Sunday Morning Worship Service
by Anthony McCool
First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Luke 13:23-24

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/anthony-mccool--sunday-morning-worship-service-123
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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early Christian worshippers would lift their hands as a symbolic means to acknowledge that the Savior that they worship the god that they serve yes Lord had a resurrecting power and they they would lift their eyes and they would lift their hands up to heaven acknowledging where their help comes from acknowledging that the god that they serve is the captain of the Heavenly armies could every single one of us together collectively just lift our hands and our voices for just a moment at the onset of this sermon kind of Midway through service could we give out a shout of Praise at this time mighty God we thank you today for bringing us here mighty God we thank you today for allowing us to come together Mighty God you see every need you see every need that needs your immediate assistance right now Mighty God you see every situation that if something doesn't take place today that the outcome is not going to be in our favor but mighty God we acknowledge at this moment when we call on the name of Jesus that name that is high and lifted up above every single name when we call on that name of Jesus we're looking up where our help comes from today and Lord we know that you're going to deliver we know that you're going to provide and Lord we know that you're going to be with us in every single situation and we lift up our hands and we lift up our eyes knowing where our help comes from today would you turn that worship into a hand clap right now oh we're lifting up up the name of Jesus I I think I can clap even a little bit louder than that father we thank you this morning oh this is the season designated of giving thanks let's give thanks to the one the only one who is worthy this morning Lord we love you yes Jesus we thank you and we praise you keep that same Spirit as you make your way back to your seats God's presence is in this house today and I TR truly am excited I see him stepping in there man of many hats uh serves in our community so mightily in our Christian School in our church I want to say happy birthday to the great Reverend brother Jeremy mopin would you give him a great big hand my hero my mentor I love him so much and it's a high honor to uh serve with him and uh let me say to this great congregation there's not a time that I go to God's word and prepare a a sermon that somebody's life just doesn't absolutely embody what I'm reading about or what I'm uh trying to convey through words and through thoughts and I just give this congregation um anything that I'm ever able to do is uh a direct result of so many people here that have invested in myself and I know there's countless other individuals that could stand up and say the exact same but I love each and every one of you and every time that um I have the privilege to take this Podium uh it is the absolute highest highest honor not something I take lightly it's also it's Al um it's as well a very difficult task you've heard every single thing that I'd ever have to say so uh trying to trying to uh come up with new but the the good thing is it's it's not me it's God's word it's living and every time we go to it um it's fresh and I'm I'm grateful grateful for that and I I give honor to our great pastors as as well and I I love each and every one of you if you have your Bibles turn with me to the Book of Matthew uh chapter chapter 7 I'll read a a few familiar verses of scripture I want to say um also congratulations to our uh junior high ACS baseball team won their league championship November when you when you get when you start playing baseball in November you know that you know you gone a long long way coach uh George and Coach biley we uh thank you all and to all of our uh many coaches that invest uh so mod into our students Matthew 7 we'll begin reading at verse 13 and we'll read 14 then we'll skip down to verse 24 it States enter ye at the Straight Gate for wide is the gate and Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is at the gate and narrow is the way but this narrow way stays it leadth unto life and few there be that find it as we scroll down to verse number 24 we read therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine this is Jesus speaking and doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock for a few moments uh this morning I want to speak to you on the subject subject a daily decision a daily decision right where you at could we bow our heads just one more time and let's pray over this word mighty God we thank you for what you've done in this place Lord we thank you uh for your presence being here with us we know that you are here with us moving up and down the aisles Lord we know the answers for our life are in your word but God we know that you gave us the ability to make a decision to pursue your will to pursue your word that we put in it into practice every single day that we may be and live as you would have us to be in jesus' name we pray amen and amen a daily decision we make thousands of choices every single day researchers at Cornell University estimate that we make 20 2267 decision each day on food alone I don't know where that s came from maybe that's where you had uh salt or not uh uh once your food uh is made and as your level of responsibility increases so do the multitude of choices that you make it's estimated that the average adult makes around 35,000 remotely conscious decision each day each decision of course carries certain consequences that can be both good and bad our decision strategies uh making Styles uh that guide this process are the following impulsiveness amen that that first option you are given that emotion inside of you hey that's it let's do it that I'm done compliance this is the most pleasing it's comfortable it's a popular option everybody's happy so we're good delegating I don't have time to make this decision I don't want to make the decision I don't have time to make decision so I'll get somebody else to make the decision for me but putting it into somebody you you trust or avoidance or deflection is a decision hey I'll just ignore my problems and hopefully they'll go away sometimes that happens either avoiding or ignoring decisions in an effort to avoid responsibility for their impact Factor just simply preventing them from overwhelming you might be a tactic that you pursue or balancing weighing the factors involved you know the cliche the pros and the cons studying them using the research available getting counsel from those you trust so mightily to make the best decision possible prioritizing and reflecting uh uh in my hierarchy of uh today's to-do lists or my weekly monthly goals and aspirations uh you can read all kind of uh different blog posts or uh listen to different podcasts or read magazine articles that tells you how to conquer the day and get your most difficult task done first while you're ready and knock it out in this way or or put put each uh task by uh a specific time of the day that you can get that done and and that's one means of attack for making decisions and the reality is we utilize a combination of these decision-making strategies in order to cope with the sheer volume of decisions that must be made and that decision-making strategy that is utilized is actually the first decision it's like man before I've even made a decision I've making a decision about how I'm going to make decisions according to the survey done by the same research institution four of the top hardest decisions that we will make in our lives is where when and how to buy a house or if it's time to change jobs or how am I going to invest my money or how am I going to spend my savings other difficult decisions that come up in our life again this is uh you know an Ivy League institution this is this is a lot of research has gone into this other difficult decisions we will make especially those of you that have that are married and in a home one of them is buying a sofa and some of you laugh and some of you that's when your marriage was really put on the the cold fire to see if it was really going to going to last or the paint color of the walls they stayed or what is the right birthday gift or what should I wear for that special occasion what perfume to buy when should I pull the trigger on that online shopping cart you know has my paycheck gone through do I do I need every single item uh you know it's I've only got uh two hours left if I want it delivered by the weekend you know these are problems that we face what are we going to do on the weekend or managing my daily spending what am I going to eat for dinner I mean that's when you get into the the point sevens you know it's so critical and one of the most difficult things that we face in our daily lives is what are we going to watch in our selected streaming service any testimonies out there where you've scrolled through 35 40 minutes later you're like I'm just gonna go to bed or maybe it's caused a deeper conflict in your life with that special loved one decisions difficult decisions we make but bestselling business author Deborah Benton she states in life we Face a lot of decisions on a daily basis perhaps hundreds depending on our laundry list of tasks and responsibilities some are small quick and easy do do I make the bed or not or some are much bigger and require more thought and leave a myriad of ongoing consequences in their wake and as I mentioned earlier about whether I should transition from a job or what city should I live in to give myself and my family the best measure of success most time though I would be inclined to say that those smaller more frequent decisions like don't make a huge impact seemingly but they make a lasting impact on our lives and sometimes we can treat them so flippantly she states but when I look at my life and evaluate my life I realize yes those larger decisions do play a role but the greatest impact on my life are the accumulation of a lot of small decisions it's easy to believe that our small decisions have made minimal impact in our life we tend to frame success and failure in terms of these big decisions or these defining moments we call them but the truth is that the smaller decisions even those that seemingly take just a second to make can have lasting repercussions last second plays win or lose sports games all the times and we remember the the hell Mary or the the wide receiver getting open down the middle so the game-winning field goal can come up but there's there's not a video of a coach or in July looking over film to see to know that that linebacker has a tendency to Blitz on Third and long and that some offensive linemen have put day after day after day of strength training and Agility to to block The Defenders all throughout their high school and college career all for a moment that will never come up when the 7 second highlight is shown how many lives have been taken on our roads and you can only just look at the statistics to see over just a few seconds of what would be an inconsequential seemingly text message smaller choices set the trajectory for our careers and our influences and also our spiritual lives and our small decisions will accumulate to make the largest impact s success or failure isn't determined by huge sweeping changes and sometimes in our spiritual walk in in our Christian Life we can have this this need and perception that everything in my life has to just completely be rearranged all of the sudden and we can become so overwhelmed about what our next step is that we burn out and fizzle out and not able to do truly what God has called us to do but at the little choices in front of us every single day will make the largest impact in the book Atomic habits James Clear talks about the 1% rule it states that over time the majority of the rewards in a given field will accumulate to the people teams and organizations that maintain a 1% advantage over their Alternatives the individual improving getting better doing something more efficient not a rapid change but improving just a little bit each day each month each year and you look at the Grand scope of that seemingly small Improvement that small degree of efficiency that small decision has turned in to a huge impact so what are small choices that we can make right now specifically in our spiritual walk and in our daily life that can help set us apart or help improve what God has called me to be author States it's never too late to make the right choice which is the small Choice your small choices lately may not have been the most Stellar you may have struggled to smile or had a hard time keeping your voice even but you can always change the path that you're traveling don't wait to start making good small choices it he States take a small step now and then another and before long you'll find find yourself headed in the right direction Jesus taught emphatically that we must choose one or two ways to live our lives as faithful Christians or as indifferent Sinners to illustrate this extreme dichotomy of these Lifestyles our Lord in Matthew chapter 7 as we read at the onet he describes this dichotomy as two gates two trees two Destinies two houses and two types of individuals he says there are two ways there is a narrow way and there is a broad way he explained there is a Straight Gate which leadeth unto life this is the unfrequented road because it is narrow and runs counter to the Tendencies of most people not many find this pathway and not many pass through the narrow gate for it is hidden from the view of those those who are determined to follow their own sinful paths and he says we must search for the right way with intensity we must long to please the almighty this is not a road for the unrighteous this is not a road for the self-righteous it's a road for those who daily examine themselves as the Apostle Paul said I have to die out every single day every decision that I make my conduct the words that exit the lips of my mouth must go through a filter to stay on this path Although our companions on this narrow road may be few their Fellowship can be a tremendous help and encouragement with them we can share the awesome views of what God has done for us in our past we can see struggles and obstacles that we face and see testimonies and living and breathing sermons in front of us that show shows us how to conquer those things that tempt to prohibit us God has done for us so mightily with them we can look to for what he will do in our future Jesus Christ himself our great Shepherd our leader he is our constant guide and he will give us Delight on the other hand many enter into what Jesus referred to as the wide gate this is not just designated to those who purposely proclaim the debauchery of our society or the the the absolute opposite of what uh God teaches or their a abject uh disdain for him or unbelief in him but it after closer examination it's more so to describe there's nothing at this entry to obstruct and one of the words interpreted would be our word for careless or impenitent millions of people go through this with with little thought Bo bogged B down by all of the decisions and distractions of the day and not truly concerned about the road that they are on maybe putting that s on their salvation you know these are uh like deric ships they're they're rudderless and they're a ly tossed and driven on the angry sea they just go with and are in Vogue with Society they they go with popular opinion no matter what it may be the the the in general the crowds are just simply following what others are doing the throngs are merely just taking the way of least resistance Jesus asked the question who among their numbers would imagine that this way will eventually lead to destruction it's it's it it could be having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof well I I can publicly proclaim a lot of things and I can speak a a lot of things and I can I can look very well and and look the part but in my daily walk in my relationship every single day it's the evaluation of whether I am on that narrow path he says there's two Destinies there's either life or there's destruction there's no third option there there's not a Middle Road the the road we are on will lead to only two destinations and I ask us today in the the world that we live in where we are constantly bombarded with all type of decisions that we must make could any issue in life hold the same weight or be more important than making sure that my soul is saved or making sure that my family is saved could there be anything that could even possibly compare to that question our eyes must be firmly fixed upon the prize that lies before us we must be willing to pay any price or face any difficulty in order to spend eternity with Christ indeed in this day if one was to lose their job and in a shaky economy oh it would be distressing or if one lost their home due to or foreclosure that that would be a painful experience indeed or maybe a health situation or maybe some catastrophe and all of those things would be horrible but any of th and those things would be devastating but to lose your soul to lose one one's soul to somehow put the soul of your family your children that you're raising in Jeopardy over a situation how sad that would be of all possible losses of the 35,000 decisions that you make of the over 3 half decisions that you're going to make about what you're going to eat could anything even compare or deserve the amount of time that must be spent to ask oneself is my soul am I on the Narrow Path I talk a big game I look pretty good but what's my daily life look like the loss of Heaven the loss of eternal life the loss of Hope the loss of Peace the loss of Joy Jesus said there's two ways there's not uh multiplicity there's not a lot of different highways there's not a lot of different Avenues there's two ways there's two destinations he then gives the illustration how simply yet how powerfully Jesus dealt with Humanity's greatest need the need to both hear his word and also obey it he compared it to two men who each built a house the one upon the rock and the other upon the sand everyone recognized IES the need for shelter especially in a time of storm everyone realizes the necessity of a place to rest and a place of Refuge but not everyone will make adequate preparations in this life for the future the two houses from his Parable were likely of comparable size there's no indication that one of them Builders was more skilled than the other we can assume neither was assembled from substandard construction materials a cursor view would indicate that each was equal to one another both homes made out of the same material both homes crafted with the same expertise and Matthew 7 makes it clearly they faced parallel challenges the testimony of each began with an account that rains descended and floods came and the wind began to blow and beat against each home their difficulties mirrored exactly one another but the difference outcome the how different the outcome one survived while the other was destroyed one weathered the storm while the other was weathered by the storm one was a victor one was a victim one stood while the other suffered a great fall why if they were so similar and their experience Al like what produced the different outcomes the answer was within one word and that was a decision a decision for the foundation of their lives a decision for which everything in their lives was going to be built up on a decision for the filter through which every decision how I spend my time where I take my family what I expose my eyes and my ears to one difference and it was the found ation of the home the wise man built his house upon a rock the foolish man on the sand the one simple choice of foundation produced the stability for the wise and the devastation for the foolish the wise who built on the Rock is identified as the man who hears the word of God and does what it commands by contrast the foolish is noted to be the one who hears the word of God but does not do as it commands it could not be any more simple than this this is the one difference between the two lives pictured in Matthew's gospel two destinations two lives two roads two different opportunities the dichotomy of decision we all will make conscious decisions about what we will build our lives upon and by extension the lives of our families the choice to Foundation is not a matter of Rand randomized chance but it is willful resolve you have to make a purposeful decision to do these things you have to make a decision in your mind in your heart in your life in your practice if we choose to be submitted to the principles and direction of the word of God our lives will be firmly established on a foundation that cannot be shaken no storm can unseed it no pressure can move it and no temptation can produce its downfall fall that life will stand if instead we choose to forsake that foundation and build any combination of human ideas and temporal values there's no hope of Our Lives standing upright in this world or in the next we will suffer a horrid end and we cannot withstand the rain the waves or wind sure to come every single one of us me at the front must step out onto the front porch in our lives and look down what lies underneath us what is the guidance for the decision that I make what is the motive for my conduct and my speech if our submission to the word of God is intact we will indeed see a solid Rocky footing beneath but if and if we have chosen to ignore the voice of scripture there will be sand between our toes either might be adequate in good times but when the inevitable storms arises we will certainly be thankful for what we are built up on the Rock nothing can speak to us so mightily than a natural disaster or a metaphorical storm that comes into our lives nothing can preach louder words than for something to take place within my family or some someone that I'm close to or for tragedy to strike in some capacity nothing can cause us to evaluate every single thing in our life and a few right steps every believer can expect to come to a certain Crossroads every believer can expect to one day see a a storm on the horizon or unexpected and there will be Cru crucial places where important decisions must be made and also crucial places where if there weren't some decisions previously made over a period of time you can find yourself in utter destruction a few right steps taken at the right moment can make a tremendous difference a a few kind words spoken when it would have been easier to flare up in a in a temper it can save a job it can save a friendship it can save a marriage it can also be a witness to somebody else there are times in our Christian Journey when wrong can almost seem right and right can almost see wrong it it's there when we need to hear the word of God behind us saying this is the way what I'm calling you to do right now is just walk in it a skilled surgeon makes the right move while operating it can spell the difference between life and death for the patient when an anointed Minister preaches and every one of us are anointed ministers that preach with the actions of our daily life the right message at the right time it can make the absolute difference in a hungry Soul a major decision some makes in a weak moment can have eternal repercussions we can build monuments in a moment over a a quick decision that we made that splits families that causes me to no longer go to this place or that place if that person's there or I got to show up at a certain time or I can't sit at that table if so and so sitting there all centered around a decision in The Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught there was a way to walk a way that brings real satisfaction to our hearts and pleases God this was the rugged route Christ chose to follow and it led to a cross if you look up at the at some of the geographic commentaries concern uh centered around the Garden of Gethsemane the place where Jesus spent his last hours before uh being taken and and being arrested and captured there was a well-known place there located uh it was located close to a road often used as an escape from Jerusalem a a side route that if you were there you could Escape fairly quickly what this tells us is that Jesus could have easily Slipped Away down that road and and disappeared Into the Wilderness that would have been the Broadway but the Jesus that we serve took the Narrow Path the way of the Cross which he calls us to do in this day Noah and Genesis decided to obey and follow God to build an ark that took him hundreds of years and it would save his household and himself Abraham decided to obey God and he left his father's country and it was small decisions small step after another to the extent that he was told to step outside of his tent and look up to see if he could number the stars and there's no way he could but that is what his offspring was going to look like because he made a series of small decisions in the Book of Esther we know that she said if I perish then I perish but a decision has to be made in such a time as this my family's too important my people's too important my calling is too important and a decision must be made Joshua said choose ye this day choose ye on this day there has to be a decision to serve God you're not going to just haphazardly fall into what God is calling you to do you're not just going to accidentally stumble into where God is leading you he empowers you and but you have to come up in your mind with the determination to make that decision we know that by faith when he was come to years by faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter rather choosing to suffer the Affliction of the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season although God delivered Joseph David Esther Shadrach meach and others because they made the right choices there were times where suffering took place even though the right decision was made this is a narrow path this is a path that not everybody is going to be willing to take this is a path that requires you to make some decisions the right before I know uh uh I can speak from four years experience that's a lot right I've got a a four-year-old and a oneyear old and you talk about learning you talk about taking notes you talk about the appreciation I have now for my mom and dad and some moms and dads with one and two and three children that that get their children ready for church every Sunday and Sunday morning and Sunday night and every time the house of the Lord you talk about a decision that wasn't made that morning it's not easy uh and I look around as I mentioned earlier and I I I know of different testimonies throughout this congregation where people have suffered some some really difficult trials in their life either by means of catastrophe in their family or maybe a health situation but they still come into God's house and they still give him praise and they still lift up his name that's called making a decision it's not something that took place overnight it's not something that they just decided to do in the emotion of things but there was a mindset and there was a decision to be made that I'm going to serve the Lord I'm going to give him the praise he deserves regardless of what storm has surrounded me we know that naboth refused to sell his Vineyard under the threat of being stoned and every year and rightfully so and we we celebrated every Sunday but we'll have Pentecost Sunday and that's exciting I no doubt and when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost you all could every one of us could recite the whole chapter in Acts he pricked the hearts of his hearers and uh there was a great Revival and uh many came to the the Lord and spoke with other tongues and that's where we get and drived and we drive we we call oursel Pentecostal and that's absolutely fantastic Stephen also pricked the hearts of his hearers with the word of God right and they stoned him maybe we have martyrdom Monday that's that's when the that's when the decision is really made every single day that's when it's evident if I'm on the narrow road and I love the choir and I love the priest and obviously we get in his house CU it encourages one another iron sharpeneth iron you know all those things I I I believe believe it but I will say it's definitely easier to leap for joy and clap and shout when we're all here together and the the music's going it's easy to make that distinct decision of I know what I need to do I I feel empowered and I can walk upright and it's like let's go play it even uh uh sing a little louder and and uh bring out the giant but when Monday morning and Tuesday Morning rolls around when you're called to be on that narrow road when there's an opportunity for your temper to flare when there's an opportunity for you to be unfaithful when there's an opportunity for temptation to take over your life that's when the decision that culminates into the life altering decisions are made musicians please come during his concluding state statements on the sermon of the mount our lord gave stern warnings about influences that can destroy us he said there would be those that made great profession of him that's right they could they could spit it out they could speak it they know it inside out but they had no real relationship with him Jesus said many would tell of the great things that they had done in his name of those people the Lord said and then I will profess unto them I never knew you in the parable of the marriage Feast Jesus taught that not everyone who receives an invitation to obey the gospel will respond to it he talks about those that an invitation went out but somebody had to do this and I had to do that and I was too busy doing this and I was too busy with those 35,000 decision decisions that I make every day I got over 200 decisions to make on what I'm going to eat and I can neglect the spiritual woman or the spiritual man inside me and then all of the sudden when I'm bogged down with all of the decisions and circumstances of Life a storm can come and it seems as if everything is an absolute dis array everything about Christ's final words on The Sermon on the Mount indicated that only the dedicated and the diligent will prevail the disciples were certainly aware of this Luke said unto him Lord are there just a few that will be saved and he said unto them strive to enter in at the Straight Gate stay on the Narrow Path if you're not on it make a decision today day to step forward on it stay on that narrow path for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able without question there is a great Tempest that breaks throughout our world floods droughts earthquakes wars and rumors of wars Jesus said when these things begin to come to pass look up lift your heads for you your Redemption draweth nigh stay faithful to what God has called you to be stay faithful to what God has called you to do are we going to trip up sometimes absolutely are we going to mess up sometimes absolutely are we going to need to apologize sometimes absolutely yes that's part of having the Holy Ghost is knowing when to go and apologize and take accountability for something that you said are there going to be times that I got to reconcile some relationships in my life absolutely but stay on the Narrow Path don't let anything creep into your life don't let one thing influence you from getting off the path that God has called you to be on choose ye this day as we stand the need to make a decision in a certain situation can be applicable to every single one of us but it can be for so many different reasons in prayer I feel that maybe there's somebody under the sound of my voice where the storms the cares of Life have closed in all around you and it's not with ill intent but you thought you per could perhaps do some things on your own maybe you built some structures not necessarily with the intent to to to leave God out but you made some decisions in life that weren't inherently bad but it just wasn't centered around God's word it wasn't centered around his house and now as that storm of life you you see it on the horizon coming in and you know in your heart it's just going to tear everything down maybe it wasn't something that happened instantaneously but maybe it was just a slow digression of some decisions you made where if I asked you the question if I asked every single one of us the question was there a point in your life where you're closer to God than you are right now or you would say in your heart there was a time in my life that I felt and knew that I was closer to him that I was right now because of some decisions that I made maybe there were some decisions of dishonesty maybe in the marriage relationship maybe there was someone did you wrong and by human standards you have every right to neglect them to fight them to rebuke them by human standards but maybe a decision could be made to reconcile that may maybe you built a structure centered around the foundation of a of a grudge a monument in a moment as we spoke about earlier maybe there's a foundation of disappointment and regret and and worry they've become an Uninvited Guest in your mind because of a decision that was made or a series of decisions that have now accumulated perhaps a financial decision has brought on struggle after struggle whatever the case each one of us in some capacity stand at life's Crossroads and with all the decisions you face each day I want to invite every single one of us and we're going to pray here in just a moment to put it through the filter of the word of God yes we we are guilty sometimes I'm guilty of sometimes of preaching about that drastic climactic event you know we do we believe in the miraculous yes yes we do do we do we believe that uh uh the supernatural can take place 100% but there are some situations if I can just get 1% better May maybe I I put it to prayer a little longer maybe I dig a little deeper into his word maybe I you know re-evaluate some things in my life and uh I'm going to get involved in in First Steps I'm going to serve some more we we have our be free class uh brother George uh that uh our B free class is is addiction Ministry and you could go through that class and you could hear testimony of how God worked instantaneously ly and we celebrate that you could also hear testimony how there was a process there was a daily walk there was Improvement each and every single day living my life under the authority of his words no I'm not where I'm going to be yet but it's a daily decision that I make because I I I'm I'm walking on that narrow path it's not going to be for everybody you might receive even resistance from family you might receive resistance from those you love but what in the world could even take time to in any way conflict with that question of my soul it was the consistency of Daniel's prayer life that shut the mouth of the Lions it wasn't something that he all of the sudden did oh right now now God I tell you as I stand in this Lion's Den I want you to shut every mouth of the lion no he didn't do that it was daily windows open to Jerusalem if I'm in the Lion's Den I'm still going to pray if I'm in my room I'm still going to pray somebody today needs to make a decision not to give up a decision to stand up a decision to rise up a decision to pray up a decision ision to fully pursue the High Calling of Christ and it might even be a decision to praise and worship could every head bowed and every eyes closed across this place I want you to pray a focused prayer for yourself today I know that every single one of us this isn't prophetic this is the reality of L every single one of us stand at a different Cross Roads in our life it could be a health situation it could be a financial situation it could be a relational situation oh it could be a decision that I need to make for myself and my for my family Lord as we pray right now Lord we ask for your Clarity we ask for your spirit who empowered us Lord if doubt has crept in if weariness has crept in if isolation and loneliness is crept in Lord we ask you to be the strength and the comforter right now father we ask that you be the guidepost for us we know that in acknowledge you as the shepherd we ask for you to lead us in the way we should go I want to invite every single person if you have a situation in your mind that you want to put in the Lord's hands oh it might seem meaningless just to take a few steps to this altar but I want you to know today that what seems like a small decision to come put your needs on this altar can have eternal impact that affects not only you but it affects your family and if you'll step forward right now I believe that we serve a God who is able who is able to put the pieces back together today who is able that in that storm of life that has come to say hey I'm right here with you I know you might have felt that you were closer to me than you were at this point but I want you to know that I've never left you I want you to know that I'm right there with you I want you to know that I hear your prayers I see your trouble I see the nights where you didn't sleep and I believe right now that just one small decision can come together to have eternal impact in this place yes Jesus God we thank you right now glory god in your name Jesus God we put it in your hands right now