Stronger - How Hard Times Reveal God's Greatest Power

So so the church will go to church today.

I'm so glad to be back. I have had such a great relationship with you for so long. I met Pastor JD back in the 1900s. That's how old we are.

Met JD in 1995 he was a student at Campbell. I was due to Gardner Webb because JD wasn't smart enough to get into Gardner Webb week, we, grown up together in ministry. He's watch me get married.

I watched him get married and we have families now and I remember preaching at Summit church when it was called Homestead Heights. So for me to see God's faithfulness to this church and to see how God is using the summit to send out people all around the world for the sake of the gospel.

I am honored to preach to you today for the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours. It's a real joy for me to be able to be here anytime I get to serve. JD is a great blessing. I know that you understand.

I hope you do.

What a great blessing you have to not only have the staff and the pastors that shepherd you, but to be led by a humble servant and a humble under shepherd like Pastor JD.

He is one of the greatest men I have ever met in my life and I get choked up when I think about it is not because he's cute because I don't think he's cute but I'm just a his wife thinks he's cute. I think he's ruggedly handsome but I love being able to be friends with a man of God like that and appreciate his people, so thanks for have me back today, name is Clayton King out of Anderson, South Carolina, Vance was the pastor and author, dad and I married my lovely wife and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary today.

Can you believe that I'm with you on my anniversary off. I really love you guys are today is our 16 year five month and eight day anniversary and that we have two kids.

Jacob is 13. Joseph is 10. We homeschool our kids. Yes, we are those people we homeschool our kids, but they are completely and totally normal. They have conversations with grown-ups like mature gentlemen, they can read they wear shoes and we do not turn our own butter and organic, free range farm okay were normally shop at Publix. Both my boys love the Lord my 13-year-old feels like God may be calling him in the ministry and so pray for me and my family are summer camp ministry call crossroads is been partnering with this church for many many years and your students will be attending camp with us again this summer so it's a real treat for me to be with my people today that I have heard to say every campus in every location I've heard that this service is the most fun and most rowdy service of the entire weekend. Don't let me down. No pressure, but don't let me down.Roddy and because I will be respectful of toddler watch the clock but I got something to share today so we just begin by asking your question now when you think of the word stronger you want to get stronger. What are some things that pop into your mind. Imagine with me right now.

Just when you think about the concept of strength. What pops in your mind. I think of things being bigger or more successful for infants it's an election cycle. So we want a strong candidate when you think about the military. I want a strong military is matter fact I want our country to have such a strong military that we never have to use it that we deter people from attacking us because our military is so strong.

What about the national economy. Don't we all want a stronger dollar. We all want a stronger economy you want stronger personal finances were about even just physically like if you want to get stronger. What are some things you have to do well you need to eat better.

Need to go to the gym for me if I would be stronger spiritually. You're probably thinking on an essay I should read my Bible and pray and tithe and volunteer at my church. While those are important, but if I will be stronger spiritually. I need to drink a lot of coffee. Take straight up like capital get a better laugh out of that coffee makes me not only a stronger person makes me a better Christian. It makes me a better dad.

It really spiritual houses. My mindset that some of you are not drinking coffee. Yet in your life and honestly tell you, you too can repent of your sin and you too can find the hope in the grace of God that he gives us and coffee. But when we think about strength.

We think about winning teams.

Whether you love them or hate the New England Patriots are the strongest football program in the last 15 years.

I don't care if you hate them.

I don't care if you wish Tom Brady would jump off a cliff. They are a dynasty back in the 1900s Martin, the Dallas Cowboys were the strongest team were in a rebuilding decade or two or three if you're in NC State fan unit what it was like once fast limited. Remember that you were watching the NC State Wolfpack when that national championship Jim Valvano and you're praying for the football program writes like we want things to be stronger. Nobody really loves feeling weak.

So imagine with me if we could hang out for little while and if I got to know you and I ask you a question just this one question.

If we are having coffee or a meal or sitting on your deck are our families were sharing a meal together if I would ask you this one question what would your answer be without asking what is the one thing in your life that has hurt you the most. I will probably never did I ask you that question over Miller over a cup of coffee but just me bringing that question up elicits an emotional response from us because even though you may never get to tell me that and even though it probably wouldn't be appropriate for you to tell me that because we don't know each other and we haven't built trust and intimacy. Yet all I have to do is ask you to think about the most painful thing you've ever experienced in your life and you automatically know what it is because pain leaves a mark on us.

Suffering changes us. Weakness affects us and so will do for the next few minutes today for every single campus location is all want to show you this strange way that God uses our pain and our weakness for our good and his glory and own a share some of my story is not parallel mine with a guy by the name of the apostle Paul who also had lived through his own share of hard times and weakness start off to today but sure passes Scripture from second creeping chapter 11 will start off in verse 24 and I will share a story with you about the last 12 years of my life that I hope will give you some hope in your hard times and that I hope will be inspiring to you by the grace of God to let you know that if you're not dead… This is second creeping chapter 11 beginning in verse 24. The background to this is quite simple. The apostle Paul loves the people in this ancient Greek city of Corinth and he wants to instruct them and correct them because they're having some issues in their church there struggling like we all struggle, but Paul takes a different approach as he attempts to influence them both practically and theologically in Jewish, Greek and Roman culture. If you were a philosopher or religious leader or an expert of any sort, you would attempt to use your successes and your strengths to influence people and convince them of your perspective, that's how the Greek philosophers.

That's how the Jewish rabbis did. That's how the Roman rulers and Senate did it.

They tried to use their own personal strengths and successes to prove their point and make a difference and exert influence with the apostle Paul takes a turn here and it's not subtle. It's pretty roll.

It's pretty brutal.

It's pretty unmistakable to the church in court and ancient context.

Paul does not talk about his strength and his successes to make a point. He does something that's counterintuitive to all of us. He showcases his weakness says in verse 24. As Paul goes down the list of his own personal sufferings five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes -13 times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and day in the open sea have been constantly on the move and then he mentions a specific sources of danger eight was significant to the Jewish mind eight was the number of new beginnings. He mentions eight dangerous scenarios I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits danger from own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, endangering the city endangering the country in danger at sea and in danger from false brothers I've labored and toiled enough often gone without sleep. I've known hunger and thirst, and up, often gone without food. I've been cold and naked he speaking of physical weakness. Now he speaks of emotional weakness in verse 28.

He says besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches and what mom can can can relate to this.

What dad can relate to this.

When you love somebody you feel the pressure to pray for them.

When you love your kids, your spouse, your cousins your mom your dad your coworkers you lay in bed at night and you worry about them and you wonder how they're gonna turn out and that is how Paul felt for the people in the church is that he loved and cared for many asks to rhetorical questions in verse 29. I want you to lean in and will you listen with your heart if you're a believer. This will speak to you as a Christian, but if you're not a Christian.

This is for you as well because here's the thing about weakness.

You don't have to be a believer in Jesus Christ to be weak.

You don't have to be a religious person to suffer pain and go through real hardship as a matter fact you can be an atheist or agnostic.

You can be a Hindu or Muslim a Jew or a Christian you can be an unknown line on the chart when you check what your religious affiliation is and you're still going to go through hard times in your life, people you love it in the die you're going to experience a miscarriage or infertility or a prescription pill addiction or a closet problem with pornography, you're going to get laid off.

You're gonna lose your job you can have a child that doesn't turn out the way you hope they would have a child that dates and maybe even marry someone you don't like to get physically sick. Can you have health issues that you never predicted in your 20s that will attack you in your 50s or 60s, your life can be going great and everything can be moving up into the right and the charts are all headed in the right direction and you can have a pain in your stomach in one visit to the oncologist can totally change the outcome of your life. You can be living the dream plenty of money in your Roth IRA 401(k) is growing five years from retirement and a drunk driver can run a red light and it's a different reality. So when Paul asked this rhetorical question. He's talking to us in verse 29, when he says this week and I don't feel weak who is led into sin, and I don't inwardly burn watch with me.

What this great man is doing.

He is not standing up on a stage or riding on a piece of parchment to try to make a case that he is strong or awesome he is saying if you feel weak me to. If you are tempted to sin. So MRI I understand what you're going through. I know what it feels like. Let me help you find hope in your hurts because he says in verse 30, so if I must post I will boast of the things that show my weakness to be honest with you.

This sounds like nonsense to me not to try to be spiritual.

This just sounds crazy. Why would you boast in the things that show your weakness. Why would you brag about being a loser in any particular situation.

Why would you talk about that I know what it feels like to be embarrassed if something is not successful.

My 10th grade year. The year was 1988. That's a long time ago I had a Camaro and a mullet. If you don't know what a mullet is asked somebody that was alive in the 80s is not a fish it's a haircut, a really awesome haircut business in the front party in the back you like that in 1988 I made varsity football is the only tip credit to start and we had a perfect record that year. Oh and 11 when a single game or losing the JV teams and girls flag football squad summing. We were all full. The only reason I will talk about my terrible football year in 1988 is to help you connect with me to break down that barrier to help you relate to me and me relate to you and that is exactly what Paul is doing here. He say and don't think of me as a super apostle. Don't think of me as a great church planter. I will think of myself as being a mighty man of God.

Let me show you my scars let me tell you how weak I really am.

Let me show you my brokenness because I've learned that when I am broken. It's a blessing not just a burden because in my brokenness I find a connection to God's strength, but I don't find what I'm full of myself and proud not learn that and I'm still learning that, but I will show you exactly how that played out in Paul's life because he tells us in the very next chapter in chapter 12.

The first six or seven verses. He tells us this will story about this experience he had when Jesus apparently took him on a personal tour of the place called Paradise or heaven. This shouldn't surprise us because Paul had met Jesus on the road to Damascus face-to-face we converted to faith in Christ and God change his name from Saul to Paul. But Paul had this amazing experience, and after 14 years.

He began to take pride in the fact that he had this experience with Jesus and that pride was a bad thing. So what God did to humble Paul is God took up bad thing and used it for a good purpose. God took a painful thing and he used it for this process. Paul had to go through and that is what God does with you and with me when we will open our eyes and open our hearts to the possibilities of what God can do through painful processes. We pray for God to deliver us from our weakness but in reality sometimes God in his grace and wisdom will actually allow us to stay in a painful week season so we will learn that we are not as strong as we thought we were able take our eyes off of our own sufficiency and put them squarely on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ the very thing that I pray for God to take out of my life is often time the been the very thing that God put in my life for a greater purpose.

Valid never ever learn without that painful thing that drove me to my knees. So, if you will allow mailing to clean myself out a spot free to have a good time with y'all today as I have gone through hell and the good thing about going through hell is when you get on the other side, you realize that by the grace of God, you can make it just survive and thrive and they'll tell a tale on private construct without ever been because I've never been weaker than I feel right now in this moment come on girl talk back to me. Help a preacher out every campus you can say amen. Oh what it means.

Right then, but while good, why don't you allow this church you will save it for JD nearly that much.

I listen to the podcast telling the so paul says in second grade beams 12 verse seven to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, i.e. a personal tour of heaven with jesus. there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan to torment me three times, pleaded with god to remove it while paul begged god to take away the painful thing three times i pleaded with the lord to take it away, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you from my power is made perfect in your weakness.

therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that christ's power may rest on me. that is why, for christ's sake, not his own, not his own glory and not his own story, not his own platform, not his own influence, not to build anything for himself but for the sake of christ. that is why i delight in weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions, in difficulties and here it is the big flourish. at the end the crazy paradox the oxymoron.

that makes no sense, but is real and true in real life. for when i am weak, then i am strong and i just have to say what you kid me right paul that we all know that this doesn't make sense last week pastor jd talked about oxymorons he talked about paradox of things that don't make sense and use a couple of examples. you may remember jumbo shrimp government efficiency. i've got one of my own united methodist presbyterian pastor gave me one and and this will only be funny to seminarians with a presbyterian pastor set a happy calvinist will come on y'all that's funny, i don't care who you are. these oxymorons still exist. how do we find strength and weakness. we talked for instance we all know the only way to lose weight from care what the infomercials tell you the only way to lose weight is to eat less and move more so if anybody tries to tell you. you can eat more and never exercise and lose weight. they are lying to you and they are trying to steal your money with a product that is shown right.

we know that this doesn't make sense but it's true because it's the word of god. but it's also true experientially in real life. paul realized that god used the pain as a needle to puncture his pride and that weakness was a way for god to show paul who he really was. how does this work in your life and how does this work in my life if i were to ask you, what's the most painful thing you ever experienced just the memory of that painful thing brings back the feeling for some of you it was the death of a spouse or it was a terrible divorce or it was a big mistake he made in college. it was a decision that you made with your children. or maybe it was the affair or maybe was the fact that someone in your family died and you didn't have time to reconcile a broken relationship. or maybe it was sexual abuse or physical abuse. the fact that your mom or your dad cut out on the family and you grew up without them and you needed them and you're still mad and hurt and bitter about it so there's no need and pretending to be strong dropped the façade y'all are as awesome as you think you are.

i'm not nearly as strong as i wish i was in, so if we will do what the apostle paul didn't just admit our weakness. there is a liberating freedom that will engulf us know how free i feel when i share this story with you and i'm about to share. if i didn't share my story with you. for god's glory. it would kill me because it's too heavy for me to bear alone to tell you why i'm here today in this message and what it means to me and i hope what it will mean to you.

i spent the last year and 1/2 writing a book is my 13th book in the last three and half months preaching this message because i felt like god told me to felt like god told you to tell the story and i didn't want to because i had tried to put it to bed. i tried to bury it. i thought i was getting over it and what i'm realizing is when you're hurt, especially when you lose something or someone you never get over it by the grace of god you get through it, but you might as well quit trying to get over it. so here's my story at least a part of it.

over the course of 12 years.

while i was raising my two children leading a growing parachurch ministry teaching pastor at a large church campus pastor, and a large christian university writing book after book for publishers over the course of 12 years i lost nonfamily members and i felt lost to modeling they got separated from the mall. i mean, they died started with my grandfather world war ii vet south pacific in the navy drop dead of a heart attack sitting on the couch. his brother drop dead of a heart attack in my backyard. my grandmother who lived through the depression had a stroke while she was working in her garden picking corn from her garden and died in the hospital heaven. fast forward to 2010 five years ago on a thursday afternoon i went to see my mom and dad in south carolina had lunch with him. my mom was sick. i didn't realize how sick she was. my dad was terminally ill at the time my father he been sick for a decade getting progressively worse, heart disease, diabetes, neuropathy, multiple heart attacks, triple bypass surgery. open heart was on dialysis every other day and my mom had been taking care of my terminally ill father as well as helping another family member who was struggling with a 20 year addiction to drugs and alcohol in that particular day on a thursday after lunch, my mom woke me out to the car and told her goodbye that i noticed in the sunlight and her color didn't look right and i asked her how she was feeling and she said i'm not feeling well and i'm not doing good this is what's wrong and she said i'm very very sick and i've kept it a secret from everybody? tell me what's wrong we can get you some help. she said no. i better take care your dad. he's not priority your dad is dying and i want to take care him and then my mom paused and whether it was a premonition are the leading of the holy spirit are a lucky guess. here's what my mom said and it's killing me. the stress and the worry and the pressure is killing me dollar to find me laying dad in the middle of the kitchen floor one day soon and you'll know what happened. that was thursday. sunday i preached in charlotte. three days later. four days later went to the airport was flying to toronto on the way to the gate call my mom talk to her for 10 minutes. when i landed in toronto. i got the message that my mom had dropped dead of a heart attack in the middle of the kitchen floor just like she told me four days earlier spent the loneliest night of my life in another country because i couldn't get back home because there were no flights in a hotel room in the airport in toronto, canada. for the first time in my life i experienced depression, panic attack, fear, anxiety, confusion, i've always fancied myself as being strong.

i've always been big physically.

i've always had a big voice of always been allowed.

always draw a crowd, an extrovert. i love people and then after so many of my family members had already died and then my mom does.

my first thought is, oh no, i don't have a mom a second thought is to take care of my dad.

my third thought was me softly home the next day and i preach my mom's funeral a couple days later my mom dies on a sunday. i preach my mom's funeral on tuesday. three days later was thanksgiving two days after thanksgiving was my birthday three days after my birthday was my mom's birthday three days after my mom's birthday was my brothers birthday three weeks after that was christmas is a worse thing out of it all through my life. i always look down my nose at people who were depressed. i was an evangelical pharisee because i had never felt that way i'd never known hopelessness. i had never known grief like that and i used to tell people, silly things these. this is good advice but it was coming from a place of arrogance.

i would say we were depressed just read your bible more. you're filled with fear and anxiety. just pray for your doubting god top more volunteer more goal or mission trip will fiction and then when something so heavy came on me. i realized i can fix anything too weak to even get up out of bed in the morning. control is an illusion of control anything. control is not show.

i finally face something that could not fix. some of you were facing things right now.

you can't fix. you try and you try and you try and you worry and you read and you we and you cry and sometimes even sheet whether it's too much alcohol or pills or gambling or porn or spending money indiscriminately or eating food that gives you comfort for a little bit all of us are weak and we all need a source of strength in our weakness and every other source is a lie. every other way that you cheat does not make you strong. the only way we can find strength or weakness is to go to somebody who is bigger and smarter and stronger than we are. was already defeated the greatest foe we will ever face.

it was already beat the greatest enemy we will ever face and who has all the resources at his disposal to make a strong when were weak and you know it's jesus and i know it's jesus or stubborn pride.

he's usually the last source of strength. we go to under submitting not try everything else. and so began to take care of my dying father and i saw my dad.

he was the strongest man both physically and spiritually had ever known. one of the rare cases. i had a great dad and a great mom who stayed married, they were not perfect by any stretch.

my dad discipled me when i felt called to ministry at age 14 my mom and dad were my biggest fans. my daddy was my sunday school teacher when i was a little boy in the sit under the teaching of the word of god for my own father, and then to watch him dwindle to the point where he could no longer hold a coffee cup i venture to put my dad in a nursing home. i would bathe my dad. i would shave my dad brush his hair brush his teeth would rub diabetic cream on his feet. i would put them in the shower and scrub his body, and every single time i would drive to go visit my dad it was all i could do to control myself and compose myself from the from the heaving sobs of brokenness and grief, knowing that my dad was gonna die.

that might be the last time i would see him i would pull myself together i would quote scripture tried to come up bible and read it not walk in that nursing home and i would try my best for a couple hours to be there with my dad and be strong for him and then in june 2012 a year and 1/2 after i buried my mom. i got the phone call from the cardiologist. he said your dad had another heart attack on dialysis today he's alive.

he wants to speak to you.

my family was it weeping. we had not had a vacation in a year and 1/2. we went to the beach. we do the beach two or three days and i was just all appear fishing at ocean isle, trying to relax.

try to finally just decompress and be with my family had missed all the baseball games that year so far for both my kids and my dad's his son and ready to die. i'm too weak. i can't have surgery they can't do a stand no more options for taking me off everything except pain medicine you come and stay with me until i die. we drove six hours to the hospital.

i stayed with him three nights three days in the hospital we moved in the hospice and my dad died not preach his funeral on father's day. i didn't know. something could be so hard to be honest with you i really know what to do even think about right now.

i cannot front of the automatic. i want to cry.

i would cry right now only go back in the green room and sit down on the couch and just bury my head enough in my hands and just weep. i want to spend that over three years. so after i preach my dad's funeral trying to process all of this going to scripture say lord if this is true if your strength is made perfect in my weakness and i can boast and it will you show me how i felt like the holy spirit said write a book. tell your whole story of all the nonfamily members of all the discouragement of all the depression because there is a good ending to this bad situation. don't focus on being a victim focus on the victory that you have in christ, blessed lord in prayer.

if you want me to write this book and tell the story and preach the sermon, i'll do it, but you better save a lot of people encourage a lot of broken folks have to kick this hornets nest that i'm trying to put behind me have to wake up all these old monsters that have haunted me for a dozen years. fear, anxiety, grief, depression, discouragement. i don't want to wake those things up on time with him. please god. if you tell me to do this. it better work but you know that if you're christian. the thing that you're going through is preparation for what god is called you to and i didn't know that at the time but i know it now, so i wrote the book and i released the book on father's day.

i preach the message at my church on father's day three years to the day that i buried my dad and preached his funeral and by the grace of god and only by the grace of god through his strength alone through mild weakness by the power of the gospel in the last 3 1/2 months since i released the book. preach this message and have told the story from second corinthians 1112 by the grace of god are seen almost 6000 people publicly respond to the gospel.

repenting of their sin and trust in christ, the glory of god through weakness.

his strength is made perfect, so cannot share with you. just a few things in the five minutes i got left and i've learned how to share this with you. your scars tell your story so don't hide your scars. your scars tell your story. paul would say in galatians 617. at the end of his letter to the church in galatia. let no one cause me trouble for beryl my body the marks of christ. yes, just simply that first thing he mentioned and in chapter 11 the second corinthians, when he said he received the 40 lashes of war -15 times just that one beating was enough to kill a man in the scar tissue on his back, sides and starbucks was probably 2 to 3 inches thick from being beaten with a cat of nine tails five times paul showed his scars just to else showed there scars to tell a story, jesus of nazareth. when thomas and i will not believe he is risen. unless i can touch cl men put my hand there. jesus said if you want to see a scar. i've got several go ahead thomas thrust your hand into these nail scars, put your hand in the massad where the spear went scars tell a story. scars tell us that we survive something hard and when i tell my story and show my scars, even people that don't agree with my philosophy my theology my politics that will lean into listen because we all relate to difficulty because we've all been there and when somebody has the guts to leave it until their story touches something innately human in us. that's what jesus was the suffering servant.

that's why the bible is so powerful. one of the reasons is because it shows us a god. just watch us from outer space, but decided he was gonna put scannell and get some skin in the game. he came down here and live like us and died a terrible death in our place to say to us in our difficult seasons and most difficult days are know how you feel. i've been there. that's what you should become a christian.

if you're not, because there is no other faith in this world that gives you a god who knows what it's like to be you, jesus does. my scars tell my story, tell it, for god's glory. you can tell your story. you might be in a place right now in your story where you see no redemption and you see no purpose but i promise you if you'll stay faithful to jesus through it you will is.

here's what i've learned in this will be on the screens, but it's good. caesar got it down. god makes a promise and we want the payoff all of god's promises. no weapon formed against you will prosper. i will be with you always, to the very end of the age. i'm going to prepare a place for you.

i will wipe every tear away from their god makes a promise and we want the payoff in the middle there is this painful thing called the process. we want the payoff. but you don't get the payoff you don't go through the process because the process is the point always pray for god to deliver me from the process got the plate so the point is i use your weakness to make you like me upright all all all the christian life might be like jesus may be like jesus and it dawned on me one day as i'm standing beside my dad's deathbed.

if i want to be like jesus on the have to suffer like jesus is the way to be raising people from the dead walking across water.

that's the kind of jesus will be like the glorious jesus.

but no, i got to learn how to suffer because he was a suffering servant who knew pain belong to him and i will be like my master so weakness isn't wasted when it's the way god works in us.

weakness isn't wasted when it's the way god works in us so that most painful thing you've ever experienced that weakness that you're going through right now that health issue that report you're waiting to get back from the doctor that broken relationship in your family that marriage of yours that you're fighting to try to save those things that make you feel weak, feel like a waste if you wish that they would go away but they're not wasted when you allow god to work in your life that weakness. i'm stronger now than i've ever been because i'm more aware about weakness than i've ever been. when i see people respond to the gospel or make a decision, repent of their sin and follow christ. i can honestly say i've never been more aware of the fact that it's not me because under the crazy thoughts i have. i know the mental gymnastics play if you knew how many times i wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning. freaking out and panicking over things i have no control over, and i don't know why, under sharon my story with you not being transparent with you when we will let jesus come into our broken places.

his strength will fill us up and nobody will ever be confused about who's doing the work and who gets the glory in your smile because no one gives an exemption, but we all get a companion. nobody gets an exemption from this that matter who you are or where you're from hard times are coming and if you haven't had any yet just a little bit longer there on their way.

but just like smooth seas do not create skilled sailors easily living does not produce deep faith if we got everything we prayed for. we will all be completely ruined thought about how silly my your prayers are monarch price, don't get an exemption from hard times, always praying for god to deliver me doing something good to be something great.

any prosperity or don't ever let me go through hard times, just like my life easy, may praise god he doesn't answer her silly prayers. for instance, if you have for all my prayers how to been married to every good looking high school girl and every christian youth camp i ever went to marry and divorce 13 times before graduation from high school. silly terms were praying for an exemption fixed the problem but god isn't interested in making you happy.

he's interested in making us holy sister like this down hard times can help us if we will let them humble us because we don't exemption, but jesus will be our companion through those hard times. i wouldn't want to repeat what i've been through and honestly it could get a lot worse for me. in jesus name. i hope it doesn't. but i would not trade the intimacy i feel with my companion, jesus christ. now, for anything in this world.

he has been faithful to me and he is carried me through even for the even for me to be able to stand up and share the story with you five times. just this week in the summer church, to preach this message tomorrow. my adrenaline levels will crash all feel myself going into a dark tailspin. i'll make myself go to the gym i'll read some scripture. i'll sit outside and get some vitamin d through the soul and i'll drink a lot of water and i'll drink a lot of coffee and i'll feel better but i'm willing to go through that because you need a companion and i want you to know his name is jesus and alisa know he cares about you and i want you to know he loves you and i want you to know this that you don't know jesus is all you need until jesus is all you have.

you don't know what i didn't know it. love jesus. i was his disciple.

he was my savior and my lord and my god and my master and my boss and my king but i didn't really understand how precious he was. i didn't really understand how strong he really was until i had nowhere else to go. nobody can answer my questions. nobody could make me feel better. there was no easy way out.

i was gonna have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but i love what winston churchill said what if you find yourself going through hell. by all means keep going, don't pitch a tent in the middle of your week season. don't get sucked into self-pity. don't put all the focus on you move forward in faith that a god who has conquered death can redeem weakness in your life and make you strong for his spirit. i'm not dead so i know god is not done with me. i also know that god can take your biggest mass and turn it into your signature message. i know that god can take your greatest test in making your greatest testimony and i know that as your scars. tell your story. people will connect with what god said in your life and they too can find hope in their hard times so my prayer today for every campus in every location is twofold. if you're a believer you'll find hope in god's grace to the most difficult seasons in your life, and that you'll know you can keep going because if you're still breathing. you can going in my second prayer is if you're not a believer. if you're not a christian. if you're on the fence. if you're skeptical if you're critical of her cynical if you got real serious questions i've prayed for you for months that today through the word of god in this message. the spirit would trawl your heart to salvation in jesus christ because i'm telling you it's not like you just should give your life to jesus. so you can feel good and go to heaven know sweetheart i'm telling you desperately need him. and if you don't realize yet how weak you are and how much you really need him you will at some point in your life will not recognize it now, and will not give your life to jesus now and will not be intimately acquainted with him now in a loving relationship. why not give your life to him now and let his grace saturate you and let his strength fill your week places pray with me, jesus right now with eyes closed and hearts open up that you save people from their sin and their weakness call centers to life called dead people out of the grave of self-sufficiency.

save people to the power of the good news of your gospel that you died in our place.

you took our punishment and you can save us if we will repent and believe. so invite you close your eyes open your hearts every campus, every single location. when a given imitation of the moment for two things. first of all, for some of you to be baptized to have never been baptized before your christian but you never followed christ in baptism and will invite you to begin to think about whether or not you will be baptized today is a public symbol of your faith in christ. we got gym shorts. we got t-shirts. we got towels. we got hairdryers.

we got everything so there's no excuse. if you're a christian, you never been baptized. this is an opportunity for you to do it. but secondly, eyes closed, hearts open, and most importantly, if you have never trusted jesus. if you've never made a personal decision to respond his gospel. if you've never owned your weakness and admitted your sins to him. i want you to listen to that voice inside your heart and i want you to yield to that voice and i'm asking you right now will you give your life to christ.

will you repent of your sin and be saved right now jesus loves you any davis life for you and he wants to give you new life now so your eyes closing your hearts open every campus.

all locations if you are ready to respond to the gospel. pray this to jesus right where you sit on the printed for you.

you gotta pray to jesus and you got to mean if you call on the name of the lord. romans 1013, since you will be saved. pray this to jesus right where you sit. if you mean it, and if you want to give control of your life to him call his name quietly.

jesus on the square is listening. jesus on the please save me right now i admit my weakness and i confess my sin i give you my life i give you my heart i give you my mistakes. i give you my shame i give you my weakness. rescue me jesus redeem me, i'm all yours and of all the that withdraws closing your hearts open. i would ask a question and i want you to respond deliberately and immediately and boldly without fear. if you are afraid feel the fear and do it anyway. we seen dozens of people today already respond to the gospel.

if you just prayed those words to jesus and you admit them.

i want you right now quickly and deliberately to raise your hand straight up above your head and keep it there for just a second and every campus right now go if you just prayed to receive christ if you just said those words hands that can get them up high on the make you do anything i'm not try to manipulate you policy your hands.

just raise him up really high and every campus every location.

just keep him up for a second you put your hands down in this room just in this room, 14 people indicated that they responded to the gospel. so here's how to end our service today to do two things eyes close hearts open to stand up to step out stand and step in a moment of invite everyone to stand together every campus and as soon as we stand on invite those of you every location that just prayed those words to christ for salvation to step out and come forward. we've got volunteers and staff members and counselors and they want to help you take your next step.

now that you've given your life to jesus and for those of you that are ready to be baptized. i want you to step out and i want you to come forward and only detected by the hand and say i'm ready to have a conversation about baptism. so, with eyes closed and hearts open. i will invite all of us right now and every campus everyone together stand up on your feet every campus altogether up on your feet, eyes closed, hearts open and will you step out if you just prayed to receive christ.

right now, come forward, eyes closed, hearts open step out step out take that symptom right now right now. don't delay, don't hesitate.

make that move come right now to the front of you would be baptized if you follow christ. if you have prayed to receive jesus today. come now. right now, don't hesitate make it public.

be bold. you do not have to be afraid. and if you are afraid the power of god strength is made perfect in weakness feel that fear and do it anyway and let the strength of god carry you. so, with eyes closed and hearts open every campus, every location under the pray and while i'm praying, if you need to step out if you prayed to receive christ today with her and have a conversation about baptism, i invite you to come while entering, eyes closed, hearts open jesus you are god and king and lord and master, and we immediately and deliberately give you the glory for what you've done today in this place, so your eyes closed.

if your heart is about to be got your chest right now i feel prompted by the holy spirit to talk to if you prayed to receive christ and you're scared to come forward. i didn't understand. that's okay coming forward doesn't save jesus christ does.

but i would tell you got a word for you from the lord. if your heart is pounding in your chest and your nervous and you're scared in your thinking if he asks one more time i'll know he's talking to me. well, i am asking one more time and i'm talking to you, jesus loves you and he is calling you to publicly make this decision to father i ask you right now that people will continue to move every campus. they'll continue to publicly profess their faith in christ. thank you jesus that in our weakness.

your strength is made perfect through your weakness on the cross. we are say.

and now jesus we praise your name that the lamb of god who was slain is worthy to receive the reward of his suffering receive that glory right now in jesus name