Practicing Faith Together.

For those of us seeking to help people grow, having a set of spiritual practices that you send your life around is enabling yourself to know when you show up in these spaces, when you read scripture, when you pray, it's making you aware that God is speaking and that you're growing in the right direction, and that you have somebody anchoring you and keeping you rooted and grounded as we walk throughout this life.

We have our daily rhythms, which you can find on our website or on cards here. Then we have our weekly and monthly rhythms. But today we're going to talk about what it looks like for us to be people that are committed to practicing these things publicly and corporately together.

I want to read some of these things. One that is keeping the Sabbath. We want to be people that are faithful to keeping the Sabbath. We want to be committed to not just working for rest and vacationing once or twice a year, but that everything that we do will be from an overflow of us being rested and with Jesus.

Fasting. We want to be a people committed to the practice of fasting, knowing what it looks like to go without and to go hungry so that we can grow in our hunger for the Lord.

Worshiping on Sundays together. Recognizing that when we come and when we experience this together, God is moving in our midst and we need each other.

Being devoted to community. We want to be people that on Sundays we walk in and out and say hi to each other, but then we find people that we can be faithful to, that we can be praying for, that we can be walking with, whether that's in a small group community or finding one or two people on your own.

Contributing. We want to contribute to the community, recognizing we all have different gifts and things that we bring to the table. Are we willing to give those to the church and the community around us so that we can seek renewal for our city and for the world. This is what we're after. To seek God's kingdom come, knowing that we are his strategy to doing that, to continue the work that he started on the cross. He wants us to continue to see his kingdom come.

These are some of the things that we want to be faithful to this year and we want to invite you. We have created a couple of resources to help you through this process. We have our daily rhythms book. If you don't have one of these, these will guide you through daily rhythms and prayer practice every single day. Grab one on your way out. If you have never read scripture and don't know where to start, we have little New Testaments that have the Gospels. That's a great place for you to start.

And then we have this rule of life workbook that you can get online or at the welcome table today. This will help you walk through how to establish a daily rhythm, how to establish your own rule of life and spiritual practices. So now that you have that practical piece out of the way, I'm going to invite you to open up your Bibles. We'll be in 1 Timothy 4:6-16 today. We started this last week and we're headed back to focus on the second half of the passage. If you missed the last couple of sermons, listen to those. It'll give you more context to what we're talking about.

We're looking at 1 Timothy 4:6-16 today. We started this last week and we're headed back to focus on the second half of the passage. If you missed the last couple of sermons, listen to those for more context. The passage talks about pointing these things out to the believers, being a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith. It tells us to train ourselves to be godly, to devote ourselves to the public reading of Scripture and to teaching. It emphasizes not neglecting the spiritual gifts within us and persevering in these things so that everyone may see our progress.

Let's pray. God, we thank you so much for your presence in this room. We thank you for your Holy Spirit that is with us, that is continuing to form us into your likeness. Draw us close to you, God. We thank you for the gift of your word. God, I thank you for the fullness of scripture that we can hear from your voice. God, I just ask that in these next few moments, would you speak to us. Holy Spirit, would you do what only you can do. Would these words bring healing. Would these words bring life. Would they bring transformation. Would they bring love. God, would you use these words to make us more like you. In your holy name we pray, amen.

Formation through practice

We're talking today about formation. We're talking about practice. Now, I have made it very clear through the years that I'm not really an athlete type of person. My family was a family of musicians, and so when I think of practice, I think of music.

One of my favorite things to do is practice by myself. I love to sit at the piano, play occasionally the guitar, and to sing and to worship and have that time on my own. There's something so freeing about just sitting with Jesus and practicing by myself. But then there's something even more beautiful when you get to practice with other people. When you're not just singing the melody but somebody's coming in with harmony. When it's not just one instrument but two that are blending together. Different melody lines are being played and there's something beautiful that starts to happen.

But when you start to practice with people, it can be a little scary. If I'm just practicing by myself, I can sing as loud as I want. I'm not thinking twice about my pitch. I can play for as long as I want and try all these different things and I'm not going to be embarrassed if I hit the wrong note. But when I show up to practice with other people, probably in a good way, I've got to come a little more prepared and I'm going to be thinking a little more about how I'm playing and how I'm singing.

The reality is that when we all come together in community, the things that we're doing are enhanced. The good, the bad, the notes that we hope nobody ever heard, it's enhanced. But when we bring who we are and we come together as a community, we also give a more beautiful picture of who Jesus is. You see, the church is the body of Christ and we all represent different pieces of his heart, his love, his character. And so we should practice on our own, being with Jesus. We should practice reading scripture. We should practice praying. We should practice worshiping on our own. That is good and it is needed. But when we come together and practice as a community, it gives us a more beautiful picture of who Jesus is. Together we can display the fullness of Christ and his glory.

Communal practice for present and future

Our main point today is this: communal practice prepares us for the present life and the life to come.

I love that line in the passage, talking about the present life and the life to come. Recognizing that today we live in this time in between, this tension of knowing that Jesus came and he's coming again, this tension of knowing that his kingdom is coming and there's more to come. And so we want to live for the present day and we want to be like Jesus today while also knowing that eternity is coming and there's more to come.

When we're talking about these practices, we recognize that someday we're going to be with Jesus and we're all going to be together too, those of us that are following Jesus. So not only are we going to want to fall madly in love with Jesus since we're spending eternity with him, but we're probably going to want to like each other a little bit too. We're probably going to want to say, what does this look like to follow Jesus together.

This passage starts to kind of talk about the idea of the public and the communal and what this looks like for us to persevere as a church together for both the present life and the life that is to come. In that life to come, a part of our mission in the present is to bring as many people with us as possible. A part of our mission in the present is to represent Jesus in every space that we go. And we need each other.

Some of the practices that this passage of Timothy is talking about today are the public reading of scripture, the exhortation, the teaching, which is kind of like the sermon we're doing here today, and the practice of spiritual gifts. These spiritual practices are going to require all of the different gifts and they're going to require us doing this in community.

I can tell you from experience that I have fasted on my own and I have fasted knowing that I have friends fasting and praying at the same time. There's a difference in knowing that I'm not just sitting here starving. Some weeks in community groups around Lent, we do this together. But there's something more encouraging when I show up on a Tuesday community group and we're all coming in hungry together. We're talking about how we've been praying and we've been going hungry all day and we're like, we are so ready to feast. It's a different experience when you're doing it with your friends than when you're the only one that's walking through it. We need each other to do these things well.

So our now what for today is this invitation for us to practice publicly, communally, and persevering together.

Spiritual formation and transformation

Formation is a part of the process of becoming like Jesus. The things that we do do something to us. We are constantly being formed. When you show up here today and you're listening to scripture and you're singing and you're worshiping, there is a rewiring of our brains that is happening. This is good. If we're here and Jesus, we want to become like him, so I want to talk for a minute about what it looks like for us to transform our thoughts and beliefs.

If you're familiar at all with cognitive behavioral therapy, it's a type of therapy that's really built on the premise that our thoughts influence our feelings and our behaviors. So the idea is that if we can start to change our thinking patterns, then we can start to transform. We want to challenge overgeneralized thinking or all-or-nothing thinking or negative responses. We can start to do something called cognitive restart training.

What I love about this is that so much of this is rooted in spiritual formation. We read about this in Romans 12:2, that we should not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. So spiritual formation is closely aligned to this idea of cognitive behavioral therapy. It's identifying and confronting the false, negative thoughts and beliefs that you have that are leading towards actions that are not making your life like Jesus.

Spiritual formation and these spiritual practices offer this means of transformation through practices like reading scripture on our own or together, meditation, fasting. All of these different things help form us into the likeness of Jesus. How is this happening. It is rewiring our brain through repetition. And this is one of the most beautiful things that we get to hold to as humans and as followers of Jesus, that we can change. I like to say that as often as possible because I think one of the biggest ways the enemy wants to keep us stuck is in the lying belief that we can't change, that we do not have the power, that we do not have the control to change and to be transformed. But that is a lie. We do have the power.

Common lies and truth

I want to kind of play this out a little bit. What does this look like when we talk about spiritual formation. How do we address lies in our life and the negative thinking and negative feelings that are leading to behaviors that we do not want to see anymore in our lives. Here are some common lies that I hear a lot of people talk about.

One really popular lie is this: you are not enough. How many of us have ever felt like that at some point in our life. We probably all have had a moment where we were like, I am not enough. That lie can lead you to feeling unworthy, incapable, not being good enough, feeling like you're stuck, you're never going to succeed. The behaviors that can come from that are you can start to act out insecurely. You can start looking at other people for validation. You can start struggling maybe with people pleasing.

But now the truth that we know is that we are people created in the image of God to bear his image. We are more than enough. So how can we live that out. A simple tool is to identify the lie that you are believing and then to speak that truth over your life.

A couple of things that you could do is even the beginning of Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing.

Psalm 23:1

Anytime you start to feel like you're not enough, you can pause and you can say, the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. That repetition will start to rewire your brain. When you start to feel active and insecure, instead you can move from a place of confidence and security in the Lord.

Another thing we can think of is this lie: you have to be perfect to be loved, or accepted. This is really rooted in the idea that to receive love or approval or acceptance, you have to meet a certain standard. You have to act a certain way. The behavior for this is you might be tempted to only show people pieces of who you think they're going to accept. You're too afraid to be real. You're too afraid to be vulnerable. You're too afraid to show anyone and let anyone in to see who you fully are. It keeps us hidden. It keeps us stuck from actually being changed and transformed by Jesus.

What is the truth to this. Romans 5:8 says:

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we are still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

The truth that we can use to overcome this is to continue to repeat and remind us: God's love for me is not dependent on me. He loves me no matter what. When you start to believe that lie, when it comes in, that I have to be perfect in order to be loved, you can instead say, nope, I'm not following that today. Repeat it. God's love for me does not depend on me. Jesus already did everything.

Public practice and spiritual gifts

Back to this passage in Timothy, when we talk about the communal practices that we are encouraged to do, we also have to walk with this with a clear reminder that if we don't like today who we are, if we don't like the thoughts that we're thinking and the things that they're leading to, we can change. So much of that comes from first realizing what is going on inside of me and how can I overcome those lies. How do we renew our minds.

This passage encourages us to do this not just secretly but publicly. It could be in a group. The first thing we talk about is the practice of publicly engaging in communal scripture practice. Timothy says:

Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Give your attention to the public reading of exhortation and teaching.

1 Timothy 4:11-13

I want to talk to all of us here for a moment today because I recognize that we sit down in this room and we can all be coming from so many different places and perspectives. And today we are publicly hearing the scripture. We are publicly hearing it be exhorted and taught.

You might be showing up here today for the first time, and maybe you still don't really know what you're doing here and don't really understand scripture. But there's something in you that's curious, so you're here.

You might be here today, and maybe you've been around Jesus and the church, but you still don't know what it really looks like to walk with Jesus. There's something in you that's still curious, and so you keep showing up.

And maybe you're here today, and you've been following Jesus for so long that you know there's no other way. So you keep showing up because you want more of his presence. Wherever you are, we all showed up today with some sort of love, with some sort of curiosity. There's something that drew us here to this place.

When we are in a space where we can read scripture together and we can study scripture together, we get to not just see Jesus through a cultural lens, but we get to see Jesus through how scripture shows us he is. Being in scripture is so important for us not just to do on our own but with other people. Each and every one of us is going to be able to speak to each other and see things in a different light that we need to hear.

This was a common practice throughout the Old Testament where they would gather and worship and read the scriptures over and over again. So why though publicly and communally. I think there are many reasons. A few I want to touch on.

At the core of Christianity, this is a public message. This is a public thing. We were never meant to just say, yes, I'm going to follow Jesus, and I'm going to go to church, and leave, and maybe a couple times throughout the week open my Bible and read the scriptures, do a devotion that makes me feel good enough to get through the week. We go back to church, maybe we don't. And then we just keep living our lives. That's not it. That's not the way. I'm following you, Jesus. I'll see you in heaven.

The invitation for us is this: we need to be people that live publicly. Jesus said:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

We were created to live public lives that display the light of Jesus, the light that draws people into relationship with him and to his kingdom. In order for us to do this, we need each other.

The New Testament also mentions over and over again that we are the body of Christ. This is a communal lens where each body has a unique role and we are all interconnected and interdependent on one another to function. We see in Romans 12:4-5 that just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Practicing spiritual discipline as a community reflects this truth that we are not isolated parts that are just supposed to come and pass by each other, but that we are members, interconnected and interdependent, that need each other.

So then how do we practice being an example. How do we practice letting our lives speak. The invitation that we have in this passage is that we are to let our lives speak. I think so much of this comes back to what does it look like if we are not people that just go through our life and just pass through each other on Sundays. What does it look like if we're fasting and depending on God for his fruit together. What does it look like if we're showing up into the spaces we're in well-rested because we're following the rhythm of the Sabbath. What does it look like for us to truly come and contribute to the city around us. We need each other to do this practically.

When we see this invitation, this practice, to worship together, to continue to come, even as we're talking about this idea of rewiring our brains, we're singing these songs. We're reminding our flesh of who God is. We're reminding our flesh of what we're even doing in life. This is doing something to us. This becoming is worship. Through song, we sing. Psalm 12:1 also says:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1

True proper worship is like offering everything. I need a little help sometimes to do that because it can be hard on your own.

Another thing that Timothy talks so much about in this passage is practicing spiritual gifts. Do not neglect the spiritual gifts within you which were granted to you through words of prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Take pains with these things. Be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all.

Spiritual gifts are things that we see represented a lot in the New Testament. You can read a lot about it in 1 Corinthians, Romans and Ephesians. When Jesus died on the cross and paid the price for our sins, he was raised back to life after three days. Before he ascended into heaven, he left with us his Holy Spirit. So we now have access to Jesus and the Father through the power of his Holy Spirit. The purpose of having these spiritual gifts is to build up the church. Spiritual gifts are given to strengthen and edify the body of Christ. They're here to help us grow in the faith.

There are different gifts that are listed in scripture. Some gifts are given for service and ministry. Some demonstrate God's power and some are here to promote unity and to promote spiritual growth.

Ministry gifts that we see listed in scripture are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. This is found in Ephesians 4:11. These gifts are roles and positions that usually take place within a church and they are meant to equip and train believers for the work of ministry. Apostles are typically people that are pioneering new ministry fields. Prophets are people communicating God's heart to the church, bringing correction, encouragement, revelation. Evangelists have unique gifts to reach people that are far from Jesus and to reach the gospel in clear ways that draw people in. Pastors are shepherds who care for the spiritual well-being of the congregation and provide comfort and care. Teachers have the gift to be equipped to speak the truth of God's word.

Another set of gifts that we see listed in scripture are often referred to as the manifestation gifts. Whenever we talk about the supernatural, it's something that's supernatural, so it's okay that you're like, this is kind of super weird. But our goal is to say, what does it look like for us to make the supernatural just super normal in our lives. Because this is how we believe Jesus created us to live. It wouldn't be so weird when we're coming in and saying, hey, I think I have a word of knowledge, hey, I think God gave me a word for you. We want this to be normal in our lives because God wants to move in our lives.

Listed in 1 Corinthians 12 are words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretations of tongues. The manifestation gifts typically are these temporary things that the Holy Spirit empowers people to do for a specific moment. Other motivational gifts are prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy. You can find these in Romans 12. Prophecy is a way to speak truth and speak on behalf of God to other people, drawing them closer to him. Some people have these eternal gifts. They are always ready to serve and help meet the needs of others. Motivational gifts define a natural orientation that we have, a natural drive in us to do these things, these natural motivations.

Part of our invitation as a church is to say, how do we continue to invite the Holy Spirit to allow this gift to flow through us. And how do we become people that are willing to practice those gifts together. Knowing that at any given moment someone in this room might be that exact word that God is giving you. At any given moment someone in this room might need you to come and offer the faith to borrow your faith when they don't have it.

But if we're only coming in here every week saying I'm here to receive, I'm here to consume, and we forget that we're people that are supposed to not only be devoted to community but contributing to the community, we all miss out. What does it look like for us to show up every single Sunday and say, we're here to practice together. We're here to lean into this together. We're here to show up, that you contribute to one another. Because we live like that, when we're out in the world and all of a sudden we're like, I feel like I'm supposed to pray for someone, it's not going to be so scary because you've practiced over and over again praying for one another, laying hands on one another, speaking out and the words you feel like you're bored for one another. But now that we lean into this.

Persevering through pain

The other thing that Timothy continues talking about is embracing the pain that comes with the formation. Timothy says:

Take the pains with these things, be absorbed in them, that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for as you do this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

1 Timothy 4:15-16

That does not sound like fun. But notice here again there's this point to both the internal and the external. We're not just looking at ourselves but we're looking at the people around us. We're not just living for our present moment and our promised future hope but we're also living on display so others can see and others can hear and draw near to Jesus.

I love that we talk about absorbing the pain and then we're talking about persevering. I think it's so interesting that we talk about this through the lens of pain because when has anyone ever been doing so good in life and told you, I'm the happiest I've ever been, and you're like, I'm just going to pace you as you persevere through your happy season. No, we don't persevere through happiness. We're just happy and we're joyful. But it's in moments of pain that we need perseverance to keep going.

Scripture reminds us often that following Jesus is not absent of pain. Romans 5:3-4 teaches that we glory in our sufferings, because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.

Hebrews 12:11 says:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time it happens. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

The pain that we feel in the moment, if we let it, can produce in us righteousness and peace. Following Jesus does not promise to be easy. It's not promised to be absent of pain. But one of the gifts that we have is to do it in a communal, in a public way, committed to one another, committed to contributing and giving all that we have as an act of worship, to lay down our lives for one another as Jesus laid down his life for the church.

That we can be a church that shines that light so bright that people are naturally drawn in to say, what is going on with those people. Who are they doing this with. How are they doing this. Scripture tells us to prepare for your progress to be evident. Prepare for it. As we start to see these things come up in our lives, as we continue to lean in, to be people that are deeply rooted, there will be evidence in our lives.

Matthew 5:16 says:

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

It's all to glorify our Father and to see his kingdom come. How do we get there. How do we get to that place. We need to persevere in these things so that we can stay faithful to the end. Galatians 6:9 says:

Let's not become weary in doing good. For at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

We will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Practice can be exhausting. Training your body to do something physically can be exhausting. Spiritually it can be exhausting. When we're talking about and hearing, say, what does it mean for us to be people that are practicing the ways of Jesus together, that are committed to creating the culture, we're not going to try and sugar coat it and say that this is going to be free of pain, that it's going to be easy. But what we are promised is that we're not just living for this present life, but we are living for the life that is to come.

The power of practicing together

What are some of the rhythms that can be hard for us to do. Keeping the Sabbath, having a time where we are choosing to not do anything else but to pause, delight in Jesus, devote ourselves to him. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but napping is like one of the most trustworthy things that you can do. Can we get an amen. That takes a different level of faith. Think about it. You are trusting that you're like, well, I close my eyes and take a little snooze. You're trusting your kids aren't going to wake up and break anything or break each other, right. You're trusting that every urgent email and phone call is not a life-or-death situation. You're trusting that you're going to wake up, right. There's a lot of faith that goes into just closing your eyes and resting. And I don't think that's by mistake.

Sometimes you're going to take a day off and stop. That's so easy. It is not easy to take a 24-hour period of time to not stress and not worry and be absorbed by other things. But this is an invitation that we ask. To live not from a place of working for rest, but from a place of rest. We need each other to remind each other of this and to trust God in pursuing the people of rest.

But fasting, that is a hard thing to do. It is hard to persevere through fasting. Devoting yourself to community, not running when things get hard, pursuing forgiveness and grace and maybe the consecration sometimes of people around us for the glory of God is not easy. We need to persevere through these things and we need to do it in a context of community.

When we talk about wanting to be devoted and wanting to have impact, we're not just saying we're going to pray that God saves our city and redeems our city and people come to know Jesus. No, we want to create a practical workbook where we're saying, okay, everybody, where in our month. Where are we where in our schedule are we actually praying for people to know Jesus. Not just like wishful thinking, right. But we want to be so committed to this.

Because one person cannot seek renewal for a whole city, right. One person cannot do that. But we need each other and we need to be committed and reminding each other, who are we praying for. What are we praying for. Then what does this look like.

The things that we do, they do something to us and we were never meant to practice these things on our own. My invitation for you as we close is in a time of worship. I'd love to have the space at the end for us to just practice together, being with Jesus.

Maybe some of you, the practice is just like singing out loud and praying out loud because these songs are prayers. When we're saying, God, show us your glory, that might be the invitation for you today. Another invitation might be like you being bold enough to turn to the person next to you and say, hey, would you pray for me. Maybe you share what's going on. Maybe you don't. But to say, would you pray for me.

Maybe the invitation for you today is to say, not like, would you show me how to live my life better. But to ask, God, would you show me anything I need to take away, anything I need to stop, anything I need to start. Would you show me if there's something you're highlighting for me. Maybe the invitation is taking one of these workbooks, taking one of the journals, taking one of the Bibles, asking someone to read it with you and saying, God, would you show me your glory as I read this scripture.

I shared last week that a big year ago, I had never run a mile in my life. I was homeschooled, so I didn't run in high school. But I needed to run a mile. And all of a sudden, it was like I turned 29 last year. I was like, I'm going to run a mile. This is the year. And we did it. I can run many miles now.

Running was something that was more than just like, I want to run a mile, but it was this practice of saying, I want to do something where I'm going to consistently get up and do a hard thing that I don't want to do, to continue to train my flesh and my body that is not a good job, so that when I'm in other areas where I need discipline and I need self-control and I need to sacrifice and I need to do hard things, it is a different picture of who I am.

I prefer hard things. When I put myself on this last week, I actually went on two different runs with two different people from our church. I was thinking about this morning because I've also shown that I still don't love to run most days. Some days I'm like, this is nice. Most days I'm like, ow, why am I doing this. There were two different runs that I went on with people in the church this week. One was on a treadmill and one was outside yesterday morning, 20 degrees, in the cold, most of it uphill. I don't know, you can decide which one's worse, the treadmill or the cold. I still think it was the treadmill, to be honest.

But the person I ran the treadmill with, they like to finish their runs with sprinting. I do not. But I was with my friend, right. And so I was like, all right, crank it up, let's go. We were sprinting for the last two minutes. And I heard and I was like, we're doing it. It's fine. With my friend. And we were in the cold, freezing, and I couldn't feel my fingers. I forgot that I couldn't feel my fingers. And I forgot how much pain I was in running uphill because I found myself outside with my friends.

And so in the middle of our power session, like I completely forgot about the pain that I was in. There is so much power in community, where on the same when you are with other people, you find yourself going faster and farther and doing harder things than you ever thought possible. Because you remember that you're not alone. And you remember that you are not created to be alone.

So what does it look like. For some of us, it might not be waiting until someone says, hey, you want to run with me. But maybe even tonight is saying like, hey, I need someone to run with. Start asking every person in this room like, will you run with me. That I'm tired of going uphill. And honestly, I need someone that can be with me when I'm in the pain. And with someone that can help me not forget that I can't feel my fingers in this moment.

This is the gift that we have in the church, in saying that we are not going to just practice privately, but publicly and communally. That we are going to let other people see that we are running towards Jesus and we're going to say, come alongside us, run with us. When it's uphill, let's embrace the pain. When it's downhill, let's celebrate. When the wind is against us, let's embrace and let's get closer so we can face it. When the wind is behind us, let it empower us to be all that God is inviting us to be. Because we were not meant to be hidden, but we were meant to be that light that shines so bright that people see the good deeds, that they see the evidence, they see everything that he's doing.

And it's no longer like, I don't know what this is about. I'm curious. But it's, I've encountered the presence of God in that kind of way that I want more and I want more and I want more. It's only about you to deal with us today. And I don't know what that invitation is for you, but I want to encourage you that as we sing and as we spend these last few moments in prayer, to be bold. If you're like, I need prayer, turn to someone next to you and say, hey, will you pray for me.

If you are someone that you're just like, I need to just sing here and I need to sing out loud and I need to worship and I need to start to practice, this is a safe place for us to practice. To not be worried if we're singing in tune, to not be worried if we're playing the right notes. Unless you're on the worship team, then be nice. But for us to be people that are just so surrendered to Jesus and everything that he's doing, then we just want more of his presence at this place. And so we are unafraid and we are unashamed to pursue him together so that we truly can display his love.

So our prayer as we enter into this space: Lord, I just pray that you have us be people that are so faithful, practicing as a community, the need, people that are so faithful to saying, God, we want your presence in our lives. But recognizing that as we do this, we're not just living for the present life, but for the life that is to come.

Father, we would continue to be reminded that every time that we hear your word, that we read scripture, that we talk to one another, that we're not just living for ourselves, but for everybody that can hear.

God, I thank you for the ways that you continue to come and transform our lives. I just pray for the people that are in this room today. That if that invitation is to simply say like, Jesus, I want to follow you, God, would you appall them in this moment to say that. If that's you, I just want to invite you, even in this moment, as we sing and as we worship, that if you're like, I'm ready to follow, just tell Jesus, I'm ready to follow. I surrender who I was and I say yes to what you have.

And if you're in this place that you're just desperate for more of Jesus and more of his presence, if you just say, Holy Spirit, come, show me. Show me the things that I need to change. Show me the things I need to stop, the things I need to start. All, I need to transform to do your likeness, Jesus. All, display your glory.

So Holy Spirit, in these next few moments as we pray, as we worship, we just walk in the has in this recent column. Hope this one. In this spirit.