Good morning everyone. Hope that you've had a great week. And, uh, some of you had some travel this week being off on fall break. And I hope that you had some rest time, some family time. Go ahead and take your Bible or your device.

And we're going to go back to, uh, this summer. And we're going to go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse number 16 is where we're going to start in just a few minutes. Um, but let me, let me, uh, do a couple shoutouts. First of all, let me piggyback off what Kevin said. If you intend to sign up for the marriage conference and you know somebody that wants to, go ahead and encourage them to do that.

And please encourage them not— or yourselves. Don't let finances be a hindrance to that. I mean, we all know right now prices are high on everything. But I'm telling you, it's going to be worth it to come and listen to the Parrotts. I got to finish this week the book that they just co-authored with Gary Chapman on the love languages.

And talking about the dialect of love. And it's phenomenal. Just how they go deeper into, like, for example, if you— if your love language is touch, you might like somebody to pat you on the shoulder, but you don't want a long hug. It still means that's how you receive affection. And knowing those different nuances, when to give affection, when to express that matters.

And so I think you're going to have an enlightened time when we come next Sunday, 4 o'clock. Go ahead and go on the church app and sign up for that. I also want to thank our Mexico team. I know a lot of them are in the room today. Few of them are jet lagging, uh, this morning.

And so just thank you for the work that you've done. I loved seeing the picture of Brooklyn Pollack with her friend that she's made down there. It's a 3-year relationship. And I love that we as a church don't see missions as just dropping a check, but that we see it as ongoing and long-term relationship building. And you are a part of that as you give each week faithfully.

You give to our Give to Go fund. You make that possible for us to continue nurturing those relationships. And so thank you to the team. They did a lot of work. That's a lot of work in a few days.

And they left one hurricane and went to another one. And so, uh, hats off to the team being able to navigate, um, those things. We're going to wrap up today this series called Explicit Discipleship. Those clear, no gray area commandments that God has told us to do. And we're gonna land this last one maybe a little different than you expect.

And I want you to go ahead and stand with me as we read these verses. They're rich. And there's a little bit of an envelope to the primary command that we're gonna cover this morning. Read with me at verse 16. Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is God's will for you and me. In Christ Jesus. Lord, as we dig into this today, speak to our hearts.

Show us what you want. In Jesus' name. Amen. When I look at this passage, I see nestled around this primary command to pray 2 other commands that I think could enrichen the way that we pray. I think we all realize and know that We should pray.

We know that. We know from Matthew chapter 6 that Jesus says, when you pray, pray this way. And he gives us the Lord's Prayer. We know that prayer is a part of being a follower of Jesus. But how we pray matters.

He says to pray without ceasing. But sometimes me in my flesh. Me in my shortcomings. I don't persist in that prayer. My feelings getting in the way.

Life gets in the way. Crisis gets in the way. And I'm quick to give up in the persistence of praying. Guys, I believe prayer— number one, it's that means by which we communicate with God. I think we all know that.

But I believe there's something different to be seen here when it says to rejoice always. And in everything give thanks. Many of you grew up learning the ACTS model of praying. That we pray adoring God. We confess our sins.

We thank God. And then we ask for supplication. We ask him for things. And it's kind of become very ritualistic in a sense. And I think we go straight to the jugular.

We go right to the supplication. That we bypass sometimes the adoration. The joy and the thanksgiving. Thanking God for what he's already done. Or as we read in the Psalms, thanking God for what he will do.

Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6, do not be anxious, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. The key to overcoming the anxiety that I feel, whatever life brings to me, whatever situation I find, I believe is to tap into the rejoicing and the thanking. How different would your prayer life be? How much more would you pray if it wasn't such a drudgery for you? That you came to it with expectation.

And that while you were praying, you literally sensed that you were communing communing with Almighty God, that you were talking to the Creator of the universe. Chuck Swindoll said, I don't know any harder work than prayer. Devoted prayer, passionate prayer, prayer that is uttered behind the scenes with confidence. I believe the reason we don't have confidence is because I sometimes will come to God and say, God, I'm in this mess. I'm in this fix.

Help me. In Jesus' name, amen. And I end it there without taking that moment to focus on the truth of God. See, I can have joy. We've talked about this before.

I can have joy and not feel joy. Why? Because joy is birthed from truth. Joy is knowing that I have something secure even when it doesn't feel secure. That's what joy is.

And thanksgiving is taking that moment to recognize what God has already done. What God is doing. And what God will do. And the only thing I can think that would cloud that out of my mind is when I become focused on my circumstance more than the one who can overcome my circumstances. When the disciples were in the boat and they began to cry out to the Lord to save them.

And He's walking on water. Tony Evans said one time that the waves became the ladder by which he came to us. Our circumstances may overwhelm us, but nothing overwhelms our God. Nothing overcomes our God. The God of the universe cannot be thwarted.

Do we realize when we pray that this is to whom we are talking? That powerful being The question is, when I come to pray, how, how am I doing that? If I come to God and say, okay God, I've got this test coming up and I need to have an A on my test, amen, and I walk away and I end up with a B+ or I end up with a C, did God answer my prayer?

God always answers our prayers. He just may not do it your way. You see, praying is not me trying to conform God to my will and wishes, but it's me conforming to his. I mean, when Jesus was speaking in Matthew chapter 6 and he tells them, don't be like the Gentiles who say repetitious words, for your Father knows what you need. Before you ever ask him.

You see, prayer is that illuminating moment where I'm opening my eyes and emptying my hands to say, God, whatever you want to do and however you want to answer this, give me.

And that's the thing that will sustain us through the hard times. That's the thing that will get us through the crisis moments. It's not about how perfect you pray. It's not about whether or not you can pray like some great orator. It's about being persistent.

How many of you would confess today you've prayed a messy prayer? You know what a messy prayer looks like? That's where you're slobbering. And you're mourning. And you're weeping.

I remember having a moment right after I became a Christian where I was in my bedroom. And I was just deeply grieved. And I was laying on my floor. And all I could say was this, God, I don't even know what I need to ask you. Guys, it's okay to pray messy prayers.

But to refrain from praying because I don't feel like I can pray good enough is focusing on you, not on Him. To refrain from prayer because I'm like, well, I'm too busy, is a focus on me, not on Him.

And you know why it's important to put this in a frame of reference? Because prayer doesn't depend on you. It depends on the faithfulness of God. We just spent 10 minutes singing about the faithfulness of God. God never lets us down.

I know some of you— but wait a minute. You don't know what all I've lost in my life. I don't. But what I know is that at the end of the day, if you have breath in your lungs and you know you have an eternity with him because of Jesus Christ, you have more than enough to thank him for. He said, don't store up treasures here.

Where did he say to store them up? There. In this world, I may not have much in silver or gold. Some of y'all know that song.

Thank you, Lord, for the littlest blessings that you've given me. Do you have that kind of perspective? Because to me, when we bathe our praying in worship and thankfulness, I will experience untapped intimacy. Because praying no longer becomes just a checkbox to get what I need to get this off my list, to relieve the pressure of whatever crisis I'm in. It's that moment where I feel the loving arms of God wrap around me and say, no, I'm not going to get you out of this storm.

I'm going to carry you through it. And if this storm ends my life, as Paul said, to live is Christ, but to die is It's gain. I win. Folks, if we changed our perspective and began to thank God more and rejoice in him more, I'm telling you, it will change how you pray. So let me give you 5 observations.

They're not like, oh wow, man, that's awesome. They're just basic observations to keep in mind in how we should pray from this text. Number 1, we need to pray with joy. Now again, joy isn't like a switch you can turn on and off. You're like, oh my gosh, this is so hard.

Thank you, God. Like, I, I can't do that. But I can say, Lord, I know I've been in a situation like this before and you brought me through. Lord, this is hard, but I choose to rejoice knowing that whatever you're going to do will bring you glory. It'll be for your good, and your good is my good.

Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say it, rejoice. There's just these moments that we have to cry out to our soul and say, soul, it's time to rise up. You, soul, are the connecting point between God and me here.

And I can have confidence knowing that he promised, he He would never leave me nor forsake me. That's why joy is based in truth. We rejoice in what we know and we wallow in what we feel. Let me say that again. We rejoice in what we know.

And what we know to be true is here. I heard a man say this week, somebody may come up to you and say, thus says the Lord. But if it says, thus says the Lord, it doesn't line up here. It's out of whack. This is where we bring and find our confidence.

Knowing this truth. Do you know His truth today? I mean, I love when I talked to Mick the second time. And how he was sharing his story. And how confident he was.

No one had to convince him of his profession. He made it. And it was sure. Why? Because he trusted in in the Word of God.

Do you trust in the Word of God today? We are called to pursue Him daily in worship and adoration. Now that doesn't mean that what you're going through isn't hard. It doesn't mean that you haven't lost a lot. But what if in that moment you begin to bathe it in worship?

All my life You have been faithful. All my life You have been faithful. God, this really stinks. All my life you have been faithful. God, this is costing me so much.

But God, you have been faithful. If we just keep saying it over and over and over again, it breaks forth in joy. Again, like what would prayer look like if you begin to bathe it in worship and thanksgiving? Number 2, pray without ceasing. We need to pray frequently.

This word in the Greek is similar to having a nagging tickle in your throat and you keep coughing. Now that doesn't mean you cough without stopping.

We just keep it up. Keep it up. You know why I think we don't pray without ceasing?

Many of us don't have the confidence that God likes me enough to walk with me. Many of us don't have the confidence that, okay, I thought a bad thought. I saw something I shouldn't have seen. Now I've got to go and I've got to get on my knees and confess and repent. That is true.

But if you have the confidence that prayer resides and rests on him, then every moment of my day I can do 2 things. One, I can pray about everything. God, here's an opportunity in front of me. What do you want me to do? God, should I spend this money?

God, my friend is struggling. I can stop and pray about everything with no hesitation because my walk and my talk go hand in hand. Unless I'm living a hypocritical life. If I walk with the Lord, but then I'm walking the way of the world, then there is inconsistency. That might be why I don't have the confidence.

To pray without ceasing. I need to bring those lives together. We're not Miley Cyrus living the best of both worlds. Like, we need to bring them together and live a life. What life?

Walking in him. The second thing is don't give up praying. Jesus told the story of the woman who kept coming to the judge. And this is what he said. What the way that Mark wrote it.

Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart.

Persisting in prayer doesn't give up. And you won't pray perfectly. Like, I know some people will be like, well, I only prayed 6 minutes. I didn't pray 7 minutes. So maybe God's not going to answer.

The praying— the answer to prayer doesn't depend on you. Who does it depend on? And it depends on God's faithfulness. Do you believe today that God is faithful? Do you believe that God is not going to let you down?

Do you believe that God will forgive you for whatever you have done? Why? Because of what his Son did. Dying on the cross. In fact, it goes on to say.

He said, in a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God. Did not respect man. There was a widow who kept coming to him, kept coming to him. For a while he was unwilling, but afterwards he said, even though I do not fear God or respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will help her or she will wear me out. Like, why did you— wait a minute.

This isn't— this is a terrible picture if you're painting a picture of God. But no, what he was saying, God goes beyond that because we can't wear him out.

Hebrews 4:16 says what? We can come boldly to the throne of grace. When was the last time you just shook everything off? What you were feeling? What you were thinking?

What your circumstances were? And just ran to God and said, here I am. I trust, Lord, that you will receive me because of what your Son did. And rejoice in knowing that. Number 3, in everything give thanks.

We need to pray with gratitude. We pray with joy. We pray frequently. But we pray with gratitude. And I believe that's how we have to wrap our prayers.

Rather than going, A-C-T-S. I can guarantee you, if you start praying those model prayers, you'll leave something out. But what if every time you pray. When you start going to pray and you go like, this is a hard situation. But God, before I say another word, Lord, I want to rejoice knowing your truth.

And I thank you, God, for who you are. Like, take a moment to really list out what is it that God has done. Not just specifically for you. But what has God done? What has God done?

God has done so many things that are worthy of praise. Remember the old Psalm that's told us to count our blessings?

Do that before— I would say do that before you ever ask God for one single thing. He already knows what you need before you ask it, right? So what if you don't ask? Does that mean God's not going to do it? Not a sovereign God of the universe.

God's going to do whatever God's going to do. He pours out rain even on our enemies. Is that not what Matthew says? But when I ask God and say, God, align my heart to your will, then I get to see him unfolding what God's doing. Think about this.

Think if you had a lost family member and you've been praying for them to be saved and you were hoping that you would be the one to get to lead them to Jesus, but then you find out a week later it was some random stranger that they met on the street And they gave their life to Jesus, and you get mad because you didn't get to do it.

Did God answer the prayer? He did. Your expectations may not have been met, but God did what you asked. He saved. Thank God that you work in spite and despite me.

Like, you're the one who answers. All this depends and hinges on him. I mean, even modern psychology admits that thankfulness changes the way we see things. One doctor said when people consciously practice grateful living, their happiness goes up and their ability to withstand negative events will improve. And so much more the children of God.

We, we should exceed that. Why? Because our God controls everything.

What would look different if I just embraced how I pray with thankfulness? What it would do is in those moments where I'm suffering, I'll be able to embrace that whatever comes into my life, good or bad, it's for His good. His glory. And for my conforming. He's transforming us and making us into the image of His Son.

And what that means is that I can't twist God's arm. I can't talk God into something. God's already determined what he's going to do. What I do is say, God, open my eyes and let me see what it is you're asking me to do. And let me see your sovereign hand unfold.

Psalm 116:1-2 says, I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my supplications. Because he has inclined his ear to me. Therefore, I shall call on him as long as I live. Again, what would it look like? If you envelop and wrap your worship or your prayer with worship and thanksgiving.

Why? Because this is his will for you. We need to pray obediently. There are times I've got to pray even with every fiber of my being says no. Even when I don't feel like it.

Even when I'm tired. Even when I want to give up. I choose obedience. So if I take that and I understand that this this immediate context. For this is God's will.

Rejoicing always. Praying without ceasing. In everything giving thanks. It opens up a door to experience the relationship I have with Him. And Paul actually prayed this.

He prayed it for the Thessalonians. In 3:9-10, he said. He rejoiced for them with joy. Thanking. And said, quote, praying night and day for their faith to be made complete.

He did the same thing for the church in Philippi. He said, I thank God in my remembrance of you. Always offering prayer with joy. He thanked. He had joy with his every prayer without ceasing.

Praying is not an activity of trying to make God accept my wishes. It's the process of him conforming my will to obedience.

In Mark, Jesus was talking about that whoever says, this mountain be taken up and cast in the sea, does not doubt in his heart. Well, what's the issue there? Is it how many words I say or how I say those words? It has to do with trust. Do I trust that God is powerful enough to pick up Mount Currahee and cast it into the ocean?

That seems impossible, doesn't it? But what does truth tell me? Nothing is impossible with our God. Do you believe that today? Because that leads to number 5.

In Christ Jesus, do you pray confidently? I can pray messy and still be confident. I can mess up my words and still pray with confidence. And I can pray confidently even if I don't pray perfectly. But to not pray at all is to fail in prayer.

Romans 8:26-27 says this, in the same way, the Spirit helps our weaknesses. Our weaknesses. Are you weak today? Because in our weaknesses, he's strong. For we do not know how we ought to pray as we should.

This is Paul talking to saints in Romans. In the Roman church. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Praying doesn't depend on you. It depends on him.

The Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Jesus is sitting at the right hand interceding for us. It's their eternal responsibility until Jesus comes back. Don't you think it ought to be at the top of our priority list. We pray with joy.

We pray frequently. We pray with gratitude. And we pray obediently. Why? Because God is faithful.

God is faithful. We can persist in prayer because God is always faithful to answer. Look at verse number 24. Faithful is he who calls you, and he will bring it pass. Philippians 1:6, He who began a good work in you will see it to completion.

Why? Because it depends on Him. Lamentations 3:22-23, The Lord's loving kindness will never cease. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.

Great is Your faithfulness. And why is that important? Because it gives me confidence. I rejoice in the the truth. Not in my circumstances.

Not in my storehouses here on earth. I rejoice in his truth. I thank him for what he has done. What he is doing. And what he will do.

This is the confidence which we have before him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he will do it. Do you believe that today? Your confidence isn't in how much you can muster up faith. Your confidence is in what He has promised.

Do you know that today? Back during our days of prayer, we came up with a phrase. Pray first. Pray always. And pray together.

It kind of encapsulates this idea of rejoicing and praying without ceasing and giving thanks. That we pray first. Whatever that need is that arises. That I pray always. Even when I don't have a need.

Like, what if that changed in your life today? That you didn't just pray when something happens. But you pray in a disciplined sense. God, in the morning. Didn't Daniel pray 3 times a day?

And what happened to him? Everything was hunky-dory. Everything was smooth sailing. He got thrown into a lion's den.

But God was faithful. Are you listening today? See, the command is clear. Yeah, we should pray. But I'm gonna twist it a little bit.

The command is clear today. You need to trust and obey. We need to trust. You can take everything we've talked about for the last 2 months and put it under this heading. Do you trust?

And if you trust, do you obey? I mean, if in repentance. I can repeat. I can repent because God is faithful to take my sin away. I can believe because we know that whatever my belief that is offered, He will make up my unbelief.

I can be baptized. I can submit because he's faithful. Because he promised to baptize me with the Spirit. I can love because he first loved me. He's faithful.

I can walk because he's faithful to walk with me. And he's faithful to never leave me. I can go and make disciples because he's made one of me and is making one of me. And he promised to make me complete. He's faithful.

I'm faithful. He's faithful that when we gather together in his name. He will be here with us. When we can— we can give because he's faithful to give to us. And we can serve because he was already faithful to come and give everything to serve us here.

All of it hinges on him. It's not us. It's not our glory. It's his. He's faithful.

As 2 Timothy 2:13 says, if we are faithless, He is faithful because he cannot deny himself. Wow. To him be glory and honor and praise because he's a good God and he is faithful. Fred, will you come and join me now as he's going to lead us in our time of communion? I want to invite you that you test your heart because you don't want to take communion in an unworthy manner.

We do not see communion as a dispensing of grace, but we see it as a remembrance of what Jesus has done. His broken body, his spilled blood. And as you take it today, let it be a moment of rejoicing. And then as you pray, what if— again, I'm challenging you— what if today when you leave, you change the way you pray? That rather than opening it up with a litany of things that are going wrong in your life, that you open it up focused on his truth, who he is, and what he's done.

Fred, would you lead us? Amen. Thank you, Pastor, for the precious way you lead us.

Many moments in life become holy moments because we recognize that we're standing in the presence of the Almighty. There are some that are uniquely special and holy— marriage, baptism, special times when God ministers specifically to your heart. The experience of communion, the Lord's Supper, is one of those. It's where holy God and you come together, and that's what we're about to experience even now. Gentlemen, will you join me as you— my fellow servants.

In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 26, the Word of God tells us that while they were eating, Jesus took bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to the disciples and said, take, Eat, this is my body.

What I want you to sense this morning is not one of your brothers in Christ who are servants. They're not the ones actually handing you this little piece of bread. I want you to sense in reality this is coming from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, that his nail-starred hand is the one holding out the bread, and that he is saying, take this, this symbolizes my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. You see, it's Jesus that serves.

We get to be his fellow servants. We come alongside to be his earthly hands and feet. But in this moment, I want you to sense the Spirit of God hovering with you, and that the hand of Christ, scarred at the wrist and maybe still dripping blood, is saying, this is symbolic of my body. You can't take that lightly, can you? It becomes something that is intimate.

That is Almighty God touching you at this point.

The scripture says this in the Psalmist, describing the crucifixion as if it was a reporter watching it happen, yet it was actually hundreds of years before. The psalmist writes, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me to the dust of death, Lord.

The dogs have surrounded me, the congregation of the wicked have enclosed about me. They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me, and they divide my garments among them, and my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, be not far from me.

Be my strength to help me.

Isaiah would say he's despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and has carried our sorrows, and we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God. And afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities, and for our peace the chastisement was upon him. By his stripes we're sealed. All we like sheep have gone astray, We have turned each and every one of us to our own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. So will you do this with me, please? As the gentlemen now have served you, serve one another.

Take that little piece of hard bread, and when you hold it in your hand, and will you look at that with me, please? And meditate on this.

Spirit of the Living God, I don't want to just remember what Jesus did for me. I want to experience you.

I sense from your hand you are placing in mine the symbol of your body that was eternally broken that I may be healed, that you took all of my sins upon yourself that I may be free, that you took all my punishment, hell itself, upon yourself that I may know eternal life. I don't want to just remember. I want to experience your presence. So I sense from your hand, Lord Jesus, placing this bread in mine and telling me, take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. Will you join me?

Matthew 26 goes on to say, then he took the cup and he gave thanks, and he gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

As the gentleman prepared to pass the cup, once again imagine it's not one of these men's hand that is handing it to you, or the person on either side of you. But Jesus himself took what was known at that time as a common cup. They all drank out of the same cup. We know too much about germs today, we don't do that.

But out of that common cup, he sent it all the way around the table. He said, each one of you now take a sip of this. Gentlemen, begin to pass those out. Each one of you take a sip of this. Literally, he said, drink all of this.

That meant that the last one finished the last drop.

And he said, because this is a covenant sealed in blood, a covenant sealed with my blood.

It's the hand of Jesus.

Offering himself to you.

Many of the times we see artists' renditions of Jesus on the cross, most of those have been quite sanitized for our tender eyes. We see him with just a trickle of blood here or there, with a loincloth respectfully put over him.

But my friends, our Lord Jesus was naked and shamed, and he was beaten so absolutely that his own mother would not have recognized him had she not been right there and seen it happen.

It was a bloody pulp of meat hanging on a cross.

But it's with those bloodied hands that the Lord Jesus reaches out to me, as unworthy as I am, and saying, Fred, this is my blood which was shed for you to do away with your sins.

Today, You're not just holding a little plastic cup with a little juice in your hands. Well, that's all it is, but you're holding something that is symbolic of much, much, much more.

Jesus said, this symbolizes my blood, my life that I freely given to you. So I want you to see this as a moment that holy God is coming down right here in your face and saying, you are the object of my love, and all that I've done, I've done freely as my gift of love to you.

So now that you have the cup in your hand, will you hold it there, and will you look upon it and meditate in your own way as we pray together?

Lord, I want to remember you, but I want to do more than remember you. I want to experience The sacrifice, the gift of your life in exchange for mine.

Your blood shed that I might know freedom.

Your blood shed that I might know forgiveness.

Your blood shed that I might have your righteousness.

Your blood shed that I might have eternal life.

Holy Spirit, I want to do more than remember.

I want the life of the Lord Jesus Christ permeate every fiber of my being, because then I can trust and then I can obey.

Right now, Lord Jesus, I worship you.

I rejoice in you.

I thank God for what he did through you. And Holy Spirit, by your grace, I do more than remember.

I receive afresh and anew the blood that cleanses my soul and binds me forever to you. Oh, it's just some juice in a cup.

But not to me.

It's symbolic of holy blood poured out for my sins. Will you join me?

Now you're wondering, what do I do with this now that I've got it in my hand? As you exit today, our, our servants are going to be here to receive that cup. Put it in the little trash can as you go by. But you know, as Jesus finished up that time years ago with his disciples, he said, let's finish rejoicing, let's finish in song. So you stand here as our worship team leads us as we're dismissed, praising his holy name today.