Pastor Bob Erbig: Well in 2023, a uh church in Firth, Germany hosted an experimental worship service.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, when I say that uh word experimental, many many of you out there might become skeptics and you say, What does that mean?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh what is this experiment?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, the entire worship service from start to finish was planned and performed by artificial intelligence.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The sermon was written by ChatGPT and delivered through an avatar on the screen above the altar.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You can see what it looked like here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The liturgy, or the order of service, was AI constructed, although a human had to press pause when the people responded.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The service drew hundreds of people who, when surveyed afterwards, reported that the service was both meaningful and impactful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now you might be asking yourself, well, why would a church do this?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, the theologians who organized the experiment stated their goal up front.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They said, we wanted to explore whether AI could perform the functions of religion.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And their conclusion after the experiment was done was that it could.
Pastor Bob Erbig: By every measurable account, the words, the structure, the emotional cadence, the pastoral tone, the average congregant could not discern a difference.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And they felt they had an encounter with the living God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So, MBC, what do we do with this?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Was this a real experience with God or a counterfeit simulation?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, the debate over AI use and ministry is raging right now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I would say using AI for brainstorming ideas or administrative efficiency, that's one thing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But some practices, like the one we just heard, are extremely concerning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, I would go even further.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's others, like St.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Peter's Chapel in Switzerland, who recently installed an AI Jesus avatar in their confessional booth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It was another experiment, but the theologian who did that one was shocked how seriously people took the experience.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Some even thanked the chatbot on the way out for their time.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, this is a current issue of our day, but it's one we need to think about deeply.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can an algorithm be your pastor?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or does it merely give the appearance of knowing you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, I think AI can have a place and maybe be a helpful tool if used wisely.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Large language models lack what Paul calls the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It can imitate the words, but it lacks the spiritual power that only comes from God Himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3.5, which we just read, that some things have an appearance of godliness, but deny its power.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so in our text today, Paul asks a question no AI can answer.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is your faith real or counterfeit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: So turn with me to 2 Timothy 3, verses 1 to 15.
Pastor Bob Erbig: 2 Timothy 3, 1 through 15.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, AI is a new, complicated, and potentially dangerous technology.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We must be extremely discerning in our use of it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But this illustration shows how complex and unnerving our culture has become.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you sense that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, when Paul wrote to Timothy, AI did not exist.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The first century church had its challenges, just as this 21st century church does.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so he begins chapter 3 this way.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now last week, Pastor Dave covered the important topic of sexual temptation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Make sure you go back and watch that message if you missed it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The week before, we covered the end of 2 Timothy chapter 2, and Paul concluded that chapter discussing that some people in the church have been ensnared by the devil, and we need to bring them back.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he continues that theme in chapter 3.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Understand this, that's a deliberate phrase.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's an intention grabber.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is saying, listen up, listen to what I'm about to say.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, listen carefully.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The last days will bring difficulty.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, he's calling Timothy to understand the time, the moment that he's living in.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is about to die, as we've heard.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Christians in the Roman Empire are undergoing severe persecution.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They're being burnt alive, fed to wild animals.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It was horrific.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, some might assume the free, whenever the phrase the last days is used, it speaks to a time future to us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But biblically speaking, the last days refer to the entire time from Jesus' resurrection until his second coming.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And while I do think there will be an intensification prior to Jesus' return, the phrase applies to Timothy's time as well as ours.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What will happen in these last days?
Pastor Bob Erbig: They will be difficult, he says.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you look in the original, that's a very strong word.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In the classical Greek, it was specifically used to describe savage animals.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The word appears twice in the New Testament here and in Matthew chapter 8, where Jesus describes the Gadderene demoniacs, and those were men so violent, so out of control, so dangerous that no one could pass through their region.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How many of you have been to the zoo recently?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Alright, a few hands.
Pastor Bob Erbig: My kids love the zoo.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Philadelphia Zoo is great.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Bronx Zoo, if you haven't been there, it's enormous.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the favorite exhibits are the big cats, the lions and the tigers and the leopards.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, most of the time, if you've been, those cats are asleep.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not very menacing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But if you're fortunate, maybe you'll see them prowling around, staring you down through the glass.
Pastor Bob Erbig: At the Bronx Zoo, the lions are so far away, there's a ditch in between you and them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because they are dangerous and savage.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You don't want to be in the cage with the lions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But what happens if you are?
Pastor Bob Erbig: How would you live?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Timothy is living in savage times and his faith will be tested.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, Paul is saying that this is not some distant time for Timothy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is what he's been given right now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, if his faith is not real, if it is counterfeit, he will not remain faithful to the end.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So does anybody think we're living in savage times today?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Here's a couple examples.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The American family is in danger.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Marriage and birth rates have been declining.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We may not have anybody to pass the faith on to.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The mind is being weaponized.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The rise of AI that I just mentioned, reality itself is being questioned, and absolute truth is contested at every corner.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the church is under attack both within and without.
Pastor Bob Erbig: While there are signs of revival, Pew Research still shows a 12-point decline in the number of Americans who identified as Christians between 2011 and 2023.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Barna Research Group consistently finds that only 10% of people who call themselves Christians hold a true biblical worldview.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I would submit we're living in the last days.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They are savage times.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the question before us is this how do you know if your faith is real or counterfeit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's the topic of 2 Timothy 3, 1 to 15.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul's not just addressing Timothy here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: His principles are timeless.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They speak to the first century church and the 21st century one.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So how do you know if your faith is real in these savage times?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, Paul says that real faith, you can tell it from its counterfeit in three ways.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Number one, in what it loves.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Number two, in what it seeks, and third, in what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So let me pray, and then we'll look at each of those in turn.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for your goodness and your grace and your mercy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, I thank you for each person who is here, who's here in person, who may be watching, who may be listening later on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, I ask that you would speak to our hearts.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Holy Spirit, would you both confront us, challenge us, as well as motivate us to live for you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: That you would get the glory, that people would see you in the way that we live and in what we love, Lord God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Help us to love you above all things.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And speak to us now in Jesus' name.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So first, you know real faith by what it loves.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I want you to think for a moment about what you love, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Make a list in your head.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Everybody loves something, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: For most of us, we have people that we love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That could be a family member, a friend, maybe even a coworker, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Some of us have activities that we love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That could be camping or pickleball or shopping.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Some of us love those things too much.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You might love food or movies or learning or, you know, the list can go on and on and on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What do you love?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I want you to notice that everything on the list that I just gave you requires potentially time.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It requires money.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It probably requires attention.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, when you love something, it it consumes you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is good when your love is rightly ordered, but if if your loves become disordered, it's a problem.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So look at what Paul says in verses 1 and 2.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He continues.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, but understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why?
Pastor Bob Erbig: For people will be lovers of self.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lovers of self.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now we already discussed the first part of this verse.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The days will be hard, they'll require our attention, but now Paul turns his focus toward examples of the difficult days, and he starts with us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, as you read on, I want you to take note of something really important contextually for these verses.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Many people mistakenly read these verses and say that, oh yes, in the last days, the world's gonna be evil.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Everybody in the world is terrible, I know.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I have to watch out for them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's gonna be dark.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that may be true for certain, but in these verses, Paul is not talking about the world out there.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's talking about those inside the church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so instead of focusing on the people that are out there, the world that's out there, these verses should be read and how the world's influence has made its way in here and into your heart.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What is the first piece of evidence?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, people will be lovers of self.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now you might say, well, what is wrong with that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What's wrong with loving yourself?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I thought that was a virtue.
Pastor Bob Erbig: After all, 13 years ago, Queen Elsa told me to let it go.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I mean, come on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does she sing on the mountaintop?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's time to see what I can do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I gotta test my limits, I gotta break through.
Pastor Bob Erbig: No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'm free.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's about me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that song captures a modern cultural sentiment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Love yourself first.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are enough.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What did Oprah say?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You be you, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now here's a smattering of sayings from various self-love quote-unquote blogs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Put yourself first.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Self-love is not selfish at all.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Be a master of loving yourself, and people will follow.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are powerful, provided you know how powerful you are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you know how powerful you are?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, I don't want to come across as deriding the sentiments here because I do believe it's important to care for yourself when you need it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's a reason they tell you to put your mask on first on the airplane when it gets decompressed because you can't help others if you don't.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But I also want you to recognize that the criticism I'm offering is counterintuitive to the modern American ear.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So even now, some of you are wondering, well, is this true, Pastor Bob?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is love of self really a bad thing?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I mean, if Paul is just, his advice is antiquated.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And to that objection, here's what I would just say: that if you read the Bible, you read the whole Bible, and you look at the different characters and the admonitions and the things that are in there, you will not find people struggling to love themselves.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Bible is full of people who love themselves, who live however they want, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what they do is they wind up forgetting God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, in the Bible and in real life, people don't struggle to love and live for themselves.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What we struggle is to live for and love God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That is what you see in Scripture.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, how many of us can honestly raise our hands and say, I love God more than myself?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, God calls us to live a life of self-giving love, of sacrifice.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Yes, be confident in who God created you to be.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But you are not the center of the world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are not the protagonist of the story.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Jesus is.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We must love Him and worship Him above all else.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when we do, that's when everything else falls into place.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When we don't, the fruit of disordered love manifests itself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So Paul continues.
Pastor Bob Erbig: People will be lovers of self.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now listen, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with inflammation of conceit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Man, I'm out of breath.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Just go through that list.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But notice that there's a reason that love of self heads the list.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because everything that follows is the fruit of this disordered self-love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So if you look at this list, ask yourself: do I display any of these characteristics?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or would I want to be friends with somebody who displayed these characteristics?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I won't go through them all, but let me just highlight a few.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lovers of money.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, money is a part of life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Indeed, some of us have a God-given skill set that helps us make money.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But love of money is somebody who hoards wealth and harms people to achieve it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is that you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Disobedient to their parents.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, kids, I'll just pick on you for just a second here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I know, I know everybody in this room and those watching at home, they are they obey their parents all the time, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Nobody gives their parents gray hairs or talks back to them, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: We love Jesus at NBC.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is not nobody here in the room, okay.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But but let's just say you did.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's just what would the root of that motivation be?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Could it be selfish desire?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Unappeasable.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does that mean?
Pastor Bob Erbig: We don't talk about the unappeasable that often.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What what is he getting at here?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It refers to an unwillingness to be reconciled with others.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's my way or the highway.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And in fact, there may be a lack of peace between you and others, and no matter how hard others try to make peace with you, you cannot be appeased.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Does that describe anybody?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why can't you be appeased?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I can go on and on and on, but you you see you see the list up here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You get you get the point.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul bookends this section with a convicting statement in verse 5.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So he comes, he concludes with, We are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, Avoid such people.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Wow.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, Paul, calm down.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul, Paul and his lists, man, he's always gonna get you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now the list began with a love of self, but see, it ends with a love of pleasure, and they're two sides of the same coin.
Pastor Bob Erbig: As Martin Luther put it, it's a love that's curved inward towards us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But I want you to notice that there's an exchange happening here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Rather than loving God, you love pleasuring yourself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a disordered love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, the middle clause in the verse is extremely convicting.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, people who love themselves rather than God can have a what?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can have an appearance of godliness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when you focus on yourself and take matters into your own hands, you deny the power of the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You become your own savior.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he says, you should be avoided.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'll come back to that in just a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But I want you to sit for a second with the phrase appearance of godliness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does that mean?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does that look like?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And does anybody sitting here today or listening have an appearance of godliness and they're not what they seem?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, the phrase is pointing out something that does not reflect reality.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a facade, it's artificial, it's it's a costume, if you will.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Much like our AI pastor illustration at the beginning, it's a godliness with no real power.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I know it's May, but um, let's let's just pretend it's it's October.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's how well actually it kind of feels like October outside.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh it's a Halloween, let's pretend it's Halloween for a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How many of you get dressed up in costumes for Halloween?
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, some of you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Okay, good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, usually those costumes don't reflect your true self.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or maybe they do, I don't know.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But even if you wore, let me just say, even if you wore Superman's cape, gentlemen, you can't fly.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Don't try it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Ladies, you can don Wonder Woman's tiara, but I don't think the lasso of truth will work on the average person.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or maybe it will, I don't know.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe maybe you do have a superpower.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, my point is, it's easy to wear a costume, especially a church, that we craft an appearance of something we are not because we think we're supposed to act a certain way.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the appearance of godliness does have an incentive.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So you might think if I if I appear godly, I can gain power, I can gain influence in the church if I wear the right costume.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You can look like Bible man, but your heart posture must match your head knowledge.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So ask yourself: am I wearing a spiritual costume?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do I have an appearance of godliness?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, Paul was confronting the false teachers of his day who did this very thing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But it happens all the time in the church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, my heart breaks every time I hear of church leaders and pastors who are convicted of crimes or whatever it is, that they're wearing a costume, they're living out an appearance, but they're denying the power of the gospel in their lives.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So, church, if you if you want the power of the gospel to heal and convict you, you have to be honest about who you are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You have to confess your sin.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You have to repent of your self-sufficiency, and you have to trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's what Paul's getting at here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Real faith is known by what it loves.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You will love yourself or you will love Jesus, and it will be evident to all.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Who do you love?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, before I move on, let me talk about Paul's final command.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Avoid such people.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is this an average churchgoer?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, in Paul's context, he's specifically talking about these false teachers he's been combating.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They are people who obtained religious credentials.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They appeared legitimate, but they denied the gospel and were just in it for their own gain, whether that was financial or fame or both, or both were selfish.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I think the proper application for this section is to ask, can I recognize a counterfeit gospel?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or put another way, can you see the crazies out there?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Like we live in a time of deep fake AI videos or nonstop social media posts that look real, but you have to discern fact from fiction.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What we need is more Bible knowledge and wisdom.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because not everything you see, counter to popular belief on social media or the internet, is in fact true or real.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you tell the difference between a true gospel teacher and a false one?
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's a Bible teacher named Mike Winger who runs a ministry called the Bible Thinker.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's got really great videos.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You can check him out at BibleTinker.org.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Recently, he felt called to expose false teaching in a particular movement.
Pastor Bob Erbig: A recent social media post had him write, I exposed a lot of bad guys today, and I'm asking for prayer related to that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, when you recognize somebody teaching a counterfeit gospel, Paul says you have to mark and avoid.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But it's also worth clarifying that when Paul says avoid such people, he's not telling us to never engage people like this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Rather, he's saying we should avoid prolonged intimate association with those who peddle a false gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Confronting heresy is good, but we must avoid its influence in our lives.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So how do you know if your faith is real or counterfeit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Examine what you love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But second, real faith is known by what it seeks.
Pastor Bob Erbig: By what it seeks.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What do you seek?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, if verses 1 to 5 focused on our loves, our heart motivations, verses 6 to 9 speak to our actions when our loves are disordered.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So he continues in verse 6.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Listen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: For among them, these false teachers, are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And you're saying, Paul, my goodness, what are you talking about?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul's always got these crazy things he's saying.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now remember, Paul is talking here about people who need to be avoided.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And now he's getting specific about their actions and why they're untrustworthy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he makes a pretty, pretty strong accusation here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: These people creep into households and capture weak.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Women.
Pastor Bob Erbig: These are the original creepers, my friends, right here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, before your mind starts to run wild, let's discuss what he means.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, he is describing, indeed, predatory behavior on the part of these false teachers.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They are systematically targeting immature households, people who have been captured by their youthful passions that he was talking about in chapter two, likely newer believers who have not fully left their life of sin.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And make no mistake, the tactics of these false teachers are sinister, and they are done with the end goal of establishing a type of psychological dominance over their victims.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is serious stuff.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, the phrase weak women, you might say Paul, Paul and him talking about the women, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Weak women, it's not meant to target women specifically.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Rather, these are women in the context of Ephesus who are spiritually stunted, captured by the local gods of the area.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They are not strong, godly women who can discern this false teaching from a mile away.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And it's also plausible that these women came from influential families that these false teachers were trying to ingratiate themselves towards.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So when he says these women are burdened with sin, it means their desires were controlling them rather than the other way around.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, the false teachers chose them because they thought they were easy to win over with their words.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, verse 7 speaks to their spiritual immaturity further.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, These women were always learning and never arriving at the truth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now you might say, Pastor Bob, well, isn't learning a good thing?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I thought I was supposed to be a lifelong learner.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And yes, I am a big proponent of lifelong learning, but that is not what Paul's talking about here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: These women were intellectually curious, but they never reached a genuine understanding of Christ or the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So people who are curious in this way will often entertain all types of beliefs, but never commit to understanding the truth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so that's why I say real faith is known by what it seeks.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because we can seek all types of things, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: We can keep asking questions, but at some point we need to make a decision.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, as a pastor, I've met many people over the years who are exploring faith.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Very curious people, yes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They may attend Bible studies, they may meet for coffee or dinner and ask questions about Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But some of those people will get stuck in a cycle of questions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Have you met with or witnessed to somebody like this?
Pastor Bob Erbig: The questions aren't bad, they're good, they're good questions, but ultimately the issue is about a resistance to surrender to acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because it means that their lives then will radically change.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They still want to functionally be the God of their life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the false doctrine will lead to a sinful behavior because they've not given Jesus authority in their life, even though he has it already.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So if you know somebody like that, don't be afraid to challenge them with the gospel and call them to repentance.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul's main concern here is spiritual stagnation that comes from seeking the wrong thing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And now he gives an illustration of that in verse 8 and 9.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, Just as Jonas and Jambray oppose Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now again, some of you are saying, here goes Paul, he's naming names.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Have you been reading 2 Timothy?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is calling out people by name over and over and over again.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I mean, and to be fair, this guy's about to die.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's like, all right, I'm done with it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: No, the filter is off, okay?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's like uh George Costanz's dad, Frank, in his festival celebration.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's airing the grievances.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I got a lot of problems with you people.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now you might ask, well, who in the world are Jonas and Jambray?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Have you ever heard of these people?
Pastor Bob Erbig: When did they oppose Moses?
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, go back and read the Exodus account, Exodus 7.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are they there?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Spoiler alert, they're not.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They're not in there.
Pastor Bob Erbig: These names come from Jewish tradition that says these men were the chief Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron when they went before Pharaoh.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But the Old Testament does not record their names in Exodus 7.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So if you'll remember, these magicians were said to match Moses' miracles.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They could even change water into blood.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They brought the frogs, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: But they couldn't duplicate things like the plagues.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And they're not mentioned in the Old Testament, but the Jewish believers at the time of Paul would very much have known the tradition and who these people were.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So why does Paul name these two men?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, first, they were counterfeits, just like the false teachers of his day.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Second, they opposed the power of God through Moses.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul includes them to show that the true gospel is more powerful than a false one.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Nothing can stand in its way.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the parallel structure here matters immensely.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul has been exposing these false teachers in the church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, have nothing to do with them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then he offers this comparison with these two Egyptian magicians who opposed the people of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul says, just like them, the current false teachers oppose the truth, they're corrupted in mind, they're disqualified.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Don't seek them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you cannot see it yet, the followers of these two men will eventually be exposed as believing in folly.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, this middle section, I will admit, is very hard-hitting.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is offering strong evidence and a strong warning for us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's saying there are false teachers in the church and within the culture, and we need to be more discerning than these women of Ephesus he was talking about.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have to learn to mark and avoid the false teachers.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So to give you an illustration, let me just say this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You know, as I drive around the area, I periodically see storefronts advertising psychics who can read tarot cards.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Have you seen these?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And there used to be one up across from the Mount Bethel Meeting House.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's one down in Sterling next to the bike shop.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Pass by it every time I go to ShopRite and I look at it and I say, do people go in this place?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the lights are on, so I guess people do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But I'm reminded by that that there's always people seeking, always asking questions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But real faith is known by what it seeks.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The problem is that when you search for answers in the wrong places, you'll continue in darkness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Oh, the psychic, they'll give you an answer, but it's not going to be Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The cultural idols of money and sex and power, those are false gods.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The world props up.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They promise solutions to your problems, but they can easily take you away from Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what good is that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Friends, today needs to be the day you stop asking the questions, maybe, and start surrendering and committing to the Savior of the world, the real one.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Real faith doesn't keep searching, it eventually surrenders and arrives at the truth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So be careful, little minds, what you seek.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The answers are not always good and profitable.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How do you know if your faith is real or counterfeit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Examine what you love, be careful what you seek.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, finally, real faith is known by what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: By what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Following Jesus is not cheap.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Although we live in a day and age where we're always trying to get a deal, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: We never want to feel ripped off.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you're looking for a deal on your spiritual life, though, you're missing the point.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It does cost.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I had a friend in high school who used to talk with me about the Christian faith, and he had one of those guys that had questions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I think he grew up Catholic.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I'll never forget, we're sitting in geometry class one day, I think it was 10th grade, we're talking, and he says, you know what?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Once you ask Jesus in your heart, isn't that it?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Like you're good, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Then you can live however you want because Jesus is always going to forgive you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I looked at him and I said, Well, actually, no, that's not how it works.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Okay.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You know, Paul tells us in Romans 6, should we keep on sinning that grace may abound?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what does Paul say?
Pastor Bob Erbig: In very strong words, in the Greek, he says, May it never be.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, heck no.
Pastor Bob Erbig: No.
Pastor Bob Erbig: No, your life is evidence that something is different.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What good is it to say you follow Jesus and live like the world?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are no better than the false teachers.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Real faith is known by what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You have to give your life to Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I know this has been a hard, hard passage, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: But in these final few verses, Paul's tone shifts.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now he moves to encouragement.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He moves to encourage Timothy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he continues in verse 10.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you see the change of pace here, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You, however, he's setting up a contrast.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's telling Timothy, yes, avoid those false teachers, don't be like them, but now be different.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Be different.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul has given him a model to imitate.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He highlights his teaching, his conduct, his focus in life, his patience, his endurance.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Take a look at those characteristics now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Has anybody modeled those for you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is your life different through what you teach and your conduct and your and your purpose?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you have faith and patience and love and endurance?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are you willing to go to the end for Jesus?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I mean, good night.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Listen, have you read the book of Acts recently?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you remember how many times Paul was stoned?
Pastor Bob Erbig: In verse 11, he highlights his journey in Acts 13 and 14.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Go back and read that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's his missionary journey.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In Antioch and Iconium, he went to the Jewish synagogues first, and he told the Jews about Jesus, and he caused quite a stir.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Ironically, it was the Gentiles who came to faith as he preached to the Jews, even as the unbelieving Jews poisoned their minds at Iconium, we're told.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then Lystra was Timothy's hometown.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That was his his turf.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What happened there?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It was there that Paul challenges the Greek idols of the day.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He challenges Zeus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Zeus, the god of what?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Thunder.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You see, whenever you challenge the false gods of the day, they get angry and they send people after you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at what happens in Acts 14, 19.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We read that the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's like Paul's going today, he's going down to Washington, D.C.
Pastor Bob Erbig: and Philadelphia, and then the people from there follow him all the way up to New York City as he's preaching up there to stone him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Which maybe from Philadelphia will come.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I don't know.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But listen, they're following him from these other towns after he was preaching Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They hated him so much, they hated the message so much.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because they didn't want to surrender their power to Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so Paul is stoned.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He almost died.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It cost him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And since Timothy was from Lystra, this memory would have been emblazoned in his mind.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He knew what it meant to follow Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But still, Paul keeps preaching the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He kept starting churches despite this danger.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And friends, listen, this is still happening today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you imagine what it's like to be a Christian in Iran or Nigeria?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What is it like to name the name of Jesus in places like China, where your allegiance is to your God over your government, or North Korea?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, to believers in those countries and to us too, he says, endure the persecutions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Lord will what?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Will rescue you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that word persecution refers to a systematic program of harassment or oppression.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This was a targeted effort to silence Paul and keep people from hearing about Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But he resisted, and it almost cost him his life then, and it will cost him his life shortly after penning this letter.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So now Paul writes a famous verse about the Christian life in verse 12, and it shows us what true faith is.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Pastor Bob Erbig: While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Real faith is known by what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That if you live a godly life, a true godly life, you will eventually bump up against the power structures of this world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You will eventually have a target on your back.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And this here is a universal principle.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's not a conditional threat.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does Jesus Himself tell us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: John chapter 15, Jesus says, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But because you are not, you are not of the world, I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's, listen, that's a counterintuitive statement, especially if you're somebody who wrestles with people pleasing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's a hard verse.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You want to be loved, you want to be liked, it feels good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But Jesus says to follow me costs you that shallow love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you have real faith, you are not of this world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And you will have to choose whether you will resist and endure the persecution or go with the flow.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Which will you choose?
Pastor Bob Erbig: But your response will provide evidence of whether your faith is real or counterfeit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, if you're not encouraging or encountering persecution, he says you might be an imposter.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Another hard word.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That second statement in verse 13 reveals the destructive nature of self-deception.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, what's interesting about that verse is that it points out the evil people are deceivers, but they also are themselves deceived.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The false teachers are deceiving people with their lies, and at some level, maybe they believe their own lies.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you tell a lie enough times, you may eventually start to believe that it's true, and that is a dangerous place to be.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, if you get there, you are lost in the darkness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the only way back is to pray that Jesus will show you the light.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are you there today?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Have you been living a life of deception?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And how would you know if you've been deceived?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, if that's you, Jesus is calling to you right now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, Come to the cross, confess your sins, give your life to me, follow me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The sacrifice will be worth it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you're interested in learning more about Jesus, I would invite you to attend our Christianity explored class we're running right now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'd love to tell you more about that, or I'd love to grab a cup of coffee with you and talk with you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How do you know if your faith is real or counterfeit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I would just submit that real faith is revealed not by what it looks like on the surface, but by what it loves, what it seeks, and what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So what do you do now?
Pastor Bob Erbig: How do you expose the counterfeit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, Paul ends the section by reminding us that the story doesn't end with us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It must be passed on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's not yours alone.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so he ends with words of hope.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Verse 14, he says, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Hear those words.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Continue in what you have learned.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now notice as our series theme suggests, there is a passing of the faith.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That Timothy heard about Jesus from somebody.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He believed in him, and now he must pass on the faith to the next generation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Will it be easy?
Pastor Bob Erbig: No.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Will it cost him?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Yes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is it worth it?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Absolutely.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Continue in what you have learned and believed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, these verses are a challenge to pastors and to ministry leaders and to parents.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How are we helping the next generation become acquainted with the sacred writings of scriptures?
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is how faith is passed on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I don't know about you, but I want my children to be wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Think about that for a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Who taught you the scriptures?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Who did you learn from?
Pastor Bob Erbig: They passed the faith to you, and now you must pass it on to others.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Friends, your faithfulness to the gospel matters.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Your life matters.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Continue in what you have learned.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so as you depart today, allow me just to offer three questions and then close with a story.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And they come right from our outline and our text.
Pastor Bob Erbig: During your time with the Lord this week, ask yourself, what do I love?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's a question of the heart, yes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What you love you cannot live without.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What you love drives your motivation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What you love can become more important than Jesus, and he is jealous for your love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Your love can become distorted, and that makes all the difference in life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So evaluate it this week.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Second, what do I seek?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's related to the heart, but it's a question of action.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What do you actively pursue?
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you love money, you might pursue fame and fortune.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you love a person, you certainly will sacrifice for them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But if something becomes more important than Jesus, you will seek this world before his kingdom.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Evaluate it this week.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then third, how much?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What will it cost?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a question we ask about everything.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What you love and seek will drive you to count the cost.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you don't love Jesus above all else, when your life is on the line, you will not choose him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's a question of eternal significance.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Following Jesus will cost you everything, but Jesus gave everything so you can follow him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's not something you can fake.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Real faith is revealed not by what it looks like on the surface, but by what it loves, what it seeks, and what it costs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: As the worship team comes and we prepare for the table, let me finish now with a story.
Pastor Bob Erbig: These verses remind me of a friend.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So many of you know Amy Huber.
Pastor Bob Erbig: She plays on the keys here every week.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not Amy back at the Welcome Center, but Amy over here at the Keys.
Pastor Bob Erbig: She faithfully serves on our worship team week in and week out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what some of you might not know is that she's the executive director of First Choice Women's Resource Center, a pro-life pregnancy center committed to protecting the unborn.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And as Amy tells it, and she can correct me, the reason she took that job is that somebody shared first the message of Jesus and then the message of life with her as a teenager, and she answered the call.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, has that position been a joy?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Yes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Has it been easy?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amy will tell you, no.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amy and First Choice have been committed to their mission despite persecution.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you were with us on Vision Sunday back in November, Amy shared about the subpoena from the state of New Jersey that they've been fighting and her impending trip to the Supreme Court of the United States because they believed that subpoena was unjust and targeted.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so they prayed and they fought and they waited for relief until a decision was handed down.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I have to say that Amy and her team just have embodied the call of 2 Timothy 3.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That their faith in Jesus is real and they understood the cost of standing for life in our current culture.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And praise God for that endurance because this week, if you did not see, the Supreme Court handed down a rare 9 to 0 decision for First Choice Women's Resource Center.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Victory.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's pray.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Thank you for the challenge that Paul gives us in 2 Timothy 3.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And Lord, I pray today for those that may be struggling, Lord, I pray that you would meet them where they are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, I pray that you would pull people out of the darkness if that's where they are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Questions are good, Lord, but I pray that you would bring people to a point.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Of decision today to know that you are the Savior of the world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are the truth, Lord.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Help us to seek you above all else.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord Jesus, may we leave today both with conviction, with motivation, may we lift our eyes up to you, recognizing that you need the glory for our life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are jealous for that, Lord God, and you are worthy of that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And as we come to the table, Lord, may we confess our sins, may we repent, and may we come back to you and receive your healing and hope.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We pray that in Jesus' name.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.