MAY 31 2015 | John 18

Sea Change Church · "John 18" · Adam Stadtmiller · May 31, 2015
John 18
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Our text this morning is from John's Gospel, chapter 18, and it reads in this way. It's at the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, before his going to the cross. The Jewish leaders led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness, the Jewish people did not enter the public place.

They wanted to be able to share the Passover, and so Pontius Pilate came out to them and said, What charges are you bringing against this man? If he were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you. Pilate said, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. But we have no right to execute anyone, they objected. This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was to die.

Pilate then went back inside the palace and summoned Jesus and asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Is that your own idea? Jesus asked. Or did others talk to you about me? Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it that you have done? Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my address by the Jewish leaders.

But now my kingdom is from another place. You are a king then, said Pilate. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. What is truth? Retorted Pilate. And with this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, I find no basis for a charge against him.

But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? And they shouted back, no, not him. Give us Barabbas. Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. Lord, thank you for this record in history and in faith of what you, Jesus, have done for us. And may we find in the words that are shared here by Pastor Adam as you guide him, help us to find a word for us that touches our lives.

We pray this for your kingdom's sake. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, if you do have your Bibles there in front of you, turn to that passage in John 18. And first let me just start by saying that was unbelievable. Thank you so much. You can tell when someone knows Jesus. You know people sing about Jesus, but when they know Jesus, it comes across and you know Jesus.

I can tell. So thank you so much. Another thing that just lets me know and something that I'm really passionate about is, you know, there is such a racial divide in church these days. And that's something we really want to go after as a church. And I think it's difficult. There's a lot going on. They say that the most racially divided place on a Sunday morning is church.

And we want to see that change. And, you know, one thing I have known is that the blessing of especially African-American culture upon this country is such a huge blessing. And what they have brought as a people to spirituality and to this nation. And we are blessed by it. Yeah, right? And we want to get better as a church at just keep reaching out.

I think we're on the right steps here. We have people from lots of different cultures in this church. And it's awesome. And we want to continue to see that and see that happen in our leadership and things. It's something to be praying for. There is definitely this country is being splintered right now. And I think as a church we need to show that unity and that diversity.

So I'm blessed to have you here. Hey, just a quick announcement before we get into the message. We do have a bunch of teens that are going to be going to camp up to Yosemite to volunteer up in Yosemite Valley to help clean up the park and do service projects. But also go have a whole bunch of fun. A lot of these kids do not have the funds to make this trip work.

So we're going to be selling waffles for the next few weeks. Go out there and drop a check on a waffle. I don't know what you want to give them. But you're going to help a kid get to camp. We're going to take about a dozen kids. So it won't take a lot of us really trying to pour into that. But they're going to be going out there. Say hi to them and thank them for just being here.

It is great once again to have enough youth to go on a trip. So that's cool. We've really grown. And God is on the move here. Well, in this passage we are going to look at this idea of truth and what Pilate says. And in the Latin it would be, What is truth? It's a powerful question. And I would say that this passage is one of the most intriguing conversations in the entire Bible.

I think there's a lot of conversations in the Bible that happen. And Jesus is a master at intriguing conversation. He speaks to a woman at the well in John chapter 5 that he was not supposed to be speaking to. He was a rabbi. He was not supposed to be speaking to a woman. And he was not supposed to be speaking to this kind of woman. But yet in John chapter 5 he speaks to her.

And he has an intriguing conversation about what it means to have a well of eternal life welling up in you. He has conversations with a Supreme Court justice by the name of Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Who comes to him at night for fear of the Jews. Even though he was a Supreme Court justice of the Jewish nation. And comes to him. And Jesus says, You must be born again.

Maybe you've heard it. It's one of the only times or the only time in the scripture where they use the term born again. And he has an intriguing conversation. And here he is with the governor of the area. And his name is Pilate. Not a stone's throw from Caesar. I mean, politically, just a stone's throw from Caesar. And Jesus stands before him. Maybe you'll know Paul later on in the scripture comes.

And Paul actually wants to go. And his whole mission is to be sentenced to death. Why? So that he can go stand in front of Caesar. It would be like having an audience with the president. And so Paul's whole desire is that he would be sentenced to death. So that he can stand before Caesar. That the whole nation of Rome might be saved. You see, that's what Paul did.

Paul was first to the Jew. But he went out to the Gentile. Because the faith that he proclaimed was a faith for all people. I want to say that truth has not changed. That what Jesus spoke about in Christ's following is for all people. Jesus was a Jew, but he went to the Gentile. And that was something that was anathema to the Jewish people of the time.

To let the Gentiles into the faith. Gentiles would be anybody who was not a Jew. But Jesus reached out and said, this is a faith for all. And that is a truth of the gospel. And so we come to this idea. And once again in the Latin, Cis et Veritas. And you can just hear almost the scorn and the cynicism in Pilate's voice. As he speaks to Jesus. Saying, what is truth?

What is truth? I mean, I think today it's a question we have to grapple with. What is truth? Truth is being wrestled in the public arena today. In the social arena. In the families. Perhaps you have seen there is once again a battle for truth. Truth. That things that were long once held as common belief are once again up for debate. And I think that's the beauty of human society.

That we can talk about core issues in a way that brings a progress to us as a people. But then again, where does this truth come from? And it is something every one of you, and you as an individual, needs to ask for yourself. Where do you harvest your truth from? You see, every one of us has things that we believe are true. And I would ask this, as I speak today, where do you harvest your truth from?

And is it possible that everybody can harvest truth from a different field of truth and all have it be true? That's a question. And where do we harvest it from? And so Pilate asked Jesus, what is truth? What I love about Jesus is Jesus has an answer. I want to say it's not always a popular answer. And I think we need to be careful when we start trying to paint Jesus into this really nice guy that was trying to just make friends with what he said.

Make no mistake, Jesus is a zealot. No mistake. Jesus is a zealot. And he says things that were socially unacceptable at the time. And he says things that are socially unacceptable today. And that's why the followers of Jesus are oftentimes painted in a way that would be, I would say, politically incorrect today. Because Jesus was a man and he was God.

And that was one of the most crucial truths that he gave is when he said, I am not just a man, I am God. I'm going to say that is polarizing. And Jesus is polarizing. And Jesus begs you to make a decision about him. Holding that Jesus is just a good guy and a nice guy who walked around in a cool white robe and did cool stuff and healed the blind and he was, you know, is not what Jesus is looking for.

Jesus is looking for people that are willing to follow him. And even he says that are willing to die for him. I think that's one thing we don't tell people when we're asking them if they want to know and follow Jesus. I think a great question, and something they understood in the first century is this, is are you willing to die for him? You know, I hope that I'm willing to die for Jesus when push comes to shove.

I want to say just following Jesus because of the rewards you can get or just a ticket into heaven or these things, I think we defang the lion. I think Jesus comes as a radical zealot lion who comes with truth, but he also comes with truth in the name of love. And for some reason, the most far out extreme people that were living the most far out lifestyles, thieves, robbers, prostitutes, these people would flock to Jesus.

I want to say, how can somebody stand up and say such radical things, such hard core zealot truths, but at the same time, the people that are the outcasts of society are flocking to Jesus. Because Jesus had something that was more true than all the truths that were being debated the other day, and the truth was this, that he loved them and that they were loved by God.

I want to say there is so many cultural truths today that we are wrestling in. But in the midst of those cultural truths, we're often, I think, missing the core truth. And the core truth is this, and this is the reason he came. He didn't come to figure out every single societal truth. That wasn't the main reason. He came for one core truth, and it was this, that God loves you.

There is a Father God who loves you, that you are not an orphan, that you are cared for, that you were uniquely created, that you are an individual who God knows every single hair on your head, and he cares for intimately. I want to say as long as we continue as people to focus on all these other cultural concerns, which I think are important, we need to have tough conversations of what it means to be human, of what it means to love.

We need to have tough conversations about those things. But if those things become so big that we miss the whole reason that Jesus come, and the core truth of this, that God loves you, then we miss everything that Jesus is wanting to do. I want to say Jesus desperately wants you to know complete truth. He wants to share truth with you. But the core truth is that you were loved and you were cared for.

I want to say there's a lot of things people are arguing today, but in the midst of it, they're having an argument with themselves. And the core argument is this, is am I worth anything? Do I have any value? Does anyone care for me? Are the things that I have done, will I ever get away from the guilt or the shame of those things? Is there anybody that will reach out for me?

Would there be anyone who would die for me that would care enough to die for me? That's the truth of the gospel. You see, that's what Jesus came to do, and that is the core truth that we see here. And so Pilate is asking him, what is truth? And here we see one of those most dynamic conversations. And you'll see in the notes, it says this, the battle rages today not only in our current culture wars, which, are they on or what?

The culture wars are on. And I would say it is very difficult because we all have our understandings. Now, you could be apathetic. I mean, there's three camps. You could be apathetic and just say, you know what? Do your thing. You know, I'm just going to go out and enjoy my life. Or you could be extreme on one side or other. And these culture wars are raging.

And I think there's important things being spoken about today. But more importantly, I said, that I put in the notes is this, is that there's a culture war in our own lives to know that we are cared for and loved. And I want to say, as believers, as followers of Christ, the core concern, the core cultural argument that you want to be engaged in on a regular basis is helping people come to know that they are loved by God.

That is the war that rages within every heart. Am I loved? Do I matter? Does someone care for me? Do I have a home? Do I have a father who knows my name? You see, the scripture, what sets Christianity and Christ, I don't even like the word Christianity. It's rarely used in the scriptures. It's only used once. I like the word Christ following because Christ following is a lot different than Christianity.

Christianity has many brands, but I see that Christ following has one brand. It is a brand that comes after Jesus and says, I want to know you. And in Christ following says this, and it is so antithetical to so many other ideas or paths or faith in that it says this. In Christ following, it says that you have a father who loves you, that God represents himself as a father, not just a king with a throne that wants to, you know, you're right and you're wrong and judge you, but he leads you to a father.

John 14, six says, I am the what? The way. Jesus, by the way, and this might sound odd to you if you've only, you know, heard the gospel a few times before or you have an idea of what you think Christianity or Christ following is about. Jesus is not the destination. Okay? Jesus is I am the what? The way. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light.

And no man comes where? Where's the destination? To the father. Father. I want to say, I want to say that I never knew until recently the love of the father. I followed Jesus for many years, but I wanted nothing to do with the love of the father because of my own understanding of what the father meant. Because of my own understanding and the truth that I had determined.

You see, I had a truth of what a father was, and it was blocking me from understanding what a true father's love is. And when I say that, oftentimes when I, I was harvesting my truth from the wrong field. I was harvesting it from my own experience. And I think we oftentimes have to be careful not to harvest our truth from our own experience. Because our own experience is so limited compared to the experience of others.

And this is why it's so important to understand the path that other people walk. So that we can understand truth. And so I would ask you this. Where are you harvesting your truth from? Now, you guys, a lot of you guys are in college here. And I understand you were in a crucial four years, six, well, maybe six years. I think I took six. Because I had that one unit volleyball class I never got done.

Right? Somebody else laughs. You're in a key time of harvesting what will I believe for my life. I want to tell you, I'm 45. I was in college yesterday. I know you hear that all the time. I was in college. I went to Point Loma Nazarene. I couldn't get into USC. I didn't have the grades. Now it's hard to get into Point Loma. And they actually upgraded my degree because it was Point Loma Nazarene College.

And now it's like a university it's really hard to get into. So they kind of upgraded. So now I went to a university, not a college. That's funny, by the way. Thank you. I'll say it again. Try the field Parmesan. It's amazing. You're in a key time of figuring out what do you believe and where are you harvesting your truth? Why do you believe what you believe?

I think one of the things that can be the most limiting is becoming a slave to our own opinions. Becoming a slave to our own individual truth. And it is only recently where God has begun to unpack what it means to be loved by a father to me that I have understood love, joy, and peace. And I can finally rest. God is a good God. And so Jesus is the way to that father.

And he speaks. And so there's two keys to this conversation. We're going to quickly look at them before we close today. Two keys to the conversation as well as the understanding Jesus. Because if you don't understand these two keys to this radical conversation he's having with a high political official, just a stone's throw from Pilate, from Caesar, then you won't understand what Christ is calling people to.

You know, I oftentimes am trying to talk people out of following Jesus as opposed to trying to talk them into following Jesus. Because I want them to understand the cost of following Jesus. They say that, like, I think you saw a report this week that so many, I think it was people who identify themselves as believers is down, like, what, 6% in the last five years.

I want to say if people understood, like you would understand in Syria right now, what it means to follow Jesus. Now, if you're a Christian in Syria right now, let me tell you what. You understand what it means to follow Jesus. We watched a video of believers in Syria this last year that was from one of our missionaries from our church that we sent out that was saying that their families were taken, their businesses were burned, their families were killed, that were saying to ISIS, ISIS, I forgive you in the name of Jesus.

We're broken. Maybe you saw that video here not long ago. Let me say what. That's the thing. When I tell people, if you're going to follow Jesus, it's going to start costing you something. I'll tell you, right now in America, Christianity following Christ is going to start costing you something. Don't sign up if you're not willing to pay the cost, okay?

Don't sign up. I'd rather talk you out of it than have you start. It says in the scripture, it's better to not start than to start and to go back. That Christ following means something. But the reason we would sign up for this is because you want to share God's love, not to prove a societal truth. I'm not here to prove societal truth, although I think I know what the truth is on a lot of different issues because the word of God tells me.

The thing that I want to prove is God's love for you. I want to prove that Christ is who he said he is and that he loves you and he came to give you rest and peace. And so these are these two things that we see in the conversation. The first, Jesus claims to not be of this world. Now, as Bono said in a recent video, that if you were to look at this claim where Jesus says, I'm not from this world, you would see him as a nutter is the word he used, or be completely nuts.

You know, when Jesus is talking to Pilate, he says to him, I'm not from this world. I mean, if I were to get up here today, okay, and go, hey, by the way, I'm not from this world, okay, I'm from another world. Actually, in our culture, you'd actually have to dignify that, okay, because that's my own truth for myself. But if I were to say, I'm not from this world.

I'm just from, I'm from another place. And I'm not supposed to be here. I'm here for a reason and a purpose, but I'm going back to this other place. What would you think, or if the president right now got up and said, hey, I'm president right now, but I'm from another place. I mean, would you, how would you feel about society right now? How would you feel about the government and politics?

Well, I tell you, that's what Jesus said. Make no mistake about it. Jesus said radical stuff. And so Jesus claims in verse, look what it says in verse 36. And this is key to understanding Christ's following. It is understanding that who you are following claims to be from somewhere other than here. Why? Because he also claimed to create here. You see, you can't be from here if you created here out of nothing.

And so Jesus comes to the place that he created to restore that which we broke. That's the gospel. The gospel is that human beings are in the business of breaking the things that they own. The world's terminally ill. Can you see that right now? The world is terminally ill. I grew up in the 80s when everything was perfect, okay? There was no war. Everyone loved each other.

George Michael sang really cool songs about Christmas. It was awesome. I would love to go back to the 80s. I liked it so much. There was a few problems maybe. It had its problems. The world's a mess. Does it bother you guys? Does it bother anybody? I was asking my wife yesterday, is the world more free now or 20 years ago? I can't send my kid down the block to walk for food without worrying someone's going to pick him up.

I mean it. Like, if you have kids, like, is the world more free or less free? Is the world better or worse? I'll tell you what. It seems worse to me. But I'm being told it's better. The world's a mess. It needs an answer. It needs an elixir. It needs someone to come and give it a hug. The world needs a father. The world needs a father who says, I love you.

I care for you. That's the message. That's the message we preach. That's the message of Jesus. And Jesus says, I'm not from this world. So in verse 36, he says, Pilate says, what is truth? Actually, that's verse 38. Excuse me. Verse 36, Jesus says, my kingdom is not in this world. If it were, my servants would fight to present my arrest by the Jewish leaders.

Now, remember, Peter, his disciple, tried to prevent his arrest. Remember? He had a sword and he cut off Malchus' ear. And Jesus said, put your sword away. I want to talk, you know, that Jesus wasn't trying to win the battle in this world. That there was a supernatural battle, another reality besides this reality. That's a truth. And I think it's a stretch today, especially in a scientifically, what is becoming a scientifically based society.

That there is another reality beyond what you can see. That there is another reality beyond what you can see. That everything doesn't have to be scientifically proven. Although that was one of the core two true, core two hypotheses of the age of enlightenment. They are this. That scientific revelation and the individuality of man. That man can make his own thoughts.

I want to say that those two truths of the, or those two hypotheses of the enlightenment, if you college people will like this, cannot stand against each other. Because if man can determine his own truth, which is number two, go look it up on wiki. His own truth. But yet scientific reason is the thing that we need to stand by. What happens when man decides that what he believes is more important than scientific truth?

They can't stand. Man will always win that battle, by the way. What man wants to do will always win the battle against scientific truth. Always. Because we are built to do what we want. And we're built to break things. And if you haven't seen that over society, we haven't found that utopia that we're looking for. And so we see that Jesus claims not to be of this world.

And he says that my kingdom is not here. That there is another reality. And in regard to Christ's following, and followers of Christ believe this. That what is playing out here has a deep connection with what is happening in another place that is in heaven. That we are going to that place and there is a supernatural reality. A place beyond this place.

I want to say I believe that with all my heart. I would die for that truth. I believe that Jesus is the reality that created this world and he came into this world to save it. Because we broke it. And God sent his only son that it might be saved. And so Jesus is saying that. So if you're considering Christ's following, realize this. That Jesus said that he does not come from this place.

That there is a deeper constant. That there is a place different from this. And the second is this. Jesus claims to hold absolute truth. He claims to know absolute truth. I want to tell you what. Absolute truth is not popular today. Anybody realize that? That absolute truth is not popular. We don't like people who feel that they have absolute truth.

What is popular is relative truth. Now relative truth is it is relative to you. That if you think it's true or if enough people think it's true, then it becomes true. By the way, that's an absolute truth. Does anybody figure that one out? That's it. If you believe in relative truth, that's an absolute truth. Okay? That you believe that all truth is relative to each context, to each setting.

It is relative. I would say where is truth harvested from? And what Jesus says in this scripture and in his conversation with Pilate is that truth is harvested from where he comes from. That truth is anchored somewhere. I want to say if you believe that we should love all people. Where does love come from? And if you were to take that back, it has to be anchored to somewhere.

Now I've heard, read scientific reports, that love is a brain chemistry thing. That it's just all down to like something squirting in your brain. Okay? It is. So there's like these, you know, I was going to say pheromones, but I think that's what queen bees give off in hives, right? So it's not pheromones. That was funny too. I'll really listen to my sermon and go, that was funny.

No one laughed, but it was really funny. That there is this, that love, where does love come from? And let me just ask you this. Where does, I mean, I'm not going to ask you to respond, but where does love come from? Like if you, if you trace it back, what is it anchored to? And if you were basing your truths on love, then you have to have an understanding of where you think it comes from.

Or else it is an untethered truth. I want to say one of the things that Jesus said is there's an absolute place where love comes from. That God is love. But love is not God. Hear me. Right now we're in a society that is telling us that love is God. That love is the thing that should be worshipped. And if, and in love is the anchor for all decision making.

I want to say love is an attribute of God. God is love, but love is not God. Does that make sense? If you want to talk to me about it afterwards, we can talk about this more and how this plays out. But Jesus says that there is this supernatural place where he comes from. And does he sound like a nut job? Yes. Okay. I get that he sounds like a nut job.

But you know what I've also found out? That it's true. That there is a place and there is a power and there is a kingdom and there is a love and there is a radical love that is based in a reality that is God. That God is a reality. And I heard you sing it today. That he is a reality. And when I pray, I don't just pray into an empty universe. I don't just pray to a place where I don't know who God is.

That I know who my Father is and he knows me. That he knows me and he wants to be with me and he loves me. You know how desperate I was to hear that? I sought everything. I sought it through drugs. I sought it through all these different places. I sought that love everywhere before I finally found it. And I say more and more God has been there for me.

And as it was sung today, more and more he has been there. And so Jesus claims to hold this absolute truth where it originates. And he speaks in John 16, 13. This is two chapters before. If you want to know what the scripture says, you've got to be careful not just to take one scripture. You have to understand the whole Bible. And so Jesus says before, look what he says in John 16, 13.

It should be up on the thing. He says, but when he, and now this is after Jesus is going to, is going to, is going to, is going to be resurrected from the dead. And he's coming back again and believing that is faith. And I understand believing that Jesus is going to come back in the clouds and everything makes you sound like a nut job. I get that.

Okay. I get it. But I also believe it and I'll die for it. Like those people in Syria, I'll die for it. I'd be happy to die for that truth. I'll ask you this. Will you die for the truth you believe in? What do you believe in? What is it tethered to? And will you die for it? That is a key question, especially in Christ following. And I want to ask even you that have followed Christ for a long time.

Are you willing to die for your faith? Is it value enough to you that you would die for it? We've been very, we've been very, as my friend said from new England, you've been coddled. You've been coddled at that church you had, you know, it's true. We have to stop coddling believers. We have to stop coddling believers and saying, what are you, how far are you willing to go for your truth in love?

Jesus is willing to go all the way. And so we see this. Jesus says, but when he, the spirit of truth, and this is the Holy Spirit because God is a Trinity according to the Bible. God, the father, God, the son, and God, the Holy Spirit, all one, but three persons. But when he, the spirit of truth comes, it is the spirit of what? A spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.

The understanding is the only way to be guided into absolute truth, and Jesus speaks about absolute truth, is to be guided by his Holy Spirit. He will not speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. Where does he hear it from? What Jesus is saying, it's assuming, Jesus' postulate is this, is that the spirit of truth is hearing truth from somewhere, that you are harvesting your truth from somewhere.

I would say, I would ask this question in regard to harvesting truth. Does something become true because a lot of people believe it? I would say, Germany in 1942 taught me that that's not true. Just because a lot of people believe something doesn't mean it's true. And where is that truth being harvested from? We can go into all these conversations now about the cultural things that we can argue about.

I don't want to have cultural arguments with people. I don't. People are going to believe what they want to believe. The discussion I want to have is this, is that do you know that God loves you? Do you know that you have a father who cares about you? That is the message of the gospel. I have to work so hard to not be inflamed by a bipolar media that loves extremes.

They love extremes. They love wars. They love culture wars. Why? Because they make money on us. They use us like pawns to make money, to argue with each other and be upset. I want to have a conversation about God's love. I want to talk to people about, hey, you're not an orphan. And when you feel alone, depressed, anxious, there is a God who wants to meet you.

And the scripture says that his name is Jesus and that he wants to know you deeply. I want to ask the choir to come back up for our final song. And in that, today as they come up to sing, I just want, I want us to get into touch with laying down all those cultural arguments for a while. And asking yourself this, do I believe the truth that I am loved by God?

That's the truth that matters. Do you feel loved by God? Do you feel as it was sung today that he has your hand and you will not let go? And that's the truth that I want to preach here. Look, you can become a church easily that constantly wants to fight culture wars. And I'm not here to fight culture wars except the war of this, the war of people feeling lost and broken.

I just want to give you an opportunity to think about Jesus. I know a lot of times they're like, hey, come on down to the front, raise your hand, follow Jesus in this moment. I don't really know how many of those go on. But I want to say this, is take an opportunity this week to think about Jesus seriously. To think about Christ following seriously.

To take a good look at Jesus. To take a good look at Jesus and say, hey, is this the zealot? Is this the God? Is this the way to the Father that I would want to follow? And I would just leave it up to you at that point to seek it. If you want to have a conversation, anybody wants to have a conversation about Christ following, contact me. I've got time for coffee.

I want to tell you about it and others as well. Let me just pray a blessing over this. Guys, congregation, they've blessed us. Put your hand out. And pray a blessing over them right now. Just bless them. Just speak out loud. Just bless them. Bless them with what you would want to bless yourself with. Bless them with goodness, with health. Just speak it out.

God, we bless this choir, Lord Jesus. God, we bless them from heaven. Let God fall on them, Lord Jesus. Blessing God. We pray blessing over you. We just cover them. They might know you more. Jesus, bless their talents and their gifts. Some want to go on to professional careers. I just feel like there's some of you that want to go on to professional careers.

And, uh, my brother, I say, God, here's your voice. Here's your voice. He blesses your voice. He wants to bless your career. I see you going on. Bless you. Yeah, God. So we just bless these people. I bless my congregation now. Lord Jesus, we want to preach love. I want to know how to love you. I'm tired of this world telling me to be angry. Cast down anger.

Just put your sword down. Let's put our swords down. Put them down. Let's go out today and love people. Why are you different? Let people ask why we're different. I pray for evangelism. I pray for your growth on this congregation, God. Your goodness. Your grace on our children. Your love, God. Let this place be a heartbeat. And we give you light. We just bless you.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's just lift it up today. Just thank these guys one more time. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. pra you.