After warning about the dangers of those who refused to make Jesus Christ their personal Lord and Savior, the author of Hebrews transitions to encouraging the saved. He calls many of His listeners Beloved and tells them they possess many things that accompany salvation. This text in Hebrews encourages the believer by showing them not only what accompanies salvation, but also how to strengthen their hope in their own personal salvation. Here we learn from God not only what accompanies salvation, but also where to place our focus so that our hope in Christ will grow. May this message provide hope for each and every believer that listens.
Sermon Transcript
When I was 18 years old, I got saved at a Young Life Camp. It was clear to me the moment that I gave my life to Christ. I went from being what I thought was a good kid who thought I was going to heaven because I was a good kid and I attended church, to being someone who recognized that I was dead in my sins, that I needed to be completely forgiven, and I needed the lord Jesus Christ to do it.
I remember at that camp, they invited people to stand to their feet. I think I was the first one up, off my feet and they let you go around the room. I remember saying these words, this week I committed my life to my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. When I said those words, I began to cry, not from my eyes, but from my heart. I knew I was being regenerated. I wouldn't called it that at the time, I just knew something was happening that was cleansing, that was real, that was new. It wasn't like a little tear here and there that I dried with a Kleenex, it was like a snot bubbling, shoulder shirking cry for about the next two hours where I knew that I knew that I knew that Jesus Christ was my personal lord and savior. My life had changed.
The Young Life leader came to me on the bus and told me, "Hey, everything you just experienced and all the emotion that you have right now, even when that changes, Jesus Christ is still your lord and savior." I believed that. In the moment, I did. I even believed it a couple of days after. But do you know, throughout the next five years, I kept hearing a lie of the enemy and it went something like this, how do you know you're really saved? How do you know that what happened there wasn't just an emotional experience? If you really were saved, then why are some of the sins that you had before you were a Christian still in your life?
Now, I didn't recognize that as the voice of the enemy, I thought it was just internal processing. But what I find is that many people who are saved don't realize that they're truly saved and have the hope of their salvation. They're always wondering this question, am I in or am I out? Am I in or am I out? I used to say before I was saved, I always hoped I died on a good day, because I knew there were days if I died today, I know I'm not going to heaven. But there were other days I thought if I died, maybe I got a chance.
After becoming a Christian, God wants you to know no matter what day it is, if you belong to him, you're his, and you are going to be with him forever and ever. One of the things God wants you to own, if you're a believer, is the hope that comes with the salvation that you have. You see, Jesus Christ came as God's one and only son who died on the cross for all your sins. He rose from the dead after being in the grave for three days, and he offered life to who believe in his name.
If you've turned from your life of sin to a life in Christ and you believe on Jesus Christ alone, you have salvation. Now, here's the thing, how do you grow in the hope of your salvation? How can you get to a place where you're not questioning it anymore? I want to let you know, it's okay to come to church with doubts. It's okay to come church with fears. It's okay to wonder, am I really saved, and how do I know if I'm really saved? But God also wants to provide the answer to you.
Last week, we came out of a section that was really challenging, because as he was talking to a group of people in the congregation, he let them know that there's some people who have come right to the precipice of trusting Jesus Christ as lord, but they don't trust him as lord. They've had an encounter with him. They've had an experience with him. They think it's all good, but get to a place where they apostate the faith. Apostate doesn't mean changing churches. It doesn't mean I'm going through a rough patch. It means saying out loud and living your life as if Jesus Christ be cursed. I don't want him anymore. I want nothing to do with him. Don't talk to me about that Jesus stuff.
What he told us, this sobering passage in Hebrews 6, was that when that happens in the life of somebody who's not a believer and they've had every opportunity to trust Christ and they reject him, they crucify to themselves the son of God, all over again. Jesus says, "When that happens, it's impossible for them to come back to repentance." It's sobering. You say, "Well, when does that happen?" I don't know. I don't know. I just know that God has a timing for those things and it does.
What he goes on to do is he talks like a good pastor, and here in Hebrews 6:9, that's the passage we're going to look at today because now he's going to talk to those who are genuinely saved, who do genuinely know the lord and answer the question, how is it that you can grow in the hope of your salvation? How is it you can know that you know that you know that you know, and how do you grow in that in such a way where you never waver in that again?
If you ever wanted row in the hope of your salvation, God has a word for you today. I encourage you to open your Bibles up to Hebrews 6:9, and this is where the section transitions from those who have not trusted Christ to those of us who know him. Notice what he says, "But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and the things that accompany salvation though, we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and still ministering to the saints. We desire that each one of you show the same diligence, so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience inherit the promises.
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself saying, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as a confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way, God, desiring even to show to the heirs of the promise, the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken and refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope, both, sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."
Here in these verses, in Hebrews 6, he is now transitioning. He has now gotten finished talking to those in the congregation saying, "Hey, be careful because there's some of you here who have gotten close to trusting Christ, but you're not." Here's the warning, if you've experienced all the fullness of Christ and then reject Christ, that's a very, very bad thing. But he's going to shift now and he's going to begin talking to the believers so they can strengthen their hope in their own salvation.
There's four ways that he's going to talk about that, today, and the first is this. Strengthening the hope of your salvation occurs when? Here's how it occurs. It occurs when you demonstrate a genuine love for God and for the saints. When you demonstrate a genuine love for God and for the saints, in other words, when you're developing a love for God, which translates into a love for God's people, that's one way that you're going to grow in the hope that you have in Christ.
Notice what he says, "But, beloved... " I love those two words. Last week's passage to preach, just to be honest with you, it's a hard passage to preach, because you're telling people in a congregation where a majority of people love and know Jesus that, hey, there's some of you here that have gotten to the place where you heard all the truth and you know Jesus died for you and you know he was buried and you know he rose and you like all those things, but you refuse to allow him to be your lord, and you're growing dangerously close to getting to a place where one day you'll reject him, and if you do, there's no coming back.
That's sobering. But notice how he starts this, "But, beloved, you, who are chosen, you who are the apple of God's eye." When I read this today in our church, we're saying that message that there's some who come that don't know Jesus. But BRAVE Church, God loves you so much. That's the transition that you see here. But beloved, we are convinced. That means that we know of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though, we are speaking in this way.
BRAVE Church, we know there's better things for you. We see the things that accompany salvation in you. Even though we have to speak in this way, here's what we're talking about now. Now, what are the things that accompany salvation? We can do a whole series on it. There's no possible way we could talk about every single thing that accompanies salvation, but what are a few? Well, number one, when you trust Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sin, you're completely forgiven of all of your sin. God throws it away. As far as the east is from the west into the deepest sea, never to bring it up again. He extends to you his mercy. Meaning even though you don't deserve God's goodness, he's going to lavish you with it.
You experience his grace. It's by grace, you've been saved, through faith. It's not your own doing, it's a gift of God. It's God's riches at Christ's expense. How about this, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, comes into your life, he regenerates your dead soul. He transfers you from the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He indwells you, he baptizes you in the family of God. He fills you with his spirit so that Jesus Christ is with you, always.
You can experience his peace. Peace with God, through Jesus, his joy, his righteousness. You're adopted as sons and daughters into his family. You're completely justified, just as if you've never sinned. You're coheirs with Christ in all of his riches, and he promises to set you apart and sanctify you and make you holy. It's a promise that if you're saved, you're going to be sanctified and you're going to be glorified, that God will never let you go.
Those are just some of the things that accompany salvation, which are awesome things. You can't buy them, you can't pay for them, but they can be seen. As you grow in a demonstration of a love for God and a love for his people, these things will grow as well. Notice what he says in verse 10, "For God is not unjust." Did you know that? The devil will lie to you all the time, "God's not fair. If God were good, then why are you having to... And fill in the blank."
God is not unjust. So as what? So as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. Work, ministry, what's that another name for? Serve. It means you serve. Who do you do that for? For God. The love which you have shown towards his name, a love for God and a love for God's people.
One time, when Jesus was on the earth, he was asked, "What's the greatest commandment?" There's the 10 commandments, but then there's all these other commandments, and which commandments are we to keep and which are the most important, and how do I know?" What did Jesus answer in Matthew 22:37? That you should love the lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength. Second one, like it, you should love your neighbors yourself. In this, all the law is fulfilled.
What was Jesus saying? He said, "If you really know me, it's going to translate into a developing love for my father, which is then going to translate into a love for all of my people." One of the ways that you know that you're saved, initially, is that you'll have a heart for God that you didn't have before. You may have gone to church before, you may have been in a small group, you may have read your Bible. You may have been deemed a good person, you may have had a high view of yourself, but when you get saved, going to church is no longer a have to. Being around God's people is no longer a have to, it is a must.
I want, I desire this. I want to worship my king. I desire the word, I desire to pray. I want more of this in my life. As you develop that and grow in that, there will also be a love for other people. All of us prior to being saved have cliques. Do you know when we get saved, God blows up the clique I remember when I got saved at Young Life Camp, I remember getting on the bus in Illinois to head to the 12 hour ride to Minnesota. When I got on the bus, I was about an hour in when I thought, this is the biggest mistake I have ever made. None of my circle of friends was on that bus. Nobody I knew was going to that camp. I was thinking, how did I get suckered into this? If I could have got off the bus and gotten home, they didn't have Uber back in the day, I probably would've taken an Uber home.
I didn't want to go. But, do you know, by the end of the week, after I trusted Christ, some of those same people on the bus that went to my high school, I know ever spent time with, I was closer to than some of the people I had known for 12 years. Why? Because God did a work in my heart. Because of my love for God, it translated into my love for other people. That happens when you get saved. One of the ways that you grow in the hope of the salvation is to continue to grow in your love for God and ask him to give you a deeper love for him, that will translate into a deeper love for others.
Have you ever prayed to God and said, "God, I want grow my love for you, and lord, help me to love this person like you love them. Help me to show and demonstrate love to them in the way that you would, if you were living in and through me." It's amazing that God's willing to do that. That God wants you as a conduit for him to show love to the world and how you speak and in how you live and in what you do. One of the ways that you grow in your hope, that you know salvation's real, is when your love for God grows, that translates in your love for others, and God can do it with anybody. God can do it with anybody.
If you're genuinely saved, he can teach you to love unlovable people. It doesn't mean you're going to become besties. Now, here's what I'm talking about. Because in church, we form cliques. Because some of you are listening, are like, yeah, I get that. Going to point number two. I'm good. I don't like that person. That's why when I come to BRAVE and they sit over there and I sit over here, but we're good. I'm so excited about the new building because I hear there's an upper deck too. Whatever floor they sit on, I'm going to sit on the other and we're going to be just fine.
That's what I'm talking about. God's not calling you to avoid people. God's calling you to pursue people. Because of the love in which he has for you. See, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still unlovable, Christ died for us. While we were still rebellious, Christ died for us. Therefore, let that love that God has for you translate into your love towards other people that are mean to you.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That is impossible without a love and growing devotion for Christ. That's what he wants you to do. You want to grow in the hope of your salvation, grow in your love for God, and grow in your love for God's people. Notice what he talks about. He talks about loving the saints, ministering to the saints.
Now, if you grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition, many of you may think a saint is a holy person that lived a long time ago and maybe there's a relic or a statue for them in the sanctuary. But the New Testament describes saints as anyone who's born again. If you've trusted Jesus Christ completely for the forgiveness of your sin, you're a saint. I'm Saint Jeff. You don't need to call me that, but that's who I am, and I know that's who I am.
God wants us to love his people. Not only are we called to love everybody, but we're called specifically to love his people. Jesus gave a new commandment on the night that he was betrayed in John 13:34 and 35. Jesus said, "Has it not been written in your law? I said you are God's." Let's see, I'm reading the wrong thing. Let me get to the right page. He did say that in John 10, but that's not what we're talking about. John 13 is what I'm looking for. He says, "A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
When the world looks on and sees how do Christians treat each other, and they can't understand how people of different pigmentation in their skin and different socioeconomic backgrounds and different neighborhoods and different political persuasions and all those different things, how can people like that get along and love each other? You say, because Christ died for me, and therefore he has called me to love everybody that trusts him too.
Then the world looks on and says, "I want to get in on that. That's unique. That's not going on anywhere else than in the body of Christ." But notice this, he tells us also, not just to love everybody, but specifically those who are Christians. In Galatians 6:10, he says, "So, then while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." What's that mean? Do good to everybody. If you're a Christian, love everybody. Love the unbeliever that's serving you food in a restaurant. Love the person that's helping you at the gas station. Love your neighbor that's unlovable. Love them all, but especially love those who love Christ. That's what he says.
You say, "Well, I don't know if I can do that." You can't depart from Christ. It's impossible to love genuinely apart from Christ. Now, how can we do that? I John 4:19 says, "We love, why? Because he first loved us." If you're truly loved by God, then you can do this. Now, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother. Well, I love God, I just hate him. I love God, but I hate her. What does God say about that person? If someone says, "I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot not love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."
"Well, I love God, I just don't love Christians." You're a liar. Because if you love the God of the Bible, you will love Christians. That's what the word teaches. While we're called to love the world, what should be going on in the church, in some ways is a love Fest. I don't mean love, because we need to redefine the word a little bit and make it biblical. I don't mean having this ooey, gooey, emotional feeling that all these people are my best friend, and we just love hanging out every day, all day long.
No, there's going to be certain people that you click with a little better. There's going to be certain people that you see the world with a little better. But when it comes to genuinely caring for people, the way of Christ would care for them, we're called to do that with every single Christian, and not just Christians that go to BRAVE, and not just pastors that are at BRAVE, but for the kingdom of God and those who are part of the family.
Why? Because when you trusted Christ and Jesus is the only way and he gave you access to the father, anybody that has Christ, that has access to the father is now what? Your brother and sister. It means, we're family, you all. Are there problems in the family sometimes? This is just the bigger family, so it means there's more problems, right? But we're called to love everybody in the body of Christ. If you want to grow in your hope, if you want to strengthen the hope you have of your own salvation, develop and demonstrate a greater love for God and a greater love for the saints. I'm telling you, that's a prayer God will answer.
God, I want to love you more. Show me how to love you more. God, I want to have a greater hunger for your word. Show me how to do that. Lord, bring some people in my life that can teach me how to pray. Lord, I don't even know how to do that. Lord, I'd love to learn how to evangelize. Lord, just teach me how to... I want to love you, and I want to do the things that you want to do. Lord, as you're doing that, can you give me a greater love for him? Can you give me a greater love for her? Can you show me? Because it feels unlovable to me to love them, but show me what you would do if you were me.
When you begin to pray like that, God will begin to use your life and God will grow you. As he grows you and you feel the changes inside of you, it'll give you the certainty of hope that you are definitely saved, amen? The second way that you can strengthen the hope of your salvation, it occurs when you endure with great faith and patience. When you endure with great faith and patience. Now, one of those words, we really don't like, I'll let you figure out which one it is.
Notice what he says in verse 11. He says, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence." That's eagerness. "So as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end." What's hope? Hope is the certainty that something's going to be realized. Hope is, I know it's going to come true, and I'm believing that. The Bible says, hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope means, I have the full assurance. Not just, I hope this works out. It's full assurance, all the way to the end of my life that I know that I know that I know that I know that I belong to Jesus and I can't screw that up. No matter what happens, he's going to receive me and love me.
That's the full assurance of hope. Many Christians don't have that full assurance of hope. Some Christians think, I know God's taking me because the word of God says it, but boy is he going to be disappointed in me when he meets me. That's not true. Jesus forgave all of your sins on the cross. Jesus is going to present you faultless before the father, with exceedingly great joy. He loves you with an unconditional love.
You say, "Well, why do I think that?" Well, you have an enemy that's telling you all the time why you're not good enough for God, and why God doesn't like you anymore, and why God's disappointed in you and how, because you're a Christian, now you should have done better and you could have done better. If you would do that differently, then God would be... Friends, when Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross and died for you and rose from the dead, when you placed your full faith and trust in him alone, all of your sin was forgiven, and he embraces and loves you completely.
Is that good news or what? That's awesome news, and that's the news we have in the gospel. It's the best news on the planet. He goes on to say, not only we'd have this hope to the end. Why? So that you will not be sluggish. Sluggish means slothful or lazy. But imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise. He's saying, my hope for you is that you wouldn't get lazy in your faith. Why? Because when you lack the certainty of the hope of your salvation, you'll get lazy in your walk with Christ. You'll begin to think I'm doing something wrong, I can never get this thing right? It just doesn't work for me. I go to church and I hear the messages and I'm inspired, but it just doesn't translate into my life. It's not working for me.
When you don't have the certainty of your hope, you get sluggish in walking it out. There's not an eagerness or a diligence or a want to or a desire. It's almost as if it's a have to and it's a have to, and it's a have to, and it's just not working for me. He says, "I want you to follow the examples of those who endured with great faith and great patience." He says, "What does this mean?" What I find is that for new believers, God does special things to let you know that he really is who he says he is. Sometimes as a new believer, God gives gifts to let you know that he's near. Perhaps it's an answered prayer for a friend or perhaps you're praying for somebody who's lost and God uses you to lead him to Christ or maybe it's that you tithe, and God gives you an immediate monetary reward because you tithed.
There's this guy in our church last week that had gotten saved a few weeks ago. He said, "I felt prompted to tithe, and I started tithing." I knew what he was going to tell me. I knew the story and he went on to say, " Wouldn't you know, I got a check in the mail this week for four times the amount." I'm like, "I know. That's what God does. That's what his word says he's going to do."
I find that as new believers, God does a lot of that early on to let you know he's there. But as you mature, God uses circumstances of challenge and trials to see if you'll continue to step in faith. He'll take you through times that seem dark. But Jesus is asking you, "Will you keep walking?" Now, Jesus made this clear in John 16:33. Says, "In this world, you will have tribulation."
Now this is a good place for me to pause. Just in case you've been lied to, and you thought that since you trusted Christ, it was going to be like a love boat, cruising off to heaven and everything was going to be perfect for you. Let me tell you, Christian, in this world, you're going to have trouble. There's going to be tribulation. The reason it's called that is because you can't choose what your tribulation is going to be, sometimes. Sometimes there's going to be challenging trials and circumstances that come your way. You have absolutely no control over them. You can't do anything about it. You didn't do anything about it to get into it and you can't do anything about it to get out of it.
I got good news for you. God's the one that unfolded all of that before you, and he thinks it's good. That challenge is good. Do you know why? Because it's in those seasons where God's asking you, "Do you still trust me?" Psalm 23:4 says, "Even though I walk through what? The valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." Sometimes it see as though God turns off the lights in our life. Even though he's the light of the world, we're not experiencing that light. We're not feeling that light. The enemy lies to us and says this, "If God is so good and God's the light of your life, then how come your life's so dark right now?"
Here's your answer, because he loves me so much and he wants to see if I can still trust him when I can't see him, and if I'll still trust him, when I'm not experiencing him. The Bible says, "We walk by faith and not by sight." I have good news for some of you this morning that are going through a hard time. God unfolded all of that before you, because he's growing your spiritual muscles. All he's asking you to do is continue you to take a step of faith. Will you trust him that way?
Here's who I'm talking to. I'm talking to you, people here today, or maybe you've been in this season before, and if you're not, you'll be in it. So, pay attention. Where when you go through a hard time, somebody gives you a glib answer. Say, "Man, I'm really going through a hard time. Man, what do I need to do?" They'll say this, "Read your Bible, pray, attend church, be authentic, get in a small group." Your response from your gut will feel like saying, "I'm doing all those things and it's not working." You ever had that experience? If you haven't, you will.
That's what he's talking about. Now, what is faith? Hebrews is going to tell us in chapter 11, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of what we do not see." Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Well, how do I get this faith? Well, faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 tells us that, when the word of God is proclaimed or you're reading the word, God is speaking to you. He's bolstering your faith. That's why if you're in a church where the word of God is faithfully proclaimed, you'll hear God, you'll be stimulated to do something, but there's more than just knowing what to do, it's actually doing something.
James, the half brother of Jesus, talks about this in his epistle. He says in James 1, 2 and 3, he says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result, so you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
When you go through a tough time, here's what the Bible tells you to do, count it joy. We have a way of celebrating good things in our life. They come naturally. The birth of a child, the marriage of two people who know Christ, a pay raise, a new job, but it's not as natural to us when that child we've been waiting for dies two minutes after it comes out of the womb. Not as rejoicing as when you're trying to work out your marriage and it ends in divorce. Not as good when you get overlooked by people that aren't as good as you for the job that you rightly need.
Here's what God says, "Hey, when that happens, count it all joy. That's really good that it happened to you." Here's why it's good because God is developing your spiritual muscles and he's developing endurance in your life, so you'll be perfect and complete, you won't be lacking anything. That's why he says in James 1:22, "But prove yourself doers of the word, not merely hearers, who delude themselves." He says in 2:17, "Even so faith, if it has no works is dead." What's he saying? He's saying, when you hear the word, will you continue to walk, and will you continue to endure even when you're not experiencing the goodness of God in the moment?
See, I think those situations are the times where God's actually taking off the training wheels and God's letting go of the seat and you feel like you're wobbling and you don't like it and it's uncomfortable and you would've never chose this situation, and you don't ever want this situation again. But, Christian, who is mature, listened to me, isn't it true that when you go through a season like that and you come out the other side that there's something in your gut that says, I know Jesus in a way I never knew him before. I love God in a way I've never loved him before. That was so awesome that you strengthened my spiritual muscles, God. Now, don't ever do that again.
Isn't that true? Because we wouldn't choose trials, we wouldn't choose suffering. That's why God chooses those things for us, which means this, believer, if you're going to grow in your hope, know this, perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the reason that you're suffering. Perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the tribulation and trial that you're enduring. Perhaps it's because of God's great love with which he has for you to grow your spiritual muscles.
The book of Romans highlights the same thing in Romans 5:3. He says, "Not only this," Paul says, "But we also exalt in our tribulations." You know what exalt means? Rejoice. He says in Philippians, rejoice in the lord, when Paul? Always? I'll say it again, rejoice. We have a hard time exalting and rejoicing when our circumstances stink. But the Bible says, if you want to grow in your hope, rejoice even when things aren't good and it will grow the hope and certainty of your salvation. Why? Because when we exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about a perseverance, that's the word for endurance or steadfastness and perseverance produces proven character and proven character produces hope.
God's trying to grow your character, which will give you hope in him. Hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the holy spirit who was given to us. It means this, no matter what you're going through, keep staking steps of faith and be willing to endure all the way to the end. That's what he's saying. Don't give up. Don't quit. When it's hard, that's when the enemy sounds the loudest. That's when his lie sounds the clearest.
Here's what you'll hear, "If your God was so good, then why... " Fill in the blank. Here's why, because God wants to teach me how to rejoice when this isn't going good, and God wants me to learn to depend upon his goodness when I can't see his goodness with my own two eyes. Oh, by the way, God is good, and this world never promised me everything good, but I'm looking forward to the day, Satan, when you're are thrown in the lake of fire and I live in the perfect utopia with Jesus and my God is good and I'm yearning for that day. That's why God doesn't make this world perfect for me. Because if this world is perfect, I'd never want to go. But because God's so good, he ensures us that your world will never be perfect on this side of heaven." Isn't that good news.
Rejoice. Some of you need to rejoice today, not because of your circumstances, but in spite of them, amen? This is what God does for us. Faith produces obedience and obedience produces faith and faith produces obedience and obedience produces faith. As that goes on, you build endurance, you build life and you can do it. When you see people endure with great faith, even when things don't go well, haven't you seen that stimulate your faith and your hope?
Almost 20 years ago, I ran the Chicago Marathon for, what I believe is my last time. The word run is an exaggeration for effect. I steadily plotted, I jogged and all these different kinds of things, but this one was different, I had really trained well, I was about 30 pounds lighter than I am right now. I would go out and run 20 miles at a time. I was going to do a sub four hour marathon. I knew I was, but on that day it was 92 degrees in Chicago, the day I ran.
They ran out of water, I felt miserable. Some of you runners know there's certain days you feel good, certain days you don't feel good, and it changes. I had all that, but this day was miserable and lousy. I saw my wife at the halfway point and I said, "Pray for me. I'm not doing well." At mile 13, I was telling my buddy that we had run with for six months, you just need to leave me, just go on. I don't know if I'm going to finish." He started quoting Top Gun to me. Like, you never leave your wing man and all these cool quotes for about three miles.
Finally, at mile 18, he looked at me and said, "You wouldn't leave me, would you?" I said, "If you told me for three miles to leave you, you bet I would." So, he left and I'm there by myself saying, "God, what in the world is going on, and why would you have me feel this miserable in Chicago?" I just wanted to quit, but I kept steadily plotting, and wouldn't, you know it, about five minutes later, I saw this guy laying down on the ground in the marathon. It was different than the other ones I'd seen because of dehydration. This guy had blood coming out of his mouth and I knew he wasn't doing well, and they were beginning CPR on him.
I was prompted to do this thing, to just go over and pray over him, because I didn't know what to do medically. So, I wheeled around and started praying for this guy, praying for this guy, praying for this guy until the medics came. When the medics came, I got up and left and I kept hearing this voice, "Jeff, the most important thing in this life if being prepared for the next. Most important thing in this life is being prepared for the next."
I prayed over that guy as he died. He died right on that road. Because I was there, I ended up calling his pastor up in Michigan the very next day, asking him, what was going on. He wouldn't take my phone call because he thought I was asking for an opportunity to preach. I told his secretary, I'm like, "No, just tell the pastor that I was praying over Chad, when he died on Ashland Avenue yesterday and I need to talk to him."
He took my call and I said, "I was praying over him yesterday, and here's some of the things that I encountered." I said, "Was Chad a Christian?" He's like, "Oh yeah." He goes, "Will you come to the funeral and tell your story?" He goes, "Have you talked to his wife yet." I said, "No, I don't know if he was married, didn't know anything about him.
She's a believer, she ran in the race too, but she got rerouted because the race got canceled. So, she wasn't there with him. Her biggest disappointment is she wasn't there praying over him when he died. Would you come tell the congregation you were praying over him when he died? I said, "Yeah." My wife and I went up, told the whole story about what had happened.
Now, when we got to the funeral and it was packed because this guy was a policeman. So, there were 300 policemen in full garb, white gloves, the whole thing. I saw in the front row, a woman and three kids with all their hands up in the air, worshiping God. The pastor told me, "That's his wife and those are his children." They worshiped during the whole funeral service.
Do you know what that did to my soul? As we got to know them later that day, it was evident that their faith was in Jesus Christ. They knew that their husband and their daddy was with Jesus and that while they were saddened and while they were disappointed, they knew life was going to go on, and they were excited for where he was. That's impossible without the spirit of God.
Isn't it true when you see somebody who's going through incredibly difficult things, that still keeps Jesus Christ first place, it stimulates your heart? Question, why does God take you through challenging things? Why does God make your life difficult? So that all the people in your sphere of influence that are watching you can see that you put Jesus Christ first, and that he's the lord. People say, if they can get through that, when they're going through this, I want who they have.
That's why you go through trials. That's why you go through sufferings. If you haven't had them, they're coming, you will. It's not because you've done anything wrong, it's God preparing you in this life for what's to come so that when you cross the finish line of faith, you will be exhilarated. That day because I had to stop and they paused the race at mile 18, and I had to walk the last six miles, how tired I was when I got to the end.
I didn't do it in four hours. I was sitting there on the side, like, I'll just take a bus. Then somebody came up and said, "Okay, this guy, write his name down. He did not finish." I'm like, "You ain't writing my name down, boy. I'm finishing this race." I walked the whole thing, and when I crossed the finish line that day, I started weeping. Six hours and 11 minutes later because what? I'd crossed and it was over.
Friends, in this life, you will have tribulations, but when you cross over from this life to the next, all your tribulations are gone. There will never be any more tribulations. There'll never be any more relationship challenges. There'll never be anybody that speaks bad about you. There'll never be gossip behind your back. You'll never have a financial crisis, a health crisis or a relationship crisis. Everybody gets along. It's perfect. Harmony forever and ever, amen, and amen. Isn't that good?
If you have trials in this world and you have difficult things going on, it's just to wet your appetite because what's coming is way better. That's what he's talking about. That's why the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3, "Forgetting what is behind and training towards what is ahead. I press on toward the goal, to win the upward call of God, the prize of God in Christ Jesus."
That's what he was looking forward to. You can strengthen your hope of your salvation by growing your love for God and others, by enduring with great faith and patience. Patience means, long suffering. Endure with long suffering, it's a fruit of the spirit. Then he said this, the third way you can do this is you can strengthen the hope of your salvation. And that occurs when you trust God and his promises.
Notice what he says in verse 13 and following, "For when God made the promise to Abraham. Since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." Having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. "For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as a confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way, God is desiring even more to show the errors of the promise of his unchangeableness, of his purpose, interposed with an oath. So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge, would've strong encouragement to take hope of the hope set before us. What's he saying?
If you remember the story of Abraham, God promised to bless him, but it wasn't until God gave him the promise. When he gave him the promised son, of which he said, all the nations of the world will be blessed through you. This is the promise, son. At one point in time, he asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. Very early, the next morning, Abraham got up with his son to go to the place of the sacrifice. Isaac was asking his daddy, "Dad, where's the sacrifice?" What did he say? "The Lord will provide."
But when they got to the place of the sacrifice, what did Abraham do? He tied his son up to be the sacrifice because he realized and got to a place, after trying to the promise in his own way, God, if this is the promise that you're giving me, then you can do whatever you want with the promise. It's not mine to begin with. Right as he's ready to reach out and slit the son's throat, what does God say?
The praying incarnate Christ shows up says, "Do not put a hand on that boy. Do not lay a hand on him. Now, I know that you're faithful." He provides a ram in the thicket. He unties his son and the ram becomes the sacrifice. It's a foreshadowing of the son becoming the sacrifice because Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, and the next day when he went to the cross, he was the lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. He was God's promised son. It wasn't going to be Isaac, it was foreshadowing, what it was going to be, in Jesus. Amen.
But what did God say? "He said, Hey, I promised you, I gave you an oath. Now that you've done this," he says in Genesis 22:17, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely make your nation great." Did God bless Abraham? Yeah. He had to wait for the promise. It says that having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. How old was Abraham when he obtained the promise? The brother was 100 years old. Some of you have been waiting to have kids, but I know you're not 100.
Can you imagine, there's a time in life to have kids. There's a time in life where you have energy to have young kids. There's a time in life, you could squat down and play catch with your kid. Then there comes a time in life where that doesn't sound as exciting. I've approached that time. Will I be excited about having another child? Absolutely. But if it doesn't happen, I'm okay with that.
I promise you, at 100 years old, I would not be that excited about that anymore. But isn't it true, sometimes, God shows us what he's going to do. Then we wait and we wait and we wait and we wait. Some of you, God's put a promise in your heart for what he wants to do, but you haven't seen it yet. You didn't see it the next day. You haven't seen it the next week. It's been months now and you haven't seen it for someone who's been years. But if God makes a promise, he's faithful to complete it.
You got to trust God, the person of who God is and you got to trust his word. He says, he gave us two unchangeable things. What are the two unchangeable things? His promise and his oath. His promise is his word, and his oath is his person. There was nobody else he could swear by now. I don't know if they do this in courtrooms anymore, I haven't been in one in a while, but it used to be, they'd give you a Bible when you were sworn in because their culture doesn't believe in the Bible anymore. I don't know if they do that. Can you place your left hand on the Bible, put your right hand up and you had to swear to do what? Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so, help me, God.
I'm swearing to God I'm telling the truth. I'm swearing to God. Well, God can't swear to anybody else. He said, "I'm giving you my own oath, I'm swearing to myself. What does that mean? It means God's word is always a promise and God is always faithful to his word. 100% of the time. Think about it like this, any promise of God is certainty that it has already taken place.
When you read the word, it's certainty that it's already done. Can we just talk about salvation for a minute? Because I know there was somebody that left last week and you asked the question, am I really saved? Is it me? Can I tell you that's a good thing. The night that Jesus was betrayed, he said, one of you will betray me. Everybody was going around. Is it me, lord? Is it me? Is it me? Do you know who didn't say that, Judas is Iscariot. If you're asking the question, is it me? That's some good evidence that you care about salvation.
Apostates don't care about Jesus. Apostates aren't thinking, am I really saved or not saved? I don't care about salvation, I don't want salvation the apostate would say. If you're asking, is it me, is it me" That's a good sign. But let's just talk about your salvation for a second. There's all these things that give evidence to salvation, but the truth is, you only need the word to be saved. Let's just be clear on this, I John 5:11-13 says this, "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son." God's granted eternal life, the life is in his son, Jesus Christ. "He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."
What is eternal life? Eternal life is Jesus Christ, the son of God. If you have the son of God, you have eternal life. If you don't have the son of God, you don't have eternal life. Can it be any more clear? Yeah, but I don't know if I feel this. It doesn't say you have to feel a certain way. It says that you have to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, that you want Jesus to be the lord of your life. If he's the lord of your life, he's the lord of your life.
Now, why is that so important? Because do you know, believer, that from the time that you trust Christ, there's still going to be sins that come out of your life, and the enemy's going to whisper in your ear, and he is going to say things to you like he used to say to me, "How can you possibly call yourself a believer when that same sin that you sinned before you were saved is still there? How can you call yourself a believer since nothing's really changing in your life? How do you call yourself a believer if you really don't feel anything anymore in worship? How do you call yourself a believer if you really don't study the word? How can you call yourself a believer if you're really not praying a lot, and how can you call yourself a believer if you've never really evangelized? How can you call yourself a believer if you're really not living out the fullness of the Christian life?"
Well, here's how, because I have the son, so I have eternal life, and it has nothing to do with what I'm doing, it has everything to do with what God did in my life, and I'm trusting. The word and the word says that God cannot lie. It's impossible for him to lie. When you read this word about your salvation, it is true, amen? Let me give you a couple of others. John 3:16, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life." If you believe in Jesus Christ, as God's one and only son who died for your sins and rose from the dead, you won't die, you'll have eternal life. That's what the word teaches.
It's as clear as that. That's the assurance of your salvation. How about II Corinthians 5:21, "God made him who had no sin to become sin for us. So, in him we might become the righteousness of God." Do you believe that? Yes I do. John 10:28 and following says, "That if you love God, no one can snatch you out of his hand." It means if I'm a Christian, I can't undo what God's already done in me. I didn't do anything to earn it, so I can't do anything to lose it. God granted me salvation. God's not taking it away. No matter what I do, I still belong to God.
Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for me, and that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me, died for us." Acts 16:31, "Believe in the lord, Jesus, and you'll be saved." It can't get any simple or clearer than that. Well, how do I know if I'm saved? Do you believe in the lord, Jesus? Do you believe Jesus Christ is lord? Yes or no? Yes, you're a Christian, no, you're not." If you are, then don't let him play games with you and don't let him tell you that God doesn't like you anymore, and don't let him tell you're not good enough for God, and don't let him tell you you're going to lose your salvation, and don't let him tell you all these other lies that keep you from going on with Christ. God loves you so much that if you belong to him, he'll never let you go, no matter what you do, it's called unconditional love. Is it awesome them or what?
These truths are so important to me that when I started to believe them, I stopped listening to the lie of the enemy, that way. I know that I know that I know that I'm saved and I know I'm not saved because I'm a pastor, and I know I'm not saved through anything that I've done. I know I'm saved only because Jesus Christ died for me and rose from the dead. I'm banking my entire eternity on it, and I believe it so much that if it weren't true, I wouldn't want to be alive anymore.
These promises of God are priceless. Now, I got to tell you something, just so you know. I see that the Broncos are up for sale. I saw yesterday, they're going to go for about $4.5 billion. Just to be candid with you, I'm not in the running. I'm not going to present an offer, but I can promise you this, there will be some billionaires on judgment day that would give every cent they have for what I'm telling you about right now, they would give it all, if they could just have this.
Friends, we're walking by faith and not by sight, and I can tell you what's coming is greater than if you had $4.5 billion. What's coming is the best that you could ever experience. You wouldn't exchange anything in this life for what's coming. That's what God wants you to know. But I got to tell you, what about now? Because for some of you're here and you're like, "I know that I know that I'm saved, Pastor Jeff, I know this." But what about presently? What's God doing in your life now where you can completely trust this word?
When you get to a place where you trust this book from Genesis to revelation, this will change your life. I read through the book of Genesis, say in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, the earth was foremost in void. When did everything begin? When God spoke it into existence. Then as I read through Genesis 1, and figure out how long it took, it was six literal days, and God rested on the seventh day. You know why? Because his word says it and I believe it.
When I read in the Bible that Jesus is coming back fully, bodily and physically, I completely believe it because the word says it, and it's true. The Bible says, when you see certain things happening in the culture, know that the time is true. Do I believe Jesus Christ is coming back soon? 100%, I do. That's who our savior is, amen?
When you read the word and you don't question, like the enemy tries to get us to do, "Did God really say that? Does God really mean that?" Let me just answer it for you. Yes, he said it. Yes, he means it. Not one jot or tittle of this book will ever fade away. The grass Withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our lord stands forever. Amen.
Think about this, we study the Bible and we see what does for all these different people. For Noah, God asked him to build an arc, took him about 120 years to build this arc, and he was faithful in doing what God asked him to do, and God saved him and his family. Abraham did what God asked him to do, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was blessed.
What about the four Hebrew boys? Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who stood up to a tyrannical king and said, "Oh king, you can do with us whatever you want. Throw us in the lions, then throw us in the fire. We don't care. Our God's able to save us." God delivered them. What about David? The man after God's own heart when he was just a little boy that stood up to a nine and a half foot giant that says, "What is this uncircumcised Philistine doing here? I'm not coming at you with sword or spear, I'm coming at you in the name of the lord almighty, and today, you are done. I don't need a spear, I don't need weaponry, I don't even need armor. All I need is my slingshot and the name of the lord almighty." And God honored him.
You say, what's that mean? Well, we serve the same God, and the devil lies in this same way. There's scriptures I say over and over and over again in my heart. Like, "No weapon formed against you will prosper. There's nothing the evil one can connive against your life that will prosper or against our church that will prosper. I Thessalonians 5:24, "He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it." God will bring to pass everything that he promised you to do.
One of my favorites is when Jesus said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." I believe that. I listened for years about people talking bad about the church and how bad the church is, and it's all about the prayer church or Christian businessman this or that. It's the church that Jesus blesses, because he promises it that in the word.
In 2009, when I got confronted by this and the lord was apprehending me through a series of circumstances saying, "Are you going to continue to talk bad about the church, or are you going to go do something about it?" God called me to move to Denver with my family to plant the church. Then I had to believe that he was going to convince my wife that she should come along with me, which she heard the lord and did. Then when we moved here, we had to convince that group of people that, hey, we're actually going to have a church. This place is going to be awesome. All 12 that were in the room, nodded and said, yeah, that sounds good.
When we took about 35 people over to Cherry Creek High School and we said, "Hey, one day, all these 680 seats are going to be filled with people who love Jesus." Those 35 people would say, "Okay, if you say so." I remember we moved into this building with about 400 or 500 people and everybody was saying, "Are you just going to go to one service, and we can keep everybody together?" I said, "No, because God wants to reach our city with the gospel, and it's our job to bring people.
I had people telling me, "There's no way you'll ever fill that building." Friends, we don't have parking, we don't have room. So, God's provided another building. I got asked the question in Q&A from I love yesterday asking, "Hey, are you going to keep the balcony open? Or is that going to stay closed for a while?" Let me give you my answer, if each of you brings just one person to BRAVE in two weeks, we'll already be overflowing. No, we're not closing the balcony, it's not about the building, it's about reaching more people for Jesus. Amen?
In every single part of every single thing we do, the enemy continues to lie. He still lies to me. You know what he says, "Jeff, have you checked the weather forecast for next Sunday? Have you seen it may be snowy and rainy? See it maybe less than 40 degrees. Hey Jeff, do you know the only people that are going to show up are your staff, and the reason they're showing up is because you're paying them. There's going to be nobody there. You're going to be preaching to an empty audience."
But I don't believe that at all, because I've been saying to the lord, "Lord, this is your church. It's always been your church. It's not my church. If nobody shows up, it was your money that we wasted. It was your resources that we didn't do anything with. We did everything we could." But here's what I know, Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "It is the Lord who goes ahead of you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.
I remember we bought this building. We had to raise $1.73 million in a week. We raised $1.93 million in six days to get this building, just so you know. I remember reading through Psalm 27 during that time where it says, "The lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The lord is the stronghold of my life, whom shall I dread? When evil doers came upon me to devour my flesh, it was my adversaries and my enemies that stumbled and fell. Though a host in camp against me, my heart will not fear. The war rise against me. In spite of this, I shall be confident." He goes on to talk about the need for the presence of the lord.
You know how he ends? One of my favorite verses in all of scripture, Psalm 27:13, "I would've despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living." The Lord has told me over and over, Jeff, I'm on the way. I'll be there right when I need to be there. You don't need to worry. I got this. Wait for the lord. Be strong. Let your heart take courage. Just wait for the lord.
Now, why is this a big deal? Because for some of you, you're being lied to about all different things. But if you read the Bible, as God's promised book to you and you take it seriously, God will do incredible things. When you're reading the Bible and God speaks to your heart and tells you he's going to physically heal you, don't make the mistake about talking to some well-meaning Christian who tells you that God doesn't do that anymore.
When God shows you that he's got a job or a future for you out there, don't talk to some well-meaning Christian that says, "Well, I don't know if you can ever do that." When God prompts you in your heart, from his word, you hold him to his word, and you speak his word and you believe his word and you trust his word and you continue to take steps of faith until you see his word realized.
As I've said from this pulpit all along, what's the hardest step of faith you'll ever take? It's the next one. Before you were a Christian, it was trusting Christ. After you're a Christian, it's something else. Then there's something else, and then there's something else and we never stop taking steps. But as we do, we can be assured that one day we're going to meet Jesus Christ face-to-face, and he's going to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Amen.
God wants you to trust his promises and he wants you to trust his person. God has never failed anybody and you're not going to be the first person he fails. You can trust him all the way to eternity. Amen? Let me give you one final one here, I know I'm going over a little bit, but this fires me up. Strengthening your hope in your salvation occurs when you anchor yourself in the reality of Christ's presence. When you tie yourself and your soul to the reality of Christ's presence, he says, "We've taken refuge in him." He says in verse 19, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul." What's an anchor? An anchor is that which keeps you from drifting, which keeps you from floundering in the world. It holds you steady. But what is it that holds you steady? It's the presence of Christ. A hope, both sure, and steadfast. One which enters within the veil, which Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
You remember the veil we had talked about, the veil which separated the Holy of Holys from the rest of the temple? At the time that Jesus Christ breathed his last and died, that temple curtain, which was about 60 feet in height, ripped from top to bottom, indicating that it's no longer the great high priest that can go through, but Jesus Christ, who is our great high priest who has opened the veil, meaning the presence of God is available at all times to anybody who calls upon the name of the lord. Amen?
When you anchor your soul and your heart to that, that will change your life. Jesus said, at the end of the great commission, "I will be with you always." Through his holy spirit, he still is. Hebrews 13:5 says, "He is still here. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." You see, the word of God became flesh. He's real. He's here. He's available. He's a call away. He's present in our church, but I have good news for you, if you're a believer, guess where he is when you leave this place? He indwells you. That means he goes everywhere you go. You're never alone. God is always with you through the person of Jesus Christ.
Unbeliever, I have good news for you too. It means this, even if you haven't trusted Christ, he'll still go with you while he doesn't come internally, and indwell you, he convicts you of sin, righteousness and judgment. He will show you that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and that there's no way to the father, except through him.
Everywhere you go, you're not alone. Everywhere you go, you can have the hope in Jesus. That's why we sing songs about how the Lord's mercies are new every morning, and great is your faithfulness. God has not only been faithful to his church and his people, but can I tell you this, he's been faithful to you. He loves you. He loves each and every one of you, and even if you never trusted in him, he still has a love for you. But if you've trusted in him and you become part of the family of God, he has an unconditional, unrelenting love for you, that no matter what you do or say or speak, he still says, "You're still a part of my family and I will never leave you or forsake you." Isn't that good news?
Great is his faithfulness to us. He's never failed us. You won't be the first person he fails. He's got a perfect track record. At the end of Jude... Jude's Jesus' half brother. He says this, "Now, to him, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. To the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ, our lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time for now and forever more."
That's good news. It means this, if you're a Christian, he's going to get you home. He'll keep you from stumbling. Some of you say, "Well, I didn't stumble. I've already fallen." No, you haven't. You stumbled." No, Pastor Jeff, you don't know me. My marriage ended in divorce and I cheated my employer and I got fired and my whole life's come crumbling down. I've totally fallen." No, you've just stumbled. The word of God says that if you're in Christ, he's going to bring you across the finish line. You can stumble and bumble all the way you want, and when you get there, here's what you're going to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." You're going to be presented with exceedingly great joy before the father. He's not going to out all your mistakes and all your weaknesses because they were all taken care of on the cross by Jesus Christ. He forgave them all. He sees you as his son or his daughter, and he loves you with an unconditional love.
Here's the good news, great is his faithfulness to you. We have an opportunity to sing of his faithfulness this morning, to sing of the fact that Jesus Christ is faithful to each and every one of us. But I can tell you this, there's hundreds of thousands of people in our city that can't sing that testimony, because they don't know him. God built this church so that we can go tell him that God loves you, and that there's a hope for you, and no matter who you are, Jesus Christ is willing to forgive your everything and wash it clean, right now in the moment and set you apart for his grace and promises to bring you home. Friends, that is the best news on the planet, and that's how you grow in the hope of your salvation. Amen.
I'm just going to invite you to stand. Father, we just give you all the praise, glory and honor for who you are and for sharing your word with us today. If you're here today and you aren't sure, or you know that you know that you don't know Jesus, but you want to, here's how you can pray. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I'm separated from you, but I believe you died on a cross and rose from the dead for me. Right now, I turn from my sin and I give you my whole life. I believe that you're my lord and savior. Come into my life and rescue me.
Lord, for those of us who know you, lord fill us a fresh with your Holy Spirit. As we sing about your faithfulness to us, let us be reminded of that friend, that neighbor, that coworker, that family member, that can't sing this song and let us open our eyes this week and pray for them to bring them to Easter service so that they might experience the hope of Christ that we have as well. Lord, do a work in us as we sing today, you are so faithful, you are so good, and we praise your name, the name of Jesus. Amen, and amen. Can we give God some praise this morning? Amen.