"What We All Have in Common with Barabbas" (Mark 15:1-15) by Hiram Kemp

It's Friday. At this point, it's about six or seven o'clock in the morning.

The day has started early for Jesus because earlier that day, according to Mark 14, 43

through 50, he had been previously betrayed by a friend and taken in before the

Jewish court and accused of blasphemy and a host of other crimes. His problems

were compounded by the fact that they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law

to the high priest, according to John 18, 12 through 14, and he was condemned there

but then later taken to Caiaphas, where he was also condemned by the Sanhedrin

and ultimately sentenced to death. In the midst of this first Jewish trial,

a very close friend, Mark 14, 66 to 72, also denied having any association

with Jesus and knowing him whatsoever. And to add on top of all of that,

in the midst of his Jewish trial, he was accused of blasphemy, slapped in the face,

they plucked his beard, according to prophecy in Isaiah, and they spit on him.

Early that morning, they take him, according to Mark 15 in verse 1,

and they take him before Pilate, and they want Pilate to do for them what they can't

do as Jews, and that is to execute Jesus according to Roman law.

Pilate has questions for Jesus, of which Jesus gives him literally no information.

Mark 15 in verse 5 says that Jesus' silence astounds Pilate, and he marvels

at his silence in the midst of all of the accusations and all of the things that the

Jews say against him. But Pilate has a custom, Mark 15 in verse 6,

that he normally releases one of the Jewish prisoners to the people,

and this is Pilate's plan. Pilate can get himself off the hook,

keep his hands clean, and refuse to frustrate further the Jewish leaders by putting Jesus

next to a most notorious criminal. And in the midst of that,

it'll be obvious that Jesus is better than this man, and as a result,

he should go free. It's the perfect plan, except it isn't.

Pilate underestimates how much the Jewish people really hate Jesus,

and so he puts Jesus next to a man by the name of Barabbas.

But the people, they still, in the midst of all of this,

they cry out for Barabbas. They say, give us Barabbas.

Pilate says, what do you want me to do with the man that's called the King

of the Jews? And they say, crucify him.

Mark 15 in verse 10 says, it was simply envy.

That was the motivation for delivering him up, but evidently, envy was enough.

They say, give us Barabbas. Pilate takes Jesus, has him scourged,

and delivers him to be crucified. The man by the name of Barabbas,

we know very little about him other than his name.

All four gospel accounts mention him, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

At the end of Jesus' life, he stands in relatively close proximity

to Jesus, but their lives couldn't be farther apart as far as the spiritual

nature of both of their lives and what they were really ultimately all about.

But our life next to Barabbas couldn't possibly parallel his life any closer.

I'm not preaching this sermon this morning because I believe that we're guilty

of murder or insurrection or revolt against our government like Mark tells us

Barabbas was in Mark 15 in verse 7, but because there is a sense in which the

Holy Spirit puts this passage here for a reason, and it's to help us hopefully

to see ourselves, to see ourselves in light of Scripture and what we learn

about Barabbas, a man whose life we might be tempted to just sort of rush past in the

details of the gospels. Why does the Bible put him here?

Why does the Bible name him? Why is he in every one of the gospel

accounts? And it's so hopefully we can see ourselves in light of his life.

What the Bible tells us about Barabbas is ultimately telling us also

about ourselves. All of his problems, in a sense, are ours, and his solution is

ours as well. We learn from Barabbas that we all are in basically the same situation,

the world's trying to deceive us, and the solution that propels us all forward is

the same solution Barabbas was facing. If you have your Bible, turn to Mark 15.

If you ever think to yourself as you examine your life, you know,

I'm not nearly as bad as other people. Maybe I've got some shortcomings here

or there, but I'm not as nearly as bad as other people. I need Jesus,

I need God to button up some of the loose ends, but I'm in pretty good shape.

Then the story, the narrative of Barabbas is for you. If most people in your life,

on your job, and maybe in your family and in your social circles typically applaud

you and your behavior, and you get glowing reviews about how amazing you are,

you need to spend time studying the life of Barabbas. If you sing the gospel in song,

partake of it in supper, and even digest it in sermon, but you rarely ever move

to great emotional response and view of the fact that God did that for me,

then you, like me, need to spend time with what the Bible tells us about Barabbas.

And if you examine your life in light of all of this and you say,

I feel there's relatively little hope for me, then the story of Barabbas is for you too.

What I want to do briefly this morning is just show you three simple ways in which

our life is very similar to Barabbas, three ways or three things we all have in common

with Barabbas. Number one, we're guilty and we're condemned. Number two,

the world lies to every one of us. And then number three, Jesus takes our place.

Number one, we're guilty and condemned. Number two, the world lies to us.

And then number three, Jesus takes our place and gives us a second chance.

Here's what we all have in common with Barabbas. Number one,

we're guilty and condemned. If you look at any one of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark,

Luke, or John, you'll get this picture. But if you put them all together,

it becomes apparently clear. Matthew tells us in Matthew 27 and verse 16 that he was

a notorious prisoner. Mark tells us in Mark 15 and verse 7 that Barabbas was arrested

with the rebels in prison and he was guilty of rebellion or the insurrection.

Luke's account is similar. In Luke 23, 18, and 19, he says that Barabbas was a part

of those that rose up in instigation against the Roman government.

And then John tells us in John 18 and verse 40 that Barabbas was a robber.

All four Gospel accounts lay out his guilty charges for several reasons.

One, it was just evident, everybody knew it. But secondly, so that we get a glimpse

of just how bad this man was, he was a murderer, he was a robber,

he was guilty of rebellion against his government. It's what Paul says in

Galatians 5 and verse 19, the works of the flesh are evident, which are these?

And so it is with Barabbas. But what every one of us has in common

with Barabbas is all of us are guilty and condemned. The question is not,

can you see the sins and the shortcomings of Barabbas? Certainly you can.

The question is, can you see your own? Solomon says in Proverbs 20 and verse 9,

who can say, I've made my heart clean, I'm pure from my sin?

Isn't that always the question? The question is never how clearly and how

easily can you see the sins of others? The question is always,

how can you see your own? How clearly do you see your own and the

consequences that follow? Psalm 143 and verse 2, the psalmist says

concerning his relationship to God and really that of all of humanity,

that there is none that stands righteous before you. Romans 3, 9 through 11,

Paul says both Jews and Greeks are both confined under sin.

There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands,

none that seeks after God. All have sinned and fallen short of the

glory of God, Romans 3, 23, and the wages for those sins is death,

Romans 6 and verse 23. The first thing we all have in common

with Barabbas is we're guilty and we deserve to be condemned.

We can see it in the life of Barabbas so clearly and often in the life of others,

but we struggle to see it in our own. And so God puts him here in the narrative

of the gospel to say, I really want you to see yourself.

There's the famous story told of what took place in the early 1900s.

The London Times reached out to several prominent authors and asked them all one

question and wanted them to write in their response.

They even surveyed some religious authors, people of the Christian persuasion.

And this was the question, what's wrong with the world today?

They surveyed one man and asked him to write in a prominent author by the name

of G.K. Chesterton. He's of a Christian persuasion,

a religious man, wrote Bible commentaries and other religious literature,

and they wrote to him, G.K. Chesterton, what's wrong with the world today?

He responded in a one-sentence essay, and here was Chesterton's response.

Dear sir, I am. You see, what Chesterton saw, he had a sensitivity to his own

weakness, his own sin problem, and he knew amidst all the things going wrong

with the world, he and his own weaknesses and shortcomings was contributing to that

by the very virtue of the fact that he was a sinner.

Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 20 says, there's not a just person on the earth who always

does what's right and never sins. We can see it with Barabbas,

but the gospel was designed so that we can see it in ourselves.

Hold your hand in Mark 15 and go to Psalm 51. In Psalm 51, this is David's account

of his repentance and confession. There's probably even a superscription or a

heading in your Bible above Psalm 51 when David committed adultery with Bathsheba,

and after that, orchestrated the death of her husband Uriah.

And as David is confessing his sin, he says two things that are especially

important concerning guilt and the need for condemnation.

In Psalm 51 and verse 3, David says, I acknowledge my transgression,

and my sin is continually before me. You see, the first thing David does in Psalm

51 and verse 3 is David confesses and acknowledges his own transgression

for himself. David needs to do this because the greatest lies we tell are the

lies we tell ourselves. That's why the psalmist says in Psalm 119

and verse 29, Lord, keep me from telling myself untruths or lies.

David says, I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is always before me.

I'm guilty. But he says more. Look at verse 4.

Against you and you only have I sinned and done this wickedness in your sight,

that you might be blameless when you speak and justified when you judge.

David is saying to God, I've sinned against you in the highest way,

and whatever punishment is mine, I'm not only guilty, but I stand

to be condemned. When he says against you and you only have I sinned,

David's not saying he didn't sin against Bathsheba or Uriah or even all of Israel,

but he's saying his foremost transgression is against his God,

and whatever punishment will result will be fully deserving.

What does everybody in the world have in common with Barabbas?

We're guilty, and we stand condemned. You need to see it because in Mark 15

and in Matthew 27, you see this man, and I mean, you can't miss him.

He's soiled in his unrighteousness. He has a rap sheet longer than a CVS receipt,

and you say, I see him. I know what's wrong with him.

But what God's saying is, you've got the very same thing.

Romans 7, 21, Paul talks about his life before he became a Christian, and he says,

when I would do good, evil was always present with me.

Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body

of this death? Romans 7 and verse 24, it's important that we see where we stand.

Do you ever ride in the car with people who are always speeding,

but whenever you say to them they're speeding, they never are?

You say, hey, you're driving pretty fast, and they always say something like,

nope, I'm going with the flow of traffic, or I'm doing the speed limit,

or I'm actually doing this just to get around this traffic jam, but speeding,

no, I would never, or at least I have never, or not as much as you accuse me of it.

Same thing kind of happens with people that run red lights.

It's always, nope, I didn't, it was yellow, dark orange at best,

not red though, didn't speed through, it wasn't me.

With the advent of the radar gun after World War II and its present use today,

you know what they found? A lot of people who claim they weren't

speeding, guess what? They were speeding.

And with the traffic cameras, a lot of people go out, they check the mail,

they open up their mailbox, and you know what they find?

They find two pictures. One in a freeze frame of where they were

when the light was actually yellow, and another one of them going through the

light when the light was actually red. And you know what they find out?

You can't argue against the photography. It's there, it's in the picture.

You're wrong, it's there in black and white, you missed it.

And when Barabbas goes out to check his mail, he's not the only one that finds out,

you know what, he's crossed the line. You've got mail out there too,

and so do I. But not just once, there are these repeated

infractions as we fall short of the grace and of the glory of God.

And the Bible's holding Barabbas up to say, you're guilty and you're condemned,

not that we...so that we can have a sin party though.

The Bible wants us to know we have this in common with Barabbas so that we might be

compassionate and gracious toward other people.

God says, remember where you stood before I intervene.

And as you sing, as we've done a moment ago, about the victory in Jesus and the

grace that is ours in Christ, the only thing that's changed our status

in comparison with him is the grace of God. Paul says,

in you has he made alive who were dead in your trespasses and in your sins.

Where in times past you walked according to the course of this world,

according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that's now at work in

the sons of disobedience. He says, we all had our conversation in

this way in times past, but God who is rich in mercy because of

the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses

and sins, made us alive together with Christ.

Who's made the difference? God through Jesus Christ.

When you get frustrated with reckless people that you work with or people in

your family that aren't all that they should be or could be,

remember this reality, you're just like Barabbas.

When we watch the news and we sometimes see people do terrible things and we say

to ourselves, I don't know how they could, God's reminding us through Barabbas,

oh, yes, you do. Because you've either done the same

things or at least they're capable of as much.

Romans 2, Paul says, oh, Jewish man, you're inexcusable in that you

condemn others, don't you condemn yourself, Romans 2 and verse 1.

It's a reminder that apart from the grace of God and what he does in intervening

for us in and through the person of Jesus, we're all guilty and we stand condemned.

Here's number two. What we all have in common with Barabbas

is we've been lied to by the world. Throughout the trial, Barabbas says

The people say a lot and everything that they say about or to Barabbas is

completely false. Pilate asked them, which one do they want

released? And Pilate thinks this is going to be easy.

In Matthew's account, he poses it as a question.

Matthew 27 and verse 16, do you want me to release to you Barabbas or Jesus who's

called the King of the Jews? In Luke's account, we're told he even

tries to release Jesus. Luke 23 and verse 16, he says,

I'll punish him and deliver him back to you.

But you know what they say? They say, give us Barabbas.

John's account is emphatic. John 18, 39 through 40, they say,

not this man, but Barabbas. And though they don't say anything

to Barabbas, it's implied in their statement that we want Barabbas instead

of Jesus. The lie they're telling him is, hey,

you're actually better. You're the better choice here.

You're the right choice. You're the right selection.

But they're deceiving him. They're lying to him.

And what we have in common with Barabbas is the world tells us the very same

things. The world deceives us, and the world lies to us about our

spiritual standing and status apart from Jesus, and we need to see it clearly.

They claim that they want Barabbas, but really what they want is they want

to be rid of Jesus. They don't care if Barabbas lives.

They just want Jesus dead. This is as old as the Garden of Eden.

Eve can't see it in Genesis 3. The devil doesn't love her.

The devil, he just hates God. And so he says, has God said you may eat

of every tree that's in the garden? God knows, and the day you eat thereof,

your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God.

You'll know good and evil. It's deception.

And the world's telling us all the very same things.

There are these lies. There are these deceptions.

And Barabbas is being misled by the people. They don't love him.

They don't care about him. He's merely a means to an end for them.

How could they? How could they really want Barabbas?

At the end of the day, he's guilty of everything that they're ultimately trying

to kill Jesus for. He's rebelled against the government.

He's a murderer. He's a robber.

Their community isn't better because Barabbas is out among the people.

But you must never underestimate humanity's ability to willfully choose

things that are bad for them. No matter how much evidence you provide,

you must never underestimate humanity, including yourself, our ability to choose

things that are bad for us willingly no matter what.

I don't think they can put enough information on the outside of a little

Debbie's oatmeal pie box to stop me from eating them and buying them.

Doesn't really matter what they put. I like them, I want them, and you laugh.

But you choose foolishly all the time too. How many times in your life have you said,

you know what? Give me Barabbas. Just give me Barabbas.

The world says it'll be fun. It'll be exhilarating.

It'll be long-lasting. But it turns out to be gruesome,

short-lived, and terrible. 1 John 2, 15 through 17, John says,

love not the world, neither the things that are in it.

If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

All that's in the world. The lust of the flesh.

That means if it feels right, it must be right.

The lust of the eye, if it looks good for me, it must be good for me.

And the pride of life. How many times do we take the world up

on that and we say, this is what I want, I'm going to take it?

The world deceives us and it lies to us and it says, what you need is more stuff as we

stuff down the things that really matter. Hebrews 13, 5 and 6.

The world tells us, hey, you can have joy apart from God.

If you circumvent the gospel and you circumvent Christianity and go around it,

you can be truly happy. Even though Psalm 16 says,

in his presence, there's fullness of joy and at his right hand are the pleasures

forevermore, Psalm 16 and verse 11. We're no different than Barabbas.

The world is lying to us all the time and we're wiser and better when we see it

and when we acknowledge it and when we can go in the way of truth.

Anthony Bradley is a professor and a sociologist, but specifically in religious

areas and talking about religion and family. He released a report this week that

he found in his studies that middle-class families in America,

especially those that claim to be Christians, have made a turn recently.

He says, middle-class families that claim to be Christians are no longer cautioning

their young people, their children, their grandchildren, their nephews and nieces,

to steer away from unrighteousness because it's sinful, because it's a vice,

and because it'll destroy your soul. He says, no, the language you're most often

to hear today in families is, you shouldn't do X, Y, or Z because it'll

hurt your future. And he says, see, that language is problematic.

You've given in to the lie of the world because the greatest danger of sin is not

to your earthly future, but to your everlasting soul.

Jesus says in Matthew 10, 28, don't say, don't fear those that can destroy the

body, but after that have nothing else they can do, but instead fear the one that can

destroy both body and soul in hell. If you feed people this repeated diet,

that sin ultimately can only hurt your future, people start reasoning

to themselves, okay, so as long as I can sin silently and keep myself marketable

to the masses, then I can just still go along and do this thing.

But it's a lie from the world. The greatest danger people are facing is

to their souls, not their earthly future. But we're no different from Barabbas.

They lied to him, they lied to us. 2 Corinthians 11, 13 through 15,

Paul says, don't be surprised when the devil's messengers transform themselves

into angels of light. He's been doing this from the beginning,

and they follow in his footsteps. John 8 and verse 44 says,

the devil is a murderer and a liar from the beginning.

When he does this, he's in line with his very own nature.

And so we need to be wise. Barabbas is lied to by the world,

and we're no different. Some of you know Bernie Madoff,

once upon a time, a famous stockbroker and financial advisor.

People used to write in and beg for Madoff to oversee their financial accounts,

giving him all their money, their life savings. That wasn't until 2008,

when he was arrested by the FBI for several charges concerning securities fraud.

In 2009, he pled guilty to 11 felonies and essentially said,

everything that I told people about what I could do financially for them was a lie.

I misled them. I could do none of those things.

He's responsible for the greatest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world,

stealing over $65 billion from people. You know, people retired in confidence.

Madoff says, I'm set. I'm good to go. They gave him their life savings.

The statements look good. He would send them statements about the growth of their

investments and their accounts. There were no accounts. There was no money there.

It was false. And these people say to Barabbas, we want you to go free.

They fail to tell him, even when he leaves, he's still Barabbas.

The world sends us statements all the time. You're not a Christian.

Just stay right where you are. You're safe with God.

Don't worry about obeying the gospel. And Barabbas is being misled.

The world tells us, hey, no matter what, you just keep that sin right there where

it is. Everybody's struggling with something. Don't get radical.

Don't do anything to change, even though Hebrews 10.26 says,

if you sin willfully after you've received the knowledge of the truth,

there no longer remains any sacrifice for sin. Barabbas was lied to and deceived

by the world, and the only thing that'll extinguish that dishonesty is the truth.

Jesus says, if you continue in my word, you're my disciples, you'll know the truth,

and the truth will set you free, John 8.32. Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth, John 17.17. You desire truth in the inward part,

Psalm 51 and verse 6, but we're just like Barabbas. And the more alert we are of the

dishonesty being sold to us, the better we'll be. Here's the last one, number three.

What we all have in common with Barabbas is that Jesus takes our place.

If you have your Bible in Mark 15, notice what's said by Pilate in verse 12.

He says, after the chief priest instigates this in verse 10 and says,

hey, make sure that you hand over Barabbas instead, verses 10 and 11.

The chief priest gets the whole crowd to go along with this. Pilate says,

and what do you want me to do with the one that's called the King of the Jews?

And they cry out, crucify him. Pilate says, why? What evil has he done?

They won't even answer the question. They say it again, crucify him.

Verse 15 says, so he had Jesus scourged and delivered him over to be crucified.

Here's what we know. On Golgotha, there were three crosses.

Two thieves were going to be crucified that day, and the man by the name of Barabbas

was guilty against Rome for insurrection, murder, and robbery.

The other cross was most assuredly his. But Jesus takes his place.

Luke 23 and verse 25 says, Jesus was crucified instead of Barabbas.

What he literally did for Barabbas, though, he's done for every one of us.

Jesus takes his place, undeserving of his punishment, and steps in.

So Barabbas doesn't have to take that cross, and neither do we.

What everybody in the world has in common with Barabbas is that Jesus stands

in their place and takes the death that ultimately should be theirs.

Imagine Barabbas. Historians tell us that Barabbas was stationed at Antonia Fortress,

which is about some 2,000 feet, maybe a half a mile away from where Pilate is.

John 19 and verse 13 says, Pilate spoke to the people from the pavement at Gabbatha.

He probably couldn't hear Pilate over this loud, raging mob as Pilate says,

which one of these do you want me to release?

But he heard the roaring crowd as they cried out, Barabbas.

And then he probably couldn't hear Pilate from almost a half a mile away as Pilate

says to him, and what do you want me to do with Jesus?

Crucify him.

So far as we know, the only thing Barabbas heard was his name, Barabbas,

followed shortly after that with, crucify him.

And that's what he would be expecting.

He woke up that morning assured that he was going to meet his earthly demise.

When the soldiers come to his prison, his ward, when they meet him in his cell,

and they start opening the door, surely Barabbas is convinced he's on his way

to death, but ultimately, he's on his way to freedom.

Jesus is literally in his place.

2 Corinthians 5.21 says, he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin,

that you might become the righteousness of God in him.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich,

yet for your sake, he became poor, that you, through his poverty,

might be made rich.

If anybody knew on this day, I'm supposed to be dead, but this man

took my place, it had to be Barabbas.

Jesus took his place, and Jesus has done that for every one of us.

The cross doesn't just drip with blood, it drips with irony.

Jesus, the great judge, is held up and judged by the people, John 5.22-24.

The great high priest, Jesus of Nazareth, Hebrews 4.14, is brought before a crooked

high priest who won't stand in his place and appeal for his innocence.

Jesus, the great king of the world, is rejected, king of kings and lord

of lords, for Caesar is king, and Jesus, the innocent, holy,

and harmless son of God, is rejected so that a prisoner can go free.

Project Innocence was started in 1992 by two lawyers, and their goal is to use DNA

evidence to exonerate people who've been sentenced to sometimes decades,

and on other occasions, lifetimes in prison.

And to fix or to remedy what they see as inconsistencies in our justice system.

To date, they've overturned 250 convictions through DNA.

People that were on their way to losing their entire lives, in many cases,

already forfeited many years, and these individuals introduced this

evidence to say, you've got the wrong guy.

As Jesus stands there before Pilate, there is no Project Innocence.

The just for the unjust, 1 Peter 3 and verse 18, Jesus dies for Barabbas,

but you've got to see it.

He does the very same thing for you.

Imagine Barabbas getting let back out into the community, and he runs

into people and they, hey, what are you doing here?

We didn't expect to see you.

There are three people being executed today.

You know you're guilty, and Barabbas probably can't even put it into words.

All Barabbas knows is, I thought I was on my way to die, and they took this other

man instead of me.

And when you get to heaven, and the angels are there, and all the great faithful,

with your track record being what we talked about earlier in this lesson,

and somebody says, what are you doing here?

You violated commands.

You were on your way to die.

Your answer will be much like Barabbas, and so will mine.

I was supposed to die, but pointing at Jesus, we'll say,

they took him instead of me.

On the day when his name should have been called, it wasn't.

So on the other day, the final day, when only his name should be called,

yours would be, and so would mine.

Ephesians 1 and verse 7 says, in him we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Barabbas' name means son of the father, and he was received.

So the ultimate son of the father could be rejected, and we could have

everlasting life.

Why is Barabbas in the Bible?

Because it brings the whole Bible full circle.

In Barabbas, you see what the whole Bible is pointing to all the time.

It's Genesis 22.

Abraham, let Isaac go free.

Take the ram and the thicket instead.

It's the Passover of Exodus 12.

Not the firstborn son, but the blood of the lamb instead.

It's Leviticus 16, two goats every year placed before Israel.

One is led off into the wilderness, another crucified for the sins

of the people.

It's what the prophets were preaching in Isaiah 53.

We, like sheep, have all gone astray, but the iniquities of Jesus,

our iniquities fall on him.

The story of Barabbas is the Bible in miniature, as God says,

the guilty go free, and the innocent is condemned in order to save us.

You look at his life and you think to yourself, whatever became of Barabbas?

The Bible doesn't tell us.

You'd like to think he changed his whole life, and from this moment,

he was never the same.

Maybe he went back to a life of crime.

Maybe he left and did something altogether different.

You know, the people at the foot of the cross, they don't get it,

but Barabbas had to.

I deserve to be condemned, but this man died in my place.

But the Bible doesn't tell us what happened with him, and I think that's

because God is always letting us write our own story at the end.

God's saying to you and to me, you know, the same thing could happen to you.

You could hear this message and say to yourself, he did all that for me,

but walk out of here and go back to living exactly the way you did before.

You could hear it and go out and do something altogether different,

or you could hear it and you could see it and know he's on a cross that should be

mine and say, I'm going to give this man my whole life.

It's ultimately up to us.

We're just like Barabbas.

Every one of us, we get to choose.

If you're a Christian, you know, refuse to allow yourself to mumble

through the songs and go through the supper and just think,

this is how it's always been.

Remind yourself of where you stood and where you stand now because

of Jesus Christ.

And if you're not a Christian, appreciate where you stand and

refuse to stand still.

Draw near to God because only in him is the guilt taken away, Isaiah 6 and verse 7.

You want to be able to say on the last day, what are you doing here?

I don't deserve to be.

But one day, there were two men, and God took him instead of me.

David's going to lead us in a song to encourage us.

If you believe that Jesus is the son of God and you're ready to turn away

from your sins, confess Jesus as the son of God before this audience.

We'd be happy to immerse you in water for the forgiveness of your sins.

You'll rise to walk in newness of life.

And everything Jesus did back then will be true of you.

You'll hear your name called, not in condemnation, but ultimately

in justification and forgiveness.

If you've already done that, we can pray with you and pray for you.

If you're struggling with sin, we'd love to help you do that.

If you need to respond, come now as together we stand and as we sing.