What Are You Doing For God's

When Good Gifts Lose Their Luster

Anybody like sushi? Put your hand up if you like sushi. Okay, put your hands down. I just wanted to set expectations. I haven’t got sushi to hand out. If you've known me for any length of time, you'll know that around me there’s never any spare food. So no, there’s no sushi to hand out.

The reason I asked if you like sushi is that sushi is one of those things that starts off good and then gets less good. I’ll often think, “I quite like sushi,” and then after a while my brain says, “Nick, you’re eating raw fish. This is weird.” And then I stop liking it, and then I don’t like it at all. And then the next time, I think, “Sushi is great!” and the whole cycle starts again. It’s this kind of diminishing returns.

And it’s not just sushi. There are other things in our lives, in our society, and in our experience that start off great and then they just slowly degrade. Something may begin as something good, and over time it can become something that’s not good at all.

Recovering the True Meaning of “For God’s Sake”

I want to talk this morning about a phrase that started off good, then gradually got worse, and now we hardly use it at all—but I think we should.

The phrase is: “For God’s sake.”

Some of you twitched a little bit when I said that. You flinched inside because there’s a man standing at the front with a microphone who just said that “terrible” phrase. “I can’t believe he said it in church.” The fact that it feels shocking now is actually proof that the phrase has changed.

When that phrase was used originally, it was used properly. It meant that we should do things for the sake of God—on account of Him, to honour Him. But over time, it degraded. It became something you’d say when you were annoyed or frustrated.

Then people still wanted to say the phrase, but they didn’t want to get into trouble. So they removed “God” and started to say, “For heaven’s sake,” or “For goodness’ sake.” Or they picked on the guy who supposedly stands at the gates of heaven to let people in: “For Pete’s sake.” We still want to say the phrase, but we don’t actually want to say “God” in the middle, because somehow that feels a bit bad. So we swap it out.

But I want to talk to you this morning about “for God’s sake.” And I have to confess: I enjoy saying that phrase, “for God’s sake.”

Living for the Sake of His Name

There are lots of places in the Bible where the phrase “for the sake of his name” is used. One of the most familiar is Psalm 23:3: “He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

It does not say, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness so that I can feel good about myself.” It does not say he leads me in the paths of righteousness because I am such a wonderful person. It says, “for his name’s sake.” That means “on account of his name.” God leads me in the paths of righteousness on account of who he is.

So there are parts of Scripture where God does things on our behalf because of who he is, for his name’s sake. He does it because that’s what he is like. In all the passages where it says “for the sake of his name,” and it is referring to God, that’s what it means.

Here are a few more.

1 Samuel 12:22: “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” That’s about him.

Psalm 25:11: “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”

When the verse has to do with someone other than God, it still means “on account of God’s name,” because of his reputation—which is an interesting concept we’ll come back to.

Matthew 10:22: “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

John 15:21: “But all these things they will do to you for my name’s sake, because they do not know him who sent me.”

There are lots of places that use the phrase “for the sake of his name,” or “for his name’s sake,” or, as I’m saying today, “for God’s sake.” But there’s one verse I want to focus on to help us think this through.

Revelation 2:3 says, “And you have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for my name’s sake and have not become weary.”

Here’s the question I want to ask you: Are you living for God’s sake? Let me take it a bit further—maybe a little bit cheeky: What are you doing for God’s sake?

There’s a guy called Fred Craddock, who was a professor in a Bible college in America, and he got all of his students together—future pastors—and explained this concept that has really helped me over the years.

He said that what we like to do as human beings is we like the flashy moment, the one big dramatic act. We like that because it feels good to us, and it’s a big expression of whatever it is we’re trying to express. We like the “Road to Damascus” moment, where Saul is knocked off his horse, has an incredible encounter with God, and his life is changed forever. We love that big moment.

But what we often don’t realise is that, while the road to Damascus is a significant moment—of course it is—the road to Emmaus is just as significant. The difference between the two is that one was big and dramatic, and the other was quiet and ordinary. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus walked with those disciples the whole time, and they didn’t even recognise him at first. It was just a simple conversation as they walked from one place to another, but Jesus was with them.

That’s a free sermon if you want it: the road to Damascus versus the road to Emmaus.

Fred Craddock said we like the one big flashy moment where we lay our lives down and say, “Lord, here is my life. It’s worth a thousand pounds. I lay it all down for you.” Big moment. Powerful. And that is good.

But he said that’s not really what God is usually asking of us. God, as it were, takes that thousand pounds and gives it back to us and says, “I want you to cash this in for 50p coins. Then I want you to give 50p here, 50p there, 50p somewhere else.”

Looking after those kids so their mum can go and do some chores—that’s 50p. Helping that woman cross the road—that’s 50p. Getting some groceries for someone who’s really struggling at the moment—that’s 50p.

It’s in the continual, ordinary moments where we’re offering ourselves to God that we really live for God’s sake. It’s the way that we give ourselves to him day after day. That is how we live “for his name’s sake.” It’s not just the one big dramatic moment.

For many of us there is a moment where we recognise who Jesus is, where we realise his love for us and our need for a Saviour. That is a big moment, and I’m not casting any shade on that—it’s important.

But the way we respond to that moment is not by leaving it there and thinking, “Jesus, I gave my life to you; I won’t think about that again until next Sunday.” It’s not just in the one big decision. It’s in the small, repeated decisions, day by day, where we say, “I offer myself to you. I offer myself to you in obedience. I offer myself to you for your name’s sake.”

So let me ask you again: What are you doing for God’s sake?

Living Worthily for God’s Sake

There are three people I want to look at to help us think this through – how we can structure and posture our lives in a way that reflects the fact that we are people called to live for His sake.

The first person is David, one of my favorite characters in the Bible. I have a bit of a reputation that whenever I speak, I’ll read a passage of Scripture and say, “This is my favorite passage,” or I’ll talk about a character and say, “This is my favorite character in the Bible,” because it’s true – they all are. But David really is one of my favorites.

Not because he slayed the giant. Not because he was a worship leader, which I do from time to time. Not because he led as a king. He’s one of my favorite characters because he was utterly flawed. Utterly flawed as a human being. And I think we can find comfort in knowing that God uses people who are utterly flawed.

David was a great king, but he was a terrible dad. If you look at his life and the way he interacted with his children, he was not a good parent. He also had an affair with someone and then got her husband killed. So we’re not holding David up as an example of virtue. We’re holding him up as someone who was flawed, but who returned to God.

David ends Psalm 19 with a great statement you may be aware of: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.” I think this needs to replace “Live, Laugh, Love” in people’s houses. If you’ve got that, you need to take it down and put up: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.”

What he was saying was, “Lord, let everything I say and think honor You. Let everything I say and think honor You. Let everything about me be for Your sake.” He was not perfect. And I wonder if, later on in Scripture when it refers to David as “a man after God’s own heart,” this is what it was referring to – that even though he was messed up and even though he made mistakes, there was something in him that drew him to God, that caused him to say things like, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight.” He said things like, “Lord, my soul longs after You. Your love is better than life.” He was someone who tried, in his own way, to live for God’s sake.

Living for God’s sake also means ensuring that the way we live and the things we do don’t reflect negatively on God.

Not so long ago, there was a huge issue in the cricketing world, if you like cricket. And I’m only mentioning this because of the phrase they used. The phrase was, “They were bringing the game into disrepute.” I quite like that phrase: bringing the game into disrepute. They were doing things in a way that was thought to be dishonoring to this precious game.

You’ll notice nobody ever says that about football, because it’s just continually in disrepute. To be fair, people will probably end up saying, “They’re bringing the game into repute” – that’s what it’s going to take with football! But cricket is a different game.

To bring something into disrepute basically means: what you’re doing isn’t adding anything to its good reputation; it’s actually taking away from its good reputation.

And I wonder if we ever consider the way that we live in those terms. Are we adding to the reputation of who God is and what His word says? Or is the way we’re living, and the things we do and say, taking away from the reputation of who God is and who He says we should be according to His word?

In ancient times, in Old Testament times, there was a group of people whose responsibility it was to do the things in the temple – the Levites. The priests of the temple would come from the tribe of Levi, and they had very strict rules about what to do, when to do it, and how to behave.

If you’ve ever worked your way through the Old Testament, you get to Leviticus and it is hard work. Leviticus is hard work – rules and regulations and very fine details about what to do with very fine things. I am very grateful that we live in the time we do, because I know that if we had to follow those rules, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I wouldn’t remember those things. I wouldn’t remember what order to do them in. I’d be like, “God, I’ve messed up. I’ve done the flour and the oil in the wrong order. I’ve done it again. I’ve forgotten which way round it goes.” I’d forget how to do those things.

But they had a very strict code of how to live and how to behave.

The Bible says in 1 Peter that we are priests, which means that maybe we don’t have to live by the Old Testament code and remember all of those details, but there is still an acceptable code of behavior. There is an acceptable way we should be, what we should say, and how we should represent our King.

So, is your life adding to the reputation of God’s name, or is it bringing it into disrepute? Are you living for God’s sake?

Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The thing about living for God’s sake is that it has to have evidence. If you are truly living for God’s sake, there will be evidence in your life that you are.

David had another encounter that I really like. There was a moment when he had to make an offering. It’s a long story and I can’t give you the whole context, but there was a plague happening, and David knew, “I’m going to have to offer an offering here, and when I do that, the plague will stop.”

So he decides to do that. He goes to a field and meets the man who owns it and says, “I need to buy your field. I need to carry out an offering here.” The man says, “You are the king, you can have the field. In fact, I’ve got some oxen and I’ve got a cart there. You can use the wood, you can kill the oxen, you can have it all. You are the king.”

David says something incredible that challenges me to my core. He says, “No, I’m going to pay for it.” The man says, “You’re the king, you can have it for free. It’s fine. Absolutely – this plague needs to stop, so you can have it for free.”

And David says, “No. I will not offer to the Lord something that costs me nothing. I will not offer to the Lord something that costs me nothing.”

The Costly Evidence of Living for God

That’s incredible. That is incredible. That is a man who understands what it means to live for God’s sake.

Because it isn’t about the easy way out or the convenient way out. It’s, “This is going to cost me something. But it is good that it costs me something, because I’m living for something that is greater than I am.”

He does this incredible act of worship to God and causes the plague to stop. He took every opportunity he could to bring glory to God.

Living for God’s sake has to have evidence.

Paul’s Passion for God’s Glory

The second person who, I think, really lives for God’s sake is the Apostle Paul.

Paul is a great example of someone whose whole life became about God’s purposes. I mentioned earlier that encounter he had on the road, where he was absolutely passionate about what he thought were the things of God, but in reality he was persecuting the early church. God meets him on the road as he’s going to carry out more persecution, has a conversation with him, and his life is completely changed.

I’d love to dig into that more because it’s so powerful, but the key point is this: Paul is a different person after that encounter. He is a different person, and every decision he makes, everywhere he goes, it seems he’s now driven by a desire to do what God wants.

One of the things I like about Paul is that he enjoys a bit of a rant from time to time. If you read his letters in the New Testament, Paul likes a little rant. Most of his letters follow a similar pattern: “Hey guys, it’s Paul. Greetings in the name of Jesus. Stop doing what you’re doing. Blessings from me.” That’s basically the template of Paul’s letters. But every now and then he goes on a deeper rant, and I want to read one of those to you.

This is from his second letter to the Corinthians, who were in a terrible mess. If you read 1 and 2 Corinthians, you’ll see that Paul was dealing with all sorts of issues. He gets to a point where people are talking about what they’ve done, who’s more impressive, who has more authority than him, and in his letter Paul just loses it a bit. I sometimes wonder if he regretted it later. I don’t know. If he did, we can ask him when we get to heaven.

He says this in 2 Corinthians 11:

“What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

“Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move.

“I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false brothers.

“I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked.

“Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”

He has this little rant, and he lists all the things that have happened in his life. But in the middle of the rant, it becomes very clear that he is driven by something more than himself. Because you don’t go through all of that if you’re just living for your own comfort or reputation. Most of us, if we went through one of those things, would probably say, “That’s it. I’ve had enough.” But Paul keeps going.

The list of what he suffered shows us that he was living for something bigger than himself. He was living for God’s sake.

Later on, in Philippians 1:21, he says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In the Amplified Version it says something like this: “For me, to live is Christ—He is my source of joy and my reason to live—and to die is gain, for I will be with Him in eternity.”

Anyone can say those words. Anyone in the room could say, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” I could stand here, say it, and it would sound very spiritual. Words are easy. Actions are completely different. The way that Paul lived shows that he meant what he said. He really was living for God’s sake.

Now, I’m not saying you’re going to have to be beaten, or shipwrecked, or spend a night and a day in the open sea, or have stones thrown at you, or go through all the specific things Paul talks about. What I am saying is this: we need to understand that we are called to live for something bigger than ourselves. We are called to live for God’s sake.

Sometimes that will mean life is difficult. Sometimes it will mean that it’s hard. But that’s okay, because we’re living for something—and for Someone—greater than ourselves.

Living for God’s sake carries with it an awareness that we are always visible to Him, and our desire is to please Him, to make Him happy with the way we live.

Living Worship That Pleases God

Sally mentioned that we've done kids’ work, and we really have done a lot of it over our lives. For about 30 years we did kids’ camp every year.

One of the things I love to do at kids’ camp is interact with the children, because they’ve got some nuggets that we need. The moment you think, “I have all the information, children, and I’m going to bestow it upon you,” you’ve missed the point, because they have things to teach us.

I remember doing a session—this must be at least 15 years ago now, but I can still remember it clearly. I was talking about worship and I said, “Hey kids, can anyone tell me what worship means?” Some children put their hands up, so I got them out to the front. I was passing the microphone down the line, which is a slightly dangerous thing to do with children because they can say anything. You have to be confident that whatever comes out of their mouths, you can mop it up if you need to. But I’d been doing it for a while, so I felt confident.

So I’m passing the microphone down: “What does it mean to worship? What does worship mean?” The first child says something like, “It’s when we pray. That’s like worshipping God.” Everyone’s like, “Yay, that’s great.” Then you pass it along and they’re saying all the things you’d expect children to say about worship—the things you would probably say about worship.

It gets to the end, to this eight‑year‑old girl. She takes the microphone and she says, “Worship is anything we do that makes God smile.”

In that moment I thought, “I don’t know what to say.” I was at a loss for words. “Anything we do that makes God smile.” There was a moment of silence where that landed. You know when someone says something and it just lands in the room? It landed in the room. And I thought, that is powerful—because it’s true.

Anything you do that makes God smile.

Don’t think that when you come on a Sunday and you stand up and sing some songs—wonderful as that is—that that alone is worship. That’s a part of worship. That’s the sung part of worship, if you like. The fact that you’re sitting, listening to someone talk through some things from Scripture is also worship. The way you interact with people on a day‑to‑day basis is also worship.

And if that definition is true—anything we do that makes God smile is worship—then that’s how we live for God’s sake: by asking, “What am I doing today that is going to make God smile?”

Jesus and the Cost of Obedience

The final person I want to talk about—the best example of someone who lived for God’s sake—is Jesus.

Jesus lived for God’s sake when He was on this planet. Everything about His life was oriented around the Father.

I remember being in Morrisons in town when our children were young. We’ve got two children, Caitlin and Ethan. Caitlin’s 22, Ethan’s 24—don’t ask me why I got their ages muddled in my head back then. Ethan’s getting married in September, which is mad, isn’t it? We don’t talk about it too much because I’m not old enough to have a child who’s getting married!

Anyway, we were in Morrisons and Caitlin decided that it would be a good idea to go and hide. That was her idea of fun. So she hid, and we couldn’t find her. If you’ve ever lost a child in a supermarket, or on the beach, or wherever, it’s a sensation that is very hard to describe—the cold feeling in your stomach, the panic.

She hadn’t just hidden behind something; she was small enough to hide under a shelf. So even though we were looking for her, we couldn’t find her. We had to go to reception and say, “There’s a child missing.” Then they have to make that secret announcement—“Code 15” or whatever it is—and members of staff go to each entrance to make sure no children leave the building until the child is found.

Eventually we found Caitlin. And of course we were very kind and gracious with her for putting us through that and taking years off our lives as we tried to find her hiding under the shelf.

Now, imagine that sensation of losing your child. Then imagine knowing that your child is the Son of God—and losing Him. That has to be even worse.

Imagine an angel turning up and telling you that you’re going to have a child, and that He will be the Son of God, who will save His people from their sins. Imagine carrying that promise, that calling… and then you lose that child.

Imagine what’s happening in Mary’s heart and in Joseph’s heart when they realise they’ve lost Jesus for three days. It wasn’t like 30 minutes in Morrisons—though that felt like forever to us. This was three days. They go back into Jerusalem, desperately looking, and they find Him sitting in the temple, chatting with the teachers.

You can almost hear them: “Let me tell you, Son, what you’ve put us through!” And Jesus replies, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” or, in some translations, “about my Father’s business.” In other words, “I am here for God’s sake. I am living for God’s sake.”

As an adult, Jesus carries on saying the same kind of thing. He says, “I don’t say anything other than what I’ve heard from the Father.” In John 6:38 He says, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.” He’s effectively saying, “I don’t say anything God hasn’t told me to say. I don’t do anything God hasn’t told me to do. I am here, but everything I am doing is for God’s sake.”

In the Garden of Gethsemane, He takes His friends and says, “Will you wait with Me and pray with Me?” and they fall asleep. He then prays that incredible, emotional prayer: “If there’s another way, let’s do the other way. I don’t want to do this,” because He knew what was coming. “I don’t want to do this. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

That is proof of living for God’s sake. We know we’re living for God’s sake when we do something we don’t particularly want to do, but we know we should. It’s not all rainbows and flowers and roses and ice cream. Sometimes we need to do difficult things.

We know we’re living for God’s sake when we choose the difficult thing because we know it’s what God wants us to do, rather than the easy thing which is what we want to do. Living for God’s sake means His will comes before our wants. His will comes before our wants.

That means sometimes we may have to sacrifice some things. Sometimes things will cost us. It may mean we have to reset our priorities.

Ordering Life for God’s Sake

What are your priorities? Do your life priorities represent and demonstrate that you are living for God’s sake? Or if someone examined your life, would they only be able to say that you are living for you—your ideas of what is good, your ideas of what is important?

I was reading recently in Chronicles, where Solomon dedicates the temple. It was a huge moment. You can read it—it’s a massive, beautiful celebration. He builds the temple and then they dedicate it. There are lots of sacrifices happening, lots of worship happening. The Bible says that the presence of God filled the temple so much that the people who were serving there couldn’t even do their work anymore. Incredible.

Solomon prays over the temple and he says things like, “God, may your presence be here. When people need to bring things to you, may they come here, may you hear them. When people have needs, may they come here, may you hear them.” It’s just such an incredible moment.

I know at some point soon you’ll be in a building, so I’m sure Tom and some of the team are “gathering the animals” ready for all the sacrifices that are going to be made for the dedication! But as I was reading this last week, I found myself thinking, “This isn’t our priority anymore.” Buildings are amazing—don’t get me wrong, buildings are a gift. But we don’t dedicate the building in the same way, and everyone doesn’t have to go to the building to hear from God.

The Bible says the Holy Spirit lives in us. In fact, it says, “You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

And just to give you a peek into my slightly weird brain, I started doing something a little bit strange over the last two weeks. I wake up in the morning and I say, “God, this is your temple. I dedicate it to you. I pray that you will come and live here. I pray that you will hear the things that are said here, that you will ensure that this honours you, because this is the temple.”

Maybe that’s a good thing for you to start doing if you want to be someone who lives for God’s sake: to recognise that each day you have is a gift, and to honour that by saying, “God, whatever I say and do today, I want it to represent and reflect the fact that I’m living for your sake.”

Colossians chapter 3, verse 23 says, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.

So what are you doing for God’s sake? How are you living for God’s sake? Does your life represent and reflect the fact that you are living for God’s sake?

Let’s pray. Let’s bow our heads for a moment. I know usually we’d have some music, but I want this to be… I just want it to be raw.

Living for God’s Sake Alone

I'm going to ask for two things, really, and this is an opportunity for you to respond to Jesus this morning.

The first is for people who love God. You’ve encountered him in some way. You would call yourself a follower of Jesus, just like I would. And, just like me, you recognize that there are times in your life where you’ve made some decisions, or life just gets busy, and you realize that actually, even with good intentions, you’re not really living for God’s sake—you’re living for your own.

I need reminding of this from time to time. The whole stuff about the temple that I read last week really reminded me that I need to be careful to ensure that I’m living for his sake, for God’s sake, and not for my sake.

I just want to give you that opportunity, in your heart, to say, “Lord, I want you to help me. Help me to live for your sake. If there are things I need to cut out of my life, show them to me. If there are things that I need to add to my life, show them to me. But I want to be a person who lives for God’s sake, that it would be evident.”

If that’s you, just stand where you are. I’d like to pray for us all. I’ll be praying for myself, but I’d like to pray for us. If you just want to take this moment to say, “God, I want to be someone who lives for your sake,” just stand where you are.

Jesus, we thank you for your faithfulness to us, and we thank you for your faithfulness to your mission to this planet. We thank you for your example, that on many occasions you explained to the disciples that you only did what the Father told you, or you only did what you saw the Father doing. You, in so many ways, demonstrated that you were living for the sake of the Father, for the sake of his name.

Lord, first of all, for all of us who are standing, I want to ask for forgiveness: for the times where we have decided to do things our own way, where we’ve made decisions without consulting you, where we’ve engaged in conversations or whatever it might be, without consulting you, without inviting you, without thinking, “Does this represent you well?”

I pray that you forgive us for being so busy, so caught up, and so distracted that you become a second thought. Please forgive us for that.

Lord, we’re standing today because we want to declare that you are our God, that you are our Savior, and we want to be marked as people who live for your sake—for the sake of your name, to bring you honor and glory, to make you smile on a day-to-day basis, to represent you well, to uphold your reputation, to be light and salt in the world. All of these things, Lord. We want to live for your sake.

And so, by the power of your Spirit, I pray that you will empower us to be able to do this. I pray that you will speak to us, that you will encourage us, that you will strengthen us, that you will help us to make decisions in our lives that enable us to be in a place where we can truly say that we live for your sake.

In your name, Jesus, help us, I pray. In your name, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

Just grab your seats.

Thank you, Lord. Do your work in us, Lord.

Responding to Christ’s Call to Come

I want to give an opportunity to people who maybe have not recognized who Jesus is, and maybe have not responded to Him before. Maybe you have not asked Him to forgive you for the things that you have done wrong. Maybe you have not asked Him to be your personal Savior. Maybe you have not yet decided that you want to follow Jesus, and something about today has made you think, “Yes, I need to live for God’s sake. I need to live for someone who’s bigger than myself. I need to respond to Him.”

I want to give you that opportunity to just say, “Jesus, will you come into my life? Will you change me? Will you make me new? Will you be to me everything that I know you want to be to me?”

So if that’s you, just wherever you’re sat, say something like this in your heart: “Jesus, I recognize that you are the Son of God, that you lived, you died, and you rose again to defeat sin and hell and death. I may not understand all of this, but I know that I need you. And so I ask that in this moment you will come into my life. I welcome you into my life. I don’t truly understand all it is to live for your sake, but I want to be someone who is doing that. So will you come in? Will you wash me clean? Will you set me free? And will you help me to be marked as someone who loves you? In your name, Jesus. Amen.”

Amen. If you prayed that this morning, then please make sure you speak to one of your leaders and let them know that that’s what you’ve done. Let’s be people who live for God’s sake.

One of the other encounters—I'll close with this—one of the other encounters at kids’ camp was when I asked, “What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian?” And it was a girl—girls always have the best answers—who said, “It’s where you ask Jesus to come into your heart, but He’s so big, He just keeps popping out everywhere.”

That’s what it means. If we’re living for God’s sake, there is absolutely no way we can keep it a secret. Our lives must reflect that. Our conversations must reflect that. So let’s be people who live for God’s sake.