Welcome, church. Welcome to community church this mo Redeemer Community Church. Community Church. Redeemer Community Church this morning. We're so happy and thankful that you're here worshiping, with us.
Collin Hansen:If this is your first time, welcome. Understand that if you don't like the way I do it, the head pastor will be back. I'm I'm not I'm not here every week. My name is Craig Millard for those of you who don't know me, but I am, as Matt said, the college minister here, at the church. I have the wonderful privilege to serve our students, that come from a number of different campuses, here in the city.
Collin Hansen:I'm honored and blessed and thankful for that opportunity. I've been on staff, my wife and I, have been here at Redeemer since October, and we're super thankful. You can be praying for her. We welcome our first child in 12 days or so. So really, anytime.
Collin Hansen:So be praying for her and, pray for me. We're just happy she didn't come today or yesterday. That would have been bad, because I don't know what we would have done. But so so happy to be here. So thankful, to be bringing, you to god's word.
Collin Hansen:Looking back, Dwight, last week, guys, did a great job of laying out for us how to personally pursue God through our giving, through our prayer and our fasting. He focused on what we were in Matthew 6:1-18. And those verses focused a good bit on the equipping that is done for oneself in the privacy of the sanctuary, alright, in order for our hearts to be occupied with Christ. See, as we transition into verses 19 and 24, the focus is on how we're supposed to approach the world. So we're going to go from the privacy of the sanctuary out into the world, after first preparing ourselves in Christ.
Collin Hansen:So we're gonna take what Dwight spoke about last week, on, preparing our hearts in the secret places, and now apply it, apply that posture to equipping ourselves to face the world, and the temptations and trials in it. One of the quickest ways the devil tries to, steal our affections for the father is to distract us with the things of the world, as we'll see today. He wants us to love creation over the creator, the temporal things over the eternal, and this is especially hard as we are called to live in the world as Christians, but not be overcome by it. See, Jesus isn't so much, as we'll see today, concerned about our possessions, but rather our attitudes and feelings towards our possessions, our heart as it relates to the things of this world. So we will walk through 3 different matters of the heart that direct us in how we ought to live in the world without being overcome by it.
Collin Hansen:We will see that the posture of our heart ought to be on bringing glory to God. The focus of our heart ought to be on the knowing of God, and the allegiance of a heart ought to be in Christ alone. Let's go ahead and go to Matthew 6:19 to 24. Follow along with me. It says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
Collin Hansen:But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
Collin Hansen:If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? No one can serve 2 masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Is the word of the lord. Let's pray.
Collin Hansen:Dear heavenly father, we come here today to hear, from your word. To hear, what your word has for us. Father, it is amazing, that that your word that was written down over 2000 years today is so applicable to our lives in the here and now. So I pray, god, that we would have open hearts to receive, what you have for us today. Father, that we would be encouraged where we need to be encouraged and convicted where we need to be convicted.
Collin Hansen:All in the hopes, Lord, that we would fall deeper in love with you. Pray, Father, that, your words would be lifted high and my words would fall to the ground. Pray all these things in your name. Amen. See, as we've seen throughout our walking through of the sermon Sermon of the Mount, Jesus is laying out what his kingdom looked like looks like.
Collin Hansen:Oftentimes, as well as here, Jesus' goal is to correct and refute the incorrect views of the Jews on his kingdom. See, Jews expected the Messiah to come to be this temporal prince, which would lead them to experiencing great prosperity, an abundance of riches, honors, and pleasures. They hoped he would come in, take over, and bring great possessional prosperity to his people. The problem is that they had a completely incorrect expectation of what the coming messiah was going to do. Jesus chose the Jews in his kingdom, the happiness he gives is not carnal or temporal, but rather rather eternal and is found not on earth but in heaven.
Collin Hansen:It's easy for us to look at the Jews from our perspective and say, how could you have missed it? How could you have read his scriptures? How could you have looked at Isaiah and not seen that the coming messiah was to be a suffering king? How could you have thought of him in this way? But as we go throughout our time today, we will see that even though we might not say that we view Jesus in the way the Jews did, we relate to him as if, as if we do.
Collin Hansen:We expect for things to go our way, to get things we long for, and to have comfortable, prosperous lives, all because we follow God. See, we go to God for his gift and forget that he himself is the gift. Let's go ahead and dive into the scripture. We're gonna we're just gonna walk through. There's 3 sections here.
Collin Hansen:We'll just go 1, 2, 3. First part, verses 19 to 21. Read through it again. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth or rust destroy or where the thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Collin Hansen:For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. First point. The posture of our heart ought to be on bringing glory to God. I'll say it again. The posture of our heart ought to be on bringing glory to God.
Collin Hansen:The focus of verses verses 19 to 21 is on the laying up of treasures, whether it be here on earth or in heaven. See, Jesus starts with the prohibition of laying up treasures on earth, and then he follows it with a command to lay them up in heaven. He gives examples of why we shouldn't lay up the treasures on earth, talking about where moth and rust destroy, where thieves can steal, and then he's going to speak directly to our heart. In order to talk through the scripture, though, we need to first define some key terms. See, when I read the word like lay up, I think we're just placing it on a shelf.
Collin Hansen:But when we read to lay up, to lay up treasures in heaven, it simply means to first gather together, so you're collecting, accumulating an abundance of things, and then you're going to hoard or heap that up together. When I think of hoard, I think of the show Hoarders, where these people are collecting all they have, and then they're super protective of what that which they have. So When we talk about laying up treasures in heaven, we're talking about gathering together and then hoarding or heaping it up. And then treasure is multifaceted here, but in the simplest terms, means wealth in abundance, as it's talking about here. It means wealth in abundance.
Collin Hansen:And typically, when we hear wealth in abundance, the first thing we think about is money. Now, I think a lot of us in here would not say that we truly believe that we have wealth in abundance. And the reason for this is because in the American dream that we are a part of, we look to our left and we look to our right, and we see people that have more than us. Or we're so focused on accumulating more wealth. We're not satisfied with that which we've been given, and we are always working towards that next promotion, that next raise, accumulating more money.
Collin Hansen:But the truth of the matter is, whether you think you are have wealth in abundance or not, truth of the matter is, we, as Americans, are grossly more well off than the the vast majority of the rest of the world. If you don't believe believe me, well, certainly, we're more well off than Jesus Christ himself as he walked the earth. But yet, he didn't seem concerned at all about money or where his next, material possession came from. And if Jesus is to be our example, then I think we have to pause and examine what we have and how we view it. If we are honest, our hearts are far too occupied with the accumulation of wealth, the security it brings, and the fear of losing it, myself included.
Collin Hansen:It came on in October, and I left the business world. I I would love to tell you that when I when when I thought about coming on staff, that I was like, hey. No problem. The the drop in pay, all that the ceiling of how much I can make. Right?
Collin Hansen:Nobody gets in ministry for the money. Hey. That's totally cool with me. Probably lying to you and say, I had to pray through those emotions. I had to pray through my view of money and what I would have the potential to earn in my life.
Collin Hansen:Even those of us in ministry are not immune to these feelings. The bible says that materialism is as offensive to God as sexual sin. It's more dangerous because it is hidden, and we are constantly confusing our wants and needs. So treasure surely means money, surely means possessions. But the context here is not only on possessions.
Collin Hansen:It implies that it's an accumulation of things as a focus of joy, that which you treasure. We all have treasures in some shape or form. Treasures can be money, but they can also be honor, status, respect, approval, family, a wife, a spouse, your kids, your job, degree. It is whatever we treasure for true happiness. And the last term, it says upon earth or on earth that we're it says do not lay up treasures on earth.
Collin Hansen:It backs up this definition of treasures because it doesn't speak to a place, but rather to the kinds of treasures. Treasures upon earth speaks to anything that stops or ends in this life. Anything that you cannot take with you after death. Like I said, we we all store up treasures in some shape or form. We look to things of this world for fulfillment, for satisfaction, for security, and happiness.
Collin Hansen:So I want you to ask yourself, what is it that you believe is necessary for true happiness? What in your life is your heart consumed with? Let me go ahead and ask it maybe in a different way. Think about your greatest nightmare. Think about what what is it that if you lost it or was taken from you, you would question your purpose and exist existence.
Collin Hansen:Or maybe you're more optimistic. Think about your daydreams. Where does your mind, where does your heart go when all the distractions of the world are are quieted out? What is it that you think about when there's nothing else to think about? See, where your mind goes to, and what it settles on, is the true affection of your heart.
Collin Hansen:This reveals our deepest desires and our longings. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Is it on the things of this world? Things that will stop or end in this life? Are you looking to your success to bring you happiness?
Collin Hansen:Maybe it's that job promotion, that vacation that you're trying to work to that you say, hey, if we can just get there, I'll be happy. Or maybe it's just living for the weekend. It's like, man, if I can get there and just have fun there, man, then I'll I'll be good. Or it's that pay bumper. It's your family.
Collin Hansen:Like I've said, respect, your honor. What is it that when you lose it or it's or when it's it's it's, at risk of being gone, do you question? What is it that you seek to gather together and store up in order to obtain happiness in this life? Whatever it is that you say that ends in this life, we must be wary of it becoming our treasure. For where our treasure is, there your heart is also.
Collin Hansen:These things in themselves, I wanna say, are not sinful. Your family, your kids in themselves are not sinful. Striving towards that job promotion is not sin sinful in itself. But we when our hope and our worth is tied to obtaining those things or them being in a good position, it shows our idolatrous hearts. Just like people look to created idols, we look to things of this world for our worth.
Collin Hansen:We look to things of this world for our purpose. So if not Christ, the things we treasure most reveal the idols of our heart. Now I do want to note here that scripture, he's not prohibiting 2 very key things. Jesus is not prohibiting working towards, getting your necessities for the present and your future. He's also not prohibiting the accumulation of wealth.
Collin Hansen:And we see that because we see individuals like Abraham, Lot, and David, who were rich beyond most any of us in here would ever know. But it's talking about your heart and your posture towards it. Jesus is clear. If we treasure the things of the world more than the things of god, then we are in the wrong. Our loves are in the incorrect order.
Collin Hansen:We are worshiping the creation over the creator, and we depend on temporal things for our fulfillment and happiness. We get things that don't and aren't meant to last. We constantly are turning to things that end in this world, are so easily taken from us, and it leaves us crushed and wanting more. It even stifles us from truly living with full ambition and and and living in our interests and our hopes in this life because we're confining them to this life. We're choosing a happy meal when a 5 star feast in Christ is available for you.
Collin Hansen:So if this is what it looks like to store up treasures on earth, then what does it look up to store up treasures in heaven? We must ask ourselves first what is what truly is our treasure and then how do we lay it up for ourselves? As to the real treasure, the only thing that stands eternal, the only thing that can give you eternal hope and love and joy and peace, is the eternal true and living God. The one who made and governs all things. He is the true treasure.
Collin Hansen:The true gift. He is the one where all good and true happiness is found in the here and now. In Genesis, he's referred he's referred to as our exceeding great reward. In Job, it states that he is our gold and in Psalms over and over again he's directly referred to as our treasure. But let us be clear.
Collin Hansen:The fullness of God as our treasure is revealed in Christ who is our treasure. So if the incarnate God, Christ, is our treasure, then how may we lay up in heaven the divine treasures, found in Christ? There are a few different ways that we can do this but the focus today is by acting as his stewards using the goods or gifts, he has entrusted us with for his glory. 1st Corinthians 10:31 says whatever we do, may we do it for the glory of God. Almost all of us will say that we hope for happiness in the next world.
Collin Hansen:But what what do we now do or what do we now make our chief good or goal? How are we stewarding our time, our money, our goods, our relationships? Is it for temporal pleasures and satisfactions or is it for the glory of God? You must ask yourself, how do I use what I have been given for the glory of God? See, because at the end of the day, it is God who we all must answer to.
Collin Hansen:It is God who we have to give an account for how we stewarded what we were given. We've all been given something in life and hopefully you've identified what it is you treasure. But we must not cling to these things we have been given to defend them from becoming the center of our lives. The focus of our lives. So in order to steward our possessions and treasures well is to have a right view of life.
Collin Hansen:We are but pilgrims in this world, on a journey to our father. Our ultimate good, and this is what's crazy to me, our ultimate good is tied to God's glory. Not our ultimate good all the way down the road, but our present ultimate good ultimate good is tied with bringing God glory. He promises that when we bring glory to him, it is for our good. How amazing is that?
Collin Hansen:Because in him are pleasures forevermore. In him is joy unending in the here and now. It's available for you. Yes. These things, like I said, are looking towards eternity, but he is speaking these things over our present state, in our current condition.
Collin Hansen:Our eternal good is tied to our present good, which ultimately leads to bringing him glory, and it all flows from his glory. So the sooner we are able to truly say and believe this, the sooner we have things in the right perspective. Martyn Lloyd Jones, he talked about 2 different individuals. He talked about the worldly man and the Christian man. He says the worldly man says, all that I can and have is mine and owned and by me.
Collin Hansen:I will do what I will. While the Christian man says, I am not the owner of these things. I merely have them on lease, and they don't belong to me. Lord, do what you will. See, in 1st Corinthians 47, it states, what do we have that you did not receive?
Collin Hansen:Then if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? At the very least, the one who is seeking to store up treasures in heaven, looks at the things he or she has has and has been given, and asks, how can I use it to bring glory to God? How can I use it to glorify my savior? What is your chief goal in life? Is it to chase temporal satisfactions, pleasures, and securities here?
Collin Hansen:Or is it to store treasures in heaven by bringing glory to God? The posture of our heart ought to be on glorifying God. For in Christ, it is the only place you will find complete joy and satisfaction in your life now. So if the posture of heart is to be on glorifying God, we're gonna go to verse 22 and 23 to see our next key point. Verse 22.
Collin Hansen:The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? The focus of our heart ought to be on knowing God.
Collin Hansen:I think the natural next question that people ask is, okay, so I need to use all that I have to glorify God. How do I do it? What do I do? Right? What what how much how much money should I give away?
Collin Hansen:Just tell me that exact number. What what do I need to do? What exact ministry do I need to to serve in? How do I use that extra bit of time I have in my week? Pastor, tell me.
Collin Hansen:What should I do? Point me to scripture where it tells me where I should go. But scripture oftentimes leaves it a bit ambiguous. So there are a few things about there are a few things about God's will for our life that are clear in scripture, individually. The main one that is clear is the great commission that flows from the great command.
Collin Hansen:No matter where we are called, no matter what we have, we are called to love God and love people. And out of that flows to making disciples and teaching them all that God has commanded us. For what to do outside of this to bring glory to God? It can get a bit fuzzy. But these verses speak to how we find out.
Collin Hansen:Verses 22 and 23. At first glance, and I would look at it, I I thought it was a bit confusing and quite quite frankly, a bit repetitive. What does it mean that the eye is the lamp of the body? In all honesty, this is typically a passage I jump over because I think it was just a retelling. I assumed it was a retelling of verses 19 to 21.
Collin Hansen:But after close examination, it speaks volumes, it speaks volumes about how to store up treasures in heaven, how we use what we have to glorify god. So let's break it down quickly. Verse 22 says that the eye is the lamp of our body, and if the eye is healthy, then the whole body is full of light, light representing, being in the presence of God, being in, righteousness before him, being one in God. This implies that the health of the eye dictates the illumination of the body. If our eye is focused on that which brings health, then the whole body is healthy.
Collin Hansen:Although, if it is focused on that which doesn't bring life, then the whole body is in darkness. The activities of the body are dictated according to that which is received through the eye, what we're taking in. Taking a step further, if the eye is healthy, then it's going to pursue perceive the things in this world in a correct manner. It's going to view our money. It's gonna view our jobs.
Collin Hansen:It's gonna view our relationships from a heavenly perspective. But if the eye is not healthy, then the things of the world are not perceived correctly. They're perceived incorrectly. The way we view our money and our jobs and our family and our things is from a worldly perspective. So if things are perceived properly, then we're able to navigate the world in the light.
Collin Hansen:But if we perceive them, if it's, looked through, in an unhealthy eye, then we we walk through life blind, stumbling over everything. Many commentators say that the eye is, an illustration for the heart of a man. If the heart is focused on all goodness in Christ, then we will be motivated towards Christian action. If the heart is evil, covetous, hard, or envious, the bible often refers to it similarly similarly as an evil eye. But what makes a good eye?
Collin Hansen:What makes one that is healthy? Simply, a good eye is one that has been illuminated by the Spirit of God, and one which is dominated and confined by the truth. The singularity of the use of the word I points to a singular focus of the eye. In order for the whole body to be healthy, the focus of the eye or the heart must be on that which brings life, God. The focus of our heart ought to be on the knowing of God.
Collin Hansen:If we have been reconciled and redeemed through Jesus, our goal ought to be growing in knowledge of god. First John states that those who know and love god will keep his commands. You can't keep commands for which you don't know. So we must individually be in communion with god, as Dwight talked about last week. I can't point you to a scripture that tells you what you need to do with that that extra money that you have.
Collin Hansen:I can't point you to a scripture to tell you exactly what ministry to to pour your time into or what you need to do with your extra time in order to glorify God. But I can guarantee you that if you have communion with God, if you spend time in his word, if you spend time in prayer and in meditation, you will not only grow in knowledge, but you also grow in obedience, which leads to a deeper love of God. I love the book of 1 John because it clearly lays this out. That as we those of us that are in Christ Jesus, if we seek to know God more, it will lead to the desire to obey his commands, because we see that his commands are for our good and in them as great delight, which will then lead to a deeper love of God. And that deeper love of God circles back around to lead to our desire to want to know him more.
Collin Hansen:See, your eye will be focused on the light source, which in turn will illuminate your whole being. You will see what God is calling you to do with what you've been given, in order to bring glory to him. But even in this, in our sinful flesh and our sinful nature, we can take what we hear in prayer, or we can take what we read in scripture, and we're we're tempted to distort that. We're tempted to change it to to to make it sound what we want to hear. So I encourage all of us that on top of this, to find deep community, people in your inner circle that love you enough that love you enough to challenge you and call you out when you're wrong, and to point you back to scripture.
Collin Hansen:Because if you, in your inner circle, have people that are not doing this, then you need to have a new inner circle. And your life will be greatly enriched because of it. In order for us to bring glory to God with the things we've been given, the focus of our hearts must be on the knowing of God. We must be a people who commune with God. Last section, verse 24.
Collin Hansen:No one can serve 2 masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve god and money. So if our the posture of our heart ought to be on glorifying god and the focus of our heart ought to be on the knowing of god, we're going to miss it if we miss this last point, because the allegiance of our heart ought to be in Christ alone. Say it a different way. The devotion of our heart ought to be on Christ alone.
Collin Hansen:Verse 24 is Jesus' 3rd illustration for of how we are to live in this world, but be a member of his kingdom. It is clear from first glance that Jesus continues the same pattern of drawing a distinction between two forces. He is distinguished between the two treasures, worldly and heavenly. He's distinguished between the 2 lights, that sorry, the 2 eyes, which is either focused on the light or the dark. And now he's going to speak to 2 masters.
Collin Hansen:What he says speaks volumes to where the allegiance or devotion of the heart must be. In fact, I believe this verse speaks very clearly to those of us that live here in Birmingham, Alabama, in the hub of culture of Christianity. We have been fed this lie that we can both live for Christ and for this world. We can live with 1 foot in and one foot out. See, if you don't believe me, I had to think back over the summer as we listened to the Sermon on the Mount.
Collin Hansen:And far too often, my heart asked, did Jesus really say that? Did he really mean that? See, we ask that question in order to get away with being the masters of our own lives. So we can get away with living in the world. We're people that wanna push that line as far as we can.
Collin Hansen:How much can I get away with but yet still get this over here? We believe we can lay up treasures in both on both earth and in heaven, because we deal with Jesus as somewhat of an insurance card, or we just deal with him when he's convenient for us, Not as our master or our lord. Jesus is very clear here. There is no possible way for us to be ruled by more than one master. If God is not our master, then the world and its entities will be.
Collin Hansen:If we attempt to love the things of the world and God, we will most certainly fail in our love for god. James 44 states that whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of god. Let that sink in. If you're trying to be a friend of the world, if your question is how if you live your life, how far or how much can I do, it's very clear that if you're a friend of the world, you are an enemy of god? And the original Greek points out two clear distinctions of what Jesus is saying here about servitude and, the other master.
Collin Hansen:First, the word serve does not signify doing an occasional act of obedience for. It signifies being a bondservant or a slave to that which is its master, constantly and entirely subject to his will. Secondly, the word other points to 2 opposing forces. The other is not saying another that is like the first, but rather an other that is in opposition to the first. The 2 masters that Jesus is speaking of are of opposing forces.
Collin Hansen:It is impossible to serve wholeheartedly 2 opposing forces or masters. 1st John 2:15 states that if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. This is a high and serious call for those in in his kingdom. So we must take it as serious as he does. And you can hear you can walk away from this morning.
Collin Hansen:You can walk away with those first two points, and you can say, yeah. Okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna ask the question. How do I use everything I have to glorify God? How can God lead me.
Collin Hansen:I'm I'm gonna get in your word every day. I'm gonna pray every single day. I'm gonna get people around me that are gonna push me in the right direction. And it's it's it's possible to to hear and do those first two points, and still miss it. You can spend time focused on his word and in prayer.
Collin Hansen:You can seek communion with Jesus and not get it. Our allegiance must be in Christ alone, just like we can't trust in our treasures of this world to save. We can't trust in our good deeds and our good actions to save us either. If we do all of these things, we miss the point of following Jesus. These high calls that he is calling us to live by, yes, we seek towards them.
Collin Hansen:We seek to be more like Christ. But we, as still sinful people, will fall short. And the only way we can strive forward towards the kingdom of heaven is with our trust and complete submittal to Christ alone. See, we'll be like the older brother from the prodigal son, who labored all of his days to work towards earning the father's love, trying to earn it in everything that he did, when the whole while those in Christ Jesus are already loved and known by God completely. All that the father is already ours.
Collin Hansen:We could be like the rich young ruler as Jeff talked talked about 2 weeks ago. And we could truly believe that we're obeying all of the commandments that God has called us to. But if we aren't willing to give up our entire lives for Christ, then we'll miss out on his kingdom. Our hearts must be like Matthew 1344. We must view the kingdom of heaven as a treasure in the field, that in great joy, we sell all that we have to obtain it.
Collin Hansen:The only way obtain we obtain any of this is through Jesus Christ. It is through his saving work on the cross that allows us to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is his blood poured out for us daily that allows us to live in his kingdom, and it is his sacrifice that allow us to feast in his kingdom for eternity. It is not anything that we have done or will do. We can only do all the things.
Collin Hansen:Do all things for the glory of God through focusing on him, if we solely trust in Christ alone. The allegiance of our heart must be in Christ, and nothing else. Your treasure is Christ. The more you invest in that treasure, the more your heart will flow with things from Christ. The more you treasure Christ to seek to glorify him, the more you will experience spiritual prosperity on this earth.
Collin Hansen:A joy that is unwavering, a peace that is not shaken by the trials of this world, and a hope that cannot be shaken. Because your treasure is that which is eternal. Your treasure is that which promises to give you all of these things in Christ Jesus. And the beautiful thing about Jesus is that he knew that we were a forgetful people. He knew that week in week out, we would be tempted by the things of this world.
Collin Hansen:We would be tempted to look at the creation rather than the creator. And we would forget the saving work that he had done on the cross. But in Jesus' goodness, he gave us his table. He gave us his table that is a symbolism for us to come together and remember the sacrifice that he did for us on the cross. That he took on the full weight of our sins.
Collin Hansen:And that he cancelled the penalty of our sins. And that if we trust in him, our sins are forgiven, and we are made righteous not because we are righteous, but because Christ is righteous. And not only do we have a promise of hope in eternity, we have a promise of abundant life in the here and now. And so Jesus, his two symbols were the bread. He said he broke it, and he said, this is my body.
Collin Hansen:And he took the cup of wine, And he said, this is the blood of many sorry. The blood of the covenant poured out for many. This is for the forgiveness of sins. Take it and remember me. So it's exactly what we're going to do today.
Collin Hansen:As a forgetful people, I pray that you will sit there and allow the spirit to work on your heart. Where in your life are you treasuring things more than Christ? Where is your focus on that which is unhealthy when it should be on that which gives life? And ultimately, are you trusting in Christ alone? And if you're not, I plead with you.
Collin Hansen:Today, put your faith in Christ. And so we come here at the table today to in remembrance of the forgiveness that's given on the cross, but also in celebration of the new life that comes with it. So I pray my servers, you can go ahead and come on down. Dear heavenly father, we we thank you for the opportunity to come together freely and worship you and hear your word preached. Lord, I pray that that that your spirit would be working in our hearts now.
Collin Hansen:Lord, that you would reveal in us any any, inadequacies, lord, of of our love that we're putting in in the wrong place. Lord, that you will reveal to us any way that we are trusting in the things of this world more than Jesus Christ. Lord, you would bring us to our knees in repentance, to to give our whole lives to you, and that you would be our one true master, or that we would rest in the forgiveness you've given us. We pray all these things in your name. Amen.