Guest Speaker: Beth Guckenberger

Oh, Beltway, I can't even tell you. North campus, South Campus, online, uh, I have such affection for you. I have seen with my own eyes the result of your generosity in the advancement of the kingdom. And I just want to stand here and be one of the many, many recipients of of your generosity and just thank you for the ways in which God is using you to tell good stories in places all around the world.

One little story I just want to get started with today. A couple of years ago, maybe like six, I was here and afterwards, one of you came forward and said that the Lord had spoke to you during the service and you were working at Harden Simmons and you felt like like maybe you were supposed to help get one of the orphan and von honorable children we serve somewhere around the world to Harden Simmons for a degree program. Well, that indeed did happen. And this last spring, Edmund graduated as a student from Harden Simmons. He comes to you all the way from Nigeria. He uh he He thinks Aalene's about the coolest place. He never got a chance to set foot here because of visas. He was able to execute his entire program online, but um I come bringing thank you from him from Nigeria to this community. It's just one of the many ways you all have extended yourself for the kingdom.

Okay. I mean, first of all, I agree with Randy what he just said. Don't ever take for granted the fact that you have that kind of worship on a Sunday morning. That's some of the best worship I have ever had. you came in here ready to lean in and to engage with what the spirit had for you. And he'll do it through word. He'll do it through worship. He'll do it through fellowship and community. And I'm so grateful for it.

But I was thinking um on my way over here about uh when this January I was in Raleigh, North Carolina, God bless those folks in Raleigh. And I was speaking at a conference for college students all they were there all weekend. I was the Sunday morning speaker. I got there early. As I got there, the conference person said to me, "Hey, so like they stayed up real late last night and I don't know how they're coming in here this morning." And I was like, "That's okay. That's okay. I'll be fine." But they kind of drugged themselves in. And there was no worship before my message. And the MC could kind of feel the low energy in the room. And so he decided to do a game kind of spontaneously, I think. And he asked for some of the young men representing the various universities to come on stage. Had them take their shoes and socks off. Then he poured a big bowl of Cheetos in the middle of the stage and put these little styrofoam cups in front of them. And he challenged them to a race using only the toes that they had taken their shoes and socks off to show us. They had to grab a Cheeto from the bowl and then hop over to their styrofoam cup and release it in the cup. And the competition was whoever had the cup the most full in a minute would win or whatever. Okay, so I'm thinking, okay, this isn't exactly how I would have warmed up everyone, but let's see, Lord, what you have? And I was sitting in the front row and it wasn't having the effect that I think we all were hoping it would have. And so I'm like, "Okay, Jesus, what are my options? I actually have really long toes." And so I was thinking maybe I'll jump up on that stage and try to, you know, spice up the race and like try to compete with them, but they hadn't met me yet. And I like the I was like these college students like what's that old lady doing up there on the stage with her shoes off? And so I didn't do it, but I was thinking it. Anyway, then they read my bio also. I mean, lovely, but not whatever. And then I get up on the stage and I'm looking as I walked up the whole stage was covered in Cheetos that they had grabbed with their toes from the bowl but then dropped on their way to their cup. And I I said, "Jesus, I will do anything for the gospel." So I reached down and grabbed a bunch of them in two fists and I said, "Hey, listen to me. Make me a deal. If I eat these Cheetos, will you lean in for the next 30 minutes?" The place erupted and I was like, "That's all I need." And I ate every one of those Cheetos.

So, um, anyway, Beltway, thank you for feeding me good barbecue and not Cheetos off your feet this weekend. Uh, it has been, yeah, lean in anything for the gospel. You just remember that. That's my missionary roots right there.

Okay, this Bible, which we're going to study here now, is can sometimes feel complicated, right? 66 books, different authors over a period of time, written in an original language that we're always trying to learn and understand. It can feel kind of complicated, but I honestly think if we had to, we could boil it down to two words. The first word is come. God is an invitational God. He's been inviting us into his presence, into his family, into his story, into the mission. He's always inviting us. Come, come, come into my presence. And the second word, which we're going to talk about this morning, is go. He is a great commissioner and he has sent us out into all the world. The plan has always been since the very beginning that we would partner with him to heal and repair the world. This is the great commission that we've been invited into.

And so, uh, every story we're going to study today, Matthew 3, which is the baptism of Jesus. And I want to say this that when anything we see Jesus do in our in our gospels, anything he said, anything he did, he he does and he says it not because he's making it up there on the spot, but because he's telling a story that started a long time ago and that continues still today. So when Jesus walked on water, he wasn't like looking for a parlor trick to get the attention of the disciples. He walked on water because he told us in Job chapter nine that the one who set the heavens in motion will tread on the waves of the sea. This is why those disciples are like surely he is the son of God when they saw him walk on water or the or uh think about when um he calmed the storm Mark chapter 4. It wasn't because the weather was bad. is because he tells us in Psalm 107 that he will calm and still the storm of the sea. He everything he does, everything he said, he he was continuing a story from the very beginning. And so this is the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told.

And every time I come here, I like to teach you a Hebrew word. Today's no exception. The Hebrew phrase or words that I'm going to teach you this morning is the phrase that we find in the very beginning of the story, Genesis 1, where it says, "The earth was formless and empty." Formless and empty are English words we translate out of the phrase toou vavhu. Toho means formless and vhoo means empty and together formless and empty. Toho vauvu. That makes a lot of sense. Except that when you put tohou vavohu together, it means something more than they do just adding those words one to the other. Probably the best way I can describe it to you this morning is if I told you I was sick, you would think I was ill. And if I told you I was tired, you'd think I didn't sleep well last night. But if I told you that I was sick and tired, you understood that I'm kind of fed up, right? Sick and tired together means something different than they mean apart. To vavhu, the earth being formless and empty. It toou means chaos. destruction, uh, all disease, conflict, all the worst things that you can imagine. And in our Bibles, Thou is represented by water. The earth was covered in tohou.

So, I brought some props today to help us walk through the plot of the greatest story ever told. I brought my water bottle up here to describe to just symbolize what was going on in the earth in the very beginning. The next thing that happens in the story is it says the spirit of God came and he hovered over that tohou vavohu. And I was trying to think what I could bring this morning that would represent the spirit of God. And I couldn't catch a dove. And so what I did instead is brought a fan because the word in Hebrew for wind is the same as the as the word for spirit. So this is my fan which I by the way need here in Texas this weekend. But the spirit of God, the the rua came and hovered over that tohou. And the next thing that happens in the plot of the greatest story ever told is that God spoke. And we know the creation story. God said, "Let there be night and day and land and sea and all the animals and man and woman." And after God speaks, represented here by my Bible, the very words of God. After God speaks, the next thing that happens is shalom breaks out. Peace. And I was trying to think about what I could bring this morning that would represent shalom. And I went looking for a palm tree, but I couldn't find one. And so you might recognize this from the landscaping out in front of the church, but this is this is my shalom symbol. And shalom has a long definition in the Hebrew, but the part I like the best and we'll talk about this morning is shalom literally fills in the cracks. It's a wholeness. And God, after he spoke, shalom broke out. The Garden of Eden was the most shalomy place that there was.

And in the in the plot of the story, the next thing that happens is Adam and Eve are tempted and they bite the apple. And once they bite the apple, we go back to the beginning of the story. This is a pattern. And the next major story in our Bible is the story of Noah. And there was so much sin on the earth that God grieved. He had even made us. And we see the symbol of that touhu by the water that covered the earth. And you know the story of the ark and Noah and his family being saved and the animals two by two and and they're they go and they're protected in the middle of that toou vavohu. And then finally the spirit of God comes blows the the the water away dries the land comes in the form of a dove lands on that boat tells them it's time for them to come out. And then God speaks and he says like get out be fruitful multiply. It's almost like the creation story all over again. And after God speaks in a pattern that you cannot break, shalom breaks out. It was so shalomy. There was a a a rainbow, right? I mean, it was amazing. Shalom. Shalom. And then we know what's going to happen next because this is the plot of the greatest story ever told. Temptation's going to come their way. And unfortunately, Noah bit the apple. He got drunk and cursed his family in a tent. And now we're back here to the beginning of the story. Thou. Those are all stories in the book of Genesis.

The next book in our Bible is the book of Exodus. And in the very first chapter, you have God's babies being thrown into a river. I can't think of anything more toou vavohu than children being thrown away. God's kids precious being thrown away. And that story that tohou vavu, God's children had been enslaved now for generations. And it was time to get th his let God's people be free. And the spirit of God came and rested over that touh vavu. And if you've never read the book of Exodus, read about the things the spirit does there. All the plagues and the movement of the spirit to release them from that hold that they were under in Egypt. And then finally, God speaks and he tells Moses to raise his right arm there on the edge of the Red Sea. And the spirit of God blew open that water. And God's kids walk through the sea on dry ground. That's shalom. Shalom. They begin to sing and dance Miriam's song. And God takes them to the top of a mountain and he he marries them. That's what happens at the top of Mount Si when they get the ten commandments. God reminds them, I love you because I love you. I am pursuing you. I have always wanted you. Will you come into a covenant relationship with me? And the ten commandments, sometimes we read them like they're a ruler to measure our behavior. It's a love letter. They're wedding vows. Take my name. Don't use it in vain. Spend time with me on Sabbath. It was the most beautiful shalom exchange, total peace. But while God was choosing us, knowing we would be unfaithful, God's kids were at the bottom melting down their golden jewelry and making a calf that they wanted to worship and whining that they wanted to go back to Egypt. And so the story went back here into Toho Vauhu.

And Moses, the next story in our Bible, Moses will mentor a young man named Joshua. And now Joshua is leading God's kids and they're about to take the promised land and they're on the edge of the Jordan River and it's swollen. And we now know, astute Bible readers, when we see water, we represents the chaos, the separation from the toe, the the the the disorder of. And so the spirit of God comes, right? God speaks. He says like, "Put your big toe in the water. Trust me in this. I have come for you before and I will come for you again. The spirit comes blows open the Jordan River and they literally read the book of Joshua worship their way across that river. Take the land that God had promised them. Sing and dance and shalom was shalom. And it's amazing. But when God spoke to them, he said, "When you get over there, don't keep the spoils for yourself. Those belong to me. You remember who brought you there and you give me back that which I have always rightfully had." They get over to the other side. They bite the apple. They keep the spoils for themselves. And we come back here to Toho Favohu. This is the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told. And if Randy let me do an Old Testament survey class this morning, we could do this all day long.

But I want you to remember that everything that Jesus did, he does because he told us he's going to do it. So I want you to go with me now to the edge of the Jordan in Matthew chapter 3. He's standing there with his cousin John the Baptist. He's about to get baptized. And sometimes we read that passage and we say, and it's true that Jesus got baptized because he wanted to put an example for us so we would do exactly what we witnessed this morning. Somebody making an outward expression of their inward decision for faith in a community that will support them. And that is a beautiful thing and that is true. But I but now that you know the water represents Tou Vavu, stand with me on the edge meant in your mind of the Jordan River. He's standing next to his cousin. When when Jesus sees touhu, he doesn't run away from it. He doesn't stand back and judge it. When Jesus sees the water, he gets into it. And what's the very next thing that happens? The spirit of God comes and hovers over them. This is the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told. The dove comes and lands on his shoulder. And then what's the very next thing that happens? God speaks. And what does he say? He says, "This is my son in whom I love and in whom I'm well pleased." And what happens next? Shalom. Shalom. The ministry of Jesus is unlike anything we had ever seen. And blind people could see and deaf people could hear and dead people got raised from the dead. And those mired in shame experienced freedom like they never have before. Shalom. Shalom. The cracks got filled in. It was unbelievable.

And then in the very next chapter in the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told, temptation came the way of Jesus. But this time, he showed us exactly what to do when temptation comes our way. And the binding of the evil one began. And when I think about I mean don't you hear people say sometimes like oh 2026 I don't know how things got so bad. How did everything in the world get so bad? I know exactly how it got so bad. Somebody ate an apple and we're back here in Tohovu. Or sometimes we can feel disoriented like I don't even know what to do. The knots are so tight and the story is so complicated and I'm not even sure what to do. We know exactly what to do. We are students of the plot of the greatest story that has ever been told. We get into the water. We listen for the spirit and we watch his movement. We obey the very words of God. We hold on to the peace and we resist temptation. This is what we do as God's kids. This is what we do as God's kids. And I think that Jesus was looking at those disciples on the edge of that river and thought this is a training moment for them and I want them to understand what do we do when we see who? We get into the water.

And that's exactly what would happen at the end of that book of Matthew in the 28th chapter. Jesus will do something called the great commission where he says, "Go make disciples, baptize them, and and and teach them, teach them the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told." And those disciples went out into every corner of the world. And we have stories that have been going on ever since of God's kids finding their ways into waters into and to engaging in tohou vauvhu and bringing the good news and the shalom shalom of the god that they carry inside of them.

But one of the stories that I like is uh Todd and I got a chance to study in Turkey uh modernday Turkey once was called Asia Minor. And one of the towns that we were in is a town called Sardis. And I love this town because I want you to imagine the disciples who watched and witnessed the ministry of Jesus now spreading around the world. They come over the hill into Sardis. Those people were worshiping the goddess of fertility and wine. And so I brought a picture of the ruins of her, the white part of that picture, those are I just took this with my phone, but that white part is the the ruins of a temple that was built to her. And I if you're if you're the goddess of fertility and wine, you can imagine what your Sunday morning services are like, right? In fact, every spring for about 15 days, right around this time, people would come from all over who believed and worshiped this goddess. And they would dress themselves in white robes and they would march around that temple complex for 15 days. And I don't want to give them too much time this morning, but they would do all kinds of shenanigans that that we know is not good. They would have intimate relations with children and animals and strangers and they would fogg their bodies with with with things that would cause them to bloody. And the bloodier the robe, the holier they were. And if you wanted to be one of their priests, you castrated yourself at the end of the 15 days and offered it to the goddess. I mean, for just a second, get all that going in your head and here come the disciples who've been trained to enter into the waters. I'm thinking if I saw that shenanigan, I'd be thinking, we're putting our north campus 5 kilometers away from here. Like these people are crazy, but they're following their rabbi. They're doing exactly what it is that God taught them to do. The the reason I like this picture so much is because that brick part of the picture is the early ruins of an evangelical church. Those people got themselves as close to the chaos as possible. And I don't know exactly what they did. I don't I don't know what they did. I hope they passed out band-aids and water bottles. I don't know what they did. But here's what we know. Within a hundred years, nobody's even heard of that goddess. And her the the faith in her is gone. And instead, Christianity today is spreading around the world in a way we've never seen before. This is the plot of the greatest story that has ever been told.

And when God takes you into the toou vavu, I'm going to tell you, you don't have what it takes. You don't have enough mercy, strength, provision, protection, understanding, joy, patience, self-control. G. You don't have it. But his promise to us is that he'll give us what it is that we need. Go with me back to that scene where the Israelites were still slaves and Moses is being called up by God in order to call them out of that place and remember who they were as God's kids. Be reminded of their identity. And God says to the his kids via Moses, we're going to get out of here and I'm going to take you to a place and it's so amazing. It's called the promised land. So in the in in ancient in the ancient world, countries that had access to water had access to power. And so imagine Egypt, kind of like today, countries that have access to oil have access to power. So imagine in those days, the Israelites who'd been living in Egypt, they're thinking, I mean, if Egypt's got the Nile, what kind of river was running in the promised land? I mean, that must be amazing. If he's going to take us out of here someplace even better than this, what do we imagine the river is like there? Well, we now know when they get to Canaan that they're going to learn that Egypt actually has 30,000 times more water than than the promised land ever does. So, what makes that so promised? What's so amazing about that? Well, he'll tell them in Deuteronomy 11 and 12. He says, "The land that you're going to take across the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that will literally drink rain from heaven." Remember when you were over there in Egypt when you needed to irrigate your crops? How did you do it? You did it with the backbreaking work of bucket brigading. You come to the promised land. When your crops need water, I'll literally make it rain from the sky. This is what makes it promise. You're my kid now. You're not a slave. That's slave labor. You come over here, it is your birthright. That that which you need, I will provide for you. I am your father. This is your identity. This is the promise of God.

He'll say it in Colossians chapter 1 in the message translation. It says, 'I pray you have the strength to stick it out over the long haul. I don't know what kind of long haul, what kind of waters God has called you into. I pray you have the strength to stick it out over the long haul. Not with the grim strength of gritting your teeth, that bucket brigading kind of work. Not with the grim strength of gritting your teeth, but with the glory strength that God provides. Glory strength is a strength that endures the unendurable and it spills over into joy, allowing us to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for you. But it's not going to be easy when we say yes to Jesus. When we get into the waters, it's not it's not like sometimes not what we think it's going to be like. It's like never what we think it's going to be like. But this is the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told. He has been inviting his family since Genesis to partner with him to heal and repair the world.

The ministry that Todd and I lead is about to turn 30. But on our 20th anniversary, uh we had a big party and people that had been child sponsors and had come on mission trips all gathered together. We could celebrate the things we had seen God do in the waters over the 20 years prior. And this woman came up to me that night and said, "Do you remember me?" And I was like, "Help me out." And she said, "I was 14 years old and I came on a mission trip." And and I was like, "You've changed a little since then." And she said, "Well, I don't know if you remember, you were preaching about James 1 and taking care of widows and orphans and their distress." And I said, "That sure sounds like me." She's like, "Well, that day at age 14, I made a commitment in my heart that I was going to give my life for those who had no voice." And then she opens up her jacket and she had this baby carrier she was holding. And inside the baby carrier was this impossibly tiny baby. She said, "Today, my husband and I are foster parents here in the county. We foster medically fragile infants. And I just wanted to come tonight to tell you that the seed that was planted that day has grown into this." And I thought that was cool. And I told a ton of people that night about I think God tells great stories over long periods of time. And I was very encouraged by her testimony. And then I saw her a year later. And a year later when I saw her, I remembered her this time and I said, 'How many babies have you had since then? And she said, 'Ay, just the same one.' And I said, 'Oh, that's great.' She said, 'Yeah, we we actually put a plan together where we're we're we've been going to adopt her and I'm an adopted mom. So I said, that's exciting. Tell me about how that's been. and and she got really quiet and she said, "Actually, like two weeks ago, her mom showed up for the first time all year and she began to meet some of the requirements of the county and they just put together a reunification plan and actually I'm going to give her back to her mom this coming week." And I just said to her, "How you doing with that?" Because that's a complicated story. And she said, "Well, I'll tell you what. I didn't have good feelings about it at first. I got real mad because I thought the Lord was leading us to do something and I was taking steps to do what I thought it was. he was leading us to do. And then this is the best part of the story. She said, "I took those big feelings to God. He loves that." Like the the father wants to know what is going on in our heart. I mean, he already knows Psalm 139. Before we even think it, he knows what we're going to think. She took all of that to the Lord. She said, "I was I was worshiping and praying alone with him one morning, confused and grieving, and I heard the spirit of God whisper into my heart. You know how you feel about that baby? That's how I feel about that mama." And she said, "All of a sudden, I realized that if the spirit of God lives in me and he loves that mom, then then I can, too." And she accepted the assignment to partner with God to be about healing and repairing the world. And she said, "So, I began to send her pictures of like the things that she missed this last year. And I I've telling her that I'm praying for her and and last night, she actually asked if I wanted to be the baby's godmother. So, I guess I'm going to be in their life for the rest of their lives." And I said to her, "Oh my gosh, God is such a good so lover. God so loved the world that he gave his only son." John 3:16. He loved that woman so much. He saw her that 16 years ago, he planted the seed in the heart of a teenager so that he could grow that inside of her so that in a moment when someone needed to put on display who God is in the heart of the father, he would have you ready to do it. He is healing and repairing the world through our obedience and willingness to get into the water.

>> But I'm telling you, it's not going to be easy. The come and go parts of the story. The come is like, "Oh Jesus, I'm coming to you and I need you to fill me up and give me what I don't have." The go is going to cost you. I'm testifying to you today that every single time I've ever gone into the touhoo, it has cost me something. Time, money, sleepless nights, gray hair, my reputation. I mean, the list goes on and on. But when we when it costs us something, when we sacrifice, we are identifying with the Christ, with the one who saved us.

I was speaking at a um conference this last summer. It was for to qualify to come to the conference, you had to have been in full-time ministry for 40 years or more. I I did not qualify yet. I I was just a speaker, but um I haven't been nervous in a while and I was so nervous. I felt like a sports fan at a Hall of Fame induction. Like, oh my gosh, you people, I cannot even imagine the stories that you have. And at every single break, I was running out into the audience like, "What do you got for me? What's God taught you? What have you seen? What do you know for sure is true?" This is what we should be doing in our faith communities and among those who have walked with him longer than we have. Psalm 107:2 says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Ask them for their stories. It fortifies your faith." And this man, I was, he looked at me kind of like I think sizing me up. And uh he had been serving most of those years. He served behind the Iron Curtain. And he just said to me, "Uh, what do I know for sure?" I know for sure that it has been a good fight. And there's a proverb that says like an apple of gold in a setting of silver is a word aptly spoken. And that's what it felt like to me. A word aptly spoken. I literally loved that he characterized his life on this earth as a fight because it is a fight. In fact, Paul will tell us that. And it's not a fight against flesh and blood, right? It is a fight against that which is trying to stop the greatest story that has ever been told. The one that is lying to us night and day. the one that wants to cause us to shrink away from the waters. It's a fight, but it's a good fight.

>> It's a good fight. And I don't know as you go about the work that God has prepared in advance for you to do because he is a storyteller. He's still telling the story, right? Hebrews 12 says that he's the author of our story. Psalm 139, every one of your days written before any of them came to be. This is a good story. When you do the work that this church is so well known for doing and you advance the kingdom across borders and in this town, you are you are standing inside of an old story, God using his kids to heal and repair the world. What do you think he sounds like when he's cheering you on in that? What does that feel like to you? Most of us, the way that we think God sounds is like some combination of the earliest voices we ever had in our life. and teaching and experiences that we've had with God since. I don't know what you think it sounds like, but I wanted to leave you with a picture because the Bible's meant to be pictured here on the western side of the world. If I was to circle you all up and say, "Hey, tell me what do you think? Who do you think? Who's God?" You might answer me like he's good and sovereign and creator of the world and forgiver of my sins and all of those things are totally true. But if I was on the other side of the world in the context with which the Bible was written in that eastern context and I asked them who is God, they would say he is living water. He is the bread of life. He is eagle's wings. He is the cleft in the rock. He is the shade at my right hand. There are pictures. The Bible is meant to be pictured. That's the only way our finite minds can get it wrapped around these complicated spiritual ideas. And so I was thinking, I went looking for like what what kind of picture could I give you of what I think God sounds like as he's cheering you on in the plot of the greatest story that's ever been told. And I found a I found I found the voice of God on my phone and I brought it for you. And here's just a couple of disclaimers. This is going to be a video of my son running the fourth leg in a relay. It's a 4x4 relay. So, he's going to make one complete rotation around the track. And I don't really care if you watch how he runs. That's not really the point of the video. What I want you to pay attention to is the sound of his father's voice and what that sounds like. This is the closest I can bring you this morning of what I actually think God sounds like as he's cheering you on. as he's cheering you on, as you say yes to to what he's asking of you about getting in the water and watching his spirit and listening to his voice and holding on to his peace and resisting temptation. This is what I think he sounds like. Here's my disclaimer. I was the videographer and I'm terrible at it. So, sorry about that. Secondly, my son runs for a school whose mascot is the Knights. And I want you to know when his dad yells go Knights what it is that he's saying. But listen, um, watch this video and hear the voice of God cheering you on and that which he has for you.

>> Go Knights. Go Knights. >> Get him in. >> Catch him in. Go. Go in. Go. Go. Go Nights. Go Knights. Go Knights. Go Knights. Go Knights. Go Knights. Go in. >> Come on. Go in. Go in. Go go go.

That's what I think God sounds like. I think he's cheering you on. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses." By the way, I don't think Jesus is the only voice up there cheering. I think the Bible teaches us that there are all kinds of people up there alongside of him who care about what it is that you're going into the water who have seen the movement of the spirit and are cheering you on to pay attention to it. Who understand what the very voice of God is and they want you to hear it. Who understand what it means to have shalom shalom and their cracks all filled in. Who understand the consequences of sin when we bite the apple. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, they are cheering us on. Let us let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run the race with perseverance that he has marked out for us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. This is the call of our lives. We would fix our eyes on Jesus and let him lead us wherever he wants to.

I showed this video this last year and this last summer and this woman came. I could tell when it was over. She was beling for me. She was coming right up here on a mission and um I I don't know how old she is exactly, but she was somebody's grandma. So get that in your mind, okay? She's she's coming right up to me and she gets up right in front of me and she said, "I was my high school's state track champion." I was like, "Good job." I didn't know what to say. Good job. And then her voice starts to shake and she said, 'I have been furious for years that my parents never came to see me run. She said, I I was watching that video and I felt the spirit of God whisper into my heart, I have never missed a race. He's never missed a race. The eye is on the sparrow. The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth. He's searching for those whose hearts are completely his. He has you in his eye. He has never missed a race. Every single time you have said yes to him. Yes, I'll get into the water. Yes, I'll look for your spirit. Yes, I will listen to your voice. Yes, I will hold on to your peace. Yes, I will resist temptation. His eyes are on you. And he watches when we say no and loves us anyway. It's an indeigable kind of love.

And just one little PS before we pray, I want you to know that when I tell my son this is how God sounds. He's cheering you on. It makes a lot of sense to him because he understands what that looks like. He's been cheered on his whole life. Nobody cheered my husband on that way. So it it took a minute to believe that that's how God feels about him. But through the spirit of God, he wants to heal those parts of us. And he is reminding some of you this morning, he is crazy about you. He is for you. And as you run the race, he is getting up out of his chair and moving towards you. Did you hear the sound that the father made when the boy crossed the line? He went, "Yeah." That's the love of a father for you. Let's pray.

Jesus, it takes my breath away that you would choose to cheer for us. It takes my breath away how you feel about us and how you never fatigue. So Jesus, um it is with the authority I have as a co-air with you here in the company of my spiritual siblings and saints that I ask you release an anointing on this body and on all the places you take its hands and all the waters you ask them to enter into here in Abalene and around the world. Lord Jesus, be with them in the waters. Make the movement of your spirit undeniable. Give us an appetite to hear your word. remind us that it is our birthright as your kid to feel your peace and strengthen us to face the evil one. Jesus, we love you and we trust you with our lives today and forever more. And I pray these things in the holy and precious and resurrected name of your son Jesus. Amen.