Election Night Communion

How’s everybody doing tonight? Woo. Man, glad to be in the house of the Lord. I say we just ought to start giving him some praise right now. Come on, thank you, Jesus. But before we get into anything, we just want to remind you to put your phones on. Do not disturb, put them on silent. If you still got the flip phone, the volumes on the side. Just bump that thing down. It’s real, I promise you, it’s really easy. It’s real easy. Because do you really want to be the person that stifles the spirit in the room? I don’t want to be that person. Not me. Could not be me. But anyway, all joking aside, please do that.

The 120 faithful showed up

But you know, today I was studying a passage, first Corinthians 15 6, and then Acts 1. And I noticed the detail that in 1 Corinthians 15 6, Paul is talking to the people about when Jesus has resurrected, and now after he has risen from the grave, he is coming back and seeing people in a different form. So he doesn’t look the same. And y’all have heard the story where Peter’s like, prove it, Jesus, and he’s like, look at the holes in my hand, buddy, and everyone’s like, Oh, it’s him, it’s him. So this is where we’re at in scripture.

And I notice this detail that when Jesus came back after his resurrection, that in 1 Corinthians 15 6, it talks about how he had told 500 people. So, yes, he had told the disciples to go back to Jerusalem and wait in the upper room, but he actually had communicated that to five hundred people but it’s kind of hard to notice this detail because if we go backwards to the book of Acts Paul only accounted for a hundred and twenty people that were there at the upper room.

Now I don’t know about you but if I do the math and I didn’t go to college but that’s not a great retention rate five hundred a hundred and twenty. Now oftentimes we measure things by numbers for success well how big is your church or how much money you got or how many kids do you have what we always the more the better but in the kingdom of God whoever shows up just gets to be a part of the blessing. And so even though not all 500 people that were instructed to go back to Jerusalem and wait in the upper room the 120 still benefited from what God was trying to do that night.

And it makes me think about nights like tonight I wish the room was full to be honest I would love that but I also am not doubtful of what God can do even though the 500 didn’t show up tonight. So tonight we’re not worried about results or anything right now. I mean some of you might but I encourage you get the distraction off. If your attention is focused on something else but not him right now, I would probably say that’s an idol in your life. Because anything that robs your attention of not focusing on God has become an idol. Listen, let’s kill the idols tonight. I believe that God’s fully in control. And even if I did it, guess what? He still is. So we may not have the 500 tonight, but the 120 faithful showed up tonight. And I came to be in the presence of God.

So I just want to encourage you. Let’s go ahead and stand up on our feet. Tonight it’s not going to be super hype and loud. I know the youth, you’re kind of like, what’s going on? We don’t always have to be loud to sit in the presence of God. So tonight, we said an hour, but if we go a little bit over, we don’t need to rush. I promise you, Fox and CNN, they’re still going. They’ll be there. My pastor used to say, Golden Corral, it’s not going to run out of food. We got time. Nobody ever goes there, but anyway.

So I just say the Holy Spirit is already here, but I think that sometimes if you don’t lock in to what he’s trying to do, you can miss it. So I say we just ought to lift our hands across the room. Holy Spirit, we don’t even need to ask you to be here, but we know that you already are. Holy Spirit, we lean in to what you have. God, don’t hold back tonight. We’re not in a rush. I pray against all distractions. We lean in to what the Holy Spirit has for us tonight. A hundred and twenty people got to see something that had never happened, done by God. I pray the same spirit that happened in the upper room, something new and fresh would happen tonight. So God, you hear the cry of your people in Albuquerque, New Mexico tonight. So Lord, I pray that our answers would not go unheard. Hear our desperation. We’re desperate for you, we’re hungry for you tonight, God. We’re just gonna rest right here. I encourage you if you have your prayer language, use it. And if you don’t, just say, Jesus, we want you. Holy Spirit, we need you tonight. We lean into what you have. Thank you, Jesus. You’re in control. You’re sovereign. You are Lord. You’re in charge. You sit on the throne tonight. We’re not worried about the results. We’re worried if we don’t have you in our life. So God, we pray for an outpouring of you on us tonight. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, let’s lift it across the room. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

Being a Christian has always come with challenges

So, Father, we say that there’s not a thing we need. We’re just fine right here. I’m just fine. The world didn’t give it, and the world can’t take it. Above all the noise, all the craziness that you are still king. Well, thank you really for being here. We appreciate you. We don’t want to complicate a thing. Tonight, you know, the world’s complicated enough. Tables are breaking in half. Why don’t you find a way to take a seat just for a few minutes? If you would I believe man, it’s full in here. Thank y’all for being here. It’s awesome. We believe that God’s honored with you being here. I think it says a lot about you that you’d be here while the world’s losing their mind that you would take the time to be here. Worship God and to offer him this season.

I don’t know about you all, but I’m grateful for God’s patience towards humanity. And I’m grateful for God’s kindness towards humanity, even when collectively we can be like pretty insane. He’s so kind and he’s so patient. And you know, being a Christian, if you’d let me say just a few things, being a Christian has always come with challenges. It always has and it always will, you know, in some cultures. The challenges of being a Christian is pretty straightforward. Like if the government finds out that you’re a Christian, they’ll kill you, right? It’s pretty straightforward. It’s pretty clear, like it’s pretty easy to understand.

But in a culture like we live in right now in America, where two-thirds of Americans, including elected officials, self-identify as Christians. Like the challenge is a little bit more subtle. And I think one of the challenges of following Jesus in America in 2024, young people, I wonder if you’ve noticed this, is how many earthly institutions and causes are pulling at your heart. And that’s like especially obvious, of course, in an election season, where we’re in this constant state of being recruited. By the way, if you don’t know the currency of recruitment is always been outrage. If the world can get you mad enough, they can get you to do what they want you to do. The primary issue, though, for the Christian is the affection of your heart. Not just what you do, but the driving force behind what you say and what you do. Did you know that you can believe the right things and you can even say the right things and still be wrong? Because you come from the wrong spirit.

Revelation chapter two

And I want to read some scripture tonight. If you have your Bibles, no pressure, but we’ve got them up there on the screen. But Revelation chapter two. If you don’t know, Revelation is the last book of the Bible. And please, for my sanity, say revelation and don’t ever say revelations, okay? Because it’s revelation, there’s one of them. It’s one big revelation.

Context, there’s this guy named John. And John, he’s in the spirit, he’s like transported or maybe teleported to another place, and he gets this vision. And if we’re being honest, if you’ve read the book, you know, like it’s kind of a bizarre vision, and it’s a vision of Jesus, and it’s like really symbolic. And in chapter two, we find that Jesus is standing in the middle of seven candlesticks, and they’re around and they’re lit, and he’s kind of like walking between these seven candlesticks. And it tells us that the seven candlesticks are like seven churches. And I think it’s interesting that the churches are portrayed as light in the book of Revelation, that it’s not the individual that’s light so much as the collective group of people that’s the light. And we know that Jesus said that the world would know that we’re his disciples by the love that we have for each other. And so there’s something about the unity that we have that generates light.

You know, there’s nothing like a healthy, cross-focused church. Doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s never perfect. It’s never if you’re here, it’s not gonna be perfect. It’s never perfect, but it’s always a privilege. And it is the light that Jesus uses to light the world. So he’s got these seven lampstands, and they represent these seven churches, and Jesus would go and he would address all seven churches individually, and in chapter two, he speaks to the first of the seven churches, which is the church of Ephesus, and he has a few things to say that I want to share with you.

So, Revelation chapter two, beginning in verse two. This is Jesus speaking to a church. He says,

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, and that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary. Yet I have this against you. You have forsaken the love you first you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Jesus can be really sweet, but he’s not always sweet.

You have forsaken the love you had at first

A couple weeks ago I was meeting with a young couple, a young couple, they recently become engaged, and so we were talking about their wedding. And I don’t know if y’all remember what that was like. You married people where you just so infatuated and so in love, like with this brand new relationship. Like before the adult responsibilities come and hits where you can’t stop thinking about the person. You wake up, you’re thinking about them. You go to bed and you’re thinking about them.

I remember when me and Jordan, my wife, my wife Jordan, when we were dating a couple decades ago. Now her curfew as a senior in high school was 11 30 p.m. Now that I’m a dad, that feels too late. Fig in 10. But I would be this is this might be interesting to you. Marshall and Cindy would be there at the house and they would be up, they’ve already gone to bed. They go to bed at like 10 o’clock, so they were already up in the upper room and they were already asleep. And me and Jordan were in the first floor and we were watching like a show. And we could stay, I’m allowed to stay till 11:30. And so I remember I would like look at the clock and it’d be like 1110, and I’m like, yes. Still have like 20 minutes to enjoy my like I would never that I would never leave at 1125 p.m. It was like every minute was sacred. With my loved one.

Now, Jordan and I, we’ve been together, if you can believe it, for 22 years. Which I think is pretty amazing. And let me just say this that great marriages are sustained not by feelings of love, but by a commitment to love. But I don’t know if you know this, that the Bible uses marriage as a picture of the Christian life. And in the same way that like a couple’s love for each other can grow cold. So we learn that the Christian’s love for God can grow cold. We just know that’s something that can always happen. And so we’re always mindful as followers of Jesus of other affections that are trying to unseat the place in our heart that’s for God alone.

And so that’s something that for me, as someone who my wife and I started leading this church in such an unusual time. And it was really weird because it’s like, man, we took over and like right away. It’s like first, you know, line of duty is like people complaining about how we’re doing like things wrong politically, right? It’s like, oh, politics, politics, politics, politics, politics. And for me, I’m less concerned about that kind of stuff. But what I’m really concerned about is the condition of your heart and doing everything that I can do, and us doing everything that we can do to help you keep the love of God burning strong in your heart. Like that’s what’s a big deal.

And the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter two, I think is Jesus’ specific words to a church, but I think they’re prophetic words for us today. Jesus comes, and we’re just gonna teach you for a quick minute. He comes to this church, and I believe to us today, with three things. First is a commendation, and then second is a correction, third is an instruction.

A commendation

So, first, a commendation. So he commends them, it’s a compliment. And he says this in verse two. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance, your perseverance. So it’s interesting that Jesus sees what the church does. I don’t know if you’ve thought about this, but that Jesus pays attention to the actions of his church. Did you know that Jesus is aware that you’re here right now? Like he knows this. It’s not some general sense, but that he knows that we’re here because he watches us. Jesus watches over his church, and not in a creepy way, but it’s just he cares about what his churches do.

Verse 2,

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, and that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and you have not grown weary.

So Jesus commends them, so he’s complimenting them. And what does he compliment these people for? Well, two things. He first off, he compliments them for right behavior. He says, Man, you’re working hard. Y’all are doing good. Like you’re not giving up. So Jesus is clapping for them. He’s saying, You’re doing great, like you’re acting right. And the second one is right beliefs. He says, You know the truth. Y’all know the truth. And because of that, you’re able to discern a lie. So you have a church here that acts right and believes right.

So you might be thinking, like, well, what else is there? Like if you believe right and you act right, like, aren’t you just good? Doesn’t that cover all the bases?

A correction

So he starts with a commendation, but then he goes to a correction. Verse four, he says, Yet I hold this against you. I don’t remember who’s speaking. Like, this is not some frothing at the mouth preacher who’s just like Jesus is saying this. He’s saying, you believe right and you act right. But I have a problem with you. And it’s not a small issue. In fact, Jesus says this if you don’t fix this issue, I’m gonna remove your lampstand. That’s what he says. And what that means is this that the church might still physically be there, but the anointing’s gone. God’s presence is gone. And if God’s presence is removed, there is no church. If you don’t know that, like you can still have activity, church activities, you still have picnics, but it’s not a church. You can still have church services, but it’s not a church. You can have packed events, but if God’s presence is gone, it’s not a church.

He says this, yet I hold this against you. What is it? He says, You have forsaken the love you had at first. The King James says it like this: you have left your first love. You’ve left your first love. What does that mean? Well, of course, your first love, it doesn’t mean chronologically, it doesn’t mean like what you loved first. Because if it’s what you love first, it would be your mommy and her milk. That’s what you love first. Like it’s not talking about chronologically what you love first. Your first love, it’s talking about priority. Right? You have left your first love, your first priority.

So for example, I love all of you. I love Javi, I love all you have personal, I love deal. I love all you, but look, but I but I love my wife more than I love you. Right? She’s my first love. My daughter, she comes before you, and so she has veto rights on my calendar. So let’s say I have an appointment with any of you all this coming week, when my wife needs me during that time, I cancel on you. Why is that? Because she’s my first love. When like when it comes to earthly loves. So she comes first amongst the people of the world.

And so that’s what Jesus is saying here to the church. He’s saying, I used to be the center for you, where everything radiated from our relationship. Everything was informed by me, but it’s just not like that anymore. It’s not like that for you, you know, because you left. You still believe the right stuff, you still do the right stuff, but you’ve lost your heart behind it, right? You’ve lost your love for me.

And I’ll just tell you like I never want to be in that place. Me. I never want to be in that place as a person, and I never want to be in that place as a church where we’re doing great things, right? We’re doing the things that we do with excellence, maybe even we like help lots of people, but we’ve stopped doing it with God’s love in our hearts. Did you know that it’s possible to do church stuff, but still need to repent? Not because of something that you’ve done, but because of something that happened here. And I think it’s a dangerous place for a church to be where you’re doing a lot of right things, but you’ve lost the love. So we’re still a gathering, right? We’re still like a concert. We’re still a social club, but we’re not the ecclesia. We’re not the gathering of a people with a purpose. Because our love for God and our love for people is the thing that makes us unique in the world. Our love for God and our love for people is what makes us beautiful to the world. It’s what makes us attractive to the world, that we love God and we love people.

And so this church Jesus is talking to, he’s saying, Man, you become you’re cool, you’re comfortable, you’re casual, but you got cold. And Jesus actually adds here in a few minutes, we didn’t read the verses, but he adds, hey, man, you actually, and you hate wicked and evil stuff happening, right? And he says, that’s actually good. He says it’s that you’re grieved by the things that happens in your city. He says, like, that’s actually a good thing. But he warns, in fact, you could say it like this. If you’re taking notes, you could write it down. You’ve become more passionate about what you hate than what you love. Right? And the moment the Christian cares more about what they’re against than what they’re for, they become ineffective.

We change the world through the way of the cross

I laugh because Christians are so shocked at the world acting like the world. You know what I mean? They’re like, what? Oh my god, it’s sinners sinning. It’s like, yeah, man. It’s like that ain’t even news, bro. People are like mad on Facebook, like, I can’t believe that that Netflix would do a show with Will Farrell and that trans person. You know, I’m like, that’s not even news, bro. Turn off the TV. It’s not a Christian company. And Christians are mad that like they release shows that aren’t Christian. And I’m not saying the show’s good. I haven’t watched the show. But I’m just saying this. We don’t change the world by writing letters about the world being the world. It’s just that’s just the weather, man. It’s just the people out. It’s just gonna, you know, like people come to me. Did you know that Kim Kardashian said there’s 40,000 genders? And I’m like, turn off the television, man. That’s not even the news. No one will is gonna see the outrage that you have on Facebook and be like, man, what should I do to be saved? Wow, you know what I mean? They’re not gonna see like your angsty Instagram post and be like, I feel like I need a savior right now. That’s not the thing that changes the world. It’s not gonna happen.

You could say it like this, we’re not gonna win the world through our outrage. So we change the world not through our outrage. How do we change the world? Through the way of the cross. That’s the ticket. By being the cross to the world, right? By being like Jesus. That’s what changes the world. Turning the other cheek, having absolute unconditional forgiveness is what changes the world. Praying, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. Show me who’s praying that on the news right now. Nobody. No, it’s fine. I don’t need them to. I need you to. Again, it’s the condition of the heart. Like, that’s how the world changes.

And I just think about this church, you know, and I pray about this church. I pray about this church a lot, and I’m so proud of this church because I feel the love of God in this church. I do. Like the people in this church are so kind. The people in this church are they’re so eager to help others to go above and beyond. Like people come to this church and they feel the love of God when they come in here. I think it’s amazing, right? And so, like, I’m the one that gets the testimonies, and I get the emails, like, man, it’s one of the most loving places I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It’s about the love of God exhibited the way of the cross to the world that changes the world.

And I’m not saying that like we can’t have strong opinions. I’m saying, not saying that like we shouldn’t let our voice be heard. But if you’re not grow rooted and grounded in the love of God, then the words that we have won’t be heard correctly. Just like we talked about on Sunday, that our love for God and our love for people is what makes the message of God credible to the world. Right? So, like the question for you is like, man, do you just like your words or do you want them to be heard? Because if you want your words to be heard, then the unity that we have in our and our heart for God has to be important. Because it’s not just about doing the right thing, it’s not just about believing the right thing, it’s about having the right heart.

And Jesus goes to this church and he says, Man, look at you. Like you’re living right, you’re not cussing, like you used to. Bravo, you know, like good on you, you’re not smoking. That’s incredible, like you’re squeaky clean. And your belief system is like exquisite. You’ve got the whole thing figured out, your doctrinal framework and your eschatology. Wow, it’s like so good. And your political convictions, boy, I talk about being on the right side. You’re on the right side. You voted for the right candidate. Good, good judge. You understand all the policies and all the proposals, man. Good on you. But then, but then Jesus looks at us and says, But where was that affection that you used to have for me? Because that’s a part two. Like, and that’s not what you want to hear, where God comes to you and says, You believe right and you act right, but your heart has drifted.

And like I just think, I don’t know. The last thing I wanted to do in this room was to accuse anybody of anything. But I’m thinking, like, if we’re honest, I think we could all admit to at least that we all are guilty at times of having the right stuff in the wrong place. Right? Like, it’s so easy, man. It’s so easy because you just pull out your phone. Like, my phone’s doing this thing. Like, I don’t even know how I signed up for this. It’s got the election stuff, it’s just like being in every, you know, it’s like you can’t even get away from it. And so it’s so easy to get carried away. And not notice that your love for God is just like got reordered. Then there’s something else that’s occupied. Now when you wake up, you’re not thinking about the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God. You’re thinking about like, oh my God, what are the conservatives gonna do now? Like what you know what I mean? Like you’re just thinking about all these things about the world. And it’s just so easy. And that’s what Jesus is coming and saying.

An instruction

So he’s giving a commendation, he’s giving a correction, and then lastly, number three, he’s giving an instruction. Verse five.

Consider how far you have fallen.

Wow. So Jesus is saying to do that. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first.

It’s really hard to talk about repenting, of course, right now, because no one wants to talk about sin. Like sin is like so 10 years ago. That’s just true, man. Like you look at like sermons, it’s just gone. It’s because like who wants to talk about sin? Especially when it’s your sin. You know what I mean? Like people are fine with talking about their sin. Like, people talk about their sin all the time. Like, that’s how you work a crowd at a church. Like, if you want to get people riled up, oh, it’s so bold. The preaching’s so bold. No, it’s not, it’s not bold. It’s just like it’s just calling out sin of those people. You know what I mean? It’s maximizing the sin of the people outside and minimizing the sin of the people inside. Like, that’s not bold. It’s the way of the world. You know, so sin is really hard. Because we don’t want to talk, like, we’re fine to talk about sin, but we don’t talk about our sin.

But Jesus like doesn’t, he doesn’t tiptoe around, he doesn’t make that mistake. He looks you square in the eye and he says, You believe right, you act right, but I’m still calling you to repent of having the right things on the inside of you, but in the wrong place. And repentance, you know, it’s like it seems like a bad word, but it all it means is to change your mind. That’s what repenting means. And repenting is a good thing. Repenting is a gift because repentance is another chance. It’s repentance is God saying, I’m not gonna let you settle for less than my best for you. Right? And so he’s calling you to something higher.

And then he says this do the things you did at first, and I’m done. I think it’s so amazing about Jesus is that every moment is a new opportunity. God’s grace and mercy is available every second. And when our hearts drift, like we don’t have to spend five hours like wailing and lamenting and groveling, right? We just return back to our first love. We simply come to Jesus and say, Boy, I got carried away. It was collective insanity, and I’m guilty. I want you to know this. I’m not pointing at you, I’m pointing at me. Right? Like, I’m Mr. I don’t care about politics, man. I got way too into it. I did. You know? And so now this moment for me is an opportunity. And so, like, if I was you, I’m telling you what I’m gonna do. If I was you, this is what I would do if I was you too. Is I would take tonight as an opportunity to put Jesus back into the center. Right? All the craziness, okay, whatever, whatever has happened has happened. The numbers are gonna come in. But what I’m doing in my own heart is this, Jesus, I’m sorry that I got too carried away and I let my affection for you get cold while my heart burned for something else.

Here’s my closing statement God sees beyond our actions and beliefs to examine the true affections of our heart. Jesus commends the church for believing right and acting right. Jesus corrects the church for letting their love for him grow cold. Three, Jesus instructs the church to repent and return to the things they did at first. Every moment is a new opportunity to put Jesus back at the center of your life.

Coming to the table

And that brings us to the table right like you probably see it it says communion. If you don’t know what that is, maybe you’re a young person here you’re like communion I don’t even know what that is that’s something communion is a sacred practice what that means is a the word we use is sacrament. Y’all are looking for your little cups I can tell it’s great. It’s a sacred practice sacrament means sacred practice and it’s something that we’ve done for thousands of years. And so it’s like where we eat this little piece of bread and we eat drink from this tiny little cup probably juice in Protestant some Catholic traditions it might be wine which would be fine too whichever it’s not about that but it’s these two pieces and the bread it represents Christ’s body and so if because if you don’t know not only did Christ love you not only did he come and sacrifice and live for you he was also brutally killed for you so that the punishment that we deserve was put on him so that we could have a relationship with him.

And so when we eat this little piece of bread, we’re remembering that he died for us. And then when you drink this little cup of juice, it’s like just a little, and it’s like kind of looks a little bit like blood. We’re doing that because it to remind ourselves of the blood of Christ that was shed for us, and by his stripes, by his shed blood, we receive healing, we receive hope, we receive forgiveness, we receive new life. And so Jesus instructed that we do this weird thing with the little piece of bread and the little cup, that we would do that to remember him and to meet with him. In fact, you could say it like this that communion is you, it’s symbolic, but it’s more than symbol. It’s you coming and taking your seat at the table of Jesus.

You know, Soren Kierkegaard, really cool ancient philosopher. He talks about how the sin beneath all sin is not having the courage to accept how loved you are by Jesus. Right, that the thing that motivates all other sin is you not having the courage to believe that God really loves you that much. I just think it’s an amazing thing to do in a day like this is to know that God knows everything about you the good, the bad, the ugly, the shameful, like he knows all he knows more about you than you do. Did you know that? Like, like you think you know so much about you, you know only a little bit about you, right? Because the heart is so deceitful. Like we don’t even know our own heart. God knows your heart, you don’t. But he knows everything about you.

And the illustration that I like to use is this is that like let’s say you were to go home tonight and to an empty house, and you walk in and sit at seated at your dining room table. Let’s say it’s Jesus. Let’s say he’s there. And he sees you and he says, Have a seat. And so you sit, and then on this table between the two of you, let’s say, is your entire life. And so everything you’ve ever done, anything you’ll become, anything that you’ve ever been, right? The things that you’re proud of, the things that you’re ashamed of. The actual state of your discipleship to him, the secret sins that only you know about, all your secret shame, all your pretensions, all the hidden hate in your heart, is all just sitting there on this table. Let’s say. And you sit there, if you were to look up and make eyes with Jesus, you would feel his love and his forgiveness and his acceptance. And so that’s what this is. It’s coming to him. Right? And remembering that it’s like, man, the things, the things that I am, the things that I do are so imperfect at best. But I’m coming to you in this moment to realign my heart with your heart.

And so we’re gonna sing and so we’re gonna pray. But you’re gonna get like a minute or two to yourself. And with that minute, what I want you to do, if you would be willing, is this just in your own heart, I want you to acknowledge with Jesus that it’s hard to keep him at the center. You know what I mean? Like he knows it’s hard. He knows you got the thing in your pocket and it’s hard. He knows that you have tried for the last three decades to keep him at the center of your life and that it’s hard. It is. Like he knows that. But I want you to just acknowledge that with him, that he knows that it’s hard. And then in whatever way you can, just in your own way, in your own heart, like invite him back to that place of being the first love for you. Right? In spite of all the things, there’s so many things that are pulling at me. God, you get that place in my heart.

And I want to receive recite this communion invitation. If y’all are ever in outlet a million years ago when I did a young adult ministry, you know this, but it’s a communion invitation, it’s just some words, it’s a liturgy that the church has used for hundreds of years as a way to kind of orient ourselves to the cross and what we’re doing by coming to the table of Jesus. So if you have your communion elements, hopefully you got them ready. If you don’t, I think you’re out of luck. I don’t know. So can you throw it at me? Oh, yeah. You could throw it. The Lord would understand. So we’re gonna eat the piece of bread and then we’re gonna drink from the little cup. But here’s the communion invitation. I invite you to just listen to the words and hear God’s heart for you.

This is the table, not of the church, but of the Lord. It is made ready for those who love him and for those who want to love him more. So come, you who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often and you who have not been here long, you who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come because it is the Lord who invites you. It is his will that those who want him should meet him here. So come to the table.

And so this is his body that’s broken for you, and this is his blood that’s poured out for you. And so Jesus, today we come and we say, man, it’s tough. It’s tough living year after year after year with you at the center. But we want to. And Jesus, we remember that it’s only because of your sacrifice that we can do this. And so, Jesus, today we remember your death. So let’s eat the bread and drink from the cup together.

So Lord, I pray tonight that as important as this election is, God, it will be not the foundation of our faith, but that would be you tonight. So no matter what the results are, we still find our confidence in you. God, we return back to our first love tonight. I mean, for years we can we survived without an election, and I think we’ll be just fine with this one. So, Lord, I pray that whatever pride is creeping up in our lives tonight, that we would surrender that back to you. Yes, it’s important, but it’s not the end all be all. That’s your call, God. So, God, tonight we thank you in advance. Whatever you choose to do. We’re down here acting like it’s up to us. It’s still up to you. But I just pray for the spirit of peace and joy tonight as we leave the room. If we’re getting frustrated at the TV, putting our faith in something wrong. As cliche as it may sound I know there’s some people that just grunt when we say, You are still on the throne. Come on, let’s say we ought to give God a loud praise all across the room. Yes, we thank you, Jesus. Yes, we thank you, Jesus. Oh, I think we can do a little bit better than that. Lord, we thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.