The Truth Is Out There

Lance Griffin shares a message from John 18 entitled, "The Truth Is Out There."

What is Ridgecrest Baptist Church - Sermons?

Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.

this morning if you want to go ahead and turn to John the 18th chapter verses 37 and 38 is where we're going to start we'll be in a few different places in God's word this morning but this is going to be our launching point for what I want to talk to you about this morning if you are physically able to please stand as we honor the reading of God's word this is the the ESV the words are on your screen you may have a translation that says something similar to this then Pilate said to him so you are a king Jesus answered you say that I am a king for this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice Pilate said to him what is truth father as we open your word Lord I just pray that what is of you would resonate so strongly with us that we would have no other choice than to be changed by it I pray that we would not only remember it I pray that we would allow it to take root in our very lives so that is evident in the way that we live and father I pray that anything that is not of you but is of me would not be heard by anyone that you would crush it that no one would ever remember it after it comes out of my mouth we only want to hear from you this morning we give this time to you in Jesus Christ's name amen for those of you who may not know a little bit about my background I spent 26 years in newspapers I spent three years my first job out of school was in Cullman about halfway between Birmingham and Huntsville and then I came down here to Dothan and spent 23 years at the Dothan Eagle before coming here on staff in 2019 so my degree is in journalism and I'd love to tell you that I had this real lofty noble cause for wanting to major in journalism I took a journalism elective in the 10th grade and realized that I was I was I enjoyed it and I was pretty good at writing and reporting and it was also about this time in the 10th grade in high school that I realized that I was not going to be good enough to play sports for a living actually I probably knew that earlier but so as I began to take this journalism elective as a sophomore in high school I realized that if I do this for a living I can get in ball games free you know a lot of people get into journalism for this noble reason that they want to change the world and all kidding aside about where the state of journalism is right now I'm not going to be good enough to play sports for a living because it's it's in an awful place it's in a terrible place much of what has been written in the past much of what has been written has indeed made a difference it really has but that wasn't why I wanted to get in journalism I just wanted to get into ball games free so I went to junior college for a couple of years and then went on to a four-year school in Alabama and we took a class called mass communications 101 big huge room full of people I don't know if you've ever heard of mass communications 101 I don't know of 115 120 people in there and I can remember still today our professor in mass communications 101 said this very early in his first lecture he said journalism in its essence is a pursuit of the truth it's a pursuit of the truth and although I had this very selfish reason about getting into journalism when I heard that something clicked inside of me and I thought man I love that idea and I thought okay if I'm going to be a sports writer that needs to be everything that I write whether it is the ball game I cover or whether it is the feature on the star quarterback what is true about what I'm covering what is true about the ball game what is true about the quarterback I spent eight years as a sports writer and then God moved me into news and the same thing was true there as well what is true about this city commission meeting that I'm covering what is true about this state legislature session that I'm covering and I love that idea and that idea bled into everything and I began to say what is true about what I'm watching what is true about what I'm reading what's true about what I've been taught and a significant part of my faith journey was then going back to God's word and all and and allowing the spirit to lead me into truth and it was such a very rich time and although I've changed careers I still write for publication once in a while on a personal blog that I post to once every couple of weeks and a theme that I go to very often in my personal writing is how we should be or we should have a healthy skepticism about what we see and about what we read we should be helpfully skeptical about that because we need to pursue truth not only in the profession that I was in but as believers that is what we need to be doing today nothing's really changed we see in this exchange between Pilate and Jesus Jesus says here in John 18 that he has come to bear witness to the truth of the truth when you bear witness to something you are being a visual representation of it you may hear someone say something like his success bears witness to the value of hard work what does that mean it means you can look at his life and it is evident in the way that he has lived that there is value in hard work he is a visual representation of that statement and in contrast what's one of the things that you learn as you grow is that like you can see the negative on the the outside beyond the blinds of the witness you don't you can see that fact as if it is you are being alright and you are here for your own sake and you believe that I can show料 so I don't know what the doctor told me the law the guidance method works but I know that I have to believe that and I have to believe that that is very helpful to helpair home I will be glad to show you that as well but excuse me I am going to skip some of my chemical some of my prosecuting issues with doing public biblical interview because that's interesting because usually the Bible criticizes the Bible as a type O work and our country we have seen how many Walter danger and King every financial dramatize against the Developer Or uncle Thomas is a sociopath wholessly met and told the idea that America should believe in terms of inverted lunches and now let's get into Bible a lie so Jesus says in another place in scripture that we'll get to in a moment that he is truth and here he says he has come to bear witness to the truth he is truth he is a visual representation of the truth and Pilar responds with quite the statement what is truth what is truth nothing's changed in 2,000 years or before it's the central question that every one of us must confront what is truth and it is important for us to define that before we move forward this morning there's value in Webster's dictionary there's value in Webster's definition of truth Webster defines truth as the body of real things events and facts the body of real things events and facts the truth Webster says is what is real it is agreement with fact or reality and in pursuing a story for publication that's what I tried to do I tried to find the facts as best I could and then have enough tools in my toolbox to find that and then effectively communicate it but there's a greater truth that we need to define today because this definition makes all the difference in the world and in eternity I heard a great definition in a sermon last year where truth was defined as an absolute standard by which reality is measured an absolute standard by which reality is measured an absolute standard by which reality is measured an absolute standard by which reality is measured and that introduces two really important words to the definition as we move forward absolute means it can't be qualified it can't be diminished it's absolute truth is an absolute standard by which reality is measured if we could qualify it wouldn't be absolute right standard denotes the level of attainment that we are trying to reach you may hear someone say he or she offers a high standard of service a high standard of service so what level is our standard for truth absolute absolute that is our standard absolute and since Jesus said he is the truth and he's come to bear witness to the truth he also says in his word also that we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and we will know the truth and the truth will do what the truth sets us free since we know all of those things from scripture then we can safely deduce that truth is knowable truth is something that we can know that goes counter to what the culture tells us today that goes counter to what the culture tells us today is it can we really know it and it's really ironic because when pilot says what is truth truth is right in front of him truth is right in front of him and it is for us it it is for us as well. You can know truth. I can know truth. There's a catchphrase that exists today. I'm sure you've heard it a million times, and it conflicts with what we've said is our definition of truth. Remember, we've said it's the absolute standard by which reality is measured, but you hear people say, I'm just out here trying to live my truth. Or you may hear somebody say, say, that may be your truth, and it just doesn't happen to be my truth. Well, then it's not truth at all, is it? As a matter of fact, read Scripture with that thought in mind. When you read anyone, the prophets, Moses, Peter, Paul, James, John, truth to them as they wrote it was not something that they did. Developed within themselves. You don't read Scripture and see, here's what I am saying truth is. Truth to them was something outside of them. Truth to them was something that was written in the history of God. It did not originate with them. It originated outside of them, and because it originated outside of them, it was objective, and it was authoritative. It wasn't something that came out of them. It was something that was written in the history of God. It wasn't something that came from within them. It was not sought in the self. Oh, we could camp on that a good bit. So, with that in mind, here's something that we need to know about us. We can't possibly be the absolute standard by which reality is measured. We can't possibly be. Sin has entered into us. We're flawed. Sin distorts things, and sin certainly distorts. The truth. We can't possibly be the absolute standard. You ever said something like, I saw it with my own eyes, and then you turned out to be wrong? Several studies have been done in the area of eyewitness testimony. Ohio State did a study not too long ago where they looked at hundreds of criminal convictions that had been overturned by newly elected officials. They looked at hundreds of criminal convictions that had been overturned by newly discovered evidence. People that were in jail, something was discovered later where, come to find out, they were innocent. And what they found in that study was that over half of those who had been convicted were convicted based on errors made by eyewitnesses to the crime, by eyewitnesses to the crime. Just one example that we're flawed. We can't be the absolute standard. So if we can't be the absolute standard by which reality is measured, then we have to go outside to an originating source. One of the essential rules of journalism when trying to get to the truth is to get as close to the source as you possibly can. Maybe the allegation is that the hundred thousand dollars have been embezzled from city funds. So it wouldn't really help me any to go to random guy on the street. He's well removed from the situation. It really wouldn't help for me to go three counties away and talk to someone. They're very far removed. How close can I get to the source to find the truth? Can I talk to the city treasurer who takes in the funds? Can I talk to the finance director? Can I ask them to give me or let me see the ledger so I can see if there are any irregularities in the funds? How close can I get to the source of the truth? So if we're looking for an absolute standard, we can't be the absolute standard. We can't be the absolute standard. Of reality, we have to go outside of us. And if we've already established, as we've talked about earlier, that truth is knowable, then at some point, truth had to be established. At some point, it had to be established. And that's important, again, because it can't be us. And the most likely place to find the truth is an entity that created the universe, transcends time, is omnipotent and omnipresent. And so here we go. First blanks. God is truth. God is truth. John 8, 32. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That is an exclusive statement. That is an exclusive statement. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. So blank number one, God is truth. Number two, what God says is truth. What God says is truth. John 17, 17. There's so much richness in that. We are sanctified. We are made more like Jesus through his truth coming into us. John 17, 17 says we're sanctified by truth and that his word is truth. So God is truth and what God says is truth. So in this definition of truth, we come under God's authority as truth. God is truth. We come under God's authority as truth. We come under God's authority as truth. We come under God's authority as the author of truth. God is the author of truth. That means that what we may personally believe, what we may personally feel, and what we may personally surmise is subordinate to what God says. What we may personally believe, what we may personally feel, and what we may personally surmise is subordinate to what God says. I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm getting ahead of myself. And this is what we placed our eternity in. This is truth. And this matter is very important to God. The Hebrew word or words translated truth appear 91 times in the Old Testament and the Greek words for truth appear 103 times in the New Testament. Would you agree with me that we have a truth problem today in the world? It's always been a truth problem since Adam, Eve, Satan in the garden. Where Satan distorted the truth and got Adam and Eve to believe a lie. But we see it in a million different ways today. So how do we struggle with truth? How do we struggle with truth? And I want to suggest three ways before we wrap up this morning. And I want you to think about what we're going to talk on two parallel tracks. Number one is the lost world and how the lost world struggles with truth. Because if they're lost, they have not come into a knowledge of the truth. They have not let that truth invade them. How the lost struggles with truth. But never let it be said that in our flesh, we can't struggle with it as well. And I want you to think of how us as Christ followers can struggle with the truth as well. So think about it on those two parallel tracks as we go forward. Three ways we struggle with truth. Number one, failure to seek truth. Failure to seek truth. This happens when people struggle with truth. They struggle with truth. People are so tied to their own selfish desires that they don't look for truth, but they're content with their own selfish intent. Second Timothy 4, 2 through 4 says this, where Paul is talking with young Timothy. He says, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit. Their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Do you not see this in our culture today? Paul is urging Timothy here to deliver God's word in full. Now, when God's word is delivered in full, we have a range of ways that we may respond to that when it's delivered in full. One way that we can certainly respond is to be encouraged. We can be encouraged by God's promises. We can be encouraged by God's forgiveness. We can be encouraged by God's grace. Those things should encourage us, and I'm glad that we have those things, forgiveness and grace. All of those things should encourage us. We could also respond to God's word in awe, in awe, at the splendor of God's word. We could also respond to God's word in awe, at and the majesty and the glory and the power of God. We should be in awe of that. Let us not ever lose that response to God's word in full either. So, we can be encouraged, and we can be in awe, but we can also be convicted. We can also be convicted. When God's word is delivered to us, and we see where we fall short of God's standards, His word, should pierce us. It should pierce us, and it should move us toward more Christ-likeness. So, there's a range of ways that we can respond to God when we seek truth. We see in Scripture where God's word was read, where God's word was revealed, and we see in Scripture people responding to that by mourning. By tearing their clothes because of what it revealed about them. Not about guy over here, but what it revealed about them. We've got a swath of Christianity where churches, where pastors have said, you know those spots in God's word where it's read and it's convicting to us? We're not going to preach those. We're not. We've got enough going on today in our lives where we can feel bad about ourselves. So, why come in here on a Sunday morning and open up God's word, and anything be delivered to us that would be convicting? Anything delivered that would be piercing? And they've just said, we're not going to do it. Why would God have put it in here if He did not mean for it all to be communicated? Why would He have done that? To ask the question, as our pastor says all the time, is to answer it.

God, is always seeking in us a more transformed life, more conformed to the image of Christ, and that happens when the Spirit either taps you on the shoulder or punches you in the gut and says, I want to take you to another place. I want to take you somewhere else. Maybe your parents used to say this to you sometimes. The truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it? Paul says here to Timothy that people are only going to seek out what they want to hear. What they want to hear that makes them feel good about themselves. They are not going to be truth-seeking. They are going to be self-seeking. And Paul is instructing Timothy here not only about taking the truth to the lost. He's also telling Timothy here what he's going to experience with his own flock. He's telling Timothy that your own flock is going to push back at the truth of your teaching and just know that their itching ears may take them somewhere else. As we talked about earlier, we're flawed people. Their spirit is always going to be working in us to further conform us into God's image. I hope that's true for all of us. There are things that I thought a few years ago that I don't think now. And I certainly hope it is because I've paid a lot more attention to God's Word and I've paid a lot less attention to stuff out there. And I hope that is always true. I hope I can get up here a few years from now and say there are things that I thought in 2024 that I don't think anymore because I'm continuing to allow God's Word to conform me. More into His image. We should always be open to seeking what God wants to change in us because there's always something. Amen. Failure to seek truth. Number two, failure to grasp truth.

The world struggles with truth by failure to grasp truth that is evident. That's evident. This is taught plainly in Romans 1 which says, God has clearly made Himself known to the world since creation by creation. But although there was a no, the unrighteous purposefully turned away from what they knew and lived in direct opposition to the truth. And because of that direct opposition, their minds were clouded and their hearts were darkened to it. Have you ever talked to someone and something is just as plain as day to you and they look at you like, I have no idea what you're talking about. I have no idea what you're talking about. Darkened to the truth. And we're living in a world where we're talking about the world today full of clouded minds and darkened hearts. Minds and hearts that have been turned over to their own impurity to dishonorable passions. Romans 1.28 which we'll read in a moment says, God has given them over to a debased mind to do what should not be done. Now we attach this passage in Romans 1 typically to one sin which is definitely spelled out. In fact, let me read, I have 28 on the screen I believe, but let me begin reading in verse 28. 24 of Romans 1.

That's a plain reading of God's word. God's word is truth. The plain reading of that is homosexuality. We don't apologize for it. We don't say it with malice. We just say it as a full reading of what God's word is. So we say it unapologetically. That's what it means. You have to do an awful lot of word gymnastics. To make that mean anything else than what it says. But let's keep reading. Verse 28. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetous, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. They are foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. That's through 31. I'm going to save 32.

So yes, Romans 1, 24 through 27 is about homosexuality. But look at everything that God says is a product of a debased mind. This passage is about a clouded mind and a darkened heart that God hands over to all kinds of sin. And to be true to Romans 1,

God has said, God has said, God has said, God has said, God has said, God has said, God has said, God has given these people over to where that's what identifies them. That's what identifies them. This is what they're known for. The believer, the believer can fall into this, but should be convicted when this becomes something that they do. So don't think for a moment that you can't fall into that. The Spirit should convict us, and it should pierce us, and not only that, but continue reading in verse 32. Not only do people practice those things, but give approval to those who practice them. So God is saying here through Paul that what is associated with the debased mind are all kinds of things, including the approval of these things. And I don't have it on the screen, but if you look over in chapter 2, verse 2, Paul says the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

You ever gossip? It's in the list. If you don't, do you bend your ear toward it when somebody else does it? Give approval to it that way? That's the product of a debased mind. It's in the same group of verses that we would identify with, that God identifies with a debased mind that's not of God. Do you ever boastful, foolish, haughty? Do you ever give approval? Do you ever boastful to anyone that is boastful, foolish, haughty? I'm not saying that's a product of a debased mind. God is saying that is the product of a debased mind, and it should pierce us, and it should pierce us. Are we grasping this? I don't think that we take for granted God's standard. God's standard is holiness. First Peter 1, 15 to 16 says, be holy. For I am holy. And I think we read Romans 1, and we go, God's standard is holiness. Yes, we should be thankful for forgiveness, and we should be thankful for grace, but are we grasping this truth of God's standard? Failure to seek truth, failure to grasp truth, failure to live truth, failure to live truth. In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul is alluding to the very thing we just talked about in Romans 1. He urges the church, they're at Ephesus, to no longer walk as the Gentiles because their minds have been darkened and alienated from God because of their hardness of heart. And he says, don't live like that anymore. That's not who you are. And the implication there, if he's telling them not to live like that, the implication there is we are in danger, we are capable of falling into old ways of living before salvation. Let's not let that be said of us. We should, at all times, in all ways, be people of truth, not just in knowledge of the truth, but in the way we live our lives. Ephesians 4.25 says, therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Sometimes the truth stings. It should sting when we hear it, and we're out of line, and sometimes we're going to say true things, and it's going to sting other people. That's just how truth works.

The world should be able to look at us as followers of Christ and see a straight line of truth over time, a straight line of truth, because God's Word doesn't change.

And so many churches have buckled on truth because society has changed. Let's not let that be said of us. I'm afraid the church is softening on truth, and if we're not careful, we can use truth as a utility. What do I mean by that? If it helps us, we're all about it. We're all about it if it helps us, but when it stings us and when it forces us to make a correction, make a change, we don't want to have anything to do with it. And I'm afraid that is the direction that the church is going in.

You ever lie? You ever try to save face? You ever try to make yourself look a little better in certain situations, goose the truth a little bit? You ever try to make yourself look a little better in certain situations, goose the truth a little bit? So that your story seems a little bit more dramatic than it actually is? Today, lying is the cool thing. Lying is in. Lying is trendy. It is just assumed through the natural course of talk that lying is going to be a part of it. I came across this essay in the New York Times on lying from 2022. The headline on the essay was, How I Became a Pathological Liar. And he listed, some lies that he tells on the regular, and then he said this, If I ever thought of these as lies, I soon came to see them as part of the etiquette of poverty, a means of getting by for the poor, and also a gift we give to the rich, a practice that lets us avoid talking about the uncomfortable differences between us. Over time, it just becomes second nature. Observing this etiquette doesn't feel dishonest because its falsehoods recognize the deeper truth that many of society's institutions are hostile to the poor. Lying to the landlord keeps a roof over us. Lying to the social worker keeps our family together. Lying to ourselves allows us to believe it's all going to be okay somehow, someday. That kind of lying, he says, is not so much learned as imposed. How easy it is for us to rationalize ourselves away from the truth. Let that not be said of us. And you're probably sitting there going, it's the New York Times, of course. That's all they do. A very respected conservative author said, to, I suppose, make the case that God needs us to lie. God is not a moralistic fuss budget or nitpicking God who is lying in wait. When we tell a lie for a larger good, he does not swoop in and say, aha, and condemn us. If we know who God truly is, we know that he is not against us, but for us. There's a lot of truth in that statement, isn't there? God's not a fuss budget. True. He's not nitpicking. He's not against us. True. He's for us. True. But when we put up on ourselves to determine when we can be people of truth and not be, what do we need God for? What do we need God for? To think that God needs us to lie, that God's kingdom plans just aren't going to happen if we don't help him out a little bit by lying. Aren't there places in scripture that talk about how damaging that can be? And aren't we seeing the ramifications of that in the world today? You think Abraham thought he was lying for the greater good when he told Abimelech that he and Sarah were brother and sister? You may say, well, that's a half-truth, Lance. What's the phrase? A half-truth is a, you think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have just rationalized lying about their allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar to avoid a fiery furnace? When, of course, their hearts were loyal to God. They could have just bowed down and crossed their fingers and put it behind their back. You think Paul could have avoided a dozen beatings and been able to get from city to city to evangelize more people more expeditiously if he just told the city authorities what they wanted to hear, even if he really didn't mean it? I mean, I could go on and offer other examples, but we've already established earlier this morning that we can't be the absolute standard. So it's dangerous when we take it upon ourselves to decide we can throw God's command away to be truthful.

And I hope you know that as we talk about this, I'm talking to myself here. We should value truth so much that we uphold its value even when it costs us. Because if we don't have truth, we don't have anything. That's one reason why society is crumbling under us, and I think it is a primary reason because we have given up on truth. One of the reasons the church is losing its place in America today is because for many, truth is a moving target. Let's not let that sit about us. Truth is what? Truth is God and what God says. So our response to close. Display and protect truth consistently. Display and protect truth consistently. Proverbs 12, 19 says, truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Adrian Rogers said this about truth and how we are to handle it. He said, it is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It is better to stand alone with the truth than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. Do you display truth? Is it evident in the way that you live, the words you say, your posture? One of the Greek words translated true in the New Testament is alethes. It's used 26 times, and part of the connotation of this specific word is unconcealed, unconcealed. We should be people who not only know truth, that's job one, but knowing is not enough. Are we displaying truth? Is it evident that we are people of truth? David Wells said this in his book, No Place for Truth. He said, the rubber really meets the road when the demands of God's truth come face to face with the pull of culture. When the demands of God's truth comes face to face with the pull of culture. And that's as clear as day in this age. So we display the truth, but we also protect it. My mom and dad helped me get my first car when I was 17. It was a, 1984 Renault Encore, a real babe magnet. When I went down Temple Avenue in Fayette, it was like the Beatles were coming to town. I mean, girls were just throwing themselves on top of that car. But to me, I didn't care. I didn't care. They didn't have the money. So they borrowed the money so that I could get a job and pay it back, $3,300. And I can remember when they went to the bank, they asked for the money in cash. And I can remember when they came back out of the bank, I was sitting in the back seat and they handed me the money and they wanted me to know what $3,300 was. About $3,250 more than I'd ever had in my hand in my life.

And to me, that represented, what does a car represent to a 17-year-old? Everything. To me, that represented freedom. And I can remember holding that envelope in my hand, and it was about a five-minute drive from the bank to where the car was. And I thought, what if I don't have the money? And I thought, what if I don't have the money? And I thought, what if we get robbed? Doesn't everybody know I've got this money in my hand? And I'm starting to develop this plan about if we get robbed, about how I'm protecting this $3,300. And I'm like, okay, if they come from this side, this is what I'm going to do. And if, wait, if they come from this side, this is what I'm going to do. And I started to develop all sorts and kinds of battle plans to protect this $3,300 because it was everything to me. Do you think about truth that way? Do you think about truth that way? Do you think about truth that way? Do you think about truth that way? Do you think about God's truth that way that you are going to protect it with everything that you have? Because where society is going today, obviously not the case. The church should hold truth so valuable. They should protect it with everything that they have. The truth has always been an object of assault, just like we said, since the garden. But in the world we live in now, where our life spreads a thousand times faster than the truth, it's so important that we are protectors of the truth. So God is truth. God is what God says is truth. We can struggle with truth by failure to seek it. We can struggle with truth by failure to grasp it. We can struggle with truth by failure to live it. And our response as followers of Christ should be to display, lay, and protect truth consistently. Let that be us. Let that be what Ridgecrest is known for. Would you stand with me? I'm going to pray for us. And as I pray for us, this is what our time to respond is. If you've never responded to the truth of God, this is your opportunity. This is your opportunity. Salvation is here. And if you've never come to a saving knowledge of Christ as your Lord and your Savior, you have an opportunity to respond to that truth right now. If you have, and you're thinking, Lance, I don't know that I have really valued truth as much, and I need to do that. That needs to be me. This is an opportunity for you as well to dedicate your life and your family's life to that.

Doors of our church are always open. If you want to be connected with a church that believes all of God's word and is not ashamed of all of God's word, then we would love to have you here at Ridgecrest. So those are the opportunities and the ways that you can respond. Pastor, being gone, we always take it very seriously when we are here and we fill in. I know Chuck does, and Chase, and Aaron, and all of those. And I know Chuck does, and Chase, and Aaron, and all of those. And I know those that fill in. And I just want to thank you for allowing us to be able to do that. And I pray that this time that we're about to go into a time of response would yield fruit. Thank you. Let's pray. Father, your truth, your truth. I'm so glad that you let us respond to the broadcast today. I hope you've been encouraged by God's word. Sure has been a joy to share it with you. And even now, people at Ridgecrest are making decisions, for Christ. Perhaps as you've watched this broadcast, you've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ. The prompting of the Spirit has caused you to recognize that you need Christ as your Savior. And the good news is you can receive him right where you are. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right where you are, you can call on him. Say something like this from your heart to him. Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. I know I'm a sinner, and I know that you came into this world and died on the cross for my sins. And right now I invite you to come into my life, forgive me and be my Savior. I can assure you if you call on him based on what God has already told us in the Bible, that he'll hear that prayer and he'll answer that. And he wants to begin this new journey in your life with you, transforming you into his image. We'd love to help you with that decision as well. You'll see a QR code on your screen. And if you would scan that or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to hear from you. Thank you. help you take next steps. There are no strings attached, no fees involved. We just like to help you begin that journey with Christ. You may be watching this broadcast today and say, I need a church family to belong to. I already know Christ as my Savior, and I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family. Also, if you will, scan that QR code. That'll take you to a location, and we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions, like becoming a member here, or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things. So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen. Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today, and I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word. Whatever decision we can help you with, by all means, contact us. May the Lord bless you.