Sermons tagged with Salvation

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here. Full disclosure, I've been fighting a cough since Tuesday. So I've got hot honey water here, and then I've got normal-temperatured water with a Ricola dropped inside. So hopefully, between those two things, I won't cough in your ears too much today. The good news is my family goes to Great Wolf Lodge on Tuesday, so I have no doubt that the combination of chlorine and diluted urine will clear up anything that I've got going on. Someone else is preaching next week, is what I'm telling you. I'll be convalescing. My name is Nate. Thank you for being here. I get to be one of the pastors. Before I just launch into everything, we need to pray. Our country is now at war, and we all likely have deep concern about that and how that's going to go. So let's just pause and pray for, right now, Israel, Iran,, and the United States and hope that it stays within that confined circle of involvement. Father, thank you for this morning. Thank you for an opportunity to gather as your children and as believers and as those who hopefully will become believers. God, it hurts our heart whenever we see war, but not as much as it hurts yours. We pray this morning for wisdom amongst the leaders of the nations involved. We pray for guidance, for discernment, for honesty, for integrity, for courage. God, we pray that this conflict is as short as possible, that it will end very soon. We pray for the people who are affected by military incursion in whatever country in which it may occur, because there's people in these countries who have nothing to do whatsoever with choosing the conflict and yet they find themselves and their families the victims of it. So our heart goes out to them and we lift them up to you this morning. Thank you for hearing our prayers. We know that they are echoed around the world. In Jesus' name, amen. So as Mikey said, this week we're in Romans chapter 3. As we get there, there's a word in this chapter that I think is often misunderstood or not completely understood. And it reminded me of the words that I use that sometimes I can't fully explain them. And if you've been here for any time, you know that I like words. I'm a fan of words, and this is something that I get made fun of for all the time. Nevertheless, I sally forth and gird my loins regardless of the waves of your criticism that lap upon my shores. It took me my entire shower this morning to work out that sentence, and I still didn't nail it, but you get the point. My favorite word, by the way, germane to nothing, is ominous. There is no word that sounds like itself more than ominous does. It's a great word, but one of the words that I learned years ago, a couple years ago, that I've been using incorrectly my whole life is this word machinations. I just like saying that word. I think it's a great word, and I always assumed that it meant like the mechanics of something, the normal events that happen during this thing. So like the machinations of church are you come in, you're greeted, you're handed a bulletin that you're not going to fill out or look at, and then you're going to pick your normal seat. We're going to play some songs. There's going to be some announcements, which when Mikey does them, highlight of the service. Then there's going to be a sermon and a closing song. At some point, they'll be offering, and then we're going to go home. These are the, in my mind, the machinations of church. But I was using this word in conversation, and one of my buddies said, Nate, I don't think that's what that means. And I went, no way, you're an idiot. And he said, I go, what does it mean? He goes, I don't know, but it's not that. And then we looked it up and there is an element of truth there. It is the normal mechanics of something, but it's the normal mechanics of an evil or sadistic plot. So I've been misusing this for 20 plus years, sounding like a moron, which I know that that happens to me anyways, but I like to reduce the possibility of it. And here I am misusing it. And I tried to think of a way to correctly use it this morning as an example. And I can't, I can't even do that. I've just stopped using the word machinations for the last two and a half years of my life. And I think we probably all have words like that, that maybe we use. And if someone says, what does that mean? You'd be like, why don't you shut up? I couldn't tell you. I think there's a word in the Christian lexicon that many of us believe we understand, but if asked to give a succinct definition of it, we might struggle. If we wouldn't struggle, here's what else I think is true of this word. If I group together representatives from small groups, wise people who care about their faith and know their Bible and have been in church and have heard this word plenty of times and have probably utilized it in their own speech. And I said, just write down on a piece of paper your definition of this word. My hunch is that most, if not all, the definitions would hold elements of truth and be very close to right, but they would be divergent, right? They would be diverse. They would all be a little bit different. And there might not be universal agreement. And here's the word. The word that I believe Romans chapter 3 is really about is the word righteousness. I believe we've all heard that word, most of us at least. The word is righteousness. If I were to ask you to define righteousness, how would you define it? How would you explain it? Can you differentiate between God's righteousness and our righteousness? So this morning looks a little different. I've got my table in front of me, which I've never done. It's always been right here. But I have so much scripture to read so that we can understand this concept of righteousness that I just decided it's going to be weird if I'm just turning to my side the whole time. I just need it right here so I can look down and read it. So this morning, we're going to go almost verse by verse through Romans chapter 3. So if you brought a Bible, please open it up to Romans chapter 3. If you didn't bring a Bible, there's one in front of you. If your Bible exists on your cell phone, I will not call you out for looking at it. Everybody gets a free pass this morning, unlike last week when we were occupied with the hockey game. But by way of review, here's what's been covered so far. Boy, Ricola water is helpful, but it is not tasty. Romans chapter one, there's greetings. And then Paul goes through, goes at length into, I've revealed myself in nature so that no man is without excuse. Meaning I've showed everyone myself and you're now responsible for how you respond to the revelation that has been given you. But how a vast majority of people respond, how creation has responded, is to reject me and throw me off and not only do wrong and celebrate their wrongness, but encourage others to join them in that wrongness. Then in chapter two, he addresses the fact that the Jewish mind goes, yeah, the rest of the world really stinks. And Paul's like, no, you do too. You do this as well. Your salvation, which is reconciliation with God, and we talked about salvation not being defined as being rescued from hell, but rather being ushered into the presence of God. That's what salvation is, is now you're welcomed in my presence. And so he says, your salvation is not contingent upon your ability to follow your laws and ancient strictures and your circumcision and the symbols of what you believe to be your reconciliation, but rather your reconciliation, what we would call being saved, is contingent upon faith and what I do for you. So you're no better than them. Then we get to chapter three and Paul opens it up like this in verses 1 and 2. What advantage then is there in being a Jew? Or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way, first of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. You know, we talked about a couple of weeks ago this idea, this sliding scale of accountability where God holds us accountable for what has been made known to us. And for those who weren't here, the example was how much of the world has existed in human history. Is it 90%? Is it 85? Is it 80, 75? Whatever you think it is, has existed, but has born and died without ever hearing the name of Jesus. And so how does God judge those people? And the natural question is, well, I'm very blessed for growing up in a culture where I hear the name of Jesus from when I was very young, but wouldn't it be better to be born in another culture so I can do whatever I want and then God just saves me anyways, which is not what I'm preaching, but that's the mindset. And we said, no, no, no, it's actually better. We are blessed to be in a culture where Jesus's name is proclaimed because we get to experience a little bit of heaven on earth because we get to be in his presence. And here he says, so what advantage is there being a Jew? If I don't get anything for following all the rules, what advantage is there of my heritage? And he says, you are entrusted with the very words of God. And as Christians, if we parallel this, what advantage is there being a Christian? We're entrusted with the very words of God. not in the same way they were because they were responsible for them, but we have them. We exist with them and we know them. So that's what our advantage is. Then he gets into the meat of what I believe chapter three is about. And now listen, there are plenty of other pastors and I'm not even gonna say other scholars. I'm just gonna say scholars because that's not what I am. But there's plenty of other pastors, and I'm not even going to say other scholars, I'm just going to say scholars because that's not what I am, but there's plenty of other pastors who could make a very good case that chapter three is about something else, and they'd probably be right, but I do think this is one of the things that we can extract out of the chapter, and it's where I want to put our focus today. So read with me five and six. It'll be on the screen if you don't have a Bible. But if our righteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? Okay, so I'm going to pause right there. Lynn, you can leave that on the screen. But this is this concept of if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness by contrast and makes him look better, that's the idea. That the more unrighteous I am, the more righteous he becomes. So if that's true, that's what he's saying. But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what should we say? That God is unjust and bringing his wrath on us? I'm using human argument. Certainly not, verse six. If that were so, how could God judge the world? All right, I'm going to pause there. I'm going to pause there because this is the beginning of a discourse that asks a question that we're going to cover in 7 and 8 in just a second. But I'm pausing because this is the first time we see this word righteousness, where it talks about God's righteousness. And this is where we get to my intro. If you were to define God's righteousness, how would you define it? Well, the best definition I ever heard that changed the way I thought about the term righteousness in Scripture, particularly in Paul's writings, was written by a guy named N.T. Wright. N.T. Wright is Scottish, which I'm always jealous of Scottish people because everything they say sounds smarter just by way of their accent. And everything I say sounds dumber just by way of me being dumb. This definition was in a book. N.T. Wright is the world's foremost scholar on Paul. For those that like to read, he wrote an incredible biography on Paul that I highly recommend. And years ago, I was reading this book called Justification. And it was a response to a book that another evangelical leader who's highly respected named John Piper wrote about that same topic. And it was a 250-page book about the definition of the word justification. I would not highly recommend that, but unless, unless you, if your ears perked up like that kind of sounds fun, it was. But I'm not recommending that to everybody. And in that book, I saw N.T. Wright define righteousness this way, and it changed forever the way that I think about it. And it gave me a much more clear understanding of Scripture, so I want to share it with you this morning. N.T. Wright says, God's righteousness is his commitment to his promise. God's righteousness is his commitment to his promise. Now, that's an incredibly simple definition, but it's so rich with meaning. For those that aren't following just yet, and listen, I'm not saying you have to agree with this, but this is the best one I ever heard. And I grew up in Christian school, went to Bible college, went to seminary, had been working in church for about a decade or more, and came across this and went, oh, gosh, yeah, that's so easy. Because we say it's God's goodness or it's his holiness or it's how much he loves, it's how unfaulty he is or whatever we might say, but this is so easy. Righteousness is God's commitment to his promise. Now, here's what that means if we're not quite following yet. Back in Genesis chapter 12, which I've said to you dozens of times, if you don't understand what happens in Genesis chapter 12, you cannot understand your Bible. In Genesis 1 through 11, God has what I think of as a redemptive focus of revealing himself to the whole world in equal parts at the same time to let them give a chance to respond to him. This ends in disaster twice, in the flood and in the Tower of Babel. So in Genesis chapter 12, his redemptive focus goes from everybody at once to I'm going to focus on Abraham and his family and his lineage and the nation of Israel. Now that doesn't mean that God didn't have a heart for the rest of the world. He just decided the most effective way to reach the rest of the world was through this nation. And listen, this is important. It's not that God thought the first plan might work and was bummed out when it didn't. I think that we have Genesis 1 through 11 to show us God's magnanimous grace that I revealed myself to everybody equally, and it ended in a flood, it ended in a tower of Babel. So now we're going to do it the way I know it needs to be done, and I'm going to focus on Abraham. And when he focuses on Abraham, he makes him three promises in Genesis chapter 12. I'm going to make your descendants like the sand on the shore and the stars in the sky. There are millions of Jewish people all over the world now. So we know that's true. He said, I'm going to give you the land on which you are standing, the nation of Israel. God kept that promise. And then the last one is, I, one of your descendants, will bless the whole earth. This is what we refer to as the messianic promise, the promise of the Messiah. Now, Abraham didn't understand exactly what that blessing was or how it would be meted out. But the Jewish people began to understand that as the Messianic promise. We understand that as the Messianic promise. And so the promise that God made to Abraham, this is really important, is that I will offer a path to righteousness for you. I will offer a path to righteousness for you. And this brings me, this is not in your notes, so if you're a note taker, you can write this down. The definition of God's righteousness is his commitment to his promise. The definition of man's righteousness is right standing before God. When we are righteous, we are not holy, we are not good, we are not just because there is no one righteous, no not one. So if God calls us righteous, what it means is in the heavenly court in which your soul is judged, you are in right standing before me. God's promise is to make a path to put you in right standing. And the remarkable part about God's promise is that no matter what we've done or where we've been or what we do, he stands with us. We see God's fidelity to his promise in the Old Testament when Israel rejects him over and over and over again and walks away from him over and over and over again. And God stays faithful to them. And lest we think that, well, I'm a Christian. I've accepted God. I'm in right standing. I do not reject God. I did, but now I don't. Yes, you do. Sorry. Every day. Me too. Except Jen. Everybody else, we reject God every day. Every time we decide I'm going to follow my standards for my life and not your standards, we reject God. Every time we choose to sin, every time we choose our own way, every time we act outside of his will, that's a small rejection and rebellion in our soul against God. So God's promise is that even though I know you will rebel against me, I will continue to make a way for you to be in my presence for eternity and bring me back to myself and reconcile you to me. That is God's promise. So his righteousness is rooted in his commitment to his promise. Yeah? Okay, so now we continue with the discourse in Romans 5 and 6. If righteousness can bring out his righteousness, then why shouldn't I just do whatever I want? And then we continue in 7 and 8. Someone might argue, if my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner? Why not say as some slanderously claim that we say, let us do evil that good may result. Their condemnation is just. So this is a lengthy way of saying, if God is made more righteous by my unrighteousness, then why don't I just continue to sin? And this is something that's always puzzled me. This kind of discourse or idea is in the Bible multiple times, and this is another place where I've always thought, like, I've read it dozens of times in my life, but never been sure that I had a full grasp of it. So this week was actually really helpful to me because it's the first time I've preached through Romans chapter three for any congregation ever. And I felt a real responsibility. You better wrestle this to the ground, buddy, because being vague is not going to help anyone. So let's let Paul answer that question for us. I'm going to give you a synopsis because the next thing that we're going to do is look at Romans 3.23. That's the conclusion of this portion of the discourse. But Paul answers this question by saying, what shall we conclude then? This is in verse 9. Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We've already made the charge that the Jews and Gentiles are alike under the power of sin as it is written. And in this portion of chapter 3, if you have a Bible, you can see there's indentations. This usually means in the New Testament that we're quoting the Old Testament. And he cobbles together a group of condemning texts from the Old Testament. I'm gonna read you a sample. Verse 12, all have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves. I don't even know what that means, but it sounds ominous. Their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. And that's just a snippet. There's more. And then he goes on and he's talking about that every mouth will be silenced, therefore there will be... But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known and he concludes all of this. He's kind of heaping it on them and us. He concludes it by saying this, the famous verse in Romans chapter 3, Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now this portion of the text, this paints a very bleak picture of our standing before God. It paints a very bleak picture of our standing before God. Because he just finished three and a half chapters. The whole world stinks. Jews, so do you. Everyone's equal under God and deserves God's wrath and God's judgment. Then he walks through it one by one and says, no, your unrighteousness is not good. It's not permitted. It's not okay. You still have to pursue God, but here's the problem. Your mouths are empty graves, and then he continues to condemn them, and then he says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The condition of humanity is that there is nothing we can do to reconcile ourself to God. There is nothing we can do to achieve our own righteousness. If our righteousness is right standing before God, there is nothing that we can do to earn it. There is nothing that we can do to reconcile or to make a path back to the presence of God. There's nothing we can do to make perfect what is unperfect. We have all sinned. And so the condition of humanity, as Paul has reasoned so far, without giving them any hope, is to say that we all fall short and none of us can achieve our own righteousness, right standing before God. But he immediately rescues this tension with some of the most hopeful verses in the Bible. And it's the first place we see the name Jesus in the book of Romans. Verse 24, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. Those are some powerful verses. And if they're not powerful to you this morning, it is not the Bible's fault, but it's my fault for being a poor communicator. I love verse 25, if we can put it back on the screen and we'll leave it there for a minute. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of the blood to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance, he left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. So Paul is saying, hey, humanity, you've got a big problem. There's a God that created you that wants to be with you, but you've rebelled against him, all of you. And there's nothing you can do to reconcile yourself to the desire of that creator. Knowing this, in his forbearance, God made a path for us. He said, you know what? You cannot reconcile yourself to me. You cannot achieve your own righteousness and have right standing his blood. Now here's what's amazing about that. He did this to demonstrate his own righteousness. And if you understand righteousness, not to be goodness and not to be holiness and not to be loving, if you understand it to be his commitment to his promise, that what we know is God offered his own son as a living sacrifice in order to demonstrate his commitment to what he's always promised us, that no matter what we do, I will make a way to be in my presence and be reconciled to me. I will make a way for you to have your own righteousness, which is right standing before me. So here's what we know, and this is what's amazing. So we start with this question in verses five through eight. If I just go on sinning, doesn't God's righteousness abound? Isn't my unrighteousness what makes his righteousness by juxtaposing the two? Isn't that what makes his amazing? Isn't that what makes his soaring and sailing? And Paul goes through this discourse and then he concludes with, no, in order for his righteousness to abound, he has to sacrifice his own son. It is not our sin that by contrast makes God more righteous. It is his commitment to his promise such that he sacrificed his own son for the very people who would rebel against him. And so God's righteousness abounds, not because of us, but because of what he was willing to do to keep his promise. That was a stark realization for me. What would we sacrifice to save others? We would not sacrifice our children to save people who would rebel against us and reject us. But that's what God did. And I think this is the meat of Romans chapter 3 to help us understand the nature of God's righteousness and what that means. That His righteousness, His righteousness is His commitment to the promise that He made to us, knowing that we would break our part over and over and over again. And our righteousness is knowing that we have right standing before God, not because of anything we've done, not because it's been a day or two since we've sinned, not because when we do sin, we repent and we confess and then we're back to it. Nope. We have right standing before God because God has clothed us in the righteousness of Christ. God has pursued us and chased us and because he's given us the opportunity to have faith in him, he's made a way where there was no way. And so this morning, my goal is for you to simply understand better what the righteousness of God is, that his is his commitment to his promise, ours is right standing before God, and his righteousness is not made greater by the contrast between us and him. It is made greater, and it is proclaimed he did this to demonstrate his righteousness because of what he was willing to give up to keep his promise. That's what makes God righteous. There's another verse there, but I believe that's where I'd like to finish. So let's pray. Father, thank you for being righteous. Thank you for being committed to your promise. Even though you knew we would break our end of the deal over and over and over again. God, we know that even after expressing a faith in you that we continue to rebel and break our promise. So we thank you for being a faithful and righteous God and for bestowing upon us your righteousness at the greatest cost imaginable. In Jesus' name, amen.

Good morning. It's good to see everybody. My name is Nate and I get to be one of the pastors here. Thanks so much for making grace a part of your Sunday. If you're watching online, wherever you are, whatever you may be doing, thanks for doing that. If you're hearing this as you're catching up through the week, thanks for making it a point to catch up. I am, this is not a new phrase to you, very excited about this series. This might be my favorite verse that I've ever talked about. We had some good friends over last night who've been at the church longer than us. They were here when we got here, so they're part of the problem. But they were making fun of me because they were talking about this new series, and they were poking at me a little bit. Nate, every series is your new favorite, and every series you're excited about. And here, I will say that that's not true. I didn't care at all for the last series. So not every one of them is my favorite. But I will also say that I really mean it this time. I've really been looking forward to this series. But this series is going to be a little different. It's called A Letter to Rome, Painting a Picture. So we're going to go chapter by chapter through the book of Romans. And what I want you to know about Romans and where we need to start is that Romans is the most technical book in the Bible. It is the most exhaustive, clear, exceptional description of the gospel in all of scripture. Not even just in all of scripture, but in the history of the world. If someone said, I know nothing about the gospel of Christ, to where should I look? Romans. Just read the first eight chapters of Romans. It is a systematic approach and building of the gospel and its necessity and why Jesus died on the cross and what that means. It's an incredibly important book. We have some people here who are attorneys, and you know this better than I. I don't exactly know what it is to cobble together a legal argument to win a case, but the book of Romans is probably the closest thing we have in Scripture to what a legal argument would look like. It's a systematic approach to understanding the gospel. And so here's what we're going to do together. This series is called Painting a Picture, A Letter to Rome. Fine. We're going to go through chapter by chapter until it culminates in Romans chapter 8 on Easter. That's our Easter message. And this is already intimidating and disappointing to me because I did a series a few years ago called The Greatest Chapter and we spent eight weeks in Romans chapter eight, and I didn't think that was long enough. And now in a truncated 15 to 20 minute sermon on Easter, I have to capture Romans eight? No thanks, but that's what I've signed myself up for. We're going to culminate there because Romans eight is the most triumphant, declaratory, wonderful chapter in the Bible. If you want to debate with me about there being a better chapter in the Bible, I don't want to be your friend. It's the best chapter in the Bible. Now, I don't really mean that. I'm sure there's some other great arguments, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 and Ephesians 3, but Romans is really good. It is my favorite. Shut up, Zach. We're going to culminate there because it's just this triumphant celebration of what the gospel is. And I'll tell you the Easter message. It's going to be Romans chapter 8 verses, I think, 38 through 42, but don't quote me on that, where he finally declares, after eight laborious chapters of explaining the gospel. Jacob, you don't have to check it right now in real time, dude. You can just let it lie. Although, nod your head if I'm right. After eight chapters of walking us through what the gospel is, Paul concludes, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor demons, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, It's the greatest climax of a discourse in Scripture. So what we're doing is building to that on Easter. To do that, this series is going to look a little bit different. Most of the time when I preach, I try to preach to a point. I try to give you one thing to go home and think about, one thing to talk about with your small group, one thing to discuss on the car ride home. And there's going to be other things that I say, but I'm trying to drive to a point. For this series, I feel like it's a little bit different. I feel like my job is to do my best to articulate the point of each chapter. To make sure that we understand why did Paul write this and what is he attempting to drive home. So I'm not necessarily driving, excuse me, to a particular point as much as I'm just trying to bring clarity around what Paul is saying in the chapter. Because of that, I want you to know this too. The two greatest TV shows in human history, and this is inarguable, are Seinfeld and West Wing. Those are the two best. Everything else, third, fourth place. We can talk about it after. Those are favorites. But here's the difference between those two. Seinfeld, you can just turn on any season you want. Season four, episode 13. And you can fully appreciate the content of the show and enjoy it. It's fine. West Wing, if you were to turn it on, if you were to just go home, turn on Netflix, and season one, episode eight, you have no context for what's happening. You cannot appreciate the episode. You've got to go back to the first episode and watch all seven before you get to eight to adequately appreciate episode eight. You have to. So sometimes when I preach series, I think about them as Seinfeld series and West Wing series. And I don't do a lot of West Wing series because as much as I love you guys, most of you are what I affectionately think of as every other weekers. All right? It's difficult to do. I know. It's difficult. I'm here every week because I get paid. So I don't blame you. And you'll never hear me preach a sermon trying to guilt you to be here every week. That's just how I process the congregation. So I get hesitant to do West Wing series because I don't know if you're going to listen every week. And I don't want to disengage you by week three because you haven't caught up. But I'm going to do that now. Every sermon is being preached to lead to the next one. And then once we get to Romans 8, do you know what the series afterwards is going to be? We're going to change the name on you so you don't notice it as much. It's going to be called In Light Of. Francis Schaeffer, a great philosopher and thinker, wrote a book called How Should We Then Live? In light of the gospel, how should we then live? That's what Romans 9 through 16 are. So after Easter, you know what we're doing? After going chapter by chapter through Romans 1 through 8? 9 through 16, baby. We're just hanging out in Romans. I hope you don't get tired of it, because I'm not gonna. But every week, I want you to understand, if you miss, I'm gonna ask you, please listen. Because we're painting a picture. We're building an argument. We're following Paul's arguments so that we understand the structure of the gospel. And it's really important to me to try to honor that. But if I'm going to try to honor that, what I would ask of you is to try to honor it by following every week. Unless you're Carl and Suzanne and you don't even live here, you don't have to listen to Carl. You can do whatever you want. But that's what this is going to be. It's going to be a little bit different, but I want to ask you to follow along. Okay, that being said, that preamble over, let's look at Romans 1 and wonder what is the point of it. What point is Paul making? I would start it here in verse 8. There's a little preamble. He introduces himself. But then he says this in Romans 8. I'm also going to tell you, you have a bulletin. There's two points there. When I ran through the sermon this morning, it was like 52 minutes. So I'm not going to do those points. I'm going to try to get you out of here sooner than that. But when I don't fill them in, don't get upset. We're just going to look at verses today. Romans 1.8 says this, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. We don't have the same opportunity that the church in Rome did. We're very aware that we sit in a small church in a small corner of God's kingdom. Rome was able to make a global impact with their faith. But I just wanted to pause there because he's writing this letter to them and he says, first, I thank my God when I remember you because your faith is known all over the world. And I can't help but wonder if Paul were to write a letter to grace about what he's known and what he's heard and what grace has done well with. What would he write and be grateful for? If Jesus were to show up and see our church, for what would we be known? And this is actually what I want you to think about in your small groups this week. Aaron Winston, please put this in the notes. For what do you want your church to be known? We say that our mission is connecting people to Jesus and connecting people to people, and I think that we have some fidelity to that and that we do that well. But if Paul were to observe us and write a letter and say, I'm grateful to you, here's why, would he even say that he was grateful or would he just get on to us? This is what keeps me up at night. Have I been leading a church for darn near 10 years now and we're getting a ton of things wrong? And if Paul had to write us, he would not congratulate us, he would chide us. We should be sensitive to that. But my question here in the beginning of the letter is, for what do you want your church to be known? I hope you talk about that in your small groups this week. And then the follow-up is, what is my role in bringing that about? For what do I want my church to be known, and what is my responsibility in making that a reality? So that's where he starts, and he spends some, the first half of Romans 1 is basically introductory. I'm grateful to you. I'm writing you because I love you. Now let's get into the meat of it. And the meat of Romans 1, I believe, starts in verse 18. We're going to put verse 20 on the screen, but I'm going to read from 18 through 20. Here's what Paul writes. This is the NIV. In the ESV, the English Standard Translation, it says that God has revealed himself in nature so that no man is without excuse. So the point that Paul is making here, and he's building towards one that we will conclude on, the point that he's making is people are wicked. People have sinned. People deserve the wrath of God because we have a divine creator who shared himself with us and we fundamentally rejected him. And whatever you think sin is, whatever you would look at, not yourself, but someone else and go, yeah, they are sinful, however you would define that, whatever you think of when you think of sin, fundamentally, this is sin. The very first sentence in the Bible, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. I am convinced that the Bible doesn't start with that sentence because that's the beginning of the story. I am convinced that the Bible starts with that sentence because it sets up the fundamental relationship for all of time, which is this. God is the creator. We are the created. We are not on his level. The fundamental sin in the Garden of Eden, if you eat this apple, you will be like God. And Eve went, oh, I can do this? Whenever we sin in our life, however you define that, however you think the Bible defines that, here's the root of that sin. God is Lord. I am the creation. But I want to be my own authority. So now I'm here. That's the nature of all sin. And so that's what Paul is saying that people are doing. They no longer accept the authority of God. They are their own authority and they have thrown off the rule of the universe. And to that end, he says, but they are not excused for this because God has revealed himself in nature so that no man is without excuse. And this brings up, I think, a really important point. And this passage in Romans, whether you know it or not, is the epicenter for the answer to one of the greatest questions in human history. It's a question that every thoughtful Christian has ever asked. And if you've never asked this question, I'm not calling you unthoughtful. I would just like to suggest that maybe you haven't thought of this yet. Which is, if someone is born in Kazakhstan into a Muslim culture and goes their entire life without ever hearing the name of Jesus, what happens to their immortal soul? Because we know our Bible, and we know that the Bible says, when you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. Nevertheless, what happens to the tribal person born in the heart of the Amazon or Africa or one of the stands in the middle of the world who goes their entire life without hearing the name of Jesus? How does God assess them? Do they just get born and then spend eternity separated from God because they lost the lottery on where they were born? And can we not acknowledge this morning that we have hit, as Americans, we have hit the all-time global historical lottery for where we were born. We are history's spoiled trust fund billionaire babies. We are. We are, we are, Roman senators would look at your $350,000 home and be like, how do you exist in such opulence? You have warm water just on command? There's ice here. I put my food in this box and it stays cold. Like, I'm not going to elaborate on it, but we've hit the jackpot on wealth. And then on top of that, this is quite literally the most Christian nation that's ever existed. Our nation was founded by faithful men who founded us on Christian principles. Now that's debatable about Thomas Jefferson because he did some stuff to the Bible that's messed up. But for the most part, Christian principles. We were born into comfort and we were born into faith. You're not going to see anyone this week in Raleigh who's never heard the name of Jesus. We have every opportunity to respond to the gospel. But there are nations of people, the vast majority of people who have existed in human history have lived and died without hearing the name of Jesus. So then we ask, what does God do for them? How does God assess them? And we get some insight on this. I should have done the research and been able to name chapter and verse, but because of David, King David's sin with Bathsheba, God claimed the life of the son that was a result of that sin. And in his lament of the loss of that son, David expresses in scripture that he will see his son one day in paradise. And so for many theologians and scholars throughout history, this is indicative of what's become known as the age of accountability. Meaning, my son John is four and a half, he's never confessed with his mouth and believed in his heart that Jesus is Lord any more than he's confessed with his mouth and believed in his heart that Santa brings him presents. So how do we delineate that faith, right? So scholars have introduced us to this idea called the age of accountability. Meaning if something terrible were to happen to John this week, which I don't even like postulating, we believe that God in his goodness would have grace on his ability to understand and call him to eternity with him. So this is kind of a known thing, the age of accountability. Now here's where it gets really interesting to me, is you kind of extrapolate that out. When I was growing up, across the street from us, we had a neighbor named Kelly. And Kelly had a lot of pretty severe special needs. And when she was 19 years old, her daily playmate was my seven-year-old sister because that was her mental capacity. So then the question becomes, to what does God hold Kelly accountable? To what does God hold Lily accountable? To what does God hold John accountable? To what does God hold Nate accountable? And to what does God hold the Uzbekistan native who's never heard his name accountable? It's a good question. But here's what I know. I'm about to say something I'm not sure of and invite you guys to disagree with me, but here's what I am sure of. That Romans tells us that God has revealed himself in nature so that no man is without excuse. Meaning, when we get to heaven and we, if we have the capacity, even in our glorified bodies with our glorified minds, to understand the logic and the reasoning and the thinking of God, if he blesses us with that, and we can go to heaven and we can go, God, how did you assess all the souls that existed for so many years who never even heard your son's name? Whatever he then communicates to us based on this passage, I've revealed myself in nature so that no man is without excuse. Whatever God says to that answer when we get to heaven and we have the mental capacity to understand it, we will go, oh yeah, that makes total sense. You are a good and loving and gracious God. That was fair and righteous and good. We will not get to heaven and hear God's logic on salvation and go, buddy, I got to tell you, I think you did that wrong. That will not be the response. It will be that is righteous and good and true and just. So here's the idea that I want to introduce. I've done this in the past. When I stand here, I feel a sense of fidelity to do my best to tell you the truth and to not misrepresent anything. But also I know that one of the strengths of grace, one of the things that makes us good, is that you have a willingness to disagree with me. You don't need to believe everything I say any more than I need you to believe everything I say. Our friends last night were commenting on the fact that like, yeah, sometimes some stuff comes out of your mouth and I think, I don't think I would have said that, which I totally get. I've heard about that before. I find myself in the position of apologizing for clumsy words. This is, I don't have any notes, guys. Like I don't, nothing's telling me what to say. So sometimes stuff comes out that shouldn't. But even in that, you are grown adults with the Holy Spirit. You don't need to agree with me. Nor do I feel any responsibility to drag the church along with my ebbs and flows of theological understanding. You have yours and I have mine. I'm not trying to convince you that I'm right all the time. And a good strength is for you to be able to disagree with your pastor and still not find fault. I mean, obviously, if I said something crazy, but still not find fault in the fact that we simply understand that differently. I think that's a strength of the church, not a weakness. With that being said, I'd like to step over to my reckless speculation box and not be held accountable for anything I'm about to say. All right? There, I think I'm probably right, but I'm going to be wrong about some stuff here. I don't know. Maybe. But I've shared this with small groups over the years. And as I encountered this passage, and I don't think you can preach Romans 1 without talking about what's in verses 18 through 20. This idea that God's revealed himself in nature so that no man is without excuse because it beckons one of the greatest questions to ever exist in Christendom. So we have to talk about it. And as I've read it, I've developed in my own theology and thinking, you assess this for yourself. I'm not insisting I'm right. This is just how I think about it. What I refer to as a sliding scale of salvation. Where I personally believe that God in his goodness, based on Romans 1.20, holds people accountable for what they can know. He holds them accountable for what is possible for them to know. Meaning, if someone is born in Madagascar and lives and dies without ever hearing the name of Christ, I think God's standards for them and what he holds them accountable for are different than what he holds Harris accountable for. Because Harris has known the name of Christ. So that's how I interpret that. In my reckless speculation box that you cannot hold me accountable for, I think that there may be a sliding scale of standards for salvation based on what we can know and how God holds us accountable. So that's how I answer that question. Now. Now you can begin to hold me accountable for my words again. Andrea, I am actually going to make these points. I said I was going to skip these. I'm not. Here's what I think happens in the Christian brain when I say something like that. I say that God holds us accountable for what we can know. So because we're born in America and we live and die hearing the name of Christ, we can know him. And I think some of us, not all of us, but some of the more depraved in our audience, like Greg, think this. Well, then why do I have to be born in America and follow all the Christian rules? Why can't I be born somewhere else and do whatever I want and then not be held accountable for it because I never heard the name of Jesus as I lived? I think we can all relate to that question. And when we ask that question, it belies a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be saved. Salvation is not fire insurance. Getting saved is not just, I'm going to white knuckle it and grit my teeth and follow the rules the best I can to keep my God happy until I get into heaven. Salvation is not, am I in or am I out? Bless you. Salvation is being beckoned into the very presence of God. Heaven is not the place where we go to meet our family members, although we do. It is the place we go to see the face of our Savior. It is the place we go to be in the very presence of our Creator. And by having the privilege to know Jesus and to grow up in a place where we're introduced to Him very early and we're welcomed into His presence as far as our memory goes back, is to have, listen to me, is to have the very opportunity to begin to experience heaven on earth because we walk in the presence of Christ. So being saved is not about not burning. It's about yearning for the presence of Jesus. So when we hear, oh, you mean somebody can be born in another country and perhaps not be held accountable to the same level that I am? That seems not fair. They get to do whatever they want and I have to follow the rules? Listen, I love you. You're missing the point of what it means to be a Christian. What it means to be a Christian is to exist in the presence of God, to know that you're loved fully and deeply, and that he can never love you more than he does right now. And the Christian experience is progressively accepting that more and more. It is not a prayer we pray to avoid punishment. It is a revelation that we have that invites us into heaven on earth. So the advantage you have being born where you have been is that you don't have to wait as long as they do to begin to experience heaven and Jesus now. He invites you into it today. I said this, the miracle of the gospel is the invitation to exist in God's presence. That's how we should understand what salvation is. And just candidly, I would tell you, I'm not trying to run anybody down because I certainly understand the thought process that brings us to this place, but I would invite you to think more deeply. If salvation to you is this in or out thing, do I get to go to heaven or do I have to go to hell? You don't understand it yet. It's about being ushered into the presence of God. So now, we don't get saved to avoid punishment. And I think that's a big misnomer about how we think about salvation. Now that is not the ultimate point that Paul is driving to. Paul is driving to this point in verse 28 through 32. And buckle up because these are some doozies. Paul is talking about how people have kind of fallen from grace and begun to just do whatever it is they want to do and how our society or how their society has become depraved and has led what Paul would in Philippians, is led by their bellies. Here's what he says. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, because God has revealed himself, right? So now they've said, no, we reject that. We're going to do whatever we want. So God gave them over to a depraved mind that they do what ought not be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents. Davis, obey Janice. All right. They have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God's righteous decree and those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them. Paul just lit everyone's face on fire with that. But his point is to say, hey, this is the condition of humanity. They not only ignore the God that is revealed to them, but they act in rebellion to him and his decrees, knowing that they are acting in rebellion. And then on top of that, they celebrate it when other people join them in their rebellion. They not only go on sinning, not caring, but then they celebrate it when other people do too. And here's what's remarkable to me about this passage. It was written circa 65 AD and was true of the Roman culture when he wrote it. It's true of the American culture in 2026. It hasn't been not true of our culture any year of my life. I was born in 1997. It has not been not true of my culture in any year of my life or yours. Those words were true then, they're true now. Our society sets its own rules, does what it wants, decides what it thinks truth is, rejects the authority of God, then they celebrate the fact that they're doing it, and when I say they, I mean we, because we do it too, and then we even celebrate those that join us in our rebellion. It was true then, it is true now. Here's the tricky part about our culture. There are some sins I could mention by way of example to prove my point. Where half of the room would go, yeah, get them. And the other half would be like, you should not be saying this right now. And then I could flip it and pick sins that the half that just agreed with me is now disagreeing with me, and the half that was just disappointed with me is going, yes, those are sins too. It's not easy to be a pastor all the time. But here's what I know is true. That where Paul lands the plane here in chapter one was true in Rome when he wrote it. And it's true of us today. And here's what he's driving at. I love you. I care deeply about you. People are sinning and running wild, and this doesn't make any sense because God has revealed himself in nature so that no one is without excuse. Everyone can be held accountable to their revelation of who God is. And the end of it is they are so rebellious, your culture and your society are so rebellious that not only do they reject God and his decrees, but they celebrate people who join them in it. That's where Paul finishes. So that's where we will. And we'll pick it up in chapter two next week. Let's pray. God, thank you for this morning. Thank you for the book of Romans and your servant Paul. God, I honestly, earnestly pray that I would simply do it justice as we go through it. It's such a soaring, wonderful book. I pray that you would develop within us a deep appreciation for it and its truths. And where it is encouraging, that we would be encouraging. And where it is confrontational, that we would confront. But God, I just pray for grace as we move through this season and into the spring and ready ourselves for the wonderful celebration of Easter, that you would walk with us through this series, and that you would use the book of Romans to speak to us and to teach us. In Jesus' name, amen.

Grace, good morning. This is a really special morning because we have the founding pastor of Grace, Craig Holliday, who's going to be sharing with us for the sermon. In 2017, when I came to Grace, I reached out to Craig because he was the founding pastor and I wanted to learn more about his experience and his relationship with Grace. And from the very start, he's been so gracious to me and so kind. He began to come back to Grace and refer to me as his pastor, which is incredibly flattering and generous of him. He said he wanted to help in any way that he could, served as a greeter and an usher, and I've always been so humbled by his participation in Grace. Back in March of 2020, he was scheduled to share with us and preach his first sermon back since leaving Grace, and I was so excited for that, and then COVID hit, and then the son of a gun moved to Costa Rica, which wouldn't we all love to move to Costa Rica? And several weeks ago, I was talking to Craig, and I realized that I was going to be out of town this weekend, and there would be an opportunity for someone to to speak in my stead and I thought it would be a great chance for Craig to come back and share his heart with us. So I've asked him to share his heart for Grace and his experiences that he's had and his heart for what he hopes happens at Grace in the future. So I'm really excited for you guys to get to hear from Craig. I'm excited to watch it. I hope it blesses you. I know it will bless me. Let's welcome Craig. All right. Well, to say I'm excited is an understatement. I remember back 27 years ago was the first time I stood to preach in front of this congregation, and I was excited then, and I'm just as excited today. Nate asked me to speak a couple of weeks ago. He said, you know, we're not in the middle of a series or anything. I don't need you to cover a certain topic. So what I'd really like to hear from you is, why are you excited about grace? Why have you been excited? Why are you? What are you expecting and looking forward to about grace? And that was an easy one for me. It took me straight to the mission statement of this church. And we'll go into that in just a moment. But Nate has been very generous to me. We've had a great relationship. Actually, he didn't give you the full story then just a moment ago. I've been offering to preach for quite some time now. Yeah, been offering to preach. And, you know, he first got in town, and the church was smaller and didn't have the full staff. I was like, Nate, you know, I want to help you in every way I can, any way I can. I'd be glad to be a greeter, be glad to preach. And Nate thought about it, and he said, well, that's very generous of you, but I know that you haven't been preaching a whole lot lately in these last years. Well, they went through some times with other associate pastors and interim pastors, and now I've been here. Craig, to put it bluntly, they've gotten used to a certain standard. And I'm just not so sure after all these years you're quite ready for it. But, you know, maybe you can go preach some other places and get it back under your belt, and then we'll have you back. And I said, great, great. So a couple of years go by. I have another chance to meet with Nate and let Nate know, you know, hey, Nate, I have been getting to do some preaching in some other places and been really good. I'm feeling pretty good about things. I would love to fill in some time for you. Surely you need a vacation or a break or anything else. He said, well, I'm sure that you have probably gotten a little bit better. It's come back to you a little bit, but we've got this really, really high standard. See, it's not just me preaching now, but Erin Winston's come in, and she's been preaching, and well, I mean, you know, they expect a lot, and I got the picture. Got the picture. You know how this goes. Came along a couple of years later. Nate, I know I'm ready now. I'm ready. Don't you think I'm ready? He said, well, now I got Gibby. And so I just don't need you, Craig. I just don't need you. I mean, we've got three really high standard people. And, you know, I don't want you embarrassed in front of the church that you started. And I said, well, Nate, think about it this way. If you give me the chance to preach, at least then the congregation's going to realize just how good they do have it with you. And he thought about it for a second. He said, you know what? You got a point there. You're ready to preach. So here I am. Well, of course, none of that's true, but what is true is how gracious Nate has been to me. Many times when a pastor leaves a church for whatever reason, they go on and are at other churches because they don't want to get in the other pastor's way. And I had done the same thing for a number of years after having to leave Grace. And when Nate arrived, one of the very early things that he did was to have me to lunch and said, Craig, you know, enough time has gone by. If you want to come to Grace, you're more than welcome. And I can't tell you how much that meant because this is home. Always had been. No matter where I was, this is home. And so I'm glad to be back again, and I'm so thankful to Nate, to the church, to the elders, and to all of you for having me today. So what's so good about grace? As I said, I could start listing a whole number of ministries I could go through. I could talk about the children's ministry. I could talk about what happens up here in worship. I could describe for you a week of one of the mission trips. I could tell you about the Bible studies. There's so many things and people and events that I could tell you that excite me about grace. And of course, there's one hanging up on the wall out there, a picture of a new facility. What excites me about grace? I'm glad grace is going to a home. And by the way, just let me remind you briefly, you're not building a church. You're building a home for the church. That's just going to be the facility. You are the church. We all got fooled as kids in Bible school when they told us that thing, here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, here's all the people. That ain't the church. That's the church. You are the church, and you're just going to be blessed by the chance to be in a new space to do ministry. What really excites me about grace is the right focus. Always has been, always will be, and that focus is Jesus. Is Jesus. Keeping our eyes on Jesus. And all the decisions we make and all the movements we have and all the things that we plan, keeping our eyes on Jesus. And in doing so, this church has made it a priority to see that first we want a commitment to Jesus from each individual person, for everyone to make an acceptance of Christ into their hearts, to grow deeper in that relationship with Jesus, not just to get saved, but to continue to grow and mature and learn as a disciple of Christ. And finally, in that same statement of connecting people to Jesus, we't help all of the members learn how to bring others to know Jesus as well. Whether that's directly telling the gospel story, whether that's inviting people, any number of ways, it's the entire church's job to multiply those who know Jesus. That was the Great Commission. Go into the world, make disciples of all nations. So our mission is connecting people to Jesus and connecting people to people. I want to take you through two Bible stories today of people connecting with Jesus and connecting with each other and see how they might apply to us. And the first one comes to us in the book of Luke. And I've got this up on the screen because for this, I'm using the New Living Translation. I usually use the NIV, but the New Living Translation. Let me just read it to you. A woman in the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. She could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe and immediately the bleeding stopped. Who touched me? Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, Master, the whole crowd's pressing up against you. But Jesus said, Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me. When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble, and she fell to her knees in front of him. And the whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him, and that she had been immediately healed. Daughter, he said to her, your faith has made you well. Let's step back and take a little deeper look at this passage and understand about this woman who comes to an intimate, deep connection with Jesus. She suffered with bleeding, probably some menstrual issues for 12 years, and we learned in some of the other Gospels that she has been to multiple doctors. She's probably used up all her financial resources, and she can still find no cure. And for this woman in that day, it goes far beyond the physical issues that she's dealing with. It becomes a social issue. It becomes a spiritual issue as well. Because you see the law of Leviticus that was being lived out in those days was that if any woman going through that time was not to be around others, they were considered unclean. And so this woman, instead of being unclean for a few days or unclean for a week, had been unclean for 12 years. You can imagine what that means for her life on a daily basis, walking down the street with everybody knowing, moving away from her, no one to say hi to, no one to interact with. You can imagine what that does to her faith, feeling, Lord, you've left me in this position. Why? Why? And yet she still believed in Jesus. She had heard that Jesus was coming to town. The news had gotten around about the healings that he was doing, and he was probably coming to do more, and she was intent to be one of those out there to be healed. It says, coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. She knows the power of Jesus so well from what she has learned and heard and experienced that she doesn't even need to meet him. She doesn't have to have a hug. She doesn't have to even talk to him. She says, if I can just touch the hem of his robe, I'll be healed. Perhaps he's not wanting to get Jesus unclean either by touching him. If I just touch the hem of the robe, I'll be healed. What faith. And immediately the bleeding stopped. And when it did, Jesus says, all of a sudden, in a big crowd who have been following him around everywhere he's been going, all of a sudden Jesus stops and says, who touched me? One of the other disciples are like, come on. He says, look, we're packed in here like sardines. Look at all these people around. What do you mean, who touched you? Lots of people have been touching you. He says, no, someone deliberately touched me. It wasn't a casual bump. It wasn't an accidental. It was something that had been planned out, thought out. She, with purpose, had touched him, and I felt healing power go out from me. She'd heard about Jesus. She'd thought about Jesus. She'd acted on what she'd heard and thought and knew by reaching out to Jesus. When the woman realized she couldn't stay hidden, she began to tremble, fell to her knees in front of him. Here's the unclean woman that's been ostracized by the community. And Jesus not only heals her, but he goes one further step. He says, I'm not only going to heal you, I'm going to use you to minister right now. As the whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and had been immediately healed. And then Jesus does something beautiful here. He looks at her and he says, daughter, daughter, you won't find that word used anywhere else. It's not woman. It's not child of God. It's not Mary. It's daughter. It's that intimacy of you are mine and I am yours. We are one together. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go. Go in peace. See, folks, when Jesus enters into our lives, he is about so much more than simple salvation. Well, I shouldn't say simple. He's about so much more than salvation. Jesus wants to be a part of every aspect of our life. His care for us goes into every aspect of our life. All the joys that we have, all the lows that we have, the highs that we have. Let me ask you a direct question. If Jesus were here sitting next to you and looked over at you, would he call you daughter? Would he call you son? Too many times we find that churches are filled with people who know all about Jesus but don't know Jesus. And if that mission statement of this church is going to be true, connecting people to Jesus, it has to start with the people who are sitting right in this room, the people who call Grace home, the people who are partnering and even watching online right now. It has to start with your personal relationship with Jesus. As I said, the woman in the passage had heard, she decided, she accepted, she acted. Now, I'm not going to go into all of this right now, but there's so many different stories and ways of how we come to know and accept Jesus. Some of you can't remember a time you didn't love Jesus. You grew up with Jesus in your family, and Jesus is just part of it. Some of you, like myself, had a dramatic experience where you're off at a camp, and there's an altar call, and you raise your hand, and it's a specific moment in time, and you get the goosebumps and all the things that goes with a dramatic story. Folks, neither one's better than the other. The question simply is, if asked right now, is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Have you made that known to him? I choose you, Jesus. Grace's church mission to connect people to Jesus has to start with us. That we don't just memorize the menu of what it looks like to be a Christian. We actually taste the feast and participate in what it means to be in that relationship. And then we have to connect deeper. We have to continue to grow that faith. The mission of grace about Jesus is not just to connect people to Jesus. It's also connecting us to each other in our deeper relationship. And there need to be ways and parts and programs of the church that help us do that. Because as we connect with other Christians, we're growing deeper in our own faith. My challenge today is for you to grow in seeing that your life needs to influence others to grow in Jesus. Whose life has changed because they bowed you? Whose life has been influenced to draw closer to Jesus because of you? I'm seriously asking the question. And for grace to be healthy, not only as it is now, but moving into the future. That's continually got to be one of the questions that is part of this mission. How is that happening? How are each of us doing it? If we asked your coworkers, would they even know you're a believer? If we asked the buddies down at the golf club, would they recognize that Jesus is in you? Whether you verbally shared it or not, Jesus needs to ooze from everything we are. Jesus needs to just be part of our being. So we needed our mission, as it says, to connect people to Jesus. The second thing that we need to do as a church and seek to do is we seek to connect people to people. As I've said to you, we grow deeper in our faith often when we're growing with others. There's so many ways in which being with other people is so important, and I'm going to give you another story from the Gospel of Mark about how important other people can be to our faith. Mark 2. When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room even outside the door. And while he was preaching God's word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn't bring him into Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, my child, your sins are forgiven. But some of the teachers of the religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, what is he saying? This is blasphemy. Only God can forgive sins. And Jesus knew immediately what it was they were thinking. So he says to them, why do you question this in your heart? Is it easier for me to say to the paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven or stand up, pick up your mat and walk? But so I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins. Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, Stand up and pick up your mat and go home. And the man jumped up and he grabbed his mat and he walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, we've never seen anything like this before. We'll go verse by verse, but let's pick up some of the highlights through that passage. As Jesus has returned home, it says the news has spread quickly and the crowds were continuing to grow around him. He's at a house teaching one day when this event takes place. He often was. He would be in people's homes and he'd be in common areas. And he's at somebody's house to preach. And the crowd has gotten so large that they don't all fit in the room. They don't all fit in the house. There are people outside the house as well. And in those days, the homes were made of stones on the walls, but the roofs were mainly thatch and mud. They weren't nearly as solid as the sides were. They often also had a set of staircases going up to the roof area as if it was a terrace or a big porch up top. So that's the setting where we find that this is taking place. And Jesus is preaching God's word to him. Now, off somewhere else is a paralytic. A paralytic who needs what's happening over there, but can't get there. Now, there's a part of the story that's here I don't know the answer to. I wish I did. I don't know whether he willingly went or whether he was being taken there against his will. But for however it happened, these other men knew what he needed and knew that what he needed was Jesus. Knew that what he needed was Jesus. And so they've picked up this mat and they've carried them over to this home where Jesus is teaching. They've likely gone up the stairs and then it says they lowered him through a hole in the roof. That had got to be some kind of scene. Jesus sitting there teaching and crumble, crumble, crumble. Jesus teaches a little bit more, and that side caves in. I wonder how many people started moving out of the way, thinking maybe this isn't the right teaching going on here. But eventually the hole opens, and they lower the man down to Jesus, where he says, your sins are forgiven. See, the man needed to be healed from his paralysis, and he was. But the greater thing that Jesus came to do was to forgive him of his sins. He needed to give him the full treatment. Jesus wants to enter into our lives and give us the full treatment and be involved in all the aspects and areas of our lives that need help. This is one of the few places where Jesus in this gospel is called son of man as a title for himself. Usually when healing is taking place, it's the son of God to say, you know, God has these miraculous powers. But they wanted to also emphasize that here, this person who empathizes with humanity because he is one, the son of man, the one who knows what it is to feel bad, the one who knows what it is to come up against struggles, he is the one also who is forgiving you and taking part in that with you. Our faith is not meant to be lived on a solo basis. Can you be a Christian on a solo basis? Absolutely. Should you be? No. That's not God's intention for us. God's intention for us is that we live out our faith in community. And there's so many obvious benefits of living out in community and reasons we would want to connect people to people. We learn from one another. We encourage one another. We may challenge someone. We may even feel led to convict someone where we see something going wrong in their lives. We're there for each other in a number of ways, and that happens in life without Christ, but even more so is it important with Christ that we interact with each other. Let me give you just another simple example of why connecting us with each other is important. I think worship's a lot better with people. Now, the singing gets better and better. I would take a guess that those of you watching at home online probably are not singing out with gusto during the songs. Anybody been at home and done that? I would bet that those of you watching online, and I'm not saying that's not a good thing sometimes, but I bet some of those of you who are watching at home, when there's a prayer time, that's a time you're shuffling around or grabbing something else. You're not really engaged and focused in. But when we come together as a community, worship is better. The singing's better. The praying's better. We feel better being around other people and other believers. COVID exploded online worship. And at the time, it was a great thing. So thankful we had it. But since that time, across the country, church attendance is down 30%, in large part because of people continuing to worship online. And what I want to say very directly to you, those of you who are here and those of you who are in that camera, it's time to get your butt back in church. Online is when there's something that prevents you from getting here. It's not the easy out, the easy choice. Come back and be a part of this fellowship. One thing that I want to highlight for you as what I see is the best way for us to connect to people and within our community is small groups. Small groups. I cannot say enough good about small groups. Those of you who have been in one or are in one know what I'm talking about. Small groups where you intentionally are getting together with a smaller group of folks and you're intentionally sharing the faith, you're intentionally sharing scripture and prayer, but you're also intentionally sharing life. That's when we can influence and mold and meld with each other. And I will tell you that this church is going to get bigger and bigger. Not only is it growing because of the health of the church and the great ministries that are here. When you open up the doors just up the street, people are coming just because they want to see what's there. This church is going to be growing. And that's nothing to be scared of. In fact, be encouraged by it. Because here's the truth, folks. In a given church or any community, you may know at best, I'm going to be generous and say you might know a hundred names. You might have a casual interaction with maybe 50 people. No matter the size of the church, you've probably got about 20 that you would call, yeah, they're pretty good friends. No matter the size of the church, you've probably got three to five people that you would say, yeah, that's who I'm tight with. That's who I'm tight with. Are you tight with three to five people from this church right now? If not, you need to be. Are you not only getting that for yourself, but are you giving of yourself to three to five people in an intimate relationship? If you're not, you ought to be. Our mission is connecting people to Jesus. Our mission is connecting people to people because people connect Jesus to other people. Life can be so fun sometimes. It can be so difficult at times. I've asked this question in years gone by, and I'll ask it again. If something, a tragedy comes, there's an emergency that happens in your house tonight. There's somebody who's had something they need to go to the hospital for. Who from this church are you going to call at 4 a.m.? And it can't be Nate. Who are you going to call? Who have you developed a relationship with that you can say, I need you to come over and keep the kids because I've got to take Lucy to the hospital? Who have you developed that kind of relationship when there's been a death and you need to say, I just need somebody to be with me. Can you come over? Who are those three to five that are yours? If you're not that tight with others, you need to be, you need to get involved and connected in small groups. Bible study is great. Mission servant teams, great. Worship teams, greeters, all those great. Do they make connections that are deep? Not usually. And that's why I'm saying to you, in addition to all that, small groups is where it's at. The paralytic man found himself in a position where he couldn't do for himself what needed to happen. He needed other people to get him to Jesus. I share with you this part, and I chose that parable because being a Christian does not take away all life's problems. But scripture says in your life you will encounter many problems. And I can think of several events in my own life. I had to leave grace when I became disabled from a neck injury and had some personal issues going on as well. It was not long after that that I went through a divorce. Add to that depression. Boy, was I in a whammy of a space. I couldn't get myself where I needed to be. But thank God I had a group of tight friends and believers from the church community who were there with me. Said, we will get you through this. We will carry you. And I'm going to tell you, it didn't make those things go by quickly. But I can't imagine having to have gone through those without a group. Part of my story that some of you know, some of you don't, is that I lost a son in 2019. He just turned 17 years old. People ask me, was that a crisis of faith for you? And I say, no, actually. From God's mercy, it was not a crisis of faith, and here's the reason it wasn't. Number one, I knew my child was saved. We'd had a direct conversation about that less than a month before. The second thing was that I know God's got the big picture and that he's going to get me on. But the third reason that really got me through that time, and you never get over it, you just get better, got me through that time once again was my community of friends and believers who were there whatever I needed. Sometimes even when I didn't know I needed it. They were there to pray. They were there to bring meals. They were there to let me cry. They were there to help me have a fun time and learn that it was okay to be enjoying life again. I don't want to end on such a downer, but I use it to say to you folks, this connect to people to people is real. Take hold of it for yourself and want it for others. Want it for the people who are already here amongst you. Want it for the people who are yet to come. Keep Jesus the focus. And this church is going great places, greater than it's already gone. What's so great about grace? Jesus. Let me pray. Father, I'm thankful for this church. I'm thankful to be able to call it home. I'm thankful for the brothers and sisters here who also call it home. It is a great church. But we know that before we can give ourselves any credit for that, it first and foremost goes to you, the glory and the honor and the praise. Before we can say it's because of this or that that we get good or accomplished or any particular program, we have to know it's because of Jesus. You've kept that the focus in the years gone by. I pray your blessing on the years ahead that'll be one no less than one that focuses on Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.

All right. Well, good morning, everybody. It's good to see everybody's Christmas sweaters. Steve, it's nice to see your festive Christmas blazer. Thank you. This morning. If you don't understand what's happening on my sweater, that's on you. All right. This is from the movie Christmas Vacation. Chevy Chase is up hanging lights and he pulls the gutter and a shard of ice shoots into their obnoxious neighbor's room, shattering the window and the stereo system. And when they get home, Julia Louise Dreyfuss' character says what's on Jen's sweater, which is why is the carpet wet, Todd, and to which he responds disgustedly, I don't know, Margo. So that's what this is. Just so you know, if you're looking at my sweater going, that doesn't make any sense to me, that's where it comes from, okay? And I just wish that you had as much joy in your clothes as I do in mine. This week we continue, as Haley just mentioned, which it is Christmas Sweater Sunday. It's not Christmas Overall Sunday. I don't know what you're doing, but it is. What was it, Christmas Knits, if that's not your love language? It is yours. So, yeah, very good. The series is called Here We Go, A Wassailing, and we're looking at Christmas songs that we sing, and we're seeking to understand them in a deeper way so that when we sing them at Christmas, hopefully they're imbued with greater meaning. As we approach this one, I have a sensibility or a standard in my life. I'm almost always consuming two books. I'm consuming one on the app Audible, which is a wonderful app, and that's where I consume nonfiction. Biography, sociology, often history, political stuff, that's where I do my learning because it's hard to sit down and read those books, at least for me. And then I try to always be reading a book in addition to the book that I'm listening to, and I read fiction. But the standard for me in the fiction that I read is I almost exclusively read classics because I kind of think, and I know that all of this sounds pretentious. I'm talking to you about how much I read and what I read and that I only read the classics and blah, blah, blah. Fine. I would assume that if you're not a reader, there is this belief amongst readers that we are somehow superior to non-readers. But what I would argue is that we just have more free time than you. You're busier than we are, and so we fill it with reading. Regardless, I read classics, because here's my thought. If it's been in print for over 50 years, then that author had something to say beyond just the story that is written. So if it's been around for a long time, I'm more apt to read it because I feel like it was written with purpose. And I feel like what is contained in those pages moves beyond just the story. And what I've found over and over and over again is that it really offers profound insight into the human spirit and human psyche. And it has a good commentary on life. And here's what's wild to me about the classics when you read them, is they were written in the mid-1800s, but the dynamics of human life persist today and are absolutely relatable. And so in literature, I have a proclivity for the classics because there's a reason that they've kind of billowed down through the centuries. And so this morning, I bring that up because this morning we arrive at maybe the most famous Christmas carol there is outside of Jingle Bells. And Jingle Bells means nothing. So we're not going to talk about that. But the one that does mean something is this Christmas carol, Joy to the World, that we sang at the beginning of the service. It was written by a pastor named Isaac Watts in the early 1700s. So the words of joy to the world that we sing every year are over 300 years old. It is very much a classic. And so to honor the classic this morning, as we focus ourselves on the songs that we sing at Christmas time, I want to go through this song, what's called exegetically. To preach exegetically is to go through a passage and just verse by verse, what does it mean, what does it mean, what does it mean? And so I want to take that practice and apply it to the song of joy to the world and go through it exegetically and understand what we're singing because I believe that there's something profound in each verse that may pass us by as we just sing it every year and we repeat with sounding joy and all the things. It's going to be really, really hard, I'm just saying this right now, for me to not sing parts of this song to you as I preach. I've been in sermons before where the pastor would just like pause and start singing awkwardly. And even if they have a good voice, you're still like, what are you doing, dude? So I'm going to really try hard not to sing to you this morning, but I don't know what's going to come out. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. So let's look at this wonderful Christmas carol written by Isaac Watts that we sing every year, and let's seek a greater understanding of what's going on when we sing it. Here's the first verse. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart. Where's Gibson? Gibby. In the original, in my notes, there's an apostrophe and the E, the second E in every. And one of the great things about our Christian heritage is that we apostrophize words that don't make any sense. And you've robbed us from this experience. I appreciate that you kept heaven, but every. Come on, man. Aren't you from Kentucky? Please don't fix it. Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing. So the first thing we see, he is actually going to go fix this as I preach to you. Let's just give him time. It's my fault. I made a big deal of it. There we go. Thank you. Now we've had the full experience, Gibberoo. Thanks, pal. The first thing that I want to point out is how it starts. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Every Easter, rather, I share with you this quote, and I'll share it again here as we approach Christmas. It's an Easter quote, but it's apropos today. It's from John Paul II, one of the great popes of the Catholic Church. And he said, For we do not give way to despair, for we are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song. And what he means is we serve a Savior that has conquered sin and death. We serve a Savior that gives us joy in whom we can rest easy. And so when it starts off, it's appropriately so. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. This person, this Messiah, this entity that will defeat sin and death has come. And so we can experience joy. And there should be no more joyful people in the Christmas season than Christians because we understand fully what it is for and what it is about. And make no mistake, we get into the hustle and the bustle of the Christmas season, but let us not forget that Jesus is why we are here, and he gives us joy. To the next point, in here it says, let every heart prepare him room at my last church my pastor a guy named Jonathan about every other year if not annually would preach the same Christmas message and I think that the point of it was an excellent one. We see it in Luke chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. Let's read this together. While they were there, there came a time for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them. You've probably heard it. There was no room for them in the inn. And it's this idea that Joseph and Mary went down not for what they knew to be Christmas, but what we knew to be Christmas. Also probably in September, not in December, but that's neither here nor there. But they went down for the census and gave birth to Jesus. And they gave birth to Jesus in the manger because there was no room for them in the inn. That's the famous line. And so my pastor used to say in the Christmas season, let us make room for Jesus in our hearts. Let us not be like the innkeeper. And here's why that's tricky. This season has so many things that demand our time and our attention, does it not? Just yesterday, I was talking to Jen. What do you think we should get for John? I bought him this and this and this. We have this much money left. What do you think we should get for him? And so we're sitting there using our day talking about what we should get for our four-year-old who's eventually going to throw away everything that he gets in favor of other things that he gets when he's nine, which he will then throw away as well. It's an endless cycle. And she also shared with me that she was trying to buy some pajamas for Fammy Jammy Sunday because we got a match. And it's difficult to find. I'm just going to be really real with you guys. It's difficult to find pajamas I can preach in, okay? We would all be uncomfortable with the pants situation and all of the pajamas coming from Amazon. We don't want that. So it's tricky. And she's like, I've spent two and a half hours of my life trying to buy pajamas for us for this stupid thing at your stupid church. That's a loose paraphrase. She didn't say that. We have parties to go to. We have gifts to buy. On Christmas Eve, I've got to preach a sermon. You've got to come to a service. The band has to play music. You've got family things you're thinking about. You've got gifts to wrap. Santa has to sit in the living room and assemble things for Christmas morning. We have office parties to go to. We have friend parties to go to. We have regular gifts that we're getting, and then we have to think of the hilarious things to get for the dirty Santa party that we're going to that's going to be really funny. We have all kinds of things to think about in this Christmas season. And what happens so easily is that all of those different things that intrude upon our calendar and our schedule and our conscience invade the space that belongs to Christ and causes us to put him out of this Christmas season. For us to deprioritize him during the season that is meant more than any other to celebrate him and prioritize him. And so when we sing joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room. Reminds us if we let it. This is a busy season. There are lots of things being demanded of us. But the most important thing is to celebrate my Jesus. And I'll tell you this now more than ever. You've heard me, if you've been here any length of time, you've heard me say this a hundred times. There is no greater habit that anyone can develop than to wake up every day and spend time in God's word and time in God's presence through prayer. At no point in the year is that more important than the Christmas season. So let joy to the world encourage you to do that. Wake up early tomorrow. I promise you, I promise you, if you wake up 30 minutes earlier than you normally do tomorrow, and you spend the first 10 minutes becoming cognizant and making coffee, and the latter 20 minutes reading and praying, that will be a better invested half hour than whatever you were going to gain by sleeping for that additional time. Let this season be a season that pushes you back to Christ as you prepare room in your hearts for him. The second verse. Joy to the earth. The Savior reigns. And that says, let men their songs employ. The original version, and I think this is important, we'll get back to it, says, our mortal songs employ. And then it says, while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy. Andrew, if you can leave that up there. Here's why I think it's important, the language that is used in the original line from 300 years ago, where it says, our immortal songs employ. Now, we don't sing that. That doesn't make any sense to us. That's not vernacular that we would use. Let men their songs employ seems to get the job done. But here's the deal with mortal. Mortal admits he is immortal. I am mortal. I am less than. It's a declaration of the beginning of the Bible where it says, in the beginning God created, establishing this fundamental relationship that he is the creator and I am the created. So when we say our mortal songs employ, what we're admitting is that we're not enough. This is the best we can do. The best we can do is sing to you with a pure heart and invite you in. It's not just let men their songs employ because that doesn't have the same bite that mortal does. Our mortal songs employ because we are insufficient and this is all that we can give. So when we sing at the end of my sermon, we will sing joy to the world again, and we will sing let men their songs employ, but I want your brain to go to mortal, understanding God, I am insufficient. You are God. I am not. I am mortal. You are immortal. By your love and by your grace and by your goodness and by your sacrifice and by the arrival that we are celebrating in this season, we become immortal from your love. But right now, as I sit in this seat, as I stand in that space, my songs are mortal. And I love you for making me immortal. Let men their songs employ. And then, these great lines, while fields and Jesus says in Luke chapter 19, verses 39 through again. There was a season in my life when I was quote unquote rugged. I went to REI. I shopped at the scratch and dent sales. I owned, listen, some of you will understand this. I'm looking at you, Jacob Farmer. I owned Chacos in 1999, pal. Do you understand? Like, I was OG on the Chacos. And if you don't know what Chacos are, you're not cool. And I would go hiking. I remember I would go on the Appalachian Trail. I went one time. It was February. It was freezing. I made the mistake in getting into my tent of knocking over my boot. And when I woke up the next day, I had to peel it off the ground because it was frozen to the ground ground and it was thawing out on my sock as we would walk that day. I remember one time we forgot water and I was mixing dry oatmeal, this is true, with my spit for sustenance until we could find a brook and a pot that we could boil water in so that we wouldn't die. I used to go hiking. I have not done that for years. But when I did, and when I would be at the top of a mountain or have an incredible view, and I've had this opportunity, God's been good to me all over the place. I remember I would feel the presence of God in those places. I remember there was one time in particular when I was in Quito, Ecuador. And we went out to this camp, this youth camp in the rainforest. And we had the opportunity to hike up the mountain. And so we walked for 60 or 90 minutes up this mountain at very high altitude, like 11,000 feet. It was a hard hike. And we got to the top. And as we got to the top of this mountain, I look around and there's mountains all around us. And this cloud moves in over us, literally, and settles into the valley from whence we came. And we walked down the trail, into the clouds, into the rainstorm that it created by moving over the mountain. And I remember in that space being awed at the glory of God. And if you're a hiker, and if you're a nature person, and you're a person of spirituality, I think it's undeniable that when you're in those places, you see the glory of God. You see his goodness. You see the wonders of his love. And when I'm in those places, I feel closer to him. I marvel at him. And so Jesus says, if we don't proclaim his praise, the rocks will cry out themselves. And if you're a person who's been out in nature and is moved by that, if you've been to the Grand Canyon as I have. You've seen the rocks cry out. You know that's true experientially. And so what praise is. Singing to God. Is an invitation. To participate. In what's already happening. Do you understand? It's not on you to praise God. It's not on you to proclaim His name. It's not on you to proclaim His glory and His goodness. And it's not as if we don't do it at grace this morning that it simply won't happen. No. all of creation is proclaiming the glory of the King and of the Creator. Romans 1 says that God has written Himself into nature so that we can see it and that no man is without excuse. Walk outside and God has written His glory in the sky so when we sing, we are not initiating something that's not happening. We are participating in something that's been going on for eons and ages. We're simply joining into the chorus of creation and proclaiming his name. So when we say that line, repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, we are acknowledging that we are repeating the joy and the glory and the goodness and the praise that's going on outside of these walls all day, every day, in ways that we cannot comprehend. Do you get it? When we sing joy to the world, the Lord has come. When we sing repeat the sounding joy, are acknowledging. We're not initiating this. We're echoing in with creation, with what's been happening for thousands of years without us. Now the third verse. The third verse might be my favorite. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. And listen, I know that's a weird one to be my favorite. But I don't know how many years you've sang the song or you've heard it sung. And we get to that last line, far as, far as the curse is found. And then we sing it again. That's as close as I'm going to get to singing this one. And we just sing it. Thank you for your clapping. We just sing it because those are the lyrics. And it's like, it's almost comical because it's just like, happy joy to the world. You know, this is a happy song. And then we get to the third verse. And even this week, I went to Gibby once I was writing the sermon and I was like, hey dude, are we going to do the third verse? And he was like, no, that one's weird. And I was like, oh, can we do it? And I don't, you guys don't know how much trust I put in him. I never, ever, do I ever tell you to sing a song or do a thing? He's not, he's shaking his head no, because I paid him. But no, I never like, hey dude, we have to do this here, we have to do this song last, so I need you to sing this. I never give him instructions like that. But this week I was like, I need you to find a way to do the third verse. Because we get to that place where we just sing far as far as the curse is found. And I think we just sing it, but we don't think about it. And we might not even understand it. So let's understand it. Genesis chapter 3 verses 17 through 19 say this. To Adam he said, because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, a fundamental sin of men. Just saying. I'm done listening to you, Jen. Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you. Through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. Because Eve ate of the apple, and because Adam listened to his wife, because he sinned too, there was a curse. And the curse was that there would be great pain and childbearing. And the curse for all of mankind was that now you have to work for your food. And it will be hard labor. There will be thorns and thistles that make it challenging. Do you realize that Adam and Eve were birthed into an all-inclusive resort? It was just, that's how they existed. Have you ever been to one of those? You just, there's just drinks in your room. There's just water in your refrigerator. And then you drink the water and you come back from going to the pool and there's more water in there. And then you go wherever you want to go for lunch. It's mediocre, but it's there and free. And then you go to dinner wherever you, there's no work involved. You're just reading and relaxing all day. That's what Adam and Eve were born into, but they sinned. They got that fundamental relationship wrong. God is the creator. We is the created. The serpent spoke into Eve's ear and said, you don't have to be like that. You can be like this. You can be as the creator and know what right from wrong. And so they chose to throw off the auspices of the original agreed upon relationship where God is the creator and we are the created. And they said, no, we want to be like the created. And so they inherited the curse. And the curse is that we have to work hard for our food. We have to labor. There are thorns and thistles. And if you want to read more deeply into it, the curse, more pointedly, is cancer. Cancer did not exist in the Garden of Eden. The curse is disabilities. Disabilities didn't exist in the Garden of Eden. The curse is anxiety and depression. The curse is divorce. The curse is abuse. The curse is that hurt people hurt people. The curse is loneliness. Do you understand? The curse is hurt and tragedy and pain. And one of my favorite verses that I bring up all the time and I preach it at every funeral I ever do is in Revelation chapter 20, chapter 21, where it says, at the end of days, God will be with his people and his people will be with their God and there will be no more weeping and no more crying and no more pain anymore for the former things, the curse have passed away. And so what this verse proclaims is it acknowledges that the curse is worldwide. But it says, That's the curse. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. He comes to expunge all of those things forever to make all the right things wrong and the sad things untrue. So when we sing the third verse of joy to the world, let us acknowledge that we know what the curse is and we know it's a result of sin and we know all the things are wrapped up in the curse. But when Jesus comes back one day and Christmas celebrates and acknowledges the fact that Jesus will come back and that he does keep his promises because God sent him and we acknowledge his reception and we look forward to his return. And as far as that curse is found, his blessings will flow and expunge. So we can sing that verse impugned with greater meaning when we understand the curse and we understand its healing. I didn't mean to rhyme those last four lines, but that was all right. Fourth verse. This one's great. He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love. I think this is an incredibly poignant and appropriate verse for us now in our current political climate. I hesitated to make this parallel because I truly believe that the things we talked about in each of the first three verses are meaningful and impactful or I would not have wasted your time with them. And I'm afraid that when I say what I'm about to say that we're going to lose the rest of it for this point. So please let's not do that. Let's just be grownups. But here's what I know about this room. There was an election in 2024. And some people in this room voted conservatively, believing that that candidate was most aligned with their values, and some people in this room voted liberally, believing that that candidate best aligned with their values. Some people didn't vote at all because there was no one that was representative of their values, and some people didn't vote at all because they're bad citizens. Well, I would say I'm just kidding, but I'm not. But we all had different reasons for the choices that we made that November. But here's what I know is part of everyone's reasoning. This candidate is not perfect, but they align with my values in this way, so I'm going to vote for them, and I'm going to overlook the shortcomings that they have as a person in their character. Okay? I don't think anyone here thinks that they voted for someone who was perfect in every way and was the ideal leader in every way. And I think as I trace back through my life, I'm 44, I've seen a lot of presidents. And I've seen a lot of elections. And you have too. And I don't think there's ever been a single time in your life when you voted or your parents voted and who they were voting for they thought was moral exemplar, ideal human on the planet, we have to make no exceptions for their character or their morality or their policies, but they're enough in line with me that I'm going to vote for them. Yeah? Jesus, Isaiah tells us, is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And Revelation tells us this in Revelation 19, one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. So in Revelation 19, there is this picture of Jesus crashing out of the sky. I've said dozens of times, if not hundreds of times in this place, that to be a Christian is to believe that Jesus is who he says he is. He's the son of God and divine. He did what he said he did. He died and he raised again on the third day. And he's going to do what he says he's going to do, which is Revelation 19. One day he's going to come crashing through the clouds and he's going to reclaim creation for his father and for himself. And he'll be riding on a horse and on his thigh will be tattooed, will be emblazoned, righteous and true. And he's going to make all the wrong things right and all the sad things untrue. And he is going to rescue his creation. And then he will sit on his throne as king of kings and lord of lords. And he is one that no matter how we voted in the past, we would vote for him. And we would not have to make equivocations for him. I don't agree with some of his policies. Well, then you're wrong, buddy. We wouldn't have to make equivocations for his morality. One day he will lead. One day he will sit on the rightful throne of the universe. And when that day comes, for the rest of our days, we will follow him, resting easy in his leadership, trusting in his wisdom, finding peace in his sovereignty, and finding joy in worshiping him and him alone. He will be the perfect king of kings. And he will sit on the throne of the universe. And verse 4 proclaims that. He rules the world with truth and grace and he makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and the wonders of his love. So I'm going to pray. And as I pray, the band's going to come back up. And we're going to sing joy to the world again. And if you don't mean it a little bit more than you did when we sang it at the start, well, I'm just a bad preacher. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your servant Isaac Watts who gave us the gift of this song. Thank you for how much meaning it has and how rich it is. Lord, your son's arrival brings joy to the whole world. It gives us a reason to praise and to sing. It gives us a reason to be happy and to be hopeful. So God, I pray that as we sing here in a minute, that we would remember what these words mean. That we would put meaning and passion behind them as we declare and proclaim your son. And we claim the joy of what this season is. Help us sing with meaning, God, and help us sing to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, good morning, everyone. My name is Nate. I get to be one of the pastors here. Thank you for joining us at Grace. I was late into the service this morning. Anecdotally, I'm just indulging myself. This has nothing to do with anything. I was just happy with the moment. When I was growing up, I got in trouble at church all the time. Me and my best friend, PJ Smith, we got kicked out of every ministry that ever existed at our church because we were troublemakers. And my senior pastor, a guy named Buddy Hoffman, used to, in Sunday night service, back when we encumbered our pastors with having to preach two sermons on one Sunday, he would call me out, Chris, stop talking to Karen, or do I need to get Donna to come down here and sit between you two? Like that kind of stuff in the service. And as a 12-year-old, that's mortifying. And I just remember that as what my pastor did. And I was next door refilling my water and getting ready to come over here. And there was a kid that got a little sideways. And the teacher had to pull him out. And the kid wasn't really listening to the teacher. And so I had to crouch down and get real stern with said kid and say, you're going to get right. And he says, she's not my mom. And I said, yeah, you're right, but she's your teacher. And if you don't listen to her, I'm going to go get your mom. And it was just like, and she said, thanks, Nate. I was like, you're welcome. Also, Carly, it was your, no, I'm just kidding. It was not, it was not, it was not. This morning, we're in our second part of Daniel, where we're going through the first portion of the book, the narrative portion of the book, and looking at these stories and asking what we can learn from them and what they have for us now. This morning, we arrive at the story of the fiery furnace, one of my favorite stories in the Bible, in the Old Testament, and I'm thrilled to arrive at it now. It's a story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but years ago, I went to Honduras on a mission trip, and I got to know a man named Mark Searcy, who's a custom home builder in western North Carolina. But in his teenage and 20, in his late teens and 20s, he was a missionary to Haiti and has this missionary background. And he's really southern and really. And one of my favorite humans I've ever met. And he's, he told me that, uh, that I'm not going to tell him what, I'm not going to tell you what he calls, uh, Nebuchadnezzar. I'll tell you if you ask me after the service, I'll tell you, but I'm not going to tell you from here. Uh, he, and he said that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are the demon names for those boys because their real names were Benadab, Mishael, and Hananiah. Those were their Hebrew names that all meant some sort of praise to God. And they were renamed by the Babylonian government, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what we know them by. And those are their demon names because those give praise to the Babylonian gods. And I'm not sure how convinced I am of Mark's perspective, but I do think it's interesting that there is, that there have been a dad, Mishael and Hananiah. Those are their God given, the names given by their Jewish parents that give praise to God. And I do think it's good as we remember the story to know their real names. But in the Bible and in the story, they're referred to as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So we will refer to them as that. And here's the situation. Last week, we talked about the exile and basically Jewish slaves being carried to Babylon to serve in their court and that they took some of the elite, the cream of the crop, young men, and they installed them in the government. They put them through a training process and then they installed them in the government and gave them different roles. And so Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have been prepared for that, and they've now been installed in their roles, and they've reached the upper echelons of government. And as such, they've made their peers jealous of them. So there are native Babylonians that are now working with them or even under them that have become jealous of their progress and of their success. And that's the environment. And in the midst of this environment, there's an edict that goes out. King Nebuchadnezzar erects a gold statue of himself. And there's an edict that whenever music is played, and in the Bible, this is where in Daniel chapter three, I'm going to look at some verses in a minute. So if you have a Bible and you want to turn there, that's where we are. But it says in the Bible that whenever these instruments, the lyre and the harp and the whatever, and the trumpet and whatever are played, then you should bow and worship the golden image or just bow towards the golden image and worship Nebuchadnezzar, who has now deified himself. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don't agree to this. Whenever the music plays, they don't worship. And I was thinking about this as I was rereading the story and reacquainting myself with it. It's difficult to believe that they would stand in the city center obstinately going like this and saying, we're not going to worship. It's more easy to believe that they would discreetly and respectfully move off to the side and just kind of let everyone else do their thing. I certainly don't know what the situation was, but I seriously doubt they made a big show of not worshiping. I think they just didn't worship. But some of their peers noticed this and told on them. They went to King Nebuchadnezzar and they ratted them out. They told on them. And this is a lesson for all the, everybody, if you're in here and you're under 15, raise your hand. Snitches get stitches. All right. That's a real thing. Don't do this. Don't tell on people. That's for you. They told on them. And they said, hey, whenever the music plays, these people aren't worshiping you. They're not honoring you. And the text says that Nebuchadnezzar was enraged. He was an emotionally volatile man from everything we can tell from the text. Nebuchadnezzar was enraged, and he calls them in. And he's furious at them. And he says, I've heard you guys. I've brought you in. I've supported you. I've trained you. I've elevated you. I've progressed you. I've given you success. I've given you affluence. And as a thank you, you refuse to worship me. He's furious at them. He says, if you don't worship me, I'm going to play the music. I'm going to turn on Spotify. And if you don't worship me, I'm going to burn you in the fiery furnace. That's the threat. So that's the situation and that's where we are. And this is their response to King Nebuchadnezzar. And I think it is a remarkable response. Daniel chapter three, verses 16 through 18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we. That's the most important phrase in the story. But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. So he brings these young men before him. He's this enraged king surrounded by guards. And he says, if you don't worship me, I'm going to throw you into the furnace. I'm going to burn you alive. And their response is, we do not need to defend ourselves against you in this matter, which is difficult to parse out. And different theologians would say different things, because with this limited story we get from the text, it's difficult to know exactly what their intent is. And so this is a guess. But my guess is that they believe that Nebuchadnezzar knew of their faith. That they believe that he knew, like, hey, we're worshipers of the Hebrew God. We're not worshipers of other gods. We don't need to defend ourselves against you. I don't think it was defiant. I don't think it was, no, no, no, I'm not going to talk about that with you. You don't deserve that. I'm not going to answer that question. It was, it was more of, I believe, you know who we are. You know who we worship. That's not going to change. And that God that we worship is going to protect us. Throw us in there. He'll protect us. And even if he doesn't, we're going to continue to believe in him. And we will not worship you. That's their response. When they responded in that way, Nebuchadnezzar is so angry that he looks at his guards and he says, make the furnace seven times hotter, which is a hilarious command. Because if you're on fire, you're on fire. You know, does it get worse if it's seven times? Like if your arms on fire and then you make it seven times hotter, is that a worse fire on your arm? Like I don't understand that. And I also don't understand in ancient Babylon how you gauge what seven times hotter is. But that's what he says. Make it seven times hotter. And it was so hot that one of the guards that bound them and threw them into the furnace burned up himself because he got too close to the flame, which is a really tough way to go. But that's what happens. And he throws them into the flame. And then he's watching them in the flames, expecting to see them burn up. I don't know if there was like a bulletproof, like double-pane glass that was heatproof that he could see through, or if it was just like an open furnace. I don't know how it worked, but he's looking in and he's seeing them, and he notices something. And this is what the text says, Daniel 3, 24 through 26. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leapt to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, weren't there three men that were tied up and threw into the fire? They replied, certainly, your majesty. He said, look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace there three people in the house, but only are there three people who are unharmed, but there's a fourth. And the text just says he looks like a son of the gods. And here's a thing that I like to do with the Old Testament. We don't know who that was. We don't know who the fourth person was in there with them. It could have been an angel. Some people think it could have been Jesus himself. And here's what I do as a highly trained theologian. Whenever... Shut up. That's great. I'm a very lowly train. I'm not a pastor, theologian. That's crazy. Anyways, just the snicker from the 26 year old was deserved. It was deserved. Whenever we have the opportunity in the Old Testament to put Jesus in a place, we should. So maybe it was an angel. But I think it was Jesus. I think he showed up with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he said, I'm with you. You have faith in me. I'm with you. And he protects them from the fiery furnace. You can extrapolate that out however you like. But I think Jesus was there. I think Jesus was there in the form of Melchizedek when Abraham showed up in Salem and gave a tithe to him. For me, it's just cooler to allow Jesus to show up wherever it seems like he does. So who knows who is there? And who knows who wrote Hebrews? But let's make guesses. And I think that was Jesus there in the furnace with them. When Nebuchadnezzar sees this, he calls them out. Come out right away. And the ties that bound their hands were done. They were burned up, but they were unharmed completely by the flames. And his response, if weadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and rescued his servants. They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own god. Therefore, this is important, I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of them must be cut to pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rub is, if you honor God, you will get a promotion. He sees what happens. Also, that's false. He sees what happens and he calls them out. And he says, he gives praise to this God that he was moments ago committed to defying. Do you see? And so that's the story. And then God gets the glory. So that's the story of, and that's all the rhyming I'm going to do. That's the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. And it's a wonderful story. And typically, when I preach a sermon, I'm really, whether you've noticed it or not, doing my best to try to get us to like one point to think about. I'm trying to drive the ship to this one thing for us to consider. And I'd love to do that with this story, but here's the problem. It's too grand of a story to reduce to one point. I've also been your pastor now for eight years, and this is the first time I've preached on it. I don't see myself getting back to it anytime soon. So instead of just saying one thing, I want to pull out three things from this story that we learned for us to consider this morning. And I would encourage you to weigh them with equal weight and to decide and determine this morning. We don't have the capacity to apply three things to ourselves and do three new things in our lives and all the things. So one of these three things, I think and I hope and I and I pray will connect with you. And I would invite you to just grab onto the one that does. And maybe you'll get to the end of them and be like, is there a fourth one? I don't, none of those mattered, but hopefully one of these three will be something that relates to you. So the first thing we see in this story is simply this. Holiness matters. Holiness matters. It matters in life. It matters to God. It should matter to you. Holiness matters. Last week, this is what we talked about. We talked about Daniel being trained by the Babylonians and being offered this new diet. And with this diet, he was encouraged to eat stuff that was outside the purview of the Jewish laws in which he grew up. And so he said, I'm going to refuse that and choose this vegetarian vegan diet. And let's just see how it goes. So he chose holiness. And when I say holiness, here's what I mean, because this is what the Bible means. The word holy means different and more accurately, it means other. So when we say holy, and when God said, when we say about God, holy, holy, holy, what we are saying is different, different, different, other than us, set aside from us, not the same as us. And so when we say we act with holiness, we pursue holiness, what we're saying is we're pursuing being different. And what we talked about last week is we're pursuing being different from the society in which we find ourselves entrenched. We are not citizens of the United States. We are not citizens of North Carolina. We find ourselves residing here. We are aliens in those places, and we are citizens of heaven. And so our behavior and our standards should be not in line with the given standards of North Carolina or Raleigh or North Raleigh or wherever it is you find yourself. Our standards for ourselves should be in line with what scripture says and who God tells us to be. That's what holiness is. Now, I had lunch with a friend of mine this week. And, excuse me, and he he was saying how does a leaf get up on this stage like all the way in looky there I had lunch with a friend of mine and he was saying that he enjoyed last week's sermon but that he wanted when I got I got to the holy part, to the diet, he wanted to say, what's the diet? Give me the standards. Tell me what to do. He's like, I don't know how everybody feels, but sometimes I like to get kicked in the teeth on Sunday morning. Like, make me feel a little bit bad. Like, ruffle my feathers a little bit and tell me what the standards should be. Tell me what we should watch and what we shouldn't watch. And tell me what we should think and what we shouldn't think. And tell me what practices in my life, like get on to me a little bit. And I said, I'll never do that. I'll never do that. That's not what I'm here to do. Because holiness, this is going to sound odd, is gray. It's different things for different people. I'm never going to get up here and tell you what it looks like to be holy as if I am that. You guys are smart, responsible adults with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Most of you. I believe in your capacity to decide what holiness is for you. I'm not going to sit up here and list standards off by which you should live. I'm going to trust you to establish those for yourself. And here's one of the reasons. I've given this example before. Years ago, I found myself, and I still do, as a big fan of NBA playoff basketball. I hate the regular season. I think the mid-season tournament is one of the dumbest things I've ever encountered in my life. That joke's going to land with 5% of you, but you know who you are. But I would watch the NBA playoffs because I like it. I like sports. I watch all the sports. And I like the playoffs. But the playoffs would keep me up because of the West Coast games until 1, 1.30, 2 o'clock in the morning. And by watching them every night, I was getting up later than I needed to. And sometimes it would cause me to either miss my quiet time, which you've heard me say a hundred times. The most important habit anyone can develop in their life is to wake up every day and spend time in God's word and time in his presence through prayer. You've heard me say that over a hundred times, if you've been here for any length of time and by staying up late and watching those games, it was causing me to wake up late and either have a truncated quiet time or none at all. And so it was impacting me spiritually. So it became unholy for me to stay up watching basketball games. But I'm not going to stand on this stage and tell you it's unholy to watch sports. That's how it's great. You have to determine how your behaviors impact you and how they push you to God or not and what diet is right for you. But here's what I know based on this story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is that holiness matters. Here's the second thing I know from this story. God is always working for his glory. God is always working for his glory. You see in the story that they get into this scenario where they've been told on. It's a bad scene. And they could have justified their way out of it, couldn't they? They could have said, God, I'm going to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar so I don't die. And so that I can remain in this place and influence in the right way. I mean, if I die, they're just going to replace me with a godless Babylonian. You don't want that to happen. So like, I'm just going to do this. I don't mean it, but I'm going to bow down. They didn't do that. They were in a tough spot. And they had this standard because they chose holiness of I can't bow down to Nebuchadnezzar. And at any point, God could have intervened and saved them. But he waited until the very last minute to save them in the fiery furnace. And so they were in this predicament that was preventable, but God didn't prevent. He allowed his servants to continue to suffer. And what we see at the end of that is that God was working for his glory because what's the result of the story? The result of the story is Nebuchadnezzar declares, no one will ever blaspheme the God of the Hebrew people. No one will ever blaspheme the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And by allowing them to go through this difficult phase and rescuing them at the very last minute, God made his own name great. Do you see? It was declared throughout Babylon because of that. There's an edict that went out that we will honor this God now. So it's important for us to hear from the story that whatever God is doing, he's doing it to work his own glory. I have a friend who, when he graduated, he got in with an accounting firm. And he began to just work and work diligently and work hard and do what you do in that stage of your career and kind of rise in the ranks and yada, yada, yada. And he ended up making partner with two other folks. And so now he's a partner with two other people, but he feels a sense of injustice because they don't work as hard as he does. They have this kind of mentality that once you make partner, now you have employees to do the work and you get to make the money off of what they do. And he felt like, no, you have to outwork your employees. And then he looked at his partners who he viewed as lazy and they are not working as hard. And this frustrated him and it caused years of frustration. And then eventually what happened was, and he's, by the way, going to church, he's a deacon at his church. He's, he's one of these people and he's getting frustrated with the situation because it feels unjust and it feels unfair. And he's like, God, I'm honoring you. Why are you, why is this happening? And then there's a personal fallout and he actually gets kicked out of the partnership and he has to start from scratch. And so he finds himself in his mid-30s with children starting from scratch and going, God, how is this happening? Why is this happening? This seems unfair. But he starts from scratch and he builds a new company and develops new partners. And you fast forward another 15, 20 years after that, and his firm exists and gives 20 to 30% of their profits to nonprofit organizations building God's kingdom around the globe. And he has people on his payroll whose entire job is to do the finances of nonprofits for free. He had to go through a hard time and be recalibrated. But it was to be recalibrated for God's glory. So that this person could be, so that my friend could be used to bring glory to God in his kingdom in a greater way. Some of us in here may find ourselves going through times that seem hard and seem preventable. God, if you wanted to fix this, you could. God, if you wanted to rescue, you could. God, if you wanted to restore, you could. If you wanted to repair, you could. If you wanted to heal, you could. And maybe he's not. But God doesn't work in days. He works in decades. And he works in centuries. And here's what I know about God based on this story and many others. God is always working for his glory. And he will involve you. In that path. If you stick with him. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So God is always working for his glory. Here's the last thing. And this one. I said consider them with equal weight. But this is my favorite one. And I stole this one from a friend of mine who I hadn't talked to in years. And I actually called him this week and I said, Hey dude, he's a guy, his name's Alan Smith. He's on staff at my last church. He's still there as a campus pastor. And he and I worked together. And I remember him preaching this sermon. This was the first sermon that he preached. It was on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when he had a chance to preach at the last church. And I called him this week and I said, dude, I'm preaching that story. And I remember the point you made. And I'm totally stealing it. But I'm going to give you credit. Like just so you know, I'm not going to pretend like this is my idea and my insight. and we had a good catch up and whatever. But this is not from me. This is from Alan. Not that Alan. This is from another Alan. Here's the question that I come out of with this story. And this is the thing I want to leave you with. Do you have, even if, faith? Do you have, even if, faith? I told you those words were the most important words in the story, and I told you that we were going to come back to them. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, Nebuchadnezzar, O king, if you throw us in the furnace, our God will protect us. But even if he doesn't, we will still worship him. Do you ever see the power of that? I believe my God can heal my dad. But even if he doesn't, I'm going to worship him. I believe my God can repair this. But even if he doesn't, I'm going to worship him. I believe that my God can make this better. But even if he chooses not to, but even if he doesn't, I will remain faithful. Do you know how hard it is? Many of you have walked through it, and you know what even if faith is. Do you know how hard it is to feel let down by God and say, but even if he lets me down and he doesn't do the thing that I think he's going to do or that I want him to do or that I need him to do or that I'm desperate for him to do or that I'm weeping for him to do, even if he doesn't do it, I will still choose him. That's even if faith. I had a conversation this last week and it made my week, man. I used to be a high school teacher. And Honeymoon is a football coach, Mike Devine. And I got really close with a particular class. And there were some of the kids, some of the guys that I got really close with. So close that I'll tell you this. One of my greatest regrets, this guy's name's Alex Williams, and we went to the lake. I took them to my in-law's lake house. And we were joking about getting tattoos, and I don't have any tattoos. We were joking about getting tattoos, and Alex said, I'll get a matching one with you. And I said, what do you want to get? And we decided that it would be great to get 100% awesome written on our butt cheek. I wish I had that tattoo. Golly, what a miss. That would be great. But I don't. But Alex and I were that kind of close. And in his junior and senior year, Alex's dad was dying of cancer. And I have a vivid memory of bringing in some of the other men and dads from the class into my classroom. And we gathered around Ron. And we prayed for God to heal him. And God did heal him. He just healed him in eternity. He didn't heal him here. And so Alex lost his dad. After losing his dad, his mom, understandably so, kind of went off the rails. And his two elementary age brothers had to move in with Alex at 19 years old. And he found himself as the caretaker for them. He had a hard go. And Alex always loved Jesus, but this was a hard season. And I lost touch with him for a while. I would see him on Facebook. He's got a wife. He's got a young family. He seems to be doing well and be thriving. And I got a Facebook message, which I don't check very often because it was two weeks old. But he reached out to me and he said, hey, I'm doing okay in life. And I want to give to people who need it. How do I do that? And so I said, this is a great conversation to have, dude. Let's talk. And we talked and he said, and this is, you guys will find this funny. Um, and it's sad that it's true. He said, you're the fourth pastor I've talked to. I'm involved in the church. I've talked to three other pastors. Can you guess where they told me to give my money? And he said, I knew you wouldn't do that, so I called you. And I said, 10% of everything we give goes to you. We had a great conversation. We caught up. We shared stories about the time I got too excited as a football coach and punched him in the stomach in the middle of a game. Not because I was mad, because I was pumped up. I was like, let's go get him. And I accidentally hit Alex. Anyways, it was a wonderful conversation. And he's coming to Raleigh. He's doing a bid on our church. He's a general contractor. He might build our church. Who knows if that's what God is orchestrating. But he's going to come here, and when he comes here, I'm going to lay out in front of him six nonprofits that I know of and say, whatever God directs your heart, get involved in these. But these are good people and they're doing good things. And I'm so thrilled to be able to do that. But here's the point of that story. That's even if faith. Isn't it? Even if you don't heal my dad. Even if my mom goes off the rails. Even if I adopt my brothers at the age of 19. Even if I have to go through trials and I can't go to college. I will find a way, and when I do, God, I'm going to honor you. As soon as you give me the means, I'm going to honor you. That's even if faith. So that's the question that I would leave you with today. Do you have even if faith? Let's pray and we'll take communion. Father, thank you so much for this morning. Thank you for this wonderful church and group of people. Thank you for the way that you allow us to love you and one another. Thank you for speaking to us through the stories of the Old Testament and this morning, hopefully, through the story of Ben-Hadad, Mishael, and Hananiah. Thank you for your servants then and your servants now. God, as we move into this time of communion, we just pray that we would reflect and be grateful for the way that you love us, for the way that you're always working for your glory. I pray that we would pursue holiness and that we would, if we don't have it now, progress towards an even-if faith. It's in your Son's name we pray these things. Amen.