Speaker 1: 0:14

All right, my name is Lawrence. I'm one of the pastors here. Good to be with you. Our mission here is to help unchurched or anti-churched or de-churched people become wholeheart followers of Jesus Christ, and one of the ways that we become wholehearted is actually in community. We talked about this just a little bit last week about proclaiming and that proclaiming and growing and experiencing actually happens like on a Tuesday night in your house or in these small groups, and so I just wanted to highlight a couple of things we have in community. That's starting and really short-term commitments that you could make to community and experience that early in this year.

Speaker 1: 0:50

Out in the lobby, as you go out there to your left, you'll see a little table. We have a chosen Bible study. If you've seen any of those, I'm going to be leading that one. We watch the episodes. We're going to do season four of chosen here. We have table groups. Then we discuss kind of the history, what's real kind of in there, what they kind of did some things with, and we kind of dig in and dive into that. So that's great community. Right next to that we have this marriage class or even before you get married, called Prepared to Last. Ben and Connie, are teaching that one. I'm so thankful and excited to have them as part of our team and investing into people's relationships and what's going on there, so you can go check out that one if that one works for you.

Speaker 1: 1:28

We're kicking off Rooted, which is really this discipleship process. It's like an 11-week journey which is a small group, and then we just have a whole lot of other things. We have MomCo on Monday nights, like many opportunities. So my encouragement to you is what would it look like for you to become a little bit more wholehearted in your discipleship journey and so take advantage of some of those. Some of those are getting ready to kick off really quickly. Some of them you got another month out. So, yeah, we are almost done wrapping up the Gospel according to Matthew. We've been going through it verse by verse. We are now into the passion of Christ. We're in chapter 26, and we got like a really interesting topic today that I think a lot of us would be able to resonate with.

Speaker 1: 2:09

Have you guys ever tried to bargain with God? Have you thought about that, like some of you guys? Yeah, like, in fact, I mean you might not even be a Christian yet, or maybe not even sure that you believe God is like a personal God. But I bet you, at some point in your life, you bargained with God Like you. We've all, we've all bargained with God to a degree, as you know.

Speaker 1: 2:32

That time when, like you needed to be home or you needed to be at that place and you're driving way over the speed limit, right, and you're like doing your bargaining like just praying, like, oh God, like I promise, or like I'll never or like I'll always if there's not a po-po on the way here, if I can just get there on time, right, and all of us at some point, even as adults, like try to get God in on our thing. Like there's something in us that somehow wants to leverage God's power for our benefit, like to our end. And sometimes it's actually super legitimate, like especially if you have a loved one that's going through a difficult time, especially if it's a child or a husband or a wife, especially if it's a medical thing. Like I mean, haven't you said God, I'll do anything? Like I'll do anything if you heal them, or if you fix this, or if you make this better, I'll do anything? I know in times of my life I've found myself in that exact scenario just bargaining and begging. And all of us to some level say God like what do I need to do to get you to do what I need you to do? Like God, if you will, then I will. And we bargain with our prayers, we bargain with our church attendance, with our giving, or I'll promise to do this, or we bargain with our obedience and at the end of the day, all of us want to figure out to some extent, like what do I need to do to get God to do what I need him to do? Or maybe that's actually in the past for you, because in the past you actually tried to bargain with God and God just didn't do what you thought God ought to do. And so you just said forget it, I'm done with it. Like if God had behaved the way that I thought God should behave, then maybe you would have behaved or you would have believed or continue to believe.

Speaker 1: 4:26

And so today's character that we're talking about was a character who tried to get Jesus specifically to do his bidding, and when Jesus wouldn't do what this character wanted Jesus to do, this character bailed, they walked away, said enough is enough. And here's the reality. There's a little bit of this character of him in all of us, and the reason I know is is because when I asked you the question, have you ever tried to bargain with God? Many of you did the nervous laugh like, yeah, been there. Almost everybody in this room smirked, at least in the inside, because all of us in the room have this tension at some point. Another that we've had with God and today's character in the end turned out, was a traitor, and this character had three sides to everything. There was the right side, there was the wrong side and then there was his side and it was mostly the side. That was what's in it for me and today's character's name is Judas Iscariot and for Judas, his relationship with Jesus.

Speaker 1: 5:30

There were conditions. Have you ever had one of those where it's kind of a bargain or it's just a condition, like you didn't realize that there was actually conditions in a relationship you had until that suddenly shifted and you're like, oh, there was conditions to that. I didn't realize, like I didn't know a relationship, like as long as I was giving you a ride somewhere, that we were connected but that had to stop, and now suddenly like everything's changed or you know, I didn't know our condition was based on, like me, paying for food all the time, and now that I'm not buying you food, we're not hanging out and eating together, whatever it may be. You can think of relationships or circumstances where you're like, oh my gosh, I didn't realize that that wasn't unconditional, that there was actually a condition to that. But the thing is, before we're too critical on Judas, we're going to be able to relate to Judas, I think, as the story goes on. But it wasn't actually just Judas, it was all of Jesus' disciples, like all 12, all 12 of Jesus' apostles, I think, struggled with this. Jesus was, to a degree, a means to an end for all of them. To some extent, we actually see this.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Peter talks about this After Peter teaches, after Jesus teaches the sacrifice that's needed to participate in the kingdom of God. Peter then says, as Peter answered Jesus and said hold on, we've left everything to follow you. What will there then be for us? And that's the question that we ask Like, okay, god, like I've done this, I promised this, I gave up my Sunday mornings, or look at what I've done, I've started giving, or I got out of that relationship you asked me to, or I quit, using foul language, whatever the thing is, god, here's what I did. So what's in it for me? Like, what's the benefit, what's the blessing for me? And that was the question that they asked. This was the question that Judas asked constantly and consistently, because for Judas, jesus's relationship was conditional, based on his conditions.

Speaker 1: 7:26

Then, when the 12 apostles, at the end of Jesus's ministry, when it dawned on them it looks like there's actually nothing in it for us any longer, when Jesus was arrested, they realized, okay, this is going really, really bad. All of them walked away. Every single one of them walked away. And why did they walk away? Because they didn't feel like there was anything in it for them anymore, like the programmed relationship had ended. The reason they were doing something together seemed like it was no longer happening anymore. But they all came back ultimately, except for one person, and that's Judas Iscariot. Now let me tell you a little bit about how Judas thought, which is, I think, understandable.

Speaker 1: 8:09

Judas had Old Testament expectations, and here's what I mean by that. The Old Testament taught that one day, God was going to send the Jews a Messiah, a Savior, and the Jews thought that this would be like a military leader, a political leader, and in their context in the first century. At this time it would be somebody who would throw off the Roman rule and return Israel back to the days of David and Solomon in the Old Testament, the golden age of Israel. And as Judas watched Jesus, jesus had a lot of the characteristics that were predicted in the Old Testament, but there was a few exceptions, I think, that he saw. One of those exceptions was Jesus didn't hate the Romans and they kept trying to stir up animosity between Jesus and the Romans. And the other problem was Jesus was always in a battle with the religious leaders. And you know, if you're ever going to get a movement started, if you're ever going to get like rally Galilee and Judea and bring these areas together to throw the Romans out, you need the temple and you need the temple leaders. And for him, jesus was maybe a little too passive at times. Or Jesus wouldn't save enough money Like you've got to have money to start a movement and every time their treasury began to grow, jesus would just disperse the funds and start giving money away or food away or things away. You know, for Judas maybe it just didn't seem like he had the energy to do what was needed. He didn't seem to have the focus, and so Judas we can see begins to lose patience and finally, finally, something happened that was the final straw for Judas. He just couldn't take it anymore and, interestingly enough, it was an extraordinary act of generosity that just sent Judas right over the edge.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Now this little piece of narrative takes place in a village called Bethany. It's about a mile and a half outside of Jerusalem, like in the suburb of Jerusalem in the first century over on the east side, and that's important to understand as the story progresses. So here's what happens is Matthew tells us that while Jesus was in Bethany and yes, we did talk a little bit about this story last week, but there's more to it and it really helps understand the context of Judas's story about what's going on this little town in the first century, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume which she poured on his head as he was reclining at a table, to which we would say, well, that's kind of weird, like we might even say, like that's kind of gross, or like I wish I hope Jesus doesn't ask me to do that, but you've got to get this picture like they're actually reclining, like that means like they're reclining back on their elbows, they're not sitting in a chair and they're being served this meal. And this woman walks in and there's the alabaster bottles, and what would happen is it was sealed at the top to prevent evaporation, and so the only way to open them is he actually had to break the neck of the container, and so what happens then is she begins to pour it down the back of his hair and would likely be combing it through his hair, and this aroma would have filled the room.

Speaker 1: 11:07

And now John one of the disciples who wrote the gospel of John, who was there, gives us details that Matthew actually doesn't give us. John, like, tells us get this that this jar of perfume was worth about a year's worth of wages. I mean, think about that for yourself. What does that look like? So think about for a minute what that would look like, and then you'll understand the disciples' response. So when the disciples saw this, they were indignant. They're like why this waste? They asked. This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.

Speaker 1: 11:42

Now Jesus is like at the end of the table and he sees this commotion and he realized what they were all talking about, which is important for the rest of the story, because Jesus knew what everyone was talking about. Jesus, you know, like we see all throughout his ministry would like answer questions before they were even asked. Jesus answered questions at the heart level. He answered questions behind the question that was being asked. And so Jesus we see this all throughout the biography and the narrative of Jesus he knew what was going on. And then it even says aware of this, jesus said to them why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. First of all, he's saying it's her perfume, like she can do whatever she wants to do. She could pour it on the ground for all I care, it's hers. So this is none of your business what she does with her perfume. And secondly, why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. She has honored me, she has elevated my status. She, through this act, has shown me how much respect she has for me.

Speaker 1: 12:43

And then John gives us even a little bit more detail about what went on in this little dinner gathering. He says actually it wasn't just the disciples who were indignant over the fact that this perfume was supposedly wasted, john tells us. And John was there and John understood the characters who were indignant over the fact that this perfume was supposedly wasted. John tells us, and John was there, and John understood the characters that were there and in the room and he knew personally all of them. John said it was actually Judas who stirred up animosity against the woman.

Speaker 1: 13:08

And so for Judas, we see this was the end, like the straw that broke the camel's back. Like you're supposedly the Messiah, we're gonna go and conquer and throw off the Roman Empire and you know we're going to get things going, we're going to try to restore Israel. And you allow this much money, this much value to be wasted on you. I think you've become a little too much about you, jesus. I think maybe you've lost perspective in what we're doing. You're not moving along fast enough and I'm wondering if maybe I've even wasted years of my life following you because it isn't going anywhere, and if you're not worried about this kind of waste of money, maybe I need to do something different with my life. I'm not sure I can trust you anymore.

Speaker 1: 13:50

And then the text in Matthew actually tells us that then, like right, then, right after this moment happens in Bethany, one of the 12, the one called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priest a mile and a half away in Jerusalem. He excused himself from this moment. He said hey, I got some business. I got some things to do in Jerusalem I need to take care of. And he went to the chief priest and he asked what are you willing to? Let's read this together what are you willing to give? What are you willing to give me if I deliver them over to you? What are you willing to give me? Now, we don't know this, but maybe Judas was just so discouraged with the whole thing, like he just didn't care anymore, like he just needed to do something to make sure that he was reimbursed for all the time that he had spent. We don't know if he was, you know, trying to force Jesus's hand. We don't know exactly what was going on the side of Jesus, but one thing we do know is that he had decided he was going to profit either way. Either way this thing went, he was the one who was going to come out on top.

Speaker 1: 15:02

Now, this little conversation with the chief priest is super important, because what was keeping the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, what kept Caiaphas, the high priest specifically, from actually arresting Jesus earlier, like why do they need Judas' help? Well, it's two words. We've seen this a lot. Those two words are the crowds, the people, just like we talked about last week. Are you the people, or are you the chief priests and the elders? Because everywhere Jesus went there was a crowd Like they kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And Judas was a crowd, like they kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And Judas was an insider. And he says that to these religious leaders like I can get Jesus away from the crowd, I can deliver him to you where there's actually not a crowd. And then they said, well, that's my friend would be worth something.

Speaker 1: 15:50

And so the text tells us that they counted out 30 pieces of silver. I mean, think about this, think about this. Judas was eyeball to eyeball with Jesus. Judas rode in a boat with Jesus. Judas saw miracles, had meals, was right there with Jesus, and he just got so fed up because he couldn't get Jesus to do what he thought Jesus ought to do. And so Judas sold him. He traded his relationship with Jesus and he traded Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and 30 pieces of silver in that time was used basically as the price of a slave.

Speaker 1: 16:35

This week I've thought through my life as I know some of you can think through yours of all of the things that I may have been tempted to trade in my relationship with Jesus for, and as even you think about that yourself, they can begin to look basically like 30 pieces of old, used silver in comparison. You can think of your own examples what that might look like. But in a moment, for Judas this just felt like the thing to do, because what in the world am I going to get out of this at the end of the day after all? And then it says and so from then on, judas watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over. And now the music changes.

Speaker 1: 17:26

This is when things begin to get intense. This is when the drama begins to unfold, because right after this little deal with the high priest, it was actually time for the Passover. So this is on a Thursday afternoon or a Thursday early in the day, jesus went to some of his disciples, sent them into Jerusalem to actually go and find a place for them to have what would be their last Passover before he was crucified. And nobody actually understood that that that was gonna happen. We'll actually dive deep into that next week, but for today, the sun begins going to happen. We'll actually dive deep into that next week, but for today, the sun begins to go down.

Speaker 1: 18:01

The disciples and Jesus, they go into the city of Jerusalem and they gather in what's referred to as the upper room and they begin this time of just talking and sharing together. And during this time, jesus does like the strangest thing he takes off his rabbinical robe, this sign of authority that he has, and he puts a towel around his waist and he washes the disciples' feet. And we see that the disciples, they, get indignant again. It's like you're not going to wash our feet, like you're acting like a servant right now, like you're the Messiah, like you're our rabbi, you're our teacher. And Jesus says this is what I'm doing for you, actually as an example, because I want you to do this for everybody else for the rest of your life. Jesus says you think I'm a big deal? I'm washing your feet. And so, when you start thinking you're a big deal, start washing feet. Peter says you're not going to wash my feet. Jesus says I need you to sit down. I'm going to do this. I need to teach you. You have to let me wash my feet. Jesus says I need you to sit down. I'm going to do this. I need to teach you. You have to let me wash your feet. And then, when he finished, he put back on his rabbinical robe. He says now, what I've done for you, you are to do for other people.

Speaker 1: 19:13

Someone then mentions at some point after the meal hey, why don't we retire to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray? I don't know if it was Jesus that suggested that or one of the disciples, but when Judas heard that, he thought, bingo, that's it, there's my opportunity. It'll be dark, it'll be late in the night, there won't be anyone around, there'll just be confusion. It's the perfect time for me to deliver Jesus over to the high priest, to Caiaphas, in the temple garden. But he had one problem, and the problem was like how am I gonna get out of this room to let them know to come meet us at the garden of Gethsemane? And imagine this, as he's like trying to figure this out in his head, like what excuse can I come up with? It was just playing along with everyone during this Passover meal and then Jesus said something that sent chills down his spine.

Speaker 1: 20:06

Jesus now announces to the whole room. Very truly, I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. Can you imagine that moment for him, for him maybe saying like how in the world did I think I would pull this off without him knowing? Like he knows everything he's sneaky, jesus, right, he knows the heart of man. Like he answers questions before they're even answered. Like my gosh, we just watched him raise Lazarus from the dead. Like how in the world did I think I was going to be able to pull something off without him knowing?

Speaker 1: 20:39

And then, while this group, these disciples, are sitting in this little sense of chaos, panic ripples throughout the room as they're trying to decide. Like, what is Jesus talking about and who's going to betray him? Jesus leans over to Judas and says what you were about to do, do quickly. But no one at the meal says understood why Jesus said this to him. Wow, come on, are you kidding me? And then the disciples they just assume the best. They assume that Jesus just sent Judas on an errand into the city. And then, once he was gone out of the room, it says when he was gone, jesus said now the son of man is glorified and God is glorified in him. In other words, everything is working exactly as planned, which is a reminder to us that God's hand cannot be forced and God's will cannot be thwarted.

Speaker 1: 21:36

Now we're kind of like reading in between the lines here a little bit, but we don't know exactly what Judas is thinking. But here's one thing that we know he thought he thought that there's no way like for sure no way this was going to escalate out of control. Like the temple guard will arrest him. He'll be carried into Caiaphas, they're gonna ask him some questions. He's gonna answer their questions. You know, maybe they'll punish him or they're gonna arrest him or put him in jail, maybe they'll excite him. We don't know. But like I've got my 30 pieces of silver and Jesus can figure it out for himself, like he's Jesus. We've watched him do way harder things than this because he's Jesus and after all, I'm not sure they can even hold him anyways.

Speaker 1: 22:17

But when Judas found out that Caiaphas had actually handed and delivered Jesus over to Pilate, judas was smart enough to know that there was only one reason that Jesus would be handed over to Pilate, and that was for a death sentence, because the Jews could do everything in their law to punish people except execute people, and the Jews didn't need the Romans for anything except permission to execute a criminal. And so when Judas found out that he had gone as far as suddenly it dawned on him that this was taking place, and Jesus isn't even resisting that he realized what he had done. And the text tells us when Jesus, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. What was of extraordinary value in one minute had no value. The next, what was worth trading in Jesus for in one minute was an embarrassment. The next, what he sacrificed his relationship with Jesus for one minute, was something that he had wished he had never done.

Speaker 1: 23:39

The next, and that, my friends, is where some of us are living today. Your greatest regrets, my greatest regrets, are associated with an attempt to hang on to something, to prop something up. That isn't even a part of my life anymore. And Judas's greatest regret was his attempt to force God's hand. I have sinned, he said, for I have betrayed innocent blood and she frees. And the elders replied what is that to us? And then there's this powerful statement that's your responsibility. You've heard this next part of the story, I bet. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left and he went away and he hanged himself. Judas gained 30 pieces of silver and lost his soul.

Speaker 1: 24:40

Now here's why this is such a big deal to me. Here's one of the things that breaks my heart. Too many people reject Jesus to preserve something they're going to lose in the end anyways, and they hurt themselves along the way and they hurt the other people around them. And I've seen, you've seen, we've all got our own stories of us or the people around us or people that we love, who, in an attempt to preserve something that they're going to lose anyway, reject Jesus, reject God or hang on to these old arguments against God that they haven't reexamined since high school or college or graduate school, in an attempt to hang on to something that every single day has less and less appeal and has less and less value.

Speaker 1: 25:24

As a young follower of Jesus, I was in high school. I gave my life to Christ and hadn't really grown up in the church and was having this transformative experience. And I remember specifically a young guy that I played football with and I wrestled with. His name was Drew Hall. Drew Hall was like a good Mormon kid. He was a solid kid and I had been in this place where, like man, I was just following the crowds, like I was like doing everything else.

Speaker 1: 25:51

I was, you know, with Jesus on the weekend and doing youth group and experiencing. And then when I was at school, I had traded him in for, you know, with Jesus on the weekend and doing youth group and experiencing. And then when I was at school, I had traded him in for, you know, money and fame and whatever that thought that brought, because he had to be the cool person. And so you know you talk inappropriately or do dumb stuff Like you. Just you're a kid doing silly things. And I was so convicted and so struck, specifically not because Drew Hall said something to me, it's because there was all kinds of shenanigans. I don't remember what was going on and the way people would talk, what we would do around the locker room, and when we would get around Drew, somebody else would open their mouth and be like hey, we don't talk like that around Drew, like we respect Drew, like we don't use that language or we don't talk about people like that. And I remember I was so convicted because I was like what have I traded Jesus in for Some sort of fame or to fit in or to be cool.

Speaker 1: 26:42

And it breaks my heart, as it breaks your heavenly father's heart, when we decide that there is something more important than a relationship with our heavenly father, because, whatever that thing is, it immediately begins to lose its appeal. But here's the thing that I think should really scare us that when we barter with God, when we bargain with God, when we resist God rather than surrender, we, like Judas, are responsible for the outcome. When we barter with God, we are responsible for the outcome of the journey. That's the Pharisees, the chief priests, saying hey, judas, that's your responsibility, that's your issue. You chose to portray Jesus, you chose to walk away. Now the outcome is completely up to you. And here's the thing that should scare us Apparently, apparently, god will not get in the way of you having your way, and God will not get in the way of me having my way, and God will not get in the way of us having our way. He won't rob us of the responsibility, the outcome that's associated with our decision, and that kind of scares me, and I think it should kind of scare you. Not because God is scary, because God so honors your freedom, your free will and choice. He will not interfere with it, even if it means you undermining your own success and your own happiness.

Speaker 1: 28:23

When Judas couldn't get Jesus to do his bidding again, he traded his relationship for something that immediately began to devalue. It immediately began to lose its appeal to him. And I understand why. Because, let's be honest, we all have this in common Bartering is way easier, like bartering is way easier than surrendering. Resisting and arguing with God is way easier than saying have your way. But here's the promise, here's the takeaway and here's the lesson when we surrender, god takes the responsibility for the outcome of the journey.

Speaker 1: 29:06

When we surrender and we finally say God, it's killing me to give this up, like when we finally say God, as appealing as this is, it's not worth losing my peace, it's not worth losing my integrity over this, it's not worth violating my conscience over this, it's not worth being able to go to bed at night and not have a clear conscience, to be able to sleep and know that the things are good with me and you. But it's just not worth it anymore. Because when we surrender, our heavenly father takes responsibility then for the outcome of the journey, which means, friends, that the safest, the most secure, the most purpose-filled place that you can ever be is dead center in the will of God, which begins with Thy will be done, not my will. And I know why this is hard, because we say, like golly, that's just so risky to just wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do I don't know what it looks like To which I would say whatever you have replaced God with in your life is far more risky. And again, because you are responsible, I am responsible, then, for the outcome of the journey, and your heavenly father honors your freedom too much to get in the way. When you opt for something over God, it breaks his heart because he, friends, is your heavenly father. And again, when we surrender, god takes responsibility for the outcome of the journey. So here's the question for us, here's the question for you, here's the question for me have you surrendered? Have you surrendered? Has there ever been a time in a life where you've said and I mean it like God, no matter what it is, you have your way. In my relationships, in my future, in my job, in my major, in my GPA, in my friendships, my best friends, my attitude, my decisions, whether or not to forgive everything, have your way in the safest, most secure, most purpose-filled place in the world to be, at the end of the day and this is the lesson of the life of Judas is it's your will, not mine, your will, not mine. There have been, this last month, 24 people who have taken a light bulb and put it on that cross out there that have said your will not mine just this last month, which is incredible that people have made that decision of surrender. Yeah, it is worth that Wednesday. This last Wednesday was a fun one.

Speaker 1: 31:53

Wednesday. I was in my office. It was early in the afternoon and a gentleman came in. He said hey, I've been tending online Me and my wife have for some time back and forth, and we have some friends that just moved over from China. They're in San Francisco right now, but they're figuring out how to move out this way and they've been watching a little bit too and we've been proclaiming and sharing with them. And they made a decision to give their life to Christ. And so they were all here, the three family members. They actually have four other people that they're bringing and they said we want to go to this place where we're going to get baptized on Easter, because on Easter we're having baptism.

Speaker 1: 32:23

So the seniors group was finishing up their study and so we pulled them out and they got to go out there and the three of them got to screw in their light bulb on the wall as they surrendered and says I am no longer in control of the outcome. I'm surrendering and letting Jesus, the God of the universe, control the outcome of this journey in my life. And maybe today is the day that you do that same thing, that you say, finally, I'm done thy will, that you say, finally, I'm done thy will, I'm ready to tap in and let him control the outcome. I'm done trading in those things that have no value anymore for this relationship with Jesus. It's just not worth it. So that's my encouragement to you, that maybe you haven't done that yet. And today's the day.

Speaker 1: 33:16

This earlier, the first service, we had three people. We went over there and we shouted and they blew a bugle and they threw their light bulb into there. And some of you this one is yours today because you're done controlling the outcome, you're done being the responsible one for that and you're allowing him to be responsible for you. And then, beyond that, maybe those of you who have made a decision. You've said yes, you've surrendered your life and said thy will and you are part of the kingdom. That is happening here and now.

Speaker 1: 33:46

I just want to encourage you that, just like I said, we're doing baptisms on Easter and what a day to do it. I mean, it's Resurrection Sunday into new life, and so if you haven't been baptized yet and you've made that decision, or you're gonna be screaming in a light bulb today, I wanna sign you up for baptisms, because we're gonna have a party and we're gonna celebrate together and that's coming up here in just a couple of months, and so you can, on the connection card, say, hey, I'm interested in baptism, or, today, if you're interested in making this step of faith and surrendering, it's that little spot that says this changes everything. You can go over there and they'll give you a light bulb and a little journal and help you with that next step, because it changes everything, friends, when we say thy will, not my will. So, in the posture of celebration for what he has done for us, would you please stand as we respond and worship.