Throughout the Bible there are many stories of people who were gifted by God with special authority, power, or responsibilities. Those who were truly close to God were given the greatest responsibility. Look at a few of these examples: Abraham was taken in his old age and given a family, and land, and promises that would lead to a nation and the Savior of the world. The Bible refers to Abraham as “the friend of God.” Moses freed his people. The Bible says God spoke with Him “face-to-face” as a man does his friend. David was chosen to lead his nation, and God promised his family the throne of Israel forever. The Bible says David was a “man after God’s own heart.” Regrettably, only a precious few people in the Bible are spoken of as having such an intimate, personal closeness with God. However, God makes it clear that He has called many to such closeness. He even told King Saul, whom He later rejected, that He would have given him a Kingdom forever if he had only obeyed Him with his whole heart. Alas, Saul rejected God, and thus God rejected Saul in favor of David. How close is your relationship to the One Living God? Did you know that it is possible to draw as close to Jesus as any of His closest disciples? They only thing stopping us is, us. The Multitudes & The Seventy The Bible provides an interesting illustration for those who say they respect, or even follow Jesus’ teachings, but don’t really know Him personally. Multitudes followed Christ—but they did not know Him. “He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan” (Matthew 4:23-25). “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (John 6:26). Like the instance recorded above, many people followed Jesus to hear Him speak, or to have Him perform some miracle for them. But they did not know Him personally, or follow Him because of who He really was. Are you primarily interested in Jesus’ teaching as a philosophy or guide for life? Do you think there might be more to Jesus than just His words? Out of the multitudes, God picks some to know Him. “He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him” (Mark 2:13-14). There are some in the great throng of people who respect Jesus, who like His words, who want something more than a guide or philosophy for life. Levi was such a man. Notice that Levi did not ask to follow Jesus, rather, Jesus saw in Levi a man who wanted to follow Him, and Jesus called Him to Himself. How has God called you to Himself? What persuades you that you need to know Jesus and follow Him? The Seventy followed Jesus, some knew Him and were true disciples, some did not know Him and were not true disciples. “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go” (Luke 10:1). “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:58-66). When the words of Jesus are nice and agreeable to us, or not too difficult to understand or justify, it is easy to say we believe in Him and follow Him. The real test of what we believe comes when the harder, even offensive sayings of Jesus ring in our ears—as it was with those who followed Jesus, but then withdrew from Him. What difficulties do you have with some of Jesus’ teachings? Are their passages in the Bible you don’t believe, or don’t want to obey? What will you do if God calls you to follow Him by living out such passages? The Twelve & The Three Of the many thousands that followed Jesus and listened to His words, there were only a precious few who really knew Him, and not only followed Him—but walked with Him. What set them apart from the others? The Twelve are those whom Jesus chose that He wanted to be with Him.  “He went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:13-14). “Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 13:10-12). The first thing that marks someone who is close to Jesus is that Jesus wants him or her close to Himself. He has chosen us. Second, to those who come close to Jesus, He reveals truth that others cannot know. Would you classify yourself as one that God has called to be close to Himself? If not, it may be that you have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Savior. Would you like to know Jesus personally? The Twelve had a level of personal relationship with Jesus that the Seventy did not have. The 12 spent private time with Jesus at the Last Supper. He revealed secrets of His life to them. He entrusted them with His own mission and teachings. How has God trusted you with His word? How can your relationship with God grow deeper? The Three were Jesus’ closest disciples and friends. They had a level of intimacy with Jesus that the others did not have. They knew Him best and were used by Him the most. “And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately…” (Mark 13:3). “He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard” (Mark 14:33-44). “He allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James” (Mark 5:37). Peter, James, and John were Jesus’ “inner circle.” We might even call them His “best friends.” Peter’s passion won thousands to Christ. John served Jesus the longest, finally dying in his 90s. How much do you want to be used by God? What steps can you take that will open you up to greater service and use by God? The Three were more like Jesus than the others. Peter exercised the passion for the lost. John exercised Jesus’ heart of mercy. What qualities of Jesus belong to you? What qualities do you desire? The One “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). The One (John) was closer to Christ than anyone else, and expressed Jesus heart more than anyone else. “One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus” (John 13:23). John is the only disciple of whom the Bible says he is the one “whom Jesus loved.” He had a special, close, tenderness in his relationship to Jesus. Does this mean Jesus did not love the others as much, or that John simply responded to Jesus in a greater degree? Why or why not? The One (John) was trusted with the things closest to Jesus’ heart.  “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” (John 19:26). John was entrusted with the care of Jesus’ mother. He, and no other disciple, was given this task. What do you think this says about Jesus’ trust for John, and for John’s devotion to Jesus? Application: The closer we come to Christ, the more like Him we become, and the more our heart will care about the things He cares about. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). This does not mean that God will give us whatever we ask for in this life. Rather, it means that when we delight ourselves in Jesus we will want more of him in our relationship to God. God will answer such a prayer with a yes. “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29). The closer to Christ, the greater the authority. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” (John 19:26). In ancient Mid-East culture, the eldest son was regarded as the head of the family after the father died. Jesus had many brothers and sisters—but he entrusted John with the care of His mother. Those closest to Christ are used the most. John was used by Jesus the longest having lived longer than any other Apostle. Paul was used in more places and has influenced more cultures than any single Apostle. Our level of use to God depends upon our closeness to Him, and how well we allow the Word of God and passion of Jesus to transform and guide our daily lives.

People can be perturbing. Marriage and family life would be a lot less stressful if husbands and children didn’t sometimes act irresponsibly or disregard our feelings or instructions. Ministry would go more smoothly and be less demanding if people weren’t so needy or would just get their act together. Many of the issues we face in our jobs would go away if it weren’t for inexperienced coworkers, demanding clients, or impatient customers. Yes, people may cause the lion’s share of our headaches. But when we serve people, we serve Christ. And when we treat people with kindness rather than indifference or impatience, we become channels of blessing, dispensing gracious words and actions that can’t help but adorn the gospel of Christ. The Proverbs 31 Example The woman whose description we know so well from Proverbs 31 is a lovely, biblical model of kindness in action. Wherever this strong, gifted, diligent woman goes, she leaves a trail of goodness, and she ministers grace to everyone around her: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (Prov. 31:26). But note who benefits first from this woman’s industry and goodwill. For her, kindness begins at home. With her family. With her inner circle. With those who share her daily life. Her kindness toward her husband, for example, is displayed in a daily commitment that remains undiminished with the passing of time or when their relationship may be in a hard place: “She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life” (Prov. 31:12). Not a day is wasted by lashing out in frustration and anger or being passive-aggressive. Every day is seen as an opportunity to do her husband good with her attitude, words, and actions. This is a huge gift she gives to him—and to herself, as her husband responds with the highest of praise for his wife. The Proverbs 31 woman’s selfless, thoughtful deeds also bless her entire family as she labors tirelessly and faithfully to ensure their needs are met. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. . . . She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed (vv. 21, 27–28). Those Closest to Us The fact is nowhere am I more tempted to be selfish and lazy than in my home and my closest relationships. And I fear this is true for most of us—wives and moms, as well as those who live with other family members or friends. Too often, I’m afraid, we show more concern and kindness for neighbors, colleagues, store clerks, or complete strangers than for those who live under the same roof with us or who are related to us by blood or marriage. If a couple were staying at our house for the weekend, we’d be sure clean towels were in the bathroom, their linens were freshly washed, dinner was flexible to their schedule, and a fresh pot of coffee was brewing in the morning. But when our own kids and husband need something—well, they know where the refrigerator is and how to turn on the oven. Right? Managing a busy household, dealing with the daily tasks related to serving husbands and kids—or whatever other responsibilities you may have—requires diligence and discipline day in and day out. It requires hard work, sometimes exhausting work. But it also requires kindness—or as one commentator put it, “a lack of irritability in light of the nagging demands of mundane and routine household duties.”1 And that’s where things can get challenging. It’s so easy for us to be like the woman who once lamented to me with refreshing candor, “I’m only good enough to look good to the world.” At home, it’s often another story. When I’m out speaking at a conference, I can be exceedingly gracious, kind, and patient with long lines of women who want to share their burdens and their (at times long, detailed) stories, looking them in the eyes, never complaining about my tired, aching back and feet. But when those closest to me—in my home, my family, or our ministry—need a listening ear, an attentive heart, or a thoughtful act, I can be preoccupied, unfeeling, or just too busy. Who among us hasn’t had the experience of being in the middle of a tense, unkind exchange at home, only to instantly change our tone and talk warmly with a outsider who calls or stops by? What does that say to our loved ones about how we value them and about the authenticity of our “kindness” to others? Extra Helpings of Grace Yes, kindness at home takes extra effort. Home is where we experience most acutely those daily annoyances and disappointments that tempt us to develop an attitude. So kindness at home also requires extra helpings of grace, which in turn requires daily dependence on God and the support of our Titus 2 sisters. Already, in the short time I’ve been a wife, I’ve witnessed at moments the distance-creating, intimacy-killing impact of a lack of kindness on my part toward my husband. Unkind words spoken thoughtlessly, kind words left unspoken, inconsiderate actions; being too self-absorbed to notice and celebrate an accomplishment in my husband’s business; wounding him in sensitive areas with insensitive teasing; being too busy with my own stuff to carry out small acts of kindness that would serve and bless him. But I’ve also experienced the incredible importance and power of kindness in a marriage. I have seen it modeled in the marriages of some of my closest friends and of my Titus 2 mentors. And Robert’s tender heart and his consistent kindness—always looking for ways to serve and bless me—have inspired me to be more tuned in to how I can do good to him. Being the recipient of his kindness has increased my desire to outdo him in this area. Often, I’ve found, it’s the little things—the simple expressions of gratitude and kindness—that express love to my husband and set the tone in our relationship. Leaving encouraging sticky notes in his One-Year Bible when he is headed out on a trip. Turning down the sheet on his side of the bed at night. Delivering a sandwich and cold root beer on a hot day when he’s outside working on a project. Stopping in the middle of a busy work day to head downstairs to his study and find out how his day is going. Honoring his preferences over mine. Assuming the best when he forgets to tell me a piece of news. Choosing to overlook some perceived (or real) slight rather than grinding his nose in it. A kind heart expressed in kind words and kind deeds oils our relationship and softens and draws our hearts toward each other. Your call to kindness at home will probably take different forms from mine. It may involve curbing a sharp reaction to a childish accident, replenishing the fridge with snacks for a teen, helping a roommate with a project, repeating yourself gently to an elderly parent. But if we were all to demonstrate true kindness toward the people who know us best and see us at our worst, our more public displays of affection would likely ring more true. And I suspect that if we showed more kindness at home, we’d also find ourselves growing genuinely kinder toward everyone else. How about you? Would the people who live in your home and work with consider you a kind woman? Why or why not? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. This post is an excerpt from Nancy’s book, Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together.  1Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 1992), 301. reviveourhearts.com.

On June 16th, 1991, the Chicago Bulls were playing the New York Knicks. I grew up in the Chicago area, I think I watched every game that Jordan played, because it would be a sin of omission not to. But I didn’t just watch those games, after those games I would go out on my driveway and I would try to imitate and replicate every move that Jordan made. The ball fake, didn’t work real well. The head fake, right? The crossover dribble, the fade away jumper, and I would even go out and duplicate some of those dunks. And this one still gives me goosebumps. You watch it. And I remember this dunk like it was yesterday because I went out in my driveway and I blew by an imaginary John Starks, right? And did a little spin move on an imaginary Charles Oakley, and then I posturized Patrick Ewing. We got it, there we go. Now, if you’re taking notes, I want you to jot this down. You’ll find it on the NCC app. Pastor Joel. Are you ready? No matter who you are, no matter what you do, everybody is somebody’s disciple. Turn to your neighbor and say it. Everybody is somebody’s disciple Consciously or subconsciously, we pattern our lives after someone, how we talk, how we think, how we act and interact. It’s patterned after teachers, and coaches, family, and friends, and heroes. And so for 10 years of my life, my life was basketball, high school, college, that’s who I was, that’s what I did. My nickname in college was the Black Hole. ‘Cause if you passed the ball to me, you weren’t getting it back. ‘Cause I never saw a shot I didn’t like. And so I’d go out in that driveway, and I left out one little detail. I would duplicate his dunks with a trampoline, okay? My game was not on par with Michael Jordan, but my game was patterned after Jordan. I wanted to be like Mike, I wanted to shoot like Mike, jump like Jordan, I drank Gatorade, and I even pulled out a old pair of Air Jordans, ’cause you gotta wear the shoes. Now I’ve shared this before, would you indulge me, let me just share it again? Was speaking at a conference in Minneapolis a few years ago and Clark Kellogg was the MC, Clark was first around draft pick NBA, 1982, year before Jordan was drafted. And so I get done speaking and I’m coming off the stage, and Clark Kellogg says you played ball, didn’t you? I think I started blushing. And then he says, I could tell by the way you walk. Next to marrying my wife, this is the greatest moment of my life. Like I could have died and gone to heaven, okay? And what I realized in that moment, I wasn’t just trying to dribble, or defend, I was trying to even walk like Jordan. Everybody is somebody’s disciple. So when it came to basketball, I wanted to be like Mike. When it comes to life, I wanna be just like Jesus. I wanna love like Jesus, I wanna pray like Jesus, I wanna think like Jesus, I wanna tell stories like Jesus, I wanna do miracles like Jesus. Max Lucado said, “God loves just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus”. Someone who follows Jesus is just someone who has made a conscious and conscientious decision to pattern their lives after the way of Jesus. That’s what we’re gonna talk about today. Welcome to National Community Church. Shout out to our campuses, our online family, extended family online. We’re wrapping up a series called Genius, and it would be a sin of omission not to talk about the genius of Jesus, right? But where do you even start? Okay, to say that Jesus is genius is like saying that Chance the Rapper is a rapper. Like thank you, captain obvious. Like Jesus, so good, and so God, and so genius at so many things, I don’t even know where to start. So why don’t we start with the first miracle? The genius of Jesus is turning water into wine. That’s your amen right there, come on. And not just wine, fine wine. 37 recorded miracles in the gospels. I mean my favorite, man born blind, which means there’s no synaptic pathway between the optic nerve and visual cortex in the brain. Jesus does synaptogenesis, genius. The genius of Jesus was storytelling. Did you know that most of the parables, less than 250 words. But hear ’em once, you’ll remember them forever. Sermon on the mount, just over a thousand words, how does he do this? And I dare say, no ethic in the history of humankind is as compelling or as counterintuitive, right? Like love your enemies, pray for those of persecute you, bless those who curse you, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and give the shirt off your back. Genius. Genius of Jesus was washing feet. The greatest of all is the servant of all. The genius of Jesus is offending Pharisees. So good at it, did it with great regularity, great intentionality, could have healed any day of the week. Why not heal on the Sabbath? Killed two birds with one stone, heal the person who’s hurting and confront the self-righteousness of the Pharisees at the same time. The genius of Jesus is rewriting the rules. He touched lepers, he ate with sinners, and he celebrated Samaritans. The genius of Jesus is simplicity on the far side of complexity, 1,613 old covenant commands, and Jesus gives us the cliff notes called the great commandment. Love God, heart, soul, mind, and strength, love your neighbor as yourself, and he says, all the prophets, all the law hang on this one commandment, genius. The genius of Jesus was forgiving 70 times 7. Hanging on a cross, says Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. The genius of Jesus was exercising authority with humility, caught in the perfect storm on the Sea of Galilee, stands up in the boat and rebukes the wind and the waves. Peace, be still. Genius. Edwin Friedman defined leadership as being a non anxious presence. You tell me, have you ever met anyone less nervous, less anxious than Jesus? Genius of Jesus is spotting potential. Come on, none of these disciples were first round draft picks and Jesus turns them into world changers. Like we talk about our faith in God, what about God’s faith in you? Religious leaders berating a woman for breaking open a alabaster jar of perfume. All they can see are her presenting problems. Jesus said, what she just did will be told of her until my second coming. And that prophecy was fulfilled again right now. Genius. The genius of Jesus is empathy. We do not have a high priest who was unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who was tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin. No one could read minds or read rooms like Jesus. I’m just riffing, we’re barely getting started, how are we doing? This is the tip, I love Jesus on a thousand levels. And not just because of what he accomplished on the cross and because of an empty tomb, I just love who he is and what he does. Genius of Jesus was grace and truth. John 1:14, “The word became flesh, made his dwelling among us, full of grace and truth”. Grace means I will forgive you no matter what, truth means I’ll be honest with you no matter what. Listen, grace without truth is weak sauce. Truth without grace is hot sauce. Grace and truth, secret sauce. The way Jesus showed grace and moved with compassion. The grace of God, the very expression of the grace of God, didn’t compromise his convictions. I mean this great moment where woman caught in the act of adultery, awkward, right? Religious leaders wanna stone her to death. Jesus, basically over my dead body, what does he say? He says, let the person who is without sin cast the first stone. Drop the mic, Jesus, right? It’s genius, you can’t argue with that. But then he flips the coin and says, go and sin no more. Why? ‘Cause true wisdom has two sides. One more just to wet the appetite. And this is the appetizer, by the way, I’ll let you into my world for a second. When I go to a restaurant, I can’t figure out what I want, I get the sampler platter, ’cause I want ribs, and wings, and skins, and mozzarella sticks. So you’re eating a sampler platter right now, okay? This is the appetizer. The genius of Jesus is answering questions with questions. You know, I kinda like Jack Handey, one of my favorite philosophers, “SNL”, “Deep Thoughts”. He said, “Whenever someone asked me what it means to love, I spin around pin the guy’s arm behind his back, now who’s asking the questions”? Jesus does this all the time. There’s this moment when the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus, Jewish people under Roman occupation, right? And so they want a political savior to deliver them from Caesar. So they ask Jesus this trick question, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? And this is one of those no win situations. Because if he says no, don’t pay taxes, it’s rebellion against Rome, right? And if he says, yes, he’s throwing the Jewish people under the bus. So you can’t win, he can’t win here, what does he do? Give me a coin. Whose image is on it? Caesar, well, why don’t we give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and give unto God what is God’s? Hmm, how does he do this? The wisdom, the discernment, the dexterity, unbelievable. I think Jesus is the least dualistic person to ever live. Wasn’t just A and B, right or wrong, black or white, the genius of Jesus is divergent thinking. Ask no less than 307 questions in the gospels. Here’s the thought, God gave us two ears, one mouth, what if we use them in that proportion? Just a thought. The genius of Jesus is actually dialogue, it’s listening, it’s actually asking questions, and not just genuine questions, but asking disingenuine questions with another question. Do you know the average child asks 125 questions per day, average adult, six, somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose 119 questions per day. I would suggest becoming like a little child, becoming like Jesus is recapturing some of those questions. We are so polarized right now. Why? Because we politicize everything. The genius of Jesus is theologizing, it’s the verb form of theology. It’s treating everyone and everything in theological terms. And so we have a theology of dignity, a theology of equality, a theology of sexuality, a theology of diversity, we actually have theological thoughts about these things and it informs the way that we express who Jesus is. All I know is this, hashtags are not gonna get us where we need to go. Virtue signaling, not gonna get us where we need to go. Baiting, trolling, canceling, not gonna get us, Jesus is gonna get us where we need to go, and we’re gonna follow him in all of his genius. Lord help us. Jesus, so good, so God, so genius, so many things we could spend hours on every single one of those. Part of me wants to talk about the fancy ones, but I’m gonna go old school and keep it so simple and so obvious and just major in majors. I wanna talk about three things. The genius of Jesus is prayer. Genius of Jesus is the church, that’s you. The genius of Jesus is the cross. Luke 11:1, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when he finished, one of his disciples said, Lord, teach us to do miracles”. No, that’s what I’m asking, isn’t that what you’re asking, teach us to cast out demons. Hmm, teach us to preach in parables, teach us to lead, teach us to disciple, teach us to start 501C3 nonprofits. All of those things are good, but that’s not what they ask, Lord teach us to pray. How must he have been praying for them to just, you can feel it can’t you? Oh Jesus, we wanna pray with that kind of intimacy, with that kind of authority. Don’t you wanna pray like Jesus? Can I go on record? I think God is raising up a remnant, I think God is activating gifts of the spirit, I think God is calling us to dream big, pray hard, and think long. So I’m gonna make an announcement, can I get a drum roll online, in person, campuses, little drum roll, it’s Pentecost Sunday, you can keep going, keep going. It’s Pentecost Sunday, that’s significant, because two years ago we launched something called Upper Zoom. By the way, join us on Wednesday mornings, Upper Zoom, but keep going, keep going. But this Thursday night we’re gonna launch something new, yes, we’ve been gathering on Thursdays, but when God does a new thing, he often gives it a new name. And so we’re gonna launch something called House of Prayer. Why? Because as I read the gospels, I am hard pressed to find a moment where Jesus is more animated, goes into the temple, my goodness, turns over some tables with a homemade whip, jump back Indiana Jones, drives out the animals and the money changers, and he says from the depths of his soul, my house will be called a house of prayer for all people. So two years ago, I’m on a silent retreat, need to declutter my head, declutter my heart, need to cleanse my ears, and I hear the still, small voice of God. And here’s what I heard, okay? My house will be called a house of prayer, and it came with a promise. I felt like the Holy Spirit said, if you pray like it depends on me, if you will be a house of prayer, I’ll make it a house of miracles, a house of healing, a house of dreams, I’ll make it everything you want it to be. Hmm, I’m a little worked up. So House of Prayer, and it’s only one expression, but would you join us Thursday nights, 7:00-8:00, Capital Turnaround. I’m gonna make five promises, we’re gonna, one, worship, we’re gonna raise the roof. Two, we’re gonna pray and we’re gonna pray through to the breakthrough. We believe in the power of prayer. Three, we’re gonna celebrate communion. And I’m gonna tell you why, I need more time at the foot of the cross these days. And so we’re gonna make that pilgrimage back, Thursday night, celebrate communion. Number four, I’m not gonna preach a 30 minute message, but we’ll have a Rhema word, and I’m gonna tell you, ’cause when I pray the word of God, I have a lot more confidence. Why? ‘Cause his word doesn’t return void, because God is watching over his word to perform it, Jeremiah 1:12, and number five, we’re gonna aim at the altar, ’cause play and church isn’t gonna work. We gotta get busy with the Father’s business. And so we’re gonna aim at that altar and we’re gonna see what God does. And so you don’t wanna miss this Thursday, it’s gonna be so fun, ’cause my favorite classes growing up in school were field trips and show and tell, those aren’t really classes, but those were my favorite, favorite things. And so we already did a little show and tell, right, little show and tell, we’re gonna take a field trip. Right now we’re building out 30,000 square feet of office space on the east side of the Capital Turnaround. Very few of you have ever seen it, it’s actually 58,000 square feet over there versus 43,000 square feet on the part that we have renovated. And we’re gonna walk through there because for the first time in 26 years, we will have a dedicated space to pray, call it a prayer room, call it the upper room, it’s gonna be a place we’re gonna press in and pray through. And we need to get up there before it’s finished painting, and all the trappings, and pen some prayers on those walls. So we’re gonna take a field trip on Thursday night, you join us, we’ll pop up there. It’s gonna be a special moment. Here’s what I know for sure, prayer is the difference between the best we can do and the best God can do. Prayer is a difference between us fighting for God and God fighting for us. Prayer is a difference between letting things happen and making things happen. Prayer is the way we write history before it happens. And prayer is when, and where, and how we get the God ideas that we need, ’cause we need to bring some supernatural solutions to the table, we need God’s anointing right about now. Can I share one more thought? I think, and I’m afraid that prayer has become a little bit of a hashtag, it’s what we say when we don’t know what to say when there’s some kind of tragedy, which these days seems to happen every day. And then we don’t really do it. Prayer, it’s not some platitude, prayer isn’t even offering condolences, prayer is not some kind of cop out, prayer is our greatest privilege and our most powerful weapon. We are talking to the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth, and it’s how we approach the throne of grace with confidence to find mercy and receive grace to help us in our time of need. You know us well enough, we’re gonna pray like it depends on God, we’re gonna work like it depends on us, and miracles are gonna happen in the process. Isn’t it interesting? Prayer is not our last resort, prayer is our first retort. Greatest tragedy in life are the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked. Right before the ascension, yeah, Jesus says go, go into all the world, but what does he say first? Wait, wait, wait. You better get up to that upper room, you better pray through for 10 days, now you have the power, now you have the outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit to do supernatural things. Hmm, house of prayer. Alright, number two, the genius of Jesus is the church. Matthew 16:18, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”. Now I’m gonna say a few things up front, okay? There are no perfect churches. ‘Cause there are no perfect people. And there are no perfect pastors. As soon as I am completely sanctified, I will let you know, but I would not hold your breath. Right, cops pulled me over half hour before service. They should have given me a ticket, I totally deserved it, I’m just confessing right now. I was literally in a hurry to get here and I cut someone off and I deserved a ticket. They showed me grace, praise the Lord, just putting that out there, okay? But I will say this, and it grieves my heart and it grieves the heart of God. So many people have been hurt by church. But you’re here. That’s what I’m talking about, because then we don’t just throw the baby out with the bath water, no, because I don’t see anything else. This is the body of Christ, that’s what we’re called. And so let me talk ecclesiology for just a second, little theology of the church, okay? One, you can’t go to church ’cause you are the church. We have thousands of campuses, we are wherever you go, we do whatever you do. What is this whole series about? Passion, gift, history, personality that you are a unique expression of his kingdom. I mean, there are 17 things that we care so deeply about, but there’s not a single person in this church that can do all 17. But we can rally around each other’s God-given passions, I will say this, there has to be a baseline of obedience. There has to be a baseline of caring, that the things that break the heart of God should break our hearts. But here’s the thing, you can’t let what you can’t do keep you from doing what you can. I’m gonna love on you a little bit, I hope I hope this is okay, one of the primary reasons people leave churches, including this church, is because your passion, which I wanna affirm, isn’t the only thing we’re talking about, and we weight things differently. But this is the genius of Jesus, like we’re a body, like the foot can’t say to the hand, you should be a foot. No, we need to be all of these things. So pastor Mark, then what does that look like? I’ll tell you what it looks like. I mean, I think it was a few years ago, we were resettling 65% of the refugees to the DC area. How does that happen? I’m gonna tell you exactly how it happens. It’s a few really passionate people who care deeply, who then exercise their energy to stand in the gap and make a difference. Every single day, we’re turning hope into a habit at the DC Dream Center, every day, loving on kids. Why? Because we think the best way to change things is you go upstream and you love kids, and disciple kids, and you lay a foundation early on. Well, how does that happen? A few really passionate people, let’s go, Pastor Ernest, Louis, Ms. Tammy, Jason, so many people, Jill, so many people that are investing so much time and energy. For two decades, we have loved on our friends experiencing homelessness, we have blessed, and ministered, and cared for. Every Wednesday night we turn Ebenezers into the Living Room. How does that happen? A few really passionate people exercise their gifts through their history, through their personality. Now the church is the church. What I’m getting at, you are the genius of Jesus. We are the genius of Jesus. We are the manifold wisdom of God, polipoikulos in Greek, it means multicolored. But your passions are gonna be different than mine, mine are gonna be different than yours, but together we rally around each other. Yeah, let’s go. ‘Cause now we’re gonna make a difference and turn a city upside down. Hmm. Finally, the genius of Jesus is the cross. Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that was set before him, Jesus endure the cross, scorning its shame”. Did you catch that? Nothing more shameful, that the cross was not just a device to kill, but to torture. Do we understand this? No more painful death, no more shameful death, and genius of Jesus is he turns this symbol of death into a symbol of life that people wear around their neck. What? That he turns this symbol of pain and suffering, I’m gonna tell you right now, you need healing, you need deliverance, you need salvation, you’re gonna find it at the foot of the cross, where a sinless savior paid the price for my sin. God made him who had no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of Christ. You mean the cross to Christ? He loves you. You, you, you. He loves you. He loves you. Loves you. Loves you enough to go to a cross. This is the genius of Jesus. Let me close with this, five years old, family went to see a Billy Graham film called “The Hiding Place”. And it was after that film, a story about Corrie Ten Boom surviving a Nazi concentration camp with her faith. And it was after watching that movie that my five year old self asked my mom if I could ask Jesus into my heart, and it was a small step, giant leap for me. Now, I grew up going to church, I memorized Bible verses like John 11:35, “Jesus wept”. Had some easy ones and some harder ones, by the way, the genius of Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem, is collecting your tears in a bottle. I could just keep going today. We’re worshiping and I’m thinking, the genius of Jesus is he’s the only one who can open those seals in revelation, ’cause no one else has the authority, the power, stands alone. Ah, but we can’t preach another sermon. I went to Sunday school, I went on mission trips, I shared my faith with my friends. Oh, I had a relationship with Jesus, but if I’m being honest, it was less about me following Jesus and more about Jesus following me, come on. More about him serving my purposes than me serving his purposes. Oh Lord, here we go, big final exam, give me revelation, God, ’cause I didn’t study, just kidding. I’m at that free throw line. Oh Lord, help me, for your glory, God, right? Oh, I’m in trouble, Jesus bail me outta jail, need a little bit of help. Something shifted when I was 19, I don’t have time to tell the whole story, but I had an inverted relationship with Jesus. I’m gonna ask you a question. Who’s following who? Is Jesus following you. Come on Jesus, come on. Let me tell you my good, perfect, and pleasing will. Or do we have a whatever, whenever, wherever, you are Lord of my life, not my will, but thy will be done. How many of us today, how many of us online, we need to flip it right here, right now? I wanna lead us in a prayer, and we used the word Lord or Lordship, this is when they translated the King James this made most sense in a futile kind of society. I think you could say polymath, I think you could say genius, by the way, I had this hilarious flashback, pastor Joel preached a message like 20 years ago, I think he was in college, and I’ll never forget this line. He said this about Jesus, Jesus is the man and the God. I just have always thought that’s such good theology, fully God, fully man, total aside, I just like it. But what we’re doing is we’re making a conscientious, we believe the most important decisions ought to be the most informed decisions. This isn’t about pastor Mark spinning you around like Jack Handey and pinning your arm behind your back. Do you believe he is who he said he was? Then he is worthy of my praise. Do you believe he did what he did? Then oh God, I devote myself to you, I can do nothing less, and then I take up my cross, my cross, and carry it. I’m gonna invite you to stand at this campus, all of our campuses, even online, if you’re online, you can stand, you can kneel, you can take whatever posture you want. I’m gonna lead us in a prayer, and I just wonder how many of us today need to commit or recommit our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So ready or not, here we go, you can pray it after me. I confess with my mouth That Jesus is Lord. And I believe in my heart. That God raised him from the dead. Right here right now. I surrender my life. My time, my talent, my treasure. My past, my present, my future. Heart, soul, and mind, and strength. To the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus is my savior. God imy Father. The Holy Spirit is my helper. And heaven is my home. In Jesus’ name. And amen and amen.

Under God’s direction, angels serve us on Earth (Hebrews 1:14). Michael the archangel serves under God, and the other angels, in various positions, serve under Michael (Daniel 10:13; Revelation 12:7). In Heaven, human beings will govern angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). It’s a bit difficult to know the role angels will have on the New Earth. I assume they will be visible, though even that’s not certain. Presumably, their role as servants of those who will inherit salvation (though on the New Earth that will already have happened) would continue in keeping with God’s purpose for them. I see the present Heaven as primarily the home of angels from the time they were created, and the temporary home of human believers between their deaths and resurrections. In contrast, the future Heaven on the New Earth will be primarily the home of humans. Perhaps it will become just as much the home of angels, though their intrinsic nature as spirit beings and not physical makes it an interesting concept. Humans were made from the Earth and for life on the Earth, which is different than angels. (However, we know that angels can exist in a physical world because they exist in this one, not just in Heaven. In fact, angels sometimes, perhaps often, take on human form, as Hebrews 13:2 makes clear.) The marriage of the God of Heaven with the people of Earth will also bring the marriage of Heaven and Earth. There will not be two universes—one the primary home of God and angels, the other the primary home of humanity. Nothing will separate us from God, and nothing will separate Earth and Heaven. Once God and mankind dwell together, there will be no difference between Heaven and Earth. Earth will become Heaven—and it will truly be Heaven on Earth. The New Earth will be God’s locus, His dwelling place. This is why I do not hesitate to call the New Earth “Heaven,” for where God makes His home is Heaven. The purpose of God will at last be achieved: “To bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians1:10). Not only will God come to dwell with us on Earth, but He will also bring with Him the New Jerusalem, an entire city of people, structures, streets, walls, rivers, and trees that is now in the present, intermediate Heaven. If you’ve ever seen a house being relocated, you appreciate what a massive undertaking it is. God will relocate an entire city—Heaven’s capital city, the New Jerusalem—from Heaven to Earth. It’s a vast complex containing, perhaps, hundreds of millions of residences. He will bring with it Heaven’s human inhabitants and angels as well. I think the angels’ roles on the New Earth, where there is no danger, shift from protection to guidance. The fact that they have served us on Earth will make meeting them in Heaven particularly fascinating. They may have been with us from childhood, protecting us, standing by us, doing whatever they could on our behalf (Matthew 18:10). They may have witnessed virtually every moment of our lives. Besides God Himself, no one could know us better. I envision us getting to know angels, including the ones who were directly engaged in our lives and perhaps did battle with demons on our behalf, as depicted in Daniel. Perhaps they will be our assistants and guides and explain some of what they observed happen to us on the old earth. Maybe they will fill us in on “the rest of the story.” They might have inside information even though they too will be newcomers to the New Earth. Certainly, they will have ancient knowledge of the person of God and His ways, not yet known to us. The angels will be able to recount the creation of the original universe (Job 38:1-7). What will it be like not only to have them show us around the intermediate Heaven but also to walk and talk with them on the New Earth? What stories will they tell us, including what really happened that day at the lake fifty years ago when we almost drowned, or that time thirty-five years ago when we avoided a fatal car crash? They’ve guarded us, gone to fierce battle for us, served as God’s agents in answer to prayers. How great it will be to get to know these brilliant ancient creatures who’ve lived with God from their creation! We’ll consult them as well as advise them, realizing they too can learn from us, God’s image-bearers. Will an angel who guarded us be placed under our management? “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). Perhaps we’ll be welcomed into the homes not only of people but also of angels, who will reciprocate the hospitality we showed them on the old Earth. Don’t you look forward to meeting them and asking them questions? Julie Barrier & Randy Alcorn www.epm.org.

We live in an apology-averse culture. We are allergic to repentance and forgiveness alike. Think about it. When was the last time someone repented to you? I mean, truly repented? The last time a congregant apologized to me, the email began this way (I’ve tweaked it only to protect the one who sent it), “I might have been a little harsh in my email.. I had a very bad week…” In further communication, the individual referenced their apology. I scratched my head. “When did they apologize?” I dug back through the email thread and saw those phrases. That is what they were referencing. “I might have…” followed by an excuse is no apology. I don’t say that to attack the individual I am referencing. I completely understand why, in our culture, they would think that they had apologized. In our culture, we learn to apologize with phrases that look like this: “Sorry.” “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” “I know I shouldn’t have done that, but you shouldn’t have…” "I wouldn’t have done that if…” “That wasn’t my best.” None of those are apologies. By not learning how to apologize, we miss out on God’s purposes for our hearts and for the possibility of true reconciliation. Apologizing is a matter of aligning ourselves with God’s truth. In 1 John 1:8-10, the apostle tells the church, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” In other words, forgiveness is available but requires asking for forgiveness. We know this when it comes to others. “Why don’t they just ask for forgiveness?” we ask ourselves. “They’re making it so much worse.” We see the child turn the molehill of a small lie into the Rocky Mountains in their refusal to repent. We see a marriage crumble because of the unwillingness of one spouse to confess their sin. And yet, when it comes to us… God reminds us of what we know in our hearts in Proverbs 28:13. He says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Let’s run to mercy. Let’s run to true repentance. To do so, we must scrub our cultural understanding of apologies and understand what a true confession is. In Ken Sande’s excellent book, The Peacemaker, he explains that a true confession includes seven components. He calls them the seven A’s of confession.[1] They are: Address everyone involved (everyone that your sin impacted) Avoid if, but, and maybe (don’t minimize or excuse your sin) Admit specifically (both attitudes and actions) Acknowledge the hurt (understand the pain you cause and express sorrow for causing it) Accept the consequences (make restitution for the wrong you caused) Alter your behavior (change your attitudes and actions) Ask for forgiveness (state explicitly, “I sinned against you by doing X, I understand that hurt you in this way. Would you please forgive me?”)   Allow me to briefly walk you through what this looks like. 1.      By addressing everyone involved, consider how far the shrapnel of your sin flew. If you gossiped, you need to apologize both to the party you gossiped to and the party you gossiped about. If you and your spouse had a fight and your kids witnessed the fight, you need to apologize not only to your spouse, but also to your kids. 2.      We can all smell out the “ifs, buts, and maybes” of someone else’s confession… but it’s hard to eliminate them from our own. An apology with an “if, but, or maybe” is no confession at all. 3.      Don’t generalize; use concrete details about how you sinned in your actions and heart. 4.      Give space for the grieved party to express to you how your sin hurt them. Don’t assume you know how much you hurt them. Ask how it hurt them, and then listen well. 5.      There may well be consequences for your sin. If you are confessing to looking at porn, you ought to be taking measures to protect yourself from looking at porn again. If you stole something, you must give back what was stolen. 6.      True repentance comes with changed behavior. This will only be demonstrated over time, but commit that you will never commit this offense again. 7.      Make sure that the grieved party is ready to have you ask for forgiveness. Don’t rush to this step as I often did when I was younger. Then, ask directly for forgiveness. This is a question, not a statement. In other words, it is asking, “will you forgive me?” not stating, “I hope you will forgive me,” or worse, “I’m sorry.”   Repentance is freedom! It is not your responsibility to coerce the other individual to forgive you. They may never forgive you. But when you have followed the seven A’s of confession, you have done your part in navigating true repentance. And in doing that, you have followed the way of God. [1] Adapted from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, See Chapter 6 for more information on confession. Download Chapter 1 for free at this link. www.thebeehive.live

It always saddens me to watch church leaders bring reproach on the church of Jesus Christ. What’s perhaps most shocking to me is how frequently Christian leaders sin grossly, then step back into leadership almost as soon as the publicity dies away. It seems like Christians don’t expect much of their leaders anymore. Some time ago I received a tape of a recommissioning service for a pastor who had made national news by confessing to an adulterous affair. It disturbed me. After little more than a year of “counseling and rehabilitation,” this man was returning to public ministry with his church’s blessing. It is happening everywhere. Restoration teams—equipped with manuals to instruct the church on how to reinstate its fallen pastor—wait like tow-truck drivers on the side of the highway, anticipating the next leadership “accident.” Grace Community Church has received inquiries wondering if it has written guidelines or a workbook to help in restoring fallen pastors to leadership. Many no doubt expect that a church the size of ours would have a systematic rehabilitation program for sinning leaders. Gross sin among Christian leaders is an epidemic. That is a symptom that something is seriously wrong with the church. But an even greater problem is the lowering of standards to accommodate our leaders’ sin. That the church is so eager to bring these men back into leadership indicates a rotten understanding of what it means to be a pastor. Some have claimed that a leader’s failure makes him more effective in shepherding fallen people. That is ludicrous. Should we drag the bottom of sin’s cesspool for the most heinous sinners to lead the church? Are they better able to understand the sinner? Certainly not! Our pattern for ministry is the sinless Son of God. The church is to be like Him and its leaders are to be models of Christlikeness for the sheep. We must recognize that leadership in the church cannot be entered into lightly. The foremost requirement of a leader is that he be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2, 10; Titus 1:7). That is a difficult prerequisite, and not everyone can meet it. Some kinds of sin irreparably shatter a man’s reputation and disqualify him from a ministry of leadership forever because he can no longer be above reproach. Even Paul, man of God that he was, said he feared such a possibility. In 1 Corinthians 9:27 he says, “I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” When referring to the body, Paul obviously had sexual immorality in view. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 he describes it as a sin against one’s own body—sexual sin is its own category. Certainly it disqualifies a man from church leadership. First Timothy 3:2 demands that elders be one-woman men (cf. Proverbs 6:32–33). Where did we get the idea that a year’s leave of absence can restore integrity to someone who has squandered his reputation and destroyed people’s trust? Certainly not from the Bible. Trust forfeited is not so easily regained. Once purity is sacrificed, the ability to lead by example is lost forever. What about forgiveness? Shouldn’t we be eager to restore our fallen brethren? To fellowship, yes. But not to leadership. It is not an act of love to return a disqualified man to public ministry; it is an act of disobedience. By all means we should be forgiving. But we cannot erase the consequences of sin. I am not advocating that we “shoot our own wounded.” I’m simply saying that we shouldn’t rush them back to the front lines—and we should not put them in charge of other soldiers. The church should do everything possible to minister to those who have sinned and repented. But that does not include restoring the mantle of leadership to a man who has disqualified himself and forfeited the right to lead. Doing so is unbiblical and lowers the standard God has set. Why is the contemporary church so eager to be tolerant in restoring fallen leaders? I’m certain a major reason is the sin and unbelief that pervade the church. If casual Christians can lower the level of leadership, they will be much more comfortable with their own sin. With lower moral standards for its leaders, the church becomes more tolerant of sin and less interested in holiness. The “sin-tolerant” church is intolerable to God. And such a church reveals the precarious status of contemporary evangelicalism—a reality that should frighten all serious and obedient believers. The man-centered focus of modern religion has spawned the erroneous notion that committing the worst kinds of sin makes a person more effective in ministering to sinners. The implications of such a philosophy are frightening. The calling of a pastor is not to be relevant as a sinner, but to imitate Christ by striving after holiness (1 Peter 1:14–16). Conservative Christians have for most of this century focused on the battle for doctrinal purity. And that is good. But we are losing the battle for moral purity. Some of the worst defeats have occurred among our most visible leaders. The church cannot lower the standard to accommodate them. We should hold it higher so that purity can be regained. If we lose here, we have utterly failed, no matter how orthodox our confession of faith. We can’t win if we compromise the biblical standard. Pray for your church’s leaders. Keep them accountable. Encourage them. Follow their godly example. Understand that they are not perfect. But continue to call them to the highest level of godliness and purity. The church must have leaders who are genuinely above reproach. Anything less is an abomination.

God is longing for an intimate relationship with us: We know we receive from Him—and He longs to receive from us. Jesus is looking for people whose hearts feel what He is feeling. Asking the Right Question: The Parable of the Ten Lepers Luke 17:11-19 S-1553 ·SLIDE #1: Do you know how the Narcissus Flower got its name? Narcissus saw himself reflected in pool of water. Ovid’s version: Echo talked to him; in love with himself: Fell in the pool and drowned. Not just fanciful story. For centuries folks have recognized this negative refection of human nature. ·SLIDE #2: An over focus on “Me” sabotages my life and my relationships in any age, culture, society, or generation. ·SLIDE #3: Narcissistic personality disorder: One of several recognized personality disorders: 100% self-centered; No feelings or empathy for others; unable to sense the reality of how their behavior is so alienates others; multiple relationships because selfishness always sabotages their relationships. This is a personality disorder to the extreme. We don’t want to go there—but if we are not careful, we can all exhibit some of these same characteristics. ·SLIDE #4: Let me suggest to you that one of the subtle questions underlying our relationships is, “What am I getting out of this relationship?” What am I getting out of my Friends? my Marriage? my Family? My Children? Let me show you the set up? When we go into a relationship asking, “What am I getting out of this? there will come a time when we don’t think we are getting out of it everything we should. In other words, “This appliance is getting old and I don’t think I am getting out of it all I used to, I think I am going to trade it in on another model.” Car, not what they promised me, I am going to trade it in. And in America we are trading in models at an unbelievable pace. ·SLIDE #5: In a society where 50% of all marriages end in divorce we need to ask a different question. ·SLIDE #6: In a society where 78% of all 2nd marriages end in divorce we need to ask a different question. ·SLIDE #7: In a society where 60% of all children will spend some time in a single parent home we need to ask a different question. ·SLIDE #8: In a society where 30% of all children will spend some time in two or more broken homes we need to be asking a different question. ·SLIDE #9: If you were born after 1965 (36 years or younger) you will find statistically that you’ll have more spouses than you’ll have children! ·SLIDE #10: Think about what transpires in Single Adult Land: People desperately seeking intimacy only know how to take from one another Many live in a continual maze of “hooking up” with a subsequent fearful rejection of permanent relationships. ·SLIDE #11: How many of you saw the movie Shrek? Parody of multiple Disney and Buena Vista Live happily ever after movies—and many other movies. Love this scene in which the King is picking the ideal woman to be his queen: Note, it is all about “me.” VIDEO: Shrek “mirror, mirror on the wall” bachelorettes ·SLIDE #12: How often our focus is on, “What am I getting out of this relationship?” Let me suggest to you an alternative question: ·SLIDE #13: “What is God receiving from this relationship?” That is not what you thought I was going to say. You thought I was going to say, “What are they getting out of this relationship?” Or “What am I putting into the relationship?” Those are important; but those questions don’t go nearly deeply enough. What is God receiving from your Friendships? marriage? Family? ·SLIDE #14: Revelation 4:11: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created. He is worthy to receive the pleasure of seeing people live in harmony. I believe He gets a kick out of this. I also believe He is broken-hearted when people fight all the time with each other. Listen, God says to us, this whole Xn life thing, it is not primarily about you. It is about Me. ·SLIDE #15: Luke 17 Story of ten lepers: One of the lepers asked a different question. Homily on the story and see the changing foci of the passage leading to a powerful climax: Then I want to focus on five things God is looking to receive out of our lives and relationships. ·SLIDE #16: The story begins with an obvious focus. People with Leprosy are desperate. Read Luke 17:11-13: Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Thick skin, long extended death; nerve endings fail, digits fall off, eyelids rot away and can never close their eyes. Social outcasts, religious outcasts The Relationship Situation in America is desperate. It is not good to go through life alone. It is not good to go through life with broken relationships either. Josh McDowell: 53% of youth surveyed among 13 different denominations: ·SLIDE #17: “I don’t want the kind of marriage my parents have. How many of you dream of having an ideal marriage? How many of you have ever seen one? Situation is desperate for many of us—but the Lord Jesus has a healing cure for all of us. ·SLIDE #18: The focus now changes to the healing cure. Read Luke 17:14: When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. You may not realize it but He directed them to fulfill a Bible verse. Leviticus 14: Go to priests as if you are healed and after you present to priest, you will be affirmed back into the community. ·SLIDE #19: God’s solutions are always consistent with scripture. This is like the owner’s manual. Act as if you are healed and you will be healed. His solution is grounded in scripture. ·SLIDE #20: Responding to God’s Word always requires faith. In other words, I can imagine some of those Lepers wondered, “Now how is that going to work?” and they stood there wondering in their leprosy. But they had faith: Imagine Lepers Go to Jerusalem. “As they go they are healed…” Imagine fingers grow back, nose grows back, eyelids close. Imagine the thrill and wonder of that! Imagine joy of restoration. ·SLIDE #21: The focus turns to one grateful leper: “I can’t take one more step away from Jesus. Read Luke 17:15-16: One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. The story is not about the ten, It is about one leper who asked a different question. ·SLIDE #22: Not, “What is in it for me?” Nine lepers asked that question. And they got healed. But one leper asked another question and he not only got healed, he got a an intimate encounter with Jesus. He is thinking: ·SLIDE #23: What is Jesus getting out of this? What is God receiving? Leper kneels before Jesus in deep gratitude. Christ did not say, “Get up from there, I don’t need that, I am God!” Christ received this. This is important because many of us don’t have the concept of a God who can receive. Watch, the all sovereign God is receiving pleasure from one of the ones He created. Consider for a moment with me the mystery of a God who receives. ·SLIDE #24: Revelation 5:12: In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Receives this in Heaven—also looking for it on earth. ·SLIDE #25: Picture how much He enjoyed the moment when Mary knelt at His feet to anoint Him. He did not say, “Get up from there; I don’t need that, I am the all sufficient One.” Judas spoiled the moment that he was enjoying. Look at how he responded to Judas: “Did you have to say that? I was enjoying this.” ·SLIDE #26: Only Mary figured out that He was about to die and He enjoyed every moment. You don’t think that God enjoys receiving from us? If you are a parent, think how you enjoyed receiving from your children: Here are some letters and papers I received from them when they were young. ·SLIDE #27: Dad, I love you! Did you have a good day? I did! I can’t wait to see you.” (Brie, 10) ·SLIDE #28: My dad is so tender hearted. (Bron, 5) ·SLIDE #29: I love you with my blood pumping muscle. (Bron, 7) ·SLIDE #30: Dad, I love you so much! I prayed for you today. I missed you today! Did you have a good day? Kisses and hugs! Thanks for picking me up. Hi Dad! Smile! Love you, Brianna (11). ·SLIDE #31: Here is one from Bron (8), Dad, I miss you so much. Take some time off from work. God is longing for an intimate relationship with us: We know we receive from Him—and He longs to receive from us. Illustration of girl on airplane from LA to TUS. Talked to her, about 23 or 24. Recently married. Talked about her husband and relationship. “I am going to Tucson for my Dad’s funeral, you know.” “Oh, I am so sorry. This must hurt a lot.” “Well, we weren’t very close.” “I will bet that was not your choice.” “Dad divorced from my mother when I was a child.” “You must struggle with so much rejection.” “I think it was because as I grew older that I looked so much like my mother and he did not want to have anything to do with me.” Now what am I thinking. Sorrow for her. Then thought of that dad. What had he missed! He missed a relationship with the lovely young lady sitting next to me. What a loss. She wanted to know and be known, to love and be loved—and he missed it. What is God receiving from your marriage? Life? Family? Friendships? We will never have the marriage, family life…depths of friendships like David and Jonathan whose hearts were knit together until we experience the emotional reality behind this next verse. See if your heart can feel this? ·SLIDE #32: The story now climaxes with a FOCUS on the Disappointed Jesus. READ Luke 17:17: Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Does that not sound like disappointment to you? How many was X hoping would be there? All Ten. “Were there not ten cleansed?” Disappointed savior. Can your heart hurt for Jesus? And the pain goes deeper: Look at verse 18. READ Luke 17:18: Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Only this Samaritan came back. Which means what? The other nine were Jews. “He came unto his own and his own received him not.” Here is another time when this One acquainted with sorrow and grief was rejected by his people. Christ’s heart was hurting, was your heart hurting with him? I will suggest to you that He is looking for people whose hearts feel what He is feeling. Until my heart is moved with compassion to feel what He feels it is almost impossible to hurt for my wife, children, friends as deeply as God would have me. Philippians 3:10: entering into the fellowship of His sufferings Meditate on what Martha said at tomb of Lazarus—began to weep Meditate on agony in garden: “My soul is in deep agony, even unto death.” Mediate on Judas Kiss Meditate on Last words from cross. Feel His heart and only then have compassion to enter properly into relationships. LET ME MAKE THIS VERY SIMPLE: God receives pleasure: ·SLIDE #33: God receives pleasure when His scriptures are lived out in our relationships. Solution to lepers was to do Leviticus 17. Story of cutting off man in Ft. Worth on the way to seminary: “A gentle answer turns away wrath.” ·SLIDE #35: Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Story of Abusive words to Julie: Keys, car: Car keys in Waco, Cell Phone in Scottsdale; Purse at McDonalds at Oracle and Magee. ·SLIDE #37: God receives pleasure when faith is expressed in our relationships. STORY of parents trusting teenagers to God. Child hits high school and throws away convictions. Not listening. Have to trust them to God. Pray that their actions will be revealed and that God will show them the pig-pen. See pig pen and don’t want any part of it. Mystery of this: The change in the children actually began with the patent’s faith. ·SLIDE #38: God receives pleasure when we express heart-felt gratitude for all He has done in our relationships. It is so easy for us to take the people around us for granted. How long has it been since you gave thanks for your spouse? At MacDonalds Thursday morning for breakfast. Came to do sermon with Julie. Pageant week. Julie exhausted. Got food and sat down and pulled out sermon to work on it. “Do you mind if I eat first. I have the feeling you are just using me.” Julie writes book on instrumental music for orchestras and conductors. Busy, I had some anger and resentment even though we agreed before she started this project. Julie: “You haven’t supported me well.” I was convicted. Proverb 18: “He who finds a wife finds a good gift and finds favor with the Lord.” God said, “I have given you a good gift called, Julie, and you have taken her for granted.” I will suggest to you that another thing He is looking for is ·SLIDE #39: God receives pleasure when our hearts feel what He is feeling in our relationships. So I go back to my office after yelling at Julie about her keys and get to wondering how Jesus was feeling as I verbally attacked Julie. Imagined him watching me do what I did. He is hurting for Julie. Brie coming our of CDO Administration building. People alone at parties or gatherings. I go talk with them ·SLIDE #40: God receives pleasure when our relationships are filled with intimacy and giving—like a beautiful marriage. ·SLIDE #41: Romans 12:1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God– this is your spiritual act of worship. Let me put this intimacy in a perspective we can all understand. Met a youth pastor in San Jose, 46 years old. Getting married for first time. Asked him, “How did you propose? Took her to church at 11 pm. after a date. Told her to be obedient: Go into the restroom and take off your nylons. She did it. Took her up on stage and turned on spotlight. Took out a basin of water and a towel and began to wash her feet. Most humble service Jesus ever did was wash their feet. I want to wash your feet. I want to serve you for the rest of your life. She was crying. Put down towel and took out a ring, looked up into her eyes and asked, “Will you marry me?” READ Luke 17:19: Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Broken relationships are painful. Is there any chance God might change His mind and break up with you? Is there any chance you might do something that would cause God to want to break up with you? Romans 8:31-39 Have you ever received a “Dear John” letter? I have. Dear John letter: Dear John, By the time you read this I’ll be ______. I am sorry for doing this, but ______. I know this might come as a bit of a _____, because I think you are a bit of a _____, and I don’t think we are right for each other. Anyway, I want to date _____. But I still want to be _____. We can totally _____. But please don’t _____ like last time. I won’t even make an issue of the _____ you owe me, or the fact that you _____. So take care of yourself and _____. (Insert your name here) In your wildest dreams could you believe that you could do something that would cause God to send you a Dear John letter? SLIDE: A Marine in Afghanistan recently received a letter from his girlfriend back home: Dear Ricky, I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I must admit that since you’ve been gone I have cheated on you twice, and it’s not fair to either of us. I’m sorry. Please return the picture of me that I sent to you. Love, Becky The Marine asked his fellow Marines for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters, ex-girlfriends, aunts, cousins etc. In addition to the picture of Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected. There were 57 photos in that envelope….along with this note: Dear Becky, I’m so sorry, but I can’t quite remember who you are. Please take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me. Take Care, Ricky Broken relationships are painful. Is there any chance God might change His mind and break up with you? Is there any chance you might do something that would cause God to want to break up with you? SLIDE: KEY VERSE: Romans 8:35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? The answer revealed in this passage is Nothing! and No one! We are locked into God’s love—securely—forever. READ ROMANS 8:31: What, then, shall we say in response to this? What is “This”? The previous eight chapters of Romans? Review Romans God’s plan for us that spans all eternity? How does He love me? SLIDE:Foreknowledge: What Does It Do To Your Heart To Know That God knew you intimately long before you were born. SLIDE:Predestination: God predestined from the very foundation of the cosmos that everyone would one day be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. SLIDE: Calling: God calls us to enter into His eternal plan for our lives. SLIDE:Justification: Justification is the gift of worth. SLIDE: Glorification: The “good work” of salvation that God began in us before the foundation of the cosmos will one day culminate in our Christlikeness. SLIDE: ROMANS 8:31: What, then, shall we say in response to this? Answer: SLIDE: Paul’s response: “If God is for me, who can be against me?!!” SLIDE: BLACKBOARD: Will I make it? What about all the years between the believer’s conversion and his consummation? Is there not a possibility that during all trials and tribulations that something will go wrong which will cause him or her to forfeit his salvation? Of course we’ll make it! BLACKBOARD: Agape, philos, eros, storge. Agape recovered to describe God’s divine love for us. Agape is sacrificial and unconditional. Agape never quits. Agape loves the unlovable. Mary Ann Bird writes: I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others: a little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth, and garbled speech. When schoolmates asked, “What happened to your lip?” I’d tell them I’d fallen and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different. I was convinced that no one outside my family could love me. That was until my second-grade teacher—Mrs. Leonard. Annually we had a hearing test…. We stood against the door and covered one ear. Mrs. Leonard sitting at her desk would whisper, and we would repeat it back if we could hear it—things like “The sky is blue” or “Do you have new shoes?” Finally it was my turn. The next seven words changed my life. Mrs. Leonard whispered, “I wish you were my little girl.” God says to every person deformed by sin, “I wish you were my little girl.” When we receive Christ and we are. If you have yet to receive Christ, today is the day. He will love you forever; you will never receive a Dear John letter from Him. Paul spends the rest of this chapter assuring us. SLIDE: WHO OR WHAT CAN SEPARATE ME FROM GOD’S LOVE? ●SLIDE: NOT GOD: He already has too much invested in me! READ ROMANS 8:31-32: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Let’s say that tomorrow you get a phone call from Nordstrom’s. Your wife entered a contest and she is the winner of a full-length mink coat. She doesn’t know it so you decide to drive down and surprise her. You walk into the fur department. Okay? And there it is. Wow. It’s got her name on it. You get ready to take it out to the car. But you don’t want to just take the coat out over your shoulder – so you say, “Say, could you slip a bag over it?” Can you imagine Nordstrom’s saying, “No bag. We gave you the coat. That’s all you get, baby.” God has given us the very best that He has, why would he withhold the plastic bag? Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? ●SLIDE: NOT OTHERS: God has already sealed His decision in “concrete”. READ ROMANS 8:33: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Once we are justified, who is going to bring up some information that God did not have that will cause Him to change His mind about us? Nothing we might do in the future will catch Him by surprise and cause Him to withdraw our relationship. STORY: Dad and Harding Lawrence Lawrence cleaned house. My dad and one other were left. In surgery and newspaper article announcing Dad’s replacement. What a way to find out about it. Replaced by a man from S.A. who was not quite fluent in Spanish. Discovered later that he organized a slush fund for President Nixon. Since Dad oversaw all finances, needed to be removed. Dad was bitter. Yet, said often that best day was day he left. Got out of stress and saved his life. On golf course: When Lawrence is burning in Hell and God tells me to dip my finger in the water and bring him a drop, I am not going to do it.” “Not even a drop.” Well, my dad is a Christian: “Well, maybe a tiny drop.” God will not listen nor respond one way or another to anything my dad has to say about Harding Lawrence. Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? ●SLIDE: NOT GOD: He’s not condemning me; He’s praying for me. READ ROMANS 8:34: Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Jesus is the only one can condemn us eternally. John 3:16-18: “condemned already” But His children are no longer condemned. Write On Slide: The earliest Christian creed: “He was crucified dead and buried; the third day He rose again from the dead; and now sits at the right hand of God; from where He will come to judge the living and the dead. Notice that the first three agree with Paul but the fourth is radically different. In Paul the fourth is different: Jesus is at God’s right hand to intercede for us and to plead our case before God. Tremendous leap: Paul sees Christ, not as the Judge of the creed but as the lover of the souls of men. Jesus is praying for us. Luke 22:31-32: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? ●SLIDE: NOT THE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE: Compared to Almighty God, their power is inconsequential. READ ROMANS 8:35-37: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. This is Paul’s life and through Christ he over came them all. READ ROMANS 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Mike Everett’s team: We can’t lose! Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? ●SLIDE: NOT EVEN I: God has no intention of spiritually murdering one of His children—no matter what I do! “But, I can jump out of his hand!” Jesus Christ indwells every believer. No one can jump away from that. If you could, God would have to kill your spirit. Write On Slide: Justified—Repent and forgiven New birth of John 3 Regenerating work of Holy Spirit “Well, I can sin and lose my salvation!” Then the question is, “how much sin?” People are at a loss to answer that question. It wasn’t little sin that got me saved and it is not a lot of sin that can get me lost! It was grace gift given to me as I received and was born into God’s personal family. ●SLIDE: BUT: Some who seem to fall away from God’s grace were never really Christians. ●SLIDE: Confusion: The Parable Of The Wheat And Tares: Matthew 13:24-30: ●Write On Slide: Farmer planted wheat and during the night and enemy sowed tares among the wheat: “… because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.” ●SLIDE: Presumption: The Parable Of The Sheep And The Goats: Matthew 25:31-26: ●Write On Slide: Son of Man comes in glory to separate sheep and goats. Goats on left and sheep on right. Sheep: “Come enjoy the kingdom because I was hungry and naked, etc and you clothed and fed me.” When did we see you naked, hungry, etc.” “In as much as you did it to the least of my brothers you did it to me.” Goats: “Depart into eternal fire prepared for devil and angels because I was hungry and naked, etc and you failed to clothe and feed me.” When did we see you naked, hungry, etc.” “In as much as you did not do it to the least of my brothers you did not do it to me.” “Depart from me I never knew you.” ●SLIDE: Abortion: The Parable Of The Soils: Matthew 13:1-23: ●Write On Slide: Hard pathway eater by the birds: Rocky: no soil, sprang up quickly, hot sun, withered because of no roots Thorns: choked the plant Good soil: produced a crop, 100, 60, 30 fold. Matthew 7:16: “By their fruit you will recognize them.” ●SLIDE: GOD WOULD NEVER SEND US A “DEAR JOHN LETTER. “Backsliders” may look like they have fallen away, but they have not. Backsliders eventually return. Jeremiah 3:22: “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.” He is committed because of His love to draw wandering sheep back into His fold. Even if we commit spiritual adultery against Him, His love will not allow Him to divorce us. ●SLIDE: ●MEDITATION: I want to lead us through a meditation picturing the heart of the real God. Romans 8:33-34: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died– more than that, who was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. “Who can bring charge against God’s elect?” The answer to most of us is “anyone who wants to—and we have their names!” God answers the question with “God.” The only person who can bring charge against us is God! And He has already settled our case. “Who can condemn you?” For most of us the answer is “anyone can—stand in line.” Paul says, “No, only Christ can. He is the only one. And look the only one who can is the one Who died for you and rose again for you now lives to intercede for you. He is praying for you. Imagine entering the court room. Room is filled with your accusers—those who condemn you, judge you, criticize you, disappointed with you—folks you have never been able to please. Bailiff: “All rise!” The Judge walks in, it is Jesus Christ. Imagine him the way you imagine him. He has long flowing robes, bearded face, sandaled feet. Rather then going to the bench, picture Him coming to you and kneeling down on the floor beside you. Picture Him putting His arm around you—He is not inspecting you, He is accepting you—He is not disappointed in you, He is affirming you, supporting you and inviting you to pray. Picture His nail-pierced hands and feet as his arms are around you. “Who shall bring charge against God’s elect?” Only Jesus Christ and he has died, raised and is living now, praying for you—interceding for you. He is not distant from you, He is kneeling right beside you. He whispers, “Where are your accusers? You look up. The room is empty. He whispers, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” May God seal this picture of the interceding Jesus, arms around me, praying for me. May he seal this deeply into my heart. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” PRAY

I shared the following notes with a pastor friend who was preparing a message addressing sexual immorality and gender confusion. It’s a different approach, a verse by verse brief commentary on a passage. (I started with the last part of Ephesians 4 because it’s the foundation for Ephesians 5.) These are tough issues, and they’re not going away. Now more than ever, Christians must consider how we can communicate with those with whom we disagree. The more we speak to these issues with grace and truth, not just one or the other, the better we represent Jesus and the gospel. \By the way, my friend preached a great message that truly was full of both grace and truth. His pastor’s heart was expressed clearly and many hurting people came to him in tears afterwards. Confused, disoriented, and deceived people are not our enemy—Satan and demons are our enemies. I hope these reflections are helpful: Ephesians 4 17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. God warns us against not just wrong behavior, but also against the wrong thinking that’s behind it—including the notion that sexual identity is disconnected from the body, as created by God and demonstrated by our sex organs, chromosomes, and DNA. It is a modern futility of the mind that sexual identity is a matter of personal preference as influenced by our life experiences. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, All cultures historically recognized that boys are boys and girls are girls, but our culture is flying in the face of science by determining that sexual identity isn’t about the body with its parts and chromosomes and DNA, but is about our thinking and feeling, which are easily influenced by the Fall, and by personal experience, the stories of others, and propaganda, including teaching in school classrooms. alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them While we pride ourselves on our degree of knowledge, making ourselves feel superior to cultures of the past, much of what we now “know” about gender is steeped in ignorance of scientific and historically affirmed realities. (C. S. Lewis called this “chronological snobbery”—the belief that modern opinions are always automatically better than ancient ones.) due to their hardness of heart. Our problem isn’t just mental or cultural but spiritual. The world, the flesh/sin nature, and the devil are all working against us so that we keep getting it wrong about important matters of human nature and sexual identity, resulting in the corruption of our culture, parallel to the moral downward spiral of the once great Roman empire. 19 They have become callous We have violated our consciences so long by entertaining wrong notions about human sexuality that our hearts are hardened, and we are now believing falsehoods that are lies of the evil one, designed to harm people who Satan hates because we are God’s image-bearers. (This is another example of how the evil one has a special hatred of children, and in this case, targets them with gender confusion. He wants to kill them, and he lies to facilitate and cover his attempts to destroy them.) and have given themselves up to sensuality Giving up means surrender. It’s putting ourselves under the lordship of a false god rather than the one true God, who tells us the truth about gender and sex. It’s letting the world, the flesh, and the devil take over our minds and our lives, rather than letting God transform us through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2) by meditating on Scripture, which is the source of truth and contradicts the lies about gender and sex. greedy to practice every kind of impurity When we unselectively feed our minds with whatever’s on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, or network television, it will twist and undermine a Christian worldview and will inevitably lead to immoral thinking and living. (This is one reason I recommend VidAngel to screen out sex acts, profanity, and blasphemy.) 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus The truth is not in what the world serves up to us about sex and gender. Rather, the truth is in Jesus, as revealed in God’s Word. 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, We do not naturally believe what is true—our opinions are deeply skewed and our natural desires are deceitful because of the Fall. We are inclined to follow them even though they are lying to us. They are Satan’s manipulative efforts to derail us and our children from following Jesus and enjoying a healthy sexual identity and lifestyle. 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, The battle is won or lost in the mind; that’s why the current efforts in public schools and society to negate Christian morality and to undermine God’s teaching about avoiding sexual immorality and our identity are so dangerous. 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Just as we put on one set of clothes instead of another, we must take off the wrong clothes of our sinful identity and choose to put on the right ones, those true to who we are in Jesus. “Putting on” requires effort and discipline. We must affirm not the fallen creation that tempts us, but the new creation in Christ that grants us righteousness and holy standing before God—this is the power source for thinking righteously about sex and gender, and living righteously. Actions flow from thoughts. Satan seeks to poison our minds so our actions will displease God, and therefore destroy ourselves and our families. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood We must first discern what is false (for example, what our culture is saying about gender and sex and abortion, etc.), and then we must affirm what is true, what God’s Word tells us. Finally, we must live by what is true, which is not only good but also smart and always in our best interests. let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor We owe each other the truth, and we must boldly speak it—all the more because lies are undermining the worldviews of unbelievers and many believers. There are churches, families, and individual believers being undercut in their walk with Jesus because we are not studying and loving the truth and sharing it with each other. for we are members one of another. 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. The devil is an opportunist. He is eagerly waiting for you to give him a chance to take control of your life, destroy you, and ruin your relationship with Jesus. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If he’s looking for you, you’d better look out for him! He goes after Christians who settle for the world instead of Jesus, and who isolate themselves from the flock where there is some safety in numbers. The people you choose to hang with and the places you choose to go (including over TV and internet) will determine your spiritual future. Sexual identity and sexual behavior are two of Satan’s favorite targets. Every time your eyes and mind go toward what displeases God and pleases the devil, you are casting your vote for Satan. Be quick to stop, repent, and step away from sin—give no opportunity to the devil (Ephesians 4:27)! 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths This includes sexual jokes and innuendo, and also telling children that gender is a choice instead of a gift from their Creator, and that their body should be denied or changed to conform to what they are presently feeling. This is corrupting talk, and God detests it. but only such as is good for building up, We affirm God’s plan and His directives not to tear people down but to build them up. Satan pretends to build people up while sabotaging their lives. as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. What builds people up is not always what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. We are not just here to make ourselves and each other feel good but to help each other be good. Grace is always vital, as is truth—Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14), and so should we. We should never heap guilt on someone experiencing gender confusion; instead we should listen and care lovingly and genuinely for them, and recognize we too are confused about aspects of our life and identity. All of us need to look to the God, who created us as He did for a glorious reason. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God He is the one we should desire to please, and when we sin we hurt Him. by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. If we address our culture’s gender confusion and sexual values from a posture of animosity, we will confirm their perception that we are haters, and we will lose the opportunity to have meaningful relationships from which we can speak into their lives. As we approach our brothers and sisters in Christ who are genuinely struggling with who they are and what their culture is telling them is normal, we need to be sure our hearts and words to them are wrath-free, anger-free, clamor-free, slander-free, and malice-free. We are to put away such things, and only Jesus has the power to do that life-changing work in us. But we do need to desire to change and to repeatedly ask His empowerment to do so. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. We are not to encourage sin in each other, but we are to be sympathetic to each other’s struggles, including struggles of sexual identity, which can be terribly difficult. But the answer is never to give in to the struggle, but INSTEAD to call upon God for His grace and empowerment. Even if our desires don’t change, we can say “no” to them, just as we are called upon to say no to other temptations. If this means never engaging in sex and remaining single all our lives, that is not the worst-case scenario. It is, in fact, exactly what the most fulfilled person who ever lived did—Jesus. And He had dear friends and family just as we can. Ephesians 5 Therefore be imitators of God, We’re not to be imitators of our culture or its idols. as beloved children. 2 And walk in love When you take a stand for God’s created gender design and for sexual morality, be sure you speak with genuine love, not as a self-righteous moralist Pharisee who loves to condemn others. as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Christ is the model of how we are to address gender and sex issues, so that when people call us haters, others can see and say, “No, they disagree, but I think they love me and want the best for me.” 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. The answer to filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking isn’t just cleaning up your act, but giving thanks to God. When we give Him thanks in all things, it pulls us toward Him, and it pushes away what dishonors Him. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let’s not ignore or quickly explain away this verse, as in, “Of course, this doesn’t mean sexually immoral and greedy people aren’t saved.” Clearly God is saying something vital here, that should shake us to our core if we are leading lives of immorality and materialism. Notice how God links sexual immorality with greed and materialism—some Christians are quick to condemn immorality when in reality, the immorality of greed permeates their lives. Everyone knows church leaders shouldn’t be sexually immoral. Why do we fail to realize they also shouldn’t be greedy and materialistic? 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. We should repent of sexual immorality not only because it is wrong but also because it is stupid. Unless we forsake it, it will destroy us. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; To tolerate or laugh at sexually immoral jokes is to mock God, and to remain silent is to endorse them. 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light Our job is to recognize who God has made us to be in Christ, and live according to that reality, not according to sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We need our Lord and each other to do this. 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. We need to stop trying to please people and echoing back what our culture is telling us. God is the Audience of One—Paul says, “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Jesus” (Galatians 1:10). We’re to live according to what God has told us in His Word. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. It’s critical to refuse to do the works of darkness, and quickly confess and repent when we do. But it’s not enough to abstain from them. We should also expose them, which means having the courage and the love for others to call them out for what they are. Do not compromise, even if speaking out about our culture’s denial of truth and goodness costs you friendships or your job. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. We shouldn’t be unnecessarily graphic so as to tempt, though it is sometimes necessary to clearly show the evil of something God commands us to expose. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper,  and arise from the dead… The death we are to arise from is rebellion against our Creator and Savior. Colossians 3:1 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” The rising in Christ is what He has both accomplished (already) and promised us (“not yet”). …and Christ will shine on you.” It all comes back to Jesus. We need to wake up to what’s happening, and speak the truth in love to a lost and increasingly confused, disoriented, and deceived generation. To shine with His light, we must first allow Him daily to shine His light upon us. We are to live the loving life of people risen in Jesus and covered with His righteousness. It’s all about Jesus. He must increase, we must decrease (John 3:30). And when we do this, we will be the happiest of all people, because He made us not for sexual confusion and immorality, but for His glory and our good. He is the Audience of One. We must stop trying to “fit in” to our culture, and instead “be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world” (Philippians 2:15). www.epm.org

Dr. Randy Carlson of Intentional Living brings great insight to parents who have adult children challenges. "More than ever, adult children are moving back home with Mom and Dad. Many college graduates have experienced difficulty finding jobs during a recovering economy. They’re facing competition with job candidates who have more experience. If your older children come back home, look at the opportunity as a blessing. This second time at home could give you an opportunity to shape ONE THING they really want to do with their lives. During this time of transition, it’s important to offer advice and counsel. How can you help your son or daughter find their ONE THING? Provide emotional support – It’s likely your child will be frightened and worried they may never find the job they want or ever get out on their own. Don’t add to the pressure. Instead, give them a release, an attentive ear and let them know you’re there to support them emotionally. Be a source of encouragement – Focus less on what they can’t (or won’t) do and more on the things they can do. Help them to think outside the box and stimulate new ideas to consider. This process can help them discover their purpose. Offer your friendship – You’re still their parent, but your role is different now. You’re far less the rule-setter and far more the relationship builder. Give them friendship. That dynamic will create opportunities for you to give needed advice. Deliver your influence – Now is a time for your son and daughter to see you as a responsible adult from their new, young adult perspective. Remember this as you interact with them and continue to be a role model for them."

What have you worried about today? Chances are, the list is pretty long. Jesus promises that we don’t have to worry, but how is that possible? Understanding His promise can transform the way you approach concerns and give you relief. Well, I’m curious, how many of you right now might have something that you’re a little bit worried about? Raise your hand, again. Some of you go, “I got a lot that I’m worried about”. I don’t blame you, because there’s a lot to worry about in this world. For example, do any of you have kids? Raise your hands. Online, you can type in the comment section, “I have kids”. You can type in, “I have three kids”. You can type in, “I have kids, pray for me”. ‘Cause if you have kids, there’s a lot to worry about, right? I mean, you worry about their safety nowadays. When I was growing up, you didn’t really worry about that much, but you do today. You worry about their mental health. You worry about their friends. You worry about, are they getting into the wrong stuff? Then how about, does anybody ever read or watch the news? That’ll give you anxiety, right? I mean, you look around, and here we are in an election year, which is complicated and divisive for a lot of people. The economy feels like shaky. Inflation seems to be out of control. Interest won’t seem to settle down. A lot of people I talk to are freaked out and worried financially, just how are they gonna make it? Not only how am I gonna pay the bills, but could I ever even afford a house? Doesn’t seem like it’s possible. And if that’s not enough to worry about, then you factor in AI. It’s gonna wipe us out. I mean, we’re all gone anyway. It’s just gonna feel like it’s gonna take over the world. And the worst of all, though, probably, is anytime there’s something wrong with you physically, let’s say you have a headache, or you feel dizzy. And so you Google your symptoms. Have you done this? No matter what you have, you’re gonna die three days from now, that’s what happens whenever you Google your symptoms. It’s hard not to worry with all that’s going on in the world but there’s some really good news. We’re in a message series called He Promises. We’re looking at the promises of Jesus and Jesus promises us because he’s good and because he will provide, you don’t have to worry. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us five different times in 10 verses, do not worry. Look what he said, Matthew 6, 25, Jesus said this. He said, “Therefore, I tell you”. Help me out, somebody. He said, “Do not worry about your life, what you’ll eat or drink or about your body, what you’ll wear. It’s not life more than food and the body more than clothes”. Jesus tells us, don’t worry. How? Why? Well, let’s start with a practical reason. Why did Jesus tell us not to worry? Perhaps because worry has never changed anything for good. Right? Never ever. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. What does worry do to you? When you worry, when you stew, when you’re anxious, worry is poisoning our peace. Worry is killing our joy and worry is stunting our spiritual growth. When you think about it, worry doesn’t have a single useful purpose. Someone said it’s like this. Someone said, “Worry is like rocking in a rocking chair it gives you something to do but you’re not going anywhere”. Right? And that’s what it is. When you’re sitting there worrying, you’re stewing and you’re wringing your hands and you’re not going anywhere. It doesn’t do a single positive thing. When you think about it, worry never solved a problem. Right? If you’re worried about your money, worry never paid a bill. If you’re worried about your health, worry never made you healthier. Worry never protected your child from harm. Worrying never helped you pass a test. Worrying never healed a broken relationship. Worry has only increased your anxiety, it’s never increased your peace. And Jesus promised us because God is faithful, because God is good, because God always provides, you don’t have to worry. In fact, in this text, he gives us three things to look to in order to overcome your worry. What are we gonna do? We’re gonna look to three things. We’re gonna look to your Father, we’re gonna look to your faith, and we’re gonna look to your future. Let’s say it aloud. What are we gonna look to? We’re gonna look to our Father, we’re gonna look to our faith, and we’re gonna look to our future. Let’s talk about it. Number one, we’re gonna look to your Father. Why? because he is always faithful. We’re gonna look to the goodness of God because he’s always faithful. In fact, this is what Jesus said in Matthew 6:26. He said, “Look at the birds of the air. They don’t sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet,” who does it? Your heavenly Father. He feeds them, he provides for them. And then Jesus says, “Hey, aren’t you way more valuable to God than the birds”? Jesus shows us that God cares for Tweety. If God cares for Tweety, how much more will God care for you? And then I like kind of the image. He says, “Hey, look at the birds. They don’t worry”. You never see a bird awake at two in the morning, pacing its nest, rubbing its wings together, asking himself, “Do you think the supply chain problem are gonna result in a shortage of worms”? You never see that, right? You don’t. Because they trust that there will be food. The same is true for you. You don’t have to worry because your heavenly Father cares for you and your Father is always faithful. Now, that raises the question, how do you trust in a heavenly Father that you can’t see? It’s a fair question. We have six children. My oldest daughter is Katie. When she was young, she was a bundle of energy. And one night there was a storm and Katie came running into our bedroom. “Mommy, Dad, Mom, Mom, Dad, Mom, I’m scared. I’m scared. Can I sleep with you? Can I sleep with you? Can I sleep with you”? And I’m the softy, believe it or not. And Amy’s one like, “Go back to bed, Katie”. “No, I’m afraid. No, I’m afraid”. And Amy said, “God is with you. God is in your room. God will protect you. Go back to your room with God”. And Katie said, “I’ve got an idea. Mom, you go sleep with God. I’m staying here with Daddy”. Right? Kind of makes sense because it can be difficult to trust in a God that you can’t see. And anytime I find myself worried, is God going to come through? Does God care? I try to remind myself of what I call the godness of God. The godness of God. Who is God? We have to remember, God is the supreme creator, ruler, and sustainer of the entire universe. God is big enough to overcome all the forces of darkness. And God is loving enough to care about the details of your life. That’s right. I wanna remind you, God cares about what you care about. When you’re worried, look to your heavenly father because he is always faithful. The second thing we learn from the teaching of Jesus is to look to your faith because your faith conquers fears. Look to your faith because your faith is greater than what you fear. Jesus said this in Matthew 6:33, he said, “But seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. And in all those things that you’re worried about, all these things will be given to you as well”. What do we do? We seek first God’s kingdom. We seek first God’s righteousness. We seek first the things that matter to him. We seek him first in his word. We turn our mind toward him. We think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. We let him renew our minds. We seek first the kingdom of God. And when we do, he will take care of what you’re worried about. Whenever you’re tempted to worry, tell yourself, before I panic, first, I’m gonna pray to the God of heaven who declares that all things are possible with him. Before you worry, first open God’s word, his living word, which comforts you and directs you and corrects you, his word for you. Before you turn to your substance to cope, turn to your savior because whoever Jesus sets free is free indeed every single time. So what do we do? We seek first the kingdom of God. And whenever I start to look toward Jesus, the son of God who gave his life for me, God raised him from the dead, whenever I look to Jesus, my faith starts to conquer my fears. Remember, it was Paul who said, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but instead he’s given us a spirit of,” what? “Of power Power. And of love Love. and of a sound mind”. Sound mind. If you find yourself afraid, that did not come from God. We’re not gonna listen to what doesn’t come from God. We’re gonna tell that voice, “Get out of my mind, get out of my head, get out of my life, get behind me, Satan, I’m not listening to you, I’m listening to my father. My father says he’s good, my father says he’s with me, my father says he’ll never leave me, he’ll never forsake me, he’ll always provide for me, he is working in all things to bring about good, I’m not listening to the lies of the devil”. Worry has never done anything good. Worry makes you anxious, faith gives you peace. Worry drags you away from God, trying to depend on your own resources. Faith teaches you to depend on God. Worry doesn’t change a dang thing. That’s right. And worry will take you away and rob you of faith. Faith can change everything. So when you’re worried, worried about what I’m gonna say, I’m worried about my presentation, I’m worried about my 401(k) went down, I’m worried about this health issue, I’m worried about my marriage, I’m worried about am I gonna get into the right school, I’m worried about am I gonna get the right job, am I ever gonna be provided for my family, am I gonna have what it takes, can I ever be faithful, will my child, whatever. When you’re worried, look to your father. Look to your faith and look to your future because our God is in control. He is in control. Jesus said this, he said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring his own worries”. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Look to your future because God is in control. Now, raise your hand if you’re a control freak. Okay, just stop for a minute. If you find yourself trying to raise the hand of the person sitting next to you, you’re a control freak. Those of you online, if you’re a control freak, just type it in online, I’m a control freak. Okay, I wanna remind you this, that even control freaks can’t control the future. You can try to manipulate all you can and all you want, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot control everything. So, if it’s out of your hands, get it out of your mind. Give it to God, trust God with it, trust God with it. Because worry doesn’t protect us from tomorrow’s problems, worry robs us of today’s peace. And that’s where some of you are right now. You are surrendering and giving in to the lies of your spiritual enemy. Any time that we’re worrying, we’re essentially saying, God, I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you’re with me, I don’t trust you’re for me, I don’t trust that you’re gonna do what you say you’re gonna do. And so, just take a moment, sit in that. Jesus says over and over again, let me tell you how good my Father is. Let me tell you about how much he cares for you. He is completely in control. He is a good God. His purposes for you are good. He wants to bless you. Doesn’t mean you’re not gonna have a hard time, but in the middle of a hard time, he’ll be enough. In the middle of something painful, he’ll be your peace. In the middle of what you feel like you lack, he is your provision. When you’re weak, he is your strength. He is what you need. So you can say, okay, good preaching, Craig. You can say that if you want to, it won’t hurt my feeling. You can type it in the comment section, good preaching. Some of you won’t, but you can if you want to. And so you’re gonna say, okay, okay, that’s good, but I just sit there and I do nothing. I just sit around and I don’t worry and everything works out. Let’s go back to the birds. Jesus said, see how I care for the birds. What I like about birds is birds don’t worry, right? But birds don’t sit around doing nothing either. When you think about birds, they don’t wait for God to drop food in their laps. Partially because they don’t have laps. But work with me here. I’ll say it this way. Birds don’t worry, but they do hunt for worms. Yes There’s a difference. There’s a difference between doing nothing and doing what you know you’re called to do or can do. And birds kind of really help illustrate the difference between worry and concern. And there’s a big difference. A worried person sees a problem and doesn’t do anything about it. A concerned person though sees a problem and does something about it. In other words, the way I like to look at it is this. If you can do something about the problem, you do it. If you think your marriage is not in a great place right now and is struggling, what do you do? You’re concerned, you pray about it and you call a counselor or you join a life group or you talk to your pastor and you do something about it. If you have caffeine crashes at the end of every day, you may say, you know what? I’m gonna stop drinking all the energy drinks. Instead of four, I’m cutting back to three. I’m just joking. Don’t drink four and don’t drink three. I’m cutting those out of my life. If you are battling with depression every time you get on social media, you might just get off social media. You’re gonna do something about it. And so whenever you’re tempted to worry, tell yourself this, I will do what I can do and I will surrender to God what only he can do. I will do what only I can do and I will surrender to God what only he can do. I will do what I know I can do. If there’s something I can do about it, I’m gonna do something about it. If I can love my child who’s struggling, I’m gonna love my child. If I can coach my child without being annoying, I’m gonna coach my child without being annoying. If I can pray for my spouse, if I can love my spouse when my spouse isn’t acting lovable. If I can study for the exam that’s coming up, if I can prepare for the presentation, if I can do something about it, I’m gonna do something about it. I will do what I can do and I will surrender to God what only he can do. Let’s just say that together. I will do what only I can do. I will do what only I can do. I will surrender to God what only he can do. Let’s say it together. I will do what only I can do. I will surrender to God what only he can do. Let’s say it again. I will do what I can do. I will surrender to God what only he can do. I will do whatever it is I know that I can do and whatever is out of my control, I put in God’s hands. Anybody anxious, what do we do? We cast our anxiety on him, why? Because he cares for you. He cares for you, God loves you as if there were only one of you. And so you tell him about it, God, I’m nervous about this. God, I don’t even know what to do. God, I’m trying to trust you, but I tend to take it back. We cast it on him, we give it to him. I think about Katie, my daughter, when she came in and she’s all afraid. Amy said, “Go sleep with God”. I said, “Go ahead and sleep with us”. Told you I’m a softy. People, if you got to know us, you’d be like, you know, Craig’s all tough. Actually, I’m a mushpot. Amy’s pretty, but she carries a big stick. It was no joke. And when Katie slept with us, let me tell you what I did not do. I did not shame her. Why are you worried? You should have more, I didn’t shame her. I let her sleep with us because when she was worried, she turned to her father, her earthly father. Her worry didn’t take her away from her father, it drew her close to her father. And so whenever you find yourself a little bit worried, the devil wants to use that to draw you away from God, but God wants to use whatever is on your mind and on your heart and weighing you down to draw you to depend on him. God wants to take whatever you’re worried about and use it to draw you close and recognize that you need him. When you’re worried and when you’re anxious, this shows you just how much you need your heavenly father. And when you realize that you need him, you realize he’s drawing you close. So chances are there are some of you today who you need an extra dose of his grace, an extra measure of his provision. He’s with you, he’s for you, he’ll never leave you, he’ll never forsake you. Our God is good, his word is true, he’s always faithful, he will never leave you, he will never forsake you. Look to your father, he’s good. Look to your faith, it conquers your fears. Look to your future because our God is always in control. And scripture tells us about the goodness of God that the Lord is close to those who call on him. Yes, to all who call on him in truth, the Lord is close. If you’re hurting today, if you’re anxious today, if you’re worried today, that might be evidence of just how much you need your father. And the good news is when you draw close to him, he draws near to you. So let’s do that now. Father, we pray in the name of Jesus that the power of your Holy Spirit would do a work because we all need you. Today at all of our churches as you’re praying, those of you who have something that would be a real concern, a weight, a burden, a worry, something that’s making you anxious, would you lift up your hands right now, just lift it up. Online, you can type in the comment section, I’m worried about something. If you wanna share it for prayer, you can say I’m worried about whatever and just put I’m worried about my child or I’m worried about my job or I’m worried about my finance, whatever it would be. And what we’re gonna do right now is we’re just gonna take what you’re worried about and just by faith, just imagine handing that to God. Just say: God, take my marriage. God, I trust you with my finances. God, I trust you with my health. I trust you with the health of someone that I love. I trust you with my children. God, I trust you with my mental health. I trust you with my career. God, I trust you with my future. God, I don’t know, I can’t figure it all out. I trust you. God, I will do whatever I can do and I will surrender to you what only you can do. So God, help us to be faithful and full of faith to always trust you. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there are some of you that you’re gonna take a step of faith bigger than you’ve ever taken before. We talked about Jesus and he said, you don’t have to worry because of the goodness of God. Some of you, if you stopped long enough to think about where you stand with God, what would happen to you after this life? Some of you say, well, I might be a little bit concerned about that. Let me tell you how much God loves you, how good he is. God loves you so much that he sent his only son Jesus for you, the perfect sinless son of God who died on a cross in your place, in my place and God raised him from the dead, defeating death, hell, sin, and the grave. Now, anyone, and this includes you, who calls on the name of the Lord, the name that is above every name, when you call on the name of Jesus, scripture says all of your sins are forgiven. You become brand new. The old, all the old stuff is gone and everything becomes new. Some of you, you might be a little worried, a little uneasy. It may come and go, but when you recognize, when you think about it, I don’t really know where I stand with God today, you can settle the issue. In fact, you’re not watching this by accident. I believe with all my heart that you are here by the divine will of God to meet the power of his risen son, wherever you’re watching from today. Those who say, yes, today, I don’t know where I stand with God, I am gonna step away from my sin. I’m gonna step into trusting Jesus. I’m gonna call on his name. When you call on the name of Jesus, he hears your prayers. He forgives your sins and he makes you brand new today at all of our churches and all of the world online. Those who say, yes, I am ready. By faith, I give my life to Jesus. That’s your prayer. Put your hands high right now. All over the place, lift them up. Somebody give God some praise for those today saying yes to Jesus, yes to Jesus, yes to Jesus. We thank you, God, for those coming to you online. Just type in the comment section, I am surrendering my life to Jesus. I am trusting Jesus as my savior. Today, wherever you are, would you pray with those around you? Nobody prays alone. Everybody, let’s just pray this aloud. Pray: Heavenly Father, I’m trusting Jesus to save me from my sins. To be the Lord of my life. I put you first. Forgive me. Transform me. Fill me with your Spirit so I could know you personally, and share you faithfully. Thank you for new life. I give you all of mine. In Jesus’ name I pray. lifechurch.tv