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Today, though, I. I'm giddy if you can't tell this message near and dear to my heart. We are going straight to the intersection of faith and science to talk about one very small part of God's creation that, to be honest, kind of packs a punch. It's something called dopamine and it's a buzzword in our day and age. Ten years ago, nobody said dopamine. It seems today though, everybody's talking about dopamine. And you know, John 10:10, one of the most famous things Jesus ever said, for good reason, says this right here, the thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. But my purpose, this is Jesus talking, is to give them a rich and satisfying life. That God designed a brain chemical called dopamine to optimize your brain, to help you shine bright like a light in a dark world, to enjoy him as he enjoys you, and to pursue that rich and satisfying life that he came to give you. A couple more verses and then we'll take a seat. First, Peter 1:13 says this. So prepare your minds for action and exercise self control. Prepare your minds because everything about life out here begins with the six inches of space you got going on in between your ears. Your mind, which lives in your brain, which is part of your body, which is the temple that God has given you as a gift to steward and take care of. Let's read where I just got that from. First Corinthians 6, 19, 20. Paul says, don't you realize that your body, your brain, is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God? You don't belong to yourself, for God bought you with a very high price. So you must honor God with your body. Take care of your brain, prepare your mind, live on purpose. This message is called why God gave us Dopamine. Why God gave us Dopamine. So God, we love you, thank you for dopamine. God, we just acknowledge right now, Holy Spirit, without your presence, this is just a TED talk and more content and none of us are here for that. We invite you to continue to have your way in this worship experience. Would this be a continuation of it? Would you save souls? Would you change lives? Would you renew minds in Jesus name? And everybody said, amen. Give away a high five and take a seat. Why God gave us dopamine? Have you ever heard this cliche? Man, this will never get old. This will never get old. It's so amazing, it's gonna slap forever. I'm just trying to relate to Gen Z. You know, it's iconic. I'll never get used to it. It'll never get old. And that cliche is idealistic and certainly optimistic, and I wish it were true. But guys, deep down, you and me both know it's not. At some point, everything gets old. I drove my Chevy Cruze for over a decade. Up until about a year ago, I bought a new car. It was a really big deal. And I remember driving that thing home like it was a newborn baby. You know what I mean? Just that new car smell. I went to speed limit, you know what I'm saying? Just the film that you leave on the screen for an extra two weeks before you peel it off. I. I just parked it in the driveway and patted the dashboard like, I'm going to wash you every Saturday morning and fast forward almost a year. I still love that car. I'm so grateful for it. I make my kids wash it about once a month, but I didn't wake up this morning giddy to drive it like I used to. I mean, at some point, a car just kind of becomes a car. A way to get from A to B. That's even why most people lease instead of finance. Because, you know, three years from now, I'm probably going to want something new because everything gets old. I went skydiving back in college. And can we just be honest? Skydiving is a ridiculous concept. Red rocks. You jump out of a perfectly good aircraft with nothing but a colorful picnic blanket stuffed into a backpack. That is the only thing that's going to keep you from plummeting into the earth. I'm one of the people that just is all about it. I love it. And when my feet finally touch the ground, touch grass, Gen Z. I was like my heart was racing. I had so much adrenaline. I had dried snot smeared across my face from the wind burn. And I remember. True story. I turned to the instructor and I said, man, does this ever get old. And I promise you, he looked at me and said, yeah, oh, cool, just another Tuesday for you. But it hit me, if you do it 1500 times, even free falling from 10,000ft will get old. It's like feeling good is so fleeting. You ever do that thing where you go from a cold pool into a hot tub? It's that feeling of relief. Like the warm water just wraps around your shivering soul. And you feel so good for about five minutes until you're like, now I'm kind of hot. So you cannonball back into the pool and it's so refreshing for about a minute until you're like, but now I'm kind of cold. So then you get back in the hot tub and once again it feels amazing. But then it's gone. Everything gets old. They say, you want to be happy for a day? Buy some new sneakers. You want to be happy for a week? Get the newest iPhone. You want those romantic butterflies again, that feeling of crushing on somebody? Well, then get a new fling with a new person. And you will have it for four to six weeks until once again, yet another relationship gets old. Solomon calls this the chasing after the wind. And if I'm being honest, I hate that this is true about life. I hate that good feelings are just like, so fleeting. And it's almost like something intrinsically in my gut just knows this is not the way it's supposed to be. It's almost like all of us have a bit of phantom pain from before. Sin from back in Eden. Because back in Eden, there was no sin. Therefore there was no death. Nobody got old. Nothing got old. Good feelings were not fleeting in God's original design. Let's just look at two verses about God's original design. In Genesis 2, 8 and 9, the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man that he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground. Trees that were, notice the adjectives here, beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Dopamine is what gives you feelings of pleasure and happiness. Two words that we honestly have a hard time with. But only in church have you noticed that I mean pleasure. Don't even say that word in church. But then also happiness. No, we don't talk about happiness in church, Pastor. We talk about joy because God is about joy. And you want to know something? There's a lot of truth to that. Just in case you don't know, there is a big difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is circumstantial. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. Happiness is based on what's happening and it can be taken from you with a phone call, not joy. Joy is what you believe. The world does not give you joy. And that means the world cannot take from you your joy. And I promise you, God as a father is way more about your long term joy than he is about your short term happiness, right? However, that doesn't mean he doesn't care about it. Sometimes we talk about happiness and joy. Like God has to pick one Guys, he's infinite and he's a father. I'm a father. I can attest to this. I care way more about my kids long term joy and goodness than I do with how happy they were last week. But I still took them to the beach. I still took them to the pool yesterday. And God is a way better father than I'll ever be. Do not let legalism or a spirit of religion or God forbid, condemnation rob from you the goodness of God in your life. If you are in here, I want to say this before we do anything else. And you are a work in progress. Welcome to the party. That's all this church is, by the way. That's all any church is. We just like to shout it from the mountaintop. God is not more in love with some future version of you that doesn't struggle as much with pills or porn or whatever. He is madly in love with the broken version of you that you are today. That's the you that he wants to meet with. Just be warned, he loves that you way too much to leave you there. But I mean, I just hope your faith is, God forbid, not just about doing chores for him and not just about what you do or don't do because of what you happen to believe. What am I saying? I'm saying I hope that you're enjoying him because I can assure you of one thing, as a dad with kids, he's enjoying you. After all, he designed dopamine and gave it to you in the first place. Pastor Judas Smith said if you want evidence for the goodness of God, really, all you gotta do is look at the design of the Garden of Eden. I mean, humanity with God in the beautiful creation of the garden. Picture perfect paradise. Like an all inclusive resort for a husband and a wife who are naked and unashamed given the gift of sex to enjoy and to use to fill the earth. I mean, delicious fruit, all the natural sugar you could ever want without the crash. I mean, a million pets, a river that's full of gold and trees that apparently were only there because they were beautiful to look at. God is good. Even look at the ministry of Jesus the Messiah. Three years of Judah says it this way, the greatest rescue mission in the history of the universe. You could argue there's some urgency there as heaven and hell hangs in the balance and he has a job to do. A scandal called grace. This is a big deal, those three years. But even though it was the greatest risk rescue mission ever, the Son of God still enjoyed the ride. I mean, that'll bother You a bit if you got a religious spirit. You know that Jesus went to weddings for fun, that he laughed and told jokes and enjoyed good food and good drink with friends he. He loved. I mean, I don't know, Pastor. I just makes me nervous. Let's talk holiness, not happiness. As if they're not intimately related to each other. Not, not, not happiness. Let's holiness. We're in church talk. But you want to know what's interesting to me? The same people who say that in church will also walk out of here and go on vacation and get a manicure and go play golf and watch Ted Lasso and go to happy hour and enjoy life. But for some reason, just when it comes to your faith and just in church, it's not about happiness. It's not about wearing hats in church. It's about doctrine and it's about dogma. It's not about pleasure. That's a bad word. It's about joy. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Not on your face, just hidden away Deep, deep, deep down in your heart to stay. Meanwhile, we have a job, and it's to be the representation of the goodness of God to the whole world. I mean, you guys, I feel like if I wanted to right now, I can make a pretty good case that as Christians, we. We have an obligation to at least work on being happy. I'm not saying at the cost of holiness. I'm not saying be fake. I'm not saying don't cry tears if you're sad. I'm not saying tell him you're fine when you're not. I'm saying what Paul said. I'm the messenger. Paul said, rejoice in the Lord. When? Always. And then he doubles down. I say it again. Rejoice. I mean, guys, death has been defeated. Jesus is alive. We're going to heaven forever. And Eden is not just your past, it's also your future, only better when Jesus restores and makes it all new. I mean, that should make us, like, a little happy. And happiness is contagious and it's attractive, which is useful when you're trying to shine bright like a light to a world that is getting darker by the decade. When Peter and Paul wrote about preparing your mind and stewarding your brain, they didn't know about dopamine, and they certainly didn't know how it worked. But God did, and now we do. And I think science shows us, and this will be on the screen. God gave us dopamine to shine like a light. Enjoy him and to pursue that rich and satisfying life that he came to give us. And the secrets, I believe, to boosting that dopamine is found in self control and the spiritual disciplines. Now, disclaimer. I'm not a doctor. I'm a pastor. My undergrad is in biochemistry. I've never flexed that until now. I'm trying to build just a little bit of credibility with y', all, okay? So not to brag, but, I mean, I can, like, name the first 20 periodic. The first 20 elements on the periodic table. Like, I could do that right now just from memory, you know, Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium, calcium. See, it's like, not hard, though. Like, I appreciate the clap, but I could do it again. But it's not about me. It's about Jesus. However, it's also like a little bit about building some credibility with you right now. Okay? If you don't know this, I had no dreams or intentions of ever being a pastor in college. My dream was to be an orthopedic surgeon for athletes, and I had it all planned out. Then I met Jesus and he ruined every single plan that I had ever made. He's good at that. If. If he's in the process of doing that in your life, you will be grateful for it one day. Since then, I went on a 15 year journey with chronic pain. And up until just a few years ago, I battled a prescription pain pill addiction. And I understand the idea of restoring and renewing the dopamine system in my brain. Okay? That's why I'm passionate about. About this topic. I'm passionate about what Peter said. Prepare your minds for action. I'm passionate about when Paul says in Romans 12:2, do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed from the inside out. How? By the renewing of your mind. By offering your body as a living sacrifice. I know firsthand that you're not stuck with the mind or brain that you have right now, that God is in the business of restoring and renewing everything, including your mind. And I don't say that to you because I memorize Romans 12. I say that to you because it's my testimony. I have lived it. I have witnessed God do exactly that. And when it comes to your brain and your body, this temple, I believe it is the most under, preached about and underutilized tool that you and me have for walking in our God given calling. Your body and your brain is how your Spirit and your mind show up to the world, how your spirit shows up to your family, how your mind shows up to your co workers. And I don't have to know you to know that you have a calling on your life. You were made to know God and live on purpose and be part of a story that's changing the world. That you were made to help build the church, to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. You have a spiritual calling and, and here's what I know, that spiritual calling is already hard and a lot of us make it 10 times harder just because the temple that our spirits show up to the world in just are like tired all the time and sick, but in an unnecessary kind of way and less purpose and less passion and less energy. But maybe because of decisions that we make, maybe because we're not stewarding a temple God has given us. Or I'm filling this temple with ultra processed food all day and I'm not moving it and I'm not sweating and exercising and I'm restlessly sleeping or at least trying to sleep all night. But really at every moment I get and my thoughts have a moment to process, I pull out my phone so I can be distracted again and swipe and look at another video of this opinion over here and gossip over here and what happened at the Coldplay concert over here and politics that I can't control over here and this tragedy over here. And it's just another dopamine hit after another dopamine hit and we are distracting ourselves into broken down nervous systems that are completely fried. And here's my point. I don't think it's ever been easier to be the devil than it is right now. I think he's just sitting back like I'm living the dream, not doing anything because they're doing everything. And I just don't believe that Christians should live in fear at the intersection of faith and science. I'm so over that. I've been in Bulk worlds for 15 years. You want my definition of science? Human beings figuring out how God made it. They go together like divine dance partners. And faith leads the dance. Faith leads the dance. It's like more and more studies come out. I think this is so cool. More and more studies keep coming out, especially recently that kind of show like amazing things and you, you kind of read them and go, God kind of was saying that for thousands of years. I think that's just so cool. Romans 1:20 for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and Divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made. Guys, that's science. Understanding what God has made so that people are without excuse. The study of what we can see points to the Creator that we cannot. I just think it's fascinating in the. In the podcast world, the health and wellness and fitness podcast world, and I'm a huge fan of it. But they'll have all the leading experts on the human body. And I just think it's fascinating and interesting that whether they're Christian or not, when talking about the intricacies of the human body, all of them use the word design, which implies a designer. The word creation means creator. Why is there something when there could have been nothing unless there was a someone here before the something in order to start it, aka Genesis 1:1 in the beginning, God. So let's talk about the science of dopamine. And then we're going to apply it to scripture into your faith. So first things first. What is dopamine? Dopamine is the feeling of purpose and the passion to pursue it. It's the brain chemical we all want. Cause it makes us feel good. And it's commonly associated with the good feeling you get when you accomplish a goal. It's the reward. And it certainly is that. It's just so much more than that. It's also the same chemical God gave you to motivate you to pursue it. There was a famous study done a few years ago and they engineered some rats with zero dopamine in their brains. And they found if they put food into the rat's mouth, it would chew it and swallow it. But if the food was even six inches away from the rat's face, the rat without any dopamine would starve to death. Dopamine is the feeling of purpose and the passion to go and pursue it. It makes hard work feel good. It's not just the pursuit of pleasure. More important than that, it's the pleasure of the pursuit itself. Which is interesting when you consider the fact that God designed us as human beings to pursue him, to fill the earth and subdue it. That we're not made for stagnation, that were made to build the church. Dopamine is the difference between existing and actually living. It's what God has given you to live on purpose, to motivate you to go and pursue it. And I just love man. Like science seems to start to just explain what was said 2,000 years ago. Like Peter saying, prepare your mind for action. That was the same Peter who walked on water with Jesus. And it wasn't until he stopped walking that he started sinking. Dopamine gets us moving. In her book Dopamine Nation, Anna Lemke says. She says your pleasure center and your pain center are co located in the exact same part of your brain called the hypothalamus. And it functions a bit like a seesaw. So when you embrace doing things that are painful and you press on the pain side and when I say pain, think effort. Think pushing yourself in the gym. Think embracing the discomfort of doing the hard thing that's good for you. When you'd way rather do the easy thing, that's not having the difficult conversation. Checking into rehab, you are opting for the pain now, trusting that the payoff is coming later. You're choosing the effort right now. The next slide will show you think of a spiritual discipline, like reading scripture requires effort. And that's challenging to do, to focus for 30 minutes, to deeply try to focus on God. I mean, if that's easy for you, you're not in here. Like, if that's challenging, welcome to the party, man. Like, it's so much easier to zone out to, like, another rerun than it is to, okay, I'm gonna focus. And then you start to realize your brain begins to sort of settle in, and it actually gets better at focusing on the deeper things as you practice this over time and as you pursue more and more effort. The point is this. When you fill your day with things that require effort, scientifically speaking, there's nothing better for your brain than that. You fill your day with things that require effort. And then what happens? All the proverbial finish lines feel really good because dopamine rewards you for that. But more than that, the dopamine starts to flood into the effort portion to the journey, to the pursuit, to basically, which is all of life, rather than living from high to high. It's about this rush of fullness into every single part of life. Jesus said, rich and satisfying is the life I came to bring you. It's an interesting paradox as well, that embracing pain, when all we want to do is eliminate it or erase it or escape it, embracing pain is actually what leads to the fullness of life that Jesus talked about. And it kind of puts James 1:2 in a whole new perspective. I used to hate this verse until I saw it through this lens. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. But here's what's happening right now. Our modern world is messing with our brains and truly never before, in all of human history have we had access to this. Many quick fixes to hijack the system and give us fast dopamine, give us the reward without any effort at all to obtain it. And on the flip side, scientifically speaking, there is nothing worse for your brain than to get the reward without any effort at all. So whether it's drugs, alcohol, TikTok, Netflix, online shopping, pornography, video games, gambling, food, I mean, I could probably keep Talking for like 30 minutes and naming things. We opt for the payoff now because we can. But neurologically speaking, in your brain, there is no such thing as a free lunch. And this is called homeostasis. The payoff is now, but the pain follows. And when I say pain, just think of whatever your cocktail version is of all these things. Anxiety, depression, less and less color around you, less and less things bring you joy, less ability to focus. And here's one craving. Welcome to addiction. You've heard me say this in 2025. Addiction is not a conversation about heroin and whiskey and those people of which I am one. It is now a conversation about all of us and a million different distractions and drugs of choice. And I am telling you the enemy is using this pattern of the world right now to kill callings and destroy destinies and slowly but surely steal the life to the full that Jesus died and rose again to give us. And I've been praying, God, he or she who has ears, let them hear. Because I believe this will be one of those messages where 10 years from now, we kind of look back and go, oh my gosh. So this is what happens. And here's the last slide for our classroom session today. And there's a lot of main causes of low dopamine and credit to TJ Power, neuroscientist in his book the Dose Effect, which is so practically helpful. But we'll just talk about doom scrolling on social media for a second because we all, 99% of us, at least my hand is up, know the feeling of brain rot and going, where did the last two hours just go? Like, what just happened? Here's what happened. That rise in dopamine has literally, in all of human history, never been possible outside of cocaine and more recently pornography, for the human brain to experience until now, doom scrolling on social media. And it's becoming more and more potent. Like, let's just do a case study on the last decade, guys. If Instagram went back in time 10 years, you would not be satisfied with it. Like, you remember 10 years ago, one picture with the filter and you used lo fi for all of your filters on every single picture. And then what happened in Covid? TikTok rolled out like shorter and shorter and shorter videos, which means more videos because they're quicker and they're faster, which means more stimulation, which means more dopamine, which means more addiction, which means all the other companies had to follow suit. That's why Instagram copied TikTok. Facebook jumped on the bandwagon. YouTube now released YouTube Shorts, which are way more popular than the longer YouTube videos. It is essentially a race to the bottom of your brain stem. And this isn't just like what can happen. That's what's supposed to happen by design. And over time, it burns out the precious dopamine system that God gave us, leaving you with less and less feeling of purpose or passion to go and pursue it. TJ Power in his book the Dose Effect, says when you repeatedly spike and crash your dopamine levels, it exhausts your dopamine system. This is a primary cause of the demotivated depressive symptoms you may be experiencing in your life. So here's what I think. I really believe the new secret superpower that'll give you access to the abundant life Jesus came to give you, or even the secret to the future is this self control, which is a fruit of the spirit. It just doesn't get the same airtime as the others. You're like, let's talk peace, joy and love, huh? Like that. That tastes sweet. It's like self control is kind of like the veggie of the fruit of the spirit, a little bit more bitter, you know, let's talk love, peace and joy, huh? But what if I were to tell you that self control is your secret to unlocking more love, peace and joy in your life? Even scientists are saying the future belongs to those of us who can self regulate in a world of increasing drugs and distractions when nobody else is coming to limit your access for you. Like, have you ever wondered why that tree was in the garden in the first place? We read it. There were two trees. The writer of Genesis points out, specifically the tree of life, which most scholars believe was in the center of the garden, on top of a hill, standing by itself. That was the magnificent tree that. That you could see from your peripherals no matter where you were in all of Eden, it was there. And then there was another tree. It wasn't the biggest or the most beautiful. It was just among the millions of others, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the stupid tree that ruined everything I'm like God, if you, you know the future, like why put that tree in the garden? That's a risky little game, God, why do that? That question has always fascinated me. I've thought a lot about it, I've read a lot about it. There's a lot of reasons. I'm gonna give you two. Number one, that tree was in the garden because in order for love to be love, by definition, it has to be a choice. And in order to be able to choose God, you must have the option to not hence the tree. Cause our decisions are powerful. It was not a magic apple that led to sin. It was a decision made by human beings to choose our way over God's way. Just like salvation, it's not a hand raise that saves you. It is a decision to put your faith in what Jesus has done for you and make him your Lord and Savior. There is nothing more powerful than to choose. But then also number two, it was there to show us from the very beginning that self control leads to life. Contrary to popular belief right now it's not indulgence or hedonism that creates the life of the most happiness. It's actually self control and telling your soul. No. Like picture Adam and Eve in front of that infamous tree and out of their peripherals they can see the tree that leads to life, right? And multiple times a day we stand between the same two trees with the powerful decisions that we make. What God wants for me or what I just want in this moment. And it's like this tree of life is beckoning you. It's not hard to find, is beckoning you to come and taste and see how good God really is. But just like Adam and Eve, they had to have what what they weren't supposed to have. Notice how easy it is even in paradise guys to convince human beings that God is holding out on you. And time after time we just, we choose our way over his. And have you noticed that choices that lead to death in the end taste really sweet for a few moments? And choices that ultimately lead to life or maximize long term joy and goodness. Kind of feel like dying to yourself in the moment. Think of that like dopamine spike of biting that apple and then that crash. It's like it's so fleeting. Everything gets old. It was here and then it's gone. And then I'm back to the same tree while meanwhile God is saying, come here, I've got something. So much. How does Forest Frank say it? I searched the world till my head hurt just to find out your way is better. Like effort leads to life. Think of just those spiritual disciplines. Like I mean saving money when you want to spend it feels like a moment of dying to yourself, right? But look at what it leads to. Fasting feels like a day or a week of dying to yourself, but leads to more intimacy with God, more of his anointing and power in your life, more answered prayers. Ask anybody like rehab feels like a month of death. But ask anybody who used to be an addict and no longer is. What it leads to leads to every crucifixion we know. This is followed by a resurrection and the resurrection is infinite in compared to the crucifixion. CS Lewis once said this, my favorite quote ever. We are half hearted creatures fooling about over here with drink and sex and ambition and a million other things. Now when infinite joy picture the two trees is being offered to us over here, he likens us to ignorant kids in a slum who are content to just make mud pies in the dirt because they cannot fathom what is meant by a holiday at sleep. See that we are at this tree not because we are hard to please, but actually because we are too easy to please. Self control is oh that we would raise our standards for what is life and life abundant. That we would no longer be satisfied with just this quick decision and this, this quick hit and this hijacking of my, my dopamine system and choosing the payoff now again and again and again only to crash deeper and deeper when God has so much more the rich and satisfying life. We actually don't want it bad enough. And I think that this message has a lot to do with, I mean even the idea of obedience comes down to one question. How much joy do you want in your life? Obedience has. It puts like a religious taste in your mouth, like legalistic. That just means that word needs to be redeemed for you because that word is for you. Obedience is your friend that leads to joy. So this is not a message about legalism, it's a message about wisdom. It's not a message about not sinning, I pray. This is a message about not settling when Jesus is offering you this abundant life that begins the moment you get saved into eternity through our daily choices that are so, so, so powerful. Man, what area of your life do you need self control in? Honestly, I think that's the boring question though I think we all know the answer to that. Like what? What is my drug? What are my drugs of choice? We all know that. But it's good just to kind of say it to God and say it to yourself. Because the questions after that question get a lot better. What is that drug of choice hiding from you that God actually wants to heal and restore and redeem, but he's not getting the chance to because you keep numbing it at this tree. What is, what is the life to the full? What's the holiday at sea that I, I could be stepping into more of this year over the next decade, but this, this one area is, is keeping me from it all because of a lack of, of self control. I think self control is, is the secret to the love and the peace and the joy that we are, that we're actually searching for. And spiritually and physically, scientifically, you see this proven, like even in God, how God wired your brain. Your prefrontal cortex actually gets weaker every time you give in to temptation, which makes it easier the next time, but it actually gets stronger every time you, you choose victory instead of, of, of giving in, it gets stronger. Your brain's capacity to, to the amount of dopamine that you can handle that, that gives you those sensations of shining bright like a light and enjoying God and, and pursuing with motivation the life he's given you to live, like your brain's capacity to hold that much dopamine increases the more that you start to fill your day with spiritual disciplines that actually require effort. You know, the gospel is opposed to earning absolutely you cannot earn your salvation, but it's actually very for effort. If you love me, you will pursue me. If you have received this, you will follow my commands. If you, once you belong and believe, it starts to change how you behave in every other part of your life as well. And, and it's for you. It's for you. Leading to three things. Shining brighter in a world that's getting darker. Enjoying God as he is enjoying you, and more passion to pursue and feel the rich and satisfying life Jesus died and rose again to give you. David said this. He said, restore to me the joy of your salvation. That's been my prayer for our church. That's been my prayer for me. Restore to us the joy of our salvation. He is in the business of restoring and renewing. Jesus says at the end of Revelation, I am making right now all things new. And one day, one day, you guys, Eden will be our future. The new heavens and the new Earth, where every longing that you have, every, Every longing that, that keeps you running back to this tree will find its completion in fullness in the presence of God for the rest of eternity. We can't even imagine or describe what that is going to feel like. But it's coming. And even in the meantime, Jesus is right here and right now restoring things and making them new, including your mind and including your. Your brain. The tree of life is. It's calling you. It's calling you. I want to let you fill in the specifics of what this tree is and what, more importantly, this tree is in your life. I think you already know. And you need no help from me to feel guilt or condemnation or shame over it. That's not God's will for you. May you want more. May you not settle. That tree is not hard to find. And isn't it true out of your peripherals always, no matter where you are, you can kind of see it calling you, that holiday at sea, saying, God's way is better. You can keep searching the world. And I love how specific it is. One tree on top of a hill reminds me of another tree on top of a hill that would come thousands of years later on a hill called Calvary. One tree. And on that tree hung the Son of God. And his perfect blood bled down that cross. And in that moment on that tree, he made a way for you to have life and life to the full from here all the way into forever. How theologians call it, the greatest exchange ever. On that cross, he takes your soul, sin, and all the wrath due that sin is poured out onto Jesus in one moment. And in exchange, he gives you his righteousness, his life. And it's not hard to find. He is the way, the truth, and the life that is his words and not mine. He is not exclusive, for everybody is invited, but he is specific because it has to be. There is one door into heaven, and that door was so expensive to make. There is one bridge over the chasm of sin that's been placed in between God and humanity. And this is what that bridge looks like. It's him. And he's not hard to find. And so with every head bowed and every eye closed at every location, if you've never made a difference decision, listen to that word, this decision, a choice to love God, to put your faith in what Jesus has done for you, to. To say, yes, would you take my sin, Jesus? Would what you did on the cross count for me as well? Would you give me your righteousness for heaven forever? And would you give me life and life to the full and the ability to pursue it right here and right now? This is not religion. This is relationship. Your maker wants you to know him and wants to do life with you if you've never made that decision. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. Do not wait. This is your moment to make that. And I just want to invite you to raise your hand in this room at every single one of our campuses. Remember, it's not a hand raise. It's a decision. But there's something about a physical hand raise that solidifies a spiritual decision in your heart. Raise your hand if you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And say yes to that tree and say yes to that way. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. God, we love you. I thank you for everybody who just put their faith in you. Thank you for salvation. The glory is yours. Thank you for life. Thank you that you will never stop pursuing us and you will never stop making it so easy for us to run back to you. We love you. In Jesus name. And everybody said amen. Red rocks at every campus. Would you guys stand? I want to say one last thing before we worship. And it's this. Everything in our world gets old. Everything gets old because of sin. There's now death. So I get old. You get old. Death is real, although it's been defeated. And one day we'll see that in its fullness. But until then, it's like good feelings are just fleeting. And there's something in your. In your heart that knows this is not the way it's supposed to be. Death was never supposed to be our reality. We are made. Eternity is in your heart. And you know you are made to be with God forever. You know you're made for that. But right here and right now, we live in a world where things. Things just get old. We get old. Songs get old. Especially if you're an overplayer like me. My wife hates this, that I do it. But I find like one song and I overplay it and ring every last drop of dopamine out of it until I have to get rid of it and find the next song. Like songs get old. Worship, like series, teaching series get old. That's why we got to start a new one next week. Everything, even the song we're about to sing is and declare somehow it never gets old, telling you that you're worthy. You listen to this song 500 times, it'll get old. But the God that it worships never will. And the truth that it proclaims will stay the same through the ages. For temporary things get old. But God is eternal and he never will. By definition. He was never born and he will never die. He has no beginning and he has no end. So somehow it never gets old telling him that he's worthy. That's because he's the God. You cannot exaggerate. You'll never run out of ways to say thank you. Because you'll always have a million more things to be grateful for. And no matter how much of this God you know, his love for you, his life for you is an infinite ocean of goodness. And no matter how far you swim into it, there will always be an infinite more amount of him for you to experience. Experience. So that's why he will never get old. It will never get old. Worshiping him, telling him he is worthy and lovely and awesome and mighty and powerful and eternal. Come on. All the praise to him. Heaven just got more crowded. Let's give him the glory and let's tell him how awesome he is and worship the God who will never get old. Red rocks. I love you. Let's go.