Bro. D.J. Hill - "Ascend - Choosing For Yourself"

thank you to all of our first-time guests or maybe you've come a couple of times i know i got back in the church when i was around 16 and walking into a pentecostal church it's kind of a lot going on some people are raising their hands some are crying some are jumping some are dancing everyone's moving around and it's really not like any other church out there being in a pentecostal church like this but i love cajun food and i love gumbo pastor and i don't know what those cajuns put in that gumbo they kind of just put everything but the kitchen sink and i don't have to know how it's made i don't have to know what's all in it i don't have to know the recipe or any of the procedures i just know when i taste it that it tastes oh so good and so as a guest you might come in this church and you might not understand everything that's going on i don't understand everything that's in this bible but one thing i do know is that when i'm in the presence of god like here today this morning that it just feels good i don't understand everything i don't i don't understand the recipe all that's going in it i don't know why this one's jumping why this one's crying but if you only know what god has done for me then you understand why i'm worshiping the way i'm worshiping so as a first time guest maybe just open up your heart and just go a little bit further into the presence of god and see what he will do in your life today because jesus loves you look at your neighbor and say jesus loves you look to someone else and say jesus loves you and the bible is full of if you will then he will if if you will then he will if my people which are called by my name and humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from my wicked ways then he will hear from heaven and will heal our lands if if we will repent he will forgive us of all of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness so today will you praise god with everything you have will you make up in your mind that you and your family are not going to leave the same because the choice is yours jesus is here today

and he wants to meet you at the point of your need and it's up to us to allow them to change our lives it's up to us to allow them to change our lives i want to read from genesis chapter 13 genesis chapter 13 and while you're turning there i want to give honor and thanks to brother and sister willa for this incredible sweet family thank you so much for years of encouragement i love you all y'all both really are jewel of pentecost the united pentecostal church international is better because you are a part of us so thank you so very much for years of consistency and faithfulness and building and growing preachers i value you i value your voice and the younger generation looks to you brother willa for not just the elders but to you as well as a voice of reason a voice of faith and a voice of truth so thank you so much brother and sister williford one more time can we honor them let's clap our hands loud don't you love our pastors and then the brother brad your wonderful wife thank you so much for allowing the opportunity to be here for deciding that i would be able to come and preach this youth week i love your spiritually sensitivity i i talked to the church wednesday that it was 2019 that december where you gave me a phone call and asked if you could speak in my life and because of the life that you've lived i allowed it and i i will always allow that you have a an open door with me and you you prophetically spoke that god was going to broaden my ministry and at the time neither of us understood what that meant i just really started to consecrate and become more committed to that prophetic word that you gave me and you know god saw fit that this was the season and the time to let that word come to pass so thank you so much for being sensitive you're doing a great job leading this group of young apostolics can we give him a hand there's so many different friends and people that i love and i respect so much thank you so much for having me at apc it's an honor to be here it really is like this is a bucket list i get to preach at apc so thank you so much for opportunity and i would

i would not be happy with myself if i did not thank the right family i love you all so very much thank you for doing bible college for the many meals that you've cooked allowing us to come over to your house you're used to having a lot of kids in the house but you had even more because of bible college students and thank you so much you're always so sweet and so encouraging i love your family so very much peter my dear friend i love you i love you it's an incredible family and there's so many great families we could spend the rest of sunday talking to all the great families but more than just talking about the great families how about we pray as a church family i really feel like god has given us a word to take us to the next level as a church family but also as individuals and we're going to read about that in genesis chapter 13. if you have your bible say amen if you're going to look at the screen and cheat say amen come on now a bunch of cheaters a bunch of cheaters genesis 13 verse 10. hey turn it off that's what i'm talking about genesis 13 10. also media team and sound team all you alls why don't we give them a hand thank you all for serving so much wife doesn't like me to drink coffee because i already have so much energy so thank you so much for your risks we're gonna have to pay for their surgery because i know i move a lot and today's not gonna be any different all right today is not gonna be any different thank you so much all y'all are fun group of servants in the kingdom of god and i i'm thankful to serve with you and i really do appreciate you people on facebook are watching and people are able to follow the scriptures and hear the music because of you all and thank you so much for being unseen but being heroes nonetheless appreciate you all genesis 13 10 and lot lifted his eyes and he saw all the plane of jordan that low place the plains that it was well watered everywhere before the lord destroyed sodom and gomorrah it was like the garden of the lord like the land of egypt as you go towards zorah isn't it interesting that lot simply saw sodom and gomorrah from a distance

and he said man that's a lot like the garden of eden it must be perfect you and i must be very careful that what we see from a distance doesn't allow it to influence us before we go and research it for ourselves because though from a far off it might look like it's good but sin always leads to destruction and death and we must be careful not to assume that things are holy or even approved by god without researching them for ourselves but lot in verse 11 lot chose for himself look your neighbors say lot chose for himself lot had a wife two kids but a lot chose for himself the low place all the plane of jordan lot had a choice between the low place or the mountains to ascend high to the mountains though it might be a harder light but lot chose for himself and he journeyed east and him and abram they separated from each other for the next few moments i just want to preach from that subject to families to individuals to this incredible incredible church choosing for yourself look your neighbor say choosing for yourself look to someone else and say who are you choosing for man you may be seated don't you hate when you lose things i'll get a witness in the spirit already have you ever lost your car in a parking lot maybe at walmart you don't remember what entrance you came in or out of so you had a 95 honda cord so it doesn't have the new technology where it's a button clicker i got to kind of walk around until i see that 95 maroon car y'all ever lost your car in a parking lot what about when you lose that matching pair of socks in the dryer i hate it because my dryer never steals both of the same kind it always steals one of a kind it's so annoying and what about that time you lose that that that thought that's just on the tip of your tongue and you just you can't can't seem to get it out my friend alanda and joel youth pastors back at atlanta west pentecostal church they had a little four-year-old zara zara's mama landa and you know how kids play hide-and-go-seek they're not the best hide-and-go-seekers they they say i'm gonna go hide under the bed and then you come find me or hey you go hide in the closet and then i'll

come find you but this day zara decided to go to the olympics peter for hide and go seek and so she hid and her mom didn't know she was even playing how to go seek brother brad and so all of a sudden zara is nowhere to be found so a line just starts looking and at first it's cute like zara where are you at zara where's zara where's zara and then some time passes about five minutes and she starts to get really worried because zara isn't saying anything there's not a sound in the entire house so she starts using that mother voice you know that mother voice zara come out right now i'm not playing anymore and zara is still nowhere to be found so she goes downstairs brother adam and she sees the door unlocked and she's freaking out oh god did someone come inside and get zara did zara go out and play in traffic what is going on so she runs outside and she's screaming her whole name and she's angry she's sweating she's red and she's just and where is zara and she comes back in the door she slams the door and she's like zara if you're in here i'm not playing anymore and then off in the corner of that room under some curtains she sees some little toes wiggling and zara starts giggling and her mom rips that curtain back don't you ever do that to me again in your life i want to kill you but i love you i'm so happy i'm just going to beat your butt you don't ever do that to me y'all know about that what about when you see that cockroach and so you go to the kitchen to get that bottle of raid some of y'all already shaking your heads and then when you come back that cockroach is lost it's time to move out packing my bags moving in with you mom i'm coming home it's no longer there it's my wedding day when the photographer came in and said all right put it on your tie and your jacket we're going to take pictures and i i looked down and i realized i had no shoes on my feet thank god we don't see the bride before the ceremony because my shoes were lost i wear a size 13. you can't just go to a store and buy those you got to order those online and even amazon prime wasn't going to get my shoes there in time

and so i had to drive 25 minutes away and find them in the hotel but even worse than any of that was that one time i lost something that i will never forget pastor i talked back to my grandma and at the same time those disrespectful words started to come out of my mouth a pink house shoe came soaring across my face and she said you done lost your mind have you all done lost your mind with your parents before how many y'all got kids that don't lost their mind mine's only eight months old but i i just know she's gonna lose her mind one day i'm have to help her to find it done lost your mind i looked up the top five things here in america that we lose the most keys wallet phone remote control glasses kids obviously have a very different list they lose their hats and me in school supplies jackets lunch boxes where's your lunch box i gave it to johnny and we traded it for oreos they lose their backpacks kids lose a lot of stuff 71 percent of americans say they lose something at least once a month specifically their keys how many i'll lose your keys at least once a month come on now i promise do you have a gremlin at your house i put my keys somewhere and i asked my wife where did you put them and she says i didn't touch them and i'm like no i know where i put them they're moved somewhere else i have a little guy running around my house moving everything 50 percent of people say that they are regularly late for work while looking for something that they lost some of y'all to nudge your wife or your husband right there the average time we look for an item is five minutes and 20 seconds five minutes that's the altar we're gonna be looking for jesus come on and 69 of people say they find one lost thing while they're looking for another and obviously we lose most of our things at home and on the weekends however there is hope someone say there's hope because scientists brother brad say that forgetfulness is a sign of intelligence look to your neighbor and say you're so smart uh some of y'all were reluctant saying that to your neighbor you just don't believe it google it later not right now but you're like nah i don't i don't know about all that forgetfulness is a sign of intelligence however in the case of lot the opposite was true his family lost the most important thing they lost their relationship with

god you and i can afford to lose a lot of things but god forbid that we lose our relationship with god god forbid our families lose their love for god god forbid we stop preaching the same thing that was preached for generations and generations god forbid we stop preaching what peter preached on the day of pentecost and what paul inspired by the holy spirit wrote in the book god forbid we stop preaching deuteronomy 6 4 hero israel the lord our god is one lord john 1 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god and john 1 14 says in the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory we still preach that there is only one god and his name is jesus james 2 19 says if you believe that there is one god you do well the devils also believe and they tremble we still preach that there is only one god that's not going with you brother williford we're still going to preach the name that's above every single name that at the name of jesus every knee shall bow paul wrote it like this in colossians 2 9 in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily first timothy 3 16 and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness god was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit believed on in the world preached unto the gentiles and received up in the glory we still believe that there is one god and we're still going to preach that we're not going to allow our families to stop preaching that there is only one god isaiah 9 6 unto us a child was born a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful counselor the mighty god not one of three not one of two not one of any other ones but the mighty god the everlasting father and the prince of peace hey apc in 20 years are we still going to be preaching that there is only one god we're not going to allow this to be lost we're not going to let young people like it looking like they're in a walmart parking lot wondering how many gods there are there is only one god and his name is jesus we're still going to preach salvation john 3 verse 5 jesus is talking to a man named nicodemus this pharisee nick

and he says verily verily i say unto thee except a man is born of water some will say water except a man is born of water and spirit someone say spirit except someone is born of water and spirit they cannot enter or even see the kingdom of god and that's exactly what peter and the rest of the apostles preached on the day of pentecost in acts 2 37 when they heard this they were pricked or cut to their hearts and said to peter and the rest of the apostles what shall we do we realize that jesus christ died for our sins and peter stood up on that day of pentecost and said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost for that promise is unto you and to your children and to all those that are far off even as many as the lord our god shall call i want kylee to still preach that i want her to make good grades i want her to excel in her life i want her to be healthy but more than anything i don't want her to lose out on god i want her to fall in love with god i want her to have a relationship with god i want her to know that there is only one god i want her to know that she has to be born again i want my baby girl to know first john 1 8 and 9. if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if you're a guest and you're wondering why everyone's all nice and dressed up and everyone looks like they have it all together hey we were once sinners such were some of us but we were washed we were sanctified we were justified by the spirit of god you can come as you are but you don't have to leave the same way you can be delivered through repentance you can be forgiven through repentance your life can be changed through repentance today come on if anyone is in christ they are a new person all old things are passed away and all things have become new you

can repent today we still preach repentance i know the world says love is love and everybody's okay and it's your truth and it's my truth but i wonder if there's still a church called apc that says no you are a sinner but you can repent your life can be changed by the mighty name of jesus today we still believe in jesus name baptism in matthew 28 19 jesus is talking to his disciples and he says go ye therefore into all the world baptizing them teaching and baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost well i'm a uncle i'm a brother i'm a father i'm an evangelist i try to be a basketball player i'm definitely not a singer i have all these different relationships but i have a name i wonder if we're at the mall and my wife is being attacked i wonder what she's going to say if she says uncle how many are uncle in here raise your hand how many all are a father in here raise your hand how many y'all are a brother in here raise your hand and she says brother there could be a dozen or more people that come and look and say who is that but if she says david she's gonna get my attention that's why acts 4 verse 12 says neither is there salvation in any other name for there is no other name under heaven given among us whereby we must be saved we pray in the name of jesus we do everything in the name of jesus so when someone gets baptized in this church we baptize them in the name of jesus because that's the only saving name and i don't want my daughter i don't want this youth group the outlet i don't want the younger generation to forget that i don't want them to lose that that there is only one name and his name is jesus jesus and we still preach the evidence of tongues that there is an evidence when you have the holy spirit living inside of you and we don't have to go to acts chapter 2 8 10 19 or 22 to find it i know that was a lot for you it was 8 9 10 22 we can go to joel chapter 2 verse 28 we can go to numbers chapter 14 we can go to romans chapter 8 9 and 10

and you can find speaking in tongues we can go to first corinthians 14 verse 5. paul wrote to the church of corinth i would that you all would speak with tongues and verse 18 he says i thank god i speak in tongues more than you all in verse 39 he says and you better not tell someone that they shouldn't speak in tongues why we still believe in that i know the world's trying to water down doctrine i know the world's trying to say it's just another book it's just history written by a bunch of old shepherds but no that is the absolute truth there isn't your truth and my truth that is the only truth and i'm not going to allow the next generation to lose out on truth not on my watch i'm still going to do proverbs 23 23 says by the truth and sell it not hebrews 4 verse 12 the word of god is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow it's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart i still love the word of god all scripture is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction and righteousness i love the word and i want the next generation to love the word i want the next generation to love holiness brother bruce holiness someone say holiness romans 12 verses 1 through 2 i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god first peter 1 15 and 16 but as he who has called you is holy be holy in all manner of conduct because it is written be ye holy for i am holy saith the lord hebrews 12 14 follow peace with all men in holiness someone say holiness without which no man shall see jesus we're still going to be a church that preaches holiness the right way where it rules without rules without relationship equals rebellion but you can have a relationship with god and when you do you're going to live differently you're going to walk differently you're going to talk differently you're not going to go where the rest of the world goes you're not going to dress like them you're not going to watch what they watch you're not going to listen to what they listen to why because

we love the word of god and we don't want the next generation to be lost god forbid the next generation is lost because you and i choose for ourselves look to your neighbor and say choosing for yourself it's unfortunate to pass on a love for a sports team more than a love for the word of god it's unfortunate to pass on a bible just for it to collect dust on a shelf it's unfortunate to pass on rules instead of a relationship or hobbies instead of holiness it's unfortunate to pass on a political preference rather than a pentecostal experience regardless of who you vote for what side red or blue or even any of the other colors it doesn't matter i want my daughter to be pentecostal first because god is not american god is not democratic or republican he is on his own plane and he is holy that's the only thing and so let's stop making god american and let's start telling our children about the name of jesus we're too busy posting on facebook about political things and commenting in afghanistan and covet and focus and all these other things that are that are temporal instead of passing on the eternal to the next generation it's unfortunate to pass on barely living for god but then when it comes to extracurriculars extracurricular school activities we say give it your all that they can miss church to go to practice god forbid that truth doesn't get handed down to the next generation because in reality it's not about you it's about them someone say it's about them so let's look at this history of lied in genesis 13 to learn a little bit more lot was abram's nephew we're going to call him abraham because that's the same person abram got changed to abraham that name and we're going to call him abraham the rest of this sermon even though his name wasn't changed till later but just for clarity that's why we're going to call him abraham lot's grandfather and father passed away and abraham became the leader of their family and lot was privileged to spend a lot of time with abraham he knew the promises of god that was on abraham's life in genesis chapter 12 verse 4 we see insight that lot went with abraham someone say he went with abraham because he wanted to be a part of god's promises coming to pass we learn in verse 4 that lot chose to go with abraham

and that they went to heron they were inherent for some time until verse 5 says that abraham took lot to canaan what happened between these two verses as time passed that in verse four lot decided to go with abraham and then in verse five all of a sudden abraham's having to take lot along with him because lot's decisions and priorities started to change and to make matters worse abraham's flocks and lotz flocks started to argue because there wasn't enough land for both flocks as they grew to be able to sustain their life and eat and then the herdsmen started quarreling they started fighting and so abraham decided that him and his nephew lot needed to split up and abraham gave a lot the choice of land abraham put lot's destiny in his own hands and this is where we pick up in genesis 13 verse 10. lot lifted up his eyes and he saw the low place the plane of jordan that it was well watered everywhere in verse 11 then lot chose for himself the low place rather than ascending to the mountains look to your neighbor and say it's not about you look at someone else and say get over yourself come on you can say it you can this is your chance right now you might need counseling later but this is your chance look to your neighbor and say get over yourself some of y'all like i'm not gonna say that i wish someone would have told lot this lot get over yourself but instead lot chose for himself lot didn't think about his wife lot didn't think about his daughters lot didn't think about the people that he had influence over but lot chose for himself see you and i can choose where we work we can choose our house we can choose what we watch what we listen to we can choose the places we go we can choose the conversations we have we can choose what influences we allow in our house but what you and i cannot choose is how that affects our families we choose our destiny but in reality our choices will affect the destiny of our children and we need to have the mindset of joshua and joshua 24 15 as for me and my house we will serve the lord because it's not just about me it's about my wife natalie it's not just about me it's about my eight-month-old baby girl kylea it's not just about

you it's about them it's about your family it's about this church it's about your co-workers and your neighbors and your friends and your family and your loved ones it's not about you it's about them so let's make it practical you and i we can't watch a bunch of garbage and be confused about why our children are struggling with their identity self-worth lust anger or having nightmares or anything else we can't gossip in front of our kids on the way home because what will happen the next time the man of god that we gossiped about has a word from god to pray over them the only thing that's going to be echoing in their mind well you know what mom and dad said about you about was pastor about youth pastor and i know he's praying for me but i'm not going to listen and they have a word from god for them god forbid let's stop the slander well everybody can have it different ways the temperature could be different we can sing different songs but i'm more worried about empty altars and empty baptistries than my personal preference and so whatever the man of god from the spirit of god decides that's what we're going to do and we're going to submit to him because we need to respect authority we need to respect authority people on facebook whether it's the last president or this president people are upset brother peter because oh that you just need to respect that's your president and people are saying that but we're not showing the respect down to our children and we wonder why our children are disrespectful or not submitting or not listening to us because what do they see they see us unsubmitted and not respecting authority and so they're going to follow what we're doing and not be respected or submitted to authority which is us as parents and so let's get it right let's submit to each other let's submit to each other we can't also always talk about sports and money movies or any other temporal things and never talk about the things of god and then wonder why our families aren't growing spiritually that the only time our children hear the name of jesus is on sundays and wednesdays we can't sit back and not worship or preach with the preacher get involved and serve at this church and then wonder why our kids aren't selling out or aren't on fire for

god they're not passionate about the things of god that during worship we sit there and we're just like oh you know what i just it's not my song it's not it's i just don't feel it and then we wonder why our children aren't doing it they're gonna always follow us thank you young lady that was grabbing kids and bringing him to the front you keep doing that i know it's uncomfortable a little bit i know it's a little bit embarrassing but you know what she's getting you to heaven she's teaching you how to be a worshiper she's teaching you how to get into the throne room of jesus christ so you keep doing that mama you keep doing that girl because we're not choosing for ourselves we're choosing for them lot you're choosing for them but anyways lot went to sodom and gomorrah because it felt good but give me the hard road lot if it will save my family then i don't want the well-watered planes of sodom and gomorrah fat sheep aren't more important than my family going to heaven a little bit more money isn't worth my family not experiencing the presence of god trying to let them fit in and feel like a normal kid isn't worth their salvation just so for three years in middle school or four years in high school they're not picked on because they dress differently or they don't go to the parties they don't do that or participate in that i want my family saved and nothing is worth having as if it's going to cost my family going to heaven for eternity so i don't choose for myself i choose for them and as we continue to read the story of a lot god became extremely frustrated with the city and he told abraham that i'm going to destroy it abraham pleaded with the lord please don't destroy sodom and gomorrah he asked god if there are 50 righteous people in the city will you spare it wait god there's not 50 45 40 30 20 10 there's not even 10 righteous people in the city god said if there's 10 i'll spirit and they couldn't even find 10 righteous well we know lot had a wife he had two daughters and then he had son-in-laws so that six people lot can even positively influence four people to be righteous so i don't want to hear the age-old thing well they're not influencing me we're influencing them no whatever

we allow in our homes over a screen whether it's on a phone an ipad or a box whatever we allow in their ears from spotify and apple music it's going to influence them and god forbid we can't even influence four people because the life that we're living and his son-in-laws didn't even take it seriously because when they fled sodom and gomorrah they stayed back they stayed back so god sent two angels to warn a lot so that he and his family could escape and while the angels are there men of the city came to do evil things and lot offered his two daughters instead lot's mind is so twisted that he was even willing to sacrifice his family trying to protect holy things that's a contradiction we try to look holy and look like we have it all together so we're willing to not go to an altar and make it right because of our reputation well i don't want what will they think of me if i go and i do that ugly cry face and i'm snotting and crying because i have something wrong in my life and i need to get a hold of god i want to look holy so i'm going to let my children march to hell rather than come here and be embarrassed a little bit for a moment but it pay off in eternity forever we better not protect holy things and sacrifice our families those are a contradiction those are a contradiction so lot chose for himself and we're about to find out that it cost him his family lot's earlier decisions has positioned his wife to fail she had no control over their decisions where they were going to move however while escaping the city the angel told them don't look back lot's wife turned around because she fell in love with the city that her husband took her to and it cost her her life lot chose for himself and lost his wife then his daughters decided to do evil things and from their mistake the moabites and the ammonites lineage were born these two groups of people constantly ward against the children of israel and they even offered their children alive to the false god molech on fire our poor decisions will create battles for our future generations to fight and i wonder if you and i could talk to lot now what do you think he would say if we ask lot about the choices that

you and i make how do you think he would respond i'd imagine he would emphatically declare that our choices just aren't about us it's about them our choices are about them but lot chose sodom and gomorrah but i love what the bible says about the right choice abraham made in genesis 13 18 abraham moved his tent and went and dwelt by the trees of mamrie which are in hebron and he built an altar there to the lord abraham chose to ascend to the mountains yes it's a harder path but it's the path that's going to save my family abraham built an altar because temporal things can seem more entertaining but those always have to be secondary to our relationship with jesus christ and lot was confident that he could be a saint in sin city but he didn't consider his family and what's so sobering pastor brad is that later on in the bible inspired by the holy spirit the author of hebrews says that lot was a righteous man but his family is never mentioned again because you might be able to survive in that environment but what about your family you and i might be able to live in that neighborhood or or participate in that thing but what about our family you might be able to balance being involved in so many extra things but still have a walk with god but what about our children god forbid we choose for ourselves in such a way that our families lose their choice and they never make it living for god as the music comes just a piano for now please there's a story about a missouri wheat farmer who had a wife two sons and a daughter one sunday morning this farmer had a friend from down the road that asked him if he'd been listening to the radio to listen to the weather forecast the farmer said he wasn't because he and his family were getting ready for church the kind neighbor told him that there's a hail storm headed their way the wheat is white in the field and it's ready to be harvested there is no way you can get it all out but i suggest you get your combine out and save as much wheat as you can because there's a hail storm headed our way the christian farmer told him thank you for your call but we're getting ready for church and we're going to go into church today because

that's what we do every single week so he loaded up his wife and three children in the car and they went to church that sunday morning just like they always did during church that day the hail storm struck and they could hear it going on outside the church i'm sure he was distracted during the service thinking about what was going on back home after church he and his family loaded up the car they headed back to their farm and on the way they talked about what they would find when they got there they wondered about the damage there would be and when they got near their house they were simply amazed by what they saw see in this real story i'm supposed to say that all of a sudden the hail storm just jumped right over their farmland the hailstorm split like the red sea or the jordan river and then all of a sudden their whole harvest was saved and it was a miracle but that's not what happened you would think his farm would be spared because he put jesus first but when they got to the farm the wheat was beaten down in the field the crop was destroyed and it was a total lost years later the two farmer friends were talking about that day his friend said i'm sure you wish you would have stayed home from church that day maybe you wouldn't be able to save some of your wheat crop in the harvest and without hesitation the christian farmer replied no sir you see on that day we lost our wheat crop but we saved the main crop you see my kids are grown up now one of my boys is a lawyer and as a christian my other son is a minister my daughter is also serving the lord i lost the wheat crop but i saved the main crop because anything worth having isn't worth it if it's going to cost me my relationship with god and so we can hoard up money we can get all the jobs we can get all the homes we can watch all the entertainment we can listen to all the music we can be just a normal american family but what will it profit if we gain the whole world if we lose the main crop so fathers i'm preaching to us today we get emotional about sports and politics so let's not say well i just don't pray hard because i'm not emotional how about

we get passionate about the things of god today in a moment when we come to the altar why don't you gather around your families and let them see you cry let them see be emotional and passionate about the things of god because that's the most important thing and god forbid our family loses out on our relationship with god because of our pride so i challenge you men be a man and pray during the altar today to women be that mama bear y'all are powerful in prayer your intercession reaches far so pray with all you have to single moms in the room paul wrote to timothy stir up the gifts that's within you by the laying on of hands from your mom and your grandmother the father was never mentioned and so mom i know it might not be ideal but you can make it you can raise a godly young kid but it's not about you it's about them children students regardless if your parents are perfect or not none of us are none of us are but they're doing their best and they love you they want what's best for you and yes they might make mistakes yes they don't always are perfect for what they say and sometimes they contradict themselves but they're doing their best so first give us parents a break but then second in the altar call today pray with everything you have so that they can know that you're serious and that you want to live for god that you're making up in your mind that you're going to live for god that you have a call of god in your life and you're going to sin to the mountains rather than choose the low easy walk to individuals you might say well i don't have a family i'm not a parent you have influence over people in this church there are kids and students that look to you and they're depending on you to show them how to worship they're depending on you to show them how to walk with god they're depending on you to show them how to pray so pray with all that you have because it's not about us it's about them and as a church we can be excited for us for no more we'd say well i i'm saved i know me and my family are going to heaven so we're good we'll just sit back and kind of put it on cruise control until

god comes or we can lift up our eyes and see past this beautiful campus and look around to the neighborhoods around us the people on our jobs and realize that we're not choosing for ourselves we're choosing for them because they have no hope and they're broken and desperate for you to say it's not about me it's about them as a church how are you going to choose today when the altar call is given are you going to choose to just go through the motions are you going to choose to go and pray with somebody fervently and passionately because it's not about you it's about them i wonder if we can stand as a church body right now are you trying to save the temporal crop of this world are you trying to save the temporal things that are one day going to pass away are we going to say i'm going to save the main crop the eternal thing which is souls i'm going to do whatever it takes i'm going to stay at the altar i'm going to pray i'm going to seek the face of god because i don't want the next generation lost i don't want this church in 20 25 30 35 years to be lost because i chose for myself because i wasn't involved in serving i wasn't engaged in worshiping and preaching and i just sat back in cruise control but instead i'm choosing for them because it's not about us it's about [name redacted] it's not about us it's about [name redacted] it's not about us it's about these wonderful students here it's about [name redacted] it's not about us it's about this younger generation so students would you step forward right now all the students maybe even kids if you feel comfortable come step forward before we pray just the students for a second that's it come on up get a little bit of room spread out that's okay you can step forward there's no lava on the floor here come on step forward we got to make room because we're going to come as a church family i want you guys to turn around and face the audience real quick if you would the outlet this is the church we dress differently we worship differently we have church differently we're different for a reason because we're not choosing for ourselves we're choosing for you and so sometimes it feels like we're stepping on your toes but it might me because your toes are in the wrong place

and we're trying to get you back in a right relationship with jesus christ we might push you hard because we want you to go to heaven because we're not choosing for ourselves this church is choosing for you you beautiful young ladies we're choosing for you strong young men that are passionate and praying hard in every altar call we're choosing for you we're choosing for you now as parents in a moment they're going to turn around but i want you to see their faces we're choosing for them heaven or hell sin city or to ascend to the mountains how are we going to choose if you're ready to not be selfish anymore in our praise and worship and in our altar calls in an evangelism discipleship if you're ready to not just worry about the temporal anymore and we pray for the eternal i wonder if you can make your way as a church family to this altar as you all turn around as well maybe husbands and mothers y'all are going to get together fathers you're going to get around your kids mothers you're going to get around your kids elders you're going to get around your your grandchildren single people you're going to get with other single people because we all need each other as a church body we need each other that's it that's great church family let's gather together right now as a church god is calling us all to a deeper level of commitment and in this moment it'd be really easy to go through the motions but think about it is the next generation going to be lost because we wanted convenience in the low place are we going to send to the mountains and know it might be hard though it might be a little embarrassing our children might not know how how we sound when we speak in tongues they might not have seen us cry in an altar before pray passionately but it's not about me it's about them i wonder now can we lift our voice as a church family and mothers and fathers pray together husbands and wives pray together over your marriage that we're going to choose together as for me and my house we will serve the lord it's not just about me oh i don't have any kids no there's people in this church that look up to you you're a leader it's not about you it's about them come on that's it father

i challenge you pray right now pray right now for eternity come on show your children that you're going to be serious about the things of god let's pray fathers let's pray i challenge us right now that's it mama that's it mama pray like you know how that said enter into the presence of the lord boldly right now mama that's it elders let's show this next generation how to pray let's show this next generation how to travail in the spirit how to stay and linger in an altar call and not just rush to the restaurant let's show this next generation what it means to be passionate about eternity and about the things of god it's not about me it's not about my pride it's not about what people think about me it's not about my reputation it's about the next generation and i don't want them to be lost and so i'm gonna pray with everything i can god save my family save my family i know i haven't been perfect in the past but i pray that natalie and i can choose god for kaileya that it's not just about me and what makes me happy but i'm choosing for kylea that natalie is choosing for kaileya that us as a married couple we're choosing for the people that we have influence over sure it'd be easy to go to the low place to the convenient place to take the easy road but i want to ascend to the mountains because it's not about me i want my family saved i want apc saved i want the outlet saved i want to be saved so as for me and my house we'll serve the lord that's it can you lift your voice right now can you lift your voice right now unto god come on families let's pray come on church family let's pray come on why do you think we show up every time the doors are open we want to make it to heaven why am i serving in ministry because we want to make it to heaven why do we do devotions because we want to make it to heaven come on i'm trying to save the main crop today come on god has to be our priority everything else is secondary come on that's it kids pray with your parents right now let your voice up with your families right now we're gonna make it your back came and changed me

i won't go back i can't go back to the way it used to be before your presence came and changed me that's it outlet you're not choosing for yourself you're choosing for the rest of the youth group why don't you pray passionately right now i won't go back i can't go back to the way it used to be before your presence came and changed me i won't go back i can't go back that's it come on that's it mama that's it daddy push through the crowd and get a hold of your kids let them hear you pray right now come on we're gonna make it we're gonna make it we're gonna make those hard choices elders find somebody and pray with them right now come on elders find a young person or a young family and pray with them right now elders we need you we need you elders you do have a purpose elders you're not forgotten elders we need you been chased i have waited for this i won't go back i can't go back come on elders let's intercede right now i can't go way back used to be before your presence came and changed forgiven no more we're gonna do something as a church body i'm not gonna have a normal altar call anymore but i wonder as a church can we really get a hold of eternity and how long forever is gonna be how long forever is gonna be brother graham did an illustration one time about a butterfly if that the world as big as it is was full of steel it was just a big steel ball that if every one million years a butterfly would come by and just barely touch it by the time that that big steel ball was dissolved because of that butterfly coming and hitting it that wouldn't even be a moment in eternity because eternity is forever and how you and i are living our lives is going to dictate where we spend eternities as a family and as a church so i wonder for the next few moments can we not worry about time can we not worry about reputation and what we look like but as a church family can we be desperate for the things of god as we've been desperate for anything for a moment in time can as a church body all roles are done how long you've lived for god or haven't lived for god all mistakes none of that matters in this moment

but what matters in this moment is are we going to choose god are we going to choose this world can we lift our hands all across this place and i'm calling for men i'm going to put the microphone down and let's lead by example and let's enter into the presence of god right now that's it let's lift our voices right uh that's it be led of the spirit let's pray together as a church family maybe fathers go and pray with another father or another family mothers let's pray with the children right now students let's pray with our families and parents let's go grab an elder right now and pray with them that's it find someone and pray with them right now find someone and pray with them right now as a church family we're choosing for each other we're going to worship like we've never worshipped we're going to bring guests like we've never broadcast because it's not about us it's about them that's it that's it find someone and pray with them encourage them right now in the spirit come on speak life into their situation come on we're in this together we're in this together we're choosing for each other as for me and my church will serve the lord as for me and my spouse will serve the lord as for me and my family will serve the lord we're gonna do this together we're gonna do this together we're choosing for each other that's it be led of the spirit right now god is telling you to go and pray with someone why don't you do that that's it we can stay in this moment a little while longer we're not going to rush what god wants to do in families right now god i praise you god i want my mom saved and so i'm gonna do the hard things because i'm choosing for them give me the strength and the faith to keep living this i want the next generation to know truth i want them to love your word to have a relationship with you i want these beautiful babies in this church to be saved i want our families saved i want us to have strong families i want to have men of god so i'm choosing for them i want our women to be protected so i'm choosing for them i want the outlet to be passionate and on fire for you for spiritual gifts to be in operation

and their youth services so i'm choosing for them i haven't always got it right as a parent or as a husband in the past but god from this day on i'm choosing for them and it's going to be embarrassing to do things that i haven't done in the past but i'm going to do it i'm going to do those hard things because i'm choosing for them i said just one more moment lift your voices to god hello um thank you jesus thank you there's just a holiness and a sacredness in this moment and god's inviting us in right now he's inviting us in would you just go ahead and take a few more steps into that inner veil of his presence and just shut out everything else that may be trying to crowd into thoughts or minds or schedule he's invited us into the holy place holy holy it's your presence god it's sacred it's sacred it's special jesus jesus christ hallelujah i feel like this is an eternal moment here i thought a moment ago i'm so thankful for the decisions that my mom and my dad made have led me and helped me to this point decisions i never knew they were making i feel the weight of my son in my hand today i feel the weight of his life on my shoulders as well we don't know the decisions that we're making but many of us have decided when you stepped out of your seat you weren't choosing for yourself you chose for someone else on their behalf maybe someone that's not even in the room today and when you did so i believe you made an eternal decision we're going to continue to make those decisions young men and women make the decision to wake up each day choose jesus over every other option over every other opportunity mom and dad wake up decide to choose your walk with god choose jesus i've been there when these babies are running around and they need waffles they need milk you're trying to pray you're trying to read your bible they see it and you're making a decision they don't know you're making just yet but one that will impact their eternity i feel a heavy and a holy moment here today and i wonder if we could just in your own words lift our hands today and let the lord know god i choose you this morning lord and i choose

you every morning i choose you today jesus on behalf of my own self lord i choose you for myself but i also choose you for those that are in my path i choose you for my family lord i choose you for my neighbors god on their on their behalf today i choose to walk with you and i choose a closeness with you they don't even know that my decision is going to affect their eternity they don't even know that my decision to walk with you is affecting their life and affecting their family but i choose you today and in doing so i'm not just choosing for myself but i'm choosing for my field and i'm choosing for my home then i'm choosing for my family i choose you today ah no matter the ascent or the climb that it will require i choose you jesus i choose you today jesus name