Confession + Repentance | John Challinor

It is a lot, you guys. We are going to fly through

some stuff, but here's why. What you have, what

you know, you are responsible for. So what you

know to be true, you become responsible for.

And here's what I mean. You ever been driving

and you're on the road and you're just going

along and all of a sudden you go, what's the

speed limit? And you can't think what the speed

limit is. You're looking for a sign. You can't

see a sign. You're like, I don't know what the

speed limit is. I think I'm doing the right thing.

I don't know, right? And then if you're going

along and as you go along, you know, you got

your maps on and in the corner, it's got the

speed limit. You know what I mean? But if that's

not there as well, now you're really panicking.

Like, okay, not even the maps knows what the

speed limit is. And then a moment hits you where

you're like, Okay, if I got pulled over and they

asked me the question that they always ask you,

do you know what the speed limit is? Do you know

how fast you were going? You can honestly say

in that moment, I have no idea. I'm like in no

man's land out here. And you're not responsible

for what you don't know. Police officer might

think differently, right? So try it out. See,

let me know how it goes. But here's the thing.

You ever have that moment when you do see the

speed limit? And now you go, oh, I'm accountable

to what I know. I'm responsible to what I know.

Today is that for you. What we're going to cover,

where we're going to go, you're accountable for

what you know today. And I don't know about you,

I feel like it's only loving to go, hey, this

is what is coming. This is what the future is.

And I prefer you to know now so that you can

plan and prepare for what that is than to get

there and go, I didn't know I was doing 40 over

the speed limit. Right? I would prefer you to

know now. So this is why today is so important.

So I'm going to ask you, I need you. I need you

to engage in the whole morning. What I mean by

that is sometimes some people think that when

I'm done, we're done. We're not done today. God

wants to work in your soul today. And that means

all the way through response and worship, God

wants to work. So would you slow down enough

to go, God, I need you to work today. We've been

in a collection called Just Camping. We take

the concept of just camping out of 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:1

5, verse 1. For we know, and I would encourage

you, if you're taking notes, today's a note day

again, like it was last week. It's a picture

day if you need to take pictures of screens or

whatever, or you just need to read along. For

we know that if the earthly tent we live in is

destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal

house in heaven not built by human hands. We

know that when the earthly tent, this body, this

physical body is laid flat to the ground, we

know that when this body is laid flat to the

ground, we have an upgrade waiting in the future

in heaven. That's what he's saying there, right?

So he's saying that this life is temporary. Verse

6 says this. We covered this last week. We are

always confident and know that as long as we

are at home in the body, we are away from the

Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We

don't see yet, so we're living by faith. We are

confident, I say, and we prefer to be away from

the body and at home with the Lord. That phrasing,

if you've ever heard it, absent from the body,

present with the Lord, right? Like to leave this

body, to leave this shell. and instantly be in

the presence of God, this is where we get this

concept from, that when we lay down this tent,

when the tent is laid flat, we are going to be

present with God Almighty. We covered this last

week. Now, it's so important that you are able

to kind of, if you were here, maybe you need

a recap, maybe you don't. But if you weren't

here, you have to understand where we were last

week to understand where we're going today. So

last week, we were talking about this idea. that

when God created, he created the heavens and

the earth. And when he created the earth, he

goes, it's very good. And what you see is you

see God and the humans, and they are in perfect

unity. And why is this important? For us to understand

as humanity going, what is this all about? The

original intent of God in creation was that humans

and God would be in perfect relationship, that

they would be in such a perfect relationship,

in a perfect environment, that everything they

did was in sync with each other. That's why you

get the co -laboring with God, co -creating with

God. That's why you get this idea that we were

to push this world forward. It was supposed to

go from a garden to a city, and we were supposed

to be a part of it in perfect union with God.

Now, we know that sin entered the story in chapter

3. And after sin, the wages of sin were death,

right? And so what you've had all the way along

is a whole bunch of people that they've been

born on the planet. And because of sin and the

wages of sin being death, they have laid down

the body. They've laid down the physical life.

And so over and over, you have a pattern of people

because of sin. Sin has destroyed what God intended.

Now, the person of Jesus, what does God do? God

steps in in the person of Jesus. And what you

get is you get him going to a cross. And on the

cross, what does he do? He takes the sin. And

he puts it on himself. And he pays the penalty,

which is death, by going into the tomb. He leaves

death where it belongs, in the grave. And he

rises again, which means that the empty tomb

now is the doorway. We talked about this last

week. It's now the doorway to life. to eternal

life according to Jesus as you believe in him.

And when you believe in him, you inherit, you

are given, you are granted eternal life. This

is where it's important. Eternal life doesn't

start when I get somewhere. Eternal life starts

now. So your life in Jesus has already started.

Which is why when Paul says here, absent from

the body is present with the Lord, it's because

there's no distinction. You're not waiting for

life to begin. You already have it. And death

is just a continuation to life. Why? Because

death is a doorway to life. Which is why when

Paul says here, then, that when the shell is

laid in the grave, when the shell... is put to

rest, when the tent is dismantled, you are instantly

in the presence of God. What was the purpose

of the whole thing? That God would what? God

would dwell in perfect harmony. But in the present,

so this is present day. In present day, this

is where we live. Where people are still dying,

right? Because the effects of sin are still on

this earth. And so the effects of sin mean that

someone dies, they are laid down, they are absent

from the body as a believer, as a follower of

Jesus, someone who has said yes to Jesus. They

are instantly in the presence of God Almighty.

And that's the confidence we have. Now, the Bible

also speaks of a future, a future when Jesus

is going to return. And it says the dead. meaning

the shell that's left behind, all the dead, all

of human history are going to rise and be joined.

There's a reunion coming. Reunion, there we go.

Right, there's a reunion coming. And it says

specifically that those that have died that are

in Christ, they will return with Christ. And

we talked last week, you may be going, well,

what is that? That is you, that is the essence

of you, right? Like when you talk about you,

if you've ever watched somebody pass away and

they took their last breath, it's amazing how

quickly they go from being there to you know

they're gone, right? And what happens is their

soul. their personhood, their essence, their

spirit leaves the body, right? And so now what

we're told is it leaves the body. And in this

present sense, this intermediate sense, because

most people go, this is heaven. This is not heaven.

In the sense of we think of heaven as our final

resting place forever. This is just intermediate.

And we know there's bodily form. We talked about

that last week. Now, the reunion that happens,

right? is our physical bodies are now united

back with your soul, your spirit, and who you

are. So what you have happening, it says that

in Philippians and other places, you're going

to have a glorified body. Which means, if you

were here last week, it's the chubby version

of you. Right? But what does God do? God creates

at the end of the story a new heavens, or he

renews, I should say, the heavens and the earth.

And what do you have? You have God coming down

out of heaven to dwell on planet earth, right,

on earth with us. Why? Because in our glorified

state, we'll be there. What was God's intent

all the way along? That we would what? Be in

perfect unity. What do you see at the end of

the story? Us and God in perfect unity. That's

the story of God. That's the plan that God has

been doing the whole time. That's the action

plan of what God has done. He stepped into human

history. Why? That we could spend through the

doorway of life, being the person of Jesus, we

can spend eternity with him. And so what you

have next. is what we kind of ended on last week.

We kind of said, hey, this is coming, right?

And so what you had was this, verse nine. So

he's just said, absent from the body, present

with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please

him, whether we are at home in the body or away

from it. So he goes, whether you're here or you've

already left this life, your goal is the same.

It is to honor God. And we'll talk about that

more later. Verse 10, for we. must all appear

before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each

of us may receive what is due us for the things

done while in the body. If you remember last

week, we talked about two specific judgments.

There's one that has books. And yes, those are

books before you judge it, not the Ten Commandments.

And there's one that is the book of life, and

then there's a throne. And you're like, that's

a throne? Yeah. It's getting there. There's two

judgments that are spoken of. One of them is

here, the judgment seat of Christ. And what you

have is this is the future. He says, we must

all, we must all. So who's he talking to? He's

talking to Christians, talking to the church.

All, being inclusive, appear before the judgment

seat of Christ. So John, what you're saying is,

as a follower of Jesus, I will be judged. Absolutely,

is what I'm saying. And what that means is, what

that means is that when it says the judgment

seat of Christ, the word there is Bema. And what

Bema was used for, it was a place you stepped

up onto. And when you stepped up onto it, think

of like the Olympic Games, you stepped up. And

when you appeared there, what you had done in

the race now showed up and you were rewarded

for what you had done. So the behemoth seat also

connected to the military, that in the military,

that if you've gone off and done things, then

the honor you received was when you stepped up,

you would receive your medal of honor for your

service. What you have done played into that

moment and what you received. So what's happening

here is Paul's telling us, hey, people, specifically,

hey, church, there is a judgment coming and you

will stand there. Romans 14 picks up on this,

just so you don't think it's only in one spot.

Romans 14, verse 10. You then, why do you judge?

Romans 14:10

So very practical conversation. Why do you judge

your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them

with contempt? For we will all stand before God's

judgment seat. It is written. As surely as I

live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before

me. Every tongue will acknowledge that I am God.

So he's saying there's going to be this day when

you get before a throne and you are going to

bow your knee, whether you bowed it in this life

or not. He goes, there's a judgment coming. Everyone

will be there. So then each of us will give an

account of ourselves to God. So you, you are

going to have to give an account of yourself

to God. Hebrews says this. In verse 9, Hebrews

9, 27. Just as people are destined to die once

and after that to face judgment. Just as people

are destined to die. Why can he say destined

to die? Because the hit rate of death is what?

100%. It don't matter. It don't matter how young

you think you are. It don't matter how good looking

you think you are. It don't matter if you're

a gym bro, right? Like you're just in there hitting

it hard. You're gonna keep this thing alive.

It don't matter. What I know is you and me and

all of humans have this thing called death and

it is coming for you whether you like it or not.

You don't escape. You may prolong, but you will

not escape. A wise person told me with this verse,

you can translate destined and you translate

it appointed. It goes appointed. It is appointed

to man once, man being all people, to die. Appointed

to die and then judgment. You have an appointment

you are going to keep. You don't know when it's

on your calendar, but you will keep it. There

will be a day when you stop breathing and you

will stand before Almighty God, which is what

Revelation 20, Revelation 20 picks up on. This

is John's vision of the future. Then I saw a

great white. Really important on great, white.

The idea of great is that the being on the throne,

there is no higher throne. There is no higher

being. This is the ultimate supreme being that

is sitting on this throne. That's kind of the

emphasis of that word great. So there is a great

white, white being holy. So the being that's

on there, not only is he great. He is holy, meaning

he cannot be in the presence of sin, meaning

he cannot allow anything around him that is unholy,

which is why the angels right now are singing

in his presence, holy, holy, holy is the Lord

God Almighty. Then I saw a great white throne

and him who was seated on it. The earth and the

heavens fled from his presence and there was

no place for them. That's speaking that this

was the end of the time, right? This is the future.

And I saw the dead great and small. Now, remember,

the story is there is Jesus is coming, right?

And so everybody is raised. Every single person

is raised. And you may be going, well, how is

that possible that every single person is raised?

Like I had this uncle and this uncle was cremated

and we went to the ocean and like his ashes went

everywhere. How is this true? How can this be

possible? Pretty sure, we talked about this last

week, but pretty sure that if God can create

the heavens and the earth out of nothing, he

can find your uncle. He'll be just fine. And

he's going to collect every single person and

put them back together. And then it says, I saw

the dead, great and small. Great is a word that

you use to speak of. wealth, position, power,

influence, whatever, humanly speaking, we measure

a person to be great by. That's what that means.

On the other side, you have small, the insignificant,

the obscure, the isolated, the oppressed, right?

And so what it's getting at is there, if you

go to the extremes of both of those, that pretty

much captures all humans in between. He goes,

I saw the great. And the small. There's no favoritism

between you had this and you had that and I was

great and you were small, like whatever. He goes,

that doesn't matter, right? The great and the

small. They stand before the throne and books

were opened. Another book was opened, which is

the book of life. So you've got books and then

you have the book of life. The dead were judged

according to what? they had done as recorded

in the book. So what he's saying is that in the

future, at the great white throne, there are

books. And specifically, there's a book called

Life. They were judged according to what they

had done as recorded in those books. The sea

gave up the dead that were in it, and death and

Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and

each, get this, each person, each person was

judged according to what they had done. 100 %

of people stand at this judgment. 100%. And it

says that while it's 100%, which is the whole,

Maybe a better way to do it so it stands out

and you remember it. Each person. Know what that

tells me? Your mama's faith ain't going to matter

when you get there. You're not going to be hiding

behind your mom in heaven. It's not going to

matter that, oh, well, my family went to church.

Why? Because it's not about your family. What

you have is 100 % of people and each person,

it says individually, each person, that means

you will stand and was judged according to what

they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown

into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the

second death. Anyone whose name was not found

written in the book of life was thrown into the

lake of fire. So wait, they show up to be judged.

They're judged by what they've done. And then

there's this book of life. And if your name is

not in that book of life, it says that you are

thrown into the lake of fire. Okay, so just clarifying

terms. The term hell is... Lake of fire, okay?

So anyone whose name is not found in this book

of life is thrown into hell. Every person will

stand before that throne. Now, to understand

the consequences of this and make sure we're

all tracking on the same page, we have to understand

when we talk about hell, what is hell, right?

Because we have this weird kind of conversation

or culture around, the idea that God creates

the heavens and the earth, right? And we've talked

about that, and he puts humans on them, but we've

kind of made the story of God to go like this,

that God created, and now the whole purpose of

your life is to try and get to this place called

heaven, right? Because you don't want to be the

person who goes to... Hell. So what we've made

this whole life about is there's two destinations,

and here's what happens. You just need to make

sure that you have fire insurance, so to speak,

to make sure you go to heaven and don't go to

hell. You don't want to go to the lake of fire.

But the story of God is actually much different.

The story of God is, yes, God creates the heavens

and the earth. But the story of God is that this

thing that humans did, not God, humans, and it's

right here, we've already covered it, humans

sin, and what happens when humans sin is that

everything is affected by sin and evil and selfishness.

So much so that when sin entered, the earth itself

is groaning, is what Romans says. The earth is

groaning to be released from evil, right? Everything

was affected by the choice that they made when

sin entered. So now here's how this plays out.

I don't need to stand here and convince you that

something is wrong with our world. I don't need

to convince you of evil. I don't need to convince

you that the abuse of another human is wrong.

I don't need to convince you that when we talk

about sex trafficking, we call it sex trafficking

to actually clean it up because we don't like

to talk about what it actually is where other

humans are abused for sexual activity. We know

there's something wrong with that. I don't have

to convince you that the abuse of minors is wrong.

Why? Because we internally know that something

is broken, that sin has corrupted every single

part of what we are. And guess what? God knew

it too. Which is why God came to planet Earth

in human form and went to a cross. What did he

take to the cross? The consequence of sin is

death. And what did he do? He freed us from death.

Right? What was God doing? He was creating a

way. He was creating a way to life. Right? Through

the tomb. And you see what happens is the end

of the story isn't about escaping planet Earth.

It's actually about God renewing the Earth and

a city, God's city, coming down so that God is

with us. But for this to happen, guess what God

has to do? He has to purge the earth of what?

Evil. It's interesting, when Jesus talks about

hell, you know how he talks about it? Outside

the city, outside the city, outside the city.

Right? Well, the city of God comes down and what

happens to evil? What happens to hell? He gets

the hell out of earth. Literally. And what happens

is it's cast out. Why? Because if you never cast

out evil, there can't be a space where God can

dwell. Remember, he's holy. God can't dwell unless

the space is purified. How do you purify a space?

Peter talks about it with fire, right? The refiner's

fire purifies. What is he doing? He's removing

hell from earth. We celebrate, you guys, when...

We celebrate, right, when Satan is cast out,

when the enemy is cast out, and he's in hell.

We're like, yeah, Jesus won. Well, you know what's

happening at the book of life? What's happening

at the book of life? And I'm going to be really

honest with you. Church people in the room, if

you're not familiar with church, this isn't for

you. You don't have to think I'm mad at you,

right? But church people, stop arguing about

dumb stuff. Right? I spent way too many arguments

trying to figure out what's the timeline and

how does it work. I'm just here to tell you what

I know. And what I know is there is a day coming

when I will stand before Almighty God. And I'm

going to stand before Almighty God and he's going

to open a book that has my deeds in it. And I

don't know how you feel. I just know me. I got

a lot of bad in my life. I have a lot of sin

in my life. I have a lot of things that are evil

in my life. I have thoughts that are broken.

And on that day, they will be revealed before

Almighty God. But I need you to understand at

the great white throne where the books are, guess

what? I'm going to understand how good grace

is. Because what's going to happen is my sin

and my shame and my guilt and my evil is going

to be put forward. And Jesus is going to go,

I paid for it all. I paid for it all. I know

today 100 % without a shadow of a doubt, without

any kind of lack of confidence, the same confidence

that Paul has when he wrote, I know that I know

that I know that because of Jesus, my name is

in the book of life, which means this judgment

is not for me because of Jesus. How do I know

that? Because what Jesus said over here is that

when you believe, When you believe, what do you

receive? Eternal life. What does that mean? Your

name. When you believe in Jesus, your name is

put into the book of life. I know that when I

stand at the great white throne, my name will

be in the book of life. Do you? Do you know?

Do you know that you know that your name is in

the book of life? That's the question that you

have to wrestle with. Because the only way your

name gets there is by trusting in what Jesus

has done, that he has paid your sin and he has

paved the way for all of eternity. Now, we started

this talking about 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

in 2 Corinthians 5, if I can find it, it said

this, must all appear before the judgment seat

of Christ. So wait, there's a second judgment.

This one is your name in the book of life. There's

another judgment. Remember the Bema seat where

you step up? The judgment seat of Christ? Something

like this, kind of? If you think you can do better,

you know, we can try. See what happens. But there's

a judgment seat of Christ. Who is the judgment

seat of Christ for? Well, the judgment seat of

Christ is for all of those whose name is in the

book of life. You still will be held accountable.

So here's the good news, right? Good news is

100%. of people with life because they trusted

Jesus will show up here. So the good news is

you're not alone. However, at the judgment seat

of Christ, you will be just you. Nobody else

is going with you in that moment. When you step

up and everything is shown for what it is. Now,

the good news about this is the judgment seat

of Christ isn't about whether you are saved or

not. It's about what you've done. You know that

you're saved, but when you get to the judgment

seat of Christ, what's going to happen is that

you're going to be held accountable. What did

you do with what I gave you? God's going to look

at you and go, I gave you eternal life. So you

didn't have to spend your life looking for life.

You already had it. And I think he's going to

ask, so what did you do with what I gave you?

I gave you some really cool gifts. I gave you

some really great influence. I gave you a job

that meant that you never had to worry about

anything financial. Why? So that you could build

the kingdom of God. I gave you a family. What'd

you do with them? Where did you leave them? How

did you build for eternity? I believe that everything

he's put in your hand, he's going to ask, what'd

you do? In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3,

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

Paul's writing to the church of Corinth. He says

this, by the grace God has given me, I laid a

foundation as a wise builder and someone else

is building on it, but each should build with

care. So he goes, hey, I built in my time on

earth. I built into the kingdom of God, into

the glory of God for the things of God. And he

goes, somebody else is coming and building on

top. But he goes, be careful. Verse 11, for no

one can lay a foundation other than the one already

laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds

on this foundation using gold, silver, costly

stones, wood, hay, or straw, their work will

be shown for what it is. Because the day of judgment

will bring to light, and it will be revealed

with fire. Fire purifies, right? So what's going

to happen is your work, the things you did with

what God gave you, The way that you built, the

way that you use this life. I loved it in 2 Corinthians

5 .10. It says good or bad. So it's a both and.

But you know what the bad is? Worthless. So did

I take everything I was given and put it into

worthless stuff is what he's saying. I don't

think we get to step up at the judgment seat

of Christ. I don't think we step up as believers.

Into that moment and go, hey, God, aren't you

proud of my 14 years I spent on TikTok? We already

know it's worthless. That's why we call it doom

scrolling. We already know that there's stuff

that we do that is just worthless. That when

the fire comes to it, it's just going to disappear.

And you have this moment. Where he says the fire

will test the quality. You know what the quality

is? It's the motive that you did it with. What's

the motive behind how you live your life? Because

there's going to be a moment when you stand before

God. And as a believer, I give an account for

the motives that drove my life. Verse 14, if

it has been built. If what has been built survives,

the builder will receive a reward. We don't have

time to talk about this, but there are rewards.

That's the good news. Right? But this isn't kids'

soccer. It's built on your work. Right? You don't

get a participation medal. You don't show up

and go, hey, here you go. Good job. There's five

rewards. We don't have time to talk about those.

But what's happening in this moment? You're standing

before God and God says, I'll give you a reward

if it survives. Verse 15, but if it is burned

up, the builder will suffer loss. But yet, listen

to this, but yet will be saved. Why? Because

this throne isn't about whether you're saved

or not, right? It's what you did with what you

had. So this isn't about whether you're saved

or not. We're already at the great white throne,

book of life. My name's in the book of life,

so I stand at this one. And I know, he says,

yet will be saved, even though as one escaping

through the flames. You know what? Another way

to say that is, it's an old saying, by the skin

of your teeth, you were saved. Right, like you,

only Jesus, that's it. God's gonna look at you

and go, only Jesus, because everything else is

gone. Only Jesus. But what'd you do with what

I gave? And I think it's interesting. We have

such weird, like we think we're gonna. Because

we're in relationship with Jesus. We spend time

with Jesus. We try to make Jesus as tangible

as possible, right? Like we see Jesus on the

earth. And so I think sometimes we have this

image in our head that when it comes to judgment

and it comes to that, we're just gonna walk into

that throne room and be like, hey, Jesus. I don't

think it's gonna be like that at all. Here's

why. Revelation chapter one. John is writing

about what he saw in heaven. Verse 12, I turned

around to see. the voice that was speaking to

me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,

and among the lampstands was someone like the

Son of Man, a name for Jesus, dressed in a robe,

reaching down to his feet with a golden sash

around his chest. The hair on his head was white

like wool. Nothing wrong with white hair, just

saying, right? As white as snow. And his eyes

were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze

glowing in a furnace. His voice was like the

sound of rushing waters. In his right hand, he

held seven stars and coming out of his mouth

was a sharp double -edged sword. His face was

like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When

I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

Then he placed his right hand on me and said,

do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.

I am the living one. I was dead and now look,

I am alive forever. And I hold the keys to death

and Hades. I think when we get to heaven, remember

who John was? John was the disciple that at a

meal was reclining on Jesus because they were

that close. He was that comfortable. He sees

the glorified, resurrected Jesus, the Jesus that'll

sit on a throne. And what does he do? He's on

his face. Why? Because of the brilliance and

the glorification of who Jesus actually is. He's

on his face as though he is dead before him.

I'm reading this this week. I'm preparing. It's

a normal Monday. Sitting in Starbucks. Got my

blonde Americano, so life is okay. I got worship

music in my headphones, ears, whatever they are,

AirPods, whatever you call those. And then I

read this. And in the middle of an average day

in Starbucks, I fall into confession. Because

when I read about standing before Jesus, and

I read about what have you done with what I gave,

and he's gonna see the motives of my heart, I'm

undone. Because I know there are far too many

times I do things out of pride. There are far

too many times when it's about me. There are

far too many times when raising my kids, I don't

have eternity in mind in raising my kids. I just

want them to do what I want them to do. And I

want you to do it now and not let me ask again.

I think he's gonna look at the gifts that he's

given. He's gonna look at the good and the bad.

And so what happened for me in that Starbucks

is I just began to agree with God. What does

that mean? Like confession is just that I agree

with God. God, you're right. The motive is often

this. And I acknowledge that. I confess that

to you. God, I confess that with all of the things

you've put in my life, all of the resources,

all of the influence, all of the gifts, all of

the people, all of the... God, I confess that

I don't always use those in a way that's appropriate

for the kingdom of God. God, I confess that my

motives are off. And then it leads to repentance.

You know what repentance is? I change my mind.

How do I change my mind? I agree with what God

said, and now I'm gonna go a different direction

from the direction I've been. So I was sitting

there in Starbucks, confessing and repenting,

confessing and repenting. And I wrote the team

and I said, hey, you guys, I just feel like God

is calling us to spend time. in confession and

repentance this weekend. Because I don't know

how you read any of this and go, I'm perfect.

I don't know how you read any of this and go,

I don't waste time. I don't see how you read

any of this and go, man, I got this all together.

It's a sobering fact that I will stand before

my maker. And then there's another piece to it

that was burdening. is that there are people

right here, right now, across screens, in other

locations, and you don't know that your name

is in the book of life. You couldn't say today

because you've never fully trusted the person

of Jesus for life. And I'm burdened for you today.

Because I know what that means for eternity.

I understand how eternity works. Jesus has made

it so difficult, Levi Lusko said, that you have

to trip over the cross of Christ to get to hell.

You literally have to trip over Jesus to get

there. Don't let another day go by where you

go. I'm good. I'll figure it out at some point.

You may not have another point. And you don't

get to play around with eternity. It's coming

whether you are ready or not. You don't know

when your tent is laid down, but you do know

this, that you have today and you have right

now. And it's real easy. If you're in the room

and you go, I don't know, John, if I'm in the

book of life, it's real easy. Jesus, I give you

my life. thank you for saving me. Jesus, I trust

that you died for me. I trust that you grant

life. If you're in the room and you don't know,

if your name is in the book of life, that's your

prayer today. Jesus, thank you for saving me.

I give you my life. For those of you that know

Jesus, I think we just need to spend some time

talking to him, letting him search us and confess

and repent. So the next moments are yours. Church,

I don't care if you stay where you are. I don't

care if you come down front. I don't care what

you do. I just, please don't miss this opportunity

to talk to God. Please don't miss this opportunity

to confess, repent, and step in. to be saved.

So next moments are yours and then we're gonna

worship together, you guys. We're gonna worship.

So next moments are yours.