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Not Without Prayer · Bayside Davis Podcast

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the B-side Davies Podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're now listening to our current teaching series, Not Without.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot have a move of God without God.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do you agree?
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot have a move of God without God.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: And therefore, you cannot have a move of God without prayer.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because prayer is our communication line to God.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: We actually get to talk to God.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: And if you read through the Bible, you recognize that God is a prayer-answering God.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: He's a prayer-answering God.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: He answers prayers according to his will.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Some of you need to know this.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is wait, and sometimes the answer is no.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: But all of those are answers because God answers prayers according to his will.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: And prayer is one of the core practices of the Christian life.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer will change your heart and life as you talk to God.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: As you seek His will for our world, for your city, for your friends, for your family, and for your life personally.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer will change your heart and life as you talk to God.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, Romans chapter 12, verse 2, it's gonna be on the screen.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Look at this.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Be faithful in prayer.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's God calling us as followers of Jesus to be faithful in prayer.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Colossians 4, verse 2 says, devote yourself to prayer.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Not only is God a prayer answering God, but God's people are a prayerful people.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: We are called to be faithful in prayer.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: We are called to devote ourselves to prayer.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love these two quotes on prayer.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I thought they were so good.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: I had to read them by John Bunyan.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: His first quote is this prayer opens the heart to God, your heart, my heart.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it is the means by which the soul, though empty, is filled by God.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Our soul is filled by God in prayer.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: In another writing, he wrote, by prayer, the Christian can open his heart to God as to a friend and obtain fresh testimony of God's friendship to him.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: When we pray, we talk to God, we open up our heart to God as a friend, and we sense that God reciprocates that friendship toward us.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful thing.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, here in Ephesians chapter 3, there is one of the great prayers of the New Testament.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Paul begins this prayer saying, For this reason.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Paul is talking about chapter 2 of Ephesians.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: We don't need to get much into this other than the context is that Paul was writing about how the gospel brings all people, all ethnicities together, Jews and Gentiles, in this context, in Ephesians chapter 2, there were tension between these two groups, and they're united and reconciled, and they're all God's people in Jesus Christ.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, the good news of Jesus repairs human relationships.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's great news, right?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's a lot of fractured relationships, there's a lot of tension between groups of people that those walls are broken down, enemies become families, uh, ruptured relationships become repaired relationships in Jesus.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I want you to note five things that he says about prayer in this section.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: For this reason, he sets it up now.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, prayer.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: A core aspect of our relationship with God.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Notice what he says in verse 14.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I kneel before the Father.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is like a this was a biblical posture that Ezra used, the psalmists use it, Daniel, Jesus, Stephen, Paul kneeling before God in prayer, but really it's symbolic of my heart is surrendering and intensely passionate toward God Himself.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Physical postures communicate soul realities.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a soul reality that when we pray, whatever posture we're in, you know, if you're praying standing up, if you're praying, sitting down, if you're praying on your knees, however we pray, physical postures reveal spiritual things happening in our heart.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and he began his teaching with these words.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Listen to this Matthew chapter 6, verse 9.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Our Father in heaven.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the most powerful words in the entire New Testament.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Disciples are like, teach us how to pray.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, Here's how you were to pray.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Our Father in heaven.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let me give you four definitions and their overlap of prayer.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's overlap between these definitions, but I all I think all of these with each of their nuances really important.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, write this down.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer is relationship.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: What he's saying here in Matthew 6, 9 is that he is my father in heaven.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: That God is not a distant God, God is not a detached God, God is not separate from us human beings, that God wants to be our Father and He is in heaven where all of his glory and majesty exists.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, prayer is friendship.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you started to pray and you thought, I am praying to God, and this is because I'm a friend of God.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's how God sees every one of his people, his sons and daughters, his followers.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: We are, Jesus said, I call you friends.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And as John Bunyan said in those quotes, prayer opens up our heart to friendship with God, and then we feel that God, God feels the same about us.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: We are friends of God.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer is friendship.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, prayer is communication.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's talking to God.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: People are like, Wesley, prayer is this mountain peak of spirituality.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't understand.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Think of prayer as simply communication.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like every week I call some of my friends.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Jason Cain.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: What's up, Jay?
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I call him.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon calls me, Pastor Brandon, Bayside Folsom.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: He calls me the bald eagle, the beanie bishop.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, he's like, what's up, bald eagle, beanie bishop?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: He calls me all the time.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Every Wednesday, we have these all-day meetings at Grand Bay, all of all the churches, all the lead pastors together, all the staff across Bayside together.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: We have these meetings, and every Wednesday, B as I call him, you call him Brandon or Brandon Short or B short or whatever.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: He calls me.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: What's up, Bald Eagle?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: What's up, BD Bishop?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: And we have conversations because that's we catch up.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's what friends do.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: I call my friends from uh Oregon.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: I I I texted, called my friend Ian.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: He's pastor of the church that I planted in Oregon.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: I called him this week, and we usually talk once a week.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we catch up, we pray for each other, you know, update on things going in our life.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's got he's got three amazing, four amazing kids, three boys and a daughter, and he always gives me an update on all of his kids and uh what's happening in his life.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I called him and he didn't answer, and then he texted me.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Wesley, I am deathly sick, I can't talk right now.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then he said, I hope I'm not as sick as you were for seven weeks.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Oh, yep, you know me.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's what you do.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: You talk, you communicate.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer is simply communication with God.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Pick up the phone line every day.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need your iPhone, you don't need your Android, you don't need your Google phone, you don't need your iPad.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: You, hey God, will He answer today?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: No, you just need to talk.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: God can see and hear everything all at once, all the time.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And he loves when we talk to him.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Number four, prayers cultivation.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: It helps me to daily cultivate my relationship with God, just like a friend or a family member or whoever.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: My mom, my mom calls me every day.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Does your mom call you every day?
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: This might be a touchy subject for some, but my mom calls me every day.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: She wants an update every day.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on in your life?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: She's watching right now.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: She's coming on Mother's Day for the first time.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: So don't miss Mother's Day weekend.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: She's coming on Mother's Day.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be amazing.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Mom, you're you're watching me.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so proud of you.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're watching me.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's just cultivation.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: You just keep up, you talk to the Lord every day, and you deepen your relationship with God through prayer.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: But what can we pray?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Here's my question.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: What can we pray in a moment like this?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: That we want to see a move of God across Bayside, across our stay in this world, in our generation.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: What can we pray?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Four things.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Four things that are talked about in this text that we can pray.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 16.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: He says, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in the inner being.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just stop there.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, write this down.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: But here are four things, but they're gonna go off of this one thing.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: If that makes any sense.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, prayer.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: A church where people can grow strong spiritually.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: A church where, look at this wording.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I pray that out of his glorious riches, out of the nature of God himself, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, in your soul.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is spiritual growth.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: That we would have a church that people can grow spiritually, that we can be strengthened by the Spirit of God in our in the center of our being, where God grows us from the inside out, that we can be strengthened spiritually by God Himself.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: My prayer is that we would have a church where people can come and grow spiritually, where they can learn to follow Jesus, where they can learn the Bible.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: This book changes lives.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can go to some churches in 10, 20 years and you really don't know a lot about doctrine or the teachings of Jesus or the Old Testament.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: We have to be a people that open up the Bible.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Amen?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Where people can learn to follow Jesus, where people can learn the Bible, where people can find authentic, genuine, human-being Christian community.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by that is that we're not fake facade, have it all together like a group of people.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: That is not real.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: We are looking for relationships where we can find honesty and openness and help and encouragement, uh, where we can be lifted up in our time of need, where we can have real relationships that are meaningful, that matter.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we want people to have that.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: We grow in such environments where people can join rooted discipleship groups.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: We've had so far five months, we've had 90 people in rooted groups.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: This session is almost over.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: 90 people in our church have gone through discipleship.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is generations to come.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: We want a church where people can grow spiritually, where they can be mentored.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: The next generation, we can mentor the next generation who will influence the world.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: For all of us who are 40 and up, listen to me.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm in your category.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: All of us who are 40 and up, our job is to recognize two things.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: God is not done with you.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: If you're 70 or 80, your best days are ahead spiritually.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: God wants to use your life.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: But God has placed us in a city like this, where we get to mentor the next world changers who are gonna influence our world.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: That is our calling.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: We don't exist in this city just to work and make money and live our life.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: We are followers of Jesus in this city.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: We are meant to mentor and love and encourage and help and support and cheer on the next generation that are gonna literally change this world.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: That is our calling.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you're 40, if you're 50, if you're 60, if you're 70, if you're 80, and if you're 90, we get to do that together to see our city change spiritually.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: What a calling, what a goal.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: We want a church where people can grow spiritually.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Third, but second, but third.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you've been tracking with me, you understand.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 17, prayer.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: A church where people surrender their hearts to Jesus.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 17, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all of the Lord's holy people.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to look at that line in verse 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: The Greek verb means to settle down.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: The idea is that Jesus is taking up full residence in our heart.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: This speaks of the relational nature of Jesus in our heart.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: When you put your faith in him, he becomes the Lord and Savior of your life.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: And he literally takes up residence in your heart.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's a beautiful thing.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: We want Jesus' presence to dwell in as many hearts as possible.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Augustine said, these beautiful words.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: He said, He values not Christ at all who does not value Christ above all.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, we want to value Christ above all.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: We want every place in our heart to be open to the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: That we surrender control.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: We follow Jesus and we allow him to take up residence in our heart fully, completely.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: That Lord, the Lord Jesus would be the Lord of our hearts.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Can I say this?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Just say yes.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Can I say this?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: A thriving church is not a Christian country club.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Too many churches, they exist for a while.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe at one point in their in their life cycle, they were like passionate for God and they love the they love the people outside of the church.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then they become snooty Christian country clubs.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Where it's like, oh, you know, everybody's perfect, and like, you know, we have our seat, you can't take up my seat.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like, and we don't really want outsiders, we just want insiders in our church.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, that is a dead church.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because a church that doesn't care about people outside of the church is not living out the reality and mission of what a church is by design of God.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're all broken, sinful people.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: And God saved us, and therefore, God is going to save all the other people out there in the world that we need to have a deep, resonating love and compassion for.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: A thriving church is not a Christian country club.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: A thriving church is a Christian hospital that brings healing to everyone.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I look at those 83 projects, and the thing that the Lord puts on my heart is that this is healing for millions of people around the world.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we should be doing.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think about all the people that are coming to Christ in our church, that is spiritual healing for every person that's being invited that doesn't know Jesus that's coming to our church.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're averaging seven people a weekend coming to Christ so far in 2026.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: We, if we get, if we have the opportunity and the Lord provides, and if we can have a church in the center of our city, Fifth Street, everybody knows Fifth Street.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's got the pizza, it's got the coffee, it's got the boba, it's got everything.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody, to have a church in the center of our city that is a place of healing and hope for the people of our city would be a dream.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: We want to be a church where people who do not know Jesus feel welcome to come just as they are and turn their hearts to Jesus.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're averaging seven people giving their hearts to Jesus each Sunday in 2026.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Two weekends ago, we celebrated 16 people who were baptized.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you got baptized, we love you.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: We're so grateful.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: And what if, what if God is just getting started?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: And what if we can have a church in the heart of our city that becomes a place of spiritual hope for every person in our city and region?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: That we would long for hundreds and perhaps thousands to come and have their eternity changed by hearing the message of Jesus in the heart of the city of Davis.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And one person clapped.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Leah.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: That is my prayer, that is my longing that we would see, that we would be a beacon of hope and healing in the heart of the city of Davis.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: And everybody said.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Number four, but really number three.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Number four, prayer.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: A church where people experience the love of Jesus.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: Notice what he says at the end of verse 17.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Being rooted and established in love may have the power, together with all of the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: That we would be rooted in his love, that we would be established in his love, that we would understand his love, and that we would be changed and motivated by Jesus' love.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Listen to this, Romans 5.8.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, which means this.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know the greatest declaration of the love of God in this world?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's this.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: When you and I were at our worst, our worst day, our worst moment, our worst decisions, our worst regrets, our worst sense of shame.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's the moment that God declares, I love you, and my son Jesus died for you.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: And my very, you know, we our minds remember all the bad things, all the regrets in our life.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Every time that is brought up in your mind, remind yourself, this is why the Lord died for me.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the Lord telling me how much he loves me.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Paul wants them to know the true change happens in our life, the true motivation happens in our life spiritually when we begin to sense and experience and understand the love of God.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't just keep it, we reciprocate God's love toward others.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Which leads me to this.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: We want to be a church where people feel the love of God and the love of God's people.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: That should be our collective heart.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: That we want to be a church where people experience the love of God.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: They feel it, they sense it, and the love of God's people.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Let me just make a statement.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: We are determined not to be cold Christians, cranky Christians, judgmental Christians, legalistic Christians, exclusive Christians.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: We are determined not to be that.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Rather, We long to be a lighthouse of love shining for the people around us.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: A welcoming place.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: A place of genuine spiritual warmth.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: A place of real hope.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: A place of oh that is overflowing with forgiveness and grace that God has given us toward every person who comes here.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: That is my declaration, and that is my hope.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: That this would be a church where people feel the love of God and the love of God's people, and that we have a filter for our church.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: That we do not allow this place to become cold, cranky, judgmental, legalistic, or exclusive, that we would be a lighthouse of love shining for all the people around us.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Are you guys with me on that?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Number four, but really number five.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 19, prayer.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: A church where people experience the presence of God.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Look what he says.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: At the end of verse 19.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know what he's referring to?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: God's presence.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: In the Garden of Eden, Genesis 1 and 2.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: God was present every day with Adam and Eve.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's how God intended it to be.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: In the Exodus.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: You remember that story?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: God was present every day with his people as he redeemed them out of enslavement in Egypt.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: A cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Every day.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: In the incarnation of the Son of God, in the person of Jesus, in the life of Jesus.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: This was the greatest picture of God.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: The Son of God coming from heaven to earth to say, this is how I originally designed this world to be.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: God does some unique things with me and him, just praying and reading my Bible and all that stuff.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: But God does some really unique things when I am present with the people of God.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: We want every person to experience the presence of God every time we gather as a church.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: We want people to be invited and drawn to a place where God is present.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to just do church.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know how kids like they play house, like, you know, they like have the gas station and like they clean their little house.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you got these little houses they make, and parents buy them, they set them up, and the little girl has, you know, she's decorating the house, and the boy's got the gas pump and all of that.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you're, we don't want to play church.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: We want the kids to play house.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's good for the imagination.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Get them off devices, get them dreaming and imagining things.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to play church.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: We might as well go home if we're gonna play church.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: We want God's presence every time we show up.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: We long for it, we're desperate for it, we need it.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: There's too much brokenness, there's too much healing that we need in our lives, there's too much redemption that this world needs to play church.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: We want kids experiencing God's presence every weekend.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: We want youth experiencing God's presence every weekend.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: We want college students experiencing God's presence every weekend.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: We want graduate students experiencing God's presence every weekend.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: I was at the vet with my little dog Lucy yesterday, and and somebody who's at the veterinary school, she comes in, she's like, I saw your name pull up, and I wanted to say hi to you, Pastor Wesley.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: We want every graduate student to experience God's presence.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: We want parents to experience God's presence.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: We want grandparents to experience God's presence.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: We want retirees who the world might say, your days have expired.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: And we would say, you're just getting started in the kingdom of God to experience God's presence.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: We all need the same thing to commune with God in his presence.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: How many of you you know every week there's so many distractions in this world, but when you come to church that you needed that, that there was something that God did through worship, through the teaching, through the people here, that you needed that.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: We this is our hope and prayer.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: That we would be a church that is a place of those four realities.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: I personally longed for us to have a lasting spiritual influence on our city and region.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: I pray that Jesus would do a work that is beyond our dreams or anything we could have ever imagined, and that it's not about me, it's not about us, that it's about God transforming hearts and drawing people into a living, loving relationship with God Himself.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a sacred moment to press into what God is doing, and a sacred moment to have visions, spiritual vision for our lives and our city and our world.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna ask that over this next week, that as we've talked about prayer, that we would all commit to practically pray for these four things on the screen.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: And can you just write these things down?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, compassion projects that change the world.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Grab your book, don't leave it here, and just pray once a day.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: You can just two minutes or one minute for each of these things.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: I know everybody's busy, but one minute of prayer can change lives and hearts.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, a church building in the heart of our city that you would pray for that if it's the Lord's will.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're in real great negotiations right now.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, new ministry staff to serve our church and reach our city.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: We want more people to come to know Jesus, and we want every person in our church to have a pastor.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm your pastor and I'm happy to be, but 350 people pastoring, that's that I'm it's busy.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: I love it, but it's busy.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: We do need some more ministry staff, and then number four, investment in DCF ministry expansion locally and in Southern California.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Would you commit this week, every day, to pray for those things?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: Because we know that none of this is possible without prayer.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Then I want you to do one more thing.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Grab this card and the bracelet under your seat.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Grab this card right here and the bracelet under your seat.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: This is a prayer card for you to fill out right now.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is one thing, one prayer for you or for someone you know.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: You could write your name, you could leave your name blank.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fill this in.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: You have a pen on your seat as well.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fill this in.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: Donovan, we just come up here and strum a little bit.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe play some pads too.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: You could do both at once, right?
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um this is just one thing on your heart.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: And as you leave, there's gonna be some people at the doors.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: You could just put this uh in the baskets at the door.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Kelly and Deep have these baskets.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Would you just put those up?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're just gonna drop this in the basket.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna pray through every single one of these cards this week, our team.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's an honor to pray for you.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then the bracelet, you see the bracelet, welcome to tomorrow.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: This bracelet, if if you I mean, if it's cool enough for you, you can wear it all week.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: And the bracelet is just a physical reminder to pray for these four things during the week and to pray for the one thing in your life that you need prayer for.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: It might be somebody you know, or it might be you personally, we want to pray for you.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's anxiety, maybe it's depression, maybe it's grief, maybe you feel like the Lord doesn't love you and you want to experience his love and presence.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever it is, we want to pray for you because we believe that prayer changes lives and hearts.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, as they're just strumming, and maybe you could sing a chorus, would that be okay?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: I want each of you just to see God personally, Lord, what is it that you want me to write on this card?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the next minute that you would write that down.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: We'll just give you guys a minute right now.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're gonna do one more thing.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm actually, we're actually doing better than I thought time-wise today.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you could just sing for a minute, that'd be amazing.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Donovan.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: You are we make miracle work, promise key, that in the darkness, my God, that is who you are.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: We make miracle work, promise key, that in the darkness, my God, that is who you that is who you that is to you, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is to you all that is to you.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: We make you work, I'm excited, I'd in the darkness, my God, that is to you.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: We make you work, I'm a skeep, I'd in the darkness, my God, that is to you.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I filled out my card, I hope you filled out a card as well.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's just prayer for you in life.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you have never put your faith in God, maybe you've never experienced the love of God, maybe you've never experienced the presence of God in your heart.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: If I could have everybody close their eyes right now, if you're sensing that in your own life, then I've never put my faith in God, I've never trusted in Jesus, I've never experienced the love and presence of God in my soul.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: I've never experienced the forgiveness that comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: That God's Son came to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our wrongdoing and sins so that we could be completely forgiven and reconciled to an eternal relationship with the living God.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted in Jesus, if you've never experienced the love, forgiveness, and presence of God in your life.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's what you wrote on your card.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you didn't.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: I want to invite you to come to believe in Jesus right now.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: As God is working in your heart.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: Take this moment to put your faith in Jesus.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: We want you to have everlasting life.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: We want you to be forgiven, past, present, and future.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: We want you to experience the love of God and to have an eternal relationship with God Himself.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: If you would like to put your faith in Jesus today and receive that, would you just simply, everybody's eyes closed, heads bowed, would you just simply put your hand in the air?
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: Just put your hand up.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: Don't wait.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: This is such an important moment in your life.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: Just put your hand up.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: God bless you, and you.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anybody else that would like to receive Christ this morning?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: Just put your hand up right now and God bless you.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Anyone else that wants to receive Christ this morning?
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: Just put your hand up in the air.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: And God bless you in the back as well.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Anybody?
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: And God bless you.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anybody else who would like to receive Christ?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: And God bless you.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you raised your hand this morning, would you just quietly pray this prayer?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: I believe that you died on the cross because you love me and you wanted to heal me and redeem me and forgive all of my wrongdoing, past, present, and future.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you didn't do that just to do that.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: You did that so that my heart and life could be in a relationship with you for all of eternity.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I could know God personally and experience God daily.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: I believe in you, Jesus.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: I believe in your death and resurrection from the grave.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: I believe that you are alive and changing hearts, including mine right now.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: And from this day forward, I want to follow you and worship you.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: And everybody said, Amen.