Totally Worth It

Good morning, my name is René, one of the other pastors here, and happy Valentine's Day. It's not only Valentine's Day, but it also happens to be our anniversary. Lori and I, yes! We have been married, today we have been married 29 years. If you can believe it, I can hardly believe it. I know. So Lori chose Valentine's Day. She said, "We want to get married on Valentine's Day." She said, "René, you're so forgetful, and if we get married on Valentine's Day, you will have the entire world reminding you for a month that your anniversary is coming up." So far that's worked out fine, but if I ever forget it, I am just in like triple trouble. So we'll see how that works out.

I love Valentine's Day because of that, but I'm fully aware that Valentine's Day is not awesome for everybody. But there's an interesting story behind one such person. You might remember a few years ago, Lisa Tkach, a Twin Lakes church member who works with veterans. We told her story a few weeks ago here in one of the sermons. She had the little kids here at the church make Valentine's cards for veterans who are in the long-term recovery ward at the VA hospital up in Palo Alto. And then we put them all on tables out here, and we invited you to sign those just to let some of these veterans know, "Listen, people are thinking about you, people love you, we love you, we're praying for you, right?"

Well, one of those cards went out. It was actually drawn by Billy Albanese years ago. You see Billy now up here sometimes on the platform singing with our worship group. But Billy wrote this, "Happy Valentine's Day, thank you for your service." And she drew some people saluting the flag, and some of you signed on the inside. Well, this particular card got to a woman named Katie Robinson. And a few years after she got this card, in fact, just a few months ago, Katie wrote back this letter. She said, "Valentine's Day can be a tough day for many people for many reasons. For example, on Valentine's Day 2007, I found myself in the tent hospital in Balad, Iraq, recovering from wounds from a sniper's bullet. I was still recovering in 2011 at the VA hospital in Palo Alto. But on that Valentine's Day, I got a card and a gift basket. Four years later, I still have that card and enjoys a prominent position on my refrigerator."

Now listen to this. She says, "Your kindness helped me reclaim Valentine's Day and build new memories. Then I knew there are people outside these walls who care for me." For her, Valentine's Day meant pain, literally. For her, Valentine's Day was the anniversary of a sniper's bullet. But this little, simple message began to turn that day around. Someone who didn't even know her assigned value to her. A group of people that she'd never even met loved her. And that helped her reclaim that day. That helped her get a new perspective.

Well, 2,000 years ago, there was another little community of people, the very first Christians, who were getting wounded violently, and not just by a sniper, by the Roman emperor, out to kill some of them. Their days were full of pain, too. They had a desolate-looking future, too, and then they got a letter, too. And that letter helped them reframe their days and reclaim their sense of hope for their future. Now, they were still going through tough times, just like that veteran at the VA hospital, but it changed everything when they knew there's a bigger picture, when they knew someone cared for them.

Well, the letter that they got is in your Bibles as the Book of Revelation, and that is the book of the Bible that we're studying in the sermon series that we're in. We call it Rev, "Glimpses of Heaven and the Future and God's Plan for the World." If you have your Bibles, you can open them up to the Book of Revelation, and you can grab your message notes, too. This will help you follow along. If you're new with us, we always put message notes that look like this in your bulletins. You can also download the TLC app if you're watching online.

By the way, you know we have as many people joining us online every week as we have live in our weekend services. Everybody in all three services plus venue is duplicated by people who are watching online. It's amazing. And you can download these notes online, and the notes also have daily meditations that are attached to them. But do you see the front page there? Maybe you relate to some of these feelings. Are any of these true of you? I'm haunted with a sense of unworthiness. I feel trapped in a self-destructive cycle, maybe some kind of sin, maybe a cycle of worry. And actually, I feel unworthy of help. In fact, I don't even feel worthy of God's love. Sometimes I'm not even sure I'm going to heaven when I die. I have very low self-esteem, and I try to do better. I tell myself that God's going to like me better if I do more, but it never seems to be enough.

Clearly, these are all issues related to the problem of low self-worth. So what are we going to do about these things? We live in a culture that sees the problem. Now follow me here. Our culture tries to deal with the problem, the very real problem of low self-worth, and all the horrible decisions that can come out of low self-worth. And our culture goes, "Well, how can we solve that?" And it tries to deal with that problem by pumping people up. Right? You are so worth it. You are awesome. No, you are beautiful. You're wrong about thinking that way about yourself. You're gorgeous. Now what's the problem with that? If what they mean by that is, as part of God's creation, you are worthy of love no matter who you are. And as part of one of God's children, God wants you to live a blessed life. If that's what's meant by that, then they're absolutely correct.

But the problem is, people who really struggle with self-worth don't believe a word of that. They hear people say, "You're awesome. You're gorgeous." And they just think, "It's not true." And then they look around and they see some people who are positively affected by that, and then they feel even worse. They feel like, "I'm so bad. I'm not even able to take in these encouraging things that people are trying to give me." And then other people take all of that stuff in, and they take it to the nth degree, and they become insufferable. They think, "They're right. I am awesome. I am above any criticism. Nobody daresay anything negative about me." And they end up making society even worse.

So how can the problem of self-worth be addressed, not just by some self-esteem pep talk, but by something that makes a difference way down, deep down in your soul? Well, in our series in the book of Revelation, today we're going to be in chapter 5, and we're going to look at three truths today that will change your life. If you're struggling with self-worth and you internalize what's said in this chapter, this will change everything. Now, if you're excited about life already, this will give you new reasons to be excited. If you're kind of spiritually numb, you don't feel that bad, but you don't feel very good either, this is going to wake you up. If you're in total despair, this is going to give you hope.

How do I know? Because it made a difference to me. The truths we're going to look at just rocked my world, because these are the truths of the gospel, painted in these beautiful, artistic, visionary ways by the Apostle John, who writes these words. Just a quick catch-up in this series, the book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John when he was imprisoned by the Romans on a prison island, the island of Patmos, and he sees a series of visions of Jesus and of heaven and of the present and the future from heaven's perspective.

And at first, these visions scare people out. A lot of people don't want to study the book of Revelation because it's full of all of these symbols and dreamlike imagery, but as we've been learning in this series, if you just let these images speak for themselves in the context of the time, their message becomes just radical and super meaningful. So let's dive into chapter five. We looked at part of chapter five last week, but I want to go there in more depth today. Let's start out in chapter five, verse one. John says, "And then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne," and remember, the one who sat on the throne was God. "I saw a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals, and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?'"

Okay, what is all that about? What is this mystery scroll? Well, again, you have to let the book of Revelation sort of speak for itself, and it's clear as Revelation goes on in the subsequent chapters that what's in the scroll is God's plan for fixing this world. What's in the scroll is God's plan for bringing justice to this place. It's God's plan of salvation because we live on a planet that needs salvation. Would you agree with that? We live in a messed up world. We have messed up lives. We have messed up minds because of sin, and God has a plan for fixing it. And so this mighty angel is saying, "I cannot enact this plan." Who is able to set God's plan for fixing all of this into motion? Who's powerful enough? Who's good enough? Who's pure enough? Who's holy enough to bring healing to the world?

And everybody in heaven, all the angels and all the saints and all the rest of the living creatures kind of look around and go, "Not me." In fact, I'm kind of part of the problem. And that's the first truth that will help you if you struggle with self-worth or struggle with sin, and it's sort of counterintuitive because instead, listen, instead of starting with, "You're awesome! You can do it! You're the man! You're the woman!" The Bible actually starts with the problem. No one is worthy. No one is holy enough. No one is strong enough. No one is powerful enough to fix what's wrong with the world. Now, we're all worthy of love. But watch what John says, "But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth," and that pretty much includes everybody, "could open the scroll or even look inside of it." I wept, and I wept because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

Now, if you have your pencils or pens, circle the words, "No one." No one was found worthy. What's happening to John in this vision is this. When you're in the presence of God, suddenly you don't look so good to yourself. Suddenly, John's just acutely aware of his own weakness, right? It's what people in 12-step groups call "hitting bottom," when you realize you are powerless to fix what is wrong in your world when you realize you do not qualify to be general manager of the universe, and you have to get to this point before you can be cured. Another place in the Bible, Romans 3, says, "There is no one righteous, not even one. All have turned away. They have together become worthless." Now, worthless, if that offends you, in the Greek, that word was originally used for "sour milk." It literally means we have so much potential. We were made in the image of God. God wants to bless us, but we've gone sour. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Now, it says, "All fall short of God's glory." What does that mean? When you stand next to God, like John is doing here in this heavenly vision, the most glorious of all your glories, the greatest of all your achievements, don't really amount to much. Let me kind of explain it this way. We were kind of kidding around last week about how two of our pastors, Dave Hicks and Mark Spurlock, got to work at the Super Bowl last weekend. They were working for NFL films actually on the field because a wonderful friend of ours here at Twin Lakes Church, Patrick, works for NFL films in their camera department, and he brought them along as his assistants. And Mark's here today. He was gone last weekend, but Mark, as I told the congregation last weekend, I'm not jealous of you at all in any way. In fact, as your boss here at church, I want to congratulate you on your new position with NFL films, and I wish you well. I really do. I really do.

But I want to show you this. Here's Dave Hicks on the sidelines right there, right next to all of the action, and here is Mark 10 feet away from the game-winning fumble. I mean, we saw it in HD, but they saw it in Super HD right there in front of him. And I know how cool this is because I've had the privilege of working with Patrick on NFL sidelines and other games too, and let me tell you something. Being next to those kinds of world-class elite athletes really does sort of put you in your place. I like to run, right? I'm in decent shape for a runner. A couple of years ago, I was even more competitive. I was running six miles every day, and on Saturday, as I was running a half a marathon distance, I was racing in some competitive races, and I felt like I'm in decent shape. So it was about that time, two years ago, that I went up to a Niners game. I was working the sidelines, and before the game, I saw Trent Dilfer at the ESPN set.

Trent, who's seated in the middle here, is a former NFL quarterback. He's a Super Bowl winner. His parents attend church here. In fact, we're going to have Trent's faith story on video next weekend. It is super powerful, very candid, and kind of surprising. It deals with the problem of evil in the world and what God has to say about it. So I'd really encourage you to check it out. It's going to be dynamite. That's next weekend, but I see Trent on the ESPN set, and he recognizes me sitting there at the desk, and he's chatting with Niners he knows and all these other famous people, and he goes, "René, René, René!" He goes, "Come on over here. Let me introduce you to some people." And so I'm like, "Me? Really?" And I think to myself, "But I'm kind of an athlete, you know? Why are you laughing?" But you're right. That's what I thought to myself.

So I thought, "I'm kind of--I'm a runner, you know?" And for a microsecond, as I trotted over, and I'm totally flexing my muscles as hard as I can while I'm trotting over, and I imagine this conversation, I thought to myself, "What if they ask me what I do?" I'm not going to say I'm a pastor. First I'm going to say, "I'm a runner." Because we'll have camaraderie, right? Like you are, too. You are athletes on your field known as the gridiron where you--perhaps if you were a zoo animal, you would be rhinos jumping into each other. If I were an animal, I'm a springbok. We have fellowship as athletes, so I'm walking over there. And as I get closer, they start looming higher and higher above me. And I get next to them, and you ever been next to somebody so tall that you feel like you're like 10 years old again, and I'm standing next to these people like this, and Trent reaches out his hand, and he shakes my hand, and I swear my hand just gets swallowed up in his mitt. He's so gigantic, and his huge hand just swallows up my fist.

He goes, "I'd like to introduce you to some people." And I'm looking up at them, and Ray Lewis looks at me like, "I could snap you like a twig." And I just listen. And then one of them did ask, "So what do you do?" And I said, "I'm a 10-year-old librarian." You know, and I just left, because that's what I felt like. My point being, when you are next to the cream of the crop in any field, you know, when you're next to the elite of the elite, suddenly it puts your own glories in quick perspective, right? And I think that John is kind of feeling that way only times infinity, because I imagine that before this vision, you know, he was the last of the living apostles. He knew Jesus personally. Rome thought he was dangerous enough to imprison. He probably thought, "I'm kind of doing okay." But he sees God's glory, and he hears the angels say, "Who is worthy?" And he goes, "Not me." "Not me." The problem is no one is worthy.

But the really good news is God doesn't leave us there, because the solution is Jesus is worthy. Jesus is worthy. And then the very next verse, "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep.'" See, God doesn't want you to get stuck brooding over your unworthiness, because that's a kind of pride all by itself, you know? That's self-destructive. "Do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David." And these are terms for the Messiah, for Jesus Christ. He has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.

Now I love this part because what did he just say? He said, "See the lion of Judah." And John turns around expecting to see a lion. But instead he turns around and he sees a lamb, not just a sheep, but a lamb. And not just a lamb, but a slain lamb. Verse 6, "Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders." Now pause here for just a second. Last week we saw that everything in heaven and all creation circles around the throne and God is on the throne to show that God is at the center of reality. Now notice in this verse, where is the lamb, Jesus? Where's the lamb standing? Not just at the throne, but where? At the center of the throne, encircled by everything else. What a strong image for Jesus as God, the deity of Christ here.

And I want to focus for just a minute on the word lamb. This is used 29 times in the book of Revelation. It's the most frequently used name for Jesus in the book of Revelation. So beautiful, Jesus, even though he's the lion of Judah, he humbles himself and becomes one of the most meek creatures imaginable, a slain lamb. And all these beings in heaven, they look at this meek little lamb that doesn't seem powerful or worthy and they sang a new song saying, "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because," and in this new song they sing about what Jesus did. And they look at it in three ways, and if you really let these things just capture your imagination, it's such a cure for any feelings of worthlessness.

Three bullet points in your notes. First they say, "He died in my place. He took my penalty." Now maybe this whole idea has accrued some Sunday school staleness for you. Or maybe because the book of Revelation takes so much analysis, we approach it so analytically, this idea has been drained of some emotion for you. So what I want to do, this chapter in the book of Revelation is drenched in emotion. And so I want to try to put a little bit of that back in here, and I want to show you one of my favorite illustrations of this concept. Some of you have seen this before, but it's in the movie "Broke Down Palace." Do you remember that movie? Two girls are framed into a drug possession charge in Bangkok, even though they're both innocent. They're both sentenced to 33 years in prison.

And so both women stand in front of the judge in this scene and hear this horrible verdict, and the shackles are put on, and then this happens. No! Get him off me! Get him off me! No! - Right her. You may speak English. - My best friend Darlene is not a drug smuggler. I know this, she's innocent. My friend is innocent. I know this, I know this because, because I did it. She never knew. Please, please, if you need someone to do the time, let me do it. I'll do her time and mine, just let her go, please. (crying) - Then you are of strong character and will lie to me to save your friend. - No, no, I am of weak character and I just wanna make up for my mistakes. - If you are lying and want to save your friend, then you are of sufficient character to earn what you want. If you are telling the truth, then your friend is innocent and should go free. If you are willing to serve her term and yours, your friend is pardoned. Badai. - Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So she takes the guilt of her friend. Her friend's penalty serves 66 years in prison. She's 25 already, so basically she is giving her whole life so her friend can go free. And what this song in heaven is about is that Jesus Christ did that for you. And look at the price he paid. They say, "You were slain." And the original word used there for slain is a very intense word, it means slaughtered, butchered, violently killed. And that happened when Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. Like we said last weekend, the original readers would have thought of the Passover lamb. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they were warned of a plague of death. But if they put the blood from the spotless without blemish Passover lamb on their doorposts outside as a sign of faith, then the plague of death would not touch them.

And the image here is Jesus is the Passover lamb for everybody, that's what happened on the cross. And in heaven, we will be enraptured with love for him because we'll finally realize, though our salvation is free to us, it costs him a lot as he took our penalty, as he took time in hell for us with his blood. And that leads right to the second thing that this song is about, he ransomed me. They sing, "With your blood, you ransomed for God persons from every tribe and nation and language and tongue." Now this is another place where you really have to understand the culture to get what this is saying, watch this. The word for ransomed is from the Greek root word agorazzo and that's from the word agora, which was the name for the ancient marketplace. This word literally meant to make purchases in the marketplace.

Now what's this all about? Well every day you could go downtown to any major city in the Roman Empire and there was a slave market. This book of the Bible was written over half the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. In fact, this is an ancient carving from around the time the book of Revelation was written. This is from the ruins of Smyrna, one of the seven cities mentioned in the book of Revelation. And it shows a man dragging along two slaves that are chained up by their necks. And in the slave markets, these slaves would be put on a platform stripped down to essentially their underwear as you see them here so that people could see what they were buying. And there would be a sign hanging around their necks so dehumanizing like the sticker on a used car.

And it would hang on their neck listing the price of the slave and their attributes and their defects and their race and their age and all their flaws, literally a label on this human being. For example, if I were on the slave market, this would be the sign that would hang around my neck. Just like imagine me on the market and the sign says, one adult male past his prime thinks he's a runner but no upper body strength. Needs glasses, chronic back pain, that's my sign, right? And now if you bought a slave, what happened is you would read what was on this sign and then a bidding war would start. The auctioneer would say, so what am I bid for this defective middle-aged man? And somebody would would shot on a price. Two dollars, thank you so much. My problems of self-worth are solved. And then there'd be a bidding war. Somebody would top that and shout out, three, great, great. And so then somebody, somebody said 250, don't, all right, let's just move on, shall we?

But there would be another price listed on the sign. That would be full sticker price. Now why would they have that on there, right? You know, kind of the Amazon or the eBay buy now price, right? Why? Because once in a while, somebody would come up and they would want to ransom or redeem the slave. Sometimes it was a former owner that the slave had done a good turn for, a lot of times, most of the time it was another freed slave and the community of freed slave would save up money to set other slaves free. And when you bought a slave to set them free, you had to pay full price, right? Set free slaves were never on sale. So you would buy full price and then in a public ceremony, you would take the sign from off the neck of the slave, literally the label that society put on that human being and you would break it. And you would pronounce, I have ransomed this slave with my money and he or she is now free.

And you see what this verse says is that that is what Jesus Christ did for you. Because make no mistake, society still puts its labels around you. Maybe they're not as visible, but they're still there. And you can see them in the eyes of some of the people that you look at. They're judging you, they are labeling you, they are cutting down your sense of self worth and Jesus buys you and he takes those labels and he throws them to the ground and destroys them. Because he says, you are now free. And when somebody bought a slave and set them free, those free slaves had a name in Roman society. They were called the Libertini, not the Libertines, the Libertini, right? Because they had been liberated. And they were totally free, free to be citizens. In fact, there were only two things that the Libertini could never do, only two. They could never be rulers, you know, be in the government, be an emperor or a governor or a senator, and they could never be priests. Couldn't be rulers, couldn't be priests.

Well, go back to the text. Do you see what Jesus does for us, his Libertini? They sing next, you have made them to be a what? A kingdom, and what? Priests. Jesus says the very two things that the Roman society won't let freed slaves be, that's what I make you into. You're gonna rule, and you are my priests. And that's the third thing they sing about. He changes my identity. He not only takes off the old label, but he puts a new one on me, king or queen, priest of God, a royal priest, and this is huge, because if you don't get this, you only think of salvation as something negative. It took my sins away, but salvation is something positive. It gave you something, a new identity.

You know, two weeks ago, Robin mentioned our World Outreach Week, and you saw it here in the lobby. We had eye sanctuary jewelry for sale, and you may not know the backstory of that. Eye sanctuary jewelry is made by freed slaves. Pastor Dave Hick's daughter, Wendy, took a trip to India and saw the problem of human trafficking, and she made a little video that talks about what she did to help combat it. Watch the screen.

Every human life has value, but in many places around the world, the worth of women and girls is devalued. Millions are even enslaved. We travel to India, the country with the largest number of people living in slavery. We discovered a heartbreaking reality. Young girls were being taken and sold into the city's brothels, one of the largest red light districts on the planet. Even once they were rescued, these girls had little hope for the future. They were likely to be exploited again. We knew something had to change. In 2007, we opened a sanctuary in Mumbai, a place of safety, love, and acceptance. Through four core components, education, income, healthcare, and community, young women receive the tools they need to create a bright future. International Sanctuary provides education classes, as well as language and literacy skills, and scholarships to attend university. Job training leads to earning an income through purpose jewelry, International Sanctuary's social enterprise. Young women become financially independent and gain career skills for life beyond the sanctuary. Young women receive physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual care. Healthy relationships are developed, trust is rebuilt, and a supportive community is established. We strive to help every young woman understand and believe that she has value, because she does. Over the years, International Sanctuary has provided hope and dignity to hundreds of young women. Join International Sanctuary's vision to launch 10 sanctuaries around the world by 2020. Partner with us as we empower stronger, wiser women.

Isn't that powerful? You know, why does Wendy, why does her ministry partner? Why do other Christians engage in that kind of a ministry? Well, it's because that's what Jesus Christ did for us, and when we set slaves free and give them a new identity, that's what he did for you. And when they're doing that, you know what, they're being priests, because the Latin word for priest originally meant bridge builder. They're helping people cross that bridge of faith to connect with God. So not only has your identity changed, now you've got a mission. I mean, look at these bullet points. See how the whole gospel, the same gospel that Paul writes about in his epistles like Galatians and Romans, this is symbolically told right here in the book of Revelation.

And this is so central. Here's why this has gotta just overwhelm you and capture your imagination, because from here on out in the book of Revelation, the scene, the focus, the visions keep switching back and forth from this glorious scene in heaven to earth. And on earth, there's constantly scenes that are always changing. There's always new beasts, new threats, new rulers, new wars, relative peace, and then a war again, tumultuous, but in heaven, it's consistent at the center of reality, around the throne. There's such confidence. There is such joy. And that's point three, the consequence of believing all of this, the result is amazing joy. See, Revelation wasn't just written to those early Christians to show them how they could sort of barely squeak through all the persecution. It was written so they could make it through with joy.

And heaven just erupts 'cause they see what Jesus, what the lamb did for them and it says, "Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000. And they encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders and in a loud voice they were singing 'worthy as the lamb was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise' and all of heaven just erupts in praise. 'Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them singing.' And I want us to read what they were singing out loud together as a church. Ready, here we go. 'To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and power forever and ever.' And I want you to see what happens next. The four living creatures say, 'Amen,' and the elders fall down and they worship.

The word worthy came up a lot in this chapter, right? Well, the English word worship comes from the old English word worthship. It literally means to ascribe worth, to say you are worthy, to measure something and find it worthy, worthwhile. And they're so enraptured by the love of Jesus, so caught up in how worthy he is. He needed all of this for us, that they forget everything else. Do you see how this is the ultimate cure for the problem of self-worth? Much better than a pep talk. It's what Tim Keller calls blessed self-forgetfulness. Because on earth it seems every single thing we do is an attempt to show our worth, our grades, our job, even the clothes we wear, the haircut we get, how we stand, how we act. Look at me, I'm an athlete. There's so much pressure in so many big and small ways to try to get other people to approve of you or think better of you, so you end up thinking of yourself almost all the time.

But in heaven, that burden just disappears. And it disappears, again, counterintuitively in the flash of insight you will receive there. No one is worthy, but the Lamb, and he has made me worthy. And when your imagination's captured by that, focused on Jesus, you're worthy, you're worthy, then all that pressure to say, hey, I'm worthy, just falls off my shoulders, because Jesus gives you worth that you don't have to earn, you don't have to prove, you don't have to pretend, he buys you with his blood, the most precious thing in the universe. And if the worth of an object is determined by the price paid for it, it means you are worth more than anything in the universe because Jesus paid for you with his blood. Do you see? Do you see how this is the answer to the problem of self-worth?

You know, those feelings we looked at when we started the message, all those bullet points on page one, maybe you feel all those things today, unworthy even of God's love. Well, do you see on this Valentine's Day how this is sort of the ultimate Valentine from Christ to you? You know, we might say to somebody, I give you my life, I die for you, but Jesus really did. In fact, at the end of the book of Revelation, he's pictured as the loving husband and those of us who believe as his beloved bride. Best Valentine ever, unconditional love. I got this email last night after our first service of the weekend. Listen to this. I don't usually attend your church, but I came this evening. I'm in a situation where I often do not feel loved, am not cherished, am not treasured. Well, while we were singing the last song, I was overwhelmed with the impression that the Lord is my husband. He will take care of me. He loves me. To him, I am valuable, me. And I left with joy and a feeling of great love and protection. It's so hard to feel unloved and not wanted, but I'm reminded tonight, I am loved. I am wanted by God.

You know, the thing about getting a Valentine, somebody may sing of their love for you, but if you don't receive their love, then it's not a relationship. So have you responded to this incredible Valentine from Christ? Here's the bottom line, and this is what it always comes down to. Am I focused on what I have done or need to do? If so, I'll be finding a never-ending battle with self-worth because it'll never be enough. Or am I focused on what Christ has done for me? Because if I'm focused on that, if I see the beauty of Jesus and the love he has for me, then I leave all of that and my worthy stuff behind, and I sing, he is worthy. He's worthy of everything. He's worthy of every act of obedience ever offered to him. He's worthy of every song of worship ever sung to him. He's worthy of every temptation ever resisted for him. He's worthy of every sacrifice ever given to him. He's worthy of every drop of labor ever sweated for him. He's worthy of my life. He's worthy of your life. He's worthy of this church's life. He's worthy of all of our resources, all of our praise. He is the one who is totally worth it. And let's ascribe him glory right now.

Would you pray with me together? Wherever you are in venue, here in the auditorium online, just bow your heads for just a minute. And I wanna invite you, whether for the first time or the thousandth time, to join with the angels and saints and tell Jesus, "Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive my honor." Lord, you bought us with your blood, then you gave us a new identity. You make us royalty and priest. God, I receive that now. I receive your pardon and your love and the identity you give me. Help me to grow in that every day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.