Formed for Flourishing

Sermon Summary:

This powerful message centers on Romans 12:1-2, offering us a five-step pathway to transformation and flourishing. We’re challenged to start by receiving God’s mercy, not as a theoretical concept but as an experiential reality that changes everything. From there, we’re called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, which is far more demanding than a one-time commitment because it requires daily surrender. The message then addresses our thought life with a simple yet profound challenge: think about what you think about. In our social media-saturated world, we instinctively move toward whatever captures our focus, making it critical that we refuse to conform to worldly patterns and instead choose transformation through renewed minds. The testimonies shared illustrate how this isn’t just religious theory but a lived reality where desperation becomes a gift, weakness becomes strength, and God’s love transforms dumpster fires into displays of His glory. We’re reminded that we don’t have to have it all together, that self-sufficiency is actually contrary to our design, and that running to Jesus rather than from Him opens the door to knowing and doing God’s will.

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Sermon Points:

• Receive God’s mercy
• Offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice
• Refuse to conform to the world
• Choose to be transformed by the renewing of your mind
• Know and do God’s will

Key Takeaways:

• Think about what you think about—your thought life guides everything you do
• Flourishing means living life as God intends, done together in community
• Five steps to flourishing: (1) Receive God’s mercy, (2) Offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice, (3) Refuse to conform to the world, (4) Choose to be transformed by renewing your mind, (5) Know and do God’s will
• Transformation is a daily, continuous process requiring constant surrender, not a one-time event
• Social media often serves as the battleground for conforming versus being transformed
• You instinctively gravitate toward whatever you focus on
• Weakness and desperation are gifts that drive us to depend on God rather than ourselves
• We overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony
• You cannot do the Christian life if you haven’t fallen in love with Jesus and experienced His mercy
• Counterculturally, you don’t “got this”—we are designed for dependence on God, not self-sufficiency

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Scripture References:

• Romans 12:1-2 (primary text): “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
• Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
• Ephesians 3:17-19: Being rooted and established in love to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge
• James 4:6: “God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble”
• Revelation 12:11: We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony

Stories:

• Frances Dobson’s 95th birthday celebration, singing in the choir at 830 service, demonstrating lifelong faithfulness
• Storm damage from the previous night and the church’s Chainsaw Ministry response
• Luke Bridges leading a Texas on Mission team for disaster relief north of the Metroplex
• Frank Fimbres’ testimony: His “mosquito moment” of hitting rock bottom in a backyard, surrounded by mosquitoes in the mud, losing everything to addiction, drugs, and dishonesty before surrendering to God and finding four years of sobriety and restoration
• Karen Fimbres’ testimony: Born from an adulterous affair, losing her mother at 12, raised by an alcoholic father, partying through high school, having an abortion, marrying Frank while both struggled with addiction, reaching 300 pounds while working two church jobs and babysitting, experiencing desperation in 2002 that led to genuine salvation at age 30, becoming a nurse, and now working at Metroplex Women’s Clinic doing pregnancy resource ministry and ultrasounds
• The speaker’s mention of driving lessons: don’t stare at the cliff or ditch but look where you want to go, illustrating how we move toward whatever we focus on

Sermon Transcript:

Thank you, worship team. Before I get started, some of you guys weren’t here when this thing started. We started 11 usually. Ish. Some of y’ all weren’t here.

So you missed the announcements that Brad offered this morning. And I want to make sure you know about these flowers here. These flowers are in honor of Francis Dobson’s 95th birthday. And Francis. Yeah, Francis.

Frances is something if you don’t know her. And so at the 8:30 service, Frances is right up here in the choir just singing her heart out. And I’m thinking how she doesn’t look 95. Fact, I don’t think she looks 85, you know, and so she deserves at least the flowers and then some, but way to go, Frances. Frances Dobson, 95.

Amazing. Amazing. And that just shows you can keep going. You don’t like, retire from this thing, you know, if you’re singing in the choir at 95, you can do anything, you know, it’s amazing. Well, let me, let me set the context again.

Some of you guys are late. So you didn’t get the word. Pastor’s coming back from Alabama. He and Cindy were in Alabama celebrating a wedding this weekend with their lifelong good friends, the Morgans. And so he’ll be here.

In fact, he may. No, he probably won’t make it to the service, but he was flying back from Alabama this morning and he’ll be back with us later today. But in his absence, it’s my privilege to get to speak with you for just a little bit. So let me set the context for you real quick. Some of y’ all are guests and some of y’ all aren’t here every week.

And some of y’ all, frankly, just aren’t paying attention when you are here. So let me set the context for you. We’re on a multi year journey called Flourishing Together. So we have committed to, to minimum three years of flourishing together. And we have defined flourishing as living life as God intends.

Now we are paying attention to what Harvard and Baylor and some other universities are doing with the global flourishing study that we’re a part of. But for our purposes, we’ve simplified it. Just to say flourishing means living life as God intends. But you don’t do this in isolation. We do this together.

We do this together. That’s how we were meant to live. Now for 2026, we’re flourishing together, being transformed on the Jesus way. So we believe the Christian life is a life of transformation. And again, we do that together.

And we do it as we follow Jesus, as we do it on the Jesus way for today. The message is entitled Formed for Flourishing. So I hope you, you find a thread of that truth somewhere in the midst of what we’re going to do here in the next few minutes. But this Easter Tide series from Easter, which we celebrated to Pentecost Sunday, Easter Sunday. To Pentecost Sunday, Easter Tide.

We’re calling Shaped by the Spirit. We believe this transformation takes place as we’re shaped by the spirit of God. And so we’re going to look at that this morning. Now, some of y’, all, you’ve stayed up all night with the storms. I heard storm sirens went off three times at my house last night, 11, 12, 1, the thunder, just all the craziness.

When I got up, looked at my phone, I had 11 notifications from the Weather Channel. And I thought, I don’t need that. I lived it. I don’t need you to tell me. So we know that some people had damage and I hate that there may be some dented cars from hail and some limbs down and all.

And let me tell you, we told the 8:30 service, if you know someone that has a need downed tree, we’ve got folks Chainsaw Ministry, we can come help with that. In fact, this morning, Luke Bridges took some of our folks, Texas, on Mission to do disaster relief up north of the metroplex. I don’t exactly know where there was a tornado that touched down north of the metroplex. And so we already have a team that’s heading up there to respond in that emergency. So after the service, you can stop by the welcome Home center tomorrow, call the office.

And if you think there’s a way our church might be able to minister and help someone, then please let us know. But all that was just to say some of y’ all didn’t get much sleep last night. So before you nod off, zone out, or have to leave early, let me give you the takeaway. All right, so here’s your takeaway. If you don’t get anything else, get this.

You need to think about what you think about.

Don’t give me that duh look. You need to think about what you think about. It’s important. What you think matters. Matters a lot.

In fact, your thought life guides pretty much everything you do. So my challenge to you, if you want to be transformed on the Jesus way, if you want to flourish, if you want to live life as God intends, think about what you think about. And let me give you a verse to support that. Philippians 4. 8.

Finally, brothers and sisters, that’s us. Whatever is true, whatever is noble. Whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. So my question to you is, so where do you usually go to find true, pure, noble, Right? Lovely, Excellent.

You know, I. I hope that’s what we’re doing right here. You know, I hope that’s what we’re doing. So if, if nothing else, I hope you can find this kind of content when you come to church. What about tomorrow? Where are you going to go for this kind of content tomorrow?

Well, you need to think about it because you’re responsible for it. I’ll offer a shameless plug. I write a daily devotional. That wouldn’t be the worst thing that ever happened to you. So if you haven’t signed up for it yet, I always encourage you to do that.

I promise you this. It’s better than nothing. So if you need a place to start, sign up, subscribe to the daily devotional. But just remember, you’re responsible for what you think about. And as followers of Jesus, we need to think about what we think about.

And so I said that 2026 is all about being transformed on the Jesus Way. The text today formed for Flourishing is our core text for the whole year. It’s Romans 12, 1 and 2. And this is our theme passage for the whole year 2026. Let me share it with you.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will.

I believe this passage gives us five steps, five very basic steps to flourishing, to living life as God intends, to being transformed on the Jesus Way. And it’s a essential progression. You can’t jump to number two or number three or number four. You’ve got to start with number one. And here’s where it all starts.

God’s mercy. Paul says, in view of God’s mercy. In other words, based on God’s incredible love for you, God’s unimaginable compassion and forgiveness and grace for you in view of God’s mercy. Here’s where the rest of it comes in. So you have to start with receiving God’s mercy.

You know, I feel like there are a lot of people who are trying to do the Christian like they’re trying to do the Christian life. And they’ve never fallen in love with Jesus. You can’t do the Christian life if you’ve not experienced God’s love. If you don’t know this love. In fact, let me, let me share another bonus passage for you in Ephesians, chapter three.

Listen to this. I pray that you, you being rooted and established in love, man, I hope you’re rooted, established in love. That’s how we’re meant to live. That’s how we flourish. I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord’s holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

And to know this love, that Greek word know is that this gnosis is experiential. It’s not theoretical, it’s, it’s not abstract. This is experiential love. You have experienced it personally, you know it intimately. It’s intimate, personal love.

To know this love that surpasses knowledge. Why? So that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Receive God’s mercy. That’s where it all starts.

And honestly, that is unavoidable. Because if you don’t do that, you can’t really do anything else. But the second point, if you receive God’s mercy, then you want to offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice. Offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice. Now let’s be honest.

If you haven’t experienced God’s love personally, if you don’t know God like that, if you don’t trust God, if you’re not in awe of God, you’re not going to offer yourself to him. You’re not going to risk it all and give yourself completely to Him. The only way you would do that is if you know how desperate you are and how awesome he is. And when you have received God’s mercy, then you need to then offer yourself to him as a living sacrifice. Now, a dead sacrifice is okay, but a dead sacrifice in the old covenant, that’s an extreme one time thing.

You know, a dead sacrifice, it’s dead and it’s done. And that was an extreme thing. But let me tell you about a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice is a continuous, demanding responsibility that involves every area of your life. It’s daily placing yourself on the altar, setting yourself apart for God and his purposes.

That’s hard work, y’. All. That’s hard. That’s getting up every day, getting after it, being a living sacrifice devoted to God. So after you do that, number three, refuse to conform to the world.

Now we got to receive God’s mercy. We offer ourselves as living sacrifice, and then we got to refuse to conform to the world around us. That’s really where that think about what you think about kicks in. And let me tell you, I believe for most people, the battle for this is on social media.

Say it again. Refusing to conform to the world around you, thinking about what you think about committing to being transformed. I believe for a lot of people, the battleground is social media. Not a bad place for you to start as you consider what you’re giving yourself to. And let me tell you why this matters.

Because you instinctively gravitate towards whatever you’re focused on. You know, when you. When you learn to drive, man, don’t, don’t stare at the cliff. Don’t. Don’t look at the, you know, the ditch on the side.

Look. Look straight ahead. Look where you want to go. Because you naturally move towards whatever it is you’re focusing on. So think about what you’re focusing on.

Think about what you’re thinking about, because that’s where you’ll instinctively begin to move towards. So choose that. Don’t conform. Choose that. That leads us to number four.

Choose to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. After you’ve received God’s love, after you’ve offered yourself to him daily as a living sacrifice, you’ve chosen to refuse to conform to the world. Now you choose to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It’s not enough to just not do the wrong stuff. I mean, that’s important, to not do the wrong stuff.

But then you got to do the right stuff. In fact, the right stuff, if you pursue it, pushes out the wrong stuff. You got to be committed to give that up. But then you’ve got to fill your life with the other. And when you choose to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, it happens from the inside out.

You’re shaped by the spirit, and God begins to do an incredible work in your life. Now, I know a lot of you could share a testimony. Frank Carigny all coming up here. A lot of y’ all could share a testimony about how God’s working in your life. But I’ve gotten to know Frank and Carol Fimbres over the last year.

I’ve had the honor of serving as Frank’s mentor in his recovery program. And this is his lovely wife, Karen. So I want them to take a moment just to share their testimony with you and see if you can resonate with that. Go ahead, brother.

Before I Get started. I just want to express my thanks. I was sitting there listening to the band and to Kurt and thinking what a privilege it is to hear God’s truth and love every day in song and in sermon. And I hope that we hear God’s truth today in our testimonies.

My name’s Frank. Good morning. Before I fully surrendered to God, my life was Marked by selfishness and pride. And the fruit of that in my life showed up as alcoholism, drug addiction, lust, pornography, anxiety, dishonesty, and all sorts of other issues. And unfortunately for Karen, I carried that into our marriage.

The pattern of my life was a cycle. I would get out of control, rein myself back in. I’d repent, then rebuild trust, and then slowly drift right back into the same behavior. And over time, that cycle didn’t get any better for me, it got worse.

I remember one moment that really shows where I was spiritually. I was driving in my car, crying. I was on my way to a drug dealer’s house. I didn’t want to go, and I knew better, but I still went anyway.

I was powerless, and that’s where I was. I wasn’t just making bad decisions. I was trapped in something that I couldn’t overcome on my own. Internally, I was dealing with addiction and pride and fear. Fear that I would never live up to expectations as a husband, as a father, or as a provider.

And instead of facing these things head on, if I couldn’t control something, I just ignored it and avoided it. Spiritually, I believed in God, but I had not surrendered to him.

God felt distant. And my motivation was more about avoiding making him angry instead of getting to know Him. For me, the turning point came at what I like to call my mosquito moment. I had lost everything. My family was fractured.

I didn’t have transportation, a vehicle. I didn’t have any possessions to really speak of. And I found myself in the backyard of a house. No, in the mud and surrounded by mosquitoes. In that moment, I broke.

I said, I can’t keep living like this. And for the first time in my life, I truly cried out to God. Looking back now, I see that the pain and affliction that I experienced was God in his love, calling me to repent and to return to Him. That moment led me to surrender, and I went to rehab. And then I ran from rehab.

But I kept coming back. And I began to be honest, really honest for the first time in my life. And I confessed what I had hidden for years. And so God placed in my life people and men that I could trust. Men like Kurt and men in my recovery group at Regeneration and celebrate recovery.

And he also let me keep a wife who reminded me that she was on my team.

I stopped trying to control everything, and I finally surrendered to God. What God has done didn’t stop at surrender, though. That’s where transformation began in our marriage. There’s more joy now, more openness, more understanding. It’s not perfect.

Ask her.

But there’s much more of what’s good in life. One of the biggest changes in my life is prayer. I start and end my day each day on my knees, praying. And I also pray for my wife and my family and my church family and others. Addiction and dishonesty have lost much of their power.

Not because I’m perfect, but because I’m no longer hiding.

I live in honesty now. Following Christ today means being present in my marriage and in my family and in my responsibilities. I just celebrated four years of sobriety from drug use.

Thank you, guys.

And I’ve held a steady job for almost three years, and I’ve even been promoted.

My wife and my children never stopped praying for me. They kept that door open. And now, by God’s grace, I get to be a grandfather. A generational blessing that I don’t take lightly. I used to be an absent father and a negligent husband.

But God is changing all that, and I’m still being changed daily. If God had not been kind and merciful to me, my wife and my children right now might be my enemies, and I might not even know my own grandchildren. But God and his grace changed everything. Transformation isn’t just about recovery. It’s about discipleship.

God didn’t just rescue me. He’s renewing me daily. Thanks for letting me share.

I’m Karen Pembrez. If Frank’s mom and I had known it was just mosquitoes, we would have prayed a different prayer for 30 years, you know? But I’m Karen. I have a new life in Christ, and I have three minutes to just give you a snapshot of the goodness of God. It’s hard.

I was born the fruit of an adulterous affair. I never quite fit in with my siblings on either side, growing up, usually experiencing poverty, frequently lacking resources. My mom died suddenly when I was 12, and then my depressed, controlling, alcoholic father raised me. I started partying high school and partied my way through high school. After high school, I met Frank at a party, and we continued to party.

We used alcohol and drugs. And then I ended up getting pregnant, feeling unsupported and afraid to tell My dad. I had an abortion. About a year later, Frank and I got married. And then soon after that I got pregnant again.

Thankfully, I was able to stop drinking and using drugs. And I know that’s a gift of God that I could. But Frank could not. Flash forward eight years. It was 2002.

Frank’s addiction was raging like a tornado and consuming him and everyone and everything around him. Likewise, my fears, anxieties, resentments, anger, futile efforts at self protection and image control were consuming me and those around me. I was approaching £300. I had three small children. I was the wife of an addict, loaded with unhealed childhood wounds, working at two churches, babysitting to make ends meet.

I was surviving every day in my own strength and I was sinking quickly. I had little to no human support because I wouldn’t let anyone know what was really going on. I was afraid that I or my children would be rejected because of my husband’s addiction, but that in 2002 I was given a gift in all of these things. I was given the gift of desperation. In his kindness.

God used the culmination of my circumstances and he coupled that with my weakness to birth new life in me. I had always felt God existed. I prayed for salvation at 7. I was baptized at 12, but wasn’t truly born again in the spirit till I was 30. In that season of desperation, I was willing to do what it took to get relief from the pain that I was feeling.

My prayers before that had been God change Frank, God change my circumstances. Now I was praying for God to change me or do whatever necessary to bring me relief. I began to read my Bible and begged God, God for understanding. Up to that point, I’d never understood. I was convinced that he had things he wanted to tell me through His Word.

One day when I was in my spending time with God, it dawned on me that I had broken all ten commandments. Not just in thought, but also, indeed, yes, even murder. The Lord convicted me that the abortion that I had was taking a life. And I thought to myself, I’ve done all of this, this and God still wants me. I’ve done all of this and he still loves me.

How can I rebel against that love? So I quit rebelling. And anytime I say I, I know that that’s the Holy Spirit’s work in me. I nothing good lives in me that you know. I know that it’s the Holy Spirit’s work in my life.

I also made up my mind to believe whatever I read in the Bible. Instead of arguing with God’s word or dismissing it. I assumed that it was all true. And if it didn’t make sense, there must be information that I did not know. Duh, right?

God’s so big. Not long into this daily seeking, I began to discern his voice for myself. In my thoughts, I could sense his spirit and his leading. Small, manageable instructions and the courage to follow them out. Gentle corrections, not harsh commands.

He’s gentle and humble in heart. Day by day, little by little, he was changing me from the inside out. My thoughts, my activities, the words of my mouth. He was enabling me to take my thoughts captive and hear the lies that were running on repeat in the back of my mind that were fueling bad moods and bad attitudes. Over time, I began to have a quiet mind, quieter mind, no longer a centrifuge of fears and resentments.

I could sit in the quiet. It was peaceful and I liked it. I looked forward to getting up early and spending time in God’s word and prayer. This time with him became the foundation of my days that he used to build a new life. Increasingly being relieved from guilt and shame, I desired to come more and more into the light.

I also started to attend small group Bible studies. I sought counseling. Eventually I attended recovery programs like Celebrate Recovery and most recently Christian recovery programs called Regeneration. I was refreshed by their honesty and transparency. I was encouraged by their support and the accountability of staying in the light.

God used these programs in my life to anchor me in hard times and continue to teach me, disciple me and heal me. Being a part of these programs, God really used me to keep my heart open for Frank and keep interceding for him and praying for him and not give up and not lose hope. It was really a lot of suffering to keep my heart open and pray. That prayer, it was humiliating. And God said, be humiliated for him because I was humiliated for you.

And I said, you were. Lord, Yeah, pray for your. Pray for your lost ones. I know all of us have people in our heart and even if God doesn’t answer and it’s slow in answering and it’s humiliating, keep asking him. He’s listening and he’s moving.

Even if you don’t see it, it’s going to be beautiful one day. I’m seeing it right now. I participated and now I lead in Christian recovery. I’ve led in Christian recovery programs and been able to comfort others with the comfort that I’ve received. God also called me and during this crazy times in my life through college to become a nurse, he helped me.

I could not have done it. This enabled me to support my children and prepare me for the ministry I get to do today, which is pregnancy resource ministry. I work for the Metroplex Women’s Clinic here in Arlington, a Christian nonprofit. I get to work daily with women who are trapped in fears and considering abortion. I get the honor of seeing and introducing them to their unborn babies through sonogram and also in getting to pray and hope that they choose life for their babies and themselves.

He truly gives beauty for ashes. God is redeeming the worst moments of my life for good and his glory. Being anchored to Christ His Word and joined with his people, I’ve not only been able to survive but to thrive and persevere. I still need the Lord every moment of every day. I am as desperate now for him as when I first called out to him.

Maybe more because by his grace and mercy he’s asked me to do walk on water. The things that he asked me to do in life every day. Like being a God honoring wife, a mom, a grandma, a nurse, caring for aging loved ones. Peacemaker, disciple, disciple maker. Producing fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control.

All of that’s too hard for me. I can’t do it. I never could. I never will be able to. But he can.

Christ in me is the hope of glory, not me. And me I have to remind myself I need to lean on him because he’s the glory Maker. I can’t do these things on my own strength and I can’t white knuckle holy and thankfully he doesn’t want me to. He doesn’t want us to to. He doesn’t ask us to.

In fact in James 4:6 he tells us God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Over and over he says come to me, seek me, ask of me. If I can leave you with one thing, it’s a big thing. Let me leave you with this counter culturally you don’t got this. You are not enough.

You were not made to be self sufficient. Quit pulling yourself up by your own boob straps. That’s not what you your intended design. Our weakness is not a curse, it is a blessing. That desperation is a gift.

Don’t pretend to have it all together. Quit wasting your efforts on fig leaves trying to cover up. Run to Jesus, not from Jesus. Tell him everything. Let him know you confess your inability to God in authentic Christian friends that you can trust.

Allow yourself to be known. Sit with God in His Word for frequently and agree with what His Word says even if you don’t understand it all, take him at his word and listen. Yield to the Holy Spirit, because He still saves, he still heals, he still sets captives free, he still gives new life, and he still brings dry bones back to life. Amen. Thank you for letting me share.

Thank you, Frank and Karen, for preaching our sermon this morning. And what a powerful sermon it is. Revelation 12:11 says that we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb. And the word of our testimony. Jesus has taken care of the blood of the Lamb part.

It’s up to us to share the word of our testimony. And it’s hard. That was not easy, but it was the right thing to do. And it was God honoring. And I believe it touched you.

It resonated with you. If we’re going to be real with each other, somebody’s got to go first, right? If we’re going to be real, somebody’s got to go first. And I’m grateful for Frank and Karen’s willingness to go first. Maybe to make it a little bit safer for us to be real with each other.

Drag that stuff into the light out of my bondage Sorrow strife Jesus, I come Jesus, I come when you’ve done everything that we’ve said, then that fifth one is a whole lot easier. You can know and do God’s will when you know his love, the way they’ve shared. Knowing his love. When you offer yourself completely, because why wouldn’t you? When you refuse to conform to what the world’s telling you, when you choose instead to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then, my friends, you can know and do God’s will.

Let me pray for us, Father. You know our hearts. You know right now what each one of us is dealing with. I thank youk for the truth that’s been shared and the power of testimony. When we talk about what Jesus Christ has done in our lives, and it’s not until we’re willing to admit to ourselves and everybody else that we’re a dumpster fire, we’re a big hot mess left to ourselves.

And we can look good and clean ourselves up and say the right things and pretend. But until we’ve experienced your love completely to the depths of our being, then we don’t know how bad we need you. And we’re not willing to trust you with everything. Oh, but when we do, Lord, we’ve discovered that better way. We’ve discovered what flourishing is really all about.

And so this morning, I pray that your Holy Spirit might touch each one at our point of need and that we would respond to you with yes, help us to do that. For our sake and for your glory. In Jesus name, amen.