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Hope can be a strange thing. It is powerful. It can lift you up, carry you forward, keep you going when nothing else. But it also can be elusive. To live without hope, that's miserable. But when hope keeps getting delayed, when it doesn't come through the way you thought it would, It starts to wear on you. It's disappointing. It hurts. I remember a moment when I felt that so clearly. It was one of the most significant, life-defining moments of my life, and I was convinced that my hope was about to be crushed. I was actually nearing the end of my visa interview to come to the United States, and let me tell you, it wasn't going well. In fact, it was a disaster. So just to give you some context and back it up, I had finished my undergraduate degree back in India. I was working in a missions organization that my parents had founded, and I loved every minute of it. I got to go travel around India, look at what God is doing among the Hindus, the Muslims, and it was just incredible. But I felt deep in my heart that I needed to be a little bit more theologically grounded. I needed to go to Bible school And then almost unexpectedly, I came across Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I was actually reading the biography of D.L. Moody, a great evangelist in the late 1800s. This one guy who didn't have much of an education. He wasn't that well-versed in his language. He was able to really set a city on fire just because he was willing to let God use him. And so I was reading and he goes, he started a Bible school in Chicago. And I go, you know what? That's where I want to go. I want to go to Chicago. I want to go to Moody Bible Institute. So I thought God was leading me there. And I applied. And while I was waiting, you know, now I'm thinking about what life is going to be like. So I start Googling, seeing Chicago, never been to the United States, never been to Chicago ever. I look at all of the sites. I look at the high rises, places to explore, things to do. And believe it or not, the lane discipline with traffic as opposed to the chaos in India. Hear me? I was so excited. I wanted this. This was my hope now. I wanted to do it. And then I got the email saying I was accepted into Moody Bible Institute. But there was one final hurdle. The visa. The visa. That was make or break. I had to go to the US consulate, apply for my visa. And so I scheduled my appointment. And the day of the interview came, it was a big deal. It was a big deal for my family. I remember my parents and my brother, they all accompanied me. So they dropped me off right at the entrance of this building, the U.S. Concert. It was almost like a fortress, so well protected, well guarded. And they couldn't come in. I couldn't take my phones. So I gave everything to them. They were waiting for me at a nearby restaurant to see if my hopes and dreams were going to come true. So I go in, and there was all these security guards. It was almost TSA level security. So they pat me down, make sure that I'm good to go. And then they direct me to the next room. And they wanted my biometrics, so I kept my fingers there, gave them my documents and everything. And they were like, you're good. Now go to the next room for the interview. So I walk into this room. I think the closest comparison that I can give you, it's almost like a DMV. There was at least 20 counters that I could think of with 10 to 15 people lining up in each of these counters. And think about this. That two minutes that you spend with whoever is interviewing you is going to determine the trajectory of your life. So there's people in front of you. You get two minutes. You're being interviewed. They're checking if you're legit, if you want to just immigrate, or if you're a national security threat. All of this is going on. And as I'm behind sitting, I hear people crying. For those who got no, they were rejected. You could see them just burst out in tears. Their hopes and dreams were crushed. So I'm nervous here. I'm like, God, I don't know how this is going to go. So finally my number was called. I went in. The officer started asking questions. This was an Indian-American guy in his 40s, looked smart, very articulate. He goes, why do you want to go to the United States? So I said, I want to pursue my theological education. And he looked confused. He's like, what? I don't understand why you would want to study that. I go, well, that wasn't what I was expecting for him to insult what I wanted to study. And then he goes, what do you even do right now? Where do you work? So I tried to explain as best as I could that I work in missions. So we're planning churches all over India. And you know what his answer was? This is stupid. I go, what is going on here? I'm like, this is going as bad as I thought it would. This guy is not just going to reject my visa. He's insulting everything I am, everything I do, you know. And so at one point, he asked me a question, and I was trying to get a document to show him. And he's like, answer me. I'm not asking you for a document. Answer me. He was literally that rude. And so I was really shaken by then. If you were to see me, my countenance was really down. I'm like, this is it, man. This is it. Goodbye, Chicago. Goodbye, the dreams of going to the United States and studying theological education. My hopes were going to be crushed. just felt hope slipping through my fingers. And then he paused, looked at me, and said, come back in a few days and collect your visa. I go, excuse me? He goes, I said, come back and get your visa. You got your visa. And I'm like, I couldn't believe it. I'm like, whew, that definitely wasn't me. This wasn't the best interview that I could have given, but maybe God. And of course, God was behind it. And in that moment, I felt how powerful hope is, right? And how fragile and elusive it can be. The reality is we are all hoping for something. We're hoping for things to happen. Whether we realize it or not, we're constantly placing our hope in someone or in something. Maybe you place your hope in relationships where you think, oh, if this relationship works out, I'll finally be okay. Or maybe you're placing your hope in your job or your career and you go, oh, you know what? If I get that role, if I just get that promotion, things will settle. Or maybe it's on money. If you go, you know what? If I get financially ahead, my life is going to be great. Or maybe it's you're hoping for the best for your future, for clarity for your future, where you go, if I just figure out the next step, I'm not going to feel anxious anymore. My life's going to be great. Or you might be placing your hope in yourself. Go, if I try harder, if I do better, if I can just fix this, I can turn things around. Maybe that's you. Or maybe some of you are here where you go, you know what, I've stopped hoping, Ajit. I've walked in disappointment. I've had many questions. Things have gone, not turned out the way I wanted to go. And I don't know the way forward. Wherever you might be in this, maybe the issue isn't that you've been hoping or you don't have hope. Maybe it's what you're placing your hope on. And that's exactly why a day like today matters. Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, is about us. Because Jesus rose from the dead, it changes everything for us. It means that our hope isn't tied to our circumstances, the ups and downs of life, the vagaries of life. Our hope isn't tied to temporal, conditional, circumstantial things. And because of Jesus, there is hope for forgiveness. There's hope for new life. There's hope that circumstances will change in your life. There's hope that you will get through what you're going through right now. There's hope for the future. And more importantly, there's hope of eternal life. One of my favorite scripture passages, which Pastor Stephen alluded to in his announcements, is in 1 Corinthians 15. This entire chapter, if you have time today, I'd love for you to read that chapter. It's a great chapter because it's all about the resurrection. It begins with Paul saying, hey, you know what? Jesus rose from the dead. And he goes, there's at least 500 people living right now who witnessed the resurrection, meaning they saw Jesus after he was resurrected. And this was when he was writing. the letter to the first Corinthians, and then this is what he goes, this is what he says, he says, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, he goes, your faith, what you believe in, is empty. And he just doesn't stop there, he goes, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, not only is your faith empty, our preaching is in vain. He goes, you are a liar. If you are preaching that Jesus rose from the dead and he didn't, you are misrepresenting God. Then he goes on, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, we are still in our sins. And then he caps it off with this verse that says in 1 Corinthians 15, 19, it says, If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. In other words, if our hope in Jesus is only for the here and now, if there's no resurrection, there's no eternal life, We're all wasting our lives being here. We don't have to follow Jesus. You don't have to waste your time on a Sunday morning being here with the family of God if Jesus did not rise from the dead. That's how crucial today is. But we know that's not the case. Jesus did rise from the dead, and because he did, Our hope is not empty. It's secure. It's grounded in Jesus because it depends on what he did for us and not on our circumstance. I love this quote by Tim Keller because it talks about the hope that we have in the gospel. This is what it says. The gospel is this. We are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the hope that we have, that no matter the circumstance that you're going through, no matter how you feel about yourself, no matter what your future looks like, God is saying that you're more loved than you could ever imagine. And he's got an eternity waiting for you. So for the rest of my time here, I want to... Ask us this question. How do we actually live in it? How do we actually lean in and step into the hope of the risen Savior that we have access to? Hope is risen. Because Jesus rose, we have hope. But how do we lean into that? So what I want to do is I want to focus on a short passage in John chapter 12 that captures both what Jesus did through his death and resurrection and how it reflects on us in terms of the kind of life that Jesus is calling us to so we can actually lay hold of this hope. That this is not something that's elusive, but it's more tangible to how we live, not just today on earth, Resurrection Sunday, but every day of our lives. So my question today is, how real hope rises? Number one, real hope rises... when we die to self. In John 12, verse 23 and 24, this is what Jesus says. It says, and Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much weight. So a little bit of context here. This is right after the triumphal entry, which is what we celebrated last Sunday on Palm Sunday. So Jesus is now in Jerusalem. And so some Greeks, non-Jews, these are folks who are God-fearers, who had abandoned their pagan lifestyle and were seeking God. So they were there in Jerusalem to worship. to worship. And so they wanted to see Jesus. We don't know why they wanted to see. Maybe because they were curious of this man who was doing crazy miracles. Just a few weeks ago he had raised Lazarus from the dead. So word had spread around. So they wanted to see Jesus. So they ask Philip, one of the disciples, they go, we want to see Jesus. So the disciples come to Jesus and say, hey, there are these folks who want to see you. And this is what Jesus answers. He says, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Jesus knew that the fact that Gentiles, non-Jews, non-believers were coming to him meant something. And this is the first reference in the Gospels where Jesus says the hour has come. Every other reference to it where Jesus would say the hour is coming, the hour will come. But Jesus knew that it was time for him to fulfill his mission by going to the cross. And so Jesus uses an analogy here to illustrate that. He says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies... It bears much fruit. Jesus is describing how his death is going to be, but also in general how life works in God's kingdom. It's actually, if you think about it, it's actually a simple picture. This past year was the first time my wife and I, we planted a garden in our backyard. So we just, so my wife came up to me and she's like, hey, you know what? We've got some soil. We should plant a garden. And you know, I mean, when she said me, I go, we, I go, Katie, is it we, or is it you? Because I'm not good at stuff like this, you know, I kill stuff. You give me a, you know, we get flowers, people give us bouquets, and we don't even know how to maintain that, and we're saying that we're gonna have a garden, are we gonna do this? She's like, you know what, I wanna at least give it a try. So we got to work, we planted a bunch of stuff, and if you think about it, you know, the seed that we have doesn't produce anything until, you know, as long as it's sitting in your hand. You got to dig, you got to plant, and then we did, and we were waiting. We were waiting for a few weeks. We're like, did we actually kill that thing before it even started? Because we haven't even seen any signs of life, right? And then slowly, there's a few buds coming up, and then believe it or not, Man, we had tomatoes, strawberries, onions, broccoli that we used for the entire summer, literally. Right? Just one seed, when it dies, falls in the ground, bears fruit. And Jesus uses that analogy and He says, He's going to die. And when He gives His life, It's going to bear much fruit. This is what Jesus says about himself, but Jesus is inviting us to follow in the same way. The whole point of our Christian lives is that we don't live for us anymore. If you came to Jesus and you go, Jesus, I want you to be the Lord of my life. It basically means you're dying to yourself and you're giving yourself to Jesus. The word Lord, Kyrios, means master. It means someone who has complete ownership of your life. And when you go to God and you say, God, I want you to take over my life. You're saying, God, you know what? I'm dying to myself. I want you to live your life through me. I love how Paul puts it in Galatians 2.20. One of my favorite verses. He goes, I have been crucified with Christ. And it's no longer I who live, but Jesus. But Christ who lives in me. So when you give your life to Jesus, you're dead. You're crucified. We get Jesus to live his life through us. And that's when real hope begins to rise. Because as long as our hope is in our ability to control things, fix things, figure things out, live life on our own, be the master and Lord of our lives, it's going to be fragile. It's going to be elusive. It's going to be a struggle. But Jesus says, if you die to yourself, just like I did, you're going to be bearing much fruit. So how does real hope rise when we die to self? Number two, real hope rises when we release our grip on this life. The next verse goes on. He says, whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates this life in this world will keep it for eternal life. These are words straight from the mouth of Jesus. And also, this is His final week. So just before He goes to the cross, this is what Jesus is saying. He says, if you love this life, you're going to lose it. Whereas if you hate your life in this world, you will keep it for eternal life. At first, this sounds strange. It almost sounds confusing. What does it mean to hate your life? Jesus isn't saying that we should despise our lives or ignore all of the good things that God has blessed us with, God gives us. What he's getting at is this. What are you holding on to the most? What are you building your life around? Because if you hold your life too tightly, your comfort, your plans, your control, you actually end up losing what matters most. Are we holding on too tightly to our lives? Are we building our lives around status, approval, comfort, success, or even looking to relationships to be the ultimate source of our satisfaction? Or are we releasing the grip of our lives and we go, God, we want you. We don't want to just live for the here and now. I've said this a few times here. One of the For one of my class assignments a while ago, I had to basically visit first generation immigrant churches to see what is the difference between church among first generation immigrants. So these are folks who are not very proficient in English. They're in a foreign land here. This is not home for them. How does their church differ from the traditional American church? And one of the crazy things that I found out, I mean, I visited a Polish church, visited a couple of Spanish immigrant churches, and the common theme was the emphasis on the afterlife. They were so focused, they knew that they were not living their best life here, that they didn't have any hope of advancing, so their focus was on the afterlife because they knew or they know That that's when there's no more tears, no sorrows, no pain. There's always joy in the presence of God. So there's a lot more focus on the life to come. Whereas a lot of our churches, you know, we want to live our best life now, right? We want things to happen. We want God to bless us here. We want to do what we want to do. We have our expectations of what the American dream looks like for us. And so our focus is just on the 70, 80 years that we're allowed to live or we have on this earth. But if we want this real hope of our risen Savior to take a hold of our hearts, God wants us to release the grip that we have on our lives. And you know, that was the posture of of a lot of Christians. That's just been the posture of how even the mission movement, people who have gone to different parts of the world taking the gospel, that's what they knew. One of my favorite books to read is by a sociologist named Rodney Stark. He's not a believer, he's not a Christian, he's just a sociologist. And his primary focus was on how did Christianity grew from such a small, movement with just 12 disciples, one guy claiming to be God, to be the force that it was even in the early, by 300 AD, Christianity was huge, right? So his study was analyzing what were the things that went into play for Christianity to grow as it did. And one of the things he points out to is how Christians lived during times of crisis. He specifically points to a plague that happened in the third century. It was a devastating pandemic called the Plague of Cyprian. And at its peak, thousands of people were dying every single day. There was widespread fear everywhere. People were abandoning even their own family members to survive. But the Christians responded very differently. So I want to read for you a letter from one of the bishops. So this is a Christian bishop. This is what he writes in the third century. So if you can follow along with me. He says, this is a lengthy tribute to the heroic nursing efforts of the Christians. And he says, most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty and Never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ. And with them departed this life serenely happy. So some died. For they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many in nursing and curing others transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead. The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner. A number of presbyters, deacons, laymen winning high commendations so that death in this form, the result of great piety and strong faith, seems in every way the equal of martyrdom. And he goes, the heathen, again non-believers, behaved in a very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled away from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treated unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease. But do what they might, they found it difficult to escape. So the sociologist, he asks, should we believe this bishop? And he goes, yes. There's compelling evidence from pagan sources that this was characteristic Christian behavior. Not running away from danger, not thinking too highly of their life, willing to sacrifice their life for the cause of others. And he goes on, he says, thus a century later, the emperor Julian launched a campaign to institute pagan charities in an effort to match the Christians. Julian complained in a letter to the high priest of Galatia that the pagans needed to equal the virtues of their Christians. Real hope rises when we release our grip on this life. So I don't know where you are today. I don't know what you think about your life or your attitude towards life. There is real hope. There is so much freedom in not just thinking about ourselves, but living for others, which takes us to my third point today. Real hope rises today. When we follow Jesus with our whole life. John chapter 12, 26 goes, if anyone serves me, he must follow me. That's what Jesus says. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. So this is where Jesus gets personal. He talks about how he's the grain of wheat that's going to fall and he's going to bear fruit. And then he says, hey, if you love your life, you're going to lose it. But if you work towards, if you hate your life, you're going to get eternal life. And then he goes, if you serve me. He must follow me. And so Jesus defines what following him truly looks like. Following Jesus means joining him on the path of self-giving sacrifice. Jesus is not asking for admirers. Jesus is not asking for people to stand at a distance and go, you know what, Jesus, what you did was great. What he's asking is for us to follow in his path of self-giving sacrifice. In our society today, in our culture today, we're often led to believe that The way to find life is to focus on ourselves, right? Our needs, our advancements, our happiness is paramount for us. It's literally survival of the fittest. No one's going to help you, so you got to help yourself. Do what you can to make sure that you've got the best life possible. That's the messaging of our culture. But that doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. John Casey Yoppo, he's a social neuroscientist at the University of Chicago. He's no longer around. But he studied the relationship between self-centeredness and loneliness and discovered something very interesting. And I'd love for you guys to hear this because this applies to each and every one of us. So he found that loneliness and self-centeredness feed into each other in a vicious cycle. So for instance, the more people isolate themselves from others, so you're self-centered, you're isolating yourself from others, The more likely you are to focus on yourselves, caring for and protecting your own needs. And the more someone focuses on themselves, the more likely they're going to isolate themselves from others. So it's a vicious cycle. The more you focus on others, I mean, the more you focus on yourself, the more isolated you are. And then the more isolated you are, You focus more on yourself. And so it leads to more self-centeredness. And he goes, this self-centeredness leads to a host of ills, such as anxiety, depression, personality disorders, addiction, health problems, and even a shortened lifespan. Again, this guy is not a believer. He doesn't have an ax to grind in terms of what I'm trying to preach today. but you see the connection. The more we think pursuing our own needs, fulfilling our life objectives, our career goals, seeking our own happiness is going to actually give us what we want, it's the opposite of that, which is what God talks about. You follow me, and you have real hope. You give your lives away. Give your life to others. You're going to live your best life now. And not just for now. For all eternity. Real hope rises when we follow Jesus with our whole life. Finally. Real hope rises when we see Jesus, when we see Him face to face. I want to read all of verse 26. I think we just only have the last portion of it here, but I want to read the whole thing. It says, For anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. I love this part because Jesus never calls us to a life of sacrifice without also showing the rewards that come with it. Yes, a life of sacrifice, following him means laying down our lives. Following him means letting go of the temporary things that the world offers. It means walking the path of self-giving sacrifice. But that's not the end of the story. Jesus gives two breathtaking promises just in this verse alone for those who follow him. First he says, where I am, there will my servant be also. In other words, those who follow Jesus' path also share his destination. Jesus has gone to be with the Father. He's in heaven, and he goes, I've made a way for you so that you will be with me. And this was the whole mission of Jesus. Humanity, mankind, because of sin, is estranged from God, separated from God. We are born with our backs to God. And because of what Jesus has done, now our relationship is restored. And Jesus says, if you follow me, you're going to have eternal life. You're going to have life everlasting. Your life is not going to end in the here and now. And we know how fragile life is. Right? A couple of, almost a month ago, you guys know it. I was heading to church. I was at our northwest campus. Coming out of an expressway, going to turn left. And I was actually talking to Pastor Steven on the phone, on the speakerphone. I was not using a handheld, by the way. And so turning left, that's all I knew. Boom, T-boned. So this person ran a red light, hit me. So we went and hit the barrier right in front of us. And this was literally right overlooking the expressway. So if the barrier gave way, we're just going straight down. And we don't know what would have happened. And ironically, what I was preaching that Sunday was the question, are we living for God? We're going through this Who Am I series. And the question that we were asking was, am I living for God? And my first point was, we got to live for God because our life is short. And I'm like, and I go, God, I did not need an object lesson right now on life being short. I did not need that. And things could have been so bad, even just thinking about it. Just the way I was hit kind of saved me from a lot of injuries. You know, the person who hit me was fine as well. And the most important thing was, you know, my wife and my kids. We always drive together to church. This was the first Sunday in about four months that we didn't. You know, my kids were sick, so they were at home. And I just can't even imagine what would have happened because the impact was where my daughter, my five-year-old daughter, would have been seated. And we don't know what would have happened. We're not promised anything in terms of life. We don't know what happens to us. Wouldn't the wisest investment be to live for God? Because there's eternal life. And this is what Jesus is offering here. He says, when you live for yourself, when you tightly hold your life, you're actually not going anywhere. You're losing your life. But I've made a way for you. You can be where I am. And so when you hold on to me, when you follow me, you have eternal life as well. All of it. Because of today. Because Jesus rose from the dead. And then it just doesn't stop there. The second promise that Jesus promises, he says, if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. So much of our lives is spent trying to be successful in the eyes of the world, to be seen, to be recognized, to be validated, to prove ourselves, not just, you know, to our co-workers, maybe our family, maybe your spouse. We got to go, you know what? I can do this. I want to prove myself. I want to get their acclaim. And Jesus says, you're going to get the highest honor possible because where God is going to acknowledge you for the life that you lived. The Father will honor you when you follow Jesus. This is the great reversal of the gospel. What looks like loss becomes triumph. What feels like sacrifice becomes a great reward. Think about Easter from the perspective of the disciples. These were folks who had dedicated their lives to Jesus. They were with him. They witnessed everything that Jesus did. And then Good Friday happens. Boom. Their master is gone. And I think of just their disposition, their countenance on a day like yesterday, Saturday. I mean, Jesus is dead. They had given up their professions. You know, they had lucrative jobs, fishermen. They're following Jesus and now their future was at stake. I'm sure everything looked bleak for them because it didn't make sense yet. And then Easter happens. Jesus rises from the dead. Hope rises from And we have access to that hope. We don't have to go through life thinking or wondering, what's my life going to look like? What do I need to do? I got to make this work. I got to do this on my own. That's not what God is asking us to do. God is saying, you follow me. Lean into me and you can tap into the everlasting hope that we have because of what Jesus has done. Here's what we're going to do today. We're going to apply this to our lives. I want us to take some time to really think through a few questions. Where are you placing your hope right now? What are you holding on to so tightly that God is asking you to release Are you really following Jesus? Or maybe you're just admiring Jesus from a distance. What would it look like for you to trust Jesus with your whole life? And ultimately, where is your hope anchored today? At 180, we call this a why in the road because we've got a choice to make. I've spent maybe 35, 40 minutes of your time talking about this. And by the time we're having our Easter lunch, Easter dinner, you've probably forgotten 99% of what I preached today. That's just how human nature is. But we got a choice to make. Do we really want to access the hope that God has for you? Or do we go on living our lives struggling, doing things the way that we want to do? So my why on the road for us today is stop placing your hope in the uncertainty of circumstances or the life you are building for yourself. And take hold of the hope that is found in Jesus alone. I'm going to pray for us, but I want us to take a couple of minutes, if you want to bow your hearts, bow your heads, whatever you want to do, just allow the Spirit of God to examine your heart to see where is your hope anchored. Is it in Jesus? Is it in yourself? Is it in your relationships, your career, your job, your health? Hope is rising up. Will you rise with Jesus? It's like a couple of minutes to examine our hearts. Father, we want to thank you for your word. We just want to thank you for what you have done for us. You sent your son to die on the cross. And because of today, because of Resurrection Sunday, we have hope. We've got an eternity to look forward to, God. God, I want to pray for every person who's here. I want to pray for me personally. Pray that we would really put our hope, put our faith, put our trust in you. And not on our circumstances, God. We don't want to place our hope on our relationships, our family, our money, our career. Or on ourselves, God. We want to build our lives on the rock. It's you. God, I pray for every person who's here who's processing this word, and I pray that this truth of putting our hope in you would not just be something that's just in theory. It's not something we just hear and forget, but we pray that you would do a sweet work in our hearts where we go, God, we just want to give our lives to you. We want you to lead our lives. God, I pray even as they take that next step of obedience, God, Would you bear fruit in their hearts? Would you show what it looks like? Or just even the implications of what putting our hope in you looks like, Father. Help us to really live the abundant life that you have for us and not just live focusing on the here and now, but the eternity that you have prepared for us. Thank you, Father. Thank you for what you've done for us. May the truth of your word be so ingrained in our hearts that we not just listen, but we apply. We're able to share this hope that we have with others. We give you all glory, honor, and praise. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
