The One Thing That Matters Most | Brad Leach

It's just good to be here at what for us is home away from home. APC is family to us, and it's good to be with you. We have been through a lot these past three months, haven't we? Hard to believe it's been three months since Pastor Jeff suddenly passed away, and I'm just grateful for God's faithfulness, his presence every step of the way, for a healthy church that is growing, that is strong. Hearing just so many reports from Soul Care Weekend, the way in which God is continuing to meet people in grief and provide healing and perspective and vision for the future, and so God is good. And I want to share with you today on behalf of the overseers an exciting update about the future of the church. You know, when Pastor Jeff first passed away, for that first month, our focus really was on making sure that the church was stable and making sure that the church had consistent ministry and impact happening in the community. And really, one advantage that we had was Pastor Jeff, in his wisdom, left an emergency succession plan. And so our focus that first month was really implementing that plan. Pastor Joe stepped in as our intern pastor. And hasn't Pastor Joe done an amazing job, everybody, with the staff? And we're just so grateful. I want to honor you. You have just provided so much steady leadership. Rachel, thank you guys for all that you have poured out. We're just so grateful. And really, that first month, that was the prayer. God, help us just to absorb this shock. Help us to stabilize and provide consistent ministry. And then a couple months ago, we really began to make a shift as the overseers, thinking about the future. And in particular, what's it going to look like to identify the next lead pastor for the church? And so we looked at the bylaws of the church, the governing documents for APC that outline how that process should work. And the responsibility was to the overseers initially to select and to begin to interview a candidate for the position. And then that would be followed by the transition team here at Allison Park Church, which is a combination of APC's board members and some of the executive staff who would then follow up to interview the candidate as well. And as we began to outline what that process could look like, one of the first things we did was to prayerfully create what we call the lead pastor profile. And that was to understand what's the mission, what's the vision and the values of APC, and what would be the qualities in the next leader that we believe God would raise up to lead that vision forward into the future. Because we really do believe that the best days for this church are ahead of her. And so that profile really became, okay, a roadmap and what we were praying for and looking for. And then we also knew that Pastor Jeff was about halfway through a 10-year succession plan in which he was already

beginning to prepare the church for his eventual transition out of the lead pastor role. And so we tried to learn, okay, what was Pastor Jeff thinking and how was he thinking about that process? And specifically, what were the principles of succession that he had in mind that he was beginning to learn and put into place? And as we thought about his succession plan, as we put together that lead pastor profile, there was one question that rose to the surface that began to frame the process for us. And here was that question. Is there a leader already in the house who has the leadership ability to lead the church into the future and build on the foundation that's already here? Which really is best practice. That's the best case scenario. When you have a transition for a church that's healthy, that's growing, that has a strong foundation, the prayer is, is there somebody that's already here that internalizes the culture, that has those values and embodies those values, that also has the leadership ability to lead the church into the future in a way that builds on and takes it even further what God has already done? And as we began to think about that question, we felt like God gave us a really clear answer that there is a leader here in the house who fits all of those qualifications. And so about a month ago, the overseers invited the Hampton Campus pastor here at APC, Pastor Josh Leak, to enter into an interview process. And over the last four weeks, listen, Pastor Josh has been through the gauntlet. We have had him in interviews. He's been through four interviews with the overseers, with the transition team. And every single one of those interviews have just been filled with God's spirit. They have been deeply encouraging, robust, comprehensive conversations as we have looked at his experience. But really what's encouraged us so much is the vision that God is giving him for the future. of the church, being able to see, obviously, his character, the humility that he has lived with for many years already on staff here at the church, and the sense of calling and competency that we see in him in this season. And so, I am very happy to announce today that the overseers, the transition team, every member of both teams have unanimously selected Pastor Josh Lee to be the candidate

for lead pastor here at Allison Park Church. Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! It's good news, good news. We believe that God's hand is on Pastor Josh, and that God's called him, and he's ready to lead the church into the future. And so here's what that means over the next few weeks.

The last step in the process, according to the bylaws, is for the members of the church to vote to affirm the candidate. And so that's gonna happen two weeks from today, on May 17, there will be a members meeting, a business meeting, right here at the Hampton campus, in the evening, on May 17. So over the next couple of weeks, Pastor Josh will be preaching on the weekends. You'll have the opportunity to continue to hear his heart. And then on May 17, that meeting will take place. And so you're gonna get a lot of information about that. I think there's an email going out later today that's gonna have a lot of the details in it. You'll get all the information that you need to be equipped. And if you are not a member of the church, you are welcome to attend that meeting on May 17, or you can watch online. But the voting will be limited to the members here at the church. And what I wanna just ask you to do over the next couple of weeks is what we have been doing from the beginning over these past three months. Just continue to pray that God's hand will be on this process all the way through the finish line. This transition is a surprise to us, but it was not a surprise to God. His hand is on this church, and he's gonna see us all the way through

the finish line of this transition. So will you continue to pray with us? Amen. Well, you may notice that I'm sporting some new footwear here today, and that's because I'm a trendsetter, and all the cool kids are wearing these boots. You can go order yours on Amazon this afternoon. But if you're wondering what happened to my leg, I injured it while jumping out of a moving vehicle to save a kitten that was about to be hit by a bus. That's not true, that's not true. But it's way cooler than the truth, which is I was walking around in my new shoe, and I was walking down the sidewalk and popped a bunch of the muscle fibers in my calf. So that's what happens to young men these days, I guess. But I wanna tell you a story today from the life of Jesus, Luke chapter 10. And I wanna talk about what do you do when people are driving you crazy? I know nobody in here can relate with that. What do you do when people are driving you crazy? And this is a story that is a simple story about two sisters, how many of you have a sister? I'm gonna help you today, I'm gonna encourage you. Luke 10, verse 38, here's what it says. As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village

where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me. But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There's only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. This village that Jesus was coming into, the name of it was Bethany. It was about two miles from Jerusalem. It's a village that you see named a lot in the Gospels because Jesus and his disciples spent a lot of time in Bethany. It was like a retreat center for them, a home away from home, and they spent a lot of time at the home of this family. Now, this family is really famous for another story in the Gospels. Mary and Martha had a brother named Lazarus, and you probably recognize his name, Lazarus, as somebody that Jesus raised from the dead. What I love about this story

is that most of us in our lives, we only have one or two of those dramatic, epic, raised from the dead kind of moments in our lives where God just moves in an unbelievable way like that. Most of spiritual growth that we experience happens in moments like this, simple moments on a Wednesday night when you're fighting with your family over who's gonna clean up the dishes. And it's in those moments when there's relational drama that God is often doing his best work. working us to forge our character, to make us more like Jesus. And so I wanna today share with you a couple of thoughts from this story. And here's the first one. Learn to appreciate what's different about others. When you think about your roommate, when you think about your wife, or your husband, or your kids, we think about drama in our relationships. Here's what I want you to do. Learn to appreciate what's different about them. Verse 38 says this. As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. So let's set the stage. Martha welcomes Jesus in.

It's an awesome thing that she did. She welcomes him in, and it says here that this was her home. So the idea is that Martha, this is like her nest, she's the queen bee. She's keeping everything in order and organized, and she's probably paying the bills. And Jesus shows up with his whole entourage. They come into town, and Martha realizes, man, they're gonna need a place to stay. It's probably gonna be my house. They're gonna need something to eat. It's probably gonna end up being my cooking. And so she snaps into motion, and she's probably freaking out like a lot of us would have been. She's in her sweats. She hasn't had a shower. She wasn't planning on this. And now, 2,000 years ago in a rural village, she can't door dash dinner in. There's no store to run to to get last minute supplies. She can't food poison Jesus. She's the savior of the universe. That's gonna be a problem. And so she is trying to pull off Dinner Impossible. And we're often hard on Martha when we talk about this story. If you've ever heard a message from this story before, usually it ends up, Mary's the good guy.

Martha's the bad guy. Be more like Mary. Don't be like Martha. Everybody needs to sit at the feet of Jesus. And all the Marthas in the room are thinking, sure, that's great. Everybody sit at the feet of Jesus. Nobody's gonna have anything to eat. And the only reason that Mary even has a house to sit her cute little hiney down in is I'm slaving away, making everything happen around here. And so we can be hard on Martha and we condemn all the Marthas, which really doesn't help Martha because then the moral of the story for her is great. Now I got even more things to put on my to-do list. Now, not only do I have to cook dinner and do the dishes and change the sheets for all the filthy disciples to be able to sleep, but now I also gotta memorize the Bible verse and read my Bible plan and pray and choke Mary. And I got all of this on my list now. So I'm even busier than I was before. But verse 39 says this. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he taught. So we see the juxtaposition here of the two of them. Martha's slaving away in the kitchen. Mary's sitting at Jesus' feet. And the reality is they're just really different.

And I wonder how many of you have a brother or a sister who's different from you? I've got four kids, and I'm pretty sure they all come from Leah and I. But they are all so different from one another. And here's Martha. She's the oldest. How many are the oldest? Seems like she's kinda the leader. She's the practical one. She's the person in each situation that ends up taking charge. She's quick to tell other people what they need to be doing. Mary, she wants to make sure everybody feels warm and cozy inside. Martha's focused on responsibilities. Are we getting everything done? Mary's thinking about relationships. Is everybody here connecting? How's everybody feeling? Mary wants a full heart. Martha wants a full schedule. Mary's sitting down with Jesus. Martha doesn't understand how anybody can sit down. Martha sits down for three seconds, and she sees the dust on the lamps. Somebody's gotta clean it. And she remembers what she's gotta pick up from the store on Friday,

and thinks I better write that down quick before I forget. And so, here they are, they're different. And I wonder, which one are you? I'm gonna ask you to pick a team. How many of you would do a little informal survey and would say that you are a Martha? Let me see your hand. You're Martha. Okay, you can put it down. How many Marys we got in the room? You're a Mary. There are definitely more Marys in the room. You just don't know it. The Marthas in your life, they'll let you know. Guys, if this is making you uncomfortable, you can go with Marv or Marty, whatever helps. But here's the point of that little exercise. Most of the conflict that happens in our relationships, it doesn't happen because one person is right and the other person is wrong. It usually happens because two people are different, and we have different personalities, and God's wired us to see the world through a different lens and from a different perspective, and we carry different burdens, and we have different approaches to life. And here's why we need humility. Just because your approach is different, it doesn't mean it's better. So what if we could flip the script

and actually focus on the image of God in one another, and instead of asking the question, how can I get you to change, and how can I get you to be more like me? Instead, ask the question, how can I appreciate who God has created you to be, and how can I value what you bring to the relationship? If you think about that person at work who just kind of gets on your nerves. What if you could flip the script and put yourself in their shoes and see the world through their eyes and figure out, well, what's their love language and what's their communication style? And maybe you figure out their working genius or their Myers-Briggs personality type. And instead of just competing and clashing with each other, how can we actually compliment each other and work together as a team? In marriage, this is so important because what attracts you to somebody when you're dating them, you're attracted to what's different about them, aren't you? We're attracted to, it's true, opposites attract, that I see something in you that I don't really have and we're drawn to people who are different than we are. And if you've ever gotten a call maybe from your best friend after she's been on the first date

and after the first date, it's like, man, we're just, he's perfect for me, she's perfect for me. And that call, it's so funny because she's on the phone saying, oh, it was amazing and we're just perfect for each other and we were eating and he told this joke, it was really kind of dumb, nobody laughed, but I could tell he was just trying so hard, it was so cute. And then after dinner, he had this little burp and it was adorable. And then I went over to his apartment and his socks are just all over the floor and I could just tell he needs me, he needs me in his life and I'm perfect for him and he's perfect for me. And you know exactly where this conversation is going because you get married and six months later, it sounds like this, I can't stand this guy. His jokes are dumb, nobody laughs at him, he's always embarrassing me, burping everywhere we go, leaving his underwear out on the floor at home, I can't stand it, what's going on? And what happens is you begin to resent the thing that initially you appreciated about the other person. I was thinking back when Leah and I were doing our premarital counseling, we actually did our premarital counseling with Pastor Jeff and Pastor Melody. And one of the things that they shared with us, I've never forgotten it,

they said what you appreciate, appreciates. If you own a house and you take care of that home and you appreciate it, what's gonna happen over time, that house is gonna appreciate in value. The same thing's true in a relationship. When you appreciate the other person, they actually grow in value in your eyes. And what would it look like even in your marriage to begin to appreciate the thing that originally attracted you to them? And it's so true in parenting as well. Listen, parents, let me just encourage you, if your kids are different than you, that's a good thing because God has created them with a unique plan in mind for their lives. And I've been tempted at times as a dad to try to get my kids to live out my plan for them. When I was growing up, I loved sports, I loved playing sports, and I thought when I have kids, they're just all gonna love sports and they're gonna wanna play sports and they're gonna be good at sports. Some of them do, some of them don't. And so what I've had to learn to do is figure out, learn about theater and learn about music and learn about some things that I really didn't know much about before as I learned that God has wired my kids differently from one another, differently from me. And my job is not to get them to live out my plan

for their life, my job is to shepherd their hearts and listen to their hearts and help them live out God's plan for their lives. And so parents, listen, let me just encourage you, love the kids you have, not the kids you wish you had. Maybe you're in a blended family and it feels a little messy and you look at other families and it seems like they've got it so much better. Love the family you're in, not the family you wish you were in. We're gonna appreciate the differences. And then second thing that I wanna give you as we think about this story is this, clearly and graciously communicate your expectations. There's often a gap in our relationships between what we expect from the other person and what we actually experience in that relationship. And what happens when there's a gap between the expectations and the experience is it often fills with things like frustration and disappointment, we get disappointed in the relationship and resentment, and if the gap fills with those unhealthy attitudes, over time it will create some distance in the relationship. And so I wanna keep reading here and let's look at what's going on in Martha's heart. Verse 40. It says, Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.

So she came to Jesus and parents, you're gonna recognize this line. Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? This isn't fair. I'm doing all the work, Dad. I'm doing all the work, Mom. Sister, brother, they're in there playing with Legos. And here she is and she says, Jesus, I need you to help me out. Tell her to come in here and help me. And when you think, where is Martha's anxiety coming from? It's coming from the fact that she has an expectation about her sister that isn't being met. She is expecting Mary to be in the kitchen helping her with dinner. Mary's not doing it and Mary's in the living room and she's spending time with Jesus and Martha's frustrated because this expectation isn't being met and to me, I think the implication is that she really hasn't talked about this with Mary because when she gets mad, she just kind of explodes and she bypasses Mary and she just goes straight to Jesus and you can feel her frustration because we get frustrated in our relationships when our expectations aren't being met and again, this happens so naturally. It happens almost automatically in marriage because when you walk down the aisle and you say I do and you enter into a marriage with somebody,

all of the hopes and the dreams that you had for marriage for years, all of a sudden, they become expectations. It's like you flip a switch and all of those hopes and dreams, they are expectations and now you just expect, we're gonna have dinner together every night at six o'clock because that's what my family did growing up and we're gonna have sex every day, probably three times a day and you're gonna do the laundry for us because that's what my mom did for my dad and it was great and you're gonna take the trash out every Tuesday night and manage the budget because that's what my dad did for my mom and that was great and you have these expectations and you know, Leah, before we got married, for years as a girl growing up, she had this dream that she was gonna get married someday and that she and her husband would read books to each other out loud. And I did not know about this dream until we got married and we were on our honeymoon. It was like the second or third day of our honeymoon. We sat down on the couch and she pulled out a book and I said, what are you doing? She said, well, I thought we could read to each other. I said, what? She said, well, I'll read a couple paragraphs out loud and then you read a couple paragraphs out loud.

My parents did this with each other. It was amazing and I thought we could do this and I said, okay and so we started reading to each other. I made it three minutes, haven't read again with her in 18 years of marriage. I said, I'm out, I can't do this. Pray for Leah. That's the gap. And so when there's a gap between what I expected my coworker to do, what I expected my roommate to do and they didn't do it, what do you do to fill that gap? I wanna give you three things to fill it with and the first is just a conversation. Talk about the gap. Instead of expecting them to read your mind, sit down and communicate the expectations, the second thing, and this is the most important thing, is to fill the gap with grace. Fill the gap with grace. How many of you, when you were growing up, your parents gave you an allowance? And that's the idea is that you just, when you wake up in the morning, I'm just gonna decide, I'm gonna give an allowance to my wife. I'm gonna give an allowance to my kids today. I'm gonna give an allowance to my team and the staff that I work with at the church. I'm just gonna, right out of the gate today, I'm gonna give them space to be human. I'm gonna give them space to be imperfect.

I'm gonna give them an allowance of grace and I'm not gonna demand more from them than God demands from me. You know, part of learning to walk in unity and community is to not be so easily offended by people and to just decide, I'm gonna go into relationships and I'm gonna be a grace dealer and I'm gonna be difficult to offend. I'm gonna decide God's been patient with me and God's been gracious to me and God's been forgiving toward me and so that's gonna be my reflex to let his kindness and his patience and his grace flow through me to the people who are around me, even when there's a gap. I mean, is anybody else grateful for Jesus? Anybody grateful for the grace of Jesus, that Jesus came and when we least deserved it, he lived the life we couldn't live so that he could die in our place, not because we were his friends. While we were still sinners, Jesus died for us and he went to the cross for us and he made the way for us to know God. We didn't deserve his mercy, I didn't deserve his grace, but he gave it to me anyway and when I understand that and I experience it and I'm changed by it, well now, I can fill the gap with grace and I can say, even though you don't deserve this and there's a grace, there's a gap here right now,

I'm gonna fill it with grace, the same grace that I've received. And then the third thing, if you've communicated and you've filled the gap with grace and there's still tension, is to create a boundary and here's what I'll just say simply about a boundary. A boundary is just setting the limits. It's just setting the limits to say, here's what I'm gonna do, here's what I'm not gonna do. I've got limits to how much I can do. I've got limits to how much I can carry. Martha says, I got limits to how much I can cook. I've got some limits here and so here's what I need you to do in the relationship, here's what I'm gonna do, here's what I'm not gonna do. You set those boundaries, but we're gonna clearly and graciously communicate those expectations. And then here's the third thing I wanna leave you with today that really is the most important and it's this, we're gonna reap. position our hearts in the presence of God. Reposition your heart in the presence of God. Let's keep reading here, verses 41 and 42 as we finish the story. But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you're worried and upset over all these details. There's only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.

Jesus kind of winks at Martha, and I chuckle because I've had so many of these moments with God, myself. And Jesus says to Martha, I think with the most gentle, gracious tone, he says, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha. Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha. Thanks for the cooking. Super excited about the casserole. But the problem here is not Mary. The problem here is you. Ever had that moment with the Lord? And it's possible that if we're not careful, we start to look at the world through our own dysfunctional lens, through our own dysfunction. We start to get mad, you know, saying, well, why isn't everybody else as overcommitted as I am? Why isn't everybody else as overwhelmed as I am? And don't you care, and don't they care? And Martha even says to Jesus, don't you care? And Jesus says, I care more than you could ever know, and actually, what I want more than anything is you. I want your heart. And in our relationships, there are so many practical things we can do to bring health into our relationships, but the single greatest investment you can make into your relationships with others

is to invest into your relationship with God, because every single second you spend sitting at the feet of Jesus will make you better in the kitchen. I'm a better husband when I'm with God. I'm a better dad. I'm a better leader. I'm a better pastor when I'm with God. When I'm not with God, I get critical. I get judgmental. I get impatient and insecure and anxious. I get hurried in my life. But when we're with the Lord, you know, what's so important about this is that if we are not on a daily basis drinking in the grace of God, then no wonder we're demanding of other people in our lives. And I think for a lot of us, the reason we're so demanding of others is that we think that's how God feels toward us. Like Martha, we think that Jesus has all these expectations and Jesus is coming, I gotta clean, and then I gotta cook, and then I gotta get the beds ready, and Jesus is saying, I actually came because I wanted to spend time with you. And some of you, you're so distracted from the main thing and you're running all over the place trying to keep everything in order and make everything happen.

And Jesus is saying, all of that's great, and the to-do list and the teams and the ministry and everything that you're doing, it's awesome serving all the needs around you, but really what I want more than any of that is you, your heart, your attention, your affection, time with you. And when that begins to happen and Jesus quiets your heart and brings peace to your inner world, peace to your inner life, it will transform even the most difficult relationships in your life. You come into them a little bit softer, a little bit more hopeful. And so here's what we need to do because the problem for all of us, isn't this the problem? We live in a Martha world. We live in a Martha world, we take our laptops on vacation, we've got in our pockets these devices, we sleep right next to them that are constantly keeping us connected to the world. We live in a Martha world. And so here's the challenge for all of us. We've got to find Mary moments in a Martha world. The goal is not get rid of Martha. God help us, nothing will get done. We need Martha.

And really inside each of us, there should be some Martha and some Mary in each of us. The challenge is just this, let's just get the order right. Mary's heart, Martha's hands. Mary moments in a Martha world. And when you begin to experience that, the transformation is unbelievable. Jesus says to Martha, you are worried about so many things. And in the original language, that word for anxiety, that word for worry, it literally means to pull apart in different directions, in many directions. And for many of us, we are being pulled apart at the seams into so many different directions. Well, I got to get this done on Tuesday, and then I got to go over there on Thursday, and I can't forget to pick up the thing on Friday. And we're just being pulled in so many different directions. And Jesus is saying, I want your heart, and I want your thoughts, and I want your attention. flowing in one direction, and that's toward me. And when it's all flowing toward me, guess what? All the rest of this stuff gets done, and I'll help you take care of the rest of it. I'll give you the energy, I'll give you the wisdom. You can trust me with all of it, but when your heart is flowing toward me, there's a calm, there's a peace,

there's a quiet rest and trust that'll enable you as you are loved apart from your performance, to show up and love others in your life without needing anything from them in return. And everything changes as you are loved by God and you love others from that place. Aren't you grateful for his love? Jesus, thank you that you are in us and with us and your love is so constant and consistent and we don't deserve it, but it's amazing you give it to us anyway in abundance with so much generosity. Thank you. And I pray that into this room right now, your peace would settle in, that your love would settle in to our hearts and that you would change us as a result. With your eyes closed, I wanna just give you an opportunity right now. In a moment, I'm gonna lead us in a prayer of salvation. And if you're here and you've never put your faith in Jesus or maybe you did years ago, but the truth is you have wandered away from a relationship with God. And you know today, I need to come back into a relationship with God. I can't keep trying to be patient with other people and forgive other people and love other people. If I'm not experiencing that myself

from a loving heavenly father, that's where it all begins. And if you're here and you know that things are not right between you and God and you wanna pray this prayer with me, I'm gonna just invite you right now to simply lift up your hand, if that's you, just as a way of reaching out to God and saying, include me in that prayer. If you're watching online, you can lift up your hand and I'm gonna invite all of us now to pray this together as one spiritual family. If this is you, pray these words from your heart with me. Say, Jesus, I believe that you came into this world and you died in my place and I believe you rose from the dead. So now you have the power to change my life. I give you my heart that is sinful. I give you my heart that is anxious. My heart that's being pulled in so many different directions. I lay down my sin and I receive your grace. Fill me with your powerful Holy Spirit. Change me from the inside out so I can bring your love to the world around me. Amen, amen. Receive his grace right now. Receive his forgiveness right now. And if you prayed that prayer with me from your heart, today is the start of a brand new spiritual journey for you. Congratulations.

And we have one of our pastors here at the church, Pastor Nick. He's gonna be standing right out here straight out these doors. As soon as this service is dismissed, I wanna invite you to go out and to connect with him. He's just there to pray with you, to answer any questions you might have, and to make sure you've got the resources you need to keep the momentum going with this new decision that you're making today. And in just a moment, we're gonna stand and we're gonna sing one more worship chorus. But before we do that, would you just close your eyes? I want us to take 30 seconds right now and just experience, before we go back out into our Martha world and have a Martha week, I want us just to experience a merry moment right here at the feet of Jesus. And we're gonna practice something right now that you can continue to practice this week. In fact, I challenge you every day this week to just set a timer for three minutes or five minutes. If you're new to silent prayer, start small and build up your capacity. But here's what we're gonna do. It's just this practice, silent prayer. It's exactly what it sounds like. It's to just sit in the presence of God without words, without saying anything,

without offering anything, without contributing or doing anything, to just sit in God's presence and let him love you. And so, we're gonna take 30 seconds right now just to sit and let's just experience his love and his grace. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. His presence changes everything, come on, just for a few more moments, receive His peace, Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in. Come in.

Come in. Come in. Come in. receive His love. Come in. Come in. Come in. Prayer is not a transaction, you don't have to bring anything to the table in order to hear God's voice and experience His presence. He loves you because you're His. Let's stand together, I just want us to let our hearts overflow for a few more moments in worship. If you're comfortable, lift your hands toward the Father and would you just begin to express in your own words right now, your adoration and your affection to Jesus. Let's give Him our attention. Right now, there's so much more going on that we gotta get to this week, but right now it's just all about Jesus. Come on, just begin to lift your voice to Him. Just say this with me, Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you. Say it again, Jesus, I love you. Come on, let's continue to worship a few more moments. Jesus, we love you. Oh, how we love you. You are the one our hearts adore. Jesus, we love you. Oh, how we love you. You are the one our hearts adore. Sing Jesus, Jesus, we love you. Oh, how we love you.

You are the one, you are the one our hearts adore. We love you. Jesus, we love you. Oh, how we love you. You are the one our hearts adore. And our affection, our devotion poured out on the feet of Jesus. Oh, our affection. Oh, our affection, our devotion. Oh, we pour it out. Oh, our affection, our devotion. Oh, we pour it out. Oh, our affection, our devotion poured out on the feet of Jesus. Oh, our affection, our devotion poured out on the feet of Jesus. We love you, Lord. Oh, how we love you. You are the one our hearts adore. Jesus, we love you. Oh, how we love you. You are the one our hearts adore. Jesus, we thank you right now for your love and your grace that is so faithful, that is so constant in our lives. And sometimes, just like the oxygen we breathe, we forget about it because it's so constant. But right now, God, we are just full of gratitude. We thank you for your love that sees us through every day, every moment. every conversation and I pray God that because of it, we would show up a little bit more loving, a little bit more patient, a little bit more gracious to the people around us this week. Give us some merry moments this week, time with you that changes us, changes the world through us, in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen, aren't you grateful for the presence of the Lord? He's so good, he's so good. Thanks for being with us for worship today. Have an amazing rest of your Sunday and have an awesome week, God bless you.