speaker 0:   0:00
Hey there,  and welcome to the City Lights Podcast. City Lights is a church located in the northwestern part of Richmond, Virginia. For more information about City Lights you can visit us at wearecitylights.com. Now, enjoy today's message.

speaker 0:   0:16
Well, all right, all right, all right. We are packed out. Wow. How crazy is that? Hey, so, well, welcome again. My name is Jacob. I'm part of the team here at City Lights, and we have another team member here, this is Isaiah. And, as you can see Isaiah has on his head a 49ers hat. Where are my bandwagon Niners fans at? They haven't been fans since Steve Young. Maybe they were there when Jeff Garcia was there. Because it's Super Bowl next weekend. We want to do something real fun for everyone. All right, so next Sunday, we are going to have a giveaway for the ultimate Super Bowl party. So here's how it goes down. Whoever brings the most people will get a 70 inch - not no off brand name - I don't know about Samsung, I gotta look at the budget still, but they will get a 70 inch TV and $100 gift card to Wegmans. So they can appreciate watching the 49ers win. If someone said they're a chief fan we know you lying and we'll have a prayer team up here at the end of the service for you. Okay, so it's all right. There you go. So next week, bring someone, let's pack it out again next week. Bring some people. Hey, we always want to be a church that's for people who wouldn't normally want to come to church. You know, there's a lot of people who think church has a lot of different things about them. So what we want do is always create an atmosphere where people who are far from God, can come near to God. And who wouldn't wanna win a 70 inch TV? You know? I know, I know I do. So I don't know if I get the win since I'm the pastor, but I'll try. So we're super excited about that.  

speaker 0:   2:20
Well, I'm not going to keep you too long. I got a message for you that I'm excited to share. I do just want to do something real fast. I just want to give it up for our launch team who has come together to put all of this on. Man, we have been going at this for about six months, getting so prepared for you. We were doing all this because we couldn't wait to meet you. So I'm just so thankful for our launch team and everything that's happened. Yeah, give it up for them. They are awesome.  

speaker 0:   2:50
If you want to know more about City Lights and how you can play a part starting next week after the service, we will have what's called City Lights Plus, and that is our membership class. So you can learn more about City Lights and what part you play. So that will happen immediately after service next week. And we'll have food and child care. Okay. And it's only like a 30 minute class, too, so it won't take you too long. All right?  

speaker 0:   3:13
So hey, let me pray real fast, and then we'll jump right into it. All right. God, we thank you so much for this day. God, we thank you for how good you are. We thank you for your love. We thank you that you care for us. So God, right now, You know, every single person in this room; you know their needs, you know their desires, You know their struggles. You know their celebrations; You know them; you know every part about them. So, God, we pray that you speak directly to us. God that people leave this place inspired, motivated, and closer to you. So God, we love you. And we need you and Jesus name. Everybody said amen.

speaker 0:   3:50
Well, like I said I'm so glad you guys are here with us today. It is launch Sunday, and we are super excited. So I just wanted to share for a little bit. So if you are taking notes, if you're a note taker. Maybe you like bringing out your phone and taking notes on your phone, you can title this speech: Made for More. Made for More. And I just want to let some people in here know today that your life is made for more. That you're not an accident, you're not here by chance, that you're not a problem. But God has a purpose for your life; that God has a plan for your life. If you got breath in your lungs, then God is not done with you. And God has something special for you. Your life is made for more. I get excited just to let you know, so feel free to say, "That's good." Say "preach it." Because if you don't encourage me, we may be in here for a couple hours and ain't nobody want that. Okay? So we want to make this happen. All right. But I want you to know, because of the love of Jesus, your life is made for more. But there's always a big but that gets in the way. All right, always a big but. See, the problem is, oftentimes we don't think we're made for much more. Oftentimes we think to ourselves "How can my life make an impact? What can I do to make the world a better place?" That's for people that have a big instagram following. That's for people who are on TV. What? My life. How can my life be made for more.  

speaker 0:   5:28
And I don't know about you, but I've been there. I thought that before. How can I do something special? What do I have to offer? I'm not made for more. This was really put into play about 19 months ago. So 19 months ago, my beautiful wife, Erin, and I welcomed our beautiful little girl, Kingsley, into the world. You can clap for her. Because she's beautiful. You know, Kingsley has been a joy to our lives, but babies, babies are hard. Can I get an amen from all the parents? Babies are hard. See, I remember the first night we took Kingsley home, see in the hospital, Kingsley was a perfect angel. She was good. She slept, you know? And it was crazy because when they gave us Kingsley and they said "Hey, you can go home." I'm like what they're gonna trust us with this creature, like, you know, like, I came here on a Wednesday and I'm leaving with a baby. This ain't Blockbuster. This ain't like buying a DVD. You know, some people like, what's a Blockbuster. What is that? I don't even know? What does he speak of when he says Blockbuster?

speaker 0:   6:41
But I was thinking to myself, "You know, I've gone through a lot in my life, raising a baby. This finna be a breeze." That's what I was thinking at first. Changed. That changed. Fast. So we get home from the hospital, Nana comes with us. Nana is Erin's mom. Nana is Kingsley's favorite person on earth, and I'm still trying to get the Nana vibes going so she could love me like she loves Nana. Things are going good. Then Nana has to leave. And as soon as Nana leaves, the atmosphere changes, the atmosphere changes. Kingsley stars getting fussy. Midnight rolls around. She's crying. 1 a.m. rolls around. She's still crying. 2 a.m. rolls around. She's still crying, and Erin's trying to breast feed her, and I just walk up to her and I say, "Are those things working? Because it doesn't seem like it's working right now." I didn't feel like I was made for more in that moment.

speaker 0:   7:43
So 3 a.m. rolls around. She's still crying. So I said, "You know what? This is my time to be a great husband to get some brownie points." I said to myself, "I'm gonna walk up to Erin. And I'm gonna say, "Babe, I know you're exhausted, but you look good." You know, you want to make sure you add that part in it, too, because you just don't want to tell a woman she looks exhausted. So I'm gonna walk up to you and say,  "Babe, you look exhausted, but you look good. Miracle. How about I take the baby and you get some sleep?" So this is my plan. So I'm gonna do this and walk up to her and tell this but in my head, I know Erin's and full mama bear mode, and she ain't gonna do that. She gonna stay out with the baby but I say "Hey, I'm gonna win me some points," right? So I walk up the Erin. I said, "Hey, babe, you look exhausted, but beautiful. Miracle. How about I take the baby and you get some sleep?" And then she says, "All right, deal," and hands me the baby. And I'm like, "What? What am I supposed to do with this thing?" You know, the baby's crying. You know, I'm trying to sing worship songs, too, because I figured like there has to be evil spirit up in the house right now because this baby is crying. Then I go into the nursery. I'm saying, "Well, maybe she needs a diaper change." So I tried to go and change her diaper. And then as I put her on the changing table, I look in my periph, I see a giant cockroach walking into the room. I'm like, "Yo, this cockroach is out to get my baby," you know? So I have this decision I have to make. Do I kill the roach? I can't leave the baby on the changing table. What do I do? I pick up the baby. She's still crying, naked and crying. Then I walk up to the roach, and I'm about to step on it, but I don't have any shoes on. That's nasty. You know, it's nasty. I want do that. So I do the next best thing. I started grabbing books off the bookshelf and just chucking it, chucking it at the roach. Then Erin busts out the room saying, "What's going on?" I'm like, "I'm trying to change a baby and kill a roach at the same time."  

speaker 0:   9:43
I didn't feel like I was made for more in that moment. We calm down a little bit. Stress level was high. And we take a moment, we say, "You know what? We got this. We can do this." We take a breather, and we feel - no joke - I feel the peace of God in my life. Okay, "We got this." So I give the baby to Erin. I kill the cockroach with a whole can of Lysol. It was my only option. It was my only option at that point. Then Erin went back to bed and I took the baby. One of the best moments of my life: I sit on the couch in our living room and Kingsley falls asleep on my chest. And you know, in that moment I wouldn't trade it for anything, right?

speaker 0:   10:29
See, isn't that kind of a good picture of life, though. Like you're so excited you're ready to take on life. Then you have this issue. And then when you think you get a beat on it, then this thing pops up, then that thing pops up. And it makes you wonder. Am I made for more? But then at the end, I remember that I have something greater than what my circumstances were presenting to me. So I want you to know today that God has something for your life that's greater than the circumstances that's in front of you right now. He has a purpose for your life. Which leads me to my starting point: where we are right now. So my starting point today is this I'm not experiencing all God has for my life. I'm sorry. I'm not experiencing all my life has to offer. Now you may be here and you're thinking to yourself, "Well, I'm in a good place. I got a good family. I got a good job, You know, I got some good things. I'm a 49ers fan" like we saw. But you still have this feeling. "Is this it? Is this all life has to offer?" I may be in here today and honestly, you're at the end of your rope. You didn't know what you're going to do. Your kids are going crazy. Home life isn't what you dreamed of. Your work situation is a mess. You're hoping that there's something more to your life. You would safely say I'm not experiencing all my life has to offer. See, our starting point is that but our destination point is this: because of Jesus, I am made for more. Because of Jesus, I am made for more.

speaker 0:   12:08
Now I want to look at a story real briefly in the Gospels about a woman whose life situation did not look like she was made for much more than her problem. But through her faith in Jesus, she overcomes the odds. Check this out. Mark 5, starting in verse 25, says this "A crowd followed and pressed around Jesus." And at this point in Jesus's ministry, this is like thousands of people following him at this point. I mean, he's more famous than Kim Kardashian. I don't know she's famous, though; she famous famous. So you can assume like I said there's thousands of people around him. They're trying to touch him. They want a miracle from Jesus; there's a lot going on. Then the story continues, it says, "and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She has suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and has spent all she had. Yet instead of getting better see grew worse." Here is this woman, who's been sick for 12 years, and even though she had many doctors trying to help her, she took many steps to try to get better. She grew worse.  

speaker 0:   13:19
What happens when it's hard to believe your life is made for more when everything around you tells you the opposite; when everything around you says the opposite? For 12 years she was sick. 12 years she was sick. It's a bleeding disease. So in that culture, by the law of Moses, she couldn't be around other people. She was considered unclean, so this woman has been unclean for 12 years, away from community, by herself, isolated, just left alone with her disease and nobody else. Life does not look like it's made for much more for her. She's not experiencing all that her life has to offer, but because of Jesus. Her life is made for more.

speaker 0:   14:17
But how? How does that happen? I'm glad you asked. Because Jesus gives us vision to see beyond what's in front of us. There's something about Jesus that when he encounters us he will give us a vision for our life beyond what's in front of us right now. Beyond what we see right now. See this woman, like I said, was stuck in this condition for 12 years. Now, you may not be sick in here today, but you're thinking to yourself: I've been in a marriage that hasn't been going well, and we've even tried counseling. We tried to get some help, but we're still having a hard time. You may be a parent in here today, and you're saying to yourself "I mean, I've been working with my kids, but they're having a hard time at school. They're not listening to me." Maybe you're a new parent in here, and you're still trying to navigate how that is. And you're feeling like, man, this is a lot harder than I thought. Maybe you're in here and you're in a lot of debt. Maybe you keep buying things because you're trying to keep up with your neighbor. But you know, it's not what you really can afford. Maybe you're in here and you're still dealing with the same insecurities that you had when you were 14 years old, and you're wondering, when am I going to be good enough? I don't have any vision beyond was in front of me.

speaker 0:   15:34
But like I said, there was this thing about Jesus. When he encountered people, he had a way to get them to see beyond what was in front of them. We even see this with his first followers, Mark 1:16 says this, "As Jesus walk beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people. At once they left their nets and followed him." See, they were just normal class working men. But in one moment and one encounter with Jesus, they had a new vision for their lives. They had a new perspective. They begin to see that their lives were made for more. They begin to see that their lives was not just about a 9 to 5. Their lives were not just about getting through. Their lives are not just about barely making it and being unhappy. But their lives had a purpose and a vision for something much more. See, I'm telling you today, church, when you encounter Jesus, he will give you a vision to see beyond what's in front of you.

speaker 0:   16:35
See, I want you to know the Bible says this, "for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." You have a reason for being here. You may be going through some things. Your life is difficult. You're wondering, "What's the point?" I could tell you this God, by his amazing grace, is good at taking our biggest messes and transforming them into our best messages. And I want to you to know today that mess that you're in, that situation that you're in, God is going to heal you, God is going to restore you, and he's gonna use that mess as a message for someone else in this world. You're a part of making a difference.

speaker 0:   17:28
Here is this woman in the Bible. She's sick. She used all of her money on doctors, rituals, whatever she could get a hold off because she didn't want to be sick anymore. And she's sitting there thinking to herself, "What's my reason for being here? Why am I here?" Have you ever felt that way? I know I have. Why am I here? Because sometimes we don't think we're made for more because we're surrounded by things that tell us that we're not, that we can't see beyond. We can't see beyond the doctor's report. You can't see beyond the hurt. But then the Bible says, "But then she heard Jesus was passing through." Sitting at her house. By herself. And then she heard Jesus was passing through. She probably heard the stories about Jesus, how he was healing people. He was doing these these miracles. How all these different things were happening, so she had a decision to make. She had the decision to make. Her decision was: she can either stay where she is and stay stuck, or she can get up and go towards Jesus. See, I either stay here. I either stay here and keep looking at the same thing that I don't want to look at every single day; I keep looking at the same burden; I keep opening up my bank account looking at that bad credit score. I keep doing the same thing. Or I can get up.

speaker 0:   19:11
1 Corinthians tells us this that "for we are to live by faith, not by sight," not by sight. And once you grab a glimpse of the vision beyond what's in front of you, you can't stay stuck no more. Once you grab a vision for your life that is more than suffering. Once you grab a vision for your life that's more than just getting by. Once you grab a vision for your life that my life could make a difference with this world, that I don't gotta be a Facebook troll, but I can actually make a difference with my life. Once you grab a vision for your life, you can't stay stuck. See God is good at ruining your appetite. See, once you get a glimpse of God, he will ruin your appetite, and you say I can't taste this thing no more because I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good and that he's for me. And I'm going toward him.  

speaker 0:   20:09
See the issue was a bleeding disease. She couldn't be around people. The issue was a bleeding disease, and she couldn't be around people. And the Bible says Jesus had about 1000 people around him. She has a predicament. She has something coming against her, telling her to stay stuck. You got some things in your life that will keep telling you to stay stuck, that you can make it through, that you've got to stay where you are.   

speaker 0:   21:09
If she went to Jesus in this condition, she actually risked her own life. Because if people recognized her and they knew who she was in her condition, they would become consumed with anger because she would make them unclean. She risked her life to the point of being even stoned to death. And she did this because she didn't want to be stuck. But I want you to know the enemy loves for us to stay stuck. Because if we're stuck, if we never risk, we'll always settle for average. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't believe that God sent his one and only son to live a life I couldn't, to die a death I deserve, rose from the grave three days later, for me just to be average - just to be normal. I have a hard time believing that God did all that for me to stay stuck. If you want something, you gotta go after it. She's sick for 12 years, every day reminders that she's nothing more than her problem. Nothing more than her situation. Then in one moment, she had a moment. She said, "Maybe this Jesus is bigger than the problems that I'm having. Maybe this Jesus is bigger." And then what she had to do was activate her faith. She had to activate her faith and get going.   

speaker 0:   22:48
Matthew 9 says this, she said to herself. She talking to herself now. She said to herself. She said, "If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed." Now I love how the Bible says she said to herself. She talking to herself. I don't know about you, but maybe I'm crazy. But I'll be talking to myself sometimes. I'll be talking to myself, and a lot of time the thing I'm talking to myself ain't the most encouraging thing. I'll say to myself oh Jacob, "You can't do that. Jacob why are you thinking about trying to do that. You don't got this." I remember when I was 11 years old? I'm from Virginia Beach. 757. I was at the beach with my brothers and I couldn't swim. Can't swim. Kind of can swim a little bit, not really. Where's my rubber ducky. I'll be good. I couldn't swim. So we would do this game when we would run to the water and we'll get into the water and then we'll run back before the wave comes. And we would do this all the time. Oh, yay, water. Oh, wave coming. And would run away. And there's this one point where I got a little cocky and I ran a lot deeper into the water. So I ran into the water then this wave came, and I saw this wave coming, and I said, "Oh, shoot." But I didn't say shoot. And then this wave came over, knocked me down, I'm in the water. You know water is all on my face. And I'm having a hard time, and I can't swim. And I just start saying to myself, Jacob you just gotta get up. Gotta get up. You gotta get up. You gotta get up. You gotta get up." And then finally, after what I felt like was eternity but probably was only, like, a couple seconds, finally I see my brother's hand come down and lift me up and pick me out of the water and get me to my feet.

speaker 0:   24:37
I think that's a great way that life happens, right? Oh we're just having fun. Oh, it's good. Oh, shoot. Wave came. Then we're down. And in that moment, when we're down. We have a decision. I'm gonna say to myself, I'm either gonna stay down. I'm gonna get up. And when you start to declare that I'm gonna get up, you'll see the hand of God come out and lift you out of what situation that you are in. See, Proverbs 18 tells us this, "words satisfy the mind as much fruit does the stomach. Good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. Words kill, words give life. They're either poison or fruit. You choose." You choose what you're going to speak over your life.

speaker 0:   25:17
So this woman is sitting in her house after her good intentions of trying to go to the doctor's, spending her life savings on trying to get help. After none of that worked, she said to herself, In my darkest season of life, when all hope is gone, when I don't have much to give, if I can just touch Jesus. If I can get to Jesus, maybe then. Maybe then I'll find the healing that I need; maybe in that moment. And that's an action statement. In the Bible says faith without action is dead. Don't stay stuck in the problem. Make a faith step. This woman, she knows Jesus passing through and she says, Even if I just touch a little bit of Jesus, even if I just touch a little bit of him. I'll be healed, and I want you to know a little bit of Jesus is better than a whole lot of problems that you've got going on. A little bit of Jesus can outweigh the biggest circumstances you're going through right now. In order to live for more, you gotta position your life for more. Don't stay stuck with the same excuses. Don't stay stuck saying, Maybe next year I'll finish my bachelor's degree, finish my master's degree. Maybe next year I'll do this or that. Maybe next relationship I'll honor God. Maybe next time I'll ask for forgiveness. Maybe this or maybe that. Don't stay stuck in your excuses, but go after what God has for you. Go after it. It's time to get from being stuck.

speaker 0:   26:56
This woman, she goes into the crowd - and I can picture it. She has a hoodie on and she sees the crowd. She get a little gangster with her walk, too. I don't know how all of the sudden that just happened because that wasn't going down. She had Biggie playing. She's ready. What am I talking about? That wasn't in the Bible. It doesn't say she was playing Biggie in the Bible. Okay, that's not in Scripture. Okay, but I can picture her kind of covering herself, and she bumping her way through the crowd, and Jesus is in the middle, and she's bumping her way through the crowd, and she sees Jesus in the middle, and she's making her way to the crowd. See, Mark 8 says this, "When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes because she thought if I touched his clothes, I will be healed immediately." "Immediately, her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." 12 years gone in one moment. Jesus says what is impossible for man, is possible for God. And I want you to know today you can make your way through the crowd. You can elbow your way through the crowd because your miracle may be in the middle of your biggest problem. Your miracle may be in the middle of your biggest struggle, and you just gotta make your way through the crowd and you touch your miracle. She was reminded every day that life couldn't get better. But then she touched Jesus. She touched Jesus and everything changed.

speaker 0:   28:36
You may be reminded that you're nothing more than your job. You may go to your job and they treat you how you shouldn't be treated. You may be reminded every day that your marriage isn't gonna work. You may be reminded every day that you got problems that you can barely bear. You may be reminded every day that you got all these things, but I want you to know in one touch, in one moment with Jesus, he can flip all that around for you. I want you to know today because you may feel like you're not experiencing all that your life has to offer. But because of Jesus, you're made for more. You're made for more because you matter to God. And that's the best part. You matter to God. 

speaker 0:   29:28
Here she is freed, healed. But check out what happens next. "At once, Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked who touched my clothes?" Who touched my Nikes? Someone scuffed them. "You see the people crowding against you, his disciples answered. And yet you ask, who touched me?" His disciples, they were always missing it. They always missing the point. They goofy. "But Jesus kept looking around to see you had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet trembling with fear and told him the whole truth." See, I feel like there's even some people in here today that the thought of coming to church, you felt like I can't come to a church. "If I step into the church, I'll set on fire or something. You know, all the stuff I've done. I can't come to a church." You're trembling. You have this fear that God's mad at you. God's angry at you. I want you to know today, God's not mad at you. He loves you.

speaker 0:   30:49
For me, when I had my little girl and I had this new level of love for a human, like as her dad. It made me think like, dang, if I love my daughter and I got all these problems, and I got all these insecurities. If I can love her that way, man, my father in heaven, his love - it reaches to the heavens, The Bible says. It goes beyond what we can see. The best part is this: When she touched Jesus, Jesus felt something leave him. And then when his disciples are like, "Hey, don't wish your time looking. There's too many people." Jesus stopped everything and looked for her. I want you to know Jesus stops what he's doing and he looks for you. You matter to God. He's a personal God. He's not far out somewhere. He's not distant out there. But he is personal.

speaker 0:   31:55
Jesus lived the life we couldn't. He dealt with the temptations and the problems and the hurts that we dealt with. Yet he remained perfect. And then he said, I love them so much. I'll go to the cross for them. I'll replace them so that they can have freedom. Because of this woman's condition, she wasn't allowed to be around people, even in religious events. So her being a Jewish woman, she wasn't even allowed to partake in prayer and worship, but when she reached out to Jesus - when she touched just the edge of his clothes. He stopped everything and looked for her. And maybe this is your first time in church in a long time because church hurt you before. Church people hurt you. Like this woman, "Oh, you can't come because you aren't clean." Jesus said, "Don't worry about that," because you wanted the interesting part? Because she's unclean, right, if she touched Jesus, what does that make Jesus? It makes Jesus unclean.

speaker 0:   33:04
When we touch Jesus with our unclean hearts, with our problems, he doesn't say "Oh, get away from me with your uncleanness." He don't say that. He don't say "Get the Febreze." When we touch Jesus in our unclean state, he says, "Go ahead and put it on me. I'm looking for you. I've been waiting for that. I've been waiting for you." He stopped everything and looked for her. 12 years of people telling her she didn't matter. Jesus stopped and looked for her. And there's some people here. You're 12 year moment is right here. He stops and he looks for you right now. He's looking for you. He's aware of you. You're not just a person on this earth but you are a child of the most high God, and he looks for you.

speaker 0:   33:54
"Then the woman knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet." Unclean; the doctor's report's telling her all these things; her imperfections touched the perfection of Jesus, and Jesus heals her. Jesus tells her that her faith has healed her. She sees that her life is made for more. See how can God use someone like me because I don't feel like I'm experiencing all my life has to offer.

speaker 0:   34:30
I want to leave you with one last thought and then I'm gonna close: Don't wait for the someday or the almost because the problem is a lot of times we will say one day I'll do this, I almost did that. But the Bible makes it very clear. In James 4 it says, "Now listen, you who say, 'today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." I used to read that verse and was like, dang, that's harsh, you know? Like what? But what this verse is saying: "You don't know what tomorrow's in the bring. You don't know what's gonna happen the next day. You don't know what's gonna happen next week. So don't wait for a someday moment to get your life ready because you may never have that day. Don't wait for an almost because you may never get that opportunity back again. But today say "God, I'm gonna go for you with everything I got. I'm gonna lay it out on the line. I'm gonna believe that my life is made for more. I'm gonna get from being stuck because, God, you have a vision for my life that is beyond what I see right now. And God, I'm going toward you with all I got."  

speaker 0:   36:01
He said, "Your faith has healed you leave this place of sin." Friends, you may be in here and you're saying I'm not experiencing all my life has to offer. But because of Jesus, you're made for more. Bow your heads with me let's pray.

speaker 0:   36:23
God, we thank you. God, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your goodness. I even feel there's some people in here that you've been struggling in your marriage, ready to give it up and call it quits, and God is saying he's not done yet. He's not done yet. There's healing to come. You may be in here, and even as I mentioned earlier, there's an insecurity in your life that you've been dealing with for a long time. I feel like the Lord is saying that this is a grace place. This is a place that you can experience grace for your life. I feel like there's some people you're dealing with some addictions. You've been trying your hardest. You keep going through a cycle of shame. And it's wearing you out and God is saying there's freedom for you - there's freedom for you. Don't stay stuck. Maybe you're in here today, and you never made a decision to trust Jesus with your life. You kind of came because you saw a flyer or Facebook ad or maybe someone invited you. But you're in this room, and you're saying I don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. Or maybe you have had that relationship, but life happened, and you kind of walked away from the Lord. You're not giving God your all. I'm gonna count to three. And on three, I just want you to shoot your hand up in the air because I want to lead you in a prayer. I'm not gonna call you out. I'm not gonna have you come up front. Nothing like that. We don't do that here. This is a private moment between you and God, but I just want to see who I'm praying for. So if you're in here and you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or recommit your life back to Jesus. When I count to three, shoot your hand up in the air. One, the Bible says that Jesus gave his life for ours. That he took our sin, our shame, and went to the cross. Two, the Bible says that three days later he rose again from the grave. Meaning you can get back up again. Meaning that you have grace for your life. Meaning that God pursues you. Three. If that's you, just toss your hand up in the air. You can just say Jesus, forgive me for my mistakes. Make me new. Today I follow you. Today I trust you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's give God some praise in here. 

speaker 0:   39:29
Thanks for checking out the City Lights Podcast. If you'd like to partner with us financially, you can go to wearecitylights.com/give or you can text any dollar amount to 84321. Thanks for joining us today.