Life on Purpose | Sunday, January 5, 2025

Amen! Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning, Cross Connection. You can have a seat. Happy New Year to all of you! Welcome to 2025. We have survived another year, but God has many great things in store for us in the new year.

I believe God has some great things He wants to do in each of our lives individually. I like to begin each year by talking as a church about why we exist. In that discussion, I also want to explore why each of us is here individually and why God has placed us in this community. I think this discussion is especially important as more and more people in our culture struggle to answer the question, "Why am I here?"

The reason many people have difficulty answering that question is that our culture, especially over the last several generations, has been indoctrinated with a worldview that suggests we are merely the product of random evolutionary processes over billions of years, rather than the intentional, purposeful design of a personal Creator. This worldview has led to many issues in our society.

It has been observed by various individuals that we are experiencing record levels of physical, emotional, and mental health issues. I don't think this is accidental. I believe there is a direct correlation between the worldview we have been given and the alarming indicators of mental, emotional, and physical health.

It is not surprising that people are experiencing what has been described as a crisis of meaning or that they have questions about their purpose in this world and why they exist. The lack of understanding regarding the value of life has resulted in a sense of senselessness and purposelessness that many are grappling with. This is a direct result of the worldview that has been imposed upon us.

That worldview, now our culture for easily 1,500 years, if not more, was founded upon a scriptural or biblical worldview. This worldview states that you are the product of the intentional design and purpose of a personal God who made you for a reason. He made humanity corporately for a reason, and He made humanity distinct in His image. That's what Genesis 1 and 2 make very clear: in the image of God, He created us; male and female, He created us.

He created us corporately to fulfill a global mission, but He also has created each of us individually. He made you distinct from the person sitting next to you. Psalm 139 makes it very clear that as He was knitting you together in your mother's womb, He knew you. In the same way that He fashioned Jeremiah and said, "From the womb, I have called you for this specific purpose," I believe God has called each and every one of us for a specific purpose.

I am convinced that this worldview is so much better than the one that says you are the product of random chance and mutation over billions and billions of years. There is no ultimate purpose to that, but there is an ultimate purpose that God has made each of us for. The reality of this weighs heavily upon me. I think that God wants His creation, especially those made in His image, to thrive.

It is not an accident that God has revealed Himself to us in the pages of Scripture as a Father. As a father myself, and knowing that many of you are parents, there is something innate in you that desires for your kids to thrive. I want my children to discover and fulfill their purpose. I want them to reach their potential. When they seem to be falling short of it, it bothers me, and it should bother you as a parent when you see your kids coming short of what they could or ought to achieve. You see something in them that maybe they do not yet see in themselves.

Don't see in themselves that bothers you, and I'm convinced that that which you have as a parent, when you see that in your kids, is just a fraction of the way that God feels when He looks at His creation. He wants us to experience abundance; He wants us to thrive.

Not just as a parent, but also as a pastor, I want to see the people of this church, as well as the individuals I interact with outside the church, come to the point where they discover and fulfill the purpose for which they were made. I'm convinced that this is a part of God's heart that is very clearly expressed to us in the Scriptures. It is clearly seen in Jesus's words as He explains His purpose for coming to this world.

I've talked about this many times before. As you go through the Gospels, there are about fifteen or so times where Jesus very clearly announces His purpose in coming to this world. Jesus says, as we just celebrated, is God incarnate; God became a man. That's what we celebrate at Christmas. In His coming to this world, He came for a purpose. God did not come down to the world so that He could be fonded over or served by His creation. Although, if you read a lot of the myths in Greek mythology, Roman mythology, or other mythologies around the world, that's really what the gods would come down to the world for.

But Jesus makes it very clear in Mark 10:45. He says, "The Son of Man," which is a title that actually started from the Prophet Daniel about 500 years before Jesus came. It's a Messianic title that speaks about the Anointed One. Jesus says, "The Son of Man did not come to this world to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." He is announcing there, "This is my purpose. I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many."

Another one of the purpose statement passages of Jesus is in Luke's Gospel, Luke 19:10. In a beautiful story that some of you might remember, the story of Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus was a wee little man; a wee little man was he. How many of you guys remember that one? He climbed up in a sycamore tree to see what he could see. If you don't know that song or that little ditty, you should sign up for children's ministry today so that you can learn it.

In Luke chapter 19, Jesus calls the tax collector Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and says, "I’m going to go and stay at your house today." The people around Jesus, the multitudes, are bothered by this. Why would He go to have a meal with a tax collector? For them, tax collectors were like the worst people on the planet. I know none of you feel like that, but that's how they felt. They questioned why He would go to stay at the house of this sinner, a tax collector.

Jesus announces one of His reasons for coming in Luke 19:10. He says, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. He came to seek and to save that which is lost. In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 9, it says that Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the people, for they were like sheep without a shepherd and were scattered. Jesus talks about leaving the ninety-nine to go and retrieve the one lost sheep.

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. I love that verse in Luke 19:10. Another one of my favorites, as I mentioned, is in John 10:10. It says, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly."

In these statements, the heart of God is being revealed to us. Jesus didn't come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. He came to seek and to save that which is lost. He came to give life and that more abundantly. In these purpose statements, we are given an indication of God's heart for us, revealing His desire for us. He does not want you or me to wander or meander aimlessly in this life like sheep without a shepherd. He does not want us to wallow in bondage to sin and death. He does not want us to be ripped off by the enemy, the thief who has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He desires that we would experience life to its fullest, more abundantly.

Its fullest, that more abundantly, is to say the good life now and forever. I am convinced God wants us to experience the good life now and forever—eternal life, abundant life. However, when I say the good life, there's a challenge with that. In our culture, if you ask people to define the good life, they might give you all kinds of different, subjective answers about what they think the good life is.

I am willing to bet that many of the things they would say would differ from how God would define the good life. So, when I say that God's desire is for you to experience the good life now and forever, just understand that the definition of the good life, as God defines it, is probably different from the way your neighbor or coworker would define it.

Who should be trusted in their definition of the good life? The one who created you, or your neighbor's subjective opinion about what the good life is, or American culture's subjective opinion about the good life? I think that the one who created us has a better gauge on what the good life is. As we go through the Scriptures, some of the things that describe the good life would be a life free from sin—that's a good life as God defines it—a life full of joy, a life filled with love, hope, peace, and many other great things that we find in the Bible as the spiritual blessings that God gives to us. A life where you are fulfilling your God-ordained purpose; these are the kinds of things that equate to the good life as God describes it in the Scriptures.

Point number one, if you're taking notes this morning: God wants me to know and live eternal life. This statement can be validated by Scripture very easily. I can highlight a number of passages that make this very clear: God wants me to know and live eternal life. Not only can this proposition be validated by Scripture, but I am certain—I'm convinced—that this statement is captivating, especially for a lot of younger people. When I say younger people, I'm talking about those who are aged 20 and below. God wants me to know and live eternal life; it's a captivating statement, especially for the younger generation.

People, especially younger individuals, often do not know much about God, His Word, or His people, the Church. They have many opinions about God, the Bible, and Christians, but these opinions did not arise out of nowhere. They were conveyed to them or taught in some way through the culture in which they grew up.

Some of the opinions they have been told or taught include the belief that the Bible is a racist book, a sexist book, and a homophobic book. They think that the people who follow this Bible, the Christians, are primarily focused on attaining and maintaining power to subjugate others, especially minorities. This is the prevailing view, and when you ask if people actually believe that, the answer is yes. I have had conversations with them, and perhaps you have too. They did not just come up with that idea one day; it was taught to them.

In these conversations, I often hear statements like, "The Bible's just a racist, homophobic book." I respond by asking, "Have you read it?" They usually sheepishly admit that they have not. I then point out that they have strong opinions about something they have never actually read. We often refer to people with strong opinions about things they know nothing about as ignorant. The Latin equivalent would be "ignoramus." While they may not like to admit it, that is the reality.

However, they did not just spontaneously decide that the Bible is a racist, sexist, homophobic book, nor that the people who follow it are solely interested in power. I have spent the better part of the last 25 years studying and teaching this book and spending time with the people who follow it, the Church. My findings do not support the notion that they are merely seeking power.

I understand how people arrive at those conclusions, often by taking certain passages out of context and not fully grasping what is being said. Yet, that is not the true teaching of the Bible. When you study this book from Genesis to Revelation, you discover that God wants us to know and live eternal life, and Jesus reveals that beautifully in the Gospel.

To highlight that this morning, I want to open to the Gospel of John. If you have a Bible, take it out. If you don't, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring it to you. Open to about the middle of your Bible and start turning to the right. Eventually, you're going to find the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. John chapter 17 is where I'd like you to turn this morning.

Here in John chapter 17, we have a pretty well-known passage of Scripture that's referred to by many as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. I actually like to refer to this passage as the Lord's Prayer. Now, I know that that's a problem because for a lot of people, when they hear the term "The Lord's Prayer," they think of the prayer, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." That's from Matthew chapter 6 and Luke 11, where Jesus is teaching his disciples a model for prayer: "This is how you ought to pray. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

I understand why that's called The Lord's Prayer, but this in John 17 is actually where the Lord Jesus is praying. It's a challenging passage of Scripture for many because when we say that Jesus is praying to the Father, people might wonder, "Well, I thought Jesus is God." Yes, Jesus is God, but how is He praying to God? Well, yes, He is praying to God, so God is praying to God. What is going on?

This gets into a huge theological discussion about one of the most difficult topics of theology and doctrine called the doctrine of the Trinity. I could spend a lot of time talking about it, but I'm not going to delve into it deeply today. What is revealed in the Scriptures is that there is one God, but God exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are co-equal and co-eternal. It's a hard thing to wrap your brain around—probably the hardest Christian doctrine to understand. It causes a lot of misunderstanding for many different people, especially for those who are, say, Muslim, who think that Christians actually believe in many gods. That's one of the things Muslims will say, and it's because they don't understand the doctrine of the Trinity, which I get, as it's a challenging concept.

But here in this passage, God incarnate, Jesus, is here upon the Earth, and He is praying to the Father. He is praying for you. He is praying for His disciples, but not just the disciples who are with Him in His presence at that moment. He also says, "I pray for those who will believe in Me through their word." That's for you. So when Jesus is praying for you in this passage, it's revealing God's heart because really, our truest desire or our deepest longing of our heart is...

Revealed in our prayers, those are the things that we bring to God in prayer most of the time. Here, we get to see a bit of the heart of God revealed in the prayer of Jesus, the Lord's Prayer. In John chapter 17, we find an introduction to this passage. What does this reveal about God's desire for us?

One of the things that I think it reveals is that Jesus wants me to know and live eternal life. Where do I see that? Look at John 17, the opening words in verse one: Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You. As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."

And this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. In this passage, Jesus says, "Father, You've given me power, jurisdiction, authority." The word "authority" there is the Greek word "exousia," which means jurisdictional power over a region. So, where does Jesus have jurisdictional power? He says, "You've given me jurisdictional power over everything." This means that there is nothing in all of creation that Jesus does not have authority over.

He states, "I have authority over everything. Not only do I have power, jurisdiction, and authority over all things, but I have the authority to give immortality or eternal life to whoever I choose. You've given me everything; You've given me power to give eternal life to everyone."

Then He defines what eternal life is. If you're taking notes, point number two is: I was made to know eternal life by knowing God in an everlasting relationship. That's what you were made for.

As I mentioned previously, there are many people in our culture who have less and less of a good answer to the question, "Why am I here? What's my purpose for being?" This question becomes more and more difficult for people to answer as time goes on. Why am I here?

The Bible's answer to the question of why we are here is that we are made to know eternal life by knowing God in an everlasting relationship. I was created to have an everlasting relationship with God. It is my belief that you and I are not eternal or immortal by nature; we only find immortality in Christ Jesus.

In 2 Timothy 1:10, it says that Jesus has brought to light life and immortality through the gospel. What that means is we do not know life or immortality apart from the gospel, but He makes it possible for us to have everlasting life. The key to this is that it is not just life that goes on and on forever; there is a focus to this life. It is a life that continues forever, where we have a relationship with the God who made everything, allowing us to live in harmony and oneness with Him.

I have more to say about knowing God in this everlasting relationship in a moment. But first, I want to connect what is happening in Jesus's prayer in John 17 to what has happened previously in the passage that leads up to this. Notice that John 17:1 opens with the words, "Jesus spoke these words." This prayer of Jesus for His followers comes after He has spoken something, so it is the result of everything He has already taught.

What words did He speak? Everything that started in John 13 until what happens here in John 17. In this passage from John 13 to John 17, Jesus is teaching His disciples in what is referred to by theologians as the Upper Room Discourse. Why is it called the Upper Room Discourse? It is the conversational teaching that Jesus had with His disciples when He was in an upper room in Jerusalem.

He is having a conversation, teaching His disciples conversationally while in an upper room in Jerusalem. Why is He there? He is celebrating the Passover with His disciples, His last time celebrating the Jewish Passover with them before He is betrayed by one of His disciples and arrested by the religious leaders.

In Jerusalem, Jesus is going to be tried in a horribly unjust trial, condemned, and then crucified within 24 hours. This is his last conversation with his disciples as he shares a meal with them. He very intentionally speaks a number of things to them and performs several actions that are crucial to the story of Jesus.

One of the things he does, as noted in John 13, is wash his disciples' feet. In washing their feet, he says, "I’m leaving you an example that you should do as I have done." Does that mean we should go around washing people's feet? Not necessarily. It means we should serve people, even if it involves doing the lowest of tasks. For the people who lived in Jesus's day, feet were about the dirtiest thing you could imagine. Washing someone's feet, which was a traditional act of greeting and welcoming someone into your home, was a task reserved for the lowest servant because nobody wanted to do it.

To really grasp the significance, it would be akin to wiping someone's bottom. I know that sounds harsh, but I need to express it in a way that you can understand. You wouldn't do that for someone unless you were being kind and compassionate. So, Jesus says, "I’m leaving for you an example of something you ought to do." He not only washes his disciples' feet but also partakes of the Last Supper with them, which we will celebrate in a moment through communion.

During this time, he speaks some very important words to them. In John 17:1, it says, "There Jesus spoke these words to them." What words did he speak? I have highlighted some of them over the last couple of weeks, particularly from John 15, which is part of this Upper Room discourse. In this passage, Jesus exhorts his followers to abide in him, saying, "Abide in me. Let my words abide in you. Abide in my love." He encourages his disciples to remain in that state.

After he exhorts them to abide, he states in John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you." This phrase is important because John 17 indicates that Jesus spoke these words, and he repeats this five times in the Upper Room.

In the Upper Room discourse, Jesus repeats the phrase, "These things I have spoken to you." There are intentional elements happening here, and if you observe the flow of what is going on, you will notice that after Jesus spoke these things, He prays for His followers. Before He prays for them, He shares some very important truths.

In John 15:11, Jesus says, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full." What is this revealing? It reveals something of the heart of God for you. God's heart for you is that His joy would be in you and that you would experience fullness of joy. I think people want to know this. They have many opinions about who God is and what He is like, often without having gotten to know Him through the Bible. However, the Bible reveals that He desires for His joy to be in you and for your joy to be full.

In another place, Jesus says in John 14:25, "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you." He is preparing them for His departure, and they are troubled about this. In John 14:1, He reassures them, saying, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also."

What is He revealing here? The heart of God is that He wants His joy to be in you, your joy to be full, and for you to be with Him in His presence. Jesus tells His disciples, "Listen, I'm leaving for a little while, but I'm leaving to prepare a place for you so that you can be with Me forever. While I'm gone, I will not leave you without a Comforter; I will give the Holy Spirit to you, and He will be with you and in you. He will guide you into all truth."

This is all contained in this passage. The heart of God revealed in the Upper Room discourse and in Jesus's prayer shows us several things: He wants His joy to be in you, your joy to be full, and He wants to be with you forever, present with you.

In John 16:1, Jesus again says, "These things I have spoken to you." This is the third time He uses that phrase. He continues, "That you should not be made to stumble." What is the heart of God revealed in this? He wants you to stand strong on solid ground, not to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine in this world or by the deceptive teachings of falsehood.

God wants you to stand strong and not stumble. In John 16:25, it says, "These things I have spoken to you in figurative language, but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father." What is God's heart being revealed here? God wants you to know who He is, not in kind of figurative, flowery, poetic language. He wants you to tangibly know who He is. That's what He wants to reveal to you.

I've spoken these things to you that you might know who I am. In John 16:33, it continues, "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." All of these verses reveal some aspect of the heart of God for you. He wants to be present with you. He wants you to have His joy. He wants you to have His peace. He wants you to stand strong, solidly on solid ground, and not stumble. He wants you to know who He is.

Then, Jesus's prayer caps all of this off. What is His prayer? That you might know eternal life. And what is eternal life? It is that you would know God in an experiential, oneness relationship. God wants you to live in an experiential, wondrous relationship with Him. How does that relationship come about? What is that relationship?

Further in this passage of Scripture, Jesus describes that relationship for us. In John 17:20, He says, "I do not pray for these alone," referring to the disciples who were present with Him in that upper room. "I do not pray for these alone, but I also pray for those who believe in Me through their word." Who is that? That's you. If you believe in Christ because of the word of His disciples, the Gospels, the Epistles, and the New Testament, then He was praying for you 2,000 years ago.

He prays for those who believe in Him through their word. What does He pray for us to experience? "That they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You." Here is this confusing doctrine of the Trinity: Jesus is God, the Father is God, the Spirit is God; they are all one. Jesus says, "I'm praying for My believers, those who trust in Me, that they may be one."

One as we are one, that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. Verse 22: "And the glory which you gave me, Father, I give to them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me."

The heart of God for you is being revealed in this text. What is the heart of God for you and for me? Point number three, if you're taking notes: God desires that I experience a oneness relationship with Him in Christ. That's God's desire for you.

Now, that may sound weird—a oneness relationship. What is that? Well, the best illustration that we have of this in this world is the marital relationship between a husband and a wife. How many husbands and wives are here? Lift up your hand if you're married. Okay, you are in a oneness relationship with your spouse. This is the best illustration, although it's a temporal illustration and a tangible illustration that we experience. It's the best illustration we have, but it's deficient. It's limited, and it's limited because of sin. We're all sinners.

It's highly likely that you have experienced this oneness relationship if you're married, but there are some problems because you're an individual who's a sinner, and your spouse is an individual who's a sinner. You can say "Amen" if you want to. You know this because you've probably, maybe within the last 96 hours, had an argument with them. As a result of that, you know that you've experienced this oneness relationship, but there are some limitations. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

Some of the ways that this shows up—I’ll give you an example of how you've experienced this oneness relationship, which you have in an increasing manner with your spouse that you experience with no one else. You're at a family gathering, like maybe you were in the last week and a half, and across the room, you see your spouse. You instantly know it's time to go. You've experienced it. That's why you laugh; you've experienced it. What is that? You can't exactly put your finger on it, but there's something about it.

That relationship has a spiritual connection, a spiritual oneness that is experienced. Our culture thinks that marriage is just a social contract that benefits you with some number of about 1,300 rights. You can actually find this; there are about 1,300 rights that are given to you in the social contract called marriage. This is just a social creation that has been developed in the last 150 or so years. However, that is not marriage. Marriage has been around since the very beginning and is accorded to God's created order.

Jesus makes this clear when He talks about marriage. He says, "In the beginning, God made them male and female." For this cause, God said, "A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." You see, there is a created order to this thing called marriage, and God made it to be an illustration of the relationship He desires to have with you. There is a spiritual union that accompanies this physical union. When you said, "I do," something spiritually happened under the ordinance of God, where He joins you together as one flesh with your spouse—body, soul, and spirit.

You begin to experience this more and more as time goes by. You see certain aspects of this when you get just one look, and you know it’s time to go. You immediately start to say, "Well, we're going to go now. We've had a great time." When asked why you are leaving, you simply respond, "It's just time."

God desires that I would experience a oneness relationship with Him in Christ. That is what Jesus prayed for you and for me in John 17. Now, how does this oneness relationship happen? Listen, this is what we, as Cross Connection Church, are really focused on. You've heard us talk about it many times before. It's on your bulletin; it's on our website: life in connection with God, with one another, and with the world through Jesus.

Life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus—that's what our mission statement is about. God desires that we would come into a oneness relationship with Him, and one of the benefits for you individually...

Being in a Oneness relationship with Him means that God also brings you into a Oneness relationship with His body, His church. You have a connection with one another, and then He commissions us to carry that good news to the rest of the world. Connection with the world is through Jesus; it's all through Jesus. Jesus makes this possible.

You see, connection with God and connection with one another is completely impossible apart from Jesus Christ. He is the one who makes it possible. How does He make it possible? The answer to that comes in Ephesians chapter 2.

Maybe you've heard that very famous passage: Ephesians 2:8-10 states, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He created beforehand that we ought to walk in them."

But verse 11 says this: "Therefore remember." So just for a moment, think back and remember. Remember that you were once Gentiles. What does that word mean? It means that you were an outsider. In this context, that's what it means. You were once an outsider looking in to the family of God. You were an outsider in the flesh, a Gentile. At that time, when you were an outsider, you were without Christ; you had not received Christ into your life. You were alienated from the Commonwealth of God's people, Israel, and strangers from His covenants and promises.

What Paul is saying is, "I want you to remember that before you received grace by faith, you were an outsider looking in. You had no access to the blessings and promises of God because you were not a part of His family." For some of you, this is really tangible because you can remember what that was like. You remember being an outsider to those things.

So remember that you were an outsider and a stranger from the covenants of promise. What did that mean? You had no hope and were without God in this world. Can you remember that? Do you remember what it was like?

Now, some of you, like me, became Christians when you were little. I don't remember a whole lot of being that outsider because I have been a part of the family of God since I was a child. But for some of you, you remember being an outsider. Paul says, "I want you to remember what it was like to have no hope in this world."

But now, in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:13 says, "You who were once far off have been..."

Brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ, amen. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one. He restores us to a oneness relationship. He has broken down the middle wall of separation. He abolished in His body, His flesh, the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.

He might reconcile those who were once separated and now joined as one. He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. What is being described here is that Jesus came to this world for a purpose: to seek and to save that which was a stranger, a foreigner, lost, separated from God and God's people and His blessings. He came to seek and to save that which is lost.

How does He restore you back? He came to give His life a ransom for many. Him on the cross, dying in our place, deals with sin to make it possible that you, who were a stranger with no hope in this world, could be brought into the family and made one within the family to receive the blessings and promises. You might know abundant life that you had been ripped off from for so long.

You see, point number four: Jesus reconciles and restores us unto right relationship with the Father. That's what He does. How does He do that? Through His death on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin for us that He might restore and reconcile us back to the Father. In and by Christ, we are brought back into connection with God, and through Christ, we experience a restored connection with one another.

In obedience to Christ, we take that good news, as described in the Bible in 2 Corinthians 5.

Calls the ministry of reconciliation, or the message of reconciliation, we take that good news to those who are scattered and lost. How many of you know somebody who's lost? There are too many of you not raising your hand. How many of you know some neighbors in your neighborhood who don't go to church? You know some lost people. How many of you work with some lost people? Yes, I work with some lost people. I can't really raise my hand and say that I work with some lost people. Sometimes they feel a little lost; sometimes we feel lost together.

So, how many of you know some lost people? Okay, you all know some lost people. You have been restored into connection with God and one another, and you've been given a ministry or a message of reconciliation to go and share with those people who are lost that Jesus is looking for them. That's good news! That's something I guarantee you they need and actually want to know—that Jesus is looking for them.

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5, says, "If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now, therefore, in 2 Corinthians 5:20, you are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through you. We implore the world on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God. For He, God the Father, made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

That's the simple message that we have. Now, 1 Corinthians says this message is foolishness to the world. Maybe you've had conversations with people, and you share this message. Sometimes it makes you embarrassed to share this message because you say, "Listen, you're far from God. You're alienated from Him. You have no hope in this world, and Jesus died for your sins so that you could be restored to God." They look kind of sideways at you and say, "You believe this?" You go, "Yes, I believe this." I know it's foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. You're an ambassador of this message.

In 2025, it is my hope that we lay hold of this ambassadorship that God has given to you and to me. He has intentionally placed you in the neighborhood where you live, in the family you are a part of, in the workplace you go to, or on the school campus you attend, with the friends and neighbors you have. He has placed you there to be a light shining to those who are in darkness, to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You are His ambassador to share this very simple, albeit foolish message to those who are perishing: that Christ died in our place on the cross. His body was broken, and His blood was shed to make it possible for us to be restored to connection with God once again—the very thing for which we were made, to live life in connection with Him.

I’m going to invite Anthony and our team back up to lead us in a song because we are going to remember the work that Jesus did to make this all possible. His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. The night before He was crucified, He instituted this meal with His disciples called The Last Supper so that they might remember. As Anthony is leading us in this last song, some of our ushers will be going around, and if you don’t already have these little cups of juice and bread, they will make them available to you. Hold on to them because after Anthony has led us in the song, we are going to partake together to remember His body that was broken and His blood that was shed.

Father God, I thank You that You desire to have a relationship with us. For some sitting in this room this morning, that is hard to even imagine—that You, the Creator of all things, desire to have a relationship with us. Sometimes we might feel, "How would He want to have a relationship with me?" But God, You gave everything so that we could have that relationship with You, and we rejoice in You today. God, would You stir our hearts? Would You motivate us by Your love demonstrated through Your body broken and Your blood shed? Would You stir and motivate us to share the good news of Your grace with others? There are so many people within a very short distance of this place.

Building who are in desperate need of Your grace, they feel like they have no purpose. They feel like they have no hope. They feel like there's no sense to anything that's going on in this chaotic world. Yet, what You've revealed to us in the pages of Scripture is that in You, we can find exactly what it is that we deeply long for and desire.

God, I pray that 2025 would be a year in which we are stirred to share that message passionately and zealously with those around us, because there are many here in Southern California who desperately need Your grace. We praise You, Jesus, that You've given it to us abundantly, not so that we would hoard it, but that we would freely give it to others. We rejoice in You, Jesus. Amen.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23 says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'"

Let's partake together. In the same manner, He also took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Let's partake together. Every time we eat this bread, Lord, and drink this cup throughout the year, we are proclaiming Your death—that You were crucified on a cross 2,000 years ago. But we're proclaiming Your death until You come, which reminds us that You're not still dead in a grave, but You're alive because You rose from the dead.

The same power that was at work in You to raise You from the dead is the power that raises us from death to life and gives us the hope of eternal life in Your presence—immortality with You forever and ever. Lord, we look forward to the day when we will see You and be back in Your presence, just as You promised there in John 14, where You said You will come again and receive us to Yourself.

Where you are, we may be also. But until that time, Lord, I pray that we would, even more so in 2025, experience the reality of life eternal, knowing You by the power and presence of Your Word and Your Spirit.

God, continue to grow each of us individually. Transform us by the renewing of our minds, that we would be able to display to this world what is Your good and perfect will.

Also, Lord, we pray that You would grow Your church here at Cross Connection and the other churches that are committed to and preach Your Word. We pray, God, that You would grow Your church in 2025. Give us wisdom in how we might be able to reach those in our community. There are more than a million people within ten miles of this building, and some 90% of them have no direct connection to You through Your church.

I pray, God, that You'd help us to know how to reach them more effectively with Your grace. God, You are so good. We praise You.