Indicators of Spiritual Maturity

If I haven't met you yet, my name is Clay. I'm the high school pastor here at the Refuge, and I serve Refuge youth, our youth ministry, alongside my wife and our amazing youth staff. And it's my privilege to do that. We've been doing that now for, like, six years. And I know when I tell people that, usually they're like, you look like you're a part of the youth ministry.

How have you been doing this for six years? And I get it. But it is our privilege and honor. We love what we get to do. It's my privilege to share this morning.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity from both of my parents, pastors, mom and dad, to me, Pastors Jay and Melanie. You guys are amazing. I honor y'. All. I have been more thankful to be under their leadership just in the last two months, I think, than I ever have before.

I've come into a new appreciation. Come on. Are you thankful for our pastors and the way that they lead and the heart they carry? So thankful. So thankful to serve on that staff.

And today I'm continuing in our series on spiritual maturity. And this last several weeks, we've been in a discussion on the Sermon on the Mount, which is one of Jesus most famous sermons that we see from scripture. And we have walked through two parts of that sermon. And today I'm gonna wrap up the very last part of the Sermon on the Mount as we talk about spiritual maturity. And I think it's really fitting, honestly, I felt very stirred about this specific message, because this last section of spiritual maturity or of the Sermon on the Mount has to deal with our response.

And the principle that I want to put forth to you today, what I want to teach you today is that it's not only important that we hear, but it's important how we respond to what we hear. All right, let me give you an example of this. I am probably the world's worst multitasker. If you know me, you know I cannot multitask. Those of you that can, I'm jealous of your gift, because I want to multitask, but I just can't do it.

My wife can multitask pretty well. I cannot multitask. And so there are certain times where I'll be watching, like, a football game if it's on the TV or I'm reading an article on my phone or if I'm on social media. And Sam, my wife, she'll begin to tell me something just like she does. And, wives, this is sounding all too familiar to you, right?

Now, so just bear with me. But she'll begin to tell me something, right? She runs through our week. She lays out the schedule for me, and. And I'm doing my best to multitask, right?

But again, I'm the world's worst multitasker. And so sometimes I will hear what she's saying, and then I will respond. But the problem is that sometimes I just respond in my head, and I literally won't say anything back to her. And she'll be standing there looking at me, and I'm engaged in whatever I'm in. And I'm trying to also pay attention to her, and I'm also trying to read this article that I'm reading or whatever it is, and she'll ask me.

She'll say, did you hear me?

And I'll say, yeah, yeah, I will do this right? She said, well, why didn't you say anything the first time I asked you? I said, did I not say anything the first time you asked me? Wives in the room, just give us grace, all right? We need it.

And it's a funny example, but it matters not just what we hear, but it matters how we respond to what we hear. And now, I think, is the time more than ever in the church as the body of Christ, as not just the local church here, the refuge, but as the corporate body of Jesus, that how we respond is crucial. Why? Because people are observing. People are watching how you and I respond in this moment in our world, where there are current events and cultural phenomenas that are happening almost weekly, where there are news headlines and articles popping up that people are demanding a response for.

I believe that our response as believers is crucial. And that's what we're gonna dig into this morning. And I'm not going to share my opinion with you. I want to share scripture with you. Because how many of you know there's too many opinions out there right now anyway?

So that's the goal today. Come on, let's pray together before we jump into his word. God, we thank you, Lord, for your Word. We thank you that your word is not a matter of opinion. And your word is not just another voice that we should weigh in when we're trying to consider how we respond.

Your Word is the source. Your Word is living and active. Your word has the ability to divide between soul and marrow. And your word hath the ability to correct, to encourage, to teach, to reform, to transform. And, God, we pray today, Lord, that your word would produce its full effect in our hearts and in our lives.

And, God, I Pray that as I share, Lord, that what comes forth from the pulpit today would be honoring of you, Lord. That God, what I speak would be what you speak, Lord. And that as I speak, God, that you would make sense of anything that does not make sense. And that the Holy Spirit would come and would speak. That God would be lifted up and exalted in this place.

And that as he is, all men would be drawn unto him and his enemies would be scattered. Lord, we love you today. We thank you for the Word and we thank you for what you want to speak to us in this place. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. So we're rounding out the Sermon on the Mount. You can turn in your Bibles or pay attention with us on the screen. Matthew 7 is where we're ending things off today. Verses 24 through 27 are where we're gonna start in that specific chapter.

We're gonna bounce around to several different places within Matthew 7, but that's where we're gonna begin today. So you can turn there in your Bibles where it's on the screen. And if you would, let's stand to honor the the word of God this morning, starting in verse 24. It says this. It says, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise.

Like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish. Like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and the floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

That's what we're digging into this morning. Would you repeat this with me? As we share this, say this and proclaim it with me like we do every week. It'll be on the screen behind me. Ready?

Go. I will hide this sword in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. And I am confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in me will complete it.

In Jesus name. Amen. You can be seated.

Now here's something important to Notice from Matthew 7. Watch both parties being examined here that Jesus was paints a picture of in Matthew chapter seven. Both of those parties heard the teachings of Jesus. So here's what we can understand from that hearing. The word of God does not make you spiritually mature.

And sometimes we buy into the lie that we can show up to church and we can hear the sermon every week or maybe we can throw on a sermon from our favorite pastor throughout the week on our way to work and that that makes us spiritually mature. No. Can I inform you today that hearing the Word does not make us spiritually mature? How do I know? Because Jesus says he starts both people with this, anyone who hears My Word.

And he draws a distinct comparison or distinct difference between those who hear the Word and follow it and those who hear the Word and do nothing with it. So it's not just hearing the Word that makes us spiritually mature, but it's our response to hearing the Word. That's what distinguishes us as spiritually mature or not. And that's where we can start. All right, Is that in order to be spiritually mature believers, our response has to be in line with what we've heard from His Word.

So here's the question we have to ask ourselves. All right, the question is this. What does it mean to respond to to God's Word with spiritual maturity? If we know that spiritual maturity means responding to God's Word, what does that mean in our lives? And I think a spiritually mature response to God's Word means a couple of things that we're going to walk through.

Number one, a spiritually mature response to His Word means prioritizing his presence. That's the first thing. It means prioritizing his presence. Listen. The greatest indicator of spiritual maturity is time spent with Jesus.

All these traits and characteristics and aspects of spiritual maturity that we've talked about in the last couple of weeks, they can be summed up with this one question. Do you spend time with Jesus?

Do you spend time with Jesus? Sundays and Wednesdays are a part of that, but they don't count in its entirety. Do you spend time with Jesus? Is your heart moved and provoked to prioritize his presence at the first thing of your day or before you go to sleep at night? Are you setting an example for your household of what it looks like to prioritize his presence?

Are you actually investing time with Jesus?

This is the greatest indicator of spiritual maturity. Let me point this out to you in the Sermon on the Mount. We're going to bounce around to another portion of Matthew 7, this time in verses 21 through 23. Watch this. It says, not everyone who calls out to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will Enter on Judgment Day.

Many will say to me, lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I will reply, I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws. Now notice here that Jesus does not say, depart from me because you don't know me.

It's that he know them. So in other words, you can know all of the things that there is to know about God. You can have all the theological training that you can acquire, that money can acquire. You can come to church as many times as you possibly can, and you can know all the things to know about God. But if God does not know you, if you have not spent time cultivating a relationship with Jesus in the secret place where no one else can see, if you haven't invested that time in a way that allows him to know you and to get on the inside of you, then you'll receive the same response that these in Matthew 7 received.

It wasn't that they did not know God. It was that Jesus said, depart from me because I don't know you. But Lord, we prophesied in your name and we cast out demons in your name and we performed miracles. And Jesus says, depart from me because I don't know you. What's that say to us?

It says that his presence is priority over casting out demons, over performing miracles.

It's prioritizing his presence. It's investing in your relationship with Jesus in a way that allows him, the maker of heaven and earth, to know you. See, there's no substitute or shortcut outside of the secret place for letting God know you. There's no easy way around it.

There's no shortcut. There's no spark notes version of letting God know you. What's it look like? It looks like getting in his presence. It looks like opening up his living and active word.

It looks like praying in alignment with his will. Like we talked about last week, it looks like responding by being moved into the place of intimacy with Jesus. That only happens in a way that allows him to know you in that place where you prioritize his presence. See, the greatest response of spiritual maturity to combat the enemy in this hour is to be a people that prioritize his presence. It's not to be a people that are brash and that throw things in people's face and that beat people over the head with scriptures.

It's to be a people that prioritize his presence. You want to know how you can push back against the Spiritual forces of darkness that are rampant in our world today. Get in your prayer closet.

Go spend time with Jesus. Go open up the Word and let it transform you. Let it convict you to your core. Let it encourage you. Let it transform and renew your mind.

Let it wash out every thought that's not supposed to be there. You want to know how to push back against the spiritual forces of darkness? It's not to pick up a sword like Peter and chop the ear off of the Roman soldier. It's to say, I'm going to prioritize the presence of Jesus. Why?

Because as you do, you become a Jesus people.

And the enemy fears that. The enemy knows if he can get you wrapped up in the mix of petty arguments and comment sections on social media, as opposed to spending time in his presence and actually seeking his face for what he would have you do and how he would have you respond, that the enemy's already won and he's done a masterful job of that so far.

But listen there. There is no more space for Sunday and Wednesday Christians. There's no more space for lukewarmness in the body of Christ. There's no more space for straddling the line and having one foot in and one foot out. Listen, it is time in this day, in this hour, to take your stand.

It is time to be about what you claim to be about. It is time. Let me encourage you. It is time to put full stake in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is what motivates us.

That is what drives us. Listen, I heard Michael Culiano say it this way. He said the greatest form of spiritual warfare is first love for Jesus.

It's not rebuking or declaring and decreeing and anointing everything until your house is slippery all over. Right? It is first love for Jesus. This is the call to be a people that prioritize his presence. What's it look like to respond with spiritual maturity to His Word?

It means allowing His Word to drive you to a place intimacy with Christ.

So this is the first thing that a spiritually mature response to God's Word means. The second thing that a spiritually mature response to God's Word means is producing good fruit, prioritizing his presence, number one. Number two, producing good fruit. We're going to jump around again. I told you we were going to go to several different parts of Matthew 7, this time in verses 15 through 20, just a little bit further down in that passage.

And it says this. Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really Vicious wolves. Watch. You can identify them by their. By their fruit, that is, by the way that they act.

Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire? Yes.

Just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. Listen. A sobering word. The type of fruit that comes from our lives will tell of our spiritual maturity.

Not what we claim to be about or believe in our words, but the fruit that people can eat or people can experience from our lives will tell of our spiritual maturity. Say, what type of fruit should we produce? That's a great question, and it's a good thing. Scripture answers it for us, or else we just have a lot of opinions about this. Galatians 5.

Here's the types of fruit you should produce. Love, joy, peace, patience. Watch. Gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control. According to Galatians 5, these are the fruit of the Spirit.

Against these things there is no law. Right? These are the fruit that, as believers who desire to respond with spiritual maturity to his word that we should be asking God to cultivate inside of us. Does your response to things around us reflect these fruits? All right, so I'm going to challenge you a little bit.

Does your response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk reflect these fruits? Does your response to people who don't agree with your perspective or opinion about the assassination of Charlie Kirk replied, reflect these fruits? All right. Because you can be on the right side of what you should believe according to your perspective. But if you don't demonstrate these fruits, then you failed in your response.

Listen, the question is not, would the ones who agree with you say that you demonstrate those fruits. Would the ones who you disagree with say, clay is a person who's gentle. Clay is a person who has self control. He's a person who loves, who's peaceful, who's joyful, who's faithful to God. Do the people that disagree with you consider you to be a person who operates in these fruits?

All right, this is prevalent for us. Okay, we're gonna go here for a second. This might offend some of you, right? But we found ourselves in this place, really, since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, where everyone has a response, everyone has something to say, everyone has an opinion about the matter. Listen, and there's pressure from every person that you should have something to say that you should know what you should respond with, that you should publicize your opinions.

Right? But the question we have to ask is, are our responses in this time, in this hour, Spirit led. Because do you know what sometimes the Holy Spirit might say? Say nothing at all.

Why? Because self control is the fruit of the Spirit. And he knows if you can't say something with the right posture and heart, that you shouldn't say it at all because you'll do more damage than you will good by saying something out of a wrong posture.

See, here's the part. There's been much of the response in response to this assassination of Charlie Kirk. I know some of you may be so tired of hearing that, right? But just bear with me, there are some parts of this response that I've been super encouraged by. I've seen comment sections filled with people saying, hey, I haven't been to church in 10 years and I went to church for the first time today.

I'm an atheist and I bought a Bible and I started reading the Bible again today and I gave my life to Jesus. I've seen some response that has been super encouraging, but I've seen other response that has troubled me deeply in my spirit. Why? Because there are a lot of people who have been so motivated and filled with zeal and now they're going out and they're sharing truth and they're doing what we often refer to as standing for biblical truth. Right?

That's an admirable thing. We should stand for biblical truth in this hour. Don't hear what I'm not saying, but also hear this. That standing for biblical truth does not give us a pass to treat people however we want to treat them and to say things however we want to say them.

It doesn't. It doesn't give us a pass to be contempt filled towards other people, to disguise our hatred under the banner of just proclaiming the truth.

Proverbs 15:1. It says that a gentle answer turns away wrath, but angry words stir up rage. Right? Harsh words stir up rage. Again, I'm not suggesting that we have to be people who just roll over and people who just never say anything because we're scared of what other people are going to think.

But I am saying that we have to be those that pray and ask the Lord to produce the fruit of the Spirit in us as we respond to things around us. Why? Because if not, if we don't have those things, we are misrepresenting the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Because not everyone feels the Same way that you feel. And whether they're right or wrong in that, our priority as people of God is people's souls.

It's eternity. And our response to that in this hour is something that each of us will be judged for. You are not going to be judged for my response. I will stand trial. I will give an account for every word that was spoken out of my mouth, and you'll do the same for you.

So I'm not angry at anybody. I'm encouraging you and I'm challenging you that we have to be a people that allow our response to God's word to produce spiritual maturity through the fruit of the Spirit in how we handle and how we respond to things. And that might mean not saying anything at all, because, you know, you can't say something out of a genuine place of love or gentleness towards someone who doesn't feel the same way. As you see, I've. I've heard this mindset kind of combated with this.

I've heard this before, and I want to address this because I felt from the Holy Spirit that I was supposed to. I've heard that mindset of operating in gentleness or love towards people we don't agree with combated with this. Well, David did not invite Goliath out to coffee, right? David killed Goliath. All right, maybe you've said something like that.

There's no judgment here. But I want to address that, right? Here's the issue. In Gen Z, there's this phrase that's called main character energy. All right, let me teach you about this real quick.

Main character energy is this assumption, especially amongst Gen Z, that the world revolves around us, that we are the main characters in the story. And so I know that Gen Z really feels this sometimes, but also this is prevalent for all of us, right? Sometimes we read the scriptures with main character energy, and we read David and we go, I'm gonna be like David and I'm gonna kill the giants in my life, right? And here's the reality. I heard Matt Chandler say it this way in a sermon one time.

He said, we often work ourselves into the role of David in that story, but here's the reality. We are not David. Christ is David, and he defeated the giants. And in the story of David and Goliath, we are the Israelites who are too scared to go out to battle, right?

Sometimes even worse than that. Cole pointed out the other day when we were talking about this, sometimes even worse than that were the Philistines, right? And we act like we can just Treat people however we want to treat them because we're gonna slay the giant. Right? Well, can I just inform you, today you weren't called to emulate David.

You were called to emulate Christ. And Christ said, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Christ said, turn the other cheek. Right. Christ practiced this combativeness towards darkness through humility, through self sacrifice, through gentleness in his approach.

Right. And it wasn't weak when he did it, so it's not weak when we do it.

See, our response should be full of the Spirit. It should be full of the fruit of the Spirit. Last thing that I'm gonna hit on today, the third thing that a spiritually mature response to His Word means is preaching the Gospel. Preaching the gospel. See, this is the main thing, let's not get this twisted.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the thing that is the most important thing at the Refuge church. What he did on the cross, his saving and atoning work that allowed us to be reconciled, that purchased men for God and allowed us to now be the church empowered by His Holy Spirit. That is the main thing. And listen, I've come into contact with this myself. I've seen it on social media.

The door to the gospel is wide open in people's lives right now in a unique way. See, there's an opportunity to preach the gospel that should be birthed from a response to His Word. Why? Because when I read His Word, I can't just do nothing with it. But it's good news to the captives.

It sets free those that are bound. His Word commissions and activates me to want to share it with other people. And this is the main thing. Listen, let's not get this twisted because there's a lot of outside pressure to make other things the main things in our church gatherings. There's pressure to address things and to speak on certain subjects.

And if someone's not speaking or sharing on that subject at our church or if they're not saying something about this, then we're just gonna leave. Right? And I want to address that response as well. Why? Because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the main thing.

I've been burdened by things I've seen on social media, people who are, who are making blatant mistake. It's to sound like this. If your pastor didn't address blank, you need to leave your church. Listen, I watched a video of a guy who had been at his church for 10 years walking out of his church filming a video full of offense because his pastor didn't Mention Charlie Kirk last Sunday, and here's what I would say. That response is not bold, it's unbiblical.

Why? Because your feelings or emotions did not call you to a church? No. If you're here, it's because you should believe that God brought you here to be planted here. And therefore the only reason that you leave is because God said, hey, you can leave now.

Here's what I will say. I'm grateful that something was said last Sunday from our pulpit about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Why? Because it's the way our house feels to steward and shepherd God's people in this time. But I'm saying if you buy into this narrative that you can just leave anytime someone says something that you don't like or doesn't say something that you wanted them to say, then we're gonna be a spiritually immature body of believers that are tossed about with every wind of new teaching.

And God is saying, in this time, it's time to be spiritually mature believers. It's time to plant yourself on the word of God. Not on your feelings, not on your emotions, not on what a podcast or an influencer says. It is time to plant yourself in the word of God. And that means going to school, scripture.

That means prioritizing his presence.

I promise I would not share any of this with you if I didn't feel a burden from the Holy Spirit to share it.

We have to keep the gospel of Jesus. The main thing, because if your pastor didn't mention Charlie Kirk, but he preaches the Bible, he preaches a biblically sound, edifying word of God, guess who will judge? Guess who will stand to count that day for not addressing Charlie Kirk. If that's something that is on God's heart, that pastor. But your response to what we see around us to the.

To the time that we live in right now is not to determine how other people ought to respond. No. Christ is calling us to point the finger back at ourselves and to say, how are we responding right now to this word? How are we responding to what we're seeing? Listen, there's constant talk about the end times, and I do believe, just based on the timeline of mankind, that we're closer than we've ever been.

Right. I'm not saying that that's tomorrow or in two months, but I think it's factual to say right again. In the linear progression of humankind, we are closer than we've ever been. And often when we talk about the end times, we refer to things that are mentioned in Matthew 24. Right.

We talk about Jesus references of war, and we talk about sin being rampant and we talk about the love of many growing cold. But I believe there are times where we stop short of the pinnacle of the end time signs found in Matthew 24, verses 10 through 14. It says this. Watch what Jesus describes as the pinnacle of the end time signs. He says, and many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.

And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And then it says this in verse 14. And the good news about the kingdom, the Gospel will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations will hear it and then the end will come.

So again we talk about the sin being rampant and the love of many growing cold. And Jesus says at the pinnacle of all of those things is the gospel going forth into creation, reaching every nation and tribe and race. And at that time, the end will be. The end will come. See, we must be a people who boldly and unashamedly share the the gospel to the lost in love.

The harvest is ripe right now in the earth. And if you've spent time with Jesus and if you're. And if you're feeding your spirit, you feel that and you sense that right now that the harvest is ripe. In a study of 10,000 people in Gen Z, 77% see themselves as spiritual. 74% of teens involved in a Barna research study said they were moderately and highly or highly open to spirituality.

And yet only 4% of Gen Z has a biblical worldview. What does that mean for us? It means the harvest is ripe. It means that people are searching and that we as the church have to do our job to step up and say we will point people to what they're searching for. Why?

Because the answer for humanity's lost and broken nature is inside of you. And his name is Jesus. And we have to be a people who would boldly and unashamedly share Jesus. See, it is time to preach the gospel of Jesus. It's time to share Jesus, the name above every other name.

It's time to share Jesus, the one who snatched away the keys to death, hell and the grave, the one to whom which every knee will bow and and every tongue will confess that he is Lord, the one name that scripture says is given under heaven by which men are saved. It's time to preach Jesus, the one who came and who died in our place so that we could be reconciled to God, the one who will return again as the lion of the tribe of Judah, roaring over his enemies. It's time to preach. Jesus, who will be exalted amongst men. It's time to preach.

Jesus, who is faithful and true, who has the power to save. Who's the only one seated on the throne. Listen. Your favorite podcaster is not seated on the throne. Your favorite musician's not seated on the throne.

Your favorite celebrity or sports member is not seated on the throne. There is only one who is seated on the throne. And in all of heaven and all of earth and all under the earth, there is only one who can be the answer to the solution for our sins. And his name is Jesus. Come on.

And we have to be a church. Who would lift up our voice.

Come on. Who would respond with boldness in this hour to preach the gospel of Jesus?

Come on. Can you just begin to cry out? Can you lift up your voice to Jesus? Come on. If you want to be used by Jesus in this hour.

Come on. Can you just lift your voice to him? Lord, right now, we want to be a people that are sober and alert. Holy Spirit, help us.

Help us in our response.

Help us to keep the main thing. The main thing.

Help us to be used by you, the name above every other name.

The one who lived a perfect life and who allowed himself to be given up on a cross, who was misunderstood, who was tortured, who was beaten on our behalf.

Jesus. The only name that sets captives free, the only name that drives out demons, the only name that works miracles still in our day today.

Listen, it's time for evangelism to be restored in the everyday lives of believers. In the gym, in stores and restaurants and businesses, in corporate America, in marketplaces. God is calling us to be the church because these four walls that we're sitting within today are not the church, but the souls of each of you. Sitting in the seats right now are the church of Jesus Christ.

And the church is filled with power in this day to witness. It's what Acts 1:8 says, that you'll receive power. Why not? So you can look really cool? Or that.

So that you can boast of all the miracles you can do now that you have this power or flex your spirit power. But you'll be. You'll be renewed with power. Why? So that you can be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

So, listen, we're going to wrap up with this as the Holy Spirit's here to minister to us.

Listen, I recognize that some of you may be here for the first time, you may be in church for the first time, maybe you haven't been to church in a long time, and there's a pull in your heart to respond to what God is doing on the inside of you. There's something in you that says, hey, I need what he's talking about. I need in light of everything that I've been seeing, in light of how heavy I feel, I need Jesus who can take this heavy burden, who can set me free. I need Jesus who can deliver me from the voices, demons that I hear in my head, from the nightmares that I experience at night. I need Jesus to bring me out of this darkness that I feel like I'm traveling.

Listen, if that's you, if you've never given your life to Jesus, the Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow, not next month, not next week, maybe when you try to come to church again. But scripture says that today is the day of salvation. And if you need to respond and invite Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior, if you need to confess that he is lord over your life and you need to get right with God today, I'm not going to have people bow their heads and close their eyes. Here's what I want you to do.

If that's you right now, on the count of three, I want you to respond and come to this altar and we're gonna pray with you. Because giving your life to Jesus is the best decision that you could ever make in your entire life. There has never been a day that I've regretted giving my life to Jesus. So if that's you and you feel the stirring on the count of three, I want you to get out of your seat and I want you to respond. Not worried about what you have going on after this, but here, in this moment, I want you to respond.

Ready? One, two, three. If that's you, come forward, step out of your seats and come to the front right now. Don't wait any longer. Respond to the pressing that you feel from the Lord.

If you know, hey, I need to give my life to Jesus today and I don't want to wait any longer. Come on, I want you to step forward right now in this place. Begin to move. That's you. You know you need to respond.

We want to pray with you. We're going to do that in Jesus name. Here's the other response. And if you feel you need to respond to that, I want you to do that. But here's the other response.

If you know you need to be commissioned today, Saying, hey, I want to take up my post on the wall in this time, I want to share the gospel. I want to be bold in that. I want to walk in the fruit of the spirit. If you know we're going to sing this song together, we're going to worship. That's how we're going to end things.

So you don't have to respond down at the front. You can if you would like to, but I want to pray a prayer of commissioning over you so that you would be filled with boldness to preach the gospel, that the church would be mobilized and activated to share their faith with others. Again, you don't have respond or step out of your seats for that, but if you feel like you want to, you can. But our team's gonna lead us in this chorus just for a few minutes before we leave in this bridge, before we leave, and then we're gonna wrap things up. So come on.

Can you lift your hands? Can you close your eyes? All over the room. Lord, we thank you today for your holy spirit. God, I thank you Lord for what you've done in this place.

And I thank you that your holy Spirit will descend on us when we call on him and that we will be endued with power to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. And God, I pray that every under the sound of my voice, Lord, would feel a fresh boldness to share their faith. God, I pray that you would activate your body of believers in this day and hour and that, God, we would push back against the spiritual forces of darkness. Lord, that you would give us as believers a boldness to preach Jesus to the lost and broken ones around us. God, that our families would be different because of what you instill in us today.

God, that our marketplace ministries would be different because of what you instill in us today. God, that business, businesses and workplaces and jobs and gyms and restaurants and gas stations would be different because of what you marked the refuge church with today. And God, we pray for the river of God to flow through this house and to empower us with boldness to preach the gospel in Jesus name. We pray.