When The Church Hurts You

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All right. Thank you for being here. So, just a little note. We are searching for a facility and just be in prayer for that. I asked our dream team, we call our serve teams dream teams, to be in real prayer.

I think that's one of our main goals now. As you've noticed, there's been weeks where people can't find seats in here and go into two services. We'd rather go to another place than go to two services that has a couple hundred seats that we can really fill the place up a little better. And we know that will prohibit more people coming to hear the gospel of Jesus. So, be in prayer about that.

We hope to have something maybe by the end of the summer, whether it's our own facility, which we're raising money for, or a location that's a little larger where we can grow in, so we won't be limited in our growth. We're doing great right now, but we want to just make sure that we have the room as we grow because I believe that God's really, He's really taken us from January to now. Just so many new people, so many people making decisions for Jesus. And it's just an amazing thing. It's just an amazing thing to see God doing what He's doing.

And in a few weeks, we'll have our First Step Lunch with Leon. If you're new with us to this church and want to attend that, you certainly can register for that online as well, or connect with somebody at the Next Steps table. They'll help you with that as well. So, we are in a series called Doubting God. A couple of weeks ago, I shared a message, and I told you this is going to be a really hard message, but this is a hard one as well.

People doubt God, and we're talking about the reasons people perhaps doubt God. Today, I want to talk about church hurt. People who've been hurt by the church. Gandhi said, or it's said that Gandhi had quoted this, if it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian. Those of you who know Gandhi know that he was a practicing Hindu, and he did a lot of good in the world.

But there was a period in which Gandhi's life was intrigued by Jesus. In fact, if you look at his writings and look at his statements, he definitely was interested in Jesus. And there was a Sunday morning in Calcutta where he attended a church service, or wanted to attend a church service, and wasn't allowed in because of his color in the caste system, which welcomed this statement that he once quoted, if it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian. See, for Gandhi, it was imperative that the spiritual truths that we represent be lived out, be active in our lives. But the biggest complaint about the church for most people is that the church is narrow-minded, that the church is hypocritical, highly hypocritical, or often judgmental.

And that can be confusing for people who are searching for Christ. That can be confusing for people who are in the church. My football coach in high school, I played football in high school. My football coach, man, he was a big barley of a man. I mean, he could bench 400 pounds.

He played college football. He was kind of a scary guy, especially when he was on the field, you know. So if we didn't make a play, or we didn't do something, or we were playing poorly at halftime, he would, I mean, it was beepity-beep, and he would just go off on us, right? He was just kind of a scary guy. One time he got us all in a circle there in the middle of the game.

He says, what's your problems, guys? And he stands there, you, you, you come after me. You come after me. And we'd have to run and tackle him. He'd just throw us around like ragdolls.

We're like these high school kids. Woo-woo-woo. You know, flying all over the place. We were scared to death of this guy, and I think there was not one curse word that I heard. I mean, he did all of them.

I mean, there wasn't a curse word. He left out. And then he comes to me and a couple other guys, because he knew my dad was a pastor, and he says, I'm sorry about the way I acted. I teach Sunday school, and I attend the church down the road. So I'm a Christian, and I know that I probably didn't represent God well.

It's confusing, isn't it? It's confusing. It's confusing when a classmate posts on Instagram these wonderful Bible verses and Christian virtues, but they party on the weekend, right? It's confusing when someone calls somebody out for reading Harry Potter, but yet they watch terrible movies on Netflix, right? It's confusing when a dad shames their daughter because of immodesty, yet they have a pornography problem.

It's confusing when a Christian boss who pushes his faith is terrible to his employees. It's confusing when a pastor who perhaps you admired, that many admire, fail and fall, and they live double lives. It's confusing to people. It's like going to a gym to lose weight and eat right, and then there's free pizza Monday. True story, okay?

There's actually a gym out there that has free pizza Monday and bagel Tuesday and has a bucket of candy as you're walking out. It just doesn't make sense. It's confusing. And tragically, when so many people think of the church, they think of these things. They think of scandals.

They think of abuse, right? They think of corruption, hypocrisy, judgment, hate, self-righteousness. That's what they're thinking about. And if God, if Jesus Himself is full of grace and full of truth, why do Christians not represent any of these things? Why do they not represent grace?

Why do they not represent truth? Instead, they represent lies, and they represent anything but grace. Brennan Manning said it like this. The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

The title of my message today is When the Church Hurts You. When the Church Hurts Me, perhaps that's you in that. When the Church Hurts You. What do you do when the Church hurts you? What do you do when Christians let you down?

Christians do things that don't represent Christ. Let's pray for a second. Because this is a challenging message. And for some of you, you are hurting. And we're just asking God that Your Spirit be with us today.

That the Word of the Lord would speak truth to somebody's heart. And if there's anybody hurting today because of something someone in the church or the church did to them, that they would find healing, they'd find truth in this message in Your name. Amen. So if you've been confused, if you've been hurt, if you've been disillusioned, and you've been angered by the church, guess what? You're not alone because Jesus was angered by the church, okay?

He was angered at the Pharisees. In fact, He got pretty heated and He called them hypocrites. Watch what it says here in Matthew 23, 27, and 28. What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law, and you Pharisees? Hey, those are church people, right?

They're right there. He calls them hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, and filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurities. Outwardly, you look like righteous people. You wear the clothes, you look the part, you look great, you know?

But inwardly, your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. Now that word hypocrite, it was used 17 times, and it was used by Jesus, and every time Jesus used it, it was for the intention of correcting someone. And that word actually meant something in that day. It was actually an actor's term. An actor would play several parts, usually in one show or one play or one theatrical performance, and they would wear masks.

So a man or a woman or whoever's in the show could play a man at one scene and play a woman in the other scene. So they would just trade out the masks. And this was the first time in Scripture that we see... In fact, Jesus did this. I love the creativity of Jesus.

This was the first time we see outside of an actor's term it used to indicate and show people being fake people. And Jesus used it for the first time. Jesus used it for the first time ever a hypocrite was used outside of a theatrical term. So what he was saying to them is like, you wear one thing, and then you put on another. You pretend that you're giving for the glory of God, but you're doing it to be seen by man.

You pretend to be fasting, but what do you want to do? You live another way. You're just looking good on the outside. You pretend to be generous, but you take advantage of people, and you oppress people with your religious thoughts. You're praying to be heard.

You're not doing it for the right reasons. You're living one way. And what he was doing, he wasn't calling out the sin. He was calling out the act. He was calling out the show that they were putting on.

He wasn't calling out the sin. He wasn't like, woe to you who curse when somebody cuts you off in traffic, right? He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, woe to you who has a temper when you wait 20 minutes in the Taco Bell line, and then you get there and nobody shows you any courtesy. That's not a personal story, is it?

Or, woe to you who watch bad movies on Netflix. He doesn't say that. He says, woe to you hypocrites who do those things, but you pretend not to do them. You pretend to do something else. In fact, Jesus gets real heated here, because Jesus gets angry too.

And he says, you snakes, you brood of vipers, how will you escape being condemned to hell? How do you really feel, Jesus? Wow. And so many Christians kind of represent this. So why is that?

Let me help you understand a little bit today. Why do we get it wrong? And why on the other side do you see it wrong? Okay? Why do we get it wrong?

There's three sets of people here. The first one is, some claim to be Christians, but really aren't. Okay? They go to church. They participate in the projects, maybe.

They may even serve. They attend the Bible study. But it may surprise you and shock you that everybody that says, I am a Christian, isn't actually a Christian. There are people who've never been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's people that never had an encounter with God that has been transformed from the inside out by the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are people that actually have not given their lives to Jesus that would perhaps call themselves Christians, maybe by association with the church or association with the family or whatever. Or maybe they're participating in church. In fact, Jesus says it like this, or Titus says it like this, the book of Titus. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They're not acting like Christians.

They say they're Christians. They're not acting like him. And they don't see fruit. You don't see fruit. How do we judge people like that?

Well, you know, how do we know? We don't want to judge, obviously, but we can. Jesus gives us a pretty clear instructional guide of how to see whether somebody is living a fruitful life, right? That's right. He says this in Matthew, By their fruit you will recognize them.

Well, okay. Not rocket science, right? By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes and figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but every bad tree what bears bad fruit?

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut off and thrown into the fire. Subject for another day. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. He repeats that, right?

He says, you will recognize them. And he says, not everybody who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven. So going to church doesn't make you a Christian. Tending a Bible study doesn't make you a Christian. Hey, believing in God.

This may shock you. Believing in God doesn't make you a Christian. Following Jesus makes you a Christian. I heard one person say this. Going to church on Sunday doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car, okay?

Will that be true? Being a Christian is about following Jesus, is becoming like Christ. And when we hurt because of what somebody did, they may not really walk with God. They may not really walk with Jesus. They may not really have a relationship with Jesus.

And some of the meanest people I've ever met have been in the church. I'm going to be honest with you. I've seen some really, really nasty people in the church. We see their fruit and we know. But there's a second level or group of people here, too, that may have hurt you.

And some are Christians, but they are not spiritually mature. They're Christians. They know the Lord, but they may be newbies, new to the faith. They're still trying to figure it out. They're baby Christians.

Here's what Paul talks about. He actually talks about this very thing. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. So they may be born into the kingdom of God, but they're still making a lot of stupid mistakes because they haven't figured out how to live the Christian life yet.

They're still taking those steps into it. They're maturing, but they're just beginning, right? They're beginning in their walk. And you have to have some leniency on these people, okay? One pastor shared that he had an encounter with Christ in college through reading a Gideon's Bible.

And his buddy had the same encounter in a whole other area. And he says, when he got in, he says, man, you're not going to believe what happened to me. He says, I think I'm a follower of Jesus now. The other guy says, no effing way. I am, too.

I just found Jesus, too. And he's like, wow, let's go celebrate. So they went out and got drunk to celebrate finding Jesus. And that pastor is Craig Groeschel, one of the largest churches in America, the largest church in America today. He said, you know, they don't know.

They don't know. They found Jesus. They've had a transformational experience, but they haven't matured yet. They're babies. But there's also a second level, too.

There's those who I have to be really, really straightforward with you. These are those of you who are Christians and you're not growing. You're not a babe forever. And there comes a point where you have to be eating meat. In fact, Paul got really, really frustrated with the Corinthians Church.

He says, I gave you milk, not solid food, and you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready for it. You are still worldly. And I've had to have conversations with people right here in our church, sitting on the couch in my living room, and I'm like, I don't see fruit. I don't see, what are you doing, you know, where are we going?

Am I still going to be able to be your pastor? If I don't see any level of growth, you have to have those talks sometimes. So we need to be growing in our faith, which leads me to the third set of people, and that's some Christians, and maturing, and still make mistakes. We just make mistakes. We're maturing.

I'm maturing. We're trying to do our best, and we make mistakes. And this doesn't necessarily make us hell-bound, and we're destined for, you know, forever and away from God, you know. It doesn't make us hell-bound hypocrites, okay? We're just making mistakes.

We make mistakes. I mean, you may really, they may really love Jesus, but they've lied. They may be lied to you, or they really, truly have a desire to love Jesus, but they may have done something mean to you or somebody else or been dishonest about something. Or maybe they really love Jesus and, God forbid, had an affair on their spouse or something like that, but they really do love Jesus. Now, it's no excuse, but even the most faithful people, here's the thing, that even the most faithful people can be deceived.

The most faithful people can be deceived, and no matter how long you've been a follower of Jesus, you are vulnerable to sin, okay? Anytime we think that we're not vulnerable, be careful, because you are more vulnerable when you think you're not vulnerable to sin, and pride comes before the fall, right? And we all fall short. Here's what 1 Corinthians 10, 12 says, So, if you think you are standing firm, I'm pretty good. I haven't sinned.

I'm living right, right? Be careful so you don't fall, because we all fall short. Genesis says, sin is crouching at the door and desires to have you. That's kind of a scary, I just imagine this little monster standing at the door just waiting to jump out at you. It's waiting any time, any time you think you're not vulnerable, beware.

We are all going to let people down. We all fall short. But here's the deal. When we fall short, both sides of the house, when we fall short, what do we do? We blame our circumstances.

Oh, I was tired. You know my heart. You know I don't. God, I was just, it was just a bad week. It was a bad day, you know?

I didn't want to do that, you know? I didn't want to say that. I didn't want to make that mistake I made. I was under pressure. But when someone else messes up, what do we do?

When someone else falls short, we blame their character. We say, oh, wow. How dare they? But God's not doing that. God's not surprised.

God's not up there like, oh, how dare you? Oh, you sinned? I thought you were living right. I thought you had it all together. God's not doing that, because God knows that we are sinners.

God knows that we're born with a sin nature, and that we need redemption, and that He's redeeming us. That's why it says in Psalm 103, for He knows how weak we are. He remembers we are only dust. He knows that we're only dust. This is what's so great about God.

He gives us grace and forgiveness because we are only dust. In fact, one version says we are butt dust. Okay? Let's do that quote, butt dust. Okay, everybody say, I'm butt dust.

I'm butt dust. Okay, I'm butt dust. Okay, we're all butt dust. We're all butt dust. Now, some of you are going to have to forgive me for that statement, because I have fallen short for you.

Thank you for forgiving me, for forgiving me, and all of you online. Thank you. Put online, by the way, text right there. Just put in the comments, I'm butt dust. B-U-T-T.

Okay? There you go. We are. In fact, Isaiah says it like this. It gets kind of even more ridiculous.

Our righteousness or our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away. So we're a shriveled leaf. We're nasty rags compared to the righteousness of God, and we are just dust. But God knows that.

He knows we're imperfect. He knows we need redemption. And if you've ever been hurt by Christians, if you've ever been hurt by the church, perhaps your expectations are a little high of people. Perhaps your expectations are a little high of the church, because here's the deal. We're going to fail you from time to time.

People are going to mess up. People are going to fail. And I'm going to fail you as a pastor. I'm going to let you down from time to time. When I do something to let you down, and I will, if I act sarcastic or I say things like butt dust in church service, if I say inappropriate things and we disagree theologically on something or whatever it is, just remember I'm a leaf withering.

I am just dust. I'm just a human being. And guess what? You are too. You're just dust.

You're just a leaf blowing in the wind. God knows that. God sees that. You are, so I am, butt dust. Where you are, butt dust.

Jesse's going to make me say that a whole lot. So I take you to Paul and Barnabas. In Acts 13, look what they did, how they reacted. The word of the Lord spread through the whole region, but the Jewish leaders incited the what? The God-fearing women of high standing.

These are the church women that had it together, that knew high standing. They were the ones that were helping people, discipling people, and the leading men of the city. Those were the men and the women that were honorable. What did they do? They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region.

So what did Paul and Barnabas do? I'm out. I'm done. The church is a bunch of hypocrites, okay? I'm done with church.

I'm done with everything. I'm leaving. No, they didn't do that. What did they do? They could have and they would have if they allowed people to offend them, if they allowed the people here to offend them, but they didn't do that.

See, they realized that the church didn't let them down and Christ didn't let them down. It was just people, that Christ didn't hurt them. It was the people. It was a few people that hurt them. Christ, it wasn't the whole church.

It was just people. And when people let me down, let me just be honest. Let me just be vulnerable here for a second. I get hurt. I may hurt you once in a while, but I may hurt you in this sermon right now.

You know, some of you can walk out here hurt probably. I don't know. But I get hurt sometimes too. There's been times I felt betrayed. There's times I felt alone, you know, in a certain situation.

You know, there's times. There's actually somebody that told me point blank to my face that you're not called. I don't believe you're called to be a pastor and you shouldn't be pastoring. They were frustrated. I take everything into consideration with these things.

I think, first of all, when we're hurt, we have to consider maybe this... This person is going through something right now, right? They might be, they might not mean what they're saying, but I also go back to this. This person didn't call me. God called me to this.

God gave me the instruction. God, God, this person may have hurt me, but God didn't hurt me. Jesus didn't hurt me. Jesus called me to this, and Christ didn't let me down. Christ didn't leave me behind.

Christ didn't betray me. He's been with me all along, and that gives me encouragement. My dad shares a very similar story. I think it was the second church he ever pastored. He's been pastoring for almost 50 years now, still pastoring today, and he, I think it was his second church, and he walked into a board meeting, and the board basically voted him out of the church.

Unexpectedly, out of nowhere, thought he was doing a great job, and then one man leaned over at the table, looked at him with that really mean, snarling face. In case you know that some of those board members give you, you know? Just kidding, board members. Didn't mean that. If you're watching, some of the board members are not, or in other locations.

Sorry, board members, but here's what this board member said to him. He said, you're not a pastor, and you'll never be a pastor. I think your calling's way off. He said, I've never been hurt so bad in my life. He says, all I know is that's my calling.

That's what I've spent my life. Sixteen years old, he was licensed as a minister. Fourteen years old, thirteen years old, called to pastor. Went off to college, or went off to high school, a Bible high school at a young age. Spent his Bible, his informative years, studying the Bible, learning about God, in the seminary, and on, and here he is, and somebody tells him this.

Hurt him, but he didn't look to that person. The first thing he had to focus on is, they didn't call me. God called me. Jesus called me. And he who began a good work in me will continue that good work until the day of Jesus.

Amen? And years later, he runs into this man. I don't remember where it was, or how he ran into it. I think it was at a conference of some type. And he walks up with a big smile on his face and says, Pastor Dunning!

Pastor Dunning! Man, I miss you. You were the best pastor we ever had. See, God is so faithful. God is so faithful because God called him.

This man didn't call him. Nobody else called him. God called him. The whole church isn't corrupt because of just a few people. The whole apple isn't, the batch of apples isn't corrupt because of a worm, right?

The logic that I can't go to church because people hurt me is like saying, I'm never going to eat again because that restaurant was bad. I like to use this statement. It's like having a bad steak and never eating steak again or never going to a steakhouse again and then avoiding people that cook steaks or like steaks or anything. Now, that's heretical to me because if you don't like steak, I'm praying for you today. So why don't you just insert whatever your favorite food is?

That's okay if you're a chicken person or whatever. But the logic to that, it just doesn't make sense because we go back because we like, we need steak, right? And there's spiritual steak in the house. There's spiritual steak and we don't want to avoid all steak because we had a bad piece that wasn't quite cooked and developed and matured correctly. And Paul and Barnabas, they decided this.

I'm not going to let the sin of people, you need to write this down. I'm not going to let the sin of people keep me from the goodness of God. I'm not going to let the sin of people keep me from what God has for me, the goodness of God, the graciousness of God. Because people are just dust. They let you down.

They disappoint you. That's okay because I've got a God who doesn't disappoint. So when they saw it from that perspective, here's what happened in Acts 13. Amen. In Acts 13, it says, So they did what?

They shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with what? Joy. They were beat up. They were betrayed.

People were mean to them. And they were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. They were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. They shook the dust, the dust off their feet. They shook the dust off their feet.

And here's the deal. At some point, at some point in your life, you're going to have to shake the dust off your feet. If you've been hurt, if you've been betrayed, if someone's misrepresented Christ and it's hard for you, at some point, you're going to have to shake the dust off your feet. And I'm not saying it's going to be easy because I don't want to misrepresent you. I know it's hard.

I know these are things that you've been dealing with for a long time, what somebody's done for you. I know it's a really tough place in your heart that just... But it might require some more shaking by God. It might require some time. It might require some prayer.

It might require some counseling. It might require some humbling of yourself. But at some point, at some point, you've got to shake it off because you'll never experience the joy and the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit, the feeling of the Holy Spirit if you're living with a disgruntled heart. And I've never met someone with joy that was holding a grudge, okay? And if you're holding a grudge, you will never experience the joy and the hope and the peace of God.

So if your complaint is this, the church is full of hypocrites, the church is full of judgmental people and narrow-minded people, if that's your thought, maybe a Christian leader, again, has misrepresented Christ, ran Jesus Christ through the mud because Christians have been disrespectful, they've been inconsiderate, they've been prideful, they've been arrogant, they've been harsh, they've been unkind, they've been unloving, they've been not right, they say one thing and they do another, and the reality is it's there and I'm sorry and we don't always get it right. We don't always get it right because the reality is all of us have been hypocrites at some point. And the same way we need to practice grace. And I'm not perfect. I lose my temper.

I say things I don't mean to say. I can be prideful at times, right? And I'm working and I'm seeking and I'm praying. I'm maturing. I'm maturing because I haven't arrived yet and I won't arrive until I'm before the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm always working to become more like Christ and I'm going to fall and I'm going to say things and I'm going to do things but I always, I always repent and I always come back and ask for forgiveness. And we need to repent and apologize if we're on one side. And if you're on the other side, you need to realize people are people. Because if you have lost faith in Jesus because of people, maybe you've placed your faith in people instead of Jesus. Maybe your salvation has been placed in people rather than the lover of your soul.

Maybe that's what you're dealing with. So doubt. And God, because of what someone else did, I'm going to ask you to do this. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus.

Look to Jesus, what He taught, how He lived, how He interacted with people, because the church even in that day abused their power. What did Jesus do? He got fierce with them. He called them hypocrites. He corrected them.

He told them that you oppress people and you hurt people. And you damaged people. And then when people turned their nose at other people that were different, what did Jesus do? The people that looked nothing like Jesus loved Jesus. Because Jesus loved the sinners.

He loved the people. He loved people that looked nothing like Him. In fact, remember the woman who committed adultery. Where are your accusers, woman? Where are your accusers?

They're not here? I don't accuse you either. Go and sin no more. Be blessed. I love you.

Jesus fellowshiped with tax collectors. Sinning of men. It was all around Him. But He loved them. He was gracious to them.

He spoke truth to them. But He spoke it in love. Sinners, sinners, sinners, sinners, sinners, sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, outcasts. Everywhere Jesus went, He showed compassion to the least, the last, and the lost. He showed compassion.

Because Jesus, here's the deal. Jesus has zero tolerance for hypocrisy. But He has unlimited grace for the sinner in need of forgiveness. Unlimited grace for the sinner. People don't give the grace that God gives.

God, look to God. And we need to be honest. And we need to repent when we've done wrong. We need to apologize and forgive. And one of the most powerful things we can do is forgive others.

Is when they repent and ask for forgiveness. And what I would say, in apology, you know, just as a pastor, for those of you who are unchurched and de-churched. Once again, I say, you know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, with all sincerity, that we've misrepresented Jesus. We've ran Jesus' name through the mud.

We did not represent Jesus well. The church and parts of history haven't represented Jesus well. And I ask you to receive our forgiveness as a church. But please don't throw out everything because of us. Because we're just people.

And I'm reminded of Jesus on the cross. How he hung there. And his own put him on there, right? If you want to look at it this way, the church put him on the cross. As he was hanging there, he looked down.

And then he looked up. And he didn't say, God, smite them to hell. He didn't say any of that. These church people, they're such hypocrites as he was up on the... What did he say?

He said, forgive them. See, that's the heart of our Savior. Forgive them because they don't know what they're doing. They have no clue what they're doing. And our hope and my hope is that we can offer, on both sides of the aisle, offer that same grace, that same mercy that Jesus gave us.

If you're doubting God today, don't put your hope, don't put your faith in people. Put your faith in Jesus Christ. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will never betray you.

He will never walk away from you. He is there. He's the closest friend that you could ever have. Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask you as all heads bowed and all eyes closed as we pray today. We thank you that your word speaks truth about wherever we are in our lives, our spiritual walk, Lord.

And if we're doubting you today, God, I know that you are indeed sharing with us through your word that you are truly available to us. That you can heal us. That you can bring us back to the fullness we find in you, Lord. Today, God, if there's one here that does not know you as their Lord and Savior, maybe they're in that first category, or maybe they're even further along from that first category, and they've never really had a transformational experience with you, Lord. May today be their day.

If that's you today, if you would just, God's pulling you towards him. You've never made a commitment to Jesus. You've never given your life. If you've never made a decision for Jesus, if that's you today, if you would just say this with me. Just pray this with me.

And it's nothing about the words. It's about our hearts. Because all he wants is our hearts. He doesn't care where you've been. He doesn't care what you've done.

He doesn't care that you've denied him. He doesn't care about any of that. Today, he is available for you. And if you would just say this, just, Lord, I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died for my sin because my righteousness is a filthy rags. But because of you, I have been made right with the Father.

So today, I give my life to you, and I make a decision to follow you. Today, I give my life to you. Come into my heart and transform me. I'll never be the same again this day.