The True Groom

Good morning. Happy New Year. Good to be here with you today. If you don't know me, my name is Eric.

I'm one of the guys here on staff at Watermark Church, and it's great to see all of you in this year of the dog.

I want to start out today with a story. It's not an amazing story. It's actually a pretty boring story,

but there's a reason I'm going to tell you this story.

It was a little over a year ago. I was at a wedding banquet here in Hong Kong.

The party was going well, and the groom walks up to me, and he says,

Hey, Eric, I need your help. We're running out of wine.

So I called all the waiters together, and I said,

Hey, we need you to fill up some buckets with water, and then we're going to do something really special.

It's not what I did. I grabbed a friend.

We ran across the street to the grocery store.

We picked up 24 more bottles of wine, got some boxes to carry them back, put it on my credit card,

came back, and the party kept going. Very unspectacular.

But I tell you that story to introduce the story of Jesus today,

because I think sometimes we can miss how unspectacular the setting of this story is.

It's a wedding. The fate of the universe does not really hang in the balance in this moment,

and yet Jesus steps in and does something super incredible in this moment,

and I want us to catch that today.

So like Kevin said, the past few weeks we've been looking at who is this man.

We've been looking at Jesus.

We've seen that he is the one who gives the second birth,

the birth in the Spirit, and offers us life.

We've seen that he is a healer who offers us a new way to live.

And today, we're going to see that he offers us more than anything and anyone else.

That he offers us satisfaction that our souls crave for.

That he is the Lord who wants to give us the abundant life in all of life,

from the trivial moments to the most important ones.

And to get there, we're going to see a problem, a solution, and a challenging truth.

But before we jump in, let's pray.

Father, we thank you for today, for this time together to look at your word, to learn about you.

We pray that as we come together today, that we would see Jesus,

that we would see his beauty, and that we would fall in love with you,

and recognize you as the one who truly satisfies,

who truly gives us what our souls are longing for.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So this passage starts out with a problem.

A little context.

In the book of John, John has just finished introducing Jesus,

telling us a little about who he is.

Jesus has called his first five disciples,

and he is now back near the area where he grew up.

And he goes to a wedding, and he gets to bring his disciples with him to this wedding.

He gets a plus five or so, which I think is pretty special.

I've never gotten a plus five at a wedding.

And a little background on the context of this wedding,

because in verse three, John says something that sounds pretty everyday,

when the wine ran out.

It sounds pretty trivial, pretty commonplace.

To help us understand the significance of this comment,

I think we need a little more background on Jewish weddings 2,000 years ago.

In a lot of ways, they were very similar to Hong Kong weddings.

It was a chance to throw a huge party and invite all your friends and extended family,

a massive celebration,

and it was a chance for you to show off your generosity and wealth.

Like in Hong Kong, the groom was expected to pay for everything.

And also like in Hong Kong, there was a lot of honor and shame to be gained or lost,

depending on how good or bad of a celebration it was.

But in some ways, it was a much bigger celebration than your normal Hong Kong wedding.

See, these celebrations could last up to a week,

which means you need a little bit more food than you do for a Hong Kong wedding,

although I think the average Hong Kong wedding probably has about three days worth of food.

So you probably don't need too much more, but a little bit more.

And the stakes were higher in these weddings.

So it's possible that if the wedding ran out of food or wine early,

the bride's family could sue the groom for bringing shame on them.

And it could become this legal dilemma for the groom

if he did not plan or prepare adequately.

To run out of wine in a wedding was a huge deal.

You made sure that you planned enough in advance that you didn't let it happen

because there was not a grocery store across the street

where you could send your groomsmen with a credit card.

And so when he says, when the wine ran out,

it sounds like a fairly commonplace, not a big deal thing, but it was.

It was rare.

It was shameful.

It meant that the groom was either poor or worse,

too stingy to provide adequately for his own wedding celebration.

And it tells us that Mary, Jesus' mother, somehow learns about this dilemma,

comes to Jesus, and tells him they have no wine.

Now, John later tells us that this was Jesus' first miracle.

So my assumption is Mary is not expecting Jesus to do what he did.

She is not thinking, ah, if I tell him he's going to find some water,

turn it into wine, party's going to be all set.

No, she's his mom.

She probably knows he's a good problem solver.

I mean, he's God.

He's got to be a good problem solver, right?

And she's just thinking,

how can I avoid this awkward social situation?

I know a guy who's really good at solving problems, my son Jesus.

She just wants to avoid social awkwardness.

She wants some help with what she sees as a trivial situation.

But Jesus hears her comment, and he sees something way deeper going on here.

See, he knows that he is the Messiah,

the Savior that God has promised,

who's coming to save and rescue the world and bring God's kingdom to earth.

And he's read the Old Testament,

and he knows that when the Old Testament talks about God's kingdom,

imagery of abundant wine is everywhere.

If you look at Isaiah chapter 25, verse 6,

Isaiah 25:6

it says,

On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of rich food,

a feast of well-aged wine.

If you look at the prophets Joel and Amos,

they talk about how the mountains during this time will drip sweet wine.

And then in the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament,

this imagery just gets blown up to epic proportions.

There's this Jewish writing from between the Old Testament and the New Testament,

and they say in this writing,

when God's kingdom comes,

on each vine, there will be a thousand branches.

And on each branch, it will produce a thousand clusters.

And guess how many grapes will be on each cluster?

A thousand.

And each grape will produce over 35 gallons of wine.

So if you're a math person, that's 35 billion gallons of wine per vine.

Probably a slight exaggeration, but you get the image.

God's kingdom is a kingdom of abundant wine, an abundant celebration.

And Jesus knows this.

He sees this opportunity to provide wine at this party

as a way of giving a glimpse into the work that he's going to do

and a foretaste of what he's going to accomplish.

So Mary comes looking for a boost to the party,

looking to avoid an awkward social situation,

and Jesus sees an opportunity to display his glory.

He sees spiritual meaning of cosmic importance in the midst of the mundane.

And I think that is why he answers the way that he does in verse 4.

Jesus said to her,

Woman, what does this have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come.

Quick side note,

woman is not as offensive of a way to respond to your mother in that culture

as it is in ours.

It was actually a quite respectful term,

but not really one you would use for your mom.

It would kind of be like me calling my mom Mrs. Scott.

It's not, it's respectful,

but it's not really a way a son talks to his mother, right?

And I think what Jesus is doing here

is Mary has become comfortable around Jesus.

And Mary has this expectation that Jesus is there

to fulfill her desires and make her life easier.

And Jesus is saying,

No, that's not how you come to me,

even if you're my mother.

If you're coming to me,

you have to fit your life into my plans,

not the other way around.

And that's true for all of us here today.

It's a challenge to us that when we come to Jesus,

he's not there to make our lives easier.

He's there for us to fit our lives into his plan.

And that's just something to keep in mind

if anyone ever tells you that we should be praying to Mary.

Now back to Jesus' comment.

He says,

What does this have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come.

Now in the book of John,

when Jesus mentions his hour,

does anyone know what he's talking about?

It's the cross.

Every time, always.

Jesus' hour is referring to the cross.

So Mary comes and says,

Hey, the party needs more wine.

And Jesus is like,

It's not time for me to die.

It seems like an odd response.

But why is Jesus focused so quickly on the cross

when he realizes that the party is out of wine?

It's because Jesus is the one

who's bringing this kingdom of abundant wine.

But because of our sin,

that kingdom has to be purchased at a price.

He knows that if he gives a glimpse

into the kingdom that he's going to bring,

he can't do it without thinking of the price

that it's going to cost him to bring that kingdom.

And that price will be the cross.

There's deep, spiritual, loaded meaning

in Jesus' response.

And I think this went right over Mary's head.

Because rather than recognizing

all of this deep, spiritual, cosmic meaning

in Jesus' words,

she simply turns to the servants

and says in verse 5,

Do whatever he tells you.

Which is good advice.

And that brings us to

the solution to the problem.

It tells us here,

there were six stone water jars

for the Jewish rites of purification,

each holding 20 or 30 gallons.

Now, notice what these jars are holding.

It's water.

And if you look through the book of John,

water shows up again and again and again.

So a couple weeks ago,

Kevin talked about Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus,

where Jesus says,

you have to be born of water and the Spirit.

And in John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

John comes baptizing in water.

In John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

Jesus has a conversation with a woman at the well

where he asks her to give him some water.

Water is all over the place.

It shows up many more times as well.

And if you look through,

every time water shows up in the book of John,

you notice a theme.

Water in and of itself is never a bad thing.

But it's also never quite enough

to get you what you really want or need.

So when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus,

being born of water isn't a bad thing,

but you need something more.

You need to be born again.

When John comes baptizing in water in John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

he's baptizing in water.

Why?

So that he can point to the one

who's going to baptize in the Spirit.

When Jesus comes to the woman at the well

in John chapter 4 and asks her for water,

John 4 · chapter mention

he ends up rebuking her

because he says there's something more that you need.

There's a living water that will satisfy you

and quench your thirst forever.

And you should have asked me for that.

The water in and of itself isn't a bad thing,

but you need something more every single time

because the water itself is not enough.

And it's the same at this party.

The water is not a bad thing,

but what the party needs isn't the water in the jars,

but wine.

And why does the party not need the water anymore?

Well, it has to do with why the water is there

in the first place.

It says it's there for ceremonial cleaning.

A little bit of background.

In the Old Testament, God has the Israelites.

They're his chosen people.

They've got promised blessings.

They're supposed to obey God.

And they fail.

Again and again and again.

And eventually, they get sent into exile

as a punishment for their failure.

After 70 years, God sends them back into their own land

and they realize, hmm, when we disobey,

things don't go too well.

So let's obey from now on.

And they realized that if you took all of the commands

that God gives in the Old Testament,

you could create extra commands

to keep you from accidentally breaking any of God's commands.

And so one Jewish teacher realized,

you know, if we just have water

and wipe our hands off with it before meals,

that can keep us from accidentally breaking

these other laws that God has given us.

So it's not something that God explicitly commanded,

but the Jews practiced it in Jesus' day

to help them be more obedient to the other laws

that God did give.

And so they have these jars at this party

to help them wash,

to help them avoid accidentally breaking God's commands.

But here's the thing.

The water can't do that.

The water symbolizes purity,

but guess what?

At this party is the one who is full,

who is pure.

The water symbolizes cleaning from things that defile us,

but Jesus is at this party

and he's the one who's going to bring

the ultimate cleansing from everything that defiles us.

The people at this party have the water

to help them fulfill God's law,

but at the party is the man

who is the fulfillment of God's law.

So the water in and of itself isn't a bad thing,

but it can never achieve the cleansing that it symbolizes.

It's just not enough.

So where have the Old Testament religious systems

gotten this party?

Out of wine?

In danger of being shut down early?

Basically, their reliance on tradition

and their own obedience to achieve blessing

can never give them what their hearts truly desire.

And I think if we look around this room today,

most of us don't try to follow

Old Testament religious systems

as a way of achieving blessing in our lives.

But we do turn to other things.

For many of us, it's our jobs.

We believe that if I can work hard enough

and if I can do well enough,

my job will give me the meaning and the purpose

and the fulfillment in my life

that I truly crave and desire.

And so we pour ourselves into our jobs

and we work insane hours

so we can get what our hearts desire.

Maybe for some of us, it's relationships.

We believe that you're nobody until somebody loves you.

And so we pursue relationship after relationship

because we believe that my identity

and my fulfillment in life,

that the abundant life comes from having someone to love.

and we end up cutting corners

and dating people we know we shouldn't date

and sticking around in relationships

long after it's clear

that this is not a healthy place for us to be

because we believe that that's the path

to the abundant life.

For some of us, it's social media.

If I can get enough likes on this post

and it's going to prove that I'm somebody.

And so we custom build this image of ourselves

that has nothing to do with our real lives

and put it online

because we are chasing those clicks and those likes.

And the more clicks we get,

the more we feel like I've made it

because we believe that getting likes

is more important to true abundant life

than being truly known.

We're just like the Israelites.

We have our own systems.

We believe that these things that we can achieve

are going to fulfill us

but just like the Old Testament law

couldn't bring what their hearts truly desired,

none of the things other than Jesus

that we rely on in life

are ever going to truly satisfy us.

Instead of giving us the abundant life

that we long for,

what do they give us?

They give us stress

because who am I going to be

if I lose my job?

They give us anxiety.

What is it about me

that makes nobody want to date me?

They give us fear.

Why hasn't anybody clicked like on my picture yet?

Does everyone hate me?

The things we long for

cannot be achieved through our efforts.

It's only in Jesus

that we can find the security,

the stability,

and the freedom that our souls crave.

He is the only source

of the truly abundant life.

And he demonstrates this at the party.

He tells the servants,

fill the jars up with water.

Symbolically showing that he is the one

who fulfills completely

the Old Testament law.

But he doesn't just fill them

and leave them full.

He has them fill the jars

and then pull wine from them.

It's almost like he's saying,

by fulfilling the law,

I'm inaugurating the new age

of God's kingdom,

the kingdom of the abundant wine

right here, right now.

The water of the law,

it's not bad,

but it can never get you

what you're longing for.

But my kingdom

will bring you satisfaction.

The other things you long for,

you cling to,

to get you that life

can never satisfy you.

Only I can.

So he has them draw the water,

bring it to the master of the feast,

and that brings us to

a challenging truth.

The master of the feast,

he tastes the wine,

and he realizes this is delicious.

So he calls the groom over

and he says to him,

everyone serves good wine first,

and when people have drunk freely,

then the poor wine.

But you have kept the good wine

until now.

Notice what he's saying here.

Not only had the party

run out of wine,

not only was the party

in danger of being shut down

because this groom

hadn't adequately prepared.

But the wine they were relying on

to fuel their enjoyment

up to this point

was nothing compared

to what Jesus offered them.

How often in our lives

do we try our best

to squeeze every drop

out of the mediocre

that we can provide

when Jesus is ready

to offer us something

so much greater,

something so much better,

if only we would ask.

And something else,

by this point,

literally any wine

would have made them happy.

They were expecting

the boxed stuff at this point.

If Jesus had shown up

and been like,

here's some boxed wine,

I got it on sale

at the supermarket,

they would have been ecstatic

because the party

can keep going.

And what does Jesus

bring them instead?

He gives them

the good stuff.

How often in our lives

do we reach a point

where we're so desperate

for anything good

to happen

that we take

the spiritual equivalent

of boxed wine?

And Jesus is showing us

and reminding us

that he doesn't give us

the cheap stuff.

He always gives us

true abundance.

But here's the really

challenging truth.

That abundance

often doesn't look like

what we expect.

We believe that

the true abundant life

comes from fame,

from money,

from power,

from comfort.

But Jesus says,

no,

true abundance

is about a relationship

with me

where you come to me,

you submit to me,

and you trust in me.

It's about a relationship,

not stuff.

If you look back

in verse four,

remember Jesus' comment

where he said,

my hour has not yet come.

In this moment,

his focus is on the cross.

His focus is on the price

that he has to pay

to bring us

this kingdom

of the abundant wine

and to make that

a reality for you

and for me.

And he actually

uses wine

to talk about

the price

that he was going to pay

in another meal.

In the Last Supper,

he sits down

with his disciples.

He pulls out

this glass of wine

and he says,

this cup

is the new covenant

of my blood.

He's saying,

the price

that it's going to cost me

to bring this kingdom

of abundant wine

is the wine

of my blood,

but I'm willing to do it.

Why?

Is it so that we can be famous

and rich and powerful?

No.

It's because it's about

a relationship

and that's the price

that it costs

to have that relationship

with us.

And Jesus

was willing

to pay that

because he

cares about you

and he cares about me

and he loves us.

And here's the second half

of the super challenging truth.

the abundant life

brought Jesus

to the cross

and he says

that if we're going

to have the truly

abundant life,

that we live

that abundant life

on the way

of the cross

as well.

That the way

to abundant life

is not by pursuing

our power

and our fame

and our prestige,

but it's by

laying down

our desires

every single day

and pursuing him

by loving

the people around us.

I don't know about you,

but that's scary to me

because it feels

way easier

to just pour myself

into my job

and believe

that if I can do

really well

and I can achieve success,

that that's going

to give me

true life.

And what Jesus

is saying

is that best case scenario,

that's the boxed wine.

And even if I can

get that boxed wine

for a little bit,

it's going to run out

eventually.

So here's my question

for us today.

What will it take

for us to recognize

that Jesus is so much better

than the other things

that we're relying on

for this abundant life?

I think step one

is recognizing

how powerless

these other things are

to satisfy us.

And I think,

you might call me crazy,

but I think Madonna

expressed this

really well.

In an interview

with Vogue,

she said,

my drive in life

comes from a fear

of being mediocre.

That is always pushing me.

I push past

one spell of it

and discover myself

as a special human being.

But then I feel

I'm still mediocre

and uninteresting

unless I do something else.

Because even though

I've become somebody,

I still have to prove

that I am somebody.

My struggle

has never ended

and I guess

it never will.

She's saying,

I feel this pressure

every day

to wake up

and prove through my efforts

that I am somebody.

And on a really good day,

I get the spiritual equivalent

of boxed wine.

But then I wake up

the next morning

and I realize

I'm out again

and I have to go

produce more

every single day.

I can't rest.

I can't let it go.

And I recognize

that fame

and money

and success

can never give me

the deep desires

of my soul.

I'm chasing

what I think

is the abundant life

and what I feel like

is the best way

to do it,

but it has me trapped.

I can't stop.

If I ever stop trying,

I'm afraid

that it's all

going to disappear

and be gone.

And how clearly

does that express

what so many of us

feel and experience

when we try

and accomplish

and achieve

the abundant life

on our own?

But Jesus comes to us

and he says,

stop.

Stop striving.

Rest.

The best that you

can accomplish

through your efforts

is mediocrity.

But I've come

to bring abundance.

See my beauty

come to me.

And how can we know

that when we stop

that he's going

to be there

and he's going

to provide for us?

Well, look what happens

in this story.

Look at the drama

that plays out here.

It's actually

a reenactment

of the gospel story.

There's a man

who has this duty

but it's a joyful duty

to provide food

and drink

for his party.

It's a joyful duty

because if he does it well

everyone's going to have

a great time

and they're going to have

the best party possible

and he fails miserably.

And for his failure

he deserves shame

and honor

and punishment.

And in the moment

of his failure

Jesus steps in

and does for this man

what the man

could not do

for himself

provides for him

in a way that the man

cannot provide for himself.

And because of the work

of Jesus

at this party

the groom

who deserves

shame

dishonor

and punishment

instead is given

praise and honor.

That's the story

of the gospel.

We have

a duty

but it's a joyful duty

to obey God.

And God tells us

that when we live

our lives

obediently to him

that's going to be

the most abundant

fruitful

joyful way

to live

and it's a blessing

to have

this responsibility

and yet you and I

every single one of us

fail miserably.

And for our failure

we deserve shame

dishonor

and punishment.

And in the midst

of our failure

Jesus steps in

and does for us

what you and I

cannot do for ourselves.

On the cross

he pays the price

for everything

that we've ever done wrong

and gives us credit

for his perfection

so that although

we have failed

through the work

of Jesus

you and I

can be given

praise and honor

and glory

in God's sight.

See when we

stop striving

that's when Jesus

steps in

and starts fighting

our battles

for us.

He demonstrates

that here

he demonstrates

that on the cross.

and on top

of that

think about this

whose responsibility

is it

to provide

the wine

for the feast?

The groom.

Who does

actually provide

the wine

for the feast?

Jesus.

Do you think

there's significance

to that?

Probably.

In the Old Testament

over and over

and over again

God refers

to the Israelites

his special people

as his bride

and in the New Testament

it calls the church

the bride of Christ.

What's Jesus

showing us

by providing

the wine

at this feast?

He's showing us

that he is

the greater groom.

He is the one

that our souls

are longing for.

It's about

a relationship

with him

and he is going

to do something

that's going

to call a people

to himself

and give us

unite us

to him

in the most

intimate relationship

possible

for eternity.

So as we ask

the question today

who is this man?

We see that

Jesus is the Savior

who rescues us

through no work

of our own

and offers us

abundance

in the place

of our failure

and Jesus

is the greater groom

who is seeking

a bride

for his own

possession.

John concludes

the story

by saying

that Jesus

displayed his glory

by doing this sign.

We've been discussing

the glory of Christ

lately.

We've been saying

it's sort of like

a diamond.

It's the fullness

of who he is

but when you look

at it from

different angles

you see

different things

and in this story

Jesus shows us

another glimpse

of who he is

and I think

what he's trying

to show us here

is that everything

we're looking for

in all our

religious systems

and all our

self-reliant efforts

is found in him.

We're not going

to find it

anywhere else.

He is the only place

where we're going

to find the truly

abundant life.

Not our jobs,

not our relationships,

not social media,

nothing else

and because of this

it's worthwhile

to forsake

everything else

in order

to pursue him

because that's

the path

to the truly

abundant life.

He did the first

of his signs,

he manifests his glory

and his disciples

believed in him.

I think there are

two closing things

that are super

significant

in this last comment

about the disciples

believing in him.

John tells us

the signs in the book

of John

are recorded

so that we can

believe and have

life by believing.

Jesus does the signs

to lead to believe

and it tells us here

that the disciples

believed.

But what does that

mean?

Everyone at the party

saw the sign

but only the disciples

believed.

And that tells us

it's possible

to see the work

of Jesus

and not believe.

And I think

there are some

of us here today

who are in this place

that we've been

coming to Watermark

for a long time.

We've been hearing

about Jesus,

we've been seeing

the difference

that he makes

in people's lives

and we still

haven't believed.

And God's calling

to you today

if this is you

and saying

Jesus is

the only path

to the abundant

life that you desire.

All your efforts

cannot get you

what he offers.

Stop striving,

stop relying

on yourself

because only Jesus

can give you

what your soul

is craving.

And yes,

pursuing Jesus

it means a path

of letting go

of your self-reliance

and embracing

this path

of the cross

the way of sacrifice

and trust

but it will bring you

the true abundance

that you have

always craved.

So if you're here today

and you haven't

trusted in Jesus

I challenge you today

trust in him

he's the only path

to the truly abundant life.

But the second thing

this passage shows us

it says

the disciples

believed in him.

Now think about this

they were already

his disciples.

To become his disciples

they had

to believe

in him somehow

and yet it tells us

that after seeing

this sign

they believed in him.

So what I see here

is that it's possible

to believe

but not believe.

Or in other words

there are different

levels of belief.

For the disciples

they probably believed

that he was

a good teacher

maybe that he was

sent by God

to teach God's truth

but they see this

and they realize

that he is powerful.

And the book of John

is a journey

of the disciples

going deeper and deeper

and coming to see

more and more

of who Jesus is

and growing in their belief

until they reach

the point where they recognize

this is God.

He is risen from the dead

and he is the savior

who is here

to rescue us.

And I think there are

some of us here today

who are sort of in this place

where we believe

but don't believe.

And God's calling us today

to just believe.

I think there are probably

some of us here today

who maybe we say

I believe that Jesus

can forgive my sins

and that he's going to

give me eternal life

and that's going to be great

but I don't really believe

that he has the power

and he alone has the power

to give me the most

abundant life possible

here and now

today.

And he's showing us

that yes, he does.

The call is to believe.

Jesus is reminding us

that he cares immensely

about the everyday moments

of our lives

here and now

and he wants us

to have the most abundant

life possible

right now.

Think about it.

Jesus came to earth

literally to save the world.

The things that he did

included raising the dead,

giving sight to the blind,

casting out demons,

things that are really

big deals

and he gets dragged

into providing food

and beverage

at a wedding party.

He has the same conversation

that I had with a friend.

If I had the conversation

it can't be that significant

of a conversation

that like the fate

of the universe

hangs in the balance

at it.

But he still stepped in

to help in this

relatively trivial situation.

Why?

Because he cares.

Because he wants us

to have the most abundant life

right now.

And he cares about

the problems of our lives

even the trivial ones.

But it's not just

the trivial ones.

In providing for this

fairly trivial situation

he gives a picture

of his provision

for our greatest problem

as well.

Just a reminder

him caring

and wanting

an abundant life

for us

doesn't mean

everything's going

to work out

the way that we want

it to all the time.

But it does mean

it's going to work out

in a way that's

ultimately best for us.

So this week

when we're tempted

to find our identity

by pouring ourselves

into our jobs

or relationships

or social media

remember

only

Jesus

can bring the abundance

that our souls crave.

The truly abundant life

is found in the way

of the cross

the way of sacrifice

service

and self-denial

and that Jesus

is trying to show

you and me

the inadequacy

of everything else

that we're going to rely on

instead of him.

It might be uncomfortable

but it's the path

to the abundant life.

Will you trust

in him today?

Will you believe

and pursue him alone

for the abundant life?

Let's pray.

Jesus

we thank you

that you alone

gives the abundant life.

We thank you

that you

care about

trivial moments

and trivial situations

in our lives

but that you also

care about

the big moments

and the big situations

because you care

about us.

We thank you

that you offer us

the truly abundant life

not this mediocrity

but true abundance.

We thank you

that by offering us

true abundance

you offer us

the chance

as well

to rest.

You alone

give us a chance

to be free

from our striving

and our efforts

to achieve

what only you can give.

so I pray

that this week

as we go

throughout our weeks

that we would

learn to rest

in you alone

that we would

have freedom

from our striving

that we would believe

that we would find

our abundance

in you.

Thank you

for your love.

In Jesus name

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.