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[0:00] Well, now you all know how to bless Blake anytime. Obviously, he's a huge dessert fan, so, you know. Cool. I just want to welcome you again, those of you who are with us for the first time. So glad you're here. So glad you're with us. And hey, if you've been with us for a long time, you know what?

[0:15] Still glad you're with us, you know? Thanks for coming back and being with us. Anybody who's listening to this later online through the week, so glad you're still tuning in, keeping up with us as we continue on in this Colossians series. And we're going to talk about something that I'm really excited about, was really not expecting like this amount of excitement leading into this sermon, but kind of the twists and turns along the way as God was leading me and guiding me in my sermon preparation. I think he's been very kind to us, especially thinking about heading into this Thursday night and thinking of the fasting and prayer time. And so far, I've yet to find like a focus that we could really focus in on for that fasting and prayer time, what we could be fasting for collectively united as a church. But to dovetail in with this message, I think it is seeking and hungering for the glory of God. And that's what this sermon is going to be about. And I hope that this stirs you, if anything, to say, you know what? I was thinking about going on Thursday, but now there's nowhere else I could possibly want to be besides there with God's people crying out for his glory, not only for ourselves, not only for our church, but for our area, for our city.

[1:31] All right. So we're going to jump into that without any further delay. Colossians 1 24 is where we are going to start. So let's jump into it. Paul says this, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body.

[1:51] That is the church of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone maturing Christ.

[2:24] For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Amazing, amazing scripture. Probably what you and I may have picked up on right away was Paul talking and entering into this part of the conversation with him suffering. We picked that up at the end and at the beginning and at the end. Kind of sandwich is the whole thought here.

[2:51] He says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. I toil, I struggle with all my energy that powerfully, with all his energy that powerfully works within me. So we see these things of suffering and toil and struggle that Paul is experiencing in his ministry and as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, you know, unfortunately we see this and, man, we're thinking through, man, we talk about the hope of glory. Paul doesn't just take it into the direction we may want him to. He's not saying, man, I used to suffer, but now that I found Jesus, I've risen above it. It's below me. I float over all the pain and the toil that I just kind of like, everything that is hard just kind of bounces off me and life is so perfect and good. I'm an overcomer. No, he doesn't say that at all. He says he has suffered, he is suffering, and he will continue to suffer. And you would think that the tone of this passage would end up him being kind of melancholy, depressing. It's like, wow, this is a real bummer, right? You know, maybe he's speaking and there's the minor keys playing in the background. He's reading in kind of like an Eeyore voice this passage, but he really doesn't do that. In fact, he's not only recognizing that he's suffering, he's saying that, you know what, while I'm suffering, I'm actually rejoicing in it. He says, now I rejoice in my sufferings. Here's our hope, guys, and what Paul is pointing to. We can live with joy even when we suffer. Now, you might be thinking, Jesse, you and

[4:22] Paul have a little bit, you guys have a screw loose. That's really weird. Like suffering and rejoicing in that suffering, that's it. You guys are a little bit, you're a little bit off. You need some help. How can you do that? And his contention is all about what you are suffering for.

[4:38] Because he says, I rejoice in my sufferings. He doesn't say, for my sake, I rejoice in my sufferings. He says, for your sake, the church, my flesh. In my flesh, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body that is the church. He's other-focused.

[4:58] He realizes his suffering isn't about himself. It's selfless suffering. And here's the thing, guys, what he's saying is when life is about me, when I think life is centering everything needs to revolve around me, it's all about me, then when I do suffer, it's pointless. Because that suffering is just standing in the way of my happiness, of living the most fulfilled and perfect life I could possibly live. But when I live to be a blessing, to see others flourish, then when suffering comes for the sake of others, I can endure it. And what Paul is pointing at, I can even endure it with joy. Now, you may be thinking like, yeah, I don't know about that, buddy. Let me give you some historic examples of how this works. In his book, Middlecoff wrote on the American Revolution. It was called The Glorious Cause. And he gets into this whole thing of how the revolutionary army, the American army, how they could have beat the British army. The British army, they were the professionals. They were paid to fight. They were professional soldiers. And by all means, they were the mightiest military might in that day and age. And the Americans, by comparison, weren't any of those things. They weren't professional soldiers. They weren't even paid well.

[6:20] They were called upon to volunteer and give of themselves in a radical way. For what? For themselves? No, man. They didn't respond because of that. And Middlecoff picks up on this. His book, The Glorious Cause, that title, they were responding because they saw something greater than themselves.

[6:38] They saw this future, this hope, this glorious cause that they could leave their family and their homes and their kids for time without end and suffer and endure and fight for the sake of something.

[6:50] There was this hope, this bright future that said to them, you know what? This is worth it. When those guys were in Valley Forge freezing and cold and they didn't have the proper equipment, it was bitter. It was a bitter life. They were facing death, the possibility of death. They didn't run away because they stayed there because there was something greater. There was this glorious cause.

[7:13] Let me give you another example, maybe more recent. Think of the civil rights movement. You see, Martin Luther King and others, man, they sacrificed. They put themselves in danger even to the point of death. Why? And they saw a better future. They saw a glorious cause to give themselves to. That all men were seen as created in the image of God, not just white men, all men. All had dignity.

[7:39] All had equal intrinsic value. And in the same way, Paul is saying he is living for a glorious cause. He is living, and he's living for that, something we're suffering and even dying for. Verse 25, he says of this, of which I became a minister. Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you. To do what? To make the word of God fully known. To make the gospel known. The mystery, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. What Paul is getting at is this. We, you and I, Christians, if you're here, you're a Christian, your faith is, you're, you're, you're, you say, hey, I'm on Jesus's team. I believe in him. We are called to live all for the sake of the gospel at all costs. See, before Paul or you or anyone could make known the mystery, it had to be first revealed in Jesus. Jesus, he came in the flesh preaching and demonstrating the power of the gospel. And you know what? He was hated and mistreated for it, right? Right from the get-go.

[8:50] He sets this example of what it looks like to live all for the sake of the gospel. Sure, he did have some faithful followers, right? He had 12 disciples, 12 guys, and, and, and above that, some other faithful followers. As he enacted, it went up to 120 at least. These people were following him around. They didn't abandon him. They were sticking with him thick and thin. But just because he had some faithful followers doesn't mean the whole world loved him at large, right? John 15, verse 18, Jesus is saying this to his disciples, his last little, little bit, a bit of preparation before he is, for them as he's going away and heading to the cross. And he's saying this to them, guys, if the world hates you, know that it's hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. It's kind of a bummer, right?

[9:46] Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, and they did, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

[10:00] Maybe you're here, you're not a Christian. You're thinking like, hey, you know what, Jess? This isn't the greatest sales pitch, right? But that is the thing about following Jesus. You don't just get into it for the perks. Too many preachers, they're out there peddling this false version of Christianity that is really all about you, your health, your wealth. Claim your miracle. Believe and receive your perfect life now. Everything that you really want, could possibly want, you can get. You just got to have faith in Jesus. And we treat God like this cosmic vending machine, right? I give him a little faith. I put my quarter in. I push the button that I want, and bloop, he drops it down, and I can grab it for myself. These guys, what they've caught on to, that, they've caught on to this false gospel.

[10:48] That's their glorious cause. That's as far as it goes, and it sounds really nice, and it's a great sales pitch. Be nice to put that on the brochure, right? But you know what? It's more like getting sucked into a timeshare pitch, right? And you get into that, they make it all sound good and great, and then you actually get the timeshare, and nothing works out how they promised it would. It ends up being a lot more expensive. You don't get access to as much of it as you want it to, right?

[11:12] And in the end, all you want is out of the deal. Man, but Jesus, he's not selling it. He's not a false salesman. He's not a greasy, I'm not going to say that because I love car salesman. I'm not going to say a greasy used car salesman. We love you used car salesman. You're all good. You're all good in my book.

[11:29] All right. Jesus, what he's doing, he's giving it to us honest here. A servant isn't greater than his master. Hey, they are going to do to you what they did to me. That's what he's telling them.

[11:41] Now, in response to this, we should be asking ourselves, how is sharing the story of Jesus, man, worth all that suffering? Is it really worth all that suffering? Is proclaiming and sharing and living all for the sake of the gospel at all costs? Is it really worth all that trouble?

[12:01] Man, Mary had a little lamb. That's a fun story to share, but you know what? I'm not going to prison for it, all right? But the gospel, are we willing to do and share and give our lives for it at all costs?

[12:15] And here's the thing, guys, no one, no one suffers without good reason. An athlete, think about what they do. They suffer excruciating workouts. They stick to strict diets. Why? Because they have a goal. They have a prize they want to get to. They have this dream of maybe it's a gold medal, or maybe it's winning the Stanley Cup, or the NBA title, or whatever it may be. They have this idea in their mind that they have. They want to go for it. A mom, you moms that have given birth, you suffer through childbirth for the reward of a newborn. And I ask you, why would you go through that more than once? That is beyond me. But you do it. Some of you do it. It's crazy. Man, if I was a woman, I'd be like, hey, can we figure out how to make that stork option work? That sounds like a lot better, right?

[13:07] Just like have a baby being dropped off. But the point is, is that we are willing to suffer for something good. So what is this thing? What is this thing, Paul, that, man, you are willing to suffer for? And it's the gospel, right? Again, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations. The thing, the privilege of being able to know the gospel that before Jesus, man, this thing was locked up and hidden. It wasn't proclaimed. Previous generations didn't have the privilege of caring about it. But now we live in a new time. Now we live in a new moment where we know it and we get to proclaim it and we get to know it for ourselves and tell that to other people. It's an amazing time. Man, he's revealed that to his saints. He's entrusted that. The gospel, the ministry of reconciliation, he's entrusted that to us. To them, to us, God chose to make known how great among the

[14:10] Gentiles are what? The riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, Christ in me, Christ in his church, the hope of glory. The gospel is the pathway to experiencing Jesus's glory.

[14:30] The gospel is the mystery revealed. It's the truth to proclaim. And the saints, the people, his body, the church, the church, what we do is we embody. We not only believe the gospel, we embody the message of the gospel. We don't just proclaim Christ is alive. We are in the flesh testimony, living testimony that he is alive. The hope of Jesus's glory isn't just a future promise, though it is a future promise.

[14:56] That future promise is also living in us now. We are living in the reality of it now, Christ in us, the hope of glory. We are the manifested truth of the cross of Jesus Christ, that it really works, that it really has power. Now, there is plenty of historical evidence to help defend the cross and the resurrection. I love dudes that are about apologetics. I love guys that are gifted in apologetics. I'm thankful for them. But let me tell you this, guys, there is no better apologetic for the truth of the gospel than God's saints, you and me, us. We bring the power of Jesus's cross into the present. We put flesh on it. We walk around with it. We talk about it. We not just proclaim it and say it's true. We're living it out. We're living, embodying transformation ongoingly of how it is alive and powerful and at work in us. There is no better apologetic than your transformed life.

[15:57] There is no argument that can convince me that Jesus isn't real. There is no argument. I've experienced him. I walk with him. I know him. I've seen him work in my life. You can come up with the most intelligent, best argument to say, you know what? He's not real. And I said, sorry.

[16:14] And that is why Christianity isn't just another religion. Other religions are limited to principles and ethics. You have to believe certain tenets and act out certain rituals, but it stops there.

[16:31] Now, in Christianity, you may have some of those things, but those things aren't the centerpiece. It goes beyond principles to apply. It's ultimately about a person to abide in. It is about a relationship, a restored relationship, a relationship like we talked about last week where God has done his work to reconcile us to himself. And those values, principles, rituals are meaningless without the relationship. The relationship is at the center of who we are, the center of what we believe and what we do. And all those other things, all those principles, all those ethics, all those rituals, like coming on a Sunday morning or going to community group or going to the prayer and fasting meeting coming up, all those rituals, man, they exist, but they wrap around and revolve around the person of Jesus Christ, the center of that relationship, the center of what this thing is all about.

[17:23] It's like planets to the sun, man. Those things are good, but they get their meaning and their light and their life from the sun shining on them just as Jesus shines in through them to us in those moments.

[17:34] They're simply doorways into experiencing the person of Jesus. If prayer were not a way to abide in Jesus, it would be a worthless practice. If the Bible were not a way to connect and commune with Jesus and know him and grow in the knowledge of him, it really wouldn't be worth our time. If Jesus didn't show up at our gatherings, if he wasn't here with us ever, ever, ever, ever, we'd just be another social club. And let me be honest, we'd be a really weird social club. But all these things that we do, all these disciplines that we practice and implement to our lives and give our time and energy to, man, these are ways to behold his glory.

[18:19] Christ in us, the hope of glory, Jesus's glory. And that's an amazing statement, but you know what? It's worth unpackaging that word glory a little bit more because we can get so used to words like Christianese, right? We can just throw around the word glory like we understand it, but we really don't, right? You know, I grew up in church. My dad's a pastor for 18 years. I sang this song where all's it was is the word hallelujah back when in the day when you can get away with a one-word song, right? All you had to do is on the slide say hallelujah, repeat 20 times, and that was the song, right? And I would sing that for 18 years. I sang that song and never thought to ask, what does hallelujah mean? Until one day I said, you know what? I should probably figure out what the heck I'm singing. Glory, I think, can be one of those assumed words. We read it in the Bible.

[19:13] We kind of have an idea, kind of a guess at it, but let's make sure we understand. Let's make sure when we think about, man, Christ in us, the hope of glory, let's make sure we don't go away from here and just kind of assuming we know what it means because we're talking about that. It's central to our faith. It's worth investigating. And for me, I want to say, man, John Piper might have explained what God's glory is most clearly, so I'm just going to read what he said.

[19:41] It is the going public of his holiness. He's talking about God here. What is God's glory? It is the going public of his holiness. It is the way he puts his holiness on display for people to apprehend.

[19:55] So the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest. God's glory is how he reveals himself to us. It is how he takes his infinite power, his infinite wisdom, his perfect love, his ultimate goodness, his mercy, his justice. And he says, look at this. Behold this. See it. Hear it. Feel it.

[20:23] Experience it. You say, how did he do that? Well, you know how he did that? He did that most perfectly through Jesus. Remember, a few Sundays back, we covered this. In Colossians 1 verse 15, he says, he, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God. For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

[20:45] And up until Jesus showed up on earth, God's glory would just break out in moments, right? So here are two examples of how he did that in the Old Testament. Mount Sinai, it said, God's glory came down, it appeared to Israel, and it came down to Mount Sinai. How did it come down on Mount Sinai? They saw a cloud, cloud, and it shook the mountain. Literally, it shook the mountain where they were. As God was revealing his glory, he was making his holiness public to his people. And they saw that, and they experienced it.

[21:17] Now, they experienced it with severe fear and trembling. Then there's another moment, 2 Chronicles 7 verse 1 to 3, the temple in Jerusalem. It was finished being built, but all it was was this beautiful building. And then they're consecrating, and Solomon prays over the temple. And at the end of his prayer, God responds this way, the glory of God appeared. His fire consumed the sacrifice. His glory filled the temple. And it says this, his glory so filled the temple that the priests couldn't even go into it.

[21:52] That's how full the temple was of the glory of God. The priests could not go into it. It was something they could see. It's something they could experience. And you know what? Everybody there that saw it, they responded to his glory with worship, with praise. It said they bowed low, and they worshiped him, saying, Lord, you are good, and your steadfast love endures forever.

[22:14] See, we see God making himself public throughout the Bible in ways that we could experience him. We see cloud, we see earthquake, we see fire, and those are awesome displays of his power.

[22:27] And we can't really read these things, and at the end, end up with a small idea of who God is. What you and I begin to realize is that God is in a category all by himself. Nothing is his equal.

[22:41] Now, there are some things we can behold that can steer us in the right direction. We can look at a majestic mountain, but it only points to the beginning of understanding God's majesty. We can look at the complexity and information encoded into DNA, but it only hints at the completeness and the fullness of God's wisdom and knowledge. And as much as you could look at those things and be inspired, none of them compare with Jesus. He is the fullness of God. He was the image of the invisible God made manifest. He is God's manifest glory that we could behold. He walked amongst us. And when we read the stories, the Jesus stories in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John in those gospels, we're seeing God's glory going public all over the place. That's what we're seeing. Imagine being one of Jesus's disciples that got to see that firsthand, right? We think, man, that would have been amazing. If only we could have been there, that would have been so awesome. Listen how John, one of Jesus's 12 disciples, tries to describe this. He says, in the beginning was the word. So before everything was, Jesus existed.

[23:46] The word was with God. The word was God. He was made in the beginning. All things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And then jumping down to verse 14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. Not that we have heard of his glory. Sure they had. But John's saying, no, no, no, no, guys, we have seen his glory. The glory as of the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Man, we think of that, man, I'm so jealous.

[24:26] I'm like, oh, if only I could have been there. If only I could have seen walking beside Jesus, listening, hearing, learning, beholding all those miracles that he did, that would have been so cool, right? We think those guys had it better than us. But actually, Jesus says, hold on, hold on.

[24:43] Now, Jesus tells us we aren't worse off. In fact, he kind of hints that we might be better off. John 16, 5 to 7, Jesus is saying this to his disciples, but now I, Jesus talking about himself, I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Jesus is going away, kind of a bummer, right? Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. Jesus is saying this. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Jesus says this while warning his disciples he's going to be leaving them soon. And the disciples are like getting super depressed. He's saying, I got to go in. They're just like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on? I mean, it was kind of like, when you read that story, it's like watching an ugly breakup, right? The disciples are like freaking out. They're like, Jesus, how can you go? Why are you leaving us? But Jesus had to tell them, hey, look, I'm not dumping you. I'm not taking off. He's saying, if I go away, it's to your advantage, actually. I might not be physically with you, right next to you, but our relationship is going to continue. And it's going to continue on through the helper, the Holy Spirit, who I am going to send to you. As one pastor cleverly summarized it, he says, man, the Spirit inside you is better than Jesus beside you. That's in essence what Jesus is saying here.

[26:10] Well, how is that? Why is that? Is Jesus really inside of us through the Holy Spirit? 1 John 4, 13 says, by this, we know that we abide in him and he in us because he's given us the Spirit.

[26:31] By this, we know. By this, we know that we abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in us because he has given us the Spirit. So let's play this out logically. Jesus is God's glory made public. Jesus dwells in us by the Holy Spirit. We, today, you and I have God's glory dwelling in us. So in one sense, our faith is trusting in God's promises, trusting that they are true, but they are also confirmed by the Spirit, which makes public the hope of glory. Jesus, his glory is beheld, experienced, felt, and that is possible because the Holy Spirit dwells in those who believe. It's the promise Jesus said he would give to his people, his saints, his disciples. Like I said, man, when you experience that, you can't argue that experience. Our faith, our worship, what did Jesus say? We're going to worship in spirit and in truth, right? It's based in spirit and in truth. It is a truth to believe, is an ultimate truth to believe, and it is a glory to be experienced. That is Paul's glorious cause.

[27:51] This is our glorious cause, guys. That is why Paul can suffer joyfully. That is why Paul cannot, or can choose to not live for himself. See, when we abide in the reality of the glory of Christ, we begin to come into the understanding of what the fullness of life really is. And Paul says this elsewhere in Philippians, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. I think, yeah, Paul, you know what? I wouldn't be so hard-pressed. I choose the living. I'm hard-pressed to live. My desire is to depart and be with Jesus, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is not about me. It's more necessary on your account.

[29:01] You, you saints, you church, it's for you. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. Jesus's glory is the pathway to living in fearless freedom for the sake of the gospel in the church. Paul's saying this, you know, let me, let me think. Let me ponder death, some pain, maybe some fear, some hardship there to go through.

[29:28] I get it, but that's okay. If I, if I get that, I get to be with Jesus. I get to behold the fullness of his glory. Man, that sounds far better. Let me ponder life. Paul says, man, I'm happy to put off that greater reward to pass through death and live with Jesus forever. I'm happy to put off that reward for one main thing, not myself, for you. Jesus's church, his body, the saints. Will I suffer for it?

[30:01] Most likely. Will it be hard work? You bet. Will it be a struggle that brings wariness at times? You can count on it, but that doesn't stop Paul. And guys, when we abide and live in the reality of the glory of Christ, we are motivated to push through all those things and continue on in him.

[30:22] The end of Colossians, this passage that we're in, it says this in verse 28, him we proclaim, warning everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone maturing Christ.

[30:35] For this I toil. There's a lot of things you and I can toil for and suffer for. For this I toil.

[30:47] Struggling with all my energy? No, no. With all his energy, the energy that he gives us for this work, this toil. That he works powerfully within me. I'm going to have the band come up.

[31:04] It's easy to read something like this and say, oh, wait a second. I got it out here. Found the loophole. That was just for Paul. Paul was talking about himself. You know, he was an apostle. He had a special call that he was called to live for. And I don't have to do any of that stuff then. I don't say, no, man, that's for all of us. Paul says to the believers, follow me as I follow Christ.

[31:30] Imitate. We put our lives on display so that you had something to imitate. The Holy Spirit is speaking to us through this passage and he's asking you and me right now, what are you living for?

[31:43] What are you living for? Jesus, when he taught his disciples to pray, he said, pray this way.

[31:58] Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Which means that as far as you're concerned, your greatest desire, passion, pursuit of all things is that he would be of highest value, the biggest pursuit, the thing that he would be on the throne in your heart. And he says, your kingdom come and your will be done.

[32:20] Jesus' kingdom is the place where he rules over his people, where there's righteousness and peace and joy. And we want that kingdom to come.

[32:32] We want that kingdom to be experienced and seen in the fullness. We don't want the will of anybody. We just don't want anybody's will. We don't even want our will. We want God's will. We want the Father's perfect, good, glorious, merciful, gracious, righteous, just will to be done.

[32:47] To live this way, to live for the sake of others, to suffer in a way that even in our suffering we can rejoice, it makes no sense.

[32:59] It makes no sense unless you know Jesus. It makes no sense unless that glory is a reality, Jesus' glory, that you know and you feel it and you sense it and you live out of that.

[33:13] Now maybe you're here today and Jesus has only been every, he's only ever been a truth claim for you. Maybe you've never really experienced him, experienced his glory in the way that we've been talking about today.

[33:26] You know what? I'm praying right now that for the rest of this service, Jesus makes his glory known to you. Maybe you might be asking, how am I going to know, Jesse? How am I going to know? Trust me, you will know when it happens.

[33:39] And when that does, this is how you respond. You just say, man, Jesus, I surrender. You are real. Man, I need you. I repent of all the ways that I've rejected you and live for myself.

[33:53] Thank you for dying for my sins that I get to behold your glory and see your glory and be able to stand in your glory. I believe in you. Respond in those ways. You may not say those words, but say it in your own words.

[34:05] You're going to know what to say. For the rest of us, maybe you're already a believer. You're on Jesus' team. You're all for this. And it seems appropriate in response to this that we do something a little bit different.

[34:20] And we're going to do that in a moment. But first, let's be reminded why we get to experience this glory, why that glory lives in us. And it's because Jesus died.

[34:32] And we're going to come and we're going to take communion. And it reminds us that Jesus went to the cross. His body was broken. His blood was shed. So that we get this. Typically, what we do is we come and we get communion and we take it by ourselves.

[34:45] But today, we're going to do something a little bit different. If you're a Christian, I want you to come forward right now. Grab a piece of the bread and a cup and take it back to your seat. There'll be a slide showing how to get there and where to go.

[34:56] And get back to your seat and don't take it. I'm going to lead us in taking it together, okay? And then, after that, we're going to respond to this King of glory by praising him and enjoying his glory, okay?

[35:08] So once you come forward, grab some communion and come back to your seat. Oh, yeah, let's do that.

[35:40] Let's do that. Let's do that. I'm sorry.

[36:12] I'm sorry.

[36:42] I'm sorry. All right, guys, would you stand with me?

[36:57] Amen. Amen. And so this bread and this cup, it's a reminder that Jesus made a way. the end of the Bible says, man, the almighty, the presence of the almighty, the glory of God, the fullness of him has made his dwelling place with man. That's an amazing thing.

[37:23] That is an amazing promise that we can experience right now. The fullness of God, the Holy Spirit, the almighty dwells in us. And this is why, because Jesus came. Jesus came to make a way through his sacrifice in our place. We were sinners who couldn't stand in the holiness of God.

[37:47] But because of Jesus, man, we get to know his glory. We get to experience his glory. We get to feel his glory. It's right now we're going to take this with great thanks to our savior. Let's take it together, the bread and the cup. Just pray with me, Lord, I want to say a simple prayer.

[38:14] Lord, our souls ache for your glory. Fill that need, that desire, and that want for your glory above all things. Amen.