(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

I'm very thankful for the things God has done, but I'm also grateful for the things he is doing.

He's doing great and mighty things today, just like yesterday, come on.

And I'm also looking forward to what he is going to do and what he's going to do in the future.

And again, I believe that if we keep our hopes in this God, despite life's challenges, that great and mighty things can happen in our life.

And we're gonna talk a little bit about that today, as we kick off a brand new series that we have titled, Things That Jesus Never Said.

I would underline that word, never, because it's really important.

There's a lot of opinions about things that Jesus might've said, and you hear those on Facebook, you hear them on Instagram, you hear them in the media.

But we're talking about some things that Jesus never said, because Jesus has a lot to say to our hearts to help elevate our hope and help us become everything he has designed us to be.

So we're kicking off this series.

And this week with the events happening throughout the week and the Pope actually dying last Easter, or this past weekend on Easter.

I started to title today's message, but I think I might do it a little bit later in the series, that the head is not dead.

And the reality of that is Jesus is the head of the church, is what the Bible declares.

And the Bible says that we are the body, we are the hands and feet of Jesus.

And we're mourning with those of the Catholic background in the loss of the Pope.

And we hope that they get a new leader instilled that will represent Jesus Christ in a powerful way.

But the Bible declares that Jesus is the head of the church.

And the good news about that is, our head has risen from a grave, come on.

And he still sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

He still deposits gifts in his church, the body of Christ, begin to elevate who he is in the world and display who he is in the world.

And our head is still over the church, the ones that have gone before us, the ones that are go behind us, and those of us who were here today, come on.

And we celebrate our head of Jesus Christ today.

But that's not what the message is about this weekend.

The message is about having peace in your heart in spite of the hardships.

The reality of it is, as many people think, when you become a Christian, a Christ follower, you put your faith in the finished work of Christ and you have a relationship with God that life is gonna be trouble-free.

Life is going to be easy.

You're gonna just begin to get through life and God's gonna just help you every single day and rain His blessings on your life and you're never gonna have a difficult moment again.

But the Bible teaches something totally different and Jesus never said that.

Jesus actually said the opposite of that.

And though God's blessings can come in our life, we need to understand that we live in a falling world.

We live in a world that's broken.

And none of us really deserve to be in a relationship with God and receive His goodness, but God chooses to allow us to come into that relationship through Christ Jesus.

But the Bible says that God is reigning His goodness on this earth.

And the reality of it is God is a good God.

And God is shining the sun, is what Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, and He's reigning His blessings on the crops of life in spite of whether we receive them or not.

The Bible says it reigns on the just and the unjust.

God's sun shines on the just and the unjust.

In other words, what He's saying in that passage is God's goodness is available to every single one of us in a broken world.

And it really doesn't depend on who we are, it depends on who He is.

And God chose to shine His goodness in this earth in spite of the evil, in spite of the trouble, in spite of the challenges that we may have in life.

God's good anyway, come on somebody.

And if we can receive that word in our heart, I think we can begin to get through the hardships of life, the difficult moments of life.

All of us have faced hardships.

Most of us have experienced some form of loss in our life.

Many of us have experienced personal pain in our life.

Maybe sickness has visited your body, a loved one's body.

And the reality of it is those things happen to us because we're human and we live in a broken world.

And maybe you're feeling some pain in your heart today.

I need you to know in spite of the pain, you can experience peace.

Maybe you're suffering something today.

Maybe you lost a job.

Maybe you have a broken relationship.

Maybe today, you know what, your bank account's not full.

God never promised that those who love him will always have a full bank account.

But what he did say is that, you know what, his blessings can flow into your life and you can have peace in your heart in spite of what your bank account looks like.

Come on, somebody.

And I think some of us think, oh, if I come to Jesus, then the reality of it is my bank account's gonna fill up.

And I need you to know we live in a broken world.

No, you can still get fired in this world.

You can still be jobless in this world.

You can still make mistakes in this world because we live in a broken world.

But what Jesus says in the midst of your jobless life, in the midst of your broke bank account, in the midst of your relational challenges, you can have a peace in your heart that surpasses all of your understanding, and you can walk in that peace if you'll choose to believe God.

Our passage starts today in John chapter 13, or John chapter 16, verse 33.

This is what Jesus said.

He says, I have told you all of this so that you may have peace in me.

Context of where Jesus said this is at the end of Jesus's counsel that he was given his disciples before he went to the cross.

And Jesus had given them a dissertation.

He'd given them a lot of counsel from John chapter 13 through John chapter 16 so they could have peace in him in spite of the problems that they face in life.

And if you've never read all of John 13, 14, 15 and 16 in one sitting, I invite you to sit down and read your Bible.

Maybe go home and read the context of that passage because Jesus said, hey, I'm telling you, I'm telling you all that I just told you in John 13, 14, 15 and 16, so that you'll have peace in me.

And then he makes this declaration.

He says, here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.

He says, but take heart because I have overcome the world.

Jesus simply promises in this passage that we will have trouble, we will have trials, we will have sorrow, we will have challenges in this life.

But he says, I've told you some things so that you can have peace in the midst of those challenges.

So I wanna talk for the next few minutes about how to have peace amidst the hardships.

Because again, I don't know what hardship you're facing.

Your hardship could be a whole lot more than mine.

Some people would consider, you know what, losing their pinky toenail as being a hardship.

And I'm not belittling that, it could hurt, it could be painful.

And some of us have had that form of hardship in our life this week.

But there's others of us in the room that we've lost a loved one.

We've lost a child.

We've lost a spouse.

And the pain is real.

The hurt is real.

But what God's promise is, is those things are gonna happen.

He never said no accidents are ever going to happen.

But what we tend to do is when an accident happens, we tend to ask the question, God, what did I do to deserve this?

And in reality, you live in a world that we all deserve to live apart from God's goodness.

But the truth of the matter is, God has chose to reign his goodness in this world and to work a plan together for all of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

And God wants to do amazing things in your life, but he never said your life would be without hardship.

So I don't know what's gonna happen in your life when you leave this place today.

I don't know what's gonna happen in my own personal life.

But what I do know is in the midst of the things and the challenges that come our way, we can have peace because of who God is and what he says in his word.

So I'm gonna invite you in for the next few minutes to look at this peace that God offers.

But we need to understand that the peace that Jesus is offering in John chapter 16, verse 33, isn't circumstantial, but it's personal.

See, the peace God offers isn't based on the circumstances of life.

The peace God offers is based on the person of Jesus Christ.

And so many of us are saying, you know what, I wanna find peace in what surrounds me.

But God says, no, you can find peace by who dwells in you.

And that's a big difference.

If you're trying to find peace in the surroundings, in the circumstances, I'm inviting you today to look at the person of Christ and who he really is, and he can dwell in you and he can be with you in spite of the circumstances, in spite of the challenges, and you can have a personal peace with God because of who Christ Jesus is.

And that's what God invites us into, is to have this personal peace in spite of the storm.

The apostle Paul affirms this peace when he writes the book of Philippians.

He says it this way in Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7.

He says, don't worry about anything.

Instead, pray about everything.

Talk to God about everything.

Come to God through the person of Jesus about everything.

The Bible says this, tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.

And then you will experience God's peace.

Tell God what you need, stop worrying, and thank him for everything he's done up to this point in life.

And the Bible says, then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and your minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And so when we begin to worry about the things that are happening to us, we have to take it to God and tell him what we need.

You need to understand, peace isn't the absence of war, but it's the presence of a king.

And many of us are facing a war, facing a battle, facing trouble, facing circumstances, and they're all different levels.

And those wars are gonna come.

Tragedy is gonna come.

Tribulation is going to come.

When you come to Christ, we live in a broken world.

And until Christ comes again, you are gonna face these troubles.

And we are in a war with our faith.

We are in a battle with our faith.

We have to trust with our faith.

But when we have the presence of King Jesus living in our life and through our life, we can have peace.

In the circumstances, let your soul be anchored in Christ, not the temporary.

Peace comes through the relationship we have with God through Christ Jesus.

The Bible says that we cannot have a personal relationship with a peace-giving God unless we receive his peace offering.

And see, some of us are trying to find peace in this earth through the circumstances, through the challenges, and God's saying, would you find peace in my peace offering?

See, that's who Jesus is, he's a peace offering.

The Bible says he's perfect in every way, but he gives his life's blood on a cross to make peace with humanity, to show love to humanity, to show God's love to humanity, because what we all deserve is to be separated from our creator forever and ever and ever, but Jesus comes to shine light into this world and light into our heart through giving his life on a cross, defeating death, resurrecting from a grave, what we celebrated last weekend.

And the reason God did all of that is to make peace between you and God.

And you're saying, well, God, you're a good God, and I live in a troubled world.

And why would all these things happen?

And I don't know if I want what you offer.

Here's the thing, you're gonna stay in the troubled world.

You're gonna die in the troubled world.

But God offers, listen to this, God offers his life on a cross so you can walk in a troubled world and have peace with him in spite of the circumstances.

You're gonna have the circumstances anyway.

They're not gonna change based on who you are.

It's not gonna, tornadoes are still coming.

Hurricanes are coming.

Storms are coming.

Things are coming, accidents are coming.

Sickness to your body is coming.

Because God never promised that earth suit that you're living in right now will last forever.

The Bible says that we live in a broken world and even this vessel I live in is broken and defiled.

But I can have wholeness in God and peace in God even in spite of my broken vessel.

And the way God makes peace with us is making a peace offering, bringing the gift of salvation on a cross.

His name is Jesus and you put your personal faith in that and receive what God offers.

It's not circumstantial, my friend.

The peace God's talking about, you can find, it's based on a relationship, not the circumstances.

And I'm gonna read to you what Romans chapter eight verses one and two says.

It says, there is no condemnation.

There's nothing that condemn you.

There's no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

And because you belong to him, speaking to believers, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

You see, the power of sin that leads to death is the thing that gets hold of you and you die in it without receiving the peace of God.

But the Bible says when you receive the peace of God, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

There's nothing that can condemn you.

No pain, no sorrow, no brokenness, no sin can condemn you to death if you have put your faith and trust in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8, verses one and two says there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

But what we have to do is have this personal relationship with God through Christ Jesus if we're gonna experience God's peace.

And here's the deal.

God's peace is offered to every single one of us relationally because of who he is, not because of the trouble or the mishaps or the challenges in your life.

The real question is, are you experiencing peace today in the midst of your circumstances?

That don't deny that there's really pain.

But what it does say is you can have peace in the pain if you have the relationship with God through Christ Jesus.

But God even takes it a step further.

He begins to remind us through the life-giving spirit.

Everybody say life-giving.

Life-giving.

See, that's what the spirit of the living God does is He gives your mortal body life in spite of the trouble.

And God says that we can have victory, we can have triumph.

Even though trouble is certain, we can have triumph in the midst of our trouble.

So we gotta know that trouble is certain, but so is a triumph.

Let me read to you what Paul says in Romans chapter eight, again, but verses 35 through 38.

He says this.

He says, does it mean he, he being God, he being Jesus, no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened with death, question mark.

He asked a question.

Does it really mean that God doesn't love me anymore if I'm going through the challenges?

He asked a rhetorical question and he says this.

He says, he says, as the scriptures say, for your sake, we were killed every day, but we were being slaughtered like sheep.

And then he answers the question.

He says, it's feeling like, you know what?

We're being killed every day and slaughtered like sheep.

He says, but in spite of how it feels, he says the answer to that question, does God still love you in spite of the challenges?

He says, the answer is no.

Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us.

And so here, this passage begins to reveal to us that in spite of the trouble, if we trust in God, in the life-giving spirit of God, that we can begin to walk through the trouble.

Now, keep in mind, if the trouble is coming your way because you are willfully sinning against God, and you're bringing that trouble in your relationship or on yourself into your own life because of willfully sinning, that means, you know what, basically turning your back on God.

And if we're willfully doing that, knowingly doing that, the Bible has a word for it.

It says, turn away from that.

That's what the word repent means, to turn away, but it means so much more.

Pastor Jared taught on this the other day.

Repent don't mean just turn away from it.

It means turn your heart towards God and begin to let the life-giving spirit, the living God, begin to speak life into your spirit and walk in it.

So if we're bringing trouble on ourself because of sin, you know what, the Bible has a biblical word for it.

This is it, stop.

Pretty simple, right?

But the reality of it is that some of us are experiencing trouble without us willfully or knowingly that we're sinning, but we still live in a sinful world.

So you don't only need to stop, you need to turn your heart towards God, receive the life-giving spirit that is given to us through Jesus Christ, and then begin to walk by the power of the spirit living in you rather than the power of the flesh.

And so some of us have turned our heart towards God, but we're not walking by the power of the spirit.

And this is why we don't have peace in our heart, because God gives you his spirit so you can have peace in your life.

Look what the Bible says in Romans chapter eight, verse six.

It says, so letting your sinful nature control your minds leads to death, but letting the spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

So who's in control of your life in spite of the storm?

Is your sinful nature in control of your life or is the life given the spirit of God in control of your life?

Because the reality of it is, is the Bible says that God will give you a spirit that will give life to your mortal body and he will give you peace in spite of the circumstances.

And so this is the work of the spirit of God.

The spirit of God begins to work us through the trouble.

This is what it means to be filled with the spirit.

It's every day I should fill my life up with the life-giving spirit of God when I wake up because I know that this week, this month, this year, I'm gonna experience some trouble and some challenges.

And if I'm really going to have peace through the trouble and challenges, I need to be full of his spirit so I can walk through those troubles and those challenges.

It doesn't mean they're not gonna come.

The blessing of God's gonna come.

It may not come, but I can still walk in peace and respite what's going on in my life because I have the life-giving spirit, the living God inside of me.

Come on.

You wanna experience peace in the hardship?

It's through a personal relationship with God and to begin to be guided by the spirit of the living God.

One of the great examples of this is a man named Joseph in our Bible.

Joseph was persecuted.

His brothers hated him because Joseph had had a dream from God put in his heart.

The Bible says they turned against him.

They acted like they had killed him and went and told their father he was dead and some wild animals had tore him apart, but really what they did is they threw him into a pit, into a cistern, into a septic tank.

And the Bible says that some strangers came along and they bought Joseph from the land he was in and took him into Egypt, into slavery.

And he spent a lot of years with tribulation, with trials, with trouble, even though God had put a dream in his heart.

Maybe God's put a dream in your heart.

But the reality of it is it doesn't mean that your dream is going to happen without tribulation.

But how your dream can begin to manifest itself and you have peace in your life is to begin to walk by the power of the spirit of God.

And I'm giving you some practical examples of what that looks like out of scripture.

But Joseph began to be, he began to have the life-giving spirit of God working with him while he was in that pit, even though his brothers hated him.

Even though he was sold into slavery, you know what, God was still with him.

And he was experiencing persecution.

He goes into a man named Potiphar's house in the Bible in this story.

And Potiphar's wife is a liar.

And Potiphar's wife, he was an official in Egypt that Joseph became a slave of working in his household.

And Potiphar's wife liked the way Joseph looked, but Joseph wouldn't go to bed with her.

And she got mad.

So she went and told her husband, hey, this guy tried to rip my clothes off and rape me.

And the Bible says she falsely accuses Joseph of doing something he didn't do.

That may be you in here today.

Maybe you've been falsely accused and you're experiencing tribulation because of the false accusation.

But what I need you to know is stick with God because God will work it all out and do amazing things in your life.

Joseph, the Bible says, he continues to trust God.

See, having the life-giving spirit in you means I'm trusting God every step of the way in spite of what's in the way.

And he trusts God.

He sold into slavery.

Now he's thrown into prison, but he had the ability to interpret dreams.

And the Bible says God begins to do a miracle in that prison.

I'm talking about he's in there for years, over a decade.

And the Bible says he's going through this hardship for that long.

And he's walking through it.

And the Bible says that he learns to interpret dreams as he learns to interpret dreams.

The person in charge, the Pharaoh begins to learn that he can interpret dreams.

And Pharaoh had some kind of dream and he called Joseph up.

Joseph interpreted his dream, told him what the dream really meant.

Pharaoh was so impressed.

The Bible says, now he elevates him in Egypt to second in charge of all of Egypt and their resources.

There's a great famine that hits the land, the Bible says.

And now Joseph is positioned to begin to be the leader that God showed him a long time ago before the persecution ever started that he could be.

But can I tell you why he became that leader and was able to help those who hurt him?

It's because he was willing to walk with God through the persecution and the pain.

And the Bible says that the very ones that hated on him, his brothers, they become hungry and they didn't recognize who Joseph was.

So they come to the second in charge of all of Egypt and says, hey man, we need some food down there where we live.

And the Bible says, Joseph recognizes them and begins to deposit the food to them, but they still didn't recognize him.

But it's later that Joseph reveals who he is to these guys.

And they thought the one that they persecuted was going to hate on them, hate them back.

But he had peace in his heart because of what God did.

And I wanna read to you what he said to them.

In Genesis chapter 50, verse 20, he says to his brothers that were bowing down, begging him, hey, don't kill us.

We'll do whatever you want us to do.

We know we were, we hated on you.

But Joseph says, you intended it to harm me, but God intended it for good.

So that's what God wants to speak through his spirit into your heart today.

It may look like harm, but what God can do in every trouble, every situation, every tribulation, every pain, every suffering that you are going through, he can turn that to good.

And he can use it for a greater purpose.

Listen to what Romans chapter eight says.

It says it in verse 28.

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

This doesn't say that trouble or bad times or accidents or poor choices or persecution is not going to happen.

It says that those who love God and are called according to his purpose, that God will ultimately work good out of the bad.

So what the life-giving spirit of God does is remind you of who he's designed you to be.

Joseph was designed to be a leader to help people.

I need you to know today that a life-giving spirit, when he really lives in you, he will remind you that all the pain, all the suffering, all the brokenness in your life, that he is still God, and he will work something to good in that.

If you'll trust the relationship, trust the spirit of the loving God, he will begin to work something in that.

It don't mean the pain goes away, but it means God does a miracle and something amazing through it if you will trust him with your heart.

Come on.

Joseph was able to turn the heart of his family around because he trusted God.

And maybe your family is hatin' on you.

They've been hatin' on you for 40 years.

But you trust the goodness of God and let him give you peace.

Not what they said, not what you heard, not what happened last year, last month, or last, you keep trusting God.

And in the trouble, God's peace will reside in your heart.

And you can begin to keep walkin' by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I use an example of one of our folks in here today.

In our first service, Dr. Gwen Hardy, who's here shinin' the light of Christ in the room today.

And he's not in the room this service, but he's a veterinarian.

And Dr. Hardy, he's in a wheelchair here every Sunday.

You may see him sometimes as one of the ushers here on our prayer team.

And he serves God faithfully.

But he's had tragedy to his body.

He's sick.

Goes to dialysis.

Every morning of the week, he gets up at 3 a.m. and goes to dialysis before he shows up to work as a veterinarian in his wheelchair the rest of the day.

He goes to dialysis early in the morning so he can go to work and continue to do his work.

But his work is so much more than just makin' a livin'.

His work is about shinin' the light of Christ.

And he's got all these things goin' on in his life, and again, I'm not gonna go into the gory details, but I can tell you right now, he's sufferin'.

But the reality of it is, is God's walking with him by the power of his spirit.

He has peace with God because of the work Jesus did for him on the cross.

God's walkin' through it every single day with him, helpin' him to the other side, and he's makin' a difference with his life.

I'll give you another example in this service.

Cheryl, can I share your story?

There's a lady sittin' right here on the second row, and she's gone through a lot of hard times.

She shared with me between these services today, out in the foyer this week, is the celebration of going home to be with God in heaven of her young daughter, who was tragically killed in an accident.

And she's celebrating the home going this week, but I can tell you something, it's not a celebration without pain.

And it's still painful in her life today.

And you know what?

She had some relapses in her journey when that happened.

And again, I don't think she minds me telling it, but her life went off the rails.

And the truth of the matter is, you know what?

God kept showing up in her life in the midst of all of that pain.

And He keeps working in her life.

And she's sitting right here on the second row today, shining the light of Christ in the midst of the pain.

This is what it looks like.

It's not easy.

But again, day by day, she has to walk with the spirit of the living God.

Yes, she has to let Him fill her up in the midst of everything.

She's going back to work.

She's working through it.

She's working through the challenges.

And she realizes it is not over because Jesus has overcome and ultimately she will too.

Come on.

And if you wanna have the peace of God in your heart, the peace Jesus is talking about in this verse, He says, in this world, you will have trouble.

You will have tribulation.

You have to trust the relationship that Jesus offers you.

He is the peace offering to God.

You have to begin to walk by the life-giving spirit that He puts in your life.

You have to submit your life to that spirit, walk in it on a daily basis, not walk to the sins of the flesh, but walk to the life-giving spirit of Jesus.

And then ultimately, no, you have a future.

Jesus overcame, and ultimately, we will too.

And some of you are hurting in your body right now, but I want to read to you a passage of scripture that I hope is going to elevate your hope in who God is in spite of the pain.

Romans 8, verses 23 through 26.

The writer here says, we believers, we also groan like all of creation groans, since sin entered the world, since the world got broken through the power of sin.

He says, though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of the future glory.

So we groan, but we have the Holy Spirit in us as a foretaste of the future glory.

For we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.

The writer here says, we too wait eagerly with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children.

In other words, you haven't received everything that God's going to give to you.

Though you've been put into his family by Jesus, guess what?

As an adopted children, there's so much more to come.

He says this, including the new bodies he has promised us.

Let that speak to your heart today.

This earth suit, this skin, these bones, these aches, these pains will go back to dust.

But in the future, I'll have a brand new body.

Come on, that will last forever.

He says we were given this hope when we were saved.

If we already have something, we don't need hope for it.

So God gives you a hope when you choose Jesus to rescue you from the power of sin.

God gives you a hope, but that hope isn't realized yet.

He says if we already had it, we don't have hope for it.

But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we may wait patiently and confidently.

And the Holy Spirit, look what it says, helps us in our weakness.

Wow.

My friend, that's what it means to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God, I am weak, but your spirit is strong.

And because your spirit is strong, I can keep on keeping on in a troubled world, in a broken world.

Even if it's my own personal body that sickness is attacking.

God, I hope you heal me so I can have some more days in this earth to be the light of Christ.

But if you don't, if you don't, this ain't nothing but dirt.

I think my mama named me clay on purpose.

I ain't nothing but a dirt bag, come on somebody.

But the reality of it is this, is this goes back to dirt and I'm getting a brand spanking new body and I'm keeping my hopes in the future glory and all that's coming to me and all of those who love God that's coming to them.

I need you to know today that God's gonna do what he says he's gonna do in the midst of your trouble, in the midst of your pain.

But if that's not enough to give you hope, I wanna read to you Revelation chapter 21 as I prepare to close today of what God has promised after he puts all evil, all brokenness, all pain, all sorrow in the abyss forever and ever.

This is what he says.

You gotta have a personal relationship with God to experience this.

You gotta let the spirit of the living God begin to elevate your heart above your sinful nature.

And then you gotta set your eyes on the future prize that's out in front of every single one of us.

And the future prize looks like this, my friend.

John got a glimpse of it through a reigning king and his name is Jesus.

And this is what he says.

He says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.

Some of you are trying to get to heaven and it's there right now, but you need to understand it's gonna be made new.

This earth's gonna be made new.

My theological understanding is God's gonna merge heaven and earth together.

And it's gonna look something like this.

The Bible says, and the sea was gone.

That means the tragedy was gone.

The darkness that hovered over the waters is gone.

He says, I saw a holy city, a set apart city.

The new Jerusalem down from God out of the heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for a husband.

Somehow another God is gonna merge heaven and earth together and it's gonna be a city that comes down.

And the Bible says, I heard a loud shout from the throne of God saying, look, God's home is now among his people.

He will live with them and they will be his people.

God himself will be with them.

Come on.

Look what it says.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow, crying or pain.

All of these things are gone forever.

And then the one sitting on the throne said, look, I am making everything new, all things new.

And then he said to me, write this down for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.

And he also said, it is finished.

Last week, we talked about what Jesus said on the cross.

He said, to tell us that, which is a word that means paid in a full.

Jesus paid fully for your sin on that cross to make a peace offering between God and humanity.

And you can come in a right relationship through what Jesus did on that cross.

No longer does sin have power over you, but the spirit of God can live in you.

And as the spirit of God lives in you, you need to understand that God is still working some things out in this world, but at this time, it will all be finished.

He says, I'm the alpha, the omega, the beginning, and the end.

To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.

All who are victorious will inherit all of these blessings that are still yet to come.

The Bible says, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all of liars, their fate is a fiery lake of burning sulfur.

This is the second death.

No one in this room has to die that death.

Today is the day of salvation.

You don't have to get to heaven to receive the salvation and the peace that Jesus came to offer you.

But you will have to wait patiently and confidently as we suffer in this world for what is still yet to come.

I wanna remind you of that today, but it's all here for you today through what Jesus did on a cross.

My friend, there is a future blessing that beholds and waits on us all.

And it is when the Christ return and puts all of evil in the abyss.

And I'm telling you right now, you don't wanna miss any of that blessing.

It's gonna be beyond your imagination.

Anything you could ever ask for, think of, or imagine, that's what it's gonna be.

And if I could paint a picture in your suffering, in your pain, in your ache, I need you to know there's something God is still holding, waiting to pour out to you for all of those who are loved and called according to his purpose in this earth.

And what God's calling you to do is rise up out of your suffering, come to Jesus so he can come live in your heart, and you can be the light of Christ in this world in the midst of the suffering.

So we're gonna have an opportunity in this last song to respond.

There's gonna be our prayer ministers are gonna be standing all around the front and the worship team's gonna sing a song.

And if you've got an emergency and you just need to leave, you can leave, but I wouldn't leave.

Because I think God's getting ready to do something in people's heart all around you.

He's gonna be drawing some people to himself for the first time and they're gonna surrender their life to what Jesus did on the cross.

There's others of us that are hurting.

We've already done that, but we need to get in step with the spirit and we need to come and just pray to God that he would help us in the suffering, help us in the walk.

And we needed to get before our, down here at these kneeling benches and just pray to God and ask for his wisdom and his understanding and walk in the fullness.

There's others of us just need to be thankful for the future of what is still yet to come.

I don't know why you need to come to the altar, but I know what God told me several couple of months ago.

At the end of the services, you open up the front for people to respond.

So now here at Valorous Church, this is kind of how we end all of our services.

Just because we start singing the song don't mean the service is over.

It'll be over at the end of the song.

You can feel free to go, but we're still worshiping God in here today.

And so if that's what you choose to do, you can leave.

But if you wanna stay, feel free to stay and open your heart.

I don't know how you need to respond today, but again, I'm gonna pray.

The team's gonna come out, they're gonna sing.

The prayer ministers are gonna be all around the front.

If you need to pray with somebody, they'll be here to pray with.

If you need to say, today I need to surrender my life to Christ, go over to those crosses where those prayer partners are and say, hey, today I need to surrender my life to Christ.

And maybe they'll lead you through a prayer and begin to talk to you a little bit.

I also wanna say this, on your way out, we would love to give you a copy of God's word if you surrender to Jesus today.

You know, those Bibles cost a lot of money.

I think between 15 and $20 a piece.

Why do we give those out to new believers?

Because we believe.

Here at Valorous Church, you can walk by the power of the Holy Spirit, but you can't walk apart from the word of God.

You gotta have the word of God in your life.

You gotta be reading it, come on somebody, and digesting it on the journey.

So again, if you make that decision to follow Christ, you don't have a copy of God's word, we'd love to give you one.

Be prayer partners out in the lobby on the way out.

They would hand you one of those Bibles.

But right now, I just wanna pause for a minute and begin to let God work in all of our hearts.

So you can bow your heads.

You can even leave your eyes open if you want to.

It's okay.

But if you just need to focus on who Jesus is and not worry about all who's around you, just maybe close your eyes.

But today, God's speaking to some of us.

You thought you were just coming here to another service after Easter.

And somehow, someway, God showed up to your chair in your row and tapped you on the shoulder.

And so today is the day that I'm gonna deposit my peace in your heart.

And you can trust me.

If you need to trust Christ for salvation right now, just say something like this in the heart, in the quietness of where you sit.

Bible says, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart, that we will be saved.

So just say, God, today I admit I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.

And I trust what Christ did on that cross is giving me peace.

And as you say that prayer today, I invite you just to trust Christ.

As people are already making their way to the altar.

In just a moment when they begin to sing, you can make your way too.

But say, God, thank you for the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus.

And say, God, from this day forward, I wanna live for Him and be a shining light.

Put your spirit in me and help me walk in the fullness of that spirit.

My friend, it's a free gift we receive by faith.

There's nothing you can do to earn it.

There's nothing you can do to buy it.

And if you said that prayer today, just thank God right where you sit.

Bible says we should make that public, make that known.

It's nothing to be ashamed of.

It's a personal relationship with God, but we make it public.

And that's why we open up this altar, because if you made that decision and you need to come to say, hey, I made that decision today, feel free to come.

Others need to come for other reasons, feel free to come.

But right now, if you made that decision to follow Jesus Christ, as they begin to sing, I pray you just come to the altar and let Jesus become the person and come and reside in your life.

We pray it all today in Jesus' name, amen.