Freedom | From Your Former Life

I'm sure many of you who are here today were here this past weekend, because by all accounts, according to our data analytics people, it was the largest single gathering in the history of Southland Christian Church, which was amazing. And you saw, no matter what campus you were at, you got to see people be baptized at multiple services. 177 people gave their life to Jesus last week, which is absolutely worth celebrating. And yeah, I'm sure many of you are celebrating, and yeah, and we are here today because we're always looking for one more. And so that's why we are here today. Now, if you got your Bibles, go ahead and take those out. We're gonna be in the Book of Galatians for the next several weeks, and our key word for the next six weeks is gonna be this word freedom. So you can go ahead and write that down. Now, we're gonna go ahead and get something out of the way this morning. In case you were wondering, we can't escape a subject like freedom without a reference to Braveheart. And if you didn't see that coming, if you don't know me by now, you will never, never, never know me. And so for me, Braveheart, hands down, is unequivocally and inarguably the third best movie of all time. This is not disputable, so don't email me or try. Okay, it is right behind Godfather Part One

and Godfather Part Two. It is the third greatest cinematic experience that you can go through. How many of you, like me, you actually saw Braveheart in the theater, okay? Yeah, a lot of us old people out here. I saw it in the theater as well. Now, in case you have never seen Braveheart, number one, you need to repent, okay? Number two, let me catch you up a little bit on the storyline. It's very, very simple. You've got Scotland that's being ruled and reigned over by an evil king of England. William Wallace leads a revolt against this terrible kingdom and he's actually making a dent. And so the king of England dispatches his new daughter-in-law who's a French daughter-in-law to negotiate with William Wallace. That turns out to be a bad idea, but we digress. And so she's laying down these terms saying that if you will surrender to the king and pledge your allegiance to the king, we will give you land and we will give you titles. And Wallace in this scene, he famously responds by saying, and then I'll become Judas. And she says this, she says, peace is made in such ways. And then he responds by growling, slaves are made in such ways. If you understand that scene of the movie Braveheart,

you will understand the entire context of the letter of Galatians that we're getting ready to dive into today because you have a church planter named Paul and he's got a lot of history with the churches in this region called Galatia. It's modern day Turkey. I want you to see on a map the towns we're gonna talk about here. And then I wanna give you a little homework challenge. I want you to go read this week, just write this down in your journal. Go read Acts chapter 13 and Acts chapter 14 this week and you will get the background information that helps us understand the book of Galatians even better. But Paul traveled through all these different places, planting churches and baptizing people. And in the first place he stopped, it was a place called Antioch in Pisidia. He goes to the synagogue there where the Jewish people gathered and he's preaching and everything's going swimmingly until he starts preaching about Jesus. And then he makes this really bold proclamation to a bunch of Jewish people. He says, let it be known to you therefore brothers that through this man, talking about Jesus, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and by him everyone who believes is, here we go, freed from everything from which, watch this,

you could not be freed by the law of Moses. And they didn't like that. And so they raise up and they chase him out of town. And then he goes on to the next town. It's a town called Iconium. And there he preaches to both religious Jewish people and irreligious Gentiles and he makes all of them mad. They actually wanna stone him and they chase him and his buddy Barnabas out of town. Then they end up in a place called Lystra and they heal a crippled man by the name of Jesus. But as things are going so well, this group from Antioch in Pisidia and in Iconium that wanted to stone him, they show up into town and this time they actually stone him. They think they've killed him. They drag what they think is his bloody carcass out of the city and they leave him for dead for the vultures to gather around. And then all of his fellow disciples are all standing around staring at what they think is the dead body of Paul. And then he literally raises up like the undertaker. I mean, crazy scene. And then you and I, what we would do in that moment is we would find another town to go to, not Paul. This dude, beast mode, goes back into the city where they just bludgeoned him with rocks until they thought he was dead because Paul was a monster. All right, now, in every good sense of the word.

I've got a buddy who's in a text thread with me and some other pastors. and every now and then he likes to drop in this gif of William Wallace where he's just bloody and he's about to go back into battle. And every time I read that story about Paul, this is what I picture, this is what I think about because that's the kind of mentality that Paul had. Suffice it to say, Paul is not going to compromise when it comes to the gospel because he has spilled blood for the gospel. He'd rather die. And so as him and Barnabas, they roll through all of these cities, they make one bold proclamation, there's freedom in the name of Jesus. And by the way, Jesus is the only one who brings freedom. No law brings freedom, no other religion brings freedom, no one and nothing else. It's been said very, very well, very many times, Jesus plus nothing equals everything, write that down. Jesus plus nothing equals everything. So that's the context. Paul and Barnabas roll out of these cities and they go on to preach in other cities and other regions, plant more churches, and on the heels of that, these false teachers make their way into the churches of Galatia and they start convincing everybody a couple things.

They start saying, listen, Paul and Barnabas, hey, they're not real preachers, Paul's not a real apostle, they've oversimplified the gospel, it's not Jesus plus nothing equals everything, it's actually Jesus plus the law of Moses that gets you into heaven. So ask yourself this question, how do you think that's gonna go over if Paul gets wind of it? I mean, the very thing that he preached was freedom and now they're going not so fast, it's really not as good of news as it sounds like, you actually have to do some stuff beyond just embrace the free gift of grace that's been given to us by Jesus. The other day, I had a friend who sent me a picture from the car line, he was waiting to pick up, many of you have suffered in endless car lines, I know, I feel your pain, and he took a picture of this bumper sticker that somebody had on their car in front of him and I was gonna show it to you today, but then I was really afraid it would belong to one of you guys, and so, not gonna show it to you, but consider this your rebuke, okay, if this is you. It says, the bumper sticker said, Jesus loves you, but I'm his favorite. First of all, not true, also not helpful,

think before you put a bumper sticker on your car, if that's your car, go ahead and leave now, go grab a razor blade and some vinegar and then you can come back, all right? Because, make no mistake, that's what these false teachers are saying. They're saying, we're Jesus' favorites, because not only are we Jesus followers, but we still follow all the Old Testament rules and laws and customs of Moses, which by the way, fellas, for you, that includes to a bunch of Gentiles, hey fellas, that means you're gonna have to be circumcised because no Gentiles were circumcised then. That's a bad meeting in church, right? Well, the fellas are like, I'm sorry, what? We gotta sign up for surgery after this, and how long am I gonna be laid up? I mean, this is bad news. And remember what Paul preached, don't miss this. He said, let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. The law of Moses didn't set anybody free. And so, Paul gets word, man, he gets word that there's some false teachers rolling through town, and there's people in the church that are actually buying into this garbage,

they're actually signing up for the surgery, and you gotta ask yourself this question, how do you think Paul's going to respond? Knowing what you know about what a beast Paul was, what level of emotion do you think he's gonna bring to the table when he gets to address this issue in the churches of Galatia? Now, here's the deal, I am passionate, I am determined, I'm all the things, all right? But let me tell you what I'm not, I'm not a church planter. I've known some church planters, and there is nothing like the passion of a Bible-believing, Jesus-exalting church planter. A friend of mine, very recently, he found out that the church he had planted many years ago in California has subsequently turned their back on the Bible, turned their back on Jesus, and he was sad, but let me tell you what he was more than sad, mad. Rightfully so, and I can only imagine if he were to write them a letter, what that letter would look like. And so you have the passion of a church planter when you read Galatians, that's what you're gonna see come off the page when Paul writes to them. So he writes, here we go, Galatians 1, verse 1. Watch, Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead and all the brothers

who are with me to the churches of Galatia. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. To him be the glory forever and ever, amen. He's doing. Two things right out of the gate. He's going, number one, I know that you've been told that I'm not a real apostle, I am a real apostle. He had a post-resurrection encounter with Jesus just like all the other apostles did. You can go read about that in Acts chapter nine. And then he was addressing this other concern that the gospel he was preaching was not really the gospel. So he wants to double down on the gospel and he puts it in the most simple terms possible right here because the charge that was being made against him was, hey, it's not as simple as you're making it, Paul. And he's going, it absolutely is as simple as I'm making it. So he's kind of done with the pleasantries and now he's about to really get after him. Watch this, he says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting. Now this is an interesting word. This word deserting is a military term. It actually means to revolt. So it's not just that you're turning your back on Jesus, you're turning your back on Jesus to join the enemies of Jesus to fight against Jesus.

You see, that's a big deal. You're deserting him who called you, talking about Jesus. He called you in the grace of Christ and you're turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. He's talking about the false teachers. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. Side note, I'll talk about this on the podcast. This addresses Islam and Mormonism, okay? As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man? That was the other thing he was being accused of. He's just a people pleaser. This Paul, he's always trying to find his identity in other people's opinions of him, which begs the question, why was he always getting stoned and beaten with rods and stuff? Or of God. Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. In other words, if I'm trying to please man,

I'm doing a really bad job of it, is what Paul is saying. And here's what's fascinating. If you read a lot of the other letters that Paul wrote, the pleasantries cover like half, if not all of the first chapter. Like he says a lot of things to other churches, he's like, oh man, I pray for you. I thank my God for you. You guys are awesome. You bring me joy. You're the best. You're really cool. Not the Galatians. He's like, man, you guys are deserters. You guys are turning on the one who gave you grace. If you follow these false teachers, you are going to be following them to your destruction. And this is a really important point. Following Jesus is a radically exclusive decision. You cannot follow Jesus plus anything. If you add anything to the equation as it pertains to your salvation, you are by Paul's definition and the biblical definition, deserting Jesus. And many of the people listening to Paul as this letter's being read would have been like, man, we're not deserting Jesus. We're just adding law to Jesus. And many today would say something similar.

I'm not deserting Jesus. I'm just combining him with, and make no mistake, anything you fill in that blank with is a false gospel which flies in the face of so much of what our culture wants to embrace. Like in our day, this is just commonplace. This blending and mixing of religions. And so what ends up happening is people will treat Jesus like he's the main course but surrounded by a bunch of other religious side dishes. Jesus is maybe in the center, but you wanna mix in a little bit of, oh, Islam, Eastern mysticism, Stoicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Naturalism, Socialism, Nationalism, Marxism, Spiritualism, or Judaism. All the isms. Following Jesus and any of these isms are mutually exclusive because Jesus said it. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, period, and stop. No one else brings you freedom. Everything else eventually, if not immediately, leads to slavery. In other words, Jesus is not a convenient add-on or addendum to any other philosophy, worldview, or religion. Y'all, he's everything or he's nothing. You gotta choose. I was on Center Parkway the other day, and there were all these little signs

in Lexington, Center Parkway, and there was all these little signs that there was going to be a psychic fair that day, just all over the place. And I'm over there every week, and I was like, man, this is new. And it might as well have said, come consult with demons today. Because that's what it is. Y'all, we don't dabble in darkness because we believe there is a battle going on between the spiritual forces of evil in this present dark age. We don't tap into the demonic because we're on Team Jesus. Many of you know this. I spent 11 years of my life in one of the darkest areas of our country. Beautiful spot, Boulder, Colorado, but also simultaneously, spiritually, one of the darkest places you'll ever go. Wicca has and has not been a good place to live. had then a huge presence there. The largest Buddhist university in our country, Naropa, was right down the road from where I lived. There was an outpost for NAMBLA. In case you don't know what that is, that's North American Man-Boy Love Association. You heard me right. It's an association that advocates for pedophilia, and by the way, it's been around for decades in our country.

To say that it was a dark place would be an understatement. I saw it on the daily there, and here's what I need you to understand. Look right at me. I see the same things daily here. Just because this is the Bible Belt and has that label doesn't mean that the forces of evil don't have their feet firmly planted in Central Kentucky. They do. So we don't toy with this stuff. It is Jesus plus nothing equals everything. That means darkness and light have nothing in common with one another. That's why you'll read that contrast all throughout the New Testament. One of the metaphors that Paul likes to use uses the distinction between being a slave and being a son, because being a slave and being a son are two entirely different realities. And Paul knows. He knows from personal experience because he was once a slave himself. This is what he says. For I would have you know, this is verse 11, Galatians 1. I would have you know, brothers, the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. In other words, he didn't make it up. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

For you have heard of, watch, my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it, and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. When he uses that phrase, my former life, man, that is a loaded term for Paul. I mean, you talk about his former life in Judaism, this was a dude who was so zealous. He thought he was so right, and if you wanna get the clearest picture of this, you'll see it in the book of Acts. There's this young preacher named Stephen who produces, I mean, he preaches this awesome sermon, but it turns on a dime, and the people lose their minds, and this mob ensues, and they stone him to death, and this is what we're told, watch, and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. That was Paul's name in his former life. In other words, he was the one overseeing the murder of this young preacher, and Saul approved of his execution, and as that happened, that execution led to a persecution. The church of Jesus was scattered all throughout the regions, and Paul just went on an absolute rampage. Watch the way it's described, but Saul was ravaging the church,

and he entered house after house, and he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison, and we read over stuff like that so quickly in Bible study, but don't miss the fact. Here's a man who believed so firmly that he was doing God's will by destroying God's people. He was zealous in Judaism. The very fulfillment of all the law and all the prophets in Jesus, and he somehow missed it to the degree that he was willing to murder Christians. Here was a man so committed to what he believed was right, he was willing to drag men and women out of their homes right in front of their kids. In other words, here's what you gotta understand. Paul was not some run-of-the-mill thug. He was something more than that. He was a genius level, highly intelligent thug. In other words, he was a dangerous combination of head and heart that when combined led to the level of brutality that we just talked about. That was his former life of sin, and that's why Paul, when he reflects on his former life of sin, would famously write words like this to his understudy named Timothy. Hey, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. Here's the gospel, that Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. In other words, I am the worst of all sinners. The reality of Paul's conversion should give me and you 100% certainty that Jesus can and does reach anyone and everyone. No one has gone too far. No one has done too much. No one has sinned so big that the grace of God can't conquer. There is more grace in Jesus than there is sin in you. Do you hear me? There's more grace, way more grace in Jesus than there is sin in you. So we need to address something. I've heard this in 27 years of doing ministry. I've heard it time and time again. Someone will say something like, oh, I've gone too far, I've done too much, I've sinned too big. what I've done, you would understand why the grace of Jesus probably applies to a lot of people, but it doesn't apply to me. Can I tell you what's at the root of that? It's a thing called pride. And if that's you right now, as gently as I can say, can I just say this? You're not a snowflake sinner. You're not unique in your sin. You haven't done anything that Jesus hasn't seen 10 billion times over.

You've not done anything that someone hasn't done worse. You've not gone down a road that someone hasn't gone further down. You've not done anything that Jesus didn't calculate before he went to the cross. He went to the cross for you, for everything that you did. So we need to put aside this false humility that's actually pride that manifests itself in saying, well, I'm just too big of a sinner for the grace of Jesus. Hey, big boy, no, you're not. No, you're not. It also should make us put away this pride where we think we're Jesus's favorites. Tim Keller said it so well. He said, we're more wicked than we ever dared to believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared to hope. That's it. That's it, man. Jesus saves the worst of sinners, and I'm one of them, and you're one of them, and we are all a part of that crowd. Those of us who follow Jesus are by definition former slaves now free to be sons. And that's why Paul, with all the intensity that he once had to persecute Christians, pours out when he pens this letter to the Galatians, the same level of intensity, because it is a very black and white issue.

They are being tempted to run back to slavery by some very religious-sounding wolves in sheep clothing. And if they buy into these ideas that the law is a pathway to salvation, they're gonna be headed to destruction. And Paul, as a good shepherd, is saying, uh-uh, not on my watch. So let's get really clear on the distinction between the function of the Old Testament law and the gospel itself. Let's say you're out on Lake Cumberland, okay? It's starting to get warm outside. Some of you are boat people, lake people, all that kind of thing. You're out on Lake Cumberland. You're on the boat, and then somebody on your boat falls off the boat, and that person can't swim. You with me? Now, in that moment, this person is literally drowning. Do you, A, throw them a manual on how to swim and say, read that, follow the instructions, quick, or do you throw yourself in and rescue them? Of course, you throw yourself in, or your buddy who swims better than you, you shove him in, whatever it is, you dive in and rescue them. You don't throw them a manual. Make no mistake, the Old Testament law is a manual on how to live, but it can't save you. And Jesus did not throw us a life preserver.

He threw himself into our sin, took it on, and saved us from something that we could not save ourselves from. Are you tracking? That's the difference between the law and the gospel, and whether you've been, listen, whether you've been a Christian for five minutes or 50 years, you've got to preach that thing to yourself every single day, and remind yourself that it is nothing you've done that saves you. It is what Jesus has done for you that saves you. Now, let me talk to the new Christians in the room, because last year alone, we had over 1,000 people become new believers at Southland. This year, we're somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 people who become new believers from the beginning of the year until Easter weekend. We got a bunch more scheduled today. So let me talk to you right now, because here's the thing. You are being targeted right now by the enemy. The enemy hates the decision that you've made, and so you are simultaneously not only being targeted with schemes designed specifically for you, but you're also being tempted, many of you, to run back, to run back to your former life. Maybe you've already started to put your toe in that water, and so I just want to encourage you and challenge you today for a few minutes. Don't turn back.

Don't turn back to your life of sin and shame. The enemy has game film on you. So for example, if your old life, if your former life was marked by pornography and lust, if that was the sin of your past, Satan wants that to be the sin of your present and the sin of your future, so bring that sin to light. Talk to our prayer team people today, because you can't fight this one alone. You don't fight the devil in the dark. Don't turn back to your former life of sinful self-righteousness. If pride and the desire to put other people down was deeply embedded in your heart and in your character before, you're gonna have to walk with other people to root that out of your soul alongside the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. Don't turn back to your former life of performance and achievement. If winning games and receiving awards and accolades were like food for your soul before Jesus, then don't fall into the trap of allowing your performance in the classroom. on the field to determine your identity today. Remember what you do is not who you are. Your former life of self-centeredness and self-reliance, and if you got all immersed in all the self-care, staring into the reflection of your own image and saying self-affirming things before Jesus,

don't give into that now. Allow Jesus to speak words of truth when you stare into his word. Let it reflect back to you who you are and whose you are and what needs to change in your life. Let him care for you and let him affirm you, but don't deceive yourself like you once did. Don't turn back to your former life of codependence and addiction to the approval of others. If before you met Jesus, the way someone looked at you determined your day, if the words that were spoken by emotionally unintelligent people determined the quality of your life, don't give that any leverage in your life anymore. Again, go to Jesus and his word to find out who you are and let that determine the trajectory of your day. Don't turn back to your former life of sexual idolatry and short-sightedness. If before Jesus you were trapped in the lie that it's your body, your choice, and your body belongs to you, embrace the reality of the scriptures that teaches your body is not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body and you will find life on that path. Don't turn back to your fear and hiding that once marked your life. If you were gripped by a paralyzing fear

to the degree that you never took risks, then now because of who you are and because of whose you are, you have a faith that allows you to take risks because there's nothing that can be taken from you because you follow Jesus now. And so let me give you a challenge. Do hard things every day. Do something hard. Take a risk. Don't turn back to your former life of hypocrisy and pretending. If you look back at your former life and you're like, man, the web of lies that I've weaved was so extravagant, there's no way I could have ever undid it. I didn't know what was truth. I didn't know what was lie. I didn't know what was up and what was down. Man, speak truth. Be adamant that you are only going to say things that are true and walk in authenticity in front of people and be vulnerable with other people so that they can address you with grace and kindness when they sense any kind of representation of that former life in you. Man, if your former life was marked by self-hatred and loathing, if the enemy had such a foothold in your life that in your past you would hurt yourself

and you would harm yourself and you would punish yourself, then remember who he says you are is more important than what the enemy tries to accuse you of. Don't agree with the enemy. Speak words of life to yourself by memorizing scriptures and saying them out loud. Be reminded of his intentions towards you. Don't turn back to your life of distrust and doubt. Live a life. Marked by faith and look to the cross as a reminder of his intentions towards you. Don't turn back to your life of bondage to the spiritual forces of evil in this dark and evil age. Whether you knew it or not, when you stepped foot into that baptistry, you renounced any allegiances that you had formed to Satan and any of his methods and schemes in your life. And so don't turn back. Don't put your toe in the water of darkness anymore. Don't play around in the dark. Walk in the light as he is in the light. Here's the bottom line. Don't compromise with the enemy. Slaves are made in such ways. And you're not a slave. You're a son. You've been set free from your former life to walk in freedom, so walk in it. That's the overall message of Galatians that we're gonna see unfold for the next several weeks.

You've been rescued. Don't throw yourself back into the water that you were once drowning in. It sounds crazy to some of our ears, but to some of us, the only thing that's more difficult than being a slave is walking in freedom. I mean, the life of a slave is simple. You just obey your master. You just do what you're told. But being a son is an entirely different thing. You gotta grow into that, man. You gotta mature into being a son, being a daughter. And Paul knew that, because he knew his Bible. He knew his Old Testament. He had it all memorized. He knew the central feature of his ancestor's story was yeah, of course they got delivered from slavery in Egypt, but as soon as they got through that Red Sea experience, they got out into the desert, they are now objectively free people who don't know how to live as free people. They don't know what to do. They don't know where to go. They don't know how to act. And so subsequently, it doesn't take long for them to start complaining and actually saying things like hey, it was better back in Egypt. At least there, we knew where our next meal was coming from. At least there, we knew what our purpose was.

At least there, we didn't have to wander around out in this forsaken desert. And they started to complain, and God exhibited an enormous amount of patience with them as he literally fathered them through the desert and grew them up. and maturity as free sons and daughters. When my kids were infants, and they'd be fussing in their crib, I'm sure many of you have done this, I would sneak into the room sometimes and I would pull a little blanket up over them, give them a pass fire back, put my hand on their chest and feel them breathing. And in that moment, it's impossible to describe the level of love you have for those little humans in those moments. The commitment that you have for their good, how much you're for them, how much hope you have for them, how much you are delighting over them in that moment. Our Father delights over you in the same way. Write this passage down so you can reflect on it later this week. The Lord your God is in your midst. Whatever you're going through right now, he's present with you. He's right here with you. Even if you feel like you can't hear him, he is with you and he is listening. He's a mighty one who will save.

In other words, he's not only present with you, he can do something about what's going on in your life. He can do something with your circumstances. He is mighty to save and he will rejoice over you with gladness. He'll quiet you by his love and he will exult over you with loud singing. Translation, not only does your good father love you, but check this out. It took me a long time to learn this. I didn't learn this until about 15 years ago. Did you know he actually likes you? I don't know, maybe it's just me. But for me, man, I've gone to Bible college. I've preached hundreds of sermons. I've been doing ministry. So I could theologically get my brain and heart around the idea that if I receive the free gift of grace, that God the Father was like obligated to love me, but liking me felt like something that would be, oh, I don't know, over the top. And there couldn't be any profound theological reason for that except the fact that grace, by definition, is over the top. You understand? God doesn't just love me and he doesn't just love you. He likes me and he likes you because you are no longer a slave. You're a son, you're a daughter, you're a child of the king.

And so here's the message that needs to resonate in our hearts and in our minds that we're gonna keep coming back to for the next several weeks. It's Galatians 5.1. For freedom, Christ has set us free. So stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Let's pray. Father God, we come before you as your sons and as your daughters, as your kids. Father, we know that you have done everything for us that we could never do for ourselves. So Father, we wanna live as the free sons and daughters that you sent your son to die on a cross and conquer our sin and conquer Satan and conquer death and conquer the grave. We wanna live as the free sons and daughters that you have enabled us to be because of what your son Jesus has done. And so Father, we are tempted time and time again to run back and to go back to our former life. We don't want to, Father. We wanna run to you. And so Father, today as we get to continue to sing and worship and celebrate, as we see new people, we see people give their lives to you and step into this beautiful gift, we pray for them that you make them resilient, gritty disciples committed to following you no matter what.

We wanna live and we wanna move and we wanna breathe and we wanna walk in freedom. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.