(00:00):
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(00:21):
Students are just kind of in a place right now where they've got so many expectations that are placed on from the world, from school, from social media, all these expectations, and we just wanna help them understand that God has set 'em free from life, those expectations.

(00:42):
D Now it's truly in my top five favorite weekends of the year, maybe higher than that. I love opening our home to students. I love watching them open the word in a circle and dig into what God has for them. It may be loud when they come. It may involve a lot of snacks and a lot of sugar, and a lot of caffeine, and, you know, a whole lot of crazy, but it's the best possible kind.

(01:13):
These kids aren't saying yes to the culture. They're saying, uh, we believe God has another way. We want to follow that. We want to learn that we want to follow Jesus. And I think that's, that's hope for the future.

(01:47):
D Now's design is, is to be a weekend of discipleship. Its goal is to help students to be able to step into just a more trust in faith in Christ. It's for them to get, uh, into some homes, some comfortable places where they can dig into the word, where they can see scripture come alive, where they can be in worship environments, and, and, and just truly be discipled as students alongside their peers so that they can see that man, God truly does set 'em free.

(02:22):
My favorite thing about D now and what I'm looking forward to the most is the worship.

(02:25):
And I'm most excited about rec because throughout high school, we've run, we've won the last four years, so we're here to claim it senior year. What I'm most excited about would probably be the, the late nights on the couch with your boys at like 12. You're having a good wisdom with your group leader.

(02:39):
I'm most excited about, um, the worship and the community at d Now, the thing I'm really most excited about for D now is just small group and being

(02:48):
Able to hang out with all my friends. Uh, this is gonna be my first day. Now I'm most excited to get baptized this Sunday.

(03:02):
Hey, man, as you guys can tell, church, family, man, it was an amazing weekend. Had a lot of really cool things happening on this campus here, and, uh, just excited to get to give you a little bit of that from this, uh, weekend. I've, uh, got the privilege this morning to be on the stage with a couple of our seniors, uh, that are gonna just gonna share a little bit about what God has done in their life throughout the weekend and what he's challenged them with and how he's maybe even set them brief from some things. But I'd love for them to get a chance first, just to introduce themselves, uh, before we jump into those questions together.

(03:31):
Alright. All right. My name's Edward Cameron. I'm a senior at North Bodying High School.

(03:36):
My name is Callan Gwen. I'm a senior at Altoona High School.

(03:39):
My name's Luke Callen. I'm a senior at Harrison High School.

(03:43):
Fantastic. So it's like graduation. Everybody applauds. There we go. Um, but it is, as you can tell, like I said, we, you've already seen this morning through the baptism, through the worship, even, man, just seeing our students up front, uh, really just kind of praising the Lord and worshiping him as well as just the, the, the vibe that's in the room when, when, when this kind of movement is happening in, in a, in a group and a body of believers. Man, we've been so excited just to kind of see the amazing things that happen. We talked about earlier, the 51 decisions that were made over the weekend, as well as already this morning having, uh, right around 16 baptisms that took place this morning, um, from the weekend. And there's so much more to come from this weekend, but I would love for them to get a chance. Uh, these guys get a chance just to share, uh, maybe one amazing moment, uh, from this weekend. Maybe something that was a highlight or a favorite that you would like to share, uh, with the church ate today.

(04:33):
Of course, of course. So for me personally, this is my, it was my last Dino as a student, and every year at Dino Worship is my favorite part. And last night, it was our last night of worship as seniors, and it was genuinely emotional, like just all of us crying out for the Lord. It was beautiful. And Chip came out after the invitation and was like, we got one more song. And it was, I Thank God, which is the song we sang first this morning, and it was just so hype, and we were all just like crying out for the Lord, singing together, jumping together, and just excited to be with each other. It was just truly God. Like I just witnessed Jesus working through us in that moment. It was beautiful.

(05:09):
Yeah, I would also say the worship is, um, an amazing part of Dal, but a highlight for me has been the wreck and the tri wars. And we may have lost this year, but, um, we always have a good time just running around cheering each other on screaming and just having a blast.

(05:28):
Uh, yeah, I would say my favorite part about, uh, this d now was definitely the worship breakout with our, uh, worship leader Blake. Um, he just talked about what it means to truly worship and not just worship through song, but worship through your whole life. Um, and he made a big point that to say that you're not just a person, like he's not just a singer who happens to worship, he's a worshiper who happens to sing. And I think he just, he really showed us and he showed the other seniors and the other high schoolers. He just really showed us like what it means to truly worship, uh, just through your everyday life.

(06:04):
Yeah. So as you came in today, you probably saw a couple signs in the lobby, one of 'em big signs that says, I'm free, another sign that says Set free. And then even the shirts here, uh, that say forgiven and free. Uh, just kind of our theme, our theme for this weekend was set free, and we, we kind of focused around one key verse out of John chapter eight and verse 36. I'd love to read that to you. Uh, just so you kind of bring you into it. It says, so if the sun sets you free, you'll be free. Indeed. That was a verse that we spent a lot of time just kind of diving into and spending time, whether it was on the, the stage from Ryan and, and, and the worship times we were together, but also in the host homes in our small groups where our college leaders were leading those times.

(06:41):
And what a powerful verse it was to just for them to be able to sit in and, and to kind of just spend some time in that meaning of that verse, because that's the goal. As you can tell, these, these guys are seniors and they feel like this is the last one, but the reality is, it's not the last time with us. They're gonna come back and they're gonna serve with us, and they're gonna be a part of that. But they did really take a lot from the theme and from this, the, the, the heart behind it. And so I'd love for Callen, if you would take this on for us. And, uh, how has this verse taken kind of a new meaning for you after this weekend and, and, and as you've kind of studied it throughout the weekend?

(07:10):
Yeah, so, um, I just think that we live in a society and in a culture that defines freedom as something that you, um, are able to just, um, sorry, <laugh>, it defines it as being able to do whatever you want, but, um, freedom in Christ is the opposite of that, is it is the freedom from your own selfless desires and your sinful nature. And it is the freedom not to do whatever you want, but have that, um, the opposite of that. And so Christ really just frees you from yourself and from your own desires and things that you wanna do that may not be glorifying God.

(07:52):
So good. So good. So students today, this is the generation, A lot of times we like to say this is the next generation. Now this is the generation of the church today, these students that sit before us, and they do have a lot of expectations, but this weekend they focused on the fact that they've been set free to be in a relationship with the Lord, set free from sin, but also set free to go out and to share the gospel, to go live for Christ. And so, Luke, I'm gonna ask you a question, man. If you could tell the church one thing about what God did in your life this weekend, man, what, what would that be?

(08:22):
Uh, yeah. So as a senior and just going through life right now, there's a lot of uncertainty and there's a lot of fear about the future. Um, I think all of us can attest, like knowing what college you're gonna go to, trying to find a career, if you're gonna start a family, there's a lot of like questions that need answering. Um, and just my whole life, like, I opened my phone and my lock screen is Psalm 1 19, 1 0 5, which is says, it just says, your word is the lamps in my feet and the lights in my path. And I never knew why that was my favorite verse. I always felt called to it. I didn't know why until when. Like the worship leader, like I said, um, Blake just, he told us focus on the word lamp. Um, it says, your word is a lamp to my feet, a lamp.

(09:07):
It lights up the room, but it only lights up a section of it. And if we're trying to go on this path of Christ and we're trying to follow Christ, and we only use the lamp one time, and we only use the word one time, we only get into the word one day, one week, that's only gonna light up a certain path of the, of the, uh, stones. And if we don't consistently use the word consistently light the lamp, we're gonna go to some places that we're gonna meet obstacles that we would've seen, we would've conquered if we had read the Bible. Um, and then what Blake was saying just about being all in for Christ, he talked about the lady with the alabaster jar and the perfume, and how most people with the perfume jar, it was worth a hundred, uh, one year of wages, and they would just pour it and they would stop it. They would say, that's all I'm giving you, Jesus. But she broke the jar. She completely broke her faith. She gave everything she had. And I think that was just the message that I got and that we got, was that we just have to be all in for this, and God will be with us no matter what. The future holds

(10:09):
So good. It's so good. Um, you know, it takes a lot of people to pull off an event like this. Um, a lot of you guys have been praying for weeks. Uh, you've been spending time and getting your house ready for some of you, you hosted, you allow these people, these kids to step into your house and just to have a place to, to dig into the word together. And we can't say how much we appreciate that. It's such a huge investment, but kinda, I'd love for you just to kind of share with the church, uh, what does it mean for you as a student, man? You're a student that's been in our ministry for a long time. What does it mean for you to be a part of a church that truly understands what it means to invest in students like they did this weekend?

(10:44):
Yeah. So we really are truly blessed with just the best student ministry here. And just the fact that we have such a big church that can have so many different ministries that walk through different stages of life is so beautiful. Um, and our radiate ministry has been such a big part of my life these past years as I've been through middle school and high school. And, um, I mean, that's where I found like my community of my best friends and my sisters and brothers in Christ. And I, I'm just really grateful for that and grateful for the community that we have, that we were able to walk in the same season of life together as we go throughout high school and middle school.

(11:21):
That's right. Hey, students, can we give, uh, just our host homes, our co-host and our leaders of hand? Yeah, man, there was a, there was over a hundred plus, uh, volunteers this weekend, making this weekend happen behind the scenes people, some people that would never be out front, but man, they, they freely just opened their homes up and they just allowed students to come in and just to be discipled, to spend time and the word together. But now that the weekend's kind of coming to an end, uh, here's the one thing we wanna make sure that, and in student ministry and even all our ministries here, uh, we're, we're not about an event that kind of being that peak, right? Like a lot of times we get to that event and we think that's just kind of the peak of where we're at. We've hit our spot now, the weekend's over, we just go about our business.

(12:02):
But that's not the case here. Uh, we truly believe that this is a launching pad. This is a launching pad into our community to be, to carry what got us done in our life. One of the things I challenged our students with, and we were challenged, was that revival starts with us. It starts in this place, and it starts with these students. And these students have been set free to go out and to to share that. And so I wanna I wanna ask you this question, Everett. Now the weekend is kind of coming to an end. It's coming to an end. What's one way, uh, that you want yourself or even other students or people in this church, uh, to live different and continue to grow in their faith with Jesus?

(12:35):
So something we talked about in my host's home was taking our faith that we have in God and our love for God that we have in these church walls, and taking it outside the walls into places of work or sports that we know that there's lost people. We know that there's lost people, but we've always been, you know, a little nervous to talk to them. Um, I love what Ryan said on stage. He talked about, um, when you invite someone to church, right, when they come to church, church should not be the first place that they hear about Jesus. We should be telling them about Jesus and then inviting them to church. They should already know like, okay, I'm coming to church because my friend has told me about Jesus. I wanna know more about this guy, how he saved me and how he loves me. So I would just say taking our faith outside the walls and just sharing, sharing.

(13:17):
So good. So good. You guys give it up for these students up here, uh, for coming up here and sharing with you. Uh, like we've said multiple times, man, it was an amazing weekend and we truly believe this is just a launching pad for our students to be able to step back into this community, to go to their ball fields, to go to their schools and to help people by Jesus. But I am excited this morning as well to invite one of my really close friends up on the stage, uh, who's been with us all weekend. He's, uh, been been bringing the word. He is been bringing the challenge, been really challenging our students. He's been with us, uh, throughout this entire weekend, just truly just kind of setting the tone for the, for the message. So if you guys would give your attention to my great friend Ryan Font, he comes up the stairs with us.

(14:02):
Oh, it's church family. Y'all doing good today? That's it. Uh, nevermind. I'm leaving. That's all. No, um, I mean, we've seen students worshiping, we've got incredible worship that we got to be involved in an amazing weekend. 51 decisions baptisms happening. So let me ask one more time. Are you doing good this weekend? Come on. I'm just gonna say, if what you are witnessing this morning doesn't excite, doesn't stir you up a little, doesn't make you smile. Here's the only thing I gotta tell you. You need Jesus. Amen. So this is, uh, this is where we're at today, acts chapter 10. If you'll grab your Bible, that's where we're gonna be. I've loved being able to pour into students all weekend long through, as Chip said, this theme of set free. And we gathered Friday night, and I started the whole weekend by saying this, you are ultimately set free in Jesus, that real freedom from the world, real, real, real freedom in this life does not come by the country you live in, but rather the king of your hearts.

(15:14):
And that Christ moves in and he sets us free from the inside out. Then we came back on on Saturday morning, and on Saturday morning, I brought probably not the lightheartedness message that you would expect on a Saturday morning. I just preached against sin. And I said, what Jesus does, he sets us free from he set. We are set free by Jesus, but we are set free from sin. And that one of the realities of being a follower of Jesus is that now we have the power within us, through the Holy Spirit to say no to sin and to say yes to Jesus. And we talked about how we can battle sin in our life and actually win victory over sin. And, and the students were incredibly, uh, just responsive. And the feedback I got, the conversations that happen were amazing then we gathered last night.

(16:07):
And we aren't just set free by Jesus, and we aren't just set free from sin, but we're set free for a purpose that Christ saves you. And when he saves you, that's not the finish line. That's the starting line. If you're with me this morning, say, oh, yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. Thank you students for participating. All right. So adults, I'm gonna need you to participate this morning. This is sermon number three for me. And if you don't help me out, we're gonna be here a long time, okay? So I need you to help me out. Let's try that again. If you're with me so far, just say, oh, yeah, there we go. Now we're talking. All right. And here we are this morning. Now, pastor Matt has asked me to join in the series that y'all have been in, in the book of Acts, which is kind of awesome because number one, your pastor, you know, allowed me to preach this morning.

(17:00):
I don't think I'm awesome, but I just am thankful for a pastor who is saying, you know what? I believe in this next generation. I believe in what is God is doing. And by the way, if we can trust this guy to speak to our students, surely we can trust him to speak to our church. And so Pastor Matt, I'm grateful for his leadership and all that he's doing. Chip, I'm so thankful for his leadership and Kevin and all the team. It's been a massive privilege to be here this weekend. But in Acts 10, what we're going to see is a moment that takes place that sparks a movement. My might, I might, I dare be so bold this morning as to suggest that what happens in Acts chapter 10 is the genesis moment for us being here today. What we're going to see take place in Acts 10 is actually when the gospel jumped to another people.

(17:59):
See, until this time, the gospel had really been preached to the Jews. As a matter of fact, the Bible says this, that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. If you believe that sale, yeah, yeah. That, that the gospel is the power of God, of salvation for everyone, anyone who believes, look at your neighbor real quick and just say this to 'em. Even you go ahead and tell 'em, right? E even even you, that, that, that, that, the beautiful thing about the gospel is that Jesus can save anybody anywhere, any place, anytime. But what did he say? It's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jews first. So at this point, the gospel had gone to the Jews, but in Acts chapter 10, the gospel jumps to the Gentiles. And anybody in this room who is not a ethnic Jew, the reason that you have access to the gospel, listen to me close, is because of what happens right here, a moment that sparks a movement, not unlike what God did this weekend.

(19:04):
So you had these moments with God. I I loved hearing the stories of these students, sharing these moments. Here's where God impacted me in this breakout, or God really spoke to me in this part of worship. Or, or as we open up the word or in community. And, and there are these moments in our life that spark movement, it's in a Acts chapter 10. There is this moment that we get to witness this moment, that we get to see that a, that a movement was actually sparked. So, so here's the big idea. Here's the big idea. Let me just set up the arc of today here. What starts here. We're about to read what started right here in Acts 10. Listen, close is the reason we are here today. Don't miss this. And it is what we are to continue to be about. So what we read today is the reason we are here today.

(20:01):
And it's what we are to be about today. If you're with me, just say, I am, I am. Acts chapter number 10. The first thing that I see here in this passage is we find a man that is seeking. We see a, a man that is seeking, he is looking, he is searching. Let, let's read it together. Acts chapter 10 and verse number one, the Bible says, at at Caesarea, there, there was a man named Cornelius. He was a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohorts. Now, look at how the Bible describes Cornelius in verse number two. The Bible says he was a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. This was a man who was genuinely seeking the Lord. He was, he was a good man. He was indeed a religious man.

(21:14):
But don't miss this. He was still a lost man. This man, you read, I mean, let's just read his resume. I'll read it again for you, right? He says, he was a devout man. He was sincere and devoted. How many of you ever heard something like this? As long as you sincerely believe what you sincerely believe, what you believe matters. See, see, we like, well, well, they're sincere. Well, they're honest. Where they, where they, where they seem legit in what they believed. This guy was a devout man. He was sincere in his beliefs. Listen. And then it says He feared God. The Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And so this guy feared God. He was sincere in what he did. Look, look, look close. He gave generously to the poor. That's a good thing. Yes or no? Yes.

(22:05):
That's a good thing. Okay? Okay. And, and oh, and by the way, he prayed continually to God. Now, if you just looked at him from the outside, you go, this dude has it all together. But the reality was this. He was a religious man, even maybe morally a good man, but he was a lost man. Here's what you need to understand from this being religious, being good, being moral, doing the right stuff, going the right places, saying the right things, performing the right. Religious acts do not equal being right with God. Why? Because salvation is not by works. You cannot work your way to heaven, do enough stuff to get your way to heaven. You can't coerce your way into right relationship with God. There's only one way that we are saved one way or brought back in the right relationship with God. The Bible says that is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. If you're with me, just say, oh, yeah. So I need you to hear this, because some of you are just like, Cornelius. You're here this morning and you go to church and you're brought your Bible, and you're taking notes, and you're giving alms and you're, you're, you're serving in community. You're welcoming people in the parking lot, you're holding open doors. Listen, that's all amazing. But if you have all of that and you don't have Jesus, you've missed everything.

(23:28):
Amen. Amen. The reality is this, Cornelius shows us that you can look like you have everything together. You're, you're, you're checking all the boxes, you're doing all the things, but if you don't have Jesus, you've it all. That's exactly how I was for 18 years of my life, grew up in church, singing about Jesus, talking about Jesus, learning about Jesus going to VBS for Jesus, right? Like, like I knew all of this stuff, but at 18 years old, here's what I realized, man. I've got a Bible. I know the songs, I know the verses. I know when to sit down. I know when to stand up. I know when to shut up, right? I got the whole routine down. I'm trying to do the do's and don't the don'ts. But on the inside, something wasn't right. And that's where Cornelius was. Something wasn't right, something was missing.

(24:14):
He was trying to work his way to God. And then God shows up. So here's what I want you to see. The truth of this passage right here. God always responds to a seeking heart with a saving message. Cornelius was seeking. He was honest. I believe he was trying to discover the Lord. He believed there was God, but he didn't know him. And so, what did God do? God sent a seeking hearts, a saving message. And that may be you in here today. You might be Cornelius today. You might be here going through the motions, doing the thing, trying to check the boxes. But if you don't have Christ, you have literally missed Its all. But also, also, maybe, maybe today, the Lord's gonna show you a Cornelius in your life. So can I ask you this as a takeaway in this first point, who is your Cornelius in your life?

(25:16):
Someone who God is placed in your life, who he's already stirring. You can tell they're already seeking. They're already trying to figure this thing out. They know there's a God, but they don't know God. They're, I like to call their God curious who is in your life? Students that you know they need Jesus. They don't know Jesus, but you do. And so God's gonna send you to them. I hope today that if you are Cornelius, you're in the room and you got it all together and you're trying to check all the boxes, and you lay your head on the pillow at night like I did, and you're still empty on the inside. I pray today. I pray today at the end of the service, when we have our response time, and we, and we point to our next step station over there, I pray today that like Cornelius, you would hear the message of God here in just a moment.

(26:03):
You'd understand the gospel, and you today, like Cornelius would place faith in Jesus Christ and your life would be changed forever. See, when we go through here, the first thing I see in, in this moment, this moment, that change is everything. This moment that that sparks a movement, I see a man that is seeking. But secondly, write this down. I see a messenger that God sends. I see a messenger that is sins. So there's this man Cornelius in a whole other town. He's seeking God, trying to do the right things, trying to check all the boxes. But he doesn't know about Jesus. He hasn't trusted Jesus. He's not come to confess. Jesus is king of his life. And so he's empty. He's separated. And so what does the God of the universe do? The God of the universe calls out a messenger. A messenger who knows Jesus, a messenger who loves Jesus.

(26:55):
Now, messenger's life has been changed by Jesus, and his name was Peter. Now Peter is here in Acts chapter 10. And Peter, look at where in Acts 10 and verse nine, the Bible says this, the next day, as as they were on their journey and they were approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to do something. What is your Bible says? He went up there to do what? To to pray. Isn't it amazing that Cornelius was a man committed to prayer and God hears in God's sins? Peter was a man who regularly prayed. And when he prayed, God spoke. Can I encourage you with maybe just a little, little nugget here right now that has nothing to do with the whole message here, but it's, it's a massive truth here, here it is. Maybe today, if you're trying to hear God, maybe you should talk to God and tell him you want to hear from him.

(27:49):
Maybe why God is not speaking to us is because we're not pausing and making space and telling God, Lord, would you speak to me? Cornelius is praying here. Peter's praying over here. God is everywhere. And so God calls out Peter, but God's gotta do some work on Peter's heart. Okay? God's gotta do some work on Peter's heart because Peter doesn't want to go to the Gentiles because Peter's a Jew. Are you with me so far? So, so, so got Jews and Gentiles. They didn't really mix. And, and, and, and Jews like they didn't eat certain things because of the law, right? So what does God do? Peter has this vision. The Bible says, and I won't go into all of it, but three different times, God drops a vision. This is wild of some animals on a, on a blanket, right? And it's like to eat. And the Lord tells him, Peter, rise, kill and eat. That ought to be every hunter's verse of life right there, right? Rise, kill, and eat. All the hunters in the house said, amen. If you didn't say amen, you're not a hunter. All right? But he said, rise and, and kill and, and eat. Okay? And here's what Peter says. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. God ho, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's common food. That's unclean food. That's bacon <laugh>.

(29:04):
No thanks. I'm like, that's bacon, please. Yes. Who's with me on that one? Come on somebody. Yeah, there you are, you bacon eaters. Here we are, right? So, and Peter's like, no, no, no. And three times this happens. And finally the Lord says, listen man, listen. Here's what I need you to understand. Uh, you, you cannot call unclean what I've cleaned. So here's what I want you to understand. Peter. Peter had to be, had to be cleaned up by God before he could go and tell others about God. So somebody just say it like this, before God could send Peter to someone, he had to deal with something inside of him. There was a prejudice there.

(29:46):
Uh oh, there was a God send me, but not to them. There was something inside of Peter's heart that had to be revealed and cut outs. And might I dare say this, that, that the very people, person in your life that you might have the most animosity, and might I dare say disgust toward, might be the very person or people God's gonna send you to. Let, let me just ask it like this. Who in your life do you think is like beyond saving? Let me, let me say it like this. Who in your life, if they said, Hey, today I got saved, you would pass straight out, right? You'd be like, whoa, that was a miracle. I did not see that coming. Listen to me, whoever that is, here's what the Lord's saying to you right now. That might be the very person that God wants you to go and tell about Jesus.

(30:47):
And listen, listen, can, can we just pause for a second and be honest though, like we look at other people like, oh, they're too far gone. Or man, they can never be saved. Or, oh Lord, if God saved them, it would be a miracle. Can we just be honest for a second that God saved any of us as a miracle? Look at your neighbor right now and say, mm-hmm. He's talking about you. Go ahead, tell him right now. Okay? Go ahead and let him know. All right? The fact that you are saved, the fact that you know Jesus, the fact that I'm saved, man, it's a miracle of God, but God sends this messenger to him. So, so what's the truth here? Here's the truth. I want you to cling to God must change your hearts before he can change your schedule.

(31:29):
Alright? So, so, so guess what? Guess who was not on Peter's schedule? Cornelius. But guess who got put on his schedule? Cornelius. But what did God have to do first? He had to clean up Peter's hearts and help Peter understand that the gospel is for the nations, for the generations, for anybody, anywhere, anytime. And when God puts someone on your heart and God puts someone in your schedule, there's only one answer we can give God. Well, well, lemme say it like this. When God says, go to you and me, here's our only answer. And I want everybody in the room that loves Jesus to say it loud and proud. When God says go, you say yes. That's all you got. I was talking to a young man after the first service. He came up to me, his name was Luke. He said, Hey, Ryan, I think God may be calling him ministry.

(32:27):
I don't know what to do. I don't know the first step I want to take. Now I need to take it. And I said, Luke, I got you. Here's the first step you need to take. Put your yes on the table, on put your yes. He's like, but I don't know what God's calling me to. I'm not sure what he wants me to do. I just feel like there may, I was like, you don't have to know all of that. I love what the young man said about Psalm 1 19, 1 0 5, right? The Lord is a, the, the, the word is a lamp into your feet. It's a light into your path. The Lord's not showing a Q beam 25 years down the road. You know, he is showing you the next step. And so what you gotta do is you gotta put your yes on the table, put your yes out to God today.

(33:03):
And if for you, for some of you, it's gonna be yes, Jesus, I want you to be my king. Like, like 51 decisions this weekend. Yes, I need to go forward in baptism, you watch these students being baptized and some of you know Jesus, but you've never been baptized since being saved by Jesus. And you need to put your yes on the table. Some of you, God is calling in a ministry. You don't know what to do. It scares you to death. You're freaked out 'cause you're 50 years old and you've got your whole life behind you now. And you feel like, man, I can't shift gears now. Pause. Pause. Do you not think that God who's taking care of you for 50 years can take care of you for the next 50? You know what it takes? It takes you and me putting our yes on the table.

(33:44):
So when I read Acts chapter 10, what I'm seeing is this moment that takes place that sparks a a movement, and this moment was ignited as there was a messenger that was sent, and there was a messenger sent because there was a man that was seeking. So the man seeking has a messenger show up at his door. And point number three is this. There is a message that is now spoken. Peter shows up the very one that the Lord showed Cornelius he needed to send for he sins for him. They go knock on Peter's door as he is getting his vision. The Lord's like, those are your boys. Go with them, right? And go, go. And he gets up and then he goes with them. He shows up in the Cornelius's house. And guess what? Cornelius is like, Hey, um, God said, you got something you need to tell me.

(34:35):
And Peter, you know what Peter didn't do? Uh, Peter didn't say, yeah, let me tell you some more stuff you need to do. No, Peter simply told Cornelius the story of Jesus. And this story has four parts. I told you students this last night, I'm gonna help your parents catch up right now. It's the gospel. The gospel that changes anybody, anywhere, anytime. The gospel, I believe, has four parts. And I like to like, uh, I was gonna show you a wristband, but it, it's not here. Uh, I gave it to somebody out in the hallway, one young lady says, needing a wristband. She goes, how can, literally, this is all God is so good. I'm out there just trying to get a shot of espresso because this is service number three. Amen. Holy Spirit and coffee. Yes, let's go. All right. So I'm out there.

(35:23):
This young lady was talking with me, and she asked me this question. She goes, Hey, how can, what's the best way to share the gospel? I was like, I got you. I took off my wristband and I just walked through the gospel with her and I said, Hey, tap your phone on this. Later on, you can learn. There's free videos there that show you, listen, you can tell anybody, anywhere, anytime about Jesus, right? And, and this, this wristband has four simple emojis. Emoji number one. What is it? It's the hearts. See, the heart is the start of the gospel. Why? What does the heart represent? You ask anybody that they're like, oh, the heart represents love. It does. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says, God is love. You know what else the Bible says? The Bible says, God loves you. God created you.

(36:01):
And God wants you. Look at your neighbor right now and say, don't miss this. All right? Go ahead and tell him, don't miss this. No, I, y'all aren't doing it. I don't have anywhere to be until like four 30. That's when my plan, I don't care. I'm not going. I it's this last service. I ain't gotta hurry. All right? So look at your neighbor right now and just tell 'em this. Don't miss this. Tell 'em right now. Don't miss this guys. Here's the gospel that God loves you. It all starts, the good news starts with God. Why? Because if there is no God, there's no good news. Do you realize if there is no God, that you came from nowhere? You are here for no reason. And your life doesn't matter if there is not a God. But you know what the Bible says from the very start in the beginning.

(36:48):
Go ahead and say it. God. There's a God who made you a God who loves you, A God who wants you. But as good as that news is, there's some bad news which is represented by the second emoji. The division symbol, the division symbol helps us understand why we don't feel at times there's a God who made us, or God who loves us, or God who wants us. It's not because God is messed up, it's because we're messed up. Look at your neighbor one more time and say, yeah, that's you. Go ahead and tell her. Yeah, yeah. That's you. Right? Right. Why? Why are we messing up? We're messed up because our sin. What does our sin do? Our sin separates us from God. Our, our, our sin separates us from the God who made us and the God who loves us, and the God who wants us.

(37:29):
Students. Are y'all with me so far? Just say, oh yeah. Y'all know this, right? You understand this? This is the news that changes people's lives forever. Yeah. There's a God who made you and a God who loves you and won't you, but there's sin. Sin separates us from him. We can't get to him. So he comes after us in the third emoji, which is the cross. The cross represents hope. Hope has a name. His name is Jesus. What did he do? Jesus came, died. Rose again. Say that with me. Somebody. Jesus came, died. Rose again. Y'all didn't mean it. Say it. He came, died. Rose again. What'd he do? He came to seek and say the loss. He died for our sins. And he rose again to give us life. This is the gospel that God made you sin separated you, but Jesus came for you. You're like, I know I got that. Oh, but does it got you.

(38:20):
You are like, I know that, but does it know you? Which takes us to the fourth emoji. It's the question mark. The the question mark is not, does God love you? 'cause he does. The question is not, does sin separate you? 'cause it does. The question isn't even, can Jesus save you? Because he can. The question is, what will you do with Jesus? Will you believe and receive Christ Lord of your life? Will you come to the place where you don't just realize you need a savior, but you actually surrender to Christ as savior? When, when Peter shows up, he tells him the story of Jesus. He says, man, Jesus came, God created you. Like Jesus came. He did all these miracles. He was murdered on a cross for our sins. And then he says in verse 43, to him, all the prophets bear witness that.

(39:05):
Listen, everyone look at your neighbor one more time and say, even you go ahead, tell 'em even He says, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. There is life. Life has a name. There is hope. Hope has a name. There is forgiveness. Forgiveness have a name. There is, there is eternity. Eternity has a name. And is name is Jesus the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You can do it now before you die. Confess him as Lord for salvation. Or you will die one day and confess him as Lord for your eternal separation.

(39:51):
This is the beauty of being in here this morning and reading this moment, there was a man that was seeking. There was a messenger that was sent. There was a message that was spoken, which number four shows us a movement that was sparked. Something ignited here. Something took place that changed the course of history. Cornelius bows the knee to Jesus. And if you go to Acts chapter 11 and verse number 18, here's what it says. When they heard these things, they fell silence. They were like, what? Remember, up until this time, the gospel had only gone to the Jewish people, but now your first gentile convert happens. And they're like, what? What? What just happened? And they're like, everybody drop one of those for me. Come on, somebody. They, they fell silent. And then it says, and they glorified God. And then they spoke, then I love this.

(41:07):
Well then to the Gentiles also, they're like, let's go then to the Gentiles. Also, God has granted repentance that leads to life. See, when Peter was still speaking, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit fell. That they began to speak in different tongue. And then they were baptized. And, and, and, and here's what happens in this moment, this this moment of of of being saved, of, of receiving and believing in receiving in Jesus, the Holy Spirit fills them up. And then they go public and baptize, uh, baptism. And the gospel begins to spread. That's why I'm saying this. That's why I'm saying don't miss this. This is why I keep telling you this. What started there, right here. Like you ought to go home and marinate on this for a while. What started right there is the reason you're here. Your spiritual family tree goes all the way back to here. If you could trace it back, which you can't all the way, but if you could, you know where it's gonna take. You know where you're gonna. It's gonna find its genesis moment right here in Acts chapter 10. So here's the truth. I need you to, to chew on that. The gospel is always one generation away from extinction. But don't miss this. But it's only one conversation away from expansion.

(42:29):
Do you know how, you know how America comes to Jesus? Open up your mouth and tell people about Jesus. You know how your family comes to Jesus? Open up your mouth and tell 'em about Jesus. You know how your coworkers come to Jesus? Open up your mouth and tell 'em about Jesus. How many of you right now know people in your life, coworkers, neighbors, family, friends? You know somebody in your life by name, who doesn't know Jesus'? Lord, hold your hands up high. Hold 'em up high all over this room. Adults, you too. If hold your, this is not high adults. Hold it up high. Lemme see. All right. This is awesome. I love, look around the room. Just keep your hands up. Look around the room. Look around the room. Look around the room. Now. Now can I tell you something crazy? Every person you just raised your hand for probably will never hear me speak a word. But you know who they will hear you.

(43:22):
Your your friends don't need me to come tell 'em about Jesus. You know what they need? They need you to tell 'em about Jesus. I love what this young man said up here. This is the truth. Hey, they don't need Pastor Matt to be the first person to tell him about Jesus. They need you to tell him about Jesus. 'cause the truth is, they don't care what Pastor Matt has to say. They don't even know him. They don't even know if they should trust him. They're like, I don't know man. He's a pastor. I don't know know if I trust him or not. Like I, the trust level of pastors is like really low in our country. I don't know if y'all know that or not, right? But here's the reality. They trust you. They know you. And because they know you and trust you, they'll begin to trust him.

(43:56):
But they gotta hear about Jesus from you first, if you with me, just say, oh, yeah. Oh yeah. So that, that takes me to today, to right now till let's land this plane at point number five and we're done. Here it is. I see that there is a mission that now we, I I told you what happened is the reason we are here, don't miss this. And what we are to be about today. What are we about to be about today, um, telling our world about Jesus? And some of you're going, well, I hear you. I hear you, but I'm not sure what to do. I don't need, I'm like, that girl. Like, who was that girl? What'd you tell that girl? Like, like she said, how do I share the gospel? And you told her like, like, here's, here's what I want you to do.

(44:40):
They're gonna, they're gonna throw, throw this QR code up on, on the screen. If you don't know how to tell people about Jesus, we got tools for you. And I guarantee you this church has tools for you. But at this website I live sent.com, we got free videos that'll train you how to have a Jesus conversation. We have resources that, that you can latch onto, that you can get and share the gospel with these student. Hey, find a student in one of these, uh, forgiven radiate freedom shirts on. And just say, Hey, can you tell me, like, can you show me like that, whatever he's talking about that wristband. Or you can tell me what those emo like, what can you help me out? And students, are y'all ready to do that? Y'all can do that. Can't you just nod your head? Yes you can.

(45:21):
Yeah, you can. 'cause here's the reason. Listen, these resources are there. Because here's the truth. Your friends, your family, your coworkers, they need you to tell 'em about Jesus, not me. The what, what what, what started here in Acts 10 and 11. What started right there is the reason we're here, and it's to, it is it's what we're be about. It's what we're to be about. So lemme just ask you a few questions as we close and the team comes up to lead us in response number one, lemme just ask you, number one, first and foremost, is Jesus your savior? Hey, in, in a moment, lemme just explain what's gonna happen. We're all gonna stand. They're gonna be singing. I don't care if you sing. I don't care if you stand. You know what I want? I want you. If you don't know Jesus', king of your life to come right over here to my left, to your right, this next step, son, our staff's gonna be over there.

(46:18):
Our prayer team's gonna be ready for you. And if you're sitting here and you're like, man, I don't man, this whole God loves me. Sin is separated. Jesus can save me. Like we, I'm not sure if I've ever trusted Jesus. I'm not sure He is king of my life. Here's all you gotta do. Whether you're way over here in the corner and the back, as far away as you can be, or you're right over here, all you gotta do is walk right over here to one of our leaders. And here's all you gotta say. I need Jesus. Can y'all say that with me right now? I need je. That's all you gotta say. And they'll lead you to Jesus today. You can open up your mouth and invite Jesus in today. So is Jesus the savior of your life? Number two, who has God put on your hearts?

(46:56):
Who'd you just raise your hand for a while ago? Who is it during this time? Will you just spend time praying for them by name? Last night, it was awesome to see students get in groups of twos or threes or fours or 'cause some of 'em can't obey fives, right? And, and, and here's what they did, that they just begin to pray. They begin to pray by name for friends and family that don't know Jesus. One of the most beautiful things to do that I got to do is just walk around and hear the names being called out. I didn't hear 'em all. You know who did God? He heard every one of them. And they were praying for friends. They praying for, they may have been praying for some of you, and they're praying that you would come to know Jesus. Who are you praying for?

(47:38):
Number number three. Lemme just ask this. Are you ready to tell 'em? If not, get ready, get prepared. Like, like don't go home and watch football. Go, go home and find some way to get trained in the gospel. Go to I live sent.com or type in chat. How can I share the gospel? Right? I don't care. Like, just figure out like the, there's so many resources available. Get ready, get prepared. And as you get ready, God has someone he's sending you to. And lastly, I'd say this, if you're prepared and you know the person, Hey, when are you gonna tell 'em? Can we just shoot straight for a minute? I'm about to go home so I can say this. Um, I'm about to get on a plane, fly to Texas so you can get mad at me for this. How long are you gonna say, I'm gonna tell him one day.

(48:29):
How long is it gonna be? Oh, this Thanksgiving I'm gonna tell him about Jesus and your chicken out again. It's Thanksgiving. You Turkey out again. I don't know, like, like, like, like how many times are you gonna say, Lord, help me tell my coworker about Jesus. And you get there and you're like, ah, I better not, how many times are you gonna pray for them and pray and just not do it? See, when are you gonna take this step? So maybe what you need to pray for today is courage and boldness from the Holy Spirit. Lord, give me a spiritual boldness to open up my mouth and tell my friends and my family about Jesus. People are dying every day without Christ and they're entering a christless eternity for, and if you know Jesus, your heart ought to be not on my watch. My family's gonna know about Jesus.

(49:27):
My friends are gonna know about Jesus. I'm gonna be that person that's annoying about Jesus. Look at your neighbor and say, go ahead, be annoying. Go ahead and tell 'em. Go ahead. Go. Alright. Now what I mean by being annoying is I don't mean be a jerk, okay? I don't mean be a jerk for Jesus. I don't mean put a sign out in your yard, turn or burn, get right or get left eternity smoking or not. You know, that's not, that's not what I'm saying. All right? But here's what I'm saying. Here's what I'm saying. Some of you're like, that's a good, no, it's not a good one. Don't do that. Okay? Alright. Here's what I am saying though. Like, start a conversation with them. Ask 'em about their faith background. Ask 'em what they believe about God. Ask 'em if you can. Pray for them.

(50:10):
Ask 'em if you can share with them the story that changed your life forever. Start the conversation and watch what God does. I'm gonna pray when I say amen. We're all gonna stand is what's gonna happen. If you need Jesus this morning, please don't leave this room. Come right over here to my left, right? And just put your hand in one of our pastor's hands, one of our leader's hands, one of, and all you gotta say is this, I need Jesus. And if you, if you're, if you're a little weirded out coming by yourself, just ask your friend beside you, Hey, will you go with me? I promise you they will. Look at your neighbor right now and just tell 'em right now. I'll go with you. Just tell 'em right now. Everybody tell somebody beside you, I'll go with you. Tell 'em right now, I'll go with you.

(50:47):
Okay? So they'll go with you. You don't have to go alone. They'll walk with you. And all you gotta do is like, Hey, I need Jesus. Everybody got it? Say, got it. Some of you got people in your life though. You need to be praying for. Hey, the truth is, some of you don't need to stand and sing. What you need to do is kneel and pray. You need to get on your knees right at the seat where you are, and just pray for those people by name and pray for courage over your life. Whatever the step is, you need to take salvation. Baptism may, maybe may, maybe you're sitting here and you're like, man, we've been, we've been kicking the tires in this church enough. You know, it's time for us to go all in and join this place. Come over here, tell our next day, Hey, hey, I'm ready for this to be our church home.

(51:28):
Hey dads, I'm gonna put it on us for a moment, okay? Hey dads, uh, you are the spiritual leader in your home. You are like, well, I'm really not. My wife is, you're, stop. Take the leadership today. If y'all feel like this is the place you needed, don't wait for your wife to go, okay, honey. No. You look at her, you say, Hey honey, I think this is it. I think this is our place. And take the lead. Grab her by the hand. Get your kids. Come over here, man. Let's get all in with community and the believers so we can stir one another up. I'm gonna pray for us. Whatever the step is, I'm gonna ask you to take it. Lord, I ask you right now in Jesus' name that you would move in this time, that you would stir in our hearts. And Holy Spirit, I pray for faith to take the step.

(52:12):
Whatever it is, whatever the step is we need to take today as men, as women, as teenagers, as adults, as grandparents, God as single people, as college, Lord, whatever the step is, I pray we do it in Jesus' name and everybody in the house said, amen. Would you stand up right now before they even start singing, would you stand? And if you need to take a step, be the first person, step out and head over here to our leaders. Be the first person back, right corner. Be the first person to make the trek all the way across. Be the first person to step out. I need you to come on. You need this to be your church home, you. Come on. You need to be baptized. You come on, you need a friend to go with you. Tell 'em one more time. I'll go with you. Go ahead, tell 'em you're standing up now. Say, I'll go with you. Just let 'em know. All right? As the band begins to sing, as we begin to worship, whatever step you need to take, take that step right now. Take this step, put your yes on the table. Let's do business with the Lord in this moment, as we begin to sing, you take the step, whatever it is God's calling you to.