[0:00] I need to hear you, you are the light that's leading me to the place where I find peace again.
[0:30] You are the strength that keeps me all the king.
[0:45] You are the hope that keeps me to see.
[0:56] You are the light to my soul. You are my room base.
[1:12] You are everything. And how can I shake you through?
[1:25] And I'll be moved by in. But you tell me how could it be any better than this?
[1:40] Yeah. You call the source. And you give me rest. You hold me in your hands.
[1:56] You won't let me fall. You still my heart. And you tell me how could it be. You tell me how could it be. You tell me how could it be. You tell me how could it be. You tell me how could it be. You tell me how could it be.
[2:08] Thank you.
[2:38] Thank you.
[3:08] Thank you. Thank you.
[4:08] Thank you. Thank you.
[5:08] Amen. Amen. Let's hear the Lord in prayer. Father God, Lord, we thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross for us.
[5:22] We thank you for bringing us together here. We thank you for all the wonderful things you've done for each and every one of us. Thank you for the love that you share with us.
[5:33] And we ask that you're with us here in this worship service. We ask that you are the one speaking today. I'm going to go sit in the back, and I want you to take hold.
[5:44] I want you to be the one speaking. I want you to be the one at the forefront, not me. Amen. And Lord, I just ask that you show us what you have planned for us today. I pray in the name of Jesus.
[5:57] Amen. Amen. Hope you enjoyed that skit. I enjoy it every time I've ever seen it. And it really does something to me.
[6:09] And as I thought about the Scripture that we're going to go over this week, and I prayed about it, and God said, you need to show that video. So that's the reason I showed that video, because it does kind of go along with the Scripture we're going to go over today.
[6:26] So we're in Galatians still. We're in chapter 2, verses 6 through 15. And I kind of think we should have included 16 and 17 too, as I read, as I like to read before and after when I'm studying Scripture, so that I make sure I get the right context.
[6:42] So who knows? I might pull my phone out and pop those two Scriptures in at the end. I haven't decided yet. So it's not really me to decide.
[6:52] It's up to God. So let's go to the next slide, Mark. Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and firm in your faith, just as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.
[7:16] Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
[7:30] So in that video or that skit, we saw this girl that was having a relationship with Jesus, right? And then, at some point, worldly things came in between her and Christ.
[7:46] And Christ was in the back sitting there saying, Hey, I'm still here. I haven't left. I'm still here for you. But she was so enthralled with the worldly things that she cared more about them for a time.
[8:01] And when they became too much, then is when she decided to go back to Christ. That's what I saw in the skit. And I think it covered different things in the skit.
[8:15] It covered drinking and boys and being skinny and looking pretty and all these other things.
[8:26] But I think we also have to include other worldly things that are tempting. especially to the Christian. Or especially to anyone. And that's horoscopes. How many times do you see people, even Christians, are interested in what their daily horoscope is?
[8:43] Because, you know, they're an Aquarius, or they're a Capricorn, or they're a Leo, or they're a... Whatever it is, they are. Based on the month they were born. And they read those horoscopes, and they'll say, Hey, my horoscope was yada, yada, yada.
[8:57] Well, my horoscope was yada, yada, so I'm going to have a great day. How does a horoscope make your day great? Or how does it make it bad? It doesn't.
[9:09] Or another thing to think of is witchcraft. And when I say witchcraft, I don't mean women. When I say witchcraft, I mean the evil. And you'll hear people say, Well, there's good witchcraft and bad witchcraft.
[9:24] Is there? Isn't it? Doesn't it all come from Satan? Witchcraft? Isn't it all bad? But if we think about the world, I don't mean the United States, I mean the world.
[9:39] Go to Mexico, or you go to other countries, and how much witchcraft is in their society? Do you think that comes from Christ?
[9:52] No, it doesn't. And that's part of what they're saying here when it says, excuse me, See, we need to put our heart in what Christ would have us put our heart in.
[10:14] Not what the world would have us do. Because the world would have us chasing money, or chasing being rich and famous, or chasing those things that aren't true, and aren't Christ-driven.
[10:31] You know, we can end this sermon right here, because of what we're talking about. But it's important, we go to the next, can you go to the next slide, Mark? For in Him, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.
[10:50] And you have been filled in Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. In Him, you also are circumcised, not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is through the circumcision done by Christ.
[11:09] Having been buried with Him in baptism, you also have been raised with Him through your faith and the power of God, who raised you from the dead.
[11:22] Or raised Him from the dead. Get a drink real quick. So in that video, that skit, we also saw how Christ forgave the girl.
[11:41] He came and He cleaned her up, right? Pulled her up. He got rid of all the sins, didn't He? He pushed them all back. They all fell to the ground.
[11:53] The same way He did for each and every one of you. And the same way He still does to this day. He didn't just forgive the sins that you committed 30 years ago.
[12:07] Or 10 years ago. Or 5 minutes ago. He forgave all your sins now and forever. Because we're all sinners.
[12:18] Every one of us. We're not perfect. Only Jesus was perfect. And because only Jesus was perfect, we can strive to be like Him.
[12:31] But we're not going to be perfect until the day we die and go to heaven. Plain and simple. And you know, I like the part of the Scripture where He says, I really do, where He talks about how He has circumcised us.
[12:52] Not by the hand of circumcision, but by the blood that He gave. It doesn't say the blood, but we know that's what it was.
[13:03] Our circumcision comes from Him being crucified. Him going to the cross. Because not only did He die on the cross, but our sins died on the cross.
[13:19] You see, that's how He circumcised us. He cut all that bad stuff away and threw it out. So, the very first sermon I ever did, we had, instead of having PowerPoints, we had overhead projectors.
[13:35] Remember that, Matt, when we had overhead projectors here? Okay? And so, we had this overhead projector, and I made this picture of a heart. Okay? And the heart had hair all over it.
[13:47] Okay? And the hair was supposed to be our sin. And how it makes our heart tough. Right? Then, I showed a picture of all the hair being cut off.
[13:59] And that was the sin being cut away. And our hearts becoming pliable and soft. And that's the circumcision that Christ did to us.
[14:12] He cut all that bad, callous stuff out of our hearts and made them soft and pliable so that He could work them into what He wanted us to become.
[14:24] Not who we wanted to become. Not who we tried to become. He changed us. Forever.
[14:37] I know Matt told this. I remember, this was years ago, I mean a long time ago, Matt told this story about this, this monk. And this happened, and we talked about it in R&R a few weeks ago. About this monk.
[14:48] That ended the, throwing the Christians to the lions. And throwing the Christians into this pit. He ended.
[14:59] Everybody would get up in front, and they'd go to these games, and they'd cheer on the, the, the, these, these lions and tigers. That would, and he got in there.
[15:10] And, and beforehand, he had prayed, and he got up, and it was the last time anyone was ever killed this way. Because of this one monk, and his faith.
[15:24] And that shows that Jesus has power over principalities. Jesus has power over the evil that rulers or countries will do.
[15:42] One monk made this change. And it was through his faith in Christ Jesus. It was not on him.
[15:54] It was on Jesus. And we see that here. Go to the next set of scripture, Mark.
[16:04] And it says, He has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
[16:43] You see that? Who took, who won? Jesus. Who lost? The bad guys. I think that's why it infuriates me so much when I see good people taken advantage of.
[17:01] When I see just the normal person have evil come and take, steal their money, or con them into this, or con them out of that.
[17:14] It infuriates me. Because it means they don't have Christ in their life. It means many things.
[17:24] But the most important thing is, they don't have Christ in their life. But the nice thing is, for us, that have Christ in your life, Jesus has got it.
[17:42] He's got this. We don't have to worry about things. We're all going through things right now. Every one of us.
[17:53] Whether it's us, or our children, our grandchildren, no matter who it is, they're all going through something. And, I know as a man, I take it upon myself, when something happens to one of my children, or one of my, or one of my grandchildren, or, or my wife, I want to be there, and I want to go after that person.
[18:17] Because, they're my, who I love. And I think that's how God feels about us. He's like, what are you doing going after my child?
[18:28] You better leave him alone. That's what I really believe, how God looks at us. When people come after us, He's going to protect us.
[18:39] He's going to grab us, and hold us in His arms, and love on us, and protect us from the evil. So, about, I'll tell you this story. So, about, three or four months ago, I was, going to go buy a pistol.
[18:56] And, I just didn't like the way that, I was at it. It was a, a reputable place. And, I just, didn't like the fact that I had my, concealed carry permit, but they still wanted to do a background check on me.
[19:07] I didn't like that. I said, told them, I've already had one. And the law says, if I give you this card, you don't have to do one. It's a done deal. So then, God came to me that night, and He said, what do you need a pistol for?
[19:22] You got me. He goes, I will protect you. Like I have already. And, I'm not saying we don't need guns, because, I'm not saying that in any way, shape, or form.
[19:38] Because, I am a, I am 100% for, if you want to own one, you should own one. Truly. But, what I'm saying is, God told me, I will protect you.
[19:53] And, that's what He does, for all of us. He protects us. He loves us. He forgives our sin, when we sin. He helps take care, of our children.
[20:08] And, sometimes, He keeps us, from making silly mistakes. We'll go to do something, because, you know, the human in us is laying, well, you know what? I don't like that you did that, to my child, so I'm going to go take care of you, right now.
[20:23] And, then God will like, protect us, and keep us from doing something, that could, really come back, and harm us. And, that comes from the love of Christ. And, that comes from being, one with Christ.
[20:37] Because, once we're saved, we're saved. And, He's going to continue, to love on us, and take care of us. Even, when we, fall back, like the girl did, in the video.
[20:51] Remember how she fell back? She fell back into sin, but, Jesus still came, and forgave her, and pulled her out of it. The same thing, with us. He's going to, always love us, and protect us.
[21:06] Let's go to the Lord, in prayer. Father God, Lord, we just thank you, for this wonderful message, you brought. We thank you, for being with us. We thank you, for loving on us. And, we thank you, for all that you do, for us.
[21:20] Peace continue, to bless us, as we go about our day, as we do our communion, as we worship you. I pray this, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[21:30] Amen. Amen.