Our Spiritual Life

Well, good morning. Listen, I want you to pretend for just a second. And for some of you, the pretending that I'm going to have you do may bring back um PTSD. I want you to pretend that you still have teenagers in your house. Okay? Um for some of you that have teenagers now, so sorry you're living in real life. But here's what I want you to pretend as we think about this. I want you to pretend that you have a 15-year-old son in your house. He's a good kid. He's making good grades. He's got a part-time job, so you're not complaining about who he is. But he's hitting that age where his driver's license is just around the corner. And so he has been working really hard. In fact, you'd made a deal with him a couple years earlier. Whatever money he makes, you would match that money so we could maybe buy him some kind of used car when he turns 16 years old. And he's a good kid. I mean, he's really been working part-time jobs. Um, he helps around the house. He's just a good good kid. And so, it gets about three months before his 16th birthday. And he comes to you one day and says, "Mom, Dad, I need to talk with you. I've got a problem." And your mind starts racing. What in the world? What is the problem? what has he gotten himself into? And you sit down going, "Well, what is this, son?" And he goes, "You know, I've been working really hard to save for this car." And he goes, "I'm not going to make it." He said, "The price of cars today, Dad. You know how that is. And I'm just I don't care. I could work another five years. I don't think I can ever buy a car." And you can see and feel the disappointment in him. He's worked so so hard. and you have watched him and he's looking you with this great disappointment going, "Dad, I will never ever be able to make it." At that moment, you knew that you couldn't say anything because you and your wife need to talk or your husband and wife need to talk afterwards. And so, you're like, "Okay, son. Thanks for just for letting us know where you are." Over the next couple of months, um, husband and wife talk and you have the conversation amongst yourself, what if we just bought him a car? like he's been trying really hard to got get this used car, but what if you just what if you even surprised him because he is a good kid and you just gave him a brand new car. And so husband and wife, you and your spouse made the decision you're going to surprise him on his 16th birthday with this brand new vehicle that he thinks he's getting nothing. Even when he thought he was getting something, it was going to be a used vehicle and you're going to present him this brand new car. And so the 16th birthday rolls around. He wakes up and you're going, "Hey, let's walk outside for a second." And out sitting in the driveway is a brand new Toyota 4Erunner, Matt Gray. And he walks out there and you're going, "Son, happy birthday." And a big smile comes on his face and he's like, "Mom, dad." And then he turns to you and says, "But I wanted red."

Sorry, I just put a damper on the whole morning, didn't I? Okay. Like some of that. He's like, "I I wanted red." Would you look at these wheels on this car on this this vehicle? Like I wanted the good ones. These are like factory-made wheels and tires. And all of a sudden, this gift that you presented him with, this this amazing gift that he never expected. All of a sudden, he has, can I use the word entitlement that came about him? Just disappointment on your part. Disappoint disappointment on his part. But it was all because he felt he was entitled to something that you gave him. like he couldn't have earned to get this gift. You gave it to him and there's this attitude. You're just like, "Can I just stuff you in the trunk of this car and I'm gonna return it and you all in the same trip and we'll make this really, really easy." Um, but you're thinking, you know, he'll kind of get over it. He was just, he was expecting something, but it's something different. And so, a couple of days later, as he's driving his new vehicles, vehicle around, not liking the color of it, of course, and not liking the wheels, you're like, "Hey, can you run to the grocery store and get me something and we need some milk and some bread?" and he looks at and you go, "No, I don't think so." And you wanted to say, "I just bought you a car." But you didn't want to attach the milk and the bread and the grocery store run to the gift you gave. But yet, you're thinking, "I just gave you a car." Now, again, I'm not trying to create PTSD. We're not offering counseling afterwards for some of you parents that are still in these years. But, but wouldn't there be a disappointment as you as a parent? Well, we just began two weeks ago a brand new series that we'll do the whole summer over the book of Ephesians. And we're learning in the book of Ephesians that one of Paul's major goals as he's writing to the church of Ephesus, but also writing to us, he wants to help us understand the gift that God gave us. In fact, the first week as we looked at those first few verses in chapter one, here's what we learned that the gift that God gave us in his relation in Jesus Christ and having a relationship with him is that we're chosen. That we did nothing to get on his team. That Jesus chose us to be on his team. We've also learned there in that chapter one that God redeemed us. that there was nothing we could have offered to get our salvation. There's nothing we could have done to merit our relationship with Jesus. But Jesus and God just said, "No, no, I'll just take you as you are. I've chosen you and I will pay the price to get you." And God has given us this amazing gift called a relationship with his son, Jesus Christ. And as Paul is writing in this book of Ephesians, this letter to the church of Ephesus, here's what we're recognizing. That he then takes a turn in chapter 2, and he says, "This great gift that I'm giving you, he has a fear that we might become entitled." Like we shook our head and can't believe some 16-year-old would do that without a car. But as Paul is writing to both the church two 2,000 years ago, but our church today, he has this fear that God has given us such an amazing gift in relationship with Jesus to invite us to be on team Jesus that there could be this tendency on our part that once we receive this gift that we almost take this attitude and this idea that we are entitled to get it. And so we're going to be looking this morning at a few verses I personally believe may be the most profound important verses in all of scripture. And it's Paul taking 10 verses and he outlines for us really why we should never fall into the trap of becoming entitled in our view of our salvation. If you've been a Christian, if you've been a Christ follower your whole life, this may be the most important sermon you've heard in a long time. Because I've learned from experience in working and dealing and ministering to Christians, but also look in the mirror as me, a follower of Christ, that there truly is this tendency that sometimes we never say it, but it's like we wake up going, "God, aren't you happy? Aren't you glad to have me on your team?" That we've kind of figured out this Christian lifestyle. We've kind of figured out the things that God wants us to do, and we look in the mirror going, "Man, God is really lucky to have me." And we forget that us being on his team had nothing to do with us. that had everything to do with him. And so this scripture that we're going to look at today, if you're already a Christ follower, it may be one of the most important sermons you've heard in a long time because it may be an opportunity for you to look in the mirror and really see yourself and for me to see myself as God truly sees us. Or maybe you're here today and maybe you're not a Christ follower. Maybe you've come to church today with somebody. Or maybe you've come for some time and rather than being on team Jesus, you might qualify and say you're on team religion, team church. You show up and and you're listening and you're taking notes and you're thinking, but you've never just said, "Jesus, I give my faith. I give my trust to you." And you've never stepped on to being on the faith and the team of team Jesus. And the words that Paul will speak and write to us today, if you're not a follower of Jesus, may be the most profound thoughts you've ever heard because he will make it so clear to us exactly what God offers us in his son, Jesus Christ. In fact, I believe what I'm going to share today is so important for every single one of us. I had fear all week long that you might miss some of it because I know what happens on a Sunday morning. The pastor gets up there and the first five minutes you're listening to hope he says a good joke or says something funny to get your attention and then once I start getting into the scripture you're listening but for so many times it's kind of like Charlie Brown teacher wah wah wah wah wah wah wah and you start tuning out and you're making grocery list you're thinking what's up for the rest of the day and I realize this that so many times in the 25 minutes 35 minutes that I try to fill on a Sunday morning that you may only catch 10 or 15 minutes of it. And so all week long I'm thinking this may be the most important passage, most important sermon that any of us ever hear. And I'm afraid that if you miss some of it, you will miss it. And so here's what I've done to make it really easy for you. I boiled it down to three twoword phrases that if you can get these three two-word phrases and they can stick into your mind, you've got the meat of the most important passage that I believe that I can find in all of scripture. And let me just introduce those three two-word phrases to you. They are. You were but God. So now you were but God. So now. Can you get those? In fact, on the count of three, just say them with me. Okay. One, two, three. You were but God, so now. Okay. I I just got to tell you this. Sometimes you're just boring, church. Okay. Like several weeks ago, we had vacation Bible school. I was in charge of the the section they call sticky scripture. And so every morning for a 30 minute section, four times a day, kids would rotate to my little area. And I was supposed to teach them the memory verse. And they would come in all excited and they were happy and they were excited. And so I would teach them things to repeat just like you. You guys repeat it back. And they just had a lot more energy to them. They they had a lot more excitement to them. Okay? So let's just be honest with each other. Could you just turn the person next to you and going, "You're boring." Okay? Just let them know you you you need a little bit of life here. Okay. So, let's try those those those three two-word phrases again. You ready? One, two, three. You were but God, so now. Wow. You may actually be invited to vacation Bible school next year. You guys keep doing, you know, vacation Bible school. We did this really fun thing and I I'm I'm going to try today and and this may be the point you all just walk out, but we would learn the scripture in different voices. Okay? Cuz I was like, it's got to stick. Okay? If they got nothing out of vacation Bible school, if God's word stuck inside of them, even if they didn't use it all right, then I know this, it will come back at the right time. And so I would give them different voices to repeat the memory verses. Can you be childlike enough to use different voices today? Can you? Okay, three of you. Thank you. The three of you that are going to participate at this point in the sermon, thank you so much. Okay, so let's try this. Okay, let's just have fun with it. On the count of three, we'll say the three phrase phrases again. And the first time I just simply want you to say it in a soft whisper voice. Ready? One, two, three. You were but God, so now. Okay. On the count of three, I want you to say it in your big booming voice. Okay. One, two, three. You were but God, so now. Okay, ladies, I just want you to try. Let's see out of competition here. On the count of three, ladies, you say it. One, two, three. You were but God. So now men. One, two, three. You were but God. So now. Now. Let's swap voices. Men, you're going to say in a lady's voice. Are you ready? One, two, three. You. Okay. All right. We won't go that far today. Okay. We We'll let you go. But you get it. Okay. You were but God. So now. And if you can walk out of here, church, and you can remember those three two-word phrases, and it drills inside of your head, it drills inside of your heart, it sticks into everything you are, you will understand everything that God was trying to do through and in us of Jesus Christ. And I believe this that when we really not just get it, but when we get it, this this this danger of becoming entitled as a follower of Jesus will be minimized. So if you've got your Bibles, look with me. We'll have it on the screen. It's in your handout there, but I'll be reading in Ephesians 10 verse 1-10. And here's what the Apostle Paul wrote. Remember, it's just a letter. He was writing it to the le the church of Ephesus, but it's a letter as relevant to us today. And he says this, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind." Verse four, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and you've been raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So let me break down that passage and our three phrases. Here's the first thing. If you're taking notes in your handout, you were and you can fill in fill in the blank. Spiritually dead. You were spiritually dead. Now, I just read it to you in the um ESV, but let me read that same verse to you or one of the verses, verse one in the in the New Living Translation, and it says this. Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You know, Paul uses word you were dead. That's pretty harsh, right? Like, couldn't he just softened it up a little bit? I mean, he's writing a letter and he wants people to read it and he wants people to like him. And here 2,000 years later, we might be kind of offended by Paul looking at us going, "You were dead." I mean, couldn't he said like, "Maybe you sort of kind of missed the mark." Or could he said, "You really didn't measure up as well as you could have." I mean, wouldn't it have been a lot more digestible for us if he would have softened what he said and not made it so harsh as to say, "You were dead." But Paul was specific and there's a reason why he said we were dead. The reason he describes us as that we are spiritually dead is because we are spiritually dead without Jesus. You know, one of the things I love right now, this time of the year, is walking around the neighborhood and all the beautiful flowers. I mean, you know, here at the end of May, people got out there and spent hundreds of dollars for every yard, and they're putting all the brand new flowers out there, and they're absolutely beautiful. And so, for the next couple of months, Denise and I will take walks in our neighborhood, and we will admire all these beautiful flowers. But we've been in Colorado for two years, and here's what we've learned. Come about December, they're not so beautiful, are they? The beautiful yellow flowers are no longer no longer yellow. You don't see the reds. You don't see the purple because the flowers will be what? Dead. Okay. There will be no life in those flowers and they will lay there. And I could walk over to those flowers going, "Oh, I loved it back in the summer when you were pretty. Can you can you please pretty pretty can you kind of show some color?" And guess what those flowers will do? They'll lay there and never move. Like I could pray every night. Oh, I hope those flowers show some color tomorrow. Hope they kind of stand back up and show the beauty they did this summer. But guess what? Those flowers are dead. And what Paul is trying to illustrate here is you and I, we were dead in our trespasses. We were dead in our sins. He wanted the audience both the Ephesians back then and us today. He wanted us to completely understand the situation that we find ourselves in without Jesus Christ, spiritually dead. In fact, he goes on to say this. He describes why we were dead and we were dead because we are sinners. The Greek definition that you can take sin back to the Greek word, it really means missed the mark. Think of an archer that's pulling back the bow and arrow and he's shooting the arrow and he has a mark and it's the bullseye of that target. And anything outside the target would be missing the mark. And God looked at you and I and said, "Here's the deal. You've got to live your life perfectly and you've got to live your life and hit the center of that bullseye." But here's what the Bible lets us know that all of us miss the mark. We've all sinned. And next, Paul says this, "Because of your sin, here's what happens. We have the wrath of God. Now that sounds so like whoa old church wrath of God. You know what the wrath of God means for us is that we are separated from God because God is perfect and we are not. When we miss the mark, it causes him going, I I love you, but I can't be with you. And he has to separate. His wrath of sin causes us forces us to be separated from him. And as Paul is writing this, he is wanting to understand and get us to understand just the consequences and the results and who we are because of our spiritual death. And listen to me. I said this the most profound passage personally that I have ever read. Here's why this is so important. If you and I don't recognize who and what we are apart from God, if we don't recognize that we're sinners, if we don't recognize that we are spiritually dead without Jesus, listen to me. You can never be saved. I'm going to say it again. If we don't recognize, if you don't recognize that you are spiritually dead without Jesus Christ, then you can never receive the grace and mercy of God that he offers you. Well, Keith, that's kind of harsh, isn't it? No, it's truth. Because here's why. If I don't recognize that I'm spiritually dead without Jesus, then I will work on my own trying to get to Jesus. Like, if I have a little bit of life in me, like, well, let me do try a little bit harder. Let me do this a little bit more. Let me go to church a little bit more. and I will spend all my life, which many people do, trying to measure up and please God because they don't recognize and realize and admit that they are dead without God. So they work to try to tame and get to God. We are dead. That's the reason I say that first phrase is you were you were I was we were spiritually dead. But that sounds like a pretty depressing sermon. Like why would you want to go to church when you hear that? I thought we come to church to be encouraged. I thought we come to church to feel better about life. Absolutely. If I stopped the sermon right there and amen and we went home, it would be a horrible place to be today, wouldn't it? It would be a horrible phrase to to to learn you were spiritually dead. But Paul didn't stop his writing there because the next thing he teaches us, the second phrase is this. You were spiritually dead, but God saved you by his grace. But God, if you're filling in blanks, second phrase, but God saved you by his grace. Verse four, going back again to the New Living Translation, here's how it translates in this particular Bible. But God is so rich in his mercy and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, we were, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. And it is only by God's grace that you have been saved. As I was doing my study this week, one great theologian said it this way. This verse highlights divine intervention. Let me say it again. He said, "This verse highlights divine intervention." You're going, "Hey, preacher, can you bring that on down to our level? You you might like to read the commentaries during the week, but you're using big words there. Can you explain to me what that means?" Absolutely. Let me translate that into everyday language. You didn't do squat. Okay. Would you look at your neighbor going, "You didn't do squat." We're not talking about the housework yesterday. Okay. We're talking about spiritual stuff going on. Yeah. Here here's here's what the Apostle Paul is saying that we were spiritually dead and we didn't do squat because what did God do? He stepped into the picture but God. You were but God. Again, how could we do anything? If you're dead, you're dead. If you're dead, you don't do the chores around the house. If you're dead, you don't get up and change clothes. If you're dead, fill in the blank or whatever. When a person is dead, there's nothing they can do. But God steps into the picture. And you know why he did it? Why would God pour out his wrath on us? Why would God get so angry with us? Why would God have to get to the point going, "You're a sinner and I'm not." And separate himself from us all because of what we chose to do. We chose to sin. Why would God look down a perfect holy God look down on an unper imperfect unholy people and want to do anything for them? Because those few verses tells us he did it because he loved us so much. In the beginning of time, God's plan was to have a relationship with us. Adam, go all the way back to Genesis. Go all the way back to the very beginning of the garden. His plan was to have a relationship with us. Not a force relationship where we're robots and we have to do what he tells us to do, but a relationship that we choose also to have a relationship with him. But when we miss the mark, it's because we chose to miss the mark. The mark didn't miss us. We missed the mark. And therefore, his wrath, his consequences, we were separated. But he looked down and said, "But I still got a game plan. I still have my original intentions. My original intentions was not to create robots. It was to create friendships." And the Bible says this, "And he loved us." But God. Why did God step into a bunch of stinky dead people? Because he loved us that much. But God. Here's the part you got to understand. This is where the entitlement will creep in. If we see who we were, we become followers of Jesus and we begin to change our life, but we forget the but God. That's where entitlement steps in. That's what happened to the 16-year-old boy with the car. He couldn't afford the car. Mom and dad gave him the car. Then he starts living his life like he deserved the car. And aren't his parents happy to have him and the car? and he forgets the butt parents. Are you with me? An entitlement seeped into his life and took him away from seeing clearly the situation. When we leave out of our phrases the but God, when we forget that we were dead until he stepped in and gave us life through Jesus, entitlement hits our soul. And you know what? The worst place that you see entitlement in Christians is the church. Because all of a sudden, we become entitled of who we are. We become entitled and our preferences take over. Our preferences on how we like things, our preferences on how we do things, our preferences on how things should be. And we put us in front of him because we forget. but God. And then we take our preferences, we take our Christianity, and we walk out into the world and we walk around like prideful people that are looking down at those who don't know Jesus going, "If you're only like me, you wouldn't be that way." Only like me. The only reason me is the way I am is because But God stepped in. If God hadn't stepped into my life, if God hadn't stepped into your life, we couldn't even walk into the world and puff our chest up because we had been dead. And dead people don't walk. But God, as Paul's writing these passages, he really clearly in verse 8 and N reminds us this. He says this in verse 89, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of the works so that no one may boast. That parent that gives that that that son, that that child, that car, it is not of your works. It is a gift that we give it to you. And you need to respond and address that gift because you did nothing to get it. You couldn't have paid for it. And that's what Paul is saying here. Our salvation, there's nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

It was a gift that you and I can never boast one bit because it was a gift and a gift alone. But Paul doesn't stop there. He said there's three phrases of two words. You you've got the first one. You were but God. And then here's the last one. So now so now do the good things he planned for you. So now do the good things that he planned for you. Look at verse 10 with me again in the new in the um New Living Translation. It says this, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." If you've got your your take home your your Ephesians book that many of you bought that were taking notes in or you're taking notes in your handout, circle that word masterpiece. We have gone from being dead to a masterpiece. There's a story about a a guy was was renovating a house. He bought an old house and he was just going to completely renovate the inside. I mean, it was dated. Had the the pink tile and the pink bathroom and then the the green tile and and blue tile in the kitchen. It was just ugly. It was an eyesore. And so before he said started the demolition, he brought his dad over. His dad was this this artist. And he said, "Dad, would you look at this? Now, when I finish, it's going to look good, but I got to tear all this stuff out. And so, um, over the next couple of weeks, he just started knocking out the tile and knocking out while the the the walls. And he brought his dad over to see all the demolition of everything, just the mess of everything. Says his dad, the artist, starts walking through this shambles of a house. He reached down and picks up some ugly pink tile. And then he goes in the kitchen and picks up some of the ugly tile that have been taken off the backsplash and and some of the countertop and just starts picking up pieces of stuff that's going to be thrown out to the dumpster. And his son said, "Dad, that's just trash. Don't don't Why are you picking that up? I've got guys that's going to put that in the dumpster." And his dad looked at him and said, "Doesn't look like trash to me. Doesn't look like broken pieces that are not worth anything to me." and he keeps picking up the different pieces of of things that are being demolished, things that everyone else was going to throw away. And he took it home. Son keeps working on the house to redo the house. House is finished and invited the dad over for a housewarming just a big party. And the dad brought over this big wrapped up package. He brought it in. You could tell it was some kind of picture or something. And he handed to his son. and his son unwrapped it. The father, the creator, the artist had taken all the broken pieces of tile and made this amazing, beautiful mosaic picture and it said, "Welcome home." What people saw as trash and brokenness, the creator saw as a masterpiece.

Some of you in here going, "Yeah, I might have been dead, but but but God came in, but but I'm too broken. God could never use me." God sees the brokenness in us and that's what he makes his masterpiece out of. When when we think we're not broken, we're like, "God, here I am. Use me." He's like, "I can't use you." But we come to him in our brokenness and our hurting and our hurts. and just life as it is and says God, he takes that and he makes you into a masterpiece. And look what he uses the masterpiece for. He makes the masterpiece so we and you and I were created so we can do do good things. We were created to do good things. God not only saved you from something, but he saved you for something. That's not in your notes, but it's worth writing down if you're taking notes. God not only saved you from something, from spiritual death, from his wrath. He not only saved you from something, but he saved you for something. Salvation is a gift. But God has expectations for us to do something with that gift. That's the reason that third phrase so now

you were but God. So now you see salvation is not offered us saying woo I got my my life insurance. I got eternal life insurance. I just hang on to this thing till I die and I get to go to heaven. No. God saved you because he saved you to begin your life today doing good works. You're saying Keith what are those good works? You get to fill in the blank with whatever those good works are. This morning I I come early and I sat over there and I was thinking through this sermon and God laid on my heart my high school basketball coach. He coached a bunch of boys in basketball, but more than that, he helped me young young boys become men.

And he instilled in me a confidence. He instilled in me and a belief in God. And he was one of several people that God put into my life. And I had to text my high school basketball coach today going, "Today I get to preach because of you." I said, ' God created you for good works. Thank you that you're about those good works because what if my high school coach from many years ago would have lived his life in such a way that he didn't invest in boys. Maybe he taught the X's and O's and offenses and defenses, but he never invested us as young men to teach us there's more than life than just basketball. And he would never been about his good works. Maybe, just maybe, I might not be standing here today, but God created him for good works, and he was about those good works. I I think about other people here at this church. I think about a group of ladies that we call our diaper diaper divas. It's a group of ladies that do a Bible study every week and then part of their Bible study they will take time and we're a collection point for people that bring diapers from all over the community and then we help distribute them through little um through through one of our organizations ministries here. But the diaper divas, they put those diapers together, they make packages, they put the wet wipes, and they are the hands and feet of Jesus that needy families from around the whole community can feel the love of Jesus by the gift of diapers. I I think about Kyle Catalano. He's our production director. Works here at the church full-time. Many of you may never even know who he is because he's never here on the stage, but he's in the background back there and he's pushing knobs and turning things and he's making things right and doing all this stuff. If you're watching us online right now, you're watching it because of Kyle Catalano and the volunteers that he leads. And I'm going, he's the hands and feet of Jesus. God created him for good works and he's about those good works. I think of Lori Marryman. She's not in this service. There's always an empty chair sitting right here. If you come to the 11 o'clock service, we couple have a couple of men here that are hearing impaired. And every single Sunday Sunday, she sits there and she interprets for these men that they can hear the same thing you're hearing right now. They just hear it through the motions in her hands, not the voice of my mouth. And if it wasn't for Lori, these two men would sit in here at the 11 o'clock service and hear nothing. So she's more than the hands and feet of Jesus. She's the voice of Jesus.

You were but God. So now and the question for us if you're a follower of Jesus so now what are you doing as the good works of the masterpiece of you that he created I'm going to ask the band to come up here we're going to wrap up today oftent times when I preach I ask the questions I'm preparing my sermon what's the response like it's one thing to get you stirred up it's something to get something to stick in your mind or your heart. But but what do we leave here doing? If you're a follower of Jesus, here's your response.

Have an attitude of gratitude, not an attitude of entitlement. Whether you've been following Jesus for one year or 50 years, to go back and remember the middle phrase, but God. But God and to let your heart flow with gratitude because of the good work that he wants you to do is because of the but God in you. He offered you the free gift of salvation. Now maybe you're here and and and you've never we've used this term during this series. You've never stepped on to team Jesus. You're more about religion. But Jesus is a relationship. And so maybe you're here today and you get the stories and you're coming, you're sitting in the seat, but you've never just said, "God, here's my life." What's your response today? Is simply believe. You were but God. In fact, there's a verse. It's Ephesians um chapter 1 that we've read already, verse 13. And it says, "In him, you also when you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit." So, if you've never accepted Jesus, if you've never stepped onto King Jesus, you simply just have to believe and just say, "Jesus, I believe. I don't understand all of it, but I believe you're the son of God and you died for my sins. In fact, I'm gonna do something today that I've only done once or twice here. If you're here today and you're going, Keith, I get it today. I was, but God, I get it. And today, I believe. Here's my phone number. We're going to put up on the screen. When you leave here today, would you just text me and say, "Keith, this is so and so. Today for the first time I believed and I'd love to connect with you and talk more about that with you. So follower of Jesus an attitude of gratitude not an attitude of entitlement entitlement stepping into team Jesus just simply I believe. So father thank you for your word God. May it stick in our heads. may stick in our hearts.

And Jesus, thank you for your just dying on the cross for our sins. And we pray this in your name. Amen.