Above It All | Different | Jeremy DeWeerdt

All right. Hello, City First. It's good to see you at all locations. Today, we could officially say summer has started. Come on, right? I mean, we are now in summer mode, and I'm excited about that. We're launching a brand new sermon series called Above It All. And over the next several weeks, we're going to take a deep dive into what is the most influential, dynamic, powerful, impacting sermon ever preached. Now, I realize that's a very dramatic statement that I just made, but it's actually true. There was a sermon that was preached years ago, and it made such a mark that most people don't even understand how much it shaped the culture that we now live in. Not just the American culture, but literally cultures around the world. In fact, of all the words ever spoken, none have shaped humanity quite like the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount. It was delivered on a hillside to a crowd of ordinary people. It wasn't just a message. It was a manifesto on how to live a new life, how to live different. In fact, in this sermon, Jesus literally flipped cultural norms. He started talking about like redefining what blessing is, reframing what it means to be powerful. He introduced the idea of a kingdom way of living that the world had never seen or heard before. And now for the last 2,000 years, his words echo in courtrooms, classrooms, conversations, influencing not just the Christian faith, but influencing ethics, justice, and everyday life in communities and cultures around the world. Without question, this is literally the most influential sermon to ever be preached. And even if you do not believe Jesus was who he said he was or is who he says he is, you are still profoundly impacted by this sermon. In fact, even in the secular world, let's not talk about church world. Let's talk about people that don't even believe in God. Even in the secular world, there is a love of power. However, there's also a belief system that a person that's in power should have humility or that a person that is in power should have servant leadership. In other words, people want those in power to value those that are underneath that power. Like politicians, we want them to have the constituents in mind, right? Or business owners, we want them to take care of their employees. Or those that have resource, we want them to help those that don't have resource. Well, my question is, where does that value come from? Where do we get the idea that that should even be true, that someone in power should take care of those that are underneath their power? Like where do we even get that concept? Was it in civilizations back in antiquities? I mean, like in the Roman empire, is that where we get this? No, we didn't get it in the Persian empire, the Babylonian empire. We

didn't get any of these value systems. In fact, back then in history, those in power ruled with evil and sometimes very selfish motivation. In fact, people that were underneath their power lived in great fear. Humans were disposable. Life had no value. And Jesus comes along and he starts talking about loving your neighbor and loving one another. And he even ups the ante. He even says, loving your enemies. He speaks about meekness as a superpower and servanthood as the way that you should live. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. It was so counter-cultural, so odd that the people listening to that sermon that day, they didn't even know what to do with the information. In fact, I'd even say 2000 years later, we're still trying to sort it out. The congregation in this sermon was a group of mostly Jewish people that were underneath great oppression of the Roman empire. They were being racially profiled. They were being used and abused. They didn't have as many rights as other people that were in the community. They were being forced to accept a value system they didn't believe in. And to this people, Jesus preaches the sermon and he tells them how to respond to injustice, how to have a more abundant life. He would say this. He'd say, don't treat people the way that they treat you. What? Who does that? If somebody hates me, I'm gonna hate on them. And Jesus goes, no. Don't respond to people the way that they're acting towards you. Be meek and you'll inherit the earth. And today, even in the culture around us that doesn't even maybe believe in Jesus, there's a cry for justice. But I would have this question. Where do you get the concept of justice? Who gets to determine what's just? Because if there's no higher standard that was set by a God, if everything is just a moral construct within a society, then one society can say

it's okay to abuse those that are weaker. And who are we to tell them that they're wrong because we just have another social construct. No, Jesus comes along and he sets a standard. And by the way, he sets it very high. And he says, this is the standard. You know, this is how we should treat one another. When someone says, oh, someone in power should not take advantage of someone who doesn't have power, I would ask this. Where do you get that notion of equality and fairness? Does evolution, Darwinism, does that give you the concept of fairness? Are you telling me that the survival of the species is fair? No, it's whatever is more powerful in nature consumes what is weaker in nature. There's no equality in Darwinism. There's no fairness in evolution. Where do we get this idea of moral absolutes? What's good, what's bad, what's just? Do we get it from Aristotle? Well, Aristotle was famous for saying this, that certain people are superior, namely the male species. And he said those other people are very inferior, namely the female species. So do we get equality from Aristotle? No, not at all. Socrates, Plato, where do we get this idea of moral good? Where do we get the idea of treating each other

with respect and value? Well, I can point back to a sermon that was preached 2,000 years ago by a man by the name of Jesus who was not just a man, he was the Son of God. And he came and he set the standard and it has changed the last two millennia. Not every culture, because some cultures have rejected him, but there is in this culture specifically, there is this underlying worldview and truth that honestly, we need to give credit to Jesus in this sermon because people are proclaiming his sense of loving one another without giving him credit. It's the ultimate plagiarization. We're taking his content and we're not giving him credit. See, the topics that Jesus preached about change thinking, change societies, change worldview, love your enemies, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The treasure isn't something you just accumulate here on this side of life, but actually treasure is something that you could carry into the next life if you are investing that effort into the right kind of things. Don't judge unless you will be judged. There's a sowing and reaping thing. There's a narrow gate that people walk through. The road is not wide, it's narrow. All of these ideas he's preaching about in this sermon and it's framed even whether we recognize it or not, the way we live and what we think of as right and wrong.

And today, I wanna talk about the foundational truth that he launches this sermon with. He first starts out in Matthew with this list of what we call the Beatitudes. That's kind of a $10 word that basically it's sticky statements that are full of powerful truths. And then he starts his sermon that we call the Sermon on the Mount, but he starts with this foundational truth. You ready? This is what he starts with. This is how he starts the most influential sermon in the history of humankind with this idea, you're different. Turn to the person next to you and say, I've always thought you've been different. Now, that's not exactly the way Jesus said it. He didn't necessarily say, you're different, but that's what he meant. He sets the stage with this idea. You're not meant to blend in, you're meant to stand out. That's what he started this sermon with. And as a Christ follower, if you want your life. Listen to this, if you want your life to fit into culture, you're gonna become quickly frustrated either with culture or Christ. Because as a Christ follower, Jesus is saying you're not gonna fit in. You're different. It was once written by a theologian, said this. This sermon, meaning the Sermon on the Mount,

therefore is not a list of requirements, but rather a description of the life of a people gathered by and around Jesus. In other words, this sermon that we're gonna dive into in these weeks, it's about Jesus speaking to his followers and saying, you wanna be a follower of me? This is how you live. And so Jesus is talking to Christ followers and that day, 2,000 years ago, he started off by saying this. He said, you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way. Okay, it's a metaphor he's using here. In the same way, now he's speaking to his followers, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. This is how he starts the sermon. He looks at the crowd just like I'm looking at you today and he says, hey, listen, you're the light of the world. You're the salt of the earth. Three metaphors, salt of the earth,

light of the world, city on a hill. That's what he calls them. Before Jesus talks about how we should live, he describes who we are. So before he starts getting into his sermon, he's telling the audience, he goes, this is who you are if you're a follower of me. And I would say even in 2025, it's still the same beginning of the message. This is who you are if you're a follower of Jesus. And he's gonna go into describing that you are light, you're salt, and you're like a city on a hill. Many of you know this story. I've told it before. I'm not gonna tell the story again, but I've told it on the stage that on October 7th, 2023, Jen and I landed in Tel Aviv the same morning that Hamas had invaded into Israel with evil terrorist acts and killed people, taken people hostage and such like that. It started the war. We literally landed on the morning that the war started about two hours after it started. We were just there for a Holy Land tour and all of a sudden we found ourselves in the beginning of a war. And I've told the story about how the Lord's hands of protection was on us. Many of you were praying and we got back to America.

But before we went from Israel into Jordan and to Amman and flew to Dubai and over to Amsterdam and got back to Chicago and it was a long old journey, before we did that, we had about 24 hours or 36 hours in country or so. And we were actually able to go to the location where many Bible historians believe that the Sermon on the Mount was preached. This is a picture of I'm standing on the place where most likely Jesus preached this most famous sermon. In the background you see the Sea of Galilee. It's in the north of Israel. We were only able to be there for a couple of hours but what is fascinating about Jesus' sermon is when he uses the metaphor of salt and light and a city on a hill, these are not random metaphors because right down the road from where I was standing, in fact in that direction, right down the road, there's a little town by the name of Magdala. Magdala became known as the hometown of a famous individual in the Bible. Her name was Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was from the town of Magdala. Mary Magdalene, Mary of Magdala. Magdala looks like this today. They just excavated it recently within the last 10 years. It was a market. It had a market. It was kind of a town that was along what they called a highway back then,

what we would call now kind of a very wide dirt path. And this highway was heavily traveled, people traveling from north to south and south to north and they would stop at Magdala and they would go to the market and they'd buy things. One of the things that was sold in this market was fish because it's right next to the Sea of Galilee. Jesus would say, be a fisher a man, and like the Apostle Peter, he was a fisherman by trade. There were a lot of people that caught fish and they would bring it up to the market and then they would sell the fish in the market. In fact, historians now and archeologists have found that some of the fish that were from the Sea of Galilee that were sold most likely in the market in Magdala actually made their way all the way as far away as Italy. This fish would be transported to Italy to even Rome. Now, how do you transport fish from the Middle East to Rome? Well, you do it by packing it in salt. Salt is a preservative. It also added flavor to the fish. The fish out of the Sea of Galilee was kind of a delicacy. And so across from where Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, there are 10 Roman cities. This was considered by the Jewish people the pagan side of the lake. In other words, it was one of these things where they didn't go over there

because they deemed it to be unclean because the people over there didn't follow Jehovah God and so they would never go over there. However, Jesus, there's a story that he did. He crossed the lake and when he went over there, there was a demon-possessed man running around in a cemetery. This took place on the pagan side of the Sea of Galilee. There are these 10 cities over there. Today, that area is called the Golan Heights. And on that other far side of the lake from where Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, there's a city by the name of Hippos. Hippos was built on a very tall hill in the area. It was very elevated. In fact, this is a picture of Hippos today as it's been excavated and archeologists have researched it. This city was very, very tall and at night, when they were burning fires to create light in the city, you could see this city on a hill for miles even on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. So I imagine Jesus, as he is preaching, he's not just using random metaphors here but rather instead, he's using landmarks and geography as a point to drive home his sermon. I could imagine him saying this. Now, this is not in the Bible. I'm adding a little color. But as he's preaching and he's saying,

you are the salt of the earth, I could see him pointing down toward Magdala where everyone knew the market was. He's like, you're the salt of the earth. You preserve. You add flavor. And you know what? If that salt loses its saltiness, it's thrown out on the road, the little highway that goes north and south where thousands of people travel every single day, it's no good. Or you know what? You're the light of the world. You're like a city on a hill. I could almost see him pointing across the Sea of Galilee. Over there, one of the 10 Roman cities, Hippos, you're like a city on a hill. At night, you can be seen for miles. Every person in the crowd knew about the salt and how valuable it was to the economy of Magdala. Everyone in that audience that day knew about the city of Hippos because at night from their homes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they would see this bright, huge city on a hill. It could not be ignored. And Jesus is looking at the crowd and he says, that's what you are in culture. You're like that salt, you're like that city.

Salt that preserves, preserves truth in a culture that has eroding value systems. You add flavor to life. And you know what? You shouldn't lose your saltiness and your light. It can't be hidden. You can't ignore that city on a hill. Everybody sees it for miles and miles and miles. In other words, this is what Jesus is saying. You're different. You don't blend in, you don't fade. You are not unnoticeable. Your life will be starkly different than the culture around you. You're gonna stick out like a sore thumb, we would say. In other words, people can't ignore you. Being different does not mean being obnoxious. There's a difference. Some Christians think, I wanna be different, therefore, I'm obnoxious. No, at the end of his statement there that Jesus. It says let your good works shine to give glory to the Father that is in heaven in other words Our shining and our saltiness should not make people Repulse from God but rather attracted to God. Does that make sense? So, let me just say it this way no matter how old you are you might be You know 13 years old or 93 years old doesn't matter what you do for a living you might be in school You might be in work. You might be retired no matter who you are If you follow Jesus your life is meant to influence salt and to illuminate light That's what you are to do. This is how Jesus starts his sermon Let me start off with just talking about influence for a moment nowadays in the age of social media

You got a lot of people that are now called influencers they're people that sell product or whatever else and and they actually get paid for it and And I would say this regardless of if you're a social media influencer all of us are influencers even if you work on the job site in a classroom if You're a stay-at-home parent if you're a dad you have influence over your kids If you're a co-worker you have influence over your other co-workers If you're a teacher obviously you have influence over your students If you're a neighbor you have influence in your neighborhood if you're an athlete you have influence on your fellow teammates All of us have influence. You don't need to have a social media account. So here's my question How are you using your influence? How you using it in ancient days Roman soldiers would many times be paid not in coin Not in money or currency, but sometimes they'd be paid in salt How'd you like to do that? You work 40 hours and they give you a chunk of salt But back then salt was so valuable. It was currency in other words, this is where we get our saying that someone is worth their salt is Because salt was a currency. So let me ask this about being salt and light if Salt is a currency. How valuable is your influence? How beneficial how helpful how godly is the influence you have Monday through Saturday and on Sunday afternoons I'm talking outside of church because influence is a currency how you spending it Simply are you using your influence to point people to Jesus or you using your influence to point them towards superficial stuff? Are you leveraging your influence to bring lift to people to do the right thing in environments even when it's not popular are you Setting a standard or are you capitulating? There's your $10 word Are you compromising to a lower standard of the culture around you? Are you living your life to the best of your ability? Nobody's perfect but are you living your life to the best your ability so that people see Jesus in your life and in your actions and in Your talk and in your motivations and your choices like Kyle talked about last week

lukewarm faith Does nothing it's repulsive Instead we need a faith that clearly points people to Jesus salt and light salt and light You know, we have a long way all of us to go I'm included. In fact, I will tell you that that none of us are perfect but maybe if after today we just pay a little bit more attention to The influence we have in our family in our neighborhood at the gym We go to the coffee shop. We frequent at the grocery store at Walmart at Target at the gas station wherever we go If we can say what's the influence I'm having right now Are we bringing flavor? to our environments, are we bringing a Preservation of God's truth wherever we are at in a culture that is in a slippery slope of Really fickle and very Non-tangible morality You know, it doesn't take a lot of salt to change something you ever put too much salt on your food Like like you put too much salt you're like whoa, right? Okay. Here's the thing We need to just realize that it only takes a little bit of salt We don't have to be the Pope We don't have to be Billy Graham We don't have to be mother Teresa or any other spiritual leader. You might look up to we don't don't have to do that. All we have to do is be a little bit of salt in the environment. What happens when you salt something? It preserves it. It gives it flavor. It also makes you a little thirsty. And when we are salt, people will become thirsty for living water, which is him. Small choices can have a big influence for God. Don't overthink it. Don't think you need a degree in theology or that you have to have a title or you have to have a position or any of these things. Just be an influence in a positive way wherever you're at. Secondly,

light, right? We are light like a city on a hill, like a city called Hippos. Has anyone noticed that it seems like the world's getting darker and darker? I mean, it seems like our conversations are darker. The way we talk at one another is darker. Our media is darker. Our thoughts are darker. Our actions seem to be darker. I'm just talking like now 40,000 foot. Now, have there been worse times in history of the world? Probably. But I'll just say in my lifetime, it just feels like it's pretty dark. Well, I will tell you a dark world needs a bright church. A dark world does not need a church that reflects darkness. A dark world does not need a church that reflects negativity, but rather we are carriers of God's spirit. We are the ones that bring hope into the world, into the environments in which we live. We bring love, we stand up, and we live out purity in a world that doesn't have any. We bring spiritual health. God doesn't need us to hide our light. He needs us to shine our light. Our faith can bring hope and lift to people all around us in everyday life. There's so much negativity. Don't add to the noise. Instead, decide, city first, that we are going to have a God can attitude. Oh, I know what's going on, but God can. Oh, I know what's going on in your life, but God can. He can turn it around. He can do a miracle. He can answer a prayer. He can do more, not less. He can exceed our expectations for our jobs, our health, our finances, our marriage, our relationships, our families. We should be people that are shining the goodness of God. It doesn't mean that we're without struggle. In fact, sometimes the brightest light you can have is in you're going through a real battle, and yet you have faith. Your light is very bright at that moment, and God can turn things around. You're telling people in the midst of my struggle, I believe in a turnaround God, a God that can. Back in 2011, Hillsong Worship came out with a song called God is Able. I just so happened to be at Hillsong the Sunday morning that they debuted the song live for the very first time. I was sitting in the crowd, just like you in the church, and all of a sudden the worship leader got up and said, hey, we've written a new song. It's called God is Able, and we're going to probably put it on an album in the coming months, but we want to introduce it to you, our church, and have it be in the hearts of our congregation. They began to sing this song, and I sat there. I still remember, honestly, where I was sitting. Half the time I can't remember my kids' names, but I remember that day, you know, and I'm literally sitting there, and I'm listening to these words, and it said, God is able. He will never fail. He is almighty God, greater than all we seek, greater than all we ask. He has done great things.

Lifted up, he defeated the grave. Raised to life, our God is able. In his name, we overcome. For the Lord, our God is able. God is with us. He is on our side. You know God is on your side, all right? He is on our side. He will make a way far above all we know, far above all we hope. He has done great things. I literally got goosebumps as I'm listening to the song being played for the very first time publicly, and I remember thinking to myself, this is what the church proclaims. We are people that boldly proclaim with our life and our light to say, God is able. He can heal you. He can forgive you. He can empower you. He can rescue you. Provide for you most of all he can save you God is able God can oh Come on light bearers Shine in this darkness Some of us are so full of complaining about how bad things are. Let's shine Because the darker the darkness the lighter the light must be Don't sub come to the darkness instead shine your different city first You're different Don't blend in Don't lose courage Don't be insecure about it But rather just in your way a little bit of salt and a little bit of light Can make a big difference Today we close with a story One that's close to Jen and I and that we love very much the story about a Certain women's college softball team that's located right here in Rockford, Illinois At a college called Rock Valley College, that's literally about a mile down the road from where I'm standing right now and Because someone decided on that team To not be perfect because none of us are But to try to be salt and to try to be light Their difference made all the difference in the world watch this I started playing softball when I was four years old

Playing softball my life. I've met so many friends. I never would have met Their Lifelong friends or my family. I love the culture of it Everywhere you go you have teams and you become a team and family as you play. So I think that's the best part of it It was my sophomore year and We were playing at D1 school and I was trying to get recruited to D1 so got a hit and It was a close play at first. So I was running Like 100% and at the last second the first baseman put her foot where I was running like right in my way like did a flip over her leg and landed on my collarbone and My neck kind of and got a pretty bad concussion and broke my collarbone in three places. I I Had to be at home for a few weeks because I got surgery and had a concussion but I could only use one arm like that's when I started to feel like the Loneliness and like why is this happening and all that? I started coming to City first because I Drove past it every day and it always looked like I had so many people there and so many people means that Something good is there Me and two other girls decided that we were gonna go to it and it was the day after I had got injured so it was a pretty emotional day and right after church me and my friend Emma decided that we were gonna go down and get Prayed for even though it was a super scary thing. We had never done it before We decided that we're just gonna be brave and do it So we went down there and like the first time I've ever heard anyone pray over me like that I've never been prayed over or had anyone pray with me before that moment This brought such comfort to my mind and just like honestly changed my life and brought me closer to God So that prayer will forever like be a part of me because that was the first time I've ever been prayed over I Knew that I just wanted to give my life to him it and I knew I wanted to get baptized with my girls because I want To be here without them. Like I want to be on this path with God without them It's so important to have people to push you in that way. I had already decided to give my life to Jesus, but I hadn't like Expressed it yet

It Was amazing it was like a surreal experience because Being their friends like I've heard all their stories and I've seen the struggles They've gone through and I've seen how much work they put in to get to where they are And I was getting baptized and I was giving my life to Jesus But at the same time like watching them come that far to getting baptized like I was just so proud of them Hey coming Brooklyn, okay, you guys ready? Dear Lord, we thank you for this beautiful day and this ability to come out and do what we do best God, I pray for protection over all of us and all the teams traveling and just enjoy the moment and be the best version of Ourselves through you God in your name. Amen You do need people and you can't do this alone like yes rely on God But you need people to help push you and help push you on that right path to do this things to help you get that relationship with God and be the best version of yourself. Every day I pray that people just see something different in my life and they want that something different like they want to have what I have with God and I just want to make that difference in them and I feel like I have gotten the opportunity to do that and God has worked through me in amazing ways that way. I'm super excited on this next chapter of my life in the past chapter he did so much and worked so much in my life and worked through me to bring God through the Rock Valley team so who knows like what he has planned for me next. It's powerful. You know why it's powerful? It's because when you live different it makes a difference. Salt and light. So as we close today I want us to pray because many times I think we fall into the trap of just wanting to blend in. Blend in with culture, maybe it's value systems, it's worldviews, maybe because we're nervous, maybe we lack a little courage, we don't we don't shine as brightly as what we should and maybe we've lost a little bit of saltiness and we're not bringing the influence and the flavor that God wants us to. I know I'm convicted of that when I read the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount because there are places and areas that even your pastor could get better at, trust me. So let's bow our heads and let's close our eyes and I want us to pray for a moment because I know that there are lots of people listening to me both far and near both on screens

right now or in person right now, one of our location, that are saying well I need to get better at this. So let's just confess that to God for a moment. Help me Father we confess to you that sometimes we have not been the best at being salt and light, that's city on a hill. We try to dim our light, we've tried to have less flavor, we haven't preserved your truth, we haven't done the things that we know we should have done and so Lord we just start out by saying we're sorry for that, we repent, we confess it and we just say God forgive us. But Lord help us to be better at being salt and light. Help us to be better to be that city on a hill in our workplaces, our workout places, our eating places, our schooling places, our living spaces. Lord I pray that God you would help us to be different not for the sake of drawing attention to us but rather that we live according to your way so that you get all the glory and people find you. Lord I pray that testimony of that amazing softball team would stay in our memory because of a person deciding to be different it made all the difference. Lord use us I pray in Jesus name. With every head bowed and still eyes closed some people might say I've never made Jesus the leader and the forgiver of my life and never made him Lord and Savior like like I heard Sam talking about in that video that that she gave her life to Jesus. I've never done that and or maybe you did and maybe you drifted. Well today would be a great day if you want to give your life to Jesus. It's not about joining a church it's nothing like that instead it's saying God I believe that you died for me sent Jesus to die for me for my sin. I repent of my sin I put you as leader of my life. It's not a prayer of perfection it's a prayer of saying God I need a rescue and I need you to save me. So with every head bowed never I close you say I want to make Jesus the leader of my life. If that's you can you just raise your hand and put it down again I want to pray for you yeah hands up everywhere. Can we go ahead and just all pray this prayer after me if you raise your hand God is listening into your voice he loves you he created you but but if we'd all just say this prayer let's say it all together where we raised our hand we didn't Heavenly Father I come to you today and I need help I need a rescue forgive me of all my sin come into my heart and be the leader of my life. I believe Jesus died for me so that I can have a new life. Thank you for loving me with an unconditional love. In Jesus' name, and everybody said amen. Come on, let's give everybody.

Absolutely incredible message. I really hope that you got something from that. So challenging, so inspiring, and so just a great, great word for today. And if you made that decision to make Jesus the leader in the figure of your life, just know that we are celebrating with you. It is the best decision that you could ever make, and so congratulations to you. And maybe you're going, okay, well, what next? What do I do now? I made this decision, I prayed this prayer, what do I do? Well, I'm glad you asked. There's a couple of things we can tell you to do. Number one is just let someone know. Tell a friend, tell a family member, you can drop it in the chat. Just let us know, let somebody know what's happening, the decision that you've made. Secondly, there's a QR code on your screen for something called New Beginning, and it's just a quick resource. It's gonna help you with going, what's next? How do I learn to pray? Where do I start in the Bible? What should I read? Basic information like that that's gonna help you start this relationship with God, and so we wanna make sure that you guys have those resources, and then McKenna's got something else

that's gonna be helpful as well. Another great resource that we have here at City First is to join Growth Track, and what Growth Track is is just a four-week program designed to help you discover the gifts that God's placed inside of you, the purpose that he has over your life, and so it's one of the greatest things that we have here. We believe that everyone should join Growth Track, whether you have just started your faith journey with Jesus or whether you've been in it for a really long time, and so it starts the first Sunday of every month, which is this month, which is today. It is today, yes. So we'd love for you to join. If you're feeling like that is the next step that you need to take in your walk with Jesus, we'd love for you to check out our website and get signed up. Yeah, absolutely. It is a great, great resource. In fact, you can actually do it online as well. Oh, yeah. Super easy, simple. You can do it on your timeframe. Just a great way to do that, and then lastly, I want you to know this. If you do need prayer for anything, we do have teams that are praying throughout the week. We wanna make sure that that is available to support for you.

Maybe you're walking through something. Maybe you wanna celebrate something. You're going, man, God's really just answered a prayer. Changed my life. We would love to celebrate with you as well. You can let us know in the chat, or you can go on the app and drop it in, and then also on the app, there are definitely things that are gonna help you continue to grow in your faith journey. There's different reading plans, things like that, that you can just jump in and go, hey, I just wanna grow more. It's a great opportunity to do that, so make sure you download that. Yeah, and again, it has all the events. You can get signed up, meet new people here. It's the greatest thing ever, but we love you guys so much. We hope that you have the best week ever. Again, best thing you can do is come back next week as we continue in our series Above It All. We love you guys so much. We'll see you guys later.