Good morning Veritas. Welcome to Veritas Church. If we haven't had the opportunity to meet. My name is Matthew. I get the opportunity to be one of the pastors on staff, and we have been marching through the book of First John. So if you have a Bible, I would love for you to grab your Bibles and open them to First John chapter four. And we will be focusing in on verses seventeen through nineteen. And kind of the topic for today is fear and judgment. Fear and judgment, something that so many of us love to talk about. But this text is was particularly hard for me. I was raised in a super strict religious environment. And so even as I studied it, there's this tension for me and I'm wondering if it isn't for many of you of this giant hammer that hangs over your head, controlled by God Almighty waiting for you to mess up so he can crush you. This this threat of looming doom that. Sure, I love Jesus. Jesus died on the cross. But certainly, um, I'm probably going to get it at some point. And almost John doesn't kind of help us here. If you look at First John chapter one, um, he says this in First John one, verses six through nine. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from our sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But you're like, I'm like, at least John, tell me more. Because John, I think thoughts at, uh, when I'm driving or, you know, when I'm frustrated that they don't seem like that now I haven't murdered anybody. Um, I haven't done anything like extra bad, but it's all the thoughts and the heart level issues that go on in my life. Is God waiting till then to drop the hammer on me? So what are we supposed to do? Do we just hang out and and hope? Hope that the hammer doesn't fall or just eke our way through life living in fear. And I wonder how many of us are living this way. I remember as a child doing foolish things, each having different levels of consequences and wondering when the hammer was going to fall. One of the highlights of my poor decision making was when I was probably eight. My sister got gum in her hair and I was a helpful brother, and we had this beautiful pair of craft scissors, and I thought, this will take the gum out of the hair. So I just cut. And in the eighties, because we were eighties children, bangs are a very big deal. And to this day, all I know about bangs comes from that week, that week. How big of a deal bangs are? But we just cut it off. And so then my sister and I, like, we cut it off at the Playhouse, you know, and we're like, oh man, that doesn't look good. Um, we gotta figure out mom's going to kill us. So we have got to figure out I love my mom. Um, we got to figure out how we're going to cover for this because she is going to be furious. And so my sister, I think, owned one hoodie and she was. The plan was to wear that for about two years and then it'd be normal again. And so that was the plan. We were going to wear the hoodie for two years, and we were just going to kind of stay away from our parents. And I think when you're eight and six, I don't remember precisely how old we were. Um, yeah, I didn't work. Didn't work. And judgment came, judgment came. My mom's like, why are you guys so distant? Why have you been wearing this hoodie for three days straight in a row? And judgment came. It came. Right. Didn't it didn't work out. But for that week we had been like hiding and plotting and, like, trying to deflect and look away all the things that we wouldn't have put those words to it back then, but we were just afraid of the judgment. Afraid of the hammer dropping, right? We were not secure. We were not resting. We were not confident in the face of our parents. And that's just kind of a silly story now. Now I can laugh about it. I've healed. But do we do that with God? Church. Do. Are we secure with the Lord? Are we resting in him when we hear him talk about, hey, I'm the Prince of Peace. Come to me when you're weary and heavy laden. And we're like, yes, I'll go with you, to you with my burdens. Or I'm like, I'm not sure I can go with you with my burdens because you know, all the stuff I do, you know, all the stuff I think, can I go to you with my burdens? Like, do I, do we have confidence before the Lord? And we know there's this judgment day coming. Can I be prepared for Judgment Day? Well, I think John addresses this very struggle. He addresses the struggle with the fear of the judgment. And he even goes further and adds, like, there's no fear in love. So let's talk about how John gets to this point, that there's no fear of judgment in in love. Let's read. We are in First John chapter four. I'm just going to read our whole text to us as we open up, and then we're going to just kind of walk through it here and talk about it. This is verse seventeen by this is love perfected in us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. So it seems like John is confident that we can have confidence for the Day of judgment and even before the day of judgment. And he talks about this word perfected, right? He says, perfected with us. Okay. And so we're not preaching a perfection gospel. Okay? First John one is correct. If we say we have no sin, we're liars. We do sin. But what do we do with our sin? Do we hide our sin or do we confess our sin? Do we bring our sin to the light? Those things are true. But he wants us to know that we're going to be completed. We're going to be grown in our faith. The decision I made when my sister got gum in her hair was a very immature decision. I'm not sure the decision I would make now would be what I would call perfected, but it would have grown with wisdom and maturity over the years. First, I'd be like, why do you have gum in your hair? And then I would laugh, you know? But my my response would be different because of maturity. Right. So God is going to mature us. He's going to perfect us, grow us in love that we can stand on the day of judgment. So this isn't a shallow encouragement from John. It's not a shallow encouragement. This is truth. John is giving us truth that we can face judgment with confidence, but he wants to explain why or how Christians can actually have confidence before judgment. And I love that about the scriptures. The scriptures don't say, hey, be confident. You do. Be confident. Be confident. No, he tells us why, how we can be confident and he teaches us. So let's open our ears and let's hear what he's saying here. So John, by what or how is love perfected in us so that we can have this confidence, this very confidence that you're talking about? Let's go back to verse thirteen. Danny so well preach through this to us last week. And I think this is the foundation for talking about confidence in the face of God's judgment. Okay. Verse thirteen says this. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us His Spirit. When you're saved, God moves in God. God. God moves into you. That's going to leave a mark. Verse fourteen and we have seen and testify that the father has sent the son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love. They abide in God, and God abides in him. So John uses this phrase by this he uses it like ten times in this letter to these people because he wants them to know in this case where the confidence comes from. Okay. Notice he doesn't say, buy this, buy your good works and your good deeds and you just be an awesome John. You will have confidence before the throne of God. No, he says you're going to have confidence. Confidence before the throne of God. Because I moved in and I transformed. And I abide with you. John. It's not it's not about you. It's about what I'm doing in you. So throughout this chapter, really, really, again, the whole letter, John keeps pointing us back to the work of Christ. And again, very recently, he's pointed out the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in us actively doing things, changing us, sanctifying us. This confidence before God is not built on pretending to be good enough or merely knowing facts about Jesus. If you're going to out fact God or use apologetics with him at the throne. You might miss the point. If you've been pretending, if you've been wearing the hoodie for days and years. He's going. He's going to see. It's not going to cover what you're trying to hide. You can't pretend your way through this day of judgment, but your confidence ought to be built in God. It's in his gracious work, the gracious work of God in believers. Through faith in Christ, God abides in us. We abide in him. The spirit has been given to us because Christ was sent for us. This is a work of Christ. Our confidence is built on the work of Christ. Another text that I don't have up on the screen is Romans chapter eight, verse five. He. He loved us so much, he died for his enemies. I'm going to go there because I just butchered it. Romans five, verse eight. This is what this love looks like, this perfected love that Christ has for us. We weren't good people who needed to get a little bit better. We were enemies of God, enemies. We were actually dead in our trespasses and sins, totally separated from God, not on his team. Following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. But what does God do for us? Romans five. I'm actually. Yeah. Eight for while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. We were ungodly people. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God. But God. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still enemy, Christ died for us. Enemies and Christ dies. Christ brings us in. He transforms us. He renews. He begins to renew our mind. He says, enemy, I'm going to abide in you and you're going to abide in me. Matthew. Enemy I'm going to abide in you, and I want you to abide in me, and I want you to find life in me. And he brings brings us in, and he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us walk through life. Right? Picture this. You get a new job hired at a different company, right? And the company's got a culture and a passion and perhaps a product that they're trying to push. So you're the new person on the job. Hate those new days, right? But you're there and you're like, I don't even know where the pencils are. Why do I exist? Where's the copier? What is. Where is that thing? Okay. But they partner you up, perhaps with a team member so that you can be effective faster. Okay. And I want to be cautious comparing work stuff to, like, spiritual stuff because the two are not the same, but they do have a lot of similarities here. The culture, they want you to get it. They want you to produce the product. They want you to sell the product. Okay. Christ is calling us to live for a different kingdom. And he sends His Holy Spirit, and he's our team member that's walking with us. He's a team member in the boss. It's weird. That's how much he loves us. And he's like, I want you. Like, we don't do that. Hey, the copiers over here, we this is what we're trying to do. This is the effect that we want our product to have on the people. And they want they help us buy in and the spirit is with us, walking with us, changing us, helping us renew our minds, helping us think differently. He's with us. So we get God now and we get God forever. And folks, the Christian life is not trying to survive the judgment day. That is not the end all. Christ already stood in judgment for us. He's been judged. Christian Christ has stood at Judgment Day for you. It killed him. The wages of sin is death. But he rose again. Christ has been judged on your behalf. Our punishment was poured out on his behalf. This is love. This is the perfected love that God displays in His Son for you and me, so that we might have confidence before Judgment Day. Amen. It's the work of Christ. Our judgment is happened and it is finished. Completed. Done. Gone. Your thoughts, your actions. Your mind. Your screw ups. As a believer. As stress, as a believer. Your sins are gone. Paid for. You're redeemed. You're justified. No works need to be done. You stand free. That's part of the significance of Christ coming to earth. He knows temptation. He knows suffering. He knows rejection. He knows sorrow. And yet he didn't sin. I'm going to go live with these people that I've created, and I'm going to experience what they've experienced temptation. I'm going to experience wanting more. I'm going to experience lack of comfort. Hey, I'm going to. I'm going to suffer even to the point of death. Death on a cross, because I know that my people, they will suffer. I sanctify them through suffering, and I'm going to live in their shoes so I can experience what they experience. And I can say, there is hope. There is hope. I'm going to die the death. They can't die. And I'm going to rise again so that they can have life, right. Let's look at verse seventeen. First John four seventeen. I'll just read the whole thing again by this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world as he is, so also are we in this world. So how is Jesus? Okay. Like as he is, I'm not Jesus. I, I know that you're not Jesus. We know that. So what, what does he say about this? Let's go to first John chapter three, verse one, first John three, verse one says this. See what kind of love the father has given to us. Okay. This is a picture of love. And some of you church people like release the Bible stories for a second. This isn't some vague, ethereal thought. It's applicable to you. It's applicable to you, and it's applicable to you, and it's applicable to me. It's not a generic thought here, okay? We're not talking generically about leadership. We're talking about judgment, conquering fear, and the work of Jesus Christ for you. Say it with me, for me. One, two, three for me, for me. I'm not talking about your spouse. Not talking about your kids, not talking about grandma. I'm not talking about uncle. I'm not talking about aunt. I'm talking about you. For me. Okay? This is the kind of love the father has given to us. That we should be called children of God. And so we are. It's like this obvious, like, hey, hey, you enemy, remember Romans five, you're an enemy of God. Now, now a child of God. Okay. The reason why the world doesn't know us is that it did not know him. And he goes on, but we're not going to go through chapter three. Go back and listen to those messages. But like, we're in the world, but we're not of the world. We love the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of USA or this world. We love things differently. We do things differently. And Christ displayed those things as he walked on the earth, as he was tempted, as he suffered, as he faced rejection, and as he faced sorrow. Shoot, he was totally innocent. When they brought him to the cross, he was lied about, mocked. And yet he suffered for you and for me. That's the picture. So that enemies could be friends, that enemies could be children of God. That is the confidence that we bring as we approach this throne or consider this concept of judgment. So in all this, believers are united to Christ. We're united to his life where we failed. He didn't fail where he faced temptation. I want the better camel. He didn't get the better camel, right? And he walked trusting in the father where he's like, Lord, I want my will to be done, but not my will. Your will be done. He submitted to the father's plan. Okay. He suffered for us his life, for our. He's given to us his righteousness given to us, and his standing before the father given to us. Friends, thinking about the Day of judgment for a believer as less of a fearful thing and more of an invitation to meet your really good, good father. And I know that's complicated for many of you to think of a good father, but this father is good. He is loving. He is kind. He does care. This is an invitation to enter his business room and be loved and liked, and meet the one who so lovingly displayed himself by sending Jesus to die on the cross for us. Let's go to Hebrews. The author of Hebrews says it this way in Hebrews four, verse fifteen, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are. Yet he didn't sin, he was without sin. Let us then have confidence to draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, this is an active current thing. You can go to this High priest today and talk to him. You can go to him tonight. But we can also prepare our hearts and our minds for Judgment Day and walk in confidence into that day. But as Jesus was in his life, we can walk with confidence as we grow in him, both now and for the Day of judgment. The issue for the believer isn't judgment and punishment, because we've experienced his incredible, gracious love. Christ graciously loves you. In fact, Christ's love for you is not based on your actions or activities. It's based off of him. Christ loves because God is love. Christ's actions were based out of God, not you. He didn't come here to die for you. He came to obey the father and display his glory for the whole entire earth. It's not based on what you do. Okay, now there's a ditch you can run to there and I'm going to try not to go there. I'm just going to assume you know. But Christ's love is not based off of you. It's based off of him. It's based off of the character and nature of God. It is a gracious love. Let's go to verse eighteen. First John four eighteen says this there is no fear in this love, but perfect love casts out fear. You get this picture perhaps, of this judge waiting to just drop. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. You know, you get that picture and it permeates your mind and it does things to you and how you act and how you think. But this love casts that level of fear out. Because this love gave. You're struggling with sin. Oh man, I've got the solution. I'll send me to pay the punishment for your sin. I will send me, me. You guys can't be righteous. This is mind blowing. I will send me and I will die in your place. Because I am holy. And I am just so I must. God's a liar if he doesn't pay for sin, and he sends himself in Jesus Christ to die for the sin of the world. This is our God. This is perfect love. There's no fear in this. This is the father we have. This is the father we have. He loves us. He likes us. he redeems sinners. And this is the love that drives out fear in our lives. Fear of this great, awesome, mighty God. Fear of this judgment that he could rightly do to us. And as it says in this verse for eighteen, fear in this case has to do with judgment, the punishment for sin. We're not talking about spiders, heights, or dogs, okay? We're talking about a holy God pouring out his divine wrath on sinners who refuse to love him and glorify him who refuse. You know, when we think about sin oftentimes, and I've done this in the past, you know, I think about like the top five drugs, alcohol, sex outside of marriage, um, partying. What was my fifth one? Some other mega sin, right? But it's worse. Like, how many times haven't I glorified God this morning? How many times have I stolen glory today? I need a Savior. I have failed. How many times have I thought selfish thoughts like. And I didn't murder anyone this morning. But how many like I need a savior? Save me from my sin. And so when we're talking about fear and judgment, like there's a list of wrongs that God could justly pour out his wrath on, and it has been poured out on Jesus. Jesus died for me. Jesus died for you. If you're in Christ Jesus, the wrath of God has been poured out on him for all those thoughts, For all those evil deeds. And I will say this God has poured out his wrath on his son for murderers, for adulterers, for those caught in addiction, God's wrath has been poured out for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what their background or what they've done, he saves people. He takes enemies and makes them friends. He brings them into the family of God. Think about that thing that and some of us as Christians live like God hasn't decided what he thinks about you. But look at what John has even said in this chapter. Christ has absorbed the wrath of God. That word propitiation. Christ died for your sin. The wrath of God is satisfied. He is still just. He maintains his character of truth and holiness, because the wrath of God against sin in your life has been poured out on His Son, Jesus Christ. You're free. You're free. God's not waiting to decide what to do with you and your thoughts or that action. He punished your Savior for those thoughts and that action. He punished your Savior for those thoughts and that action. Okay, so think about this with me. If God's perfect plan, right? God makes perfect plans. We we with you, with me. God makes perfect plans. His will is perfect. So if God's perfect plan, the propitiation for the sin of believers. So God has a perfect plan, the cessation of his wrath for believers, right? If God had a plan, It involved payment for our sins, the sins of believers. If that happened in the work of Jesus Christ, what remains for him to punish? If God paid for your sin in Jesus Christ, what remains for him to punish in you? He doesn't hover over you waiting to crush you. Believer. That's not a loving father. Sure, I want to recognize that there are convictions. There are moments where I do not live in the light. There are moments when you do not live in the light. What do you do? Do you confess your sin or do you hide it? There's conviction. The the heart waves a little red flag or screams bloody murder and says, be holy. Christ loves you. We're walking in doubt. Return. That's conviction. It settles in our heart and our mind. And we're like, What I'm doing isn't right. I need to repent and turn back to the way that God would have me walk. So there is conviction, right? And there is discipline. In fact, the scriptures say the those who the Lord love, he disciplines to get rid of some of the garbage in our life. So there's conviction in this discipline, but there's no condemnation. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans chapter eight, verse one. It's gone. And once the issue of sin is resolved, it greatly affects our relationship with God And with others throughout the scriptures. The Old Testament, the Ten Commandments starts with you shall have no other gods before you. And from there everything flows. Your relationship with God should change. One your relationship with God, and two your relationship with other people, including your own spouse and your own children. Let's not just talk about other people. Your relationship with God, when it's good, should stir your affections for him. You should love him more, right? And as you love God more, you're going to look to the people who are closest to you and you're going to love them more. You're going to be more patient. It's a fruit of the spirit. You're going to suffer a long time. Also a fruit of the spirit. You're going to be kind, a fruit of the spirit. You're going to be gentle. It's a fruit of the spirit you're going to be loving. It's it's going to happen. Not. And you're not the one that just gets out of it, by the way. You're not the one guy. Okay. It should happen if you're in the spirit. Okay. It's going to your desires. Your affections are going to change. And it starts with your relationship with God. And when you get what Christ has done for you, bringing you as an enemy and making you a friend or a family member, it changes things. It fuels you. It's not like God says, hey, I'm going to die for your sin, and then I want you to pay me, okay? Pay me back. Send Jesus pay. No, there's there's no payment for this. It's a gift. It's not a result of works so that no one can boast. There's no payment required. Right. Let's go to verse nineteen. First John four nineteen. It says, we love because he first loved, right? So we love God because he loved us and we love others because he loves us. Those who fear judgement, they hide like Adam and Eve. Did they hide right? You hide your sin. You look at stupid reels on your cell phone. You don't show anyone else your cell phone, right? You delete your your history. You delete those emails or those messages, right? Your your hiding your a hider, okay? You are not living in freedom because you can't leave your phone anywhere. Okay? People who are afraid of judgement, they, they seek to perform. You have to act. Stir up that love. Got to be loving, got to be kind. Got to put on my smiley face. I'm going to Veritas. You're not free, you're not free. You're dying in the dark. You try to protect yourself, you know. try to be dignified. You try because you're living in the dark and you're a fraud, right? And you pretend you're a pretender. You pretend like you got your stuff together. You pretend like everything's okay today. You pretend like you're not being deceived. You pretend like you're not fooling around. Right? And so these actions of somebody who fears judgment, they don't help relationships at all. They kill relationships. I think about me and my sister when I cut her hair, right. We we pretended we used the hoodie to cover up the hair, and we sought to hide. You know, we didn't want to be in the same room as Mom and Dad. It was like just their presence was judgment to us. Oh, it's judgmental people. We didn't want to be around them. It caused relational strain. Where are you guys? Let's talk. Why don't you draw together on the kitchen table? No, I don't want to be in the same room as you. We're in trouble. We're pretending it didn't happen and we're ignoring you. That's what we do when we're caught in sin, right? We're adults, so we have creative ways to cover it. We're bigger. We hide our phones. We don't watch TV when we're in the same room. You know, we we do different things. We're creative with our hiding. And it's the opposite of those who are in Christ Jesus. But those who've had their sins forgiven, those who have relinquished the fear of judgment because of the confidence they have in God's love. They confess their sins. They love others boldly. Right? I can confess your sins first. John tells you people that this guy, he's sinned this week. So did I hide my sin? Or did I confess my sin? First John one tells me you've sinned this week. Have you hidden your sin? Or have you confessed your sin? We all have the same problem. And I can confess to you. I've been distracted. I've been grouchy. I've been frustrated. I've been lazy. Those are sins that is sinful, okay? But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. Even when I was dead in my trespasses, he made me alive together with Christ, and he walks with me. This week my sin was poured out on. Or the wrath for my sin was poured out on the back of Jesus Christ. We can walk in confession. We can love others boldly because we relate to them. I've done that too. I've acted out in that way. And Christ saved me. We can endure persecution because we know it's coming. We know God works through it. We know that he works all things out for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose, so we can endure differently. I don't need to hide. I don't need to run to alcohol to numb my pain. Because I can run to the Prince of Peace who takes my pain and understands what's going on. I don't need to run to pornography because life has gotten me down. I can run to the king and I can lay down my burdens before him, and he will minister to me in the deepest level. And as Christians, we follow Christ. We're Christ followers. My life is not anchored on the situations I will have today and tomorrow and then Tuesday. My life is anchored in Christ and he never changes. So whatever is thrown at me today, tomorrow, and Tuesday, God never changes. He is where my hope lies. My. The lens that I look through my world in is the hope of Jesus Christ, who loved me and died for me even when I was an enemy. Not today and tomorrow, and another war and another politician and another economic. Whatever will happen next? No, my hope is in Christ. Because no matter what happens next, he never changes. He never changes. And he loves and likes me. This is the foundation for the hope that I have. My hope is in God's perfect love. Hey, it replaces my fear of judgment. It replaces it with confidence. And that's what I want us to take away from here today. This thought that the greatest verdict has already been taken care of. We as Christians can live with lesser earthly fears. What can man do to us? God's perfected love replaces fear of judgment with confidence. God's perfected love replaces fear of judgment with confidence. The greatest judgment that I face is for my sin. Christ died for my sin. Christian. The greatest thing that you face in all of your life is judgment for your sin. Christian. Christ died for your sins. He appeased the wrath of God for you. For me. You're free. You do not stand condemned. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God's perfect love shown in His Son has replaced this fear. So how do we live? What do we do? Veritas. This is a challenge for us as a church. And if you're visiting, you just listen in. But I want to talk to our people. Veritas church, you come here, you're a member here. You come here and regularly attend. You should become a member. You come here a lot. As a Christian, you should live in freedom. I think I've said that a few times, but it seems to creep in. Time and time again. Love. Love. Christ. Christian. Love Christ. Be motivated by Christ. Love him. Learn about him. May he permeate your body. May he permeate your heart and your mind. May the words you say be shaped because you love Christ who died for you when you were an enemy. Love him. Read about him. Think about him. Meditate on him. Be a part of his church with his people. Love God. The second thing we should do as a church, because Christ has dealt with our judgment, is we should be a peaceful people no matter what is happening in the news. Our judgment is taken care of. Yes, this permeates to our reactions to the news. We should be a peaceful people. Our hope isn't on this earth. Our hope has already been won in Christ Jesus. We're not peaceful because life is easy. We're peaceful because of Christ. We're not peaceful because there's not stress in the world. We're peaceful because Christ. We're not peaceful because people have let us down and we're getting along. We're peaceful because of Christ. It keeps coming back. There's this reoccurring theme, Christ, Christ, Christ. My hope is in Christ. We fight anxiety, we fight it because anxiety exists. There are Bible verses about it. We fight anxiety with with Christ. Christ is our hope in our anxiousness. Christ is our hope in our fearfulness. Christ is our hope in our anger. Christ is our hope. Christ he's our hope. And he should cause peace. He's actually the Prince of Peace. He's our anchor. Amidst the anxiousness and fears that our world throws at us and Veritas Church, we should live in confidence. We should live confidently. Not cocky, not sarcastic. I hate sarcasm, okay, but we should walk in confidence because of the hope that we have in the King Peter says we should always be prepared to give an answer for the hope or for a reason, for the hope that we have within us. Why? Because Christ gives us so much reason for the hope that we have within us. Our confidence isn't in our knowledge or our ability to kick the other guy who's being a jerk. Our confidence is in Christ. You picking up what I'm laying down? Christ is our hope. Christ is our King. Christ changes the way we speak. Christ changes the way we respond. Christ changes the. What we think about Christ changes our approach to fear. Christ changes our approach to stress, and we walk in confidence because we know Christ. So when anxiety, stress, or grief come, what. What is our heart fixed on? Is it fixed on God's perfect love that replaces fear of judgment with confidence? Let's be a church that's anchored on God's perfected love. Let's pray. God, I just pray those very things for Veritas Church. God, that we would not be caught up in this world and the plethora of things that are happening, but that our hope would be deeply anchored in Christ. God, I lift up the person who who sees you with a big hammer waiting to nail them for messing up. God, I pray that you would liberate them, that you would help them understand the cross of Jesus Christ, that you have poured out your wrath. It is finished. Hallelujah. God into the person who doesn't believe, who stands condemned, who stands and will face your wrath. God, I pray that they would believe believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that they might be saved. God that they would confess their sins, and that you would forgive them their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. God, we pray that your spirit would move and work open eyes, open ears to hear the truth of the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I pray that we as believers would remember the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and act out of it. In Jesus name we pray all these things. Amen.