Rooted And Built Up | Pastor Will Hawk | February 8th, 2026

What if the most dangerous ideas aren’t the obvious lies but the ones that feel like common sense? We walk through Colossians 2 to expose the “plausible arguments” that quietly drain spiritual life, then rebuild on a better foundation: receiving Christ, walking in his Spirit, and abounding in thanksgiving. Along the way, we unpack Paul’s twin qualifiers for a healthy walk—rooted and built up—and why truth without love feels like a threat while love without truth collapses under pressure.

We get practical about discernment in a world of experts and 38‑second reels. From the “elemental spirits” of the age to human traditions and slick self-improvement scripts, not everything is false, but the center matters. Instead of treating your soul like a device due for an update, we explore how Jesus gives a new heart and then renews us day by day. Using a “panning for gold” approach, we share how to swirl what you watch and read until the weighty things settle—Scripture, the fruit of the Spirit, tested wisdom—while the chaff washes away.

Anchored by Job 28’s aching question—where does wisdom come from?—we point to the fear of the Lord and the fullness of Christ. If all the fullness of deity dwells in him and we are filled in him, then faith can’t be tucked into Sunday; it must shape mind, habits, relationships, and hope. Expect strong takeaways on resisting cultural drift, building convictions that are kind, and practicing a whole-life Christianity that breathes gratitude.

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Transcript

Reading Colossians And Framing Stakes

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Colossians chapter 2, verse 1. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, be knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. This is the word of the Lord.

The Danger Of Plausible Arguments

Salvation, Sanctification, Glorification

Rooted And Built Up In Love

Captivity By Philosophy And Trends

Elemental Spirits And The Spirit Of The Age

Discernment And Stratifying Expert Advice

Job’s Poem On Wisdom’s Source

Will Hawk 1:25

Amen. Thank you. Uh real quick heads up. I told you I was going to try to pull something off last week. I think we did. If you want all of the sermon notes from today, so you don't have to take pictures or try to quick up with the pace of my preaching and changing of slides, the QR code there in the corner will give that to you as a little bit of a bonus teaser. We wrote an article this week on some of the plausible arguments that the Colossians would have been wrestling with and how that affects us today. So at the bottom of the slides for this week, you will see a little two-page article if you want to dig a little deeper. Mitch Aldridge, thank you for your work on that. While you're uh doing that, since I still see phones out, wanted to give you guys a heads up. I've noticed by the number of sweaters with hearts on them that at least the ladies know Valentine's Day is around the corner. Guys, Amazon two-day shipping might still come to the rescue for you if you have forgotten up to this moment. And if you are single in the room today, we just as a little gift, knowing that Valentine's can be a little bit of a thorn in the side for the singles. I think there's some little uh treats and gifts for you. Karen Ann, I'm looking to you. Is it like cookies or something like that? Okay, good stuff. So on your way out, please grab that as a little we love you. And sometimes Valentine's Day isn't the easiest day on the calendar. So take it, make some cookies. If you need to cry into a pillow, do just pray while you're at it. All right. So here uh here's where we're gonna be Colossians 2, verses 6 through 10. Now, what you'll notice is Christine actually read the verses leading up to that. And while she was reading that, I want you to notice the two words in bold on the stage. You are gonna do your soul, your mind, and your future a disservice to not pay attention to these two words. Twice in this very small section, Paul, writing to people he has never met but dearly cares about because of their connection to him in Christ, he brings up this concept. I say this in order that no one may delude you with a plausible argument. Things that would draw us away from Christ would steal the life of the Spirit that He desires for us to have. And so I I've been beginning us with a question every week, every Sunday, through our walk through Colossians. And here's the question for today. It will also be the last question I give you as we get ready to respond in worship at the end of our time together. Have you bought into a plausible argument that is stealing life from your faith? Now we're on the front end of the sermon. I haven't made any application. We've only read a couple of verses, and your answer to that might be maybe, or I don't know. But I will tell you this for Paul to bring it up as often as he does. What it means is every soul in the room, every mind in the room is at least susceptible to this reality. So spend the next number of moments as we walk through God's word asking yourself this. Is there an argument that the world makes? And I'll tell you the sneakiest way it does it. It doesn't even make it an argument, it just makes it seem like common knowledge that is not from God, but is from this world. Keep that in mind as we look at the following verses. This is where we will spend all of our time together this morning, verses six through ten. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by, this would be plausible arguments, philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Eyes on the screen, if you don't mind. I want you to notice what Paul says is the natural expectation of the person who walks in Christ. And what you're going to notice is it moves from passive to active to appreciative. There is a passive reality to you responding to grace. There is this obvious, I'll put it this way: whether you grew up in the church or you didn't grow up in the church, if you're a believer, there was a point when you realized, man, Christ is really going after me in a different kind of way. It may have been at church camp, it may have been meeting with your pastor, it might have been sharp top college or some ministry, might have just been one Sunday at church, or your mom and dad looking at you and saying, Hey, son, daughter, are you a believer? It could have happened when you were 30 or 40, but there is this recognition, if you're a Christian, that there was a moment where God really went after you and pursued you through the life and death and resurrection of Christ to offer it to you in a way that your heart burned for and yearned for and responded to. This isn't completely passive, but what you will find in this is this is sort of a moment of decision. Now, some of us being born into the kingdom of God spend a little more time in the birth canal than others. But when theologically God's word points to you receiving Christ, it means one time. Now, I don't know how many of you had the childhood I did. I got saved. I got to use my ear quotes. If you're listening in the podcast, I'm using ear quotes. I got saved like 12 times. Um, theologically, that's horrible theology, but that's the way it felt in my heart. Somebody said, Will, do you want to die and go to hell or do you want to go live with uh Jesus in heaven? I'm like, easy, let's go live with Jesus in heaven, respond to the gospel, walk down, fill out the card, talk to my youth pastor, and then a month goes by and I do a little bit of sinning and I'm like, Eee, I need to do, I need to one up. I need to do this again. Billy Graham's in town, or somebody is playing at this concert, or I go to what was the Halloween scary thing? Judgment journey. I'm like, I'm getting saved nine times a night, right? And here's what happened. I knew enough to know my sin. I knew enough to know I needed a savior, but what was coming next, no one ever taught me. They they told me enough to seek salvation, but they never taught me enough about sanctification, that the life of the Christian includes failure. So just notice this: this moment, this passive, you are receiving grace. So walk in him. This is now active. This is something that is not a moment, it is the rest of your breathing on earth life, Christian. And by the time you get all the way to the bottom, you find eternity. You find what you're gonna be doing for the rest of your days, which is abounding in thanksgiving and giving glory to God. If I were to take these three things and summarize them quickly, I would use these very theological terms that I teach at every roots class. We receive grace alone called salvation, walk in his spirit alone every one of our days called sanctification, and then we give thanks to him alone, which is his and our on the other side of life, glorification. The easiest way for you to think you are going to heaven and be wrong is a subtle, plausible argument. Eyes on the screen for one moment. This is how you respond to the gospel. This is how you walk with Christ in the Spirit, this is how you enter into heaven and celebrate him all of your days. But if you want to, if you want to believe you're going to heaven and miss out, as we read about, all you need to do, all you need to do is that. That's it. That's all you've got to do. All you need to do, by the way, most people on the planet believe this, most religions on the planet believe this. This when people say, what's the difference in Christianity and every other religion? It is this. It is, I'm not trying to live a good life first. I'm not trying to earn something from God that I could never earn. In fact, I'm not really trying at all. I am receiving grace. But if you have spent your life trying so hard to be good and look good and act good and talk good and think good, and you have felt like a failure in the process, it is probably because you have messed up the order. We receive grace, then we receive his spirit, which allows us to walk with him until he ultimately calls us home. And I want to show you something because if you have the order, by the way, if you need to talk about that, it's my favorite coffee to have, it's my favorite lunch to have, my favorite breakfast to have. Get with me. I'd love to talk with you more about it. We can also pray afterward. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, notice this no qualifier. You received Christ Jesus the Lord, drop to the bottom, abounding in thanksgiving, no qualifier. But this in the middle, walking in him, comes with two qualifiers. The expectation is that you would be rooted, and the expectation is that you would be built up. So here, Paul is zooming in on our obedience, he's zooming in on our sanctification to make sure that we do not miss a very important detail. You can have the order right, and there is still a way to collapse from the inside. You see, roots give us strength, building gives us shape, but what you're gonna see is love is what makes it safe to stand near you. Let's just do a thought experiment for two minutes as you think about this sort of idea about being rooted and built up. By the way, most of the Christians who drive, let me not say, all Christians can drive people crazy because we don't get completely sanctified on day one. We're still wrestling with a lot of stone. But if you in your personality struggle with another Christian personality, I'd be willing to bet 51% of the time it's from this verse. It's from, or if your denomination has a problem with another denomination, 51% of the time, I think it comes from what this is saying. Rooted and built up, not one or the other. Thought experiment for a moment. I want you to picture two Christians walking into your life. One is one is all bones. He's got theological vocabulary for days, can smell bad exegesis from a mile away. His faith has structure, legitimate structure, and that isn't nothing. Because in this world, as a Christian, bones matter. Real suffering, a real enemy, real sin. You need a spine. You need to be rooted to something. You need something that can handle the weight. But this Christian is all bones, all root, and an exposed skeleton is a frightening sight because truth without love doesn't feel like strength. It doesn't feel good when you are standing next to it. Truth without love is a threat. It is hard, it is cold, it is sharp, it is technically correct, but relationally devoid. You can be rooted, but not built up in love, and that's what you will see. Christian number two walks into your life, all skin, busy, active, always building, serving, running, and producing. And they look very warm at first until you realize they don't have a backbone. No roots, no stability. They are the most sincere person you will meet with zero substance in their spirit. And when the wind hits, when suffering hits, when temptation comes, when they are offended, when they get fatigued, there is nothing underneath to hold them up. You see, a rooted person is a terrifying thing if that's all they are. Hard, cold, and sharp. A built-up, active person is a beautiful thing from a distance until you realize how much their soul is drooping because there is nothing to hold them up. Paul wants his friends to know something, and he wants all people who would ever read this letter that the Holy Spirit inspired him to write to know something. The life in Christ is both. It is rooted, it is serious, it is thoughtful, it is studious, it studies, it doesn't mind it when a pastor uses a Greek word. Additionally, it can't just be that. It is warm, it is active, it is loving and flexible, it moves, it steps into the hard places of life, even when it has to squeeze its way in to do so. It's meant to be rooted and built up. No roots instead of building, no building instead of roots. If you want something beautiful and functional in your life, and you need both. I just give this to you to tell you none of us are 50-50, none of us are a hundred-a hundred. I would encourage you to wrestle with what your proclivity is and ask that the Spirit of God would draw you to the other. Roots will give strength and building gives shape, but love is what makes it safe to stand near you. And what must even the rooted and built in Christ be on guard for? Well, the very thing that I began with. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy, empty deceit, human tradition, elemental spirits of the world, basically anything other than Jesus. And when Paul says that, when he says, see to it, the concept here is whether you realize it or not, things are trying to depose your faith. Whether you realize it or not, whether you're prone to root or prone to build, there is an enemy who loves watching you trip, who loves watching you fall, who loves watching the mess that you make when you do so. So Paul is saying, brother, sister, and if I'm honest, I think he would say it more like son, daughter, keep your head on a swivel. Have the radar of your heart turned with a brightness very high, because there are things that absolutely want to take you captive. And he's writing to Christians. This is not, well, what causes an unbeliever not to respond to the gospel? This is what causes somebody who has put their faith in, trust in Christ, what causes somebody who may be a little too heavy on the truth or a little too heavy on the sincerity, rather than being both. What is it that will take them captive and lead them away? A thousand empty promises that began in a garden with, do you not want to know who got it? Do you not want to know the thoughts of God? Wouldn't it be good for you to be wise like Him? And from one lie bred a thousand. And that one lie was you're sufficient to make decisions for your own life. You are wise enough to know what you need, when you need it, how you need it, and where you need it. And from that lie was born thousands of empty promises. Now I gave you a heads up that occasionally you get a piece of Greek. You're gonna get a piece of Greek right here because this concept, everybody knows what philosophy is, everybody knows what deceit is, everybody knows what a tradition is. All right? Watch out for them, okay? And I could point to a couple of different like groups and streak streams of Christianity in this. But what does this mean? Elemental spirits? Now, there is an argument that what it means is demonic activity. Typically, on the western side of the globe, we don't worry much about this. You go on a mission trip to Kenya, you'll see uh you'll see it a little bit differently. But what this is actually referring to, these elemental spirits, it's actually pointing to this term called stoichia. Sorry, I should have made that bigger. I might be able to still. And this concept of elemental spirits, what it's basically saying would be similar to the spirit of the age. In other words, let me get your eyes for a moment. What have you bought into that you don't know that you have bought into it because it is the air that you breathe and the culture you live? That's what this is talking about. It this is talking about the rudiments. I'm on uh the second little half here, the rudiments with which mankind were indoctrinated before the time of Christ. What is it that you buy into that you don't even realize that you have bought into? And Paul is making this philosophical argument. What does the world offer that you only think is normal, so you don't even realize it's making an argument to steal away your soul from Christ? It would be every dominant intellectual, cultural, moral trend, idea, or attitude. And where do you find those? Non-retorical. Where do you find them? Here's where I find most of them. This is where most of them. And it doesn't matter where you sort of imbibe from culture, many of us are gonna get it from our phones. Whether it's Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, doesn't matter whether it's the music that you listen to, these are the elemental spirits, the spirit of our age. And while Paul is making this very thoughtful argument, don't miss his heart. He looks at Timothy and just notice the first word. Oh Timothy. Timothy was basically Paul's son. He didn't have one, but Paul became one to him. And he looks at him and he says, My son, my child, I have raised you in the faith. I've told you everything that this world has to offer, of which I ate much of. It's empty, son. There's nothing good in it. There's nothing that will save you. Guard the deposit that was given to you. What's he talking about? The news of Jesus Christ. Believe, guard, safeguard the reality that it is Christ and Christ alone that offers true life. Timothy, hold on to this. Avoid irreverent babble, all of the talkings of culture, all of the contradictions of culture on the screen, eyes for a moment, and what is falsely called knowledge. Timothy, you walk through a world where there are experts everywhere. They'll tell you how to build your house, they'll tell you how to pick your spouse, they'll tell you how to find a job, they'll tell you how to invest your money, they'll tell you how to spend your time. Oh, Timothy, guard your heart from a million experts selling a thousand empty promises. Because it will seem like a plausible argument. This seems like knowledge. It's false, but in this world it is called knowledge. You want to read a scary verse? By professing it, some have swerved from the faith. My son, grace be with you. So he looks at Timothy and he says, Don't get sucked in. I've already read this to you twice, but bonus points to the camp store if you can tell me what comes after this. I say this in order that no one may delude you with, which means the expectation of Paul is you will be deceived without realizing it. Do you want to know why it's so important to come to church? Do you want to know why it's so important to be in a community group? Do you want to know why it's so important that you marry and date a believer and not a non-believer? Do you want to know why your faith is not just you with the Bible singing songs with AirPods in, Spotify on and David Crowder playing or whatever it is that you would pick? Do you want to know why? Because you are easily deceived. And if you do not have eyes on the outside looking in, you are gonna whistle your way past the graveyard thinking I am good enough. I have arrived. Look at where I am. Certainly there are things, but there are arguments in this world that will absolutely draw you in. Back then, it was Gnosticism, a pantheon of the gods. It was Stoicism or asceticism, it was hedonism. Get all the pleasure and squeeze it out of this life because it is fleeting. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Or asceticism. Everything that you touch and see, everything of material is a lower thing than your own knowledge and spirit. This is why we wrote an article for you. Because the Stoics are still alive and the Gnostics are still alive. The ascetics are still alive. We call them different things. If you want that article or you didn't get a chance to scan it, I'll be happy to get it to you. The enemy has not stopped offering a thousand empty promises to fix what is broken in us. And they are experts. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whatever. Do you want to know why they're experts? Because you only have to watch their life for 38 seconds. Almost anybody can be excellent for 38 seconds. The question is, what happens in the 38 hours surrounding those 38 seconds? Do you want to know one of my biggest complaints? I'll prove a point about the iPhone. I don't complain about iPhones much because my second big complaint is being in a text thread with an Android user. Okay? It's all right. The fact that you responded to that more than the word of God bothers me a little, but I'll move on. Okay? We've all been there. It doesn't matter on what side of the aisle you want. That is my second frustration with the iPhone. Does anybody look polling that does anybody know? And you hear it all the time. What is it about the iPhone other than that that frustrates people the most? It is whenever they drop an update. Do you want to know why? This is this is one of my favorite things. iPhone will release a new update. You don't find out about it until it's your phone's like on the charger and you're falling asleep. And it's like, do you want to update? And you want to hit yes because you know what's going to happen eventually when you're not paying attention to it. But here's the thought that runs through your head. What if it messes up my phone? All right? How many times do you show up at work or show up wherever the night after a new update and somebody goes, my dang phone won't work. It's messed up this, it's messed up that. Listen to me, this is a beautiful thing to wrestle with as you think about plausible arguments. Most of you are not going to be thinking philosophy on Tuesday, but every time a new update drops, I want you to remember this. You can only upgrade your hardware so long before it fails you. Jimmy Brooks used to walk around with an iPhone 6. Whenever there was an update, we were convinced the guy was never going to make it on time to an elders' meeting. Okay? There are only so many ways, so many times you can upgrade your hardware before it fails you. And the same is true for you. You can upgrade yourself to some degree. You can wake up earlier in the morning, you can make your bed, you can drink more water, you can take care of a calendar. That isn't nothing. It is an upgrade. But eventually yourself is going to fail you. It will. That is one of the main problems that I have with it, which is why Jesus is not interested in patching you. He is not interested in overhauling your little thing and adding a tidbit. No, he's not about upgrading. He is about giving you a new heart and a new system completely. This is Psalm 51. Bonus points to the camp store if you can tell me who wrote this. God, that's right. All right. No. Who is the human author inspired by inspired by the Spirit of God to write Psalm 51? One, two, three. Okay, if you didn't know that, that's great. That's fine. We come to church not to show what we know, but to know more. This was written by David. I'm asking you that for a reason. I want you to keep that in the back of your mind for three minutes. Behold, you delight in truth. God cares about what is right, what is actually true and knowledgeable, philosophical, traditional. He cares about truth. You delight in truth in the inward being. You teach me wisdom in the secret heart. But what is my biggest concern? Purge me so that I can be clean. Wash me that I would be whiter with snow than snow. And you must, God, create, not upgrade, not install a new patch. I need the creator of all things to create in me something completely different. I need a clean heart. Notice, it doesn't say upgrade my heart. Give me version two of my heart. I need you to create something new and different. If you have done that, you've become a Christian, don't miss the next verse. And from that point on, renew a right spirit within me. I need you to create something, and then I need you to renew something. I want to tell you what to do with your phone when an expert is talking to you. I want to tell you what to do when you're reading an article or listening to a podcast, and an expert is offering you upgrades to your life. They're not all wrong. An unbeliever can tell you two plus two is four, and it's still right. Okay? Truth is truth. God is king of it. He wrote it. I'm gonna prove it to you in just a moment. But here's what I would recommend prospecting is the practice, the science of seeking gold. All right. When you try to get gold and you put this little thing in the water and you swirl it, what do you call that? Start to the P. Panning for gold. Have you done it? You look like the guy who's done it. Okay. All right. You're just the first and the loudest, and I've I've done it in Deloniga. I think I paid money for them to like throw stuff in the sand, so I found something, but whatever. Okay. Here's the answer. Most of you will not know. Do you know what the process of panning is called to get the gold to drop to the bottom and the rest to go out the top? Starts with an S. Okay, sleuthing. Yeah. Okay. That's not actually it. Yes. Yeah, that is the whole thing. But the actual scientific process that causes the heaviest thing to drop to the bottom and the rest to go to the top is called stratification. All right? What is happening, stratified? What's happening is all the things of value, all the things of weight drop to the bottom, and the rest goes over the top. This is how you watch TV. This is how you listen to podcasts. This is how you listen to some expert for 38 seconds on your phone. Just keep swirling until there is nothing but good wisdom left and let the rest go in one ear and out the other. Some things probably aren't even worth swirling in the first place. That is what you do. If you don't know how to do that, we put two articles at the bottom of the article that we wrote to help you know how do I discern what's happening in my life and all of the experts so I can get the truth out of it without being dragged along from it. You were built to be susceptible to this. I know what time it is because I have a timer up here and I'm not going to finish late. I only tell you that because whenever I put a scripture this big up, some of you aren't sanctified yet enough for it not to show on your face. All right? Just letting you know. Some of you can't. Not you're like, oh gosh, Bennett, get up there, start playing. Which, by the way, Bennett, come up here, start playing. I felt like I gave you a good heads up. I didn't give you a head nod. I told him earlier, I'm like, I'm about to read a poem from Job. I'd love you to be playing in the background. Job 28, if you look at the heading in most of your Bibles, it will say, From where does wisdom come? I will say something most pastors do not. If you want to close your eyes for this part, I'm completely cool with it because it's a poem. I want you to visualize this. I want you to visualize how much you want things of value in your life and how much you desire to cling to things that are true, things that can give you an upgrade, a thousand empty promises that will be prone to lead you astray. Here's a poem from Job. Surely there is a mine for silver and a place for gold that they refine. The path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it, the proud beast have not trodden it, the lion has not passed over it. It's literally talking about somebody in a mine, and it's saying, Man and man alone cares so much about this value that he will dig down to a place that nothing else in all of God's good creation will ever see. Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eyes see every precious thing. He dams up streams so they don't trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth. It's not found in the land of the living. How hard is it to find truth and wisdom? The deep says it's not in me. The sea says it's not with me. It cannot be bought for gold, wisdom and truth, silver cannot be weighed as its price. From where then does wisdom come? Where's the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living, concealed from the birds of the air. But God understands the way to it. He saw it, declared it, established it, searched it out, and he said to man, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To turn away from evil and every plausible argument, that is understanding. You received Christ passively, walk in him, be rooted and built up. Don't choose one or the other. You will spend all of your days, if you're a believer, glorifying God who deserves to be glorified. But while you walk here, watch out for plausible arguments. Watch out for human tradition. It's just how you've always done it. Be careful for philosophies, empty deceits, and a thousand empty promises the world is going to offer. Swirl them. There is wisdom, potentially, and truth to be found, but let the rest go by because only God knows wisdom. He made it, created it, declares it. And do you want to know one of the greatest truths in all the world? Your Christianity cannot be compartmentalized. If it can, you haven't found Christ. Christ exudes into all, from all, over all. If your Christianity can fit on a Sunday, my friend, you have not found Christ. You have found a plausible argument. You found a good philosophy. You found morality. You have found any number of things, but you have not found Christ if you have found a box that it can fit in. No. He is the embodiment of all wisdom, all knowledge, all truth, all passion, all meaning. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. All of God in this one tight package. And you, you have been filled in him. How is that not supposed to explode into every part of your life? All of God, in all of him on a cross for you, that his spirit would be in you and you believe you can hold it in 90 minutes on a Sunday, my friend, you have not found Christ. You have found a functional Savior, but it will function only for a moment. For in him, the whole fullness dwells bodily. I was listening to Piper earlier this week. I told you I wanted you to know Psalm 51 because David wrote it. David's sins were many: murder, affair, deceit, sloth, laziness, selfishness. And do you know how many of those things you find in Psalm 51? Zero. Doesn't even come up. It doesn't come up because his greatest desire that was that he wouldn't be cast away from the presence of God. His greatest desire was that he would have the joy that he once had restored to him. And he even looks at his life with all this brokenness and expects to teach others afterward. Do you want to know what David realized that many of us forget? It's the middle yellow circle. If the joy of the salvation of Christ is yours, everything else will take care of itself. In him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him. In a moment, we're gonna stand and we're gonna sing, I'm prone to wander. Lord, I feel it, and you will be prone to wander until you realize this. We all want a love that is unquenchable, especially on the 14th, but it doesn't hurt to have it on the 13th or the 15th either. We want a passion that's unmatchable and a purpose that is unquestionable. Spend your whole life trying to find it anywhere but Christ. I'll talk to you when you're 99 on your deathbed, and you will still be looking. All of these things are found in one place. In Christ in Christ's life. Believer, come back to Him. Appreciate Him. If you're in this room and you don't know if you're a believer, you can fill out the little card in front of you and we'll follow up with you on a Monday or a Tuesday, or you can come and receive prayer. Come and receive prayer if you want to celebrate what Christ has done. But we will respond as we typically do. We will give glory to the one who deserves it by standing and singing. We will pray for and with one another, and we will pursue him even in the midst of realizing there are a thousand plausible arguments that want to steal life from you. Which one might be winning? And how can you give that to Christ?