Give Sacrificially

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Well, good morning, Cross Church Phoenix. How are you? Terrible. Okay. Wow. No, I'm just kidding. Um, I am Pastor DJ, the campus pastor here. If I haven't met you already, come find me afterwards. I'd love to chat with you and introduce myself. Um, at this time I want to invite you to open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. And if you don't have a Bible with you, there's one in the seat back in front of you and you can take that, make it your Bible. You can highlight it, mark it up, use it. All we ask is that you would bring it back next week then with you and make that your Bible. You know, many people believe that today is kickoff Sunday for the NFL. And we know them. See, Will, I'm sorry, brother, but you're wrong on that. Um, see, we know the truth. We know that today is grandparents day. See, there's Will. All right. Yeah. So, happy grandparents day to all of you. If you're a grandparent, we are thankful for you. And if you're a someone here who has a grandparent, um, tell them you love them. Do something nice for them. Uh, but, uh, happy grandparents day. Maybe you'll go home and watch kickoff Sunday with your grandparents. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But uh I also want to thank Matt Tate for preaching last week. Didn't Matt do a great job? I thought Matt did an awesome job. [Applause] Preaching from Titus chapter 1 1-9 on biblical leadership, the blueprint of a godly leader. And this morning we start a new series called Ready for Harvest. So, if you're new with us, we've covered the first seven chapters of 2 Corinthians uh under the heading rooted in holiness. And so Paul up to this point and will continue to really but he is challenging the church at Corenth to be rooted in holiness to know that God is the God of all comfort in our suffering for Christ to serve God in a hostile world and to be transformed by the gospel and to be faithful in ministry and pursue holiness. And he comes to chapter eight. And in chapter eight, he kind of switches gears a little bit. And he's going to exhort them now to be ready to do something. And that readiness, what he's calling them to be ready to do is give. And he's talking about money. He is excited. Paul is if you read chapter 7 he is excited that Corenth has responded well to his leadership. You remember he had written a severe or this harsh letter to the church at Corenth basically challenging them and correcting some problems that they had some blatant overt sin issues that they were dealing with that Paul's like you guys got to fix this now. And Paul was worried about what that would do to their relationship. And now he's super excited that they Titus brought word back saying that he is super excited that they are responding well to that letter. They're getting back on the same page as Paul. And so Paul is saying, now that we're back on the same page, guys, let's get back to some other important things. some things that you committed to previously like in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 where they had committed to contributing financially to a collection being taken. This is a collection for the church in Jerusalem that I'll explain in a minute. But you say, "Now wait a minute, DJ. The first time I come to church, if it's your first time, and you're going to talk to me about money." Yep. But this is what I love about preaching through books of the Bible is because we I am connected to the text. I have to preach and teach what the text says. I am guided by the text. We are guided by the scriptures. It's wonderful for me because I have no shame in preaching God's word. And like Paul says, I am unashamed of the gospel. I'm unashamed to preach on money when it comes up because it's in scripture. And how could we possibly ignore it? Scripture does address money. In fact, Jesus talked a lot about money during his ministry more than pretty much every other topic. So, if you don't want to hear about money in church, then you definitely wouldn't have wanted to hang out with Jesus 2,000 years ago. Don't tell me you want to be his friend and hang out with Jesus if you don't want to hear him address money. He also talked about hell more than heaven. That's what Jesus ministry is like. Jesus himself said where your treasure is there your heart will be also. You see, money is amoral, amoral or amoral. Like an atheist, an atheist would say there is no god, which we know them to be wrong. Um, not even Satan himself is dumb enough to be an atheist. But like they would say that amoral or amoral would mean without morality. So money in and of itself does not have any inherent morality, positive or negative. It's what you do with money that matters. Because money can be used for immorality and it can be used for good. We know from scripture that money is the great revealer. Your attitude and how you spend money is the great revealer. It reveals what you love and care about. Treasure is there your heart will be also. We spend money on what we love and what we care about. Right? Why do we spend money on 17 different streaming services? So that we can watch those one or two shows that are on all of them because we can't get everything in one place anymore. All the shows are spread on all these platforms and now we got to pay for a subscription to watch that one show we like. But why? Because we love those few shows that are on all these different platforms. Four. Why do we buy a And I'm going have to take a deep breath for this. An $8 grande Ice pumpkin spice half calfe light ice oat milk with a splash of heavy cream extra pumpkin no spice latte because we love our coffee or whatever that is. I don't even know if there's any coffee left in that. Or more seriously, why do people spend their last dime on drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes when they're emaciated, malnourished, and dehydrated themselves because they love the high more than their own health. Reveal the great revealer. You could say, "Hey DJ, hold on though. I spend money on paying rent, insurance, groceries, and gas. I don't love those things. I just got to have them. Well, actually, what we say is spending money on those things reveals you love and enjoy having a roof over your head and eating. And that's not bad. It just shows that it's a priority for you, right? You say, "Well, wouldn't that be a priority for everyone?" No. No. In my officer days, I met many people who would rather have their drugs than shelter. I offered a guy in the heat of summer a ride in the back of a nice cool airond conditioned Tahoe down to Phoenix Rescue Mission and he was on board ready to go but we have to do a phone call for like this pre-screening thing and he had to give up his marijuana to me to impound it for destruction. he would have to give up his marijuana to go to Phoenix Rescue Mission. And at that point, he said, "Nope, I'm staying." He would rather stay in 115° heat with his weed than go to shelter. What does it reveal? Loves his weed more than anything. He wouldn't give it up. Money reveals a lot about us, what we spend it on. And here Paul is going to test the Corinthians love. I love how he says that this is going to be a test of your love, how you handle your money. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for your word. And God, we just turn this time over to you, Lord. Um, I pray that your spirit would move. Pray that you would do what only you can do, which is to convict and and draw us closer to you and show us, reveal to us what we're doing wrong, how to get right, or Lord, maybe perhaps encourage us to keep doing what we've been doing, what you've laid upon our heart. whatever it is, pray that you would speak your word to your people this morning. Not DJ's word, yours. In Jesus name. Amen. Let's read verses 1-15. If you'll read along with me in your Bible, Paul says, "We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches in Macedonia during a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy, and their extreme poverty." Interesting how those go together. abundant joy and extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. I can testify that according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints. and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves, this is important, first to the Lord and then to us by God's will. So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace. Verse seven. Now as you excel in everything, in faith, speech, knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace. Notice this. Paul says, I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, the Macedonians, I am testing the genuiness of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, for your sake he became poor so that this is a purpose statement, right? He became poor. Why? So that by his poverty you might become rich. That in this matter I am giving advice because it is profitable for you who began last year not only to do something but also to want to do it. See how Paul's also always getting behind to the heart of the matter. You're doing it, but he loves that they wanted to. Verse 11. Now also finish the task so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion according to what you have. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality. At the present time, your surplus is available for their need so that their abundance may in turn meet your need in order that there may be equality. As it is written, he's going to quote the Old Testament, "The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little." One thing we need to know about what went on in the first century contextually is how big a deal the collection was for the poor saints, brothers and sisters in Christ in Jerusalem. in first century church in Jerusalem and in Judea that region a severe famine came over the land and this collection that's going around corinth is not the only one involved you see the Macedonian churches this is the region of modernday Greece all over the place Paul is exhorting churches to give to this collection to support the poor brothers and sisters in Christ who are experiencing a famine in Jerusalem. Now, it kind of doesn't seem like a big deal to us, but I can't I want to stress as much as I can if possible that this is a big deal for them. And so, here in verses 1-15, Paul gives two examples of sacrificial giving and exhortations that go with them. So, the first one we see is this. The Macedonian example challenges us to give from our poverty. Verse two says, "These believers, Macedonian, gave to the poor during what? Their own severe trial and extreme poverty." Not because they had to or they're being forced to. Paul is very careful in the text to say, "I'm not commanding this." They did this of their own accord. They wanted to. They want to. Verse four, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of giving and ministering to the other believers. And so Paul's pointing this out to Corinth. Verse one. We want you to know this. Corinth, check this out. Check out what Macedonia did. They gave out of extreme affliction and poverty. What are you going to do? Paul's not commanding the Corinthians to participate. Notice verse eight. I'm not saying this as a command, but this is a test of the genuiness of your love. How is this a test of their love? It's pretty simple, actually. Their brothers and sisters in Christ are in desperate need. Not because they're lazy, not because they're sitting around looking for a handout, but because there's a famine in Jerusalem and fellow Christians are starving. Does that bother you, Corinth? Does that bother you? Does that stir something in you, Corinth? Because it should. And if it doesn't, I think something's wrong. Because as we read in verse 14, Corinth has what? Surplus. Corinth has money at the moment. And Paul is saying, use that to give to others in need because you know what? There might come a time where the roles are reversed. He says in verse 14, maybe someday their surplus will help you. You never know if the tides are going to be turned against or on you. The tables will be turned. Corinth is has money. They have surplus. And Paul is challenging them. Are you going to love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in word only or in word and deed? We know the old cliche, actions speak louder than words. Well, this is Paul's way of saying actions speak louder words. The Macedonian churches gave out of their poverty because of their love and their love was shown by their actions. Have you ever given out of poverty? Given out of what little you do have from a heart of love? Now I do want to address this particular issue. This collection of money was for a specific purpose. This is not giving to the local church to support the pastor myself or to pay the bills. This is specific. This is a specific collection. He uses the word collection or we could say offering. This is a specific offering being taken to help the poor and needy brothers and sisters in Christ in Jerusalem experiencing a famine. That's what this is about. giving at the local church is a different sermon and I'm going to address that next week. This is specific to supporting the poor. And the point is the Macedonian churches did not see their lack of money as an obstacle. They saw it as an opportunity. We don't have much but we get to give. It's not a got to. to get to. This is an opportunity. And what did it reveal? Their love for the fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Because they're in Macedonia. They're further away. Jerusalem is way over here. Over here, I should say, if you're looking at me, right, it's it's east. But they love them. And they're not just loving them from afar. I love you guys. Hope everything goes good with that famine. saying, "Let's do something about it." And they gather together and Paul's like, "Yes, this is awesome. I'm gonna share this with Corinth. It revealed their love for the saints." Now, there is a balance here. Our giving must be done with discernment because the same guy Paul who wrote this in 2 Corinthians writes in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 this. He says, "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command." Interesting, right? 2 Corinthians 8, he's saying, "I'm not saying this as a command. I want you all to give from a heart of love. I'm saying this as a command." In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, and this is what he says. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. The scriptures are clear. We do help widows and orphans, but an ablebodied man who can work but refuses to. The scriptures say don't let him eat. Kind of gets in your face a little bit, right? Sometimes we wonder like how do we discern what to give to what to is an a is there an ablebodied man sitting around asking for money? Let him not eat. We're not talking about disabilities. We're not talking about widows and orphans. Different story. Completely different story. An able-bodied man. Work. Paul is not calling Corinth to give to a bunch of lazy people in Jerusalem who refuse to work. The famine. This is why it's important to know this. The famine is outside of their control. Right? If you even if you work hard, if you're in a famine, you're going to suffer. If there was a famine in Phoenix, you can work hard still. I hope you would. But if there's a famine across the land, you're going to be hungry and starve and suffer. It's outside of your control. Paul is calling Corinth to give to brothers and sisters in need who are in need because of circumstances outside of their control, not because Jerusalem Christians are sitting around doing nothing looking for a handout. It's not what Paul is asking them to give to. So how do we do this? How can we express this? There are wonderful Christian organizations that we can give to whose sole ministry is to help the poor and needy around the world. I'll give a few examples. There's more than a few, but I'm just going to I selected two. Compassion International is one of them. Uh, Compassion International, you can sponsor a child and then you get to communicate back and forth with them. It's really cool. My family and I, we sponsor a child named Joel from Nicaragua and it's been a few years now. Um, so we've they send you pictures and you watch them grow up and then you send letters and prayer requests back and forth and all that. So, it's been really it's been good for our family to pray for him and his family and the requests he sends. This is one option. Heart Cry Missionary Society is another good option. Heart Cry Missionary Society. They support mission work and their one of their emphasis is on raising indigenous leaders within their own communities, right? They're not going to they're not saying, "Hey, let's take some some people from America and go Americanize this other country." They say, "No, we're going to send people over there." But the whole point is to share the gospel with them and to raise up leaders indigenously to lead their own people and then leave, right? And then go do it somewhere else. And I love that. And every so often suffering and persecution will hit a a specific area or specific church in this mission in that that hard cry supports and they will specifically respond to those needs and send resources including money to help and relieve them. And you could even log on to their sites and like go and give to specific things that are related to the relief of certain ministries or certain people experiencing what we don't experience here in America. But there there are other options. There's a great analogy that Paul Washer gives in terms of mission work. And he says this, I'm quoting him. He says, quote, "Missions is not complicated. There's only two ministries in missions. You either go down into the well or you hold the rope for those who are going down. Either way, there'll be scars on your hand." End quote. I love that. Not all of us are going to be called to go around the world and do the work of missions, be a missionary. Many of us are simply called to hold the rope. And we can do that by giving towards those things. Second thing I want us to see from the text is this. The example of Jesus Christ challenges us to give from our riches. To give from our riches. Now perhaps you're here and you don't think you're rich. Many of us don't think we are. But even if you're living paycheck to paycheck in an apartment, the truth is we are blessed and richer than a majority of the world. If you're sitting here right now with what you have, you're richer than most the world. Forbes magazine, this is not even a Christian publication, right? Forbes magazine says this quote, "Even if you're stuck in the bottom 5% of the US income distribution, your standard of living is about equal to that of the top 5% of Indians in India." So if you say I'm in the lowest 5% in America, my standard of living, I don't have much. what you do have then in relation to the rest of the world is in the top 5% in India you go on to say a separate quote from Forbes secular organization they say this quote the poor in the US are richer than around 70% of all the people extent people extent is fancymancy words of saying everyone else extent end quote So the poor in the US, if you believe that that describes you, the poor in the US, you are richer than 70% of the world. Where are we at? Like 8 billion people now or something like that. I don't remember. And I think that that should humble us. What Paul gives us here in the example of Christ, right? He gave an example from giving out of poverty the Macedonians. Now he's giving an example from riches. Christ is rich. He owns everything. He's the creator of the universe and sustainer of it all. And though he is rich beyond measure, yet for your sake Christians, for your sake, Corinth, or for our sake cross Phoenix, he became poor. Why? So that by his poverty you might become rich with all the glorious riches in the heavenly places. Ephesians 2 in Christ Jesus Jesus didn't die to make you physically monetarily rich though he may bless you with that but he died on the cross for you and you if you are in Christ you have all the riches you could ever need everything you could ever need because you have eternal life in Christ if and Paul points to that as an example of our own giving. If Christ's humility isn't enough motivation to make you want to give generously from a heart of love, I don't know what would what will and so the question here is what is your attitude toward the riches that you do have? The question isn't how much do you have and do you have what you want. The question is, what is your attitude towards what God has given you? And I love how Brian and um Nicole in first service, we emphasize that everything we have already comes from God. Every breath you take, the fact that you woke up this morning, God let you God let you wake up and he's letting you breathe and eat donuts and drink coffee. What is your attitude towards the riches that you do have? Is it like the mind of Christ? Paul says in Philippians, have this mind of in Christ. He's talking about Christ humility. Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus. And Christ Jesus has infinitely more riches than you. I Elon Musk. And yet he gave it all up for you and for me. And this is a reality check for Corinth and for the church, I believe, for us. Yes, the Macedonians are a great example, too. But Corinth, he says, has surplus. You have plenty. Will you, Corinth, be like Christ and give it to others? part with some of that for the sake of others who are suffering, showing your love for them. Or you going to hoard it all to yourselves, Corinth, while other people suffer, revealing your selfishness and lack of concern and care for brothers and sisters in Christ. Well, Cross Church Phoenix have the mind of Christ to be like Christ and give what we have out of love for others with discernment and through prayer. Chapter nine, we will address some more things on giving. Yes. But the challenge, what Paul is challenging Corinth to do, I believe is a challenge for us. Let's read verses 16 to 24 to finish this off. Paul says, "Thanks be to God who put the same concern for you into the heart of Titus. For he welcomed our appeal and became and being very diligent, went out to you by his own choice. We have sent with him the brother who is praised among all the churches for his gospel ministry. And not only for that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gracious gift that we are administering for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We are taking this precaution so that no one will criticize us about this large sum that we are administering. Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord, but also before people. We have also sent with them our brother. We have often tested him in many circumstances and found him to be diligent and now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. Verse 23. As for Titus, he is my partner and coworker for you. As for our brothers, they are the messengers of the churches the glory of Christ. Therefore, show them proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you. He already told them this is going to be a test of their love. And in verse 24, show them proof before the churches of your love. So in these last verses, we see accountability with God's money. Yes, God cares how his money is handled. And our last point here is God's money must be handled carefully and with integrity. Notice that Paul is careful to remind Corinth that Tim Timothy that Titus won't handle the money alone. They're not going to and he admits this is a large sum. You see it in the text, right? This is going to be kind of a lot. We're not just going to give it to Titus by himself. And no, there's a few brothers who are going to go with him. This is accountability. Trusted brothers, right? Paul says, "We've tested them. We found them faithful. They're good. They're recommended by the churches. These guys we can trust." So, he's reassuring that this will be handled correctly and go to the good cause it's supposed to. So, how do we know if we're handling God's money correctly? What does our giving go towards here for Cross Church Phoenix? When you give to where does it go? What I love about Cross Church first is our heart for church planting. We are all about making Jesus known. And we do that by multiplying churches, multiplying campuses that are biblical and relevant, missional. That's our mission and make Jesus known. Do this. But it goes towards other things as well. So it goes towards planting churches. Some of it goes to support us as pastors, myself included. Some goes to mission work. We have a mission team led by Pastor Chad in the Philippines as we speak, helping a church out there. and they come back this coming Saturday. So, please be in prayer for them. We have benevolence ministries as well. We have a food pantry down the hall that is available for every Sunday. And yes, some goes to keep it cooler in here than it is outside and the lights. We as church leaders though, what I what what I want to draw from this text is that we also are accountable for how we use God's money. Right? Paul is not he he's like yes we want you to give towards this yes it needs to be handled well this is not going to be done without care. He says we are being very careful. You see he writes that we are actually being very careful to do what is right. Not only because God sees it but we want to do what's right among people too. Because we know what some people think about Christians and money. Think that we're all out to get everyone's money. And that couldn't be further from the truth. We give out of a response of our love for Christ, but it matters how we handle it. And like Matt taught last week, right? We see the downfall of leader, church leaders and pastors, and it's because not just for like sexual immorality, but because they're fraud or handling money poorly and using it for selfish gain or whatever, we as church leaders are accountable for how we use God's money. And if at some point were to be abused or used improperly, that doesn't take away from you and the heart that you gave from. For example, no different than if Titus and the boys decided, "Hey, when we get the money, we're going to the local pagan temple and spending it all." Now, praise God that does that didn't happen. But if it did, does that negate their giving, the Corinthian church's giving? Does it take away from the heart that they gave from? Absolutely not. And I'm a firm believer that God will handle those who use it improperly. The scriptures say, "Be sure your sin will find you out." So God will deal with that. And we are account held accountable not only to the church, but to God. But it wouldn't take away from the fact that the money was given that was given was given from a heart that honored God. That's what Paul is saying. Paul is saying, do you actually love brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need? Yes or no? Do you love them not just in word? Love you. Good luck with the famine over there. See you. Do you love them indeed by doing something about it? There are different ways to do that. But that's our challenge. So our closing thought is simply this. regardless of your financial situation. Because we had two examples, Paul addresses giving out of poverty and giving out of riches. Regardless of your financial situation, are you ready and eager? I love how Paul stresses the eagerness. Ready and eager to give sacrificially to the Lord in response to what he's given you. The amount, what you do, all that is between you and the Lord. We will get into chapter nine. God loves a cheerful giver. All of that. And just like Paul says, I don't I do not say this as a command. Neither will DJ. I'm not commanding nothing. But I will say where this is a test of the genuiness of our love. Where are our treasures? Because wherever those treasures are, there your heart is. And because Christ has given everything for you, will you give him nothing in return? Christ gave you everything. He gave up his life for us. We going to turn our nose up. Say, "No, I'll show up to church, Lord, but you ain't touching my pocketbook." though he died on the cross. Some things to think. Nothing demonstrates Christ's love for us more than the cross. The scriptures say, but God demonstrated his love for us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We're going to transition to celebrating that in communion. So, if you're joining us online, you can grab elements. If you have not already grabbed elements, they're in the back. I'll give you a minute to get up and grab them if you haven't already. Um, and while if you already have one, you can get it ready. If you haven't, go grab one. But I also want to give a couple of admonitions as we move forward with this. If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you see, I'm a Christian. That describes me. I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. You are invited to partake. Even if this is like your first time at Cross Church, this is not like, well, you have to be a member of Cross Church Phoenix to do. That's not biblical. This is for believers. This is for Christians. You are invited to partake. However, if you're here and you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you say, "I've been coming to church. I know about him, but I don't. No, he ain't Lord and Savior. He's not. No, no, I'm not really about turning my life over to you." For one, I pray that that would change. I'd love to talk with you about knowing Jesus. Uh but second, I would also say please abstain. You can observe and watch us, but the scriptures do warn a stern warning about doing this in an unworthy manner. It is possible to do this in an unworthy manner. And it is part of my responsibility, I believe, from the bottom of my heart to just give these warnings. It's between you and the Lord. But I'm going to tell you what the scripture says. What the scriptures teach in 1 Corinthians 11 is that we do this in remembrance of Jesus looking back to what he did. We proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Looking forward, right? We look back to what Christ did. We look forward to him coming. And then Paul says, "So examine yourself. Look in. Look back. Look forward. And then look in." [Music] And so I want to invite you to take time, a minute or two now, to examine yourself. And if you need longer, you take it. But what I mean by examining yourself is, are there sins that need to be confessed to the Lord right now? Is there anything in your life that you just need to turn over to him? Make right? I invite you to take a minute and do that right now between you and the Lord before we partake in communion. [Music] [Music] If you're still praying or communing with the Lord, don't let me interrupt you. But if you would peel back that top layer if you haven't already and take the bread. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:23, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Let's pray. Lord, we thank you. We thank you for the body Jesus Christ broken for us. The eternal son of God who owns everything. Gave it up. He became poor so that by his poverty we might become rich. [Music] Lord, you came fully God, fully man, and gave your life for us. Pray God that our lives, not just our finances, but really truly our lives, our time, our life would be devoted to you in response. God, help us. Thank you for your body broken for us in Jesus name. Amen. If you would peel back that second layer, Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 25. He says, "In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. This is a proclamation. And if you're coming, you kind of have to be alive to come, right? This is a proclamation that not only did Christ die on the cross for our sins, but he is risen. He is alive. We don't just celebrate that on Easter. Every day he's risen. Every day when you wake up tomorrow, Christ is risen. When you wake up on Tuesday, he defeated death. He's alive and he's coming back. And until he does come, we proclaim, we proclaim Christ and him crucified. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your blood shed for us on the cross at Calvary. Lord, not even for a millisecond, a nancond did you even think a sinful thought. You're perfect and you went to the cross and gave your life for us. You let sinful men nail you to the tree. No one took your life. The Jewish leaders didn't take your life. The Romans didn't take your life. You said, "No one takes my life. I give it and you gave." You could have called thousands of angels to deliver you and you didn't. You let mere sinful men nail you to the cross that you saved. God, I thank you for the blood shed for us. What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's partake. I'm going to invite the worship team back up and close us in a word of prayer collectively once more. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth that is in it. And God, I do pray that if there is anyone listening to my voice who does not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, may today be the last day that that is true about them. Today is the day of salvation. I pray God that they would talk to me or someone else, a trusted brother or sister who can show them and lead them to you. Ultimately, God, we owe everything to you. Our very lives depend upon you. And Lord, I pray for those of us who who do know you and maybe been walking with you for a while. God, I pray that you would encourage us to remain faithful in what we are doing. What we are doing that is obedient to you. The things that you have called us to do that we've responded yes to. I pray that you would give us the strength and endurance to continue. Lord, I pray that we would honor you in every way, in every aspect of our life. And that includes how we use our money. It's not a popular topic, but it's one that needs to be addressed. We thank you that your word gives us a guide. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's pray or let's And it's