FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
Transcendent and Immanent: For Those Who are Hurting | Psalm 34:18
What happens when pain and loss collide with unyielding faith? Join us as Ms. Sherri Southerland opens up about her journey through life's toughest trials, revealing how her faith in Jesus became her anchor. Her powerful testimony serves as a reminder of the profound impact daily, personal encounters with God can have. We also take a moment to express our deep gratitude to the volunteers and team members who bring vibrancy and warmth to our church community.
Have you ever wondered how a God who is infinitely powerful can also be intimately close? In our next segment, we explore the awe-inspiring duality of God's transcendence and immanence. Through scripture, we delve into the comforting truth that God is both sovereign over the universe and deeply involved in our personal lives. This discussion is especially poignant for those navigating emotional, physical, spiritual, or relational hardships, offering a perspective that underscores God's greatness, goodness, and proximity.
The episode crescendos with a heartfelt worship session, inviting you to connect with God’s glory and love. Whether through worship music, the Psalms, or the beauty of nature, we are reminded of His unwavering presence. Scriptures like Deuteronomy 4:7 and Psalm 34:18 highlight God's nearness, particularly in times of brokenness. As we come together to praise God, we celebrate His trustworthiness and sovereignty, drawing near to His throne of grace for the mercy and help we all need. Join us in fostering deeper devotion and a personal connection with the God who is both mighty and near.
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Put your hands together for Ms Sherri Sutherland's testimony, just the way that she's able to use her story, her hurt, her pain excuse me, the loss of her husband, even just as her testimony for Jesus. You know, revelation, chapter 12, says that we are to use our testimony that the way in which that you overcome the evil one in your life is by the blood of the Lamb. And the word of our testimony, our testimony of Jesus, all that God has brought us through, and that's why we are studying in our series this month, through the month of August. That is called Encountering God, because we are not just called to be educated about God, we are not just called to know about God, but we're called to know God personally, to know God intimately. But we're called to know God personally, to know God intimately, and you are called to encounter him on a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute basis, because God loves you and he loves being in your life. So, before we dive in, I just wanna say thank you. I wanna say thank you to everybody that in the way in which that you've led us in worship this morning. If you're in the band, if you're one of our singers, if you're one of our production people, maybe this morning that you were one of our connection group our small group leaders are during the week, or maybe you're on our hospitality team, our greeting team, our parking team, our next step team, or maybe just this week you've been serving in the community, you've been inviting people to be a part of our church. I just want to say thank you. Can we put our hands together one more time for everyone who serves in every way, as we talked about this morning on our dream team. Well, we want to encounter God personally, but also we want to encounter God as a church, and a growing church is a busy church and there's just a lot going on that I always want you to know everything that God is doing. First of all, I want you to know just this past week we had past Sunday. We had Promotion Sunday. In our Promotion Sunday, did you know that we had 119 in our kids' ministry and we had 41 in our student ministry, which means we had 160 in our next generation ministries and that is the foundation, the basis, the future of our church. So we're so thankful. Last week we had our group genius tables where we allowed people to come and to learn more about where is the group that God has for them. We had a lot of interest, but I was really excited to hear that we had a lot of interest from our young adults and from our teenagers to find community that they can be a part of. That's awesome. We had our Great Grill Out this past Wednesday. How many of y'all came to the Great Grill Out? Raise your hand. It was incredible. We had somewhere between 300 and 400. We don't have a hard count, but somewhere between 300 and 400 came and somewhere between 40 and 50 first-time guests came to our Great Grill Out. So we are so thankful We'll do something like that. We're already planning something like that very soon, something similar to it.
Speaker 1:I want you to know this morning. This morning deacon nominations. You have an opportunity to nominate godly men in our church, as our deacon year is about to restart again in the year, and so there's already ballots that have been sent to homes. You can go online, you can go to our website, you can check out our email and our social media Deacon Nominations. You can nominate there. Also, our Dream Team table Jenny already talked about. We believe that God has called every Christian, so therefore he has placed on the heart of every Christian a heart to serve in your local church. And just to be honest, if you're not sure where to serve, out of worship production kids, students, adults, young adults, senior adults, our hospitality team, our local mission, international mission if you're not sure where to serve, I would encourage you to start in our hospitality ministry. We believe it takes a church to reach a community and that's what we're called to do, and we just want more smiling faces than ever helping people park, welcoming them as they drive onto our property, as they come into our buildings, and just continue to show them the love of God.
Speaker 1:Here at First Baptist Powder Springs Today we are spoiling all of our group leaders. If you're a group leader, we just can't wait to appreciate you, recognize you and feed you today. Maybe, if you're interested in becoming a group leader whether a group leader in our kids ministry, student ministry, adult ministry you can come to our lunch today and learn more about that. This coming Wednesday we have our first Wednesday of groups. We have several different groups. You'll see many here. A group on Ephesians, mom Roundtable, where we study in the book of Mark there's a Psalm. A group of the book of Psalms Parenting your parents. I think that's for teenagers Everyday theology, just kidding. That is for people that are taking care of their parents in their older years. Dave Ramsey's financial peace class. This is not by Dave Ramsey himself. This is taught by David Ramsey not the real Dave Ramsey but we're studying his material and all of that going on. So we're just excited about our group starting up this Wednesday. This coming Sunday we'll have a hospitality team lunch for anybody on the hospitality team or, if you're interested, we'd love to feed you. And then in two Sundays we're gonna have a teacher appreciation Sunday. So here we go.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, heavenly Father, as we dive into your word this morning. God, we just pray that your spirit would move, act and work in every single heart. God, speak to my heart from your word this morning. Speak to every heart in this room. Father, I pray in Jesus' name, god, that your voice would be heard, your word would be accomplished and your will would be done. God, we love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said amen. Let's have a little fun in church this morning. I wanna play a little game with you. I think we should have more fun going to heaven than the world is going to hell. Can I get an amen? So here we go. We're going to play a little game called this or that, this or that.
Speaker 1:I'll ask a few questions. First of all, are you a morning person or a night person? If you're a morning person, raise your hand. You're a morning person. There they are. All the night people, all the introverts. Raise your hand. Raise your hand. Introverts and extroverts the world is your friend. There you are. Extroverts, right there Now.
Speaker 1:This or that black coffee, or you like to put stuff in your coffee creamer, sugar, all that. You love black coffee? My hand is up. I love. I only drink it black. How many of y'all you like to put cream sugar? Who knows what? You don't make coffee. You make pie in a cup. All right, there, you are All right. How about Georgia or Georgia Tech? Here we go. If you're a Georgia fan, raise your hand. Georgia Bulldogs no, barking in the church house, y'all. And if you're a Georgia Tech fan, raise your hand. There you are. You call them a tech fan, other people call them boss. Okay, all right. Georgia versus Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1:And so sometimes in life we often have choices of this or that. Often we are either in our personality. Often we like things that are this or that. What I wanna talk with you about this morning is two things that are two truths that are true about God that often they don't exist in one person, in one being. In fact, I would tell you this morning that God is not this, or that God is this and that God is not the either or God is the both, and, in other words, what I wanna talk about this morning how God is all powerful but at the same time, he's all loving. That God is all great but at the same time, he's all loving. That God is all great but at the same time, he's all good. That God is over everything, but, at the same time, that God is near and God is with you. I want us to see this morning how we can encounter God and as we are encountering God.
Speaker 1:This is our whole series on the doctrine of God encountering God. Last week, we talked about God's existence and his knowability. If you or someone you've been struggling with that, you can go back to YouTube or Facebook and check out that sermon there. On August 11, this is today we're looking at God's transcendence and eminence. Next Sunday we'll look at God's greatness and his goodness. The final Sunday in the series, we'll look at God's greatness and his goodness. The final Sunday in the series, we'll look at his oneness and his threeness. So this morning, I want to look with you at understanding that God is transcendent and God is eminent. God is transcendent and God is eminent.
Speaker 1:And here's what I believe. I believe that this is a type of sermon for those who are hurting. Now let me just stop and say that all of us, in some way, shape or form, are hurting in this life, that we're either hurting emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, relationally. In fact, I just wrote down some different things that maybe that you are hurting from. Maybe you, this morning, you feel depressed. Maybe you feel disregarded. Maybe you feel like you've been discarded. Maybe you feel disgusted by something that has happened in your life or to someone you know. Maybe you feel dejected by others, disheartened because of what is present in your life. Maybe you feel defeated because you've tried and you've failed. Maybe you feel disgraced by someone. Maybe you're going through a season to where you're in some financial hardship. You're going through a season of debt. Maybe you are going through, or you have recently been through, a divorce, maybe in some way because of something that someone has done. You feel damaged, you feel distressed, maybe you feel divided from family or friends because of something that has occurred in your life.
Speaker 1:I want you to know that, as we talk about the transcendence and the eminence of God this morning, this isn't just a theology for us to know. This is a theology for you to experience, that you accept it, you believe it, so that God can give you victory in your life because of the hurt that you've been going through. So first I want us to look at the transcendence of God. What does the transcendence of God mean? The transcendence of God means this that he is over everything. That God is all-powerful. That there is no one who is above him, there's no one who is beside him. That God is the most high, that he sees it all, but at the same time he is in complete control. That he is absolutely sovereign and absolutely provident. That nothing that happens happens outside of his control. In fact, when you feel out of control is when you know for sure that he is in control. So I want to show you some seven different scriptures on the transcendence of God that I believe that God placed in his word to change your life, that God placed in his scriptures to change your faith and to change your perspective.
Speaker 1:Psalm, chapter 1, verse 13 verse 5 says who is like the Lord, our God, who is seated on high. In other words, what God is saying is that there is no one who is even like him. He is absolutely incomparable, that no one is similar to him, that God is other than anything else, that everything else that exists is because that he created it. But he is creator and there has never been a time that he has not existed. The Bible says that he is seated on high, which means he has the highest seat in all of the universe so that he can look down and he can absolutely see everything. But he doesn't just see it all. He is intimately involved in all affairs. 1 Kings 8, verse 27 says Behold heaven, and the highest heaven cannot even contain you. This is mind-boggling, somehow, that God exists even outside of space and time.
Speaker 1:If you go online and look at the way that the scientists view the universe, often scientists believe that the universe itself is infinite. Why? Because they believe that the universe itself is God. Right, where did everything come from? Well, a big bang. There was something that combusted, something that exploded in the universe, that somehow made everything. So therefore the universe made all things in existence. So therefore they believe that ultimately, the universe is God. But yet the Bible tells us that even the highest heaven cannot contain the presence of God, because he even exists outside of space and time. Can I get an amen?
Speaker 1:Isaiah 66, one says thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. In other words, god is not just in heaven, but heaven is from where that he rules, from where he reigns, that God is in control and that you can trust that Satan never ultimately gets the control. You can trust that the evil powers of this world never gain the reign of the world, that God himself, he is always ruling and he is always reigning, and that the earth is his footstool. It's amazing that not one human being has ever or will ever travel every single square foot of this earth. But yet even the earth is only like a footstool to God, because God is infinite in his presence, god is infinite in his power.
Speaker 1:Psalm 57.5 says Be exalted, o God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. This is the heart of a believer, this is the heart of a Christian, even when we are going through the hardest times, the times that hurt the most, the most painful times in our life, where we are depressed, we are distressed. We are going through all of these things, but yet we can still proclaim. Even when we have questions, even when we have doubts, even when we have hurts and pains, we can still proclaim be exalted, o God. Be exalted, o God, above the heavens, let your glory be over the earth. In other words, that God's exaltation has no limit, god's glory has no bounds, god's glory has no boundaries. Psalm, chapter 97, verse nine. For you, o Lord, you are most high, meaning nothing. No one is higher, is above you, is greater than you. You are most high over all the earth. You are far, you are exalted, far above all other gods. Let me stop and explain this for a second. He's saying that you are far above all other gods.
Speaker 1:Why would the psalmist, why would the Bible even say that there are other gods when the Bible elsewhere says that there is only one God? Let me tell you why. Because the word gods in the Psalms and in other places of scripture is small g, meaning that these are gods. These are often fake gods. These are often false gods. These are often false gods, or even sometimes of other religions that have some type of power behind them. These are demons that are disguising themselves to be God.
Speaker 1:And so what he is saying? That when you look at all the other religions of the world, when you look at all of the others who claim to be God, that we get to serve the one, only true God, who is most high over the earth and he is far exalted over any other God of any other religion, could be God. That we would still want the God of the scriptures, the God of the Bible, to be God, because he is the only God that is all powerful and that is all good, that is totally Lord over everything, but yet he loves us. That he is powerful God, but yet he's gracious. That he is majestic king, but yet he's gracious that he is majestic king, but yet he is merciful. God is not this or that. God is the both and he is this and that. Can I get an amen?
Speaker 1:Psalm, chapter 97, verse 1, says the Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice, which means when we understand who God is and all the power and all the control and all the authority and all the sovereignty and all the providence and all the goodness and all the love and all the tenderness and all the kindness and all the care that we can't help and rejoice and say God, thank you that you are God, that you alone are God, that you reign, that you rule, that you're in control no one and nothing else, because God, you and you alone are trustworthy, you and you alone are true. And then, when you're really going through a hard time in life, you're probably in that season right now, that you're asking God questions. And I want you to know, the Bible says that we can bring our complaints to God.
Speaker 1:I do think that there's a difference in questioning God and asking God questions. We don't question his character, but we can ask God questions as to why he's doing what he's doing. Why is he not doing what we've prayed for? Why did he allow what he allowed? Why didn't he allow what he did not allow God? Why have things turned out like this? Why did this happen, god? Why are these things so?
Speaker 1:And God reminds us in Isaiah for my thoughts, god says for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways. My ways, declares the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts that are higher than your thoughts. In other words, we are never fully going to understand why God does what he does. But even though we can't understand it, we can always trust it. We can always trust that everything that God does, hear me, is not only good, but everything that God does is best, because God is working out all of these different details, all of these different things as according to his will, as he is bringing about it for his ultimate glory and for our good. And there are even some times that God reveals why he does what he does when a tragedy happens, and how God brings his glory and our good out of it. But there are times that you'll never understand it. And just because you don't understand it doesn't mean that God wasn't good. Through it Doesn't mean that God wasn't present with you. Through it Doesn't mean that God did not have you know, it's kind of like understanding the transcendent God.
Speaker 1:When I look at my kids, I want to be like this, like this transcendent dad, right, like I want them to know that they can trust me. I want them to know that I can protect them. I want them to know that they can trust me. I want them to know that I can protect them. I want them to know that they are safe in my care. So what do I do? I do things like throw them as high up in the air as I can and I catch them right. I do things like take them off the bedroom floor and I launch them onto the bed and I jump on the bed and we wrestle and we tickle and we laugh, right, and I throw them around and there are times that Brooklyn will tell me that she's scared. She's scared. She'll be like dad. What if a lion gets into the house and I'll say, brooklyn, who's stronger a lion or your dad? And she'll say you are dad. I'm like that's right, baby, I can take on a lion. I have got her full. This is awesome. She's totally falling for it.
Speaker 1:And why do I want to be this type of transcendent dad? I want to be a transcendent dad because I want them to feel safe, I want them to feel protected. I want them to feel like that they're loved, that they're provided for, that they don't need to worry, that they don't need to worry, that they don't need to stress. But ultimately, I want them to know that I'm a transcendent dad hear me, because I want to be the one to point them to a far greater, perfect, infinite, transcendent God who is stronger than daddy God is, and I want us to see that God is revealing himself to us, even in his transcendence, through his son, you know, with Jesus.
Speaker 1:Jesus says that God is ruling from heaven. Where did Jesus come from? The Bible says that Jesus came from heaven. As Jesus is in control of all things, he's more powerful in all things. What do we see in the Bible when Jesus comes on the scene? That he has power over creation. He has power over the storms, he has power over the demons. He has power over disease and sickness and death. We are seeing the transcendence of God and the very son of God, jesus Christ. Hebrews. Chapter one, three says that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. Jesus Christ, hebrews. Chapter 1, 3 says that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Speaker 1:So what is the transcendence of God supposed to do in your life when you're hurting? Supposed to do in your life, when you're hurting, the transcendence of God is supposed to lead you to worship. The most powerful thing you can do when you're hurting mentally, relationally, spiritually, financially, emotionally or whatever the physically, whatever the hurt may be the most important thing you can do is not to pity yourself, but is to worship God, because what you're doing is not only are you reminding yourself who God is and that he's in complete control and he is complete power and he's got it all under control, but also what you're doing is that you're showing Satan, who is deceiving you with doubt, satan who is throwing questions and fears your way, satan who wants you to step away from God and to run away from him and not to trust him. You are showing Satan that you believe that, even though that you may not agree that God is right, that, even though you may not understand that God has a reason, we worship Psalm 21, verse 13,. Be exalted, o Lord, in your strength. We will sing and praise your power.
Speaker 1:This is why we worship as a church. This is why you worship on your own as a Christian. This is why, when you're thinking about your hurt and your pain and your move to tears, that you just turn on some worship music and just let it wash over you and be reminded of the greatness and the glory of God. This is why you get into the word of God and to the Psalms. The Psalms is this raw, real, like journal of David, and David is asking God all of these questions and he's sharing his doubts and his fears and his hurts. And we resonate with all of these questions and he's sharing his doubts and his fears and his hurts. And we resonate with all of these feelings and emotions that David is having. And we open up the word and we see he's hurting too, but yet he's trusting God. So can I.
Speaker 1:That's why we go take a walk, we get outside during the daytime or the nighttime and we look up at the sky in realizing that if God can create all of this and uphold it whole by the word of his power, then he can take care of what you are going through in your life. It leads us to worship. It helps us to understand that whatever you're going through, god is greater than it. Whatever you're going through, god can see ahead of it. Whatever you're going through, god can overcome it. And whatever you're going through, god can use it in your life or the life of somebody else. Can I get an amen? We see in his word the transcendence of God, but also we see the eminence of God, if the transcendence of God is his power, his glory, his control, his authority. But he's not just that. The eminence of God is that he's good, is that he loves you, is that he's kind to you, is that he's with you.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that he's near to you, deuteronomy 4, 7, for what great nation is there that a God so near to it as the Lord, our God, is to us? Whenever we call upon him, in other words, whenever you call upon God, he is there. God is never absent from you. God is never too busy for you. God is never caught up in another conversation, god is never at arm's length. Why? Because Deuteronomy 7, 6 says God says for you are a people holy to the Lord, your God. Why? Because Deuteronomy 7, 6 says God says but his very child, his son, his daughter.
Speaker 1:Psalm 139, seven, David said "'Where shall I go from your spirit? "'where shall I flee from your presence'. The answer's nowhere. Because God is everywhere. But he's not just out there. He's with you. But he's not just out there. He's with you, he loves you and he's so with you. That he said in Ezekiel 37, 14, and I will put my spirit within you and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land and you shall know that I am the Lord. I have spoken, I will do it, declares the Lord.
Speaker 1:God loves you so much, he wants to be so close to you that he actually took his spirit and he placed his own Holy Spirit inside you. If you believe in Jesus, he's imminent, he's close, he's near, psalm 34, 18. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and he saves the crushed in spirit. I believe God is never nearer than when your heart is broken. God is never nearer than when your heart is broken. I love hugging my wife, hugging my kids, but when there are tears, I hug them all the time. I want to be with them all the more. I want them to know everything's going to be okay. That's how your father is with you.
Speaker 1:I don't know what season you're in, I don't know what you're going through. I don't know what you've experienced, what's happened, what's been done to you, but God knows. He's with you, he's near you Hebrews 13, five. He's so near that he promises you that he will never leave you, nor will he forsake you. He's never absent. He's never away, never on vacation, never busy. You've never sinned too much for him to be distant. God is with you. He never leaves you. He never forsakes you. The imminence of God, hear me in Jesus. Jesus is God coming down from heaven to be with you. Jesus is the Savior of the world, but he's also the Savior of your soul.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that Jesus understands what you're going through because he lived life on this earth. He went through hurt, he felt the pain, he even experienced the temptation, for we do not have a high priest Jesus who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. He understands why you feel the way that you feel, but we do have a high priest, jesus, who, in every respect, has been tempted as we are, but yet he is without sin. So he is trustworthy. He has gone through what you've gone through, but he never sinned. So we can look to him and see how can I go through this and not sin against God? So what do we do?
Speaker 1:Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. How do you find the grace and the mercy of God? Because he is near to you. You draw near to him, encounter him, experience his nearness, believe it, receive it, understand it, enjoy it. If the transcendence of God leads us to worship, the eminence of God leads us to devotion.
Speaker 1:When we open up God's word on a daily basis, we're not just opening up to words on a page, we're not even just to truths in a book. We are opening up to the very voice of God that is speaking directly into your heart personally, words that he loves to say to you, words of encouragement that he loves to speak over you. When you hurt, when you feel the pain of life because of what you've been through, it's not fair. You draw near to God and his word and you let him speak words of life over you. You draw near to him in prayer and he listens. He doesn't just hear you, but he listens to your hurt, your pain, your fears, your doubts, your complaints and your requests, because you realize, and he promises, no one cares about you more than he does. No one is closer to you than him, no one could possibly comfort you more than he could and no one comes to your aid to your help more than God himself. So we see in scripture that God is transcendent, he's over it all, he's powerful, he's in control, he's authority, he can be trusted and he's imminent. He's with you, he's near, he's present, he's with you, he's near, he's present, he's good, he loves you, he's kind, he cares. Here's where they come together.
Speaker 1:I believe the transcendence of God in our worship and the eminence of God in our devotion come together. Hear me in our witness, because there are so many people in your life, in our community, in our area, that all they've heard is about a God, but yet they look at life and they can't make sense of a God who's in control. And they look at their life and they can't make sense of a God who is love. And so you get to come along and you get to share with them about a God who is an absolute, complete control, authoritative over all things, but yet we are not robots. He allows people grace to make the decisions over their own lives, and so people mess the world up and there's an evil power that people are listening to, rather than the true power who is God. And so, therefore, the world is messed up and then we have things in our life that we have not followed God, but we've followed sin. So our lives are messed up and we get to share with them that. God is the God who cleans it up. God is the God who saves us. God is the God who forgives us. God is the God who saves us. God is the God who forgives us. God is the God who empowers us. God is the God who restores us because he loves us.
Speaker 1:Who is it that God has placed in your life to share his transcendence with, to share his eminence with that? As you encounter him in that way, they can encounter him in the same way, and you can share that with them. As I was just sharing with a new friend in the area this week Maybe they're watching and I got to share with them, as though like they had never heard it, that God is both in complete control. He's God, but yet he's completely desires to be in our life. He loves us. I'm going to ask every head to be bowed and every eye to be closed. No one looking around this morning.
Speaker 1:Maybe right now you just need to talk to God. Maybe right now you need need to talk to God. Maybe right now you need God to talk to you and I just want to give you a minute. Maybe you just need to worship God for his transcendence, maybe you need to pray to God because of his eminence, his closeness, and maybe you're here this morning. You've never experienced encountered God in this way. Maybe God has just always just kind of been out there for you, but he's never been with you. Maybe you have never truly given your life to him, maybe you've never been saved, and that's why he created you to save you, to know you, to love you, to care for you, to be with you.
Speaker 1:And you can say a prayer. I can't save you and I can't say this prayer for you, but I can lead you through this prayer so that you can come to know him personally. You can just say God, I believe you, I need you. From your own words, from your own heart, you can say God, I believe that Jesus, your son, came and he died for my sin, and so I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin. And you can tell him God. And I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. So I wanna turn away from my sin and I wanna give my life to Jesus. I call on him to be the Lord of my life, my God, my Savior.
Speaker 1:And the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. So, god, we pray that. We believe that we ask all these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said would you put your hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus? This morning, we just want to say welcome to the family of God. We believe it's not just church, it's family, and we want to be there for one another. We want to be there for you. So, if you wouldn't mind, just indicate that on your next step card that you receive Jesus, your Lord and Savior, this morning. Maybe you need to be baptized. Maybe you need to be a part of one of our groups. Maybe you need to join one of our ministries. You can select that on that next step card. You can turn it into our next step station. You can bring it up to me personally. I'll be in the lobby right after this. Let's all stand together right now. I just want to pray for us one more time. I want us to worship our transcendent and imminent.
Speaker 1:God, together with all of our hearts, at the top of our lungs. Heavenly Father, we praise you, we glorify you, we honor you. God, we thank you that you are trustworthy and you are true. God, we thank you that you are higher than the highest heaven, god, that you are in control, god that you are over it all. God, that we can know that nothing is out of your control, but God, you have your hand on it all. And that we can know that nothing is out of your control but God, you have your hand on it all. And, god, we thank you and we love you because you loved us first. God, thank you that you're close. God, thank you that you're near God, thank you that you're here, thank you that you're there for us. And so, god, we bring you all the honor and the glory and the power and the majesty as we sing to you, as we worship you right now, because you deserve it all. God, we love you and we pray all these things.