Turning From Sin | How We Change

Well, good morning to you, Providence.

It's good to see you.

My name's Dave, one of the pastors here.

Hope you are well.

If you have a Bible, open them to Colossians chapter three.

Colossians chapter three.

It's great to see you, uh, Pastor Brian, Pastor Phil flying all over the world somewhere, trying to encourage some of our partners.

And so we're super excited to hear.

We've gotten some texts, and they uh are seeing some of our church planters, and uh God's using them to encourage and they're being encouraged.

So praise be to God for that.

Well, today is a special day in the life of Providence because 48 years ago, uh, today Providence was planted as a church.

And so happy anniversary, Providence.

Can we just praise God for his grace and mercy?

Twelve families with the Bible in their hand, studying, inviting people to study the Bible, grew, then moved to a cafeteria up off of Lynn Road in an elementary school, up to Strickland Road, to a daycare center, to a grocery store on Leesville Road to a bankrupt hotel that you sit in.

And uh so it's been a journey of 48 years, but we know that Providence isn't a grocery store, a daycare center, or a hotel, it's a people.

And we're grateful to God for who he has brought, what he's doing in her, to her, and through her to this city and the world.

And so let's give thanks right now.

Let me pray.

Father, we're grateful.

We love you.

We are so thankful for your kindness over these 48 years to sustain her in a day and time when so many churches, 76 will close this week in the U.S.

4,000 this year will close in the US.

And so we don't take 48 for granted.

We're thankful.

We're so thankful, God for how you have sustained her and held her and uphold her and strengthen her.

And I pray your hand would be on her for another 48 years.

So we love you.

As we look into your word, we pray your word would look into us.

As we read your word, we pray your word would read us.

So help us at this hour.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, today we pick up our series, How We Change.

Think about it.

The article I was reading this week says it like this: the desire to change and better ourselves is consistently a top record-breaking theme on major search engines.

The collective internet volume dedicated to self-improvement is historically massive.

In recent years, the phrase can I change reached an all-time high globally on Google searches.

So it beckons a question.

How in the world do we change?

Well, we started a series about a month ago, and we laid out this will to kind of give some ideas of what we believe the Bible teaches and how people change, how God changes us.

We started with walking by the spirit.

We unpack Galatians 5, 16, and in that text it says to walk by the Spirit.

That that and how do you do that?

Well, we unpacked it by you have to have a relationship with Christ so that when you trust Christ, the Holy Spirit of God comes and he lives inside of you.

He takes up residency in your heart.

And so Galatians says, Don't walk by the flesh, walk by the spirit of God.

Christ ascended physically after he rose from the dead.

And he actually says, It's better that I go because I can't be in two places at one time physically.

So I'm gonna go and send my spirit, so my spirit would take up residency.

So walking by the spirit is the hub to the will that causes all the other spokes to work in a sense.

Then we looked at read the Bible, how God's word is truth.

It's the Google maps for life in how to live, right?

And it never gets a turn wrong.

It's encouraging.

We know Jesus says in John 17 that to sanctify, he's praying for those who would believe.

And he says to God, the Father, as he's praying, he's like, Sanctify them.

Help set them apart by your truth.

Your word is truth.

Then we looked at the idea of praying for belief.

We know all sin starts with unbelief, not trusting or taking God at his word.

Look, the first question in the Bible is the enemy asking God's created humanity, did God really say?

Think about it.

Did God really say that?

And this is his tactic today, is it not?

And then we looked at taking on a new identity, living in light of who he says we are.

Not who we think we are, what others say we are.

And we unpack this idea of belief.

Belief shapes identity, and identity shapes behavior.

In other words, what you what we do reveals what we believe, and what we believe shapes what we do.

And so it's not so much of who you are, rather than whose you are.

And if in Christ you're a child of the king.

This is glorious good news.

And today, on the will, we look at our next move to turn the idea of turning from sin.

Thanks, Brian, for the text that you left me with.

The very nature of sin.

It's a sobering text.

The very nature and our attitude and actions against a holy God.

Our very nature is born with this concept of sin.

You nor I never were trained to disobey.

It just came natural.

My kids' first words out of their mouth, and your kids' first words out of their mouth were probably around the idea of no, and that's mine.

Where do they get that from?

They got it from me.

And I got it from my folks, and they got it from their folks, and they got it from their folks.

It's a virus called sin that's downloaded to every human in every culture around the world.

And it's an offense against a holy God.

And so to repent, we're gonna be looking at, trying to understand, grasp this idea of what it means.

It means to change, to turn, to turn from sin and turn to God.

It's a change of mind.

And so last week, before we dive into our text, we looked at verses one through four, who told us who we were in Christ.

And then today, 5 through 11 is gonna tell us how we should live.

But I want you to get this.

And so when you think about scripture, a lot of times the way the Bible's written, it's laid out in indicatives and imperatives.

Okay, so stay with me.

So an indicative, this this is what God has done.

This is indicating a truth.

So in verses 1 through 4, they're loaded, right?

We looked last week.

We have been raised with Christ, we were died with Christ, we are hidden with Christ.

Christ is our life, we'll appear with Christ.

These are glorious good news.

These are truths, these are indicatives of what God has done.

Then the imperatives come.

The imperatives are these commands, what we should do.

And so, biblically speaking, all imperatives are always grounded in indicatives.

This is Christianity.

What God has done.

All other world religions, you do something in hopes that he will accept you.

Christianity, there's not enough we can do.

We're sinful.

He did it.

And then we believe and respond to that.

And so in Colossians 1, he says, seek and set your minds above, seek things above, because your life has been raised with him.

He did this.

You'll see this in Ephesians.

In Ephesians chapter 1 through 3, it's heavy theologically.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

There's some nuggets in chapters 1 through 3.

And then 4 through 6 gets real practical.

And so, chapter 4 of Ephesians, this is Paul writing to the church at Ephesus, he says, I therefore a prisoner of the Lord, he's literally captivated by the Lord, but he's also been captured for preaching the gospel.

He's in prison in a Roman cell.

And he says, Urge you to the church at Ephesus to walk in a manner worthy of the calling.

The word worthy, it's an interesting word in the Greek, it's axiosid.

It carries the idea, the imagery of corresponding weight and worth.

So Paul's thought can be pictured like scales that you're calling, right, on your life and the way you live your life.

They match.

What the word says how we should live matches actually how you live.

And one of the greatest threats to this staying out of balance all the time is sin in your life.

And one of the greatest resources that God has given us to walk in a manner worthy is the opportunity to repent on a daily basis.

Now listen, 2 Corinthians 7 says it like this, right?

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.

Whereas worldly grief produces death.

What's he saying?

Worldly grief.

Worldly grief says, I'm sorry I got caught.

Godly grief, godly grief is I'm so sorry I offended a holy God.

It's a huge, huge difference.

And so let's read the text as we dive in.

Verse five.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here there is neither Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

So let me show you three truths today, really quick, of how God calls us to change through, I'm gonna show you two through repentance and one through renewal.

So the first point is this God calls us to put to death all sinful passions.

God calls us to put to death all sinful passions.

Now, repentance requires radical action.

But let's understand what God's doing.

Let's understand very quickly theologically what God's doing.

There's two terms that I need to explain to you so you understand what's happening in the text.

The two terms are these justification and sanctification.

Let me unpack them.

Justification is a word that means biblically to be made right with God.

So here's the key.

When you trusted Christ, when you repented the first time of your sin, acknowledging that you were a sinner, that you need his grace, you need his mercy.

When you came into a relationship with Christ, when you became a Christian, when you became a follower of Christ, in that moment in the spiritual courtroom, in that moment, God looks on you because of what Christ has done, and you're putting all your faith and trust and hope in him.

Unholy people, this is the miracle and mercy of the gospel, declared, looked upon by God.

We're clothed in Christ's righteousness, and we're we're born again in that moment.

But then after you've done that and you start walking with God, you have a relationship with God, you start going to church, praying, reading the Bible, and yet there's still this war that rages inside of you.

The flesh and the spirit, and you feel this tension, you feel conviction of things that are going on.

What is all of that happening?

What's happening?

In that moment, the word is sanctification.

It's being made more like God.

This is a daily change.

Paul's not writing to the unbelieving world, he's writing to the church in Colossae from prison, and he's gotten word of what's going on there, and he wants to strengthen and encourage.

And so he writes, and so just know this this morning.

This sanctification process, this change that we all long for, it's not attaining a state of perfection.

It's striving with perseverance to be more like Christ, to be more loving and patient and holy and blameless and humble.

And notice the language Paul uses in verse five.

What does he say?

He says, put to death.

This word in the Greek means cause something to be dead.

Don't kill sin to be made right with God.

Kill sin because he has made you right with him.

The 17th century theologian John Owen.

I need to, I don't know if I'm akin to him.

It'd be cool.

I doubt it.

But need to look at the tree.

He says it like this in a book, what a great title, The Mortification of Sin.

He says, be killing sin, or it will be killing you.

In other words, don't manage your sin because it will manage you.

And when you live habitually in a pit of sin, what it does, it makes your soul look like the king of Roan, right?

In Lord of the Rings, Two Towers, when he came under the spell.

You remember that?

If you hadn't seen it, it's a great movie, incredible movie.

But he comes under this spell.

And his his whole persona, his whole countenance looks like death.

This is what your soul looks like when you live habitually in sin.

Listen, listen.

Sin promises more than it will ever deliver.

It'll cost you more than you are willing to pay, and it keeps you longer than you thought you would ever stay.

And notice the list that he lists.

I mean, when you read this, you think Paul has visited the West recently.

It's a house church.

Out in the middle of Central Asia.

I've been to it when I was in seminary.

I went to Colossae, the town.

It's a small town.

God's word is timeless.

Notice he says these things to put to death.

Sexual immorality.

The word sexual immorality from the Greek it we get our English word prenea.

It's the word for pornography.

It's pornographic.

It's illicit sexual conduct.

It's impurity.

These passions, these uncontrolled desires, these evil desires, these cravings that seemingly would never go away.

And those what he sums it up with.

Covetousness.

This idea of I want what I want when I want it.

You ever feel that desire in the heart?

And look, listen, listen, we we have never had more access to sexual sin than we do with the devices in our pocket and the screens in our house.

It's so easily accessible.

And listen, it will eat your soul.

Now why?

Why?

Listen, why the seriousness of this strong language to put to death?

Because of verse six.

Look at verse six.

Verse six says it says, on account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

He knows this insatiable appetite for sexual sin will bring the wrath of God.

And listen, listen this morning.

Listen, this is why we love Christ, because he bore the wrath of God.

And the wrath of God that awaits all those who don't repent and turn to him.

He bore God's wrath to bring you freedom, to break chains of addiction.

He loves you, listen, he loves you so much.

He wants you to be free.

He wants to forgive you.

Pornography, impurity, covetousness.

This is why, this is why he died for you.

Look, you'll never be more happy than when you walk in holiness.

Closeness to God, communion with God by his spirit, with a clean conscience before a holy God is inexpressible.

Run to Christ, who was put to death and drank God's full wrath upon himself.

In order to give you power to put to death these sins that wage war against you.

Against me.

This is such a sobering text, is it not?

Nice light nine thirty service.

Rain.

My grass is growing.

A latte, a muffin state one.

Let's go to church.

Wrath of God.

Yeah, it's coming.

And he's provided a way for you to miss it.

Imagine it's like Niagara Falls, his wrath.

Imagine walking under Niagara and a drop not touch you.

Because you're covered.

That's what it's like to be covered by the blood of Christ.

Not a drop of wrath will touch you.

Look, this is glorious good news.

And so, non-Christian, listen, repent.

If you're not a Christian this morning, repent and be made right with God.

And if you're a Christian, repent.

And be made more like God.

Turn.

Ephesians 5 says, but sexual immorality and every kind of impurity or covetousness must not even be mentioned.

Look, this summer, all of us struggle, right?

There's no water, there's no rain, grass died.

And what happens?

All the roaches, all the bugs outside come inside.

And they ended up on my counter, right?

And every morning I'm there, I'm like trying to kill one.

Like I take a napkin, I'm killing one, I'm killing one, I'm killing one.

And what eventually I had to do, I had to not just kill the symptoms, I had to kill the source.

I had to go under the counter, under the house, spray, put put the the little trays out, the the little things where they you kill them, right?

Because this is the way we need to treat sin.

You don't just manage it, you just don't wipe out one or two each day.

No, you gotta kill the source of the symptoms.

Paul says, put to death.

Put to death this sexual immorality.

So, so but this this let me just do some counseling really quick and encouragement in the weight of the heaviness.

Look, sex is a gift from God to be experienced in marriage.

It's not bad.

Let's redeem it for what God made it for.

But but it's it's it's like a fireplace, right?

It's when when when controlled and confined, it brings warmth, joy to the house.

When it's controlled, sex is controlled and confined to marriage, it's like a fireplace.

But when it's outside a marriage, it burns the whole house down.

Chaos, damage, relationships.

It's absolutely chaos.

And our culture, I don't have to explain it.

You live in it.

Proverbs 6 says it like this can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?

Romans 13, Paul's writing to Rome, he says, So let us cast off the works of darkness, let's put on the armor of light, let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

What does that mean?

That means don't provide anything in your life that would cause you to sin more easily.

I've worked with young men all my life for 30 years in ministry.

And I just tell them this all the time.

I'm like, look, man, I've discovered a way you can definitely live and never, ever, ever, ever be bit by a shark.

You want to know what it is?

Don't go in the ocean.

Right?

And so get rid.

Like don't swim, maybe and hope there's not a shark.

You don't mess with sin.

You don't manage it.

It will master you.

Listen, what you starve, listen, listen.

What you starve eventually dies.

And what you feed gradually grows.

Don't mess with it.

It's so dangerous.

I tell these young men, we made it six thousand years without a phone.

Go back to the flip phone.

And they do.

And they're gonna be okay.

Listen, Revelation 3.19, Jesus says to the churches, there's seven churches.

He says to one of them, Those whom I love, I reprove you and discipline you.

So be zealous.

Be zealous and repent.

It restores deep fellowship with God.

So listen, in way of application, let's get serious about sin and repent.

And let's remember the gospel.

Let's remember, listen, we are way more wicked than we ever dare believe, and way more love than we could ever imagine.

Tim Keller wrote that and helped us think through that.

We chew on that a lot.

He's a pastor that passed away a few years ago from New York.

Listen, if you have a healthy view of sin, you'll have a high view of Jesus.

If you don't think you're that bad, Jesus won't be that good.

And the guard comes down, and the arrows come flying.

Listen, put to death.

Secondly, he says, God calls us to put off all sinful practices.

Notice verses three and eight.

He moves in to not lying, not these different things, anger, malice, slander.

We've got to put these off.

Now he moves from this radical language of killing sin to this relational language of controlling, watch this, mostly what comes out of our mouth.

This is why God put your tongue and my tongue inside of a cage called teeth.

Because it's dangerous.

He knew as if these sins may not be as devastating as the first list, but they're still damaging.

So he says, put off.

He's using this metaphor of changing clothes that describes putting off sins and putting on Christ.

When I grew up, I grew up in a small country town of Southern Virginia.

There was a farming community, and I would work on a farm during the summers for my summer job, hard work and tobacco.

We would plant, raise, pick, pull, fill the barns, and I would take two or three shirts with me to work.

And we'd start at 6 a.m., knock off about 7 p.m.

And my arms, my clothes, I would go, I would just be soaking wet, it'd be so hard, so intense, but but I would have stains all over my clothes.

I would have to, when I got home, my mom used to like the first bath was outside with the garden hose to spray you down before she even let me in the house.

And then another bath get cleaned up.

But I never went outside and put the old clothes back on.

Never, once.

And this is what we're doing with sin.

We put it off for one day, then we pick it back up the next day.

We put it off, then we then we then we pick it back up.

He's like, no, listen, there's a daily routine of repentance from anger, right?

This this easily irritated somebody cuts you off in the highway, and you're like, no, I ain't like.

What is that?

The sin, wrath, this viciousness, this malice, this cruelty, being cruel to other people, the slander, the insults.

I'm so sick of the political commercials already.

I just mute them every time.

I mean, just say something nice, even if you don't like each other.

The obscene talk, right?

It's unhelpful, it's unhealthy, lying.

And this is what is this doing?

This exposing what's inside our heart.

James would write it like this the tongue, it's a world of evil among all the body parts.

And then he illustrates it, he illustrates it in a unique way, in three different ways.

He talks about the bit in a horse's mouth, the rudder under a boat, and then a spark in the woods.

And he uses three different illustrations to illustrate the power of the tongue, that it's so powerful, it's like a bit in a horse's mouth.

You know, a horse weighs about 1,100 pounds, and a bit weighs less than one pound.

And yet, in it, it gives it direction and speed.

Right?

The rudder under the boat, you can't see it.

It's so small for these huge boats, and yet it helps it go and move.

And one little spark in a forest can set the whole thing on fire, and so can your words.

And so he says in verse 9, you have to put off the old self with its practices.

Keep changing clothes.

Martin Luther, one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation, early on, 1500s, was opposing some of the things that the church was teaching and was trying to reform it.

And so he wrote out 95 theses, and he nails them to the church door in Germany, Wittenberg.

And the first of the 95 says that the Christian life is a life of repentance.

Daily repentance.

Acts 4 says, repent, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

So let's let's practice daily repentance and embrace the joy of his presence.

You will never, ever, ever regret it.

Well, notice last quickly as God calls us to put on the new self.

Notice in verses 10 and 11, he says, and have put on the new self.

And as you put off the old self, verse 9, he says, with its practices, and have put on the new self.

Now notice what happens in the text.

It says, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.

What is happening when you change the clothes?

In other words, what happens?

There's a renewal that takes place in you and to you.

Now, what's awesome about the word renewal is that in the Greek language, it's in the passive voice.

What does that mean?

That means that this renewal is happening to us, not by us.

So, so when you're your responsibility, look, let's let God's done all the work, then you're walking with him, being sacrifice.

Repent, ask for forgiveness, genuine sorryness.

And then God's, what he's gonna do to you, what's gonna happen to you?

He's gonna renew you.

Romans 12 says it like this I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Old Testament language of sacrifice, a sacrifice was dead.

So why would he want you to be a living sacrifice that you would live as a dead man for him, that he would live through you?

You would die to self, and he would live through you.

And he says, Be holy, don't conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

Listen, listen, closing.

Here we go.

We we sin, you know this, I know this.

We sin because we want to.

We have a desire to.

Our hearts want it.

And Jesus teaches in Mark chapter 7 that out of the heart, out of the heart come sexual immorality, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness, all of that's coming from there and there.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

And he says, listen, what Paul's teaching, the only way we change is by our heart finding a superior pleasure in Christ over sin.

That's what he's saying.

Look, we don't we don't overcome sin through behavior modification.

We overcome sin through heart transformation, by seeing and savoring Christ as a superior desire.

The 18th century Scottish pastor Thomas Chalmers, he wrote a sermon.

We've shared this with you before and we'll share it again.

It's called the Expulsive Power of a New Affection.

And what is he saying, in essence, is you can't successfully defeat a desire that rules your heart by telling yourself how bad it is.

You have to replace it with a greater affection.

It's like this bucket of water, right?

There's two ways to get the water out.

You can you can dump it, but it's inevitably it's just gonna be empty.

Or you can put something in it of greater substance that expels what's in it out.

If you just try to live by all defense, stop sinning, stop sinning, and you're left empty.

You've got to you've got to go offense and put something of greater superior in you, namely affections for Christ.

And it pushes it out.

Second Corinthians says, beholding the glory of God, you're being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, sanctification.

For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

What you behold, you become like.

And he says, we need a renewal.

For Christ is all.

Christ is everything that you need.

Christ is everything that you need.

He will make you right with the Father.

He will take you by the power of his spirit into communion with him.

And then all these different people, ethnicities and stuff, of talking in chapter 11.

What's happening there?

I mean, when Christ is all, your relationship with him is right, and relationship with others are right.

And so let's behold as a people.

Let's behold the beauty of Christ.

Let's behold the beauty of Christ.

He is the Prince of Peace and the mighty God and the wonderful counselor, and by the power of his word, he upholds the entire universe.

And let's trust Christ.

Let's trust him.

If you're not a believer, put your faith in him, admit your need.

Christ has lived the life that we could not live, died the death that we deserved, was buried and rose from the dead.

So trust him for what he's done.

And then declare your identity through baptism.

At pray.org forward slash info.

You can sign up for that.

We'll walk you through what baptism looks like.

It's coming October 17th and 18th in just a couple of weeks, and we can't wait for that to happen.

So here's what I want to do.

In closing, in preparation for the supper that we're going to take together, I want to give you just a few minutes with the Lord.

If God's used any of this text to stir some things in your heart, go to Him, talk to Him.

So let's bow our heads right now and let's pray to God to help and to repent and to turn and ask Him to change you this morning.

You will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who've trespassed against us and lead us, God, not into temptation.

Father, I pray for our time right now that you would move in a powerful way.

In the hearts of all those that are both here in other rooms online, that your spirit would move in powerful ways, that you would bring conviction where it needs to be brought.

That God, you would set prisoners free, you would break chains of addiction.

We believe that you have the power to break these cycles of sin.

You have the power to give to us that He who is in us is greater than He who's in the world to say no to sin and yes to you.

God, forgive us, free us, God, as a people.

God, your word says that your mercy is anew every morning.

Great is your faithfulness.

The steadfast love of the Lord, it never ever ceases, it flows constantly.

Your word says, Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they shall see God.

God, we want to see you.

God, we want to see you save marriages.

We want to see you put homes together.

We want to see you work in our church.

We want to see you work in the older generation who has so much wisdom to offer before they spend eternity with you and step out of the last chapter of life.

So help them to not grow complacent but continue to invest in the younger generation.

God, I pray for the younger generation that you would set them free from the onslaught of sexual immorality.

Please, God, set them free.

Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they shall see God.

We want to see you, God, worshiped.

We want to see you worshiped on college campuses in this city, on high schools in this city, middle schools in this city.

Want to see you.

God, we want to see you above all else magnified in this city, this country, in this world.

So do this work, God, that only you can do.

Cause many to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of your Son.

Work, God.

Help, God.

We pray your word over us.

Psalm 121.

Where does our help come from?

We don't, it doesn't come from the hills, it comes from the maker of the hills.

You Christ, tempted three times in the desert, quoted your word over and over.

Help us to store the word in our heart so that we may not sin against you.

How does a man keep his way pure?

By hiding the word of God in our heart.

God, we need greater substance in our heart.

More of you, more of your word.

So do this, God.

Do this, we pray.

So we turn our attention, God, to this supper.

We thank you for this supper.

We thank you for what it stands for.

We're so grateful.

And we just give thanks for this bread, for this cup that we're about to take.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

Well, if you got a cup when you walked in, I want to just say a word of encouragement to you, a word of warning to you, that if you're not a Christian, we're so glad you're here.

We're so thankful you're here.

Maybe you're exploring Christianity.

But we would encourage you, the scriptures are clear that don't take this if you're not a follower of Christ.

It bears witness to something that's not true about you.

But if you are, if you are, oh my, it's the best meal of the month.

It was the night that Christ was going to be crucified.

He was going to be arrested and taken.

They were celebrating the Passover of how God had delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, out of bondage.

And the only way you survived that, if the blood was over the door and the death angel passed over the door, and you get rescued like that, you don't forget that.

You celebrate that.

And it was that night they're celebrating that that Jesus says, I'm that actually points to me.

I'm the Passover Lamb.

I'm the one that will take your life and raise it from the grave one day.

Forgive you of your sins and give you the hope of eternal life.

He said, This bread's gonna be broken.

It represents my body.

It's gonna be broken for you.

And so take as often as you can in remembrance of all I did for you.

So let's take eat with joy.

And in the same way, he took the cup.

And he said, The cup represents my blood that's gonna be shed for you on the cross.

It's the cup of the new covenant.

Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins.

And he says, When you take the cup, remember, my blood was shed for you.

So take and drink with joy.

Father in heaven, thank you for our time today.

Thank you for your mercy.

Thank you for your grace.

I pray that we would never, ever, ever get over your mercy.

It's astounding what you've done.

I pray that you would continue to help us process the text throughout the week, to walk in the light.

Strengthen us, God, for this week.

Temptations will come.

We pray you'd help us to turn to you and trust you.

Be our help in Jesus' name.

Amen.

If you would, let's stand, let's sing to Him.