- Thanks for being here, and thanks staff for serving in so many faithful ways. Well, as many of you know, we have embarked last week on a brand new series called "Unshakable Truth" and what I'd like for you to do at this point is go ahead and take your notes out and a pen. You're gonna want to write down some things this morning as we work our way through our time together. The verses that I'm gonna be referring to from the Bible are gonna appear up on the screen, so you don't have to worry about juggling so many things here and that's probably gonna be pretty standard as we work our way through our series together. Oftentimes here at Rockpoint, we jump right in and just go book by book, verse by verse through the Bible. This next year, we're doing something a little bit different and the reason is because I believe it's called upon us to know what we believe, why we believe it, especially in the culture in which we live. It's based on the book, "The Unshakable Truth" by Josh and Sean McDowell. You can buy a copy yourself. I would highly recommend it because you'll get the best out of the series at joshmcdowell.org. And also highly recommend getting in a Life Group. The way this stuff is gonna penetrate your heart and your life is in the context of community. Discovering and living these truths out in community, we've got study guides available for you. You can purchase those up at the Connections Center and would really encourage you to do that. Well, let me pray for us as we begin. Father, we thank You for Your goodness, we thank You for Your grace, we thank You for the opportunity You've given to us to study together what we believe and why. It is so true and relevant. And then Father, give us wisdom, especially beginning today on how we begin to live this truth out for Your honor and glory, we praise You. It's in Christ's name that we pray, amen. Several weeks ago, we were heading over to Wisconsin for a funeral and it was in the southwestern part of Wisconsin. It's just beautiful over there. It was a beautiful sunny day, gorgeous farmland country, absolutely breathtaking. I got up in the morning pretty early and we were heading out so that we could get there on time and as is what I normally do, I put my contacts in so I could actually see. I've got different prescriptions for different eyes. One's distance and one's kinda mid and close range. What has been occurring as of late, I have no idea why this is happening at this point but I'll put 'em in and it takes about 20 to 30 minutes and all of a sudden my brain says, okay, it's time to see clear. So things are fairly fuzzy and then all of a sudden things get clear. Well, that was typically the case. So I put my contacts in and I thought, well, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, things'll kinda clear up, couple of cups of coffee, you know how that goes, everything would be great. Headed, got in the car and started driving and some of you are probably thinking, he should not have been driving. It was okay though. I felt safe enough to pull the trigger and do that. So I started driving but things were not clearing up, okay? And I was missing beautiful country. We ended up getting to the funeral, things were not clearing up, things were still blurry. Not that I didn't know who I was talking to but as we were going through it, it just went on and on and on and I thought to myself, ah, and now I got to go to another doctor. I don't like my eye doctor. The prescription's bad. It was, I was blaming them for everything, believe me, including earth at this point. And I just couldn't see correctly. And everybody was commenting on how beautiful it was. I could see some things but it just wasn't clear. So we came home and I thought, I gotta get these contacts out and put glasses in, 'cause I know they actually work for my eyes. And so I reached in, pulled my right contact out and put it in the container. I reached up to pull the left one and I stuck my finger in my eye. No contact. And I looked down and it was right there on the sink all dried up. And so it wasn't the doctor's fault, it wasn't anybody else's fault, which is typical of what we do, at least I do in my life. And it was my fault because I didn't put it in. The point I want you to see is, I missed so much of the beauty of what was around me because I couldn't see clear. This entire series is based on that premise. We want to help you see clearly the world the way it was designed for you to see. We want you to help, we want to help you see clear the reality of our world, who God is and who you are so that you can see life as it really is, and begin to find the meaning and purpose and joy and happiness that we even referred to last week. But that has to happen when you're in right relationship with God and then you have a worldview that gives clarity to the world around you. And so as we begin to really deal today with the truth about Christianity, there are two main questions. One of 'em is, what is Christianity? Let's begin with the basics. I don't know where you're coming from, I don't know what your faith walk is but I'm so glad you're here and so let's all just get on the same page. For me, it's refreshing just to renew it and review it so that I know what I believe. So let's talk about it. What is Christianity? Well, Christianity is a faith, in many ways, that opens the door to an all-encompassing view that allows us to see life the way it really is. And it impacts every single area of our life. And the 12 essentials or doctrines that we're gonna talk about really form the foundation of our faith and our faith though begins with a relationship. That's why one of the most famous verses in the Bible, probably the most, is John 3:16. However, I've included verse 17 because it ties right in. So you'll see it up on the screen. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son. It was out of love to engage in a relationship. That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. And then verse 17 says this. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. It was God's desire to pursue a relationship with each and every one of us. The essence of Christianity is about a relationship. If you were to ask people today and I've seen it in a variety of different ways, people on the news, in the media, wherever they are, they'll say, well, I'm a Christian. And then they'll give a definition of what they think that is. And it usually involves trying to be a good person. Well, I follow the teachings of Jesus. And I never really know what means because they always define that as I gotta love all the time and it just real general concepts. And so they'll usually bring up, well, I need to be a good person. I go to church. I try and do all the wonderful things and works are always involved. Those kinds of things. But I'll tell you what. Christianity is not about religious rules. It is about a relationship. That's the essence of it. And when you enter into that relationship by trust alone, once that relationship is established, then all of the parameters that God gives us to live by begins to make sense. And all of a sudden I begin to see my world through that lens and the core of Christianity is about who God is, about who I am and how to enter into that relationship with Him. It's been that way from the beginning. If you just take your Bible out, you've never read it before and you start in Genesis, which is the book of beginnings, chapter 1, you'll begin to read just for two chapters, by the way, of a perfect world that God created. But then after about 10 minutes of reading, you enter into chapter 3 and from that point on, we have a world full of chaos and dysfunction, right? Some of you have read the storyline. But God didn't leave us in that mess. Now what happened in chapter 3? Well, it's one little tiny word that has done enormous damage in our lives. It's the word sin. Now sin is simply this. Choosing to live independent from God and not dependent on God. Sin is choosing to live independent. I'm gonna live my way. I'm gonna find happiness my way. I'm gonna figure this thing out the way I want to see it. The problem is, sin has so affected us because of that. Easiest way that I have found to think about it is that there's three simple letters in the word, sin. Now what's the middle letter, I. And that's because life has been about me and you. It's the I. And when I choose to live independent from God, I've rejected His way, I go down a path of sin and chaos and that's the storyline. That's the storyline you see after the book of Genesis. It creates a mess. But God loved us so much that He created this wonderful plan of redemption and that plan is culminated in the New Testament with Jesus Christ. That's why Paul says in Romans 5:8. He says, But God shows His love for us, 'cause He wants us to be back in relationship with Him. Sin has affected all of us. The sin nature that Adam and Eve had was transferred to us, their guilt was transferred to us. All the mess and dysfunction we experience in life comes from that. That's the way life really is. But God pursued us and showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He did something we could never do. It's not based on stuff I've done, it's based on what He has done for us. God loves you. He's passionate about pursuing a relationship with you. And the essence of Christianity is a relationship. Now, a definition that I think can help us here is it's a way of knowing and being and living, and that's important. We're gonna talk about knowing. We're gonna talk about being, letting it transform us and then living it in right relationship with God, ourselves, others and the world around us. It's following the way that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. And once that relationship is engaged, then we begin to formulate a worldview. And to understand what that worldview consists of with those essentials that provide the foundation for us, we have to go back to the Bible, God's Word, all 66 books. It's in that Bible that we find the story of God's choice to love us and redeem us and to draw us back in relationship. We find what we need to frame this worldview and the reason is it. Paul says it in a New Testament book, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. He says this. All Scripture is breathed out by God, given by God. Another big word is inspired by God, which we'll talk about in a couple of weeks. God orchestrated the entire process so that He would ensure that it is truthful in every way, that it's inspired down to the very words and letters that we have. And he says that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable, and here's the reason. For teaching, for reproof and for correction. We all need that from time to time, right? And for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. It's not just a collection of stories. It helps us frame our worldview so that we begin to understand it begins with a relationship and then as we understand what it consists of, we begin to see the world more clearly. And when you go to the eye doctor and I will once again have to go to the eye doctor, what ends up happening is they start this whole testing process and the mechanism that they put in front of your face, there's two names for it. The easiest one to remember is an eye refractor, okay? That's that crazy mask that they bring up to your face and as a result of that, what happens? They put it in front and then they initially say, okay, read the top line. No, you can't read it. Or the bottom line. And so he starts dialing knobs, right, and it's from that that lenses stop dropping down in front of you and things get clearer, right? Then they say, well, can you read the top line? You can read it. Well, I can't read the middle line. So he drops some more lenses in there. Well, is this better or is this worse? And you go through this analyzing your eyes so that you can kinda figure out what you can see and all of a sudden the right lenses get in place and what happens? You have your prescription. All of a sudden, things are clear. Wow, I haven't seen that before. And that's what this worldview does. It starts with the relationship that impacts everything in your life and then as we drop these lenses before you, the world and reality is gonna get clearer and clearer. So let's take a look. There's really three big sections we're gonna look at. There's 12 truths we're gonna spend the next several weeks on and they go with this process. We're gonna start with creation, move to incarnation. There's a reason for that and that's because of the sin that I mentioned, the fall. And then re-creation. And so let me just quickly run through 'em for you. Don't even have to write all these down because we're gonna go through 'em week by week. But we're gonna talk about the unshakable truth of God's creation, the truth that God exists and next week, we're gonna actually jump into that and then we're gonna begin to talk about some of the proofs for why He exists. The truth about God's Word. Why do we believe it's true and how does that impact my life and how do I live that out before others? And then, yes, the difficult subject of sin which is something we all face. The truth about original sin and what's happened to us and why I need to grasp that, its relevance and the reason, it's the reason why we see so much chaos in our world. But then we're gonna move to the unshakable truth of God's incarnation and this is the truth about God becoming human, Jesus Christ. The truth about Christ's atonement for sin, that He did something that I could never do. He provided the payment. He was the substitute for my sin. He gave me something I could never do for myself. And then the truth about justification through faith in Christ. Now don't be scared by that word. Justification, easy way to remember it is just as if I had never sinned. How am I made right in this relationship? If God loves me and He's pursuing me, then how am I made right? Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. It's totally based on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. He did it all. And then we're gonna look at the truth about living this transformed life because it's not just about what's up here. It's gotta move to my heart and then into my hands as I begin to live it out. And then we're gonna turn the corner and begin to talk about the unshakable truth of God's re-creation. We're gonna talk about the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and why that is so significant. And understanding why it's true and then the implications for that in my life. Here's where we're gonna talk about the truth of the Trinity and the reason why we've placed it here is because we want to understand that there is this thing called the Trinity. It's hard to get our minds around it but there's God the Father and God the Son who paid the price for our sin, ascended to heaven and now sent the person of the Holy Spirit to live, to walk with us so that we can understand truth and apply it. And then the truth about God's kingdom that is coming on earth and then ultimately the new heaven and new earth. We're gonna talk about the truth of the church. This is community. Why do we have one another? Why am I here every week, sitting next to you? And why are you sitting next to me? Why am I in a small group? Why am I in a Life Group? And then finally the truth about the great hope, the return of Christ and how that transforms my life. I want you to understand, please please please understand this. These are not dry doctrinal concepts that we want to provide information for you so that you can get into a debate with other people. That's not the point of all of this. It's not an academic discussion and debate. These essentials frame everything in life for us as a Christian who's entered into that relationship. They tell us what is true. They tell us about a relational God who's written a story to redeem us and to love us and it answers the very deepest longings in our soul, that provides hope and happiness and joy regardless of what happens. And it allows us to see clearly. So now based on that, there's another question though and it's because we want to move in how do I live the Christian life? If I understand that being a Christian involves a relationship and then a worldview that allows me to see clearly, then how do I begin to live this out? Well, this past week, I had the privilege and fun of flying in a private plane to Chicago to see my mom. She's in the DuPage County Home down there with dementia and my dad and a friend of mine called me and he said, hey, you want to tag along? I'm going down for business. And I said, absolutely. So I got in the plane with them and they're a fantastic pilot. And so we started going down there. It's absolutely an incredible experience to be in a private plane because you actually can see out the front of the airplane, okay? In a normal commercial airliner, you have what? You have this little window, you have a seat that's in your nose, you can't see anything. You have a person next to you with their pet dog and their pet bird and whatever else, lizard, they're bringing for safety. I tell you what, here's what I'm gonna do on my next flight. My wife's gonna book a flight by herself and I'm going to be her safe clown whereby I dress up and I sit at her feet and I wash her feet the entire, I'm gonna do that and see what happens, if they let me on the plane. We didn't have any of that. And so we got in, put the headset on and it was really interesting to hear the conversation that was going on. And I know enough to where as we're talking, there's times when I just have to be quiet because they just called out his plane and they're giving him some really important information. And I've also watched him as he's flying this plane. He's constantly writing stuff down. Why, because there's a ton of information coming through that headset from air traffic control. Barometric pressure, which affects altitude and what altitude he's supposed to fly at and what his bearings are and all kinds of information. Quite frankly, though, there were times when it feels like a foreign language. I have no idea. But he's just writing all this stuff down. And then he told me the secret, and here's the secret. Now he's had hours of training but he said this. He said, what you're supposed to do is write it all down. Don't think about it. You just write the information down so you've got the data inputs. And then you begin to process the information. Then you begin to plug it into the computer so that you can get to where you need to go. And he said, it's a great spiritual illustration and lesson for life, because we're supposed to take the truth. It is supposed to be deposited in our brain so that we have it and then we begin the process of living it out so that it begins to transform us. But here's the piece he missed that I caught on. Now, he's here this morning in one of our services, a great friend. And he will openly admit, let me tell you, he is not perfect in any way, okay, but he's like the Holy Spirit because what needed to happen was I had to have somebody who was trained, who understood how to take the data points and begin to walk us through together on this journey to get us where we need to go. I'll tell you what, if I wrote these data points down, I would have no clue what I was doing, but he did. And that's the role of the Holy Spirit in our life, to take all that information and here's the reason why we need the Holy Spirit to help us apply it. Is because when you're flying, you're constantly in the midst of changing dynamics and resistance that you face, regardless of where it's at. You're trying to figure out how to calculate everything and on our way back, quite frankly, from Chicago back up here, we flew on a day when all the storms were coming through. So he had to figure a flight path to go down and around and once we were in the air, to calculate the data and figure out where the storm was going where and when. I mean, his mind was just constantly trying to figure the puzzle out so that he could find a safe path and actually get us where we need to go. And that's what the Holy Spirit does. The information that you have is in your brain, He helps us process us. He helps us think it through, to apply it to the different seasons and trials and difficulties of life so that we can finally get to the destination we need to go. Now, truth is really important in that equation. One of the things that I have heard in churches today is, oh, we have more information than we could possibly ever use, and so I don't need any more information. I just need to apply it. Have you ever heard that one before? That is categorically false. I'm gonna tell you why. You never know when you're gonna need that information. So we have to be about depositing in our brain the Word of God on a regular basis so that when you encounter the storms of life, the Holy Spirit can take those data points and begin to process them and help you apply them so that you can get to the destination that God wants you to go. So how does this all begin? Well, it begins with a relationship and that's trusting and following Jesus Christ. It is Christ that came and did what we could never do. Why is that the case? Because Paul says in Romans 3:23-24, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And actually that means for all, keep on sinning, okay? We all sin, we all struggle. However, the verse 24 adds something that is really really important. We're sinners, we always sin. That separates us from God. Physical death is in the world because it reflects the consequence of sin and it points us to a greater spiritual reality. Sin separated us from a holy, perfect God. However, He pursued us and found a solution for us. He invented it. We are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is a gift given to us. I am made right with God just as if I had never sinned. Not by my works but by a gift of God's grace, unmerited favor. What was that gift? Jesus Christ's redemption on a cross. And that's why when we turn to Christ as Savior and Lord, we do it by faith and trust. We'll have a chance to unpack this over the next several weeks. Paul says it elsewhere in Ephesians 2:8-9. For by grace you've been saved through faith and this is not of your own doing. It's a gift of God, not as a result of works. It's something I can't earn. So that no one may boast. Everything we have, truth because Jesus says I'm the way, the truth and the life, that's all encompassing and how I live my life is based upon a relationship by God's grace that impacts every other relationship that we have. Here's the diagram that helps us understand that. Once I'm vertically right with God because of the cross of Jesus Christ that He paid for my sin and my trust is in Him alone as a person, that He did what was necessary to pay the price for my sin and He's the only One that can take me to heaven. Once that relationship is righted, that impacts every other relationship on a horizontal level. So what we're gonna see is as we understand the truth and we live it out, it impacts everything. That's why I love the cross because you can place that over every area of life. It's the cross and the resurrection of Christ that absolutely changes everything. And then we begin the process of understanding that the vertical relationship impacts the horizontal relationship so that I can start living it out. Paul the apostle's a great example here. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, he says, So, being affectionately desirous of you, as he writes this church, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, the information so you could get saved, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. In other words, Paul was willing to live the truth in front of them and with them in community so that they would grow together, that the truth in context of relationships allows us to see the truth and to have it in our mind and then experience it in our emotions so that we can see how we can live it out. That's why last week I referred to a powerful set of verses in Deuteronomy chapter 6. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Get that vertical relationship right. It happens through trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And then He says, And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. In other words, you need to be living them. And then you teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. And the reason that's so important is because once we decide to trust and follow Jesus, the next thing that happens in our Christian life as we live it out is that we grow to become more like Jesus. There's a process of growth that happens. We want you to know but we also want you to grow and that's why we want to spend time knowing what we believe but why we believe it. And why it's relevant and how to actually go about living it out. And I want us to understand that in that process there are some cultural challenges that we face today and that's why this series is so relevant. A couple of them will be obvious for many of us. I mean, the overwhelming view today is that truth is relative. It's not absolute. There's no such thing as objective truth anymore. It's all subjective. And feelings have really, in many ways, trumped science in our culture. We see that all over the map and I'll refer to things along the way. The Bible doesn't stand as the standard anymore. You know what the standard is? The person. The person in the context of whatever setting they find themselves in. And truth is all over the map. One of the things that oftentimes we'll run into even within the church itself, just so that you know where it applies. Oftentimes you'll hear this question in small group. So if you're in a small group, my guarantee is you'll never say this one again. Here's the question. What does this mean to you? Well, this means, to me. You see the phrase? It doesn't matter what it means to you. Now, I understand sometimes what you mean is how does it apply to my life. But the point is, you don't determine truth. God does. We discover the meaning and then we apply it to our life. Words really do matter as we talk about this. Moral truth is not based on subjective preferences. It's based on objective reality and moral truth is moral truth regardless of whether you agree with it or not. One example we'll point it out. Murder's wrong. Murder's wrong, not because you think it's wrong. It's wrong because it's moral truth. And moral truth is defined, and don't miss this, by God's nature and character. Moral truth is defined by God's nature and His character. Moral truth is who God is. Now, this is why why is so critically important. This is why we're gonna talk about the proofs of God. This is why we get into it because our culture doesn't see it that way and therefore we're gonna need the proofs. Now our example is from within the Word. We're in John this past year and some of you will remember these. If you weren't with us, all you have to do is write the verses down. This next week, grab a Bible. You can pull 'em up and see it for yourself. But the model is already within the Bible. John wrote in John 20:30-31, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. He brought to us proofs. Why? So that we would understand it's all true. And then he closes out in John 21:24, This is the disciple. This is referring to John, who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things, and we know that this testimony is true. Now, doubt is not the enemy of faith. We're gonna talk about that. Unprocessed doubt is the enemy of faith. Please understand that. What I've learned in some of the research that I've done here is that one of the big reasons why kids leave high school and go off into college and then chuck their faith is this central issue, intellectual skepticism. They're skeptical. Now as a follower of Christ, I want to encourage many of you, we can either look at that and say, oh boy, our world is lousy and just have a total negative and just start hammering on our culture. That's not what we're gonna do here. I think, I think the direction we go is this. Intellectual skepticism is a interstate super highway into their life. And the reason is this. They're asking for a robust faith, so why wouldn't we want to engage in a conversation? Why wouldn't we want to talk about what we believe and why we believe it's true and then demonstrate how it's relevant and how to live it out within the context of relationship? Our culture and what is happening today is an open door for us as followers of Jesus Christ in ways we have never seen before, and it is an awesome opportunity for us. And then it moves into our heart and into our life and that's why Paul says in Romans 12:2, Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Why? So that it moves from my head to my heart to my hands and I begin to demonstrate in the context of a relationship why this is so critical. And then you can see what John wrote in 1 John 3:18-19 where John says, Little children. Now why would he say, little children? Because he loved the people in the church. Again, it's all based on relationship. Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. The proof's in the pudding, right? I'm living it. And as I live it, then I'm ready to turn the corner and help others do the same. Now everything I have communicated this morning is based on the essence of Christianity, which is what you should know by now, a relationship. And not only is this spoken of in God's Word, it's demanded by our culture for two major reasons. There are two major problems that I see in society at large but it springs from what I can illustrate from those that are ages 13 to 17. According to Pew Research, two major problems that 13 to 17 year olds face is this. Anxiety disorders and serious bouts of depression. 13 to 17 year olds. I thought that was supposed to be the fun part of life. I mean, I know your body's changing, but man, all of a sudden anxiety and severe depression? And by the way, it's not just 13 to 17 year olds. It's all adults in the research that I've seen are struggling with loneliness, health, mental health disorders. Disengaged from relationships where life is not healthy. So much so that it is an open door for us to begin with this relational connection with people. Rob Reimer who wrote in a great book called "Soul Cares: Seven Transformational Principles "for a Healthy Soul." Listen to this quote. People are going to come to faith in Christ today more because they know they are broken and in need of a Healer than because they know they are sinners in need of a Savior. Did you catch that? For a culture. Because it's not that they're not gonna come to a point where they understand they're a sinner in need of a Savior, but the bridge is because they're so broken and in need of healing. And that means I engage in a relationship with them, knowing what I believe and why I believe it to be true. Here's the second reason why we lead with relationships. Ed Stetzer, some of you know his name, it's not really important. Here's the quote I want you to hear. He says, Sharing the gospel is largely seen in our culture as an act of intolerance to people of other faith groups, no faith or those who hold other forms of spirituality. Did you catch it? You see, if I'm sharing my faith with somebody who doesn't know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, they view that as an act of intolerance. How do I get past that? One word, relationship. Because as I engage in that relationship, and I don't run from it, and I demonstrate that I really do love them and I care for them and I just want to be their friend. And then as they see the transformational message that I've just communicated unpacked in my life, it transforms me right before them and it helps them to begin to understand that yes, I have a reasonable faith that is transformational and it's true because they can see it lived out in my life. And when that happens, all of a sudden, I have a bridge into their heart so that the truth can begin to penetrate and hopefully through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, they can experience the kind of transformation that has changed me. And then as we transfer our faith, the goal is to get to this point as Paul says in Philippians chapter 3. Not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect, because perfection is not the goal here. But I press on to make it my own. I live it out. I'm on a quest because Christ Jesus has made me His own, because it's all about a relationship. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for the truth that You are communicating to us. And Father, we can come together and talk about the essence of what it really means to be a Christian, somebody who's a Christ follower. Somebody who has committed their life to following You, Lord Jesus, as Savior and Lord. And then begin to allow the truth that You've communicated to us to transform us, to change us, so that we can love our world. So that we can live differently and love radically because of Your strength in us. So that this precious message of hope and life goes to our world but does so through the living example and loving example of our own lives. We know that You have made all of this possible because of Your love through the Lord Jesus Christ who we praise. It's in His name we pray, amen.