Stand Your Ground | Pastor Brian Aulick | Engedi Church

Amen, amen. Give God a praise. You can go ahead and grab a seat if you would. Well it's so good to see everybody here today and if we haven't met my name is Brian I'm so glad you're at church today if like Pastor Jordan said if it's your first time with us it's just an honor to be able to hang out with you today and I do want to welcome our Grand Rapids campus I want to welcome everybody at Engedia Espanol and I want to give a special welcome to all those who are joining us for church from the Ottawa County Jail and from the Kent County Jail we're just delighted to be one church family studying God's Word together all humble underneath that cross not one person looking down on somebody else or looking up to somebody else how many of you know the ground is level at the foot of the cross amen amen we had a great Easter weekend last weekend every single campus was absolutely packed to the max which was amazing and I want to say thank you to all of the hundreds of volunteers that made Easter happen I want you to know friends your effort and and investment in your church family was worth it on Easter weekend at all of our campuses in total 72 people came home to Jesus Christ on that week and give God a praise for that 72 stories of new life death to life darkness to light and I bless God for that I bless God if you're one of those stories that God has made new and I do want to say man if you haven't been to Engedia 15 yet as a person who's newer to our church please stop by and listen if it ever happens that you invite somebody to church and they haven't been to get it and get a 15 man tell them you'll go with them all right we'll even share some cookie with you too all right that's fine all right that's fine but let them know you go with them so I have to go solo all right and check it out but we've got a great a week coming up today's gonna be great but next weekend man is baptism Sunday let's go it's gonna be a party in this house all right it's gonna be an absolute party and and listen you already heard you can sign up online if you haven't signed up yet but I had a friend a pastor friend named Ryan who's in Phoenix Arizona and they had their baptism service on Easter Sunday which is pretty cool and and it's also pretty

cool this is like a million degrees there so they could just do it outside whenever they want but they had this baptism service and there's a lady and I want to show you her picture her name is Erin and Erin grew up and we know was functioning when she was younger just normal and all that she's actually baptized as a baby but then she got MS multiple sclerosis I always struggle with that second part and Erin no longer has the ability to really use her her arms or her her legs she's got a little feeling but can't use them to function but I just want you to know that Erin in the midst of you know years of pain and loss and at times being angry about God she came to know Jesus Christ and she came to know a Jesus who died on a cross for sins and was raised again to make her new and so Erin put her faith in Jesus and then she realized that the Bible teaches that after you make that personal decision to give your life to Jesus Jesus you declare it out loud publicly through baptism and so here is this woman who it basically can't use her arms or her legs but she says to my friend pastor Ryan could you baptize me could you baptize me and he said I don't know how we'll do it but come on we're gonna figure it out in Jesus name and I just want you to see one testimony of somebody who was obedient to Christ this is just last week and take a look at the video you how many of you know that's an obedience right there that's obedience that's a picture and man here's what I just want to say to you if you haven't been baptized as a believer in Jesus I just want to give you some loving encouragement and challenge listen if Erin can declare her faith in Jesus without being able to use her arms or use her legs if she can be baptized in front of her whole church family the way you just saw right there can I tell you nothing should be able to stand in the way of you obeying Jesus and declaring your resident your read the his resurrection power in your life through baptism nothing should get in your way nothing should get in your way and so if you haven't been baptized man it's not too late you sign up for baptism and fulfill everything Jesus taught about once you are made new you declare it to

your church family and baptism now I'm excited today because we're gonna start a brand new series it's called resurrection saves I want you to shout out resurrection saves man you guys sound good today I'm not gonna lie that was nice Okay, keep that up all day long now. Now here's what we're gonna do for three weeks. Next three weeks, I wanna talk about the power of Jesus' resurrection and how Jesus' resurrection can shape your life and mine. It's interesting, because, you know, I was telling somebody, well, yeah, we're gonna do Easter, which is resurrection, obviously, and then we're gonna do three more weeks on resurrection. They're like, why would you do four weeks in a row on basically Easter, four weeks in a row and as a resurrection? And can I just tell you this, friends? Resurrection Sunday is not supposed to be a day we only celebrate once a year. Resurrection is supposed to shape our lives every single day of the year. That's how it is supposed to work for the follower of Christ. I'll be honest, I didn't know that for a lot of years. I had followed Jesus for a long time, and my focus was mostly what he did on that cross, and I missed a lot of the resurrection. But when I finally came to terms with what we're gonna be talking about over these next weeks, friends, it changed my walk with God.

And I'm just gonna pray it does the same in yours. So I'm gonna pray right now. We're gonna ask God to speak to us. Father, thank you today that you have already been present here. Thank you that you are already working in lives, even in this moment. I pray for the person who's here today who does not yet know you. Would they have that burning in their heart that says, you are trying to reach out to them, that today the day would be the day they turn away from their sin, and they turn towards you and your love for them, Father. Turn towards the cross. I pray for those of us who know you, Jesus, as we start this series today. Would the resurrection speak to us in new ways? We wanna live victorious Christian lives. We wanna be shaped by Easter, not just on Easter, but all year long. And so no matter what is going on, no matter what pain, no matter what distraction, even no matter what victory, Jesus, would your resurrection consume our gaze, and would you help me, help me, Father, to put all the attention on Jesus today. I pray in Jesus' strong name, and we all said. Amen, amen. Well, if you have a Bible,

I wanna ask you to turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. So that's where we're gonna be studying from for three weeks. And you say three weeks in just one chapter. 1 Corinthians 15 is the sixth longest chapter of the entire Bible. It is 100% all on resurrection, 58 verses of pure resurrection power, all right, is chapter 15. And I wanna remind you as you're turning there a little bit of context. So Paul is writing, the apostle Paul is writing to Christians in a city called Corinth. And if you wanna know what Corinth is like, or was like, imagine that like New York and Las Vegas had a baby, all right, and that's Corinth. So it was a crazy place, a lot going on in Corinth. And a big part of the reason why Paul would write this letter, 1 Corinthians, to the Christians gathered at Corinth is because different kinds of errors had slipped into the church, and now he's writing to help correct some of these errors that have slipped in in the Corinthian culture. And so I wanna just start, if we can, by looking at verse one, where Paul says this. Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel that I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

How many of you know we take our stand on the gospel here at Engedi Church, all right? We take our stand on the gospel. Now, Paul is announcing in the very first verse why he is writing this very long chapter on the resurrection and on the gospel. He says, I'm here just, I wanna remind you of the gospel. That's the point. I wanna remind you of what I've told you previously. Why does he need to remind them of the gospel? Because in verse 12, we find out that some in Corinth had been questioning the possibility of resurrection. Some in Corinth had been asking, this whole resurrection thing seems like kind of a crazy idea. Is it actually real? Now, if you were here last week on Easter, you realize the resurrection of Jesus is literally the cornerstone of the entire Christian faith, right? In fact, Paul would say later in 1 Corinthians 15, if you take out the resurrection from the story of Easter, all of Christianity is worthless. That's what a big deal the resurrection of Jesus is. And so this is why Paul is writing to them because they're starting to ask some questions about resurrection. Why are they asking these questions? The Corinthians were absolutely steeped in Greek philosophy. And Greek philosophy had a very low view

of the physical body. For the Greeks, watch this, for the Greeks, the body was not something we would hope someday would be perfected and resurrected in heaven. For the Greeks, your physical body was a prison you were trying to escape out of. So what is happening here is the cultural milieu, the cultural environment they're in, a lot of people who are hostile to the body is pressing on the gospel that says God wants to resurrect our bodies. And what's happening is the culture now, as it bears down on these Christians, is causing them to question some of the core elements of the gospel. Now let me just ask y'all, does the culture still press down against the gospel today? You think the culture still, I was thinking about this, I mean, man, it might be the resurrection, but it might be you feel the culture's press against biblical teaching in other ways. You know, the Bible says it is the word of God, it is the inspired and errant word of God, it is capital T, truth. And I'll tell you, some in our culture would say it is so arrogant you Christians would claim that you think you have the truth. I got my truth, you got your truth, how could you Christians claim that?

Or sometimes people will hear Jesus say I'm the way and the truth and the life, where Jesus says he is the only way to salvation, he's the only way to have a relationship with God. And some in our culture would say how could you Christians, you're so narrow-minded, how could you claim that your Jesus is the only way to God? So narrow-minded, sometimes Christians get thrown off, oh, I don't wanna be narrow-minded. Or maybe it's the Bible's teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman and somebody in our culture says, oh, don't you understand, love is love, what are you, anti-love? So in all kinds of different ways, even today we still feel the pressure of culture bearing down on biblical doctrine and biblical teaching. That's what's happening here. The culture is asking questions about resurrection. Why is Paul so intent to respond to their objections, respond to their questions? Chapter 15, verse two. He said, by this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preach to you. Otherwise, you will have believed in what, church? Faith. This is very important. Paul is gonna take the sixth longest chapter in the Bible to talk about resurrection because, listen, he says, if you hold to the gospel that I gave you,

then you will be in a right relationship with God. If you hold on to the gospel I gave you, then you can have good standing with the God who made you. But, he says, but, if you compromise, if you let go certain aspects of the gospel, then you will have believed in vain, which is to say you will not be a heaven-bound child of God. Paul's saying the reason why this is so important is because if you start letting go of crucial elements of the gospel, you will spend an eternity apart from God in hell, and that's why it is so urgent that he would have this conversation with the Corinthians. I need to tell somebody today, you can't pick and choose which parts of the gospel you're gonna follow. You can't say, I love the idea of a God of love and acceptance, I'm not so sure I like the idea of a God of judgment. I love the idea of a God who has heaven waiting for me and paradise in front of me. I'm not so sure I wanna buy into a God of hell. But, listen, friends, you either trust all of the gospel and have saving faith, or you don't have saving faith at all. That's what the message of 15 in verse two is. I know some of you are uncomfortable with that fact. I'm sorry, I need to say it to you anyway because your eternity is at stake. Paul's saying you can't just go, Christianity is not like a grab bag of doctrines.

I'm just gonna grab that one I like and that one I like and that one I like and call myself a saved Christian, friends. If you're picking and choosing, by definition, you are not a saved Christian. The one who has the confidence of knowing they are spending eternity with God is the one who has believed in and put their trust in the whole gospel of Jesus. That's why Paul is spending some time talking about resurrection. That's why we're spending some weeks talking about resurrection today. And so what does Paul do next? He does actually three things. They're asking about the resurrection. They're, I don't know about all that. And Paul's gonna first remind them of the gospel. Second, he's gonna defend the gospel. And the third thing he's gonna do is show them the fruits of a gospel-lived life. And so watch this. First, he reminds them of the gospel, verse three. He writes, for what I passed, what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance. In other words, the truths that I'm about to say, Paul says, they stand above many other important biblical truths. They are that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried,

and that he was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures. For Paul, these few phrases summarize the core doctrines of Christian faith. Let's look at them a little bit more closely. These phrases assume, first, that each one of us is born into sin, and that, watch this, there is a penalty for our sin that we cannot pay on our own. If you would ever doubt that you have a battle with sin, I'm gonna encourage you, this is homework for today, go to Exodus chapter 20, read the 10 Commandments, and you will find out, probably after the first commandment, I got a sin problem. The very first commandment says, if you've ever put anything ahead of God in your life, anything you've been more passionate about than God, you're in sin. Now, you get through two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, you're like, I'm a disaster, all right? At least that should be your reaction when you read the 10 Commandments. I got some things to work on here. And that's one of the assumptions of the gospel. We're born into sin, and there's a penalty for sin that we cannot pay. But then, here's what else these few verses, three and four, tell us, that Jesus paid the debt for our sins on the cross.

Jordan did such a good job explaining this on Good Friday. If you missed that message, go back and listen to it, because essentially what Jordan was arguing that night is, listen, if you serve a perfectly holy God, and you get crossways with that God, it takes a perfect offering to restore your relationship with him. You can't just be, oh, I'm gonna try to be a better person today. All right, that does not reach the standards of a perfectly holy God. And how many of you know Jesus was the perfect offering paying the penalty for your sin and mine on the cross? He's a perfect, now watch this, number three, out of just these few verses here, third truth of the gospel, that not only did Jesus die on a cross for your sin and mine, but Jesus was raised to life three days later, just as he promised ahead of time. It's really important you realize, Jesus' death on the cross for you was not enough by itself to save you. Romans chapter four says this, Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins, and watch this, was raised to life for what, church? Our justification. Justification is when you're made right with God. In other words, yes, your sins were forgiven through his death on the cross, but we need his resurrection

if we're gonna be made right with God. And then here's the fourth element of the gospel that's highlighted in these verses. In verse three, Paul says, I passed this gospel along to you. And in verse one, he said, you received it. Can I tell you, friends, you experience the gift of salvation simply by receiving it. Receiving it. These verses are incredible picture of grace. Grace is when you receive a free gift that you did not earn. Grace is when God comes to you and says, I love you so much, I was willing to send my son to a cross on your behalf. He was raised to life three days later, and God says to you and me, if you want a relationship with me, you don't have to try to be a really good person, you don't have to try to earn things, you don't have to get enough spiritual merit badges in heaven or something like that, no. Can you open up your hands just like this, friends? Can you open up, this is such a great posture. All you do to experience God's love and grace is you just receive it, just like that. Just receive it. It's a free gift. That's a picture of what Paul is saying here. So this is his summary of the gospel.

Very first thing he does, simply reminds them of what the gospel does or what the gospel is. And then the next thing he does, he said, I'm gonna defend the gospel now. And not just defend any part of the gospel, I'm gonna defend the resurrection because that's the part of the gospel y'all are questioning. Verse four says, Jesus was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And he appeared to Cephas and then to the 12. After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep, some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to the apostles, and last of all, Paul says, he appeared to me also as to one abnormally born. How would you like that title for yourself? Reason why Paul calls himself abnormally born is he came to know Jesus after Jesus was raised from the dead, not before, like the rest of the apostles. Now, what's Paul doing here as he goes through? He appeared to this person and he appeared to this person. Paul is listing all of the eyewitnesses that encountered the resurrected Christ. They're questioning resurrection. The Corinthians are like, I don't know. Is it real?

Could it be? I'm not so sure. And Paul's like, you don't need to question. Like, just talk to the people that were there. We're not making this stuff up, friends. Just talk to the evidence, to the real people who are the evidence that Jesus really did raise. We had conversations with them. What are you talking about? And he lists all these people out. I need to say something really important today. I need you to know today, Christianity is not based on vibes and Christianity is not based on feelings. Christianity is based on historical, verifiable facts. I don't believe in Jesus because he just feels true in my heart. Jesus was a real person who died on a real cross and was really raised to life again. And there were all kinds of witnesses to that fact, church. This is the ground we stand on. We don't stand on sentiment. We don't stand on how I feel. Some say, oh, yes, but I just feel like, yes, I don't feel very close to Jesus. Guess what? I'm bummed that you don't feel close to Jesus, but that doesn't change the fact that Jesus is as real as he was

and raised to life again, all right? Like, don't tie your convictions to your feelings, all right? Your feelings are not the basis for your faith. Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is why we believe in Jesus. And some days I feel real close to him and other days, not as much. But that doesn't change how true he is, right, church? So Paul first reminds them of the gospel. Secondly, he defends the gospel. And then watch this. The third thing he does is he highlights for them the fruits of the gospel. This is important. It's easy sometimes for people to think just because they understand what the gospel is and maybe even they affirm the truth of the gospel. That that actually makes them Christians. But for friends, the one who is an actual Christian is the one who has put their life's trust in the gospel. And Paul wants us to see here that if your life's trust is put in the gospel, it will produce certain fruits in your life. He's gonna talk about two of them right here. Check it out. Verse nine. Paul writes, for I am the least of the apostles. My man's hard on himself, right? I'm one abnormally born and now I'm the least of the apostles.

Wow. He said, I don't even deserve to be called an apostle. Why? Because I persecuted the church of God. But watch this, verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. Somebody say, I am what I am. Why does Paul call himself the least of the apostles? Because quite simply, before Paul met Jesus, he was a terrible person. Paul literally made a career out of hunting Christians down, accusing them of following Christ, getting them arrested, getting them thrown into jail, and supervising their execution. I don't want a friend like that. Paul was a terrible person. This is why he calls himself the least of the apostles. But watch this. The same person who persecuted Christians put his trust in Jesus Christ and the moment he gave his life to Jesus, Paul knew, he received a new identity as a child of God. He put it this way in Galatians 2, verse 20. These are Paul's own words. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ. Everybody shout out, but Christ. But Christ lives in me. Paul got a new identity.

He's no longer defined by all of his failures. He's no longer defined by the worst of the worst. When he watched people get killed for following Jesus, and can I tell you, he's also not defined by his past successes. Paul was a very successful, very wealthy, very accomplished, very educated man. And Paul said, none of the successes matter and none of the failures matter because I'm a new man in Jesus Christ. Can I tell somebody today, if the gospel takes root in your heart, if you put your trust in Jesus, the first thing that happens is you get a new identity in Christ. From that point forward, you are a blood bought child of the living God. You get a new, your failures, listen, the devil will keep pulling your failures back, remind you of how you blew it. But what about those people you persecuted? He said to Paul, I'm a new man. The devil will say, yeah, but look at all the things you've accomplished. That makes you important. No, I'm a new man in Jesus. I'm so thankful for this, man. When I think about my identity, I'm so thankful that I don't have to think of myself as the lust-filled fornicator that I was when I was young.

I'm also thankful that my identity is not. to, oh, he's a successful Lord's Church pastor. How dumb is that? Friends, I don't want to be defined by successes, and I don't want to be defined by failures. I want to be defined by my identity in Jesus Christ. I want to be defined that I'm a child of God. That's how I find out who I am. And that's the first thing that happens when you give your life to Jesus. You get a new identity. Now watch this. Back to verse 10, but by the grace of God, Paul says, I am what I am. And his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder. Everybody say, worked harder. I worked harder than all of them. I worked harder than all the other apostles, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. Here's what Paul's saying. Saying the saving grace of Jesus has remade him from the inside out. And now instead of just living for himself, instead of just living for his own accomplishments and accolades, now Paul says, because of the grace of Jesus, I work hard for Jesus. Because of everything he gave up for me on that cross, I can't not but give everything in my life back to him. Not out of obligation, not out of guilt, not to prove something, but simply out of gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus to make this sinner a new man. That's why he says he worked harder now. Man, I love this. I love that Paul says, after everything you did for me, Jesus, how can I not give you back my best time, my best talent, my best resources, my best everything? I remember a while back, there's a family that has been a tremendous blessing to En Gedi over the years, and they're not even part of En Gedi, they've just been huge supporters and fans and invested in our church and invested in me as a leader, and I have such gratitude for them. But I remember one time this family who never asked for anything, just blessed and blessed and blessed some more, and I remember they asked if I could step up and help them in a certain way. And the help they were asking for was costly, and it was cumbersome, and it was gonna be a little bit intense. And so they said, Brian, would you be willing to give us a hand during this season? What do you think I said, church? Yes. And watch this,

this is so important. I didn't say yes because I needed to pay them back. I didn't say yes because I would feel guilty if I said no, even though I didn't want to do it. I said yes with overwhelming joy in my heart because I was filled with gratitude for all they had done for me and for our church in the past. It was an incredible privilege to inconvenience myself that I might serve this family. Can I say to you, friends, that's how the gospel is supposed to work. When you look at this cross and you say, this Jesus was nailed to this cross for my sins, your heart should be so filled with gratitude for forgiveness, so heart filled with gratitude for restoration, so filled with gratitude for your second chance, then you say, how can I do anything but not give back my very best to Jesus who gave everything for me? God, take my time, take my money, take my resources, all I can do, and I do it in joy. I do it in joy. I don't do it to earn anything. I don't do it, God, if I just tithe, would you give me some blessings then? God, if I just serve at church, you got to pay me back on the other side. I do it because after everything you did for me, it is a delight to give back to him. And that's the second fruit of this gospel. One's a new identity, and the other is a new work ethic for the kingdom of God. And by the way, I just need to say a big old shout out right now, because we've got a big volunteer party coming up here, and I was thinking about this, all these people who are part of our serve team here in Getty, and I asked my assistant, I was like, hey, I'm just curious, like across all of our campuses, how many different people do we have that help make this church go? Because how many of you know our few staff don't make the church go? Can I tell you? She said we have 1,010 serve team members here at Getty. We need to make some noise for them. 1,010 people who have said, the cross will not be in vain in my life, but I'm gonna respond to Jesus' sacrifice by saying, Jesus, how can I invest in your bride, which is the local church? Wow. Wow. And so Jesus, I should say Paul, reminds them of the gospel. He defends the gospel. He says these are the fruits of the gospel. Like if you want to know, not if you're just who talks like a Christian, but somebody who is actually a Christian, who is a

saved follower of Christ. you will receive a new identity, you will work hard for the kingdom of God, and then the question that the Corinthians were asking, and the questions that probably some of you and I are asking, is what do we do with all this? Where are we supposed to go with all this, Paul? He answers that question back in verse 2. Paul says, by this gospel you are saved. If you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Somebody shout out, hold firmly. Paul said, watch, here's what you do with this. Here's what you do. I want you to take all these gospel truths that I gave you, and I want you to actually, I want you to cling to them your whole life. He said, I want you to take all this content. I just, I just reminded you the gospel. I defended the gospel. I showed you the fruits of the gospel. Now what I want you to do is cling to the gospel, no matter what the world throws at you. Cling to the gospel. Man, the Greek behind that, hold firmly, this is not like when I hold my kid's hand on the way to the playground. The Greek behind that word, hold firmly, is like when I hold my kid's hand when I'm stepping next to a subway station. How many of you know, man, I got iron death grip on that kid's hand at that point, right? Man, they might not have any blood left in their hand, but they're gonna still be alive when I'm done holding their hand. That's what he's talking about right here. Hold firmly. No matter what the world throws at you, church, hold firmly to the gospel. What's that look like in practice? It looks like when the world tells you, you're such a good person, just accept yourself the way you are. You say, no, I'm actually a terrible person, but I'm loved by a great Savior who has forgiven my sins and is making me every bit the person he's called me to be. What's it look like to hold firmly to the gospel? It looks like the world when it tells you, hey, you need to prove yourself. You need to prove your worth by how you look on the outside. You need to prove your worth by how many likes you get on social media, and you say, I don't need to prove nothing because I've already been made worthy in Jesus Christ. I'm already caught up in the worthy one. When the culture says, you need to build your identity on your job, the job you do

or the performance you give, you say back with the gospel, listen, I don't need to build my own identity. I've already received an identity from heaven. I'm a child of God. When the world says, listen, you need to go find your security in your bank account. You need to find your security in a nice fat 401k. Here's what you say back. Actually, the world, my greater security is in the reward Jesus has waiting for me in heaven. That's the gospel. What's it mean to cling to the gospel? What's it mean to hold on to these truths? The world comes to you and says, indulge your senses. Do whatever makes you feel good. Lust, fornicate, get drunk, it doesn't matter. And you say, actually, I'm going to deny my flesh because watch this, there is no higher pleasure nor any greater joy than delighting in the love that God has for me. What does it mean to hold on to the gospel? It means in this world when it says, follow your own truth, there's nothing higher than my truth and it means you say, no, I follow a crucified Savior and not only that, I follow a risen King. Are we preaching yet today church? What's it mean to cling to the gospel? It means when the world tells you, you are a victim of the circumstances you are born into, you are a victim of the family you were born into, you say, I am sorry world, I am NOT a victim, I am a victor in Jesus Christ. As long as I am caught up in Him, I will conquer all things in Jesus. What's it mean to cling to the gospel? What's it mean to hold on to these truths? It means when the world tells you, don't be so zealous and passionate for your religion, don't get so worked up about God and Jesus, could we just keep it chill? And your response back is, you think this is zealous? After the passion that Jesus Christ showed for me on the cross, I'm gonna get even more undignified than this. I got even more in my heart. When I look up at this cross, I can't hold back. All I can do is give Him praise. He made me new. He forgave my sins. He restored me. He healed me. He put me on a new path. You think this is, you think this is great? I'm gonna get even more undignified than this. All I'm gonna do is give Him my best worship. All I can do is give Him my best praise. That's all I know how to do to respond to a Savior like that.

That's what it means to hold firmly. Somebody shout out, hold firmly. The gospel, listen to me now, the gospel is not the ABCs of the Christian faith. The gospel is the A to Zs of Christian faith. right the gospel doesn't just help you start a relationship with God the gospel is the very thing that sustains your relationship with God all the way until you meet Jesus Christ face to face and so church hold firmly to the gospel the world is coming at you how many of you know the world is coming at you the world is coming at the gospel the world is coming at every truth you know from the Bible let's be a church who holds firmly to the gospel I missed all that pressure let me pray for you father today I just want to say thank you for the gospel thank you for these truths God that you love us so much that you would send Jesus all the way from the glory of heaven to come to earth to live a perfectly holy life and instead of simply receiving the rewards of that life letting Jesus go to the cross to take the burden for our sins thank you father for that gospel thank you that the one who would die on a cross for sins did not stay dead but was raised to life three days later that we might step into victory and listen some of you today just gonna stay in this place of prayer some of you today have yet to begin a relationship with Jesus the gospel is the beginning of that relationship you begin a relationship with God when you say I'm going to repent of my sin I'm gonna put my trust in Jesus and his death for me on the cross and I'm gonna start following him day by day with the power of his resurrection in my life if you're at church today and you have not made that commitment to give your life to Jesus God brought you here so you would take that step I'm gonna count to three and I say three I'm gonna ask you just put your hand in the air if today's the day you want to give your life to Jesus not gonna embarrass your call you out this is a chance for you with raised hand to say to God today is the day I'm coming home today is the day I must start holding firmly to the gospel and so one I want you to know God loves you so much that he gave his son to die on a cross for your sins to that same Jesus who

died on a cross was raised to life three days later so that as you would put your trust in him you too could be raised to life and three if you want to give your life to Jesus today I want to ask you whatever campus you're at put your hand in the air right now if today's the day by raised hand you're saying God I want to give you my life God today is the day I want to take that step and be a child of God today is the day I want to receive forgiveness of sins I'm telling you if that's you put your hand in the air as a way of saying I see God bless you anybody else who's saying today's my day today's the day I need to say all the way in the back good job anybody at Grand Rapids right now and you can put your hands down father I just say with every person who had raised hand thank you that they are making the decision right now to put their life's trust in you with their sins be forgiven that this could begin an amazing journey of following you with their whole lives holding nothing back and father I want to pray right now for those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ would you help us fight the battles we face in this world with the power of the gospel and so for the person today who's attempting to build their identity on their performance I pray God you would remind them they do not have to build an identity because they have received one they are children of God bring them back home to who they are I pray for the person who today is feeling like they need to create their own security through a large bank account or investment account and God would they be reminded today the gospel promises them their best security is the eternal reward they have in Jesus Christ I pray for the person today father who's in the process of indulging their flesh they're doing whatever they think will make them feel good would today be the day they choose to delight first and foremost in the love that you have for them denying flesh that they might say yes to Jesus I pray for the person who walked in here today in a victim mentality feeling like they're always losing they're always getting held back that they never can take a step forward and I pray in the power of the resurrection that the person who came in here as a victim would leave as a victor they would know they have been raised up

with you Jesus and they are more than conquerors with you and then finally God I pray for the person who walk in here today and even right now is living for themselves living for their own goals living for their own career career limiting their witness to Jesus and I pray for those Christians and in the sound of my voice in that place that we would start even now living with abandoned to you God just as you Jesus were abandoned for us with this mark you end of selfish living with this mark the end of doing what our feels good with this mark the beginning Jesus of what we say you are the leader of our life you're the Lord of our life we will follow you with all who we are we pray it in the strong name of Jesus and everybody said amen amen can we celebrate some new life in the house today church oh it's so good to see people come home to Jesus and listen if you took that step today or maybe you've taken that step recently you see some people in the aisles they got Bibles they've got a little book that's free and they've got a card with that book and I want you to wave to them get their attention and if you made a decision they're gonna get you that book and those books I should say fill out the card that they give you when you walk in and turn it in the drop boxes here's why I want you to fill out the card I just want to text you this week and encourage you and I got some resources for you so let's stand to our feet let's stand to our feet again if you need one of those Bibles just wave to the folks that are walking down the aisles but what do you say church that in these last moments of the gathering we worship Jesus with as much zeal as he showed us on the cross can we do that let's lift up his name today