BRINGING IS OUR JOY | PASTOR LUKE LEZON

it is great to see you and to be here

with you all this morning I am so

grateful that we are gathered together

in this house and I'm grateful for a

number of different reasons but one of

the main ones is that uh we are finding

ourselves continuing in this collection

of conversations that we've been in over

the course of the past several weeks

that we have been calling the

Renaissance and the Renaissance is a

collection it's a discussion that is

fixated and focused on the idea of

Revival and revitalization that is

happening not just within one individual

but we believe that we're seeing that

happening within a group of individuals

or within our church in a really

powerful way and so I've mentioned

before that I've stolen this title from

a period of time in human history where

we saw revital and revitalization uh

taking place that we saw that there were

things happening in art in literature uh

in science and even in the church that

ended up shaping the culture of Europe

between the 14th and the 16th centuries

but more predominantly for us what we've

also come to recognize is that the

actual definition of a Renaissance is

Revival or renewed interest in something

and we believe that we are seeing

Revival and renewed interest in what God

is doing throughout the world in his

church in a remarkable way and this is

starting to hit every secular news

source imaginable I even saw an article

this week that said that the next

generation is half as likely as their

parents' generation to claim that they

are atheists that we see that God is

moving moving in a remarkable way and we

believe specifically that we're seeing

incredible things happening here in this

place and so uh as we've been journeying

through this collection I've mentioned

multiple times that we are uh

transitioning the church's name from

LifeBridge Church to key Church

officially on September the 7th and

there's a lot of fun things that will

coincide with that but what we wanted to

make sure of is that we also take seven

weeks to go through seven subsequent

values that line with who it is that we

Bel believe the Lord is leading us to

become and so the first thing is that

Jesus is our purpose yes Jesus is our

purpose that belonging is our heart that

stewardship is our responsibility that

Excellence is our standard that passion

is our posture and we have our second to

last one here today before we get to my

favorite one next week and the second to

last one is this that bringing is our

joy bringing is our joy I'm sure that

you have heard uh multiple times

whenever someone gets up here to do

announcements which is your favorite

part of us Gathering Together uh that we

will mention uh giving and bringing

interchangeably with one another and

there's a reason for that we're not

looking to be difficult we're looking to

be biblical and so what we want to do

today is look at 1 Chronicles CH 29:

10-22 that's where we're going to be

first Chronicles 29: 10-22 as you're

flipping or scrolling there let me uh

say something something here a couple

weeks ago we talked about how

stewardship is our responsibility I

mentioned multiple times but I still

think the way that we associate

stewardship with finances that it is

imperative that I say to us here today

that stewardship is not just about the

way that you Steward your finances but

it's the way that you Steward your life

and so today we are finding ourselves

not going back to a conversation that

we've already had but rather we're going

to have a conversation that we have not

yet had that is a little bit more spefic

specifically attached to money but it's

not about money in and of itself and

you're going to notice that as we allow

the word to do the work here today and

so 1 Chronicles 29: 10-22 y'all ready

for the word we have a lot of scripture

to get through today and so let's read

it says this then David blessed the Lord

in the sight of all the assembly and

David said may you be blessed Lord God

of our father Israel from eternity to

Eternity yours Lord is the greatness and

the power and the glory and the Splendor

and the Majesty for everything in the

heavens and on Earth belongs to you

yours Lord is the kingdom and you are

exalted as head over all riches and

honor come from you and you are the

ruler of everything power and might are

in your hand and it is in your hand to

make great and to give strength to all

now therefore Our God we give you thanks

and praise your glorious name but who am

I and who are my people that we should

be able to give as generously as this

for everything comes from you and we we

have given you only what comes from your

own hand for we are aliens and temporary

residents in your presence as were all

our ancestors our days on Earth are like

a shadow without hope Lord Our God all

this wealth that we've provided for

building you a house for your holy name

comes from your hand everything belongs

to you I know my God that you test the

heart and that you are pleased with what

is right I have willingly given all

these things with an upright heart and

now I have seen your people who are

present here giving joyfully and

willingly to you Lord God of Abraham

Isaac and Israel our ancestors keep this

desire forever in the thoughts of the

hearts of your people and confirm their

hearts toward you give my son Solomon an

undivided heart to keep and to carry out

all of your commands your decrees and

your statutes and to build the building

for which I have made provision then

David said to the whole assembly blessed

be the Lord your God so the whole

assembly praised the Lord of their

ancestors

and they knelt low and paid homage to

the Lord and the King following day they

offered sacrifices to the Lord and burnt

offerings to the Lord a thousand bowls a

thousand Rams a thousand Lambs along

with their drink offerings and

sacrifices in abundance for all Israel

they ate and drank with great joy in the

Lord's presence that

day Lord thank you that we have the

opportunity to gather here and Lord

sometimes we find ourselves uh

navigating uh um a verse of scripture

and pulling things together in a

remarkable way that only your word can

do like we did last week and then Lord

sometimes we find ourselves uh engaging

in long form Narrative of what it is

that you've laid out for us in your word

and every time it ends up doing

something to us but there's something

about spending time in your word Lord

that just lifts anxieties and that ends

up opening up the lid of our hearts to

receive the truth of what have to say

and so Lord today would we find

ourselves with joy opening up your word

and being fully prepared to hear

whatever it is that you would have us

here that we might live our lives in a

way that is glorifying to your name and

that your Renown would go all throughout

the Earth that people might come to know

you and rever you and love you as the

Lord their God even if currently they do

not do that Lord I ask today that we

would just walk out of here looking just

a little bit more like you Lord we love

you we praise you and we thank you we

ask these things in Jesus name

amen well on December the 19th uh

1843 uh Charles Dickens ended up

publishing a well-known and beloved

novel that is still celebrated to this

day called A Christmas Carol anybody in

here big Christmas Carol people at least

one person is a big Christmas Carol fan

all right uh and the rest of you are

Scrooge and so uh what we see though is

that uh this is a story that is well

known and beloved but what we also know

is that the main character in the story

is a man named Ebenezer Scrooge and he

is a hard-hearted old Miser who finds

himself in business with a partner named

Jacob Marley now Ebenezer Scrooge

becomes the sole owner of the business

after Jacob Marley ends up tragically

passing away and what we see is that

Scrooge continues to be a miserable man

who despises Christmas and mocks those

who seek to help out those

who are poor they even have an employee

that Scrooge kind of has his thumb on

and that he's poorly paid and that he's

treated in unbelievably poor fashion and

so we see that his dead business partner

Jacob Marley his ghost will come and

meet with Ebenezer Scrooge to warn him

he receives this chilling visitation and

this warning that is coming to him from

the ghost of his dead partner and even

Scrooge as he looks at the ghost of

Jacob Marley recognizes that he's

particularly Haggard and palad that he

seems to be living out a punishment as a

result of having been greedy and

self-serving all throughout his life

he's wandering to and fro throughout the

Earth weighed down by these chains that

he is carrying and now we see that Jacob

Marley has come to warn his former

business partner Ebenezer Scrooge that

he too will suffer the same fate unless

he changes his ways and he tells him you

will be visited over the course of the

next three nights by three Spirits or

ghosts that will speak more to you how

fun and so we see that Ebenezer Scrooge

is first visited by the Ghost of

Christmas Past and the Ghost of

Christmas Past brings him through all of

his childhood memories and as he finds

himself navigating these memories he's

like man at one point in my life I

really did love Christmas I really did

love this season and enjoy it he ends up

being shown his childhood days even when

he was in school and the crafts and the

things that they would do and that he

enjoyed that as well there seemed to be

something different in him when he went

back in his life but then it fast

forward through his adolescence and into

his young adulthood as he's becoming a

man and he remembers that at one point

he was engaged to a beautiful young

woman named Bell but she ended up

breaking off their engagement when she

realized that his lust for money ended

up superseding his love for other people

and he shed real tears over his own

avarest his failure to live a generous

life and so he realizes that there is

not only a generosity piece that's

missing in his life but that generosity

had him miss out on love that he has

missed so badly throughout his life and

so we see that the next night he'll be

visited by the Ghost of Christmas

present and the Ghost of Christmas

present will find itself escorting him

all throughout the town of London and as

he's going through London Ebenezer

Scrooge is noticing that people that are

of significantly less financial means

have significantly more joy during this

Christmas season than he and he's

confused by that and not only does he

see this happening with a bunch of

people that he doesn't know but what

ends up happening is that he ends up

running into to someone that he does

know as he's able to look upon the

family of Bob cratchet Bob cratchet his

employee that he doesn't treat very well

he notices that he's preparing this

meager Christmas Feast for his family

but they're still filled with all of

this Joy he notices that Bob cratchet

has a young son named Tiny Tim who's

crippled and that he's still courageous

and humble and kind that he is living

his life in a way that looks more

reflective of joy and generosity even

given his circumstances then we see that

Scrooge is himself and so he sheds real

tears over the Brokenness that he feels

at this reality and he notices then that

before the Ghost of Christmas present

leaves he is shown two starved children

named ignorance and want and then he

vanishes to be left the following night

with the final ghost that will visit him

the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and

when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

visits him he escorts him into the

future where there are these mysterious

scenes and circumstances around an

unnamed man's death and as he's hearing

about this man he's confused it doesn't

seem like anyone's mourned him or missed

him he hears that there are these

businessmen that are talking about how

they're going to divvy up the assets of

this man who has died because he didn't

have anyone to leave anything to he

notices that there's a couple that is

relieved at the death of their

unforgiving creditor who can no long

seek to collect from them and he begs

the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come who

is this man I want to know who he is and

so the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

come escorts him into a churchard a

graveyard and points to a tombstone and

as he looks at the tombstone he sees his

own name and it says Ebenezer Scrooge he

realizes that he's the dead man and he

panics he he begs for some time to

change his life he he's begging for a

way to be able to make amends to make

some kind of restitution I don't want my

life to be like this even on my worst

day I didn't intend for things to be

like this please give me some time to

change he renounces his insensitive and

avaricious lifestyle and finds himself

in a place where he is just begging for

one more chance and so he wakes up the

next morning on Christmas morning and

making sure he's alive and he's filled

with delight and gratitude that he is

alive and well and he goes out and finds

himself making amends for all of these

things that he has missed out in his

life that he is generous that he's

giving to the community out of the joy

in his heart that he's doing things that

he had never done with all that he had

been given in his life and as a result

he goes from being the kudan to the man

who all of a sudden is well-known and

beloved and what's crazy is he only made

one minor adjustment one minor

adjustment but it ended up being a

radical shift he came to recognize

through all of these different

visitations and through all of these

kind of weird situations that he

encountered that actually all of this

wealth that he had been hoarding at one

point he felt like it was his possession

but a subtle shift ended up happening

that helped him understand understand it

is in my possession but it is not my

possession it's been entrusted to me but

I can joyfully give back in a way to

where I can use my gifts talents and

abilities to create wealth and I can

actually use it for a purpose that is

infinitely greater than anything that I

had done before and so we see that he

ends up making amends with the cratchet

he ends up giving in a great way to the

community and he establishes a new

relationship with wealth where he

realizes that giving is not lost but

rather it's gaining a purpose for all

that you've been gifted to do and I say

that to you because what we see is that

King David is demonstrating something

remarkably similar to us here in this

text now let me be perfectly clear about

what we're talking about and what we're

not talking about here today I have zero

intention of talking to you about your

financial stewardship today I have no

problem stamping on your Idols at all

but I'm not here to talk about financial

stewardship today we do that twice a

year in a collection called two infinity

and beyond and that's in November so we

have a while I have no intention I'm not

going to tell you the date so that you

skip but I will tell you uh I have no

intention of talking about financial

stewardship today genuinely and some of

you think I'm being disingenuous because

you're like well uh the text and the

illustration seems like it it does talk

about that but here's the truth of the

matter I'm not interested in talking to

you about what to give or how to give

but but more talking about why it is

that we do and who it is that we give to

and and the truth of the matter is I'm

not going to talk to you about money

itself but the mentality around it and

the way that we feel like the Lord has

led us to be a people of generosity and

and so uh you're looking at me like I

don't believe you it feels like this is

like a a preacher thing and it's not

we'll let the word do the work and

you'll see it here as we unpack it in

its totality right great and so what you

see is that in 1 Chronicles 29: 10-22 it

opened up and you have no idea what's

going on right uh we we jumped into that

thing and it's like I have legitimately

no clue what's going on here uh it

started with the word then which means

that there's some context that we're

missing and so here is a preacher thing

I did to you I duped you and we're going

to go through the entire chapter

together but if I read one through 22

some of you would get up and leave so I

just did 10 through 22 so now you're

getting more Bible congratulations if

you leave that's a problem so um you

won't be welcome back I'm

kidding right and so uh what we see here

is that we need to go back to verses 1 9

in order to make sense of what it is

that's actually being said here and

what's interesting is that King David

has reached a rather interesting time in

his life he's reached a new age and

stage of his life uh where things are

getting weird uh he he's slowing down a

little bit in what he used to be able to

do he's been on the throne of Israel for

40 years he's 70 years of age and he's

in a position now to where he is about

to see his son Solomon end up ascending

the throne because he's in line for

kingship and what we see though is that

all throughout David's life he has been

a man that has wanted to build a house a

temple for the Lord and yet what we see

is that David finds himself in this

place repeatedly because he feels bad

about the fact that he lives in this

lavish Palace and yet the Ark of the

Covenant is in a tent somewhere he wants

to bring them back to the way that

things were with their ancestors a

beautiful portable Tabernacle had been

escorting the Ark of the Covenant

through the Wilderness and through their

journeying it was ornate it was

intricate it was the best of the best

that there could be that housed the Ark

of the Covenant where God would dwell

among the people but that's no longer

the case he has sought to build a house

and yet the Lord would not allow him to

in 1 Chronicles 17:4 the Lord says you

1 Chronicles 17:4

are not the one to build me a house to

dwell in and so you go to 1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 22:8

22:8 and the Lord would say a little bit

more specifically because you have shed

much blood and waged great Wars he said

said in verse 10 your son is the one who

will build a house for my name and so

you look at verse one and it says that

King David said to all the assembly

which is really the leaders in the

nation of Israel it says King David said

to all the assembly my son Solomon God

has chosen him alone is Young and

inexperienced the task is great because

the building will not be built for a

human but for the Lord God now that's

interesting that you see that there is

this young guy that's about to take on a

POS position that people tend to think

should be reserved for people that are

older and people think he might be young

and inexperienced and can he do it well

can't relate but I would imagine there's

some complications that come with that

and so uh what we see here I don't know

why that's funny I'm in my 50s but what

we see

here is you notice King David's crowning

him he says you're up this you bro he

he's giving him not only the crown he's

saying this is the scepter to lead the

nation of Israel you are up this is your

job now and he says most importantly

you're being entrusted with building the

house of God what you see is that after

Solomon's Reign for all of the things

that Solomon does being the richest dude

in the world like ends up seeing all

these different queens and doing all

these different things and has too many

children with too many people you see

that all of these things happen over the

course of his time but what ends up

happening and being his crowning

achievement as king is that he actually

builds the temple for the Lord God God

and so what we see is that it's

remarkable because David's giving him

this responsibility and he's

20 and some Jewish Scholars say no no no

he's not 20 he's between 12 and 14 years

old and I say who cares 12 to 20 can we

agree is is is a relatively young age to

become king of a Nation

right I think we all would be like

that's interesting right and so what we

see though is that David says I I didn't

I didn't pick him

did you notice that I didn't I didn't

choose

him David says something interesting

about Solomon becoming the king he says

God has chosen him alone that's a weird

choice to pick Solomon it's a super

weird choice to be the one who's going

to ascend the throne and you say why and

I say great question for this reason

because it's weird that he's not the

oldest male that was born to David he's

not even not the oldest male that was

born to David but rather what's

interesting is that he's the son of bath

Sheba and so it's like David is saying

to the nation hey guys the son of my

greatest sin is going to ascend the

throne how do we feel about that we feel

good about that uh you guys remember my

sexual sin and my abusive power and my

super terrible weakness you remember

that remember when I put her husband on

the front lines hoping he died he did

and so guess what I ended up taking her

for me y'all remember that our son is

going to be king is't that great is't

that great guys and people are probably

like I don't know like I don't I don't

think

so what's important about that it's

important for this

reason God doesn't need human approval

to pick someone to fulfill his

assignments God loves to pick the things

that don't make sense to us to shame

those who think that they're wise and he

says you're up this is the one that God

has chosen and what's interesting is as

you keep moving through this text you'll

notice that it continually ends up

showing us though that there's

remarkable Unity here it says in verses

1 and two my son Solomon God chose him

alone is Young and inexperienced the

task is great because the building will

not be built for human but for the Lord

God watch

this so to the best of my

ability I've made

provision do like to the best of my

ability

I've made provision for the house of my

god do you notice the generational

operational Unity that's happening in

this

moment that we see King David is saying

hey King Solomon is up next but you got

to know that we have got to work

together to see the lord's name and

Renown go throughout the earth I think

one of the biggest lies that's killing

Kingdom mission is you see constantly

Generations Waring with one another

rather than running together it doesn't

make sense to me like like do you notice

that you see David is saying I'm going

to bring a couple things to the table

here and I need you to bring some things

too and what does he say I'm going to

bring resource and wisdom I'm going to

bring money and I'm GNA pay your dumb

tax I am going to help you avoid

pitfalls that you have fallen in and I'm

going to give you the resources that you

don't have yourself can I get a witness

parents do you know what I'm talking

talking about but what we see here is

that he insinuating as well but son you

got to bring something too you better

bring energy and effort you better get

out of mom's basement you better do

something someone in here Testify the

greatest act of God in your life was not

that he split the Red Sea for you it's

that your kid got a job and so you are

thrilled by

this he says stop being a millennial man

like let's go I'm gonna pave the road

will you just drive the car I gave you

down it that's what I need from

you and Solomon's like I guess so and

he's like don't give up when it hurts

like just do

it there's operational Unity here I did

say this the other day to someone it is

fascinating to me that in churches worse

than anywhere else we will give to the

things where we feel like they are

ministering to our

children we will give to the things

where we feel like oh that coach is poor

bring in our kid and that that soccer

team really changed their life and do

they need help they need someone to

volunteer do they need money they need

any of those things but for whatever in

churches we're like why isn't it about

me what we see is David says no no

no there's something that God's doing

here and it threads through multiple

Generations we are committed to planting

trees we will never sit under the shade

of and so we see here that it says to

the best of my ability I've made

provision for the house of my God gold

for the gold AR article silver for the

silver bronze for the bronze iron for

the iron wood for the wood as well as

onx stones for mounting antimony stones

of various colors all kind of precious

stones and a great quantity of marble

moreover because of my delight in the

house of my God I now give my personal

Treasures of gold and silver for the

house of my God over and above all that

I have provided for the holy house he

says I've delighted in the house of God

I'm going to donate to it he says I have

found myself in the presence of the Lord

my God there is nothing too personal

that could be asked of me to give back

to him and so we see that he keeps going

and it gets kind of funny because nobody

says hey David what are you going to

give David's just like let me tell you

what I'm going to give he says 100 tons

of gold 250 tons of refined silver for

the overlaying of the walls of the

buildings gold for the gold work silver

for the silver for all the work to be

done by the Craftsman now who will

volunteer to consecrate himself to the

Lord today I love this David's like I'm

going to give something and he's like

and let me he's not we'll see that as we

continue rather What's Happening Here is

David understands something back then

that's still true today that to be

generous is contagious it's

contagious but he does something

interesting and are willing to

consecrate themselves to the Lord that's

interesting he he does something where

he talks about donation but he puts it

on the same line as consecration he says

that you're going to make a contribution

but your word literally means to incite

or impel out a devotion it's an action

that is moved because of love and

devotion he he's saying to the people

I'm going to go first and he says I want

you to know that as I go first that I'm

doing so with the correct motivation

that my motivation behind this

contributions my devotion to the Lord

that I've been in his presence I've

delighted in his house that this is the

reason that I'm giving all I can to him

and so we see moving on from there that

now he says but now we need to

consecrate

ourselves which is what you would do for

ordination into the priesthood like

that's that's an interesting thing to

say there but it really just means that

you live open-handed with your hands

lifted to the father rather than living

with closed fists that's what he's

advocating for but he's demonstrating it

first and you see in verse six that it

starts to get contagious among the

people then the leaders of the

households and the leaders of the tribes

of Israel the commanders of thousands

and of hundreds and the officials in

charge of the king's work gave willingly

it says for the service of God's house

they gave 185 tons of gold 10,000 gold

coins 375 tons of silver 675 tons of

bronze 4,000 tons of iron whoever had

precious stones gave them to the

treasury of the Lord's House under the

care of Jil the ganite and the people

rejoiced because of their leader

willingness to give for they had given

to the Lord wholeheartedly not out of

compulsion but out of devotion anything

that is given that is going to rob you

of the joy of giving it's not worth

giving is it something that you can do

willingly and joyfully says they gave

with their whole heart there's nothing

held back and David is going to do

something interesting he's going to go

first but then what we see is he's going

to help them realize that we're doing

this because we have to remember who God

is it says in verse 10 then David

blessed the Lord in the sight of all the

assembly and David said may you be

blessed Lord God of our father Israel

from eternity to Eternity I I think we

all have an understanding of what it

looks like when God blesses us at least

we have a hope associated with what it

looks like when God blesses us but what

does it mean to bless God uh it's

interesting that you see that term

primarily in the Old Testament in a

remarkable amount throughout the Psalms

but what we see is that it really just

means to praise the Lord which is a

little bit more familiar with us in

Hebrew the word to bless or to praise it

simply means to kneel and what's implied

there is that you're doing so as an act

of worship and so we see here that King

David is going to provide and then it's

contagious and the people start to

provide and what you'll notice here is

that he's saying that this is something

that we do first and foremost because we

remember who God God is do you notice

how he launches into like what one of

the greatest prayers in all of scripture

I don't know what your prayers look like

this is not reflect mine all the time it

says yours Lord is the greatness and the

power and the glory and the Splendor and

the Majesty everything in the heavens

and on Earth belongs to you yours Lord

is the kingdom you're exalted as head

over all riches and honor come from you

you're the ruler of everything power and

might are in your hand to make great and

give strength to all now therefore our

God we give you thanks and praise your

glorious name he says hey we're going to

give we're going to bring this back to

God but then they break out in a prayer

Gathering there there's a

celebration he he says I'm not just

doing this this isn't just like a

spiritual uh thing that you're just kind

of like I don't know it's just no this

transforms you when you remember who he

is and what he's given David says you

need to remember who God is

I I found that I give most joyfully when

I find myself reflecting on the

generosity of the

giver and I think generous giving

results in generous praise yours

Lord is the kingdom and the power and

the majesty and the Splendor and the

honor and the glory and everything is

yours that it all comes from your own

hand like all all of this belongs to you

you see that he extols who God is and

then people want to get engaged in in

what it is that God does he says you

need to remember who God is it'll help

you recall all that he's done and then

you will rejoice with generosity he says

not only that you remember who God is

you got to remember what God

gives he says in verse 14 so who am I

and who are my people that we should be

able to give as generously as this for

everything comes from you we have given

you only what comes from your hand

who am I and who are

we I actually don't own

anything I'm just bringing back to you

what you already gave to

me we're aliens and temporary residents

in your presence as we're all our

ancestors our days on Earth are like a

shadow without hope Lord Our God all

this wealth that we have provided for

building you a house for your holy name

comes from your hand everything belongs

to you I know my God that you test the

heart and that you're pleased with what

is right I have willingly given all

these things with an upright heart and

now I have seen your people who are

present here giving joyfully and

willingly to you he says it's all from

you and I know that you're going to test

us but we're going to give back to you

because it's not something we owned in

the first place and he says Lord God of

Abraham Isaac and Israel our

ancesters listen to this keep this

desire forever in the thoughts in the

hearts of your people and confirm their

hearts toward you give my son Solomon an

undivided heart to keep and carry out

all your Commandments decrees and

statutes and build the building for

which I have made provision he says

would would the thoughts in the hearts

of your people be generous

forever and will our leaders be faithful

to

you remember who God is remember what

God gives and then remember when God

provides David said to the entire

assembly blessed be the Lord your God so

the whole assembly praised the Lord God

of their ancestors and they knelt low

and paid homage to the Lord and the

King you notice I love that it says here

praise the Lord God of their

ancestors you ever just spent time with

someone who's just been following the

Lord longer than

you and you just listen to them tell

stories I see Ed over here Ed and I got

lunch the other day and I was just like

just just just tell me tell me all that

God has done in your life Ju Just tell

me what does that look

like he just told these stories of

everything that God has

done something bubbles up within you

when you

realize God's been with

them God is with with us he's going to

be with them

too King David is ending an era and

ushering in an area if you keep reading

the chapter King David

dies spoiler

alert and he's ending an era and he's

ushering in an era and what I love is

he's he he's not

panicked he's not doing this out of fear

concerned like what are we going to do

they they dress funny and I don't

understand what they're saying he's just

like no like

like God's been with people before

me he's going to be with his people that

are here now and he'll continue to be

with his people long after

me and so we'll bring back to you you've

never failed

us the following day they offered

sacrifices to the Lord burnt offerings

to the Lord

a thousand bowls Rams and Lambs along

with their drink offerings and

sacrifices in abundance for all Israel

and they ate and drank water Baptists

with great joy in the Lord's presence

that

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day do you realize that in Jesus

Christ God has

revealed who he

is what he

gives and when he provides

who he is gentle and lowly in heart kind

and compassionate Fierce and

loving what he gives

salvation peace Comfort

assurance and when does he provide

always at no

point is there lack from

him to bestow upon his people

people and it's like we sang earlier if

you don't do anything else for me you've

done more than enough but it's out of

his kindness and Grace that you can sing

that knowing but he

will because he loves his

kids I love Hebrews 12 veres 1 and two

it says let us run with endurance the

race that lies before us keeping our

eyes on Jesus the Pioneer and perfector

of our faith for the

joy that lay before him he endured the

cross despising the shame and sat down

at the right hand of the Throne of God

if Jesus Christ could look through the

cross with joy how much more should we

able to bring whatever it is that God

would ask of us back to him and say

you've given it all to have all of me

you own it all anyway there is nothing

that I will withhold from you you are

Christ my king father thank

you that we are here and

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that we're a people

that understand what it's like to

experience the gift of knowing Jesus

Christ as our Lord and savior to know

what it is that he brought us salvation

in His Name Lord let us be a

people that reflect what it is that we

have read and begin to digest in your

word today that says we would give whole

heart ly but with

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joy Lord that we would be a people that

are not looking

at numbers but we're we're looking

at being people that bear more

fruit and that we would demonstrate joy

in all that we do but that we would do

that in the way that we bring back to

you maybe most especially because of the

way that you've given to us Lord we love

you you we praise you and we thank you

we ask this in Jesus name amen

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