WEBVTT 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.679 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.759 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.519 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.080 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.239 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.339 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:22.760 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.760 supporting the ministry of Village. Your generosity 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.339 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:31.489 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.489 --> 00:00:35.250 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:39.090 .org slash give or by heading to our website 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:43.130 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:50.409 Now let's dive into this week's message. Well, 00:00:50.450 --> 00:00:53.369 we're in week two of our Made for More series, 00:00:53.469 --> 00:00:55.869 and we're walking through what it means to be 00:00:55.869 --> 00:00:59.780 a Christ -honoring disciple. And there are four 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:01.899 steps in this journey of discipleship. The first 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:04.560 one, last week we covered, rooted in Christ. 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:07.079 And today we're going to be talking about being 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:10.640 renewed in grace. And next week we'll be shaped 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.799 for a purpose. And the final week we'll be sent 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:17.980 to serve. And so we kicked it off last week talking 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:20.019 about rooted in Christ. And we said that the 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:25.019 Christian life starts with Christ. Not with trying 00:01:25.019 --> 00:01:28.659 harder. Not with earning, not with behavior modification, 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:33.340 not Christ plus anything else. But it begins 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:37.319 with receiving Jesus Christ as Lord. Amen? Amen. 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:42.719 Woo! Sorry. We celebrate the small things around 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:48.099 here. Paul says in Colossians chapter 2, just 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:51.219 as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:55.579 to walk in him. And we talked about roots and 00:01:55.579 --> 00:01:58.400 how Roots aren't flashing, man. They're not getting 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:01.599 any Instagram likes or they're not walking down 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:03.819 any runway show, right? You don't see roots anywhere, 00:02:04.019 --> 00:02:05.819 right? They don't get a lot of applause. They're 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:08.379 under the ground. They're out of sight. But roots 00:02:08.379 --> 00:02:13.860 determine the fruit. Amen? Because when your 00:02:13.860 --> 00:02:18.439 life sinks deep into Jesus, when your life and 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:21.240 the roots of your life sink deep into Jesus, 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:25.490 he holds you steady when the storm hits. He nourishes 00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:30.229 you when life runs dry. And he produces in you 00:02:30.229 --> 00:02:34.969 what no self -help plan could ever do. And those 00:02:34.969 --> 00:02:37.550 roots, those roots in Christ, they grow through 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:41.469 his word. They grow in prayer. They grow through 00:02:41.469 --> 00:02:44.210 community, being with one another. And they grow 00:02:44.210 --> 00:02:48.719 as we walk in obedience to Christ. Every time 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:50.860 that you've opened your Bible and you read or 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:54.099 every time you pray or every time you stay faithful 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:57.500 when it's easier to walk away, you're feeding 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:01.740 those roots and they're taking shape and grounding 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:05.219 you in Christ. And so this week we move from 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:08.780 rooted in Christ to renewed in grace. And our 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:11.340 anchor scripture today is out of 2 Corinthians 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:16.680 5, verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. You can turn 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:18.360 there if you would like. There are also some 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:20.620 Bibles under some of the chairs around you. If 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:22.819 you want to grab one of those, you can grab that, 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:24.719 use it, and take it home with you. It's our gift 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.620 to you. Just want to get the word of God out 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:30.800 and in your hands. But it reads in 2 Corinthians 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:36.050 5. And this is one of my favorite. If it's okay 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:37.949 to have a favorite scripture, this is one of 00:03:37.949 --> 00:03:40.550 my favorite scriptures. Now, all the other scriptures 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:42.689 are my favorite too, but this one is my favorite 00:03:42.689 --> 00:03:45.949 favorite. My favorite favorite favorite, right? 00:03:47.590 --> 00:03:50.710 Here we go. It's short. You guys ready for it? 00:03:51.750 --> 00:03:54.930 Are you ready for it? Amen. I'm ready. Here we 00:03:54.930 --> 00:03:59.530 go. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is 00:03:59.530 --> 00:04:04.780 a new creation. Old has passed away and see the 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:08.840 new has come. Come on, someone, someone say amen. 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:13.099 That's good news, amen. That's good news. And 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:16.399 that means your past doesn't define you anymore. 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:20.279 That means your sin doesn't get the final word 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:23.660 in your life. That means your shame doesn't get 00:04:23.660 --> 00:04:27.420 center stage because Jesus didn't come to just 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:30.709 give you a spiritual tune -up, did he? No, he 00:04:30.709 --> 00:04:36.490 came to make you brand new. Jesus changes everything. 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:38.930 That's going to be kind of a refrain we say today. 00:04:39.269 --> 00:04:42.370 Jesus changes everything. Can you tell your neighbor, 00:04:42.449 --> 00:04:45.790 Jesus changes everything. I don't think your 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:47.870 other neighbor needs to hear it too. Jesus changes 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:54.379 everything. Jesus changes everything, not some 00:04:54.379 --> 00:04:58.240 things, not church things, not Sunday things. 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:03.060 He changes everything. Amen. He changes who you 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:08.279 are. He changes what you desire. He changes how 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.040 you walk through pain and how you look at other 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.720 people. He changes how you handle failure and 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.959 how you find freedom. Because discipleship isn't 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:22.779 just learning to do more for God. It's learning 00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:27.279 to let God do more in you. And it's the Spirit 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:30.879 of God untangling your sin, healing your wounds, 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:33.980 silencing your shame, and setting you free to 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:36.639 actually live the kind of life that Jesus died 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:40.839 to give you. That's what it means to be renewed 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:45.069 in grace. To live as someone who's been forgiven, 00:05:45.310 --> 00:05:48.430 healed, restored, and set free in the context 00:05:48.430 --> 00:05:51.529 of a gospel -centered community that helps you 00:05:51.529 --> 00:05:53.569 stay free. You know that about your brothers 00:05:53.569 --> 00:05:55.810 and sisters around you? You need one another 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:59.269 because you help one another stay free. You remind 00:05:59.269 --> 00:06:03.129 one another that's not who you are anymore. That's 00:06:03.129 --> 00:06:05.089 not who you are in Christ. You've been set free 00:06:05.089 --> 00:06:07.970 from that. We need one another. to stay free. 00:06:08.089 --> 00:06:10.829 And so we're going to look at renewing grace 00:06:10.829 --> 00:06:14.029 with three movements or three ways that grace 00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:16.670 changes everything. The three ways are grace 00:06:16.670 --> 00:06:20.350 frees us from condemnation, grace heals our wounds, 00:06:20.449 --> 00:06:24.689 and finally grace empowers us to walk in freedom. 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:29.220 When grace takes over and sin loses its grip 00:06:29.220 --> 00:06:32.699 and shame loses its sting and the spirit of God 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:35.839 begins to breathe in your life and places in 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:38.240 your life that you once thought were dead begin 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.639 to come alive again. Dead things come alive, 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:46.259 amen? And by the end of today, my prayer is that 00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:49.920 you'll be able to say with full conviction, I'm 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:56.459 not who I was. I'm not what I did. And I'm not 00:06:56.459 --> 00:07:01.319 what was done to me. I am a new creation in Christ. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:06.920 Why? Because Jesus changes everything. Amen. 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.860 Number one, grace frees us from condemnation. 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:15.699 Listen to what Paul says in Romans about this 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:19.339 new life that we have in Jesus. He says, therefore, 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:25.040 there is now no condemnation. for those who are 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:29.920 in Christ Jesus. Therefore, there is now no condemnation 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.160 for those who are in Christ Jesus. And notice 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.259 what Paul didn't say. He didn't say less condemnation. 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:38.459 And he didn't say condemnation stored up and 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:42.759 delayed until heaven. He said no condemnation, 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:48.439 zero, none, not guilty, case closed. And that 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:51.120 word condemnation in a courtroom, it's like a 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:54.439 courtroom term, and it's the gavel coming down, 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.959 right? Coming down. Guilty. It means guilty and 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:01.480 sentenced. And the truth is, apart from Jesus 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:06.680 Christ, we were guilty. Every one of us, Romans 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:11.560 3 .23, says all have sinned and fall short of 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.639 the glory of God. Romans also says that the wages 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:20.600 of sin is death. If you're outside of Christ, 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:24.120 if you're not living in him, if he's not Lord 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:27.259 and master, then that gavel is still raised over 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:33.779 your life. But the wildly crazy good gospel news 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:37.399 is this, that if you are in Christ, the gavel 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:41.639 has already fallen. It fell on Jesus himself 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:45.620 at the cross. The gavel has fallen. He took the 00:08:45.620 --> 00:08:49.190 sentence. He bore the penalty for your and my 00:08:49.190 --> 00:08:53.769 sin. And grace, well, grace means that God gives 00:08:53.769 --> 00:08:57.509 us what we could never earn and withholds from 00:08:57.509 --> 00:09:00.889 us the judgment that we deserve all because of 00:09:00.889 --> 00:09:05.870 Christ. And so the judge doesn't look at you 00:09:05.870 --> 00:09:09.070 anymore and say guilty if you're in Christ. He 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:12.190 looks at you through Christ and what he has done. 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:17.220 And he says to you and me, righteous. free, no 00:09:17.220 --> 00:09:23.059 condemnation, case closed. Amen? That's good 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:27.320 news, eh? When you came to Christ, your old record 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:31.120 was wiped clean. Your old identity was buried 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.419 in the ground. Your old shame was nailed to that 00:09:34.419 --> 00:09:37.500 rugged cross and you are not who you used to 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:42.159 be. You are new because Jesus changes everything. 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:48.179 A lot of Christians though, maybe even some in 00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:51.240 this room, are walking around like spiritual 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:55.240 zombies. Walking around like spiritual zombies, 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:58.679 alive in Christ, and yet still acting like they're 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:03.559 dead in sin. Jesus opened the door to the prison, 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:07.759 but some people still sit in the cell, clinging 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:11.259 to, hugging. You know, getting on their calendar 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:13.340 and appointment to date the very chains that 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:17.840 held them bound, right? The very chains that 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:22.120 Jesus already broke. And the call to you, if 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.460 you're there, is to stop living like you're still 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:28.620 on death row when the blood of Jesus has already 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:33.980 set you free, amen? Well, some of us here, the 00:10:33.980 --> 00:10:38.120 accuser. Satan, the devil, the accuser of the 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:42.279 brethren, whisper in our ear, remember, remember 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:48.799 what you did. You'll never change. God can't 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:53.120 really forgive that thing. And instead of walking 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.919 out free, we stay chained to guilt and shame. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.960 Pastor Tim Keller once said, the gospel is not 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:05.860 advice to be followed. It is news to be believed. 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:12.019 And the news is that we are free. You got to 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:15.419 believe it though. That's the heartbeat of grace. 00:11:16.259 --> 00:11:20.100 Whatever sin says about you, whatever shame shouts 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:23.820 to you, whatever the enemy accuses you of, grace 00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:31.059 says it louder. No condemnation. So I'll ask 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:35.009 you, what guilt? are you still carrying that 00:11:35.009 --> 00:11:38.690 Christ has already nailed to the cross? What 00:11:38.690 --> 00:11:41.730 label are you wearing that no longer belongs 00:11:41.730 --> 00:11:46.909 to you? What shame are you listening to that 00:11:46.909 --> 00:11:50.450 Jesus has already silenced? Because friends, 00:11:50.490 --> 00:11:53.190 if you are in Christ, you are not condemned. 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:59.750 You are free. And this isn't just some sort of 00:11:59.750 --> 00:12:03.429 positive thinking, you know, manifest it in your 00:12:03.429 --> 00:12:09.450 life kind of thing. This is not try harder so 00:12:09.450 --> 00:12:12.850 that you can feel forgiven. This is something 00:12:12.850 --> 00:12:16.129 wholly, completely different. This is God's legal 00:12:16.129 --> 00:12:20.549 declaration, his verdict over your life, not 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:24.490 just a pep talk, but a final verdict, not guilty, 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:32.470 done. And grace, undeserved favor, undeserved 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:38.070 merit frees us from condemnation. It doesn't 00:12:38.070 --> 00:12:40.909 just stop from freeing us from the guilt and 00:12:40.909 --> 00:12:43.710 pardon us for sin. Grace also then begins to 00:12:43.710 --> 00:12:46.769 move into the broken places in our lives to bring 00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:52.330 healing. And that points us to number two, grace 00:12:52.330 --> 00:12:59.269 heals our wounds. Sin doesn't just make us guilty. 00:13:00.590 --> 00:13:05.370 Sin also makes us sick. Shame doesn't just accuse, 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:11.470 but it also infects our whole person. And wounds 00:13:11.470 --> 00:13:14.429 that we've incurred and scar tissue that we have 00:13:14.429 --> 00:13:16.789 don't just hurt for a season, do they? Some of 00:13:16.789 --> 00:13:21.490 them shape how we see God, how we see others, 00:13:21.610 --> 00:13:27.909 and how we see ourselves. It's important to hear 00:13:27.909 --> 00:13:30.600 the words of the psalmist out of Psalm. chapter 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:36.139 34. He said, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:40.299 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and he 00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:46.379 saves those who are crushed in spirit. I tell 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:48.440 you, our world is full of people who are crushed 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:52.100 in spirit. Sometimes our church might be full 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:54.340 of people who are crushed in spirit. Some of 00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:56.700 us smile on the outside, but we are bleeding 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:01.889 on the inside. We know all the right Christian 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:04.830 phrases to say, right? Morning, brother. Morning, 00:14:04.929 --> 00:14:09.269 sister. How you doing? I'm doing blessed. Doing 00:14:09.269 --> 00:14:11.149 blessed. Blessed. I don't know if you do blessed, 00:14:11.190 --> 00:14:16.409 but be blessed. Are blessed. I'm blessed, right? 00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:21.710 We know the right thing to say, but we're still 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:24.669 carrying around that pain. The pain of abuse, 00:14:24.850 --> 00:14:27.629 the pain of betrayal, the pain of loss or regret. 00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:31.740 And the enemy would love to keep us there, wouldn't 00:14:31.740 --> 00:14:35.840 he? To convince you that you're too damaged or 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.919 too dirty or too far gone from God to be healed. 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:41.700 But hear me, the same grace that forgives your 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:45.820 sin also can mend your soul. And Jesus didn't 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:48.299 just come to set you free from the penalty of 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:51.220 sin. He came to heal the very effects of sin 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:55.299 in your life. Jesus stood in the synagogue and 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:57.840 read from the scroll of Isaiah and he said, the 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:02.639 spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has sent me 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.559 to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim freedom 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:10.759 for the captive. He heals what sin has broken. 00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:15.139 The enemy's strategy is very simple. Keep you 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:19.460 isolated, keep you ashamed, keep you silent. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:26.440 And you know, Satan works day and night to keep 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.279 the children of God from believing the promises 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:33.500 of God and knowing who they are in Christ. You 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:35.879 know what Satan hates? You know what the deceiver 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:40.600 hates? He hates confession. And confession is, 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.720 like we've tried here at Village over the pattern 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.820 of our time together, we have tried to normalize 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:51.570 confession in our lives. Oftentimes during our 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:54.629 prayer time that Nick leads weekly, he'll invite 00:15:54.629 --> 00:15:57.409 us to confess. He did this morning to maybe confess 00:15:57.409 --> 00:16:02.090 an area. Confession is an agreement with God. 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:04.909 Confession is a way for us to align with God 00:16:04.909 --> 00:16:07.470 to say this thing in my life or the way that 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:09.809 I'm feeling or the way that I'm acting or even 00:16:09.809 --> 00:16:12.789 our hurts and our pains to bring them before 00:16:12.789 --> 00:16:15.470 God and lay them before him and say, I agree 00:16:15.470 --> 00:16:19.490 with you about this. It's not a negative thing. 00:16:19.529 --> 00:16:21.809 It's not something to be run away from. It's 00:16:21.809 --> 00:16:23.789 not something to hide from. It's a beautiful 00:16:23.789 --> 00:16:26.990 thing because through confession, we are dragging 00:16:26.990 --> 00:16:29.990 our sin or dragging our hurt and our pain into 00:16:29.990 --> 00:16:34.830 the light and Satan loses his leverage the moment 00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:39.750 your stuff gets in the light. And some of you 00:16:39.750 --> 00:16:43.129 have been bleeding in secret, man, smiling on 00:16:43.129 --> 00:16:47.200 Sundays. But dying on the inside, Monday through 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:52.139 Saturday. And grace says, bring it into the light. 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:57.100 Bring it into the light and let me heal you. 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:02.659 James actually talks about this in chapter five. 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:06.039 James 5, 16 says, therefore confess your sins 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:11.559 to one another and pray for one another so that 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:14.950 you may be healed. Confess your sins to one another 00:17:14.950 --> 00:17:17.789 and pray for one another so that you may be healed. 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:20.170 And notice it says healed. It doesn't say forgiven. 00:17:20.509 --> 00:17:23.910 It doesn't just say forgiven. Confession and 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:26.349 prayer bring things into the light so this grace 00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:30.509 can do its work on it. And some of us have tried 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:34.809 to heal in isolation. We hide our wounds. We 00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:37.569 manage our pain. We smile through it, hoping 00:17:37.569 --> 00:17:42.750 it'll fade away. But grace, man, grace flows 00:17:42.750 --> 00:17:47.470 best in the light, doesn't it? And the church 00:17:47.470 --> 00:17:50.950 is meant to be a hospital for sinners. It's meant 00:17:50.950 --> 00:17:54.190 to be a place where we confess to one another 00:17:54.190 --> 00:17:56.150 and pray for one another and a healing takes 00:17:56.150 --> 00:18:00.650 place week after week after week, day after day. 00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:05.710 Augustine once said that the confession of evil 00:18:05.710 --> 00:18:08.809 works, the confession of our sins, is the beginning 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:14.470 of good works. It sets us on the path to be renewed 00:18:14.470 --> 00:18:18.430 in grace and useful in God's hands for good works. 00:18:19.289 --> 00:18:22.049 When we're honest before God and others, when 00:18:22.049 --> 00:18:25.170 we bring our wounds to the surface, God begins 00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:29.250 to apply his healing touch. But there's more. 00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:35.910 Because God also never wastes a wound. Amen? 00:18:36.369 --> 00:18:39.089 You know what I'm talking about? God never wastes 00:18:39.089 --> 00:18:44.000 a wound. Elizabeth Elliot, who I believe was 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.099 the wife of Jim Elliot, who died at the hands 00:18:48.099 --> 00:18:52.079 of a tribe he was trying to minister to in South 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:55.119 America. Elizabeth Elliot, who had gone through 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.759 many hurts and pains in her life and endured 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.759 a great suffering, she said, God never wastes 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:05.279 a hurt. He heals us so that we might bring his 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.099 healing to others. He heals our wounds so that 00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:13.339 we might bring His healing to others. And that's 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:17.880 what's so profound about your story. If you just 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:20.180 think for a moment about your story, your story 00:19:20.180 --> 00:19:24.480 matters. Your story matters because God has been 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.500 at work in your story. And the place where you 00:19:27.500 --> 00:19:29.839 were once crushed, the place where you were once 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:32.460 brokenhearted may become the very place that 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:36.680 God uses to comfort someone else. The place where 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:39.279 you were wounded may become the place you minister 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:47.599 from. And so where are you hurting? What's the 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.519 wound that you don't talk about anymore because 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:54.480 it still stings? What lie do you still believe 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:59.079 when the lights go out at night? Grace can reach 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:05.210 there. Grace can meet you in the dark. And here's 00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:08.289 the beauty, grace doesn't flinch when it sees 00:20:08.289 --> 00:20:14.130 your ugly scars. Healing begins when you take 00:20:14.130 --> 00:20:18.130 that courageous step, when you open up to someone, 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:20.930 when you confess sin, when you bring it into 00:20:20.930 --> 00:20:23.309 the light. And the gospel is not just the power 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:27.470 to forgive sins, it's the power to heal sinners 00:20:27.470 --> 00:20:33.680 and those who are affected by sin. And that's 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:35.980 what it means to be renewed in grace. Grace frees 00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:38.619 us from condemnation and grace heals our wounds. 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:40.819 But it doesn't stop there because grace also 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:44.480 empowers us to walk in freedom, to live a new 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.859 kind of life by the power of the Spirit. And 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:48.960 so number three, if you're taking notes, grace 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:59.960 empowers us to walk in freedom. If the first 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:02.740 movement of grace frees us from condemnation, 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:06.019 and the second, heals our wounds. The third shows 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:10.900 us grace empowering us to live free. Because 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:16.859 grace is not just pardon, it is also power. Paul 00:21:16.859 --> 00:21:21.319 says in 2 Corinthians 3, now the Lord is spirit, 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:24.819 and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:28.700 freedom. The Lord is spirit and where the spirit 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:33.059 of the Lord is, there is freedom. And he also 00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:36.319 says again in Galatians chapter five, for freedom, 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:40.519 Christ has set you free. For freedom, Christ 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.539 has set us free. Stand firm then and don't submit 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:47.980 again to a yoke of slavery. It is for freedom 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:51.069 that Christ has set us free. And notice what 00:21:51.069 --> 00:21:53.390 Paul doesn't say. He doesn't say, for freedom, 00:21:53.490 --> 00:21:56.130 Christ sets you free, so now go and do whatever 00:21:56.130 --> 00:22:01.730 you want, does he? He says, stand firm. Christ 00:22:01.730 --> 00:22:04.230 has set you free. For freedom, Christ has set 00:22:04.230 --> 00:22:06.769 you free. Now stand firm in the freedom that 00:22:06.769 --> 00:22:10.529 Christ has won for you, has bought for you. Freedom 00:22:10.529 --> 00:22:14.829 is not a license to sin. It's power to live differently. 00:22:16.379 --> 00:22:18.980 Freedom is not the absence of restraint in our 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:21.759 life. It's the presence of the right master in 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:26.819 our life. The world defines freedom as I get 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:31.440 to do whatever I want. But if we're real, man, 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:34.940 doing whatever we want, that's what got us into 00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:40.079 the mess in the first place, isn't it? We were 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.640 in Uganda, me and my wife, a couple of weeks 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:43.940 and a half, two weeks ago, something like that. 00:22:44.869 --> 00:22:46.849 I'm really bad with time, so it could have been 00:22:46.849 --> 00:22:51.730 a year ago. I don't know. We were in Uganda and 00:22:51.730 --> 00:22:54.609 we had an opportunity to work with a orphanage 00:22:54.609 --> 00:22:58.190 there and potentially explore a future missions 00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:00.089 partner for a village so that we can begin to 00:23:00.089 --> 00:23:02.609 support and help and send folks over there to 00:23:02.609 --> 00:23:05.750 do some work. But one of the things about Uganda 00:23:05.750 --> 00:23:08.430 and one of the things that we noted and all of 00:23:08.430 --> 00:23:10.470 us on the team talked about is the condition 00:23:10.470 --> 00:23:12.130 of their roads. And I think I mentioned this 00:23:12.130 --> 00:23:15.400 last week. The condition of their roads. Unfortunately, 00:23:16.019 --> 00:23:18.380 their roads, if they're not dirt, they're gravel. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.660 If they're not gravel, they are paved roads, 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.039 but they are in disrepair, let's just say. There 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:30.099 are a lot of, we would call them, I don't even 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:32.279 think it's right to call them a pothole. Like 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.000 if your whole bus could fall into it, is that 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.599 a pothole? Or is that like a cliff or something, 00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:39.779 right? In the middle of the road, all over the 00:23:39.779 --> 00:23:42.019 place, as you're driving down, there are all 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:45.019 kinds of potholes. One of the other things that 00:23:45.019 --> 00:23:48.640 we noted is that there are really no rules. Like 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.180 no rules, it's all just do whatever you want, 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:54.579 right? And so cars are veering in and out of 00:23:54.579 --> 00:23:57.240 traffic. Motorcycles are going up on the hillside 00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:00.079 and then coming down in front of you. And if 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:02.440 you don't like the lane you're in, well, you 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:05.180 can just get into head -on traffic. And they'll 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:07.819 move eventually, hopefully, maybe possibly as 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:09.799 the lights are coming towards you, right? And 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:11.740 so we're in the van, we're in the bus, and we're 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:14.279 just like, hey, eyes down or eyes forward on 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:15.900 the person in front of you, but do not look out 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:18.480 the front window because it's terrifying, right? 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.619 But it's something that I was thinking about 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:23.779 because one of the things I also noted is while 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:26.460 there are no rules for driving there, or maybe 00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:28.359 there are rules, but there's just no enforcement. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.779 There's no rules for driving there and you can 00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:34.099 pretty much do whatever you want. But something 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:37.240 I noted is as a result of that, everyone's driving 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:41.670 a lot slower. Like the max speed I think we ever 00:24:41.670 --> 00:24:44.450 made on that bus was maybe 45 miles an hour. 00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:46.970 And some of that is because people are literally 00:24:46.970 --> 00:24:49.349 coming head on toward you and you have to hit 00:24:49.349 --> 00:24:50.869 your brake and kind of get out of the way and 00:24:50.869 --> 00:24:52.690 move. Other times it's because you're coming 00:24:52.690 --> 00:24:55.250 up on one of those massive chasms, those potholes, 00:24:55.390 --> 00:24:57.210 and you don't want the bus to fall in and so 00:24:57.210 --> 00:24:59.730 you have to slow down to five miles an hour and 00:24:59.730 --> 00:25:03.289 inch over it. We were on a whole stretch of gravel 00:25:03.289 --> 00:25:06.910 road probably for 50 miles and I think our bus 00:25:06.910 --> 00:25:10.220 driver was trying to, get a land speed record 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:13.279 on this gravel. He was going way faster than 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.000 you should. We got gravel roads where I live, 00:25:15.059 --> 00:25:17.819 but man, we're like 20, 25 miles. And I think 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:20.859 he was hitting that 45 mile mark, right? But 00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:23.599 you don't drive very fast. And so it's kind of 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.640 an odd thing. There's less restraints. There's 00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:29.579 more freedom. But look at what it does. You don't 00:25:29.579 --> 00:25:34.579 get as far. It's not as efficient. We went from 00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:38.000 Jinja all the way to Fort Portal. And if this 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.420 was I -5, we would have made it in two hours, 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.099 two hours and a half. It took us nine hours to 00:25:43.099 --> 00:25:46.539 get there. And not because we were stuck in five 00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:50.039 hours of traffic. That's just driving nine hours. 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:53.619 Maybe we stopped for 30 minutes to eat some chicken 00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:55.559 on a stick or something. I think it was chicken. 00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:58.519 I don't know if it was chicken. Let's not talk 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:08.720 about that. Yeah. I didn't know my chickens had 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:15.460 little paws. It tasted like chicken, but everything 00:26:15.460 --> 00:26:23.839 does. No, but you realize that, yeah, oh, freedom. 00:26:23.980 --> 00:26:27.119 We think freedom is unrestrained, no bounds, 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:30.640 but we're parents. We have found that our kids 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:33.000 have thrived when we put boundaries around them. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:35.460 That's when they thrive. That's when they excel. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.019 That's when they can run and go. A parent who 00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:40.720 never says no to a child or a parent who never 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:42.680 puts boundaries around them, well, you're going 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:45.180 to end up with a child who doesn't go very far 00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:49.859 in life. Seen it happen before. But with restraints, 00:26:50.259 --> 00:26:52.240 you know, we see it all the time here. Maybe 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:55.019 it's too fast here, but you put a couple of guardrails 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:56.839 up, you put some lines on the road and you put 00:26:56.839 --> 00:27:00.480 some CHP out and we can go 70 miles on the freeway. 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:15.269 65, 70. 85, 90. True freedom. Man, true freedom 00:27:15.269 --> 00:27:17.650 isn't the ability to say yes to every desire 00:27:17.650 --> 00:27:21.509 that you have. It's the ability to say no to 00:27:21.509 --> 00:27:24.369 the very things that will destroy you. That's 00:27:24.369 --> 00:27:27.069 true freedom. And that's what grace does. Grace 00:27:27.069 --> 00:27:29.970 doesn't just break your chains. It gives you 00:27:29.970 --> 00:27:34.400 new desires, new wants. The spirit begins to 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:37.440 produce in you a new power to walk away from 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.460 the things that once owned you. And that's why 00:27:40.460 --> 00:27:44.240 Paul says that the law of the spirit of life 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:46.880 in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.599 of sin and death. The law of the spirit of life 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:53.099 in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law 00:27:53.099 --> 00:27:56.059 and sin of death. It's not the law of guilt anymore. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:01.160 We live in the law of life. And when you walk 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:05.619 in the spirit, you are walking in freedom. Some 00:28:05.619 --> 00:28:07.599 of you will remember the story in the Old Testament 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:11.579 about the Israelites coming out of Egypt. God 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:15.420 set them free from Pharaoh in a single night. 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:20.819 But it took 40 years to get Egypt out of them. 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:25.259 They were free, but they didn't yet know how 00:28:25.259 --> 00:28:30.170 to live free. And that's us. Jesus has broken 00:28:30.170 --> 00:28:32.529 the power of sin, but we're still learning to 00:28:32.529 --> 00:28:34.549 walk in the freedom that he's purchased for us. 00:28:34.670 --> 00:28:37.230 And that's why Paul says, stand firm because 00:28:37.230 --> 00:28:40.869 freedom must be guarded. Freedom must be practiced. 00:28:40.970 --> 00:28:45.450 Freedom must be lived out. And grace gives us 00:28:45.450 --> 00:28:48.210 the power to walk in freedom, not just once, 00:28:48.230 --> 00:28:51.250 but daily every day of our walk with Christ. 00:28:52.750 --> 00:28:55.890 Pastor John Piper put it this way. Grace is not 00:28:55.890 --> 00:29:00.089 simply lenience when we have sinned. Grace is 00:29:00.089 --> 00:29:05.049 the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is 00:29:05.049 --> 00:29:10.289 power, not just pardon. Grace doesn't just break 00:29:10.289 --> 00:29:13.450 your chains, it changes your heart. It doesn't 00:29:13.450 --> 00:29:15.950 just clean the record, it changes your story. 00:29:17.109 --> 00:29:21.230 And grace gives you a new want to, a new power 00:29:21.230 --> 00:29:28.730 to walk away from what once held you bound. Dallas 00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:32.730 Willard said that grace is not opposed to effort, 00:29:32.910 --> 00:29:38.690 it is opposed to earning. Effort is action, earning 00:29:38.690 --> 00:29:43.430 is attitude. In other words, grace doesn't make 00:29:43.430 --> 00:29:48.950 you passive, it makes you truly alive. You don't 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:53.210 work for God's acceptance anymore. That was never 00:29:53.210 --> 00:29:57.650 the case. Remember, grace is a free gift. By 00:29:57.650 --> 00:30:00.369 grace you have been saved through faith. And 00:30:00.369 --> 00:30:02.670 this, not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. 00:30:02.890 --> 00:30:06.849 Not by works, so no one can boast. You don't 00:30:06.849 --> 00:30:10.029 work for God's acceptance. You work from his 00:30:10.029 --> 00:30:13.069 acceptance, already received, already yours. 00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:15.970 You're not striving to get free. You're walking 00:30:15.970 --> 00:30:18.369 in the freedom that's already been won for you. 00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:23.069 Amen? For freedom Christ has set you free. Stand 00:30:23.069 --> 00:30:26.359 firm then. And do not submit again to a yoke 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:32.359 of slavery. And so I'll ask you, what's still 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:37.380 enslaving you, friends? Is it the approval of 00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:43.700 others? Is it that secret sin that whispers you'll 00:30:43.700 --> 00:30:48.359 never be free? Is it fear or addiction or anxiety 00:30:48.359 --> 00:30:53.000 or anger? Because the spirit is giving us power 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:56.200 to say, man, that used to be me, but that's not 00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:58.880 me anymore. Man, I want to fly. I want to run. 00:30:59.019 --> 00:31:05.200 I want to go. I'm done with these chains. And 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:10.720 when you're tempted, remember, you're not fighting 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:17.119 for victory. You're fighting from victory. The 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:21.039 victory is already won. The verdict has already 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:26.559 come down. Christ is king and he rules and he 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:32.359 has won. And now you need to walk in that freedom, 00:31:32.460 --> 00:31:35.279 walk in that victory, walk in the freedom that 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:37.880 the spirit brings because the same spirit that 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:40.720 raised Jesus Christ from the dead is alive and 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:48.200 at work in you. Amen? Man, freedom isn't just 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:51.660 a goal. Freedom is a blood -bought inheritance 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:56.039 for the children of God. So grace frees us from 00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:59.259 condemnation. Grace heals our wounds. And grace 00:31:59.259 --> 00:32:02.059 empowers us to walk in freedom. And this is what 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:06.319 it means to be renewed in grace. To live as new 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:09.400 creations. To no longer be enslaved to the past. 00:32:09.559 --> 00:32:12.420 But to live and be alive in the spirit of Christ. 00:32:13.619 --> 00:32:18.460 And so let's kind of land this plane. Talk about 00:32:18.460 --> 00:32:27.819 what it looks like in conclusion. To be renewed 00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:32.200 in grace is to experience the ongoing, transforming, 00:32:32.579 --> 00:32:36.240 healing work of God's spirit in every part of 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:41.099 your life. Because discipleship isn't behavior 00:32:41.099 --> 00:32:51.059 modification. It's heart. It's not about trying 00:32:51.059 --> 00:32:54.500 to act better on the outside. It's about being 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:59.160 made new from the inside out. And the Spirit 00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:04.559 of God is still doing that work today. He's still 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:07.500 freeing people from shame. He's still healing 00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:10.599 hearts that have been crushed. He's still empowering 00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:14.339 men and women like you and me to live free from 00:33:14.339 --> 00:33:20.170 what once enslaved us. Little teaser, next week 00:33:20.170 --> 00:33:23.089 we're gonna hear one of those stories. We're 00:33:23.089 --> 00:33:24.990 gonna have one of our tell the story videos next 00:33:24.990 --> 00:33:27.069 week. And so you'll get to hear a testimony of 00:33:27.069 --> 00:33:29.730 someone here at Village that God has worked in 00:33:29.730 --> 00:33:33.970 and been renewed in grace year after year, day 00:33:33.970 --> 00:33:36.609 after day. So come next week, we'll show that 00:33:36.609 --> 00:33:40.589 at the beginning of the sermon. But if you are 00:33:40.589 --> 00:33:42.849 in Christ, you are not the same person you were 00:33:42.849 --> 00:33:46.289 when Jesus found you. And you will not be the 00:33:46.289 --> 00:33:49.049 same person tomorrow if you keep walking with 00:33:49.049 --> 00:33:52.910 him. Romans 8 .1 says there's no condemnation, 00:33:52.950 --> 00:33:55.410 but Romans 8 doesn't stop there. It keeps going. 00:33:55.470 --> 00:33:58.630 It says that the mindset on the spirit is life 00:33:58.630 --> 00:34:01.990 and peace. It says that you did not receive a 00:34:01.990 --> 00:34:05.470 spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but 00:34:05.470 --> 00:34:09.690 the spirit of adoption is yours. Life and peace 00:34:09.690 --> 00:34:12.190 and adoption and freedom, that's the new reality 00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:17.429 of grace. You also may notice also something 00:34:17.429 --> 00:34:19.289 with this, that none of these are meant to be 00:34:19.289 --> 00:34:23.829 experienced alone. You can't walk in wholeness 00:34:23.829 --> 00:34:30.070 in isolation. You can't heal in hiding. You need 00:34:30.070 --> 00:34:33.949 gospel community. Tell your neighbor, you need 00:34:33.949 --> 00:34:37.869 gospel community. Tell that to your other neighbor, 00:34:37.929 --> 00:34:46.389 they need to hear it. We all need people, people 00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:48.710 who will remind us who we are when we forget. 00:34:50.110 --> 00:34:52.369 People who will pray for us when we are falling 00:34:52.369 --> 00:34:56.369 and people who will speak truth when the lies 00:34:56.369 --> 00:35:01.909 get too loud in our ears. At Village, the way 00:35:01.909 --> 00:35:04.969 we kind of express the second point in our discipleship 00:35:04.969 --> 00:35:07.190 framework being renewed in grace, our expression 00:35:07.190 --> 00:35:10.250 on a corporate level is through small group ministries. 00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:13.179 Because small group ministry is all about that. 00:35:13.219 --> 00:35:16.320 It's about finding a place where you can be you, 00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:18.400 but understand that God won't leave you there. 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:22.699 It's where you can be reminded of who you are 00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:26.219 in Christ Jesus and live life with a group of 00:35:26.219 --> 00:35:28.260 folks who can help you when you're struggling 00:35:28.260 --> 00:35:31.860 or pick you up when you're falling. Remember 00:35:31.860 --> 00:35:35.420 James said, confess your sins to one another 00:35:35.420 --> 00:35:39.079 and pray for one another. Confess your sins to 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:43.150 one another. And pray for so that you may be 00:35:43.150 --> 00:35:46.050 healed. Healing happens in the context of radical 00:35:46.050 --> 00:35:50.289 truthfulness, gospel community, and the faith 00:35:50.289 --> 00:35:53.210 that we have to pray and to bring our requests 00:35:53.210 --> 00:35:55.929 before a loving father and to trust him with 00:35:55.929 --> 00:36:01.449 his answer. That's where healing happens. Jesus 00:36:01.449 --> 00:36:05.869 changes everything. And he does it through his 00:36:05.869 --> 00:36:07.949 word and he does it through his spirit and he 00:36:07.949 --> 00:36:13.070 does it by his people. I once heard someone say 00:36:13.070 --> 00:36:17.510 that grace is like water. It flows downhill and 00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:23.849 pools in the lowest places. And that means if 00:36:23.849 --> 00:36:28.929 you're low down today, if you feel stuck, if 00:36:28.929 --> 00:36:31.789 you're broken or ashamed, you're in the perfect 00:36:31.789 --> 00:36:38.010 place for grace to find you. Maybe today you 00:36:38.010 --> 00:36:41.809 need to receive grace for the first time to step 00:36:41.809 --> 00:36:46.530 out of condemnation and into Christ. Maybe you've 00:36:46.530 --> 00:36:49.309 believed in Jesus in the past, but you've been 00:36:49.309 --> 00:36:51.510 living like a prisoner in a cell that's already 00:36:51.510 --> 00:36:56.469 been unlocked. Maybe there's a wound that you've 00:36:56.469 --> 00:36:59.369 carried for years that God wants to begin to 00:36:59.369 --> 00:37:03.929 heal today. And the good news is that you don't 00:37:03.929 --> 00:37:07.800 have to fix yourself first. You come to Jesus 00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:13.219 as you are. Because grace doesn't wait for you 00:37:13.219 --> 00:37:18.460 to be whole. It makes you whole. Grace found 00:37:18.460 --> 00:37:22.059 me when I was lost. Grace lifted me when I was 00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:25.739 down. Grace healed what I couldn't fix. Grace 00:37:25.739 --> 00:37:28.860 freed what I couldn't break. And grace keeps 00:37:28.860 --> 00:37:35.340 changing me every single day. You were made for 00:37:35.340 --> 00:37:42.159 more. And his name is Jesus. And Jesus changes 00:37:42.159 --> 00:37:44.719 everything. Amen.