so therefore the christian grows in three ways and by the way you need three for three two for three is a failing grade the word of god the people of god and the prayers to god when these three are your driving forces you'll find yourself filled to the knowledge of god and what this is pleasing to him it has always fascinated me what people freak out about it's always been intriguing to me about what people fear yeah well even beyond that is how when people get together and discuss their fears it's almost inevitable without question that someone one person will say the other person you don't need to fear that what you actually need to fear is this and we start having these like competitions between one another that my fear is more real than your fear and vice versa and we become these passing ships in the middle of the night and we don't actually get to the bottom of anything and truly understand fears and as i was thinking this past weekend and i'm just gonna put before you if you're like i don't want to pass i want a pastor who never fears anything then i'm sorry i'm the wrong guy for you because i guess what i struggle i battle i wrestle in fears and i if i were to be if you're to be honest with me this morning i would say you do too right and so so let's talk about fears this morning let's get across that this morning because i want to i want to ask the question what should christians fear that's the question i think that is laid before us because you know you've been in enough churches we've heard a pastor say 365 times in the bible it says do not fear so do not fear right and so you've heard that thing i don't know where we got that statistic but it just keeps getting reset so i'll take it as true so um but what i recognize as i talk to people and as i look at myself is when i read the bible there are things that are said in the bible and i always read something that hits me square between the eyes and this is my first immediate reaction well that's true for everyone except me like there's some sort of asterisk there that says not true for scotty hutch right like anyone else like have that problem when you're reading the bible and so i got to tell you this morning because i love you enough to tell you this morning there's no asterisks in the bible that it doesn't exist right so it is it is useful profitable beneficial for god's people and i started to think about your fears and i really thought about my fears
and i realized something what is the thing we as a church should fear the most we should fear us seeing christ as far too small which you and i should fear more than anything is if we live a life where christ is just part of our life rather than the fullness of our lives
and when we see christ is greater than all things all of our other little fears that yes you hold on to i hold on to like a badge of honor will melt away and will be smashed into smithereens you see what i found what i found is i kept reading through and reading through the psalms and when and reading the old testament talks about fearing of the lord as i recognize that's the key that's the whole answer to everything is that there are good fears and there are sinful fears let me give you an example because i know some of you don't believe me psalm 86 11 teach me your way o lord that i my walk in your truth unite my heart to fear your name well i love that so what are some like then simple fears because we're going to answer what that means what are some simple fears in the in the sermon on the mount jesus says do not be anxious translation do not fear okay about your life about what you'll eat what you'll drink what you will wear is life not more than food and body more than clothing i love jesus and the sermon on the mount hits us between the eyes and said why are you worried about this there are bigger things to worry about worry about a life without me where did you get that pastor i'm not sure i believe you again you don't know all the things going on in the world like me the superstar who's watched everything and i know everything and you should fear this so so let me just share with you where i got this okay in the book of exodus right here you got moses he goes no god i don't want to do this and god says hey i'm sovereign you're going to go do this right he goes 10 plagues gets people free they walk across the red sea they go out they they cheer they sing they go up mount sinai god gives them the law and he says here's the deal i will be your god you will be my people you follow this law and then remember what the people said we're not even going near the mountain god because we're afraid you'll strike us dead we even get close to how holy you are so moses you go so moses he gets the law and do you remember when he gets the law what god said to him my presence will go with you now i love that right i love that promise my presence will go with you do you know how moses responded he says this if your presence will not go with me do not bring me away from here i love that what is what is the bible ultimately saying to you and me the only thing we should fear is the church is if we do something without the presence of god what moses is saying is as long as i have you god i have life and that's where i'll be and this ignites us into a world that hates god and and hates god and hates god and hates god's people and this gives us the holy boldness in the world that hates god's people because i started to ask myself what kind of and i say this as much holiness as possible what kind of [ __ ] would say i'm going to lead a whole bunch of grumbling complaining stiff-necked people through the hot desert walking day in and day out for four decades and all they do is complain they're never thankful what would cause someone to do that and by the way no mcdonald's or whatever or chick-fil-a or whatever your choice of fast food is along the way just trusting that god's gonna provide and by the way there were times where they got real thirsty so thirsty they picked up stones and said we don't get water now we're gonna kill you moses what would cause someone to continue to walk what would cause someone like the apostle paul when he looked at a country and said if i go into that country and i preach that gospel they're going to imprison me beat me and kill me so that's exactly where i'm going to go what would cause that kind of insanity to happen answer because god is with me and if he is with me i have nothing to fear
church may i put before you we need to put to death our fears and quit trying to argue with one another about which fear is bigger than the other the only fear is the fact that i i want i am afraid of living a life where my comforts are more important than the magnity of christ the greatness of christ my only fear is that i have too small of a view of christ and if i have too small of a view of christ i will be ineffective in a world that i've been called to and so we have that of moses god wherever you go that's where i'm going
so with that if you have your bibles go ahead grab them we're gonna be in colossians one colossians one we're continuing our way through colossians and so i just want to very carefully lovingly gingerly pastorally come before you and just admit to you off the front so you don't get kind of uh hoodwinked this morning i'm only getting through two verses now here's the deal my wife said our our child that's due in july will be graduating high school by the time you finish colossians i said baby all to the glory of god all scriptures god breathed so look i i i tell you sorry if you're like man let's move man i i i i want to also teach you churches and i know we're kind of joking a little bit but i do want to teach you if you read the bible in such a way like you're reading in the newspaper you will miss the glory of god we can spend hours on one verse because the bible is infinitely deep if you don't see scripture like that you're missing out on a blessing in your own quiet time and so how when are we finishing colossians god only knows and so let's pray and let's see so let's go father god we thank you for this morning god we thank you for your word god we thank you for your son who came with the joy set before him endured the cross despising its shame and seated at the right hand of you god unite our hearts to fear your name god teach us to walk in your truth oh lord for we are here to worship you now church i should pray for me pray that i'll be helpful this morning pray that god will use me in a mighty way that will humble me and hide me behind and beneath his cross this morning
nature says to pray for yourself pray that god will open up your ears your heart your mind this morning that he'll remove distractions and he'll work on your heart in a mighty way
father god we pray with those of the saints of old god bring out the book lift it to our hearts teach us your way that we may walk in it we pray these things in your son's holy name because of the spirits live and act within us amen so last week we saw paul he starts off his letter and how to start off his lever letter how he is praying for the church of colossae what he's doing is he's telling the church this is how i am praying for you he's letting them peer into his prayer life and may i put before you this morning you should also peer into your own prayer life you should take a look at what you're praying for and who you're praying for what struck me as interesting as i thought through how paul starts off this wonderful letter is here paul is and he's not sitting in the ivory tower in the mansion in his office but he's sitting in a prison cell awaiting trial and he's praying for others he's interceding in prayer for others peer into your own prayer life take a look into that in the tr and he's telling the church class hey i want to know i want you to know exactly how i'm praying for you so let's take a look at how he is praying for the church verses 9-10 and so from the day we heard we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you will be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the lord fully pleasing him bearing fruit in every good work increasing in the knowledge of god so here we see the greatest theologian missionary pastor christian most sanctified person to probably walk the earth and seeing the importance of his ministry god shows us that if you want to be effective in this world to bring glory to god in every corner of this world you need one thing you're going to need a constant glorious addiction and that is the addiction to prayer and you don't get off this addiction this is the key to bringing glory to god how do i know this because there's only one person who ever walked this earth who could have gotten away without praying and still done really well his name jesus christ fullness of god pleased to dwell within him all the father dwelling within him knows all the father had planned carrying out what the father had planned and jesus said the secret to my ministry is what prayer and you all remember shake out the cobwebs from last year last year when we went through mark you all remember that that passage that made us all shudder before the sun got up went up what did jesus do he woke up and he got alone to pray one of my favorite passages john chapter 17 we get to see a full passage a full prayer of our lord and savior i tell you john 17 you can spend your whole life in there enjoy it and so i want to set the stage for john 17 for a moment i want us to understand prayer and why this is important to paul here jesus is the night before his just hours before one of his closest friends were going to betray him hand him over where the people who knew his word the best were going to find him guilty of blasphemy then they're going to hand him over to the romans and the romans would carry out an execution this execution would start with rods on his back beating him followed then by whips tearing off the skin off of his back and then he'd be forced to carry his own cross up the hill where they would nail into his wrists and into his feet into a cross and they would lift him up where he would have a slow excruciating pain probably the most excruciating pain in the history of the world and by the way all of that would feel like a tickle and a massage compared to the wrath of god being poured upon him so look here's what i want to put before you i was thinking about this and i was like if that was my life if that's what what laid before me what would i be praying i know this is me and again i know a lot of you probably more holy than i am so so forgive me i'd be praying god save me from this i don't want to do this get me out of this protect me from this but that's not how christ prayed did he do you remember how christ prays in john 17 god my prayer is that my disciples would know you in jesus worst moment leading up to the worst moment the most excruciating moment of his life who was he praying for not himself but others here you've got paul in prison about to go on trial about to be found guilty his life about to be forfeit we know that and who's he praying for others and you all remember a few weeks ago what did i whatever i remind you of who's paying for paul's prison the churches the government's not paying for paul's prison he has to raise money to stay in prison if it was me i'd be writing to you guys saying hey i did my work y'all y'all send money so i you know so i keep going right but what does paul do he's saying my prayers that you may know him more you may be filled to the knowledge of him and this shows us the key to growing into the christian life less of me more of him less of me more of him i remember one of our members was walking through one of the most toughest difficult excruciating times in their life a time of unmeasurable suffering and i remember i went to visit them and spend time with them and i remember the first thing they said to me scott i heard that molly is still struggling with morning sickness i've been praying for her how is she doing this person's worst time in their life and they're worried about me and my family friends there's only one explanation for why someone would be more concerned with others than themselves during the worst time of their lives it's because they have been reborn they have seen the glories of heaven and not the glories of this world oh that i may pray like that oh that i may have those types of prayers oh that i may be filled to the knowledge of god like that
that's the only explanation so how do you do that you look to christ you go to christ and you say christ i want to put my fingers where they nailed you and your side where they speared you i want to see the wounds by which i am healed and that's how you grow do you want to see christ magnified in every aspect of your life do you want to see that for you pray work sweat give in such a way to see christ magnified in others when you get your eyes off of your growth and on to helping see others grow in christ guess what god will do he will grow you so far beyond your imagination and you will be filled to the knowledge one of my favorite stories because it's so controversial in mark chapter seven right when when jesus goes to syrophenician woman y'all could go listen to the sermon i preached it so sorry you gotta suffer with me for a little bit but you remember he goes to sire phoenician woman and he says hey no looks listen this is for the children of israel not the dogs under the table do you remember what the woman says yeah but even the kids throw some breadcrumbs on the ground give me the breadcrumbs and jesus says i've never seen faith like this in all of israel do you see what the woman is saying christ a bread crumb from you is better than the buffet of the world so give me your bread crumb church this is our prayer give me your breadcrumbs god and that's more than enough for me in this world i'm satisfied in you and this is why the church is so unstoppable this is why the world can't touch the church it's because christ has taken away the one bullet the world in hell itself has our ego the writer of hebrews can't wait to meet this brother uh in glory says this since therefore the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise partook of the same thing that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery so what does that mean here's what that means when the world comes at you and says well we're gonna we're gonna torch you great awesome bring it on nothing compares to christ torture well we're gonna kill you i'm already dead bro i get to go to be with jesus do it do whatever you need to do for wherever my savior is there i will be also you have no power here because i have died with christ and i'm resurrected so do whatever you've got to do you don't fear you don't fear me and i'm not afraid of you the world and satan has no power when the church has this message why because christ has set us free he sets free from sin he set us free from death so what that looks like for you and i like in a practical level and i hope i hope this is weird for you um you get to look up every morning as you're doing your hair and your makeup or whatever you're doing and you get to do this okay you get to look in the mirror and you get to say that brother died long ago he john buried six feet under praise be to god for that and and when we have that look what do we do we see others as more significant than ourselves you don't believe me check out philippians 2. don't argue with me are you with the bible i'm just reading the mail y'all okay so so that's that's part one is intercessory prayer thinking through intercessory prayer you've never prayed until you've prayed for others
next we get to see the answer to the great question what is god's will for my life so we we see it paul says we've not ceased to pray for you asking that you'll be filled to the knowledge of what his will so i i want to tell you uh if you've ever spent with a time with somebody under the age of 35 and over the age of 12 you've heard this question what is god's will for my life right anyone heard that question right anyone asked that question right so i want to lovingly walk through this biblically because here's the problem we get into when this question comes about and it's done in a very pious way and i understand that and i lovingly i respect that but i wanna i want us to understand so often we treat this question like it's a magic eight ball right we're like god should i take this job or that job ask again later right and so so that's kind of how we treat it but that's not how the bible talks about the will of god is it you know how i know here's how i know this because if god were to open up the heavens like you wanted with the thundering voice to say i want you to do this i want you to marry her i want you to go to this school and i want you to buy this house if he were to do that you wouldn't listen amen because i know there's things in here that i struggle to listen to and you know why because i've also read exodus okay i'm going to free you all from slavery you follow moses right they walk across the red sea they celebrate they sing a song great worship and what they do yeah we want to go back we're done complaining start complaining start complaining start complaining and sometimes we think we're just so much more advanced than they are and i i know you and i know me that we're the same way so so when we talk about the will of god for your life i'm here to tell you the bible tells you exactly what god's will is for your life you ready
almost unanimously with the exception of pretty much one verse is the bible's will is about the lord's will is about doing god's will not discerning god's will only one notable passage is about discerning god's will and that's this romans 12 2 do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of god what is good and acceptable and perfect so what is the will of god what is lord's will for your life and the answer is right there in 12 in romans 12 be transformed what does god want for your life he wants you to be transformed he wants to be new i don't believe you pastor i need another verse okay first thessalonians 4 13 excuse me 4 3 this is the will of the lord for your life your sanctification what does god want for your life he wants you to be holy as he is holy he'll go on paul will go on to tell the church to abstain from sexual immorality and all sorts of sin and he ends that section listen he ends this section for god has not called us to impurity but in holiness therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man but god who gives his holy spirit to you what good is it to be asking about this job or that job if you have no desire for holiness what good is it for asking about this house or that house if you have no desire to walk with him because what has he promised the church i will never leave you i'll never forsake you i will never ever let you go all who i have justified you're mine you're in my hand and i am gonna do a mighty work you just walk with me set your eyes on holiness church set your eyes on christ be stead fast in him when we boil the will of god down to this job that job or this house or that house will miss the greatest joy of prayer and the greatest joy of prayer is not getting things from god but getting the fullness of god if you don't see prayer like that it's probably because you're missing on the whole point of prayer church i want us to challenge one another i want us to challenge ourselves pray big prayers and uh look i wanted to understand i understand your jobs are important but isn't god bigger than a job i understand your families are important but isn't god bigger than a family i understand these things are important but isn't god bigger and what is he called you to be holy as i am holy that is the key i want to pray as paul did in philippians i want to know you and the power of your resurrection man when you pray that who cares what job i've got i'll go collect cans if i can know that right that's what i want and that's what i want for you then we may see the glory of christ in everything we do we may be steadfast fixing our eyes on christ the author and perfecter of our faith with the joy set before him endured the cross despising his shame and where is he seated at the right hand of god
and then we know that sin will always confuse and blind us to the greatness of him which brings us to the next walking with the lord walking with the lord we must know what the will of the lord is and that's for your sanctification your holiness we must know that that's god's will for the church that you would be that you would be set apart so church he tells the church of colossae he's telling the oasis church he's telling me this morning god wants us to be filled to the knowledge of him so so let me tell you what paul's thinking here um he's thinking of a verse in isaiah chapter 11 11 2 is where it gives that the messiah will come and what the messiah be filled with all of these great attributes and then he once he gets done there he says in 11 9 isaiah 11 9 he says this for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the lord as the water covers the sea here to tell you that every christian wants the same thing in this world they want every single person to know christ like they know christ they want every single person in this world to walk with christ as they're walking with christ they want the haters of christ to love christ like they love christ and that's what causes evangelism that which causes us to go out and do crazy things for the glory of god why because we know christ and we've been filled to his the knowledge of him and we saw this last week seth preached through uh the first part he got through a whole lot more than i did way to go seth um three three but in five through six what does he say you have heard the word of truth so therefore the christian grows in three ways and by the way you need three for three two for three is a failing grade the word of god the people of god and the prayers to god missing one of those will stunt your growth and you will be in church for decades still looking like a baby when these three are your driving forces you will find yourself filled to the knowledge of god and what this is pleasing to him it amazes me how many people think they're pleasing to the lord and have no desire to know him it amazes me how many people think they're pleasing to the lord and they have no desire to be with his people no desire for obedience and they think they're good it breaks the heart of god's people when we find people who claim to know god and think they can keep sinning and have immunity when in actuality all sin does is harden our hearts into being indifferent to the glories and the majesties of him sin will blind us and harden our hearts ultimately so what is the good work paul's talking about here in verse 10 what does that mean first we must realize that we as a church we the people of god are not machines it's not a go button and the machine just keeps going we are an organism a living organism that grows the bible compares us to babies if you don't like that language argue with the text not with me
and so unfortunately too many people talk about salvation this way walk the owl pray the prayer get dunked and as soon as they're coming out of the water you're good to go show me that model in the bible because i see all throughout acts happen repent repent repent repent turn from your sins and turn to god these are the three stages of salvation the three stages three tenses of salvation justification at the moment you believe you are counted right by god at that very moment you're right this is god saving you from the punishment of sin that's justification at the moment of justification when the spirit comes in does all the work nothing of you the spirit comes in and does the work starts sanctification sanctification is saving you from the power of sin so so look what does that mean is this is god's work in your life removing sin and growing holiness putting off the old life putting on the new life and and here's what i know if you spend enough time with young believers they look at this and go that's impossible and what does the mature christian say welcome for we are that we worship the god of the impossible so you keep walking with him why because his mercies are new every morning you're going to fail you're going to mess up you're going to do things wrong and guess what keep walking with him he will forgive he will set you right he will make you new and may i remind you church that sanctification is not a walk through central park with a hot dog right how do i know let's take a look at what the bible says galatians 2 i have been crucified with christ romans 6 our old self crucified with him so that our body of sin might be brought to nothing so your walk in sanctification is as brutal as the cross itself the nails being driven in to the hands and to the feet the whip on the back that's your life of putting to death the old self
and it's the work of god that's the beautiful thing it's the work of god so this is sanctification and by the way in every instance the command of sanctification is the promise that god is the one who works through sanctification so justification i have been saved from since punishment sanctification i'm being saved from sin's power which brings us to what glorification i will be saved from god's presence first corinthians 15 says this will happen at a twinkling of the eye which means what the moment of death you are brought and perfect before god one of the best analogies is found in the book of revelation i always warn you as a church stay away from weird people when it comes to revelation okay it's not weird people make it weird okay because they have bad harmonics we won't talk about that but okay so in revelation 21 in revelation 21 it compares the church to what a wedding you know i have the best seat in the house during weddings because i get to stand where the groom stands and i get to see what the groom sees so many more times than most people do and it is always a reminder to me because no one listens to the pastor during weddings amen mark no one listens to us it's great um so i get to stand there and i get to see what the groom sees so many times and you all been to weddings you know how it is they get the the nice looking girls up there and the ugly dudes up there and they're all kind of standing and waiting and there's a lull there's just this like awkward kind of lull but it's beautiful because there's anticipation and that's what we're walking through right now church we're in the age of we're anticipating when glory comes and then what happens the music plays and what does everyone do they stand and they all stand and where do they turn not to the groom but the bride and what is she wearing all white completely pure perfect spotless every single woman looks great in a white wedding dress because we know that's what glory is gonna be that we're gonna be presented to the bridegroom perfect spotless blameless and you know what i know because i've been to enough weddings that i inevitably watch every single person at one point will turn away from the bride and look to the groom and see how he sees his bride and so just like a groom looks at his bride with such joy so does christ look at his bride you and me with such joy this is glorification that's you and i have been set right and we are saved from the presence of sin no more tears just celebration and joy and this awaits god's church why because christ died for his church he gave his life for his church he bought them he purchased us
and so every church member wants to hear the bridegroom say what well done my good and faithful servant
so what does that look like how do we fill the world with the knowledge of the lord it's because we're weird because we're not like them we look like them but we can act like them why because we've been given a new nature one of the most frustrating things to me is how many evangelism ideas is about the people of god trying to show the world that we're very much like the world when the bible says no no you show the world how different you are than they you show the world that you are not chasing after yourself after your own ideas your own thoughts your whole goal is to glorify god this makes us weird does it not church and why do we do this so that people may know the bridegroom you all read this this past week did you not proverbs 31 23 why does the wife why does the bride do all this work so that her husband may be known do you all read that so why does the church sweat serve pray love so that christ may be known in all corners of the world
what is the church's main desire was it what drives your life and my life to be fully pleasing to god that's what gives the church that's what gives the person of god joy and satisfaction to hear that well done my good and faithful servant you ran the race
and this shows so truly to be the drive of the church what is the saddest thing is there are people that use christ like a get out of hell jail free card
and this just shows that that that's not understanding christ and his cross and that's hypocritical for christ is not a get out of jail free card it is the adoration of who he is
why because christ says we're going to see later in colossians as the creator of all things all things were created by him through him for him and what and he recreates his people the church who he died for for his purpose and so therefore how do you know if you're saved do you love christ and do you want to see him magnified in all aspects of your life there is no worship there is no growth without adoration of christ if there is no adoration of who he is there will be a lack of worship
so this paul seeks to answer one question for you and me this morning who is jesus christ to us is he king is he lord is he savior is he what we want magnified more than anything else or is he just an add-on to our lives
brother sister in christ wrestling in sin battling putting to death run to christ seek his face come to him give everything you can to him and you will hear him say come i will take care of this i'll work through this i've paid for it i'll pay for it we're going to work through this i've given you my spirit and so you will not fall back to the slavery of sin but through adoption you can call abba father
don't despair in your sin christian run to christ be filled with him may i put this before you the only place you will find the will of god is at the foot of the cross
the only place you will find the will of god is at the foot of the cross the god of the universe who you and i rebelled on took on human flesh humbled himself became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross the lowest view of the lowest view of the lowest view so that what he may exalt his church and lift us up and therefore the christian life walking with the lord bearing fruit in him is done with great joy and great pleasure and great satisfaction there is no begrudging nature to the will of god to the child of god how shall any work please god if it is done from a reluctant resisting heart gotta go to home group tonight terrible that's not pleasing to god i was pleasing to god as i was glad he said to me let us go into the house of the lord
so when we find ourselves in a place of reluctance and begrudging in this world let us cast our eyes to the glorious riches of the love of god that can only be seen through christ and his cross let us as a church go and take our fingers and put it through the nails poles let's put our fingers in the side where he was stacked and by his wounds we are healed
i want to tell you if this is not a reality for you this morning if christ is not your supreme treasure this morning come to him all that the father gives me will come to me and i will never let any of them go come put your faith put your trust believe in him and be counted right and start walking with him and so become a child of god mature christian have you become complacent run to christ let him set your heart of fire in all that you do so gathered we've grown so how do we go first the world is bent on self-improvement the world is bent on self-help the world is bent on your own healthiness or mental health or whatever when the church is bent on dying to self the world is bent on i've got to take care of myself and the church is bent on i got to take care of others and god will take care of me
when we turn our eyes from ourselves to magnifying him the power of god becomes our hope and joy god has given us all the tools needed to grow in him he's given us his son his word his people and full access to him what more do we need in this world amen
let us not be distracted with the trinkets of this world but the majesty of him seek your eyes on him next the call to do not fear is found throughout the whole
yet as i was reminding you there is one passage that jesus calls us to fear matthew chapter 10 do not fear him who can kill the body rather fear him who can destroy the both the body and soul in hell what should we fear more than abandonment what should we fear more than persecution will we fear what should we fear more than famine or pestilence or persecution what we should fear is finding the things of this world greater than christ himself that's what we should fear we should fear apathy towards our savior and when we see him as worthy of all satan has no power and we get to say what can separate us from the love of god bring it on for i know my dad finally being weird for the glory of christ is not us saying weird christian platitudes how you doing better than i deserve that's not being weird for christ being weird for christ is counting others more significant than yourself magnifying christ in all aspects of our lives and when you walk through the darkest most worst most horrible times of your life and this is a peak into next week for you i'm going to get through more than two verses i promise you when you're going first time in your life what are you called to do praise and thank god for all he has done
thank god that he sent his son and he has made a way of salvation and so you know what kill this body for i know where i'm headed i'm just passing through this world and this is not my home that will give you holy boldness confidence that will make you weird to the world let us pray father god we thank you for this word god we thank you for paul that taught us to pray god we thank you god that you are greater god that all the things this world we could add up we could put together and they would amount to nothing compared to you and your cross and so god we have been crucified with christ it is no longer we who live but you who live in us and the life we now live is for your glory god teach us to walk in your way teach us your truth so in all our ways we may acknowledge you and lift you up we pray these things your son's holy and righteous name amen hi i'm pastor scott pastor of the oasis church listen we are so excited that you decide to join us for the preaching and teaching of god's word we just pray that this will stir your affections towards christ but we have one encouragement we want to leave you with please do not allow this to take the place of the local body of believers we pray that you will be involved in a local congregation a local church that you can find yourself submitting under the eldership and the leadership of a local church we pray that you will find yourself stirred towards christ and that your joy in christ will be ever increasing