The Promise Keeper Part 1 | Promises of Peace with Chris Schlotterbeck

Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

like to connect with HTV, go to htv .church forward

slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

to htv .church forward slash give. And if at

any time you feel called to make a change in

your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

message. All right. So we're jumping into a new

series for the month of July called Promise Keeper.

And we're going to be looking at several promises

that Jesus gave us, spoke to us, handed to us

to receive and to stand on. I want to start by

asking you a very simple question. Why are you

here? Why did you come to HDV today? What are

you hoping for? What do you want God to do in

your life this morning? What do you need God

to do in your life today? See, there's several

different groups of people that gather here today.

Some of you, your life has been radically changed

by the love and grace of God, and you're here

to worship. You're here to connect with Jesus

and to give back. Just being honest, some of

you are here because you feel obligated to be

here. Summer started. You've already missed several

weeks. You have a lot of things to do. Now you're

here out of obligation. You're checking a box.

Hey God, I'm here. I was there. Some of you are

obligated to be here because you were invited

to be here. And you don't want to let someone

down. Maybe you're a teenager. Maybe you're an

adult son or daughter. Others of you, again,

just being honest, you don't want to be here.

You were told that you had to be here. You were

told that your life would be better if you were

a part of a church, a part of a community of

faith. And now begrudgingly, you're sitting here.

You want me to get it done fast. So you can get

out of here and get home wherever home is. Why

did you come here today? What are you hoping

for? What do you want God to do in your life?

See, we all have to realize the answer to that

question is directly related to what God can

and can't do in your life this morning. So I

want to challenge you. No matter why you're here,

Be open to what the Holy Spirit wants to do in

your life. That if you attune a ear, if you open

your heart to receive all that God has for you,

then you could leave here different. You could

leave here free of the pain that you're carrying

in your heart. And some of you are thinking,

well, Chris, how do you know there's pain in

my heart? Well, according to the WHO or the World

Health Organization, there is now more than 1

billion people living in our world today that

have a mental health disorder. 32 % of American

adults are experiencing anxiety or depression,

and that number rises to 42 % amongst high school

students. According to a recent study from the

University of Michigan, the use of antidepressants

amongst those ages 12 to 14 are up 66 % since

2016. See, all these statistics are alarming,

but they're statistics. And we have to realize

those statistics are individual lives that are

filled with dashed hopes, lost dreams, grief,

Infertility, unfair bosses, negative teachers,

upcoming job interviews. And it's not just the

catastrophic events in life that prompt anxieties

and despair. It's those constant nagging struggles.

A broken water heater, a broken down car, a nagging

dishwasher that needs reset every two weeks.

Hey God, where's peace? To be found. AI has invaded

our world. There is economic uncertainty, wars

and rumors of wars, division, hate. And this

question in the back of our minds, it says over

and over and over again, why? Why am I here?

Why am I struggling? Why am I so full of negativity

and doubt? Why am I stressed and overwhelmed?

Believe it or not, people in our society are

now attending calm retreats so they can now pay

for a moment of peace. There are wellness resorts

and digital detox camps where a person can spend

$1 ,600 to guarantee they will not be in cell

phone service. Listen, if that's you, give me

your phone. I'll only charge you $1 ,200, and

I'll make sure that you're out of service by

turning it off. At the everyday level, divorce

rates are skyrocketing. Now, believe it or not,

one out of every four children, that's 25%, in

the United States are growing up in single -family

homes. At the national level, we have riots in

the streets, raids against people, school shootings,

finger pointing, and nothing ever changes. We

live in a world with endless councils, accords,

treaties, organizations, unions. We have the

UN, the NATO, EU, AU, all of these established

to maintain, foster, and establish peace. Yet

peace isn't possible. John Lennon wrote these

words in his song Imagine. You may say I'm a

dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday

you'll join us and the world will live as one.

We may sing that song, believing it with a light

held up above our head in a concert, declaring

it. We want peace. The world needs it, is desperate

for it. But here's the reality. For every peace

agreement that's signed, another one is broken.

The change does not happen because humanity's

in control. And see, God speaks to this truth

in the Bible when he says this peace that the

world longs for is like fool's gold. It's fake.

But Jesus has a promise that speaks directly

to this issue. In fact, in John chapter 14, it

John 14 · chapter mention

was the Thursday night of Passion Week. Jesus

is having a conversation with his disciples.

He had already released Judas to do his thing

and betray him. And he's eating dinner with the

11 remaining disciples. In a matter of hours,

he's going to be betrayed, arrested, tried, beaten,

and crucified. He has told his disciples multiple

times throughout the Bible, throughout the Gospels,

I'm going to die. That's why I came. I'm going

to die. He says to them, I'm going to Jerusalem.

They're begging him, don't go, don't go. But

Jesus says, no, it must happen. It has to happen.

Now in John 14, the disciples' spirits, they're

scraping the ground. They're depressed, broken.

They're full of despair. The one they thought

was the Messiah is now going to die. And Jesus,

in this moment of great turmoil and trouble,

he begins to loft out these promises to his disciples.

See, he wanted to lift and encourage these men.

He wanted to give them comfort and peace and

strength, confidence, that they will be able

to proclaim Jesus boldly after the resurrection.

See, he knew he was going to die, and he knew

the church needed to be established. He knew

these men needed to stand on these promises.

And the last one that he shares with the disciples

is a gift. A gift that he's going to give them

and is available to you and me, every single

one of us gathered. But the question is, why

are you here? Because see, if you're begrudgingly

here, nothing's going to change. But if you open

yourself up to God's spirit, everything can change.

Because see, remember those disciples. They're

full of doubt, despair, negativity, anxiety,

fear. Like many of us that gather here every

single Sunday simply trying to navigate daily

life. And that introduction leads us to our first

thought. See, Jesus promises us peace as a gift.

Jesus' promise of peace is a gift. By show of

hands, humor me. How many of you ever said, I

just need a minute of peace? I know if you're

a parent, your hand better be up. Because if

not, you're lying. We need a moment of peace.

And I can guarantee you, your life is a lot like

mine. You got a crazy schedule. You got bills

to be paid. You got a house to clean, a house

to fix, food to cook, dishes to do, kids to drive

everywhere. Should have stopped at two, but I

had six. Emails to return, texts to make, difficult

people to deal with. All of us. Have so much

going on and we need a little peace. And I want

to remind you that before Jesus died, he named

you in his will. See, Romans 8 tells us that

we're actually heirs of God. Heirs of God. And

to be named in his will means that we, if you're

in a relationship with Jesus, have been legally

designated. To receive an inheritance. So to

those in a relationship with Jesus, Jesus literally

willed us, gave us his peace. And he shows us

this in John chapter 14 when he was telling his

John 14 · chapter mention

disciples, hey, hey, I'm going to have to go

away, but I'm going to come back to you. And

then he says this in verse 27. I'm leaving you

with a gift. Peace of mind and heart. And the

peace I give is a gift the world cannot give,

so do not be troubled or afraid. The NIV translation

reads this way. Peace I leave with you. Notice,

my peace I give to you. Five words in that verse

that has the potential to change your life today.

Jesus said, my peace I give to you. And notice,

peace isn't earned. You don't have to do anything

for it. Peace isn't manufactured, meaning you

don't have to put a mask on. Peace can't be bought.

Peace is simply received. So Jesus, in the midst

of his own personal storm, remember, he's going

to go suffer and die for us, offers peace. That

transcends any of the turmoil that we experience

in this world today. And if we're honest, our

lives are constantly swinging between peace and

anxiety. It's like we experience this peace for

a minute. I just need a little peace. And then

we're back to anxiety. It's like, oh, peace,

it feels so good. Hey, mom. I need my butt wiped.

Back to anxiety. And we laugh, but it's true.

So why are you here? Do you want peace today?

Because Jesus is offering it to us. In fact,

notice, after Jesus had risen from the grave,

See what he says to his followers. John 20, 19

to 21 and 26. That's Sunday. The disciples were

meeting behind locked doors because they were

afraid of the Jewish leaders. I would say that

was stressed. Suddenly Jesus was standing there

among them. Notice his words. Peace be with you,

he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds

in his hands and his side. They were filled with

joy when they saw the Lord. And again, Jesus

said, peace be with you. As the father has sent

me, so I'm sending you. Of course, Thomas wasn't

there. And Thomas says, I need to see that to

believe it. I'm a doubter. So Jesus shows up

eight days later and we read in verse 26, a week

later, his disciples were in the house again

and Thomas was with them. And through the doors,

though the doors were locked, Jesus came and

stood among them and said, peace be with you.

Now some of you are thinking, that's no big deal,

Chris. He's just greeting them with peace be

with you. Dude was walking through the walls.

There was no door opened. He just showed up.

Peace. That's no big deal, Chris. Yeah, it is.

Because if I walk through that wall, you all

are running. You're like, I don't do no David

Blaine. I'm out of here. So don't tell me it's

no big deal. It's a real big deal. That is why

in Judges 6, verse 24, God is called Yahweh Shalom.

Judges 6:24

Remember, God's name is not God. God is his title.

That's what he is. God is given names throughout

the Bible that represents his character. And

see, in Judges, Yahweh Shalom speaks to God being

peace. Meaning, he doesn't just provide peace

or give peace. He is peace. That is why Paul

refers to God as the God of peace in 12 out of

his 13 letters that were written to us. Paul

writes and says, the peace of God, or peace,

be with you. So please understand that this peace

that we're talking about today and desiring in

our lives, it's a gift. And it's to be received.

You say, well, Chris, how do I receive it? Open

it up. Believe in it. Don't just let that gift

that he's given you. Imagine being given a gift

on your birthday and you sit it down on your

feet. You're like, I'm not opening that. I don't

need it. Don't want it. You do. There's always

excitement in writing that paper off, opening

that up, wondering what it's going to be, anticipation.

Same goes with the peace that Jesus is offering

you today. You've got to be willing to open it

up. You've got to be willing to receive it, which

leads us to our second thought. You see, God's

peace, though, is different than the world's

peace. Notice what Jesus says. I'm leaving you

with a gift. Peace of mind and heart and the

peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.

There's a big difference between worldly peace

and godly peace. See, worldly peace is kind of

like a pseudo peace. It's kind of fake, temporary,

if you will. It helps you cope. That's why some

of you used to smoke. You know, that peaceful

feeling that you used to get makes everything

groovy. Heck, some of you are still stuck on

it. Let's just be honest. It's not illegal anymore.

And ultimately, this drug promises to get you

high, to feel good for a little while until you

screw up your life. The drink tells you you can

drown yourself in sorrows. Vacations tell you

if you just make it to the beach, if you just

climb that mountain, you can have a little relief.

And it's true. We experience peace, but then

you come back to reality. It's hard. had a little

more peace. I know. I just need more money. If

I had a little more money, I could pay the bills.

I could be nice. I could be generous. Listen,

there's not enough money in the world that's

going to fill the void of the peace that you're

longing inside your heart. Worldly peace is different

than godly peace. So some of you are like, okay,

all right. What's godly peace? Let me describe

it for you. You can find it in Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 26 · chapter mention

26. And before I do, let me give you a little

context about the verses I'm about to read. Isaiah

was prophesying into a culture just like ours.

You could almost say it was the equivalent of

a complicated economy, high interest rates, debt,

and a political system in utter turmoil. There

were wars and rumors of wars. And Isaiah prophesied

into a culture with great uncertainty. Everyone

was afraid. And in the middle of this, In the

middle of this turmoil, he says, you're going

to break out into real worship. Let's read what

he said, Isaiah 26, 1 through 3. In that day,

everyone in the land of Judah will sing this

song. Our city is strong. God is good. We are

surrounded by the walls of God's salvation. Open

the gates to all who are righteous. Allow the

faithful to enter. You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are

fixed on you. How many of you want some perfect

peace today? Right? That's what I want. I want

some perfect peace. And see, that word peace

actually comes from a Hebrew word. It was a Jewish

greeting. Then you walk up to someone and you

say, shalom. Shalom. And when they said that,

it's kind of like saying, hey, what's up? Shalom.

It's a way to say hello. Now, that word shalom,

it means wholeness, completeness. It means fullness

of peace. So if I was to come up to you and say,

shalom, I'm saying, may you have the fullness

of God's peace on your life. That's a pretty

powerful statement, isn't it? Might change the

way we greet one another. May you be at peace

with yourself. May you be at peace with your

circumstances. Shalom. But because God is good

and because Jesus is the prince of peace, May

you be at perfect peace. Now notice, though,

in the original text, when Isaiah said, may you

be kept in shalom, he just didn't say shalom.

He actually said, shalom, shalom. The same word

back to back. He's saying, may God give you a

double portion. May God give you your peace and

even more of that peace. And that's how the translators

then translated shalom to shalom to perfect peace.

Jesus says, my peace, my peace, I give to you.

And some of you might say, okay, thanks, Jesus.

If you're giving me your peace, why am I still

so anxious? Why am I still overwhelmed? After

all, Jesus, my children are not making the best

choices. My bank account doesn't have enough

in it to pay the bills. There's not enough time

in the day to accomplish everything that needs

done. I've recently been betrayed to and lied

to by a close friend. How, Jesus, can I be peaceful

then? How can I have peace in my heart when it's

overwhelmed with stress and it's beating so fast?

How do I find this peace? Well, the prophet tells

us. The scriptures tell us. You will keep in

perfect peace. But notice what it doesn't say.

It doesn't say you will keep in perfect peace,

all of you who obsess about the news. Did it

say that? No. All of you, right, you will keep

in perfect peace if you look at everything on

social media that you don't like and share it

with all your friends, you get them mad too.

It doesn't say that. Scripture says you will

be kept in perfect peace all whose thoughts are

fixed on God. In other words, you'll be kept

in this heavenly kind of peace, the peace that

the world does not understand when your thoughts,

that's right, in that skull, are focused on who?

God. So this verse shows us the battle begins

in our mind. How many of you know you've got

a battle going on in your mind? If you don't

know that, newsflash, you do. I know you do.

You say, how do you know, Chris? Because I do.

I have just as many battles in my mind as you

do. Just because I'm leading this church doesn't

mean that I'm not tempted. It doesn't mean that

I don't have struggles. It doesn't mean that

my mind is not at war with itself. And Isaiah

reminds us, you will be in perfect peace when

your thoughts are fixed on God. And that word

fixed is a cool word in Hebrew. I want to teach

it to you. You want to learn a little Hebrew?

All right. It's the word samach. Everybody say

it. Samach. You got to get that N there. Samach.

It's like you got something in your throat. Samach.

There you go. There you go. And this is what

it means. It means to completely and fully rest

on God. Think of it this way. You'll have perfect

peace when your mind is leaning on Jesus. You'll

be kept in perfect peace when your mind is fixed

on the truth that you read in the Bible, the

power of God's goodness. So I want you to reflect.

I want you to look in the mirror, and I want

you to be honest with yourself. What's your mind

fixed on? Might be that promotion, winning the

big game. Having a child. And see, what happens

is, oftentimes our mind gets fixed on the worst

case scenarios. Right? You're not able to have

a child yet. Oh, I'm infertile. I'm never going

to have a child. I'm never going to have this.

It's like the world's coming to an end. Our mind

continues to get stuck on these repetitive lies

and fears that create anxiety and depression.

That's where anxiety and depression comes on.

So what your mind is fixed on matters. Because

what consumes your mind controls your life. How

do I know that? Well, Paul tells us that in Philippians

4 .8. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one

final thing. One final thing. Meaning he's ending

the letter. Fix your thoughts. Up here in your

mind, what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely,

and admirable. Think about the things that are

excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting

into practice all you learned and received from

me. Everything you heard from me and saw me doing.

Then the God of peace. will be with you. Five

words that can change your life today. My peace

I give to you. My peace I give to you, which

leads to our third and final thought. See, true

peace is found in the presence of God. I am leaving

you with a gift, peace of mind and heart, and

the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.

So notice what he says, don't be troubled or

afraid. See, Jesus promises the disciples Right?

He basically says to them, you're going to face

storms. The troubles are going to come your way.

He even said, in this world you're going to have

trouble. He promises we're going to have trouble.

But he also says you don't have to be ruled by

them. See, peace isn't the absence of trouble.

Peace is confidence in God's presence during

the problems. It's kind of like a snow globe.

Now, I know it's not in season. It's July, but

there's Christmas in July, right? So I don't

have a snow globe, but I have an infant toy,

okay? Just like a snow globe. Everyone see that?

And just like a snow globe, you shake it, and

what happens to the globe? All the snow or the

rain stirs up, and it gets nasty, and it's a

storm. And you know what the world tells us?

The world tells us, oh, when you're in a storm,

just be patient. It will all pass and settle.

Don't worry about it. You'll make it through.

Here, take some medication. It'll make you feel

better. But what Jesus says is, no, in the midst

of the storm, I'm there with you. I'm in the

midst of the storm. You don't have to avoid the

storm. You take me into the storm. I don't know

who this is for, but someone here is tired of

this pseudo world peace. You're tired of this

promise of peace that the world tries to give

you when you realize that it's just not possible.

That the only true peace is shalom, shalom, which

is the perfect peace of God. And Paul, describes

the perfect peace of God from a Roman prison

awaiting possible execution. Now, I don't know

about you, but if I was on death row, I may be

a little worried. I may be a little stressed.

I may have some fear. And I may be overwhelmed

with the guilt and shame of what caused me to

be on death row. Now, we all know that Paul didn't

do anything egregious or a sin that caused him

to be on death row, but he was. And notice what

he writes in Philippians 4, 6 through 7, just

two verses before verse 8. He says, don't worry

about anything. Handcuffed to a soldier. Instead,

pray about everything. Tell God what you need.

Thank him for all he's done. Then, what are you

going to experience? God's peace, which exceeds

anything we can understand. His peace will guard

your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

See, when you take what's on your heart and you

give it to God, that's where true peace comes

from. A peace from God's kingdom that allows

us to express gratitude towards God for this

life that we've been given. When we give it back

to him. Notice what David wrote in Psalm 139.

Remember, David was a man after God's own heart.

He wrote these words in verses 13 to 14, 15 through

18. You made all the delicate inner parts of

my body and knit me together in my mother's room.

Thank you, God, for making me so wonderfully

complex. Your workmanship is marvelous how well

I know it. Notice how he declares to God his

goodness. He's grateful for his life. You watched

me as I was being formed and under seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my

life was recorded in your book. Every moment

was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

They cannot be numbered. I can't even count them.

They outnumber the grains of the sand, and when

I wake up, you're still with me. I mean, David

is declaring the wonders of God. He's praising

his name. He's grateful and celebrating God.

Now listen to how he ends Psalm 139. Search me,

O God. Know my heart. Test me and know my anxious

thoughts. See, this tells us that even though

we may worship, even though we may be passionate

about Jesus with our whole heart, it doesn't

prevent us from having anxious thoughts. It tells

us that even though we may know God is in control

of this world, we may not be able to sleep at

night because we're worrying about our kids,

our finances, our jobs, or our health. The battle

that we fight in our minds is an everyday struggle

that we will go through just like the Jesus followers

before us. All of us need a little more Jesus.

And I want to challenge you. I want you to realize

anxiety is not a sin. Anxiety is not a sin. It's

simply a signal. from our bodies that we need

to reconnect to God. That's all it is. Which

leads to our action steps overcoming these anxious

thoughts. And the amazing thing is, not only

did Jesus give us the gift, which we have to

receive and open, he actually modeled for us

how to handle and deal with the anxiety that

we struggle with every single day. Let's look

at Mark 14. This is before Jesus is about to

be arrested. They went to the olive garden called

Gethsemane, and Jesus said, sit here while I

go and pray. He took Peter, James, and John with

him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.

So notice Jesus was overwhelmed, full of anxiety

and stress. He told them, his three closest friends,

my soul is crushed with grief to the point of

death. Stay here and keep watch with me. So think

about it. Jesus, the son of God, shared with

his three closest friends that he was overwhelmed

and anxious. Notice, Jesus, he doesn't ignore

it. He doesn't try harder to get rid of it. He

doesn't avoid it and put on a mask. He doesn't

even run from it. What does he do? He names it

out loud to his friends. He speaks it, which

leads us to our first step to overcoming anxiety.

Church, You gotta name it. You name your anxiety.

He took Peter, James, and John with him. He was

troubled. And notice what he said to his three

friends. My soul is crushed with grief to the

point of death. See, this tool is so simple that

we all can do it. When we are struggling with

anxiety, we have to declare, I feel anxious about,

and then you say it. You speak it out loud. Whatever

it is, we name it. Even in our anxiousness, even

in our stress, you name the anxiety, and when

you name it, it loses its power. You say, Chris,

what do you mean? Well, see, when we speak it

out loud, that means we bring that anxiety into

the light, and when we bring the anxiety, the

fear, the doubt into the light, what can God

then do? God can move. God can change us. So

we're going to practice it. So what I want you

to do, if you don't know the person sitting beside

you, introduce yourself to them right now. Go

ahead. If you know them, don't say a word. This

isn't a halftime break. Okay, thank you. Stop.

Bring it back. Bring it back. Thank you. Now,

here's what I want you to do. To the person you

just introduced yourself to, or the person you

already know, I want you to take turns. I want

you to look at each other, and I want you to

say, I feel anxious about fill in the blank.

Does everyone understand what we're doing? Nacho,

do you get it? Do you have someone you know?

All right, thank you for looking there. Go. This

is not a therapy session. Just simply share it.

Take turns. You're not giving advice. You're

not praying for anybody. Okay, bring it back.

Now, here's the crazy thing. When I told you

all to do that, what did I see on many of your

faces? Smiles. Smiles. You began to smile. And

why do you think it is you began to smile? Because

you spoke it out. You got rid of it. You brought

it into the light, thus giving us the ability,

as Paul wrote, don't worry about anything. Pray

about everything. Tell God what you need and

thank him for all he's done. Now, some of you

are thinking, well, Chris, it says talk to God.

Yes, I agree with that. It's true. But when we

agree with others, when we bring others into

the truth and agree together, there's power in

agreement. We discussed last week where two or

three are gathered together. Who's there? Jesus.

Jesus is there. So therefore, we bring people

into the midst of it. We speak it to God, we

speak it to others, and there's power in the

statement, and it makes change possible. We're

actually putting into practice what Paul challenged

us to do in 2 Corinthians 10 .5. We demolish

arguments in every petition that sets us up against

the knowledge of God, and we take captive every

thought into making obedience to Christ. We're

taking captive thoughts when we're speaking them

out and telling God, telling others what we're

struggling with. And when we speak it out, then

God can move in our life. God can change us.

The negativity goes. God's peace comes. Again,

anxiety is not a sin. It's a signal. All right,

you did better in the first gathering, but still

terrible. It's a signal. That we need to go to

God and get in his presence, which leads us to

our second step. You transfer it. You transfer

it. We take the anxiety out of our control. We

give it to God. Remember, Jesus spoke out his

stress to his friends. And then, continuing on,

verse 35, 36, going a little further. He fell

to the ground and prayed that if possible, the

hour might pass from him. Abba, Father, he said.

Everything is possible for you. Take this cup

from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.

See, Jesus didn't avoid his stress. Who did he

give it to? Gave it to his friends, and then

he gave it to God. He spoke it, and then he transferred

it, which means we get into his presence, and

we allow God to change us, John 14. Very truly,

I tell you, whoever believes in me and will do

the works that I've been doing, and they will

do even greater things than these, because I

am going to the Father. And I will do whatever

you ask in my name so that the Father may be

glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything

in my name, and I will do it. So my question

to you this morning is this. Do you think and

believe that God wants you free of stress, doubt,

fear, anxiety, and worry? You're darn right he

does. Because our God is shalom, shalom. And

he desires that we walk in perfect peace with

him, though we're not going to have peace around

us in this world. One day we will experience

nothing but peace in his kingdom. Because after

all, he told us that he's going to prepare a

room for us. And not only will he prepare a room

for us, but he will come back to take us to be

with him. Right? So now we're going to put it

into practice with God. And today is communion

Sunday. So don't stand yet. If you need an element,

put one hand up quickly. If you need gluten -free,

put two hands up. All right, let's move quick.

Got one hand here. A couple of hands here in

the middle. A couple of hands over there. Just

so you guys know, every first Sunday of the month

at HCV, we practice communion together. So therefore,

when it's the first Sunday of the month and you

come through the vegetable, that's right, I can't

pronounce it, but that's okay. You know what

I mean. Make sure you get a communion element.

I like to make fun of myself. Kelsey, Mike, can

I have one? Thank you. All right, let's stand

together. So here's what we're going to do to

close. Just so if you're new here, we do communion

one Sunday a month, first Sunday of the month.

And at HTV, we believe this is a supernatural

encounter with the living God. This is an ordinance

that Jesus commanded us to do to remember his

actions on the cross. Therefore, this is an opportunity

for you to literally meet the living God. We

take this seriously. And we believe that God

can change your life through it. The bread, what

I want you to do today, representing Jesus' broken

body, I want this bread to be what it is that

you're worried about, what you're anxious about,

what you're overwhelmed about. So before we eat

it, I want you to think about it, and I want

you to give it to God and say, God, this is it.

This is it. This is pulling me down. I'm worried.

I'm stressed. Whatever it may be. And then with

the juice, before we drink the juice, I want

you to transfer it back to God. Give it back

to him. And then say, God, forgive me for the

mistakes I made in this past day, week, month,

whatever it may be. Lay it down, give it back

to God, and receive his grace and forgiveness.

Amen? On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took

bread. He broke it. He gave it to his disciples

and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is

broken for you, and do it. In remembrance of

me. Let's eat and give it to God. Likewise, after

supper, he took the cup of wine, said, this is

my blood which is shed for you and for many for

the forgiveness of sins. Drink it often. When

you do, do it in remembrance of me. And this

is where you transfer it back to God. Seek that

forgiveness for holding on to control. Give it

back to God. Transfer it back. and then receive

his grace. Amen? Let's drink. Jesus, we're grateful

for a Sunday where we can get real with you.

We're grateful for a Sunday where we can gather

together and learn about your promises. God,

may we all be different than when we walked into

this place. And if there's anyone here, God,

that's not in a relationship with you, God, I

just pray you give them the boldness to pray

this prayer right now. And some of you are thinking,

well, Chris, you pray this prayer every week.

I sure do. You know why? Because when I stand

before God, I don't want God to look back at

me and say, but you didn't give him an opportunity.

Every time we gather, you're going to be given

an opportunity, and I'll do it over and over

and over again because I want to win the many

for God's kingdom. Amen? So if you're distant,

far from God, not in a relationship with him

or walked away from him, pray these words with

us and welcome home. Let's pray. Jesus. I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin. Change

me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I

believe you died for me. I believe you're alive

today. Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with

your spirit. Help me, God, to serve others. In

Jesus' name. Amen. So if you prayed that prayer,

see me, see Rudy. We want to give you some next

steps. I'm going to that door. So that's going

to remain closed. So anybody on this half, you

might as well just chill. Because I'm going to

say goodbye to you, whether you like it or not.

This is going to be a great series. Invite your

friends. The month of July is all about God's

promises. Amen. Have a great rest of your week.

Nice.