This sermon emphasizes the need for the church to escape the yoke of deception and self-focus, reclaiming its identity and purpose to be a blessing in the world. Drawing from the story of Jacob and Esau, the speaker challenges believers to value God's purpose above worldly desires, to seek spiritual awakening, and to be courageous in living out their faith. The message calls for a return to genuine faith, prayer, and intercession, highlighting the urgency of the current spiritual battle and the importance of contending for the true faith once delivered to the saints.

I want to speak to you this morning about escaping the yoke of the swindler. Escaping the yoke of the swindler. Now, Father, I thank you, God, for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. I thank you, Lord, for your strength, your power, your purpose. Lord, that which is in your heart, let it be realized. God Almighty, I yield my body into your hands as an instrument through which you may choose to speak in as much as you desire to. I ask, Lord, for the grace to disappear. I ask, O God, for the inward ability to die to myself that you may live. I ask for courage, Lord, to speak the words that you will give me in the days ahead. I ask, Lord, for the courage for your people gathered here this morning to be able to hear your word, embrace it, consider it, and move towards it. Lord, yours is the only kingdom, the only power, and the only glory. Everything else will fade. It will all pass away. Only that which is of you will remain. And so, God, give us the grace to lay hold of what is true and what is right and what is just. I ask this with all my heart in Jesus' name. Escaping the yoke of the swindler, Genesis chapter 27, beginning at verse 38. And Esau said to his father, have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac, his father, answered and said to him, behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live and you shall serve your brother. And it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck. Now, I'm using this story of Jacob and Esau as a type. It means it's a picture of something that you and I as the church of Jesus Christ in the United States of America must consider today. It's imperative that we understand certain things if we are going to reclaim our identity, our purpose, the reason we are here on the earth, the potential for good that God is willing to enact through his body in the short open window that lies before us. Now, in this story, Esau was a man of the earth. He was earthy. He was a man who chose to live by his sight and his senses, and he had little concern, if any, for the true meaning of spiritual things. When you consider what the promise in this man's life was, God had given his grandfather, Abraham, the most potentially incredible promise ever given to a human being on planet earth. I'm going to multiply you. I'm going to increase you. I'm going to bless you. And you're going to become a blessing in the earth, so profound a blessing you're going to become, that all the nations and peoples of the earth are going to be blessed through you and because of you. And he said, your descendants are going to be more than the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore, and a phenomenal blessing. And it was a blessing that was given to Abraham and passed down through his lineage. Now, we know, you and I both know today that it was leading to the church of Jesus Christ. That was the blessing that God was speaking about to Abraham. He received it by faith. He didn't, he never saw it. He didn't fully understand it. And in the hall of faith, in the book of Hebrews, it talks about he and others like him. They didn't, they never saw it physically, but they embraced it and they realized that their lives were destined for a much deeper purpose than can be seen with the natural eye or understood with the natural mind. And so Abraham passed it on to his son Isaac and Esau was the next in line. But the scripture tells us in Genesis 25 and verse 34 that he despised his birthright. In other words, he held it in little regard, didn't esteem it. And it can apply to you today and it can apply to me because each of us are set apart as part of this blessing of God that we're to be on the earth with a divine purpose that only you can fulfill or God can fulfill only through your life. And the question I guess I have to ask today is how much do you really esteem God's purpose for your life? Not your purpose, God's. God has a purpose. God has something for you to do. It's unique to you. It's inspired by him. It's enabled by him. It's empowered by him. It's, it's supernatural. You can't even do it in your own strength. Only God can do it through you. But the question is, do you really esteem it? This is what happened to Esau. Esau really didn't hold it in any kind of a high regard. The scripture tells us that his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac dwelt in tents, seemingly wandering in this world, being led by God to a place and a time where all of humanity would be blessed by what was being passed down through them. But Esau, as many after him have, got tired of waiting for something he couldn't see. He got tired of living by faith. He got tired of, of this, this constant promise that I'm going to do something through you and it's going to bless the world. And, and Esau was a hunter. That means he, his satisfaction turned to what he could find in the fields of this world. And thus it was that he despised what he couldn't see and traded it for what he could. And that's exactly what happened to the church in America at large. Not everybody. People began despising what they couldn't see and said, well, let's start moving towards what we can see. Let's abdicate our divine purpose. That's why there are almost no prayer meetings left in churches anymore, because people don't really have to live by faith where they are living. And having left divine purpose in his heart, what happened was amazing. It opened the door to his brother, the deceiver, the swindler, is actually called, to become his master. It opened the door. When the American church abdicated her purpose, when we lost the fervency of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, when we lost the passion for winning the lost at all costs, when we stopped praying, we stopped interceding, when our focus turned away from the pearl of great price to the field itself and what the field could offer us. When we lost the purpose of God, the door opened to people who proclaimed to be us, to come in and lead us. That's exactly what happened. Jacob said that he was Esau. People come in and claim to be part of the body of Christ, but they're not part of the body of Christ. You look in the New Testament, the apostle Paul says it clearly. They are, their God is their belly, their enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ. They're destitute of the truth. First Timothy, you'll find it in chapter six. They teach that godliness is a means to financial gain. That's what they teach. Swindlers in the body of Jesus Christ, leading the people of God. In Genesis chapter 27 and verse 35, Esau said to his father, verse 35 rather, he said, your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing. And Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob for he supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright and now look, he's taking away my blessing. And he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me? Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, indeed, I've made him your master. All his brethren I've given to him as servants and with grain and wine, I've sustained them. What shall I now do for you, my son? Listen to what Jude says in his short book that he wrote. He said, beloved in verse three, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and deny our only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. In our slumber, in this nation, swindlers crept in. They grabbed pulpits by deceit, which were not rightfully theirs. They became the masters of God's people and turned the grace of God into such a deficient thing that it has become a denial of the mission and the purpose of Jesus Christ himself. This is our condition today. If we are going to retain or regain our purpose in the nation, if we are going to be a church age in America that is going to affect its society, if you and I are going to be partakers of a spiritual awakening in our day, then we can no longer turn a blind eye to these truths. We can no longer turn a deaf ear to it. There's a point in history where we simply have to call these things exactly what they are. Swindlers have gotten in to the pulpits, but they got in there because of the Esau spirit that came upon the people of God. They wouldn't be there if the people of God didn't want them. In many churches, that's what the people want. Give us what we can find in this world. Satisfy us with the things that this world has got to offer us. We are tired of living by faith. We are tired of living our lives just for the sake or the benefit of others, to be this blessing throughout our society. We want to be blessed. We want to be blessed now. We want our full inheritance and we want it now. We want to be happy. We don't want to deny ourselves. We want to feel good about ourselves. We don't want to be rejected by this fallen, godless society that's all around us. We want to fight to be esteemed. We don't want to fight for those who are destined for an eternal hell without God. And when that spirit got a hold of this nation, when that spirit got a hold, a foothold in the house of God, the doorway opened to imposters coming in, beginning to lead God's people and sadly telling many of God's people exactly what they want to hear. A gospel of ease and a gospel of comfort, which now has eradicated. There's no talk of the blood of Christ, no talk about sacrifice. They've eliminated the cross. Everything that they consider negative to the Christian life is gone. And they offer peace when there is no peace. In Genesis 27, 40, Isaac told Esau, he said, by your sword, you will live and you will serve your brother. In other words, this kind of headship leads you into living by your own strength in your own sight. It leads away from the supernatural. It leads into the natural. Hence, you have seven steps to a better life, six steps to a better family. Everything is human effort. And it leads ultimately to a place of spiritual bankruptcy. And I believe that many people even sitting in these places, although they're clapping their hands and they are playing the game, they are tired of pretending they're living in victory. As a matter of fact, I know it in my heart. There's something inside because God is calling his people back to himself again. Praise be to God. There's something inside of every man, every woman in his house and among his people that's saying, Lord God, I'm so empty. I thought the things of this world were going to satisfy. I thought if I got the job, I got the spouse, I got the house, I got all these other things. I thought if I got these things, I was going to be the head and not the tail. No longer do I even not feel like the tail. I feel like something way behind the tail that's been left on the road somewhere. I'm done, God, with this. I'm tired of this. Lord Jesus Christ. That's when Esau began to cry out. He lifted his voice and said, and wept and said, bless me. Oh, my father, bless me. There's something coming into the hearts of God's people in this generation. It is God induced. It is spirit inspired. Something is stirring in the hearts of prodigal sons and daughters who have left the father's house and have gone into the field. The famine in this society, there's a famine of righteousness, a famine of clear thinking, a famine of morality. There's a famine of just decency and people are getting tired who belong to God. They might be in the wrong place, but they belong to God. They are still part of the family of God and they're getting tired. And there's a cry and people are listening online today and we'll be listening in the future. You know, it's true. I'm speaking right to your situation. You simply can't pretend anymore. You can't play the game. You've been led into a powerless place. You're living by your own sword, which means by your own reasoning, by your own strength, by your own ingenuity, and you're running out of gas and something inside is saying, I want to be where Gideon was when he said the sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon. I want to fight in the supernatural again. I want to be in a place where God's hand is over my hand. God is becoming my strength. God is leading me into a victory that only God can give to me. I am tired. I'm tired of pretending that I'm blessed. I'm tired of pretending I'm living on the victory side because I know my own heart. I know what I'm like when I sit on the edge of my bed at the end of the day, putting on this facade in the church parking lot, pretending everything is fine, coming in with all my God bless you to everybody. But I don't live that way. Many can say throughout the week and I'm tired of it. I have no inner resource to be that which I believe that God's called me to be. I'm called to be a blessing. Why then am I cursing? I'm called to be a uniter. Why am I found now among the dividers? I'm called to have speech that is seasoned with salt and tempered with grace. Why can't I speak what is right? What is wrong inside of me? What got into my heart? What got into my focus? But when he lifted up his voice, his father gave him a promise. When he finally cried out, when he finally got to the point in his life and he said, bless me also, my father, he saw lifted up his voice and wept. And I'm challenging everyone who could hear this message. If you are in the place that he found himself in, don't be ashamed to lift up your voice and begin to weep again and begin to cry out, God, will you bless me beyond what I thought was a blessing? Would you bless me, God? And when he did, when he'd had enough, when he lifted up his voice, his father blessed him. And he said that the second half of verse 40, it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck. You're going to be led by a swindler. You're going to be led by a deceiver. But when you become tired of it, when you become tired of it, when you become restless of living by your own strength, you're going to break his yoke from off your neck. It's the one who says I've had enough of being under the leadership of anyone who has led me away from the actual purpose of my life and has led me into a place where I feel spiritually bankrupt, has promised me liberty, but they themselves, the scripture says, are the slaves of corruption. It's the person who says, I am reclaiming God's purpose from my life and I'm reclaiming the power to accomplish it. And I don't care who hears me call out. I am not pretending anymore. You know, folks, it's interesting because in our worldwide prayer meeting on Tuesday night, we're starting to see many prayer requests like that coming in, which tells me the prodigals are getting up and coming home. We even had one from a religious leader last Tuesday night said, I represent Christ, but I am not born again. I've created a prison for myself. I'm tired of it. And I want out. That's what's happening. Even the leaders are starting to realize I'm in a place where I shouldn't be. And I don't want to be here any longer. I'm not what I should be. Our prayer for this man or woman was simple. May God make you a Christian. May God save you from your sin. May God give you his Holy spirit and make you into the person that you have been destined to be as well. There are many Jacobs out there that are soon going to be listening to this message. And for every Jacob, every supplanter, everyone who took a pulpit and you don't belong there, you weren't called there. You got in there by fraud by pretending to be what you are not. That's how you got in the pulpit, but you have a chance to coming your way to get back into right relationship with God. You will soon face just as Jacob did. You will face the deepest fears of your heart. God is going to call you home. You're going to get up and come home, but coming home, you're going to have to face your brother in the coming spiritual awakening. Your brother is going to wake up and correctly discern you. And you're going to have to answer to him face to face. So what happened to Jacob? He had to get up and come home to his brother, but his brother knew exactly what he was. His brother knew he had been a fraud. His brother knew that he had taken a place that perhaps in the long run could be his, but he had attempted to gain it by fraud. Speaking of the last days, here's what the prophet Malachi said. Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who feared the Lord and who meditate on his name. They shall be mine says the Lord of hosts on the day that I make them my jewels and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. To all the Jacobs that are listening to me today, if you will meet God with honesty and let him touch you and lead you as he sees fit, then you will find the place of ministry that has previously eluded you. See, Jacob believed he had the blessing, but when he had to face the deepest fear of his heart, and I'm telling you folks, fearful days are coming, fearful days, and all these light and treacherous people that have gotten into pulpits are going to have no message for the people. As a matter of fact, they're going to have no message for themselves and the people are going to see that bankruptcy is going to be exposed for all to see. As social unrest deepens, as our cities become more difficult to even govern, then those who are standing in pulpits with all their fanciful, fluffy theology, the people will suddenly see, wow, I'm listening to somebody who doesn't know where he's going, let alone the ability to give me any strength to get where I need to go. The people are going to discern clearly. Jacob knew in coming back home as it is, that the blessing he thought he had was insufficient and he met with God on that journey and many are going to meet with God. You and I are going to be surprised who the bedfellows are in the church of Jesus Christ in this last day. Some are going to run for the hills and others are going to run towards God. And Jacob ran towards the Lord and met him and wrestled with him all night. And I find it so interesting that Jacob said to this messenger of God, many believe Christ himself, pre-incarnate Christ. And he said, I will not let you go until you bless me. It's as if God might have said to him, but I thought you already had the blessing. I thought you were the ambassador of the blessing. Isn't that who you are? I thought you were the leader of the house. I thought you were the one who's supposed to be bringing this blessing, this blessing of life, this blessing of God making you more than you are. This blessing of touching the hearts of people all over the world. I thought that's who you were, Jacob. And so if that's not who you are, then who are you? And he looked God in the eye and said, I'm a swindler. I'm a deceiver. And when he honestly dealt with God, that's when the hand of God touched him, gave him a limp in his flesh and said, no longer are you a swindler. Now you are a prince with God because you have prevailed and you'll prevail with God and man. You see, the point is I'm not here to judge anybody today. There are a lot of swindlers that are going to come home. There are a lot of Esau's that are going to get right in the sight of God. And we are going to actually become the people that God says we should be. We're going to become ambassadors of the cross of Jesus Christ, of people given for the sake of others, of people who know the difference between right and wrong, between that which is clean and that which is unclean. Many people are going to come out of this duplicitous place, the duplicitous lifestyle that allows you to go to clubs on Saturday night and come and worship God on Sunday morning. All that's going to be put away. Relationships are going to be made right. Thieves are going to stop stealing. Liars are going to speak truth again. Dividers are going to become ambassadors of the kingdom of God, uniting together and bringing men and women into unity with God. That is the purpose of the blessing that God is releasing, always wanted to release through his church in the earth. Praise be to God. Our voices are going to lead men and women out of darkness into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ, telling them there is a heaven, there is a hell, there is a savior right between the two of them. If you will repent of your sin and turn to him, your sins can be forgiven. You will receive the spirit of God. You will be turned into another person. All things will become new. You will stand in this darkened hour as a beacon set upon a hell. Your light will shine. Your life will become a blessing and God's glory will come from your mouth and from your lips. You will be a person to be wondered at. You will be one of the signposts that God sends into the world to tell fallen humanity that hell doesn't have to be your home. You can dwell forever in the presence of God. That's who we are as the church of Jesus Christ and that is the blessing that God has always determined to pour through our lives to this fallen world. Praise be to God. Thank you Lord Jesus Christ. The prayer of our hearts today has to be. It has to be now. It has to be. Hear me on this. It has to be. The season before us is extremely short. This world is mounting a worldwide lawless rebellion against the lordship of Jesus Christ in case you can't figure out what all the demonstrations are about. That's what it's about. It's against the lordship of Christ. We're in a spiritual battle in this world. I know people are focused on personalities and ideologies but ultimately that is not the battle. The battle is against Jesus Christ. It's against the lordship of Jesus Christ. Our prayer, my prayer, your prayer has got to be Lord Jesus stir me up to long to be in your house and your house alone under the leadership of only those that you've appointed to lead me. Time to put away the tapes. Time to turn off the dvds. Time to get off the internet. Time to find out where you're supposed to be and get there. You stop being lazy as a christian. Open this bible from Matthew to Revelation and test and prove what people are preaching. Test it. Prove it. It's got to be in this book. There is no new revelation. It's all here. This is complete. This is our guide. That's why God gave it to us. That's why God left us his book. This is our guide. This is his voice. His heart is in here. Everything about Christ and everything we need to know is in this book. Prove everything you hear. Everything. There's so much more now. Contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. We have to say Lord lead me away from the flesh from sin and into that realm of your spirit because it's only in the realm of the spirit that my life will be multiplied. Remember that was the promise to Abraham. I'll multiply you. It's only in the spirit that we are multiplied by God. That's the place where old things are passed away and all things are become new. It's in the spirit that we are changed as we behold the victory of Christ and Christ himself. We are changed from image to image and glory to glory and that really means we are changed into that which God wants us as destined us to be and it brings glory to the one who is the only one capable of changing us into that. That's what it means. I know that seems to be a long definition but that's really what it means. We are changed by God and by God alone we are made into more than we could ever hope to be. We have taken places we could never go. We are given what we could never hope in ourselves to possess by the spirit of God and because of it we become a blessing in the earth. We become the extended hand of God's compassion, the extended hand of his generosity, the warning finger in a sense of warning people that staying in sin means eternal separation from God. We become clear messengers of the cross, not confused, not compromised, but clear messengers of the cross. God lead me away from the flesh, lead me out of sin, lead me into your spirit, into the realm of your spirit that my life might be a blessing to this entire generation and there's no limit to where God can take you when that becomes your prayer and let my life be a blessing in our time to the fullest extent that it's supposed to be. Don't let me draw back, don't let me despise my birthright, don't let me sell it for a belly full of stew. You see he sold his birthright because he despised it long before the stew bowl was before it. It meant nothing to him. That's why it was so easy just to sell it off for temporary satisfaction of his flesh because he really didn't even care about the will of God. A lot of people come to church and they care I guess about worshiping, they care about heaven, but they don't really care about the will of God for their lives. That was Esau's problem and I'm telling you if you don't really care about the will of God, then you're opening the door for a Jacob to lead you. I want you to hear me on this. You're opening the door to a swindler because you will be drawn to the gospel that satisfies your desire. If you desire the things of the world, you will find yourself drawn to preachers that will give you exactly what you want. They will give you your bowl of stew. They will satisfy your belly and lead you into spiritual bankruptcy. I preach this way because I care about you. I care about the church. You have incredible potential. Everyone here, if you truly are born again, you have the spirit of God inside your physical body. You have the one who created the universe by a spoken word of his mouth. You have the God who creates, recreates, recreates, recreates, and recreates. You have a God of miracles. You have a God who can do anything in your life that he wants to do and has a specific reason why after you've come to know him that he's left you here to be part of his body, the church of Jesus Christ. That reason has not changed. You're called to be a blessing in the earth with your words, with the enablement of the Holy Spirit when people see. I mean, you take Acts chapter 2 as the initial deposit of that promise. Well, when they came out of that room, I don't think they had any money and I don't think they had any plan, but were they not a blessing? What they had was an enablement of the Holy Spirit. They had a vision for the future. It was all about other people and not about themselves. They risked their lives to come out in public knowing they could be crucified, knowing that it could definitely launch them into incredible and even horrific difficulty, but yet they came out of that upper room, God gripped by the spirit of God. And were they not a blessing to that generation? Were they not a blessing to the 3000 that bent their knee to God that day? Are they not a blessing to us as we just simply recount the story of just ordinary people who just said, I'm going with God. I'm going with the fullness of what God has for my life. I'm going to let him take me, make me into what he's got for me and use me in the way that he has destined me to be used, to be a blessing. Instead of groveling through the streets, looking for things for myself, instead of going to church and always wanting to fill my own basket, I'm going to look for resource and for strength for the sake of somebody else. I'm going to start to speak. I'm not going to be quiet any longer. I'm going to ask God for a perfect love that casts out the fear that's in my heart. I'm going to start speaking to people about Jesus Christ. I'm not going to be annoying. I'm going to start speaking with love, with compassion, but I'm not going to be silent any longer. I'm going to speak. I'm going to pray. I'm going to believe that I'm going to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. I'm going to grab my coworkers hands and I'm going to take authority over the devil in their home that's destroying their children. I'm going to take my place as a believer and I'm going to be a blessing to my generation. The whole purpose of the gospel is to live for others. That is who our master is. That's who Christ is. He gave his life for us. He lived, he breathed, he moved. Everything he was, all that he did was for you and for me. And because of it, we are here today and we are blessed. And now we're ambassadors of that cross to our generation. So God, my prayers, Lord, don't let me be anything other than what you're calling me to be. And that's for the rest of my life. It just doesn't apply until you hit retirement age. It's for the rest of my life, as long as I'm able. That's the cry of my heart now. We have only a short window. The battle in America is about Jesus Christ. That is what the battle is about. And hell is stirred to its core. It's now up to the church. We have a short window. It's not up to any government or anyone in government. Government cannot legislate spirituality. It comes from God. We need a spiritual awakening in America. But first, the church must be awakened. May God help us. Father, in Jesus' name, I ask you for help. We recognize, Lord, that sometimes we're so steeped in self-seeking. It's so in the water of this society. It's so all about me, myself, and I that it would take your Holy Spirit to give us the power to escape it. But Father, in Jesus' name, we are asking you today to lift up your church, your people, us, and bless us. And help your church get out from under the yoke of that which has led them into self and powerlessness, and make us a blessing again in the earth. We confess our fault, Lord. The nation is in such darkness and disarray because your church has been asleep and very, very self-focused. Lord, you're not calling us because you're angry. You're calling us because you love us. You're calling us because you desire that we should be awakened to the reason why we live here on this earth today. And so, Lord Jesus Christ, we only can ask you to do what only you can do. We can present our hearts to you, but you are the author and the giver of all life. If you don't bless us, we can't be blessed. And so, help us, Lord, to return to a right focus. Father, I ask this in Jesus' name. When you become restless, you will break his yoke. That was the blessing. So, I want to give an altar call to the restless. The men, the women, young and old here today have said, I'm tired of being where I am. I want everything God has for me. If that's the cry of your heart, we're going to stand in just a minute, and I'm just going to ask you to join me here at this front of this auditorium. We're going to worship in just a few moments, but I'm just tired. I'm tired. I'm restless now. You should be restless. I want everything God has for me and everything he's destined me to be. That's now what I want. I know it's supernatural, and I know only God can do it, but that's what I'm asking God to do. Make me a blessing. Make countless, countless numbers of people be blessed through my life in the days ahead. If that's your cry, we're going to stand, and as we do, the balcony can go to either exit in the main sanctuary, just slip out in the aisles, and just come as we worship for five or ten minutes, and then we're going to pray together. God bless you. Please stand. Lord, we recognize that potentially the fate of a nation rests in our hands now as your church, the testimony of who you are on the earth. God, deliver us out of all the compromise. Deliver us, Lord, from that which is weakening us and your life inside of us from being made known. Give us an esteeming, Lord, for that which you've called us to be, and deliver us, Lord, from ever coming into the house of God by deceit. There's a bit of both found in every person, but Lord, as they cried out to you, these two brothers, they met and embraced again, and the swindler started leading people with compassion, and Esau found what he was looking for as well, and God, we're asking, Lord, that as your people in this last hour, perhaps this final moment of history, that we would rise, O God, out of the ashes and rebuild the testimony of who you are in our lives. You would deliver us, Lord, from all the self-seeking of this generation and enable us to be your people that you would put power in our speech and compassion in our voice. You would make us a generous people, God, that we would love people enough to speak to them. We love them enough to care about whether heaven or hell will be their home. We'd be delivered from the timidity, God, and being beaten into a corner because we've been vilified. Give us courage now. God, I thank you for the men and women at this altar, Lord, and those online and those just in their hearts in this sanctuary, even those who have maybe just lost heart because of a self-loathing. You'll take any of us, Lord, right where we are, and you'll renew us and remake us, God, reinvigorate us, Lord, even if for years we've just played a game and it's not been real. God, God, we just give ourselves to you, Lord. I don't know what else to do. It's you, Holy Spirit, that has to be our life source. And so we ask you, Lord, for an awakening, O God, an awakening, Lord, Jesus Christ, that would begin in your house and spread out into our streets and spread into the highways and byways, O God, a river of life that would flow out of your house, inviting whosoever will to come in and receive life. Jesus, Son of God, have mercy, Lord, have mercy to so many who are, Lord, they're just in such rebellion to you, and they have no idea that they are. They've cloaked it all in a sense of perverted righteousness. God, help them. God, help them. Help us to help them, Lord. Make us a blessing to them, Lord, a blessing, not an argument, not finger-pointers, not fist-bangers, but a blessing, God, a blessing to them. Do something so powerful in us that it will become attractive to those that are opposing their own salvation. God, may our children see it first in our own homes and our spouses, Lord. Deliver us, Lord, Jesus Christ, as your people from being where we shouldn't be, watching what we shouldn't watch, saying what we shouldn't speak. God, give us the power to live for you. Father, I thank you with all my heart, because you are willing. You yourself said, if anyone asks for bread, you will give it to us, Lord. You said if we knocked, it would be open. If we sought you, we would find. Lord, so we knock and we seek today. Help us, Lord, and help this nation. Lord, we thank you for it, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.