The quiet silence of a heart that believes itself defeated by loss, by pain, by fear. Our hope nailed to a cross. Our own faith depleted at the sight of no movement, a body inert. But it is not the end. At the sound of the gravestone rolling, a new story has unfolded. Death has been defeated. Our hope is alive. Jesus is alive. We raised our hands in victory. By his resurrection, we are set free. He blows a wind of life and brings us back to the light. He has risen. Our Messiah is alive. He breathes and the darkness trembles. He speaks and our future shines. By his sacrifice, we are now saved. By his grace, we can all rise. Hear rejoicing in the sky. The grave could not hold him. The veil has been torn. Our Christ has won. Over death. Over sin. Over ache. By his power all chains break. He is victorious. He is the way. He is the resurrection and the life. And by his wounds, we're made alive.

Let me just read to us out of Matthew 28 verses one through six. It says At dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven. And going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning. His clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid that they shook, and they became like dead men. The angel said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. In verse six, Church says this He is not here. He has risen. He has risen. Burnt Hickory, can we, with one voice, proclaim that Jesus Christ has risen? In fact, could you clap your hands? Could you give a shout of praise? And could you let this whole community know that Christ has risen. He is risen and he is alive! 

Man, I just want you to know today that at a time of uncertainty, yet probably the most uncertainty that we've ever lived in in most of our lives. At a time of uncertainty and a time of pain and a time of division that today we can celebrate, that we can live in honor, that we can live in joy, that we can live in peace, and we can live in a knowledge that our Christ has risen. Do you realize that every single thing rests on the fact that today we celebrate the resurrection, and the resurrection changed everything? It changed everything very early in Church's history, as believers would walk down the road and greet another believer. They would have one phrase in common. They would look into the eyes of the known believer in front of them, and they would quite simply say the words, Christ has risen. The person would respond in likeness and say back to them that He has risen indeed. It changed them. It also changed how they worshipped. When they worshiped. Do you realize that from the time of Moses all the way to the time of Jesus, Saturday was the day of worship? It was the day of rest. It was the Sabbath day. But in the early church, when they were deciding how to worship the Risen Jesus, they worshiped on Sunday. Why? It was the day that Christ came from the grave. It was the day that He broke free from death. It was the day that they set them free from their sin and from their shame. You need to know that today something big has happened, something life changing has happened.

And of course, that something is just simply the fact that Christ has risen, that he has beaten death, beaten shame, and now he is king. Here's what I'm going to do today. I'm going to be really honest with you, because I know you got a lot going on and Grandma's cooking. Amen? I'm going to be as straightforward as I can today. I want to do the most straightforward Easter conversation you have ever had. And I want three things to happen in our midst today. Number one, I want to show you how much Jesus loves you. I just want to show you that today. Number two, I want to convince you unashamedly. You say, Matt, you're trying to get us saved. Yes. I want to convince you today to give your life to Jesus, because he's the only hope that you have. And number three, today, I want to persuade you, if you do know Jesus, I want to persuade you today that even if you are struggling, that you can come back to him, that he will accept you, he will love you, and he will wrap his arms around you no matter where you are.

He can be your king. And we're going to do it today by looking at one of our ancient friends, one of the fathers of the church named the Apostle Paul. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote First Corinthians. And in First Corinthians Chapter 15, he gives us a paragraph that describes exactly what we are doing here today, exactly what the resurrection is. And he gives us an incredible prose on the significance of the resurrection to all mankind. This passage we're about to look at, it shows us why we believe what we believe. It shows you how the resurrection happened. And it shows you the profound meaning of why it is that 2000 years later, the resurrection is still affecting us. So, I'm going to read this over us today, and I'm just going to at the end of this day's message, I just want to put my cards on the table. I'm going to give us all a chance to respond. If we believe in the resurrection, how it can change our lives. Let's go to the text. First Corinthians, chapter 15. I'm going to read the verses. Give us a couple of life changing facts from the resurrection.

Here we go. Verse one. Paul says, Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preach to you, which you received and which you have taken your stand. By this gospel, Paul says, you are saved if you hold firmly to the word, I preach to you. Otherwise, Paul says, you have believed in vain. You believed in vain. We first see right here in this text that while Paul is describing the faith that we have, the resurrection that Christ has. We first see Paul describing a very decision-oriented Christianity. You see, some of us grew up in faiths or in denominations that Christianity was just part of culture. It was just part of Grandma's plan. It was just something that I did here and there every now and then when life got rough. But Paul here is describing Christianity as a moment and as a journey that we not only celebrate it once, but it affects the trajectory of our lives. It affects who we are and how we move and the decisions that we make. Paul is describing a commitment that is made in Christianity. That is not just a temporary commitment. It's not just a summer camp revival. It's not just a when I was a kid and I'll get back around to it later.

It was something Paul says that changes us. It's a faith that changes in us, who we are. I get people all the time to ask me the same question. It's probably one of the top five questions that people ask me as a pastor. They'll say, Matt, how do I know? How do I know that my decision to follow Jesus was a real decision? How do I know it wasn't just some emotional thing? How do I know it wasn't my parents kicking me out into an aisle when I was a kid to go talk to the preacher? How do I know that my decision to follow Jesus was real? Quite simply, Paul would say this one of the best, if not the best indicator that you have made a real decision for Christ. Paul would say, is to ask yourself this question. Am I following him right now? Am I following him right now? You see him? I'm not saying that. Are you struggling? I'm not saying. Have you had a moment? I'm not saying. Has there been a season in your life that you've struggled? Paul says, really, quite frankly, if you did give your life really to the Lord, then it changed you. It set you on a new path. It gave you a new destination. You see, saving faith is a lasting faith. Saving faith, while yes, it has emotion. It is faith. Listen closely, church. That makes it to the end. It makes it to the end. Paul says if you want to know if your decision was real. Ask yourself, Does it affect me now?

Does it set the trajectory now? Keep reading. When the in verse three, it says, Paul says this. For what I received, I pass on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Then He was buried. That He was raised on the third day he says, according to the Scriptures. And then he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. And after that he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Watch this. Of whom are still living. Though some have fallen asleep. Now, he's now talking about what you're doing right now. I mean, like that's talking about dead, right? And last of all, in verse 8 he says he appeared also to me as one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and I do not deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God, Paul says, I am what I am and his grace to me was not without effect. Now, I want you to notice what Paul does here.

He writes an incredible, incredible summary of what is the resurrection and how it affects us. In fact, he gives us three life changing declarations, the first of which is this. It is the resurrection, one, is of first importance. It's of first importance. And here's what that means. There are many things in our life that we say matter the most. But what Paul says matters more than anything else in your life, including that person you're here with today, is the fact that Christ has risen from the grave. Verse three tells us real plainly. For what I received, I passed on to you, Paul says of first importance. Here's what that means. The fact that Christ rose from the grave more than anything else in church matters most. Matters most. It matters more than any theology conversation. It matters more than any slant on any other belief. It matters the most of anything else in our life, you see. Here's why. The resurrection. If it did not happen, if the resurrection didn't happen, everything else in Christianity is shambles. It crumbles. It goes away. And I want you to see this. Just let me say it one more time. If the resurrection didn't happen, everything else Christianity teaches is worthless. It's worthless. In fact, Paul, in verse 17 of the 15th chapter, says it like this If Christ has not been raised, he says, your faith is futile. It's futile. 

And watch this. And you are still in your sins. You're still in your sins. You see it. The gospel core. At the core of this thing that we call the gospel, the gospel is much more than just a new set of directives. It's much more than a moral code. It's much more than a way to live or a way to gather people together. It's much more than just a philosophy of life. It's much more than just bringing people together or giving people purpose. The gospel is not a political way of alignment. The gospel is not a good fish swallowing a Darwin fish on the back of your car. That's not the gospel. The gospel, Paul says, is the good news of Jesus's life, his death and his resurrection. Quite frankly, that's what the gospel is. In fact, that's where we get the word gospel. Gospel is an early Greek word that literally means a proclamation of victory. That's what gospel is in the early times in Rome. We didn't have Twitter, we didn't have CNN, we didn't have Fox News. So, when a general would win a battle in another city and another land, he would send a herald back to the city that would stand on a stone in the middle of the square, and they would pronounce the gospel. The gospel was that General So-and-so has won. Victory has been made. You're no longer in fear. And we are now conquerors. Does that sound like the gospel? Yes, it does. That's where we get the word gospel. It's not a social organization.

It is a pronouncement of what we are celebrating here today, that Christ has won, that he hasn't won, and now we're watching Christ defeat death, sin and the resurrection. And now we live in the gospel. You do realize we don't live for the gospel, right? Many, many, many religions live to get to their savior, do they not? The one thing that separates us as Christians is this. Our savior came to us. He came to us. He lived a life that I couldn't live. He died the death that I deserved to die. And he rose conquering my sin to give me the gospel, to give me life and catch this. This is why saving faith, this lasting faith. Now, my job is to live out of that gospel. It's to live according to what has happened to me. So here it is in a nutshell. If you believe in the resurrection, our life should show the resurrection. Our lives should be a trajectory that pronounces the resurrection. The resurrection is not a moment in our life. It is a new way of thinking that we have been set free from our sins and our shame. That's why it's a first importance. You see, Jesus did what you couldn't do for yourself. He conquered your sin, and he conquered your shame.

And now catch this. He's offered you freedom. He's offered you freedom. The gospel, Paul says, is a first importance, number one. But number two, he also says the resurrection was a physically real resurrection. It was a physically real resurrection. You. So, Matt, why is that a big deal? Well, it's because of this. A lot of people will make comments like this and maybe it's even some here today. They'll make comments like, well, you know what I'm tracking with the idea that Jesus was here, tracking with the idea that that maybe even Jesus died, that he was a good prophet, he was a good pastor. He preached great messages of hope. I get the fact that they put him in a grave. But Matt, when they say he rose, they probably just mean that maybe the spirit of what he stood for rose, or maybe just the ideals of who he is rose. And people grabbed a hold of him. Well, there's a problem with that. The problem is that's not anywhere close to how the apostles, how Paul and how the New Testament church as well as many, many other people described what happened.

Why? Because the resurrection happened. It happened. In fact, when Paul and the disciples speak of the resurrection, they are speaking of the dead body of Jesus going into the grave being put to death by the professional crucifiers, the Romans. They didn't just hang them there. They didn't just guess. At the end of the crucifixion, they stabbed Jesus in the side to make sure that they knew, that they knew that they knew there was no breath, there was no heartbeat. They put him into the grave with no breath. Put him into the grave with no heartbeat. Put him into the grave with no life. But three days later, the physical body of Jesus rose from the grave. You say, Matt, why is that a big deal?

Well, number one, because that's the only way he could conquer sin was to return and give life. Paul says, Look, you don't have to just trust me. You can also trust this evidence that I'm going to lay out in the Scripture, which, first of all, you got to think about it like this Jesus in His resurrection, fulfilled every single prophecy about himself, every single foretelling of who Jesus was going to be. In fact, in verse three, watch what Paul says. He says, For what I received, I passed on to your first importance. Watch this. That Christ died for our sins. Watch what he says according to the Scriptures. That he was buried. He was raised on the third day. Watch what he says again, there's a reason. According to the Scriptures, Paul keeps talking about the Scriptures.

Why? Did he know he was going to write a bestseller later on? No, that's not why he was talking about it. You've been in church for a long time. You know that Paul wrote a large portion of the New Testament. Is Paul talking about the New Testament writings in the letters right here? No, he is not. What he is talking about is what Jesus said and what the whole Old Testament said, pointing to who Jesus is. And this is an incredible story. He's speaking to the fact that the whole Old Testament points to this event in history coming. He points to this moment. This is incredible because when the disciples and when Paul really needed to lean in on somebody to help them trust who Jesus was. Do you know that the first effort in their life was not to tell them that they were eyewitnesses? Although we're going to talk about that. That's important. The first thing that they did was they went back to the Holy Scriptures, written thousands and hundreds of years later, pointing towards who this guy was that said, he is coming, he's living, he's dying, and he will raise. And I'm not talking about some general Notre Dame-ist. There's somebody coming from the east mess, right? I'm talking about specific things of who Christ is, like how Jesus would die. Isaiah tells us years earlier that he would be crucified and pierced. Isaiah 53:5 that he would go to a tomb that was not his own, that it would be borrowed. Isaiah 53:11 that he would, Genesis 38, be born from the Tribe of Judah. That he would Micah 5:2 be born in Bethlehem. Zachariah 9 that he would ride into Jerusalem on a borrowed cult to his death and Zachariah 11 that he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. You see this? This is not generalities. What Paul is saying here is it was a bodily resurrection, supported by the prophecies pointed in the fact that Jesus fulfilled every single one of them.

And the whole Old Testament was a roadmap pointing to this event. You realize all history rests on this event. The Old Testament points to it. The New Testament points back to it, and 2000 years later, we're still amped up about it. Well, maybe me, not you, right? The Resurrection was a real bodily resurrection. It fulfilled prophecy. But number two, also, you got to look at the evidence of the empty tomb. The empty tomb. Now, look, I get it. Western culture, It's a great meme. It's a great post. It's a wonderful idea. We love to sing about it. But I'm telling you, we stood there a week ago. Yeah, a couple of days ago. We stood there about ten days ago in front of the tomb. And it's empty. It's empty. Which means that Christ is not dead. In fact, verse four, it says that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Have you ever thought about the fact that the empty tomb is a problem for those that don't believe? Do you know the easiest thing for any of the critics of the faith in this time period to do? There's one thing they could have done to squash the whole Jesus movement, and all they had to do was produce a body.

Do you realize this? That's all they had to do. All the Romans would have had to do was to drag the corpse of Jesus into the Temple Square and go, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Christians. There's your dead Messiah. All the Jews would have had to have done is drag him into the square and say, No, no, no, no, no. There's your messiah. But they couldn't. Why? Because he was walking into the square. Because he was alive. He was alive. They controlled the media. They controlled the land. They controlled the lives. All they would have had to do is make this happen. In fact, the Romans placed a regiment of 16 guards outside the tomb just so they could squelch any rumor. But God said that does no good. He walked out of the tomb. But listen, there's one thing in the Easter story that all sides agree on, and that's the fact that the tomb is empty. It's empty. If you read the rest of the story, you'll see the Jews made up lies and paid people off to tell another story. The Romans were so scared they fell down like dead men because the guards knew that they were going to have to give their life. And the Christians were celebrating the fact the tomb was empty. Listen, three people can't agree on anything, but they agree that the tomb was empty.

But there's also a third proof, and that's just the fact of the resurrection is true, just from the eyewitnesses. The eyewitnesses. Did you notice how much time Paul spent talking about people that Jesus came and appeared to? Do you notice how much he does? He names a ton of people. Little detail, that were still alive. They were still alive. Look at verse five. I want to read it to you again. And then he appeared to Cephas, and then he appeared to the Twelve. And after that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living. You might want to circle that in your Bible just for a minute right there. Still living. Watch this, though some have fallen asleep. He appeared to James and then to the apostles. And last of all, Paul said, he appeared to me. People say all the time that they were lying. They were lying. People lie, right? I mean, we lie. People lie. But here's the deal. You know what? If it was one person lying, I'm with you, right? I'm like, Yeah, probably lying. If it was two people, I'm probably with you. If it was three people, maybe I'm still with you.

If it was five people. Okay, I might even say they got together, had a late-night meeting, and here we go. But Paul talks about people from different areas of life at different locations, different seasons of life and lists, over 500 people. That said that guy was dead. I don't know how it happened, but now he's alive. He's alive. And also, I want you to think about the implications of their pronouncement. Do you know the reason that we lie? There’re really very few reasons we lie. The first reason we lie is for power. In whatever conversation will happen, we lie so that we have the upper hand, so that we have a better image, so that we can have something to gain. That would be the second reason we lie, right? We lie to gain something. We lie for credibility. We lie for safety. Do you realize that when these people proclaim that Christ had risen, that it didn't bring them fame, it didn't bring them money, it didn't bring them romance, and it didn't bring them a greater life?

In fact, it did the very opposite of all of that. No one lies knowing that a lie is going to cost them death. Cost them not being able to live any longer, but yet that's exactly what happened to these people. In fact, Peter, later on when he writes his book in 1 Peter says, listen, I know that as I proclaim this, it is going to cost me my life, but I can't stop, Peter says, because it's truth and there's nothing on this planet that's worth me not knowing the resurrected savior. It's empty. The tomb is empty. There was something beyond the grave that these people were willing to put their lives on the line for. They weren't in it for earthly power. They were changed for eternity. And the risen Savior, Jesus gave them life.

You say, Well, Matt, maybe they weren't lying. Maybe they were just mistaken. Listen, 500 people don't make the same mistake in public, right? Maybe they weren't mistaken, Matt. Maybe. Maybe they were hallucinating, right? Last time I checked in college, that was a solo game, right? Maybe they were hallucinating. Maybe the early church, maybe the early church changed the story to fit the narrative. Well, that's a great argument. But you got to remember that Paul is writing these words 22 years after the crucifixion, when people were alive, that experience that would have looked at his writings and squashed it then and said, that man is a liar, but no one did. Do you know why? Because it was true. Because it happened. It was written down to a generation of people. Listen to me. Something happened in the garden that day that transformed people. It transforms people. It made haters now love. It made guilty people now free. It made defeated people now strong and able to rise up. It made lonely people now take the worst punishment and give their lives. You don't do that for a lie. And listen, that's what we're celebrating today. We're not celebrating a trip to grandma's house. We're not celebrating an Easter bunny. We're not celebrating a party. We are celebrating the fact that Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus has life. And He gives us life. That's what we're celebrating.

It changed everything. It changed it all. But here's where it gets personal. Not only is it a first importance, and not only was it a physical body resurrection. Paul says it gets personal when he says that the resurrection is for you. It's for you. The resurrection wasn't just for first century Palestine people. The resurrection wasn't just a geographical conversation. The resurrection is not an antiquated decision that we have made in our intelligence, something that we have grown out of. The resurrection gives life. Why? Because without the resurrection of Jesus, we're still lost. We're still in our sin. We're still in our shame. And we're still trying to cover it with temporary things. Listen to me. Close. That will not last. They won't last. No matter what, we're trying to fill our lives. No matter what we're trying to run to. I can guarantee you anything other than the risen savior of Jesus is not going to last. Why? Because we're lost in a life without God.

And we cannot have God without the resurrection of Jesus. Why? Because he was the Lamb of God that was slain for our sins. You know what the resurrection does for you? Number one, it forgives your past. Number one, it forgives my past. Watch what Paul says. He says in verse three that Christ died for my sins. He says in verse ten, But by the grace of God, I am what I am. You see, here's the problem. The Holy God can't be in the presence of sinful man. And the Bible tells us really clearly that we have all sinned and falling short of the glory of God. The Bible tells us that the wages of that sin deserves death, but the gift of God, catch this, to the resurrection, is eternal life. You see, Jesus had a purpose for coming to the Earth, and that was to live the life that I couldn't live. But he did it, and he did it perfectly. It was to die the death that I deserve to die.

Jesus did not deserve to die. Never let anybody say that He did. He died for you. And he died for me. And then he rose to conquer my sin. You see, Jesus didn't get what he deserved, which was honor. He got what I deserve, which is death. And that's what we celebrate today. And Jesus put the eternal consequences of sin behind us. He forgives my past. But number two, he transforms my present. The resurrection transforms my present. And nobody knows this better than the guy who wrote the words that we're looking at right here, the apostle Paul. Right. If you think you're too far from God, that he can't transform your present. I just want to introduce you to the guy that's writing this text right here. He was a murderer. He killed Christians. He drugged them to the authorities. And one day, the resurrected king showed up in his life and changed his life. Verse nine says, For I am the least of these apostles, I do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church.

You see, the resurrection is not just a past looking event. It can change you right now. It can radically, at the root, change us and give us new life and new purpose. If the murdering threat, Paul can meet the risen savior Jesus. None of us are too far. None of us are good people looking for a little bit of help from Jesus. We're deprived, sinful people who need a savior right now. But watch this, it doesn't end with our present. Number three, The resurrection secures my future. He secures my future. Here's the deal. I know that all week long the theme of this whole week has been one theme, and that is death. Last time I checked in West Cobb and East and North Paulding, the death rate in our area is still at 100% still there. But today we don't celebrate death. We celebrate life, and we celebrate the idea that we now have life. Do you know the only thing that didn't come out of the grave of Jesus? Think about this one with me. Was your sin. That's the only thing that did not come from the grave. Why? Because he put our sin to death. He gave us the gift of eternal life. But here's the problem in it. Eternal life is a gift.

It's a gift from God. And here's what you know about gifts. You see, the giver can give the gift all they want to. But at some point, in time, you have to receive that gift. You have to walk into that gift. You have to grab hold of that gift. And you grabbing hold of the gift of salvation, the gift of the cross, the gift of the tomb, the gift of eternal life is what gives you hope for eternity. That's what gives you hope. You see, hope doesn't come from our jobs. It doesn't come from our families. It doesn't come from our community. It doesn't come from the events in the world right now. Amen. Hope comes that we have a resurrected savior, Jesus, who wants to give us the gift of salvation. So, here's my question to you this morning. It's not. Are you a church person? It's not. Are you actively involved somewhere in the life of a church? It's quite frankly, this. Has there been a moment in time where you have embraced the risen Jesus, where you've given him your life, or you've trusted him with the Lordship of your life, and you've allowed him to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and be your Lord? In fact, I want you to do something with me just for a minute. I just want you to bow your heads.

And I just want you to close your eyes for a minute. And I want you just to find that space in your heart that nobody gets into. You know, we have that space, right? We have a persona that we like people to be a part of. We have an image that we like. But there's that spot in our heart that only we know that only we know that it's there. I want you to go to that space just for a minute, and I want you to ask yourself this question this morning. Do I know that? I know that I know that Jesus is the Lord of my life. Have I come to a point with the risen savior where I've asked him to forgive me of my sins? To come into my life, to be my savior and to be my Lord. And when you're in that space, just for a minute, I just going to let you sit just for a second. Because this is a real decision. You know, we started this whole message with the apostle Paul telling us that Christianity is a decision-oriented faith.

And I'm going to ask you today this. Do you need to meet Jesus? Do you need to surrender your heart to Jesus? Have you tried everything else? And it just doesn't work. It's just temporary. Do you need to let him come into your life and receive the gift of salvation? If that's you today and you're not sure. Or maybe you just sort of like, Yep, I think today's my day. I just want you just in your quiet place, in your mind. I just want you to say this to Jesus this morning.

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I don't deserve you. But, Lord Jesus, today I surrender my heart to you. Come into my life. Forgive me of my sin. And be my savior. 

Now with your heads bowed and your eyes closed. I'm just going to say this today. If that's your heart and that's your proclamation to Jesus today. Welcome to eternity. With the savior. He's come into your life. He's given you new hope. He's given you what nothing else in this world can give you.

Lord. Move in people's hearts. Give life to people. Save people. In a way that only you can. It's in your name. Jesus. Amen. Amen. 

Look at me real fast. I want everybody to do something. I want you to take out that little piece of paper that every single person got when you walked in here today. I want you to take that out. I want you to put that in one hand. Put your phone in your other hand. I know it's church. You can do it. I promise. It's okay. God's good with it, right? Put your phone in your other hand today. I want to remove all barriers today. If just a second ago, if you gave your life to Christ, if that was your heart, or even if you're struggling, and you're thinking that might be you. Here's what I want you to do today. I want you to take your photo app. I just want you to scan that QR code on there. And on there, there'll be a screen that pops up that says Next steps. It will be the second button down right in the middle. I just want you to touch that button right there. Give us some info. And here's our promise to you. When you fill out that info, when you send it to us today, somebody within the next hour or so, a real person, is going to reach out to you to do a couple of things. Number one, to celebrate your decision, of what's in your life. Number two, it's going to be, quite frankly, just to walk you through and to pray with you, to encourage you, because here's the deal.

Our Christianity is not just an Easter Christianity. It's an everyday decision in our lives and they want to walk with you in that. Would you hit that next step? Would you fill out that and just tell us today that you've given your life to Christ today? And they'll do the rest. Maybe today you came here with just some serious burdens. You know what? Christ cares about that too. There are two tents on this side of our area out here today. It’s just our next steps tents.

Listen, during this next song, if there's something in your life, there's a way that we can pray over you, that we can lift you up before the king. We've got some trusted people that are mature in their faith and want to walk with you, that want to be with you. They want to pray for you today in whatever you got going on in your life. If you'll just walk over to that tent, and go, Hey, listen, I got some stuff. Could you pray for me? They would love to minister to you like that. Or maybe you just got questions. They'd love to talk to you in that. But listen, don't keep this to yourself today. I can't think of a better weekend to proclaim your faith than this one right here. 

Lord Jesus, move this next worship time. God allow many to respond to your calling to give them life. It's in your name. We pray. Amen. Amen. 

Let's stand together and sing.