Who is Leading You?

Well, last year, me and my high school friends, we went on a trip to London. We had put together a couple of things to do each day, and on this one specific day while we were there, we were gonna go north of London to watch a soccer game, and then we had to travel back to central London to catch a dinner reservation. We didn't have a whole lot of time in between the soccer game and the dinner reservation. Luckily for us, though, one of the guys on this trip knew London well. He's really done awesome at his business. He's really ascended the ranks. He travels often for business, even specifically to London. So we just told him, hey, you're in charge of getting us around. Like, you just tell us where to go, and we will do it. So we were leaving the soccer game and had to go to the Tube, the subway system in London, and we just got on whichever train he told us to get on. And then it pulled forward for a stop, it pulled forward for another stop, and then all of a sudden I noticed my friend who was leading us, he was looking at his phone, and then he was looking at the map in the subway, looking down at his phone, and then he eventually just goes, guys, I think I put us on the wrong one.

Which is not the end of the world. It's like, that's fine. We don't have a whole lot of time to waste, but that's totally okay. Let's just go find the next one. So he said, as soon as we get off on this next stop, we're gonna have to run as fast as we can to make sure that we make it to the next train. So the doors open, we run to the next train, we're on it, we're all happily talking, and then I realize that he's looking at his phone again, he's looking at the map again, and he goes, guys, we're on the wrong train again. And so at this point we're like, okay, we gotta collect our thoughts here, like let's make sure that we have a good plan. So we get off the train, none of us have our phones turned on because we don't want to pay for it overseas, and we're like underneath the ground. So he's the only one who could really lead us in this moment. So he's really making sure that he knows where we're going, and he says, okay, I finally found the train for us, let's walk on over to it. The doors open, we go on, and right before the doors are about to close, he goes, not this one, not this one, not this one! I'm standing right with him, we just go like this, we hop off, as we do, the doors shut, our four other friends are pressed up against the window,

and I will never forget the sheer look of terror on their face as they were just shot off. And I'm the only one standing here with my friend Shane, I go, Shane, where are they going? And he just goes, I have absolutely no idea. And I'm like, Shane, where are we right now? And he goes, I have absolutely no idea. And I just looked him in the eyes, I said, Shane, you're not in charge anymore, you're not leading the way anymore, I'm taking us up, I'm turning my phone on, I'm making sure that I'm taking us where we need to go, because we had trusted the wrong person to lead us, he had only led us to chaos and confusion. And I start there this morning, because we are gonna be continuing on in our sermon series on the book of Galatians, and Paul is going to be writing to the church, saying, every day of your life, you need to understand that you are being led. Every moment, you're being led. Now, you only have two options of who is going to lead you. There is something that can lead you that won't just lead you to chaos and confusion, but will actually, ultimately, lead you to death and destruction. But then there is someone else that can lead you, and they will lead you to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,

because there are two options. Who are you gonna be led by, the flesh or the spirit? And they lead you to very different places. And some of you have walked in this morning, and your life feels broken. You've noticed that there's something off in you. You have been following your flesh, and your life is not defined by joy, but anxiety. Your mind is not defined by peace, but stress. Your actions are not defined by self-control, but rather, recklessness. You've been following your flesh, and you even feel it right now this morning. You're like, I'm on E. Something feels off, something feels broken, and Paul's gonna step up and say, hey, you're on the wrong train. Like you're being led by the wrong person. You can step off that path, and instead be led by a better person, the Holy Spirit of God, who wants to lead you to life and peace. So the subject for today's message is this. Who is leading you? Who is leading you? And this is so important for us to know, because who you follow shapes your tomorrow. Who you follow shapes your tomorrow. We need to make sure that we're being led

by the right person. So we're gonna be in Galatians chapter five, verse 16, through the end of this chapter. So if you have your Bibles, open them up to Galatians five, verse 16. Verse 16, and just some refresher on last week. Paul was rather frustrated as he's writing to the church in Galatia, saying, who stepped in on you? You were headed in the right direction, but then these leaders stepped in, these Judaizers stepped in, and they sent you into confusion. These Judaizers said that the true mark of a follower of God is someone who is circumcised, but Paul said, no, the true mark of a follower of God is someone who looks like a person of love. And this week, he's going to show us how we can actually become that person of love. And he starts by saying this in verse 16. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Really, what he's explaining to us is that there is a battle for us, for you and me, every single day.

There are two opposing voices in your life calling you two opposite directions. The flesh is telling you to walk this way, the Spirit is telling you to walk this way, and his question to you is, who are you going to be led by? Here, the word flesh, it's the Greek word sarks, which really means carnal desire, like whatever you really crave, whatever your body craves to do. On our own, in our flesh, we are not by nature good. We actually want to do things like lust and get angry. We want to drink too much, we want to eat too much, we want to lie, we want to be apathetic and lazy. That's what our flesh is calling us towards. Meanwhile, another force, the person of the Holy Spirit, is driving us the exact opposite way. Just looking at it again in the text, verse 17. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. I think that last part is so important for us to understand. He's saying you can't just do whatever you want because you need to understand, you're going to want to follow the flesh. You're going to want to do these things, but they will lead you in a place that you will not actually want to be. So point number one, first thing we need to understand

from this text is this, the Spirit and the flesh are in conflict. The Spirit and the flesh are in conflict. Our life can kind of feel like this. Reading this text, it can kind of remind me of like a battle of tug of war. Like you and I are at the center and the flesh is over here and the Spirit is over here and some days the flesh is really pulling hard, some days the Spirit is really pulling hard and we're just kind of in the middle being pulled back and forth. And sometimes the flesh pulls really, really hard. Honestly, a rather silly example of what that has looked like in my life is every single year, JP recommends that our staff give up something for the entire year. That is us saying no to our flesh and saying yes to self-control. So a couple of years ago, I chose to give up ice cream for an entire year. That's a long time. Now I had made it like a number of weeks, but at that time I was the college pastor at that time and over spring break, we were going on a mission trip to South Padre Island and I was driving this van and we'd just go back and forth down the island. It's not a huge island. And we'd pick up spring breakers

who are not there to hear the gospel, but we'd share the gospel with them. And we'd drive that van until like 4 a.m. It is not a trip for old people, I will tell you that much. It's for the young person. And I was just driving that van as we're going back and forth at like 2 a.m., one of those first nights, we just kept driving past Whataburger. Like again and again and again and again. And every single time I drove past it, I just thought, I just want a milkshake. I just want a milkshake. I just want a milkshake. And eventually after it hit like 3 a.m., I just pulled into the drive-thru. I said, hey, milkshakes on me, we're all getting it. And I lasted about six weeks. I was like, I'm gonna go the whole year, but the flesh was pulling me to do what I wanted to do. And maybe for you, the pull of the flesh looks differently in your life. Maybe last night you're scrolling on your phone and you bought shoes that you know you didn't actually need, but the pull of the flesh was strong. Maybe for you last night as you're on your phone, you're scrolling and looking at things that you know you shouldn't be looking at, but the pull of the flesh was strong. Or maybe last night,

you made an amazing dinner for your family, but your kids sit down and they go, ick, I'm not gonna eat that. Make me something else. And you feel the pull of the flesh to respond in anger and yell at them. Like the flesh is always pulling you in a certain direction. And again, it can just feel like a tug-of-war battle where it's like the flesh is pulling and the spirit is pulling and we're in the middle. of that conflict. But what you need to understand is that's not actually necessarily what this text is saying. It's not saying that we're just kind of stuck in the middle and the flesh will pull and the spirit will pull and we have no choice. This text is saying, no, you have agency. You get to make a decision. Are you going to follow the flesh or are you gonna follow the spirit? It doesn't come down to the strength of those forces because if it did, the Holy Spirit would win every single time. Romans 8 says that the same spirit that rose Jesus Christ from the dead is in you and me. So if it came down to the strength of the spirit, we would follow the spirit every single time. We have choice. We get to choose who's going to lead you. Will it be the flesh or the spirit?

So to put it this way, in your sin struggle, like whatever that might be for you, when I say your sin struggle, think about what that might be. In your sin struggle, it does not come down to the strength of the spirit, but rather your submission to the spirit. Your sin struggle does not come down to the strength of the spirit, but your submission to the spirit. The spirit is strong enough to free you from that sin. That's an easy thing for him to do. But the issue is you are not submitted to him. You are not walking with him. So Paul's writing here that the flesh is saying, go this way, the spirit is going this way. You have to choose which way are you going to follow. And he says, you can walk by the spirit, and when you do, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh because they're going in opposite directions. So his call is to walk towards the spirit, walk with the spirit. But I read that and I go, what does that actually mean? Like, how do I know if I'm walking by the spirit? How do you know if you're walking by the spirit? Well, this week I came across a book called Spirit Walk by Steve Smith, and he gave what I think is a great acronym telling us what it looks like to walk with the spirit. And we know that we are walking with the spirit

when we swap out the desires of the flesh for the desires of the spirit, because walking with the spirit looks like this. It starts with surrendering to God's word. To every single day say, I'm gonna put God's word above my thoughts, opinions, desires. I'm going to submit to it. I'm going to read it. I'm gonna memorize it. I'm gonna make the God's word my authority, my conscience, and my guide. That's step one to walking with the spirit. Step two is waiting on God in prayer. Every single day and throughout your day, making time to get with God and say, hey God, would you give me wisdom on this situation? What do I need to do here? What do I need to say here? Which way would you have me walk and then listen to what he might say to you? And then thirdly, avoid sin. Whenever you feel that pull of the flesh, when the flesh is saying, walk this way, smoke this thing, drink this thing, do this thing, you just avoid it, because you cannot gratify the desires of the flesh and walk with the spirit at the same time. And then lastly, you pursue the promptings of the spirit. So when you're at work

and you feel the prompting of the spirit to pray for your coworker, when you're out to eat, you feel the prompting from the spirit to share the gospel, or you feel the prompting of the spirit to be generous to someone in your life. That's step four. So those are the four things you can identify in your life. Am I walking with the spirit? The question is, have you swapped out the desires of the flesh for that? Are you walking by the spirit or walking by the flesh? And they will lead you to two very different places. So point number one, the spirit and the flesh are in conflict. And he sets this up by saying, there's a battle for you. These two things are calling you two different directions, and they will look like two very different things. Because if you follow the flesh, this is what your life will look like. He says this, verse 19. The acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery. Idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy. Drunkenness and orgies and the like. I warn you as I did before,

that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. He starts this section by saying, these acts are obvious. Like if you're gonna look at your life and honestly examine your life, you will obviously see these things take place. If you are engaged in them, it will be clear to you, and it will be clear to the people around you. Because these things are evident. They're obvious that you are following the flesh. And then he lists a long list, and at least for me it was helpful to see that it's actually broken down into four distinct categories. It's not just a long list, there's four categories of these sins. The first is sexual sins. Sexual immorality. purity and debauchery. The next is worship sins, idolatry and witchcraft. Thirdly is people sins, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy. And then lastly, social sins, drunkenness and orgy. So he lists all those out. And then he says what I think is the most important part of the text, how he summarizes it. He says, I warn you as I did before,

that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. And this is point two. Second thing we need to understand is that acts of the flesh lead to death. Acts of the flesh lead to death. This is why whenever we gather with our life groups, we asked, hey, what did I do to feed my flesh this week? We wanna know the answer to that because the flesh wants to take you out. And if you are acting in accordance with the flesh, it will lead to your death. And maybe you look at this point, maybe you look at this text and you're uneasy about what we just read because maybe you're looking at this list going, I've done those things. Does that mean I won't inherit the kingdom of God? Maybe you're thinking last night I sinned sexually. This morning I was given to a fit of rage trying to get our whole family to church. Maybe on Friday night, you were drunk with your friends and maybe you're thinking, does this mean I'm not saved? My answer to that would be, I don't know. I don't know if you are or you aren't, but let me help you wrestle it down. To be clear, every single one of us does these things in that list. Every single one of us does those things, but the follower of Jesus does not stay in those things.

Because I think the most important word in this text is the Greek word praso. It's translated in the NIV to those who live like this. Praso means practice. He's saying those who do those things as a practice will not inherit the kingdom of God. So what does that exactly mean? Well, to practice looks like this. If I'm going to Bear Ridge to go and work on my golf game, if I'm going there to practice, I'm gonna get a bucket of range balls, go to the driving range, and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna hit that ball over and over and over and over. And over again, that's what it looks like to practice. I'm doing that same thing again and again and again. I have no intention to leave it. In fact, I am here to do that very thing. So in your life, like look at that list of sins on there, maybe sins that you've identified in your life. Does it look like you're just going and doing that same thing over and over and over and over again? You have no intention to leave it. In fact, you love that sin. You want to stay in that sin. I just would say, I don't think that's the life of a Christian because a Christian absolutely sins. We all will at times choose these sins. The difference though between someone

who's following the flesh and someone who is a follower of Jesus is repentance because the Christian will absolutely at times let the flesh lead. They will take a step towards the flesh, but then they will repent. To repent means to change one's mind completely or to turn around 180 degrees. So the Christian will take a step towards the flesh. They will sin, but then they will turn around 180 degrees and walk back towards the Spirit. They will repent of those sins. That's the life of a Christian. So if you're wondering, does this text apply to me or not? My question to you is this. Is your heart's desire to repeat or to repent? Is your heart's desire to repeat or to repent? Now while we will all repeat sins, my question to you is your posture. I love this sin. Don't you dare call me out on this sin. My life group can't speak into this sin. This sin is the thing that brings me joy and peace. Like I'm not leaving this sin. If that's you, to teach this scripture as faithfully as I possibly can, I have to say to you that you may not know Jesus and you may not be saved. And you may be in danger of not inheriting the kingdom of God.

Not because you sinned, but because you want to stay in that sin. You want to engage in it over and over and over and over again. And just to put it clearly before you, what you are deciding to do is you want to stay in the very thing that put Christ Jesus on the cross. And you cannot see him be brutally beaten, tortured, pierced, mocked, hung up on a cross to die, and ultimately killed because of your sin and leave that place and go, I'm going to continue to. willfully sin more and more and more and more. If that's you, your heart has not been moved by the gospel. You do not know Jesus. Instead, you are following your flesh and the trajectory of your life is not eternity with Jesus, but rather eternity apart from him. But the good news is, even though that's your trajectory, it doesn't have to be your destiny because we have a good God who wants to forgive every single sin that you've ever committed. Here's good news this morning. First John chapter one, verse nine. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness and he will do that for you right now.

And maybe it's been a sin that you have loved and stayed in for 40 years. He will wipe it clean right now. Maybe it's a sin that has had a stranglehold on you, it had a stranglehold on your mom. He will forgive that sin right now because the blood of Jesus covers all of it. And I hope you hear this. There is no sin too bad, there is no person too far gone for the blood of Jesus. He will forgive any and every sin if you repent and come to him. That's the best possible thing that could happen to you today, to turn from your sin and to turn towards Christ and then you will be with him forever and ever and ever. So point two, second thing we need to understand from this text is that acts of the flesh lead to death. Now this is what following the flesh leads to, here's what following the spirit leads to. Verse 22, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking

and envying each other. So while following the flesh leads to death, if you walk by the spirit, it will lead to fruit. If you are submitted to God's word, waiting on him in prayer, avoiding sin, pursuing the promptings of the spirit, you will have the fruits of the spirit in your life. Now I think it's helpful to just clarify that it is not the fruits of the spirit. Did you notice that? It's not the fruits of the spirit, it's the fruit of the spirit. Because this text is not saying these are all the different types of fruits that God will create in people's life. It's not like the Holy Spirit will make you peaceful and you good and me self-controlled and you loving. That's not what this text is saying. It's not the fruits of the spirit, but the fruits of the spirit. That anyone who has the Holy Spirit of God in them, the Holy Spirit will grow this fruit in them and all of these things go into the flavor of a Christian. Like if you are going to take a bite of a Christian, they will taste like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So this is point number three. Third thing we must understand is that walking with the spirit leads to fruit.

And if you've been with us over the course of this sermon series on the book of Galatians, you know that Paul has just been saying again and again and again, you think you can follow the law on your own, but you can't. You think you can do all these good things on your own, but you can't. You think you can be patient on your own, but you can't. You think you can be self-controlled, but you can't. You think you can be joyful on your own, but you can't. There is only one way. And what he says here is this is not the fruit of the self. It's the fruit of the spirit. You cannot will your way into these things. You submit your way into these things. When you choose to say, I'm not gonna walk by the flesh today, but instead, verse 25, I will keep in step with the spirit. Again, it's that same type of language. It's that same walking language where the spirit is walking ahead of you, inviting you, saying, hey, keep up with me. Follow me. Go where I'm going. And I also wanna be clear, the call is not to sprint with the spirit. I think I can feel that way at times. Like I wake up every morning, the Holy Spirit's like, okay, let's go.

We gotta grow some fruit. Come on, take off, let's go. But that's not the call in this text. It's not to sprint with the spirit, but rather to walk by the spirit. So to put it before you again, verse 16. So I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. It's an invitation to walk with him. So what our call is to take a step, and a step, and a step, and another step. So you wake up and you take a step to read your Bible, and then you take a step to be patient with your spouse. You take a step to serve your kids. You take a step to love those at your. workplace and it's just a step and a step and a step and a step and a step. And maybe you need to ask yourself today, hey, what's my next step of obedience and faithfulness to Jesus? Because again, it's a walk, it's not a sprint. But here's my frustration with walking. It's the slowest form of travel. Like if you wanna get somewhere, the absolute slowest, you just walk. Like I would rather fly with the Spirit. Like I don't know about you, but I want to be patient by 5 p.m. Like that's what I want. I wanna be self-controlled by Monday.

That's what I want. I want it to go fast. And sometimes the Holy Spirit will do that, but that's not the language used here. The language used here is to walk with the Spirit and then grow fruit. You know what's true about both of those things? Slow. You know the truth about good fruit is that good fruit takes time to grow. So sometimes you can look at your life and be like, man, I'm trying to follow God. I'm trying to surrender to God's Word. I'm trying to spend time with Him in prayer. I'm trying to avoid sin. I'm trying to pursue the promptings of the Spirit. Why don't I feel peace yet? Why don't I feel joy yet? Why don't I feel self-controlled yet? I'm trying to do all these things, but I just wanna remind you that good fruit takes time. And to illustrate that, let me tell you about my favorite tree. I haven't always had a favorite tree, but recently I was doing some research and I now have a favorite tree and it's the Chinese bamboo tree. And I love this tree because here's what it starts out looking like. It's these really long seeds.

And you take that seed and you plant it in the dirt like any other plant or tree. And then you make sure that the soil is okay. And then you water it, make sure it gets sunlight. You have to do that for an entire year. And after the end of one year, nothing happens. Then you have to do that for two years. You have to water it, maintain the soil, making sure it gets sunlight. And after two years, nothing happens. Year three, you water it, maintain the soil, make sure it gets sunlight. And then finally, after three years, nothing happens. Year four, you water it, you maintain the soil, make sure it gets sunlight. And then finally, after four years, after you think nothing's happening, what happens is it finally breaks through the surface like this. It goes, bam! And then everyone watching is just like, boom! Because they're so surprised. And that's why it's called bamboo. And yeah, yeah, so yeah. And yeah, that was bad. I know, it was bad. So after five years, it breaks through the surface, bam, everyone goes, boom! And then here's what happens. Over the course of the next five weeks, it grows 90 feet.

Here's what they look like. This happens in five weeks. This building is 45 feet. So double this in five weeks. Why does that happen? How is that able to happen? Because under the surface, for four years, an intricate and strong root system has been developing. You can't see it, you can't notice it. But what's been going on underneath the surface is it's getting ready to bear fruit. And sometimes in your life, you're like, man, I'm submitting to the teaching of God's word. I'm in church, I'm in life group, I'm in God's word. Like, where's the fruit? Here's what I just wanna encourage you with. Good fruit takes time. And I'm just telling you, if you do that year after year, day after day, if you walk with the spirit, fruit will eventually grow in your life. And eventually, maybe after four years of doing that, people will start being like, you look different. Like, you would've responded this way before, but now you responded this way. What's happened to you? You'll even notice it in your own life. You'll be like, man, I'm self-controlled in a way that I wasn't before. I'm joyful in a way that I wasn't before. And it's because you've been walking with the spirit

every single day. And he's been growing a root system in your heart. He's been doing a work that maybe you couldn't see on the surface, but deep down, he's been growing roots so that you could grow fruit. And one of my favorite things while I was the college pastor here was seeing college students develop. There'd be freshmen that come in insecure, filled with a bunch of sins, and then by the time they graduated, be like, you are a different man. You're a different woman because you got involved in the church. You got involved in a life group. And just every single week, you walked by the spirit and God did something in your life. But it takes time. And this doesn't come from your own self-will, but from submission to the spirit, because it's not the fruit of the self, but the fruit of the spirit. So in summary. Number one, the spirit and the flesh are in conflict. Point number two, acts of the flesh lead to death. And point number three, walking with the spirit leads to fruit. Well, I opened with that story about me and my friends in London. We had chosen the wrong person to lead us.

Just recently, we had taken another trip to Dublin. This was about eight or so weeks ago, that same crew. And when you hear me say that, you should think you have the best wife ever, because I do. The fact that she would let me do that back-to-back years. And so we got together, and me and one of my friends, we landed at the airport at the same time. And we'd called an Uber driver, and we got in the Uber driver, and we started driving into the heart of Dublin, where we were headed. But there was really standstill traffic, almost from the entire way from the airport. And after a long time of us sitting in this traffic, he just looked back at us, and he said, hey, do you mind if I take you a different way? I drive these streets every single day. I know when this street is gonna be backed up. I know when that street is gonna be free. It's my job to drive on these streets. Would you mind if I took you a different path than what the app is telling me to go? Our response was easy. It was, absolutely. You take us wherever you think is best, because you know the streets. You're on these roads every single day. So you know which way is gonna be best, because this is your job.

And he pulled off, and we just zoomed past everyone else. We had a better drive and a quicker drive, simply because we trusted someone who knew better. So in your life, you've got two options. You can be led by someone that wants chaos, death, destruction in your life. And you're gonna find yourself at a moment, like I was in that opening story, where it's like, where am I? How did I get here? It's because the flesh drugged you down. Or you can be led by someone who knows the streets. You can be led by someone whose thoughts are higher than yours, someone who knows you. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He created the world. He knows the world. And his ask to you is, hey, would you mind if I took you a different way? A better way. It's gonna get you there faster, and it's gonna be a better ride for you. You get to make a decision. Who are you gonna be led by? The Spirit of God, who wants to bring fruit in your life, or the flesh that just wants to bring death and destruction? Let me pray that we would choose the Spirit of God every single day of our life. Heavenly Father, in looking at this text and seeing these two long lists,

the list of sins and the list of the fruit, God, I pray that we'd be defined by our fruit. I pray that when people see our life, they say, man, it's so evident that they've been with Jesus, that they've been walking with Jesus because they look different. They've got love. They've got joy. They've got peace. They've got patience. They've got kindness. I pray that we'd be people marked by fruit. And God, I pray that we'd be people that'd be marked by following you every single day, that we would make the decision now that I'm just gonna take another step, and another step, and another step, and another step, and another step. And even when I don't always see the fruit in my life, I'm just gonna choose to obey, obey, obey, obey, obey, knowing that your way's better. You know the better route to follow. You know the better roads to go down. So God, I pray that we'd wake up every day eager to walk with you, eager to follow you, knowing that you will lead us to a place of peace. So Father, thank you that you don't leave us on our own, so Father, I pray that we'd submit to your Holy Spirit today, and more than anything else,

we wanna thank you for the fact that Jesus is alive and with us and for us. In his name we pray, amen.