We have a new adventure going on in our house
right now. It's called potty training. And yeah,
someone's clapping. They're like, yeah, oh yeah,
there we go. It's not a new adventure for me.
It's actually the last of five of those adventures
I've been on. And so this one's special for me
because it's the last of five, okay? I'm telling
you, I've bought diapers nonstop for the last
12 years of my life. I cannot wait to be done
buying diapers. It's gonna be like I got a raise.
Like, I'm not gonna know what to do. Like, this
is incredible. I can't wait. But here's the thing,
when you're potty training, there's this sense
of urgency, right? Because if one of the older
kids says, hey, I gotta go to the bathroom, you're
like, okay, cool, hold it. But when the two -year
-old says they gotta go to the bathroom, there's
utter panic that runs through your body. You're
like, where's the bathroom? Where's the bathroom
right now? Right, you gotta find it. Like I've
been driving around for the last two weeks with
a tiny toilet in the back of my car. Right? Because
you're like, you never know. It's going to happen.
You're like, you never know. Right? So you got
to be prepared. And we were in the store the
other day and my two -year -old, she goes, hey,
I got to go potty. And I'm like, okay, it's on.
Let's go. And so we get to the bathroom, we run
there and I sat her on the toilet and she's sitting
there and I look at her and I say, are you going
to go potty? And she starts looking around and
she goes, I don't like this bathroom. And I'm
like, kid, I don't care if you don't like this
bathroom. You got something to do in this bathroom.
Let's go. And she's looking around. She goes,
no, I don't like this bathroom. And I'm like,
you are focused on the wrong thing. All right,
they're focused on the wrong thing. This doesn't
matter. What matters is in front of you right
now. That's what matters. And you focus on the
wrong thing. See, I think when it comes to our
faith, a lot of times we're focusing on the wrong
thing. We care about things that don't. actually
matter. And we put a lot of time, energy, and
effort into things that don't matter. We focus
on the wrong things, but I think Jesus is teaching
us what matters most. Jesus wants us to understand
what matters most. And as Kathy said, we're in
this collection right now where we are going
through and we're looking at the last words of
Jesus on the cross. We believe that every word
that Jesus said is important. It's one that we
wanna listen to, we wanna lean into, but there's
something about last words, especially when they
come from somebody who is being crucified because
crucifixion takes your breath away. That is the
point of crucifixion. So you don't have a lot
of breath to say words. And so if Jesus thought
it was important for him to say these words,
it's probably important for us to lean in and
try to figure out what it is that Jesus wants
us to learn from these words that he's saying.
From these words that he's saying that he doesn't
have a lot of breath to say, there's probably
something important there for us. So we're gonna
look in Luke chapter 23, verse 46. It says this,
Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into
your hands, I commit my spirit. Into your hands,
I commit my spirit. And Jesus right here, as
he's saying these last words on the cross, what
Jesus is actually doing is Jesus is quoting scripture.
This is a Psalm that he's saying. This is Psalm
31 verse five that Jesus is saying, into your
hands, I commit my spirit. He's quoting scripture
in a place where he's hanging on a cross and
he's dying. That is what comes out of him at
this moment. A couple of years ago, I wanted
to do something fun with one of my daughters
and she was really little, which. I already told
you 12 years in diapers, there's always one that's
been really little. But I decided, hey, this
would be really fun because she thinks that juice
only comes out of a bottle that you purchase
from the store. And I told her juice actually
is something that you can squeeze from fruit
and it's pretty cool. So I'm like, this will
be really fun. We're gonna go to the store together
and we're gonna pick out oranges. And so we got
to pick out the oranges and then we're gonna
juice them together. So we got home with the
oranges that we picked out and we cut them up
and we got to juice them. We squeeze every little.
bit of juice out of that in order to get these
two cups of fresh squeezed orange juice for us
to drink. And we finally got to it. We got to
enjoy the spoils of our labor. We got to sit
down with this fresh juice. And I remember she
looked right at it and she goes, dad, I didn't
want orange juice. I wanted apple juice. And
I'm like, girl, that's not how it works. Right?
We squeezed oranges. And so what you get is what
is inside of an orange, which is orange juice.
Because when you squeeze, whatever is inside
is what comes out. What happens when we squeeze
you, what comes out? Because what you've put
in is what comes out. Jesus on a cross, as he's
being squeezed to the point of death, what comes
out of him is he starts quoting scripture. When
we start memorizing scripture, when we start
reading scripture, when scripture makes its way
inside of us, when we find ourself in a place
in life where we start getting squeezed, what
comes out of us is what we put in. So if we've
just surrounded ourself and put in a whole bunch
of gossip, what do you think comes out? If we
surrounded ourself and put in a whole bunch of
opinions of everyone else and all of the people
around us, what do you think comes out? All right,
if we just continue to put in that one video
on TikTok that has all the wisdom in the world,
they know everything, what do you think comes
out? What you put in is what comes out. And Jesus
shows us this. We will be squeezed in life. You
will be times in life where you are pinched,
where you are in a place where you're going,
I don't know what's gonna come out of this. And
what comes out is what you've put in. And I love
this, what Jesus said here. It says, when he
cried this out, when he said this, it said in
a loud voice. Crucifixion steals your breath.
Therefore, he does not have much to project in
a loud voice. So he took everything that he possibly
had to declare in a loud voice, to make noise
in a loud manner to declare his trust in God.
I wonder how many of us, when we get in tough
situations, we make a lot of noise, we get really
loud, but we're not declaring trust in God. What
is it that we declare with a loud voice when
it comes to this? Because with everything Jesus
had, the last little bit of everything he had,
what did he say? He said, I'm declaring my trust
in God. Into your hands I commit. My spirit.
That's what Jesus decided to do here. And listen,
that's where you want your trust to be. That's
where you want your trust to be. We look at the
cross and we look at this situation that Jesus
finds himself in. And for everyone watching and
everyone looking, they're looking at him going,
this is the end. But Jesus knew something that
we need to understand. He knew that this isn't
the end. His trust was in God because death and
the cross, They didn't win. Death was just a
gateway to God. For all it was for him was a
gateway to God. See, some of us, we live our
life in so much fear of death. You are gripped
with fear of dying when you need to understand
death is not the end. Death is a gateway to God.
Jesus understood this is a gateway to God. And
he's saying, my trust is in him. See, when we're
going through it and we're going through the
difficulty, when we're going through whatever
it is in our life, there's no greater peace.
than knowing that we are in God's hands. There's
no greater peace than knowing we're in God's
hands. He's saying, hey, I submit my spirit to
you, God. I'm placing it in your hands. It says
in 1 Peter 4, 19, so then those who suffer, those
who go through difficulties, those who are in
difficult times, according to God's will, who
continue to serve God, to push forward with God
wants for your life. should commit themselves
to their faithful creator and continue to do
good. When we go through those difficulties,
when we go through tough times, we're submitting
ourselves to God and we're continuing to do good
in those tough times. Man, I love stories of
people who take their faith seriously and live
out what it looks like to do good in tough times.
famous missionary, Jim and Elizabeth Elliott,
if you don't know their story, a long time ago,
years and years and years ago, they decided that
they were gonna go to the jungles of Ecuador
and they were gonna go to unreached people groups
who'd never heard about Jesus, who really were
unreached by any outside world. And so they knew
that they were walking into something that could
be a little intimidating and strange for this
community and these rural people groups. And
so Jim Elliott went with about four or five of
his missionary friends, and they went into this
village to talk to people and to build relationships
with them, and it went exactly like you can imagine.
They had no idea what the outside world was like.
They were completely unreached, untouched, and
they ended up killing all five of these missionaries
that went into their village. And so Elizabeth
Elliot, Jim's wife, was left widowed with a 10
-month -old baby girl. I mean, I can imagine
in this place, she's in a part where she's going,
man, I am suffering, but I'm continuing to follow
God. I'm suffering according to God's will. And
so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna commit myself
to my faithful creator and continue to do good.
And she did what probably none of us in this
room would do. She went right back to that exact
same tribe that killed her husband. And she spent
years with that tribe, seeing God move in incredible,
incredible ways. And she was able to go back
into a place where there was so much darkness.
And so much brokenness because she said, listen,
I'm gonna commit myself to him. I think of Paul
and Silas. You can read about them in the New
Testament, man. Paul and Silas. They went around
and they were teaching people about Jesus. They're
going, hey, you gotta know about this Jesus guy.
He's doing incredible things. And he started
rubbing against the culture of what was happening
in the day. And so there was someone who owned
this slave girl that was possessed by demons.
And so she was able to tell the future for people.
And so he was capitalizing on the money that
he was making from her telling the future. And
so Paul and Silas show up and they cast this
demon out of her. And they're like, no, we wanna
tell you about Jesus. This is where true life
is. And her life was changed. Well, now that
made the owner of this slave girl pretty upset.
And so they threw them in jail. And so Paul and
Silas find themselves in jail. They find themselves
in this situation that nobody wants to be in.
And you know what they do? They have a worship
night in jail. They're like, hey, you play guitar,
you play drums. Let's have a worship night right
here, right now. And they start singing. They
start having a worship night. And they blow the
doors off of the prison with their worship to
God. And they're like, God, we're worshiping
you right now. See, I wonder how many of us that
find ourselves in a tough situation. go, listen,
it doesn't matter because I've committed myself
to God and I'm gonna continue to serve him and
do good in this situation. All right, why can
they have this response? Why can these people
that we look at throughout history that have
lived out their faith have this response? And
here's why. Because they know some things that
Jesus was trying to teach us on that cross. They
know a few things that Jesus was trying to tell
us when he was on the cross. All right, what
Jesus is showing us as he's hanging on this cross
is he's showing us that we outlive our earthly
bodies. You notice that Jesus doesn't say, into
your hands I commit my body. That's because we
get a restored body. We get a restored body.
All right, now listen, I don't know what this
looks like. I have no clue. I'm not smart enough
to tell you what this looks like. I don't know
if there's an order form, right? If you can be
like, all right, I want six, four, two, 10, a
lot of abs, right? Like, I don't know if that's
how it works. I'm gonna go ahead and say it's
probably not how it works. I'm not smart enough
to know this, but what I do know is that we get
a restored body and that is good news. You know
why? Because I'm not that old, but I hurt pretty
bad. I last weekend, I played in a kickball tournament.
Listen, I didn't even know there was a kickball
tournament. I didn't know that was a thing, but
we got a group of people from Heights together
and we said, Hey, we're going to play in this
kickball tournament. And listen, you already
know we won that tournament. All right. I'm just
saying, I'm just saying. Like, listen, in the
name of Jesus, we kicked that ball down their
throat, all right? And we won that thing. And
that sounds great, but the problem is the more
that you win, the more games you have to play.
All right, so if you lose one, you're out, but
we kept winning. That means we kept playing.
That means I kept hurting. It's a week later
and I'm still hurting. Me and Advil have been
great friends this week. I'm just telling you,
I have muscles that are hurting that I didn't
know I had. In heaven, there's no more pain.
We get restored bodies. I'm gonna have beautiful
hair in heaven. I'm just saying. Like it's gonna
be flowing in the wind. I'm gonna look like Fabio
on a horse. I'm gonna be like. I was talking
to someone this week and I was telling them like,
I think I'm gonna have beautiful hair. And they
brought up a great point. They said, so do you
think baldness is from the fall and from sin?
And I said. You're right, that's a great question.
It is not. Bald is beautiful, okay? Bald is beautiful.
I'm just saying. But listen, it's good news for
us that we get a restored body. What that means
is we don't have to fear death. We don't have
to live in fear of death because death is a gateway
to God and we get a restored body. We outlive
our earthly body. Jesus is showing that on the
cross to us. He's showing us on the cross that
our true rest is found in God. Our true rest
is found in him. Into your hands I commit my
spirit. How many of you need true rest? How many
of you, the reason you need true rest is sitting
next to you right now? Don't raise your hand.
No, don't. Don't do that. That's not good. That's
not good for you. Don't raise your hand. But
the truth is this. We live in a world that's
difficult. We live in a world where we're going
to have trouble. The Bible says that. The Bible
says, listen, you're going to have trouble in
this world. We need rest, man. I need rest. I'm
so tired of just the busyness of life and just
the things that go on in our life. We need rest.
And what rest is, is rest is peace of mind. It's
being able to have peace of mind. And a lot of
times we try to get our peace of mind through
a lot of things. We go, okay, and if my health
is good enough. If I've reached a place of health,
then I have peace of mind. If my finances are
good enough, if I've reached a place in my finances
where my bank account's where I want it, then
I have peace of mind. If the house is how I want
it, or if I'm a homeowner, I've been working
my whole life and I'm finally a homeowner, then
I have peace of mind. That's what matters. If
my kids are okay, that's my peace of mind. If
my looks, if I paid enough so that my looks are
how I want them to be, then I have peace of mind.
And we put our peace of mind and we try to get
peace in all these things in our life that we
go, listen, this is where my peace comes from.
But there's some qualifications for things that
you can actually put your trust in to get your
peace from. A lot of the things that we've tried
to put that in isn't worthy of us putting our
trust in. What makes it worthy is this, is that
it has to have power. It has to be powerful.
Not have power over you, but have power. But
not just power, it also, if it's gonna be worthy
for you to put your trust in, to put your faith
in, to get your peace from, it not only has to
be powerful, it also has to be wise. But not
only does it have to have wisdom, it also has
to have love. And there's only one thing that
can have power and wisdom and love, and that
is God, which is why the only thing that is worthy
of you putting your faith and your trust in is
in God's hands. Jesus said, into your hands,
I commit my spirit. Into your hands, I commit
my spirit. I'm not gonna try with all the other
things because it doesn't matter. Into your hands
is what I commit my spirit to. But we like to
put our faith and our trust and our stake in
what doesn't matter. Man, my parents, every time
that they come and visit me, And when I moved
out, I didn't have much. So I kind of just took
my clothes and that's it. And so every time they
come to visit me, they think it's important for
me to bring all the things that I've left at
their house when I grew up. Like, I don't know
where they find it, in old closets, in my old
bedroom, whatever, right? They'll bring me a
pair of shoes that I had like, you know, 20 years
ago. I'm like, cool, what am I supposed to do
with that? All right, so last time they came,
they're driving out from San Diego and they come
and they bring this with them. Thank you. So
they bring this with them and they're like, listen,
I think you're going to want these. And listen,
this is how we know we're getting old. My wife
looks at that and she goes, that's a real nice
box. They don't make them like that anymore.
And I was like, that is the oldest thing you've
ever said in your life. So they don't make them
like that anymore. My parents bring me these
trophies. I'm like, listen, you would not believe
how much dust is on this. This is unbelievable.
I don't know where they had them. In a dust factory,
I'm not sure. But like literally there's like
some of your allergies are already going crazy.
So I'm not gonna like show you how much dust
is on there. But man, it's crazy. But here's
the thing. Here's why they brought these to me.
Because when I was younger, man, I loved these.
I had them set up in the house so that when you
walked in, you could see them from every angle.
Like I would polish them. You know why? Because
every single one of the trophies represents an
accomplishment that I made. Each one of those
shows you how awesome I am. And man, I love these
things. And these were valuable to me. These
were incredible to me. All right, and so I had
these and my dad brought them to me. He's like,
hey, don't you want these? And I'm like, okay,
I don't know, man, because here's the deal. I
have a lot of other things to worry about now.
Like I got bills to pay now. Like I got kids
to raise now. Like those trophies, yeah, they're
cool and all, but that doesn't really matter
because I got a lot of other things I need to
focus on. All right, it doesn't matter what happens
to those. That holds no power over me. You know
why? Because Jesus said these words. Matthew
6, 19, it says, do not store up for yourself
treasures on earth where moth and vermin destroy
and dust bunnies take over. It doesn't say that.
I added that part. And where thieves break in
and steal. But store up for yourself treasures
in heaven where moth and vermin do not destroy
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also. Let me ask you this. What are your
trophies? I'm not talking gold plastic. What
are your trophies? Because each one of us has
trophies in this life and we live for those when
we need to realize that they don't matter. They
don't matter. Your house does not matter. Your
401k does not matter. the people that the things
that you have put in your life that you decided
this is what I'm going to live for and this is
what matters, it's gonna end up with dust on
it and broken because you can't take any of it
to heaven. It doesn't go with you. But a lot
of us have stored up for ourself trophies on
earth. And we've said, okay, this is what I'm
gonna put my stake in. This is what I'm gonna
put my trust in. This is what I'm gonna put my
life in because this is what matters. When in
the end, hanging on a cross, Jesus said, into
your hands, I commit my spirit. None of this
matters. My friend was at the gym this last week
and he was telling me something he overheard
in the gym locker room. Man, if you're in a gym
locker room, you hear a lot of stuff. It's a
weird place because here's the thing, people
come up to you and they try to talk to you with
no clothes on, right? And you're like, bro, I'm
not gonna talk to you right now until you put
some clothes on, right? I'm not looking. All
right, listen, if some of you are the people
that walk up and try to talk to people with no
clothes on, in the name of Jesus, put some clothes
on before you try to talk to people. We are solving
the world's problems this morning in church,
all right? If you don't hear anything else. Quit
trying to talk to people with your clothes off.
But he's telling me he's in this gym locker room
and he's hearing these two men that are probably
in their mid 80s. And they're talking about their
financial portfolio and they're talking about
the money that's about to come in and they're
so excited. And he said that the conversation
went on for about 20 or 25 minutes. And I looked
at my friend and I said, why are you in a gym
locker room for 25 minutes? You are the problem.
But here's the deal, man. That's so sad to me.
These men have so much life behind them and not
very many in front of them. And all they care
about is things that they can't take with them.
All they've done is live a life for things that
they cannot take with them. All they've done
is live a life for trophies that end up broken
and dusty and doesn't matter because they can't
take them with them. Jesus says, live for eternity.
Don't live for now, live for eternity. This isn't
our final place anyway. And listen, that's such
a relief, man. That's such a relief for us. That's
a weight off of our shoulders. How'd you know
that feeling when something is done? How'd you
get a lot of yard work to do? And then it's finished
and you're able to just go, ah. When something
is finished, for me, that was this last year's
49er season. I was just glad when it was over.
All right, it's just done. I don't have to deal
with that anymore. I don't have to listen to
any of your comments anymore. I'm done with that.
All right, when you've got a tough conversation
you've got to have with someone and you're just
thinking about it, you're just stressing about
it, it's just building up inside of you and then
you finally have that conversation and you're
like, it's done. I'm glad it's over. I'm glad
it's finished. Jesus says this, his last words
on the cross. John 19, verse 30. When he had
received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished.
And with that, he bowed his head and he gave
up his spirit. It is finished. See, I don't know
what it is in your life, but I know this, we
go through a lot of it, right? It happens. Sometimes
it hits the fan. And I said it, do not write
me an email, I said it. But here's the thing,
we have a lot of it in our life. And I don't
know what that is in your life, but we deal with
a lot of it. We deal with a lot of stuff. We
deal with a lot of bad situations. And sometimes
we get to a place where we're going, when is
this gonna be done? When is this gonna be over?
When can I move past this? And I'm just so tired
of handling all this stuff that happens in our
life. See, Jesus said, it is finished. And when
he said that, what he was talking about is his
assignment was finished. Assignment done. He
came to this earth, from heaven to this earth,
lived the perfect life that you and I cannot
live. And then it ended for him on a cross. And
in doing so, he came to fulfill his mission.
He said, mission accomplished. It is finished.
And that phrase that he said on the cross, it
is finished. In our English Bibles, we see it,
it is finished. But the word that Jesus uses
here is tetelestai. And the word tetelestai,
if we truly get to the meaning of this, it has
a few meanings, right? In a business context,
it's to indicate a literal debt has been paid
in full. He's saying tetelestai, the debt has
been paid in full. But that word was not only
used just for a debt in a business context, it
was also used in a judicial context in court
when a sentence was fully served. Tetelestai,
the sentence is fully served. But we also see
it used in a context of the military. And in
the context of the military, the word tetelestai
was to say that the battle was won or the victory
had been achieved. And so when Jesus on a cross
said the words, it is finished, when he said
tetelestai, what he is saying is your debt of
sin has been fully paid. He's saying the judgment
for your sin has been served and the victory
has been won. And that is what Jesus was saying.
He was saying, Tetelestai, it is finished. The
struggle in this world, the things that we try
to grasp onto, all the things that we try to
put our stake in, he say, it doesn't matter.
It is finished. It is done. It has been paid.
Weariness and hunger and temptation, they are
finished. Grief and pain, they are finished.
Sin and death, they are finished. Man, my wife,
She's wonderful. She's beautiful. She's amazing.
And she can lose anything. She's never had anything
she couldn't lose. I'm the only thing she hasn't
been able to lose yet. I just keep coming back.
I'm right here. I mean, she can lose anything.
I'm not kidding you. The other day she went and
she started the car and then she realized, she's
like, I don't know where my keys are. And she
ran back inside to look for her keys. Some of
you are listening slow today. She started the
car and then went and looked for her keys. I
used to make fun of her when she, she always
loses her glasses. She can't find them anywhere.
And I'm like, don't you need those to see? Shouldn't
you take, keep track of them? She's like, yeah,
I know. About a year and a half ago, I got glasses
and I'm so ashamed to admit this. I lost my glasses,
man. I couldn't find them anywhere. All right,
I started looking for them. This is so embarrassing.
I looked for like five minutes until I found
them. On my face. And some of you are like, man,
you're an idiot. You looked for what you had
the whole time. But that's exactly what we do
is we are looking for what we had the whole time.
We are looking for our approval. We're looking
for love. We're looking for all of these things
that we go through in our life. And we go, okay,
listen, I need to find this. And so I'm gonna
look for meaning and I'm gonna look for purpose
and I'm gonna look for validation and I'm gonna
look for approval. I'm gonna look for all of
this. And Jesus said, listen, you already have
it. It is paid to Telestai. It's paid in full.
You don't need to serve the sentence. The victory
has been won. And the whole time you have it.
You don't need to search for it. You don't need
to try to be fulfilled with what you have in
this life because it doesn't matter. You're focusing
on the wrong thing. You've been bought and paid
in full. So let me ask you this. Do you live
like this life is not yours, but it's his? Do
you live in a way that if he paid for it, do
you live in a way that it's not yours, but it's
his? Because when you live like it's not yours,
you're willing to give your time, you're willing
to give your talent, you're willing to give your
treasure. What you start doing is you start living
a life of generosity because you say, it's not
mine. And I wanna invest into what actually matters.
And so I'm willing to give it because I can't
take it with me. You start living a life of generosity.
But when your things or anything becomes the
thing that you're living for, what you do is
you create an idol. And we think about idols
in the Old Testament. Yeah, they made a golden
calf and anything made out of gold that they
would worship, that's an idol. But the truth
is that we have things in our life that are idols
for us. We have things in our life that don't
matter, that you can't take with you, that just
collect dust, but you've put so much stake in.
And your idol's not a golden calf, but your idol
might be that truck that you've always wanted.
Your idol might be the house. Your idol might
even be your own children. And here's the thing,
they're not a bad thing. But the problem is when
we make a good thing, a God thing. And we start
putting our faith and our trust and we say into
your hands, I commit my spirit into something
other than God. So I think we have to ask ourselves
some questions today. Questions we need to ask
ourselves is what am I holding on to? What is
it that you're holding on to? And a follow -up
question to help you understand what it is you're
holding on to is this. What are you not willing
to give up? What do you have in your life that
if it wasn't there, you say, I can't do that.
I gotta hold on. I can't give that up. Because
if there's something in your life that you're
not willing to give up, then you're living for
the wrong thing. Jesus is saying, listen, don't
live for this life. Live for eternity. Quit striving
in this life because I've already paid for it.
It doesn't matter. Live for eternity. Live for
the things that are gonna last. I come to Jesus
today. Jesus has his arms wide open and some
of you need to come to him today and say, listen,
I've been focusing on the wrong thing. I've been
putting my trust in the wrong thing. I've been
putting my faith in the wrong thing. I've been
trying to get my peace from the wrong thing.
And I know that only comes from you. Some of
you need to come to Jesus for the very first
time. You've never given your heart to Jesus.
Church is just something you do to check off
your list because you think you're doing the
right thing. But you need a relationship with
Jesus. Some of you need to reorient your priorities
to say, God, I'm coming to you today to say I'm
giving up what I'm holding on to because I know
what truly matters. I mean, I don't wanna leave
us in a place where we're just like solemn and
introspective and beat up on you. That's not
what this is about. This is an opportunity for
us to praise God, to worship with reckless abandon,
knowing that it is finished. To praise him, to
say, God, we are so grateful for you. We praise
you, God, because some of us, you've made the
king of your heart and the king of your life
is not Jesus. And so we're gonna declare to him,
we're gonna praise to him that God, you are the
king of our heart. And God, we are so grateful
that you went to a cross to pay our debt in full,
to serve the time that we deserved so that we
could have victory. God, we praise you today.
God, we love you today. God, we are so grateful
for what you did for us on the cross, that you
showed us how to live, that we don't have to
live for all the things that are around us right
now, but God, we can live for eternity. That
we have the assurance of being in your presence.
God, I pray for each one of us that we would
commit our spirit to be in your hands, not in
our hands, God. God, I pray for each one of us
today that we can let go of the thing that we
are holding onto. That we don't have to put our
faith and trust in something that is never meant
to have our faith and trust. That it can only
be in you. And God, I pray in the name of Jesus
today that you break chains of what is holding
us back from being all in with you because you
already paid for it all. It is finished, God,
and we declare that to you. We worship you, God.
We praise you and we give this time to you as
our hearts are aligned with what you have called
us for them to be aligned to, God, because our
trophies end up in a dusty old box somewhere.
These don't matter. They don't go with us. But
God, it is you that matters. And God, we pray
that you convict our hearts, that you work through
us. that you allow us to let go of the things
that are holding us back so we can praise you
fully this morning. It is only because of you,
Jesus. We love you, Jesus. We are grateful for
everything that you have given us. And we pray
this in your matchless name. Amen.