All right, you guys ready to jump into two Corinthians? If you would get your bibles out, whether you're using a physical Bible, cell phone, whatever you use, tablet, fill in the blank. We're in two Corinthians chapter four. You may note that this is our third week in chapter four. We've kind of slowed down a little bit. We're starting to crawl through two Corinthians four, because in two Corinthians three, we marched through that in one week. Paul unpacks the new covenant that we are recipients of and participants of in Jesus Christ. And in two Corinthians four, he's been walking through and describing this new Covenant gospel ministry that he and Timothy are a part of and that we are invited into to say, this is what it looks like to be ministers of the new covenant, to be christians in the new covenant. And last week, we got the joy of talking about how God puts his power on display, and everyone's like, yes, give me some power. Until you stop and realize that it's like, wait a second. The way that we have access to God's power is not how we might think it would be. It's not through our strength. It's actually through our weakness that God would hide this treasure of the gospel inside jars of clay. I told the youth last weekend, that would be like if I were to call you a Walmart sack, right? It's like, that's not a very complimentary term, but it's just true. Like, that God would put his power on display through weak and fragile people, and that the breaking of the fragile jar of clay is actually how the light of the gospel shines the most clearly. And so, yeah, we talked through embracing weakness and suffering as a part of experiencing the power of God. Now, if we're honest with ourselves, even if we just take a step back and say, okay, weakness and suffering, part of the christian life, and if you've read the Bible enough, you've kind of got a grasp on that. You know, that that's necessary to follow Jesus. But just because it's necessary doesn't mean it's easy, right? If you really slow down and say, oh, weakness and suffering, part of the christian life, that's hard. That's really hard, especially over time, right? I mean, maybe this last week, fresh off a sermon about weakness and suffering, you've had, I hope, some power of God moments. Some moments where you're like, wow, very clearly, the Lord has provided his power, is being put on display in this moment. I feel especially near to God in my weakness. Or maybe I didn't before. I hope that's true. But I would say the regular cadence of weakness and suffering are not these profound light bulb moments where it's like, wow, look at the power of God. But more so a day by day fight for faith. And the fact that God is using weakness and suffering, that he is present in the hardest moments in the valleys. And yes, he is powerful, but it's incredibly hard. And as it drags on, not just for days, weeks or months, but years, the temptation in the midst of hard is to want to quit. When I think about this, I think about my dad, who was chronically ill my entire life. I think back more pointedly to about twelve years ago when he received a cancer diagnosis. And I just think, man, my dad had a whole slew of chronic health issues, a lot of them respiratory in nature, full of fatigue. I mean, when you look at a man who was marked by weakness and suffering, my dad was like the epitome. And then he gets this cancer diagnosis and the doctors say, hey, here's your treatment plan. 40 radiation treatments over the course of eight weeks. That's five days a week for eight weeks of radiation. And if I'm my dad, I look at that and I'm like, I'm throwing in the towel. I'm quitting, right? My body's already falling apart. Radiation is guaranteed to suck the life out of me. Why would I keep going? But my dad kept going, right? Because he believed two things to be true. Number one, he believed that the cancer was curable. The doctor told him, hey, this radiation treatment based on your current state of cancer and prognosis should do the trick. He believed cancer was curable, but secondly, he believed that life was still worth living, right? He looked at his children, who were not yet married, and he was like, Mandy, I think there's more to life, there's more keeping me here than to just throw in the towel and call it quits. And as I think about my dad's diagnosis and chronic illness, I think it's worth noting for us today that the more we move towards a post christian society here in America, this is going to be really far from easy, really far from comfortable. And these ideas of weakness and suffering will not just be, like, abstract or ethereal. They will become very real to us today. Because for generations in America, Christians, followers of Jesus, have experienced really one of two things. The first is a very positive culture around Christianity, where culture upheld christian norms. And to be a Christian was to be viewed in positive light, it might even actually help your social status. If you tell other people that you're a Christian, wow, what an upstanding citizen you are, then you fast forward and then society becomes, I would say, more neutral towards Christianity. Not necessarily favorable, but not disfavorable either, where it's kind of level playing ground. But as of late, I mean, social psychologists, especially in the christian realm, would say, really post 2014, the roe versus Wade ruling, and when you get into Rovers, Wade and the marriage debate, right. What is marriage? 2014 ruled that gay and lesbian marriages can take place. And so you see this unfolding here where now today's day and age, we don't live in a positive or neutral cultural age. We live in a negative cultural age. And so if you want to be a Bible believing christian today, here's what society would say. You are a threat to the public good. If you actually believe this stuff written in this book 2000 years ago, your worldview is insane. It makes no sense. And we just need to be prepared for the fact that negative consequences socially will come as we take a stand on the scriptures. As you actually hold to a biblical worldview to be called a bigot, a fill in the blank phobe. Right. To take a stand for the scriptures to say, oh, the moment that you don't affirm someone's behavior, you're instantly labeled as someone who is marked by hate. And we live in a cancel culture. I mean, this is relatively foreign to us, especially in the midwest, maybe this like, stretch of the outskirts of the Bible belt. And we still are, quote unquote, Iowa. Nice. But we have to be real and say, this is coming. This negative cultural age of biblical Christianity is coming. And if we're not prepared church, we're going to be prone to want to quit because it's going to be really hard and we're on the front end of it. Right. This is like, hey, to say this negative cultural age started in 2014 is like, we're on the front end. And if we're in this for the long haul, we have to ask the question, what do we need to believe? To not quit. Right? Just like my dad had two things to fundamentally believe, to not quit in the midst of a cancer diagnosis, we need at least two things, and I would argue two things we see in the text this morning that we need to believe in, to not quit when it comes to our christian faith, our christian witness, our stand for the gospel, and our biblical worldview. And so we just have three verses this morning. I'm going to start with us. In two Corinthians, chapter four, beginning in verse 13, here's what the word of God says. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes, since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed, and so I spoke. We also believe, and so we also speak. And so I've kind of already teed you up on this. What Paul is about to do as he unpacks this ministry marked by weakness and suffering, and he's about to go into, hey, here's how we continue. Here's how we stand firm in the faith and in the ministry. He roots it in this word, belief. Belief. Two times he says the word believe, but he also says the same spirit of faith. And what you would know if you just look closely at verse 13 is that your belief always impacts your behavior. Your belief always impacts your behavior. Simple example for you. Last night, I believed that watching the cyclones would bring joy to my heart. So what did I do? I stayed up way too late. But guess what? It brought joy to my heart. Right? And every day, your beliefs are shaping your behaviors. You know, what you eat, what you wear, where you go, how you speak. Like, these are all shaped by beliefs. And I want to get a to the behavior component this morning. We will. But before we ever get to behaviors like what does it mean for us, how do we respond? Sometimes we're too quick to go there. We actually need to nail down this. What do we believe? What do we believe? Because Paul says, I believed and so I spoke. What he's doing here is he's quoting psalm 116. Maybe your Bible has a footnote to allude to that would strongly encourage you at some point this week. Just go read all of psalm 116. It's a really rich passage of scripture, one that has been sung through generations within the people of God. And it's a psalm of thanksgiving. It's a psalm of praise and worship, and it's ultimately a psalm that speaks of deliverance, because the psalmist in psalm 116 was literally on the brink of death. Death was, like, chasing him down in his face. And what he does is he prays to God for deliverance. He says, God, rescue me, save my life, spare me. And here's what he says in psalm 116. He says, for you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Talk about a, like, flag in the ground moment. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believed even when I spoke, I am greatly afflicted. I said in my alarm, all mankind are liars. What's going on in this psalmist's life? Death is in his face. The lies around him are really loud. You are going to die. Death is imminent. It's going to happen. But the psalmist, even in the midst of great affliction, says, no. Here's what I believe to be true. I believe God is good. He is gracious, he is merciful, and he is powerful to deliver me. So when I pray for deliverance, I believe that that is what he is going to do. Psalm 116. These several verses here are just the psalmist staking his faith in the trustworthiness of God's character. And Paul is doing the same thing for us. In two corinthians four, he's saying, yes, in the preceding verses, right? Death is at work in me. But here's what I know to be true. I serve a God who can deliver me. We serve a God who can deliver us. His belief, his faith is firm. And you have to ask the question, belief in what? Right. This deliverance kind of tease us up to where he's going in verse 14, which, if you'd look back at the text of me, he says, we also believe. And so we also speak verse 14, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. Here is the first reality that you need to believe in this morning. You need to believe in the reality of the resurrection. The reality of the resurrection. If you want to continue in the faith in the midst of weakness and suffering and persecution and cancel culture, you have to believe in the resurrection and what's happening here within the church of Corinth. I mean, again, we've talked about this a lot in this series. This is not the first time Paul has written to this church. And in his first letter, Paul seems to be addressing a subset of christians within the church of Corinth. That said, I don't know if the resurrection is real. And he spends the entirety of one corinthians 15 defending the resurrection, right? He talks through, hey, this is what happened. Christ died according to the scriptures, was buried according to the scriptures, was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. He appeared to all these disciples and then to over 500 men at one time. This really happened. But here's what he goes on to say. If in Christ we have hope in this life only we are of all people most to be pitied. What he's saying there is if this resurrection is not real. If Jesus did not really rise from the dead, if the tomb was not really empty because jesus came back to life, we have the most worthless faith in in the world. Because ultimately, without a resurrection, we are saying Jesus was a liar. We have no proof that God accepted his sacrifice for us, which means there is no forgiveness of sin, there is no power over sin, and therefore, we have no hope in life because we are stuck in our sin and we have no hope in death because death is the end. So if Jesus did not rise from the dead, especially as a man who is literally facing death for the sake of his faith, he says, this would be a complete embarrassment. But I love how he continues. He says, but in fact, verse 20, Christ has been raised from the dead. Amen. Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has also come the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam, all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom of God, kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and every power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. So he unpacks this reality. Christ has resurrected. This really happened. Which means there are real implications. Number one, Jesus is who he says he is. He is not only fully man, he is, yes, fully Goddesse, who lived perfectly for more than 30 years and died a substitutionary death that, by the way, was accepted by God. When God looked at Jesus death, the resurrection is the proof that when Jesus said, it is finished, he wasn't joking. He wasn't lying. Jesus actually looks. God looks at Jesus death and says that was a sufficient sacrifice for the sins of mankind, which means, guess what? There is forgiveness of sin. There is power over sin. There is this offer of new life in us today, that if you would put your faith in the finished work of Jesus, there is this resurrection that's already happening within you, that God would deliver you from the snares of your own sin. But also, as you look at one corinthians 15, Christ is described as the firstfruits from the dead. This promise that Jesus did not just resurrect and ascend into heaven, to just sit on the throne while we stay down here. He says, no, here's what else is true. You will rise with me. You will rise with Christ, which means this life is not all there is. Church. Eternity is coming. Eternity is out in front of us. And because Christ is risen from the dead, we are promised life after death. And lastly, as you look at one corinthians 15, the reality of the resurrection. I don't know if you caught the tail end of this. It's like Christ must rule, he must reign. He is our victorious king. Sin and evil will not get the final word. Jesus is coming back. And the first time he came to seek and to save the lost. And the second time he is coming to enact justice, to deal with sin and evil once and for all. Many would say the first time, Christ came as a lamb, and the second time he is coming as a roaring lion, looking to rule and conquer. And that's good news. That's good news. And so the question I would ask you is, do you believe? Do you believe in the resurrection? I mean, we gather in a christian church. You're here to sit under the teaching of God's word this morning. I would love to say, of course, everybody in here believes in the resurrection, but we have to understand what does it actually mean to believe? What does it actually mean to believe? Because James says even the demons believe in God and they shudder. So what does it mean to actually believe in the resurrection? There's a story that dates back to 1859. A man by the name of Charles Blondin. And maybe you've heard this story before. We have a picture I'd love to put on the screen of the Niagara Gorge. So Charles Blondin, what he did in 1859, he sets up a tightrope across Niagara Falls. The Niagara Gorge stretches about a quarter of a mile. His tightrope was approximately 200ft in the air. And he goes across this tightrope with no safety net or harness. I mean, thousands of people start flocking to see him perform this work. He walks across and then, if that's not enough, he goes across on stilts, he bicycles across, he goes across blindfolded. And then the story goes, he walks backwards across it and he returns with a wheelbarrow. And the crowds are going nuts, right? They cannot believe what this man is doing. And he says, hey, I want some audience participation, which is every church member's worst nightmare, right? He says, I want some audience participation. How many of you believe that I can push a person in this wheelbarrow across Niagara? And everyone says, yes. And he says, who's going to get in the wheelbarrow? That's what it means. To believe, to not just stand back as someone who is looking on and saying, yeah, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But it's like, okay, are you all in? Are you all in? Right? Because everybody's willing to hoot and holler, yeah, you can do it. And he says, who will get in the wheelbarrow? Who will risk their life for this church? The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just an academic fact to agree with. It is the most history and life altering reality you can give your life to. And so the question is, do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus really rose from the dead? I. And if so, there's several statements that come after this. If Jesus really rose from the dead, number one, I have been rescued. If you put your faith in the finished work of Jesus, here's what is fundamentally true. You have been rescued from the punishment and the condemnation of your sin, because Jesus already took that. I have been saved, but also from an eternal sense, I will be saved. I'm not just experiencing life and freedom from sin now. I will one day experience fullness of life and joy and freedom from sin forevermore. When I rise with Christ in my glorified body, to be with him forever in heaven, I will be saved. And lastly, you have to believe others are needing rescued. If you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and therefore the return of Jesus, you understand that others need rescued. Others need saved, others need delivered. And when you just bring this all together, there is absolutely zero reason for us to fold under personal discomfort or to cave to cultural pressure. Because if Jesus really rose from the dead, what is at stake? It's like for us, nothing. The worst thing that can happen to me is that I would die and I would be with him forever. But there's people out there in our communities, maybe in our own homes, who do not understand this yet. And if they don't understand the resurrection of the dead, if they don't understand the resurrection of Jesus, everything is at stake for them. Eternity is at stake. And so when we hold those realities in tension, we say, why would we quit? Jesus really rose from the dead. This really matters. I will give my life to this. And it gives way to the second reality to believe. As we look back at two corinthians 415, where Paul continues and concludes our section this morning, he says, for it is all for your sake. So that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. This is kind of like a purpose statement for Paul and Timothy, as they do ministry. Yes, we believe in the resurrection of the dead. And therefore, here's what we do. We continue to speak for this immediate result for your good church in Corinth. We continue in ministry because, guess what? We care about you. We love you. We want to see you repent and believe. We want to see you experience fullness of joy and life in Jesus. So what are we going to keep doing? We're going to keep speaking about Jesus. We're going to keep preaching the gospel. We're going to keep confronting sin, and it's for your good. It's for your good that more and more people would experience grace. This is the immediate goal of Paul. But what is the ultimate goal of Paul, as you look at verse 15? The immediate goal for your sake, but the ultimate goal at the very end of this verse is that God would be glorified. That God would be glorified. That God would get the worship he deserves. Paul is so wrapped up in the glory of God that he cannot help but almost crescendo into an act of worship. Here his primary aim is to say, hey, God deserves to be worshiped. Therefore, I will risk my life for the gospel in church. It's a good thing to know that, hey, we should share the gospel because we love people. That's a good thing. So many people you love that you should share the gospel with them because you love them, that you should talk to them about their sin because you love them. That's a good reason to share the gospel. But do you want to know a better reason to share the gospel, not just because you love people, but because you love God. Because you love God. That as you look out your workplace, your community, your neighborhood, your extended family, your teammates, your classmates, that it's not just rooted because you love them, but you say, man, I love God so much that he deserves the worship of every single person in this room. And that is going to be my motivator for proclaiming the gospel. Because, can we all just be honest? There are people that are hard to love, right? And if you don't believe it, you are hard to love, right? You're a hard to love person. And so if our motivation is only based on our love for people, our mission will fall short. But if our motivation is our love for God, the gospel will boom. At least gospel proclamation will boom around us because we will not look at a single person who we would say does not deserve to be worshiping God. Because God deserves to be worshiped, right? Even the people that are the most annoying to you is like, guess what? God deserves their worship, man. What would happen if the gospel got grip on them? We have to believe that you guys have maybe heard this John Piper quote, missions exist because worship doesn't. I know Taylor talked about that in our church series. Missions exist because worship doesn't. That's the fuel for our mission is we want to see God be worshipped. But from that excerpt from that same message, John Piper says this. If the pursuit of God's glory is not ordered above the pursuit of man's good and the affections of the heart and the priorities of the church, man will not be well served and God will not be duly honored. I am not pleading for a diminishing of missions, but for a magnifying of God. When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God's true worth, the light of missions will shine to the darkest places on earth. And I long for that day to come. Oh, that is so rich to say, man, christian individual, church at large. Do we believe God deserves to be worshipped? Is the glory of God more than just a tagline at the end of a mission statement? Yes, we want to be everyday missionaries. Why? So that God would be glorified. And if you're not at a spot in your heart where you're like, man, I am just enamored by God. I am not enamored by the glory of God. I would say you need to do a heart check. And I think all of us have room to grow in this. Don't get me wrong to say, man, I just, I wish I cared more about God's glory. I wish I cared more about God being worshipped. How does Paul get so wrapped up in the glory of God that this man is literally risking his life for the gospel? How does he get there? I think one of the clearest passages to understand Paul's heartbeat is when he writes to his young protege in the faith, Timothy first. Timothy one. Here's what he says. To Timothy, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen again. Burst out in worship. Where does it start? Christ Jesus came in to save sinners, and I am the worst sinner I know. And the same is true for you and me. You are the worst sinner, you know, because only you know your deepest, darkest sin struggles. It's really easy to hide on the surface. I mean, even in some of our, like, good deeds of the day, that deep down inside, you know you want attention. That even in your perfect Bible reading, there's still something in you that's like, I bet God is more pleased with me because I'm up to date on my Bible any year plan. It's like, that is sin. I'm sinning. Reading my bible, whoa. I'm sinning. Serving my community, whoa. I am the worst sinner I know. You don't know another brother or sister's thoughts or intentions, but you know yours. And the more clearly you see your own sin struggle, you have to get yourself to a posture that it's like, how would God have mercy on a wretch like me? And if he can save me, who else can he save? Anybody? If he can save me, who couldn't he save? You get yourself to that spot and you say, wow, I am so blown away by the mercy and grace of God that he would reach down into the pit and pull me out of death and spare me and deliver me. And if he can do that for me, who wouldn't he do that for? Man? That is a God that deserves to be worshipped. And when we consider these two realities, they're so tightly connected, but we have to believe both of them. The first is the resurrection is real, and the second is that God deserves to be glorified. Those are the two promises to cling to. And when you look back right at the beginning, I told you my dad believed two things. Number one, cancer is curable. Guess what? The resurrection's real. Our sin disease is curable church. Death is curable church. How? Through the resurrection of Christ, through the power of the risen God, that Jesus is alive, there is a cure for our sin disease. His name is Jesus and he is really alive. What else did my dad believe? This life is worth living. And I would say yes, and God deserves to be worshiped. There is a worth component wrapped up in this, that God is worthy to be worshipped, that he deserves to be glorified by every single person you know. And so I would once again ask, do you believe this? Not intellectually, not here, but I here. Do you really believe this? And it's not hard as you look at this text to get to the application point. And so I speak, but I was. Before we get there, I would just ask the question, do you believe? Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is alive, alive today after living perfectly, after dying a criminal's death, after taking the wrath of God on his head and being in a tomb, a real tomb, for three days, do you really believe he's really alive today? Do you really believe that he's coming back? Have you really been changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you really feel the freedom that comes from life of Christ in you? Power over sin? Do you really believe that this life is not all there is, but that there is eternity to come, that we will one day see God face to face in fullness of glory? Are you eagerly awaiting that day? Are you anticipating Jesus return? And if so, the second question is, are you speaking right? I believe, and so I speak. We believe, and so we keep on speaking. I think that's a good test of whether or not you believe. Are you speaking of Jesus? And if you're not speaking, let me just extend you an invitation this morning. Start speaking. Start speaking of Jesus because he's really alive. He's really powerful. He's really coming back. He really deserves to be glorified. Begin speaking. But also, if you have been speaking, I want to speak to the weary Christian this morning. Who. Man, maybe you've just been really faithful, and you've been speaking and speaking and speaking, and your temptation right now is to be quiet. You've been speaking long enough. It's falling on deaf ears. You're being labeled as the Jesus freak, the one who needs to chill out about all this faith stuff. Let me just tell you. Keep on speaking. Keep on speaking. Do not be silenced. Do not quit. Do not cave to your personal comfort or to the cultural pressure. Do not stop speaking, because if you believe, you will speak. And as we consider the resurrection in God's glory, I think it's worth noting that we know how this story ends. Okay? Praise God. We have the gift of the scriptures in this book of revelation, which many of us find daunting. But there's so many clear passages in revelation that just unfold this beautiful, climactic scene where God is on the throne and what's happening around him. Look, in revelation 7912, Jesus is giving this vision to John on the island of Patmos of heaven. John writes, after this, I looked behold a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the lambda, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne into the lamb and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. This is how the story ends. And one thing that I'm looking at as I look at two corinthians, chapter four, verses 13 through 15, is this unique phrase in verse 14 where Paul says that we will be raised with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. It's a beautiful picture. I think what Paul is doing with the corinthian church is envisioning revelation seven, like really practically saying, man, one day we're all going to be around the throne together. We're all going to see God face to face. We're all going to say, worthy is the lamb who was slain and who is he envisioning next to him? The corinthian church fuel for his ministry, right? To say, I'm not going to stop speaking because, you know who's going to be by me worshiping KIng Jesus forever? You. And I think it just begs us to this deeper level of faith. As you consider opening your mouth for Jesus, do you actually believe the people that you're going to open your mouth and speak with about Jesus? Do you believe that God can save them? And if so, do you believe that one day you will be standing worshiping Jesus and you can look to your left or your right and you can be like, we're together. We're together, that we would be presented together before Jesus. And the question I would just ask you is, who's going to be with you? Who's going to be with you? Ultimately, yes, because of God's faithfulness. But also this question that we beg for an answer for, who's going to be with you because you spoke, because you had faith to believe that Jesus has risen, that resurrection power is still there in the gospel, that God deserves to be glorified. And so you opened your mouth and spoke that one day a sibling, a parent, a child, classmate, coworker, neighbor might look at you in heaven and say, thank you. Thank you for speaking. And let's be honest, we're going to look a little bit left and right, but we're going to be primarily looking forward, right? Because the second someone thanks me, you know what I'm saying? Look at Jesus. Let's glorify him together. And as you consider glorifying God in evangelism, it's less about how many converts you make. It's more about how faithful to the king you can be. This king who has called us to be witnesses, ambassadors, to just be invited into the mission of God and say, watch what I can do. And the question is, will we be faithful? Will we speak? But ultimately, do we believe? Let's pray to that end, Father, I just think of this prayer just embedded in the gospel of Mark, where Jesus looks at a man who is desperate, has a dying child, is pleading for Jesus to save him, and Jesus says, do you believe that I can save your son? And this man replies, I believe. Help my unbelief God. I confess it's so easy, in the rhythm of Sunday morning, in the rhythm of routine Bible reading, to just look at the resurrection of Jesus and almost just fly by it, to say, of course, Jesus rose from the dead, but to not actually wrestle with how incredible that is, that Jesus really is alive, that he is who he says he is, that he is the way, the truth, the life, the only way to the Father in heaven, that we have forgiveness of sin, that we have power over sin, that we have life now and forever because Jesus is alive. Help us believe, not just in our heads, but in our hearts, in the power of the resurrection. And in light of that, God help us to see ourselves as the worst sinners we know, to see how Christ's resurrection has really saved sinners like us, that we'd be swept up into this deep devotion to glorify you, and that in light of that, that our mouths would open, that we would speak, that grace would extend to more and more people, and that you would get the worship you deserve. We love you, Jesus, but we can only pray that because you loved us first. It's in your name we pray. Amen.