Rooted - Restoration and Purpose: From Failure to Founder

Welcome to South Sub Church. We are so glad that you've decided to worship with us today. Whether you're in the room right now or watching from home, wherever it is, we're just so glad that we get to spend this time together and worship the Lord together as one. Here at South Sub Church, we believe we are one church with two expressions of worship, but we have one mission to bring people to Jesus Christ and together become passionate followers of him. Another way that we worship is through our tithes and offerings. And here at Southsub Church, we believe that we give the Lord back what he gives us. And there's a couple ways that I want to invite you to do that this morning. One is giving online at southub.urch/give. Another way is by texting the number that's on the screen right now. Or there's an envelope in your seat back pocket. And here's what I want to invite you to do. No matter what gift you give, big or small, we believe that whatever we give, the Lord multiplies that and we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus here where we are right now. If you're new, we invite you to fill out a connect card. We would love to get to know you, pray for you, and find a way for you to get more connected with our church. And if you're watching us online, make sure you leave a comment wherever you are. Maybe you're going to the mountains, maybe you have a soccer game to go to. Whatever it is, we're just so glad that you've decided to join us for worship. You picked a great week to be here. Let's jump into God's word together. Let's worship him today.

Well, good morning again. Listen, if you're a guest with us here today, whether you're in the room with us or maybe you're a guest online, we are especially glad you're here. When you came in today, you might have received one of our handouts and inside there's a connection card. Listen, if you would take just a few minutes and fill that out. We promise we're not going to bug you. We're not going to spam you. All that we're looking for is your credit card information so we can get a little extra money from you. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Um, but I personally love connecting with those who are guests of our church. And so, if you'll take a few minutes and fill that out, um, I promise all I'll do is I'll text you. That way, you'll have my personal number. And if you ever have any questions about the church, um, we're here to help you with that. But as a guest, we're so glad you're here with us. Hey, question for you this morning as we begin. Have you ever had a goal or a purpose in life that didn't work out the way you thought it you it should have and the way you had planned for it to work out? We've all been there, right? Maybe it was that high school first love that you just knew that you were going to spend the rest of your life with this person, but that relationship didn't even make it through graduation your senior year. Maybe that was one of those plans that didn't work out. Or maybe a little bit more serious than that. Maybe you stood at the altar and said, "I do." to somebody and you heard those words till death do his part. But yet that under the other individual, those were just more words and actual commitment and that relationship folded. Or maybe it's your career. Maybe you had this career path that you were planning on and you knew you were going to move from this bot to this spot to this bot, but it feels like and looking back on your career, it's more like dead end after dead end after dead end. Or maybe it's not your career. Maybe it's your health. Anybody ever have a knee or a hip that didn't quite last as long as you thought it should last and you had to go again and get a replacement on that one? Or maybe it's your finances. We go down the list. We've all had these different areas in our life that just somehow we had this idea the way it's supposed to work out. We had these goals. We had this purpose of who we were supposed to be in these areas and it just didn't work out that way. All those are serious. All those are are personal. All those are real. But there's one area that becomes even more real in many people's lives and that is spiritually. There are times in our lives that we have these spiritual expectations. We have these spiritual goals. We have this purpose of who we want to become spiritually. And sometimes that even doesn't work out the way it's supposed to. Well, several weeks ago, we began a brand new study here at South Sub and it's called Rooted. And we're looking at different spiritual disciplines, different spiritual practices that we all need to have in our lives in order to have the deep rootedness, to have the fruit in our life to live forth that life that we want to. And we've been looking at different things. And last week we began an area called the purpose of our life. And we're going to do part two of finding the purpose in our life. Not just spiritually, but finding the purpose in our life in everyday life. That that thing that we all want to discover, right? But we're going to discover today as we look through the eyes and the perspective of Apostle Peter, this character that we've been using throughout this whole study to see how he handled these things. We're going to discover today that even the Apostle Peter, even one of Jesus' own called disciples, hit roadblocks when it came to his life spiritually. And so, if you have your Bible, we'll have it up on the screens. It's in the handout that you have there. But we're going to be looking at John chapter 21. And here in a few minutes, I'm going to read a few of those verses starting in verse 15. But let me catch you up to speed what's going on in the life of the Apostle Peter that leads to the words that we're about to read together. This particular account, John chapter 21, is taking place maybe about 3 to four weeks, theologians, historians believe, after Jesus's crucifixion and his resurrection. So, it's in that season, in that time frame that Peter along with the other disciples and many other of his other followers, they're a little confused. Like Jesus said he was going to begin this new kingdom and then they saw him crucified on the cross. But during these three or four weeks, there are different occasions of reportings that Jesus had not stayed on the cross and not stayed in the grave that people had actually seen the resurrected Jesus. But really confusing was the life of the disciples. These are the men that had given up their lives to follow him for three years. They thought their purpose in life, their spiritual journey was me going into the new kingdom and raising it up with Jesus the Messiah, but yet he was crucified, but they hear he's resurrected, but yet they're not seeing him all the time. So, you can imagine they're just in this state of confusion. And so in this one particular account in John chapter 21, again it's three or four weeks after the crucifixion, the Bible records that Peter and six, seven or other disciples, they're sitting around one day. They're just kind of throwing their hands up going, "We don't know what to do with our lives. I mean, we had a purpose, but this purpose seems like he's not around anymore. So we don't know what to do with our lives physically or spiritually or emotionally or any way you dissect it." They're just kind of going, "What do we do?" So the Bible says that one of them one day said, "Hey, let's just go fishing." Okay, that's what we used to do. Let's just go back to the easy thing, the mindless thing that we used to do. And the Bible says they all jumped in the boat and they went fishing. And it was not just the custom, it was the practice in those days that when you went fishing, you would fish at night. And so in John chapter 21, you can read the whole chapter this afternoon, but the Bible says this, at the end of the night, they had caught nothing. You ever felt that way before? You have no purpose in life. So you go to try to do something and it still ends up empty. That's where the disciples were. Just empty, empty, empty. And as the sun was rising and they were probably getting ready to finish their fishing trip, all of a sudden they see somebody on the far shore about a hundred yards away and he goes, "Hey guys, have you caught any fish yet?" And they all held up their empty net going, "Nothing at all." And this wise, maybe sarcastic sounding voice comes back from the sideline from the shore going,"Well, why don't you try throwing it over on the right side?" It was interesting words, but if some of them heard those words before, several years earlier when the master Jesus had called them to follow him. So, the Bible doesn't give this real detailed account, but you can imagine in that boat they're going, "That's a strange thing for anybody to say because anybody from around here knows that you finish fishing in the middle of the night. You don't fish in the morning, but yet this man is telling them throw the nets over on the side of the boat on the right side." And it sounds a little like Jesus. They're a hundred yards away, so they look and they can see him. But, you know, you really can't make out somebody specific a 100 yards away. And the Bible says they threw their nets over and they began hauling their nets in. And there were so many fish in the net. They were having a hard time pulling it up. And one of the disciples going, "Hey, forget the fish. That's Jesus." And the apostle Peter, the one that we've been studying over this time in our study of rooted, looks over and going, "Oh my goodness." Now, I'm not sure your translation says that, but my translation says that. Oh my goodness. And the Bible says this that whether than rather than waiting to get all the fish in and rowing over there, he just jumps in the water and he starts swimming the hundred yards to get to the shore. By the time he gets there, he's closer and closer and closer. He sees this Jesus and he recognizes something that Jesus must have been there for a while because he'd already built a campfire and a place to hang out. In fact, if Peter would have smelled, he would have smelt that Jesus was already cooking breakfast for them. And so the boat comes in and Peter goes over and helps him get all the fish in. And Jesus goes, "Hey, Peter, while y'all are bringing the fish in, why don't you bring a few more over here that we can add to breakfast?" So, this amazing moment happens. Peter and the other disciples with him. They go over to the resurrected Jesus. Remember, some of them had seen him a couple of times. Some of them had seen him no times, but they're walking over not to some man they had seen the day before. They're walking over to the man that every one of them had seen hung on the cross. and he goes, "Hey, sit down. Let's have some breakfast." And you think about that for a second. Isn't that an interesting interaction? I mean, like, if I see the resurrected Jesus, I'm not really signing up to go to IHOP. I mean, like, there's got to be more important things to do than just sitting around and have breakfast, right? But the resurrected Jesus going, "Hey, Peter, John, Thomas, Nathaniel, the rest of you, come on. Let's just have breakfast." And the Bible says in John 21, they sat around. There's the campfire. The fish are on the grill. They're smelling. And they just sit around and have breakfast. We don't know what they talked about. Can't be anything earthshattering. You think the Bible probably would have mentioned it. They might have just sat around going, "Oh, Jesus, it is so good to be with you. Jesus, can you tell us what's going to happen in the future? Jesus, this kingdom you talked about, is there really going to be a kingdom? Jesus. Jesus. Jesus." I'm sure there was lots of questions going on. And then they finished breakfast and Jesus had his turn for questions. Read with me. It'll be on the screen. It's in your handout there in John 21 starting in verse 15. After breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? So, can you imagine being Peter for a second? Like you're having breakfast and Jesus looks at you and says, "Jesus, Peter, do you love me more than these?" Peter, do you love me? Now, let me pause here in case you don't have your head around the whole story. I need to rewind a little bit. You need to rewind and go back to the part of story between Jesus and Peter about three or four weeks later earlier right before the the crucifixion and the resurrection. They were having another meal together. They were having the Passover meal together. It was Jesus and his disciples. Remember this one? This is what we call the Lord's table or the Lord's supper of communion. And Jesus in that one sets up communion and he begins talking and and just foreshadowing the crucifixion he was about to encounter. And Peter rises up again three or four weeks earlier going, "Jesus, I'll do anything for you. Nobody's going to hurt you. Like I will die for you, Peter." And in that conversation, Jesus looks at Peter and says, "Peter, you're going to deny me three times." Before the crows, you're going to deny me three times. Peter's going, "No way, Jesus. Like I am your a number one disciple. none of these guys know and love you and care for you and would die for you like I would. I would never deny you. And what happens during the crucifixion? Three times Peter denied Jesus. So although Peter had seen Jesus, scripture records a couple of times before this and account we're in today, we don't know what kind of conversation. So maybe this is the first real conversation that Peter and Jesus was having. And Peter or Jesus looks at Peter going, "Peter, do you love me?" Now go with me for a second. Just suppose scripture doesn't say this, but imagine what went through Peter's mind. I I wonder if he ducked his head in shame because Jesus is asking, "Do you love me?" And he knew within a few weeks before this, he had denied him. Was he embarrassed? Did he feel bad for what he did? He hadn't had a time to get with Jesus going, Jesus, you know that thing that happened three or four weeks ago, I am so so sorry. Like this is their first conversation that we know about.

And then this is how Peter responded. Yes, Lord, Peter replied, you know I love you. And then Jesus said this, then feed my sheep. Now, we know Jesus wasn't talking about actual like lambs and and rams and ooze and all the things that go with that because Jesus didn't have sheep. Who or what was he talking about? His people, his his followers. Peter, if you love me, don't just say it, but feed my people. Take care of my people. Verse 16, Jesus repeated the question. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter's probably thinking, did he lose some of his hearing during his crucifixion? Because we've already had this conversation. Yes, Lord. Peter said, you know, I love you. Then take care of my sheep, Jesus said. A third time Jesus asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And this time, look what the Bible says. Peter was hurt that Jesus asked him the question the third time. Was Jesus was Peter thinking, "Does he not believe me? Is he still hanging on the fact that I denied him three times? So, he's got to ask me three times. Do I love him?" So, so Peter's going through a little bit of hurt on this one. But Peter said, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." And then Jesus said, "Then feed my sheep." And I think from this short passage, we can learn two things about our purpose in life. Here was Peter and his purpose in life of following Jesus and going to the grave for him and fighting for him and being part of his kingdom. It seemed like it was derailed when he denied him three times. It seemed like it hit just a really pitfall when Jesus was put in the grave. But yet, here we are again, and Peter is about to rediscover and refine his purpose in life. And there's two things that Peter learned that I think you and I can learn about our own lives. Because we may not have to sit around a campfire with Jesus and he may not ask us three times, do we love him? But there are times in our lives spiritually we're going God, I am in a pitfall. I am in a detour and I am not going in the direction in life that I feel like I should. Whether spiritually or or financially or a career, you name it. We all been there, right? So here's the first thing. If you're taking notes, you can write this down. Here's the first thing. Your past does not have power over your purpose. Your past does not have power over your purpose. Here's the deal. Many times we allow yesterday to define our tomorrows. All we can do is look back on I messed up there. I should have done that. I made a mistake there. And we're so focused on our yesterdays that we allow it to define our tomorrows. But our past doesn't have power over our purpose. Here's here's the interesting thing biblically. Let's go back to the story. Three times Peter denied Jesus. Three times. I don't think it was accidental that Jesus asked him three times, "Do you love me?" And then he said three times, "Now feed my sheep." See this number three? If you look throughout scripture, it's it's really interesting thing. It's often defines in scripture. When you see the number three in any kind of narrative or story, this number three often defines and signifies there's about to be a turning point. There's some different threes you can think about. Jonah, he was swallowed by the whale in the Old Testament. How many days was he in the was he in the well? Three days. And the well spit him out. And God had some great things in store for him. The Apostle Paul or I'm sorry, the Bible says this. When the apostle Paul was met Jesus on the road, the blinding light and it blinded him for three days. Um what's the number? Three days. How many days was Jesus in the grave? Three days. So throughout scripture, you can look for this number. And three, the number three often seems to find a turning point. And here's what I think's going on in this story. Peter was about to experience a turning point. That's why Jesus asked him three times, "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" He was about to experience that defining point. Here's what Jesus was saying. Hey, Peter, I want you to know your yesterday's mistakes are not going to determine your future for tomorrow. And I'm afraid so many of us in this room are dealing with the shame of choices that we've made in the past. We're dealing with embarrassment of mistakes that we've made in the past that we allow our past to define us today. And that is not true when it comes spiritually. That no matter what you've done, come before God. God has great grace in store for you. That's the reason we can sing the song, God is good all the time. We never sing God is good until I mess up too many times. God is good all the time. Your past may shape you, but it should never steer you. Let that one sink in for a second. Your past may shape you, but it should never steer you. And that's where Peter was. That Jesus had him right there in a facetoface conversation going, "Let's acknowledge your past. You made a mistake, but it's not going to steer you to who you are in the future. And the reason so many people can't find their purpose in life, purpose spiritually, purpose financially, purpose vocationally, purpose relationally, that we're so focused on the past that we can't move towards the future.

I wish right now I gave you all a magic marker. And I know we're not supposed to write on ourselves. We get in trouble for that since we're little kids, right? We can tatter oursel up, but you can never write on yourself with a pink ink pen. But I'd have you take that marker and I'd have you write the number three on your hand. Maybe what you need to hear today is that God is at the point in your life right now. It's a turning point for you. It is forgetting the past and moving towards the future.

So the first thing about purpose is our purpose does not have power or I'm sorry our past does not have power over our purpose. Here's the second thing. The second point I want you to understand from this story that applies to our life. Your purpose in life, your purpose without people is pointless. Got a little P's going on there. Your purpose without people is pointless. You see, our purpose, no matter if we're thinking vocationally, our purpose when we think relationally, our focus, our purpose when we think financially, our focus and our purpose when we think spiritually, it should always be focused on people. And too many times this purpose that we're trying to find in life, why don't I feel content? Why don't I feel like I'm living life to the fullest? So many times our purpose is about this person and not those people. We're trying to find our happiness. We're trying to find our contentment. It's me, me, me, me, me. And there's nothing wrong with happiness. There's nothing wrong with contentment. But if we're always trying to search and find this purpose of ours and just feel like we're fulfilled and make it about me, me me, we will never find the purpose God has for our life. The purpose is always about people. And when it's not about other people, it becomes pointless. You know, I go back to the life of Peter. Do you remember when Peter discovered his real purpose in life? There was that moment that Jesus called him to follow him. That was part of the purpose. But that was only the beginning. Peter had no idea. It was just faith. He was stepping out. I believe Peter found this real purpose in life when Jesus looked at him. And we talked about it last week if you're here this past Sunday. When Jesus looked at him, he said, "Peter," whose name was really Simon at that time, he goes, "Simon, I'm gonna rename you. You got too much of your past. You got too much of you in this one. I'm going to rename you. Your name is no longer Simon. Your name is Peter." And that name Peter means the rock. And then he looked at him and said, "Peter, upon you, upon the rock, I will build my church."

He was saying, "Peter, I'm going to give you a purpose in life. And your purpose is you're going to be part of the foundation of building the church." But here's what we have to understand. When he used the term the church, Jesus wasn't talking about an organization. He wasn't talking about organized religion. He wasn't talking about trying to put all the structures and the buildings and the classes and all the things that we think of a church, right? We think of a church as the program and the classes and the buildings and that's what we think the church is. That's not the church. The church is the people. And I am thankful in my own life that 35 years ago, God called me into the ministry. God called me to build the church. But can I tell you my confession right now? Sometimes I get co so caught up in the organization that the people of the church become secondary. Couple of weeks ago, I was having one of those weeks. It was just a busy week. We've all had them at work. No matter what your occupation is, you have those weeks at work, right? And we were trying to take care of this and I was moving and talking meetings and things over here and there's a difficulty over here that I was trying to take care of and I was kind of frustrated because we hadn't got to this point where I think we should as a church and it was just consumed with the organization of South Suburch. My day and my week was full. And I come in on a Thursday morning and I get the word that one of our guests have been t coming about six months. His wife called. His name is Gary. And Gary had just found out he had cancer several weeks ago and it was a hardcore cancer. And I got the phone call that Gary was in hospice. And so Mona, many of y'all know Mona, she runs our front desk. She runs the church. Mona is it right? If you know Mona, she said, "Keith, they could probably use a visit. Can I be honest you with you? What went through my mind? Not this week. I got too much stuff to take care of. I got too many things I'm trying to do in the name of Jesus for the church." But the Holy Spirit just pushed me and said, "You need to go see Gary." And so I asked Daniel, our worship leader, to go with me. And I said, um, and Moan encouraged us. She said, 'Hey, take the guitar. Because they said that Gary just loves worship. And so here Daniel and I and his guitar, we head up to the hospice facility. And we get there and Gary was no longer conscious. His wife Elsa was there. Her sister had flown in from Spain. Elsa's from originally from Spain. And so her sister had come to be with her. They have no kids. They have no really family. It was just them two at the final days of Elsa's husband Gary's life. And we go in and we talk a while and they shared with us the day before um while Gary was still a little bit conscious he loves the worship. And they played a song and they said he couldn't even speak but he just raised his hand in worship. On this day we weren't expecting to raise his hand because he wasn't even opening his eyes. And so they say that when somebody's in the last stages of their life, while they may seem unconscious there, we don't know what they take in, but but people think they still take in a lot. And so I talked to Gary and I said, "Gary, we're just going to worship if that's okay with you." And Daniel pulls out his guitar and he begins playing and we begin singing.

There's this moment the Holy Spirit begin to creep in just inside of me and says, "Keith, this is what the church is. This is your purpose." Now, any job we have, there are things that we have to do that we don't want to do to do the things that we like to do. But he said, ' Keith, when you start focusing on the things of building the church and you lose sight of the people of the church, you've lost your purpose. And that day we sang and then Daniel because he's bilingual and knew that Elsa and her sister from Spain and they both speak Spanish and they had not met Daniel yet, didn't know his bilingual, didn't know he could speak Spanish, sing. He just starts singing worship in Spanish

and singing the heart language of these two ladies. You could just sense the spirit of God to fill this room. Even though Elsa's looking at her husband Gary and he's taking his last breath for the last few days, you could just sense the peace of God just fill this room.

And after we sang and we hugged and we wiped the tears from my eyes and we said goodbye to Gary. Daniel and I load up his guitar. We walk out to the car and all I could do is look at Daniel going, "Daniel, that's what we're called to do." You see, I tell this story and you're Keith, that must be great. You're a pastor and you're supposed to keep people in front and that's what's really important. But church, hear me on this one. that when God gives us a purpose, when God calls you to something, regardless of what your your vocation is, regardless of what your hobbies are, regardless of what your family looks like, regardless of what your finances look like, here's what I know. That our purpose, no matter what it is, and no matter who we are, should always be focused on people. Isn't that why Jesus came to this earth? He came to this earth and he did a lot of good and did this and this and this. But it was always about people. Even on the night before he was crucified, what did he do to show that it was about people? He took off his outer robe and he washed his disciples feet. That was the job of a servant. That was way below what Jesus was supposed to do when it comes to functionality of the organization. That was not his job. No, his purpose was people.

And as you and I think about our purpose, we must remember it's always should be focused on people. Doesn't mean we're not involved in tasks. It doesn't mean that we're not involved in getting things done. That's all a part of making the world go around. But if the world goes around and we never focus on people, we're just going to be spinning and spinning and spinning with no contentment in our soul. A God-given purpose is not about completing task. It's about serving people. So, as you think about your purpose, those are two just building blocks, foundational pieces that we must always remember. Now, I could like wrap up going, "We're done." You're going, "That's a short sermon. That's the best sermon you've ever preached, Keith." But there's a nagging question in many of your minds right now. You're like, "But Keith, here's the question I want to know about my purpose. What is my purpose? Like I'm tired of going to the same job day after day after day. That doesn't feel like a purpose. These relationships I'm in, the money I'm making, we're going, "So, what is my purpose? How do you figure out your purpose in life?" And there was a man in the New Testament that had the same question. In fact, he had the opportunity as he asked that question, he could ask Jesus himself. And so the Bible lets us know this gentleman walks up to Jesus one day and he asked this question about purpose and a little bit different but I think the end result he's still trying to find out the same thing. He said Jesus what's the greatest commandment. The reason I say he's asking about his purpose because the commandments is all about what you do. So he's going what's the most important thing I do which is really what is the most important thing of my purpose in my life. So he said Jesus what is my purpose in life? What is the greatest commandment? What's this thing I'm supposed to do above everything else? And the Bible says Jesus looked at him and said, "Ah, good question." He said, "You're supposed to love God with everything you have, with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all all of your strength. Just love him with everything you have." And before the man could say anything, Jesus goes, "And got one more thing for you. Love your neighbor as yourself." Because Jesus knew about purpose. He knew you couldn't do something and love God if you don't love people. Because if God is all about loving people, we can't love him without loving people. We'd miss our purpose. So it's loving God and loving people. That's your purpose. So when people ask me the question, what is my purpose in life? They're trying to say, what job am I supposed to do? I'm not even sure that's found in the purpose. Whatever God job God has you in, that's where your purpose is at that moment. Whatever your job is, are you loving God fully when you walk to walk in the office at work? And are you loving the people around you? That's where you'll find your purpose. You look at your bank account. What is my purpose with this money? Are you loving God? And are you loving people with that money? What is my purpose with my physical health? Are you loving God? And are you loving people with your physical health? That is your purpose. You see, we try to focus our purpose on our accomplishments. Purpose and accomplishments are two different things. We try to focus our purpose on our title at our job. Serious here in this one. Siri want to talk back. Did you catch that? Our purpose is about loving God and loving people. You know, years later, Peter's trying to figure this out. Years later, Peter is trying to understand this because Peter lived faithfully for Jesus years after this. And this is what he wrote in second Peter chapter 5. Make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence and knowledge and self-control and patient endurance, godliness, brotherly affection and love for everyone. Did you catch that? You do all these things, but it's love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The more we understand about God, the more we can love God. The more we love God, we realize we need to love people more. And he goes, "The more you do that, you will become more productive." You know what that sounds like to me? Purpose. The more you'll get your purpose in life. If you're taking notes, there's a big blank at the bottom of your page. Here's the way I would just simplify and make it so so easy. to find your purpose. You know, and you grow. You know God deeper and you grow in your understanding of him, which leads you to knowing your purpose, to know and to grow. And so, church, as we are looking to become more rooted, the band's going to come up here and we're going to do this last song. is we're looking to become more rooted in our spiritual journey. Rooted so we can become more fruited. It is about our purpose. And God has a purpose for each of our lives.

And we find that purpose by loving God and loving others. Will you bow your head just for a second as we wrap up today?

And I'm going to ask you just in your mind as your head's bowed right there, who is somebody you need to love more?

Because when you love them, you love God.

And when you love them and you love God, you're moving toward your purpose. And so, Father, today we come before you.

Help us to discover our purpose. Help us to understand why you created us. God, I I pray this that we would live in who you made us and that we'd live out that love that you put in us

to know you and to grow with you. And we pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.