More Like Jesus, Less Like Culture

Well, hello Twin Lakes Church. And thank you so much for this opportunity to preach God's word to you. My prayer is that this worship experience finds you and your family doing well, especially amidst all the ups and downs that we have faced in culture over the previous calendar year. Big shout out to my friend, Pastor René, in that entire leadership team that makes that church go. We are praying for you always and excited about your gospel witness and the gospel impact that you continue to make at Twin Lakes Church.

Well, I wanna go ahead and jump to it. I got a lot of fish to fry, just a few minutes to cook it. But I wanted to speak to you with respect to how the gospel calls us to show up amidst the cultural moment that we find ourselves in currently as we have now rolled into several weeks of 2021. It seems to be that a lot of the vicissitudes of 2020 are being copied and pasted into 2021. The question I think is incumbent upon all of us who named Jesus Christ as Lord: how now shall we live? How shall we show up for the moment we find ourselves in?

So I wanna talk about what it means to lean more into the kingdom as opposed to culture, how the gospel of Jesus calls us to constantly, watch this now, lay down our ways, lay down our thoughts, lay down our perspectives, lay down our approaches and pick up the gospel way and the gospel pursuit and the gospel perspective and gospel approaches as to how we do life. So as we walk through this passage today, know that Luke 9:23 is on my mind, whereby Jesus said to us as believers, "If anyone will come after me," Jesus says, "let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me." Jesus says, "If you wanna be like me, if you wanna lean in the kingdom as opposed to culture, you'll deny yourself and take up the cross of Jesus Christ, which gives me this implication to in lakes that oftentimes to live out the gospel is way less about being yourself and way more about denying yourself so that the ways of the gospel might be more pronounced in the moment that we find ourselves in."

So I kinda wanna speak directly into what's going on in our culture with respect to the politics and the tensions and the vitriol that has plagued our hearts and really try to lift us above those moments and into the clouds where God is, to hear a fresh word as to how God is expecting his church to show up in the moment we find ourselves in because culture right now is polarized, tribalized, politicized, and as such, we're all traumatized. I can't hear you, but you should have said amen, right? There we are polarized, we are tribalized, we are politicized, and we are traumatized, global anxiety, global uncertainty, global sadness, angst, and fear. But here's the good news of the gospel as we prepare to open up our hearts to the word: the same God who navigated Christians and generations past in times like the ones we're in is the same God who is present and on the throne today to help us navigate this storm.

So what does it mean to lean in the kingdom as opposed to culture? What does it mean to live a surrendered gospel life precisely for the kind of moment we find ourselves in? We get an answer here in Luke 2:41–52. The context suggests that we are having a narrative about the boy Jesus in this episode where he is separated from his parents, but in so doing, he gives us a wonderful edict as to how God wants us to show up for his gospel in moments like the one we are in here. Now the word of the Lord to Twin Lakes. The Bible reads this way: now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. When the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey. But then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for him.

Verse 46, watch it now. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress." And he, speaking of Jesus, said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?" And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them, and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. Love that. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart, and Jesus, the Bible says, increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:41–52, I've read from the greatest book ever written and I bear witness to you this day that all of its words are true. Amen? Amen.

Now we've got some points in a poem to get to in just a few moments, but I just wanna kinda stay in this place of contemplation as to what it means to truly move beyond culture and reappraise very highly in our lives, gospel and kingdom concepts, as to how we show up every day of our lives. So the question I want you to wrestle with as we walk through this passage is this: what does it look like and what does it mean for us to live, to think and to love more Christianly in the cultural moment we find ourselves? And what does it mean to think and live and love more Christianly in this moment? How I show up well for the gospel with all the conversations that are happening. How do I show up well for Jesus's fame and for Jesus's glory, and for people to be attracted to this message of the gospel as I show up in my family table relationships and in my interactions with my colleagues at the office and my to and fro with neighbors in my community? And as I post things and read posts on Facebook and Twitter and the like, what does it mean to think and live and love more Christianly? That's the question I want to wrestle with in here.

I wanna celebrate our hope throughout our time together that no matter what state that we find our culture in, no matter Twin Lakes, what's going on with the implications of this pandemic and the vitriol of this current political moment that we're in and the vicissitudes of the economy and the tension that is race relationships right now in our nation. I just wanna remind you of the good news of the gospel that Jesus Christ can handle all of what we're going through right now. That no matter the state of what we're seeing in culture and in the landscape of humanity today, I've come to bear witness that the same God who parted red seas can part the tensions that we're experiencing right now. Hallelujah to his great name that God is more powerful than our problems.

So at the end of the day, look at this, the gospel of Jesus Christ is ripe for this cultural moment. Did you hear that? The gospel of Jesus Christ is ripe for everything we go through in this life. It is a biblical gospel that can handle us whether we are at peace time or at war time. It is a biblical gospel that is ripe for rich folks and poor folks. It is ripe for people who are up and people who are down. It is ripe for people who are democratic. It is ripe for people who are Republican. It is ripe for liberals. It is ripe for conservatives. It is ripe for red and yellow and black and white in all colors of God's children. The gospel of Jesus Christ can help you and I navigate this cultural moment to his glory. And may it be said of you and I that we are not those who are sitting on the premises, but we are standing on the promises of God to make Jesus famous for the cultural moment we find ourselves in. Anybody else feel like having church in 2021? Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is ripe.

And so notice here our table of contents for our time together as we rediscover this episode of The Boy Jesus is gonna teach us three things. The gospel path is counterintuitive with the culture's way of doing things. It's gonna teach us that the gospel path is more meek and mild than it is crazy and wild. And then finally at the end of the day, we're gonna celebrate how it looks to repent of where we come from and reclaim what God has called us to. I'd like to tag this text, kingdom over culture, let's pray together.

Father, I thank you for this church family. And I pray, God, that by the power of your spirit, you will connect us down here in the Coachella Valley with those up here, Lord God, in the Santa Cruz area, Father. And Jesus, just transcend, Lord God, all that we're going through in this cultural moment, Father, remind us, Lord, of your sweet voice, God, calling us deeper and to begot what you've created and destined us to be. Holy Spirit, would you move now by the power of your anointing? We pray it all in Jesus' name. In every heart said, amen.

Let's spend a few minutes to kind of unpack what's going on here in our passage. We're of course in Luke's gospel. And as you come here to our text in verse 42, there are three words that I think truly kind of unpack everything that Luke is up to in our passage. And the three words that we find there in verse 42 is 12 years old. Anyone reading this passage 2,000 years ago would have stopped and said, huh, that's a big deal that he's 12 years old. And the reason is that at age 13, Jewish boys became men. At age 13, Jewish boys became men. And so at age 12, what would have happened is it would have been a transfer from kinship to mom to kinship to dad. What would have happened at age 12 is that a boy would have started to lean more heavily into his father's counsel and tutelage in order to make sure that he was prepared for his apprenticeship to receive his calling of work that he was going to do in order for his father to begin quoting to him the edicts of the Jewish law to make sure that he was gonna understand the law that one year from there he would be accountable for.

So what you need to know is that at age 12, little boys started to give up their kinship with their mother to take up kinship with their father. They would begin to be tethered to their fathers. Now, as the boy Jesus here says to his mom, did you not think at age 12, I would be in my father's house? What is he doing here for us? In this scenario, Jesus is showing us that he's willing now to lean more into his heavenly father over and above his earthly father. Anybody else smelling what I'm stepping in? And now do you see what Luke, our evangelist is up to? And so as they come to say, Jesus, what is going on? You got lost and we couldn't find you. Here's the message, here's the heart of what Jesus is saying to us as Jesus says to his parents, mom, dad, you have culture, but I'm here for the kingdom. He's essentially saying, you need to know that my mission statement in my life is this: I have a relationship with my father in heaven that therefore transcends and relativizes my relationship with you.

You missed it, so I'll say it again. Jesus is saying, I have a relationship with you, but I have a relationship with my father that interprets and dictates everything as to how I'm going to show up with you. What Jesus here is saying is that my vertical connection with God ought to translate into my horizontal relationship with people, I just found my help and I feel like preaching right now. So let's kind of get out of the class, let's go to the ground and beg the question, what's really going on in this story? Here it is. Mary and Joseph then lost their baby. Mary and Joseph have lost their baby. Parrish, you've been there for just a moment. You're at the Pier One, or you're at Tarjay, or you're over at Kohl's, can I get a TJ Maxx witness? And the kid was right there and all of a sudden you look up and now you're scrounging around and scrambling. So you need to feel that tension as we come to this episode.

Now real quickly, what's going on here is that when they came up to Jerusalem for the Passover and for the Jewish feasts and festivals, it possibly would have been hundreds of relatives and neighbors and cousins that would have made the trip together. So the idea was this: let's all go back together. And what would happen is that the women would leave kind of early in the morning and so far that they traveled a little slower than the men. Several hours later, the men would leave and everyone would meet up on their three-day journey home each and every night to enjoy campfire and a meal and prepare for the next day's journey. And so it is very plausible to assume that it's all family and they're all neighbors. And so the idea is that the women were far ahead, the men were in the back, and all the kids and cousins were playing in the middle. And so they've traveled for a couple of days or so and they start looking for Jesus. And so it's naturally plausible to assume that Mary's assuming that Jesus was with dad and dad has assumed that Jesus was with mom, but they meet up one night and they realize Jesus is nowhere to be found.

So imagine now parents, what it would have been like according to the math of the text to have been missing your child for five days. No wonder then Mary comes up to Jesus and says, why have you treated us this way? And so feel the tension of the passage. In one breath, she's just excited. Oh my goodness, thank you God. My son is still alive. But parents, because she realized he's still alive, she now knows she's free to kill him for getting lost. Parents ever been there? That's the tension of the passage. Now, of course, Mary comes up to Jesus and why have you treated us so? But what is Luke really up to in the scene? He's basically exposing the fact that Mary and Joseph have kind of this cultural and this conventional expectation of Jesus. But notice Jesus' response as he says, didn't you know that I would be in my father's house? It is as if Jesus is saying this: Mom, Dad, I don't flow with culture, I flow with kingdom.

And he's reminding us that the kingdom ways that God has called you and me to live in rarely swim along cultural currents. Kingdom ways rarely swim along cultural currents. Stay with him in the classroom for a few more minutes. I promise we're going to church, but what do we learn here? How is God calling us to show up for his gospel over and above the ways of the world in this story? What do we learn? Here's the first thing. We learn that the gospel path is counterintuitive to the culture's way of doing things. Hear that and write that down. The gospel path of Jesus is counterintuitive to the culture's way of doing this. That's the big idea in the passage. So Jesus is saying to us, at the end of the day, guys, my calling is not just this blind obeisance to the culture, but my calling is to have full allegiance to the kingdom of God.

Jesus is saying, Mom, Dad, don't you understand that the whole reason I was put on earth was not to swim with culture, but to stick out like a sore thumb for the cause and covenant of God. He's basically saying, I'm not here to be normalized. I'm not here just to fit in. I'm not here just to assimilate, but I'm here to make an impact for the kingdom. If that means swimming away from the current of culture to wrestle against the current of the kingdom, Mom, Dad, you need to know that that's why God put me here. And let me just drop a word to you and say that that's why God put you here. Not to go through the regular rigmarole of life and social media and the vitriol and the politicization and all the mess that we are encumbered with each and every day of our lives, but to say, you know what? I'm gonna lift up a standard against this culture and remind them that there's a hope and there's a different way of looking at life. And God put me here to stand against that culture and pronounce that God's kingdom is hope and love and peace and joy.

And so the lesson we get already, guys, is that the gospel is different. It's different. It's different. If you think gospel is fitting in, you're not gonna get the gospel. The gospel is different. God's kingdom is different as Christian people who love Jesus and believe in Scripture. It naturally follows that ours will be lives that are fundamentally different, divergent, and distinct from the ways of the world. We are different. The gospel path is counterintuitive to the culture's way of doing things. We are different, guys. We're like Arby's. We're different. Yes, that is an Arby's reference in a sermon. In 2021, that just happened. We are called to be different.

Ricky, give me some Bible. I'm glad you asked. Notice Paul says in Romans 12:2, he says to the Christians, "Do not be key word conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." That word in the Greek conformed is the Greek word suscematizo. It's the idea of assimilation. Paul says, "Christian, never assimilate to this world's way." Hallelujah. "But lean into the kingdom way." Peter says to us in 1 Peter 2:9, he says of Christianity, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation." What is he saying? You're different. In John 17:16, there are none of this world Jesus says of us, just as I am not of this world. What's Jesus saying to the church? You're different. And I need you to understand that your authenticity is realized when you stand out from the ways of the world. The gospel is counterintuitive. The culture's way of doing things. And we see this message being peppered out throughout Luke's gospel.

Okay, we see it here with Jesus standing against culture in this expectation. We see it in Luke 19, "Jesus pours out grace and affection on Zacchaeus, a tax collector, it tripped everybody out." Okay, what was the lesson? The gospel is unconventional. Jesus is unconventional. We see it in Luke 15. "Prodigal son leaves, but the father drastically wastes his own estate to show grace and love to this prodigal. Come back home, tripped everybody out." What was the lesson? Jesus is unconventional. In Luke 10, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. Jewish priest, Jewish leader walks by a man who is destitute, but the Samaritan that everybody hated is the one that shows him love, tripped everybody out. What was the lesson? Jesus is unconventional.

And my application and my caution flag is this: Christian, if you are never, ever, with your Christian witness and the way you show up in life and culture and relationships, if you are never tripping somebody out and being unconventional, you may not be attuned to the ways of Jesus Christ. We're not called to fit in. We're called to stick out for his fame and for his glory. So let me say it this way. 99 times out of 99, when your flesh is saying that what you need to do is turn up in this conflict, or in this post you wanna post, or in this politician or politics you wanna lift up, or in this disagreement that you're having, if your flesh, 99 times out of 99, if your flesh is saying turn up, the gospel is saying be gentle. If your flesh is saying be cheap, the gospel is saying be generous. If your flesh is saying destroy them, the gospel is saying forgive them. We are counterintuitive from the ways of the world.

So here's my application. Be careful, believer. When you find yourself perfectly lining up with the world's institutions, I'm telling you, if your philosophy completely lines up with the world's philosophy, that's a caution flag. If your politics completely lines up with the world's politics, that's a caution flag. If your economics and your way of stewarding finances completely matches up with the world's way of doing it, that is a caution flag, okay? We're called to be kingdom, not culture. So let me use myself as an example, okay? Let me just gotta bring you up in here and tell you what's going on with how I look at the current moment. I am proudly political, but humbly unpoliticized. I am a political being. We all are political beings. I'm just doing my best to not be politicized.

So let me bring you into my politics real quickly. This is biblically speaking, 'cause I believe that at the end of the day, my politics is written between Genesis and Revelation. So biblically speaking, I'm pro-life. I see a value on life from conception all the way to the end. I see that we are made in the imago dei in the image of God. So biblically speaking, I'm pro-life. I am pro-justice. I believe that people ought to be treated fairly and equitably. I am pro-racial unity. I believe that the color of our skin should not back anybody out from being honored in God's eyes and in humanity's eyes. I am pro-law enforcement. I believe that we ought to protect those who protect us. I'm pro-military. I believe that we ought to protect and value and honor those who protect and value and honor us. I am pro-poor. I believe that if you can't help yourself, we ought to be able to help you. At the same time though, I'm not anti-rich, 'cause I wanna be in the club someday. So I'm pro-poor while not being anti-rich. And then lastly, I'm pro-environment. I believe God put us in this place and he said have dominion over it and steward it. I believe we ought to take care of the home that God has made for us.

And my point is this: when you line up my politics, and when you line up my biblical expression of what the politics should be, I'm here to tell you that there is nothing and no platform and no agenda out there that perfectly lines up what this book says. So when Super Tuesday rolls back around, I'm gonna do my duty and vote on Super Tuesday, but I'm gonna live this book out every day because this is the only hope that we have in Jesus Christ. The gospel path is counterintuitive from the culture's way of doing things. Secondly, the gospel path is more meek and mild than it is crazy. And while Ricky Jenkins, where are you getting that from? I'm getting it from the text. It's this notion that the gospel, when we have these contentious moments that we're experiencing in our culture, nine times out of ten, God is not calling you to raise up and turn up and get loud and get crazy and get mean, but God is probably calling you to get low and get meek and get humble because God always opts for influence.

And we're gonna see how that happens in the life of Jesus. Kerry Newhoff, a benevolent Christian thinker, said it best when he said the church should be an alternative to culture, not a reflection of it. The church ought to be an alternative to culture, not a reflection of it. What's my point here? 2020 and now 2021, it's just been that year. It is crazy. Like people before COVID-19 were already angry. Now they're stark, raven mad, right? Like people were already upset and now they are ticked off. People were already hard to work with. Now they're impossible to work with. We're completely tribalized, which is the idea that you know what? You tribe, your tribe is over there, but mine is over here. And never the two show me. You don't see everything I see exactly the way I see it. So we can't even do life or have coffee anymore. It is just crazy the things we do to ourselves.

And I just wanna tell you that there's nothing wrong with a conversation with someone across the fence from you. And that's the path towards unity. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the late Antonin Scalia, great Supreme Court justices, but these guys were the poster children for liberals versus conservatives. These were the poster children for fierce debates. They rarely had a controversial issue that they agreed on during their years at the Supreme Court. But what you may be surprised to know is that these two were some of the best of friends. They hung out together all the time and had conversation. They showed up and had lunches together all the time and had conversation. Believe it or not, they even took their families on vacation together. And the great Mark Twain said at best when he said, there's two kind of people in your life, the people you can go on vacation with and the people you can't. But they were those kind of people, which is the idea is that church, when there's tribalization and politicization and people are on opposite ends of the spectrum, God calls us to be the believers who are in the middle, who's saying there's nothing wrong with a conversation that when there is, that there's potential for unity when there's priority for a conversation.

But Kerry Newhoff here is saying that our way should be some distinction. We see that precisely in verse 46. Now, they've come in and they've been looking for Jesus. And the Bible says after three days, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. I absolutely love this. Now, this is the temple, which was like the Capitol building in Washington, DC for us. So you need to know that Jesus is talking with the chief priests and the leaders and the scribes. It is as if a 12-year-old boy was caught on C-SPAN talking to senators and congressmen and the major thought leaders of the day. It is a big deal. Imagine poor Mary and Joseph walking up to the temple and says, what is our country boy from Nazareth doing here in Washington, DC? That is the import of the text.

Now, at the end of the day, all I want you to see as Jesus is engaging these leaders, as Jesus is engaging these thinkers, as Jesus is enlightening these people, okay? All I want you to see is that his posture, watch this now, is one of listening and asking questions. Jesus is listening and he's asking questions. Ricky, where are you trying to go? I'll go ahead and go there. He's listening, not shouting. He's listening, not posting. He's listening, not being ticked off. He's listening, not arguing. He's asking them questions, not demanding answers. He has a posture of grace and humility. Now, why is that such a big deal? Well, let me put it to your blank. He, God! Like, imagine the humility that Jesus is espousing to in this moment. He's God. If anybody's got the right to scream and rant and holler and literally take over the whole conversation, it is God. And look at what God is doing. He's humbling himself. He's laying down his rights to show up well for the gospel in that conversation. He is listening and he is asking questions.

Now, I don't wanna get too deep because I'm not your pastor, but how are our posts looking? How's our style of confrontation looking? How's our argumentation looking? Because the God who deserved to yell, scream, rant, rave, and post is listening and asking them questions. You see, Jesus wasn't there to show dominance. He was there to gain influence. Christianity is not a dominant path. Christianity is an influential one. We've been around for 2,000 years and our way has never been to scream and fuss and rant and rave. Our way has been to be lowly and humble and meek and mild. And Jesus said in his word, "By this shall all people know that you are my disciples by your love, one for another, not by your posts, not by your ranting, not by your raving, not by your vitriol, not by your disgust, though justified, not by your frustration, I'm sure justified as well." Jesus says, "They will know you are my people by your love." And Jesus is showing that as he's listening and asking them questions now, okay?

Some of y'all are already arguing. I can hear you. It's like, "Yeah, it sounds like Jesus was a little wimp, but I'm not called to be a wimp. I'm called to be strong, called to fight for my..." And hear me, Jesus turned up sometimes, but only led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus went to the temple and turned up the money changers. He looked at Peter and said, "Get thee behind me Satan." So don't let this weak Jesus, this meek Jesus fool you. Jesus knew how to turn up, but gospel more often than not cause you not to be crazy in the wild, but to be meek and to be mild. And let me drop a word, okay? I'm not your pastor, but I'm gonna get pastoral for about 30 seconds. Let me drop a word. Be careful if you find yourself in these conversations that we're having in this moment, be careful when you find yourself constantly angry, constantly ticked off, constantly at a fever pitch, constantly furious. Be careful because what you're really evincing when you're all the way angry all the time is not that you're walking in faith, but what you're indicating is that you're really walking in fear.

You see, when you're always turned up, when you're always agitated, when you're always so turned up that you have to just be on and 100% all the time, you're not indicating faith, you're indicating fear. You're not indicating when you see what's happening when your flesh is raised up, what you're indicating is a lack of trust in the one who has been raised for your victory. The gospel doesn't call us to be crazy and wild. The gospel path is more meek and mild. Let me get to some hope. You gotta know that God's still in control. God has never been surprised. God didn't see COVID-19 and say, whoop, didn't see that coming. God didn't see the episodes of the previous month and everything that's going on around all of the swirls of racial tension and the economy and not one iota was God ever like, my goodness, this shocked me. You need to know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called to his purposes.

And I wanted to remind you that we may have to have this cultural moment, but because God is on the throne, this cultural moment won't have us. My point is this: you may not have been here before, but honey, Jesus has. And if he handled it the last time, he can handle it this time. If he led his people the last century, he can lead us this century. If he took care of red seas in the past, he'll take care of this red sea in the present. Is anyone hearing me today and excited that ours is a God, hallelujah, who's on the throne, who will lead and take care of his people, but only if we would be willing to stand up for his love and his gospel. God is still in control. And this is what I want to drop a word as I close: act like you know, God is still in control. I ain't gotta argue 'cause God is in control. I ain't gotta fight and dismiss you and cancel you 'cause God is in control. I can give you another chance when you tick me out because God is in control. Act like you know God is in control.

The West Wing is the greatest show of all time. Everyone knows this. Anyone who's anyone knows this. In fact, there's no reason to watch new television shows. In fact, I've seen the West Wing now about eight or nine times, okay? Literally, it's the best TV show ever. Aaron Sorkin is the great writer and producer of the show. And Aaron Sorkin is a genius by bringing you into the tension, but then taking you to resolve, and then bringing you back to the tension. Did you hear me? As a master producer, he's an expert at bringing you into the tension, but then taking you to the resolve, and then bringing you back to the tension. And so there would be this episode where there's a crux and there's an emergency and lives are at stake and the ups and downs and the vehemence of the moment is driving you as the audience crazy. Are my guys gonna make it through? Are they gonna win this battle? And it's just right when the tension is at a fever pitch, Aaron Sorkin would cut the scene and then he would take you years into the future.

Years into the future, where you saw the same cast members who were in tension now enjoying a happily ever after kind of life. And then he zaps you out of the future and brings you right into the present. And Aaron Sorkin did that because he understood that what you needed while you were going through tension is to have a proper picture of the future to know that hope is on their way. So you could handle whatever the crux of the moment was because you knew this cast member will live happily ever after. God told me to tell you that he is the first and forever great Aaron Sorkin. He may allow you to go through tension, but I've come to tell you this Bible that says there's a glimpse of our future where everyone's getting along and everyone's at the feet of Jesus and everyone's full of joy and peace. And as long as you know that that's the picture of your future, you can deal with whatever present God allows in this moment, you're gonna make it. You're gonna be all right.

Yet let us not allow this moment to be wasted whereby we were guilty for sitting on the premises instead of standing on the promises. We need more posts that Jesus is Lord and love is his way. We need more conversations and more courage that don't look crazy and wild, but are meek and mild. We need a kingdom acceptance that the gospel is counterintuitive to the culture's way of doing things and see won't God turn things around? So before we go, as we pray and contemplate these things, what it means to lean more into kingdom as opposed to culture, know that God is with you and God is for you. And I leave with you these words of blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and to be gracious to you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon each and every one of you and bring you peace. For this blessing, we ask the name of our Father and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. Amen and amen. We'll see you next time.