Lock It In, Live It Out - DuPont Campus

Would you pray with me this morning? Father God, we do come before you today,

and we are so grateful for your promise

to work all things out in your plan and in your way,

but for our good. And Father God, I just pray

that we will be a people who will trust those words, that will believe in

those words, no matter what we're going through now, no matter what our pain looks

like, no matter what, uh, darkness has crowded in

around us, has has come in on all sides, that we know that you are

working us through your plan for our growth

to look more like Jesus every day. Help us to walk

in those truths. Help us to live in those truths and help us to believe

in those truths. Help us to be a people willing

to go through good times and bad times,

to be refined in the fire so that we can look

like the men and women that you have called us to be. We thank you

for your love. We thank you for your, your patience with us.

We thank you for your care. We thank you for sending your Son

Jesus Christ to be the sacrifice that we needed

so that we could exchange our filth and our sin and our unrighteousness for

his holiness. We thank you that you sent him for

that reason, to be the sacrifice, to be the payment for

the debt that we could never pay. So that we could stand before you

someday, and because what he did on the cross,

we could spend eternity with you. And it's in Jesus'

precious name we pray. Amen. Amen. You guys can have

a seat. Good morning and welcome. I'm Mark Miller, one of the pastors here with

the GraceWorks Church. It is so good to see you all here this morning.

I know we're in the middle of the summer, uh, time, and we have a

lot of people on vacation. We got people running all over the place. So I'm

glad to see those who are not out of town are here ready to worship

together, uh, community, spending time together,

and then also listening to God's word and hopefully growing in God's word.

We got a couple quick announcements before we dismiss the kids. The first

one is about this next, uh, rummage sale fundraiser

for our missions team. Our missions team's going to Rwanda.

Uh, we are next Sunday asking you guys to bring

in donations. Now, those donations, I'm hoping and praying,

are something that you no longer see as valuable,

but that somebody else might be willing to pay a few bucks for.

So it's an opportunity to kind of clean out your garage, clean out your house,

bring in some things, make sure they still have life left in them.

Okay, uh, we don't want to have to make any dump runs at the front

end of this thing, but bring in stuff that you got. Uh, and,

and those items will then be sold at the rummage sale on

August 15th from 9 to 3. So another way you can support

the missions team would be on Saturday,

uh, not this next Saturday but the Saturday after that, going down to the rummage

sale, seeing if maybe you can get somebody else's junk

to become your treasure. Uh, and so the rummage sale will be a lot of

fun. That's from 9 to 3 on August 15th. The day before

our church picnic. And our church picnic we have

coming up on August 16th. Uh, if you

are new to The Grace Works because of PCS seasons,

we see a lot of people coming in and out. You may not know that

during August of every year, one Sunday, we all meet

down at our Lacey campus. We have 2 churches,

uh, 2 church campuses under one church umbrella, The Grace

Works. And what we do is we get together, we have a worship service at

10 o'clock, and then we have a picnic barbecue after that.

We will be providing— my understanding is hamburgers, hot dogs,

and a non-meat grilled item. So we'll try to cover

for everybody. We'll have some hot food for you there. And we just ask that

you bring along a side dish and a dessert. Now the debate

at the staff table is, do you really need a side

dish and a dessert from every family that comes?

And the answer is, yeah, I think so too. Now,

if you can't make both, we still want you there. If you forget

and you, uh, remember that Sunday morning and can't bring

anything, we still want you there. There will be plenty.

But if you have time and you have the resources, make some sort

of little side dish to bring along and then make an incredible dessert, and you'll

make Pastor Mark very happy. So I love this time.

Nursery provided from 0 to 2. They have a big field. Bring a blanket,

bring chairs, whatever you want to sit on for the service.

We'll have some worship songs, a sermon, uh, finish out like

normal. Maybe there'll be some baptisms, who knows. We'll do that down there,

and then as soon as the service is over, we'll have the picnic. And so

if you have any questions about that Talk to Pastor Dave in the back,

talk to Pastor Wes, he's here helping out today, or myself. We can

answer those for you. We are really excited about that. For people who

have kids today, Katie is gone, uh,

and so we still are planning to run kids ministry.

And, uh, Emily is in the back waving her hands. She has,

uh, been around a long time and also knows how everything's run.

Very capable hands. And she, uh, has kind of been put in charge by Katie

today. So we have all of our children lining up here in the back when

the lights come on, which they're coming on now. Uh, and if you have any

questions about where your kids should go, we can help you get your kids there.

We'll dive into God's word in about 3 or 4 minutes.

Anything that's broken

now, it'll pop

back up on one of the Galatians slides.

It's a small laptop, so I, I would say when it pops up,

it'll pop back up. Yeah, it'll be a good chance to shake it off,

turn it off, and then turn it back on. So yeah,

we should be good.

Lion of Judah,

oh Lamb who is risen,

oh, you hold the victory.

Awesome is the Lord

God Almighty, the name above all

names. You deserve the praise,

not forevermore.

The earth and heavens roar,

how awesome is the Lord!

Oh, how awesome, how awesome is the

Lord, God Almighty,

the name above all names.

You deserve the praise Now and

forevermore. The earth and

heavens roar, how awesome is

the Lord!

To the King of Kings, the Lord of

Lords, who lives and reigns forevermore.

All honor, glory, and praise

to the highest name, the Great I Am,

whose kingdom stands and never ends.

All honor, glory,

and praise to

the Lamb of God who conquered sin,

defeated death, and rose again. All honor,

Glory, oh, the glory of

the praise to the one who has an heir to come

forever. He is lifted up on

high earth, the Lord we praise.

Awesome is the Lord

God Almighty, the name

above All

right, good morning. Good to see you guys.

Um, we are going through a book study in the book of Galatians.

Hopefully the computer— yep, it's working. Uh, we titled it Christ Lives in

Me. I really love here at the Grace Works how we've decided,

uh, really in the leadership back when we launched in 2010,

so before I was even on staff as a pastor, that we

would go through books of the Bible, start at the beginning, work our way all

the way through, trying to preach the entirety of God's word,

not picking and choosing which passages we want to preach,

because in turn then we could pick passages that we didn't want to

preach, hard passages. Uh, and so I appreciate that vision.

Uh, when I was called to plant DuPont in 2013,

I loved that the church had that set in place. I had been attending

with my family since the original launch, still working, launch,

working, working for, uh, Costco. Uh, so I had seen it

done over the, the 3+ years. Um, but man, I just really,

uh, enjoy studying God's word. And, and our goal is to set you

guys up so that you can do study on your own. Um,

whether it's in the same book that we're going through as a church or just

on your own, that you would understand that, uh, context is important

as you read a passage or hear somebody throw out a verse, that you would

be the kind of person, a Berean, they call it, a studier of God's word,

that you would say, what is that chapter talking about?

And what does the book talk about? And, and that you

would do that study on your own. And so again, we want to try to

model that as a church. But also we wanna live that out with you.

And so we find ourselves getting towards the end of the book

of Galatians. We're gonna finish up chapter 4 today

and get into chapter 5. Um, and we wanna be looking

at what Paul's saying. He's been making the arguments all

along as to where the Galatian church, which is only

about 6 months old, is starting to veer off

course. They're, they're being tempt— I don't wanna get into it too much.

We're gonna talk about it more today, but they're being tempted to add to

what Paul had already preached them, uh, and in some dangerous

ways. And so today, um, I just want to encourage

you, and maybe you haven't even done it before, in your Bible, start taking

some notes, circling things, highlighting things, write down questions

that you don't quite understand and you want answered. And then this week,

whether it's with a friend or with your spouse, uh, if you want to

text one of us pastors or call us or meet for coffee,

just, we want to encourage you to start living in the word, reading God's word,

and moving forward and looking for that growth opportunity. And so

let's pray together. God, today I ask that you'll continue

to reveal to us more about yourself. That is

what is so important as we gather, that we hear from

you, not just the words that the, that the speaker is saying, but that we

hear from you today. And so Holy Spirit, we ask that you

work in our hearts, in our minds,

and that you affect our actions as we move forward.

Help our behaviors to change so

that they mimic the truths of your word and

the desire of your heart, which is for each one of your children, all of

us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, to look more and more like

him and less and less like our old self. And it's in Jesus' name

that we pray. Amen. I'm so glad again,

like I said, that you guys are here this morning. In Galatians, Paul is writing

to these churches that were planted in the area

of Galatia. And like a good shepherd, he is now checking back

in on his flock. But if you know the whole story,

and we do know a lot more because of Acts, uh, if you wanna go

back into the book of Acts, it's around chapter 15 that these, uh,

these different things are taking place. You'll see that there's a group that came

up from Jerusalem to these churches and they

said, well, we know what you heard from Paul. But it wasn't quite complete.

We need you to add some things to that. That you need

to add something to your gospel of grace,

the gospel of Jesus Christ that you heard and believed in

and received. And they're trying

to add to that. And the church, some of the people at

least there, if not the churches, are hearing these messages and they're getting confused.

And they're starting to question what Paul had preached to them originally.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says this,

Ephesians 2:8–9

for by grace you have been saved

through faith, and this is not your own doing, but it is a gift

of God, not as a result of any works,

so that no one can boast.

That is the heart of the gospel.

Salvation comes through Jesus Christ,

His sacrifice that he willingly gave for you,

and now he offers it to you. And you don't have to

ask for the price tag because it's free.

What he wants from you is you to relinquish the

old self and say, I will no longer walk in sin. I, I will

not do the things I used to do that are not pleasing

to God, but I will walk in a newness of life.

And that's, that's why we say Jesus Christ, the salvation

he provided, is simple and easy and yet

very, very difficult. Because after you've accepted the

free gift of salvation, it's done. You don't have to earn it.

And that's what Paul's been telling the churches in Galatia and ultimately us.

But, but you have to then change and live and

work and move forward. Again, your salvation is not dependent

on that. But he has called you to incredibly great things to do for him.

And so again, Paul is like, he's away from

them right now and his heart is breaking when he heard what has happened

because there's this beautiful simplicity of the gospel of grace

that Jesus Christ came, died on the cross for you, was raised

on that 3rd day, and now is in heaven. And if you accept

that free gift that he is willing to be your Savior and pay the price

for your rebellion and your sin, that now you are saved

and you can go to heaven. And, and so they've heard that,

they believed that, but sometimes we hear things and we believe them,

we understand them, but it's hard to stay strong,

to stand on the firm foundation, or to stay locked in.

So today we kind of titled this passage as we end chapter 4,

Lock It In. We got one more argument that Paul's going to give us about

salvation by grace. Through faith

in Jesus Christ alone. And then he's gonna start the section in

15— or in 5, uh, telling us how to live it

out. Paul loves to do that in most of the books that he

writes. The first half or so, he, he talks about

whatever theological arguments he needs to make,

the conversation that needs to happen. And then in the end, the last few

chapters, he tells you how to live that out. And that's what we're seeing here.

The first 4 or so chapters Paul has been making the argument

that Jesus Christ is enough. Don't add

anything to something that is already perfect. You can't

add anything because actually if you do, you weaken

the gospel and it's no longer the gospel. That's what we've seen over and over

and over again. And so we are going to talk about this today,

lock it in and live it out. But sometimes that's tough for us as

human beings. We're all wired to be self-sufficient.

Especially if you're living here in the United States,

the society tells you, pull up your bootstraps, you can do anything

you want to. You're good enough. You can change

things. You need to earn things.

Humans take pride in accomplishing things on their

own. And salvation through faith in Jesus Christ

calls you to be a person that says, I can't do it.

And I'm going to say that in front of the masses, and I'm going to

lean on Jesus Christ who said, don't worry,

you can't do it, but I've done it all.

And just lean into that. And so again, we have a tough

time, I think, as human beings because we want to

be self-sufficient. The second thing is we have a tough time because

there is an enemy. The enemy is out

there. And if you're reading the scriptures, you will see that. The devil

is going to try to trip you up if you place your faith

in Jesus Christ. He's already lost your soul. In other words, you are saved.

Once saved, always saved. You're moving forward in your faith, but he's

going to try to screw things up here. He, he is manipulative.

He is— he's going to try to— he's going to try to break

up any growth that you might be having or might be showing. And he does

it in a bunch of different ways. How many times have you heard something

from someone on a website or

a podcast or a reel, right?

Or your neighbor maybe, or somebody comes and knocks on your door,

a missionary from another religion.

And then you start wondering, right? You've heard the gospel of grace.

You came to Jesus. You've accepted the free

gift, but now you start wondering. Is grace-based,

Christ-centered gospel real? Is it enough?

Do I need to add works to that? Maybe there's something more to

this salvation that I didn't hear or didn't understand. Maybe you

said to yourself, wouldn't it make sense if I did

this and that and didn't do these

things, and maybe I would earn favor with God?

Maybe you're just like hearing a good speaker and

you're like, wow, they got a good point here. This gal or this guy is

convincing and you're tempted to believe it.

I can see how I may need to do things to earn my place in

heaven, right? Somebody's saying you got to do more good than bad and

maybe you'll get to heaven. Try to be a great person. Well, the temptation

to drift is real and that's what Paul was seeing at

the church— the churches, I should say, in Galatia.

Paul was writing to Christians who were now hearing variations of

God's gospel of salvation. They started

getting knocks on the door, real knocks on the door, from these

Judaizers that came up from Jerusalem. These false teachers

are called troublesome influencers, right? They were

They were trying to knock them off course.

And with that came the temptation to drift away from the

beauty of the simple gospel of grace that Jesus

Christ provided for you and for me on the cross.

Paul writes directly to their situation in Galatians 1.

If you weren't here when we preached on that earlier, he says, I am

astonished that you are so quickly deserting

him who called you in the grace of Christ and

are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one,

but there are some who are troubling you and

want to distort the gospel of Christ.

That's in the early verses of Galatians. We preach through that.

He can't believe that the churches are being tempted to

listen and to, to wonder and to question

So Paul wants them to lock in their faith. And, and over the

past few weeks, we've heard those arguments, uh, logical arguments

why grace is greater than the law.

Last week we heard of a pastoral plea. We saw the pastor's

heart. He, he comes to him and he says, man, my heart is breaking

for you. Along the way, he's clearly established

that there are 2 exclusive categories.

There's the law that doesn't lead to salvation. In fact,

the law was put into place to demonstrate their need for a Savior.

No one could ever follow and keep all 613

laws in the Old Testament, and it creates

a lifelong bondage. The heavy weight of the law— Jesus

talked about that when he was here And in the Gospels,

we see those accounts recorded for you and I.

On the flip side of law, there's grace, and grace leads to salvation

through Jesus. Jesus did it all, and now he's offering that to

you for free. It creates a life of freedom.

Yes, I'm gonna encourage you as a pastor to live according to the

Bible and do the things that are in here, and your life will

be better if you do. Right?

But if you fail, it didn't affect

your salvation. Repent, see that you've done wrong,

ask for forgiveness, confess it to others so that you have accountability,

and move forward. But you don't need to worry about having

lost your salvation or somehow affected your standing

in heaven. And so it creates a life of freedom for the believer.

You can't do both. You can't like believe a portion of each.

It's either one thing or another. And that's what he's been preaching

to us through his writing through the first 4 chapters.

And so Paul's going to return here in 4:21 to some known

history. The original readers of this letter

would have known about Abraham, and that's where he's going. And we'll see

that here in just a second. And he's saying One last time,

here's an argument, lock it in.

And then in chapter 5, the part we're going to look at, the early part,

hopefully setting up Pastor Dave next weekend when he preaches with

just the perfect softball pitch so he can hit the fruit of

the Spirit— how you shouldn't live and then how you should live next weekend.

And so I'm so excited about next weekend hearing Pastor Dave preach that,

but we're going to look in chapter 5, those first 15

verses, how to live it out, or at least the start to that. So let's

turn together. Hopefully you got your Bible with you. If you don't have a Bible,

we do have Bibles on the back table. We would— I would encourage you even

now, you can walk back there and grab one of those, make that your own.

A lot of great Bible apps, those are perfect. Love to be able to read

my Bible when I'm in the line at the grocery store, but there is something

special about having a copy of God's word.

That you can write in, that you can highlight, that you can circle,

that you can read. And so if you don't have a Bible,

again, the invitation to walk back there and grab one is one that

you can do even now. So let's read together— or not out loud together,

but let's read here. And we're going to start— I'm just going to read the

first verse, say something quick, and then we'll dive into it. Tell me,

you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen

to the law? Paul says, okay,

we're going back one more time. We've been talking about law, we've been talking about

grace. You seem to be enamored now by the law,

right? About all the things that have gone into the history

of Israel. So we're going to look back

one more time, and Paul's going to start framing his argument

here with, with some language, 2 different sides of language

that we've started to hear already, but it's really going to be clear here.

Uh, and, and then we'll look at those, those,

the way that it all plays out here in just a second. Picking back

up in verse 22, for it is written that Abraham had 2 sons, one by

a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave

was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born

through the promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically.

These women are 2 covenants. So here we, we have the 2 sides

of this argument he's going to lay out one more time.

One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar.

Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia.

She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she

is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above

is free, and she is our mother, for it

is written Rejoice,

O barren one who does not bear! Break forth and cry aloud,

you who are not in labor! For the children of the

desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a

husband. Now you, brothers, like Isaac,

are children of the promise. But just

as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted

him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is

now. But what does the Scripture say? Cast out

the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not

inherit with the son of the free woman. So brothers,

we are not children of the slave, but of

the free woman. Now he's

referencing there their own history. He's making

an argument from Father Abraham. He illustrates

the 2 opposing views, the 2 opposing pathways

of salvation, clearly isolating one as

the way. This is the right way to be saved.

We see here historical characters— Abraham,

Sarah, Hagar.

These people would have known about them. They would have read about them. They would

have been taught about them. Now, God had promised

Abraham a huge family,

a massive family. He, he also said,

I'm going to expand your territory. I'm going to give you land.

And ultimately, he says he's going to be a father of many nations.

And also blessing will come to nations outside

of even the chosen Israel because of

Abraham. The problem with this promise

from God to Abraham was that

Abraham and Sarah were really, really old,

and Sarah had not been able to have— she wasn't able to have children.

And, and Sarah was getting to the place where she was tired of waiting

in a lot of ways. And so she came up with a solution,

and her solution was, my slave woman,

my servant Hagar, I can give to you Culturally,

okay, it was approved, it was okay, but not by God.

But I'm gonna give you my servant to be

a wife, Abraham. God made this promise and he hasn't come through yet.

Abraham marries Hagar and fathers a child with her,

Ishmael. Now the natural man,

the human, came up with a solution. To address a

problem that God had already said wasn't a problem.

He said, I promise you these things.

And yet mankind a lot of times steps in and says, I can do this

better than God, right? And we do that in our own lives,

and we do that in regards to salvation also.

But God says, no, I will bless Sarah, and moreover,

I will give you a son by her. Now, this is in Genesis

17 to 19. We don't have time today to go and look at that,

but if you're taking taking notes, write down Genesis 17 to 19. You can go

this week and read this passage. He says, I'm going to bless Sarah, I'm going

to give you a child. And, and it says at this time that the

Lord visited Abraham. Okay,

so I would make the argument this is probably a pre-incarnate Jesus

Christ. We've talked about those before, a Christophany,

when Jesus takes on the human form, comes to earth before

he was born. Okay, but the Lord shows up

and he tells Abraham, you're gonna have a child. Sarah's gonna be the

one that's gonna have the child for you, and you're gonna be a father of

nations. He's talking about— it says that Abraham fell

on the ground laughing before God.

That's how, how crazy it was to him. I want to say he was like

90, okay? And, and he just, he couldn't

believe that this was gonna happen. And God's like, no, no, no, this is gonna

happen. It also says that Sarai laughed, or Sarah laughed,

but God says, no, Sarah, you're gonna have a son.

And, and when he calls her out on it, he says, you laughed. And she

literally— you can read this in the scripture— she says, no, I didn't. He said,

oh yes, you did. I mean, God literally called her out on

it. I gave you a promise and you laughed at me. And she said,

no. And he said, yeah, you did. And yet he still was faithful.

God's not dependent on us. God's will

is going to work its way out. It's beautiful. So Sarah has this

son Isaac. I will establish my covenant

with Isaac, it says in Genesis 17:21.

Genesis 17:21

Isaac means laughter. So again, a nice play on

words there. But God ends up taking care of Ishmael, the,

the son that was born to the, the, uh,

slave also. But man, now that you got these— there's strife

between these 2 lines. This is the— there's a stepbrother,

and, and Abraham kicks the stepbrother and the, and the wife out.

And there's just so many things going on here. And so we see these 2

opposing categories really set in motion all these hundreds and hundreds

of years prior to that. And so Paul says, I'm going to use history to

show you this. Now, who would have thought all these years later the

Galatians and, and you and me this morning would be challenged

by true history that happened,

right? We, we see the implications in the,

the, the real-time story here,

the hatred between the brothers, the, the, the disdain

from Sarah to her servant Hagar.

But there's extended meaning of that. It— and that's why he says it's

allegory, right? So Paul frames 2 categories

throughout the letter to create tension. So if you've been here since

we've started studying and been here a few of the weeks or whatever, you know

that there's tension between law— I gotta obey

the law, I gotta do more right than wrong, I gotta pay a sacrifice— law

and grace. I've done it all. I've paid the

price. There's a tension between the flesh, right? I know what I should

do, but my flesh is— it's hard for me not to do the things I

used to like. And living in the Spirit, I want to walk

in the Spirit. By the power of the Spirit, I will give up

the things that I used to do for a life that

is promised to me of being better. And that same side over here with the

law and the flesh, there really is a slavery to

one, to your flesh, but two, to the law. You're always worried

about, am I doing things right or not? And on the other side

of slavery is the freedom that we have found in Christ Jesus.

When you accept that free gift of salvation, you are

now free. That doesn't mean you're free to do

whatever you want to. God has still called you to do incredible things,

good things, live a certain way. But you don't have

to try to earn what your eternal state will

be. Did you see that in what we just read? The law,

grace, flesh, spirit, slavery, freedom. We, we, we, uh, this week

as we were studying here, Pastor, uh, Brian is preaching down in

Lacey this morning. These are some of the things we saw on the opposing

side. We saw Hagar, the slave,

the wife now to Abraham because Sarah didn't believe God.

Okay, we got Sarah, then we got Ishmael, the son born to Hagar,

Isaac, the son born to Sarah. The covenant

of works falling under slavery, under freedom,

the covenant of the promise. And of course, we see

that, that Hagar represents an earthly Jerusalem,

and yet what Sarah is bringing, the freedom and the eternal

promise is something from above.

So we continue to see, even in the story from

history, the same sign of comparisons that we've

been seeing throughout this book.

And as serious as he is, Paul, who's writing this,

as upset as he is that these churches

are wandering away from the truth,

What I tried to hit on last week and what I'm hitting on again this

week, and we will see throughout the rest of the book, is we see his

heart for them. These churches, these men

and women who have followed the way, who have accepted

the free gift of salvation. His heart is breaking for them.

Why would you go back to slavery under the law? Why would you willingly

take on the burden trying to do it yourself

when Jesus has done it for you. He says,

brothers, and when Paul writes brothers, it means brothers and

sisters. I would love to see it translated that way. So he's not just talking

to the men, right? I promise you, I've done the studying on

this. But brothers, so brothers and sisters, we are not

children of the slave but of the free woman.

He's making this argument. You have to believe me. You have to

listen to me. Go back to what you originally

believed. Don't allow people to confuse you. You've been

freed through Jesus. There's freedom

from slavery of the law, a works-based salvation

that just weighs down on your life.

We want to restore that relationship, that broken relationship,

that relationship with God that's been broken by our rebellion and our

sin with God. Jesus is the only way to do that.

He is the way, the truth,

and the life. You won't

find that through works. You won't.

The law served its purpose. Paul never bad-mouthed

The law. The law was put in place to

point you towards the reality

that you needed a savior. It's like me when I open

up a 1,000-count Lego castle type thing

at Christmas time, and I got directions and I'm doing things wrong,

and one of my kids would come in and help me, right? It didn't matter

that I had the rules. Didn't matter that I had the pieces. I couldn't do

it on my own. And so one of my kids would come in.

The, the rule book pointed me towards needing help.

No matter how hard I tried, I kept screwing up, and my kids would come

in and help me, right? The law is in place

so that you know, man, I can't keep these things on my own. I stumble

and fall. I know what to do, Paul says, but I do the opposite.

Okay, it's not saying that that's okay to do that,

but it's saying that that's the reality of our efforts in our flesh,

and that Holy Spirit comes in and he can help us. Man,

I pray and hope that you get to a place in your life where you're

sinning minimally, if at all, right? Like, that's the goal,

but that doesn't save you. So if you screwed up yesterday

and you came this morning going, man, I screwed up yesterday, I sinned yesterday,

I know I did, Maybe you've even prayed, but you're still living under the guilt

of that. That's the burden that Paul's talking about that's

caused by the law. We need to identify sin.

We need to call it out. We need to confess it to

our, our closest friends or family that can help us

not do it again. We need to repent of it and confess it

to God and say, I don't want to do that anymore. Those things are important.

It has to happen. God has called us to not sin,

but the reality is the flesh and

the way of the Spirit are gonna battle for most of us until our

last breath. And if I die worrying about whether I've done enough

good or too much bad, and where am

I gonna end up, that's an awful place to be living.

And yet Jesus Christ has provided us all the salvation,

the free gift, the ability to accept it, to receive it,

to believe it and to know confidently that if I take my last breath today,

I will spend eternity in heaven based nothing on

what Mark Miller had done, but everything in what

Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross and then gave to me as

a free gift. And so when I stand before God,

I will talk about Jesus Christ crucified for my sin,

resurrected on that 3rd day, That is the reason I should be

here in heaven. The only reason. And if that's

your heart, you're right where you need to be. That's what Paul wants us to

be. If you're still struggling with the areas, you're not alone

struggling with the areas of works and trying to do some stuff on your own.

But we want to pull you out of that into the freedom of life.

So it's beautiful. I got to keep going. We're not going to get through this.

Paul knows that even one single law broken You stand guilty,

and he doesn't want you to feel that way throughout life. He wants you

to lock it in. Grace and freedom should have replaced law

and bondage. Think about that.

Grace and freedom replacing law and

bondage. And as we crack open chapter

5, Paul is going to start addressing what walking in

the Spirit looks like. We've done a lot of work over the last like 8

weeks, guys. Now we're gonna get to see the good stuff, right?

We're gonna move forward. Paul's gonna still make his arguments because he

always does, but he knows freedom,

that's the goal. Freedom provided by Jesus Christ for you.

How do you live it out? So that's what we're gonna start reading here in

chapter 5, verse 1. For freedom Christ has

set you free. Stand firm therefore and do

not submit again to to the yoke of slavery.

Strategic writing here. Paul knows what he needs to say. He's been

arguing it for 4 chapters, and now he's coming out and saying,

freedom. That's what I've been telling you. You are living in

under Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ,

the salvation provided, you have been made free.

There's freedom in our desperate dependence

on the truth of Jesus Christ. I will

lean on nothing else. I will trust nothing else. There's nothing that

I can do that I will stand in confidence before God. There's nothing I can

do that would add to the salvation that Jesus kind

of provided. No, I will stand on

Jesus Christ.

Jesus' own words when he was here walking the earth,

It's recorded that he said, I am the way,

the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

That's a beautiful, beautiful passage in light of the theology

that we're learning, the study of God, all the things, the truths in

scripture. Jesus says, I'm the way.

I can get you there.

Paul does not want us to choose the yoke, the bondage,

the entrapment that comes with the legalism of the, of the

law. He wants us to live in freedom. That's what he said there in verse

1. Look, I, Paul— picking up in verse 2— I, Paul, say to you

that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage

to you. I testify again to keep every man

who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law,

you are severed from Christ. You who would be justified

by the law, you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit,

by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait

for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision

nor uncircumcision counts for anything,

but only faith working Through love.

Paul starts out on this long kind of almost tangent here,

right? He's given these long, forceful speeches that

he loves to give. This is a serious threat that

these agitators are bringing. So he says, look, I'm going to tell you the truth

here, right? I'm going to tell you

the truth. And this is what it says.

He continues on there. You were running so well.

Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion

is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

I have confidence in the Lord that you will take

no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear

the penalty, whoever he is. But if I,

brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still

being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed.

I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves.

Again, Paul is serious about what he's writing.

Paul launches into this section. He says circumcision

will not save you. And if you're leaning in on circumcision

plus Jesus, what you're really saying is I'm gonna lean in on the law.

I'm gonna lean in on circumcision, all the traditions. All the

law. It can't be both.

And so we might say to ourselves, why did he go there? Why did he

go to circumcision? Why would he even bring that one up? He could have chosen

any number of laws to make this point,

but it's not

random that Paul is writing to a church that is filled with

Gentiles. And the Judaizers

that came up from Jerusalem were Jews. And so one of the main points

they were making is, if you want to be a Christian,

Paul didn't give you enough information. He gave you some of it, but now you

need to be circumcised. You need to follow all the

traditions and all the calendars and all the festivals and all the

law. He's like, they're bringing it up. And so The Judaizers were insisting

that the men would be circumcised, right? This is non-negotiable.

If you want to be saved, this is what's going to have, have to happen.

This isn't a random debate either. Acts chapter

Acts 15 · chapter mention

15. Again, if you're taking notes, write that down. It says,

but some of the men came from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you

are circumcised according to the customs of Moses,

you cannot be saved.

That was what was being told to these churches in Galatia.

And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debated

with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up

to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So this

was a big deal. It's not just in Galatians that we hear about

maybe some problems with some Judaizers. This was written

by Luke in Acts, right? There was this pressing

issue in the church. What is the

true recipe for salvation? And in no uncertain

terms, God through Paul is making

sure that they know that it is not a requirement

for you to be circumcised. Let's check

back in at Galatians, right? The good news, none of them had gone for the

snip yet, at least that we know of, because we see it in his writing.

He says, if you accept circumcision,

so at least by the time Paul wrote it, if not when it got there,

if you accept it, then you have to obey the entire law too,

because you've given up on Jesus Christ's salvation

through faith in him. Alone. You've added to it.

In Genesis, we read God that established a covenant

with Abraham. We're going back to the same person.

Now, that command for the Jews was that they were

circumcised to be set apart,

right? Set apart for God. And now they're

hearing not to, though. Why the apparent change?

Why is this not something that would be required anymore?

Those could have been questions that the Judaizers were trying to bring up

so that people would start questioning. Just like when somebody knocks on your door and

they're trying to convince you that the Jesus that they follow is the same Jesus

that you do, and you can be a god too when you die,

right? Like, they're gonna mix in truth with lies.

And so during our prep this week, as Pastor Brian and I We're

talking. I said, for Abraham,

circumcision was a sign of the covenant.

It was a sign of God's choice. You were part of God's chosen

people. For the Judaizers, it was a requirement

for salvation. Somehow they put themselves

in God's place and said, the salvation you're providing through Jesus Christ is good,

but we can make it better. We're going to add circumcision first, because if I

had to do it, they need to do it, right? And we'll

add the law to that too, because man, if they're living by the law,

the law that we live by, God, they'll be a lot better for you.

They're putting themselves in a place where they shouldn't

be. Reminded us a little bit of the conversation

that sometimes we get around baptism. Someone will say,

hey, I want to be baptized, and we'll say Great,

let's do this thing. But then my follow-up question is,

why do you want to be baptized? And then I shut my mouth. At least

I try to. And I'm a talker, so it's hard for me not to,

to jump in and try to help them along. But I just stopped talking,

and I want to hear from you. Why do you want to be baptized?

And sometimes I hear from good people that I know are

believing in Jesus Christ crucified, resurrected, taking their

sin and giving the holiness. I mean, I know they're on that way,

definitely, but they'll say, well, I want to be baptized so then I'm saved.

And I say, not quite there yet. Can we just have a little discussion?

Can we have a little, uh, conversation to clarify?

Baptism doesn't save you. You're already saved.

So if your answer about why you want to be baptized is anything other than

I want everyone else to know what's happened in my heart,

Conversion happens in here. You don't know what's going on in here. So if

somebody accepts Jesus Christ, becomes a follower

of him, and he wants everybody to know, he says, I wanna be baptized.

I've already been saved, but I want everybody to see

that I'm joining Christ through his death and resurrection.

It's important. Baptism is an act of obedience,

right? And yet even that doesn't save.

Jesus says to be baptized, right?

He wants you to be baptized. So in obedience, we should want to be

baptized. Circumcision— Jesus never said,

follow me and be circumcised, right? And he

spent a lot of time with Gentiles. He did.

A lot of ministry went on there. Jesus says to

be baptized, not to be circumcised. And Paul seizes the opportunity

to clarify. Circumcision doesn't save you. It's not

a requirement of salvation. In fact, Jesus— it— in

Jesus, circumcision has no value because now we

are identifying ourselves with Jesus instead of

the Israelites identifying themselves as set

apart for God through circumcision. Okay,

so Paul is trying his hardest to make this crystal clear.

Faith in Jesus means embracing the freedom

of the gospel. And I think a lot of times I, as a pastor,

make it confusing for people. And so I try to

speak less words and tell the same thing when I have an opportunity

to share the gospel with people. Let them ask questions,

good follow-up. But the freedom in the gospel is

simple. In the next section, the one I already read to you that we're heading

into, Paul does them and us a favor. He gives us a, a visual.

To understand a little bit more. You were running well. Now this morning I had

a phone call with Kirby McNeil. I don't know if you know him, normally sits

up front here. His mom plays, uh, drums sometimes and bass sometimes.

McNeils have been involved in the church for a long time, and I knew that

he loved cross-country. He ran, uh, at least

in high school, I think in middle school too, and now he's running in college

cross-country. And so, uh, Paul had him here on the starting line.

Made me think of Kirby. You're on the— you're running well. You've started

the race, right? And when the starter's gun

went off, they took off. They were pointed in the right direction. They were

heading out on the course. Now, Gwen and I have had the opportunity

to go to cross-country meets because our youngest son's wife,

but when she was in high school, ran cross-country. And so we would go and

see meets. And like, you watch them take off running, and I'm like, okay,

well, they're gonna be back here in like 15 or 20 minutes. And her mom

and dad are like, no, no, no, no, now we run over here and we'll

get to see her again. I'm like, oh, okay. So we're like jogging over,

you're trying to get to a place, and then she runs by again. Go Hannah,

go Hannah, go Hannah. And I'm like, now do we go back to the fit?

No, no, no, we run over here. And so we run over here. All that

to say, you're following them around, they're following a course,

and we're trying to see them, right? But sometimes there

are sections, and this is what I was talking to Kirby this morning on the

phone about. There are sections of a cross-country course that go through the woods,

and I had heard rumors that when there's no coaches,

no officiants to see what's going on in there, that cross-country

runners, especially in high school and even in college, they don't mind

bumping into you. They don't mind knocking you off the course,

even into the bushes, maybe a tree, who knows,

right? So I'm talking to Kirby this morning, I'm like, is that true?

Or is that just a rumor that I've heard? And he goes, no, man,

there's pushing, there's shoving that goes on in those woods because

they're trying to knock you off course, right?

And they're trying to set an advantage so that they can

win. And what Paul is saying is you started running well.

Who hindered you? Who got in front of you? Who hip-checked

you? Who pushed you into the woods? Who pushed you

off the path that you were on? You don't want

to be misled because if you run off through the woods this

way and you come out, you're not on the course anymore. Where am I?

I'm in a bad place, right? And so Paul

was like, man, don't let anybody hinder you. You were running.

You were running. Stay on course. Keep moving forward.

Choosing circumcision as a means of salvation may seem

like something small. I believe Jesus died for me,

right? I believe that he was risen from the dead. He took all my sins.

I get the free gift of grace salvation based on what

he did. And now I'm adding circumcision. Is it really that big of a deal?

Well, it's like leaven or yeast. How many of you guys make bread at home?

Anybody out there? I see a few hands. Nice.

I like to eat bread, right? Okay, so I've never made any,

but I know that if you had too much yeast You're in trouble,

right? You, you add the right amount and great things

happen. But if you screw it up, and it's just a

little bit, it fits in the palm of your hand, enough to screw up

the entire recipe. So Paul brings

that up. He brings up the leaven, the yeast,

leavens the whole lump. Like, you don't need more

than what has already been given.

And it's nice to hear that Paul is optimistic in this,

in this chapter 5 as he's starting to lay out what they need to do.

I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view.

You know the truth, stand in that truth. And then

this, this section ends up with a bang here.

Uh, verse 12 is kind of one of those crazy ones when you read it

and you realize what he says there. You're like, man, the Apostle Paul said that.

But he wishes that these troublemakers that were pushing you off course,

teaching you that circumcision is required for salvation, teaching you

that the law is required for salvation— I wish that not only had they,

when they circumcised themselves, that they just cut the whole thing off. That's what the

Apostle Paul says here, that they would have emasculated

themselves. Things get real when Paul's writing and he is ticked.

That's what Paul's writing about. You look it up, and he's,

he's frustrated, and he wants what's best for the

sheep in the churches in Galatia as a shepherd.

And when somebody tries to screw up something so foundational, Paul says,

no, I've got to write about that. The last couple verses we're going to look

at quickly here, like I said, setting us up for next week. Please be here

next week. You want to hear Pastor Dave preach on the fruit of the Spirit.

For you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your

freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve

one another. For the law, the whole law, is fulfilled

in one word: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and

devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by

one another. Again, Paul identifies the readers

of this As brothers, brothers and sisters.

These are family. He wants what's best for them. We've seen

this throughout the letter. Paul's heart was for the people,

not for himself, not for converts, not for people that would follow his way and

not somebody else's. He loves these people and he doesn't want them

to be knocked off course.

The statement here followed by the directive. Was you

were called to freedom. And again,

we kind of identified it a little bit earlier. We talked about it before.

The freedom we find in Christ is not a freedom to do whatever we want.

It's not a freedom to do any sins we want.

It's not that at all. It's a freedom that we find in Christ that is

so different than any life you could live in the flesh, right?

And so we're called to this freedom. We don't

have the heavy weight of the law on our shoulders. But the

directive is that it's given— it's actually for 2

things here that I'm seeing as a way of life. Don't use

your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, right? You don't get to

just go and do whatever you want to do. We've talked about that a few

times, different books. We've talked about that. We have

freedom from the law, you're saying, Paul. Can I just go and do whatever I

want to? Well, no. Paul had addressed this

before. You have to use your freedom in Christ to do the

things that you've been called to do, not for the salvation,

but for living out that salvation.

We have freedom from the legalism, from the bondage

of the law, but the law is still pointing us towards Christ.

And so when Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount told us how we

should be living, That's what we as Christians should be desiring to do.

And that's a lot of times it was taking the Old Testament law and elevating

it. Old Testament law: do not murder.

Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount: no, no, no, you've heard

it said do not murder. I say don't have anger in your heart.

Jesus called us to a higher living out of the law, but again,

not to save us, but because we are saved.

He also, uh, addresses another thing here where it's,

it's, it's the idea of just living however you want to. Uh,

and, and I think the, the word that we found this week, it was libertinism.

It was a new word to me, and it means untamed

liberty, rejection of morals. Pleasures are viewed as the ultimate

good life, casting off the law, no guide rails of

moral or ethical behavior. This is what I can do.

And Paul is saying no. He's saying no. He's talked about

this in other places also. Same question kind of was asked in

Romans, in Romans 6. What shall we say then?

Are we to continue on in sin that God's grace

may abound? That was a question that was being asked.

And Paul wants us to understand, no, that's not what this is all about.

He says then, by no means. God forbid

is how it's translated sometimes. He wants us

to understand that. That's the— that was the first thing. The second directive that we

see here is you shall love your neighbors as yourself,

but through love, right above that, serve one another.

He's giving us the pattern. We're to live in love. We're to live to serve.

Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, he knew the cross was before

him. And he knew the betrayer was still sitting at the table,

got down on his hands and knees and washed the feet of his

disciples. He gave them a picture on the night that

he was gonna be arrested and betrayed, the next morning he'd be

crucified, of what service should look like, of what love should look like.

Serve one another, love your neighbor as yourself.

Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour

one another, the opposite of that,

watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

If we live a life where we're, we're always nitpicking other people,

we're always seeing the wrong that they do, we're pointing

it out, we're talking to other people,

that's not loving our neighbors as ourselves. That's not Living

as Jesus has called us to live, in love and

in service. Now, are there times we need to go

as a friend and call people out on their sin? See them

going down the wrong path, they've been pushed into the bushes in a different way,

we need to help get back on path, right? Yes, there is.

But we need to love, and that's what Paul's saying here. We need to love,

we need to serve. Those are the things that we need to

do. And next week, as we go into the next passage, Uh,

we're gonna have an opportunity, an opportunity to see how

this all plays out this morning. Where do you see

yourself in this section? Do you need to lock it in? Are you still in

the place where you need to understand what salvation in Jesus,

through Jesus Christ, faith in him alone is?

Do you need to be grounded in that grace, right?

Do you need to lock it in? So that you're not tempted

to go back to the old law. We were, we were talking this week,

we had heard a story, both of us had heard this story before, so we

looked it up and we thought we should use this as a, a visual that

you can get maybe in your mind. Well, uh, someone wrote this, while walking

past in an elephant camp, a man noticed these massive,

powerful creatures were being held in place by nothing more

than a small, thin rope tied to

one of their front legs. There were no heavy chains, no cages,

no thick iron posts. It was completely

obvious that the elephants could at any time snap the

rope and walk away, yet they just stood there making absolutely

no attempt to escape. Confused, the man

found one of the trainers nearby and asked why such magnificent,

strong animals would just stand there and not try to get away.

Well, the trainer explained that because the elephants were conditioned

from a young age to believe that the rope was stronger than them,

they never tried to escape as adults despite their

immense strength. This story

illustrates that many limitations are merely mental,

stemming from past conditions or outdated beliefs, encouraging individuals

to challenge those mental barriers and recognize their own power.

To change. The thing is, Paul is saying

if you're living under the law, it is holding you in place.

It is— it's bondage. It's keeping you there. It's tying

you to something that Jesus Christ has given you

the power to break free from and find the freedom in that.

And you and I today need to embrace and stand firm in the freedom that

is found only in the beauty and simplicity of

God's grace-based gospel.

That's what we need to do. That's what we need to cling to. We need

to get away from the old law and from the things that might tie us

down, the confusion of the world, and live in the freedom of

Christ. This next section,

as we look these last couple weeks on how to live it out, we are

gonna, we're gonna see in light of this freedom that is found in Christ,

How should you and I live as people, people in a fallen world,

people living around other people who are not Christians and

amongst ourselves? And my prayer for you is that as we look at how to

live it out, that the Holy Spirit will move you to a place

where you are desiring as a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ to continue

to move forward. As we go into a time of

worship here, we're gonna have an opportunity to take communion. The tables are set up

in the back. Uh, and so if you came prepared to practice communion,

to take communion this morning, I want to invite you, uh,

during the next couple of songs to head back there and take communion.

Um, let's pray before that and stand with me

if you're able as we worship together. Father God, we do thank you for the

challenge that was given by Paul. We thank you for a foundation

that is firm, the freedom that we have in Christ. Help us not to tie

ourselves to a law that would hold us back, that would actually trip

us up and confuse us, would weaken salvation,

because we know that salvation is based on Jesus Christ and his work

on the cross. Help us to live in those freedoms so that we can look

like the men and women that you've called us to be. Help us to— Father

God, help us to tether ourselves to

the cross. And to nothing else. And it's in Jesus' precious name

we pray. Amen. Again, stand with me if you're able.

How great the chasm that lay

between us, how high the

mountain I could not climb.

Desperation I

turned to heaven and spoke

your name into the night.

Then through the darkness,

your loving kindness tore through

the shadows of my soul.

The work is finished,

the end is written.

Jesus Christ, my living

hope.

Who could imagine so

great a mercy? What heart

could find Adam, such boundless

grace. The God of

ages stepped down from glory

to wear my sin and bear

my shame. The cross has spoken,

I am forgiven.

The King of Jesus calls me his

own. Beautiful Savior,

I'm yours forever.

Jesus Christ, my living

hope.

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me

free.

Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip

on me. You have broken every

chain. There's salvation in your name,

Jesus Christ, my living

hope.

Then came the morning.

That sealed the promise. That wounded

body began to breathe.

Out of the silence,

the roaring lion declared

the grave had no claim

on me. Then came the morning.

That sealed the promise. The buried

body began to breathe.

Out of the silence,

the roaring lion declared,

your grave has no claim

on me. Jesus,

yours is the victory.

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free.

Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me.

You have broken every chain. There's salvation

in your name, Jesus Christ, my living

hope.

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me

free. Hallelujah,

death has lost its grip on me. You have

broken every chain. There's salvation

in your name, Jesus Christ, my living

hope. Oh, Jesus Christ,

my living hope.

Oh God, you are my living

hope.

Grand earth has quaked before,

moved by the sound of his voice.

And seas that are shaken and stirred can

be calmed and broken for my regard.

Through it all, through it all,

my eyes are on you.

Through it all, through it all, it is well.

Through it all, through it all, my eyes

are on you, and it is well

with me. Be it

for me to not believe

even when my eyes cannot

see and this mountain hides in front of

me will be thrown

into the midst of the sea.

Through it all, through it all, my eyes

are on you. Through it all,

through it all, it is well.

Through it all, through it all, My eyes

are on you. It is well,

it is well.

So let go, my soul,

and trust in him.

The waves and winds shall know his

name. So let go, my soul,

and trust in him. Soul and trust

in him. The waves and wind still know

his name.

The waves and wind still know his

name.

It is well.

With my soul,

it is well.

With my soul,

it is well.

With my soul.

It is well, it is

well with my soul.

It is well

with my soul.

Soul.

It is well

with my soul.

It is well

with my soul.

It is well,

it is well with

my soul.

It is well,

it is well with

my soul.

Through it all, through it all,

my eyes are on you.

Through it all, through it

all, it is well.

Through it all, through it all,

my eyes are on you, and it

is well with me.

I believe in the Son. I believe

in the Risen One.

I believe I overcome.

By the power of

his blood.

Amen,

amen.

I'm alive, I'm alive

because he lives. Amen,

amen.

Let my song join the one that never

ends because he lives.

I was dead in the grave.

I was covered in sin and shame.

I heard mercy call my name.

He rolled the stone away.

Amen,

amen.

I'm alive, I'm alive because

he He lives.

Amen,

amen. Let my song

join the one that never ends.

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because he lives,

every fear is gone. I know

he holds my life,

my future in his hands.

Amen,

amen.

I'm alive, I'm alive because

he lives.

Amen,

amen.

In my song, join the one that never

ends.

Amen, amen.

I'm alive, I'm alive because he lives.

Amen,

amen. Let my song

join the one that never ends

because he lives,

because he lives.

Thank you guys for all being here worshiping Jesus Christ

with us today. Thank you, Mark, for a great message.

We don't have to clean up any of this stuff today, so it gives you

a little extra time to say hi to people on your way out.

Have a great Sunday.

When I'm overwhelmed within from the

weight of all my sin, I need a friend to

call my own. I need a house to call my own

when I'm broken down inside and there's

no I need a place where

I feel known. Can someone help me?

Then I hear your reply,

bringing teardrops to my eyes,

saying I'm not alone.

Oh Lord, I need you now more than ever.

Would you put my heart

Back together. I searched the world till my head hurt just to find out

your ways better. Oh,

your ways better.

Oh, your ways better. Oh Lord,

your ways better. Jesus, your ways

better. Lord, I am so thankful for the ways that you

bless me. Everything You say, making waves like a jet ski.

You love every part of me, even when I was messy.

Now I see the art in your beauty, so I can finally sing

out. Jehovah Jireh, provider,

your way always gets me higher.

Even on my darkest days, you're my light, my Messiah.

Oh Lord, I need you now more than any ever

was. 'Cause you put my heart back together.

I searched the world till my head hurt just to find

out your way's better. Oh,

oh, your way's better. Oh,

oh, your way's better. Oh Lord, your way's

better. Jesus,

Lord, I need you now more than Would you

put my heart back together? I searched

the world till my head hit her just to find out

your way's better. Uh-oh,

your way's better. Uh-oh, your way's

better.