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Why We Worship: Because God Uses Our Testimony | Exodus 2-4
As we navigate the spiritual legacy we leave for the younger generation, we're reminded of the bravery and faith of figures like Moses' mother and sister. Our discussion shines a light on the urgent need to shield our youth from the darkness that seeks to claim their hearts. By fostering environments like KidVenture Extreme and The Weekend, we're not just creating community events; we're building fortresses of faith that arm our children with the Gospel's strength and affirm their God-given destiny.
Your own spiritual narrative is a mosaic of moments that tell a story of redemption and grace. This episode invites you to reflect on your journey, from the trials to the triumphs, and to boldly share your testimony with the world. Whether your story is still being written or you've been walking in salvation for years, there's a profound power in proclaiming the work God has done in your life. Join us in prayer, worship, and encouragement as we celebrate the beautiful, imperfect stories that glorify His name.
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One of the greatest testimonies was a man by the name of Daniel. Daniel was not his real name, I don't even know his real name, to be honest with you, because it is legal. It is legal to actually, when he goes back, if he goes back to his home country, it's legal for his home country to kill him, and I'll tell you why. So he grew up in a very prominent Muslim family. He grew up where his grandfather was a very prominent, very famous Muslim priest. In fact, this man known by Daniel was in line to become a very prominent Muslim priest, and so much so that one day he had to go off to kind of like a Muslim monastery, if you would, but it was deep in a cave and it was kind of a place where you go and you suffer for a time for Allah and you pray and you kind of seek his face, if you will. And so he goes into this cave, into this Muslim monastery, and he even told us stories about having to sleep on glass and different things where he had to experience suffering for Allah, and he said he had been there for about seven to eight months and he never heard from Allah one time after seven to eight months of all this prayer. He said he went to the head monk or whatever it was, over all of that cave and he said I've not heard from Allah, I've not spoken a word, I've slept on glass, I've not eaten, I've not drank, I've not done all these things. I've been suffering and I've been praying and I've not heard Allah's voice to me one time. And the guy over the cave said I've been here for 78 years. I've not heard his voice one time either. Get out of here if you think you're gonna hear it in seven months, kicked him out. He learned, because Muslims, they struggle with doubt, they struggle with fear because there's no certainty, there's no confidence in the religion of Islam. And so one of the words they use is Ishalah. Ishalah means maybe, maybe Allah will accept me, maybe I will go to heaven one day, maybe my life will be spared, maybe all these type things. And so he said he learned that if you convert a Christian to Islam, then you can have a little bit more confidence in your eternity. You still don't know for sure, but you can have more confidence. So he said he told his grandfather, the Muslim priest, that he was gonna start studying the Bible. His grandfather said don't you ever touch that book, don't you ever touch a Bible. But he wanted more confidence. So Daniel said that he took two handkerchiefs and he would never touch the Bible with his own hands. And he would open the Bible with handkerchiefs and he would read a couple of verses and then he would throw it in a trash can. And he would get it back out and read a couple of verses and throw it back in a trash can in and out, in and out, in and out, until he finally felt like he was ready to convert his first Christian.
Speaker 1:He meets a Christian on the road one day very few Christians in his country, in his Muslim country, he meets a Christian and he says he starts trying to convert him. And the Christian says hey, you're doing a great job, why don't you just come to church with me one Sunday? And the Muslim, my friend Daniel, he said he thought to himself well, that's a perfect place, because I'll get to convert all the Christians and then I'll get to burn the church down and then maybe I'll go to heaven. So he goes to church on that Sunday and he said he heard something that he never thought he would hear in his entire life. He said that he heard that God wanted to be his father. He said they never, would never think of Allah as a father. You were to be afraid of Allah. Allah was to want you to suffer for him. That Allah would never be happy with you, he would never love you. And he said he heard in that church that God wanted to be his father and that God, the son, died for him. He said all these years he's been praying Allah, accept me as your dog. Allah, accept me as your slave. He said I learned that God didn't want me to be a slave. God wanted me to be his son. Can I get an amen? God wanted me to be his son.
Speaker 1:He said he gave his life to Jesus on that first Sunday morning that he had ever been to church, because it changed his life. He said he went home with a smile on his face. He said he walked in with a smile on. His mom slapped him across the face First thing she saw, boom, slapped him across. And we said why? And he said because, as a Muslim, the grumpier you are, the holier you are Also for Baptists, the grumpier you are, the holier you are Also for Baptists, the grumpier you are the holier you are. I'm just kidding, I'm kidding. And so he said he walked in, smiled, boom, mom slaps him across the face. And they said what happened. And he said I gave my life to Jesus. He said he turned to his sister. He said a man was to never apologize to a woman In that culture. He said he turned to his sister and he said I've been so hurtful and so mean to you over all of these years. I'm asking you to forgive me, as God has forgiven me of my sin, said the family's jaws were just dropped open, his life had changed, he had a testimony.
Speaker 1:But this morning, as I want to talk about how God wants to use your testimony I think sometimes we get testimonies wrong. Wants to use your testimony. I think sometimes we get testimonies wrong. Sometimes testimonies can focus too much on the sin and not enough on the Savior. Can I get an amen? Sometimes testimonies can get in like okay, who has done the worst sin? And you go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and sometimes testimonies glory too much in sin, talk about sin as funny or talk about sin as awesome, and we hear about this life of sin and there's this little bitty conversion of the gospel of Jesus.
Speaker 1:When we share our testimony, we're not sharing just our story. Why? Because our story is about us but our testimony is about Jesus. Can I get an amen? When we share our testimony, it is about Jesus. So I want to encourage you that if you are saved, you have a testimony.
Speaker 1:You might be like me and you got saved at a young age, and maybe you think your testimony is boring Because, like me, I got saved at the age of five. I hadn't robbed any banks yet. I wasn't addicted to drugs, I hadn't drank a sip of alcohol, man, I hadn't, you know, killed anybody. I was five years old. But I tell you what I was just as sinful as everybody else. I was just as separated from God. I was just as doomed and destined for hell. Why? Because of the condition of my heart. It wasn't how much sin I had done. It's that I was a sinner before God and hell was my destination without Jesus. And so the same is true for you.
Speaker 1:God has given us all a testimony if we are saved. Revelation 12, 11 says this. You can just write it down Revelation 12, 11. And we have conquered the evil one, conquered Satan by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they love their lives, not even unto death. That word testimony comes from the word martyr. Our testimony means it's death to me and life to Jesus. It's death to my old self and it's life to my new self in Jesus Christ. So we're going to look at that here in the book of Exodus. There we go celebrating Mark Perry all over again In the book of Exodus and we're going to see three themes when telling your testimony.
Speaker 1:Three themes when telling your testimony. Here we go. Theme number one is your start. Everyone say go. Theme number one is your start. Everyone say start. Everyone say start your start.
Speaker 1:We're going to look at the start of Moses' life and watch with me. You're not going to believe the hand of God on the life of Moses. Then Pharaoh commanded all of his people. This is Exodus 1.22, the last verse of Exodus 1. Pharaoh commanded all of his people, every son that is born to the Hebrews, the Israelites, god's people, you shall cast them into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live. What was going on during this time? Pharaoh was getting intimidated. He was getting paranoid of the people of God. They're in Egypt, in his land, and he said I want them done with, I want them annihilated. Let's kill all the baby boys.
Speaker 1:Moses was born during a very dark, difficult time, and some of you were born in a very dark situation, in a very difficult home and maybe you've asked yourself over and over and over again why would you, god, why would you ever allow that to happen to me? But I want you to see in this story how God was present in Moses' life all along. And I want to remind you what we said last week. If you weren't able to watch last week, make sure and go back and watch on the podcast, youtube, facebook, because we talked about how God wants to bless you and how God wants to make you fruitful and how God wants to multiply us as a church and how God wants to use us to fill our community and even to go and spread the gospel to the world. But here's what we, where we ended last week, is that God is all about protecting the next generation, because Satan is going after the next generation.
Speaker 1:Notice here that Satan is going after the next generation. He's going after the babies, he's going after the children. Satan wants nothing from the next generation of God to come about, and that's why we must go after the next generation all the more, all the more. This thing will not, goodness gracious, is it? There we go? Uh, we'll go back one, because I think I can. No, y'all, this is a pain here we go all right. So we, before that slide, if you saw that in a glimpse. Uh, we have kid venture extreme coming up. Kid venture extremeenture Extreme and KidVenture Extreme is for all of our children.
Speaker 1:It is our Vacation Bible School week. It is the first week of June and during that first week of June is when we get to pour our lives into the next generation, all of our children. We have a training lunch today in the tree house. I wanna encourage you, if you have not registered, to serve. I believe it is one of the most important weeks of your year that we, together as a church, get to step up and we get to pour our lives into the next generation. Because Satan's going after them. We've got to go after them all the more for the gospel of Jesus. Put your hands together for our kids, as we need to make sure that we are going after our children for Jesus, and then also our students. The weekend. It is the last weekend of April and it is only $60. I want to encourage you to get your teenager registered Any other teenager you know registered. Why? Because Satan is going after teenagers. The world is coming after teenagers and we need to make sure that we put everything into the lives of teenagers so that they can follow Jesus Christ. Let's see if this thing will move on. Will it move? Will it go? Oh, here we go, okay.
Speaker 1:It says here in verse 2,. It says now verse 1 and 2,. Now a man from the house of Levi went. This is Moses' mom and dad. He took as his wife a Levite woman. So the woman, moses' mom, conceived and bore a son. This is Moses. And when she saw that he was a fine child you can tell that Moses is writing this about himself that when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.
Speaker 1:What does that word find mean? That word find means good. It's the same word that God used after he created each day in Genesis 1, and he saw that it was good. She looked at him and she saw that he was good. Not that he was saved, not that he wasn't a sinner, but I think that word good means this to be favored. There was something about it that she looked at Moses and she could tell that God had his favor on this child's life. But I believe that we should look at every single child like that. Every single baby, every single child, every single teenager, every single person of the next generation. We believe that God created them, we believe that Jesus died for them, we believe that the Holy Spirit is calling them. We believe that God has a purpose for their life. Can I get an amen? We believe that every single one of them is favored by God, has a purpose for their life. It says this when she could hide him, moses, no longer Again.
Speaker 1:They were throwing the baby boys into the Nile Watch here, the hand of God. She took for him a basket that she made of bulrushes, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank. This is absolutely brilliant. This could only be by the wisdom of God. By the way, that word basket is the same word used in Genesis 6-9 for the word ark. This is connecting Moses with Noah. This is like his ark. She places this three-month-old baby boy in this basket, and this is brilliant because she would take him out by the bank of the Nile River, there where there were reeds that were coming out of the water, so that she could place this basket in and among the reeds, so the basket wouldn't just float down the river. What she was doing is she was hiding her son during the day because she was expected to go out and work during the day and she'd be able to go back and get her son and to bring him back home at night, because they typically wouldn't search homes at night because they were typically made of grass, hay, straw, and the torches at night would burn them down, so they would typically only search during the day, then they would take the break at night, so she'd be able to take Moses probably back to their house at night. And so here's what we go on to see back to their house at night. And so here's what we go on to see.
Speaker 1:And Moses' sister, who we know later on, is Miriam, that she stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Miriam is probably six to 12 years of age. At about the age of 12, girls were even expected to go out and work because the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians. She was probably at least six because of the conversation that we see that she was about to have. We see here her courage. Can I just encourage you this morning Never underestimate the courage of a child. Never underestimate the courage of a child. We get to see children all the time witnessing and speaking the name of Jesus in hard and difficult situations. Raise them up from their childhood to be a witness of Jesus and to spread the love of Jesus. Can I get an amen? It says now, watch the hand of God. Now.
Speaker 1:It just so happened that the daughter of Pharaoh, that this specific daughter of Pharaoh, that she came down to bathe at this river, the Nile River, while her young woman walked beside the river. It just so happened that she was in the section of the river where she saw the basket, among the very reeds, where the basket was floating and bouncing around. And she sent her servant woman and she took it. And when she opened the basket, she just so happened to see this child, moses, and behold, the baby was crying. Now her job would have been to take the baby boy right there, open the basket and throw him in the river, but she didn't. She took pity on him. Why God? Why God, god even causes emotion within a sinner in order for his will to be done. She took pity on him and he said she said, this is one of the Hebrew children I love this. So now Moses' sister who was hanging out standing around. Then his sister ran up to Pharaoh's daughter and she said shall I go and call a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? She runs up in this situation.
Speaker 1:Not just courage, but now boldness. Boldness. I can remember in my previous church we had a little boy. He was probably six, seven years old, his name was Liam and he had just gotten baptized in our church. He went to his school the next day. His name was Liam and he had just gotten baptized in our church. He went to his school the next day, which was a little Baptist preschool, and he was telling his class about the baptism, and he looked at his teacher and he said have you been baptized? She looked at him, started crying and the teacher runs out of the room in conviction. She comes and talks to us and she says I've never been baptized. I've been saved, but I haven't been baptized. And she said but I really wanna wait for my husband, but he's an atheist.
Speaker 1:It just so happened that just a few months went by and we got to baptize her and we got to baptize him because he gave his life to Jesus. Put your hands together for the way that God uses the boldness of a child. Never underestimate that. And so Miriam runs up and says that. And Pharaoh's daughter says to her, says to Miriam go. So Miriam went and called the child, called Moses' mom. So now God is orchestrating, providentially, sovereignly, how, getting his whole family involved. Only God can do this. Pharaoh's daughter said to her I want you to take this child away. I want you to take this child away. I want you to nurse him. And the mom's like are you kidding me? Right now, is this really happening for me and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him. In other words, she said I want you to go and nurse your son and the devil's going to pay for it. Can I get an amen? I love that.
Speaker 1:I've heard this story told by many preachers before that there was a little poor lady that would walk out of her little shack every single morning and she would say, oh God. She would pray out loud oh God, would you bring me groceries? Oh God, would you bring me groceries? And there was a. One of her next door neighbors was an atheist. He heard her every single morning praying to God that he would bring her groceries, and God never did the that he would bring her groceries, and God never did. The atheist said I'm gonna teach her. He went to the grocery store. He went and bought a bunch of groceries, put it on her front step and she came out the next morning oh God, you brought me groceries. He pops out of the bushes God didn't bring you groceries. I went and bought those. I brought them to you. She said God, pharaoh's own family.
Speaker 1:It says the child grew older and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses. She named him Moses because she said I drew him out of the water. Listen to what Acts, chapter 7, says Pharaoh's daughter adopted him. This is verse 21 and 22. Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians, as he was mighty in word and in deed. We see here Moses' start, but it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Can I get an amen? This is Moses' start. This is when Moses did not know God, but God knew Moses. Moses had not yet experienced the presence of God, but the presence of God was in Moses' life. He wasn't saved, but he had been. God was overshadowing him, god was orchestrating his start.
Speaker 1:Maybe you have always wondered why you had the beginning that you've had. Why did you grow up in the home that you grew up in? Why were you in the situation that you were in? Where was God? Why would God allow you to go through something like that? And I would encourage you to think about different questions. God, why would you be so gracious to me that you would be with me through all of that hard stuff? We see the presence of God in our start and I believe that our start is a powerful part of our testimony that we tell we can talk about our ancestors, or we can talk about our parents, or we can talk about our home, or we can talk about our childhood, or we can talk about all this.
Speaker 1:In fact, moses' start. Did you know that he spent the first 40 years in Pharaoh's house? He was in Pharaoh's house until he was 40. That was all about his start. Now, not just our start, but also, I would say, your sin. Everyone say sin. Your sin is an important part of your testimony. It says one day, when Moses had grown up, he was about 40 years old, which takes about 40 years for some of us to grow up. He was about 40 years, 40 years old and he went out to his people and he looked on their burdens. Notice, it said he went out to his people, he looked on their burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.
Speaker 1:What is Moses wanting us to know as he's writing this? That even though he grew up in the world, even though he grew up in Pharaoh's palace, even though he grew up in the best education, even though some people believe that he was being prepared to be the next Pharaoh, that it never sat right with him, that he wasn't identifying with the Egyptians. There was something about what God was doing on his heart, that he had compassion for the people of God, and some of you know what I'm talking about. You lived in the world for years and years and years, but the world just never sat right with you. And when you came in contact with Jesus and when you saw the love of God and the truth of God and the confidence and the certainty that you can have in him and the love that he offered you and the forgiveness that he gave you and the peace that he was able to overcome you with that man, that's what you wanted, not what the world could promise or offer, but what God could truly deliver. And that's what he was seeing, liver, and that's what he was seeing.
Speaker 1:It said that he saw this Egyptian beating this Hebrew, and Moses looked this way and he looked that way and he saw no one and he struck down, he killed the Egyptian and he hid him in the sand. He said he went out the next day and behold, two Hebrews were struggling together and he said to the man in the wrong these two Israelites, the people of God. Why do you strike your companion? And he answered who made you a prince Moses? Who made you a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Uh-oh, moses thought the whole thing was done in secret as he looked around. But what a reminder. People are always watching your reputation always precedes you. People see you, people watch you. People remember you and they're always figuring out who you are and what you're all about just by the way that you live your life. They know if you're genuine way that you live your life. They know if you're genuine. They know if you're sincere. It says. Moses was afraid and he thought surely this whole thing is known, that I killed this Egyptian. And when Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and he stayed in the land of Midian and he sat down by a.
Speaker 1:Well, what we see here is the sin of Moses. Aren't you thankful that his sin did not disqualify him from his salvation? His sin didn't disqualify him from his salvation. Hear me. His sin revealed his need for his salvation. See Moses, it looks like that. He was a good man. You could tell that he wanted to deliver God's people. You could tell that he was compassionate towards God's people. You could tell that he was compassionate towards him. But here's the deal Even though he wanted to save the people of God, god had not saved Moses yet. Even though he wanted to deliver the people of God, that God had not delivered Moses. Yet Moses was still a sinner. He was a good man. He was even a protecting type of a man. He was a man that had good virtues, he had good morals, he had the right focus, but yet he did not yet have God.
Speaker 1:And that is true of your life and that is true of my life. Before we give our life to Jesus and that's a part of your story, that's a part of your testimony, it's your sin, and I think it's so important, when you share your testimony, to talk about your sin, because the world thinks that we think we're perfect when we know that we're not. We're not perfect people. We're forgiven people. We're saved people. I think that we need to talk about our sin in such of a way that we make ourselves to sound so horrible because we are in our desperate need for God to forgive us. Can I get an amen? The more that we self-deprecate ourselves, the more that we appreciate God, the more they will see their need for him. We need to talk about our sin. I would encourage you that talk about your sin even though, like me, I got saved at the age of five. But, like I said, I was just as much a sinner. I was just as much separated from God. I was just as much destined for hell as anybody else. Why? Because of my sin. It wasn't what I had done, it was who I had become. I was a sinner. And the same is true if you were five, or if you were saved at 50, or younger or older, or whenever. It is that we desperately need to be saved by God. And then third, not just your start, not just your sin, but third is your salvation. Everyone say salvation, one of the most beautiful words on the planet, one of the most powerful words for your life salvation. This is fascinating to me.
Speaker 1:Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, jethro Moses. He had spent 40 years in Egypt. He fled to Midian. He spent 40 years in Midian. Only the last 40 years of his life was he delivering the people of God out of Egypt. So here he is in Midian. Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, jethro the priest of Midian. Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, jethro the priest of Midian. He led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Speaker 1:Moses is probably weeks, if not months, of travel away from his home in this mountainous region of Horeb. And it says this the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. This is that moment when God had always been present in his life. But now he gets to finally experience the presence of God. God was always in the background, but Moses was never aware of the hand that was guiding his life. Moses is with his sheep. Moses is with his sheep. He's with his flock.
Speaker 1:He sees something in the distance that catches his eye. It's a bush that was burning. He had probably burned many a bush in the wilderness to keep himself warm at night while he was watching his flocks. But this bush was different because nobody was around for miles and miles and miles. It was burning during the day, small bush, maybe only a few feet in diameter, and it wasn't burning up. He looked and behold the bush was burning and yet it was not being consumed. He looked and behold the bush was burning and yet it was not being consumed. Moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight while the bush is not being burned up.
Speaker 1:When the Lord saw that, moses turned aside to see God called out to him from the bush personally, just like he does your name and like he does my name when he saved us, moses, moses. Moses said here I am. God said do not come near me. He showed him separation. Take off the sandals of your feet. Shows him holiness, for this place on which you are standing is holy ground. He shows him his presence. He said I am the God of your father. I'm the same God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
Speaker 1:Moses was undone. He hid his face, he was afraid to even look at God. Then the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I've heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. This is fascinating to me. This is the moment that Moses gave his life to God, that he believed who God was, and God did not waste any time.
Speaker 1:It was not just the moment of Moses' salvation, listen, it was the moment of Moses' mission. God said I am saving you, but I'm saving you for a purpose. That salvation is for you to know me, but also for others to know me. God said I am saving you, but I'm saving you for a purpose. That salvation is for you to know me, but also for others to know me through you. And it's the same thing that happens to me and happens to you. God doesn't just save us for something, he saves us for others. He saves us for mission. He saves us for mission. He's not just saving us from sin, he's saving us for the salvation of other people. He calls us on a mission and he says I hear their groanings. He hears the groaning of every single lost person. That is, they're empty, they're scared, they're afraid, they don't have any peace, they don't have a heavenly father, they're lost, they're living in darkness.
Speaker 1:Just a couple days ago I was at Scottish Rite. My little girl is getting therapy. I'm right outside the room, right in the lobby, right in the waiting area, and there's several different hospital rooms around me and I can hear different cries of different kids all around me. But in about 15 minutes I heard my little girl cry out. I ran into the room to make sure that she was okay. Why? Because I heard the groaning of my child. That's the way that God hears the groaning of every single person on this earth because he created them all. And what he's doing is he is calling us to them.
Speaker 1:Now here's what's interesting. What's interesting to me is that we see that Moses has excuses. He's like hey, I want you to go, I want you to go back to Pharaoh and I want you to free my people, as I hear their groaning. And Moses has these excuses very quickly. But God gives him responses, these same excuses that I've given God and so have you. Moses says who am I? And God says it doesn't matter who you are, it matters who I am, I will be with you.
Speaker 1:Moses then said well, god, what am I supposed to say to them? And God says just tell them I am who I am. In other words, just tell them about me. Moses said what if they don't listen? What if they don't believe me? And God says here's your sign, those three signs very quickly that he gave Moses sign one take your staff, throw it on the ground. It becomes a snake. Take it by the tail, it becomes a staff again. What is God saying? Show them that I have power over all evil. Take it by the tail. It becomes a staff again. What is God saying Show them that I have power over all evil, that I have power over the serpent.
Speaker 1:Sign two he said you put your arm in your cloak. You pull it out. It is white with leprosy, leprous like snow. You put it back in, pull it out again and it's healed. God is saying show them that I'm the God over all sickness, over all disease, over all healing, over all sin. The third, he said you take water, you pour it on the ground. It becomes blood. What is the sign? The sign is that we can only be saved by the blood of the lamb. Can I get an amen? And God is the only way. He says here are your signs that you show them. These are miracles to show that he is God. But also these signs show them what he is all about.
Speaker 1:Number four Moses said yeah, but I'm not eloquent, I don't talk so good. And God said I will teach you exactly what to say. And then, number five Moses just gave up. He's like God, just send somebody else. You ever feel like that, god, this is too big Assignment's, too much. God, just send somebody else. He said okay, but he's gonna go with you, aaron. And this is where we see, just like Jesus sent out his disciples, two by two. Hear me, god doesn't always send you on mission by yourself. He calls us together, in community. That's why Jesus calls it his co-mission, because it's a us together as a church, it's community on mission.
Speaker 1:Who is it in your life that God is calling you to share your testimony with, and who is it that you can take with you, who is it that you can pray together? Who is it that you can hold one another accountable? Because God has given you a testimony he saved you, your start, your sin, your salvation, so that you can walk others through your life and show them what God has done in your life, so they can see what God can do in their life too. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. Every head bowed, no one looking around In this moment, right here, right now.
Speaker 1:I just want you to pray and I want you to say God, just tell God right now God, help me to know my testimony. Help me to know my testimony. God, help me to know my start, my sin, my salvation. God, help me to know your hand, your presence, your work in my life. And I want you to ask God right now God, help me to share it with somebody this week. Help me to share my testimony with somebody this week. But maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking I don't have a testimony yet. Maybe you're thinking I have a start and I have sinned, but I don't have a testimony yet. Maybe you're thinking I have a start and I have sinned, but I don't have salvation. I want you to know that God wants to save you right here, right now. He wants to give you your testimony right here, right now.
Speaker 1:And I can't pray this prayer for you and I can't save you, but you can pray this from your heart and your own words. You can say God, I need you and God, I believe in you. From your own heart and your own words, you can say God, I believe that your son, jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of my sin. I wanna turn away from my sin and I want to turn and I want to give my life to Jesus. And you can tell God and I believe that Jesus didn't stay dead, but on the third day he rose from the dead and he is alive and I want him alive in me. I call on him to be my Lord. You can tell him my master, my God, my savior. God, would you save me? Today? I pray in Jesus' name and all God's people said can we put our hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus? This morning? The Bible says that heaven rejoices every time a person gets saved, and we always want to rejoice with what heaven rejoices about. I want to ask us all to stand together and we're going to sing. I want to pray before we sing together and I just want to encourage you.
Speaker 1:Why do you worship? You worship because God's given you a story to tell you. Worship because God uses your testimony. So let me pray right now. Heavenly Father, god, we pray in Jesus' name, lord, that you would do a work through our worship during this time. God, would you fill our hearts with your praise, fill our hearts with your love, fill our hearts with your truth. God, I pray in Jesus' name, lord, that you would just use our testimony in our life to remind us of all you've done. And, god, may we share it with others so that you can do the same in them. God, we sing this worship, these praises to you now. God, all for your glory, all for your honor. All in the name of Jesus we pray, and all God's people said