Embracing Your New Reality | Colossians 3:5-10

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? It's great to see you. Thanks for joining us. If this is your first time ever with us on a Sunday, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. I hope this place feels like home very quickly. Every single Sunday, we take a moment right before we step into the Word of God and we pray and ask God to speak.

So, I want to give you that chance right now. Maybe you haven't talked to God in a while, but I want to invite you to say, "God, would you speak clearly to me today?" Then I want to invite you to pray for the people around you and say, "God, speak to them as well." Then would you pray for me that God would speak clearly through me to you?

Lord, I thank you that you have given us your Holy Spirit, and your Spirit leads and guides us into truth. I pray that today you would give us eyes to see you and ears to hear you and hearts to receive all that you want to say to us. We need you. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.

For the men who are married in the room, I want you to think back to the place you lived in that you decorated yourself prior to getting married. I just want you to picture it. Put yourself in it. What was it like? What posters were on your wall? Dave Matthews Band maybe? Just me? Fine. As I was preparing for today, I thought back to the apartment I lived in in Austin up until we got married, and then Kat moved into the apartment.

When I moved into my apartment, my parents were so kind to basically unload their storage unit into my apartment, so it looked like a garage sale. My parents' storage unit had vomited into the living room, and whatever was there, that's what happened. There was no color coordinating. There was no matching. I still remember it. There was a rug, and then there was a peach couch. Peach has never been a color that I'm like, "You know what color I want my couch to be? Peach."

A peach couch, this gold tin coffee table, and then I had some olive wood camels from the Middle East, and I put those up on the bookshelves. I was like, "Man, this is a pretty cool place." There was a fake plant in the corner. I was like, "I'm doing it. Adulting. Check. Crushing it." But then it came time for me to get married, and Kat moved in, and everything went. Nothing was allowed to stay. When she moved in, everything changed.

Except for the olive wood camels, I don't own anything else that was in that apartment at the time. It all had to go. Everything that came into the apartment was chosen by Kathryn Ateek, because that apartment no longer belonged to me; it was her domain. She did what she wanted. It was decorated. We got the couches she wanted. Whatever pictures went on the wall, whatever iron things that were in at that time, that's what was there, because she put it there.

That's how it should be. She moved in. The place was hers. She could do with it what she wanted. There were certain things that had to go, because my relationship status had changed. The life I lived by myself had to go. The life I lived married to Kat was everything. I tell you that because as we step back into the book of Colossians, it's like that. You need to understand your life before Christ must go when Christ comes in.

When you begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, Jesus doesn't move into your life to rent; he moves into your life to own. What does a renter do? A renter comes in and changes nothing because it doesn't belong to him. What does an owner do? The owner does what he wants to the house. When Christ came into our lives, he set up shop. He has gone to work, and he is moving things and changing things. He has made things new.

Inevitably, there are aspects of our life without Christ that might still try to linger and find a place in the house, and Christ is like, "No. Those things have to go. They just don't belong. The peach couch of your sin has to go. That gold tin coffee table of sin has to go." So, as we step back into Colossians 3, we're going to see him zero in on two different types of sin that must be put out to the trash. They have to be sent to the dump. Specifically, sexual sin and speech sin.

So, if you have a Bible, I invite you to turn with me to Colossians, chapter 3. My plan this morning was to teach verses 5-17. I kept trying to make it work, and God was like, "I don't know why you keep trying to force this to work." I honestly felt like I was in a rowboat with no movement. I was straining at the oar, and God was like, "Okay. That's cute. I'll wait." Then finally I was like, "Okay. What do you want me to do?" He was like, "Go through verse 10." I was like, "Great."

This is a simple message. We are dealing with our reality in Christ, and because Christ has moved in and has changed us, there are two things that don't belong in our lives: sexual sin and sin of speech. Period. We're going to deal with those. I believe God wants me to camp out on those things because he wants to purify our church. Those things have no place.

We have so many young adults who come to our church, and the next generation needs an example of people who believe that Jesus Christ truly is worth it. He's better than sexual sin. He's better than sin with our speech. He's just better. I believe God wants to use this morning to purify us, to make us more like himself. So, it's a really simple message this morning, but it's weighty in application. Here we go. Colossians 3:5-10:

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."

Paul is very clear. "I want you to put to death sexual sin, and I want you to put away sin with your speech." That's it. But you have to look at the wording. Look back at the beginning of verse 5. He says, "Put to death therefore…" This is Bible study methods 101. Anytime you see the word therefore, what question are you supposed to ask? "What's it there for?"

The therefore is there for the purpose of connecting this passage with the previous passage. So, you cannot deal with verses 5-10 until you've dealt with verses 1-4. In fact, don't read verses 5-10 until you've read verses 1-4. I know we just read verses 5-10, but it's because two weeks ago we read verses 1-4. Let me remind you of what Paul said.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

If you weren't here two weeks ago, I want to catch you up. If you were, I want to invite you to reach back and pull everything you heard into today. The point of two weeks ago was we have been united with Christ. The most beautiful reality of the Christian life is that we have been united with Christ. Jesus didn't just come to save us from our sin; he came to save us into a united life with him.

Paul associates us with every aspect of Christ's work. We have died with Christ. We've been buried with Christ. We've been raised with Christ. We've been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We are hidden with Christ, and one day we will appear with Christ in glory. That's great news. We've died with Christ and been raised with Christ, which means the you without Jesus has died. That isn't you anymore. You've been made new.

You've actually been given a new heart with new capacities to know, love, and please God. And you have heavenly status. Do you remember us talking about this two weeks ago? I put you in the throne room of God. We have heavenly status. Somehow, we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, and our spiritual location is supposed to influence our physical location. We've been raised and seated.

Not just that. We're hidden with Christ. Are y'all going to make me get the tubs out again? I'm going to keep bringing them out until y'all are like, "I get it. I'm hidden with Christ." (I'm not going to unpack them again. I've already struggled with that twice.) This is our reality. Christ is in us. We are in Christ. Christ is in God. This is us.

We are hidden with Christ, which means you're in there somewhere, but your life is so tangled up with Christ you can't detangle the two from each other. Paul goes so far as to say in verse 4, "Christ is your life." Period. It's not, "Make Christ your life." He already is. If you know him, he is it. He is your life, and you will appear with him one day in glory.

This is God's understanding of what he has done to you. This is it. Everything I just said, your union with Christ… That's God's understanding of what he has done to you. The question is…Is this your understanding of what God has done to you? Have you come to grips with your reality? Have you embraced it? Can you agree with God? I'll explain it this way.

When we moved to Dallas and I started working for Watermark, it was so interesting, because when I would be in conversation and would use the word we, I was still talking about Breakaway Ministries, which was the ministry I had led but no longer led. I would be in conversation with people at Watermark, and when people on staff at Watermark were like, "Well, what we do…" they were talking about Watermark. I was like, "Well, we…" And I was still talking about Breakaway while working for Watermark.

Do you know what the problem was? I hadn't embraced my reality yet. I hadn't embraced "We have moved. We no longer live in College Station. I do not work for Breakaway Ministries anymore." Yet, that we being Breakaway still affected how I lived. I still wore more Breakaway tee shirts than Watermark shirts. I still got more excited about Breakaway than I was getting about Watermark. That was a problem.

I still remember a friend on staff one time when I was saying, "You know, we…" He stopped me and was like, "You know we is Watermark, right?" I was like, "Oh, good point." Then something changed. I don't know when, but at some point, when I started saying we, I meant Watermark. Then I remember going back to College Station. I was just there for a few hours, but I drove in, and the thought that went through my mind was, "This isn't my home anymore." I literally thought that. "This isn't my home anymore."

It was such a freeing thought that the life I had lived wasn't my life anymore. I now had a different reality. It's the same thing. Have you embraced your reality with Christ yet? When you say, "We," do you mean you and Jesus or do you mean you and sin? You have a new reality. So, stop living like your sin is the most defining thing about you. No, your union with Christ is.

Until you embrace your reality, it doesn't make sense for us to talk about our activity. Your reality is supposed to inform your activity. If all we do is talk about our activity when you haven't embraced your reality, welcome to legalism and moralism where you're just trying to be good enough for God instead of living life joyfully in God.

But if you're clear on your reality, then Paul's first encouragement is "Put sexual sin to death." Isn't it interesting that that's right where he goes to? Why? Because that's the thing doing the most damage to the kingdom of God. Just look at what has happened in our metroplex over the last summer…sexual sin in the church.

So he goes straight to sexual sin. He says, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…" Do you see it? He's like, "Look. Your status is heavenly, so get rid of the stuff that's earthly. It has to go." "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."

Sexual immorality is the Greek word porneia where we get the word pornography from. It is a generic term. It refers to basically any kind of sexual sin. What's sexual sin? It's anything that falls outside of God's intentions for sex. God intended sex to be between one man and one woman, enjoying it in the confines of a committed, married relationship. Impurity is a general term for immoral behavior, often of a sexual nature.

Passion is lust. It's uncontrolled sexual urges that mark those who don't know God. Evil desires is forbidden desire. Covetousness is uncontrolled desire for more. You just always need more. You always want more. One commentator put an interesting spin on covetousness, which I think we need to hear. He says, "It is the sort of unrestrained sexual greed whereby a person assumes that others exist for his or her own gratification."

So, let me spell out everything in 2024 that doesn't make sense for us sexually in light of our reality with Christ. This is going to be a fun one, and by fun I mean really unenjoyable. But here we go. It has to be done. Here's everything in 2024 that fits into the list Paul just rattled off. Pushing your spouse to do things sexually that he or she isn't comfortable with no longer makes sense with our reality. Sex before marriage between two people who are in love and planning to get married still doesn't make sense.

Having an affair in marriage or experimenting with an open marriage doesn't make sense. Random sexual hookups in your young adult years, virtual sex, looking at pornography, sexting, hiring a prostitute, going to a strip club, or wandering into lustful fantasy about a coworker or someone at the gym or someone you see while scrolling through Instagram don't make sense with our reality. Bestiality and pedophilia certainly don't make sense. Sexual connection in a same-sex relationship doesn't make sense. Engaging in sexual activity while identifying as a different gender than the gender God gave you at birth doesn't make sense.

Paul says to put these things to death. Why? They don't make sense with our reality. Put yourself back in the throne room of God. Imagine being seated with Christ in the heavenly realm and deciding to look at pornography or imagine just flat-out rejecting his design for marriage. Just feel how out of place that would be. Or imagine being hidden with Christ and choosing to have too much to drink at a happy hour and then leaving with someone who's not your spouse. It wouldn't make sense. Imagine sending inappropriate texts to someone or going to a strip club hidden in Christ.

Paul is like, "Look. It just doesn't make sense." We have to do away with it because of our reality. It doesn't match with our reality. Don't miss what he said at the end of verse 5. He says, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…" And he lists these things. He says, "…and covetousness, which is idolatry." Do you see that? At the root of sexual sin is idolatry. It's a belief that sex is what we ultimately need to be satisfied. Like, sex is the key to your happiness.

See, when you understand your reality with Christ and in Christ, you understand that you have found a better God. The god of sex is no god at all. It cannot do for you what only God can do. You haven't been made for sex; you have been made for God. Sex is not a god; it's a gift from God. You have been, first and foremost, made for God to find your fulfillment in God, to be satisfied by God. Period.

I remember hearing Jonathan Pokluda say one time that pleasure always demands more pleasure. That was my experience when I was battling pornography from the summer before my freshman year in high school all the way until the summer before my senior year in college. My experience was that pleasure always demands more pleasure. It couldn't satisfy. Why? Because my soul wasn't made for pornography; it was made for Jesus.

I found a better God. Because I have found a better God, the god of sex has to be put to death. If you're clear on your reality, something in you has to go off that says, "There are some things that just can't stay. They have to be done away with." So, Paul's command is to put them to death. What does it mean to put sin to death?

N.T. Wright puts it this way. I love it. He says, "To put something to death you must cut off its lines of supply: it is futile and self-deceiving to bemoan one's inability to resist the last stages of a temptation when earlier stages have gone by unnoticed, or even eagerly welcomed. This does not mean setting up a new hedge around the law, such as branding all theatrical performances (or whatever) as inherently 'sinful.' Rather, every Christian has the responsibility, before God, to investigate the lifelines of whatever sins are defeating him personally, and to cut them off without pity. Better that than have them eventually destroy him."

This looks different for everyone because everyone's struggle is different. Some of y'all are sitting there like, "Man, I don't struggle sexually." Well, you might not struggle in all of the overt, obvious ways that other people do, but every person has a responsibility to identify the ways they are tempted.

For me, when I was in college, I had to put porn to death. So, for me at the time… If you remember, it was still big, clunky desktop computers with an ethernet cable. When was the last time you heard "ethernet cable" used in a sentence? The way I dealt with it was I just got rid of my ethernet cable. My goal was to put myself in a scenario…

This is what I would tell myself. "I want to be in a position where there isn't even a 1 percent chance to look at pornography." It was so inconvenient. I had to go to the computer lab if I wanted to get work done. It was so worth it to cut off that line of supply. It's more difficult today, because everyone is carrying around pornography in their pocket all day every day.

It's interesting. When I talk to younger guys and start sharing with them my story and how I had to get extreme with it, that's when they lose eye contact. They're like, "Whoa. So, you're telling me you can't just give me the red or the blue pill, like The Matrix, where I go into a reality where I just stop?" Nope. It's going to take some decisive action. You have to put it to death. You have to figure out what the supply lines are for you.

Your supply lines are going to be different than mine. For me, because of my past struggle with pornography, I just know I can't watch MA TV shows that have sex in them. The hard thing is most shows now that people want to watch all have sex and nudity in them. So I Google and look up the parents' guide for every single one, and I'm like, "Well, not that one. Not that one. Not that one."

I have friends who are like, "Man, have you seen the latest?" and I'm like, "Nope. What's that like?" For them it's not a problem. I don't know how it's not a problem, but for me it's a problem. I know, for me, it's just not best to introduce those supply lines back into my life, but that's for me. You have to figure out what they are for you.

I remember years ago hearing Matt Chandler talk about people who try to tame apex predators that eventually turn on them, so this week I searched on YouTube, "When circus animals attack." I don't recommend searching that. I clicked out of it pretty quickly, but for a brief time, I watched this lion tamer who was in a ring with seven or eight lions. Seven or eight! He had them all in a circle, and all he had was this one flimsy little whip stick. I was like, "Are you a ribbon twirler or is that a whip? I don't know which one it is."

It was so uncomfortable to watch, because he had these cats sitting up on stools looking at him, and then he had them jumping over each other, and he had one kiss him. I was just bracing for one of these lions to snap. Why? Because they are hardwired to kill. Yet, this guy is prancing around arrogantly because he has tamed them. Sexual sin wants to destroy you.

Are you trying to tame sin or are you trying to kill sin? What do I mean by taming sin? I mean, are you putting yourself in that lions' cage just banking on not giving in? Maybe you're in a job that has you spending way too many nights a year in a hotel room by yourself. Maybe you're going to way too many happy hours, which puts you around people drinking too much alcohol and entertaining all types of sexual sin.

Maybe you're constantly scrolling on Instagram, but it's clear that an algorithm has your number. Maybe you're texting with people you just don't need to be texting with. Maybe you're way too casual with people who aren't your spouse. John Owen said, "Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you."

Listen to Ephesians 5:3. Listen to what Paul says is God's standard. "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality…" What can you think of that just has a hint? The only thing I could think of was those chips that have a hint of lime. It's like, "It's a normal chip. No, there's a hint of lime in it." You barely notice it. It's a hint. Paul is like, "Not even that. Not even that in your life." You're like, "Man, I'm good from sexual sin except for this hint." Paul is like, "Yeah, get it out. It doesn't belong. Jesus owns the house."

So, I want to give you a moment. We're not done. We still have more to talk about, but I don't want to just move on to speech when God wants to do some work right now. I just want to give you a moment to pray. I want to ask you right now to ask God this question: "Where am I cracking the door to sexual sin in my life?" Just ask him that.

Then I want to invite you to ask him, "What do you want me to do to put it to death?"

Then I want to invite you to invite his Spirit to empower you against sexual sin. Just say, "Holy Spirit, would you give me the same power that raised Christ from the dead against sexual sin?"

Lord, have your way. Amen.

Look back at verse 6. Paul says, "On account of these the wrath of God is coming." Let that sink in. May we not flirt with the things God hates. May we not rationalize things the eternal Son of God had to die for in order for us to be saved from the wrath of God. Do you know what an unbelieving world needs to see? That we believe we have found a better God.

Paul moves on from putting sexual sin to death, and now his encouragement is to put away sinful speech. Look at what he says in verse 7. "In these you too once walked, when you were living in them." There was a day that was BC, before Christ. Verse 8: "But now…" That means a change has happened in your life. You're living in the "But now" of your life.

"But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."

Anger is a term used of fruit swelling with juice. It's the continuous state of anything from annoyance to hatred. Wrath is when anger breaks out in actual angry deeds or words. It's a bad temper. Malice is evil intended to cause hurt. Slander is the Greek word blasphemia. It sounds like blasphemy, because it's speaking against those who are made in God's image. To speak against someone made in God's image is to speak against God himself. It's blasphemy. Obscene talk is harsh and abusive talk toward others, and then there's lying.

Again, let me be very specific. It's going to be super unenjoyable, but let me be specific on what no longer makes sense in our lives because we're seated in the heavenly places with the King of Kings. We're hidden with Christ. Gossip no longer makes sense. Let's be clear on what gossip is. Gossip is talking negatively about someone who isn't present. To be clear, it is still gossip even when you preface it by saying, "You know what? I love [so-and-so], but…" That's the warning sign. That but means you need to butt out.

Losing your cool on your spouse or your kids or your roommates or your employees; talking condescendingly, harshly, or passive-aggressively to others; making derogatory comments about people you disagree with; making inappropriate sexual jokes; using profanity; exaggerating about what you have accomplished; saying you did something when you didn't; saying you didn't do something when you did.

Can you imagine sitting in the heavenly realm with Jesus and then going off on your employee or gossiping about one of your brothers or sisters in Christ? Can you imagine being hidden with Christ and lying? It doesn't make sense. Now, did you see the language Paul uses? He says, "…seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self…" That language in the Greek carries the idea of changing clothes. It's kind of like this.

When my kids were really young, there would be times where one of my kids would throw up or would have such a blowout in their diaper that it would spread all over their clothes. I know this sounds gross, but I'm trying to make a point. There would be moments where that would happen where we didn't even try to salvage the clothes. We were just like, "Nope. That's done."

We would take it off and put it straight into the trash. The clothes would go straight into the trash. You're like, "That's wasteful." Don't care. It went straight into the trash and the kid went straight into the bathtub. We would clean him up. We'd put on a clean diaper and a perfectly clean new pair of clothes.

That's what God has done to you. He has stripped off the soiled garments of sin and thrown them away through his death, burial, and resurrection. He has clothed you with Christlikeness. He has clothed you with Christ. You have in some way put on Christ. So, when we sin with our speech, it's like going to the trash can, rummaging around, finding the vomit-soiled garments, and then putting them on over the cleanness we have in Christ.

Can you feel the discomfort? Just feel that. Like, when you touch and feel something wet, you're like, "Oh, I know exactly what that is." Just that grossness. That's what you should feel when stuff comes out of your mouth that doesn't reflect Christ. There should be something in you that is like, "That was gross. I can't even believe that came out of my mouth."

Think about what James 3:2 says. "For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body." Isn't that interesting? What he's saying is "Do you want to know one of the greatest indicators of spiritual maturity? It's your ability to control what you say."

Do you want to know the people who have progressed the most in their journey with Jesus? It's the people who, when you get around them, talk less. They react less. When they exaggerate, they're quick to be like, "You know what? Let me correct that. That happened once. Not five times…once. I didn't make that much; I made this much." When you see that, you should celebrate it.

Again, I want to give you a moment to pray right now. Here's what I want to invite you to pray. Just say, "God, show me my tendency toward sinful speech. Where is my tendency toward sinful speech?" This one might hurt more. There might be more of a tendency with this one to rationalize your sin, but let me encourage you. Don't sugarcoat being harsh or condescending as just being a strong personality or a straight shooter or just being passionate. No, it's sin. Don't blame your spouse or your kids for your outbursts of anger. It's sin. So just ask him. "Show me my tendency toward sinful speech."

Then ask him what he wants you to do to put it away.

Then invite his Spirit to strengthen you with your speech.

God, have your way in our lives. Amen.

I want you to look back one more time at Paul's wording. Look at what he says in verse 9. "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Do you know why I land there? It's being renewed. Do you know what that means? You're a work in progress. You are in progress.

Becoming like Jesus is a lifelong thing. You might leave here feeling convicted, but you shouldn't leave here feeling shame. That's why I said you have to be clear on your reality before we talk about activity. God in his love can press into our lives in those prayer moments and say, "Let's deal with this sexual sin. Let's put it to death. Let's put away this sinful speech," and there doesn't have to be shame attached.

Shame is "You are something bad." Conviction is "You've done something bad that you need to repent of and move away from." You're in Christ. You're hidden with Christ. You're seated with him. He's committed to you, now and for all of eternity. You're in process. But here's the great news. It says you're being renewed. That's in the passive.

Do you know what that means? God is the one who's doing it. God takes the most responsibility for your renewal in Christ. It's on him. He's at work. Yet do you know what the Christian life is? It's this beautiful union of surrender and strategy. It's this beautiful mixture of surrender and strategy. Surrender is like a sailboat. You want to put up the sails of your life for the wind of God to move you forward.

What does it look like to put up the sails of your life? It's raising your sails. You raise your sails when you read God's Word. When you remind yourself of your reality in Christ, when you surround yourself with your Community Group who can speak truth into your life, and when you listen to the Spirit throughout the day, that's what you're doing. You're raising the sails for God to carry you forward in Christlikeness. Surrender.

It's also strategy, just practically knowing yourself. It's just knowing, "You know what? It is not best for me to go here. It is not best for me to watch that. It is not best for me to be around those people. It's just not best." That's strategy. That's just partnering with what God is already doing in your life. Surrender and strategy working together.

I want to close by inviting you to pray one more time, to take a moment and process with the Lord. I'm going to ask you a few questions. This is not the moment to check out. Is there any sexual sin that has been in the dark that needs to be brought into the light? If so, I want to encourage you to tell at least one person today. So just ask God, "Is there any sexual sin in the dark that needs to be brought into the light? If so, who do you want me to tell?"

Next, is there anyone you have sinned against with your speech who you need to seek forgiveness from? Who is it? If there is, I want to encourage you to seek that person out today. Is there any sin from your past that Christ has already healed you from yet you still let shame linger? If so, I want to invite you to deal with that now and just say, "Christ, you have made me clean. You have taken my failure and traded it with your forgiveness. I will not minimize your cross any longer by living under the shame from my past sin."

Then, is there a step you need to take here at the church? Maybe you'll finally come to re:gen tomorrow night. If your marriage is on fire because you guys don't know how to speak to one another in a Christlike way anymore, re|engage might be your next step. Every person here can benefit from engaging their Community Group in a more meaningful way this week, to go to their community and be vulnerable enough to be fully known and fully loved.

Then, finally, maybe some of you here don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. The reality is that your reality is you're not hidden with Christ or with Christ or united with Christ. You're separated from God, and you need Christ. Christ has come to make peace between you and God, to take you who are an enemy of God and make you a child of God. It's only through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that's you this morning, would you come to faith? Would you give your life to Jesus? Would you say "Yes" to him? I pray that you would.

Lord, we need you today. We need your help, God. We want to be your men and your women. Thank you for the union we have with you. I pray that our reality would change our activity. Lead us to put sexual sin to death. Lead us to put sin with our speech away. Would you make us more like yourself? We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.