(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

If you're with us for the first time this weekend, or you missed last weekend, we started a brand new teaching series that we have titled, Bringing Up There, Down Here.

And we're gonna continue that teaching series over the next few weeks, talking about bringing heaven to earth and what that really means in the life of the church, what that means in the life of this earth, what it means in the life of the community.

And you know, we were created for that.

The whole reason we're here on earth is to bring up there, down here.

Come on somebody.

Yeah, it's the whole reason you're walking on the planet.

You know, you may have missed that with your life, but you know what, God wants to reinstate that purpose in your heart and your life, so you can live that out all the days of your life.

If you have your Bibles with you today, I'm gonna invite you to open them up to Genesis chapter one.

And we're gonna see that this is what we are created for, to bring up there, down here, to bring the presence of God from the heavens into the earth and permeate this earth with his amazing presence.

Genesis one, beginning with verse 26, says this, that God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us.

They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.

So God created human beings in his own image.

In the image of God, he created them male and female.

Look at your neighbor and say, there's two genders.

Go ahead and tell them there's two genders.

Male and female.

And then God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply.

Fill the earth and govern it.

Everybody say govern it.

Govern it.

Some translation would say, fill the earth and subdue it.

Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.

Now that's so much more than just a cute fairy tale.

It's the literal reason God created people in his image, both male and female.

And it's to basically bring light into darkness, to bring heaven into earth, to bring the presence of the living God here on this planet in spite of what else is going on.

God created this man and woman named Adam and Eve in our Bible, and he placed them in a perfect, palatious place.

It was the Garden of Eden.

And what they were to do was to be fruitful and multiply and push out of the Garden of Eden into all the earth and subdue the earth and bring God's presence into all the earth.

It's what human beings were created for.

But the Bible says that instead of subduing the earth, that they were seduced by the enemy in the garden.

And you know what?

They missed the mark and fell into sin and missed God's plan for their life.

It says it this way in Genesis 3, verses four through seven, that God said, don't eat of a certain tree or you will die.

And the enemy came and said, no, you won't die.

The serpent replied to the woman.

God knows that your eyes will be open as soon as you eat it and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.

And the woman was convinced.

She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her, that the tree would give her.

She wanted the wisdom that the tree would give her instead of living by the wisdom that God had given her.

And the Bible says, so she took some of the fruit and she ate it, and then she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it too.

All at that very moment, their eyes were open and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.

So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

They wanted the wisdom of knowing instead of knowing and trusting God's wisdom.

They wanted the wisdom of knowing things for themselves instead of trusting the creator of the universe, walking in his authority and his power, being exactly who he said they could be in this earth.

They wanted the wisdom that come from a tree.

The Bible says, so they missed the mark of God's glorious standard.

If you're new to church, that's what the word sin literally means.

It means missing the mark of God's glorious standard for humanity, and the Bible says, now we've all inherited a sin nature, and we've all missed God's glorious standard with our life.

But we learned last weekend that Jesus came to forgive us of that sin and take that authority that the enemy stole from the humans in the garden and give it back to us so that we could be reinstated to God's plan and live out in the fullness of who he says we are all the days of our life.

The Bible says after Jesus defeated death, he defeated the grave, he defeated sin, and he rose from that grave before he ascended to heaven.

He came to his first followers, and he told his disciples in Matthew 28, verses 18 and 19, he says, I've been given all authority.

Everybody say authority.

And he says, not only authority in the heavens, but I've been given the authority on the earth.

Now you need to go and make disciples of all nations.

So again, man gave his authority away to the enemy in the garden, the authority God had given them to subdue the earth and push back darkness and bring the light of God into the earth.

Man gave that authority away to the enemy.

But Jesus came to take that authority back, and he's given us the keys of the kingdom now, and now we can walk in the fullness of who we say we are.

But we have to come underneath his authority and begin to let him speak into our life.

And my friend, this is what it really means to believe in Jesus.

It means to accept what he did on a cross for the forgiveness of your sin, but come underneath his authority, his lordship, and begin to let him tell you how to hit the mark of his glorious standard and walk it out all the days of your life.

Come on, somebody.

It's a beautiful thing.

You know, oftentimes, we can use an analogy of sports to begin to explain what I'm talking about today.

If you have ever played any kind of sport and you have been coached along the journey and you were basically doing things that wasn't gonna, say, in football, score touchdowns or baseball, hit home runs, or in basketball, put the ball through the net, and you were doing things to keep you from doing that, you know what, hopefully you'd have a coach to come and tell you that you were missing or you're shooting baskets in the wrong end for the wrong team.

Come on, somebody.

And literally, Jesus came to tell every single one of us that we have missed at God's glorious standard.

As a matter of fact, he gave something called the Ten Commandments, the law of God, to help humanity know that they've missed at the character of God and the things of God.

And the Bible says he gave the law to Moses.

And if you study throughout the Bible, we understand that that law is to help us realize that we have missed.

And when you look at the law, it should be a good coach to you to say, oh, shoot, I'm missing.

But see, God's so much more than somebody who just tells you that you missed.

He begins to communicate to you how to hit the mark at God's glorious standard, how to be all God's designed you to be.

And a good coach is not only gonna come to you and tell you you've missed, a good coach is going to come to you, tell you you missed.

And every time you miss, he's gonna convict you that you missed, but he's not only gonna convict you that you've missed, he's gonna begin to coach you into getting that right so you begin to hit the mark, score the touchdown, hit the ball, put the ball through the net, and this is who Jesus is, my friend, if you will come underneath his authority.

Yeah.

He loves you way too much to leave you the same.

He loves you way too much to leave you dying in the pit of sin.

But we have to begin to understand that God has come to empower us to live out that new assignment.

He gives us a new birth.

The Bible says we're a new creation in Christ Jesus.

We've been born again.

That's crazy talk, unless you understand what that really means.

And Jesus, he came to a man, or a man came to him in the night and began to talk about, you know what, how to be made right with God.

He began to talk about how to learn to live out his purpose.

And his name was Nicodemus, and we're gonna look at that in just a little bit.

But what's interesting is Jesus told him, you know what, Nicodemus, you'll never see the kingdom of God if you're not born again.

And what I feel is that there's many people that are walking around here on planet Earth, and it looks like the lights are on, but nobody's home.

But in other words, has the light really penetrated your hearts to change your life, to change your direction, so that you can walk in the fullness of who God says you are?

And today we're gonna learn how to do that, because truly God's word from front to back begins to communicate humanity's assignment.

And it's to bring up there, down here.

But if we're gonna bring up there, down here, we have to realize who Jesus is, and then we have to come underneath his lordship, his leadership, his authority, and then we're able to begin to walk that out as a community of people in this world.

That's what the church is.

The church is to bring light, everybody say light.

Into darkness.

And today we're gonna learn about that in 2 Corinthians chapter three, verses five through 17.

2 Corinthians chapter three, and we're gonna start with verse five, and I'm gonna read through verse 17.

And the writer here, Paul, is writing the church at Corinth, and he's beginning to teach them about the power of God, and how being born again can begin to change their life, if they'll come underneath the authority of God, and live that out.

The Bible says it this way in 2 Corinthians three, verses five through 17.

The writer says, our qualification, speaking of himself and some other believers, he says, our qualification comes from God.

He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant, everybody say new covenant.

This is the covenant, not written laws, but of the spirit.

The old written covenant ends in death, speaking of the law of Moses, actually.

He says, but under the new covenant, the spirit gives life.

They say life.

The old way with the laws etched in stone led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses' face, for his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.

Shouldn't we expect far greater glory under the new way?

The Holy Spirit has given life.

Everybody say life.

What does the Holy Spirit do gives us what?

Life.

Everybody say life.

If the old way which brings condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way which makes us right with God?

In fact, the first glory was not glorious at all compared with the over-wearing glory of this new way.

So if the old way which has been replaced was glorious, how much more glorious is the new which remains forever?

Since this new way gives us such confidence, he says, we can be very bold.

So the new way, being born of the spirit gives you what?

Confidence for what purpose?

So you can be bold.

He says, this new way gives me confidence so that I can be bold in this earth and begin to do what God's assigned me to do and subdue the earth instead of letting the earth seduce me.

He goes on to say, we are not like Moses who put a veil over his face.

That's not what the church is about today.

So the people of Israel will not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.

But the people's mind in that day, they were hardened.

And to this day, whenever the old covenant is being read, that same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth.

And it says, and this veil, it can be removed only by believing in Christ.

Christ, the anointed one, Jesus.

The Bible says it can only be removed by believing in Jesus.

Yes, even today, when we read the, when the writings are read, their hearts are covered with the veil and they do not understand.

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, speaking of Jesus, the veil is what?

Taken away.

For the Lord is spirit and wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So all of us who have had this veil removed, all of us who have believed in the finished work of Christ and have been born again, can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.

And the Lord who is spirit does something in that process.

The Lord who is spirit does something in the process.

He makes us more and more like him and we are changed into his glorious image.

That's a beautiful passage of scripture because that passage of scripture begins to tell us if we're living in the darkness and we don't have a sense of purpose in this world and we're not waking up every day with a purpose in this world to bring up there, down here, how we can begin to do it.

It says the first way to do this is by what?

Believing in Christ.

Believing in Jesus.

Because believing in Jesus will open the eyes of your heart, open the eyes of your spirit so that you can run after the things that God designed you to do.

But understand, the enemy is coming to this world to deceive you and to begin to leave you in the dark so that you don't accomplish these great things.

And he wants you to die.

No matter how many years you live on this planet, he wants you to die in that darkness.

He never wants you to discover your purpose and walk it out all the days of your life because he knows that you know what?

Humanity was created for a purpose and it is simply to bring God's presence in this earth and to push darkness out and to bring the light in so God rules and reigns here as he does in heaven.

Come on, somebody.

And the only way, my friend, if you're living in loneliness, you're living in bitterness, you're living in jealousy, you're living in hatred, you're living in fear, the only way to begin to step into this purpose boldly is by believing in Christ Jesus and what he came to do on a cross and through his resurrection.

He came to die a death on a cross to pay the penalty for humanity's sin.

The Bible says it's why he shed his blood on that cross and anyone who would so ever believe in his finished work would not perish, would not waste away, but would have eternal life.

Come on, somebody, I don't know where you are today, I don't know where every soul in this room is today, I don't know how many times you've been in church or around church, but I'm here to tell you, I'm preaching the good news of who Jesus is.

And if you have not believed in the work of Jesus Christ on that cross for the forgiveness of your sin, today would be a good day to believe, begin the walk in the fullness of who he says you are.

My friends, it doesn't mean that we don't have some struggles in life, but what it does mean is that we can begin to be illuminated to his purpose and begin to live that out all the days of your life.

And again, a man named Nicodemus, who was a religious man, who knew the law of God, the covenant of God, knew that he had missed the mark of God's glorious standard, was convicted of his sin, he was a religious leader in his day, and the Bible says that he comes to Jesus in the dark and he begins to ask Jesus about how to have eternal life.

And the Bible says there was a man, verse one, John chapter three, his name was Nicodemus, he was a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.

After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus, Rabbi, he said, we all know that God has sent you to teach us, teacher, he says, we know that there's a God who sent you to teach us.

Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you, in other words, we see the miracles you're doing, you're healing people, you're making the blind see again, the deaf hear again, you're providing food from heaven for large crowds of people, you're turning water into wine at a wedding, we see the miracles and it's evidence that you must come from God because only God could do these kind of miracles.

And Jesus replied, I'll tell you the truth, unless you are born again, everybody say born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God.

You cannot even see the kingdom of God.

And maybe you're in here today and you can't see by faith the kingdom of God.

I'm here to tell you, you will never see the kingdom of God until you begin to believe in Jesus and what he's done on a cross and what he's did through his resurrection.

It is how your eyes begin to be open, it's what it means to be born again.

God is so good in his mercy, he is so great in his grace, he chooses to do something about humanity's a problem and he gives the life of his one and only son so that we can begin to see the kingdom and bring up there, down here.

Nicodemus says in verse four, what do you mean, Nicodemus explained, how can an old man go into his mother's womb and be born again?

Jesus replied, I assure you that no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and of the spirit.

Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

The Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

I can come talk to you about Jesus, I can give you testimony about Jesus, I can live out my gift moments, or my gift mix and do all I can to bring you to the feet of Jesus, but understand it is the spirit of the living God that blows where he wants to, when he wants to, how he wants to, that opens the eyes of your heart.

When you take your faith, not your grandmama's faith, not your uncle's faith, not your kid's faith, but when you take your faith and you put it in Jesus Christ, the wind, the breath of God blows on that heart and begins to put God in you.

You're born of God, you're born of the spirit, you're not just born to a mama and a daddy here on earth, you're born with purpose, you're born with destiny, you're born with life, you're born with the newness of life, and now you can come to God, you can connect with your God, and you can get a download from heaven and bring heaven up there, down here.

Come on church, it's what we're here for.

We can see by faith and walk it out here on this earth.

Do you walk by faith or walk by sight?

I'm hungry for God to work in us and work through us.

I'm ready for God to work in us and work through us.

I come expecting when God puts his people together with the gifts that he gave his people, that great and marvelous and powerful things are going to happen.

My eyes have been opened to the kingdom.

Come on somebody, has yours, has yours, or all you're worried about is what's gonna come on Fox News tomorrow or CNN or whatever channel you watch.

Because see, some of us are just seeing those facts, or whatever they are on the news, and not walking by faith in the facts.

And it doesn't mean that many of those things aren't true, it's just that if your eyes are focused on those things, and you haven't been born again and your eyes open to heavenly things, you'll misconstrue all of the things that are going on here in the earth.

And what I mean by that, you'll begin to think, you know what, that it's never going to be any different.

And you'll lay down and you will depress yourself and you will quit.

But God has called his people to see the better day, to see what's ahead, to see what's coming.

And yeah, it might get bad before it gets better, but we have had our eyes open.

We have been born again, born anew, born of the Spirit, and we're going to walk by faith through the valleys, through the darkness, and be who God's designed us to be.

The Bible says we have the opportunity.

We can see, and we can reflect what's up there, down here, if we've been born again.

But again, you have to make that personal decision.

I'm going to give you the opportunity to do that today at the end of this service.

But you've got to bow your head, you've got to surrender your heart, you've got to believe for yourself in who Jesus is.

You've got to be presenting the gospel of who Jesus is.

And then you have to respond.

You know what?

You have to respond when the Spirit of the living God blows your way.

He will birth you anew and bring you into the kingdom.

And my guarantee is this, he will not leave you the same.

He will begin to work in you, and he will work through you, and he will begin to connect you.

And in the days of your life, you've got to make a conscious effort to connect with what he's doing.

He's at work, my friends.

He's at work.

God is at work.

Understand he ain't missing nothing that's going on.

And he will fulfill his plan.

He made a declaration in Genesis 3, after that first man and that first woman fell into a sin, fell away from God, and began to live with shame of their nakedness.

God made a declaration to the enemy.

He says, you will strike my heel, but I will crush your head.

Come on, somebody.

My son will crush your head.

And understand, God's not finished yet.

The work on the cross is finished, but God's not finished.

The Bible says he sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty right now, pouring out his Spirit on men and women alike in this earth.

Have you ever thought about why he's doing that?

It's simply so we can permeate this earth with his presence, pours it out on men and women alike.

Slap your neighbor and tell them women's imported.

Go ahead and tell them women's imported.

Come on.

Slap your other neighbor and say, men are too.

Go ahead and tell them men are too.

Bible says he's poured out his Spirit.

The Holy Spirit on men and women alike.

In this age to permeate his presence into this earth.

I believe that with all of my heart.

I believe that God is doing what he says he's doing in his word, and we have to believe it by faith.

We have to trust it by faith.

We have to walk in it by faith.

The lights are on, my friend, if you have believed in Jesus Christ.

And I'm encouraging you to walk in all he says you can be.

Just look back at 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18, Paul wrote the church at Corinth this, he says, so all of us who have had the veil removed can see, everybody say can see, can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.

And the Lord who is the Spirit makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

So we have the opportunity to see into the kingdom and see Jesus by faith and begin to operate in this earth underneath his power and walk in it all the days of our life.

We have that opportunity.

But my friends, I think some of us are just seeing Jesus for who he was instead of who he is.

And I need you to understand something today.

God don't want you just to see Jesus for who he was before the cross.

He wants you to understand the power of the resurrection and walk in it.

Listen to me.

This is really important.

Where is Jesus now?

The Bible says he's ascended into the heavens.

The Bible says he is coming back.

The Bible says he is seated in a place of honor at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, because he was submitted all the days of his life.

The Bible says the power of God, the Spirit of God elevated him from the grave, lifted him out of the grave after he defeated sin.

The Bible says he ascended into heaven and he is sitting there right now.

That is where he is.

Do you see Jesus where he is?

Because it's really important for us not to just see where he was and be servants.

We should be servants.

We should do what Jesus did when he was here on earth.

But let's go beyond that and let's see the power of the resurrection and begin to see where he is.

Listen to what the scripture says in 1 John 4, verse 17.

It says love, the whole thing is speaking on loving God and loving others, it says love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because what?

Because as he is, so we are in the world.

We can have boldness one day when Jesus returns and we all stand before the judgment of God.

Why?

Because we're living in this world currently right now as he is, come on somebody, he is full of love.

We're living in this world as he is operating underneath the same power that elevated him from the grave.

So understand why you've been given a spiritual gift.

No matter what that gift is, no matter whether you're sitting on the top row up in the upper level or you're sitting right here on the front row, the whole reason that God has poured out his spirit on men and women alike and given you a gift is so that you can see the kingdom, be forgiven of your sin, see the kingdom, begin to operate down here like it is up there, participating with the gift he gave you in the local church, being the body of Christ, serving humanity, loving humanity, exercising God's power among humanity to shine this amazing light of Christ Jesus in this world.

It's not just a human effort.

It's operating underneath the power of the most holy God.

He's imparted his spirit to you, my friend, the holy spirit, the set apart spirit.

He gave it to you.

He gave him to you to make your spirit everything it's designed to be.

But if you're only looking at who he was, suffering servant, and you're not seeing a resurrected Christ with great power, defeating the enemy and overcoming, you're missing so much in this world.

The Bible says here in 1 John that here's the deal, as he is, so we are in the world.

That speaks volumes to me.

Because God says that we're to operate in this world as he is with his holy spirit.

We're to operate in this world as he currently is.

You know what, and so everything we do here is to begin to show who he is.

Ma'am, he is resting in the father's presence.

He is an overcomer.

He is putting every enemy under his feet.

The Bible says he is patiently waiting.

He is actively advocating for you and me in the heavens.

He is living and he is powerful.

He is full of love and he has made a way to us through the work of the holy spirit.

Wow.

Living as he is.

Do you see it?

Because the Bible says you can only see the kingdom and literally the things of the kingdom when the spirit opens your eyes, you're born again because of your belief in Jesus.

You begin to operate differently.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 6, verses 30 and 33, when he was walking here on earth.

He asked the disciples, why do you have so little faith?

They were worried about everything.

He says, so don't worry about these things, what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear.

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly father already knows your needs.

You know what he says?

Seek.

Everybody say seek.

Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need.

See those whose eyes have been opened because they've been born again because of what Christ Jesus has done on the cross and through his resurrection and we see the kingdom.

The Bible says I only see the kingdom.

The way we see greater is we continue to seek, run after it.

It's not just a weak class.

Discipleship is for life and what I mean by that is it's constantly seeing new things, seeing the great things that God's doing among his people, being willing to shift and change with the spirit of God as he's walking in the life of the church, as he's walking with his church in a community, as the world is taking on different nuances of darkness, that means the church has to step into greater forms of light among those nuances and we have to begin to step fully into that.

It doesn't change the good news of who Christ is, but how we administrate that good news oftentimes has to be done a little differently in order to reach into the hearts of people with the goodness of God.

Come on somebody.

And so what I'm preaching here today is simply if we're going to bring up there, down here, we got to have our eyes open, got to be born again, but we have to see, we have to seek, we have to run after the things of the kingdom and keep on keeping on bringing up there.

Down here.

Come on somebody.

It's what you're created for, it gets you out of bed in the mornings, it'll get you over illness, it'll get you over sickness, it'll get you over the relational challenges, it'll get you through the tough things in life.

Listen to this.

When your purpose is greater than your problem, purpose begins to triumph the problem.

Oh, that's deep.

Some people say, preacher, would you go deep?

I'm going deep right now.

But you have to have a sense of kingdom purpose every day of your life.

And it doesn't mean that that stuff ain't hurting.

It don't mean it's not difficult.

It don't mean that the facts of the world are the facts of the world.

But what it does mean is because my and your eyes have been open.

We walk by faith and not by sight.

My friend, God said we can bring up there, down here.

And my encouragement to you today, I don't care who you are, Mr. Bob, I'm glad you turned 95 last week, but don't you quit.

It ain't over.

And the reality of it is, is too many people are quitting on the church's assignment today.

And if you would just begin to grasp this in your heart, God will begin to do these amazing things through the life of the church and begin to change the planet.

I believe things are going to change because God is who he says he is.

Come on.

So bring it up there, down here is not just seeing the glory of God, the majesty of God, the risen savior in the fullness of his majesty, but it's reflecting the glory and change in the world.

Look what it says, 2 Corinthians 3, 18, again, it says, so all of us who have had the veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.

And the Lord who is the spirit makes us, changes us, makes us, come on, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Again, he changes the heart of the believer, he changes the church, he changes us into his glorious image.

He adds the gifts so that we can begin to change the world, but see, reflecting requires faith.

And when we put that faith to work, Christ makes us more and more like him.

Reflecting what's up there, down here, what we see in the spirit, what we see is a risen glorious savior, operating in faith, reflecting that in the world by faith, requires, requires us to put it into action, requires us to operate by faith.

In other words, if you're not operating in this world to bring up there, down here, and we're not being changed more and more to his glorious image, then you're really missing the whole point of why God came to save you anyway.

He didn't come to save you from your sin just so you could go to heaven one day.

He came to save you from your sin so you could bring up there, down here, come on.

And by the way, if you depart in the meantime as a believer, you'll go to heaven.

But in the meantime, until you depart and go to heaven, let's concentrate on bringing heaven to earth and being who God's designed us to be.

Because I believe ultimately what the scripture teaches, what the Bible teaches, is eventually heaven is going to merge with earth, and it's going to be a new place, a new thing, and God's going to do what he says he can do, and humans are going to be here on earth ruling and reigning with God all the days of our life.

See, so many of us are focused on getting there.

When God says, look, I just want to birth you anew, some of you have been straining for 80 years to get there, straining, and God says, man, I'll give you a new spirit right now, and I'll come to you, and I'll give you a new purpose and a new outlook on life so you can reflect that into the world all the days of your life, but you got to believe in me by faith, you got to trust me by faith, you got to trust in Christ Jesus by faith.

This is the gospel, my friends, this is the good news of who Christ is, and again, what excites me about the church reflecting it into the world is that means we have to do something.

That's why we suggested we change our name to Valorous Church instead of Barefoot Church.

Wasn't nothing wrong with barefoot, but barefoot kind of gives off this connotation of, hey, let's just sit back and relax and take it easy, where valorous is like, no, let's be bold and brave, come on, somebody, let's do something, change the world.

Again, you say, well, that's just a name, yes, it's a name, but names reflect a lot, and so again, what we're inviting you into is the exciting things that this church is doing.

What's exciting, somebody, going on?

I'm excited about the next generation, come on, and here's the deal, we're pouring the light of Christ into the next generation.

We're spending a lot of money, come on, somebody, on the next generation.

We're putting resources into the next generation.

Why are we doing that?

So that they grow up knowing who Christ Jesus is, their eyes are open to kingdom work, and they keep on keeping on and doing what God's called them to do, and so we have kids' ministry here, come on, we've got kids' ministry going on, come on, we've got missions' ministry going on, we've got outreach ministry going on, we've got fellowship ministry going on, we've got hospitality ministry going on.

Why?

We're putting our faith to work, reflecting the goodness of God, bringing up there, down here.

That's what church is all about.

We're not here as just a club, we're here as kingdom citizens, bringing up there, down here, bringing heaven to earth, come on, church.

God wants you to be a part, and I do too, but you've got to make a conscious decision to step into it by faith.

Call on God for the forgiveness that Jesus offered on that cross.

Call on God to open your eyes by the power of His Spirit so you're born again.

Call on God for your purpose to be reinstated and renewed.

And this is what I'm thinking, we're probably not going to have enough chairs for what God's going to do next.

God's already unveiling by faith right now in my heart that we have more to do.

Some people think, well, we've got this fancy arena and we've reached the plateau.

There's more, there's more.

You know why?

Because there's more people living in darkness that need to step into the wonderful light and become a part of what God's doing in the world.

Let me pray for you today.

Let me pray for you.

God, I thank you so much for the opportunity to bring up there, down here.

I thank you so much for your Word.

God, it's so powerful.

God, I pray today it would be a sword and it would pierce the hearts of humanity in here today.

And God, if there is one in here today that's just been walking through the religious motions of church and Christianity, today would be the day of their salvation.

Today would be the day that they're born again, born anew in Christ Jesus.

And my friend, if that is you today and you've just been going through the motions all the days of your life or you have never stepped towards God because you're dependent on getting yourself right with God in some form or fashion, I invite you today to submit your life and come under His authority and believe Him.

My friend, I invite you today to pray to God and say, God, today I surrender.

Maybe right where you sit today, say your own name.

Say God, today I, whoever you are, I surrender to you.

I admit that I've missed the mark of your glorious standard.

I'm a sinner.

Say God, I believe that Jesus Christ is my savior.

Say God, I believe he died a cruel death and shed his blood on that cross to forgive me of my sin.

And say God, today I want you to birth me anew, blow your spirit into my heart and make me brand new by the power of your Holy Spirit.

And say, God, today I want to start walking in it all the days of my life.

And if you confess that with your mouth and you believe that in your heart, the Bible says that in that moment you are salvaged.

So I need you to give God a hand clap for what he just did in the hearts of people.

It's in Jesus name, amen.