Good morning. So great to be here back at Grace Church. And as I shared with the morning group that whenever I come to Grace Church, I sense the work of the Holy Spirit working here. You guys have a great church and we pray that the work of the Spirit will just continue to reach and permeate this whole city. I'm sure there are a lot of people sitting home today in despair. and wondering what life is all about, and you have the answers. Amen? It's Jesus. But my wife, Jenner, she's right up here in the front row. We would like to thank you so much for your support of our ministry as we travel all over the world preaching the gospel, mainly to young people. I know you're probably looking at me saying, how did this old guy connect with young people? But as my mom and dad said, you never grew up. So I guess that's the answer. But we just finished six weeks of senior high camp at Lake Ann Camp up in Michigan. We saw all the programs. We have juniors all the way through senior high. And all the programs combined, we saw over 300 kids come to know Jesus. So what a blessing, yeah, amen. Now, when they asked me to come and speak here, this Awesome August, is what it's called, the Awesome August, they're like, yeah, we wanna focus on origins. And I started looking at all the people that were coming, Dr. So-and-so and Dr. So-and-so and Dr. So, you know, talk about all this science stuff. I'm like, oh my word, what am I gonna do? Because I told everybody, I said, the only doctorate I have is I'm working on my honorary doctorate. And some people don't catch that, you know. Sometimes I say that to people and they're like, oh, wow. Oh, very, it's good, you know. I just let it pass. And they think I'm working very hard on a doctorate. But anyways, and I suppose if someone did give me a doctorate, I would offend the rest of the doctors in the world if I used the title. So you don't have to be afraid of that. But as I thought about origins, I thought about the origin of my faith. And probably some of the things that we as believers, we need to believe in, and it includes origins. Where did this world come from? What is this world all about? And I kind of feel sorry for the world that has maybe a lot in this country, especially some of the more advanced and industrial countries, you know, they're so smart and we have our big universities and they've turned to the way of believing that there is no God. There's no God and Also, not only they do not believe in God, but they're like, well, how did this all come about? How did life come about? Well, we're just organisms that advanced over billions of years and we became human beings. But if you follow that line of reasoning, man has no hope. He has no reason to exist. And it's a very crossing the line of despair, so to speak. And so what I wanna talk about today is my journey through some of the fundamental truths that we need to believe in. I wanna start out, take your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians 4. I've been studying this book a lot lately and I like what Paul says. Paul has been defending his apostleship. And he does it very boldly because he knows he has been called of God to be an apostle. He says, I have been commissioned by God. He's not backing off, he's not apologizing. When others were saying, I don't think you're really an apostle, he's like, oh yeah. And so one of his statements in chapter four, 2 Corinthians chapter four, starting in verse 13, he says, since we have the same spirit of faith, According to what has been written and he's going to quote from Psalm 116 verse 10 According to what has been written. I believed and so I spoke We also believe and so we also speak Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence For it is all for your sake so that as grace extends to more and more people that may increase Thanksgiving to the glory of God And this phrase really captured me. I believe, therefore I speak. And I wanna tell you this morning that there's some things I deeply believe in and I am going to speak from a spirit of faith this morning. And you better listen up and get this right. Amen? I'll tell you what, these are things, when I first got saved, there were some things, you know, I grew up in a Christian home. It wasn't a real strong Christian home. You know, I hate to say that because it really was, but I had the wrong idea of salvation. I thought you had to work your way to heaven, and so, at the age of 15, I went to camp, and I heard the gospel for the very first time. The church I was going to at that point was a liberal church. And they were all about, you know, the United Nations to save the world and UNICEF and all that kind of stuff. That's all we heard. And I went to camp and they told me that I was a sinner and I was like, I agree with that, you know. That they didn't have to convince me too much. But I thought, you know, as the preacher was preaching, I'm like, well, I'm lost and I'm going to hell. But he preached the gospel. He says, you know what? That's why Jesus died on the cross. He died for your sins. And you need to give him your sin and take his righteousness. And it just, the light went on. The Holy Spirit said, you can't do it. I'm like, I can't do it. I can't work my way to heaven. Jesus did it on the cross. And I remember that night I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and I was saved. Well, I'll tell you what, that was such a revolutionary thought to me that you don't have to, you know, kind of keep up the rat race of religion, you know, like maybe I'm in God's favor, maybe I'm not, boy, I tell you, when I knew my sin was gone and I was saved, I'm like, I'm telling the world about this. And so, 15 years old, I start my sophomore year in high school, I went to school and I start telling my buddies, you know, because they hadn't seen me all summer, And we got back and I'm like, man, you need to get saved. You can't work your way to heaven. And I'm preaching my heart out to them. And one of my friends is like, well, wait a minute. He says, hey, who says the Bible's the word of God? He says, where does it say that? I'm like, in the Bible. He goes, well, who says the Bible's the word of God? I'm like, I never thought about that. And then we started a biology class, that's something you start and you get in there and they start saying, now I remember the teacher saying, I know some of you believe that God made man and you can believe that if you want to, but they're like, I'm gonna teach you what is really true. Like you can believe your fairy tale was cute when you were young, and I'll tell you what, People are like, you believe that the Bible's the word of God? You believe Genesis chapter one? I'm like, oh, yeah. They're like, well, that was a book written by man. And I'm like, well, shut up. I had no answers. Man, here I thought I just had to tell them. They'd be like, oh, feed me. Oh, I want to believe. And I get this pushback. And so I was going through what the Bible calls the testing of your faith, amen? I'm like, wow, is the Bible God's word? Is Genesis chapter one true or am I just stuck in a fairytale land? So anyways, this morning I want to talk about what God has showed me, things that I believe. and therefore I wanna speak with great authority. So if you're taking notes, I wanna talk about three foundational truths I must believe in for confidence in life. Three foundational truths I must believe in for confidence in life. And as I think back upon the testing of my faith, being a young believer, and of course my parents were not equipped to help me in my young faith. We had all been going to that liberal church. And so a few months after I got home from camp, God gave me the courage. to ask my parents if I could go to a different church. I said, I'd like to go to a church that preaches the Bible. And they're like, well, our church has a Bible up in the altar in the front. And I'm like, yeah, but we never use it. So they were like, okay, and so this is my journey of faith that I went on, and now I'll tell you what, I'm really convinced of these things. So three foundational truths we must believe in for confidence in life. Here's the first one, number one, God is maker of heaven and earth. Amen? Number one, I believe that God is the maker of heaven and earth. Now, as I said, you know, you get a lot of pushback when you go to school, especially I was in a public school, and, you know, they just, the whole class was just against me. I remember I felt like the stupidest person in the whole room, you know, that I believed that God made the heavens and the earth, and, you know, You know, one of the things I, this intimidation that the world is giving to us, it's kind of like, I'm a Washington Redskin fan, okay? There's not too many of us left. You know, I was in Washington, D.C. as a pastor for 10 years, and during those years, that's when they won the Super Bowls, three Super Bowls. Woo, okay? Man, we got connected. Well, then I moved up to work at Baptist Bible College up in Clark Summit, Pennsylvania. And I got there and I found out everybody either liked the Philadelphia Eagles, or the New York Giants, or the New York Jets, or the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I found myself intimidated all the time. You'd come to church at night. And you watch all the games, and of course, this was the era of the Redskins not winning anything, and they're like, ah, Redskins, man, Redskins. I'm like, well, Redskins, shut up, you know. Eagles, Eagles, Giants. And you're like, oh man, you don't have much confidence. And then one day, somebody gave me some tickets to go watch the Redskins, and so we drove down to Washington, D.C. I remember driving onto the parking lot, And here's the stadium, maroon and gold. And I'm like, I'm home, you know, and everybody's there and the Redskins, Redskins, they are singing hail to the Redskins. And I'm like, I'm with my family. There are people who believe in the Redskins, you know, and listen, that's why we go to church. So we can come and be with a community that believes that God is the maker of heaven and earth. Amen. And I'll tell you. because our young people and the news and the world and all the specials you watch on TV, they're all about evolution and how beautiful this is and like I say, you believe in that stuff, there's no meaning to life. I'd like you to turn to Romans chapter one. By the way, I'm gonna be turning to a number of different scriptures today and I hope you'll not get angry with me. I went to a church one time and the pastor said, please don't turn to a lot of scriptures, my people get mad. I was like, well, they get mad you have to study the Bible, you know, so please, I hope you have the spirit of faith also, like yeah, let's read this stuff out of the word of God, amen? Okay, all right. If you don't, you get saved today, okay. Romans chapter one, starting in verse 18, it talks about God being the maker of heaven and earth. It says, verse 18, "'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven "'against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, "'who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. "'For what can be known about God is plain to them, "'because God has shown it to them, "'for His invisible attributes, "'namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, and the things that have been made so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they came futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Can I tell you what the Bible's saying here? That knowing that God is the creator is just common sense, okay? You know, it's one thing to have all these scientists come in and tell you all the proofs of creation, and that's wonderful, that's good. But maybe you're simple like me, and you can't follow these scientific arguments. You're like, well, I guess it's okay, but you know, with the Bible, God knew there's more simple people on the earth than there are super duper smart people. He says, you know what? Anybody with common sense as they look at the things that are made would say, I think somebody had to make this. This just didn't come out of nothing. God spoke it out of nothing, but what is here, you could tell it's been designed. It's just clear by the things that are made that we know there's a creator, and we see his attributes of power. This is a powerful creation. But it says men suppress the truth. Can I tell you what's going on in the world today? Men do not want God in their life because if God is the center of their life and He is their creator, then they're responsible to Him. And they don't want that. They want to be free to live in sin. And we see it. The courts and the congresses today are passing laws that are anti-moral. And you're just seeing that they suppress. And if we went on to read the other verses here in Romans, we'd see that not only do they suppress, but God gives them up for their lust. Like, you wanna live like that? Go ahead, I'll take my hands off you. And the end is destruction. And I'll tell you what, I know one of the foundational truths I need to know, and that I'm sure of, is that God is the maker of heaven and earth. Have you ever gone, as I get older, I have to go to the ear doctor, you know, because, you know, being at camp so many years, listening to the kids scream, you know, my hearing is, you know, I wear headsets now when I walk around doing game nights and all that kind of stuff, but there was, so I go to the ear doctor and I sit in his office, I'm waiting for him to come in and give me the examination or whatever, and he has these charts on the wall, here's the ear, and I look at that and I'm like, Whoa. People think that just came out of nothing. You know, I remember when I was a kid in science class, and they're trying to teach me how evolution happened, and they say, well, it started with a pool of bacteria. But what made it come alive? It says, well, maybe it got, this pool of bacteria got hit with lightning, and it was like, you know, and the cell's like, I wanna live, I wanna live, you know. And I remember they used to have us scrape our cheek in biology class and put it on a, take some of the cells and put them on a little slide and put it in the microscope. And I'm like, what am I supposed to be looking at? And the teacher's like, the cells are dividing. The cells are dividing. Evolution. And I watch cells divide, and so then as time went by, I said, oh, I see. So one cell becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, eight becomes 16, 16 becomes 32, 32 becomes 64, and then I'm not gonna go any further than that, you know, but my math is not very good. But then it's this thing, until you have this blob of cells, And it started blobbing around. And it was alive. And they talk about this self-determination, like, you know, I blobbed around enough million years, I think I wanna walk. And so it started thinking, legs, legs, legs. And pretty soon out popped some nubs. I read this, and it nubbed around. for millions of years. He's like, this isn't very fast. I need legs with joints. Legs, joints. So no, now come on, Ken. No, it wasn't that easy. It took millions of years of thinking about it. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Where did the blob get its brain to think about that, to have self-determination? And now, you know what? Now the evolution ought to be like, shut up! Don't make me think about these things. I'll tell you, listen, you need more faith to believe in evolution than a Christian needs to believe that God created the heavens and the earth. Okay, yes, amen. They never take their conclusions, their theories, they never take it to the proper conclusion and say, if I believe this, I believe all this has gotta happen. Then I go to the eye doctor and look at the eye on the wall, I was like, whoa, you think that just popped out of millions of years of this blob's bumping into things? And he's like, you know, eyes, I need, how would he know what eyes were anyways? And you look at it, I'm like, it's so complicated. That's like finding a Boeing 737 out in the forest and saying, hmm, where whenever that came from, you know. Millions of years, this metal got together. That's what they're saying happened with human beings. It's crazy. Listen, I just wanna say, just common sense would tell you that there is a God that made the heavens and the earth. You can also write down Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech. There is no place where its speech is not heard. Listen, there's no place in the world where men can look at nature and the things that are made and say, this just happened over billions of years. No, we know there had to be a creator, amen? And so, listen, don't let people intimidate you. You may be a minority, but you need to know, just by common sense, if you study God's Word and read what it says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and I believe with all my heart that God did create the heavens and the earth, amen? And it was the God of this Bible. which leads me to my second foundational truth that I must believe in to have confidence in life. And that is number two, I believe the Bible is God's Word. Amen? Now, some of you couldn't say amen. You're like, yeah, I'm wondering about that. You know, as I said, I went to school, and I was like, hey, you know, I went to camp, and they were telling me, there's a message in here I never knew before, and you can't work your way to heaven, it's, you know, it's by grace, it's a gift, and I got saved, and I took the gift, and my sins are gone, and they said, well, who says, well, I'm like, the Bible. Who says the Bible's God's word? It's a book written by man. Um. Well, maybe it is and maybe it's not. How do I know? Well, let me ask you, if you're still struggling, that needs to be a struggle, a journey you go through, and you better come out on the other side that the Bible is God's Word. Otherwise, you'll never have confidence. You'll always be wondering, can I stake my life on this? Listen, all of the changes in my life, the sanctification, becoming more like Christ, fixing the problems in my life, fixing the problems in my marriage, fixing the problems of my emotions, all that stuff, it all is rooted and grounded in believing that what God says in this word is true, and it can help you, amen? Well, but if you need to go on a journey, I'll tell you why. Why don't you buy a book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. I'll tell you why. That book's about that thick. And he used to be an atheist. And he says, I'm gonna prove the Bible's not God's word. And whenever you do that, you attack the Bible, and you start studying it, you're gonna find some wondrous things in there. And so he's done a tremendous work in gathering all sorts of archeological stuff, and different evidences about the manuscripts, and so on and so forth. But you know what? Even with all that out extra-biblical study, you're never gonna come to the proper conclusion by yourself. And how about the prophecies in the scriptures? And by the way, that's in Josh McDowell's book. He takes about 300 and some prophecies and shows you how they came to pass. But I don't know about you. Have you ever just let the Holy Spirit read some of these prophecies? How about Psalm 22? Have you ever read Psalm 22? I'll tell you, that ought to frost your flakes, okay? Man, you get in there and you're reading like this. I remember reading, I was like, this is the cross. This is the cross. There's no other way and there's no way Jesus could have manipulated all the things that happened at the cross that we see in Psalm 22 written 1,000 years before as he's on the cross and these things are happening. Let me tell you what, Psalm 22. How about Isaiah 53? Have you ever read Isaiah 53? You're like, that's the cross. This is what Jesus did on the cross. It's so clear. How could somebody that many years ago understand that this is what would happen with the Lord Jesus Christ? How about Daniel chapter 9? Have you ever read the prophecies of Daniel chapter 9? When he says, Daniel, he was given a prophecy from the beginning of the building of the walls, which happened in 444 BC, when Nehemiah went back to build the walls. From the beginning of the building of the walls, there's all these prophecies that 490 years, there's gonna be something happen. And what that is, is the Anointed One will come. Well, if you, Sir Robert Anderson, if you ever wanna read his book, he went and he studied this all out many years ago, and he said, if you start with the building of the walls of Jerusalem to the end of this prophecy, you have Jesus Christ riding triumphantly into Jerusalem, and a week later, being crucified, the Anointed One coming. It's Jesus, woo! Is that pretty exciting? Like, maybe you're like, well, I never read that. Well, start reading! Start studying! Man, I'll tell you what, if that doesn't lift you up to the heavens and, you know, you read in the Psalm, he's like, oh, I saw the wicked prospering, they're all against me until I saw you in the sanctuary, amen? I'll tell you what, read your Bible, the self-authentication that it gives to us. Turn to 1 Peter, if you would. Turn to 2 Peter with me. Love this passage. I use it a lot talking to young people. Because some of you are like, well, if I just had an experience where I could see God, maybe I would believe. Well, Peter wants, he's gonna give some kudos to the word of God here. 2 Peter chapter one. Verse 16, now he's talking to these people, this is kind of the second generation of believers. He says, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Now I want to stop right there. What's Peter talking about? He's like, gang, let me tell you what. He says, I'm not giving you some kind of a fairy tale story. It's something I made up about Jesus. He said, I was with him on the holy mountain, the mountain of transfiguration, Peter, James, and John. He said, Jesus took us up there and he was transformed. His glory was shown. His clothes were like lightning and his face was, you know, and he's like all aglow and here comes Moses and Elijah and they're all, you know, talking and here's Peter, James, and I can imagine like, whoa! You know, and then they all bowed down and then it was all gone. And I'm like, can you believe that? And they also heard the voice from God the Father, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. That's an experience, amen? Wish I could have that. You know, God, on my way to the parking lot after church, if he could just meet me in my car, you know, and get in your car and Hello, good morning, believe in me, I will. You know, man, that was better than any Pastor Phil's sermon, you know, man. But what does Peter say about his experience? Look at verse 19. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word. to which you will do well to pay attention is to a lamp shining in a dark place. And boy, folks, don't we live in a dark place today. to which you would do well to pay attention to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing that this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. He's saying, listen, guys, we have a book that was not written by man. Men wrote it as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. He said, yeah, I had an experience, I met God. But he says, let me tell you what, you have something more sure, more sure than an experience of hearing a voice of God and seeing a bright light. Can I tell you, we need to stop searching for experiences and start searching out the holy word of God. And let it come to the point where you're like, God, this is your word, I'm convinced of it. I'll tell you, whenever I have my devotions every day, one of the things I always say to God, God, I believe the Bible I hold in my hands is your word, and I do not doubt it. And that gives me confidence in life. And Peter said, yeah, I had an experience. I saw the glory of God, and I heard the voice of God. But he said, folks, you have something more glorious, something more sure, more sure than an experience, because you got it every day. And you'd do well to take heed to it like a lamp shining in a dark place. I tell you, sometimes I get overwhelmed by the darkness. John say in his gospel, and the darkness has not overcome the light. But he says, light that lamp. Start reading the scriptures like a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns. Did you ever go out and drive early in the morning before the sun's up and you're driving and it's pitch black, all of a sudden, bing, it's kind of gray. You're like, oh, oh. The light's coming, the light's coming. And then the sun peeps up over the horizon, you got the sunrise, and then it gets, the day star arises, and the full bloom of the noonday sun. I'll tell you what, that's what, when you study the word of God, you get these experiences of knowing God and who he is, and I'll tell you what, I believe that God is the maker of heaven and earth, and I believe that the Bible is the word of God, amen? Amen, I'm speaking with a spirit of faith, and I hope this morning, if you have doubts, start that journey. Go through that trial. Let it test you until you come through and you believe these two foundational truths. But then there's a third foundational truth that I think we need to, we must believe in for confidence in life, and that is number three, I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way. Amen? I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I started when I was 15 years old, walking in darkness and despair. And man, I heard the gospel, and I'm like, this is it. This is the truth of life. This is what life is all about. And I couldn't believe it, man. I went home, and I'm like, I must tell the world. I must tell the world. And I told my friends, and a lot of them rejected it. But some accepted it. I remember leading a couple of my classmates to Jesus Christ. Sometimes, I didn't know all the words, but I'd take them to church. And I remember bringing Randy Grant to church. He had just moved into our school and I had a burden of witness to him and I brought him to church and he sat in my Sunday school class, my Sunday school teacher, and he says, I want to get saved at the end of Sunday school class. I'll never forget, my Sunday school teacher's like, whoa, I've never done this before. I was like, it's about time you learned, you know. And man, people got saved. It was what life was all about. And I've never lost that. Man, thank God. About a year after that I was saved. God called me to be a preacher. And I get to tell people. But there's five sub-points I want to put under that I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first one, A, is it is by grace. It is by grace, the gospel comes to us by grace. And maybe there's some of you here this morning, you think, maybe it's by religion. And I've been coming to Grace Church for a long time and I'm trying to get those brownie points with God so that someday, you know, when I stand before him, he'll say, you're good enough, that's what I used to think. I remember growing up in this church where I was like, I think you have to work your way to heaven. That's the impression I got. I used to watch them take communion at church, and as a young boy, I'm like, I'd love a snack in the middle of church. That'd be great. So I asked my mother, I'm like, can I take communion? She says, well, wouldn't you understand what it's all about? And I used to watch these people. They'd just get all reverence and reverend. And Oregon would play quiet music. I said, it looks like they're all confessing their sins. And so I told my mom, I said, it's when you get your sins forgiven. She goes, all right, you can take it next week. And I was like, all right, get a snack. Then, you know, I was 12 years old, and I remember they ran us all into the pastor's office, and they taught us what it was to be a member of the church, and then they brought us up in front of the church, and they, hey, you're in, you know, and I was like, whoa, something holy just happened to me, you know, I joined the church, and the pastor said some hocus pocus over me, I'm in, and I was like, and then they gave us Bibles with their names on it, and I'm like, I can't wait to show God that on judgment day, you know, and why should I let you into heaven? Ken Rudolph, you know. God's like, oh, a Bible with your name on it. Church membership and communion and oh, I'll tell you what, we also, we were farmers, we didn't bail hay on Sunday. The neighbor did, I knew he was going to hell for sure. I had my works. And I was gonna stand before God and say, you know, God, you know, I took communion, I joined the church, I do all this religion, didn't bale hay on Sunday. Well, you're so wonderful, come on into heaven. No, I'll tell you what, I was a sinner. I was wicked, rotten sinner. And I went to camp and the preacher was preaching. He goes, I'll tell you what, I bet you kids swear and your parents don't know about it. I'm like, how does he know that, you know? I just used to swear at the cows like crazy. He said, I'll bet you some of you are into pornography. And I'm like, whoa, how does he know that? I had books hidden away, magazines hidden away. And I was into it so deep. And I'll tell you what, he convinced me I was a sinner and I was not going to heaven. I was going to hell. My life was a mess. My life was full of fear and depression and despair. And he said, but wait a minute. That's why Jesus died on the cross. Ephesians 2, 8, 9, for by grace are you saved through faith. It's not of yourselves, it's the grace of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And I'll tell you what, I learned that day that salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ is by grace and not works, amen? So if any of you are trying to work your way into heaven, stop it tonight and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There's letter B. Another thing I learned about the gospel is it cannot be lost. You cannot lose your salvation. Oh, I remember, I was an early Christian, just got saved. Guess what, I'll tell you what. I got saved, I knew I was saved, because I went home from camp, I went in the barn, a cow kicked me, and instead of swearing, I just said, God bless you, you know. I was like. God, you zip, it was the Holy Spirit zip my mouth shut. And I had this peace, I didn't care anymore. Cows could do stupid things, I was like, it's okay. I had peace, you know, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But then I remember two years after that, I had not swore for two years. And one day we're bailing hay and mowing hay and the guy down on the wagon, he's just shoving the bales up. I'm trying to stack them and I can't do it. I'm like, slow down, you know, and he kept shoving up there. And I go, slow down, blankity, blank, blank, blank. I thought God was like, I'm taking that back. Whoa, you did good for two years, but then you cursed, now you lost it. And I was like, oh, but thank God by that time I was going to a good church and I go there and I passed her, I cursed. He goes, well, just, you know, 1 John 1, 9, confess your sins, he's faithful to forgive you and to cleanse you. I'm like, you mean he's not going to take my salvation away? No. How about John chapter 10? No man can pluck you out of my hand. You're in the Father's hand. I'll tell you what, not even yourself can pluck yourself out. Boy, was that when I, did that give me confidence in life? Yes, and some of you may be wondering, I think I can lose it. I think, stop it. Start believing what the Bible says. You cannot lose your salvation. There's letter C. I believe the gospel's transcendent. You say, well, what's that big word mean? It means that God becomes real to you. I work with kids all summer and they're like, oh, God isn't real to me. I said the prayer, I'm saved, but God's not real to me. And I'm like, well, you know what? You just need to read the scriptures and ask God to give you faith that he's real. You know, if you're waiting for a feeling that's not gonna come, you need to take the facts of the Scriptures, apply them by faith, and the feelings will come, amen? That's a good thing to remember. But God is, the gospel's transcendent, it's real. I'll never forget when I was going through a really hard time, 19 years old, and I was so full of despair, and I prayed, God, please change my feelings, nothing changed. I was like, oh no, and the devil started whispering to me, God doesn't hear your prayers, God doesn't hear your prayers, because nothing's happening. And I fell into great doubt. And then one day I read Psalm 34, verse 17, the Holy Spirit just brought this truth to me and I believed it by faith. It said, the righteous cry and the Lord hears them and delivers them out of all their distresses. And I'm like, that settles it. I believe. You hear every one of my prayers, amen? And I'll tell you, there's some of you this morning, you're saved, you got the gospel, but you haven't settled the transcendence of God, that He's real. And when the Word says He hears our prayers, and when the Word says He's real, we must believe that, amen? You know, he makes life, letter D, he makes life worth living. He makes life worth, you know how many teenagers I run into every summer, they're like, I'm contemplating suicide. I'm contemplating suicide because, you know, life just isn't worth living. I'll tell you, when you get saved, God changes your life. He comes into a wrecked life and a messed up life and he changes you. I lived in 30 some years of depression when I was young. Got to the pastorate and I'm like, I can't take it anymore. I'll tell you what, you wanna be depressed, become a pastor, you know. And it was rough. Some of the things people would say to me and write to me and I was like, God, you gotta help me. And God brought me to a passage of scripture, Colossians 3.21. And it said, fathers, do not irritate your children or they will be depressed. And I was like, I think that's what happened to me. My dad was one of these guys on a farm. He was like, you're worthless, you're no good. He's like, you're never gonna amount to anything. And he just kept preaching at me his words that you're no good. And he was a father that beat me until I became depressed. I'm like, I can't ever please my father. Well, the Holy Spirit woke me up again. He said, take that scripture, Ken, and turn it around. If I'm telling earthly dads not to depress their kids, he said, I'm a good father, I'm a perfect father. What would I never do to you? I'm like, you would never depress me. He said, do you think I'm trying to break you down more or to lift you up? I'm like, it just makes sense that God the Father, he's someone that puts us back together. It makes life worth living, and I'll tell ya, I started waking up every morning by faith. I said, God, I wonder what you're gonna do today to heal me, to put me back together. I believed. I believe what the Word says. God is our Father, amen? He will not depress you. He will heal you and lift you up. He's a good Father that encourages you. So believe this morning. believe that he makes life worth living. And then last of all, letter E under the gospel, I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, letter E, it must be proclaimed. It must be proclaimed. Oh man, can I tell you, when I got saved, like I said, I wanted to tell the world, thank God he called me to be a preacher. And I'll tell you what, there's millions of people. If this gospel has touched your heart, then you must go out and tell others. May God use Grace Church to reach Des Moines and the millions of people and the billions of people around the world. I pray that your missions, efforts will grow. I pray your congregation will grow. Wouldn't it be great if you had to pack this place four times? Or build a new auditorium, amen? You're like, no. Don't go that far, Ken. But I'll tell you what, plant more churches, whatever it takes, but we must proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ because it is true, amen? I hope it's touched your life. May God give you these three truths. and that'll be foundational in your life. Number one, God is maker of heaven and earth. Number two, the Bible's the word of God. I believe that with all my heart. And number three, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest truth you could have, and it's gonna solve all the problems of the world. So let's not give up. Maybe we ask God for these origins of our faith to begin, and never die out, but teach others that they could also have that same spirit of faith, and that they would speak also.