The Church's Response to Martyrdom and Hate

All right, well, let's pray again.

Heavenly Father, as we turn to Your word today and as we look

at the events of this week and what it means for Your church

and what it means for your people and what it means for our

days ahead. God, I pray, Holy Spirit, that

you would just bless and anoint the preaching of Your word, that

you would strengthen Your Saints by it, that they would have

clarity and boldness and resolve and love and conviction and

peace. Lord, we know that you love us.

I pray that that love would be made manifest in our hearts

through a deep revelation. I pray that every single person

under the sound of my voice would be able to recognize Your

great love that you have for them.

Those who are in this room with humble hearts, those who are

listening online with antagonistic motives, with

enemies, who would even be listening to this sermon at some

later date. God, I pray that you would bless

them. I love them in Jesus name.

I bless them in Jesus name. And I asked, Lord, that you

would deliver them from bondages, from fears, from

biases, from hard heartedness, from confusion.

Set them free. Change their motive.

Change their heart like you did for me, God, like you did for

all of your Saints. We are people who didn't earn

anything. We're people who didn't deserve

anything. But by your grace, you gave it.

Lord, now again, I pray for those particularly in this room,

the family of Salt, the friends of Salt, those who have gathered

this morning to honor the Lord, to hear his instruction in his

direction. God, I pray you would make me

accurate. I pray You would make me bold.

Pray you would make me gentle. Pray you would make me kind.

Make me the right thing at the right time for your glory,

Jesus, and for the comfort of your flock and for the

strengthening of your flock and for the equipping of the Saints

in Jesus name. Lord, we thank you.

Amen. Well, we're taking a break from

our Matthew series. So I think today was going to be

like part 84 or something, but we're taking a break from that

because obviously the tragedy of what took place this week our,

our news cycle has been filled with evil acts of wicked men.

School shootings, unfortunately, are a common thing in our

nation. So we've seen that, you know, we

saw the the Charlotte subway incident.

We saw that wickedness. And we also graphically watched

our brother in Christ die in front of his wife and kids this

week. Charlie Kirk was a bold

Christian leader, a devoted husband and father, and one of

the most influential voices of his generation.

He was fearlessly calling America back to faith in Jesus,

not a generic faith, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,

freedom, and truth. Through his work with the

organization that he founded, Turning Point USA, he tirelessly

brought that message onto college campuses across the

nation, and he equipped young men and women to stand for truth

and to build virtuous lives. This is not a sermon about

Charlie Kirk, but this sermon is certainly influenced by Charlie

Kirk's murder this week. The more I've learned about him

the past few days, the more I've admired him.

I had seen things about him. I'm like, oh, that seems like a

faithful brother, you know, keep up the great work.

I just seen a bit here and a bit there, a bit here and a bit

there. The amount of content I've seen

from him this week has just greatly inspired me all the

more. And I thought, wow, that man

outranks me in a million different ways.

And he's 31 years old. What a blessing, what a gift,

what a strength, what a force, what a husband, what a father,

what a Christian, what a blessing, what a massive loss

for us. He was 31 years old and he was a

mighty man of God who held views that the overwhelming majority

of Americans held until the 2000s.

So you'll often hear him and me and you, all of us were we are

now, we're now called right wing extremists.

If you didn't know you are right wing extremists or you're a 1980

Democrat, either one if they're the same thing, or you're a 1994

Republican, but you're also being labeled as a right wing

extremist. But that's the nature of truth.

Truth stays the same. What was once mainstream

conviction is now called extremism.

The truth hasn't changed. The culture has.

And Charlie Kirk told people that some loved him for it.

We did. Those of you who knew him and

followed him, and some hated him for it.

But there's two things I learned this week that are important for

you as we take what happened and then make application for it for

us and we look to God's word. One of the things that really

stood out to me was the body of Christ should learn from Jesus.

What Charlie Kirk learned from Jesus specifically is how to be

the right thing at the right time.

Jesus had range. Jesus had more than one gear.

He could sing more than one note.

Jesus could comfort the repentant and the fearful, and

he could absolutely humiliate the prideful and the hateful.

Jesus had more than one gear. He had range.

He could shift gears. I noticed that with Charlie as I

watched different footage. I mean, really, really, really

folks who would be very easy to judge visually would walk up to

the microphone because his format, you know, he's sitting

there in his tent, Someone walks up to the microphone.

He begins speaking with him. Of course, now we see it's, it's

thousands and thousands. Years ago, it was 10s of 10s.

But he would just dialogue and they they'd woke up and you're

like, OK, here comes a Satanist. What are they going to say?

They go, hey, Charlie. So I've really just been trying

to, you know, wonder about this. I'm thinking about that blah,

blah, blah. And he's just like, oh, yeah,

good question and engages with them.

And it's just a conversation between two decent folks who can

engage with one another. And then you'd have antagonists

who would come up and he could play along, but he could also

shift gears. He could show a wolf, Hey,

you're not the only one with teeth.

I have teeth too. And that's the thing that many

Christians have failed at doing for years.

Conservatism has never conserved anything.

Conservatives just continue to back up as the enemy says, hey,

you know, remember like 20 some years ago when they started

calling us just racists and bigots?

And we're like, Oh my goodness, I don't want to be a racist.

Oh my goodness, I don't want to be a bigot.

And after a while we realized like, Oh my goodness, they're

just lying about everything. OK.

But we, we continue to back up and back up and back up.

And they were like, how did we get up against this Cliff?

I guess Jesus just wants me to fall over in Jesus name.

No Saints, it's just called taking a step forward.

That's it. We are at war.

But the weapons of your my warfare, they're not carnal, but

they are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds.

So you and I are people of prayer.

You and I are people still of truth.

And the truth is what we should always stand on.

And we should not be afraid to be able to shift gears in

conversation when someone reveals to us that they are no

longer in good faith. But we are dealing with what

Jesus calls dogs and pigs. Jesus tells us to he says judge

not, which is every non Christians favorite Bible verse.

And then he literally goes in the whole context there to teach

you how to judge. He teaches us what does that

look like? And he says, don't give your

pearls to pigs. So we're supposed to determine

who pigs are. We're supposed to make a

judgment about this person being a pig.

We're supposed to determine who dogs are.

Yeah, not with hatred, not with mouse, but to go they've

revealed themselves. So this is something we see all

through Jesus ministry, as I've been preaching through Matthew,

I've showed it to you over and over and overlook at Jesus.

He shifts gears, he goes, oh, I can be gracious with you.

I can be gracious with you. The prideful and the hateful.

He goes, boys, you came to humiliate me, but I'm going to

pull the no reverse card on you. And then he would shame and

condemn them. That was something I've been

very impressed with his scene, Charlie.

And you, you see him do it all with a happy go lucky, joyful

swagger all along the way. It's not malice, but he's gone.

Oh, I, I can give it to I can give it to you can give it.

I can give it. Christians are not doormats.

Christians are people who think Christians are people who tell

the truth. Christians are people who can

also humiliate demonic arguments and foolish attacks.

The other thing that really stood out this week is kind of

A2 fold point. First, people really, really,

really hated Charlie Kirk. I didn't realize that to that

degree. It would have been one thing if

there was just one hateful murderer who pulled the trigger

and then the whole world said, Oh my goodness, that's just

wicked and terrible. Or if those celebrating were

just anonymous social media accounts, you know, just posts

were like, those could be bots, you know, those could be AI

generated things. Those might not be real people,

but there have been so many celebratory responses of real

people on video. These folks were so excited.

They pulled up their phone and they saw it.

I should record this and I should send it out to the world.

That's a real boldness. That's a real enthusiasm.

That's a real joy. They're so excited about their

religion that they will preach their gospel and that they will

continue to enforce the rules of their Kingdom.

We can learn from them there as well that we should be bold to

preach and teach and enforce. But this, the celebratory

responses, these are not from like just a bunch of California

kids in college. These are teachers.

These are politicians. These are news groups.

These are computer programmers. These are college students.

These were firefighters. These were airline pilots.

This was my favorite football team, the Carolina Panthers, one

of their like employees. He had posted something as well.

And all these people are like, I am proud and I'm excited to say

that I'm happy that this man was murdered.

What a wild, wild shock this was for me.

These people didn't just decide to keep it in their hearts.

And like, I'm super happy, but I know better than I know.

I know enough to keep it to myself, right?

Like that would be, that would be private, and that's between

them and the Lord. But they went so far as to

record and share their responses with the world.

Romans, one says they were filled with all man, all manner

of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness and malice.

They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and

maliciousness. Their gossips, slanderers,

haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of

evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless,

ruthless. Though they know God's righteous

decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they

not only do them, but give approval to those who practice

them. So they're like, I personally

probably would have never gotten to the place where I could have

pulled the trigger, but I'm so thankful someone did.

These are the lost people of Romans.

One, these are all people outside of Christ.

What's shocking about that then, Pastor?

Well, that's my point. I've been very naive and I don't

think of myself as a naive person.

I'm a shepherd. I'm a shepherd of the flock of

God, and I'm not as naive as the flock of God is.

As your pastor, I, it is part of my job to prepare you, to equip

you and to help you understand the realities of God's word

around you. But I have foolishly been naive

to, to the very reality around us for years.

I, I thought I had learned this lesson where I ignore certain

red flags so, so many years ago when I was pastoring, if there

would be someone in the church who he could talk the talk, you

know, maybe he knew scripture or she knew scripture and they

could, they could just talk and sound spiritual.

I would take that as the evidence.

I would, I would accept that as fruit for their life foolishly.

And I would look at their family and I would look at all these

other things that I see. And I'd be like, that's weird.

And I would dismiss the fruit that I would say and I go, well,

that's strange. That's true.

Because clearly this guy is so legit because he knows his Bible

and because he knows how to have spiritual conversations with me.

This is the fruit I look at. And I foolishly dismissed other

things. And then time goes on and you

go, oh, wait, I had it backwards.

This is the fruit. That's the reality.

This was the false presentation. Well, basically, I've done the

same thing again with the world around us.

I didn't realize the degree of hatred, which I even feel stupid

saying because it was always in front of us the whole time.

But I thought I still had this. There's like the Anne Frank

quote she said. Surely in spite of everything, I

still think people are good at heart.

I still had some naivete in me about that perspective and

thinking like, you know, I think most folks are all right.

Really. Pastor, outside of the blood of

Jesus, well, you know, no, I know, I know that any human is

capable of what any other human has ever done.

Outside of Jesus. You and I are capable of the

worst thing that any other human has ever done except for the

grace of God. And I wasn't living like that

was true. I wasn't preaching like that was

true. I wasn't interacting like that

was true. But I have seen more and more

I'm going, man, these people are bold.

These people are excited about what they're excited about.

They're they're very passionate and they're very bold about what

they're doing, about their sin, about their wickedness.

But here is the other thing. And maybe you shifted this gear

this week as well. You're like, first of all, man,

that's really cruel to how they would celebrate Charlie and his

family in this way. But then you thought the next

logical thought. Wait a second.

I am Charlie Kirk? Not exactly.

By the way, let me let me help you with another manipulation

that the snake uses against you. To say that you like someone.

The enemy will try and make it seem like you must agree with

every single word they have ever said, every single action they

have ever taken, and every thought they have ever thought.

So to unite yourself with anyone is to go.

That means you staying with hey hey my my flock.

That is a manipulation tactic of your enemy.

Do not play along anymore. This is how we kept backing up

to the Cliff over and over for decades.

And as the pulpit stayed silent on these things and the enemy

cleverly said Christians shouldn't talk about politics.

And Christians said, oh, we shouldn't.

OK, you stick to your Bible. OK, we'll stick to our Bible.

Well, those who read the Bible realized Christians should talk

about politics. Politics belong to Jesus.

Everything belongs to Jesus. So now we command the whole

world to repent after our own repentance.

God forgive us for our foolishness in the church, for

our laziness in the American church, for our ignorance of

your word. But we realized that if these

people thought this way about this kind of person, I'm that

kind of person, I have those perspectives.

I believe what he believes. I mean, I don't know everything

he believes, but but I believe, I believe what he believes.

I think we would have been best friends.

So if you rejoice that way over his death, I know exactly how

you feel about mine. I know exactly how they would

feel about yours. That's not a, that's not an

unfair twist of things, is it? That's a straight line, logical

step. I hate him because he believed

this. Well, I believe all that.

By the way, you should tell your friends and family members that

you believe those things too, especially the ones, by the way,

has anyone had had that happen in your personal life, not just

online, but you've seen your own friends and family members say,

well, I think he had it coming. I don't throw it in their face,

but just say, hey, just so you know, like I share those beliefs

and convictions. Generally speaking, I absolutely

show those beliefs and convictions and let them sell it

for themselves. You don't have to paint them

into a corner, but let them know.

Let them know where you stand. Well, I don't want to create.

You don't want to what? Create strife.

You're not the person of strife. You're the person of truth and

grace. And we call people to be people

of truth and grace, but that can only happen as they come to, as

they come to Christ. So the other thing we realize is

if this many people are willing to talk about this publicly and

celebrate their joy over it, how many aren't?

How many still feel it? But just so like, I know better

than to say it, right? So we're just gaining some

perspective here. I, I took the red pill in a

whole new way this week. So for those of you who've seen

the movie The Matrix, it's a, you don't have to see the movie,

but the guys presented with the red pill or the blue pill.

The red pill represents the truth.

You can take the truth and you're going to know everything

about reality, but it's going to hurt.

There's a lot of pain and suffering involved in it, but

it's the truth. It's how things actually are.

Or you can take the blue pill and you'll go back to being

ignorant. You won't know anything.

So I've been red pilled in multiple areas of my life over

the years I've been red pilled, for example, when it comes to

understanding masculine and feminine and how how masculine

feminine should actually work in a relationship compared to what

demonic feminism has taught us about how masculine feminine

should work in relation. That was a red pill moment ago.

That is reality. This is how it works.

It's good, true, and beautiful actually.

We're hanging in that, thankfully.

But I was red pilled in a new way because again, I'm just

realizing the hatred of these people isn't just hyperbole like

I thought it was. I thought all their rhetoric was

just rhetoric. I thought they were just like

trying to make an extreme point. They're like, they're racist and

they're bigots. I'm like, OK, they know we're

not, but they're just trying to. They're fired up.

Fair enough. And we would dismiss all the

stuff that they would say. They would say they're Nazis and

they're this and this. We're like, OK, they don't

actually mean that. They're just mad.

Fair enough. I like, we just gave such

allowances and we kept making such a like, they don't mean

what they're saying. Turns out they literally did.

Like, I thought I thought they were just saying stuff.

So I was being really gracious with it all.

And like, oh, wow, they, they actually believe that.

OK, wow, how how stupid I was. They were constantly telling me

who they were and I refused to believe them.

I saw that I had been very naive about my countrymen.

So like we said, how they feel about someone's murder who you

share the same beliefs with is how they would feel about yours

as well. Pastor, what are you doing here?

I am opening this the sheep's eyes so you have reality and

understanding as we continue to look to the hope.

First, John 3 says we should not be like Cain, who was one of the

evil who was, who was of the evil 1 and murdered his brother.

And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil

and his brothers were righteous. That is why Cain murdered Abel.

I believe that's why Charlie Kirk was murdered, for his faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ and for his conviction to say, oh, this

is true. No, this is true.

This is what reality looks like. No, this is what a man is.

This is what a woman is. They can't become the other.

No, no, this is, this is what's true.

Jesus is king. No other religion can be true

because Christ insists that it's not.

This is how reality works. This is what should happen as an

outflow of the scriptures. So whenever you're the voice of

conviction for someone else, when they're resisting God, they

hate you for it. I want you to shut up because I

want you to stop bringing the conviction that I feel for it.

If you're right, that brings a terrible weight and burden upon

me. Now the good news for them is

that the good news was in the message as well.

There is a heavyweight. There is a terrible weight and

burden upon you just like there is on all of us.

And Jesus comes and says, I'll lift it off of you.

The truth is He didn't put it on you.

Sin and shame put it on you. The law of God reveals to you

that it's on you. That's what the law of God does.

The law of God says you're actually being crushed by

£1,000,000. You go, I hate the law of God.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't hate the law of God.

Well, I never saw this weight crushing me before until you

brought the law of God. Don't hate the law of God,

friend. Hate the sin that's crushing

you. The law of God has just

clarified it for you. It's like hating your doctor.

I've had all this going on in my life and your doctor says I can

tell you what's going on, this is your problem.

I hate you, Doctor. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Let's attack the problem together.

By the way, I have the cure and I'm happy to give it to you and

it's free. And his name is Jesus.

I hate you, doctor, and I hate your cure because I love my sin.

Why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil

and his brothers were righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers,

that the world hates you. We know we have passed out of

death into life because we love the brothers.

Whoever, whoever does not love abides in death.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that

no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

New Testament Bible stuff here. If you hate, you are a murderer,

and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

So how do we respond to hatred and martyrdom?

We look to our shepherd, Jesus. Now I'll take you to Matthew.

There had to be a Matthew in the sermon, right?

Matthew chapter 10. Go there with me.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

Starting at verse 16, we're going to read all the way

through 39, but I'm going to teach as I go.

Behold, this is Jesus talking. Behold, I am sending you out as

sheep in the midst of wolves. Wow, that's encouraging Lord,

but He's honest. He's honest right from the get

go. He never did a bait and switch

with us. He said, I'm telling you

reality. Jesus gave the red pill the

whole time. No false comfort, real comfort,

powerful comfort. Be as wise as serpents and as

innocent as doves. The body of Christ has often

been as innocent as a dove and as foolish as a sheep.

He said, I want you to be. You are like sheep in some ways,

he said. But listen to me, sheep.

You need to be wise like a dove. All these animal references.

Sheep are historically stupid animals.

Very dumb. They do things to get themselves

in trouble. They do things to get themselves

sick. They do things to get themselves

lost. They do things to get themselves

killed. Fair enough.

Jesus. Bit of a jab you took at us

there. But it's well deserved.

But then he says, so be as wise as a serpent.

Snakes are wise. Snakes are crafty.

Snakes are hard to hit. They're Serpentine.

But many Christians stand up and go, I'm right here, I'm right

here, shoot me instead of having wisdom even in conversation, to

be Serpentine, to not play into your enemies traps and to not

walk ignorantly like a sheep into traps that are deliberately

set for you. Jesus went like a lamb before

the slaughter at the cross. But in conversations and in

theological interactions, he did not walk and March right into

every trap set for him. He walked into zero traps set

for him, innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will

deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,

and you will be dragged before governors and kings.

For my sake, oh Jesus, I'll do anything for you to bear witness

before them and the Gentiles when they deliver you over.

Do not be anxious of how you are to speak or what you are to say,

for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father

speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother

over to death, and the father, his child, and children will

rise against parents and have them put to death.

Do what Jesus, brother against brother, father against child,

children against parents, and have them put to death.

Believe your Bible, believe your Bible.

It has happened. Just because it's not happening

in this moment doesn't mean it won't again.

But it has happened, and you will be hated by all.

Why? For my name's sake.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.

For truly I say, you will not have gone through all the towns

of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his

master. It is enough for the disciple to

be like his teacher and the servant like his master.

If they call the master of the house beelisable.

So he said, if they call me the master, if they call me Satan,

how much more will they malign those of his household?

How much more will they talk poorly of you Christians Get

used to it. Well, we are used to it, frankly

I think at this point. But understand it, understand

it, recognize it, and don't try and defend it.

You're not dealing with a reasonable person.

You're dealing with someone who hates you, someone who wishes

for your death. Get your feelings hurt.

Love them, pray for them. Bless those who persecute you.

They hate you. They hated him first.

He told us they would. So have No Fear of them.

For nothing is covered that will not be revealed.

Nothing is hidden that will not be known.

What I tell you in the dark, say in the light what you hear

whispered proclaim on the housetops, or on a college

campus with a microphone, or on YouTube, or on your social media

account, or at the water cooler. Wherever you can, whatever the

consequence. And it will be worth it.

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Are not 2 sparrows sold for a penny?

And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father.

But even the hairs on your head are all numbered.

Fear not, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows.

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also

acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

Hallelujah, what a promise. Acknowledge the Lord Jesus

Christ as your Master, as your King, as your God, as the one

who saved you. And he said, I will acknowledge

you before my Father in heaven. You want that, my friends?

You want the Lord Jesus Christ to turn to the Father and say

they are ours. They have come through my name

and through my blood. Verse 33 But whoever denies me

before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in

heaven. What a tragedy and what a

terror. Do not think I have come to

bring peace to the earth. I've not come to bring peace,

but a sword, for I have come to set a man against his father,

and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law

against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be

those of his own household. I didn't write that in there.

That's been there the whole time.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of

me. Whoever loves son or daughter

more than me is not worthy of me.

Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of

me. Whoever finds his life will lose

it. Whoever loses his life for my

sake will find it. They hate Jesus.

That's why they hate his servants.

Jesus really loves you, and you are secure in him.

When the people of the we're the people of the cross and we still

have good news, we are not a people of despair.

A people who will live forever have No Fear of death.

A people who will live forever cannot be intimidated.

I'll kill you. I'll shoot you.

Oh, Oh, no, Oh no. I'll be with my great God and

Savior. Is it a tragedy?

It still is because it's a wickedness and the innocent

blood cries out. Charlie Kirk's innocent blood

cries out for justice. Thankfully, they have arrested

his killer and we pray that his killer would repent and come to

the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is exactly what should happen.

And then the state should execute justice because that's

the office of the state and that is the responsibility given to

the state. And then when the state executes

justice, Tyler Robinson would enter into the eternal glory of

the Lord Jesus Christ to be greeted by Charlie Kirk to say

welcome into the Kingdom. I didn't earn anything to get

here. You didn't earn anything to get

here. Praise Jesus.

What a peculiar people you are, Christians, to love your enemies

and to want to see them blessed, and at the same time to

understand God's Word is right and just and perfect and final

in all areas of authority, in the household, in the

government, and in the church. Go to Romans chapter 12 to your

Romans 12 · chapter mention

right in your New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts,

Romans, Romans 12, and verse 14. Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one

another. Do not be haughty, but associate

with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is

honorable in the sight of all, if possible, so far as it

depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Beloved. Never avenge yourselves, but

leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is

mine. I will repay, says the Lord.

That's why we pray for our enemies, God.

Save them from your vengeance. Save them from your vengeance

and also Lord, and if they won't repent, bring your full wrath,

God, Bring your wrath and crush your enemies, Lord.

But we don't take that into our hands.

To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he's thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing

so you will heap burning coals upon his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

So we love our enemies. We do not pretend that we don't

have enemies, though we do not trust our enemies.

That is not the command. We do not submit to our enemies,

That is not the command. We do not help our enemies

succeed. That is not the command.

We seek peace by calling our enemies to repentance.

That is the only way there can be repentance.

That's the only way there can be unity.

That's the only way there can be reconciliation.

So our enemies, they're saying, hey, let's all tone it down.

Ain't no let's all ain't no let's all tone it down.

We will meet you at the cross. That's the only place I'll meet

you. That's the only fairground.

I'll meet you. But I'm not going to pretend

that there's truce or appeasement.

If you want unity, we can have it come to the cross of Jesus.

That's why I'm staying planted. I belong to Jesus.

You can come to Jesus, but light can have no fellowship with

darkness. So come to the light.

It's not my team, it's just Jesus.

And I've joined his team. And you were invited.

You are welcome. You're called in.

And then they can rebuke the doctor for pointing out the

sickness and the illness and the disease.

But many will repent. Many will respond.

We see that in Charlie Kirk's ministry.

You see that there for all the hate.

I hope you've also seen some of the beautiful testimonies.

I've seen photographs of people said I was a trans this and now

here's me married to my husband, a man born a man, me born a

woman. And here's our babies and we

love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ because Charlie spoke to

me with such kindness. Yes, the hateful right extremist

bigot, that guy, he spoke to me with such kindness.

I've seen black people share videos of how Charlie encourage

them and bless them and encourage them in their work.

Charlie, the extreme right wing racist, all these things they're

going to continue to accuse, but many people will respond to you

with graciousness because Jesus said the harvest is ready.

It's the laborers that are few. Continue to stand for truth, but

recognize that you need wisdom. You don't want to help your

enemy succeed. This is the only way we can have

unity under the name and the blood of Jesus.

That is the place where there can be reconciliation.

Anything else would be betrayal of Christ.

We must stop backing up and take a step forward.

How do we take that step forward?

Tell the truth. Tell the truth and be winsome.

Charlie was winsome in the right way.

Scripture commands us to be winsome in our speech, but then

of course our enemies turn that and say, you must all look and

act and behave like Mr. Rogers at all times.

And that is not who Jesus was. That is not who Charlie Kirk

was. But of course, our enemies who

don't love the word of God will use the word of God against

sweet and innocent Christians who don't know better because

they're still in a chore. And the enemies will say, your

Bible says this. And Ingrid, Christians will go,

Oh my goodness, I want to obey my Bible, all the while being

manipulated by the snake. He tried to use the scripture

against Jesus too. He probably knows the scripture

better than you and I, but he's a twister, a manipulator and a

liar. Ephesians 426 commands us be

angry and do not sin. I feel so angry, Pastor.

That means you have a sense of justice like God who is just.

You should be angry. And now point your anger to

righteous action. Point your anger to holy

boldness. Do not let it rot into

unforgiveness. You don't need to repent of your

anger. You need to repent of doing

nothing with your anger. That would be a problem or doing

the wrong thing with your anger. Surrender to God.

And this really can be a turning point for us and a turning point

for our nation. Prophetically, that's what

Charlie's ministry was called. That's what that organization

was called, Turning point. And by God's grace, this will

actually be a turning point for our nation where naive

Christians like myself go. Man, I thought I understood

things clearly. And I got a whole another level

of revelation and understanding on where we really are and

what's really taking place now. And I want to be even more bold.

I want to be even more outspoken.

Don't hear bold with offensive, although being bold will create

massive offense because we know that you are at war with another

religion, even though they that many of your enemies would say

they don't have any religion at all.

They do in every country, every religion.

They're always speech laws and they're always laws to protect

the gods of that country and the gods of that age and the gods of

that day. Our, our nation is no different.

So that's why they wanted to label truth telling as violence.

They wanted to say that that's sin against our gods.

That's sin against our idols, our idols of self, the idols of,

of mostly it's just the idol of self, of, of what I want, what I

believe is best, what I believe is true.

So they want to silence your speech.

That's why they called it violence.

By the way, it was so important for the enemies of the cross to

say that speech itself is violence.

Follow the logic, if I can say that your speech is actual

violence, I can now justify my actual violence against you and

I can say I'm I'm in self-defense because you did

violence to me with words. But it feels that way because

the word of God cuts to the heart and the truth cuts deep.

So I understand. But you can no longer be

gasoline and manipulated by your enemies.

You can no longer be told that you're full of hate speech.

You can no longer be told those things by people who don't love

and follow Jesus, who try and tell you who Jesus was and what

he was like. That's foolishness, to trust

your enemies and to take them up on their offers.

So surrender to God. And this really can be a turning

point for all of us. So what does surrender look

like? What are we supposed to do now?

We're supposed to walk in obedience to God in all given

spheres of our lives, and that's where we're going to go with the

rest of our message. I'm going to hit the three

different spheres and what you should do, what action you

should take. The three spheres of authority

that Jesus has established in the earth.

If we had a little diagram, we would actually even have some

overlap between them, but they are still distinct.

Those 3 spheres you've heard me talk about many times.

That's the household. That's one sphere of authority.

It has particular authorities that the others do not.

The church, that's another sphere with another particular

authority. It has authorities that the

other two spheres do not. And the government that is a

Jesus given, God assigned to the earth sphere of authority, and

it has particular roles and assignments that the others do

not. And yet all three speak to one

another and are supposed to work under submission of Jesus

together for the flourishing of people and for the establishing

of God's will on the earth, our first sphere of influence.

What are we supposed to do, Pastor?

What are we supposed to do? Now I understand more clearly

how much the world hates me. I understand more clearly the

world that the the war that we were a part of.

What do we do with it? Pastor and sphere #1 the

household. The best thing and the right

thing to do is obey God by shepherding your own household.

Well, I cannot overstate this point.

This is where we will gain the most ground.

The other two are also incredibly powerful.

But this is where I should say this way, not where we'll gain

the most ground. This is where you have the most

influence. First of all, personally, right

away, it's yourself. I think this ought to have.

I think man, the church needs to this and they needed this.

Well, first of all, you and your own household are the best place

for you to glorify God. It's where you have maximum

authority to make it. So this is your best advertising

as well. For the Kingdom, yes, this is

the best way to so that people can look at your life and go

man, like maybe I do disagree with everything they say, but I

look at the fruit and I go, man, that's some good fruit though,

and I would like to enjoy some of that.

Your own life is your best advertising.

You shouldn't take financial advice from a broke person.

You shouldn't take fitness advice from an out of shape

person. You should look the part if

you're selling those things. And if we're selling the gospel,

we should look the part. We should look like, look what

the gospel does, look what it does in a household, look what

it does in an individual, look what it does in my personal

life. We should look the part with

richness and with beautiful fruit.

What does that look like? It looks like a deeply loving

and joyful marriage. Deeply loving and joyful

marriage. It will take work, it will take

effort, It will take deliberate action, but it's a Kingdom

manifestation. It will look like children who

are well loved and disciplined, Well loved and disciplined.

It will look like joy in your home.

It will look like enjoying the presence of God, not only the

principles of God. So it's not a household that

just says this is the rule, this is the rule, this is God's rule,

this is God's rule. Well, that's, that's good, but

we won't emphasize his presence. The presence of God will always

lead you to the principles of God, but it's possible to have

the principles of God without having the presence of God.

We want both. And in your personal life, in

your own household, this is what you should be prioritizing.

This is what you should be focusing on.

Double down your efforts to build up your marriage.

Double down your efforts to build up your own personal

devotional life and your own personal walk with the Lord.

Double down your efforts to grow and mature in all the ways that

you know the Lord is speaking to you.

Back to that point of surrender. What I need to surrender and

then I need to go to another level.

And then again I said these overlap and the second sphere,

the church, what should the church do?

The church should obey God and by preaching the gospel with

urgency. And when I say the church, I

don't mean the Sunday gathering, I mean also you.

So the first one was you. The second one's you just like

the first one was me as a as a man, a husband and father.

The second one is me, yes, as a pastor, but that's that's not my

primary. My primary is I'm a Christian.

As a Christian, I need to be preaching the gospel with

boldness and clarity and with love.

This is the mission. To preach the gospel is loving.

To preach the gospel is caring. To preach the gospel is kind.

And yes, we understand it's offensive.

You got to tell people you're so bad that Jesus had to die for it

and you deserve eternity and help.

But wait, I wasn't finished. There's good news, by the way,

that's true about me too. And the grace of God has been

extended to us. We've got to get that whole

message out, the whole part part A and Part B, not just Part B,

not just God loves you and is a great plan for your life and

like cool, thanks God. I guess I'll continue on my day.

Hang on a second. All have sinned and fallen short

of the glory of God. You've got to confess your sins

and come to him. Repent, for the Kingdom of

heaven is at hand is the message that Jesus preached.

I don't know what Mr. Rogers preached, but I do know what

Jesus preached, and repentance was always the primary part of

his message. Go there for and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of

the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all

that I have commanded you. And behold, I'm with you always

to the end of the age. We're to go into all nations.

We are to make nations and ethnic groups and everybody.

We're to teach them to obey Jesus.

That's Jesus's command. We're not to go around and

suggest to people, hey, really think you ought to consider

this. Hey, really think you ought to

now in in your wisdom of your relationships.

That might be a way you actually say what?

Hey, hey friend, I really want to give some pushback.

We want to give some encouragement.

I really hope you'll consider. I did that in the mall recently.

I was in a store, got talking to the cashier, and we just got

chatting back and forth. He was a Muslim and he had a lot

to say. And he really didn't come up for

air. So he just kind of talked the

whole time. And I kept waiting and waiting

and waiting and waiting and waiting.

Eventually I realized, have some wisdoms, young Michael.

He's not going to stop. He was friendly.

I enjoyed him, He enjoyed me, but he wasn't going to stop.

So I had to interject because I had to leave.

And I said, hey, hey, can I drop a Pebble in your shoe?

Because he was saying different things about different

religions, all kinds of inaccuracies and false things.

And he's like, Oh yeah, we all serve God and not true.

So I said, can I put a Pebble in your shoe?

And he goes, sure. I said, I have to go.

So this is a that was a winsome and gracious approach, right?

I didn't just say, hey, everything you said is wrong.

You're an idiot, you're going to hell.

Muhammad was a pervert, which all this, those things might be

true, but that's not necessarily the the necessary approach, is

it? Right.

So I said, can I put a Pebble in your shoe before I go?

And he goes, sure, sure. I said, so you said this and you

said this and he had made some claims about Christ.

I said, well, I would encourage you to go look up the exclusive

claims that Jesus made. I said, because all of these

religions, Islam, here's how you get to heaven, right?

There's a particular way he goes, yeah, I said Judaism,

there's a particular way they can make it, Buddhism.

And you know, I said in Christianity there's a

particular way. I said some of those have some

overlap. Christianity overlaps with none

of them. I said.

Jesus made exclusive claims about who he was, I said.

I said I have to go. I said, but you have to process

that. I said.

You got to chew on that. I had a little bit of rapport.

He liked me. You could resent will he won't

he? I don't know.

I prayed and and I trust and hope that he will.

So don't misunderstand. When we talk about boldness,

we're not talking about deliberate rudeness.

He, he had no way showed teeth. He was a very gracious

conversation. So I didn't have to go, Oh, stop

right there, you snake. I didn't have to do any of that.

I was just able to relate to him.

Hey, nice story you got here and so on.

But preaching the gospel is our assignment.

And we have to preach Christ crucified.

We have to preach Christ risen, not tomorrow, but today.

We have to preach now. Not like you don't need to wait.

And like, I need to become a more mature Christian.

Well, we all need to become more mature Christians.

So I love the sentiment there. But don't think that you're

supposed to wait. Don't think you were going to

graduate into I'm ready for evangelism.

No, no, no. That was the invitation.

Day one. Come and follow me.

Why? I'll make you fishers of men.

That's why That's the invitation from day one.

So if you're in Christ, you are now qualified to make disciples.

You are now qualified to say, hey, I don't know everything.

I got tons of stuff like, I can't, I don't have the

intellect of Charlie Kirk. The more I've watched it, I'm

like, dude was brilliant. What do you have a photographic

memory? Anybody comes up with anything

and they're like, so let's talk about the crime statistics.

And he's like, no, actually in 2000, such and such, this

decision for the FBI, I'm like, bro, what?

That's wild. And he can do it with anything.

And then he could talk to Ukraine and he could talk

theology. And then he could talk.

No, the Greek word actually says, well, good grief, you're

not Charlie Kirk. OK, there's not going to be

another 1. And I also prayed that there

will be 10 million of us. So don't pressure yourself.

I got to sound like Pastor Joe Michael.

I got to sound like someone somebody's going to be asking me

a question I won't know the answer to.

And then they'll think that that somehow disposes the whole

Bible. Hey, my, my dear and precious

St. That is a tactic that the enemy

is using against you to keep you silent.

The power of God is the gospel. The gospel is the power of God.

It is the power. It's not the intellectual

argument, it's not every, it's not all the detail that Charlie

was able to expose because as you saw in many debates, he was

able to point it out. And then they go, I still hate

you. What?

How could you hate him? He just showed you everything

point by point. How could you hate him?

Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

Not FBI, not FBI crime statistics, not what Putin said,

not what Ukraine did, not what Trump said, not what Trump did,

not what Fox or CNN, not any of the data or the facts of what

took place. It's not the power to change

someone's life. It's not.

I just feel like if I could reason with people, you can't

because it's spiritual. Stop believing that it's not

spiritual. That is the flaw that we're

believing that it's not spiritual.

And we're still thinking that the gospel is like some foolish

thing and it is foolishness to those who are perishing.

And God says, I wonder if my Saints will believe me and

preach the message of a bloody cross.

And the postmodern era where everyone is super educated and

everyone's so smart. Well, my Saints actually go and

say Jesus died on a bloody cross for our sins.

And he really does love you and he really will rescue you and

give you a new identity and a new life.

And he'll heal like traumatic wounds in your soul and physical

wounds in your body and restoration to your mind and

bring peace to you. That's really all I got.

I don't know a lot more than that right now.

I'm really new in the Lord, but I know He's done it for me and I

know he'll do it for you. Can will you just submit and

surrender to the Lord Jesus? Will you please let me pray with

you? I've never done it like that.

Well, maybe that's why we're getting what we're getting,

because we've been doing what we've been doing.

Preach the gospel with urgency. That's what we're supposed to do

as the church. And then in our third sphere of

influence, the government. What are we supposed to do?

I'm not the government. Maybe some of you are in public

office. If so, you're part of the

government. Praise God for that.

But what are we supposed to do with our government?

We are supposed to press our government to obey God because

the government was instituted by God, and the government should

be in submission to God. Amen.

And we're closing for these next couple minutes.

I'm going to go to Romans again. Romans 13.

Our government quoted it to us over these past few years, many

in our godless government. Suddenly we're quoting Romans

13, which is quite ironic because I want to say, oh, do

you believe that the Bible is the authoritative word of God?

And they go, no, but you're supposed to do so.

Do that. Do what this verse says.

How clever of you, Satan. No, I think I'll interpret the

Scripture with the Scripture, and I think I'll apply it

appropriately. Romans 13, verse one.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

That's all CNN gave us a few years ago.

That's it. Obey the government.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist

have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the

authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist

will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to

good conduct. So the authorities established

by God are not a terror to good conduct, but they're a terror to

bad conduct. This is the establishment of the

Lord's authority in government to be a terror to bad conduct,

not to be a terror to good conduct.

By the way, the establishment of the household is where husbands

and fathers rule, households like Jesus, so that everybody

wins, so that men win, so that women win, so that children win

and everybody flourishes. That's the authority established

in the household, the authority established in the church, the

church's responsibility. What power does the church have

in the earth? Jesus said this.

This realm of authority tells you what the truth is.

This realm, the body of Christ, tells the household and the

government which way is up and which way is down.

The church says this is the way. That's north.

We established that last week, Ryan.

That's N. We established this is north,

this is South, this is east, this is West.

So the government doesn't get to go.

Well, we've actually changed the compass.

You don't do that. You don't have the authority to

do that. Your responsibility is to punish

the evil doers and to reward the righteous.

That's what Jesus gave to you. The church will tell you when

you've outstepped that jurisdiction.

The church doesn't execute people, do they?

The household doesn't execute people do that.

Jesus didn't give him that authority.

It's not their jurisdiction and it's not their place.

The church can excommunicate people.

As a pastor, I have that authority.

When a believer continues to live in unrepentant sin, we go

to them with compassion and grace.

But eventually, if they continue to harden their hearts, we say

you're excommunicated because we love you, because we want you to

feel this pain of separation so that you will repent.

We refuse to pretend you are a part of us because that would be

a damnation to your soul, and we hope that you will genuinely

repent and be saved. And the household establishes

care, establishes love. It's where marriage is

established. It's where children are nurtured

and discipled. Would you like to have No Fear

of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you

will receive His approval. This is God's design for

government. This isn't how government always

works, is it? Verse 4 For he is God's servant

for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid,

for he does not bear the sword in vain.

He is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's

wrath on the wrongdoer. This is your New Testament

Christians. Therefore 1 must be in

subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the

sake of conscience. For because of this, you also

pay taxes. For the authorities are

ministers of God attending to this very thing.

Pay to all what is owed them taxes to whom taxes are owed,

revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed,

honor to whom honor is owed. Rulers are not supposed to be a

terror to good conduct. They're supposed to be a terror

for bad. That is the responsibility of

the state. Jesus has given the state the

authority to kill human beings when appropriate.

When the state determines appropriate.

Would you like to be free from fear of the state?

Don't break the law. I hope I don't get pulled over

today. Don't speed.

You know we've all had that effect, right?

Drive past the cargo. What do we feel?

Fear. Why?

Because we were breaking the law.

He bears not the sword in vain, though.

He is God's servant for your good.

That's why he's going to pull you over.

Hey, that's dangerous. We've just, we've decided.

We've determined. This is dangerous.

This isn't good. That's what he's supposed to do.

He doesn't always do it that way.

That's what he's supposed to do. The household isn't always

functioning perfectly, but God's design for it is perfect.

The church doesn't always function perfectly, but God's

design for it is perfect. If you do wrong, be afraid.

He has a sword. It's not for show.

It's to cut someone's head off. So this should be your great

area of interest when it comes to your government.

Government is supposed to carry out God's wrath on the

wrongdoer, but your government, our government, largely fails at

doing so. This is the problem.

Where does this show up? We have open borders and lawless

immigration. This exposes the innocent to

danger. It is immoral.

It is immoral. We protect criminals, victims

are ignored. The we could go unpunished.

Our government allows legally for the murder of unborn

children, human beings made in the image of God.

Our government thought they could redefine marriage.

That wasn't your jurisdiction. What on earth are you talking

about? Should have said the church.

Who on earth do you think you we're the government?

And Christians naively think the government is the sphere over

everybody. The government's over the church

and the government's over the family.

Well, when it comes to right doing and wrongdoing and

prosecution, sure. But in another sense, the church

is over everybody with the truth.

In another sense, the family's over everybody with authority to

raise and disciple their own children.

And yet there could be some overlap in these areas.

The state can't redefine marriage.

You didn't define marriage. You don't get to redefine

marriage. That's God's creation.

That's the church's institution. We'll handle that.

Get out of it. Well, we'd like to award people

for being married. As the government, we've

recognized that we should reward the righteous, and we see how

this is a social benefit. By all means, go for it.

That makes sense. That's within your jurisdiction

to do so. But you don't get to change and

say what that looks like and who is married and who isn't.

The church will let you know our government has incredibly

ridiculous debt and reckless spending, enslaving future

generations because of their stupidity and wickedness.

And they have the failure to wield the sword in the state of

Virginia. They have removed the death

penalty entirely. The thing that Jesus has given

to our state in particular, our state said no, Jesus, we know

better than you. We won't be doing that ever

again in this state, is what they said.

So murderers live in victim's blood, cries out for justice.

What are we supposed to do beyond the obvious of voting in

the way that is most righteous? You need to know that Christians

should be political because everything belongs to Jesus.

We're not silent or quiet. We're not only political, but we

are definitely political. We're people who interact with

all areas of life. We care about everything and we

know that God's ways are best, so we want his Kingdom to come

and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And if they call you a Christian nationalist for saying that,

don't worry about it. It's an irrelevant label.

You can just continue to go. All I know is I don't want

people to be able to get on a subway and get their throats

sliced open by someone who's been arrested 14 times and then

released again. That's what I know.

Well, none of us want that. Well then.

But the way we vote at the ballot box determines the

policies of the people who will enact wickedness or

righteousness. So voting does matter.

It does matter a lot. But what else?

Don't just stop at voting. I'm not going to stop at voting.

I've been largely ignorant to my government, it's processes, my

legislative leaders, and I no longer will be.

I believe it has been an ignorance, but a sinful

ignorance on my part. And I will no longer just sit

back and just wait for things to happen and only vote in

elections. I've even been outspoken leading

up to elections. I'll continue to do so, but I

will no longer just sit back and do that.

I will get engaged. How are you going to do it,

pastor? I'm learning.

I'm learning like literally now about what to do and how to do

it, how to make progress. What would it look like?

I don't, I'm not committing my life to being a political

activist, but I do need to take my appropriate role as a citizen

of Middlesex County, as a citizen of the state of

Virginia, as a citizen of the United States.

And I haven't done that to the strength and degree that I need

to and I feel responsible to do to do more so.

So as I learn and grow, I'll continue to share news.

If any of you say, pastor, I'm farther along that path, Let me

help. By all means, clue me in, fill

me in, show me what that looks like.

I'm eager to learn. But that's what repentance looks

like. We've been confronted with the

reality of death, of hate and of evil.

We've seen it on our screens. We felt it in our own hearts.

Where is the hope? What do we do?

Rule well your own household. Rule well yourself, preach the

gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation.

And yes, be political. It all belongs to Jesus and the

outcomes that you want are going to bless everybody.

Even people who hate Jesus are going to be blessed by the

rulership of Jesus on the earth when the Saints rise up in power

and in strength. So where is the hope?

The only answer is in Jesus Christ.

And what does that mean? He's not an idea.

He's not a philosophy. I'm not saying, oh, just hope in

Jesus. No, there's a mechanism of

salvation. God's grace is given to you when

you put faith in Christ. And this is what brings the

miracle of the new, of the new birth.

He is not a philosophy. He is the living king of the

universe, and he's still saving people and making them new.

Romans has multiple passages that walk us through this.

Romans 323 says for all have sinned and fall short of the

glory of God. That includes me.

That includes you. Romans 623 for the wages of sin,

there's a payment. The wages of sin is death, but

the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That was bad news at first. We switched to good news.

Thank you God. Romans 58 But God shows his love

for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for

us. Christ died for us.

John 316 Jesus himself for God so loved the world that he gave

his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not

perish, but have eternal life. So what do you do?

What must I do to be saved? You repent, you turn from sin,

you trust in Jesus Christ alone to save you, and you confess Him

as Lord. When you do that, He does the

real work. You do, the surrender.

He does the breakthrough. He makes you a new creation.

Old things passed away. All things become new.

He brings new desires. He brings a new actual life, a

recognizable life, a recognizable difference, with

recognizable desires that shift and change.

Romans 10/9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved. I I don't know if Charlie Kirk

meant a lot to you or if he meant very little to you if you

didn't know anything about him until this week, but this is the

hope that he lived with and died with that Jesus is Lord.

Charlie is secure. He is conscious right now in the

presence of God with my grandfather who I miss with your

loved ones who died in Christ, secure in the eternal presence

of God. We got lots of questions about

the beauty and goodness of heaven, but we know it's

incredible. Don't leave here without Christ.

Don't leave here still in your sin, you can really come to

Jesus, the crucified risen Lord, and you will find forgiveness.

You will find eternal life. You will find a fellowship of

believers who love you and say welcome, welcome.

We didn't. Well, we might just be a few

steps ahead of you on the timeline, but that's it.

Jesus has done everything else for us.

We all come into the Kingdom the same way.

You'll find the love of God that no murder, that no hate, that no

death can ever take away. You can join the eternal Kingdom

and his eternal people and worship the eternal King.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the love that you have

shown us through your Son Jesus Christ, that while we were still

sinners, Christ died for us. God, I pray that everyone under

the sound of my voice would trust you, would believe on you,

would confess their sins to you, and be made new by you.

I want to lead you in a prayer church.

Maybe you've prayed this with all your heart before.

If so, you can pray it again with me now.

If you've never prayed it with all your heart and actually

surrender to the Lord, I want to clarify.

You're not just repeating after me to repeat after me.

I believe many people have repeated a prayer like this one

to no effect. They've used their vocal cords

as the air moved through their esophagus to no effect.

But if you are surrendering your life to the Lord Jesus Christ,

then you are about to receive the full grace of God.

That is a miracle, that is a gift, and that is a

resurrection. So let's pray like this.

Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus to turn

from my sin, to turn from my wickedness.

I have sinned and fallen short of your glory.

I see that I deserve death, but I see your free gift.

I see your free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

You died for me, Jesus. You suffered like you committed

my sins so that I could have your righteousness.

But you loved me. You came for me and now I

believe in you and I trust in you.

I confess with my mouth. I believe in my heart that Jesus

is Lord, that he's been raised from the dead and that he is now

my King and my sins are forgiven.

I have a new life, a new purpose, a new destination, and

a new mission. God, I love you, I love you, I

love you. I belong to you.

Help me to lead myself. Help me to lead myself to lead

my household, to lead my household.

Help me to preach the gospel. Help me to preach the gospel.

Help me to lead my government. Help me to lead my government to

obey you more. I surrender.

I surrender in Jesus name, Amen.