On Death (1 Cor. 15) | The Sandhurst Podcast

All right.

Welcome.

Last words that were spoken before we started was will.

Don't hit the table.

That's right.

Michaela's giving me the law.

Yes.

All right.

So I'm not sure what consequences there will be, but welcome to the Sandhurst Beyond Sunday podcast.

We want to equip the Saints to think biblically about God, life, and culture.

And in this case, we want to equip the saints to think biblically about death.

Yes.

Life and what happens after that.

Because it's coming to all of us.

It is.

Yeah.

In fact, I think this has a special like kind of relevance to both of us today.

We're going to leave right out of here and do a funeral for a um a longtime Sandhurst member.

And so just all of this has, I think, a special relevance to us as we are kind of contemplating the reality of death and life in real time with a grieving family.

And and that's gonna be true at some point for all of us, where we're gonna be in that point where we kind of retaste the bitterness of death, and we're gonna come to a point where we go, what does the Bible actually say about this?

Um, how do I think about this?

What how do I navigate this in a way that is not just happy bliss uh but like convictional, biblical, like like a hope that that really can anchor a soul um and that can have uh sorrow and joy coexist.

And that's I think the world approaches it from a zero-sum game.

You're either happy or you're sad.

And uh, but the scriptures give us a much more nuanced, a much more uh layered view of it, that we can rejoice while we are grieving, and we can grieve while we're rejoicing, and and that both are involved because true, death will come to all of us.

And that shouldn't just be something we're looking forward to or considering for its future relevance, but also for its present relevance to live now in such a way that honors and recognizes this is coming.

That is exactly where we're gonna land.

That's that's exactly where 1 Corinthians 15 lands, the the present relevance for the future hope.

Yeah.

Um so uh I don't know how much of a 1 Corinthians 15 we're gonna get through today.

Um we went through the first 20-ish verses yesterday.

Um, and we actually did the second half of chapter 15 in the weeks leading up to Easter.

Um so we we've technically covered it all in the gathering on Sunday in the worship service.

Uh we'll see how much we get through today, but the the goal of it is again, we want to think biblically about God, life, and culture so that our faith goes beyond Sunday and it goes all the way to the funeral service.

That's right.

And then beyond that, too.

So uh it First Corinthians 15 is such a gift to us.

Um let's uh let's let's jump in.

First Corinthians 15.

He says, Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

So there is kind of the the the gospel that saves us that we believe, and it is possible to believe in vain.

Thoughts on that?

Absolutely.

Um, and you know, to he he basically gives us the the mark of of perseverance as a real faith.

And so you do you do did you um you know, when you when you came to the event, did you really love the Jaguars or did you just come because your friend was coming?

I love the Jaguars.

Yes.

So and there's a lot of reasons why people would go to church or be around religion and Christian faith, but the question is, do you know and love God?

And persevering through trial, through difficulty, to the end is one of those signs.

Yeah, and and I think you've done a good job in the past of saying we're not putting our faith in our faith.

We're putting our faith in a person in Jesus.

Yeah.

And and my confidence before God is not in the strength of my faith, it is in the resurrected Jesus, it is in the gospel of Jesus, and that is everything that this chapter is about.

So um, yeah, we do the belief is necessary.

There is a kind of belief that he would say, that's a that's a belief that's in vain.

Yeah.

The v the kind of belief that is not in vain is a belief that perseveres and is grounded in Jesus.

Amen.

Okay.

Um, so he's about to give us the content of the gospel that saves us.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.

Here it is, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, then to the twelve.

After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James and to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also.

Okay, so a couple things in here that I think is good to highlight.

He's he's grounding uh the the content of the gospel on the the most significant part of this most significant event related to the life of Jesus and world history, and that is the resurrection of Jesus.

There's no gospel without the resurrection, and he's giving grounding for the resurrection, for for Jesus' death and resurrection in two places.

One in the scriptures, and two in Jesus' appearances.

Okay, so um let's let's take a look at both of those real quick.

When it's when he says Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

Right, Paul's going, This was this was prophesied in the Old Testament.

Where is the resurrection in particular?

What scriptures might he be referring to?

Or if Paul were here, it'd be like, hey, these are the scriptures that speak to a resurrection.

It's so funny because I have a footnote in my Bible, you know, according to the scriptures, and the or the cross references.

The cross references are all in the New Testament, but uh obviously, you know, if um the the passages that come to mind are um Genesis three, Isaiah 53 are the two top ones.

Yeah.

And and those definitely uh speak to the death of Jesus, you know, the Genesis 3 that you will uh speaking like Genesis 3.15 is a curse to the serpent, to Satan, saying, Um, you will strike his heel, but he will crush your head.

Okay, so there's a um a scriptural reference to the suffering, to the death of Jesus.

Isaiah 53 is about the suffering servant.

Yeah.

Um in terms of the Old Testament giving testimony to the resurrection, I think one thing that Jesus highlights is Jonah.

Yeah.

He's like, hey, Jonah, remember that story in the belly three days?

And then he came.

And then he came back?

Yep.

Watch out, boys.

That's right.

Or, you know, or even um uh Abraham, right?

And in in the sacrifice of Isaac, uh, who was, as Paul says, you know, symbolically brought back from the dead uh by the fact that he was not sacrificed, um, and that there was a substitute.

So, you know, we have Jonah, we have you know Abram and Isaac.

Yeah, and so so he's going back, okay, this this isn't just some like thing that came out of nowhere.

This was something that was according to the scriptures, and then he so the scriptures give testimony to it, and he he also goes, uh, the appearances of Jesus to people give testimony to the reality of the resurrection.

Um, he talks about you know, he appeared to more than 500 at one time, he appeared to the apostles, he appeared to James, he appeared to me being Paul.

And uh I think he's going the the fact of a real resurrected Jesus uh cannot be um cannot be missed here.

And why does that matter?

Well, it matters for a couple reasons.

One, um, when I was in college and we're taking this New Testament theology seminary class, and uh I didn't know that it was a thing that some people who deny the the real resurrection of Jesus would say, well, it doesn't matter that Jesus actually rose again, it just matters that he rises again in your heart.

And Paul's like, eh wrong!

Yeah.

The entire integrity of the scriptures is is based on this.

If this did not happen, then we are still in our sins.

And I I remember actually speaking to an Orthodox bishop.

We were in Oxford at the time, and he was of this ilk that, yeah, it didn't really matter.

It's just it was a spiritual event, and it it uh it um uh it it it it indicated a spiritual renewal.

And so we can all embrace the resurrection of Christ spiritually speaking, symbolically speaking, metaphorically speaking, as long as um, because the real message is that there's life from death.

And I'm like, well, if the real message is based on a fiction, there's no real message.

I mean just kind of like just do the math here.

You know, like imagine if, you know, I told my son, um, I I put a million dollars in your account.

He's like, what?

Well, I said, well, I didn't really, but symbolically I did.

And so that just shows how generous I am.

And like, okay, if I didn't really do it, it doesn't show anything, you know?

And so I I'm I don't understand how people can can they made uh I think this is for people who just really, really want to believe, but don't.

Yeah.

So the spiritual significance of the resurrection depends on the reality of of resurrected real Jesus.

Yeah.

And um uh this this has been really important to me because um I think one thing that has just been hard for me.

It was especially hard in college, but it still comes up sometimes for me, is just doubt.

Um this emotional like I have good uh intellectual reasons for why it's all true, but sometimes sometimes I just feel like uncertain.

And the reality of the resurrection has been one of the greatest gifts to me in terms of grounding my faith in actual reason.

That this is not blind faith, it's not empty faith, it's it's actual like reasonable faith that there's we have good reason, good reason to believe that a guy named Jesus lived and was crucified and was buried and his body disappeared.

Absolutely.

There's so many layers of evidence for us to consider uh in terms of the the reasons to believe.

And and and so then the question is, well, what happened to the body?

If and so well, you could say, well, um, who had motive to take the body?

The disciples had motive to take the body because that would have kind of been vindic vindicating themselves, you know.

He said he would rise and look, he did.

But then that means that all of them would have gone to torturous deaths.

Right.

And not one of them said, Just kidding.

Like we took the body.

Yeah.

Like before you crucify me, before you dip me this boiling oil, just uh just hey, we took the body.

Yeah.

Like they actually went to torturous deaths believing um Jesus actually rose.

And before you jump in, just like what how that um has helped me to go, okay, if I actually, if I have reason to think that Jesus actually rose, then I have believe reason to believe what Jesus said.

And when I if I have reason to believe what Jesus said, then what did Jesus talk about?

Well, he talked about the Old Testament scriptures and affirmed them.

So now I have reason to believe all the Old Testament and and then the New Testament, because what Jesus said is in the New Testament.

So now, because of the resurrection, I have uh reason to believe in Jesus and Scripture.

And this has really just grounded me in kind of emotional doubt.

Yeah, and and I would go even further than you, Will, when you said, you know, I believe that Jesus, you know, there's good reasons and good evidence to believe that he that he lived, that he was crucified, that he was buried, and that the body was gone.

I would say that he there's what you're saying is actually that there's good reason to believe he rose from the dead.

Yeah.

Because um the the one of the reasons you just gave that not only the disciples, but their families and that whole generation and that next generation of disciples were willing to all die for this truth.

Yes, and for this belief.

And the there were so many early martyrs, it wasn't just one or two or three people trying to preserve a narrative.

It was an entire segment of society who had believed this.

And that it the just from a secular standpoint of the evidence points to why would so many people die for this who lived at the time if it didn't really happen.

I mean, somebody would have called it out, somebody would have figured this out and and and it would have gone away.

So and and that did happen, by the way.

There were a lot of uh fakes, there were a lot of fake messiahs, there were a lot of fake redeemers, there were a lot of fake, you know, leaders, whatever that came and went.

And yet 2,000 years later, this is the the the the world's largest religion.

Yeah.

And and where does it start um in Jerusalem?

Why does that matter?

Because it's that's where Jesus was crucified.

How what was the gap between um people seeing Jesus crucified and then people hearing Jesus rose 50 days?

That's the gap.

It's not like this became some sort of like the the people who saw it then heard it and were it's it's not like some great time elapsed where it can kind of became legend where nobody could have been there to actually verify.

No, we've seen them.

Yeah, yeah.

And so that the the the and that is so important that Christians are not called to blind faith.

Yeah, that's what I want to emphasize.

A reasonable faith, right?

It is a reasonable faith.

And God has given us uh enough reasons to make our faith, or enough evidence to make our faith reasonable, but not so much evidence to make our faith unnecessary.

True.

And so we uh still have faith, and our faith is in, as you said, not uh our faith or our belief.

We just gotta have faith.

You know, our faith is in Christ, in the risen Christ, uh and in his power to save us.

Um, but uh but that faith is very reasonable and based on strong evidence that is archaeological, that is historical, that is philosophical.

There are many layers, and that's for another podcast on another day.

But um, in those moments of doubt, which we all have, um it's good to be reminded that this is not a blind faith.

It is very reasonable, and that's one of the reasons why it is still everywhere.

Yeah.

Um, so as we keep going through 1 Corinthians 15, we see Paul giving testimony to the fact of Jesus' resurrection.

Um he points to the scriptures, he points to Jesus' actual appearances, and then he goes to his own experience, and that's what we're about to read.

Um he says, For I'm not the for I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle.

Why?

Because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me did not prove in vain.

But I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God within me.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preached, and so you believed.

So he's going, um, why do why do I actually believe in a real resurrection?

Well, yeah, the scriptures.

Well, yeah, his appearance.

And well, yeah, uh, the grace of God in the resurrected Jesus has changed me.

And and Howell said it well on Sunday.

He's going, it made a um a persecutor into a preacher.

It made he gave one other alliterated um uh persecutor and a preacher.

Oh, a monster into a missionary.

There you go.

Yeah, that's and and that's what Paul's going.

I I'm giving testimony to this is real.

This is true.

Yeah.

And it's impacted my life, and it's it's changed who I am, and it's changed a lot of people over the millennia.

And and what happened in Paul has happened has happened in us too.

And um, by God's grace, we'll be able to see and hear more stories of it.

I I got a friend um won't share the the like the details, uh, but the the the obvious and I would say supernatural change in the guy to see him from ten years ago to now, different man.

Different man.

Yeah.

And it's not just um discipline or um kind of it it I to me it's just so obvious.

That is the power of the grace of God in the resurrected Jesus in this man's life.

Praise the Lord.

Amen.

The fact of the resurrection, that's what he talked about, that's what we've been talking about.

And then he moves to what I would call the impact of the resurrection, verse 12.

Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there's no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.

And now he's about to say seven things that would be true if Christ had not been raised.

Okay.

If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain.

Your faith also is in vain.

Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless.

You're still in your sins.

Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Impact of the resurrection.

He says, if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain.

Our faith is in vain.

We're false witnesses of God, our faith is worth our faith is worthless, we're still in our sins, the dead perish, and we are most to be pitied.

That's what's true if Christ has not been raised.

Man, that's a lot that is a lot of uh vanity.

That's a lot of heavily.

Let's try to flip those around.

That's what's true if Christ has not been raised.

Our preaching is vain, our faith is in vain, we're false witnesses of God, our faith is worthless, we're still in our sins, the dead perish.

We're most to be pitied.

If Christ has not been raised, that is true.

If he has been raised, let's try to flip those on the uh uh on its head.

Okay, if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain.

If he has been raised, what does that say about our preaching?

That it is uh it is of great value.

Yeah, it's of great value.

Uh the word vain, it means empty.

It's it's like heavel, um, which is a reference to Ecclesiastes blast from the past when he taught that um heavily, empty, uh vapor.

Yep.

Um if Christ has been raised, then our preaching has power.

Not because the preacher is fiery or clear, uh, but because Christ has been raised.

There's power, there's supernatural power of God behind it.

Um like preaching if it's empty, I think like open hand, and I think like if I just came over and slapped you, it hurt.

Like, what the heck?

Why'd you do that?

Right.

Um, but if I took a 20-pound weight in my hand, and now I it's not my hand isn't empty, it has some substance, and then I hit you with it, you're not just gonna be annoyed, you're gonna be moved.

Yeah, I'm gonna be moved.

You're literally gonna be moved.

You're gonna you're gonna be knocked back, yeah.

And it's not just gonna hurt, it's gonna move you.

Yes.

And that's that's actually really helpful for me to think, okay, if Christ has been raised, then anytime someone is preaching, I believe that there's power behind it because the message that they are preaching is about ultimately a person, Jesus, who has power behind the words, who's gonna not just slap us to be like, oh, you know, he really stuck on my toes, but power to move us.

Yes.

He rose.

Yes.

Um, Christ has not been raised, our faith is in vain.

Let's flip that over.

If Christ has been raised, what does that say about our faith?

It is if it's not in vain, it is uh essentially of of ultimate of ultimate value, and not just value, like, oh, it's good to have faith.

Like, no, it is of ultimate value.

Like it is eternally and infinitely good to have faith in Christ.

Yeah.

So he actually says two things about the faith.

He says our faith is in vain.

That's the second one.

And then the fourth one, he says our faith is worthless.

Right.

Um, pair those together, and I would say, uh, yeah, if he has been raised, then our faith has value.

And again, what is the value of it?

It's not just, you know, walking on streets of gold, you know, the value is the person.

Yes.

And when we um so I'm I'm doing the the burial, um, the committal service today.

You're doing the message at the funeral.

Part of what I want to highlight from um at at the committal this this afternoon is to say, um from Philippians 1, to live is Christ, to die is gain.

He says, why?

Well, he's he's goes, to live on in the flesh, it's necessary for you.

But to die and be with Jesus, he says, that is very much better.

What makes it very much better?

I want to be with Jesus.

Yeah.

Like if he rose, then my faith has value because the value is in the person with whom I will be forever.

This is very that that's what I hope.

Um this is what I want to give and still hope to as at the burial today.

Um what he has.

Very much better because of who he's with.

And that unity with God is just such, we can't even imagine what a blessing that's going to be.

That we were made to know God.

When you think back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve had perfect fellowship with each other and with God's creation and with God Himself.

And in eternity, we will have that same fellowship, perfect fellowship with each other and with God and the new creation.

And how beautiful and glorious and amazing and awesome that will be.

And the resurrection of Jesus is the first fruits of that.

It opens that door and it makes that possible.

And it puts a deposit of that in our hearts of His Holy Spirit.

And so, what a beautiful and a glorious thing that it proves that there is a life that conquers death and that will lead us to God in this life and continue on with God in eternal and beautiful uh unity in in the next life.

Yeah.

We will see him as he is.

Forever satisfied in him.

Yeah.

Because he rose.

That's right.

That's good.

Our preaching is a main.

I'll put it on the opposite.

If Christ has been raised, our preaching has power to change.

Our faith has substance and worth.

He says if Christ has not been raised, we're false witnesses.

So if he has been raised, uh then we have truth to pro to truth to proclaim.

Indeed.

Thoughts there?

Absolutely.

Yeah, the that it if we ignore it, then we're ignoring the gr the greatest, essentially meaning giver to reality.

Like that's what gives reality, gives reality meaning that there that hell feels real, but there is something greater than the vapor, the emptiness.

There is a there is a substance, there is a life that conquers that, that fills that void.

And so to to to witness to that, to testify to this truth is to testify to the greatest reality at work in our in our universe.

And it it's it's it it to me, it goes back to the core.

You know, Simon Sinek has made a, as a businessman, has made an industry out of asking the question why, kind of going beneath the surface.

And so to acknowledge and insist on the resurrection being core to life in our faith goes back to the why.

It goes back to the what's underneath all this.

It's the the behavior, the things that we say and do and think, even things we feel are all on the surface.

But what's beneath it, the the iceberg under it, is either something leading to eternal life and unity with God or not.

And and that makes all the difference.

Yeah, it does.

And when if you just go through Acts, any time that people were opening their mouth to declare the gospel, they always brought up the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus.

The truth to proclaim.

And so I don't want to go any further here than to go, all right, we've talked about this whole choosing our one.

And as long as this podcast is about helping our faith go beyond Sunday, I just want to keep bringing that up.

If a one is enough for heaven to rejoice, one is enough for us to pursue.

We're talking about how our preaching is uh if Christ has been raised, then our preaching has power to move, not because of persuasive speech, but because of the resurrected Jesus behind it.

We have truth to proclaim.

Um if it I hope that most of our most of the people in our church have chosen one person.

Um what we're trying to do with our one is first daily prayer.

Just hit the table, sorry.

Daily prayer.

Second, monthly relationship.

We're just trying to connect with this person at least once in a month.

Um, no agenda, just you know, 1 Corinthians 14, 1.

Pursue love and uh and then quarterly truth.

This there's just no Bible verse behind the uh the time frames related to those, but it has been helpful accountability to me to go, all right.

Have three months gone by and I haven't brought up God, gospel.

Um I think it's about time to re-bring that up for my one.

Absolutely, because you can get in a rut of a relationship and just it it just sort of is water under the bridge, and you get into this sort of hamster wheel of just interactions.

Let my actions speak louder than my words.

All right, and that's great.

I'm glad that you have actions.

But if there are no words, uh, you know, we you have to the the the word became flesh and dwelled among us.

And so uh Jesus had a commitment to speak truth to people.

Yes.

And it is not doing anyone any favors just to to to live among them for years and speak no truth.

Yeah.

So uh let's pause right here.

Let's pray for our church and um our ones.

We're not done with the podcast, but um, want a faith to go beyond Sunday and we can pray mid-session.

So um, Father, we want to pray for our church right now.

I want to I want to ask that you would put in the church at Sandhurst a burden for people who don't know you.

A burden for people who apart from you will die in their sins, apart from you who have no hope.

Apart from you who when um when their day for their funeral comes, there will be no um no hope.

Just sorrow, no joy.

And um so Lord, we we acknowledge that they are dead in their trespasses and sins, and they need you.

And you've called us to be your embass your ambassadors.

So um we repent of the fear and whatever else that has kept us silent, and um we say, Here we are, send us weakness and fear, much trembling, um speaking not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in a demonstration of the spirit and the power of God.

Lord, may the gospel bring new life, and may you grow the church in here in Florence, grow the church at Sandhurst.

Um a transfer growth that is people being transferred by your doing from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of your beloved son.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

That was not the closing prayer, that was just a prayer because, well, that's what we do for our ones, daily prayer.

That's right.

Um he has been raised.

Uh if he has not been raised, then we're still in our sins.

So what's the flip side of that?

If he has been raised, then what?

We are no longer in our sins.

We're no longer.

Yeah, we were forgiven and set free.

Yeah.

Think how did such a good job yesterday of saying uh forgiveness is part of the gospel, no doubt.

But it's not the end point of the gospel.

The end point of the gospel is new life.

That's right.

And it's it's it's not just something taken away, it's something given, right?

So we've we've been we have been uh the the the penalty of sin has been removed, and the uh honor of being family has been conferred.

Yeah.

So that is amazing.

Last one uh for this list of seven that he says if Christ has not been raised, um well, the last two.

If Christ has not been raised, then the dead perish, and if Christ has not been raised, then we're the most to be pitied.

Um so let's flip those.

If Christ has been raised, then the dead don't perish.

What's what's the truth?

What's the truth?

They are alive.

They are alive with him and in him, yes.

Yeah.

And we're gonna we're gonna proclaim that today as we balance, like you've said a couple times now, sorrow and joy in in the funeral today.

Yeah.

We're most to be pitied if Christ has not been raised.

But if he has been raised, then what?

Then uh we are uh really to be most celebrated.

I mean, honestly, because we're envy almost.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We are we are walking in the way, we are walking in the truth, we are walking in the life, and that that is the only way, the narrow path, the high road.

You know, we said the high road is the good road, the joy road, the free road.

Uh and and that God has given us this path to f and this path is a person, right?

Jesus says, I am the way.

So it's not just about following a code or following a culture, uh, or you know, like you say, uh, you know, making some decisions or or bootstrapping a certain direction or c making a commitment.

It is about um embracing and loving and following this person of Christ, and that that uh is to be envied because it is living in cons living consistently with reality and in fellowship with the God of the universe.

Yeah, we're most to be envied.

And I was listening to some pastors the other day, and one of them brought up a really great sort of thought.

Uh he's like, all right, just imagine uh getting to uh be in heaven, meet all these Old Testament heroes, meet Moses, and just be like, well, man, what was it like to have this pillar of fire by day, this or pillar of fire by night, pillar this cloud by day, following God?

What was that like or going to Samson?

God, what was it like when the spirit came on you and you were just able to do these incredible acts?

Like, what was that like?

And then imagining in that situation them going, okay, well answer.

But first, like, what was it like to be living in an era when, in a time when God himself didn't just come on you, but he lived in you?

Tell me what was that like to live in that time?

And what would what would we have to say?

Like, what was what did you do when you had the resurrected Jesus alive and his spirit living in you?

Tell me, like, imagine Moses, like, tell me what was that like?

Yeah like, um, yeah.

Just twiddle my thumbs there.

And I don't, well, you know, I um didn't really think about it.

I didn't really think about it.

I just kind of went through life.

What?

You just imagine like that that would not really compute.

And and that that really helps just kind of bring to life that man, we are most to be envied.

But choose your person, most to be envied by um someone who doesn't have hope, most to be envied by Old Testament saints, uh, most to be envied because Jesus, he rose, his spirit lives in us.

Yeah.

Um, not to just take something away, our sin, but to give us something himself, his perfection, his power, his peace, all that belongs to God, yeah, I now possess in Christ because he's alive, he lives in me.

And think about even, you know, as we are uh to be pitied uh more than all men, you know, you uh as opposed to be envied.

I think, you know, in in in that encounter when Jesus was talking to Pilate at the end there, you know, and they here are two kings facing each other.

And one king was about to be crucified, and you think that was the one to pity.

But you know, the the other king who was in the seat of power, he was celebrated, he was glorious, he had the authority to crucify or at least Jesus.

Um that king would have been the one to be, you you think that's the one to envy, but actually time has shown and reality has shown that that was the one.

Pilate is the one to be pitied.

Yeah, Pilate was the footnote in Jesus' story.

Yes.

And so for for us, you know, as as Christians, you think, you know, the um so many of the billionaires today are the you think they're the ones to envy.

But, you know, and and we Christians who kind of who plod along and and serve God and and uh and and and are despised by the world for going counter living counterculturally, uh, eternity will completely flip the script and show that that was the the the glorious way to live and that this other way, apart from that, is is is the way to pity.

Yeah, that's uh great way to bring kind of the Pilate Jesus situation to 21st century America.

Um, we have we are most to be envied uh because of the hope that we have, the purpose that we have, the power that we have, the right standing that we have with God because of Jesus.

We're most to be envied.

Um and we have such good promises that are anchored in the gospel, like this light momentary affliction is producing an eternal weight of glory.

So we don't lose heart.

We don't look to what the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.

These are um promises anchored in the gospel that anchor our soul and give real hope that just other people don't have, can't have um when life is hard.

Yeah, and you know, and so we'll go to this memorial service today and we'll be um, you know, we'll be celebrating a man and a family who um were faithful and for, you know, we're we're great people, but essentially, you know, not the headliners, right?

And but great in the eyes of God.

And the the memorial service that we're gonna do for him today will be uh there'll be a grief because there's a loss, but there will be an immense and a hope that swallows that ultimately and eventually and heals that completely because the hope is so much greater and more eternal than the loss.

Contrast that with someone who is a headliner, who has succeeded, who has billions, who has power, who has whatever, and dies with all that, but not the hope.

Go to that service.

I wouldn't trade this for the what when we have today for anything, not anything.

Yeah.

And so who the question to us is, you know, we really will, all of us will face that day.

And that day will be the first day of eternity.

And so uh the challenge I think Paul gives us is so great to say don't don't envy those who are off the way.

Uh remember that the that the envious way is to be on the path.

Yeah.

So I was watching uh Swamp Kings.

It's a uh I think it's a Netflix documentary on the Florida Gators during the Tim Tebow era.

And um, so they were interviewing a bunch of different players from that era, um, Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, you know, some some other Florida people that uh if you cared about them during that time, you would know their names.

Yep and it was really interesting um how uh you have really all the players and then Tim Tebow in this way.

All the players uh were talking about the benefits of their um awesome status as college football stars.

Okay.

And a lot of it had to do with sleeping around.

Basically, they could get anything that they wanted from food to substances to women, and they were like, this was awesome.

And then all of them in this documentary, um, one guy in particular uh was talking about how Tebow was just so different.

And at the time, you'd you'd look at the other players and go, they are the most to be envied.

But then you have Tebow over here, who it was just so beautiful.

It wasn't like Tebow saying anything about himself, it was the other guys going, um, they were going, uh every time we're at the party, they're saying, Hey, is Tebow coming?

Is Tebow coming?

And one guy, um Brandon Spikes, goes, No, Tebow's not coming.

He ain't never gonna come to any of these parties.

Like they just knew he's not coming.

And and uh you could look at the the the one group of guys and go, man, they're the most to be envied.

But actually looking back, the their regard for him, he one of the guys was actually saying, Sometimes I would even just like pull up like bad pictures on my phone and try to show it to Tebow, and Tebow would be like, Oh no, man, don't try that.

Like, even when uh he would never got caught, he just had so much opportunity.

I think looking back, what who do who do I who do I want to be more?

What what represents like nobility and um principle?

That that that man was the most to be envied.

And it was cool to hear that from um a college football team in that documentary.

Yeah, because they're thinking, okay, I'm gonna leverage my success for all the pleasures that it could give me.

And he's like, I'm gonna leverage my success for all of the honor it can give to God and to others, to my parents who raised me right.

He's the son of missionaries, and you know, and to his future family, which he uh now has.

And, you know, it's so it's like he was thinking long term, and they were thinking, what can I get today?

And I think that's what's happening in this text is it's saying, what are you living for?

Are you living forever or are you living for now?

Yeah, and and to add one like piece to that, not just living for the family he grew up in, in the family that he would one day have, but living by the power of the resurrected king.

Yes.

That is that is what's so compelling to me about that is like, what guy has all that opportunity and goes, no.

Here, here's here's the Bible answer and here's the gospel answer.

The the guy in whom God's spirit dwells, and he's learned to say, Lord, help me say no to the things that I ultimately don't want, to the things that are poisoned to my soul.

Real power for that.

And that's in the ascending yesterday.

I just wanted to kind of capture that, especially for our kids.

But for me, I have a real power.

If Jesus rose, I have real power to say, no, that's not who I am.

That's not who I'm made to be.

It's not who I want to be ultimately.

I'm saying no, by the power of his spirit in me.

And I think that's why it's also so powerful that it's not just some spiritual thing, mystical thing that we we assent to whether it happened or not.

The fact that it really happened and the fact that the Spirit of God was then sent at Pentecost to the disciples to indwell them is, as you say, it's not just a faith or a way or a belief system or uh a perspective.

It's real power of God living in us and living through us to help us live in his image as his sons and daughters.

And that is very different from just trying to be a good person.

100%.

So here's here's a question for you.

If if you're somebody listening right now and going, okay, I believe I have access to the power, I just can't find the outlet.

Like I know my house has power, uh, but I don't know how to plug into that power.

I feel like, yeah, I know, I know, I know I have real power.

I just can't find it.

I feel like or maybe, maybe you don't not thinking like I have real power.

Maybe you're thinking, okay, uh, I know God is powerful and I know he's out there, and I don't believe in God, but I don't understand how like my daily life connects to this powerful God out there.

Yeah, how how do I tap into it?

So, what would you say to that person?

I feel like incapable of living according to the power of God.

So, to go along with your electric analogy, um a couple things have to happen for the power to get from the plant to the light bulb.

Um it it has to come into the house, it has to get into the outlet through the breaker box, and the light has to plug into it, right?

And so there has to be a current running directly through there.

And so to be born as a human, I think there's a common misconception that all of us are sons and daughters of God.

All of God's children is a comment this made a lot about humans.

That is wrong.

It is a lie.

All humans are born into the human family, but not God's family.

We are all born in his image, but we are not his sons and daughters.

And Jesus, this is not my opinion.

It is a quote.

Like Jesus said in John 3, you must be born again.

So we are born into the human family, into God's image.

Yeah, and in John 8, he would say, You're actually sons of Satan.

Sons of Satan, yeah, uh children of wrath.

Yeah.

Uh and you are born again from the human family into God's family, from wrath to redemption, um, and from death to life.

And at that, so the first thing that we have to do is confirm that we have truly believed in God as our Savior.

That's what um, if you will, turns on the power in the house.

That just that that that Duke power or whoever you're uh PD electric and you know, that that turns on the the the house, if you will.

And when you believe uh in God, you have got power in your house and you have plugged your uh um light into it.

I will say this that um, and and I would be interested to see, Will, if you had any thought about uh the Christian or the would-be Christian.

You know, he talks about that uh false belief.

Is uh I'm trying to connect kind of the breaker box to that, where like, okay, you know, if we don't really believe, we've got the breakers off.

Like the power is available, but we're not really accessing it.

And I don't know if the analogy is gonna go off the rails here, but I'm just trying to figure out because what I want to say to the person is.

If you're an honest person who's seeking God and you believe, yes, Lord Jesus, I believe in you, it's not a matter of like, you just gotta believe more.

It's not like that.

You don't just have to really, really feel it.

You know, that's that's not what we're saying.

Um, but you can there there is that false belief at the beginning of the chapter that is a warning to us to not just sort of be casual about it.

So, how would you separate a false belief from a real belief that gets the power all the way from Duke to the light bulb?

Well, I think, yeah, you made you made a great sort of initial point that you got to have power to the house, i.e., you need to be a Christian.

In other words, you need to be involved by God's spirit.

That is part of his family.

I think that is uh an important step to not miss over.

Outside of that, I would probably just abandon the analogy.

Yeah, yeah.

Uh for me to try to be helpful to myself or to somebody else.

Um, that part of the analogy, helpful.

Um, the image of having access to power but not being able to find out how to tap into it, that helps.

Uh I think to this, to the person who's going, I would love to feel like to not just feel like to experience the power of God on my behalf.

I just don't.

I think I would say uh a couple things.

Uh number one, I would say, okay, thank goodness that um perfection is not something that any of us are gonna achieve, and that God's grace is sufficient for your failures, for your shortcomings, for your sins now.

So I'd start with gratitude to God for his grace.

Um then I would say I think it's probably true that we tend to when we're when we're um faced well, I would say it's probably true that we tend to shrink God's commands to things that are manageable, and I'd say don't do that.

Um I'm just gonna kind of focus on one thing a day.

I would say don't try to shrink God's commands to something that's unmanageable.

Let them be what they are, and that is crushing.

Um don't shy away from your inability because nothing will turn you back to nothing will keep you close to God, like the um awareness of my own inability.

So I would say keep the keep the standard of obedience and love and obedience to God high.

Um, to take the high road always, to be holy.

And then and then what comes up in me when I keep God's standard as high as He keeps it, is this need, God, I need you.

So I would start with gratitude for grace.

I'd go to I'm not gonna lower the bar, and then that's gonna bring me to a point of, Lord, I need you, I need you, I need you.

And faith is learned.

Um, I really think that faith is learned, and um and we live by faith moment by moment, going, Lord, I feel my flesh.

Help me, help me.

I would encourage the person who feels like I've never really experienced God's power.

Grateful for grace to keep the bar high and keep going, Lord, I need you, I need you, I need you, help me.

I and I think Jesus would call it would say, Yeah, that's abiding in him, that's walking by faith.

Yes, Lord, help Lord.

That's what I'd say.

Yeah, stepping out and doing something and expecting God to act strong on your behalf, to, to, to reward your faith with strength, and to to to to be willing in moments to set aside what your animal instinct would tell you, whether it's to be angry or impatient or whatever uh fruit is coming from your flesh, and to say, Lord, provide for me a better fruit.

Provide for me your fruit of your spirit.

What would Christ in me want?

How would he want to respond to this and do that through me?

Yeah.

I want to uh shrink back when it comes to sharing the gospel with my one.

Lord, help me.

Yeah.

I want to lash out and just kind of dig my heels in in the conflict I'm having with my spouse.

Lord, help me take the posture of humility.

Lord, help me.

I'm feeling temptation to give in to something that I know I hate, but just one more time.

Yeah.

Lord, help me.

To learn to walk by faith is going to be um learning to depend on him moment by moment.

Lord help me.

Yeah.

Um, because we do have we have real power.

Okay.

Um, yeah, about 10 minutes.

Okay, in the final minutes that we have, uh, I wanted to play a little bit of Mythbusters.

All right.

I want to go to a little bit later in the chapter when he's gonna say, he's gonna answer the question, what's it like?

Or he's gonna kind of answer that question.

Like, if if we're gonna be resurrected, our body's gonna be resurrected, what's it gonna be like?

And I'll play a little bit of mythbusters.

And here's the question.

Uh, the question is gonna be um, what are some things that maybe people say at funerals sometimes that you won't say?

And what's the theology behind you not saying that?

Like, for example, um Yeah, we're all God's children.

We're all God's children, or you might mean Grandpa's just up fishing, looking down on us.

Yeah, you're probably not gonna say that.

What's the theology behind you not saying that?

And how does that help how does it pass like that?

Okay.

So a little myth busters.

Uh verse 35 says, But someone will say, How are the dead raised?

And with what kind of body do they come?

Because our bodies will be resurrected.

I think it's a good question.

Then Paul says, You fool.

Ah, dang, I guess it wasn't a good question.

That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

Now, I I really like this.

He's gonna say, Um, our bodies, our resurrected bodies are going to be totally different, yet totally us and totally better.

Just watch it.

Um, verse 37 That which you sow, you do not sow the body which it is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

But God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

So our glorified body will be to our earthly body what the watermelon is to the seed.

If you said, hey man, can I have some watermelon and I gave you some seeds, you'd be like, that's not what some watermelon seeds.

You would be like, that's not what I meant.

You just gave me a hundred watermelons.

God's like, your your earthly body, it's like a seed.

What your glorified body is gonna be like a watermelon.

Okay.

Totally you, but also totally different.

That's right.

Um, verse 38, but God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

And all flesh is not the same flesh, but so it'd be totally you.

But there is one flesh of man and another flesh of beasts, another flesh of birds, and another flesh, and another, and another of fish.

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

There is one glory of the sun, one glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for stars differ from stars in glory.

So uh it'll be totally you, it'll be totally um different, and it'll be totally better.

Each star different from others, they are distinct, and we will be distinct.

Okay?

And we keep going just a little bit, and then we'll we'll do some myth busters.

So also is the resurrection of the body, it is sown a perishable body, okay?

That's the earthly body.

It is raised in imperishable, that's the resurrected body.

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.

So imperishable, glorious.

It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown in natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Okay, so the the body that will be our resurrected body, he says will be imperishable, it'll be glorious, it'll be spiritual and powerful.

That is the body that will be.

This is him telling us, okay, um, as we're thinking about resurrection, we're gonna be raised.

Uh, what will that be like?

Let's play a few, let's play some myth busters.

What are some common myths or maybe some things that Christians just say that is well-meaning and and but just not really right?

Um gosh, let me think.

Uh well, I mean, the the one of the greatest myths about the afterlife isn't necessarily about the body so much as about heaven, right?

Okay.

This kind of like the clouds and harps and all that.

Yep.

Bologna.

No, no one wants to do that.

That's just not compelling.

And so I think the the one the truth I could speak to it is everything that is wonderful and glorious about this creation will be better in the new creation.

Okay.

Let's chase this for a second.

Um walk us through real briefly uh some eschatology and what we believe about from the point of death to we'll just call it the new earth.

What are some predominant thoughts?

And we don't have time to go through them all, but maybe actually just choose one.

Maybe well, we'll I mean I mean, in short, like so when people die now, what happens to them?

Right?

That's the question.

Yep.

So there is a essentially there is a waiting period.

Like, because that we people are not at their final destiny.

If we have not had the there will be one day when this were the creation ends and the new creation is initiated, like you said, the new world, the new at that point there will be a final judgment.

So all of creation, including everyone who has died previously, is awaiting the final judgment, for good or bad.

And so where whatever place they're waiting in, all we know is that if you die in your righteousness in Christ, in faith, in belief, then you are with God and you are in a glorious and sweet and heavenly place.

But you are awaiting the ultimate new creation.

And if you die apart from Christ, you are you are waiting for him apart from him in death and damnation.

Uh the Bible has several names for it, hell, Hades, Guienna, you know, whatever.

And so where there's a waiting time.

And then at the final judgment, whenever the world ends and God says, okay, here's the new creation, that the final judgment, they uh those who do not believe will end up in an eternal hell apart from God.

And those who did believe will end up with God in an eternal, glorious new creation and new state.

And so now we're awaiting that.

Exactly.

Okay, so to just restate what you just said, and we're gonna hold some things flexibly, like the the how and the when, we're gonna hold up pretty flexibly.

Yeah.

But the the who and the what, we're hold up pretty tightly.

And here's some some key things related to the who and the what.

When a believer dies, then 2 Corinthians 5 and Philippians 1 will talk about to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

And Jesus himself on the cross.

Yeah.

Absent from the body, present with the Lord.

So when a believer dies, are they in heaven?

Well, their souls, their spirit goes to be with Jesus.

That's right.

So it would be right to say um that they are totally satisfied, totally happy, totally joyful in the presence of Jesus.

And gloriously healed from whatever um of the curse has been laid on us while we make this journey that way.

Amen.

At some point, and there's debate about when this will be, we will not just be with Jesus in our soul and our spirit, but Jesus will resurrect our bodies and we will get a new body, a new resurrected body.

That's what we just read about in uh 1 Corinthians 15, the one that is imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

Right.

We'll get that new body, and that new body will live not on like bouncing up on clouds with harps, but that new body will live in a new created, new creation, a new earth.

I I think you can think of like everything that Eden was, is what the new creation will be, but better.

Yeah.

Populated by people in resurrected bodies who will love and serve God forever.

And I think the the initial the re that's one reason why the resurrection of Christ, another reason why it's so powerful, is that he gives us a glimpse into what that body is like.

So it wasn't that Jesus, this is an important distinction.

He was not resuscitated.

His crucified human body did not just come back to life.

He was resurrected in his resurrection body.

So he had a body.

Like when they meet him in the garden, he's not naked and bleeding and but alive, you know, like this zombie.

He's he is in his new creation body and he is clothed.

They they mistake him for the gardener initially.

Yeah.

And uh and then he has another, then, but then he is able to disappear, right?

So he's in a real physical body.

He has his wounds.

And he eats and he eats fish with the disciples later.

He can get go through the wall.

He he he is in his physical body somehow goes through this wall.

He is with the disciples, then he's transported to the guys at Emmaus.

You know, and so there's all this.

So there's a body that's real, but it interacts with our creation in a way that we don't understand.

Yes.

So so just trying to give some theology for as we're talking about the resurrection, when a believer dies, they are with the Lord.

With the body, present with the Lord.

There will come a day when we're not just with the Lord, but we're with the Lord in a resurrected body in a new creation.

And that new creation, we have good reason to think, will be a lot like Jesus' resurrected body, spiritual, powerful, and engaging with this new creation in a way that um is loving and obeying God uh perfectly forever.

Yep.

That's a lot to look forward to.

Yeah, it is.

Um this is intended to lead us uh not just to uh a hope, although hope is um real, and and Paul in response to these things would say, Hey, brother, encourage one another with these words.

Yeah.

So hope is is real, but first Corinthians 15 ends with this verse.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Because Jesus rose, and because we are the most to be envied, not the most to be pitied, here's what you ought to do.

Yeah, encourage one another, but be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Um So this is what he's calling us to steadfast, like steady, don't stop, immovable.

Don't be wishy-washy, wavering, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Thoughts.

Absolutely.

That's what you know, the the resurrection of Christ has put an absolute this will happen.

So the the hope for the Christian is not a might could, it's a will-be.

It's this is coming.

What happened with Jesus will happen with you.

And so, because of that, because your hope is based on something that has already happened and been proven and it will happen again for you, then stand firm through the trials, through the difficulties, through the valleys, through the darkness, because the implicit in his challenge to stand firm is is the warning that there's going to be many circumstances that will push you, that will challenge you, that will challenge your faith.

Stand firm because you know it is true, because Christ is risen.

Yeah.

Oh steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the word of the Lord.

Um, I think about this verse a lot in terms of what happened with COVID.

When COVID was just everything was so uncertain, and we were going, man, we could die.

Uh, what did what did as a church, what did we start doing?

Shutting down.

We were not usually we weren't going, how can we abound in the work of the Lord?

And and it's easy to, you know, hindsight's 2020.

It's easy, and it was very hard then, but I have thought a lot about going in the face of death, 1 Corinthians 15 says, No, no, no, we are the most to be pitied.

If Christ has been raised, then then here's what we do.

We always abound in the work of the Lord because we have a resurrection hope.

And I've tried to go, okay, at what point would I as a Christian, would I as a pastor, go, the the threat of death is going to make us cease to abound in the work of the Lord.

And I don't want to be unfair to like the decisions that the church, not just church at St.

Hurst, but like the whole world was making then.

But it has been it has been helpful for me to go, at what point will threat cause me to shrink back instead of abound in the work of the Lord?

And I hope the answer is never.

Again, I want to exercise wisdom and caution.

I want to use my brain, common sense.

Um, but I don't want the threat of death to cause me to shrink back from the work of the Lord.

Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

If if our church is gonna abound in the work of the Lord, what's that gonna look like in real life?

And I think, you know, COVID is a good example, but I I you can bring it up to 2026 and just say, what it means is that uh you when they're talk when they make a joke at work about women or wives, you don't laugh.

You step aside and you say, you you just live differently.

You don't um you don't give uh vent to your anger against your kid.

You temper yourself.

And if you go wrong, you apologize even to your kid, because that's part of the work of the Lord, is to exercise humility.

And you exercise generosity and you give to those in need, and you keep your eyes lifted to those around you, to serve others, to live in the image of Christ, to to give yourself to the the people around you.

We can do this today, and and we have a choice today to live for ourselves or to live for God and for others, and to give there are there the work of the Lord is always around us if we can encourage someone else, if we can see them and recognize their grief and honor it and sit with them in it, and maybe say something, or maybe just be silent.

There's so many ways this plays out every single day, even today.

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Uh, one thing I would add is um what is the first and greatest commandment?

To love the Lord of God.

Yeah, to abound in the work of the Lord is to prioritize loving God more than anything else.

Yeah.

And uh and that's good for me to hear because I'm not usually bent towards, I just want to prioritize loving God.

I'm usually bent towards prioritizing do, do, do, do, do, do.

And uh yes, faith without works is dead, and love without fruit is uh vain.

Vain.

It's not love.

No.

Uh, but if I'm gonna bound in the work of the Lord, I'm gonna go, Lord, you my greatest, greatest call is to love you.

That's what Jesus said.

That's why it's the first part of our purpose to me.

We exist to love and obey God by the power of the Spirit for the praise of his glory and help others do the same.

So I'm gonna bound in the work of the Lord, I'm gonna give myself to the work of loving him.

Um, I'm gonna give myself to the work of evangelism.

That's why we're gonna keep talking about our ones.

I'm gonna give myself to the work of reconciliation when there's conflict between me and someone else.

I'm gonna give myself to the work of um the fruit of the spirit by and all this by faith in the resurrected Jesus.

I'm gonna give myself to the work of um prayer.

I thought equipping class at 9 a.m.

this past Sunday was so good.

Um I'm gonna give myself to the work of the Lord.

And then as the list grows and grows and grows, and I start to feel like, oh, I can't do all that.

Yes.

Uh now I'm in the point of need.

And once I'm in the point of need, then I'll look to Jesus.

And then I can start tapping into some supernatural power, working on behalf of my weakness.

Yeah, and I think that is a core, core point you just made right there.

Don't miss this, people.

I hope you're still with us because um what we're not saying is when it says stand firm is be strong.

Just be strong.

Pull up those bootstraps, don't give up, don't whatever, don't give in.

We're saying, yes, all of that, but by the power of his spirit at work in you.

Yep.

In 1 Corinthians 16, he says, uh, we'll be here two weeks from now.

Yep.

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

The the tense of that word be strong is actually be strengthened.

Yeah.

Well, that's a thousand percent different.

I can tell you be strong, or I could tell you be strengthened.

That is way different.

One turns me to me, another says, Lord, if I'm gonna be strengthened, I need you.

So uh church, we're gonna live a faith that goes beyond Sunday.

We're gonna be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, not shrinking his commands, keeping them what they are, from the behaviors to the heart to a point where I go, I can't do that.

And yea, God, because he can and he did, and his power is made available to us who've put our faith in him.

You want to pray for us?

Let's do it.

Father, we love you and we thank you for this word from 1 Corinthians 15, this teaching, this challenge, this encouragement that Paul reminds us that uh our faith is not in vain.

Christ is raised.

And he, because he is raised, we then also have the Spirit of God in us, at work in us to do great things.

That by grace we have been saved through faith in Christ.

This not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, that no one can boast.

And now we are your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which you have prepared in advance for us to do.

So help us to walk in your way, to follow you, to follow Christ, and to be empowered by your spirit to do the things you're calling us to do and to stand firm, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain, and that your word will stand eternal, and that our salvation will stand eternal, our hope will be fulfilled.

And until that day, Lord, may we be faithful to walk in the way.

Through Christ we pray.

Amen.

Go forth into the world, surrounded by the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm you to the end.

Blameless.

Change us, send us, help us.

Amen.

Let's go.