The Yes of God

Amen. Uh, thank you, Pastor Enzy, Sister Enzy, for the invitation to be here. It's good to see good to see you again. It's been about a year, and I'm delighted to be back. It's a great honor to be here, and I understand um some great uh this church has launched some great endeavors in the last year. I'm so thankful to hear that. Uh, may the Lord bless you and I hope that this morning that um I can u preach the word of God faithfully and that the word would be a a blessing and a help to you today. Would you open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 1 and I'd like to read verses 20 and 21 for our text. I know it's kind of hot out there and sunny. Is it too early for Christmas? Anybody started Christmas music yet? Nobody. Sort of. But while

Joseph thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. It's the name Jesus. It's it's what it means. that Jehovah, that the Lord will save. I'd like to um I would like to preach from this passage of scripture this morning. And I I ask you if you would pray pray for your own heart and pray for the preacher. Jesus, help me today and help us. I pray that your word would be faithfully and truthfully delivered today. That your gospel would shine forth. This treasure this morning is in earthn

vessels. Jesus, help me. And help your people and all those you're calling this morning in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for standing. You can be seated. I want to start with a brief venture into the problem of words, the problem of language. Hope it's not too early in the morning for this. Um, words kind of get away from us. Um, language is kind of like a conveyor belt and um, as time goes by, words kind of pass us by uh, and new words come and offer themselves. Uh, we do a lot of strange things with language. uh most of our language is uh what you would call contextoriented that is it only means what it means in the moment. Words tend not to have fixed meanings but are based upon um they derive most of their meaning from um the present context. Uh words have

uh a kind of dynamism to them. Um, and our ears are good at picking these things up. How confusing it might be to a non-native English speaker to hear about the mouth of the river or the bowels of the earth, a wave of enthusiasm, money talks. Um, one of my favorite one of my favorite things to consider is um, you know, for instance in an English class is u how a single word can mean so many different things and can be so much can be conveyed with one single word like the word no. No, no, no. Oh, no. About eight different meanings right there. At least I've just begun. The word yes is is is likewise. Um man's wearing a watch. Someone comes in to the bus, comes onto the bus, says, "Do you know what time it is?" Answer him literally, "Yes." And then

walk away. Could you tell me what time it is? I can do that and walk away. Uh, I was wondering if you know what time it is. Wow, you were wondering that. That's interesting. And walk away. Um, how aggravating such a person might be. Excuse me, but I don't know what time it is. Do you? You are excused. The time. Yes. Amazing, isn't it? Um, funny things with our prepositions. You can't be in Hawaii. You have to be on Hawaii. You You can't be on California. You can be in California. Um, you can get on a boat or on a plane, but you can't get on a car unless you're unless you're from where my folks are from. words just kind of get away from us. Uh uh we put our house up for sale recently and uh somebody came by and says, "Is your

house on sale?" I said, "No, it's not on sale. It's for sale." There's a big difference. Uh we have this kind of euphemism conveyor belt. It's it's it's been scientifically proven that uh words having to do with the restroom get on this kind of conveyor belt uh euphemism conveyor belt. We have to constantly update our euphemisms for the restroom. Um same thing sort of happened with used car salesman or used car sales lots. We don't call them used car sales lots anymore. They're pre-owned. pre-owned. Uh we used to say uh Gen Xers at least we used to the word bad changed its meaning. We we started saying that's that's bad and we meant that's good. If you're from the Northeast, you might have said he's wicked smart. Wicked. That's the nature of language. Um, but on a more serious note, more significantly, uh, I'm concerned

when words like salvation or saved or saves gets on that conveyor belt. What does it mean to be saved? the way it is it has been used really over the course of my entire lifetime. Um it it signifies something like um you have uh uh achieved a certain status. Are you saved? Do you have salvation? That sort of thing. You're thinking of it as a as a state of being and we kind of lose the action that makes it meaningful, the history that makes it meaningful, the person who makes it possible. Um, I want to spend a few more minutes and and and and and hopefully try to restore the significance of this word saves. The apostle Paul in second Corinthians called Jesus the yes and the amen of God. In fact, he said, "All the promises of God in Christ are yes and amen."

I want you to think about that for just a moment. Think about Jesus as God's yes. God's yes to the world, God's yes to your requests, God's yes to your needs. Uh this is beautifully illustrated over the course of two chapters in the book of Revelation. chapters 4 and chapter 5. In chapter 4, we get a picture of the one who sits upon the throne and created all things, who initiated all things, who started the process of creation, who spoke the universe into existence. He is worshiped for having created all things in Revelation 4. But in chapter 5, the vision shifts. It's the same throne and the same God upon the throne, but this time he's depicted as a lamb. And this time it's not as having initiated or originated creation, not having spoken creation into existence, but this is the one who completes creation.

There's the alpha in chapter 4 and the omega in chapter 5. The same the same God. In fact, you might almost call Revelation chapter 4 in its vision of God, here is the question. And chapter five, this vision of God is here is the answer. And the answer is yes. Yes. In fact, Paul goes even so far as to say that he is the amen of God. The word amen means so be it or let it be. He's the amen, the let it be of God. Um, the world uh tells us no in a thousand different ways. We learned this early on in life. Um, I remember going to school and getting picked up at the bus and the bus came by our um uh came by our our humble abode. And I remember the kids um on the bus kind of uh making comments

about the little uh ugly house that I came out of. And uh I wanted so bad I wanted so bad to to come from walk out the door of a nicer house onto the bus. I wanted to be proud of my uh uh upbringing and and my family and and uh all of that sort of thing. And I I also wanted to be a a great uh athlete at a young age and and uh for whatever reason I was I was so very very small. I didn't really hit a growth spurt until almost my senior year and uh uh I would watch I would watch these great feats of athleticism and I would feel this kind of painful no every time I'd try to pull off one of those feats. Um uh I wanted to be uh somebody who could walk into the room and

people would pay attention. I didn't want to be the wallpaper and uh for various reasons uh was I I fit in more with the wallpaper and uh uh there were there was a particular girl that I liked when I was 12 years old but she didn't you know I was wallpaper sort of thing. God, God, why? Why? Why? Why? I would constantly say, "Why? Why do I have to be so small? Why do I have to be so why do I have to be so why do I have to be so backward and shy? Why do I have to stumble over my words like this?" Um, and and and and things didn't really change all that much. Just my desires changed a little bit. um wanting to be better at my job, wanting wanting to be um uh uh more talented, have more charisma, wanting

to have this and this and that. And I felt this there was almost this default answer coming from the universe. No, my genetics had determined no. And you you understand this sort of thing. You understand you understand your your limitations. You understand what it is to live with. No. You might you might have been born with some kind of genetic disease and you feel like the universe has said has pronounced over you a great big no. No. Maybe you've wanted to have children but the universe said no. Maybe you've wanted to have a different situation in life. You wanted to have a different background. You wanted to have a a family that that uh that raised you differently. Why was I born this way? into this household under these circumstances. And the default answer of the universe was well uh no. Uh no. Um I've

seen no in some pretty painful ways before. Or I one time witnessed a um an individual propose a a young man proposed to a woman at a baseball game in front of 50,000 people and it was filmed in between innings. I think after the seventh inning stretch the PA announcer, maybe it wasn't 50,000, maybe a lot more like 60,000. Um, the PA announcer says, "John has a very special request for a very special young lady." And the young lady has no idea what's about to happen, but now it's starting to dawn upon her as he kneels down and opens up this box. Oh boy, that box turned into a casket really quick. She put her hands over her mouth like this and then she shook her head. Probably should have gotten that one straight before you made this big deal. But that was a pretty

painful no. It was a pretty painful no. There were there were when I was about 21, there were jobs that I wanted to get. I wanted to get out of the fast food industry. I wanted to stop managing a restaurant and and uh hopefully support my family a little bit better. And I applied everywhere I could possibly find. In fact, I applied once at a a honey bucket, which is like you those portable bathrooms. You clean those things out and u and then go and you service the next one. That's what you do all day. And I tried I applied for this particular job. Unfortunately, I showed up in a suit and tie to the interview. I thought I was supposed to dress really nice. Do you know where you are? I don't think we can hire somebody this clueless. No. No. We'll we'll call

you. Which is a a nice way of saying no. Um, I walked into a lumber shop once. I thought, "Surely I can get a job here. It's called Parker Lumber." I walked up to the front counter. I asked for an application. And the gentleman behind the counter said, "You want to work here?" "Yes." "Are you hiring?" And then he takes the stretchy microphone, you know, that they used to have in the 90s, and he announced over the microphone Manager to the front, please. We have somebody who actually wants to work here. Locked the doors. Don't let him leave until we have hired him. And the manager came out of his office and asked me to come right in for an interview. All the world's saying yes right now. And dad taught me whenever you uh uh get a job, be sure you figure out what

the boss's job is. Uh what it entails and and then uh try to um ultimately you want to be able to take his job. You want to be able to do it and and make his life easier, but you want to take his place someday. And I I took that a little too literally, you know, again, clueless. And uh he asked me, the interview was going really well. And then he asked me what I would like to be doing in 5 years. And I said, "Your job." It was pretty dumb. And the interview ended and uh again, we'll call you. And the man behind the desk at the counter watched me walk out the door and he leaned into the microphone and said, "Did you hire him? Why is he walking out the door?" Uh, no. That was pretty painful. Um, all the world, especially

Israel, lay in wait for the yes of God for thousands of years. Oh come, oh come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lowly exile here until the son of God appears. Oh little town of Bethlehem, house, how still we see thee thy. Yet in thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by. For a long time prayers, how long, oh Lord, how long? How long? Even when Israel was in its own country, in its own land, and not ruled by a foreign government, even then it was still at the mercy of all the empires that rose and fell. Oh come, oh come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel. And then one day, And then one day in the little town of Bethlehem, there was a baby's cry coming from one of the little hvels where they kept animals. And here was the first

utterance of the yes of God. All of the questions, all of the needs, all of the hopes here is God's enormous and profound yes to the world. Yes is a powerful thing. I I try to say yes as kind of a default. I'm learning to say yes to my kids and my grandkids as much as possible. I want them to anticipate to almost any reasonable question they ask me. I want to be able to say yes to them. I want them to expect a yes from me. Um my kids or now it's my grandkids asking me to to uh uh take them on that piggyback ride again or tell that story again or come out in the yard and play again. They're asking me essentially inviting me back into their youth and and offering me this opportunity. And my tired body wants to say no.

But I want them to learn. I want them to learn something about yes. I want them I want them to associate me with yes in the way that Paul taught us to associate yes with God in Jesus Christ. Um, I once participated in communion at the age of six, but participated as an outside observer. And um, I remember them passing around the crackers and the grape juice. And I didn't really understand what was going on, but there were kind of these mysterious words. This is the Lord's supper. And our pastor said, "If you have received the Holy Ghost and been baptized in Jesus name, come up here and take the cracker and take the take the grape juice. Go back to your seat and we're going to take the Lord's supper together." And I didn't qualify. I had not been baptized. I had not received

the gift of the Holy Ghost and I never felt so keenly um uh a sense of lostness. You might think, well, you're a child and you're fairly innocent at six years old, but children know. We know. We know. We know that we need help. We feel sin keenly. We feel our wrongs. We remember them when we're children. And I was not allowed to participate in this moment because I had not received salvation. And so I asked I asked I asked Dad, "What do I need to do?" I was hoping in the 15 seconds he would tell me real quick what to do and that I could accomplish those those those tasks and then I could come up and grab as a late comer the crackers and the juice and I could participate in whatever the church was about to do. And dad dad said, "Well,

the Apostle Peter told us in the book of Acts that we're to repent and be baptized in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost." And this sounded like a longer process than 15 seconds. So, I knew that I was going to have to watch. And I watched. And on the night of his betrayal, the preacher said, "Jesus took bread and he broke it and he blessed it and he said, "This is my body. Take and eat." And I heard a couple hundred crackers snap, like a thousand Bible pages being turned. And then I saw a lady over on this side collapse. She just collapsed down into the pew worshiping the Lord Jesus. And I wanted to be a part of whatever this was. And again, I felt a keen sense of lostness. The preacher preached constantly on Sunday night on the rapture. This was

the early 1980s and we were pretty sure that Mikuel Gorbachoff was the antichrist. We were pretty sure that Russia was going to take us out at any moment. We were pretty sure that there was about to be a rapture and I was afraid that I was going to be one of those that didn't make it. And I constantly had this kind of fear over my heart, worried about the rapture. I had been told by my parents, be careful about strangers. They a stranger could come and you don't know what his intentions are and he could take you away from us. And the worst thing in the world for me was to be separated from my parents at five and six years old. But then for me, God became that stranger. I was afraid he was going to take me away from my parents. the rapture,

the Rword. And on this night, I felt I must not leave this night unsaved. Whatever that mean, whatever that means. And so I thought of those words that dad said. He said, "Repent." This is what Peter taught. Repent. And I asked him about repentance. And he said, "Repentance is it's it's asking God to forgive you for all the wrongs that you've done and making things right and turning around and living for God the rest of your life and making that determination." Okay. And so in my child's simple mind, I clasp my hands and I squeeze my eyes real tight and I say, "Forgive me, God, for all I've done wrong." And then a catalog of all my sins come before my minds. And I start asking for re forgiveness for these individual things. And then my conscience says, "Oh, but you forgot one. Remember? Remember

the money that you stole from your grandma's purse? I'm sorry, God. I'm sorry, God. And then the conscience says, "No, it's not enough to say you're sorry to God. You've got to go find your grandma and give the money back and restore even more to her and say you're sorry." and she's and my conscience starts going through all the the bad things I've said and done and all the people I've offended and hurt and I find out that there are actually people that I cannot any longer because they're not even alive anymore say I'm sorry to and again I feel this sense of lostness. My conscience tells me I can't even pass the first grade in this three grade system. Repent to be baptized. Be filled with the spirit. I can't even get past that first one. And then I said, "God, I'm going to

live right for the rest of my life. I can't do much about my past, but I can promise you about my future. That's in my hands. and my conscience. You know how conscience is, you're all speaking in the you're speaking in the first person, I I I I. But then when you've done something wrong, conscience distances itself from you and speaks in the second person about you and starts calling you you like it's not no part of you. You know, it's you know how you are with promises. You've told mom and dad lots of things and they know all the things that you haven't done that you promised to do. I unclasp my hands and I open my eyes as I know now that prayer for me is useless. I cannot fully make amends for my past. And I know how I am about my

own future. I remember I began to cry at this moment, weeping. I will never be a part of this. And you might think again, this sounds awfully severe, but remember, I'm a six-year-old child. And we're very sensitive about sin and also very sensitive about being right. And um I just finally resolved that I could not be saved. You see what's happening? Do you see the problem? Jesus is called Jesus because he will save. But I was thinking that I could save myself if I followed this particular protocol of announcing every one of my sins, making amends for them, and making an ironclad promise about the future. I was trying to be a Christian without Christ. I was trying to be holy without the Holy Ghost. Yes, I was. That's what I thought I needed to do and that's what my conscience told me to do

and it condemned me. I I I somehow it never quite reached my heart up until this time that Jesus was called the savior of the world. Do you know what it means to be saved? It means you can't help yourself and so somebody reaches down and picks you up. You had no hope and somebody gave you hope. Yeah, you had no answers. But then somebody said yes in complete mercy and grace. And you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. I know this sounds pretty simple, but the word gets away from us. He is your savior. WHEN YOU CANNOT save yourself and you cannot, he saves you. He does not wait till you become lovable to love you. For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now, we have in instructions, as I've mentioned, the Apostle

Peter gave instructions what we're to do. But these are simply following the yes of God. For none, no oceans of water could wash away your sins were it not for the yes of God. No prayer of yours could ever reach heaven were it not already for the yes of God. There could no be no indwelling of the Holy Ghost within you were it not for the prior and painful painfully wrought yes of God. Christianity is the only religion in which salvation precedes righteousness. The only one. Every other religion is do this, do this, do this, do this, do this. And finally, when you have reached the state of rightness, then you have achieved salvation, but not here. And you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And so when I was six, it was January the 1st, 1983.

This little boy was sitting right about there, fourth pew. And I had resolved to stay there and feel sorry for myself and pity that I could not be one of the saved. But something something stirred within me. And the next thing I knew in the middle of communion before they had even taken the drink of the juice representing the blood of Christ. I came up to the altar, one foot in front of the other. My conscience was telling me, "This is not the right time. This is not the right time. This is not the moment. Wait a little bit. Wait a little bit. What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But I'm going to the altar. And this hopeless boy knelt down at the altar. And then the

entire church stopped communion. They put down their little cups and they all gathered around this little boy that was weeping. And I felt that I was surrounded by the church, not only the church of the living, but the church of the dead going all the way back to Moses and Aaron and Abraham. They were all around me and they laid hands upon me. And some lifted up my hands. And I cried out to the Lord, this hopeless boy. I had not one prayer. Just as I am. Just as I am. Without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. Oh, lamb of God, I come. I don't know exactly what transpired over the next several minutes. But suddenly I sort of became aware of my surroundings and I knew I noticed my hands were still up raised and the church was still raising

up my hands and then they slowly let them down and my mother wiped my cheeks and dad said, "You've been speaking in tongues for the last 15 minutes." And I went back in my mind and I said, "What did I do? What were the magic words?" See, there's that song, Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. That's passive voice. I was lost. I was hopeless. But now I'm found. That's not active voice. I didn't do it. I was found. And we try to scope out the territory between I once was lost and now I'm found and find out exactly what it was. But all that's there is the blood of Jesus Christ. There are no magic words. I hadn't done anything except for give all my hope to this one prayer to the one who could say

yes. I had not one plea but to him. Jesus, the yes of God. I stood up and looked around and I remember I had come into the church late that night and I was afraid. I know this is going to sound strange. I was afraid of the stars and the sky, especially at night, because that was where the rapture was going to come from. But tonight, I knew that I was going to walk out a different man. That I had nothing to fear whatsoever. Nothing. I could almost dare the sky to open up. I don't think I was even walking on the ground. And I I looked around and I said, "Dad, I want to get baptized." And my dad went to the pastor and and and asked the pastor. And the pastor said, he looked at his watch. You know, time. It's 1:00 in

the morning. Some people have to go to work. We'll have to fill up that that iron bathtub, that cast iron bathtub back there, and it takes a while to heat. tell you what he said to my dad. You bring him back here on Sunday and we'll we'll we'll we'll baptize him in the nice warm baptismal tank. And dad came over to me and told me the the news and I had seen heaven's gate open and then I heard that it wouldn't be until Sunday. But what if And I could almost, it almost seemed to me in my childlike mind that the gate was shutting again. And I screamed from behind the remaining open position of the gate. No, no. Baptize me today. Right now. Let me be baptized. I began to weep and holler all over again. And the and the preacher said, "Go fill

up Go fill up the tank. It's going to be cold, son. We don't have any towels either." Is that okay? Don't care. Don't care. I'm being saved. I don't care. That's right. Put me That's right. In any kind of water you want to. Amen. Lake water, pond water, bath water, sea water, ocean water, just water. Just just cover me. And they took me and put me in my three-piece suit. They lifted me up over that tank and put me in. And I didn't feel any cold whatsoever. Just baptized me. And the preacher said, the preacher said, "Put your your right hand over your nose and plug your nose." And I did. And he said, "Your left hand, put it over your wrist, and I'm going to hold your wrist and I'm going to I'm going to take you under the water. Jeremy Painter, upon the

confession of your faith, I now baptize you in the only saving name, the name of Jesus Christ. Oh, under the water I went. And I wanted to savor every moment. And I opened my eyes and saw everything from under the water. It was like a Van Go painting. swirling clouds and colors I'd never seen before. And he brought me up out of the water. A new creation, a new human being, untouchable, invincible. Something was born in me that was incorruptible. I now had a peace that passed understanding. I had a joy that I couldn't speak. And you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Glory to God and praise and love. Be ever, ever given by saints below and saints above, the church in earth and in heaven. On this glad day the glorious son of righteousness arose

and on my benited soul he shone and filled it with repose. Sudden expired the legal strife twust then I ceased to grieve. My second real living life I then began to live. And then with my heart I first believed believed with faith divine power with the Holy Ghost received to CALL THE SAVIOR MINE. I FELT my Lord's atoning blood close to my soul applied me. Me he LOVED FOR ME. FOR ME HE DIED. I found and owned his promise true ascertained of my part. My pardon past in heaven I know when written on my heart. OH, FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES TO sing my great redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and king, the triumphs of his grace. Bless the Lord. Hallelujah. And maybe maybe you identified yourself in what you just heard. Maybe you heard a little bit of your own story. See, Jesus

doesn't just save you at the beginning. He saves you every day. Every day you are being saved right now. Right now, you're being saved. You might think, "I have a past I can't make up for. I have a future that I'm too weak to will." What's right? I've got really good news for you. For thanks be to God who condemns sin in the flesh by sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Jesus the yes of God. I can't fix this problem in my life. Good thing God said yes somewhere somehow. Good thing there's a yes of God out there somewhere. And guess what? He's more willing to save you than you are to be saved. He's more willing to hear you than you are to ask. He's more willing to grant you than you are to pray. Yes, he is. All you need

to do is receive the yes. Sure. Put one foot in front of the other and come up to the altar and receive the yes. That's it. Receive the yes. Your repentance will by his grace be effective. That's right. Your baptism by his grace will be effective. you will be filled with his spirit. For more than 30 years, the lame man sat beside the miraculous pool, hoping to be the first one in. But for 30 years, the world said no. But one day, Jesus, the yes of God, walked by and said, "Rise up and walk." For 12 years, the hemorrhaging woman went to the doctors and their remedies were a collective no. But then Jesus, the yes of God, was passing through the crowd and she touched the hem of his garment. That's it. And there was a yes. The man with the withered hand stood

in the temple on the Sabbath hoping to be healed. But the priest said no. But Jesus, the yes of God was there. And Jesus said, "Yes, stretch forth your hand." A thief was on the cross suffering through his last miserable hours. And the thief said to the crucified Jesus next to him, "Please remember me when you enter into the kingdom." And I imagine that when he breathed his last and crossed over into eternity, that when he went to the gates of heaven, I imagined in my mind's eye some keeper of the gate, looking him over and seeing only a thief and a liar and a deceiver, a man who'd wasted his life. I could almost hear the gatekeeper say like my conscience would say, "No thieves shall enter here. Who told you you could come? How did you get here?" And the thief might think

of explaining his life. He might say, "But if you'd known how I was raised, the people who raised me, if you knew my past, but here at the gate, those excuses would have fallen dead upon his lips, weak, poulry, pathetic. There was no justification for the way he had lived." So just before turning to walk away and live the rest of his his eternity under this justified no, he had one last explanation for why he was here. And maybe he said the man on the middle cross said yes. And the gates Open wide. The man on the middle cross has said yes. Yes to you. Yes. You might almost say he broke all the rules to say yes, but he said yes. He's just waiting. Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. for he shall save his people from. Do you believe

in this? Do you believe that Jesus saves? Saves. Would you stand with me? Hallelujah. Father, in the name of Jesus, this is why we do all things in the name of Jesus. for you save you save. I pray that someone would actually believe that this morning. Believe it. Everything changes when you believe on his name that he saves. This is why we are baptized in Jesus' name. It is the saving name. It washes away every sin. It reaches to the highest mountain and it flows, yes, even to the lowest lowest valley. And the blood gives us strength from day to day. and never ever loses its power. I pray that your people would believe this now and forever. You save. You save. Would you like the six-year-old boy come forward? Come to the altar for the yes of God is here. The yes of God

is here. Come and pray. You might not know the words to say, but the spirit will give you the words. The spirit will intercede for you with things that your mouth cannot even say. Jesus name. Jesus name. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Call out upon his name. Cry out to him. God has changed my Glory to God. It reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the Lord. Oh, the blood that gives me strength from day to day. It will never lose it. or it reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valley. Oh, it's the blood that gives me strength. From day to day, it will never lose its power. The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calary. It's the blood that gives me strength from day to day. It will never lose never lose its

power. Oh, it reaches to the highest. Oh, we thank you Jesus that it flows to my lowest lowest valley. Oh, the blood that gives me strength. From day to day, from day to day, it will never lose it. And it soothes my doubts and it calms every one of my fears. And that same precious blood, it dries all all of my tears. Oh yes, it's the blood that gives me strengths. All from day to day. It will never lose ever lose its power. Oh, for it reaches. I'll sing it out to the highest mountain. Oh, yes it does. Yes. And it goes to the Lord though his valley. Oh yes it does. The blood that gives me strength from day to day. It will never lose its power for it reaches to the highest mountain. Lord fall through his valley. Oh, the blood that gives

me strength from day to day. He will live. One more time. Let's sing it all together. Never lose his power. his power. Oh, it reaches for it reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valley. Oh, the blood gives me strength from day to day. It will never It will never lose. It will never It will never lose. It will never never lose ever lose its power. Never lose its power. Oh, I'm thankful it can still reach me. Yes, it can. You can't outrun his love. Can't outrun his grace. Never lose. never lose its power. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can we just take a few moments here and thank him for his goodness. Thank him for his mercy. Oh, thank you Lord. Hallelujah. But now I'm found. Was blind. Was blind, but now I see. We sing this as a choir. Amazing grace, how

sweet the sound that save the rest like me. I want But now was blind. was blind. But now I see. It was grace that taught my heart to fear. And his grace my fears relieved. How precious. How precious is that grace of the hour the hour I first I first believe one more time. Amazing grace all together. Oh, it was amazing grace. How sweet. The same that same as a rich like me. Oh, once was lost. I once were this lost but now thank God I am bound. Was found but now Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amazing grace has already said yes. Would you reciprocate that right now? Would you say yes to the yes of God? He's already said yes. He said yes at the cross. He said yes when he came out of the grave. Would you respond with your worship right now? Would

you say yes to him? Would you respond to that yes of God right now? That's what happens when we repent of our sins. We're saying yes to his yes. That's what happens when we worship. When we surrender ourselves, we're saying yes to the God who's already said yes. Would you express that yes to him right now? Yes, God. I want to experience the grace that you've already made available. Yes. I want to experience that mercy that's new every morning. Yes, Jesus. I want to experience the salvation that you've already made available. Yes, God. I want to experience that healing. Um that is a present reality. By your stripes, we are healed, Lord. A resounding yes that you have already declared. Jesus, I want to experience that yes in my life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. We're going to

pray together one more time. If you've never repented of your sins, uh you can repent right now and say yes to God. If you've never been waterbaptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins, the water is ready and available right now. And we do have warm water and we do have towels and we do have a baptismal robe and clothing that's ready and available today. You can be baptized in Jesus' name. If you've never received the gift of the Holy Ghost like they did on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, chapter number two, you can receive that today. In the next moment when we pray, as you say yes to Jesus and you express that yes to him and you open your heart, you can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues as the

spirit of God gives the ability. Could we take this opportunity all over the sanctuary right now? Would you just lift your hands toward heaven one more time? And from the bottom of your heart, would you say yes to Jesus? Would you express it out loud? Would you say yes, God, I want to have everything you've made available to me. I want every promise in the book. I want every gift that you've given. Yes, Jesus, I need the forgiveness of my sins. Yes, Jesus, I need you to heal my broken heart. Yes, Jesus, I need to be delivered from bondage and addiction. Yes, Jesus, make me whole. Yes, Jesus, wash away my sins. Yes, Jesus, fill me with your spirit. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus. We need you today, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.