Before Abraham Was...
Notes
Transcript
Bookmarks & Needs:
Bookmarks & Needs:
Bookmark:
Needs: Week of Prayer flyer, Easter services card
Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:
Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:
Welcome guests to the family gathering, introduce yourself. Thank the band. Invite guests to parlor after service.
COVID-19 Precautions. I’m not one to panic or even really worry, but I have had several church members ask about COVID-19/coronavirus and what precautions we are taking as a church family. Even if you’re not particularly concerned about it, we need to remember that we are a family, and that we love each other. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:
The Baptist Convention of New Mexico is hosting the 2020 New Mexico Evangelism Conference on February 24-25, at Sandia Baptist Church here in Albuquerque. I’m looking forward to being encouraged by the preaching we will get to experience at the conference, from guys like Adam Greenway, the current president of SWBTS and Chuck Kelley, former president of NOBTS. There will also be great breakout sessions and fellowship opportunities. You can get more information at register at bcnm.com. The conference is a free event.
12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Therefore, if we want to love our fellow brothers and sisters well, those who might be more susceptible to getting sick, there are some things that I’m going to ask of all of us for the time being:
Tonight, we will be ordaining Tony Torres as a deacon. If you are an ordained man, please feel free to come and be a part of his ordaining council at 4:30 in room 205 upstairs. The ordination service will be at 5:30 here in the sanctuary, and it will be followed by a reception in honor of Tony and Noreen in Miller Hall. Please bring finger foods to share at the reception.
If you don’t feel well, we love you, but please stay home. Think about . If you have ever looked at someone and thought, “They’re sick… they should have stayed home.” That’s what you wanted them to do for you. Do that for them. If you need to stay home, you can access the sermons at least on the website, on the church app, or by the podcast, usually by Monday afternoon.
Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds with soap and water with friction.
If you can’t wash, use at least a 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer often. We have hand sanitizing stations in the foyer that have this type of sanitizer.
Try to keep you hands out of your mouth, nose, and eyes while you’re in public areas, because we touch public surfaces.
If you need to cough or sneeze, use good etiquette: cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
Don’t get your feelings hurt if someone isn’t shaking hands or hugging for the time being. We love each other, and love to hug and shake hands, but let’s just be understanding with one another.
The annual week of prayer for North American missions is coming up. It begins next Sunday, March 1. There are some half-sheet flyers on the Get Connected table in the foyer with information about our activities and events that week. Monday, March 2, at 7PM, we will have Dessert & Prayer Fellowships at 3 homes in the city: The Flurys, the Kittredges, and the Bowmans. Amanda Bowman asked me to let everyone know that there will be something for children at the Bowmans. Their addresses and phone numbers are on the flyer. Our Day of Prayer here at the church building will be Wednesday, March 4, from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. You can sign up for a 30 minute time slot on the sheet also on the Get Connected table. Finally, there will be a potluck Prayer Lunch on Friday, March 6, beginning at 11:30 am here at the building in Miller Hall. Please find ways to get involved in our emphasis on praying for our North American missionaries during this week of prayer.
Every year during March and April, we take up our annual offering in support of our missionaries serving in North America, called the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. It was named for the first national executive leader of the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). Our goal this year is $14,000, 100% of which will go to support Southern Baptist missionaries across the U.S. and Canada. We will take this offering up during March and April. We will watch a short video about the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering at the end of the service today.
We have invite cards available for our services and activities during the week of Palm Sunday and Easter. They are available in the office, at the Welcome station, and on the Get Connected table.
Last week, we considered some of the history of this church family… OUR history. A dear brother who was a big part of that history was brother Calvin Partain. Calvin went to be with the Lord this past week. His memorial will be this Friday at 10 am at FBC Bloomfield. Wayne is planning on renting a van to drive up for the memorial, and anyone who wants to go should get in touch with Wayne to let him know you’d like to ride along.
Opening
Opening
Welcome to our second week in our “I AM” series, where we are looking primarily at the “I AM” statements of Jesus found in the book of John. There are 8 places in John where I see that Jesus made these pivotal statements about who He is and what His ministry purpose was and is. Last week, we opened up the series by jumping back to Exodus and seeing where God Almighty called Himself “I AM WHO I AM” to Moses. In our focal passage this morning, we will look at how Jesus connected Himself to this statement by God:
Stand and read , warn that it’s longer.
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.” “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.” 48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges. 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?” 54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.
PRAY
We’re going to be looking at a lot of different verses today, and that will be a little easier for you if you are connected to our Live Event on YouVersion. All the passages we will look at are in the Event.
This passage is sort of the second round in a debate that Jesus was having with the Pharisees in . We will look at the beginning of that debate in a couple of weeks. Round one ended in verse 30, with a score of Jesus: 1, Pharisees: 0.
Set up the passage, giving background on the discussion going on between Jesus and the Pharisees. We aren’t going to look at every verse in this passage. We are going to pick up on the connection between Jesus, God the Son, in John and God the Father in Exodus.
This passage is sort of the second round in a debate that Jesus was having with the Pharisees in . We will look at the beginning of that debate in a couple of weeks. Round one ended in verse 30, with a score of Jesus: 1, Pharisees: 0.
30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Some of the Jews who were present at this debate in the Temple and were listening to it actually come to believe, or at least claimed to believe, that Jesus is the Christ—the Jewish Messiah (Christ is a title, not a name). Jesus knew that not everyone who claims to believe in Him actually believes in Him. So He gives them an instructive warning:
john 8:
We aren’t really going to get into what Jesus says about those He was arguing with. That’s not our purpose this morning.
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples.
He gives them a litmus test of sorts: the one who continues following Jesus shows Himself to be a disciple of Jesus. That’s what a disciple is: a follower. The Pharisees step back in and pick their argument back up, but now Jesus is showing a contrast between those who believe and those who don’t. So the question is: What do we believe about Jesus? That is what makes the difference between one who follows Jesus and one who doesn’t.
We aren’t really going to get into what Jesus says about those He was arguing with. That’s not our purpose this morning. So let’s tie back into the connection between Jesus—God the Son—in John, and God the Father in Exodus. This connection is clearly made by Jesus in this passage. In fact, where He ends this conversation is where we finished last week:
Where He ends this conversation is where we left off last week:
1) Christ is CENTRAL.
1) Christ is CENTRAL.
Our final point last week was on the centrality of God. He declared to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and in so doing, He declared that He is the self-existent One—He is the only Person, in fact the only thing (if it’s not wrong to refer to God in that way) that has always existed, and EVERYTHING else that exists exists because of Him. He has always been and will always be, without beginning and without end. He is eternal.
But notice what Jesus said about what God does with His centrality. He said that God seeks to glorify and in fact DOES glorify Jesus:
50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges.
Jesus here said some things that would have driven the Pharisees He was talking to absolutely nuts. He said some things about His relationship with God that they would have seen as completely blasphemous, but are part of the whole picture of the fact that Christ is central to the believer, because Jesus is God.
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me.
Jesus here said some things that would have driven the Pharisees He was talking to absolutely nuts. For Him to say these things that He said about His relationship with God would have been seen by the Pharisees as completely blasphemous, but are part of the whole picture of the fact that Christ is central to the believer, because Jesus is God.
50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges.
john 8:
The Father seeks the Son’s glory.
john 8:
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me.
The Father seeks to glorify the Son, and does glorify the Son. For the Father to seek to give glory to any other was crazy talk to the Hebrew mind, because only God deserves glory. But then Jesus says the thing that puts them over the edge:
The Father actively glorifies the Son.
John 8:5
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Here, Jesus clearly connected Himself to the Great I AM of Exodus. And before anyone might be tempted to make an argument that that’s not what He meant, look at the response of the Jews. They’ve heard enough blasphemy.
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
They want Jesus dead, because He said that He is God. The only way that’s NOT blasphemy is if it’s true. And it is true. The Scriptures declare that Jesus is God in the flesh, that He has always been and will always be:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
john 1:
The Word here was at the beginning of everything, that Word was with God, and that Word was God Himself. Everything was made through the Word. In Him—in the Word—was life, the light of men. In verse 14, John makes the identity of the Word more clear:
14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
john 1:14-
The Word became flesh, and He is glorified. He is the Son of God. So Jesus is the Word made flesh, and Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus is glorified by the Father. The Word, God the Son, has always been, and will always be, and because of who He is and what He has done, He is central to everything else.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
So when Jesus said that those who continue in His word really are His disciples, He’s saying that those who follow Him see that He is central to everything. He isn’t just important. He’s most important. In fact, if we are Jesus’ disciples, then not only is He most important, but He is to be so important that everything else looks unimportant in comparison.
1 Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
So when Jesus said that those who continue in His word really are His disciples, He’s showing us that for the Christian, Jesus is absolutely central to everything we are.
Brothers and sisters, I wish that I could say that I walk around in a perpetual state of Jesus being most important.
So the true follower of Jesus sees Jesus as who He is: Almighty God, the center of everything, including our lives.
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.
2) Christ is PRESENT.
2) Christ is PRESENT.
Not only is Jesus central to our lives as His followers, but He is also constantly present in our lives. I don’t know about you, but I do sometimes really wish that I could take a time machine back and see Jesus as He had His earthly ministry. Maybe I’m short-sighted to wish that sometimes, given that I can read His Word and know the truth. But here in this conversation in our focal passage, Jesus makes it clear that He was from God and that His presence meant the very presence of God who had sent Him.
Jesus was there. Jesus is still here.
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me.
He said that He came from God, and now was present with His people. And if the Jews had just understood that, they wouldn’t have hated Him. He was the God that they worshiped in the flesh. He was the Messiah they had been waiting for. And they were missing it because of their unbelief.
In the Great Commission, Jesus both declared that He has all authority, and He promised that He would be with His followers:
18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He is with us ALWAYS. In , Jesus said that the means by which He would be with us would be by His Holy Spirit, who is given to all who believe in Christ:
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.
Notice what He said:
Notice what He said: The Father would give another Counselor. They had the one counselor at that moment: Jesus Himself. Another Counselor would be another one just like the first. That Counselor is the Spirit of Truth, who will remain with the believers and would be in the believers. But Jesus goes one step further to connect the Spirit to His presence as well in verse 18. “I will not leave you as orphans… I AM coming to you.” He said that He would be with them, with US, Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
He said that He would be with them Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. So one of the things that separates the believer from the unbeliever is the presence of Jesus in their life.
One of the things that separates the believer from the unbeliever is the presence of Jesus in their life.
So one of the things that separates the believer from the unbeliever is the presence of Jesus in their life. Paul makes this clear in Romans:
Paul makes this clear in Romans:
9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
romans 89
If you are in Christ, then the Holy Spirit lives within you. He is present with you at all times. And He is at work in the world.... our third point:
20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He
John
Especially by means of His Spirit:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.
john 14:15-18
3) Christ is ACTIVE.
3) Christ is ACTIVE.
In our focal passage this morning, we see that Jesus is actively doing something, and that something that He’s doing is what is giving the Jews such a problem. So what is He doing?
He’s actively proclaiming the truth of God. He’s telling them who He is, and where He has come from, and what He is doing, and all of it is true. But that’s why they want Him dead.
Several quick snapshots here about what Jesus is doing:
Active doing what? Proclaiming the truth of God:
john 8:
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If they continue in His word, they will know the truth, and be set free by it.
38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”
john 8:34-
34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.
john 8:
Jesus speaks what He has seen from the Father.
40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
Jesus says that He is telling them the truth that He heard from God.
45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?
Sadly, because He is telling them the truth that they don’t like instead of a lie, they don’t believe, even though they have no evidence that He is not telling the truth.
For the believer, Christ is at work in our lives by His Spirit, who tells us the truth of God.
7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9 About sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.
john 16:7-
We see here an active picture of the doctrine of the Trinity. The Spirit is actively at work convicting the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. And He is actively at work in our lives guiding us into the truth, speaking the truth that He hears from the Father, and glorifying Jesus just as the Father does.
Jesus
And what is the truth of God that Jesus is proclaiming? It’s the line between life and death, between judgment and salvation. It is the very word of God given through the living Word, Jesus Christ:
47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. 50 I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
This connects well to the next point:
4) Christ SAVES.
4) Christ SAVES.
Jesus said that He came not to judge the world but to SAVE the world. He doesn’t need to judge. He came bringing exactly what the Father wanted to be said, and that word is eternal life. The rejection of that word of life is what will judge us on the last day—the fact that God offered us a relationship with Him through Jesus, and we said no thanks. Jesus later said it this way in :
3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.
He came to set free. He came to save. He came to make eternal life a possibility, in fact, a reality.
He came to set people free. He came so that we could be saved. He came to make eternal life a possibility, in fact, He came to make it a reality.
john
36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.
If we are set free by Jesus, the Son of God, we are set free from having to earn favor with God. He offers the relationship by faith. We simply stop trying to save ourselves and trust in His provision through Christ. We don’t have to earn it. It’s a free gift, and it’s there that we find freedom. In Jesus, we find freedom from the enslaving power of sin in our lives. In Jesus, we find freedom from hopelessness, because He gives us hope. In Jesus, we find freedom from conflict with God, because Jesus gives us peace. In Jesus, we find freedom from the punishment that we deserve because of our sin, because Jesus has already been punished for us all.
And in addition to all of that, Jesus tells us here that in Him, we will have freedom from being separated from God, being spiritually dead.
Freedom from the power and punishment of sin.
51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Christians “die” physically. But the Christian is never dead spiritually. Spiritual death is to be separated from spiritual life. The giver and sustainer of that life is God. Spiritual death is to be separated from Him. The fact is that many of us our walking around in death right now, even while we sit here this morning, because we’ve never responded and entered into that relationship that God has offered to us in Christ.
God loves you. God wants you to know Him, as Jesus has just made clear. And our sin keeps us from that relationship. But Jesus died so that the sin could be taken care of. When we trust Him with our lives, trusting in what Jesus did for our forgiveness, the fact that He took our punishment in our place, then we are truly set free. And Jesus rose from the grave, so that those who have trusted in His death are also given His eternal life, and we will be in that relationship with God forever, because we will never see spiritual death. This is the message of the Gospel.
Now, for the believer, we know that we can’t save anyone. That’s God’s job. But He has called us to be His ambassadors, His representatives, so that people would hear the truth of the Gospel, be set free by faith, and never see death.
We can’t save anyone. That’s God’s job. But He has called us to be His ambassadors, His representatives, so that people would hear the truth of the Gospel, be set free by faith, and never see death.
19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. 21 To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.
becoming all things to all men so that by some means
Paul lived this way. Are we willing to “become all things to all people,” so that we can tell them about Jesus? That’s not going to happen in this room. That’s got to happen out there. And it can happen on a massive scale if each of us lives it out.
Closing
Closing
Church, what do we talk about? What do we focus on? What’s most important? Are we engaging with people and telling them about how Jesus is central to our lives? Are we encouraging each other with this truth throughout the week? Are we exhorting one another toward love and good deeds, as the writer of Hebrews commands? Are we realizing that as we walk around, the Spirit of God is present in us, and we have access to His power and strength? Are we actively doing what Jesus did—proclaiming the truth of God?
We say we want the world to change. Do we believe that we hold the message that will change the world, one person at a time? God doesn’t want to make people moral, or kind, or good. He wants to make people alive, because apart from Him, we are dead. And we have the message of eternal life to share with them.
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
john 20:27-
For the lost:
Declaring like Thomas.
If you’re here this morning, and you’ve never trusted in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sins, then the Bible says that you’re spiritually dead already, and you didn’t even know it. But the Bible also says that the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Surrender yourself to Christ today and be brought to life. If you have questions about that, we want to answer those. Come and tell us you have questions, or that you are surrendering your life to Jesus, as the band is playing in a moment. I’ll be here along with Camille and Trevor, and Joe and Kerry will be at the back. You can come share with any of us.
For the saved
If you are already a follower of Christ, and you believe that God is calling you to become a member of this church family formally today, come and share that with one of us as well.
If you want to pray, you can do that where you are, or you can come and pray at the steps or with one of us.
Is Jesus central to our lives? If He isn’t, we need to repent and turn to Him.
INVITE THE BAND
PRAY
REMIND OF THE PARLOR