If you’re brand new at Big Valley Grace Community Church, welcome. My name is Joel. I’d love to meet you. After the gathering, usually I stand right here and meet folks, but we’re actually going to go out that door at the end of the hall. We’ve got a cool time together called Discover BVG. So if you’re new, come over there, stop by, say hi. I’m going to share a little bit about how I got involved at Big Valley, and I’m going to share a little bit about how you can get involved at Big Valley. Come by after the service, just right behind the stage here. There’s a room. We’d love to be together with you. We’re glad you’re here. We hope that today is a great encouragement for you.

We’re going through the book of Acts together. If you have a Bible, you can take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 8. If you need a Bible, we want to give you one. Right over here we have a prayer room. After the gathering, if you need prayer, come to the prayer room. We have Bibles in there. It’ll be our gift to you, no charge. We want to make sure everyone has a copy of God’s Word.

Our community has definitely changed in the last few weeks, especially regarding our morning commute. If you’ve noticed that a whole lot more people are driving around by schools, school is in. Youth sports are kicking up. If it’s football season, that’s kind of a big deal in my house. There’s youth football going on. My son is back at college playing football. Preseason NFL started up.

I just have to confess, I haven’t done a good job leading my home to be San Francisco 49ers fans. It’s better just to get it out in the open. In my house there’s a Steelers fan, a Packers fan, a Broncos fan, a Chiefs fan, and a Seahawks fan. We’re very divided as a home.

But it’s interesting because football discussion actually brings us together to talk about football, players, teams, contracts, and to make predictions. I’m always asking my kids, “You’ve got to predict now before the season starts. You’ve got to pick all the winners now.”

When predictions are made, they’re backed up with the strategy of why they think that team is going to go all the way. If you’re playing sports, or your kids are playing sports, every team has the same goal: win it all.

If you’re on a team that doesn’t have the goal to win it all, get off that team. You’re on the wrong team. Every team should have the goal, “We want to win it all. We want to win big. We want to go all the way. We want to bring home the victory.”

And every team should have a strategy for how they’re going to do it.

What we’re going to look at today in Scripture is the greatest strategy that has ever been revealed in all of history. We read it in Acts 1:8:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” — NIV

This is the greatest strategy that’s ever been revealed. It is the strategy of Jesus Christ to give power to His disciples when the Holy Spirit of God comes upon their life so that they are transformed to become witnesses of Jesus Christ right where they were in Jerusalem, nearby in Judea, a little farther away in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth—which has reached all the way to us right here in this community.

This strategy right here is what we need to be asking God to do in our lives.

Father God, we pray that Acts 1:8 would be true about us. Lord, that You would empower us by the Holy Spirit of God, that we would be transformed to be witnesses of Jesus Christ all the way to the ends of the earth, which includes this community right here that we’re in.

God, we need You to do this in us. This is the work that we need in us and through us right here, right now, in this community. I pray that You would do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now, when the apostles of Jesus Christ heard this strategy, what do you think they heard?

“You’re going to receive power.” Well, power in our world is power and control and authority. Do you think they thought, “Oh, we’re going to be in charge”?

“You will be My witnesses.” Well, witnesses are speaking up. It’s having a voice. “Hey, we’re going to be heard. What we say is going to matter.”

“You’re going to be in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” “We’re going to cover some ground. We’re going to be traveling. We’re going to become world-renowned. We’re going to be known.”

What do you think they heard when Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”?

I don’t think they heard what we’re going to read in Acts chapter 8 today. I don’t think Acts chapter 8 is what they pictured when Jesus said this, because it’s pretty significant. I’m guessing what we’re going to read in Acts 8 is not what you’re guessing about how this is going to be fulfilled either.

Which brings us to a great question: How is Jesus bringing powerful witness to our community?

We are a part of the ends of the earth, and Jesus is still accomplishing what He said He would accomplish. He is giving power through the Holy Spirit of God to His disciples, making them witnesses of Jesus Christ and transforming the world.

That includes right here in our community.

What’s God been doing in your life? What’s God done in your life this morning? What’s God done in your life yesterday? If you were to summarize what God has done in your life this week, what would you share?

I find myself in conversations with people a lot. Maybe it’s because I’ve got a big mouth, but I find myself in conversations with people a lot.

Recently I was in a conversation with two people who worked for San Joaquin County. One worked in juvenile hall for an entire career, and one worked as a teacher for an entire career. They made a huge mistake.

They asked me if I had any kids.

Open door to talk about God.

So I start talking about God right away. “God built my family. Let me tell you how God built my family.” I start walking through the whole thing.

They asked me, “What type of job do you have that you could support nine children?”

I said, “That doesn’t matter.”

I dodged the question because I don’t like to tell people I’m a pastor right away, because then they treat me differently.

I’m like, “That doesn’t matter. But let me tell you what does matter. God called us to do this. Because God called us to do this, He has provided for everything we’ve needed because He called us to do this.”

They just stared at me and said nothing.

I think I got their attention.

How is Jesus bringing powerful witness to our community? How is God getting credit for what God is doing right here, right now?

Acts chapter 8, verse 1:

“And Saul approved of his execution.”

Tough way to start a chapter in our Bible.

In chapter 7, we read about the first martyr, the first person to die for their faith in Jesus Christ after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His name is Stephen.

He was chosen among seven guys. The widows needed their food distributed daily, and he was picked because he was full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, full of grace, full of power to serve tables.

God raised him up to be an incredible witness for Jesus Christ.

He stood and testified for Jesus Christ, and he was stoned to death, rock by rock hitting his body until he was dead.

A man named Saul is who they laid their garments at the feet of.

Now Acts 8:1 tells us Saul approved of his execution.

Saul is going to become a very important figure in the book of Acts as we get into the next chapter.

These are dark days.

On that day a great persecution breaks out against the church in Jerusalem, and the believers are scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

If you’re keeping track of the math in the book of Acts, it starts with eleven. They lost Judas. They replaced him and got back up to twelve. Then there were 120 in an upper room. Then 3,000 were added on the day of Pentecost. Chapter 4 says there are 5,000 men. Chapter 5 says multitudes of men and women were added. Chapter 6 says there was an increase, and then it multiplied.

We’re talking probably above 10,000 people following Jesus Christ.

In this moment, because one man stood up and testified for Jesus Christ and was murdered, a great persecution breaks out against the church in Jerusalem, and they’re all scattered.

They’re spread through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

What did Jesus say?

“You will receive power when My Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Do you think they thought it was going to happen through persecution?

It is through difficulty that the disciples were spread out by Jesus. It is through pain and hardship that the disciples are spread out by Jesus.

What Jesus said is coming true. What He said in Acts 1:8 is now being fulfilled in Acts 8:1, but it’s not how they thought it was going to happen because it’s through persecution and difficulty.

And it’s happening to the ends of the earth, and the ends of the earth include right here in this community.

Number one: Jesus is bringing His disciples to our community.

Are you aware that Jesus is bringing His disciples to our community?

As the origin story for my family goes, my understanding is that my family actually wasn’t supposed to be in Modesto. My family was supposed to be in Chicago, but because of an employment issue, my family moved to California. Through a number of job changes, my family ended up in Modesto.

I grew up two blocks that direction.

My entire childhood and my wife’s entire childhood, we both thought the same thing: “Let’s get out of Modesto as soon as we can.”

We both tried to go to colleges outside the area and move away. God didn’t let either of us do it.

We got married and tried to figure out how we could move out of the area. God didn’t allow us to do it.

We had a family. “How can we move our family out of the area?” God didn’t allow us to do it.

God was working out a story in our life that, if we were not in Modesto, would not have happened, because it was actually a requirement that we would be in this county to receive the children from this county that God had to place into our family.

He had a purpose for us to be here.

He didn’t let us run. He didn’t let us hide. He didn’t let us leave.

He kept us right here.

“Stay put, because I’ve got a job for you to do.”

Jesus is bringing His disciples to our community, and God has now written a beautiful story in my family that would not have happened if we had left the area.

Do you know why you’re here?

Do you know why you live here?

Do you know God’s purpose for why you’re in this area, why you’re in this location, why you’re in the room right now reading on the screen that Jesus is bringing His disciples to our community?

Do you know why you’re here?

Devout men buried Stephen and deeply mourned for him. The faithful in God take this first martyr, whose body had been totally brutalized, and they bury him. They grieve him. They mourn him.

But Saul was ravaging the church, entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Removing people from their homes, placing them in prison.

They had nothing.

They were removed from their homes and placed in prison.

They had nothing except everything they needed.

The Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God.

They had nothing except everything they needed: the Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God.

Those who had been scattered went about preaching the Word.

Jesus said, “You will be My witnesses.”

Through persecution, the church is now being spread out, and as they go they’re taking the Word of God with them.

This is the strategy of Jesus from Acts 1:8 being fulfilled through persecution, through pain, and through hardship.

The Word of God, through the disciples of Jesus, is now spreading.

Number two: Jesus is bringing His Word to our community.

We’re part of the ends of the earth. Jesus said it was going to happen, and it happened to the ends of the earth.

We’re part of the ends of the earth, and Jesus is bringing His Word to our community.

How is God’s message stirring in you?

What from God’s Word has already impacted you this morning?

What from God’s Word impacted you yesterday?

If you were to summarize what God’s Word has done in your life this week, how would you share it with somebody?

God is putting burdens on my heart that I cannot ignore.

He’s driving me to Him because there are things He’s putting on my heart that I can’t get rid of without coming to Him, talking to Him about it, praying with Him, and looking at what His Word has to say.

He is stirring in me in a way that I cannot ignore, and it’s coming out of me to people that I’m talking to.

He is bringing His Word to our community, and He’s doing it through His disciples.

You, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, are part of God’s plan to bring the Word of God to the community you’re in.

God is stirring in you, moving in you, and delivering the message through you.

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.

Philip was also one of the seven with Stephen. They had been set aside to wait on tables and distribute food for the widows.

Now Philip is placed into ministry and mission, and he goes down to the city of Samaria.

Jesus said, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Now the gospel of Jesus is coming to Samaria.

This is very significant because this is a very dark area with extensive demonic oppression and possession.

Philip went down to a very dark place. He’s on mission in a very dark place, and he’s proclaiming Christ.

The crowds pay close attention to what Philip is saying.

Remember, this is a guy who was serving tables.

Now in a very dark place, people are listening to what he has to say.

They hear him and see the signs he performs.

Everything happening in Philip’s life is happening because of God, not because of Philip.

Unclean spirits come out of many people with loud cries, and many who were paralyzed or lame are healed.

Jesus said in Luke 11:20:

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” — NIV

Think about that.

One of the marks that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, is that demons were cast out.

It is a mark of the ministry of Jesus.

Now that mark of the ministry of Jesus is being passed to His disciples as Philip is in Samaria, a very dark place, and people are being freed from demonic possession by the finger of God.

So what happens?

There is much joy in the city.

Why is there much joy?

Because the shackles of demon possession have been broken. The chains and bondage of the oppression of the enemy are being broken.

They’re finding freedom in Jesus Christ.

They’re full of joy because they’re no longer enslaved to the enemy.

There was much joy in that city.

But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, claiming that he himself was somebody great.

Everyone paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

We’re going to come back to Simon the magician in a little bit.

But when the people believe Philip as he proclaims the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they’re baptized, both men and women.

Super significant.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is now coming to Samaria.

People are hearing about Jesus Christ.

They’re placing their faith in Jesus Christ, and they’re being baptized.

Simon himself also believed and was baptized. He follows Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he sees.

This is a very important verse. We’re going to come back to whatever is happening with Simon here.

When the apostles in Jerusalem hear that Samaria has accepted the Word of God, they send Peter and John to Samaria. They pray for the believers to receive the Holy Spirit.

This is incredibly significant because on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, among Jews, the Holy Spirit of God came upon His people.

The Holy Spirit of God birthed the church in Jerusalem among the Jews.

Now in Samaria, it’s incredibly significant that there is a point in time when the Holy Spirit of God is coming upon people who believe in Jesus Christ—not just in Jerusalem, not just among Jews, but among those in Samaria who are trusting in Jesus.

Peter and John place their hands on them, and they receive the Holy Spirit.

What Jesus promised is happening.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

It’s unfolding.

Now we’re back to Simon the magician.

When Simon sees that the Spirit is given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offers them money and says, “Give me this ability also so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Simon the magician knows his stuff is fake.

He knows his stuff isn’t real.

He’s like, “What they’re doing is real. What they’re doing is legitimate. What they’re doing is genuine. My stuff is fake. Their stuff is not. I need what they have.”

“I want to buy what they have. Can I buy God? I see what you’re doing with God. Can I buy God because I need to have that?”

So he offers them money.

Peter responds with extremely strong language, telling Simon that his money may perish with him because he thought he could buy the gift of God with money.

Peter tells him he has no part or share in this ministry because his heart is not right before God.

Well, what about the fact that it says he believed and was baptized?

Clearly he didn’t have saving faith.

Whatever type of belief he had wasn’t the kind of belief that leads to redemption and salvation in Jesus Christ.

“You do not have a part in what we’re doing. Your heart is not right before God.”

Very, very strong.

Then comes the command:

“Repent.”

You need to repent.

Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that the intent of your heart may be forgiven.

You are not right with God, and you need to repent of your sin so that you can become right with God. You need to ask God to forgive you of your sin.

This is the clear call to all of us.

All of us need to repent of our sin and get right with God.

All of us need to pray and ask God to forgive us of our sin.

Peter tells Simon that he sees he is full of bitterness and captive to sin.

The “gall of bitterness” is saying his heart is poisoned.

The “bond of iniquity” says he’s enslaved to sin.

When someone comes to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they are no longer a slave to sin.

This guy is still a slave to sin.

He clearly doesn’t know Jesus as Savior yet. He’s still stuck in the bondage of the enemy, and his heart is poisoned.

Simon responds, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” — NIV

His response proves the problem.

He doesn’t say, “Pray for me so that I will repent of my wickedness and get right before God.”

He says, essentially, “I don’t want the consequences. Can you pray for me so that bad stuff doesn’t happen to me?”

He’s not saying, “I’m repenting of my sin.”

He’s not saying, “I’ve offended a holy God.”

He’s saying, “I don’t want that bad stuff.”

He looked like he was following Jesus.

It says he believed to some degree.

He did stuff other people following Jesus did.

He got baptized.

He was hanging out with the right people. He was hanging out with a missionary, Philip, on mission.

But his heart was not right.

His heart was poisoned, and he was still enslaved to sin.

Even when he was confronted, he didn’t repent. He just said, “I don’t want the bad stuff to happen to me.”

After Peter and John testify and proclaim the Word of the Lord, they return to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

This text helps us see something very significant.

The gospel was not just for the Jews in Jerusalem.

It has now come to the Samaritans in Samaria, a highly dark and demonically oppressed area, and many people are coming to the Lord.

But each person has to make the decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

God has no grandchildren.

Each person has to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Simon clearly did not make that decision.

But many people who heard the gospel came to know Christ.

Jesus said, “You’re going to receive power. You’re going to be My witnesses. It’s going to go all the way to the ends of the earth.”

The ends of the earth include right here.

Number three: Jesus is bringing His salvation to our community.

Am I aware of how my sin has offended a holy God?

Are you aware of how your sin has offended a holy God?

The instruction in this passage is clear.

We need to repent of our sin.

All of us.

We need to repent of our sin. We need to pray, and we need to ask God to forgive us of our sin so that we can come to know Jesus Christ as the solution for our sin—that He would be Lord God in our life and Savior from our sin.

I appeal to you: if you are here and you have never repented of your sin, repent of your sin.

Ask God to forgive you of your sin.

Trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay for your sin.

Trust in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Death couldn’t hold Him.

Place your faith fully in Jesus Christ because Jesus is bringing His salvation to our community as well.

Now an angel of the Lord says to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” — NIV

We talk about the missionary journeys of Paul, but Philip is getting after it too.

He’s going north and now he’s going south. God’s moving him all around.

This is a desert place.

Philip gets up and goes.

There he meets an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of the treasury of the Kandake, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was now returning home, sitting in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit tells Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” — NIV

God sends Philip down a desert road that doesn’t seem like a place where there would be a lot of people.

But there was one person in a chariot whom God wanted him to talk to.

God sends him on a mission to this chariot.

The chariot is cruising by, and God tells him, “Run up to this chariot.”

So Philip runs up next to the moving chariot, and he hears the guy reading God’s Word from the prophet Isaiah.

Philip asks him:

“Do you understand what you are reading?” — NIV

That is a question every one of us can ask.

“Do you understand what you’ve heard about Jesus?”

“Do you understand what you’ve heard about church?”

“Do you understand what you’ve heard about Christians?”

“Do you understand what you’ve heard about the Bible?”

“Do you understand what you’ve heard about the God who created the world?”

“Do you understand?”

That’s a question every one of us can ask.

The Ethiopian replies, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” — NIV

“How am I supposed to understand what I’m reading unless someone will guide me?”

Church family, God has chariots in your community for you to run alongside—people who have questions.

Now, in this community you’ve got to be careful because the chariot might run you over.

But God has chariots for you to run alongside.

People have questions about Jesus.

They’ve got questions about the Bible.

You are the guide that God is sending to them to run alongside their chariot, to run alongside their life in your neighborhood, at work, at school, in the community—that you would be the person to ask them some questions and talk with them about what they’re hearing.

The Ethiopian invites Philip to come up and sit with him.

The passage of Scripture he was reading was from Isaiah 53, describing a suffering servant led like a sheep to slaughter, silent before those who mistreated Him, humiliated and denied justice.

You want to know what that chariot ride conversation was like?

Go read Isaiah 53 in your Bible.

That’s where it’s from.

Go read Isaiah 53, and you’re going to hear about what this conversation was on a desert road in the middle of nowhere with an Ethiopian official and Philip, a missionary who is getting sent north and then south and is just on mission going wherever God wants.

They’re talking about Isaiah 53.

The Ethiopian asks Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” — NIV

Then Philip begins with that very passage of Scripture and tells him the good news about Jesus.

What does that mean?

It means you can take your Bible and have the people you’re talking to open it up and point anywhere in the Bible.

Put their finger anywhere in the Bible, and you can start from that location and tell them about Jesus.

It does not matter where in your Bible you turn.

From any location in your Bible, you can start a conversation that points people to Jesus.

Whatever information they don’t have, you can fill it in by saying God sent His Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to be born of a virgin. He lived a perfect, sinless life. He went to the cross to die for your sin, my sin, and the sin of the entire world.

He was buried in a tomb.

Three days later, He was resurrected from the grave.

He conquered sin and death.

Over 500 people saw Him.

He then ascended to the Father.

But He’s coming again.

Until He comes again, He sent the Holy Spirit of God to make us powerful witnesses of Him until He returns.

It doesn’t matter where you start in the Bible.

You can get to Jesus.

That’s exactly what happens in this scene from Isaiah 53.

As they travel along the road, they come to some water.

The Ethiopian says, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” — NIV

Clearly, part of the conversation was Philip telling him about Jesus’ command to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything He commanded.

The Ethiopian hears this.

They roll up next to some water.

“Well, there’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?”

There’s water right there.

Hey, I want you to know we have water.

It’s right up there.

We have water.

We can help you take the step to be baptized because we went and got water so we could do it.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you have not been baptized yet, we have water, and we can help you take that step. We want to do it.

Now, in your Bible, you either have verse 37 or you don’t have verse 37.

I’m going to share what verse 37 says, and I’m going to explain why it’s either in your Bible or it isn’t.

Some manuscripts include a statement where Philip tells the Ethiopian that he may be baptized if he believes with all his heart, and the Ethiopian confesses belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Other manuscripts do not contain this verse.

The reason it’s either in your Bible or not is simple: there are manuscripts copied over time, and there are textual variants in the historical record of how we came to have the Bibles we hold today.

There is a textual variant regarding verse 37.

Some manuscripts include it and some don’t.

It’s not problematic to me because the message contained in the verse is consistent with the clear teaching throughout Scripture: trust in the Lord with all your heart, believe in Jesus Christ, and recognize Him as the Son of God.

Whether verse 37 appears in your Bible or not is not a problem for me because its message is the clear message of the entire Bible.

The chariot stops.

Philip and the Ethiopian both go down into the water, and Philip baptizes him.

Right there.

“I’m trusting in Jesus Christ. There’s water. I want to be baptized.”

When they come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly takes Philip away.

Let me read that again.

The Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away.

Yeah, I don’t know how to explain that to you.

I’m not sure how that happened.

If that happened to me, I think I’d be freaking out. We’re baptizing people and then suddenly I’m gone.

There’s some crazy stuff happening in the book of Acts.

The Spirit of the Lord carries him away after the baptism is complete.

The Ethiopian doesn’t see him again, but he goes on his way rejoicing.

Why is the Ethiopian rejoicing?

Because salvation came to his chariot.

Salvation came to the road down to Gaza, a desert place.

Salvation came to a guy reading the Scriptures and not understanding what they meant.

God sent salvation to him, and he is rejoicing because he is experiencing freedom in Jesus Christ, the resurrected, living Jesus Christ.

He is now free in Jesus, and he is rejoicing.

Philip then finds himself at Azotus.

He’s baptizing a guy, he’s carried away, and now he finds himself somewhere new.

“As I passed through, I guess I’m going to preach the gospel here now.”

He travels about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reaches Caesarea.

What is that experience?

He’s baptizing a guy. God removes him and drops him somewhere else.

“I guess I’m going to preach the gospel here now.”

There’s some wild stuff happening in the book of Acts.

Jesus said, “You’re going to receive power when My Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Acts chapter 8, we see it coming true.

We see it coming true.

We’re part of the ends of the earth right here.

I talked to you about the new season we’re in and sports happening. Every team has the same goal. They all want to get to the end and win it all.

Youth sports, college, my son playing football, NFL preseason—everybody wants to get the win at the end.

But the win at the end of an athletic season is nothing compared to the joy that is found by being free from sin and death in Jesus Christ and having eternity with Him.

The joy that is found in Jesus Christ far surpasses anything this world can offer.

The freedom found in Jesus Christ is far better than anything this world has to offer.

Jesus is doing His work to the ends of the earth.

That includes this community right here.

Number four: Jesus is bringing His joy to our community.

Salvation is coming to our chariot.

Salvation is coming to our home.

Salvation is coming to our workplace.

Salvation is coming to our neighborhood.

It’s coming to our schools.

It’s coming to our community.

Jesus is bringing His joy right here, right now.

If you’re here and you want to experience the joy of the Lord, I want to pray for you right now.

If you’re here and you want that joy, you want to experience what Jesus is doing because Jesus is bringing His joy to our community, I want you to stand right where you are, and I’m going to pray for you.

Father God, Lord, I pray for those who are standing.

Lord, You know exactly why they stood up.

You know exactly what’s going on.

You know what their story is.

You know their pain, their hardship, and the places in their life where they need You.

God, I ask that You would bring Your joy into their life.

Lord, You can do it.

You’re establishing Your joy in this community, and You’re doing it one man and one woman, one boy and one girl at a time.

Lord, we lift up these people who are standing, and we ask You to give them Your joy.

Your Word says that in Your presence is fullness of joy, joy forevermore.

God, we pray Your Word and Your joy over these men and women who are standing, and we ask that You would bless them.

We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you need prayer, come to the prayer room. We’ve got Discover BVG going on right now. Head out to a time of fellowship.

Church family, we love you, and we’re going to see you real soon.