- Well, first off, let me think, all of you for your prayers, with our parents, many of you know that we sent out a prayer request to the church on our prayer requests forms to pray for Leonard's parents. They were in an accident and it's a miracle they're alive in the midst of trying to move them and downsize to a new facility. There was an accident that occurred out in Virginia. So we headed out there and we're grateful for all your prayers. Dad's fully recovered, mom is at home. She's in the process of recovering and we're grateful. Very, very grateful for that. Prayer keeps us dependent on the Lord and it's an opportunity for me to really once again, ask you to be a part of that process. After every single service we have our pertain down in front and they would love to pray for you, whether it's a small issue or a big issue, they are inviting you to come down and pray with them. I did it just a couple of weeks ago. I called one of our team members over. I said, I need your prayers, I'm heading out to Virginia, this is what's going on. So you need it, I need it. And the update is obviously they're doing better. While we were out there over the past two weeks, we had a lot to do to get their house ready to sell. And much of it was small things, okay? I'm not fleet farm Frank or hardware hank. And so it was a challenge, a bit to figure out some little things. One of the big challenges was just trying to figure out how to get the garage door up, down in the shed where he parks his tractor, okay? It got bombed, it's a big door. You gotta be able to get a tractor inside. And so I went down there and my brother-in-law went down there and my father-in-law went down there and we tried to fix this garage door opener. And I'm telling you, it was one of those rabbit holes that I couldn't let go of. I don't know, are you, you're like me, you're a guy, right? So I'm not a girl, obviously I'm a guy. And so if you're a guy, how many of you don't like to give up? You want to fix the project and get it done, okay? So you're tenacious like me and I was not going to give up. So one hour went to two hours and then three, and it might've gone beyond three hours. And all three of us got up on the ladder and all three of us tried to fix this thing and I could logically see it in my head, but I was wrong, okay? And it just went on, we took the chain apart. We tried to figure out why isn't going up, all this kind of stuff. And finally, they gave up a while ago and I finally saw the writing on the wall and I gave up and oh how I wish I could have found the solution to help the problem or have somebody come along and help me fix the problem that was going on. Before Jesus left the earth, the disciples met him up in Galilee and here's the big statement he gave them. It's recorded in Matthew 28, 19 and 20. We've been referring to it throughout our series in Acts. And he told them go and make disciples, okay, where? All nations, go and make disciples of all nations, go into all of the world and tell people about me and why I came. Now, they knew what disciple meant, learning and following Jesus, it's that path of pursuing him. But the big question was, of all nations, how is that going to happen? Put yourself in their shoes. These are 12 individuals who are getting this command and they're told to go out. And honestly, most of them, if not most of the 120 believers that we read about in Acts chapter one had probably never left Israel. They never left even the borders. All nations means the end of the earth. And furthermore Rome was in power. So how on earth are they going to take this message into all of the world where many of them had never gone before under the power of Rome's authority and actually tell people that Jesus Christ is king, okay? Now temper, Jesus is king, and here's what you need to do. You need to turn your life over to him. They couldn't do that on their own. How in the world is going to happen? Well, Jesus tells them in the book of Acts, Acts, or if you look at Acts chapter one, it says at the top Acts of the Apostles is the story that comes after Jesus arose and went to heaven. It's about how this message of the resurrection of Christ goes out to the world. And they're saying, how on earth is this going to happen? Well, Jesus tells them in Acts one, verse eight, he says, "go to Jerusalem, but you will receive power." When the Holy Spirit comes on you and you'll be what? The key word witnesses. And then he says how they're going to go into all the world. You'll be my witnesses through the power of the Holy Spirit, starting in Jerusalem and Judea and Sumeria and the rest of the world, the outermost parts of the earth. Go and make disciples of all nations. How's that going to happen? It's going to happen by way of the Holy Spirit. And so Acts records for us, how these believers under the power of the Holy Spirit became witnesses and communicated the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the son of God, Lord and Savior. And we landed in chapter three last week where Peter and John are walking through a gate that leads up to the Temple Mount, the beautiful gate. And there's a man there who is laying. He can't walk from birth, his legs don't work. And Peter looks at him, if you're here last week and heals him in the name of Jesus. And as a result of that, there's a crowd that gathers, we'll see this in just a second, up on the Temple Mount. And it is an opportunity for Peter to in many ways, communicate a greater miracle that can happen in your life. The physical miracle points to a greater spiritual miracle that can happen inside of you. And it has everything to do with this single word we're going to look at today. It's the word repent. Just one word title, repent, okay? And there's a couple of words actually, but they're both coming from, this is the linchpin that guides us down the direction of the right response to Jesus. It's found all over the book of Acts. It's at the heart of every message that is communicated by anyone who's communicating the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. It's right there at the heart of it. And so I felt we really needed to focus on it today. So please take your Bibles out. If you're worshiping with us in our lower gathering area, you're with us online, good to be with all of you. If you're here in this room, please take your Bibles out. Use your phone, your iPad, the Bible in front of you. Please turn to Acts chapter three, verse 11, because we're going to actually read this sermon that Peter gives. I'll make a few comments along the way, and then it'll be pretty obvious by the time we begin to define what repentance is, what it really is, okay? I will be using similar words over and over again. By the time you get to the end of the message, you'll you'll have gotten exactly what we're talking about. 'Cause it's not complex. I'll be repeating a lot of the same words, but I want you to understand, because this word is key. It's key to everything. And it's key to our relationship with Christ. So let's begin in verse 11, while this man who was healed clung to Peter and John, all the people utterly astounded, ran together to them in the Portico called Solomons. And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Or why do you stare at us as though by your own power or piety we've made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. That's the one that they worshiped, okay? So there's a point of commonality there. That's the God that they worshiped, the God of our fathers glorified, and here's the key, his servant Jesus. That's the key person, glorified Jesus, whom none, notice this. I mean, if it's your Bible, you can circle and underline it 'cause it comes up a couple of times in his message. You, so there's personal responsibility here, you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. But he does it again. You denied the, notice how he describes Jesus, the holy and righteous one, he's God, and ask for a murderer to be granted to you. That's Barabbas, Barabbas was a bad dude, okay? He was a murderer. So just the opposite of Jesus. This is a guy that, if you're a grandparent or a parent, you would never allow your daughter or your granddaughter to be in the same room with this guy, okay? Don't go there, he really was a wicked man. And then he, notice verse 15 again, here it is. And you, you killed him. You killed him. And by the way, Peter was probably looking at him in the eyes. He didn't have notes, he didn't have an iPad. He just looked him, you killed him. Maybe he paused. And he said, you killed the author of life, Jesus. Colossians says, Jesus created the world. He was God, he was the son of God. The second person of the Trinity, you killed the author of life, whom God Father raised from the dead, he's alive. And to this, we are, here's the key word, witnesses, and his name, by faith in his name in the person of Jesus has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Now this is interesting because this is not what we would oftentimes classify in our culture today as a seeker sensitive message, okay? Peter boldly proclaims the truth. He just goes right after it, and he says, you did this. There's personal responsibility here. Peter right away is not saying that the person I'm talking about Jesus is somebody you just kind of add into your life. He's, all the nice, comfortable things we like about Jesus. No, no, no, no. He goes down the road of telling them he was the son of God and you killed him. But he came back to life again, there's hope. And then notice what he does in verse 17. And now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance. As did also your rulers. You didn't fully understand. Peter, notice this, Peter is saying, I didn't totally get it, I denied him. I ran and I've done what I'm going to tell you to do right now because he gives us hope out of his kindness and his love and his grace and his mercy. That's kind of the idea of what is swirling around here. 'Cause I know you didn't fully get it. And I know you didn't quite see what I'm going to tell you next about the Messiah suffering and dying. And he didn't connect all the dots, but you do now 'cause Jesus is alive. And I'm here to tell you the truth because the decision needs to be made. And that's what he says. But what God fore told by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer and thus fulfilled. Jesus did come to do what you didn't think he would do. And so here's the context. Now he gives the word. He says, repent, therefore, turn, change therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you. Jesus is kind of the general ideas. Turn back to him. There will be forgiveness longing for, looking for when Christ comes again, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his Holy Prophets long ago. It's the Prophets that pointed to Jesus Christ coming, dying, and then rising from the grave. And they must trust him, they must follow him, but we're stopped here before we even get into talk about a couple of the key individuals by name in verse 22 with this word, repent, repent. Now why is this word so, so important? Because in the context here, it's really the hinge that opens the door to what he's talking about, as having a relationship with Christ, it's right at the center, the focus point. He's saying, look, Jesus is so important and an understanding of who he is. He's the central person of history. Our relationship with God happens through Christ. As a matter of fact, he makes it clear, right? If you don't repent, there's no forgiveness. The way you get forgiveness is by this word repenting. And that's why it's so important for us to understand. They were heading down the other direction, they didn't believe in Jesus. They didn't believe it was Messiah. They didn't believe he died for their sin. They didn't believe he was the son of God. They didn't believe any of that. We're also heading down that road. That's what I want you to at least stop here in a minute, or just for a minute in this story and understand that the reason we need repentance is because we're all walking down a road away from God and not toward him. Paul the apostle, you read about him when we get in to the latter part or the next part of Acts. He writes this book called Romans in the New Testament. It's just this powerful book. And in Romans chapter three, starting in verse 10, Paul does what kind of Peter does here. He really gets to the heart of the truth. It's not seeker sensitive because he says to you, and he says to me, no one is righteous. No one, no one understands God, no one seeks after him. You're going down this road. And this is why repentance is so important. There has to be repentance to move from this direction, to this direction. That's the idea of what he's after here. You've got to turn back and because you're walking down this direction here, you also have this thing in your life called a sinful nature that fuels this direction that you're going. And really the essence of what I'm talking about is, you like independence and you like to live your way and call the shots in your life, I like to say. Now you see this from little kids. So obviously we've already brought the topic of your grandparents, and parents see this, but they forget about it because you're doing so many other things. Now that I've got a grandson, I don't remember a lot back then because I was so busy doing so many other things. And now that I'm a grandparent, I'm seeing this stuff all over again. It's awesome, it's wonderful, but one of the things that you begin to see is just the nature of a child showing up in so many different ways and all of us know what it is. It happens right before the age of two. And no matter what you tell that child, as wonderful as they are, and you all think your kid's the best, right? Or a grandson or grandchild, like I do, you say, don't do that, right? Don't touch that, don't go over there. Don't, whatever it is, you try not to use the word no, but I'm telling you man, I never conquered that as a parent and I'm not as a grandparent, okay? And they just know, and then it's like, that's all they ever say, no, no, no. Or more and more and more, whatever they gravitate towards. And what do they do? They look at you as a parent when you say don't do that. And they look over at what you told them not to do. And what do they do? They look at you and then they smile and they go do it anyway. That's the independence, it's right there. Now it grows from there, but what is at the heart of that? That is the independence. That is the sinful nature that says, I am going to do what I want to do. And as you grow in life, you start adding things to that. You start making decisions that become sin and really have some serious consequences. But that is the nature in the heart of what I'm talking about. You are walking away from God as an enemy. And that's why Paul says what he says. Now, repentance then leads to a fundamental change of direction. And when it comes to who they are, Peter says, it is a fundamental change of who you are and who Jesus is. And it is then turning and accepting and surrendering. Peter says, repent and return, stop going this way, go this way. Now Paul picks up on this 'cause every time we use the word believe has the same idea. Whether you use the word repent or believe, it's the same understanding. Here's how Paul states it in Romans 10:9. He says, if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. What's he talking about? Repentance, you are turning and believing. That means repentance has happened. There has been a change, there has been a turning to Jesus, confessing him as Lord and believing that he died for you. Well, then he goes on in verse 22 and he says, "Moses said, the Lord, God will raise up for you, a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people." So again, he's telling you there, a choice has to be made here about Jesus and all the prophets who have spoken, not just Moses, it's all over the Old Testament, from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaimed these days, you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your father is pleading with them saying to Abraham and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. What did he mean by that promise? First, given in Genesis chapter two, that through them, the Jewish people, a Messiah would come, a savior would come, who's Lord and Savior. He's the linchpin, turn to him. He's the one that can transform your life. And he's come to you out of his kindness, his grace and his mercy to save you from going down this road of destruction so that you can be forgiven and have eternal life. God having raised up his servant, meaning Jesus sent him to you first. So to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness or this path that you are on. So let's kind of talk a little bit about what repentance is not, let's start there. And as I said, you'll see a lot of similar thoughts as we work our way through. And the statements I'm going to give you are pretty self-defining and understanding, but they might be unnerving for some of you. And that's intentional because I want you to think this through, especially in light of how our culture looks at some of these things. First, what repentance is not. Oops, confession of sin. Repentance is not confession of sin, to say, God I'm sorry for being angry, or I'm sorry for all of these things. That's not, when we're talking about repentance, that moves you in the direction of salvation, just confessing the sin is not repentance. It comes from repentance. It's a result, but that's not what is meant. That's not the definition of repentance. Why is that? Because I might be confessing because I fear the consequences more than anything else. I might be saying, oh, I'm really sorry. But the reality is I haven't really repented in my heart 'cause I don't really want to change anything. I just don't like the fact that, I'm in big trouble when I get home. Repentance is not, I'm going to clean up my life before I become a Christian. We've heard that I'll do better. I'm going to go, I'm going to confess. And I promise I'll do better next time. Okay, what is that? That's moralism. That's, I'm going to continue to control how my life runs and it doesn't get at the heart of surrendering yourself, that independent streak. That's kinda been there. Here's the kissing cousin feeling bad about your sin. You know that repentance is not, I feel bad and I'm sorry for my sin. Okay, how many of you have ever said, I have, I do this all the time, okay? So you can admit it with me, all right? How many of you have said, I can't believe I did that, okay, anybody? Just two, three, maybe four. I can't believe, I thought that. Have you ever looked back on your life? Like maybe three years later, four years later, you say, what an idiot I was. I could just can't believe I did that, idiot as a Chicago term, it's okay. It's not sin or anything, but it's just what we say in Chicago. Just idiot, I can't believe I did that. It's just wrong, okay? But the trouble with this one being repentance is that maybe you hate the consequences. You kind of caught more than you hate the sin. I'm fearful of what's going to come and sure feeling bad or saying I'm sorry, that can flow from repentance. But it's a result of it. There's something that has to happen first that changes that course, that causes the turning. Here's another one, belief in God. We hear this one all the time, right? Well, I believe in God, now be careful here. I'm not saying believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, is believing in God. Whenever somebody says, well, I believe in God, therefore I'm a Christian. Boy, I really press into that one because what is God? I mean, who is God? Do you really believe in God? What are you talking about here? That's not the repentance that saves. The half-brother of Jesus wrote in James chapter one verse 19, that the demons believe in God, but they've never repented. So if you say, well, I believe in God, I'm a Christian. Well, unfortunately great company with demons. We know where they're going. I've got a friend of mine that, we've had some pretty good discussions about Jesus. He believes in the cross, he believes in the resurrection, okay? He gets the facts. And I asked him one time, I said, so is Jesus Messiah? And he said, well, I guess if I were to pick one now, he's the best candidate. Guess what? He didn't get it. He hasn't repented. He's not after what I'm talking about here. It's not the best option. He's it because I am really who I am and he's it. And when that begins to churn in your heart and your life, then repentance is moving in you. And here's the other one that people run into is, it's not continuing down the same path of sin. So a lot of individuals, and this is what might make some of you uncomfortable. And that's okay because we really do want to teach what the scriptures teach, okay? It's truth, you gotta know it, do it lovingly, but it's here. And we want you to come to Jesus out of his kindness and his love because of how bad you are and how awesome he is. But this is a big one because people will say, well, I said this little prayer, I did this thing, but folks, you look at the rest of the life there's just no conviction. There's just no directional changes, there's just nothing there at all. As a matter of fact, they're described by the country song and you probably have heard it if you've seen the Applebee's commercial, I like it, I love it, I want some more of it. That's kind of the mentality behind your life. You just, you know, yeah I can go do whatever I want. Oh my goodness, we need to talk 'cause that gives evidence that perhaps repentance wasn't really there. Peter says, no, there's gotta be a turning that results from the repenting. So now let's talk about what it is, what is repentance? And I've already touched on it. All of these things can flow from it, but one theologian, the name doesn't matter, set it this way. Listen to these words, I didn't put up on the screen, I just want you to listen to this. The sinner, you and me has been trusting in himself for salvation. His back turned upon Christ who was despised and rejected. Repent, exclamation point, about face exclamation point, the sinner now despises and rejects himself and places all confidence and trust in Christ. That's the repentance that leads to salvation, that's it. And you know what? It's a supernatural gift. I can't turn this light bulb on in your mind. I can present you with the truth as Peter. I can call you to repentance, but this is a work of God that conviction that you feel about your sin in your life and your need for Jesus and who he is and the fact that he died and rose again. And when we talk about believing in Jesus, and we talk about all of these concepts, we're saying here, I can't reveal that to you. That is a work of God in you that moves in you that begins to draw him or draw you to himself. I can't do that. That is a supernatural gift. And what it leads to is a change of mind. The word repentance is metanoia. Now you would say, well, that's Greek to me. Yes, it is Greek to you, okay? It's Greek, all right, that's the Greek word. It means to change one's mind or to have a change of mind. And it always leads to a change of direction, there it is. It is a change of mind that always leads to a change of direction. And with reference to salvation, repentance that leads to salvation, it is a change of mind, and I like to refer to it 'cause it's just easy. I'm a simple minded person. Easier to remember three things. It's a change of mind regarding your sin. Your sin is a violation of God's standard, not your mom and dads, not wherever you are taught your morals. It is a sin against God. I am not perfect, I own that. I cannot be perfect, it is my sin. That's, ooh, wait, didn't think about that before. That's not my friends. I'm not making excuses. That's me, I own that. And then there is a repentance about yourself. You are a sinner, you're moving in this direction. You're separated from him and then there's a change about Jesus. It's not just that I commit sins, it's who I am. I've got this sinful nature. I'm going down this road and I need salvation. I can't save myself and it is Jesus, who is the son of God, who died in a cross for my sin and payment. He rose from the grave and here's it is, only Jesus can save me and take me to heaven. That's a change of mind that leads to direction because then out of his kindness and his goodness, I'm drawn to him. Let me give you a quick illustration. Martin Luther, one of the great reformers. He got sin, do you know that? He got sin, but he still wasn't saved yet. Matter of fact, God sends so much that he was so burdened, so burdened with his sin. He didn't know what to do with it. He was ravaged by his thoughts. He was ravaged by his sin. He'd be in confessional over and over and over and over again in the Roman Catholic Church. He had no peace, he had no forgiveness. He didn't know what to do. You wanna know why? 'Cause he hadn't repented of himself. He was still determining that the way to get to heaven is by going to confessional, the way to get to heaven is by baptism, taking communion, doing all these religious rights and rituals. And it was finally when he got to the book of Romans chapter one, verse 17, he says, "the righteous live by faith." The light bulb went on and he got it. And in so many words, the change of mind happened regarding yes he has sin, but then himself, he was going the wrong way. He was trusting in works, he was trusting in something good. And he turned and he understood Jesus, paid it all for me. And then there was a turning and a trusting, and oftentimes we'll use the word repenting, we'll use the word turning, Peter used both of them. We'll use the word believer, trust. All three are part of the same response to embracing Christ as savior as Lord. And he finally came to grips with that. Repentance is a genuine change of mind and attitude, which results in a fundamental change of direction. And you trust Jesus. Here's the other thing, repentance, accepting responsibility without excuses. All this is tough. This is so tough. I mean, I wish I had more time to develop this because we struggle in life with this one and I still struggle with it. And I'm a follower of Jesus. It's like, I can't believe I did this. I can't believe I thought that. Wait a minute, the longer I'm a believer, the more the spirit of God is working on my heart. Have you ever felt that? 'Cause repentance doesn't end with salvation, it continues to go on. And all of a sudden, and I love the Holy Spirit because he reveals things as I can handle it. Oh my goodness, if he have dumped this all on me, when I was 10 and trusted Christ, I hadn't been a disaster, but man, the work keeps digging out stuff that I have to own. And that's what makes the beauty of forgiveness and grace and kindness so magnificent. And so drawing that I'm drawn into that relationship and it's accepting, I own this. I need him, I can't get there on my own. I'm at the end of myself, no more excuses. I hope you've come to that point. And then it is a vital part of believing. And that's what I meant earlier. That trusting him means I've turned, not trusting him alone if I haven't turned first, but then the repenting in the turning happens. And then I trust and I live in that relationship because then relationship results in a new life. I'm born again, I'm changed. That's at the heart of everything we've said. And it means that, and this is cool too. This is a whole nother sermon. I'm placing my affections in Christ. Isn't it fascinating that it's not just, hey, don't do this, stop doing this, no, no, no. Start doing this, you want to know why? 'Cause you are created in God's image, you were created to reflect him, you were created to have so much more in this relationship that he created you to have, but you know what the key is to getting there? Would you please say no to yourself and you can't get there anymore? Would you just sit to realize, wait a minute, I got to turn in my direction. If I'm going to do what he's asked me to do, then I have to realize I'm going down the wrong road. And I can't do this on my own because he's the Creator. I'm the creation, and I am not to be in charge. He is to be in charge and call the shots in my life. And he's drawing you to experience all that he has for you because he loves you. He created you and he wants you to walk in a relationship with him. And that happens at a point when you finally bow your will to Christ. And when that happens, all of a sudden, he fills you with himself to satisfy the longings that you were seeking to fill with counterfeits, over and over again. And you fill them that way because you're an independent person trying to do your own thing. But then repentance is the hinge and you turn, and then it drastically changes the trajectory of your life. This is why, again, the half-brother of James in James two says, works follow faith. There's going to be fruit if there's root, and it flows right out of a relationship. And the interesting thing about, is repentance doesn't end, as I said, with salvation, it continues to grow, there's a conviction there, there's a change in the trajectory of your life. It doesn't mean you're perfect. It doesn't mean you're not going to struggle with sin. It doesn't mean that there's going to be days when you're like, man, I hate that. And yet I do it anyway. And I really want to follow Jesus. You ever been there before? Oh man, that is the continual work of God in convicting you and drawing you to continue to depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to help you live like Jesus. If you got it all at once, you wouldn't depend on Jesus in the Holy Spirit anymore throughout the rest of your life. So the fact that you're battling it is yes, it's part of this life. But the fact that you're battling it is actually used by God to draw you in dependence of him more and more every day. So then the battle comes up, hey, that's an opportunity to turn back to Christ and let him fill you and change you. So here's what I want you to think about. First, if you know Christ as savior and Lord and you're growing and you're in that battle, but you continually going back to him, would you rejoice and give thanks that he brought about a miraculous gift in your heart and life for you to repent and turn and believe and trust in him as savior and Lord. I mean, you got it man. Just rejoice and rest in that, let that fuel the direction you're going. But then there's others right now who you're dipping your toe back in the sin. You've come to Christ, but you're struggling, and you're giving in to that once again in your life, there's a call for you to repent today. There's a call for you to come to the end and say, I got to stop this. Jesus isn't for the margins, Jesus is God. And he doesn't fight with anybody over the throne of your life. He wants control. And it's because he wants so much more for you. So would you acknowledge, yes, there's a change of mind, that's wrong. I got to own that. And now I need to turn back to my savior and ask for his strength to help me to live this kind of life. Again, get some help. This is where discipleship becomes so critical, man, we've had a ton of people respond to this. You need to be a part of that. So we can help you grow and understanding who you are in Christ. So you can gain the victorious Christian life that God has for you. But there's another group this morning and Eric and the worship team are going to come out here in just a moment. There's another moment here, though, for those of you that were saying, oh man, I thought for repentance was this and I was wrong. And I don't think I've ever given my life to Jesus. Jesus was added in, I just took the good stuff, but I never realized I need to own my sin and direction. And now I need to turn and give my life to Jesus as my Lord and savior. That opportunity is before you now. Would you bow with me in prayer? Lord, so many of us here are, perhaps, we've made that choice, but there might be some listening online, downstairs, lower gathering area. up here in this room, where all of a sudden it's like, oh, you pushed a button in my life. I didn't see that before. And you right now, wherever you are, you're sensing that conviction in your heart 'cause you're not sure. You've turned to Jesus, I need that right now. Right now in your heart of hearts with your own words, you say, God, I'm a sinner. Yeah, and I deserve to be punished because of what I have done and because of who I am. And I want you and I need you in my life. And so I'm turning to you Jesus. I do believe you are the son of God. I do believe you died for my sin. I do believe you rose from the grave and I'm putting my trust in you alone as a person who can forgive me and save me and help me change this direction of my life. And father, if you have done that in the heart of someone today, would you guide them towards someone here, someone they know who can help them walk with you, because Lord, it is about all of us as sinners coming, coming to you because of your grace and your love and your mercy and living as you've intended us to live. Thank you Jesus. As our Lord and our savior, we pray, Amen.