- Amen. Well, we'll talk more about that and even hit again on what Kevin hit on as well later in our time here this morning, but good morning. It is good to see you. I was thinking, this must be the group that changed their clocks for daylight savings time, and we'll see how many show up in third services, be like, oh yeah, you forgot it. But, I think all of our phones change automatically kind of thing, but still, it's never easy. My name is Seth Fagerland, I'm one of the pastors here at Rockpoint. It is good to see you. If you are new here with us, welcome, special welcome. I've been reminded a lot lately of when people, as Kevin even referenced, who have been joining Rockpoint, some for the first time. I met a gentleman last Sunday, his name was Allen. Allen, if you're here, if you're tuning in online, you've been coming for about a month. And I met someone this morning named Evan, who this is the second time here, so I'm glad you're here as well. And this is a good place for you to be. So if you are a regular Rockpointer, and after service, if you see someone that you don't know, or you're like, man, I forgot their name. Do the introduction thing. Say hey, what's your name? Good to see ya. Get to know each other as we seek to multiply disciples in a healthy church that is awesome. Well, last week, Pastor Roy brought us back into the Book of Acts in our series called "Witness," with a powerful message called "God Wins." And even though his voice wasn't powerful, poor Roy had this laryngitis thing, kind of, he had like no voice by the third service. And I'm not even sounding that great today, but anyway, something's happening, right? But if you missed last week, I encourage you go and listen to that, 'cause it's such a powerful moment in the book of Acts, but also a powerful moment in our lives called "God Wins." Well, we will be continuing in Acts nine this morning. You can turn there in your Bibles. If you have the chair rack Bible ahead of you, it's on page 918. But let me pray as we continue our time together. Jesus, thank You for this morning. Thank You for who You are and Your Word to us. Thank You that we are joining one church this morning across the globe. And so now Jesus, I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts are pleasing in Your sight O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, as gatherings of people have commenced as Kevin was sensing and you go to places. You know what it's like when you go to a new place and there's a group of people, and you kinda get in that small circle and you kind of go around and everyone shares their name and where they're from and a little bit about themselves. Like, if they're married, if they got kids, you know, maybe a hobby, color of your toothbrush, if you're an animal, what kind of animal would you be? You know, I do student ministry. I have all sorts of crazy ones up in my head. But in those moments, you know, you don't have time and you don't even actually have the trust level to really share who you are, right. But think about it, those moments, you share things that are very true about who you are and it even describes some of your relationships, like if you are married or if you do have kids, right? But usually the things that get shared are just the big events, right? The major life moments, like we move to a new state or started a new job or all sorts of things, right. But does that describe who we are? You see the person that we become happens in the gaps, in between those major moments in life. And again, not taking anything away from those major moments, those are very defining and they often create movement in a direction, but who we become, the kind of people we become isn't because just those high points, it's the spaces in between. The formation that takes time happens in those gaps between those major points in life and it happens in the ups downs of just normal life, and it involves the people that are around us. And the same is true for our spiritual lives. Every time we gather on a Sunday morning, we're all in different places in our spiritual journeys. And that's great, that's the way it's supposed to be. For some, we're just checking out maybe church, this whole church thing for the first time, or what does it really means to trust Jesus as my Lord and savior. Others, you've been a part of church, maybe your whole life, or maybe too long it feels like, and you're just like, well, I'm here again. It's Sunday, that's where we're at. We're at church. And maybe you had those major moments of where you trusted Jesus as your Lord and savior, Or maybe you rededicated your life. Maybe you got baptized or you became a member of a church. Those are all amazing, but do those things describe who you are, the person you are today in your journey? You see, when I was in high school, I went to this thing called Nationals, right? That was what it was called back in the day. I grew up going to, I was a part of a EFCA church, Evangelical Free Church for America. And it used to be Nationals, it's now called Challenge, The Challenge Conference. And you're gonna hear more about that later in April, as we're gonna be doing a fundraiser to send 85 students and leaders from Rockpoint to Kansas City. It's gonna be exciting. It's gonna be amazing. Anyway, I was in high school and I went to this conference called Nationals, and there was a speaker there named Duffy Robbins. Now that might date me already for those of you who might be old enough to know Duffy Robbins, right? But while I was in high school, Duffy talked about this thing called Tarzan Christianity. You remember Tarzan, right? I'm not gonna do the voice guy. I thought about it, but I spare you and spare my voice. But you know, Tarzan would swing through the jungle and there was always this perfectly placed vine for him to grab onto, right? And Duffy asked this question that no one seems to ask today, what happened to Tarzan when he came to a clearing or an opening in the jungle, when suddenly there wasn't this next vine to grab onto? What happens to Tarzan? And he said, we Christians do the same thing in our spiritual lives. We depend so much just on those high point moments, to make us get by. And again, don't hear me wrong. We absolutely need those high points in our Christian lives. God created those. You actually read the Old Testament, you see how He instituted the Passover festival or the festival system to help people have those moments to remember again, who they are. So I'm not taking anything away from those. However, He did challenge us and He said, "What good is your faith up in the trees, if it's no good down in the jungle." And as a high schooler, he leaned into spiritual formation of saying, what does it look like for you, for me to follow Jesus in the normal everyday life stuff, but over the course of time. You see formation, who we become happens in the gaps. And we're gonna see that in our passage this morning, but it's gonna be hinted at. But I think as we talk about it, you're gonna see it clearly in our passage. You see, Saul had one of those Tarzan life changing experiences, right? Again, for those who caught last week's message. He meets Jesus. I mean he encounters Jesus and he trusts Jesus as his Lord and savior. He gets baptized and right away, he goes around proclaiming Jesus. And verse 19 says, "For some days he hung out with these disciples in Damascus, proclaiming Jesus, the Son of God, confounding the local Jewish leaders by proving Jesus was the Christ. This promised Messiah that God said was going to come." And pause, by the way, it is so exciting to be around a new believer. I can't imagine what Saul was like, but just two weeks ago, there was a student in our youth group who trusted Jesus as his Lord and savior for the first time. And he's a junior in high school, but you can about imagine how for this moment, how clearly the only thing that really matters is this new life that he has found in Jesus. It is exciting to be around new believers. Anyway, back to Acts nine verse 23, Saul, it starts off with, "When many days had passed." We don't know exactly how long that that was, but it was long enough for these local Jewish leaders in Damascus to be done with debating with Saul, because it says this in verse 23. "When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to him. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night, let him down through an opening in the wall and lowered him in a basket." Okay, well, Roy shared all this last week. And then naturally, you and I, what do we do? We jump to the next verse. It says, "And he had come to Jerusalem." And we think that that happened right away. We think it was instant. We think, Saul trusts in Jesus. He changed his name to Paul. He goes to Jerusalem. He becomes a missionary and he writes half of the New Testament. We think that that happened right away, but it didn't, because between verses 25 and verse 26 in our Bibles, there's a gap. And it's a pretty big gap, three years to be precise. And why Luke, the author of Acts doesn't include this detail, we don't know. But, so how do we know this? Well, Saul who did later become Paul, told us. Later in his, when he wrote his letter to the church in Galatia, he says this. He says, after that moment of escaping Damascus in a basket, he says, "I went away into Arabia and I returned again to Damas." He went back to Damascus. He woke up. "Then after three years," there you go. He says, "I came back and then after three years, then I went up to Jerusalem to visit with Cephas or Peter, and I spent 15 days there." Formation happens in the gaps. Well, where did Saul go? Well, this was the map that was shared last week and it was helpful, because when he says Arabia, he's referring to the Roman Arabia, which is like modern day, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Southern part of Syria. He got out of Damascus, and we don't know exactly where he went, but he said he was touring around down here, and eventually he makes his way back to Damascus. And so, what did Saul do during this time? We don't know. All he says is that he went back to the very place they were trying to kill him, which blows my mind, but he went back, but I'm guessing this time he laid low. But listen, as we read the Bible, it's okay to wonder. It's okay to ask questions, but I know that's frustrating for certain personalities, because we don't always get the answers. Like, well, why ask questions if we can't find out the? Well, part of the journey of wondering and exploring and development of our faith is we, we should be like, well, what was Saul doing? Who was he with? Why did he wait three years before taking this next step? So what does formation look like? Well, we see this every single Sunday when we gather together as a church. Our mission as a church is to multiply disciples in a healthy church. And I believe Saul, during these three years leaned into this formation. You see, it does start with you know, trusting Jesus because of His grace. Okay, and if that is you, if you are here today and you are checking out the church thing, or you are saying Seth, I do wanna know, what does it look like to truly trust Jesus as my Lord and my savior? If that's you, talk to somebody today. We have incredible tools on our website. If you go to Rockpoint.church, you go to I'm new, go down to, I want to know God. There is three incredible videos there, but also Next Steps, of how you begin that relationship with Jesus. And that also gets you connected with us. If that's you, please do that today. But then, and then there's also go, or then we grow in Jesus' Word and truth. We're gonna come back to that one. And then go, and helping others do the same. Again, if that's you and you wanna take that next step of, hey, I wanna help others grow and make disciples. Talk to somebody. We'll get you connected into these places. But in the middle part, the grow, growing in Jesus' Word and truth. How do we do that? You see, I think this is what Saul was doing. He was this brand new believer. It was all exciting. People were trying to kill him, you know? He is like, what's going on with my? Everything he thought was true, got flipped upside down. And he had a new vision of a reality, a way for his life to be lived, and he soaked it in, but then he realized, I need to grow. And he knew that there was formation that happens in the gaps. And listen, formation, it takes time. It takes practice. We do not get it right the first time, the second time, the 127th time, right? But also, it takes friends. And we're gonna see that more in just a moment. We'll come back to that. The story continues. Well, Saul, doesn't say why he goes back to Jerusalem, but he's ready for that next step. It says, "When he came to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe he was truly a disciple of Jesus. I mean, still, three years later. But you could about imagine what that was like for the church, 'cause he's still very much Saul. Name tag Saul, right? Remember, even though it's been three years, remember the last time he was in Jerusalem, remember what he was doing? Saul said it himself. He said he was ravaging the church. He was hauling off men and women to prison. I don't know what happened to the kids. When he said, when it was voted upon, if they deserved to die, he said he was the first to cast his vote. So yeah, you could about imagine what it was like for Saul to show up at church. Hey everybody. They didn't necessarily roll out the welcome mat for him, right? But now look at verse 27, it says, "But Barnabas, Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles," which Paul said in Galatian says "he went and met with Peter." Barnabas brings him right to Peter and says, "Listen, on the road, Saul met Jesus." And he also told them how on Damascus saw preached boldly the name of Jesus. Barnabas. Literally his name means son of encouragement. How cool is that, right? I love that. Now, somebody be like, hey Barnabas, that name already popped up already in the book of Acts. You're right, but it's way back at the beginning. Not like Acts one, but Acts four, right after Pentecost, right when 3000 people became believers, Barnabas, in Acts 4:36 was one of the believers who sold a property he had and gave all of the proceeds to the apostles and said, "Listen, you suddenly have a church of 3000, they have needs, here's some money." And he responded in immediate act of sacrifice and generosity to help meet the needs of this growing church. He could have been at Pentecost. Barnabas could have been one of the very first converts to Christianity, these followers of the way, the church, the disciples of Jesus. But you see, what I want you to see in this whole formation happens in the gaps, but it happens with friends. We're not told how Barnabas knew Saul's story. There's a chance Barnabas was in Damascus when it all happened. 'Cause remember, the big persecution happened in the previous chapter where the believers scattered. They got out town 'cause people were dying. And we're not told where Barnabas went, but he could have been in Damascus. He may have known, somehow known Saul before. He could have gone and visited Saul, which would've taken crazy guts, 'cause when he left, Saul had the orders to arrest whoever he wanted, especially the leaders of this movement. But we're not told how or when, but we do know Barnabas knew Saul. He was part of his formation. He vouched for him. He was able to confirm not only Saul's character, but his faith, that this man's faith in Jesus is real. And the only way that you can come to know that is by spending time together with somebody. That's the only way. There's no download, there's no instant message. It's like, no I've spent time with, I know Saul. And that formation that takes time, it takes practice, but it takes friends. I believe Barnabas was a disciple making friend with Saul. So, verse 28. "So then Saul went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly the name of the Lord. And he spoke and dispute the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him." I'm sorry, not to laugh, but poor guy, everywhere he goes, people wanna kill him. "And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and then sent them off to Tarsus." Man, how wild that must have been. I mean, Saul was this up and coming leader among the Pharisees, right? He had built this amazing reputation, this resume in Jerusalem. He was sky rocketing the ladder of religious leaders, so to speak. And then he was given this authority. He was deputized as like a Texas Ranger, FBI, CIA agent, whatever you want to call him, to go arrest anybody he wanted and to bring them back in chains to Jerusalem. And then the next time he shows up, he's proclaiming the name of Jesus, the very thing he swore to destroy. And then it says that he's disputing with the Hellenists. Remember those are those Greek speaking Jews. That's not referring to the Hellenistic Christians, which shows up other places in Acts. This is the same group that debated with Steven, but also the same group that Saul himself endorsed, supported when they murdered Steven. Saul was on their side and now he's on the other side of the line facing them. Just crazy. Love it. "But within two weeks of boldly proclaiming the name of Jesus, Saul was now having death threats again." They were gonna, they wanted to kill him. That wasn't just, I hate you. Like no, you need to die, was their solution. Now there's something else that stood out to me, I wanna mention at this point in the story. Verses 25 and 30 describe these death threats that Saul faced and that he got away from. But previous in the book of Acts, Steven faced the same kind of threat, but he didn't escape. He faced it, he died. And others who stayed in Jerusalem, they died. So, there are times where stand and lose your life, so to speak like Steven, then there are other times to escape and preserve future ministry. Saul does become Paul and he does go on to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. So God called some people to stay and some people to leave. So only the Holy Spirit can help direct us in that. So, the key I think is, are we seeking the face of God for what He wants us to do? There are times where yeah, we need to lean in now, in the situations we find ourselves in and there's times where we need to play the long game in the relationships and dynamics that we find ourselves in. Well anyway, back to our passage, verse 30. Saul goes to Caesarea and then at Tarsus. Again, a visual is helpful from our previous map. From Damascus, he makes his way back to Jerusalem for 15 days. It was two weeks he got to hang out with Peter and the other guys, right. Goes to Caesarea, then most likely by a ship goes to Tarsus, which was about 350, 400 miles away. And then Saul goes to Tarsus. He goes home. This is where he's from. And guess what? He goes there now for the next eight years, eight years. Again, we don't see that right away as we read our Bibles. But there's so much to wonder about. What was it like for Saul to go home, right? To reconnect with childhood friends, to reconnect with family, maybe he hadn't talked to in a long time. What was it like to enter the old stomping grounds or to engage in a culture in a society that had so shaped him and defined him? Remember what Roy said, Tarsus was as a university town and Saul who had become this incredible mind and debater and leader, but now he's a follower of Jesus. What's it like to go back where people remember who you used to be and you had to change your reputation, now as a follower of Christ. And we're told that Barnabas his friend goes and finds him later in Acts chapter 11, verse 25. But in this moment, in our Bibles, Acts nine, Saul disappears now again for the next eight years. So some of you are math people, all right, you're adding up numbers. Three years in Damascus, two weeks in Jerusalem, eight years plus up into Tarsus. 11 years plus. Where were you 11 years ago? Better question, who were you 11 years ago? See, formation happens in the gaps. It takes time. We get shaped in between these big moments in our life. It takes practice and training, but it takes friends. It takes the people that are around us, that shape who we become. This has got to affect our understanding of spiritual formation. You see, we read our Bibles and we think these men and these women become these spiritual giants just overnight. Oh, they trust Jesus. They don't have any worry. They don't have anxiety. They're perfect in every way. Mary Poppins of Jesus style, whatever. Sorry, that's not in my notes. I don't know why I said that. That's crazy. But all we get is the highlight reel. All we get is the high points in our Bible sometimes, and we don't see this time in the gaps. It took those things and it happened in the ups and downs of normal life. Nothing happens automatically or instantly. Well then Luke, the author of the book of Acts makes a summary statement in verse 31. He says this. He says, "So the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." Luke is writing a masterful work here. Remember Acts 1:8. I know we say it a lot, but it frames the entire book. Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. You will be My witnesses. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth." Right here, Acts nine, Luke's like, "Look, look, God is doing what He promised He was going to do. Now the church in Judea and Samaria and Galilee is multiplying, it is growing. God is doing what He promised to do." But here's the thing I want you to see. The word are church here, in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. That word is singular. It's not plural. Luke is saying, "One church." But hey, now, what happened so far up to now? We don't have time to look at all the verses, but a lot has happened in the book of Acts up to this point, right? The church is born. We actually sang that in a worship song this morning, but then it grows. Acts four says that "As many as 5,000 men, not counting women and children." Acts four, easily over 15,000 people belong to this movement. Then the very next chapter says, "And each and every day multitudes were being added." Each and every day, 30,000, what? 40,000, maybe more beyond this. And then persecution comes and spreads them all over the region. But yet they are so transformed by this radical, redeeming love of Jesus, that they are so convinced that everybody needs to hear this gospel, this good news, that there is salvation for the forgiveness of sins found in nowhere else, but the name of Jesus Christ. So there are hundreds of churches, tens of thousands of followers of Jesus. And yet Luke says, "One church." You see, the word church can refer to a lot of things in the New Testament. It actually can refer to even just a home. Kevin talked about life groups. Did you know how rock point started 30 years ago? A group of families got together in a living room and started to do a Bible study and pray and said, "God, what do You wanna do?" You are here today because people got in the living room. And yes, the word church can refer to a congregation like this. It can refer to a city, a region. And yes, the word church can be applied to the whole world. I want you see this. Here we are. I took that screenshot. I had a four minute walk to work. It was awesome, right? Okay. So Rockpoint Church, this is where we are right now. You are part of it, we are here this morning gathered up. Even if you're online, you're tuning in, you're down in the warehouse. We are part of this here, but we know it's more than us. Rockpoint is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America. We are part of the North Central District. We are part of 173 other congregations across the entire state of Minnesota. Exciting! We're part of this. This is great. But our one district is part of 17 districts across the entire country of 1,600 congregations, if not more, as that number continues to grow all the time. Yes, this is just one denomination, but you are part of this, but I want you to see this. There has been a movement over the last 2000 years of God, Acts 1:8 coming true. That started yes, Middle east, Asia minor, went up through Europe, went west. Absolutely there's a season, but right now my friends, listen, we are the minority of the Christians alive on the planet today, because that gospel has moved to the Southern hemisphere, and it has been moving its way back east. And you're seeing a full circle coming, anticipating the day sometime, coming back. But you are a part of one global church today. Yes, different time zones, I get it. You have joined billions of people who are calling on the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And you are part of this. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplies, it multiplies. Walking in the fear of the Lord, that at godly awe, that reverence, that devotion to Jesus. They sensed that Jesus was asking for absolute allegiance and surrender to Him. To fully give their lives to knowing and following Him no matter what, that has not changed. Yes, maybe you've grown up. Maybe you've heard different versions of Christianity be like, ask very little of you. No, Jesus says, "I want you. I want all of you. I want all of your life." And guess what? And then in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, do you know what that means? It means that it was worth it. It's worth it to do that. We're so scared to surrender, 'cause we feel like we're not gonna have enough. We want Jesus and fill in the blank. And He says, "No, in order to find your life, you have to lose it." But you will find the way, the truth of life, everlasting, abundant life only in Jesus. We don't follow Jesus 'cause we have to we're supposed to, it's best. And the church multiplied. You can circle, you can highlight, underlying, put an asterisk an arrow, whatever you need to do. Look at that. That's something the author you to see. And I wish I had more time to read this whole passage, but I wanna take us back to the beginning briefly, 'cause I want you to just sense the movement that Luke is saying. Verse six, "So when they came together, they asked Jesus, 'Lord, will You, at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father is fixed by His own authority. But you all will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you all will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth.' And when Jesus finished saying these things, they looked and He was lifted up, a cloud took Him out their sight. And they were gazing into heaven and He went, and behold, two men stood by them suddenly in white robes, said 'Men of Galilee, why are you looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taking you into heaven, He's coming back.'" And the rest of the book of Acts is, well, now what? Jesus was in heaven. He's promised this Holy Spirit. He's promising He's coming back. Now What? "And walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." It multiplied, that word is so important. It shows up three times in the book of Acts, a fourth time describing the descendants of Abraham. Listen, after the apostles were first arrested and beaten, severely beaten, Acts six says, "The disciples multiplied." Here in our passage, after this intense persecution, but God wins and changes the life of Saul. It says that the church multiplied. And yes, spoiler alert, but it's coming soon, Acts 12. After the apostle James gets killed and the Gentiles received the gospel, it says "The Word of God increases and multiplies." And the missionary journeys begin, and the gospel is proclaiming to the ends of the earth, multiplied. And you and I are here 2,000 years later in the state of Minnesota on the other side of the planet from this moment, yet looking at the very living, breathing Words of God and the salvation that is available through faith in Jesus Christ. This is God's story, and we are a part of the story and the story isn't done yet. So, how do we walk in the fear of the Lord? How do we walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit? How do we multiply disciples in a healthy church? Okay. We referenced this earlier, the know, grow, go. We do this just to keep it as a memorable thing. But like we said earlier, if you are here or you're tuning in or you're watching this later and you're like, I am ready to begin that journey, just show me how. If you are not connected to a person here that you can go talk to, go to Rockpoint.church, click on I'm new, go, I wanna know God. Amazing videos there that walks through, what is does it mean to truly be a Christian? Or what is the gospel? Who is Jesus really? But also, the next steps of how you begin this journey, this relationship. If you are ready to go and help others do the same, again, you're like Seth, I've been a part of this for a long, I'm ready. I need to lean back in. I need to reengage what Kevin said earlier. Talk to somebody. There are so many opportunities for you to step in, in how God has wired you and gifted you, and given you experience in so many ways. Follow that prompting. But to grow, to grow in Jesus' life and Word, His Word and truth. It takes time. Yes, to expose your heart to God's truth. It takes practice. It takes training. But it takes a group of disciple making friends that you surround yourself with. So, there are several next steps. Kevin said the big three. If you've never been discipled, if you've never had someone just come alongside you and say, what does it look like for you to follow Jesus with your life? Do so, get connected somehow. There are people who are in the wings ready to come alongside you. And if you're that person like, I wanna do that for someone else, do so. I am who I am because there is people who sacrificed time, energy, all this stuff, but also allowed me to be a part of their family, who showed me what it looked like to follow Jesus, allowed me to make my mistakes and to try and screw up and to do all these other things. But to say, hey, I see what God's doing in you, keep going. We need that for each other. That's the one on one. Sunday classes. So many topics where, you just don't have the time or this setting, like Kevin said to go deep in all of them in this moment. But Sunday, we're here and there's amazing opportunity for you to go deeper in all these different subject matters. Sunday classes, or then a life group, right? The normal everyday stuff. Remember, what we proclaim here. What does it look like for you to follow Jesus together in your life Monday through Saturday? That is a life group. And that is even like that living room where you are known and you go after following Jesus together. Well, but if you were to ask me, Seth, what would you say? What next steps should I take? I would say it's this one, okay. You've been hearing about it now for about two weeks. There was a brief video from Todd earlier. 21 days of transformative prayer. If you're new, you're like, this is your first time hearing about it. Listen, this is what we're gonna say. We're doing this thing for 21 days, starting next Sunday, the 20th. So if you're you're one of those eager, like, let me go get the book and read the whole thing right away. You'll start over with us again on the 20th, right? Slow down. But grab one, they're available out in the gathering area, grab one per family, but start here. I believe God has something incredible in store for us as a church, as we lean into transformative prayer. 'Cause listen, and may be different than the way you've been taught to pray. Again, we've all been formed in some way. The way that you pray right now is because you were around people who prayed that way. The things that you say before a meal time or the things that you pray at certain occasions, you got that from somebody else who did that with you, or if you think, if you're like, well, no Seth, I'm original, I create. Well great, but I'm guessing they got it from somebody, right? But these 21 days, you've been hearing about it. As Daniel Henderson, the author says, "We need to seek the face of God before we seek the hand of God." We need to slow down our prayer lives and we need to take the time to base our prayer in worship first, and that's gonna shape the way that we ask for our requests. Second, it's not a new way to pray. It's actually really getting back to the way the Bible says. And some people say it takes 21 days to begin a new habit. To begin, not to solidify, but to begin. So join us in this. If you wanna take a next step in, go after formation in whatever season of life you're in right now, join us in this. Get prepared, prepare your hearts for what God has in store starting next Sunday. Well, formation takes time, it takes practice and it takes friends, but here's the truth. And here's what I want to make sure you hear clearly, as we approach our ending here. We will all get formed by something. Based upon the people we surround ourselves with, the things that we just tend to practice over and over again, just until they become just routine and we don't even think about it. And the time that we spend our lives giving to, those are the things that are gonna shape the men and women that we become, of what our lives will amount to. And we're all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life. There was a study from Duke University, suggested that as much as 40% of our actions on a daily basis come, not from the product of choices, but from habits. Let me say that another way. Almost half of our life, we're not even thinking about it. We're just going, doing life like we normally do life. Why do we do this? I don't know, it's what we always do. And each and every day we wake up, we go to work, we do our thing, we go home, we do a little this next thing. And half of our life, we're not even thinking about what we're doing. And we have a common problem then. So, if we ignore the way that our habits shape who we are, we then assimilate to become this other hidden rule of life. That there's someone else who says this is the way life is, and it's the American way of life. Life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, right? And these habits form in us, things like anxiety, depression, consumerism, injustice, vanity that are so typical of the American contemporary life. And the only answers that seem apparent are distraction. Escapism, a bottle, video game, a Netflix series, sex, buy a new house, get more hours in your career. All we offer in a Western secular society is distraction, but there's a better way. And there, it's called the way of Jesus, and it is counter formative to the ways of this world, and it will lead us to becoming lovers of God and lovers of neighbor that we were created to be. But ultimately my friend's, formation comes from encountering the person, the real person of Jesus and knowing His great love for us. Before we rush outta here, I want us to take a moment to intentionally soak that in, the worship team is gonna come back out and they're gonna sing, it might be a new song for a lot of you, but they're just gonna sing it over you. But when we lean into who Jesus really is, that is what is going to transform our lives. And so, as they get set, let me just pray and I'll hand it over to them. Jesus, this is real love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. And Lord, in the mystery of Your sovereignty and plan of how You work in the lives of people and where You place them and who they meet. That the people that are in this room, downstairs, online, but are tuning to this moment, are the exact people that You want to hear Your heart and Your love for them, and what You want to do in us and through us. And Jesus, You promised that You're coming back. And the reason why we haven't been beamed up to heaven, is You are still all telling Your story. And there are so many who still need to hear the salvation that is found only through Jesus Christ. Amen.