John 2:13-25 - Caleb Richardson

So, we say that we are a family of servant missionaries,

right? And that's our identity, that's who God

has made us because of who he is and what he's

done. And so, we as a people, individually and

corporately, need to live our life on mission.

And so, one of the ways that I've attempted to

do this is, for myself in person, is I coach

track. And so this week I was down in Homer on

a track meet. And one of the habits that I've

gotten into is to really just pray. I was praying

on the way down. I was praying, you know, even

during that time, Lord, give me opportunities

to be a radiant reflection of you, to shine Jesus.

And, you know, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, will

you do something? And so that was my prayer.

And, man, we had a long day of kids and I was

tired. And I had this long drive back from Homer

last night. And one of the guys that I was working

with was a former athlete who was there helping

run the meet. And he comes up to me. And it's

somebody that I had actually had the opportunity

to share Jesus with. And we baptized him here

two years ago. And he hasn't really walked a

whole lot with the Lord. I mean, on and off.

But he said to me, he says, hey, can I ride back

with you? You know, all the flesh in Caleb went,

oh, no, man, I need that quiet time. And I'm

going to listen to this audio book. And so I'm

thinking. Don't be selfish. I like him. I really

do. I wanted to hang out with him. But I was

just tired. You know how we get that way? And

I felt the Holy Spirit say, suck it up, buttercup.

He's riding with you. And so I said, yeah, of

course. And we got in the truck, and he opened

up his heart from Homer to Anchorage. And God

worked in that moment. And I felt like, I was

like thinking about it. We were, as we hit Russian

River, I was like, all right, this whole conversation

is going to be all about Jesus because that's

what the Lord has opened that door. And so we

just began to talk about the Lord and just in

the future, his future and what God was wanting

to do in his life. And, you know, I thought,

I was driving into Anchorage. I thought, thank

you, Lord, for not missing that opportunity.

in my own selfishness that's exactly where it

would have gone I felt and God just kind of said

see you've been asking me and I gave it so I

just wanted to share share it not because I I

had nothing to do with this I just wanted to

be you know we say that we want to be obedient

to the Lord we want to serve him but we ask the

Lord hey give me an opportunity and then one

comes some has always come when you're not really

ready right And that's exactly what happened.

So I wanted to share that, not to show that I

did something awesome, but it's just a reminder

to me that God uses us as we lay ourselves before

him. So like I said, it has nothing to do with

where we're going to go today. But let's start

off with prayer. If you don't have one of those

Bibles, those blue Bibles, they're free. Grab

one in the back there. It's the Gospel of John.

That's where we're at. But let's pray together,

and then we'll just jump into this. Lord, as

we come before you, starting with myself, I pray

that you will, by your spirit, bring to life

this text for us. Personally in our own life,

maybe corporately in our church or in our gospel

communities. Lord, you've reminded me. It's been

a really good heart check for me personally,

and I pray that it will continue to be that,

but it will also be that way for us as a church.

This is a powerful text, and it's a part of Scripture

that I'm so glad is there because it reminds

me of where I need to be putting my focus, where

the attention needs to be. So I pray as we open

it, unpack it today, that you will speak to us.

In your name, amen. All right, so we're in our

journey through John, and John chapter 20, verse

John 20:31

31, tells us the purpose of this book. And we're

going to be there a long time, and I'll probably

come back to this verse multiple times throughout

our journey in John. But John chapter 20, verse

John 20:30

30 and 31 give us this snapshot of why this book

exists and what John is up to. And he says this,

verse 20, or verse 30. Jesus performed many other

signs in the presence of his disciples that are

not written in this book. But these that are

written are so that you may believe that Jesus

is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing,

you may have life in his name. Underline life.

That's really important. In his name. See, your

view of God, my view of God affects every aspect

of your life whether you believe it or not. I

mean, you can have a really small view of God

and it will ripple into the rest of your life.

If you have a real small view of God, you'll

have a really big view of yourself. And it's

kind of like that scale, right? So when my view

of God gets bigger, actually get a smaller view

of myself because I see him for who he really

is and I see who I am. And so John starts off

this gospel by telling us that Jesus is God.

He wants us to see the really big view of God

because it really helps us balance because we

naturally move God out of the way in our life.

We put ourselves, our agendas. our desires in

front of god that's what we do in our sinful

broken nature and so we need to be reminded all

the time like who's the authority who's who's

really god and john wants our view of jesus just

to grow bigger and bigger that's what this book

really does for us it constantly is pushing a

bigger view of jesus and so One of the things

you'll see in John is this multiple signs, they

call them signs, or miracles. And every time

you see a miracle, it's to reveal the glory of

God. So we always oftentimes see miracles and

go, boy, I wish we could experience those today.

Well, John is telling us when those existed,

the purpose of those, and he says, you know,

there was a lot more that happened. We're not

even writing down in this book. But the ones

that are there, I'm highlighting those so that

you see how big and how glorious God is. It's

not even that much about the person that's being

healed or whatever it is happening. It's about

the glory of God, although those are important,

right? So last week, we saw the first of Jesus'

signs. Jesus is at this wedding celebration.

And he turns water into amazing wine. And it's

the softest, gentlest little sign. Because a

lot of the other ones he does are kind of like,

whoa, you just healed somebody of leprosy or

whatever it is. He starts off with a party. And

I love this. Because he starts off saying that

Jesus is the greater joy. He brings joy to our

life. If we begin to fix our eyes on Jesus, other

things... Other joys of this world, not that

they're not important, but they are lesser. And

Jesus says, I'm the greater joy. And that's how

he starts off in John after that. And now Jesus

tells us right after that celebration that we

looked at last week, he tells us about another

celebration, and that's the Passover. Jesus highlights

all three of the Passovers in John. And they're

really, they're like. They're like really critical

moments in the three years of Jesus' ministry.

Every time there's a Passover, it's a pretty

important point. In fact, Jesus' crucifixion

and resurrection come during the Passover. So

it's a really important time. And so John highlights

those. And what he wants us to see in these verses

today is another angle of Jesus. So as we think

about this story we're looking at, remember last

week. the angle we had of Jesus, because he kind

of puts those two angles together to help broaden

our view of who this Jesus is. And so if you

think about, you know, as you're reflecting about

last week, the week of Cana, the wedding in Cana,

and now we have this totally different story

about Jesus, and the whole point is to put Jesus

at the center. He's at the center. And I think

for me this week, as I keep asking myself, is

Jesus really at the center, Caleb, of your life?

At the wedding feast, he's a party maker, right?

Tim Keller says at the wedding feast, Jesus is

a party maker. At the Passover, he's now a party

pooper. It's opposite. Jesus at the wedding feast

acts quietly, kind of behind the scenes. But

then at the Passover, we're going to see that

Jesus goes public. It's very dramatic. It's the

opposite of what we see in the wedding feast.

Jesus at the wedding adds to your life. At the

Passover, he throws out of your life. He brings

joy at the wedding, and he disturbs at the Passover.

And both views of Jesus are really important.

Look at verse 13. The Jewish Passover was near.

And so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And Jerusalem's

kind of on this hill. And so when it says he

goes up, it literally means he goes up onto this

rise. Okay? The Jewish people, the Passover was

a huge deal. It was a very big deal for the nation.

Like the wedding celebration. Passover was a

week -long event. And one thing I love about

the Jewish culture, especially in the Bible days,

is they really liked celebrations. They liked

to party. They weren't an individualistic society.

They were very communal in the way they operated.

And so when they did things, they actually had

a really good week of celebration. And it involved

feasts and all that. And everything had meaning

to it, right? And so you see this. And so even

this... Passover, the Jewish tradition required

that the month before, it would take a whole

month of preparation to get ready for this one

event. This is once a year celebration to remember

your redemption. How God redeemed you as a person.

How he redeemed a nation. Freedom from bondage

and slavery. by god over pharaoh in egypt that's

what it was looking backwards over the time when

god made them into something big and and he said

i want you to celebrate this every year and i

think this is really important it's really important

for you and i to have our eyes off of our current

situation and looking back to what god has done

and he says i want you to do that but i want

you to remember how i rescued you as a people

and so people would come from from all over Jerusalem.

It estimates, now you just, I was trying to think

of, how do I put this into perspective? Think

about Seward. You ever been to Seward? Can you

imagine a million people converging? Now, I know

the 4th of July is a pretty big event at Seward,

but Jerusalem is not a big community. It's probably

similar to the size. A million people will come

from outside into this one place. And the first

place you would go to was at the center of the

town, which was the temple. The temple was the

place where God dwelt. And so they would all

come like a pilgrimage for an entire week and

celebrate. But the first place you would go would

be... to the place where God dwelt. And there

was where you got to meet with God. And it was

the holy place. It was the center of their worship.

The most important place on earth. And when you

would come to the temple, you would start off

by paying your taxes and getting, bringing, either

you would bring a sacrifice or you would buy

a sacrifice because then the sacrifice was kind

of the center point, right? You and God were

going to get right with each other. This is before

Jesus became our lamb. And so they would come,

and the sacrificial system that God had put in

place would require that you would bring this

unblemished animal, like a baby lamb. Not a baby,

but a one -year -old lamb. Perfect. It's your

best. You only brought your best. Or you would,

if you were coming from a long ways, you would...

bring money to buy the very best. And then that

very best, you would take that lamb, and that

lamb would become your representative. It would

represent you. And upon that lamb, all of your

sin would be laid. Everything. Everything in

those dark thoughts of your brain, all the things,

deeds you've done, all that sin would be laid

upon that lamb. And it's graphic. This would

be happening over and over and over. And they

would take that lamb and they'd slit its throat.

And out of its throat would flow blood. And it

was a representation of the payment for your

sin. And it was meant to leave an impression

that it costs something. Your sin costs something.

It's that lamb would have to pay. the price for

your sin, for my sin. Everybody held the deal

with God on a very personal level. Heavy, but

also it was a picture forward of the celebration

of what God had done, that he had made a way

for them to be made right. And the Passover was

a very holy, very sacred event that focused on

the worship of God, our Redeemer. Okay. So when

Jesus comes to Jerusalem, he's doing exactly

the same. Where does he go first? To the temple.

That's where everybody went first. And then they

would celebrate. So Jesus goes to the temple,

and this is what he finds. Look at verse 14.

And in the temple, he found people selling oxen,

sheep, and doves. And he also found the money

changers sitting there. Now, this seems weird,

because it is. Here's the problem. When Jesus

arrives, the temple doesn't look like a place

of worship, a place where God dwells. It looks

like a business or a market. And it's not that

these things, we won't even go into the fact

that there was, yeah, there's probably, they

were skimming off the top. It's really the place

at first. Because... There was a system for you.

You were traveling from a long ways. You brought

your money. You had to first take Roman money

and turn it into Jewish currency. And there was

a whole lot of things that went on with that.

And Jesus is not confronting that. But you had

to buy the sacrifice. But it's inside the temple.

Inside the temple, he finds the money changers.

He finds that they're using The system that God

had put in for his worship to defraud God's people.

Uh -oh. See, God had put a system in place and

they had moved away from that. And there are

a few things that we see going on here. from

the other gospels, because the gospels address

this. Some people think this event is the same

as the end of the gospel. Others think there's

two different clearings of the temple. I actually

kind of lean that way, thinking that he's done

it twice because there's some differences. Either

way, it doesn't matter. It's the same kind of

approach. But here's what we know. Number one,

that Jesus sees self -centered worshipers. He

walks in and goes, what is going on in the house?

Matthew chapter 21 verse 13 says, he said to

Matthew 21:13

them, it is written, my house shall be a house

of prayer. But you're making it a den of thieves.

See, it's not that Jesus is anti -business or

anti -making money. It's the fact that they were

taking advantage of the system for their own

gain. Who was front and center? They were. And

that really bothers Jesus. And the second thing

we see is it's also where they were conducting

business. They were in the court of the Gentiles.

Now, the temple is different. Like in the outer

court is where the Gentiles could come in. If

you're Jewish, you can go to the inner courts.

But the Gentiles, that's where they would come

to meet God. And where did they set up shop?

It was in that outer court. Livestock. money

changers, everything, business was there. No

longer a place for the Gentiles to come and to

worship God. And it had made a place of worship,

a place of commerce. And the focus was not on

God anymore, it was on themselves. And you know,

I was really kind of thinking, this is how it

goes with my life. I don't... One day you decide,

I have no more God. I just want to focus on Caleb.

It's a drift, isn't it? You just kind of drift.

And before you know it, you're focusing again

back on yourself and not on God. And so the shift

had happened. Think about who Jesus is as you

look at this next part. John tells us really

importantly in chapter 1 who Jesus is. And now

think about that as we read this verse 15. So

Jesus goes in, he sees this situation, the setting.

He says, after this, making a whip out of cords,

he drove everyone out of the temple with their

sheep and their oxen. He also poured over the

money -changing coins and overturned their tables.

He told those who were selling doves, get these

things out of here. Stop turning my house, my

father's house, into a marketplace. Okay, can

you picture this scene? You've got to use your

imagination in this scene. Jesus is red -hot

with anger. He's red -hot with anger. There's

nothing gentle about this Jesus. He reaches down.

He sees what's going on. He reaches down. Somehow

he weaves together. And there's all sorts of

theories about this. Here's the point. He makes

a whip. And he knows how to use it. So he quickly

puts this together. And you can just kind of

picture this scene where the whip begins to crack

and the livestock go crazy and the tables are

being flipped over. And many go... things are

going all over the floor and the chaos is in

there and he's driving people out. Jesus goes

fight club on the temple, in the temple. I mean,

this is one of the coolest, at least for me,

it's one of the coolest scenes of what I think

of Jesus. Now let me ask you a question. What

do you think about this Jesus? This is not your

normal picture of Jesus. Flowing robes and blonde

hair. Whatever painting you have the image of

Jesus. What do you think when you think about

this image of Jesus? What do you think? Huh?

Strong. Yeah. Don't mess with him. Fierce. Does

this kind of shatter your little view of Jesus?

I think in a North American church, we don't

generally think of Jesus this way. This might

just shatter. I mean, Jesus is, don't get me

wrong, he is gentle and loving. He's caring and

compassionate. But he's not really domesticated.

This is a different view of Jesus. What causes

Jesus to have this righteous anger? It was the

religious irreverence of the Jews. toward God

the Father. It bothered him. It angered him.

See, to glorify God is to make sure that he was

the center of your life. That he is the most

weighty thing in your life. And that was the

purpose of the temple. To say, God, you are at

the center of my life. you are what's at the

center of our community you're the center of

how i make decisions god you get all the glory

you know what glory means weight heavy it's it's

the weightiest thing in your life and he says

you guys are not doing that and that just bothers

jesus one of the commentators said this there's

Therefore, the sin of the money changers and

the religious authorities lay in the fact that

while they would loudly proclaim the holiness

and otherness of God, like they're good at giving

it nice words. That's what he says. They deny

it in practice. See, our Lord's whip deposes

everything that distracts from the communication

of God's glory, especially in worship. Another

way of saying this is, what really got after

Jesus? was that they were given lip service to

Jesus, but really, they were putting themselves

at the center. So, and I think what's going on

with them is that their view of God got smaller.

And their view of their agendas got bigger. It

was about them having a small view of God, that

this is, it was about, deflating God and his

ways and inflating you and your ways, this makes

Jesus angry. Okay. Let me not like to talk about

Jesus this way. This is what's here. It's right

in God's word. This is how he operates. The ultimate

source of Jesus' anger, though, before you get

thinking like he's ticked off, his ultimate source

of his anger? was love. A love for God. Many

times our anger is driven from, because when

we get angry, it's because it's driven from a

love for ourselves. Isn't it? Fighting in your

marriage, fighting in your workplace, not getting

along with each other, that's because we're selfish.

What bothers Jesus, what makes Jesus angry, This

is love for God. That's a different kind of anger.

So as the disciples were watching all of this

happen, and the Spirit brought Psalm 69, verse

Psalms 69:9

9, to their minds of one of them. And it says

this in verse 17. And his disciples remembered

that it was written, zeal for your house will

consume me. And they're like, ah, I've seen this

about Jesus. Heard about this. Zeal. See, the

Greek word for consume means to be eaten up.

The Hebrew word for it is in a flame. So Jesus

is consumed with this zeal for the glory of God

in his house. He's just eaten up. He's just overtaken

because the glory of God is that big a deal.

Jesus was consumed. The zeal for the glory of

God. Now the Jewish leaders now in their selfishness

confront Jesus. Let's just look at verse 18.

So the Jews replied to him, what sign will you

show us for doing these things? This is almost

comical if you start to understand. What did

they ask you? What sign? Give us a sign. Like,

you know, they want to know, like, really, whose

authority do you have to do all this stuff? And

they demanded that Jesus justify himself. Now,

their question really ignores whether Jesus was

just in doing it. Now, who was supposed to take

care of the temple? Religious leaders. Whose

job was it to make sure that that outer court

was there to give glory to God in the inner courts?

Who was it? It was their job. And so, they're

not asking the question, hmm, oh yeah, you're

right. They don't do any self -examination. They're

not saying, no, maybe he was justified in what

he just did. Oh, that's right. We're not supposed

to have stuff going on in here. No. Their authority,

their authority is being challenged by Jesus

and his authority. And their response was not

humility. It was to justify it, right? So Jesus

offers, so what Jesus says, he's so, this is

so funny to me. Look what he says, he says, I'll

offer you a sign. Let's do this, all right? Jesus

answered, destroy this temple and I'll raise

it up in three days. Can you just imagine their

faces when he says that? Just, just temple, just

destroy it. I'll show you. Like, really? Therefore,

the Jews said, this temple took 46 years to build,

and you will raise it up in three days? Jesus

is saying, how bad do you want a sign? Knock

down your temple, and I'll rebuild it. See, Jewish

leaders had already missed the sign, though.

But the disciples got it. That's what's unique

about that verse in front. His disciples see

that the sign is the zeal is authority for the

zeal, for the house. And they've missed it. So

Jesus challenges the religious leader in this

cryptic fashion. He says, here's what Jesus is.

And then John tells us, thankfully, what this

is all about. Even the disciples at this point

don't get it. Obviously, the Jewish leaders don't

get it. Look at verse 21. But he was speaking

about the temple of his body. So when he was

raised from the dead, his disciples remembered

that he had said this. And they believed the

scriptures and the statements Jesus had made.

They went, oh. Remember when he popped off and

made this sarcastic remark to the Jewish leaders

about, I need to tear down your temple. He's

actually referring about himself. He's talking

like this is me. I'm the temple. John said, we

didn't get it at first. But now we realize he

was referring to his body. Now two things about

the temple and Jesus' body. Number one is this.

The temple is where God meets man. God meets

man. jesus is god and through him god has come

to man in a new and unique way and he's just

foreshadowing like yeah the temple that's me

you're gonna you're gonna tear me down john john

John 1:14

chapter 1 verse 14 which we've already read the

word became flesh and dwelt among us and we observed

his glory the glory of the one and only son from

the father full of grace and truth So the temple

is the place that God meets with us. And who

is that temple now? It's Jesus. Second thing

is the temple was where sacrifices for sin was

offered to God. And Jesus, in this situation,

says, I am the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifice

offered once and for all for all the sins of

the whole world. John chapter 1, verse 29, the

John 1:29

next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and

said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the

sin of the world. See, the sign was that after

the Jewish leaders had turned, torn down his

body, he would raise up in three days. He says,

I am that now. The resurrection of Jesus is the

ultimate sign of his authority. What they were

asking is, what authority do you have to tear

down the temple? He says, I am the authority.

And you're going to tear me down, and I'm going

to rise again. I am the authority. So being a

Christian means two, you claim two really big

things about Jesus. Number one, he is your savior.

That he's your savior. That he is the lamb of

God upon which all of our sins are put upon.

Your sin, my sin, is all was placed upon his

back. And he went to the cross. His blood was

shed. It's like that lamb. He did it for you.

He is your savior. That's what it means to say

Jesus is my savior. It means I was a mess. Before

Jesus. I was going straight to the pit of hell

because of my sin. Because of Jesus, my rescuer,

my redeemer. Because of what Jesus did, he passed

over. He made a way for me to know the God of

the universe. He's your savior. And then we say

that he is your Lord. When we do baptism, we

ask this question like, Who is Jesus to you?

Well, he's my Savior. And then we say, he is

my Lord. And this means that he is the authority

of your life. See, we like the first one, don't

we? We like the fact that Jesus is our Savior.

But the Lord one is a lot harder when we really

dig into it. Because it means that he's the authority

of my life. Whatever is the authority in your

life becomes our... priority. Whatever is authority

in your life becomes our priority. That's what

it means to make Jesus Lord of your life. Doesn't

mean you're perfect at it. Doesn't mean you struggle

with it and fall away from it. It just means

that that is what is at the center. That's the

first place you go is to the authority. And you

humbly look and say, I got some work to do. I've

moved Jesus out of being the authority of my

life. I want to be in the authority. And the

question I have been, I want to leave with you

is the question I've been asking myself all week.

I think it's one of the most important questions,

whether you are a Christian or you're not yet.

Is Jesus the authority in your life? Is Jesus

and his ways, his goodness, good news, his way

of operating, is it the authority in our life?

Or have we allowed other things to creep in?

We just allowed them to come in because they

make us very good. And honestly, like, I always

say this, guys, that I don't feel like I can

get up here and preach this unless it's working

me first. So this is the question I have to ask

because, you know, if I'm really honest, I love

Jesus as my Savior. But I don't always like him

as my authority. And that's where the day -by

-day surrendering to the Lord really matters.

Because I'm surrendering to him as authority.

I'm surrendering to him is where I find... my

put, my hope. Because what gets in the way is

me and my brokenness. And I think one of the

reasons we celebrate communion, why God says,

Jesus has put this in place for us, is that we

need to reset our attention on Jesus as our authority.

We're really good at justifying our sin. We're

really good. And he says, you see what I did

for your sin? I went to the cross. I laid my

body down. I became your sacrifice. I was the

one whose blood was shed for you. But I want

you to make me your authority. That's... Because

that's what is right. That's what works. I was

talking with my friend on the drive back last

night. And we were driving in my truck and I

said, you know, talking about seeing our lives

go a different direction than the brokenness

that you grew up in or whatever. And saying,

I want to go different. I want to make a different

path. And I said, you know, I'm driving my Toyota

Tundra. And I said, you know, the person that

knows this Toyota Tundra the best is the one

who made it. I don't know it very well. I just

drive it. I think it would make sense I went

to the one who made it if I really want to know

about it. And Jesus says, I am that authority

in your life. I am the one that knows all about

it. I know you. I know what's best for you. See,

one of the things about, and I'll close with

this, our life as a church, our life as individuals,

needs to be marked by repentance on a regular

basis. What I mean by that is, you acknowledge

your sin, you don't just keep hanging on to it.

You know it's not the best. But I'd rather just

a lyric because it's convenient. It makes sense

mentally to me. But repentance is saying, I see

this way of doing it. I know that I'm not letting

God be authority in my life, that I'm putting

and choosing something else. By the way, where

does that take us? That takes us all the way

back to Genesis, doesn't it? Genesis 3, God said,

don't do this. And we went, ah, but we know better.

But repentance is taking that thing, that sin.

This is what the Pharisees. This is what the

religious leader should have done. They went,

oh, you're right. We have made this place not

what it's supposed to be. And so repentance is

saying, first of all, here's my sin, and I lay

it at your feet, Jesus, and I turn, and I put

my focus, my energy, and my direction on my Savior

as Lord of my life, and I move this way from

it. Friends, this is a daily process for a lot

of us. It is for me. There's a thought goes across

my head that's not right. Okay, my lady, I give

that back to you. I run to the one who is the

authority. We are sinners, but we have been saved

by grace. And we have been saved to give our

attention and our affection to the one who deserves

our authority. Be our authority. This is what

the Jewish leader should have done. Instead,

they hung on to that and eventually crucified

Jesus. So, this morning as the band comes up,

it's simple to me. Where I have to go, where

I think we need to go as a church, and that is

just to search our hearts and say, you can come

up. To search our hearts and to say, like, okay,

what areas is Jesus not the authority in my life?

How can I surrender that to him? Nothing complicated,

nothing magical, emotional here. It's just you

and God, and that's where it starts with me and

you. And we say, as your children, as followers

of Jesus, I know I need to go back to that. So,

if there's sin in your life, right where you

sit, just go get real with it. And say, God,

here it is. And then turn. Don't just keep living

in that sin. Move away from it. And move to Jesus.

Let's pray. We acknowledge this morning, Jesus,

that you are the authority. That you're not only

our Savior, but you are our Lord. And it's only

because of you that we can even approach our

Heavenly Father. And it's because of what you've

done that we can enter in to that intimate relationship

with our God. But we know that our sin and our

selfishness and our self -worship just drives

that away. And so today as we sit here and we...

We begin to lift our voices. Will you help us

identify those areas in our life where we need

to lay them down in repentance and say, Jesus,

I want you because you died for me. Because you

paid the price for me. You are my lamb. Your

body was broken and your blood was shed for me.

And so I lay that down and give it to you and

I pick you up. Today again. As the ultimate authority.

In my life. Amen.