Radiant Church

Now We Are Children Of God | David Perkins

“Now We Are The Children Of God (1 John 3:2)”

Join us as Pastor David Perkins brings an encouraging and timely message just for you!

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MusicBed SyncID: MB01SMWFTC7HQ4K

Duration:: 40m
Broadcast on:: 09 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(upbeat music) - Hey, thanks for listening to The Radiant Church Podcast. This is David Perkins and we're so glad that you're listening. Hey, if you're a part of our family meeting online or in person, we would encourage you to get connected at Radiant Church KC across all social media platforms. God is doing something incredible in Kansas City and we love connecting with you, whether it's through our app or even through all the content available on our YouTube page. Hey, our prayer is that God uses this message to change your life and that you could become a dynamic disciple of Jesus. Thanks for listening, enjoy this message. Hey, we are in this series in First John and I don't want to invite you to stand. Today is week three and we're gonna read through the first section in First John chapter three, First John chapter three today. So we did chapter one, chapter two and now week three, chapter three. And today, a lot like last week when you're just reading through the text, we're dealing with a lot of talk of sin. And so that's what takes place when you just take it chapter by chapter. So it's got a lot in it today. So get ready, it's gonna pack a punch. I made the joke earlier that it's like rocky for at the beginning, but then it's like love and like a warm coat at the end. And so get ready. I think it'll be helpful for us as we mature in Christ. It says this in First John chapter two, I'll read it for you and then we'll pray. It says, and now, dear children, continue in Him so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of Him. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. All who have this hope in Him purify themselves just as He is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins and in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God remains in them. They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. For this is the message you heard from the beginning. We should love one another. The title today is now we are the children of God. Let's pray. Father, we love you. Father, we thank you Lord for what you're doing in our church. And God, we do thank you for these 63 pastors, these 63 leaders, these 63 servants, these 63 with the gift of hospitality, these 63 that are investing in young people or helping people grow and mature in Christ. We pray Lord that you would bless this next fall semester of small groups at our church. We thank you Lord God for the 200 women that gathered. We thank you for what you're doing in the ladies in our church. God, we thank you Lord for what you're doing here on Wednesday nights as we pray. God, we thank you for what you're doing among young people at our church. God, we thank you Lord Jesus for your word. It is true. And as we read 1 John chapter three today, we ask Lord that you would transform us, that you would help us, that these truths would come alive in our minds and our hearts and that we would bend our lives around your word and we thank you for your word God. Let it be a lamp and to our feet and a light to our path. We honor you and we love you in Jesus name. And then you may be seated. About a decade ago, I was sitting with a man at a Starbucks and he was in his mid 30s and he told me the story that he was on where he had recently found out from his mom that the man that he thought was his biological father was not his biological father and she may know to him who his biological father was and he was telling me the journey of going to a new city to meet this new man and realizing that that was actually his father and the identity and the way that it impacted him and really the shock that he was in by understanding that he actually had a different father. I'm reading 1 John chapter 3 this week and reading this phrase about the way that the children of God are and the way that the children of the devil are. And of course, in our culture to even talk that way is confrontational and for most of us just inconceivable that we would even talk that way. But here John, the apostle of love, writing to multiple people, not just one city and desiring that people would have assurance of salvation. Desiring in the gospel of John, he was writing that they might believe. And all through 1 John, here he is an older man and he's calling them little children or dear children and he's desiring that they would continue 1 John 2 28 in the faith. He's desiring that they would be assured that they have authentic faith. One of the tragedies in our culture, I believe, is that it's easy for us to be around a culture where people give us a false assurance and we think maybe that we might possibly have faith but other reckoning if there was a surprise moment and realistically here John says, could it be that the father that has given you the opportunity to be adopted is actually not your father? And he uses here even children of the devil. And that sounds confrontational to us. It is 1 John 3, it's also Jesus. Jesus in John 8 confronts and looks at people and says, your father is the devil. Now I want to invite us today to just do inventory on our own lives and let 1 John chapter 3 bring assurance because we see God at work in our lives. And even though it's challenging to face if there's a possibility that maybe today might be a new day for you to actually face and go, oh man, the intent of my heart is actually self. The motive of my heart is actually what we talked about last week in 1 John chapter 2. I really am still looking at the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, the way of the world instead of the way of my father. And it might be possible that you need new birth. It might be possible that there could be some assurance and that maybe you've had false assurance and I just want us to be real with that only because that's what I see in the text. Only because that's what I see, the apostle of love. Love cares about someone's highest good and we're talking about eternal destiny. And so maybe love tells the truth rather than just what's comfortable. And so that's what 1 John chapter 3 does right here. And actually the person that tells you the truth, even though you face the pain of it, that is your friend. The person that looks at you and says, this is what's true. And here's John, he's giving what's true. And I would say that in this text, he says, now you are the children of God and he's going to give probably more than this. I'm going to highlight at least three where he gives three family traits. And I want to highlight because we are in the family of God and he is our father and Jesus is our perfect brother who went to a cross and died in our place for our sin so that we could be a part of the family of God. I want us to just let the text be like a test today where we look at it and we're just honest and say, what is the intention of my heart? Or is there actually some of these things that are in the text growing inside of me? And sometimes that's painful to face. But is it possible, is it possible that in a culture that gives sometimes some easy believerism and then you maybe prayed something or said something but there's no evidence, there's no work. The intention of your heart wasn't set to really follow Jesus. That it could be your greatest moment today to actually face that, get real. And it is possible that today that you would say, Jesus, come be in me. I desire salvation. I want you. Renata and I had a very challenging moment many years ago when we were pregnant and excited about a new baby and we went in for the regular doctor's checkup and as the screen came up and the doctor placed, went to the whole test process, he looked at us and said, there's no heartbeat. And so I have this memory of my bride with tears coming down her eyes as she laid there and just tears just flowing down. It was a hard moment. It was a moment where this man looked at us and helped us face the real truth that there was not new life in her. And I know that's dramatic but I want to invite you. It's possible that because eternity is in the balance, that you would read the apostle of love who desires that you would endure, that you would continue, first John 2, 28, where that you would continue. Or the way that says in the ESV is that you would abide, that you would continue and abide, he desires. Pastor John, he wants for you to be able to look and say, is there evidence? Is there fruit from the way that I'm living my life that shows I'm a child of God? And he's wanting you to take on that new identity as a child and I want to invite you to just take the word of God and ask that question. Is there the possibility that I have embraced the superficial faith and not an authentic faith? Is there a possibility that I live in such a Christian-ized subculture that though I have a confession or a memory, which I have, I grew up in a moment where I experienced so many different times that people told me I was saved. And I think it's possible. If you grow up going to events like we have in the United States where you're popping balloons with your butt, playing chubby bunny and watching a commercial and then they're saying, pray this prayer and then you pray a prayer, but God sees what's in the heart and where you want to be is where you look at your life. And not in a moment, but over time you see progression. You see God at work in your life so that you would say, I am taking on the family traits. I am becoming more and more like my father. I'm actually first John 2.6 says, anyone who claims to be in Christ's walk as Jesus did, I'm starting to take on some of the characteristics of my perfect brother. And I am in the family of God and I'm starting to see it. And so today let this be just even a moment where there might just be that test where you're just like, I just want to be real. I just want to read 1 John chapter 3 and just hear it. And the good news of the gospel is that God forgot so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. And so not based upon any of your works, but based upon repentance and confession. No matter where you're at today, you can receive new life in Christ. And year by year, decade after decade, continue to grow as a child of God and mature. My dream for you is that you would desire to mature. Many times we want the ways of the world and we want eternity and out of hell. And so we embrace a mixed version. So we're like, I'm going to stay like the world. I'm going to pray a prayer and really I'm going to put one foot in the ways of the world with this, I'm going to bank everything on some somebody, some preacher, some book, somebody somewhere told me, I'm okay. Maybe you come back and get honest just you in the scriptures, just you and your Bible. And you going, I, it's actually the person that gave you false assurance that is not your friend. You want to get real assurance. You want to get, I'm not perfect, I'm far from perfect, but I'm growing. False assurance actually ends up in greater pain. And I know that I could smile and this whole day could be about lavish love in a way that it would be a lot more cozy rather than digging in on these other things. You're like, David, you saw in verse one, lavish, how great is the love the Father's lavished on us, but you chose children of the devil. Interesting pastor. Okay. Here's what I want from you for you though. What I care about is I care about eternity. And I want to make sure that you and I get this and we go, oh yeah, I want to face that. Renata and I, when we, when we got married, I was a poor college student. And we set our honeymoon right after I graduated from college. And so I wanted to go on this killer honeymoon. Like I, on our third date, I looked at Renata and I said, hey, babe, is there, I don't know if I called her babe yet. Hey, young woman that is far out of my league. I have something big to request of you. And she thought it was some form of breakup. And I said, would it be possible if we split meals on dates instead of me paying for two meals? That's how cheap I was. Got that at week three, right? I mean, third date maintained it all the years that we were. So I was super cheap, but I had this big vision of a killer honeymoon. So killer, that's a bad adjective, an awesome honeymoon. And so we, I went and I bought a camera and I, and the, the salesman said, oh, listen, this one's used, but this one's way better than if you buy the new one because it's got all this and that and this, I knew nothing about it. But he was super nice and he was really confident in this, this other camera, getting this used camera. So I trusted him, I bought it, went on an amazing, honeymoon, got back, took all of the film in. For those of you that don't know what film is, it's for another day. Only for the them to tell me there are no pictures on this film. You got nothing. And I said, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I just paid for the greatest honeymoon in the history of the world. I got pictures with Renata in Hawaii, like I want to see him. Oh no, you may have had a nice salesman, but you had false assurance, right? And I just want to make sure that you know that that guy was no longer my friend, right? Here's, here's what I want to invite you to. I want to invite you to join, looking at this text with me today. And, and, and you look at it and you say, are, are these family characteristics in me? Do I see them in me? Let's look at a few of them real quickly here. And because, because I see this in John, I just want to give you a little bit of Bible here, that this is all through 1 John, this assurance of salvation. He says it in chapter 2 verse 3. We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 210, anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to, in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they're going because the darkness has blinded them. 229, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him, 310. This is how we know who the children of God are and, and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child. Nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. 513, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. He wants us to know that we want you to have that assurance. Because when you have that assurance, when you know I am a child of God, you have that identity and you have that assurance. I'm confident. I know it. I know it because of the finished work of the cross, what Christ did for me and new birth. God at work. I'm a, I have, I've been born again is the way that we say it. I've been born again. Then you start, I've got that motive and I start to see it. Not perfect, but over time. And he wants you to have that assurance and he's caught in that whole text. He's using family language. He uses the word children six times. He calls Jesus our brother. He talks about how great is the love the Father has lavished on us. God is your father. And I want us to just take a moment and say, okay, let's look at some of these things that we read in this and just invite you to ask this question. Is that family trait in me? And I desire that you would say, I want that family trait. I want that to be in me. It's a part of Christian maturity to desire to be like our father. To look like our father. The one who lavishes love on us. The one who sent his son for us. Jesus was always with his father. Jesus was constantly talking about his father. John tells us in 1 John 2 6, anyone who claims to be in Christ must walk as Jesus did. It is our Christian maturity where our ache, our desire is to mature into Christ's likeness. That's a part of proof that you're growing, proof that God is at work. It's not your enemy, it's your best friend. Where you're like, I'm so grateful when my kids were little. We're not and I would go on our date night and we have pictures where our kids would take out our clothes, dress up in our clothes, right? So little tiny kids, we're not as close, we're too big. Mine fit the boys just fine about eight, six or seven, but that's funny. But that babysitter was sent a picture of our kids wanting to wear our clothes. Why? Because a child is going to be an adult one day. They're going to become like their parents. They have an ache and a desire to mature. You as a child of God, you a healthy one. One that is maturing. One that has the evidence of God outwork inside of you. You have that desire like a child to be like your father. A child like a child to grow and mature. So let me just give you a few thoughts on this. One, we see this in chapter three, verse one. First idea is this, we are unknown by the world. Listen to the way that John says it. See what great love the father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. So number one, family trait. Welcome to the family of God. We are now we are children of God. And so when we embody where we are unknown by the world or rejected by the world, you can know that's a family trait. So the way that John says it in 1 John 1 10 is he was in the world speaking of Jesus. He was in the world and though the world was made by him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own and yet his own did not receive him. Yet to those who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become. And here's the phrase again, children of God. This is our privilege, but to be when you're in the family, heart motive, you will watch over time that just like they rejected your perfect brother who went to a cross, they'll reject you. And this idea of being unknown. The ways of the world that John says in chapter two are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Or the way that I would say it quickly is hedonism, materialism, and self-exaltation. Post my face again. Everybody see me, love me, know me, worship me. The way of the Christian looks like generosity, not materialism. It looks like humility instead of self-exaltation. It looks like purity instead of the lust of the flesh or hedonism. And when you choose a lifestyle like that as a heart desire, the world that cannot understand that, that they're going a different way, they will reject you. Whether it's mockery, they can't even understand you. And that's painful. And we are the kind of people that carry both at the same time. We are both rejected by the world and we love the world. So Jesus was the one who was rejected by the world, but Jesus was also the one who was the friend of sinners. So you're the one that is rejected by the very people you're trying to love. That's what Christianity looks like in 2024. And if you experience that, I'm trying to love these people, but my lifestyle difference and my choices isn't their choices. And there's this constant tension where I'm trying to love them, but they're rejecting me. You know what? You're part of the family. That's a little bit like the way that your perfect brother, Jesus, lived. Where he was loving the broken, the hurting, the outcast, the rejected. And the very people that he came to love and show love to you are the ones that put them on a cross. If it happened to your perfect brother, it'll probably happen to you too. Second trait we see is we choose righteousness. Just let's read it again. No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in them. They cannot go on sinning because they have not been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. This idea, we choose righteousness. Now, we all know Romans 3, 23. Paul makes it clear to us for all of sin and falls short of the glory of God. We read in week one, 1 John 1, 8. If anyone claims to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We are not perfect. I'm not giving today Christian perfection. I am giving Christian progression, progress. Like it's your aim, it's your desire. And it's always the heart. Everybody always wants to say, "Well, I gotta like prove it." Okay? God sees the heart. God always sees the heart. But as the years go by and the decades go by, you're able to say, "Well, I once had this addiction, but now I'm free. I once was not able to have enemy love, but now I do." I once was bitter, but now I'm not some ways where you start to see. Even if it's incremental growth, you start to see, man, I'm no longer a slave to sin. I've found freedom in Christ, not perfect. But the good news is, is that when I fall short, when I ignore God, when I'm disobedient to God, then we embrace that first John 1, where if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us of all unrighteousness. So I've got an aim for righteousness. And that's what's in my heart. And over time, I look back and I go, "Oh, man, I still got a long way to go. But I can see God at work in my life over the last decade. I can see that I used to not care about my words, but now, man, I want no one who holds some words to come out of my mouth, but only that was just pleasing to build up other people. I used to not care about the hurting, the poor, the broken, the orphan. Now, I find myself caring for the hurting and the poor. I used to not care about the gospel going to all the world. Pick your topic, but you could see God at work in your life. And you're able to go, "Ah, I could see it. I could see God moving inside of me." That is a characteristic of the family, of being the children of God. Your brother, Jesus, who went to the cross and died in your place for your sin is without sin. And as you are transformed to be more and more like him, where you sin less, not sinless, but sin less. That, that ache, I want to be like him. I want to know him. That should bring your heart like yippity doo-dah. Like, I don't know, hip, hip, hooray. God, is it work inside of me? I am a child of God. I see God at work. Hey, I've been living by a different set of values, where I don't value the things of the world, but I value eternity. And I'm rejected by the world. Zippity doo-dah. I'm part of the family. I can see little evidence of God at work. I can see God transforming me over time. God at work. I can see God. Third one is this. He just makes it so clear. We love the family of God. For this is the message you've heard from the beginning. We should love one another. One of the greatest ways we will ever make a dent in helping Kansas City know Jesus is if we love the brothers and sisters in a sacrificial love the way that Jesus laid down his life. When we love in a supernatural way, you don't know why you want to serve, pray, care, love, give of your time for the people of God, the brothers and sisters. That's a supernatural work of God at work. This is what Jesus did for us. This is Jesus in John 13. He picks up the towel and he serves. And Jesus, our brother. I love the way that Jesus calls the disciples, his brothers. After the resurrection, it's like, tell my brothers, he's your brother. You have a perfect father. You have a perfect brother. We are the part of the family of God or we are children of God now. And when you see this love inside of you for the church, and it is the capital C church, and I would say it's also this local representation. The people that you're doing life with right here. And you're going, I want to pour out my life and I want to love these people, my brothers and sisters, according to the apostle of love, the elder John, the statesman who was the one who sat next to Jesus. He would say, that's a family characteristic. That shows God at work in your life. Here in 1 John 3 1, how great is the love the Father has lavished on us. I love that word lavished. Or behold what man of love the Father has given unto us. Behold what manner of love. How great is the love that has been lavished. People that maintain years of following Jesus seem to talk often about the Father. One of my highest concerns, I don't know if anybody else sees this, it might just be me. But I see some people not with a midlife crisis, but with a midlife spiritual crisis. I see so many times where there's a young zeal and an older age where they're getting closer to be in heaven. But many people, the strife, the worries, the pain in the midlife, where they tap out. And I want to just echo the words of Pastor John, Elder John. How great is the love the Father has lavished on you, middle-aged person in spiritual crisis. The people that talk much about the Father are often ones who have grown in spiritual maturity. They want to be with him. I see this in Jesus. Jesus always wants to be with his Father. When he's going through, he's about to face the cross, he wants to be with his Father. When he's about to start ministry, he wants to be with his Father. Mount of transfiguration, audible voice from the Father. When he's talking to his disciples, I do nothing apart from them, my Father. When he's actually in the highest amount of physical pain on the cross, he prays, "Father." And this is, you know, that moment in Philip, John 14, 8 says, "Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." That's what Philip says to Jesus. I think it's because Jesus is always talking about the Father, praying to the Father, wanting to be with the Father. I would encourage if you find yourself in a spiritual drought, if you find yourself teetering, make much of your Father. And get this bedrock, "I am a child of God." Oh, the privilege of being close to him and starting to see some of the family traits, some of the things that John gives us right here, starting to take place in my life. And if you would say, "David, I am," I've got those loves of the world, less of the flesh, pride of life. They're in me. I've been saved since I watched Veggie Tales when I was 8, but I don't see any. I don't have a desire for God, I have a desire for sin. I don't have any kind of supernatural love in my life. I mostly just think about myself. I want to invite you, maybe, come get real before God, put your nose in the carpet, and get real with God. And just say, "God, where am I at?" Jesus, I receive you. Come be in me. I want to go from, this is in 1st John 3, he gets later, he says, "From death to life." I want the life that comes new birth in Christ. And I want to tell you the joy that comes from that relationship with the Father, making much of the Father. On Friday, I was with my brother-in-law, and so Renata is a twin, and so her twin brother, and I were on a walk talking, and so he's like the male version of Renata. He's this good-looking, cool guy, and then I'm like walking next to him, and we're talking. So he's got dark skin, he just looks cool, he's just debonair, he just looks cool. And he's like, "You know, David, your son Dawson, he looks just like Renata." And I'm like, "Yeah, looks just like Renata." He's like, "He looks way more like our side of the family." And I'm like, "Yeah." And then he, and so it's real dark and sad for me. I was like, "Oh, come on, man." But then it popped, because then he goes, and he smiles, and he goes, "But every time I hear that kid talk on social media, I'm like, "To that David's boy, that's him." He sounds like you, he uses your words, he acts like you, put my five foot five chest back, and I was like, "Yeah!" "Mmm, that's my boy, that's my boy." (audience laughing) Most people would say, "Hey, he's a chip off the old block, "but in my case, he's bigger than me." So I say, "He's a block off the old chip." You know, like, "That's my son, that's my boy. "I got some delight in him. I got some joy." And every time that you embody the family characteristics, not run to sin, but you got a vision to become more like Christ, your father has delight. Every time that you stand for righteousness and the world rejects you, you're just like your brother, who is without sin, went to the cross, and suffering and rejections part of the family culture. But your father goes, "The family of God." That's my daughter, that's my son. Every time, "Yeah, but they were so mean to me, no revenge and gonna love, no hate, generosity." Just like Jesus and your father has delight, but not only does your father have delight, you have delight. The way of following Jesus actually brings you joy. You actually start to go. The things of earth grow strangely, and you enjoy it. 2009, I was a youth pastor, and when you're a youth pastor, you get to preach a few times a year maybe, so you just work really hard. So I worked on this sermon for that day for like 19 weeks. You know, like, "Oh, I'm gonna bring my best." 2009, I'm preaching in Colorado Springs. This dude walks up to me at the end, and he goes, "You know, he's an old guy. Like 47, you know. I thought he was ancient." And he's like, "Hey, man." He's like, "Are you Halperk and son?" And I was like, "Yes, I is." You know, like, "What's up with that?" And he goes, "Yeah, I heard your dad speak years and years ago." He's like, "Now, I'm in Colorado. My dad's never a pastor in Colorado. I'm serving at a non-denominational church. My dad had never served in non-denominational churches. Our world shouldn't have mixed." But he goes, "I walked in today. I've never been to this church before. He's your preaching. I saw your last name." And I said, "That's gotta be Hal's boy." And I went, "What's up now? I have arrived." And the joy that I felt, like, was up. "Yes, I made it. Renata." Felt the lights. Felt joy. And every time you've taken on the family name, I have a perfect father. I'm not perfect, but I got a father that loves me. I got a perfect brother, and I'm far from perfect. But he was perfect. And he's my vision. And I got a vision to become more like him. And over time, you'll watch yourself. Not saying, "I don't know if I'm a child of God." No, you have this conviction, and you declare in the congregation, "I am a child of God." I like the old-school Keith Green song. He's saying it, but being a children of God, "I'm your child. I'm gonna live with you forever." Right? But we don't know that one, so we're gonna sing a different one. But it's this joy. It's this is who I am. This is my identity. This is Pastor John for you. Hey, now you're our children of God. So you don't just pray a prayer, marinate on planet Earth, and wait for heaven. Oh, you get to live with the joy of being a child now. You're putting on the clothes. Now maturing and finding delight and joy in becoming more and more like Jesus. First John 2-6, "Anyone who claims to be in Christ must walk as Jesus did." Let me tell you, that's not a mean mandate. That is a joy, because your life looks more and more like Jesus, and you will enjoy God, and how many decades you have left. Because you're looking not towards the planet, but towards your perfect father, your perfect brother, and you're like, "That's my family. That's where I'm gonna spend eternity." So that is the place that I've got. Joy, delight. Will you bow your heads with me? We just take 30 seconds. We just ask the Holy Spirit to lead you, your next step of spiritual maturity. For some of you, you might hear Pastor John in my coat, just God. I'm feeling so rejected at the office. Reframe the way I see my life that I can endure. If the apostles were martyred, John was exiled, and Jesus was crucified, I can endure filling the blank. Or you go a little bit further down in the text, "God, would you help me to progress?" But I wouldn't tolerate immorality. I wouldn't tolerate greed. I wouldn't tolerate hate. Just look, just let the Holy Spirit just work on that area of your life. You go, "Just help me mature, progress. I'm your child." Maybe you would know love for your brothers and sisters and the family of God is weak, and you're mostly just concerned with your hobbies and your bills and your future and your time, and you don't have time to love, to pour out your life, or the way that John puts it in this text, lay down your life. Jesus looked at the disciples and said, "By this all men will know that you're my disciples if you love one another," John 13. "God, help me lay down my life to love." Maybe today, you desire to enter into the family of God, and not by any works or anything that you do, but because of what Jesus did, you have the opportunity to be adopted into his family. And just like a child who is undeserving, experienced, lavish love by a mom and dad that says, "We will adopt you. We'll pay the price. You have a father who paid the price, sent his own son, who was crucified and died in your place for your sin, so that you could be a part of his family." Today, if you want new birth to be born again, to be a part of a new family as a child of God, you can begin by just saying to the Father, "Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Save me. Let me into your family. I don't want to be a child of the devil. I want to be a child of God. I give you my life. Give me new life in Christ Jesus, my Lord, and my Savior. Amen.