The 7 Sayings of Jesus from the Cross : Good Friday Message

Out Christianity, from the last sayings of Jesus. At the cross, God’s justice met God’s mercy. Think about that. And God’s wrath was satisfied. When you look at John’s gospel, John highlights the significance of the cross, and this is 1 John, so the epistle from John, 1 John chapter 4 verse 9 and 10, here’s what he writes. This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us. And sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I want us to ponder on that tonight. I want us to think about that reality, for by grace are we saved through faith. That’s what Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 tells us. Paul writing to the church in Ephesus says, for by grace. It’s by God’s grace. When I couldn’t be good enough, when I couldn’t work hard enough, when I couldn’t change who I am to be pleasing to God and be in relationship with him, the Bible teaches us that grace, God’s grace, God’s gracious activity came into our lives. For God so loved the world that he gave, right, that’s grace. God took action when you couldn’t take action. When you were bound up by the power and the pollution of sin, God took action. That’s how much he loves us. He took action. That’s the cross. That’s the grace of God, Romans 5, 8, 9. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him? The first word of Jesus hanging on the cross comes from Luke chapter 23 verse 34. Luke 23 verse 34. Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. I love this saying of Jesus, one, because it reminds us of the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness is uniquely Christian. But what I really like about this saying of Jesus as he’s hanging on the cross for the sins of the world, he’s already agonized in the garden. And he says, Father, forgive them only if they admit that they’re wrong. Have you been in a relationship like that? Have you ever had an experience like that where someone only wants to forgive if you’ll agree with them? Now that may be appropriate in some settings, but I’m so thankful that we serve a God. That Jesus loved the world so much. He says, Father, forgive them. They don’t even know what they’re doing. Friend, that works in relationships. That works at work with coworkers. There’s times in life where someone has hurt you. Someone has offended you. You are hurt. I mean, you are offended. And if you don’t forgive, you’re just going to ride on that offense for a day, a week, a month. And they may know something about what they’ve done. Or has this ever happened to you? Someone comes up to you later and says, Hey, Tom, you offended me the other night. And I mean, you’re just like, I had no idea. Has that ever happened? Of course. Because sometimes when we’re hurt, when we’re offended in our relationships with close people in our lives, or just people we do business with, they may not know, they may not understand that you’re offended. And so I love this teaching of Jesus on forgiveness. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they’re doing. That brings so much freedom into your life. When you can forgive, what you’re really doing is setting yourself free. There’s great benefit to forgiveness. The power of forgiveness is enormous. I want to just read a quote. Now, it may take me just a moment, but I want to read a quote that comes from John Hopkins Medicine. And I’ve got the footnote here if you want to know how to find it, okay? But let me just read this. Whether it’s a simple spat with your spouse or a long-held resentment toward a family member or friend, unresolved conflict can go deeper than you may realize. It may be affecting your physical health. The good news, studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack, improving cholesterol levels and sleep, and reducing pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. Wow. Research points to an increase in the forgiveness health connection as you age. In other words, as you get older, come on somebody, it’s even more important to forgive. Because human beings are exactly the opposite. As we get older, you know what happens? We get a little bit less flexible. Our mind… Hey, now, I’m not talking about me over there, come on now. She gets it, you know, pastor gets a little less flexible. I’ve already started to notice that. I remember years ago, I would notice that with friends and be like, yeah, I want to get home and sleep in my own bed. And now that I’m a little… Oh, no. So now that I’m not as young as I used to be, you know, it’s amazing. I’m less adventuresome. It’s like, yeah, I would just like to go home and sleep in my own bed. And so we get a little less flexible as we get older. And so that means forgiveness is even more important. That’s the good news. Through Jesus Christ, who has forgiven you, you are given the power to forgive others in your life and let go of the hurts, let go of the wounds, whether they’re from childhood or they are from just last week when the Holy Spirit of God or the Word of God brings something in, you know, makes it aware you’re holding on to this. Let’s be good forgivers. We’ll sleep better at night. Our blood pressure will go down. Our cholesterol levels will go down. Let’s be good forgivers. There is great spiritual and physical benefits to forgiveness. I want to belabor this just one more moment because I think it’s so important. Friend, I love you. Don’t be that person that can hold on to a grudge for weeks and months. It’s not good for you. Be that person that whether they agree with you or not, whether they see all that they did to you or not, forgive. Take it to God. Forgive them with the Lord. Because if you don’t forgive, you end up with this internal conflict in you that’s impacting your relationship with the Lord. God has designed us to be good forgivers. And so as soon as the Lord kind of knocks on the door of your heart and says, let’s forgive, jump at that opportunity. Be a good forgiver. The second word of Jesus as he’s hanging on the cross is a word of salvation. Luke chapter 23 verse 43, if you have it in your Bible there, Luke chapter 23 verse 43. Jesus answered him, truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise. And so Luke’s gospel gives us this exchange between one of the thieves or criminals that are on either side of Jesus as he hangs on the cross. And at first they’re mocking Jesus. They’re jeering at Jesus. They’re not really asking anything serious. But eventually, perhaps as death is approaching, one of the criminals on the side of Jesus, he wants help. You know, that’s where repentance really starts in our hearts is when we realize I need help. I need some help. The waters of life are getting deeper than I can swim in. I need some help. The waters are getting over my head. I need some wisdom. I need some help. Jesus is your helper. The Holy Spirit is your helper. And so this man on the side of Jesus calls out to Jesus for help. And Jesus says, I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise. It’s a word of simple salvation. I’m so glad that Jesus on the cross didn’t say, I wish I could help you, but you have to go to church and you have to read your Bible 10 times and you have to get water baptized and or you’re not saved. That’s not what Jesus said. And it helps us understand the true simplicity of having a relationship with God. Your faith responding to God’s grace. That’s how you begin a relationship with God. And so that person who had not lived a good life, cried out to Jesus and Jesus said, today you will experience heaven. Today you will experience paradise. I love how simple that is. A third word is a word of love from the cross. So as we consider the words of Jesus on the cross, we’re also learning about the core messages of Christianity. Christianity is a faith of forgiveness. It’s a faith that offers salvation from our human troubles, deliverance. But the Christian faith is also founded on love, the love of God. The Bible teaches us that God is love and beloved, let us love one another for God is love and whoever loves is born of God. First John four, seven and eight. A word of love here in Matthew chapter 27, I’m sorry, John chapter 19, verse 25 through 27, let me read it. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clovis and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw his mother and the disciple whom he loves standing nearby, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. From that hour, the disciple took her into his own household. So here’s Jesus, the son of God and the savior of the world. He’s hanging on the cross for the sins of the entire world, for all history, everyone, every soul that’s ever been born. And Jesus has agonized in the garden and he’s hanging on the cross for the sins of the world. And then he sees his mom. I love the practical aspect of love that we read about in these verses. See, love is not just some big abstract concept of, yeah, God’s love, but it really doesn’t impact our daily lives. No, love, it’s an action word. It impacts your daily life. When the love of God floods your soul, it will impact how you treat your spouse. It’ll impact how you treat those around you. It will melt your heart for people. God’s love will melt your heart for people that you may not even like, but you find yourself loving them. That’s the love of God. It’s one of the ways we know that we’re saved. It’s one of the ways we know that we’re alive to Christ, that Jesus is in us and we’re in him. This love is boiling, bubbling, meant to say, out of our hearts for other people. And some other people, not you, not me, some other people are hard to love. You might be one of those people. We all might be one of those people from time to time. We’re hard to love, but the love of God causes people to love us, to be patient with us, to be long suffering with us. The practical aspect of God’s love here in the heart of Jesus is remarkable. He’s hanging on the cross and yet he notices his mom, Mary, standing near the cross. And then he says to the beloved disciple, and I believe that’s John who wrote this gospel. He says to John, hey, take care of my mom. Please take care of my mom. And we read there at the end, from that hour, the disciple took her into his own household. Lord, help me to love like that. Help me to care for people, help me to care for your people, help me to care for my people. Help me to love the people in my life. Give me that God-sized, agape, selfless love. There’s no greater testimony to the Spirit’s work in your heart than your new ability to love each other, to love each other. Because it’s not natural, amen? It’s much more natural to be full of strife and conflict and to want your own way and to compete for your own way, and that comes easy. But the love of God, or just love, is not natural. But when the love of God comes into our hearts, we’re able to love like Jesus loved. A fourth word is a word of spiritual suffering. Spiritual suffering. This comes from Matthew 27, verse 46. Of course, it’s also in Mark 15. And really, Jesus here is quoting from Psalms 22. About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? Which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So as Jesus is hanging on the cross, and he knew he was going to face great difficulty. He knew that this would be difficult. But as he’s hanging on the cross, he feels completely forsaken. God has turned his back on the sins of the world. Jesus, the Lamb of God, hanging on the cross, has taken your sin and my sin, your evil heart, my evil heart, the evil of the world. Jesus is hanging on the cross for the sin of the whole world, and now he feels the weight of God’s wrath. The weight of God’s anger against sin. God turns his back to Jesus. When you were a child, did you ever do something so dumb that your mom or dad didn’t give you the normal verbal, you know, kind of verbal to get after you, but they just stared at you and just were so disgusted or discouraged, and it was in that moment you knew, uh-oh. I remember one time as an older brother, we left our younger brother up at the playground. And back in those days, it was in the 1970s in Indiana, Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University. You know, you could ride your bike through the city, West Lafayette. We would often play until dark or after dark. We used to play kick the can with the neighbors. But one Saturday, mom and dad were at home, dad was probably working in the backyard, and we wandered up with our younger brother, and I have an older brother, and we all ended up playing, and we were probably up there two and a half hours playing basketball. My younger brother was on the swing, all of that. And you know what? We headed home and forgot our younger brother. Well, when my parents found out that that was what happened, the look on their face was not encouraging. But they sent us back to go get him. They followed in a car. We found, you know, knew later. And but he was there, didn’t know anything that had happened. We felt good about it, that he was okay. But when we got back, we didn’t get the normal verbal, you shouldn’t do this. It was just kind of silence and just dumbfounded looks on my parents face. And then it was 100 sentences. And then when we got that done, later that afternoon, we came down, here’s my 100 sentences. It was trade with your brother, and go write that again. I know I can’t come anywhere close to what Jesus must have felt as he was completely forsaken by the Father, because the sins of the world were on him. But I just share that illustration to try to help us think about moments in our life where we know that our Father is not pleased with us. That’s what Jesus was under the weight of. And so he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He’s in agony. And the agony of the cross was real. Let’s think about the cross just for a moment, the spiritual, and in just a minute, the next word is a physical suffering. Jesus is suffering on the cross. The cross symbolized an ancient form of execution called crucifixion. Crucifixion was invented and used by other people groups, so it wasn’t just by the Romans, but it was perfected by the Romans. The earliest historical record of crucifixion dates back to 519 BC when King Darius I of Persia crucified 3,000 of his political enemies in Babylon. The cross of Jesus, his crucifixion was horrific. He was beaten in advance of the cross before he carried the cross to Golgotha’s Hill. It was called the Place of the Skull. And I’ve been to that place where there is a cleft of a rock that looks like a skull, and there they took his cross and they put it in the ground and they hung him there until death. He was in spiritual agony. He was in physical agony. The agony began in the garden. If you look in Luke chapter 22 verse 44, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. You remember in the garden how Jesus said, Father, if it’s possible, take this cup from me, but your will be done. Jesus never backed up from the agony of the cross for you, for me. He suffered. He bled. He died. And as he hung on that cross, he was in spiritual suffering and physical suffering. I also find it a beautiful thing that even in the midst of trial, even in the midst of suffering, Jesus knew he was fulfilling the will of God. You might not know this, but when Jesus says, my God, my God, why are you forsaking me? He is actually quoting a prophecy about the Messiah in Psalms 22 verse 1. In other words, yes, Jesus is as a human, he is in great agony. He is suffering. He is bleeding out. He is dying for the sins of the world, but he knows what he’s doing. He knows the prophecies. He knows the plan of God. He knows the purposes of God. And so even as he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He is drawing on the Old Testament prophecies, Psalms 22 verse 1. It’s right there. Go look at it. And Psalms 22 is a messianic Psalm pointing to Jesus, pointing to that one day someone like Jesus will come and die for the sins of the world. Jesus knew what he was doing. I think in my own life today, when I’m going through suffering, some of the hardest suffering or trial or temptation is when I don’t know what I’m doing, right? But if we can go through suffering knowing that Jesus is with us, that God has a purpose and a plan for anything he allows in our lives. And I know God allows things in our life that we wish wouldn’t ever happen. But this is a world that he has created and he didn’t want robots to worship him. He wanted you to be free to choose to worship him. So we live in a world where there’s the possibility for good or evil. There’s the possibility for righteous action or sinful action. That’s the world God created. But when you go through a trial or trouble or suffering, invite Jesus into that suffering because he’s been there, he’s suffered, and he will give you purpose and meaning in the midst of your suffering. And then a word of physical suffering, John 19, verse 28, later, knowing that everything had now been finished and so that scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. And when he says, I am thirsty, we see that it’s not just a spiritual suffering, but Jesus’ body is suffering, Jesus, his body is failing. And I know for those who are young today, we maybe haven’t experienced a lot of physical suffering perhaps, but as we go through life and we get older, some of you here today, you understand what I’m talking about, that sometimes in life we go through physical suffering. We go through physical difficulties and it’s not fun. It’s not, it’s, I’ve heard from many, it’s not fun to get old. It takes somebody really strong to get older because it’s not always easy to go through those physical sufferings. And Jesus went through that as he went to the cross and as he hung on the cross, he said, I’m thirsty. And even when they offered him some water mixed with vinegar, he didn’t take it. It touched his lips and he was like, nope, not going to drink that because he was fully embracing the spiritual and the physical suffering that he was going through. So on the one hand, his spirit is dead focused on what his purpose is on the cross. But on the other hand, his human body is struggling, suffering for you and me and for the sins of the whole world. I love this sixth saying of Jesus as he hangs on the cross, John 19 30, Jesus said it is finished with that. He bowed his head and gave up his spirit. And I believe when Jesus said it is finished, he wasn’t just saying I’m about to die. He was saying I’ve accomplished God’s purpose for my life. What a wonderful thing to say right before Jesus passes. Jesus is saying it is finished, meaning the mission is accomplished. The sacrifice is complete. The debt has been paid in full. The new covenant has come and forgiveness of sins is now possible. You don’t have to go to the temple any longer and offer endless sacrifices. Aren’t we glad we Jesus is our once and for all sacrifices. We don’t live under the old covenant. We live under the new covenant. It’s a covenant of new life. It’s a covenant of forgiveness. It’s a covenant of freedom. Can’t wait for Sunday. I’m going to preach more about what we have in Christ out of Romans 8 because of the resurrection of Jesus. But when Jesus said it is finished, he’s not saying I’m done for. He’s saying I finished the race. I finished what God asked me to do. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. And then a seventh and final word of Jesus as he hangs on the cross for your sin and my sin. It was a word of commitment. Luke chapter 23, verse 46, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last. This saying reminds me that whether it was in his ministry or in the garden or in the temptation, when he went into the desert, in every situation, and especially on the cross, Jesus was fully, completely committed and submitted to the Father’s will, start to finish. You know, as a Christian, God’s still working on me in that area. But I’m learning that life is a lot better when I’m fully surrendered to God. And I don’t know where you are in that if you’re just beginning that journey or you’re in the midst of that journey and you’re struggling and you’re like, I want to surrender God, but I don’t want to surrender to God. I want to surrender to God, but part of me doesn’t want to surrender to God. I want God’s will, but part of me doesn’t want God’s will. I get it. It’s a real struggle. Paul talks about it in Galatians, that the spirit wants what the spirit wants and the flesh wants what the flesh wants. And I could add to that the world wants what the world wants. And we oftentimes we get caught up in all that. But friend, I want to encourage you to look to Jesus, consider how he was faithful and committed and fully surrendered to Abba Father. He was a hundred percent surrendered to what God had planned for his life. If I could only be a hundred percent, not 50-50, not 60-40, but Lord, will you help me to be a hundred percent surrendered to what you want for my life, how I should walk, how I should talk, how I should act towards other people, how I should be on mission for you regardless of my career. Come on church, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be a pastor to be on mission with Jesus. You don’t have to be a missionary like we invite on Wednesdays and we’re going to have a missionary here on Sunday, I think April 19th. You don’t have to be called a missionary to be a missionary. You don’t have to be called a pastor to love people. God has a mission for you, but you have to be fully surrendered to what God has for your life. And here’s what I’ve found. When I fully surrender my life to the Lord, he takes me as I am and then he starts working on me. He starts knocking off the rough edges, places where I’m a little rough or I don’t really love like I should or I hold on to things that I don’t forgive or I kind of run from suffering because I want to be a happy American. Come on anybody. Isn’t that the truth? Sometimes the gospel in America, it gets preached like this. Come to Jesus and you’ll be happy for the rest of your life. You’ll never have any problems. I mean that’s not the gospel. That’s not what Jesus promised. What the gospel promises us is that God is a good creator and he’s in the business of recreating things. And one day, and this is especially true, this is for Sunday, but especially in regards to the resurrection, what the resurrection gives us hope more than anything else is that one day we will be completely recreated just like Jesus rose from the dead and received a glorified body. One day you will be completely recreated and you will stand in the presence of God with a new body with no pain, no sickness, no problems, no suffering. But for now, Jesus isn’t promising you or me the absence of suffering or difficulties because in this evil world today, God uses suffering to draw us closer to him, to get our attention, to help us look his way and say, Lord, I need your help. Jesus was fully committed. Can you get there? Yes, you can. Am I there right now? I think I’ve still got a long ways to go, but I want to live like that. I want to live 100% committed to whatever God has for my life. See the seven sayings here reveal to us the heart of Jesus, even as he is fulfilling the plan of God on the cross. I want to ask someone to slip to the piano and just play gently on the piano. We’re going to receive communion. So those that are going to hand out the communion, if you could get ready to do that. As we worship the Lord and we consider his cross on this Good Friday, and you can go ahead and start distributing the elements. Thank you. I was talking with someone over dinner and they reminded me the reason that Good Friday is called Good Friday. Good Friday is Good Friday, not Bad Friday, because Jesus took your place on the cross. Think about that. Jesus paid the penalty for your sin and for my sin. Without Jesus on the cross, I would still be guilty. I would still be in need of a sacrifice. But Jesus took my place. Jesus went to the cross for me. I’m so thankful. And that’s the good news. That’s why Good Friday is Good Friday. I’m going to turn in my Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I want to make sure that everyone is served communion. And at our church, we practice open communion. So if you’re a Christian, if you’re a believer, we encourage you to partake with us, to share in these elements, which we believe are symbols of the body and the blood of Jesus. So we welcome everyone tonight to participate in communion. We’re so thankful that you’re here celebrating with us. I want to read in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I’m going to get there. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, I’m going to start reading in verse 23. The Apostle Paul writing to Corinthian believers, for I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, the Lord Jesus. On the night he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. And so as believers, when we partake of communion, the communion elements, the bread and the juice, we are remembering what Jesus has done for us on the cross, that our sins are forgiven. He took our place. There’s no longer any need for a sacrifice. If you’re in Christ Jesus and he is in you, your sins are forgiven and you have new life, new spiritual life and the promise of heaven. And so we remember, but we also, because Paul says we do this until he comes. And so we partake of communion, looking to the future with a great hope that one day Jesus is coming again. He came the first time as a suffering servant, but he’s coming again as a conquering king. He’s coming again as the judge of the world and all will see that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so as we partake of communion today, we, we remember, but we look forward. And then I think for me, often when I partake of communion, it’s an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit inspect my life. And in the assemblies of God, we, I know many churches, they take communion every time they come. We partake of communion ever so often, usually once a month. And I’ve always liked that because it helps it not get too traditional for me. And I know others feel strongly every time you come to church, you should partake of communion. But when I partake of communion, it’s almost for me like an altar time. It’s an, it’s an opportunity to say, okay, Lord, I don’t want to just go through these emotions, but is my heart right with you? Am I a hundred percent committed to you? Have I asked you to forgive my sins and am I walking with a clean heart and a pure heart before you? Is there anyone that I need to forgive? Is there anyone that I need to love? Is there any suffering that I’m running from when I really need to embrace it and say, God, what’s your purpose for this in my life? So could we do that just for a moment before we partake? Could we let the Holy Spirit just speak to each of us individually? Lord, would you do that right now? Holy Spirit, would you speak to each heart? Holy Spirit, you are the one who reveals the secrets of our heart. You’re the one who lays bare what is true, what is false, where we’re walking in the light, where we’re walking in the darkness. Lord, I pray that you would speak to each person that’s here tonight. Lord, give comfort where comfort is needed. Give conviction where conviction is needed. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would be real and alive. Make Jesus alive in our hearts. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. I want to encourage you to just take the bread and hold it, and we’ll partake together. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord, thank you for your broken body. Thank you that by your stripes we are healed. Thank you that because of your broken body, we have deliverance, we have salvation. Thank you, Lord God. Let’s partake of the bread together. And now the cup. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your shed blood. Lord, we know what that means. That means you died. You went all the way for us. You didn’t shrink back. You were committed to accomplishing God’s mission for you and for the whole world. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you that you took my place. My sins are forgiven. I’ve got a new day ahead. We celebrate the forgiveness of sins, Lord, as we celebrate you. Thank you, Lord. Let’s partake of the cup. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, we’re so grateful. Can we all just stand and let’s just begin to worship the Lord? Lord, we’re so grateful. We are so grateful for your goodness and your kindness, Lord. We’re so grateful that you are a great creator. You’re a good creator. And you’re a recreator. And you’re a restorer and a redeemer. Lord, I just pray tonight as we celebrate you and the sacrifice that was for us on the cross, Lord, tonight that you would begin to bring deliverance and breakthrough to people at different areas of their life. Lord, as we just embrace the suffering of the cross, as we embrace suffering in our lives, difficulties, Lord, that we would bring you into those areas of our life where we’re struggling in our marriage, in our relationships, in our parenting, in our finances, Lord. You know the area, Lord Jesus. But tonight we invite you to come into that struggle. We give it to you. We give it to you, Lord. And you’re going to bring deliverance. You’re going to bring breakthrough in Jesus’ name. Thank you, Lord. Hi, I’m Pastor Tom Ragsdale. I’m Pastor Elvis Benez. And we’re from Columbia First Assembly. We are a church that’s on mission with Jesus. Our vision is simple. We want to make Jesus famous in your heart and in our community. Absolutely. Thank you so much for connecting with us online. We would also love to connect with you in person. We are located at 1100 North 7th Street, right in the heart of Columbia, Missouri, right across the street from Hickman High School. So if you’re in the central Missouri area and you’re looking for a home church, come hang out with us. If you’re just connecting online and you’re nowhere near us, then please connect with us in the comments. If you have a prayer request, if you have a question, if you’re wondering anything about the Lord or Christianity, please let us know and we would be happy to engage with you in the comments. We believe God’s doing something special at our church and we want you to be a part of it. We’re a multi-generational church. We have people from all different backgrounds. We’re a church of the word. We’re a church of the spirit. We believe Jesus can transform your life. That’s why we’re on mission with him. And we want to help you know God. We want to help you grow in God and we want to share hope in our community. So connect with us and we want to connect with you. Awesome. Have a wonderful and a blessed day.