly believe that the presence of the Lord meets us and and how many believe that when you experience one moment with Jesus that can change your whole life, right? And so, man, I I'm just so expectant every single week and I spend a lot of time in prayer each and every week. Um, and and the Lord just put this on my heart that giving when we give our tithes and offering, it is tied to dependency and humility. When you're giving your tithes, you're giving of your offerings, what you're really saying to the Lord, you're declaring that you are dependent on him. that you're humble enough to realize that everything that you have in life is not of your own strength, of your own will, of your own skills, but it's all because of him, right? Does anybody believe that? That we experience the many blessings even here in this nation because of how good our God is, not how awesome I am, right? Not how awesome you are. We have faith in Jesus, not faith in ourselves. And giving our tithe and offering is a declaration of that. And more significantly, it forces your whole entire body to line up with that fact. You are declaring over your finances that Jesus is in charge. It's the same it's the same thing that's true just as as we rest. Rest is an act of faith. Why is rest an act of faith? Because what you're saying is I don't have to work. He works on my behalf. So when we rest, it's a declaration of faith in God. And giving declares to God that he is your source. Anybody believe anybody believe that God is your source today? Come on. So, let's give. There's a few ways you can give. Uh Ralph's going to throw those on the screen for you guys. You can give here in person. There's envelopes in the seat pocket right in front of you. You can give online at our website or you can actually even Venmo. Uh uh we we do Venmo as well here at Fountainate Fellowship. You can do that. It's fountaingate Fellowship. Um and you can give that way. as you prepare your gift, let's bless it. Let's bless this gift this morning. Um, you can hold on to it and I'm gonna I'm gonna pray a blessing over it. Jesus, we thank you so much for your faithfulness in our life, God. We thank you for your consistency, Lord, that the sunrise and the sunset is a is a testament to your faithfulness, to your consistency, that every single day you wake us up. You bring fresh breath in our lungs, Lord. And you enable us to do the things that you've called us to do in our lives, God. We thank you for the ability to provide for our family. We thank you for the ability to earn money and to to provide and bless those around us, God. And we make this declaration this morning, God, that that our our employer, our bank account, our skill set, these things aren't our source. They're not the things that give us strength or life, Lord. You are our source. You are our strength and our life. And we pray that this tithe and offering that it would go to further your kingdom in this region. We pray right now, God, that Abene would never be the same because of your kingdom that's being established here, God. It's not about a church. It's not about a denomination. It's about the kingdom of God being brought to this incredible city. And so we bless you, Father, for all that you're doing. In your name, I pray. Everyone said, "Amen." And amen.

Well, we're going to take um while the ushers are are taking our tithe and offering, I'm going to give you guys a few announcements. I want to talk to you about a few things. The first thing you need to know, um it's July, which means August is coming, which means school is getting ready to start. Anybody ready for school? You're like, don't talk to me about that right now. We're in the middle of summer. Um well, we're getting ready for school around here. We have our Mother's Day out program that was so amazing. Last year was our first year and it was incredible. the Lord just did some amazing things and so we're preparing up, gearing up for it. We're actually so blessed that we we are actually opening up another classroom because we have so much demand um for this Mother's Day out which is amazing. Um but what that means is there's another opportunity for teachers. So we need some teachers. Uh you can see uh Mia, she's probably somewhere with the kids. Uh you can hunt her down after service and and we can give you some information about that. Um, also on the 19th of July, we're having baptisms. Amen. Some more baptisms. We got a few people getting baptized on the 19th. Um, so if you're interested in getting baptized, you can text the word baptism to 325475441. And then after service, don't forget our hot dogs are out there. Um, at the end of July, I believe it's 25th, we have our men's gathering or the 25th of July. Listen, you're going to want to you're not going to want to miss this one. We're going to have a men's cook off, specifically barbecue cook off. Come on, somebody. Lawrence. Yep. That you. Come on. You got it. I know a couple dudes in here that throw down on the smoker and the grill. And so, we're going to determine once and for all who the king of barbecue is here at Fountain Gate Fellowship. Man, you're not going to want to miss out. We're going to have an incredible prize, incredible giveaway for the winner of the barbecue cookoff. And our very own Sam Nichols is going to be bringing the word. It's going to be awesome. So excited uh for the 25th of July. So men, make sure that you register. Text the word men to 325475441 to make sure that you are all ready to go. Awesome. This Saturday, guys, our youth, our kids are headed out to youth camp. This is going to be so awesome. Why don't you guys come up here? Come up here. Uh, all of our youth, if you're here, you're going to camp this year, come on up. All the kids, come on up. Come on up. Come on up. Welcome them. Encourage them as they come up. You know, our kids are shy. Um, if we if I have my elders, elders come up if you're in the room, pastors, elders, come on up. We're going to bless these amazing kids. How many kids do we have going to camp this year? >> 31. >> 31 kids going to camp this year. So amazing. A lot of our kids are actually in over there. They're serving with the little kids and they're doing a lot of different things. But we're going to bless these that are here. We're going to bless for all bless all of our kids. We're going to pray for safety and we're going to pray this that the Lord would meet them in a special way. I remember these I remember these youth camps growing up and man, the Lord marked me in incredible ways at these camps. In fact, I don't think I'd be doing what I'm doing now if I didn't encounter the Lord in those in those places. Amen. And so I'm going to ask actually uh Angel, are you you pray for our children and then uh Pastor Elijah you want to say some things and and and pray for our kids as well? >> Sure. So just really quick um this camp really has changed lives. If you have been here I don't know a couple. Raise your hand. I see Cohen and Noah back there. Um and yeah and Serenity. Um I know just for example Cohen got an amazing prophetic word last year and he's actually living it out and walking it out. like God is actually calling destiny out. Um he's done it in youth church. Even before I knew him personally, that anointing that God called out at camp was at work in his life, both in youth, but now he's he's serving um in the school district um blessing elementary age kids that need mentors. Like God is working that out. So just know that we're not just sending kids like to go play games. Um that is happening. Absolutely. But like God is marking um a generation for destiny in him. So just know that is what you are sewing into and praying into. Amen. All right. Go ahead. >> So good. So good. Come on church, extend your hand as we pray and bless these kids. >> Well, before we pray, I do want to say something. Um I want to I want to speak a verse into this. What's going on here? How many parents are How many parents of the kids are here? Please go ahead and stand up if you would. Please stand. I know there's probably more at home or whatever, but I want to speak this verse. It says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." Okay? And I speak that to you, to you guys. Who else is going? Who are your leaders going? >> We have seven leaders going, parents. So, keep this in mind when when through this week because actually this youth um camp starts now because I guarantee you things are going to come and try to keep you from going and that's how the enemy works. So, I want to speak all this into you. So now we can pray. Extend your hand to them. Heavenly Father God, we thank you Lord for all these 31 students, the seven leaders, Lord, the parents. Lord, I ask you, Lord, that as of right now, you protect them. You watch over them, Lord. And we just speak this verse into their lives, Lord God, as they just travel, keep them safe and everything, the drivers. Uh I ask you, Lord, that when they get there, Father God, that they may just step out of their comfort zone, Lord, completely and say, "Here I am, Father God. arms open wide and saying do what you want to do with me. Father God, let them be suess successful in what they do and just accept what you have for them just like Cohen. Lord, I thank you, Lord, for what you're going to do in their lives. And when they come home, may their parents see a different person and say, "I'm going to adapt that." Just cuz their youth, it doesn't mean what they say and do and feel and what you're doing in life doesn't matter. Lord, I ask you, Lord, that they bring us your spirit back home, Lord God, and that family grow because ultimately, Lord, ultimately, Father God, we want to commission our kids, Lord God, to just save the world, for you, for salvation. We thank you, Lord, for what you're going to do there with these kids. And we thank you, Lord, so much for everything that you're doing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. Awesome. And we pray that they get a lot of rest and sleep at night. Amen. Awesome. Awesome. Give it up for our kids one more time, guys. So good. So good. You guys can be seated. Um well, last but not least, we have Did anybody get one of these cards? Grab this card real quick. I just want to go over it with you real fast. Zack, why don't you come up? You want to come up, Zach? Um here here as we go over this, I want to let you know a little bit about what this card is. So if you're new here, um man, we believe in generosity. We believe in giving and and sewing into the kingdom, but but I also believe in in sharing with you where where your money goes and what we're doing. And so, um, last month in June, we were able to do a lot of really incredible things. We were able to raise over $700 for our world changers last month. Um, gave away five over $500 in benevolence funds. Um, we were able to give um8 $1,800 over $1,800 to our local outreach and then $2,600 to missions all just in the month of June, which is incredible. And uh we were able to partner with Basketball Smiles. Sam Nichols, can you stand up? Sam Sam Nichols is here. They just got back um from their the 30th camp. How how many what? 27 years doing this basketball camp in Jamaica, right? Bahamas. Bahamas. Okay. I always get those mixed up. Bahamas. um 27 years they've been doing this. We got to partner with them and I I chatted with him a little bit. Um and he let me know how amazing uh this year was. Really, it was you sounded like kind of one of the best better years you you've ever had. Best one ever. So amazing, man. We're so grateful for incredible ministries like this. And so you can see a little bit more about Basketball Smiles on the card. Um and then also our our 2540 outreach opportunities on here, a back to school event. Mark your calendars. August 8th, we're gonna have an incredible time. And we're actually going to go down the road, adopt this apartment complex, and bless them. Make sure all their kids have haircuts and and all the the school supplies they need. And we're going to play games, and we're going to share Jesus with the community. Amen. But today is World Changer Sunday, and I have a really good friend and my brother-in-law here who's going to talk to you about our sponsor. We are sponsoring Royal Family Kids Camp this year or this month in July. And you guys are getting ready to go in a couple weeks, right? >> 21 days. >> Awesome. >> Thank y'all so much for having me, Fing Gates. It's good to be in my home church talking about a ministry that I love. Um, I started serving at Royal Family Kids Camp in Dallas in 2018. 20 23 uh team and I started laying the foundation to build it here in Abalene. 2025, we had our very first camp with 22 kids. Um, and this year we have 34 signed up. So, we're growing. So, what camp is, it's um cater to foster care children in our community. So, our goal really is to make every child feel seen, cherished, celebrated, and really empower them to reclaim their childhood and build better hope for their future. So, be really quick here. I had two testimonies to give you. I'm going to give you one. We call it a sodto, a story of the one. Someone who impacted us a lot. And this one really highlights what a week of camp can do for a child. We had a little girl um eight years old come out of the bus just fear on her face. Um she took off running. So we take off running after her. And uh she ends up in a corner of the building in a fetal position covering her face. Took us several hours for her to say three words to us. Um took two days for her to open up to her counselor. And by the fourth day, the end of camp, um, she's pulling strangers, volunteers, like, "Hey, come take a picture of me." You know, or, "Hey, look at this gift my counselor gave me. It's a snake. Super excited." Or, "Hey, come do this activity with me." Just pulling everyone there. And it's just really quick highlight of just how this camp, five days, can impact a child's life. Later, we found out that she had a lot of um abuse history. So, just a fear of strangers. And there's many stories like this from foster parents months later who are telling us that they're seeing their kids do things they've never seen them do since camp. Um good things. So, and then CPS to engage are just in love with our program, seeing the impact that we're doing these kids and that's why we're growing. Um yeah, camp is 21 days. It's a lot of work. Uh we need prayer, my leadership team and I. Um a lot of the minute details stressful. So pray for us as we're getting prepared for camp. Um pray for our counselors. It's not abnormal for them to be crying in the middle of camp as they hear these tough stories from these kids. Um they've gone through a lot. Um pray for um them to have patience and ability to deal with whatever they are going to deal with that week. And of course our campers. just pray that the Lord impacts them. Um, we're going to be doing fun events, swimming, hiking, archery. We'll be doing chapel time where we'll have devotions catered to the foster care system and how God is impacting their lives. It's an amazing ministry. Um, second thing we need is just time. Camp is growing. Um, we need volunteers to make this camp happen. So, I'll be in the back after church. Um, if you want to get on our list to kind of get contacted for 2027 camp or our future mentoring program where we'll meet once a month with these kids, love to have you on our team. Um, and then finances, uh, we'll definitely take your money. Um, we've raised 30 to $35,000 each year for camp and from this church, other churches around the community, just regular comm community members. And this camp is completely free to our foster children. We pay for their bed. We pay for their food. We pay for all the activities, the events, um any kind of gifts that we give them throughout the week. So, it's an amazing ministry. Provides a great respit for the families. And I'm just thankful that you guys are part of it. >> So good. Stay up here. We're going to pray. Pray for Zach. Man, I'm so proud of being able to be a part of this ministry. It's it's so incredible to see the impact that these children um that has made in these children's lives. I'm so proud of Zach and his team and and like camp is not easy. Has anybody done like a fiveday camp with little kids? Raise your hand if you've done one before. Okay, so you guys know a lot of you in here don't know there's no time or like time off. You're just you have kids for 24 hours every day for five straight days. And not like three kids, like a dozen. It's crazy. And so we're going to pray for their team. Be praying for them as we lead up to this camp. But why don't you extend your hand to Zach and let's bless him. Lord, we thank you for Zach. We thank you for his team. We thank you for um just what you've placed on his heart, Lord, of bringing Royal Family Kids here. We thank you for the incredible camp they had last year, God. And we're we're believing and praying that you're going to take this ministry from glory to glory. God, we thank you that this year is going to be incredible, God. That these kids are going to encounter Jesus. That Holy Spirit, you're going to change their life. Lord, we pray that they would make incredible friendships and relationships. God, we thank you, Father, that you're even able in just a five-day period to to mend broken hearts and wounds and and trauma, Lord. You can heal all of these things, God. And so, we just ask for a supernatural week, Holy Spirit, that you would touch these kids, that you would transform their lives, and we bless you. In your name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Give it up for Zach one more time. That was awesome. Yep. Uh, sorry. Real quick, there's many volunteers from our camp here in the crowd. If y'all can meet me in the back after service to kind of help talk about camp, that'd be awesome. Thank you. >> Awesome. So, get make sure you get your change ready. You can uh write a check. The barrel is out there in the foyer. So, on your way to get a hot dog, see Zach, visit the table, see what he's got out there, and uh it's going to be an incredible time. You guys ready for the word? I know that was a lot. You ready for the word? Come on. This is going to be a powerful, powerful word. Actually, can you stand to your feet? Can you welcome up our executive pastor, Pastor Dylan, as he comes to bring the word this morning. Let's take her water. Good morning, Fountain Gate. Y'all doing well? Y'all guys can be seated. I uh I love youth camp time. Uh when I was a student here myself many years ago, uh I never paid for camp. Both years somebody in the crowd funded me to go to camp. So, I mean, if God puts that on your heart, like Zach said, we will take your money. Uh because it's not just going to come and sit in our walls. No, it's going to fund the kingdom of God because look what God did through a kid going to camp. You can ask my mom. I remember the second year I went to uh No, it was the first year I went to YFN, which we went to a youth camp at a Bible school. I called my mom in the week and I was like, "Yeah, we're at this this church school and I just feel like God's telling me to go here. What do you think about it?" And she was like, "Well, if God's calling you to it." And I mean, just things like that, the Lord just stirs things on the inside of students that they don't know just yet, that the Lord's pulling them to them. So, this is the reason why we send kids to camp to go away for a couple weeks, not just to get them out of your hair, but just so that the Lord can pull things out of them that they may not see in themselves. Amen. So, man, we just bless our students as they go to camp and these foster students as they go to camp as well. But hey, I am so excited to be in the house of the Lord today. Are you excited? Happy 4th of July to all of you. I'm so proud of all of you guys. Stayed up late watching fireworks celebrating the United States and you still made it to church this morning. I uh you could have slept in. I thought about it. My wife then told me I was preaching today. Had to remind myself that I had to get up. I had to be here. But uh I'm excited you came too. I'm very excited you're here as well. that you got your family up to worship the Lord in this amazing free country for the last 250 years from sea to shining sea. We've been able to celebrate the Lord every single Sunday. Amen. I hope you posted a bunch of photos of fireworks on your Facebook page that no one's going to see or look at and watch. They're just going to skip right through it. All your fireworks show. You know what I'm talking about. But hey, let's jump right into the word of God this morning. Turn on your Bibles to Genesis 6. Genesis 6. We're going to read about the very beginning and the tail end of Noah's arc. Where's all my Sunday school people at used to go to Sunday school? You know about Noah's ark. Genesis 6:es 5-8. It says this, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said,"I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals, creeping things, birds of the heaven, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." And Noah then gets this job from the Lord to build the ark. So he gathers his family. He gathers animals all over the world. The Lord shuts them in and seals them with inside of the ark. And God sends rain for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters continue to prevail across the earth for 150 days until the ark starts to rest on the mountains of Ariot. And it took another several months as the water levels start to come down that Noah begins to send out birds to test for dry land. And then the water continued to come down till they safely made it to

Dry land. And we get to Genesis 8. Genesis 8:20-22 says, "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar." And when the Lord smelled this pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man. For the intentions of man's heart is evil from his youth. But neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease."

Would you pray with me as we get started here today? Jesus, we love you and we're so thankful for you. We are grateful that you said you would never curse the ground again. But you'll remember this moment in times where we fell short, where we fall short, where we don't hit the mark. We bless this reading of your word today. And everyone said, "Amen." And amen.

I have a question for you guys that will lead us into where we're going with this story of Noah's arc. Have you ever gotten into a disagreement with a family member or a friend before? Anybody? Y'all don't have fun families then if you ain't getting in disagreements. You ever gotten into a disagreement though that it kind of just left the relationship weird between the both of you?

There was a time where myself and another family member of I of mine that we got into this disagreement. We were both mad. We were upset. We were unsettled. And for weeks I'd reach out and I'd call and text cuz I'm very confrontational. like if we have an issue at hand, we're throwing all cards on the table. We're gonna figure it out and then move on. This person complete opposite. So, what felt like forever to me because I had this inner turmoil. I'm just feeling weird and antsy. Um, anyone been in a moment like this? Come on. I just want to make sure I'm not the only one. Okay. Stuff not being resolved in a family function. Family events get funny and weird. You know, tensions are offsettling. Uh, but the greater question is this.

Have you ever felt like that in your relationship with the Lord? Have you ever felt like God was angry with you in that type of way? And oftentimes we feel like God takes his position with us when we fail, when we fall short, when we miss the mark. See, it's a natural feeling of our sin nature, though. What did Adam say to the Lord when he was in the garden after they sinned? The Lord went after Adam in Genesis 3. He said, "Why are you hiding from me?" And Adam replied, "I heard you were in the garden and I was afraid." Why was Adam afraid? Why had he had this inner turmoil? He'd never been afraid with the Lord before. Because he knew he did something that the Lord instructed him not to do.

So from the very beginning of human nature of the very first humans to walk this planet we can see this pattern that when we fail that when we fall short that when we miss the mark we bypass what the word of God says that we can come boldly to him in our confession and we put God on the back burner like he doesn't know what's best for us. And then sometimes it leaves us leads us to this turmoil on the inside where we then turn our backs and blame God for our own shortcomings and not dealing with our issues. And the enemy then tries to use this in shame to convince us that he's just angry at us and he'll never let it go just like how the enemy used it against Adam. You know, this is nothing new. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says that whatever has been will be again. We say it like this. There's nothing new under the sun. The enemy will use shame and guilt to put strain on your relationship with the Lord. That if you cannot forgive yourself, the Lord won't forgive you either. That if your spouse can't forgive you, that good luck with the Lord, he's not going to forgive you. Your kids don't forgive you. The Lord can't forgive you.

We know the word of God says that the enemy, the devil comes around like what? a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, trying to make you accept and believe your fate. That you're no better off than the people in Genesis 5. That the Lord sees the wickedness in your heart is great and that every intention of your heart is only evil. But while God is genuinely offended by sin and responds with a righteous anger in the Old Testament with the flood, the atonement of Christ provides the means by which those who have incurred his displeasure are returned to his favor. That should be very settling to our hearts today, us that live in Abilene, Texas, 2 inches of rain floods half the city. Imagine what he'd do in 40 days. This isn't contradictory, though. I want you to know that the Lord did not just get happier about human sin once he got to the second half of the book. Right? Scripture affirms both God's anger at sin and his love to humanity simultaneously in both the old and the new testament. But through Christ, God's wrath is satisfied without compromising his justice.

This brings me to my first point. My first point is this. Accept. We have to accept that the Lord is not mad at you. My wife is an overprocessor of emotions. Anytime we get into a disagreement, she will ask me about five times over after we've come to a conclusion if I'm okay. Are you mad at me? No. Are you sure you're not smiling? Yes, I'm sure. You haven't came over here and hugged me. Gives a hug. You haven't kissed me yet and told me you I have and I'm okay. 5 minutes go by. Are you sure you're not mad at me? Yes. But we treat the Lord the same way when we hand over our sin and our shame and our guilt. You know, this is powerful to accept that the Lord is not mad at you because many believers live as though God merely tolerates them rather than delights in them. But scripture presents a God who is perfectly holy and therefore angry at sin yet perfectly loving towards his people. You know, the cross doesn't just erase God's justice. It fulfilled it.

See, to be a good husband to my wife, I can't merely hold just everything over my wife's head that makes me angry. Never say anything to her. Give her a cold shoulder. Believe to myself that she'll figure it out. She just has to be better. But to be a good husband, I have to remember my vows to her once I made a covenant with her on the altar. That through all weathers till death do us part, we would be together. That we would figure it out. But a greater covenant than that is the covenant of Jesus's blood shed for us. You know, in biblical times, covenants were sealed with what? With blood. While the old covenant relied on blood of animals, of goats and bulls, the blood of Jesus is the ultimate perfect sacrifice offered for once in all time. We we say it like this in Christian East. He's the propitiation for our sins. Everyone say that. Propitiation. I have to make sure I say the P's real well. I I'll scramble that up.

Through the shedding of Jesus's blood, though, believers receive complete forgiveness of sins and the cleansing of our conscience. When we give our lives to Christ, we also get access to God. Believers are granted the right to enter into God's presence what? Boldly. No longer needing a human priest. No longer having to run and hide like Adam did. We get to go to him and not need an intermediary. We get to go to him and just give him our confession. We also get spiritual authority. The New Testament emphasizes that the blood of Jesus provides believers with spiritual protection and power to overcome the obstacles and the demonic forces that try to tell you that you're not good enough, that you'll never be great enough, that God's just mad at you. No, we get to overcome that with spiritual authority. And then we get an internal inheritance. Amen. The blood secures an eternal inheritance and a permanent unshakable relationship with God. And when you accept that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we gain that perfect access with the father. Not because Jesus had to convince the father to love us, but because God loved us so much that he sent his son ahead of us so that he could restore what he lost within the garden. For God so loved the world that he did what? Gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The cross was not Jesus changing God's mind and not sending another flood like God just has these floods lined up for us. Jesus was not pleading with the father to take his life instead of ours. No, you've heard Pastor Dom talk about this guy before named Augustine of Hippo. He's an early Christian theologian and he beautifully explains it like this that God loved us while we were still enemies. Jesus and the father were never at odds. We were at odds with the father in our sin. And Augustine points out in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this." While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In whom the father sent. God did not wait until humanity became lovable. I being the great husband that I am, see, I get to say things like that because she's not in here. She's back there serving the kids. Man, she's amazing. I don't wait until Mia stops asking me 500 times if I'm okay to start loving her again. My love continually goes on for her. And even greater, the father loved us while we were rebellious. When we were in our failure, when we fell short, when we had missed the mark, he loved us. And Augustine says something so profound. He said, "God hated what we had become because of what? Our sin. But he never stopped loving what he created. And that's an important distinction that God's hatred isn't towards you. It's towards sin. His love remains fixed upon his people in his image bearers.

The Bible story is not that the father was angry and Jesus had to step in and say, "Calm down, big papa. You good. Like life's going to be great." No. The Bible story is the father loved, the son obeyed, and the Holy Spirit applied redemption. The cross is not Jesus changing God's heart. The cross is God's heart revealed to us as his creation. His love remains fixed upon us in all days. No matter how you feel, no matter how you say it, I pray you can accept it today.

But not only accept that the Lord is not mad at you, but you also have to believe it. My youngest son, Moses. He's two. I told you I'd talk about him. I always have to talk about my kids when I preach. I don't know. The Lord just teaches me so well as a father because I'm like, you know who also, you know, trips and fails and is mean to their father? My kids. My youngest son, Moses, he's two, and he's going through this phase where every time I correct him or his mom corrects him, he says, "I don't like you, dada." or he'll go, "I don't love you, Mom." And he gets all mean. Isn't that rude? That's so mean. It breaks my 29-year-old heart. I tell you what, and I tell him sometimes right back, "I don't like you either sometimes, but I love you. You still have a bed in there. Dinner's at 5. Your mom will have it on the table, dude. But man, point number two is this. We have to also not just accept it. We have to believe it ourselves.

I truly believe that it's two different things to accept something and then to also believe in something. To accept that you're a son and believe that you are a son. To accept salvation and to believe now that all the promises of the Bible are yours. I know many Christians who accept that Jesus still does healing and miracles today, but they don't believe it for themselves. Right? Did you know that the devil accepts who God is? He just don't believe in him. Demons, they know the word of God better than we do most of the time, but they just don't believe in it. And the same thought is what I see in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The younger son asks his father for his share of inheritance early, right? He leaves home for a distant country, squanders all his wealth on reckless living. And then he hits rock bottom after running out of money. A severe famine hits the land. Gas prices go up to $7. He ended up taking a degrading job feeding pigs. And he was so low that as he was feeding pigs, he envied the food that the pigs had that he didn't. He had a come to Jesus moment in that. Anyone ever been in a such a low moment where you feel the Lord that you as at your bottom point and he decides to return home and beg his father just to hire him out as a servant. He knew that he was at his ends. He knew his father's servants were better taken care of than he was being hired out as a servant. He knew that his father was a gracious man. He gave him everything all as part of his inheritance early. He would let him come back at least be a servant. But because he squandered everything that his father had given him, he did not believe that his father would want him back as a son. He did not believe that his father would look fondly upon him.

But as this prodigal son went home to his father, before the son could even ask him of anything and apologize, his father did what? Turned a cold shoulder. No. The word of God says that he was filled with compassion. He ran to him, embraced him, kissed him. The father threw a massive fiesta, famously declaring that his son was dead, but has now returned back to life. He was lost, but now he is found. And I believe here today that there are some of you who know that the father in heaven is gracious. We read about it. We hear about it all the time that he'll let you keep coming back and back again, but you don't believe that he'll also shower his love upon you, but because you have failed four times over, five times over, six times over, that the Lord is just fed up with you like everybody else is. But I'm here today to tell you that the word of God says that a righteous man may fall seven times, but he does what? He gets right back up. He is not fed up with you or done with you yet. He is calling his sons and his daughters home today that feel like they're in a far-off land to show you his grace and his mercies are new for you every single day. To put that ring on your finger and robe on your back, pointing his finger not at you this way but at himself saying, "Come to me, son. Come to me, daughter. Let me embrace you." Sons and daughters were being were dead, but now we're being made alive in Christ. And if that doesn't just make you say amen, at least one. Can I get one? Amen. There we go. I didn't know what type of church we were in for a second there. There was no response. Y'all are still tired from last night.

But accepting and believing. I was reading in Augustine of Hippo's confessions, not ushers, but his confessions. The church fathers, they they talked about it like this of accepting and believing. That accepting is an intellectual assent and believing is the soul's deep participation in the reality of God's grace. And Augustine is especially helpful here for me understanding this because he understood that people can confess true doctrine while still living as if it was false. And many Christians would say, "I know God forgives me." But they still pray as if they're trying to make them calm down or be on their side. They still serve out of fear. They still hide after their failure. They still assume every hardship in life is God just settling the score. That it's the difference believing a truth with your mind and receiving it in your heart. So it reshapes how you live before God. You your heart must rest in the father. Augustine wrote in his confessions, "You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our heart is restless until it rest in you." Notice what he does not say here. He does not say our minds are restless. He says our hearts are restless. For Augustine, the heart is the center of our love. It is the center of our fears. It is the center of our trust. A person may confess with their lips that God is merciful while still carrying a heart trained by fear, a heart trained by shame, a heart trained by self-reliance. And he repeatedly teaches that grace heals not only our guilt but also our disordered loves and fears. See, God doesn't just declare us forgiven. He restores us so we can actually live like beloved children and believe in the things he says are now ours. So that you were not living as a dead soul, but now you are made alive in Christ.

Now think about the older brother in Luke 15. We're going to read it in Luke 15:2. It says, "Now his older son was in the field and he came and he drew near to the house and he heard music and dancing and he called out to his servant and asked he's like, 'What do these things mean?' And he said to him, 'Your brother has come and your father has killed a fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father then came out and entreated him, and he answered to his father, 'Look, these many years I've served you, and I never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when that other son of yours comes home who's devoured all your property with prostitutes, you killed a fattened calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me. All that is mine is yours.' It was fitting to celebrate and be glad. For this your brother was dead and is alive and he was lost, but now he has been found."

The older brother never doubted his father's mercy existed. He never left the property. He always obeyed. He worked hard. But when his father celebrated his younger brother, his response revealed his heart that he was living his entire life as a servant and not a son. He believed he had a father. He had not accepted the father's heart towards him. His father, the father's response is so striking. He says, "Son, you're always with me. All that I have is yours. I've never let you not have." The father isn't angry with him. The son simply just doesn't understand how loved he is. And I truly believe God is not against you. Why do you run away from him after you sin? Why do you assume that he's withdrawn from you? Why do you think that his first response is irritation rather than mercy? This father shows it the same way. He's not irritated with his other his other son that's out in the field. He's just giving him mercy the same mercy that he showed to his brother. But those reactions expose what your heart actually trusts and centers on. Not because you're pretending to believe, but because your heart is still in the process of being healed. Because the belief that you have creates faith. And if you believe in the wrong thing, it will create faith in the wrong thing. But if you believe in the true father's heart for you, it'll create faith that will transform your life.

The church fathers often spoke about faith as that it was more than just agreeing with facts. It was more than just reading the word of God and saying that's true. I believe in that. I'm going to vote that way because that's what we believe. This is what we believe in our house. We're going to put it on a wooden sign. Buy it from Hobby Lobby that says in this house we serve the Lord and believe in his word. True faith unites us to Christ and changes how we approach God in all things. You might you might say accepting says the Bible says God loves me. Believing says I now approach him as the one whom truly loves me. Belief makes you step towards accepting knows the promise. Believing rests in the promise keeper.

But if God's not mad at me, why do I just feel like I'm going through such a hard season? Why do I feel like when I do rest in him finally, it doesn't feel like rest. It feels like work. Well, my last point for you today is this, and if I can have Jess come play some keys for me. Thank you. Is this point number three is endure. To endure. You know, when God wanted to make David a king, he didn't just give him a crown. He gave him a Goliath. And when God wanted to raise Joseph to the palace, he didn't give him a shortcut. He gave him prison. When God wanted to make Esther a queen, he didn't give her comfort. He gave her a crisis. When God wanted to make Moses a leader, he didn't give him a platform, a stage, a mic. He gave him a wilderness. And a lot of times when you feel like God is breaking you, he's building you up. And what you have to understand is that God doesn't give us what we expect in life. This is not the road less traveled because it's the easy one. He gives you what you need to become everything that he needs you to do to fulfill a calling on your life.

So, do I just become stoic? Do I just stand there in belief and just in worship? This is just how it's going to be. Just God's just building something new in me. Let my emotions take the back seat because God's just building in me. No. If you read the life of Jesus, every single person talked about his emotions, how he wept, how Christ grieved with his friends, how he believed and prayed so hard it was sweated out in blood. The goal is not to feel nothing. The goal is to keep loving God while suffering when you don't understand, when it doesn't make sense. when it may feel like, well, everyone else is mad at me. Shouldn't God be mad, too? No. The measure of Christ's endurance is not how little you feel or how little you understand. It's how faithfully you continue to love, which is shown through the life of Jesus himself. In Hebrews 12, it says, "Looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross." What a hard season of life Jesus had to walk through before enduring the cross, enduring the pain, enduring all the sins of the world being cast out onto him. The cross is not proof that God abandons people. It's the moment of the greatest suffering ever taken place becoming the greatest victory that's ever happened on this earth.

And when we believe when believers suffer, we do not conclude that God just turns his back on his people that he's mad at us. He's going to just give us a cold shoulder again just like that person did or this person did. No, we remember that God has already demonstrated his love for us through Calvary. And all of our sufferings are interpreted through Christ's cross, not the other way around. Not through our own distinction, but through what he did for us. That God knowing we were going to fail, knowing you were going to fall short, knowing that Dylan was going to miss the mark time and time and time again. He so loved this world that he gave his one and only son that whoever would believe in him shall never perish but be restored to him in eternal life.

Now let me go all the way back to the beginning. Why do we read the story of Noah to talk about this? Because Jesus is the Noahic covenant to us that we talked about in Genesis 8. He is our promise of unwavering grace and restoration. Isaiah 54:9 says, "To me, this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah were never again going to cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again." So according to this verse, the cross is a sign to us that God will never be angry with you in your failures. And we often approach God like Adam did when we fail. We cover ourselves up hiding in the trees waiting for his disappointment. But because Christ stood in our place, we no longer have to hide. If God has declared you righteous in his son, then why should we keep living living a life as though he's going to just reject us like everyone else has?

So today, I'm asking you to open your hearts, to lay down your defenses, that the father isn't calling you into a courtroom. He's inviting you into his home to shower his mercy and grace upon you. And as we leave here today, I'm going to welcome our prayer team up here to the front. And they want to pray over you and encourage you because there's ones in here today who are going to accept this promise for the very first time that was fulfilled in Jesus and make Jesus their Lord and Savior. And we're so excited for you to follow him, have your sins forgiven. I want you to come to the front, find one of these amazing men and women, and let them pray with you, stand in the gap with you, encourage you. But also, I know there's many of us in here who have made that acceptance of salvation, but you're having a hard time believing it. And these hard seasons you're going through is making it really hard to endure. That your sins have really been forgiven. That he's not mad. That he's a good father. And I want to pray and believe with you today. And these men and women up here want to pray and believe with you today that now you you this isn't for somebody else. This isn't a story of somebody else's salvational walk. This is you. You can walk in his truth and his promise. You can be healed. That for the joy that was set before him was for all of us, for his bride to be able to come to the father. If either one of those things is you, as I get done praying here today and everyone else goes outside and stops at the Royal Family Kids Camp table, then goes and gets a hot dog, we're going to stay right here and we're going to pray with you and encourage you because this matters more.

So, would you bow your head today with me? Jesus, we just love you and we thank you that your sword of your word is sharp for a reason because it cuts off the ugly. It cuts off the things that are not needed in our life. And God, I pray that there are ones in here today that heard your word and it convicted. Lord, how gracious you are, that your spirit that you've given us, the Holy Spirit convicts us. Thank you, God, that we can be convicted by you so that the things that are not of you, God, you can show us and help us get rid of those things so that believers in here today can walk with you in freedom through what Christ did on the cross. Jesus, I pray there are ones in here today that are feeling antsy about coming up here getting prayer. I pray a step of boldness come over them that as we say amen, they start making their way to the front. God, we thank you for your word and we bless it here today. It's in your son's mighty name we pray. And everyone said amen and amen.

If that is you, I want to welcome you up to the front and come find prayer from one of these amazing prayer team people. But church, we bless you. Go have a good time with your church family out in the front. We love you and we'll see you again this next Sunday. Bless you.