You know there's power in his grace, right? I think some of us need to pause for a moment. Some of you have been saved for a short season of time, a long season of time, and I, I don't want to assume that some of you in this room don't know Jesus Christ. I'm not going to make that assumption that everybody's saved in this room. But do you remember how lost you were?

Do you, do you remember how far away you were from God? See, the problem in America today is we think we're pretty good people just getting by in a pretty good world, and I just need to be saved a little bit. That's not what scripture teaches. There is none not righteous, no, not even one. There's no one who understands.

There's, there's no one who seeks God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave.

Through their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of asps is on their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

And Paul said, Jew and Gentile alike, we were under sin. That's a pretty far distance away from our God. Do you remember? Take a moment to think about it. Now some of you were saved as a child.

But I think you've had enough of a taste of sin in your adult life to know the cost that comes along with it. The wages of sin is death. God said to Adam, from dust you came and to dust you will return. Why? Because of sin.

We're not a bunch of good people just trying to get by. We're lost people separated from our God. But were it not for grace. I don't want to be cliché this morning. But I'm probably going to say some cliché things today.

As we look at Ephesians 2:8, I'm probably not going to tell you anything that you don't already know. What I want to do is move in your heart that you will see grace fresh and new. To talk about how amazing and wonderful and awesome the grace of God is. Yes, we've overused it. But that does not deplete it of its power to save us from the depths of our depravity.

And our sin. Jonathan Lowe defines grace this way: Grace conveys the idea of a person's favorable disposition toward another, usually of a superior toward a subject, resulting in a beneficent action or response. In other words, God loves you so much that he looks at you and I in our helpless and incapable state and chooses in his love to act on our behalf. That's awesome. Have you known that kind of grace?

The next few weeks, I want to do a series leading up to Thanksgiving just called Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound. Right? And I want us to look at the different facets and the fullness of grace. We're gonna read in a few minutes 2 different places where he talks about the riches of God's grace.

This overabundance that I don't even know that we've ever really fully seen and experienced. This week I'm going to talk about the power of God's grace. That it's greater than any force of hell or sin in this world. I'm going to talk about the potential of God's grace. To take and remove from me any ability of my own and to work through me to accomplish God's will and purpose.

To look at God's purpose in His grace that would be effective to transform me and you at our innermost being. That God's grace preserves us.

Some of you came in here today and the security of your salvation is about as solid as Jell-O.

It ebbs and it flows depending on what's going on in your life and how you feel. One day you think you're saved. The next day you don't think you're saved. How can you go to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in your time of need If you don't have the confidence that God's grace is overabundant. And then finally, I want us to look at the last week of this— the week before Thanksgiving— the product of God's grace.

That it would change me to be a dispenser of grace. To love others. Isn't that wonderful? That God would look down at somebody like you and me. And save us.

I think we just need to ponder it. I think we get so far removed in it because we get into our Christianese and we, we get into— we start talking like, like, well, this is this and this is that. And then, then like, I, I go through the motions and I go to church and read my Bible and I just, I move further and further away from that deposit of God's grace That should bring me joy knowing that the God of the universe loves me.

And it produces in me love for Him. As Peter said and spoke, fix our hope completely on the grace of God. Completely. Not partially. Because you know that when God saved you by His grace, He didn't just halfway save you, right?

He didn't just take you and improve you a little bit. We came to God and we emptied ourselves of everything so that we could receive, as we just sang, the full merit of Christ into our life. We didn't earn it. We don't deserve it. What we deserve is death.

But again, the lies of the world, the lies of the enemy will convince you that you're a pretty good person and that you'll stand before God someday and you'll be like, well, God, did you not take notice? Did you not see me?

He did see you. You just don't see yourself the way he does.

I want this grace of God to infiltrate me, transform me, remake me, secure me, and it not be dependent on what I've earned. Because I'd much rather have the riches of his grace than what I've earned.

Do you really want to go to blows with God and start putting things on the table and say, well, God, I deserve this? I hear people sometimes say, when I get to heaven, I'm going to give God a thing or two. I'm like going, do you know what you're saying?

When you can see the entirety of your life and God flash every minute sin you've ever committed, the only thing you'll do is the same thing Isaiah did and drop to your face in shame.

But the grace of God will make you be able to stand before Him whole and complete. Would y'all stand? Because I can do this all day.

Ephesians 2:8-10. Can I invite you to, for a moment, for the next 20 minutes, forget that you've ever heard this verse. Forget your isms and your ologies. I'm not here to debate a lot of nuances of faith. Here's what I know.

If you don't have faith, you don't have grace. Can we agree on that? No matter what your background, denomination, or ology or ism is. Can we agree? If you don't have faith, you don't have grace.

And if you don't have grace, you don't have Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this— and that is not of yourself. It is the gift of God. Not a result of works, so that no one can boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Where? In Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would what? Say it again. Walk.

Dead men can't walk.

Until he enlivens us and gives us life. I can't do these things. I don't do good works to get saved. But by golly, when I'm saved, watch out. Father, be with us today.

Take all of the garbage out of my brain that could ever come out of my mouth and let it be focused totally on your word. In Jesus' name, amen. There's a man who once wrote this, this, this, this paragraph, and I want to read it slowly So that you can digest it. Because the English is a little old. And we don't speak in thees and thous in our daily language.

He's talking about the idea of God looking at a sinner. And he says, if the question is concerning the patience of God. To be patient with someone as you and me. The wonderful interposition. I love that word.

It rolls. Interposition of His providence in favor of an unworthy sinner. The power of His grace in softening the hardest heart. And the riches of His mercy in pardoning the most enormous and aggravated of transgressions. And he says, in these respects, I know of no other case more extraordinary.

Than my own.

Did you track? Let me translate it for you. When God looks down at me, an unworthy sinner with the hardest of heart, having committed the most enormous and aggravated transgressions, why would God have patience for someone like me? And you?

See, I wouldn't even read this with any relevance if I think in my mind, in my heart, that I actually bring something good to the table. Clothing myself in my own fleshly works. Thinking that it gives me some kind of merit before God. That somehow He's going to do favors for me because I've done something for Him. Well, I don't want my life with God to be based on the favors He owes.

Because He owes us nothing. I want it to be based on his favor over me because of his love and grace. Does that make sense? Like, would you rather your household work like a business that if you put in the hours, you get paid? Like, if your kids came in and they didn't do anything in the house, you're just going to let them starve?

A good parent would never do that. So how much more would our Father provide for us even when we don't deserve it? The Bible even says he gives rain to his enemies.

Yet somehow we get into this trap in our minds, in our relationship with the Lord, to think, no, I got to prove God that I'm worthy. I got to prove him I'm worth it. I got to show him so that when I need to call a favor on God, he'll be there to show up. You know how well that works? The first time God doesn't do what you want him to do, you just go, well, I'm out.

He didn't do for me, I'm not going to do for him.

That's not grace.

Grace is so much more powerful. Romans 5:20-21. Paul is talking about the place of the law. And how the law was never intended to be a checklist for you and me to earn righteous favor before God. So like, let's say.

Let's say for you today that you did 10 righteous things. Okay? And you're like, God, I did pretty good today. Look at that. I did 10.

Let's go on up to 12. Add 2 more to the list and you do 2 more. You're like, look at that. I've got all 12 of them and I'm doing good. Well, let's go up to 20.

Man, I'm better than I was when I was doing 10. Look at me. I'm a good person. Well, what if it was 50 and you kept all 50 of them? You'd think yourself a pretty good person.

But our righteousness is as filthy rags before the Lord.

The rich young ruler, when he came to Jesus, he said, what must I do to be saved? Jesus, knowing his heart, said, well, keep the commandments. He bowed up his chest and probably adjusted his collar and said, man, I've kept every one of them. Look at me.

Jesus then said, well, you're a rich guy. You got a lot of stuff. Why don't you go sell everything you have? Give it to the poor. To people who didn't earn it.

Did you catch that? And then come follow me.

But you know what he revealed? In his boasting of his life and the boasting of his stuff.

He didn't know the heart of God.

Grace gives to the unmerited. And you and I, if we really take and see ourselves under the umbrella of Scripture, we realize in and of myself, I have no merit to bring before the Father. Nothing. I'm bankrupt. There's no goodness in me.

No good thought. No good act. No good deed. Why? Well, let's back up.

I'm going to save some time. I really wish I could just sit down on a stool, open my lunch, and just have a sandwich and a soda out here. And we could just do this till 1 o'clock. Y'all okay with that? Okay.

Don't dare me. If you go all the way back to 1:3 of Ephesians. As after Paul has reached these— writing to the Ephesians and he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Why is that important? Because what Paul is going to do when he gets to chapter 2 is help us to see I may be alive in the flesh but I'm dead spiritually.

How do I know that? Well, when we get to chapter 2, we find out that we're walking according to the prince of the air. We're walking according to the world. We're walking among the sons of disobedience. Physically, I'm alive.

I'm living to my flesh. But spiritually, I'm dead.

Dead. And so as he tra— as he travels through chapter 1 and he's praising God the Father. Praising God the Son. Praising God the Holy Spirit. We see this full triune work of God in our lives.

Look at verse #7 of chapter 1. In Him we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of our trespasses. Wait a minute. Here it is.

According to the riches of his grace. Did y'all ever watch Scrooge McDuck growing up? Anybody? Y'all don't remember Scrooge McDuck? I mean, like, he would go into his vault and would swim in gold coins.

Bathe in it. Backstrokes in it. Like, that's the way I see this picture of God's grace. And all we've ever done really is just gone and tipped our stick— stuck our little toe in it. Or played with a little coin.

When we can bathe in His grace. Well, why don't we? Because it's not that amazing to us. I'd rather do the work so that I get the attention rather than to release it up to my Father.

That's the way this works. And so as He travels on through this. If you get down to verse number— go to 19 of chapter 1. He says, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. In fact, it has there a preposition, into us.

That the power of God is working into us. Like, you can't make that happen. If you think you want to get more powerful and you go stick your finger in a light socket, what's going to happen?

It's not going to turn out well. And guess what? It didn't work out well for anybody else. Anybody who tried to charge into the presence of God without a mediator died. I mean, a man died trying to stop the Ark of the Covenant from falling off an ox cart.

God's presence is holy.

But our mediator Jesus went before us so we could follow him. And he says, which he bought— brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead. And seated him at the right hand in the— here it is again— heavenly places. Guys, listen. Our substance and sustenance can't be based on what we have here.

It's got to be out of this world where there is nothing that will limit it. That's where Christ is seated. Christ died. He was raised again. He ascended to the Father.

And He sat at the right hand of God. Why is that important that He said right hand? You go back to Psalm 110. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. That is His position of ministry until the day that the Father looks at the Son and says, it's time.

And the skies bust open. And we then see, as He says in verse 21 and on over into verse 7, the fullness of His glory and grace on display. That's worth shouting about. Because if you— I don't know about you, but in my Bible, chapter 1, verse 20 and chapter 2, verse 6 are side by side. And that's important to see.

Because as Jesus died, raised again, ascended, and seated at the right hand of God. It says in verse 6 that when we were made alive together with Christ, He raised us up and seated Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I have a new identity and I have a new 911. My 911 is not 289. My 911 is the streets of glory.

That's my new home. That's where I'm longing for. That's where I'm headed. And not on my own merit and not by my own effort and not by my own work, but by the grace of God. Hallelujah!

Go to chapter 2, verse number 1. It says, and you Being dead in your trespasses and sin. How do I know I'm dead? The curse of death that Adam brought into this world. The wages of sin being death.

That is what I deserve for being among the sons of disobedience. In fact, look at verse 3 when he says, you formerly lived in the lust of your flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath. I think a lot of us look like forgiveness that God's just kind of overlooking some little mistake I made. We're not being saved from our mistakes. We're being saved from the wrath of God.

No, no, no, no, no, no. We don't talk about this. We just gonna go on our pretty little way. And all right. It's October 25th.

Jesus didn't come back today yet. Day's not over.

When he comes back, for those who choose not to believe and live in rebellion to our God will receive the full wrath of God deserving of a sinner. We don't like that, do we? You know, God's, God's more fair than that.

When I survey the wondrous cross Y'all survey it too.

On which the Son of Glory died.

He didn't deserve the death he died. He took on the death that you earned. And that, my friends, is the picture. And that's a sanctified cross with lights behind it. But the cross on Golgotha didn't look like that.

Y'all know that, right? Dry and arid land and Jesus comes already having been whipped and beaten. And lays down on a cross. A wooden cross with His back flayed open. It didn't look like that.

But as He was raised up.

That is the picture of the wrath that the Son of God bore on your behalf. That's the picture of the ugliness of your sin and mine. And so the last thing that I would want to do, as Paul said in Romans 6:1, he says, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? How weird is that?

That you would want to continue going, well, you know what? I'm just going to keep on sinning because the more I sin, the more grace I get. That is not a good investment plan, spiritually speaking.

What it says is I trample on the grace of God. When I continue intentionally walking in the sin for which my Savior died.

But there's got to be good news in the midst of all of this. You want some good news? I'll give you some good news. Point number 1. Listen to me.

Let me be clear. God alone saves. You and I don't have the faculty of our mind to come to one day and say, you know what? I think I'll just be right with God today.

The truth of God is preached to you. That you and I stand in need of salvation. That left to my own devices, I am dead in my trespasses. And if I leave this world dead in my trespasses, I will remain separated from God forever. But I don't have to stay that way.

The only thing that would keep you today, if you're lost, from accepting Christ as your Savior is your pride. That you think you can do it on your own. Or maybe some of you in pride are sitting there thinking, well, I'm not good enough. That's still pride. Die to it.

God alone is the one who saves. Jesus said himself in Luke 19:10, for the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. The lost can't find their way because they're lost. Have you ever been lost? I got lost at Six Flags one time as a 7, 8-year-old kid.

Thought my mom was going to kill me.

And the only thing I knew to do when I got lost was to go back to the school bus we rode on to get there in the first place.

And they found me. Are you with me? I didn't find myself. He found me. God alone saves.

Isaiah 12:2 says, Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord is my strength and my song. And He has become my salvation. Salvation isn't just the transaction of you passing from death to life.

He is my salvation. He is my life. It's more than just some kind of casual little, well, I joined a church and I got my name on a letter. That's not— no. No.

Those letters don't exist anyway. Y'all know that, right? There is no letter with your name on it. If you want to do it right, it's actually a letter of recommendation. So if you go to another church and you left in bad standing, we're supposed to tell the other church that you left in bad standing.

Do you really want your name on a letter?

Just saying. Many of you have bought into the lie that your intellect, your fame, your power, authority, political party, social platform, follower of social justice, not to mention your church letter, your type of Bible, your denomination, certain ologies and isms is the thing that gives you right standing before God. The only thing that gives you right standing before God— listen to me, folks— is Jesus Christ. And you didn't earn it. The only one who saves you is God.

Number 2, we receive grace for salvation when we believe. I don't know how that works. I don't even know how they split atoms when fusion happens and fission and they make power. What I know is that it turns the lights on.

If you don't believe though, you don't have grace. He said, by grace. It is the means by which God imparts salvation to you. And faith is the doorway. However you want to dissect it, it's the doorway that grace comes and impacts my life.

1.21 gigawatts.

I may or may not, while I was on my trip, bought the DeLorean and put it together, the Lego set. It's fresh. Back to the Future. Y'all know that movie? You next generation, you missed out on so many good movies.

Jesus in Mark 9:14-29 is approached by a dad who is burdened about his son being possessed. And he comes to Jesus and he said, but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. You know the problem with the dad? Is his eyes was focused on the problem and the situation. But if you can do anything.

Here's the thing. Just like the Samaritan woman at the well. Do you know who you're talking to? He didn't. Because Jesus said, if you can?

All things are possible to him who believes. Why? See, in your pride and your spiritual arrogance, you want to be able to look at Mount Currahee and say, get to the ocean. Look at my faith.

Rather than looking past the mountain to the one who's bigger than the mountain and the one who has the power to move the mountain. Your eyes aren't supposed to be on the situation. It's to be on the God who's bigger than the situation. Are you with me? Guys, folks, some of you walked in here today and you're dealing with an enormous pile of garbage.

When Randy shared about what happened down in Ensenada, their garbage was on the side of the road. So when those floodwaters came, that garbage ended up in the house.

They don't have sanitation like we have here. The garbage they threw out made its way back in the house. Guys, when you and I believe, he takes my garbage out because he's bigger than my garbage. He's bigger than my life. He's bigger than my problem.

Remember I said last week, God is faithful? You know why God's faithful? Because of his grace. And it does not depend on you and me. One author said, the issue is not Jesus' ability.

But a willingness to respond in faith. Since everything is possible for the one who believes. It's our refocusing on the power of God to do anything He wants to do. If He wanted to remove the moon, He could do it. If He wanted to dry up the oceans, He could do it.

If He wanted to make it rain right now. Even though it's sunny outside. He can do it. God has the power to do it.

And in His grace. In His grace, guys. That is the basis of His power. Do you believe in that today? I mean, think about this.

The jailer in Acts 16. After he attempted to take his life. He drops down and says to Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now I want you to stop. Listen.

He didn't give them some diatribe of an ology or an ism. He said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Romans 10:9, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, what? You will be saved. Because faith is the door that allows grace to be imparted.

Have you received that grace today? Number 3, salvation is a gift, therefore. Not something to be earned. Grace is a gift. Not something to be earned.

I was disturbed this week by an article. I'm going to meddle. Can I meddle for a second? Thank you, Joe.

I'm sick of media.

On a personal note, I'm sick of media. All of it. Because this article that I'm about to talk about, they left a lot of information out. That's poor reporting. Billy Crystal was interviewed a few weeks ago.

About a week or two ago on CBS Sunday Morning. And for years he had this show called 700 Sundays. And he would talk on the show about talking with God. What they left out of the article is like, which God is he talking to? The way they wrote the article made it sound like the Christian God.

And it ended up not being. But in it, They were talking about this place he is at now. Where he said, I'm not talking to God anymore. He lost his friend Rob Reiner. Y'all know Rob Reiner.

And his house was burned up in the fires that hit California. And he said, Nope. I just don't trust Him. Too many bad things has happened. The earth is in bad shape.

This is a weird, scary time. So no. I don't talk to Him anymore. My heart's grieved. Can we pray for Billy Crystal?

Because if he knew the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, he could walk him through the bad things happening knowing that, yes, the earth is in a bad shape. It's been in a bad shape. But there's a new heaven and a new earth coming.

And it is a weird and scary time. But Jesus said, take heart. I have overcome the world.

It's a gift that he gives to the one who would believe. Are you like Billy Crystal and you've allowed the surpassing greatness of problems in your life to diminish the view that you have of the eternal riches of God's grace? What would that look like for you if today you could see it like, like we hear? When a person puts his hand out to take a gift that someone else offers. He or she is not doing anything to merit the gift.

The giver gives credit for the gift. Not the receiver. If somebody gives me a gift, it's mine. Is grace yours today? Is it yours?

Or is your security, like I said earlier, it's like Jell-O. You're walking to and fro and you don't know when your leg's gonna fall in. We choose to believe. We choose to believe that we're sinners. We can't save ourselves.

We're spiritually dead. Even our best attempts at doing good will not get us in heaven. That means we're lost. We're in no condition. It's our nature to be among the sons of disobedience.

And we have walked with the devil and the powers of the world. And we deserve wrath. But God— look at this in verse 4. He said, but God being rich is a comparison to you being dead. The fact that you're dead does not diminish the power of God.

But if you choose to refuse that gift, where do you stand? Where is your confidence? In fact, where is your power? Look at verse #5. The Word made us alive together.

It's so beautiful. It's like a triple compound word. It starts off with like the preposition together. It's got a word that means life. Or really it means beast.

And then the verb poema that we get poema from. Poem. He has made us together with Christ. When he says, you have been saved. That is in perfect tense.

It has this ongoing effect to never be reverted. And if I can't have confidence that God has given me a gift and it's mine and He's not gonna go jerk it out of my hand.

I don't have any confidence of His power. Like, that's the most beautiful thing. That we have been made alive together with Him. That's the work He's done in us. So when we get to verse 10.

It says that we are His workmanship. The same root in being made alive together. And workmanship. It's the same thing. He's remade you.

You are not the same person you were. That's why you don't continue walking with the sons of disobedience. According to the powers of the earth. You don't do that anymore.

Does that not give you some joy? Like, you don't have to live the way you used to live. You can choose to live something new. But only when you start to believe. Do you believe?

See, here's 2 things I think that changes. And we need to know that change. Number one, I'm no longer walking with the devil.

And if you are, and you're claiming to be Christian, you need to stop. That's the life you left when you repented. Now, does that mean he doesn't come along and tempt you and distract you? No, that's not what I'm saying. But I don't want to walk hand in hand with him anymore.

Some of you are still lace-locked with the devil. You know what lace-locked means? Like this. This is how you're holding hands with him. Number 2 though, we do not work to earn salvation, but salvation will move us to do good works.

But for whom? For God. Because the same God who made us alive is the same one that's working in us. That's the power of His grace. Finally, the last point.

How I boast reveals the object of my confidence. How I boast reveals the object of my confidence. What do you boast in? When you start the sentence about how I know if I'm saved or not saved. Does it start with me and I?

Or does it start with Jesus?

Where does it start? Paul wrote to the Corinthians in chapter 1 when he talked about, you know, it's not your worldly wisdom. It's not your legacy as a Jew. It's none of those things that gives you salvation. It's the work of God in sanctification and redemption.

He said, just as it is written, let him who boasts boast in the Lord. That came from Jeremiah 23:39. 23 through 24. And it says, thus says the Lord, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, or a mighty man boast of his might, nor a rich man boast of his riches. But let him who boasts boast of this.

You ready? You might want to write this down. That he understands and knows me. That I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth. For in these things, he said, I delight.

Delight, declares the Lord God Almighty.

Adrian Rogers in this text said this when he was reflecting on Noah. Noah built the ark. But Noah wouldn't have been saved if he didn't go in the ark he built. He said, security is not a place. Security is a person.

God is my salvation. That is the power of grace to save. Knowing that the Almighty Creator of this universe wants to know you. Individually and save you.

See, that man that talked about being the worst sinner, his name was John.

You know, New Year's Day 1773, John stepped into a pulpit like this and he was preaching on 1 Chronicles 17:16 where King David in the King James said, who am I that That thou hast brought me hitherto. Some of you kids may say that to your parents if they take you where you don't want to eat. Why have you brought me hitherto?

He said, who am I? Who am I? That's called humility, folks. And as he preached this message, John said, past mercies, divine providence, and preservation before conversation at conversion and continuously. We must contemplate what the Lord has done for us in our conversation.

Thinking about when we were converted and what he's doing in my life now. He translated this into a poem. Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come. 'Tis grace that's brought me safe thus far. And grace will lead me home.

A former slave trader converted by God on the open seas. When a storm came up, he met His grace and it changed his life.

Have you, like John Newton, met the Lord? He said, blinded by the god of this world, we have so much a desire of deliverance. Instead of desiring the Lord's help, we breathe the spirit of defiance against Him. His mercy came to us not only undeserved, But undesired. Yet few of us resisted His calls.

And when He knocked on the door of our heart, endeavored to shut Him out until He overcame us. You ready? By the power of His grace.

If you're here today with a hard heart, you got hope. Because God can tear down that hard heart. If you're here today and you are the most despicable sinner in this world— room. You have hope. Because He can clean you up spot clean.

Have you yielded to the wonderful grace of God and His power to save you today? Have you forgotten that it was grace that saved you and you've gotten caught up in the me-ism of what I'm doing to prove that I'm spiritual? What if it would look like this week if you forsake yourself and depending on yourself and declare dependence on His power and grace? And can I just ask you, have you thanked God lately for loving you? Have you gotten so busy that you can't stop?

I'm terrible at writing thank you cards. I wish I was better. That's just a confession. But it doesn't mean I'm not grateful. But here's the truth.

If I keep the gratefulness inside of me, no one ever gets to hear the thankfulness that comes out of me. Have you thanked God lately for his grace? Have you thanked him? Close your eyes and bow your head as the band gets ready to come out. Lead us in on the final song.

But, but have you, have you contemplated, like I asked in this message, do you remember how lost you were? Maybe you need to ask the Lord today to remind you. I think I've told you this before. When I was little, I used to go sing at different places. Josiah's not going to ask me to sing right now, but I used to go sing, and I sang a song by Dottie Rambo called Remind Me, Dear Lord.

And the chorus went— goes like this: Roll back the curtains of memories now and then. Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been. Maybe that needs to be our prayer today. God, show me where I could have been had it not been for the power of your grace. And so, Lord, we yield that to you right now.

I don't know what the needs are in this room. This altar's open for the person who's struggling to the person who just needs to come thank you. You know the needs. And I pray you open up our heart and move us to move as we worship you today. In Jesus' name.

Amen.