Well, good evening, everybody. We're going to get started just a minute or two early. The children will be singing this Sunday during the worship service, so they're going to stampede up here roughly about 7.30 to quarter of 8. So I'm going to try my best to get through this evening's teaching without sacrificing any of the content, because it's critically important. It summarizes basically everything we've been talking about up to this point. As we begin this evening, I'd just like to first, before I forget, give a thank you to my wingman up there. Everyone turn around, wave, say hi to Andrew. Andrew started with me last year. As you remember, through the pandemic, we had Thursday night meetings for the adults and the kids met on Wednesdays. It was a big mess. And a small handful of people were gathered with me in the sanctuary, and I basically was broadcasting these meetings each week. And Andrew took it upon himself to learn the sound and learn YouTube and the camera throughout that time. And then slowly but surely worked himself into the role he's in now. So he's been handling that all through the fall. And the equipment sometimes is extremely temperamental, as you guys might have found if you tried to watch some of these. But he perseveres. Because he does what he does, I can do what I do. So I'm grateful for him in my ministry here. Just before we get into the content, here's a list of the topics we've covered to this point over these last, well, it's 12 weeks. We were here for 11. We talked in our first week about scripture. We talked about its authority and its inerrancy. And then we moved into the second week into a discussion about God and talking about his attributes, who he is. And then in the third and fourth sessions, we talked about the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. We moved to salvation in the next week, the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit, prayer, talked about what the church is, how we define it in its universal and local expressions. We talked about spiritual gifts and last week, obedience. So a lot of content over these last weeks that is very foundational to a thorough knowledge of what you believe. And I hope you found it helpful. Most of it has been preserved on Sermon Audio, if you want to go back and listen to some of the things we've talked about, and of course, on YouTube. Before we begin, though, let me just open with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for this time together. I thank you, Father, for gathering these saints into this building these last weeks to take advantage of all the ministry that's going on here midweek. I pray for these in front of me and for the children downstairs and for the other adult studies that have taken place. Lord, we don't want to do these things in vain. We do them for the purpose of educating and seeing your saints grow up in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord We just ask, Father, that these studies will bear fruit. We know that the Spirit of God teaches as he ministers to the hearts of the people here, meets them where they are. And Lord, we want to, as we learned last week, not just be hearers of the word, not just people who call themselves Christians and attend church, but well-informed believers who live out their faith in order that people might not only Hear the gospel through us, but also see a manifestation of Christ-likeness in this dark and dying world. We ask for this blessing in Jesus' name. Amen. I must confess up front, I'm a little out of sorts this week. My wife had surgery on Monday. She's doing well, but the pain has been difficult. So I said I would say hi. Hi, honey. She's at home watching us right now. And Sassy. Hi, Sass. Although I'm sure Sass has her nose buried in a sketchbook or something. But just pray for her that the pain would lessen over the course of days and that their healing would go well. But she's doing well. For those of you who've been praying, I thank you very much. But let me open with some scripture that's been on my heart. I'm a little out of sorts. I'm trying to gather my thoughts as I'm on the run here. Picture, if you would, The very end of days, the end of history. And we do not know the day or the hour. We wouldn't presume to know the day or the hour. It could be tomorrow. It could be 100 years from now. It could be 1,000 years from now. That is the Lord's prerogative to select the day and the hour. But the day will come when this present evil age will pass. And the new heavens and the new earth will be ushered in. And all of God's saints will be partakers of it. And the greatest gift of all, the Lord, will be there. But just picture yourself. For there are two destinations for every human being that has ever been born of man and woman. Here's the first destination. Revelation 20, verse 11. John writes, I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away. And no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Brothers and sisters, With each passing day in my own faith journey, I become more and more, I'm at a loss for words, more and more outspoken, more and more, I can't even think of the adjective I want, about the seriousness of what we're engaged in. You just enjoyed a lovely meal. You enjoy the fellowship of people in this church, and it's a lovely place. There's love here. There's joy here. There's peace here. We have good leaders. We have great ministry. We have a beautiful building in which to inhabit. We have everything. And yet, I continually feel like I'm one of these Old Testament prophets here, a voice crying in the wilderness at times. Because so much of what I see here bothers me. It's not that we can't have the fun. It's not that we can't have the nice meals. It's not that we can't have all the blessing. But if that becomes an end to itself, the Lord will remove himself from this ministry. Because the Lord is after souls. The Lord is after redeeming people. And the times that are most dangerous for the people of God are when they prosper. When they prosper. Read your Old Testament. Read about Israel. The times that were most dangerous for Israel, when it became a nation, was when they were prospering and they would forget God. But as we read the scriptures, we read these passages in the book of Revelation in this apocalyptic language, What the Apostle John is reminding us is that there are two destinations for every human being. There is no neutrality when it comes to the issue of what will you do with the knowledge of God? What will you do, says God the Father, with the work of my Son? Do you believe that He died for your sins, that He was buried, that He rose on the third day, that He ascended and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? All authority in heaven and on earth has been passed to Him, that He will judge the living and the dead. Do you believe that? Well, if so, then you have eternal life. as we talked about many, many times over these weeks together. That is the core, essential truth of our faith that we must cling to. Secondarily, if you believe that, If you truly believe that, that the only way to escape the judgment that John speaks of, of the lake of fire, which is the second destination for all who don't believe, and that it is only through the message of Jesus Christ, as we proclaim it, that God will indeed transform hearts, then why are we not more outspoken? You see what I'm saying? We cannot allow this church to become about us. It is important that the teaching takes place here, that preaching takes place here, that worship, God-centered, Christ-centered worship takes place here. Oh yes, it's important that we love one another and share each other's burdens. All of that, yes, that we partake of the Lord's table, that we baptize new believers, that we disciple one another. But at the end of the day, it is not an end to itself. It is so that we can then go out and share the message of salvation with people. So that if they happen to be drawn in, if God draws them into our midst on a Sunday morning, that we do not let them leave this place until they have heard the gospel and seen the life-transforming power of Jesus Christ in each of us. You see. You have to keep first things first. If we ever lose that edge, I am convinced God will move on. Because God is about saving souls. He's about redeeming people for his glory. So this evening, we're going to talk about the topic that brings all those previous topics I outlined over these past weeks together. It's evangelism. Now, the word evangelism, it brings many thoughts to mind. Some of you might hearken back to the days of the old-fashioned tent revivals, where evangelists would blow into town and have week-long evangelistic campaigns in various communities. Others of us have either seen on video or listened to or maybe in person. You might have seen men like Billy Graham How about weekly visitation by maybe a pastor or a friend who's evangelistically minded, always sharing Christ? Or the terror, maybe the thought of evangelism for you is terrifying, of witnessing to people about who Jesus Christ is. But I want to talk about the concept of evangelism biblically this evening and the role that you have in it. So we're going to begin with the call to evangelism. The call to evangelism, sort of jumping on back of what I just said. How can I make such bold claims that I made at the outset here? Sometimes shocking claims. Because God makes those claims. What does God want his people to do? The church. All the true believers the world over, God wants to share Jesus with the world around them. And then he gathers us in these local communities, the local church. We talked about this when we talked about the church. And he wants the church to be engaged in this. What did Jesus tell his disciples? Mark 16, 15. Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. And of course, Matthew 28, 18 through 20, which is known as the Great Commission, Some of the final words our Lord gave those first disciples which have been handed down through the generations and we are recipients of these words and we better believe them and act on them. Look at what Jesus said to those first disciples and by extension to us. He said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. One of the things that I've noted in people when they sort of figure out or cast their minds forward and are living through day to day, it's as if they're living with a defeatist mindset. Know this, that on the cross and when Christ rose from the dead, he conquered. Satan has been bound, we are told. In what way? He no longer can deceive the nations of the world. That's why he told his disciples to go into the world now and share Christ with people. Satan will no longer have free reign over those nations. That's what he was telling his disciples. And that's what they did. They took those words to heart and they went out. All authority. Do not labor under the misconception that Christ and Satan are having a 15-round heavyweight boxing match, and we don't know who's going to get knocked out. Well, maybe Satan will get knocked out in the 14th round. No, Satan has already been KO'd. Yes, he's prowling around. He's slithering around still. And he's a dangerous foe. And I would not meet him in my own power. But I don't meet him in my own power. I meet him in Christ's power. Greater is He in you, that is God, the Holy Spirit, than He that is in the world. That's what my scriptures read. Do yours? Believer, listen to me. Do not give Satan glory. We are on the offensive here. The gospel is not, remember what I said, the gospel is not a suggestion you make to people. It's a command. You have the authority of Jesus Christ, the living God, the eternal Son of God, made flesh, died for you, buried, rose again, ascended at the right hand of the Father, Lord over heaven and earth tells you to go and proclaim victory. The gospel is a command, repent and believe, repent and believe. It's a victory shout. Go, he says, and in your going, that's how you could render that, while you're going, while you're living, your job is to make disciples of all nations. I gotta confess something. It's an evening of confessions on my part. I hate my title. My title, I have a title here, Director of Discipleship. I don't find that in the Bible. I appreciate it. But you're all directors of discipleship. If you're a father, you better be discipling your home. If you're a grandfather, you better hold your son accountable to make sure he's discipling his home. If you're a mother, you partner with your husband or If you're alone, whatever the case may be, disciple your home. One another, disciple each other. My job is not much different than Bruce's job, is not much different than Chris's job, which is to equip you to do those things. Go and make disciples. What is a disciple? Not go and make converts. And this is where I have problems with people like a Billy Graham. God bless him. He will have borne far more fruit than I will probably ever bear, ever. Nevertheless, the evangelist comes into town. He proclaims the gospel. People march down to the, what was that, Just as I Am? Just as I Am, after the gospel message with the invitation. And some of you might have been saved in a Billy Graham crusade. Hallelujah. But where's the follow up? Who's following up with those people? You see, it's the local church that has been charged to do this type of thing. It's not go and get a quick, yeah, yeah, in a moment when you might have just had an emotional response and, oh, yeah, OK. It's not signing a card. And it's not maybe you go away at a youth Bible camp or whatever the case is. All wonderful things. And if the conversion of that person who happens to be converted through these events is true, then I say, praise God for it. But nevertheless, we're not after that. We're not after the quick conversion. We're after lifelong committed followers of Jesus Christ. Disciples. Learners. Witnesses. That's what I want for each and every one of you. As I've mentioned before, the Apostle Paul's prayer burns in my heart. Oh, that you might grow up, that you all might be grown up, that we might have equality here, that we're all attained to maturity in the faith together. So that the world outside can look and say, I don't know what they have, but it is certainly different than what the world's offering. And I like it. Or they could say, I hate it. But either way, you're giving an accurate representation. As the Apostle Paul says, to some, we are a fragrant aroma. To those that God is saving, right? And to others, we're the stench of death. It's as if when a Christian, a true, genuine, vibrant, born-again, for real Christian walks into a room, It divides the people in that room instantly. Right? They look at that man and they say, just the person convicts me. Or in my case, I can tell you a story. Before I came to faith in Christ, God's drawing me to himself, a story for another time. It's my story. It's a wonderful story. I love my story. But there was a man who preceded me in faith, a man named Mike Warren. Some of you know him. And I didn't know what God was doing in my life at the time. I know now, with the light of Revelation, I can look back and see the different things. But at the time, I knew I was searching. I was miserable. I was in an emotional wreck. You know, you hit 30. That's a good time to evangelize, by the way. Something about 30 years old, when you have a wife and kids or a husband and kids, right? And your job and everything. And all of a sudden, you're like, hey, is this it? Is this all there is? You work yourself to death and then you die and leave it for somebody else? It's a good time to start talking to people about what follows this and why this is the way it is and all that type of thing. All those big worldview questions we talked about. So I was searching. And I, Mike Warren had, I'd heard, I'd grown up with him, and another man named Ben Oliveira, some of you might know Ben Oliveira, and Rob Nordahl, I'd grown up with these guys. And all of a sudden they're dropping like flies. We used to go partying, we used to raise cane together, we had a time, oh yeah we did, according to the world standards. And then all of a sudden these dudes are getting born again, and they're not using language anymore, and they're going to church more than once a week, more than once a month, and they're calling each other brother, and saying hallelujah, and reading the scriptures, and all this type of thing. Mike Warren was one of those guys, and Mike Warren, I remember being at a birthday party for his niece. because my daughters were friends with his niece, and this is years ago. And I remember just looking across the room, and we weren't even, he didn't know I was staring at him, that would have been weird, but I'm watching him, I'm watching him, and I just became overwhelmed with the sense of peace that he seemed to have. And I said, I don't know, I know he's got some religion, and if that's what it gives you, I want it. You know what he was doing and he didn't even know it? Evangelizing me. Because who ultimately brings a person to faith? Who? God. Brothers and sisters, if you believe that you made the decision for Christ, never say it in my hearing. I have brought you scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture. And if you don't think I've made a convincing argument, we could sit down for hours on end to the point where you will run out of this place screaming to tell you that the reason why you made a decision to follow Christ, to become a disciple, is because God loved you first. But we want disciples. I don't want a quick commitment to faith. You know, Jesus Christ told us, if you're going to come to faith, if you're going to follow me, this is how Jesus would put it, paraphrasing, he says, count the cost. You know, in our evangelization of people, right, for those of us who get it, who say, after death, two directions you can go, to judgment, and eventually eternal judgment, or to eternal life. And we get it. And we just want everyone we know to come to eternal life. And that is good. That is right. You want that. But you need to understand something. In your evangelization of people, you can't short sell the message. Being a Christian is hard. Is it not? Don't you find being a Christian hard? If you don't, you might not be practicing biblical Christianity. It's hard. I'll tell you why it's hard. Because you guys, if you know the truth, right? If you know reality as God has portrayed it to us in his word, if you know it, then you look around the world and you know why it's a mess. And you see evil for what it is, and it pains you far more deeply. You can't get away from it. You can't escape it. It affects you far more deeply. You can never be hardened to it, to the injustice and the wickedness and all manner of things. All the God-haters out there, it pains you to your core. But it's the only way to live. There is no other way. It's the most joyous way. This is why Paul would say, grace and peace are yours. And it's not cessation of hostility type peace, cheap peace that the world offers. We're talking about peace with God that you have. And then peace within your own soul, knowing you have eternal life. And then we become peacemakers, trying to see others come to faith in Christ. But we don't want to short sell the message. There is actual commitment, a life to be lived. Obedience matters. We talked about that last week. It matters. You don't obey God's commands. You don't obey Christ's law to be saved. You know that now. I hope you know that by now. But if you are saved, you better see Christ's manifestation in your life through your living. You must. Not perfectly, but you must. And you must be committed, committed. You're all in. No man who fixes his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. So we don't want to short sell the message. He's just baptizing them. In the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe all that I've commanded you. Do you see? It's a life of commitment to what Christ has commanded. And for the believer, know this, his commands are not burdensome. A loving parent-child relationship. Why does a parent-child relationship that is healthy and ideal, why does the child obey? I learned this early on in my parenting. There is good fear, right? When you're a parent, it's good to have a little bit of that fear mixed in. Like, if you do these things, you will be punished. There will be punishment. And as a parent, you have the ability to punish and enforce that punishment, and they know that. So there is that. What I learned very, very early must be maybe because I was raising daughters. God gave me three beautiful girls, right? And he knew better. Father knows best. He says, raise these. You can handle these. Because they walk all over. You guys see that. So I had to switch tactics, right? Because I wasn't comfortable with the fear thing. We'll go the love route. Right? And I realized if you foster a love relationship with your children, they won't want to disobey you. They won't want to. Especially if they're believers. Love is a much more powerful motivator now, it gets back to the gospel. If you really recognize what Jesus Christ, who he is and what he undertook for you, and what you were, and what you are now in him, then the only appropriate response to that could be love. And love manifests itself in obeying what he asks you to do. And again, his commands are not burdensome. God created us to live a certain way, and as Christians, we can live according to God's design. You see, when you live outside of God's commands, you're living outside of God's design for humanity. And what does that do? It destroys you because you weren't made for it. Jesus says it over and over again. And all the biblical writers in the New Testament record these words repeatedly that Jesus says, go and proclaim to all the nations. Proclaim, proclaim, proclaim. Be a witness. Be a witness. This is why these disciples were called. 1 John 4 tells us that we only love God because He first loved us. And John 3, 16 tells us that God loved the world, that He gave. I hope you have that. If you have one verse, memorize it. I hope you have John 3, 16 memorized by now. If there would be one command other than trust in Jesus Christ that I would issue if I were in the position, which I'm not, it would be, oh yeah, and you've got to memorize John 3, 16. Because it's the gospel. The greatest work in the heart of God, this is a John MacArthur quote, I liked it so I stole it, but I gave him credit so it's okay. The greatest work in the heart of God, the greatest concern in the mind of God, says MacArthur, this is what he contends, is evangelism. Winning the lost is God's great concern. Now if you're going to make a statement, you better back it with scripture. It's not just because you think so, right? And so MacArthur cites Luke 19.10, And he says that Jesus has come, these are Jesus' words, he says, I have come to seek and to save that which was lost. I mean, I don't know how much more plain it can get. This is why Jesus came, to take back what we ruined, that God gave us, to rule over. The work of winning the lost of those people who don't believe in Christ is God's concern, it's Christ's concern, and also the greatest concern of the Holy Spirit. For it is the Spirit who comes, as I noted earlier, according to John 16, to convict men of these things, of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. That's the Lord's job. What's our job? Proclaim. Proclaim Christ. Proclaim the gospel. Proclaim the truth of the word of God. Hold fast to it. All the parts, all the parts need to be proclaimed. Yes, the entire word of God. Even those parts I don't like? Yes, even those parts. But my God is a God of love and mercy, and I love him. I love him so much. Well, he's also a consuming fire. He's holy. This is why I preach the attributes of God. And I only gave you a short sampling. I didn't even go through an exhaustive list. I've done that in previous classes. Tino and I were talking about how important it is that you know who your God is. Otherwise, listen to me now. Digression. If there's one thing you can do for yourself in 2022, read through the entire Bible. And you say, Steve, I've tried that before. It is, you know, That January, we're cruising through Genesis, a lot of stories, a lot of fun, a lot of great stuff. I'm into it. Exodus, first 20 chapters, talking about the people coming out of Israel, that's fun stuff. The latter part of Exodus, when they're talking about building some kind of tent, I start to drag. I can feel my, I'm trying that leg kick. I'm coming around the quarter turn there, but I'm just having trouble. They get to Leviticus, and you can hear, And everyone puts their Bible down and goes back to reading John 3.16. Push yourself. Remember what I said last week the holy spirit gave me. I don't you don't hear me talk like this very often but Lou will testify when you do this type of thing right and you're going along all of a sudden something occurs to you that you'd never even thought of before and it comes out your mouth and before you even I remember you can go back and look on the tape because I watched it I said you persevere in what you love that wasn't in my notes. I hadn't even occurred to me until I got through it And then I repeated it, and you might know I paused on that. I paused on that because I know where that came from. Listen, if you say you love Jesus Christ, this is his authoritative word. It is inerrant in all its parts. Everything that it speaks to is truth, everything. It's not just adequate for all of our faith and practice. Take it a step further, it's inerrant in everything it says. It's like hearing the voice of God. Do you love God? Even Leviticus. Okay? And I know it's hard. And the genealogies, too? Even the genealogies. What about 1 Chronicles? Those first 10 chapters were just name after name after name. I'll tell you how weird I am. I actually went through and learned how to pronounce each one of those names back in the day. That's how much I love this. I love this book. I love it. I love it. Listen, but here's what I want you to do when you go and you read through the book. And you could read, like, Three chapters of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New. That'll get you through the New Testament twice and through the Old Testament once. Four chapters a day. It'll take you 15 minutes a day. But when you do, don't just read it and close it. Every time you learn, you come across something about who God is, what he's said, who Jesus is, what he said, who the Holy Spirit is, what he's done, And we have some of his utterances in the scriptures too. And what they've said and done, stop and think it through for a minute. And if you do that in a meaningful way, by the end of the year, and maybe take a notebook and write down every time you come across something new you learn about God, you will know your God in a way you have never thought possible. You persevere in what you love. If you love God, you'll want to meet with him every day. And then what you'll come to find out is what MacArthur is advocating for here. What is God doing? Is he active in the world today? Absolutely. What is he up to? He's taking back what is his. You say, but the way it looks from my perspective. Forget your perspective. Finite human being. We're talking about an infinite an eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise God. And when he determines that he's going to do something, his will will be done. The only question for you is, will I be on board with what he's doing, or will I foolishly try to work against him? There is no neutrality in this. God's great concern is to take back what is his, It's the Holy Spirit who comes upon the church, and after we've received the Holy Spirit, we are made what? Witnesses. Witnesses. Witnesses. Witnesses. And this is why in the beginning I argued the way I did, because I believe what MacArthur says here reflects what the Scriptures teach, that God's great concern becomes the believer's great concern. to seek and to save what is lost. This is why we can't make this about us, primarily. It's a training camp. It's a place where we prove ourselves, where we refine ourselves, where iron sharpens iron, where we worship the living God and all of that, to go and then share with people who this God is that we worship. At the center of our evangelistic efforts has to be the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15, one through four, is one of the most concise statements you'll have in one place of the gospel. The Apostle Paul wanted to remind that Corinthian church, who had gone off the rails a little bit, he wanted to bring them back to first things. He says, put this before your eyes again and really think through this. That's what he was telling them. He says, remember the gospel. that I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to it. You've got to hold fast to the gospel. Hold fast to that word that I preached to you. He says, unless you believed in vain. You see, there is a vain, there are people in our midst who have not yet exercised true faith. And I was talking with a brother last night. We had this beautiful little impromptu Bible study. Me and Stephen Roderick and Troy jumped in on the end of it. It was just the Holy Spirit led us through his Bible study in like 20 minutes. But one of the things that we recognized is that sometimes, and this is true for children who grow up in the church to believing parents and longtime churchgoers, sometimes they're the hardest people to reach. They think they're OK. I go to church every Sunday. I go to Wednesday night Bible study. I've been this. I've done that. And you don't hear the gospel on their lips. No, first and foremost is that Christ died for your sins. He is my Savior and he's my Lord. Do you believe that? Paul says keep that at the center. It's first importance. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. He was buried and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. Look at what Paul says about the gospel. He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. When the apostle preached the gospel, he said in his day, he was preaching it to his fellow Jews who had the scriptures, right, that Paul was preaching from, preaching Christ from. And they kept saying, we want more signs, we want more miracles, show us more, more power, more power, more power. And then Paul would also go to the Gentiles, to the Greeks, and the others, Babylonians, Scythians, and all the other groups he names, right? And they thought it was foolishness. And Paul says, nevertheless, I could care less. I am not ashamed of the gospel. I don't care if they think it's foolishness. I don't care if the religious people reject me. I could care less. I'm not ashamed, for the gospel in the gospel is what? The power of God. You see, when the gospel is kept at the center, the power of God comes forth and works in the lives of people, even believers. And when we talk about evangelization, by the way, We need to re-evangelize ourselves every Sunday, don't we? Not that we need to keep throwing up a hand in the air every time someone says, do you trust Christ? No, I've trusted Christ. Just please keep reminding me of whom I'm trusting and encourage me in that, right? That's what we need to hear the gospel for each and every Sunday. Why? Because you guys go out and labor in the world for a week, right? and the world throws everything it has against you because the world does not love your God, the world does not love your Christ, right? Matter of fact, the scriptures say they hate him. And so they actively work against you. Sometimes actively, but sometimes passively, and it wears you down. So when you come in here on Sunday morning, expect your preacher in this pulpit, no matter who it is, to share with you once again the old story. of the Savior who came from glory. When you meet at the Lord's table, brothers and sisters, let that never be a vain exercise. Christ gave us two, we call them ordinances. Baptism, one-time deal, typically, right? We'll talk about that another time. But the Lord's Supper, when you meet at this table, I gotta talk about this, because I get really worried for a lot of people. Who is eligible to sit at the table? Now, Bruce, he has to read the warnings. But then I look around, and I see people, like, drops of sweat, and they're starting to rock back and forth, like, should I take from the table? Brothers and sisters, you're the one that should be taking from the table, because you're recognizing you're not worthy. You're not worthy. He bid you to come. It's those that presume upon the table, who haven't watched over their lives and are sinning with presumption, as we talked about last week, who better be concerned about coming to the table before they get right with God again and confess their sin. But the table, what is the table? It's the gospel. It's the gospel. When you take the bread, when you take the cup, what you are celebrating with these tactiles, with all of our senses, is the gospel. You look back to what Jesus has done for you. It gives you spiritual sustenance in the present. And then what do we do? We cast our eye forward to that great day that I talked about, the new heavens, the new earth, when we will be with Christ, wiping, he's wiping the tears from our eyes, that great day. And what does the Holy Spirit do? It's not a vain exercise. The Spirit of God ministers to you in that moment and comforts you. Is Christ physically become the bread and the cup, like the Catholics say? No. What about the Lutherans who said, well, he's not physically the bread, even though it retains the presence of, well, we have the little wafer now, right? And he doesn't, no, OK, but he's in it, around it, on it, top of it, all, no. But don't make the mistake of thinking that it's strictly a remembrance ceremony, because it's not. Because in the remembering comes the Spirit's work within our hearts. Christ was never about empty ritualism. Matter of fact, he condemned it. So the next time you take the supper, we got a few weeks to go, sometime in the new year, make that the first time you really sit down as you take those elements and you spend a few minutes in meditation confessing your sins to God, knowing that you're not worthy, and you say, but thank God that you were, Jesus Christ, thank you. Your bread, the bread symbolizing your broken body for us, your death, the blood ratifying that new covenant, I am in Christ. It is the power of God, says Paul, for salvation to everyone who believes. The righteous shall live by faith. That's the message. What must somebody believe? About Christ. That Jesus is God. He's fully God, fully man in one person. He wasn't just a teacher, he wasn't just a very moral man, he wasn't just like Buddha, only Jewish. He was God made flesh. You must believe that. You must also believe, second bullet point, that there is no other way to salvation. Christ is the only way. It is not Jesus plus your good works. Remember what we said about our good works, our command keeping. We keep Christ's commands. Remember what we said. Those follow, but we are saved only by trusting Jesus Christ. And if you truly believe, you will begin to follow him. But there are some even Christian religions that claim to fall under the Christian banner who claim that there are Some will even go so far as to say that Jesus is one way, believe it or not, and still call themselves Christian. There are some that say Jesus plus your good works, our Catholic friends would say that. That's not so. To say that anything needs to be added to the work of Christ is blasphemy. His work is full and final and complete. You trust him alone. I am the way, the truth, and the life, said Jesus Christ. No one gets to the Father. No one has eternal, and by the way, our goal is not to get to heaven. Let me disabuse you of that notion now. You know what the greatest gift of the gospel is? God. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that you can dwell with him for all eternity, having been purified and cleansed from your sins through Christ's atoning work. God is the gospel. Seeing grandma in glory will be wonderful. For me, I can't wait to meet the Apostle Paul and the prophets, OK? And you know, Peter and all that type of jazz, OK? That'll be cool. Maybe after the first couple of millennia, I'll get around to seeing them. But I'm sure there's a long line, OK? I want to see him. I want to see Him. And that should be where all of you get to. That your thirst and hunger is to see Him in a way you have not yet experienced. That John talks about at the end of Revelation. Remember what I taught? This tells you where I'm at. I'll spend time in my quiet time where I get away and shut myself in my secret room in my prayer closet and just Imagine what it would be like to see him smile. That all the garbage we endure day to day in this life, you may have seen, there are certain things I probably shouldn't say, but we all have our normal pile of crap we deal with, right? I've never been one to mix words. Right? You've got bills to pay. You've got problems with family. You've got problems if you're in a business with your employees. You might have problems if you're an employee with your boss. You've got this. Stuff's breaking down all left and right. You've got aches. You've got pains. Your body's breaking down. Everyone's got that normal pile we all deal with. And then you go through those really special seasons where more stuff gets thrown on you, and you say, I thought in the Bible it said God will never give me more than I can handle. That's a lie. More and more, right? And you say, now what's the appropriate reaction to that? Well, you're not suffering any worse than those early Christians did when somebody was coming on the door of the house and then dragging them out and then hanging them on a cross. Okay? So start there. Get some perspective. And there are places in the world where that's still happening, by the way. But God will try you. so that your faith will be purified. So your instinct should be, as a believer, to run to him. The minute your pile gets ever more bigger, what's your go-to? I'll take this in mind. I got this. I got this. I'm going to take this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. And James says, you fool. That's what James says. He says, you fool. You double-minded person. He says, what you need is the wisdom from God. And as I always, you'll hear me say in response to prayer, right? When you're praying, right? When you go to God in prayer, asking him for wisdom to deal with a certain situation you're having difficulty in, have no plan B and wait for the answer. Do you expect an answer? And I don't mean, Steve, by the way, I want you to go tomorrow and have this conversation verbatim. Get your pencil, write this down. But I guarantee if you trust God, what he will do is orchestrate the circumstances so that it will resolve in your favor. Are you preaching health and wealth gospel? No, because sometimes things don't turn out the way we want them to, but if we are walking in faith, they will turn out the way that he wants them to, and his way is always good. That was a digression. There is salvation in no one else as Jesus, except for himself. That's who the Father set forward to be the propitiation for our sins, the sacrifice of atonement. How about sharing the gospel? If you have a camera, I'd take a picture of this. Just jot the verses down. I'm going to blow through these, because I can already hear the kids at the bottom of the stairs, and I want to get through the content. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3, 23. Okay, there isn't a person on planet earth that has ever been born of man and woman other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, virgin conceived, who has ever been free from the stain of Adam's sin. Not one, since the fall. We've inherited his legal guilt and we've inherited his corruption. Now, I tend to hold to an age of accountability. which is a controversial matter in theology. But what it basically says is, at a certain point in a young child's life, they are then accountable before God. Babies can't make decisions for Jesus. So if one should pass from this life, what is my personal belief? I believe they go, they're covered by the grace of God and they're in glory. Okay? People that have certain handicaps and other physical... You ever wonder what happened to them? Now, this is my personal belief. If you want to take me up on this, go ahead. I believe they're covered. They're covered. We don't serve a God who is unjust. Okay? But, for everybody else, which is like the vast majority of humanity, They're all sinful, and what did we learn about God? He is holy, he is righteous. No evil can dwell in his presence, and he is just. He must punish wickedness, he must. If he doesn't punish wickedness, guess what he is? He's unjust, and then he's not God, and then he's not good. So he must. Here's the problem. We are in a helpless and hopeless situation because there's nothing we can bring to God to cleanse us of our sin, nothing we can bring, and we are condemned And so what does God do? Well, this is how you know God is loving and merciful and gracious. He sent forth his own son, who took on our likeness, lived the life that we should have lived if we had not fallen in Adam, right? An unblemished life. And at the appointed time, offered himself as the Lamb of God, unstained and unblemished, and the wrath of God was exhausted upon him for all who will trust him. with their salvation. It's beautiful. No human could make themselves right with God, but a human sinned against God. Therefore, a human had to come forth to represent us, to get us out of the mess Adam got us in. But no one was eligible. Only God could do it, so what did God do? Hence the God-man, Jesus Christ. Isn't that beautiful? Only in the mind of God. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, says the Apostle Paul when he finishes 12 chapters on the gospel. His way is unfathomable, unsearchable, way past finding out. Who could have conceived of this plan except God alone? Because what does every human being who's religiously minded want to do? I can work my way to heaven, don't they? There were two typical reactions. Either you have irreligious people who just say, ah, or you have religious people who say, I'll get there. What does the Christian say? They cut a swath right down the middle and say, trust Christ. It's not about your works, it's about His. You can't just dismiss it. You have to get right with God. I was reading through Romans again this week. Beautiful, beautiful, oh my goodness. You have to understand Romans in this lifetime because it helps you so much. Paul says, all have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 5.8, God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 1 Peter 2.24, Peter's in on the act now. He himself, Jesus Christ, bore our sins in his body on the tree. That's a figure of speech for the cross, that we might die to sin. Notice Peter's also emphasizing obedience, isn't he? He says, you became a Christian, now die to sin. Sin no more. Live to righteousness, now you will still stumble and fall. But continue to live and seek after the righteous status that has been gifted to you, that complete and perfect righteousness that's been gifted to you, that status by God. Now make it actual in your life through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in you. It is possible. It's possible to live a righteous life. Not a perfect life, a righteous life. Perfection comes later. Glory comes later. That's the last step. By his wounds you have been healed. Every time I read that, I think of John, because you always read that passage. That's Isaiah 53, right? Peter's quoting the Old Testament in his gospel presentation. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is, notice it says, Lord. and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Hey, by the way, in your gospel presentations, very important to note Jesus' sacrifice, his blood shed for you, because without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. All of that, very important, but if you go through and look at how the apostles preached the gospel, they always include the resurrection, because if the resurrection never happened, our faith is futile. So you must include the resurrection. You can't have somebody believing that Jesus died for their sins, and they say, well, that whole resurrection thing, that was just kind of whatever. I don't know if I believe that. No, you must believe that. Because the true believer knows, because the Spirit of God testifies to their hearts that Christ is risen. To all, and we're going through the Gospel of John in my Sunday school, all invited. Sunday mornings, 9.45. We're only in the beginnings of it still. All who did receive him, Christ, who believed in his name, who believed in Christ, he gave the right to become children of God. Does that move you? To know that you're a child of God? A friend of God? Loved perfectly, completely by God? Your father? Jesus, by doing and accomplishing what he did, rent the veil of the temple in two, ushering us into the Holy of Holies with him so that we can call God Father. There isn't a father on the planet who is perfect, right? Not one. But we have a perfect father in heaven. always does what is right and what is best for us. Now, sometimes what we think is best for us and what he thinks is best for us are two different things. But what he thinks is best is best. So go with his best. Here's some truths that people don't understand. Just grab the highlights in the chapter and verses. Man cannot save himself. Now, I don't see this as a problem for this group. But it always bears repeating, because even after we are saved, we still think we need to do something to maintain our salvation. The only thing that the Bible says to do is to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. Remember what I say. Day after day after day, get up in the morning here. Here, you want a Christian mantra. We don't believe in mantra. You get up in the morning, you say, Christ Jesus died for my sins according to the scriptures, was buried, and rose again. He died for me. Say that every day. Remind yourself of the gospel every day, all day. And if it's not moving you emotionally, that's okay. Just have the truth in mind. And at certain seasons, it will move you emotionally. But don't let emotion govern truth for you. You guys, I don't know where we get off the track since even dudes are like this now. We let our emotions tell us whether or not our faith is valid. Like, I'm not feeling anything. We're not saved by our feelings, we're saved by the truth. God's word. So you come in on a Sunday morning, you're at a low ebb. Worship anyway. You take me up on my Bible in the year challenge and you really just go at it. If you want me to hold you accountable, I will. I'll call you every day or I'll text you. Did you read your Bible today? Did you read your Bible today? I'll keep texting you all day. I'll just send out group texts to all of you. And I'll keep nagging you until you block me on your phone. But whatever the case is, it doesn't matter if you don't feel like reading your Bible. Read it anyway. And you know if you ever not feel like reading something and you find yourself three paragraphs in it and go, I don't even know what I just read. You know what you do? Go back and read it again. Punish yourself. Say, bad. Go back. I got to read that again. This is the Word of God. It's like when you're reading the Word of God and not engaged in it, you know what it's like doing? It's like God speaking to you and you're going, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Would you do that if God was physically present? Jesus Christ physically manifests himself in front of you right now, and he begins to speak to you, you'd be flat on your face. But if you could stand and look at him, you'd be like, I don't want to hear from you today. You wouldn't do that. How foolish we are. How foolish we are. The Bible can be understood by every single one of you. You want to know why? Because God dwells in you, and he's given your church teachers and pastors and people to help you. So there's no excuse. No excuse. One of the truths, man cannot save himself. So you set that aside. You say, I'm only saved by what Christ's done. I'm going to keep that in the center. Like I said, put it in a lockbox, lock it away, let no one touch that. That's how we're saved. You just keep your mind fixed on that, OK? And if anyone brings that to you, or if you find yourself saying, I don't know if I'm a Christian, remind yourself of how you become one. Trust Christ. God is holy, righteous, and just. I just talked about this a moment ago. He hates sin. I've been in church, some of you guys have been in church far longer than me and more churches, but one thing I've noticed is, something I spoke of a few minutes ago, the greatest hour of idolatry, says Paul Washer, is Sunday morning in a Protestant church, where people fashion a God in their own likeness and bring him to church and worship him on Sunday morning. They love the loving God. They love the, especially, ladies, I don't mean to pick on you, Oh, I want to touch his face. You know, you guys get into that emotional stuff, right? Okay. And he is that. I like that too. He is that. But just read the book of Revelation in chapter one. Look at the description John gives of Jesus, that symbolic language. That is not somebody you want to tussle with. He's holy, he's righteous, he's just, he's pure, he's perfect, he's good. Right? And he hates sin. He's a friend of sinners, but he hates wickedness. Read the Psalms. For crying out loud, read the Psalms. God hates wickedness. He hates it. Do you think? So we who know the truth and we're looking out there going, Lord, why don't you do something? Read the Psalms. They say the same thing. But you know what they do? They go, I know you're going to do something. You're long-suffering. You're patient. and you're merciful. And that's why he withholds his fury from people. It's so that they might hear the truth in turn. But he will punish every wicked deed. He will. Jesus Christ is God. Here, I use Pastor Bruce's, his Pastor Bruce's, you guys have seen this, I like it. He says, Jesus is fully man, fully God in one person. It's this really cute thing he does. without mixture or separation. That's how he does it, too. Right? And that's exactly what he is. That's who Jesus is. He's fully God, fully man in one person, called the hypostatic union. Without mixture, those don't mix, they don't jumble together, or separation. And that takes care of every heresy that's ever been propagated in the church regarding the person of Christ. Christ's death on the cross was for our sins. I mean, this is the gospel. This is the gospel we share, right? The Bible makes this point over and over again. The wages of sin is death. Sacrifice for sin must be made. Christ was our sacrifice for sins. Christ offers blessed eternal life as a free gift of God, okay? So these are things that people get all screwed up, but if you keep these things at the center, you will do well and not forget them. and share them with people in the church and outside the church. Because you will hear typically from people that don't know the Lord, and don't really know the scriptures, and have never really darkened the door of a church, they will speak in these tones. They will talk about, oh, working your way to God, and all these other things, and that Jesus Christ was a good man. And then you have to be able to open the scriptures to them, or at least quote the scriptures to them and say, no, that's not what the Bible teaches. Now here's the deal. Remember back in our very first week, the authority that we give the Word of God. Now, when you're dealing with somebody who doesn't believe what we believe, you're not working from a level playing field. Right? Because you believe one thing about the Word of God, and this is what you're advocating and teaching and sharing, and they're like, I don't believe that. Well, that's not your responsibility. You just declare what the book says. That's it. Really important to witness by your life as you share Jesus with people. Others will see your redeemer through your redeemed life. How we can all do better in this. People are watching you. People should know you're a Christian at some point if you have enough contact with them on a day-to-day basis. And when they do, find that out when you come out of the closet with your coworkers and your family or whoever. You know what they're going to do? They're going to watch you. And they're gonna formulate an opinion about Christ and all that we believe based upon what they see in you, like it or not. They're gonna do that. Now what if I make a mistake? What if I, well claim it, own it. Just say, yep, that's why Jesus had to die for me. And then ask for forgiveness right in front of them. Ask for forgiveness from the Lord right in front of them. That'll freak him out. You mean you talk to him like he's right in the room present with you? Yep. But keep that in mind that no matter where you are, that if people know you're a Christian, and they should know you're a Christian at some point if you have enough contact with them, they're going to look at you and go, hmm. They may make fun of you. They're going to look for excuses. Because let's face it, Jesus is making a claim on them. You're a sinner, and you need to come to faith in me. That's what Jesus' claim is. And they're a sinner, and they love their sin. That's what the Bible says. So they're going to look for any excuse not to believe what you believe. They're going to. I've dealt with this in my own life. You know, the people that are watching you that know you're a Christian, the minute that you fall down, they're going to go, aha! The minute you make a mistake, you lose your temper. Ah, I knew it. I knew that Christian thing was a joke. Ah, is that what you guys are all like? You little holy huddle there on Sunday, you holy huddle of hypocrites? Ha, have a good time. I'll be watching the Patriots. Well, you better be wise in those moments and redeem that moment for Christ somehow. Be prepared for it. It will come. And be prepared for all that the world will throw at you, because it's coming. It will come. Don't be such a soft touch with that, OK? Gird up the loins of your mind and prepare for battle. That's what the whole armor of God thing was about, by the way. It's not to give kids a cool Sunday school activity. Paul was trying to make a point. This is war. Get ready. Get ready for battle. But our weapons are not of the world. Our weapons are the word of God. and our defenses are the truth. You know, let your good works shine, right? And then some of you guys go, well, Jesus said to do everything secretly so that we wouldn't be hypocrites. Well, okay, understand what Jesus was doing there. When Jesus said to make sure your giving is done in secret and your praying is done in secret and all this type of thing, he was guarding you against hypocrisy, If you're doing your giving so that you can be seen by others and you're doing your praying to be seen by others, well, you're doing it for a very devilish motive. Stop. But to do good works and to evangelize in this way means you're going to be doing some of this publicly. But have your heart right and do it for the glory of God. And for crying out loud, let's watch what we say. This is where I need to work. Some of you guys are very gracious with your speech, naturally. The spirit of God comes along and tunes that up, makes it better. I tend to be a lot more blunt. And sometimes, you know, I wield a hammer when a feather will do. I'm just a man. And those of you that wield a feather, sometimes a hammer instead. Prayer. If ultimately it is God who converts the heart, be prayerful. We talked about prayer some weeks back. I've been praying for some people, some of you know who they are, for 15 years. The thought of them residing in judgment for all eternity, my blood relationship to them and my knowledge of them, I can't even bear it. Pray, pray, and His will be done ultimately. Paul had the same sentiment with regard to his fellow kinsmen. Paul actually says in that same passage that if I could be damned so that all my fellow kinsmen could be saved, I would do it. Would any of you say that? If the rest of my entire family would be saved, but I would be damned for all eternity, could you say that? Paul said it, and it's part of the inspired record, so he meant it. I mean that's, of all the things that the Apostle wrote, and you know how my affection for the Apostle Paul, that's the statement that always, of all the things he said, that's the one that grabs me every time, and it just wrecks me every time. Prayer is important, okay? Prayer as we evangelize in threatening situations, look it, if you guys are really serious about this, it gets ugly. People can get violent, physically violent. People will get verbally abusive. You will lose friends. You will lose family. But do you fear man more than God? Do you love their eternal soul, which is in bondage to their sin, and they're under the domination of the evil one? More, would you rather not tussle with that, or would you rather go to holy war, spiritually speaking, and see them won for Christ? I mean, there is a cost. And of course, you need to be sharing God's word. Listen, we had a apologetics conference here some weeks back, and they gave you all these cool strategies to evangelize, and all that has its place. It's important to knock down walls and all that type of thing. Like if people say that, I don't know, think of a typical thing they talk about. Oh, Jesus rising from the dead, like Lee Strobel has whole books about giving evidences that Jesus rose from the dead. Well, I don't need the evidences. God's Word tells me so. But the evidences sometimes are helpful for people, to clear away the rubble, you know, to help them. And your testimonies, how you came to faith in Christ, that's all wonderful stuff, that's important. But ultimately, it is God's Word that convicts them, because God uses His Word to bring people to faith in Himself, okay? So that's why those verses share God's Word. The Apostle Paul, we see him doing this with his fellow kinsmen. He tells Timothy that the sacred writings are able to make everyone wise for salvation. So the word of God is central to our evangelization, sharing truth with people, sharing Christ with people. We must be ready to speak of Christ in any situation. We must know the essentials of the gospel. We must have confidence in God in his word. That's John MacArthur. We must be ready to speak of Christ in any situation. You might say, well, Steve, I can't speak, I can't share like Pastor Bruce shares. Well, share like you share. Share like you share. But just share God's word. Share the truths of the gospel with people. Let them know how they might have a relationship with God, a true, genuine relationship. And Peter commands us to do the same. He says, you always have to be at the ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you, always. That isn't, again, that's not a suggestion. That's a command. Are you ready? OK. I made it. Look at their little faces at the door. Ready to come in. Look at them cuties right there. OK. Hang on, kitties. Give me five more minutes. I'm almost done. So these are the big worldview questions that I came up with in the very beginning of the study. Remember these? These are just a sampling of some of the questions that I wrote down that people need answers to. There are others. There are many more. I could come up with pages of these. Things that people think about. Everybody. Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where do we go when we die? These are the questions that people at 30 years of age begin to ask. because they start learning they're no longer immortal when they go play basketball with their buddies on a Saturday morning. You follow what I'm saying? So they begin to think about these things. How do I relate to humans? Why is there so much evil? All the big questions. Do you know that over these last 11, 12 weeks, whatever it's been, we've provided the Christian response to all these questions? Do you know I've given you the Christian response to each and every one of these questions? Can you answer them from the truth? And we could come up with heaps more. And know this, when you share Jesus with people, when you share the truth with people that don't know him, or you're sharing with one another in a Bible study, they're going to have questions like these and others. Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you. What's next? Here is what I plan after the holidays. I will be offering a class titled, Eat This Book. The title's not original to me, but I like it. It's from the scriptures. Eat This Book, How to Read, Understand, and Apply God's Word Responsibly. So I'm finally going to fulfill a promise that I made to myself that I kept saying since I started doing this stuff, that I'm going to teach people how to read the Bible well. So here's the deal. How are we going to do this? I haven't decided. I got two approaches in mind. I might just pick passages every week and work through them with you and teach you how to interpret scripture and then apply it. Or I might work through a short book of the New Testament. And it'll be less formal. So I'll have the passage up on the PowerPoint. I'll have my little righty thing out. And we'll be circling, highlighting, drawing arrows. And I'll show you how we do what we do, like what Lou does, what I do, what Bruce does. So that on Sunday morning, when Bruce gets up there, you can go, I know how you got that. It's no longer mystical. How does Bruce come up with all that stuff? Genius. Because Bruce follows a method each and every week. He does the same thing. When you see me preparing this stuff, Chris, we follow a method, a responsible method, so that when I speak to you the word of God, I guard against speaking to you something false. And I want to teach that to you, and it's not hard. So that Superman image you give these guys who preach the word of God, just because we're on a raised platform, we're only here because of who we're standing behind, Jesus Christ. I will come down off the mountaintop next time, and get down in the trenches with your common folk, and we'll work through the word of God together. And these will not be televised, because it's going to be interaction. And I'm going to show you, if you stick with me, remember you persevere in what you love, I guarantee you by the end of that time, you will be a lot better equipped to open up the book. Now, reading the Bible like I talked about, really important, right? Reading through once a year, reading systematically, all very important to familiarize yourself with all its parts. But then what about those sections where you want to drill down and really dig in? That's what I'll be into with you. So that's my promise to you. But I'm tired. And I'm going to take these next few weeks to not do any of this. I'm going to delight in my family. I'm going to delight in my Lord. I'm going to delight in celebrating the fact that light came into the world. Can I close with a reading of scripture and then we can go? Do you want to know my favorite Christmas story? You say, what, the Gospel of Luke? Gospel of Matthew? No. Gospel of John. I'm just going to read it. In the beginning was the Word, that's Jesus Christ, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He's the Baptist. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light, to bear witness to Jesus Christ, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. By the way, we are John the Baptist now. He must increase, we must decrease, point people to Jesus Christ, the true light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming in the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. Glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out, this is he of whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. For from his fullness, We have all received grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. That's the Christmas story. God with us, and he's with us now. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. As we spend this time this season thinking about what actually took place when your son entered in to our existence as a babe who grew in wisdom and understanding, who lived that unblemished life, who experienced humanity and all its temptations and yet without sin. And we look forward to the Easter season when we celebrate in earnest his death, his resurrection. Help our lives to be manifestations of the grace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, the constant dying to ourselves, and life coming forth, Christ-like life coming forth in its place. I thank you for these people, these my brothers and sisters who have labored with me through this teaching for 12 weeks, at times very challenging personally, at times challenging intellectually, at times joyful, at times difficult. But let us be renewed by the work of God in our hearts and minds in order that the world may see Christ, in order that we might speak Christ truthfully to the world, to evangelize, to share Jesus with people at whatever the cost. To God be the glory. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Thank you, everybody.