Satisfying Struggle | Pastor Chris Kouba

Grab your Bibles, Romans 7.

Romans 7 is where we're going to be.

I want to take this opportunity to welcome all of the men at the Ramsey Unit and all of the women at the Plain State Correctional Facility.

We are so grateful to bring this message to you today.

Life is an oxymoron.

Life is an oxymoron.

If you have been an Astros fan, like I have my entire life, but specifically over the course of the last six years, then you just know that at the end of October and the beginning of November, you are going to live exhausted, right?

I don't know if that's the case for any of you.

I definitely can tell you, despite the fact that I got an extra hour of sleep last night, I am tired, all right?

I am so tired because I've been staying up late uh way longer than I usually do.

Uh, I can't go to sleep when I do go to bed because I am riding on all of the emotion of every single pitch, and I am so into it on a constant basis.

Uh, and there's no question about it, uh, it has definitely been a thing to be an Astros fan, specifically the last six years, because the season is always going really long.

We're either in the World Series or on the verge of making the World Series, uh, and there's no question about it.

The agony of defeat that has taken place the last few years as well has just been gut-wrenching and it's just been absolutely awful.

And there's no question about it.

I'm just telling you, today, this morning, I am tired.

The oxymoron is when you win the World Series, it's a good tired, is it not?

I mean, how great was that?

Was it not the best?

If you're not an Astros fan, I'm sorry.

Like, I'm just sorry you don't get to experience the joy that comes along with that.

I kind of like it that everybody in the whole country hates us because guess what?

We're still the champs.

It doesn't matter what you think.

At the end of the day, we are still world champs.

I cannot wait to take my kids out of school tomorrow, whether it's an excuse absence or not.

I don't care.

And we're gonna go to the parade and we're gonna celebrate this.

This is a big deal in every way.

I mean, give me a shot of this every year in my veins for the next 10 years, right?

Like, it is awesome, right?

It is a good tired.

I'm exhausted and it is worth it, right?

It is an oxymoron in every way, but man, it's a good one.

No question about it.

An oxymoron is when two words are put together that have irony.

It's as though they're like a paradox.

There are two words that wouldn't naturally be associated together, and the very fact that these two words are put together is what makes it stand out.

It's what kind of makes it bubble up to the surface and cause you not just to hear it, but to kind of consider it, to think about it.

This morning, as we continue in Romans chapter 7, what I want us to look at as we continue this on the way series is I want us to look at the oxymoron of the Christian life.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

What we're gonna see is a chapter in the Bible that is really, really, really hard to hear.

While at the very same time, it is a chapter in the Bible that is one of the most comforting chapters in all of the scriptures.

It's a chapter that helps us deal with the reality that we've been dealing with, where there are these promises that one day will be but aren't quite yet done.

It's the already, but the not yet.

It's this in-between time when we're growing but we're still messed up.

It's this thing when we look at our lives, and at times you can see God is moving in our midst in such a significant way, it feels like exponential growth.

And then there's other times in our lives when it feels like there's so little growth that is taking place.

We start to even wonder if anything's happening at all.

The principle that I want you to see in Romans chapter 7 today is this the Christian life is a satisfying struggle.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

The Christian life is a satisfying struggle.

Do you already feel the tension in that statement?

The words satisfying and struggle don't usually go together.

What I want you to see though, you will not fully be able to comprehend and appreciate what we're gonna see in Romans chapter 7 unless you see that one, there is a struggle that defines the Christian life.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Secondly, though, what I want you to see is that that struggle is so satisfying because of what it represents.

Let's begin reading in Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Can I get that medicine ball that's on the floor right over there?

I'm dying up here.

Yep.

It's uh allergies, and I've yelled a lot this week.

Alright, so.

Alright, Romans chapter 7, let's go, verse 13.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

It says, Did that which is good then bring death to me?

By no means.

It was sin, producing death in me through that which is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good.

So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

What I want to do this morning is I want to point out for you three principles from this passage about the satisfying struggle.

The first principle is this struggle is a sign of faith.

Struggle is a sign of faith.

Romans 4 and 5 talk to us about our legal reality.

It told us that we were dead in our trespasses and our sins, but that God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, as a perfect sinless sacrifice who died on the cross for us.

The Bible tells us that whenever Jesus died on the cross for us, he invited us into a relationship with himself.

And that relationship allows us to be legally declared righteous before God.

Literally, when God looks at us, he doesn't look at our past sin, he doesn't look at our past mistakes if we're a believer in him.

Instead, he sees his perfect righteousness, the Bible says, imputed or accredited to our account.

This wasn't something that we did on our own.

This was instead something that we received as a measure of grace through faith.

Romans chapter 6 talks about our positional reality.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

We talked about this through the image of baptism, how the Bible tells us that Jesus died on the cross and he rose from the dead, and that we are united with him.

Literally, what that means is that whenever he died, it is as though we died.

When he rose, it is as though we rose.

Which means this that we no longer are bound to sin as though we had no control and no ability to go against it.

But instead, because of Jesus' death on the cross, we have died to the penalty of sin, and we've been raised to walk in newness of life.

Romans chapter 7 isn't talking about our legal reality or our functional reality, or excuse me, is our positional reality.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Romans 7 is talking about our functional reality.

Okay, so what does this look like then?

It's like what does day-to-day mean?

Like, how do I actually live out these truths, these theological ideas in my life on an actual daily basis?

Because it says that even though I'm no longer bound to sin, it doesn't mean that sin just leaves and goes away.

This past Wednesday, I went to the doctor and I got a physical.

And I don't know if you if you've done that recently or whatever, but I mean, like, it's just like it's not very fun, alright?

It's just not a positive and fun experience.

And I'm 42, and so basically there's just certain things that they're like, yeah, these are just because of your age.

You're gonna have to work on and think about.

And they told me that, you know, you probably could lose a few pounds, which is just thanks, Doc.

You know, like that's really good, right?

So I I kind of knew that this was gonna be the case.

I mean, you're not really gonna have a good physical if the doctor doesn't tell you to lose a little bit of weight.

That's just kind of like what happens when you go to the doctor.

And so, therefore, I'm not gonna lie, like I loaded up kind of beforehand because I knew that I was gonna have to make some changes on the back end for sure.

Uh, but he goes and tells me I gotta lose some weight, and I'm kind of talking to him about this.

And so I'm, you know, I and the reality is I I've gone through various diets and I've I've eaten healthy and all that kind of stuff and before, and I know what it feels like to feel good, to be at a good weight, all that type of stuff compared to whenever you don't.

I know the choices that you make.

It's crazy.

Way back in the day, I actually went an entire year and did not eat one-time fast food.

Now I'm gonna tell you, it was awesome.

Like I felt amazing, like I was at a good weight, I had all the energy, I had all the things that you possibly could imagine that would come as a benefit from not eating fast food for an entire year.

But I just want to tell you, as I look back and think about that time of not eating fast food for a year, it never at one time did I drive by a Chick-fil-A and think, you know, I'm not even interested in that.

In fact, every time I drove by Chick-fil-A, I had to make a new choice as to whether I was gonna continue to not eat fast food.

Let me just tell you, as I went an entire year and didn't eat fast food, when I drove by What's her, the urge was still there to pull in and get some food.

Every time.

It didn't just remove itself.

And what I want you to know is this, even though there were times that I had greater urges to go back to the life that I used to live, and sometimes it wasn't maybe as strong.

The reality is this, it never just removed itself and went away.

What I want you to see is this in Romans chapter 7, you kind of hear it as Paul is talking.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

He's talking about the fact that he's died to sin, he no longer is bound by it.

That being said, it's still really close by wanting him to go back to do it.

Now you can have a choice.

You can either look at that and say, Well, the fact that I go and I want to go back to the sinful ways in which I've been freed from, must mean something's wrong with me.

God doesn't approve of me, and therefore I am not a believer.

What I would tell you, based upon what we just read in Romans chapter 7, if you feel this urge to go back and do what you used to do, but you feel this desire to not do it, that actually is an indication that you're saved.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

It's actually proof that you are a believer.

You see, before you became a believer, you just did what the sinful flesh told you to do.

You didn't care about it, you actually wanted to do it, you didn't fight up against it unless maybe it was inconvenient for you.

But now all of a sudden you have this tendency where you kind of feel like, man, I don't I don't want to do that stuff anymore.

I don't want to go there.

I don't like how I'm expressing myself, and I don't like the responses that I've I've got here.

I don't like how this is playing itself out.

All of those things are the quickening of the Holy Spirit showing as though he's evident in your life that's causing you to struggle.

Let's just talk about it two different ways.

Let's act like somebody walks into my office and they come in and they say, Hey, I'm struggling with my sin.

I don't want to look at pornography.

I don't want to go make these bad choices, whatever it may be.

And they say, Here's what I'm doing.

I'm pursuing biblical community.

I'm involved in a group.

I'm being open with my group.

They're praying for me.

I'm also coming before the Lord and I'm seeking him in prayer.

I'm opening up God's word and I'm wanting to see not only what he says, but I'm wanting to do what it is that he says and to act upon it.

I'm finding myself putting in some extra measures along the way to help protect myself against the temptations that I know are out there.

I want to ask you, what is it that I should do?

And I would simply tell you this: you keep struggling.

God's on the verge of breakthrough.

Like, that's exactly the picture of the Christian life.

Actively fighting against my sin.

You're never gonna graduate to perfection.

Instead, you should fight against your sin.

On the other hand, you have somebody who comes into the office and they're like, hey, I'm gonna be honest with you, this is what I'm doing.

I don't really care how it affects me, I don't care how it affects you, I don't care how it affects anybody around me.

I don't even care what God says about this, because to be honest with you, I know this is what I've chosen that I want to do.

And so if God decides that he's against that, then I'm against God.

I would simply tell you this: there's a big question mark whether you're saved at all.

You want to know why?

Because you're not struggling with your sin.

You don't care.

It isn't bothering you at all, which shows us this.

If you here today are struggling with your sin, praise God, it means you're saved.

For some of you, you need to hear that because you've had this idea that the struggle that I'm dealing with must mean something's wrong with me.

And I would say the struggle that you're dealing with means that nothing's wrong with you.

The Holy Spirit's doing its active job in your life, which leads to this question.

Do you struggle with your sin?

I'm not asking you if it's inconvenient because your wife wants you to be different.

I'm saying, does the fact that you do things against a holy God cause you angst?

I'm asking if you fight against your sin, there should be seasons of success and seasons of failure.

That is the picture of the Christian life.

It is an ongoing, continual journey where I'm becoming more like Christ, and the more I'm becoming like Christ, the more I realize how far I actually have left to go.

And that struggle is confirming in every way.

Let me mention to you another reason why you can say that the idea of a satisfying struggle.

Number two, struggle isn't better with more rules.

Struggle isn't better with more rules.

When your positional reality doesn't match your functional reality, you can go one of two ways.

You can go one way, which is this.

Well, if that's the case, then I'm just gonna throw out all the rules and do whatever I want to do.

The end of Romans 6, Paul says, no, don't ever don't do that.

That's not the life you're supposed to live.

The other option is for you just to go take the rules and add more rules, thinking that if you follow more rules, then that's gonna allow you to be right with God.

Paul deals with his uh the role of the law and the role of the commands, the role of the Bible in his life at the beginning of Romans 7, Romans 7, I think verses 7 and 8, I began to talk about this.

He talks about how basically he was not a believer in Jesus.

He was not someone who followed after him, but then he began to have a Damascus Road experience on the way to Damascus.

God literally stopped him and showed who he was and he got saved.

And the Bible says that when he left there from that Damascus Road experience, as he was walking along, he all of a sudden sees a girl who is attractive to him.

And the Bible says that he covets after her.

The word covet is the same word as lust in the Greek words in the New Testament.

So what it basically means is he lusted after a girl.

It's not the first time that Paul ever lusted after another woman, it was the first time that it ever bothered him that he did.

And so what he says is like, whoa, wait a second.

I hadn't felt that before.

I felt that, but I haven't felt that reaction to it.

And he says that what this shows is that the law is given to reveal what's actually going on inside of my life.

Let me tell you why this is important.

Let's say you were to go to the doctor.

You got some symptoms that you've been feeling and you haven't quite felt right.

And so you go to the doctor, and the doctor says, checks you out, and he says, I'm not sure exactly what's going on here.

We need to run an MRI.

So you go into the MRI machine and you go, and it comes back and you meet up with the doctor, and he goes over the results of your MRI, and the MRI reveals that you have cancer.

And the doctor says, Here's what we're gonna do.

He starts to put you on a treatment plan to go and deal with that cancer.

But how foolish would it be for you when you hear the doctor say that, say, that stupid MRI machine?

That dumb MRI machine gave me cancer.

If I would not have had that MRI, that's I would not have had cancer.

Folks, you realize the MRI didn't give you cancer.

The MRI revealed to you what was already going on inside of you.

All it did was show it to you.

Here's why that's important.

How much crazy how much more crazy is it for some of you, and me, I've done this for most of my life, where instead of allowing the law to reveal my sin, I instead try to add more law as though that's the answer.

I don't know about you, I grew up in a great Christian family.

I've got great Christian parents who love the Lord and love the church, and you've taken me and grown me up in the church, and so therefore I want to do everything that I possibly can in order to keep my kids from experiencing the very same thing that I experienced when I was growing up, and that is this.

I was a professional Pharisee.

I had my list, I had all the things you're supposed to do, I had all the things that you're not supposed to do.

I was super spiritual, so I actually had some extra things on the list, and I checked those things off too, and therefore I knew where I stood in relation to you, and I felt better about myself based upon how I did the checklist compared to how you did my checklist.

And as a result of that, I used the very thing that was meant to show me my need of God to actually be something that made me have false approval from God.

You see, some of you, that's your deal.

You're a good kid, you're the good person, you're the one who makes the good decisions, and so therefore, along the way, you found your identity in the fact that God must be really glad that I'm on his team because I don't do these certain things, and I do these certain things, and you have this list in your mind as though your satisfaction and approval from God all comes based upon a list that has been made up.

All the while you have cancer and you're adding MRIs.

And you have to deal with your cancer.

And so, what God is calling and leading you to do is to recognize your status with him is not based upon performance because God doesn't care about your external behavior, he cares about your heart.

Let me tell you how I know this.

Here's what he says in Sermon on the Mount.

He says, You've heard that it was said, you shall not murder.

Check, I haven't murdered anybody.

And then he says, But I tell you that if anybody is angry with his brother, he experiences judgment.

Oh, golly, that that that that was me.

You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

Good, I'm good, I'm good on that.

I got my box checked.

He says, but I tell you, if anyone looks at a woman with lustful intent, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Whoa.

What this shows us is this you're not gonna perform your way into acceptance with holy God.

And so you adding list and thinking you're good is completely missing the point.

You can always find people that you can look at your life compared to theirs, and you're gonna think, well, I'm better than them.

But guess what?

They're not the standard.

Instead, God says, look, that pride in your heart that you're looking down on somebody else is evidence of the fact that, God, you're so far away from where you need to be.

So, what God is calling and leading us to do is to get to that place of Matthew 7 24, wretched man that I am.

Let me give you the last thing I want you to see today is this last principle is struggle leads to conviction.

Struggle leads to conviction.

It's comforting.

The reason why it's a satisfying struggle is.

Is because uh a struggle and conviction, like here's what I tell you perfection isn't the goal here.

One day we will be perfected whenever we are in heaven with Jesus.

But we will never experience perfection on this side of eternity, and so therefore, we need to recognize that perfection isn't sort of the mark.

Instead, what Paul is suggesting here, that the goal of spiritual maturity is conviction, not perfection.

Which is comforting because I read what he writes in Romans 7, 15, and 16.

I don't do what I want to do, and what I don't want to do, I do.

That's me.

Have you ever felt that?

Have you experienced that where you're like, man, I I don't know why I keep doing this.

I don't know why I keep acting this way.

I don't know why I keep making these choices.

I don't want to do these things, and you struggle.

And what I would simply tell you is this is that the idea of you recognizing your sin, Paul says, is a gift from God.

Because here's the problem.

Most of us, me included, are not good at confessing and admitting our sin.

We rationalize our sin.

We excuse our sin.

We blame other people.

Well, if I wasn't working for this guy, if I wasn't, if I just had the break, if I just my financial on and on and on, we give all these excuses.

It's everybody else's fault.

Instead of allowing the conviction of the Holy Spirit to do work in our lives.

I've said this before.

If you go to church and you never leave feeling like your toes were stepped on, you're going to the wrong church.

Because Hebrews 4 12 is pretty clear, and it says that the word of God is living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword, piercing to the bone and marrow, meaning this, it is going to hurt.

And what I would tell you is that when it hurts, that's conviction.

And understand, conviction is a gift from God.

It is the path that you must take in order to experience victory.

At our house, the Cuba House, we are all big Bluebell fans.

I am the biggest Bluebell fan that there is.

I actually love all ice cream.

I'm not in any way, I think every ice cream that's ever been existed is amazing.

I just think Bluebell is just on a category in and of itself, right?

It's just so I'm not willing to turn down ice cream like ever.

But like Bluebell is just next level.

My favorite Bluebell ice cream is uh Cookie Two Step.

I know what some of you are thinking, this may explain why the doctor told you that you should lose weight.

And yes, I understand that.

I get that.

I don't need you to tell me that.

I just paid a guy to tell me that on Wednesday, okay?

Uh but Cookie Two Step is my favorite ice cream of all time, no question about it.

But I would simply tell you this I'm willing to try anything that Bluebell decides to bring out, right?

If there's a brand new flavor, I'm in.

All right.

I am in.

We will try it.

And this love for Bluebell ice cream has been passed down to our kids as well.

And I'm just gonna admit to you, this is the safest place, I hope.

Um, I think about Bluebell a lot.

Like a lot.

Like all day long, I'm thinking about Bluebell ice cream, right?

Like I'm thinking of like I ate lunch, I'm like, ah, I don't want to eat this much because you know I got Bluebell later, so you know, I'm just gonna save it a little bit.

Like I kind of think about that the whole night around when I'm gonna go and kind of make my way around and get some bluebell ice cream and kind of pull it out, right?

I mean, I love it.

I absolutely love it.

Well, this love has been passed on to my family as well, and my kids would tell you that dad eats all the ice cream, all right?

Now, I don't think that's necessarily true.

It might be at times, but I'm just saying they say that, and so here's what has happened at our house.

When I am not home one night, they will gorge themselves with all of the ice cream for fear that I will not leave any for them to be able to eat themselves.

Now, let me just tell you, you want to know what a bad day looks like.

A bad day is when you've been thinking about blue bowl all day.

When you remember the night before, that little part of the court, and you're thinking, you know, I'm just gonna eat it from the bowl, right?

You know, like just there's no reason to transfer it to another.

Let's just eat it from the whole carton, right?

And I'm thinking about it and going, and then all of a sudden you go and you open up the freezer to have that moment and you realize that your evil, wicked children have already eaten it.

Let's be honest.

I got a problem with Lumel, all right?

I got an issue.

I I know it, I know it to be the case.

Now, whose fault is this?

Okay?

Is it my kids?

I mean, I think you can make an argument there, right?

Like, like they they, you know, they need to know honor and respect for their for their for their parents, right?

The Bible's super clear.

They're not gonna have a long life because they're taking bluebell from me now, right?

I mean, so they need to adjust and make sure we always gotta leave something for dad.

That's what they should say.

It's not happening in the house.

Okay, is it bluebell's fault?

I do think they've got a secret ingredient that makes it addictive.

It does feel that way.

There's no question about it.

Because I'm just, it's like a laser beam.

Like, if it's in the house, I just know that it's there, right?

And I'm again, it just I'm my mind is absorbed in that bluebell.

Is it Hillary's fault?

I have blamed her for this problem, right?

I in fact blamed her last night.

I'm like, if you would stop buying this stuff and I would stop eating it, the problem is I'm I'm in re-engage right now, and I've discovered that this is not a good strategy for your marriage, is to blame your wife for your lack of self-control.

Okay?

And so therefore, it's not Hillary's fault.

It is this.

It's my fault.

I have no self-control.

Okay?

When I have bluebell, I'm gonna gorge myself and I'm gonna eat bluebell ice cream.

There's no question about it.

I do things that are way worse than eating bluebell ice cream.

There's also no question about it.

You do things that are way worse than eating bluebell ice cream.

If I'm not willing to admit that I got an issue with bluebell ice cream, I'm never gonna get better.

You see, for some of you, when you start to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, which is given to you as a gift from a loving father who's wanting to stop you from self-destructing.

You have mastered the art of ignoring it.

I mean, so-and-so, I'm better than so-and-so.

And you kind of move on when all along you've got a father who loves you so much, he's like, Yeah, but I don't want you to be like so-and-so.

I want you to be like me.

I want you to get to the place where you begin to see your sin like I see your sin.

And I'm not telling you this because I want to judge you, I'm telling you this because I want to help you.

We gotta get to the place where Matthew 7, 24 is the verse that we would say about our own selves.

It says, wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death.

Do you ever speak about your sin that way?

Do you ever talk about the struggles in your life with that kind of description?

Do you ever look at your situation and say, Lord, I know this needs to change.

And I'm willing to do whatever you need me to do in order to change it.

Well, you don't know this.

The answer is not by adding more rules and adding more laws.

The answer is not by ignoring it, the answer is not.

By somehow just assuming that if I just keep it close to me, it'll eventually go away.

The answer is by grace through faith I entered into this relationship.

And by grace through faith, I continue to walk in faith with him, struggling against my sin, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring up what needs to change and making the changes to do it.

Matthew 7, 25 says, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Romans 8:1, maybe one of the greatest verses in all of the Bible.

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Christian life looks like this: you walk with Jesus along the way, you're gonna fail Jesus.

You return to Jesus, rinse and repeat.

You follow after Jesus along the way, you're gonna fail Jesus.

You then turn to Jesus, rinse and repeat.

You follow after Jesus, you along the way will fail Jesus as you struggle with your sin.

You then turn back to a gracious Heavenly Father who gives you so much grace, he not only saved you despite the fact that he knew that you would screw up yet again, but then he also allows you to walk in humility as you confess your sins to him and say, Hey, it's okay, I didn't choose you because of this moment, and I'm not gonna unchose you because of this moment.

But come on, let's walk and not do that again.

Rinse and repeat.

Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes all across this room?

If you're joining me online, I invite you to do the same thing.

Let me just ask you the question.

What is the Holy Spirit convicting you of?

If you don't know, just ask him in his grace, he will answer.

What is God wanting to change in your life?

It's not just avoiding the big things.

He wants to change the attitudes of your heart.

Maybe some of you are doing the right thing, but you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

Maybe some of you feel justified in the relationship with the way that you've chosen to act, and you're doubling down instead of humbly allowing the Holy Spirit to bring conviction, it's a gift of his grace.

Allow his grace over you with the conviction of sin.

In just a moment, we're gonna have a time of prayer, and we're gonna have a time of response.

Our staff team is gonna be up front, they're gonna be on the sides.

I just want to encourage you, if you're kind of walking through some stuff and and you just need to confess it, would you not worry about what anybody else cares what anybody else thinks?

The only voice that matters is the voice of your heavenly father who wants you to be honest, because you can't experience victory until you're honest.

Would you come forward today?

Would you seek prayer and confess?

Let us pray with and for you.

Maybe some of you need to enter into a relationship with Jesus.

You need to experience the salvation that can only come because of Jesus dying on a cross for your sins and rising from the dead.

And if you've never experienced that, all this stuff that we're talking about, it starts with that initial decision.

To receive something that you don't deserve, and that is salvation from Jesus.

If that's you, I'm gonna ask you to come forward and allow us to pray with you today so that you can know with certainty that you've got a relationship with Christ.

Somebody did it on first service.

You won't be alone.

Maybe others need to come and join the United City Church.

This is the place that God's leading you to leak arms with and for you to move from just being a casual attender to being a blessing and you being an accountable member and you experiencing the ministry of this place and being a giver of it as well.

If God's leading you to be a part of the United City, I want to invite you to come forward today.

Begin that process of membership.

Maybe some of you need to come and to be baptized.

You've given your life to Christ.

Maybe you did it at Girl World last night.

You need to make that official.

Schedule your baptism.

Maybe some of you have been feeling called to ministry.

God's been leading you in fifth grade, undeniable in my life.

I knew God was saying, Hey, this is what I'm doing for you.

This is what it's gonna look like for you.

So, therefore, if that's you today, whatever age you may be, would you come forward and allow us to walk with you in that?

Father, I pray you'd move in these moments we have left.

God, call people to yourself.

Give them courage and boldness to respond and a move.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen.

Would you stand up and as you God really is our everlasting God.

He's so faithful in times of trial, in times of triumph.

He is here for you, he's here for me.

It's an amazing truth that we can cling to today, that God is with us.

You do not navigate this season of your life, no matter what you may be going through alone.

The Bible tells us that God is never too far away for us to reach out to him.

In fact, it tells us that we need to consistently reach out to him, knowing that he is our ever-present help in time of need.

He is fearfully and wonderfully made you and I, and we have the opportunity today to respond to his blessings, his grace, and his love for us in a unique and meaningful way.

So, today, if you heard that message about God being our everlasting God, and you would like to make Jesus the everlasting God of your life by placing your faith and trust in him, you can text the word you see next to the number 55498.

There is nothing that we would love to do as a staff more than to hear your story, hear about how Jesus is moving in your life, even help you navigate the season, your next step, maybe whatever God may be leading you to do in your future, whether that be baptism or joining the church, maybe jumping into our growth track process.

I just want to let you know we have been where you are.

And it is so, so important that you allow us the opportunity to link arms with you on your faith journey, coming alongside of you right where God has you, uh, to disciple you, equip you, and encourage you in your faith.

We're so, so thankful for how God is moving in your life.

We're so thankful that uh He has given you a purpose.

We're so thankful that uh that purpose is being made known more and more in your life.

If there's anything that we can do for you, we want you to reach out to us again.

You can text UC Next to 55498.

We're so thankful to bring you this service.

I pray that you have an awesome week.

As we look ahead to this next week, I want you to cling to the truth that God is our everlasting God in times of trial and times of triumph.

And as we look ahead to this next week, I just want to pray a blessing over you and your family this morning.

Lord Jesus, we're so thankful for you.

We're so thankful for who you've called us to be.

God, we're so thankful that you have met us exactly where we are at our greatest moment of need.

God, we're so thankful for the grace that you have extended to us even right now on this Sunday.

God, thank you for the word that Pastor Chris just gave us.

Thank you for your holy Bible.

God, I pray that your word would be written on our hearts and would be so close to our tongues that we speak it throughout our week.

God, whatever we may come in contact with, whatever we may be going through this week, I pray that you would meet us exactly where we are with grace and mercy.

Would we glorify you in all that we say and all that we do?

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

United City Church, I'm thankful for you.

We will see you next Sunday.

God bless.