Well, if you were uh gone last week, or maybe it's your first time, last Sunday we started a brand new series. We're having a conversation about a conversation. And when you think about it, that's a really common thing. How many times do you have conversations about conversations that happened in your day? You get home from work and you say to your spouse or your roommate or someone you live with, you will not believe what so-and-so said today. Or maybe someone says something and it's it's really, really uh intense, it's something that's on the news, it's something that's public, and everybody's talking about what someone else said. We have conversations about conversations all the time. This conversation, though, is really special. This conversation we're talking about, I believe it's the most important conversation that's ever happened in the history of the world. It's a conversation we have recorded in John chapter 3 between Jesus and this man named Nicodemus. And in this one conversation, Jesus uniquely lays out his mission and his purpose in the world. In this one conversation, late one night in Jerusalem in some back alley, Jesus clearly explains who he is, why he's come, what he values, what he cares about. He's never gone into detail like this before, and in fact, he never goes into this kind of detail again. This conversation is really unique. It's the most important conversation in the world because it's the one conversation that gives us clarity into who God really is. It's very important for us as followers of Jesus to have that clarity. 1 Peter 3.15 says this always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. How can we give that answer if we're unsure? About why we follow Jesus, about what it really means to follow Jesus. Better yet, how can we actually live this life that we're called to live if we don't understand the core concepts, the principles, and the foundational ideas that Jesus built his ministry on. This is very vital. And so I'm very excited to engage in this conversation so that we all walk out of here with a greater confidence, with more hope in the message and the person of Jesus. And if you're here this morning, by the way, and you're not a follower of Jesus, maybe someone dragged you here because they love you, or maybe you didn't realize you were walking into a church and you're like, oh no, why am I here? That's good, by the way. It's good that you're here for this because I actually want to ask you to come for the next few months, which I know is a lot to ask. But you should be able to make an informed decision about whether or not Jesus is for you. And going through this conversation, you will have the information you need to make that decision in your life because Jesus lays it out here in detail. So last week we got started looking at the very first 1.5 verses of John chapter 3. I mean, we are moving at a blistering pace. John 3 1 says this There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. That's as far as we got last week. We're not even getting into the conversation part of this conversation. And we talked last week about the significance of this decision that Nicodemus makes. He decides to come to Jesus. And that is a massive decision. That is a vital decision. It's one that all of us need to make in our lives. Not just the initial decision to come to Jesus, but the decision daily to come to him with our needs. And today I want to look at one more decision that Nicodemus makes that is absolutely crucial for anyone who wants to have a real relationship with God. Sometimes we get tripped up in our growth as believers because we talk about knowing God in terms of relationship. We say things like that. That's normal, normal Christian lingo, right? I have a relationship with God. I started my relationship with Jesus when I was this old. I have a relationship, and we use that word relationship a lot, but then if we're really honest with ourselves, sometimes it doesn't feel like a real relationship. Sometimes God seems distant. Maybe it seems more religious than real. And we we yearn to have a real relationship with God. To hear Him, to sense Him, to understand Him, to know Him. And if you desire to have a real relationship with God, then the decision that Nicodemus makes that leads him to come to Jesus in the first place, if he doesn't make this decision, he never comes. The decision that we're going to look at today is one that we need to make in our lives on a constant basis. And if we do, we will experience what it's like to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ. In order to do that, we have to go a whole point five verses forward. Okay? So here we go. John 3. Let's just go back to the beginning because we haven't gotten that far. John 3 1, there was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. Rabbi, he said, we all know that God has sent you to teach us your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you. Here we have this man making a huge decision. He is deciding to deal with Jesus. It was his decision to deal with Jesus that led him to come to Jesus in the first place. Most of the people in his day did not want to deal with Jesus. They wanted to avoid Jesus, they wanted to shut Jesus up, they wanted to kill Jesus. They wanted Jesus out of the picture because they were unwilling to actually sit down and deal with Jesus. Come to terms with him. Grapple with who he really was, who he really is. But Nicodemus makes this decision to come to Jesus, and it's kind of a surprising decision for him to make. Because you've got to understand some things about Nicodemus and his life. Number one, it tells us that he was a Pharisee. That says a lot. There were two major quasi-religious and political groups in Israel at this time. There were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. You can almost think about it like Democrats and Republicans, right? There's two major groups that sort of end up having the majority of influence when it comes to the politics of the area. That's kind of how it was. And the Sadducees were really powerful. They tended to be wealthier. They enjoyed the finest things in life. They were at the top of their community, and so they were kind of cozy with Rome because even though Rome controlled everything and Rome was the oppressor, they enjoyed a lot of benefits from that. So they were okay with Rome. They didn't like Jesus, by the way, because Jesus was always messing with the status quo. He does that. And they didn't want the status quo to change because they were at the top. They wanted things to stay the way they were. And then you had the Pharisees, and the Pharisees were strict and conservative. They were dogmatic. They were extremely religious. They had all these traditions and rituals that they followed with passion. They lived very, very pious lives outwardly. And they adhered to this insane number of rules that made them feel like they were holier than everyone else. They didn't like Jesus either. Because Jesus didn't care much for man-made rules that pretended to be godly, that pretended to be as if they were from God. That's what religion oftentimes becomes, by the way, is a bunch of rules that people pretend pretend like they originated with God when they didn't. They originated with men. Jesus didn't care for that. And that bothered them because that threatened their whole way of existence. So the Pharisees, they didn't like Jesus very much, and Nicodemus is a Pharisee. Not only is he a Pharisee, it says that he is a religious leader, and that's actually really telling. In fact, the Greek word that we translate leader actually literally translates ruler, and so some other translations will say it differently. In the NASB, it'll say, Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The NIV says it this way, now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus, who is a member of the Jewish ruling council. So what this actually tells us is that not only is Nicodemus a Pharisee, he's actually part of this elite group of Pharisees and Sadducees known as the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were like the Supreme Court of that time. They had immense power and immense influence over really everything that happened in the land. And you couldn't just become part of the Sanhedrin. That was impossible. You had to be somebody to be part of the Sanhedrin. You had to be someone, you had to be someone of influence. It's very likely that Nicodemus is one of the most influential people in all of Israel. That he came from one of the most influential families in Israel. In fact, several years before this, in 63 BC, this area is at war with Rome. And they eventually surrendered to Rome. That's what people tended to do when they fought Rome. And so the Israelites sent one man to be the ambassador to Pompeii, who was the emperor of Rome at that time, and that ambassador's name was Nicodemus. Now it's not the same Nicodemus, there's no way that could be in terms of timeline, unless this Nicodemus is like 160 years old. And then we have to just celebrate him coming to Jesus in a different way. Like, man, he made it. He walked there and he lived. This is good. But it's very likely that the Nicodemus in John 3 is related to that Nicodemus because in that time you you tended to keep your family's names intact. And so in Luke chapter 1, we read the story of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, being born. And his dad, Zechariah, decides to name him John, and everyone freaks out. And here's what they say in Luke 1.61. They all go, What? when they find out Zechariah's going to name him John. What? There's no one in all your family by that name. Those communities, you would preserve the names of your family within your family. And so here we have a Nicodemus who's a member of the Sanhedrin, and he's a Pharisee, and he's influential, and it's very likely that he came from this family that was so influential that when the Israelites decided to pick one ambassador to send to Rome, it was this man. He's from that family. So we need to understand that this person coming to Jesus to have this conversation, this person is as important and as influential and as powerful as they come. And he goes to Jesus late at night. Now, why does he go late at night? Simple, he does not want to be seen. You ever do something that you don't want people to know you do? Of course not, right? We're Christians. We don't do that. On the way here this morning I got caught. Um Megan looked in the back seat of our car, and there was a butterfinger wrapper in the backseat of the car. She asked me, why is there a butterfinger wrapper in the back seat? And I told her, I cause I ate a butterfinger yesterday. You know? We're on this diet that we're doing together. And uh and I just I cheated. I cheated with that butterfinger. It wasn't worth it in the end. It's kind of like when you haven't had a candy bar in a while, you're like, oh, yeah. And then when you eat it, you're like, this isn't that good. But I kept eating it. I mean it, I just ate it. And so I told Megan, like, ah, I know, I just I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I want to, no more butterfingers. I promise I'll stay strong this week. She said, You better. See, Nicodemus, he's going at night because he doesn't want to get caught. He doesn't want someone to see him with Jesus, because to be seen with Jesus, that's a risky thing. To be a Pharisee and be seen with Jesus, that's a risky thing. To be one of the Sanhedrin and seen with Jesus, that's even more risky. And Nicodemus has a lot to lose. So he goes at night so no one sees him. Because you see, right now, Jesus is kind of at the climax of how controversial and scandalous he is. Just before this, just before this conversation, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem. And when he got to the temple, he saw that there were all these people taking advantage of people trying to worship, and they were they were charging vast amounts of money for sacrifices that people had to buy in order to make a sacrifice to God, and they were profiting off this. They were crooks and they were the people in power. And so Jesus flips their tables over and then he goes and he makes a whip out of leather. He actually takes the time to make a whip. Think about that. Every single, I don't know if you braid a whip or what, he's like, I'm just I'm so mad right now. I'm just I'm beside myself. The disciples are like, Jesus, don't use the whip. Don't go in. He's like, No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm using this. And he goes in and with that whip, he drives them all out. I mean, imagine that scene. Imagine how crazy that must have seemed. Imagine how angry the Pharisees and the people who ran the temple were. We know that they they got together after that and they talked about Jesus and they tried to decide how they could get rid of Jesus, and their decision was to have him killed to find a way to get rid of him because they did not want to deal with Jesus anymore. Nicodemus, no doubt, was part of that conversation, being one of their foremost leaders. But something, something inside of Nicodemus could not stay away from Jesus. He couldn't just go along with the decision that his colleagues had made. Something in Nicodemus had to see for himself. He had to go to Jesus. He had to come to Jesus and ask questions. Nicodemus decided to deal with Jesus. What he says to Jesus is really loaded. When he says, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher who's come from God. No one could do the miraculous signs that you're doing if God were not with him. It's almost like he's raising up a white flag and saying, Fine, I'll admit it, you're from God. But he doesn't want to, because Jesus challenges every notion he has of God. He thinks he's got God down. He thinks he's an expert on God. And here comes Jesus, and Jesus is turning everything upside down. And it's like Nicodemus is coming to him saying, I wish I could dismiss you. I wish I could just cast you aside. I wish I could just say that you're some fake prophet or some flash in the pan leader that's all the rage today, that's going to be gone tomorrow. You're going to fade into obscurity. I wish I could just dismiss you, but I can't. Because I look at what you're doing and I see that there is something undeniable about you. Nicodemus decides to deal with Jesus. And it changes his life. We live in a world that does not want to deal with Jesus. It really doesn't. We live in a world that wants to avoid Jesus at all costs. To pretend like Jesus isn't there. A few years ago I was watching Dancing with the Stars with my wife, and let's just pause there for a second. Because remember where we are. This is a rabbit trail, we'll get back. We're at the world wants to avoid Jesus dancing with the stars. Are we there? You got it? I just want you to understand that several years ago that statement would have never come out of my mouth. I was watching Dancing with the Stars. And if you've ever seen that show, Stars is apparently a loose term. It's more like dancing with the, oh yeah, that guy. That's what that show should be called. But whatever. See, before I got married, I watched sports. That's what I watched. And I had settled on two main sports. I watched college basketball and I watched Major League Baseball. And it's super convenient because those sports back up to each other. College basketball begins in late October, right when baseball's ending. And college basketball ends at the beginning of April, right when baseball's starting. And so it's great. I just I just switched from one to the other. And I was married for one year. And Megan came to me and she said, This has to stop. You can pick one. You can pick one because she said, I can't do it anymore. It never ends. It never ends. It's just one season, another season, one season, another season. It never stops. And to a casual observer, someone that doesn't care about the sports, it's like deja vu every time I watch a game. It's the same thing over and over again, just with different players. Can't do it. Pick one. And I was like, wow, this is a big decision. This was not part of our vows. But everybody keeps saying, happy wife, happy life. And I just nodded my head in agreement, and I thought maybe there's something to that, so I said, fine, I picked college basketball, and I haven't watched baseball in all these years. Hurt for me. I don't miss it that much, but whatever. It just so happened that right when we got married and I had to make that decision, all of these TV shows were becoming really popular. These competition elimination shows, and it wasn't just American Idol anymore. Now there was like an American Idol for every single occupation a human being could have on the planet. And so Megan got into HG TV Design Star and Dancing with the Stars and Project Runway and Top Chef. And we started watching all of these. And then after like a few years, I had some realizations. I'm like, number one, these never end. It's just a new season after a new season, you know, like sports. And to me, the casual observer who doesn't really care about these, it's deja vu. Every episode is the exact same, just with different contestants. You know, like sports. And the seasons back up, one, two, one. It's like as soon as Dancing with the Stars ends, guess what? Project Runway begins. It's you know, like sports. I mean, it's just crazy. And so I'm tempted to say, hey, pick one. But I will not do that. If you're single, that whole happy wife, happy life thing, that is true. That is true. Happy husband is an option. Right? Happy wife is it's a necessity. So she gets she gets her seven of those, and I get my one sport. But when it's college basketball season, I am ruthless. I don't care what's on. I don't I don't care if we're watching some no-name team play some other no-name team or watching this game. So Jesus. Okay. Dancing with the stars, culture avoids Jesus like the plague. Watching this episode of Dancing with the Stars. And when you watch an episode of a show like that, they could get the whole thing done in like 30 minutes, but they draw it out for two, two and a half hours, you know, like sports. And so they have interviews with all the people and they show you these video recaps of their week of practice, and that's what's going on. They're showing this video recap of their uh practice in preparation for their dance, and the person who's the the star happens to be an outspoken Jesus follower, which is cool. And they're wearing this t-shirt that is just a white shirt with one word on it, but the shirt is blurred out in the video. And so anytime you see something like that, your brain starts trying to figure out what could that shirt say. And I'm looking at it, I'm like, man, this shirt's blurred out. What does it say? What's the word? And then we figured it out because if they would show her from the side and it only showed one letter or two letters, you could see it. It was only when all the letters were facing forward that they blurred it out, and it became very clear that the word was Jesus. It's just Jesus' name. But someone decided that, ooh, oh, the name of Jesus. I don't know, we should let's blur that out. Like it's a cuss word or something. Maybe they thought that it was being used in that way, which you can use it. They thought, wow, that's an expletive on a shirt. Can't put that on TV, but I don't think so. I think they clearly understood, knowing this person's character, that they were kind of wearing Jesus proudly, and they blurred that out. I remember going, wow. Why? And then several months later, I'm watching CNN because they have this guy on, they're interviewing. This is right in the wake of all the craziness that happened in Ferguson, Missouri, a while back. And I'm from Missouri, so I paid really close attention to that because it was kind of in my own backyard, and you know, my heart's broken because of all the tension and all the confusion and all the anger on all these different sides, and to see that there's racial tension in this world. It's just sad when Jesus has brought us together. In the wake of all that happened in Ferguson, there were countless celebrities that were posting about it and saying things about it, but there was this one guy whose comments rose above the rest. And he's this NFL player named Benjamin Watson. And he posted about what happened in Ferguson, and he talked with more eloquence and depth and sincerity than anyone else in the world was talking about this whole situation with. And his comments just caught on. And they they took, they caught fire, it went viral, so much so that CNN had him on to interview him. And here in a second, I want to show you this one minute and 30-second interview that CNN had with Benjamin Watson. But I want to tell you this going into it. Number one, it gets to a point where he begins to talk about Jesus and the gospel, the message of Jesus. I want you to watch the interviewer's face when this happens and the discomfort that this person feels. You're actually gonna see the person doing the interview make an audible sound of disgust. There's one moment where she goes, ugh, as if she's repulsed by what he's saying. And then ultimately, I want you to see how they choose to deal with the fact that this man is talking about Jesus. It's interesting. Go ahead and take a look at this.

In the 60 seconds I have remaining with you, sir, I'd just ask you, we talk so much about this on a macro level. How about on a micro? On a day-to-day basis, how can we, you know, black, white, whatever, improve this?

Well, I I honestly I think I point to it in the very last paragraph that I read, and and I'm encouraged because things aren't the way they used to be. You know, we all have grandparents that told us how things were. We've all seen documentaries. We are definitely making progress, but I think on an individual, on a uh on a micro level, the issue is not really skin. The issue is sin. And I firmly believe that the issue is that internally we are flawed, internally, we need salvation from our sin. Internally, our sin makes us prideful, it makes us judgmental, it makes us prejudice, which leads to racism, it makes us lash out at people that don't look like us, it makes us look past look past evidence to protect people that look like us. It makes us do all those things. It makes us lash out in anger, it makes us point it it makes us our sin that's in us makes us do those things. And the only the only salvation for this sin is the gospel. The only way to really cure that what's on the inside is understanding that Jesus Christ died for our sins. And so to me, on a micro level, it's understanding.

Oh just like that, we lost him. I know I heard you guys rapping me, I just couldn't let him go. Benjamin Watson, thank you so much. Good luck of the game. Sunday, Emperor Faldin, see you Monday. Jim Shudo, up next.

Isn't that amazing? And I will say, by the way, my two-year-old daughter is a better actress. Like when my two-year-old daughter lies, she can be pretty convincing. But when she goes, like, oh, ah, technical difficulties, right? Like, oh, and just like that, wouldn't you know it? We lost him. Oh well. I mean, it's so clear. It's like you can almost hear a producer or a director in some control room just screaming on the headset, get the guy off the air, get him off the air, get him off the air. He's talking about Jesus. Get him off. And why? See, Jesus is still scandalous to this day. And I don't show that to judge the world that we live in. It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart because we live in this world that is searching for love. This world is desperate for love and avoiding at all costs the one person who is love. I heard a pastor say this recently, and it is beautifully worded. It makes no sense to search for love and run from God. It makes no sense. And this world is broken, and this world is hurting. Mental health is at an all-time low, and we have depression, and we have anxiety, and we have fear, and we have worry. And the answer for all of those things, by the way, is love, because perfect love casts out all fear, and Jesus Christ is love personified. But our world doesn't want to deal with Jesus because when you deal with Jesus, you have to come to a conclusion about Jesus. And he does not leave a lot of wiggle room. People who say they're God don't leave much wiggle room when it comes to dealing with them. Because either they are or they're not. Can't kind of be God. Jesus claimed to be the answer for this world. And this world just doesn't want to deal with him at all. The world would rather blur him out and cut him off, stick its fingers in its ears, and just make noise and pretend like he's not there. And it's heartbreaking because he is there. And he is the answer. And he is love. There's really only one thing that breaks my heart more. Only one thing that breaks my heart more than the world at large refusing to deal with Jesus. And it's it's people who actually claim to follow Jesus choosing to not deal with Jesus. Because, see, we have to understand this as Jesus followers that there's this constant pull of religion fighting with us that ultimately wants us to stop dealing with Jesus and just put God in a box. Because if you have God in a box, you don't have to deal with him anymore. You get him, it all makes sense. It's all compartmentalized. I understand this God. I don't actually have to deal with him, I don't have to wrestle with him, I don't have to grapple with him, I don't have to come to terms and kind of battle and have conflict in my heart and my mind. I don't have to question him. I don't have to go to him. I don't have to really deal with God because I got God figured out. That's how Nicodemus was. He thought he had God figured out, and then Jesus showed up and it broke his box. And he's mad about it. And so he goes to Jesus saying, like, hey, you broke my box. So I've got some questions for you. I don't understand you, I don't get why you're doing it this way. You're gonna see Nicodemus in the weeks to come be sarcastic with Jesus. He's semi-hostile because Jesus broke his box. But see, boxes need to be broken. You'll have people that put God in this angry box, and God is just shaking his finger in judgment at the world, and he's really mad, and he's angry at everything. He's mad at Disney, he's mad at, you know, he's mad at Target, he's mad at everyone in the world. He's just mad all the time. And here's the reality: sometimes God gets really mad. He's a person. We're made in his image. Jesus got mad in the temple that day, but it was righteous anger. But people like to put God in the angry God box. And some people like to put God in this box over here. We can call this Jesus is the life coach box. And so this Jesus will help you have better finances, this Jesus will help you with your marriage, this Jesus will help you kind of like with life improvement skills, and that's all very vital. But when we put Jesus in the life improvement box, like a lot of churches do, we never talk about some of the challenging and controversial things that Jesus said and did. We don't want to deal with that stuff because it doesn't fit in the neat and tidy Jesus is your life coach box. But see, if you put Jesus in a box, one day something's gonna happen to you in your life, and it will make that box make no sense. And it will leave you feeling disillusioned with God because something's gonna happen to you, or something's gonna happen in the world around you, and it's gonna make you go, the God of that box would not let this happen. The God in that box would not do this. And you realize that the problem is not the God in the box, the problem is that God can't fit in a box. And if we put God in a box, that's just us saying, I don't want to deal with you anymore. I'd rather just be comfortable with you. I would be a liar. I'd be a liar if I tried to tell you that Jesus is easy to deal with. He is not. He is, he is at times the most frustrating, confusing, challenging person. There are times that I'll open up my Bible and I'll read Jesus and I'll just be like, no, Jesus doesn't say that. God. I'd like to pretend that Jesus didn't say that because that broke my box. And I like my box. But are we going to be people who settle for God in a box? Or are we going to be people who desire a real relationship with a real God? And think about any real relationship you have, think about the closest relationship you have. I bet you wrestle with that person. I bet you you grapple with that person. I bet you have to deal with that person and come to terms with how they're wired and come to terms with what they value. I bet the closeness you have in that relationship is because you've had some conversations. You've had some nicodemus moments where you've gone to that person and said, Hey, I don't get you. I don't understand you. And we live in this culture, even as Christians, that doesn't want us to deal with God. And so we settle for being believers. But the Bible says even the demons believe. And they believe more than we do, because they've seen them. So I don't want to settle for being a believer in God. And we shouldn't settle for being churchgoers, because there's never going to be a day when I stand in front of God and he goes, Hey, how many people went to your church? It's never going to happen. Because it's not about going to church, it's about being a disciple of Jesus. And the only way you can become a disciple of Jesus is if you're willing to deal with Jesus. And so I say all of this to encourage you to be people brave enough to go to him and wrestle with him, grapple with him. Is it the bird? It's all good. I thought hands were going up in praise, and it was just the bird. Upstaged by a bird. That's all good. I love this church. In Genesis, as we're about to wrap up, worship team, you guys can kind of make your way out. There's this man named Jacob, and he's not a good man. I mean, just objectively, Jacob is not a good man, he's a terrible father. He's a terrible father, one of the worst fathers that there's ever been. That we have recorded in Scripture. He's a coward. Anytime there's a situation that involves him maybe being in danger or someone else, he puts the other people in front of him. He's manipulative, he's a liar. And yet he's the one that God chooses to become the namesake of his nation, Israel. God ends up changing Jacob's name to Israel, and that whole nation is named after him. Because, see, for all of his flaws, there's one thing that Jacob had going for him that was really, really powerful. He was willing to wrestle with God. In fact, this one time, God actually showed up in human form and had a physical wrestling match with Jacob. Like literally, showed up one night and Jacob fought with God. They actually got in a fight. And Jacob spent the rest of his life with a limp because of that fight. But he wouldn't relent. And I heard it explained this way one time and it blew me away. This is something amazing about Jacob that we could all learn from. While that whole fight's going on, God says, hey, relent, give up. And he says, no, because Jacob would rather die holding on to God than live the rest of his life knowing he'd let go of God. And that's a powerful way to live. And so when this whole wrestling match is over, it's in Genesis 32, verse 28, the man who happens to be God, almost like a preincarnate Jesus, is what most scholars think. Your name will no longer be Jacob, the man told him. From now on you'll be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won. The name Israel literally translates struggles with God or wrestles with God. I want to suggest to you this morning that you have the freedom to wrestle with God. That you have the freedom, in fact, God has encouraged you, implored you to deal with him. To not keep him far away. To not allow some stained-glassed version of him to replace what's real. Maybe you grew up in church and when you had a hard question, when something didn't make sense to you, something happened in your life, and you're like, I don't understand why God would let this happen. Everyone quieted you and said, Don't, shh, that's irreverent. Don't go to God with that attitude. No, no, go to God with that attitude. Because if being irreverent because we're trying to deal with God makes us ungodly, then you have to throw out the Psalms from the Bible. Because if you read the book of Psalms, half of them begin with David going, What's wrong with you, God? And they end with, He's going, You're awesome, God. Because that's what happens when you deal with God. When you deal with God, you deal with love. You deal with compassion, you deal with grace, you deal with mercy, you deal with patience. You can go to God angry. You can go to him in anger and in frustration and say, God, I'm so upset. This happened in my life. This doesn't make sense. I've prayed, I've served, I've given, I've done all I'm supposed to do, and now this is what I get. I get this trial, I get this struggle. I'm so I'm so frustrated, God. And you can go wrestle with him, and he's gonna look at you and he's gonna say, I love you. He's gonna wrap his arms around you, he's gonna comfort you. He's gonna, he's gonna encourage you, literally, give you courage. You're gonna walk in anger, you're gonna you're gonna leave with a weight lifted, with a burden gone, because that's what happens when you deal with God. Amen. I like that burden. Should keep him. Wrap all this up. I just I look at the world we live in, and I look at I look at Christians. I love Christians. Jesus loves Christians. He loves the church, he loves people, but he loves his church. Broken, messed up, off track, it doesn't matter, he loves the church. I just, I see so many of us settling for less than we could have with God. So many of us that believe somewhere in our heart that we've got to keep God at bay, that we've got to, you know, we're we're we're we're not good enough to come close to him. So we have to sort of keep him up on this pedestal that he belongs on, but we forget that he got off the pedestal. He got off the pedestal to come and meet with us. He left heaven to come to earth. And he was always okay with people dealing with him. Let's deal with God. Let's be those those few brave people who are willing to wrestle with God, are willing to struggle and to grapple and to come to terms because that is the only way that you can really know him, and you want to know him because he loves you. And he can change you, and he can change this world. So wrestle with God. Deal with God. Take a page out of Nicodemus's book and deal with Jesus. Let's pray. Father God, we love you so much, and we are coming to you honest. It is difficult for us to deal with you sometimes. You don't make sense to us. Things happen in our lives that don't seem to line up with your love for us. And so we deal with tragedy and we deal with hurt and we deal with injustice in our lives. People think the wrong thing about us, people accuse us of things we didn't do. We deal with sickness, physical, mental, emotional. And we're told over and over again that you love us. And sometimes the circumstances and the situations in our life, they just don't line up with the ideas that we have about you. And when that happens, Lord God, give us the courage to come right to you like Nicodemus did and to deal with you. To go up to you and say, hey, I'm a little upset because my box has been broken. But I'm willing to accept the fact, Jesus, that you don't belong in a box. And that you might be challenging and difficult to come to terms with, but I'd rather take on the challenge and really know you than settle for God in a box. Gosh, we love you, Jesus. Just bless us this week. Help us, be there for us, and find a way to get that bird out of here alive. We love that bird. We love you, Lord. Amen.