Commitment to Truth

Cedrick Brown: Well, hello, good morning. I'm missing that hour, just to be candid with you. Anybody else missing that hour? Because I am. I'm feeling it. I'm feeling a little fatigued right now. I normally get ahead of it, but for whatever reason, I was just totally oblivious. I know what it was. I was just captivated. The whole day, I was just captivated by my wife's love. I was just chasing her around the house, just hugging on her. She's like, "What's wrong with you?" I'm like, "Just loving you."

That has nothing to do with the message, but let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much just for the finished work of Jesus. We thank you for his unfailing love towards us. As we continue to navigate this sermon series from the book of Luke, God, I pray that we would just continue to take on the character of Christ, which was and is compassionate and caring, especially for the lost.

Christ pursued us, and those of us who put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we now belong to him. We're part of his family, part of his kingdom, part of his church, part of his bride. Lord, I could not personally imagine living life in any other way. God, I pray that you would continue to help us to get it, especially as we head into this Easter season.

Lord, I pray that as we look at how and when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the spiritual epicenter of the day, that God, we would just remember as he has walked into our lives and how we should respond to him. Lord, speak to me that I may speak to your people. In Jesus' name, we're all said, amen.

Jesus is the compassionate savior for all humanity. If you can open your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 19, we're going to begin with verse 28. I'm just going to read this prior to giving you some facts to chew on. Just remember the context. The context is Jesus' triumphal entry as he is entering Jerusalem, the spiritual epicenter. He is being greeted by many of his disciples, outside of the 12, and they are throwing palm branches and their clothing, their jackets before him as he rides in on an untained donkey/colt.

Just a little side note, it's interesting to note that in the Old Testament, you had King David who also entered Jerusalem. Others carried the Ark of the Covenant, which is the presence of God, entering Jerusalem similarly. Back then, during David's time, David was dancing before the Ark or the presence of God. His wife said to him, "You are the king, and you're acting pretty undignified. You are dancing with your brief shorts on, your underwear." David replied with this, he said, "I can even act more undignified than this." I always think about that and say, "What's more undignified than dancing around in your boxer shorts in front of the entire kingdom that you lead?" Ultimately, he was willing to strip down to nothing to escort the presence of a holy God and to exhort him with his praise.

Similarly, you have this same kind of encounter happening, not with the Ark, but the very tangible present savior coming into Jerusalem himself. With that being said, let's look at Luke chapter 19, beginning at verse 28. "After he had said these things, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, 'Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat.'" Underscore that. We're going to return to that during our time together. "Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you should say, 'The Lord has need of it.'"

So, those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them prophetically. As they were untying the colt, its owner said to them the same words Jesus said to his disciples, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord has need of it." They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. This is where we get Palm Sunday from; they were also laying palm branches before him.

"As soon as he was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting, 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'" Some of the Pharisees among the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." Listen to how Jesus replies. Jesus said, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones or the rocks will begin to cry out."

When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace—but now they have been hidden from your eyes because you didn't receive me." Skip down to verse 45. "Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, 'It is written, "And my house shall be a house of prayer," but you have made it a den of thieves or a robbers' den.'"

What you find all nestled and jumbled within these particular passages is that they laid their garments on the ground. You had palm branches waving and laying before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, shouting "Hosanna," which simply means "Please save us now." Why is that important to understand? It's because what they were looking for was a tangible, earthly king and savior to remove them from Roman rule. They were being ruled and governed by Rome and being oppressed. They were hoping and praying that another deliverer like Moses would come along to snatch them from the grips of Roman rule.

They weren't necessarily saying, "We worship you, King of Kings, Lord of Lords," as we would conceivably think. It was more of, "Oh, save us now! Here's our king, and now King Jesus, come and settle this here on this earth." This noise and this praise was higher and louder than ever during this time, looking like a revival, sounding like victory, feeling like a celebration, but unfortunately, heaven wasn't rejoicing because the king that was among them was missed. For all the three years that he was with them, even his closest friends missed who he was.

If you look deeper in this time, Christ wasn't here on a political mission. He wasn't here to set up the kingdom of the United States or the kingdom of Israel or anything like that. His role was simply to come as a suffering redeemer. I've come to die for you so that you may have life and have life more abundantly, so you can live victoriously over sin and over the bondages that occur while we live on this earth. It was more than just coming to say that I'm here to visit you just because I'm this good guy, but he ultimately wanted to open blind eyes and set people free. They missed it. They missed it, that it was more than just this transaction between this good orator and this guy who was doing miracles, but think about this: he was trying to set up a temple so that God can meet man and commune with each other, but they missed it all.

My hope is in this section of our sermon series, we're going to look into about five facts we cannot miss. Five facts that we cannot miss as Jesus begins to enter our space and time. As Jesus begins to enter our space and time—because that's what he still is doing, is intruding into our space and time—and in doing so, there's four things nestled within these verses I'm going to hopefully present to you that we simply can't miss ourselves.

The first is found in verses 30 to 34. We cannot miss that he is the Messiah. He was the Messiah then, and he's the Messiah now. Why is that important to understand? In verses 30 and 32, it's very easy to miss the indicators. Listen to what it says. "You will find a colt, and the Lord has need of it." You just breeze over that, and it's like, "Oh, he's just looking for a horse to ride in on." Well, it's way bigger than that because Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine, the prophet Zechariah prophesied of this very thing. They missed it.

He prophetically mentioned that there would be this anointed one that would arrive in Jerusalem. Listen to what it says. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; he is just and endowed with salvation, humble, mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." It's so cool because it's almost like the Lord prophetically knew people would even question maybe like you are today, "Is it a colt, or is it a donkey?"

He prophetically says, "Mounted on a donkey—okay, well, even a colt, or even a foal of a donkey." So, whatever you want to say, because you find and you read within the synoptic gospels, they say interchangeably "colt" and "donkey." Even prophetically years ago, he's saying, "You just maybe confused which one it is, but just let you know, it can be either/or or the same." Right away, you see this prophetic indicator that's saying he's more than just this guy riding on a donkey; he is the chosen one.

In Mark chapter eight, verses 27 through 29, Jesus asks his disciples this question. Keep in mind, you are with the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, you're sleeping with him, eating with him, playing with him, seeing miracles—they still didn't recognize him. This is what Jesus asked them. "Who do people say that I am?" They told him, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others say one of the prophets." And he continued by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter then answered and said to him, "Well, you are the Christ, the Messiah." Maybe one is starting to get it now. Co-mingled, played with, slept with—they couldn't even recognize the Messiah that was among them.

In Matthew chapter one, verses 16 and 17, the author begins to clearly identify, even in this genealogy when he stepped on the scene, "Hey, you need to know who he's from and where he comes from, his lineage." It says this, "Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all of the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah when Christ arrived, another 14 generations."

Here you hear this term Messiah, Messiah, the Christ, Messiah, Messiah, the Christ. What is it? In the Hebrew, it's Messiah, but in the Greek, it's the term Christ. Both mean the anointed one. The one who's set apart, called for a specific work. So, the question now is, what was he to do? Luke gives us the answer. He begins by describing it this way in Luke chapter four, verse 18. This is the "what." "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." This is what Jesus said when he stepped on the scene. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me, set me apart, called me to do this; I am the Christ, the Messiah, to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of the sight of the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." In other words, he, the Messiah, has arrived.

The problem they had then is the same problem we have today: we miss it. Jesus has arrived, and he's preached the gospel to you who are poor, in other words, who are needy, who are lost. He's still doing it today. The gospel lives on and is being proclaimed to those who are lost, who are impoverished spiritually. But then here's the challenge for those of us who know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and let's say we're like his disciples walking along with him. We still live captive, we still live blind, and we still live oppressed. And he's here.

Why? It's because we don't see him as Messiah. Yeah, he's the one who saved me; in other words, I die, go be with Jesus, absent from the body, present with the Lord. But what do you do today when you feel in bondage? Who do you run to? When you feel overwhelmed, who do you run to when you're blind? Who do you run to if you have a spouse who's blind, you have a kid who's blind, when you have a parent who's blind, when you have a coworker, when you have an employee that just drives you insane because they just don't see it? Who do you run to?

We should be running to the Messiah. Who do you run to when we are oppressed, when you can't sleep, when we're overwhelmed with life and life issues and family drama? Who do we run to? Most followers of Jesus Christ forget the Messiah came to break all of this in our lives. I would challenge you today that if any of this describes you—feel like you're in captivity, you feel like you're blind, you feel like you're oppressed—have you lost sight that he's the anointed one?

Luke chapter 19, verse 10, gives another profound "what." He says, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost." You know one of the unfortunate things that you even hear those who have a relationship with Christ say? "I just feel lost. I just don't know what to do. I don't know what life is all about. I don't know what my purpose is." Jesus came as the Messiah to give purpose, to give clarity, to give hope. If any man is in Christ, you're a new creature. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, he whom the Son sets free is free indeed. It's not possibly; it's not maybe.

If any man is in Christ, you're a new creature. Old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. It doesn't mean life would just change, but you change. He transforms you because he is the anointed one, and the anointed one lives in you. We cannot miss that Christ is the anointed one, that he still today seeks to break bonds of slavery. We cannot forget that he's still a God who opens blind eyes and set people free. And he's here among us. We can't miss this.

We can't miss this, that he's omniscient. We'll get to what this means, but in verse 30 to 33, nestled within there, you get a couple of questions. It says, "If anyone asks you about this donkey and why you're untying this, tell them I said it." So, think about this for a minute. How did Jesus know before the people who even said the word knew? Because he's omniscient. He's telling the disciples that when you go get this colt, this donkey, there's going to be the owners of it that will tell you this, and I'm going to tell you what they said before they even know what they're going to say. That's omniscient. That God knows, the Messiah knows what people are going to say before that person even says it.

Let me give you a broader definition of what omniscient means. He's all-knowing, possessing infinite knowledge of all things—past, present, and future—including every thought, event, and detail in the universe without needing to learn or discover anything because he always has been. He doesn't need to learn and discover. He's not up in heaven, in the cosmos or whatever, reading books and trying to learn about humanity. He knew about humanity before humanity was even in existence. But the definition goes further, says this: "Perfect knowledge extends to the understanding of every person's deepest motives and circumstances, providing a foundation for divine wisdom and guidance." In other words, it is so good that God knows what I don't know.

Listen, it's so good to know when you're sitting in a boardroom and everybody's staring at each other like deer in the headlights, and nobody really knows what to do, that you can humble yourself and ask God, who knows everything, and he will give you the wisdom to know how to direct the entire organization. His omniscience means that a father who is totally clueless in leading his family and he's at an impasse with his family, "How do I lead my family through this, out of this, over this?" If a man will humble himself and ask for wisdom, he says that he will give it to him generously.

First Corinthians chapter two, verses 11 through 16, gives us this. It says, "For who among men knows the thoughts of man except the spirit of man which is in him?" In other words, no one knows anybody's thoughts, no matter how much you know the person, right now across from you, in front of you, next to you, only by the person who's thinking it. But it goes further: "Even so, the thoughts of God, no one knows except the Spirit of God." Skip to verse 16, please. It says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him?" In other words, who's going to tell God what to do?

But we have the mind of Christ. So, what it says is, if you want to know even part and parcel of the mind of God, is that you must have the mind of Christ, which Philippians 2 talks about. Let this mind and this heart be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who thought not of himself. The only way that we can have even part and parcel of the mind of God and understand what he could be thinking is being men and women who renew their mind by the washing of the word of God. Men and women who study to show themselves approved unto God, workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That's the only way we can even know part of the mind of God.

Why do we know this? Because the scriptures also tell you and I, we know in part and we understand in part. The scripture tells us that our thoughts—his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. So, we would never, listen to this, individually or cumulatively over a lifetime—past, present, future of lifetimes—could ever have enough knowledge to know the mind of God. But yet he says, "Don't miss this about me because when you're in complicated situations, come to me."

Psalm 139, verses one through six, affirms his knowledge. It says, "O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know me when I sit down and when I arise. You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all of my ways." Listen to this: "Even before there's a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's too high; I can't even attain it."

Just pause and ponder that for a minute. It's nothing to be afraid of because a lot of times we get jittery because God knows my thoughts before I think them. Oh, he knows exactly what I said, I'm about to say. Can you flip the coin and look at it more like, "Wow, he knows my thoughts! It's safe to know that he knows me that well." You see, the Book of Hebrews says this: "The word of God is able to divide soul, spirit, bone, marrow, thoughts, intentions." That's everything that cannot be seen with the natural eye. You cannot see soul, spirit. No one knows where it begins, where it ends. Inmaterial part of man, that's what that is. No one's able to see bone marrow, unless you now have an equipment made that God gave wisdom to somebody to discern there's bone marrow, you can have bone marrow transplants. Natural eye, you cannot see bone and marrow. You don't know where it begins, you don't know where it ends. Thoughts and intentions—who can see someone's thoughts? Think about this. Intentions are like pre-thoughts, if you would. Who can see someone's pre-thoughts, what they intend to do and haven't even thought about doing? The word of God is able to disseminate, decipher. Why? Because the word of God is whom? "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Became flesh to dwell among us."

Four facts we cannot miss about Christ's entrance into our space and time. Can't miss he's our Messiah. Can't miss he's omniscient. Here's the third found in verses 30 and 38. We cannot miss that he's Master. He's Master, and he has all authority. Not some authority, not partial authority. He has all authority. So think about this: if you're in an authoritative position, your authority has to submit to his authority. There's no higher authority. There's no higher governing authority on this earth or in the heavens. Everything must bow to him.

So we find another indicator. Look at verse 30 real quick. It says, "You will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat." Now, why is this super important to understand? I love riding horses, if you didn't know that. I'm a horse guy. Anyone who's ever ridden horses, you know that if you have a strong-willed horse, you've got problems. If you've ever gone on a horseback riding trip—I just lost the thought. Think about this for a minute. Typically, if this is a good guide, a really seasoned guide, they would say something like this, "Well, who's ridden horses before? Who's good at it? Who feels confident?" And you know what they send you on? They send you on the one that nobody else wants to ride. The one that's a little cantankerous, the one who's just going to nibble on branches as you pass, the one who's going to just stop and doesn't want to move. But the one who says, "No, I don't have no experience," they send you on Mickey. Go ride Mickey. The very docile horse that won't buck you, won't resist you, but just more compliant. The other horses would be like, "I ain't even moving. Matter of fact, I want to go back to the stall."

This was an unbroken, untamed horse. Now, I think I can ride horses pretty cool and pretty good, but I ain't getting on no unbroken horse. A horse that hasn't been tamed, hasn't been broken, but yet he specifically says, "You will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat. I want that one for me."

You see, in Job chapter 12, verse seven through 10, affirms Christ's authority. Listen to what it says: "But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of heavens, and let them tell you. Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In whose hand is the life of everything and the breath of all mankind?" Then John 17:2 exclaims this: "You gave him," meaning Christ, "authority over all flesh," which beasts are also flesh, "that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life." Now, look, listen to this in Colossians chapter one, verse 16. It says, "All things have been created through him and for him." And what we can't miss here, church, is this: is that we can't miss Christ's authority has the ability to supernaturally cause an unbroken animal to submit.

Again, going back to the horse example, a horse will know if you're scared of them. Pick it up right away. And the first thing they'll do is, in their instinct, will be, "Well, I'm in control now." And they'll start riding you. The worst thing a person can do when you're about to ride a horse is start feeling all panic and hyperventilating because they'll pick up on all of those senses from you, and they will sometimes even pull away from you even before you get on it and mount it. Here Christ mounted an unbroken animal. Why is that important for you and I to remember and never miss? Well, you see, if he can break an unbroken animal, he can break anyone or anything in your life.

You have strongholds? You got horses in your life that need to be broken? Let Jesus ride them. I believe what we need to always understand is that those things that we can't control, those things that we cannot manage, those things that we think that that authority somehow outranks us—you know how sometimes you feel that way, especially when it comes to relationships? You feel that, "I really can't say anything to that person. I really can't do anything about that." You may even feel that way on your job and you're just like, "Somebody needs to tell the boss something." But if anybody who's subservient to the boss tells the boss, chances are you may lose your job. Turn them over to Jesus. Turn them over to his authority and see what he does.

Listen, we got some wild horses called kids. Adult ones as well, those who are a little bit adult, they're trying to learn how to adult. Turn them over to Jesus. He's good at breaking it. The Bible says the king's heart is in the Lord's hand; like a running river, he controls it. Every authority must bow to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Don't miss that he is the Master and everything above the heavens, below the heavens, must submit to his authority.

Lastly, we find in verses 37 through 40, we can't miss he is to be praised. But here's the challenge: we are image bearers of God. The scripture says that we are created in his image. Therefore, everyone who's been created, every human being, are image bearers of God. Therefore, we ourselves have the greatest privilege and the highest praise that can ever be given to God. But here's the reality: he says, "If you don't do it, I'll give my other creations an opportunity to do it." If you're not willing to praise me where it's safe within the confines of a local church, local assembly, where 99% of the people are there for the same reason—if you're not willing to be vulnerable because praising the Lord, remember David dancing in front of the Ark in his underwear? People were disrobing and giving their garments that the donkey could trample over. It's vulnerability.

Praise is vulnerability. Praise is submission. Praise is remembering who's the authority, who's the Messiah, who knows all things. If we can't get it here, how then dare we go outside and say, "Let me turn the switch on and then I want to give him praise through my lifestyle"? Sunday morning worship and small church gatherings are merely dress rehearsal for real life. It's where we become vulnerable, we worship him. It's interesting—let me speak to the guys. It's interesting that the scripture says this, specifically to guys: "I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands." You know why? Because it's probably mostly difficult for guys to become that vulnerable. But he tells guys—he doesn't say grab the front of your chair and hold on to it like you're riding a ride at Disney World. He doesn't say put them in your pocket and lock them in your pocket so just in case a hand goes up. He didn't say put your hand—he said lift up holy. It's phenomenal that the Lord would say specifically for men because we are the ones who mostly resist it for the most part. Most ladies resist it when they've been hurt, and they have to process this father-daughter relationship. There's some insecurity, so I'm not—it's vulnerability, right? I mean, we have many police officers here. One of the first things to do is, right, when you get stopped and they tell you get out of car, and if they feel you're a threat, they tell you to do what? Raise your hands. Let me see your hands because it's a place of submission, vulnerability. What does a child do, moms, dads, when they want to be close to you? Body language is super important to the Lord. Dress rehearsal on the inside, be vulnerable here so you can be vulnerable out there. In other words, that I'm willing to stand as light. Because when you go out the walls, being light is a place of vulnerability as well. Because when you start representing Jesus boldly, the vulnerability there is people can reject you, talk about you, ridicule you, put you down, say you're crazy—all the above. And if you don't train your soul, your spirit man where it's safe, chances are you're not going to be bold out there. Your praise won't continue in the real world.

So our challenge is to become men and women who get it, that it is those who are image bearers of a holy God; it's primarily our responsibility to praise him. And if we don't, he's going to get it anyway. Psalm 19, verses one through four: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pour forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There's no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world." Psalm 96, verse 11 and 12 says this: "Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all it contains. Let the field exult and all that is in it. Then all the trees in the forest will sing for joy." Then lastly, Job 38:7 says this: "When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy." If image bearers of God won't do it, his other creations will.

I'd like to end with is this: the stars, they have discovered, really do praise him. It says stars have internal sound waves, but we cannot hear them because space is a vacuum that does not carry sound. Scientists have now instead started to use what is called sonification to convert these stellar vibrations into audible forms. Some stars take on unique sounds. It's said this: "Large stars can sound like low echoing rumbles or warped ray guns. Medium stars often produce a persistent windswept hum. Small stars can sound like a high-pitched siren. Pulsars," it says, "they rapidly—these rapidly spinning stars emit radio pulses that, when converted, sound like rhythms clicking or high-speed drumming." Can you play this?

Psalm 19:1-4: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge." We cannot miss the continued work of the Messiah. He is always at work—healing, delivering, setting free, opening blind eyes still today, releasing the captives. He's still doing it today. We cannot forget that we serve and worship a God and praise a God that is all-knowing. He knows your past, he knows your present, he knows your future collectively. He knows your thoughts before you even formulated them. That's knowledge that we can hang our hat on. We cannot forget his authority, that everything will bow to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And we cannot—listen, we cannot as privileged image bearers of a holy God, we cannot forget to praise him with all of our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. Amen. Let's pray.

Father, we just thank you so much for this, that you're faithful, that you're all-powerful, all-knowing. Nothing—nothing is greater, no one is greater than you. And if today there's someone who's sitting in the sanctuary or under the sound of my voice that you've never put your faith and trust in this Christ I've described to you, maybe you have been holding back, maybe you have been slow to respond, but today, I'd like to give you that opportunity. If this is what you want, can you just pray with me? Just pray this prayer, and after you pray this prayer, we're going to have the altar open. Could you just let somebody up front know that you did pray this prayer because we want to celebrate with you? And just repeat after me, just say:

"Jesus, forgive me. For I now realize that I have sinned against you. But I've also realized that you, Jesus, came to die for me. You were buried for me. You rose again from the grave just for me. Jesus, can you come into my heart, my life, and wash me clean of my sins as I surrender to the authority of your Holy Spirit? I pray that you would just lead me and guide me and empower me to live for you all the days of my life until I see you face to face."

And then for those of us who have a relationship with Christ, have you forgotten that he's Messiah? That the Messiah is still present, still active, still working? Have you tried to take over and not give him the opportunity to still break strongholds, deliver, set free in your own life, in the life of those around you? Have you forgotten that he's all-knowing, that he's omniscient, that he knows everything, he knows your thoughts before you think them? If you've forgotten this and you've some way somehow thought that maybe you know more than him, it's a great opportunity just to reconcile this and ask for forgiveness and ask him to continue to reveal to you how smart he is.

Maybe you've forgotten that he's Master and he's the authority of all things at all times, which includes your own life, even the good and the bad. He's the authority of your family, he's the authority on your job, in your business. Maybe you've kind of like edged him out a little bit. It's a good time to just reconcile that and say, "Lord, forgive me. I've forgotten that you are Master." And maybe today you've kind of been holding back your praise because there's a bit of vulnerableness that you feel, a little insecurities, maybe some hurt. It's a good time to ask him to heal you, give you courage. In these safe spaces, Sunday morning worship is a safe space, men's and women's group, youth groups—it's a safe space to prepare us to be men and women who go out in our lives, sing of his praise, our lives worship him as lights in a dark world.

Lord, we thank you for this, for your word, for your character, Jesus, for being the same yesterday and today and forever. Can we now also just shift to praying for the lost? If there's anyone in your family—could be parents, could be children, could be close friends that maybe God is pulling you away from and they don't know Jesus, could be coworkers, could be employers, could be employees, could be neighbors that you're having tension with or whoever it may be, could be that guy or gal who pumps your gas, pours your coffee, prepares your meal. If they don't know Jesus, can you pray for them that they would come to know Jesus? And then maybe one day they come and sit next to you on a Sunday morning and celebrate the Lord.

Thank you, Lord, for friends and families, even enemies that you want to use us to reach with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray that you show us fruitfulness from this. And lastly, we just for the sake of time, we just pray for today's offering. Pray that you just move in your people's hearts. Lord, you know what your church needs, and God, we have so much going on, we have so much that's coming down the pike in the future. And Lord, we just need you to touch your people's hearts as they choose to make the decision to give of their tithes and offerings. Pray you give them good stewardship of all the resources and time that they have. I just pray, God, that you will use your people to accomplish a great kingdom work. And God, I pray that as they are generous, your word promises, "Give, and it will be given to us, pressed down, shaken together, running over." I pray this will be evident in their lives for generations to come. Lord, we love you, we thank you so much for the finished work of Jesus. Amen.

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