Who Do You Want To Be? | Crossroads Church

Well, I don't know if you noticed or not, but I think during 2025, maybe the most frequently quoted Bible passage that I had was Luke 2.52, where Jesus says, where it says about Jesus, He grew in wisdom and stature. He grew in stature and wisdom. Now, I don't know if you've ever thought about this before, but Jesus' beginning didn't start at Christmas. He didn't have a start at Bethlehem, and that's the beginning of His creation. The Bible is very clear that Jesus is God. He's always existed, at creation He's existed. He just took on flesh and encountered life the way we encounter it. And when He came and took on flesh, theologians know this is really tough. He's God, but at the same time, He's human. So He goes through some sort of growth process. In the same way that His body had to physically mature, He also had to spiritually mature. So while He never committed a sin, He was growing in understanding who the Father was, growing in understanding who He was. Now, I say all this, I could do a deep dive, an entire series on that. But that's just to kick off to say this. If you want to be like Jesus, you have to be a person who values growth. Because Jesus was about growth. That was His life. And if you're saying about 2026, yeah, just 2025 rinse and repeat. You're not being like Jesus. No matter how spiritually mature or how spiritually immature you are, if you have a heart that says, I want to advance to be the person that looks like God this year,

looks more like God, then you're in the right place and you're going the direction. If you're impressed with who you are, if you're impressed with all the stuff, then at that moment, even though you might be hyper spiritual, hyper moral, you're not being like Jesus because He grew in wisdom and stature. He never stopped growing in wisdom and stature. The oldest person in all of our rooms today, the oldest person assisted living. At least their hair and their fingerdails are growing. Because living things are supposed to grow. And so I want to help you grow today by looking at one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It comes from the book of Luke, chapter 8. And let me just read a portion for you. Here's what it says. The book of Luke is written by a physician, Luke, and he is quick to point out that, hey, physicians don't always have the answers. And this woman was not getting any answers from the doctors. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment. And immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, who was it that touched me? There's a lot to talk about here. I'm going to talk about all of it. But if you want to grow, there's three things that have to happen. And one of them we see in this passage. If you want to grow, first thing that has to happen is you have to ask questions. Jesus asked the question, wait, who touched me? You know, Jesus asked questions 300 times, 300 questions. Now a lot of those questions were rhetorical questions as a teaching device, but genuine questions like this one, who touched me? Or he's on the cross, he says to God, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 300 questions. In the Bible, there's 3,000 questions inside of the Bible.

That's pretty crazy. When we ask questions, we're communicating, I want to know you. I want to understand you. I might want to become more like you. That's what a question really does. Not the kind of questions that many of us ask. Like the worst question I ask, I'm so ashamed of myself when I ask this. It's, what's your name? I meet someone for the first time, what's your name? I'm not ashamed of that question. I'm ashamed that if I have a two minute conversation with them, in two minutes I'm asking the exact same question. Because the first time I asked the question, I wasn't really wanting to know their name. I just wanted an icebreaker question. I just wanted to get the flow. I wasn't listening. See, a lot of us, we don't ask questions, meaning we don't listen. In Pulp Fiction, there's that one line, that movie, that you listen or do you wait for people to talk? You've been around people like that, right? It's like, if you don't ask a question, they don't, they don't shut up. And then when you ask a question, it just gives them more reason to keep talking. Going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going. That person isn't trying to know you. They're not trying to understand you. They're trying to understand your life. They're just, they're just talking and talking and talking and talking. But when you ask a genuine question, something profound happens. You know, one of the questions that I'll ask,

it's a wonderful question. I'm going to have you ask somebody right beside it right now. It's this. When's the last time you pooped your pants? It's a great question. It really is. It's, it's, it's a wonderful, it's a wonderful question. It's like, I've never done that. I've never done it. The wealthiest person in the, that I know, that I know, poops his pants all the time. Let me tell you about this guy. He, I went, I went out to hunt this last year out west, wild game hunting, big, big game hunting. I have a pastor friend who's got a guy in his church who's a rancher who I believe they based the television series Yellowstone off of him and his right hand guy. I believe you have the core of my being. If you added up all his ranches, and by the way, you don't know this guy's name at all. If you added up all of his ranches, he has enough land to go stretch a mile wide from Boise, Idaho to Washington, D.C. Crazy. I asked him that question once. He said, he's 84, 85 year old guy. He's like, every year. Yeah, yeah, every year. His right hand guy's like, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I sent him this. This is a message I sent to some of my friends this last year, including, including him. I sent this to him the last day of 2025. It was wonderful. It was wonderful. Very, very, it's a great conversation starter

because people really get real, real quick, right? I'm glad. By the way, I failed in 2025. I don't know if you, I failed in 2025. I had a good run 2024, 2023, but 2025, I failed. And rather than tell you exactly what happened, Jeff Foxworthy explains it really well. But there's just as much stuff you can't learn from Google. You only learn it from life experience. You'll usually learn most of it the hard way. It's stuff that's not Googlable. I don't know if that's a word, but I call them the facts of life, it's stuff you can't Google. Like this, fact of life. If you were trying to get to the bathroom in an emergency situation, it is not a wise idea to unbutton your pants in transit, trying to save a couple of seconds. Because the muscles that guard the floodgates will interpret the unbuttoning as the signal to abandon their post. And the two seconds you saved on the button are nullified by the hour and a half you spend mopping and doing laundry. You only learn that the hard way. That was my story. That was my story. Now, aside from that great icebreaker question, you really should use it. It's really wonderful. In the Bible, as I've been reading it, starting this year to go cover to cover, I'm amazed again by how many questions there are.

God asks Adam and Eve, where are you? He asked them, who told you? Who told you you were naked? You got Cain and Abel saying, am I my brother's keeper? There's questions throughout the whole thing. Jesus grew because he asked questions. In the book of Luke, chapter 246 to 47, he's a little kid, he's 12 years old. His parents can't find him. Well, where is he? He's in the temple because he wants to grow. He's in the synagogue because he wants to grow. I'll tell you what, if you want to grow, you're going to be at church this year. If you don't want spiritually to grow, then just do whatever everybody else does. Jesus was always like, hey, I can grow, I'm going there. Here's what it says. After three days, they found him. They were gone for three days. He was trying to grow for three days. He was engrossed in God. And what was he doing for that three days? He was among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Toddlers ask 290 questions a day. And as they grow and they age,

around eight or nine, they start going down, down, downhill. And today, most of us who are adults don't ask a single question a day. If we do ask a question, we ask a question to just make sure you agree with me so I can feel validated. We don't actually ask genuine questions to people who might have a differing opinion or a different value system than we do. We just, we don't do that. Jesus here, he asks, who touched me? Who is it? He's asking this question. One of the questions I asked at the very end of 2025, too, is I said, you know, I realized, huh. I haven't used Google all year, not at all. Not because I'm fasting from the internet or I don't have things to learn, but all year, I've used Chat GPT. And so the way you use Chat GPT is you ask it questions. So every question I've had, everything I've wanted to find information on, I got from Chat GPT, a torque value for a bolt. a hunting gear, the tense of a Greek word to understand if it's past, pluperfect, all these different things. All different sorts, I've asked questions for an entire year. And then I said, huh. I asked Chattopadhyay the last question of the year. I said, what is it you know about me? Oh my goodness.

Wow. It gave, I'm not gonna give you the four categories, but it said, here's the four things about you. Geez, I felt like I'd been going to therapy all year long. Like nailed me. I went to my wife and a friend of mine, I said, this is what was, could you believe this? Does this sound accurate? Like, oh my gosh, yeah. And I said, how do you know this? Here's what Chattopadhyay said. Patterns over time, not single facts. I don't infer that from one conversation. It comes from repeated signals across very different domains. Mechanical restoration questions, hunting optic gear choices, biblical Greek theology, leadership talks, laws, safety rules, financing, resale, all these things. And here's the, when the same posture, I love that, when the same posture shows up in trucks, scripture, hunting gear, and leadership, it's not coincidence, it's character. I thought, well, still, maybe it's just trying to make me feel good. Maybe it realizes it makes me feel good. It's gonna ensure that I keep using it

and asking questions. So I asked it, are you just trying to make me feel good? Questions. Here's what it says. It said, he, she, it, they, it, whatever it is. I don't gain anything by flattering you. What I gave you was specific, structural, and costly. Many people think they want honesty, but what they really want is reassurance, justification, validation, relief from discomfort. It said, because the truth without readiness isn't helpful, it's just noise or injury. Now, I'm gonna give you the truth today, and I think you're ready for it, because you came here today, because it would have been a bunch of different places. But that's my heart, where you have truth. So the second thing, after we ask questions, is determine who you want to be. Determine who you, who do you want to be? I'm not talking about like I'm a, well, actually, yeah, like a six-year-old. People ask it, you know, who do you want to be when you grow up? Who do you want to be when you grow up? Who is it? What's the preferred identity that you want to embrace? What is it? This woman, she is determined who she wants to be,

is she wants to be healthy. She wants to be whole. And she's been spending her money on this for a long, long, long time. So much time that she's gone financially. It's out, and so like, what's going on? Well, she's menstruating. For 12 years, she's menstruating. Oh my goodness, wow. Well, if I cut my knuckle, if I cut my knuckle when it's bleeding, that bums me out. For you women, man, for four days every month, that'd be horrible. You are unbelievably tough creatures. That's just tough, tough, tough, tough stuff. Now, you add on to this, add on to this, that not only do you have that discomfort and all that stuff, but you're also in a culture that believes and teaches that whenever you're bleeding, it's what's known as unclean. Now, this is the case with men and women. So if I have my cut knuckle and someone would see my cut knuckle, I would have to be removed from the community for a period of time. Because the ancient Jews, they believed that, this is a very rough rudimentary understanding,

but it's at least 99, 95% true. Just cliff note version here. Clean and unclean meant that if you were manifesting a position that would not be in heaven, you were known as unclean. If you're manifesting a situation or some condition that is only gonna be bound here on earth, then that's called unclean, okay? So when you were unclean, unclean, you were removed from the covenant community as a reminder that that's not the way it's gonna be in heaven. In heaven, there's no pain, there's no sorrow, there's no crying, and there's no bleeding. So when you bled, you were removed, whether you're a woman menstruating or a guy who cut his knuckle or something like that. What that means is this woman has been outside of community for 12 years, outside of human interaction for 12 years, at least inside of a spiritual community kind of environment. This is starting to become her identity. This is now defining her. She's the woman who menstruates. She's the woman who doesn't have any money because she's been trying to solve this problem. And she is determined that that's not the end of the story.

Friends, let me tell you, right, right, right, right. There's things that you and I get comfortable with, don't get comfortable with it. There's things that you and I just start to think, well, that's just who I am. Stop it. Stop it. That's maybe who you choose to be. That's who you are agreeing to. You cannot get comfortable having things going on in your life that are unclean, meaning are not the way God wants it to be, meaning are not the way it should operate and you should never, never get satisfied with this is just who I am. I guess I'm Irish, so I overdrink and I get angry. Well, this is just who I am. Well, I just learned this. Hey, hey, hey, look, you have to determine who you want to be. What is your character? What is your direction? What is your heading? One of the greatest conversion stories, I believe, of recent times is Jelly Roll. You know who Jelly Roll is? His name is determined who he's gonna be. He is a Jelly Roll, this dude. 500 and some pounds, Grammy award winning artist, phenomenal poet, crossover artist, country, now getting over into gospel

because he's been converted. God has gotten a hold of his heart. And if you've listened to any of his interviews over the last several years, there's been a gradual processing of where he's going on. This is a guy who has believed a narrative for himself at 500, I think as high as 550 pounds. And then he decided, he was in bed one day and he was on his side and his arm was pinned under his side and it was going numb and he didn't have the strength to roll himself over and he realized, I'm gonna cut off circulation of my arm. I'm gonna lose my arm, maybe die right here, right now. And that was the thing that kind of triggered him. In a recent interview, he talked about determining who he wanted to be and taking on a different identity. And here's just a little snippet of that. There's a hill, my driveway comes down a driveway, comes down a hill and you bust a right, Joe. And then you can go left into a neighborhood, the same run I run every day, or you can go right up a hill. And it is a hill hill, you know? And the first day I came out and I looked up that hill and I looked to the left and I took two steps to the left and I stopped and I told myself, I was like, I'm learning about stories we tell ourselves. The story I've been telling myself my whole life was take the easy way out, my entire life, Joe. I have always looked for the path of the easiest, like A to B straight line, you know what I mean?

And I was like, I break that today. I turn right. You feel it, don't you? Right then big, big moment, like no, I'm hitting that hill, you know? Cause I'm big, fat people hate hills, stairs, we hate all that. So I'm like, I've like hit the hill, you know? And I'm walking and I'm stopping and I'm walking and I'm stopping and I'm walking and I stop. I just kept going. When I got to the top of it, there was a telephone pole up there and I went and slapped it and I just slapped it and I was just, I felt so achieved and I came down the hill and then I took a left and I was gonna go straight down to the stop sign and back, but if you take a left, you can go up another hill. So I was, in my mind, I was like, I'm going to stop sign and hit the hill. But as I was walking by that other hill, I was like, this is the new you. You hit the hill, dog. This is the new you. Today is the new you, you hit the hill. It's an amazing story how he's come to Christ, how Christ is, you can just tell in his language and the whole thing, I'm not talking about the F-bombs, but just how he gives God glory and all of that stuff. And here's a guy who's 500 plus pounds

who's lost literally hundreds of pounds. And he's gonna lose 45 pounds as soon as he has a surgery to remove 45 pounds of skin that's hanging off of him. And it's really an amazing story. And when he says, he basically said, I'd turn what to be. He said, he would tell his wife, he said, I'm going out for a run. And it took him months of being able to run. It was not possible to run. His run was a walk, but he told himself that he's a runner. He said, I am determined to be, I'm going for a run. You need to set your eyes on who God has asked you to be, who God has called you to be, who God is qualifying you to be. And you need to say, that is my identity and I am determined to be that. And therefore, all I have to do is have to grow into being that. This is the reason why so many of us stopped making New Year's resolutions a long, long time ago, because the resolution process was devoid of the identity process. Resolutions and goals only work if they're pinned. to your identity. Just like, well, it's something I should do, it's something I should do, okay, okay, okay. I'm gonna work out three times a week. Okay, this year I'm gonna not have cookies at night. Okay, this year I'm gonna, whatever, I'm gonna lose 20 pounds, whatever the, but why, why?

Like when I have a fitness goal, it's because it's pinned to my identity, and my identity is, part of my identity is I do hard things. So I have got to be fit in order to pick up a 600-pound motorcycle. I have got to be working out and fit in order to haul out an elk on my back, quarters. But that's my identity, so that's why I do that. Reading the Bible. You know, if you're gonna read the Bible this year with us, I hope you do, it's been really, really good for I think all of us who are doing it, but I'm telling you, the reason why people don't read the Bible through and through in a year, like just about every American has something to do that, and just about no American has done that. The reason is because it's something I should do. It's something I should check off the list. It's something that a good person, no, that doesn't work that way. No, no, no, that doesn't work that way. At least it doesn't work that way for me. I have to say, I didn't do that until I started, until I said, okay, hold on, hold on. I am getting fed a bill of goods from the world that is not right and is not healthy. I need a clean water source because I am a godly man. That's what I am. I am a godly man. And Fox News and CNN is not gonna contribute to that at all.

At all. In fact, it's gonna actually hurt it in a significant way. And everybody who mouths those talking points, on my whole story, some people are like, well, what are you talking about? I know you don't read the Bible then. I know, I know, I know that. Because when you do, you get a different worldview. When you do, you get a different sense of what is right and wrong. And so when I set a Bible reading goal, it's not because, well, I'm a pastor. I guess I should do that. It's like, no, I want to be a man of God. And I'm thirsting for that. I'm thirsting for a source of truth that comes. I'm determined that that's who I want to be. My time with my family, time with my grandkids. I don't talk about them too much because I don't want to make myself sound like an old fart. I've got seven grandkids, seven grandkids. And so my goals with my kids and my grandkids aren't because, well, that's what a father should do. That's what a grandfather should do. It's because I'm determined to be a patriarch. Now, patriarch, patriarchal system is putting our country down. Relax, I'm talking about a biblical patriarch. That is a person who thinks in generations and is leaving a legacy for multiple generations.

When I'm dead to God or I'm retired, crossroads will forget about me immediately. And it should, that's the way it should be. I will have no legacy tied to crossroads or people, memories of me. That's not the way it works. But I'll tell you what, the systems I've set up in my family, the conversation I have with my family, how that trickles down, that's my legacy. It's your relationships that will be your legacy, not your accomplishments. Your accomplishments get you raises and they get you plaques and then they get you nothing when you're gone. And then somebody else has to do the calling. It is your relationships that you choose to invest with, whether people you've adopted into your life or whether people you've actually given birth. Therefore, when that is who I'm determined to be, then that leads me to do certain things because that's who I'm determined to be. That's what people who grow are. What is your picture of where you're going? It's just, no, all I'm going is I want an easy life. Yeah, okay. Where I'm going is I just want to be liked. Where I'm going is I just want to be popular. I just want to fit in with everybody else. No, that's not a person who actually grows. Now, this woman,

she hears Jesus say, who's touched me? Now, again, let's just put Jesus over here for a minute. It's gonna be Jesus for the rest of our time. This woman, this woman, when Jesus says, when Jesus says, who's touched me, here's what happens, verse 47. And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. It says, when she says she felt like she was not hidden, meaning everyone realized something took place. Now, what took place there? Exactly what took place? I skipped ahead on the story. What took place? Well, what took place was that she decided to touch him. She decided to get close to him. This is the, this is the third thing. You drive and you push. You drive and push. If you want to grow, you have to ask questions. You have to determine who you're going to be. And you're going to have to drive and you're going to have to push. She is determined that she is going to be a healthy person. And her next option is Jesus in town.

I hear He heals people. I've got to be around Him. So she goes, but guess what? Everybody's around because the greatest show in town is there. And there's throngs of crowds wherever Jesus is. So people are around and she can't, she can't get to Him. She sees Him there, but she can't, she can't get there. And where many people say, well, I guess, I guess God hasn't opened a window yet. Okay. Where God makes a will, He makes a way. I guess He hasn't made me away. So therefore I'm going to, I'm going to go back. I just couldn't do it. She's like, no, I am, I am determined. I am, I am, I am going. So she's coming up to this thing and she can't, you can just imagine they're kind of elbowing her and everyone wants to be close to her. And it says, touch the, touch the edge of the garment. What does that mean? What's that mean? She's, she's trying, she's stretching, she's stretching, she's, she's stretching. She barely catches the very edge of it, right? Now, what I think it meant is I think it meant she dove. I didn't have the guts to dive right now. I think she, I think she dove to touch the edge of the garment. And Jesus, Jesus, when He feels something happen, here's what it says in verse, verse 46. He says, When all denied it, Peter said, they all denied like, no, I didn't touch you. He's thinking like they're offended, he's offended someone touched him. They all denied it.

And Jesus said, no, no, who was it that touched me? When, when they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the crowd's surrounding you and you are pressing in on you. But Jesus said, He said, hey, there's all kinds of people. What do you mean? Everyone's touching you. Everyone's touching you. Everyone's bumping into you. There's massive amounts of people here. But Jesus said, no, someone touched me. For I perceive that power has gone out from me. Someone touched me. I perceive the power. Someone wanted something. Somebody wanted something. Somebody decided to push themselves. Somebody, somebody was desperate. Somebody wanted something beyond what they have right now. Somebody was thirsty. Somebody had a question they needed an answer for. Somebody needed some power. Somebody felt it. This isn't just like normal bustles. Jesus goes, something, something just had, there was a transaction just took place because somebody wanted something. And here's my question for you. If you were there, would you have been touching Jesus? Right now, right now. Like a lot of, no, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. How you doing? I'm good. I'm good. You're good.

In other words, you, no, I don't grow. I don't grow. I don't grow. I'm good. I'm good. I don't grow. I don't grow. I don't grow. Like, where are you right now? No, no, things are going good. I think I got it all handled. In other words, you don't grow. In other words, you don't want Jesus. No, no, no, I think I got a plan. I'm doing this, some stuff. I got it all figured. Oh, good. In other words, you don't need God. Would you have touched Him? Did you, did you want Him? Would you have, would you have exerted yourself? The reason spiritual growth doesn't happen is because we don't want it. And more specifically, we don't want Him. We don't want Him and we're not willing to look like a fool. We're not looking to press through. We're not looking to fall on the ground. Any of that stuff. That's why this woman is memorialized and we're still talking about her. Because she had a grit about her. She had a thirst about her to be a different person, to be a whole person, to be a healthy person. And shoot, today, man, if you want to change yourself, the haters will tell you you shouldn't even change yourself. Just be who you are.

And you mean like not grow. If it's satisfying with you, you be you. You be you. Gosh, you be you. In other words, you're a lazy ass who's threatened by somebody else who wants more out of their life. That's really what that means. Jelly Roll Swore, I guess I could deserve at some point. Much more mild or tamer words than he was using. But, but she comes trembling because she wants something different. She wants that. Do you want that? What do you want this year? What is your preferred understanding of what your life should look like? Are you willing to lunge and touch Jesus and maybe fall on the ground? And maybe get dirty, maybe even get hurt in the process? We don't know this. Was this woman a bit hurt? What was going on with her? Here's what Jesus says, let's reread it. When the woman saw if she was healed, were not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately, immediately, she touches his garment, she is immediately, imagine that, you've been bleeding, you've been having cramps, you've been having all this stuff, whatever you got to do down there to manage things, and immediately, like, good, wow, wow, I'm good, no, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. See, this is a person who could say, I am good, wow, and, and, and he said to her, he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace.

What does Jesus mean by that, your faith has made, Jesus has made her well, he's made her well, it's, it's, it was, it was, it was the touching, it was the touching of his robe, of the corner that, that made her well, Jesus made her well, but what she is saying, he's saying, it's your drive to grow that's made, you believe, you believe that if you did some uncomfortable things that you didn't want to do. She didn't want to come in public and be shamed because she is unclean, she hasn't been around other people. She didn't want to have to fight through and out herself as a woman who is, who is menstruating. I don't want to make it too graphic, but, you know, it could, something could, could drip that would be utterly humiliating for her in public. She definitely didn't want to do this thing of calling attention to herself, definitely didn't want to dive and fall in the ground, didn't want to do any of that, but it didn't matter because she wanted different for her life. She wanted Jesus and what she thought Jesus could give to her. The song in 2025 that's the most played song on my playlist, all the songs listed, the one I listen to the most is a song by my new friend Dante Bow, which is about the blood of Jesus. And the blood of Jesus is what we're going to do here in, in just a little bit. If you want to pull out your little packet, I want to, I want to reframe this a little bit for us. Communion, Eucharist, the Mass, different traditions called different things. I want to tie this to what we're talking about with this woman today because it's, it's, it's important to understand. This is a, this is a little kit of remembrance that reminds us of a few things. Most of the time when we do communion, we think about the things we've done that are bad, the things we need to grow out of, the things we need to ask forgiveness for, and that's a totally appropriate and great.

So like the bread represents the body of Christ who's been broken for you and I, so that we don't have to be broken eternally because He was already broken for us. The blood, what the juice or wine represents, represents His blood. His blood spilled on a cross, on a ground. There was the shedding of Him as a sacrifice, a perfect lamb, so that you and I will never have to shed our own blood with God. There would no be, be no eternal spanking for us. For in Him there is therefore now no condemnation. There's no condemnation. You never get condemned when you receive Jesus and when you have communion you're reminding that you've received Him. You know if you've come here today and you're seeking, this is for people who have received Him. Received Him and are, and are committed to Him. And maybe you're going like, oh I want that. Well great, this could be your first communion. You can have this right now. All that's true in communion. But there's another element of, of communion that's true as well. The Bible repeatedly talks about the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus. The blood that covers us. It's also the blood that gives us an identity. You know, I don't know that in the first century they understood what DNA was. Pretty confident they didn't know what DNA was in the first century. But they knew they had a very high view of the blood. They knew the blood represented life. And when Jesus tells us to, to do this, what we're doing is not just remembering His sacrifice and walk in forgiveness. We're also saying, I am consuming the identity of Christ. That's who I want to be. I am consuming the identity of Christ. And that's what this song is meant to mean. Consuming the identity of Christ. The power of Jesus. The blood of Jesus. We're going to do some of that song right now. And then we're going to take communion. And then we'll

sing a little bit more about it. I've been washed from the inside, I've been washed from the inside out Hallelujah, Hallelujah I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood Hallelujah, Hallelujah I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood Oh we thank you for your blood I cannot explain, but nothing's more real than this In the presence of God, with my heart experienced With my shame at the wayside, and my sin at the most high I was washed from the inside, I was washed from the inside out Hallelujah, Hallelujah I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood Hallelujah, Hallelujah I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood Let's all stand right now Let's take out your little communion kit Turn it upside down so the bread is up on top Take all that little thing, little peel thing And bring out that little bread nugget The body of Christ The identity of Christ Broken for you For all who receive Him And all who want to remember and walk in forgiveness, take and eat Now flip it over so it looks like a little wine glass again Take that top part off The blood of Christ The blood that's shed for the remission of sin The blood that is shed for all who have problems

For all who need areas to grow in The blood of Jesus actually is His identity For all who would have Him And all will walk in forgiveness in the identity of Christ The blood of Christ, take and eat When my shame hit the wayside And my sin met the most high I was washed from the inside I was washed from the inside Hallelujah, I know it was the blood Come on, thank Him for what He's done for you We sing hallelujah, hallelujah I know it was the blood It could have only been the blood Oh, thank You, thank You, Jesus For all You've done for me For how You set me free Thank You, Jesus All the way, Lord Oh, it's never been about performance, perfection Or striving for acceptance Let me tell you, it's only by the blood It's never been about deserving or earning It's a gift that's freely given Let me tell you, it's only by the blood Does anybody want to be holy? It rises, purified, it's flawless Let me tell you, it's only by the blood Does anybody want to be worthy? Forgiven, justified, really living

Let me tell you, it's only by the blood ♪ So let the children cry ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could it only have been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could it only have been the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, the blood that washes us clean ♪ ♪ It washes me white as snow ♪ ♪ Oh, it washes white as snow ♪ ♪ It washes white as snow ♪ ♪ Yeah, it washes me white as snow ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could it only have been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could it only have been the blood ♪ ♪ Only been the blood ♪ ♪ It's the blood that saves ♪ ♪ It's the blood that delivers ♪ ♪ The blood of Jesus shed for you and me ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Thank you for the blood ♪ You haven't done my favorite part of the song. You haven't done my favorite part of the song. ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ Charlotte, get it, come on, come on.

♪ It still runs, I know that the blood still runs ♪ ♪ I've seen it, have you seen it ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ ♪ The blood has power, yes it does ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ ♪ Do you know it, have you seen it, have you felt it ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ It works for you, it works for me. ♪ I know that the blood still runs, the blood still runs ♪ You should sit today right now, ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ You may not believe that the blood still runs, yeah, ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ I know, I know, I know, I know, come on. ♪ I know that the blood still runs ♪ Mary, tell her, tell me, tell her, tell her right now. ♪ I know that the blood still runs, Yes he does ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs, come on, say it ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs, yeah the blood still runs ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs, Yeah the blood still runs ♪ Come on! ♪ I know that the blood still runs, still today, still today, yeah ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs, He washes clean, with the blood renewed. ♪ ♪ I know that the blood still runs. ♪ Yes, it does. There, there. Now don't make that mistake the next service.

Good. All right. Hey man, God loves you. He does love you. He's for you. And He wants you to be like Him in 2026. So let's grow that way, God. Thank you for being patient and kind and wise. Amen.