Jesus is a Fighter | John Challinor

Good morning. How are we? That was like, you

know, when you start your car and it's like,

and then it just goes across the room. So good

morning to those of you online. Pauldin, extra

special welcome to you. Glad that you guys gather

and do what you do, including, including, if

you remember a couple of weeks ago, we talked

about pizookies. They had a pizookie for breakfast

last week. So well done, well played. But glad

you were there and glad for what God is doing

in the community. Mike and Sue, we love you.

Randy in Baghdad saw that you were in the chat.

Love you guys in Baghdad and what is going on.

We're so grateful that we're part of a community.

Mike and Debbie from Colorado just sold their

house and are moving to Prescott and will be

here in person mid -July, I think. So we can

give them a hand. They're on their way. And anyone

else in the online fam, wherever you happen to

be, whatever you happen to be doing, just know

that we are grateful we get to do this as family.

And so, man, isn't there something good about

being in a room with people? And what I mean

by that is, you guys, we're all the same. We

all have good days, bad days. We all have mountaintop

experiences, valleys. We all have moments where

this is the worst day ever, this is the best

day ever, somewhere in between, whatever it happens

to be. Isn't it amazing to get in a room and

begin to sing words like, what a beautiful name

it is, the name of Jesus, and know that Jesus

does not change, even though your week might

change, your day might change, your experience

of life might change. It's just so good to get

in a room and go, man, this is family, and we're

rallied around the person of Jesus, and that

changes everything. And so I don't know how,

like if you're here and you're like, it's the

first time I've ever been. Welcome to you. We're

glad you're here. What you need to know is what

matters is Jesus. The rest of us are all secondary

to that. And the hope is that when you leave

here, you know more about Jesus than you do about

us or about the church family or about the church

or anything like that. We're just here to point

to him. And this summer, this summer, we are

intentionally pointing towards all summer long,

This idea of who you are. And what I mean by

that is who you are, Jesus. Like the whole point,

we're going to be in the gospel of Luke throughout

the summer. And the whole point is to keep seeing

Jesus for who he is. To keep seeing maybe new

aspects of him. The hope is that maybe some weeks

you're actually surprised. Like you're like,

oh, that's who you are. I didn't know that. Right.

And hopefully there's an element of surprise

or maybe maybe for you, you've been around the

block a while, read the Bible a few times and

you're like, you know what? I just this reminds

me of who Jesus is and it just feels good to

be reminded he hasn't changed. Right. And so

wherever you are on that spectrum, here's what

I would encourage you. Between between weekends,

get around a table with somebody. That table

could be 10 people. That table could be for two.

But talk about, were you surprised? Did you know

that? What stood out to you? What helps you knowing

Jesus is that? But the idea is that we all kind

of just anchor into the person of Jesus and we

go, hopefully by the end of summer, like that's

just who you are. I don't know why I'm surprised

anymore because that's who you are. You always

show up like that because that's who you are.

And this week, this week, we're going to lean

into, I got bad news for you. You are the 930.

So if you don't like my message, there's not

time to run to Prescott Valley and listen to

Pastor Ben this weekend. Those of you that don't

know, we have live in -person communicators at

all of our gatherings in Prescott and Prescott

Valley. And so you may be like, well, this was

terrible. I wonder what Ben did. Well, you missed

it. So there you go. But here's the thing. The

hope is that we just rally around together and

go, this is who Jesus is. So this week. Jesus

is a fighter. Jesus is a fighter. Now you may

be like, I don't know, like how do we land on

Jesus as a fighter? Because the picture I have

of Jesus is the picture where he's rescuing the

sheep. You know what I mean? Like the tender

Jesus, you know, the Jesus with the lady who's

caught in adultery and cares for her, right?

Like you realize he fights for her in that moment.

He protects her. Right? Like Jesus is a fighter.

Think about it. He goes toe to toe with the religious

elite of the day. Right? And he tells them, hey,

this is where you are leaning into hypocrisy

and I'm going to call it out. There's moments

with Jesus where you guys, you realize he flips

tables in the most sacred place. And if that's

not enough, get this picture. He flips tables

with a whip in his hand. When was the last time

you went to somebody's house and you see Jesus

flipping a table with a whip, right? No, we like

the Jesus with the sheep because we're the sheep

that he's carrying. Both are true. The picture

of Jesus being one of compassion and grace and

mercy has an and Jesus is a fighter. Jesus goes

toe to toe with the devil. Jesus showed up and

fought that you could sit here and even know

God the Father today. He's a fighter. He's been

fighting on your behalf. And so we're going to

lean into this idea that Jesus is a fighter.

If you can't tell, I'm a little excited about

it. I think it's going to be fun. Luke chapter

Luke 4:1

4, verse 1. Jesus. By the way, just a side note,

if you're gonna read, like you're like, okay,

we're in the gospel of Luke, I'm gonna read the

gospel of Luke. You'll notice we're not starting

in chapter one. We talk about the Christmas story

enough, like we take entire months to talk about

it. And so we're skipping it in the summer and

we're jumping into chapter four and here's why.

This is when Jesus goes public facing. This is

when he is now letting people know who he is.

And remember, what do we do in the summer? We

are looking at him going, oh, that's who you

are. We want to see Jesus for who he portrayed

himself to be in those moments. So that's why

we're jumping in where we are. Chapter 4, verse

1. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during those days, and at the

end of them he was hungry. where some of you

are like, that's the most obvious statement ever

made in the Bible. He doesn't eat for 40 days

and then it says he's hungry. Here's why that's

a big deal, because what it's getting at is Jesus

is fully God and fully man, right? Like he is

the God man. And so with that, the idea that

he is hungry, it is expressing to us just like

you at about 12 o 'clock today when you go to

In -N -Out, right? Like you're hungry. You don't

go to Chick -fil -A, it's Sunday. You know what

I'm saying? Closed on Sunday. Right? The idea

is that you, you can relate, but it also doesn't

put Jesus on this pedestal that you go, oh, that

was him. That's not me. You need to understand

that what's about to transpire with the devil

in this passage, that what's about to transpire

is he's getting at everything that he is asking

you to do. He's already done and been through.

He's not asking you to do something that he himself

hasn't walked through. And so with this, we start

out with Jesus full of the Holy Spirit. And so

I'm going to draw just because I can, and we'll

see how this goes. So this triangle, if you're

looking for who it's equated to, those of you

that know who Dallas Willard is, part of this

is his and part of it is new. Okay, so within

this, they called it the golden triangle. But

what you see in Jesus is this, that he was full

of what? The Holy Spirit. He was full of the

Holy Spirit. That it says specifically that because

he was full of the Holy Spirit, he was able to

be led by the Holy Spirit. And so it says Jesus,

who was full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the

Holy Spirit. Why is this significant? Because

when you met Jesus, When you said yes and put

your trust into Jesus, guess what? The Holy Spirit

came and indwelled you. You are full of the Holy

Spirit right here and right now. My question

is how many of you are being led by the Holy

Spirit, right? Because that's a choice. There's

a choice here of what I'm gonna submit to. And

what we see with Jesus is he is willing to put

himself in submission. Well, if I could spell.

Submission to the Holy Spirit. He's willing to

submit himself. He's willing to put himself in

a posture of going, you're going to lead me,

not the other way around. Now, there's a backstory

to this moment that we have to catch. If you

jump back to chapter 3, verse 21, it says this.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus

was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven

was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him

in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came

from heaven. You are my son whom I love. With

you I am well pleased. So what is the moment

before the moment, so to speak? The moment before

the moment is Jesus. In submission, submission

does what? He goes and he puts himself into the

waters of baptism. And I'm just gonna throw it

out there that if you know Jesus and you have

not gone through the waters of baptism, then

this may be a moment for you where you go, hey,

I need the help of the Holy Spirit to help me

submit to what we see Jesus modeling for us as

his followers. And so the idea that he goes through

the waters of baptism and it says what happens

next is heaven opens and like a dove, right?

So that we can recognize the Holy Spirit, it

comes and it settles on him. And anytime you

see the spirit settling on someone, the next

thing we know is this, that he was full of the

Holy Spirit and was led by him. That's what we

see. That's the mountaintop moment. Now, something

else happens in here. where it says, and a voice

came from heaven. So God the Father now speaks,

says, you are my son, which is to speak identity

over him. He says, you are my son. You are my

son. He's speaking, God the Father is speaking

identity over Jesus in this moment of submission.

He goes, you are my son. whom I what? Love. He

is loved by God the Father. So this is now identity,

right? You're a son and you are loved. And then

the next thing he says, and I am with whom I

am well pleased. Wait a minute. Jesus ain't done

nothing. He's done nothing public facing yet.

He hasn't gone and healed anybody that we know

of. This was the moment of his public facing,

like outward showing people who he was. And what

does God do? Before he does anything, he goes,

hey, you're my son and I love you and I'm pleased

with you. It's his identity. He's speaking identity

to him. He's letting him know this is who you

are. This is how. I feel about you are loved

by me before you ever did anything. Isn't it

interesting how quick we can twist things and

go, God only loves me if I what? If I do the

right things, he's only pleased with me if I

do the right thing. And it's not long before

we can shift this pretty quickly. But what we're

told here is the story before the story is there

is a mountaintop moment here for Jesus. This

is like the major moment. Heaven opens, a dove

descends, and a voice booms from heaven and goes,

I love you. You're my son. I'm pleased with you.

That's a mountaintop. Look at Luke chapter four,

verse one. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left

the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the

wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted

by the devil. He ate nothing during those days,

and at the end of them, he was hungry. Wait,

I had a mountaintop moment. You're pleased with

me. Over in Matthew, it captures it and it adds

some language for us. Same verses. Matthew four,

verse one. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into

the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After,

look at this, after fasting 40 days and 40 nights,

he was hungry. The tempter came to him. So we're

given in Matthew. Matthew lays out a timeline

for us. It says there's a mountaintop moment.

And then there is the wilderness immediately

after. I don't know how you feel. I've experienced

both. Then on the mountaintop, next moment, you

feel like the world is ending, right? And you're

like, wait a minute. On the mountaintop, I was

like, yay, Jesus. And in the valley, I'm like,

where are you? And yeah, what we find is when

we're led by the Holy Spirit, we might be led

into a place. And within that place, God begins

to prepare us through these things called practices.

What do I mean by that? Your faith has practices.

Notice the language, verse two, after fasting.

What is fasting? Fasting is a time when I go

without food and I intentionally deprive myself

of food so that I can be more present with God.

Where does the Holy Spirit lead them? He leads

them into this space where he has them experience

fasting. You think about it for a second, right?

One of the ways you can translate this word wilderness,

we think of wilderness as like it's desolate.

You can translate it that way. Desert, you can

translate it that way. Eremos in the Greek can

be translated multiple ways. One of the ways

it can be translated is that it was a quiet.

That he got away and guess what? All the noise

around him stopped. That as he was fasting, guess

what else he was doing? He is praying. He is

speaking to God. He is listening to God. He is

worshiping. Right? In the quiet place. Don't

miss this. Jesus is about to go into a fight.

And you know what the Holy Spirit does with him?

He pulls him away and the Holy Spirit leads him,

leads him to put into practice all of the things

that God has given him. Right? Like we often

think like, oh man, I should read my Bible. Oh,

I don't pray enough. You realize the practices

that God has given you are there to strengthen

you for what God has in your life and the season

you're in. And it just might be that the season

you're in is the Holy Spirit is pulling you away

and leaning you into an intentional practice

because you are gonna need that for what's around

the corner. What happens here, what happens here,

don't miss this. Jesus is led into this quiet

place and in the quiet place, like you could

start, those of you that know the Rocky movies,

I mean, you can hear when you open this part

of the Bible, you hear the eye of the tiger in

the background. Like he's fasting and what he's

really doing is running the steps. What he's

really doing is getting ready for the fight.

What's happening in this moment is the Holy Spirit

is giving him what he needs for what's about

to come. And then if you turn back to Luke chapter

four, the devil shows up. Verse three, the devil

said to him, if you are the son of God, tell

this stone to become bread. Jesus answered, it

is written, man shall not live on bread alone.

Wait, what? The enemy shows up and the best the

enemy has is, wait a minute, you haven't eaten

for 40 days? Hey, how about we just take those

stones there and turn them into bread? You gotta

be hungry. You know what's interesting with the

devil? He hasn't changed. He shows up and he

will take your felt need and he will take your

felt need and he will use it to get to something

else. Right? Like in this case, he shows up with

Jesus. Jesus is hungry, right? That's a natural

human response at this moment, a natural felt

need. And what does the enemy do? He shows up

and he goes, hey, how about you just turn that

rock into some bread? Why? Because he's attacking

something else. What Jesus quotes here, it's

interesting. We get hung up on Jesus uses the

Bible. Yeah, he does. But I don't think it's

for the sake of quoting scripture. I think he's

telling the enemy something. Here's what I mean.

It says, it is written, Jesus responds, it is

written, man shall not live by bread alone. That's

taken from Deuteronomy chapter eight. And in

Deuteronomy chapter eight, if you remember a

couple of weeks ago, we talked about, there's

a whole new generation. And the whole new generation

are about to enter the promised land, but they

weren't slaves. So Moses is kind of giving them

the lowdown, what you need to know about God,

what's important to know about God, how you should

live when you get to the promised land, right?

Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse two. Remember,

how the Lord your God led you all the way to

the wilderness these 40 years to humble and test

you in order to know what was in your heart,

whether or not you would keep his commands. He

humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding

you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors

had known. And this is what Jesus quotes, right?

to teach you that man does not live on bread

alone, but every word that comes from the mouth

of the Lord. Wait, what is Jesus doing? Jesus

is going back to not just like this is the word

of God. He's going back to the story of God.

And in the story of God, he's saying that's where

my trust is. What was happening in that part

of the story of God? It specifically says that

you were taken into the wilderness to what? to

test your heart. What is the enemy doing with

a felt need? He is attacking, he is attacking

the heart of Jesus. Will Jesus still trust the

story of God? Is his heart truly aligned to the

story of God? Will he come up with something

else right now? Where will Jesus go back to?

You know what's happening in your life when you

have a felt need? You know what I mean? You got

the felt need of like, I'm just so lonely. It

shouldn't be a surprise that that person shows

up at that moment. You ever had that? And you're

like, oh, Jesus answered. Maybe not. Did the

Holy Spirit lead? Because the enemy will use

the felt need to what? To get to your heart.

What is he doing with Jesus? He's trying to get

to the heart of Jesus. He's trying to figure

out if Jesus's heart will sit in submission.

will sit in submission to God's word, to what

God's story. Will he trust God's story and what

God is doing? Or in this moment, will he go the

other way? It's no different for you. When you

have felt needs in your life, right? The enemy

wants to come and go, hey, is your heart gonna

stay true? Or are you gonna go out on your own

here? You know what I mean? Like, God, I just,

I don't feel like I have enough. And I feel like,

and then all of a sudden you land that job and

that job is like got the carrot at the end of

it of the right amount of money, but it'll cost

you your soul. And the enemy just showed up and

gone, hey, is your heart gonna trust the story

of God? Because here's the thing, you guys, when

Jesus died for you, when Jesus died for you,

what is spoken over you is who the son sets free

is free indeed. So is that true or is it not?

And when the enemy shows up and goes, God, you're

going to be the same old person because you got

those felt needs. You're like, no, I'm not. Why?

Because who? The son sets free. The son sets

free indeed. I'm like, I'm free. You can't tell

me what I'm a slave to because I've been set

free. How do I know that? Because the story of

God tells me that God himself showed up and went

to a cross to buy my freedom. This is how this

works. The enemy wants to show up and go, hey,

let me have your heart. The next place he goes

is this. Verse five. The devil led him up to

a high place and showed him in an instant all

the kingdoms of the world. He said to him, I

will give you all their authority and splendor.

It has been given to me and I can give it to

anyone I want to. That's true. If you worship

me, it will all be yours. Jesus answered, it

is written, worship the Lord your God and serve

him only. So the second time he comes, first

time was after his heart. The second time he

comes, he's after his worship. And how does he

go after his worship? Hey, Jesus, I can give

you power. I can give you control. I can put

you at the top of the pedestal. I can do all

of that for you. The only thing you gotta do,

the only thing you gotta do is worship me. Just

bow down. Here's what the enemy knows, right?

And here's what Jesus declares. Specifically,

worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

What does Jesus connect here? He connects your

worship with what you serve. What has your heart

will also have your hands. You should write that

down. That's a good line. That's a Pastor Todd

-esque line. What you worship, what you worship,

you will serve. Let me ask you, what's number

one in your life right now? Like, if you're just

really honest, what's the thing that you are

pursuing above all else? What is the thing that

has your love, has you captured, like, and it

holds you so tight? Whatever that is, you're

gonna serve it, right? Like, it can be good things,

you guys. My wife, we say these, and they look

really good on Hallmark cards. You're my number

one. If we're not careful, my wife can become

a number one and my whole life is about her happiness.

My whole life is about what she wants. My whole

life is about her. My whole life. And guess what?

I'll serve her with my whole life. Why? Because

she has that spot. What you worship, you will

serve. What you worship, you will serve. Jesus

quotes again out of a real place in real time

in Deuteronomy chapter six. So two chapters back

from where we were. It says this, fear the Lord,

your God. Fear the Lord your God. So in reverence,

give him awe and worship he deserves as God,

right? Fear the Lord your God, serve him only

and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow

other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.

So what does Jesus do in this moment? He quotes

back to a group of people that were tempted to

give their worship to something else. And he

goes, I'm not going to give my worship because

I know this, where my worship goes, my service

goes. What I worship, I will put my hands to.

I'm curious. What do your hands go to? What do

your hands go to? Because we can worship all

kinds of things, right? We can worship status.

We can worship a false identity. We're chasing

something else. We can worship sex. We can worship

relationships. Worship wealth. You know, a big

one in my world, I don't know if this is true

for those of you that are older in the room,

one of mine is what am I leaving to my kids?

I'm feeling a pressure from I don't know where

that I'm supposed to leave something to them,

this idea of generational wealth. And it can

become easy to take my whole life and spend it

pursuing something else other than what it says

is, hey, your hands, your hands, your worship

matters. Jesus, Jesus fought. For his worship.

Because he knew what he worships, he will serve.

The last one the enemy tries. Verse nine, the

devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand

on the highest point of the temple. If you are

the son of God, he said, throw yourself down

from here. For it is written, he will command

his angels concerning you to guard you carefully.

They will lift you up in their hands so that

you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Jesus answered, it is said, do not put the Lord

your God to the test. When the devil had finished

all this tempting, he left him until an opportune

time. How does the enemy come the last time?

He comes with the Bible. He comes with the Bible.

And he goes, hey, Psalm 91 says this. It's true.

Everything he quoted was true, but what he's

using it for is to get him to do something else

other than what God wanted him to do. Don't be

surprised if the enemy shows up in your world

and he tells you scripture. Why is this so important

that you have the Holy Spirit? Because you're

to take it back and go, God, is this you speaking

or is this somebody else? The enemy will show

up and he'll take something that's a felt need.

So it happens so often in our churches. This

is why we have so many branches of churches and

we have so many people saying that this is true

and this is true. Because what they do is they

take scripture and they want to use scripture

to prove a point because they have a felt need

in their life to prove that point. And so they

use scripture to make it say what they need it

to say to justify what they want to live and

how they want to live. You just need to know.

The enemy does that. And what Jesus does in this

moment is he fights. But notice what he's fighting.

Look at verse three. The devil said to him, we've

read this already. The devil said to him, this

is the first time he comes to him. If you are

the what? Son of God. Look at verse nine. The

devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand

on the highest point of the temple. If you are

the what? Wait a minute. What was the story before

the story? God the Father telling him what? You

are my... What is the enemy actually attacking?

He's attacking his identity. You see, if the

enemy can get you to believe something false

about yourself, you'll spend the rest of your

life chasing the wrong thing. What does the enemy

attack? The enemy cannot attack, right? The enemy

can't come and attack the Holy Spirit. He knows

he'll lose. So what does he attack? He attacks

what you submit to and he attacks where your

identity is. That's what the enemy will do. Jesus

fought, hear this, Jesus fought for you to have

the identity you have. He went to a cross to

prove to you, to buy for you, that you could

have God the Father look at you because of Jesus

and go, you are my son. And you are my daughter.

And you are loved by me for all of eternity.

And I am pleased with you. That's your identity.

What does the enemy want you to believe? That

you're not really a child of God. The enemy wants

you to believe that you're not really loved.

And we got a God -sized God for a second, okay?

So God Almighty, God Almighty, he tells you you

are his kid. He tells you that he loved you and

that he is pleased with you. That's who you are

in Jesus. God Almighty who needs no strings to

hold the earth that you're on right now because

he's that powerful. That God declares over you,

you're my kid today because of Jesus. What did

Jesus do? Jesus is a fighter and Jesus fought,

Jesus fought for you to have the identity that

you have today in him. It cost him his life.

It cost him everything. So we shouldn't be surprised

that what is the enemy gonna come after? That

he would come after your identity, who you are.

We shouldn't be surprised that the enemy comes

after and tries to get you to submit to something

else. Just worship something else. Just put your

heart over here. And what we learn about this

is we learn how to fight. Jesus shows up and

he goes, this is how you go into the ring. You

let the Holy Spirit lead you. You step into these

practices of spending time with God where you

listen to him. The silence and solitude, the

prayer, the reading. It's not just to do it to

check a box. It's doing it because you need it

to stand. It's who you are. Because the enemy's

coming for you and he wants to knock you off

of everything that God says you are. And he will

use whatever measures he can, even quote the

Bible to you. But you have a choice. Jesus fought

for you. So much so that towards the end of his

time, what he wanted us to do is he goes, hey,

don't forget. Don't forget. What I'm about to

do, don't forget. Hey, the reason you have hope

in the midst of a valley is because of this.

The reason, you guys, we're so weird. And here's

what I mean by that. We get to this moment, we're

like, oh man, all I see is myself and my failure

and I know where I was last night. That's so

ridiculous. Because when God looks at you, even

with your night last night, Those of you with

your trust in Jesus, guess what he looks at you

and says? You are my kid. Amen. You are loved.

And with you, I'm pleased. Do you know why? Because

it's never been about you. It's always been about

Jesus. Jesus, who is a fighter, and what you

hold in your hand is the fight that he showed

up for, that he would go to a cross to set you

free, that your failures will not be your story.

I heard this recently, and it's just resonating

so strongly, you guys. We focus on our failure.

So you ever been around somebody and they're

like fighting the same sin in their life and

they make it to like four weeks and then they

fall again and they feel like the worst person

and we show up and we're like, oh man, what happened?

And they're talking like they're a complete failure.

And I heard this, the person showed up and they

said, when was the last time you ever went four

weeks without? And I said, never in my life.

That's sanctification is what the Bible calls

that. That's progression towards being free.

And I love that what we get in the cross is we

get this idea that you've done four weeks, now

let's do five. Let's trust Jesus for five and

see what happens. But don't you dare call yourself

a failure because God himself does not call you

that. God calls you a son and a daughter and

he tells you you're loved right here, right now.

and that he is pleased with you. Why? Because

he sees Jesus, who you're becoming like. And

Jesus sat at a table, and you know what he said?

Remember, don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget

what I'm doing. Don't forget what I'm buying

for you. Don't forget what this means, because

I'm setting you free. So the next moments are

yours. to just ruminate with the Holy Spirit

and see where he leads you, see what he brings

to mind. But don't you dare, don't you dare forget

who you are because of Jesus the fighter. So

the next moment's yours and then we'll take it

all together. When Jesus gathered his friends,

his disciples in a room, he used the word, remember,

remember, remember. We're so prone to forget

who we are because of the story of God. And he

goes, remember. So he took bread and he broke

it and he gave it to them. And he said, take,

eat, do this in remembrance of me. He took a

cup of wine and he connected it to his blood.

And in connecting it to his blood, he was speaking

identity over them. One of the writers captures

that there's forgiveness, that in his blood,

there's complete forgiveness. And another spot

connects his blood to the idea that we are set

free, that we are declared holy and righteous.

And he takes the cup and he goes, it's my new

covenant. I'm doing something new with you. And

I'm gonna go to the cross and I'm gonna shed

it willfully. Nobody's taking it. So that you

would know for all of eternity who you really

are. So he took a cup. He gave thanks for the

cup. And he said, this is a new covenant in my

blood. Do this in remembrance of me. God, we're

so grateful. Thank you for being a God who is

not lacking in any way today. Thank you for being

the God who shows up and fights for us when we

could not fight for ourselves. Jesus, thank you

for fighting. Thank you for going to the cross.

Thank you for redemption. Thank you for new life.

Thank you for showing us who you are. As we take

our voices in God, we lift them in worship, an

act of worship, an act of submission. Holy Spirit,

as you lead us to sing, as we declare what we

believe, Would you be made much of? Would you

be glorified? Would our voices be a sweet sound

to you this morning? We love you and we're grateful.

Thank you for loving us first. And everybody

said, amen.