First And Ten : The Truth About Lying - Chris King (Full Experience)

Come on, let's sing it together. Good morning church, let's stand to our feet. We're in the house of love. We got a reason to praise God for who he is, what he's done. You got breath in your lungs. Nothing better we can do right now than lift our voices and sing. Oh, we give you praise for who you are. Come on, let's sing it together. I have felt the hands that bare the scars and reached out and rescued me. And I have known the love of the Father's heart, a prodigal now redeemed. From where I was to where I'm now, it's overwhelming. Can you feel it? The more and more I see you move all around me. Come on. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. I can't help but lift, shout some joy. Here's why. When I think of how good you've been, you've made me now to the end. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. Sing for the blood. For the blood you spilled to save my life, a debt I could not repay. For the cross you bore with open arms, salvation they call my name. From where I was to where I'm now, it's overwhelming. Oh, God. The more and more I see you move all around me. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. I can't help but lift up, shout some joy. Come on, when I think. When I think of how good you've been, you've made me now to the end. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord.

I can't help but dance because I'm free. Got no chains on me. I'm human redeemed. I can't help but call on the name that buried my shame, who opened my grave. I can't help but dance because I'm free. Got no chains on me. I'm human redeemed. I can't help but call on the name that buried my shame, who opened my grave. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. I can't help but lift up, shout some joy. When we think about it. And when I think of how good you've been, you've made me now to the end. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. One more time. I can't help but praise, praise you Lord. Give him a shout of praise. Yeah. Did anybody come to praise the Lord this morning? If you think about those words, you can't help but praise you. When I think about all the good he's done. Father, I'm just calling your name. Father, Jesus. Let's go. I know a name that can silence roaring waves. I know a name that can empty out a grave. I know a name. It's the only name that saves. And it's worthy of all praise. I call you Jesus.

Call the name of Jesus. I call you, I call you. Healer, risen and reigning in power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you. Savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name I have a key With dominion over death He holds the key In His holy nails God's hands He is the key That has crushed the serpent's head My resurrected great I am I call you Jesus I call you, I call you healer Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus I call you, I call you savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call your name Trains break, drive on their way Every time I call your name The gates of hell shake Every time I call your name Trains break, drive on their way Every time I call your name The gates of hell shake Every time I call your name Your victory, oh where, oh where, is now your sting Oh grave, grave, grave, where is your victory Oh where, oh where, is now your sting Where on death, on death, on death is your sting Oh grave, grave, grave, where is your victory Dead things, dead things come alive In the name of Jesus, dead things come alive Speak to your marriage, speak to your wife

Dead things come alive In the name of Jesus, dead things come alive I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you healer Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call your name Trains break, drive on their way Every time I call your name The gates of hell, they will not prevail But all things work for my good Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus In scripture, there's a story about a man named Lazarus Who died and was placed in a tomb and then three days later Jesus raised him back to life And then just a short time later, Jesus was crucified And he was placed in a tomb And just three days later, he came back to life Because God is living powerful and he brings life where there is death but that's not just a historical fact it's a reality in our lives as well and I know that there are many of you here today who could tell stories about how God has brought death where there was life in your relationships in your heart in your circumstances so we want to take a moment to thank God for what he's done to praise him to show our gratitude because he's still at work today. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Isn't it good to come together and to remember the God that we serve? My name is Tian Moon and we're so glad to have you here and on behalf of Pastor Ed and Lisa Young I want to welcome each and every one of you especially those of you who are here for the first time and I want to welcome those of you who are

joining us online we're so glad that you're here and this morning we're gonna experience so many things that God wants to do in our lives we're actually in a series right now called first and ten it's about the Ten Commandments and this isn't about rules and regulations this is about the heart this is a deep look at the heart and so today we welcome Pastor Chris King to the stage he's gonna be speaking he has faithfully served here for over two decades and he's gonna be talking to us about the ninth commandment thou shalt not lie so get ready but before that I want to share this scripture with you it's a scripture that we often talk about at Christmas but it applies all year long it's Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 it says for unto us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be caught be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting Father Prince of Peace I don't know what you brought here with you today there may be some of you here you're not even sure what you believe about Jesus but this is what we know to be true and we're praying that God will show you that he is a God who came to bring peace in a world that is filled with chaos right now that is filled with anxiety and fear and war but he is the Prince of Peace that he is a God of hope that can see into your situation and can help you find a way through it he is a God of power who wants to work in your life because you are not alone and he sees you so we're gonna pray and ask God to move in each one of us today dear Heavenly Father I thank you that you are a powerful God who still works today just like you did in Scripture and so today we call in the name of Jesus Jesus we speak your name over our families we speak your name over our lives we speak your name over every corner of our world because you are sovereign and powerful over all and we ask you to open our eyes and work in us in Jesus name we pray amen I just want to speak the name of Jesus over fear and every heart and every mind because I know there is peace within your presence so ask me Jesus

come on with authority see I just want to speak the name Jesus until every dark addiction starts to break the clearing there is hope and there is freedom ask me Jesus your name is power your name is healing your name is life break every stronghold shine through the shadows burn like a fire come on call on me I just want to speak the name Jesus over fear and all anxiety to every soul held captive by depression I speak Jesus we speak your name your name is power your name is healing ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Your name is power ♪ ♪ Your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains ♪ ♪ Jesus in the trees ♪

♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family I speak the holy name ♪ ♪ Jesus, shout Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains ♪ ♪ Jesus in the trees ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family I speak the holy name ♪ ♪ Jesus, your name is power ♪ ♪ Your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Your name is power ♪ ♪ Your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ There's healing in your name ♪ ♪ There's freedom in your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ We speak your name in this place today ♪ ♪ We speak your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause there is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ♪ Sing there's power. ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪

♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ♪ Break every chain. Break every chain. To break every chain, break every chain. There is power. ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is power in the name of Jesus ♪ To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. Break every chain. Shout Jesus from the mountains. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family, has to be the holy name, Jesus. Shout Jesus from the mountains. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. ♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ Come on, let's give a shout of praise in this place today. All for the glory of Jesus. You may be seated. Thank you. Take a trip with me to 1980, Elm Grove, Louisiana. I'm standing in the kitchen, my mom towering over me,

asking a very simple question. Chris, did you eat the cookies that I told you not to eat? I was faced with a choice. In my young life, I had never lied to this woman before, but today was gonna be my day. I was gonna roll the dice and I said, yes ma'am, I hear what you're asking me, but I did not eat those cookies. I should have been able to tell by the look on her face that she was asking a question that she already knew the answer to, just like all good moms do. I realized in that moment that there was overwhelming evidence. I should have been smarter. It was an open and shut case. Crumbs were everywhere. The bag of cookies sitting out on the table, not to mention my back pocket overflowing with vanilla wafers. And she had a key witness. She saw me do the whole thing. So I learned a painful lesson that day. It was 1980. I know it's not cool anymore, but in 1980, spanking was doing real good. I learned a painful lesson. I also learned that we honor in our home the ninth commandment. Exodus 20, 16, you shall not give false testimony

against your neighbor. In other words, do not lie. You're a liar. I don't like being told that. That makes me uncomfortable. You can call me a lot of stuff, but call me a liar, that's personal. But I want you to do that. I want you to look at your neighbor and say, you're a liar. Some of those wives, that felt really good, didn't it? I know it, that feels good. Maybe you're thinking, no, that's not me, Chris. I'm not a liar. Well, let's do this. Let's take a lie detector test this morning. Host, if you could bring the test forward, everybody's gonna get one. Now, I just want you to answer these questions. I'm gonna give you some scenarios here. And you have to do what they always say. You have to answer these honestly. First scenario. Hey, welcome to this amazing event. You have a lovely family. Adult tickets are $250. The good news is, children under 10, they get in for free. How old's little Bobby? Look at him.

Pretend like I'm short, it doesn't have the same effect. He's tall, he's over 10. Would you tell the truth? What if he was 11 years and one day? Would you tell the truth? I don't know. Hey, man, you got a little lost back there on the fairway. What'd you end up getting on that hole? Oh, a par. Okay, wow. Okay. Hey, you have lost a lot of weight. How'd you do that? Oh, just eating right? Okay, okay. Maybe you break the truth. Maybe your thing is not so much breaking the truth though. Man, I don't lie. I just kind of bend the truth a little bit. All I gotta do is look at your social media and I can tell. Do you know all the angles to take the pictures? Like this one? I look really good right here, but uh-oh, start turning around that way. Uh-oh, you gotta put that leg out, ladies, you know? Get that head back. You know all the angles, you got it all figured out. The vacations, you know, are you posting all the real pictures? I don't know.

Are you bending the truth? Maybe you bury the truth. This is a tough one. Hey, you know, man, that's Sheila. I don't wanna start rumors, but man, I think she's stealing from the company. If you know different, are you gonna speak up? How you doing on the test so far? Well, here's just the truth for all of us. We're all liars. The test is conclusive. You and I all wrestle with this. Well, that's right, Chris, you got me, you got me, but the good thing is it's number nine of the 10. Maybe God doesn't take it that seriously. There's eight other things that were more important than this. Maybe God grades on a curve and this one's not really gonna come back and get me. Oh, I wish that was true, but it's not. As a matter of fact, if we look at Scripture, we find in Proverbs chapter six, 16 through 19, there are six things that the Lord hates. Seven that are detestable to him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, the lucre trade, hands that, I'm sorry, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

God hates, but specifically, two of those things he hates refer to lying. God hates when we don't tell the truth. You don't believe me? Ask Ananias and Sapphira. In the New Testament, Acts chapter five, in the new church, they were doing basically their version of an anchor project. People were bringing tithes and gifts to the community to build the kingdom, and some people were actually selling property and bringing the proceeds from there to the church. How great is that? Ananias and Sapphira did the same thing. They sold property, but they kept some to themselves, which is not, in and of itself, bad. Problem is, that's not the story that they told. They wanted people to think that they gave the whole thing. They wanted the generosity reputation, but they didn't want the cost of generosity that goes with it. So what happened is, Ananias shows up. They're celebrating their gifts. He's confronted. He lies, drops dead on the spot. Some reason, Sapphira didn't get the text. She didn't know this happened. She shows up a little later, does the same thing, drops dead on the spot.

God does not mess around with the truth. Why do you think he hates lying so much? Well, I think there's a bunch of reasons, but probably the one that comes to mind the quickest is God hates lying because he is the truth. It's against his nature to lie. He has no capacity to lie. Therefore, anything that is a lie is a direct affront to a holy God. When he says in John 14, verse six, that I am the way, the truth, and the life, when Jesus made that statement, he says, I am the truth. I'm not a truth. I'm not a possible truth. He didn't say, I can direct you to the truth. He says, I am the truth. I am the truth. It's not your truth. It's not my version of the truth. It's not our collective version of the truth. It is so saith the Lord. The truth of God, a holy God, not capable of lying. God hates lying because it's against his nature. It's not neutral for us to simply say, well, I don't wanna get involved. You know, it's not my place to tell somebody else how to live. Oh, that's not neutrality. That's negligence.

That's not simply being compliant. You're being complicit. We have to engage with the truth of God as who he is. I think he hates it whenever we don't speak the truth because it's a bad reflection on him. It's who he is. Also, I think God hates lying because it is in the Bible, Satan's first language. Did you know that? John 8, 44, he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of lies. We are never more like Satan than when we lie. We never sound more like the evil one than when we're telling something that's not true. Some of us need to learn a new language. We have the language of lying. I gotta tell you, learning a new language, even especially at my age, it's hard. We spent 11 years in Miami, my wife and my kids, and I'll tell you, it was difficult. Everything there was in Spanish. My kids actually went to Spanish magnet schools, so from the time they were born, or I guess they were fifth grade, actually, the time they were in fifth grade on, they were in Spanish-speaking schools. My wife, her first language is Spanish. Your boy, nada.

I was there for 11 years. I think I learned less Spanish before I left. You know why? Because I didn't have to speak it. There was enough people there who spoke English. Now, I could fake it. Yes, donde esta la biblioteca? Puedo ir al baño. Como se dice todos los dias? Sabado gigante. Gibberish, I don't know what I'm saying, but I can fake it. Hey, maybe you can walk around for a little while faking that you say the truth, but it's gonna be revealed. Do you know the only way to learn a new language, really? To be immersed in it. You've gotta be completely immersed in that language. Everything that you see in that language. Everybody you talk to speaks that language. If you wanna become. Someone who has the language of telling the truth. You've gotta immerse yourself in God's house. You've gotta immerse yourself with his people. You gotta spend time in his word. You gotta ask yourself the hard questions. You gotta put yourself in community. That's why we have all these opportunities for you to get connected here at the church. Our Bible study classes that meet every weekend,

those are for you to find community, to find truth tellers in your life. To be a part of a connect group. You're gonna find people that will tell you the truth or a recovery group. Maybe it's a part of the mixed student ministry. Maybe you're a part of the serving team of the FC kids. Maybe you're serving as a greeter or a host somewhere around our church. You're being in contact constantly while you're here with people who are pursuing the truth. What a gift. What an absolute blessing that is. I have to give a quick commercial for the men in the room. Guys, has there been a time in history where truth-telling men have been required more than right now? Men, we have got to stand up in our homes, in our communities, and stand for the truth. We've gotta be around other guys that do that. Our men's rally on March 28th is gonna be a great opportunity for you to lock arms with some guys who have maybe gone a little further down the road than you have. Maybe they've learned some lessons that you and I quite haven't learned yet. I'll share you one from my own life. I realized that being a man means I've gotta get involved in my home when my kids were little. We came home from the hospital

with three kids under the age of two. We had my son, and like 15 months later, we had twin girls. I wouldn't advise that, but that's the way it worked out. And I remember distinctly coming home, and the house maybe was a little bit disheveled. You know, I went to work and come home, and there's no dinner on the table. I'm like, what's going on, Janice? You've been here all day. I've been slaving at that office, and what have you been doing? So I bought some leadership books, started coaching her on some things, bought some time management resources to help her kind of plan her day better. Those went about as well as you would think they did. Do you know what actually made the difference? Is when I decided at five o'clock, I'm coming home, and I'm coming in the door, and I'm taking the kids. And for an hour and a half, I'm gonna feed them, I'm gonna bathe them, and I'm gonna get them to bed. That's what changed the culture of my home. It was a miracle. After I actually got involved, we started having dinner. The house actually smelled good again. The difference was, as a man, I realized my responsibility was to lead in my home, to be a part of it. Guys, if you're living life on your own, you're doing it wrong.

And unfortunately, too many men in our world don't ask for help. We're the biggest liars most of the time. We're the ones that got the biggest problem with it. We need to reach out and be a part of a community, immerse ourselves in the things of truth. Your first step is March 28th. Be there at the men's rally. Bring somebody with you. God hates lying because it's Satan's first language. God also hates lying because he knows it holds us captive. It's ironic that we think the lies that we're using are gonna give us some kind of freedom. In the moment, it gives like a momentary relief. But it's a bad gift. It's like someone giving you a sourdough starter kit. I gotta nurture this thing. I gotta take care of this more than my kids. Oh, give me a gift that has work associated with it. A puppy, thanks a lot, great. That's what lies are. Lies have major liability. Whenever you give one lie, it's almost like gizmo just got wet. It multiplies everywhere. If you haven't seen Gremlins, you need to go watch that movie. They multiply and they become more and more. Now I gotta nurture this lie. I gotta think about it.

I gotta analyze what somebody else could ask me. I gotta keep my story straight. I have a friend of mine that spent some time in a federal prison. He said he was a professional liar. In the first six months of his prison term, he was in solitary confinement. For six months, go in your closet right now and don't come out until football season. That's what he dealt with. He said the hardest part about being in that environment was that he was constantly confronted with the lies that put him there and he couldn't make excuses anymore. He had to deal with it. He had to eradicate those lies. He had to realize that he did it to himself and the exhaustion of keeping those lies going. There are many of you in this room right now that can't sleep at night. You can't rest because you know if you do, you're gonna slip up and someone's gonna catch you. You gotta keep the lie going. God knows that that lie is holding us captive. When we lie, we are literally. putting the chains around our own wrists. We gotta break free from these lies, man. We gotta declare war online. We need to weigh our words carefully. We need to think about the words that we use. We get too flippant with the things that we say.

But Chris, that's exhausting. I mean, every single word matters, not leaving a single word behind. I gotta think about every comment I make. A.W. Tozer said this, the kingdom of God is not a playground for the curious. It is a battleground for the committed. Guys, in order for us to get control of this problem, to wage war online, we have to go to work. We have to spend time and energy and thought. We have to make sure that we are taking every thought, every word captive. Psalms 139 will give you some great ammunition for this. You could pray this every day. If you're a car salesman, you could pray this every five minutes. Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Psalms 139, 23. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See that there is no offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Opening up my heart, opening up my thoughts to a holy God. We have to weigh our words. We have to admit our lies. When you do that first step, your lies are gonna start showing up. You're gonna start seeing them in front of your face. What are you gonna do about it? Step one is I'm gonna admit to God that I lied.

That's called confession. It's saying, God, I'm just acknowledging what you already know about me. I lied. Please forgive me. Thank you for your forgiveness. I confess it to you. Now I'm gonna admit it to others. That's a natural response. Once I receive forgiveness from God and I've admitted it to him, it's a natural response to go make things right with the person on a horizontal level that I wronged. Son, I know I told you I was coming to the game, but I chose to work late. I lied to you. Please forgive me. Honey, it wasn't Amazon that messed us up. I totally forgot it was our anniversary. I lied. Please forgive me. Admitting to God and admitting to others. Keeping short accounts. Not letting those lies linger. And the R is recruit accountability. Recruit accountability. Look for those people around you. Here in God's house, this is what this place is all about. Finding the right people who know where you've been, who know where you are, and they can give you advice.

They can share lessons with you. That's the beautiful thing about God's house. The economy that he creates, the social economy he creates, is we go through things so that we can help others. So when you walk in the door and you've got a tragic area of your life that's a gaping hole that needs to be filled, when you make the step of telling yourself the truth and getting involved in his house, watch him put somebody in that Bible study class who's gone through a broken marriage. Watch him put that greeter next to you at the door. When you're thinking, this role means nothing, I'm just checking this off the list, and all of a sudden the person standing next to you is in the same recovery program that you are. And they've got a success story that you don't have yet. Somebody in your singles class can tell you about getting out of a toxic relationship, and they know, just because you did that doesn't mean the road is over. They jumped straight from that toxic relationship into loneliness, and they've been there. And they're gonna give you words of encouragement. That's what happens whenever we realize that when we admit to God where we are, and we recruit accountability, we weigh our words, we're gonna see that God is gonna provide exactly what we need, when we need it,

when we wage war against our words, it gives us opportunity to love others. And the last thing I would say is we are never more like Jesus than when we speak the truth in love, and that's why God hates lying, because God loves people. In John chapter four, Jesus encounters the woman at the well. This is a fascinating story. She was drawing water in the middle of the day. If you don't know much about the story, or don't know why she was doing it at that time, you may not know how important that is. She was there at the middle of the day because she had a secret. She had lies that were taking root in her life, and she didn't want to be accountable for them. Most women at that time would go to the well in the morning or the evening because it was cooler and it was social. She was hiding. But Jesus was there, and just as he always does, he went straight to the heart of the issue. Jesus will never be known for chit-chat. When you read the words that he says, he went straight to her, go call your husband and come back. Wow, okay. Well, she said, I don't have a husband, and he knew that already. The same look that my mom had back in 1990,

he knew the answer to that question. He said, that's right, you don't have a husband. And as a matter of fact, you've had five. And the guy that you're living with now is not your husband either. Think about where she is now. Think about this moment. Her deepest secret just got uncovered. How raw is she feeling right now? How exposed is she feeling right now? I think there's probably somebody in this room right now who's thinking, you know what? That ain't for me, Chris. You don't understand how far I've gone. And if I tell the truth, I'm not convinced that the outcome is gonna be any better than where I am right now. And I get that, I understand that. I don't know what your coach is gonna say. I don't know what your boss is gonna say. I don't know what your spouse or your parents are gonna say when you speak the truth. But here's what I do know. Is that every time I take a step of obedience to what God is leading me to do, he meets me right there with exactly what I need. He is faithful. He knows the lies already. Nothing you're going to say is gonna take him by surprise. He spoke to the woman at the well

directly to her biggest issue. What is yours? What is the biggest thing that you are covering up right now? Because there's a reality that whatever we cover, it's just a matter of time, God's gonna uncover it. At some point, he's gonna put it right in your face. You might think you're hiding it from everybody else. You might think you can keep this lie going. It's just a matter of time, sir, ma'am. But here's the flip side of that, is whenever we uncover our lies, God covers it. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for all of our sin. All of the lies. He knew at the foundation of time the situation that you'd be sitting in right here this morning, and he's already provided a way out for you. He's already provided the solution. Will you give him a chance today? If you go back to that story, Jesus spoke to her issue and it changed everything for her. The Bible says she ran to the city and said, come see this man who told me everything about myself. She's excited, she's celebrating. Why? Because this news did not destroy her. When she told the truth, Jesus' response did not destroy her, it restored her. She was able to the first time speak in truth,

to live in truth. It was exposed and it was covered. You know, today the biggest lie you might be telling yourself is that I'm unforgivable. That God can't forgive me. I'm so grateful that we serve a God, that his forgiveness is unlimited. That the truth of God's love is this, there is nothing you can say or do that he can't overcome. There's no lie, there's no cover up. They can push you far away, so far that God can't reach you. In John chapter eight, verse 31, Jesus tells us that we follow his teaching, we're obedient and we follow his commands, then we will know the truth. And even though lies hold us captive, they're keeping us back, the truth sets us free. Let's pray together. God, we are so grateful for the truth of your gospel, that you died on the cross for us, that you paid the ultimate price for our sin. And if you're here this morning and you've never made that decision to accept the truth of Jesus into your life, I invite you to pray this simple but powerful prayer with me right now. Just in the solitude of your own chair, right there where you are, pray these words.

God, I admit that I'm a sinner. I believe in your truth, that you died on the cross for my sin. I receive your forgiveness today. I commit my life to you. God, we're grateful for all those who made that decision this morning. We're thankful that in the midst of all of our lies, our deceit, that your truth was made clear. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that your truth truly sets us free. free. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen, amen. What a great reminder of God's unconditional love. And if you made that decision today to give your life to Christ for the first time, we want to celebrate with you because it is the greatest decision you will ever make. Church, will you help us celebrate? And this is the beginning of the journey for you. We want to support you as you continue to grow in your relationship with Christ. So I want to ask you just to reach in the seat back in front of you. There is a blue Connect card that looks just like this. If you'll just pull that out, there's also a pin there, and go ahead and fill that out. In just a moment, when the offering bag comes by, you can drop it in there. We would love to follow up with you and help you as you continue to grow in your relationship with Christ. This card is also very helpful because if you're in a place where you're wanting to get connected here, maybe you want to be a part of one of the groups or classes that Chris talked about, you want to be a part of a serving team, just fill this out, drop it in the bag, and we'll be glad to help. It's also a great way to share a prayer request with us. So just take a moment. I'm gonna give you a moment right now to go ahead and fill that out. So grab that pin in front of you. Go ahead and fill out your information. If you're praying to commit your life to Christ for the first time today, you can check that box. At the bottom, there's a place for you to write

in your prayer request. We would love to partner with you and support you in the things that God is doing in your life. There may be some of you who say, you know what, I'd really like to have somebody pray with me right now. Well, we've got you covered. To my left and to my right, we have our prayer team here. They would be honored to pray with you immediately after the service. Or maybe you don't have a Bible. We would love to gift you with a Bible. If you have questions maybe about being baptized, we would be glad to talk with you about that as well. So you can just stop by and talk to one of them immediately after the service. Well, we're gonna continue our time of worship by bringing our tithes and our offerings. And this is a time when we as a church worship God by trusting in Him and honoring Him with the first that we have been giving back to Him, the first of all that He has given to us. If you're visiting for the first time, we don't pressure anyone to give, but we do want to speak the truth about what the Bible says about our finances. And we honor God by giving to Him. If you give here and to our general fund, you are a part of what God is doing here within our church, in our community, and around the world. And for those of you who give above and beyond to the Aker Center, you are partnering with us as we reach the next generation, as we build this new student center that is going to make such a difference for decades to come. So thank you, church, for your generosity, for your faithfulness, because when we come together and partner with what God is doing, we can make a difference in our community and around the world. I'm gonna ask our worship host to come forward, and as they begin to pass the offering bags, and don't forget if you've got a BlueConnect card, you can drop that in there. I also, though, want to share with you some of the things that are going on, because we have a lot of things happening this spring. Hey, Fellowship Church, spring is here, and God is doing something beautiful right here at FC. We begin with marriage seminars on Wednesday night, honest conversation, practical tools as we grow stronger together. The mixed youth ministry meets at the same time, and child care is available. Then, March 28th,

the Fellowship Men's Rally. Monster trucks, a man-sized breakfast, and a call for men, young and seasoned, fathers and sons, to rise into who God created them to be. Then, Easter, the day that changed everything. Pastor Ed launches a new series, I'm Not Religious, because Jesus didn't come to start religion, he came to bring life. And following that, Sisterhood Conference with Lisa Young and Sadie Robertson-Hubb, a powerful day for women in every season. And that Sunday, Sadie and her husband Christian share their story of faith and obedience. And for the competitors, FC Sports is launching basketball, pickleball, run clubs, volleyball. Find community in the midst of the game. This spring, step into something new. Visit fellowshipchurch.com. We have got so many great things coming, and the pinnacle of it is our Easter celebration, which is just around the corner. I can't believe it's almost Easter. And you know, for those of us who have, our lives have been transformed by the love of Jesus, it is a very natural response for us to want to share that with other people. So we want to equip you to invite your friends and family and neighbors to come and be a part of our Easter celebration. So as you exit today... We have invites that we'll give you as you're exiting. We also have yard signs, so if you wanna grab one on your way out, you can put that in your yard so as people come by, they see where you'll be celebrating Easter and you can invite them to come and join you. We also are doing something, I don't think we've ever done this at Fellowship Church before. We're gonna tag your car, if you would like. We have teams that are gonna be out in our parking lot right after the service, and we will spray paint, not your car,

but the back window of your car, and it's safe, you can clean it off and wash it off after Easter, but this is a chance for you as you are driving around the Metroplex to let people know about Easter at Fellowship Church. So be a part of helping us spread the word as we celebrate this Easter season. Next Sunday, we continue First in Ten with Pastor E.J. Young, so we look forward to having you back next Sunday. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you for being here today.