The Almost Christian

0:00 How many of you would agree that the word all if I told you someone has got it all? You know, you know Sabrina, she’s got it all. That’s a very powerful statement, isn’t it? Have a look at what it means. Have a look at what all means. Look, look at it. Nothing. Say it with me. Come on. Nothing is missing. Nothing lacking. Everything complete. How many of you think that’s a success word? They’ve got it all. Tori’s got it all. Wow. Come on. Yeah, man. Oh, man. That’s that’s a powerful word. And then if I if we use another word called most like most, that’s another have a look at what this means. Look look at this. It’s the greatest amount. The greatest amount further than anybody else than the rest. Nearly everything. An extraordinary achievement. Most sounds like success too. All sounds like success. Most sounds like success. But something strange happens when you put those two words together. Now it’s just an uninspiring not quite just short nearly but not close enough to see it but not close enough to have it. How? What an uninspirational word. Almost. But all most almost. And some people live in the land of almost. They love almost. What? What? What do I mean, man? The other day, guess what happened to me? Guess what happened? What? I almost met Justin Bieber. And like and and you’re supposed to go no way because the reality is they didn’t like what’s there to be excited about. Almost. I almost ran a marathon. As in like you ran 40 kilome. No, no, no. I didn’t turn up but like I almost And you’re supposed to go but but it’s not. It’s like it’s like

2:13 it’s very I almost bought a house. I I almost asked her out. That’s a word for some people right here right now. I almost I almost went to Yads and met someone. I almost is so uninspiring. It’s it’s it’s actually a really horrible word and we use it a lot like almost every day. Some of you just missed what I did there. Well, it just flows out of our mouth and somehow we think it’s good enough. It’s got all in it. It’s got most join him together. It’s pretty good, isn’t it? No. No. It’s actually a really substandard, uninspiring, uninspirational word. And the first time that you really see it applied to someone’s faith, and it’s quite haunting. It’s actually in the book of Acts where the Apostle Paul is imprisoned, right? And he’s imprisoned at the palace. And so he’s preaching to the guards. He’s preaching to other uh prisoners, but he’s also got the opportunity to preach to the kings and the Herods that are there. And we get a glimpse into one of these conversations. And it’s with King Agria. And uh and so Paul’s preaching the gospel to him. And if you read it, he’s actually doing a phenomenal job preaching the gospel to him. Adds a whole lot of testimony to it. He’s doing an incredible job. And this is what we read about that account. It says, uh, this is Acts chapter 26. It says, “Then a gripper said to Paul,” can you read it out with me with a really loud voice? A gripper said to Paul, “You almost persuaded me to become a Christian. You almost persuaded me. But the truth is you never hear of King Agria becoming a Christian.

4:16 But Paul, you almost persuaded me. But nowhere do you read that Paul was satisfied with that either. And I’ve got to tell you, you you guys like after I preach a message, um I would assume it’s all genuine, but even if it’s not, you guys are so kind and you’re so loving and you’ll always come up and tell me that, you know, the message was whatever. But you know what? I you know what I wouldn’t want to hear from you, Pastor Richard? That message, oh man, you almost persuaded me. I’d be like devastated. If I was preaching on the is the topic of forgiveness or a pastor Richard, you almost persuaded me to forgive almost. I’d be devastated because you know what you’re really telling me? You’re not going to do anything. That’s that’s what that really means. That that you’ve heard me. You’ve been moved. It even made sense. But it doesn’t mean you’re going to do anything about it. And this word almost, honestly, I think it’s just one of the saddest words ever. Like, think about it. I almost caught the plane. So, you missed it. And you know when you miss a plane, if you missed it by 3 hours or missed it by 3 seconds, either way, you’re not getting on the plane. But we think almost has got variances of degrees, right? We think if I’ve just almost got there, then that’s different to almost. But almost and almost is almost. Are you hearing me today? It makes no difference if you cross over. I think Tim was preaching on this. If you if if there was a big chasm between two cliff edges and and you ran and you ran and you literally tripped over and fell straight into the chasm or you are flying through the air and you hit the other side and you slide down the C. Either way, you fell into the chasm. Yeah, but I almost made it the second time. Yeah, I know. But you’re still dead. Either way, you’re still dead. Are are you hearing me? Let’s stop glorifying

6:20 almost. And I’m telling you right now, I’ve been a pastor a long time. I love to coach people. I love to talk about life and marriage and and business and and and mental health and I love helping people and you guys love to be helped and it’s awesome. But let me tell you something right now. Way too many people are comfortable with almost. And my my intention in this message is to move you out of almost into allin. I am all in. I am hearing you, Pastor Rich. I want more for what God has got for me. Come on, give him a loud shout here. Why is this important? Because marriages don’t usually fall apart. Relationships don’t usually fall apart because of one major catastrophic event. No, it’s a thousand almosts. That’s what it when I sit down with people, I’m waiting for them to tell me what the big problem is. And what the big drama is, but what they end up telling you is, you know, um, yeah, look, I I I almost came home for dinner. Didn’t I almost come home for dinner, honey, on time? Yeah, but you didn’t come home on time. Yeah, but I almost bought you flowers. I almost initiated intimacy. Come on, hun. Tell him, didn’t I almost intimate initiate intimacy? Yeah, but honey, you didn’t. Why have we glorified almost as if you’ve done it? Almost is almost. You didn’t do it. You didn’t go there. Your best intentions are awesome, but if they’re almost, then they’re unfulfilled. And way too many people are comfortable with their life, with their faith life, their prayer life, their Bible reading life. They’re in the land of almost, but they think it’s okay. Well, I’m here to tell you, no, we are not here to be almost persuaded. We are here to be persuaded. Come on, someone. We’re here to be persuaded fully. We We We’re all in. And listen, here’s my here’s here’s my thing. I’m I’m not here to depress anybody. I’m not here to pull you down. I’m here to lift you up. God is all for

8:23 progress. He’s all for progress. And some of you, you are way further than where you began. And you’re not there yet. I’m not talking about progress. I’m talking about when you settle where you know there is more. You know what God’s got for you and you just say, “I am stopping. I am camping here.” I’m not talking about the person who is striving and and they’re moving forward inch by inch and they’re not there yet. They’re they’re actually in the land of almost but they haven’t got the spirit of settling. It’s like I know I’m not there but I’m moving forward cuz I believe God’s got more and more and more for me. Come on someone. That’s all I’m going to be questioning today. And I’m going to be challenging. Where have you settled? Because you’re almost there, but you’re not there. But why have you stopped? I almost obeyed God. I almost forgave my parents. Almost. I know. But that means you haven’t. And when does the blessing kick in on the almost? When Jesus said, “I am coming with my reward.” one. Jesus said, “I’m coming with my reward.” What does he say? What’s the last part of that verse? According to what you have almost done. He doesn’t say that. He says, “I’m coming with my reward according to what you have done.” He doesn’t bless intention. He blesses action. Come on, someone give the Lord a big round of applause right now. But it’s been it’s always been my intention. Yeah, I know. But you don’t get rewarded for intention. By the way, that also works in marriage. It also works at your job. Yeah, but I intended to turn up early. Yeah, but you haven’t for the last 3 years. Yeah, but I intended. It was always my intention. Yeah, but you don’t get rewarded for intention. You get rewarded for action. Give someone a high five and say, “Let’s get rewarded for action.” Come on.

10:24 Do you know Israel, if you ever read the Old Testament, obviously a lot of the Old Testament is not something we’re supposed to be doing today. You know, I mean, there was a lot of killing and bloodshed and and we shouldn’t do much of that. I’m glad some of you are picking this up. There’s a lot of the Old Testament that we should definitely leave behind. The cross changed everything and we should not be applying. But there is always a spiritual principle now that we’re supposed to read the physical thing and make it a spiritual thing now. And one of the things was God said to his people when you go into the promised land, he said you got to get rid of the inhabitants that are there. Why? Cuz these people had really bad demonic culture. They would sacrifice their children. They would worship idols and do really strange things for those idols. They had a really bad mindset and God was not really happy with that. All right? They were doing bad things to women and God said, “No, we’re not doing that.” So he said, “When you go into your promised land,” he says, “Clear out your land. Don’t make deals,” he said, “with the inhabitants.” So what’s the spiritual picture then for us? We’ve got a Christian life we’re supposed to be living. But God would say to you, “Now listen, as you enter into your Christian life, your land, you’re supposed to drive out the inhabit ants.” Isn’t it true? We all come into Christianity, we’re angry, we’re half depressed about things. Some of us are super confident, but way too confident in yourself. Some of us are just chasing money and we’ll do anything for it. Some of us, they’re using people and we shouldn’t be. Come on. We We all We all come into Christianity with all of our wild inhabit ants. But God would say to you, “That’s fine. I’m happy to accept that. But, you know, I’ve got a dream for your life where you can drive out those inhabitants.” Amen. Why? Because

12:26 your whole relationship and your kids and everything is going to be banking on the fact that your life is supposed to look like Christ. And so he says to us, “Guys, don’t make deals with the inhabitants.” What does that mean? Don’t settle with these people. That’s the Old Testament. Spiritually, God would say, “Don’t make deals with the habits you know should be out of your life.” Well, we read in this story that the Gibeonites, hearing of what God was doing through Joshua because they were just overcoming city after city, right? So, the Gibeonites, they have a plan. They come to Joshua. They’ve got old shoes on. They got old clothes. They got stale bread. And they come to Joshua and they say, “Hey, make a deal with us.” And he goes, “We can’t. We can’t.” God said, “We can’t.” They said, “No, no, you don’t understand. We’re not from here. We are from a distant land. we are from a distant land. And so they did a deal with him. Okay, you can stay. Okay, we won’t drive you out because you’re so far away. You’re so far away. Well, it turns out the Gibeonites lived three days away. Actually, they lived in the heart of their promised land. And the Bible says that the Gibeonites deceived Israel. Let me tell you something. There are habits in your life that want to deceive you. What’s the deception? Don’t get rid of me. I am so far in your future. You don’t need to get rid of me. Oh yeah, get rid of that, you know, the drunkardness and and and get rid of that sort of, you know, violent anger, but but but I’m sarcasm. You can keep me. I’m just sarcasm. I’m just little white lies. You’ve come so far. But just, you know,

14:32 Oh, yeah. Yeah. that whole debauchery stuff that you were doing sexually, all that. That’s that’s got to go. But you know what? But you know, flirting with the married person, that’s a come on. Come on. Just let’s do a deal. And we’re like we’re like, “Oh yeah, you’re so far into my future. Yeah, I’ll make a deal because it’s not going to impact me now.” And then you discover, boom, it’s right there in the middle of your promised land. It’s right there. They deceived you. Do you know what Israel did do? They almost got rid of everybody, but they didn’t get rid of them. Can I go one step deeper? Yeah. It’s going to hurt a little. Is that okay? In Judges, I’m going to show you the scripture because you need to see it for yourself. In Judges 3:es 5-6 this is talking about Israel at a different point in time. Now it says Israel lived among the Canaanites and then it says they took their daughters in marriage and they gave their own daughters to their sons and they served their gods. What happened? Because these people were everywhere, eventually their kids married their kids and now their kids were worshiping foreign gods instead of the one true God. Listen, the habits that you are dating, your children will marry. Are you hearing this? The stuff that you go, it’s not that bad. It’s not that bad. Have you seen how far I’ve come? I know. I know. God bless you. You’ve come so far. But your kids think that that habit is okay. So they will marry that and join themselves to a few more. Come on. We get this opportunity to show our kids a Christ life, a powerful life, a cleansed life, a life that’s

16:36 uplifting, a marriage that’s different to the one that we were raised in. Come on. This is our opportunity. What are we going to do? Oh, but Pastor Rich, I’m almost there. Listen, I hear you. Please, I’m I I hear you. You’ve you’ve come so far, but have you settled? That’s all I’m asking of you today. That you would just say, “I believe there’s more for me. I believe that God has not stopped with me.” Are you with me? Cuz first, listen, first they tolerated them, then they lived with them, then their children married them, and then their children worshiped their gods. That’s the frightening progression of that story. So, come on. I want to encourage people in this place. You know this from the front to the back of the Bible, especially the Old Testament. Has anyone ever like I’m not even going to ask for a show of hands cuz sometimes I get depressed. When let’s go with when you read the Old Testament, you will read of a season where there were kings and and and people ruling over Israel and Judah, right? And then you’ll actually hear at the end of each king’s life, you will hear how they did in God’s eyes. And you will see Joash did good in the eyes of God. But then it will make this really ugly, sad statement, but he did not remove the high places. What does that mean? They used to sometimes put idols up on the top of mountains. And so what these kings would do is they would cleanse the whole land of all the what is obviously idol worship. But they would sort of go, it doesn’t matter that we get rid of those ones right up there. They’re hard. Listen, they’re hard to get to. They they’re difficult to get to. Don’t worry about them. But guess who did see them up there? God. And so you read about king after king and it would say Joash. Jehoshaphat did good in the eyes of the Lord,

18:42 but he did not remove the idols in the high places. What’s the Bible telling you? They did well, or should I say they almost did well. And as you’re reading, I remember I was reading this for the first time as a young Christian. I was at my parents’ milk bar, supposed to be serving customers. I was so enthralled by the word of God. There was people waiting to be served. I’m just like in the word of God. Seriously. And I’m and I’m I’m like, God, can’t any king serve you with their whole heart? And then eventually, I’m flicking, I’m reading, I’m reading. And then this young boy, eight years old. Come on. She knows. She named his son after him. His name’s King Josiah. He’s 8 years old. And the Bible says he goes into the temple. I love this. He finds the scrolls. What is the scroll to you and me? The word of God. He finds the scroll. And as a 8-year-old boy, he starts reading. And he reads as a young boy. Oh, God doesn’t like this idol thing because he is the one true God. And so, guess what King Josiah does at the age of 80 years old? Cleans out the whole land. And he’s the only king you hear about that worshiped God with all of his mind, heart, soul, and strength. Come on. Come on. No wonder people name their children Josiah. We wanted to have a Josiah, but the Gristos got to it first and we knew they were going to be they’re now 10 weeks apart, the two boys and we knew they were going to be best friends and we just thought it’d be weird for you guys to have Joshua Josiah and Josiah together and it’ be confused a whole lot. So the point is this. You can either be Joash or you get to be Josiah. Which one do you want to be? Do you want to be almost or do you want to be allin? Come on, someone. Come on. Who do where do we want to be? Where does this land for us? Where does it land? Well, let me help you. How do I How do I become a Josiah rather than anyone else? Well, what did Josiah do? The Bible says he

20:49 read the word. He read the word. Can I have a Bible? Thank you, bro. I love the fact that you’ve got a Bible first. Can we give him a big round of applause? I love that. Josiah obviously was just reading and reading just like we ought to. When I say ought to, we get to. Thank God you can even have a Bible in your hands. You know how many countries you’re not even allowed to have one, right? But this is what we’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to read it. and you read it and then and then when Jesus says, “Blessed are those who when people insult you, you pray for them.” You’re not supposed to go almost. You’re supposed to let that have its work in you. Yeah. But Pastor Richard, it’s really like you don’t It’s painful. Painful. You think? Let me talk to you about pain for a minute. Helen and I went to Europe. We traveled. Helen loves her 60 kilo bags. Inside joke, cuz usually that’s my bag. And you know, but these bags, they’re heavy and you got to take them through customs and everything else and you got to put them up on top of trains. Anyway, I end up doing a really bad shoulder injury, which I do every trip, but they usually it usually heals after two or 3 weeks. Well, this thing just has not gone away. Like, I’m talking like it’s painful. I wake up and I’m in a little bit of pain. Then you have your shower and you know, you know when you get get you got to get the towel, you know what I mean? You know, you know the whole dance, you know, how else do you do it? Can someone else tell me how else that you It’s the only way to do it, right? You got to get the towel and you got to right. Well, usually it’s not, but now it’s like, “Hello, just come. I can’t do this anymore.” I thought, “Enough’s enough.” And so, a

22:54 fine young lady in our church said, “Hey, listen. I don’t know what you want to do, but I’ve I’ve come across this guy, and he’s this little Chinese guy.” And I said, “Okay.” And she goes, “He’s out in K like you And she goes, “Now, I just need to warn you. It’s um he’s different.” Okay. So, I go up there and he’s he’s working on someone and I’m at the front entry and I walk in and you know, usually like this this thing called customer service. All I got out of him was, now I won’t I won’t use the accent, but I’m hearing the accent. I’m hearing it, and you need to hear it, too. But for the sake of the video, we won’t go there. All right. But he says, “What do you want?” Um, how much do I tell him? Like he’s working on someone. I’m like, “Uh, my shoulder. Sit down.” So, sit down. And then he finishes with the guy. He goes, “What’s the problem?” I said, “Shoulder?” And he grabs his thumb and he sticks it straight into my shoulder. And I’m like, “Ah.” He goes, “Top off.” Sorry. Okay, man. So, so take your top off. Go. It was so thick and strong I could hardly understand a word he was saying. But listen, good story in the end. So there. So take the top off, right? Get on your back. Uh get on your fronts. So So and then you know quick quick, you know, the oil and and and off he goes. And I’m telling you, I’m thinking, what is he using? a knife, but he was using his knuckle and he was coming straight up my If you went to Kaw at about 12:30 p.m. last Wednesday, you would have heard an Armenian Lebanese scream like you’ve never heard some I’m telling you, I was screaming. I’m not joking. Then he starts with the elbows.

25:06 straight into the back of and I am. And he’s like, “It’s painful.” Yes. Put it in. It’s much better when you put it in. Right. And he was going to town. Right. Then I’m thinking, “Okay, we’re done.” And then he flips me over and off we go again. And I am telling you this, it was going on and on and on for 30 minutes. I’m telling you, from the minute he started to when we finished, I did not stop yelling. Then he goes, “Sit up.” So I sit up. He goes, “Now move your shoulder.” And I promise you, because I’d lived with it for a good month, I’m I’m expecting the pain, right? I’m expecting it. And I went and I could not believe it. It was gone. But man, it was painful. It was painful. I would have loved him to have just rubbed a bit of oil, told a couple of jokes. Have you heard the one about the Jewish guy and the you know, you know, and just and just and then somehow No, no, it was painful. It hurt. I was regretting going. Can’t wait to How many of you want to go there? By the way, I can say like like some of you are like, “Yeah, I need to go there.” Okay, I’ll I’ll give you the details later and I promise you, you will scream, too. Okay. I I did tell my friend about it who’s had back problems. He can’t sleep and um but I didn’t tell him of the full impact. So he he got a 90minute massage. True story. He’s sitting right there. But he hasn’t slept for months. I said, “How’d you go?” He goes, “Man, I slept like a log.” I said, “How painful is it?” He goes, “Oh my gosh, the pain.” What am I trying to say to you today? Why do we think getting rid of things or bringing things into our world so that we move from almost to all in? Why do we think it’s going to be any different? It’s going to be painful to forgive. It’s going to be painful to get up a

27:12 little bit earlier and read your word. It’s going to be a little bit painful to have the tough conversation. Like, it’s all painful, guys. But you get to move your shoulder again. But you get to live your purpose again. But you get to move forward and feel like God is actually using you. Come on, give the Lord a big round of applause. That’s what he’s trying to bring into our world. Let Listen, do you know when it all changed for me with this massage? He was he was going for it, right? Please believe me. I’m not trying to spru this guy’s services, but I learned so much when he started. It was so painful. Do you know what I was doing? Right? And I was making my back and my shoulder like a rock. He eventually had to say to me, “Let me in.” And I knew exactly what he meant. Just relax, man, and let him do his job. And you know, when it comes to God’s word, sometimes we read it and we’re like, and God says, “Stop. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me into those deepest parts that you’ve, you know, I think a better way to say it is this. Let God’s word win. Let God’s word win inside of you. Let it win. You’re going to read things that you’re like, “But I don’t want to do. I don’t want to forgive him.” But let God’s word win. It’s painful. It hurts. But then you come out of that whole situation. I’m ready to love again. I’m ready to trust again. I’m ready to be the person that God’s calling me to be. Come on here with me, someone. Come on. That was a good golf clap. Come. We’re going to clap. Can we clap properly, please? Let’s Let’s let God’s word win. Read it. Believe it.

29:16 And here it comes. Be persuaded by it. Cuz the last thing you want to do is read God’s word and say, “You almost persuaded me.” Don’t let that be you. You almost persuaded me. No, no, no. I am persuaded. Do you know some of you are like, “But is it is it even possible that we would not be an almost Christian?” Which, by the way, it’s the title of my message, the almost Christian. Is it even possible? I don’t know. Let’s read the words of the Apostle Paul who was not God on earth. He was just a human filled with the Holy Spirit. And when he finished his life, what did he say? He said, they’re wondering which scripture it is. Sorry guys. He said in 2 Timothy 4:7, sorry. Here we go. Say it with me. Loud voice. 1 2 3. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Does anybody want to say those words at the end of their life? The Apostle Paul got to say that. But how did he be the sort of person that could talk like that? Well, maybe because of 2 Timothy 1:12. Look, he’s talking about his attitude to life. Have a look at what he says. Say this with me again. He says, “For I know whom I have believed and I am Come on, you need to say it louder. I am persuaded that he is able. I am persuaded. Here’s my question to all of us. Are you persuaded or are you almost persuaded? Are you persuaded? Are you persuaded that eternity is a reality or are you almost persuaded? Are you persuaded that God’s ways is the right way? Or are you almost persuaded? Are you hearing me today? Do you believe what God says about finance or about greed or about self-worth? Are you almost persuaded or are you persuaded? I would suggest that we should all be

31:24 persuaded fully. Are you with me? I’ve just dreamed of pastoring a church where people aren’t just almost. Oh, I’ve I’ve almost got integrity. Really? Listen, I know we’re not perfect. This is not one of those messages of you better be I’m just saying. But have you settled for I just don’t have integrity. What do you want from me? I’m just I just I cheat people all the time and that’s just who I am. It’s how I was raised. Yeah, I know. But you’ve got the power of the Holy Spirit who can change you from the inside out. Come on, someone. I just think heaven is excited about people who are going to be fully persuaded. Do you know what I love about our savior Jesus? Do we remember the day? Come on. We celebrate it every year and we do a big production on it where our savior got up on a cross. Do you remember this? He got up on a cross and he cries out to his father, “Father, it is almost No, he didn’t say that. Are you sure? Some of you are like, “Yeah, isn’t is that what he said?” I don’t know. I haven’t read it for a while. Father, it is almost finished. I have almost forgiven your people. I have almost shed my blood. I have I’m Thank God for a savior who said, “It is finished.” Come on, someone. Come on. Our sins are gone because it is finished. We can have a hope and a dream because it is finished. Thank God for a savior who finished the job. And now listen, because he did finish, because he finished his work, then we can trust that he will finish the work inside of us. Amen. Amen. And with the last couple of minutes I’ve got left, the last thing I would want you to do is to leave this place trying to be better. That’s not the purpose of this message.

33:30 This is not about, hey guys, you guys are all just like almost Christians and uh I don’t think that’s good. No, no, no, no. That’s not what I’m saying here today. There is a God who promises that he will complete the work that he began in you. Some of you have never read this before. We need to read this. Philippians chapter 1 6. It says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Listen, you’re not supposed to be com I mean, if you can be complete, amen. But this is not a message about you being complete right now. It’s just saying, are you still on the journey of becoming complete? That’s all this message is. Are you or have you settled that almost? Yeah, but I’m I almost read my word. Come on. Some of you have got to develop a much better reading the Bible life. And here’s the thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to I’m almost there. Yeah. But when when’s it going to start? When are you going to develop a prayer life? Seriously, when are you going to develop your prayer life? I reckon today is a good a day as any. Does anyone agree with me? Today is the day where you can start saying, “I’m gonna wake up three minutes earlier.” Three. Three minutes earlier. Three, not 10, even. 3 minutes earlier. Considering that you spent two hours scrolling the night before, I think you could give God 3 minutes where you wake up a bit earlier and you just say, “Lord, I just want to focus on you for a minute. I just want to invite you into my life. Lord, please bless my wife. Bless my kids. God, help me to learn more about you today. God, anyone that needs you, please bring them into my world. Look, I’ve been praying for less than a minute. Look how many things I’ve prayed for. But some of you are waiting for some catastrophic event. Why? Why would we almost have a prayer life? Why don’t you just move into I’ve got a prayer life. It’s not perfect, but I’ve got one. Why don’t you move into instead

35:34 of I almost read the Bible every day to No, I do read it. I don’t read much, but at least I’m moving toward completion. Are you hearing me? Amen. Come on, someone. Yeah. Amen. Amen. When’s it going to start? Why not now? Start now. Come on. This is a little bit of a wakeup call, especially to some of you older people. Did you notice that King Josiah did what all the other more mature kings couldn’t do? Why was he able to do it? Cuz he wasn’t locked into bad habits. Some of us older Christians, come on, you’ve settled into a Christianity that God would say, “Gee, I wish you behaved more like a child.” No wonder Jesus said that he wanted people with childlike faith. Are you hearing me? So, I’m just wondering, am I am I in a room full of people who are ready to get out of almost into allin? Yeah. Is Is anyone ready for that? A little bit of all in. Come on. Why don’t you get to your feet? Why don’t you get to your feet? I love this. I’ve got a few almost for you. Are you ready? I really felt to write these ones down because I know that Holy Spirit is going to speak to some people. You almost spend time with the kids. Almost. Almost spend time with your kids. You almost told them you love them. Almost. This is for some of the on behalf of some of the ladies in our church. On behalf of you almost fixed that issue around the house that’s been going on for the last 13 years. When’s it time to fix that thing? Come on. This is our opportunity. No more almost.

37:42 All in. All in. God, take me on that journey. It’s painful, but I’m up for it. Can I say this to you guys? There is always a grace period where God allows you to have those bad inhabit ants and God covers for you. He really He covers for you. He’s like, “Oh, I wish you wouldn’t talk like that to your kids.” and God covers for you. Well, I wish you wouldn’t speak to your husband like that and God covers for you. But eventually, God says the grace period is running out where the consequences of those things are going to start to show themselves. And God is saying, could this be the wakeup call today? Could today be the wake up call where you say, “God, thank you that I haven’t experienced the consequences yet, and I’m going to change those habits before those consequences come anywhere near me, and I’m moving from almost into allin.” There are some young girls doing stuff in the dating scene. Come on, you know that you’re better than this. You’re better, girls. You are better than this. You are worth more. You’re worth more. And you’re over here in this land of Yeah, but I almost said no. And I almost found the right guy and I and God would say, “Listen, I’m trying to cover for you.” But before you have to pay a big price, how about you just cross over into allin and let God rescue you from consequences that you don’t want to pay? Come on, someone give the Lord a big shout right there. Come on. So, we’re going to finish with this. I’ve got the band up here. Band, I want you to come and step forward with me. Come on. You come come step step forward cuz we’re going to worship God together. We’re going to worship in a moment. Why? Why? Some of you know the story. There was a big idol

39:50 in the temple of a foreign god. His name was Deeon and it was made out of granite and it was big and there was no way a human could just push it over. It was big and it was obtrusive and it was evil. Just like some of the stuff going on in our lives, no human can can help. No human can help you. But the Bible tells us that foolishly foolishly the Philistines brought the ark of the covenant which represents the presence of God and they brought it into the temple and they laid it at the feet of this idol and they came back the next morning and the idol had fallen flat on its face before the presence of God. Come on someone. It had fallen flat in the presence of God. What a sight that must have been to see. So what do they do? Instead of repenting, what do they do? No, they put the statue back up again. They go, “What happened there?” So they put the statue back up again. They came back the next morning and the statue once again had fallen flat on its face. for listen but this time its hands and its head was broken. Your thinking and your actions are broken in the presence of almighty God. Come on someone. Your thinking can change, your actions can change. Where? In the presence of God. This is not a self-help teaching. This is a Jesus. We need you teaching. This is a Holy Spirit. I can’t do this without you teaching. And this is our moment right now when we cry out that he’s the lamb of God, the holy one. Come on, let’s sing it out. Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is

41:56 seated on the holy, holy, righteous to prove to us Jesus Christ. We lift you up. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. worthy. There is no Jesus. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

44:03 Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. There is no Jesus. What a hungry church we have here. Come on, give the Lord a big round of applause. What a hungry church. Some of you were here when Pastor Tim Gristo preached the great word about God’s grace. nothing you can do to save yourself. Jesus did it all for Amen. You know, we call that grace. But if you look at at our vision statement, it says we are a church full of grace and truth. The truth is God loves you just as you are. The truth is he loves you too much to keep you there. And you’re going to constantly at Life House hear messages that tell you how much God loves you, but also how much he has for you. And we’re going to just constantly bounce between those two things until Jesus comes back. Is that okay? Is that okay? He loves you right where you’re at. Come on. Some of you feel so guilty and full of shame about the life you’ve lived. And I need to tell you, you need to hear grace. The grace is that Jesus has paid the price for all of your guilt, all of your shame, everything you’ve ever done wrong. Jesus had nails in his hands to pay the price for that. And there’s nothing you can do to save yourself but to say, “Jesus, I need you.” And he says, “Awesome, cuz

46:13 I love you.” And he will forgive you today. Listen, in the blink of an eye. And he will fill you with his purpose and joy and love. How do I know that? Because he did it for me and he’s done it for many of you. Come on. Has the Holy Spirit done that for you or not? He has filled you. And if he did it for me, he can do it for you. So come on. There are some people in this place. You need to receive the grace of God. Unconditional love for you. So while every eyes closed, I’m just going to pray in a moment. And I would love to know who I’m going to pray with. But friend, is there anyone in this place? I know there will be. There’ll be many of you actually. and you need to receive the love and forgiveness of God to set you up for a brand new future. And I just would love to know who I’m about to pray with. So, while every eyes closed, friend, if that’s you, would you just raise your hand high and say, “Pastor Rich, today I want Jesus to come into my life.” Oh my, there are hands going up everywhere. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. At the very back there, thank you. God bless you. God bless you over here to the left. Thank you. over here to the front. That is awesome. Wow. I can really see that this this means a lot to a lot of people right now. Come on, church. As we always do, we’re going to pray with these people. We’re going to pray a prayer with them cuz this is the most important prayer of their life. They’re they’re about to confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. Are we ready? Come on, worship team. I want you to say it into the microphone with me. 1 2 3. Lord Jesus, today I surrender my life. I don’t want to live in almost. I want to be allin. Forgive me of my sin. And give me a joy and a hope that lasts

48:19 for all eternity. Jesus, you are my Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Come on, let’s give these people a huge round of applause. So proud of