Are you affected by bitterness? Bill Johnson shares about the cost of bitterness and how to combat against it and find freedom through forgiveness. Forgiveness brings liberty and will position us to be the ones that bring solutions.

[Applause]

in that turkey

i keep forgetting what i ask every

meeting what do they call it

chip defend

tryptophan

wow trip the fan

all right

how many of you are still under that

influence

that’s what i thought

i have a few little signs here that i

liked

either you like bacon or you’re wrong

that’s that’s not a good way to start

this meeting is it

what do we learn from cows hippos and

elephants

it’s impossible to reduce weight by

eating green grass salads and walking

that works

this was in a apparently a church

bulletin

there will be a talk entitled from

cannibalism to christianity followed by

finger foods

not a well-placed announcement i agree

people need to learn the difference

between want and need

i want a nice body i need banana pudding

one last one you’re all aware of the

romaine lettuce

scare

right now donuts are healthier than

romaine lettuce

i’ve been waiting my whole life for this

moment

that’s funny

that is funny all right

hebrews chapter 12 why don’t you open

your bibles

please to the book of hebrews

chapter 12.

so

the five scariest people

i

met in my life

the most terrifying people i’ve ever met

were all bitter

i think the most terrifying vice or

iniquity is

is the vice of unforgiveness bitterness

i don’t know anything that

that destroys and ruins a life quicker

that in some circles is

commonly accepted as a almost a virtue

some people call it discernment

um

bitterness is always justifiable to the

bitter

there’s always

reasoning behind resentment and

bitterness unforgiveness

my favorite virtue is thankfulness

thankfulness has um

goodness it’s almost like it insulates a

person

from

things that would normally contaminate

or cause a person to stumble or

hurt or whatever it might be it doesn’t

mean it keeps us from pain it just keeps

us in a place where we’re healthy

it’s thankfulness is so

bizarre that you can eat a

put it in old in a

early

new testament context

being invited by a neighbor then offered

their food to demons

a meal that could possibly hurt you

if if you’re invited to that meal it’s

actually possible for that meal to be

sanctified by the word of god in prayer

and in the context the prayer was the

prayer of thankfulness thanksgiving

actually decontaminates that which was

set against you

the whole issue of thankfulness in a

person’s life but the if i could go to

the opposite extreme my favorite virtue

would be thankfulness

my the scariest

uh vice or iniquity is uh is bitterness

i’ve i’ve worked with people for a lot

of years in

pastoral ministry counseling that sort

of thing i’m so glad they don’t counsel

anymore thank you jesus

oh

there’s a song in my heart going on

right now

we don’t have time for it but no it’s

there it is there but i used to counsel

and i don’t anymore i don’t know if i

mentioned that but i don’t counsel

anymore

i’m going to forget what i’m talking

about because i’m so thankful

i’m just so thankful i’m insulated from

everything else right now

because i’m so thankful

i i

you you hear the

the question can a christian have a

demon

um

i love john wimbers i think it was john

wimber’s answer he says i don’t know why

you’d want one they make horrible pets

seem to be the most reasonable answer to

me

um but this

the scripture actually gives warning to

believers don’t give place of the devil

so the point is as a christian can give

a place of influence to the enemy and

paul in ephesians 4 warned against

giving a place of influence and i i’ve

watched in the in the groups of people

that i’ve worked with for the last 40

some years

the three areas that open people up to

the demonic the

the most from my opinion my perspective

is uh drug abuse specifically

hallucinogenics

uh sexual immorality

especially perversion repeated and the

third one is bitterness

and the three scariest of five scariest

people i’ve ever met in my life were all

had one thing in common they were they

were

uh bitter beyond reason

and all bitterness is beyond reason but

these people were possessed by the

spirit of bitterness

uh two of them out one of them i worked

with here in reading tried to get him

free but he just he just he just refused

and then one in weaverville they both

are in prison for murder

they both killed people after after they

rejected

the

trying to get free from the issue of

bitterness because bitterness is

actually the spirit of murder in diapers

it’s just undeveloped murder is what it

is

and whether it actually becomes a

violent act or not is not the point it’s

what happens in the heart of the person

who is embittered and unforgiving

the scariest part of the whole issue the

subject of unforgiveness to me uh we’re

going to read about in a few minutes

when we get to hebrews 12. but it’s it’s

this statement that unforgiveness

defiles so if you could picture this

this is the person i’m better than that

i’m the bitter person this is the person

i’m bitter at what happens

is unforgiveness bitterness in me

defiles me

it defiles everyone under my influence

and it does nothing to the person i’m

bitter at

it’s the craziest thing it’s like

it’s like uh uh it’s it’s like drinking

poison somebody said it’s like drinking

poison hoping somebody else will die you

know it’s bitterness actually destroys

the vessel that it’s in

and we are redemptive people i don’t

think

i don’t think there would be a bitter

person on the planet

if we saw how undeserving of forgiveness

we were

from god and he forgave us

i don’t think it’s possible to see how

undeserving i am and he forgave me

how much more must i forgive even in

life’s worst situation forgive

forgiveness doesn’t mean

to

trust again trust has to be earned

forgiveness doesn’t

um

jesus taught several things about

forgiveness the apostle paul taught

several things that i think would be

worthy of note

one

is that forgiveness

we receive forgiveness according to the

forgiveness we give

the prayer that we love so much on earth

as it is in heaven it concludes with

this statement that we are forgiven

according to the forgiveness that we

give to others

i i saw this video it’s very

sobering video of a gentleman who was

who was raised from the dead

and and he was he was abs absolutely

terrified from the experience because of

where he was going

and uh and and this story about this man

who had been raised from the dead

he was so paranoid

of conflict and i don’t mean that in a

in a wrong way

i just want to describe the situation

he was in his home when an argument

would start between two family members

he literally would get up and run and

hide in the bathroom

he would hide because he was he saw the

effect of bitterness on eternity

and it so terrified him that he would

run and he would hide

and yet bitterness is something that

people broke her in all the time in fact

it’s uh it’s become uh empowered

accentuated emphasized uh in the

political conflict climate that we live

in right now

i i do believe you know we say that god

is not republican or democrat or

libertarian or independent socialist

whatever you want to fill in the blanks

i get that he’s not

um

the question isn’t whose side is god on

the question is

is are we on his side

because he does have things that he

despises and loves

mike bickel

made the best statement for me helped me

understand so much he said god’s anger

is always aimed at whatever interferes

with love

and our the scripture says we’re to be

angry and sin not

so this whole notion of the christian

becoming coming to a place where there

is no emotion

that’s buddhism that’s not christianity

that’s spock on star wars

i don’t want to be like spock on star

wars

who star trek star trek thank you

you know what i meant you know spark on

star trek yeah

they’re all the same

sorry

i just

now you have to forgive me you have to

forgive me now

believe me i’ve made much worse mistakes

than

movies i i tend to forget i sit on

united airlines and i turn a movie on i

if i last five minutes it’s almost a

miracle

i just

ah stupid movie change it oh dumb movie

oh this is going nowhere change it

never mind all right

so spock on star trek

got it all right

he said b and the scripture says be

angry and sin not the emotion of anger

is natural if you’re not angry at

certain situations that rise up in your

life

or in society and culture something’s

broken

it just can’t lead to sin

it can’t lead to resentment it can’t

lead to bitterness can’t need lead to

a self-promotion vindication uh

you know

retaliation

be angry it’s a sign you’re alive if you

see a child abused and you you don’t get

angry then you

you’re dead

there’s something really wrong

because that that is supposed to provide

provoke anger but also it’s to put us

into a place where we become redemptive

solutions

redemptive solutions listen if i am

bitter

my volume increases by my influence

decreases

bitter people lose trust quickly

because everybody in society and culture

is looking for people to trust we vote

for this politician we choose this

measure we move into this neighborhood

we put our children in this school it’s

always an issue trying to find where can

we set our teeth into a place of trust

and bitter people are not trustworthy

so he says

he says be angry and sin not but then he

follows it with this statement in

ephesians 4 he says be angry and sin not

then he says don’t let the sun go down

on your anger

so here’s the deal we start the day with

what jesus taught us to pray

our father

who art in heaven hallowed be your name

your kingdom come

your will be done on earth

as it is in heaven

give us this day our daily bread

forgive us our debts as

we forgive our debtors what is it

at the beginning of my day i have

determined to live redemptively and i

before i am sinned against and prepared

to forgive

it’s it’s the commitment i am going to

live the life of a forgiving person

it doesn’t mean abuse is wrong doesn’t

mean lying stealing doesn’t mean any of

that stuff that is done to you to me

doesn’t mean it’s okay

it doesn’t mean that stuff’s fine it

just means i am not going to become

controlled by the sins of another person

i’m not going to let the spirit of

bitterness dictate to me my thoughts and

my feelings

i will rise above these circumstances

because i’m going to be a contributor to

society what happens when i’m filled

with bitterness i’m holding onto the

past if i hold on to the past i cannot

hang on to the present and bring

redemptive solutions it’s one of the

things the enemy uses to keep us away

from being a creative positive influence

in culture and society is to keep us

married to yesterday

if i am if i am bound by the effects of

yesterday then i have really lost my

ability to have positive effect on the

world around me

so we have this commandment to

to not let the sun go down

on our anger here’s here’s another one

uh uh

john the baptist made this statement he

says bring forth fruit of your

repentance bring forth fruit of your

prince this has to be evidence

when we claim spiritual realities it has

to be measurable in the natural

jesus said if you say you love god who

you can’t see and you hate your brother

who you can see you’re a liar

because claiming an unseen reality has

to be measurable

in the natural it has to be

it has to be

realized in the natural it has to have

an effect

for example if i am bitter at somebody

and i forgive them

it has to my behavior towards them has

to change now as i said earlier it

doesn’t mean if there’s an abusive

situation if they’ve stolen or they’ve

done whatever it doesn’t mean that trust

is rebuilt it just means as far as it

depends with me i am living in peace and

i’m not being controlled or manipulated

by the circumstance of of being hurt

abused whatever the situation might be

so we have this issue of

not letting the sun

go down on our anger so i start my day

as a redemptive person that today i’ve

determined i before anything happens

no matter what happens today i’m going

to live as a forgiver

i’m going to live as a forgiver i’m

going to release people i refuse to be

bound by bitterness through the actions

of other people number one but then i’m

going to make sure that at the end of

the day i don’t let the sun go down on

my anger i maybe experience frustration

anger because this happened that

happened this was wrong that was wrong

but i’m not going to let it control me

so at the end of the day i’ve got to

make sure that i go to sleep with peace

if i don’t then that thorn of

unforgiveness gets under the skin it

fouls and festers and it gets woven into

my personality it gets woven into my

consciousness into my thinking it

becomes a part of the fabric of who i am

the longer i leave it there the more it

begins to define me

jesus wants us to have every day with a

fresh start where we become true

uh contributors to society and we can’t

do that under the influence of

bitterness

i remember years ago i was i was

counseling somebody and have i mentioned

to you i don’t counsel anymore

oh

let’s just sing a song right now

gratefulness

to the lord

there is a song in my heart i want you

to know that right now

i’m experiencing great joy anyway i was

sitting with this couple

in counseling

a long time ago

she was mad because he had done

something 10 years earlier

that’s a lot of sons

going down

on anger

and uh so we we’re they’re friends so

we’re talking

and i found out she’s been carrying this

for 10 years i said all right so i

looked at him i said did you ever repent

for what you did he said yeah

and i said well where’s the evidence now

that wasn’t an accusation sounds kind of

harsh but it was we’re just in

conversation because the scripture says

bring forth fruit of your repentance if

you don’t have

if your internal decision doesn’t affect

your behavior you have no evidence

you’ve forgiven

right if it doesn’t if it doesn’t affect

behavior then it’s just a philosophy he

didn’t call us to a philosophy of

forgiveness

he called us into a lifestyle of

forgiveness

it has to be proven through action so i

said you have any any evidence

he said no i don’t i said all right well

let’s meet again next week and just

bring me some evidence

so

we went by they came in and i sat down i

looked at her i said is there any

evidence she goes nope

i looked at him i said do you have any

evidence he says yeah then he began to

make this list and her eyes opened up

and she realized that she had become the

problem

he caused it

but because of bitterness

she extended it

does that make sense

let me re rephrase this

her bitterness

blinded her

to the reality of his repentance

see bitterness distorts view perspective

it distorts it poisons how we view not

just the situation or the person who’s

hurt us but life in general

life in general becomes interpreted

through my history of pain through my

history of pain so now i’m actually

even if i’m not in unforgiveness if i’ve

held on to these things these issues of

past pain if i’ve held on to them even

if i’m not a bitter person they still

shape how i view present situations

and in order for us to be instant in

season and out for us to be redemptively

uh functional in any and every situation

it means yesterday cannot have lasting

influence on my life except for what

jesus has done

back to the story so i said do you do

you have any any uh any uh evidence he

says yes and he began to make a list and

she realized that he was correct he did

have evidence for his forgiveness the

point is when you forgive somebody

embracing a philosophy of being a

forgiver is not going to fix a problem

but when there are measurable actions

maybe it’s that you take a day to fast

and pray for that person maybe

maybe you make a phone call i remember

i remember making specific phone calls

to individuals that had really had hurt

me and i would call them to bless them

or to honor them or in some way serve

them and and it hurts so much inside but

the only thing that hurt was the part

that was supposed to be dead so it

wasn’t that big of a deal

now don’t protect what should be dead

submit it to the obedience of christ

submit it to obedience to actions of

obedience so here’s the deal if i’m

forgiving this individual then i need

some behavior changes maybe the person

who abused me you know let’s say i was

abused 20 years ago they’re they’re dead

well i can’t do anything to them or for

them but you know what i could do is i

could pray for the blessing of god on

their descendants

in some way put into an action maybe

fall to my knees and just pray god

i don’t deserve maybe that person is is

lives on the other side of the planet

but you come before the lord and you say

god i know that i did not deserve your

forgiveness

and you forgave me

i ask that you would give that same

mercy to this individual that hurt me

what i

have brought into my life as a as a

regular discipline in recent

months and year or so is benny and i

like to take communion often and i’ve

already taken you through this at least

many of you in part

but we like to take communion often most

every day

and when i in fact i i had it this

morning uh eric and i both come early

early morning five

five ish five five to five thirty to

come and just a pride to get ready for

the day

and so i’d like to bring communion with

me

so that i can pray and what i do is i

pray over every member of my family i

make confession of the lord by his

stripes we are healed and pray for those

who need miracles i pray i hold the

blood out before the lord i make the

proclamation as for me and my house we

will serve the lord i remember each

mention each family member i pray for

them uniquely individually but then i

move into the area where i pray for

those whose ministries they actually

have taken a position to oppose me or to

publicly uh write a book or maybe they

uh

have conferences uh to undermine us me

uh maybe they they tear apart or

critique or criticize a book i’ve

written or whatever it might be fill in

the blanks they’ve take public position

to oppose me i’ve had

them meet me at the airport when i land

here i’ve i’ve i’ve had just weird

situations protest banners out in front

of conferences that i do it’s because

they love me so much and they just don’t

know it yet

and chris one of them chris was mad

because my name was on the protest board

and his name wasn’t there he was it was

he was a little upset over that but

anyway um

there are five people on my list three

who are who are recognized around the

world

who have taken this position to oppose

me you never criticize a servant to that

to that servant’s master there’s no

right

never does a believer have the right to

accuse

another believer before god we don’t

have that right so what i do is i bring

their name before the lord and i pray

i ask god

this morning i prayed god i pray

that they would lack nothing that

everything they need in life whether

it’s finances whether it’s favor whether

it’s open doors for because they do

preach the gospel uh

open doors for or for the gift that

you’ve given them and pray for the

blessing of the lord on them but the

thing that i love praying the most for

them

is that father i ask that you give them

the joy

of having children who have children

who would serve you wholeheartedly that

they would have the privilege of

children grandchildren great

grandchildren that would serve you with

all of the heart give them that joy and

that pleasure

what you’ve got to do is you have to

have evidence that an internal decision

has been made and is carrying out and

sometimes it’s prayer sometimes it’s a

gift sometimes it’s a phone call but

it’s something that we do just to make

sure as the scripture says so far as it

depends with you be at peace with all

men do everything you can possibly do on

your end to stay undefiled by the spirit

of bitterness

amen

we haven’t got to hebrews 12 yet have we

just trust me it’s good

let me make one more comment then we’ll

read this

because of

the politically heightened

conflict that exists

in our country

right now

we need people to hold the righteous

values without becoming bitter

and one of the hardest things in the

world to do is to minister to a group of

people without picking up their offenses

in fact let me make two more comments

it’s challenging listen carefully

it’s very difficult to give yourself to

minister to a group of people without

picking up their offenses for example

it’s very difficult to minister to the

poor

without being offended at the rich

it’s very difficult to minister to the

rich

and not be offended at those who don’t

work

it’s very difficult to minister to

children

and not be offended at adults who don’t

prioritize the life of a child

it’s tough to minister to adults not be

offended by a younger generation that

shows them no respect

it’s difficult to minister to one race

without being offended at another race

the list goes on and on and on and

sometimes people’s ministries are

defined by what they’re offended at

instead of the actual ministry of the

gospel

i believe that god has

he cares about the issues that are at

stake in any of our nations represented

in this room

he doesn’t have

opinions

he’s right

and like was it was it joshua that saw

the lord and said whose side are you on

and the angel the lord says whose side

are you on that’s the real question

having said that

i don’t think on many many issues the

enemy cares what your opinion is

as long as you leave the character of

christ to defend it

in many areas of our life i don’t think

the devil cares one bit about what your

convictions are regarding an issue

as long as you leave the character of

christ to defend it

hebrews 12.

you all right

now we almost have to end and i’m

finally getting to the bible

oops

all right verse 12.

hebrews 12 12 therefore strengthen the

hands which hang down the feeble knees

make straight paths for your feet so

that what is lame may not be dislocated

but rather healed

pursue peace with all people men i love

that

and holiness

without which

no one will see the lord i have that

phrase underlined without which no one

will see the lord

looking carefully lest anyone fall short

of the grace of god

lest any root of bitterness springing up

causes trouble and by this many become

defiled

lest there be any fornicator or profane

person like esau

who for one morsel of food sold his

birthright

you know that afterward when he wanted

to inherit the blessing

he was rejected

for he found no place for repentance

though he saw it diligently with tears

don’t skip the sobering passages of

passages of scripture don’t skip them

don’t don’t

just read the verses that make you feel

like the king of the earth

read the things that cut deeply because

we need them the fear of god

is a huge part of our walk with christ

and uh this is part of us so verse 15

looking carefully lest anyone falls

short of the grace of god

that lest any root of bitterness

springing up cause trouble and by this

many become defiled

this phrase concerning bitterness and

many being defiled has been a phrase

that has been racing through my mind for

several weeks

and i’ve been looking forward to today

happy thanksgiving by the way looking

forward to today

i am thankful but i’ll be more thankful

when if you’re not bitter you know

it’s been racing through my mind in

recent weeks because i can i could see

me i could feel and see

the defiling effect of bitterness of a

person on another person

and where the lord is taking us

is deeper into

places of service of love of care

of influence

but we can’t survive it

if we don’t know how to resist

picking up the offenses

of the people we love and care for

and by many by it become defiled

i was uh

just talking with some friends of mine

uh two weeks ago

uh we were able to spend some time

together and they were

they

had uh some some sort of a birthday

gathering or a holiday gathering i

forget what it was now

and uh and something in the food didn’t

taste right every

everyone just went ahead and ate it even

though it didn’t taste right

and then it hit

everyone everyone got food poisoning

everyone but two people everyone got

food poisoning that ate this stuff

and many were defiled

and if you eat the meal

of criticism and accusation

you’re being

food poisoned

and so the lord here’s here’s my here’s

my if i could pray one thing for today

it would be either that we’d be

ridiculously thankful and or we would

become allergic

to bitterness

you’d break out in hives or something

you start twitching i don’t care what it

is

but in some way you begin to manifest

when you get around bitterness because

it is that defiling

and to see the effect of bitterness on

the human soul to see the effect on a

family

i realize there are horrific stories

represented in this room

that what you’ve gone through

is beyond words

i’ve spent enough time one-on-one with

people to know

the things that some people do to other

people is just

it’s just crazy it’s just stupid

but there is no liberty for you

outside of forgiving

there just isn’t

there just isn’t

we become defiled by our own

entertaining

thoughts of accusation

paul

made this great statement in philippians

4. i’m sorry i should be giving you

references and if i had my act together

i’d have

verses on the screens with the

references

and you would be all the smarter because

of it

philippians 4 verse 8 he says whatever

is lovely whatever’s of good report uh

all these think on these things

and if i’m struggling does anybody else

ever have

accusations about somebody else come to

your mind like a thousand a minute

maybe not a thousand maybe just a

hundred a minute

the accusations that come

if you don’t if i don’t if i don’t

proactively counter that

not by rebuking

but by replacing

he can only plant a thought where there

is no thought

i have people that have have really

affected my life in not a positive way

and yet i know that they have a

relationship with the lord

and what i’ve had to do is come to the

place where i actually fear christ in

them

so that i maintain awe and respect for

them

jesus has redeemed them he has changed

their life he has forgiven they’re not

perfect but neither am i

and we rob each other the wrong way

something happens

those thoughts bombard the mind if i

can’t vic get victory that way

by praying aggressively for them not

against them

then i just turned my attention to my

wife

because she’s everything on philippians

4 verse 8. she’s lovely she’s a good

report she’s all the things listed so i

just think about her and i’m delivered

right there it just comes right out and

i’m okay then so

whatever works for you you can think

about my wife too if you want that

go ahead

what i can’t afford to do is to spend

time thinking something

that has the potential of setting down

roots in me and shaping who i am

listen to me

bitter thoughts are not okay they’re not

okay

because it’s what precedes imprisonment

to something

that destroys us

i say this

because of my

i’m concerned with what i hear and see

i’ve taken time to reflect over

what i grew up with what watching would

happen with people that i

tried to help counsel that went and

killed somebody and just crazy crazy

stuff

the two that scared me maybe the most

were the two people in a church that i

would go to serve and they were

they were just possessed by bitterness

and resentment and they they could not

reason

i don’t i don’t see that here but i i

also know that you and i are made of the

same stuff

and if they can if somebody else can do

it wrong then i can do it wrong

and so i want to make sure that i that i

have the tools in place

where i can walk in forgiveness walk

redemptively and the the answer is not

creating a big defense the answer is

offense

a good offense is the best defense

keep the ball out of the hand of the

enemy

just just don’t just don’t give him a

place

don’t give him a place he has no right

to set up influence

so here’s the deal

i’m praying that everybody in this room

would become allergic

to resentment that the discernment level

in your heart and mind in my heart and

mind would be so heightened

that if we get near it

we automatically

come in redemptively

knowing we cannot afford to be

influenced by this

that is sent from the powers of darkness

yep

my hope is

is is not i i seldom think of survival i

think in terms of overcoming

you know i don’t want to be the last one

standing i want to be a part of an army

that actually made a difference

and so obviously i i don’t want to see

people fall to that spirit of bitterness

fall to that control

but more than that

i want to see a redemptive army

be thrust into deeper and deeper places

of influence

people who know how to forgive

you know you read the quotes of some of

our nation’s heroes through the years

you read because i’m sorry i’ve got them

in my ipad i i didn’t think to bring

them up

but quotes from martin luther king

some of his statements about forgiveness

very profound statements

the place of influence

is really given to those who know how to

forgive

and i pray that for you i pray that for

me that the lord would continue to

thrust us into places of influence

because we know what it is to walk as a

redemptive army of forgivers why don’t

you stand with me we’re going to pray

together

you know my dad

let’s do this let’s let’s just assume

no one in here is bitter at anyone amen

amen no one

but if you were does anyone come to mind

oh that’s so funny

no no no one no one no one

my dad used to have this statement

he said when you wash another person’s

feet

you find out why they walk the way they

do

some people

you may be offended at

that you wouldn’t be if you figuratively

wash their feet find out oh that’s why

they limp like they do

uh that makes a lot of sense

so father

make us allergic

that allergies spread through the room

right now jesus did

you know what i mean right

i do pray lord i pray for a great grace

to

live redemptively at a level

that’s beyond anything we’ve known

you’ve

you’ve lifted the veil so to speak

you’ve let us

have places of influence and to serve

and to love well

and i just ask god give us discernment

give us a grace in every environment

to be able to be an influence of

forgiveness

in jesus name

now i’m going to ask everyone please

hold your place built the family hold

your place for you because i want to

give invitation for people to know jesus

and i don’t want to do that with people

walking around because it’s too easy for

others to be distracted

the greatest miracle that could happen

here today

is that somebody would say i want to

know what it is to be a disciple of

jesus i want to know what it is to be

forgiven by god and to walk as a

forgiver

if there’s anybody in the room that just

say bill i don’t want to leave the

building until i know i’m at peace with

god i’ve been forgiven of sin then i

want you just to put a hand up where you

are we’re just going to make an

agreement with you we had five people

first service respond to this invitation

to know jesus is there anyone this

morning in this service just put a hand

up i want to make sure that we give

full quality time for you

to come to know that for good

forgiveness of jesus

for those who are watching by bethel tv

we just announced you the forgiveness

the grace of god is available to you as

well and i do pray that you and i would

be able to spread the forgiveness of

jesus through all through our city this

week i just pray for that great grace

amen amen by the way uh

in another

two weeks is it david hogan’s going to

be here that’s going to be

that’s going to be wild and crazy

that’ll be a great friend brace yourself

for that one who’s coming up now tom you

are why don’t you hold your places and

let tom here uh bring this to an end

while i get to the back door

come on so good

thank you jesus

[Applause]