Our Forever Home | John Challinor

Good morning to those of you on our online family.

Pauldin, that is you. We are so excited for you

to gather and be a part of the family there in

Pauldin. We hope that you are enjoying good hospitality

and that your community is blessed today because

you gathered. And same with Baghdad. Randy, I

saw that you kind of said you guys were out there

today, and we're so grateful that you're a part

of our online family. We get to walk alongside.

There is... I think her name was Georgia. She

is in Johannesburg, South Africa on a missions

trip and wanted to be a part of the family. How

fun is that? Right. So rest of the online fam,

wherever you happen to be, whatever you happen

to be doing. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to Prescott.

We're glad you're here. We're glad you're here.

I know we say that a lot. And I want to just

slow down for a moment because. Some of you,

if you've been coming for a while, you're like,

why do we say that so often? Right. Like, why

are we still saying you're welcome? You're welcome.

I meet people on the weekly who it is their first

time here. It's their first time at a Heights

gathering or they've only been a few times. So

they feel and part of that is if that's you today,

whether that's here in the room or that's across

screens that you go, hey, that's me. I'm new

here. I just want you to know before we get into

anything else that we are so glad that you are

here. that you belong here, that if you're on

the, wherever you are on that journey, right?

Like that if you're a cynic and you're here,

welcome, you belong here. And if you're a skeptic,

right? Like you've been burned by faith and you're

like, I got all kinds of skepticism about this

thing, if it's real or not, and whatever else

comes along with that, welcome to you. You're

welcome here with your skepticism, right? And

what you'll find is we're just a group of people

who We belong together because we're human. And

part of being human is stumbling towards discovering

a God who is madly in love with each of us. And

he has chased us down and he has rescued us and

he is transforming us. And that changes everything,

right? And so the hope is that as you hang out

with the family, you discover. That what we've

discovered along the way that this Jesus really

is the real deal. And we can't wait for you to

meet him. Right? Like that's the whole point.

So if that's you, welcome. Glad you're here.

I don't know about you, but anybody else got

allergies? Okay. All right. Some of you. It's

not right to watch the Winter Olympics. With

allergies. Like there's just something wrong

with that dynamic, right? Like it just does not

feel right that we're in February and we have

allergies. So God bring the snow. No? Anybody

ready for a good snow? I am. Yeah. The rest of

you that don't like snow, you'll be fine. You'll

be fine. It melts in a week. Okay, so there's

a game today, apparently. Okay, let's get it

out of the way. You ready? Patriots fans. Seahawks

fans. Okay, you remember everything I said about

being welcome here? Patriots fans, you are welcome.

In the family. But you are way outnumbered. That

has happened at every single gathering so far

this weekend. So I don't know what that says.

What is interesting, Drake May, those of you

that don't know, Drake May is a quarterback for

the Patriots. Drake May, I got to hear his testimony

this week. The man knows Jesus, loves Jesus.

It was pretty incredible. If that's not enough

to make you like him, he married his middle school

sweetheart. That's pretty incredible, right?

But Drake May, so I'm kind of torn. Like I like

that story. And then I hear testimonies from

the Seahawks side and I like those stories. But

here's the bottom line. Sorry, Patriots fans.

I think the Seahawks have a full rounded team

and you could be in trouble. We'll see. We'll

see. Who knows? I don't have a dog in a fight,

so I don't care. I just hope it's a good game

and I get some food. So there you go. Real simple,

real simple. Some of you, okay. Who could care

less about football? So communication one -on

-one, they're like, know your audience. So I'm

glad I've been talking for months about football.

It's great. It's great. It's so fun. But welcome.

We are normal. Life is hard. Life is hard and

we need each other. And so we get to laugh and

we get to cry together. We are heading into a

new collection. Specifically, this collection

of talks has been... kind of rattling around

in our world behind the scenes for about two

years. God gave this idea and I've been really

passionate about it. I got to hang out with Pastor

David Bleckley two years ago and I told him about

it and he was excited about it. And I'm like,

we have to do this. It is so impactful or can

be for our church family. And so we've been trying

for two years to get this into the teaching.

And every time God has just gone, nope. not time

yet. Nope, it's not time yet. Well, we are here

and the collection is called Just Camping. And

the hope is that as a church family, we gain

some language in our interactions with each other

as we walk through the hard things of life, as

we walk through the things that surprise us in

life, that we have some language and some commonality.

I also hope for you as an individual that what

happens is you are steeled in your faith and

you are able from this point forward, when we

get done with this, it's going to go all the

way through Easter, that when we get done, there

is just a slogan known to you personally. known

to our church, that we are just camping and instantly

it frames up some huge theological truths about

what it means to be human and what it means to

be here right now. And so the hope is that when

we walk away from this collection, we are all

going together with clarity of what it means.

But to get there, if you'll let me, if you'll

do the honor. I would love to be vulnerable for

about five minutes if that's okay. So 23 days

ago, my father -in -law, he got up. It was a

Friday, and it was a fishing tournament weekend.

And so he got up, did his normal prep. They went

down there to, him and his son, who do the fishing

tournaments together, went down there to kind

of scout the lake. Is that the right term? I

don't know what the fishing term is, but they

went down there to figure out where are the fish

biting? How are they biting? They had a phenomenal

Friday. They caught, we have a picture of the

fish they caught. I mean, just an amazing, amazing

Friday. They got back to the campsite. They're

hanging out. doing what they normally do. They're

strategizing, right? How are we going to win

this tournament? Where do we need to go first?

Where are we going? And so they got their plan

in place. They eat dinner, and it's an early

start. And so they go to bed, and that's Friday

night. Saturday morning at 5 .50 a .m., I received

a call, a quite panic call, that my father -in

-law was unresponsive. And that's all we knew

at that point. And for the next hour, we just

waited for news of what was happening. And within

that hour, we got news that he was gone. And

completely unexpected. If you knew him, the man

still... was working construction. Like he was

still working on motors in his spare time and

going to fishing tournaments. And there's this

unexpected nature to it, right? And we got the

news, began to tell other people some things

you need to know about him. I was trying to figure

out the years. He's been a part of this church

family for 25 years plus maybe. He would always

sit right back there at the 8 o 'clock service,

and his chair was empty this week. And what you

need to understand about him is he knew and loved

Jesus an awful lot. He has been building into

the kingdom. He was one of the family members

that jumped on board when we decided that God

was leading us to start Park Collective. And

he was one of the family members that was a part

of that. That he was faithful with what God had

given him. If you went to a men's breakfast,

he was probably someone who helped cook your

food. Because he served on that team. He had

a men's Bible study that he was at weekly. This

is who he is. So there's this reality of when

people ask, how are you doing? We're living in

the and, the world of the and. And what I mean

by that is this, that yes, he is gone, right?

And. I know where he is, right? It's sudden and

shocking and all of that, right? And we have

complete peace because we know where he is and

who he's with. The end changes everything. We

can see the goodness of God leading up to it.

I could stand here and tell you stories of where

we've seen the hand of God in the last year preparing,

not for, we didn't know what was coming, but

he's been preparing and we miss him on the daily,

right? Like it's still painful. So we're living

in the world of the end. And I think, I think

this is what Paul was getting at. When in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

1, it says this, for we know. Okay, we got to

be really clear. When Paul says for we know,

he's not going, hey, there's a question mark

here. We've been kind of sitting around and talking

about. He's going, no, no, no, we know. This

is what we're confident in. This is what we understand

to be true. This is what we are banking on. This

is what we are living our lives on. This is how

we exist in the present. He goes, 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. He goes,

we know, right? Like we are confident in this.

We are living with this reality. That if the

earthly tent, the original language there, is

a temporary dwelling. When he talks, when Paul

is talking about this body, this earthly body

you have, it is a temporary dwelling. And he

goes, if this temporary dwelling, and his next

words is, We live in is destroyed. That word

destroyed is that if you were to take a tent

and dismantle it, the tent lies flat on the ground.

That is the word destroyed is to dismantle, to

tear down. That if the earthly tent, if this

body is laid flat, we have a building from God,

an eternal house in heaven. Notice the difference

that's being created. Temporary dwelling, laid

flat. When that happens, we have a permanent,

and he uses the word eternal. We have an eternal

dwelling, house compared to tent, from God. And

this last part's important, not built by human

hands. You know why? Because everything you build

with your hands will fall apart. will corrode,

will not last. Everything that has ever been

built by human hands does not last. And he says,

wait a minute, what you're getting, what happens

is you are receiving from God something that

cannot fall apart, that will not fall apart because

it's not built by your hands, it's built by God's

hands. And so he goes, you can have confidence

that this earthly body, when it lays flat, which

by the way, you know what has a hundred percent

hit rate? You know what it is? Death. Death never

misses. Go back through the Bible, right? When

sin entered. Notice what happens from when sin

enters at the beginning of the story over and

over and over. What is recorded on the pages

of the Bible for you is, and they died, and they

died, and they died, and they died. Why? Because

what God is getting at is no one escapes because

it's got 100 % hit rate. Because of sin, everybody

will die. You're not going to beat it. I'm not

going to beat it. So what Paul is saying is get

a correct perspective, get a correct perspective

on what this life actually is. That this life

is just a tent. And you are just camping. You're

just camping. This life that we think is so much

and so big and we got to do, you're just camping.

James goes, you're a mist. And the idea is of

like shooting water, a mist in the air. You're

just a mist here today, gone tomorrow. Right?

When we get correct perspective because of sin

and what sin has done in death entering, you

are just camping. And that changes everything.

That changes the way we relate to everything

around us. My father -in -law was just camping.

And you know what? That verse tells me that it's

not up for debate. He has an eternal dwelling

that was built by God himself. That's reality.

Which is why we live in the world of the end,

right? I'm sad. We're sad. We don't want him

back. He's in a better place. But I wonder if

we actually believe that. And so what Paul is

getting at here is he's going, hey, this is temporary.

This dwelling is temporary. It's like a tent.

So if you would let me, I'd love to go back because

he has such confidence in what he's saying. I'd

love to go back to the verses prior and kind

of build through using the tent as kind of a

picture of what Paul's getting at. So if you

jump back into chapter four, verse 13, it says,

it is written. And so he's quoting Psalms here,

right? He's quoting the Psalmist. I believed,

therefore I have spoken because I believed I

spoke up, right? So there's a deep connection

there. And so then Paul says, if that's what

the Psalmist said, since we have the same spirit

of faith or spirit of God, we also believe, therefore

we speak. So what he's getting at and what he's

framing up is right before this, he's talked

about how difficult life is, that he is pressed,

he is crushed on all sides, but they're not broken.

And so what he's getting at is the faith that

is required. He goes, we have believed, that

is where our faith is, therefore we have spoken.

You know what's interesting with tense? Tense

are suitable. And what I mean by that is when

you move a tent to ground, it becomes suitable

for that ground. The tent adapts to where you

have it. If you have it in the living room, there's

not much adaption going on. I talked to a guy

last night. He was telling me that they went

camping and they got there at dark and it was

raining and they had to set up the tent. And

so he was telling me about setting up his tent

in the dark and the rain. And I was like, this

is why I don't go camping ever. This does not

sound fun. And then it carried on. He goes, well,

when we got it all set up, we climbed into it

and realized there was a root and they were laying

on it all night. But you got your tent set up.

So what are you going to do? Right. Because the

tent adapts. The tent is suitable. And I was

like sleeping on that. That's why I don't do

it. But the tent adapts. It is suitable. You

know what this life is and what Paul's saying

here? This life, because it is temporary. Because

it is this tent, it is suitable to live by faith.

You get to live by faith here. How do I know

that? Because the hit rate of death is what?

100 %? Every single person in this room, across

screens, at our other locations today, you are

all living by faith. Why? Because this life,

this... temporary tent is suitable for living

by faith. You're living by faith. Here's what

I mean. Everybody, everybody knows death is coming.

So everybody has a thought of what's beyond.

Now you may put your trust in a whole bunch of

voices. You may put them in scientists. You may

put them in people that think they know. You

may put them in gurus. You may put them in whatever,

the latest podcaster. What we have is we have

left by God through his people. This is the reality

of what is to come. And by faith, I get to step

into that in this temporary life and go by faith,

I know what is coming. We're going to spend weeks

together all the way to Easter talking about

the importance of what this means, not only in

our daily life, but on large theological sense,

what happens. Because the more you know, the

more faith you can apply, the way it changes

how you hold on to this life. And he says specifically

then, right? Like this life is suitable for faith.

You know what's amazing about worship, right?

Worship, if you just got a raise or you just

got a new job or your kid just got into whatever

college or you just had like the greatest win

from a sports perspective, right? Like whatever

it happens to be. It's easy to come in this room

and go, you're a good, good father, right? It's

easy to come in this room and go, oh God, we

worship you. I can sing at the top of my voice.

Tell you what, when you're in pain, worship is

an act of faith. Because in faith, you step in

through the pain and you still worship. You realize

something? You'll only do that here. For all

of eternity, you'll never have to worship through

the pain ever. That's only here, right? For all

of eternity, pain won't be a part of our worship.

We will just see and therefore worship. But here

we, by faith, why? Because this life is suitable

for you to live by faith. He carries on then

after talking about, we believe, therefore we

speak. Verse 14, because we know. Again, this

confident language, right? We know the one that

who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will

also raise us with Jesus and present us with

you to himself. We'll unpack this more in weeks

to come. For today, here's what you need to grab.

His confidence, his confidence to live by faith

is that he looks at an empty tomb and he goes,

if God can raise Jesus, he can raise me. And

if God can raise Jesus, he can raise you. So

the same God that raised Jesus is going to raise

you to life because he has resurrection power.

So while yes, we are in this temporary dwelling,

we know is what he says. He's not sitting there

going, hey guys, what do you think? Do you think

that's a, no, he goes, we know. How do we know?

Because Jesus was raised from the dead. Therefore

you will be raised from the dead and he will

present. Here's what's, you ever notice on a

tent that there are no roots? There's no roots

to a tent. You're like, huh? There's no roots

to a tent. We were sitting in teaching prep and

Pastor Michael later, he jotted down this thought.

And I'm like, that is brilliant. There's no roots

to a tent. What I mean by that is this, that

if you went camping with your buddy, right? And

your buddy, you pull up in the parking lot and

you're about to head out and you notice your

buddy's got a cement mixer on the back of his

truck. And you're like, what are you doing with

a cement mixer? He's like, man, when we get to

that campsite, I'm gonna pour a slab that's gonna

be perfect for a... You don't do that. Why? Because

you're not putting down roots when you go camping.

Right? And this is what he's getting at when

he says, wait, wait, you are made. You are made

to be raised to life through Jesus. Right? This

has blown my mind in thinking of the concept

of who God is and how he's so all -knowing, that

God is so all -knowing that in creation, when

everything was perfect and death wasn't a part

of it, he knew sin would enter, death would come

along, and if he didn't design us this way, you

would get stuck in a broken, sinful environment

forever. But he designed that you could be released

from your earthly tent. So that you, you could

experience what he always wanted for you to experience

for all of eternity, the new heavens, new earth.

So what you have, what you have is this beautiful

moment where God goes, don't put down roots here

because you're living in a tent. And just as

weird as it would be to put a slab underneath

your tent and begin to frame up. Could you imagine

you get to the site and somebody starts to frame

around their tent because they're. You'd be like,

it's a tent, man. What are you doing? I wonder

how many times people look at us and go, aren't

you Christians? Don't you believe you're temporary?

Don't you believe this life is here today, gone

tomorrow? Why are you building like it's forever?

And another thing that is interesting with this

idea of there's an empty tomb, therefore resurrection.

It's this. It's made to move. Right? It's made

to move. It's not meant to stay in one location.

God, by design, designed you not to stay here.

Right? Like God knew, God knew in his sovereignty

that you're not staying put. And so what's beautiful

about a tent, a tent's designed to move. A tent

might be here, and then it might be over here.

Right? And so your tent may be on earth today,

but guess what? It's not staying. No matter how

much face cream you put on. It ain't staying.

Sorry, Misty, I won't block you. That would be

mean. We're going to move our tent. Why? Because

tents were made to move. You weren't meant to

stay. You're meant to be resurrected by Jesus.

How do I know that? How can I have the same confidence?

Because the tomb is empty. Verse 15, all of this

is for your benefit so that grace, so that the

grace is reaching more and more people. may cause

thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

So we'll talk about this in weeks to come connected

to the tent idea and just camping. We'll unpack

this further. But the idea behind it just for

today is this, that you weren't designed to stay.

You weren't designed to stay. Jesus, when he

leaves, he goes, as you are going, it's supposed

to be moving. You're not putting a permanent

thing in place, right? Like as you're going.

And it says here that it's gonna give more glory

to God. Verse 16, therefore, therefore, based

on all of that that we just talked about, Therefore,

we do not lose heart. What do we do? We double

down. We actually don't shy away. We double down.

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly

we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being

renewed day by day. Outwardly, we're falling

apart. Paul's talking about the persecution that

he'd gone through, the hardships that he'd gone

through. He uses language like we are crushed,

but not broken. And what is he getting at? This

outward tent, it's vulnerable to the elements.

A tent is vulnerable to what's around it. You

ever been in a tent in a windstorm? Another reason

to not go camping. Right? It's vulnerable to

that environment. If it rains, what a miserable

experience. Especially when it leaks. You ever

been in a tent and it leaks? But you know what?

This is vulnerable to the elements. It is going

to wear down, right? And that's what he's saying,

that outwardly we're wearing down. It's taking

its toll because this, this that we try and hold

on to, that we keep getting extra gym memberships

and whatever else we can get, right? Injections

and whatever. We're trying and he's going outwardly,

it's wasting away. Inwardly, through the spirit

of God, you are experiencing a renewal. On the

inside. So while the outside may not look good,

the inside. You ever met somebody who has reached

that point of life where they're a little aged,

right? They've lived a full life and you sit

with them for five minutes and you go, you're

so alive on the inside, but you can barely walk

to get a cup of coffee. Why? Because outwardly

they are wasting away, but inside they are being

renewed by the Holy Spirit. They're being restored.

They're being revitalized. They're experiencing

life at its fullest. Verse 17, for our light

and momentary troubles are achieving for us an

eternal glory that far outweighs them all. We'll

talk about this in weeks to come. So what do

we do? What do we do, church? We fix our eyes.

We fix our eyes. It's what we focus on. It's

what we look on. It's what we're consumed with.

It's what we choose to put in front of us. We

fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is

unseen. Why? Because what is seen is temporary.

And what is unseen is eternal. You realize that

everything you see around you today from a physical

perspective will not be here someday. Everything

around you. That chair that you're like, I don't

know if I like this chair. I don't know if it's

comfy. Who cares? You won't be here. Right? It

won't be here. That's what he's getting at. He

goes, we fix our eyes on all this stuff, right?

This building, to the best of my knowledge, was

built and designed that if the church wasn't

here, it would be a blessing to the community

and become a warehouse if it was needed to. Right?

Like the idea of we try and hold on to this stuff,

right? Like we try and hold on to permanence

of the physical. The physical is not permanent.

And that's what he's getting at. So what do we

do as believers? Because we know the tomb is

empty, right? Like we know the tomb is empty.

We know without a shadow of a doubt, we're going

to be raised to be with Jesus. So what do we

do? We focus, we set our eyes on what is eternal,

not on what is temporary. Friday was the first

time for me I'd walked into his house. See what's

caught my mind with that? Is when he got up and

he left his house and locked it up on Friday

morning, he fully intended to walk back in. on

Saturday night. He fully intended to be at the

8 a .m. service the next morning. And as his

body, that is a tent that had been dismantled,

lay flat in the dirt. Someone else, his son,

had to pack up. His favorite fishing rods. Someone

else had to prepare the boat to come home. Someone

else had to pack up the campsite. Someone else

had to drive his truck. Someone else had to park

his boat back in the garage. Where when I walked

in Friday, that boat is sitting. The man loved

bad coffee. I don't get it. But you know what

was also there? His bad coffee. His room that

he expected to come back to. It's all still there.

The sink that he thought he would clean, still

there. The clothes, he didn't care about clothes

much, but he really cared about his fishing stuff

and his hunting stuff. So camo and fishing are

all hanging in his closet. Friday, we found his

medals from Vietnam. You would know he's a hero.

He would never tell you. But we found his medals

and his pictures. We also found his baseball

trophies and his monuments to the years he coached

his kids in baseball. His golf clubs, they're

still there. The things he cared so much about

are all still there. What is Paul getting at?

This is temporary. It's temporary. And I can

just imagine That my father -in -law watching

me go and touch his golf clubs. He's like, don't

you, don't, don't you? But you know what I think?

I don't think that's what he's saying at all.

Because what I think he's saying is, wow, wow,

wow. Because God Almighty is in his presence.

Isn't it crazy? That we can get so hung up in

this life. Giving everything we have to hold

on to the temporary. I just need to tell you

today because I just lived it. It all stays behind.

Every part of it. Every piece. Everything that

meant something. Everything that mattered to

him. It's all still there. So we fix our eyes

where? on what is eternal. We get our eyes off

of this life because it's not going to last.

You know, the only thing, we're going to talk

about this in weeks to come, the only thing you

take off the planet is people. That should at

least get an amen. The only thing we take off

the planet is people. That's it. Why? Because

you're eternal. The people around you are eternal.

And so Paul says, this is how he lands at it.

It ends with the unseen is eternal. And then

the very next verse is, we know, we're not questioning

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. You are

just camping. Paul's done camping, guys. Paul's

my father -in -law. He's done camping. You're

just camping. This is temporary. It reminds me

of upgrading my phone. There's a... I'm sure

you've upgraded your phone. If not, I want to

see it because it's probably worth a whole lot

of money at this point. And it'd just be kind

of fun to reminisce. I'm sure I had one at one

point. But I got an offer from the phone company

prior to the phone I have now, like a while ago.

And they were like, we'll send you two free new

phones. You just got to turn in yours. And so

they sent the phones to us. And I put it on the

counter. And day after day, my kids be like,

Dad, when are you going to upgrade your phone?

I'm like, I don't know. And so now weeks have

gone by. Dad, when are you going to upgrade your

phone? And what I realized is I hadn't upgraded

my phone because I didn't believe from the phone

I was using, even though the one I had had a

cracked screen, it was shattered. I didn't believe

that the phone I was getting was actually an

upgrade. I wonder how many of us in this life.

don't believe that what we get, what we are getting

is an upgrade when we die. I wonder how many

of us are holding onto this life because we don't

believe the upgrade is coming. We hold onto this

like, no, this is better. The earthly tent is

not better. Why? Because what you have is a permanent

dwelling from God himself. But what Jesus does

Is he gathers around the table and he tells him

something that matters. Because when he sits

around the table with his disciples for, maybe

you've heard it called the Lord's Supper, communion,

Eucharist. When he gathers with them, he takes

elements that are connected to his death. Why?

Because he knew if life was gonna come, it had

to come through death. He knew he had to die.

That's why he sits around that table. And what

does he tell them? Hey, I gotta die. Because

the only way for life to come for all of humanity,

the only way for the resurrected life to come

is I have to go through the doorway of death

to get to the resurrected life. And so Jesus

knew that death is just a doorway. It's a life.

And what you hold in your hand is a reminder

that Jesus went through death, through the doorway

of death, and he experienced resurrected life

because the tomb is empty so that you could have

life today. I don't know how you feel. But what

Jesus was doing is he's purchasing for you the

upgrade. In his body and with his blood and with

his life, as he lays it down, he gives it up.

They crucify him. They put him to death. Your

sin, your debt, your shame, your guilt, all of

it is put on him. Your separation from God, right?

Because death separates us. He takes that separation

and closes it to where you're united. How are

we united? Through Christ. So what you hold in

your hand is the way that you and I have received

the promise of the upgrade. That when this life

is over, I will walk through the doorway of death.

When this tent is dismantled, we will walk through

into resurrected life all because of Jesus. So

I don't know about you. I feel like saying thank

you to him. And so the next moments are yours

just to tell him thank you. Thank you for what

he's given you in this life. And also thank you

for the promise that you have of eternity. Because

of his death. For you. So the next moments are

yours and then we'll take it all together. What

you hold in your hand is hope today. What you

hold in your hand is promise today. That the

same God who showed up to die in your place,

the same God who gave his body, will raise you

to life. That same God is coming back, as we

sang earlier. And so he took bread. And what

I love about it is this, some point in your day

today, even if you hate carbs, you're going to

have some form of bread and something to drink.

Because that's how simple it should be that we're

reminded that we're just camping. That every

time you would eat bread, every time we would

gather and do this together, it's a reminder

that we're just camping. That eternity is waiting.

And so he took his body or he took bread and

said, this is my body given for you. Do this

and remember to me. He took a glass of wine.

And he talks about how it represented his blood,

that in his blood, it was a new covenant. In

his blood, there was forgiveness of sins. In

his blood. Those who were separated and not right

with God got to be right with God because we

get the righteousness of Jesus. And it came to

you through his blood being shed on the cross.

He goes, don't forget it. Don't forget it. And

so he handed him a cup. He said, take drink.

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

this morning. Thank you for loving us. Thank

you for the truth that you were a God who did

not stay distant. You came near. God, that you

have taken our place. That you have gone through

the doorway of death so that we may experience

life. You have gone through the doorway of death

that we may know what is waiting on the other

side is resurrection life. You are proof of that.

And we say thank you today. God, I pray over

this room. I pray over those that don't know

you. I pray that today would be a day of them

taking their faith and placing it in you, that

they would know with confidence that when they

say yes to you, when they give their life to

you, God, you, you rescue them. You are their

promise of eternity. God, for the rest of the

church family, as we process what it means to

be in a temporary dwelling, a tent, would you

remind us that this is This is not permanent.

Give us courage to say no to the things we need

to. Give us courage to not bow down today to

things that don't deserve it. But God, give us

eyes to fix on eternity today. Thank you for

loving us. Thank you for your grace and your

mercy. Thank you for salvation. Thank you that

we, we are just camping, which means we spend

eternity with you in our forever home. We are

grateful. And everybody said. Amen.