Abundant Life in Jesus

♪ Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh ♪ Oh It's more beautiful Well, it's true Good morning, good morning. Would you stand at your feet and join us in worship? ♪ Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh Oh ♪ Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Here we go. ♪ How nice it is to miss the old drawing Taking all in ♪ I'll praise cause the water's My enemies drowning ♪ My praise is the water's My enemies drowning ♪ As long as I'm breathing As long as I'm breathing ♪ I've got a reason to praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ I'll praise when I feel it I'll praise when I don't ♪ I'll praise cause I know You're still in control ♪ Yes, He is ♪ My praise is a weapon It's more than a sound ♪ My praise is the shout I'll preach as it goes down ♪ As long as I'm breathing As long as I'm breathing Come on. ♪ I've got a reason to praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul Come on, come on, come on. ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ I won't be quiet I won't be quiet ♪ My God is alive How could I keep it inside ♪ Praise the Lord

♪ Oh my soul Come on, that's the good news this morning. Our God reigns. He rose from the grave so that we can have everlasting life and a hope that never fails. Come on, let's sing about it. ♪ I'll praise cause You're sovereign ♪ Praise cause You reign ♪ Praise cause You rose and defeated the grave ♪ I'll praise cause You're faithful ♪ I'll praise cause You're true ♪ I'll praise cause there's nobody greater than You ♪ I'll praise cause You're sovereign ♪ Praise cause You reign ♪ Praise cause You rose and defeated the grave ♪ I'll praise cause You're faithful ♪ Praise cause You're true ♪ Praise cause there's nobody greater than You We sing. ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul Every voice. ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh I won't be quiet ♪ I won't be quiet

♪ My God is alive ♪ How could I keep it ♪ No I won't be quiet ♪ I won't be quiet ♪ My God is alive ♪ I won't be quiet ♪ I won't be quiet ♪ My God is alive ♪ My God is alive ♪ How could I keep it We praise the Lord. ♪ Oh praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Oh my soul ♪ Oh my soul Amen. Man, it's such a joy to be in the house of the Lord this morning, isn't it? Well, it's good to see y'all. My name is Caleb. I'm a worship minister here, and it's just so good to be here to worship with you guys. So if you're joining us, whether you're here in person, you're online, we see you, we hear you. If you're in a prison cell,

the Lord sees you and hears you as well. So we just wanna rejoice together and continue to praise the Lord who deserves all the honor, all of the glory. So I'm gonna lead us in prayer, and then we'll continue to sing. Lord, thank you for this time together as people are walking in, Lord. It's just such a joy to be with our family, the family of believers. God, we are united in you, Jesus. And so Lord, I just pray that you would just... dwell with us God that you are we know that you are with us in our hearts Jesus and you have residence in us Lord and so Holy Spirit I just pray that you'd move in and around us God that as we sing that we would uplift each other as a as a song of encouragement Lord and as we lift you on high Jesus I just pray that you shine through this morning that you would just break down the walls around our hearts Lord that you soften our hearts to hear from you Lord to receive from you Lord we love you so much in Jesus name amen let's continue to worship oh and i was born but there's a song of praise that only i can is there is no one, only Jesus. Your words are worthy. Your mercy's worthy. There is no one, only Jesus. There is no one, only Jesus. There is no one, only Jesus. There is no one, only Jesus. There is no one, only Jesus.

Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only Jesus. Who else is worthy? And who else is worthy? There is no one, only Jesus. It's only You, Lord. High above it all. You're the only one worthy. You're the only one worthy. Yes. The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, anointed one. Who was and is and is to come. Seated on the throne above. Holy, holy. Righteous one, who shed His blood. You proved to us the Father's love. Jesus Christ, be lifted up. Holy, holy. The Lamb of God, anointed one. Who was and is and is to come. Seated on the throne above. Holy, holy. Righteous one, who shed His blood. You proved to us the Father's love. Jesus Christ, be lifted up.

And who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only Jesus. ♪ There is no one, only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy of ♪ ♪ There is no one, only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy of ♪ ♪ There is no one, only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy of ♪ ♪ There is no one, only in Jesus ♪ ♪ And am I God, going to ruin the world indeed ♪ ♪ And am I God, going to ruin the world indeed ♪ ♪ And is it come, it's seated on the throne of love ♪ ♪ Holy, holy righteous one who shed his blood ♪ ♪ You proved to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ be lifted up, holy, you're holy ♪ ♪ You're holy, you're ever gone, anointed one ♪ ♪ Who was and is and is it come, seated on the throne of love ♪ ♪ You're holy, you're holy, righteous one who shed his blood ♪ ♪ You proved to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ be lifted up, who else is worthy of ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, there is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, there is no one, only you Jesus ♪ Amen, can we give God a hand of praise, he's holy. And Jesus, let's continue to lift up the name of Jesus. He's the King who reigns over everything, come on. Come on, Jesus. ♪ There was a moment when the lights went out ♪

♪ When death acclaimed its victory ♪ ♪ The King in love again, loved his life ♪ ♪ The darkest day in history ♪ ♪ There on a cross the maker sins ♪ ♪ Forever cursed his bloody tomb ♪ ♪ One final breath and it was finished ♪ ♪ But an eye never could run ♪ ♪ Before the earth began to shake ♪ ♪ And the dead were restored ♪ ♪ What sacrifice was made ♪ ♪ As the heavens collapsed ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ He's the Savior of the world, yeah ♪ ♪ There was a moment when the sky lit up ♪ ♪ A flashing light breaking through ♪ ♪ When all was lost across eternity, yes ♪ ♪ The King of kings was born ♪ He's alive, it's on the mount Or in the dark, I'll call to For we're all on this way And we're miraculous, right? And we're forever changed All hail the King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail the King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world All hail the King Jesus

All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail the King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Hey there, renegade Come bow before the King of kings Let every tongue be confessed that He is Lord Lift up your shout Let it strike with all of heaven singing Holy, sing it Holy, cry out Holy, sing it Holy All hail, all hail the King All hail the King Jesus All hail the Lord Sing this to heaven All hail the King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world No things have passed away Your love has stayed the same Your constant grace remains a cornerstone Things that we thought were dead Breathe in and laugh again You caused your sun to shine On darkest nights we sing For all that you've done, be well For our love, this will be our anthem song Here we go Jesus, we love you

Sing it to heaven Oh, how we love you All over the room, Lord You are the one Our hearts adore you The hopeless have found their hope The orphans now have a home All that was lost has found its place in you You lift up the weary head You make us strong Instead, you took these fragile ♪ You've made us beautiful ♪ ♪ For all that You've done, we will pour our love ♪ ♪ This will be our anthem song ♪ ♪ Jesus, we love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how we love You ♪ ♪ You are the one and only ♪ ♪ Our hearts adore every voice ♪ ♪ Jesus, we love You ♪ ♪ You're the only one, You are the one and only ♪ ♪ Our hearts adore, our hearts adore You, God ♪ ♪ Our hearts adore, our hearts adore You, Lord ♪ ♪ And our affection, our devotion ♪ ♪ Poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ Our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪ Can we lift our hands all over the room and sing? ♪ Our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪ Give it to Him. Oh, pour it out. ♪ And our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪

♪ This is our song, our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ Our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ Our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ We love You, we love You, we love You, we love You, Jesus, we love You ♪ ♪ All the tongue of heaven, all our hearts adore Him. Jesus, we love You God, oh yes, we love You. All the tongue of heaven, all our hearts adore Him. Jesus, we love You God, oh yes, we love You. ♪ We could never tell You enough God that we love You Jesus, we love You Jesus, we love You Jesus, we love You Jesus, we love You, we love You, Jesus and need Your love, Jesus Jesus, Lord, we love You, Jesus, we love You ♪ ♪ All the tongue of heaven, all the tongue Our hearts adore Him. Jesus, we love You down, Oh how we love You. You are the one, our heart adore You. Jesus, we love You God, oh yes, we love You ♪ We love You Jesus, our blessed assurance Jesus, we look to You today, sing this together. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a fortress of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit. ♪ Washed in His blood ♪ We sing perfect submission. ♪ Perfect submission ♪ ♪ All is at rest ♪ ♪ I and my Savior ♪ ♪ Are happy and blessed ♪ ♪ Watching and waiting ♪ ♪ Looking above ♪ ♪ Filled with His goodness ♪ ♪ Lost in His love ♪ This is my story. ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song, yes ♪ ♪ Praising my Savior ♪ ♪ Happy and blessed ♪ ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song ♪ ♪ Praising my Savior ♪ ♪ All the day long ♪

One more time, this is my story. ♪ This is my story ♪ Carry. ♪ This is my song ♪ Praising my Savior. ♪ Praising my Savior ♪ ♪ All the day long ♪ This is our story. ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song ♪ ♪ Praising my Savior ♪ ♪ All the day long ♪ Amen. Yes, Lord, that is our song today, God. That is our testimony today, Lord. You saw us, God, where we were, and you called us to you, Lord Jesus. You met us where we were at, God. You called us to repentance, Lord, and because of that, and we've accepted you, Lord, as our blessed assurance, Lord. You are a hope that seals us with God. And so, Lord, we thank you for that. Jesus, I pray that through the word that is brought this morning, God, that you would use it, Lord, to correct us, to comfort us, to show us your grace, love, and mercy, Lord. But also, would you reveal your holiness to us and let that minister us, God? Lord, I believe that there are people in here today

that are just ready to receive from you, God. Their hearts are ready. So, Lord, would you clear the distractions around us, Lord, and would you just allow us to lean into you? In your good word, we love you. In Jesus' name, amen. May we see you. All right, how we doing? Good. Good, all right. This sounded good right here. This, we'll work on it. We'll work on the sides here. But, oh man, what a privilege and an honor to be here. Truly to be here. My wife and I moved to Fort Worth in 2006 to go to seminary. And in November of 2009, we'd been trying churches and someone in my Greek class was like, ah, come check out my church. It's in Grapevine. I was like, Grapevine? Gosh, I don't wanna drive to Grapevine from south Fort Worth. But, we came, visited once, and the rest was history. We knew right away that's where God wanted us to be. And so, we had all four of our kids in this church dedicated to the Lord here. Went through creation land and they had 121 kids. And now, Mikayla is 19, just finished her first year at the University of Georgia.

Go Dawgs. Molly is 16, gonna be a junior. On her way to Young Life Camp right now. Otherwise, she'd be here. I don't know which one, don't ask. She's going, I don't know. Macy's 14, gonna be in ninth grade. And Miles, 11, gonna be in sixth grade. And so, he was two when we moved. So, it's just wild. But we are so grateful. I got to serve on staff here. I mean, we were here for almost 10 years, served in various ways, and this was our first church love, right? Like, we just, we, this was family. Now, this was our home. We loved this church. My mom, when we were getting ready to plant in her loving, passive, aggressive way, let it be known she was not too thrilled with, like, she just didn't want me to plant a church. And I was like, Mom, why? And she's like, it's not so much starting a church. And she said, I just know that if anything happened to me and your dad, that the people of that church would take care of you and Stephanie and my grandbabies. And she was right. Like, there was no doubt in my mind

that we would have been all right. And you, then, you today, are still supporting and loving us. I say this to our church all the time. I'll say it here. We would not still be doing what we're doing without 121. It just, yeah, come on. So, thank you. We, there's no doubt in my mind. We started in the fall of 2018. It was rough. It was hard. We didn't know people. We had no Christian friends. Austin is a dark city. Still really, really lost. Really expensive. Good gracious, it's so expensive. And so, trying to survive that. Our marriage was under attack. I was depressed. It was just, people would ask all the time, how's church planning? I was like, it's miserable. I didn't say that. I'm saying it now. I thought it, but I was like, this is awful. Like, I hate it. And then COVID hit, right? What a way to start a church.

Then COVID hit, and by the grace of God, I mean, I had a pastor. He's just like, I don't think y'all are gonna make it. And by the grace of God, here we are in 2026, healthiest we've ever been as a church. Yeah, praise God. Thank you, yeah. We're a young body. I think our average age is probably 29. We are young. And so, if you wanna move to Austin at UMT Nestors, we'll take you. Come on, happy to have you. But just a very engaged church, and really, honestly, grateful. And I'll say it again, would not be here without you. So, like, just this is how it's supposed to be. Right, this is how every church in the New Testament started, right? Was that faithful men and women would take Jesus somewhere else, and one church would send them, and then they would send one. And that's how every church started. And so, just know that you are active participants in the expansion of the gospel. In 3 John, the oft-quoted 3 John, John is writing to his friend Gaius, and he's like, thank you for your contributions to missionaries that you don't even know,

because by that, you are actively participating in the expansion of the kingdom. And so, just know that even here in Grapevine, you have an active role in the expansion of the kingdom of God in Austin. And that matters. That matters to send out church planters. And so, thank you, keep doing it. Until the whole world knows, it matters. And so, but I'm not here to talk about our church. I would love to, if you wanna get to chat later, I'm gonna love to talk with you after service. You can grab my phone number from probably anyone on staff. And I'd just love to get to know you, if you ever wanna chat more about how you can pray for us, just needs that you can help meet or support. We've got a lot coming up, and so we'd love, if you wanna talk further, let us know. But today, 1 Thessalonians chapter four. So if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter four. And as you're turning there, I'm just gonna pray over our time in the scripture. Holy God, would you speak to us? There is no voice that we need to hear other than yours. God, the one who spoke the world into existence. You are who we need to hear. You are who we want to hear today. And so through your word, by your spirit, God, speak to us. Meet us where we are.

God, grip our minds and our hearts. Encourage us, convict us, challenge us forward that we would be men and women, continually growing in holiness and in lives pleasing to you. It's in Jesus that we pray together, amen. One of my favorite guys in our church, his name is Dutch. And he is four years, 32 days sober today. Shout out Dutch. Way to go, buddy. He manages the sober living house that meets across from where our church meets. And so at first it was just Dutch that walked across and joined us for worship. But then he started bringing some of his guys. And then we were like, hey, what if we hired these guys to do our setup for us on Saturday night? We have to set up on Saturday nights. And this is their first stop after rehab is they're in this home. And they have to be in class from like Monday to Friday, eight to four, eight to five. And then their curfew's eight or 9 p.m. So they don't have a whole lot of time for anything other than their. their recovery, and so they don't have jobs, they don't have income, and so we're like, man, it can be a way, we got permission from their program for them to stay out past curfew, so it can be a way for them to do some work,

make a little cash, and really just start to meet people outside of the recovery circle, right, to start to feel like they belong in other parts of life as well, and it's just been, it's one of my favorite things that we've been able to do. I love these guys, they're my favorite people, honestly. They're just the best, and man, I wanna see them grow, and I wanna see them continue to thrive and to find healing and recovery, which means I don't want them in our church for long, because if they're in our church for longer than six weeks, it probably means they've relapsed, or they've stalled out in the steps that they're supposed to be taking, because the goal was for them to be in this house for four to six weeks, and then move to another house, which is further away, where they have more freedoms, and they're able to continue on their road of sobriety and healing. So if they're in our church for six plus weeks, man, it probably means they've stalled out in some way, and I just, I want them to know and to see that there is so much more ahead of them, right, that this doesn't define them, right? Praise God that our past mistakes, that doesn't mean who we have to be, and I want so badly for them to continue to progress and grow and advance and not settle and not get stuck. And I think, as I've been reading 1 Thessalonians,

that's Paul's heart for the church, that's Paul's heart for us, is that there's so much more for us in Christ. Don't settle, don't stop, don't quit, don't coast, but continue to grow in a life of holiness that is pleasing to God. Continue to advance and grow and step into the abundant life that Jesus came to bring us. Church, don't settle, don't stop. Continue to grow in holiness and a life pleasing to God. That's Paul's heart for us. So we read in 1 Thessalonians, we're actually gonna start in chapter three, verse 11, and we'll go through verse 12 of chapter four. So read with me. Paul says, now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you. May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints, amen. Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God, as you are doing, do this even more. For you know what commands we gave you

through the Lord Jesus. For this is God's will, your sanctification. That you keep away from sexual immorality. That each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions like the Gentiles who don't know God. This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner. Because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. For God has not called us to impurity, but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. About brotherly love, you don't need me to write you because yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. This is the word of the Lord. When we read these verses, we see some common phrases and words that clue us in to Paul's heart for the church. All right, in chapter three, verse 12, he says that he's praying for God to increase and overflow love within us. In verse 13, he's praying that God would make our hearts

blameless in holiness. Chapter four, verse one, he says, as you've received instruction in how to live in a manner pleasing to God, do so even more and more. In verse three, he says, this is God's will, your sanctification. Verse seven, that we are to live in holiness, not impurity. Verse nine, that we are to live lives of loving one another. Verse 10, and we are to do this more and more. Paul's heart for the church and for us is that we would never stop growing in holiness and in a life pleasing to God. That we would never stop growing. Paul has seen it. Come on, we've seen it, right? How many of us have friends that, man, we grew up together, we were in the church. Youth group together and now you're like, I don't think they're following Jesus anymore. People you were in life group with five, six years ago, and it's like, I don't know where they are. How many of us can point to times where it's like, man, it's just kind of flat. Like there's just nothing really happening. Paul has seen it. We've seen it where we just kind of settle and we stop growing. And Paul's heart has never stopped growing in holiness, in a life pleasing to God.

Keep going, keep moving, keep reaching. There's more to be had. And this is not only Paul's desire, right? This is God's desire for us. When we look in verse three, it says, this is God's will, your sanctification. The word sanctification means to become holy and righteous, to become like Jesus. God has a will for your life. And it is for you to know, love, and become like his son, Jesus. I mean, this was what he told us on page one, Genesis chapter one, where God says, let us make man in our image, right? That God has a purpose and an idea for humanity. In chapter one, verse 26, let us make man in our image. And then he gets to 27 and it says, so God made him in his image. Male and female, he created them in his image. Listen, God has a purpose for your life. Like, I don't know where you came from, where you think you are in the journey right now. I don't know how young or how old you are, but God has a purpose for your life. It's not to get married and have a family. It's not to be successful in your career. It's not to make a lot of money and be generous and give it away. It's not to eat, drink, and be happy and travel the world, right?

All of those are fine things, but the reason you exist as a human being is because God created you to reflect his image. That is the reason you and I are here. Everything else serves that purpose. We exist to reflect God, that when people hear us talk, they'd be like, oh, these are like the words of God. That when they see us interact, they're like, oh, this is the character of God. This is how God loves. This is how God forgives. This is how God is patient. This is how God is kind. That our purpose is to reflect God with our lives. In Romans 8, Paul says that we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. All right, so we're to reflect the image of God. Well, now we see God in human form, Jesus, and we are to be shaped into the image of Jesus. That is the purpose that God has for us. This is sanctification, to become more and more and more and more and more like Jesus. Now, if you've received Christ in one sense, you've already been sanctified. All right, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says, God made him who was without sin to be our sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. And in chapter eight, verse nine of the same verse, it says that we, though we were poor, Christ, who was rich, took on our poverty

so that we could have his wealth, right? This is the good news of the gospel, right? Lean in for a second. Like, lock in, because Genesis to Revelation, if you're like, man, what's the Bible about? What's God about? It's this, the gospel of Jesus Christ, that you and I were created to walk closely with God and reflect him in everything we say and do. But just like our first parents, Adam and Eve, at some point, you and I took our eyes off of God, looked at the stuff of this world and thought, I'm gonna call my own shot. I know God says, trust me with this, but it's just fruit. What harm can this do? Listen, it's not about fruit. It's about trusting and following God. And all of us have walked away. All of us have separated ourselves from the image of God. But Jesus has come to fix what we broke, right? Jesus has come as a man, and he walked a life of perfection that you and I were supposed to do, but never lived up to. He did it. He has a record that is spotless, no sin, perfect righteousness is the life of Jesus. And then he went to the cross in our place so that our record of sin, our long list of sins against God could be nailed to the cross with him and buried in the tomb forever.

And then Jesus rose from the dead and is alive today. so that on June the 7th, 2026, this message is relevant because our God is alive. And the message is this, that he will take our sin and give us his righteousness so that when we are positioned before a holy God, our God sees you and me as spotless and righteous. Not because of our works, we know that we've fallen short, but because of what Jesus has done in our place. Praise God. This is the sanctification that is complete in the work of Jesus. When we trust him, we are made righteous before God. We are holy before God. But while we're still on this earth, we're still a work in progress to know and become more like him in this body and in this life. We're still on that journey. Now, why? Why does God call you and I to sanctification? Is God needing 121 Community Church to be good Christian boys and girls? Does God need us to clean up our behavior so that the angels don't make fun of him? Be like, God, your people over there, they're really something, huh? Like, think about it, why does God want us to become like Jesus? It's because he wants us to thrive in the abundant life that Jesus came to bring us.

It's not because God needs anything from us. If God needed us, that's a little God. If God needed you and me to clean up our behavior, that's a small God. No, God calls us to sanctification and to become like Jesus for our good, for our abundance. In Luke 9, Jesus is like, hey, you wanna follow me? Great, come on. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me, and the person that does that, that's the person that finds and saves life. It is for our life, it is for our goodness, for our abundance that Jesus calls us to this. In John 15, Jesus says, hey, abide in my love. Remain close to my love. And you'll do this as you keep my commandments. Okay, so abide in his love. We do this as we obey him, but why, Jesus? Why do you tell us to do this? Verse 11 of John 15, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. God calls us to obey him, not because he needs our obedience but so that our joy will be complete in him. Yo, this changes the paradigm of why we pursue obedience. It is because it honors God and it's for our good. It is for our eternal and abundant joy. Paul, man, he's like, I tried all the things in this world, I put it in a scale on this side, and then I put knowing and becoming like Jesus on this side, and he's like, dude, it doesn't even measure up.

Knowing Jesus is of surpassing value to everything this world has to offer. That is why God calls us to sanctification, that we may know him and love him and thrive in his presence. Don't settle, don't settle for all that Christ came to bring us, it's to know him and to thrive in his presence. So how do we do this, right? How do we grow in the image of God? First, it is by his power in us. God doesn't call us to do anything that he doesn't equip and empower us to obey and walk out. We see in verse 12 of chapter three that Paul is praying for God to increase love within us, right, for God to cause love to abound and overflow. Man, sometimes loving people's hard, yeah? Anybody else got some people you're like, oh, I don't care for them much, right? They're a little testy, and yet we're called to love them, and so Paul's like, hey, yeah, let's ask God to help that increase and abound in you, right? He prays in verse 13, may God make your hearts blameless in holiness. Right, the first way that we are going to grow in holiness and a life pleasing to God is by the power of Christ in us, not our own efforts. It's not rolling up our sleeves and being like, all right, I'm gonna do it this time. Anyone ever been like, I'm never touching that again, and then like 10 minutes later, pfft, there you are again.

Anyone else, just me? Cool, love that, thank you, I appreciate that right there. I don't feel so alone anymore, right? Anyone else has made these promises, I'm never listening to that music again, and then pfft, there it goes, right? I'm never watching this again, I'm never doing it, right? And then, man, come on, it's hard. But God has given us the power of the spirit of Christ in us to actually walk this out. In Ephesians 1, Paul prays that we would know the immeasurable greatness of God's power. at work in us. You know what the word immeasurable means? Anybody? You can't measure it, right? Immeasurable means you can't, you cannot put a cap on it. You can't quantify it. And Paul's like, you have the immeasurable greatness of God's power at work in you, the Spirit of Christ in you. Come on, we lower the bar so low for the Spirit of Christ in us. And we can do so much more by his power in us. Anybody, y'all know Spider-Man? Friendly neighbor, friendly neighbor? Neighborhood friend, I don't know. Something like that, right? Spider-Man, who was Spider-Man before he was Spider-Man?

Somebody tell me. Peter Parker, right? I guess he's still Peter Parker, even as Spider-Man. Nevermind, I don't know comics that well. He goes on a field trip, he gets bit by some radioactive spider, and there is fundamentally something different within him now that now he has different powers that he's able to do because something within him has changed, yes? Now he can shoot webs out of his wrists and climb on buildings, and like a train can fall on him, and he just lifts it up, and there's all this different power within him because something is fundamentally different in him, right? This is the Spirit of Christ in us. When we trust Christ, we have the Spirit of the risen Savior in us who empowers us to do immeasurably great and more than we can think or imagine. That is how we walk out sanctification, is by his power in us. But then also, it's also with our participation in obedience, right? Just because he was Spider-Man, he didn't have to shoot the webs out. He had to learn how to walk up on the buildings, and he had to learn how to harness the power and when to use it and all those.

He had to participate with the power that was in him. And so God's like, hey, I'm gonna give you everything you need. Now walk in obedience. Don't settle in growing in holiness and a life pleasing to me. Keep moving, keep going. It calls us to keep participating, but we see it all the time, right? When people come out of the gate, and they're running, and they're like, ah, that's good, that's too much now. I don't wanna keep going. Like, what a tragedy. What a tragedy if Dutch's sober living guys, man, they come out, they're out of rehab, they're three weeks in, they're like, that's enough. I don't need to keep moving, right? What a tragedy. What a tragedy when we're like, I'm gonna follow Jesus, but then, I don't know, two years later, it's like, ah, that was good. Let me just coast from here. And I see it all the time with high schoolers. They come to college, and it's just like so much opportunity, and they get distracted by it, and they just kind of stumble down this pathway, and their faith just kind of stalls out.

I see it with college students who graduate. Those first few years after college are weird. I mean, they're just a weird time. We've been raised where it's like, okay, everybody's my age, and there's this system and this little schedule that's set up for me, and here's how I follow it, and then it's like, hey, here's your job, 22-year-old, sit next to this 62-year-old, figure out how to do life together, right? No one's making you wake up or telling you when your work's, like, it's a weird time. People are just trying to figure it out, and in that, growing in Christ can just kind of drift off. I see it with parents. I mean, you start to have kids, and you're like, I just need to survive this, you know? One of my favorite quotes is from a comedian, Jim Gaffigan, and he had his fourth kid, and he was like, yeah, we got four kids now, and people ask me, what's it like having four kids, Jim? And I'm like, imagine you're drowning, and someone hands you a baby. And I'm like, oh, that is so accurate. You're just trying to get to Tuesday, you know? And then if you get to Wednesday, you're like, boom, done, we made it, we win the week. So when in that are you gonna be like, now let me become more like Jesus, too?

Let me wake up at 4 a.m. before my screaming kid and spend time in the Word, and let me learn how to drop off and pick up and do all this and become more like Christ, man, and it just starts to slip and drift away, right? I see it a lot with empty nesters in retirement age, you know, where it's like, you probably have more time than ever before, maybe more resources, but it's like, okay, we're good. We're just gonna sail off into the sunset. Unless we are perfectly like Jesus, then we've got room to go. We've got space to go. And Paul has. His encouragement is don't quit growing in holiness in a life that is pleasing to God. Whether you're in high school or college or you're starting career or family, or man, you're just, you're retired, keep reaching, keep striving, more and more and more grow, and it's for our good. It is for our abundance and joy. We're not created to just finish our work and retire, we're created to reflect the image of God until the whole world knows and he takes us home. And Paul's like, don't quit, keep growing, keep striving, keep reaching. It gives us two specific ways here that we can grow in holiness

in a life that is pleasing to God, sexual holiness and work ethic. When I got the text, I was like, really, Ross, sexual holiness? Like, what are we doing here, man? Shouldn't y'all handle that? But I guess he just thought I can say what I want and then they'll deal with the mess afterwards. But Joe did email me, he was like, hey, do I need to warn people? I was like, no, we're good, we'll be okay. But yeah, Paul says that there's ways that we can grow in holiness in a life pleasing to God, and one of them is in our sexual integrity. And so he says that we are to keep away from sexual immorality. Know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions like the Gentiles who don't know God. Don't transgress against one another. God is an avenger of these offenses. He says you're created for purity, for holiness, not impurity. Keep away from sexual immorality. In the time where Paul is writing, there was just very little sexual boundaries. Sexual promiscuity was the norm. I mean, there were religious acts of worship that involved sex acts with priestesses and priests of the temple.

I mean, divorce was just a Wednesday. Like, oh, okay, we'll go get remarried because we can just do this again, or we can just stay married and do our own things. There was just, it was the wild west. There were no boundaries. And God's like, that's not how I designed sex to be. That's not how we are to do this. Now, I can imagine people in this time being like, hey, if it works for us, who's to say it's wrong? Who's to say that this is immoral or moral if it's going okay for us? And we get that question a lot today, right? Who's to say what's right or wrong when it comes to sex? Who's to say who I am or who I'm not or who I can be with or who I shouldn't be with? Same questions being asked today. I'm sure were asked then. But I'm gonna argue that the one who created something gets to determine how it's supposed to operate. That the designer, the inventor gets naming rights and gets to say how something is supposed to work best. And God is the one who created and invented sex. He designed us to be able to have sex on purpose. Like it wasn't something that he was just like, oh no, what are they doing? Like somebody needs to intervene here. Like we chuckle, but it's like, no, no, no. God came up with this idea. Listen, church, the world is gonna talk about it ad nauseum.

If we don't talk about it here, we're not gonna hear the true message. God designed sex and he designed our sex to be an act of worship, honoring and pleasing to him. That we are to grow in holiness and a life pleasing to him with our sexual integrity. So what is sexual morality or sexual immorality? God designed sex to be shared and enjoyed between one man and one woman in the context of a lifelong marriage covenant, period. God designed sex to be shared between a husband and wife within a lifelong marriage covenant. And that's the only context that is celebrated and praised in the scriptures. So sexual morality is any sexual thought, any sexual desire, any sexual act that is toward a husband and wife in their marriage covenant. Sexual immorality then is any sexual thought, act, desire that is not toward your husband or wife in your marriage covenant. Any thought, desire, or act that is not for your spouse is sexual immorality. And God calls us to sexual morality. Now this could be the end of the discussion, right? God said it, he's the creator, move on. But there's more beauty to sex than that. There's more beauty than just a rule to obey. It is a way for us to know God and reflect the image of God in our sexual lives. Right, has anyone ever told you

that our sex is a way to reflect the image of God? Our God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping, triune God. The Father and the Son, who are the same yet different, are united together as one by the Spirit of God. And when the Father speaks a word to the Son, he keeps his word. And when the Son speaks a word to the Father, he keeps his word. And so sex within marriage is meant to be a way in which the two who are the same yet different can be united together as one, sharing the same Spirit of God. And when they make a promise to one another, they keep their promise to one another and thus reflect the image of a covenant-making, covenant-keeping, triune God. It is the only way that sex can reflect that image, is within that context of a husband and wife, the same yet different, united together with the Spirit of God, keeping the promises that God has given. It's a way to know God more, to display him, to become more like him. God has a robust, beautiful picture of sanctification within our sexual lives. And so Paul's like, this is the only way to do it. Keep away from sexual immorality. Like, don't go near it. Don't go near anything else that is outside of God's design for sex.

Keep away. Solomon's having a conversation with his son in the Proverbs. In chapter five, he's like, hey boy, you know who's down that road. You know if you go this way to get home, you know whose door you're gonna pass. And you know what she's gonna be doing. Don't even go near the door, son. Go the long way around. Don't even flirt with that temptation. And then you get to Proverbs 6, verse seven, and Solomon says, one of my favorite verses, can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? Translation, you play with fire, you're gonna get burned. Can a man hold fire close to his chest and not be burned? If I had a fire pit up here, just blazing, right? Logs on fire. I thought about doing this and I got nixed. My apologies. I thought it'd be real cool, right? We just have these logs on fire. Would anybody come up here and grab the log with their bare hand? Any takers? No? No? Why? Tell me. You're gonna get burned.

Okay, we're smart people. We know that. You don't touch fire. Your parents taught you when you were two months old. And yet with sexual immorality, we just wanna be like, ha ha ha, let's see how close we can get and not get burned. If here's the line, can I lean over? What if I just put half my foot over, right? Oh, I know, I know who's over there, but I can go by and it's not gonna tempt me or bother me. Oh, hey there, what's going on, right? We're foolish if we think that we can flirt with the temptation of sexual sin and not get burned. It doesn't work that way. Look, come on, you and I know that person that makes us feel a little different than everyone else that's not our spouse. We know that person that's giving us attention and that dopamine's just firing off and our body's like, I want more of that. Keep away. It's not worth it. It will not end well. It doesn't reflect a God who keeps his word and is faithful in his love and integrity. Keep away. Right, we know, we know what's gonna happen when it's late and we're tired and no one's around

and I'm just scrolling on my phone. Right, we know the ads that are gonna pop up. Grab a paper book. Keep away from the temptations that we know are there. Right, we know when I put on that TV show and it's like 20% clothed, 80% unclothed, we know what our thoughts are gonna go to. Keep away. We have to, we can't play with fire and think we're not gonna get burned. Practice the self-control that Paul tells us, right? In verse five, learn how to control your own body. Come on, you know what the fruit of the Spirit is? Love, joy, peace, patience, some, some, some, some, and self-control. Right? It's in Galatians five, right? And self-control. If you have the Spirit of Christ in you, that means you have the Spirit of self-control in you. So let's just start walking in it and trust that it will build and grow. Right, we wanna live a life of holiness, we gotta take step one first, and then step two, and then step three. We wanna be 10 steps down in holiness? Come on, let's take that first one. And the spirit of self-control will grow and build and build. And Paul warns us, he's like,

God's not gonna mess around with the sin. And he doesn't look lightly on it. It's an insult to his image. He's not okay with it. He will avenge these sins. Now, either we can have that vengeance poured out on Christ and the cross, when we turn to Jesus in repentance, or if we're unwilling to repent and turn to Jesus, then the vengeance will be poured out on us. It's the warning that Paul gives us. And he tells us that we're not rejecting man, we're rejecting God when we step into sexual immorality. You've probably heard someone be like, oh, it's consensual, right? We're just having fun, everybody's good. You know who never consents to sexual immorality? The spirit of Christ in you. If you are a Christian, sexual immorality, any act, thought, or desire outside of your exclusive spouse is non-consensual to the spirit of Christ in you. It's not okay. And Paul's like, no, no, keep growing. Keep going, keep reaching, keep striving to more of holiness and a life pleasing to God. Keep going, don't settle. Don't settle for the lies of the world the enemy is trying to steal, kill, and destroy today. Don't settle for it. You have the spirit of Christ in you.

And then he also moves on, he's like, another way that we can grow is in work ethic. Talk about a sharp right turn. And it's like, okay, Paul. He's like, hey, how we love one another is by going to work, right? And that's what he says in verse 10 and 11, right? To encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, mind your own business, and go to work so that you behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. We don't know for certain, but if you read 2 Thessalonians as well, apparently there was a group of people that were lazy and not going to work. And they were just filling their days with, I don't know, Instagram or YouTube or something. They weren't being productive and helpful to those around them. And then they were just mooching off everybody else to enable them to keep living this lifestyle, right? Y'all ever known anybody like that? They're just like, hey, if you can just keep putting food in the pantry or fridge, I will do nothing but just watch TV or sit around, right? And Paul's like, that doesn't reflect God. That's not loving to others. Our God, Genesis 2, is a God who worked for six days. And on the seventh, he rested.

He created a world where you and I can flourish in his presence and enjoy his creation. And then get this, he grabbed Adam in the evening. He put his arms around him. That's not in the text, right? That's just me kind of, you know, idea, right? And he's like, hey, guys, why don't y'all create with me? Why don't y'all come work and create and keep the garden with me? God created work before sin entered the picture. Do you know that? I think work's gonna be in heaven. If it was in the first Eden, I think it's gonna be in the second Eden. He created us to work because he is a God who works and because our purpose is to reflect this God. And when we don't, we're able to work, and we're not reflecting a God who works. And we're not serving the good of others. And why did God create the world? Because he was bored? Because he needed something to do? He needed some people? No, he created to share his divine fellowship with you and me, to share his glory with you and me. He didn't create to take. He didn't work to take. He worked to give. And if we're able to work and we're not doing our part, we're just taking, and we're not giving to others.

And thus, we don't reflect a God who works to give. We're a poor representation. We're behaving improperly to outsiders, and we're not loving our neighbor. And so we're created, we're called to work if we're able. Do what you can. I mean, that looks a different number of ways across the board, but are we working? Are we working to the glory of God? Are we working to contribute to the flourishing of our neighbors and our families? That's reflects our God that's growing in a life of holiness that is pleasing to him. I didn't expect to enjoy these verses as much, if I'm being honest. when I started reading them, but then I really came to appreciate the practicality of them. Right, we all expect the Bible to tell us to be holy. Hey, be holy and live a life that pleads unto God, yes. But I love that he's just like, and that happens in sex and in work, right? That we can glorify God, whether we're eating or drinking or whatever we do, that every day, a Monday to Friday, eight to five, and then we can honor God. We can live a life of holiness that's pleasing to him. We can know him more and thrive in his presence. I just love the simplicity and the practicality of that for us.

And I just wanna end with this encouragement. If you're like me and you see a list of rules, especially if you were raised in a good old Southern Baptist church, you see a list of rules and you're like, well, I better do A, B, C, and D. I better knock them out. And then when you don't, man, it's just the guilt and shame can really start to pile up, especially when it comes to sexual sin. When it's like, hey, live this way, and you know, oh, shoot, I'm living this way. And the guilt and the shame can almost paralyze us from moving forward, which is what God's desire is, yes, to continue to grow in holiness and a life pleasing. And so I just wanna remind you today what Romans 8 says, that for those of us who are in Christ, there is no condemnation before you. That, yeah, we've messed up, but God did not send Jesus to condemn us, but to give us life. Y'all ever seen a baby learning to walk, right? They kind of pull themselves up, and then they, with their wobbly self and their big head, you know, like take a step, and then they get maybe two or three and they fall down, right? Y'all ever seen anybody just be like, oh my gosh, what an idiot. You're supposed to walk, kid.

What are you doing on the ground, dummy? Right, like, no, what are we doing in that instance? We're like, oh my gosh, yes, he's walking. Yes, and then we get down on our level, and we're like, come on, come on, get back up, take another step. We set him up, we put like a puppy out here or something, or some ice cream, and we're like, come on, take another step, right? Come on, take four steps. Then they fall down again, and no parent's like, you are stupid and you're terrible. You're like, no, yes, keep going, right? Come on, y'all, our God is a good father. He knows we're gonna fall down. I don't think he is here to condemn us and shame us. I think he's here, he's like, come on. Come on, get back up today. You're still in the race, you're still moving. Come on, take another step. You went five last time, can you get six? Come on, can you get seven? Y'all, God is not here to condemn us today because we fall short here. He knows that. He's here to encourage us to keep growing in holiness, in a life that is pleasing to him. For his glory and for your abundant joy, 121, please don't settle. There's so much ahead for you

to know and to thrive in his presence. May we continually grow in holiness and in a life pleasing to God. Let's pray. Oh God, we just thank you so much for your kindness. That you would give us another chance and that you didn't send your son to condemn us, but you sent Jesus to breathe life into us. Got a broken and humble heart, that's all you want? Just someone that's willing to try again? God, give us the energy, the vibrancy, the conviction, the joy to keep running, to keep growing more and more. I just wanna invite you to take a second and listen for the voice of God. He is speaking to you today. Our God is alive and active through his word and his spirit. What's he saying to you? Don't reject his word. It's good. Even if it's scary and you don't know where he's leading, it's good. It's good. How's he encouraging you or challenging you? He's leading you to life. God, would you seal your word in our hearts and our minds? Give us the power, fill us up with your power. Inspire and compel us to live lives in holiness and pleasing to you for your glory and for the good of the world.

In Christ we pray, amen. Thanks again for having me and our family. It has been such an honor to see faces that we know and honestly, faces that we don't. Praise God. Like so many, this is great. It's how it's supposed to be. And so I'm just, I'm encouraged and I'm honored to be here. I think that's the end. As you go, right, we can leave tithes and offerings in the baskets or the boxes. There's gonna be some prayer team members up front. Come on, we're not meant to walk this alone. Let people pray for you, invite people into your journey. None of us are perfect, we all got junk. Come on, let's join the club, let's all do this together so we'll be able to pray for you. Keep running your race once we win, we love you. Thank you so much.