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God With Us: Digging Deeper · Harvest After Sunday

• Harvest Media: Harvest After Sunday podcast. I'm Natalie and I'm your host, and I'm here with Stefan, pastor of preaching and teaching here at Harvest. And Stefan, after the last two sermons, it was a two-parter, God with us, part one and part two. and I I'm coming away having this overall thought. Why are we living like the gospel is only about Jesus saving us and not about Jesus sustaining us? And like the recognition of our utter dependence on him. Yeah. I think there is a historical reason for that. Mm-hmm. Throughout a lot of church history, the emphasis of the gospel wasn't just on Jesus saving us in a moment. It was all of life being lived for Christ. but then you had in the eighteenth or the nineteenth century in the eighteen hundreds, you had something that is referred to as the second great awakening, where lots of people were Flooding into churches, and it was built upon this idea that the way to improve society is to get more people into churches. And so preachers at that time started preaching just the message of salvation to get people to a moment of conversion. That was actually like a that was a emphasis during this time period, to get people to make the decision for Christ. And the thought was If they make that decision, then everything else will take care of itself and the world will become a better place. So the message that started being preached wasn't a all of Christ for all of life, full dependence upon him message that you had in the centuries that preceded him. I mean, that the few hundred years that preceded the 1800s, you know, 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, you had the teaching of the Puritans that was very much all of life is for Christ. And so this mid-1800s movement away from that was a very, very Noticable point in time where we can see that what was being taught about the gospel took a shift. And that then led into the 1900s, into the 20th century. A lot of preachers started focusing just on the salvation message to make a decision, that kind of language, focusing on the number of people who made a decision on a given Sunday or on a given evening at a special event. And that's those are the generations. And so I'm not I'm not putting all the blame on that. I'm just saying we are a product of the periods that came before us and what we should recognize is that sometimes the way that we think about something is because of the way that we were taught about something. Mm-hmm. And the way that perhaps some have been taught about the gospel was simply that it was a message of salvation. So then that's all that we make it into. Yeah. Make a decision for Christ and now go live your life. Yeah. Knowing that you're safe. Mm-hmm. And then that's how We live. And I think I think that understanding and recognition of those shaping influences is very important. And I think that even looking back on my own life, not to blame any organization or person, but I can see how there were shaping influences in my life as I grew up where it was very much about the emphasis on the point of salvation, obviously imperative. Yeah. but not as much emphasis on the ongoing dependence on Christ as a believer, the wrestling with sin. And and our continual need for him daily and hourly. And so I look back at my own life and and I I see that story of I'm sure of my salvation at seven years old. But then we can see even how we talked about a few weeks ago, and I I've seen this in my own life, and I see it as I still talk to people in discipleship and counseling, this idea of that practical atheism you talked about, like functionally, we know God and we know. We've believed in him for salvation, but we are not daily living under that gospel. Like we're functioning under a different different gospel. and a lot of times it's it's a self-reliance and a self-sufficiency gospel. Like I have to do, I have to be in control. And I think that while it's certainly God's grace for me and others like me that were raised in a Christian family and taken to church and saved at a young age, we can sometimes see in people Stories that the life that they've lived and maybe the how far sin carried them to, you know, destruction in their life before their moment of salvation is in proportion to their understanding of their need for Jesus, not just for salvation, but for continued sustaining. There's kind of like this balance and this proportional effect but between their understanding of that and their affection. For Christ and their desire for Him, and that that might rule their life in a way where I've seen, I think I can see in my own life and others, when you don't have that experience of a lot of years without Christ and and his help and sustaining you, it can kind of be an incubator for self-reliance and that can grow. And that was certainly the case for me. I spent the next 25 years of my life really developing a whole identity around. Priding myself on being independent, then that also means I've made myself independent of the Lord's help. That's a very dangerous place to be. And that's actually exactly what Jesus confronts with the religious leaders in his day when he talks about he who's been forgiven much loves much, he who's been forgiven little loves little. He's not saying that there are people that boy they got a lot to be forgiven of, but you guys really don't have a lot to be forgiven of. Yeah, you're you're you're doing pretty good. And so I can totally understand why it is that you don't Have great affection for me. That's not what he's saying. He's saying the one who doesn't perceive just how sinful he is and just how in need of forgiveness he really is won't love the one who forgives because you don't perceive that you need him. And the very mentality that the religious leaders had was, you know, we've got this pretty much wrapped up, like we're doing really well. we don't have a lot of need to be able to follow the Lord. We've got all our rules, we've got all our traditions, we've got all of our guardrails set in place, and really like we just gotta stay the course and we're good. Mm-hmm. And Jesus' confrontation of that mentality is you have no idea just what you need to be forgiven for. But these people over here, they know very well. And so they love very much the one who has forgiven them. And I th I think that it is it is very common when you're raised in the church, having heard the gospel your most of your life, to think, Yeah, you know, I'm doing I'm doing pretty well. To really not be that different from the Pharisees in terms of your mindset toward the gospel and toward forgiveness. I've been throughout this fall I'm just reading a bunch of different Puritan works and I was reading yesterday in In one book where it talks about the sinfulness of sin. And and the his his point is it's Thomas Thomas Manton and his his point is we don't we don't grieve over our sin when we don't understand just how sinful, just how offensive to the Lord it is. And so what we should do is we should consider sin and all of its implications and and it's how far reaching it is, because the more clearly we understand what sin is and the more we clearly we understand how sinful we are, the more we will not only be so grateful for the forgiveness that we've received, but we will also fight against sin. Mm. We won't make a place for it in our life because we see it clearly. Yeah. And So I think you know, sermons like these past few weeks where where we're kind of seeing the gospel message played out visually for us in these miracles of Christ, it gives us an opportunity to pause and to to really see the distinction between who Christ is and what he's done in comparison to who I am and what I've done, so that I can see just how much I need him and therefore be so quick and so grateful t that I can turn to him. Yeah, daily. I mean we say we say here we are gospel people. It's on the wall, we say it all the time. But it's not just about go tell the d gospel for the point of salvation, although that is a huge need and a huge emphasis and we've been talking about being go people and telling the good news. But the gospel is for us here in this building daily. are there s is there a season in your life where you felt like it was marked by this turning to self reliance or maybe even an area ongoing now? a small area but you feel your c self like continually pulled to let that creep in. Just 'cause I think it's important to talk about even our pastor. Like you know, like we are all gospel people. We all need to be washed in the gospel daily. Yeah, so there have been multiple seasons in my life where that where that has been the case and it's definitely a temptation and a reality, especially now. Mm. as I am the preaching and teaching pastor of a biblically oriented gospel church. Mm-hmm. you know, I I was raised in the church. I was like practically born in a pew and I mean I I just I couldn't tell you what life is like without church in my life. I mean it was my whole life. And I was twelve years old The verses too fast, and so they were trying to keep keep me busy while everybody else was trying to memorize their verses, and so they just gave me books of the Bible to memorize. And you know, at twelve years old, I I know scripture better than most of the adults in our church, and I wasn't saved. A little Pharisee and training? I was I was I I honestly checked a lot of the same boxes that that Pharisees checked. And that gave me at a very young age the impression that I am sufficient for these things. and I when I was thirteen is when I gave my life to the Lord. And that does not mean that that temptation, that drift towards self reliance went away. In fact I would say that that became a pretty consistent struggle throughout my life was that that battle between I need to be dependent on the Lord for my daily life, but I also have a knowledge that a lot of people don't have. And so, like, what else is there really that I need? I know the truths of scripture and I can quote scripture and I can talk to people about it and and it just kind of like I just lived in this tug of war. I mean, my whole life lived in this tug of war. Of I can show you all the credentials that would say that I can be self sufficient. And so then it's very easy to start believing that you're self sufficient and functioning like you're self sufficient. And it was typically when either hard things happened in life that exposed just how self sufficient I am not. things that are out of my control and feeling what happened inside of me that intellect couldn't solve. there's a difference between intellectual knowledge and faithful dependence through because of what you know. There is a way that you can answer questions, but there's also a way that you can live that displays you really believe that. And I I can think of multiple points in my life when I was a teenager in my early adult years where what happened really revealed I'm not I'm not living as if this is true. I just know how to answer the question. Yeah. and then I think that even now as a preaching and teaching pastor, it's really tempting to feel like I have to be self-sufficient. Like I've gotta have the answers. I've gotta be able to keep it together. I've I've gotta be able to to be the example. And and when you start talking like that, when you start attaching your position with now what I must do because of the nature of my title, you are going to function in self sufficiency. Danger zone for sure. Because what's what's going to happen is you're going to start to doubt, well Lord, if I just depend on you, like am I going to do a good enough job? Which, you know, you say it out loud. It sounds ridiculous. But that is Yeah. And the lies of the enemy certainly just compound that. Like, man, you don't risk that. You gotta you gotta make sure you've got this thing buttoned up. It's all on you. And right and you start believing that. So The Lord has been gracious to me through my whole life to show me the extent of my need for him. in spite of the temptation to think that because of what I know I can be enough. And I think that that now I I'm gonna say this but I wanna make sure everybody hears me correctly. So if I struggle with that h That means that everybody in our church struggles with it. And I'm not saying like I mean, like, I'm like an all star at this, so I'm if I struggle with it, you definitely do. Not like that. No one's exempt. It's it's if the person that that most people would say, he's probably got it figured out is saying, No, I don't. I still struggle with this, then then let's let's all just stop pretending we've got it figured out. Because we all have that temptation towards self sufficiency. That was the First lie ever told is you don't need God. So if our first parents believed that lie and that is what brought sin into the world, how much the more you and I who are fallen in nature from the beginning are gonna believe that same lie. Yeah. Lord has done such a work in me over the last ten years to dismantle this old identity, but it's still like I find myself still getting uncomfortable. I'm like, no, I s I want to hide my weakness. I I'm like, no, we we wanna be good Christians, like we are working towards something, and it's just like no, we've gotta fight against that every single day, like you're saying. And I loved that you pointed out and the way that you phrased it, like God's grace to you in your life, that He allowed circumstances to Occur in your life that exposed that you cannot be self-sufficient. and you said that in in these sermons that God ordains circumstances that allow us to recognize our dependence on him, and like that's that's so good. Like, that is good when we are exposed. It doesn't feel good to have that moment where we feel exposed and vulnerable. we want to grasp at our old identity and cover ourselves up, but God is saying. No, this is exactly what is good for you. And both of the situations that we studied the last two weeks, the feeding of the five thousand and then the disciples in the storm and Peter walking on water highlight like utter dependence on the Lord. and I especially loved what you said about the feeding of the five thousand, And you said that what the disciples have is absurdly inadequate. And I I love that you inserted the word like absurd because that that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to be like, I'm okay, I I can do this, I've got it. And you even called out like the world is telling us that. Like, believe in yourself, you can do it, go for it. And and even in Christian culture, we can get that way. And it's absurd. It is absurdly inadequate what we have on our own apart from Christ. Christ. We have this bent every single day in so many ways in so many circumstances to turn from him and try to manage it on our own. And it's absurdly inadequate. There's no way they had near enough to even feed themselves, much less this crowd. Peter could, I mean, they could barely manage on the boat in the storm, and he's being asked to walk on the it's absurd. And these really understanding what these situations highlight is so good. I think it's a little bit funny, but like in a in an attention grabbing way. And I that's what we need sometimes is to realize how absurd. It sounds like those were the moments in your life too where you had been deceiving yourself that you were sufficient on your own. And then the Lord graciously reveals that's absurd. I am here. I am coming to you and I have everything that you need. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that we're really good at thinking that we've we've got it figured out when life's good. Mm-hmm. But it's it's when th when we're confronted with a problem we can't solve or when we try to solve the problem our own way and it doesn't work we have to kinda pause and and just think okay, what do I do? I don't I don't have what I need in this moment. And that's what I think is so gracious about when when Jesus responds to the disciples with the feeding of the five thousand and they're like, Send the people away to get food and you know, I c I I like to try and imagine the humanity of Jesus in the moment. We don't wanna we don't wanna impose that on the text too much, but it's it's good to remember Jesus was he took on flesh. He was human. Yeah. And so in that moment like, you know, a parent with a with a kid where they want to do something and they think they can do it and you're like, try. Yeah. Go ahead. Try it. Because you as the parent, you're like, I know this isn't gonna work. And there's gonna be a teachable moment in this. And it's something you need to learn if you're gonna mature. And in the same way the disciples are like, Send send the people away to get food and Jesus is like, you give food And you're not gonna be able to do it and it's gonna be a teachable moment. Mm-hmm. And I just I just love that about the Lord that he he cares for us in that way. He's not harsh, he's not mean, he's not demeaning, he raises us from being infants to mature men and women. Mm-hmm. And so he is going to interact with us much the same way. Yeah, I love that. And you said like he he invites the disciples to participate in the like he could have done these miracles, right? And we're seeing he has Has everything that we need. So when he provides what we need, he provides himself. And but he doesn't just do it on his own. He's inviting them to participate in this. and we we don't just sit back and wait. We like the disciples participated in the feeding. Peter had to step out of the boat and walk on the water. and you said, Faith is I believe this is true, so I will act. And it's interesting that you just brought up the infants because like we hold these tensions, right? We're we're saying on one hand, we are utterly dependent on him, like a child. And I was thinking of how he how Jesus refers to us like as children and let the little children come to me because children are aware of their dependence on parents. And so they go quickly and often because they are aware of their need and their dependence. Yet there's also other other places in scripture where it says like don't stay children, like grow up and act. And we see how those are connected when we understand that faith is I believe this is true and I'm I'm utterly dependent on the Lord so I will act and I will participate depending fully on him. Yeah. Yeah and the I think that every time faith comes up in a sermon I define it as dependence. I read I use dependence as a synonym for faith because we are so prone to thinking that faith means what I what I think. Mm-hmm. And it's part of it, yes. I don't act out of line with what I think. What I do actually reveals what I really think. I could say all day long that I believe X, Y, and Z, but if I do A, B, and C, it shows that I believe A, B, and C, not X, Y, and Z. And I think that the the passage in particular where Peter is walking on the water, what it's it's revealing what he actually believes. That I can do what you command me to do because it's you who I'm believing in. And that's why I also made it made it very clear to to point out this is not talking about Peter, how great Peter is. I think a lot of times we reduce this particular miracle of Jesus walking on water to look at look, Peter, Peter also can do it, and so you can too. And what's being highlighted is is that dependence piece. And when Jesus says, Let the children come to me, or you cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven unless you receive it like a child. you're absolutely right to point out the dependence piece of being a child, because that is what he's talking about. here different ways of explaining what what that passage means and a lot of times it gets reduced down to you ha you know ch children just believe stuff. They don't doubt. They just believe. So you gotta you can't doubt. You need to just believe. Well that doesn't sound that doesn't sound like the kind of faith the kind of reasoned faith that scripture talks about. Or somebody that doesn't have a child. Children ask a lot of questions. Right. Yeah. They they don't always blindly believe. Right. And so the the what he's communicating is when you look at a child what you see is a picture of utter dependence. Because those little ones in his context, were their parents and and their entire community to just step out of the picture, those kids would not survive. Okay. So you cannot receive the kingdom of heaven unless you receive it in full dependence like a child. That is the that's the point that Jesus is making. and and so, you know, I used that that child learning how to walk illustration in the in the sermon. But I just think the the child parallels carry so much further than just that, that throughout these two moments, Jesus is instructing who he is. I am God and you are not. Mm-hmm. So for what is needed in this moment you need to believe that about me. You you need to know that and you need to depend on me. You need to depend on me to make these five loaves enough food for these thousands of people. You need to depend on me to preserve you through this storm. Not because I'm just a great guy, but because I am God in human flesh. So depend on me and I will take the rest. Mm-hmm. And that is such a perfect picture of the gospel. Yeah. Like you You need to depend on Christ because of who he is and what he has done, knowing that he will take care of what needs to happen in you. but if you come to Christ saying, Yeah, you know, this is a great thing to add to my life, but I'm I'm doing pretty well you can't receive him. Yeah. You you can't. Because what you're saying is Jesus, you are a supplement to my self-sufficiency. You are not God to whom I will be dependent. Well, that's not receiving the kingdom like a child. Yeah. It challenges our idea of maturity because we we certainly should be growing in maturity. but without losing the understanding of the dependence. So it's maintaining the childlike faith in him, the dependence on him as we mature. I think our understanding of maturity is so synonymous with independence that it it has to have a an entire overhaul that we can mature as belief. Believers as we hold on and cling to our understanding of our utter dependence on God. And that's the challenge. Because we were created to be dependent on God in the first place. Right? We're made in the image of God. An image is by its very nature dependent on the thing that it is reflecting. Dependence was a part of the equation from the very beginning. And it was it was that idea that maturity means independent. Independence that created all the problems that we have. I mean, that's what's going on in Gen Genesis 3 is you can be mature independent of the Lord. And then all of Scripture shows everything that goes wrong when we act in that perceived independence. And then Jesus arrives and says, No, return to a dependence on the God that you were made to reflect. And I am showing him to you. I because I am him in human flesh. And so then the rest of the New Testament says, and this is what that dependence looks like. And to mature in in the biblical sense is to actually grow in your dependence on the Lord. That as I am more and more dependent on him, I will reflect him more and more. Just like from the very beginning. That's why Paul uses image language again in the New Testament, because the message that's being communicated is this thing has always been about dependence. So at any point when I say, Yeah, I think I got it. I'm off track. It should be a consistent return. Lord, you have matured me. I mean I I said I I got saved when I was thirteen. That was almost thirty years ago. The Lord has matured me since then. Not to be independent of him. Not not for me to be raised and sent out of the house to live my own life. But he the way that he has matured me is in an increasing dependence on him. I came to him depending on him. But I can say now at forty one, thirty years after I gave my life to Jesus, I'm far more dependent on him now. And that's why I am more mature than I was back then, and that's true of every single Yeah. the verse about like boasting in my weakness, it just like it it hurt me deeply a couple of years ago as I was still untangling my whole self sufficient identity. But now I'm like that's eg of course that's exactly what it is. Like our weakness is the opportunity for the power of Christ at work in us to be displayed. So God is glorified and when we think of like Peter walking on the water, you know, we don't see he's growing in his ability to do it the more he practices or he gets stronger or like all the things. It's When he looks to Jesus, Jesus is able, and it's the power of h Jesus within him that makes him able to do it. Right. Not him growing in power on his own. And then Christ is magnified because of it. And that's what our sanctification looks like. And we have to cling to that understanding, otherwise we will continually fall back into the trap as believers that our sanctification will look like we are more and more perfected, capable, able, all the things. sinning less, you know, and while there are certainly fruit there's fruit of Christ at work in us, he should be magnified continually and when our own actions are allowing us to prop ourselves up, that is not that's not what the sanctification is about because he won't be magnified in those situations. Yeah. That's right. I also was thinking about not only does he provide everything that they need, every resource through himself, through Christ. But like in the feeding of the five thousand, you pointed out they had more left over at the end than they even started with. And I just kept thinking, I looked up a few verses that talk about us having everything we need in Christ and it's like it describes it as abundant riches, like unimaginable, unending resources. And I that Evidence in there, they had such need beyond. I mean, it was absurdly inadequate what they had for the situation. God not only met the need, but it was abundant, above and beyond. And I was looking up some verses that just talk about this refrain of truth: 2 Corinthians 9:8, Ephesians 3:16 and 20, Philippians 4, 19. And just to encourage us in the truth, that not only don't forget that everything we need. Need is found in Christ. But it's it's so much more even than we're aware of. One of my one of my favorite quotes is from a surprise, surprise, from a Puritan. his name's Richard Sibs, and he wrote a book called The Broken Reed. And in it he says, because there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us, we should never grow t weary of running to him. And I love the way he phrases that. There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. And he's drawing on that same idea of the abundance, the overabundance of blessing that is found when we are in Christ. What Christ provides, it's not that he's he's looking at the at the ledger and he's like, Whew, I have just enough to cover this. It was close. I've got, but I got just enough. It is. far more than we could ever need. Mm-hmm. And therefore we can know that it will always meet every need. Mm-hmm. When I sin, there will always be enough to cover my sin and to forgive me. There's not going to be a time where I sin and I go to the Lord and he says, I don't have enough to cover that. Mm-hmm. There's never gonna be a time when I'm going through something difficult in life Whether it's my circumstances, whether it is my health or my relationships, regardless of what it is, there's never gonna be a time where I come to Jesus and he says, I mean, I can help, but like I can't take care of all that. Yeah. You're kinda on your own for no, it's g it's gonna always be more than we need, so that no matter what we face and what we need, there is enough to provide for what we need. And when we can believe that, then the the weakness, the fear, the the inadequacy that we carry, what we're able to do is we're able to put those things in proper perspective. I f I carry great fear when I think that this situation is out of God's control. But when I can stop and I can say He's gonna give me everything I need and he's gonna care for me in my weakness and he is gonna comfort me in my fear. He is gonna satisfy what I long for in the way that I should be satisfied. Like he's gonna do all of it. Well, then I can trust him. Whatever it is, whether it's I'm about to lose my job or I'm afraid this relationship's gonna fail or I don't know if my health is gonna make it, in any of it, I can say, Lord, I'm just gonna depend on you because you are gonna provide more than enough for what I need and if you don't provide it, it's because I didn't need it. It's because you couldn't provide what I needed. It's because what I thought I needed I didn't actually need. But you had more than enough of what I did need. Yeah. I love that the the feeding of the five thousand story especially reminds us of the daily dependence. Like this connection to and you touched on In Exodus, God providing daily bread for his people, and then here the feeding of the five thousand and how it points to God's kingdom, like Jesus is the bread of life and this imagery that we all can understand of a daily practical need that would drive us again and again back to the provider. even living water we didn't talk about in these sections necessarily, but God gives us this imagery throughout scripture to alert us to the significance. Of and the frequency of our need. Like we're not gonna forget though, there are some people that I find enigmas that forget a meal here and there. Say I forgot to. I never understood that. That happens to me. That happens to me all the time. It's certainly in water in the desert. We understand people are carrying the big Stanleys. We hear them clink in the service sometimes. We're not gonna forget carrying our water here in Arizona. maybe only if there was an analogy about coffee that would be really grabbing people's attention is like the sustenance. Of life, but these really practical reminders, the bread of life and what that signifies, that we will need it daily. We cannot survive without it. The living water, and it's Jesus himself, and he's driving us back to him again and again. Yeah, which it shouldn't surprise us when we see the feeding of the five thousand and we see John's account that Jesus says, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. Mm-hmm. I'm the bread of life. He he's saying, I'm what all that pointed to. It shouldn't then surprise us that when he's teaching his disciples how to pray, mm-hmm, he says, Give us this day our daily bread. Now, yes, at the surface level, that is the acknowledgement of Lord provide what I need for the day. Mm-hmm. But it is so much more than that. It is also, Lord, today help me to be dependent on you, the bread of life. Help me to come to you for what I will need today, because tomorrow's not promised to me. But if tomorrow is given to me, then let me tomorrow as well come to you for the bread that only you can provide that will sustain me through this day and preserve me through whatever it is I'm gonna face. And if it is tomorrow, we'll let that deal with itself. Mm-hmm. Today, give me the bread that is gonna sustain me, meet my physical needs, yes, but also that is gonna spiritually nourish me to be able to face this day. Mm-hmm. You did such a beautiful job presenting the good news of the gospel, obviously, to those who have not yet turned and put their faith in Jesus for salvation. and but also for those of us who have received salvation but struggle to remain dependent on the Lord daily for this like sustenance and this surrender and dependence on Him. that might be a new concept for people and they might say, I don't understand how to connect the gospel still to my daily life, why I need that reminder, or maybe I am starting to see why I need to speak the gospel to myself every day. But that's a new concept for me as someone where you know the focus was on the point of salvation all my life. I wanted to share this resource. We talked a little bit about it, you and I, before we started, but the gospel primer, primer, primer, primer, the gospel primer is a great little resource, very accessible, short little space. snippets like maybe a page for people you can share a little bit more about it but I would highly recommend this for people wanting to integrate this idea of the gospel and their daily lives Yeah, so that is an excellent, very accessible resource. it is it just walks you through the truths of the gospel from pretty much every verse that that could could point us toward gospel truth with a little bit of commentary, but it's it is so saturated with scripture. And as you Read the message of the gospel and the tr all the truths that are encapsulated in that, because the gospel is so much more than Jesus died on the cross for your sins. It is all encompassing of life. And so the more that I see just how all encompassing of life it is, and the more that I'm reading it and hearing it, and then the more that I am rehearsing it and reminding myself of it, and then speaking to other people about it, the more that I will live out of that dependence that we've been talking about. And what I love about that book, we have that. I use it devotionally at times. what I love about that book is it just gives you the tangible vocabulary of of just preaching the message of the gospel to yourself with scripture, but also being able to see the truths that those scriptures point to. Yeah, it's a very good book. I think every Christian home should have that on the bookshelf. Yeah, this is great. And then I also recommend people like listening to music and worship songs. I was doing that earlier today and just even songs that were very repetitive of some truths and I need that and I need it to wash over me and just like surrender to it. it was more contemporary worship there but they're incredible hymns. I mean I think of prone to wander, Lord I feel it. That gets me every time. My heart is prone to wander and In Christ alone. There are so many songs filled with beautiful truths that help anchor us back in the gospel and that is another way to integrate those truths back into your your daily life and and your day and have the truth washing over you, getting in your ears and in your mind and in your heart and returning your affections to Christ alone. Yeah, and that's that's why Paul admonishes the church in and Colossians to instruct one one another in part through the singing of songs and hymns and spiritual songs because God made us to respond to music. Mm-hmm. Like that is just undeniable. Yeah. Which is why it's so important to listen to songs that are true. Yes. That are biblical. There's a lot of worship songs out there that are unbiblical, that are very me-centric, that will will condition your heart in the wrong ways. But there are so many that just are rooted in scripture. Yeah. Like one of my favorite songs of all time is Rock of Ages, which is an old hymn, very biblical, and just like such a such a wonderful gospel message to to listen to. And so, yeah. Yeah. Reading of the truths of the gospel and scripture, preaching it to yourself, singing songs and listening to songs where the gospel is recounted to you. Telling one another of the truths of the gospel. It's not weird to do that. Like I think sometimes we're like, I don't know, I don't want to make it uncomfortable. If there's anybody that shouldn't be uncomfortable through talking about the truths of the gospel, it should be people with the gigantic letters on the wall that say we are gospel people. And so we should be rehearsed in that. We should be practiced in that. And we will only be growing in our dependence on the Lord the more that we're doing those things. And thank you for joining us for the Harvest After Sunday podcast, where we help you grow into the image of Christ by applying the truths of his word for his mission. We'll see you Sunday.