Special Message - Rob Young - Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM

All right, good morning, church family. I'm really glad you're here. It's good to see everybody. I want to invite you to stand with us. We'll pray, and we'll get started.

Father, we come before you this morning, God, we thank you for allowing us to be here this morning. Just thank you for the rain, Lord God. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for how much you love us, for the works that you're doing in our lives, Lord God. Thank you for what you've done for us, Lord God, for providing a way, Lord God, to be able to fellowship with you, Lord.

To be able to reconnect with you, Lord God. To have our sin paid for, Lord God, and for an opportunity for new life in you. Lord, we ask your blessing upon this time. Lord God, we love you, we praise you, and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, let's worship together.

Amen, you guys can go and have a seat. If you like.

Lord God, we just thank you for your grace. We thank you for what you've done for us, Lord God. We thank you for how much you love us, Lord.

Amen.

Would you guys stand with us for the last one?

Lord God, we just thank you for who you are. And Lord God, we just want to take a moment and thank you for how good you are to us, Lord. Amen. Lord God, we thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace. For your love, for your wisdom, Lord God. We just thank you for all of it. We thank you for just how truly good and amazing and awesome you are this morning, Lord and God.

We just want to thank you and give you praise. We give you glory, we give you honor.

Sing it out, All My Life. All my life I've been faithful And so, so I will sing Of the goodness of God I love you Oh, your mercy never fails me I've been filled From the moment that Until I lay Of the goodness of God And darkest night You are called

You as a fire I have lived In the goodness of God And so, it's right here I have been so, so That I will sing Of the goodness of God I will sing Of your goodness Yes, you have, Lord. All my life you have been so, so I will sing Of the goodness of God Your goodness is running Your goodness is running after It's running after Your goodness is running after It's running after With my life laid down I surrender to you I surrender to you And all my life is so That I will sing Of your goodness Oh, God I will sing Of your goodness Oh, Lord God, we just thank you For your faithfulness, Lord For your loving kindness For your gentleness For your mercy and your grace, Lord God We thank you that you are faithful Even when we're not When we're in

Outright rebellion Against you, Lord God You are still faithful Faithful to who you are Faithful to your promises, Lord God Lord God, we just thank you For everything We just can't help but give you praise Lord, we give you all honor and glory Because you are worthy of it all Lord, this morning As Pastor Rob comes, Lord I just pray that you would Bless him, Lord Overflow him with your Holy Spirit, Lord Give him the words to say Give him the words to speak And give us an ear to hear And a heart to receive that word this morning In Jesus' name, amen Let's take some time and greet one another Good morning Isn't it good to be here this morning? Praise the Lord He is so good I love that song So this week we have the

For announcements, we have the usual things Going on this week Several small groups Again, I want to encourage everybody to join One of these Small groups It's a great time to fellowship Get to know each other Study God's word There's several groups you can attend You can contact these individuals I happen to go to Carol and Monty John's group in Winfield So please join us We always have a good time As far as special activities going on this week Reminder that there's the baptism Coming up this Wednesday The 15th at 7pm At Paris Park There'll be drinks and desserts And you're encouraged to bring a lawn chair And if you're interested in baptism You can talk to Jared or Ryan When he gets back Or make contact with the church

And we'll get you taken care of There is a women's retreat September 18th through 20th At Wawoka, Oklahoma And registration is open still Until August 1st You can speak to Diane Nichols About that if you'd like There's also a QR code In the bulletin That has a lot of good information And I think Other than Do we have an update about the Guatemala trip? They're leaving the 28th And you can still donate Until the 26th, correct? Yeah, I think that's right Anyway, pray for them They will appreciate that And also just to let you guys know That we're going to start Tearing out the kitchen In the Agape room The kitchen area this week So when you come next week It's probably going to be disassembled So it's going to be remodeled It's going to be nice

And with that, I think I will let Jared and Alan come up How about that? That works Let's put that right there No, we won't Lord have mercy Okay, here we go Psalm 12 If you want to stand with us For a responsive reading this morning We'll be in Psalm 12 Psalm 12 Psalm 12 If you need a Bible There should be one in the row around you Psalm 12 I'll read the odd verses And if you'll follow along Along with Pastor Alan And the even verses Psalm 12 For the choir director Upon an eight-stringed lyre A psalm of David Help, Lord For the godly man ceases to be For the faithful disappear From among the sons of men They speak falsehood to one another With flattering lips And with a double heart They speak falsehood to one another Who have said With our tongue

We will prevail Our lips are our own Who is Lord over us? Num, num, num, num Oh, whoops Oh, my gosh May the Lord cut off All flattering lips The tongue that speaks great things Who have said With our tongue We will prevail Our lips are our own Who is Lord over us? Because of the devastation Of the afflicted Because of the groaning Of the needy Because of the needy Now I will arise Says the Lord I will set him in the safety For which he longs The words of the Lord Are pure words As silver tried in a furnace On the earth refined seven times You, O Lord, will keep them You will preserve him From this generation forever The wicked strut about On every side When vileness is exalted Among the sons of men Lord God, preserve us Lord God, preserve us

From the wicked From this evil generation Lord God, we look to you, Lord For strength in the midst Of all that's going on Lord God, we look to you In the midst of everything That's going on in our lives For strength, for encouragement Lord God, so encourage us This morning We love you, Lord And we praise you In Jesus' name, amen Amen You may be seated This morning we have a guest Guest speaker We have Pastor Rob Young From Calvary, Wichita It's Pastor Patrick's church So would you guys please welcome him Well, good morning It is a pleasure to be down here And Jared, I'm sorry I'm sure that it's my fault That the mic was messed up And that you skipped a verse Because the reality is I'm very nervous to stand behind this table

Because Pastor Ryan is absolutely One of my favorite teachers I think he's so brilliant And he's so dynamic That I promise today Will be worse in every way Except for there won't be a glare Off the top of my head When I first met Pastor Ryan He was introduced to me As Robbie and Diane's son I had the privilege of being an elder Up in Calvary Chapel, Wichita With Robbie Nichols And absolutely fantastic Then as I continued in ministry We had a number of opportunities To come down here And serve alongside you guys With VBS And we would bring our summer interns down here So it's fantastic to join you On a Sunday morning Now I grew up in Denver, Colorado I've been in Wichita for about 15 years now But growing up in Denver, Colorado I had an experience

As most of us did We would about every other year Take field trips up to Colorado Springs And Colorado Springs is the home Of one of the Olympic training centers Phenomenal! Phenomenal facility Packed with athletes And every time we would visit for a field trip They would always make a point to say Well do you know why It's here in Colorado Springs And not somewhere else And being young children on a field trip We would all in unison Why? And they would say well It's the thin mountain air You see there's less oxygen In the air up here So as the athletes train Everything in their body is experienced They're experiencing additional strain So that when they leave And they go to areas Where there's more oxygen available It's like they're lighter

It's almost like training And then when they go to compete They have a super power Right? And this isn't just for professional athletes You know I was very concerned the other day Because I was driving through my neighborhood And I saw someone mowing their lawn In a bulletproof vest And I have children So I was concerned I stopped and I said Oh my gosh did something happen That I don't know about Like we're mowing our lawns In bulletproof vests now And they said no no no My doctor's been on to me about my health This is just a weighted vest So when I'm out here mowing the lawn I get extra extra benefit Doing a thing I already have to do We would be familiar with it If we ever watch baseball Right the batter in the on deck circle

Has a weighted donut there On the end of their bat Doing their practice swings With this additional weight And additional burden Then they drop it off And by the time they go to the plate It's like the bat is lighter They're ready to perform their best And I don't know how things are here in Arc City But I hope it comes as no surprise to you guys That life is not a cakewalk And furthermore Life centered around a relationship with Jesus Can actually make things more difficult Rather than less difficult And when we think of going through an experience With an additional burden or weight And sometimes how that relates To our walk with Jesus We think of passages like Matthew chapter 16 verse 24 Which is going to be our text for this morning

And it's going to be a very familiar one But Matthew 16 verse 24 I'm reading out of the New King James It says then Jesus said to his disciples If anyone desires to come after me come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. So we know that life is hard. And if you don't know that life is hard, you haven't been around for long and you'll learn soon, I promise. But when we encounter these difficult situations, a lot of times we can seek to reframe them in biblical terms because we know that Jesus wants to be involved in our life.

So when we read a passage like Matthew 16, 24, and when we encounter the things in life that are extremely difficult, we can reframe them in this term, difficult situations like perhaps a chronic disability or a chronic illness or a disability. It can be difficult relationships, relationships with our parents, relationships with our children. Perhaps it's a relationship at work with a coworker or a boss, but conditions that are never going to go away. Multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, dementia, diabetes, arthritis, hip replacements, knee replacements. These are all things that I've

dealt with very actively in the past six months within our fellowship, and I'm sure you guys are no different. A lot of times we experience hard economic realities, low income, inconsistent income, fixed income. Sometimes the difficulties that we experience are a matter of personality or temperament. We might struggle with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, other addictive behavior. Anytime we look at these things, we can try and reframe them,

in a biblical key, and we can say, well, this is just my cross to bear. And I understand the sentiment and the rationale behind that, because it's almost like our way of inviting Jesus into the situation. We encounter these difficult realities, and we want to root it in what we know of scripture. And that's good, because Jesus absolutely wants to meet us in these and every difficulty.

And that's a difficult situation. But that's not what the text is pointing at. That's not what our text is saying. And I think now more than ever, we need to be very careful about how we define terms and how we understand ideas. Because our definitions are going to define our understanding. Our understanding is going to shape our thinking, and our thinking is what's going to determine our

response. And a timely example of this today, would be sex and gender. You see, for the most of history, these terms have been synonymous, interchangeable. They mean the same thing. But over the past few decades, we've changed our definitions. Maybe not necessarily we in this room, but we as a society have worked really hard to redefine these terms. And from that, a whole slew of changes have ensued. That's not a rabbit

trail I want to take. And I'm thankful that I believe we're in the midst of a correction on that. But in the midst of that, we're in the midst of a correction on that. But in the midst of that, we're in the midst of a correction on that. In the same way, I want to ensure that we have an appropriate biblical definition of what it means to take up our cross. Because just like we've seen with how we define sex and gender,

if we have a warped understanding of what it means, we're going to have a warped response. So let's look again at Matthew chapter 16, verse 24.

If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. So the first thing we want to note is the invitational and voluntary nature. Jesus says, if anyone desires to come after me. We start building our proper understanding by highlighting that taking up our cross is a choice. It's an invitation. And that invitation, is twofold. First, it's a choice to follow Jesus. There are lots of places that we can go

in this world. There are lots of people we can choose to follow. It's a choice to follow Jesus. And second, it's a choice to take up our cross. But those two aspects of this invitation, an invitation to follow Jesus and an invitation to take up our cross, they can't be separated and they can't be reordered. What do you mean they can't be reordered? Well, what happens if we take them out of order? What happens if we try to take up our cross

in order to follow Jesus? If we think that there is some combination of difficulty or burden or service that we can hoist upon our back in order to obtain a closer relationship with Jesus, I promise you're just going to end up in legalism, burnout, and despair. When we look at what it means to take up our cross, our desire has to be first and foremost to follow the Lord. Our desire has to be centered on who Jesus is and what he has done. Anything else is going to end up

with works-based righteousness. And the Lord has so much to say about that all throughout scripture. Get it in the right order. When our hearts are set on following the Lord, then Jesus says, if you want to follow me, if that's your desire, then deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. So let's look at that phrase, deny yourself, because here it's kind of a prerequisite to taking up your cross. He says, first, you must deny

yourself. then take up your cross, and then you can follow me.

Denying ourself, I think it's important that we differentiate that between self-denial and denying ourself. You see, we regularly practice self-denial. And self-denial is when for a good purpose we give up things or activities in order to benefit something else in our life. For example, every time I see a cupcake, I have an opportunity to practice self-denial.

Every time you're watching your favorite TV show late at night and it ends on a cliffhanger, but you know you have to work in the morning, you have an opportunity to practice self-denial. Turn off the TV, go to bed, your tomorrow self will thank you. Guys, if you've ever been standing in the kitchen looking out the window, and you see that the lawn is overgrown, you have a responsibility. But then out of the corner of your eye, you see a pile of dishes.

We have two problems. One of these problems is more important to you. The other is more important to your spouse. You have an opportunity to practice self-denial.

Maybe we're watching our spending. We're trying to be really good stewards of our budget. But we're exhausted from work. We know it would be way easier. It would be easier to just pick up food on the way home than to drive home and spend time and energy to cook the food we already have. We have an opportunity to practice self-denial now. All of these things have very real benefits.

They are good things, but they're not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves. And to deny ourselves means to yield to Christ's control so completely that our self has no control over us. Our self has no rights whatsoever. And when we deny ourselves, we surrender ourselves to Christ and we determine to obey His will before we even know what that might entail.

Denying ourselves means to live as an others-centered individual. Now, Jesus was the only one to do this perfectly, but we are called to follow in His footsteps. And when we look at all this together and apply it back to our text, it points to the reality that we cannot carry what we haven't let go of. We can't carry something on our back if it's still clenched close to our chest.

And so now we can look at what is the reality of the call to carry our cross. What does it mean to carry our cross? You see, over the past two millennia, we have made much of the symbolism of the cross. And rightfully so. To us, it's a picture of the most important thing that has ever happened. But in first century Israel, when Jesus was speaking here to His disciples,

everyone had an exceptionally clear understanding of what a cross was and what it was used for. A cross was a means of execution. And the only thing that was ever on it was a person in the process of dying. I say that we can't carry what we haven't let go of because the cross that Jesus calls us to carry is not a situation, it's not a disease, it's not a relationship.

The cross that Jesus calls us to carry is supposed to have our self nailed to it. You see, once we deny our self, once meeting our own needs, once fulfilling our desires has been laid down, then we can pick up that person that we used to be, we can fasten them to the cross that we're called to carry, and then we can really start to follow Jesus. You know, I really appreciate the detail that Luke adds to his account of this same conversation. And there's no need to turn there.

But in Luke 9, 23, it says, Jesus said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself. This is what Luke adds. Take up his cross daily and follow me. So not only is it a difficult decision, but it's a daily decision. If we dive a little deeper into this picture. If someone is affixed to a cross, oftentimes they're not dead. But they're absolutely past the point of knowing

there's no return in the process of dying. And medically speaking, death on a cross was primarily by the means of asphyxiation. There was a great deal of wrestling and wrangling and beating and humbling to get a person to the point where they could be submitted to the cross, nailed to the wood. But they were still very much alive, even though they were a shadow of who they used to be.

But it was over time, trying to stand up on their legs to get a full breath, that eventually the muscles in their legs would go weak. They could no longer pull themselves up enough to get enough breath to sustain their life. And it's every day that we're caught in this position. That we're supposed to be dying to self, but we're not. We're not quite dead yet.

It's a wrestling match. And it's this difference between dying and dying to self that I think Jesus highlights very well in John 12, 24. Jesus, speaking of himself, says, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. You see, this was true of Jesus' sacrifice, and it's absolutely true of ours.

But we need to be honest. Death to self is always terrible. It's always terrible. If we expect it to be pleasant or mild, we're disillusioned. Death to self is the most radical command of the entire Christian life. David Guzik speaks of this and says, To take up your cross means one thing. You were going to a certain death, and your only hope was in resurrection power.

Now, hopefully, by now, everyone is filled with just warm, tingly feelings at the thought of being able to answer Jesus' call to take up our cross. Oh, how exciting. But just in case you're not excited yet, William MacDonald also has a wonderful quote. He says, To take up the cross means to deliberately choose the kind of life that Jesus lived. This involves the opposition of loved ones,

the reproach of the world, forsaking family and house and lands and the comforts of this life, complete dependence on God, obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, proclamation of an unpopular message, a pathway of loneliness, organized attacks from established religious leaders, suffering for righteousness' sake, slander and shame, pouring out one's life for others, death to self and to the world. There's a reason he's a theologian, not a salesman. It's not a great pitch. But he continues.

And he says, But it also involves laying hold of life that is life indeed. It means finding at last the reason for our existence. And it means eternal reward. We instinctively recoil from a life of cross-bearing. Our minds are reluctant to believe this could be God's will for us. Yet the words of Christ, if anyone desires to come after me, mean that nobody is excused

and nobody is accepted. There's no getting around the weight. There's no getting around the terror of the reality of what Jesus calls us to in Matthew 16, 24. But I do appreciate that the characteristic of Christianity is that we know the worst at the onset. Jesus tells us the absolute worst right up front. There are no surprises. There is no bait and switch.

And once we get over that, once we get over the reality that in order to follow Jesus, we are to die to ourself, everything else we discover will be a treasure and a blessing. I think this is precisely why the next words out of Jesus' mouth there in Matthew 16, 25 and 26, they say, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? You see, I think we all have our own definition of what it means to gain the whole world. Right here specifically, Christ is referencing temptations of self-preservation, comfort, desires for prosperity that would definitely lead us away from the cross. But the cross, that Jesus calls us to affix ourselves to, and the cross that Jesus was affixed to, they're inseparable if we intend to follow Jesus.

You see, we can't be drawn to the cross that our Savior sacrificed himself for our sake on without acknowledging his call to put ourselves on a cross that we carry as we walk in his footsteps. If you think that you can follow Jesus and leave your cross behind, you're mistaken. Because by his words and by his example, he says, this is what it means to follow me. If you think you can have a relationship with Jesus that does not involve carrying the cross of your own execution, the relationship that you have has never made it past introductions, and you're so dearly missing out.

It feels like falling madly in love with the person of your dreams, being completely smitten and so excited to spend the rest of your life with them. Everything that you've always waited for is right there. And then you decide to abandon the relationship as a whole because you didn't want to pay for a wedding. Don't get me wrong, weddings can be really expensive.

But oh my goodness, isn't it worth it? What cost wouldn't we pay for a lifetime of love? And we're not just talking about the love from a spouse. We're talking about a relationship with Jesus. What price wouldn't we pay for a lifetime, more than a lifetime, an eternity of love? And joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and goodness, and gentleness, and faithfulness,

and self-control? I'm not trying to say that the cost of carrying your own cross is not great, but the reward is so much greater. Still a difficult reality. And in light of that difficulty, to put ourselves on a cross, to carry the altar where our own self is being sacrificed, I'm very glad that Scripture has so much more to say. Because we need help. It's a big ask.

And today for help, I want to turn to Romans 12. You see, Paul, in the 12th chapter of Romans, he uses the language of the Old Testament sacrificial system to describe this very same New Testament call we find in Jesus' invitation to take up our cross. Let's focus in on chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, the book of Romans. And as we look here, we want to ask ourselves, how can we spend more time carrying our cross with our self fastened on it, following Jesus, experience the fullness and the richness of what he would desire for us, and less time arguing with ourselves about whether that sounds like a good idea, or if we're even possible, if we're even able, to do this thing?

Because we've all had that experience. I could stop talking now, and we could leave and half of us are going to get in our car and be like, man, that's... I can't, I can't do it. I can't do that. It's too tough. And the reality is, in our own strength, it absolutely is too tough. But in the 12th chapter of Romans, verses 1 and 2, Paul says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren,

by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be corrupt, conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You see, whenever I read Paul, and he says, I beseech you, my brain automatically makes it sound like Paul is begging. Not that he has anything to personally gain from our obedience, but his passion is so sincere that he can't help but just plead, just beg with everything that he has.

But when you scratch at the Greek word that's translated beseech, you find it actually has two primary definitions. The first is to exhort, which is the reading I naturally gravitate to, to exhort a sincere plea, an encouragement to take action, an attempt to win us over to his way of thinking and acting. But the second definition, while not the way that I've historically read the text, is arguably more compelling. The second definition is one that means to comfort.

So what if we read Romans 12, 1? I comfort you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. You see, this reading rightly draws us to the conclusion that God is the source of the strength that we need to stay on the cross that we're supposed to carry, the source of the strength that we need to be living sacrifices every day. And the source of the strength is the mercies of God.

You see, mercy is the divine quality, a divine quality that God uses to maintain a covenant relationship, a covenant relationship with his children despite their unworthiness and their unfaithfulness. Mercy is what God pours out in order to not break up with us. God's mercy flows freely from his love, which he demonstrates through saving acts to those who are in a covenant relationship with us. You see, God showed his mercy in the Old Testament to Israel because of God's covenant with Abraham.

And God shows his mercy to you and me today because of the covenant that is sealed by Jesus' blood. God's mercy emphasizes forgiveness. And God's mercy leads him to help those who are in distress. I love the picture of God's mercy in Psalm 103. You don't need to turn there, but I will. Psalm 103, beginning in verse 11. For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. So here we see God's mercy pictured as the feelings of a loving father towards his children. One that understands

they're still growing. They're still learning. They need help. They're gonna make mistakes. That's the mercy that we need from God in order to put ourselves on the cross that he's called us to carry. There's another beautiful picture of God's mercy in Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah chapter 49, beginning in verse 13. It says, Sing, O heavens, be joyful, O earth, and break out in singing,

O mountains. For the Lord has comforted his people and will have mercy on the afflicted. Then he goes on to describe what that mercy's gonna look like. But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. So here God's mercy

looking on Israel is described as greater than the love that a mother has for the child which she nurses. He says, It is more likely for that mother to forget about her nursing child, that very child that needs her to live and grow, that needs her for comfort and protection and soothing. It's more likely that that mother is gonna forget that child than I will forget you. That's God's mercy.

That's the mercy that we need to do the thing that God has called us to do. Nehemiah chapter nine will be the last of many examples we could find of God's mercy. Beginning in verse nine, it says, You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry by the Red Sea. You showed signs and wonders, excuse me, you showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh.

Against all his servants and against all the people of his land. For you knew they acted proudly against them. So you made a name for yourself as it is this day. You know, we started in verse nine and that didn't make a lot of sense, which is why we're gonna restart in verse 19 and it will apply to what we're talking about. Nehemiah chapter nine, verse 19. Yet in your manifold mercies

you did not forsake God. You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day to lead them on the road, nor the pillar of fire by night to show them light and the way they should go. You also gave your good spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

For 40 years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. All they tasted was just the power of God. Then there was a time when they were nächatic and they were yet to be saved. And not yet they were saved. And they were yet to be saved, nor their food and their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. So here it is God's guidance,

God's provision, God's miraculous protection, all tied to God's mercy. to the cross that his blood would be poured out that we would even be worthy of the invitation to take up our own cross and follow him and then we get back to romans 12 1 and it says i comfort you brethren for it's by god's mercies that you present your bodies a living sacrifice you see the body will go where the heart has already surrendered matthew 16 calls us to surrender our hearts it's a choice it's a desire matthew 16 calls us to surrender our hearts to denounce our rights and to say jesus i want to follow you and i know that in order to do that i'm supposed to put myself on a cross that is intended for my execution so that i can die to myself and live for you

but i don't know if i have that strength and then romans 12 1 comes and says it's by the mercies of god that we can stay on that cross it's by the mercies of god that we can set our hearts on and commit our bodies to goals that we can't accomplish by ourselves because it's by the mercy of god that the work has already been done on the cross of jesus christ so this morning as the worship team comes back up we remember that it's the mercies of god that drive us to be so in love with who he is with what he's done with what he will do that no price would be too great in comparison to the opportunity to follow jesus and find life not just life but resurrection life now the reality

the biblical understanding of what it means to carry your cross to daily participate in your own execution as serious as that is it reminds me of that very same olympic training center because the athletes that were there they were doing a hard thing and they were doing a hard thing in additionally hard circumstances why for the rewards that they could obtain if you want to have victory in this life if you want to go out and perform under the banner of jesus's love and desire to do so in a winsome and glorious way to do so in a way that people would want to watch on tv and throw medals around your neck right of course that's not the praise that we desire but when jesus looks down on us we want him to see a

gold medal performance in order to do that we have to surrender our hearts to the reality of signing up for our own execution and we have to depend on the strength of god's mercies his help that allow us to do that your grace so free wash this oh it's your end just stand with me my sorrow and dead in my sin with no place to begin your love made a way to let mercy come in when death was arrested and my life began ash was redeemed only beauty in my feet rose the day was arrested sing it out darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost lord god we just come before you today and we thank you for your word this morning lord lord help us to deny ourselves to put to death the old man and put on the new man

and follow you lord god to take up our cross and follow you lord god we thank you for the new life for the new man that we have in you god we love you lord we praise you we thank you in jesus name all the guys people said amen love you guys have a great week