Hey, hey, welcome to the church home podcast with Judah Smith. My amazing husband. My name is Chelsea,

and he is about to give you an incredible message. And I know we are going to hear about Jesus and his love for you.

And if there's anything we can do as a church home community, we would love to serve you.

You can come to churchhome.org slash pastor chat, and we would love to have a conversation with you and just

meet you exactly where you are. Enjoy the message. Hey, everybody, welcome back to a collection of

messages we're doing on Closer to God. One of the most Googled and the biggest question around God is how do I become closer to God?

If there is a God, how do I become closer to God? We have taken that so seriously here at church

home at the outset of 2025. There are 15 guided prayers available to you and are becoming

available to you where I lead you in prayers to become closer to God.

And this is what is probably going to be some six weeks of messages on how to become close to God.

So in all my research and preparation and prayer and meditation, I've come to the conclusion that there are four

aspects or four steps to be coming closer to God. And we've been talking about that. God

becomes near. God becomes dear. God removes fear. And then we together as communal members,

we look in a mirror. And so we're discussing those four aspects. But before I do, I'm praying for the country

I live in. Tomorrow we have inauguration of the highest position in our country, the president.

And so I'll be praying for that. And of course, tomorrow is one of the most important days

in our country every year. And that is Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior Day here in this

country. And I thank God for all of us who follow in the footsteps of not only Dr. King, but the footsteps

of Jesus, who walk out true equity and justice every day in our neighborhoods, our cul-de-sacs, and our communities. And remember,

hate can never drive out hate, Dr. King said. Only love can do that. And so I pray that we will be love

agents in every aspect of our world. Last week, we started, God becomes dear.

We talked about how, as you feel the nearness of God,

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