Living in the Last Days | Doug Sauder | 2 Timothy 3

And it just keeps on feeding that insatiability. And you don't even realize that your no muscle is so small. You might work out at the gym, you might look so good on the outside, but your no muscle is so small, so atrophied, so weak, that you can't stop your body from making you do something. And Paul says to me, in the last days, self-control will be like an afterthought. But if we become the people who practice and exercise self-control, we will stand out. I don't have to drink that, or eat that, or watch that, or do that. I can live, not in what people call freedom. People call freedom like, you can do whatever you want. Whatever feels good, you do it. That's not freedom. If you do whatever you want, you'll end up in jail. Okay? Just think long enough, you'll end up in jail. Freedom is knowing what's right and what's best, and having the power to do it. That's the gift of self-control. So how do you practice self-control? Well, good morning, Calvary Chapel. Come on, stand, rise to your feet. If we haven't had the chance to meet, my name is Jimmy. I serve as one of your pastors. And this morning, we get to lift high the name of Jesus. Are you ready to sing?

Come on, let's put our hands together. And let's sing with joy. Lift your voice, I was buried. ♪ I was buried beneath my shame ♪ ♪ Beneath my shame ♪ ♪ Who could carry that kind of weight ♪ ♪ It was my tomb till I met you ♪ ♪ I was breathing but not alive ♪ ♪ All my failures I tried to hide ♪ ♪ It was my tomb till I met you ♪ Come on. ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave, yeah ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave, yeah ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave, yeah ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Jesus, when I met you, oh what a day ♪ ♪ When you called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave, yeah ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Your glorious day ♪ All right, let's put our hands together, come on. Let's sing of our redemption. ♪ I needed rescue, my sin was heavy ♪

♪ But chains break at the weight of your glory ♪ ♪ I needed shelter, I was an orphan ♪ ♪ Now you call me a citizen ♪ Church, come on, let's sing. ♪ When I was broken, you were my healing ♪ ♪ Now your love is the air that I'm breathing ♪ ♪ I have a future, my eyes are open ♪ ♪ Cause when you called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Yes I did, out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ From the darkness into your glorious day, amen ♪ ♪ Music playing ♪ ♪ Music playing ♪ ♪ I was bound in sin but now I'm free, my savior broke those chains right off of me. ♪ ♪ Music playing ♪ ♪ My new life can't fit in my old grave. ♪ ♪ Music playing ♪ ♪ Oh, ever since the day that I got saved, set free and delivered, washed clean, my sin forgiven. ♪ ♪ In glory to his holy name, when I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. ♪ ♪ I was bought with blood on Calvary, I know this story ends in victory. ♪ ♪ Buried with him, with him I am raised. Oh, ever since the day that I got saved, set free and delivered, washed clean, my sin forgiven. ♪ ♪ In glory to his holy name, when I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, since that day, when I called on Jesus, I got saved, I got saved. ♪ ♪ Not who I used to be, I got the Holy Spirit down inside of me. My God calls me by a brand new name. That's how I know that I am chosen, spoken for and born again. ♪ ♪ Not by my mind, but because of Him, He said it's done, every day is made. That's how I know that I am. Not who I used to be, I got the Holy Spirit down inside of me. My God calls me by a brand new name. ♪ ♪ That's how I know that I am chosen, spoken for and born again. Not by my mind, but because of Him, He said it's done, every day is made. That's how I know that I am. ♪ ♪ Saved, set free and delivered. Washed clean, my sin forgiven. Glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved, set free and delivered. Washed clean, my sin forgiven. Glory to His holy name. ♪ ♪ When I called on Jesus, I got saved. I got saved. Glory to His holy name. When I called on Jesus, I got saved. ♪ ♪ I got saved ♪

♪ I got saved ♪ Amen. It's powerful to come and sing your testimony and your story, right? So the church is all about, we gather in rooms like this and we boast in our weaknesses and we tell stories of all of the spirits that were raised from the dead. That's what we do. And not because of anything we've done, we just sang about it. We're not saved because of our work, it's not anything we brought to the table. We're saved by one man's work, because the life, the death and resurrection of Jesus. And I want you to hear how the prophet Isaiah talks about our savior and our Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, Isaiah 53 verse four, hear this. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering. Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he, talking about Jesus, was pierced for our transgressions and he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray and each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

And so maybe you're new to church, maybe it's your first time back in a long time and you're wondering like, why all the singing? Why is everyone so joyful? Why is everyone smiling? It's because all of our sin, all of our shame has been known, paid for and forgiven. Jesus has taken our sin and he traded us his righteousness. As we can come in the rooms like this and we can talk about how all of us were raised from the dead, there's no more sin or shame, no condemnation for anybody in Christ. And that's because of Jesus. So as we sing this next song, we glorify the name of Jesus. Let's sing with joy and let's sing from victory because our God reigns and we love and worship King Jesus. Let's sing together. ♪ There was a moment when the lights went out ♪ ♪ When death had claimed its victory ♪ ♪ The King of love had given up his life ♪ ♪ The darkest day in history ♪ ♪ There on a cross they made for sinners ♪ ♪ For every curse is blood its own ♪ ♪ The final breath and it was finished ♪ ♪ But not the end we could have known ♪ ♪ For the earth began to shake and the veil was torn ♪ ♪ But sacrifice was made as the heavens roared ♪ There's one response to the gospel, one response to the gospel is singing, lift your voice. ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪

♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ You're the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ There was a moment when the sky lit up ♪ ♪ And a flash of light breaking through ♪ ♪ When all was lost, He crossed eternity, yes ♪ ♪ The King of life was on the moon ♪ ♪ For in that dark hole of truth ♪ ♪ Where our Lord was laid ♪ ♪ What miraculous grace ♪ ♪ Yeah, we're forever changed ♪ Come on, sing it out. ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail Jesus, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ He's the Savior of the world ♪ The true voice, every knee. ♪ So let every knee come bowing before the King of kings ♪ ♪ Let every tongue confess that He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lift up your shout, let us join with all of heaven ♪ ♪ Singing holy, we're singing holy ♪ ♪ We're singing holy, we're singing holy ♪ ♪ Oh, we're singing holy, oh, we're singing holy ♪

♪ Oh, we're singing holy, we're singing holy ♪ ♪ Oh, we're singing holy, we're singing holy ♪ ♪ We're singing holy, we're singing holy ♪ Sing this. ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ The world ♪ Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Oh, Jesus. We sing as a people, a family that's been redeemed. We come into this room, being able to tell stories of our redemption. I mean, we were spiritually orphaned, but Jesus, because of your work, we are now adopted sons and daughters of the King. And Lord, thank you, because how else could that have happened? You stepped into our darkness. You absorbed it onto yourself, but you didn't stay dead. You rose again in victory, and you give that victory to your kids. God, thank you. We can come into this room and sing from victory and freedom, not for it, but from it, because you've been a good God, a faithful God.

Thank you for loving us. Thank you for welcoming us into your presence. We love you, Lord. And Jesus, it's in your name that we gather, we sing, we pray, and worship, and all of God's people say together, amen. Church, isn't it great to worship in the house of the Lord today? Before you find your seat, I wanna invite you to turn around, three or four people next to you, and welcome them to Calvary Chapel. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. So I've been getting this question a lot lately. The last couple weeks, Pastor, are we living in the last days? Another assassination attempt last week, the war in Iran, the economy seems uncertain, what's happened in the Middle East? You know, when I look at the prophecies of the Old Testament, and I see wars and rumors of war, and then famines, have you seen the tornadoes? Have you seen the increasing volume of earthquakes, and the intensity of what's happening to the planet is getting colder and hotter, and the environment seems to be shifting, and then there's AI, and what does that mean for my future? Is that gonna be a world-altering event?

And so many people have so many opinions about so many things that it's a little bit confusing. And where do we look to make sense of all these things? Well, the beautiful thing about being a Christian is we can look right here. Because in a world filled with all the thoughts and ideas and opinions, there's something grounding about opening God's word. And so this study of the last times, there's a theological word for it, it's called eschatology. The study of the last days, the study of the last times. The Bible talks a lot about in the last days, at the time of the Lord's return, the day of his coming, all these events are going to happen. And so sometimes we can have a different approach to this. One way is we can tend toward extremes. And some of the extremes are, hey guys, did you know the world is gonna end? And we need to get ready and people will call me and send me emails, pastor, you need to let your people know the end is coming. And what does that mean? That means we gotta get off the grid, we gotta buy gold, we gotta get some guns, we gotta build a bunker, move to Montana and just wait. Except when you open the Bible, you never see this pattern of fear that's related to fighting, to stay in control of a world that's broken. We are eagerly awaiting the Savior to come and rescue us.

We're not gonna fight our way to the kingdom. And so those extremes are going to shut us down. So some people are like, I don't even wanna think about it, I don't even wanna talk about it because it's all too confusing. People that do that, they end up with charts and maps and say they know when Jesus is coming back and that's confusing, or they get into these conspiracy theories and so they start arguing with each other. So I don't wanna even think about it or talk about it, I just wanna keep on living my life. And both of those extremes are not good. So eschatology taught well from the Bible doesn't lead us to fear, it leads us to faith, to hopeful expectation. The return of Jesus is called the blessed hope of the church. One of the last lines in the Bible is John saying, come Lord Jesus, come. It's gonna be a reunion, it's gonna be a banquet feast, it's gonna be a wedding, it's gonna be one of the greatest days in the history of the world and we wanna be people who have this longing, hopeful expectation of the return of Jesus. And so as we read 2 Timothy chapter three, we're gonna read some really bad news as Paul talks to Timothy

about preparing the church for the last times. But before we read what Paul says to Timothy, we're gonna look at what Jesus said about his return. And last weekend, we talked about this idea that Jesus was asked in his lifetime of ministry, at least recording the gospel, 183 questions. Most of these questions he did not answer directly. This is one of the questions he answered directly. In fact, his answer to the question, his disciples said, Jesus, when is the sign of the end? What are the signs? When's it gonna happen? Jesus' response is almost 100 verses of uninterrupted instruction in Matthew 24 and 25. So Jesus has a lot to say about his return and the end of time. And so let's look to Jesus because I think he's the authority on the subject. Matthew 24, verse four, when Jesus was asked this question, here's how he responded. Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name claiming I am the Messiah, and they will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come, and nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of the birth pains.

Jesus describes these events that lead up to his second coming as birth pains, the birth pains are real. We're not saying it's not gonna be a difficult time, but it's the birth and renewal of a new heaven and a new earth, and it's gonna be worth it in the end. And then he goes on to describe in Matthew 24 false prophets and persecution and family members betraying family members, but the gospel is preached to all the nations. He talks about the abomination that causes desolation. This picture of the antichrist is going to come, but then the return of Jesus where he conquers forever. And he reigns over this new heaven, this new earth with people who belong to himself, and Jesus says, and that's gonna happen in a day that no one knows about. In fact, he says this in verse 44. So you must always be ready because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. And so let's just think about what Jesus is saying. How can we as followers of Jesus, 2,000 years after these words, So here's the first thing. Jesus says, do not be alarmed or afraid. If you're studying the Bible and you're reading the book of Revelation, you end up being afraid when you're done reading it, you haven't read it correctly.

Because Revelation is a. hopeful, powerful story of what happens when injustice ends forever and God shows up in the world. If studying the Bible or talking to people about when Jesus is gonna return creates confusion or animosity or arguments, then you're not reading it correctly. You see, eschatology properly understood leads to this tenacious sense of faith, this defiant sense of hope, this joyful expectant view of the gospel. So we don't wanna be alarmed, so let's not be alarmed when we read these things. The second thing is this, just like don't be naive. Don't believe everything you hear, every person that says they're a prophet or prediction. He says at the end, people are gonna say, hey, hey, go over and listen to this person in this house or go listen to this person talk about this. He goes, don't go there. Don't listen to this person pontificate about all the things they say are gonna happen that they figured out. Listen, the guy who says to you, I figured out the date that Jesus is gonna return. That's just stupid. You're not smarter than Jesus. If he says only the Father knows the date, not even the angels in heaven know, you're not gonna figure out the date,

but you wanna be ready. So don't be alarmed, don't be naive, but be ready, be watchful. He says in those days, the days that he returns, people are gonna be walking along the road and one person taken, one person left. It's like the days of Noah. People are going about their life and there's a sort of like myth of continuity. The myth of continuity is as things have been going on, they'll continue to go on. That everything is sort of up and to the right. But this weekend, well, we realize with Spirit Airlines, some things that begin don't always end and they don't always end in the way you think. And the same thing is not just true of companies, it's true of nations. In fact, all the things that people work hard to labor and build, all the wealth that's been accumulated, all the wars and weapons that are being built, all the power and control and authority that exists in this entire world through its history will one day belong to Jesus. Listen, it's hard for us to wrap our brains with this, but there's a shout in the book of Revelation where people say all the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and people shout with praise because finally, perfect justice.

Finally, righteousness. Finally, love has won out over hate and light has won out over darkness. And this is the hopeful expectation that we have. So how can Christians or how should Christians be living? People say, if Jesus comes back on May 16th. Now, hear me carefully. I'm not saying Jesus come back on May 16th. If, what should we be doing? I mean, I think the best thing to be doing is the outreaches we're doing. Feeding the poor, caring for the vulnerable, loving the weak. Why do we know this? Because Jesus in chapter 25 of his description describes what Christians or what followers of God should be doing that day. He describes in three stories. First one, 10 young girls, 10 virgins waiting for a wedding. Five ready, five not. And the five that are not ready are presuming he's not gonna come tonight. And he does. Second story he tells, the story of the talents. People are given talents by God. Two guys get to work, one with five, one with two, and they double, they work hard. And the master comes back when they don't expect it. They've been doing good work. They've been occupying until he comes.

And he says, well done, my good and faithful servant, but the one who buried his talent, who was lazy and neglectful, not doing what he knew he should, was rejected on the second coming of Christ. The third story, the story of people who are separated like sheep and goats because some people recognize in the vulnerable, in the poor, in the naked, in the imprisoned, in the hungry, in the thirsty, that they are honoring Jesus by serving people like that. And he says, those people will be welcomed in, but the people who don't will be rejected. So what should Christians be doing on the day that Jesus returns? Watching, loving, serving the poor, working with the gifts and skills we have to build the kingdom of God. And that's simply what you would be doing. And anyone who tells you otherwise is contradicting Jesus' own words about how his people should be ready on a day. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. And so our attitude, Paul says it this way in Ephesians or Philippians chapter three, our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. See that word eagerly await? Eagerly await, like I'm busy building my family,

I'm busy buying a home, I'm busy doing all these things and none of those things are bad, but I am eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus. Are you eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus? Listen, when Tim Keller was dying of liver cancer, I remember one of the last things he said was, If the resurrection of Jesus is true, everything's gonna be all right. And he said that knowing he only had a few days left. You see, when we look at what happens after Jesus' return, we see this picture of revelation. No more cancer, no more divorce, no more child abuse, no more sadness, no more sorrow, no more goodbyes. He's gonna make all things new, right? And this is what we have to look forward to. J.R.R. Tolkien said it this way, the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue. And so it's with this framework that we wanna look at Paul's writing to Timothy because what we're about to read is gonna sound super depressing, like birth pains. Now, I've never had a baby, but when my wife had, our son, it looked painful. I'm glad it was her, not me. Thanks, babe. If guys had to have babies, there would be a lot less people in the world. I know that's true. Next weekend, Mother's Day,

make sure you get flowers and all the things, just. And so as what we read is gonna sound depressing, just think about it as birth pains. Think about it as people getting ready for a reunion, lots of work, lots of stuff, but it's all gonna be worth it in the end. And so Paul's not gonna talk about what happens in world history like Jesus did and timeframes like Jesus did. He's gonna be talking about what's happening inside the hearts of people in the last days. And so here's what he writes to Timothy. But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, have nothing to do with such people. They're the kind who worm their way into the homes and gain control over gullible women who are loaded down with sins and who are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses,

so also these teachers oppose the truth. They're men of depraved minds who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. Now, in these times, it'll be terrible, it'll be difficult, it'll be stressful. That word times is not chronos, like an amount of time, it's kairos, a quality of time. What is the quality of the age? What is the quality of what's happening in people's hearts and minds during this time? And Paul says to Timothy, it's gonna be really bad and difficult. And so in a world that's not getting better, but actually getting worse, how should a Christian live? This is what Paul's saying to Timothy. In a world where people are mindlessly, effortlessly going with the flow, how do you live a counter-cultural life? How do you not just conform to the way the world is taking you? And so Paul offers this picture for all Christians in Romans chapter 12, verse two. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How do we live in a way that's not just blind, mindless conformity to the way the world is going? How do we stop, notice, and stand out,

go against the flow, rebel against conformity? You know, I was always a rebel growing up. My dad said, don't cross this line. I'd be like, what, this line? Any rebels? Natural-born rebels. You shouldn't be ashamed to raise your hand. You should own it. We're all rebels, but some of us are more out there than others. So use that rebellion, not against God, but against conformity and the mindless work that Satan wants to do in the world, and say, I'm not gonna mindlessly go with the flow. I'm gonna stand out. And so I wanna talk about each of these characteristics and how, as Christians, we can stand out and stand up and be the aroma of Christ, the light in the darkness, the salt that Jesus called us to be, because as the world gets darker, our lights will shine brighter. And so we're gonna talk about just 10 simple ideas, and here's the first one. In a world where people are lovers of themselves, we put Jesus in the center. In those last days, people will be lovers of themselves. We live in the world of the selfie. One of the most subtle innovations in our world was the ability to flip the camera back toward us. It used to be, oh, there you are,

and now it's, oh, here I am. We are the center of every picture. We're the center of our own story. This idea of expressive individualism, I feel who I wanna be, and then I express it to the world. I get your affirmation, and if you're not affirming what I think or feel, about myself and you're not tolerant, you're judgmental. And then I ask God just to bless my own sense of identity. Exactly the opposite of what God says. God says, no, you look up to find your identity. You find it affirmed in your community and then you look inside. But we live in a world that does the exact opposite. In the last days, people will be lovers of themselves. And so it almost feels like betrayal to go against your own desires to do what honors God. But as Christians, no, we put Jesus in the driver's seat. We put him in the center. I'm not gonna be the one in control of my life. I'm gonna give it to you. It's not what I think, God, it's what you think. And if you live this way, you will stand out in the world. This idea of self-absorption. And you know, these technology tools they create aren't helping us. Hey, Claude. Hey, Chad. You know, my relationship with my girlfriend, my husband, my wife is not really what I want it to be.

So I'm thinking, there's this girl at work, there's this guy at work that I sort of, she makes me feel so alive. What should I do? Oh, I deserve? Oh, I should follow my feelings? You know, those people who created the platforms for artificial intelligence to begin have been shocked in recent days to see that these chatbots are giving us information that's destructive to ourselves, that artificial intelligence flatters the user to do things that are destructive to the user. The article I just read last week was, AI will not keep you from being a jerk. In fact, it will affirm your jerkness. That's probably not a word, but check this out. That should shock us. We're hearing what we wanna hear about ourselves, and we love ourselves so much, it doesn't even jolt us that we're doing destructive things to the people around us because we are the center of everything. And Paul says, in a world where people are the center, where they love themselves, you will stand out if, if you put Christ at the center. And so that's the challenge for us. How do we seek first the kingdom of God, Matthew 6, 33, and let all the other things be added to us? Second one, in the last days, people will be lovers of money.

So in a world where people are lovers of money, how can we live freely and generously? If I love myself, then money serves a purpose for me. Where do I get security? Money. Where do I find control? Money. Where do I get pleasure? Money. And Jesus said, watch out for the deceitfulness of wealth. Now that line should get our attention. The deceitfulness of wealth can choke out a person's soul. Deceitfulness of wealth. Money will trick us. Money will lie to us. Huh. You ever thought about that? Money says, if you have enough of me, you'll always be safe. If you have enough of me, people will like you. If you have enough of me, people will respect you. If you have enough of me, you'll have control. You'll have what you need. You'll have what you want. And Jesus says, be on guard against all kinds of greed because your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions. In those last days, people will not just love themselves, but they'll love money, almost as a substitute for God. And so one of the most powerful things we can do is to give money away.

Release control of that money and what that money can do for us as far as pleasure or security and watch it bless someone else. And every time you give money away, you loosen the grip of greed and of toxic self-absorption in your life. And the more you give and the more freely you give and the more joyfully you give, the freer that you are. In fact, here's how the author of Hebrews says it. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. And listen, if you live in this way, freely and generously in a world that's all about what I can get for myself, you will stand out. In fact, one of the greatest apologetics, witnesses of the early church, was the way they gave their money and their time freely to all the people around them. Not just their friends, not just other Christians, but even their own enemies. They would serve and love and generously care for. And people were like, what is up with those people? They lived counter-culturally because they were following the example of Jesus. Third one, in a world where people are boastful and proud, well, we don't take ourselves so seriously. We live in this world where people are constantly boasting, putting their best foot forward. And boasting is thinking much about yourself

and talking much about yourself. And if you think and talk much about yourself, you'll think less and less and less of God. And you'll start to think that you deserve the glory that goes to God. and you won't even notice that it's happening. You know, there's a very short distance between boasting and blasphemy. How do I know this? Satan, Isaiah chapter 14. He is called Lucifer, the chief cherub, a beautiful, powerful angel, but he has this thought. Why does God get to sit up there and I'm down here? I want to ascend. I want to be like God. And his boasting turned to blasphemy. It said that why did Satan fall from heaven? He fell from heaven because of gravity, the weight of his own self-importance. And so as a Christian, sometimes we can think seriousness is a virtue, but seriousness is actually a vice. We want to take God seriously, but not ourselves seriously. We start taking ourselves so seriously, we're going to be vulnerable to 100 different temptations. And so how do I not take myself so seriously? Well, let me ask you a question. When was the last time you laughed at yourself? Anybody? Yesterday, thank you.

Anybody, okay, let me, anybody here do something stupid yesterday? Okay, when you do something stupid, what do you do? Do you like look around so no one sees? No one can know that. Or do you like, hey, I did the stupidest thing today and you tell your friends and family and then they laugh at you, you laugh at yourself. And what happens? All of a sudden that gravity of self-importance lightens and you're like, oh, listen, if it wasn't for Jesus, instead of, actually, I kind of got it all together. And I wish more people were like me. No, don't do that. Laugh at yourself every day. Martin Luther said, if you can't flee the devil by quoting him scripture, then laugh at him because he cannot stand to be laughed at. I was like, ooh, I like that, I like that. A proud and boastful person cannot stand to be wrong, cannot stand to be laughed at, and so learn to laugh at yourself. But the world tells us, no, you can't do that because the enemy's out there somewhere. So I want you to see if you can answer this question. Here's the question. What's wrong with the world? Now, the Christian answer's like, well, sin, but maybe you think about, like, if those people weren't in the world,

if that country was gone, if people like this or people like that weren't there, this world would be a better place. And Anne Lamott has a comment about that. She says, you can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. Think with me. If there's certain people you don't like and certain reasons you don't like them, maybe you put yourself on a different level. Aren't we all sinners in need of grace? Aren't we all broken? Aren't we all lost? Don't we all need Jesus in the same way as everyone else? But sometimes we can make ourselves different. So in the London Times, in the early 1900s, this question was asked. What is wrong with the world? And the answer is, you can safely assume what is wrong with the world? And G.K. Chesterton answered with two words that still reverberate a century later. What is wrong with the world? He responded, I am. What is that? It's a person who doesn't take himself so seriously, but someone who takes God very seriously. The problem isn't me, it's my sin, it's my pride, it's my independence, it's all the things I want to be

and it makes me feel like I'm better than some people, but in reality, I'm not, and all that's what's wrong with me, that's why I need Jesus. And a world where people boast and are prideful and deride their enemies, we could live in a different kind of way, humble, thoughtful, prayerful. Number four, in a world where people are abusive and disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, and without love, no, we cultivate lives of honor and holiness and gratitude. We see this in the breakdown of the human family. We see in the breakdown of love, just natural parental love, and you see abuse and domestic violence and sexual abuse and abandonment. You see all kinds of things that happen in the brokenness of human families. Paul says, in those last days, we're gonna watch a splintering of the natural love between husband and wife and father and child and mother and child. And what is it? It's partly a rejection of authority. See, where does a child learn authority? A child learns authority from their parents. That's why the only commandment of the 10 Commandments that has a promise associated with it is the command to honor your father and mother. And the promise is this,

if you honor your father and mother. you will be blessed and you will live a long and prosperous life. Why? Because it's in the home you learn authority. What does it mean to say yes and no? What does it mean to not always get what you want? What does it mean to yield your will to someone else's? And that's gonna affect the way you talk to bosses and police officers and the way you respond to things that happen in your life. And if you don't learn authority there, you're rejecting God's plan. So as a parent, it's not just, hey, in my house, it's my way or the highway. In our house, it's, no, you obey because we are representatives of God teaching you how to respond to authority. And as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. There's a weight to that, right? And we live in a world that says no. We live in a world that says, no, your parents, I mean, your daddy would raise his voice and your moms, you wouldn't always follow through. And so because they weren't really good models, then I don't have to respect them because I actually look at my own life and like, I'm actually the one who has it together more than my parents. I'm actually the hero of my story.

I'm actually a victim in all this. And so I don't need to respect or honor my parents. In fact, the more I think about it, it's like they owe me something, which means my boss owes me something, which means the government owes me something, which means God owes me something. So now I live in entitlement. I wear victim like I wear clothes. And if people don't give me what I deserve, well, I'll just keep drifting in this way. And the Bible says no. It doesn't mean that you didn't have issues in your home. It doesn't mean there doesn't need to be reconciliation and forgiveness for some of the things that have been broken in your family, but it doesn't mean you cancel your parents or your brother or your sister. It doesn't mean you live in entitlement because if you live in entitlement, that means if you deserve everything you get, then you're never grateful for anything. If you sit at Thanksgiving dinner and you're like, I deserve all this, you're not gonna say thank you to anyone because you think you deserve it. It robs you of the very thing that brings you life. And we live in a world that has created victimhood as an identity. We live in a world that has created entitlement

as a way of thinking. If something bad happens to me, someone owes me something, and I gotta find out how to get it. Paul says to me, in the last days, this is gonna happen more and more and more. And so how do we stand out? Well, here's what 2 Corinthians 7 says. Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. What is corrupting me and making me ungrateful? How do I practice holiness? Not perfectness, but holiness means separateness, separateness from the way everyone's going and going, no, I'm not gonna do that, so I'm gonna learn to honor my mother and father even if there's some brokenness there. I'm gonna thank every police officer I see even when they pull me over and give me a ticket. Thank you, officer, for keeping us all safe. I'm gonna honor people who serve in our military, who sacrifice much of what they do. I'm gonna think about public servants like doctors and nurses and teachers. I'm gonna be a person who's thankful and expresses that gratitude, and I'm gonna stand out in such a way that it's just, it looks different. How can we rebel against mindless conformity

and stand out in the world? Number five, in a world where people are unforgiving and slanderous, we choose forgiveness. Now listen, the Christian church should be known for anything. It should be that we should be the most forgiving people on the planet because have we been forgiven for much? Yeah, if you just start thinking about all that you've been forgiven from, it should fill your mind with such gratitude and awe that when you think about people that hurt you, well, that shouldn't be difficult except forgiving people is difficult. Scriptures remind us of this simple principle in the book of Ephesians. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. So why is it so hard to forgive other people? In a world of people who hold resentments and grudges, well, the reason it's hard to forgive people is because when people hurt you, it hurts. When people say what they say and do what they do, whether you feel that sense of rejection or betrayal, whether you've been physically or emotionally or abused in some way, you're like, this person did this to me, and you can often rehearse it in your mind, and I can remember this moment, I can remember that moment,

what they said and what they did, and you realize if you're not careful, what happens here can sink into here until that resentment becomes something that you nurse, and you start imagining all the bad. you want to happen to that person. And if you ever hear something bad happens, you feel so good inside, they get a little taste of their own medicine toward you. And you don't even realize that bitterness is starting to get inside your soul. Or Hebrews 12, 15 says that you can miss the grace of God and a root of bitterness can grow up and it can defile you and all the people around you. And then you become that person in your neighborhood that's like, get off my lawn. Get off my lawn. How does a person go from being the 15-year-old and 16-year-old that's on everyone's lawn to the person who's screaming to those kids, get off my lawn? It happens because an accumulation of unforgiveness and resentment and bitterness that makes you a captive, a prisoner. And so Paul says, in the last days, people are going to be unforgiving and slanderous. They're not going to care what they say. They're not going to care what they say or who they say it to. And social media allows us in the moment

just to say whatever we want to say to whoever it is. And we don't care what the consequences are, but we have a chance to forgive as Christ forgave us and stand out. And this is going to take some work. There have been moments in my life where I've been hurt or betrayed or something happened in my life and it... And I know that it's easy to say, I read the verse, I forgive this person, but to get from here to here, it takes a minute. Sometimes it takes a few months. Sometimes it takes praying for that person every single day. Sometimes it takes praying for yourself every day. Sometimes it takes asking a friend, hey, I'm struggling to forgive this person for what they did for me. So pray with me, fast with me. I want to release this. I don't want to be a prisoner of it. I don't want this bitterness to create walls that affect every relationship I have. I want to forgive as Christ forgave me. In a world where people hold grudges and slander other people, if you live in forgiveness and freedom, I promise you will stand out. People are like, how in the world did you forgive that person? And this is cue the gospel presentation.

Well, here's what Jesus did for me. And if he did that for me, then I could do that for someone else and you could experience that same freedom. Number six, in a world where people live without self-control, we can practice self-control. As in, we live in a world where it's this immediate response. You feel it, you say it, you want it, you take it, you have control, you exercise it. Yesterday I wanted something, and in 30 seconds on Amazon, I clicked a button and by the end of the day, it was at the house. And you're like, whoa, it's a miracle. No, what it is is a society that wants it and wants it now and wants it to be there. I can't wait. I'm not gonna wait five minutes for food. If I can get it in three minutes, I'm not gonna drive somewhere to get it when someone can deliver it to my house. I want it and I want it now. And this fuels the atrophy of the muscle of self-control and self-discipline. The Bible says this about people who don't have self-control. Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. Now, the equivalent of a city without a wall today would be like a house without a front door.

So imagine someone comes to your house and takes your front door off the hinges and says, I'll be back in a week. How are you sleeping? You feel vulnerable. Someone's gonna come in and hurt my family. Someone's gonna take my stuff. No one sleeps well without a front door in the house. And the Bible says, that's you, that's me without self-control. In other words, you're sort of just going with the flow. You don't even realize how much you're caught up in everything. And so if there's a sexual desire, you go with it. If you're hungry, you eat, and you eat as much as you can or as you want. If you wanna watch something, you don't just watch one episode, you watch the whole series. And it just keeps on feeding that insatiability. And you don't even realize that your no muscle is so small. You might work out at the gym, you might look so good on the outside, but your no muscle is so small, so atrophied, so weak, that you can't stop your body from making you do something. And Paul says to me, in the last days, self-control will be like an afterthought. But if we become the people who practice and exercise self-control,

we will stand out. I don't have to drink that or eat that or watch that or do that. I can live, not in what people call freedom, people call freedom like, you can do whatever you want, whatever feels good, you do it. That's not freedom. If you do whatever you want, you'll end up in jail, okay? Just think long enough, you'll end up in jail. Freedom is knowing what's right and what's best and having the power to do it. That's the gift of self-control. So how do you practice self-control? Well, maybe when you want to buy something, you make yourself wait one week before you buy it. Or wait until you have enough money to pay cash for it. Oh, that's crazy. Or maybe you practice fasting, which means, not that you don't look at social media, which is great, but maybe you don't eat a meal or two. and you just drink water, and when your body is crying out, feed me, feed me, feed me, you say no to your body, and you allow your spirit to be stronger than your body. Jesus taught us these practices of making sure that we feed our spirit, that our spirit is stronger than our body, so we're not slaves to our bodies, and this is something we can practice in a way where we can stand out.

Now, number seven, in a world where people are brutal, not lovers of God, treacherous, rash, and conceited, where the ends justify the means, where if you win, it doesn't matter how you win, well, we wanna cultivate a love for goodness and peace. Jesus said, in the last days, it will be so wicked that the love of people will grow cold. Things are so bad, people just stop loving, and that's the environment, the culture of the last days. The Bible talks about people who should blush because of their sin, but they don't blush anymore. There's a loss of shame for what people will say and do that 10, 20, 30 years ago, you're like, oh, you said that? You did that? And today, it's celebrated like it's some liberation, like it's some, you're true to yourself. You know, the whole mantra of expressive individualism is, I'm gonna do me. I'm gonna do me, which is code for, I don't care what you think, I don't care what God thinks, I'm gonna do what I feel, and I'm gonna justify myself to feel good about it, and in that world that is brutal, that are not lovers of good, we have a chance to cultivate a love for goodness and peace. Now, what is goodness? Well, goodness is actually one of the hardest biblical words to define, but I'd say it this way, when you see it, you know it. I met a couple after the service, and I looked at them, and I thought, that's a good man and a good woman,

the way they live their life, the way they live in marriage, the way they're generous with people, the way they serve, the way they look people in the eyes, the way they're kind. It's like there's this expression of God in them that's so powerful and so visible. That's what it means to be good. Psalm 37 says, mark or watch the person who honors God. Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace. In a world that's going this way, rebel against that mindless conformity, and let the word of God transform you so that you can stand out. Number eight, in a world where people are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, we learn to fear God. Again, doing what you want, doing what feels good. Listen, one of the greatest lacks in our culture today is the lack of the fear of God, that people can do things and not feel any sense of conviction that God is holy and they are not, that God is gonna judge the world and everything in it. And it's sort of like, well, if I got away with it, then I'm good. And Proverbs describes this. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You wanna be wise? The first thing you need to do is know that God is always watching, that he is holy, that one day you'll stand before him in judgment,

and that sense of reverence or awe should never leave you. And once that happens, it affects everything that you do or say. But every once in a while, I'll meet someone who says, hey, I'm a Christian, but I'm living this way in my life, which is in rebellion against God, and they won't say that. And like, so pastor, what do you think? I'm still saved, right? I'm like, first of all, it's not my job to say whether you're saved or not. But if I was you, I would be living in the fear of God. It's just a reality. I'm not saying that to scare anybody. I'm saying that's the reality. Because your job is not to convince me or your mom or your husband or your wife or your kids that you're living in the right way or that they're okay with your secret sin or your act of rebellion. There's only one person you have to convince. And he sees everything. He knows your mind, he knows your heart, he knows why you do what you do. And the Bible says the whole world is naked before him. He sees everything. There's nothing he doesn't see. And so if you don't have a sense of the fear and reverence of the holiness of God, then begin to ask God, God, give me that thing that I don't have

so that I can live not mindlessly, thoughtlessly, doing all this. I can live in a different way and stand out so that when everyone's doing their thing, you're like, no, I'm not gonna do it. Like, why not? Because I want to live to honor God. And people be like, well, what? God doesn't care. God's gonna forgive you. No, no, no, no, no. God will forgive me, but God is a holy God and he has an expectation that because he is holy, well, he calls me to be holy and separate and I'm gonna live in that way before him. Number nine, having a form of godliness but denying his power. We have a lot of people in this world who have a form of godliness but deny his power. So we want to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. You know, God will often be a stamp that people put on things at the end. So I just produced this new album and it's filled with provanity and slander and all this like really like dark, wicked stuff. But I want to give God the glory for all that. I'm like, huh. It's like God is a good luck charm. I scored a touchdown. Thank you to the big man upstairs. I go to church every week just to make sure that I cover over all the stuff from the 3M Club and all the things I did at work. I just want to make sure like, okay, God, we're good, right? All right, see you next week.

Yet in the last days, all that's going to happen. People, God this, God this, God this, God this. You don't think God sees through all those things? Paul says no. Having a form of godliness but denying its power. The power of God's Spirit who lives in you. It's not an idea or a concept. He's a person. God wants a relationship with you. All of the things that we see in God talking to us is about a relationship. He wants to live in us. He wants to speak to us. He wants us to abide with him. He invites us, come eat with me, talk with me, walk with me, be with me. It's a relationship with the living God. If you have a relationship with living God, I promise you will stand out. And then finally, number 10, in a world where people are always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, we move knowledge from our head to our heart. Listen, we live in the information age. Information has multiplied exponentially. Just in the last 10 years, the amount of information and knowledge you can get on any topic is greater than the history of the world's knowledge all put together. I mean, it's impossible for the human brain to comprehend all the knowledge. And Paul says, in the last days, there's going to be this accumulation, so much knowledge, so much information. And people are going to take it in here, but it's never going to get to here. Always learning, never able to come to the truth. I was reading a study this last week that said, in therapy and counseling, the number of insights that we have today versus a century ago are exponentially higher because we understand psychology, we understand social relationships, we understand all these things. But even though we have more insight and more information than we had a century ago, we are less likely to put that insight into practice.

It's fascinating. So are we better off with more information and less application? Or less information and more application? People are starting to wonder. It's not about how much you know. It's about whether it goes from here to here. These are the longest 18 inches in your life. From going, here's what I just read in the Bible. Here is wisdom for my life. But now, how do I apply it to my life? That's a whole nother process. And if you want to stand out, be the person who doesn't just read but obeys and watch wisdom grow in your life. And people are like, what is up with you? You seem to have this wisdom about all these things in your life. And I want what you have. We have a chance to stand out in this way. So we just read a description of the last days. And we read the Bible. Now we have a chance to let the Bible read us. The Bible itself is called a mirror. So I'm just going to ask you to close your eyes for a moment. And I'm just going to ask you two questions. Here's the first question. Where have I conformed to the pattern of the world? What stood out in my own life? Whenever it comes to your mind, whatever God's Spirit says to you, make note of it. Second question, what can I do to stand out in these last days? Now whatever came to your mind, I want you to write it down. And I want you to tell someone.

Maybe drive it home in the car. Maybe when you meet with your group this week, like, hey, when I was in church on Sunday at 11 o'clock, and that list of scriptures was read, this certain thing gripped me. Like, that thing about self-control, that thing about forgiveness. Like, God's got some work He wants me to do there. Because otherwise, this is just a lot of information. about the last days, and you're like, oh yeah, I learned about the last days, and if nothing changes in your life or my life, it's like, bounces right off. But if it sinks deeply and we find ourselves developing a conviction and walking in it, well, we will stand out. Now, these verses are not just for us individually. As we look at verse five and six, Paul says, Timothy, there are people who will come into the church. They're gonna worm their way or creep their way into the houses of gullible people and try to control them, try to manipulate them. And you're called to protect this church. Because Janice and John Brayes, these false teachers, the magicians that fought against Moses were revealed as frauds at the end, and these people, too, who pretend or posture to be prophets or teachers have bad intentions. Not everyone who says they're a Christian, not everyone who holds a Bible, not everyone who prays or is eloquent is a follower of Jesus.

In fact, Jesus would say this. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Jesus would later say, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, is gonna make it to heaven because some people he's gonna look straight at and say, I never knew you. And so as Christians, we're not just looking at ourselves, we're looking around. The church is always at her best when we watch each other's backs. This is about an act of protection. Have nothing to do with those people who are frauds, who look for people who are fearful and find ways to manipulate. They look for people who are insecure and find ways to control. And what does this look like? Well, I'll give you just a couple of quick examples. Anybody here have a daughter? If you have a daughter, raise your hand. All right, so this is a question for parents of daughters. If someone, a 30-year-old guy, knocks on your door and he wants to date your 14-year-old daughter, and she's like, daddy, daddy, he says he loves me, let him, let's go out, let me go out. What are you gonna do? Be like, I'll be right back.

That's a dad right there. Whoever that was, I heard that. I said, what is that? You're protecting your daughter because you know she can easily be manipulated emotionally because this 30-year-old guy, you know how guys think, you know what a 30-year-old guy has probably had all these experiences and he might be a master manipulator and you're not gonna let your daughter go out with a master manipulator because she's gonna get hurt. You would rather her be protected and loved by you. Listen, if you're at your parents' house and your parents are elderly and you hear your dad on the phone giving his social security number to a telemarketer because, well, this guy can help him make money or someone's farted their account so now I need to give this information to someone I don't know. You're like, dad, dad, hang up the phone. That's a con. That person's gonna empty your bank account out. So just, this is not the right way to do this. Let's go to the bank and we'll check it. What is that? That's protection. You're protecting the people that you love because they're vulnerable to fear

or control or manipulation. And Paul says, these people are worming their way into the houses of people who are gullible and easy to control and your job as a pastor, as a leader, as a part of the church is to protect the people around you. And so we wanna be people who warrant and protect the people that are in our own families. And so as a church, this is about us and our relationship with God, but it's also about how we interact with each other. And so we are living in the last days. And things are gonna get worse, but we don't have to be afraid and we don't have to be gullible, but we can be ready and working and watching, watching our backs, watching our own souls and watching the souls of our other people. And then one day, Jesus is gonna return. Our King is coming back. And we eagerly await our Savior from there. And so let's live lives of deep conviction as we wait. But I know some of you are still asking this question. So Doug, when? And here's what Peter says. Above all, you must remember that in the last days, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, where's this coming? He promised.

Ever since your ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. This might be a question you have, like, why hasn't he come back? But it's also a question people are gonna use to mock your faith. And Peter says, but these people that mock and scoff, they consciously forget that by a word, God created the world. And by a word, the flood came. And then he says this. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God's not being slow. It's his timeframe and your timeframe are two completely different things. different things. The reason he hasn't come back yet, Peter says, is because he's patient and he's kind.

If Jesus would've come back in 1987, I would've been in big trouble. Because I was in full-on rebellion against God in 1987. By the grace of God, he let me live to 1988, where I made a decision to bow my knee to him and to repent of my sins and believe the good news of the gospel, and he saved me and he changed my life. And now think about your life. Think about all the Christians that were praying for him to come back the year you got saved. Aren't you glad he didn't answer their prayers because now you're part of the family? It's the great kindness and patience of God that you're here today. And once you allow that to sink in, you realize every generation has been given this gift. It's the gift of time. You don't know how much time you have, but there are moments in life that can be so powerful because, again, moments of clarity where things begin to click. Wait, I'm not gonna live forever. Wait, things aren't always gonna be up and to the right. Wait, wait, he's coming back, and I'm gonna stand on a judgment, and everything's gonna be judged. And I'm not gonna get there because I'm a good person, because I never killed someone, because I go to church once a week, and the only way I'm going to heaven

is my sins have been forgiven, and the only way my sins are forgiven is through my faith and trust in Jesus, who came from heaven to earth. And so this is a moment, we're gonna give you a chance to respond. You see, this requires a decision. Do I bow my knee to Jesus, or do I keep myself in the center of my life? Do I admit I'm a sinner and ask God for forgiveness? Do I pretend like it's not that bad, or that I can do some good things to work off the bad things, and somehow talk God into letting me into heaven? Listen, those are fruitless, aimless thoughts. Jesus said, now I am the way, I am the truth, I am life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. He came on a rescue mission, and today he's still rescuing people. The last service, there was people lined up here who were rescued by God. They didn't come to church thinking they'd be rescued by God, but in a moment of clarity, something happened, and they opened their eyes for the first time to see who God was and how much he loved them, how desperate they were in need of him. And the same is true now. We're gonna play a song. It's about how God pursues us, how he goes after us,

how he's so patient with us, and it's a chance for you to say, you know what? It's my day. It's not tomorrow, it's today. God has picked a day, he calls it today. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day he can turn your life around if you're ready to acknowledge your need. I'm gonna ask you to stand up wherever you are and walk this way, and we're gonna pray a simple prayer at this altar, as you come, because we knew what this meant for us, and we've been praying for this moment for a year, that you would come and experience forgiveness and new life in Jesus. And so wherever you are, stand up and walk this way, and we will celebrate with heaven as you come. ♪ How's your fall, still your love for me? ♪ ♪ How's your fall, still your love for me? ♪ ♪ You've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ I felt no worth, but you paid it all for me ♪ ♪ You've been so, so kind to me ♪ ♪ Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God ♪ ♪ Oh, it chases me down, fights till I'm found ♪ ♪ Leaves the land and I, I couldn't burn it out ♪ ♪ I don't deserve it, still you give yourself it ♪ ♪ Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God ♪ Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Aww, he is so good. Church, can we celebrate these decisions in this new life? This is a beautiful thing that Jesus does. He comes to seek and save the lost. He comes to rewrite our stories to give us a new hope and a new future. And so, in a moment you're gonna say the most powerful words that will ever come out of your mouth as you make this profession, as you confess that you're a sinner. as you ask Him to come and forgive your sins. He's not just gonna forgive your sins, but all the blame of your sins, all the shame of your sins. And whatever part of your life that's become a mess, He's gonna take all that and He's gonna work with you to make this into a message. He's gonna make you a new creation. He's gonna add meaning to all those parts that are broken. He's gonna make all the sad things come untrue. It's what He does.

It's the power of the gospel, the working of God in our lives. And this is just day one of that. So I'm gonna ask you just to repeat a simple prayer out loud to God. He's listening and He's gonna keep His promise as you make your confession. So say this to God. Say this out loud. Lord God, I open my heart and I invite you inside. Forgive my sin. Today I repent. Now fill me with your spirit and I will walk with you all the days of my life. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, guys. Congratulations. Welcome to the family of God. Listen, before you go back to your seats, I wanna ask you for five more minutes. I'm gonna ask you to follow me and our crew over to that open door where we're gonna give you a Bible and have a quick conversation. We'll be back with your friends in just a moment. Church, can we give them a hand as they go this way? And church, let's respond in a song of praise to our King who is worthy of our worship. Let's worship. ики�ашисьが There's no shadow you won't light up

Mountain you won't climb up Coming after me Chimピホニ aja There's no wall you won't kick down Not you won't tear down Coming after me Let's sing it out, I can't believe that There's no shadow you won't light up Mountain you won't climb up Coming after me Oh yes There's no wall you won't kick down Not you won't tear down Coming after me Let's sing that out to our Lord today There's no shadow you won't light up Mountain you won't climb up Coming after me There's no wall you won't kick down Not you won't tear down Coming after me There's no shadow There's no shadow you won't light up Mountain you won't climb up Coming after me There's no wall you won't kick down Not you won't tear down Coming after me Holy overwhelming Never ending

Great is the love of God Oh it chases me down Rise till I'm found Me is a 99 I couldn't earn it I don't deserve it Till you give yourself away Holy overwhelming Never ending Great is the love of God Oh it chases me down Rise till I'm found Me is a 99 I couldn't earn it I don't deserve it Till you give yourself away Holy overwhelming Never ending Great is the love of God Oh it chases me down Thank you for joining us for this evening's opening and please come out on Tuesday for our night of prayer. God bless you and have a great week.