Obey or Die Tryin'

Good morning. Would you all stand with us? We want to welcome you to Calvary Chapel. Those of you online viewing with us, we welcome you, and Happy New Year. Yes, may the Lord bless and keep us all through the year. Yeah. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather again this morning on the Lord's Day, which every day is the Lord's Day, but this Sunday that we meet

each time is that opportunity that we come together, Lord, to fellowship, to worship you in song, to study your word, to build up each other in the faith, to encourage one another in our walk and witness for you. Lord, we ask that this morning, that you would bless each of us in our walk and witness for you, that you would strengthen us with your might, that you would impart your spirit of wisdom to us this morning in the revelation of the knowledge of you, that you would be glorified this morning as we worship in song, and study your word as we want to lift up the children's church teachers, as they teach the youngsters, Lord. Give those youngsters those ears to hear,

and those hearts to perceive, and eyes to see, and all that you would have for them, too. Be glorified this morning. We thank you so much, Lord. We bless your name. We praise you.

Father, it's good together to worship you in song. What a blessing as we all pour our voices, open our mouths, let our voices come forth as a result of that worship from our heart is unto you, Lord. Not based on how we feel. We may feel different ways, but by faith, we come to you this morning. We praise you. We thank you, Lord. We lift this new year to you,

Lord. We just place it in your hands, Lord. We give you praise.

Lead us to those who need you, Lord. Show us how to let your love reign in our hearts, and be expressed to others, Lord. Oh, we lift up the unsaved, Lord, in this county, in this city, Lord. We thank you, Lord. Father, when we feel like we don't have the strength, we ask you just to lift up our hands. Strengthen us, Lord. We remember how when he was—may we just be there to hold our leaders, be a support, and just look to you,

the author and finisher of our faith. You're so good to us, Lord. You strengthen us in our weakness, Lord. That's a promise from your word. In our weakness, you're made strong. Your grace is sufficient for us, Lord. We thank you.

Now, by time, this earth—anything either. Sinners, Lord, and we're sinners now, say, by grace. Oh, but the work you do in our hearts, Lord, as we yield ourselves to you, Lord, the way in which your providence works out, the things that go on, Lord, that we look back and say, oh, that's what you were doing, Lord, and the way you provide, the way you care for us, the way you correct us when we need it, we're reproved as we are in your word, that instruction we gain, and all those things. Yes, Lord, that's the work of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for that, Lord.

For me with your hands, known and loved, I doubt just beyond the clouds, I see clear. I know nothing has been wasted, no failure or mistake. You're an artist, and the canvas and work together. Future and the sand, I know not wasted or mistake. You're an artist, and the potter. I'm the canvas, and the clay has been wasted. Our mistake, canvas, and with me, and finished with me. No, you're not finished with me. You're not finished with us.

As long as we're on top side of the earth, Lord, and have breath, and we can't do anything else, in our mind, we can pray. Yours, your canvas and clay, and you're that artist, Lord, the potter. We yield it to you, Lord. Would y'all stand?

The fleshless king, the saints of the sea. Oh, praise you, Lord.

This passing time, the spirit has made, come to the name.

So, Father, as we're gathered here, we just want to praise you right now. Just from our hearts, Lord, may we just be real to you. Praise you just as we are. We praise you and thank you, Lord, for your grace, your mercy. Let's do that last chorus again. Oh, amen. Father, just bless now, as we continue our service, as we have fellowship, and Pastor Ryan comes up and teaches. Just be

glorified. Father, prepare our hearts. Give us open hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship, y'all. Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat, grab yourself a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel this morning. Happy New Year. 2023, right? It's Christmas. It's Christmas. It's Christmas. It's Christmas. It's Christmas. It's

going to be, actually, I read this thing. It said, let's not claim this as our year. Let's just walk in real slow and gentle and just pretend like nothing's changed. So, happy 2023. It's going to be status quo. All right. In your bulletin, a few things to go over. Actually, the main thing to go over is that life is going to go back to normal this week. Like, as much as I love holidays and

I do, this last week, I've been like, I'm kind of ready for life to go back to normal now. I'm kind of ready for just get back into my schedule. So, everything goes back to normal. All the studies back up this week. And just so you know, Wednesday evening, we will be starting the book of Revelation for our Wednesday night study. So, I wanted to make sure I let you know we're switching

books and kind of switching directions with that. So, those are the things that are going on because everything's been canceled here lately. So, if you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 1. Because it just felt like the right place to start. Psalm 1. Looking at the New American

Standards so we all sound the same. Should be one in a row if you need one. And I took out all the NASB 2020s because believe it or not, there is a difference between the 1995 version, which is what I use, and the 2020 version, which is what's coming out now. So, they should all be the 1995 version. So, as you're turning to Psalm 1, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's

Word. I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor John, I will read the even verses. Psalm 1.

And Father, as we come into this new year, may this be our prayer, Lord, to not stand in the way of sinners, Lord, but to constantly be in your Word. We would meditate in it day and night, and that it would produce much fruit in our lives. Father, we thank you, and we praise you for who you are, and we ask right now that you would be with our time in your Word this morning. That you would teach us, that you would convict us, that you would comfort us, that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit, we pray.

Holy Spirit, fall on this place now. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3. A little bit of a different message this morning. I'm going off script from what we usually do. The title of this morning's message, which sounds mildly aggressive, but follow me. The title of this

morning's message is Obey or Die Trying. And yes, I did totally rip that off of 50 Cent's movie, Get Rich or Die Trying. Okay. So that's where the idea for the name came from. But we're in a minute, conference, and he was talking about Caleb, and he was talking about how Caleb was so determined to obey, even if it cost him everything, no matter how difficult the job was. And it's like the Lord

just spoke this word to me. Partly I saw 50 Cent's face there, but mainly it was the Lord who spoke this word to me, Obey or Die Trying. Because that, brothers and sisters, is what I feel like the challenge for 2023 needs to be. I told you last week that God has blessed our church in so many ways. We have seen God do so much work. We have seen God do so much work. We have seen God do so

much work in our church over this last year. And I want to go over a handful of the things that he's done. I don't think this is by any stretch of the imagination, the fullness of everything that God has done here, because I know there's a lot of individual stories of people and things that God's doing in your life that I get to hear from you sometimes. But just kind of as blanket statements, these are some of the things that God's doing and has been doing in Calvary Chapel here in Ark City over this last year. First of all, we've watched our children's program absolutely explode,

partly because you people keep having babies, which is amazing. Keep doing what you're doing. We're growing a church one way or the other. So we've watched our children's program explode to the point where we're going, man, I don't think there's room for all the kids in the classrooms half the time right now. Speaking of which, pray for us as the board, because it really truly is

our desire over the next year or two to try to get a gym built in the back. We're starting some talks about that, because it's what needs to happen because of what's happening with our children's program, but not only with our children's program, but we've also watched our youth program explode. They started off in this room right here behind the sanctuary. They outgrew that room. They moved to the cornerstone room. They outgrew that room. They're in the agape room,

and they're about to outgrow that room, because there's over 30 kids that are coming to youth group right now, which is just amazing. We've got all those teenagers coming. So we've watched both of those programs explode. We had a very successful VBS over the summer. I didn't look up the exact number, so if I'm off by three or four people, you've got the idea. It

was somewhere in the neighborhood of 95 kids that we had come to our VBS this summer. We held two different baptisms, and between the two baptisms, we baptized 17 people. It was just so amazing. It was such a blessing to see that new life in people. So we saw that happen. We've seen our small groups continue to grow. As a matter of fact, we've added two new small groups, and there's going to be another new one coming

in February. So Joe will be getting up and announcing about that in the next two or three weeks. We have expanded our sanctuary and parking lot to accommodate the growing numbers. Doesn't look like it this morning. I blame traveling and sickness. But we've had to expand sanctuary and parking lot to accommodate growing numbers, which is just a lot of fun to watch. We packed 164 shoe

boxes, and I forget the exact number of how many people that's supposed to affect, but just thousands of people that are going to be affected through those shoe boxes that we packed and sent out. We sent 38 people down to Dallas to work in the warehouse down there, which tells me that we are a church that wants to serve. And just so you know, I met with a missionary couple the other day to hopefully get some more things going with some other opportunities for missions trips. So there's more coming with that. But more than any of the numbers is I'm seeing people

challenged in their walks and drawing closer to the Lord. I always said one of my favorite things I heard this year is somebody came up to me and said, hey, I bought my very first study Bible. And I can't wait to start really digging into God's Word. Like those are the things that tell me that God is moving in our church. And even beyond that, a couple things I didn't write down

that I was thinking about this morning is we have this church that's going to be a church that's going to this. Marilyn Herter started this agape ministry where anytime I send out a prayer request, she takes that and gives it to a whole group of people, which if you're interested in getting involved with this, talk to Marilyn. After church, they're sending out cards. They're taking meals to people. They're sending cookies to people. I might just tell them I'm sick, so they'll bring

me cookies, you know. But they're just really being the body of Christ and sharing the love of Jesus Christ within the body here. And again, one of the things that I love hearing all of your voices sing out in worship, because I know that it's the work of God in your heart pouring out the songs in worship. That's what God has been doing, but we have to press on. We can never live off of the old manna. We can't live off of what God did last year. We

can't live off what God did two years ago. We need to press on. We need to press on to what God has for us in the future. I don't know what this year holds for the church. If I've learned anything over the last three years, it says, I have no idea what the next year is going to hold, but I do know the one who holds it. And I know that God has a desire with whatever comes, be it recessions, be it you name the thing that's coming, new pandemics, whatever.

Through it all, I know that God wants us to continue to draw closer to him, to obey him and live as he has called us to. He wants us to continue to trust and obey. And that's sort of the theme of what we're going to talk about here this morning. In Daniel chapter three is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It's a familiar story that a lot of us have heard before. Let me give you just a little bit of background on the story,

because as we address this topic of obey or die trying this morning, there's two things that I would like to cover. Number one, the principle that I want to cover about obedience, no matter what. And then the application, what does that look like? How do I live that out in my everyday life? And so as we look at this principle, it'll be based on this story of Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abednego. Now, these are interesting fellows. As a matter of fact, they had another very good friend. His name was Daniel, who wrote the book that we're studying. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were all very young men when they were taken from the nation of Israel by the nation of Babylon. They were taken into captivity because the children of Israel had fallen into idolatry and God had

warned them over. And over and over again, that if they did not repent of their idolatry, that he would send a foreign nation against them and that they would be dispersed. And that's exactly what happened. God raised up Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to turn Babylon into a world power, a world power that he would use as his instrument of judgment on the children of Israel. And as he used Nebuchadnezzar

and the nation of Babylon as that instrument of judgment, these four young men who were four very distinctly godly young men, were taken captive at a very young age. Most think somewhere between the ages of 16 and 19 when they were taken captive. Well, the first thing that happens when they're taken captive is Nebuchadnezzar liked to choose some of the best of the nations that he would take captive to see if he could use their skills in his own kingdom. Well, he did the same thing with the group that was taken out of the city of Jerusalem. And these four young men, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abednego were taken aside because of their talent, their skill, and their knowledge. They were the ones who he saw as potentials for leadership within his own kingdom. And so he said, give them all of the food and the drink that I would have and develop them in the ways of the kingdom. Well, there was one problem. The children of Israel knew that they were not supposed to eat

meat that had been sacrificed to idols. And so Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made a stand and they said, we will not eat, we will not defile ourselves with the king's food. And so finally the king said, okay. Actually the guy that worked for the king said, okay, I'll let you do that. You can eat vegetables for 10 days, but if you look skinny, if you all of a sudden are looking unhealthy,

you're going to go back to eating the king's food. And they said, okay, great. Well, at the end of those 10 days, they came out looking better than anybody else. They were fatter, they were fuller, they were healthier looking than everyone else. And he said, great. So all of these young men get put into positions of leadership. Well, then as we move into Daniel chapter three, we're going to

focus on in on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Not because Daniel's not around, but probably because Daniel is off doing king's business somewhere else. And so these three young men who have already made a stand for righteousness, who have already made a stand for godliness are now going to be presented with a challenge, the likes of which they've never seen before. Because this man, Nebuchadnezzar, we're told in chapter three, verse one says, made an image of gold, the height of which was 60 cubits and its width six cubits.

He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. They stood before the image. Then the herald loudly proclaimed,

to you the command is given, O people, nations and men of every language, that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, whatever that is, trigon, trigate, that thing, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you're to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. But whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. Therefore, when all the people heard the sound of the horn and all those other musical instruments, they fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And so a challenge is going to be laid out for these young men. King Nebuchadnezzar was so full of himself, as a matter of fact, if you want

to know exactly how full he was, he was so full of himself, he was so full of himself, he was so full of himself, he was, you'll jump to the next chapter, not right now, but later today, you'll jump to the next chapter and read chapter four, a very fascinating chapter in the book of Daniel. He was so in awe of himself that he erected a statue that was huge, a statue of himself, that people were to bow down and worship. Every time they heard the musical instruments, they were to bow down and worship. And of course, there was a punishment if you did not do so, you were to be thrown into a fiery furnace. These three young men have been presented

with an option. What? Am I going to do? Well, it says in verse eight, for this reason, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. They responded and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, all those things, is to fall down and worship the golden image. Whoever does

not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you've appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have disregarded you. They don't serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar,

in rage and anger, gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then these men were brought before the king. You can imagine what this would have been like. Everybody else falls down and there's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Now listen, I'm used to not being noticed in a crowd because of how short that I am, but even this moment people would go, hey, that guy's standing up because everybody else is

falling down worshiping except for me. And of course, there's always going to be somebody that rats you out for something like that. And they said, hey, we notice that these guys don't worship. What are you going to do with this? And do you notice how Nebuchadnezzar is described? He's in a rage. I tell you that because let me tell you what's going to happen next. What happens

next is he's going to say, I'm going to give you one more chance. One more chance to do what's right. One more chance to do what I've told you to do. One more chance to get your head on straight and obey me. Well, jump down to verse 16. It says, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we don't need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve

is able to do it. We don't need to give you an answer concerning this matter. Deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will deliver us out of your hand, oh king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, oh king, we're going to serve, we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. God, the guts of these 16,

17-year-old kids who look at the most powerful man in the world in the face, and they say, hey, look, man, you already know our answer. We don't need to say it again. You can do whatever you want to to us. We're not going to bow down to your idol. Our God's going to save us. But this is the part that I really like. And if you're an underlining person, I would underline this.

But even if he doesn't, even if he doesn't, we are still not going to bow down to your idol. Can I put it in terms that we all understand? We will obey or die trying. Nothing is going to stop us from obeying what we know to be right. Well, of course, there is deliverance, but let's see what happens when they make this stand. It says, then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath. Okay, so first it was wrath,

or first it was rage, and then wrath, wrath. And his facial expression, verse 19, was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually. Usually heated. I don't know how you go about doing that. I'm not really a chemistry major. I don't know if he just threw extra coal on the fire, extra wood on the fire. If he threw some

sort of accelerant in there, and some guy's holding a thermometer going, that is seven times hotter than it was before. Not really sure how it all worked out, but he heated it up seven times hotter. And we know it was much hotter because it says he commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. These men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, and their clothes.

Their coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and they were cast in the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king's command was urgent, the furnace had been made extremely hot. The flame of the fire slew those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Can you imagine this scene? Can you imagine the fear that filled their hearts? Because I don't care who you are.

I don't care how strong your faith is. When the guy's throwing you in the fire, just caught on fire, that's a nightmare. That's a nightmare. That's a nightmare. That's a nightmare. That's a nerve-wracking moment, right? Like, I don't care how brave you are. There's still some fear inside you at that point in time. That's how hot this fire was. And he throws him in there. But notice

what happens. Notice the deliverance that God works. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell into the midst of the fire, still tied up. Verse 24, Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded. And he stood up in haste. And he said to his high officials, was it not three men we cast bound in the midst of the fire? They replied, certainly, O king. He said, look, I see

four men loosed, walking about in the midst of the fire without harm. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. I love this because it's just a great scene, right? Nebuchadnezzar was so angry he couldn't see straight. And all of a sudden he's looking, he's going, you're still alive. Come over here. I got a question for you. How many people we throw in there? It was three.

That's what I thought. I see four. Oh, son of a gun. There are four of them in there. We know it's not one of the guards. They didn't survive. That fourth one looks like a son of the gods. There was just something different. And did you notice what else happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They were walking around loose because the only thing that burned off of them was

their robes. Now, I do have a little bit of experience with fire, okay? So for two summers, I worked at Prairie View Christian Camp. And when I worked at Prairie View Christian Camp, me and my best friend at Prairie View Christian Camp, we were in the middle of the fire. We were in the middle of the fire. That we affectionately refer to as fuzzy because he had a sweet fro on top of his head,

burned everything that we could get our hands on. We were the ones that were in charge of burning the trash. And so one day we were getting ready to burn the trash and we were like, hey, let's see what gasoline does to it. So we put a little accelerator, put a little gasoline on it. And we're like, oh, this is a really bad idea. I bet that's going to blow up. Let's light this

bag on fire and throw it in there and see what happens. So we lit a bag on fire, threw it in there and the thing goes, burned our eyebrows off. I am not joking. All you could smell was burnt trash and burnt hair. I'm here to tell you right now, fire is not a chooser of persons. It just burns everything in its sight. And yet all their clothes are still on them and

they're walking around just fine, except only one thing came off and that's the robes. Brothers and sisters, can I just make sure we understand something? It was none other than Jesus Christ himself who was walking around and he was walking around and he was walking around and he was walking in the midst of the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was none other than an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. And can I just go ahead and tell you that there's a promise that's

made to us in the book of Isaiah. In the book of Isaiah, it says, when you go through the waters or when you go through the fire, I will be with you. A promise that God gave to Isaiah well before Daniel ever even existed, well before Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ever even existed. And I wonder if at that point in time, they were walking around in the midst of the fire and they were reminded of the words of Isaiah, the prophet, as they were in the fire and they were not alone.

Because when you make a stand and say, I will obey or die trying, God is so faithful. Always be with you in the midst of whatever it is that you're going through. Well, let's finish up this story and tell the story of their deliverance. It says, then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire. And he responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out, you servants of the most high God and come here.

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed. I bet their eyebrows were still on too. Nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said,

blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's command and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any God except their own. Therefore, I make a decree that any of you who are in the midst of the fire, come out, you servants of the most high God and come here. Any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way. The king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

This is a great act of deliverance that God performs here. Not only did the, fire not hurt them, but God was with them in the midst of the fire. And then Nebuchadnezzar himself, the one who was filled with, remember those two words, rage and wrath towards these men because they would not obey him, now has turned and said, you guys come out. And I love the complete nature of the deliverance because remember when they come out, not only are their clothes still on them, but they don't even smell like what? They don't even smell like smoke, right? That's,

that's a miracle. I can't even go to the brush dump and leave that place without smelling like smoke. And yet these guys came out of the midst of a fire like that, and they don't smell like smoke because it was a complete deliverance that God worked in their lives. And of course, Nebuchadnezzar is sort of a strange guy. And he went from, I hate you guys, and I'm going to

destroy you to anybody that doesn't worship your God. I'm going to make their house a heap of rubbish. Again, you should read chapter four later because there's a great work of deliverance. I think we'll see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven. That's all I'm going to say. There's a great work of deliverance that God does in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. But I think part of it is because

of the work of deliverance. And I think we'll see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven. That's all I'm going to say. It's part of the work of guys like Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who made a stand and said, I will obey or die trying. And it's such a wonderful story. It's such a challenging story for us. And as we read this story, as we read this challenge, I think that there is an application

in our own lives. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. I've rewritten this application part about three or four different times because I turned it into a whole bunch of points and then a few points. And then I expanded it. And then I expanded it. And then I expanded it. And then I expanded it on the points. I've tried to determine, Lord, what exactly do I need to say to

apply this to the lives of us? Because I want so badly for us as believers in Jesus Christ, for us as this 21st century church living in 2023 in the United States of America, to be the kind of people who will make a stand for righteousness. Because I fear sometimes that as believers in Jesus Christ living in the age that we live in now, our goal is this. Let's stay as quiet as we can so nobody knows.

Because I don't want to rock the boat. I don't want to deal with the drama. I don't want to deal with the repercussions. I don't want to deal with the things that will come along with me making a strong stand. And so as I have been praying about this and thinking about this, I've actually shrunk this down to two main points. Two points of application. What does it mean for us as believers

in Jesus Christ living in the 21st century? What does it mean for us to obey or die? Well, it comes down to two things. Number one, our walk. Look over in the book of Colossians. Go to Colossians chapter one. This verse will always be one of the more foundational verses for my walk with the Lord. Because it's done so much to teach me about what my point and purpose

is on this earth. This verse is speaking about Jesus. Oh man, I do this every single time. I should always know to start a few verses back for context's sake. Let's start in verse 13. Speaking of Jesus Christ.

Dominions or rulers or authorities. And this is where if you're an underlining person, I would underline this. All things have been created through him and for him.

That means that the one purpose, and I've said this lots and lots of times, and I'll continue saying it lots and lots of times more. The one purpose that we have in life is a relationship with our creator. The one thing that separated us from, that relationship with our creator was sin. Which is why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. We celebrate Christmas because that was when our savior was born.

We celebrate Easter because that's when he died and rose again. And restored our purpose. So what does it look like to obey in our walk with Jesus Christ? Well, there's actually three subheadings to this one heading. See what I mean? I rewrote this a bunch of times. Underneath our walk, the first thing that I want you to pay attention to is our relationship with Jesus Christ. And that's why we celebrate Christmas and Easter.

Our relationship with Jesus. Our relationship with Jesus. As we're coming into this new year, I have a question for you. Have you decided on a devotional schedule for your life? Because your relationship with Jesus is one of the ways that you truly, no matter what it costs you, need to obey God in. For some of us, it means that God is calling us to a deeper prayer life.

Because you're really good at reading the Bible. You're really good at maybe even writing some things down. But you're really good at reading the Bible. You're really good at reading the Bible. You're really good at writing some things down and even studying the Bible. But when it comes to you just genuinely talking to Jesus, having that real relationship with him where prayer is going on,

and I mean real prayer. I mean where you're really getting it all out, where you're really getting down to the nitty gritty of the things that are going on in your life. God is calling you to a deeper aspect of a prayer life. He's calling you to be somebody who pours all of your thoughts, all of your worries, all of your cares, all of your anxieties out to him.

He's calling you to be one who lays all of your dreams and your goals at his feet so that you can surrender them to him and say, Lord, not my will, but your will be done. He's calling you to be someone who intercedes on behalf of others because you're seeing the things that are going on in the world around you and you don't like what's going on in the world around you. And sometimes all you can do is groan, but God now wants you to begin to intercede. And he's calling you to a deeper prayer life. God may even be calling some of you in your prayer life to pray that God would give you

your own prayer language. It's called the gift of tongues. And maybe God is calling some of you to say, Lord, I want to go deeper. Bless me with that prayer language. Something that's just between you and me. Something that I can use when words just don't seem to fit. God is calling you deeper into that. And God wants you to be obedient as he calls you deeper. It will always require time. It will

always require focus. It will always require laying aside the things of the world and getting deeper in your walk with Jesus Christ. For some of you, God is calling you to be in the word every day. Because the only time that you're in the word is when you come to church on a Sunday. And even then, you don't like to open the Bible. God is calling some of you to really be in his word all the time. To not only study it,

to not just mark something off of a box. Not just to say, well, I read the Bible in one year. I don't care how many times you've read the Bible in the year. If the Bible's never marked up your life, just to say that you've read it doesn't mean that it's doing anything to you. And God is calling you to dig into his word. Dig into his word like it's actually him speaking to you and saying,

this is what I see that's wrong. This is where you can be right. And this is what I want you to know about me. This is what I want you to know about the world. This is what I want you to know about the future. This is what I want you to know about how I want you to live your life. And God is calling you to a deeper place of that. And he wants you to obey. Listen, even if it costs

you your Netflix time, even if it costs you some comfort time, even if it means you have to get up a little bit earlier, you're not going to get up. You're going to get up a little bit later, you're earlier in the morning. I was thinking about this as I was preparing this message because oftentimes when we think about obedience and suffering and the fact that it may actually cost us something, we're like, that's a very Old Testament idea. You know what's fascinating? Read

through the book of Hebrews and see just how many times it says that Jesus learned obedience through suffering. In the first eight chapters, it's three times for sure. It's a very New Testament idea. This idea of sacrificing for my relationship with Jesus Christ, prayer in the word, and then the third aspect of this relationship with Jesus is, is just time alone with him. Where is your

refresh time in your life? And I ask that because of the busyness of my own life. And I know that I'm not the only one that's like this. We live a life where we are just constantly running from one thing to the next. Have you noticed that? I've talked about it before. It's like trying to make plans with somebody. It's like trying to, to plan what night you can get together with everybody for dinner, like if it's more than just

you. Like, okay, well, will this Thursday work? Nah, Thursday's bad for me. I've got 75,000 things going that night. Well, what about Friday? Nope, Friday's out too. Listen, I can pencil you in sometime in June, but even that, not a guarantee, right? Because we're constantly running from one thing to the next. You know what I think God's calling some of us to do in 2023? Don't. Don't

run from one thing to the next. Choose a place of refreshing time. Maybe for you, not to get overly cheesy here, but maybe for you, it's just going to walk somewhere where you don't take your phone with you. And the most beautiful thing happened to me the other day. We were in Kansas City, and we had our Christmas morning with my wife's family up there, and everybody wanted to

go out to Shields, which, by the way, is the coolest store ever. But we were getting ready, and of course, I'd been wearing my sweatpants all morning, and so I didn't have my phone in my pocket, which is pretty unlike me. I usually just switch things to different pockets. And so I got ready to go, and we got all the way out to Shields, which is like a half hour from where my in-laws live, and I'm like, I don't have my phone. You know what I'd have to do all day?

I'd have to answer my phone. It was glorious, right? I never once was like, hey, I wonder what's happening on Instagram right now, right? Because I didn't have my phone with me. It was the most wonderful thing ever. I'm like, I should do that more often. Somebody said, you should probably leave your phone at home more often. I'm like, that's a great idea. I think I might start doing that. Because sometimes God is calling us just for a time

of refreshment, a time where you're really alone with him, your Bible, some prayer, and nothing but you and Jesus. Yeah, God's calling us to obey in our walk through our relationship with him. But there's a second aspect of our walk that God is calling us to obey, and that is our battle with sin. Because brothers and sisters, you can't draw closer in your relationship with Jesus Christ if you're also pursuing sin.

Those two things are mutually exclusive. They're at two different ends of the spectrum. And the problem we're having in the church, the problem we're having in the world is that everybody wants to live in sin and go to church too. Now listen, I want you to understand something. I don't care what you did last night. Come here and repent this morning, but don't go back and do it again.

I don't care what you did yesterday. I don't care what you did yesterday. I don't care what you did today. Come to church this morning, but don't go back and do it again. Start fighting a battle against sin. Because sin is the one thing that will keep me from knowing Jesus. It's the very reason why I had to have my purpose restored. It's because my purpose was destroyed through sin.

And if I am going to obey God no matter what it costs, then I have to decide that I am going to battle against sin. What does that battle against sin look like? I have to quit making excuses. I am the best at justifying it. I am the best at justifying it. I am the best at justifying it. Anything that I want to do, right? I was a debater in high school, and so I'm really good

at coming up with arguments. Arguments for why what I want to do is the exact right thing to do. The problem is they're all wrong. It's all just justification for sin. And as believers in Jesus Christ, we have to quit making excuses. We have to quit saying, but that's just who I am. But you don't understand. You don't know what they did to me. But you don't understand. It's in my family history. It's in my genetics. I know it's in

your genetics. It's called a sin nature, and it's time to put it to death. We have to quit making excuses because if I'm going to obey in my walk with Jesus Christ, then I can't keep obeying sin. I have to quit making excuses, and then I have to make a plan. I have to make a plan for how that sin is not going to dominate my life any longer. I have to make a plan for when that temptation

comes up, how I'm going to run from it, how I'm going to stand in it, how I'm going to fight against it, and then I need to begin to lean on the power of the Holy Spirit. Just in the margin of whatever notes you're taking, just write Galatians 5, because Galatians 5 talks about the fact that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. That if you are led by the Spirit, you will not walk in the things of the flesh. That if you are led by the Spirit, you will not walk in the things of the flesh.

By the Spirit, and you have crucified your flesh. Galatians chapter 5, we must begin to lean into that power of the Holy Spirit. And then the last thing in our walk, underneath that heading of the walk, is our service. Believe it or not, part of your walk with Jesus Christ is you serving Him. As a matter of fact, we're told in the book of Ephesians, i wasn't gonna have us go there but let's just go there real quick

go over to ephesians oh and i just lost it should have written it down that's what happens see i was not disciplined in the book of ephesians it says that we are his workmanship ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 you can always count on my dad ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 we are his workmanship created in christ jesus unto good works which god has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them you know what that means it means that when you were born again it was not just so that you could enjoy the fact that you're born again you were born again because god is calling you into service and god has called you in to serve you and i'm calling you into service and i'm calling you into service and i'm calling you into service and i'm calling you into service

already created the good works that he wants you to walk in. Now he just wants you to walk into them. Now, as you are led by the Holy Spirit, you serve God in the ways that he calls you to, as that Holy Spirit leads you, as he has gifted you, as he has empowered you, but it's part of your walk. And you know what it's going to take for you to serve God? It's going to take sacrifice.

It means that sometimes you'll have to obey or die trying. And sometimes the dying we have to do has nothing to do with our physical bodies. It has everything to do with dying to myself. Because ultimately within serving, there's two different ways that we can serve. You can serve within the church walls. And may I say, one of the other things that I didn't bring up is that

I have watched more people come to me and say, Hey, I just want to serve. How can I serve here at church? And we have so many people performing tasks of ministry here at the church that it's just, it's mind boggling to me. We announced the other day, it's been a few weeks ago now that, Hey, we need people in the two and three year old ministry. And was it seven people? And I said, No, it's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not.

I think six people came up to my wife and said, Hey, I want to serve in that ministry. That's for the two and three year olds, right? Like, like that's a hard ministry. And they were like, we want to do it. That's going to be awesome. And we're like, that's awesome. That's great. And you're serving within the church, but you know what? It's not only within these walls that we

serve. It's outside of these walls that we serve because God has a lot for us to do outside of the walls of the church. And sometimes it's going to take sacrifice because sometimes we have to serve the people, listen, that don't serve us. And sometimes it's going to take sacrifice because they don't like us very much. Serve the people that don't agree with us very much, that don't

vote like we vote, that don't believe like we believe. And yet God still is calling us to serve them because you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that God's already got prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. I want you to think about this. Next time you see somebody off by the side of the road, maybe stop to help them change their tire.

Think to yourself, God had this orchestrated before the foundations of the world. It's a pretty fascinating thought, is it not? And yet that's what God says, that they're already prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. Brothers and sisters, if we are to obey in the same way that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego obeyed, we first have to obey in our walk with Jesus Christ, even, and it will, even if it means sacrifice.

But you know, there's a second aspect of application. The second aspect of application is this, our witness. Go over to the book of Acts chapter one. I think I even wrote the contextual verses on this one. Acts chapter one, I want us to look at verses six through eight. Acts chapter one verses six through eight is Jesus about to ascend into heaven. He's already risen again,

and he is with his disciples. They're on the Mount of Olives, and he's, told them that he's going to be sending his Holy Spirit. Hey, go wait in Jerusalem, tarry in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And then it'll be not many days from now. So starting in verse six, this is what his disciples ask him right after he tells them that the Holy Spirit's coming. Verse six of Acts chapter one. So when they come together,

they were asking him saying, Lord, is it at this time that you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said, it's not for you to know the times or the epochs, which the father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. It's that final call, that final great commission that he gives them. He's told them to go and preach the gospel. He's told them to go and make disciples.

And now he tells them to go and be witnesses after they've been empowered by the Holy Spirit. That word witness is a really interesting word. That word witness in the Greek is the word martis, M-A-R-T-Y-S. It's where we get our word martyr from. The idea is that a martyr is one who his final witness is giving his life for the gospel. His giving up of his life is actually his witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Isn't it interesting that that's the word that Jesus uses when he tells them, you will go and be my witnesses to the world that's around you. So not only is it my own walk, not only is it my relationship with God, but it's also my relationship with God. My relationship with Jesus, my battle against sin, and the way that I serve God. But I am supposed to be a witness, a martis, to the things that God has done. What does that mean to be a witness?

Well, the first aspect of being a witness is that we are to be a witness to the truth of sin. Ryan, I thought you were going to talk about telling people about Jesus's love. I will in just a minute. But brothers and sisters, people don't care if Jesus loves them if they don't first know that they've offended him. And we're living in a world right now that doesn't care.

Doesn't believe in sin. Sin's like a mythical unicorn to them. And all they know is that they want to fulfill their flesh, and they want to do it whatever it costs anyone else. Because after all, you can have your best life now. And you can do whatever you want. You can eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Or to put it in the language of the judges, there was no king in the

land, and everyone does that, which is right. In their own eyes. It was interesting. I accidentally made it to midnight last night. It wasn't on purpose, but I accidentally made it to midnight last night. And we were getting ready to leave my mom and dad's house around 11, because I was like, hey, it's New Year's somewhere, right? It's midnight somewhere. And so as we were getting ready to leave, my girls were watching like the

New Year's Rockin' Eve or some such thing like that. And in there was Sheryl Crow playing, which BT dubs, there's nothing real about Sheryl Crow anymore. Like she looks younger than I do, which is great. And I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It's fascinating. Anyway, that's a complete sidebar that doesn't mean anything. But she was

singing one of her famous songs, Every Day is a Winding Road, right? Everybody gets high, everybody gets low. Anybody know the words of the song? These are the days when anything goes. Every day is a winding road, right? But I heard that lyric, and all I could think was, is there a better way to put the philosophy of the world right now? That these are the days,

when anything goes. You can be whatever gender you want to be. They keep adding them every day, right? Last night, we played a game where we had to play, do a ring toss on antlers. So I was wearing antlers on my head. My family really wanted me to wear them to church this morning, but I knew that no one would focus, myself included. And we were like, hey, let's identify as reindeer now. It's a

joke, but it really happens, right? Like those are things that are really happening in the world today. You can love who you want to love. You can be who you want to be. And if you have this unfortunate consequence of an unwanted pregnancy, you can end that thing. Because after all, it's your body, and it's your choice. What really matters is that you obey yourself,

even if everybody else dies while you're trying. And it's high time that we as the church stood up against sin. I have to be honest. This is a hard thing for me to do, because as I've told you before, I get nervous about this kind of thing, because I know the things that come along with that. The fact that I make a target out of myself when I stand up in front of a group of people, especially

when it's going out on the internet, or especially when it's going out on the local radio station, or whatever it is. I make myself a target, because as I make a stand, other people don't like that stand. I don't know if any of you follow the guy, the worship generation guy, Sean. I don't know what his last name is. Whatever his name is, the worship together guy that's been taking all kinds of worship

conferences all over the nation. Antifa came at him yesterday. No, it might have been three days ago. And the profanity that they wrote all over the walls of where he was, was ridiculous about how they wanted to see him dead. Because he's making a stand for righteousness. Because he's calling people out. So I go, oh, that's a scary thing. But at that point in time, I have to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

My God can deliver me. But even if he doesn't, I still have to obey. I still have to call out sin. I still have to say it like it is. Because whether I like it or not, there are people who are dying in their sin right now. There are babies being aborted right now. There are people whose lives are being wrecked because they have bought into the lie that if they will become a different gender,

that if they will have a sex change, that if they will do any of these kinds of things, that their life will have fulfillment and their life will have meaning. And you know what happens? They have the surgery. And you know what happens after the surgery? They're still not happy. And you know what they do then? They try to kill themselves. And we can hide our head in the sand. We can pretend it's not existing. We can say,

but that's not my problem. But that's not my war. Brothers and sisters, yes, it is. Because we've been given a commission by Jesus Christ to go out. And be martyrs. To go out and be witnesses to the world that's around us. And the first part of being a witness to the world that's around us is telling the truth about sin. You just need to know it may cost you everything. I got to tell you, I showed a video a couple weeks ago, and I

think it's up on our Facebook page. It's called The White Rose Resistance by Seth Gruber. And you did, if you're not here that Wednesday night, you need to go on and watch that. It's about an hour and 20 minutes, but it's the most worthwhile hour and 20 minutes you're going to take in a very long time. Elf may be close. But anyways, right there, right there next to it. Because he's talking about

this very thing. Because unfortunately, too many of us as pastors, sometimes myself included, don't make the stands like we should. And I'm sorry. Because it's hard. Because it may cost you everything. Believers in Jesus Christ, we have to make a choice. We have to make a decision that we will obey or die trying. So our witness is, first of all, to the truth of sin. Second of all, our witness is to the truth

of the gospel. Because brothers and sisters, you cannot bring the message of the sin that mankind is dying in without coupling it with the gospel that can save them from it. The message of the gospel without the truth of sin is cheap grace. The message, the message of sin without the truth of the gospel is legalism. The two have to be coupled together. And we have to bring about the truth of the gospel. Because that's where the love comes in.

We say, this offends the heart of God. As a matter of fact, God's wrath is coming on an unbelieving nation and on an unbelieving world because of the things that we're doing right now. And listen, it didn't start with this. It started with pride and self-sufficiency. It started with pride and selfishness. I was just reading in the book of Ezekiel. I was reading in the book of Ezekiel. I was

reading in the book of Ezekiel. I was reading in the book of Ezekiel. I was reading in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel the other day. That's where I am in my devotions. And as I was reading in the book of Ezekiel, God was calling out the nation of Israel. And he said, you guys are worse than your sister Sodom. Because what were the sins of Sodom? She had pride. And she had self-sufficiency. And she

had everything that she needed. And she didn't care for the poor. Therefore, she became abominable in her deeds. So I overthrew her. You see, the place that we've gotten to right now, is because of all of the symptoms that led up to it. And the only cure will not be telling people just that homosexuality is wrong. Just that abortion is wrong. Just that them living in

relationships, adulterous relationships is wrong. It can't just be that. It has to be coupled with, but this is how you can be right. Because this is why Jesus came to die. Because he wants to set you free from sin. Because he wants to see you live in that freedom. He wants to see you live in that grace. He wants you to see you live a life that is truly full of joy. And that is truly

fulfilled. We have to witness to the truth of the gospel. But then the last aspect of our witness is this. We witness to the work of Jesus Christ in our own lives. The work of Jesus Christ in our lives. Brothers and sisters, the most powerful witness you'll ever have in the life of somebody that you're talking to is that I was a sinner and I've been saved by grace.

Let me tell you who I'd be apart from Jesus. And let me tell you who I am because of Jesus. Because you can't refute that evidence. You can't challenge that because I once was lost, but now I'm found. It's like that story of the guy that was, the guy that was blind that was healed by Jesus. And they were like, come on, give God glory. This guy didn't really heal you,

did he? The guy said, all I know is I was blind. Now I see. And they were like, we can't challenge the fact that a notable miracle has taken place. The testimony of your changed life is the greatest witness to the truth of Jesus. There's one last thing I'd like to share, and I didn't include this in the notes, so media guys don't stress out too much. And that's this, and it's a third thing, but write this down nonetheless,

because the last way that really we must learn to obey is that we must surrender to God's will in our life. We must surrender to God's will in our life. It's a beautiful story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being set free, being in the fire, Jesus being in the fire with them, ropes burning off, clothes not smelling like smoke, coming out completely untouched by the fire. That is a beautiful story of deliverance. And sometimes

God chooses to deliver, but sometimes he doesn't. If you read the book of Hebrews chapter 11, make that little note, Hebrews 11, you will see a good number of men and women of faith who trusted God and obeyed, and it cost them their life because that's what God had for them. I'm reminded of the fact that in the early church, the very first martyr was James the apostle. Shortly thereafter, Peter was arrested because Herod saw that the Jewish leadership was pleased with the fact that he had put James to death, so he had Peter arrested. But God sends

an angel and sets Peter free. He lets him out of prison, and Peter continues to live on for a very long time. Why did James die and Peter live? I don't know. I don't have to know. I just surrender to God's will. I must surrender to his will and say, I will obey no matter what, whatever it costs. And if God chooses to deliver, that's wonderful. But even if he doesn't, I'm still going to obey. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, would you bow with me real quick? I know it's communion Sunday, but I want to pray with us real quick before we have all the kids come in.

Father, I thank you for the time that we've had in your word here this morning. Lord, I ask that only the things of you would remain. Lord, that only the areas where you want to speak to our hearts would continue to remain. And Father, I want to lift up everyone that is in this room this morning. Lord, everyone that needs to make a decision about 2023, how am I going to live my life?

Will I hide my head in the sand? Will I continue with the status quo? Or will I decide today that I will obey no matter what it costs me? Father, I thank you that our lives are not going to be our obedience is not what saves us. It's simply a reaction to what you've already done in our lives. And so, Lord, if there's anyone here that doesn't know you, that doesn't have that testimony of what

you've done in their lives, may today be that day of salvation for them. But Lord, I want to lift up each person that's here, each person that's watching online, and ask God that you would fill us with the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would fill us with boldness. Lord, your word tells us that in the book of Acts chapter two, the disciples, they were all gathered in the upper room in one accord. And as they were gathered in that upper room in one accord, they were praying and seeking you. And the Holy Spirit filled that room and shook

that place and empowered the disciples to be the men that you had called for them to be. The only way that they could, in their walk and in their witness, continue to live out what you had for them is because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And I don't just really feel led right now, Lord, by you, to ask everyone in here, if you have a desire to be filled with that Holy Spirit, if you have a desire to be filled with that same Holy Spirit that empowered the disciples, that same Holy Spirit that empowered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the same Holy Spirit that empowered all of these great men and women that we have talked about this morning, I want you to do something for me because I want to pray for you.

I just want you to stand up right where you are. If you have that desire to be overflowed with that power of the Holy Spirit, to be the obedient man or woman of God that he has called for you to be, I just want you to stand up. Praise the Lord. Father, Father, I lift up each person that's here. Lord, I can't lay my hand on every single one of their heads, but Lord, I know that as I

extend my hand, Lord, that you, you are laying your hand upon them. Father, for everyone that's standing here this morning that has a desire to be filled with your Holy Spirit, I want you to Holy Spirit, I just ask for that fresh filling right now. Holy Spirit, fall on each and every single one of these people, Lord, to go out and be witnesses for you. Lord, fall on them so that they can know you in a deeper way. Fall on them so that they can trust you in a deeper way. Fall

on them so that they can battle against sin that keeps them from knowing you so that they can follow you with all of their hearts, Lord. Fall on them so that they can be witnesses to the truth of the sin that's around us. Fall on them so that they can be witnesses to the truth of the gospel. Lord, fall on them so that they can have that testimony of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Father, I ask right now by the power of your Holy Spirit that you would come upon each of these individuals right where they are. Empower them to be the men and the women that you've called for them to be. Father, we thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. What a moment! All right, let's bring the kids in. It's Communion Sunday, so if you see your tiny person coming in, if you'd give them the little

wave. Ambry, they're right over here. Dean, he's on that back row right there.

Catlin, they're right up here, buddy. Okay, do we have more coming? Okay. Okay, perfect. All right, so this morning is Communion Sunday, and so let's take just a moment and talk about what Communion is. What a wonderful time, the first Sunday of the year, to take Communion together. Communion, of course, is that celebration. of the death of Jesus Christ. The very reason that we have hope, the very reason why we have

something to stand on is because of the death of Jesus. And so inside of each of these trays are two different elements. There's two cups stacked on top of each other. The bottom cup has the cracker and the top cup has the juice. And of course, we know that on that last great night of the feast, Jesus stood up and he took the bread and he broke it. He said, this is my body,

which is broken for you. And so every time we partake of that bread, we declare the fact that Jesus' body was broken for my sin. And he took that cup and he said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. So every time we partake of the cup, we declare to the whole world that the hope that we have is that his blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

And we're told in scripture that every time we partake in this meal, it is a declaration of the death of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ that causes us to be one with him, the death of Jesus Christ that causes us to be one with each other, we now have unity. We have communion because of Jesus. And so we're told to make sure that we partake of it in a worthy manner. It feels like we're on the right track for that right now.

Of course, to partake of it in a worthy manner means, first of all, if you're an unbeliever, today's got to be a day of salvation because it's a meal for believers. Otherwise, as I've said before, it's just the saddest little snack you've ever eaten. If you're a believer here this morning, then the greatest thing that you can do is make sure that your heart is right before the Lord. Because as we go through the day, a week, a month, or even a year, we give in to those sins of the world because we're still flawed. We still have

that flesh that battles against the Spirit. And so as the worship team comes up, make sure that you take that time to confess your sin to the Lord. Whether it's sins of omission or sins of commission, take time to get your heart clean before the Lord, and then we'll partake together. So I'm going to ask the ushers to come down. And while these guys are coming,

sing this last song for us. They're going to hand out the elements. As you receive your elements, if you would make sure that you stand with us, and then after everyone has received, we'll partake together.

Lord, we come to you now. Father, I praise you for what your Holy Spirit's doing in here this morning. Lord, I praise you for the work of the cross. I praise you for new beginnings. Lord, that you promise that your mercies are new with every morning. And so, Lord, as we gather here this morning, may this be a time of rededication to you. Lord, knowing that the blood of Jesus Christ will never fail us.

So, Father, keep us ever in mind of the sacrifice that you've made. Keep us ever in mind of our commitment to you. And may you move in our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, thank you so much. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's partake. Father, be with us as we go out from here. Lord, may it be a week of new beginnings. And may you use your word in our heart

to continue to draw us close to you. Lord, thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Happy New Year.