It's so easy to walk on a stage and just start doing what you know to do in the

flesh to start doing what you're comfortable doing, what you've done for years.

Yet this morning as I was praying I'm just going, God, I'm 47 years old, you know, my dad never lived this long, my mom didn't live this long, I think

about my life and I think about everything I've been studying in this book my whole life and I read about these

stories where people literally encounter the living God.

You know that it wasn't just, hey let's show up to a service is here a message walk away

convicted or rejoicing or whatever but we literally experienced him and and he

actually initiated and did something in a place and this morning I'm just saying God that that's all I want

Like I can't I can't afford another year of sitting in a church service and preaching a

sermon and amen and this and that like God I want to experience you in a real real way and I and I think that's where many of us are I mean that's why people are leaving churches left and right they're going gosh I read this book and this God

that you guys talk about but I'm not seeing him I'm not experiencing him and I'm

going God I want that we got to have that. Man, I know that a lot of people here today are saying okay, maybe if we come this week,

we'll hear about the strategy, we'll hear about the plan of what the

pastors and elders are going to do together and I'm just going man before we even

get into that there are things that are so much more important to make sure we're on the same page

of who just understanding who God is and what he is like.

I mean even when we pray I mean I want to pray over you right now.

I want to pray for us right now.

But even as we pray, some of us just are conditioned,

this habit of, okay, close our eyes and go ahead say whatever blah blah blah and when you say

amen get into the sermon and I just want to remind us do you know who we're about to talk to

I mean this is an honor okay every one of us right now. Man we're breathing you can hear my voice

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