So if you have a Bible, I want to share one verse with you this morning that it'd be the one to take all week long. It's in the book of Ephesians. Before we get there, you can open to Ephesians 2, but I want to share a Christmas story because as we look at who am I, Justin did an amazing job these last three weeks of talking about I am new and what God makes new. It's not just polishing up an old version. He did a beautiful job of spelling that out. He talked about that we are powerful and that what that means of tapping into God's power, we are heirs. We are related to the God of the universe. And I love the way he unfolded those. Some of his illustrations were incredible, talking about the junk room and just what that looks like, that we try to hide that, but God is in all of it. The guy on the airplane with him, just, dude, who are you? And him trying to explain that. And if you missed any of those three, I encourage you to go back and listen to them. They were phenomenal. They were phenomenal. And in that same reign, I literally was praying, okay, God, who am I? Because the way I came to know God personally and literally start that relationship with him was because it wasn't a religious experience. It wasn't being around religion or being around Christians. It was introduced to God Himself. And the best way I can describe this is that we've been putting together the pieces of a puzzle so much as who we are. And this morning I want to put kind of a last piece on that, but I want us to draw the understanding that it's very different than the religious part of who we are. And if I could spell it this way, is that there's times where I'll look at this amazing book and I'll see these incredible people of faith, and I'll just go, man, that is unbelievable. That's amazing. I am not that. And it's a little bit depressing. And then I look at some of God's truth and I'm like, I believe that, but I don't always do that. And it's a little bit discouraging. But what God longs us to do is for move, being around it and evaluating to being with him and letting him be with us. It's a piece of the puzzle. And we're going to look at four pieces of what that looks like this morning. And but if I could explain it this way for Christmas, for Christmas each year, we would have our Christmas Day. And then we had some neighbors across the street that was a blended family. It was a Jewish Catholic family. And I just, that alone made me smile. Just that, where do you go to church? You know, and it's and they would, we would have Christmas dinner with them, and we would always exchange gifts. It was just a little something because we were kids and we loved gifts. And I'll never forget, I was around nine years old, and I opened the gift, and it was a puzzle. Now, I wasn't a huge puzzle person, but I liked puzzles, and it was this picture of a football picture. And I'm like, okay, football puzzle, all right. And as we got it out that night, I'm like, can't wait, let's put it together. And several jump around. We're all kind of piling in and got the edges done, and we started putting pieces, and we're looking at the picture and the pieces, and we realized, and I said, Well, something's wrong here. And then they fessed up. They're like, Well, you know, we just kind of set a limit on it, and we wanted to get you something cool for the couple dollars that we got to spend, so we bought you a puzzle, but uh it was kind of in the clearance area, and uh it said irregular on it, and uh, we just kind of took that sticker off and we discovered very quickly the irregular part was that the picture was not the puzzle. So it was like, yeah, and I don't know how you are if you do puzzles, but I'm always like, okay, that part, okay, well, that that goes there. I had none of that. And it's just like, how are we gonna do this? And we muddled through it and we laughed, and it was a struggle. But the puzzle was really, really cool, but it was different than what we saw. And and that difference is the difference between being around God and being around Jesus and around Christians and knowing him personally and intimately and seeing what he made me to be and seeing what he has for me and what he wants to do personally with me. And this morning, that piece of the puzzle I'm just really praying will come through that we'll see this is what it means to be with Jesus. To do that, I want us to look at Ephesians chapter 2, because it basically tells us the different pieces to discovering who we are from his point of view. So I'm gonna break it down, but let's just read it Ephesians 2.10. For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. That is who God is. That's who I am. I am first, the first piece of this I want us to see is that I am, you are, individually and collectively. We are God's handiwork. And when it's God's handiwork, I'm talking about very intimately unique. It's not some cookie-cutter piece. I mean, look around. There's nobody that looks like you. And if you take the experience and the gifting and the abilities and the life, there is no other you. There never has been, there never will be. And God's handiwork is saying, I've crafted you this way, in a very unique way that has never existed before and never will again, and you are uniquely my handiwork. If you want to know about the creator, look at his creation. I mean, look at how unique God is. Now, I want to do it this way, just as an example leading into something I experienced this week. Left hand is I love sunrises. Right hand is I love sunsets. Which one are you? One, two, three, are you a sunrise or sunset? Okay, lots of sunsets. All right. Uh sunrise, I totally respect you. I think you're mentally deranged, but I respect that. I'm driving this past week, and my daughter, who is 12, she's got a little bit of my wife in her. My wife is very animated. And when I drive, she can be listening, looking at a text and go, oh, and she I'm like, well, it's it's bad to drive with her. And my daughter has got a little bit of that in her. And as we're driving, I'm taking her to, I think, dance or uh youth group or something. And I know she just went, whoa! And I'm like, what? And I literally take my foot off the gas, and I'm like, Whoa, what? And she goes, Look at the sky. And I and I looked up. It was one of the most colorful, panoramic views of amazing. I mean, there was blue and red and orange and white and hues between all of those colors that could not be duplicated. I'm like, wow, you're right. And the God that created that spectacular, unique view is the one that created you. And he created it just as unique and just as amazing and just as intimate and different as every sunset. Similarities, yes, but differences every time. There's nothing like it. And it's the same God made you with all your experiences, all your past, good and bad. And he says, Hey, when you come to be with me, when you accept my love and my forgiveness, and you accept me and invite me to be in your life, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take everything experiential, good and bad, mistakes and triumphs, and I'm gonna work it for your good. And I'm gonna show you who I made you to be. That's his craftsmanship. And he's he's amazingly fun. I'll give you one of my favorite examples. I was in my backyard and and I'm going to the shed to get the lawnmower and get going, and and there's these two squirrels. And they have you ever seen squirrels chase each other? They're just like up the tree and around the tree and down the parks flying everywhere. Then they got in the yard, and then it's like WrestleMania. They're like flipping over each other, and then both of them just kind of fell off the flip and went, ha. And the other one's like, You gonna go? I'm gonna go. And then they shot at another tree, and the other one chasing, they're going up the tree and off the tree and down the fence, and I'm just like, that is hysterical. And then finally, they both, after about five minutes of this, and I'm sitting here, just standing there watching them, and I'm laughing, going, God, you made that. That's hysterical. What is going on in their minds? Like, hey, we got some nuts, mom's not around, you're it. And they just started, they started doing this, and I'm just thinking, that that is just a glimpse of how cool and fun God is. And I'm just like, God, that that was awesome. And that's his handiwork, that is God's handiwork. Well, look at how this fits together. There's another piece, so God makes us unique and special, and then look at the next part. It says, in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus, I'm not gonna experience the with Christ until I'm in Christ, until I make that fundamental decision. When we use the term here, going all in with Christ. It's realizing, no, God, I'm not just knowing about you, I want to know you, and I'm all in. And Jesus gave us an ordinance called baptism. And if you come here for a while, you'll see this. We do it on a regular basis. People going, I'm all in. I'm all in. I believe God is who he said he was. I believe I am his handiwork, and I believe he has a purpose for me. I'm all in. And it's literally this beautiful visual called baptism where we die to ourselves and we raise, and we're like, I'm now new, what Jason Justin talked about a couple weeks ago. I'm new in Christ. I'm not what I was, I'm a new creation. And that peace of being in Christ. In Jeremiah 17, it's one of the most beautiful word pictures of what it means to be in Christ and that decision in our mind. He puts it this way: But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, and get the second word, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots into or by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to produce or bear fruit. That's what happens when we're in Christ. When we're around Christ, different story. And if I can draw these parallels to be around God, to be around this, there's this mental sense that happens where we compare ourselves to maybe where we think we should be, or we're not as bad as others, where we start to question every circumstance in our life and where that fits in. Where we worry about perceptions of others on us or our perception of what's going on, and we depend a whole lot on feelings and what we feel in a moment and moment to moment, we try to get these feelings fixes so that we can feel better about us. That's being around, near. But those who are in Christ, who are with Jesus, they are new, they are mighty, they are heirs. We don't care what others might think. His truth trumps any feelings. We know his truths, and those truths really do set us free. Circumstances reveal who God is. And then finally, we rely on his presence, not our feelings or circumstances. We literally, in those moments, can go, God, what do you want to do here? It's it's a complete difference. That's the difference between being in Christ. Now, I want to be very honest for a second, in the sense that I, and maybe it's an after 25 thing, but I want to be at that point where I am in Christ. And the disciples put it this way. Jesus is talking to the disciples in John chapter 14, he puts it this way: the spirit of truth, the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him. And he lives with you and will be in you. In other words, what God is saying very simply is you Jesus has said, You've been around me, and now you know God. And not only am I with you, but the spirit, my spirit that raised Christ in the day is going to be in you. That's the difference. And one of the most one of my favorites is in John 15, where he gives us another visual about branches, and he says, Jesus says this, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. From apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like branches that are thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. For this is my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. This this connectedness, a branch can't survive off of a tree. It's got to be grafted in. And Jesus is going, That's me. Now, years ago I would say, Well, God, obviously I can do something. You say I can do nothing, I can do something. I mean, I wake up, I can get through life, I can go do stuff, and God just kind of let me see. Ken, are you accomplishing? Are you doing that which lasts? Or are you just on the treadmill of life? And I realized, man, I spent some years on that treadmill. You don't have to raise your hands, but how many of you have ever felt that? Well, I wake up and I get ready and I go to work and I make some money and I get a paycheck so I can buy and pay for a car and a house and some food so that I can sleep and get up and get in a car and go to work and I can get this, and it's just this I'm on this treadmill. I don't want to be on the treadmill. I want to do something that is significant, something meaningful. And what Christ offers is that for every one of us. He's saying not only that, but then I was thinking and praying through this. God does not speak to me audibly, but when I ask, thoughts come to my mind, clarity comes that I didn't see before. I'm like, God, I I can't do anything without you, really. And and he showed me very clearly, he's like, Ken, what do you do involuntarily? Can you can you make your heart beat? Can you do that? Because I can stop it right now and let you try. I can do that. If you want, you want a shot at that? I can do that. Ken, you breathe. You breathe. One, do you make your lungs do that? Go ahead, try to stop breathing. And you can do that for a minute, then your body's just like, what are you doing? And then uh you you breathe, you take this for granted. You know, I could take away breathable oxygen right now. Do you do you want to give that a shot? You want to try to create that? Because you can, you can capture what I have, put it in a tank, and you'll last an hour, maybe. But see, I give you that grace. I do that for you. And not only that, but I want to have that sense that what I'm doing has meaning, that is beyond me, that it has sustenance, and that it's there. Here's my problem. And if I I can I want to paint this one picture for you, go back and watch this. I don't recommend movies a ton, but this is one of my favorites. One of the most theologically brilliant, clarifying ways that I can interact and remain in Christ, is in a movie, and it's towards the end. It's one of the most theologically accurate movies I've ever seen. It's called Finding Nemo. And there's this one scene where Dorian, if you've seen the movie, I don't want to ruin the ending for you, but there's this one character, Dorian, she's this bluefish that has a memory issue, and there's Marlon who's trying to accomplish finding his son Nemo, and she's helping him along, and then she finally gets excited because he's like, You got a horrible memory, and she's down about that, and then finally she remembers something. And oh my gosh. And she remembers this, and Marlon's like, great, now we've got to find it. We've got to do this and this and this and this. And she's like, Okay, let's go, let's go, let's go. And so, well, we got to do this and this, okay, okay, okay. She's like, Oh, something about jellyfish, let's go. And and that is me. That is so me. It's like I can read God's truth and go, okay, okay, something about Jesus. Let's go. You know, just and God is like, I want, I want to do this with you. And I want to show you my truth in such a way that it's going to get you where you cannot get on your own. But you got to do it with me. And not just be around it, but you got to let me be in you. Not only in you, but abide in me moment by moment. And I want to get to that place where I'm like, okay, Lord, I know I'm your handiwork. You have gifted me for something. That's a great peace. And I and I know that I've invited you, not only in you, but I'm dependent on you for eternal life and life of significance. So why? Who am I? Well, the next one is very good. Four good works. Four good works. What does that look like? Uh let me let me spell it out this way very clearly that I want you to think this week, what is gonna be your greatest challenge this week? Is it a test? Is it a relationship? Is it a financial issue? God is saying, I want to be good in that. Do you do you remember the game show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Do you remember that one? Got to answer the questions, and you get four choices. What happened when they did not know any of them? Oh man, I don't know this. I'm going to a lifeline. And one of them was, you said it, phone a friend. I got a friend who knows this. I'm gonna phone a friend. Hey, I'm on the show and there's a question and I don't know it. And do you know the answer to this? And they're like, dude, I'm pretty sure it's this. Okay, great. Ah, you get to move on, great. Did you know that that God literally has a phone number? And he's like, uh when you when you get this week, when you're at that point where you're like, I'm frustrated, overwhelmed, I don't know what to do, call me. And I and I know it says this because it's in Jeremiah 33, 3, and it starts out like this call to me. And I love this. And he says, I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know. You don't know them. Help. God help. And I'm telling you, you pray it right now, this morning, if you're with God and you've invited Christ in and you go, God, I really don't know what to do about this. Will you help? Will you show me something I don't know in this category? Will you show me an option, perspective, whatever? I don't know what it's gonna be, but I'm telling you, this is how real Jesus is. I'll give you mine from a couple weeks ago. Now, I I'm gonna ask it this way. How many of you men here are married? Raise your hand if you're married, man. All right. One of the most frustrating, overwhelming days of every year is anniversary. Our anniversary is coming up. I don't know why they call it our anniversary, because all the pressure is on us. They can't lose. It feels like a prize fight. In this corner, the husband with a record of 9 and 14 will attempt yet another anniversary. Because we got to get the place right, we got to get the card right, we gotta get everything right, and in this corner, the wife undefeated in anniversary life. Because she is the sole judge of this encounter. And it's just it's overwhelming. And I got to that point, I was talking to a couple buddies on a radio show, and I'm like, guys, it's like, what do you do? And I said, Well, I had this idea, and and they said, Where'd you get that idea? And I said, I prayed. I'm like, God, I have an anniversary coming up. It's a big one, it's a 20th anniversary, and the kids are in school, and they're like, What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? And I literally prayed. God, and I said, God, will you tell me something I don't know about this? Will you show me some options? Because you know my wife and you know us and you know our circumstances. Help. Here's what came to my mind that was not there before, and it was a great idea. I'm like, Lord, that's awesome. Here's what came to my mind and started flooding Ken first. What do you do? You got 20 years, go back, go back to the first, first place you met, go back to the first place you kissed her, go back to the first place you lived, go back to the first place you ate, go back and just flood all these firsts. I'm like, that's awesome. First. So I plan out this day. Now, here's how cool God is, because in the midst of it, He shows up again, and I can call and go, what do I do now? Now, I I don't encourage you to do this because people will look at you weird. And but but pray. And and literally, so it's the day I'm actually excited about it. I get up and Heather's not moving. I'm like, you know what? It's her day to sleep in. That's awesome. Kind of get the kids going. I'm like, right on, this is gonna be great. First, I got them all mapped out on the map. We're gonna go all over these places. This is gonna be awesome. And so I get the kids ready, I get them off. I come in, I'm like, hey, um I'm gonna get the kids off to school, I'll be back about half. She goes, Oh, okay, okay. Barely even woke up, and I'm like, okay, not excited about the anniversary, but she didn't have to be. I get to be, there we go. So I get them off school, I come back in, and I'm ready. For this God-ordained day of greatness. And I come in, I'm like, hey, how's it going? She goes, I got a migraine. Jesus, I don't remember you telling me about that part. And I literally, I'm I'm sitting there in my mind going, What do I do with that? This is reality. This is the and and I said, Why don't you just rest? She goes, Okay, I took something for it, and she's got a prescription thing. She did, and she goes, I'm just gonna rest. I waited an hour and I thought, you know what, she's gonna, we'll do it another day or whatever. She needs to rest. So I let her sleep. I change into my yard clothes. I'm like, be productive. I need to get the yard done. So I change into my yard clothes and I go out to the shed, I get out the mower and the trimmer, and I get out of the rake, I get everything out. And I literally I turn around to start, and she's on the porch. This is an hour and 20 minutes later, and she goes, Hey, what are you doing? I'm like, um uh I was gonna do the yard. She goes, Well, I'm I'm feeling better. Do you want to go do something? I'm like, Yes. So I put everything back in the shed and I go change out of my clothes, and now I'm looking at my clock. I'm like, okay, we got half the time now. And and she goes, What did you have in mind? I said, I just got a couple cool ideas, and we stopped at the first place with this church where we met in the fellowship hall, and something's going on. And so I tell her, I'm like, hey, it's kind of a day of first. I said, I wanted to come to the first place we met. And she goes, Oh, that's kind of cool. And she goes, Oh, looks like they're doing something here. Let's just leave. And I'm like, but I want to get a picture. It's kind of selfie, and let's just go real quick. And we walk in, and people are like, Why are you here? She goes, I'm so embarrassed. I'm so embarrassed. And I said, Hang on. I said, you know what? Just I we'll get a quick picture. And the people that were looking at us, I said, Hey, will you do me a favor real quick? This is my wife's. We we got married 20 years ago today, and this is the spot where we first met. Would you take a picture for us real quick? And they're like, Oh my gosh, that's so sweet. Yes, I'll take a picture. Everywhere we went, then we went to the next place, the first place we lived, and there's a girl walking out of the little duplex townhouse that we lived in, and she's kind of looking at us, I'm like, hey, my name's Ken. We we got married 20 years ago today. Is there any way you could take a picture with that? We lived here. Our first place we lived. She goes, Oh my gosh, that's the greatest thing ever. So we got a picture. And then we said, I said, you remember the restaurant we when we first got married? We went to this restaurant every week. And she goes, Yes, I said, let's go there. And it was closed. And uh, yeah. And I'm literally going, God, Jesus, you didn't tell me that one either. Um, let's keep going here, and we kept going, and and that night I thought, you know what? This is life, this is real life. And so we get to the end of that. I'm like, okay, Lord, here's the deal. Um, dinner. I'm so looking forward to dinner. This is gonna be great. She goes, hey, I gotta go drop up some clothes. You go drop off Kennedy at the youth group, and then we'll get together and I'll call you and we'll get together. I'm like, awesome. So I drop off Kennedy. I'm like, hey, there's the big inflatable, it's a big inflatable night. Go run and have fun. Oh, the obstacle course, you love that, go do that. Cool. I turn around, I take three steps, and I hear, ah, and it wasn't a good scream, like, whoo, I'm having fun. Uh I turn around and there's my daughter going, I broke my arm, and she's and her arm is I'm like, of course you did. Let's let's go take care of that. And I take her, we're in the emergency room at children's, and Heather's like, okay, where are you? And I'm like, I'm at the hospital. She's like, Why are you there? I'm like, Kennedy broke her arm, did not get my text. She goes, then you could hear it on her phone, bing, bing, bing, bing. She goes, Oh my, you get you've got to be kidding. And I'm like, no, I'm not. And uh, so we stay there the rest of the night. We leave about 11 something, we get in bed around 12 something, and we're laying there. And Heather leaned over, she goes, Happy anniversary. Like, I know, right? I'm like, yeah, but you know what? This is this is life. And I literally I said, God, thank you. Thank you that I don't need a day to make my life worthwhile. I love my wife. Thank you that she got over a headache. Thank you for my kids. They don't make them like they used to, they break down all the time, but thank you. Thank you that it was a broken arm and it wasn't a reoccurrence of cancer like she got over. God, thank you. Thank you for my boys, thank you. And I just sat there with this thankful heart, and God literally showed me great and unsearchable things that by the normal standards, comparing to other anniversaries, comparing to the romance on TV, it was an abject failure. Compared to what's really important, it was the perspective of the greatest day ever. God, thank you for all I have. Thank you for all you've brought us through. Yeah, you can clap for that. That's awesome. And I would say the last piece of this amazing puzzle of who God made us to be, yes, where his handiwork, yes, we're in Christ, yes, for good works, but there's two, there's two pronouns that I see in here that blow my mind. And he says simply this for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do together. The last piece is together. We weren't meant to do this alone. And I love that. We were meant to do it with Him, with each other. That's the way it was designed. And I love being a part of this group like this. I love that we have a parking lot team now. Some of you got to enjoy that today, the umbrella's coming in. That didn't exist a few weeks ago. It's about doing something together. You came in here, those of you who have children, you you can come in here and go, wow, that wasn't very good today, but my child was happy and I got a good nap. You know, you could you can do that at least. But then you've got somebody like Ashley and her team that are back there just loving on kids. It's about us together. It's not about me being apart. And as I sat there and looked at this, I love what God made us to be for that reason. And I literally I looked at these different pieces, and I'm sitting there on my computer, I'm like, God, you know, God's handiwork in Christ Jesus. Four, four good works together. And I literally, I'm like, God, what am I? What does this verse say that I am? And I'm I'm just literally just kind of thinking, just what am I? It was one of the coolest moments of my week because those first four letters just jumped off my computer and slapped me in the face, and God was like, it's right there. Read it this way. God's handiwork in Christ Jesus. Four good works together. And it was like, and again, God has not spoken to me automatically, but it was a rush of God going, Ken, you are a gift. You are my gift to your world for this time. You were born in this time of history, you were born in this part of the country, you were born for such a time as this, and you are my gift. And then it just overwhelmed me, and I get goosebumps talking about it because the the question came to my heart, what kind of gift am I being? What kind of gift am I to my kids? What kind of gift am I to my? If I'm a gift, I think my wife has been looking for the receipt a few times and said, I need to return this one. Uh I want to be a great gift. And the question I've got to ask is, what kind of gift am I? Because there's something about being together and doing it together. And it's not about being around it. I I want to give a couple examples just real quick. One is very personal, then I want to read a very cool verse that pulls it all together in Acts. I I love being around, I love Waffle House, and I don't I don't always bring it up here, but I it's just one of my favorite places, and I love the people at Waffle House. And there's two or three of them I go to, and I'll never forget I invited all the waitresses and and the cooks to come to a show one time, and they came. And the next week I was at the Waffle House, and they were all around the table going, Oh my gosh, it was the greatest night, and you said this, and we're just having a great time. Well, that particular Waffle House is about two blocks away from where a former governor lives. And every now and then he shows up at the Waffle House. Well, that morning he showed up and he sat on the other end of the restaurant, and I'm sitting here talking to the folks, and they're all around the table. And one of them went over and said, Hey, governor, it's great to see you. What can I get you? Okay, I'll get that for you. And then she walks over and we're all talking again. And I could see through them to where he was sitting, and and and he's sitting there at the paper, and he's kind of eating, and he's looking like, Who do you have to be to get service here? And they just, and they were all having a great time, and we were just reminiscing, and it was a blast. It's the difference between being around somebody and being with somebody. See, he has all the prestige, and they didn't disrespect him and they got him what he needed, but there's something crazy cool about personally doing it together and doing life together. And that's that feel. If I could put it this way, I want us to see what kind of gift I am. It's not what I bring to the table, but where I've been. How many of you, I I really wanted to, I forgot to ask it last time. How many of you have ever been to a Braves game and wanted to catch, wanted to catch a foul ball? Okay. Okay, put your hands down. I'm really interested in finding this out. How many of you have actually ever caught a foul ball at a Braves game? Oh wow, that's impressive. And and what why is that so cool? I mean, it's one of those where this this is an actual Major League Baseball. Uh God gave this to me. It's it's an actual ball. These cost about four or five bucks. Four or five bucks. Is it worth diving over a chair and crushing children to just got it? Got it. Woo! Really? Is it worth that? But you know what's cool about catching a foul ball? It was in the game. And a major league pitcher threw that ball, and a major league hitter got it. And I'm not gonna guarantee it, but I'll bet that those guys went home and tried to find that game, and they tried to find that foul ball, and tried to find themselves going, oh, I was on TV. I know you guys were watching the Braves game, but I was on that game. Woo! You know, it's just it's part of that. Now, here's a cool part $5 baseball became more valuable then because it was in a game. But let me ask you this on April 8th, 1974, I was nine years old, and I asked my mom, I said, I gotta watch the Braves game tonight. She goes, Well, it's a school night, you can't watch the Braves game. I said, but I've got to. She goes, why? I said, because it might happen tonight. And it did. That night, Henry Aaron hit off of Al Downing his 715th home run and broke Babe Ruth's record. And Tom House, a reliever for the Braves in the bullpen, caught that ball. How much was that $5 ball worth at that point? Priceless. Because of who touched it and what it was involved in. The ball is still twine and leather and stitching, but because of where it was and who hit it, it became priceless. You and I are that gift. We are that gift because of where we are, and God's saying you're in the game. I'll give you one other quick example. I brought a football up here too. This is just a Wilson College replica football. $15. I bought it. But I'm telling you, it's worth more than $15. Because if you can see it's got some scratchings on it. Because I did an event with two gentlemen who have won national championships, and both of them won Heisman trophies, and both of them signed this football. Now, how much is it worth? A lot more. Especially to those who know who they are. And it's like, that is who we are. We are God's gift. We are touched by the master, we are touched by the creator. And he's like, This is the gift you are. What kind are you going to be? And what am I going to do with that? It's overwhelming and exciting at the same time. I wanted to just wrap up with this one cool verse in Acts 4 because Peter and John, they're walking and they're like, We know who we are. And they're walking into church just like we did today. And there was a beggar on the curb, and he's like, Just can you give me something? I can't work. My legs don't work. And they're like, I'll give you something better than money. In the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk. And he did. How cool is that? They had been with Jesus and they knew what Jesus could do. And they knew that Jesus was living in them and the power of that. And they said, get up and walk, and he did. And the whole crowd was like, that was awesome. We've seen this guy for years and he's walking. They're like, Woo, this is great. And you know what the people who had been around Jesus, the religious people said? You can't do that. Because it's Sunday. And okay, Saturday, it's Saturday. You can't do that. And they're like, seriously? And they drag him off in front of the authorities because they helped a guy who couldn't walk, walk. And this is the reply. This is one of my favorite lines, the last line of 13, chapter 4, verse 8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, God within him, said to them, Rulers and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness showed to a man who is lame, and are being asked how he was healed, then know this. You and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is, and since they were learned, they quoted Psalm 118 because they knew it. Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note, check it out, that these men had been with Jesus. That's the gift. The gift is that they were where they were meant to be. They were called by God, they were God's gift to that situation. The question is, what are we going to do? Who am I going to be? Am I going to be the gift? I want you to think for just a second as we wrap up very practically, what is the greatest challenge that you face this week? Where are you overwhelmed? Were you frustrated? Where are you confused? And ask the question I'm God's handiwork? Am I really abiding in Christ? Am I here for good works? If so, Lord, I pray that you'd bring somebody alongside. And here's the deal. Am I the most teachable person? Am I the most reliable, the most friendly, the most knowledgeable, the most engaging, the most trustworthy? Am I that? Because God, if I'm not, will you show me how to be in this situation? And I promise, if we'll ask God, if we'll call on him, he will answer. You will have thoughts that you don't have. He will show us great and unsearchable truth in our intimate specific situation, if we'll let him, if we'll listen, that we do not know. Because you are God's gift. Two choices today. First, if you're not, if you don't know God, you've been around him, but you don't know him, I want you to seriously pray about going all in and saying, God, there's no other name. I'm all in. And simply pray that to him and say, God, please come into my life. I want to know that power. I realize now I can do nothing of any lasting value apart from you. And for the rest of us who know him, I hope that you're like I am, and just going, God, I I want to ask anything according to your word. And literally, I laid in bed. I'm gonna just, God, tomorrow, will you remind me of your Holy Spirit when I'm in the middle of every single situation to stop and go, what, what should I do here? What should I do here? I want to close and pray. And then I want us to just, as we stand and reminisce on this last song, ask Jesus the simple question, Lord, here's what I'm facing. Will you tell me great and mighty things I don't know to help me be the gift you want me to be in my world? Pray with me. God, thank you so much for your truth. And Lord, I don't understand why you made us the way you did, but you did, and you choose to use us, and you want to be a gift to our world through us. So, Lord, I pray that we would just face that right now for a few minutes. And as we're led in in worship, that we would just stand in your presence and simply say, God, show me the gift you want me to be. And will you show me how to do that and help me rely on you? And it really is only through the gift of Jesus and the power of your spirit that we can pray. Amen. God bless you. Stand up, and uh, I'll see you next time, but pray that as we go.