Defining a Man | Act Like Men

It's hard to believe that it's been twenty-five years.

There's there's so many people that now were born after 9-11, so many that are too young to remember it.

But for many of us, we remember exactly what we were doing on that day.

To hear about a plane hitting one of the towers, then to watch on TV the second plane to hit, then all of us we watched in horror as the towers collapsed.

There were so many heroes on 9-11, though.

Firefighters, police officers, guys like Todd Beamer, who led a revolt against the hijackers on Flight 93.

The plane ends up going down in Pennsylvania, but that group of people sacrificed their own lives to save who knows how many more.

But as the weeks and months went by after the attacks, more and more stories of heroism came out.

Like a story about the man in the red bandana.

There were people on the South Tower, in the South Tower on the 78th floor that were trapped in the sky lobby.

They couldn't see because of the smoke.

They had no idea if there was a way out or not.

But then all of a sudden, a man wearing a red bandana to filter his mouth and nose from the smoke just appeared.

And he said, I found the stairs.

Follow me.

And they did.

Like one of the survivors in that group said, it was the way that he said it.

There's such calmness in it.

So we followed him.

Well, he led them through the smoke to the stairs and led them down to the 61st floor where they met up with some firefighters who escorted him down to the 40th floor where there were still some working elevators and they got out.

And this man wearing a red bandana, he could have gone down with that group of people that he just saved, but he didn't.

He went back up.

He went back up to the 78th floor.

He found more people huddled up.

And again, with the same calmness and confidence in his voice, he said, If you can stand, stand now.

And if you can help others, do so.

And he led that group to the stairwell, led them down, and once again he could have gone down, but he didn't.

He went back up again.

He wasn't seen again.

He was somewhere around the 78th floor when the towers collapsed.

Now, as the weeks went by and a few months went by, some of the people that he helped save, they helped identify this man in the red bandana.

He was 24-year-old Wells Crother.

He worked on the 104th floor.

So I wonder, here's my question, I wonder how many other floors he searched before he got to the 78s.

Now this guy is credited with saving up to 18 lives on 9-11.

That's just one story.

So many heroes on 9-11.

That was the darkest, one of the darkest days in American history, and yet through all the flames, through the fire, through the smoke, some of the best was revealed.

Like right after the attacks.

There were signs, there were t-shirts, there were stickers everywhere.

And here's what the sign said.

We will never forget.

Remember those?

It was everywhere.

You can still find them.

They were everywhere.

We haven't forgotten the attacks.

But here's my question.

Have we forgotten what real heroism looks like?

Have we forgotten what men like Wells Crowther were like?

Better question.

Have we forgotten what a man is and what a man is supposed to act like?

My wife and I take each one of our kids when they're 12.

We take them on a trip to it's really a rite of passage into manhood or womanhood.

When my oldest turned 12, we he wanted to go to New York.

So I took him to New York and we went to the Brooklyn Bridge.

And we talked about, look at the wisdom it would take to build that, the knowledge, the understanding to construct that in the 1880s, and it's still going a lot, it's still going strong today.

We talked about how David told his son Solomon, hey, seek the same kind of knowledge, seek understanding, seek wisdom, my son, because a man goes after a wisdom.

A man knows that wisdom is more valuable than gold.

And then we went to the Statue of Liberty.

We sailed around it and we talked about freedom.

And how a man does not use freedom for himself.

No, a man lays down his freedom to serve other people.

Then I took him to the World Trade Center.

And we went to the memorial and we toured the museum.

And if you haven't seen the museum, it is incredibly well known.

And at the museum, we talked about courage.

And how a man, a man runs into the flames when everybody else is running out.

A man will lay down his life, disregard himself completely to help other people, just like Wells did, just like so many firefighters did on that day.

But today, there's a question about manhood.

There's a question like, do men still act like that?

Or better yet, do we expect men to still act like this?

Masculinity, for some reason, and we'll get to this, is under attack today.

The way men are depicted today, men are depicted as stupid, perverted, aggressive villains.

That's how our culture wants people to view men.

And unfortunately, sometimes that depiction is accurate.

There are some vile men out there.

Cowards, abusive, angry.

There are men that tell other men that life is about pleasure.

Dude, get as many women as you want, earn as much money as you can, spend it on yourself because life is about materialism.

It's about pleasure.

That's what a man does.

All the manosphere stuff online today, it's just modern-day chauvinism.

Any man who is vile or abusive or says that life is about pleasure, get all the women that you can, live it up.

That's not a man, that's a boy who can shave.

Now, the other end of the spectrum, though, is just as much of a problem.

The other end of the spectrum are men that are passive and disengaged.

Like even though there are flames all around them in the world and even in their own lives, they're just content to sit back and watch.

That's just as much of a problem.

And it's destructive.

But then there are men who are acting like men.

The men that we need.

Like so many of you, like I know so many of you personally, and man, you're doing well.

Like you got your head down, you're leading well, you're sacrificing well.

Even though culture likes to dump on men, you're doing a great job.

There's so many of you that are doing a great job.

Keep going.

You're actually living out what 1 Corinthians 16 says.

It says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let everything that you do be done in love.

Right now, our culture wants you to apologize for being a man.

Don't.

Absolutely do not do that.

You don't need to apologize for being a man.

We need you to be a man.

Now, I don't know what your individual story is, so I'll put this out there.

You don't need to apologize for being a man, but maybe you need to apologize to your wife and kids for not being the man they deserve.

Or the man that they need.

So let's just back up for a second and let's define this.

What is a man?

Because somehow there's confusion about that in 2026.

A biological adult male is the starting line.

We're gonna get much deeper than that.

Like at the core, at the core, a man is defined by how he acts.

That's why 1 Corinthians doesn't say be a man, it says act.

Act like a man.

That's what we need right now.

It's never gonna just say, hey, hey, be this way or this is your status.

No, you're defined by how you act.

And there, unfortunately, right now, the tension is there are a lot of men that aren't acting like men, but at the same time, there are a lot of men that are, and they just need to be encouraged to keep going.

God has put a significant calling and responsibility on men.

So we need to talk about it.

And why do we need to talk about it right now?

It's because I see this as a huge problem.

I hear from so many different guys, like, dude, what's it mean to be a godly man?

Everything I'm told is that I'm wrong.

I'm doing it wrong, I'm the problem.

Like, what do I actually do to be a man?

Like, how do I act like this?

What does God expect of me?

So let's talk about it.

Today we're gonna start a four-week series breaking down that verse in 1 Corinthians 16 and what it means for men.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let everything you do be done in love.

Now, guys, I am not gonna shame you in this series.

You get plenty of that out there, but I am gonna talk to you like a man.

And something I was praying this morning is that if you need to be called out, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would call you out, that you would be convicted.

Like I know that I'm gonna be convicted these four weeks.

I already was this week when I was studying.

But I also prayed that the Holy Spirit would call you up, that he would encourage you, that he would equip you because we need that from you.

We need men to be encouraged and called up and equipped.

So whether you are a single man or you're married, whether you're young, whether you're old, whether you're a teenager, guys, we're getting after it.

We're gonna talk about what it means to be a godly man and what we do.

And ladies, this series is for you too.

I very much have you in mind on this series.

This series is not going to be a boys' club with a no girls allowed sign on it.

That's not what this is gonna be.

As a pastor, I have seen way too many women who have been hurt by boys who can shave.

Or they're hurt because their husband is completely disengaged or passive or abusive, and I'm tired of seeing that.

And I do not want that to be true at all of the men in our church.

So I want this for you.

If we do this well, ladies, you will be the first to benefit from this.

A series on men that's meant for men to bear spiritual fruit, that means the women and children in their lives are gonna be the ones that enjoy that fruit first.

Women will be the ones to benefit first if men act like godly men.

So I have you in mind very much in this series.

If only you could see all of my notes.

Like I want you to understand, man.

I want you to understand and get some new insight into the mind of a man and also have application that you can walk out with.

So, women, here's what I would say.

If you are married to a man, if you want to be married to a man one day, if you love a man, if you're dating a man, if you want to date a man, if you are raising a man, this series is for you.

Some of you have great men in your lives, and some of you don't.

My heart breaks for you more than anybody.

We're gonna talk about that.

But at the same time, guys, if you are married, your wife can be a reflection of how you are as a man right now.

We've all heard it said that behind every good man there's a great woman, right?

And this is true.

If there's anything good about me, it's because my wife is great.

But the flip side of that coin can also be true.

A lot of the time, not always, but a lot of the time, if a man is doing well himself, his wife is most likely going to be doing well also.

Now, this isn't universally true at all.

Because there are some great men that have wives that are not so much.

But for the most part, when a man is doing well, his wife is going to be doing well too.

So ask yourself right now about your wife.

Is she pleasant?

Is your wife pleasant?

Does she walk around with confidence and peace?

Is she emotionally good because you connect with her emotionally?

How do your words sound to her?

Is she living from her gifts and her strengths?

The answer to those questions is going to be a reflection of you as a man.

Now, a woman is not dependent on a man to be doing well herself.

She's not.

But a man will have a significant impact and effect on the people that are around him.

So, how are people affected that are around you?

Are people better off because they're around you?

Do you bring peace or do you bring chaos when you walk into the room?

Somehow masculinity has become controversial.

The narrative today is that we are all worse off because of men, because of toxic masculinity.

Now, can I just clear something up right here?

There is no such thing as toxic masculinity.

It does not exist.

Are there toxic men?

For sure there are.

Absolutely.

But masculinity in and of itself is not toxic, it's designed by God just like femininity is.

We need masculinity right now, maybe more than we ever have in my lifetime.

We absolutely need that.

But this whole toxic masculinity thing, here's what I would argue.

I would argue that that's a spiritual marketing campaign designed to attack God's design on men for a very intended outcome.

And we'll get into that more in this series.

Now let's be clear on this though.

Masculinity, it is not sports or guns or big trucks or grunting and pounding your chest.

That stuff is very fun.

Very fun.

But that's not what masculinity is.

Sometimes you will see men use those things to cover up an insecurity for themselves.

Masculinity is not dominance, it is certainly not controlling other people.

It's actually about self-control.

Masculinity is about humility and leadership and service and protection, providing and self-sacrifice along with courage.

And do you know where we get that model from?

Jesus himself.

Jesus is the true depiction of masculine.

If you ever want to see a man, you look at Jesus Christ.

He's the standard.

In Jesus, you see patience and kindness and humility.

You see self-sacrifice, self-control, responsibility.

You see love, compassion, and courage.

You see kindness, strength, and boldness.

You see hard work and leadership and service.

You see justice, righteousness, and virtue.

So remember this.

The litmus test for manhood is do you imitate Christ?

That's it.

As a man, the measuring stick for you is do you imitate Christ?

Do you lay down your life for others?

You love well.

The greatest thing you can do as a man, the most important thing you can do as a man, the most powerful thing you can do as a man is to love and follow Jesus.

Everything can fall into place after that.

Right now, the world desperately needs men who desperately love Jesus.

Men who love and follow Jesus in faith and obedience, men with boldness and compassion.

Like we need that right now.

Northern Colorado needs men like that.

Life Bridge needs men like that.

Your wife and your kids need men like that.

They need you to be that.

Also, with this, women.

A real man is not someone who gives you whatever you want, whenever you want, and says only what you want to hear when you want to hear it.

Trust me, you don't want to be with a man like that.

Because eventually it's gonna go really bad for you.

Now, culture tells women that's exactly what men should do.

Modern feminism says men should bow the knee to women.

But a real man bows his knee to Jesus and Jesus only.

He does not bow to you, he does not bow to money or career, he does not bow to pleasure, he does not bow down to political or social ideology, he doesn't expect other people to bow down to him either.

A real man bows to Jesus and Jesus only, and when he does that, then other people around him will start to be blessed.

Philippines 2 says this.

It says, Therefore, God has highly exalted him, Jesus, highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord.

That's talking futuristic.

Like one day Christ is coming back, and when he does, everybody's getting on their knees.

Right now, you and I have a choice.

I suggest you choose to go on a knee, not have to wait for it one day.

A real man takes that choice right now.

That's what it means to act like a man.

First and foremost, your very first action is to bow your knee to Jesus.

Then after that, let's get practical.

Like after you take that step, what's what's acting like a man mean?

First, it means you lead.

As a man, you are called to lead your family.

This doesn't mean you are better than, it doesn't mean you are more important, it doesn't mean that you have perks and privileges.

Nope, it's the opposite.

Jesus said this in Matthew 20.

Hey, you know that the rulers of this world lord it over people and officials flaunt their authority over those under them, but among you it will be different.

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many.

Men.

That has to be our approach when it comes to leadership.

You're not better than, you don't get to lord it over people, you don't get to hold it over your head, you don't get to say, look at me, I'm the leader, submit to me.

Nope, you don't get to say any of that.

Leadership is about laying down all of that to serve your family.

Leadership is about lowering yourself to benefit your wife and to benefit your kids.

Ultimately, spiritual leadership and the leaders that we're called to be as men means accountability and responsibility.

For you to lead your family means you take responsibility for your family.

When their family was off in the Garden of Eden, who did God confront and hold responsible?

Adam.

Leadership is not done by demand, it is done by example.

So whether you are a single man or you are married, men, we go first.

That's what leadership means.

We go first.

Here's what I mean.

In your family, you be the lead follower of Jesus, you be the lead prayer, you be the lead in God's word, you be the lead encourager, the lead worshiper, the lead apologizer, the lead repenter, the lead forgiver.

Like that's the tone and example we're meant to set with our leadership.

That's what it means to lead as a man.

You set the example, not hold it over, people.

You go first and lead out.

And then from there, your leadership is going to show up as protection.

Men, we're called to protect our families.

Physically, for sure.

But more than that, protect them from other threats, spiritual threats, threats from all kinds of bankrupt and bad ideologies today.

Protect them from toxic people or toxic relationship.

Like, what are the things that we need to protect from?

1 Peter 3 says this.

Husbands, you must give honor to your wives.

Treat your wife with understanding as you live together.

She may be weaker than you, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life.

Treat her as you should, or your prayers will not, or will your prayers will be hindered.

Basically meaning, hey, if you don't honor your wives, God's not gonna listen to your prayer, man.

And weaker right there does not mean less than.

When he says weaker about women, it means that if Kelly and I arm wrestle, I should win.

Like that's what he's talking about.

If I don't win with her, that's I got an issue.

That's what it means.

Man, my wife is tough too.

I wouldn't want to mess with her, so is my daughter.

But as a man, as their as her husband and her father, I'm called to honor them.

And one of the ways I honor them is protecting them.

Wives, this doesn't mean you're incapable, it doesn't mean that you're helpless, not at all.

Some of you, I wouldn't want anything to do with like oh, I'm not gonna mess with you.

But this is a way for your husband to honor you and love you.

Let him do that, let him protect you in this way.

And young men, especially if you're single, this isn't just when you're an adult, just when you're married.

Young men, we protect women.

Chauvinism needs to die, chivalry needs to resurrect.

We put I'm sit, uh, I'm gonna go, let me go on a soapbox for a second.

I am preaching.

What am I talking about?

I get to do this.

I am sick of seeing videos of something happen to a woman and there are guys just standing there, either watching or backing away because they're afraid, or scrolling on their phone.

Here's another thing.

Let me vent one more time.

When we go skiing, we see this every time.

When you take the bus from the parking lot to the slopes, everybody crams in there like sardines, or the same thing at DIA on the trade.

Everybody crams in on sardines.

You know what I'm sick of seeing?

It's a bunch of men sitting in the seats while older women are standing up, holding onto the rail.

Stop doing that! Yeah.

Okay, I'm gonna pump the break.

We got four weeks of this.

Hold on.

Hold on.

I gotta pace myself here.

Younger men, we protect women.

But here's when you might need to be called out.

Some of you are the storm inside your home.

Everybody's gotta walk on eggshells when you walk in the door.

You're a storm.

Way too often, I hate to admit this, I've been that in my family.

I'm not mad at them, I'm not upset up at them.

Maybe I'm frustrated with something that happened during the day or I'm discouraged about something, and then who takes the brunt of that?

Kelly and my three kids.

That's not okay.

Don't be the storm in your home in your home.

Be the storm against the storms.

Like what I mean is that there's all kinds of things to protect your family from.

Physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally.

There's stuff that's coming after your kids.

Now, you don't want to be a helicopter parent.

You don't want to wrap them in bubble wrap.

That's not helping them at all.

But there are certain threats, whether it's spiritual or physical or relational, that your kids don't need to endure.

You be the storm as a man against the storms that are coming after your kids and your wife.

We protect in that way.

Then acting like a man means you provide.

But too many men think this just means physically.

Hey, I put food on the table, I put a roof over their heads, I put clothes on their backs, I've done my job.

Good for you.

That's the starting line.

First Timothy 5 says this if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially members of his own house, he has denied the faith, and he is worse than an unbeliever.

As a man, you are a provider.

That means you provide for physical needs.

That also means you provide encouragement.

You provide affirmation.

You provide your time and presence.

You provide your availability.

You provide spiritually.

You provide instruction.

In 1 Kings 2, David tells Solomon, he's instructing him how to be a man, how to be strong, and he says the best way you can do this is by following the Lord.

The best way you can do this is if you keep and follow and live out God's word.

Men.

Your kids will live that way if you live that way.

Your life is meant to be a living lesson for your kids.

Like right now, even if your kids are grown, you know, if you're if your kids are gone and they're grown, you know that you never stop being a parent.

Even if your kids are grown, right now, what does your life teach your children?

Is it teaching them how to follow Jesus?

Is it teaching them how to be courageous?

Is it teaching them how to give up yourself for other people?

Or is it teaching them to be selfish?

To be disengaged, to be checked out, to be passive.

Like what's your life teaching your kids?

Like even your past and your biggest mistakes can be absolute gifts to your children.

They can be gifts.

You can talk about, hey, here's what I did, man, here's the sin I was in, here's the mistakes I made, and here's the grace I got from Jesus in that.

And now I don't have to live in shame because of Jesus.

You can teach them how to be transparent appropriately.

You can teach them how to process things, how to how to own their mistakes, how to own their sin, how to repent.

Your kids can learn from the lessons that you learned on the back end of a mistake.

The lesson you learned, they can learn it without even having to make that mistake.

I've told my kids this multiple times.

Guys, I have paid the stupid tax already on this one for you.

So please learn from my mistake.

And more than anything, men.

Love and follow Jesus with boldness and faith.

Keep and follow his word, and that is the greatest thing you could ever provide for your family.

It's the greatest thing you'll ever provide.

Young men, remember that for when you have a family one day.

Also, young men, young single men, you can still provide for women right now.

You can, especially, especially if you're interested in a girl or you're dating.

Here's what you do: buy her flowers, don't buy her a drink.

Make her laugh, don't make her cry.

Take her to church, don't take her to bed.

Serve her, don't steal from her physically or emotionally.

Guard her heart, don't play games with her heart.

Honor her, don't use her.

And if you're doing those things, you're acting like a man.

And acting like men, it means we self-sacrifice.

Guess whose lead we follow again on this one?

Thank you.

He said, he already said, I came to give my life as a ransom for many.

Ephesians 5 says this.

Says, husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church.

How did he love the church?

Gave up his life for her.

That's what love means for a man.

It's you giving up your life for your wife.

And if you'd be willing to sacrifice your life like Jesus did, well then come on.

You'd be willing to sacrifice and serve her in any other way, wouldn't you?

Think about this.

What color does the bride typically wear on her wedding day?

White.

White, right?

You can speak back.

This isn't a hard question.

White, right?

White represents purity and innocence and a new beginning.

Well, what color do you wear if you're in mourning?

Black.

What color does a groom typically wear at his wedding?

Black.

Track with me on this, okay?

A man wears black at his wedding because his wedding day is meant to be a funeral.

Death to self.

Death to it's all about me.

Death to a boy who can shave.

Death to passivity.

Death to consumerism.

Death to disengagement.

A man wears black at his wedding because his wedding day is meant for him to die to himself.

It's a funeral.

Bride wears white, a bride, the wedding day is all about the bride, and it should be.

But when you as a man, when you die at your on your wedding day, and guess what?

You get to do it again today and then tomorrow and the day after that.

When you die to yourself that way, when you give your life to her, I promise you, as a man, you become alive in a whole new new way.

I cannot tell you how much joy I have in leading and serving and protecting and providing and sacrificing for Kelly.

It is so much better than I was living for myself.

And this is the biblical expectation for men.

Proverbs says, if you found that, if you have found a wife, then men you have found a good thing.

But you gotta die to yourself first, man.

Acting like a man means very first, it means you are self-sacrificing.

That's why we have so much respect for dudes like Wells Crawford, those 343 firefighters, those guys ran into the flames.

They willingly died.

That's awesome.

Men, what would you have done on 9-11?

Every man in his heart of hearts wants to be the guy that runs into the burning buildings, wants to be the guy that goes down with the building when it collapses so that other people live.

We all want to be that.

Here's the good news you have that opportunity every single day because there are proverbial flames all around us.

The question is, are you gonna be watchful enough to see them?

Are you gonna be strong enough to do something about them?

Are you gonna stand firm when everybody else is folding?

Are you gonna act like the man that God has called you to be and the man that God Himself set an example for?

Man, we need men right now to act like men.

That means lead, that means provide, that means protect, and that means sacrifice for other people to live and also thrive.

I know you can do this.

That's why we're gonna do it together as brothers.

So, right now, would people follow you into the flames and the smoke?

If the answer yesterday was no, great news, today's another another opportunity to change that answer.

If people would follow you right now, keep going.

Man, I see you.

There's some of you in the room right now, I know you're going.

There's plenty of dudes right now I could call out by name in this room.

I'm not gonna do it, and I'm not gonna embarrass you.

I could tell you to stand up and I could say, Be like that guy, be like that guy, be like him.

He's pursuing Jesus, he's laying down his life.

He's not perfect, he's a sinner, of course he is.

But man, I'd run into the flames after that guy.

If I was stuck in a room and I didn't know how to get out, and he said, Follow me, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

There's plenty of them in our church.

And if that's you, keep going.

If nobody else sees you, and I know the world wants to take a dump on you, if nobody else sees you, God sees you.

And he's gonna say, Well done, son, keep going.

And if you can help other men do the same thing, do it.

Because it's gonna take all of us.

So that's my intro for the series, not today.

I mean, I could go for another 45 minutes, but I'll let you get out of here.

Here's what I'll ask you to do: two things.

One, here's the simple one.

Men, you better be at Uncommon.

October 9th and 10th, that's gonna be awesome.

I cannot wait for Uncommon, not only to connect and encourage each other and worship as men, but man, take more steps.

What's it actually mean to act like it and have brothers?

If you don't have a band of brothers, you should, and that's where you're gonna get one.

Second thing, I want to ask everybody in this room, everybody online, pray for the men of our church.

Pray for your husband, pray for your dad, pray for your brother, pray for your son.

Because we need them to do well.

There's a lot on the line right now.

I don't have to say that to you.

You can just turn on the news.

God is sovereign over everything.

But when he's gonna change things, he usually calls a humble, strong man who stands firm in the faith.

We need a lot of them right now.

There's gonna be all kinds of attacks for the next four weeks on your husband, on your son, on your brother, on your friends, the men in this church.

There already is, but even more so right now.

The enemy doesn't want us to talk to men.

Go on the corner, be quiet.

They're the problem.

Because when men fall down, things fall apart.

That's a historical statement, not a theological one.

So pray for the men in our church.

That we would be the men that we're supposed to be.

Because women and kids, I want you to benefit from it.

And ladies, there's some of you have an amazing man in your life.

Some of you don't.

Some of you have a coward.

Some of you have an abuser.

Some of you have people that are trying to actively pull you away from Christ.

I want you to know I see you.

And actually, out of every demographic in our church, you're the ones I'm thinking of the most.

And I want you to know that the Lord sees you more than anybody else.

And if you're being hurt by a man or if you've been hurt by a man, he will stand account for that.

He will.

I promise you he will.

One of the things that a man needs from his wife, maybe the greatest thing is to be respected.

What do you do when you have a man that's not worthy of respect?

You respect the Lord.

I'm gonna talk more about that later in the next few weeks.

But I just want you to know you're seen too.

It's not okay.

And when I'm praying for the Holy Spirit to call out and convict, I'm thinking about your man.

So pray for the men in our church.

Pray for the women in our church that need to be prayed for right now.

Pray for the women all over northern Colorado.

I could tell you horror stories right now of what I've heard about abuse and husbands trying to traffic their wives.

That's a real thing.

And it's not in some distant country, it's here too.

That's why we need men to step up.

Not just for your own families, but for the other women and children here that are vulnerable.

Pray for the men.

Pray for the women in our church.

Pray for our kids.

Pray for our sons.

Because right now, this generation of young men, I think they have it harder than any other generation has had for different reasons.

I'm not talking about the Great Depression.

That's a different level of hard.

But the stuff that's in front of young men constantly today, the pressure that they're under, how they're attacked, how they pray for the sons in our church.

I have so much hope in Gen Z and Gen A, and the boys that I see, the young men in our student ministry, have me so fired up.

I have so much hope because of what the young, I don't want to call them young people.

That makes me sound old.

Young the students in our church.

Pray for them and encourage them.

Because we need them.

Jesus, thank you for being the example.

Thank you.

Thank you for laying down your life.

Thank you for showing such kindness and humility and patience and leadership and serving and protection and providing and righteousness and justice and virtue and self-control and self-sacrifice.

Jesus, would you let the men in this church help us to follow you and imitate you in that?

That we would be exactly what you've asked us to be, and that our wives and our kids, the women in our church, the students in our church would be so blessed because of it.

Let us be men that take joy in laying down our freedom, take joy in serving others, take joy in sacrificing, take joy in leading.

Not about us, but it's about everybody else.

Let us be men that love to do that out of joy, that we don't need any credit or attention, but man, we just want to see people around us thrive.

Thank you for giving us that responsibility.

Help us to steward it well for your glory.

We love you, Jesus.

It's in your precious name.

Amen.