Why Worry?
The Secrets of Contentment
Philippians 4:10-13
September 1, 2013
Ryan Heller
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed,
you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this
because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I
know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the
secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether
living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV)
1) I Have To Learn Contentment
…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Philippians 4:11 (NIV)
2) My Level of Contentment has nothing to do with my Situation
For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in
need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in
any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:11-12 (NIV)
3) My Contentment comes from a relationship with Jesus
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his
sufferings…
Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the
strength and power.
Philippians 4:13 (TLB)
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the
strength and power.
Philippians 4:13 (TLB)
"My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I
am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through
me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our
knowledge of him…
2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)
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How’re we doing this morning? Good to see you guys! Welcome, welcome, welcome.
Welcome to Why Worry Week 2. Last week we kicked off this series Why Worry.
Today we’re going to take what we started last week and build on that a little bit more.
Today we wanna talk about the secrets of contentment. We live in a world that is
discontent. Everywhere we turn we see discontent people. We see discontentment in
our own lives. We wish circumstances could be different. We wish we could have
different experiences. We wish we could tweak this and wish we could tweak that. But
God has a great word for us today about how we can begin to experience his
contentment in our lives. And listen, when God is bringing contentment into your life
there is no reason to worry, which is what we’ve been talking about over the last couple
weeks. Two thousand years ago the apostle Paul wrote these words: I have learned to
be content in all things. The apostle challenges us this morning to live a life that is filled
with contentment. Now, interestingly enough, you would think that somebody talking
about contentment would do so maybe from a beach-side looking out on the beautiful
waves and maybe the sun’s setting. But the apostle Paul wrote these words about
contentment from a prison cell chained to a Roman guard. And it was in that context
that he begins to challenge us this morning about living a life that is filled with
contentment. To be content means actually to be contained. In the language of the New
Testament the word content means contain. A person that is content lives a contained
life. A person that is discontent has uncontained desires. Gotta have more of that, gotta
have more of that. Uncontained. So, to be content means to live that contained life.
Here’s the content questionnaire. I wanna ask you a few questions today. You can
kinda put yourself in the position to listen to these questions. Just think about your life
for just a minute. When people succeed more than you do, how do you feel? Do you
think: man, I wish that I was her? Or do you think: good job; let me applaud them for
their success. Are you frustrated when one of the neighbor’s kids has nicer stuff than
your kids? Here’s another great question: do we hate or judge people we don’t even
know? Did you know we can look at somebody based on what they're wearing, the car
they just got out of, where they're going and we can decide that we don't even like them
and we don’t even know them? Sometimes we can just make those stereotypes, just
those quick judgments. It stems from that discontent in our own life. When we have the
power and the presence of Jesus in our lives it begins to bring about this sense of
contentment. Here's another question: do you struggle with the nothing-is-good-enough
syndrome? Man, my school isn’t good enough, my church isn’t good enough, the
service at the restaurant wasn't good enough, my friends are not good enough. I just
wish everything could be better. Sometimes we can look around and nothing ever
measures up to the standard that we wish that it would. Again we struggle so much with
this sense of contentment. This message is so important because many people are
making foolish decisions in life out of the problem of being discontent. And God is a God
of love, He’s a God of joy, He is the God of peace. And when God is the focus of our
lives he begins to change our perspective and to energize us in the arena of feeling that
sense of contentment.
Discontent could be defined as this: the feeling of sadness, frustration, irritation, or
disappointment with your current situation in life. That’s what it means to be unsatisfied.
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Sheryl Crow wrote that song “Soak up the Sun” a few years ago. She has a great line in
that song and it says it's not having what you want; it’s wanting what you've got. It’s
wanting what you've got. It's being content. So with all that in mind the apostle goes to
the Philippians chapter 4 verse 10 and he says this about being content:
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for
me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to
show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to
be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need,
and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being
content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether
living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me
strength.
Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV)
Paul said I have learned to be content in all situations. So how do we begin to get on
this journey of contentment? How can I begin to change my perspective? How can I
begin to experience the power and the presence of Jesus? Here’s the first thing.
Number one: if you're going to live a life that is full of contentment:
1) I Have To Learn Contentment
It is a learned behavior. It is not something that we just flip a switch. It’s not something
we just go to a conference, read a book, have a couple of experiences. Contentment is
going to require us learning and growing and maturing. And that’s why Philippians 4:11
says:
…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Philippians 4:11 (NIV)
Paul went through some hard times in his life. He had that Damascus Road experience
in Acts chapter 9. He went away after meeting the Lord Jesus they are on the road to
Damascus. And for three years he spent time in the Arabian Desert. God was just kinda
preparing him, getting him ready for the plans that he had for him. I could imagine that
spending three years in the Arabian Desert was one of the most boring places on the
planet to be, but it was in that context that God began to prepare the heart of the
apostle for the things that he had for him to carry out. He had to learn to be content. He
had to learn it.
Now, the opposite of discontent is content. And people who are content in life are not
envious of the things of other people. It’s amazing how envy and discontent go together.
When we are envious of other people the real root of that is we’re not content with
where we are. We wish that we had something that was different. But, listen, when God
begins to work on our heart and the power of Christ begins to take root in our own heart
we begin to feel that sense of contentment. We’re not envious about what other people
have because we’re focused on what God is doing in our lives. And the reality is that
God blesses all different people in all different ways and if we continue to compare
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ourselves other people we will always be frustrated. What God wants to do in our life is
unique and special.
Now this learning to be content is something we have to work on. I remember when I
was a college student I had an opportunity to go to Siberia on a mission trip. Siberia.
I’m talking like Russia Siberia. Big bears all that kinda stuff, in the middle of nowhere.
This place was so far out we had three layovers just to get to the final destination there
in Irkutsk, Siberia. It took forever to get there. It took three days. Unbelievable. The
first leg of the journey we were flying direct to Frankfurt, Germany. And if you’ve ever
flown over the Atlantic Ocean or been on a really long flight, you know that where you
sit and the food that you eat and all that kind of stuff, you appreciate that a little bit
more. My friend that was the organizer of the trip was a fantastic traveler. He had been
to the former Soviet Union a ton of times. He had all these miles. He had all this
seniority with Lufthansa Air. Lufthansa loved my friend. He’s like one of their best
clients. And he asked if they would bump us up to first class and, you know what, they
said yes. So, now I’m flying from the US all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to
Frankfurt, Germany first class on Lufthansa. You know when you’re flying on that
German airliner and you have all these German flight attendants and they’re speaking
to you in that German accent you feel like you’ve really gone somewhere. You’re like
this is cool, man. I want some service. I was eating wild salmon and filet mignon for
meals. Big, fat leather seat. I could turn sideways, prop my feet up kinda place. My own
personalized TV. This was a few years ago. Now everybody's got their own TV, but in
this day and age only the first class passengers had their own television monitor.
Everybody in coach had to watch that one screen. One movie that the airline picked out.
They're bringing me a hot towel to wipe my hands off before meals. Any food or drink
that you could dream of that you want on the flight they’re bringing it. I had three hot
fudge sundaes on the way over. I was living large. And then they brought out this
leather shaving kit. It had the Lufthansa logo on the side. You opened it up, it had like a
fresh pair of socks, a toothbrush, a razor, shaving cream, and toothpaste. I kept that for
years. I loved that little shaving kit. It was awesome. I didn’t even want to get off the
plane when I got to Frankfurt, Germany. I thought oh my goodness if this is what
mission work is all about, I’m liking this. God is at work here.
So we go on over to Siberia, we have a great time, a couple weeks later we’re coming
back and I said to my friend now when you go check us in at the counter you need to
remind them who you are. And you need to tell them that we need first class seats
going back. And he said I'll do my best, Ryan. So he went up to the counter and, you
know what, he was totally shot down. Now we have to ride in coach class. Oh my
goodness. And to make matters worse we were like two or three rows back from first
class, so I could look up into first class and see everything that was going on. The
curtain was tilting back and forth. I could smell the filet mignon being cooked. I could
see the hot fudge sundaes being distributed and I was eating a turkey sandwich. Can
you believe that? I had some big old hairy guy sitting next to me breathing on me, up in
my body space. I didn’t have my own TV monitor. I didn't have my own shaving kit. Man,
life was hard. It was really tough. I had to go to the bathroom and I could either go to
the very back of the plane or I could go up into first class. Nobody was really looking so
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I like snuck up into first class, went to the bathroom, I was trying to get back to coach
where I was accosted by the flight attendant. You are not allowed to use the bathroom
in first class if you're a coach passenger. I was like but I flew first class last time. I was
trying to explain myself. Flying coach probably wouldn't have been that bad if I had
never been in first class.
Paul says I know what it's like to have a lot and I know what it's like to have a little. If all
you’ve had is just a little you don't even know what a lot is like. But Paul lived a life
pretty high on the hog. He was a Pharisee, he was and intellectual, he was educated,
he was respected, he was loved, he was an important part of the Jewish society and
culture. And then he became a follower of Jesus and then he became an outlaw. Then
he became somebody that they were trying to take his life. Then he became an inmate
and a prisoner. But Paul said in spite of all that I know how to ride in first class and I
know how to ride in coach class, but it doesn't matter where I am or what’s going on, I
have learned to be content in all things.
And that is what God wants for you and for me is for us to learn to be content regardless
of what's going on, regardless of what the circumstances are. Now, people say well
does that mean that I have to enjoy what's going on in my life? Absolutely not. You can
be content and be in a very difficult situation. Your heart can be breaking, you can be in
the midst of overwhelming adversity and still be content because of what God is doing
in your life. So your circumstances can be off the chain, can be falling apart, and you
can still have that still, steady power and strength and spiritual reservoir in your life by
the power of Jesus. It doesn't mean that everything that you're going through you enjoy.
And it doesn't mean that you're lazy. It doesn't mean that you just sit around and say
wow I'll make a C even though I could make an A. That’s not what it means to be
content. We need to learn to be content while we are still being diligent and faithful with
the things that God gives to us. But we realize that the power of a contented life is
based on the Lord Jesus and not on us.
At the Edge Church we’re learning to be content. Several weeks ago we were supposed
to move into our new building. And we were all really excited about that. And I believe
we’re going to be moving into that building in the very near future. But we signed a
contract in June and the other group has not held up their end of the bargain and so
we’re waiting on them. And we were really excited about having worship over at the Taj
Mahal because it's a nice building. If you haven't been over there it’s pretty cool. It’s a
great place. And we’re still here at Liberty Middle School. But, let me remind you this: it
doesn’t matter where we worship God. God’s going to continue to change lives. God’s
going to impact people. Last week five people committed their lives to Christ here at the
Edge Church. You know it just doesn't matter whether we’re here or there. We’re going
to be content in all things. We’re excited about that, we’re looking forward to that, we
believe that's going to happen, but in the meantime this is where we are and we’re
going to be satisfied, we’re to be content with where we are today while we’re keeping
that eye on the future. So whether we have a lot or a little we need to be able to say I’m
content in all things.
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You know they say that America has 4% of the world's kids and that we buy 40% of the
world's toys. It’s kinda interesting isn’t it? We live in an age where kids are taught to be
discontent by parents. Discontent parents teach discontent kids. My kids are four and
six, so they’re little. They’re just now getting big enough to realize that some of their
friends have some stuff that they don’t have. We’ve kept them kinda isolated from that,
thank goodness, up until this point. But, boy, it all came out the last couple of weeks.
My kids have been hanging out with the “tweeners” on the block. Like the kids that are
like 10-12, the wannabe teenagers. And so my six year old came to me and said, Dad,
let me tell you the things that I now need and he listed off these things. He said I need
a Kindle Fire, I need a Wii, me and my sister need new bikes, I need a skateboard, and
a cell phone, and I need an iPod to listen to while I’m riding my skateboard. And I said
we just took the training wheels off your bike. You couldn’t even ride your bike how are
you going to ride a skateboard? And I like the PlayStation 2 that we’ve got. I’m still kind
of enjoying that. It’s kinda funny, isn’t it? If you’re a parent, you want to give your kid
everything you can. But, you know what, that’s not always the best thing. We’ve been
teaching our kids that you can have some of those things but you can't have everything
in life that you want. And it’s better to learn that as a kid today than to learn that as an
adult tomorrow, right? So if you're a parent bless your kids, but don’t give them
everything that they want because what we’ll do is we’ll just feed this discontent. Paul
said I have learned to be content in all things.
Here’s the second thing:
2) My Level of Contentment has nothing to do with my Situation
It is independent of my circumstances.
For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Philippians 4:11 (NIV)
That’s what he said in verse 11. See a lot of times we think is if I could just change my
relationship status I would feel content, if I could just get a better job I would feel a little
but more content, if there's one scenario would just shift a little bit then I would feel
content. And we keep waiting to feel content until everything gets perfectly aligned kinda
like in our mind. But, Paul said I’ve learned to be content it doesn’t matter what’s going
on. And, listen, if everything in your life has to be in perfect order for you to feel a sense
of contentment you probably never will because you cannot control most things in life.
You can’t control the stock market, you cannot control the economy, you cannot control
whether our nation goes to war, you cannot control what your boss does, you cannot
control the weather, you cannot control so many other things we could just list off today.
But there is one thing you can control that's what your heart is doing with Jesus Christ.
That's why we ought to focus on him rather than all of the peripheral type stuff because
if we believe that all those things have to get an order we’re going to be really frustrated
with life.
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And here's the beauty: when you live a life that is filled with contentment, when you're
able to say with the apostle Paul I'm content in all things, I'm riding first class, I’m riding
coach class, I can be content. When you can begin to say that with the apostle you will
live a life that demands explanation. People who don't know the Lord will begin to look
at you and to say how could she have a sense of contentment while they are going
through that? Or how could he be so calm and have so much peace when this is going
on? And people will begin to look at our lives and to inquire where is that spiritual
strength? Where is that reservoir of spiritual energy that sustains us? And that's the
highest honor for a Christian is that people would look at our lives and they would say
man, I want what she’s got or man, I want what he’s got. The secret of contentment.
You would think that if money could solve all the problems in the world that all of these
lottery winners would be like so happy. They did a survey, said only 50% of lottery
winners three years later said that they were happier than they were before. That’s
amazing, isn’t it? People were winning millions of dollars and they wouldn’t feel like
their life was happier. Maybe it was because they had an experience like Amanda
Clayton. She was young, single mom in Michigan that won 1 million bucks. And she
was kinda famous because she was collecting food stamps after she won the million
bucks and she got in trouble for that. Only a few months after her winning this million
dollars, she killed herself in a drug overdose. A million dollars. Wow. Then there was a
man that won $37 million. His name was Billy Bob Harrell. He won the Texas jackpot in
1997. He went on out-of-control spending frenzy. Spent all of his money. Ruined his
marriage. His wife left. He went nuts. Then after he spent all of his money he realized
the only thing he wanted was his wife, but his wife didn’t want to get back together with
him. So, he ended his life after winning $37 million. There’s also a guy named Juan
Rodriguez. He had won $149 million in the New York lottery. That is a lot of money.
$149 million, oh my goodness. His wife had kicked him out only a few weeks before he
purchased that lottery ticket. Now, amazingly, they got back together. If your exspouse wins $149 million you may want to…well you know what I’m saying. So, they
get back together for a few weeks, she takes half the earnings and half the lottery, and
splits. You would think that for $149 million you could hire enough therapists,
counselors, you could get enough medication, you could have enough vacation homes,
boats, airplanes, whatever to make life really good and happy. And yet it wasn’t enough
to save their relationship.
You see what we need is not to change more circumstances. What we need is to
change us. We’re praying for God to change all the stuff and God’s saying I want to
change you. I want to change your heart. I want to change your identity. We don’t need
outside props of wealth or material gain or clothes or financial security to remain happy.
If we have to have all those things to prop us up then we’ve not understood the power of
Jesus Christ. You may think well, but Ryan you don’t understand my life. If you knew
the problems I had. I don’t know about that. Let me remind you this was the apostle
Paul's background: he was beaten, whipped, shipwrecked, jailed, stoned (That is with
stones. Everybody’s like let me think about that), he was without food, without friends,
he didn't have any money, and he was periodically chained up in jail, so without
freedom. It wasn’t like Paul had this life that was handed to him on a silver platter.
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Everything was just perfect, easy, predictable, simple, luxurious. No, no, no, no. But
Paul said I have learned the secret of being content. He was talking about going
through some really hard stuff in his life, but yet still the power and the presence of
Jesus was in his life. So, how does that happen? What we have to understand is this:
3) My Contentment comes from a relationship with Jesus
If you're going to live a life of contentment it's not about your wealth, it’s not about your
outside props, it’s not about who you know, it’s not about what degrees you have, it’s
not about so many other things that we focus on. It’s about knowing him. That’s why in
chapter 3, verse 10 the apostle says:
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and
participation in his sufferings…
Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
When you’re focused on knowing Christ you aren’t focused on having a bigger office, or
where your name is printed, or whatever everybody thinks about you, or how beautiful
you are. You are focused on something that’s different. And you’ll notice in chapter 3
he says I want to know Christ, but it’s in chapter 4 he says:
For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives
me the strength and power.
Philippians 4:13 (TLB)
You see the knowing comes before the being. If you want to have a certain experience,
it comes out of knowing. A lot of times we think well I want the five easy steps to the
contented life. Maybe you read an article about that, or a book or whatever. It’s easier
to just check that box and check that box and check that box and check that box. And
the Bible says it’s not really about any of that. It’s about knowing Christ. Because when
you are knowing Christ, you’re growing in Christ, you’re hearing his voice, you’re being
encouraged by Christ, you’re being directed by Christ. When Christ is the center of your
life then it doesn’t matter what’s going on with all this other stuff. God is the only thing
that is consistent in the universe that we live in. We try to build our lives around all
these things that are constantly changing that we have no control over. But, God is like
this; he is steady, strong. He is always the same. He is unchanging. And that’s why to
live a contented life is to know Christ. If we base our life on the circumstances, the ups
and downs, we’re going to be emotionally unstable, all over the place, upset, frustrated,
whatever it may be.
Meeting and knowing are different. Philippians 13 says:
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
By the way sometimes we see this verse quoted. This is one of the most quoted verses
in the Bible. Even if you're not a Christian you probably know this verse. And people
love this verse. It is a great verse. But, you know, a lot of times we take it out of the
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context. We pull it out of what’s going on in Philippians chapter 4. What do verses 11
and 12 say right before? It’s talking about contentment. I’ve learned to be content in all
things. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. The context is not
winning the Super Bowl, it’s not being magna cum laude, it’s not being CEO. That’s not
what the Bible’s talking about. It’s talking about being content in all things. And when
you begin to web Philippians 4:13 with the context of what’s going on you see that God
wants us to be content in all scenarios and that we are capable of doing so when our
eyes and our focus are on Jesus Christ.
I went to a private Christian school and we had some sweatbands made up for the
football team that we would wear. Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ
who gives me strength. I was like we’re winning the state championship. Right there
baby! Before games I was wiping it on my helmet, you know. Wiping it on my legs a
little bit. Ready to go. I wanted to go over and wipe it on my quarterback’s hands so
he’d throw me the ball instead of throwing all of those interceptions that he threw all the
time. Philippians 4:13. No kidding, the very first varsity game that I played in as a junior
we lost 73-0. That is humiliating. When the coach’s telling you to punt on third down
instead of forth down, that’s bad. That’s real bad. And the other team had this running
back. I got to tell you this. This running back his name was Greg Hill. He went on and
became an All-American running back at Texas A&M and then he played in the NFL for
about five or six years. He was a very good football player. Every time he touched the
ball it was like six points. We were all kinda like this, you know, trying to find the guy.
Trying to tackle him. 73-0. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. 730. I was trying to put that together. How can that work? Because see that verse wasn’t
about winning football games. That verse was about doing whatever God has called us
to do. I love The Living Bible paraphrase. We need to check this out. The Living Bible
paraphrase of this verse:
For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives
me the strength and power.
Philippians 4:13 (TLB)
You know why a lot of people are so frustrated? Because they're trying to do a bunch of
stuff that God never told them to do. And they wonder why am I so disappointed, why
am I so upset, why do I feel so negative. What if we begin to align ourselves? Whatever
God calls us to do, God’s going to give you the strength. If God calls you to get a
degree, He’s going to give you the strength to do it. If God calls you to be a spouse,
He’s going to give you the strength to do it. If God calls you to be a parent, He’s going
to give you the strength to do it. Whatever God calls you to do, He’s going to give you
the strength to accomplish the task. So be encouraged today. But what if we begin to
focus less on the things that we wanted to do and more on the things that God wanted
us to do. I wonder how it would begin to change our experience. Notice 2 Corinthians
12:9. It gives us a little more flavor here:
"My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your
weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the
power of Christ may work through me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)
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When you are weak that's when you're strong. People who think that they’re strong
don’t see their need for God, and God's strength and God's power does not work in their
lives. When you are weak you are actually stronger. See when you feel vulnerable,
when you fell exposed, when you feel uncertain, that’s the moment when God begins to
work a miracle in your life by giving you the power and the strength that you need to
carry on. 2 Peter 1:3 says:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him…
2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Everything that God has called you to do. He’s gonna give you the strength to
accomplish the task at hand. To live a Godly life. To be a person of commitment. To
follow through with the things that God has put in your heart.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)
That power is the power of the resurrected Christ. It’s all about knowing Him. If you want
to live a life of contentment, focus your life on Jesus Christ. If you want to live a life of
discontentment, focus your life on yourself. It’s a choice we have to make. So are we
gonna focus on the negativity, selfishness, our own appetites, or the things of God. God
wants us to be able to say whether we are in first class or coach class, I have learned to
be content in all things. Whether it’s 73-0 or 0-73, God wants us to learn to be content in
all things and we do so by the power of Jesus Christ. Focusing on Him.
Let’s just pray together for just a moment while nobody’s moving around and God’s just
moving in our midst right now. And everyone’s just kind of quiet for just a moment, we
bow our heads and close our eyes. Would you just say Ryan pray for me this morning?
Ryan pray for me, that I would be content. I wanna be able to say, I want to say, man I
have learned the secrets of contentment. Would you just pray? Lift your hand up if you’d
say Ryan pray for me. Yeah thank you, thank you, thank you, yeah thank you in the
back, I see you. Thank you thank you. Listen I know how challenging it is to struggle
with the issues of contentment and I wanna pray for you today. God I pray for the power
of Jesus to take over our lives in such a way that we are solely worried about you and
focused on you God. And not just our own selfish ambitions or desires. God I would
pray that we would get lost in seeking your face, in seeking your goodness, in seeing
your grace. And I pray that this morning, you would energize this church. And I pray for
every person that’s lifted their hand today, that God you would do something powerful
and something liberating and something awesome in this room today. And while our
heads are bowed and our eyes are closed for just a moment longer, others of us today
have never met this great God. This great God that gives us contentment and hope
when the world around us seems to be shattering and falling apart. I’m gonna give you
an opportunity to open your heat to Jesus Christ just as I did in our first two services this
morning. Both services, people raised their hand and said man I wanna follow Jesus for
the very first time. And I wanna pray for you today. Would you just say man today, Ryan
I wanna follow Jesus, I want to invite Him into my life, I want to meet this great God. I
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want to lead you in a word of prayer. If you’ll just hold up your hand in this moment, I’ll
lead you in a word of prayer. Pray with me right now, make this your prayer: Say Lord,
please forgive my sins. I’m putting my faith in Jesus and what He did at the Cross and
the resurrection in order that I can receive new life in you. In order that I can receive
new life in you. Now Lord, give me the strength to live a life that is filled with Your power
and Your strength. We pray this in your wonderful, wonderful name. Amen.
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