For Holy Spirit, For Generosity, For Serving | John Challinor

Welcome to those of you in the room,

whether you're in the room,

whether you're on the screen today

and you haven't been in church for a while

and your resolution was,

I am going to show up this year, well done, well done.

Quitting day was Friday and you're still here.

You're still here.

You are in the small minority, so well done.

But seriously, I wanna pause for a moment and just,

I just wanna slow down for a second

to recognize that our community, well,

like physically here is directly connected

in many, many ways to California,

meaning you either came from California,

you know someone from California,

you have loved ones in California,

also on our online family,

just some of you that are in California

and are walking through just a horrific week.

I just wanna slow down and say,

this is where our values really matter.

All right, so if you were here last week,

we started a conversation about values,

what we value we will do.

And so we have a value that we talked about last week

of being for Jesus, right?

That we will create space for Jesus to be center,

but especially in our own lives.

And as we do that, then what that means is that

because Jesus is for people, we're gonna be for people.

And I think moments like what's happened this last week

in California, give us a moment to go,

am I for people or not?

And what I mean by that is,

do I slow down to experience the pain of others around me?

Do I look for people around me that I can comfort

like God comforts us?

Am I concerned for people

the way God is concerned for people?

And we just get to walk with that.

But what I love about God is what we were kind of singing

about, but then also captured in Joanne's prayer

is this idea that God is sovereign, right?

That God is worthy of it all.

He is the ultimate being who is in control, right?

The one who, he didn't have a cup of tea, you guys,

and go, oh, that got out of control

while I was making tea, right?

Like God is fully aware and fully in control

and fully meeting each person in the situation

that they're walking through,

whether that be here, whether that be there.

And that's the great comfort to me of the God we serve.

That we have this confidence that he walks with us

in the midst of all of life, everything, right?

Like as horrific as the last week is,

people that we know we're connected to, relatives,

whatever that happens to be,

whatever that situation happens to be,

that God is intimately in those details,

but he is also in all of life's details,

which is why I know he cares about last night

and a football game, because it was painful.

It hurt, right?

And here's what I love, you laugh, right, at my pain.

And I'm okay with that, why?

Because God made you to laugh,

and he's in the moment of laughter,

he's in the moment of pain.

That's the God we serve, that's the God we follow,

that's the God that we have the confidence to know

that in the good and in the bad, he's walking right along

with us.

And I don't know how you feel about that,

but that should bring some kind of like, ugh.

That gives me a comfort in this life.

I mean, Jeff's got his Broncos shirt on.

He's gonna need some comfort later, let me just tell you.

Last service is my favorite.

We had a Broncos person on this side

and a Bills person on this side.

Any Bills fans over there?

You know, Bills get out of here.

But here's the thing, right?

Like God's in it all.

And so we should be able to walk in it all together.

And that's what this collection is all about.

This collection of talks that were in,

this idea of taking shape,

it's looking at the things as a family that form us, right?

And I forgot to mention,

you're probably wondering what I did to my hand.

I had surgery on my hand.

They are repairing the ligaments.

And so me and this guy get to hang out for about eight weeks.

And so that's exciting.

Can't tie my own shoes, I figured out.

Like that's a challenge.

And so this morning I almost wore Crocs.

You're welcome that I didn't.

So there you go.

But yeah, so it's a journey.

And if the pain gets too much, we're gonna cut the short.

So there you go.

But the idea is this, it was taking shape, right?

We're being formed.

But you realize that what forms you, who you become,

is directly connected to what you value, right?

Like I am a Steeler fan

because somewhere along the way I found a value for them.

Don't, I don't know, it hurts today.

I don't know if it's worth clapping for today, right?

But the reality is what you value, you will do.

So I cheer for the Steelers

because I value them as a team, right?

Like what you do, what you do is connected to what you value.

But here's the thing, what you do is who you become, right?

So what happens with humans is God made us culture creators.

And what I mean by culture is there are things

that guide everything you do.

And it's these things called values.

What you hold valuable, you will do,

which will create culture, right?

So whether you like it or not,

you were designed by God to create culture

and to create a culture requires, you don't have to,

you're gonna create it either way,

but it's much better when you use intentionality.

And this whole collection that we're talking about

is living life intentional by going,

these are the values that we will claim,

that we will stand out and go, this is what we are for.

If you were here last week, you heard Pastor Todd,

which I thought Pastor Todd did an amazing job.

I was on pain meds.

So it might've been better, you know,

but Pastor Todd was phenomenal.

We can give it up for Pastor Todd.

But I don't know that you truly caught

if you haven't been here for the journey family.

I don't think you caught what that moment was.

You see, because for Pastor Todd to stand here

and for Pastor Todd to be able to articulate, right?

That he's come alongside the team, been on the team,

and now he articulates to us clear values.

You realize how big that moment was

that it wasn't me or Pastor Bob

or somebody else that had to be doing it?

That Pastor Todd, who could step into that moment

because he's been a part of our family long enough now

that he goes, I know what we're about.

You realize that five years ago,

if we did this conversation,

we wouldn't be able to tell you what our values are.

We didn't have them.

So we cared about a whole bunch of stuff.

And we had no idea what was defining us as a family.

That language of family, I don't know how it hits you,

but that's what God chooses for us.

God's the one that places us in family.

God's the one that says we're His kids.

God's the one that says that we're brothers

and sisters to one another.

That idea of family, what we're having a conversation around

for the next few weeks is what are those values

that determine what we do?

Please don't miss this.

This is not about an organization and what we value

because church is not an organization, it's people.

You are the church.

You have to take these values and they have to hit

to the soul of who you are if we're gonna create a culture

as a family that speaks to the rest of the world.

And so last week, if you were here,

you heard Pastor Todd talk about being for Jesus.

For Jesus is the flag that we put in the ground.

That is the one that we are anchored to,

that we are for Jesus in everything that we do.

That when it comes to who's center stage,

it's gonna be Jesus.

When it comes to why we're doing something, it's for Jesus.

I love the language that was used last week.

There's so many times as Christians, we're always asked,

what are you guys against?

Or we're always telling people what we're against.

You know, we don't have to tell people what we're against

if you tell them what you're for.

If we're for Jesus, then we're for everything about Jesus,

which means we're for the teachings of Jesus.

Right, we're for the way Jesus treated people.

So what you find is that when you say what we're for,

it automatically helps you navigate.

We don't have to go preaching everything we're against.

We're for Jesus, therefore we are for the things of Jesus.

When it comes to, you follow it through, you go,

okay, if you're for Jesus, then what was Jesus for?

Well, he was for people.

He was for people.

All people, all people matter to God, so they matter to us.

All people.

All right, let us sit for a minute,

because I got some people that I don't really like.

All people.

You got some people you don't really like,

let's be honest.

All people.

We are for people.

We are for human flourishing.

We are for people understanding who Jesus is.

We're for the mission that God has placed himself on

and asked us to join.

We're for people.

And here's what happens is you unpack the four people, right?

You begin to realize that there's a logical progression

to this and you get to the next value.

And the next value is that we are for the Holy Spirit.

And so we have to explain, what do you mean by four?

What are we doing with that?

Well, when you look at God, God is a space creator.

What do I mean by that?

Go back to creation.

What is God doing?

He's creating a space.

And what is he doing with that space?

On the sixth day, what does he do?

He takes humanity and he what?

Puts them into that space.

He creates a space for us to exist.

If God was not a space creator, we would not exist.

If God was not a space creator, we would not have

somewhere to fill, so to speak.

What else does he do?

Is you follow it through, you get to the gospel,

you get to the cross, you get to Jesus.

What is Jesus doing?

Jesus is creating space for you.

Where is he creating space for you?

In eternity with him.

He's creating space.

All the way through the story, the narrative,

what you have is this God who creates space.

So guess what we do?

Our job is to be a mirror of who God is.

Our job is to be like God.

Our job is to that Jesus that we are following

to be like Jesus.

So here's what this looks like.

We're space creators.

What do we create space for?

We create space for the Holy Spirit.

Well, what does that look like?

Right, because that's kind of like one of those

where you go, well, how do you,

well, what does that practically look like in my life?

Did I create space for the Holy Spirit?

Well, as a church, as a family,

if you came to an elder meeting,

what you would see is you would see one of the elders

slow down before that meeting even starts

and they would begin to pray.

And what are they praying for?

That the Holy Spirit would speak.

That the Holy Spirit would give unity.

That the Holy Spirit would guide our conversation.

That the Holy Spirit would guide those decisions.

If you came in on a Tuesday morning

and sat with our senior leadership team,

guess what you would see?

Somebody slowing down to pray,

to ask for more wisdom, more guidance, more help.

What are we doing?

We're creating space to go.

We want the Holy Spirit to be able to speak.

Why?

Because we don't have it.

And when Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit

in Acts chapter one and verse eight,

He's talking to His disciples

and He says this,

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem

and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

When the Holy Spirit comes,

you will receive this thing called power, this dynamite.

Where is the dynamite?

The dynamite is placed where?

Inside of you.

The Holy Spirit is the same power

that raised Jesus from the dead,

now lives in you as a follower of Jesus.

You on an average Wednesday have the same power

that took Jesus from death to life inside of you

at all times and you have access whenever you want it.

What do you need to do?

I need to create space.

Why?

So the Holy Spirit can empower this moment.

Hey, what does it look like?

It looks like a slow down.

It looks like I'm intentional.

There are moments, church, where like this,

you see this part, you don't see behind the curtain.

You know what's happening before I step out here?

Holy Spirit, if you don't show up,

all we're gonna talk about is football

because I don't got nothing else.

Right, this is a spiritual conversation.

I'm fully aware that if the Holy Spirit doesn't work

in your life right now,

this will not be a life altering interaction.

The whole idea of the power of the Holy Spirit,

when we create these gatherings,

one of the things we create these gatherings with

is that there would be space for God to move.

And so you may have come to this service, this gathering,

and you're like, man, they only sang three songs.

You get to the next one and they're like,

well, they sang like five, right?

That's because somewhere on the worship team,

they went, we're not supposed to leave this moment

because the Holy Spirit is up to something.

Sometimes you come and it's like,

well, when Pastor Todd talks, it's 30 minutes.

Mine's like 35-ish.

Come to the 11 sometimes, maybe an hour and a half.

Just kidding, it's never been an hour and a half

that I know of.

Why? Why does it change between?

Because this is living breathing.

You're different than who was here before.

And we're fully aware that this has gotta be dependent.

So let me ask you then, if this is about the church

and this is about a culture we're setting,

and this is about values we carry,

then it has to get to your life.

What does it look like?

Students, I'll pick on you

because you're right in front of me.

What does it look like for you?

When you walk the halls of your school tomorrow, right?

What does it look like for you

when you sit with your friends

to talk to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to lead you?

What does it look like when you are trying

to raise a family and you don't have what you need?

What does it look like to slow down and go,

I need the power of the Holy Spirit

to empower this conversation

because if you don't, it's gonna fall flat.

How many times, how many times?

I'm a parent, I get this.

How many times did you set out with the best intention

to have the conversation with your teenager, right?

And you set out and I'm gonna have this conversation

and before you know it, it's all you

and it's just making you mad, right?

And you get done with the conversation

and you're like, ah, didn't go how I wanted.

What would it be like to invite the Holy Spirit

into that moment to create space for the Holy Spirit

to give you the power of the words that you need?

It's pretty amazing, right?

Because remember, we started with four children,

with four Jesus and four people.

The Holy Spirit empowers the mission.

What is the mission?

It's people.

And so often what do we do?

Oh, I can't go and be a witness.

I don't know how to talk.

You don't have to know how to talk.

You got the Holy Spirit.

You just gotta show up and go, Holy Spirit,

would you give me wisdom and speak?

You don't believe me?

Try it and see what happens because a lot of times,

we're not telling people about Jesus.

We're not telling them about the thing that they need

for all of eternity because we're scared

we don't have words.

You have the same power inside of you

that raised Jesus from the dead.

Okay, that, that.

If you cheer at your TV louder.

You guys, this is a reality that we walk

and we are for the Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because it impacts its power when we need it.

Jesus said something else about the Holy Spirit too.

In John 16, he's talking to his disciples.

In verse 13, he says,

but when he, the Spirit of truth comes,

when the Holy Spirit comes,

he will guide you into all truth.

He will speak, he will not speak on his own.

He will speak only what he hears

and he will tell you what is yet to come.

So the Holy Spirit, when he comes, he will be a guide.

He will be a guide.

He will lead you.

What does that look like?

He leads you when you don't know what to do.

What is the Holy Spirit supposed to do?

You're supposed to create space to go,

I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now.

Would you lead and would you guide?

And the Holy Spirit will lead and guide in those moments.

You see it all the time in the life of Jesus.

He's going in this direction

and all of a sudden he slows down.

Why?

Because he's moved in his spirit and he slows down.

And there's another part about the Holy Spirit

in Galatians chapter five.

It says in verse 16,

so I say walk by the Spirit

and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Walk, walk by the Spirit.

Create space to walk.

That word walk is every moment of your life.

Every moment that you're alive, that's what that walk is.

It's like a dance that you're doing every day.

You didn't know you were dancing every day.

You're dancing every day with who?

With the Holy Spirit.

Every situation, every moment you go into,

you are there present with the Holy Spirit.

And what is he trying to do?

Make you not look like you and look like Jesus.

What does the Holy Spirit wanna do in your life?

He wants to transform you.

He wants to change you.

You know the goal of this, right?

Is that if we hang around like a decade together,

that hopefully what you can do is you look at me and you go,

you are not the same person you were when I met you.

You look a whole lot more like Jesus.

And I can look at you and go, you're not the same person

because you look a whole lot more like Jesus.

Well, what is the point of this?

The Holy Spirit is taking us back to what?

So the person of Jesus that you would look, live,

and love a whole lot like Jesus.

That every interaction you have, he's guiding you.

He's empowering you to what?

To transform you.

I don't know about you, but I know myself.

And transformation has gotta happen on the inside, right?

That's a work that only the Spirit can do.

That he would transform us on the inside,

that we would care and we would carry the things of Jesus.

That we would hold his words dear.

And as we hold those words so intentionally

that they would move us towards people.

And here's what naturally happens,

that if you are going to create space for the Holy Spirit,

guess what he's gonna do?

He's gonna move you to our next value.

What's our next value?

For generosity.

For generosity.

You might go, that's a weird one.

Why generosity?

Because God, for all of time, has been generous.

Do you know that God in his character and his nature

is generous at the core of who he is?

And so what happens?

Who are we supposed to look like?

We're supposed to look more and more like God.

And if God is generous, then what should happen to us?

We should be generous.

So what does it mean to be generous?

Well, it means that every aspect of your life,

your gifts, your talent, your time, your energy,

your resources, your relationships, all of those,

all of those are things that you get to steward in this life.

And what are we supposed to be doing with them?

We're supposed to be giving them away.

Why?

Because the best life is one lived gift that's given away.

What does God wanna do with everything he's blessed you with?

Do you realize how blessed you are, by the way?

We don't think of ourselves as blessed very often,

but the fact that if you drove in a car today,

you're already outdoing most of, or not most,

but a lot of people on the planet.

You realize that if you have a home

where you can control the heat without it being a fire,

you're way ahead of a lot of people on the planet.

You realize that you got three square meals a day,

or you got options to eat, your way ahead

of people on the planet.

You realize that they're packed in you as gifts and talents

and abilities and resources, right?

And you've been given in proximity relationship.

Why? Why?

Because God wants to use those where?

For Jesus, to what?

To reach people.

So he's gonna use the Holy Spirit

to inspire you to be generous.

But I have to create space for you.

I have to create space for that.

It doesn't happen naturally.

And so what you see with God all the way through,

you start in Genesis, and this is out of creation, right?

Chapter two, verse eight.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden,

and there he put the man he had formed.

The Lord God planted a garden in the east in Eden,

and there he put the man he formed.

How much did man have to do with the garden?

Zero.

Nothing.

Right, why?

Because God in his nature is generous.

And what does God do?

He creates.

And as he creates everything, not that he needs,

because he doesn't need anything.

Everything that we need, he takes humans

and he puts them into the garden.

Why?

Because of generosity he puts them there.

Carry on in the story, you get to the person of Jesus.

You might have heard of this verse.

John 3, 16.

Church jokes.

Ba-da-bop.

For God, what?

So loved.

For God so loved.

That world world is ethnos, it's people, right?

So God loved every ethnicity is what that means.

For God so loved every ethnicity,

for God so loved every ethnicity that he what?

Okay, let's connect some dots.

For God so loved every ethnicity,

because God is four people, right?

The motivation to move and to be generous

for God Almighty was what?

Love.

For God so loved you,

for God so loved every person,

for God so loves the entire planet,

that what did he do?

He gave.

Generosity is birth out of love.

And so it says, for God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish,

but have eternal life.

So what is he doing?

He is giving.

Why?

So that you can be the recipient of that love.

Now here's where it works for us, right?

Because as a people then,

what is the motivation for your generosity?

What is the motivation for you to take this one life

and give it away?

Well, it's connected to what you love.

Remember what you value you love

and what you value you do.

So in our values, you go all the way back to what?

We are for Jesus.

So your love actually starts back with the person of Jesus.

Your love for Jesus will lead you to love what he loves.

What does he love?

He loves people.

And out of loving people, he what?

Through the Holy Spirit inspires you

to be generous towards people.

But if I don't love Jesus,

I'll never be generous towards people.

See how it works?

Because love is the motivator to give.

Love is what moved the hand of God to give to you.

That he loves you, therefore he gives.

This whole idea of generosity, right?

This idea that we have all of this

and we're trying to figure out

there's no better picture church for us on a macro level

as a family than when you look at Park Collective.

Because Park Collective was a group of people

that said, you know what?

We will pool all of our talent, all of our time,

all of our energy, all of our resources,

and we will create something.

You know, one of my favorite things is when,

if you have a family,

is when, if you haven't heard of this,

there's things called Park Hosts,

and they are at Park Collective in Prescott Valley, right?

And they're there throughout the week.

And guess what they do?

They create joy.

You know how they create joy?

They look at people and they smile.

They look at people and go, we're glad you're here.

They look at people and let them know they matter.

But you know what happens

when somebody walks into a Park Host often

that hasn't been there before?

They walk in and they got their kids with them,

and they go, where do we pay for this?

And you know what the Park Host says?

You don't have to pay because somebody already paid.

That's generosity.

That's the gospel.

You don't have to pay because somebody already paid.

When you live out generosity,

what you're actually living out is the gospel to people.

You're saying it's already covered.

And that leads you naturally to our next value,

which is fore-serving.

That if you follow the Holy Spirit,

if you create space for the Holy Spirit,

He's gonna have you take everything you are,

all the talents that you have,

all the gifting that you have,

all the resources, the energy, the time,

and He's gonna go, okay, how can you serve people?

How can you serve people?

We're fore-serving.

We're fore-taking what we're doing.

We're fore-taking what God has given us and giving it away.

There's a story that's captured with Jesus in John 13.

This is the Last Supper communion meal,

just to give you context of the meal.

Verse 13, or chapter 13, verse two.

The evening meal was in progress,

and the devil had already prompted Judas,

the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

So Judas has already been prompted to betray.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things

under His power and that He had come from God

and was returning to God.

So He got up from the meal.

Jesus gets up from the meal.

God in human form gets up from the meal,

takes off His outer clothing,

wraps a towel around His waist.

After that, He poured water into a basin

and began to wash His disciples' feet,

drying them with the towel that was wrapped around them.

He washes His disciples' feet.

Verse 12, when He had finished washing their feet.

God Almighty in human form at a meal

took the role that was least desirable.

The lowest role that you could have at this meal

was to wash the feet of the people sitting around the table.

And Jesus, God in human form,

puts a towel around Himself,

gets down and begins to wash feet.

What I want you to catch that's so significant

is who is sitting at that table?

It's Judas.

I don't know how that strikes you,

but if I just humanize this thing,

if I know you're the one that's gonna betray me,

I'm skipping your feet, right?

But it doesn't say that.

He says, when He finished washing their feet,

what does foreserving look like?

It looks like doing it when it's not convenient for me.

It looks like doing it when it's not beneficial in any way.

It looks like doing it when you're prompted

by the Holy Spirit to go and serve someone else.

And I'll be real honest with you.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

I'm not gonna lie to you, and I'll be real honest with you.

I'm probably the worst

when it comes to serving people I don't like.

Oh, I'll do it, but you know what I'll do later?

Complain.

And yet what we see with Jesus,

it's like a, I don't know how you feel,

it's like a punch in the stomach every time.

That the person that was betraying Him is enemy.

He washes the feet.

He serves.

Family, what are we called to?

We are called to create space

that we would serve humanity around us.

For some of you, the idea of having space

and margin to serve, you're like, I got no time.

Remember, what we value, we do.

So you're making time for stuff that you value.

You just need to look, are my values aligned

with the person of Jesus?

Because Jesus' values are aligned

that He is for people, therefore, He is for serving.

What is He serving with?

That's where fore generosity comes in.

He is taking everything that He has

and He is using it to serve.

What is the call in our lives as followers of Jesus?

Listen to the rest of the passage.

When He had finished washing their feet,

verse 12, He put on His clothes and returned to His place.

Do you understand what I have done for you?

He asked them, you call me teacher and Lord,

and rightly so, for that is what I am.

Now that I, your Lord and teacher,

have washed your feet,

you also should wash one another's feet.

I have set you and others in the same place

and I have set you an example

that you should do as I have done for you.

What is the call on you as a follower of Jesus?

It is for you to what?

To take this one life, this one life,

and to go back, what do I really love?

Because if I really love Jesus,

then He's gonna move me for people.

And if I really love people,

the Holy Spirit is gonna inspire me

to use everything in generosity to be taken

and to serve them every single part of it.

Who's He asking you to be generous towards?

Who's He asking you to serve?

I love that in this story as it continues,

you see the humanity of people,

but you also see all three of these values lived out.

Here's what I mean.

That there's a moment in this meal

where Jesus goes, I am troubled in my spirit.

That that word spirit is the same word

that is walked by the spirit that we read earlier.

It's the same word.

So the Holy Spirit troubles,

troubles stirs up inside of Jesus.

And it says the next thing He does is He testifies.

And what He testifies is someone at this table,

someone at this, He's gathered with friends,

somebody at this table is gonna betray me.

Which John, who's writing it,

John starts to talk about the one reclining

on the chest of Jesus, like He was that close,

He was leaning on Him.

And then Peter, who's also at the table,

leans over to John and he goes, ask Him who it is.

I love that the humanity's caught, right?

They're more concerned with who is it?

It's not me, is it?

And I love what happens because Jesus takes bread

and He breaks bread.

And guess who He gives the bread to?

Judas.

It's an act of generosity.

It's an act of serving.

And it says that once Judas takes the bread,

he says that he gets up and he leaves.

The next time you see Judas, guess where he is?

He's in the room.

Judas, guess where he is?

He's in a garden with a bunch of soldiers

and he's there to arrest Jesus.

They take Jesus, they put Him on trial.

You know what Jesus does for Judas?

He goes to a cross and He stretches out His arms

and He takes Judas' betrayal and Judas' sin

and He puts it on him and He pays the penalty

for Judas' sin.

He serves Judas with everything He's got.

When you came in, hopefully you received one of these.

You know, often we can look at the story

of the disciples around the table and we can see,

you know, ourselves in different ones,

of those like, oh, the closeness of John with Jesus

or Peter's questions or,

you go around in each one.

But today, I want you to see something.

That as you hold this,

I want you to have the image

that you are Judas.

We like to say we were Judas, right?

But can I tell you that I am Judas.

What do I mean by that?

Well, there are times when my heart is prone to wander

from my love for Jesus.

I get stuck on stupid stuff of this earth

and I betray my love for Jesus.

I get stuck on stupid stuff of this earth

and I betray the values

that I've been given the Holy Spirit,

but I don't live by the Holy Spirit

because I'm sidetracked by other things.

And what you have in your hand is you have a reminder

that God in human form showed up on your behalf

prompted by the Holy Spirit that He moved,

He moved to the planet, to the neighborhood,

as one translation says,

that He took on human form and went to a cross.

Why?

Because for God so loved you that He gave.

And don't make this nice, right?

Like don't make this, hey, when you were on your good day.

No, this is when you were an enemy of God,

when you were the furthest away.

He showed up and out of generosity gave everything

and served you by going to a cross to die

to die that He would take your worst and give you His best.

Martin Luther called it the great exchange

that your righteousness, your unrighteousness,

because you didn't have any,

your lack of standing with God as an enemy of the state,

that Jesus gave you His right standing.

How?

By serving you on a cross.

You hold a reminder of what Jesus has done for you.

So we're just gonna take moments to reflect.

We're gonna create space for the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

About this Jesus that gave it all.

And then we'll take it all together.

The next moment is yours.

Wow.

So

as Jesus sat around the table,

He took bread.

And I find it fascinating that the word He uses

in referring to what the bread was,

He goes, it's my body.

But the word that gets me as He goes,

it is given as an act of generosity.

It's an act of serving.

It's given for you.

That you would experience

the full exchange

that you give Him your death and pick up His life.

And so He handed him bread and He said,

take eat, do this in remembrance of me.

He took a cup of wine and He talked about

how the wine represented His blood.

That in His blood that He was about to shed on our behalf,

a new covenant was coming, a new agreement with God.

And that new agreement was that it was by grace.

What did that mean?

That it was fully paid.

That someday you would stand before a Holy God

and you would be able to look at that Holy God.

And when He goes, why should I let you

into eternity with me?

That you could point to the person of Jesus and go,

because He paid it in full.

He didn't come up short.

That He paid for every act of unrighteousness

you will ever need.

And He goes, it's all by grace.

So He handed him a cup and He said, take drink,

do this in remembrance of me.

And He said, take drink, do this in remembrance of me.

God, we are so grateful this morning.

We thank you for loving us.

Even though we don't deserve it, we thank you that

because of love you gave, thank you for giving your best.

Thank you, God, that in a love for people,

that your generosity is overwhelming.

It doesn't come up short.

Thank you for serving us.

God, you are worthy of it all.

There is nothing, nothing that is more worthy than you.

And so God, would you take our act of generosity

in these next moments that is our breath.

And as we use our breath, we use our voice,

we use this one life.

God, would we serve you in worship today

to say thank you for who you are and what you've done.

We are grateful people and everybody said, amen.