Embracing the Tension: From Moral Effort to Gospel Power

• Tension and Growth [00:38:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that while people dislike tension, it is actually the primary environment for personal and spiritual growth, using his wedding day panic attack as an example of stepping into the unknown.
• Church Mission and DNA [00:41:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces a series focused on the church's mission statement and its biblical DNA, encouraging the congregation to engage with difficult or uncomfortable aspects of their shared life rather than treating it like a buffet.
• Communion and Thanksgiving [00:19:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The segment explains the etymology of Eucharist as thanksgiving and connects the practice of communion to giving thanks for Christ's body and blood, referencing Luke 22.
• Church Mission Statement [00:41:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces and reads the church's mission statement, emphasizing its biblical basis and the specific wording 'introduce our friends to Jesus' rather than 'people'.
• Evangelism and Discipleship [00:42:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the mission statement to Jesus' command to be 'fishers of men' and the Great Commission, arguing that following Jesus inherently involves reaching others.
• Congregational Responsibility vs. Clergy Role [00:46:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between the pastor's role and the congregation's role, asserting that laypeople are better positioned to reach their specific social circles (neighbors, coworkers) than professional staff.
• Overcoming Evangelism Anxiety [00:49:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the 'tension' of not knowing how to share faith or fear of offending others, using personal anecdotes to show that evangelism is a learned skill that requires growth and obedience rather than innate talent.
• Evangelism and Obedience [00:52:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story about a class where he failed to save anyone initially but learned that obedience leads to conversations, culminating in two people coming to faith after he applied the teachings despite feeling unqualified.
• Gentleness and Respect in Witnessing [00:55:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites 1 Peter to argue that believers must be prepared to give a defense for their hope, balancing the action of sharing the gospel with the attitude of gentleness and respect, acknowledging this as a difficult tension.
• Reaching the Lost vs. Equipping Saints [00:57:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor critiques the common church question of whether to focus on the lost or the saints, arguing that equipping saints is ultimately for the purpose of reaching the lost, and asserts the church's passion for evangelism.
• The Tension of Biblical Law [01:00:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the difficulty of applying biblical law in modern culture by contrasting Jesus' condemnation of Pharisaical legalism with His affirmation of the law's value, concluding that the law reflects God's good heart.
• The Goodness of God's Law [01:03:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that the law is not for harm but reflects God's goodness, urging believers to wrestle with scripture rather than sidestepping it.
• The Gospel as Good News [01:07:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines the gospel literally as 'good news' and challenges the congregation to view Jesus as a source of joy and rest rather than a burden.
• Celebrating God's Presence [01:06:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the church mission statement to the concept of celebrating God's presence, citing Psalms and Philippians as biblical mandates for rejoicing.
• Evangelism through Joy [01:11:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story where a friend was drawn to Christ not by logic, but by observing the joy of the Lord in the believer's life.
• God's Love and Desire [01:16:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that God loves and desires the listener, countering feelings of unworthiness.
• Atonement and Salvation [01:17:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Jesus died on the cross to take away the weight and shame of sin, offering salvation to those who receive Him.
• Church Identity and Mission [01:17:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor prays for the church to focus on obedience and its mission ('Introduce, learn, celebrate') rather than superficial markers like merchandise.

• Sermon Illustration [00:33:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wedding day, describing how he remained 'chill' until the moment he realized he was responsible for his wife for the rest of his life, which caused his only panic attack. He also mentions humorous details like his wife walking down the aisle to 'Bittersweet Symphony,' the pastor's microphone failing, and him spilling the sand during the ceremony.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a story about a country song where a man chooses fishing over his wife, using it as an analogy for how Jesus prioritizes 'fishing for men' above all else, even before the disciples fully understood who He was.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares personal anecdotes about parents calling him as a youth pastor to have him talk to their uninterested children about Jesus, noting that this approach has worked 'exactly zero' times, illustrating why personal relationships are key.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts his own initial reluctance to learn evangelism ('that's just not my thing') and a training class where he and others had a '0 for 5' success rate in saving people at the mall, but learned that obedience leads to conversations and planting seeds.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a multi-day class where an instructor claimed a 75% success rate in saving people at the mall. The pastor's group had a 0 for 5 success rate, dropping the instructor's average to 65%. Later, the Holy Spirit challenged him to use these skills on a couple seeking premarital counseling. Despite fumbling through a 30-minute conversation involving prayer and scripture, two people came to faith.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the common cultural trope/question asked of pastors: 'Is your church focused on seeking the lost or equipping the saints?' He debunks this as a false dichotomy, noting that from an outsider's perspective, it creates an 'us vs. them' dynamic, and argues that equipping is always in service of reaching the lost.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the biblical example of Jesus confronting the Pharisees, who 'strain out a gnat and swallow a camel' by focusing on minor rules while neglecting justice and mercy. He contrasts this with Jesus' statement that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it, illustrating the tension between legalism and the heart of God.
• Sermon Illustration [01:11:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts his first time sharing the gospel with a friend who felt she was 'missing something' by observing the joy in his family's life, noting that her conversion was driven by that observed joy rather than logical argumentation.
• Sermon Illustration [01:17:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a rhetorical illustration regarding 'cove t-shirts' to highlight that material or cultural identifiers have no place in heaven, emphasizing that the church's focus should be on obedience to God's calling.

• Pastoral Charge [00:41:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > Read the church mission statement aloud with the pastor.
• Pastoral Charge [00:48:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify and engage with the specific individuals in their personal lives who are currently unreachable by the pastoral staff.
• Pastoral Charge [00:57:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invite non-believers to church, share testimony, and sign up for the 'Next Steps' class on sharing the gospel.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > Email the pastor with questions rather than complaints to schedule a meeting.
• Pastoral Charge [01:15:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Commit to stepping into moments of tension to share the gospel and trust God's presence.
• Pastoral Charge [01:17:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and commit to following Him.
• Pastoral Charge [01:17:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > Receive Jesus as Savior
• Pastoral Charge [01:17:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Choose to follow Jesus all the days of their life
• Pastoral Charge [01:18:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > Be obedient to God's calling by introducing, learning, and celebrating in all they do

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:00:07] What a God, what a God, we stand in awe of you today God. What a God, what a God, what a God, we surrender our hearts. Would you give your heart, would you give your worship to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's your feet, and I've done it all, and if the best has saved my life, then I've done it all.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:15:27] Church, what a God we have.

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:18:20] Isn't he amazing?
[00:18:21] Come on, can we lift him up with our hands, our voices?
[00:18:26] He's so worth all the praise that we were going.
[00:18:29] I love that verse on that we praised him with this morning.
[00:18:33] It's called prodigal praise.
[00:18:35] And it reminds us of all of the things that he's done for us.
[00:18:38] And it reminds us our response should be to sing hallelujah, to sing praise God.
[00:18:45] And this morning, we have the opportunity to praise God through the practice of communion.
[00:18:52] So if you have your cups, you can go ahead and grab those now.
[00:18:55] And if you're here and you're not a believer today, we are so excited that you are here.
[00:19:00] But we just ask that you refrain from taking communion just because that's what Scripture instructs us to do.
[00:19:04] But if you would like to know more about the Christian faith, we would love to talk to you about it.
[00:19:10] Eucharist is the Greek word for communion.
[00:19:13] And directly translated to English, Eucharist means thanksgiving.
[00:19:20] And that's what we're going to be doing today.
[00:19:22] By partaking in communion, we are giving thanks to God for everything that he has done for us.
[00:19:29] For him being able to lay down his son so that we could be again with our God.
[00:19:34] in Luke chapter 22 we read one of the accounts of the last supper and it reads this in verse 19 and he took the bread and he had given thanks he broke it and he gave it to them saying this
[00:19:51] is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me let us pray Lord we just thank you for your body. We thank you that you came, you gave up your throne for a time, and you gave your
[00:20:08] body to be humiliated, to be ridiculed. You gave your body for us on our behalf. You took what we deserved so that we could be with you again. We thank you and we remember your body. Amen.
[00:20:24] and may take their body.
[00:20:31] And verse 20 says this, and likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
[00:20:44] Let us pray.
[00:20:46] Lord, we thank you for your blood.
[00:20:49] We thank you that has washed our sins away, that it has restored our status with you and our relationship with you, God.
[00:20:57] We thank you for the sacrifice and we give you all of the praise and all of the glory.
[00:21:04] In Jesus' name, you may drink the cup.
[00:21:14] Church, isn't it wonderful that we get to gather together and we get to remember to be thankful, to give thanks to the Lord.
[00:21:22] So let us continue to give joy-filled praise for everything that he has done as we worship.

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:21:27] Finding it again.
[00:23:29] Thank you for being a God, for being a loving father,

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:27:46] that no matter how far away we've strayed, Father, no matter what direction that we have went in life, you are a father that we can always run God like the prodigal son who came running back to his father
[00:28:02] God we can always come running back into your arms God this morning I pray that no matter what it is that we walked into this building with no matter where we are in life right now
[00:28:17] God may we just lay it all at your altar may we lay it all at your feet each and every one of us this morning, God. May we come back to our first love. May we think of that moment when we first
[00:28:34] encountered you. May we cling to that. May we run to that, to your love, your mercy, and your grace.
[00:28:45] Father, we love you. We praise you. We lift this up in your mighty name. Amen. Amen.
[00:28:54] Well, church, why don't we take this moment and greet somebody around you and grab your seats.
[00:29:09] Good morning, church.
[00:29:10] My name is Josh, and welcome to The Cove.
[00:29:12] If you're joining us for the very first time, we are so glad that you're here.
[00:29:17] We would love to get you connected, and there's a few ways that you can do that.
[00:29:21] Right now, you can take out your phone.
[00:29:23] You can scan the QR code on the seat in front of you and click New Here, get connected digitally.
[00:29:29] Or afterwards, after the service, come find us, our first-time guest area.
[00:29:34] It is right by the front doors.
[00:29:36] Our team members, they would love to meet with you.
[00:29:38] They'd love to hear your story, and we've got a free gift for you to say thank you for being here today.
[00:29:44] Church, one of our core values is that we are generous, and throughout this entire month, we've been collecting items for our summer food drive to ensure that no child in our community would go hungry or without a meal this summer. And guess what? You guys showed out. You showed up.
[00:30:03] We were filling up the pantry.
[00:30:05] I had the absolute joy of getting to be a part of one of the deliveries.
[00:30:08] We got to go to the Ada Jenkins Center and actually bring a truckload and get to drop off everything, get to meet their staff there, and get to see firsthand the impact that the food,
[00:30:19] that these items are having on our community.
[00:30:22] So, church, we just want to say thank you for your generosity.
[00:30:25] It's making an impact here in our local community, but also all across the globe.
[00:30:30] If you'd like to give and be a part of all God's doing here at the Cove, you can do so at covechurch.org slash give, or the silver box is in the back of the room or in the atrium.
[00:30:41] Now, if you are new to the church or even newer within the last 11 months or so, you may have never experienced one of the most exciting times that we have here at the Cove.
[00:30:51] And coming up this July is our Movies at the Cove.
[00:30:56] Come on, who's excited for that?
[00:30:58] Those who do know, you've been wondering, you've been asking, what is our theme going to be this year?
[00:31:06] And guess what? Today's the day. We are ready to reveal that. Are you guys ready?
[00:31:11] Alright, check out the screens for this video.
[00:31:48] That's right, this year's theme is Toy Story!
[00:31:53] Come on, it's going to be amazing. For those of you that still don't know what Movies at the Cove is, This is a four-week movie message series in which we will be showing movies right here in the service.
[00:32:07] It's not going to be Toy Story. We're going to have a different movie every single week.
[00:32:12] And we're going to be showing clips and teaching biblical truths based upon their stories.
[00:32:17] This is going to be an amazing time.
[00:32:20] We actually transform our entire church, entire atrium, the kids' areas into a movie set, which is going to be Toy Story.
[00:32:29] And when I say we, I mean you guys.
[00:32:31] This is the entire church that gets to be a part of this.
[00:32:35] That build date, it's what we call Movies at the Cove build after our 1130 service on Sunday, June 28th.
[00:32:42] So mark your calendars for June 28th and then every Sunday in July as we get to celebrate Movies at the Cove, transform our atrium into a movie set to be ready to transform the hearts and lives
[00:32:56] of so many families this summer.
[00:32:58] But for now, let's welcome our lead pastor, Will Kranz, to the stage as we begin our new series.
[00:33:07] Come on.

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:33:10] Movies at the Cove is right around the corner. I'm excited.
[00:33:14] It is summer. Your kids are off.
[00:33:18] Anyone? Okay.
[00:33:21] You are not excited about that. Okay.
[00:33:24] Hey, welcome. Let's make some noise. Let's welcome our Denver campus right now.
[00:33:28] Would you make some noise here, Morrisville?
[00:33:29] Denver, make some noise. It's good to be together today. Hey, I'm excited. This was a special week for our family. My wife and I celebrated 15 years this week, which had me thinking, yeah.
[00:33:46] So I got to tie that into our message a little bit. I had me thinking about our wedding day.
[00:33:51] And you know, a lot of people, how many people were stressed around wedding time? Like how many people were big stress planners? Okay. How many people were criers at the altar? Any criers at the altar? Okay. We got a couple of criers at the altar. Yeah. I wasn't any of those things. I was
[00:34:11] chill. I was cool. I was 22, 23 years old. You know, we didn't have major problems that we, I mean, we thought there were major problems at the time, but we were just kind of enjoying
[00:34:28] life, having fun. I was a professional dodgeball player, aka I accepted a job as the youth pastor here at the Cove. My wife had just gotten fully funded to be a local missionary, and you know, that day came. I think my wife was probably stressing more than I was, if I can be
[00:34:47] honest. Can I get an amen from any of the wives in the house? I'm like sitting here like, we were totally good, and they're like, yeah, she did all the work, bro, which is probably true, but I
[00:34:57] remember just coming and just feeling like it was another day that I was excited I was excited to celebrate I was excited to get married I I was just so excited we were gonna move into our home
[00:35:09] together I mean into our apartment together I was so excited for what this day meant my wife let me walk down the aisle to Star Wars you know she won some huge brownie points for that she walked down
[00:35:23] a bittersweet symphony. Our pastor, Brett Gray, who is still a pastor here at the Cove, he asked everyone to rise and his microphone didn't turn on. I'll never forget this. And he, you know, as
[00:35:34] my wife, I get the first look at my wife and she looks absolutely stunning, beautiful. And I've got pastor tapping my shoulders saying, bro, look at my microphone, look at my microphone. And the third
[00:35:45] time he asked me to look at his butt instead of my wife, as she walked down the aisle, I was like, dude, you got to stop. You got to just stop asking. You know, I don't care. I remember we
[00:35:55] got to the pouring of the sands. You guys know this part of the ceremony. Some of you maybe did this where you blend the sands together. You each have a vial of, of, of sands. And the pastor
[00:36:08] explained this represents your past and your future and your, your future children one day.
[00:36:13] And I spilled my cup of sand.
[00:36:17] The joke in our house is that I dropped the baby before we even had children, you know?
[00:36:22] I mean, but it was all fun.
[00:36:25] We high-fived down the aisle, and I felt like this was so exciting.
[00:36:29] This was so great.
[00:36:30] And I remember before we did wedding pictures or all that craziness, we were advised just to take a minute to be alone.
[00:36:36] And we sat down on a bench and looked at each other and said, We are husband and wife.
[00:36:42] and that is the first and only panic attack I've ever had in my life right there. I'm actually being dead serious. Out of nowhere, I could barely breathe. I was like, they just let us do this,
[00:36:54] you know? I mean, nobody stopped us. Like, you know, and I remember thinking to myself, you know, I know how to, what I was feeling was tension. What I was feeling was, you know, all these
[00:37:06] these things that I was, I felt like I was able to do dating and be the fun guy and have a great time. And now I'm looking at my wife and it just like hit me like a ton of bricks. Like I'm
[00:37:16] responsible for you the rest of my life, you know? And, and not that Aaron's hard to be responsible for or anything. I just felt this weight on me. You know, I just felt this tension because all
[00:37:29] of a sudden I felt like, you know, all the things I've been comfortable with, all the things I was, you know felt like I knew what I was doing all of a sudden I feel in over my head you know I feel
[00:37:40] like I'm stepping into the unknown I'm not sure what this is all gonna look like I remember I had this full-blown like fear my wife actually loves this she thinks this is hilarious that this was the moment I I had a because she's you know she never sees me like this but she's like
[00:37:55] you're finally taking this seriously you know and I remember just feeling this this tension you know and tension is is a word that we don't like none of us like the idea of tension anyone
[00:38:08] looking for more tension in their life right now just show of hands anyone anyone across uh denver you know let me know anyone looking for a little more tension at work you know things are just
[00:38:17] going too smoothly at work you know more tension in our marriages more tension in our homes right No one's looking for more tension, but we know this.
[00:38:27] The reality is we grow the most in moments of tension, don't we?
[00:38:33] We grow the most in moments where we feel like it goes beyond my ability, in moments that it feels like I'm not good at this naturally.
[00:38:43] I have to make some adjustments for the tension.
[00:38:47] in all honesty we we spend so much of life trying to get away from attention without realizing the tension is actually the place that we grow the most can I get an amen think about the times you
[00:39:01] have grown most in life the things in life that have had the greatest impact on you or changed you they were probably moments that came with some tension some uncertainty some feeling like this is beyond me. And so in this series, I'm excited. We're going to talk about the tension that exists
[00:39:22] in the church. We're going to be talking about our church and some of the, some of the tension points around what our mission is and what our DNA is as a church, because the reality is as a
[00:39:34] church, we face tension. And look, this is true of any church at all. In general, when you are at a church, you will feel like there are things you like about that church, right? That's why you're
[00:39:45] there. There are things that you identify with. There are things that when they talk about, you're like, I love that my church talks about that or does that. But there are also things that any church you've ever been at, including this one right here, that you go, I don't get
[00:40:00] why we do that. Or I don't love that we do that. You know, that's not my first choice. Or maybe you've come to a service and heard a topic that you're like, we could never talk about that one
[00:40:10] again, and I'd be okay with that. Can I get an amen? Come on, somebody. You know, how about the money talk? You guys like the money talk, right? Or I always get this one. This is the week I
[00:40:20] finally brought my neighbor, you know? And you're talking about that this week. I cannot believe it, you know? But in the tension, that's actually where we often grow. And that's actually where we're actually stretched a little bit. And so what I want this series to be focused on is really
[00:40:38] leaning into the tension points that we have in the church, leaning into, instead of just going, you know, okay, treat it like a buffet, you know, I'll take some, I'll leave some, really leaning in
[00:40:49] to those places that we go, that's not my natural gift, that's not my natural strength, but I know it's good for me. And so I'm excited to kind of go through this series talking about the mission
[00:41:01] of the church, as well as, you know, some of the tension points of the DNA of the church itself. So today I want to start by reading our mission statement as a church. This is all biblically
[00:41:12] based. This is really the mission statement we started in under our founding pastor, and I want us to actually read it together. So it's going to be right up here on the side screens at both
[00:41:20] Denver and Mooresville. Would you read this out loud with me, church? At the Cove Church, we will introduce our friends to Jesus, learn to follow him, and celebrate his presence in our lives.
[00:41:34] All right, I was already looking.
[00:41:35] Some of you guys still didn't actually read the mission statement.
[00:41:39] I need you to lean into the tension a little bit, okay?
[00:41:42] Come on, somebody.
[00:41:44] This is the mission statement that we've had.
[00:41:46] Our founding pastor and the core team put together this mission statement.
[00:41:50] And clearly, we're focused on how do we keep this not just like ideas that we think are important, but what are the things we see the most clearly in Scripture that God is calling us to?
[00:42:02] And so, we're going to take a second and break down where these things come from in Scripture.
[00:42:07] And every part of this mission statement, to introduce our friends to Jesus, learn to follow Him, and celebrate His presence in our lives, comes deeply from Scripture.
[00:42:17] It's seen over and over again in Scripture.
[00:42:19] The first part is that we will introduce our friends to Jesus.
[00:42:24] You know, when Jesus first called His disciples, this was one of the first things He said to His disciples.
[00:42:30] Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Now, he's saying this to actual fishers, but it's so interesting to me that he's telling them of all the things that he could make
[00:42:45] the starting point of their relationship. The very first thing he tells them is, if you follow me, they don't even know who he is yet. They don't even know what they're following him, you know,
[00:42:57] where they're following him to. They don't have any of that information, but he's very up front from the very start. If you're going to follow me, you're going to become fishers of men. It reminds
[00:43:08] me of that country song. Any country fans in the house? Just show of hands. Come on. Anyone a country fan? Give me a yee-haw or a woo. I don't know what you, what you, I'm not a country guy, but there was
[00:43:19] one country song I remember growing up that, that was a favorite of me and my cousins to sing. It's song about a guy who wants to go fishing. He goes fishing every day. He loves fishing. And one day
[00:43:29] his wife tells him, this is before I was married, his wife tells him, if you go fishing, I'm leaving you. And the next line in the song is, I'm gonna miss her. Lookie there, I got a bot. That's my
[00:43:44] country voice right there. Anyone know that one? Anyone know that one? Okay, I got, yeah. And hopefully you're not living by that motto, but the idea is the same, fishing before anything else, right? And this is actually consistent with scripture, okay? Maybe not that exact song,
[00:44:04] but the idea that Jesus says from the very start, he could have said anything. He could have said, I'll teach you how to walk with God. Come with me. I'm going to show you many great miracles. Come
[00:44:16] with me. We have a great journey ahead. Come with me. I'm going to teach you the law. But he said, come with me. I'm going to make you fishers of men, right from the start. He was saying this,
[00:44:28] look, following me is going to be about more than just you. And so often we can make our faith just about us, can't we? Just about me growing, about me figuring out mysteries, about me having
[00:44:41] answers, about me being wiser, about me being more at peace. But Jesus said from the very beginning, if you're going to follow me, an element of it is going to be being a fisher of others,
[00:44:54] being someone that reaches out to others, that connects with others. Look at this. He said something very similar at the end of his life, after Jesus had died and resurrected and appeared again before the disciples. He said to them, we talked about this verse two weeks ago,
[00:45:09] go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. You know, this is the Great Commission. It's where Jesus very clearly says, look, here's your final charge. Again, go to the world. Go preach the good news. Go reach those who don't yet believe. Look at Paul,
[00:45:29] who was one of the guys who helped start the early church after Jesus had died and resurrected and returned to heaven. Paul helped plant the early churches. Here's what he said about this. For For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
[00:45:44] How then will they call on him who they have not believed?
[00:45:48] And how are they to believe in him whom they have not heard?
[00:45:51] And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
[00:45:56] You know, virtually every stop along the way of following Jesus' life in the early church comes down to a very simple concept that the believers are not here just for themselves.
[00:46:09] They're here to reach other people.
[00:46:11] They're here to make other disciples.
[00:46:13] True disciples go and make more disciples.
[00:46:18] And you know, I love this part of the mission statement.
[00:46:21] Me and the founding pastor, Mike Matting, had a conversation around the mission statement during the transition.
[00:46:28] And really, we talked about the mission statement many times before on staff.
[00:46:33] I had first heard this mission statement when I was in middle school, actually.
[00:46:38] But Mike talked about how, you know, the wording's intentional, that we at the Cove Church will introduce our friends to Jesus. It's not introduce people to Jesus. If it was just introduce people to Jesus, we'd say, that's the
[00:46:53] pastor's job, right? That's the staff's job. That's what you're paid to do. You know, go find some people and reach them. But the mission statement is, we as a church will have a passion.
[00:47:06] We will introduce our friends to Jesus.
[00:47:11] You know, I've been in ministry a while now, 16, 17 years.
[00:47:19] And I've gotten the call of, you know, hey, as Christians, sometimes we think, you know, oh, I've got a neighbor who needs Jesus.
[00:47:27] Or I've got a coworker who needs, I'll call the pastor and the pastor should come and talk to my neighbor.
[00:47:31] You know, maybe you've even done that before, you know.
[00:47:33] You call the pastor, you'll be like, my neighbor needs Jesus.
[00:47:35] So, you know, I know you don't know him, but will you just knock on my neighbor's door and start talking to him about Jesus?
[00:47:41] You know, as the youth pastor, I used to get this one all the time.
[00:47:43] I'd have parents call me and be like, I need you to come talk to my kid about Jesus.
[00:47:47] You know, I'm like, oh, that's awesome. Are they interested?
[00:47:49] They're like, no, they're not interested at all.
[00:47:51] You know, we need you to come over and just I'm going to make them come downstairs and you're going to talk to him about Jesus.
[00:47:58] Do you know how many times that has worked in the times that I've done it?
[00:48:01] Exactly zero. Right.
[00:48:03] Right? Because that's not really how it works. The mission statement is for us to introduce our friends to Jesus. You know, you're looking for someone to introduce your neighbor to Jesus.
[00:48:12] I want you to look in the mirror and meet someone. Amen? God's put you around people that you can reach that I can't. Can I just be plain with you? There are people in your life that you can reach
[00:48:25] better than any pastor could ever reach. There are people in your life that God has put you there and you can reach them better than any staff member of our church ever could. They're your
[00:48:36] neighbors, your friends, your co-workers. They see your life. It's to introduce our friends to Jesus.
[00:48:47] You know, here's the thing, then this is where we get back to this idea of tension. I think most of us would nod our heads and go, yeah, yeah, we should introduce other people to Jesus. That's
[00:48:57] a big part of what we're supposed to do. But statistics show only five to ten percent of Christians say that they actually share their faith consistently. You know, that's a small number if we're all in agreement like, this is the big thing Jesus tells us to do. Really, five to ten
[00:49:15] percent of us actually takes that seriously and does it. So what's with that? It's the tension.
[00:49:22] It's the tension of, I don't know how to do that, you know?
[00:49:25] Anyone feel that way?
[00:49:27] I don't know how to share Jesus with someone, you know?
[00:49:29] I don't even know how I do that.
[00:49:32] Or maybe you're sitting here going, I don't want to offend them, you know?
[00:49:36] And if I start talking about Jesus, they're probably just going to be so offended that I would even say the name Jesus in front of them.
[00:49:42] Or we think, you know, I'll probably just lead them further away from Jesus, you know?
[00:49:47] I so don't know what I'm doing.
[00:49:49] if I sat down and talked to them, they'd get less saved, honestly. You know, what am I supposed to do? You know, church, can I just be real with you? Can I just be frank with you? You're never
[00:50:02] going to suddenly wake up one day and just be good at this. You know, this is a tension. You're never going to suddenly wake up one day and be like, I'm ready to do this now. It's something
[00:50:14] we're going to grow in, just like any tension, where it feels like I'm not great at this. It's beyond my skill set. I remember we were putting together our class that we teach here called
[00:50:25] Evangelism Foundation. It's a class about how to share the gospel from scripture of how Jesus actually saves us. And so it's a class that teaches you how to basically have that conversation, How to lean into scripture, how to connect with someone,
[00:50:43] and how to ultimately be able to walk through the key points of the gospel to actually share a salvation opportunity with someone.
[00:50:52] And I remember hearing about this class that we were going to base it on.
[00:50:56] We were taking another class here at the Cove.
[00:50:59] And they said, hey, we want to train you on how to do this.
[00:51:02] And I remember thinking, that's just not my thing.
[00:51:05] You know, you ever said that one before?
[00:51:07] You know, that's just not my thing.
[00:51:08] I was a pastor at the time mind you okay you're supposed to laugh at that thank you so someone got it over here I was a pastor and I was like that's not my thing you know I can stand on a
[00:51:19] stage and talk about you but just like sitting staring across at someone one-on-one you know talking and telling trying to convince someone about Jesus that's not my thing I'm not comfortable with that I don't I don't feel great about it but I knew we were getting ready to put together this
[00:51:35] curriculum and I was part of that. So I was like, all right, I'll, I'll, I'll take the class. You know, I was thinking of, I'm not the Larry Polk, you know, anyone know Larry Polk in the house?
[00:51:44] You know, Larry, Larry's been, uh, uh, uh, on staff with us and a pastor for us for 20 years.
[00:51:49] And you go to Taco Bell, someone's getting saved in Taco Bell with Larry Polk, you know? I mean, can we give it up for Larry Polk? That's 20 years of doing that. That's amazing. And I just,
[00:52:01] I remember thinking that's, that's just not me. It's not my thing. And we sat down to take this class and um you know started going through how do you how do you connect with someone how do you
[00:52:12] how do you begin to pull scripture and what are the scriptures that you pull in and the instructor let us know at the end of this class it was a multi-day class said on the last day of the class
[00:52:21] we're gonna go to the mall and go talk to random people and get them saved and i was like that's so weird you know i remember being like the tension is real you know i remember being like this and
[00:52:35] he was like, I have a 75% success rate, you know, doing this. He told us, and I said, that's crazy.
[00:52:41] I can't wait to see this. We were 0 for 5 when we went out there. We dropped his percentage badly.
[00:52:47] He's down to 65% now, you know? I mean, but we went, and here's what blew my mind. We went and realized, okay, people will talk to you, though, you know? No, nobody got saved right then and
[00:53:03] there. But it began to become clear. Okay, people will talk to you about Jesus. You know, if I'm obedient, there are conversations to be had. Who knows what seeds we're planting. I remember getting to the end of that class and being done and being like, phew, we made it. You know, this is great.
[00:53:19] And the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke to me really clearly out of that. And he said, just plainly, I want you to put that to use right now. I thought, okay. And he said, are we going to
[00:53:34] actually use this or are you just taking a class to do a class you know and it was like it was beating up on me a little bit the holy spirit in this moment he's like you know because my heart
[00:53:43] was not really in the right place and that evening i had a session with a couple who i knew weren't believers that they were kind of on the fence about the whole church thing and about the whole
[00:53:53] god thing but they were wanting to get married they were family friends of ours and i said well i'll walk you through some some you know marriage guidance and do premarital counseling and and began walking you through that. And the Lord was like, are you going to go actually, like, you know,
[00:54:08] you know, they don't yet know me and you haven't been clear about how they could. And so I said, okay, I'm going to put in the, I'm going to apply the teachings. I sat down with them and I fumbled
[00:54:22] my way through about a 30 minute conversation of trying to talk, listen, pray, share, read scripture, fumble, mumbled, messed up several times, and two people came to faith in the Lord at the end of that conversation. Can I just encourage you? I know you don't feel qualified.
[00:54:41] There are many times I don't feel qualified. But when the Lord puts people in your life and says, I want you to be a fisher, go be obedient. You know, and we go back to the thing that's easiest
[00:54:58] for us. We think, you know, well, we'll just, we'll just be a good person around them. You know, that kind of counts, right? So what do we do? We pray at the lunch table, and we don't cuss around
[00:55:09] them, and we're like, now I've shown them Jesus, you know? You know, I did good. But look what Peter says. Look at this. Peter says it plainly. He says, always be prepared to make a defense to
[00:55:22] anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.
[00:55:30] Peter was talking about how to spread the gospel in the early times of the church.
[00:55:34] And what Peter points out is actually, yes, what you're saying to do is a part of it.
[00:55:38] To be a light by your actions, by your works, by what you do.
[00:55:42] But also, be ready to have an answer.
[00:55:45] Be ready to open your mouth.
[00:55:47] Be ready to share.
[00:55:48] Be ready to give glory to God.
[00:55:50] And then he points out the tension.
[00:55:51] But you also have to do it with gentleness and respect.
[00:55:55] Do you see how this is a tension point?
[00:55:57] It's hard. It's not easy.
[00:55:58] But here's the thing.
[00:55:59] Don't just sidestep the tension.
[00:56:01] Don't just go, well, I don't know how to do that, so I'm not gonna do it, you know?
[00:56:05] Don't just be the corner preacher who stands on a corner and yells the gospel but doesn't talk to people.
[00:56:11] It's a tension.
[00:56:13] You gotta figure out how to manage that tension, how to be obedient to what God's calling us to do, even when I feel underqualified.
[00:56:23] I wanna encourage you just to ask a very simple question today.
[00:56:26] who is the Lord put in your life that you're supposed to be fishing that you're supposed to be connecting you're supposed to be reaching out you know maybe there's multiple different ways you can be obedient to the Lord you can be a light by the way you live you can give glory to God by
[00:56:45] what you actually say out loud acknowledging God you know don't just leave it to the athletes when a microphone goes in their face and they say I want to give all the glory to God what would that
[00:56:54] look like in our lives to walk that way? Invite them to church. It's a great way. Share your testimony. Share the gospel. Maybe you're here today. You're going, I don't know how to share the gospel. You can go to the Next Steps area. Let them know. I want to take that class. We have
[00:57:10] that class. We teach it every year. You know, you can get on the list to take that class in the future. But I want to encourage you not just to sidestep the tension of, that's just not my thing.
[00:57:22] You know, I just don't know how to share Jesus with people, but to lean into the tension. It's where you're going to grow. The second thing in our mission statement is that we learn to follow
[00:57:33] him. And, you know, this one's interesting because when we talk about learning to follow Jesus, we usually go straight to the rules. You know, what are the rules that Jesus has for us? But learning to follow Jesus goes far beyond the rules, much deeper than the rules. Can I just
[00:57:50] talk about a real tension in the church. One of the questions we get all the time as pastors, is your church focused on reaching lost people, or is it focused on depth? The question drives
[00:58:02] me crazy. Can I just tell you that right now? Please don't ask me that question, okay?
[00:58:06] Because I've heard it phrased even this way. This is the way maybe you've heard it. Is your church focused on seeking the lost or equipping the saints? And I hear that question, and I think,
[00:58:18] I already know where you stand on this issue, just based on the way you've asked that question.
[00:58:23] Because if I was a person who did not believe in Jesus and did not yet identify with the Christian religion, and I heard that question asked, is your church focused on seeking the lost or equipping
[00:58:34] the saints? I'm like, okay, so I'm the lost and you guys are all saints. Okay. I've seen what you do on Mondays. All right. Let me just say like, I'm out on that. I want to be really clear about
[00:58:45] this. Jesus called us at the end of the day to reach people with the message of Jesus, that disciples would create disciples. And yes, we should go deeper. Yes, we should learn more about what
[00:58:59] God's word says. Yes, we should have a better understanding of God's law. But at the end of the day, all those things are so that we can ultimately reach people who are far from God. And so I want
[00:59:12] you to hear this really plainly. This church is passionate about, and the people who call this church home are passionate about reaching people who don't know God. And that's our kids, that's our own family members, that's our neighbors, that's our co-workers. We're passionate about
[00:59:32] the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen? You know, so often we make this about the law, you know, and here's one of the struggling points. In 2026, some of the things in the Bible don't go great
[00:59:47] with today's culture. Can I get an amen? Some of the things in the Bible we look at and we go, how are we going to make that work to someone who doesn't know Jesus? You know, some of these
[00:59:58] topics are tension topics. And I want to talk about how do we address this tension in 2026?
[01:00:05] How do we get serious about, no, we're really going to follow Jesus. We're really going to follow the law that he's put in front of us and trust that the law is good. But we still want to
[01:00:14] reach people who are looking at that law going, that's crazy, or that's wrong, or that's morally doesn't fit our culture today. How do we do those things? I want you to look at what Jesus said
[01:00:27] about the law, because the law in and of itself is a tension point in scripture. Look at what Jesus said. He said, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. These were the leaders of the law, the teachers of
[01:00:38] the law. He said, hypocrites, you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.
[01:01:00] Someone here today is like, get him, Jesus, go, go. You know, I mean, we love when, we love seeing this, you should be ashamed of yourself, you know. Why do we love shaming people so much? We love
[01:01:10] that, don't we? You should be ashamed of yourself, you know, putting all these rules on people.
[01:01:16] Jesus was saying plainly, you're so focused on the rules, you're so focused on the law, you strain out a gnat while you swallow a camel, you know. You're hypocrites in what you do.
[01:01:30] But look, Jesus also said this.
[01:01:34] Also according to Matthew, this is the same guy said, Jesus also said this.
[01:01:40] Do not think that I've come to abolish the law or prophets.
[01:01:44] I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
[01:01:47] For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
[01:01:58] Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
[01:02:07] But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
[01:02:13] Do you see the tension here in Scripture around the law?
[01:02:17] Jesus says it really plainly.
[01:02:19] He says, you're focused on all these details.
[01:02:22] You're putting this unnecessary weight.
[01:02:24] He comes after the Pharisees.
[01:02:25] but he also says at the same time, the law has value. And if you're going to teach other people just to be disobedient to the law, that's a massive problem as well. Church, can I just tell
[01:02:35] you, there is tension around the law, even when Jesus walked among us. And so here's the thing.
[01:02:47] We can't just sidestep this tension because here's what Jesus wanted us to get. This is what he was trying to teach the whole time, and we see it plainly, that at the end of the day, Jesus' goal
[01:02:59] wasn't that everyone would know all laws. It was that they would know God's heart. Amen? And that they would see God's heart through the law. That rather than these Pharisees who just hammered the law home without anyone understanding the heart behind it, and so all these people were hardened
[01:03:16] off to it and felt just this weight and burden under this idea of following God, because these Pharisees, all they want to do is hammer the law in over and over again. That wasn't good. But also
[01:03:28] to just ignore the law and just say, oh, that doesn't even, that's also not good. The end goal is to know God's heart and let the law be reflected in God's heart. Because at the end of the day,
[01:03:41] church, I want you to hear this. Maybe there are some things in 2026 that you look at in the law and in scripture and you go, I don't get that or I struggle with that. And that's fair. It's fine
[01:03:51] that you struggle with it. But at the end of the day, I want you to hear this plainly. The law is good because God is good. Amen. And so if God gives us these commands, it's good. It's not for your
[01:04:05] harm. It's not to hurt you. It's not to destroy you. God is good. And the commands he has for us are good. And so I want to encourage you. Maybe you've seen this tension and we try to sidestep
[01:04:24] this tension. You know, we can sidestep the tension in a couple ways. One way we can sidestep the tension is to be like the Pharisees. We just say things like, well, that's just what God's word
[01:04:34] says. You know, I don't even know why. If it was me, I wouldn't even do it that way. But that's what God's word says. So that's what you have to do. It doesn't show God's heart. You know,
[01:04:46] you're just trying to clean yourself of any of the drama you know and i don't know i don't know this is what god's word says it's not me it's him don't sidestep the tension it's way harder
[01:05:02] to walk through this with someone it's way harder to get into the word with someone it's way harder to wrestle with some of those things that we see in scripture i want to encourage you talk to your life groups about it you know you can email me i'll sit down and talk
[01:05:19] to you about any issue that you maybe have or are wrestling with in God's word. I will gladly do that. wcranz.covechurch.org. You go ahead. Don't email me complaints. Email me questions if you got them. We can sit down and talk. I'm available. We are here to equip you as a believer to be able
[01:05:38] to help others understand God's goodness. The other way we sidestep the law, though, is we pretend it doesn't even exist. We'll just go, I don't even want to touch that topic. I'm just going to pretend that one doesn't exist. You know, just sidestep it. And scripture says plainly,
[01:05:55] well, what kind of foundation is that to build on? You know, what are you really teaching someone to believe about God? You're basically trying to hide this law because you don't really believe that God's law is good. And so you feel like you got to hide it. And that's not right either. And
[01:06:16] so here's where I love this third part of our mission statement, because I think it ties the whole thing together. Do you remember what the third part of our mission statement is? Let's quiz you guys. Introduce our friends to Jesus. Learn to follow him. And what is it? Celebrate
[01:06:31] his presence in our lives. This is another idea that is all throughout scripture, and I think ties both these ideas. Because how are we going to do this? How are we going to introduce people to
[01:06:43] Jesus that are maybe far from Jesus when, you know, some of following Jesus is difficult?
[01:06:47] Well, at the end of the day, part of the light, part of what we should be doing is celebrating God's presence in our lives. This idea is all throughout scripture. Look at Psalm. Bless the
[01:07:01] Lord, O my soul, all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Look at Psalm 66. It says, come and hear all who fear God, and I will tell
[01:07:16] you what he has done for my soul. Philippians 4.4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Church, here's such a big part of this. Do you know what the word gospel actually means?
[01:07:31] Does anyone know? Good news. The word gospel literally means good news. Church, can I just remind you today? Jesus is good news. Why do we make him such a burden to people? Why do we lead
[01:07:49] with, let's talk about what you need to do differently to honor Jesus in your life.
[01:07:55] We have forgotten that Jesus is good news. It's a joy to get to walk with Jesus. You know, that might seem like a tension point because Jesus said, hey, if you're going to follow me, you got
[01:08:07] to pick up your cross and follow me. But Jesus also said this, if you are tired, if you are weary, come to me and I will give you rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
[01:08:22] How can both those be true at the same time? Because here's the truth. When we are walking with Jesus, when we are experiencing the joy of the Lord, when we are enjoying the presence of God,
[01:08:34] guess what? We're able to pick up our cross and follow him. It's not miserable to do that. It's not torture to do that. It's a joy to get to walk with the Lord. Church, can I just remind you,
[01:08:45] some of you are here today and you feel burdened by the Lord. You feel tired of trying.
[01:08:57] I just want to ask you, what's stopping you from just coming and finding rest in the Lord?
[01:09:05] What's stopping that from happening? Slow down. Take a breath. Enjoy the presence of the Lord again. Some of you here today are like, I am enjoying the Lord. Please, just please tell your face you enjoy the Lord, please. You know, we're walking around miserable all the time, yelling at
[01:09:22] people all the time, talking about how the world's going to hell in a handbasket. We love talking about the world going to hell in a handbasket. You know, it's like, you know, Jesus told us that
[01:09:33] was going to happen. We should already know that going in. We, like, the rest of the world should be surprised by it all, right? We should be like, nope, yeah, he pretty much told us that was going
[01:09:41] happen, right? But I'm good. You know why? Because my peace doesn't come from this world. It comes from Jesus Christ who has saved me and given me an eternal life. So I'm good. I'm good. I can enjoy
[01:09:55] this life. I can enjoy the family I have. I can enjoy walking with the Lord. I can enjoy worshiping the Lord. I can enjoy spending time in God's Word. I can enjoy talking about the Lord. I don't have to
[01:10:08] being shamed of the Lord. I don't have to hide from the Lord. You know, the gospel does not put us to shame. Why? Because it's the only good news that saves mankind. Do we believe that? You know,
[01:10:23] for some of us here today, following the Lord, why has it been such a burden to you? There's got to be a reason for that. Because that's not what Jesus said it was going to be like,
[01:10:38] to follow the Lord when you really see Him as your Savior, Him as your Father, Him as your friend even.
[01:10:51] I mean, that's crazy that Jesus calls us His friend.
[01:10:54] Isn't that weird?
[01:10:58] It's a blessing to get to walk with the Lord.
[01:11:01] And I just want to encourage you today.
[01:11:03] Find it a blessing again.
[01:11:07] Find it a thing to be enjoyed again.
[01:11:08] I remember the very first time I ever shared the gospel with someone.
[01:11:13] It was before I had ever taken that class.
[01:11:15] Again, didn't know what I was doing.
[01:11:18] But I remember it was someone who had been around me and my family and said, you know, I'm just around your family, and I just feel like I'm missing something.
[01:11:30] That was it.
[01:11:31] And I knew the Lord was saying, open your mouth and start to share what she's missing.
[01:11:38] And again, fumbled through it, said things wrong, didn't do things right.
[01:11:43] She prayed to receive Christ, which was amazing.
[01:11:44] But here's what stood out to me looking back at that.
[01:11:47] what drew her to that place was the joy of the Lord, seeing the joy of the Lord.
[01:11:58] And so church, I think we know this in our hearts.
[01:12:00] You know, the greatest changes in our life don't happen just because like we try harder, do they?
[01:12:07] They happen from genuine heart shift.
[01:12:10] And when we first find the joy of the Lord, the joy of following the Lord, like that's where the heart shift happens.
[01:12:18] we can't force heart shift on people we can't we can't like talk them into it convince them with logic like you can't you know it's like it's like trying harder on a diet how's that going for you
[01:12:30] works for like three days right there's got to be a genuine heart shift there's got to be something that shifts at some point and church i want to encourage you right now to enjoy the presence
[01:12:43] of the lord when did that stop being enough father god thank you for the joy of walking with you I just know there are some here today that you have lost the joy of walking with the Lord.
[01:13:07] Maybe it's because you faced some hard times.
[01:13:10] Maybe it's because there's an element of following God that feels really hard.
[01:13:24] Maybe it's because you've just gotten out of habit or built bad habits.
[01:13:28] But today, would you make this your prayer?
[01:13:31] Father God, I want to just enjoy your presence again.
[01:13:35] I want to find joy in celebrating your presence in my life again. I want to be able to celebrate your presence in my worship. Celebrate your presence in my time with you in scripture.
[01:13:49] Celebrate your presence in my prayer life. Celebrate your presence as I talk to others.
[01:13:55] Celebrate your presence with my family. Celebrate your presence in my car. Lord, I want to find joy again in walking with you. Today, you feel heavy. Today, you feel burdened. What is it you need to
[01:14:10] lay down right now? Lord, it's yours. You got it. I need to let this go and just choose to enjoy being in your presence again. Choose to enjoy diving into your word again. Choose to enjoy worshiping
[01:14:33] you again. Lord, thank you that you have called us as a church to go and be fishers of men and women, to be fishers, to be willing to go out and intentional about reaching others with the
[01:14:50] good news. Lord, I pray that you'd put on our heart those people that you're putting in our path. Maybe today the first commitment is just to say, Lord, I haven't been a fisher. I've gotten
[01:15:01] comfortable. I've made it about me. I've, I've stopped seeking opportunities to really reach others, whether that's strangers or close friends. I've just stopped trying. And Lord, I pray that you'd give me the words. Let me step into that moment of tension. Lord, that's our commitment
[01:15:21] that we're going to step into that moment of tension and trust that you're going to show up.
[01:15:30] Maybe it's just an invite to church, share your testimony. But Lord, would you put on our hearts who you've put in our path, reveal to us.
[01:15:39] Don't let us just miss the opportunities that we have to make it about more than just ourselves.
[01:15:45] Lord, we wanna continue to grow with you.
[01:15:48] We wanna continue to walk with you.
[01:15:50] I pray that you'd open our hearts to see first and foremost your heart, God, that that would shape our understanding of your word and the law.
[01:15:58] That Lord, we don't have to be afraid of the law.
[01:16:01] We don't have to be afraid of your instruction to us because God, at the end of the day, we're reminded and we know you are a good God.
[01:16:08] The law you've given us is good.
[01:16:11] And just because, you know, other people will tell us, oh, that's not good or it's not right.
[01:16:16] We know you are good.
[01:16:18] You are faithful.
[01:16:20] You are my God.
[01:16:21] You are a loving God.
[01:16:24] And so God, thank you.
[01:16:27] I pray that we wouldn't step away from that tension, that we'd ask the hard questions, that we'd study your word.
[01:16:37] And that at the end of the day, Lord, We'd enjoy walking with you in it.
[01:16:42] You're here today, and maybe you've never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
[01:16:46] I need you just to hear this really plainly.
[01:16:48] God loves you and desires you.
[01:16:52] You might feel like there's no reason for him to desire me.
[01:16:56] He desires you.
[01:16:58] He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for your sins.
[01:17:02] Today, would you receive him?
[01:17:05] Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins.
[01:17:09] When Jesus died, he took away the weight and the shame of sin.
[01:17:13] That's the good news, that even though I didn't earn it, I don't deserve it, Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Thank you, Lord, for allowing Jesus to die on the cross for me to take my place.
[01:17:28] And Lord, today I declare Jesus is Lord. He raised from the grave. He showed that he had the authority to take away my sins. And today I want to choose to follow you all the days of my life. Jesus is
[01:17:41] Lord. Be my Savior. I want to follow you. Lord, I pray for our church, that our church would not be about the cove. We know at the end of the day, there are no cove t-shirts in heaven,
[01:17:54] but Lord, that our church would be obedient to what you're calling us to do.
[01:18:02] Introduce, learn, celebrate. Help us to do with everything we do. We thank you for your word.
[01:18:12] We thank you for your love for us. We pray it would be a light into this world.
[01:18:16] We love you and come to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[01:18:21] Amen.
[01:18:22] Hey, can we celebrate with those today, asking Jesus to be Lord and Savior?
[01:18:25] If you made that your prayer, you can let us know at our prayer area.
[01:18:29] We'd love to pray with you, celebrate that with you.
[01:18:31] And if you have any prayer requests at all, we're here to pray with you.
[01:18:34] I love you guys.
[01:18:35] I hope you have a great rest of your week, and we'll see you guys next time.