Resurrection Living

How many of you had the great misfortune of watching the Cardinal game last week? Any of you? I had the great privilege of being out of town. I was with my dad in North Carolina. We were getting ready to fly back about 430 -ish. Just before our flight took off, I checked the score. It was 21 to 3. The Cardinals were winning. No way we can lose this game.

I get home. The plane lands. I answer some phones. There are some messages. Give everything else. And then I look at my ESPN app. Sure enough, final score, 22 to 21, the Cardinals lose. I asked myself, how could that have happened? Bad question. I then come home, talk to my 13 -year -old son who recorded the game. He goes, dad, you're never going to believe it. So we put it on. Six minutes to go in the third quarter. The Cardinals are winning 21 to 3. Six minutes to go. Our running back runs through the line. 70 -yard run. No one in front of him except Cardinals fans. And I look at my son and I go, it's going to be 28 to 3.

How do we only get 21 points? He says, just watch. And as our running back gets to inches before the goal line, nothing in front of him but air and fans, he decides to flip the ball up over his shoulder and celebrate. Just short of the goal line, therefore not a touchdown. Titans get the ball. And I think, oh, interesting, only the Cardinals. Still, 21 to 3. How do we lose this game? Then the second anomaly that happens once every 50 years in the NFL takes place. The Titans come down. They throw the ball with about five to six minutes left in the game. Our guy intercepts it. It's now our ball. Kyler Murray can do what he does, scramble around, fall on the ground.

And the game's over. Our guy catches the ball, then decides to fall to the ground and give himself up. In so doing, he falls to the ground and fumbles. One of our other players decides to kick the ball into the end zone, where a Titans player picks it up and goes, what just happened? Touchdown. Cardinals lose.

Only in Arizona. Why do I say that? I say that to say this. There was a moment in that game where the coach of the Titans is in a locker room with with his guys. They are down 21 to 3. And they had a choice to make. Guys, we can mail this in. We can start thinking about where we're going to go for dinner, what the flight home's going to be, how bad practice is going to be on Monday. Or we can decide that we're going to do something about it. Then you got the Cardinals. We're up 21 to 3. All is good. You listen to the post -game interviews from each coach. You got one coach going, disappointed.

It's my fault. We've got to be better. It's a shame. You got a coach going, never lost hope in my guys. I believed in them. We fought to the end. We're resilient. We're going to build on this. One full of hope, the other one full of like, I don't know what just happened.

My question is, if we were to go back and watch those games with either one of those two fan bases, anyone of us would go back and watch. Anyone rooting for the Titans is going to sit there and go, we're down a bunch, but watch what happens. This is going to be unbelievable. You'll never believe it.

Meanwhile, Cardinal fans are going to watch it going, I can't believe we lost this game. How did we lose this game? It's unbelievable. All contingent upon the outcome. Who wins and who loses? Paul is going to speak a lot to us today, hoping to get our eyes fixed on the final, the conclusion, where it all ends. Because right now, if I were to argue, we are down 21 to 3 in the midst of our culture. It seems like evil is prevailing. It seems like everywhere you look, it's something else. It seems like just in the last month, it's been one thing after another after another. And you get to the place where you're like, God, what are you waiting for?

This is terrible. And God would look at us and go, here's what I want you to do, Kevin. You might be down. You might feel like you're down in this world, but don't forget who wins in the end. Don't forget what's coming. Don't forget the promises I have made both to you and anyone that has put their faith in me in the past. And don't forget where we're going to end up. Because the moment we take our eyes off of Jesus and we start looking at where we're at, it's going to be real easy to get complacent, to give up, woe is me, or be riddled with fear, and to allow fear to dictate how we live life in this

Life. And so Paul's going to say, don't forget. Don't forget what's coming. And then the very last verse of chapter 15 is going to give a charge to any of you in here that know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He's going to give you three descriptions of how we are to live and to live differently in this world. And so the question coming is, are we going to live in that way?

Can we define our hope, our faith, and our trust in Jesus Christ, even in the midst of a world where chaos abounds, and it's always something, and there'll be more hard news tomorrow, there'll be more heartache tomorrow? In the midst of all of it, would we define ourselves as having a steadfast, immovable faith in hope and promise in what's to come, and therefore, it allows us to live differently now, and that we might be abounding in the work of the Lord, not because of what we do in our self, but because of where our hope lies. That's what Paul is trying to get at. Don't forget how this game ends. Don't get caught up in, we're down, it's not working, oh, it's going to happen.

The promise is Christ is going to come back for us, and he's going to raise us up, or he's going to call us home. And then we're ushered into eternity. We win. The moment we forget that. And the weeds and the chaos of the world begin to take over, Satan rubs his little hands and goes, perfect, perfect, because now he can orchestrate and control and do whatever he wants. But for those of us that would say, no, I know where my hope lies, I know where my promise lies, it's in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. So then with immovable, steadfast faith, we show the world something different. That's what Paul is going to call us to.

So here's my question as we go into this, does that reflect the faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ that we have? Would that be the descriptions that we would have of ourself that God would have of us and how we live out our faith in the midst of what Paul would also argue in the book of Philippians, a crooked and depraved generation where we have the opportunity to shine like stars, to stand out in the midst of the darkness. We are the brightest light there is. Not us, but us pointing to Jesus. Does that reflect our life? That's what Paul is going to call us to. So let me pray for us, and then we'll dive in to these last few verses of chapter 1.

Chapter 15. God, thank you so much. God, I thank you for all the promises that are throughout your word. Even as you and I have just been spending time this last week, God, all the way back to Abraham, God, you promised your blessing would come to all the world through his line. And God, we now see that in Jesus Christ. God, you have faithfully fulfilled your promises for your people countless times. And God, now we lean on a promise of what's to come for us.

God, I pray for you. I promise that you know in my heart and my soul, God, too often I take for granted or too often I forget. And yet, God, I thank you for this week where you've slowed me down and forced me to remember and to fix my hope on you and what you're calling me to and not to get lost in the fear of this world. God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here. I pray that your word would speak to their hearts. God, I would also ask for anyone here that does not know you. God, that your Holy Spirit would be an unrelenting presence in their life right now. God, that they would hear your gospel in a profound way.

God, you would call them into your family, that they would experience the hope that we have in you. So God, we ask big things of you. God, far bigger than anything we could conjure up in our own selves. And yet, God, we ask you to do it, and we know that you can. So God, we love you. We thank you. We pray all of this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Why is that? Because look at your flesh and your blood. What does our flesh and blood have in common? It's decaying. It's dying. It's getting old. All of that because we have this inherited sin nature from Adam. We talked about that a couple of weeks ago. This physical body you have was never meant to live here forever and ever. That's why it gets old and dies. Go look at a picture of yourself from 2010. Hold it up to today. You're decaying. We all are. I get up in the morning. I had no idea ankles could make those sorts of noises when I walk.

It's just like a 4th of July show. I'm getting old. We are all decaying. Why? Because we were never meant to live here in this physical body forever.

But we also have a problem. This tainted with sin, dying flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Well, if that's what it's promised to me. If God says in Ephesians 1 that the Holy Spirit indwells me, I'm now adopted into his family. Romans tells me I will be ushered in and be a co -heir with Christ. And I get all of this inheritance. I get to go experience eternity with God in heaven. And I'm stuck in this fleshly body. There's a problem. Paul's going to address that. Yes, your flesh and blood, Kevin, it can't inherit the kingdom of God. So what must take place? This is a lot of what Thomas alluded to last week.

Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, verse 50, I tell you, I will inherit the imperishable. I will inherit the imperishable. I will inherit the we shall not all sleep or we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised. Those that have died, they will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must be returned to us. And to do with it what you worshiped and into the to us. And to do with it what you worshiped and into the on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality." What is he talking about here?

He's saying, look, this physical body meant to die. Some, we will die physically here. Many have gone before us. Loved ones that we know have put their faith in Christ, and yet they still die. They're buried in the ground. My brother is cremated sitting on a shelf in my room.

Physical body. And yet it's going to be raised. If you want to look, you can do some further study. I think Thomas referenced it last week, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 19 or 20. Paul begins to talk about, look, we don't grieve as others grieve who have no hope. No, we grieve in such a way where we know what's coming. Christ is going to return, and then the dead in Christ, all of those who have passed on before us as believers in Christ, will be raised first. They're going to go up. And then Paul describes it as this, and then we who are left here, we who have not fallen asleep, will be caught up in the clouds, and we'll meet Jesus in the air.

And at that point, we will be changed. Why? Because our flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Something's got to change in us so that we can inherit the kingdom of God. Now, let me tell you this. There's a powerful word that Paul writes here. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says this word in verse 51, behold, I tell you a mystery.

If there was a mystery to Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writing God's inerrant word, here's what this guy's not going to do. Tell you what that mystery is and give you my opinion on it. We are way overstepping. Well, here's what the bodily resurrection is going to look like, and here's the timeline, and here's the order. No, it's a mystery. Can we leave room for that? What's God going to do? I don't know, but let me tell you what I'm not going to do. Tell God how he's supposed to do it. God, this is what it's going to look like. No, I can stop and trust and go, God, I don't know how it works.

I can't affirm that this body is perishing. This body is not perfect. And if you call me home or you come back for me, I believe I will be resurrected or I will be changed. Why? So that I can go into eternity, and then I could usher these words that Todd shared with us earlier from Isaiah. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is certain. When all that is swallowed up in victory, oh death, where is your victory, oh death, where is your sting? How glorious that day will be. Let me tell you right now having just gone through death, not too long ago, death stings.

Death sucks. There's nothing fun about death. It's hard. But the day's going to come. He referenced it in Isaiah 25 when God's going to wipe away every tear. We will be in the presence of God. And in that moment, there is no longer death. death. Death has no victory. Death has no sting. Death has no hold on us. And all of us in Jesus Christ will stand together worshiping God. And with a loud chant, we will sit there and we'll go, death, you cannot hold us. You have no hold on us. We don't have the fear. Death ever has no sting, has no victory. It is defeated because of Jesus Christ.

That day's coming. That's the promise we got to hold on to. But in the midst of this world that's got us fighting so hard to make the most out of everything we've got here, sometimes we can lose focus on what awaits and we can get real complacent. And if we get real comfortable here, we can go, oh, we're up 21 to 3. We got this game in the bag.

Don't forget who wins in the end. Or if we get real down, real discouraged, we can look and go, man, we're down 21 to 3. Where's the hope? What's going to happen? This world's terrible. Where's God? Same place he's always been, patiently waiting for the gospel to be heard. By every soul that he wants to hear it. And the moment they have, he comes back for us, calls us home. And then there is no victory in death because he's overcome it. That's the promise. That's the hope.

And then he says this in verse 56 and 57 to me. This is just another description, beautiful description of the gospel. The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sting of death is sin. Why do we die? Why do we physically die? Because we are sinners. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. We've inherited sin from Adam. It's in our flesh. It's who we are. Inherited sin. But don't for a second cast all the blame on him. Just replay the last 24 hours of your life. There has been something that you have done, something you've thought, something you've said, some physical reaction. That is your own personal choice. It's called personal sin. And because of that, you have inherited sin. You have inherited sin. You have you have inherited sin. You have inherited sin. You have that death comes.

The wages of sin, Paul says in Romans, is death. So because we aren't perfect, we are destined to die physically here and now.

And he goes on to say this. And the power of sin is the law. Interesting. What is this? The power of sin is the law. We're going to flip there because I heard this grossly misquoted by a podcaster that Tyler showed me last week. And it's still stuck in my head that I can't shake it. You misquote scripture, it bothers me. Galatians chapter 3. I should have put it up here. I did not. Write it down or you can flip there. Galatians chapter 3. What is this power of the law is sin? It's what Paul's been arguing to this church in Galatia. He says this in verse 21. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?

Of course not. For if the law had been given that could give life, then righteousness, indeed, be by the law. But the scripture, or the law, imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Verse 23. Now before faith came, before Jesus was around, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming of faith would be revealed. Here are the descriptors by Paul of this thing called the law. It imprisons us. It enslaves us.

What was the other one? It held us captive. Nothing, nothing real positive. 24. So then, first time we get a positive for the law. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, we are all sons of God through faith. What is Paul arguing when he says in verse, in chapter back to 1 Corinthians 15, the power of sin is the law. The law was meant to do two things. From the very beginning, it was meant to do two things. It was meant to cause God's people to be holy, to be different, to be set apart, to look different.

It's why God would give them the law and say, when you go into the land that I'm about to give you, live different than the pagans that are in there. I'm wiping them out because they're not going to be able to live. I'm wiping them out because they're doing these things. You guys are going to be different. Why? Because you're my kids. So the law was meant to live life different, but it was also meant to point out to the people of Israel and to us today, all the ways in which we fall short of God's standard of perfection.

Part of the purpose of the law was to point to our failure and our ability to keep it. That's why God gives the law. And then God says, when you inevitably screw up, I just got done reading Leviticus yesterday. It says 700 different ways you're to sacrifice a ram to pay for your sin.

Sacrifice is required. Why? Because we can't live up to the law. So what is Paul's argument here in 1 Corinthians and Galatians? The whole purpose of the law was meant to give you every opportunity to live up to it. And every time you failed to look at God and go, God, I failed again. I can't do this on my own. And God to say exactly, that's why I sent Jesus.

If we could fulfill all of God's laws in ourselves, and live up everything that God has asked for perfectly, then we would have no need for Jesus Christ. But the reality is we can't. And the beauty of the gospel is the moment any single one of us ever get to the place that we go, God, I can't do this. You ask so much of me. I can't do it on my own. God goes, I know. That's why I sent Jesus.

I put all this in place so that you would continually realize you can't do it. You can't do it. You can't do it so that you would come to me and give everything to me and realize that I did it.

That's why it goes on to say, if the law wasn't it, I'm dead in my sin. The law points that out. But let this be the scripture. If we memorize anything, let this be the one that we hold on to. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are sinners in need of a savior as reflected of every time we fail to live up to what God says. And then the moment we stop and go, God, I can't do it. And we put our faith in Jesus Christ. But thanks be to God who now gives me victory, not because of what I've done, but because of what Jesus did. Praise be to Jesus Christ. So that means on my worst day, when I do all the things that God says, don't do it, and I do it anyway, and I'm just a shameful, disgusting mess, I can sit there and I go, but thanks be to God who through Jesus Christ has given me

Victory over that. And on my best day, where God does stuff with me that only God can do, at the end of that day, I can look at God and go, but thanks be to God who now gives me victory. And I'm just a shameful, disgusting mess. But thanks be to God who through power of Jesus Christ has given me victory over anything, because it's all God.

But somewhere along the way in man -made religion, throughout history, we have created some weird understanding that we must do something. There's no way a God could love us, so we got to bring something to this party. And so we try, and we try, and we try, and you watch world religion after world religion that would come in and say, if you do this, God is more pleased. If you do this, you attain a higher level of whatever. If you do this, you're in good graces with God.

If you stop, come to the end of yourself, and put your faith in Jesus Christ, you're good with God. Anything else, anything added to that, we've added onto the promises of God, and it's just not true. Paul says, look, you are sinners. The law points that out, but thanks be to Jesus Christ. And so, if you are here today, and you are tired of trying to get it right on your own, you're tired of trying to go, man, I keep trying, I keep trying, I come to church, and I try, and I try, and I try, and you're exhausted, come

To the end of yourself and stop. I'm not saying stop living your life for the Lord, but I am saying stop trying to live your life for the Lord, because you think he's going to love you more because of it. Realize that God loves you because he chooses to.

God chooses to love me in spite of me. It's because of who he is. And so that moment that you stop and you go, God, I can't, I can't. I know I'm not perfect, but I believe your son was, and I want to put my faith and trust in him, not in myself, but in him and him alone. In that moment, thanks be to God, who through the power of Jesus Christ, through his death, his burial, and his resurrection, we have victory over this life, and we have eternity to wait us and the one to come because of Jesus, not because of us.

A hundred years from now, how you answer, what do you do with Jesus, is the only thing that matters. Do you know Jesus? Thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Last thing before we get to this last verse, if you are here today and you don't know Jesus, I want you to come talk to somebody. Talk to the person sitting right next to you or any one of my friends up front after service and just say, I need to know more about Jesus Christ. We would be more than happy to tell you more about it. But don't leave this place without wrestling with what do you do with Jesus.

Now for the rest of us, for anyone in here that knows Jesus Christ, I know he's my Lord and Savior. Man, I long for the day that I get to say death is swallowed up. There is no victory. I long for the day where God wipes every tear from my eye and I get to celebrate with him forever. Then let me ask you this, same question we started with. Does verse 58 describe how you live life in the midst of a fallen world? In the midst of a world where we are bombarded with negativity, evil deeds.

Fear -mongering news media outlets. Passive -aggressive and sometimes just straight -out judgmental social media feeds. And everything in us wants to, does this describe how we live in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation? Therefore, my beloved, sons and daughters of God, here's what Paul would ask. Here's what I believe God would ask of his sons and daughters here today. Be steadfast. Immovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Why? Knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Be steadfast. Be immovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. It is very easy.

It's very easy to feel like a team down 21 to 3 in everything that's going on and go, God, what's up? I just want to give up. This one we've lost. We lost culture. We've lost faith. We've lost faith. We've lost faith. We've lost faith. We've lost faith. We've lost faith. We've lost our kids. We've lost our future. We've lost everything. God, it's over.

Where's the promise in that? Seems to me what God would say is, no, it's not over because I win in the end. It's not over because one day I'm going to call all of you home and you're going to be in my presence and we have victory. And so right now, maybe you feel like you're down, but what I'm asking of you, brothers and sisters in Christ who have that hope is to do this. Walk out into a world and be steadfast and immovable in the midst of the chaos. us when everything's going crazy around you, that you would stand firm in your faith and go, you know what? This is terrible. What's going on around me is terrible.

Thanks be to God. Praise God that I have a hope and faith in something beyond this place. Praise be to God that though I am a citizen of a great country, there's more important to me. I'm a citizen of heaven. And so my faith, hope, and trust lies there. And that's what I'm going to speak about. That's what I'm going to talk about. That's who I'm going to brag about is Jesus. And then we're going to show a world that desperately needs to see it, an immovable, unshakable faith. Is that descriptive of us? How about this next one?

That we will be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Why? Because we know that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain. It is very easy at times. We as a church staff, at least me personally, you get to the place, you're like, man, does it even matter?

No matter what I do, I'm going to do it. It just seems like there's, this is the statement Brooke and I share all the time, it's always something. It's always something. Does it even matter? Absolutely it matters. Do not grow weary in doing good, Paul would say in Galatians. Here he would say, keep abounding in the work of the Lord. I had a great conversation with a buddy of mine as he was walking in before first service.

Told me a real hard story about a good friend of theirs who lost her life this last week. Died in an accident, tragic accident over in California. But as he began to share, he said, man, we're sad for her and we grieve her because death has a sting here and now. He said, let me tell you the great message of hope from her life. Grew up in a non -believing pagan family. Not religious, didn't know anything of the Lord.

Three sisters, one brother. One sister, the middle sister, I believe, goes off to college. Somewhere in the midst of college, somebody shares the gospel with this girl. This young woman, she gives her life to the Lord. Over the next decades, this young woman comes home and lives out her faith in front of her family. Begins to see her two other sisters come to know Jesus. Then her brother, then her mom and dad. Now they have generational believers in Jesus Christ. Kids growing up in the faith. Kids believing in Jesus Christ. All as a result of one lady at a college who, guess what, might never see Jesus. The fruit of what she did in sharing the gospel with some freshman in college to see the legacy that it left.

This week, probably twice as many people as are in this room will gather in a place to celebrate her life. And a man or a woman is going to get up and they're going to profess the gospel message to a bunch of people that need to hear about Jesus.

I would love to go back and tell that girl in college that shared the gospel the first time that might feel like, man, I'm discouraged. I feel like I just keep telling people and no one's responding. I got one. I got one person to believe in Jesus. Do not grow weary in doing good. Keep laboring. Why? Because your labor is not in vain. You have no idea what the impact it's going to have down the road. And so for all of us that sit here and we look and we go, man, the culture, it just seems so hard and we're losing. Take a deep breath. Don't forget who wins. When this game is all over, we are in the presence of God for all eternity because of Jesus Christ.

And so go out and brag on Jesus. Go out and show the world something different. Live in a movable, steadfast faith that people look and go, man, I'm in awe of the confidence you have in Jesus Christ. And when God gives you the opportunity, tell him about it. Maybe it's as simple as being kind. Maybe it's as simple as this week picking up the phone and forgiving somebody that's not asked for forgiveness. And you think, oh, those are all small things. You have no idea what you're living through. through. You have no idea what your labor is. And when you're bound in the labor of the Lord, you have no idea how God's going to use that to impact his kingdom.

All I know is this. As sons and daughters of God, we should live life this way. Not moved by culture, not moved by fear, not moved by whatever's going on, and we should never give up. It might feel like we're getting crushed. It might feel like culture is lost.

God does his greatest work when we feel like our back is against the wall. And here's why I think that is. This is me. I'll come way over here. Here's why I think that is. Because in the midst of a culture where we've thrown our hands up and gone, God, I don't know what else to do, and God moves and does great things, you know what we're forced to do?

God, you're incredible. You're incredible. At no point can we look and go, you're welcome. I did this. No, we look at God and go, God, I gave up. I thought it was over. I just looked at you and said, God, here it is. I need your help. And then you showed up. Praise be to God who has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Start with that posture. And if you find yourself getting riddled with fear, if you find yourself this next week getting chocked full of angst and fear and what's going to happen, take a deep breath. God, would you remind me right now? We're down 21 to 3. But I know we win in the end.

I know we win in the end. And so would you give me the courage and the confidence, the confidence to live a steadfast, immovable life right now and to not grow weary in abounding in the work of the Lord. That's what God would have for his church. And he's about to send us out of here in eight minutes to a world that needs to see something different. Let's be the ones that show the hope of Jesus Christ in some profound ways. Let me pray for us and then we'll close out our time. Some more worship. God, thank you for the

Promises that you've given us. God, you've seen fit. You have fought hard to preserve them in this thing called your word. And God, for that, we are so grateful.

God, I have no idea what's coming this week, but I know it's something because it's always something.

God, I pray in whatever you throw at us this week, when the enemy wants to distract us, God, I pray that you would call your sons and daughters to remember, God, to fix their eyes, as your word says in Hebrews, God, that we would fix our eyes on Jesus, that we wouldn't forget how this story plays out,

That when we feel like all hope is gone, hope is lost, we would remember who our victory is in. God, that would give us courage to live life different now. God, that would give us hope to live life different now. God, I pray specifically for some in this room that might have the opportunity this week to profess their faith in you because people see something different in your sons and your daughters. And God, when that moment comes, if it's me or any brother or sister in this room, I pray that you would give us great courage, great conviction, God, that we would not shy away from the opportunity to tell anyone and everyone you put in our path about your son Jesus.

And lastly, God, if there is anyone here today that you are calling into your family, God, that you are pursuing in your Holy Spirit, God, that needs to put their faith in your son Jesus, God, do not let them leave this room without saying something to somebody. God, whoever they choose to speak to, I pray we would count it just a great blessing, a great opportunity, God, to abound in your steadfast love, to show and to explain, to come alongside and to love and care for whoever you've placed in our way. So, God, we love you. We thank you in advance for whatever you choose to do. God, let us live life different. We pray all this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Death was arrested the moment that we put our faith, hope, and trust in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. And in that moment, everything changed. Our perspective on life now and our hope and what eternity awaits for us. And let's live life that way. God's gonna send us out of here in the next few moments into a world that needs to see immovable, unshakable faith in Jesus Christ.

In the midst of the fear and the chaos, might we be the ones that would stand out like stars in the midst of a black sky because people see Jesus in us. Man, that's the charge. Let me tell you, everyone take a deep breath. You can't do that on your own. You can't will that to be. You gotta stop every moment of every day and say, God, I need you to do what only you can do. Help me live out what you've called me to do and let your spirit be present in my life. And from that posture of surrender, God does his best work. Let's be brothers and sisters in Christ that live that way.

Service isn't over until you love somebody. Make sure you love somebody on your way out. Have a great rest of your week. We'll see you all next weekend.