You're Chosen| Better and Brighter | Chad Narayan

0:00 Hey, welcome to another week here at Zoe Church. We are concluding our series today called Better and Brighter. But before we get into that, I just want to take a moment to say thank you to everybody who gives here at Zoe Church. Because of your generosity and your faithfulness and obedience to tithe and give offerings, we get to do what we get to do. So we're so thankful. But we're jumping into the final conclusion of our series, Better and Brighter. Here we go. we've been in a series we've been in a series entitled better and we don't try that one again we've been in a series entitled better and better and brighter let's go put that in the chats zoe family we've been in a series uh entitled better and brighter and we've been focusing on these two verses out of matthew chapter five where jesus calls you and i so wherever we come from in life, no matter your background or your job, wherever you come from in life, there is a communal calling that you and I share together. And it's this, to be the salt of the earth and to be the light of the world. And salt makes everything taste better and light makes everything brighter.

1:21 And so you and I, in any space that we go into, any conversation that we have, any relationship, our home, our family, our neighborhoods, our community, we are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I say it to my kids like this. When I drop them off at school, I say to them, be a leader and be a light. I give them all a hug and a kiss. My kids are starting to get to the age now where they're like, dad, get out of here. I don't, you know, and so I try and hug them real fast. And I say, be a leader and be a light. In other words, what I'm telling them is in any space, any classroom, when you're out at recess, when you're with your friends, be a leader, make it better. You get an opportunity to make it better. And then also be a light.

2:13 Don't let your light dim to something else, but lean in, be a light. to your classmates, be a light to your school. And so today's thought as we conclude this series is what keeps the light on? What keeps me fresh? What keeps me going? What keeps me in the plan, in the story of God? Or what can make me go stale? And so if we're called to be, we're called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, what keeps that light going? What keeps me fresh? or what can put that light out and what can ultimately make me stale. And so I'm excited. We're gonna look at Romans chapter 12 today. Romans chapter 12. One more time, thank our worship team for doing such a great job. Romans chapter 12.

3:04 Romans chapter 12, it says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. I love singing in the car, singing in the shower, but right here, proper and true worship as the Bible defines it, is a life that is surrendered to God. You might not be able to sing on key, you might not be able to know all the notes or the songs, but your ultimate and true worship is offering your life to God. It's surrender to him. Verse two says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good and pleasing and perfect will.

4:06 So in view of God's mercy, do not conform to the pattern of this world. Last week, Pastor Chad, we talked about this. We talked about Hosea. Hosea goes after Gomer, his wife. His wife has committed adultery and has left their home, and God says, I want you to go after your wife. I want you to bring her back and restore the marriage, and that is a picture for us of what God does for you and I. It is a picture that in my worst place, God picked me up out of the miry clay. God picked me up out of my situation. God picked me up out of the mess that I had made. God picked me up out of my bad decisions. He picked me up out of my sin. He picked me out out of my shame. and the Bible doesn't say that he showed me more shame and condemnation.

5:07 No, it says that he showed me love. It says that he showed me grace. It says that he was patient with me, that he was understanding with me. In view of God's mercy, we serve a going God, a God who is not afraid of your mistakes, a God who is not saying, well, it's based on performance, so this week I can't bless you, I can't look after you, I can't walk with you because of the mistakes that you've made. No, we serve a going God that goes after us, that leaves the 99 to go after the one that is lost. Come on, give him a praise this morning. Come on, if you're thankful and grateful, Come on, give him praise. Come on, this is the 1030. Come on, in the chats. Come on, South Bay.

5:59 Give him a praise today. If you're thankful that God is for you and not against you. God has been walking with you every step of the way. As Psalm 23 says, he says that God is our good shepherd. I don't have to want. He's been walking with me, leading me beside waters that are still. And even though I may be in the shadow or the valley of the shadow of death, I don't have to fear evil because his rod and his staff, they comfort me. It says that God prepares a table in the presence of your enemies, people that are against you, people that don't believe what you believe. God says, I will show you favor. I will show you grace. That even though you weren't supposed to make it on paper, I'm going to help you make it.

6:54 That even though you weren't supposed to be there, good news, I'm with you. My grace is sufficient. I'm walking with you every step of the way. And I love how Psalm 23 ends. It ends saying, surely goodness and mercy will follow me on Tuesday. it will follow me when I'm good and right with God. It will follow me when I've tithed. It will follow me when I've read my Bible seven days in a week. No, it says surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. Give him some praise today. Come on, Zoe. give him some praise and some thankfulness and gratitude. We serve a going God, a God who is after you, a God who's pursued you, a God who's not afraid of your sin, a God who's not afraid of the mistakes, a God who's not afraid of your past, a God who is actively pursuing you, a God who is active. He's not passive. Let's see how they do this week. Let's see what, let's see how they, how they give this week.

8:10 Let's see their church attendance. Let's see their serving this week. Let's see how they love their family this week. Let's see how they love their kids. No, we serve a going God, a God who is active, a God who walks with you every step of the way, a God who walks with you, and a God who walks in front of you. He knows your future, so what he's speaking to you in the present is a reality of where he's leading you, of where he's guiding you, of where he's giving you wisdom, of where he's giving you clarity. I know I wore loafers today, but they may not be gator skin, but I came to preach. Are you thankful for God's goodness and his grace to you today? Let's go. It's the 1030. Let's go. We got praise to give God today. We got thankfulness to give God today. We got gratitude to give God today. We serve a God who in view of his mercy, he's been with us.

9:05 in view of his mercy, in view of what he's done for you and I. The title of today's message, I'm getting to the title just now. The title of today's, we'll get there, we'll get there. The title of today's message is I'm all in. I'm all in. I'm all in on God. I'm all in on his plan. I'm all in on where he's leading me. I'm all in on my calling. I'm all in on the challenges. I'm all in on the things that he's asked me to grow into and out of. I'm all in. Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm all in. I'm all in. I'm all the way in. Turn to your other neighbor and say, I'm so glad I'm sitting next to you.

9:56 I'm all in on our friendship. I'm all in. I'm all in. years ago years ago they were fishermen and they were trying to figure out how to get cod which is natural to the east coast they were trying to figure out how to get cod from the east coast to the west coast they were having trouble as they were as they were transporting it with the taste and the texture. And so as they would transport the fish from the East Coast to the West Coast, they would throw it on some ice and salt it. And they would put it on ice. And when they would get to the West Coast, we would throw some seasoning on that thing,

10:50 fry it up, you know, fillet it up, all that. And it didn't have the same taste. It didn't have the same texture. And so they were, okay, so what do we do? What do we do from here? So they thought, well, we'll build these tanks on the trains, we'll put salt water in it. Since they're salt water fish, we'll put salt water in these tanks, we'll keep the fish alive, they can live in their natural habitat and transport from the East Coast to the West Coast. So the fish arrived on the West Coast and even though they were still alive, they would go to cook the fish and it still didn't have the same texture, didn't have the same taste to it. They were trying to figure out, I'm confused, I'm dumbfounded by this situation. The fish are still alive and they are in their natural habitat of the salt water, but still, when we go to cook this fish, it doesn't have the same texture, have the same taste to it.

11:53 How can you be alive? and not fresh. Some of us, we're alive. We're present in our workplace. We're present in our homes. We're present in our marriages. We're present with our coworkers. We're present in our neighborhoods. We're present in our communities, the sports teams that our kids play on, but we're not fresh. we've lost the taste and the texture of our life. How can I be alive, physically present, but I don't have the saltiness and the light that I'm called to carry? How can I be present in this marriage? How can I be, I'm here, I'm breathing, I got breath in my lungs, but I've lost what makes me fresh.

12:51 How can I be at my workplace? And in my workplace, I'm there, I'm showing up. I'm not taking, you know, I got my PTO and I'm not taking a lot of sick days. I'm there, I'm earning my keep, but I'm not alive. I'm not fresh. I've lost the saltiness, I've lost the texture, I've lost the taste, I've lost what God has called me to carry, that light that is within you must overflow out of you. Somehow I've lost what keeps me fresh. Paul answers the question here, what will make you lose that light that is within you? What will affect the freshness of your life is losing an awe and a wonder in what God is doing in your life. It is losing an awe and a wonder for his goodness and for his grace.

13:50 It is losing that part of your life that says, I've got to praise today even though I don't feel like it. It's losing sight of what God has called you to. It's losing sight of his goodness and his graciousness and his faithfulness and all that he's done. It's losing sight of his mercy and his faithfulness and what he's brought you out of and what he's leading you into. Paul says, if I lose sight of God's mercy, I will conform to whatever I'm around. How can I be saved and stale? You might be here today saying, I'm saved. I'm in church. I read my Bible this week.

14:42 I prayed. But there's something I'm not experiencing in my life right now. I don't have that freshness. I've lost that flavor. I'm trying, I'm trying. Maybe it could be that you've lost sight of everything that God has done for you. Maybe there's praise missing in your life. Maybe there's worship missing in your life. Maybe there's a gratitude that's missing in your life. Maybe there's a gratefulness as I wake up in the morning. I'm writing down things that I'm grateful for. God, I'm thankful for this family. God, I'm thankful for my job. God, I'm thankful for this toothpaste. I'm thankful for this orange juice in my fridge. Whatever the case is, maybe what we've lost, maybe what's taking away our ability to be fresh is we've lost view of God's mercy.

15:40 We've lost view of what God has done for us. Why, when we come to church on Sunday, do we have moments of praise and worship? Why do we come up here and we say, come on, let's give him some praise today. Let's give him some worship. Because sometimes I've got to get out of my comfortability. I've got to get out of just standing still because I'm stale. And I've got to break out of that. I've got to break out of that conformity. I've got to break out of that. And I've just got to step into what God is calling me to. I've got to praise and worship. I've got to break out the cobwebs. This morning, I stretched. because I'm getting old.

16:26 Praise and worship is stretching. It's stretching. It's waking your body up to view God's mercy, to say, God, you are so good. God, you are so great. God, I don't deserve anything that you've given to me. God, I don't deserve any blessing. I don't deserve any good thing that you've done for me. I don't deserve your faithfulness. I don't deserve that you've walked with me. I don't deserve your blessing, your calling, or any of that, and yet you're still merciful. Yet you're still so good. You're still so good to me. And the reason is, the reason is, is because God's mercy is deeper than a feeling. It's deeper than a feeling. It's deeper than a feeling. God's mercy is not based on your performance.

17:20 God's mercy is not based on your good works. God's mercy is not based on what you can do for him. It is not fleeting. That's why we talked about in the series before this one that love is not an emotion. It's a choice. Love is a decision. God made a decision on you that he loves you. God made a decision that he's walking with you. God made a decision on you that he's going to carry your life, that he's going to be with you. God's mercy is deeper than just a fleeting emotion or a decision or what you could do for him in this season or what value you might think you add. God's mercy is deeper than a feeling. Look at how it's defined here. The word that Paul uses for mercy is said to be of deep feelings God has for all of us.

18:20 And it powerfully shows and shares in those following him. We see the word translated as mercy, but another way that you could describe the word that Paul is using is compassion. Compassion. God's compassion. In view of God's compassion. Another way to say it is mercy is a deep gut level feeling that God profoundly experiences that causes him to move. what Paul is saying here is in view of God's deep gut level feeling that causes him to move on our behalf, I worship, I praise him, that in anything that I go through, in anything that I experience, I praise him. In any situation, in any storm, whatever God has called me to, on the good days, the bad days, the ugly days, the mundane days, the days that I just, I can't wait to go to sleep to wake up to a new one. I step back and I say, in view of your mercy, in view of that deep, gut-level, profound feeling of love. It's his nature. It's his character. It's who he is.

19:44 And in view of that, I take a step back and I say, God, you are so good to me. I could never deserve this kind of love, and I could never deserve this kind of emotion. I couldn't. Lamentations says it like this in chapter three. It says, through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Good news. You were protected this week through the Lord's mercy. Good news. God was watching over your finances this week. Through God's mercy, he was watching over your relationships. Through God's mercy, he was watching over your home. Good news to you today. your calling, it's not over. Good news. It might look like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. Good news, God is with you and he's guiding you and he's watching over you and he's active in your life through the Lord's mercies and compassions.

20:42 we're not consumed. I love this, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness. My wife, Natalie, has joined the sourdough movement. Woo, wow, we gotta woo, let's go.

21:11 She's joined the Sourdough cult and... Who knew, you know, bacteria in a jar? I didn't know. But sometimes I'll wake up, and I'll wake up or I'll come home, and I walk in the door, and that smell of fresh bread hits you, and you're like, dang.

21:41 That's some, I ain't gluten-free today. Let's go. Amen. What's the Bible teaching us here? You woke up to fresh mercy today. You woke up to fresh mercy today. You didn't wake up to last year's mercy. You didn't wake up to yesterday's mercy. You didn't wake up to last week's mercy. You woke up to fresh mercy over your life today. You woke up to a mercy that is carrying you today. You woke up to a mercy that is hugging you and watching over you and guiding you and walking with you every step of the way in view of God's mercy. I offer my life as a living sacrifice.

22:37 God, you can have all that I am. You can have me. I surrender my whole life to you. I surrender it in view of your mercy. I love our worship team. They're the best. I love them. But I have to train myself. I don't need the worship team on a Tuesday to lead me in worship. I have to wake up and say, no, you are a good God. You are a great God. I love the guitar, but I don't need the guitar to remind me that God saved me. I love our bass and our bass player, but I don't need the bass player to be with me on a Wednesday reminding me that God is for me. I don't need the drums, although they're really awesome and they're really fun to have. I don't need a drummer. I don't need a worship leader. I don't need six vocals to remind me that I got to open up my mouth and praise God for what he's done for me. That I don't need a worship team. I don't need a worship track. All I need is to step back and in view of God's mercy and what he's done, I respond by saying, God, I praise you.

23:49 And there are some things in life that you and I will go through where the only thing that breaks us out of it is praise. The only thing that unlocks what God is doing in your life is to praise him, is to praise him when I don't want to sing a song, is to praise him when all I want to do is I'd rather numb myself and watch Netflix. When all that I want to do is have sad boy feelings, I have to praise God. I have to stretch. I got to do some hamstrings. I got to do some of these to praise God. I got to lift my hands. I got to praise him. I got to step back in view of his mercy. I'm praising him. I don't need a worship team. I don't need a bass player. I don't need a worship track. All I need is God's mercy and to step back. God, you've been so good.

24:44 Breaking praise breaks me out of some cobwebs, breaks me out of some soreness, and breaks me out of some stinking thinking and breaks me out of some thoughts I shouldn't be having and breaks me out of some toxicity and breaks me out of some relationships and breaks me out of some situations and circumstances that I shouldn't be in because those people that I'm around, I shouldn't be with them. They're not for me. They don't have my best in mind. They want me to conform. Conformity is the enemy and fear is the root. Paul says, in view of God's mercy, I respond in praise and worship, and I can't conform to the rhythms. I can't conform to the patterns. I can't conform to the habits. I can't conform to the cycles. I can't conform to the ways of the world, because if I do, conformity will drive me out of God's plan. conformity will drive me out of God's will well everybody remember it's kind of morbid as a as a parent that our parents used to say this to us but remember remember when your parents used to say well if all of your friends jumped off a cliff would you do that as well it's like okay guys let's find a new phrase to use it's a little weird and morbid and we were all like yeah we're with our friends.

26:12 conformity, conformity will cause you to do things you don't want to do, conformity will cause you to go to restaurants, and, and be in spaces, and places you don't, you know you're not supposed to be in, conformity will put you in relationships that you knew you, I was supposed to break up with this relationship a year ago, conformity will put me in, in places, It will put me around people. It will put me in situations I know I'm not supposed to be in. And a lot of it is it comes from this fear of, this fear of, well, what am I going to do if I don't have those people? What am I going to do?

26:59 Who am I going to be with? And conformity causes us to make decisions we know we're not supposed to make. And the root of it is fear. Because conformity feels safe. I'm in a group. We're all doing this together. We're all making these bad decisions together. We're all doing stuff we shouldn't. We know we're not supposed to be doing. We're all not living up to the standard of our calling together. We're all conforming. It's complacent. It's comfortable. But faith takes courage. Faith takes courage. It takes courage to not, well, this is how the world handles their finances. This is how God handles finances. It takes courage that while everybody is going out to the restaurant after work and you didn't get the invite to still go home and say, praise God.

27:54 It takes courage. It takes courage to not be mediocre. It takes courage to not be average. It takes courage to say, I'm gonna swim upstream. It takes courage to go against the grain. It takes courage to not conform. It takes courage, and I choose faith over fear. I say, God, your will be done, not my will be done. I say, God, if this is the way that you're leading me, so be it. If this is what you're doing, I'm saying amen. If this is where you're leading me, this is where we're going. And I'm saying, God, I'm not gonna conform to the ways and the patterns of this world, but I'm gonna be transformed. I'm gonna be transformed. I'm gonna walk in what you have for me. Conformity feels safe. It feels safe. Do you ever find yourself in situations where you're saying, I didn't ask for these problems.

28:51 I didn't ask to inherit these issues. I didn't ask to parent my parent through alcoholism. I didn't ask to have trouble meeting somebody, and here I am. Are my best days behind me? I didn't ask to put my dreams and my vision boards and the calling that I thought I had on my life to raise a child with special needs. God, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to inherit the problems of these coworkers you've put me with. I didn't ask to inherit these issues that seemingly I find myself around. You ever ask God that?

29:44 You ever tell God that? God, I didn't ask for this, man. I didn't ask for these problems. I didn't ask to be around these people. I didn't ask for these situations. but here I find myself on a Thursday with a coworker who's talking to me about issues that they're going through. Here I find myself trying to raise my family in a city that seemingly doesn't want me to raise my family in the ways of God. Here I am trying to enjoy what great shows there are on Netflix and Hulu and all this kind of stuff but I can't watch that because it's got that in it. I don't want my kids to watch that because it's got that in it. God, I didn't ask for these problems. I didn't ask to go through financial trouble. I thought you said when you called me to this that you were going to see me through it. Well, here I am struggling for finances.

30:38 I didn't ask to inherit these problems. God, you called me. You said go into this industry. You said go into the film industry. You said go into fashion. You said go into finance. You said lead a family in this city. God, you called me to live here. It's expensive. Thank you. What you mean buy a house? What you mean be planted? I don't have enough money to plant just to plant. trying to get a fig to be in the right sunlight for some reason. I didn't ask to inherit these problems. I didn't ask to inherit these people. I didn't ask to inherit these issues, but somehow I found myself inheriting them. Somehow I find myself here. Somehow I find myself in these situations.

31:31 And what God is saying is I've put you there for a specific reason. Thank you. And I didn't tell you the full story about the cod, about the fish. So the fish arrive on the West Coast, and they're in these saltwater tanks.

31:54 Still, taste, texture's not right. So they go back to the drawing board, and they say, okay, this is one last effort that we'll try, one last idea. We'll put catfish in the tanks. We'll put catfish. Now, catfish are not food for cod. They're predators. They actually go after cod. You might think, well, this doesn't make sense. Why would they put the enemy in the same tank? as what they're trying to preserve.

32:35 Wait a second, this doesn't make sense. Why would they put something in the tank that wants to take them out to try and, so they put catfish in the tank. And as the fish arrived on the West Coast, they arrived on the run. They'd spent their time on the run. They'd spent their time trying to avoid the catfish. So when the fish arrived, they actually arrived with strength. They actually arrived with vitality because there are certain situations that you might be asking God, God, take me out of this situation. Look at the enemy. Look at what's after me. Look at these problems. Look at these situations. I don't wanna be here. This is actually frustrating me. I don't have peace all the time on my pillow. I thought you said I was gonna have joy in these situations.

33:30 I thought that there was mercy all around me. God, I thought your grace is sufficient. I thought, what do you mean? I'm going through all this kind of stuff. God, I thought you said that you were gonna make a way where there seems to be no way. And a lot of times we're praying, God, remove the catfish from my tank. And God's saying, no, I got them in there because they're gonna challenge you. they're going to grow you, they're going to strengthen you, they're going to keep that freshness in you, they're going to keep that vitality. There might be issues that you're facing today. The enemy might be on your tail, but good news, God is with you, God is for you, he's protecting you, he's watching over you. There is no enemy, there is no situation that will overtake you. There might be catfish in the tank today, and you might be praying, God, You gotta get these catfish out.

34:25 You gotta get me out of this situation. You gotta get me out of this job. You gotta get me from around these people. You don't need a new marriage. You don't need new kids. You don't need a new job. You may need some new friends, but you don't need a new situation. You gotta submit and surrender to God and what he's doing. The enemy might be at your tail. He might be chasing you, but we serve a God that says, I'm protecting you. I'm your good shepherd. I'm watching. over you. God says that you are more than a conqueror today. Give him praise. Come on, give him some praise today. I'm more than a conqueror. I'm the head. I'm not the tail. I'm not a failure. I'm a winner. I'm a survivor. God, you brought me too far to let me fail. God, you've been with me every step of the way to see me get stuck in the mud. Come on, God. You've been with me every step of the way.

35:22 You've been merciful. You've been with me. You've been for me. And you might be saying today, God, I need this catfish out of the way. And God's saying, I got them right where I want them because I'm all in. I'm all in. Our only response to the catfish is to say, well, I'm all in. If you got catfish around me, I'm all in. If you got some circumstances I'm facing, I'm all in. If you got some problems that are, if you got a mountain, I'm all in. I'm all in. I'm all in. God, I'm all in on what you're doing. I'm all in on where you're leading me. I'm all in. I'm all in to not conform. I'm all in to not say, you know what? I'm giving up to complacency and comfortability. I'm saying I'm all in. I'm all in. I'm all in. I'm all in to what you're doing. I'm all in.

36:15 Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm all in. I hope you're all in. Turn to the other neighbor and say, I hope you're all in. I'm all in. I'm all in on what God's doing. I'm all in on where God's leading me. I got to praise to break out of some cobwebs. I got to praise to get out of some feelings I shouldn't be in. I got to praise to give him some praise in view of his mercy. I got to praise to break out of some stinking thinking. I got to praise to stay on the path. God's written your story. The Bible says that he is the author and the finisher of your faith. God has you right where he wants you. He's, you haven't arrived yet. You're not a failure. The enemy wants to come in and shame you and say, look at all these mistakes. God says my mercy's there for you to keep you on the path that I have for you. God's word says that, hey, I'm with you every step of the way.

37:15 And the enemy is a snake. The enemy wants to slither in, lie to you, shame you. God says, no, no, no, no. None of that business now. None of that. I'm for you. I'm not against you. You're the head. You're not the tail. You're more than a conqueror. That mountain that stands in front of you, guess what? You're going to overcome it because you're an overcomer. And I've been through too much. You've been through too much. You've walked through too much. You've survived too much. You've gone through financial difficulties. You've gone through family issues. You've raised kids. You've stood the test of time when the winds came and the winds blew, and it looked like all was bleak, and it looked like, God, I don't know how you're going to make a way here. This situation seems too tough.

38:07 God brought you through it. You've gone through too much to listen to some little weasel, to some snake. To somebody that's trying to take you out, you're more than a conqueror. And God's been with you every step of the way. God's been with you every step of the way. Sit in. We ain't done yet. We ain't done yet. We ain't done yet.

38:31 But God's been with you for too long. You've been in this. You've had too many nights where you've cried yourself to sleep. You've had too many times where you've been sitting at your desk, head in hands. you face too much to give up now. You face too much to give in. God's mercy's been with you every step of the way. It's been fresh every single morning. God's been in on you since before you were born. You're not a mistake. What a lie from the pit of hell. You're not a mistake. You're not a mistake. God formed you while you were in your mother's womb. He wrote your calling. He wrote your plan.

39:19 He's been leading you every step of the way. What a lie that the enemy would wanna throw in your face, that you're not enough. I may not be enough in my own strength, but praise God, I serve the God of the impossible. Praise God. I serve the creator of the universe. Praise God, I serve the alpha and the omega. Praise God, I serve the beginning and the end. Praise God, I serve the lion of the tribe of Judah. Praise God, I serve the so be it God. Praise God, I serve a God who's given me every reason to live another day. Praise God, I serve a God who created me, who's walked with me, who's been in my future. Praise God that there's never been a day where he hasn't been with me, where he hasn't been walking with me, where he hasn't been leading me.

40:14 and so I got to praise. I got to praise God. I got to praise him. I got to give him some praise. I got to give him some worship. I got to give him some gratitude. I got to give him some praise and worship. I got to give him some thankfulness in view of your mercy, in view of your mercy, in view of your mercy, in view of your mercy. You have been so good. I can't conform to the ways of the world, the only, the only thing that I can do is go make a difference. Go make a difference.

40:50 It's the fourth part of our mission here at Zoe. We want people to know God, find freedom, discover their gift, and then go make a difference themselves. Make a difference. This week, I want you to write down one name of somebody you can make a difference in their life. and it's not rocket science. Maybe just buy them a coffee. Venmo them so they go buy their lunch. If you read something in the Bible that's encouraging you, text them.

41:24 Share your story this week. Be a witness to what you've witnessed. I love the praise and the atmosphere and what we're doing here today. It gets the cobwebs off. It gets all the stinking thinking out of us here at this service so that we can go out Monday through Saturday and make a difference in people's lives. That same faith, that same energy that we have here today, we take that out into our week this week. We take that to our co-workers. We take that to our families. We take that to those who don't know that they're far from God. We take it to those who are sleepy, just going through life, conforming, just saying, oh, I'm just looking for, yeah, I'm just going through life, coasting through life, we take the energy and the faith that is here and we live it out this week. I want to end with this verse. I want to end with this verse. We looked at Matthew 5, 13, and 14, but just a couple verses later, Jesus says these words, in the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds. Everybody say your good deeds. Say I'm all in. Say your good deeds. I'm all in. Say I'm all in. I'm all in. They will see your good deeds. Nobody has ever received a check that's been signed Jesus Christ. They've received a check. They've received a Venmo.

42:48 They've received an encouraging text from you. so they're going to see your good deeds, they're going to see your faith, they're going to see your graciousness, they're going to see your mercy, they're going to see how you love people, they're going to see that you choose not to gossip when everybody else is gossiping, they're going to see that you choose to stand and live a life that goes against the grain, they're going to see your good deeds and glorify who? God. Your life, your situation, your circumstance, it's all to bring glory to God. In view of God's mercy, I don't conform. I lay my life at the altar because I realize that my good deeds as I serve other people to make a difference in their life, they're going to take a step back and say, God, you've been so good to me in view of your mercy, in view of what you've done.

43:47 I know that this person told me about the gospel. I know that this person invited me to church. I know that this person invited me to an Easter egg hunt and I came and my life has never been the same ever since. And I look back and I look back on what you've done and I look back on your grace and I look back on your mercy and I look back that you were with me every step of the way. And as I look back, I begin to look up and I get the cobwebs off and I lift my hands in praise and I say, because that person told me about the gospel, I was introduced to your mercy.

44:25 In view of God's mercy, his mercy comes through our good deeds. So this week, I'm giving you some homework. Homework? Come on, man. Your homework this week. find one person you can encourage find one person you can make a difference in their life i'm all in are you i'm all in to a going god i'm all in to a god who's for me i'm all in to his plan and his will for my life amen i'm gonna invite you to stand to your feet hey thank you for taking time to listen to this week's message. If you're looking for more information about what's happening in the life of the church, feel free to go to our website, zoechurch.org.

45:20 But we love you, Zoe, and we pray you have the best week.