Is it Lawful? | Sunday, November 1, 2020

I won't forget the wonder of how You brought deliverance, the exodus of my heart. You found me, You freed me, and held back the waters for my release. Oh yeah, You're the God who fights for me, Lord.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You are the one who fights for me.

Now I will not forget. You took me by forever. Hallelujah! You're the God who fights for me, Lord of Harry, victory! Hallelujah! You will lead me through the deep. Hallelujah!

Good morning, Cross Connection Church.

Family, welcome to church online, church at home, coming to you from my home office where I've got my cup of coffee, and I'm sure you've got yours as well. In just a second, we're going to go over to the church, and Emily's going to lead us for a time of worship this morning.

But before we do, please make sure that you send out a message on social media or a text message to a group of friends inviting them to join us for our church service. I think that this is a great way for us to share our faith with other people. You can send out that link: live.ccchurch.com.

Also, remember that tonight at five o'clock on the patio at the church, located at 1675 Seven Oaks Road here in Escondido, we will be gathering together for a time of worship, fellowship, prayer, and a time in the Scriptures. I believe that the Lord is using this time; it has been a real blessing over the last couple of weeks, so I hope to see you there.

The message that I have prepared this morning is something that I believe the Lord wants to speak to us as we are just a couple of days out from a very pivotal moment in our nation as we move through the rest of 2020. So, make sure you have your Bible when we get to the Scriptures here in just a little while.

But before we go to worship, let me open in prayer. Father God, we thank You for the blessing and the privilege that it is to be able to gather together, even when we're apart, and to worship You. Lord, You do not need us to be in any particular place to worship because You desire those who will worship You in spirit and in truth. I pray for this time of worship that You would set our hearts upon You and help us to lift You high. Lord, prepare our hearts and our minds to hear from You, from Your Word and by Your Spirit. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

In the midst of the darkness, You're the light that guides me.

Through our eyes, our focus is on You. You are near to the broken, and we find strength in You. When I'm lost in the madness, You are the peace that calms my soul. You bring hope to the hopeless; You are the love that won't let go.

We lift our eyes to You, where our help comes from. Our hope is found in the midst of darkness; You are the light that guides me. You are near to the broken, and we find strength in You. We lift our eyes to You, where our help comes from. Our hope is found in You, Jesus.

Whatever is exalted in this world, nothing can shake us. We stand firm on Your words as we lift our eyes to You.

Where our help comes from, our hope is found in You, Jesus, Lord of all. We lift our eyes to You, exalted.

Welcome! Thanks for tuning in to Cross Connection Church this morning. We are excited that we get to bring you church at home today. I'm Pastor Garrett. If you don't know me, welcome! I'm glad you could be here. Cross Connection Church is a church that's all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ.

Part of the way that we step into life in connection with God is through prayer. I think more than ever right now, as we are days away from an election, our church and the church at large around the world need to be on their knees praying that God would pour out His grace and His Spirit on our nation. So, be praying for a spirit of unity, not division, and that God would just be showing up in a mighty and powerful way this week.

Speaking of prayer, we also want to get your prayer requests. We have a form on our website, prayer.lifeinconnection.com. It's a great place for you to go submit your prayer requests and know that your pastors and our prayer team receive them immediately. We are praying with and for you this week. We see our God is mighty; He hears our prayers and answers our prayers. We want to see how He might answer your prayers this week, so please don't be shy. We'd love to be praying with and for you this week at prayer.lifeinconnection.com.

Aside from prayer, on mission this week, it was actually yesterday that we had tons of people coming through.

Different harvest homes were opened up for hospitality, handing out candy and treats to kids who were trick-or-treating and families who were coming by. This was an outreach from Cross Connection Church to our community. We did it at a couple of different houses here in Escondido. Please be praying for the people who were invited to church, that they would be open to receiving that, and for all the people we have been able to minister to through this outreach. Pray for them this week.

Aside from praying, we would also like to remind you that next week, on November 8th, we need those Christmas boxes back here at the church between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Make sure you remember that time. We need those Operation Christmas Child boxes returned so we can send them out on time. If you haven't filled those up yet, you still have time. Please spend this week praying for those boxes and for those who will be receiving them.

Before I hand the mic back to Pastor Anthony, I want to encourage you to join us tonight at five o'clock here at the church outside. We will be having a service, and Pastor Miles will be teaching. It will be a message you won't want to miss, along with a time of fellowship. Bring your camping chair and expect to have a great time and be ministered to by Pastor Miles and his message that he has especially prepared for tonight. I hope to see you there!

With that, I'm going to hand it back over to Pastor Anthony. We have a special song set aside for a time of worshiping the Lord with our giving. If you came prepared to give today, there are a couple of different ways you can do that. First, on your phones, you can text the number 84321. You can text any amount to that number, and it will guide you through how to give that way over your phone.

Second, you can visit give.lifeinconnection.com on our website; it's really simple. Third, you can mail your offering or your tithe to our Cross Connection Church address: 1675 Seven Oaks Road, Escondido, California.

Well, God bless you guys! Let's worship the Lord together. Precious blood has left me forgiven.

Pure, like the whitest of snow, powerful to make sin and shame retreat. This covenant is making me whole, so I will rise and lift my head. By His mercy, my life was spared. The highest name has set me free because of Jesus; my heart is clean.

Bear my heart in Your presence. Teach me to discover the joy of holiness that forms as You draw me close. My life was spared; the highest name has set me free because of Jesus. My heart is clean. I will rise and lift my head. By His mercy, my life was spared. The highest name has set me free because of Jesus; my heart is clean.

Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide, forgiveness.

Was bought with the Father's arms, the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a Savior! Isn't He wonderful? Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen. Bow down before Him.

Hallelujah, Christ is rising! Isn't He wonderful? Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen. Oh, come to the altar; the Father's arms are open. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Father, thank You that by Your sacrifice...

On the cross, we have been made clean so we can stand in Your presence here this morning. Whether we're watching at home or here together, God, we know that You're still with us and that You're still inhabiting the praises of Your people. I just ask that You would take the words that Miles has prepared this morning, along with words from Your Scripture, and use them to purify our hearts and transform our thoughts, actions, and words. God, would You use this to make us whole and help us look more and more like You? We open up our hearts to You this morning and ask You to come in and teach us. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

I think one of the most challenging things that I've faced as a follower of Jesus is the realization that His ways are not my ways. I'm pretty sure that you can relate to this. I don't typically struggle all that much with figuring out what I want to do or what I think I will do. The challenge arises when I get the sinking feeling that what I want to do or am doing is not in line with what God would have me to be doing. Nearly 3,000 years ago, God spoke to the prophet Isaiah, saying, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. God's ways are most certainly different than mine.

This whole year has really been a long lesson in submitting my ways, my will, my plans, and desires unto the Lord and His ways, will, plans, and desires. Can you relate to that? I'm sure that you can. Those are very challenging lessons to learn, and I won't say that I've fully learned them; there's a long way to go. Additionally, I wish that I could say that I endure the lessons that the Lord takes me through patiently and with obedience. I can't, because I haven't—at least not always. These lessons that the Lord has been teaching me have been lessons He's been teaching me for a very long time, and I expect that they will continue.

He will continue to do so for many years to come. One of my great encouragements in all of this, my hope in all of this, is what the Apostle Paul shares as his confidence and a promise in Philippians chapter 1, verse 6, where he says, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." We are all under construction.

I remember a T-shirt from a junior high camp years ago. It was a bright orange shirt, which I liked, and it had a huge diamond-shaped construction sign in the middle of it. It said, "Under construction, expect delays." I could wear that shirt with a lot of pride. Routinely, I have to remind myself that I, and all of those people with whom I so easily get impatient, are under construction.

My earnest hope and prayer through everything that we've experienced in 2020 is that I, and you, and we would continue to grow in our Christ-likeness. God alone is actually perfect, and He is perfectly patient with our imperfections. That's something to aspire to. I think that we should all aspire to be patient with other people's imperfections, don't you think?

In fact, maybe right now we could take a moment to actually pray and ask God that He would continue to work in us, that we would grow in our patience, and that we would continue to be transformed by His Spirit, by His power, and by His Word to be more like Him. That really is one of God's aims: to make us more and more into the likeness of His children, that we would take on His character and His nature.

So, I'm going to pray for myself and maybe for you as well, that we would grow in that way. I am also going to pray for our time in God's Word this morning because I believe that the Lord has something He wants to speak to us. So, wherever you're at at home, sitting in your living room, why don't we take just a moment and lift up our time together in prayer?

Father God, I do ask that You would continue that work of transforming us more and more by the renewing of our minds, that we would be able to display in our lives what is Yours.

Good and perfect will, God. I pray for my brothers and sisters. I pray for anyone who would watch this, that You would be doing a work in us, that we would see the fruit of the Spirit begin to be more evident in us: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, and patience. Lord, do these things in us. Help us to be self-controlled and gentle. Work in us by Your Word, and especially as we look at the Scriptures today. I pray that we would see You, Jesus, through the Scriptures and that You would work in us to transform us.

Lord, help us to submit our will, our ways, and our desires into Your hands, knowing that Your ways are higher than ours and Your thoughts are higher than ours. God, speak to us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

As you well know, we are two days from local, state, and federal elections here in the United States. Many of you that will vote may have already done so. Some of you are waiting to do so until Tuesday, and there may even be some of you that are watching who have not yet planned to vote, or you may even be planning to not vote.

As I've shared with you many times this year, I expected at the beginning of 2020 that this would be a year of chaos. I anticipated that it would be a chaotic year because of the elections, and it has been chaotic because of the elections and dozens of other chaos-inducing circumstances as well. I hope that the elections on Tuesday will, in some way, begin to dispel a little bit of the chaos, although they very well may introduce more chaos. But one can hope and pray for an easing of all of this that we've been going through, and I hope and pray that you are doing just that—hoping and praying for that.

We are at a critical moment in our nation and in the world. It is at times like this that I and many other Christians are reminded of an Old Testament passage of Scripture in Second Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14. There we read, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Now, I'll be the first to acknowledge that the words of Second Chronicles 7:14 are speaking in context to God's people in Israel several thousand years ago. However, I believe that there is application for Christians in our day from this text. In the Proverbs of Solomon, we read, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." This is generally true for all people and nations at all times.

I would encourage you to pray for God's grace, mercy, and peace for our nation during this time. It is important for us to recognize that what happens here in the U.S. has reverberative effects upon the whole world. So, pray and consider joining us this evening at five o'clock on the church patio for a time of fellowship, worship, teaching, and especially prayer. We are going to pray for our nation, which is in need of prayer right now. We need God to move.

It is really important for us to recognize that the Scriptures make it very clear that whatever happens in this world, God is still sovereign. He is still on the throne. I would encourage you to read through passages like Isaiah chapter 6. When the king of Israel at that time, King Uzziah, died under horrible circumstances, he had become arrogant and proud in his heart. As a result, the last fifteen years of his very long reign, which had been good up to that point, were filled with shame and embarrassment for him and the nation. Then he died, and the throne was vacant.

But in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated upon a throne." It is so important for us to understand that whatever happens in our nation and in the world, God is enthroned in heaven. He is still sovereign and still working.

During this chaotic year, we have been slowly moving through the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. I have no immediate plans to change course, but as with the last two weeks, in which Pastors Jason and Mark shared about the law of God in other sections of Scripture, I do think it's necessary to deviate from the course we are on and look at some other things. So, for those of you who were very passionate about getting into the book of Deuteronomy this morning, I regret to inform you that I am going to speak topically.

Another text today. I do believe that it is relevant to the cultural moment that we find ourselves in here on November 1st, 2020. For the last several weeks, I've been impressed by a number of events in the life of Jesus from the Gospels. One of them is a passage that might be familiar to you if you grew up around church.

If you have your Bible today, I want to invite you to open to the Gospel of Luke. This story is also found in Matthew's Gospel and Mark's Gospel, but open to Luke chapter 20. I'm going to read beginning at verse 20. So, Luke 20:20—kind of fitting, don’t you think?

Luke 20:20 says, "So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on his words in order to deliver him to the power and authority of the governor. Then they asked him, 'Teacher, we know that you say and teach rightly, and you do not show partiality; you do not show favoritism, but you teach the way of God in truth. So is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?' But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, 'Why do you test me? Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?' They answered and said, 'Caesar's.' And he said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.' But they could not catch him in his words in the presence of the people, and they marveled at his answer and kept silent."

I love when Jesus silences his opponents in the Gospels. When we read in verse 20 of Luke 20 that they watched Jesus and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, we know from the other Gospel accounts, from Matthew's Gospel and Mark's Gospel, that the "they" in this passage refers to the individuals from the religious establishment. It was the religious establishment in Jerusalem that sent them.

These spies were sent to spy on Jesus, and these individuals were called Pharisees, with some being from the Herodians. The Pharisees and the Herodians may be unfamiliar to you, and if that's the case, let me briefly explain who these characters are.

Among the Jews at the time of Christ, there were a number of religious and political factions, much like there are today with Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Libertarians, Democrats, Republicans, and Greens. In Jerusalem two thousand years ago, there were Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and Herodians. Each of these groups had their own beliefs, traditions, opinions, and commitments, and for the most part, they were at odds with one another. While there were some small areas of agreement among them, they did not often cross the ideological aisle.

Some groups, like the Pharisees, were hyper-religious and conservative, while others, like the Herodians, were pragmatic, progressive, and political. Very little has actually changed in 2000 years. The Pharisees and the Herodians could not have been further apart in virtually every way. The Herodians were sympathetic to the Roman occupation and rule, walking in lockstep with the dynastic rule of King Herod. King Herod was a puppet, a vassal of the Roman Empire. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were exceedingly Jewish and detested Rome's occupation of Judea. They did not like Herod and his rule over Israel.

These two groups were like strange bedfellows; there was virtually nothing that brought them together except their mutual hatred for Jesus. In fact, it was fairly early in the ministry of Jesus, after He had healed a lame man on the Sabbath day in a synagogue in Galilee, in the city of Capernaum, that we read in Mark's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 6, that the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Jesus, how they might destroy Him.

In this, we find an important point, but one that I'm a little afraid might...

It can irritate a few people when the hyper-religious marry the hyper-political. The outcome is often very anti-Jesus. Let me say that again: it's a challenging one, I know. When the hyper-religious marry the hyper-political, the outcome is often very anti-Jesus.

Now, don't read into that point some anti-voting or anti-political sentiment; that's not the case at all. With an election less than 48 hours away, I am not in any way saying that we shouldn't be involved in politics as Christians. In fact, I already voted. I've got my ballot here that I need to send in, and I've got my sticker here. I'll put that on right there. So, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be involved in politics and that you shouldn't vote. I think that you should. If you haven't voted, you should.

However, when religious people put their hope in political leaders, the outcome is rarely godly. Jesus said to the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, as he was standing trial and facing execution—which he ultimately was executed by Pilate—"My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this world, not from this world."

These anti-Jesus groups joined forces to destroy Jesus, and it is striking how quickly religious and moral convictions, like "Thou shall not murder," can be thrown out the window in favor of political expediency. Luke 20:20 says, "So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on his words in order to deliver him to the power and authority of the governor."

They waited and observed carefully; they spied on their political opponent and pretended to be righteous. These Pharisees were hyper-religious, but their religiosity was incredibly shallow. As is sometimes said, their righteousness was a mile wide and an inch deep—if it was even really an inch deep. Sometimes, religious people have just a veneer of righteousness. They were mere pretenders with wicked motivations, and their veneer of righteousness was so thin that it would break with just a couple of swipes of 4,000 grit sandpaper.

Through and expose the sham, but let's recognize that any righteousness that you and I could produce by our hyper-religiousness would be no different. Our own righteousness is always pretend before a holy God. Our righteousness is as filthy rags, as the prophet Isaiah observed in Isaiah chapter 64, verse 6. This is why Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

This is a very important point: there is no ultimate hope in religion, and there is no ultimate hope in politics. Ultimate hope is found only in the righteousness that Jesus gives. For true and lasting hope, we must be clothed in the garments of salvation with the robe of Christ's righteousness. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul observed that God made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The righteousness pretenders waited for an opportunity to deliver Jesus over to the power and authority of the governor. Clearly, they failed to recognize that all the power and authority of the governor was subject to the power and authority of Jesus, but that's a point for another day. They colluded with one another and spied for an opportunity that they might seize upon it.

Verse 21 says, "Then they asked Him, saying, 'Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but You teach the way of God in truth.'" Those who feign righteousness are often adept at using religious flattery. They meant none of the things that they said to Jesus; if they did, they wouldn't be seeking an opportunity to destroy Him.

He said, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly." Every teacher has been buttered up with similar flattery, I can assure you. "We know that You don't show personal favoritism; You don't show partiality, but You teach the way of God in truth." All that was true, true, true, and true. But beware when all people speak well of you. They had a lot of great things to say about Jesus, but they didn't believe any of them.

And so then they brought to Jesus their prime question, a question that was intended to trip Him up. They were trying to catch Him so they could...

Destroy him; that's their whole aim. It's been their aim for years at this point.

In verse 22, the question arises: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? The Pharisees and the Herodians, two diametrically opposed groups, thought they had Jesus in the proverbial catch-22. This situation resembles a Kafka trap nearly 1,900 years before Kafka himself. For the Herodians, who were loyal to the sitting king Herod—a puppet of the occupying Roman Empire—a "no" answer from Jesus would lead to an immediate charge of sedition, punishable by death. On the other hand, the Pharisees, who detested Herod's rule and hated the Roman occupation of Judea, believed that a "yes" answer from Jesus would put him at odds with the common people and the religious establishment of Jerusalem. In their minds, they thought surely there was no way that Jesus could get out of this.

The Herodians and the Pharisees were two competing ideological and political bodies in Israel. They opposed one another at nearly every turn, except when it came to Jesus. In this case, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. However, verse 23 states that Jesus perceived their craftiness and said to them, "Why do you test me?" Never forget that Jesus sees right through our sham righteousness. He knows our true motivations and is wise enough to answer our seemingly unanswerable questions. The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

He then said to those who were endeavoring to trap him, "Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?" They answered and said, "Caesar's." We know from archaeological evidence that the denarius, which was a day's wage at that time, bore the image of Tiberius Caesar and carried the inscription "Caesar, son of the divine Augustus." They looked at him as an incarnate god, and the Roman Caesar was worshiped during that day. For many of the most religious people in Israel, especially the Pharisees, paying the Roman tax with the Roman currency was a significant issue.

Denarius was akin to idolatry, so all of those within earshot of this question—Jesus's disciples, the interrogating Pharisees and Herodians, and the crowd—leaned in at this point, waiting for Jesus's response. He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Be honest; you kind of wish that Jesus had a different answer. I began this message by saying that one of the most challenging things I faced as a follower of Jesus is the consistent realization that His ways are not my ways. The Scriptures say, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways," says the Lord.

There were members of Jesus's group of disciples who were zealots—religious zealots and political zealots. They fought against Roman rule and against Herod. There were individuals who were aligned with the Pharisees. Several of Jesus's closest disciples were hyper-nationalistic, patriotic Jews who detested the politics of their day and hated Rome's occupation. They looked at Jesus with a messianic expectation, meaning they anticipated that He would ascend to the throne and cast off Roman rule.

Now, when given the opportunity to speak contemptuously of Rome and of Roman taxation, Jesus responds, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." Be honest; that's not the answer you would be hoping for. Even if you've read this passage before, there's a part of you that wishes He'd say something else.

But Jesus's answer went beyond commanding that they pay the taxes, and that's exactly what it is—a command for them to pay their taxes. However, He goes further than that. He says, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and render to God the things that are God's." He requested a coin from them and asked, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said, "It's Caesar's," to which He responded, "Pay Caesar the money that bears his image and inscription, and give back to God the things that bear His image and inscription."

This begs the question: What is it that you and I have that bears Jesus's image? Well, perhaps you've read the opening words of the Bible, Genesis chapter one. You don't have to get very far to read these words in verses 26 and 27: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image.'"

And our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God made man; He created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him; male and female, He created them.

The rulers of this world expect to receive taxes, customs, fear, and honor. God incarnate says to render to the earthly rulers. The Apostle Paul reiterates this very same teaching in Romans chapter 13, where we read, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Therefore, whoever resists authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have the praise of the same. For he, the authority, is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. He is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him who practices evil.

Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render—there's that word again—render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

I can feel it; I don't think I'm getting too many likes on this message. The rulers of this world expect to receive taxes, customs, fear, and honor, and God expects that we yield to Him all honor and glory and praise forever. I want to suggest that had Israel been faithful to God in that way two thousand years ago, they may not have experienced the oppression and occupation of Rome, harsh taskmasters, and terrible rulers. This response is what Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Rome, which he called our right response.

Reasonable service and our proper worship are essential. The Herodians and Pharisees heard Jesus's response, but they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. They marveled at His answer and kept silent; they were speechless. They marveled as they heard what Jesus had to say. They thought for sure that they had caught Him, and that this question was going to be one He could not escape.

As these two competing factions, the Pharisees and the Herodians, approached Him, they believed they had a trap. They thought, if He says yes to this question, then we've got Him; if He says no, we've got Him. However, He responded, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's." They were completely speechless.

These are heavy thoughts to consider just a couple of days before an election. We cannot ultimately put our hope in politics. We cannot ultimately put our hope in our own religious efforts. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ; it has to be firmly fixed upon Him.

Yes, we should be involved in the leadership of our nation. Yes, we should vote. Yes, we should use our freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression, along with all the liberties and rights that we have protected in our Constitution. But ultimately, at the end of the day, my hope and your hope need to be in Christ Jesus.

Father, I pray that You would drive these truths home to us and that we would be diligent to render unto You what is Yours. May we offer our lives as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto You, which is our proper worship, our reasonable service, and our only right response to what You have done.

God, we pray that You would transform us as we do this by the renewing of our minds, so that we would be able to display in this world what is Your good and perfect will. God, do that work in us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus's name. Amen.

He brought me. Yes, how much? How much? I am. Yes.

In my Father's house, there's a place for me. I am a child of God, yes, I am.

Father, we thank You for the time of worship that we've had today. We thank You for the time of our study in Your Word today. We pray, God, that You would continue to encourage and strengthen Your church, Your body. Lord, we pray that You would extend the influence of Cross Connection Church and other Bible-teaching churches in our community and in our world. We are all seeking to bring Your Word out into the world through the internet and through all these methods.

Lord, pour out Your grace and Your Spirit upon Your church. Provide for all of our needs, we pray. We thank You in Jesus' name.

And now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Listen, tonight we'll be gathering together at five o'clock on the church patio. We will be socially distanced, and masks are welcome for a time of worship and fellowship, a time of study in the Scriptures, and especially a time of prayer.

Be praying for our nation. Be praying for God's church, that we would shine brightly in this dark world and that God would use His church to be like salt to a world that has lost its flavor. That's exactly what we need as we finish out 2020 and get ready to go into 2021.

So, God bless America. May it be Him who is bringing His blessing through His church. Amen. We'll see you next time.