Happy Mother’s Day and so glad that you’re here. If you’re new at Big Valley Grace Community Church, welcome. On behalf of all of us, welcome. My name is Joel. We’re really glad that you’re here. This is a great church. It’s a great church to be a part of and we love coming to honor the Lord together and we’re glad to have you with us as we worship together today.

We’re going through the letter or the epistle of First John in our Bibles. So, if you have a Bible, you can take and turn to First John. It’s near the end of the New Testament. If you need a Bible, we want to give you a Bible today as a gift. Just come to our prayer room after the gathering and our team will be in there and we have Bibles in there. It’ll be at no cost to you. We have English Bibles, large print Bibles, and Spanish Bibles. So, any of those sound like it’ll fit the need that you have. Come get a Bible. We want to make sure everyone has a copy of God’s word.

Well, being that it’s Mother’s Day and we’re talking about Bibles and getting into God’s word, it brings up a very vivid memory from my early childhood. I grew up two blocks that direction behind Target on Mckenry — Big Valley Grace Community Church used to be on Stanford Avenue, 605 Stanford Avenue. And I grew up at 409 Redford Lane, one street in, one house in. And I have a very early memory of sharing a room with my brothers, getting out of bed in the morning and going down the hallway and coming into our family room and seeing something very consistently early in the morning — by the windows out to the backyard in the chair would be my mother with a cup of coffee and her Bible. And I saw that over and over and over and it seared an image into my mind. And in fact, as I’m sharing with you right now, I can actually see it in my mind from my childhood. That’s how significant this memory is.

And what’s interesting is I now do the same thing. I have become like my mother in this way where I get up in the morning and I make my way over to the chair that’s by the windows looking out in the backyard and I sit down with a cup of coffee and my Bible and I spend time in God’s word. I have looked up to my mother and I have become like my mother in this way. And that tends to be what we do. We look up to somebody and then we become like them. And the passage we’re going to look at today, God is going to show us who the primary person is for us to look up to, to become like.

So in First John, we’re going to be in chapter 3. I’m going to read the first 10 verses. Verses 1–10. 1 John chapter 3.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. And you know that he appeared in order to take away sins. And in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning, and no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he’s been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

Let’s pray together, okay?

Father God, Lord, thank you for moms. Thank you for Mother’s Day. And God, thank you that you’re the perfect parent. Father God, you are the perfect parent. And God, thank you for your word and this word is going to help us see who to look up to — that Jesus is the hero of our story and that we are to look up to him and to become like him. So God, use your word in us right now. And I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Amen. So as we get into this text, we’re going to look at it in some groupings. I’m not going to just explain it from top to bottom. I’m going to explain it with some groups of the verses because of some themes that are in this passage.

But we’ll begin in verse one. It says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And so we are.” Now, that word called, that word called in this verse is referring to what our name is or what our title is — that God has called out to us and he’s called us something and that is the title children of God. But the term called is also used in a different way in scripture in our Bible where it says that God the Father calls to us. He calls us to himself. And when we respond to the call of God and we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are now the called. We’re the called out ones.

And so not only are we called children of God where we have a title of children of God, but those who have been called out by God to have faith in Jesus — they are those who are the children of God.

Now I want to bring a clarification because our Bibles are really clear about something. In the book of Genesis, at the beginning of our Bibles, it says that all of humanity is made in the image of God. Male and female, he made them in his image. So all humans are made in the image of God. However, when God calls a person to faith in Jesus Christ and they respond, they are now the called out ones and not only do they have the name or the image of God on their life, but now they have a new title and it is children of God. And only the ones who have been called by God and responded to that call are children of God.

And this verse is saying, see — see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And so we are. Now the apostle John is who writes this letter, First John. He also wrote in our Bibles the gospel of John. And at the beginning of the gospel of John, he uses this phrase children of God as well. In John 1:12 and 13, it says this: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

So if you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and your Savior, then you have the right to be called a child of God. If you have believed in the name of Jesus Christ as the Savior, then you have the right to become the children of God. And this is a clear transformation. So all of humanity is made in God’s image. But those who receive and believe in Jesus Christ, they have the right to become children of God. It’s a clear transformation.

And it’s more than a physical birth. Every one of us has been born physically. But this is describing something not physical. It says who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. So this is not describing a physical birth. This is describing a spiritual birth.

When I was growing up, a couple blocks that way, there was a number of settings where I heard my dad communicate something to me pretty strong. And the earliest one I can remember is when I would go over to Scotty Paladichuk’s house. That was my childhood buddy. My best friend growing up, Scotty Paladichuk. And Scotty’s family would come pick me up. And as I was heading out to have a sleepover at Scotty’s house, my dad would look at me and he would say, “Hey, you’re going over to Scotty Paladichuk’s house tonight and I want you to know you’re more than just a kid having a sleepover. You represent me. You represent our family. You’re not just a kid. You’re a Boon.”

You know, here I’m thinking I’m just going over to have fun and have a sleepover, eat a bunch of junk food. I didn’t realize how serious this was, going over to sleepover at Scotty’s house.

Another moment — Grace M. Davis High School. That’s where I went to high school. I’m heading out to high school and my dad says, “Hey, you are not just a student at Grace M. Davis High School. You represent me. And you represent our family. You’re not just a student. You’re a Boon.”

My dad had us working young. Something I learned how to do was work and work hard at a very young age. The California labor laws do not approve of my childhood. It’s worked out okay. He had us working and as I would head out to work, he’d say, “Hey, as you go work, you’re not just a worker. You represent me and you represent our family. You’re more than a worker. You are a Boon.” Multiple settings, my dad would say this to me.

Well, my parents wanted me to represent them because I was their child. Well, God is saying that I am called a child of God. We are children of God when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. So as God’s child, how can I become who God wants me to be?

As God’s child, how can I become who God wants me to be? Because see, now I’m on team Jesus. So when I’m in my neighborhood, I’m not just a neighbor. I’m on team Jesus. When I’m in the workplace, I’m not just a worker. I’m on team Jesus. When I’m in the community, I’m not just a member of the community. I’m on team Jesus. And how can I become who God wants me to be? Because I represent him. And if you are a child of God, then you represent him in every setting that you go into.

So as God’s children, how can we become who God wants us to be? God loves us. He calls us his children, and we represent the name of Jesus Christ.

Well, in the end of verse one here, it says, “The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” So when Jesus shows up onto the scene in his life on earth, the world missed out on knowing Jesus. And because they missed out on knowing Jesus, they missed out on knowing his followers. This word know here — that it did not know him — it’s not just information, but it is information and it is relationship. So it’s saying the reason that the world does not know us is that it did not have the information that Jesus was the Messiah nor the relationship with him as the Messiah. And if the world does not have the information and the relationship with Jesus, then the world’s not going to know you as a follower. It’s like saying you need to have the truth about Jesus and you need to have time with him. The truth about Jesus and time with him.

The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Now as I was growing up, a couple blocks over there, I had an incredible gift. And the gift I had was my parents were there. My parents were present. They were available and they were highly involved in my life. They’ve known me my whole life. But the point is that they’ve been involved my whole life. They have had the longest influence of any human in my life and they’ve had an enormous impact on my life because they have been present and available and involved. The way I learned the majority of what I learned about what it meant to be in my family was because I was simply with my parents. By simply being with my parents, I learned what it meant to be a part of our family.

Well, the same thing is true about being a child of God. We don’t just need the information. We need the presence. We need to be with God. Time spent with God will help us understand what it means to be a child of God.

So as God’s child, how can I become who God wants me to be? Number one is this: knowing Jesus will result in becoming like Jesus. Information and relationship. Truth and time. Knowing Jesus will result in becoming like Jesus.

Every parent has goals for their kids. Well, God has a goal for us. It’s a very clear goal. The Father God has the goal for all of us that we would become like his Son. God wants us to become like Jesus.

So in verse two, our passage says this: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him.” So it says we are and we will be. Well, we are — if we’re placing our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then we are God’s children right now. But what we will be has not yet appeared. It’s not quite clear what we’re going to be, but we know that when he appears, when Jesus appears, that we’re going to be like him because we’ll see him as he is.

So it’s not yet known. We’re God’s child now, but Jesus is going to come again. And when Jesus shows up, there’s going to be a transformation that occurs in our life. And it’s not quite clear what that is going to be, but we know this: he’s coming. Jesus is coming. And when he shows up, even though we’re already a child of God, there’s going to be a change that’s going to happen. We’re going to be like him because we’re going to see him as he is.

You know, I have a practice I try to do as little as possible. I try to avoid this at all cost, and it is looking in the mirror. Every time I look in the mirror, I’m like, “What happened? Who are you? How’s it possible that a whole another patch of gray is there today and it wasn’t there yesterday? How in a 24-hour period of time did I get that much older?” I keep looking in the mirror and I’m like, “How is it possible?” I see my grandparents. I see my grandpa in the mirror. How is that even possible? That is wild.

Well, the scripture says that our Bible is the perfect mirror. The perfect mirror is the word of God. And what God wants is for us to look in the perfect mirror every day. And little by little, every day, we’re going to look a little bit more like Jesus. Every time we look in the mirror, we’re going to see we look a little bit more like Jesus. And there’s coming a moment when he’s coming again and we’re going to be like him because we’re going to see him as he is.

Now there’s twice here it says appeared. There’s another passage I want us to look at. It’s in Hebrews. In Hebrews chapter 9 and verses 24–28, there are three appearings in the ministry of Jesus. And I want to explain these three appearings because it’s very helpful for us to understand the ministry of Jesus and what he has done, what he is doing, and what he’s going to do.

So in verse 24 of Hebrews 9, it says this: “For Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are the copies of the true things, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” So that is an appearing that’s happening right now — Jesus in the presence of God on our behalf.

Verse 25: “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own. For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” That is describing when Christ appeared to go to the cross to die on the cross — that with his blood shed on the cross, he is going to pay for the sins of the entire world. He appeared as the last sacrifice.

Verse 27: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

So there is a moment where Christ is going to appear again, but this time he’s not appearing to deal with our sin on the cross. And he’s not appearing in heaven as the acceptable sacrifice, but he is appearing to come and get those he has saved. So Christ is coming again. He is going to appear again.

And our passage says we’re God’s children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we’re going to be like him because we shall see him as he is.

Right before that in 1 John, in chapter 2 and verses 28 and 29, it also uses the word appearing. It says, “And now little children abide in him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”

You do not have to be afraid of Christ appearing a second time if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You don’t have to shrink in shame at the appearing of Jesus the second time if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Because if you are trusting in Jesus Christ as the one who paid the price on the cross, his blood shed for your sin, then you don’t need to be afraid that he’s going to come again. Instead, you can be confident that he’s coming again to save you. And you can have assurance in your salvation, not because of what you have accomplished, but because of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And so you don’t have to live in fear of Christ coming again if you place your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

So the question that I have for you is: how are you spending time now with Jesus, preparing for how you will spend time with him when he comes again? How are you right now as God’s child spending time with Jesus, preparing for when Jesus is going to come again? I would challenge you to do that.

So as God’s child, how can I become who God wants me to be? Number one is knowing Jesus will result in becoming like Jesus. And number two is knowing Jesus will result in practicing sin less.

Knowing Jesus will result in practicing sin less. The word sin shows up in this little letter, this little letter of First John, 27 times. It’s a huge theme in this little letter. I read the first 10 verses of this chapter to you — I don’t know if you recognized it, but 10 times the word sin was in those 10 verses.

Knowing Jesus will result in practicing sin less. What is sin? Sin is anything that is contrary to God. So in a human sense, this is what sin means: to miss the point or to miss the mark. So if you think about archery — someone has a bow and an arrow and a target. They shoot the arrow. If the arrow doesn’t hit the target, then that would be called sin because it missed the point or it missed the mark. But in a spiritual sense, it’s missing the point or missing the mark of what God wants. So it’s anything that is contrary to God.

Three times in this passage, it uses the phrase practice of sinning. And I want to share them with you and explain them.

In verse four it says this: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.” So in our terms, that would be like saying someone who’s practicing breaking the law. So we have our city, our county, our state, our national laws. And if someone is practicing lawlessness, then they are practicing breaking the law. But the highest law is God’s law. So what this is describing is that to not obey God’s law is sin.

In verse 8 it says, “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” So what this is talking about regarding a practice of sinning is practicing being an enemy of God. The greatest opponent is Satan and to purposefully rebel as an enemy of God is sin. This says the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

And I want to just give you a picture so that you might maybe grow in your understanding of how devastating sin is in our lives. Sin is like a bomb. Sin is like a bomb that explodes in our lives. And the shrapnel from that bomb — it impacts our entire lives way more than we even understand. And when we come to Christ and place our faith in Jesus because he’s died on the cross and his blood purifies us from our unrighteousness, we have salvation. That’s how we have salvation — by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And as we walk in faith with Jesus Christ day by day, there’s another process that happens. And it’s called sanctification. And it’s like becoming aware of each and every piece of the shrapnel from the bomb of sin that happens in our life — to where as we read God’s word and we pray, God helps us understand, hey, here’s another piece of the impact of sin on your life and we need to repent of it and we need to submit our lives to God and we need to become obedient to God. God is continually making us into the image of Jesus Christ day by day so that every piece of shrapnel from the bomb of sin, as it gets pulled out of our lives, guess what happens when we look in the mirror? We look a little bit more like Jesus each and every day.

In verse 9, it says this: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” So this is saying that the practice of sinning is like practicing being unborn. Well, that doesn’t work. You can’t practice being unborn. Something has changed when you are born and you can’t become unborn. So this is describing not a physical birth but a spiritual birth. For God’s seed abides in him because he cannot keep on sinning because he’s been born of God.

What the scriptures teach is that when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, God places the Holy Spirit of God in our life as a seal of our inheritance. The Holy Spirit of God lives in the life of the believer. And we can’t keep sinning like someone who is spiritually dead because we’re not spiritually dead. And so every time we sin, the Holy Spirit of God is now convicting us of our sin.

This is not saying that we are not capable of sinning. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are capable of sinning. And if you disagree with me, just give me a few minutes with the people you live with and we’ll clear it up. This is not saying you are incapable of sinning. It’s saying you can’t sin like a spiritually dead person because you’re not spiritually dead. You are actually now spiritually alive. And when you sin, the Holy Spirit of God is going to convict you. And so you don’t long for sin like you used to long for sin. And you don’t want your life to be all about sin like you used to want it. Because when you sin, God corrects you and moves you towards obedience and righteousness. For God’s seed abides in you, and you can’t keep on sinning because you’ve been born of God.

Now, I want to share with you a few verses in our Bible that just help clarify what is sin, because it’s a very important subject for us to get a handle on because it has a huge impact on our life — and that impact is very negative.

Romans 14:23 says, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” So what is sin? Sin is anything that doesn’t come from faith. What is faith? Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So anything that does not proceed from a place in your life of trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior — well, that’s sin.

James 4:17: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” So what is sin? Sin is knowing the right thing to do and choosing not to do the right thing. If you know the right thing and you choose not to do the right thing, then that is sin.

And let me give you a very bold example. When I was 18, I was super good at one thing — screwing everything up. And man, I made a mess of my life, just super quick. And Sarah and I — my wife — we were just dating at the time. We weren’t engaged and we weren’t married. But I have a very vivid memory of a moment where a mentor that we had in our life — God knew what he was doing, we didn’t understand what God was doing — but God brought a mentor into our life. And this mentor looked me in the eyes. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember the driveway I was standing on next to my 1963 Volkswagen bus. I can remember it. And he looked me in the eyes and he said this: “If you keep treating Sarah that way, she is going to leave you.” It just rattled me to the core.

And I knew in that moment I was in the wrong because I was treating her in a way that was not the way that she should be treated. And I was sinning. And in that moment, I knew the right thing to do was to start treating her better. And if I chose not to do it, then it was going to be sin. Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

1 John 5:17 sums it up very simply: “All wrongdoing is sin.” So anything that is wrong, that is sin. And we need teaching and we need training and we need accountability — which is why we encourage you, get into a group. Get into a group of people who are going to come around God’s word and talk about the scriptures and pray about the scriptures and encourage one another to obey the scriptures and be accountable. Because we need encouragement to follow the Lord and to learn what God has expected of us, and we learn that through his word. So we encourage you, get into a group for the purpose of discipleship.

Right and wrong are decided by God, not you. Right and wrong — it’s decided by God, not our culture. Right and wrong is decided by God, not the enemy.

Now I want to ask you a question. Is there sin that you need to stop practicing? Is there a habit of sin in your life? A habitual behavior in your life that you have repeated over and over, a cycle that’s in your life that you need to stop practicing. Is there an addiction that you’re struggling with that you need to move away from?

If any of that sounds like you, I want you to know I’m super glad that you’re here and you’re welcome in this place and we can help you because we can point you to Jesus and we can point you to his word and we can point you to his church family and we can walk with you. And if you’re here and you need to stop practicing sin, then today is day one. And we want to help you. We want to help you on your journey to stop practicing sin.

So as God’s child, how can I become who God wants me to be? Well, number two is knowing Jesus will result in practicing sin less. And number three, knowing Jesus will result in practicing righteousness more.

Knowing Jesus will result in practicing righteousness more. And the righteousness of Jesus is the only way that we can become righteous.

1 John 3:3 says, “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” As he is pure — as Jesus is pure. We hope in Jesus. And as we hope in Jesus, the process of purifying happens in our life. Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

1 John 3:5: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there is no sin.” So what is the mission of Jesus? The mission of Jesus is to overcome sin. The mission of Jesus is to overcome sin in our lives. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there is no sin.

So this righteousness of Jesus — it’s what we’re called to. It’s what we’re called to live in and it’s what we’re called to operate from.

In verse six in our passage: “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning and no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” Now this word abiding — it means to remain and to be connected to. And I want to share with you a real practical example. I like to use this as an example to explain abiding.

I have a desperate need to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. If I don’t spend time with Jesus Christ today, I’m going to know it. If I don’t spend time with Jesus Christ two days in a row, my wife Sarah is going to know it. And if I don’t spend time with Jesus Christ three days in a row, everyone is going to know it. I’m going to decline real quickly if I’m not abiding with Jesus. If I’m not spending time with God and his word.

And you know when that gets tested? When life gets crazy and we face circumstances that are really tense in our life, or times of transition — like moving our family home, which is a horrible idea and we should never do it again. It was so disruptive. Two years ago we moved — six months of our life was disrupted. Man, you just work all day moving, packing boxes. You don’t know if you own something anymore or if you gave it to somebody. You don’t know if it’s in a box or the garage or the car at the old house or the new house or the storage unit. You don’t even know who you are anymore when you’re moving. It’s just so disruptive.

Well, man, as I was moving and we were moving our family, I’m working all day. I’m barely sleeping and we’re just working as hard as we can trying to move our family. Man, I missed a day with the Lord. Uh-oh. I missed another day with the Lord. Uh-oh. Man, by the time we got done moving, I’m surprised my wife wanted to move into the new house with me. I was just a huge pain to be around.

I have a need to abide in Jesus every day. I’ve got to focus on that. I’ve got to come after him.

“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. And no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”

Verse seven says, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous.” So righteousness for us — it has to start with the righteousness of Jesus. And if you’re here and you want to start practicing righteousness, I want to make it real simple for you.

To start practicing righteousness, you have to have salvation in Jesus Christ. You have to trust in the righteousness of Jesus Christ before you can practice the righteousness of Jesus. So if you’re here and you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that is your starting point.

If you have placed your faith in Jesus, the next step would be for you to be baptized. To be baptized as a disciple of Jesus. And you could look at that as a first step of obeying the commands of Jesus because Jesus has commanded that all of his followers be baptized. So if you need to start practicing righteousness, those are your first two steps. Place your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation and then be baptized as a disciple of Christ.

Now if you’ve already done that and you need to know, hey, how do I continue to practice righteousness? Then I would share with you about our five core values as a church. And if you go out the hallway, you’ll see them. They’re all over the wall, right out there. These have been the five core values of our church for a long time because it’s what we read in scripture.

If you need to continue practicing righteousness, I would challenge you to grow by reading the Bible and praying to God. If you need to continue practicing righteousness, I would challenge you to worship by offering your life in sacrifice to God, or to connect with other disciples in fellowship with God, or to serve by building up the body with your gifts from God. And finally, to reach unbelievers with the gospel of God.

If you’re looking to practice your righteousness and continue practicing your righteousness because Christ is righteous and he’s changing your life, then consider: how can you grow? How can you worship? How can you connect? How can you serve? And how can you reach?

So the question I would ask you is, is there righteousness that you need to start practicing or desiring with the Lord? Is there a place of righteousness that you need to desire and start practicing? And if you are identifying one, I would challenge you to do it.

So as God’s child, how can I become who God wants me to be? Number one, knowing Jesus will result in becoming like Jesus. Two, practicing sin less. And three, practicing righteousness more.

And I’d sum it up real simply in this way: if you believe that God is your Father, then behave like you are his child. That’s it. Just keep it simple. If you believe that God is your Father, then behave like you are his child.

Now behavior does not produce childhood — that’s not how that works. But behavior does point to what we believe. And if you believe that God is your Father, then behave like you are his child.

Whenever people give me a compliment, it always makes me feel a little nervous and I don’t really like it that much. So I just have something I say to kind of deflect it when people give me a compliment. And this is what I tell them: “Hey, I’m just trying to make my mom proud.” That’s it. I’m just trying to make my mom proud. That’s all I’m doing. All these years, I’m just trying to make my mom proud.

Why? Because man, I was a huge pain in my mother’s life. And I am having to work really hard, man, to make my mom proud after all the punishment I put her through. My mom’s going to get to heaven. She’s going to have the best crown. Okay? It’s gonna have jewels and diamonds and platinum and a crown on top of a crown on top of a crown. Man, I was a horrible punk kid. And man, I’m trying to make my mom proud.

And you know what? I know my mom’s proud. I know my mom’s proud. I’m following the Lord and I’m leading my family to follow the Lord. And I know that makes my mom proud. But I’m also God’s child. And I want to make God proud. I want God to be proud of me being his kid.

And our last verse in verse 10 here it says, “By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

So I want it to be evident that I follow the Lord. I want it to be evident that I’m a child of God. And you know, our life represents somebody. Who would your family say that your life represents? Who would your friends say that your life represents? Who are the people that you work with say that your life represents? Well, you represent some name. You represent your name, the family name. You represent the company name. Well, we’ve been called to represent Jesus. And as a church family, as a community, we’re called to represent the saving name of Jesus Christ.

So if you’re here and you’d like prayer that you might represent Jesus well, I want to pray for you right now. If you need prayer that you would represent Jesus well, I just encourage you to stand up. If you’re here and you want it to be evident that you are a child of God and you want people to be able to look at your life and go, “Okay, I can see that that person knows the Lord. I can see that they are a child of God” — and you need prayer for that right now, just stand up. I’m going to pray for you right now.

Father God, Lord, thank you for everyone who’s standing. You know exactly why each of these people are standing. And God, I pray for the very reason that they are standing, that you would meet every one of them in the very place that they are standing. And whatever the issue is that has caused them to stand, Lord, would you work in that very place? And would you make it evident that they are a child of God in that situation? God, would you work in their life where they would have incredible confidence in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Assurance of their salvation as they’re trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And God, would you work in their life to where as they are having interactions with other people, people would be able to look at them and say, “It is super clear that that person knows Jesus. It is evident that that person knows Jesus.”

So God, for whatever reason, all my friends are standing right now. God, I pray that you would work right where they’re at and you would help them to honor Jesus Christ. They would represent Jesus Christ. And as they do, that this community would be changed because of the people of God who are living for him. And I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ and all God’s family said, amen.

Church family, happy Mother’s Day to you. There’s a lot of fun Mother’s Day stuff out in the lobby and out under the sales. If you need prayer, our team will be willing to pray with you. We love you, church family, and we’re going to see you again real soon.