Open Sesame

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Good morning, everyone. How’s everybody doing today? Well, I hope you’re doing well because I’m going to bring the heat this morning. Hope that you’re ready for it. Can you receive the heat this morning? All right. Maybe. Okay. Well, we’re going to find out if you have your Bible or your Bible app. Turn or click with me to John, chapter ten. We’re in a sermon series called The Magnificent Seven, and we’re looking at seven IM statements from the Book of John. And these are all statements. And this is a little hot on the stage. I don’t know how we take that out, but please do that for me. I appreciate it. So these are seven I am statements. They’re all written in red, which means that they all came from the very lips of Jesus. And as we look at each one of these statements, it is literally Jesus saying, I am. And then you fill in the blank, and he fills in the blank for us. And this is us finding out who Jesus is from his own lips rather than from someone else telling us who Jesus is. And so we’ve looked at Jesus, says I am the bread of life. Then last week, we looked at the fact that Jesus says that I am the light of the world. And today, we’re going to be looking at the I am statement where Jesus says that I am the door. And today’s message. The title of today’s message is Open SesameSesame. Would you say that with me? Open SesameSesame, and you’re going to figure out in a moment what that’s all about. But look with me at John chapter ten, if you will. Verses nine through ten. And Jesus says again.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

John 10:9-10 (nkjv)

Open Sesame comes from a 1944 movie that is called Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. How many of you have ever seen the movie? I have never seen the movie. I’ve heard about it. But this is part of our culture where we want something to open, and we go. Open SesameSesame, or please open the door, and it magically opens. Just give me the Reader’s Digest version of this movie is that there are 40 thieves, and these 40 thieves steal all of this loot, and they have a secret cave, as I understand. And there is this magical door that covers the opening of the cave. And in order to go in and out, you have to say the magical phrase. And then, over time, people discover this magical cave. And on this one occasion, this one man finds the cave, says the magical phrase enters the cave. There’s so much loot and so much money in there that he gets so excited that he forgets the magical phrase to get out of the cave. And so here comes the thieves. And guess what the thieves do to another thief, right? Are they killing the individual? Now, some of you are saying, Well, why are you belaboring this? And because here in John ten, Jesus tells us that he’s the door. And today’s message in one condensed sentence is this.

Jesus is God’s “open sesame” to everlasting life and abundance.

Folks, listen to me. Jesus is the open door. Jesus is the magical phrase. Jesus is the way to everlasting love. And if you’re here this morning and you’re remotely interested in abundant life, if you’re here and you’re remotely interested in having everlasting life in heaven, can I just tell you something? Is Jesus more exciting than Olympic curling? Can I tell you that? Can I tell you that Jesus is way more exciting than March Madness? Jesus is bigger. Then anything. And if you’re here this morning and you want to know how to have everlasting life, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re here this morning and you want to have abundant life, you’ve come to the right place because God says you want that opening to move. Then all you have to do is call on the name of Jesus because he is the command, He is the formula, and there is a treasure and knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That is way more valuable than any amount of gold, silver, rubies, or diamonds. Now, when I made the requests for a door on the stage when I sent the text, I go, This may be the most useless prop that I could ever ask for in the history of props for preaching. And here’s the reason why. Because when Jesus says I’m the door like none of you are like. Well, if I could just see a door, I could understand it. Like, if I could just see a picture of a door. I would understand how you know what? Jesus. If you could just draw out what a door looks like. You know, I could just envision the door, you know? And here’s the thing, folks, is that we use doors every single day, right? I mean, we go in and out of doors all the time, and we have these strange rituals and customs with doors that if you’ve ever thought about it, you know, one of the things that we have is, is the rituals of going into the bathroom. It’s amazing what I’m talking about. And, you know, in your washing your hands, some of you don’t. But others of you that do. You know what I’m talking about. I just saw some people this morning that used to walk out of the bathroom without washing their hands. And you wonder why I don’t shake hands. I mean, it’s really simple, guys and gals. I mean, this is the reason why I carry, you know, germ X with me. 24 seven. Now, here’s the thing. You know, we’re going to the bathroom. We want to save the planet. We don’t want to use paper towels. We want to be eco-friendly. And so, you know, we use these blow dryers and but then when we go to get out of the bathroom, we don’t want to get germs on our hands. And so what do we do? We go back into the stall. We’ll get some toilet paper drop, or we get some seat covers, or we get something, or we take your sleeve, and we do something like this. And I’ve even seen some people do this. You know, they try to open it like this. And we have all these strange rituals. You know what I do? I don’t even use paper towels. I don’t even use the blow dryers in there. I just opened the door. I go through the door. When I go through the door, I just pull the germ out of my pocket. I do this. I just keep right on walking in, baby.

I’m just telling you, it is magical. Yeah, but, you know, we have we also have other strange rituals when it comes to two doors. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this or not, but there’s this opportunity for us to that when we’re going into a building, and there’s somebody who’s ahead of us, and they open the door for us, but they’re but we’re a little far away like we’re Lisa is sitting over there on the second row, and somebody opens the door and then what do we do when somebody opens the door for us? Right? Tell me, what did we do? We did do an awkward run, right, to try to get there? Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And it’s a little bit too far. But we run, and then, you know, I don’t know if you know this or not, but there’s this magical jumping over the laser thing that we do. Right. And I’m talking about garage doors. Right. And we found out that you could do that, you know, and you kind of thought, like, use Tom Cruise. Right? Right. Like Mission Impossible to do you to do that. And we have all of these strange rituals when it comes to doors, and we just don’t think about it. But in Scripture, you know how Scripture talks about doors and Scripture. It talks about open doors being opportunities. Doors are opportunities. Look at Second Corinthians 2:12. Here’s what Paul says that Paul says.

“Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 2:12 (NKM)

There are these doors that are open that are opportunities for us. And just like in the seven churches in Asia Minor in Revelation chapters two and three, you know, Jesus talks about the seven churches, and there’s a church there called the Church of Philadelphia. And that church in Philly was a church that that Jesus didn’t have any negative thing to say about did have any art against the church. He had something to point out at all the other churches. But the Church of Philadelphia had nothing bad to say. And what happens when you have anything bad to say about a church? It’s kind of like when you play a video game, and you go through some doors. What happens the next thing you know is that you go to a whole new level. And that’s exactly what Jesus did for the church there, and that’s exactly what Jesus did for the Apostle Paul. Look at Revelation chapter three, verse eight. Here’s what he says.

“See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.”

Revelation 3:8 (NKM)

If you go ahead and read all the passages, it says that Jesus wrote his name on their hand. In other words, Jesus gave them a tattoo. And by the way, I’ve been trying to convince people that I need a tattoo. I cannot get anyone to agree with me. I think I just found the verse for me to get a tattoo. I swear some of you are going to. Please don’t do that. I’m just kidding. But I’ve been trying to get a vote of confidence. But nobody. Nobody’s given me a vote of confidence. And not even any of you that are here, you know? Yeah, I got, like, two people. I thought it’d be cool to have a big cross right here. This is just not even in the notes. This is just in my heart, you know. Just have a big cross right here, you know? I mean, God, that guy’s got a story. I can hear his story, and. But everybody’s going, No, no, please don’t do that. It’d be so out of character. But Jesus wrote was writing his name on their hands. He would do it. He was doing a tattoo. Dawson’s Scripture is equated and is a synonym. If you will, for opportunities. But, you know, the thing about opportunities is new opportunities are oftentimes very scary. Would you not agree with me? Walking through new doors and new opportunities provides us with a new level of discomfort. See some of you. You have been single for a long time, and you just got married. And now, this new married life that you’re involved in is providing new opportunities. It’s a little scary because now, when you make a decision, it’s just not for you. But you’ve got to make the decision for you and your spouse.

For some of you, you just became a parent for the very first time. And can I just say t being a parent is scary? And then you look at Little Johnny, or you look at Little Sallie, and you go, Oh, man, we’re stuck with this person for 18 years, dog on it. And that’s a little scary, right? And for some of us, you know, we got a new job, and it’s a new opportunity. And that’s scary for some people in retirement or who’ve just got laid off. The company just downsized. And as a result of that, maybe you’re a little afraid of what the future holds. You may be somehow or another used to their horrible divorce, and you’d never anticipated the divorce, but here you are. And all of these new doors that you’re walking through are scary. Can I just tell you something? God is giving me a word for you that are walking through new doors for you, that have new opportunities as you walk through some new doors in your life. I got some word from you from the Lord, and Jesus is saying to you that don’t be afraid of the new opportunity. Don’t be afraid to walk through the door. Let go of how you’ve been holding on to the things that you’re controlling. Let go of the way that it was last year or ten years ago, or five years ago. Let go of the way that you would dream for it to be, and embrace the fact that you’re walking through a new door. And on the other side of the new door is a new opportunity. There’s fresh grace available to you as you walk through that door, and do not be afraid. God wants you to take advantage of the opportunity that lies before you because every door takes you somewhere.See, I told you couldn’t handle the heat, but that’s okay. Maybe you can. As we continue out of the story today of verses ten, I want to give you four words to write down. And this is what happens when you say, Jesus, open SesameSesame. Jesus, you’re the command. Jesus, you are prompt. And when we do that, there are four things I want you to write down. Number one.

PROTECTION

I want you to write down the word protection. Protection? It’s waiting for you on the other side of the door. Now, some of you said. Well, where did you get that? Well, it’s right there in the passage. I want you to look with me at John chapter ten, verse nine, and what Jesus says.

“If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved.”

John 10:9

Now, folks, you understand that on the other side of the door, there is protection. And we need protection. And why is it necessary? Because we are in grave danger if we’re left alone. Do you understand that we are all sinners? That I’m a sinner. You’re a sinner. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve all fallen short of the standard that He has for my life and for your life. And all of us have done things that we should not have done. All of us have said things that we should have never said. All of us have sinned. And we’ve come up short of the mark that God has for our lives. And the problem is this The wages of sin are what? According to Romans 6:23, the wages of sin are death. And you have to understand something. God didn’t send Jesus to make bad people good. This is not why Jesus came to the world. God didn’t say, Hey, Jesus, go down to the world, make all of those bad people good. That’s not why Jesus came. Jesus came to bring dead people and give them life and to give them everlasting life. And that is the reason why Jesus Christ came. That is the gospel so that dead people can have love. And you see, being a Christian is much more than just having. Life insurance policy. It’s much more than just waiting to die and not going to hell. It’s just that we have some of us who think, Well, I just couldn’t walk through the door of salvation. I’m just going to walk through this door and enter and get protection on the other side. And the protection that I get on the other side, Drew, is that I get fire insurance. That means I’m not going to hell, and I’ve got eternal life. Folks, Can I tell you something? Is the blood of Jesus more important than that? The blood of Jesus provides us protection against all the things of life, not just fire in the church. As the old country preacher said, he said it this way.

NEW LEVELS = NEW DEVILS

Folks, When you go on to the next level in obedience to Jesus, what happens is when you walk through that door of opportunity. When you walk through it, what’s waiting on the other side for you? It’s not a pat on the back, but what you’re waiting for and what you’re going to find out is that the devil is trying to attack you at every single level for that reason. You know, for some of you that you’re thinking about stepping out in faith and that you’re going to join that serve team and you’re going to start serving, or you’re thinking about, hey, you know what? The pastor’s really been talking about generosity, and me, and my family, we’ve never stepped in the generosity. And it’s time for us to step into generosity, or for some of you, you’ve just been given the bare minimum, just kind of checking the box. But God is you to do something in your heart and wants to take you to the next level in your generosity. For some of you, you know, you’ve been resistant. You’ve been white-knuckled about joining a life group or hosting a life group in your home. How do you like that, Karla? I got you still have a group in your home that you know. You don’t have to be the leader, but you can open your home. Is that some of you’ve been white-knuckled about that? Can I just tell you maybe it’s volunteering at Easter that’s coming up with a special visit that’s coming up this summer? Let me tell you, what’s going to happen is that when you walk through that door, what’s going to happen is not a pat on the back, but you’re going to have new encounters with Satan himself. And here’s the thing that I want you to understand is that Jesus’s blood is enough to help you to fight the schemes of Satan. His blood is enough to help you to fight off the dark forces that come up against you as you live out the all in life for Jesus. Because here’s the reason why is that there’s protection on the other side of that door, and I want you to experience that protection just like everyone else is experiencing his protection. Isn’t that good that God wants to protect you? But there’s another thing on the other side of that door that you need to understand.

PROVISIONS

Is that we not only find the protection, but we find the provisions of God. Now, some of you, this is what I’ve been waiting for. I’m just trying to figure out what kind of provision God’s going to give to me. Look with me, John. Chapter ten, verse nine. He says.

“…he will find plenty of food.”

John 10:9 (NIRV)

There will be plenty of food. According to one translation, there’ll be plenty of food. Well, how does that work? How does God provide his provision? Well, here’s what I want you to understand we’re all in part three of the I am statements of Jesus. There are people who are going to be watching the Magnificent Seven, and they’re going to start in week one. You know what? They’re going to find out when they start out Week one, Drew. They’re going to find out that Jesus is the bread of life. But what do you mean? Jesus is the bread of life. We’re talking about. He is the door. Yeah, he’s the door, but he’s also the bread of life. And then, you know, you walk through the door, and you go, Well, I’m going to walk through the door. And as you walk through the door, you discover that you know what? Hey, there’s the bread of life on the other side. And how can I see all of his goodness? How am I able to see that he’s the bread of life? Because Jesus is the light of the world, And you are going well, But I thought that you were this, and yeah, I’m that. I thought you were that. Yeah, but I’m that too. And Jesus just keeps on, and here’s what Jesus does. And I’m not explaining this very well. He is what we need at the moment that we need it. That is who Jesus is and where. Wherever we’re at in the journey, whether it’s at the beginning of the I am statements, or whether we’re at the end of the I, I am statements, or anywhere along the continuum, whatever we need in our lives. Jesus is meant to be what we need in the very moment. He is our provision. He is our life and the length of our days. He is able to make all grace abound towards you. Don’t let him be the last call that you make, but let him be the first call that you make. Look to him for your daily bread. Look to him for rest. Is that everything that you’re looking for in life, my friends, is found in the provision of Jesus himself. So there’s protection. Not only is there protection, there’s provision, but not only is there protection and provision, but number three is. 

PRIVILEGE

Now, what is the privilege that I’m talking about here? Well, it’s found in John chapter ten, verse nine, and Jesus says, I am the door, and if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. And notice this. And he will go in, and he will go out, and you will find pasture. Now, I was trying to think about how to illustrate this. And one of the ways that you can demonstrate this is with valet parking. Have you ever valid parked at a hotel before? You know, so there are some hotels that make you valet parking, so you pay the daily rate. But the great thing about valet parking is that you get those. You get that little ticket. You can hand it to the door hop guy. And what does he do? He goes and fetches your automobile. He comes and brings it. He hands you the ticket back. You go out, you run some errands, and you go to a show. Whatever you do, you come back, and it allows you to do what? To go in and out as you, please. Maybe a better example was a couple of years ago when we had a staff retreat in Florida, and we had somebody to help us to get some free tickets to Disney World because the only way I was going was for the free ticket. And so we got a free ticket. And so we got up early that morning as a staff, and we drove our rental van up to Disney World. And we spent the day there, and we were getting ready to leave Disney World, and they had a little bitty sign that said exit. And it was just a little bitty sign. There’s only one outlet that says exit, and all the other exits say exit-hand step. Now you follow me here. What is that? There’s one little bitty exit that says exit. All the other one says exit hand step. And here’s what happens is that there’s Piers who’s got young toddlers, and they’re hanging out at Disney World. And then they want to go home, and they won’t let the kids take a nap. And so you don’t want to pay to get back in. And so you exit the door that says hand step. And when you go out, they will stamp your hand. But when you look at it, what shows up? Somebody knows. Well, it shows up. Nothing shows up because what I guess is fluorescent is what it’s called. And you have to take the UV light or something like that, and you have to show that. And then it shows that you can get entry back in. So if you go out and you want to go back to Disney World, the thing that you have to do you have to go into the entrance and you have to show them not only your ticket, but they won’t even let you in. Drew, if you have your ticket, you’ve got to show them your hand. And as they wave the magical, you have a lot over it. It will show that you’re able to come in, and you can come back in and enjoy it. And when I think about the stamp on her hands.

I think about what Jesus said to the Church of Philadelphia. He said I want to write my name on your hand. You know what he’s written in invisible ink on your hand and on my hand and on your heart and my heart. He’s written these words, I am in your hands, and he is sufficient for whatever you need. And it makes me also not only think of the Church of Philly, but it makes me think about how you and I were to come in and out of the church. We had the privilege of coming in to worship on Sunday morning. But folks, listen to me. We’re not designed to stay here all week long. Don’t you dare come to church and stay here all week? And, you know, we’re praising God for new songs. We’re praising God for the gospel message. We’re praising God for that wonderful fellowship. But listen to me, my friends, that we have the privilege of coming in here, worshiping together, worshiping God, fellowship ing with one another, learning new worship songs, and hearing the word of God preach. But we are not designed to stay here. We’re designed to go back out and tell the world about Jesus because you have family members, you have people at your work, you have people in your city, you have people in your neighborhood that need to know about Jesus Christ. And we have the privilege of coming in and being filled up. But then we also have the privilege of leaving and being scattered and telling people about Jesus Christ. And that is the privilege that we have. And how can we do that? Because we are protected. We also understand the fact that Jesus is our provision. Because of that, we have the privilege of going in and out. Does it make sense? One last thing I want you to write down. Then we’ll be done. Is.

PLEASURES

This is the last thing I want you to write down. And this is so amazing that when you enter through the door, there are all of these pleasures that are waiting for you right now in this life. There are also pleasures in the next life. And what we focus on mainly as Christians is all the pleasures that are going to happen on the other side of that door. But I just want to tell you about some of the privileges of this. And look what it says in John Chapter ten. First ten The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. You will know what the devil’s game plan is. There’s the devil’s game plan. It’s been this game plan from the very beginning. It never changes throughout the course of the history of humanity but is known as the Game Plan of God. And Jesus says of calm that they may have life. One translation said that they may have more abundant life. Another translation says Turbocharged life. Another translation said Red bull infuses life. Okay. That is what it said. You know, but here’s the thing is that Jesus wants to give us life and to give it to us superabundantly. He wants it to be brimming over. And listen to me, my friends. God just doesn’t want to give you peace. He wants to give you peace. That surpasses all understanding. Do you understand that? He doesn’t just want to give you joy. But notice this. He wants to give you joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. God wants to give you forgiveness. But not just any type of forgiveness. He wants to abundantly pardon you. God wants to extend grace to you, but he just doesn’t want to give you just a little ounce or two of grace. What kind of grace does he want to give to you? He wants to give you so much grace that your cup and your life is overflowing abundantly with the grace of God. Listen to me. God just doesn’t want to give us little bitty plans. Here’s what God wants to do. God can do anything far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams. Folks, we can collectively put our wildest dreams together. And God is bigger than all of that. Listen to me, friends, that God wants us to have an abundant life right now. He wants us to have pleasures in this day and age. But that’s all in this life. Here’s the question. What happens to us when we die? What happens to us the moment that we leave this world? What happens? And I love how the Scripture says that in Revelation four one. And after these things, I looked and beheld what was there? Someone tell me. A door was standing open in heaven. I want you to write this down. It’s on the screen. There’s an open-door policy in heaven.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.”

Revelation 4:1 (NKM)

Don’t you just love that there’s an open-door policy? No, it’s not the open door that we think about. Okay, But it’s an open-door policy. I mean, we’re the only people in humanity, in the history of humanity, that when we walk up to a door, we expect the door to do what? As soon as we walk up to it, it is open. We think it should be automatic. And she goes Boom. And would you just walk through it? Then when we walk through it, it just, you know, closed behind us. Have you ever been, you know, in the airport and the escalator is not working? What in the world is going on? This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I cannot believe that I got to walk down the terminal to get to the next terminal because while we think that everything and if the door’s not working, we have to go up and open the door. Is it, folks? Let’s do it. We think that’s the end of the world. That’s not the open-door policy. The open door policy that Jesus is talking about here is that Jesus has given you the opportunity. Listen to me, my friends. It’s to open the door for other people in our life that Jesus expects you and to embrace and enforce the open door policy. And the open door policy is, is that we, as ladies and gentlemen of the faith, treat other people like ladies and gentlemen. We open the door for them, and we tell them they’re on the other side of this door. There’s protection. There’s a provision that there’s pleasure there. There are all kinds of things that are waiting for them on the other side. And listen to me, my friends. We just can’t let Chick-Fil-A have all the fun, right? Open the doors for people. We can’t let Ritz Carlton have all the fun is that God has empowered you and me to have open doors and to point people to everlasting love. And so this morning, to help you, to point people, and to understand that your job is to open doors, I want you to listen to a testimony. And the testimony comes from our own. So, Jason, if you would come up and Jason is going to talk about how God has convicted him to be an individual who opens the door for other people and helps them to find Jesus. Would you welcome Jason to the stage?

Good morning. Good morning. I’m Jason Landfills. My family and I have attended here at Eastside since 2015. I’m humbled to be in front of you, telling you a little bit about my journey with Christ. On January 29th, Darryl Strawberry came to Eastside and gave another powerful message to us. This picture is a really special image for me. A lot of student-athletes took their step, their spiritual step. But what it also represents is a spiritual step that I have taken. A week before Dale came to Eastside, I reached out to ACU head coach Kris Prothro and asked to see if he was interested in asking his athletes and his team to come to hear his message. As an ex-athlete myself, I recall how powerful a message can be from someone you look up to. Athletes that I had made connections with and looked up to during my own athletic career opened the door for me. So I felt the call to do the same. What you don’t know is that inviting others wasn’t always a comfortable step for me. Have you ever had situations where you felt like God was at work in your life? Well, like I said, I’m an ex-baseball player. I played at EKU. We had the opportunity for success. I played for great coaches and alongside great teammates. In my junior year, I was selected in the 16th round of the Major League Baseball draft. This was a dream come true. God was working in my life. I played six professional seasons. But professional baseball led me to a lot of adversity, both as a ballplayer and in my personal life. But God kept pursuing me. Now, remember I said he’s moving things in my life. He was intentionally placing me where I needed to be. Well, my first two seasons. Did not go as planned. I was left in extended spring training without making the team. When a guy in Modesto, California, which is high-a baseball, got hurt, they needed to fill the roster. And guess who got the call? It wasn’t me. In fact, the guy who did get the call had to miss a flight for me to get the opportunity. At the time, I thought it was him moving things. Divine intervention for me to get all the way to the big leagues and make millions of dollars. That was not the case, unfortunately. But what God did was greater. Baseball was a way for me to make connections with others and, eventually, a way for me to hold the door open for others. See, God surrounded me with good Christian men who modeled the behavior of what it’s like to walk with Jesus. And I wanted that. After my baseball career had come to an end, God never stopped pursuing me in my journey. My wife and I found Eastside, and we are part of a small group with Josh and Sarah Stuart. This amazing group of people models what it looks like to walk with Jesus. I’m also part of a men’s group that models the same behavior. I’m praying, spending time in the world, and even inviting people into the walk with God. Most recently, I took another step in my journey and invited a friend to church. Not only did he show up, but his family attended regularly, and he’s also joined our men’s group. And even today, my mom and my dad came. I don’t know where you are with your journey or how loud he’s been knocking on the door for you. But I encourage you to open the door and start walking with Jesus. I’m nowhere near the end of my journey, but the door is now open, and I don’t think he’ll ever let me close it. Thank you.

And there’s an open-door policy in heaven. And the open door is you. And I open it for others and pointing them to Jesus. And we have an opportunity coming up, Christians. We’ve made it super easy with March 26 with Missy Robertson being here. It’s going to be super easy with Easter because Easter and Christmas is when you extend the invitation. The likelihood of someone unchurched coming is astronomically high, and you should take a chance. But the reality is there are some people here already this morning. And they’re here, and they’ve never taken advantage of the open door that Christ has for them. And here’s the question that I have for you that is here. Who does not know? Jesus? Have you opened the door of your heart? You know, Rose and I often travel with friends, you know, and we stay at a hotel, and we always get adjoining rooms. Do you know what I’m talking about? And there are these two doors that are bolted together. And Rose and I will unlock our door. We’ll open the door up, and we’ll knock on the other door, which is our friends who are next door. You know what I’m talking about. Even that’s ever done that. And that is the gospel of Jesus. That’s the picture that we find in Revelation chapter three, verse 20, where Jesus says, I’ve unlocked my door, I’ve opened my door, I’m standing, and I’m knocking at your door. I’m just waiting for you to open your door. And if you open your door, you know what Jesus says? Jesus says, I will come in, and I will take up residence in your heart. I will become a constant companion in your life. And here’s the question. Have you opened the door of your heart to Jesus? We’ll give you an opportunity to do that. And the reason why we will give you an opportunity is that Jesus has taken care of your sin issue and my sin issue. And how did he take care of it when he left heaven? He came to the earth. He lived the perfect life. He was now to the cross, laid in the grave. And on the third day. What did he do? He came up out of the grave. And because of that, he’s one victory over death, sin, and the grave. And he is God’s open SesameSesame to eternal life. And so, would you pray with me, please? With no one looking around.

Father. We are thankful for Jesus. Who said the door? Father. Thank you for the simple message and the. Image of a door. We pray now that many would open that door for the very first time and allow him in their hearts to experience his amazing grace. And as we’re all praying right now at this moment. Christians, as you’re praying about whom God would have you invite. 4 to 10 with you that you can open the door for. I want you to also pray for those who are here this morning who need to receive Christ. And some of you go, Wow, I don’t know. I never received Christ. But right now, I’m just sensing someone overwhelmed by this. I’m feeling a tug on my heart. I’m feeling that my hands are palms are just a little sweaty right now. Hey, can I tell you something? That is all of God letting you know that he is present to let you know. He’s calling you home. They are inviting you to open the door of your heart so that he can come here. And if you’re ready to surrender your life to Jesus, you’re ready to open the door of your heart and say, Jesus, come into my life. Be my Lord, be my Savior. Here’s what I’m going to ask you to do in a moment. If that is you, I want to ask you to do me a favor. I want to ask you. To raise your hand just in a moment. And the reason why I ask you to raise your hand is so I can just know how many people to include in this prayer that we’re going to pray. And the prayer is inviting Jesus into your life. And so if you’re here this morning and you’re ready to receive eternal life, ready to invite Jesus into your heart, will you just raise your hand real quick for me? Just hold it up. I’m just going to look around the room. See one. We have one back there. Thank you. Someone else? With her hand held her. I met. Hey, man, we got one. So would you look at the screen? Look at the screen with me. And let’s just collectively read this prayer of open door.

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. Please forgive me of my sins. I can’t fix myself, but I believe you can. I want to make you my Lord, my Savior.

Help me follow you, come into my heart, make me new. Thank you for new life. I give you mine. Amen.

Could we welcome this one person into the kingdom of God? Absolutely. And this morning, as we celebrate a new life of being transformed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of life. Scripture says that angels are doing the same thing. Heaven is doing the same thing. And this morning, as we close out, I want us to close out with this. Cause this gives me Jesus because he’s worth more than anything else. So would you stand? And let’s worship together.