(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - All right, good morning, church family, and a happy Lord's Day.

Also, a happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers. We're gonna go ahead and begin our worship. (soft music) ♪ Come Thou Fount of every blessing ♪ ♪ Tune my heart to sing Thy grace ♪ ♪ Streams of mercy never ceasing ♪ ♪ Call for songs of loudest praise ♪ ♪ Teach me some melodious sonnet ♪ ♪ Sung by flaming tongues above ♪ ♪ Raise the mountain fixed upon it ♪ ♪ Mount of Thy redeeming love ♪ ♪ Here I raise my barren easel ♪ ♪ Hither by Thy help I come ♪ ♪ And I hope by Thy good pleasure ♪ ♪ Safely to arrive I come ♪ ♪ Jesus saw me when a stranger ♪ ♪ Wandering from the fold of God ♪ ♪ He to rescue me from danger ♪ ♪ Interposes precious blood ♪ ♪ Oh to grace how great a debtor ♪ ♪ Daily I'm constrained to be ♪ ♪ Let Thy goodness like a feather ♪ ♪ Bind my wandering heart to Thee ♪ ♪ Prone to wander Lord I feel it ♪ ♪ Prone to leave the God I love ♪ ♪ Here's my heart Lord take and seal it ♪ ♪ Seal it for Thy courts above ♪ ♪ Oh that day when freed from sinning ♪ ♪ I shall see Thy lovely face ♪ ♪ Clothed in blood washed linen ♪ ♪ How I'll sing Thy sovereign grace ♪ ♪ Come my Lord no longer tear me ♪ ♪ Take my ransomed soul away ♪ ♪ Send Thine angels now to carry ♪ ♪ Me to realms of endless day ♪ ♪ Come my Lord no longer tear me ♪ ♪ Take my ransomed soul away ♪ ♪ Send Thine angels now to carry ♪ ♪ Me to realms of endless day ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Brink Community Church. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. First of all, the men's softball tournament for the fundraising is happening this Saturday. If you are playing or you are helping out in any way, please try to be at the park by 7 a.m.

and we're gonna get things started once the people get there, okay? Just kind of keep that in mind. Bring a golf tournament that's happening on June 8th on Saturday. So if you're planning to participate in that and you want to sign up for it, please sign up for it.

Again, it's on June 8th and again, it's a fundraiser for our missions program in our church. VBS, Vacation Bible Summer. I don't know what that stands for. School? What does that stand for? School. How is it a school? It's only a week, yeah. Anyway, VBS is happening in July 15th to 17th from 5 to 8 p.m.

If you are helping with decoration or food, whatever it is that you want to help out in, please sign up for that so they can use your help with that. Family Ministry Summer Retreat that's happening on August 16th to the 18th. And again, I really want to encourage as many of you to sign up to that.

Dr. Street, who's coming to speak on God's design for marriage, he's kind of like the go-to speaker on this subject. And so I know we've had him before a couple years ago, but if you wanted to hear on the subject of marriage and relationship, Dr. Street's kind of like the go-to man for this subject.

So he's highly sought after for this particular series of messages that he's going to give. So I want to encourage you, if you're part of that ministry, the Family Ministry, please sign up for that. And early registration is going to end on June 2nd. So you only have a few more weeks to sign up for that, okay?

And then after that, there will be late registration. So obviously the cost will go up a little bit after that. And finally, today is Mother's Day. And afterwards, as you're coming in, you probably saw stations. There's three stations where you can go and take pictures with your mother. Or maybe you're making an announcement today.

You can go take a picture and explain why you're there, okay? So there's three stations for that. And as you go out, make a right turn. And there's a station there where they're going to be giving the mothers a gift of bundt cake and a journal that they have prepared.

So if you're a mother, please go. And even if you're a guest, there's plenty out there. So when you go out, please take that gift. And then if you want to take a picture, just go to one of those stations, and they'll tell you what needs to happen today, okay?

All right, I think that's it. And then let me pray for our offing. And after that, Michelle Chang is going to come up and give her testimony and be baptized this morning. Let's pray. Father, we especially want to thank you as we celebrate Mother's Day, the people who've sacrificed so much for us.

We pray, Father God, that you would help us to recognize the gift that you've given, the common grace that all mankind has experienced, and that you would strengthen the mothers, help them to feel appreciated and loved, and asking, Father God, that you would bless this day especially. And we pray, Father, as we have come to worship your name, help us with all our might, Father God, to fix our eyes upon Christ, that you would help us to worship you in spirit and in truth.

We pray that even in this giving, that it would be given in abundance and overflow of the gratitude and thanksgiving in our own heart may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Would you please stand and take a moment to say hello and greet those around you, and then we will continue our worship.

(audience chattering) (audience chattering) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ We won't fear the battle ♪ We won't fear the night ♪ We will walk the valley ♪ With you by our side ♪ You will go before us ♪ You will lead the way ♪ We have found a refuge ♪ Only you can save ♪ Sing with joy now ♪ Our God is powerless ♪ The Father's love ♪ Is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ Raise your voice now ♪ No love is greater ♪ Who can stand against us ♪ If our God is for us ♪ Even when ♪ Even when I stumble ♪ Even when I fall ♪ Even when I turn back ♪ Still your love is sure ♪ You will not abandon ♪ You will not forsake ♪ You will cheer me on ♪ With a never-ending praise ♪ Sing with joy now ♪ Our God is powerless ♪ The Father's love ♪ Is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ Raise your voice now ♪ No love is greater ♪ Who can stand against us ♪ If our God is for us ♪ We will hide no death ♪ Who can separate us ♪ Hell and death ♪ Will not defeat us ♪ He who gave ♪ His Son to free us ♪ Holds me in his love ♪ We will hide no death ♪ Who can separate us ♪ Hell and death ♪ Will not defeat us ♪ He who gave ♪ His Son to free us ♪ Holds me in his love ♪ Sing with joy now ♪ Our God is powerless ♪ The Father's love ♪ Is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ Raise your voice now ♪ No love is greater ♪ Who can stand against us ♪ If our God is for us ♪ Sing with joy now ♪ Our God is powerless ♪ The Father's love ♪ Is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ Raise your voice now ♪ No love is greater ♪ Who can stand against us ♪ If our God is for us - I'd like to introduce a new song this morning.

It's called All Things. It's based on Romans 8:28, which says, "And we know that God causes all things "to work together for good for those who love God, "to those who are called according to his purpose." Oftentimes, we experience tragedy or loss, and we question the power, the goodness, and the wisdom of God.

The Scripture affirmed that both good and evil are under the control of a sovereign God who holds us in his loving hands. Romans 8:28 reminds us that all things work together for good, not just some things, that every single thing that happens to us expresses God's love to us and comes to us for the furthering of his purpose for us.

So as we sing the song, may it remind us of these precious truths and assure us that God has ordained everything in our past, in our present, in our future for his glory and for our joy. Let us praise him. # # # When my heart was cold and lifeless # # And I wandered in my blindness # # You pursued me # # And before the world was breathing # # You had chosen to redeem me # # For you loved me # # Lord, you loved me # # When my heart # # When my heart was cold and lifeless # # And I wandered in my blindness # # You pursued me # # And before the world was breathing # # You had chosen to redeem me # # For you loved me # # Lord, you loved me # # I know you are working # # You are working all things # # All things for your glory # # And my good # # Lord, you will accomplish # # Everything you promise # # All things for your glory # # And my good # # # # Though the enemy is mighty # # And a thousand fall beside me # # You defend me # # When the wilderness is endless # # And I feel the weight of darkness # # You are with me # # You are with me # # I know you are working # # You are working all things # # All things for your glory # # And my good # # Lord, you will accomplish # # Everything you promise # # All things for your glory # # And my good # # Oh, Lord, you will accomplish # # All things for your glory # # Till the day you come in power # # Or I reach my final hour # # You will keep me # # You're the author of my story # # You are faithful, you are funny # # I will praise you # # I will praise you # # I know you are working # # You are working all things # # All things for your glory # # And my good # # Lord, you will accomplish # # Everything you promise # # All things for your glory # # And my good # # All things for your glory # # And my good # Amen.

You may be seated. (Bell) Hello. My name is Michelle Chang, and this is my testimony. Are you saved? For the longest time, I had trouble answering that question, even though I was born into a Christian church and accustomed with the principles of Christianity. To me, church was a place of community, and being Christian meant going through certain actions-- attending services, Friday nights, small groups, helping out with BBS, and being on the praise team.

My true identity and worth were defined by worldly, outward standards of success and outcomes, and that same thinking applied to how I viewed my faith, which is why I had trouble answering that question, "Are you saved?" My status of being saved was dependent on how I was performing at any given moment.

Growing up, I set personal standards of success for myself in the home, school, and church. In high school, there were times of difficulty that led me to cry out sincerely to the Lord, and at that time, God planted a seed in my heart-- a seed of truth that only he could provide what I was seeking for-- peace, regardless of my circumstances and my works.

However, my view on my worth did not change at its core-- that my value was dependent on what I did or did not do. Upon entering and throughout college, my self-formed identity was shaken by my performance in school, and my faith wavered repeatedly as thorns of worry and anxiety choked any spiritual growth that was doubting my purpose in life.

I felt this self-made identity crumble down as I failed to perform to worldly standards. I felt a mix of emotions-- shame at who I was becoming, and therefore reluctance to come before a holy God, and also blame and anger at the God who created me this way. If I couldn't trust God nor myself, who was I to turn to?

If I performed well or finished a task, I would only feel relief for a short amount of time and be anxious for what-- when and what the next task life would throw at me. I had a very pessimistic, transactional view of life, where if something good were to happen, something equally bad or worse had to happen as well.

I couldn't believe in the peace, contentment, and promises Christ made in its everlasting nature due to my human life experiences. Upon graduating college, I had difficulty finding a job. That one year and some months were some of the most difficult in my life, but even then I refused to turn to God, not trusting in him.

By God's grace, I was offered a job that took me away from everything I knew, in a new state, living alone with no one to depend on. And fast forward a couple of years, from the outside, I had achieved what the world considered success. I had a stable job, I was financially independent, and I was relatively healthy.

Everything that I thought would satisfy. But on the inside, I was struggling the most. Every day felt like a struggle, and at many points, just felt hopeless. I tried filling those gaps with satisfying my lusts with worldly possessions and entertainment. Those things were ephemeral, and the feeling of emptiness always came back.

I grew exhausted, and looking back, God used that time to draw me closer to him, little by little, and by his grace, that seed that had been planted in high school grew, and prodded me to seek the Lord. To go to morning prayer meetings, and go to church services regularly.

I became more and more curious to learn who God is. Why he called me, who has nothing to offer. Why he cares for someone like me, who is continuously failing at being the, quote unquote, perfect Christian. That notion which was based on my thoughts, that my value was driven by my works.

If I sinned, my previous repentances and confessions were made void, and I started back at step zero. I was reluctant to state that I was a Christian, because if people observed my life, they would be able to pick at so many things. So I drew away from God, and drew near only when I felt more clean.

That is, until the Lord opened my eyes, and showed me that I had a workspace faith. Something I had never considered myself to have. I thought myself so far from the Pharisees, yet in my actions, I showed that I deemed myself worthy in front of the Almighty God by my own works, when in reality, it was God who gave his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross.

And with him, all my sins, and therefore I am justified in front of God. Not by my own works, but only by his grace, and by God-given faith. Nothing I can do or have will change who I am, a child of God. As it says in Philippians 3, 7-9, "But whatever things were gained to me, "those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

"More than that, I count all things to be lost "in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, "for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, "and count them but rubbish, so I may gain Christ. "It may be found in him, "not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, "but that which is through faith in Christ, "the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

"As I come to know the Lord more and more, "I grow steadfast in my identity as a co-heir with Christ. "He is the one who gave me my skills and my gifts, "steward for the purpose of building his kingdom "and to further his glory." Who I am is not defined by what I achieve in this life, but on who God has created and called me to be, a daughter of God who has been fully redeemed and justified through Christ.

As Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, "and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." So I live this life confident that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any created being will be able to separate us from the love of God.

So today I'm going through baptism as an act of faith and obedience to God's word. (applause) Thank you. Joe, do you understand when you go into the water you're being united to Christ's death? Then when you come out, you're being united to his resurrected life? Can I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

(applause) All right, thank you, Michelle, for that wonderful testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke 8, and I'm just going to be reading verse 15 as we jump in this morning. Luke 8, verse 15. Okay, reading the NASB, it says, "But the seed in the good soil, "these are the ones who have heard the word "in an honest and good heart, "and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance." Let's pray.

Father, we pray for wisdom, we pray for understanding, we pray for conviction, and we pray, Lord God, for change and obedience. May your word and the power that you've invested in it have its effect that you've ordained for us, and that your name may be magnified as a result.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Today is Mother's Day, obviously, as you guys know. I'm sure you guys either did something last night or maybe doing something today. But I'm not going to give a message on Mother's Day, but I wanted to begin by acknowledging our mothers. If you could put the slide up for the text in Luke chapter-- sorry, 1 Timothy chapter 2, 9 through 15, and I'm going to read it, and some of you guys are going to read it thinking, like, "Why this text?" Especially on Mother's Day, right?

So hopefully you are encouraged by the content, okay? 1 Timothy 2, 9 through 15 said, "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves "with proper clothing modestly and discreetly, "not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly garments, "but rather by means of good works, "as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.

"A woman must quietly receive instruction "with entire submissiveness, but I do not allow a woman "to teach or exercise authority over a man, "but to remain quiet. "For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve, "and it was not Adam who was deceived, "but the woman who deceived fell into transgression.

"But women will be preserved through the bearing of children "if they continue in faith and love and sanctity "with self-restraint." Are you wondering why I read this? I hope you're encouraged. If there's any text in the Bible-- not just this, but texts like this-- that I know, whether you tell me or not, is going to get a harsh response, a reaction, it's probably this.

More than a text about homosexuality and more than a text about sexual immorality and all this stuff, it's this, because it's in the church. And recently, there has been a push in the Christian community. What the world says is the world. I'm not as concerned with that. They don't love Christ, they don't know Christ, they don't have the Bible, so I'm not as concerned as what's going on, because they don't know Christ.

But it's penetrating into the church. And recently, there has been more and more discussion on this subject, and people have been trying to reinterpret certain texts and saying that's not what it says. Even in Bible-teaching churches, it's starting to become a debate. And the reason why I'm reading it this morning is to encourage the mothers.

I hope you are encouraged. But the reason why I'm bringing it up, one, there are two reasons. One, because there is a push to change our understanding of Scripture. In many cases, I would say in most cases, it's coming from people who don't normally exposit the Bible. And so they are opening up the Scripture and saying this is not what it says.

If you look at the context, that's not what it says. That word doesn't mean this, and that word woman doesn't mean that. And instead, they are distorting the Scripture and trying to say something that it does not say. The Bible is crystal clear on this subject. And the reason why I say this is because I'm one of those people who wrestled with this.

When I first became a Christian, and I began to be taught, somebody started saying this. Like, that doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound fair. Why would God limit certain roles of women in the church? Because I had a woman pastor that I really respected. I loved hearing her preach.

It's like, that doesn't make sense. So when I had an opportunity, I decided to do a paper on this subject just so that I can, one, find out and dispute what I was hearing. Well, at the end of my study, the end conclusion of my paper, I could not deny what the Scripture says.

Now, did I like it? That's a different question. But what does the Bible say, right? And the Bible says this. And the reason why we address this is knowing that some of, even some of you, say, you know, I like everything about this church, but this is a male chauvinist pig church.

The pastor's a pig. You know what I mean? The leaders are pigs. And only if this church would change this, right? You know, the reason why I know it is because I've had conversations with people. And you didn't call me a pig, but basically that's what you were feeling, right?

The reason I address this issue, one, because false interpretation and false teachings are penetrating into the church from false understanding of what the text says. And so our temptation is to stay away from this subject because it's going to cause controversy. But if your body is sick, right? Like, I have a sore back constantly, and I have sore knees.

It requires special attention, right? So I like, you know, like putting Bengay back here, so I'm starting to smell like an old man. And this is permanent, right? But it needs special attention because it's sore. Something is wrong over there. And the same thing with my knees. And that's the reason why I don't stand during worship because of three services.

My knees start to swell up at the end of their third service. But it requires special attention. I can't ignore it because it's sore. I can't ignore it because there's something wrong. In fact, it requires special attention. The fact that there is a concentrated push to challenge God's teaching, and it is not necessarily coming from a careful exposition of scripture.

It's coming from the tide from our culture where you have women movement, the feminist movement, and a church who has given their mindset to how do we make the church more acceptable to the world. And so the world is dictating what the church looks like. And so if we're not careful, certain core fundamental teachings of the scripture will end up being compromised in order that non-Christians will feel more comfortable at church.

And this is what I've been talking about all this time. So one is to address this issue, right? And if you have any questions on this, we're more than willing to sit down and talk with you and the rationale behind it and what the scripture says. I found that through the years, even though I myself had a hard time with this, that the wisdom behind God for placing order in the family and in the church is beyond explainable.

You cannot, you cannot have a baseball team. You cannot have a football team or a basketball team with two head coaches. You just cannot. No one looks at that and says, "That's not fair. Why does he get to be the head coach? Why can't we all be the head coach and be equal?" You know what's going to happen, right?

Two friends who decide to go somewhere and they're constantly challenging each other, it's going to ruin that. And so that principle, whether it is at home, whether it is at school, whether it is at work, that there is order that God has created. And so the natural question is, "Why do men get to lead?" Why are they elevated and women are put low?

Even the very thinking of man being elevated and woman being low, is that from a biblical perspective? Because Jesus himself said, "If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, learn to be the servant of all." The least is the greatest in the kingdom of God. So in actuality, men should be complaining.

Why do they get to be the greatest? From Jesus' words. But the very idea of somebody leading means that they have some more value than somebody else. That's not the principles taught in scripture. That's the worldly principle. God created the design of marriage and church in order that there would be order.

No one's going to say, "God the Father is much greater than God the Son." That would be blasphemy. You would be questioning the Trinity. We see the perfect unity of the Trinity where one and each other submit to one another, but they have distinct roles that they play for the purpose of our salvation.

And nobody looks at that as being selfish. Nobody looks at that and questions, "Oh, you're egotistical." Because we understand that Trinity is perfectly one. And so in the same sense, God has created order in the family. And he has created order in the church in order that we may carry out the design that God had for mankind.

So the church, the family, and everything that we do is to reflect God's very nature. So it's a knee-jerk response. It's because we've been indoctrinated by the principles and the values of the world that when we hear these things, we get a knee-jerk reaction. So that's not a godly reaction.

That's a reaction because we've been indoctrinated to think certain things are more valuable than certain things are not. The very thing that causes a knee-jerk reaction is what we need to pay attention to because that means something has gone wrong in the way that we think. The fact that we hear a clear teaching of the word of God and something inside of us say, "I'm not sure if that sounds fair." And then to go from that to change God because God clearly, if He is fair, cannot be doing that.

Something has gone wrong with us. So if the teaching of the word of God, plain teaching of the word of God, causes us to have a knee-jerk reaction saying, "I'm not sure if I like that," that's a revelation that something has gone wrong with us. The Bible says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by," what?

"The renewing of your mind." Discipleship sanctification happens first in our mind, in what we value, what we love, what we hate, what we hope for, what we pursue. So in our mind, it's change. And when our mind changes and our value and how we look at things changes, that causes the fruit, what we pursue, what makes us happy, what makes us sad.

But if you are saturated by the thoughts of this world, then you're going to take the values of this world and the lens through which you look at, and then you're going to end up judging God through the lens of the world, instead of seeing the world through the lens of God.

So that's the first reason. Because this is a sore spot, because this is something being challenged, why we cannot stay away from this. This is something that needs to be made sure that we correct this. Secondly, the part where he says to the women, "But women will be preserved through bearing of children "if they continue in faith and love and sanctity of life." When he says preserved, it means like, well, the only way that you're going to be saved is if you bear children and take care of them.

A Western mindset, because we're all individualistic. And so as a result, we look at everything as like, oh, in order for me to be saved, like men are saved by faith, and women are saved by childbearing? Is that what that means? Obviously, that's not what he's saying. He's saying that this sinful world that we're living in, the primary task of reaching the children is through the mother.

Because the mother has been assigned to be the caretaker of the home. And so the mothers have been given the assignment to preserve mankind through the discipleship of their children. We live in a society where if you have dedicated your life to raise your children, that you're somehow being oppressed from a male-dominant culture.

And so you're not living up to your potential because you're being suppressed. Ask any mother, after they have a child, what is your greatest? What do you value the most? And it doesn't matter if you're a feminist, it doesn't matter if you have a full-time job, you're a doctor or a lawyer, whatever you may be.

Ask a mother who has children, what do you value the most in your life? I would guess to say majority of them, if not all of them, will say it's their children. Even if their value system has been warped and they've been challenged by the things of this world, but if you ask them, just simply ask them, what's the most important thing in your life?

They're not going to say my career. I would kill for my career. I would kill to make sure we make more money, that we have nice things. It's like, no, my children. But the problem is that the teachings of this world made motherhood trivial. That's just something, of course, every mother has to do that, but I really want to make something of myself and somehow motherhood has taken second seat, something that you do.

And look at the way that young children, our ladies are being raised, that you go to school, what major are you going to do? And how do you prepare? You get internship and you do all of this stuff. Again, in and of itself, there's nothing wrong. But if the most important thing that a mother is going to do is to disciple your children, and yet there's no preparation whatsoever, no thought given.

So much attention and thought is given to be a good whatever you're doing. Money is spent, getting an education, a degree, but if you ask any mother, like what's the most important thing in your life? It's your children. And yet so little attention is given for preparation until you actually have a child in your arms and all of a sudden, what do I do with this kid?

How do I feed this kid? How do I take care of this kid? And then your value all of a sudden changes and there's no preparation given to that, right? That's the principle of the soul. It takes us away from what God has naturally designed us to be, right?

Now, having said all of that, and this is an encouragement to the mothers in our church that a society that does not elevate motherhood is one step away from destruction, right? One step away. Next generation of people are going to be destroyed if motherhood is devalued. That's why I think this Mother's Day is important.

My sermon is not about Mother's Day, right? This is all going to be an introduction to what I'm really going to say today, right? But motherhood, motherhood, not just being a mother by title, but motherhood and the job of the mother is the most important role for a female.

The father, obviously, is to lead and sacrifice so that she can be the best mother she can be, right? But today's Mother's Day. I'll talk about fathers in a few more weeks, right? So that's part of the reason why I wanted to highlight this before we jump into the text.

As we highlight motherhood, we go through different stages in our attitude toward mothers. When you're a child, your mom is everything, right? I remember my earliest memory of getting into a fight with my younger brother, Phillip, was my mom jokingly said to him, "Do you want me to leave?" And he was in anger of something.

I forgot what it was. And he said, "Yes." And my mom pretended like she was leaving. And so she left. And she went out to go get bread or something. And me and Phillip, we were-- I remember sitting there and the rain is falling, and I thought my mom left.

And I started screaming and crying, and obviously somebody needs to be punished for this, right? And so that's my earliest memory, right? And he said, "You got rid of mom," right? And obviously, like 30, 40 minutes later, she showed up with all this bread, and she was just laughing while we were crying.

So when you're a little kid, your mom means everything to you, right? But then for some reason, we get a little bit older, right? You become teenagers. And during teenage years, your parents become a nuisance during teenage years because you've discovered the world, and all of a sudden, your mom stands in the way, tells you what you can and cannot do.

So all of a sudden, she's the source of all your problems because she's the gatekeeper. You can't have this. You can't have your phone. You can't do this. So in your teenage years, right, you're fantasizing about going to college, so you get away from my parents so I can have freedom because my life is out there, and my mom and my dad is standing in the way.

So during teenage years, you're very difficult to deal with because the people who've sacrificed the most in your life, your mom, during teenage years, you see them as a problem in your life, right? You get into your 20s, and then now you have some freedom. Your parents are not able to restrict you from the things that they restrict you to when you're younger.

And so your parents start to fall into the background, right? Your new world has opened up. You have friends. You have freedom. You have money. And so you think you're more mature than you really are, and then your parents are important, okay? You're not going to deny that, right?

You love your parents, but they're not your priority, right? They're just kind of in the background, and the only time you really realize how important you are is when they're gone. And you just assume they've been there all your life, and they'll be there forever, and that's your attitude in your 20s, where the parents kind of fall into the background, right?

During your 30s is when you start to really mature. You get married. You have a kid, and all of a sudden you realize, "Oh, my gosh, somebody did this for me." And there's a lot of young parents in here, probably, you know, maybe you were rebellious teenagers, and all of a sudden you realize you didn't get here on your own.

Somebody sacrificed for you, and nobody sacrificed more than the mom in your life, and that's your 30s. And then the real maturity happens when you're 40, when you have teenagers at home, and then you start to realize what you were like as a teenager, and, "Oh, my gosh, God is punishing me for what I did to my kids," right?

That's in your 40s. You look back at that, and it's like-- and you start to really appreciate your mom during that period. You know, you blame her for everything, but all of a sudden you wake up, and it's like, "Oh, my gosh." You know, they really--my mom really sacrificed for me.

And then when you get into your 50s, if your parents are still around, that's when you really start to appreciate it because you realize you don't have a lot of time with them because you have aging parents. And then they become much more important than you-- than they ever were in your 50s.

I'm not exactly sure what it's like in the 60s. I'll tell you when I get there. But those are the stages that we go through in life with our parents. We have a tendency, because we live in the Western world, we think that when we become independent-- I don't need my parents because I can get a job, I can pay my own bills, and I can live without them, and we think that that's the final stage of maturity.

That's not the final stage of maturity. Anybody who can live and breathe can do that. You don't have to be a good human being to do that. All you have to be is just don't be lazy, right, and just get a job. That's not the final stage of maturity.

The final stage of maturity is when you begin to realize that you didn't get here on your own because we have a tendency to ignore and trivialize the people who have done the most for us. And once we begin to see-- once we begin to see beyond ourselves that somebody gave their life so that I could live, that's when you start to mature.

But obviously it doesn't end with our moms. Our moms, I think, of all the common grace that God has given us, the greatest of the common grace is the moms in our lives. And I know that some of you come from very difficult backgrounds, and maybe you say, "Well, you don't know my mom." I don't, but I'm just generally speaking.

And so that's why I think this day is so important because they are probably the least appreciated in our society, and they are one of the most important people. And so if our motherhood is trivialized, and if we allow the world to force their values in the church, the church will be ruined.

The families will be ruined. So we need to stand this ground, make sure that our mothers are appreciated. And the mothers realize the greatest task that they've been given for the preservation of mankind has been given to you, to disciple, to bring them up, that they may be children that love God.

Obviously--now, this is how I'm going to connect it with the sermon, okay? Appreciating our mothers is not the final end. As much as we appreciate and we acknowledge what our mothers have done in our lives, the final end--we're not saved because we acknowledge our mothers. We don't get saved because we honor our father and mother.

We get saved when it goes beyond that and we recognize the ultimate giver of life, that every good and perfect gift comes down from our father in heaven. And when, one, our eyes become open to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gift is not, as I've been saying, is not not going to hell.

The ultimate gift is God himself, is Christ himself. Just like if we only appreciate our moms for like, "Oh, she did this," and, "Why do you like your mom when you're a little child?" You say, "Because she fed me, she gives me the toys that I want." That's what a child says.

But as you get older, you realize, "Oh, I got all of those things because of my mom. I had mom in my life." Right? So you begin to appreciate the mom than the gift. You begin to appreciate and thank the mom more than the food that she cooks. And in the same way, our view of God, when we mature beyond our childhood, we begin to see the gift is not what God does for us in and of itself.

It's himself. The ultimate gift of salvation is Christ himself. He is. Not he will or through him. He is. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. And so Christ opened the door so that we can have God again. We have salvation, redemption, justification, all because we've been restored to our Heavenly Father.

Now, let me transition to what I'm going to say. Having said all of that, why do people who do not know this God continue to come to church today? We had three soils that we've been talking about. The first soil, here, they don't understand it, so they reject it.

Sometimes they're in the church. Most of them will leave the church because they're uncomfortable in this context. And they're not hard to identify. "I don't believe God. I don't see what you see," and they leave. The second soil is a little bit more difficult because they raised their hand.

And they received it with joy. But because they have no roots, when times and trials and difficulty comes, they say, "That's it." As soon as their faith is tested, they realize they don't have faith and they walk away. But in a post-Christian culture, many of them have not physically walked away.

They have spiritually walked away. They have decided in their heart, following Christ is not for them, but I like the people at church. And so they're still at church. And then the third people are the hardest because they start growing and they look in every way like Christians. And they may be Sunday school teachers.

They may even be pastors and leaders in the church. But in their heart, they've never fully surrendered. They were picked and chose. "I want to give God this, this, this, and this." But they didn't fully surrender to God. They're still the Lord over their life. And it says the weed, the thorn that grew up began to choke, and the Word of God is no longer getting through to them.

That's the third soil. So the question is, then why do these people who have walked away from God and sees worship of God as a chore, why are they still at church? Well, I think one of the reasons is just out of habit. If you grew up in the church and that's all you've known, and you've done that all your life, so it's just out of habit.

I've done it when I was young, I've done it when I was in college, and so you just do it. So physically you are here, spiritually you're not. You're singing songs, but you're not praising God. You go through the motion, but there's no reality. You're holding to a form of God because there's no power in it.

You're just simply doing it out of habit. There are some people who are superstitious. Just like Buddhists go to the temple and they burn incense, and if they burn enough incense, the Buddha is going to bless your life. And so a lot of people use Jesus just like Buddhists use Buddha.

That if I come and do the right things and serve, and if I'm generous, and if I sacrifice, then God's going to bless my family, He's going to bless my business, He's going to bless my future. And so you're doing it really out of superstition. It has nothing to do with the truth of God's Word.

You're just hoping that if you put in your work, that God's going to reciprocate, and He's going to give you what you want. And so many people come out of superstition. Some people do it out of fear. There's just enough fear. What if? What if I die and some of this is real?

And so you hold on to some of the stuff, just so that you don't get judged. So these are the type of people who are always asking, "You want to enjoy life? You want to pursue everything that the world pursues? But I want to be saved. I don't want to go to hell." So it's not about Christ.

It's not about glorifying God. It's not about being the light in the world. It's just, "I just don't want to go to hell." So you want to enjoy as much as you want in this life, and make sure that you have fire insurance. And so there's just enough fear.

It's not that you don't have faith, you don't have conviction, to really give your life to Christ, to pick up your cross and deny yourself. You just don't want to go to hell. So you have just enough fear to keep you in church, but not enough to really surrender and follow Christ.

But I think the biggest reason why people who do not have faith continue to come to church is because of your friends. You've built up a community where all your friends-- your wife's friends, your children's friends--are all at church. So denying Christ and walking away means that you have to start your whole life over somewhere else.

And so you just don't have the energy or the courage to do that. So you hold on to a form without any power because you're afraid of the consequence of walking away from your faith. So you go through the motion and do the minimum. You admire people who are going ahead of you who have genuine faith.

You admire them. But you yourself never have a personal testimony because you don't have faith. I think a lot of people who have in their hearts deliberately hardened themselves and said, "I will do this but not this. I will give this but not this." The main reason behind that is because of the community.

So the question that's asked--you know, when the pandemic happened and the community disappeared, they said among the Millennials-- 50% of the Millennials stopped coming to church during the pandemic. And the main reason why is because they couldn't see their friends anymore because church went online, and all of a sudden they realized the reason why they're going to church was their friends.

So when they couldn't meet together with their friends, there was no reason to go to church. And statistically, they said 50% of the Millennials have left the church, and to this day they have not come back. So how many people who are in the church are coming because of friends?

So the question is, would you be a follower of Christ if you were in North Korea? Would you still come to worship if you were in the villages in India? If you were the only Christian that you knew, would you still follow Christ? Would you still worship Christ? From time to time, we need to ask that question.

How much of what I'm doing is motivated by the friends and the community that are around, and how much of it is because you've seen the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I will go where he goes, even if it takes me away from my friends? Now having said all of that, we're going to jump into-- basically all of it is a summary of what we've been talking about up to this point.

The fourth soil, he jumps into it, but before we even jump into that, I want to highlight that the success of the seed, is it dependent on the sower or the soil? When you look at the text. There's no mention of the sower. The only thing that the sower does is through the soil, onto the right ground.

But the success of the seed was based on the soil. Now, that does not mean that the training and becoming a better sower is not important, but it is not emphasized in scripture. You and I are in a culture where we do so much training. There's so much training, so much teaching, so many books written, but very little sowing of the seed.

Everybody reads books on evangelism, books on prayer, books on this, and I'm going to train you to do this, but very little sowing of the seed. So, I'm not knocking training, but there's so many people who have said, "I don't know how to evangelize because I have not been trained, and we never sow." But the power of the fruitfulness of the seed is in the soil.

It's in the soil. And that's why when God tells you to do something, he said, "Well, I'm not a good speaker." And it's like, "Okay, okay, let me train you to be a good speaker then." "Oh, I don't know how to do the Romans." "Well, let me train you to do that." "I don't know how, if they ask me a difficult question, how to question." "Well, let me train you to do that." And there's so many training, but in the scriptures it says, "I told you to do it.

I made your mouth. If I tell you to open it, just open it." "If I tell you to say something, just say it." "Because the fruit is not going to come from you." "I'm not waiting. I have been waiting all this time because I've been waiting for proper training 2,000 years later." "You just listen to my word.

Don't turn from it to the left or to the right." "If I say open your hand and throw it to the ground, just do it." Because it says the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and repentance. The Holy Spirit's going to do it. So we're just an avenue.

Some of you may be better trained. Some of you may speak better. Some of you may know the Bible better. But at the end of the day, real fruit, I may plant, somebody may water it. But it says only God can make the seed grow. And I say all of this because, again, you and I, we live in a generation where we have so much access to everything.

And everything has become more important than God himself. That if we have enough training, if I have know-how, if I have gifting, if I have experience, that somehow I'm going to be fruitful. But in this parable, I mean, we're all humbled. He said a sower went out and he sowed at the end.

And the rest of it is all about the soil. And so in this soil, he says in verse 15, "But these seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance." So there's five qualities of the good soil that I want to talk about.

I'm going to get to maybe two, maybe three. And then we'll, just as I promised, another sermon next week. The first one, he says, the good soil. What makes a good soil? First thing he says, an honest and good heart. Okay? Now, what does that mean, an honest and good heart?

If you're not a Christian, how can you have an honest and good heart? Is he saying that the fruitfulness of the seed is going to happen because it was looking for honest and good people? So if you're an honest and good person, then the seed is going to bear fruit.

And if you happen to be corrupt and a sinner, it's not going to work on you. Of course, he can't mean that. Because in Romans 3.10, it says, "There is none righteous, not even one." Not one seeks after God, not one. So it makes it very clear, before you meet Christ, we are dead in our trespasses.

So there is no good soil in that sense. Romans 3.16, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Not most people, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So what does it mean that the good soil is honest and good heart?

It's not talking about morally good, because there is none. The word for honest and good heart basically means that you are owning up to the truth. That you are not corrupting the truth by your own prejudice. That's what that means. That you hear the truth of the gospel and you receive it honestly.

Good not as in moral good, good in the sense that you've allowed the truth to come into your life. Now, let me explain what that means. Most people who reject God, reject God out of prejudice. You probably talk to people saying, "I can't believe God because there are so many errors in the Bible." Which error are you referring to?

Well, it's like all these errors. I know, I'm asking you which one. Can you point out one? Well, it's there. It's everywhere, right? But which one? And typically, that's your present. It contradicts science. Which part contradicts science? Which text were you wrestling with that you clearly saw that there was a contradiction with science?

All over. I know, where? I'm asking you where? Which text? I don't know how many conversations I've had with people when I would press that they don't have anything to say. They just heard it somewhere. So it's actually your prejudice, right? It's not the biblical prejudice. It's your prejudice.

Because you can't even answer and pinpoint one problem, but you say it's all over the scripture, right? So some people, out of their own prejudice, will reject the Bible. So that person doesn't have a good and honest heart because he's not being honest with himself. But the most common way that people reject God's gospel is that I am the way I am because...

Because what? Whatever you fill in. I am the way I am because you end up justifying your sins. Just like Adam. He said, "Adam, I told you not to eat of that tree." He said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I shouldn't have done that." "But the women that you put in here, why did you put the women in here?" "I thought you didn't want me to eat it.

Why did you put the women in here?" How much of our hearing of the truth of God suddenly justifies our sin? Modern day psychology, if you go to a psychologist and say, "You are the way you are because your mom, when you were young, did this to you." Maybe they were too strict or maybe they were too loose or maybe...

I remember when I was younger, I used to think, you know, I'm a middle child. And I mentioned this many times and I said, "The order of my birth messed me up." Because I'm a typical middle child. I grew up thinking my older brother got all the attention, my younger brother got all the love, and I was the neglected one, right?

And then on top of that, my parents moved around so much. And so I was now in 11 different schools from elementary to high school. So why would we move around so much? And on top of that, my parents were... my dad was a pastor, so we didn't have any money.

And so we're always poor. And on top of that, they kept on going back to Korea and coming back to the United States. And even my own identity is messed up. So I grew up thinking I got jacked, you know? And in some sense, my parents did it. Why did they do this to me?

But, you know, now after raising my own kids... And let me ask you this question, okay? And I asked this the first, and they agreed with me, okay? Who we are, how much of it is nature versus nurture? Which means, how much of who we are, are we born that way?

And how much of who we are is because we've been nurtured that way, okay? Let me ask a show of hands. How many of you believe that we are who we are because of nurture? And let me qualify. It doesn't mean that it's 100% one and the other. I'm just asking you predominantly, is it nature, is it nurture, okay?

How many of you believe we are who we are because of nurture? How many of you believe that we are who we are because of nature? Okay, and the rest of you are just being Asian, all right? Predominantly, the older people will say, especially the ones who've raised children and they're older, will say that it's nature, right?

Because we've raised kids. Because we spent all our lives discipling them, trying to nurture them. And the end conclusion is, oh, they're born that way. And so we're trying to direct them a certain path, but their disposition, they were born that way. And I have four children. My oldest son was so independent when he was born.

He didn't like us touching anything, like everything he has to do on his own. To this day, he's exactly the same. To this day. There's little things that has changed with him, but his core nature is exactly the same. My second son, pure action, right? And I remember our teacher, Janai, whenever she would watch Zachary, our second son, she would constantly pull him aside and say, "Zachary, use your words.

Use your words." And what she meant by that is whatever thought he had, he put into action immediately. So he can be reckless. And when I watch him, I say, "Oh, I must have been like that." And that's why my mom would always pinpoint at me. If she would enter a room and something was broken, she would immediately scan the room to see where I was.

And then I would say, "Oh, my gosh, I'm being picked on again." Well, if the other nine times I broke it, most likely, the tenth time I might have done it. So raising him as a father, I'm realizing, like, "Oh, this kid was born like that." I was saying, like, "Oh, it's because we moved around, because we were poor, we did all this." And not to say that that didn't make some impact in my life.

My kids were raised in Irvine with good parents and good, you know, good church and friends, bills paid, and I see the same thing with them. And so each one of them, right, and I'm proud of who they are, but each one of them, the thing that they were born with is the same person that they are today.

And so the more and more I realize, yes, nurture plays an important part, but the very core of who we are, we're born with it. We're born with it. Now, at the core of what we're born with, the Scripture says, is corrupt. The nature that we're born with-- now, you may have an extroverted, introverted, and you may have all these complexities of your various personalities, but at the core of what causes fruit and how that is handled is our fallen nature.

And so when it talks about a good soil that is an honest and good heart, it's somebody who hears the gospel and is convicted and is honest with himself and say, "I am who I am because of who I am." In Romans 1:18, it says, "For the wrath of God is revealed, being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth with unrighteousness." They suppress the truth.

They hear it, and then they justify their own sin. They don't recognize that they need justification. So whenever we say, "I am the way I am because my mom did this to me, my dad did this to me, because of my circumstance," indirectly, we are justifying our sins. "I did what I did because the woman that you put in here did that." "I am the way I am because you've allowed Satan to come and talk to me." And so either we will hear the gospel and feel the need for justification that can only come from Christ, or you will spend the rest of your life justifying yourself.

I am selfish because of this. I am abusive because of this. I am self-centered because these things have happened in my life. And typically, the person that gets blamed more than anybody else is the person who has given you the most. And it starts with your mom, and it starts with your dad, and ultimately gets back up to God.

It's because you've allowed this. Why did you allow this in my life? Why did you do this to me? So a good and honest heart is somebody who hears the gospel and is convicted. It's me. The corruption is in me. I wasn't corrupted by my circumstance. I wasn't corrupted because of my parents, because of what has happened to me.

I came into this world with corruption in my heart. When Isaiah is confronted with the holy God, remember the first thing that he says is, "Woe is me, woe is me." I am undone. Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips.

Now, why don't you just confess your own sin? Why are you throwing all the people under the bus? What he means is he recognizes that corruption is that deep, that it wasn't just a single act. He comes like, "This is mankind." In fact, in Psalm 51, 5-6, it says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity." David is being confronted for adultery and murder, and the way he confesses his sin is, "I was brought forth in iniquity." If you read that and you're not really thinking through what he's saying, it's like, "Well, I was born this way.

I was brought forth in it." And then he goes even further, "In sin my mother conceived me." If you read that carefully, it's like, "What did you just call your mother?" In fact, David's mother is not even mentioned in the Bible. We don't know who she is. He's not saying that my mother is what she did to me, and it's because of the society I'm from.

He's recognizing how deep this sin is, how deep this corruption is. "Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being, and in hidden part you will make me know wisdom." He's recognizing just how corrupt his own heart is. You're selfish because you're a sinner. You're self-centered because you're a sinner, because we have been corrupted by our own nature.

So when the gospel comes and the light is turned on, you recognize it as me. So if you play the victim all your life, I guarantee you, whether you are 10, whether you are 20, whether you are 80, you will go to your deathbed blaming all your problems on somebody else, and you will never come to repentance.

And that's why life begins when we own up to who we are. When we own up to who we are. And when we, like the tax collector, come before a holy God, beating his chest, that he cannot even lift his head to this holy God is the beginning. And Jesus asks, "Who is forgiven?

The tax collector who is so righteous, and thank God I'm not like those people? That the Pharisee who was saying that, or the tax collector who was beating his chest because he recognized the corruption of his own heart and desperate need? Who received righteousness?" He said, "The tax collector." Because the word of God penetrated.

The gospel of Mark and Matthew says that he hears the word and he accepted it. Acts 2.37 says, "Now when they heard this, that Peter preaching a strong sermons, and you killed the author of life," he says, "they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?'" "Pierced" means that conscience was broken.

That all the time that they spent justifying their sins, we had to do this because of this, we did this because of this, and when he heard this clear preaching of the gospel, their conscience was broken, and they were brought to the point, "Woe is me." And that's why the beginning of life, the beginning of the gospel in the book of Romans starts with, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." If you have the law, you will be judged by the law.

If you don't have the law, you will be judged without the law. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So the beginning of life is the conviction of our own sins. But consider the way that the gospel is being presented today. "Let him, give him a chance, open the door, let him in your heart." I said, "Well, in and of itself, there's not a problem, but if you isolate that, and that's all you understand about the gospel." It's like, "Yeah, I gave him a chance.

It didn't work." "I let him into my life, and what has he done for me?" And so you evaluate, instead of the Word of God judging the thoughts and intentions of your heart, you spend the rest of your life judging the thoughts and intentions of God's heart. Either the Word of God would cause us to be justified by God's Word, or we will spend the rest of our life justifying who I am.

Let me close with this. In Psalm 51 through 4, it says, "Be gracious to me, O God. According to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." I know who I am.

If you spend the rest of your life worried about the sins of other people, what they've done, and ultimately what God has done, you justify your own sins. "But I know my transgressions. My sin is ever before me." The greatest problem of mankind, the greatest problem in my life, is not my mother's sin, is not my father's sin, is not my children's sin.

It's my sin. It's my own corruption. It's my own desire to retaliate. It's my own desire to slander. It's my own desire for glory. It's my own desire to covet. It's my own desire to pursue unrighteousness. It is the corruption in me. You know, the greatest fruit comes when you change.

Not because of your hard work, not because you were properly trained, but the greatest fruit comes from somebody who met Christ, and they change. And without a word being spoken, they see the life of that person changing, and then the people around them begin to change. Not because they were great teachers, not because they were great expositors, but because they see the presence of God in that person.

When there is fruit in their life, fruit tends to cause other fruit. And the beginning of that is we recognize the sin in me. "Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak, and blameless when you judge." So when the Scripture says a good soil is the one with a good and honest heart, it is an individual who hears the Word of God and recognizes that that's them.

Jesus did not come because he saw the problems in the world, and the world needs to be saved. True, but Jesus came because he saw sin in you, because he saw sin in me. Yes, he came for the world, but specifically, it's because of the corruption in my heart.

So as much as we want the world to change, as much as we want others to change, greatest change will happen when we change, when we recognize that it's me. It's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. I'm the one that needs forgiveness. I'm the one that needs grace.

I'm the one that needs you. So I pray, again, as we continue, and I think I've gone over three today, and I'll get to the rest next week, right? I spent my childhood hating the church, because it was, in my opinion, it was filled with hypocrisy. And then when I became a Christian, I realized that it wasn't the Christians that I had bitterness toward.

It was the non-Christians who were penetrating to the church. It was a first, second, third soil that the church has been bending over backwards to accommodate, who has deliberately made the church look no different than the world. The greatest witness of the church are genuine believers. The greatest witness of the church is not our program, is not our talent, is not our gift, and it's not the leadership.

It's genuine believers gathered together, worshiping God in spirit and in truth. The world is hungry to reconnect with God. They may not know it, but the only way that they're going to reconnect, if the church first connects with God. I pray that as we continue to examine the things that you've heard may convict your heart, but ultimately that the careful examination of ourselves would cause a revival in us, that we would live reasonable, logical life, live worthy of the gospel that you and I have professed.

Let's pray. Father, we pray that the power of your word that you've given us would continue to convict, revive, and restore your church, that we would be the light that you've called us to be. Help us, Lord God, first and foremost, to be a church that worships in spirit and in truth, not man-centered, but God-centered.

That fruit that is born in this church would not simply be numbers, but true worshipers who will worship you in spirit and in truth. We love you. We praise you. We want to honor you wherever you send us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

I once was lost in darkness, yet thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy and love had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would own a rebel to proclaim. And if you had loved me first, I would refuse you still. But as I ran, but as I ran by your hands, you took me to the cross.

You looked upon my every step and led me to your cross. And I did not ask for this way. You suffered in my place. You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all I know is grace. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ.

Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Now, Lord, I would be yours alone and live so all might see the strength to follow your plans that never come true. Oh, Father, use red sunrise in any way you choose. And let my song forever be my only ghost is you. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ.

Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, eternal love of God the Father, rest, restore, strengthen, and build up the church that wherever we go, help us, Lord God, to be the light that you've called us to be.

Amen. God sent his Son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died. To buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove our Savior lives. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because he lives.