Brother Fred, thank you for your kind invitation.
I don't get a lot of invitation to come back a second time,
so I'm very grateful for that.
As we prepare our hearts this morning to look together at God's Word,
would you join me as we pray?
Heavenly Father, thank you for just the privilege
every time we're able to gather as a body of believers
to join our hearts in worship,
to be reminded that none of us would be here today
were it not for your amazing grace.
And Father, out of that awareness,
I pray today that we just present ourselves before you
in humility and Lord, in all emptying of self
to just sit before your Word today.
And we pray that your Holy Spirit would be the one who teaches us this morning.
And I pray that this Word that we hold in our hands this morning,
paper and ink, this written Word.
Lord, I pray that it will now become a living Word in our hearts today.
Speak to us.
May we be good stewards of every moment you give us.
In this time together, it's the prayer that we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
He was considered by many to be the fastest man in the world.
They called him the Flying Scotchman.
He was 22 years old.
And in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France,
Eric Little was to have competed in the 100-meter dash.
Again, he was the fastest man at that particular race,
fully expected to win the gold medal.
But Eric Little was also a Christian.
He was a strong believer.
And just a few days before the 100-meter dash was to have been run,
he discovered that the qualifying heats for that event
were going to be held on a Sunday.
And Eric Little had strong convictions about the Lord's Day.
And he determined if those qualifying heats were going to be run on a Sunday,
he could not participate.
Now, as you might imagine, a great uproar followed that decision.
The Olympic Committee in that day got together,
held an emergency meeting,
called Eric Little in and said,
Look, man, everybody's eyes are on you.
You've got to run this race.
Race, he said, No, I can't do it.
He was summoned to a personal meeting with the Prince of Wales
who had come to watch that race
and was told again,
Eric, we need you to run.
He said, I cannot run.
Finally, Eric Little received a telegram
from the Prime Minister of Great Britain,
giving him an ultimatum, in essence.
Eric, you don't have a choice.
You have got to compete in this race.
But he stood firm.
He did not run.
And many people looked at Eric Little and said,
What a waste.
You have given up fame.
You have probably given up fortune.
You have certainly given up the gold medal,
which everyone realizes you could have won.
And yet, this young man at 24 years of age
determined that nothing was more important in his life
than his relationship with Jesus Christ.
And he would not do anything that he considered
would compromise his stance for Jesus Christ.
So he did not run that race.
He did not win that gold medal.
But his commitment and his conviction stirred a generation.
And many people looked at what Eric Little did
and were moved to follow Christ
and this young man's example.
This morning, I want to ask you a question.
Where are the radicals for Jesus Christ today?
Where are they?
Where are those who would stand up today and say,
I boldly proclaim that there is nothing in my life
more precious to me
than my relationship with Christ,
than living for His glory.
And I want to ask you this morning,
just right out of the gate,
would you be willing
to be that kind of person?
I don't know any day
there has ever been when we need more
Eric Littles
who will stand up
with conviction
and proclaim
my life
belongs
to Christ
fully,
finally,
forever.
I have given
my life
to Him.
Today,
I
I sort of want to get in your face a little bit.
Is that okay?
Just get in your face a little bit
this morning
and try to give you something to live for.
I want to give you something to live for
because I am convinced
every one of us,
you this morning,
are standing
on the precipice
of a great adventure,
if you will take it.
And I don't want you to waste
your lives
in
a valley of insignificance.
I do not want you to fall prey
to what I have called
the mind-numbing,
spiritual,
anesthetizing,
destiny-dimming
enticement
of the American dream
that simply says to you
and me today,
if you'll just
get a good education,
if you'll get a good job,
if you'll raise a good family,
if you'll live a good life,
then you'll have a good time
and your life
will be a good life.
Can I tell you this morning
unhesitatingly,
you were created
for something more than that.
In fact,
you were created
for a whole lot more
than that.
So I want to say to you this morning,
whether you're a student
with the majority of your life
ahead of you,
or whether you've already retired
and trying to figure out
how you can make the most
of your final years,
I want to point you
to something this morning.
So I want you to take
your copy of God's Word
as you have it there with you,
or maybe you're going to
look this up on your phone
or some other device.
I want you to look with me
at a couple of verses
in 1 Corinthians 6.
Let me just say to you,
if we really understand
what these verses say,
they may be
some of the scariest,
most intimidating verses
in all of
the New Testament.
But we're going to look at them anyway.
1 Corinthians 6,
verses 19 and 20.
1 Corinthians 6,
19 and 20,
parts of these verses.
I want you to listen to what
Paul,
under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit,
writes to you and to me.
Now,
you belong
to God.
You do not belong
to yourselves.
God has bought you
with a great price.
Hear that again.
Now,
you belong
to God.
You do not belong
to yourselves.
Why?
Because God has bought you
with a great price.
Do you understand
this morning?
If you are a Christian,
if you would stand here
and dare
to name the name of Jesus
as Lord and Savior
of your life,
do you understand
you are not your own?
You do not belong
to yourself.
It is not
your life.
Christ bought you.
He bought me
at the price
of His own death
so that now
we doubly
belong to God.
We belong to God,
number one,
because He created
every single one of us.
And then if we are believers,
we belong to God
because Christ
purchased us.
He purchased
our salvation
at the price
of His death
on the cross.
And that means
my life
is no longer
my life
to do with
however I want
to do with it.
Your life
is not your life
to do whatever
you want
to do
with it.
I've heard people
say before,
you know,
you grow up in America,
you can become
anything you want to be.
Can we stop
telling our kids
that lie
if we are followers
of Christ?
Christ.
You can become
anything God
wants you to become.
You can do
anything
God
wants you to do
because your life
is not your own
to do with
what you want
to do with
and neither is mine.
We're not free
to chart our own course,
pursue our own desires,
chase our own dreams.
Restricting, huh?
A little bit.
Boxes you in,
doesn't it?
Cramps your style,
infringes on your freedom,
right?
I mean,
that's what the world
will tell us.
That's what it told
Eric Little.
But this morning,
can we look for just a moment
at what God's Word
really has to say
about this?
And I want to illustrate
this 1 Corinthians
text in several ways.
First of all,
I want to illustrate it
by looking at the life
of a man in Scripture.
His name was Epaphroditus.
We find his story
in Philippians chapter 2.
So,
I encourage you to mark
1 Corinthians chapter 6,
but
turn over
into the New Testament.
A few books here.
To Philippians.
And we're going to look
for just a moment
at Epaphroditus.
Now,
this is the only place
in Scripture
we find Epaphroditus
mentioned,
but he is
memorialized here.
He is
ensconced
because of what we see
about him
in this text.
Now,
before we look at the verses
describing his life
a little bit,
let me give you
a little bit of a background
to this book
of Philippians.
Epaphroditus
was a member
of the church
at Philippi.
the Philippian church
had heard that Paul
was in prison
in Rome.
That's where Paul was
when he wrote
the book
of Philippians.
And so,
the church at Philippi
determined that it
would come together,
it would take up
a collection,
an offering,
and they would send it
to Paul
in Rome,
and Epaphroditus
was the one
who was given
the task
to take that gift
to Paul in Rome.
As a matter of fact,
we might say
that the book
of Philippians
is sort of
Paul's extended
thank you letter
to the church
at Philippi
for the sending
of this gift
to him
in prison
in Rome.
So,
Epaphroditus
is tasked
with this responsibility.
He is taking
this gift
from the Philippian church
to Rome
somewhere on the journey
from Philippi
to Rome
or perhaps
after he got
to Rome,
we don't really know.
but Epaphroditus
became seriously ill.
We don't know
what the illness
was that he had,
but if you look
at verse 27,
you will see
of Philippians chapter 2,
you will see
that it was serious
enough
that the man
almost died.
And so,
the Philippian church
was concerned
about Epaphroditus.
Somehow,
they had gotten word
that he was
at the point of death.
So,
after he recovers
a little bit,
Paul says in verse 28,
I'm going to send
Epaphroditus back to you
so that he can be with you,
he can be with his family,
he can be with his church family,
and can recover.
So,
that's the background.
What I want you to see here,
the verses,
verses 29 and 30,
because this tells us something
of Epaphroditus
that is really the focus
of what I'm trying
to help all of us
come to terms with today.
Verse 29,
Paul says,
as he sends Epaphroditus back,
so receive him in the Lord
with all joy
and honor such men
for he nearly died
for the work of Christ,
risking his life
to complete what was lacking
in your service to me.
Now,
there's a little key phrase here
that Paul uses
to describe Epaphroditus.
He says,
he risked his life.
He risked his life.
Now,
in the common language
of the people in Paul's day,
that little phrase,
risking his life,
was borrowed from
the gambling world.
It was a gambler's term.
It meant to place a bet.
It meant to make a wager.
It meant to roll the dice.
Literally,
Paul said,
let me tell you
about Epaphroditus.
He was willing
to gamble
his own life
for the sake
of Christ.
He threw himself
out there
on the game board
of life.
He rolled the dice
with his life
and he literally
risked
losing it all
to do what Christ
had called him
to do.
Epaphroditus
was God's
gambler.
And he gambled
everything
because he placed
his very life
on the line
to do what Christ
had called him
to do.
I want to tell you
about one of my favorite
historical
Christian
characters.
Her name was
Ann Hazeltine.
She was the youngest
of five children
and she was doted
on by her family.
She had a wonderfully
happy childhood
and by her teenage
years she was
sparkling,
full of joy,
popular,
very attractive,
always in demand
at parties
and all kinds
of social events.
in her youth.
Her main concerns
were her friends,
socializing,
having fun.
Her father
actually constructed
on the back
of their house
a dance hall,
a big room
that was used
just for dancing
so Ann's home
really became
the center
of social life
in the town
where they lived.
Now like most
of the people
who lived in that
small town,
the Hazeltines
went to church.
But religion was,
it just wasn't
very demanding
at all.
Didn't require
much of them
and most of their
time was spent
just doing
what they wanted
to do,
having fun,
being with friends.
So in Ann's own
words she said,
you know,
I was consumed
with the things
of the world.
Even though I profess
to follow Christ,
I know my focus
was on the things
of the world,
having fun.
I was largely
directed by peer pressure.
And so I want
to read a few things
to you this morning
that come from
her diary.
And I'm just going
to read it off
this sheet of paper
because I want you
to hear verbatim
what Ann wrote
about her understanding
of Christianity
at this young point
in her life.
Here's what she said,
quote,
During the first
16 years of my life,
I very seldom
felt any serious
impressions about
anything.
I was early taught
by my mother,
though at that time
she was ignorant
of the nature
of true religion.
I was taught
by her the importance
of abstaining
from those vices
like telling falsehoods,
disobeying my parents,
taking what was
not my own.
She also taught me
that if I was
a good child,
when I died,
I would escape
that dreadful place
called hell,
the thought of which
sometimes filled me
with alarm and terror.
So,
I therefore made it
a matter of conscience
to avoid
these kinds of sins.
I'd say my prayer
every night
and every morning.
I would try not
to do the things
that I knew were wrong,
never doubting
that such a course
of conduct
would ensure
my salvation.
At the age of 12 or 13,
I attended the academy
where suddenly
as I was exposed
to many more temptations
than ever before.
I now began to go
to dances and parties.
I found my mind
completely occupied
with the things
of the world.
And for two or three years,
I scarcely felt
an anxious thought
at all relative
to the salvation
of my own soul.
Even though,
now listen,
even though,
I was rapidly heading
towards eternal ruin.
I was surrounded
by my friends
who were wild
and volatile
like myself.
And I often thought
myself,
one of the happiest
people on earth.
My time mostly occupied
with clothes,
boys,
and an amusement.
That was her life.
That was her own assessment
of her life
at 16 years of age.
Now,
she went on to say
that from time to time
she would sort of be
convicted about things
in her life.
She knew she was doing things
she had no business doing,
involved with people
she shouldn't have been with.
But because of peer pressure
and her desire
to be popular,
she said,
you know,
I was just,
it was too embarrassing
for me to try
to take a stand
for Christ
or to really get
too serious
about spiritual things
or try to be godly.
But then,
as a 17-year-old girl,
Anne Hazeltine
had a personal,
powerful encounter
with Jesus Christ
that radically
changed her life.
Suddenly,
she was overwhelmed
with a sense
of her own guilt
before this holy
and righteous God.
she said,
I suddenly became
aware of His majesty,
His holiness,
His greatness,
the grace
that He had extended
to me.
And I became overwhelmed
with my own sinfulness
and suddenly
I just had this
consuming desire
for my life
to bring glory to God.
So at 17 years of age,
she set out
to live her life
in complete commitment
to the Lord.
And she said,
Lord, here it is,
whatever you want to do.
She said,
what Epaphroditus said,
here's my life,
I roll it out there.
Let me tell you
what happened.
Anne Hazeltine
eventually married
a man
by the name of
Adoniram Judson.
I don't know
if that name means
anything to you or not.
If you know anything
about mission history
whatsoever.
Adoniram Judson
was one of the first
Protestant missionaries
sent out from North America
to the non-Christian world.
He was one of the
great missionary pioneers.
And so,
Anne ended up
getting to know
Judson
and they decided
to get married.
Let me read a part
of a letter to you now
that Adoniram Judson
wrote to Anne Hazeltine's
father
asking for her hand
in marriage
and also asking
permission to take Anne
with him
as a missionary
to India.
Now, if you're a father
out there with a daughter,
I want you to listen to the...
It ought to impact
every one of us,
but I want you to listen
to what Adoniram Judson
wrote to Anne Hazeltine's
father.
I have to ask you now
whether you can consent
to part with your daughter
early next spring
to see her
never again
in this world.
Whether you can consent
to her departure,
her subjection
to the hardships
and sufferings
of missionary life,
whether you can consent
to her exposure
to the dangers
of the ocean,
to the fatal influence
of the southern climate
of India,
to every kind
of want
and distress,
to degradation,
insult,
persecution,
perhaps even
a violent death.
Can you consent
to all this
for the sake
of Him
who left
His heavenly home
and died for her
and for you?
Can you do this
for the sake
of perishing
immortal souls,
for the sake
of heaven,
for the sake
of the glory of God?
Can you consent
to all this
in the hope
of soon meeting
your daughter again,
not in this world,
but in the world
of glory
with the crown
of righteousness
brightened
with the acclamations
of praise
that shall resound
from her Savior,
from those
heathen people
saved through
her testimony
from eternal woe
and despair?
What questions?
Her father said
what I would have
probably said.
I can't do that,
but I will let her
make up her decision.
Anne said yes.
I will go.
And Anne
and Adoniram Judson
went to India.
There they lost
three of their children.
Adoniram himself
was thrown
into a Burmese prison
where he languished
for two years.
Anne herself
at 37 years
of age
died in Burma.
Her body
wracked by pain,
ravaged
by tropical illnesses,
emaciated
from lack
of proper food,
beaten down
by the struggles
of pioneer missionary life
just as her husband
Ad predicted
would happen.
But Anne
helped to translate
the books
of Daniel
and Jonah
into the Burmese language,
the gospel
of Matthew
into the Thai language,
so that
multiplied thousands
of Burmese
and Thai
people
could come
to know the Christ
that she knew.
She rolled
the dice.
She gambled
her life.
She said,
Lord,
there is nothing
more precious
to me
than living
for your glory.
I do not
belong to myself.
You have bought
me with a great
price.
I throw myself
out.
You use me
however you want
to use me.
Now here's
the question.
Is that
something you
have ever
seriously
in your
entire life
considered
doing?
Would you
be
an Anne
Hazeltine
for this
generation?
Would you
be an
Epaphroditus
for this
day?
Would you
consider that
God may have
brought you
into His
kingdom
for such
a time
as this?
Would you
be an
Eric Little
for this
generation?
Can I
say to you
this morning
that I
believe
Christianity
has largely
lost its
teeth
in America?
There is
no risk.
we play
it safe.
We know
exactly what
we're going
to do
each and
every day
that we
live.
We're not
throwing
ourselves
out there
for the
sake of
Christ.
There is
no challenge.
There is
no costly
commitment.
There is
no great
courage.
There is
no great
cause
that we
consider
worth
this kind
of price.
There is
very little
in our
culture
or in
the church
of Jesus
Christ
today
that is
driving
us
to be
all that
this word
says we
ought to
be.
So can I
just be a
voice today?
Maybe it is a
voice crying in
the wilderness.
I do not know,
but could I say,
could I throw out to
you this morning
this possibility?
Would you
embrace being
everything that
this word says
Christ
created and
bought you
to be?
Would you
hear me say
to you,
don't waste
these few
precious years,
this tiny
increment of
time that
God has
entrusted
to you.
Don't
waste
your life.
Now listen,
I understand
this morning,
I'm not
naive,
and I
understand this
morning that
from the
perspective and
the values and
the priorities of
this world,
what looks like a
waste is to
give yourself to
Christ in this
kind of way.
That's what looks
like a waste in
the eyes of the
world.
It looks stupid,
tragic.
It's a waste
because becoming a
follower of Christ
means sacrifice.
It calls us to
embrace suffering.
It tells us we're
going to face
persecution and
loss in this
world.
Over and over
and over again in
the New Testament
we see that.
If anyone would
come after me,
Jesus said,
let him deny
himself.
Say a big fat
no to your own
life.
Let him deny
himself, then
take up a cross.
That's not the
shiny little
emblem we wear
around our necks.
It was a Roman
execution device.
That's what
everybody understood
when Jesus said,
if you want to
follow me, be
ready to take up
a cross.
Be ready to give
everything that you
have even in your
own life if you
want to follow me.
That's what
Jesus said.
He has called
us to a life
in the eyes of
the world of
a seemingly
pointless denial
of many of the
things we think
make our short
lives here on
earth tolerable.
He calls us to
walk a path that
leads in the
opposite direction
that everybody
else is going
in.
I'm going to
tell you,
identifying with
Christ, risking
your life in this
kind of way can
involve the loss
of reputation,
it can involve
the loss of
intellectual
respectability,
it can include
the loss of
status according
to the world's
version of wisdom
and honor.
Looks like a
waste of life.
But it's really
the very opposite.
Jesus said if you
want to gain your
life, lose it.
I'll tell you how
to lose it.
Try to hang on to
your life.
Try to do it your
way.
You'll lose your
life.
You'll come to the
end of your life
and you'll look
back and you'll
have a pot full of
regrets and you'll
yearn for what
might have been in
your service to the
Lord Jesus Christ and
how he might have
taken your life and
used it as a
vehicle for his
glory.
You know what?
I didn't finish the
story about Eric
Little.
Let me go back to
that.
After Eric Little
decided he would
not run in the
100 meter dash
because of his
convictions about
running on a
Sunday, a
teammate of his on
the British Olympic
team, a man by the
name of Harold
Abrams came up to
him and said,
Eric, I'd be
willing to switch
events with you.
I run the 400
meter race.
Why don't I run
that and you run
the 100?
And I'll run the
100.
See, Harold
Abrams was a
Jewish man.
And so he didn't
have any convictions
about running on a
Sunday.
It wasn't a big deal
to him.
Problem was, Eric
Little had never
trained to run the
400 meters.
100 meter was more
of a sprint.
The 400 meter was a
long distance race.
He just hadn't
trained for that.
Had never run that
race before.
Inexperienced.
But hey, the
opportunity was there
and he took it.
And so they switched
events.
Before Eric Little
got ready to run
that 400 meter race,
another athlete from
the American Olympic
team, who was also
a Christian, and who
also understood the
kind of sacrifice that
Eric Little had made,
came up to him right
before he started that
race and handed him a
little piece of paper
paper and on it was
scribbled a short
note.
You know what it
said?
God honors those who
honor him.
Do you believe that?
God honors those who
honor him.
Eric Little not only
won the 400 meter and
gained that gold medal,
but he set a world's
record.
That stood for a
decade.
And he became a
national hero.
Everybody wanted to
be around Eric Little.
They revered him in
Great Britain.
He could have had
anything that he
wanted.
He could have yelled
jump and all of Great
Britain would have said,
okay, how high?
That's the status that he
held after winning that
400 meter.
But exactly one year
after winning that gold
medal, Eric Little walked
away from everything to
become a missionary with
the London Missionary
Society.
And he went to China.
And he carried the gospel
of Jesus Christ to the
back country of that great
nation.
about that time, Japan
invaded China.
Second World War broke
out.
Eric Little was captured
by the Japanese,
declared to be an enemy
national, thrown into a
prison camp.
There he was one of 1,300
prisoners crammed into an
area maybe a little bit
bigger than this worship
area.
Housed in dormitories
three feet by six feet.
He was beaten.
He was starved.
He was denied adequate
medical care.
He was physically abused
and mentally abused.
But still, he held
athletic competitions.
He taught hymns.
And he shared the gospel of
Jesus Christ with his fellow
prisoners and with his
Japanese captors.
Just one month before the
liberation of China,
February 21, 1945,
Eric Little died in that
prisoner of war camp.
Largely unknown.
Was it a waste?
Well, it would have been a
waste.
In fact, let me just be
honest with you.
Everything I've shared with
you this morning would be
a waste if what the Bible
has to say about Jesus
Christ is not true.
If what is in this book is
not true, then yes, it is
all a waste.
But if what is in this book
is true, if Jesus Christ is
the very Son of God who in
love for you and me willingly
set aside the glory and the
status that was His,
with His heavenly Father in
heaven, if He took on the
full measure of our
weakness and was born into
the human family, if He lived
a life of perfect obedience
to His Father's will, if He
died a sinless death on the
cross to pay the penalty for
your sin and my sin, if He
rose from the dead, if He
ascended to the Father, if
today He really is the Savior
of all who trust in Him, if one
day He is going to return to
this earth and receive His
people to Himself and assume
His rightful role as judge over
all the earth, King of kings
and Lord of lords, if what this
book has to say about Christ is
true and it is true, then my
friend, there is no price in the
world that is too great to pay for
Him.
There is no loss in the terms of
what is valuable in the eyes of
the world, no loss too much to
endure for Him.
Before Anne Hazeltine left the
shores of America to sail for
India and Burma where she died,
this is what she had to say.
I'll close with these final words
from her diary.
I have at length come to the
conclusion that I must spend my
days in a foreign land, but I am a
creature of God and He has an
undoubted right to do with me as
seems good in His sight.
I rejoice because I am in His hands
and when I am called to face
danger, to pass through scenes of
terror and distress, He will
inspire me with fortitude.
He will enable me to trust in Him
because Jesus is faithful.
His promises are precious.
Were it not for these
considerations, I should sink down in
the depths of despair, especially as
no female has to my knowledge ever
left the shores of America to spend
her life among the heathen in this
way, nor do I yet know that I shall
have a single female companion where
I'm going.
But whether I spend my days in India
or America, I will spend them in the
service of my God and my Savior and
look forward to spending an eternity in
His presence.
Folks, this is hard for us to hear.
But this is not a higher life.
This is not a deeper life.
This is normal Christianity.
Normal Christianity.
It seems radical to us because we have
departed so far from what Christ calls us to be
and do in this book.
So because it seems radical to us, I will
ask the question, where are the radicals for
Jesus Christ today?
Who would rise up and say nothing, nothing,
nothing in my life is more precious to me
than Christ, than living for His glory?
Will you be one of those?
Wow.
Do we need some Ann Hazeltines today?
Do we need some Eric Littles today?
Do we need some more folks who in the spirit of
Epaphroditus would say, Lord, here's my life
and I will roll the dice, not knowing what all that
means, but here is my life today.
I give you all of me for the sake of multiplied
billions of people who are dying every day
without knowing this Savior that we know.
Would you be that kind of person for this generation?
Isaac Watts wrote a famous hymn,
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.
And in the closing stanza of that verse,
he captured exactly the truth of Scripture.
And I share these words with you in closing this morning.
Isaac Watts said, were the whole realm of nature mine.
If I had everything a person could possibly have,
were the whole realm of nature mine,
that would be a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul,
my life,
my all.
Pray with me.
Heavenly Father,
we stand this morning
underneath
the authority of your word
and the truth that it proclaims.
And I pray in these moments,
Father,
now that we have heard,
we might recognize
our accountability to you
for what you have entrusted to us
through the pages of your word.
And Lord,
through that great cloud of witnesses,
those who have gone on before us,
like Epaphroditus,
like Eric Little,
like Anne Hazeltine,
who now from
the grandstands of heaven
cheer us on.
But even these examples
pale in comparison
to the example
of our Lord Jesus,
who for the joy that was set before Him,
endured the cross,
scorning its shame,
who took on human form
and human flesh
and came and dwelt among us,
leaving the glory
and the splendor of heaven behind.
who took on human form
and human flesh
and being made in human likeness
and being made in appearance as a man,
taking on the form of a servant.
He humbled Himself.
He poured Himself out
and He became obedient unto death,
even death on the cross.
That is our ultimate example.
That is the one to whom we give our lives.
And so, Father,
I pray this morning
that as we prepare
in just a couple of minutes
to walk out
the doors of this building,
that we would not walk out
the same way we walked in.
That we would be Your gamblers.
That we would make the wager,
place the bet,
roll the dice with our own lives
and just say,
Lord, here we are.
We roll ourselves out before You.
Our lives are not our own.
We have been bought
with a great price.
Now take us and use us
to make a difference here
in Pickens, South Carolina,
in a nation that desperately
needs to know
the difference
that only Jesus Christ can make
and among the nations
is the prayer that we pray
in Jesus' name.
Amen.