Jesus + Something Better

You know, that's the fourth week I've seen "Jesus plus Starbucks". And I don't really see anything wrong with that. But that's for me.

We're gonna be in John chapter 6. Before you turn there, if you would join me in a word of prayer. Father, I pray that every word that's spoken, even as every word that has been sung to this point, that this is truth about You. That we would hear clearly from you. That the words that I speak today, that if there are any harsh edges, I pray that it's not because of me. I pray that it's just the surgical precision of the sword of Your spirit, by which you shave away the flesh residue on our hearts. I pray God that we would not miss what you want to say to us. Help me to get out of the way so you can speak to all of us, myself included. I ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

As you're going to John chapter 6, have you ever walked into a situation having an expectation for one thing, but ending up finding that what you experienced was actually far better than your expectation? Maybe you began a romantic relationship. And for many of the guys, myself included, that was what's the prettiest person that's going to be able to tolerate someone looking like me? What's that ratio, right? Like, she's already out of my league. I understand that. But, what's close to my league, alright? If I can start there. Maybe that's how it began, and as a physical attraction that was what began the romantic relationship, but maybe what you found as you went along in that relationship was that you discovered a companionship, a lifelong bond, an intimacy that went beyond anything you had expected. It was actually better than what you had expected.

Maybe as parents, or starting a family, and you said, hey let's create little versions of us, cause that'll be fun. Oh, how wrong you were. No, you thought, hey let's create little versions of us. This will be will be a good thing. Or maybe that was part of your retirement plan. They'll grow up and take care of you, right? Maybe that was your plan. But what you found in bringing these little miracles literally into your home, is that you found that the joy of being a parent goes beyond seeing which parent they look like. And as you see them discover the world and learn about things, that that actually gives you a deep, deep contentment. It was actually better than what you had expected. That's the case for me.

Or maybe you began a new job because you had an economic need. And so, it's like, well I need to pay the bills, so this will work. But what you found actually in doing that, you had this expectation, but what maybe what you found was that it was way better than that. And you and you actually identified a calling a passion that you didn't even know was there, a skill set that you didn't know you had. And so it was actually better than what you had expected.

I don't know why you came to Jesus. Maybe you had a very real need. Maybe you had a very foxhole like "God if you get me out of this" kind of conversation. Maybe you were wracked with guilt, loneliness. I don't know what it is that brought you, but I'm confident that if you have truly centered your life on Jesus, not had him as an attachment to your life, not as a decoration on the wall, but the centerpiece, the foundation. I'm confident that whatever your expectation was when you met Jesus, that He is actually exceeded that, that He's actually better than what you thought. That's what I believe.

John 6 is a story about just that. Let me bring you up to speed about what's been going on in John 6 to the point where I'm gonna lead us today. There's a story in the beginning of John six were Jesus feeds 5,000 men. The Scripture tells us there were 5,000 men. Maybe women and children there too, so maybe this crowd was maybe the 15 to 20,000 range. Either way, this is no small crowd. And nobody in that crowd planned ahead. There was no Panera on the way. And there they are, late at night, everyone's getting hungry, and Jesus tells his disciples we need to feed these people. There's nothing. They didn't bring any food. It's going to take, you know, so many dollars to be able to feed this multitude.

The only person that did plan ahead was a little boy. He had five loaves, two fish. Maybe biscuits would be a better translation. He was a poor child. Barley, we're told that they're loaves of barley bread, was a poor person's food. So he didn't have much. Little tiny biscuits, little tiny fish. And Jesus multiplies the bread and the fish and feeds maybe 5,000, maybe more than that. But at least 5,000. And really once you're over a thousand, it's impressive either way, right? It's like the difference between 5 and 20 doesn't matter. Amazing.

But what's the point of that story? Now before you answer, before you answer, what's the point of that story is, it's helpful for us to know where in John's Gospel we find this, also why John the gospel writer included it. Because John is the only gospel writer, even though this miracle is the only miracle other than the resurrection that shows up in all four Gospels, the feeding of the 5,000. John is the only gospel writer that actually tells us in his book why and how he selected his material. He tells us that in John 20, later on. Look at the verse, it's on the screen. John 20 verse 30 says, "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written, these ones are included, that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

So what about this story informs our belief? He says I've included, I've left out a lot, but what I have included I've included so that you might believe, and that by believing you may have life in his name. So what is in this story? Well yes, we see a miraculous distribution of food. And there's Jesus meeting a real tangible need. That's important. Yes, we see and we know that God is our provider, and so here's Jesus providing food. And, oh, by the way, they pick up all of the remnants from that distribution of food after everyone was full to their hearts and their stomachs content, and there were twelve baskets left over. Jesus is a good steward, he doesn't waste anything.

But none of those things, good though they are, none of those things are necessary for us to believe. None of those things are requirements for us to find life in Jesus. None of those things are necessary. They are merely by-products - byproducts - of the very central thing that John wants us to see. And what is that? Not that Jesus can do really cool tricks, or that he can do things that are cooler than all the other religious figures. No. That's not it at all. John wants to point us to something significant. That's why every time he talks about miracles, he talks about them as miraculous signs. That they are signs that point to something else. And we know that's going on because of what happens right after everyone eats this food this miraculous distribution to 5,000 men, maybe more than that.

Look at what verse 14 says in John chapter 6. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world." What prophet? Which prophet? Surely this is the prophet that is to come. Over 1,200 years before this, over 1,200 years before this encounter, Moses himself after hearing a message from God told the Israelite people these words in Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15. "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him."

So the people in the first century where we find them in John chapter 6 have the words of Deuteronomy 18 lingering in their minds, and they're waiting for a prophet like Moses. And after a miraculous distribution of food, they start to think, wait a minute, we're waiting for a prophet. We're waiting for one like Moses. This is him. This could be him. This is the one we're waiting for. And he was, and he wasn't. He was what they were waiting for, but also he wasn't.

Let me explain. With this understanding of expecting a prophet like Moses, here is how they connected the dots. Moses was the deliverer of the Jewish people when they were in slavery in Egypt. And Moses led them out of bondage, and led them through, fed them manna, bread from heaven. They fed them manna in the wilderness. Hold on, Jesus has just given us bread in the wilderness, out the middle of nowhere. And we're under the oppressor, Rome. So if we trade out Egypt and in the Moses story for Rome in the new Moses story, Jesus is the Moses we're waiting for. He's the deliverer. Instead of leading up leading the Jewish people out of the land of the oppressor Egypt, our Moses is going to lead us and free us from the oppressor in our land, Rome. And he was their deliverer, but Jesus wasn't what they wanted. He was what they needed. They had an expectation for who he was and what He was to do, but it was different from what He came to do.

And that's everything that John wants to show us in chapter 6. He's pointing us to the fact that Jesus is not just the old Moses a second time. He really is the new and better Moses. That's what the Jewish people wanted in the first century. They wanted the old Moses again. Kick Rome out. We need a king. We know that. Verse 15, it's not on the screen, says that after he heard these words that surely this is the prophet, verse 15 tells us if you have in front of you, Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. They wanted to make him king by force, and his kingdom was not to come into existence that way. So He knew exactly what they wanted to do. So He was the new Moses. He just wasn't the new Moses that they wanted. They had an expectation. But He was actually going to be better than their expectation. They wanted a Moses a second time.

You know what happens right after this encounter? The disciples, like okay, well I don't know where Jesus went. He went to a mountain by himself. So they get in a boat on the Sea of Galilee and they head over to the other side. And what they find when they're in the middle of the sea, the Sea of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, this is what they find. Look at verse 19. "When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened." Yeah, you would be too. "But he said to them, 'It is I; don't be afraid.'"

So everything John wants to show us is that Jesus isn't just the old Moses a second time. He's the new and better Moses. So the old Moses leads the people out of Egypt, parts the waters of the Red Sea, and walks across on dry land. But the new and better Moses, he walks right on top of the water. He doesn't split it and walk through on dry ground, he walks on top of the water. He's the new and the better Moses.

And then we miss this in our English translations, not because they're inferior, but because we don't understand the language as they did. And what John 6:20 actually literally says, is this: "I AM; don't be afraid. I AM; don't be afraid." That's not good English, but it makes perfect sense to his audience. You know why? "I AM" was the name that God gave to the old Moses in Exodus 3. Now the new and better Moses says, that's not just the God that I am representing, that's me, in the flesh. The new and better Moses isn't just a representative approxy. The new and better Moses is God in the flesh. "I AM; don't be afraid."

The story continues in verse 25. Follow along with me there. When they, that is the crowd, found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" We saw the boats leave, you weren't in there. Now you're over here on the other side. How did that happen? Verse 26, Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me," - these are heavy words - "not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Don't work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." Then they asked him, "What must we do? What must we do to do the work God requires?" What's our religious activity that we can do here? Verse 29, Jesus answered, "The work of God is this:..." It's not really work at all. "..to believe in the one he has sent." Verse 30. So they asked him, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?"

Hold on. Pause. Look at me. What sign? Did you guys have heat stroke yesterday? Do you remember that whole like five biscuits, two fish thing? Like 20,000 people on a hillside in the middle of nowhere? What sign? What more do you need, man? Are you kidding me? What more are you looking for? What sign? Well, what sign are you going to do, Jesus? Impress us. Are you kidding? He just did it. Maybe it's me.

They continue, verse 31. "Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness." From who? Moses. "..as it is written. He.." Who? Moses. "...gave them bread from heaven to eat."  Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it's not Moses who is giving you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "always give us this bread."

They still wanted a consumable. They still wanted something that would satisfy their hunger. They still wanted a product from Jesus' hand that they could live off of. Listen. They're putting the dots together. Moses. New Moses. Man, Jesus, if he's the new Moses, if he's the prophet we've been waiting for, man, not only is he gonna kick Rome out, give us our country back, not only is he gonna do all these things, but he's going to give us bread that we don't get hungry anymore. We don't even have to work. Think about how that appealed to their selfish desire. They don't get it. They don't understand what Jesus is saying. They want Jesus plus something better. They don't get it.

So Jesus answered them in verse 35, makes it more clear. "I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. But as I told you you have seen me," Listen to this. "You have seen me and still you do not believe." Verse 40. "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread of life that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

Verse 43. "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. And then verse 48. "I am the bread of life." He says it again. "Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here." I think he is pointing to himself. "Here is the bread that comes down from heaven which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread..." There it is again. "..that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world."

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "how can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

Three times in that passage he says, I am the bread of life. This is not about a consumable product. This is about you coming to me, coming to me for your sustenance, coming to me for your life. Unless you share in my life you don't have life, is basically what he's saying.

We all get turned around about this statement: "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood." It's evident that Jesus wasn't speaking literally, that he wasn't speaking about an actual cannibalistic thing. Of course, because he's speaking to Jewish people first, where cannibalism is outlawed in the law of Moses. Where drinking blood is outlawed in the law of Moses. He's not speaking literally. He's saying, quit looking to other things to satisfy the thing that only I can satisfy. Quit looking around the corner. Quit looking for another angle on this. This is.. it's about me. It's not some ritualistic meal. It's about coming to me. That's what he wants us to see in this passage.

And we know that, we don't to speculate about that. We know that because of what he says. Look at these two verses. Let me compare them, because their parallels in what Jesus says in verse 54 and in verse 40. Look at this. "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." But look at how verse 40, this is a parallel, okay. So that means that explain what he's talking about. "Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." Jesus isn't saying that there's two options to eternal life. He's saying: here's the figure of speech; here's what you do. Eat my flesh, drink my blood, this means look to me and believe that I'm enough. Look at me and believe that I'm enough.

But what they mistook, and what we mistake is that they never lifted their eyes up to look at the bread of life. They were still looking at the bread in his hand from yesterday. They wanted what was in his hand. And they were looking to him for what he could give them. He said you didn't come to me because you wanted to see God on the move. You didn't come to me because you wanted to see God's activity right in front of you. You came to me because your stomach was full. You're a consumer. All you want to do is fill your stomach. You have no interest in what I'm really here to do. Because Jesus didn't come mainly to satisfy their hunger. He did it. He didn't come mainly to do that. He came to awaken their hunger for the eternal things of God. And they missed it. They missed it. But Jesus is saying come to me, look at me, believe in me. Don't come to me for what I can give you, come to me.

I can't improve upon how John Piper said this. He said, "Jesus didn't come only to give bread. Jesus came to be bread." Jesus didn't just come to give bread, as if that was the ultimate. He came to be bread, the bread of life, by which participating in his nature, we can receive eternal life. By being brought into union with him, we receive eternal life, and we will get up at the last day. That's what he's talking about. There's nothing else other than that. Come to me.

Maybe I would say it this way. We want what is in Jesus' hand without ever wanting his hand. We want what is in Jesus' hand, but we never lift our eyes up to look at him in the face. We want the bread in his hand, not the bread of life who holds it.

We have a two-year-old daughter. And I would be overwhelmed with grief if my daughter grew up only wanting the things that I had in my hand, and never wanted to hold daddy's hand and go for a walk. I would be wrecked with grief if that was the case. I would consider myself a failure in that regard. If she only wanted what dad had in his hand, and never wanted to hold dad's hand. Man, would she miss it. Do I love to give good things to my daughter? You bet I do. But I know it's not about the thing.

She's two, like I said, and we just celebrated her birthday like a week and a half ago. And my wife and I said to her a few days before, what do you want for your birthday? She said a bagel. Serious. And I know that it's a lot easier at two, and affordable, at two then at sixteen. But listen. It's not what it was in my hand. I want her to see sin-stained, though I am, I want her to see that my love for her is more important than the thing in my hand.

But we treat Jesus that way. What's in, hey. Yeah, I know. What's in your hand? What do you have that I need? We want Jesus to be useful instead of precious. And we miss it, because we want what's in his hand. We never want to hold his hand. What are you gonna do for me, Jesus?

See in this series, we've been talking about things that we add to Jesus. Jesus plus stuff. Jesus plus relationships, human relationships. Jesus plus following my heart, my whims and my desires and my emotions. But equally dangerous, if not maybe more dangerous than that, is Jesus plus the Jesus that's useful to me. The Jesus I want. The expectation I have. What are you gonna do? What sign are you going to do? We almost throw it out there, like well what are you gonna do? Prove yourself. Can you imagine? We do exactly what they did. What sign are you gonna do Jesus? What sign do you need? Have you seen the cross? What more do you need? We treat him like that. Jesus that I want. Jesus that serves my longings. Jesus that serves my purposes. Jesus that serves my expectations.

And we're no different from the first-century Jewish people who wanted Moses a second time, not the new Moses that they needed. And so, we buy into the fact that from this story John 6, Jesus wants to multiply your bread. You just bring him your loaves and your fish, and he'll multiply your stuff. That is an export from the American church that is literally crippling the global church. And maybe even damning us in the process in some respects. That Jesus wants to multiply your bank account. That Jesus wants to multiply your square footage. That Jesus wants to multiply your vehicles. That's not what the Scripture's teaching. That's the stuff in his hand. And when it all goes away, are you going to look at his hand, or are you gonna look at him in the face? If it was all taken from you, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Is that true?

Or we have an appetite for Christian product without having an appetite for Christ himself. That we go from high to high to high to high with this emotional narcotic that has been branded with Jesus. Festival concert worship service, night of worship, concert on repeat. And we look for moments of worship instead of a life of worship. And we have an appetite to consume this product, but we don't want Christ. Where's the hunger for him?

Well, we left that church because over here the church this church over here. Man, their worship really puts you in the presence of Jesus. You weren't already there? He hasn't been residing within you? And when and where did that become the measurement of worship? Well, that worship was anointed. Does the anointing not rest on all of God's people who are called by his name and sealed with his spirit? Does the anointing, which is what that really means, does the anointing not rest on all people? Say what you mean, that Christian product is better for me. Say what you mean, those musicians are better. But don't get it twisted and don't say something and attach a spiritual moniker to it that really just reveals we want Christian product, and if Christ is along with it, great.

We don't go to that church anymore. We weren't getting fed there. Have you not been feeding yourself? Hey, I love good preaching. God's people should handle his word with care and skill and study to show themselves approved. But listen, it's not about going to find someone who you like how they hold the spoon better. It's about which local church is going to equip me to feed myself throughout the week? Which local church is going to exalt Christ in my life? Which local church is going to spur me on to love and good deeds as Hebrews 10 talks about? I never hear anyone asking these questions. I've never heard anyone ask these questions. And it's almost like Jesus is standing there saying, when am I going to be enough? When am I going to be enough for you, that you don't have an appetite for just stuff that has my name attached to it, whatever's in my hand. But you want me, the bread of life. That you feast on this. When is that going to be enough?

I tell you, my own life. I come to the Scripture, I'm talking about me and as a pastor. I come to the Scripture, and I've got messages to create, lessons to create, and devotionals to create. And I've got deadlines, Lord. And so, sometimes like, sometimes.. And I'm just talking about my own weakness in this area, so that you know that this is real to me, this was preached to me before I preached it to you. That I come to the Scripture, and I come to produce. And God's voice comes through the Scripture and says, just listen to my voice for a minute. I know you got a deadline. I know you have this, I know you have that. But just listen to my voice. And I go, Lord I got a message, I gotta get this stuff, I gotta get the notes over to the people to create the slides, I got to create the lesson, I gotta print the pages, I gotta do all these things.

He says, no no, I want to talk to you about how you treat your wife. I want to talk about how you father your daughter. I want to talk to you about what kind of employee you are, what kind of a friend you are. I want you to listen to my voice and stop thinking about producing for a minute, and come to the Scripture. Come to the wellspring and listen to the words of eternal life, and let me wash those over you. Then you'll be useful to me. That's me.

I can't say it any better than this. Oswald Chambers who wrote My Utmost For His Highest. He said, "When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself." I don't know about you, but that's what I needed. When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself.

So what happens after this discourse? Look at John 6:60. On hearing it, many of his disciples.. (He's not talking about the twelve, he's talking about the crowd.) ...many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" And then verse 66. From this time many of those disciples from the crowd turned back and no longer followed him. You know why? Because Jesus wasn't what they were shopping for. He didn't deliver on what they thought he was going to do for them. It was a hard teaching, not because he said, eat my flesh and drink my blood. It was a hard teaching because they had no use for a dead messiah. They didn't need that. How's he gonna kick Rome out if he's dead, and we were eating his flesh? How is that going to help us? And so they left. They shopped elsewhere.

But look what Jesus said in 67. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. And then Peter finally, Peter. Not an insert foot in mouth moment. He gets it. Look at this. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" Where we gonna go? "You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe, listen, we have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." He got it. He got it. He had tasted the bread of life. They had. They had seen that he was who he said he was. They had looked to Jesus, not what was in his hand, they have looked to him, and they realized they knew and believed that there was their faith was a flame, but they had experienced it firsthand. That he was enough. That he was actually better than what they even wanted. He exceeded and changed their expectations. He didn't just meet their desires, he gave them new desires. They had tasted it. They knew. Do we?

It reminds me of Psalm 34, written hundreds of years before this. The psalmist said this in verse 8. "Taste and see that the Lord is good!" Not taste and see that the food is good at his table. Not taste and see that the wine is good at his table. Not taste and see that the seats are comfortable at his table. Taste and see that the Lord is good. That He's good. That He's good. That He is good. That He's enough. That He's more than enough.

Before we go, I want to ask you to think about one more thing. In this series, Commercial Christianity, we've been talking about the good news of the gospel, how that has been at times commercialized, repackaged, as though the good news wasn't good enough. And so, there's been some lies that we bought into as a result of that. But I want to use those terms, commercial Christianity in a different way to ask an important question. If your life, if my life, was a commercial for Christianity, what would you be selling? If someone saw a 30-second snippet of your life as it represented the gospel, what message would come through loud and clear? What will people walk away believing about the gospel if they saw your life?

See pastors, worship leaders, church staff, super spiritual Christians, they aren't the only walking advertisements for the gospel. You are. All of us are. And how clear or how distorted is the image of the gospel in your life and mine? What would what would the message be? Come to Jesus; you won't have to change a thing about your life. Come to Jesus; spend money like it's yours, and live for the moment. Come to Jesus; you can still be a mean jerk. Come to Jesus; it makes no difference in this life at all. Come to Jesus, and he'll make you rich. Come to Jesus; you won't have any problems anymore. What message is it?

Or, come to Jesus; he gives you life. Come to Jesus; he sets you free. Come to Jesus; you will never know love until you know him. Come to Jesus in cancer, in divorce, in the loss of a child. He's good. Come to Jesus. He always keeps his promises. Come to Jesus; he will transform you. Come to Jesus; will give your life a new ending. What's the message that is coming through your life and mine as it pertains to the gospel? If your life was a commercial for Christianity, what message would come through?

Let's bow together for a word of prayer. Before we leave, I pray, my prayer is that you've heard the truth of Scripture today. And that where I've unknowingly deviated from the truth, I pray that would fall from your memory and that you would cling to what you heard from God this morning through His word. I pray that you would cling to that.

If you're a disciple of Jesus today, you represent the gospel wherever you go. And we're far less concerned about how you represent the name of The Chapel, far less concerned about that is how you represent the name of Jesus. That's most important to all of us. So what is God speaking to you about today? Maybe you ask him in the quietness of your heart in this moment. God, what are you showing me about yourself today? What do I need to do about it?

With your head still bowed and your eyes still closed, maybe there's some that are here today. Maybe you came as a guest, maybe you have been coming for a while. But you wouldn't identify yourself as a disciple of Jesus. You wouldn't say that you're a Christian. Maybe you know you think of yourself as a good person. But a disciple, a Christ follower, no. Maybe it's been something you've been running from. That you know the truth of the gospel, but you've been running from it. Maybe you came even today just to appease someone in your family to get them off your back. But you know you've been running from the truth. That ends today. You don't have to run anymore.

Maybe you came, and this made sense for the very first time. That I was just putting words to things you felt. I can't take credit for that. That's God's Word. God wanted you to be here today. It's no accident you're here. Are you listening to His voice? That there's a hole in your heart that you can't fill with anything in this world, and you know that you've tried, and you failed and failed again. The hole in your heart is a gospel sized hole. That you need Jesus. Not because life gets better overnight. Not because there's no more problems, no more disease, on this side of eternity. But because he is your true satisfaction. And the reason your heart has been crying out so much to you that there is a problem, that there have been alarms going off in your heart that you have an emptiness, that you can't shake every morning, is because your heart was made for eternity. And if left on the path that you're on, you know that it's a path of self-destruction. God wants to pull you out of that today through His Son Jesus.

So what I would invite you to do, if that's you, that you would come by the Fireside Room when we dismiss. I'm gonna pray in a minute. I'm gonna say amen, and dismiss everyone. And then if that's you, what I want you to do is to come across the atrium to the Fireside Room. It's labeled right on the wall so you can't miss it. And all you have to do is walk in there and say I need Jesus. That's it, three words. I need Jesus. We want to give you a Bible if you don't have one, give you something you can take home to understand what it means to be a disciple. If you came with someone, they'll bring you. This isn't anything to be embarrassed about. This is the best thing you could ever do.

So, God, I pray that Your truth would land where it needs to on good soil. That we've heard from You today. That I've heard from You today. And I pray Lord that by your mercy and your goodness, that you would sustain us as we walk in this life. That we would center our lives and only come to you as our truest satisfaction, our only satisfaction. That we would feast on the bread of life daily, not waiting for Sunday, but daily. And that this would be our very essence of our being. So, God, I pray that you would take what we heard today, write it in our hearts as you see fit, and help us to live lives that are worthy of the calling of the gospel because we have tasted and we have seen You're good. In Christ's name, we pray.

Thanks, everyone. We love you. You're dismissed.