DISCLAIMER:  This text is not a verbatim transcript.  Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.    >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find link to our worship services; Bible study options; online giving; and our podcast, Anchor Point. You can also download our church app. Just search for "First Colony Church of Christ" in the App Store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We're glad you're here. ¶ >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services; Bible study options; online giving; and our podcast, Anchor Point. You can also download our church app. Just search for "First Colony Church of Christ" in the App Store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We're glad you're here. >> Ryan: Welcome to the worship service at First Colony Church of Christ! It's great to see everyone this morning and hello to everyone watching online. We come here from different places today. Some of you have been banged up and bruised by life this week. Some of you are worn out and tired. Some of you are riding an emotional high from great things happening in your life. Wherever you are, this morning you have come to the right place. You're invited to come as you are; and this is a group of people that are for you. It's not a group of perfect people, but we serve a God who offers love and hope and grace to everyone. So let's all stand and worship together. >> Richard: Yes! God is good, amen? ("Your Love Awakens Me" playing) >> Richard: Yes! (Applause) If you're asleep, you're definitely awake now either way, amen? ("Way Maker" playing) >> Richard: Thank you for your worship today. You may be seated. >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone! It is so good to be with you again on this wonderful Sunday morning. So I have a fun little experiment for you today. My name is Joel Smith. I'm the Children's Minister here. Those of you that are checkin' us out online, good to have you with us as well. Those of you and came the holiday weekend, it's awesome to have you guys here as well. Thank you very much. So my illustration today starts with a Bible verse, as always; and before I get into my Bible verse, I just want to mention one thing. Christianity, following Christ, is about transformation. It's about changing into something. The verse I chose is Psalm 37:5-6. Commit your way to the Lord. How do we transform? We commit our way to the Lord. We trust in Him, and He will do it. God is in the business of change. We can follow Him and He changes us in that process; but what is cool is that He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of your cause like the noon day sun. As we are transformed, we glorify Him. Now, let's pretend that this regular paper towel roll represents Jesus, and we know that Jesus was born on earth. He took on human flesh. He was fully man, fully God; and He endured things. He went through trials. He went through struggles. He went through difficulties. The amazing thing is that those challenges, even though His body was broken, we know He was raised from the dead and that He lives on and that we follow Him and we want to be like Him. This is where it gets interesting. As you can see, I put some challenges on these, and I'm sure some of you have experienced some challenges. Maybe. Maybe -- as a matter of fact, maybe at this point in your life you're experiencing some stress. Well, this represents Jesus, and it's paper with glue. This represents us, and this is just regular paper with no glue. I wonder how strong you think this is. Do you think we can maybe put a book on that? What do you think? No, we can't. Once again, I talked about transformation. Our job is to be transformed and to be like Jesus. So what I'm doing is I'm wrapping just a regular piece of paper, even from the church, regular piece of paper from the church; and I'm taping it. So you're saying, "Okay, Joel, big deal, you're wrapping around Jesus. I get it. Yeah. I'm not that impressed." (Laughter) This is where it gets impressive, all right? So we have us in Jesus' mold AND now when we encounter challenges -- any engineers in the mix? Check this out! Here is a just plain old piece of paper -- now, this is fun. When I was setting up today, I met someone in the lobby and they said, "You know why I pay attention to your thing?" I said, "No; why?" "Because it's so cool when it messes up." (Laughter) Thanks, man! That's awesome. There's a plan for that, all right? So the cool thing is that when we trust Jesus, when we are transformed into His mold, we have incredible ability to be something that honors Him. Now, how many books did I put on the first one? Do you remember? Three. We're up to four. Five. "Have a New Kid by Friday." (Laughter) Six. Whoa! Seven. "Don't Just Stand there; Pray Something." Whoa. Isn't that sweet? So the point is this only works if you're wrapped around Jesus. If you allow God's Word to transform your life, if what you hear in the message today actually takes root as a seed and grows. That's my prayer for you and for me. When you're going through challenges and difficulties, know that as we wrap ourselves around Jesus, He can take it; and then He never gives us more than we can handle. There you go. (Applause) >> Ryan: Thank you, Joel. Thank you so much. Michael and Ruth Pothoff will lead us in communion this morning so if you're at home, you can get your supplies ready. Everyone here, get your packets out. If you didn't have a chance to pick one up, some are available at the back of the Worship Center. Thank you so much, Michael and Ruth. >> Michael: Good morning, church. My name is Michael Pothoff, and this is my wife Ruth. This morning we gather together to remember the sacrifice that Christ has made for us. But the reality is as we gather, we all come from different places. Some of us come from place of joy and celebration, but the reality is some of us are here this morning and you're going through pain, trials and tribulations, and tough times. If you're like me and having young children, just getting to this building can be World War III some mornings, right? No matter where you're coming from, my ask is you would set all of that aside, lay it at the feet of Christ Himself, and remember what He has done for us all. Let's pray together. Father, we love You with our whole hearts. We thank You for what You have done, for sending Your Son to die on the cross for our sins. May we remember Your sacrifice in every area of our lives and may we live Your way so other people may see You more clearly. We thank You SO much for what You have done for the sacrifice of the blood and the body for all of us, for our sins. We ask that You be with us now as we consider who You Are and what You mean to us. It is in Jesus Christ's most Holy and Precious Name we pray, amen. >> Ruth: So today we're gonna be reading from John 14:3-6. (Reading) ("The Way" playing) >> Ryan: It's time to take our offering, and one of our elders, Josh Cummings, will lead us in prayer. >> Josh: On behalf of the elders, I just want to say thank you for your continued generosity to this church. As you know, when you give to the local church, you're not only supporting the local staff and ministers here; you're also supporting local ministries like Lifeline Chaplaincy or Second Mile that serves the local community, as well as supporting missions around the world. So as you know, there are lots of ways you can give. If you're here in person, there are giving boxes at the back of the auditorium here. If you're online, click the link on your screen to give. Then you can also text to give. So again, thank you for your generosity. Let's pray. Lord, we know that all we have comes from You. You bless us daily. Lord, as we -- we ask You take these gifts You're about to receive and multiply them for Your kingdom. It's in Your Son's Name we pray, amen. >> Ryan: Well, this is Memorial Day weekend, and it's a time when we honor and remember the men and women that sacrificed their lives for our nation. So it's appropriate to pause and pray. In a moment, Bob Gowens will lead us in a prayer for our country. ("Taps" playing) (Applause) >> Bob: Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for U.S. soldiers and sailors who died in battle or because of wounds sustained in battle in the wars. It was first observed May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. It later changed from honoring the dead of the Civil War to honoring the dead of all American wars. May I add those who have lost their lives in public service here in our city and county. Let us pray. Eternal Father, Lord of Hosts, as our nation pauses this Memorial Day to remember those men and women who have given their lives in the service of this great country and the freedoms we enjoy, let us remember that Jesus told us there is no greater life than to lay down one's life for one's friends, and may I add for one's country. Those honored dead gave the most precious gift they had, life itself. We remember their sacrifice and a debt we cannot pay. We pray for the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and who have to carry on without them. We pray that the Holy Spirit will bless and comfort the walking wounded who are still with us and bless their families as well. Grant Your loving protection for them all. May it be Your will to preserve the lives of the men and women in uniform as they now defend our country: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, firefighters, police officers, and EMTs. Let us remember them all, especially those who lost their lives in service to us. May Your Holy Spirit remind us of their sacrifice and the precious gift of freedom every day, not just once a year; and may we be worthy of their sacrifice. Let peace prevail among all nations, especially let Your mercy rest upon our land. We honor You with thanksgiving and for the past goodness You have given this country. We pray this in the Holy Name of Jesus, Your Son, Jesus the Christ. Amen. >> Ryan: Amen. Thank you so much, Bob. Well, it's time for Main Street Live; so all you first to fifth graders can head to the back. Mr. Joel is there. Follow him to the chapel for a time of children's worship. Parents, if you didn't have time to register your kids, go with Joel to get you started. We'd love to have you fill out a Connection card today. If you're online, click the "Connection Card" button. If you're here, on the seat back in front of you, there's a code to scan with your phone to open up our Connection card. There's a place where you can tell us the church programs that you're interested in. We'd love to follow up with you and answer questions and help you get started with any of those ministry opportunities. There's also a place to tell us your prayer requests. We've got a group of people that would be honored to pray for you this week so please tell us your prayer needs. If you're a guest here today, we're so glad you're here with us. I want to invite you to come across the lobby to our "New Here/Start Here" area after this service. We've got a team there that would really enjoy meeting you and answer any questions that you have. There's a gift there you can pick up as well. So we hope to see you at "New Here/ Start Here" after the service. It's time for our fellowship greeting, so let's all stand and say good morning to each other. If you're online, go ahead and say hi in the chat box. ("Almighty God" playing) ¶ Almighty God ¶ >> Richard: Thank you for worshiping with us today! You may be seated. >> Ronnie: Richard and team, thank you so very, very much. Good morning, everybody. Glad to see you. Welcome today to our second service here at the First Colony Church of Christ. To those of you in the room, it's great having you here; and to those of you watching online, we say good morning and welcome to you as well. I do want to recognize some new members, and we are delighted to have this family with us. I will ask you to stand, please, David and Lyndsey Marrie and their children -- there they are, Brynley and Brayden. We welcome the family. Their kiddos are here at our children's program. Bob Gowens, thank you so much for leading us in our prayer over our nation. This is Memorial Day weekend. I don't know who originated this phrase, but I certainly, it certainly resonates with me. “We do not know them all, but we owe them all;” and Memorial Day weekend honors the ultimate sacrifice of men and women who served their nation -- as Bob said, not just in military service but serving our city and our county. We're so, very grateful. I'm grateful for our land, our nation, and our country. I pray God's blessings upon us. Well, today I want to conclude a message series called "When in Doubt." The title of today's message is "Maintenance Doubts." This is where we're talking about those doubts that uniquely come to us after we become Christians; and the journey of the Christian life, there are certainly start-up doubts. That may be where you are today. You're wrestling with some initial doubts about Christianity. There's a difference between doubting and unbelief, but doubt is simply being at a place of uncertainty; you need clarification. When there is a good, healthy skepticism that's at least willing to be convinced, you give God permission to do really, really good things. But I want us to talk about three types of maintenance doubts today, and these tend to be the most under-articulated, under-addressed times of doubts; because quite honestly, they're self-inflicted. So get ready. I'm gonna push you a little bit today, all right? Here's the first one: doubts caused by a failure to grow. You know, there are certain things just because of the nature of that thing. It's got to keep moving forward in order for it to work. Faith like that. It needs motion. It needs action. It needs energy. Somebody says, "Well, I thought faith and works were opposed to one another." Faith and a sense of merit are opposed to one another; but faith needs forward motion; growth; action; energy. Everybody here, most of us here, we know how to ride a bike, right? Maybe your bicycle looked a little like this one right here. One of the cardinal rules of riding a bike is "You got to keep moving." A bike is not gonna work if you just stand still. If your plan is just to sit, you don't need a bike. Here's what you need. (Laughter) You need a chair, because in a chair, you sit. You're stationary. A bike only works when it's moving forward, and faith must be kept active and moving, or it will cease to function. What would you say to a person, a neighbor who goes out; they sit on their bike and they keep falling over? They bruise their right arm; they bruise their left arm; they keep falling over. They come in and say, "This bike is useless! It doesn't work!" And you would say, "That bike is perfectly fine. The problem is you're trying to use a bike as something stationary. You need a chair. You need a stool." For a bike to function, it's got to keep growing and moving. The kind of doubt that comes to us from a lack of growth is simply the polite and gradual way a careless Christian shelves a perfectly good faith when he or she simply doesn't want to live by its values. And by choosing not to grow, you cast a silent vote for unbelief through smaller, gradual degrees and choices. The apostle Peter will say it like this: For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith -- keep it growing. Keep it moving. Faith as opposed to merit. Faith is not opposed to growth and energy and action. For this reason, be strenuous. Keep adding to your faith. What do you add? Goodness. Moral virtue. Knowledge, a knowledge of God, of Scriptures. Self-control. Perseverance, that willingness not to give up easily or quit on relationships, not to be flighty; and Godliness. Mutual affection instead of being suspicious of one another and critiquing one another, you're affectionate, loving, and kind to one another. And to mutual affection, love. Then he says, for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have these qualities -- in other words, the person who views their faith as a chair, not a bicycle; you don't keep growing. Here's what happens: you get near-sighted and blind. You get myopic. You can't see the big picture. You forget you have been cleansed from your past sins. You forget that God has a purpose and vision for your life beyond yourself. Of course, that kind of faith seems useless. "What's the use of this bike? I keep fall ugh over." That kind of faith is useless NOT because the Christian faith itself is deficient. Christ is still risen. The Holy Spirit is still active. The Word of God is still true. People all over the globe are serving the Lord with energy; but if your faith goes unused, you will feel assistant distant, detached, disillusioned. "What's wrong with my faith? You don't become an atheist. You're just influenced by a more dominant world view. You know what a world view is? Let me put this question on the screen: what's your daily world view? World view would be the lens by which you look at the world. It's your value system. How will we spend our money? How will we allocate our money? What values will we drill into our children? How do we view people? How do we view marriage, sexuality, morality? All of this is a value system, and it's your world view, and your world view -- you have an explanation for origin. For example, my world view is what I would call a Christian, Biblical world view. Where did where we come from? I believe in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. So origins, problem, solution. What's the problem? I believe all of us are sinners, fallen. We create a lot of problems on our own, but there is a solution, short-term and long-term. Redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation in Jesus Christ. Some of you profess a world view. Whatever world view you profess is a moot point. It's the world view you actually live out. This is -- these are the goals we set. These are the values we live by: “Here's how I'm going to treat my spouse; treat my children; etc., etc.” So what is your world view? Now, if you come to the place where your world view, where there's this huge dichotomy between what you profess and how you live, your faith seems irrelevant; meaningless; lifeless. There's not much to it, and eventually you get tired of playing along. And it will feel impractical to you in a real world. What's your daily world view? The second question I would ask is: are you paying attention to small decisions? Because the Bible will tell us that we have this propensity and tendency to drift. Hebrews 2:1. We must pay most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so we do not drift away. Little by little, choice by choice, small neglect after small neglect; and eventually you turn around and you say, "Well, what happened? What happened to my faith, to my energy, to my devotion? I feel detached, disillusioned, lifeless. What happened?" Let's pay attention to regular, ongoing choices we make. You know, what's it said in marriage? Most marriages do not blow up. They fizzle out over a series of small neglects. Os Guiness says, "Faith is not torn up; it is merely frayed. It is not eaten away suddenly. It's nibbled away at the corners." There's a time and place for faith to just rest, and that is when you get to heaven. In the meantime, keep your faith on the bicycle; growing; pushing yourself to grow; to be attached; to be engaged; to be moving forward. Your faith is not built for a chair. It's built for a bicycle. Secondly, there are doubts that are caused by a lack of personal conviction. When most everybody is a believer, it's easy to sort of say you're a believer, too. When you're in the minority and there's push back against your belief system, then you have to ask, "What are my convictions?" It's one thing to say you believe in Christ. It's one thing to say you believe in historic Christianity. It's another thing to be willing to accept the implications of that belief, the consequences of that belief. Let me read a couple of Scriptures, first of all from Joshua 24. This is the classic text where Joshua says to the people, "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Listen, Joshua had no clue whether anybody listening would choose with him, and it didn't matter. He said, "Here's what I'm choosing. Here's what my household is choosing. You have to make your own choice. I'm under no illusion I can or should control you. We have decisions to make. Here's what I'm choosing, and whether or not you choose to come along, that is your choice completely. But here's where I stand. My mind is made up." And Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, King Nebuchadnezzar, “We do not need to defend ourselves against you.” This is where the king issued a decree say you bow down and worship the image or thrown into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, “Of we're thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if He does not and choose not to rescue us here, we want you to know, Your Majesty, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Three against a king. Three against an empire. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are prepared to accept the consequences of their belief. They're prepared to accept the implications of their faith. And without conviction, your faith is just a series of statements. There are doubts that come to us where we feel detached; aloof; not really a part; because we're not sure we want to catch the heat of push back against our faith. As long as everybody's friendly to the faith, that's great. But the moment somebody's not friendly to the faith -- but no conviction is yours unless you're willing to stand against the world and its attempts to weaken and modify your belief system. Few things will challenge your faith more than being in the minority and facing social pressure to compromise what you believe is true. Jesus speaks to this. He says in John 5: How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the Only God?" In other words, if receiving approval and glory from your peers is more important than receiving glory and approval from God, you'll never live by your convictions. And gang, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Our society and culture has an increasingly hardened attitude toward historic Christianity, towards Biblically-based values; and there's just more on the line. Let me ask you point-blank: what do you fear more, displeasing God or displeasing some voice on social media? The pressure of the crowd is very real. But I urge you to live by your convictions and not by convenience. Fear God, not people; and listen, and when you do that, you're going to give God an opportunity to show up, right? You're gonna give God an opportunity to show up and do His thing in a way that you can't plan or predict or program. If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had just catered, they wouldn't have given God a chance to do His dance in a fabulous, fabulous way. This past weekend at a little conference, I heard somebody say, "Christians should never be bullies. Neither should we be bystanders. We should definitely be bold." There is a kind of doubt that comes from cowardice. There's a kind of doubt that comes from not owning your convictions. G.K. Chesterton was talking about another person when he said, "He thought the object of opening the mind is simply opening the mind. Whereas I am incurably convinced that the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth for food, is to shut it again on something solid." I believe we have something rock solid on which to build our lives. There's some doubts that come to us along the way. Sometimes there are doubts caused by a lack of growth. We treat faith like a chair, not a bicycle. Keep active. Sometimes doubts caused by lack of conviction. Sometimes doubts are caused by scars, and we all have them. My friends, Jesus Christ has scars, too. Notice I used present tense. There are marks of identification. I want you to look over here at our sign language interpreter. Oh, yeah. (Laughter) I'm talking to you. Now, keep looking. Keep looking at her. Everybody wave at her. Now, watch her. Watch her. Ready? Jesus. Did you see that? One more time: Jesus. Notice the sign language interpretation for Jesus. To communicate Jesus in sign language, you point to His scars. We all know that scars can actually help build a person. That's been true for many of you, virtually all of you in some way. You've been inspired by people who've had a scar, something was broken. Something's amiss. It's a big, bad, bold problem. Whatever it might be -- you know, I won't be able to describe them all. You have been inspired as people who have pushed through that, in spite of a scar. Listen carefully: there can be doubts caused by scars and not an intellectual doubt, per se, just a personal place of detachment, distance, feeling like you're in the cheap seats. Everybody else is in the better seats. But you're in the cheap receipts on the outside -- cheap receipts on the outside looking in. And this kind of doubt comes whenever a big, bad, bold problem takes the place of God in your heart. And that problem becomes the idol. And gradually, you've started to see God through the lens of the problem rather than the problem through the lens of God's grace and goodness and hope. And so it's possible that you no longer have the problem; the problem has you. I know this sounds hard. Please, I know I can be misinterpreted here. I do not say this out of lack of compassion, but I want you to sense that there is -- the only thing in your life WORTHY of worship is the Risen Christ; and no pain or scar is worthy of being on the throne of your life and being the ONLY sense of your identity. I didn't say it doesn't have an impact. I'm saying only the Risen Christ deserves to be on the throne and no scar should become an idol. Let me just get real specific for a moment. Some of you have had a string of disappointments, whatever they may be, to the point you're almost afraid to ever ask God for anything, believe that He is good. There's just a string of disappointments. I will ask you not to become so bitter about a bad experience or experiences in your past that you missed some opportunities in front of you and some kindnesses that might be all around you today. We're on the heels of a global pandemic, and it has been a crisis; and it's not over. It's just not over. The implications can be ongoing here, but for people of faith, people of faith, every crisis also provides an opportunity. Some of you have been wronged, genuinely wronged. Some of you may think you have been. Some of you have been. Whatever; it's where you are. But you have shut God out because you love your bitterness. You love your bitterness. You love the anger. Instead of seeing that situation through God, you see God through that situation; and it's big. It's bold. There's a reason Jesus taught us to pray "Forgive me of my sins, even as I forgive those who sin against me." Is it possible you may need to leave that gift at the altar and run to some reconciliation? God stands there, ready to help and bring about something better; but your connection with Him is not that you doubt Him intellectually. But there's this distance, this detachment because rather than embracing Him and His grace and sense of newness, you love those justified feelings of bitterness. And here's what happens. Again, you don't give God a chance to show up in a remarkable, wonderful way, either to you or your family, and have a story of reconciliation or renewal or something better. Don't make that wound, that scar, an idol. You say, "Ronnie, can you just point me to healing for scars?" No, I cannot. No, I cannot. There's some scars that get healed. There's some scars that will not be healed until the new heaven and new earth. I cannot promise everyone healing; I can promise you this, though. I can promise you meaning, meaning and purpose. I can't promise you that you will always be able to discern the purpose, but there is a purpose. If the only purposes are these, this is an opportunity for me to experience the grace of God in a fresh way. This is an opportunity for me to glorify God in a way that I may never have chosen, but here it is; and this is a way for me to show love to another person in a way, again, I may never have chosen. It may be that the only rationale you can find -- here's an opportunity for me to glorify God, to show love, and to receive grace. You say, "Ronnie, you talk about scars. All of mine, most of my big ones you're saying are self-inflicted." I get that. Everybody in this room, to one degree or another, have "could have, should have, would have,” regrets we'd love to go back and undo. The Good News of the Gospel is Christ redeems and reconciles and renews; and our faith is in the Great and Living God Who sent Jesus Christ, who died for our sins; was buried, covered, just the way our sins are covered; and then raised to new life again. And that can be you and me, that God gives us permission through Christ to step outside of the penalty box and step into new possibilities and new opportunities crafted and inspired and postured by the Holy Spirit. All right. Some of these maintenance doubts, you might be listening, saying, "None of that really speaks to me. Here's what I'm asking you to do as we wind this down. I'm asking you for a spirits of re-engagement, a spirit of reconnection in those things most important. Are you familiar with Pete Davis? Pete Davis has a new book out called "Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing." It grows of a speech at Harvard Law School commencement in 2018. The speech was called "The Counterculture of Commitment." In that speech he said, “We're all afraid of being behind a door. It's the fear of being in driveway, you're loving to leave and somebody is parked behind you. Nobody likes that.” He says, “Do you really want to live in a hallway? In a hallway, you have all sort of doors around you. Yeah. You do. But eventually the people who inspire you are the people who pick a door, walk through it, and settle in for the long haul.” In his book, Pete Davis says this. You ready? "I've come to believe that the defining characteristic of my generation," and he's 30 years younger than me so he's a kid, of course, he says, "I've come to believe the defining characteristic of my generation is this." You ready? "Keeping our options open." He says there's a Polish philosopher who has a great phrase for what I'm talking about: Liquid modernity. We never want to commit to any one identity, any one place, any one community; so let's just remain liquid, where we can adapt to fit. He calls it the infinite browsing mode for everything in our lives. He said, and I quote, "An infinite browsing mode, we're jumping from place to place, always searching for the next big thing but refusing to make any decision that might close us off in case somebody texts us with a better option. It leads to a culture of restlessness and indecision and causes so much tension." He says we want to keep our options open; and yet we yearn for the purpose, for the community, for the depth that can only come by making long-haul, deep commitments. He says we should rebel against infinite browsing and join the counterculture of commitment that breeds solid people. I think he has some good things to say. It's not a Christian book. He never makes any Christian claims. Here's what I'm asking all of us to do. Let's renew our commitment to that which is most important, to the Lord Himself; to the Word to have God; to a Biblical world view; to your marriage; to your family; to your children, to raising them well; to the way of Christ; to the privilege of being an ambassador for the Living Christ; to the privilege of being a witness to the grace of God. God bless you, everybody. Thank you for being with us today. Josh, would you come couple here, please, and lead us in our closing prayer? And then we'll have a closing song. Josh? >> Josh: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, what an honor it is to come here today to worship Your Name in spirit and truth. Father, we glorify You because You are worthy of our praise. We're in awe of Your power. You spoke the heavens and earth into existence with Your Words you created the universe from galaxies to the very atoms that make them up. You created it all. We praise You because Your love, Your compassion and mercy. You have shown Your love throughout history and continue to do so today. You are so good to us. You gave us Your One and Only Son, Jesus. We glorify and praise the Son to have God, who is also the Son of Man. Jesus, we praise Your Name because You are our Savior. You lived a perfect live to show us what it means to live in God's image. It's because of Your perfect life You are a worthy sacrifice to wash our sins away. You went to the cross willingly because of Your love. You loved us too much to let us die in our sins. We glorify the Name of Jesus because You reconciled us to the Father through Your sacrifice and glorify in Your Resurrection that proves You have power over sin and death and give us hope of eternal life. You gave us Your Spirit to live us, the Spirit of the Living God lives in us. We praise the Holy Spirit for guiding and comforting us, for revealing the will of God to us through the Scripture and directly to our hearts. Father, Son, and Spirit, three in one, we honor and worship You alone. We pray for our church around the world and here in Sugarland we will represent you well. May we be a light to the world that is in pain. Help us to help those who are in need and help us to resist being polluted by the world. Lord, we know all good things come from You, the very breath we breathe is a gift from You. Help us lean into independence on You and resist the illusion we're in control. We pray for those who are suffering with illness and loss and pain. We pray for healing, comfort, and rest that comes only from You. Forgive us when we don't put You first, Lord, and help us to always put You at the center of our lives and lead us in paths of righteousness so Your Name is glorified. Protect us from the forces of evil that seek to load us away from You. As we celebrate Memorial Day tomorrow, Lord, we remember those who gave their lives so we may enjoy the freedoms we have in this country. Thank You for their service and sacrifice. As we honor them, Lord, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus that also the gives us freedom, freedom from sin and death. May we always be grateful for those who have sacrificed for us. As we go out from here today Lord, help us to live lives that bring You glory. Help us to be bold. In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. >> Ryan: Amen. Thank you, Josh; and thank you, Ronnie, for that message. Well, there's a few items as we wrap up today. Remember, on Sundays at 9:45:00 a.m. we have Bible classes for all ages. Adult class meets in the gym and then we have kids in Student Ministry in the Education Wing. Online, Kyle Strickland leads our class called "The Conversation" at 10:00 a.m. so you can join him online for that. There are women summer studies available so you can sign up for a summer women's group on our website. Of course, VBS is coming up soon. You can register your kids online for VBS and to learn more about volunteering, Danell Taylor is in the Education Wing and would love to answer questions to help you get started as a volunteer. And Fam Blitz is on the last night of VBS. It's a fun event for the whole family so we hope you all come and participate in that night. And then the last thing is Camp Eagle is open for students sixth to 12th grade. It's an adventure camp. There's zip lines, a lot of awesome activities, so we hope students will sign up for that. You can do that on firstcolonychurch.org/students. Thank you for joining us today. Whatever wounds that you're healing from, whatever scars that you have, just know that Jesus is right there with you, and He's offering strength; and He's offering healing. He offers you renewal and reconciliation, and I pray that as you go with Him this week He'll give you strength and encouragement. Let's all stand and sing one more song before we go. ("Your Love Awakens Me" playing) >> Richard: Thank you for your worship today! Thank you for joining us to someday! We're so glad you're here. Be blessed. You are dismissed.