March 24, 2024 // How We Live

Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest

questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search

and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead

pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth

for the life we're searching for. Well, this morning we're going to be talking

about how we live and how it matters. Please take your Bibles and turn to Philippians chapter

one today. We'll finish Philippians one, our tribe series. Of course, Friday night is our

great, great, good Friday service. We enjoy it so much and God works in such a powerful

way. Hope you'll be there for that. Easter Sunday morning, two services in this room.

So obviously we want you to be with us as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And then on the other side of Easter, we'll get into Philippians chapter two, where we're

dealing with perspectives in life. Eight great attitudes that Paul says you've got to live

life with these great attitudes in order to have the joy that God promises you. But how

we live matters. And how we live is what the subject is today in Philippians chapter one,

beginning in verse 27. Please stand with me as we read God's word together, beginning

in that verse through the end of the chapter. Paul is writing to the church at Philippi,

the first church in Europe, as it moves west with the gospel, across the sea and later

on through all of what we now know as Europe, up to Great Britain, across the sea to America

today. I mean, this was the gospel movement that we're reading about beginning at the

church at Philippi. Read Acts 16 through 18, you see all the background of this. And we've

looked at how that's all unfolded, but just think of the significance of this church and

what Paul is saying. How you live really matters because how you live validates the gospel

as it moves across populations so that people will know the reality of the life that you

live and the message you preach. That's what he's talking about here in verse 27. Here's

what he says. I want to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ

so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear that you are standing

firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel in no

way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction from them, but of salvation

for you and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not

only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict

which you saw in me and now here to be in me. Father, I would ask you today that you

would use this text to challenge every one of us in this room today, those watching online

as well, that how we live should be in a manner worthy of the gospel. Lord, show us how that

works. Show us what we should do, what we should address in our lives, Lord, how we

should live together for your honor, for your glory. We ask all this in Jesus' name. And

all God's people said, Amen. Please be seated if you would.

My favorite war movie is Saving Private Ryan. The movie was made a number of years ago.

Most of us have probably seen it or know about it at least. It was a riveting story of a

group of Army soldiers that were commissioned to go find one particular soldier, Private

Ryan, who was the sole survivor of his family. In other words, his brothers had been killed

in the battle and by the sole survivor policy of the United States of America, they wanted

to somehow rescue this one man, the sole survivor of his family and bring him home. So the whole

movie is the story of this group of Army soldiers he went to find and save Private Ryan. And

of course, we could talk about the movie all day, but the really riveting scene for me

is at the very end where the captain who was responsible for this group of soldiers finally

meets Private Ryan. The captain is literally dying of gunshot wound and with his dying

breath, he looks at Private Ryan and he makes this statement. He says, earn this. Go live

your life and earn this. Of course, what he's saying is the sacrifice we've made to get

you and all the lives that were laid down in order to rescue you, even mine. Now you

go live your life in a manner worthy of the sacrifice that's made for you. And I love

that line because it reminds me of what we've just looked at, living in a manner worthy

of the calling of the gospel. We're not talking about earning our salvation or purchasing

it in some way. We're not talking about somehow deserving our salvation, but what we are talking

about is the great sacrifice made to purchase us, to save us, to forgive us, to give us

life and that's the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross. That's the gospel that

Paul talks about. And he's saying to all the people at Philippi and to us today, you see

that sacrifice that was made on your behalf that sets you free? I want to ask you to live

in a manner worthy of the calling of the gospel. You know, the reality is that Paul thought

about this a lot. Five times he mentions this phrase in various epistles. Live worthy of

the calling, live worthy of the gospel, live worthy of God and live worthy of Jesus Christ.

Even John mentions this, that we're to live worthy of the truth that set us free. It's

a big deal to live your life in a way. How you live matters as a believer in Jesus Christ.

So how do we go about that? Paul gives us some great truths in this passage and I want

to walk through about four of them with you if I can. First of all, I want you to notice

with me in verse 27 as he starts these, he basically reminds us that we need to live

as a member of the greatest kingdom. Do you know you're a part of the greatest kingdom

the world's ever known, the kingdom of God? That's what we're a part of. We're citizens

of the kingdom of God. Here's what he says in verse 27, only conduct yourselves in a

manner worthy of the gospel. And the whole passage comments to us, exhorts us, encourages

us to live as citizens of that kingdom. The word conduct in the original language is very

interesting. It's actually a political word. Paul at numitas is how the word is pronounced.

It refers to our divine citizenship. Yes, you're a citizen of this area, this country,

this world, but you're also a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. And that's what Paul is

reminding all of the church of Jesus Christ about. In fact, if you go over to Philippians

chapter three, just moving over a few pages, you'll see he says this in a different way.

In verse 20 of chapter three, he says, for our citizenship is in heaven from which we

also eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we're citizens of this kingdom,

citizens of God on this earth right now, and we're waiting for our savior to come. That's

another piece of this whole idea of living in a manner worthy. He writes to the church

of Ephesus and he says the same thing. Chapter two, verse 19. So then you are no longer strangers

and aliens. You are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household. I don't

know how that makes you feel, but that makes me feel like I'm part of something that's

pretty important, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. Jesus taught his disciples

to pray this way, part of the Lord's prayer, the disciples prayer is to pray, thy kingdom

come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And yet somehow we don't think much

about being part of a kingdom. We think a lot about our salvation being personal and

individual and it is. We're only saved when we go one-on-one with God and surrender our

lives to Jesus Christ. You're not saved as a family, you're saved as an individual. But

once you are saved, once you give your lives to Christ, you're placed in a family. You're

placed in an army. You're placed in a body. You're placed into the bride of Christ. And

we become citizens of this amazing kingdom called the kingdom of God. So Paul is beginning

this section by simply saying, live in a manner worthy like you know who you belong to. I

have Warren Wiersbie's breakdown of what it means to be a member of the kingdom of God.

He says that we are basically three things. We're sons and daughters, we're servants,

we're soldiers. You like that? I like the brevity of that. I like the idea that when

we first come to faith in Christ, all we think about is being sons and daughters. I'm now

a child of God. I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God. That's the old song we

used to sing. And you know, when we come to faith in Jesus, we're told, now God is your

father. You are heirs of the father. Join heirs with Christ. We're brothers and sisters

in the kingdom of God. So first of all, when you come to faith in Christ, you're sons and

daughters. Secondly, we're servants. The idea that we are called to serve Christ is very

clear all the way through the scripture. Jesus, in calling the disciples, says, if any man

wishes to come after me, let him lay down his life, pick up his cross daily and follow

me. Denying himself so that he can follow me. Jesus said about leadership, he said that

the servants, the greatest one among you is one that serves them all. I didn't come to

serve mankind, but I didn't come to be served, rather, Jesus said, but to serve and give

my life a ransom for many. That's what Jesus said. So first of all, we're sons and daughters,

then we're servants, and then finally we're soldiers. Part of the Lord's army. Not going

to sing the song or anything like that, but part of the Lord's army. And we are people

that are to stand for truth in a world that is anti-truth, that doesn't want anyone to

stand for the truth. So what Paul is saying basically is, think about all you are in the

kingdom of God and live in a manner worthy of that. Act like you know who you are. Act

like you are children of God. Act like you're servants of Christ. Act like you're servants

in the kingdom. So live in a manner worthy of the calling. Can you imagine how much it

pleases the Father whenever we live in a way that shows that we're aware of the greatness

of his sacrifice for us and the greatness of his love for us? I love watching that happen

in the human element. I think I've told you at least five or six times that I am now a

grandfather and I have the most perfect granddaughter on the planet. I mean, that's the way people

think when they have grandkids. And you may not have grandkids yet, but when you do, you'll

know that that grandchild is perfect and there is no cuter, no better grandchild on the planet.

I'm sorry, that's my perspective. I believe that's the way it is. But the great part for

me about being a grandparent is not just how cute that baby is, but it's watching my son

and daughter-in-law become parents. It's watching them all of a sudden make decisions in a different

way, talking in a different way, planning in a different way, working together in a

different way. All of a sudden, the sense of responsibility goes off the charts. All

of a sudden, they're actually planning their life out, right? It's not so random anymore.

And I look at them and I go, they're growing into this thing called parenthood. They're

living in a manner worthy of being parents. And it makes me proud in my heart, proud in

a good way. I'm thankful that it's like that. Now, what must you think the Father thinks

when you grow into your role in the kingdom of God? That's a son or a daughter that understands

what it means to live a life worthy. That's a servant of mine. They understand what it

means to live as servants of the Most High God. That's a soldier in the army of God.

They understand what it means to stand firm. That's the idea. Paul is passing on to this

group of people that he would call his spiritual children. The Father loves seeing us know

the value of being His and living in a worthy way. You should think about that and think

about how that affects the Father. He loves us remembering our redemption. He loves us

being grateful for Jesus' sacrifice. He loves that we come to Him when we have a need and

ask Him to help us with that need. He loves us depending on His wisdom and His law and

His truth. He loves for us to serve Him with a heart that says, I'll serve you in doing

anything you want me to do. The Father loves knowing that we quote Him, that we live by

His word. Act like sons and daughters. Act like servants. Act like soldiers of the Most

High God. That's what Paul is saying. Live in a manner worthy. How you live matters.

There's something else he says here that I want you to see in this whole idea of the

tribe that we're in, this body of Christ, the church, the tribe are synonymous for us

here. Secondly, he says basically live in harmony with the tribe. In other words, you're

not alone. Everything in this passage is in plural form. Every time you see the word you,

it's not in singular form. It's in plural form. So he's addressing the church as a whole.

In other words, the y'all part of this is coming out. It's not just you, but it's you

all that he's talking about. Notice what he says here in verse 27. So that whether I come

and see you, all of you, or remain absent, I will hear of you, all of you, that you are

standing firm in one spirit and with one mind striving together in the faith of the gospel.

Now I want you to pay attention to a couple of the words here. Because basically he's

telling us to be all in. With one mind is a reference to how we think. Intellectually,

with your mind, I want you to be able to stand firm in all that you know. And I want you

to strive together with others who are part of your tribe. Be of one spirit, he says.

Be of one soul, he says. And the whole idea is not just mental agreement, but also the

mind, the will, and the emotion, the passion, and the heart. Bring it all in, Paul says.

And as a group of people, I want you to stand and strive forward all in together to advance

the gospel. Now this may not sound as important to you as it did to them. Here's why. They

were the only church in Europe at the time. At that moment, they were the only church

that had begun, and they were a young church. So Paul is basically saying, look westward.

Everywhere you look, people who don't know Christ. Look northward. Everywhere you look,

people who don't know Christ. There is no church to the west of you, no church to the

south of you, no church to the north of you. You are alone, responsible for taking the

gospel out. So with that perspective, stand together, strive together to move the gospel

forward. That's pretty important. Somebody did that in these past decades and millennia.

Otherwise, you would not be believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ today. You wouldn't

know about it. So I look at this passage and I think this is an incredibly important passage.

Notice something else about this, the phrase the faith. Together we stand as a church,

as they did, advancing the faith. The definite article there is to specify the gospel, the

reference to the gospel itself, faith alone and Christ alone, and the doctrine of the

faith delivered once for all for the saints. Now that doesn't just mean Jesus dying on

the cross, rising again the third day, as important as that is. Everything is built

on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but this is more than that. It's standing firm for

everything God's word says. We're not called to redefine truth. We're called to stand for

truth. We're not called to question truth. We're called to stand for it. We're to be

moving off doubts and getting those settled and standing firm and moving forward with

all the truth that God gives us. We represent the gospel in a world that doesn't necessarily

want to hear about Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross. And that's a fight. That's

a battle. That means we have to be sons and daughters, but also servants, and we have

to be soldiers. At the end of Paul's life, in 2 Timothy, he's writing about his life

and his mission, and he says these words, you've heard them many times, I fought the

good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. That's all defining there.

It's been a fight to keep the faith. It's been a marathon to keep the faith, but I've

kept the faith. The faith, the same faith he's talking about right here. In the end,

we all want to say this. What does that mean for us as a church? Well, to the Philippians

it meant that he wanted the tribe to gather themselves together, to realize the darkness

in the world around them, and to not give an inch to other ideas, other philosophies,

but in love and kindness, but with perseverance and with boldness. So Jesus Christ is the

only way, the only truth, the only life. Come to him and be saved. And to move forward like

that into the western world. I'm a football fan. Most of you know that I'm a Dallas Cowboys

football fan, even though all my jokes about football are about the Dallas Cowboys, because

they deserve to be laughed at from time to time. Wouldn't you agree? Somebody say Amen

about that if you will. I'm not the only guy that thinks that way. But I also enjoy watching

another football team called the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not an

Eagles fan. But have you noticed a play that they have begun to run often in recent years?

That's a goal line. They need to make a first down, just a yard or two. And they all gather

together in a very unusual way. They're not spread out. They're not going to do a flea

flicker. They're not going to pass the ball or hand it to anybody else. They're going

to let the quarterback carry the ball forward, but they move together. I mean, they are as

tight of a formation as you can possibly imagine. And when the ball is actually high, the linemen

dive down as low as they can, and the quarterback begins to advance the ball, and the running

backs behind him that are not going to run with the ball get behind him and push him.

So he is moving forward. The line is moving forward. The backs are pushing him forward

to get just two and a half yards in order to score. Have you seen that? Would you raise

your hand if you've seen that play? Nobody else can seem to run it like the Philadelphia

Eagles can run it. You know what the name of it is? It's called the tush push. I was looking

forward to actually saying that from the pulpit today, tush push. That play reminds me of

these words. Now don't laugh. All together, tightly assembled, everybody's striving in

the same direction to move the ball forward. That's what we do when we serve in the church.

We're not spectators. We're not people that look for the most remote place to go to church.

We're people that are a body. We're part of a family. We're sons and daughters. We're

part of a group of people that serve Christ. We're part of a military group called the

soldiers of Christ. Our goal is not just to listen to somebody or to worship, but our

goal is to move the gospel forward. That's what we have to do in a dark, lost world.

We can never see it today. Paul said to the Philippians, you must move the ball forward.

Take the gospel forward by standing firm and then strive to gain ground. We talk about

the gospel. We defend the gospel. We share the gospel. We help other people do the same

thing so that the faith is front and center with all we say and do. Again, it means we

act like Christians. We act like sons and daughters. We act like service and soldiers

so that our message is not hypocritical. It is something that is in us and through us

and comes out of our mouths. We pray together. We give together. We serve together. We reach

together all together with the tribe of Jesus Christ. We move forward with the gospel of

Jesus so that in five years and ten years and twenty years, people that have not yet

known Christ will come to know Christ through the church of Jesus Christ. Live in a manner

worthy. You're part of the greatest kingdom the world has ever known or will ever know.

You're part of a tribe and you're not alone. Live in harmony with the tribe. Then Paul

encourages them. He says, live with the encouragement of certain victory. Do you notice what he

says in verse 28? In no way alarmed by your opponents, which were formidable. In no way

alarmed by them, which is a sign of destruction for them but of salvation for you and that

too from God. This is a reminder. You're a soldier as well as a servant and a son and

the battle is hard sometimes. Not everyone will agree with you about the faith. In fact,

some will push back. Some will argue. Some will doubt. Some will cast doubt on your character

for even believing the Bible, the scriptures or Jesus Christ. People will try to disparage

you. They'll try to discourage you. They'll do everything they can to try to make you

be quiet. And Paul is simply saying, don't be alarmed by this. Don't be alarmed by the

fact that you have opponents that want to hold you back. Don't be stunned when you encounter

spiritual opposition. We're shocked when there is spiritual opposition but when there is

spiritual opposition that's an indicator that you're probably doing something right.

Keep in mind the fact that you can't be discouraged by a little opposition in a pagan world that

we live in. It's okay. It's just part of the world we live in. Keep moving the ball

forward. When I was in high school and college, my coaches would always tell me that even

when you're behind in the game and feel like you're behind and feel like it's too far

of a distance for you to win the game, don't act discouraged. Don't drip your shoulders.

Don't look down. Don't let your face or your body language say, I'm already done. We're

going to lose this game. Because the moment you do that, the opponent will press and he

will win. And so he said, recognize that in the teams you play against. When they're discouraged,

go after them all the more because they're nearly giving up.

Now, Paul is saying it's the opposite. Don't look down. Don't look discouraged. Don't act

like that this is not going to be good in the end. Why? Because in the end, we win.

In the end, we win. Paul says the victory has already been secured. Don't be alarmed

in any fashion or form by your opponents. They're the ones that need to be concerned.

In the end, those who are part of the kingdom of God will win. You will win in the end.

Let me just say this to you just by way of personal exhortation. Don't be discouraged

even when there's reason for you to feel discouraged. Don't let how tough it's been in life or

in terms of people's interactions with you. Don't give up. Don't give up when you feel

like you're not gaining fruit, not growing like you need to grow, not maturing like you

need to mature. When people aren't being impacted like you want them to be impacted, don't give

up because the battle is already won. We're operating from a perspective of victory, not

failure. God is going to win in the end and you are part of the kingdom of God who wins

in the end. Let's take a moment and just thank the Lord. Our sisters here are helping us

celebrate that a little bit. Let's go ahead and do that. In the end, we win. We win. Paul

said this in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16. Most of us know this passage really well. He says,

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel

and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we who

are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in

the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. If this is how it ends, I don't need

to be discouraged now. If this is how the Lord will close out the victory, then I don't

need to be at this moment looking ahead and going, gee, I don't know if it's going to

work out so well in the end. Because the scripture already says it will. In Revelation 19, in

fact, if you take your Bibles and turn to Revelation 19, it won't be on the screen,

so I want you to turn to the very last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 19 beginning

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

in verse 11. I just want to read it. All I want to do is read it. John's vision of heaven

that God gave him on the Isle of Patmos. And here's what he says he saw. And what an encouraging

passage it is. It says, And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat

on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. His

eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written

on him which no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood,

and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven clothed in

fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. And from his mouth comes

a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations. And he will rule them with

a rod of iron, and he treads on the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And

on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written King of Kings. Say it with me, King

of Kings and Lord of Lords. If you're discouraged, I do not know why you can be. I don't know

how you can look at the future and say, it really looks bleak for us because victory

is coming when Christ comes back. Amen? That's what we have to look forward to. Paul says,

don't be alarmed. Don't be worried. Life is hard, it's tough, but Jesus is coming. And

the church needs to always be anticipating that. Finally, he says, live with the willingness

to give whatever it takes. Do you see what he says in the very last two verses of his

passage? It has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also

to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw to be in me. So for

Paul, and for many of the saints, that meant imprisonment, being beaten, mockery, rejection.

Sometimes for us in this present day, it means something a little bit less. I don't know

anyone in the room that's been placed in prison for their faith, but everybody pays

some price for being a believer in Jesus Christ. Not be a social stigma, that someone looks

at you in a certain way, rejects you, leaves you out of certain things because they know

you to be a believer in Jesus Christ. And you know, sometimes I think we get angry about

the fact that our culture has run away from truth, absolute truth. It's run away from

the idea and understanding of who God is, who Jesus Christ is, what Christianity is

all about. They've run away from that. And I think some of us are angry about that. It's

a frustrating thing, I know. But what we have to remember is that the gospel was actually

planted in that same culture where people did not know who God was, didn't know who

Jesus Christ was, wasn't really sure about the resurrection of a man from the dead. The

gospel was not well received when it was first preached in Philippi and other places that

we're talking about. Paul's day was not filled with people, admirers who came to

fill the stadium while he preached. Jesus did not meet with people who were in great

favor of him. Most of them rejected him completely. Don't be angry that the world around you does

that. It's just the world. It's just the way they are. It's who they are without God,

without Christ. All it should say to us is that it's important for us to live the gospel

out and to share the gospel out even more than ever before. Don't be discouraged. It

won't be easy. There will be some suffering. There will be conflict, as Paul says, but

in the end it will always be worth it. Whatever price you have to pay to live your life out,

live your faith out, pay the price. Whatever price you have to pay in order to be a witness

for Jesus Christ, be a witness. Pay the price. When I think it's hard to be a Christian,

I sometimes think about my friends in India. My friends that were coming to a Bible conference

years ago, 50 of them in the group, only about 10 of them made it three days late. When those

10 made it, we said, where are the rest of your people? They said, when the villagers

knew that we were coming to a Bible conference, they beat us. Most of them beat us with machetes.

Our other part of our group were in the hospital. We left them so that we could make the last

day of the Bible conference. Said, you left your spouses in the hospital to come here,

somebody teach the Bible. Oh, we desperately need to know God's words so that we can share

it with others. When I think it's hard to live the Christian life, I think about my

pastor friend in another village in India on the other side of the nation of India,

who was raised in a small village and came to faith in Christ. The village was not made

up of believers, but rather unbelievers, and they beat him for his faith. They beat him

and ran him out of town. A few weeks later, after he recovered from his wounds, he came

back to town and began to share the gospel again, and they beat him again. This happened

five times until finally he came back on the final time, and the village elder said, look,

we're tired of beating you up. We know you're not going to shut up. Go ahead and tell us

what you want to tell us. I met with a blossoming church in a garage-like setting with 50 people

crammed in there, and all of them came to faith because of this one young man that had

been beaten up five times and just kept coming back. Yeah, I thank God for saints who would

do that. When I think it's hard to live the Christian life, they remind me that they're

paying a great price. That's Paul dead in prison writing letters. Okay. How you live

matters. It makes a great deal of difference in the world around you. Live in a manner

worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You live in the greatest kingdom. You have the

greatest tribe that you can be in harmony with, and everybody needs a tribe. Live in

courage because in the end Jesus comes back and sets everything right, and live willing

to give whatever it takes to advance the gospel for the glory of God. I want you to bow your

heads for just a moment. I want you to ask yourself the question, am I living in a manner

worthy of the sacrifice and the calling of Christ? This is not about making someone toe

the line. Their life is not in order. This is about you saying that you understand what

Jesus did to secure your salvation, and you're living in a way that is worthy. He doesn't

require that you do that on your own. He has given you the Holy Spirit by which you will

be empowered to live that life. Are you living a life worthy? Just a few more minutes and

I'll close in prayer. Three invitations to you. One is stop by the decision stations

that are at the back of our building inside the worship center. You'll see people that

are ready to pray with you, ready to talk with you. We'd love to talk with you about

your faith, whether you've placed your faith in Christ or not. If you haven't, today can

be that day. We'll talk to you about any commitments you want to make to follow Christ if you're

already a believer, but let us talk to you about that. Second invitation, come to the

guest reception room outside the center exit doors across the hallway. I'd love to meet

you if you're a guest today. I'd love to just say hello and invite you to our church, our

tribe. Thirdly, I invite you to remember that this week is really a special week. Good Friday

service, Easter Sunday morning. Come and bring somebody with you as we celebrate the death

and the resurrection of Jesus. Would you stand with me as we pray? Father, I'm so grateful

today that you have done all that is necessary for us to have salvation and for us to fulfill

a calling on our lives. Father, I pray that you would let the question of whether we're

living in a manner worthy be echoing in people's minds and hearts today and these days ahead.

We never want to take for granted what you did for us. We never want to take it lightly.

We never want to be casual about something that you deem so serious. So Lord, today help

us to ask that question and answer it in our hearts. I pray for those that have yet to

begin a faith relationship with Jesus and help them take that step today and for all

those that we're inviting that we will bring back that they'll hear the gospel, they'll

come to faith in Christ. Lord, thank you that you love us with such dedication that Jesus

died for us. Thank you Father, we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless. Have a wonderful

day.