Flipside Christian Church

Things.

On the platform.

Her name is Jen, I don't think.

Is she in here still?

There's Jen back there.

Will you tell Jen?

Great job.

Love that. Love you.

Jen is going to serve alongside
in our worship

ministry here on staff
as well as women's ministry.

And so she'll start mid-July
and then beginning of August.

Kind of a staggered start.

But Jen is great
having our platform this morning.

I was so excited for your role
and your leadership

here with worship stuff and women's
ministry stuff.

It's just going to be a really,
really significant time.

So thank you.

It was great to have you with you.

I'm glad you're going to be here
next service now.

I'm super excited,
but I'm not that excited

because we're still like a month
and a half away.

So so be excited about about this.

But you're like, I'm
going to introduce some people to you

and then you're not going to see them
for a little while, but that's okay.

They're coming.
You understand? You understand.

So you might not see Jen next week,
but we're going to enjoy your today.

But then she's coming. You got it okay.

So make sure that you meet her,
introduce yourself

and make sure that she feels
like a part of the family.

A couple other hires they were here in

the first service are not going to be over
the next two services,

so I'll introduce them later to you
officially as a church.

But just know that God is moving.

He's providing, he is orchestrating,

and we're so thankful
for what God has done,

for what he's doing
and how he's positioning us in the future.

Really, really exciting stuff.

You're going to start seeing
some new faces and hearing some new names.

As you do, make sure that you're
welcoming them into the family.

As I pray you're
being welcomed into the family as well.

This morning we're going to wrap up
chapter 15 and open up

just the first four verses of chapter
16 of the book of Matthew.

So it's taken us a long time
to get through this book.

There's 28 chapters long, and at the rate

we're going will be in chapter 20,
probably the beginning of the new year.

So we're taking our time to go through it
because there's a lot to go through.

And so if you have a Bible
and brought one with you,

turn to Matthew chapter 15.

And I just want to read for you
the end of 15, beginning of 16.

So, so just follow along and listen.

This is what the Bible says
in Matthew 15, starting in verse 29,

Jesus went on from there and walked
beside the Sea of Galilee.

And he went up on the mountain
and sat down there.

A great crowd came to him,
bringing with them

the lame, the blind, the crippled,
the mute, and many others.

And they put them at his feet,
and he healed them, so that the crowd

wondered when they saw the mute speaking,
the crippled healthy,

the lame walking, and the blind seen,
and the glorify the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him
and said, I have compassion on the crowd

because they have been with me now
three days and have nothing to eat,

and I'm unwilling to send them away
hungry lest they faint on the way.

And the disciples said to him,
where are we to get enough

bread in such a desolate place
to feed so great a crowd?

And Jesus said to them,
how many loaves do you have?

And they said, seven and a few small fish,
and directing the crowd

to sit down on the ground,
he took the seven loaves and the fish,

and having given thanks, he broke them
and gave them to the disciples.

And the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied.

And they took up seven baskets
full of the broken pieces left over.

Those who were those who ate were 4000 men
besides women and children.

And after sending away the crowds,

he got into the boat
and went to the region of Magadan.

Now for chapter 16.

And the Pharisees and Sadducees
came to test him and to test him.

They asked him to show them a sign
from heaven.

He answered them, when it's evening,
you say,

it'll be fair weather for the skies red,
and in the morning it'll be stormy.

Today, for the sky is red and threatening.

You know how to interpret
the appearance of the sky.

But you cannot interpret
the signs of the times.

You, in evil and adulterous
generation seeks for a sign.

But no sign will be given to it
except sign of Jonah.

So he left them and departed
two groups of people.

And I put these two
the end of 15 and beginning 16 together,

because I want to highlight these two
groups of people that approach Jesus.

One group comes
needy and one group comes entitled.

One group
comes to Jesus with broken bodies.

The other group comes to Jesus with hard
hearts.

One group comes to Jesus and receives
compassion,

and one group comes to Jesus and receives

correction.

As we look at this passage together,

one big idea and I want this to sink in.

Here's the big idea Jesus has endless
compassion on those who come to him.

Needy, but no compulsion to satisfy
those who feel that they're deserving.

Those who come to Jesus
with empty hands, brokenness, and need.

Jesus has unending compassion.

But if anybody comes to Jesus

with this sense of entitlement,
as if they deserve something from God

is under no compulsion to do anything

for them.

Though
Jesus will gladly care for the needy,

he refuses to perform for the entitled.

And so it's really important
that we understand how we come before God.

It's really important
how we that we understand the right way

to come to church,
but also to approach God in prayer.

It's really important.

And we'll see that in these two.

In verses 29 through 31,

just went on from there
beside the Sea of Galilee.

He went to the mountain, sat down a great.

The great crowds came to him,
bringing with them.

Look at what the Bible says, the lame,
the blind, the crippled, the many others.

And they put them at his feet,
and he healed them.

And the crowd was wonder.

They were in amazement that they saw
the mute speak in the crippled healthy,

the lame walking, and the blind seen,
and they glorified the God of Israel.

This crowd,

we know, was from a place
called the Decapolis.

Everybody say Decapolis.

What that means?

Two Greek words
deca and polis, ten cities.

So this was a gentile
and non-Jewish area of ten cities.

So that's where Jesus is.

And one of the ways
we know that this is one of the where

Jesus is, is because when they saw what
Jesus did, what's the Bible say?

They glorified? What's Bible say?

The God of Israel wasn't there. God.

And so so

they're realizing, look,
we're not part of the group here.

But this was amazing what Jesus did.

These people have no religious resume.

They have no religious pedigree.

They have no religious standing.

They have no claim to God,
no claim to his Messiah.

They're not part of God's covenant,
promised people.

They're outside of all those.

Yet Jesus receives them and has compassion
on them because he's compassionate.

Please understand this unworthiness

is not a disqualification for grace.

It's a prerequisite of it.

Those who have nothing to offer God,

those who have no standing before God.

That that doesn't disqualify one
from God's compassionate mercy and grace.

That's the prerequisite to receive it.

These people

bring nothing of value to Jesus.

It's just a parade of human helplessness.

I want you to listen to this

great crowds.

This is verse 30 came to him,
bringing with them the lame, the blind,

the crippled, the mute, and many others,

and put them at his feet,
and he healed them.

What did they ask Jesus?

Did you see that when you first read it?

They made no request.

They didn't pray, they didn't beg.

They didn't plead their case.

All they did.

I don't even know what to say.

I just have so much profound need.

I can't even verbalize what it is I.

And sometimes.

Haven't you been there?

God, I don't even know what to say.

I don't know what's right.
I don't know what's wrong.

I don't know what I want you all.

I can't even

I can't even verbalize all I can do.

Understand when these people
brought all of this brokenness.

And just here, the implication is,
if I just get this to

Jesus, he'll do something that I can't
even verbalize what I need him to do.

It's beautiful.

Because what it does, it

relies on the compassion of Christ,

not the value of the bringer.

They have nothing to offer.

Nothing but their brokenness.

And some of

some today are so spiritually exhausted

because you've been trying so hard

to impress Jesus.

Thinking that if I can just do stuff
right,

God will see my effort

and extend his hand.

When all that Jesus requires you to say,

I got nothing to offer
but my brokenness. So.

So many people try so hard

to defend themselves.

To deny the fact of their own brokenness

and error and wrong and sin because it's

if I admit it, then maybe it's real
and maybe I'm not really worthy.

That's the point.

Please hear me.

Stop hiding your
limp that he already sees.

In verse 32.

Jesus

called his disciples to him
and said, I have compassion on this crowd

because they've been with me
for three days.

They have nothing to eat,
and I am unwilling to send them away

hungry lest they faint on the way.

Listen,

Jesus sees
the need that they can't even verbalize,

and he sees the need
that they don't even know is coming.

They're going to get hungry.

Like right now.

They don't even realize
what they're going to be walking into.

But I see it,
and I have so much compassion on them.

I don't want to just meet their immediate
thing that they can't even verbalize.

I'm going to set them up for my provision
in the future.

That's how much compassion
I have on these people who don't even know

what to say, who are outside of the scope
of the promise of my father.

And what put

them in that position was simply admitting
and acknowledging their own brokenness

and needing inability to fix themselves.

People came for healing.

Jesus saw their hunger.

It's beautiful.

Because we don't have to perform for him,

and we don't have to convince him.

See, one of the things I love about
my God is that

Jesus does not need
to be manipulated into mercy.

God, I've been so.

I've tried.

So I've given.

So quit manipulating him.

Just come before and say, God, even

I can't list for you
the things I've done because I'm not.

I can list for you

my failure and how broken I am
and how needy I am and how desperate I am.

And I realize that doesn't

put me in a super good standing,
but I'm not relying on my standing.

I'm relying on your compassion. That's it.

And it's so beautiful.

That is so simplistic,

but it's so humbling.

And that's our problem.

Verse 33.

And the disciples said to him,
where will we get enough bread

in such a place to feed
such a great crowd?

Okay.

Do you remember what we read about
in chapter 14 of chapter earlier?

What was what was one of the things
you read about just a chapter earlier,

you Bible students, what did Jesus do?

That relates to this story?

What did he do?

Yeah, he fed 5000.

They just were in the exact same scenario.

Except now they had less of a need.

Jesus already did a bigger need.

5000 men, besides 23,000 total,

and gave an abundance
of 12 baskets left over.

And now they're in this scenario,
not 5000, now only 4000.

And they even have more supply
now they got seven.

Before it was it was 5 to 2.

Now it's seven and some.

And apparently at least this time
they didn't

have to steal it from some little boy
like they probably brought.

They learned a little bit
and brought some of their own anyway.

Like they got the the need is less
and the supply and now they still.

How are they going to do.

Sometimes you look

at these people and think what it is

anybody. Yeah.

Now if we looked in the mirror lately.

Like why is it that we're like,
oh God, I know what you did back then,

but now there's a whole new ballgame
now, I don't know.

Let me suggest you
there's something more going on here

than just they forgot what God did.

Let me suggest you
why they asked this question. Now,

it's not that they forgot what God did.

It's because they remember
who God did it for.

See, when Jesus fed the 5000
and those were Jews,

there's 4000 in the Decapolis.

They're non-Jews.

So the disciples, their problem is not
with the supply of God.

Their problem is
with the scope of God's grace

and his mercy.

See the disciples.

They knew that
Jesus could feed our people.

But what?

Jesus really feed those people?

That's their problem.

Like God, we're kind of entitled

because we're

you fill in the blank.

But those.

Grace always feels generous
until God gives it to

someone you would have excluded.

See, the disciples
had seen the power of Jesus,

but now they're going
to learn the grace of Jesus.

And so lesson for every one of us.

Here's the danger of religious people.

We believe in grace theologically,
but we often ration it

relationally.

We love the fact
that God is a gracious and merciful God.

We love that.

And we expect that from him.

But as far as me
and you, the moment you cross me,

the moment I'm offended by what you.

Like.

We believe in it in theologically,
long as it's coming from God to me.

But when it's relationally.

And now you've done that to me.

See, one of the things I have to realize

is that it's only needy people

who get grace.

And once we've received grace,

once I've understood that Jesus

paid the penalty and the price for my sin
that I couldn't pay

by giving his life on the cross
for the forgiveness of my sin,

and then raising from the dead
to ensure eternal life.

And that act alone deserves
all of my allegiance.

And once I've given my life
and my allegiance

to Christ,
I receive this incredible grace.

It's by God's grace that even did that
for me in the first place.

And the moment I received that.

It is so disingenuous for me to keep that

and not give the same grace
that I've received.

Even to those people.

Now, the interesting thing about grace

is you only get it
if you admit you need it.

If I always think that I'm in the right,

if I always think that
it's someone else's problem.

If I always think.

That they're the ones who need to.

I'm never in a position

to receive God's grace.

Or if I think that I'm in right

standing with God
because of how I've lived.

I've been righteous,
I've been holy, I've been obedient.

Of course I'm right with God.

That attitude

has removed that person
from the grace of God.

Have you ever heard the idea
that someone has fallen from grace?

Yeah, usually that

is used predominantly
when someone messes up real bad,

someone who's not supposed to mess up
and they mess up real bad.

They've fallen from grace.

That is such a diabolical, demonic
understanding of grace.

Because what that does is
it keeps someone from the grace of God.

The only time that phrase fallen from
grace is used

in all of the Bible one time.

Galatians five.

For you who are trying to be justified by
the law have been alienated from Christ.

You have what?

Fallen away from grace.

You're trying to be right with God
by how you're living.

You think your behavior makes you
right with God.

You think you have the right to come
to God based on your righteous behavior.

You've just fallen from grace.

When you're
a sinner and you admit your sin,

you fall into grace.

The religious people fall out of grace.

Do you understand?

But it's only the people
who admit their broken

and worthless have nothing to offer God

that are in a position
to receive the grace of God.

It's beautiful.

It's threatening.

But it's beautiful.

Verses 3437.

And Jesus said to them,
how many loaves do you have?

He said, seven and a few small fish,
and directing the crowd

to sit down on the ground, he took

the seven loaves and the fish,
and having given

thanks, he broke them
and gave them to the disciples.

And the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied.

And they took up seven baskets
full of broken pieces left over.

Those who were those who ate were 4000 men
besides women and children.

And after sending them away,
sending the crowds away,

he got into the boat
and went to the region of Magadan.

Just says, look.

Need is huge.

Take care of it.

And their response is we?

Yeah, we'd love to.

We don't have enough.

Have you ever been in that position?

Like God, I would love to.

I just don't know.

God, I would love to say.

I would love to respond.

I would love to do.

I would love to give.

I just don't have anybody.

Yeah.

This has been people's response
from day one.

Seven loaves, a few fish.

Like it's not enough.

I know what you've asked, God,
but it's not enough.

Listen, not enough is the raw material
Jesus requires.

That's all he's looking for.

If you've ever felt like God,
I hear what you're saying.

I hear what you're asking.

I don't have enough.
You fill in the blank.

God says that's exactly the
raw material that I require.

Any. Any of you Bible scholars.

Let me ask you this question.

You look in the Bible
and show me where God asked

someone who already had an abundance
to give him a little bit of leftovers,

or they had too much of.

Doesn't happen.

He always goes to those
who don't have enough

and says, listen, I want you to.

I know you don't have enough.

That's why I chose you.

You don't get more excuses.

See, a little bit in
my hands is a little bit.

A little bit in Jesus's hands.

Feeds thousands.

And so we don't get a say to Jesus.

I would love to.

I just don't have enough.

Never say, Lord, I wish I had.

Dot dot dot.

Always say, Lord, here's what I have.

Because Jesus not

only uses what we have,
Jesus multiplies it.

You want more of the little you have.

Say, here we go, Lord.

Many people I mean not here
because we're we do everything right,

but other people who are trying to follow

Jesus and other churches

wait to obey and wait to do

and wait to serve
and wait to give until they have enough,

and till they have enough time,
until they have enough money,

until they have enough strength,
until they have enough confidence,

until they have enough energy, until
they have the time when their schedule.

Jesus always starts

with what looks inadequate.

Everything that God has asked of you

and of me that we've looked at
and said, God, I wish I could.

I just don't have enough.

Jesus
says, that's why I'm starting with you.

Hudson Taylor says this I

love this quote
God's work does God done God's way?

Never last. God's supply.

The reason
why you and I don't have enough,

or God has asked us to do,
is if we did, we'd give him leftovers.

And we think that he's lucky
to have us on a team.

We have another way that this is said,

kind of more modern way
is where God guides.

God provides.

That's why we in this church have.

We've always said yes
on the front end of everything.

Yeah, sure. Yeah.

God will provide
if we're confident God's doing it.

It doesn't matter what it looked like.

The situation looks like.
Let's just say yes.

Let's say yes and see what happens.

Let's actually step on the water and see
if we, you know, if he float or not.

Let's just say yes.

Well. God.

Wait, wait. You want us to start a church
planning movement in Cuba?

It's illegal there, but. Okay.

You wants to do this in Guatemala?

Yeah. All right.

What? Ukraine during a war.

All right. Yeah, we'll say yes.

Okay. Wait, wait.

You're going to do something now
in Israel.

Well, all that mess is going on.

Yeah, we'll say yes. Absolutely.
We'll go there.

Oh, wait a minute. Venezuela.

After what we did to Maduro.

You want to go?
Yeah, sure. Yeah. We'll go.

We've never, ever

said.

But God wants you provide.

That's not art.

We don't do that
because it's not in the Bible.

So let me just ask,
what's that thing you've been withholding

because you feel like
you don't have enough of?

That not enough excuse is pretty weak.

See, Jesus

didn't ask his disciples
to create the bread.

He just asked him to distribute
what he would multiply.

Friends, that's called ministry.

We're not the source.

We're the servants.

We're not the miracle.

You realize that.

We just carry it.

And so that's this one group
that comes to Jesus.

But here's this whole other group.

Chapter 16, verse one.

The Pharisees and Sadducees
came to test him,

and they asked him to show them a sign
from heaven.

Answered them,

when it's evening,
you say it's going to be fair weather,

not because the sky is red.

Was morning is going to be stormy
because the skies read threatening.

Did you know that's like a navy saying
red sky at night.

Sailor's delight.

Red sky in the morning,
sailor take warning.

Yeah, I mean, so like, this is like.

Oh, yeah, well, that makes sense.

You know, and it says, well, you know
how to interpret the signs that way,

but you can't interpret
the signs of the times.

And evil and adulterous generation seeks
for a sign and none will be given to it.

Set up the sign of Jonah.

He left these Pharisees
and said a very different group.

Pharisees and Sadducees,
let me let me help you understand who

these two groups are.

We don't read a lot about the Sadducees
in the Bible.

They they, they they really want
that much of a concern to Jesus.

The Pharisees we hear a lot more about.

But let me just let me just tell you
what they were like back then.

You can extrapolate the

implication and

application to today, the Sadducees,
both these groups

and both a political
and a religious group,

one more political, one more religious,
but had ties to both worlds.

The Sadducees were the wealthy, the elite.

I could say the near Nantucket.

They were more concerned

with their political power
than their morality.

They weren't overly religious
if it interfered with their power

and their money
and their political control.

They were religious but not evangelistic,

and they rejected

a literal heaven, a literal hell.

They, quote unquote trusted the science,

so they didn't believe in miracles.

And then there were the Pharisees.

They were the Scripture thumpers.

They were the blue collar people.

They were deists, meaning

they were God fearing.

And their religion

was and their nation
was built on godly principles.

But they had a very wrong
conception of the Messiah,

and they

wanted to make their nation great again,

and they wanted to rid their land
of all the foreigners

that were in it.

Again,

I don't know how that applies
to today at all.

But when I look at Jesus's time
and our time,

the thing that runs through my head
is Ecclesiastes one nine.

What has been will be again,
there's nothing new under the sun.

Can you imagine

what any of Jesus disciples,

if they were to have come to him and said,
Jesus, listen, here's the deal.

Yeah, I want to follow you,
but I also want you to honor my party.

The matter of fact,
what I would like to do

is take your kingdom
and attach it to my party.

Can you imagine
what Jesus would have said?

He would have said, depart from me.

I've never known you
because you don't understand my kingdom.

Everybody hear me a loud and clear.

We don't attach
Jesus to our political party,

and we don't ask
Jesus to bless our kingdom.

We submit to his kingdom.

So these two come.

And here's how you know
you're verging on this Pharisee

attitude.

The Sadducees attitude,

when they looked at themselves and people,

there was self elevation
and others evaluation.

They were masters

at evaluating everybody else
and elevating themselves.

Anybody?

So the crowds come with suffering.

The Pharisees and Sadducees
come with suspicion.

The crowds come simply, asking for mercy.

These leaders come demanding proof.

They're so arrogant.

And Jesus gives grace to the needy.

He doesn't do tricks for the entitled.

They had already seen.

If you said you want to sign.

And the reason I don't know if you notice
it says they demanded a sign from heaven.

Not just a sign of sign
from heaven. Here's why.

Because they believed that a sign
from earth and earthly sign,

like anybody could conjure that.

But a sign from heaven,
like Elijah on the on Mount Carmel,

the province of Vail calling a fire
from heaven like that was from God.

And so what they're saying, what
we've seen of you, that could be a trick.

We want to see something.
You want to prove yourself?

Oh, we want to see something
from the hand of God himself.

And Jesus says, I'm
not going to show you a darn thing.

You've seen enough.

You've seen enough healing.

You've seen enough.

You've seen enough authority.

You've seen enough authority
to for exorcism.

You've seen enough fulfilled prophecy.

You've seen enough.

You've seen enough authority over nature.

You've seen enough authority over disease.

You've seen enough authority over demons.

You've seen enough authority
to forgive sin.

You've seen enough authority for miracle.

You've seen enough.

Our problem, like theirs,

is not a lack of evidence.

Our problem is a hardness of heart.

God, if you'll just do this.

God, if you'll give me this.

God if you'll move in now.

God if you'll.

Listen.

Love does not manipulate.

And faith does not put Jesus on trial.

There's a great difference
between bringing to Jesus your questions

and your wounds and demanding
Jesus meet your conditions.

The vast difference.

Jesus has

compassion, but he will not be controlled.

And he is merciful,
but he will never be manipulated.

Just as you want to sign,
I'll give you the sign.

But it's not the sign you want.

I'm going to give you the sign of Jonah.

Now, Jesus had already talked
about this back in Matthew 12, verse 40.

I think the verse is it says the only sign
you're going to give signage.

Jonah. He says it again here.

What's the sign of Jonah?

It's a sign of the resurrection.

As Jonah was in the bill of the fish
for three days and three nights,

so will the Son of Man be in the belly
of the earth, dead, resurrected.

The only sign you get to see
they wanted spectacle.

Jesus gave them the cross.

They wanted to show in fireworks.

Jesus gave them an empty tomb.

So that's the only.

That's the only sign of your gift.

He says the same thing to me.

And you.

See, it's the cross.

The cross is God's answer to human need.

And the empty tomb is God's
answer to human doubt.

Please, my dear friends, never interpret

God's love through the lens

other than the cross.

Never interpret

God's love through any lens
other than the cross.

This is where we go wrong. So often.

We interpret God's love through my pain,
through my circumstance,

through the paralyzed, been through
through the injustice I've suffered.

And we think, God,

if you loved, if you were powerful,
if you could. Why?

And we interpret our pain
and our difficulty

and our tragedy
through something other than the cross.

The cross

is God's answer to every need we have,
and the empty

tomb is the answer to every human doubt.

To interpret

our experience
through something other than the cross.

To interpret
God's love through our experience

rather than the cross, is to deny
the cross

and is to less in God's love.

And if that continues to long,
please hear me.

You will walk away from Christ.

If you allow yourself
for too long to interpret

God's love through your experience
and your pain

and your tragedy and your broken dreams
and your broken life,

you will eventually walk away from him.

The cross.

That's how I interpret his love.

The cross is God's.

It's God's declaration that I am
more sinful than I want to admit,

and I'm also more loved
than I ever dare to hope.

The cross
says I am so sinful and so broken.

I cannot be right

with God any other way
but through the death of Christ.

But that same cross that condemns me

for how bad and sinful
I am also then says,

but you are also more love
than you ever dared hope.

And when you accept that.

I come to this loving God and say.

I'm relying on your compassion

and your mercy and grace,

what a beautiful way to live

and to experience the God of the universe

in my life.

Well, beautiful.

And if the cross

and the resurrection
aren't enough to make you surrender,

no lesser sign will be enough

to satisfy you.

And I thank God

that he's picked me up when I fallen.

And he's

turned me around when I've walked away.

Not because I deserved it.

Because I came to God in my brokenness
and said.

I'm relying on your compassion.

He is so good

and his love is so powerful
and his cross proves it.

Do not come to him demanding.

Come to him broken and needy,

and he will have compassion.

Why don't you pray with me?

Father, you are a good God.

You've loved us with an everlasting love.

Thank you that there's nothing we could do

or not do
that would make you change your love.

To love us
less or love us more. Forgive us.

Forgive me for how I've tried to add
your kingdom to my life.

Rather
than surrounding my life to your kingdom.

Forgive me for my arrogance.

Forgive me for my pride.

Forgive me for thinking
I had something to offer you.

The only thing I have to offer you

is my brokenness and my sin and my life.

And so I come to you right now
with just open arms

and unexpressed desire.

Have mercy and compassion.

Oh, God.

Friends,
I would invite you in this moment.

I don't want you to.

I don't want you to walk out of here

thinking something different
about who God is

and his love for you.

He's worthy to give your life to.

And I want to invite you this moment

to say, God, I admit that I'm a sinner

and I have lived life on my own terms,

and I've done this religion thing
on my own terms, and it's wrong.

Jesus,

I believe that you died on the cross
for my sin that you were buried

in, that you were raised to life
to save me.

So save me.

I commit to turn from my sin,

and I dedicate my life

and my allegiance to you and your kingdom

alone, above all others,

and empower me to love you
with my whole heart and soul

and mind and strength, without delay
and without hesitation,

I am yours.

Fill me with your spirit

and the power of your spirit

to desire and to live a holy life.

I am yours.

In your name I pray.

Amen.

Friends, listen, I love you.

I'm proud of you.

Good job. We're getting through, Matthew.

There's a lot there.

Yeah, yeah.

So this week, read chapter
15. Read chapter 16.

We're going to we're going to finish out
chapter 16 next week.

You understand.

In the meantime

we thank God

because he's picked us up when we fall in
because we fall.

And he's turned us around
when we get stupid.

Yeah, yeah.

And he's worth giving our thanks to.

So here's the deal.

Stand up, use your open mouths, and let's
sing this with a little bit of gusto.

You got it. All right.