Brad Scheelke emphasizes the importance of seeing Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, reminding us that our worthiness comes from Him alone, not our own actions or relationships. He encourages the congregation to focus on Jesus during communion, highlighting that salvation is simply about looking to the cross and recognizing His perfect worthiness. Scheelke challenges the audience to shift their perspective from worldly concerns to heavenly ones, fostering deep relationships rooted in love and forgiveness, as modeled by Christ. He concludes by urging everyone to seek a deeper vision of Jesus, which transforms our interactions and relationships with others.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. As we took communion, we celebrated that Jesus came and He died as that sacrifice for our sins. He took away my sins and your sins, and the sins of those who've gone before who look to Him. Together, we looked at the death of Christ as we took communion. It's a wonderful remembrance, proclaiming that He died and that's all that's needed for us to be worthy before God. And communion also reminds us of the way of salvation. To get saved, to be washed in the blood, all we did was look at the cross. We did nothing else. We looked away from self when we looked at the cross. And communion is simply a remembering the cross. There's no looking at our worthiness. It's only a looking at His worthiness, and His is perfect. Sometimes, I've been around folks who've struggled as they've taken communion, wondering if they were worthy to take it, wondering if they've confessed their sins well enough, wondering if their relationship with their spouse or their neighbors is fine. Whose worthiness is that about? Mine, not His. So I'd encourage you, as you take communion, see that as worldliness if you look at your own worthiness and think that you have some sins you have to deal with other people. Maybe you need to do that, but not then. It's all about His worthiness for us. One is a looking at the world, and one is a looking at heaven. Heaven is all about Him and His worthiness. It's interesting that when we look away from Him and we see the world and our failures and our neighbor's failures, He never takes His eyes off us. Isn't that wonderful? So I entitled this little talk, Do You See Jesus? Because I think Jesus is everything. I hope you agree with that. So I have a few questions I want to ask you. Five of them. And I'd like a response to my questions. If you want what I'm asking, I want you to say, Amen. I mean, since I've spoken here many years ago, I've spoken a couple times among saints who call themselves Pentecostals, and they have lots of freedom with amens and other things, and even asking questions and making comments. So I want you to have that freedom. So I'm going to ask you five questions, and only apply it to yourself. So say, Amen. Do you want to see Jesus? Amen. When you look away from Jesus, do you want to see Him again? Amen. Do you want to see Jesus together with other saints? Amen. Would you like God to help you see Jesus? Amen. Now, if this help is uncomfortable, do you still want it? Amen. Okay. So, I know a few of you folks here, and I'm going to speak to you who are saints who are washed in the blood, who are separated from your sins as far as the east is from the west. If you're not in that boat yet, you can listen in, but that's what I'm applying it to, is if you're washed in the blood. I think you'll be blessed, even if you're not washed yet. Father in heaven, we thank you that you sent your Son so long ago to die on that cross for us. While we were wretched and wicked and self-righteous, thinking that we are good, your Son's cross showed that we were lost, and we thank you that you came anyway when we didn't want you. Thanks for putting all the pain of our sin on Him. Thanks for washing us clean. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Two months ago, Mark Francis spoke here, my dear brother, Mark Francis, and he spoke on the freedom of deep relationships. I don't know if most of you were here, and if you happened to have not been here and didn't hear it, I have copies on the two back tables out the back door and up here, probably 40 or 50 copies, and you can take a copy of those. I think you might find that a blessing. I've listened to it many times. I want to remind you of some things that Mark said. The freedom of deep relationships. He said God is all about relationships. He said that God has freed you to love and to lay your life down as Christ laid His life down for you. I hope we were paying attention to what we were singing. We sang them over and over, and those are pretty powerful words we sang about the love of God, how deep it is, how His mercy comes to us. I'd change maybe one word there to say, put your mercy through us. We already have His mercy, but His mercy is ready to flow through us. Will we lay our lives down, Mark said, and he said your greatest need as a congregation here is to move forward in deep relationships. That's the biggest need, he said. And he said deep relationships have nothing to do with information. Nothing. It's about whether or not you want to walk together with that brother or sister. And he says that God calls all of us into that, not just the extroverts, not just the young. And then he made it a little more uncomfortable. I don't know if you noticed that. I noticed it myself. He said what do we value? Do we value ourselves or do we value other people? I mean, I hope you're hearing this, bringing my voice as his voice. So do we value self or do we value others, and who do we trust? Do we trust God, do we trust others, or do we trust self? He freed us from our self. And one of his points, do you want to walk in freedom from self? And he made three applications at least. One of the applications he suggested was to read John 17, and he said camp there for a while and see what you can find for you. He said ask God for a vision of his vision of relationships. How does he see other people? And then he said you need to pursue relationships. They don't just happen. Now did anyone make any application? It's been two months. Does anybody, you don't have to raise your hand or say amen here, but he said that and I think it probably is, he said he had some sense this is the need of the hour for you. He said that. It turns out I was going to preach the week before he preached. Mike I think mentioned that last week or Pete did, and I was going to preach on the same three verses he preached on and I was going to preach the same message. And he and I hadn't talked for many months. So I think really this is the need of the hour. Not just here at Maranatha but all over Cache Valley. We're surrounded by a very religious world, a world of self-protection, of pretending, of plastic smiles, of striving hard to be a good person. So I'd like us to see Jesus. And really all of the New Testament is filled with love. It's all about him loving us. We sang about him loving us, right? Do we believe it that he loved us? And do we believe that he loves others? The only command really that believers have is to love. There is one that we're going to talk a little bit about that's kind of closely connected. It says watch out that you be not deceived. And probably be not deceived and move out of love. So let's open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3. I'm going to read the first four verses of Colossians 3. I photocopied a big print Bible. It's not too bad. Colossians chapter 3, the first four verses. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. In these few verses here, we see that the one who's washed in the blood is described as one who's raised up with Christ. Have you been raised with Christ? And so I'm speaking to you if you've been raised with Christ. The others can just listen. It says in verse 3, you've died, so if you have been covered by the blood, you're dead, and you are now alive and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And it's hidden in the heavenlies until Christ appears. When he comes back, then your life will appear, not now. Not now. And in between these beautiful words of what Jesus has done for us, we see a few things that he calls us to. He says, set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. Seek those things which are above. The songs we sang were about what's above. His love, how wide and long and deep. His mercy pouring out. Wasn't there one about rivers flowing, overflowing from within? And in John 7, it's rivers, not just one, that flows out of your heart. If you have Jesus, you've got rivers of love and grace flowing out. And Mark said, I don't know if you noticed what he said, he said, if you know Jesus, all the love of the Father for the Son is in your heart already, even if you don't know it. All the love of the Father for his Son is in your heart, even when you're yelling at your wife. So, if that were to happen. So really the issue is, do we see Jesus? And I think we ought to do it together. So the first two chapters of Colossians reveal some of who Jesus is and who he is for us. And, as I mentioned that the brothers that I've preached among before called themselves Pentecostals, and so I want to move a little freedom into this group here. So I'm going to read, you can follow along if you'd like, but I'm going to read a couple verses from the first two chapters, well, more than a couple, and then I'm going to ask you some questions. Now those verses I'm going to read, if you look at them, they're statements of what Jesus did for you. You don't have to do anything. If you're washing the blood, it's yours, it's true, whether you believe it or not. So I'm going to read those, and then I'm going to ask a question, and I'm going to apply it to you as a person. And I want you to apply it only to yourself. And if you think it's true, I want you to say, it's true for me. And I'm going to apply it to me, and I'm going to say the same thing. If you don't think it's true for you, then don't say anything. But if you think it's true, I want you to, instead of amen, we're going to say, it's true for me. So Colossians 1, 13 and 14 say, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood of the forgiveness of sins. Has He delivered you from the power of darkness? It's true for me. Has He conveyed you into the kingdom of the Son of His love? It's true for me. Has He given you redemption through His blood? It's true for me. Has He given you the forgiveness of sins? It's true for me. Verses 21 and 22 of the same chapter. And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight. Were you once alienated and enemies of God in your mind by your wicked works? It's true for me. Has He now reconciled you to the body of His flesh through death? It's true for me. Has He reconciled you to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight? It's true for me. In chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. Chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power. Are you complete in Christ? It's true for me. Verses 13 and 14. And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Were you dead in your trespasses and sins? It's true for me. Has He made you alive together with Him? True for me. Has He forgiven you all your trespasses? It's true for me. Has He nailed your sins to the cross? It's true for me. It's true for me. Each person who is washed in the blood has all of Jesus all the time, even on your bad days. Sometimes we sing or we say we want more of Jesus, but that's not really God's thought. That's kind of a worldly thought. You have all of Jesus all the time, even when you're in gross sin. The problem is you don't see Jesus. You have Him and you don't see Him, and the power lies in seeing. The issue is our vision is lacking. Does anybody want to see a little more of Jesus? Okay. Stand up for a moment and look around. Look at your fellow saints here. Only look at those you know are Christians or you're pretty confident Christians. The others can watch the fun. Now, do you notice any face that you kind of are a little uncomfortable with? Maybe your wife or your husband. You've had a little argument of late, and you're a little uncomfortable with that face. Maybe that face is too smart for you or they're too rich for you or too poor for you. There's something too much for you and you hesitate. They're too loud about the gospel or they don't speak it enough. You're hesitating. So pick one face, and if you don't see any out there, certainly you can pick mine. Or I can volunteer a few other brothers here that I'm sure that many are uncomfortable with. So remember that face. Remember that face of the person that you've been uncomfortable with. The more uncomfortable, the better. So you'll see Jesus. So sit back down and think of that person. Okay. Now we're going to do something similar, and this time I want you to think of that person that you thought of, and if you're not totally positive they're a Christian, give them the benefit of the doubt, okay? And I'm going to ask you the same questions again. And this time, if you picked a man, well, if he's a Christian, has Jesus died for him? Is he clean in the blood? Is he complete? Okay. So we're going to do the same thing, only this time I want you to say, thinking of that person, it's true for him, or it's true for her. And if you can't, I mean, if somehow you don't believe it's true, well, that's between you and God. Okay. So let's go back. I'm not going to read the verses. I'll ask the questions hopefully slowly. I'm going to use him, but apply it as if it's him or her, and say him or her, whichever your person is. I wasn't paying attention, so I have to get somebody for my own self here. So, okay. I've got somebody. It doesn't have to be right now discomfort. Somebody you've been uncomfortable with, that you feel distant from. Okay. Has God delivered that person from the power of darkness? It's true for him. Has God conveyed that person into the kingdom of the Son of His love? It's true for that person, him. Excuse me, I didn't follow my own rule. Has God given that person the forgiveness of sins? It's true for him. Has God redeemed that person through his blood? It's true for him. Was that person once alienated in an enemy of God? That's true for him. That was an easy one. Because we're looking horizontally, we're not looking up. Has God reconciled that person through the death of his son? It's true for him. Has God done that to present that person holy and blameless and above reproach in God's sight? That's true for him. Now, is that person completing Christ? That's true for him. Has he been made alive together with Christ? That's true for him. Has God forgiven that person all his or her sins? It's true for him. Has he nailed that person's sins to the cross? That's true for him. Makes us a little more quiet when we do it that way, doesn't it? A little more quiet. That's where the mercy flowing through us means it's going to other people. We've got plenty of mercy for ourselves. We just don't see it. Do we want to see Jesus? And Jesus sees us when we're at our dirtiest. So there's no need for us to pretend. He sees it. It's a little uncomfortable here, isn't it? But we're together in Christ. I'm with that person I was thinking of. Together with Christ and we're going to be there forever in the heavenlies. Let's get started. Why do we hesitate again? It's all about Jesus, isn't it? We're not seeing Jesus. We look at the things on the earth and we don't see as he sees. So really we have a choice. We don't need to strive to get more of Jesus. We simply need to see more of Jesus. There's no more of him to have. We have him all. All of him. So will we see into the heavens? Will we see ourselves and other people as Jesus sees us? And when we do, love just begins to flow. And how many times did we sing overflow? I mean overflow. Now overflow means if you don't turn it off it's going to get everything messy, right? It's going to get everything wet if you don't turn it off. That's what overflow does. And most of us are glad when we turn on the faucet in the garden the water just flows out of the hose. We don't have to pump. It just flows. And that's what God wants for you and for me for our hearts to overflow with the love of Jesus to that person I was thinking about, to the person you were thinking about, Alan. And we're the vessel that God's going to use to bring it to that person. We do have a choice though. We can choose to look down and we can see everything from a horizontal point of view. We can set our minds on this earth. He commands us seek those things above. Apparently we can choose not to. And when we see up we know we read some of the things that we see when we see up. We see it for ourselves and we see it for our brothers and sisters. So it says seek those things above where Christ is. Set your mind on things above not on things on the earth. So we get to choose and when we choose to look with human eyes we're disobeying God and God just spanks us in his joy because he wants us to look up. Human eyes kick ourselves, don't they? They say, oh, I've got to stop that. I need to change. No, you can't change, Jade. You just aren't strong enough. You can't do anything. But Jesus can. Jesus can. So there's no need to kick ourselves. And by the way, did anybody get kicked for your sins? Jesus. For every sin that you ever did or ever will commit, no matter how huge or tiny, a tiny gossipy thought even, Jesus had to die on the cross and he was kicked completely for that. And when we think I've got to change, kick ourselves, we're seeing with earthly eyes. So we don't need to do anything except look up. And when we look up we say, oops, God, I was wrong. That was really a wicked thought, kicking myself. You kicked Jesus and I'm thinking I'm his replacement. There's a verse in Romans that's very similar to verse 2 here on setting your mind on things above. And many of you, probably half of you have memorized that verse. Could have Thomas shout it from the top there. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It's all about your mind. Our dear sister Kim who can't do anything except use her mind pretty much. She can obey God. She can renew her mind. Our dear sister. And we can renew our mind in her direction. Do we see her with God's eyes? Renew our minds. So really the issue, are we going to be conformed to this world or are we going to be, well, look up and he conforms us. One brother, as I was discussing with some brothers this week, he used the word normal. When you think of the word normal, what do you think of? Yeah, he's like everybody else. Now 99% of the people in this valley are on the road to hell, destruction, unless they change. Do you want to be normal? Just like everybody else? So normal, it's what the world does around us. Normal is being conformed to the pressures. One secular psychologist I read, she's studying, she's under 35, she studies that generation. She said people over 35 are called the self-important generation. So I'm in that group. So that means the pressures on us tend to be look at me and see what I'm doing. I want someone to notice how important my actions are. That's the pressure. And I feel that temptation on occasion, let's say. But Jesus is still good, right? If you're under 35, and the writer was under 35, she says the generation is the self-absorbed generation. So it's more self-focused than us. If you're under 35, you're tempted by your culture to not even care what anybody else thinks. You're the judge, and you sit on judgment on everybody around you. That's the pressure of the culture you're in. We have to know it. We're in a religious culture, and so the pressure's on us to pretend to have the plastic smile, to think that you're okay if you're working hard, and that if you don't sin, you're okay, but if you do sin, you're in big trouble. That's the culture. But no, no, it's about Jesus. Jesus died for us. It's about his performance, not mine. When we see the snow, we should think, oh, Lord, thank you that your Son's blood washes me wider than snow and washes that person wider than snow. So we get to choose, are we going to be normal, pressed in by the culture, or are we going to be heavenly-minded? It does have some fruit because Jesus said, if you, well, they'll persecute you because they persecuted me. If you desire to live godly, you will be persecuted. So if you're normal, you get all the pats on the back and all kinds of flattery and good things from the culture, and your spirit will shrink because God's smiling on you and he wants you to see him. We want to be accepted and God wants us to see Jesus. So I have a couple little things here, ways that we, just to make ourselves a little more uncomfortable, you still want to see Jesus, right? More of Jesus than you see now. So one of these things, especially for ladies, is when you fail, in some way, the temptation is to really get down on yourself. Some men do that. We men tend to get down on others. And we blame them for why we're the way we are. That's the same problem, right? That's normal. That's what everybody around us does. They blame, they kick themselves when they fail, they make excuses when we fail. Oh, well, I didn't mean to. I'm having a bad day. Well, he made me do it. Those are excuses. That's being, that's normal. Everybody makes those, right? But that's not seeing Jesus. Seeing Jesus is saying, oh God, I was wrong. I was wrong. We operate by fear of rejection of men rather than fear of God. We seek pleasure for myself rather than for my neighbor. We're hesitant to give or receive reminders, let alone admonition or rebukes. We seek to receive blessings rather than to bless others. This is normal. This is just the normal culture we live in and it's being conformed to the world. We're quick to criticize or shun believers who disagree with us or are a little bit unpleasant for us. Ever felt that? I have. And I feel the pressure. We protect ourselves instead of protecting others. Remember Jesus? Who did he protect when he went to the cross? He protected us. He protected you from the judgment to come. He protected me from the judgment to come. Do I seek to protect me or the people who laugh at me and mock me? And because this is a religious culture, repentance from a normal point of view is stop sinning. You've got to stop it. And they've got to stop it. But when we see Jesus, repentance simply means seeing Jesus. And when we see Jesus, we say, oh man, that was wicked. Wee, that was a bad thought I had about that person, that driver, the snowplow driver, the people in the traffic today. Whoever. These are just simple, this is normal thinking. This is normal cultural worldly thinking. So repentance in this culture, in the worldly culture, means stop sinning and God's view of repentance is you just turn to Jesus and he takes care of it. He already did take care of it. Our honesty is the only lack from God's point of view. Obedience, in the normal setting, is related to performance in acceptance. In relationships, we see, okay, they've got to perform, I've got to perform, otherwise our relationships are going to break. But we can't have them. That's normal. That's worldly. But God's is all about Jesus. He performed on the cross and he set my friend free from sin and death. So why am I having these thoughts? Because I don't see Jesus. And you have those thoughts because you don't see Jesus. The world says, oh, it's bad to get burdens from other people and carry them. God says it's a privilege to carry them. Hmm. Which way are we thinking? Where are we being pressured? Are we looking up and saying, oh, burdens are great to carry because it's a privilege with God? The world says it's all about rules. You keep the rules. This culture has a lot of rules. If you lived in California, there'd be fewer rules. And if you lived in Massachusetts, the rules would be upside down, probably. But there's still rules. But that's normal. But God's way is all about love. What do we sing about? Love. It's all about love. There was no song up here about you've got to do something. Is there? No. It's about how wide and long and high and deep the love of Jesus is. And he's already forgiven us all our sins. Most people here said, that's true for me. So the issue isn't working hard or the issue is seeing Jesus, seeing his forgiveness. For me and for you. Do we see it? If we see it, things, relationships, just begin to thrive. Now, do you still want to look up? You still want to see more of Jesus? Okay. There's the most famous or the most memorable story in New Testament outside of the cross. The disciple who tended to put his foot in his mouth was in a boat in a storm. And Jesus was walking by and Peter said, if that's Lord, if you're Lord, call me to walk to you. And Jesus said, did he say, work hard? Did he say, pray fast? No. He said, come. Come. And what did Peter do? In the waves, in the wind, he got out and he walked across the water. He walked toward Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. Of course, Jesus is God. He can do it. We know that. But Peter walked on the water. Was that because he's more holy than you? He prayed more? No. He didn't go to church more. He didn't do anything more. It's not about him. Now, something happened to Peter as he's walking toward Jesus. He did what? He looked away from Jesus and what happened? Did he stop praying? No, he didn't stop praying. He was just looking. When he saw Jesus, he walked on the water and when he looked away, he sank. He sank. Hmm, the power is in the look. Well, looking connects you to the power and the love, all the love of the Father for the Son is inside. Remember, Mark said that. It says that in John 17, probably the last verse. And so, we hesitate to say things like this, but really, obedience to God is easy. It's easy. And probably, we could even say it's super easy. Obedience to God, loving your neighbor who just wrecked your lawnmower is easy. Who just scratched your car, plowed the snow into your driveway, after you plowed yours. It's easy because you can't do anything. I can't do anything. Doesn't Jesus say that? Without me, you can do nothing, John 15. It's all about him. So the issue is, do we see Jesus? And really, do we want to see Jesus? We can say, well, do I see Jesus? Well, I'm not thinking about Jesus when I'm thinking, do I see Jesus? I'm thinking about me. But do I want Jesus? Yes, Jesus. I want more of you to deal with me. And as we see Jesus, we're pretending the plastic smiles we can put aside and I can let Pete see me on my bad days, you know, I'm a little irritated with somebody. It's okay because Pete knows Jesus and I know Jesus and he can see my failures and he can pray with me or pray for me. And I want to read a couple of verses in chapter 3 here of Colossians. This is what it looks like to see Jesus and it's easy. When we see Jesus, it's easy. So the issue is, do we want to see Jesus and do we want to see Jesus together because we need each other and when we fail, that gives us a chance to see Jesus again afresh. Oh, thank you for the blood that cleansed me. There's a great song out of Africa that says, glory, glory, hallelujah, glory, glory to the Lamb. Oh, the cleansing blood has reached me. Glory, glory to the Lamb. Huh. We can live in that daily thinking about the glory of the Lamb. Verses 12 and I'll read a bit there. Oops, we're going to have to pause here for a moment. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, are you chosen of God, holy and beloved? It's true for me. And it's true for the other guy. We are holy and beloved by God. We are chosen by God. This is how God sees us. He sees the Christians I don't, you know, I'm kind of hesitating with that way. But it's easy to overcome if I just look to Jesus. Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering. Bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. The world says the normal way is, oh, you've got to do this. This is a rule. That's the normal way. You've got to do this. And people tell me that all the time in this culture. And Jesus says, no, no, this is a privilege. Someone who's not washed in the blood cannot do this. They can't. Jesus doesn't invite them to do it even. They can't. You are one of the very few in the valley who has the privilege to bear burdens for other Christians. To walk in humility. But he commands us, put on. Obedience is all about trust in seeing Jesus. Saying, yes, Lord. I mean, really, if probably we were all proud enough, if we were honest, that if we saw Jesus and he said, walk across Bear Lake, come, we would do it. Because probably we know it's going to be on the news, right? And we'll get a little bit of credit that we can listen to Jesus. But I suspect Jesus probably won't do that. Right? But is anybody here honest enough to say, amen, if Jesus told you, walk across Bear Lake, he said, come, and you saw Jesus, you'd do it. Amen, I'd do it. I'd do it. And probably I'd be thinking some credits coming my way. Jesus won't do that, almost certainly. But he has said some other things that people think are more impossible. And yet it's simple. Bear with one another. Forgive one another. Whatever the sin is they've done against you. Whatever. And again here it says, as Christ forgave you. How did Christ forgive you? This is seeing Jesus. How did Christ forgive you? Completely, okay. Now, did Christ wait until you asked for forgiveness before he thought he might forgive you? No. He forgave you 2,000 years before you even thought about sinning. It's kind of like you got pre-approved for forgiveness. You know, pre-approved for a loan at the bank. He anticipates our sin, and his gift is waiting for our sin. And all we need to do is say, oh God, I'm a wretched man. Thank you that your son died for me. And then we're in. You don't even have to say the prayer if you just think that kind of thing. He washes you clean, you're in. So that's how he forgave me. That's how he forgave you. And that's how I'm supposed to forgive you, and you're supposed to forgive me, and that person we thought about, keep thinking about them. Oh, did I forgive them before they sinned? No, because I wouldn't be thinking of that person if that were true, right? Because I would have joyful thoughts about being in relationship with them. So, in this chapter, you should read this. Colossians is one of my favorite parts of the Bible because it's all about what Jesus did for us, and there are these simple things that show Jesus. The three commands in the prior chapter, the first one is walk by faith, overflowing with thankfulness, super abounding in thankfulness. The second command says, watch out that nobody deceive you. The world is trying to deceive you folks, and me, and he has in a huge way because few of us have deep relationships, few of us like to be corrected, few of us like to correct other people. Why is that? Because we don't see Jesus. We're tricked into looking away from Jesus and becoming normal. There's one little point that in our culture that's becoming pretty aggressive. I want to back up just a moment. There's a little word called whatever that I hear a lot. We're tempted by the culture to use that word as a full sentence, which means you tell me something and I say whatever. That means I'm sitting on judgment on you and I don't want to listen to you. You might as well shut up because everything you say doesn't matter. That's a huge negative word of pride. So watch that, especially young folks because you're the college guys, people, and the kids. Mom was laughing out here. Kids are picking this up. Whatever. That means get out of my face. I'm not listening to you. And all the time Jesus came into our face when we're sinning to die for us. I want to read you in closing a story from Africa. You might think, well, this is just impossible. How can I forgive somebody who raped my sister, murdered my mother, or worse? Actually, I know a guy who watched his mother murdered by his father and he's joyful as he thinks about it because his mother was a Christian and he became a Christian and his father became a Christian and now they have a wonderful relationship. Hmm. The murderer in relationship like that. The breath of life. I'm going to read a letter from an African man who had some terrible things happen to him. He's writing a letter to the missionaries who brought the gospel to his area. Civil war has come to the area and so this letter was received by the missionary and the African man who wrote this was beaten and nearly blinded. I'll try and read it slowly for the full effect. I've read it many times to get myself to see up higher. We are all well because Jesus has turned death into victory through the wonderful gospel you brought to us. You know all that has happened to us in Rwanda. Here we have had our home destroyed and after it happened I was beaten for four days and left for dead. But that time was a blessing to my soul. All the time they were beating me I couldn't help singing and saying over and over again Jesus be praised. I kept praying for them very much all the time and in my heart I was thankful because they said they had nothing against me except the fact that I was a Tutsi. That's his tribe. Now in case we never meet again before I die I want to tell you that you and the other missionaries who brought the gospel to us have done a great work. When I think of how you found me in those days I love you more than you know. Only Jesus knows how much I love you. I know quite well that you did not come for any personal gain or for what you could make out of it. So I want to comfort you in all suffering that may come to you even unto death not to be downhearted. It is not in vain. Jesus will give you your reward. It is I Amandari that was the man's name signed at the end. Didn't that sound joyful? Now if we didn't read the part that said he'd been beat for four days left for dead we could be singing like this. And he's seeking to encourage the one who brought him the gospel. This is easy. This is what it looks like in effect beaten almost to blindness four days praying for the people who beat him. The breath of life. The life comes from Jesus. So the whole issue is am I going to see Jesus? When I see Mike am I going to see Jesus? When I see Andrew back there am I going to see Jesus or am I going to shy away and hesitate? I brought a few materials that you can take. Again I brought about 50 copies of Mark's sermon. I think you might find a blessing to listen to it again on the two back tables and on the piano or the organ here. There's a little pamphlet that I wrote. There are copies in all those places called Confession and Thanksgiving. A saintly man of the 1800s who was famous for humility said that confession and thankfulness are the two signs the two clear signs that you're growing in grace. And that means seeing Jesus more. And there's a big pamphlet with 12 articles on dealing with forgiveness and bitterness and anger and loving your children and loving your parents. Really sing Jesus. So let's pray and ask God to help us see Jesus because it's really about Him. When we fail it's about seeing Him again together. Let's encourage each other together. Father in Heaven we thank You that You set us free from sin, from death. You set us free from having to pretend that we are somebody when it's all about Your Son. Thank You that You set us free from the rules, that You nailed the law to the cross. Thanks for freeing us to walk in love with all the brothers and sisters. Please teach us what it means to welcome discomfort from the brothers and sisters that reveals our sin that we might see more of You. We want You. Please deal with me, deal with us. That You might be glorified that people in this valley might see Your Son and escape destruction to come. Oh God do whatever it takes please. And we would ask that You wouldn't let us get any credit and get in the way. Teach us even beginning today what it means to walk in deep relationships seeing Your Son in ourselves and in those around. Thanks for giving us everything we need already for life and godliness. Thanks for making it by faith. Help us be like Peter keeping our eye on You. In Jesus name. Amen.