Speaker 1: 0:59

Good morning, northgate. How are we? Oh, come on, you could do better than that. How are we this morning? Wonderful, wonderful, okay. So, for those who don't know me, my name is Colton, I am a junior at Benicia High School and yeah, okay, okay, all right. My name is Colton, I am a junior at Benicia High School and yeah, okay, okay, all right. And you might be wondering what is this random kid doing on the stage?

Speaker 1: 1:30

So today we are reading the Bible. Shocker, I know, oh, my gosh, but only a specific part of the Bible Matthew 25, 14 through 30. So while you guys are getting out your Bibles and searching for that part, just want to warn you after the first service, I probably will stumble my words just to let you know, in case I start sounding like the Tasmanian devil. So, all right, again, it is Matthew 25, 14 through 30. So let's begin Again. It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one, he gave five talents, to money, to another two talents and to another, to another two talents and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also the one with two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accountants with them.

Speaker 1: 2:51

The man who had received the five talents brought the other five, master. He said you have entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more. His master replied well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.

Speaker 1: 3:17

The man with the two talents also came, master. He said you have entrusted me with two talents, and see, I have gained two more. His master replied well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things and I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.

Speaker 1: 3:40

Then the man who had received the one talent came, master. He said I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And then his master replied where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take that talent from him and give it to the one with ten talents, for everyone who has will be given more and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even with that he has known, taken from him and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the word of the Lord, thanks be to God, stay gold.

Speaker 2: 5:03

We need more Colton in our life, right Heitman in the morning. Well, it's good to be with you. My name is Lawrence, the pastor here, and welcome those of you who are online this week Maybe, if you're taking a peek in the window, just want to let you know we have room in the room as you check this out in this new year. Some of you in the room actually may not know this. We average about 600 people a weekend that actually join us online live every week, and actually from all over the country and the world, and so I would actually ask this Maybe there's some of you in here that don't know about that ministry that we have going on and we really could use people who help us out with cameras and switching and some of those things. So if maybe that's something you're interested in, knowing the impact that is for those who aren't even in the room yet or that can't join us, we would love to help. We're really short in that space, so you can let us know on the connection card, that would be awesome this New Year's.

Speaker 2: 5:55

Speaking of New Year's, how many of you guys are like New Year's resolution? People Like you make goals, resolutions. Don't be scared of this. You can own this. It's good, good for you. How many of you guys are like, nope, not doing it right, Because, yeah, come on, not everybody's playing this game right now and you're just like, I'm not even doing it. I already know I'm going to fail. I know Friday's coming. I, you know I'm going to fail. I know Friday's coming. I'm not going to set myself up for that again. I get that. That happens for a lot of people.

Speaker 2: 6:19

We are going through and we're about to finish the gospel according to Matthew. We've been on this journey actually for over three years, if you're newer with us. We're in chapter 25, and we're actually ending in Easter. We're going to go really fast these last handful of chapters, just like today, colton read. Just like today, colton read. We've got a big chunk. It's a narrative, there's pieces of this as we move towards the passion of Christ. And then on Easter we're going to do Resurrection Sunday. We're having baptisms for anybody who's interested in that, and then the following week is the last week of Matthew, and then I don't know what's going to happen. I mean, we've lived in Matthew, the longest gospel and biography of Jesus in the Bible. It's been such a gift to all of us.

Speaker 2: 6:55

So I would say, if any of you guys have ever grown up in a religious, some kind of religious environment, regardless of what kind of religious environment it was, you probably have heard something like this that God loves you just the way you are, regardless of where you are on the religious spectrum. And Christians have always believed this. And the reason that they have believed this is because in the New Testament, jesus modeled and then essentially said for God, so loved the world just the way that the world was, that God loved the people in the world the way that the people in the world were before they made any changes or knew anything about God. And so, again, this is true and Christians have always believed that. But this is only like half of the equation, because God, who actually invites us to call him as a heavenly father or the perfect parent? Like any good parent, god does love you as his child, just the way that you are. But here's the deal God loves you too much to leave you the way that you are and, as we're going to discover today, if necessary, god, I think, like a good parent, is almost willing to hurt your feelings a little bit to get you to move from the way you are so that you can become everything that you could be, everything that you should be and everything that God knows that you actually have the potential to be. Well, friends, it's a new year, we just did this stuff and you know this. There are things that we should carry forward season to season and year to year, and then there's actually some things that we should leave behind, and I think today's passage is one of those things that we should all leave behind, specifically our excuses.

Speaker 2: 8:52

Excuses are like strange things. Right From a distance, excuses seem like actual obstacles that oftentimes keep us from doing things or keeps us from like moving forward, that cause us to lose all kinds of opportunities. But the deal is that they like seem so real, they seem intimidating, that what happens is often, I think, we begin to refer to them as reasons like actual reasons. Now, if you think about it, there's a very fine line between an excuse and a reason. One disguises itself as the other and then what happens is, over time, in our conversation, in our responses to people, our excuses that sound like reasons, they become our becauses, and all of us, every single one of us in this room have a short list, or maybe even some of us have a really long list of becauses that we retreat to, that we actually hide behind, you know, like, why don't you exercise?

Speaker 2: 9:51

Well, because, right. Why don't you eat better? Well, because, why haven't you? Because? Why do you always? Because, why don't you eat better? Because, why haven't you? Because, why do you always? Because, why don't you start? Why don't you finish? Why did you quit? Why did you decide to stay there? Why didn't you leave? Why didn't you just tell her? Why didn't you just tell him? Like, why don't you just forgive them? Right, and because we're rational people, we all have a reason and our reasons begin with a because, and so we have this list of because's, but the truth is, our because's aren't really the causes.

Speaker 2: 10:28

There's a difference between a because and the actual cause. It's an excuse, oftentimes that masquerades itself as a cause, and our language actually tips us off to that. When we catch someone else trying to like masquerades itself as a cause, and our language actually tips us off to that. When we catch someone else trying to like masquerade an excuse as a reason, what do we say? Right, we say you're just making stuff up. Or we say, like you're actually just making excuses and you have manufactured a reason that's not really a reason at all and you're trying to pass it off now as something that is real. That's like this actual obstacle. And the truth is and this is difficult to admit to that our excuses are really just lies that we tell ourselves about ourselves. And then here's like the strange thing about like the human condition, or human beings altogether, is there are these lies that we tell ourselves over and over again, and then what happens? We actually start to believe them.

Speaker 2: 11:20

And so here's the question for you, this new year, or this Sunday, just as we gather here Is it possible that some of, not all of, is it possible that some of our well-rehearsed reasons, our your becauses, are actually just excuses constructed of the things that people have told you, the things people have called you or that they have labeled you? Is it possible that you've actually invented reasons to defend certain behaviors, certain reactions or overreactions you know, like, why do you always react that way? Why do you always say that? Why do you always respond that way? Because Is it possible that your reasons the fact that you procrastinate about certain things? You know, I'll start on Monday or next Monday or the first of the month?

Speaker 2: 12:15

And here's the deal. I mean, just honestly, we need to know the answer and there are several reasons that we need to know it. If for no other reason, we need to know because the fact is that other people know, like other people know, when we're trying to pass an excuse off as a reason. I mean they see right through it, and the reason we know this is because you see right through it. When someone else tries to pass off a reason as an excuse, you see right through it as well and you know this. You don't want to get to the end of your life and have missed an opportunity to make a difference because you cowered behind and lived behind something that you manufactured and considered an actual obstacle.

Speaker 2: 12:54

And people who make excuses about anything in life, generally speaking, rarely make much of a difference, and I know that's a really harsh thing to say, but often you can look at it and be like there's some truth in that and if you're a follower of Jesus, there's a really big reason, because there's actually this relationship between our ability to follow Jesus and our willingness to acknowledge our excuses, because happens is over time. Excuses become bosses. They tell us what we can do, they tell us what we can't do. They tell us what we can try and what we shouldn't try, who we should approach and who we shouldn't approach. Opportunities we should take advantage of and opportunities we shouldn't take advantage. They become our excuses, like little kings, like little tyrants, little lords, and you can't actually follow Jesus, even if you're willing to, if you're allowing our excuses to be the lords of our life.

Speaker 2: 13:49

So doesn't it make sense I mean, you think about it that our heavenly father would actually call us out Like he would call your bluff? He would say, hey, stop making excuses. Stop making excuses, because here's the deal. I know what you have the potential to do, I know what you have the potential to actually accomplish. I know what's on the other side of this and if you'll actually stop living behind your reasons and running to your well-rehearsed becauses. Now, this is something that might take you by surprise or might even be a little bit shocking to you, but if you follow this whole idea throughout the Gospels, you follow Jesus and this idea and this narrative. Or, frankly, if you followed us for much or any of the Gospel of Matthew, you have been shocked about how many times he calls people out in this regard, and he rarely does it in like a gentle way, as it feels. Why? Because someone who cares, who genuinely cares about a person, actually does call you out. Just a quick example One day Jesus was going along and he invites a man to become his follower.

Speaker 2: 14:56

Now, when we read that, we're like, oh, wow, cool, like he's going to follow Jesus. What an interesting thing, you know right. But here's the deal. This is first century. Imagine this. This is actual Jesus, actual physical Jesus, with actual physical followers. So when he would say follow me, he didn't mean like commit your life to me. He meant like no, pack your bags when I leave this town. We're going to the next one. You're going to physically follow me. And he's inviting this person to become like one of his core people, like this is the opportunity of a lifetime. And then do you remember what this dude says?

Speaker 2: 15:27

The text says that he replied I would love to, but will you first let me go bury my father, which sounds so reasonable. We're like oh, yeah, of course, like, if that happened, you need to go take care of that. And the way we think of it is like yeah, that'll be like in a week or so. You got to do your service, but that's not what's actually going on here. See, in this culture, in ancient times, when someone died, you buried them immediately. So this guy's father had not passed away. His father is still alive, but he wants to delay until his father passes away and he's like well, once my father passes away, it could be a year, it could be five years, I don't know Jesus. But here's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna track you down, like, and I'm gonna catch up to you and I'll be your follower. Right, and Jesus, he clearly sees through this as an excuse.

Speaker 2: 16:11

This man clearly feared something. We don't know what it is. Some scholars say that he maybe feared losing his inheritance if he wasn't around and home when his father passed away, or maybe his brothers would take advantage of a situation. We don't know. But what Jesus says is I'm asking you to follow me now. I'm not asking you to not go home when your father dies. I'm not asking you to abandon your family or to be irresponsible. I'm asking you to do something now. And you're using your father as an excuse, because Jesus knew that later, honestly, would just be too late.

Speaker 2: 16:44

Isn't it true that opportunities come and opportunities go. Do you remember how Jesus responds? It's so harsh. He says let the dead bury their dead. It's like he just calls this guy out, like right in front of everyone. Like you're making excuses and I'm inviting you something big, like I'm inviting you to have your name in lights and your fear of missing out on something over there is robbing you of something on the other side of this because of an excuse, and you're gonna look back and you're gonna regret this for the rest of your life. So, yeah, I'm going to be harsh. Yes, I am calling you out because I don't want you to miss out, because this is an opportunity and it's going to come and it's an opportunity that's going to go.

Speaker 2: 17:31

So after Jesus then calls this guy out, there's actually another guy in the audience who's getting a little bit excited. He raises his hand and he's like he actually volunteers. So the other guy said like hey, if that guy's not going to, I will, I'll follow you. Like I'll follow you, lord. But then he says but first I mean I'm 100% in, I'm totally in, but first hold on, can I just go and say goodbye to my family? And again, that seems so reasonable.

Speaker 2: 17:55

But don't all of our excuses seem reasonable? Isn't that like the nature of an excuse, like when it comes out of our mouth? What do we do? We expect someone to say, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, no, totally, yeah, I get that Like no problem. Like I understand why you won't. Like I understand why you do that, or I understand why you can't quit, right, or I understand why you started. That makes sense. Now I understand why you started. It sounds so reasonable.

Speaker 2: 18:19

But Jesus knew that this was an excuse and he calls them out. He said no one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back. And for us right now, I know most of you, like 99% of you guys, have never been a farmer, so you're like, what does that even mean? Like who's putting their hand on the plow, looking back? Right, let me just explain to you. In this culture, agriculture was big. They were all farmers. They understood exactly what this meant to.

Speaker 2: 18:45

When you would plow, you'd plow a furrow into the ground so you could plant seed, and in that time, in that space, it was really rocky ground. If you've ever been there, it's very rocky ground. What you'd have to do is you'd have to pick something in front of you a stone or a tree, a stick, something on the horizon and you'd have to stay focused so you could keep your furrow straight. What would happen is if you would look back or get distracted and lose your focus, your furrow would begin to take different direction as it gets kind of knocked around. It would mess the whole thing up. And so Jesus says and no one puts their hand to the plow and looks back and he says this is fit and this is so harsh is fit for service in the kingdom of God. He says you're making excuses.

Speaker 2: 19:23

Now here's something kind of interesting. There are a lot of people who've actually made their career going through the gospels and trying to decide like, what did Jesus actually say and like what do we think was made up? Now we believe that the gospels are these reliable accounts of actual events and the sayings of Jesus. But there are people that are like Now we believe that the Gospels are these reliable accounts of actual events and the sayings of Jesus. But there are people that are like well, we think he said some of this, but we're not sure that he said all of this. But here's the deal Almost 100% of all scholars of all theological persuasions agree that Jesus actually made these statements. And here's their reasoning because no one would make this stuff up, right? It's just like so harsh, like no one would put this into the mouth of Jesus. No one would like fabricate these statements and say that Jesus said this. But here's the deal. Isn't that what love does? Isn't this what a good parent does?

Speaker 2: 20:11

If you genuinely care about somebody, don't you call them out Like you don't just pat them on the head and be like it's okay Now, you're not condescending, you don't just ignore them. But what do you do? You come back around, usually later and sometimes privately, and you say you know, every time this comes up, you give us a because, and I think I just got to say I'm not sure that your because is the cause. I just got to say I'm not sure that your because is the cause. I think there's something else maybe going on. Now, if you flip this to us, how do you think Jesus would respond to your excuses, to my excuses, in effort to get us to stop hurting ourselves? He may be willing to hurt your feelings a little bit. He may say something that feels a little unkind, because he knows the kind of person you could be, the kind of person you should be. And what if there really is a God who invites us to call him heavenly father and Jesus really is his son? What if God can really see what's on the other side of this for you and that he loves you? And how does a good God, how does a good savior, respond to your becauses, your reasons, your excuses?

Speaker 2: 21:39

Well, I think Jesus may actually tell you a parable. He would do that from time to time when people asked difficult questions and he wanted to give a complicated answer to leave them thinking. A parable, so you know, is a made-up story. These aren't true stories. Jesus made these stories up in order to make a very specific point to a very specific group of people. So when Jesus maybe heard your reasons and my reasons that aren't really reasons, or your becauses that aren't really the real causes, maybe he would tell you this parable. And when he began telling you this parable, if he were to tell you this, you might say like Jesus, hold on, hold on. I've heard this story, I've heard this parable, I've heard this story before. And Jesus would probably say well, I want you to listen to it again, again.

Speaker 2: 22:32

It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags and to another one bag, according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five more bags Also. The one with two bags of gold gained two more, but the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. Master, he said you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I've gained five more. And his master replied well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master's happiness. The man with two bags of gold also came. Master, he said you entrust me with two bags of gold. See, I have gained two more. His master replied well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things, come and share in your master's happiness.

Speaker 2: 23:44

And then the third servant, who had been given the least amount to invest, which means he had the least amount to lose he comes to give this not so stellar report and what do you think he brings with them? He brings an excuse. Now it's important to know real quick that in every parable that Jesus taught, there was someone in the parable that always represented God. And then there was someone in the parable that represented Jesus's audience, and the God figure, as you have probably guessed already, was the rich man. And the people in the audience are us, the servants.

Speaker 2: 24:19

And so this third servant is giving his report and the master master, the servant said to him before I tell you what happened to your money, just a couple of introductory statements, master, he said I knew you were a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. Now let me just back up for just a moment, sort of give you the implication of what he's actually saying to his master. The implication to his master is before I tell you what I did with your money, you need to know it's not my fault, in fact, it's your fault. Like if you weren't the way you are, you're this hard guy. If you weren't the way that you are, I wouldn't have done what I did.

Speaker 2: 25:00

It's all an excuse. Like, if you think about it, it's all an excuse all the way back to the beginning. Like if you go back to the beginning, like Genesis, and you see Adam being like you're the one who gave this lady to me and she gave me the fruit. Right, this is like the human story, right? Isn't this just what we do? Like, hold on, let me just tell you right off the bat, like I didn't do this.

Speaker 2: 25:18

And then the man who had received one bag of gold came, master, he said I knew you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed. So I was afraid. Now I want to just hit pause here for just a moment, because this is so important for all of us. At the root of just about every single excuse, even the ones that we've done such a good job disguising as actual reasons at the root of just about every single excuse is something that we fear the fear of embarrassment, the fear of failure, sometimes actually the fear of success, the fear of change, the fear of loss, fear of admission, and if I acknowledge that I'm making an excuse and it's not really a reason, I'm going to then have to acknowledge something about myself, and maybe for some of us, that's the most terrifying experience of your life is acknowledging something about yourself that you've never been willing to acknowledge before. Master, he said I'm afraid. And you know what's interesting, I think None of us think that we're cowards, like most of us think that we're not really afraid of much of anything.

Speaker 2: 26:37

And then he said I was afraid, and because I was afraid of losing what you asked me to invest, I hid your gold in the ground. See, here's what belongs to you. Don't be mad at me, because ultimately, it's not my fault. And his master then replied no worries, I'm sorry. Yeah, I understand. Like he just patted him on his head and he went on his way. You go home, you're okay? No, that's not what love does, right?

Speaker 2: 27:00

Remember, though, this is a parable. His master replied and said you, wicked, lazy servant, and we're just like whoa, that's Jesus, you're not messing around. Those are some harsh words right now. So you knew that where I harvested, where I did not sow and gather, where I have not scattered seeds, well then, you should have at least put my money in deposit with the bankers so that when I returned, I could have received back with interest. In other words, there's no excuse for this. You allowed your fear to blind you to opportunity. You allowed your fear to create an obstacle that wasn't even an obstacle. Your fear blinded you to the simplest thing that you could have done. So when I returned, at least at least you would have had something to show for the money that I loaned you on my behalf. Like you had an opportunity, but now this opportunity is gone. And here's the punchline. He says and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In this parable, this rich master turns to his body guards and he says throw this worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Speaker 2: 28:13

And the point Jesus is making is clear that people who make excuses go to hell. That's not actually true. Sorry, that was supposed to be funny. It wasn't funny for you. A lot of you guys are like oh my gosh, what are you doing today? Right, that's not what he's actually saying, but I just want to say, if you have teenagers at home and they won't do their homework and they keep offering you lame excuses, it's something to work with. It's just. It's just massive. So what's the point? What's the point? It's intense because Jesus is meaning to be intense. It's extreme because he's making an extreme point and behind all of that is love for you and for the world and the people in his audience, which is you and me. And weeping and gnashing of teeth is not an indication, just so you know, of pain and suffering. Weeping and gnashing of teeth is an indication of intense frustration, intense disappointment, intense regret.

Speaker 2: 29:14

You're telling me that I could have moved through this instead, but because of my fear, I actually hung back. You're telling me that there was an opportunity that I missed. You're telling me there was something that I could have accomplished, something that I could have done for the world, for my family, for my health, and I didn't do it. And now my opportunity has come and it is gone, and I've now realized that it's my own fault. And for years and years and seasons of my life, I blamed and I pointed fingers, and now it's finally dawned on me I could have done something about this, but instead I hid behind my reasons that weren't reasons and my causes that weren't causes. And now the season has come and the season has gone and there's nothing I can do about it.

Speaker 2: 30:00

When that happens, you recognize that you've been left out, and that's Jesus's point, that you've been left outside, that there was actually something you could have participated in. And so in the parable, everyone in Jesus's culture understood he wasn't actually a wicked servant, but what that represented is you were this irresponsible, excuse-making servant that's outside of the house, he's outside the party and on the inside is the master and he's celebrating with his faithful servants. He's not being punished. He recognizes I could have actually gotten this right, I could have done something about this, but I was afraid and I've missed out. And now I'm outside and Jesus is disturbingly intense because he loves you and he loves me and he loves us intensely and he knows what you're missing out on.

Speaker 2: 30:55

So he's willing, I think, to a degree, to like, be harsh and hurt our feelings a little bit. He knows what's on the other side of our fear, our hesitance, my unwillingness to press through, my inability or unwillingness to acknowledge that these aren't reasons, they're just excuses disguising themselves as reasons. And if you're not careful, and maybe this is part of why Jesus was so intense about this. If we're not careful, we can excuse our life away, like we can excuse our marriage away. We can excuse our family away, our relationship with our kids away. You can excuse your health away. You can excuse your faith away because of something that somebody said to you that you're unwilling, or something somebody pointed out to you that you're unwilling to press through, for whatever reason.

Speaker 2: 31:56

And friends, I think if we're going to fear something, what we should fear is the fear of missing out on what could be, what should be. If we're going to fear something, maybe we should fear living behind this self-created, self-inflicted, lie-infested excuses that rob you of this world and rob the world of you. So how would Jesus respond Again? How would Jesus respond to your reasons? Well, the good news is, god loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you the way that you are. So he's going to call your bluff, he's going to call me out, he's going to call you out. He's going to say your reasons aren't reasons.

Speaker 2: 32:50

And the genius of Jesus as a teacher is clearly seen in the respectful and merciful approach that he had. He wasn't just delivering information, head knowledge. He was presenting people with a different kind of life than the one that they were accustomed to. So what's your excuse? He has given us all gifts and talents and resources to use, and friends. It is time to stop sitting back and it's time to step into the game of life. The kingdom of heaven is here and we are just taking 2025 out of the box and I wonder what story you will let it tell.

Speaker 2: 33:36

I can tell you a quick story about my new friend, martin Martin. I got to see at worship night just a couple nights ago. He came with his family and after the service he came up and he was just a little undone. He said, hey, I was one of the people on the last Christmas Eve service that raised my candle and said I'm putting my hope in Jesus for the first time, and he was undone. He's like something has gotten a hold of me. I was transformational. It changed everything.

Speaker 2: 34:04

And so he came over to the this changes everything area and I got to then give him one of these journals and I wrote down his information and he was like ecstatic about these. Like what, oh man? I was like, yeah, this is, this is just a start. Start Like we're gonna walk with you. And then I gave him one of these.

Speaker 2: 34:20

I said, well, you get to trade in your little candle light for an actual light bulb. And he took the light bulb and I said you get to screw it into the cross. Every year, we get rid of all the light bulbs in there and we start over fresh. He took it and he got weepy and I so appreciated this, just appreciated this, just as a man. He got weepy and he looked at his wife and his daughters and he said will you take a picture of this? This is such a big moment for me. I was like, yes, it is no more excuses. And then he screwed his light bulb into that cross and it was our first one of 2025. And yeah, you know, maybe there's some of you actually came to our Christmas Eve service and you held your candle up too. I'd love to trade that light for this light. No more excuses, no more reasons. In fact, last service, six people did just that. So if you go out there, there's actually seven now. We'll see what happens after.

Speaker 2: 35:17

But where are you at this year? What's your excuse? For those of you who have never stepped into that. What's your reason? Is your because really a cause, or is it time to come and share in your master's happiness and step inside to the party of life? Step inside to the party of life with him. And for the rest of us that have said yes to that, what excuse or reason or because is keeping you from using the gifts and talents and resources that our good father has given you and entrusted you with? He warns us because he loves us. Time is coming and we will have to reconcile, for that We've been given something. What are we doing? And, for heaven's sake, please know, all of heaven is rallying for you to give you the hope and the help that you need this year and in this life to come. On that note, I'd love to invite you to stand up as we respond to the Lord's word with worship.

Speaker 1: 36:28

Come on, can we give God a hand clap of praise for that message today?