It's All About Jesus - 1 Corinthians 3:18-23

I am excited to be back at Northland after being out for a couple of weeks. Carrie and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. We took a trip to Rome that we had been planning for several months. We had an amazing time. Excited to be back. Many people have asked us how our trip was. And one of the top questions I get asked is, did I get a chance to meet the pope? I did not meet the pope. He was not available for me that day. But we did go to the Vatican. And we weren't there on the day where people have an audience with the pope, but I understand you could go there. I think it's on Wednesday and stand out there on the St. Peter Square and maybe get a chance to see the pope. It'd be cool for me as a non-Catholic, just a selfie with the pope would be kind of fun to post on social media, but that'd be about the end of it. I know for my Catholic friends, that would have been a really, really big deal to meet the pope. That'd be a big deal. I got to think about that. We have a Protestant popes also in our lives a little bit, don't we? We have people that we see as some might call them celebrity pastors, famous preachers, well-known preachers, authors that people want to get a chance to meet. I'll go to some of these conferences, and it's never been something I've ever really felt compelled to do, but I have friends that will, they'll stand in line to meet the guy who preached. That never happens. A couple people will walk up and say something to me like, hey, it's too cold in here. Can you adjust the thermostat? But usually not long lines to get selfies with matte after sermons. But my friends, they'll wait in line to get pictures with this preacher that's a really well-known preacher. I was with a friend one time. He would have these guys that he thought were influential in his life as authors or scholars, and he would have them autograph the back of his new his Bible. And I remember waiting outside of a bathroom for him. So the speaker went in the men's room and he's like, got his Bible in his pen waiting to get an autograph, not something that I've ever sought to do, but we tend to do that, don't we? We kind of elevate people. And into some sort of special status. We want our picture with them. We want their autograph. And sometimes it's a harmless thing. It's just a sense of honor, someone that's had an impact on us, and it'd be really cool to meet this person that impacted some way. Sometimes it can get really unhealthy. We can elevate someone to an unhealthy position. And that's what's going on in the book of 1 Corinthians. We've been moving through this book for the last few weeks. We're going to see a lot of problems that they have in this church, this church back to the 1st century, a church in the city of Corinth and the Roman Empire at the time, a church that a man named Paul had visited that city. He had preached the gospel there. Church was started. He spent a lot of time there, sharing the gospel, discipling people there in Corinth as that church was getting started. And now he has learned about some problems this church is facing, and he's writing this letter to address those problems. And one, is the fact that they have elevated some of the leaders of that church to an unhealthy position, some division has happened in that church. He's learned about this, and he's writing to address it. We've been talking about this for a while. You say, it seems like this topic keeps coming up. It does because we just, at Northland, we just move through books of the Bible. We're going to deal with what comes up in that passage. And for about 3 chapters. This has been the issue. that the scripture has been dealing with. There were 3 men. Paul, Apollos, and a man enlisted in the scripture as Cephas. Cephas is also known by the name of Peter. So you think of Peter, the one of the original disciples of Jesus, the apostle Peter, the apostle Paul, and a man named Apollos. And what was happening is the members of the church were elevating one of these men above another. Some in the group would say, I really love Paul. Maybe because Paul was the person to share the gospel with them. It was through Paul's preaching that that church was, during Paul's preaching, that church was started there, and they said, very, I love Paul. Apollos came along after Paul, and Apollos were told in the scripture was a very gifted communicator. He was known for his wisdom. He was known for his rhetoric. He was known for his eloquence, and maybe there was some to say, Yeah, Paul's all right, but man, Apollos can preach. I would love to hear Apollos preach more than Paul. Others said, no, I like Peter. These might have been the Jews of the congregation. Paul and Apollos, they were reaching a lot of non-Jews, a lot of Gentiles in this city. Peter really had a heart for a connection with the Jewish followers of Jesus. And they may have said, Peter's my guy, but for whatever reason, they would rally around different guys, and it started to become divisive in the church. So Paul writes to them and says, you guys got to knock this off. You got to stop with the I'd follow Paul or I follow Apollos. He said, Paul wasn't crucified for you. A policy didn't give his life for you. We need to keep our focus on Jesus. We're going to focus on Christ and him crucify. That's been his focus. We're not going to get focused on people. We're going to focus on Jesus. And he brings our focus back to Jesus again in our passage this morning. Now here's the heart of the problem. If you want to kind of string all of this together to get at the heart of the problem that's going to really help us understand these few verses in front of us this morning, is that they had become obsessed because of the culture around them, they had become obsessed with celebrity and worldly wisdom. At the heart of this problem, were 2 very related issues. They had elevated or exalted human wisdom and human leaders, that an unhealthy view of human wisdom, the philosophy of the culture around them, and an unhealthy view of the role of human leaders in the church. And so our text today takes the focus off of human wisdom and puts it on the wisdom of God. It takes our focus off of human leaders and puts it on Jesus Christ. We're gonna see that it's all about Jesus. Now, we want to bridge the gap every week from the text of scripture to our lives today. So when we bridge that gap from Corinth to Kansas City, what are we to learn in this text? We're going to see that today, tension can arise in our lives when we elevate human leaders and temptation is always there to elevate human wisdom. We'll face the constant struggle to keep our focus on Jesus. And then we'd be reminded today what that looks like. That in Jesus, we find true wisdom. And because of Jesus, we have all we need, and through Jesus, through Jesus alone, we have access to the Father. Let's jump in and see what this text teaches us about Jesus, how it might encourage us today. The 1st thing I want you to notice is that he says right out of the very 1st verse here that in Jesus, we find true wisdom. In Jesus, we find true wisdom. Look at verse 18. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. Now, you've been with us for a few weeks. That's going to sound very familiar, because several occasions, up to this point, he's made this contrast between wisdom and foolishness. And what the scripture has pointed out every time is there's an irony to this. The irony is that what the world sees as wise, God calls foolish. And what God calls wise, the world calls foolish. And so you have to make a decision. You can go with the wisdom of the world, which God's going to call foolish, or you can go with the wisdom of God, which the world is going to call foolish. What he's going to say here is that true wisdom is found only in what God has revealed, even though on the surface that might appear foolish to the world around us. And we must embrace what is seen as foolish. When we embrace what is seen is foolish, it's then that we actually attain wisdom. Give you some examples. If you just want to flip back over to page or so to chapter one, verse 18, he said this, the word of the cross is folly or foolishness. to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it's the power of God. The idea that God would become a man, die on a cross, and through his death on the cross, I could be made right with God, that's a foolish message. But it's the wisdom of God. Verse 20. Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world. So he says, now you take the wisdom of the world, that they think they've come up with something so wise. God says that's foolishness. So they're calling God's revelation foolishness, God's calling their way foolishness. Verse 22, he says, Jews demand signs. Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Then he went on to say in verse 25, the foolishness of God is wiser than men, verse 27, that God chose the foolish in the world to shame the wise. And then he writes in chapter 2, verse 6, we did not impart the wisdom of this age, that is bound to pass away, but instead we impart a secret and hidden wisdom revealed by God. We came to bring God's wisdom, even though the world was going to see that as foolishness. So he's saying, we should become fools so that we can become wise. The challenge is given here in verse 18, to turn away from the wisdom of this age and instead embrace the foolishness of the cross. He continues in verse 19. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God, for it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness. So, as you can call it wisdom, if you'd like. But if a worldview disagrees with God's view of things, it is nothing but folly. And then verse 20, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. Think the wise in air quotes there. God knows what the wise people think, but indeed those wise thoughts are foolish in the eyes of God. What does all this mean? God has revealed himself to us in his son, Jesus, and in his word the scripture. And when we follow Jesus, and we follow the scriptures, we're following the wisdom of God that he's revealed to us, but the world is going to see that as foolishness. And here's the dilemma that we face. You cannot have it both ways. We want to. We want to follow Jesus and have the world still agree with us. Follow Jesus and still get along with the culture around us. Would have followed Jesus and everyone accept us just like we are. What this is saying is that's not going to be possible. You have a choice to make. You're going to follow Jesus, and the world is going to think you're a fool. Or you're going to follow the world and God's going to think you're a fool. You're going to be a fool. You're gonna be somebody's fool. And all of us have a choice to make. And what he's saying in the scripture is y'all have deceived yourselves. You have started following the world and you think you're following the right path, but you're on the wrong path here, and he's calling them to wake up. You gotta evaluate, or we have to evaluate our lives. Years ago, I started listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio during the day and we had a lot of debt, card loans and credit cards and student loans, and I said, I've got to get out of debt, and we started doing the, that anybody, probably a few Dave Ramsey people in the room here. And we got out of debt. We paid all that off. Such a good thing to get through that. But I remember so often, um, I remember our kids would say things like Dave Ramsey's ruined our life. You know, it's like, this just seems crazy, this thing that we're doing. And, um, Dave Ramsey said on the radio, oftentimes she would say, if your broke friends are making fun of you, then you're doing it right. If your broke friends are making fun of you, doing it. And I want you to apply that principle to this scripture. If your lost friends are making fun of you, you're doing it right. If people think you're foolish, you're on the right path. And if everyone agrees with you, we may have become self-deceived. And we come back to verse 18 where he says, stop deceiving yourself. What is your source of wisdom? It's all a matter of perspective. And I've talked about this before, but this is very helpful for me to always think of it this way. You have the world and you have the word of God. And they're not going to agree with each other. And what changes is the perspective. Are you going to look at the world through the lens of the word of God? Or are you looking at the word of God through the lens of the world? They swear what I mean by that? You can look at the world through the Bible, the lens of scripture and you say, uh-oh, something's wrong with the culture. Something's wrong with the world around me. But far too often, we flip the perspective. And we start looking at the word of God through the lens of the culture around us, and we say, uh-oh, there's something wrong with the Bible. And the reason why you see something in the Bible is because you've decided, and we all lapse into this, we have led ourselves to start to look at God's word through the lens of the culture around us. And when you start to look at the word of God through the lens of the culture, you'll start finding problems with the Bible. And when you look at the culture through the lens of the Bible, we'll instead see the problems with the culture. And it really is a decision. Am I going to look at the world through the worldly lens or through a biblical lens, so biblical worldview? Am I going to be a fool in the eyes of God? Am I going to live as a fool in the eyes of the world? You're going to start to think you're crazy? You're gonna start to go, what in the world? It's so different from the world around me. Well, we begin to really follow with total abandon, Jesus Christ, to commit our lives to him and to his word, we begin to see that the world and God have 2 different views of things. And so the world around us says sin is no big deal. Do what you want to do. Do what makes you happy. Do what feels good. God says, no, sin leads to separation. And to death. And we want to repent, and we want to walk in obedience before God. The world says, pursue happiness. whatever makes you happy. And God comes along and says, no, pursue holiness. Do what is holy in the eyes of God, that holiness trumps our happiness. And the world says Jesus is okay. He's a great teacher. He did some good things, but he's not the only way to be right with God. And the Word of God comes along and says, no, he is the revelation of God, the only way to be right with the Father. And that seems foolish. And our everyday decisions seem foolish. You begin to share the gospel with people, and you look like a fool to the world around you. You begin to live with generosity in the way you spend your money and donate your money and bless others, and that might look as foolish. The way you spend your time, they look as foolish. You find that in situations at work, the way you act, the way coworkers act, you seem like the fool in the group, even in relationships. Single people have decided, I want to wait on God to bring a godly husband or godly wife into my life, and your friends say, look, that's just one factor. Like, don't make that such a big deal. It looks foolish. In rare relationships. I had this conversation with people for where someone has said, this is going on. I'm kind of thinking about leaving my husband. I'm not sure what to do, and I've just counseled them from the Word of God to stay in the fight for their marriage, and this happened two or three times. People said to me, I'm so glad you said that because a lot of people in my life said that I need to leave him. And I just wanted one person to say, make this work. Why? Because the world was like, you're not happy. You not happy, you're not happy. And they wanted someone in their life to say, pursue holiness. And it's going to happen in our lives. You're going to find yourself constantly in conflict with the world around you. When we say I'm going to be a fool for Jesus. There's going to be conflict, there's going to be alienation, there's going to be judgment, there's going to be ridicule, but don't be afraid to be a fool for Jesus. You're on the right side of wisdom in the end. But we can't have it both ways. We can elevate the word of God or we can elevate the culture around us. What will you see? What perspective will you have on wisdom in your life? Second, He says, in Jesus we have all we need. Now, we have to kind of think about this one a little bit. Verses 21, 22. What is going on here? What is the point he's making and then how do we apply it? A little bit of a challenge? Because you might look at like messages like this and think, well, I don't have a lot of division. I mean, I guess maybe, like I said, a few weeks ago, maybe there's a division that I don't know about where people that, oh, dang it, Matt's back. Go listen to him now. That was sure a relief for 2 weeks. Or maybe Dalton preached last week. you go man, let's get that guy up there more. He's way better than Matt and Ruston. There could be this unspoken thing unspoken to me going on. But I think, I don't think there's, I don't, I've been at Northland almost 30 years. There's been very few of those weeks in those 30 years that there's been division in our church. God has blessed our church with unity and health, and I've been grateful for that. But I think there can be times in our life where we get short-sighted. Here's the problem. They were shortsighted. They made it too much about Paul, too much about Apollos, too much about Cephas, and they lost sight of all that God was doing for them. Now, let's jump in, I'll show what I mean. Verse 21. So then, let no one boast in men. For all things are yours. All things, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, Paul is there for your benefit. Apollos was there for your benefit. Cephas was there for your benefit. Guys, you pick one or over the other. God gave all 3 of them to you. And so much more. Keep reading. Whether Paul or Paul, or the world, or life, or death, or the present or the future, all are yours. God's given you so much more. Stop the petty quarreling over who the best preacher is, he's telling them. That's short-sighted. Stop the focus on the unhealthy honor of one man when God has given you so much more. God is doing something so much bigger than one influential leader. He's given you so much more than that. God has given you all these men. But that's not it. He's given you everything in this life that you need, everything in the next life that you need, things in the present that you need, things in the future, you will need. He's given you all things. You become very short-sighted. Now, how do we how do we apply that? I think sometimes, I fail to see the big picture of what God is doing in the unfolding of his kingdom. And the ways he's blessing me and all he's given me and all he's given his church and all he's given us as we see his kingdom unfold. And he's saying, we need to zoom out a little bit and see the bigger picture of what God is doing. Let me give you an example. I was thinking of this on my trip. I tried to visit some sites along the way that had biblical significance, places that we find in scripture or tied to the events of scripture. And this was the Mamotine prison. It's in the city of Rome. It dates back to the 1st century even before. And it's believed that this is the prison where Paul and Peter were both held prior to being killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. There's no way to really 100%, like, prove that. But there's strong, strong evidence. It's probably where they were held at some point. There's a little plaque on the wall, zoomed in on it. I put it in ChatGPT to see what it said, and they said, this is plaque says that Peter was held here, and Paul was held here, and that they preached the gospel here. And the church came along. The Catholic church came along after years after this, and they built on top of the prison a church. And this is the upper level above the prison. There's this little altar, and you can't really sit in this picture, but behind that, like, case there. There's a sculpture of the bust of Paul and of Peter. And they're saying they're honoring this as a special place because this is the place where Peter was held and Paul was held right before they were marched up the stairs, out of that prison to their death for the cause of Jesus Christ. And it was really moving to be in that space. But I was sitting in there, standing there, thinking, We've got Peter and Paul's name on the wall, and we've got their statues in the church of above, but there were countless men and women in this prison who gave their life for Jesus. And there's no plaque, there's no basilic in their name, but countless people. stood for the cause of the gospel, advanced the gospel. We have the gospel today because in their generation, they shared it, it spread around the world, and they were held there before they were led to their death. It's just bigger. It's bigger than Peter's, bigger than Paul. God's doing something so much bigger. I went back, and that night I was catching up on the news, you know, on vacation, you kind of tune out a little bit, and I was seeing the news about, I was kind of scrolling some stuff, and I was reading this stuff about Charlie Kirk, and the memorial, and it was done for him, and I was reading all about that, and the God's hearing little clips of the gospel being shared, and so grateful for the gospel being shared in the middle of all of that. And then I screwed a little further, and I read this article about the persecution in Nigeria. That's gotten buried by the things. You know, this year, 7000 Nigerians. have been killed for the cause of the gospel. And there's no CNN coverage of that. There no Fox News coverage. There's no memorial with 100,000 attendees. See, God's doing something bigger. And we're grateful for how the gospel is going forth through the martyrdom of people all throughout the centuries. But we see, it's bigger, it's bigger, it's so much bigger. And then I was thinking about these celebrity pastors. who've passed away. I don't mean that in a negative way. Just they were just well known, right? Like, like Tim Keller and John McCArthur and Votee Bockum if you know these names. And I think of these Facebook posts that my friends will make, like, and they'll say, John MacArthur was the most influential man in my life, or Tim Keller had the greatest influence in my ministry than anybody else. And I'll think, you know what, I bet that's not really true. Because the only reason you know those names is because someone led you to Jesus. The most influential person of your life was the person who led you to Jesus, the person who discipled you. Really, the reality is, you won't make a post about it, but the most influential in your life was, person in your life was probably some little old lady who taught your Sunday school class, who pointed you to Jesus, or that person who volunteered in Bible school every summer and pointed you to Jesus, or that volunteered that guy into your student ministry, who, who, not even the paid youth guy, but just the guy that shot baskets with you and took you out for ice cream with your friends and discipled you in the gospel, they're not going to get a Facebook post. But they're really the most influential people in your life. I think when he's saying this, guys, you're missing it. Peter, Peter, Paul, and Apollos are such a tiny little piece of what God is doing. And he said, let's look at the bigger picture. You have everything. have so much more. than just these 3 men. Don't let this, this cost tension and division and frustration and discouragement. Let's have a heart of gratitude for all that God has done. Let me show you a couple of examples. Romans 8.16. The spirit of God bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God. And of children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. We are his children, and as his children, we inherit all that he has for us. And then in 1st Peter one, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, he's caused us to be born again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you. Is this amazing? That when, Peter and Paul were martyred, they entered into the same reward as every other 1st century follower of Jesus who was martyred. And when Charlie Kirk was killed, he entered in the very presence of God, was 7000 Nigerian Christians who were killed for their faith. And when John MacArthur died and stood before God, he stood right next to Sunday school teachers and Bible school leaders and youth volunteers who dedicated their life to the cause of the gospel. He said, guys, stop making this about Peter, or Paul, or Apollos. God has given you everything. You are heirs with Christ of all that God has for you. That may be you today. You may be frustrated, discouraged in your life today because you've just been short-sighted on what's happening right now in front of you, what you don't have, what you wish you had, which you wish you could experience. And God says, hang on, you are an heir with Christ and you have everything you need with Jesus. And then finally, He says, in Jesus, we gain access to the Father. Look at verse 23. I love this. You are Christ and Christ is God's. What does that mean? You are Christ. Christ's, and Christ is God's. You could also translate that way. A couple other ways I found this translated. You could translate, you are of Christ in crisis of God, or I like this the best. You belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. So he's saying, you belong to Jesus, and Jesus belongs to the Father. And so if you're in Jesus, you're in relationship with the Father. And if you're a child of God, you're a follower of Jesus, you're a child of God, you're an heir with Jesus, all that he has is yours. through Jesus. You don't belong to Paul or Apollos or Peter, you belong to Christ, he's saying. And if you belong to Christ, you belong to the Father, and that's everything. Jesus is everything. We were in Rome, we toured the Vatican. And then we went straight from the Vatican into the Sistine Chapel and then into St. Peter's Basilica. And we're on this tour group. There were 10 of us in this group, and I didn't know the other people, and this lady said, are we going to get to see the holy door? And I hadn't heard of the holy door. Remember who the holy door orgment of the holy door is? A few people, okay, you hit the holy door. And the guide says, you can go to the holy door when the tour's over. He said, they don't like us mixing tourism with the sacredness of the holy door. So when the tour's over, I'll show you where the holy door is and you can go back and get in line and go through the holy door. So I'm going to get in this line. I gotta see what the holy door is. So I found out the holy door. Pretty cool, if you're Catholic experience, because every 25 years they open up the holy door. So in December, they open the store up. It's open all year, and then on January the 6th, they're going to seal it up with bricks, and it won't, you can't walk this door for another 25 years. And so if you want to go, you got just a few more months, okay? to get there. Now, here's the good news. If you can't get to Rome, there's a few more of them. I did some research. They have them in Poland, Spain, France, and if you want to drive there, Mexico City. So you can get to holy door. until January 6th to get there. And the thought is, for these devout Catholics, that walking through the holy door, in the 25 year jubilee moment, assures you forgiveness of your sins in this world. And so you want to get there. So I made sure my wife got through the holy door. There. And with the holy door. I was saying about that. You know, we can kind of like say, well, it's this, I kind of see how it's a big deal to Catholics. I know, it's not good. The truth is, we all have holy doors in our life. Everyone, Catholic, non-Catholic, religious, non-religious. Everyone has a belief that there's some door that will lead them to God. And if I go through this door, it'll make me write. Maybe it's the door of good works, the door of charitable contribution, the door of trying to live a good life, the door of whatever it might be, we've decided if I could just get through that door, I'm going to be okay. I'm going to tell you, the scripture says there's one holy door, and that's Jesus Christ. He said it this way. My sheep, he said, truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the door. Jesus said. And all who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. He continued on my sheep, hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the Father are one. That's what he's saying, and for Corinthians. If you're in Jesus, you're in the Father. If you belong to Jesus, you belong to the Father. If you belong to Jesus, you're a sheep of the great shepherd. He is the door through which we enter. And we all have them. This happened to be that day, the analogy on my mind, as I'm studying this passage while on vacation, is the holy door of St. Peter's Basilica. We have them. I grew up, my parents divorced when I was 5 years old, my dad remarried, my stepmother's Catholic, I grew up Catholic and Baptist every other week and I got it covered. Out of cover. I want to tell you, there's no ritual of the Catholic church that could make me write with God, and there's no ritual of the Baptist church that could make me write with God. My hope is Jesus Christ alone. faith in him, and that's your hope. Have you put your faith in him? Let me give you some things to consider. as we wrap up our time here. What now? Well, 1st of all, let me encourage you to evaluate your life for signs of self-deception. For signs of self-deception. Let's be very discerning here. Verse 18, let no one deceive himself. Let no one deceive himself. We have a disease that plagues us, the disease of self-deception. And you know what the problem of being deceived is? The problem of being deceived is that we're deceived. Okay, what I mean by that is you don't always see it coming. You can follow the wisdom of the world and not realize it. That's why we're deceived. We let our guard down. And somebody just encourage you to evaluate. Do some soul searching. What really is my perspective? Do I look at the culture around me through a biblical lens, through a biblical Christ-centered worldview? And when I see there's a problem between the Bible and the culture, Do I start thinking the Bible's got the problem? Or do I stand firm that the world has the problem? What, whose fool will I be? Have I deceived myself into not wanting to be seen as foolish by the world around me, and it's left me looking foolish in the eyes of God. Remember, we can't have it both ways. We're going to be somebody's fool. And ask God to give you clarity. Ask God to open your eyes, to protect you against the disease of self-deception, that I would not move the perspective. I wouldn't start to put the world in the forefront of my view of the word of God, but I always continue looking at the culture through the lens of the world of God, a word of God, evaluate your life. God, have I become deceived into buying into the wisdom of the world. Second, Celebrate what God has given you in Christ. Again, their problems made every your problem. Their problem was they got short-sighted. They made it too much about Apollos that they no longer saw what God was doing in the bigger picture. They were too concerned with Paul, that they failed to understand what God was doing in the bigger picture around them. Have you, maybe, come to a place in your life, a place of tension, a place of frustration? Because you become short-sighted. And you either reminder today that all things are yours, The reminder of verse 21. All things are yours. You're a follower of Jesus, and by that, a child of God, and because you're a child of God, you are an heir of all that he has for you in this life and the next, maybe the remedy for the frustration of your life today is gratitude and celebration. for what God's done for you, what God's given you. Then finally, let me encourage you today, if you've not, put your faith in Jesus. There's no other remedy for the sin in your life. I was walking through, um, one of these churches and this confessional booth and the guy behind me said to his wife, maybe I ought to pop in there and do some confessing. And his wife said honey, we don't have time for that. We don't have time for that. She's not wrong. We got we got dinner reservations. We can't have you sit down and start talking about all your sins. Let me tell you. We don't have time for any of us in this room to start confessing the mountain of sin in our life. It's going to take just bringing it to the foot of the cross to Jesus. The thing you do, the center of our life. We can't, we can't, um, we can't make up for that through going through some holy door of church attendance or good deeds or charitable donations or religious ritual. There's a door that we can go through to wipe out the mountain of sin against us. Our only hope is Jesus who died on the cross for us in our place so that we can stand before God seen as holy because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Have you given your life to Jesus? I would encourage you. It's only name by which you must be saved. Some of the other day said, hey, I'm going to email this person about something and there is a connection that I knew about. He said, can I mention your name? I said, you can drop my name anytime you want. It will rarely get you anything in life. There's only one name. Only one name by which we must be saved. One name that makes us right with God, one name that is the source of all true wisdom, one name by which we have all that we need. That's the name of Jesus Christ. If you put your faith in Jesus. If you do that today, you say, I want to know more about that. Let's talk. You can take the connect card right there in front of you. The little box that says, I want to talk about following Christ. You check that box, and I will text you or email you whatever you give me. the next day or so, and we'll set up a time to meet and talk more. Maybe someone's been sharing the gospel with you. Maybe it's just you looping back to that person, say, tell me more. So you lean in with a friend, you know as a follower of Jesus and say, tell me more, what it means to follow Jesus. Or maybe today's the moment for you. Today's the moment. Or you sound ready to put my faith in Jesus. I'm ready to call it you. Maybe you've called it to him before. You've never gone public through baptism, and you say, I've made a commitment in my personal commitment to follow him. I want to now profess that. through baptism. What is your decision? Let's pray together and maybe today is your moment to make this commitment to Jesus. you pray with me? You say, how do I do that? It's a prayer that you would pray in your own words, your own way, but it might sound something like this. God, I know that I'm a sinner. And I know there's nothing I can do to save myself. There's no act I can do. to atone for the sin in my life. I know my only hope is Jesus. I believe he died for me. And I believe you rose from the dead. And God, I'm committing my life to follow him today. Jesus, save me. Forgive me. Be the Lord of my life. Maybe you've done that. Your prayer is, God, open my eyes to any deception. Show me where I abandon the wisdom of your word for the wisdom of the world. Maybe your prayers, God, help me not to be afraid to be a fool in the eyes of the world. Maybe your prayer is, God, give me gratitude for all you've done. I've been short-sighted. There's been tension in my life because I've had a narrow focus. God fill my heart with gratitude for all that you've given me. God, I pray you'd open our eyes to the deception that we're so easily prone to, help us to be fools in the eyes of the world, as we live our lives by the wisdom of your word. God help us not to become short-sighted and lose a focus on all that you've given us. fill our hearts with gratitude and celebration and thanks, thankfulness. And then God, I pray, open the hearts of those who have not put their faith in Jesus. Let today be the day. that they turn from their life of sin, and put their faith in your son Jesus, only through Jesus, they could be saved. Let them hear that today, open their closed hearts, open their blind eyes, allow them by the power of your spirit to believe the foolish message of the gospel by which they must be saved, pray this in the name of Jesus.