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Awesome, welcome everyone. Let's please find our seats. We're so glad you're here tonight.

I do not have any announcements announcements for you tonight. And so we're just going to we're going to go right into the scriptures. Why don't we all stand up?

I'm going to read from Psalm 145. Well, I'll say this this at first is certainly we have guests with us here tonight. Can we can we celebrate?

Yeah. Cali and Allison and Antonio. I mean Allison and Antonio have been here before.

So you guys know they're dear friends of ours. We're so thankful to have Cali here for the first time and hopefully the first of many. And so we We're just really excited what what for what God will do tonight and we've just we spent the last few days together and I spent some time songwriting and and it's just such a gift such a gift to be able to express the heart of a of a people of our community in song is Yeah, it's it just really marked my heart.

And so sometimes when we do have friends and guests come come through but I just want to make sure what we don't do tonight is We can kind of sometimes come into a posture as if we've come to some sort of concert to like listen to somebody sing to us. And you know, you could do that with with artists and celebrities and all that stuff. But when we come in an environment like this to to serve and to love Jesus and he brings his friends into our house and environment to do that.

It should be it should be even more so a draw that that we get to partner with with history that Cali that Allison and Antonio have with God and that's being in so many ways handed over to us and we want to make sure we partner with what God is God has done and what he's doing. And so what what I don't I want to make sure we don't fall into is is like we're here to observe someone singing. We are we are certainly we never want to do that.

We just we want that to be so far removed from our DNA from who who we are. But more importantly who we do want to be is a people who are fully yielded and laid down to love King Jesus. And so you know, we can get distracted sometimes by who's sitting around us and what people may think and and all that stuff.

But worship is intended to be extravagant. In fact, worship that's not extravagant is becomes casual is not a true expression of love to Jesus. And so you know, my extravagance might look different from yours.

But I'm not challenging you to look I'm not challenging you to look like me. What I am challenged you challenging you to is not letting other people determine what it looks like for you. Amen.

And so tonight I just I want us to I mean immediately just go vertical and and love Jesus wholeheartedly. So I'm going to read in Psalm 145. It says I will extol you my God and King and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall come shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on the wondrous and on your wondrous works I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of our awesome of your awesome deeds. And I will declare your greatness.

They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord he is gracious and merciful. He's slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made. And so Lord tonight we come and and we marvel at the at the history in this room. The many ways Lord that you have come the the tears that have been shed the the shouts of joy and celebration that were given the the peace that you've given the the mercy that you poured out God the revelations of yourself that you've been given.

We don't know what else to say but thank you. Thank you Lord that that you never have to come. You don't owe us anything and yet you always do.

You always answer the cry of the hungry. You always give living water to those who are thirsty. You always draw near to those who draw near to you.

And so tonight God we look to you and we ask come precious King. Come precious Lord. May we be so captivated by your presence by your love for us by the truth of the gospel that everything else the opinion of man it just it's flushed away.

It's no longer there in extravagant worship poured at your feet by a people holy and completely in love. So come Lord Jesus come. Come and meet with us.

Let's lift our voices. Come and meet with us Lord. COME AND MEET WITH YOUR PEOPLE WITH THE BRIDE WHO'S HUNGRY.

A BRIDE who's longing to know the bridegroom. COME PRECIOUS LORD. COME PRECIOUS Lord come.

Come precious Jesus come. Most worthy you're the one most worthy of all of our affection of all of our attention. The one whom heaven cries to holy.

King of glory enter in. King of glory enter in. King of glory will you enter in?

And you are alpha and omega. We worship you our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

You are Alpha and Omega. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

You are Alpha and Omega. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

And you are Alpha and Omega. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

He's worthy of our praise tonight. He's worthy of our praise. He's worthy of our praise tonight.

Ooh, ooh. So worthy. So worthy.

You're so And you are Alpha and Omega. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

You are Alpha and Omega. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all. We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord.

You are worthy to be praised. And we give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord.

You are worthy to be praised. Oh, we give you all. We give you the glory.

We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised. We're joining with the angels to give you all.

The glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

Ooh. We give you all. We give you all the glory.

We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised. We give you all.

We the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all. We give you all the the glory. We worship you, our Lord.

You are worthy And we give you all. We give you all the the glory. We worship you, our Lord.

You are worthy to be praised. We give you all. We give you all the the glory.

We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised. I'll sing it again.

We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

You're so You're so worthy. So worthy of praise. You're so worthy of praise.

So worthy of honor. So worthy of glory. Oh, so worthy.

So Oh, you're worthy of all the glory, honor, and praise. Oh, so worthy. So worthy.

So worthy. So worthy. So worthy.

Oh, we give you all and we give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised. Oh, we give you all.

We give you all the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

We give you the glory. We worship you, our Lord. You are worthy to be praised.

Worthy. We give you the honor and all of the glory. You're worthy.

You're worthy of all of the glory and all of the honor. You're worthy. You're worthy of all of the glory and all of the honor.

You're worthy for who you are. For all you've done. For the price of the cross.

You're worthy. You're worthy. I've never seen eyes like that.

Pure passion just looking back. How can it be? And I've never heard words like yours.

Like music but so much more. How can it be? And Jesus, you're beautiful.

Yes, you are beautiful. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever. For who you are.

For who you've done. I'll never thank you enough. I'll never thank you enough.

And I've never seen hands like these. Those wonderful scars you keep. How can it be?

And I've never known love like this. That's stronger than even death. How can it be?

We thank you. Thank you. And I've never felt hands like these.

Those wonderful scars you keep. How can it be? And I've never known love like this.

That's stronger than even death. How can it be? And Jesus, you're beautiful.

Yes, you are beautiful. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever. Beautiful.

And Jesus, you're beautiful. Yes, you are beautiful. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever.

I'll never thank you enough. I'll never thank you enough. And I'll never get tired looking on those eyes of life.

Oh, looking in those eyes of life. And I'm so deep in life. You're irresistible.

I can't I can't look away. Cuz you are all I want, the obsession of my heart. And I can't, I can't look away.

I'm so deep in love. You're irresistible. And I can't, I can't look away.

You're all we want. Cuz you are all I want. The obsession of my heart.

And I can't, I can't look away. I'm so deep in love. You're irresistible.

And I can't, I can't look away. You're all we want. Cuz you are all I want.

The obsession of my heart. And I can't, I won't look away. Beautiful.

You are beautiful. Yes, you are beautiful. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever.

You're beautiful, beautiful. And Jesus, you're beautiful. No one like you.

Yes, you are beautiful. There's none beside the Lord. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever.

There's no one else but Jesus. I'm so deep in love. You're irresistible.

And I can't, I can't look away. The desire of nations. You are all I want.

The obsession of my heart. And I can't, I can't look away. I'm so deep in love.

You're irresistible. And I can't, I can't look away. You're irresistible.

And I won't, I can't look away. You're all we want. Cuz you are all I want.

The obsession of my heart. And I can't, I can't look away. You are beautiful.

Yes, you are beautiful. And I'll keep on choosing you. It's only Jesus.

It's only Jesus. It's only Jesus. You are beautiful.

Jesus, you're beautiful. The stars in your hands. Yes, you are beautiful.

The fire in your eyes. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever. Jesus, you're beautiful.

Yes, you are beautiful. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever. Now and forever.

Now and forever. Now and forever. We'll be together.

We'll be together. We'll be together cuz you said yes before we said yes. You chose us before we chose you.

And we'll be, we will be together forever. Forever. You said yes before we said yes.

You chose us before we chose you. So we'll be together forever, together forever. You said yes before we said yes.

You chose us before we chose you. And now we'll be together forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever. I'm so deep in love.

You're irresistible. And I can't, I don't have to look away. This is forever.

Cuz you are all I want. The obsession of my heart. And I can't, I can't look away.

Now and forever. I'm so deep in love. You're irresistible.

And I can't, I can't look away. Now and forever. Cuz you are all I want.

The obsession of my heart. And I can't, I can't look away. You are beautiful.

Thank you that we get to know you. For all eternity to look upon you. And I'll keep on choosing you now and forever.

Together forever. Together forever. That's what Jesus did.

That's what Jesus did. Together forever, together forever. That's what Jesus did.

That's what Jesus did. Together forever, together forever. That's what Jesus did.

That's what Jesus did. Together forever, together forever. That's what Jesus did.

That's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus did.

That's what Jesus did. Together forever. That's what Jesus did.

That's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus did. Together forever.

Together forever. Thank you, thank you, thank you. To the lamb, the old king, the lamb.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You made a way to enter the holy place. Thank you.

You made a way for me. Thank you. To enter the holy He made a way.

You made a way for me. Thank you. To enter the holy Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. You are mine.

together forever. I am yours. You are mine.

And we'll be together forever. I am yours. You are mine.

And we'll be together forever. together forever. Thank you, Jesus.

together forever. And we'll be together forever. Oh, it's what your blood did.

It's what the cross did. Oh, we get to be with you forever. Oh, we get to be with you forever.

Oh, you made a way for me. to enter the holy place. Oh, you made a way for me.

Thank you, Lord. to enter the holy place. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. We thank you for your love. Let it come and cover us.

Thank you for your love. Let it come and cover us. Come and cover us.

It's what you died to bring us. So, we receive it now. We receive it Thank you for your Oh, we thank you for the cross.

It's all you. Hallelujah, you are the same. Hallelujah, you are the same.

Hallelujah, you reign forever. We thank you for the cross. for all you are.

Hallelujah, you are the same. Hallelujah, you are the same. Hallelujah, you reign forever.

And we thank you for the cross. We thank you. We thank you for the cross.

And we thank you for the cross. We thank you for your love. Thank you.

Thank We thank you for your for all you did for us. >> Show me your till the end. If I can just see your Show me Show me your face.

Show me your And then gird and I might stand in this Show me your face. Your power I can make it till the end. If I can just see your If I can just see your If I can just see your See if I can show Show me your face.

Show me your And then and I might stand in this holy Show me your face. Your power And I can make it till the If I can just see I can make it. And I can make it till the end.

If I can just see And I can make it till the end. If I can just see And Moses stood on a mountain waiting for you to pass by. You put your hand over his face so in your presence you wouldn't die.

Moses stood on a mountain waiting for you to pass by. You put your hand over his face so in your presence he wouldn't die. And all of Israel saw the glory and it shined out through the end.

Now you've called us to boldly seek your face. So show me your face. Show me your face.

And then gird of my legs that I might stand in this holy place. Show me your face. Your power I can make it till the end.

If I can just see your face. Glorify thy Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name in all the Glorify thy name.

Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name in all the Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name.

Glorify thy name in all the Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name in all the Glorify thy name.

Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name in all the Oh, glorify. Glorify thy name.

Glorify thy name. Glorify thy name in all the Glorify thy name. thy name glorify thy name Glorify thy name Glorify thy name Glorify thy name Glorify thy name Glorify thy name Glorify thy name In all the earth Glorify thy name Glorify thy name Glorify thy name In all the earth Lord In so many ways just undone Lord the way that for all of us you You found us in in miry clay in the midst of the pit And what is man that you're mindful of us?

And yet You saw us in our deepest most broken mess and And you thought we were worth dying for And so today as as we sing these songs Lord These these are the cries of our hearts We're so deep in love with you we We recognize that That real love is defined by By the life that you lived and the way that you you cared for us and the way that you loved us The way you laid down your life for us Our cry is that you would show us your face and And certainly Lord in our lives and in our church In our city and our region that that you would glorify your name Your word says that you are the desire of the nations Come rest here with us Lord Come rest here with us And draw people to yourself draw draw people to the foot of the cross To the victory To the victory of your death and the victory of your burial and the victory of your resurrection and ascension What a king we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus You're of matchless worth The pearl of great price Alpha Omega beginning and the end There's no one who compares no no rival no equal No one like you none beside you and and today we just come to bask in your presence God marvel at the wonder of your majesty We thank you for your presence with us Lord Again we thank you that you don't have to come And yet you always do Thank you for considering us Jesus Thank you for saying yes to us Never giving up on us Lord in our In our most wicked and And foolish moments never giving up on us And always being there to celebrate the victories of life To rejoice with us and And get excited about the things we get excited about You're a good dad you you're the best dad the best father Our best friend Thank you So we yield over tonight to you Lord The rest of the evening whatever you want it to look like however you want to come however you want to speak we we're just willing vessels who have said yes Have your way in us Thank you that you are always good So we love you Jesus We give you all of the glory All of the honor and In the most beautiful name of Jesus we pray Amen Amen amen amen You may find your seats Can we thank the sweet team as as we sit down as we find our seats Um it looks like there's many of you in the back if you need a seat we have we have several scattered Throughout the room Um if you have a seat next to you could you just put A hand up There's several if you need a seat there's several scattered around the room Ushers if you could please help help Uh Facilitate that for us Awesome well we're so glad you're here is there anyone who's here for the very first time like you've never been before? Okay some of you awesome Awesome we're glad you're here Um For those of you who've been coming you you know like uh Real love was We started singing real love throughout communion when we received communion together and In some In some ways it seems like a like an anthem of our house Uh Just consistently pointing back to the testimony of Jesus and Um And it was it was birth we were we were actually myself and the team we were worshipping from New Year from New Year's Eve into the New Year And We were just singing and all of a sudden this a song starts come coming up and we start singing the holes in your hands the Uh the scars on your back the wound in your side this is real love and just start repeating it again and again and again and it just like it's like it engraved itself on our hearts And um and we've been singing it for uh, during communion and it's just it's been so special and then this weekend we sat uh we sat down, Cally and myself, um my dad, Paul, and and Christina and we sat down and just uh, continued to work on it and man. Yeah, it just um Yeah, it goes it hits straight it goes straight to the heart for me.

I maybe maybe it's just me, but so we're it's yeah, it's just it's fun and exciting to see the way that God is uh God is is there's a sound to the house. There's a there's a voice in the house and and it's so fun to watch it be expressed. So, we're so thankful.

Um, I just want to thank thank you guys. Can we thank uh, Cally Allison and Antonio? Um Allison and Antonio, they they I think I said this last time.

If you've watched any YouTube video ever on YouTube, you probably have seen them. Um because what they bring to a set I and I they're as pulled on as they are I believe is because when they're when they come in on a set, um yes, their instruments are beautiful, but I think that the real demonstration through the instrument is the heart. And it just it's so pulls on heaven for what God's doing in a room.

And so anytime we can get you guys in with us, we are uh, we are head over heels excited. And and so we love you so much. They they've really become like a Yeah, like they've become like family, but even more so than that, they've become a kind of like mother a mother and a father to our worship team to to really uh, raise us up in the presence and and love of Jesus.

And so man, I'm so so thankful for you guys. So deeply thankful and uh, and Cally, so when I was when I was in ministry school, uh Cally was Cally would lead the uh, the second year worship teams. And um, so I always got to observe kind of from a distance and and then I was I was around Bill and with Michael our paths would cross every once in a while, but uh, this weekend was the first time we really just got to spend some time together and and uh just share laughs and cries and uh you know, insecurities and then victories in Jesus and journeys and and Cally, I just I I know I already told you this, but there's an authenticity and and and genuine heart spirit that you carry that um, it it really opens up the at least for myself and our team it opens up the heart to um to sit at the feet of Jesus in a childlike manner and so thank you for the way that you uh, thank you for the way that you love Jesus and so thank you guys for being with us.

We we love you so much. Um for those of you who've been here, who come, you know, we've been going through Exodus 12 over the last couple months. Uh, we were in Easter last week and then Palm Sunday the week before.

And so today I want to jump back into Exodus 12 and kind of continue to dissect really the power of communion and I I shared this already is that for a few weeks I shared that uh, where this is all really leading up to is is we're going to receive communion together as a church. I I want to say it'll be somewhere in May. We'll receive communion together.

Um, and we're just going to we're going to watch the fulfillment of the Passover lamb at work, the victory of the cross at work in this room. Um, and you better believe we're going to be singing Real Love, so you might want to go back and start learning it because um yeah, we will we will be on that. Um And so I want to get back into that I want to get back into Exodus 12 today.

Um, before we do, I just I want to receive tonight's offering. And um uh, and then jump right in. We'll pray and then we'll jump right into the scriptures.

Um the scripture that came to mind actually on Thursday when I was here for devo sets, the scripture that I that kept coming to me uh, was the portion where where David says the scripture where David says, "Far be it from me to offer the Lord something that cost me nothing." You know, it's such a um finances is such a funny thing. Like we have conference coming up in August and we'll get messages every once in a while or emails of like can't believe you're charging for this and this is church. And I'm like, I would not only would I want it to be free, I wish I could give a thousand dollars to everybody who's coming.

I you know, if we're talking about heart, I'm like, I I'm not just looking for like the issue is not the heart. The issue is that to rent a convention center, you just need like you just need money. Um and so I'm like you know free is not even a like if we're going that route, I'm like we're ready to give you much more than that if we had it.

Um and so money cuz this it's got this funny thing on it. Finances has got this funny thing on it, but in the kingdom, the funny is removed out of it because when given in intentionality, when finances is marked with the intentionality of the heart, what happens is it becomes an offering onto Jesus. And what we know about offerings in in 1 Kings 18 is that when Elisha built an Elisha built an altar onto God, the fire of God fell upon the one man's sacrifice.

But the rain of God because of the one sacrifice fell upon a nation, an entire nation. And so in our giving, in our generosity, in our in our laying down of ourselves is there isn't just breakthrough for the person, for the individual. And so what happens in this room when we when we gather and we we we pull our finances and we hand it over to the Lord Jesus is is the Lord begins to fall upon a house, upon a people.

But the fire that lands upon a people I don't know how it works in heaven. Fire and water somehow they work together. That the fire falls upon the the sacrifice of a person, of a people, of a community, of a body.

But the rain of God ends up falling on an entire nation that was in drought. And so our assignment for those of you who come, you know, our assignment is to build a home for Jesus in this room. You know how in 2 Chronicles 16:9 it says, "The eyes of the Lord scatter to and fro looking for anyone, just somebody whom he can empower by his spirit." Our assignment is that not only does God find somebody, God finds a people, a a room in Bellevue, Washington where every heart is geared with one one assignment.

And that's to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And so our giving is not onto onto paying bills as much as that's necessary. Our bill our giving isn't onto uh, keeping lights on or even serving the poor or any our giving is onto the presence of Jesus.

But in the presence of Jesus, you find all those other things. Amen. Awesome.

Well, we have every regular way of giving. If you need an envelope, our ushers are more than happy to uh, to get you an envelope. Just raise your hand.

They'll they'll get you one of those. Uh, we want to give you a couple minutes to do that. We're going to play a short video and then um and then we'll be back.

We'll pray together and we'll jump right into the scriptures. So we will be right back in a couple minutes. Counselor Jesus, almighty God the prince of peace, the king of kings.

Jesus, you're marvelous, wonderful counselor Jesus, almighty God the prince of peace, king of kings. There is no one like you. There is no one There is no There is no like you.

There is no one like you. There is no Oh, who is like the Lord? Oh, this is who we follow.

Oh, he's marvelous, almighty God. You're marvelous wonderful counselor Jesus, almighty God the prince of peace, king of kings. you're marvelous wonderful counselor Jesus, almighty God the prince of peace, the king of kings.

There is no one >> All right. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Jesus, we love you and we thank you for your faithfulness and kindness. That you're not just a good father, you are the best father. And so we we yield this offering into your hands tonight.

And we thank you that with your breath on it, Lord, every dollar, every penny can save lives. It can bring healing and wholeness to homes and to hearts. It can restore and redeem a nation.

So we ask breathe upon it, Lord. May it be a weapon in your hand for the kingdom of heaven. And I thank you, Lord, that you see every need in this room, whether it's financial or any other.

And today we yield those those needs over to you knowing that you are always always faithful. There is nothing that we could ever have need of cuz we have a good father. Thank you for your faithfulness, your your kindness, your grace towards us.

And thank you, Lord, for what you're going to do here tonight. We we submit ourselves, we yield ourselves over to you and I ask God for myself, help me to to accurately and accurately and clearly share your heart here tonight. So we love you, Lord.

We pray all of this in your most holy name. Amen. Amen.

Awesome. All right, let's turn to Exodus 12, chapter 12 if you have your Bibles. Uh it's been it's it's been almost or 3 weeks now since we've actually been in Exodus 12 and so I want to do a just a very brief overview and and uh just kind of get us back on uh in remembrance of what we were studying um from uh really from verse chapter 1 verse chapter verse 1 all the way through where where we're at now.

I want to remind you again is that every portion of scripture every portion of scripture is speaking it's it is a prophetic declaration that points that eventually points back to the coming Messiah. We sometimes think that uh we can or I should say we we sometimes take on this perspective that God is meticulous, he's maybe has OCD or doesn't know what he wants or knows what he wants too much and because we read about all the details, for example, of the Passover lamb or or the way the temple or the tabernacle is instructed to be built and and the thought becomes it becomes why is God so so specific about the things that he wants done in the temple, in the Passover lamb, in the tabernacle. And I I've already shared this before, but I I just want to make sure that cuz this is fundamental to where we're going with all of this.

Because every detail in God's instruction was pointing to a coming Messiah. It was pointing to Jesus. The lamb in the Passover certainly was pointing to Jesus, but even the way that it was it was to be prepared and the the different forms and manners that God had them approach the the the meal in was all of it was intended that as they as they engage in the activity, their activity was prophesying a coming Messiah hundreds of years later.

So the lamb that they were to find without blemish was speaking of the perfection, the purity, the innocence of Jesus. The blood being put on doorposts was speaking of the blood that was going to be put on two beams of wood, Jesus on the cross. The herbs were speaking the bitter herbs were speaking of Jesus taking on our sickness, our disease, our brokenness, the bitterness of humanity.

And the lamb was to be roasted, not boiled or eaten raw because in the roasting, what was happening is the lamb would be black and speaking of Jesus taking on the wickedness, the darkness of humanity. And so every detail as they're roasting this lamb, what's happening is they're they're watching it blacken and without knowing what they were doing is they were prophesying in the action. They were prophesying in their declaration of there is one coming who will take the darkness, the the wickedness, the evil of the soul that will be put upon a spotless, blameless lamb.

You hear the the patterns here, right? No? Yes?

Okay. Good. It says everything should be eaten.

It says it says legs, head, whatever all of all of the all of the lamb should be eaten speaking of that there is nothing in Jesus. There's absolutely nothing in Jesus um that we don't need. In other words, we receive the full Christ.

In other words, you do not we do not get to pick and choose the pieces and portions of Jesus that we like. You do not get to choose the provision of the Christ, checks in the mail and and money appearing in your bank account and then reject the turning the other cheek and forgiving those who have those who have who hurt you or offended you. It it doesn't work that way.

The moment we begin to choose a Jesus that fits our convenience is the is the moment we begin to create a version of a Christ that doesn't actually exist. What happens is we become we begin to worship a Jesus of our imagination cuz the one of our imagination feeds the darkness, the wickedness of the soul. It feels comfortable.

And so the scripture says when you receive this lamb, you do not pick and choose the parts and pieces of of this lamb that you want or that you like. You either receive the full Christ or you do not partake of what of who he is. But there's no in between.

It doesn't mean that we can't experience the benefits of the cross. It just means that the fullness, the accomplishment of the victory of Jesus, the accomplishment of the victory of the cross is received in his fullness, not in not in part. It says none of it going to waste till morning of the lamb going to waste till morning speaking that why would we let any portion of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross go to waste?

It's what again, I know this can sometimes be controversial and so if you disagree with me, that's okay. But for me, I my thought becomes if Jesus if Jesus hung on the tree and he had lashes on his back for my sickness and your sickness and our disease in the room to heal us and restore us, why would I reject portions of what he has accomplished? Why would I not receive the whole Christ?

Because there's theology out there that may say that well, I don't know if he wants to I don't know if he wants to heal everybody. I've shared this before. It's like if I'm wrong, if I'm wrong, I lose nothing.

I I pursue Jesus and I get the worst that happens I get to heaven he's like, "Buddy, you were wrong." And I'm like, "Add that to the list." I know there's a lot of that. But if if the other perspective is wrong, we miss out on the scripture that says, "Let none of it go to waste till morning." We allowed parts of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross, victories, benefits of the cross, we've allowed to go to waste because there was a theology that said, "This part isn't as necessary or it's not It shouldn't be received the way that I think it should." And that as a as the church, as the body of Christ, that should that should we should tremble on the inside. There's a reason we'll get to it, but there's a reason Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 that if you receive this meal because some of you received this meal in an unworthy manner, some of you are are uh uh weak, ill, and have fallen asleep.

Jesus is not up for suggestion. His victory is not up for debate. You either We either receive the full Christ or we make a Jesus of our imagination that fits the comfort and convenience of life and submit to that.

But that Jesus does not save lives nor does he change them. It talks about when you're preparing the lamb that you would have your belt fastened, the sandals on your feet, staff in your hand. In other words, he's saying he's saying, "When you declare the testimony, when you receive of this meal, everything within you should be ready should be ready to leave the land of your bondage." Which means that there is nothing and no one that can separate you and I from from the freedom that we have in Jesus.

The only thing that can separate us from the freedom we have in Jesus is the rejection of what he's done. Israel left Egypt, they crossed they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, and they remained bound to sin not because there wasn't freedom there. They began to worship the God of their land because why?

They forgot God. They forgot the testimonies of the one that brought them out of Egypt, out of bondage. The bondage of their forgetfulness was stronger than the bondage of Egypt that held them.

That thing, the sin thing that holds you, the addiction thing, the brokenness thing that holds you, it is not nearly as strong as your forgetfulness of what Jesus has accomplished. Freedom is not is not freedom is not like this supernatural experience. It is supernatural in nature, but it's not this like sporadic divine thing that happens.

Freedom is is a it's a byproduct, it's a fruit of revelation of Jesus. So, I kind of let me give you an example is you know, if I got if let's say I got saved yesterday. Someone opens the Bible to me and they're like, "Listen, Jesus saves that when you die you're going to go to heaven." I'm like, "This is amazing." And then I go home and I'm celebrating the fact that if I or when I die, I get to be with Jesus for all of eternity.

But nobody let's say nobody taught me that Jesus heals. And so now I if I experience sickness or someone in in my life experience sickness, I think I have I don't have a way out and here now I grieve and I mourn and I'm sad and I don't know and I'm helpless and I'm hopeless because I don't know what to do about this situation. And then somebody opens up the Bible and they're like, "Hey, listen, Jesus is also the healer." And all of a sudden out the revelation of Jesus the healer, I I all of these issues, all of the sickness and disease that I thought I was hopeless and helpless about all of a sudden I have an answer at the revelation of Jesus.

Does that make sense? Now now now before where I didn't know I can pray for healing, now I dive right in and I go immediately to prayer. Freedom freedom from sin, from bondage is the same exact way.

We sometimes think that this thing might have a hold on me for the rest of my life or my ever going to this, that, and and it becomes sin becomes the consciousness. It becomes the forefront of who we are. And the only thing the only thing that stops the only thing that separates us from freedom is the revelation of the cross.

And if I'm not if I'm seeing Jesus but not to the point where I'm walking in freedom from the stuff that's has a hold on me, then it just means that I need to know him more. It's why your whole life can be dedicated, devoted, fully given over to seeking Jesus and be trans you'll be transformed more and more to look like him. And one day we get to heaven and we look at him and we realize we did we just about didn't see anything, but the pieces that we saw, how amazing, how wonderful.

So, he says, "Eat it with your belt fastened, sandals on your feet, staff in your hand." In other words, do not come to the to the table of communion casually expecting to remain in the land of your bondage. Do not come to Jesus with an expectation that I am going to receive of the body and blood, but I'm also going to remain my my belt is off, my shoes are off, I don't have a rod anywhere, staff anywhere. I'm just lounging out in the land of my bondage with no expectation to of deliverance.

So, he's saying, "When you come to the Lord's table, when you come to the body and blood, when you come to the elements of communion, come with your belt fastened, staff in your hand, shoes on your feet, and be ready to leave the land that that held held you captive, the land of your bondage." That's what faith That's what faith looks like. Why would they why would they put on their belt and shoes and and staff if there was not an expectation that we are leaving this this wasteland tonight? It happens in the church all the time.

It happens in the especially at the table of communion is we the we think remembering remembering the body and the blood of Jesus means that once a month I need to remember this guy named Jesus who hung on a cross. And again Paul says, "When you receive it in this manner, that is why many of you are sick weak, ill, and have fallen asleep." You hear what I'm saying? I'm not uh uh I don't mean for this to sound like super eerie.

I just uh I want us to recognize I want us to remember the depths, the value, the uh the endless power found in the in the Passover lamb, in the victory of what Jesus has accomplished. Because when when the things of life are casual, our approach to the to this meal, to the to the Christ is casual. He says, "You shall eat it in haste." Meaning there is an urgency to receive Jesus.

Why wait Why wait for tomorrow? If you're in the room and you do not know Jesus, tomorrow is not promised neither neither is the next hour. It's not just tomorrow.

Hell is a real place. I want to remind you is that hell is not where God sends people who didn't pray a prayer. Hell is a bank where you go to pay your own debt and your debt you are not able to pay.

You will never be able to pay it off. Jesus doesn't come in to save people who prayed a prayer. Jesus comes to to pay the debt of the of sin, the fall of man.

And the debt has to be paid either in and through Jesus or we choose to pay it ourselves. There's an urgency to receive the Christ. There's an urgency to receive the lamb.

So, you guys remember I mean at least for those of you who um who've been here, you'll you'll remember that the Passover lamb was not just this like this random celebration, this random meal. Every detail of it was pointing back to the cross. Which is why God says, "This shall be a memorial day for you forever, a statute for you forever." Meaning you will declare this testimony again and again and again because the testimony was not about a lamb.

The the the the testimony that they were declaring was about the lamb that was to come. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. So, verse uh let's go to verse uh 20 I'll start with 22.

Exodus chapter 12, verse 22. He says, "Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of the house until the morning.

For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this right as a statute for you and for your sons forever.

And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?" you shall say, "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he has passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses." And the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the people of Israel went and did so as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

So, they did. Okay. So, last time last time when we were Exodus 12, we talked about verse 22 where he says, "Uh take a bunch of hyssop." This is hyssop is speaking of faith.

It's you you faith you apply the blood of Jesus. We apply the blood of Jesus over our lives with faith. So, they they were required to take the take the bowl the the basin that's full of blood and they would take faith.

They would take hyssop and they would they would dip it in the blood and then they would put it over the doorposts. In other words, it's speaking what it's speaking of is that there's a requirement from you and I. It's it's not a requirement of works, meaning we earn our salvation.

There it's a requirement, meaning that I willingly I lay my life down. I surrender. I give myself over to the victory of the blood.

I receive of it and I I I I cover my life the doorposts of my life, so to speak, in the victory of the blood. So, he says, "Take a bunch of the hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the bases. Touch the lintel and the two doorposts." This is this is also speaking of the blood how the way the blood would run would run upon the cross the lintel speaking of the sign that was above Jesus that that declared his crime.

It declared the reason he hung on the cross. And the crime declared was King of the Jews. In other words, King of all that is created.

He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. That was his crime. And then he says, "None of you shall go out the door of the of his house until the morning." Meaning there's never a reason to leave the mercy and the victory of the cross.

Morning is speaking of when it if we were to draw a parallel today, it's saying it's saying the coming of Jesus again. In other words, when I give my life to him, I hide myself in the doorway of the cross. I the blood-covered cross.

I hide my life in the doorway of it and I do not leave that place of security. I do not leave that place of atonement until the morning comes. Jesus is the morning star.

Until the morning comes until he comes again, I am covered, hidden, atoned for in the doorway in the doorposts of the bloody cross. Meaning You know, in some some weird way I've just I've been in I've been in ministry and church long enough. In some weird way we end up we call I think we call it humility, but we end up in this place sometimes where we think, "Well, you don't know how bad my life is." You like you don't know how much I've sinned or how much I've the ways that I've violated God or the ways that I that there's no way I Oh, poor me.

Woe is me. I I did something that And really what all you're saying is you think you did something that the blood is not enough for. And in nature that thought process is extremely arrogant.

And the thought leads to a place where it says, "Well, well, I guess today it's okay for me to leave the Let me leave the the doorway. Let me step out of this home that is now covered in blood. I'm okay to step out of the atonement." Because I I'm already messed up.

Like I'm already that bad. I'm already not even sure if I'm worth dying for. Not sure if I'm worth the blood of Jesus.

The fact that there's breath in your lungs shows it proves that you have value in Jesus. So, if you are if you are not worth the blood of Jesus, you don't have you would not have breath in your lungs ever. Okay.

So, if you don't have breath in your lungs, raise your hand. Okay. So, we're all in Jesus.

Great. Great. Which means then that thing that you think is so dark and so broken and so whatever, it is subject to the victory of the cross as much as anybody else's stuff in the room is.

Which means that there's absolutely nothing nor no one who can separate you from Jesus except if you willfully choose to walk away. His love for you will still remain. It's just that you you choose to reject it.

And so, he's saying he's saying when uh when you put the when you put the blood when it when the atonement has happened, you hide yourself behind those doors and you do not leave that place of hiddenness. You do not leave that place of of of safety of atonement until the morning until he returns. Does that make You guys hear what I'm saying?

I probably like, "Yeah, it's common sense." It It should be. Yeah. Yeah, it should be.

And so, he says So, it says For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians. Verse 23, "For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer destroyer to enter your houses to strike you." What I want us to What I want us to recognize in the scriptures God says the destroyer is coming for the Egyptians.

In other words, the penalty of sin is coming for those for those who are uh I should say this. The There is judgment coming against sin. And the judgment is intended only for sin for the wickedness and the darkness and the brokenness of humanity.

But when there is not a blood that covers over you, what happens is you are your you are your sin because there's no atonement. So, before Jesus So, imagine this. It's like if if there was a person a person who got diagnosed with cancer.

Most likely nobody in the room would be like, "There is there is that cancerous person." Or that person is cancer. We would all be like we would all say that person has cancer. In other words, there's something in the body that doesn't belong there and that person has it.

Which also means that there's a separation from there's a separation of that thing from the person cuz the person has value. That thing doesn't. And so, God is saying in in in some ways I'm trying to I want to elaborate a little bit on it.

In some ways God is saying, "I am coming for the cancer. Like I am coming for the thing itself that doesn't belong there." But if there is not a separation if you do not separate yourself from the cancer, if you do not separate yourself from that thing, you face the judgment of it because that thing the cancer thing it has to go. And so, he says I'm he's saying when he says I'm coming for the Egyptians, that's what he's saying.

He's saying, "I am coming for the cancer. Judgment is coming for the cancer." But I want you to make sure that when he sees the the the the destroyer sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. In other words, he's saying, "I am coming for the cancer." And this blood this the blood that you apply is almost like it's it is it's highlighting it's in itself it exposes.

It's kind of like an x-ray in some ways. It exposes or a CAT scanner or whatever. It exposes where the bro where the thing is and it severs you it separates you from the thing that isn't supposed to be there from the person that is important and belongs to Jesus.

And so, he's saying judgment is coming for the cancer. Hide yourself in the place expose the areas expose the places is the things that don't need to be there and hide yourself in an area. It's like it's like when the dentist is about to the is about to turn on the x-ray and they they're like, "This isn't dangerous." And they have the thing on you and this isn't dangerous.

And then they click a button and they sprint out of there. You know, you're It's It's you hide your you you realize like this piece of me is not mine. It is not according to the testimony of Jesus.

The rest of me I'm hiding away behind those closed doors. So, he's like he's saying judgment is coming for sin. And when I I shared this uh few weeks ago is, you know, we sometimes think that the blood was there to let God know God who knows everything every hair on your head, the blood was there to let God know if there was a Hebrew or Egyptian inside.

Either we don't believe God is who he says he is or would you you know we we sometimes just don't think it all the way through. is God did not need blood on a doorpost to know if there was Hebrews inside or not. Because the blood did not speak of who was inside, the blood spoke of whether those who were inside were atoned for or not.

In fact, in verse 30 eight, I think it is. It says it says that there was mixed people who left Egypt. In other words, there wasn't just Hebrews who followed the instruction of Moses from God.

And so the people who would sacrifice the Passover lamb and leave with Israel, they recognized they were accepted too, not because of who they were or weren't, but because they applied the blood of the Passover lamb over the doorway of their lives. Which speaks of the Gentiles who also have access. You and I, unless unless you're you know anyways um Like we all have access in Jesus in Jesus to the victory of the cross, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so he's saying, "I'm coming to judge sin. And when the blood is on the when the blood is on the doorpost, what it's saying is that the sin of this household, of anyone who's inside of this home in this door, anyone who's walked through this door, their sin has been atoned for. They do not pay the penalty, the cost, the wrath, the pain of their sin." For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt uh the Egyptians.

And when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the doorpost, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroy destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this right as a statute for you and for your sons forever. What you'll notice throughout scripture over and over and over again, it'll say, "You shall observe this for all generations forever and ever." And either God was lying cuz we don't do that anymore or he was speaking of a coming of of one who's coming that is that was beyond their understanding.

And so now when it says, "You shall do this forever and ever," it's not saying you will sacrifice, you will go out and kill a physical lamb, slaughter it, and all the stuff, and what it's what he's saying, what he's prophesying, what he's foretelling is that one day there will come a moment where the Christ shall come and die for you. The lamb the lamb of God will take on the sin of the world. And one day you will keep this statute forever, meaning that every time you come to the table of communion, you are remembering again and again and again the story of the one who has paid it all, the one who took my sin, your sin, all the guilt and shame and all the nonsense and then pinned it upon the cross, resurrected in glorious life, ascended into glory, now making intercession for you and I.

It's it's you know if again if if you've ever received communion with us here, you know like we'll if we go into communion, it's it's typically the whole service and and pretty much the whole service is worship and remembering the testimony of Jesus. And we go detail by detail because we remember that as we observe, you know hear my parallel here, as we observe the crown molding of the temple, as we observe the staircases, as we observe the pillars, we realize that each one of these things is speaking of it's pointing at it's prophesying it's holding up a temple every detail of this temple is being held together by the direction and instruction of God. And so he's like so he says, "Keep this in front of you forever.

Do not forget the testimony. Do not forget the victories of the Christ. Do not forget the testimonies of God cuz in the remembrance is where you find victory.

I've shared this uh now countless times here, I think. It's when it says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. In other words, the more I declare the as I declare the testimonies, the truths, the beauties of the crown of thorns and the and the nails in his hands and thoroughly I remember and I declare and I proclaim the lashes on his back and the nails in his hands and his feet.

As I proclaim and remember the mocking that he endured, the false accusation, the hatred, the wickedness being spit out, marred, torn apart more than any human ever. In fact, torn apart his flesh so torn you can count every bone in his body. The more I remember with my remembrance, with every every moment of remembrance, what's happening is there's a constant declaration of prophecy, constant declaration of his victory again and again and again.

And so to to if you don't want to partake of his victory, do not remember the testimony of Jesus. And it happens especially during communion all the time. And we come supposedly to the most powerful elements in existence.

We'll even be on our knees and we'll and we'll cry and and forget the testimony of Jesus and re not realizing that in the forgetting there's a there's a rejection. There's a rejection of what he has accomplished. The power is not found in wafers and grape juice.

The power is found in the testimony, in the remembrance of the Christ. And so he says, "This shall be for you a statute forever and ever, for your sons forever." And when you come to the land of that the Lord will give you as he has promised, you shall keep this service. In other words, he's saying, he's saying, there'll be moment like even in the moments when you've when you've the testimony of Jesus is not for just when you're in bondage.

The testimony of Jesus is to be remembered even when you've stepped into the land of your promise. Because promise land is not what it's made out to be if Jesus is not in there. We I mean we all know this, you know, you you think you know, for some of us you think like if I had more money, I would I would be I'd be doing great.

And then you watch people who have a lots of money and they're not doing very great. And you think if I was more popular, if I was cooler, if I was you kind of go down the list of the things we think we need. And then when we receive we receive the blessings and we realize that God's not if God's not in it, if he's not the center of it, he's not the source of it, if Jesus isn't all in all in life, then those things are just as empty as poverty, as empty as as being unknown, as empty as anything.

Cuz the fulfillment isn't the stuff, the fulfillment is always the Christ. And so he says, "And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, the promised land, when you come to the land you've to land that the Lord will give you as he has promised, you shall keep his service." In other words, Jesus is not separated. He excuse me, the promise cannot ever be separated from the testimony of Jesus.

To empty promise of testimony is to is to relinquish promise. In fact, stepping into if stepping into freedom from sin or anything like that, it is it is not it is not going to be as rewarding as you might think it is if Jesus is not is not there at the end of it. Because free if you're free from one thing, all it means is that all of us have masters.

You get to choose. It's either Jesus or it's something else. And so if it might not be one addiction, it might be social media, it might be the opinions of men, it might be it might be these things that are clothed in virtuous names and then we label it as wisdom.

And so he says, "When you come to the land that the Lord will give you as he has promised, you shall keep this service." What do we know? What do we know from the scriptures? Is that that when Israel stepped into the promise, the moment they forgot the testimony of of God, what God had done for them, is the very moment they became bound to another nation.

And sin and bondage would follow them even in their promised land. Bondage and sin and darkness follows you regardless of your promise if Jesus is not there. They owned the land.

They had the fields and the crops and the wealth and all that stuff. The moment they forgot the testimony, the moment they forgot Jesus, they still became captives of the nations around them. They still became bound even in the midst of their promise.

And so God is saying, "Listen. I'm going to I'm going to do great things for you." He's telling us that today. "I'm going to do great things for you.

I want to do great things for you. I've paid a price to do great things for you. I'm just asking you that when you when you step into the land of your promise and you're amazed in awe and wonder that you do not forget the testimony.

You do not forget Jesus. It's why it's it's one of the reasons in in first world countries Christianity is as casual as it is versus versus nations where people are dying for their faith. It's because in some ways it feels like we are living in our promise.

For the most part, probably most of us have iPhones or lesser quality smartphone. And I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I just mean like in first world countries in some ways you live in a land of promise. And living in a land of promise the temptation is to forget is to forget where we've been brought out of. God is not more present in third world countries.

The consciousness, the remembrance of Jesus is often times what is is often times what what the difference is. Which means that you and I one of our responsibilities is that there's a hunger that becomes uh there's a pursuit of hunger for Jesus that cannot be compromised. You know, I was I I think again I think I shared this a couple weeks ago but because we're just kind of going over this again I want to reiterate some thoughts is I I want us I want at the finding for us to retell the testimony of Jesus so much that at some point in the within the church we're going to be like okay, we've kind of heard it a lot.

It doesn't move us as much because it'll be at that point that we are going to make a decision. Do we do we break the walls of this lie and this foolishness and pursue Jesus more or do we settle in our area of complacency? It's like when you hit the gym you can start with 20 lb and and eventually it's just it's not going to do much for you again.

Which is a sign it's a it's a sure sign that you have to go up in weight. You have to increase that. And in some ways I I I want us to to almost like I want us to reach our limit.

I want it I want to tell it that that when I'm telling the story you're going to be like I know exactly what he's going to say next. But then on the other side of that thing is knowing what I'm about to say next will only drive you to greater tears because because we behold Jesus again. And the story doesn't get old because the reiteration keeps happening.

The story always remains new because Jesus is always the forefront. This story cannot get old. The moment it gets old is the moment you look to the story of another which does not have power to save you, heal you nor redeem you.

So it says you shall observe this right as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you as he has promised you shall keep the service. Man, I just I hope I articulated that well is is how deeply important it is that when we are in the land of promise in the moment we've all had I'm sure we all have had those moments where it feels like you're like I'm on top of the world.

Everything is going perfect and right. It's in those moments where you fall on your knees and you give glory to God thanking him for the victories of the cross for the victory of of his wounds and his and the agony and the pain that he suffered and then you get up and you celebrate and rejoice the fact that the Christ who was dead for three days now resurrected in glorious life ascended forever seated in glory at the right hand of the Father. You know, like it's it's got to be moving it's got to move us beyond the the beyond the uh the sense of emotion.

So when you come to the land of the Lord that the Lord will give you as he has promised you shall keep the service. And when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?" You shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

When your children say to you, "Why do you mean What do you mean by this service?" you shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover for he has passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt. In other words you and I you and I have been given responsibility to steward the testimony of Jesus not for today but for the generations to follow. It's not and it's not that God cannot do it without you and I it's that he wants to do it with you and I.

You know, in this in this also is is is just very clear parenting advice. It's saying, "Listen, when you talk to your kids and they say but mom or dad why does this happen or why did why do we pray or why do we worship?" And you go back and you tell them the testimony of Jesus. You know, we do not worship because we're Christians.

Because Christians a Christian can become just a label. We worship because there's a resurrected Christ that that he saw he saw you and I at the beginning of creation and he thought you and I were worth dying for even in our in the midst of our most pitiful sad dark foolish moment. And not only did he thought we were worth dying for but he thought we were worth walking through the agony and the pain and the and the the lashes on his back being his flesh being torn apart.

They laughed at him. They mocked him. Like you got to imagine this is King Jesus.

His they just tore his flesh apart. They sit him down. They put a crown of thorns on his head royal robes upon him and they put a staff or excuse me a reed in his hand.

And he is he is standing the king of glory of all of creation and the people who had just who had just torn his flesh apart they get on their knees and they begin to mock and bow to him. And he is holding every molecule of their existence in the palm of his hand. He could just let it go and they would just disintegrate on the spot.

And yet in his mercy and his kindness holding the every molecule of their being in place every cell that they could they could remain there whole and laugh at him. It's a testimony a story that it's it's not it's not good story to tell to your kids. It's not a like a good bedtime story.

It is the story that emphasizes it is the story in the purpose of life. It is a story that gives life purpose and meaning. And so he's saying when you tell your children this because the more you tell your children in other words the more you remind them of the testimony of Jesus the more they become solidified in the revelation of the cross in the revelation of the Christ.

You want to come up, please? Does that make sense? Do you guys hear what I'm saying?

Is um I just I mean you guys know this my burden our burden our I think one of our responsibilities one of our assignments as a house as a church the is is to bring back is or re-emphasize perhaps I don't know to to retell the story the reason the purpose for communion. Why we come to the Lord's table? Why was there a Passover lamb?

What was the intention? What was the purpose? What was the reason?

Why has Jesus come? Why do we receive of a wafer and grape juice? Why?

Either there's something in it there's power to transform life or there isn't. My money is on there is. So then the question becomes well why don't we experience it?

I don't know all of the answers but what I do know for certain is that we do not we do not tell the testimony of Jesus the way that the scripture teaches. We do not remember the Christ the way that the scriptures instruct us to. And in our remembrance if we don't remember Jesus we remember something else.

And we become subject to whatever it is we remember. So when so when the scriptures are teaching when the scriptures are teaching of of the Passover lamb and and the testimony of God it's to me it honestly it feels like the clearest or I should say some of the clearest text some of the clearest scriptures for us for the receiving of communion. Retell the story.

Do not forget the story. Do not receive communion. Do not receive the body and the blood if you do not remember the testimony of the Christ.

So, let's go to 1 Corinthians 11 just a really quick. I I think we're going to end here. 1 Corinthians 11 It says, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you." In verse 23, "At the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" Again, the emphasis is not He's not saying, "Do this on communion Sunday once a month between worship and announcements to remember me because you're okay to forget me the rest of the month." He's saying, "Do this in remembrance of me." It meaning "This will be a statute for you forever, for all generations, forever and ever. That you retell the testimony of the broken body.

That you retell the story of the stripes on his back. That you retell the story of the crown of thorns on his head. The The The nails in his hands and his feet.

The agony, the pain, the tears, the blood that he that he shed. You remember again and again and again. Cuz as you as you proclaim the testimony of Jesus, you prophesy the victory of Jesus." The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

"This cup" and he continues to say, "In verse 25, 'In the same way he also took the cup after supper saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" In other words, "This is Now take the cup.

And as often as you do this, drink it." Again, as Excuse me, as often as you drink it, "Do this in remembrance of me." Again, not saying, "Do Remember me in these 5 minutes between worship and announcements." He's saying, "Retell the testimony of the spilled out blood. The The drop, the sweat of blood that dropped on the ground in the garden. The way The way that that Abel's blood poured out on the ground and declared judgment over humanity.

Now in a garden, Jesus is sweating blood and his blood hits the ground. And for the first time since Genesis in all of human history, there's a blood that hits a crowd the ground that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. There's a blood that speaks and declares mercy over the people who put him to death." To pro- to remember the testimony, to retell the story of the one who bled as his blood covered over the ruggedness of the cross, over the coldness, the splinters, of the hardness of the cross, just like his blood covers over the ruggedness and the splinters and the coldness, the hardness of life, of our lives, of our souls.

"Remember me. For as often as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup." In other words, I'll let me kind of rephrase it here. He says, "For as often as you remember, for as often as you retell the testimony, for as often as you declare the testimony that prophesies victory, you are proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes." In other words, I in my telling of his testimony, I am prophesying and I am proclaiming his death over the dead things in my life.

And I for me it's like that as I tell as I tell the story of the lashes on his back, what I'm doing is I'm proclaiming the sickness and disease of my body has been has been put upon the wounds, the scars on his back, nailed to that tree. So, he says, "As often as you retell the testimony, you are proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes." And then he says, "So, whoever therefore So, he's saying, "In light of what I just said, in light of remembrance, whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty" or in other words, subject to concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. Meaning that when you receive it in a manner that is separated from remembrance of testimony, from a proclamation declaring a testimony that prophesies, when you receive the body and the blood of Jesus separate from the testimony, all you're doing is eating a wafer and drinking grape juice, which has zero power to save." I I grew up in a manner where it was like, "Well, make sure you didn't sin on the Friday or Saturday before communion Sunday because then you receive it in an unworthy manner." What a bunch of baloney.

Why would I run away from the only substance, the only elements that are able to set me free from the thing that I stumbled through on Friday and Saturday? Not only stumble and now run away from the only answer. What goofballs.

Like So, he says, "Whoever therefore, in light of what I just said of the testimony, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. Therefore, let a person examine himself and in this manner eat of the bread and drink of the cup." So, he's saying, "When you come to the table, examine yourself." And you're like, "Oh man, here's here's the sickness in my body and here's this addiction and sin in my life." Okay, recognize the areas that don't look like Jesus. And then come to the cup, declare the testimony, proclaim his death over those things, and then receive it.

You see how like how the testimony is it's it's like it is in all of creation. It is from Genesis to Revelation to today, the testimony of Jesus is everywhere. And he's saying, "Why would you come to the elements of communion, to grape juice and wafer that does not have the power to save and fail to look to the testimony that is salvation itself?

He is salvation itself." "So, let a person examine himself then and so of in this manner eat the bread and drink the cup." In other words, recognize the areas that don't look like Jesus and remember, declare, testify the his testimony, declare his testimony that prophesies that those things have to go. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body and eats uh excuse me uh without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself." In other words, when I don't remember the testimony, all I'm receiving of is a wafer and grape juice. And the wafer and grape juice does not cover me.

It is not a doorway that I hide myself in. It is a snack that is outside of the doorway that is just also the color red with no power in it. And so, he's saying he's saying, "It's not that God God is like, 'Oh, they sinned on Saturday and they received communion on Sunday.

I am going to judge them for it.'" No, what Paul is saying is that in the failure to remember the testimony, you receive of just a wafer, of just grape juice, and it leaves you exposed to the judgment condemnation of sin. But in Jesus, when you remember his testimony, you run through the doors that are covered in his blood and you're hidden, you're safe, you're covered, you're toned for in that place. I hope I hope that makes sense.

I And so, I don't I don't know if this is too much to ask. I I would I would love for us to go back into Real 11. Um And I would love for us to go back into worship.

Team, if you want to come up. Um I want us to worship again from that as we're singing this, it's it it is a declaration, a proclamation of the testimony. And that as it's going out this way, as it's coming out this way, there's it's it's a prophetic It's prophetic in nature, speaking over speaking over us the testimony of Jesus, naturally prophesying over us.

Is that okay? Are we okay? Why don't we all stand up?

So, I just I want us I want us to pray. Um Why Why don't we all lift our hands to heaven? Let's just Let's lift our hands to heaven.

I I want to pray. So, Jesus, we gather here tonight. And we want to be so useless for anything else other than the good news of the gospel.

And that everything else in life, all the distractions, all the stuff that may come our way, that it would become so dim, it would it would is so dim in the light of the testimony of the Christ. That all lesser lovers, Lord, would find themselves find themselves distant and at a loss, cuz as we have as we have seen you, we have fallen more deeply in love with you. And we ask God that you would have your way in us here tonight, that you would move in us and through us, that you would touch us, Lord, and please help us, Holy Spirit.

I ask, please help us to never grow numb to the testimony. Help us to never grow casual with your word. Help us to never grow casual with the body and the blood, to consider it lightly.

We want to know the whole Christ. We want to know you in your fullness. We want to know you, God.

In your suffering and your agony and your pain, to know you in your resurrection and glory. And so tonight, God, we remember the testimony. We remember the testimony.

Not because we forget you, Lord, not because we have forgotten you, but it's a declaration, a prophetic declaration, proclamation that we live by the truth of another world, another realm. We live according to the truth of the one who died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended. And so we come, Lord, to prophesy, to declare, to proclaim, there is no one like you, none beside you.

No one like you, none beside you. Please, let's let's yield our hearts or pour our oil over on the feet of Jesus, and may the rocks not cry out in our place tonight. As we celebrate the victory of our Lord and King.

Thank you, Jesus. Again, we ask, Jesus, that you would please please keep our hearts soft. That we would never grow casual with this testimony, with this story.

Give us deep conviction, Lord. Confront us, correct us when it is necessary, when we do not want to be left to bask in our ignorance. We do do we do not want to live, God, in a place where we're ignorant of all that was accomplished, of all that was done for us.

And we ask, Lord, pierce our hearts deep. Reveal yourself to us, and may we tremble, Lord, at even the thought of approaching your body and your blood casually. Establish us in in the truth in the truth of your testimony.

Establish us in the revelation of the cross, the the bloody savior, the one with holes in his hands and his feet, the one with a wounded side. The Christ crucified. And so we come, Lord, today to proclaim again, it's it's our proclamation, our declaration that there is no other for us.

There is no one else, there is nothing else. We ask, come, Lord Jesus, come. Cut our hearts, Lord, deep.

May we believe the revelation, the testimony of the Christ. May it be seared upon our hearts, Lord. May it be the truth we confess.

May it be the reality we look to, the testimony that we hear. Holy and completely yours. So I ask, God, as as we head home today, that you would take our hands, Lord, and you would lead us.

And tonight and tomorrow and the day after and after again and again and again, that there would be a consciousness of the suffering Christ, the one who was who died, was buried, resurrected, ascended, glorified forever. We love you, Lord. We give you all of the glory, all of the honor, all of the praise, Lord.

We give it all to you. Yeah, in your most beautiful name we pray. Amen.

Can we lift a shout of praise to Jesus? Oh, we love you guys, and um it really is the greatest privilege to be able to worship with hungry people. And so thank you for coming and loving Jesus with us.

Thank you for being here. Um pray that you drive home safely. We'll either see you on Tuesday, Thursday, or next Sunday night.

Um God bless you, and we love you. Can we thank the team one more time? We love you guys.

Um bless you, and have a good night.