Truth and Consequences Part 1 | Dr. Andy Brown

In a world filled with noise and competing voices, we find ourselves constantly grasping for truth and grappling with meaning. This message takes us on a profound journey through the human condition, exploring why we all feel this deep restlessness within our souls. Drawing from Ecclesiastes 3:11, we discover that God has placed eternity in our hearts, yet we cannot fully comprehend His work from beginning to end. This divine disconnect explains our perpetual search for something more. The centerpiece of this exploration is John 14:6, where Jesus declares Himself not merely a way among many, but THE way, THE truth, and THE life. This isn't just religious language; it's the defining reality of our existence. We're all dreamers by design, created in God's image with visions for our lives, but here's the critical question: Is our dream shaped by Christ or by ourselves? Romans 1 paints a sobering picture of what happens when we substitute our vision for God's, showing us that dreams not anchored in Christ become nightmares. The repeated phrase 'God gave them over' illustrates the terrifying consequence of persistent rejection of truth. Yet there's hope: the same Jesus who spoke creation into existence from formlessness and void enters our chaos to rescue us. We're invited to stop pretending, stop wandering, and stop manufacturing our own version of life, surrendering instead to the One who carries us.

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Transcript

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All of us are trying our best to make sense of the world that we're living in. And we do that in one of two ways. We can either do that with suspicion. We can either do that with agitation, or we can truly try with a sense of desire and urgency to make sense and caring compassion of the world that we're living in. After all, we can't be too focused on the future after all we live in today. We can't be too focused on the past either, because the past is already gone. But how is it that you and I can truly make sense of the world that we're living in? And I tell you, there was an opportunity for me. I just returned back from the Holy Land back in Israel. And you know, that land is unique in the fact that so many civilizations have fought over that land. Even to this day, it's still contested. And I had seen some old things, you know, going, the oldest thing that we could see here was somewhere on the East Coast, maybe, maybe Colonial Williamsburg, and you get things up into the 1600s, but then you go and you touch a wall in Jerusalem and you realize that this wall was put here by a Sultan in the 1400s. Or then you go and you realize that the streets that you're kicking up are Roman roads, and so they're 2,000 years old. But I saw something this trip that I'd never truly experienced. We were in a place called Bet Shion, and that's a place where the Philistines, if you remember, they uh Saul was defeated by the Philistines, and so they they took Saul's body and they put his head on the top of this hill. And you can go and you can climb that hill. And uh, by the way, there's no head there. Mike is testimony. We didn't find the head of Saul, but we were able to go and we were able to see at the very top a governor's house from Egypt, and I saw something that I've never seen. I saw some Egyptian hieroglyphics just sitting on the side of a hill. It was impressive. But you know, being in a place like that where so much time has been lived and so many circumstances have been had, you realize that things have not really changed in the past 2,000 plus years. You realize that people live 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years, and what's that compared to eternity? But time just keeps going on. And that allows you an opportunity, especially for me, it allows me an opportunity when you're in a moment like this to break up the routine or to get outside of your little bubble of your little routine. And it allows you to ask questions about how to make sense of the current age that we're living in. And if I were to answer, if you were to ask me, how would you describe the age that we're living in? I think that there's two words that really come to my mind. I would describe the age that we're all a part of, this age today, not out yonder, but the one that's right here with us. It's an age of grasping for and grappling with truth. That's what we're doing. That's what we see, that's what we see. So much confusion in our world. All of us are in this world. We didn't really have a choice to get here. We were brought into this world by the will of another, and all of us are doing our best with the tools that we've been provided. Not every tool is equal, but we're all doing the best with our circumstances to make sense of the world that we're living in. And that's a very compassionate view. And I hope that we'll adopt that type of posture, not with suspicion and also at the same time, not just simply giving ourselves away to the latest fad and trend, but not necessarily with suspicion, but just understanding an overarching truth. And here it is. All of us were made in God's image. Every one of us. And this world that we live in is filled full of noise where people are vying for your attention, they're calling for your attention, they're asking you to form not just an opinion, but to form your life. And that's oftentimes, I think, what we think is going on is people are just filled full of opinions. And you know, I think that it's dehumanizing to regulate all of humanity just to a bunch of elbows. You know, opinions are like elbows, everybody's got one. We're more than just those who have elbows or opinions. No, we're those who form life. I want to talk to you about this today. I want to talk to you about truth and consequence. Truth and consequences. And I want to paint a portrait for you of what truth and consequence truly is. The first thing that I want to tell you is that the reality that we know is not just something distant or out yonder. The reality that we know has a name. We can name reality, and we can do that definitively. And I'm going to show you that. But see, all of us in this world that we live in, all of us are dreamers, not just those that have opinions. You. Now you may call it a plan, you may call it a hope, you may call it a future, but you have a vision in your life of what it is that's going to make Andy happy. I have that. What's it gonna mean for Andy to be successful? What's this vision that Andy has for the good life? And you can just substitute in your own name instead of mine. Because you were made in the image of God. I love this passage in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Solomon says this. He says, He that is God, he has made everything beautiful in its time. Now listen to this next part. Also, he has put eternity into the heart of men. Now let's stop right there for just a moment. You know what that tells us? It tells us that you are the reason why you're grasping with and constantly grappling with the truth, the reason why you have this sneaky suspicion that things ought to be better in your life than they are, the reason why you constantly have this drive and determination for more is because that's exactly part of your design. Where did you get the idea, sir? Where did you get the idea, ma'am, that things ought to be better in your life? Ecclesiastes chapter 3 at verse 11 tells us the reason why you think things ought to be better, the reason why you keep pursuing and hoping that things will be different is because God made you for more. And you will never be able to fill and find or find and fill out the more that you were made for until, until you know the name of reality. I love the second part of this verse. Listen, not only has God put eternity in our hearts, listen to this disconnect. And this is why there's grasping, this is why there's grappling, this is why there's struggle and strife. The author says, yet, so that he can't find out what God has done from beginning to end. So you see this disconnect that we constantly live with? This desire that we have for our faith to truly become something we experience, this experience to be the way in which we live, not just something that we hope for, but the thing that wakes us up on a daily basis. God has put eternity into the hearts of men, yet so we can't find what God is doing from the beginning to end. And here's the remedy. Here's the solution. We can't discern what God is doing from beginning to end. And so you know what we stand in need of? We stand in need of him to meet us where we are. We stand in need of him to tell us what it is that he's doing from beginning to end. You see, ideas have consequences. Every ideal is not equal. Every opinion is not equal. Ideas have consequences, and listen to this one. Dreams have destinations. You're more than just forming an opinion because God has uniquely fashioned you and formed you. You know what you're forming? You're not just forming an opinion, you're forming a life. And the antidote that I want to present to you today, the antidote to this age that we live in. It's not novel, it's not new, it's not something new, it's not a prescription, something that you can take. It's not an idea, something that you can observe and look at. It's not a prescription, something that you can take. It's also not a philosophy, something that your mind can ascribe to. Listen, the antidote to this age is a person. And his name is Jesus Christ. Would you say that name with me? Jesus Christ. Say it again. Jesus Christ. He is the antidote for the age that we live in. Now let me ask you a question. What is it that you know about Jesus? And I'm going to take you to a passage of scripture. I want you to turn there. You're going to see it on the screen in just a moment. But the reason why I want us to turn there is because I'm going to quote it on the screen. You're going to see it on the screen. You might, ah, well, that's just one verse. I don't have to turn there. I know what that verse says. And no doubt, you probably do know what this verse says, but I want to challenge you this morning to look at this verse and see it in a different light. Take your Bible and join with me in John chapter 14 at verse 6. And some of you that, ah, I knew Andy. I knew you were going to get there, John 14, 6. But listen, I want to tell you the reason that we're getting there because this verse comes and levels all of our expectations and shows us the centerpiece of reality. It shows us who God is. Now notice what it says here. John chapter 14 and verse 6. Jesus said to him, Who's he talking to? He's talking to Thomas. And what did Thomas say, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? And Jesus responds to that question by Thomas, and he says, This I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Period. And that one verse right there defines what we know about reality. Let's read it together, shall we? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Wow. What a verse. What a verse. Because just in that one little verse right there, it's so packed, full of so much meaning and purpose. And you know what that verse is there for? It's there so that we'll stop pretending, stop wondering, stop trying to manufacture our own life. It's there for us so that we will center our whole affections on who Jesus is. My great uncle, he used to say, convictions are mighty things. People are carried by convictions more than they carry convictions. This is one of those types of verses, not just you casually carry, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. It's one of those life-shaping types of verses that determines your eternal destiny. It's not up for you to debate with, it's up for you to receive by faith this Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life. And look at what he says, how directive he is. You cannot come to the Father except through him. That here's the truth. All of us, we can, we either have, we either have a dream that is shaped by Christ and his reality, or we have a dream that's shaped by ourselves. Now let's go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 11 for just a moment. Think about these two things in your mind. You are a dreamer. That's who you are. You're made in God's image. What does that mean? It means that your life finds its purpose by fulfilling the command to, for when people look at you, they see Jesus. When people look at your life, they're reminded of eternity through your little circumstances of your life. There's an opportunity for your life to fill its purpose and never will never find its purpose unless it knows who Jesus is. You're a dreamer. But there's a disconnect between your dreams, my dreams, my vision of the good life, and all of a sudden, this vision that Jesus brings to us, listen, by the power of his own indestructible life. And all of our lives is a constant turning to him. All of our life is a constant life of faith that says, Lord, I receive who you are. I receive what you say. I know and trust you because after all, you're the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through you. So you know what that automatically does for me? It allows me to lay all of my dreams, all of my expectations, all of my hopes, all of my goals, every circumstance, every thought, everything to Jesus. Because he's the way, the truth, and the life. I want to describe to you a little bit of the plight that we find ourselves in. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, we're dreamers. Our dreams are only fulfilled by knowing John 14, 6, Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. Go with me to Romans chapter 1. I want to show you. And as we turn over to Romans chapter 1, as we're going to read verses 18 through 32, I think it is. And as we read this passage, I want you to read this passage, and I want you to see whether or not you get a sense of the age that we are living in. And remember what this age is: it's an age that's grasping for truth and grappling with truth, trying to deny the truth that's been revealed through Jesus. And you're going to see a phrase that's going to be repeated at least three times in this passage. And the phrase that we're going to see at least three times in this passage is God handed them over. God handed them over. God handed them over. And I'm going to explain to you exactly what I think that that can't mean. We'll understand what it does mean by understanding what it can't mean. But here's the truth that I want to plant in your mind before we even read that passage. If you're living out a dream for your life that isn't shaped by Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, that dream that you think that will fulfill your life, in reality, is no dream at all. In reality, that dream is truly a nightmare. And he was looking at Ecclesiastes chapter 3, trying to ask the same kind of questions that I'm bringing before you today. How do we make sense of the world? And he looked at Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Remember, that passage says that God made us, put eternity in our hearts, yet so we can't discern. Augustine said this famous line. He said, Thou hast made us. I don't know if he spoke in the King James, but anyway, he said, Thou hast made us for thyself. God made us for himself, and we cannot find our satisfaction. Our souls will be restless until we finally find our rest in him. And maybe that's where you are here this morning. Maybe that's exactly where you find yourself. You find yourself in a set of restless circumstances. You know why that restlessness is there? Because you're thinking that you're dreaming, because after all, you're made in God's image. But the dream that you're dreaming, the vision of finding fulfillment and purpose for your life outside of Jesus, that's no dream at all. Instead, it's nothing more than a nightmare. And it's keeping you awake at night, and it's affecting your sleep pattern, it's affecting your work pattern, it's affecting your children's life, it's affecting your husband or your wife's, it's affecting everybody around you. Listen to this passage. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Okay, stop right there. Have you ever known anyone who by their unrighteousness suppressed the truth? Yes, you have. Now look at verse 19. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God showed it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, so they're without excuse. So do you see what God is doing here? He's saying that people are without excuse because of the world that we inhabit. This world means that there must be some designer somewhere. This world means that there must be some kind of purpose to it. After all, if there was no purpose to it, then why again are we constantly trying to find purpose? We all need purpose. You know why? Because you were made to find purpose. You're made after God's image. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking. And their foolish hearts were darkened. There again, we're describing the nightmare. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Now, what's God talking about there? He's talking about idolatry, he's talking about substitutes. He's talking about any time in our life, and this is what an idol is an idol is anything that we substitute in the place for God. It can be a dumb thing like an idol, it can be a great thing like a spouse, it can be a wonderful thing like a career path. But anything that we substitute for God becomes an idol. And listen, anything that's an idol in our life that we try to grasp too tightly eventually will turn to ashes. Because it's not based upon reality, it's not a true dream that brings satisfaction and fulfillment. Instead, it's a nightmare that brings you terror. Now here's our phrase, verse 24. Therefore, God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies amongst themselves. Why is this? Look at verse 25. Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. There again, substituting one thing for another, substituting God's best for what we think should go there in its place. And the result are its consequences. Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and they worship and serve the creature rather than the creator. What does that mean? It means that we substituted the best for the inferior. By the way, Paul says, the creator, he's the one that's blessed forever. And then he has this wonderful doxological statement, Amen. I love sometimes when you're reading the Bible, I don't know if you have this, but it's like Paul's in the middle of preaching and he just busts out and praise the Lord. He just can't help it. He loves God so much. Now here's our next phrase. Listen to it. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchange natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. The men likewise gave up natural relations with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Now look at verse 28. There's a common theme that's here: substituting one thing for the other, substituting our ways, substituting his ways for our ways. Listen, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, do you get that yet? We're substituting. We're taking, here's my vision, God, as opposed to your vision. And it says, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, notice what God does. He gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. Of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And though they know God's righteous decree, those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them, but they give hearty approval to those who practice them. You see the nightmare that those without Christ live in? And again, here's the principle. Write it down. Dreams not shaped by Christ in reality become nightmares. We confuse this nightmare as just normal. We don't know how to dream another way. That's what we assume that this is just what life is all about. And so we just confuse it with normal. And so what do we do? We rationalize our behaviors. We we then turn to medicate and name some diagnosis of this is just the way that we are, and we we excuse it or we we normalize it. But when we live in this constant state where all that we have are nightmares, this constant tear that we feel, it feels more like a rupture, it feels more like a fracture, it feels more like a fall than truly walking and living. And a soul outside of the life of Jesus is a soul that is formless and void. You see this phrase God handed them over? You know what that means? It means constantly there's this ongoing distance where God allows you to have the consequences of your actions that constantly takes you further from Him so that His voice simply becomes a whisper that you can hardly hear anymore. But let me tell you what that verse doesn't mean. Whatever it means for God to hand them over, it does not mean that his arm is too short, that he can't save. That does not mean he's handing them over, it does he's handing you over, that does not mean that you are ever outside of the reach of his redeeming grace. You say, how can you be so certain? Go back to Genesis, and this is what makes what this is what makes Jesus so rich, and I don't know, I don't know what your view of Jesus is, but hopefully you believe the Jesus of the Bible. Listen, here's what I mean. John 14, 6, Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Let's back up a couple of chapters. John 3, 16, what's that say? It says that he's the sent Son of the Father. Why did the Father send the Son? So that whoever believes on the Son would not perish, but have everlasting life. Go back a little step further to John chapter 1, and here's what we learn about the way, the truth, and the life. Who is the sent Son of the Father? He is the one who made the world. He's the one who inhabited the world that he made, he's the one that came to reveal to us the Father. You know what that means to us? The same God of John 1 is the same God of Genesis 1. And what do we see in Genesis chapter 1? In Genesis chapter 1, do you remember how God created? He created how? By saying and it was so. And who is Jesus? He's the word of the Father. God said and it happened. Jesus becomes the agency by which God the Father created the whole universe. But listen, it gets richer than that. It gets so much richer than that. This Jesus in in Genesis chapter one, how did he make the world? He made the world, he formed it out of nothingness. He delivered the world from the chaos and the void. And he will not allow your life to go backwards into the formlessness and void. And so what does he do? He lovingly enters the world that he created to save us from going, from devolving, from going backwards into a formless and void existence without him. He comes seeking and saving lost ones, just like me, just like you. He looks at the crowd and he doesn't see them as a problem to fix or a crisis to manage. He sees them as sheep without a shepherd whom he wants to pour his loving affection upon. You got a problem this morning, you give it to Jesus. You got a burden this morning, you give it to Jesus. You got a concern this morning, Jesus says, that's the very reason that I came to deliver you from this nightmare, to show you what true living is all about. Go back to that verse, John 14. Notice what he says. And I want you to see this specifically because you'll miss it if you're not careful. You become so familiar with it that we'll just look past it. Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Let's read it together. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Wow, again. What a verse. But notice what he didn't say. He didn't say that, you know what, I can show you the path. He didn't say that. He didn't say, I can teach you some true things. He also didn't say that I can enhance your life. Notice how specific Jesus is. And for a little mind like mine, I'm so grateful that he is so simple. I'm so grateful that he's so simplistic. Here's how simple he makes it. I'm not the way amongst ways, I'm not one path amongst many. He says, I am the way. I'm not one life, I'm not the best way to life, I'm not your best life. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And here's how specific it is. You cannot have salvation except through me. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, when he preached this, oh, brother and sister, we were standing on those steps where Pentecost broke out, and those steps are still there bearing testimony of the truth that happened there. And Pentecost is broken out in your heart, it's broken out in my heart. We're a living testimony of the goodness of God that's reached us. Remember what Peter said? There is one name amongst men by which you must be saved, and his name is Jesus. That's right. Now I want to give you some practical steps. Because I want you to really ask these questions. And these are gonna come very fast. I've written them down on the screen so that I'll be precise and you'll be able to look, and we'll all be on the same page. Now I'm gonna say, don't worry about writing them. I'll get them to you later, and I'll do that. But some of you are gonna be like, I'm gonna try to write them. And I know you're gonna do it. But listen, I want us to just experience this moment together. Here's the question: How is it that we can tell which dream is shaping us? Is it is it a life that's being shaped by Christ? Or is it a life that's being shaped by me? And let me go ahead and tell you, and you know this because we've gotten this far together. You don't want the life shaped by you. Why not? Because it's shallow. How can you truly know whether or not you've made it? How can you truly know whether or not you've found and filled the purpose that God has for you? You want the life that's shaped by Christ and none other. So how do you know? Remember, one's the dream, the other's the nightmare. How can you know which dream is shaping you? Listen to these truths. A Christ-shaped life responds to what he says. It's always gonna be listening, it's always gonna be taking in what he says. Versus a self-shaped life is gonna react. Instead of respond, it's gonna react to what I feel. And if that's not enough, it's what they say. I don't know who they are, but my grandmother, she quoted, they say all the time. They sure are famous, aren't they? What they say, or even worse, what's trending? One's a dream, the other's a nightmare. A Christ-shaped life is steady, it's an immovable anchor, it's not shifting. A self-shaped life is one that's unstable. Pulled by the mood, pulled by the moment. Oh, there again, here's these people showing up again. It's fooled by the crowd. It's constantly in flux as opposed to being immovable. One's a dream, the other's a nightmare. A Christ-shaped life is growing. Pay attention here. It's growing, not merely moving. And this is the one that hits all of us because I'm guessing that I'm talking to in this audience today, most of you have been a Christian for many years. Sometimes we can mistake movement for growth when all that really is is movement. You can move in the wrong direction and still be moving. A self-shaped life can stay in motion without ever being transformed. And that's the danger that we constantly come to into moments like this in our Bible study, in our small group time, in church services. Why? Because we want to be formed and fashioned by the Word. We want the Word to form and fashion us. We want to learn to speak God's thoughts after Him, not to echo our thoughts back into our own echo chamber. A Christ-shaped life learns that freedom is becoming who God made me to be. That's true freedom. As opposed to a self-shaped life. It thinks that freedom is escaping any claim that God has over me. And I'm going to speak more about this next week. But Psalm chapter 2, this whole notion that God is keeping the best from you. No, no, he's keeping you for the best. That's what he's doing. A Christ-shaped life receives truth as a gift that heals even when it hurts. Versus a self-shaped life that treats truth as a threat. And I constantly have to edit it to fit my agenda or my vision for my life. A Christ-shaped life leads to, or it lets rather conviction lead to repentance. And when we receive that repentance after God convicts us, you know what happens in our souls? Then all of a sudden we have peace. And we're able to rest. Versus a self-shaped life that renames conviction, mutes it, ignores it, mocks it, medicates it, and moves on. A Christ-shaped life, I love this one, revolves around Christ. He is the center. In other words, we're constantly living our life in tandem, always connected to Jesus, revolving around Jesus, versus a self-shaped life that stands right here and lets everybody else revolve around us. And I love the way that I said this. Everything else becomes support staff for my desires. Because after all, who's number one? It's me. A Christ-shaped life can suffer without collapsing. Oh, and we've known individuals in this church who they're living testimonies of this. And they haven't asked to be this, but they are. And you come up to them and you say, and they would tell you, I don't want to be an example of this. But a Christ-shaped life can suffer without collapsing. You know why? Because they have found a safe place to refuge. They have found God present in their moment. Versus a self-shaped life suffers. As if pain is proof that God isn't good. Or that life just isn't worth it. A Christ-shaped life treats people as neighbors to love, not mirrors to use. Jesus had people that he showed compassion towards. A self-shaped life turns relationships into transactions. Do you affirm me? Do you serve my dream? A Christ-shaped life finds rest because Christ is truly enough. Versus a self, a self-shaped life stays restless. Because the self is nothing more than a cruel master. So which vision is shaping your life? Is it Christ's vision? Or is it your vision? You see, Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus says, no one comes to the Father except through me. You know what that means? It means that since he is who he said he is, it means that you and I can stop pretending. We can stop making it as if we've got it all together. It also means that we can stop wondering, W-A-N-D. It stop searching for meaning. Jesus says, I'm everything that you need. You know what else we can do? We can stop pretending like we have it all together and manufacturing life. Instead, it's a constant attitude and a disposition that says, all to Jesus, I surrender all to him I freely give. Ideas have consequences. Dreams have destinations. And the most consequential truth, listen, the most consequential truth is not a concept that you carry, but a savior who carries you. Are you willing to give your life to him? Are you willing to accept him as he truly is? Not manufacture him to be somebody who he's not, not manufacture him to fit your needs and your agenda, but surrendering to him as Lord. You know what he's done for you? He's done everything necessary to bring you back to him. You know why? Because he made you for himself. He's done everything necessary to bring you back to him. Why? Because he loves you. And he was unwilling for you to be without him. So he came near to you. You say, when did he do that? Well, he did it 2,000 years ago, but some of you right now, you can feel his presence, even as I'm speaking. Some of you right now. You realize it for the first time. The dream that you have for your life does not line up with God's dream for you. And in reality, the reason why you're so disjointed is because you're living outside the purpose that God has for you. Today, if you hear his voice and you hear him drawing you back, would you be wise enough to respond to him with love, repentance, and faith and say, Jesus, I surrender my life to you. Father, thank you that all of us are dreamers. And Father, I pray that you would teach us to dream again. Because you're so good and generous and kind, patient. And you do have a desire for us. And you've shown us what that desire is. The desire for our lives is Jesus, for his life to be lived in and through us, so that our lives would pour forth the glory of God. Renew us, remind us that you are for us. Take us where we are and transform us. Take the unsettledness and settle it. Take the nightmare and turn it into a blissful dream. Father, save somebody this morning. And we thank you, Lord, for never leaving us nor forsaking us. Help us to live for you as we live with you. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen.