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Nelson Searcy: Well, good morning once again and welcome to The Journey Today, we’re talking about You Can Begin Again.
Go ahead and find your message notes in your program and you’ll see at the top of those notes is Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11. It’s our key verse for this entire series. Let’s begin today by reading today by reading this verse out loud together. It’s also up here on the screen. Here we go. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Would you go ahead and find your pen and circle the word “hope”. God wants to give you hope for the future. God said that there is hope that you can begin again. God has a plan for you and it is a plan that’s full of hope.
You, know, when I was a kid, it was pretty common for us to get together on Sunday afternoons and play backyard football. Have you ever done that on a Sunday afternoon? Now, when we would get together and play, we would kinda make up the rules as we went along, because that was the key. That was what made it fun. You could just kinda make up the rules.
For example, we had a rule that if you ran into the ditch, well, that was out of bounds. We had another rule that said if you hit a car, then you could do it over. Do you remember that famous clause from backyard football, the “do over” clause? The way this would work is if you went to kick the ball and it went three or four inches, you could just simply yell out, “Do over.” And you could kick it again. If you went to throw the ball and it hit the power line, you could simply yell out, “Do over.” And you did the whole play again. If you dropped the ball and it went into that are of the grass that was a little wet because it was over the septic tank, then you could simply yell out, “Do over.” And go back. If you threw the ball and it went through the neighbor’s window, you could do a “run home” as the case might be and this.
I thought about that idea of a “do over.” I mean, wouldn’t it be cool if we could reach back into our childhood and bring that into adulthood. What if we could get a “do over” today? I don’t know about you, but there’s been times in my life, when I just wanted to yell out, “Do over.” I remember in college, long before I was married, I was working on this babe in calculus class for about two weeks. Well, she was as much of a babe you could find in advanced calculus in those days and I’d been working on her for about two weeks and I finally get up the nerve to call her on the phone and I lay on the charm as heavy as I can. I put the pitch on her and say, “Will you go out with me on Friday night?” And she simply says over the phone, “No.” And I wanted to yell out, “Do over!” Can we just do it again, one more time?
I remember in marriage, it wasn’t too long ago, when Kelly and I got into what you might describe as a nice, polite, civilized discussion. And I said something really stupid and she mumbled something about how I don’t listen and then I stormed out. And as I was walking down the hall, I was thinking to myself, “Do over.” Can we just start this again? Can we go back and run the play one more time?
Maybe you’ve faced situations in your life when you’ve wanted a “do over.” Maybe there was a relationship or even a marriage that didn’t turn out as planned. Maybe there was a new career or a new job and three or four hours into it, you wish you could just stand up and say, “Do over.” Let’s try it one more time. Maybe there’s been a health issue in your life. Or maybe an accident that changed the course of your life and you wanted a “do over.”
I mean, we all from time to time need to begin again. And I’ve noticed in life there’s really three times when we kinda want to yell this out. Three times that it happens. Number one, we want a “do over” after we’ve sinned big. Anybody here want to stand up and give a testimony? We’ve all sinned big. There are times in our life when we knew it was wrong but we did it anyway and it turned out really bad and we just want to stand and say, “Do over.”
Other times, it’s, well, we really didn’t do anything that was sin, it’s just that we failed. We gave it the best shot that we could. We put all of our marbles in the basket. We gave it the best try that we could give it and it still just didn’t work out. It just fell flat on its face. And we wanted those times to “do over.”
And the third time we want to do over, I’ve noticed, is when we have partial success. It wasn’t that we failed, it’s just that we didn’t achieve gloriously and we kind of had this mediocre accomplishment and we think, “Oh, I think I could’ve done better.” Have you ever been in that situation? Maybe you’re in that situation today. Maybe you need a fresh start because of something you did last week. Maybe you need a fresh start because of something you did last month or last year. Or maybe because of something you did last night. Maybe you’ve wanted to pray this prayer from Psalm 19:13 in your outline where you simply pray, “God, clean the slate so that we can start the day fresh.”
Well, here’s some good news for you. God allows “do overs”. God allows “do overs”. God says you can begin again, regardless of your past mistakes, your past sins or misdirections. God has a plan for you. God has a plan for your future. He wants to give you hope. God says that with Him, you can start fresh. You can begin again.
Today, Chris and I want to talk to you about that. We want to show you a process that we’ve laid out in your outline on how you can begin again. And I want to encourage you to take notes. And I want to invite you today to take careful notes for three reasons. Number one, you may need this message today. Right now, today you came here because you need a “do over.” You need a fresh start. You need to begin again. Maybe you just moved to New York, maybe you’ve been living here forever, but you just need to begin again yourself.
Secondly, you should take good notes today, because sooner or later, you’re going to have a friend who needs to begin again. They’re gonna go through a tough spot in their life. They’re going to need a “do over” and you can pull this out and you can share these notes with them.
And then here’s a third reason, even if you don’t need the message today, I can assure you that you will need this message sometime in the future. Because sometime, sooner or later, life’s going to throw a pothole your way and you’re going to need to begin again.
So, let’s get started today, by talking about how to begin again and Chris is going to come and kick us off.
Chris Brody: Pastor Nelson said, “It is indeed good news that we can begin again.” And the first step to begin again is to ask God for another chance. That’s your first fill in. Ask God for another chance. In order to truly begin again, we must ask God for another chance. And let me tell you something, He’s waiting to be asked. He wants to give us another chance. Look what Jesus says in His most famous sermon ever, the Sermon on the Mount. “Ask and keep on asking and you will be given what you ask for.” Go ahead and underline “ask and keep on asking”. It means, never give up. Keep on asking.
Look, we often find it difficult to ask for another chance, especially if it’s a mistake that’s related to sin and there’s a couple reasons for this. First, it’s scary to ask for another chance, because we know we’re going to be held accountable. Just by asking for another chance, we’re admitting we made a mistake and we’re also making a promise that we’ll never do it again. And God will hold us accountable. All focus will come into that area of our lives. It will be uncomfortable. It may reveal even more than we bargain for, but as our key verse for this series, Jeremiah 29 says, “God has plans us to prosper us, not to harm us. He has plans for a hope and a future for us.” But we have to ask.
Another reason why it’s hard to ask is that we’re so overcome with guilt and regret. It’s difficult to accept another chance. Often times we’re busy beating up ourselves over a past mistake that we just cannot accept another chance from God.
Now you may ask, “What’s so special about it, second chance from God? I mean, isn’t everyone willing to give someone a second chance? I mean, we’re willing to offer to others.” That’s true. How many people in our lives mess up? They make mistakes. We want them to succeed. So, we give them a second chance. We give them a third chance. We may even give them a fourth chance, but sooner or later, no matter how sorry someone is. No matter how many times they promise they won’t do it again, their chances run out.
But God, God offers us a new chance every morning. How do we know this? Let’s look at what Lamentations says. It says, “God’s mercies never end. They are new every morning.” Circle “mercies” and circle “every morning” and draw a line to it. And now think about that. Mercy every morning. Let me ask you a question. Did the sun come up today? In fact it did at 5:30 a.m. And that sunrise was a promise fulfilled by God. That sunrise was his renewed mercy. That sunrise was another chance. But to take that chance, we must ask for it.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but on the back of your Connection Card, there’s a series of Next Steps. The second Next Step says, “Ask God for another chance and believe that He’ll give it to me.” You can take that step right now by checking that box. The sun came up this morning and with it another chance. Ask God. That’s the first step.
The second step to beginning again is I must grow from my past mistakes. Grow from my past mistakes. We cannot just ask God for another chance and then do nothing and expect that everything is going to magically be different.
Look, everyone makes mistakes. The Bible is full of people who’ve made mistakes. Two of the greatest characters in the Old Testament made some doozies. Moses. Ten Commandments, Moses. Parting the Red Sea, Moses, made excuses when God called him to take Israel out of bondage. He actually argued with God saying, “I don’t think you’re plan’s going to work. I think you made a mistake in choosing me.” Moses. And then David, Great Kind David, Goliath slayer David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then was later rebuked by the prophet Nathan.
It’s not just the Old Testament. Let’s take a little trip into the New Testament. Look at Peter, the Apostle Peter, whom Jesus appointed as the head of His flock, denied Jesus three times when He needed him the most. And Thomas. Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection. And Paul. Paul persecuted Christians before he was converted and even after he was converted, look at what Paul says in Romans. He says, “No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself to right. I want to but I can’t. I want to do good I don’t. When I want to do good, I don’t and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyways.”
We all make mistakes. We all try to do right and we all fail. But each one of these Biblical examples learned from their mistake and as a result grew from them. Moses went on to lead the Israelites out of bondage. David, at the end of his life, God called him a “Man after His own heart.” And Paul went on to write almost half of the New Testament. They overcame their mistakes. How? They didn’t waste their mistakes. We also can’t waste our mistakes. We have to embrace our mistakes. We have to make our mistakes work for us instead of letting them control us. We must turn our mistakes into our milestones.
Look. I’m sure there’s not one person in here who’s not made the same mistake over and over again. Myself included. We then vow we’re never going to do it again. We feel guilty or regretful. But inevitably, we make the same mistake again and the cycle continues. The only solution that will lead us out of the guilt and regret and the cycle of bad decisions is to turn to God and then learn and grow from our mistakes.
In one of the greatest commentaries of the 21st Century, the former S&L comedian, Al Franken, well maybe it’s not the greatest commentary, but he did get this right. He says, “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are. Precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way.” He then goes on to say, “Unless it’s a fatal mistake, which at least others can learn from.” Let’s hope we don’t make too many fatal mistakes. I think one is too many.
So, how do we grow from our mistakes? The first thing we have to do is we have to evaluate the experience. I’m sure you have heard someone say, “Experience is the best teacher.” But that’s not true. Evaluated experience is the best teacher. We must honestly evaluate the experience. We must ask ourselves some questions. Why did I make that mistake? What was the cause? What were the circumstances? What could I have done differently? And then, what can I do today that will ensure that I won’t do it again?
Look. Listen to me for a second. Every mistake has its consequences and some of these consequences can last a lifetime. But just because you are dealing with the consequences of a past mistake, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to limit your future. Your past does not have to limit your future. In fact, trouble can be the greatest teacher and lead us to the brightest future.
Look at what Psalm 119 says. It says, “My trouble turned out all for the best.” They force me to learn from your text book. Look at our mistakes, at our troubles as opportunities to learn. And one way God wants us to learn is to draw closer to Him. God wants us closer to Him. Pastor Nelson is going to tell us how to do that.
Nelson Searcy: Here’s the next step. Align with God’s promises, or excuse me with God’s purposes. Align with God’s purposes. Go ahead and write that in. When these mistakes happen and you take this time to step back and evaluate your mistakes, it’s also a good time to ask yourself, “Has my life gotten out of alignment?” And this happens. It happens naturally in our life. And mistakes give us this chance to do that.
Our office is over here on 34th Street near 10th Avenue, and so when I’m walking home sometime, to the Upper West Side, I go past this little garage that’s at the corner of 36th Street and 11th Avenue. We’ve taken our church van over there a couple times and I’ve gotten to know the two owners there, named Joey and Kevin.
And one day I was talking to Joey and it was about the first day of spring. Do you remember that day awhile back? It was really nice. He had cars lined down the block. I said to him, “Man, business is really good, isn’t it.” He said, “Yeah.” He said, “I love it when the spring comes because everybody from the winter time brings their cars in for alignment.” I said, “What do you mean?” He says, “Well, you know here in Manhattan, the winter times really tough on the roads and it creates all these potholes. So, all winter people are driving their cars and they’re just banging them up on these potholes. And not that it’s getting warm and the government starts paving over those potholes, they bring their cards in to get them back in alignment.” And then he said this. He said, “Potholes are the number one cause of alignment problems.” And I wrote that down and said I’m going to use that one day and today’s the day.
Here’s what it is. Look. Mistakes, sins, mediocre achievements, those are the potholes of our lives and if we aren’t careful, when we hit those potholes, they will throw us out of alignment with God’s purposes and then cause us to miss God’s blessing. Look, we’ve all hit those potholes. I know I have. I mean, just out of the blue. Boom! Something happens in my life. I know it’s there, but yet I don’t swerve in time. And it throws us out of alignment. So, how do we get back into alignment? What do we need to do?
Look at what the wisdom writer from Proverbs said in Proverbs 28. As a matter of fact, let’s read this verse out loud together. It says, “People who cover over their sins will not proper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy.” Would you underline those words “confess and forsake”, that entire phrase. I want to talk about these two words because these two words hold the key to getting our life back into alignment.
First is the word confess. Now there’s a lot of confusion in our day about what it means to confess. What is confession? Some people believe that confession is something you have to go to and you go and confess to a priest. But, Biblically speaking, you can confess anytime. Because here’s what confession means. You can just write this off in the margin. Confession means to agree with. To agree with. That’s the definition of confession.
So, when you’re talking to God, just simply in prayer and you agree with God, that you’re life is out of alignment with his purposes, that’s confession. And what happens in that when you acknowledge something that God already knows, which He already knows you’ve hit these potholes. He already knows that you’re out of alignment. He can see how you’re steering your life off turn. But when you agree with that, it opens up the relationship with you and God. And now you and God can restore that relationship. Now you and God can begin to talk together. Now God can once again bless your life. That’s the power of confession. To agree with you, you say, well doesn’t God already know. Yes, He does. So, confession is not for what it does to God. Confession is for what it does to you. It clears off your conscious so you can talk to God.
Now in this week at The Journey, on Tuesday when you get that, I’m going to give you a link to a more greater definition of confession so you can learn even more than I have time to deal with today. But the first thing you should know about confession is it means to agree with.
So you agree with God that I’m out of alignment and then number two, you forsake. Now off to the right there, write out there that forsake means to give up. It means to give up. Whatever it was that caused you to hit that pothole, you’re going to give it up. In other words, instead of driving over the pothole, now you’re going to go out of your way to miss it. You’re going to forsake it. You’re going to give it up.
This comes out of that evaluated experience that Chris was talking about. What do you need to change? What do you need to give up in your life? What do you need to forsake? What do you need to renounce? And I looked that word up on a very spiritual site called Dictionary.com and it said, “To leave all together. To abandon that way.”
Interestingly enough, just beyond forsake was the past tense of the word forsook and it used it in a sentence. It kinda caught my eye. I thought maybe since you guys are in New York, you would like this sentence. This is what it said, “The actor forsook Hollywood and returned to the legitimate stage in New York City.” How about that for a definition? I thought that was pretty cool.
But listen. The Bible constantly compares life to a race. And all along this race of life, you have to confess and you have to forsake. You have to cover over those potholes. You have to align yourself with God’s purposes. And what you want to do the second time around or the third time or the next time around in this new beginning, is you want to get into alignment. You want to run the race of your life so that you can enjoy God’s purposes both now and for eternity. Until when the race of life requires that you do constant alignment. Because life is filled with potholes. There are things coming at you in all directions that throw you off course.
And so doing this work, this aligning work is going to require some discipline. It’s going to require some hard work. But notice the goal. I Corinthians 9:24-26. It says remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practices strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away but we do it for an eternal prize.” Get this. “So, I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.” I love that last phrase. God, I want to be in alignment with you. God, you are my goal. God, I’m living my life for you and so I want to run every step of the way in alignment with you, with purpose in every step.
Learning to do that. Developing the self-discipline to accomplish this purpose is part of God’s process in helping you begin again. Keeping you on track in alignment with his purposes.
Here’s the next way that God says that you can begin again. Number four. Invest in myself. Now it’s time to talk about, not just what you need to do, that’s what the first few steps are for, but now what do you want to become? Because when you make the decision to begin again, you’re going to have to become, the person that caused you to mess up or to fail or to achieve mediocrity in the past, is not going to be the person that’s going to give you success in the future.
So, God wants you to grow yourself. God wants you to make some investments in yourself and learning how to do that, learning how to grow is part of God’s process to help you begin again. So, as you begin again, think not only about what you must do, but also about what you must be. What you must become. This is a great place to begin again and to make the investment in yourself.
As a matter of fact, our city that we live in, New York City, has always been a place where people come to invest in themselves and to begin again. Sociologists actually consider that the meta-narrative of our city. Because when you go back all the way to those very first Dutch settlers who settled down on Lower Manhattan and actually built the wall, we now call Wall Street, and they started the financial industry that is still so successful today, they came here to invest in themselves and to begin again.
Then during the Great Famine in Ireland. Irish men and women fled Ireland and came here and began the rush of immigrants into this city and they came here to begin again and to learn new skills. And over and over this has happened throughout the ages. And even today, this process is still going on. Many of you came from all over the world or weird places like Westchester County to this city.
To where you can invest in yourself and you can begin again. And today, people still come. We see them. They arrive on Broadway, with their hopes investing in themselves, wanting to begin again. They arrive on 5th Avenue and on Wall Street. This is a great place to come to invest in yourselves and begin again. As a matter of fact, this church is a great place where you can come and invest in yourselves and begin again. Because God says you can begin again. “Do overs” are allowed.
One of the great symbols of the Christian faith of this new beginning is the symbol of baptism. Here at The Journey, we practiced that and that’s a way of saying, “I’m beginning again. This time around with my trust, not in myself, but in Jesus Christ.”
You see, as you begin the process of beginning again, you’ll need to learn some new skills. And you’ll need to sharpen some old ones. Look at what Ecclesiastes 10:10 says. It says, “Since a dull ax requires great strength, sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom. It helps you succeed.” You see, this time around, you’re going to need some eternal wisdom. You’re going to need to make daily investments of eternal wisdom into yourself.
I don’t have time to spend on this, but let me tell you three areas of wisdom that you need. Number one, you need to make daily investments of eternal wisdom about yourself. About yourself. You’ve got to learn more about who you are. You’ve got to learn what your strengths are, what your talents are, what your limitations are, what your ability is. You need wisdom about yourself.
Number two. You need wisdom about the world. How society works. What success really is. What does it mean to achieve in our day? How do I serve more people this time around?
Then number three. You need to gain some new wisdom about God. And this is so important because you see, maybe one of the reasons that you need to begin again is because you got off track with God. You know, if you want the next beginning to be the most successful, you’ve got to be closer to God than ever before.
Let me tell you about something, a resource that we have that maybe you don’t know about. But, we’ve been sending out during this entire series, we’ve been sending out daily devotions. What that is is each morning in your inbox, a little email chimes in and it’s one verse of Scripture with a story of a life lesson or a God lesson as it applies to that particular Scripture. It’s really short. You can read it in tow or three minutes. And many of you are getting these because you’re already involved in a growth group. But in the last few weeks, we’ve had over 100 people new people come into our church. So, maybe you’re not getting those.
But, I’ve noticed that if I kinda start my day with God. If I kinda make that initial beginning investment of reading God’s Word and learning some truth, then that keeps me on track. That’s a daily investment I can make in myself that reaps compounded rewards. So, if you’re not getting those, just put an email on your connection card and check that Next Step on the back.
But whatever you do, as you make this decision, that you’re going to begin again, decide this time, that you’re going to be closer to God than ever before. That you’re going to walk this beginning with God. I know that sounds so spiritual and it sounds so supernatural. But look, living your life close to God is not as complicated as some people make out. It’s just as simple as saying God, this time around, I need you in my life. God, this time around, I need your purposes in my life. God, I want to know you. You see, when you say that. When you say, “God, I want to know you.” That opens up the channel for you to know God and God to know you.
Notice the words from James chapter 4. It says 2 in your outline, but it’s actually James 4, verse 8. Get this spiritual principle. “Draw close to God and God will draw close to you.” Isn’t that amazing? Open your life up to God and God will open Himself up to you. Say God, “I want you in my life.” And God will show up in your life. “God, I need your wisdom.” He’ll give it. “God, I need your guidance.” He’ll give it. It’s not some complicated course. But, it’s an investment and it’s easy to do, but it’s easy not to do. And the next thing you know, you’re off track with God and you’re on the way into the pothole once again. Make some investments in yourself of eternal wisdom.
So, let’s quickly review. Number one: Ask God for another chance. Number two: Grow from my past mistakes. Number three: Align with God’s purposes. Number four: Invest in myself. And here’s number five: Never give up.
As you decide to do this, while the process is clear, the plan can be sometimes difficult. In the middle of it, it’s easy to throw in the towel. I mean, imagine what would have happened if some of those great leaders from the Old Testament that Chris talked about had given up. If David just said, “Well, I’ve messed up. I’m not going to try again.” If Moses had said, “That’s it. I’m giving up.” In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul had said, “That’s it. I’m giving up.” Or Thomas never went on to become St. Thomas. But instead, they persevered. They went through the process confessing, forsaking, and they chose to never, ever give up.
You fast forward in history beyond the New Testament, you find that there’s another guy by the name of Winston Churchill. And he knew a thing about never giving up. He was called the Bulldog, because in the face of failure, he refused to give up. If you read his story, you’ll notice that before WWI, he had a strong rise in politics. Until in 1922, he was defeated and he took it really hard. It was a pothole in life. And for 10 years he remained outside of government. But the whole time, he was watching the Nazi rise in Germany and their take over of Europe. And so he came back onto the main stage in 1938 to lead England. To take a strong stand against Hitler and one year later, he was elected as Prime Minister. And if you read his journals during that time, you’ll notice that he didn’t have a lot of success as Prime Minister. Britain took a beating but they held strong. He said one time in the midst of all this that he defined success as the ability to go from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.
On October 29 in 1941 he gave one of his most famous speeches. He stood before the students of the Harrow School where he had been as a young man and he stood up and this was the speech that he gave. You know where I’m going. He said this, “Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.” And then he sat down. If only our messages at The Journey were so short and clear.
Look, to begin again is hard work. Asking God, growing from my mistakes, aligning my life, investing in myself. That’s a difficult path, but the results are worth it.
Another person who knew a lot about this said long before Churchill in Galatians 6:9. The great Apostle Paul, he wrote these words. “So, don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up. For we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.”
Listen, maybe you are standing here today and you’re discouraged because of some past sin. I mean, you know you messed up. It’s sin. Let’s just call it what it is and you’re discouraged. Maybe you’re sitting here today and you’re dealing with a recent failure. I mean, it’s fresh on your mind and it still hurts and it still cuts but it’s there. Or maybe there’s some mediocre achievement in your past. And you know that in a certain area of your life, you need to begin again. Maybe it’s a relationship area that you need a new beginning. Maybe you need a new beginning when it comes to your career. Or you need to begin again with your finances. Or maybe you need to begin again with confession and asking God to forgive you.
God’s word for you today is that you can begin again. God allows “do overs.” There are no dead ends with God. Unlike in Manhattan, God allows u-turns. You can change the course of your life by getting on track with God today. But it begins by asking God for another chance. Turning your life over to God and saying, “God, this time around, I’m not going to go my own way. Instead, I want to go with you. God, I want to live my life from here on out for and through Jesus Christ.”
I want you to get this last verse. I made it our memory verse, even though you’re going to have to strain your memory to get it because it’s really long. But, I want you to get it. Listen to what it says. “Know dear brother and sisters. I am still not all I should be but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us up to heaven.”
Will you decide to run your, the race of your life through Christ Jesus. If you already know Him, that means being closer to Him than ever before. If you don’t know Him, it means turning your life over to Him today. Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, we want to thank You that You’re a God who allows another chance. God, I want to ask You for another chance. Maybe you need to pray that prayer. Maybe you just need to say, “God, I want to ask You for another chance. God, I want to learn from my past mistakes and from the potholes that I’ve run into in life. God, I want to get into alignment with Your purposes by confessing and forsaking my sins. God, I want to make regular investments in myself, like I’m doing by being here today. Investments not about old thinking, but of eternal wisdom. God, help me to draw close to You. And God, I’m excited about what it means that You will draw close to me. God, I want to be closer to You than ever before. And God because of that, I believe that it’s possible to have the perseverance to never give up and instead to stay strong in this process of walking with You this time around. God, I want to do that through Jesus Christ.”
If you already know Jesus, just say right now in your heart. “Jesus I want to be closer to You this time around. I want to walk with You this time around.”
And if you’re here and you don’t yet have a relationship with Jesus but you’re ready today to invite Jesus to come into your life, to be the leader of your life, to guide you this time around, just say, “Dear Jesus, today I’m beginning a relationship with You. I don’t understand all that it means but I’m drawing close to You and so I look forward to Your drawing close to me to learning more about you everyday.”
We pray all of this together in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This sermon transcript is a free resource provided by Nelson Searcy and Church Leader Insights. For other resources visit www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com.
Nelson Searcy is the founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church in New York City. The Journey is an innovative, multi-cultural, multi-site church in Manhattan and Jersey City. The Journey is one of the fastest growing churches in the United States and was recognized by Outreach Magazine in 2006 as one of the Top 25 Innovated Churches in America. The church is recognized for its creativity, media and relevant approach to life changing teaching. Nelson is also the founder of www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com - a website devoted to resourcing pastors and church leaders.
