Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Sails - Part 2 (Luke 4:31-44)
14 Plays1 month ago
Sunday Message recorded 20 October 2024
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Luke Chapter 4: Patience in the Word
00:00:06
Speaker
But let's go to Luke chapter four and begin with verse 31 and we'll see how far we get. I don't feel in a rush. You know, the Lord's word is wait. But the devil often says, rush, rush. So I don't want to rush. I want to wait upon him and ask him to give us everything from this passage that he intends to give to us.
Metaphor of Adjusting Sails: Growth and Glorification of God
00:00:31
Speaker
And so I think the Lord's got some great things. Once again, we're going to be calling this one sales, sales, S-A-I-L-S.
00:00:40
Speaker
You know, I didn't read that verse, but in the passage that I read this morning before I baptized Rita and Kyla, Acts 1611 says, so setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage and it lists three specific ports where they went to.
00:00:59
Speaker
You know what really matters in life is not the wind that blows against your ship. What matters in life is that you set and adjust the sails so that you can use whatever comes in your life and say, you know what, I'm going to grow. You know what, I'm going to glorify God. Whatever happens in my life, I want to stay on course with what God has in mind for me.
Staying on Course: Challenges and Temptations
00:01:23
Speaker
The word sale is used 33 times in the Bible. ah Luke doesn't use the term sale in Luke 4, verses 31 down through 44. Actually, the whole chapter we've been looking at together, but I believe that we cannot change the wind. We can't change the wind, but you can adjust your sails to reach your destination.
00:01:46
Speaker
where God wants you to go in life. It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go. Therefore, I think it's very imperative that we learn to navigate whatever kind of wind blows by adjusting our sails to stay on course with God.
Jesus in Nazareth: Mission vs. Local Opposition
00:02:06
Speaker
You'll recall that last week, we looked at several different kinds of winds. I put them on this chart. I don't know if you can read them. Maybe if you have super duper eyesight, you can. But the ones across the top there are the five winds of resistance that we looked at last time. From Luke chapter four, verses one through 15, we saw one wind of resistance is temptation. The devil wants to persuade you, he wants to persuade me that he's right and God is wrong.
00:02:36
Speaker
And he wants you to follow him and do things his way. But Jesus didn't do it because he adjusted his sails and stayed right in line with what God had said. But then we saw how the people in Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, they were so excited. They said, I like this guy. I like this guy. And so he was popular with the crowd. They were saying everything he says is just so out there and amazing.
00:03:03
Speaker
But suddenly when they realize that he's telling them he's the Son of God, he's the Messiah that was promised long ago in the Old Testament, they remember seeing Jesus grow up in their community. And they were thinking, there's no way that's right. And so suddenly it goes from popularity to peer pressure. Have you ever felt peer pressure from those that you grew up with? And the only difference was you aligned your sail to follow God.
Ministry in Capernaum: Focus Amid Persecution
00:03:31
Speaker
Well, one thing that was happening was Jesus had a love for the whole world, but those people there in Nazareth, they didn't have a love for all peoples. There were inner prejudices that whenever he spoke to them about things that happened in the Old Testament, he uncovered and he struck a nerve. And that nerve was there were some people that they didn't like.
00:03:55
Speaker
Luke 4, 28 to 30, tells us that they got so passionate about it, so upset about it, so driven by rage. Do you struggle with anger?
00:04:06
Speaker
You know what? It doesn't matter if the if the storm is on the outside or the storm is on the inside. Jesus can help you with that. But what you're going to have to do is adjust the sails so that you can stay on course with the Lord. And so this morning, what we're going to look at are six favorable sails or points of sails so that you can say, okay, whenever those winds blow against me,
00:04:30
Speaker
I know what I'm going to do. I have a strategy. So I want us to just follow along and watch what Jesus does, watch how he maneuvers through all the different kind of wins that will come against him. And
Teaching with Authority: Jesus vs. Scribes
00:04:43
Speaker
let's see what he does. Would you stand in honor of God's word? We're going to start with Luke chapter 4, verse 31 and read to the end of the chapter. Like I said, we may not get to the end of the chapter, but this is where we're headed. And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee.
00:05:00
Speaker
And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, ha, what have you to do with us? Jesus of Nazareth, have you come to destroy us?
00:05:22
Speaker
I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent, come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.
Miracles and Divine Authority: Healing and Exorcism
00:05:39
Speaker
And they were all amazed, said to one another, what is this word? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.
00:05:51
Speaker
and reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she rose and began to serve them.
00:06:19
Speaker
Now when the son was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him.
Call to Prayer: Adjusting Sails with Jesus
00:06:28
Speaker
And he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many crying, you are the son of God. But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place.
00:06:50
Speaker
and the people sought him, and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well. For I was sent for this purpose and he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Let's go to the father in prayer. Oh Lord, your word is living. It can connect with us in ways that we were never anticipated. And so Lord, we pray that this morning by your Holy Spirit, that you would just make the word of God come alive. When I walked into this sanctuary this morning,
00:07:28
Speaker
and the praise team was preparing to sing that that last song of worship, I really sense your presence. You're here, Lord. And so there's no reason for those that are in need to let you pass them by. You want to help them. You love them. You came for them. But Lord, the the issue sometimes is how are we setting the sails in our lives? And so Lord, I'm gonna get out of the way and I'm just gonna put the spotlight on Jesus.
00:07:58
Speaker
And I pray, dear son of God, that you would show us what should we do when we have all these winds of resistance that blows against us in life. What can we do? What should we do? And so feed us this day. Lord, my my understanding of my role is I'm just an equipper.
00:08:16
Speaker
I'm just trying to equip the body of Christ for what you've called them to do in their ministries. And so, Lord, help us this day to see what you have for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Understanding Scripture: Teaching with Authority
00:08:29
Speaker
Thank you. You may be seated. Well, let's watch Jesus demonstrate how to set the sails to catch the wind of God's spirit, regardless of the breezes and the gusts from other locations that we may encounter. Now, our first point of sail can be seen within the synagogue of Capernaum. Remember, Jesus was at his hometown. He was Nazareth. But what's going to happen, you'll hear in verse 31, he leaves and he goes to another city.
00:09:01
Speaker
And that city may have been named after an Old Testament prophet called Nahum. N-A-H-U-M. There are some Bible scholars that say maybe somebody back there in the history of that city said, why don't we name our city after the prophet Nahum? Because Capernaum means city of Nahum.
00:09:24
Speaker
So who knows? But all we know is that Jesus made this a base of operations for his ministry in Galilee. So let's look at the passage together and see how far we get. I think first you and I, we both, I'm still growing. I'm still developing. I want to keep maturing. Are you still maturing? The Christian life is not a treadmill. We're supposed to be on a journey. We're going somewhere. Do you have traction in your life? It could be the winds of resistance are keeping you in the same place. But in order to grow, you're going to have to adjust your sails so that the wind of God's Spirit comes in and moves you forward. So first, I think we need to adjust the sails like Jesus to the precepts and the principles found within scripture.
00:10:13
Speaker
Keep in mind the the setting. I gave it to you a little bit earlier, but just a reminder. Just previous to verse 31, what had been taking place, they were ready to kill it. I would definitely say that's persecution. I would say that's opposition. But the question is, what happens if you get persecuted? What happens if somebody opposes you? Are you out of there? You say, I'm done. I'm done. I'm never going to talk anymore about Jesus. I'll just shut down and stay in my house.
00:10:42
Speaker
That's not what Jesus did. He said, if you are not open to hear what the word of God says, then I will go to this location and I will share what the word of God says. You see, Jesus stayed focused on his mission. And so he said, you know what? I believe it's time for me to move on. So where did he go?
00:10:59
Speaker
He went to Capernaum. Now Capernaum was a fishing community. I know we have some fishermen here. I won't call for testimonies and statements about the biggest fish you've ever told because you know sometimes it has elastic on there. But anyway, fishing community is 20 miles north of Nashville. So he's traveled 20 miles by this point in verse 31. Capernaum also was a thriving town. It was growing. Capernaum had some Roman troops that were stationed there.
00:11:27
Speaker
But the main thing that's going to happen as we go through the Gospel of Luke, you're going to see this happen. There were five men there that Jesus is going to call to be a disciple. You know, I wonder what would happen if each of us were committed to evangelism and discipling and training and encouraging and coaching and mentoring and so forth. How many would God give you from Columbus? How many has God already given you? I've got a feeling many of you have already been doing that.
00:11:54
Speaker
But when did He do this? On the Sabbath. It says on the Sabbath, if you drop
Spiritual Warfare: Jesus' Authority Over Demons
00:11:58
Speaker
down to verse 33, you'll see that when He was on the Sabbath, He was in the synagogue. I think it's great that you guys are here today. You're assembled together. You're gathered. That's biblical. That's like they did. That's like Jesus led His disciples to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath, to worship.
00:12:17
Speaker
But what was he doing? He was teaching. And I think if there's a place for teaching whenever we assemble together, a place for explaining the scriptures because some people don't know. Maybe you didn't grow up hearing the Word of God. And so it's all new for you. That's OK. When I first started, even though I grew up in a Baptist church, I would always sit on the back row, nothing against you in the back row.
00:12:39
Speaker
I'm just saying, that's what I did. But anyway, I hung out at the back and I didn't pay attention, but whenever I got saved, you know what? i did I did pay attention. And you know what happened? I didn't know where they were. I had never been in Bible drill and I was just going here and there in the scriptures trying to find them. And by the time the service was over, I finally found it. That's where Luke is right there, you know? But anyway, it's okay. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're in the Lord's house on this day and that you're listening to the scriptures. But here's the thing. How did Jesus teach? It says that he taught with authority. Authority.
00:13:16
Speaker
What does that mean he taught with authority? I tried to look that up this week, and I want to share with you what I read the most often. The most often I saw that the Bible scholars would go not just to Luke, but to a parallel account that's found in Mark chapter 1 and verse 22. And so when it said that they were astonished at the authority that Jesus had in his teaching, it says in Mark 1, 22, not as the scribes.
00:13:45
Speaker
So there was something different. So what most of the Bible scholars said this week was the thing that was different was they were always saying this is what tradition says. And then when Jesus was saying, he said, this is what the truth says. Don't you want to know the truth? Are you tired of going by polls and surveys and everything that everybody, why don't you just say, Lord, why don't you tell me the truth? I'm so tired of being lied to in my life. I would like to know the truth. And I'd like to know the truth about who God is, my heavenly father.
00:14:20
Speaker
It says here that the truths of Scripture were so authoritative, you know what it did to them? It shocked them. It uses the word astonished. It can mean dumbfounded, astounded. It actually means struck by a blow. And so it's kind of, and get this, the Greek word for astonished is explesso.
00:14:42
Speaker
Now it's that Greek word expresso sounds a lot like expresso to any of you who enjoy dessert coffees and you're thinking wow if you had three three cups of expresso in your coffee it's going to slap you around and wake you up. That's exactly what happened to these guys is they were awakened spiritually by the precepts and the principles of scripture. It's going to keep you on target. It'll keep you on course if you'll just stay in the Word. I encourage you to be like I was taught by my mentors. Those who discipled me said, put the Lord first in your morning. No matter what you got going, read a little bit of scripture, talk to Him about what's going to happen that day, talk to Him about what's going on in your life, and then you'll be ready for whatever it comes in your day. That's what I'm trying to say.
00:15:33
Speaker
is that if you'll stay in the scripture, you'll be able to set the sail so that no matter what blows against you, you're going to stay on course. But let's move to the second way that we should adjust the sails. I think we also need to be prepared for spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare. And did you know that in Christ, there's power over Satan. Satan is not equal with Jesus. He's not equal with the Father. No, not in the least.
00:15:59
Speaker
You know, there was a man that was there in that synagogue, it says that he had a demon, he was possessed by a demon. Now don't worry, a Christian cannot be possessed by a demon. We could be up oppressed like they're trying to get us, they're trying to discourage us, trying to distract us, but we can't be possessed. This guy doesn't know Christ.
00:16:21
Speaker
And he's in there. And whenever the Lord's teaching, you know what it does? He just screams out and says, ha, you know, and he he starts saying all these different things. But what I wanted you to see is that whenever Satan is at work, you know what happens? Panic.
00:16:37
Speaker
panic. And what happens is he's trying to distract people from the main thing. What was the main thing that day in the synagogue? They should have been listening to Jesus, but this guy's over there saying, listen to me, listen to me. And so that's what Satan wants to do. He wants to disrupt and distract so that everyone stops learning from the word of God and looks at what is distracting. What is it that's disrupting? But notice also what the demon says. He says, have you come to destroy us? And then he says, I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Isn't that amazing? That when Jesus says to them, I'm the Messiah that Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah chapter 61, they didn't, they didn't believe who he said he was. Do you believe who he says that he is? They didn't believe who he said that he was. And yet the demons, they know exactly who he is. I'm telling you, in the spiritual realm, there's no question. They know God the Father's in charge. They know that Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and earth. There's no question. There's no reason to panic and be afraid. And so that's why the demons were afraid, because they knew who He was.
00:17:50
Speaker
proclamation of the demon. You know, why did Jesus shut him down? He doesn't want evil to be proclaiming him and his kingdom. Yeah, they know who he is, but he will not accept that kind of witness. And so he starts putting parameters around their proclamation and saying, be quiet and come out and so forth. But notice what verse 36 says.
00:18:14
Speaker
They were all amazed and said to one another, What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the unpainted spirits, and they come out. You see, Jesus has power over the enemy because he has a higher position than the enemy. Maybe you'd say, what kind of position does he have? Well, this past Wednesday night, we were looking in Ephesians chapter one, and we came across verse 21. You need to know Ephesians 1, 21, if youre if the the enemy is trying to attack your home, if he's trying to attack your heart,
00:18:48
Speaker
then what you need to do is you need to be quoting Ephesians 1 21. Here's what it says that Jesus is seated at the right hand and it says this. He, Jesus, is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
00:19:11
Speaker
All I'm saying is just adjust your sails to Jesus. Adjust your sails to Him because He's got the authority. He's got the power. You don't need to sweat spiritual warfare. You need to say, Lord, you're you're the one I'm counting on. So I want to put your armor on. I want to use your word. I want to depend on Jesus. And you're the one that's going to help me through this terrible battle that I'm in.
00:19:35
Speaker
But I think we can see something else that happens from verse 38 through verse 41.
Illness as Wind: Overcoming with Jesus' Help
00:19:40
Speaker
38 through 41, Jesus leaves the synagogue and he goes to the home of Simon Peter. And I guess maybe Simon Peter's mother-in-law was there. I don't know if it was because that she was sick and wasn't feeling well, but Jesus goes there and she's sick. She has a high fever, it says.
00:19:59
Speaker
What would you say would be the strongest wind that could come against you, could come against your family? I don't know about you, but I think that one of the strongest wins would be illness or disease, especially if it just continues on. So who can help with that? you know I believe that what we need to do is do the same thing Peter did, invite Jesus in the house, invite Jesus in the heart and say, Lord, i just I'm counting on you. You know what? Whenever the mother-in-law was sick, even though that was a stiff wind that was blowing in their lives at that time,
00:20:36
Speaker
Jesus could handle that wind. Have you ever looked up what the strongest winds are? That if the strongest winds recorded on the face of the earth, I found that there's one in Australia that they they clocked it at 253 miles an hour. It's in 1996 off of Australia. But the problem is there was no man there. It was just the machine registered that. But then if you want to say, well, I think we need to have somebody there. Well, in New Hampshire in 1934, there was another wind clocked at 231 miles an hour.
00:21:11
Speaker
And so I'm thinking, okay, that's some kind of wind. That's about as fast as I used to ride on my motorcycle. I'm kidding, I didn't ride that fast.
00:21:20
Speaker
But look, Jesus can help us. you know Most physical illness and disease, you know why it comes? I think it comes because of the result of the fall. Whenever Adam and Eve, whenever mankind, whenever we chose to disobey God, I believe that this world began to experience the fall. We are not experiencing the world the way God wanted us originally in the Garden of Eden to experience it.
00:21:49
Speaker
But what we need to do is to say, Oh Lord, okay, I know that sometimes I'm going to encounter sickness or illness or something because of the fall. You can read about it in Romans eight and verse 22.
00:22:02
Speaker
And it's obvious if you read through the New Testament enough, you'll see that everybody didn't get healed. Everybody didn't get healed. For example, Paul had an eye problem in Galatians 4, verses 13 through 15. But you know what he said? He said, you know, Galatians, it was because I had an eye problem that I came to you and you people were so welcoming to me. You said, we'll pluck out our eye and we'll give you ours. That's incredible. You know what?
00:22:31
Speaker
As strange as it may seem, God can use your illness to accomplish something for His kingdom. It may open a door that you've never had before. I remember from my younger brother what the turning point for him was seeing my father have brain cancer and he sat there by my father's bed until he couldn't take it anymore. He went to church and he tells me I ran down the aisle when they gave the invitation. He said, I don't have what Dad had. And you know what? He's been following the Lord ever since. That was 1998. When I went golfing with him, when I went to Tennessee the other day, you know what everybody on the golf course calls him? Preach. They called him preach. And I thought they were talking to me. It's like, ain't nobody talking to me on that golf course. They don't even know me. but they know him. And I said, how come they're all calling you preach? And he said, well, the, the golf pro in that, that golf course, they said, why don't we have a devotion before we have the tournament? And so he said they gave a, he gave a devotion at first there was three people there. And so the, the golf pro said, wait a minute, this is not going to work. So he said, I need everybody over here. And so he called them all. He said, all 45 people gathered in there. My brother told him about Christ. One man came to him after it and said, can we get together? You know, your life and your testimony really connects with me. And he said, I want you to disciple me. I want to learn more from you. So he's been meeting with this guy ever since.
00:24:03
Speaker
But do you know what? Another group of guys from that golf course came up. There's about three or four of them, he said, and they said, we're going to go talk to the golf pro. And that was so meaningful for us. We're going to ask that he do that every tournament and he let you share. My brother's just a layman. He's just like you.
00:24:21
Speaker
But you know what? If we will just say, Lord, whatever happens in my life, I want you to use it for your glory. Epaphroditus, Timothy, Trophimus. He tells about Trophimus. He left him sick in Miletus.
00:24:35
Speaker
You see, we cannot make the winds of God's power bring physical healing, but I tell you what we can do, we can invite Jesus.
Power of Prayer and Faith: Healing and God's Role
00:24:43
Speaker
We can invite Jesus to be the Lord in our home and in our lives. And so I want to point out four or three four things and then we'll wrap it up right here and we'll we'll see the other three next week. But let me share with you something that has never stood out to me before, but then I noticed it. It's found in verse 38 and it's found in verse 40.
00:25:04
Speaker
What about you? You and I can. We don't know what God will do, but you know what we can do? We can appeal to him. We can appeal to him. Look at verse 38. It says, and he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. There's nothing in the Bible that said, don't pray about people who are sick. No, we can pray about people. or We should pray about people who are sick. They made an appeal to Jesus. They were praying. This is how we pray. We make an appeal. But then if you notice, verse 40, after that, the word spread. And so look what happens. Now, when the son was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases, what did they do with those that were sick? They brought them to him.
00:25:59
Speaker
And he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And so all I'm saying is, it's okay to bring people to Jesus in prayer. It's okay to pray and make an appeal. I'm not promising that every single time somebody's gonna get healed, but all I'm saying is he can do it.
00:26:16
Speaker
Let's go to the second thing that stood out to me, and that is, I think we ought to address the need specifically. What are you praying about? I think you ought to pray for that person specifically. It said, and he stood over her. The problem was a high fever, and you know what he did? He rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she arose and began to service what it says.
00:26:37
Speaker
But I think we ought to pray specifically. Sometimes God's saying, you want me to bless you? You want me to help you? How is it you want me to bless you? How is it you want me to help you? How do you want me to help this one who's sick? But notice that what happened in verse 39, I think there was gratitude. You know, I think God has done things for us in the past and we've not yet come back to him and say thank you. How can we express our appreciation to God? Well, I think for starters, we can tell him, but sometimes we don't even tell him. But another thing is we can remember it, right? Don't forget it.
00:27:12
Speaker
God's done things in your life. He's been good to you. And sometimes we're so quick to forget it just because we're facing a challenge right now today. But here's the other thing. I really think the best way to express appreciation is serve. Serve. Say, Lord, what can I do for you? How can I honor you with with where you've placed me? I want to bloom where I'm planted. So if you're a carpenter, you use your skills. you know If you're a teacher, you use your your classroom. you know You do whatever you can with your life. But then notice verse 40 says that he laid hands on every one of them and healed them all.
00:27:51
Speaker
I think. Okay, I don't know how God will answer your prayers, my prayers, anybody's prayers. I don't know how God will answer. But you know what I think we ought to be convinced of? I know you can. I know you have the ability. So I think it honors God when we pray to him to say, Lord, if it be your will, I don't know your will. I don't know all your plan. But here's one thing I'm so convinced about God. I am so convinced that you can do it. And so Lord, would you please do it?
00:28:22
Speaker
And I know it's hard whenever he doesn't heal someone the way we want to. I can remember the the great testimony of Leonard and Sherry Peters when their son Zach was diagnosed with a ah Ewing sarcoma. And I couldn't believe his bravery whenever they had to amputate his leg, and yet he was still praising the Lord. But I remember what happened whenever the Lord chose to take him home. I remember talking with Sherry, and she said, you know what?
00:28:51
Speaker
God didn't heal him here, but he's healed him there. He didn't heal him yesterday, but today he's healed. And I think sometimes we forget that. We forget that, yes, we want the healing right now, right now in this life and right now this day, right now this week, right now this month or this year. But you know what? Because one day every believer is gonna walk into God's presence,
00:29:21
Speaker
You know what's going to be absent?
Surrender to Jesus: Spiritual Growth and Alignment
00:29:23
Speaker
There's going to be an absence of certain things out there in eternity. Absent will be sickness. Absent will be pain. Absent will be crying. Absent will be death. Absent will be mourning. And I don't know why. Sometimes we turn against God because he didn't hear our prayer and we shut down by faith. But we should leave open that possibility. Wait.
00:29:49
Speaker
He said that for all eternity, those things will be absent and we will be in His presence. So don't walk away from the one who's making an incredible promise to you. He's saying, if you'll trust me, if you'll turn from your sins, if you'll place your faith in Jesus Christ, if you'll adjust your sails,
00:30:11
Speaker
then no matter what wins happen, no matter if it's sickness or death, no matter if it's peer pressure, no matter if it's a spiritual attack, no matter what's going on in your life,
00:30:23
Speaker
You could say, Lord, I'm just going to follow you. That's complete submission and surrender. That's the way anybody is saying is when we come to the Lord, we come saying, Lord, I surrender all Lord. I believe I want to trust what you did for me on the cross that you died on the cross. You died in my place. You paid the price for my sins.
00:30:44
Speaker
That is how we become a Christian. And that is where the wind of the Holy Spirit begins to blow in a light. So why don't you stand with me? I love to give an invitation at the end, and it's okay if no one comes. But how do I know that no one is ready to come? I don't know. And so that's why I extend an invitation, not in my name, I extend an invitation in Jesus' name.
00:31:10
Speaker
saying, would you come if the Lord has laid on your heart that desire to be saved, that desire to you know recommit your life, that desire to follow in believers baptism, that desire to become a member of this church, or whatever it might be. But you might say, I don't need to come forward.
00:31:27
Speaker
I need to pray while everyone else around me is singing. I just need to do business with him. I need to talk with him. That's fine. But whatever it is, you connect with the Lord. Have you heard him trying to connect with you? He's been speaking. He's been speaking all along. Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you so much for your word. Maybe we came in here and you blindsided us. We did not count on an encounter with the true and the living God. We didn't really even come in.
00:31:56
Speaker
believing and knowing that you were real? but we know it now. We believe it now. Something's changed. And so we're wanting to readjust our sales so that instead of following peer pressure and fear and all those other things, we're ready to put our sales in your direction and move toward God's will, to move toward your glory and your pleasure. So speak to us during this invitation and may all that we do honor and glorify you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:32:33
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.