Grace for Forgiveness | Grace to & through | Part 1 | Pastor Rob Koke | Shoreline Church

Good morning, everyone. So great to have you. A very special welcome to those of you who are watching online from around the community, the state, even in some cases around the world. We welcome you to our campuses here in Austin, Texas, and a huge shout out to our shoreline behind bars. Let's give it up for all of the folks that are a part of that very special ministry. It's hard to imagine, but there are 20,000 people in our shoreline behind bars ministry that watch our services every single week. Come on, they deserve a great big hand clap. Let's all of us stand to our feet. We do something special at the beginning of every single message. We recite our shoreline creed. If you're new to shoreline, you could just read along. The rest of us, this is a very special thing. It helps us to focus in on the true meaning of what Christianity is all about. We say this out loud together with some passion. You guys ready? Here we go. I am loved by God. I cannot earn it. I cannot lose it. I am forgiven and made brand new. In Christ, I live with passion and purpose. I am empowered by the spirit to be the church in the world and to live this love revolution. Come on, let's give God praise together here this morning. So I'm super excited about this collection of talks that we're going to be entering into for the next couple of weeks. We're going to be doing a deep dive into the book of Ephesians and we have entitled this collection of talks, Grace to and Through.

And the reason why we chose that particular title is because the first couple of chapters in almost all of the books that the apostle Paul wrote to churches that he was serving would start out with the impact that God's grace has on us. So half the book would be about grace to you and then the second half would be how we live in light of that grace through you. And so that's how we came up with this particular title, Grace to and Grace Through. Grace to and Through. And next week, I'm really excited because we're going to be talking about one of the most unbelievable gifts that comes to us as a byproduct of God's grace that I think all of us will have trouble wrapping our understanding around it our entire lives. I mean, it's so profound. And so I can't wait to help unwrap that for you next week. But today, we're going to focus in on grace for forgiveness, grace for forgiveness. I've been pastoring this church for nearly 40 years. And I got to tell you, I'm, you know, a candidate for the forgiveness that God offers. Even though I'm an El Pastor, I'm still pretty messed up. And if you don't believe that, you can just ask my wife, she can point out all of my issues. But I can point out her issues too, she cusses. And I know a lot of you here that are sitting in the congregation this morning. And you know what? I know you well enough to know you're messed up too. So turn to your neighbor right now and tell him he's talking about you right now. Come on, just... Now let me ask you an honest question, okay? I want everyone to participate. Sometimes you don't feel like raising your hand, but as a show of hands, how many of you have ever sinned? Come on, let me see your hands. All right. If you didn't raise your hand, you just sinned.

Let me ask you it a little bit differently, because I think all of us would admit before we met Jesus, we sinned. How many of you since you met Jesus have sinned? Come on, let me see your hands. All right. All of us. Okay. How many of you sinned this morning? Come on, let me see your hands. Yeah, yeah, I got you. I got you. We are all in need of the forgiveness that God has given us. at offers, because there's a lot of things that the Bible identifies as sin. There are categories of sin, and then there are subcategories of sin. There are basically two large categories where sin gets expressed. You have the sins of omission. These are the things that we should do that we don't do. Sometimes things like indifference, seeing a need and looking the other way, or silence when we should be speaking up for somebody, or neglect, we let a meaningful relationship in our lives drift. The Bible says that whatever's not of faith is sin. So how many times do we sin where we are anxious and we worry about circumstances and situations, we're not living with faith? Those category of sins would be the sin of omission.

But then there are the sins of commission. These are the things that we do, and those sins fall into two categories. You have the sins of commission that would be maybe the lesser vices, things like gossip and white lies and irritability and vanity and perhaps selfishness. Some traditions call these sins venial sins. They wound the spirit, but they don't really kill it. The greater vices, those that involve full knowledge and deliberate intent to harm ourselves or others, these are more what people would call mortal sins or deadly sins. And there was a list of seven deadly sins that was crafted by the church centuries ago, pride and greed and lust and envy and gluttony and uncontrolled anger and sloth. These are sins that beset us. And the reason I bring up all of these sins of omission, sins of commission, sins of lesser vices and greater vices, it's just that I wanted to let all of us appreciate the fact that there's a lot of sin that's going around, even sin that affects every single one of us, active and inactive, commission, omission. And the reason why there's a lot of sin going on is because sin is attractive. Let's be honest. We get tempted to do things, and initially there is something about it that seems attractive to us.

We want to do it. It could even be categorized as fun. And if you're not having fun with your sin, you're probably not doing it right. It's fun until it's not. It might seem exciting initially until it turns darker and begins to destroy your life. It weakens you and it's addictive. And I think the Apostle Paul summed it up perfectly. By the way, the Apostle Paul was one of the great leaders of Christianity. He wrote 2 3rds of the New Testament. So this is a spiritual giant who is dealing with the same issue that we're talking about here this morning, the same issue that besets all of us. In Romans 7 in verse 19, this is how he phrased it. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. He was identifying the sins that he was participating in, and they fell in both categories, the sins of omission, the things that I should do that I don't do, the sins of commission, the very things I shouldn't do, I do. And he expresses it in such a way that you grab a hold of the fact this is something that is a powerful influence in our lives. There's an addictive nature to it, and it has consequences, sometimes extreme consequences. God hates it and challenges us to avoid it at all costs.

In Romans 7 in verse 24, what a wretched man I am. This is the Apostle Paul continuing the dialogue. Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? It starts out fun until it's not, and it ends up destroying your life. He says, what a wretched person I am. Who will set me free? The Apostle Paul asks the very same question who will rescue me who will set me free and He ends up this dialogue in verse 25 saying thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord Come on, somebody give God praise with me this morning Who delivers us who rescues us who sets us free Jesus does now the reason why we're going to talk about the forgiveness that God gives to each and every one of us even if you're a Christian for a long period of time. This is a message that we need to understand and embrace But if you're a brand new Christian, this is absolutely a message that you need to understand Today, we're going to talk about the forgiveness that God gives and you're not going to believe I think you're gonna have a tough time coming to grips with how beautiful and complete the forgiveness that God offers is and I got a challenge you to believe this and to accept this Because it will profoundly Impact your life. I need this message Even though I've been a Christian for over 50 years and pastoring for 40 years I need this message and so do you Because if you believe in the beauty and completeness of the forgiveness that God offers you you will have a heart that expresses gratitude and devotion and worship like never before The more you understand just how beautiful and complete your forgiveness is it will inspire worship it will cause you to get up early and come to church and Persevere through the rain like today and thank you all of you who persevered through the rain and came to church

Come on, give yourselves a great big hand clap And by the way I just want to let you know that they're gonna be people coming in the service all service long who've been a part of Our baptism service and so don't mind them as they're just kind of making their way and finding seats It's their very special day So why is understanding the beauty and completeness of God's forgiveness important important Because it will inspire worship, but it will also free you from guilt and shame Guilt and shame is kind of like the residue That you might feel even though you you know, you know that you've been forgiven You know it maybe in your mind But still the residue of guilt and shame seems to you know profoundly impact You know your your life and your spiritual journey There are many people who have heard about God's forgiveness and they even believe it But there just seems to be a residue of guilt and shame in their life It reminds me of when Laura and I were were dating One night, you know, she was a little bit cold And so I gave her my sweatshirt and she wore that sweatshirt and her perfume that she happened to be wearing that day Got on my sweatshirt and when she gave it back to me at the end of the day and I put it on I could smell her perfume and I didn't want to wash that sweatshirt And I can you know for a couple of days maybe even a week or two afterwards I would put on that sweatshirt and I would still smell her perfume. It was awesome Now that's a positive Kind of story about how an aroma can stick with you But on a negative side sometimes guilt and shame the aroma of it Even though that that sin is gone Even though Laura was gone I still felt her presence because I could smell the perfume even though your sins are gone Guilt and shame is kind of like that residue that smell of guilt that you still Harbor in the deep recesses of your heart

But if you understand how beautifully complete your forgiveness is That guilt and shame will disappear When you understand how beautiful and complete your forgiveness is you will never fear coming back You will never ever fear the idea that God gives you a second chance and a second chance on your second chances You will have confidence in all of the other promises of God and you will live up to what he's done for you because sometimes when people Dare to believe just how radical and beautiful and complete the forgiveness of God is Sometimes the devil might plant that's this thought in the back of their minds saying oh It almost doesn't matter how you live you can keep on sinning because God has forgiven you and I want you to perish that thought the very reason why you know, we we avoid sin is because Sin always has pain associated with it. It's always either hurting ourselves or hurting someone else. That's why the Apostle Paul said, when I don't do what I should and when I do what I shouldn't, what a wretched person I am. And so, we don't want to embrace the grace that God has for us in such a way where we foolishly believe we can do whatever we want. It actually inspires us to live holy lives. It actually inspires us to live for Him when we understand how beautifully we've been forgiven. And it also helps us lay the foundation on how we can forgive other people. And maybe that's one of the greatest benefits of all. We forgive others as He has forgiven us.

So with that as the introduction, we're going to take the opportunity here this morning to open up the book of Ephesians chapter one, and we're gonna highlight one single verse, but we're gonna break it down word by word, phrase by phrase together here this morning. The verse that we have chosen, two verses actually, Ephesians chapter one, verses seven and eight. Let's read this together. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us. So this is one of the most profound verses in the Bible, and we're gonna take it apart phrase by phrase together here this morning. Let's start with the first two words, in Him. Everyone shout out in Him. In Him. This verse starts with two of the most important words in the New Testament, in Him. It puts our focus squarely on Jesus. Christianity is different from every other religion in the world and every philosophy in life on this point. Every single philosophy and every single religion in the world, I don't care which one you choose, they're all the same because the focus is on what you do to somehow get the benefit that you're hoping for. If it's a religion, it's what you do to appease the deity. If it's a philosophy of life kind of approach, it's what you do in order to live your best life.

Every single religion and every single philosophy in the world can be summed up. If you do good, you get good, and if you do bad, you get bad. Every religion in the world is spelled D-O. It's what you do, but Christianity is the opposite. It's spelled D-O-N-E, what's been done for us. And even though the Bible often talks about the fact that you will reap what you sow, that there is an element of truth to that, that's a wisdom kind of idea that Scripture gives us to understand that many things in life, if you plant a seed, you're going to reap a harvest, but it's not the core. Every other religion and philosophy makes a principle of God's word and makes it the core. You could sum up everyone, do good, get good, do bad, get bad, but you sum up Christianity this way. We did bad, He did good, and out of His good, we get good. That's what Christianity is all about. And so we don't focus in on ourselves. We focus in on what He has done. And that's why this verse starts with in Him. And we don't normally do that. Our human instinct is to focus in on ourselves. If you're anything like me, when you sin, you can almost immediately slip into bargaining. You bargain. God, if you forgive me, I'll never do it again. Or we try to bribe God.

If you forgive me, I'll go to church every Sunday. Or we try to bury our sin. Like Adam and Eve, we try to hide it, stay busy so we don't have to think about it. Or we blame others. We shift responsibility, our upbringing, our spouse, our stress levels. Or we belittle our sin. We minimize it. We just call it a mistake, a lapse in judgment, instead of calling it what God calls it. Or we think to ourselves, So I'm not as bad as other people around me. But this verse starts with the words in Him and that puts our focus squarely on Jesus. And then this small word, and I'll just make a quick point with it, we, in Him, we. It's a collective word. It's a word that is inclusive. It involves every single one of us. It doesn't say, in Him, some. It doesn't say, in Him, you could. It says, in Him, we. We have. Everyone shout out have. Because honestly, I think that this is one of the most profound words in this verse, which is one of the most profound verses in the Bible. In Him, we have, present tense.

It doesn't say that we could have or we might have. It says we have, present tense, certain. And we need to have the courage to believe that. I think we have an easier time thinking that God will forgive our past sins than we do that God forgives our present sins. And yet, relentlessly, the Bible makes this point that we have the forgiveness of sins. Our past sins, our present sins, and our future sins. You know, when I was reading a devotional about this particular verse, it reminded me that God's forgiveness for us is relentless. It's like a continual thing that we are continuously being washed and forgiven by God. A number of years ago, my wife and our three kids were on vacation to the Niagara Falls. I don't think I've ever shared this story before, but you remember certain vacations, maybe they were beautiful memories and great things happen, but this particular vacation has the distinction of being where we had one of the greatest family fights we have ever had in our entire life. Have you ever gone on vacation and then it turned really sour and went south fast? Have you ever had that experience? Let me see your hands. Make sure I'm not the only one. So we're on vacation. We're supposed to be having a good time, and we're in a fight.

Laura and I are in a fight. She's fighting with me. I'm fighting with her, but it wasn't just Laura and I in a fight. All of our kids were in a fight. We were fighting with our kids. Our kids were fighting with us. Our kids were fighting with each other. Caleb was fighting with Luke, and Caleb was fighting with Danielle, and Danielle, and Luke, and Luke, and it was a mess. And in the middle of this fight that we were supposed to be having a good time, we're on vacation at the Niagara Falls, this thought hits me. Why did I get married? And then another thought, why did we have kids? And maybe the fight escalated because I didn't just think those thoughts. Maybe I said them out loud. But the look on Laura's face, she said, these kids, they're yours, and I'm out of here. We were supposed to be on a family hike together. She went to the butterfly farm and left me with three, quite possibly, demon-possessed children. It was a nightmare. Eventually, of course, we all got back together and we apologized and all of that,

but I was still feeling the failure of not responding the way that I should have. And the very next day, we had made plans to buy tickets, and we did, we bought tickets on the Maid of the Mist, which was a boat that you can ride on the river that takes you right up to the edge of the Niagara Falls. And so we're on this boat, and the mist of Niagara Falls is just falling on the boat, and you can see the thunderous water. You could hear it, you could see it. It was just cascading off of that cliff, and the volume of water was unlike anything. The power of it was just mind-blowing. And I remember that devotion that was talking about the continuous cleansing, forgiveness that God has, that we have. the forgiveness of our sins, present tense, and they described it as if we were sitting underneath a waterfall, and here I am, right at the edge of one of the greatest waterfalls in the entire world, and God is speaking to my heart. This is how I cleanse you of your sins. You are sitting under the waterfall of my grace, and you have the forgiveness of sins. Present day, all day, 24-7, 365 days a year, you are sitting under the waterfall of God's amazing grace. In him, we have, and then the next word is redemption. In the ancient world, redemption was a marketplace term. Literally, it means to buy back, to pay the ransom, and it was something that you would do

if you wanted to pay for a prisoner to be released or a slave to be set free. You would redeem them. In the Old Testament, there was this whole idea that a family member could pay the debt of another family member, and that person was called a kinsman redeemer. It meant that somebody could pay your price. We were in prison, slaves to sin, hopelessly lost, and he paid our price, and then it goes on to say how he paid, by his blood. This is how it was accomplished. He didn't just say, I forgive you. He actually paid a price for that forgiveness, his own blood. How can you be sure that you are made right with God? It's because you've been redeemed with a very precious price. The very blood of Jesus, the Son of God, was shed for your redemption, and our peace comes from understanding and knowing why that price is so significant. If you went up to an ATM, and you just wanted to check your account balance, and you're thinking, you know what, I should have $150 or $200 in the account, and you put in your little code after you inserted the card, and you say, check balance, and if you get that little ticket, and it says you have $100,200 in your account, what would you do?

Oh my gosh. You'd say, I'm rich. I got $100,000 more dollars in the account than I thought that I had. And then you'd probably start making a list of the things you're gonna buy, a Ferrari for your pastor. And then you think about it for a moment, and you say, oh, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't, because I don't know why that money's there. Maybe it's just a mistake from the bank, and if I start spending it, they're gonna ask me to pay it back. So you would have to know why that money is in your account in order for you to have peace about spending it. So you go to the teller, and you say, hey, listen, you know there's $100,000 in my account that I didn't think that I was supposed to have. Can you check on that? And then the teller tells you that an uncle of yours had passed away that you didn't even know existed, and as a part of it, your inheritance, you received $100,000. Now, knowing why that $100,000 is there gives you the confidence to spend it and enjoy it. That knowledge is so important to your peace. And I wanna share some of the knowledge of why the blood of Jesus is so important for you to understand. This holy God, in order for justice to be served,

this holy God demanded a price to be paid. Since sin causes death, it was the shedding of blood that would remove sin. And that old. Testament, you know theme with the precious blood of a lamb would be shed for the removing of sin for the Children of Israel, but it was only a temporary thing and it would only last for a year But then God sending his own son as the Lamb of God would shed his own blood for the forgiveness of sins and that theme is Repeated over and over and over and allow me to get a little bit Theological with you here this morning because this is so important for you to embrace and understand in order for you to live in the Beauty and completeness of the forgiveness that God offers In first John chapter 2 and verse 2 it says and he is the propitiation The atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only ours alone, but also the sins of the entire world Propitiation means that Christ completely satisfied The just demands of a holy God for judgment against sin by his death on the cross God Justice was completely satisfied in Romans chapter 3 in verse 25 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar to clear that world of sin having faith in him sets us in the clear God decided on this course of action and full view of the public To set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus finally taking care of sins He had so patiently Endured all of the wrath fell on Jesus. What does that mean? There's none left for you He paid the price in full Oh Colossians chapter 2 and verse 13 and 14 when you were dead in your sins God made you alive with Christ He forgave us all of our sins. Everyone shout out all What does that mean? He forgave us all of our sins past sins present sins future sins He forgave all of our sins having canceled them

Having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us that stood opposed to us. He took it away nailing it to the cross When did Jesus deal with your sin Question When did Jesus deal with your sin at the cross Now, let me ask you this question. How many of your sins? We're in the future How many were in the future Every single one of them we say Oh God will forgive my past sins But he won't forgive my present sins and he certainly won't forgive my future sins All of your sins were in the future when he paid for them He nailed them to the cross and the debt was completely satisfied Debt was completely satisfied when you hear the word gospel When you hear the word gospel it literally means good news good news Romans chapter 1 in verse 16 for I am NOT ashamed of the good news The gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes I'm not ashamed of the good news And here's just a point that I want to emphasize This book is filled with good information You might you might read this book if you want information wisdom on how to live This book is full of wisdom If You've got a car and you're not sure how some features on the car work You go to the manufacturer's handbook and you look it up and you say oh, that's what that's there for or that's how that works you can approach this book as if it's a manufacturer's handbook and it will give you incredible wisdom on how to deal with your family and your finances and your health and Relationships and emotional stability. This book is filled with wisdom but primarily it is not a Manufacturer's handbook. It is a love story. It is good news of an accomplished fact You should read this book more like a newspaper than an instruction manual

Because this is the good news that you have been set free that God in his love for humanity Sent his only begotten Son and if you believe in him all of your sins Will be washed By his blood and I don't care if you got saved yesterday or you've been a Christian for 50 years you need to celebrate and own and believe this marvelous truth. In him, we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of sins. The extent of his forgiveness towards us is portrayed in beautiful word pictures all throughout the Bible. Psalm 103 in verse 12 says that he takes our sins as far as the east is from the west. And you better be glad that he didn't say he takes them as far as the north is from the south. Because if you go north, eventually you're gonna go south. But if you go east, you keep going east, you keep going east, you keep going east for all of infinity, he takes your sins infinity as far as the east is from the west. In Isaiah 38, it says that he puts our sins behind his back. Our sins stood as a barrier between us and God. He took them, sending Jesus to pay for them on the cross, he took them and he put them behind his back and there is no more barrier between us and God. In Micah chapter seven, it says that he hurls our sin into the sea, nobody can fish them up to make you feel unworthy. In Isaiah 43 in verse 25, I will remember your sins no more. God has divine amnesia when it comes to your sins. Some of you, you approach your prayers to God

and something like this, oh God, I know I'm not worthy. I know that, you know, when I really messed up, you know, last year or a couple of years ago when I did this and I know I've forfeited any hope of blessing and you remind God of all the things you've done wrong and God's saying, I don't know what you're talking about. I have forgotten every single one of them. Isaiah chapter one says, though our sins are like scarlet, he makes us white as snow. Don't allow the enemy to color your snow, to make your white cleansed soul in any way polluted, in any way diminished, you are clean. Colossians chapter two in verse 14, they were nailed to the cross. That means the debt has been paid in full. There is no legal case against you. I'm not a person that has ever had to walk through the legal system personally, but when you get that legal document paid in full, it is done, it is done. There's the story about the judge and this lady was caught speeding and she wasn't just going a little fast, she was going really fast, kind of like Laura fast. And she got pulled over and she got arrested and she got brought before the judge. And the judge said, were you speeding? Yes, your honor, I was. Were you going 95 in a 55?

Yes, your honor, guilty. And the judge said, okay, you are guilty. Slammed the gavel down, said guilty as charged, and then came from around the table and paid the fine himself because the judge was her dad. The judge is your father, paid in full. And then it ends with this phrase that he lavished on us. And you really don't need this. I've already made the case, how beautiful and complete your forgiveness is. Just how good the good news is. This is overkill. And isn't that the very definition of lavish? To be over the top, over and above. Lavish means sumptuous, rich, luxurious, elaborate. And that's how much God's grace is towards us. Look at the examples of forgiveness that we see all throughout the word. We have a man who is declared to be a man after God's own heart that had an epic failure and God forgave him. You had a champion like Samson who God used to set his own people free, had an epic failure, but got a second chance. You got the Apostle Paul who before he was the Apostle Paul was a persecutor of the church named Saul. He was judgmental and hard-hearted and God extended grace to him. And he said that he was the chief of all sinners

and God looked down on him and extended grace to him. You had a friend of Jesus in his inner circle, Peter, who denied him. And you had a death bed conversion, the thief on the cross, all extended forgiveness and prostitutes and tax collectors. We can find ourselves in one of these incredible examples of God's grace. This grace that I'm talking about, this forgiveness, it's not just extended in communion cup measurements, it's lavished on us. More beautiful and complete than you could ever imagine. I don't know if you ever heard the story of John Newton. He had a tough life. He was born in London on July 24th, 1725. His dad was a merchant captain and he was pressed into service. He didn't like it, so he deserted, but he was recaptured. He was flogged, demoted and totally disillusioned. He was transferred to a slave trading ship. Seeing all of the inhumanity hardened his heart. He became bitter and angry and yet he forced that emotion into somehow working his way up to being a captain of one of those slave trading ships with not a care in his heart for how he treated the people that were so brutally captured. One day in the middle of a storm, he cried out to God and said, God, forgive me.

I don't know where he even knew how to call upon God for mercy, but in the middle of the storm that he thought for sure was gonna sink his ship, he just in desperation cried out to God, forgive me. And you know what? God did. God forgave him and saved him and his ship. And when he got to shore, he walked away from that whole business and he became a pastor. And they say about John Newton, that as cold and as hard and as bitter as he was, he was the complete opposite as a pastor with tenderness and care and love for everyone. And he became a leader in the abolition movement in London. And he wrote incredible sermons in books and he wrote songs. One song he wrote the lyrics to is a song you know very, very well. The melody to the words that he wrote came from an old Negro spiritual. The words from a slave trader, the melody from the slaves themselves. And the words and the melody joined together have become the most popular Christian anthem of all time. In fact, still today, it gets sung 10 million times a year. And I thought in light of today's message that it would be good for us to sing this song together. Would you please stand to your feet? Nobody leaving early or moving around.

Perish the thought. Let's sing this song together. ♪ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound ♪ In grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment here tonight? If you came to church today and you're not where you need to be with God, you'd say, Pastor, I'm not living right, I'm not doing right. Maybe you made a decision at one point in time, but you slipped away, and today you need to rededicate your life to serving Him. Or maybe you've never invited Jesus into your heart, but you want to meet Him for the very first time. I couldn't think of a better message or a better moment for you to make that decision off of here today. So if you want to get right with God, whether to meet Him for the first time or rededicate your life to serving Him, would you please raise your hand quickly and boldly wherever you are? Wonderful. God bless you. Your hands are going up all over. All of you with your hands raised, I want to lead you in a very simple prayer. I want you to pray this prayer out loud, out loud, from your heart, sincerely, after me here today. Would anyone else, as a reaffirmation, would you just join your brothers and sisters who are making that decision today? Let's all of us pray this prayer together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus. Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart.

Forgive me of my sins. I believe that you're risen from the dead, and I confess you as my Lord and Savior. And I will live for you from this day forward by your power, for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you give them all a great big hand clap? All of you who raised your hands and gave your heart to the Lord here this morning, either at the east entrance or at the west entrance, there's a sign that's being raised, made brand new. Go make your way over there. We want to give you some information that'll really help you to live this Christian journey. I'm going to ask our prayer partners to come up here to the front. They're here for you. If you've got any needs whatsoever to pray for, please come forward here today and receive that. And then, please, don't forget, on Wednesday nights we have these groups, amazing, incredible groups, that I know will be a blessing to you and to your family. God bless you. Have a fantastic rest of your Sunday. We look forward to seeing you next week. God bless. God bless.