It Is Finished | Todd Jones

We have a new adventure going on in our house

right now. It's called potty training. And yeah,

someone's clapping. They're like, yeah, oh yeah,

there we go. It's not a new adventure for me.

It's actually the last of five of those adventures

I've been on. And so this one's special for me

because it's the last of five, okay? I'm telling

you, I've bought diapers nonstop for the last

12 years of my life. I cannot wait to be done

buying diapers. It's gonna be like I got a raise.

Like, I'm not gonna know what to do. Like, this

is incredible. I can't wait. But here's the thing,

when you're potty training, there's this sense

of urgency, right? Because if one of the older

kids says, hey, I gotta go to the bathroom, you're

like, okay, cool, hold it. But when the two -year

-old says they gotta go to the bathroom, there's

utter panic that runs through your body. You're

like, where's the bathroom? Where's the bathroom

right now? Right, you gotta find it. Like I've

been driving around for the last two weeks with

a tiny toilet in the back of my car. Right? Because

you're like, you never know. It's going to happen.

You're like, you never know. Right? So you got

to be prepared. And we were in the store the

other day and my two -year -old, she goes, hey,

I got to go potty. And I'm like, okay, it's on.

Let's go. And so we get to the bathroom, we run

there and I sat her on the toilet and she's sitting

there and I look at her and I say, are you going

to go potty? And she starts looking around and

she goes, I don't like this bathroom. And I'm

like, kid, I don't care if you don't like this

bathroom. You got something to do in this bathroom.

Let's go. And she's looking around. She goes,

no, I don't like this bathroom. And I'm like,

you are focused on the wrong thing. All right,

they're focused on the wrong thing. This doesn't

matter. What matters is in front of you right

now. That's what matters. And you focus on the

wrong thing. See, I think when it comes to our

faith, a lot of times we're focusing on the wrong

thing. We care about things that don't. actually

matter. And we put a lot of time, energy, and

effort into things that don't matter. We focus

on the wrong things, but I think Jesus is teaching

us what matters most. Jesus wants us to understand

what matters most. And as Kathy said, we're in

this collection right now where we are going

through and we're looking at the last words of

Jesus on the cross. We believe that every word

that Jesus said is important. It's one that we

wanna listen to, we wanna lean into, but there's

something about last words, especially when they

come from somebody who is being crucified because

crucifixion takes your breath away. That is the

point of crucifixion. So you don't have a lot

of breath to say words. And so if Jesus thought

it was important for him to say these words,

it's probably important for us to lean in and

try to figure out what it is that Jesus wants

us to learn from these words that he's saying.

From these words that he's saying that he doesn't

have a lot of breath to say, there's probably

something important there for us. So we're gonna

look in Luke chapter 23, verse 46. It says this,

Luke 23:46

Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into

your hands, I commit my spirit. Into your hands,

I commit my spirit. And Jesus right here, as

he's saying these last words on the cross, what

Jesus is actually doing is Jesus is quoting scripture.

This is a Psalm that he's saying. This is Psalm

31 verse five that Jesus is saying, into your

hands, I commit my spirit. He's quoting scripture

in a place where he's hanging on a cross and

he's dying. That is what comes out of him at

this moment. A couple of years ago, I wanted

to do something fun with one of my daughters

and she was really little, which. I already told

you 12 years in diapers, there's always one that's

been really little. But I decided, hey, this

would be really fun because she thinks that juice

only comes out of a bottle that you purchase

from the store. And I told her juice actually

is something that you can squeeze from fruit

and it's pretty cool. So I'm like, this will

be really fun. We're gonna go to the store together

and we're gonna pick out oranges. And so we got

to pick out the oranges and then we're gonna

juice them together. So we got home with the

oranges that we picked out and we cut them up

and we got to juice them. We squeeze every little.

bit of juice out of that in order to get these

two cups of fresh squeezed orange juice for us

to drink. And we finally got to it. We got to

enjoy the spoils of our labor. We got to sit

down with this fresh juice. And I remember she

looked right at it and she goes, dad, I didn't

want orange juice. I wanted apple juice. And

I'm like, girl, that's not how it works. Right?

We squeezed oranges. And so what you get is what

is inside of an orange, which is orange juice.

Because when you squeeze, whatever is inside

is what comes out. What happens when we squeeze

you, what comes out? Because what you've put

in is what comes out. Jesus on a cross, as he's

being squeezed to the point of death, what comes

out of him is he starts quoting scripture. When

we start memorizing scripture, when we start

reading scripture, when scripture makes its way

inside of us, when we find ourself in a place

in life where we start getting squeezed, what

comes out of us is what we put in. So if we've

just surrounded ourself and put in a whole bunch

of gossip, what do you think comes out? If we

surrounded ourself and put in a whole bunch of

opinions of everyone else and all of the people

around us, what do you think comes out? All right,

if we just continue to put in that one video

on TikTok that has all the wisdom in the world,

they know everything, what do you think comes

out? What you put in is what comes out. And Jesus

shows us this. We will be squeezed in life. You

will be times in life where you are pinched,

where you are in a place where you're going,

I don't know what's gonna come out of this. And

what comes out is what you've put in. And I love

this, what Jesus said here. It says, when he

cried this out, when he said this, it said in

a loud voice. Crucifixion steals your breath.

Therefore, he does not have much to project in

a loud voice. So he took everything that he possibly

had to declare in a loud voice, to make noise

in a loud manner to declare his trust in God.

I wonder how many of us, when we get in tough

situations, we make a lot of noise, we get really

loud, but we're not declaring trust in God. What

is it that we declare with a loud voice when

it comes to this? Because with everything Jesus

had, the last little bit of everything he had,

what did he say? He said, I'm declaring my trust

in God. Into your hands I commit. My spirit.

That's what Jesus decided to do here. And listen,

that's where you want your trust to be. That's

where you want your trust to be. We look at the

cross and we look at this situation that Jesus

finds himself in. And for everyone watching and

everyone looking, they're looking at him going,

this is the end. But Jesus knew something that

we need to understand. He knew that this isn't

the end. His trust was in God because death and

the cross, They didn't win. Death was just a

gateway to God. For all it was for him was a

gateway to God. See, some of us, we live our

life in so much fear of death. You are gripped

with fear of dying when you need to understand

death is not the end. Death is a gateway to God.

Jesus understood this is a gateway to God. And

he's saying, my trust is in him. See, when we're

going through it and we're going through the

difficulty, when we're going through whatever

it is in our life, there's no greater peace.

than knowing that we are in God's hands. There's

no greater peace than knowing we're in God's

hands. He's saying, hey, I submit my spirit to

you, God. I'm placing it in your hands. It says

in 1 Peter 4, 19, so then those who suffer, those

who go through difficulties, those who are in

difficult times, according to God's will, who

continue to serve God, to push forward with God

wants for your life. should commit themselves

to their faithful creator and continue to do

good. When we go through those difficulties,

when we go through tough times, we're submitting

ourselves to God and we're continuing to do good

in those tough times. Man, I love stories of

people who take their faith seriously and live

out what it looks like to do good in tough times.

famous missionary, Jim and Elizabeth Elliott,

if you don't know their story, a long time ago,

years and years and years ago, they decided that

they were gonna go to the jungles of Ecuador

and they were gonna go to unreached people groups

who'd never heard about Jesus, who really were

unreached by any outside world. And so they knew

that they were walking into something that could

be a little intimidating and strange for this

community and these rural people groups. And

so Jim Elliott went with about four or five of

his missionary friends, and they went into this

village to talk to people and to build relationships

with them, and it went exactly like you can imagine.

They had no idea what the outside world was like.

They were completely unreached, untouched, and

they ended up killing all five of these missionaries

that went into their village. And so Elizabeth

Elliot, Jim's wife, was left widowed with a 10

-month -old baby girl. I mean, I can imagine

in this place, she's in a part where she's going,

man, I am suffering, but I'm continuing to follow

God. I'm suffering according to God's will. And

so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna commit myself

to my faithful creator and continue to do good.

And she did what probably none of us in this

room would do. She went right back to that exact

same tribe that killed her husband. And she spent

years with that tribe, seeing God move in incredible,

incredible ways. And she was able to go back

into a place where there was so much darkness.

And so much brokenness because she said, listen,

I'm gonna commit myself to him. I think of Paul

and Silas. You can read about them in the New

Testament, man. Paul and Silas. They went around

and they were teaching people about Jesus. They're

going, hey, you gotta know about this Jesus guy.

He's doing incredible things. And he started

rubbing against the culture of what was happening

in the day. And so there was someone who owned

this slave girl that was possessed by demons.

And so she was able to tell the future for people.

And so he was capitalizing on the money that

he was making from her telling the future. And

so Paul and Silas show up and they cast this

demon out of her. And they're like, no, we wanna

tell you about Jesus. This is where true life

is. And her life was changed. Well, now that

made the owner of this slave girl pretty upset.

And so they threw them in jail. And so Paul and

Silas find themselves in jail. They find themselves

in this situation that nobody wants to be in.

And you know what they do? They have a worship

night in jail. They're like, hey, you play guitar,

you play drums. Let's have a worship night right

here, right now. And they start singing. They

start having a worship night. And they blow the

doors off of the prison with their worship to

God. And they're like, God, we're worshiping

you right now. See, I wonder how many of us that

find ourselves in a tough situation. go, listen,

it doesn't matter because I've committed myself

to God and I'm gonna continue to serve him and

do good in this situation. All right, why can

they have this response? Why can these people

that we look at throughout history that have

lived out their faith have this response? And

here's why. Because they know some things that

Jesus was trying to teach us on that cross. They

know a few things that Jesus was trying to tell

us when he was on the cross. All right, what

Jesus is showing us as he's hanging on this cross

is he's showing us that we outlive our earthly

bodies. You notice that Jesus doesn't say, into

your hands I commit my body. That's because we

get a restored body. We get a restored body.

All right, now listen, I don't know what this

looks like. I have no clue. I'm not smart enough

to tell you what this looks like. I don't know

if there's an order form, right? If you can be

like, all right, I want six, four, two, 10, a

lot of abs, right? Like, I don't know if that's

how it works. I'm gonna go ahead and say it's

probably not how it works. I'm not smart enough

to know this, but what I do know is that we get

a restored body and that is good news. You know

why? Because I'm not that old, but I hurt pretty

bad. I last weekend, I played in a kickball tournament.

Listen, I didn't even know there was a kickball

tournament. I didn't know that was a thing, but

we got a group of people from Heights together

and we said, Hey, we're going to play in this

kickball tournament. And listen, you already

know we won that tournament. All right. I'm just

saying, I'm just saying. Like, listen, in the

name of Jesus, we kicked that ball down their

throat, all right? And we won that thing. And

that sounds great, but the problem is the more

that you win, the more games you have to play.

All right, so if you lose one, you're out, but

we kept winning. That means we kept playing.

That means I kept hurting. It's a week later

and I'm still hurting. Me and Advil have been

great friends this week. I'm just telling you,

I have muscles that are hurting that I didn't

know I had. In heaven, there's no more pain.

We get restored bodies. I'm gonna have beautiful

hair in heaven. I'm just saying. Like it's gonna

be flowing in the wind. I'm gonna look like Fabio

on a horse. I'm gonna be like. I was talking

to someone this week and I was telling them like,

I think I'm gonna have beautiful hair. And they

brought up a great point. They said, so do you

think baldness is from the fall and from sin?

And I said. You're right, that's a great question.

It is not. Bald is beautiful, okay? Bald is beautiful.

I'm just saying. But listen, it's good news for

us that we get a restored body. What that means

is we don't have to fear death. We don't have

to live in fear of death because death is a gateway

to God and we get a restored body. We outlive

our earthly body. Jesus is showing that on the

cross to us. He's showing us on the cross that

our true rest is found in God. Our true rest

is found in him. Into your hands I commit my

spirit. How many of you need true rest? How many

of you, the reason you need true rest is sitting

next to you right now? Don't raise your hand.

No, don't. Don't do that. That's not good. That's

not good for you. Don't raise your hand. But

the truth is this. We live in a world that's

difficult. We live in a world where we're going

to have trouble. The Bible says that. The Bible

says, listen, you're going to have trouble in

this world. We need rest, man. I need rest. I'm

so tired of just the busyness of life and just

the things that go on in our life. We need rest.

And what rest is, is rest is peace of mind. It's

being able to have peace of mind. And a lot of

times we try to get our peace of mind through

a lot of things. We go, okay, and if my health

is good enough. If I've reached a place of health,

then I have peace of mind. If my finances are

good enough, if I've reached a place in my finances

where my bank account's where I want it, then

I have peace of mind. If the house is how I want

it, or if I'm a homeowner, I've been working

my whole life and I'm finally a homeowner, then

I have peace of mind. That's what matters. If

my kids are okay, that's my peace of mind. If

my looks, if I paid enough so that my looks are

how I want them to be, then I have peace of mind.

And we put our peace of mind and we try to get

peace in all these things in our life that we

go, listen, this is where my peace comes from.

But there's some qualifications for things that

you can actually put your trust in to get your

peace from. A lot of the things that we've tried

to put that in isn't worthy of us putting our

trust in. What makes it worthy is this, is that

it has to have power. It has to be powerful.

Not have power over you, but have power. But

not just power, it also, if it's gonna be worthy

for you to put your trust in, to put your faith

in, to get your peace from, it not only has to

be powerful, it also has to be wise. But not

only does it have to have wisdom, it also has

to have love. And there's only one thing that

can have power and wisdom and love, and that

is God, which is why the only thing that is worthy

of you putting your faith and your trust in is

in God's hands. Jesus said, into your hands,

I commit my spirit. Into your hands, I commit

my spirit. I'm not gonna try with all the other

things because it doesn't matter. Into your hands

is what I commit my spirit to. But we like to

put our faith and our trust and our stake in

what doesn't matter. Man, my parents, every time

that they come and visit me, And when I moved

out, I didn't have much. So I kind of just took

my clothes and that's it. And so every time they

come to visit me, they think it's important for

me to bring all the things that I've left at

their house when I grew up. Like, I don't know

where they find it, in old closets, in my old

bedroom, whatever, right? They'll bring me a

pair of shoes that I had like, you know, 20 years

ago. I'm like, cool, what am I supposed to do

with that? All right, so last time they came,

they're driving out from San Diego and they come

and they bring this with them. Thank you. So

they bring this with them and they're like, listen,

I think you're going to want these. And listen,

this is how we know we're getting old. My wife

looks at that and she goes, that's a real nice

box. They don't make them like that anymore.

And I was like, that is the oldest thing you've

ever said in your life. So they don't make them

like that anymore. My parents bring me these

trophies. I'm like, listen, you would not believe

how much dust is on this. This is unbelievable.

I don't know where they had them. In a dust factory,

I'm not sure. But like literally there's like

some of your allergies are already going crazy.

So I'm not gonna like show you how much dust

is on there. But man, it's crazy. But here's

the thing. Here's why they brought these to me.

Because when I was younger, man, I loved these.

I had them set up in the house so that when you

walked in, you could see them from every angle.

Like I would polish them. You know why? Because

every single one of the trophies represents an

accomplishment that I made. Each one of those

shows you how awesome I am. And man, I love these

things. And these were valuable to me. These

were incredible to me. All right, and so I had

these and my dad brought them to me. He's like,

hey, don't you want these? And I'm like, okay,

I don't know, man, because here's the deal. I

have a lot of other things to worry about now.

Like I got bills to pay now. Like I got kids

to raise now. Like those trophies, yeah, they're

cool and all, but that doesn't really matter

because I got a lot of other things I need to

focus on. All right, it doesn't matter what happens

to those. That holds no power over me. You know

why? Because Jesus said these words. Matthew

6, 19, it says, do not store up for yourself

treasures on earth where moth and vermin destroy

and dust bunnies take over. It doesn't say that.

I added that part. And where thieves break in

and steal. But store up for yourself treasures

in heaven where moth and vermin do not destroy

and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart

will be also. Let me ask you this. What are your

trophies? I'm not talking gold plastic. What

are your trophies? Because each one of us has

trophies in this life and we live for those when

we need to realize that they don't matter. They

don't matter. Your house does not matter. Your

401k does not matter. the people that the things

that you have put in your life that you decided

this is what I'm going to live for and this is

what matters, it's gonna end up with dust on

it and broken because you can't take any of it

to heaven. It doesn't go with you. But a lot

of us have stored up for ourself trophies on

earth. And we've said, okay, this is what I'm

gonna put my stake in. This is what I'm gonna

put my trust in. This is what I'm gonna put my

life in because this is what matters. When in

the end, hanging on a cross, Jesus said, into

your hands, I commit my spirit. None of this

matters. My friend was at the gym this last week

and he was telling me something he overheard

in the gym locker room. Man, if you're in a gym

locker room, you hear a lot of stuff. It's a

weird place because here's the thing, people

come up to you and they try to talk to you with

no clothes on, right? And you're like, bro, I'm

not gonna talk to you right now until you put

some clothes on, right? I'm not looking. All

right, listen, if some of you are the people

that walk up and try to talk to people with no

clothes on, in the name of Jesus, put some clothes

on before you try to talk to people. We are solving

the world's problems this morning in church,

all right? If you don't hear anything else. Quit

trying to talk to people with your clothes off.

But he's telling me he's in this gym locker room

and he's hearing these two men that are probably

in their mid 80s. And they're talking about their

financial portfolio and they're talking about

the money that's about to come in and they're

so excited. And he said that the conversation

went on for about 20 or 25 minutes. And I looked

at my friend and I said, why are you in a gym

locker room for 25 minutes? You are the problem.

But here's the deal, man. That's so sad to me.

These men have so much life behind them and not

very many in front of them. And all they care

about is things that they can't take with them.

All they've done is live a life for things that

they cannot take with them. All they've done

is live a life for trophies that end up broken

and dusty and doesn't matter because they can't

take them with them. Jesus says, live for eternity.

Don't live for now, live for eternity. This isn't

our final place anyway. And listen, that's such

a relief, man. That's such a relief for us. That's

a weight off of our shoulders. How'd you know

that feeling when something is done? How'd you

get a lot of yard work to do? And then it's finished

and you're able to just go, ah. When something

is finished, for me, that was this last year's

49er season. I was just glad when it was over.

All right, it's just done. I don't have to deal

with that anymore. I don't have to listen to

any of your comments anymore. I'm done with that.

All right, when you've got a tough conversation

you've got to have with someone and you're just

thinking about it, you're just stressing about

it, it's just building up inside of you and then

you finally have that conversation and you're

like, it's done. I'm glad it's over. I'm glad

it's finished. Jesus says this, his last words

on the cross. John 19, verse 30. When he had

John 19:30

received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished.

And with that, he bowed his head and he gave

up his spirit. It is finished. See, I don't know

what it is in your life, but I know this, we

go through a lot of it, right? It happens. Sometimes

it hits the fan. And I said it, do not write

me an email, I said it. But here's the thing,

we have a lot of it in our life. And I don't

know what that is in your life, but we deal with

a lot of it. We deal with a lot of stuff. We

deal with a lot of bad situations. And sometimes

we get to a place where we're going, when is

this gonna be done? When is this gonna be over?

When can I move past this? And I'm just so tired

of handling all this stuff that happens in our

life. See, Jesus said, it is finished. And when

he said that, what he was talking about is his

assignment was finished. Assignment done. He

came to this earth, from heaven to this earth,

lived the perfect life that you and I cannot

live. And then it ended for him on a cross. And

in doing so, he came to fulfill his mission.

He said, mission accomplished. It is finished.

And that phrase that he said on the cross, it

is finished. In our English Bibles, we see it,

it is finished. But the word that Jesus uses

here is tetelestai. And the word tetelestai,

if we truly get to the meaning of this, it has

a few meanings, right? In a business context,

it's to indicate a literal debt has been paid

in full. He's saying tetelestai, the debt has

been paid in full. But that word was not only

used just for a debt in a business context, it

was also used in a judicial context in court

when a sentence was fully served. Tetelestai,

the sentence is fully served. But we also see

it used in a context of the military. And in

the context of the military, the word tetelestai

was to say that the battle was won or the victory

had been achieved. And so when Jesus on a cross

said the words, it is finished, when he said

tetelestai, what he is saying is your debt of

sin has been fully paid. He's saying the judgment

for your sin has been served and the victory

has been won. And that is what Jesus was saying.

He was saying, Tetelestai, it is finished. The

struggle in this world, the things that we try

to grasp onto, all the things that we try to

put our stake in, he say, it doesn't matter.

It is finished. It is done. It has been paid.

Weariness and hunger and temptation, they are

finished. Grief and pain, they are finished.

Sin and death, they are finished. Man, my wife,

She's wonderful. She's beautiful. She's amazing.

And she can lose anything. She's never had anything

she couldn't lose. I'm the only thing she hasn't

been able to lose yet. I just keep coming back.

I'm right here. I mean, she can lose anything.

I'm not kidding you. The other day she went and

she started the car and then she realized, she's

like, I don't know where my keys are. And she

ran back inside to look for her keys. Some of

you are listening slow today. She started the

car and then went and looked for her keys. I

used to make fun of her when she, she always

loses her glasses. She can't find them anywhere.

And I'm like, don't you need those to see? Shouldn't

you take, keep track of them? She's like, yeah,

I know. About a year and a half ago, I got glasses

and I'm so ashamed to admit this. I lost my glasses,

man. I couldn't find them anywhere. All right,

I started looking for them. This is so embarrassing.

I looked for like five minutes until I found

them. On my face. And some of you are like, man,

you're an idiot. You looked for what you had

the whole time. But that's exactly what we do

is we are looking for what we had the whole time.

We are looking for our approval. We're looking

for love. We're looking for all of these things

that we go through in our life. And we go, okay,

listen, I need to find this. And so I'm gonna

look for meaning and I'm gonna look for purpose

and I'm gonna look for validation and I'm gonna

look for approval. I'm gonna look for all of

this. And Jesus said, listen, you already have

it. It is paid to Telestai. It's paid in full.

You don't need to serve the sentence. The victory

has been won. And the whole time you have it.

You don't need to search for it. You don't need

to try to be fulfilled with what you have in

this life because it doesn't matter. You're focusing

on the wrong thing. You've been bought and paid

in full. So let me ask you this. Do you live

like this life is not yours, but it's his? Do

you live in a way that if he paid for it, do

you live in a way that it's not yours, but it's

his? Because when you live like it's not yours,

you're willing to give your time, you're willing

to give your talent, you're willing to give your

treasure. What you start doing is you start living

a life of generosity because you say, it's not

mine. And I wanna invest into what actually matters.

And so I'm willing to give it because I can't

take it with me. You start living a life of generosity.

But when your things or anything becomes the

thing that you're living for, what you do is

you create an idol. And we think about idols

in the Old Testament. Yeah, they made a golden

calf and anything made out of gold that they

would worship, that's an idol. But the truth

is that we have things in our life that are idols

for us. We have things in our life that don't

matter, that you can't take with you, that just

collect dust, but you've put so much stake in.

And your idol's not a golden calf, but your idol

might be that truck that you've always wanted.

Your idol might be the house. Your idol might

even be your own children. And here's the thing,

they're not a bad thing. But the problem is when

we make a good thing, a God thing. And we start

putting our faith and our trust and we say into

your hands, I commit my spirit into something

other than God. So I think we have to ask ourselves

some questions today. Questions we need to ask

ourselves is what am I holding on to? What is

it that you're holding on to? And a follow -up

question to help you understand what it is you're

holding on to is this. What are you not willing

to give up? What do you have in your life that

if it wasn't there, you say, I can't do that.

I gotta hold on. I can't give that up. Because

if there's something in your life that you're

not willing to give up, then you're living for

the wrong thing. Jesus is saying, listen, don't

live for this life. Live for eternity. Quit striving

in this life because I've already paid for it.

It doesn't matter. Live for eternity. Live for

the things that are gonna last. I come to Jesus

today. Jesus has his arms wide open and some

of you need to come to him today and say, listen,

I've been focusing on the wrong thing. I've been

putting my trust in the wrong thing. I've been

putting my faith in the wrong thing. I've been

trying to get my peace from the wrong thing.

And I know that only comes from you. Some of

you need to come to Jesus for the very first

time. You've never given your heart to Jesus.

Church is just something you do to check off

your list because you think you're doing the

right thing. But you need a relationship with

Jesus. Some of you need to reorient your priorities

to say, God, I'm coming to you today to say I'm

giving up what I'm holding on to because I know

what truly matters. I mean, I don't wanna leave

us in a place where we're just like solemn and

introspective and beat up on you. That's not

what this is about. This is an opportunity for

us to praise God, to worship with reckless abandon,

knowing that it is finished. To praise him, to

say, God, we are so grateful for you. We praise

you, God, because some of us, you've made the

king of your heart and the king of your life

is not Jesus. And so we're gonna declare to him,

we're gonna praise to him that God, you are the

king of our heart. And God, we are so grateful

that you went to a cross to pay our debt in full,

to serve the time that we deserved so that we

could have victory. God, we praise you today.

God, we love you today. God, we are so grateful

for what you did for us on the cross, that you

showed us how to live, that we don't have to

live for all the things that are around us right

now, but God, we can live for eternity. That

we have the assurance of being in your presence.

God, I pray for each one of us that we would

commit our spirit to be in your hands, not in

our hands, God. God, I pray for each one of us

today that we can let go of the thing that we

are holding onto. That we don't have to put our

faith and trust in something that is never meant

to have our faith and trust. That it can only

be in you. And God, I pray in the name of Jesus

today that you break chains of what is holding

us back from being all in with you because you

already paid for it all. It is finished, God,

and we declare that to you. We worship you, God.

We praise you and we give this time to you as

our hearts are aligned with what you have called

us for them to be aligned to, God, because our

trophies end up in a dusty old box somewhere.

These don't matter. They don't go with us. But

God, it is you that matters. And God, we pray

that you convict our hearts, that you work through

us. that you allow us to let go of the things

that are holding us back so we can praise you

fully this morning. It is only because of you,

Jesus. We love you, Jesus. We are grateful for

everything that you have given us. And we pray

this in your matchless name. Amen.