Life of Worship

How are you guys doing? Dude, last night was holy. It was so holy. Did any of you guys kind of wake up with like a holy ghost hangover a little bit this morning? I don't know how to say it.

I want to talk to you guys this morning about worship. And I've heard a couple of you guys come up and ask me questions. Actually, someone just did, which is amazing. About, how do you do this? What is worship?

Why is this important? And I want to get into that today. But first, I don't want to just talk at you guys. I want to hear from you. So can you guys get a little bold this morning?

I want to see some, like, instant hands up. What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you think about God? Just anything. There's no wrong answers. A father.

A father. Yes. I'm going on. Peace. Peace.

Anyone else? A holy omnipotent man. Come on, somebody. My savior. Yes.

Someone else have their hand over here. You got your hand up. Love. Love. Yes, yes, yes.

Do a couple more. Patience. Patience. So good. Anyone else?

Hold on. Go in the back. Here we go.

Protection. Protection. Yes. Come on. This is so good.

There's a quote by an amazing old man named A.W. tozer. And he says the most important thing about you is the first thing that comes in your mind when you think about God. This is the most important thing about you because what you think about God says everything about you. It says everything about how you ascribe the worthiness of Jesus.

Isn't that crazy? So even just the things that first popped in your head. Father, patience, protector, holy, omnipotent God. All these things, love is most likely to do with the way that he's encountered you in your life, the way that he's revealed himself to you and that defines everything. It's the way that you view him.

It's the way that you see him. Okay, another question, and I'll try to get some different people. Dang, y' all had me running.

Okay, what is worship to you? And keep it kind of like condensed, maybe in a couple words. What is worship to you? What does that mean to you?

Come in one on one time with God. Say it again. One on one time with God. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

And there are no. There are no wrong answers in my book.

Expressing our love for him. Yes. Beautiful. Showing your faith. Say it again.

Showing your faith. Showing your faith. Yes. Coming.

Full surrender. Full surrender. Yes.

Vulnerability and praise. Yes. So good. Giving God the glory. Giving God the glory.

Yes. Praising God. Praising God. Come on. Praising My father praying.

Your father? Yes. Praying to our father. Giving him my yes. Come on.

Okay, I'll do one more. I see you in the hat. I'm coming. I'm coming. Yeah, y' all better, like, shout out your friends when they're saying something.

Sorry. Praising God even when times are tough. Yes. Come on. This is also good.

What is? Worship. It directly correlates to how you view God. So if you view God as this angry, distant, tyrant king, is it gonna be a natural response for you to want to worship and adore and love on him? Probably not.

You're probably gonna wanna keep your distance, scour in fear. And obviously we know that's not who God is. But a lot of times our experiences, whether it's with people who are representing God or things that have happened in our life, it has skewed the belief we have about him a lot of times in our life. I mean, I know there are so many stories represented in this room. My God, the things that you guys have walked through, the things that you guys have endured.

Oh, God, that light.

There's so many things that you guys have experienced and endured in your life, and it has most definitely shaped the way that you view him. So when we come into corporate settings like this and, you know, there's a band and a worship leader and there's songs and all that stuff, I want you to know. And we're gonna get into what is actual biblical worship. But I want you to know this is not where worship starts and ends. This is an expression of what you believe.

If I believe that God is worthy of my entire life, and it's not just something that someone told me because I have to. I'm a Christian and my parents are Christian and we go to church. If it's something that I'm convinced of. He's my holy and omnipotent God. He's love.

He's my father, my protector. He's everything that I need. And this is what worship is. It's to love him, to. To be one on one with him, to praise him for who he is.

And when I come in here, I'm not thinking about who the person to my right or my left is thinking. I don't care what anyone thinks. I don't care about how I sound. I don't care if it's pretty and sure. You might be thinking.

That's easy for you to say because you sing. This is what you do. No, no, no, no. It wasn't always this way for me. It's not like I was born and I just jumped on the stage and said, come on, let's push up.

That's not my story. When I was, I'll tell a little of my testimony. But when I was a baby, my mom, she's amazing. I love my mom so much. She basically, to summarize it, she had a one night stand.

And my father, my biological father, he was told by doctors that he could never have children. Impossible. Could never happen. But here I am.

Come on, Jesus.

But I was born in a single mother household, and my mom is incredible. But I didn't grow up knowing Jesus. My mom didn't love Jesus. She didn't teach me about Jesus. She didn't know about Jesus.

So here I am, kind of born into the storyline of, you're rejected, you're unwanted, you know, you were never destined to have a father. You know, even that, that narrative over my life of, like, you were just a mistake, you're an oops. All that stuff was branded onto me. And I mean, I'm sure a lot of you guys can relate in some of your stories, even if you had amazing parents. That lie, those lies of your identity, of who you are, of what God thinks of you, it's always trying to like, be the loudest voice in our heads and our minds.

Right? Right. So for me, growing up, I had this belief that God didn't really want me or like me. And I don't even know if he's real until my amazing grandma, my holy Ghost filled grandma. Come on, who's got a holy ghost filled grandma?

I just want to say, if your grandma's praying for you, just give up now. Game over. Praying mamas, praying grandmas, game over. You're cooked. But that was my story is basically, my grandma moved down, helped to raise me.

And my grandma loved Jesus. She has a whole other crazy story. She got saved at a Billy Graham revival in her 30s. Wild, wild. She's a legend.

So she helped raise me. And she began to tell me, you have a father, you're not a mistake. Like, this is who you're destined to be. And she was praying, bailey, you're gonna serve him for the rest of your life. And I'm like, you're a crazy cuckoo lady trying to tell me that I'm gonna follow Jesus for the rest of my life.

What are you talking about? But as I grew up and I started to be dragged to church with her, I don't know if your parents or your grandma ever dragged you to church. Maybe that's why you're Here. Maybe your parents dragged you here. Come on.

But my grandma dragged me to church every Sunday. And every Sunday I was like, these people are lunatics. I'm seeing people just like tonight or this morning and tonight or last night going crazy, jumping, worshiping, all that stuff. And I'm sitting in the back like, these people are on drugs. Like, what's wrong with them?

Like, I just. I just thought people were brainwashed into thinking, oh, yeah, yeah, there's this God in the sky who loves us and knows us. And I'm like, if that were true, then why did this happen? And I'm sure you've all had that same question. If God is so good, why did this happen?

It's a real question that's been in all of our hearts. Whether you admit it or not, it's true. But for me, as I'm in that present in the presence of God week after week, and of course I'm a skeptic, I'm not participating. I'm just looking at everybody else going, weirdo. Like they're out of their mind.

I don't know what's wrong with them. Eventually, when I was in middle school, for my life, I began to hit rock bottom. And, yeah, I went to church, I did the stuff. But in my heart, what I believed about God was that he either didn't exist or that he was a mean, angry God who abandons people just like my father did. That was the reality.

So when I was in middle school, I was so confronted with my brokenness and a lot of, who's in middle school here? There you go. Around your age, I was probably, like 10 or 11 that things started to really hit rock bottom for me. I started to have suicidal thoughts. I started to.

Oh, my gosh, getting the worst fights ever with my mom, just, like, raging out. I was flunking all my glasses. I was in detention all the time. And I went to a private Christian school. And I was quickly labeled as, she's the rebellious one, she's the wild child, all that stuff.

When in reality, I was crying out for love. I was crying out for identity. I was crying out to know the truth. But for me, my brokenness, it looked like more brokenness until there was a moment where my dad, he ended up getting arrested for some crazy stuff. Long story short, and for me, that was just kind of like the final nail in the coffin for me of what was happening in my life and in my heart, of how I perceived myself, how I perceive the value of my life and how I perceived God.

So when my dad got arrested, it was like, the final thing for me of, like, see, look, it's hopeless. I'm worthless. Like, there. There's no chance for me to have a father, no purpose in life, all this stuff. And my last resort.

Before I was pretty much ready to just end it all, I went into my room, and the only thing I knew as a last resort was my grandma's faith, my grandma's God that she continuously, day after day as she's driving to school. Remember, God loves you. There's a God in heaven, and he knows you. He chose you. He created you.

And I'm like, oh, Jesus. But in that moment, the rock bottom moment, I remembered. So I went into my room and I shut the door behind me, and I got on my knees and I opened up my grandma's Bible. I don't know if you guys have ever done this where you, like, open it up to a random page and you're like, it's the word of the Lord. That's what it was for me.

I opened up my grandma's Bible. I didn't even own my own. And I, like, expected there to be, like, magical powers and that the sky was going to split open and God was going to descend and say, bailey, I've been waiting for you. And obviously, that's not what happened. So I'm sitting there just like, it's not working.

I knew it. He's not real. And so in my desperation, I cried out and I said, God, if you're real, prove it. Y' all know that's a dangerous prayer to pray. Prove it.

And he did. In that moment, it's kind of hard for me to explain because it was so supernatural, but in that moment in my room, the whole room got, like, 20, 30 degrees hotter, and I just felt tangible love. I don't know how else to explain it, but it felt like the whole atmosphere just shifted. I mean, in the. The opposite spirit, you guys know, like in, like, scary movies or in horror movies, when, like, the big spooky bad thing comes in, you know, it gets colder and the wind blows and whatever.

In that moment, it was the opposite, where it got hotter, and all of a sudden love walked in. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. And it terrified me because I knew that he was real. I knew this wasn't just my grandma's crazy, kooky story anymore. This was real, and he was coming for me.

And I felt like someone had come up behind me and hugged me from behind, and I just lost it. Because I knew that he was real. And for me, it was like, game over. If you're real and if you're all I have, and if you love me like this, and if what my grandma and my church, you know, friends say about you is true, I'm in. I want you.

And so from that moment on, the trajectory of my life changed. But what I didn't say was that while I didn't believe in Jesus, I'm still in middle school, still going to church. I was leading worship.

Could you imagine if someone, like, was leading worship, this whole camp, and they didn't actually believe in God at all? Like, would you guys be okay with that?

That's what I was doing. I don't know how my. How I got away with that, but I was in sixth grade for real, leading worship at my youth group week after week after week after week. And I did not believe in God. And I made that very clear and very known.

And if you even saw videos of me from back then, I would literally just stand up here like, oh, he loves us. Yeah. Because in my heart, I hadn't had that encounter. I hadn't come face to face with who Jesus really was. But that's the thing, is that you can be in proximity to Jesus and not really know him.

I was in the presence of God week after week after week. But when I left that setting, when I left that room, I did not know him. And I actively rejected him every day. Every single day. And obviously, I didn't claim to be Christian, but I sure did play the part right.

Nobody knew, nobody questioned. And then obviously, when I did have that encounter with Jesus, when I did meet him, and it was like. Like absolute transformation. Everybody and their mama could tell. I remember my youth pastor was like, what happened to you?

I'm like, jesus came my roof. I sound like a, like, cuckoo lady. But it was like. It was just day and night for me. Like, it was from literally darkness to light.

It was like all of a sudden, cold turkey. I'm, like, cutting off friendships. All of a sudden, I'm deleting things on my phone. All of a sudden, I'm telling my mom, can't watch that movie. I can't go there.

Like, it was a real. No one had to tell me. No one had to tell me, hey, if you're gonna follow Jesus, don't do this. Don't do this, don't do this. Because of love and because of what I had said yes to, naturally, I started to say no to all these other things.

It was A natural response. It wasn't legalism, it was love. It wasn't religion. It was a natural response in my heart of if I see him and he's really who he says he is, who am I to not give him everything? It was a natural response for me.

And everybody began to notice it. And it was like week after week after week. I wasn't addicted to coming to, you know, certain meetings. I wasn't addicted to coming to whatever X, Y and Z. I was addicted to meeting with Jesus in my room, the way that he met me, because I was like, I had never encountered something like that. I never felt love like that.

And even though I do believe in the laying on of hands, I do believe in what happened last night was holy. It was Jesus. It was an opportunity, an invitation for you to transform your life forever. But in that moment in my room, no one laid hands on me. There was no band, there was no one playing music behind me.

There was no one singing. There was no one saying, come on, give him everything. It was literally just me, the Bible and Jesus. And it transformed my life. So why do I say this?

I actually had a conversation with someone here, here, like yesterday about this, this week for you. And I'm sure you've heard this so many times. This is not meant to be what you base your entire relationship with Jesus off of. Just want to make that so clear. If you're gonna live for camp after camp, after camp, and I know this so well, like, I know this reality, if you're gonna live for conference after conference, and if you're going to go back home to youth group and you're going to be like, dang it, like that pastor's not as good as that person was at camp, or that worship leader is not as good as, blah, blah, blah.

And you're going to have this expectation of Camp High. I just want you to know you are quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly going to see your relationship with Jesus fizzle out. Because it's always dependent on the next big thing, the next big moment, the next, ah, encounter, encounter, encounter. But I want you to know that the place where Jesus wants to blow your mind and meet you like in the most powerful, profound, life transformation, transforming way is alone in your room. And I'm not saying that because it's the good Christian thing to say.

I'm saying it because I've lived it, dude. I've been to enough conferences that could like, I don't even know. I've been to so many and they're amazing and they're needed. But these moments are meant to catalyze you into hunger, into desperation. It is biblical for us to gather.

This is biblical. It's biblical for us to gather, to be with each other, to hear the word of God, to worship together. It's. I mean, how many of you have been so encouraged this week? So, like, oh, my gosh, there's something in you that.

It's like, I want this to last forever. And the reality is it can. It's supposed to. But what's actually gonna sustain your relationship with Jesus is not this. It's the secret.

It's being one on one with him. That's what's gonna transform your life, is intimacy and friendship with him. So I wanna talk to you guys about the Bible. Who loves the Bible? I have to warn you guys, I'm a little bit of a Bible nerd, so I'm gonna make you guys say some really weird words in the Hebrew.

Okay? So open your Bibles if you have it. Maybe you got your digital Bible. I'm guilty of that, too. This is actually Pastor Sam's Bible.

Thank you, Pastor Sam.

Open your Bible to Genesis 22.

The only thing I remember from going to Bible college is this is something called the rule of first mentions. And it basically is saying that when you're reading the Bible and when the Bible mentions something for the very first time, it's actually because the Bible is defining the meaning of that thing. So if it's like the first time that love is mentioned, the first time worship is mentioned, pay attention. Pay attention to the context, pay attention to the storyline. Okay, who's got Genesis 22?

Anyone bold enough to want to read it? Wait, hold on. Let me tell you when to stop, because I don't. There's a lot of less stuff in here.

Okay, stop at verse 18. So 1 through 18. Go for it. Here we go. What's your name?

Adelie. Natalie. Everyone give it up for Natalie.

After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, abraham, here I am. He answered, take your son, he said, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. Go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about. So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to a place God had told him about.

On that third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship. Then we'll come back to you. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac.

In his hand, he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together. Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, my father. And he replied, here I am, my son. Isaac said, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

Then the two of them walked on together. When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, abraham, Abraham.

He replied, here I am. Then he said, do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me. Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place, the Lord will provide.

So today it is said, it will be provided on the Lord's mountain. Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, by. By myself I have sworn this is the Lord's declaration. Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies.

And all of the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.

Great Job. Okay, you're probably wondering, what does this have to do with worship? I want to point out that Genesis 22 is the very first time the Bible ever mentions two things ever. For the first time ever, ever, ever, ever. Love and worship.

It's the first time. And because of the rule of first mentions, this shows that this must be defining what love is and what worship is. So obviously you have this story. It's Abraham and it's Isaac. And I'm sure you guys have heard this story so many times.

But Isaac is the promised son of Abraham, and Abraham keeps getting told by the Lord over and over again. Your offspring are going to outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore. They're going to outnumber the stars in the sky. I'm going to make you a great nation, a great people, all these things. And Abraham's old, y'.

All. He's getting old, Sarah's getting old. And Sarah even laughs at the thought of it, which is one of my favorite scriptures, by the way, because literally, Sarah laughs, and then God's like, what are you laughing about? She's like, I didn't laugh. Yes, you did.

That's literally what it says. But Abraham's getting told this promise, and it's like, this could not be any more impossible. Like, this seems so just like beyond capability. But then as God is, he does it. He gives him this promised son, Isaac.

And then that was chapter 21, chapter 22. God says, great, I want him back. Could you imagine, just put yourself in, in those shoes for a second, if God had just like promised you this thing that you had been desiring and praying for and waiting for, and you're literal destiny hinged upon this one thing, and then God does it and you're like, thank you, Lord. And then God's like, I want it back. Would you be like, yeah, sure, here you go, whatever.

Or would you be like, what do you mean? What are you talking about? What? Like, this was not in the storyline, but God asked for Isaac to be sacrificed. And I want to point out something.

In the very couple verses that Natalie just read, it says that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. He just said his name. And Abraham's reply was, here I am. So this is where my Bible nerd comes in. I did a word study on what here I am means, and I'm gonna pronounce it so wrong, but I want you to say it with me.

H. I'm probably pronouncing it so wrong. Say it one more time so I don't feel alone in it. H, now we're all wrong together. But this word, yes, it means here I am. Yes, it means behold, all that.

But it actually means before you even ask, yes. It's not just a, like, here I am, behold. It's so interesting, that word in the Hebrew, it's a yes for the present and the past at the same time. It's so weird. It's like, imagine someone were to.

I mean, this probably happens to you. Maybe your parents are saying your name. They're like, natalie. And you're immediately like, yes, whatever you want, I'll do it. Okay, let's be honest here.

Do you guys actually resonate Your parents like that? Probably not. You're probably like, what do you want? But for Abraham, that was his response of like, yes, whatever you want. Before you even ask it.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I, when I read that, I was like, ooh, I don't know if I can respond like that. Like, it really genuinely made me see, like, oh, my gosh, this response Abraham had. I don't know if I've. If that's in me, but I want that.

But I don't know if that's where my heart is right now. If I were in that situation, would I respond like that? And then, as you see, God asks him and says, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, the first time love is ever mentioned in the Bible, and go to the land of Moriah and. And offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I'll tell you. So then you see, skip down, skip down, skip down.

In verse, in verse five, it says, then Abraham said to his young man, stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over. Oh, I lost boys go over there and worship and come again to you. Okay, that word worship right there, this is important. Say Shekah.

Okay, come on, say Shekah.

Literally, it sounds like Shaqah. But that word right there is the word for worship. And in that word, yes, it means, you know, to bow down, to give reverence to all of those things. But something really interesting is interesting about that word, chaka. It means for your heart to rise above your head.

So it's literally like this. I don't want to feedback.

It's like this.

It's not just like bowing down. It's literally like a posture of like, my love for you goes beyond my understanding. So it's even like when Abraham is getting asked by the Lord to offer up this thing that means the most to him. It means everything to him. And of course, he's saying before you even ask.

Yes. And then Abraham says that as they're going up to this mountain, which God knows how long that journey took. Imagine how awkward that would be. It's just you and your son and you're walking up knowing you're gonna kill him. Like, imagine the tension.

And literally, Abraham tells his servants, he's like, we're going to go, and I'm going to have my heart rise above my head. We're going to go up the mountain and we're going to worship. Oh, my gosh, it's crazy. And then, of course, Isaac the Son asked his dad the obvious question. So I see the wood, I see the donkey, I see this.

Where's the lamb? Where's the sacrifice? And obviously Abraham, because he knew God, because he considered God a friend, because they've had a history, he tells his son, God himself will provide the lamb. And obviously Abraham didn't know that. God didn't say that.

God said, go up there to the mountain and sacrifice your one and only son. All Abraham had was a yes. And because he knew God and. And he knew his character and his nature, he knew that no matter what the outcome was, God was gonna provide. He knew that no matter what the outcome was, that God was who he said he was.

Because of history, because of friendship, because of the numerous times that they had met together, spoke together, been together alone in the secret. Because of all of that, when there was a test, when there was a trial, when there was no, you know, worship team going, come on. There was a yes in his heart. Before you even ask, yes, whatever it is, God, here I am. I'm gonna worship you.

I'm gonna give you what matters to me most. And so obviously we see in the end, as Abraham is about to do it, it's like a movie, like, as the knife is about to fall, the angel of the Lord, which, whenever you hear, just a fun fact, whenever you hear in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord, it's referring to Jesus, just so you know, because Jesus himself had not come onto the scene in the flesh yet. But the angel of the Lord is Jesus. So you hear the voice of Jesus saying, abraham, Abraham and Abraham with the same response. Even in the tension, even in one of the most probably painful moments of his life, he has the same response.

Here I am. Before you even ask, yes, Shakah or not, Shekah hanai, yes, yes, here I am. And then you see Jesus reply this in verse, looking for it. In verse 12, he says, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For for now I know that you fear God.

In other words, now I know I have you. I have you. I have you completely. There's no area in your heart, in your life where you're withholding from me. No area.

Ask yourself this. And trust me, I have not arrived in this. I am constantly in the conviction and in the tension of this. I just want you to know, ask yourself this. Is there an area currently in your life that if God today said, give me that, that you would immediately be like, no, really?

And I'm not saying this because I. Beyond that, I'm there, too. There are areas in my life still where I'm like, I don't know if I can willingly give that away. But this is why history and friendship and intimacy with Jesus is so important. Because for the rest of your life, to your last dying breath, surrender never ends, worship never ends.

If you think that just because. Which is beautiful, and I applaud it, because, you know, this week you gave God your anxiety, your depression, your suicidal thoughts. Maybe there was a decision of a bad relationship you were ending. Whatever. Fill in the blank.

You know that you have given it all and now you're just gonna live the rest of your life and say, I love you, Jesus. We're good. I did that 10 years ago, 15 years ago, whatever. No, no, no, no. It's not just giving God the bad things, which you should do and I do every day, is repentance.

And it's joyful, it's good, it keeps you clean, keeps you holy. Repentance. But there's also a place in love, A place in love where it's not. I'm giving you this because I don't want it anymore and it's causing pain. A place where I love something, but I love you more.

I love you more than that. There is a place in love where your dreams and your future and your decisions and the things that you want don't even matter anymore. For real. And that's my dream for you guys, is that when you come into settings like this and when you're alone with Jesus and when you're faced with heartbreak and when you're faced with trial and when you're faced with even everything you could ever hope for and all your dreams come true, that there's still a same response of Abraham in your heart. Here I am before you even ask, yes, because I love you more than that.

I love you more than my dreams. I love you more than anything that I can get from you. Because I know you. I know you. I know who you are.

And this is Abraham's response. And I want you to see, too. Genesis 22 is a old Testament prophetic imagery of what Jesus himself was to do. Because as you see, as the angel of the Lord, Jesus interrupts Abraham and he says, don't do this. Like, now I know that I have you.

Now I know that you withhold nothing from me. And it says this too, in verse.

Yes. It says, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your one and only son, from me. And then it says, abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold. That's our word for this week. Behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that name. The Lord will provide. So I want you to see even in that the ram in the thicket, the lamb that Jesus provided was. Was himself.

We've been singing it this whole, you know, this whole week. Behold the lamb. Worthy is the lamb who was slain and seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. You guys have been singing this.

And I want you to see, even in this picture, in Genesis 22, Jesus is showing that he would never ask you of something that he hasn't done himself. He would never ask you to lay down your life if he had not done it himself. No greater love than this than those who lay themselves down for their friends. Jesus calls you friend. Jesus calls you friend.

And not like homeboys like you. Good. You do whatever. I love you, whatever. No, no, no.

He calls you friend. He calls you intimate one. He calls you himself. He calls you co heir, son and daughter. Dude, that's crazy.

Like, let that sink in, that you're a friend of God and you've access. Like you have access to the God of the universe. So much so that when you're driving in your car and you say his name, he's there. So much so that whether you're in a room like this and everyone's hands are lifted or you're all alone in your room, like, I was broken, bleeding out, asking the Lord, show up or I'm gonna die. He's there.

Why? Because he calls you friend. He's that good. And so, as you see in Genesis 22, what is worship? Worship is obedience because of love.

That's worship. And it literally says it's because that last verse that Natalie just read. Because you obeyed my voice. Because you obeyed my voice. And I want to paint this picture because I know so many times when you hear worship for a lot of us, and I'm not saying this is a bad thing, you immediately think music, which I do want to say, music is extremely powerful, and it is biblical.

And we see music today is discipling an entire generation. I mean, let's be honest here, Billie Eilish, and I'm not crapping on anybody, but all these different artists that you guys listen to, you guys, you know them in a minute. It's like the minute that someone hums the melody or whatever, it's Instantly in your heart. It's constantly being replayed in your head. And I want you to know it's because music has a way of bypassing your mind.

Because you're not. When you first hear a song, let's Be Real, you're not instantly analyzing, what does this song mean? What does that lyric mean? What kind of lifestyle are they living? You're not instantly thinking that it goes straight to your heart.

You're like, this makes me feel something. I love this song. It sounds good, all that stuff. What do you think worship music does? It bypasses the mind, goes straight to the heart.

But there's a place where it's no longer just you mindlessly singing because it's the cultural norm, but it comes from this place in your heart of. He has me. He has me. So even when you guys. Someone asked me today, they were like, how do you do it?

How do you go up there and you dance and whatever, all this stuff? And I'm like, I told her that I have always been a little bit crazy, even before I gave my life to Jesus. So that it's not about a personality. It's not about, oh, I have to do this, because this is, you know. You know, the only way I know how to worship.

No, no, no. That's how God made me. So when he redeemed my life, I'm going to be even more crazy for him than I was for anything else in the world. I'm going to dance crazy. Not because of you, not because I'm trying to hype up the room, not because it looks good, but because there's a yes in my heart, and I know who he is.

I know who he is. Revelations 4. This is. This is your homework. You probably have a lot of homework, but this is your homework for the summer.

Go into your room, shut the door behind you, and open up Revelations 4. It's not spooky, it's not scary, I promise. As you read Revelations 4, you're seeing the reality of the throne room, the atmosphere of heaven. There are lightnings and thunders. There are literally like a sea of glass mingled with fire.

There. There's these living creatures with eyeballs literally on the outside, behind it, on the inside, which means they're transparent, which is really creepy. If you think about it, like, just picture, like, there's living creatures with a face of a lion, the face of a man, face of an eagle, all these things. Elders, these old people with crowns, constantly throwing them down. And then Jesus puts the crown back on their head and they Throw it back down again.

There's a lot going on. It's not like, I don't know if you guys. When you think about heaven, you think of little naked angel babies flying around playing harps. And it's super like, oh, everything's beautiful, amazing. There's a lot going on.

There's a rainbow around his throne. There's colors you've never even seen. Your brain can't even comprehend the colors around the throne. Literally, there's. It's loud, there's voices.

It says myriads and myriads of angels. That's a lot. That's a lot. That's beyond thousands. And they're all crying out, holy, worthy.

Holy, worthy. Holy, worthy. And they've been doing it before the foundation of the earth. And they don't get bored. And they don't think, when's the next song?

And they don't think, I gotta go somewhere in 10 minutes. And they don't think, man, I'm just not feeling it today. They see and they respond. They see and they respond. And guess what?

They've been doing it since the foundation of the earth. So that tells me that there are sides and facets of his face and of who he is that we have not seen yet. Because every new inch of. Of who he is. It's holy, it's worthy, it's an immediate response.

If that's the atmosphere of heaven, and for a lot of us, that's our goal, we're like, I just gotta make it a heaven. Get me out of here. If that's where we wanna be, if that's where we wanna spend the rest of our life, what makes us think that that atmosphere that's in heaven? Constant day and night worship, adoration and beholding. What makes you think that our worship here on earth should look any different?

The reality is, is that you are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. John 4 the woman at the well, she's a Samaritan, he's a Jew. You know, they don't. They don't get along. Lots of racial tension there, all this stuff.

And there's an argument about where the right place of worship is. Well, you know, the Jews say to worship in the temple, but then we say to worship over there. So where am I supposed to worship? What's the right place? What's the right protocol?

And Jesus says, it's no longer about worshiping on that mountain over there or in Jerusalem over there. It's time that worshipers are gonna rise up in spirit. And in truth, it's Gonna be an understanding. I know you. Based on what the Bible says of you.

And in truth, empowered by the Holy Spirit, which, guess what? You guys all have, and he's not. Jesus isn't fixated on dwelling in a room anymore. Yes, he fills the room. He doesn't fill the room because there's something special about four walls.

He fills the room because you're in it. And he's in you. You're his temple. You're the temple of the Holy Spirit. You're the house of God.

So everywhere you go, he goes too. This is crazy. I wanted to sink in deep for you because it would be such an injustice for you to leave this place and think, oh, the way God met me there. I wish I could just go back into that moment. No, he's with you wherever you go.

If you're in your high school hallway, guess what? Immediately, an altar of worship. If you're in the car alone, immediately, an altar of worship. If you're in the 1040 window in some of the hardest, darkest nations, instantly in altar worship. Why?

Because he's living on the inside of you. He's living on the inside of you. And that reality, that what's happening in heaven, the worship that's before the throne, guess what? Heaven's on the inside now. Heaven's on the inside now.

It's Jesus. It's Jesus. So I say all this because worship music is an expression. It's a response. But guess what else is worship?

When you say no to watching that movie, worship. Because here's my yes. You know what else is worship? When you said, when God tells you, I want you to go up to that person right there on the street and I want you to tell them about Jesus. Worship.

There's a cost. It's obedience. It's a yes. Worship. You know what else is worship?

When God asks you to lay something down that means the world to you and it makes no sense, you're like, what are you talking about? And you say, yes, worship. You know what else is worship? When you do something for him that no one will ever know about. When you're alone in your room and there's no one to applaud you, there's no one to be like, come on.

Yay. Good job. You read your Bible today. Worship. Why?

Because he's worthy of it. And I asked you this question in the beginning. What's the first thing that comes in your head when you think of God? Because that is the most important thing about you. Because it will define and dictate everything from this point on.

Everything? Everything. Everything. What you think about him. It's gonna dictate the way that you live your life.

Oh, it's gonna dictate everything. So to close, I want to read one more Bible story. Are you guys good? I know it's a lot. You guys have been fire hosed this whole week.

Okay, I need another volunteer.

Can someone read Matthew 26? 6? Wait, let me find out what verse to end on. You're ending on verse 13. So 1 through 13, who's up for the challenge?

I saw a hand. You okay? Coming to you or here? Victim. What's your name?

Daniel. Daniel, get up for Daniel. Daniel.

Wait, wait. Matthew. What? Okay, I got this.

Give me one second, all right?

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, you know, that after two days, the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priests, whose name was Caiphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now, when Jesus was at Bethany, in the House of Simon and Labor, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment. And she poured it on his head at he reclined at table.

And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Oh. Oh, sorry. When one of the 12 whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you?

And they pay him 30 pieces of silver.

Thank you, Daniel. Great job, Daniel. Come on, somebody. Okay. Thank you.

T.K. you knew?

T.K. t.K. Come on, give it for the band. They've been killing it. They've literally been killing it.

Okay, stay with me here. Matthew 26. So, as Daniel just so graciously read. Thank you. We see that Jesus is literally a few days away from his death.

Say Death. Say it one more time. Death. So he's a few days away from his death. This is the Passover feast.

If you guys know anything about Jewish culture, I just want you guys to know. Shabbat dinners, Passover meals. They are not just like.

They're not like these chill, like, like really quiet, tame things. They're a party. Like, they're loud. There's a lot of people talking and eating. There's so much food.

It's so much fun. And so, as you see, they're having the Passover feast. Jesus has been saying over and over and over and over again to all his best friends, the Son of Man has come to do one thing. To die. That's my plan.

That's my goal. That's what I'm going to do. I mean, do you guys remember when Jesus says to Peter, I'm going to die? And then Peter says, no, you won't die. I'll never let it happen.

And then Jesus says, satan, get behind me. Imagine if Jesus called you Satan. That's literally what happened. And it's because over and over and over again, as Jesus is saying, this is my plan. This is my dream.

This is what I've come to do. The disciples had this picture of who Jesus was, that he was coming as second coming, Jesus as the lion, the tribe of Judah who comes and destroys his enemies and takes back what's rightfully his. But first coming, Jesus was coming as a lamb to be slaughtered, lowly, a servant. And the disciples were like, yeah, but you've come to overturn the Roman Empire, right? Because they are the Jewish people, the people of Israel, being treated so poorly.

They're being oppressed for so many years. And they were waiting for, you know, for everything to turn around and shift. And so they're expecting Jesus, you've come to overturn the Roman Empire. And he's like, no, I've come to die. I've come to die.

I've come to die. So Jesus knows that at this Passover feast, these are his final moments. And where does he choose to spend his final moments? With his best friends in the room. You've got Simon the Leper, who got healed of leprosy.

You've got Lazarus, who was literally raised from the dead. You have all the disciples who have witnessed blind eyes being open, demons casted out. Like, they've. You name it, they've seen it. You have Mary and Martha, who have literally watched their dead brother, who was dead for three days, walk out alive.

There's a whole lot of Testimony of Jesus in that room. So I want you guys to do something. Just all begin to talk amongst yourself. Just say, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Come on, louder than that.

Keep going. Just say whatever. Keep going. Come on. A little bit louder.

And stop.

You guys have the gift of yap. It's beautiful. Me, too. Okay. And done.

Amazing. That's what it sounded like in the room. You've got all his best friends. You've got Jesus literally, like, reclining.

Were you playing the Star wars thing? Anyways, sorry. You've got Jesus literally reclining. And then you have Mary. And she knows she's heard all the same things that the disciples have heard, that the apostles have heard.

Jesus has been saying this over and over again, making it known. This is what I've come to do. Mary knows and believes him, and she knows that this is her last chance to show him how much he means to her. This is one of her best friends. Imagine your best friend literally saying, I'm gonna die tomorrow.

And these are your last. These are your last moments. I'm sure there's so many things that you're like, what am I gonna say? What am I gonna do to finally show you? This is how much you mean to me.

And when we hear Mary's story with the alabaster jar, I don't know about y', all, but I thought it was a cute little olive oil bottle that she just went over to her cupboard, got her olive oil bottle, this little tiny thing, and just went, think I love you, Jesus. No, no, no. This jar of alabaster oil is an oil called Spikenard. Say Spikenard. Who named it?

Don't know. But this oil, this Spikenard oil, was this strong, earthy smell, and it's potent. You can still buy it. Today. Marcella just bought some.

It's strong, earthly, and it's really expensive, and it's very difficult to get. And she has this jar of oil. And Martha and Mary, there were single women. And in that time, parents would usually leave behind some sort of inheritance so that when they choose to get married, there would be money for them to live off of. That's the security of their future.

That's all she had to her name. And here she is, she has this big old jar of Spikenard oil That's worth over US$60,000 today. Crazy. Imagine you just had $60,000 and you just, like, set it on fire. Imagine, like, what would you guys do?

If I had $60,000 and I just lit it on fire, and I was like, this is for you. Jesus. You guys look at me like I'm psycho. So she literally has this jar. It's this big, heavy clay pot.

And in that time, in order to seal the oil, to preserve it, they would take a layer of ammo, animal fat, they put it on the oil, and it would harden. And so for her to think they're in Passover meal mode, everyone's partying, and this is her last moment. She. She calculated this moment. She thought about it.

What can I do? What can I give him to show him what he means to me? She goes and takes this. This big jar, cracks it open, lifts it up over the top of her head and dumps it on Jesus. And not just like, oh, you're anointed, drenched.

Have you ever been drenched by oil? It's in your hair, it's in your skin, it's in your clothes. From literally top to bottom, drenched. And it doesn't say what facial expression Jesus had, doesn't say what he thought in the moment, But I can just imagine him smiling like, ugh, look what she just did. And as everyone's talking, as you guys just were, as you guys are all talking amongst yourselves, imagine this strong, potent smell interrupting your conversation.

And you smell this thing. And everyone looks around like, where is that coming from? And they just see Jesus in the center of the room, drenched with oil from top to bottom. And they see Mary just standing there with a jar.

It was a scene. It caused a scene. And everyone in the room became, the Bible says, indignant. They immediately were like, what is this? What a waste.

What a waste. All that money. You know, what that could have been used for? The poor. Do they really care about the poor?

No. All they thought was, oh, what a waste. What a waste on the son of God. What a waste on our friend who we've walked three years with consecutively, day in, day out, day and night, who we said that we love, who we said we follow. What a waste.

And do you hear Mary speak up to defend herself, say, hey, you don't know what this costs me. Mind your business. This is what I'm doing to tell my friend I love him. No, no, no, she doesn't offend herself. Jesus himself speaks up on her behalf.

And he says, why do you trouble the woman? He. He's reading their minds like he can read the minds of the people in the room. Why do you trouble the woman for? She has done a beautiful thing to me for you will always have the poor, if that's really what you care about, if you really care about the need about the stuff you gotta do about whatever's happened in your life, it'll be there.

It'll be there. The poor will always be with you. But me you will not always have. Seize the moment. You won't get this moment back.

You won't get this moment of costly worship back in the pouring this ointment on my body. She has done it to prepare me for burial because he was coming to die. And then he says this statement that I want to say to you, every single one of you in this room, truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. And then it says, and then immediately that moment of Mary's audacious love and worship triggered Judas to go betray Jesus. And it says that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

That's like 60 bucks.

He handed over one of his best friends and Jesus trusted Judas to carry the money to handle the finances. They walked and talked and knew each other. And Judas betrayed him, handed him over for 30 pieces of silver, where Mary gave every drop that she had. So to Judas, he was worth 60 bucks. To Mary, Jesus was priceless.

He was priceless. There was no cost. There was no cost. There's a place in love where there is no longer a cost. There's just a Here I am.

Yes, this is my worship unto you. Here I am. Who cares if I look like a fool? Who cares if the whole room's indignant? Who cares if my family says, you're crazy?

Give it up. Who cares if my whole high school says you're a freak? He's not real. Who cares? Because he's priceless.

He's priceless. He's worthy. There is no cost. There is no cost. There's only a yes.

And it says this, it says this, that when Judas said, why this waste? This could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. There's always gonna be something else. Trust me. There's always gonna be something else in your ear, trying to grab your attention.

There's always gonna be another need. There's always gonna be another thing. Of course, I don't know if you guys have experienced this when it's like you're about to cross the line. The Lord tells you to do something, whatever, and then immediately you know you're gonna break up with that person and then immediately come to you and say, I love you. I'm sorry.

You're like, okay, nevermind, I'll take you back there's. Always gonna be that moment for the rest of your life. There's always gonna be something else competing for your love, competing for your attention. But will you take up that posture of Abraham, that posture of even the woman at the well, that posture of the angels and the elders, the posture of Mary and Bethany and say, he's worth it all, he's worth it all. Greater than any dream Greater than any need he's worth it all.

And I want you to know true love cannot be ignored. True love cannot be ignored. I'm not just talking about musical worship. Yeah, sure. When you're up here or, you know, you're singing a song and it comes from a real place.

Yes. There's something about it that provokes you. There's something about it that, you know, encourages you to give more. Dance wildly. Sing louder.

That's beautiful. But there's a place in your everyday walk with Jesus or secret hidden affection, that intimacy you have with Jesus along with your Bible, and in your room where that becomes audacious public love. Have you ever thought to yourself, how in the world am I supposed to preach the gospel? How in the world am I supposed to go and tell people at my school about Jesus? When you're alone with him and you've seen him and you love him and you have this friendship with him.

I promise you, when you stand before men, it's like, what can man do to me? Who cares what they think? I've been with the one I love. I know what he's like. I know the end of the story.

I know the end of the story. I'm coming out of the garden, the wilderness, leaning on my beloved. He's gonna get the full reward. It's because I know him. That secret, hidden love that even Mary of Bethany had as she sat at his feet, it became public audacious love in front of a room of people who were disapproving spectators.

And she said, I don't care what you think. He's worth it all. He's worthy of it all. And so I want to ask you guys this question.

What worth do you ascribe to Jesus? Because when you come into rooms like this again, the music, the song, it's just a response of this love on the inside of what you've seen and what you know. And as you. You're going to leave this place after today. And there will be testings, there will be hardship, there will be times when you think God won.

What are you doing? There will be times when your relation with Jesus, it's gonna shake. It's gonna be shaken. And what it's really doing is it's revealing what you really believe about him. The shakings, the testings.

It's not because God is cruel. God didn't ask Abraham to lay down his son because of cruelty. It was to reveal what Abraham truly believed about him. So that when push came to shove, there was a yes. There was a yes.

So I want to encourage you right now to ask the Lord to search you and know you and that he would create a resounding yes in your heart. It's deeper. It's deeper. It's deeper than just the normal Christianity that you, you know or have been accustomed to. There's a yes that's gonna last for the decades.

You're gonna be 80. I even prophesied this. You're gonna be 80, 90, and burning for Jesus. Because these moments weren't just a flash in the pan for you. It wasn't just a mountain high moment.

These moments catalyzed you into a lifelong friendship with Jesus. That's what it's about. There's a yes. He's looking for your yes. And it's not about a yes to salvation.

I'm not doubting that anyone in this room isn't saved. It's not a yes about salvation. It's not a yes about ministry. Maybe that might entail it. It's not a yes about you coming up here and singing the loudest or whatever.

It's a yes about obedience. Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey me. When was the last time you didn't just read the Bible, but you let the Bible read you? When was the last time that you were cut by this word? That you read this and there is a tension in you?

It happens to me every day. It happened to the disciples. You think it didn't? Every day there is a tension. What do you mean?

You came to die. You're supposed to be our lion of a tribe of Judah who kicks over our oppressors. Guess what? He is now. And he's coming.

But in the tension, in the waiting, in the longing. Even if your dreams don't come true, even if you don't get to sing in front of thousands, millions of people? Those things are great. And I believe in them. What if.

What if God, the greatest reward he's asking of you is to seek him and find him in the secret? What if that was your legacy to the generations? What if that was the thing that was gonna save your high school? What if your high school isn't looking for someone who is, you know, charismatic or eloquent in speech or someone who's popular. What if they're looking for a man and woman who set on fire?

What if they're looking for a burning one, A John the Baptist, a wild eyed lover of Jesus who says, I have seen him in the Secret. I know him, I know what he's like. And so when I walk through these hallways, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I'm giving my life to him because I love him. That's what he's calling you to for friend.

He's not calling you to live safe Christianity. He's calling you to pour it out, pour it out, pour it out. What is it that you have in your hand? What's in your jar of alabaster oil? Is it your reputation?

Is it your influence? Is it your gifting? Is it? What is it? What's in your hand?

What is it? What's the thing that he's been putting his finger on and saying, I want that. I want that. Trust me, I want that. I'm better, I'm better, I'm better.

I'm so much better. What's that thing? Can we just stand to our feet in this place?

Now, I don't want you all to respond because of, you know. Thank you so much. Because of an emotion which I doubt. I don't think that's what's happening. But I don't want you to feel the pressure to come up here and respond and say yes unless you mean it.

Because this again, this is not a call for salvation. This is not a call to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe you've already done those things. This is a call for the rest of your life. Will you say yes when it hurts you?

Will you say yes when it cuts you? Will you say yes when everyone in your high school says you're a loser and a freak because you follow Jesus? That was my story. Will you say yes when your family says it? Don't take all that.

That was my story. Will you say yes when you don't understand? Because those are the moments where you will never get another chance to offer him worship except in pain and in cost. You'll never get that moment back. That's why Jesus said she's chosen the better thing.

Mary has chosen the better thing and it will not be taken away from her. And wherever the gospel is preached, costly love is going to be poured out at the feet of Jesus. That's what the world's Looking for May your love for Jesus come across as a foolish dance in a room full of disapproving spectators who secretly wish they were dancing too. May that be your life. And let it start now.

I don't care if you're nine years old. I don't care if you're 20. I don't care what age you are. You can cross the line today. It's not legalism, it's love.

And if that yes is in your heart, I want you to come up here and I want you to get before Jesus.

Let's just get on our knees in this place. Place.

Thank you, Jesus.

We say yes to you, God.

We say yes to you, Jesus.

Lord, I thank you that you're raising up worshippers, not just musicians and singers. You're raising up a kingdom of praise priests who are going to say yes not for a moment, but for a lifetime. Jesus, I ask right now that you would anoint these ones to be burning men and women, Lord, that you would ignite them even now with a boldness that comes from knowing you.

Jesus. We say yes in this place.

We say yes in this place. Just in your own words, in your own ways, just begin to tell him. I say yes. I say yes to a life of obedience, to a life of worship.

We're going to worship for a couple minutes, but I want you to do business with Jesus again. It's not an emotional response. This is a moment that you're gonna remember for the rest of your life. Jesus. I'm saying yes.

No matter the cost.

No matter the cost. I say yes. And, Lord, I even ask that you would raise up revivalists in middle school, in high schools, in this very room. That as they preach the gospel. God, that they're gonna look like Mary and Bethany with their lives poured out as perfume unto the son of God.

The whole world is gonna smell the fragrance of love. Love unto you.

Thank you, Jesus.

We say yes to you.

Thank you, Jesus.

Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're all together lovely all together worthy all together wonderful to me.

Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're all together lovely all together worthy all together wonderful to here I am. Here I am to worship.

Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're all together lovely all together worthy all together wonderful to me. I'll never know. I'll Never know how much it cost to see my sins upon that cross oh, never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that I'll never know I'll never know how much it costs to see my sins upon that Here I am to worship.

Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're all together lovely. All together worthy, all together wonderful. To.

If you're a singer or a musician in the room, could you stand up?

Anyone who sings plays instrument. Amazing. Okay, if you see someone, can you go and lay your hands on them?

I want to pray over each of you that God is going to raise you up as not just echoes, not just sounds, but voices. Voices. Voices that are going to cut through the noise of the world, that are going to cut through the narrative that as you sing, as you play, it will be like David before Saul's. The demons will flee, that oppression will lift off. That there is a holy and consecrated sound on the inside of each of you.

Holy Spirit, I just ask right now that you would commission every musician, every singer, every Levite, every person in the room who feels a call to lead worship. I see you in the back. There's a calling on your life to lead worship. And. And I want you guys to know it's not meant to look like me.

It's not meant to look like this. God has only anointed you to be you. So, Holy Spirit, would you bring forth the sound that you formed and fashioned on the inside of them? Bring forth the sound of purity. Purity, Purity, Purity.

The sound of consecration, the sound that no one else is singing. Oh, God, would you raise up burning musicians, burning worshipers, God, that when they walk into lifeless dead places that there's going to be a song, a chord, something on the inside that's going to resurrect dead things. Jesus, I even ask that you would come, Lord, and you would raise up the new fresh sound, the new fresh sound out of this place. Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

And I even just feel the lie that there's some of you who are like, maybe I need to go into the industry. Maybe I need to make it big. Maybe I need to make a name for myself. I want to declare over you right now, worship with never meant to be an industry. It's a priesthood.

It's a priesthood that there are burning men and women in this room who don't care about the name, they don't care about the fame. They don't care about making themselves known, Lord, that you see them in the secret. Your father who sees them in the secret. You're the reward, Jesus. You're the reward.

So what you said, set them apart. Hide these ones. Hide these ones. Hide these ones, Jesus. By the blood of the lamb and Lord, would you raise up that sound, that sound of purity and consecration.

Jesus. It's gonna cut through the noise. It's gonna cut through the noise. Thank you, Jesus. And I just even feel over the room, there's some of you who didn't respond because you feel like you're disqualified.

You don't sing good enough. You don't play good enough. And I just want to say right now, I feel the Lord is going to break off those muzzles off of some of your mouths. The enemy has lied to you, whether you're a musician, whether you're a singer, whatever, even a preacher. If there's some of you in the room, there's been a muzzle over your mouth, over your voice.

So, Holy Spirit, I just ask that you would break off those muzzles off of the voices, off of the throats of men and women in this room, that there would be a release. A release. A release. A release. And God, that we would be unashamed of the gospel.

Unashamed of you, Jesus. Unashamed. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name.