Transformation

My name is Mark, I'm one of the pastors and I want to welcome you. I'm so glad that you joined us here today. And before we dive into this morning's message, a quick 2020 vision update because as many of you know, in addition to funding the construction of a children's building over at an orphanage in India, we're also constructing a long-awaited children's building right here at Twin Lakes Church.

And it is so exciting because this past week, the dirty work really began in earnest. I mean, they were just digging and digging and digging and it is so exciting because in the next, especially this next week, a lot of excavation is going to happen and next couple of weeks, the building pad will be finished and then they'll move into the foundation work. And so it is so very cool. Yeah, those holes go down 30 feet. And so that's why we have a fence around it. So, but it's just really, really cool.

And then see the little kids right next door at the Children's Enrichment Center Preschool and they're like looking through the little windows in the fence and then they go play with their Tonka trucks and then they look at like the real things and it's just very, very exciting. And by the way, if you would like to check on the progress at any time, we actually have a live camera feed mounted. You just go to our website, tlc.org, click on the banner that says 2020 Vision and you'll see the camera feed.

And if you're new to all this, this 2020 Vision, you can also get more information there as well as out in the lobby. There's a display. We would love to have you join us in the exciting things that God is doing here right now at Twin Lakes Church.

And speaking of exciting things, this last Wednesday afternoon, a friend of mine calls me and says, "Hey, real quick, I've got two tickets to Thursday night's Giants game." Yeah. He says, "I'm wondering if you could use them because I can't." I said, "Hmm, let me think about that and I'll get back to you." No, that's not what I said. I'm saying, "Absolutely, I will take them." And he says, "Well, great because I think you're going to like them. They're about 15 rows behind home plate." I'm like, "Are you serious?"

Yeah. So my wife, Laura and I, we made a date night out of it and these seats, they're incredible. They're just to the home team side of home base. You know, like right up from where the Giants top brass sits, you know, like the owner and the CEO. Yeah, right there. And in fact, here's the view from our seats. That's Carl. Yeah. I know. Don't hate me. I mean, I just, what can I say? It was so incredible to be at a game that's going to go down in the, you know, annals of baseball history.

I'm never going to go to another baseball game again because it will not stack up. But it was so cool, you know, middle of the eighth inning as Steve Perry comes out and he's leading the whole stadium. There is he. He's right in the middle there in the black next to the guy with the white shirt. He's leading everyone in Don't Stop Believing and he's right behind us and above us. That's from my cell phone right there. Yeah, very cool moment.

And the cool thing was I'm thinking to myself, I'm closer to the field than Steve Perry is. Better seats than he does. And it was a magical moment because right after he sings this song, then designated hitter Michael Morse comes out and ties the game with a solo home run. And so I suspect that Steve Perry is doomed to repeat that performance for the rest of his life.

And then, of course, if you're following the game, bottom of the ninth and the most unlikely person on the team, Travis Ishikara hits the walk off home run and the place just goes berserk. In fact, I happen to have some video of that right now. Yeah, it was unbelievable. In fact, my wife, here she comes. There's Laura right there. Yeah, she's having a good time. We had a great time. I look like a hero because this was like a date. This was like the best date ever.

And I just have to say to my very, very, very generous friend, thank you so much. I also hope and pray on his behalf that his parents, his family, his other friends, wish they had gotten the tickets instead of us, but someday they will find it in their hearts to forgive him. I'm sure they're happy for us, if not just a little bit.

You might be thinking to yourself, "What does this have to do with the message today?" Not a whole lot. I just want to talk about it. Okay, it does have a little bit to do with the message because an experience like Thursday night's game, especially in a place like AT&T Park, which is so beautiful, it really puts on display some of the just greatest things about humankind.

I mean, the creativity and excellence and nobility and grace and really just the glory of the human spirit and the celebration and the joy of when the home team wins the pennant. I mean, it has all of that, but there's also an underbelly because at the same time, there's people betting on the game with money they cannot afford to lose, but they couldn't resist. One more try.

There's people drowning in an ocean of alcohol, and there's two fights that break out right outside the stadium. In fact, one of them in the parking lot that we had just left. And as the revelry spills out into the streets and the bars of San Francisco, who knows what else? And so it's really a microcosm of our world where there's beauty and there's goodness and there's the underbelly. There's ugliness and violence and evil.

And it's not just because some people maybe are able to control their impulses better than others. That's part of it, but it's not all of it. And it's not just because some people were raised differently than others. That's part of it, but it's not all of it. The Bible says that it goes much further than that, that there's not just evil in us, there's evil beyond us. There's evil around us. There's evil against us.

That there's a spiritual being named Satan, the devil, who wages war against us. So take any good gift that God has given us, marriage, family, sex, food, drink, art, nature, culture, intellectual pursuits, work, money, game five of the NLCS championship, the list goes on. Satan wants to corrupt every good gift. He wants to extract a curse. He wants to make a place of misery to come out of it.

Because as Jesus says, the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. And you know what that means? It means he's gunning for you and the good things in your life. It means he's gunning for me. So we need to hear what the Bible says about how he tempts us, how he will try to raise hell in our lives. So open your Bible, if you will, if you've got it, to Matthew chapter four.

And with that very cheery introduction, I just want to say hello to all of you who are joining us over in venue or joining us online or watching this on TV. We are so glad that you've joined us here today. And we're going to be looking at it in Matthew four where Satan tempts Jesus. And by the way, if you've already overcome every temptation known to humankind and you really don't feel like this applies to you, you know, you can always go to our website, TLC.org and watch a different sermon. There's well over a thousand of them that you can watch for free anytime you want.

But if you're here with us live, well, you're kind of stuck. So here we go. And one of the keys to understanding what's going on in Matthew four is to be aware of what just happened in Matthew three because you're going to see a correlation. At the end of chapter three, Jesus has just been baptized. And not by the way, because he needed to be baptized. But because he came to serve us, to go before us.

And so his baptism is the prototype of our baptism. And this is a big deal. This is such a big deal that just like the crucifixion, the Lord's baptism is recorded in all four of the Gospels. And anytime you see something, an event in the life of Jesus that's recorded four times, that's like a signal. Take note of this. This matters. This is a big deal.

And when he comes up out of the water, Matthew says that heaven opens and the Holy Spirit descends upon him like a dove. And the voice of the father says, this is my son whom I love with him. I am well pleased. And here's why this is so important. Because when we come to faith in Jesus, which is commemorated in our baptism, heaven is open for us. The Holy Spirit indwells us. And the voice of the father says, this is my newly adopted son, my newly adopted daughter whom I love with whom I am well pleased.

Now does that just blow your mind just a little bit that what is true of Jesus in his baptism is true of you and yours? Wow. Now, don't mistake this. You're not the son. You're not the daughter. But you are a son, a daughter whom the father loves more than we can even begin to imagine. But I want you to see what happens next. And we miss this a lot of time because in our Bibles there's a chapter break between chapter 3 and 4, which of course is artificial.

But watch what happens immediately after Jesus' baptism. Chapter 4, verse 1. "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." What? No reception? No cake? No s'mores at the beach? No, none of that. "Immediately he's led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." And the word "tempted" there can also mean tested. And it depends. You interpret it depending on who the active agent is.

And so the Spirit leads Jesus not into temptation but into the wilderness where he will be tempted by the devil. Because Scripture is clear. God does not tempt us with evil but Scripture also tells us in this passage and in others that the Lord will allow us to be tempted in order to test us and ultimately strengthen our faith.

Now think of the context here. Jesus' public ministry is just about to begin. Right after this, he's going to call the disciples. He's going to begin preaching. But this is where his faithfulness will be tested before any of that takes place. And watch how the devil attacks the very thing that the Father has just said. Which is what? What did the Father say? "This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased." Satan will go right after this statement. And write this down because the devil's main strategy is this.

It's to cause me to distrust what God says about me and to me. This is his main strategy. In fact, the very first words recorded out of his mouth in Genesis 3 are, "Did God really say that? Really? Are you sure?" And he will leverage doubt over and over again concerning what God has said. Now watch how he does this with Jesus, Matthew 4, starting in verse 2. Follow along as I read. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and he had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan, for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Now, the reason this is in our New Testaments is because what Satan tried to do with Jesus, he will surely try to do with us. And I see in this passage three targets of his attack, three areas he goes after with Jesus. And the first one is this, same for you and same for me, he will go after my weakness. My weakness. After fasting for 40 days, you can imagine that Jesus is incredibly hungry, incredibly weakened physically. I mean, can you imagine not eating for 40 days? Not me.

Ever see that show, Survivor? I think it's in, like, its 57th season right now. But in every show, about two weeks into it, after they've been living off of rice and whatever else they can scavenge, they'll bring in, like, normal food for all the people on the show, and it'll be like a hamburger or a chocolate chip cookie, and they eat those and they're just like, "Aww! This is the most incredible food in the universe!" It's just ordinary food. But because they're so deprived, it's so good.

And after 40 days of fasting, you've got to believe this is a very real temptation, that Jesus is actually very vulnerable here. But it's interesting, Satan doesn't come to him and say, and go, "Hey, you know what? I bet you're hungry." He'll get to that. But what does he start with? He says, "If you are the Son of God," he goes after the thing that the Father had just said 40 days earlier. Are you sure you heard that right, Jesus? You know there was water in your ears. Are you sure that he... Maybe you should just kind of settle all this and prove it. You know, just whip up a couple loaves and then that will settle it.

Now let me ask you something. As a Christian, where does Satan try to attack your identity? Maybe the voice of the tempter comes to you like this. You know, God doesn't really love you. He just tolerates you. You know, he had to kind of offer the gospel because, well, he wanted other people. He wanted Mother Teresa. He wanted Billy Graham. He wanted René so he could send them to Turkey and Greece and all that kind of cool stuff. You? Really? Come on.

I mean, how is it that after asking God to forgive you again and again and again for the very same thing that he could still love you, really? I mean, maybe you're just not actually his son or daughter after all. The voice keeps whispering. Oh, sure, you received Christ at the camp and then you did in your youth group and again after you did that really bad thing and then you asked him into your heart again just to make sure, but hey, maybe it's just not sticking. Maybe you're just not one of the chosen.

And when you spiral down into that type of shame and self-loathing, when we imagine our Father looking at us with either disappointment or disgust or distance, that area of weakness becomes all the more enticing because it promises relief. When Satan can get us to doubt the Father's love, everything else we believe about him will become murky. And so what does Jesus do? Does he argue about his state of being? No, he's hungry. And again, Satan's coming after him suggesting, you know, if the Father loved you, wouldn't he take better care of you? Doesn't he know how hungry you are? Doesn't he understand your needs? Because it sure doesn't seem like it. And this is how the lie goes.

And I don't know what your weakness is. I'm certainly well aware of what my weaknesses are, plural. But you know what? I find that when I'm singing and worship, focused on how God loves me and how wondrous he is, when I have my nose in my Bible and I'm filling my head and my heart with truth about the Lord, when I'm using my time in a constructive way like so many of you did this weekend and will do this month by serving other people in our community in his name, you know what? I find my weaknesses don't have near the type of power that they do when I'm down in the dumps, when I'm stewing in my own despair.

Reminds me of a couple years ago, we had a dog that was in need of some serious training, so I hired a dog trainer to help us out. And one of the things that this trainer would say to me often when we were working the dog is he would say, "Mark, where's her head?" Because you can always tell where a dog's head is, it's where their eyes are looking. And if you've got a dog's head, that dog will just be fixed on you. And the point is, if you have their head, you have the rest of them. Satan knows the same thing about us. If he can get your head, he's on his way to getting the rest of you.

And our head is most vulnerable when as we're reminded in recovery, we're hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Jesus is at least three of those. He's hungry, he's very likely lonely, he's tired. And again, rather than saying, "You know, I got this. I can handle this. I will gut this out." No, he answers the temptation with truth, the truth of Scripture. Because temptation is always wrapped in a lie, a lie that says, "Man, if you just had this, or you just did that, man, life would be on track again. Life would work. It'd be sweet." But Jesus answers, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" And Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 here. You know how I know that? Because there's a footnote in my Bible that tells me that. You probably have the same one.

But if you go back and you read Deuteronomy 8, God is explaining why he fed his people with manna, you know, the stuff that would form on the ground and they would make bread out of it. God explains to them, He says, "Look, here's the point. You know, I could have put a bakery and a Costco anywhere I wanted out there in the wilderness. You know, there could have been a deli at every watering hole, but I gave you the bread of heaven to teach you that I was your life, that I am the bread of life, that you would learn to depend on me because everything, every word that I speak into your life." That's what you need.

So yes, we all have weaknesses, every single one of us. But some of us in this room here today have bought into the lie that we will always be a slave to our weaknesses, that we will never change, that victory over temptation is for other people. But maybe, just maybe, God has you here today to remind you, "You're my son. You're my daughter, whom I love, whom I delight in. I will not abandon you out in the wilderness." You begin to feed on that truth and you begin to regain your hope and your strength as you feed on the truth of what your father says to you.

But if the devil can't get us in our areas of weakness, the next place he will go is our areas of strength. He will attack my strength. Satan loses round one, but he comes back and it's as if the implication is, "Okay, I get it, Jesus. You trust God so much. You trust His Word. Hey, let's run with that. We ought to really leverage that." I mean, that's incredible. And in a vision or like somehow they get transported like in Star Trek, I don't know how it works, probably a vision, but suddenly they're on top of the temple in Jerusalem.

And notice the change of elevation because that's as if the temptation, the geography of the temptation, Satan is raising the stakes here. And notice it's also a deeply religious setting. There's the Holy Temple in the Holy City. And Satan is going to quote the Holy Scriptures. So like one Bible scholar I read this week, the first temptation smells like a bakery. The second one smells like church. You want to get old churchy Jesus? Okay, we'll try this on for a second.

If you're the Son of God, well, you could prove it this way. Throw yourself down off the temple because, hey, doesn't the Word say that God will command His angels concerning you? They will lift you up in their hands so you won't strike your foot on a stone. And Satan is quoting Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12. You know how I know that? There's a footnote in my Bible. You probably have the same one. And Psalm 91 celebrates God's protection over our lives. But what it's not is a guarantee that nothing bad will ever befall us.

And it's certainly not an invitation to test God by living recklessly or foolishly as if we're going to somehow force Him to prove that He will protect us in every situation. So once again, what's Satan doing? He's trying to twist God's Word. And when Jesus answers, He shows us something about how to read our Bibles here because He uses one verse to interpret another. Specifically, He takes a descriptive passage like Psalm 91 and He says, we need to find a verse that's prescriptive that governs our understanding of what's going on there. And that's what good interpretation does.

René's going to talk about this more when he returns. But Jesus says, you know, it's also written, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." That's prescriptive. And that's also, by the way, Deuteronomy 6:16, which I know because why? I got a footnote, so do you. And again, context is key here because in Deuteronomy 6:16, Jesus quotes part of the verse, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did in Massah." Now what happened there? That's where God's people complained to Moses.

And they said, you know, we're tired. We're thirsty. We're hungry. Did God bring us out of Egypt just so we could watch our children and our animals die before our very eyes? Is that what this is all about? Because you know that parting of the Red Sea, that is so yesterday. What has God done for us today? How does He expect us to keep following us, following Him if He won't dazzle us? Bring us another miracle. That's when God says, "Do not put me to the test." Do not think that I just have to approve myself over and over again.

And that's the temptation for Jesus to essentially create a spectacle, to become the value-added Savior, so to speak. We think of all the people that will come to faith, Jesus, just add a little bit more sizzle. And you know who's most tempted by this? People like me. Pastors. Church leaders. Happens to any of us when we think the simple gospel of grace, that we are saved by grace or faith in Jesus, that somehow that's not enough. That we've got to gin it up.

I think it happens in churches where it's always about the next miracle. You know, "Welcome to the miracle show." Because, hey, people got to be wowed. I think it happens in Christian communities where there's this over emphasis on the sensational, even the over emphasis on the supernatural, because meanwhile, the focus shifts suddenly more and more away from the sufficiency of Christ. And we're just on to the next miracle.

It even happens how we read our Bible, because no longer do we just read it for its clear or plain meaning or intention, but it becomes like our little secret code book. That only the super-spiritual people really know how to read and understand, because we're special. We have super faith, faith that will even throw itself off the top of a building. That's how much faith we have.

See, if Satan can't get us in our area of physical weakness, he's happy to get us in our area of spirituality and faith. Because if he can get us to worship God for his miracles, as opposed to for who he actually is, he scores, he wins. Because suddenly, God is simply useful. God is no longer central. And that's what every temptation here comes down to, who or what will be central.

Again, the devil attacks my weaknesses, he attacks my strength, and finally, he attacks my mission. From the top of the temple, Satan takes Jesus even to a higher place, the top of a very high mountain. And again, I think this is probably in a vision, but I'm not sure the Bible doesn't say. But from there, Jesus is able to see all the kingdoms of the world. Let me hear you. The what? Oh, and God so loved the what? That he sent his only. Oh, so this is his mission. The world, here it is. You can have it. This is what you came for.

And Satan drops the whole "if you are the sun" part, because like, okay, you know, I was just messing with you. We know who you are. We know why you came. But you know what? There's a much easier way. That doesn't have to involve the cross. I actually happen to have a little bit of sway on this planet. And I will throw everything I've got your way. I own the pink slips to a lot of people. You can have them all if you'll just bend your knee. Just one time.

Now, let me ask you something. Do ordinary people get caught up in this type of temptation? Does this apply to us? You better believe it. Because it happens whenever we make an idol out of success. When we make an idol out of our own success. And this is speaking directly to us as the church. Because listen, we follow in the very same mission of Jesus. We are carrying on His mission to the world. How do we measure our success? Jesus measured it through being a servant, through denying Himself, through being obedient to all things that the Father called Him to do, including the cross.

Often, churches can get sucked into measuring their success by what's called the three Bs. Budgets, buildings, and butts in the seats. Sorry, that's a little crass, so you can replace that with bodies if you want. But I think the other way is more memorable. Now, all those things are good. Don't get me wrong. They're all good. But again, when they become the main thing, that's where the problem arises. When we exist to serve these things. When all our decisions revolve around these things, when they become the main thing, then suddenly we are serving the God of success.

And to that so-called God, Jesus said, "Away from me, Satan, for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.' And the devil left Him, and the angels came and attended Him." Now, I understand this is a little bit heady, a little philosophical. Ultimately, all these temptations come down to who or what takes the center place in our life. But I know that some of you are thinking right now, you're thinking, "Mark, I have no idea what's going on with my strengths. I didn't even know I had a mission." Well, that's good news, I guess, but I haven't really thought about it.

Now, my problem is I'm still buried in my weaknesses. I can't stop watching porn. My temptation is on sale today. I'm about to lose my job or my marriage because I can't stop doing the same stupid thing over and over again. What does the Bible have to offer me? Well, there's two scripture, two areas of scripture I'm going to point you to. But before I do that, let me just preface that and say that these areas that we can respond in, these are always much more effective when they're done corporately as a group.

In fact, the language is all plural in these passages. It's kind of like Peter says in the New Testament that your enemy, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Now, I don't know about you. I love those animal planet shows, and I've learned that the water buffalo that the lion always gets is the one that's what? Alone. The one that's been peeled off or separated from the herd. So I'm just going to encourage you not to go, "Well, okay, I will do this in the privacy of my own little private personal faith," but to respond in community and let the power of fellowship do its thing.

Number one, together rely on the Word of the Lord. Obviously, Jesus does this throughout this temptation, and watch how Paul will mention how the Word plays into our defense in a passage in Ephesians that's all about spiritual attack, where he says, "Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

Well, how do we access truth apart from the Word? How do we fortify our faith without feeding on the Word? How do we be reminded of our salvation apart from the Word? That's how we take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and the reality is we can't take up the sword unless we're willing to take in the Word. And so here we are in this series, "40 Days in the Word," so I just want to say good on you. Keep going. That's good. Together we will rely on the Word of the Lord.

And you know what? Jesus seemed to think this was really, really important. How did Jesus just quote these scriptures back to Satan? It seems like he was drenched in the Word, and it wasn't because, you know, it was like, "Well, his Bible, he wrote it, so I guess he would know what it says." We minimize his humanity when we think there was just like this, you know, divine download right when he was born. He came by this honestly. He studied it. He memorized it. He made it really, really important, and if it was important for him, it ought to be important for his church. So again, way to go. Keep going.

And second, rely on the Lord of the Word. Here's the great truth. Jesus not only fought this battle, he won it, and not only for himself, but for us. We may strike out from time to time, but you know what? He's already won the game. We can already begin to celebrate that. That's what we do in worship. We're celebrating. He's already won the game, among other things.

Now look at these great verses from the book of Hebrews. It says, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he's able to help those who are being tempted. Therefore, fix your thoughts on Jesus." So often the best way to resist is not to argue with the devil, it's to refocus on Jesus. Refocus on his Word. And again, this is all plural. Watch this. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of his grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

And man, if you need help finding the grace and the help and the mercy that God offers you, let the herd help you. After the service, there'll be members of our Stephen Ministries prayer team. They do much more than just pray for people. They support people. They encourage people. They walk with people through tough times. And so if you feel like you've just been out in the wilderness too long, let us help you reenter the herd, so to speak.

Bottom line is don't let your discouragement have the last word because God's tender mercies are new every morning, every day. Let me just leave you with a really cool example of this. Did I mention that I was at Thursday Night's Game? Well, again, talk about an unlikely hero. Travis Ishikawa, if you know anything about his story, the guy who hits the game winning home run. This guy, he was cut from the Pittsburgh Pirates at spring training this year. He's been bouncing back and forth between the majors and farm leagues for the last three years.

He was playing for the Fresno Grizzlies earlier this year. And then obviously the Giants called him up, but before that happened, he was so discouraged. He didn't know what to do. Just two months, less than two months ago at a Giants fellowship day, he talks about that time in his life. I want you to listen to what pulls him out of his discouragement and gives him strength and hope again. And I'll just warn you, this video cuts off right at the very end, but I'm going to fill in the blank for you. Watch what Travis has to say.

I was getting to that point where I didn't know if baseball was going to work for me anymore and if I was going to have to find something else to try to support my family, my wife, my three kids. And it was at that point where I'm trying to be her rock and I'm trying to tell her God's got a plan, God's got a plan. And it was right there where I said, you know what, I don't know if I believe that. I don't feel like I believe what I'm saying anymore. And so we got off the phone and I grabbed my Bible and I started reading. I couldn't focus a lick on anything I was reading. So I had to call my buddy back. I grew up in Seattle. I had to call my buddy up there, Danny, and, you know, crying. Just like, this is all I know. I signed out of high school. Baseball is all I've ever done my entire life. I don't know how to do anything else. I don't know what to do. And, you know, he, that was at that moment that he reminded me of Romans 8:35 that, I mean, it's in question form, but basically what's going to separate you from that?

Yeah, that's where it goes off. But Romans 8:35 continues, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? And if you'll allow me the liberty or your last mistake, will that separate you from the love of Christ?" No. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and loves us even now.

See, this is talking about something far more important than baseball. It's talking about the fact that God's love for you and for me is unshakable, eternal, unconditional. And yes, in our journey of faith, sometimes, you know, we strike out. Sometimes we get thrown out or called out. And Jesus says, "Hey, let me lift you back up. You're part of a team. Let's dust you off. Remember, keep your eye on me, the truth of my word, because who knows, as unlikely as you think you are, what game-changing moments the Lord may have for you in the days to come." If you believe that, let me hear you say, "Amen." Amen.

Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the assurance of Your Word that in Christ we are Your delight. We are the object and objects of Your love. And Father, I pray that if we have questions about anything else in faith, anything else in Scripture, one thing would be crystal clear. We're Your sons, Your daughters. As Your Scripture says, "For as many as received Him, He gave the right to be called the children of God." So Lord, I pray that if there's someone here listening to my voice, someone next door in venue or online, watching this in their living room at home, wherever the sound of my voice is being heard right now, someone says, "Lord, I don't understand it all, but I understand that I need Jesus. I understand that You love me. I understand that His mission was to come and to die for me and that He lives. He lives now. He lives for me. He lives through me." And so Lord, that's what I want. And if that's what you want, you can just say yes in Your own words to His gracious invitation into His family.

Father, I pray for any and all who get, are struggling in an area of weakness, strength, mission, whatever it may be, help us to stay focused, fixed on the one who has gone before us, our Lord, our Savior, our blessed Jesus Christ. All God's people said, amen. Amen.