Finish Well

Well, good morning, Emmanuel. How many of you love Jesus today? It's a great way to start a moment where we're going to be talking about God's Word in just a few minutes. But what an incredible weekend. Friday, we got to celebrate Juneteenth, a critical chapter in our journey as a nation towards freedom and justice. And looking back at 1865 in Galveston, where there was an announcement of freedom to people that didn't know that there was already freedom to be able to embrace. And God is still writing that story in our nation. Grateful for that. Love that we get to celebrate dads today. Let's give it up for all the dads. If you're a dad, give yourself a pat in the back. And a question for all the dads. What are you going to be grilling for yourself today? And everyone gets to celebrate different. It's a beautiful day. And I love that we get to give honor where honor's due to dads, to grandpas, and father figures. I want to say a special shout out to my dad. And love you, dad. And grateful for you. And grateful for the impact that you've had in my own life as well. And my son reminded me that I need to thank him for making me a dad. And so he's like, you're welcome. And you got a new day to celebrate, right? And so love that today we get to celebrate together. Church is one of those places where we get to also see father figures, spiritual dads, in a real tangible way. And men, thank you for being an inspiration to the people that are within the scope of your influence. That is a powerful legacy that we get to be a part of. There's another thing that's going on right now. It's a small world event hosted in the U.S., in Canada, and in Mexico called the World Cup. I don't know if anyone, does this ring a bell for anyone? And some of you have already made your predictions. And some of you are like, what's the big deal about, you know, we call it soccer here.

Pretty much the only place in the planet that calls it soccer. And pretty much everyone else calls it foot ball because that makes a little more, you know, sense. It's a foot and a ball. And that's the whole, some of you are like, what's the big deal? It's all this like dramatic men rolling on the ground like they got shot by a sniper. And you know, why? Why are they like, what's going on? And you know, low scoring. Who even? Oh, it was an amazing game. Zero, zero. Ah, there's two hours of my life that I can't get back. But it really is. It's a passionate thing. Hey, there is, bear with me, conspiracy theories of the world of football, soccer, fuji ball. There is a slim possibility that on the 4th of July, bear in mind, 250th anniversary for this nation, for our nation, also Pastor Nate's birthday on the 4th of July coming up. That's not the conspiracy. I just, that was a little, this is a side mention there, but there is a possibility that U.S. might be playing England on that day. Everyone should pray. There's a lot at stake in that game. We lose. We got to go back to paying taxes to the queen and it could be a mess. And so, hey, there's, it's so fun to watch. You know, it's like, you know, for anyone that is kind of new, it's like the Olympics. National teams, 48 teams are in the group phase now. Some teams are, you know, they're already packing their bags. Others are like, oh, we might be able to make it. And we'll move into knockout phase and that's like sudden death. That's fascinating. And grew up in Argentina, so that's, you know, I've got a strong desire to see Messi raise that cup again. But we'll see. Lots of you are praying with me. A lot of you are praying against me. And I don't know. I think God's just like, you guys, don't even involve me in this.

Like, you do what you do. So, I don't know. It's got to be a theology of God and sports somewhere, right? And, but, you know, there's, each of us has our own journey, love or hate for sports. Let me tell you my own athlete journey. Growing up, like I said, in overseas, Southern Hemisphere, British system school, Cambridge Accreditation. I played rugby from the age of like seven all the way through 12th grade. I was a fullback. It's amazing to do anger management together with 15 other guys. Take it out on each other, right? And so, you know, fun. I also played cricket, which is, I still don't fully understand, but it is, it's the father of baseball, so happy Father's Day to cricket as well. You know, that's a lot of the principles, you know, the U.S. will take sports and kind of refine them and improve them, and now we got water breaks and soccer games, and so, but, and then I also did track and field at school. I'm more of a long distance type of guy. I've come to the awareness, and I'm probably not gonna go pro at this stage. Got a bad knee, and so, but I remember in 12th grade, some, you know, one of the track and field guys got sick. I don't know what happened, but I got told, I got ballin' told to run the 400 meter race, and I'm like, ah, how hard can this be? I've done a lot more than 400 meters.

So we're all getting ready, and soon as we heard the, wasn't a gunshot, but it sounded like it, we started running, and I was like, I'm gonna school these other schools, and I left so fast, and I was very excited because I couldn't see anyone around me, and I was just running and running, and I could hear like the, you know, the theme song from Chariots of Fire going on in the background, and I was just, I was in my own musical video moment, and then all of a sudden, my lungs stopped working, and I was out of breath, and then I was like, and my body started collapsing at like meter 197 or so, like halfway through the race, and then I just got winded, and I kinda shut down, and my body's like, enough of that, and so I just, but I kept, I'm like, I'm not a quitter, I'm not a quitter, and so then I just kept on kinda like walking, I didn't have any injuries or anything, I don't even know what happened, but I looked out of the corner of my eye, saw my schoolmates kinda doing this thing at me, and then I started leaving, and then pretty much everyone left by the time I crossed that finish line, so I just walked it, you know, I didn't crawl, but I did, I could've likely crawled

across that finish line, and it's such a clear example of the fact that it's not really restricted to how you start your race, it's about finishing well. I don't know what point of your race you're at, you might've just started your race, we're talking about faith, and you're in that season of excitement, that season of just discovery, and knowing God is with you, and he is for you, and you've discovered all these amazing people that are around you, and that are on the same journey, and we get to cheer each other on. Maybe you're at a season of hard growth, and maturing, and you can't build muscles without resistance, and you're finding some of the challenges of living out the values of Jesus in everyday life, and you gotta choose to keep on running, and you gotta choose to keep on focused on the prize, and then maybe some of you have been running for a long time and you're like, is there anything ahead or not? And you're wondering, you know, is there a finish line? What is the sense of all this? Whatever stage and season we're at in our race, we need to finish well, amen? Don't drop your water on the way. Turn to the person next to you and tell them, finish well, finish well, right? Run your race, finish well. And as we're looking at the fact that the future is ancient,

the fact that God has spoken a living inspired message that was relevant in the modern day Turkey, in Asia Minor, in the book of Revelation, as he's speaking to seven different churches, that voice is current today for us. Couple weeks ago, Pastor Nate began this series, and as he taught on the church, the letter to the church of Ephesus, he talked about the fact that Jesus still speaks today. Then Pastor Darren followed up with the next church that was referenced and written to, the church of Smyrna. And he talked about how to learn, how to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. I wanna encourage you, if you missed either of those, or if you wanna review them, go back and watch those messages. And as we continue today, we're gonna talk about the church of Pergamon. Now you're gonna see it written in different ways, Pergamon, Pergamon, Pergamus. And so all of those, depends on the translation of your Bible, they all count. You don't have to worry about, okay, someone screwed up when they wrote this, right? And so this is, if we wanna look at the map that we saw at the beginning of the series, got what would be modern day Turkey. And if you look at the very, you got, seven dots. So those are the seven churches that are written to in Revelation chapters two and three. And then we're going

to look at the message that was dedicated to the believers in the very top dots, Pergamos, or Pergamum. And in that region, we're going to see that, that Jesus has very specific words of encouragement that he's got words of, of rebuke or words of reproof of loving correction. Here's the truth. You can have blind spots, or you can have honest friends, but you can't have both. If you have honest friends, and they're really friends, they're going to point out your blind spots in a loving way, because they care about you. And that's what Jesus does for us. He doesn't want us to continue in a way that would be harmful to us or the people around us. And then, and then there's going to be a section of promise. This is kind of the format that we have throughout each of these letters is there's praise, there's reproof, and then there's promise, praise, reproof, loving correction, and then promise to look forward to. So we're going to look through it. We're going to read through it. I do want to I want to give you a fair warning. I mean, this is it's highly symbolic. And if you've read the book of Revelation, it's it can it can be kind of trippy sometimes, right? You look at different symbolic references. And some of these were, they would have been super clear to John's original audience, you know, as he's writing this revelation from the island of Patmos. And he's talking about in almost in code talking about the Roman Empire that was opposing the growth of the church at that point. And so he's going to talk about, you know, Satan, he's going to talk about the devil. And he's going to talk about the system of this world. And, and, and it not only refers to the Caesar and his edicts and his rules of engagement and gain for that time. It also matches the fact that everything that was opposing God was actually in

alignment with the devil and with the values of this world. This world is, is in opposition to the values that Jesus has taught us. Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. It's not, it's there, it's water and oil, you can't mix them. And so, John is going to use some interesting reference going to talk about double edged sword coming out of a mouth. And it's like, Whoa, you know, where did that, you know, how did that happen? Did you swallow something? And no, it's, it's a reflection and a reminder of that first vision that John had in chapter one, where, where Jesus has a piercing voice in a double edged sword and matches up with other scriptures where it talks about it discerning and reaching in distinguishing thoughts and intentions and soul and spirit. And, and that's how God speaks to our lives as well in a piercing way. Then he's going to talk about the throne of Satan. He's going to talk about hidden manna. And he's going to talk about a white stone with a secret code name on it. And so you guys ready? Buckle up. Here we go. We're gonna unpack this together. First of all, how many guys got your Bibles? Let's see your Bible. I got to make sure that you guys yes and get yourself a paper Bible. This is I love the fact that I can I can make notes on it and I can put dates by it and I can come back and look at this and, and, and it just kind of helps to capture the journey. I do that on my phone too. But it's it's just something about being able to look through it. A physical paper Bible as well. If you don't have one, we got one for you at the end of the service. All right. A reason for praise as we go to Revelation chapter two, verse 12 and verse 13. A reason for praise. I want to say the following before we begin reading. Be specific in your praise. Be specific in your

praise. A lot of us are really good at being specific in our criticism. You didn't do this or you did this wrong. You didn't do it. But we're not that great at, at being specific in our praise. So if you still didn't write out your Father's Day card, be specific in your praise. Don't say you're the best. And that's about it, right? Because you gotta, you gotta point out actual things that you notice. And that's what Jesus does with us, what he did with Pergamon as well. It says the following, Revelation 2.12, write this letter to the angel or the leader or the pastor, the messenger of the church of Pergamon. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword. Remember we talked about that? So that's the attribute of Jesus. He's got piercing words that help to reach in the deepest part of someone's heart and soul. And he says, I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne. Yet you have remained loyal to me, you refuse to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan's city. Now, you are told by God that you live in the city where Satan has his throne. It's almost like, hey, this is a letter to the church on the Death Star, right? And it's time to move, right? Who wants to live where Satan has his throne? It's a reference to something, a monument. I'm gonna ask our production team to throw up that image of the Throne of Zeus. This is actually in the museum in Berlin. This is the actual, what was known as the Throne of Zeus from Pergamon. It got deconstructed and then rebuilt in Berlin at a museum. And this was used as a place of worship, not only to Zeus, but then later on, as the Roman Empire expanded, the Caesar said, this is going to be a place to worship the authority that I

have as the king of the empire. Then he self-proclaimed God of the empire. So people from all over the region, all over the Roman Empire would travel to this place to give their worship and cults to Caesar. And that's what John is writing about. Now it's not only Caesar, because anything that stands in opposition to God and his kingdom, his values has been inspired by the enemy himself. And so he says, I know that you live in this place where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You have remained loyal, you have remained firm, you've remained steadfast, even though there is great opposition around you. We know from scholars that Pergamon was known for also, the patron God of the city was Dionysius, and he was the king of debauchery, or the God of debauchery and drunkenness. And so people, it was just a big party city. And in the midst of that, the believers, the followers of Jesus, they decided, hey, we're not gonna, we're not going to just follow the flow of the culture around us. We're going to stand firm in the values that we have learned from Jesus. And so they didn't participate. And because they didn't engage and participate, there was this clash of values. And that turned into persecution, it turned into opposition, to the point where there's this man named Antipas, which is most likely the pastor of that church. He was taken, arrested, and then he was brought to a spot where publicly he was killed as a statement. If you don't participate, if you don't go with what we are teaching, what we are doing, we will execute you. And it is likely at this amphitheater in Pergamon that that he was killed publicly, a place that had seating for 10,000 people. We heard in the past couple of weeks, Pastor Nate and Jody and Pastor Darren got to go and travel and experience these

places, you know, the actual spots where Scripture took place. And they rode this ski lift, chairlift, all the way up to the top of this hill where this amphitheater was. And I remember hearing from Pastor Nate, just how sobering it was to look over the city and to look at this immense amphitheater, this place where it would have been thousands of people gathered as Antipas. He stood firm in his convictions and his decision to follow Jesus, and then he's executed publicly. What an incredible impact. Now you would think that the church would say, Oh, I don't know if I'm, I don't know if I want to have the same thing happen to me. Let me, where was Dionysius? I've got a, I want to go and pay him a visit too and celebrate with him. But what they did is they said, you know, they doubled down and said, you know what, we are more committed than ever to Jesus, to following the way of Jesus. And they were loyal. They stood firm. I know that you have remained loyal to me, loyal to Jesus. That's a really key aspect of what is stated. Not just loyal to the institution of church, but loyal to the relationship with Jesus. Specific praise, specific praise. Now, how are we living our lives? Do we live with firm convictions or do we live kind of wishy-washy? Do we live kind of toss and turn? Do we just, you know, are we, is it kind of random? We hit shuffle and whatever we feel like, that's how we do life. Or are we committed to the values that Jesus has taught us? Antipas was someone who was committed even to the point of death. And you know what? The persecution of the followers of Jesus is not just some remote thing that happened 2,000 years ago.

Some estimate that there is 388 million Christians globally that are facing persecution and discrimination because of their faith. That means that one in seven believers globally is right now experiencing persecution and resistance and discrimination because of their faith in Jesus. If you look at the continent of Africa, that's one in five Christians, one in five believers, followers of Jesus today. That's hard for us to wrap our head around because the biggest tension point we had on our way to worship today is, where should I park? How much sugar should I put in my coffee? Do you have sweetener? We are so comfortable in the way we do church. And we're not going to get rid of our seats or put tacks in them and make you uncomfortable. But it's so easy to lose sight of the cost that so many of our brothers and sisters pay for the privilege of coming together and seeking and worshiping, hours of finding ways to be able to seek and worship together. And you know, it's tricky. Minnesota summers, I mean that's, they're not too long, right? And you got to make the most of that. And you're like, I don't know if I need church today because it's beautiful outside. So in Minnesota, it's either snow storms or beautiful weather kind of standing in the way of, oh, you know, it's, I don't know. And so love that we get to stay connected online. Thank you guys for joining as well. But we need to think about what it means to live committed and loyal to Jesus in the face of opposition and adversity. And doesn't stop there, two responses or two reasons for reproof, two things that Jesus pointed out that he was like, you know, you're doing great on this front, but there's two things that we need to talk about, we need to address. And let's read them about them in Revelation 2, 14 through 16, but I have a few complaints against you.

You tolerate, let me stop there, the word tolerate in our current day and age has a very positive spin to it. And there is an aspect that is positive because it speaks of respecting others that are different. But there can also be in this biblical context, the meaning of compromise when you tolerate something that you know you shouldn't negotiate with, but you allow it to become normalized in your life, in your heart, in your soul, in your relationships, in your values. That's what this is aiming at. So again, Jesus says, but I have a few complaints against you. So you tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching, repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. So what had happened is this church has been firm and loyal to external pressures and opposition, but they've been careless internally. They've tolerated and allowed voices and values and influence internally that does not align with the heart of Jesus. And there's a reference here. He talks about Balaam and he talks about Nicolaitans and the story of Balaam. I'm going to give you some homework today. Go and read, not right now, but go home and read Numbers 22 through 24. It's fascinating. This is an era where the people of God are going through the desert. They're on their way. They're out of Egypt. They're on their way to the land of promise, the land that flows milk and honey and a land of abundance in their own land, the place where they can be established. and they can grow and form families, and they're on their way and they're finding

different nations are opposing them on the way. One of those nations is Moab. And Moab had a king named Balak. And Balak said, you know what, I'm gonna hire a holy man, quotation marks, air quotes, gotta love air quotes, right? And I'm gonna hire him to speak a curse of destruction and calamity over this people so that they don't get too strong because they could overpower us. And so Balak goes and he hires Balaam, and Balaam says, sure, how much are you gonna pay me? Yeah, I can do that. And so they signed the contract, and he's on his way to go and curse the people of God. And he's riding on his donkey, and the story tells, it's amazing. And the donkey's like, stops. And Balaam's like, I just hit the gas pedal, I didn't hit the brakes. So he starts whipping the animal, and the donkey's like, not budging. And then all of a sudden, the donkey starts speaking. And something amazing happens. You can almost hear like Eddie Murphy's voice with Shrek and the donkey, right? He's like, what are you doing? Why are you beating me? There's an angel of the Lord standing in front. There would be, I don't wanna go through that. Like, you're on your own.

Get off and walk on your own if you're gonna do it. And it's almost like God is saying to this man, this pseudo prophet, he's saying, your donkey has more discernment than you do. Right? Now, if you ever get to the point where your pets have to give you a pep talk, it's time to do some little inward inventory, right? And just say, okay, am I really listening right? Am I not? But you know, we actually have actual footage and pictures from, you know, this is AI. I just wanna be up front, but this is what it could have looked like, right? And Balaam's like, did you just talk to me? And the donkey's like, of course I did. You know, what are you doing? Why are you beating me? And so, and there's an angel of the Lord in the back there. So, but Balaam, he's like, hey, there's a lot of money at stake. I got a contract to fulfill. And so he just, you know, God opposes him. Balaam is stubborn. And he's kind of like a jukebox minister, you know, pay me and I'll do whatever you want. I'll sing, I'll preach, I'll curse, I'll bless, I'll do whatever you want. And he gets to this place, High Hill, and he's about to speak curse, catastrophe,

destruction over the people of Israel. And what happens is God stops him and he doesn't allow him to, and he ends up speaking blessing. Because God had spoken blessing. He had determined blessing over God's people. And an external curse could not overpower God's blessing on his people. And so Balaam is like, I need a refund. You just did the opposite of what I asked you to do. And he's like, okay, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's try it in another spot. So they go to another spot. And then he begins to, he's like, okay, we're gonna get worked up. We're gonna speak a really nasty curse over God's people. And he ends up blessing them again. And Balaam is like, what are you doing? Did you not understand the assignment? It's like, okay, third one's a charm. They go back to another high place and he's gonna speak out. And again, he blesses them. It's like they are bulletproof against curses, external curses. But then Balaam says, you know what? I actually, I want the money you've offered me. I can't impose a curse externally, but I found a loophole.

If we can, if we can seduce the people of God and lure them away from the agreement, the covenant that they've made with God, then we can pull them out from under that blessing. And then they will curse themselves by sinning. And all of a sudden the king of Moab said, you know what? I like that. I'm gonna pay you what we talked about. It's not as quick. It's a long game. It might take some time. It might take some years or decades or even generations. But if we can pull people out from under the blessing and the covenant of God, they will expose themselves to a life of curse. And that's what John is writing about as he captures Jesus' words to Pergamon. Testament, you tolerate compromising voices that water down your commitment internally, and they're pulling you out from under the protection of God's blessing. The Nicolaitans, we don't know much about them, but we know that they were also eager to lure people away from purity of heart and faith. 2 Peter 2.15-16 says about Balaam, he's known throughout scripture for this, they have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong, but Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice. That's earlier on in the story. Balaam was known for his love of money, not for his love of God. The question for us to wrestle with is, what voices are we giving leverage to in our hearts, in our marriages, in our values? What voices are we tolerating and normalizing that are beginning to weaken our commitment to the values of our covenant and agreement with God? As we choose God, we know that His blessing and protection are over our lives. It's not so much the external opposition. Sometimes we're so focused on combating the culture around us that we're

careless with what happens inside of our hearts. Where am I compromising? Where am I making aloud? Where am I convincing myself that it's not so bad? It's not so harmful? It says that the devil is in the details in scripture, right? That's what he does, and he does it well. G. Mark Denius, our founding pastor, used to say a phrase, often used to say, you deserve what you tolerate. What are the things that we are aware of that we need to address, but we've just thought we're like, maybe tomorrow? Maybe at some other point? What are the pet sins? What are the pet habits that we've normalized in our hearts, our words, conversations, our minds? What are the things that Jesus would rebuke? And if you're like, you know what? I hope I don't have any of those. I just don't know if I do. Rest assured, Jesus knows exactly what to point out. Those who have ears should listen to what the Spirit says. He will show us if there's areas of compromise in our hearts. You don't have to make them up. You don't have to, you just listen. God, show me, show me if there's a path in me that is compromising, that is pulling me away from your blessing, from your purpose. Other thing I want to ask you is how do you handle correction? You get defensive? You get combative when you get corrected? Maturity and wisdom is to learn how to sift through the sting of correction and find the nugget of truth that can make you better. Immaturity is to defend your intentions, is to defend your actions, defend your ... As we walk and grow, if we ... how long has it been since you've been corrected? Maybe you're stagnant. If we're growing, we will face moments of loving correction and rebuke, because Jesus wants us to move forward from where we're at. It's part of growth. It's part of the journey. He loves us too much to leave us where we're at. But how do we handle correction? Something to just chew on and think about. Turn to the person next to you and say, that was for you. Hey, turn to me and say, no, it's for me too. Yeah, I'm just kidding. What voices are speaking into your life? What voices are you pursuing? What voices are you tolerating in your story? Finally, there's two promises to look forward to. Revelation 2.17, anyone with ears must hear and listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious, everyone who finishes well, I will give some of the manna that is hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on this stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands, except for the one who receives it." At this point, you're like, oh, okay, you kind of lost me at secret manna. Is

this, you know, national treasure? What are we talking about right now, right? And it's a reference to the the manna that was stored in a jar in the Ark of the Covenant, in the holiest place. And what Jesus is saying is, if you finish well, if you're victorious, I'm going to nourish you. I'm going to provide nourishment in the most intimate, holiest place with me. You'll have access to the holiest place of my presence, as you continue to run your race and you finish well. And then you'll get this little white stone and you're like, what even is that? And scholars have looked into this and even in the Greek culture, and they've identified that this would be really the equivalent to some of our name or place cards at a banquets. As you have a banquet name card, you know, this one just says VIP, and that's probably me, it's probably you, you know. But imagine if this card had a unique, personal, such a specific, maybe it was your nickname growing up, no one else knows it, but you know, it's about you. And it's Jesus saying, I have a spot reserved for you in my banquet. We're gonna, we're gonna party throughout eternity. And I've saved a spot for you. If you finish well, your spot is reserved. I remember going to a wedding party that I officiated. And, and it was awkward to find out I wasn't on the guest list. And they're like, ah, well, this one person didn't come in. Do you want to go in under this other name? And my wife was like, let's just, let's just leave him the card and the gift and that's not going to happen if we run well, finish well, and we get to heaven. There will be a specific place that Jesus himself has saved for you. There is hope. There is something to live for. There is, there is something to run for. So how do we finish strong? How do we finish strong? Stand firm when

opposition comes. Don't be surprised. Don't get frustrated. Recognize Jesus warned you. He said, hey, you're gonna face opposition. So stand firm. Secondly, guard your heart against compromise. It's not only external stuff. What's going on inside? Guard your heart. You can't do it for me. I can't do it for you. We each have to do it with the help of the Holy Spirit. It says in Isaiah 30, 13, that a wall cracks and then it, it eventually collapses. A wall rarely collapses without first developing cracks. Ecclesiastes 10.1, a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor. Song of Songs 2.15, the little foxes can destroy an entire vineyard if left unchecked. Little things matter. The little things in our heart, the little things in our life, they matter. Guard your heart against compromise. Guard your heart against compromise. And finally, live with your eyes on the finish line. Live with your eyes on the finish line. There is a future and there is a hope for each of us. And it's worth it. It's worth each effort. It's worth each day of running faithfully, of depending on Him. And He will give us samples of heaven every single day. We'll get His provision, His nourishment, the manna for today to give us the strength to keep on running, to keep on hoping, to keep on striving and living in such a way that we reflect Him well. I ask you all to stand at this point. No matter where you're at on your race, your story's not over. How many say amen to that? There is much more to be written. There's a lot more to run. We have the opportunity to continue trusting Him. He will be specific in the things that He encourages you on. He will point out the areas that you need to address. And He'll give you the hope and the strength to finish your white race. Well, I invite you to close your eyes for a moment. I

do want to ask in a way of embracing and receiving the Word. How many would say today I need to hear the encouraging voice of Jesus in my life? I need to hear Him pointing out the areas where I've done well. The areas that He's seen my efforts, that He's seen the things I've done to follow Him. Can you just raise your hand and just say, God, I need that. I need to hear your voice. I need to hear your specific encouragement in my life. Lord, I pray for all my brothers and sisters today, God. I just pray that you would be so definite, so specific. Bring the mind, bring the memory, the moments that you have in your heart where you've seen them walk in faithfulness to you. Where you open up the heavens and say, this is my son, this is my daughter. I am well pleased with you. Keep it up. Keep it up. I notice you're doing well. I want to ask how many would say, I want the Holy Spirit to reveal if there's areas of compromise in my heart. If that's you, can you just raise your hand for a moment and just say, Holy Spirit, I welcome your voice. In my heart, I don't want to slowly drift away from your blessing, slowly drift away from your protection, slowly drift away from your covering. I don't want to compromise in small things today that'll bring great destruction in the future. If you have identified something, can you just surrender that to Jesus right now and just say, God, you brought this to mind, and I'm just going to turn it over to you. I want to name it. I want to call it out. I want to surrender it to you. Just begin to pray that right now and just say, God, you brought this to mind. Holy Spirit, I trust your voice. You love me too much to allow the little things to spoil a great potential and a great future in my life. Lord, I surrender that to you. I stop defending it, God. I stop tolerating it. I stop embracing it, and I turn it over to you. Lord, I pray for victory in those areas internally in hearts and souls, God, and relationships in every area that you would bring victory, God, in the name of Jesus. And finally, how many would say, I need the strength that comes from God's hope. I need clarity. I need God to paint the picture of a finish line so I can be strengthened and run my race. You need God's strength and hope in your life. Just raise your hand right now and just say, God, that's me. That's me. That's me, Lord. I receive your breath from heaven. I receive the

hope. I receive the encouragement. I receive the promise that keeps me focused, God. Lord, I pray against all discouragement. I pray against weariness, God. I pray, God, against distraction. I pray that you would strengthen my brothers and sisters so that they would run with their eyes fixed on Jesus, knowing that every day matters, every step matters, and that you have that place reserved for them in the name of Jesus, we pray, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. Finally, with eyes closed, hearts open around the whole room today and those who are joining online, how many would say, you know what? I need to come back to God. Maybe you've never had a relationship with him, but you know you're away from him today. And you need to come turn to him, turn away from doing life your own way, from sin, turn to Jesus and ask him to lead your life, to be your Lord and Savior. From this day on, he will make all things new. If that's you, can you just raise your hand as well? Just say, that's me. That's my prayer. I want to turn to Jesus today. I want to repent. I'm doing life my own way. I want to turn to him and ask him to be my Lord and Savior. Just raise your hand real quick right now. God bless you. The balcony, the main floor. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Can we do this? Can we pray together? If you raise your hand, I'm going to ask you to repeat this prayer. Make it your own. Say, dear Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you came to the earth. You lived a sinless life. You died on the cross. for my sin so I could be forgiven. Today I turn away from my sin. I turn to you. I ask you to be my Lord and Savior from this moment on. It's in your name I pray. Amen.