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Communion with Jesus is all I desire. I long to hear your still small voice. You don't require me to linger, but I am so consumed, overwhelmed by Jesus, I won't I choose to stay in your presence, in your presence.

Nothing to My comfort's in this in your presence, in your presence. Communion with Jesus is all I desire. I long to hear your still small voice.

And you don't require me to linger, but I am so consumed, overwhelmed by Jesus, I won't move. >> Ooh. I choose to in your in your presence.

In your presence. Nothing to prove. My heart's on display.

In your in your in your Jesus, I want I choose to stay in your in your presence. In your presence. In your I've got nothing to prove.

My heart's on display. In your in your in your In your in your I'm right here in your And I will linger here as you reveal your glory. I want >> Praise the Lord.

Oh, come on and stand up on your feet. Give God some praise. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy.

He's worthy to be praised. If God been good to you, you need to lift him up. You need to praise him.

You need to magnify him. You need to glorify him. If he helped you through this week, you need to say, "Thank you, Jesus." He's worthy.

He's worthy. Oh, come on. He deserves it all.

Lift up the name of Jesus. He's worthy. He's worthy.

He's worthy. He's worthy. There's no one like him.

I stand in God's presence this morning just being so grateful. Grateful. As my mind go back to the Sunday school class, it's on me if you don't mind.

God is a good God. He's a great God. I asked the children this morning.

I said, "What caused you to act the way you act?" Some said, "Anger issues." Some say they have like situation with sickness. All different types of things was going on, they was saying. But the anger got got me.

It got me. Because we don't know what people going through in their homes. We don't know what our children going through and what they have to face on a daily basis.

And we need to be there for them. We need to be patient in well doing. Cuz we going to reap if we faint not.

Not only the children have anger issues. Adults do, too. We just have a way of hiding it.

I can talk about me. I can't talk about you. I used to have anger issues.

That's what it got That's what it got to me. But God delivered me. He delivered me.

I used to be bullied in school all the time. Just because of the way I look. About your hair.

Crazy stuff that people will dislike you about. And it make you angry. It builds something up in you.

And it causes you to act out. And some of these children are acting out because they're angry. And some of us as adults, if we be real about it, we angry, too.

We be angry, too. We get real angry when they get to cutting up and acting up. But I know a savior.

He can deliver us. He can take care of us. He can turn us around like he did me.

Cuz I'm going to tell you something. I wasn't taking no more junk. I had made it up in my mind.

I said, "Okay. Today at school, someone do something, it's on and popping." However y'all talk it, but that's what we talked about then. It's on and popping.

But as years later went by, my uncle witnessed to me. And he was telling me about the Lord Jesus. And he was telling me about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And he was telling me about repentance and all that good stuff. He did. He took his time with me.

I promise you. He had patience with me. Patience.

We all don't have that for our own children. I'm talking about our own. But he was telling me, he said, "Will you come and go to church with me?" I lied to him so many times.

I did. I said, "No. I said, I I don't think I'm going to go." But there come a time when you get sick and tired.

And and and I said, "Okay, Uncle Mike." He's not here today. If you're watching, thank you. I went.

And God baptized me as I repented of my sins. With the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And I got baptized in Jesus' name.

For the remission of my sins. And whoever you whoever you are this morning, please. No matter what you're going through.

He's a deliverer. He's able. He can do it.

He did it for me, he'll do it for you. If you're on drugs, alcohol. If you got anything in you, contention, jealousy, envy, whatever.

Lay it down at the cross. Give it to Jesus. It's not too big for him.

He can handle it. Let's go to in prayer. And I do want to say this if it's okay, pastor.

I want to thank God for little bit. She was at our group home. She told me she was going to come back to see me.

She used to come to the church. She even told me about she didn't like Was it like you didn't like the church? And that's what you said.

She said, "I don't like I don't like the church." And um I told her it's okay, you know. And she was having problems when she got to the home. But I can see a tremendous change in her as time went by.

And as I look at her this morning, God did it. It did something to my soul. She jumped out the car this morning and she said, "I'm in college." She's doing a lot.

God God has tremendously changed her life from time back then up until now. I'm telling you, he loves you. He loves you.

He loves you. He loves you in spite of He loves you. He loves you.

He loves you. He loves you. He loves you.

He loves you. Gracious Lord you are. We bless and praise you.

We thank you for this day that you've given us, Lord God. We're going to rejoice and be glad in it, Lord Jesus. Oh mighty God, we call up on you this morning asking you to have your way.

You do whatever you choose to do, however you want to do it. Lord God, I ask you to baptize someone this morning in Jesus name. I ask you this morning to baptize somebody with the gift of the Holy Ghost, Lord God.

Lord Jesus, I ask you this morning to deliver somebody, oh God, that's been going through that's, oh God, different situations, Lord God, and I know that you're able to handle it. I know there's nothing too hard for you, Lord. Be with our praise team.

Be with our pastor, Lord God, and we thank you for what you're getting ready to do in Jesus name. Amen. >> That can silence roaring waves.

I know a name that could empty out of grave. I know a name It's the only name that saves and is worthy of all praise. >> I call you Jesus.

I call you I call you healer, risen and reigning in power. Something comes out of the grave every time I call you Jesus. I call you I call you savior, worthy of glory forever.

Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name. I have a king with dominion over them, he holds the keys. In his holy nails God hid.

He is the heel. That has crushed the serpent in I resurrect great I Am. I call you Jesus.

I call you. I call you healer. Risen and reigning in power.

Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus. I call you.

I call you savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave.

Every time I call your name, chains break, dry bones wake. Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name, chains break, dry bones wake.

Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name. Hallelujah.

See well. Well, oh. Well, oh.

He is now yours. And where oh grave your victory? Where oh death is now your sting?

And where oh grave your victory? Where oh death is now your sting? And where oh grave your victory?

Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus.

Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus.

Dead things come alive. DEAD THINGS COME ALIVE. DEAD THINGS come alive in the name of Jesus.

Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive in the name of I call you Jesus.

I call you I call you risen and reigning in power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus.

I call you I call you worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name.

Chains break. Dry time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. In the name of Jesus.

There's healing in the name of Jesus. Salvation in the name of Jesus. Oh, how I love the name of Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus. Say Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus. Power in the name of Jesus.

Jesus. Healing in the name of Jesus. Jesus.

Oh, how I love the name of Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus. I call you Jesus.

I call you I call you risen and reigning in power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus.

I call you I call you savior, worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name. >> Yes, Lord.

Yes, Lord. Bring us back to life. Let there be abundant life in this room, OH GOD.

AWAKEN US, oh God. Awaken us. Lord, let your resurrection power be freed in this room.

Yeah, let's all clap our hands to our savior. Can we just all across the building acknowledge God's presence in this room and ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE GOD of this room can bring death back to life and WE'RE ALL HERE TODAY standing with life and life abundantly because of what he's done for us? Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for life.

Amen. We don't want this life for for some of us. You know, each and every one of us in this room there's probably many of us today I I got life.

We want life for everybody in this room. If you're in this place today and you don't know what life is like in Jesus, we would love love for you to receive all that God has for you in this house today. The Lord wants to change your life, transform you.

He has the power to do it. This room is full of people who are imperfect, who had their own challenges, and who are still imperfect and still have their own challenges. But we've been changed and transformed by the power of God's spirit living within us.

And we have the hope of a resurrection that one day one day we will stand victorious completely over sin, over death, NOT BECAUSE WE'RE GOOD, BUT BECAUSE HE IS GOOD. I'm so thankful for that. I'm thankful for God's power to change and transform lives.

Just a little bit we're going to be uh baptized. If you can wave your hand, brother Shawn. Shawn House back there.

He's related to just about everybody in this church, but he just moved back recently and uh he and his family is Adriana, Kelsey, Kira, and Trey. Their family has said this is going to be their church home, not just their family, and we're going to baptize him in Jesus' name at the end of this service. Just grateful, so as as your brothers and sisters in Christ, go make acquaintance with them.

And we're just so grateful that you've chosen to be here with us and a part of this body. Uh we want to pray for uh Kathy Otterson and her daughter Brandy. They're both sick.

Uh Cindy Craft wants us to pray for her sister and her family. They had to evacuate their homes due to a fire and Brother Tyrone also gave me another prayer request. We're going to be praying for Dane White or Dane Knight, forgive me.

Um I think and there's a wife and parentheses. I don't know if Dane White Knight and his wife as well in the hospital for 2 days. So, we're going to pray for them that the Lord would minister to them and by the uplifting of our hands all across the building, we want to be intercessors for people in our community and our workplace.

If you have a need in your body, we're going to already go back into worship in just a few moments. If you have a need in your body, feel free to move forward. We will pray with you and believe that the Lord can change and transform your situation.

So, we're going to believe for that. But, let's take these needs to the Lord in prayer. God, thank you for this privilege to be together with this body of believers.

God, I know that you're here with us today. We feel your power in the room. We feel faith in the room right now and we're asking, Lord, that you work in every situation that we've brought to you, Lord.

Those that need healing in their body, Lord, those that need deliverance, those, Lord, that need salvation. We know that you have everything that we need and we're grateful, oh God, that you are a God that hears us. Hear our cry, Lord.

Hear our cry in this house today and attend unto our prayers. Minister to every need in this building, Lord, and help us today. Help us, Lord, as we magnify and glorify your great name.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

Thank you for coming to worship, for coming in expectancy. I feel faith in the room. Thank you so much.

Uh if you are a guest with us today, uh we appreciate you coming. We hope that you feel welcome and most of all, we hope that you feel Jesus. He loves you.

If you've had a chance to fill out one of our connection cards, thank you. If you have not, you can scan the QR code on the front of the pew there and that will allow us to gather some information from you and invite you to our next VIP breakfast where you can sit down with our pastor and he can get to know you and tell you about our church. We have our May bulletins available.

You can see one of our ushers at the end of the service in the back there. And then we have Spanish service, of course, this afternoon. We have a lot of folks from our Spanish service.

Thank you all so much for coming. So grateful for the diligence of that work and that if people are coming and they are not able to speak English, they speak Spanish, we got a place for them to come and feel the presence of the Lord in the family and I'm I'm so just proud of that in a in a way that I'm prideful, but just proud that we were able to do that and grateful for the the folks that that work for that. Also grateful for the folks that work in Celebrate Recovery.

If you've got hurts, hang-ups, or habits, every Tuesday at 6:30, we have a meeting here at the church and they would absolutely welcome you to come and again, we're grateful for that ministry. Midweek Matters is every Wednesday. That's just our midweek Bible study.

It's at 7:00 p.m. And tonight is our life groups. If you've not attended one of our life groups, these are just home fellowship groups all or all they are.

They come together in smaller groups so we can get to know each other in a way that's sometimes difficult where we just kind of pass each other in a given service. So, if you'd like to to go to one of our life groups and you've not yet attended one, you can see our staff in the back, one of our ushers, or one of our hospitality team and they will direct you to the next life group. They are tonight at 6:00 p.m.

One time a month we have the life groups. One time a month. So, they're they're tonight at 6:00 p.m.

Next Saturday is Children's Ministry yard sale. That's going to be here on church property. And also next Saturday evening is our church family prayer.

That's at 6:00 p.m. Thank all of you who came to the fountain yesterday. We had prayer for our city uh well as our communities.

Prayer for our families yesterday at Fountain Park. So, thank all of you that attended that. We had a great time and we're believing that the Lord is going to hear our prayers.

We want revival for our city. Amen. We want revival for our city.

Uh Brother Jimmy's going to come at this time. As he's coming, I do have a slide I want to show you real quick, briefly. If you see that man right there, he's actually standing right back up there in the corner.

Brother Hal has retired this past week and we just want to say congratulations on your retirement. Thank you for being a good man, a good dad, a good church member, a good citizen, and all the great things that you've done. Thank you so much.

You're an example for our church and we appreciate you, sir. Thank you. Amen.

Jimmy. >> Praise the Lord, everybody. >> Praise the Lord.

>> Isn't God good? >> Yes. >> Aren't you glad you know him?

Aren't you glad he knows you? All right. So, I want to just talk about Celebrate Recovery a little bit and some ways that everybody can help.

Uh it it is an open group to everybody. So, anybody in this room is welcome to attend on Tuesday nights. If you don't want to or you can't, there's other ways that you can help and that is by praying for this ministry.

We reach people, we reach out to people, and people come and they're hurting, and they have hang-ups and habits just like all of us do. And it's a place that we can come together and talk about those things and and and find healing in Christ. There's other ways that you can help.

You can provide a meal or part of a meal. Um and and we're more and more having a need of of child care. We have more and more people calling us and asking us if we have child care because they want to come to Celebrate Recovery, but they can't find anybody to watch their kids.

So, if anybody feels the burden for that or feels like they want to help with that, just come see me, my wife, or um yeah, me or my wife, and we can we can help you get there. Uh also want to share some small testimonies. We asked people this week in Celebrate Recovery to write down what Celebrate Recovery means to you.

We had several responses to that, and I think I'd like to share those. So, first of all, the the the first one I'm going to read, I'll just read them. CR has helped me to release crack cocaine out of my life.

CR has helped me to discover clean and productive ways of expressing myself. Celebrate Recovery has helped me form amazing and lasting friendships for life. Celebrate Recovery has helped me examine myself in the presence of others.

Hallelujah. Here's another one. Here's what somebody else said about Celebrate Recovery.

It's my safe place where I can speak freely and not feel judged on my thoughts and feelings. It's a family that's here to help me get through the parts of my life's worst trials. It's also a part of their therapy.

Here's another one. CR is a life-giving water, a place to rest, to heal, to love, to grow, to feel safe and protected on the road to restoration. Here's another one.

CR CR has given me a peer group to share my story and work through the steps to better my emotional health and restore my faith. Celebrate Recovery is my safe place. God has met me in my mess at Celebrate Recovery.

My Celebrate Recovery family is an answer to prayer. Here's the Here's another one. I found Celebrate Recovery or CR uh feeling like feeling the Lord was leading me away from AA.

I'd struggled with alcoholism for close to 20 years, and after deciding to quit on June 1, 2025, I found my support through Celebrate Recovery. This group has saved me in so many ways. I'm eternally grateful.

Here's one more and then I'll then I'll read a poem and I'll be done. Celebrate Recovery is a place where I can share my past hurts without feeling judged. It's helped me to recover recognize my codependency defects and how to manage it.

It's also helped me with understanding my adult children and we have a better relationships now because of Celebrate Recovery. By the grace of God, I am free. See you.

It's not just a place to talk about problems. It's a place where God ministers to people through love and relationships. It's important.

It's important. God is doing work in that group in that ministry and I'm I am glad to be a part of it. Uh here's a poem that I'd like to read and then I'll I'll I'll be done.

It's called Holes. I'd been in that hole for a very long time, in the dark and the damp and the cold and the slime. The shaft was above me, I could see it quite clear.

But there's no way I could ever reach it from here. Nor could I remember the world up way up there. So I lost all hope and gave in to despair.

I knew nothing but darkness, the floor and the walls. Then off in the distance, I heard someone call, "Get up. Get ready.

There's nothing to matter. Take the rocks and old sticks and build up a fine ladder." This had never occurred to me. It had not crossed my mind, but I started to stack all the stones stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, the old sticks were my gold. For one way or another, I'm going to get out of this hole. Soon I had a ladder that was sturdy and tall and I thought I'll soon leave this place once and for all.

So I climbed up my ladder, it was no easy chore. From the lifting those boulders, my shoulders were sore. I climbed up the ladder, but soon had to stop for my ladder stopped short some 10 ft from the top.

I climbed back down on my ladder my ladder and started to cry. I'd done all I could do. I'd gave my best try.

In spite of all my work, in this hole I must die. And all I could say or all I could do was to sit and think, "Why? Was why was my ladder too short or my hole much too deep?" Then from way up on high came a voice, "Do not weep." And then faith and hope and love entered into my chest and the voice said to me that I've done my best.

He said, "You've worked very hard and your labor's been rough, but the ladder you've built is is at last tall enough. Do not despair, you have reason to hope. Just climb up your ladder and I'll throw down my rope." I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord.

And when I got to the top, there stood the Lord. I couldn't be happier. My struggle was done.

I blinked in the brightness that came from the sun. I fell to the ground, his feet I did kiss. I cried, "What can I do to repay you for this?" Then he looked all about me.

There were holes in the ground. They had people inside and were seen all around. There were thousands of holes that were damp and dark and deep.

The Lord turned to me said, "Feed my sheep." Then he went on his way to help other lost souls and I got right to work calling down to the holes. "Get up. Get ready.

There's nothing to matter. Take the rocks and old sticks and build up a fine ladder. Hallelujah.

It's now my turn to spread the good word. The most glorious message that man ever heard. That there's one who is willing to save one and all.

And we've got to be ready when he gives us the call. He'll pull us all out of the hole that we're in and save all our souls from death and from sin. So, do not lose faith.

There is reason to hope. Just build up your ladder and he'll throw down his rope. So, let's give God some praise as we move into this next part of service for pulling us out of our hole.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. We want our ushers to come at this time.

As we get ready to enter back into worship, there is hope for everyone in this house today. There is no one No one in this place that is without hope because of Jesus Christ. Let's ask the Lord to bless our offering as we get ready to receive it.

I'd like to invite you to stand. Lord, thank you for this privilege to be able to give. Thank you for this privilege to be in your presence, Lord.

Continue to work in this service. Anoint our hearts to be ready for your word. As we get ready to worship you, Lord, help us to give you what you deserve.

And I pray, Jesus, you anoint pastor as he gets ready to preach. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Let's worship the Lord. >> Hey. Hey.

Hey. I'm going to shout it out. Tell the world what's you're about.

I'M GOING TO SING a song that goes on and on and on. I'm going to shout it out. Tell the world what you're about.

I'm going to sing a song that goes on and on and on. How your love came crashing over me. Yeah, your love came crashing over me.

How you came to set the captives free. And we won't stop till the whole world knows. There is power in the name of Jesus.

By our faith in his name, there is freedom. There is power in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hey. Hey.

Now my life is changed. And I'll never be the same. Cuz you came and you rescued me way back on Calvary.

How your love came crashing over me. Yeah, your love came crashing over me. How you came to set the captives free.

And we won't stop till the whole world knows. There is power in the name of Jesus. By our faith in his name, there is freedom.

There is power in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

There is power in the name of Jesus. By our faith in his name, there is freedom. >> How many know that there's power in the name of Jesus?

Hallelujah. Victory in the name. Oh.

Victory is ours and the enemy is defeated. He's defeated. Victory is ours and the enemy is defeated.

He's defeated. Victory is ours and the enemy is defeated. He's defeated.

Victory is ours and the enemy is defeated. He's defeated. Victory is ours and the enemy is defeated.

He's defeated. Victory is ours and the enemy is defeated. He's defeated.

There is power in the name of Jesus. By our faith in his name, there is freedom. There is power in the name of Jesus.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. There is power in the name of Jesus.

By our faith in his name, there is freedom. There is power in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hey. Hey.

>> Hallelujah. How many thankful for that power here today? How many can feel the power of the Lord in this place today?

Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Thank you for being here today. Thank you, Jesus, for being here today. Amen.

Hallelujah. I Some of you know my kind of my morning routine. I get up and write in my planner, my journal there three things I'm grateful for every day.

This morning, one of the things I wrote down that I was thankful for the CLC music team. Thank you all for what you do to help us. Amen.

Such a blessing. Such a blessing. And we appreciate their effort and how they lead us into God's presence.

And thank you all for being here today. And thank you for responding with your worship. Amen.

Love you, sister Gloria. God bless you. Got something special we want to do here before we go into the word of the Lord.

And that is uh brother Ivan. He uh met the board for uh licensing here recently. So, we got that approved here.

I just said to just put it in the mail or hand it off to him. I wanted to give it to him. We appreciate him.

Amen. We appreciate what they do for the Spanish ministry here at our church. Quite a blessing.

Amen. One more thing here. Pastor Sal mentioned life groups tonight at 6:00.

I hope that you'll put forth the effort to be there. If you're part of the church family, you know which one you go to. But, we give you flexibility.

If you want to visit a different one, that's fine, but if you've not been one of our life groups, let me strongly encourage you, man, check it out tonight. See what you think about it. And uh those uh our ushers, our hostess staff there, they can put you in touch with the one that's most convenient for you.

Those that are part of uh our life group, Seven Oaks life group, as you know, it kind of fluctuates between the Breazeale's home and our home, and uh just let all y'all know, it is going to be at the Breazeale's home tonight, okay? I'll send out a text message everybody, but Seven Oaks is going to meet at the Breazeale's home tonight. Amen.

Amen. Lord bless you. Can be seated.

As I'm getting started here into the word of the Lord tonight, I want to share a story that I heard a while back about a newborn baby that was in the hospital in the neonatal uh intensive care unit, the NICU. And the the child had been born prematurely and was fighting for his life. Machines surrounded that tiny body with tubes and monitors and constant alarms going off.

The doctors and the nurses were doing everything medically possible, but it looked like there wasn't much improvement in that baby's condition. And one nurse who had seen situations like this asked the mother if she would be willing to do something simple. Something that didn't seem uh of a medical nature at all.

And she said, "Would you just reach inside that machine and place your hand gently on that baby and just keep it there?" And the mother at first, she was hesitant. She felt very intimidated because she was afraid she might mess something up. You know, you got all these wires, all these tubes, all these machines, all these things beeping uh connected to that baby.

But the nurse assured her. She said, "No, it'll be all right. It'll be all right.

Just reach in there, place your hand gently on that fragile uh baby." And and she did. She put her hand on that baby's chest, and something started happening. The baby's heart rate stabilized.

The breathing calmed. The stress signals began to decrease. Not because of medicine.

Not because of technology. But because of a touch. There's something powerful about a touch.

Touch sometimes communicates and and words aren't even needed. Uh so today I want us to consider a spiritual reality that I think just as powerful. In fact, I was as you know, I I was going through on Wednesday night series here on on our uh uh training our spiritual senses and I got to the one on touch and I just began praying over it and studying and preparing for it and said, "You know what?

I'm going to say I'm going to say this for a Sunday. I think this is something for a Sunday service instead of a Wednesday night." So, my title today is the power of touching and being touched by God. The power of touching and being touched by God.

I'm going to start reading Luke 8 verses 43 through 45 and you can remain seated here. You've been standing for a while this morning. Uh but it says, "Now a woman having a flow of blood for 12 years who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any came from behind and touched the border of his garment and immediately her flow of blood stopped and Jesus said, 'Who touched me?'" 12 years.

12 years of pain, 12 years of isolation. 12 years of spending that brought no help. 12 years of disappointment.

And she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors. She had spent everything she had but instead of getting better, she got worse. So, we can pause right there and just consider the reality that there are people connected to this church.

Uh very possibly people sitting in this room right now who understand that kind of struggle. You've tried everything. You prayed.

You've tried to believe. You've waited and waited and waited and try to hold on to your faith, but there is still areas in your life that feel in untouched. But you know what?

Something shifted for this woman. Maybe it was a a fresh burst of faith. Maybe it was a stronger resolve in her spirit, but she made up her mind, if only I can touch just the hem of his garments, I believe I can be made well.

So there is power. There is power in a desperate reach. Uh notice something carefully here.

She did not wait for Jesus to touch her. She initiated the action by reaching for him. And it just may be that sometimes we're waiting on God and maybe God's waiting to see how desperate we are to reach for him.

So there's something about reaching faith. Not passive, not casual, not convenient. And let me say something right here.

If you could If If you would like to see more of God showing up in your life, if you would like to see more of the miraculous taking place in this church, I believe that a convenience mindset will do more to hinder and limit God's spirit than possibly anything else. Because there's something about this desperation to reach. And this woman acted out of faith, but also out of desperation.

She was determined and she was very very intentional. But she also had her obstacles. She had her challenges here because her condition made her ceremonially unclean.

The crowd was pressing around Jesus so it almost seemed impossible to even approach him. She was also in a weakened condition from years and years of physical suffering. But none of that stopped her.

Because when you realize that your answer just might be within reach, you don't focus on obstacles. You focus on possibilities. Amen.

So let me preach to somebody right now here. You can't afford to sit back and simply hope that something will change. We have the ability to reach for him.

We can reach for him in prayer. We can reach for him in our attitude toward worship. We can reach for him with our our faith in his promises.

Amen. We because there are some miracles that are in waiting, waiting to see how faithful we will be in our effort just to touch him. The message captures her mindset, I think, so vividly here because he says it It says, "If I can just put a finger on his robe, I can get well." Not a handshake, not a conversation, not a long interaction, just a slight touch of his robe.

Let me remind you that one touch, one touch can change everything. The Bible says immediately her flow of blood stopped. Immediately.

Not gradually, not eventually, not over time, but immediately. And I get it. I get it.

You know, sometimes God does begin a work that improves over time. But let me encourage you, don't give up on the possibility that when God touches something, he doesn't need time to fix it. Amen?

I I believe we still serve a God who has the power to do in a moment what you've been struggling with for years. Years of pain gone in a moment. Years of fear gone in a moment.

Years of bondage gone in a moment. Chains that have held you captive can be shattered in a moment. Why?

Because there's power in touching Jesus. Amen? I said there's power.

There is power in touching Jesus. Let's look at another passage here in Matthew 8. Matthew 8:1-3 says, "When he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

And behold, a leper came and worshipped him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' And then Jesus put out his hand and touched him and said, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Somebody needs to believe that today.

God is willing. I said God is willing. We We We don't struggle so much saying God's able.

We know he's able, but sometimes I think we struggle with is he actually willing to move into my life the way I need him to. Let me promise you today, he is willing. He is able and he is willing.

Now, keep in mind this was a leper. A leper, that means Something, that nobody touched. Somebody that society avoided and someone considered to be untouchable.

But Jesus did something radical because he reached out and he touched him. I'll tell you something powerful here today. God is not afraid of what you've been through.

He's not repelled by your condition. He's not intimidated by anyone's challenge or anyone's struggle. And the very thing that others avoid, Jesus is willing to touch.

The New Living Translation says Jesus reached out and touched him. He reached out. You know what?

God's not distant. God's not disengaged. God's not removed.

He's still reaching even today. Amen. Amen.

Now, something to point out here that both of these stories have something in common, and that is isolation. The woman with issue of blood, isolated. The leper, isolated.

But one touch ended that isolation. And there are people in this room here today who may be surrounded by others, but you still feel alone. You smile on the outside, but inside there is distance.

You go through the motions, but inside there is a guarded place. And here's the truth. Some of those areas have never been touched by God.

Because somewhere along the way, you built walls. Walls to protect you from further hurts. Walls to protect you from more disappointment.

Walls built because of fear. And you said, "God, you can have this part of my life, but I'm going to maintain control of that part of my life." You might not say it that way. You don't want to say it that way, but the reality is that's what we do.

I I think I have to take care of this part. Amen. But hear me today, hear the areas you try to guard the most.

You listen to me here? The areas you try to guard the most are usually the areas that need his touch the most. And this woman could have stayed hidden.

The leper could have stayed distant. But they allowed themselves to get close enough for a touch. And get this, when you touch him, he notices.

He notices. And this is where the story shifts a little bit for this woman here because Jesus stops. He asked a question, "Who touched me?" And the disciples are confused, you know, they're looking around here, you know, they say, "Master, multitudes throng and press you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'" In other words, everybody's touching you.

And Jesus said, "No, no, there's there's one particular person who touched me because I felt power flowing out of me." So, obviously, there's a big difference between being around him and maybe even having contact with him and really touching him. There's a huge crowd pressing all around him, but only one person touched him in a way that he noticed. There were many brushing against him, but only one reached with faith that got his attention.

So, this should help us understand here, you can be in church and never really touch him. You can be here today and you can enjoy the singing, you can clap your hands, and you can be in worship, and you can leave here today without ever really touching him. You can be in church and never really touch him.

You can hear preaching, but never really connect in the spirit. You can go through the motions and never experience the transfer of his power. But when you reach with faith, something happens.

He notices. And let me say it like this here, God responds to reaching with intentional faith, not just casual contact. Intentional faith, not routine religion.

Intentional faith, not empty repetition. He responds to a HEART THAT SAYS, "I'VE GOT TO TOUCH HIM." AND WHEN SHE touched him, Jesus didn't ignore it. I said, when she touched him, Jesus didn't ignore it.

He stopped stopped everything. Because one sincere touch with sincere heartfelt faith will always get God's attention. So, that brings us to a powerful question today.

Not just have you been around him, not just have you showed up, but have you truly touched him today? And let me preach to you what happens. Let me preach to you what happens when God touches you back.

I preached about the power of reaching for him. I preached about the desperation of this woman who refused to to stay the same. Uh the determination of faith that pushed through the crowd.

The moment when one touch stopped Jesus in his tracks. But now let me step into something even more powerful because it's one thing to reach for him in faith, but it's something entirely different when God touches you back. Let's go back to Luke chapter 8 here just for a moment because this woman touches him.

Power flows, but her body is healed. But Jesus doesn't just keep walking. He stops.

He turns, and he calls out, "Who touched me?" Now understand here, this is not a question simply seeking information. It's a question wanting to lead to revelation. Because Jesus already knew who touched him.

But he wanted her to understand what had really just happened. He wanted to take what was physical and make it spiritual. Because God never intends for you to just receive something from him.

And then walk back into the same quiet life you've been living. He doesn't want to heal you. He wants to reveal himself to you.

And sometimes we're satisfied with just a touch. We're satisfied with relief from our symptoms, but nothing in your life will truly change until there's revelation. And when God touches you, he brings you out of hiding.

Let's look here again, Luke 8:47. Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him, she declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. Here, she she had tried to stay hidden.

She didn't want attention. She just wanted her miracle. Just wanted her miracle and she's going to slip back into her little quiet life.

But when Jesus touches your life, you've got a story to tell. I said, you've got a story to tell. This same passage here, Luke 8:47 from The Message, it says it like this.

He says that when the woman realized that she couldn't remain hidden, she knelt trembling before him in front of everybody. She blurted out her story. She blurted it out.

Why? Because when God TOUCHES YOU, YOU'VE GOT A STORY TO TELL. How many people are in this room here today?

And you're here, the reason you're here, the reason you came here is because somebody had a story and they told you about it. Said, what God did for me, he wants to do for you. This is really the just the essence of of evangelism here.

You don't need to stay hidden. Somebody needs to know what God has done for you and what he can do for you. So, his touch restores more than just what was broken.

Notice what he says to her here, Luke 40 48. Luke 48 says, "Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well.

Go in peace." That word daughter, that is so powerful. This is the only time in scripture that Jesus calls someone daughter in this way. He is restoring more than her body.

He's restoring her identity. For 12 years, she'd been labeled unclean, unwanted, unacceptable. But in one moment Jesus redefines her when he says, "Daughter." Let me tell you something today here.

When God touches your life, he doesn't just fix what's broken. He restores what's been lost. He gives you back your identity.

He gives you a a new identity. You're no longer what you've been through. You're no longer what people said about you.

You're no longer defined by your past. And when he says, "Go in peace," you get more than just relief from your symptoms. BECAUSE GOD'S TOUCH DOESN'T just change what's happening on the outside.

It can settle what you've been struggling with on the inside. And some of you don't just need healing, you need peace. Peace in your mind and peace in your heart and peace in your spirit.

And when God touches you, he wants to give you more than just relief from your symptoms. He wants to transform every part of your life, lead you to be living in peace. Everybody say peace.

For somebody here today, you may need to let God touch what you've been guarding. I preached about the power of reaching for him and I preached what happens when he touches you back, but there's another element to this message because it's not just about a moment, it's about surrender. It's about surrender.

It's about allowing God to touch the places in your life that you've been protecting. Because the truth is for many of us there are areas of our lives that are not open to God. There are places that we celebrate in touchiness.

And then there are places in our lives that we resist allowing him to touch. Well, we we we there there there are areas we gladly bring to the altar. And then there are areas we want to keep hidden behind walls.

So today God's not just reaching for the obvious places. He's also reaching for the guarded places. Let's be honest here for a moment here.

Probably everybody in this building has something that we've learned how to protect. It may be a hurt from your past. May be something somebody said.

May be something somebody did. It may be a wound that has never fully healed. And over time we build walls.

Not because you want to be distant, but because you don't want to get hurt again. Am I telling the truth? For somebody it's disappointment.

You believed God for something, you prayed, you trusted, and it didn't happen the way you were hoping it would. And now you've arrived at a place where there's a part of you that says, "I'll believe, but only to a point. I'll give up, but only to a point." For some it's disappointment, for others it's fear.

Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of what might happen if I do fully surrender.

So we give God parts of our lives, but not all of our lives. We resist giving when it comes to everything. And here's what I feel God wants somebody to understand today.

And that is that there the areas you guard the most are the areas that need his touch the most. Because anything you keep from him cannot be transformed by him. What I preached before and that is that what you hide, he can't heal.

Let's all stand if you would. Revelation 3:20 said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anybody hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in." Notice that Jesus is knocking.

He knocks. He doesn't break the door down. He doesn't force entry.

He asks for permission. And then he waits. And I believe there may be some people here today you've heard that knock before.

You felt conviction. You felt him drawing you. You've felt God dealing with you about something specific, but you hesitated.

You You delayed. You said, "Maybe later or maybe some other time. Maybe when it's more convenient.

Maybe when I got more of my life back together." And God's asking today, "Will you let me in?" "Will you let me touch you?" Now, if we go back to Luke chapter 8 one more time here as I come to a close. And that is that this woman That woman, she didn't just get healed. Her entire life changed.

She went from isolation to restoration. She went from shame to identity. She went from weakness to testimony.

And that's what one touch of God does. It transforms. And some of you have adapted to learning how to manage areas of your life.

You've learned how to cope. You've learned how to adapt. You've learned how to hide, and you've learned how to simply live with it.

But God's not interested in helping you manage it. He wants to change it. Completely.

Fully. And powerfully. But before there's the possibility of that taking place, you have to allow him to touch you.

And before he will touch you, the first step is you have to reach for him. Come on, church. Let's begin to pray here.

Let's begin to reach feel after the spirit. Today, I promise you. I promise you today God is reaching.

God is reaching. If you're here, and there's any area of your life that you know needs the touch of God, I want you to step out where you are right now. I want you to step out and come to the front here.

Make your way to the front. Don't wait. Don't hesitate.

Don't overthink it. Don't talk yourself out of responding in this moment. Come to the front reaching.

Asking for God. Reaching for more of God. Believing.

Come expecting God to touch you today. Come believing you can touch God today. Because there's a power to be transferred when God touches you.

And as you come, I want you to lift your hands. Lift your hands and just begin to talk to him. Just begin to talk to the Lord here.

It doesn't have to be polished. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just be honest.

God, I need your touch. God, I'm ready to open area of my life up to you. God, I'm I'm not holding back anymore.

And just like that woman, you can reach for him right now. God is wanting to touch somebody here today. Amen.

Anyone willing to be touched by God? Come on, let's reach out to the Lord. Let's lift our voices.

Let's talk to God. Have your way, God. I don't want to resist.

I don't want to resist. I don't want to hold back. I don't want to hold out.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus.

Have your way, God. I surrender to you, Lord. >> Power in the name Power in the name There is power in the name of Jesus.

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BREAK EVERY CHAIN. THERE'S A FIRE IN ME. RISING THE FIRE IS ON ME.

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>> I HEAR THE CHAINS FALLING. >> BREAK CHAIN. BREAK OH, BREAK.

CHAIN. BREAK. Come on, why don't we thank the Lord all together?

Aren't you thankful for what the Lord's doing in this life family? Audriana, if you want to come up, y'all come on up right here in the front if you like. Thank the Lord.

Thank the Lord. I shared with Sean back there or in the We prayed down there in the bottom. I shared with him.

I said, "Destinies will be changed because of the decision that you're making. Your family will be forever changed because of the decision that you're making." We It's no small things that happen when we get together as the body of Christ, and I'm grateful that we serve a God who's with us today, and he's still changing and transforming lives and changing futures, and that's what he's going to do with this family. We're all better because of them being a part of us.

Amen. Let's pray and ask the Lord to bless this family. God, thank you for the privilege the privilege, Lord, to call this our brother in Christ, to baptize him, Lord, to bring him into the body, Lord.

We're thankful for he and his family, Lord. Thankful for that you died for them, that you gave your life for them, Lord, and we are recognizing that today, Lord. We are going to bury him in baptism the same way you were buried, Lord, and when he rises out of the water, Lord, he's going to rise in newness of life, and we are so grateful for that privilege, Lord.

Jesus' name, bless this family. If you want to grab your nose, that hand, and then grab this. Yep.

Sean, in obedience Acts chapter 2:38, and because of your faith in Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the >> In Jesus name. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.

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You can be dismissed. God bless you. Thank you so much.

Jesus name.