by Pastor James Bell

Sometimes we refer to it as baggage, but it’s probably more accurate to call it trash. It’s the stuff you don’t want to think about or talk about. It’s that bad, yucky, embarrassing stuff that you carry with you on your journey through life.

One of the bizarre similarities between Gehenna, a smoky, smelly place which became a symbol of hell, and Golgotha, the hill upon which Jesus was crucified, was that they both became trash dumps. Gehenna was often referred to as the place where “the fire is not quenched”. It was filled with burning, rotting, useless debris. It came to represent the darkness and repulsion of sins not dealt with.

The cross provides a distinctly different kind of trash heap. Unlike Gehenna, Golgotha is where life experiences are dumped. This is where we cast all our care upon the Lord. We leave our burdens, our baggage, our trash at the foot of the cross. The biggest difference in Golgotha’s trash is that it gets recycled. After we lay it down and walk away free, God actually uses this trash for His higher purposes.

The very thought of this is at first reprehensible. Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil, not re-use it. But when you consider just what you left at the cross, you become cognizant of a higher purpose that God has in mind. The trash consists of our hurts, our wounds, even our trauma about the effects of sin (ours and the sins of others against us) upon our hearts and minds. The redemptive grace of God allows us to leave it all there and walk away free.

But then Jesus starts sifting through the trash. What was unredeemed gets redeemed. Jesus takes the hurt, the bitterness, the disappointment, even the fear that we laid at his feet and redeems it by his blood. He doesn’t redeem the sin, but it’s effect upon you. He redeems the process that led to the death of self and the birth of the new you. You are suddenly empowered with new strength as the word of your testimony causes you to overcome in every area of your life, as well as providing power for your outreach into others lives.

A type of this is found in the Old Testament when the recipe was given for the incense used on the golden altar inside the Holy Place. The fragrant offering of this incense enabled the priest to enter the Holy of Holies with the approval of the Most High. One of the ingredients was taken directly from the brazen altar where sacrifices for sin were made. God took some of the remains of the sacrificial sin offering and used them as a part of the transforming incense that proceeded ultimate intimacy between man and God.

Is that Jesus sifting through the trash of past crises in your life? I hope so! Will he use the redeemed “trash” from your past to launch new ministry into your current lifestyle? Yes! Then you will begin to understand something amazing: God doesn’t waste anything. He redeems everything. If you feel that you’ve wasted some of your life, make sure you leave it in the trash pile at the foot of the cross.

It might become the core of a brand new ministry God will birth in you!

by Pastor James Bell

A little girl said it well. Riding home from the crowded mall, sharing the backseat with her revved up siblings, she pressed her nose against the cold, foggy window. She saw the brightly lit plywood manger scene in someone’s front yard. Over the noisy voices of her excited brothers and her frantic, tired mom, she blurted out, “Merry Christmas, Jesus!”

Did Jesus have a Merry Christmas? His best friend John said it simply, “He came to his own and his own people didn’t receive him.” That rejection ultimately led to the cross, but it started in Bethlehem. Those people didn’t even know he was born, let alone who he was. Jesus’ birthday was the stuff of shepherd’s chatter and angelic myths. In fact, it wasn’t until the Magi showed up almost two years later that people started getting a clue.

By the time Jesus was thirty-three, it was pretty obvious that he was not going to have a mega-church in Jerusalem. He did draw some big crowds, and he could have pulled it off by cutting some corners here and there and not always being so bluntly truthful. But on the other hand, after being God and creating the world, the promise of a really large congregation was not enough to cause him to swerve from his prophetic destiny.

Here’s the tough part: He expected no less of his disciples. Jesus valued truth as essential for spiritual freedom. He saw success in terms that were more qualitative than quantitative. Would some of today’s leaders accuse him of negativism if he said to their constituents, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Larry King and Piers Morgan would question his exclusivity. Diane Sawyer might try to coax him into a more acceptable position on social issues. Millions would just switch back to ESPN or Dancing With The Stars. Funny that most people on Earth have never really cared about the things that are so riveting to the inhabitants of both heaven and hell. Not yet.

But this truth remains through the years: Jesus’ birth is made sacred by the life it produced. Every time you remember the manger, whenever you follow your faith to the cross,  and as often as you truly worship the Son of God, something happens that will someday shake the world!

These days, along with many other pastors I’m sure, I receive as many heartbreaking stories as Christmas cards. I see, up close and personal, crumbling values, deteriorating relationships and broken hearts. Then I hear the voices of many high-profile Christian leaders giving slick, motivational messages rooted more in pop psychology than the Bible. I feel backed against the wall, seeing Satan’s perverted grin as he communicates in myriad ways a message that says, “If you don’t play along with us, we will paint you as an insensitive, judgmental, grace-bashing, relic of the religious past.”

But spiritual leaders who are spiritual leaders hold to biblical values, presenting love, grace, surrender, service and fulfillment as the Christian way.  Smiling imposters offer grace, grace, grace and more grace as an alternative and tell people to choose their own way. Tragically, it seems to be working pretty well for them, at least on this side of eternity. But anyone with even a little bit of spiritual sensitivity has to ask, “What is the birth of Christ without the cross? What is the message of hope without the empty tomb? What is Christmas without a Savior?”

So I find myself joining that little girl, with my face pressed against the window. In the mix of devotion and dysfunction, friendly faces and frustrating disappointment, the smiles of children and the fears of old men, amidst the carols and chaos….I still believe. With my nose against the glass, I see the hope that lies in a manger. I say with a choked up voice and tears of realization, “Merry Christmas, Jesus!”

by Pastor James Bell

Never was emptiness more disturbing. Mary’s plans for that morning were suddenly irrelevant. The silence of a dark, empty tomb was overpowering in it’s sheer nothingness. There was nothing to react to, no one to argue with, and nothing really to see. Just emptiness. Emptiness, with all it’s questions and all it’s fears, was the evidence of the most important truth of all time – He has risen!

Breathless, Mary began to run. She had to do something, tell somebody, about this shocking turn of events. Peter and John saw her coming, listened to her frantic, jumbled words, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb! We don’t know where they took him…” Now Peter and John were running. In his gospel, John mentions twice that he outran the big fisherman. He also admits that he did not enter that empty tomb, but just peered into the emptiness. After Peter charged right into the tomb and saw the grave clothes in a pile, John also ventured in, stating that when he saw this scene he immediately believed. The meaning of the empty tomb hit those two disciples, not like a giant searchlight piercing the darkness of a wintry night, but rather like a tiny stream of brilliance from a pocket flashlight. The full revelation would come later by the Lord’s own words to them. But the emptiness turned their thinking completely around.

Mary Magdelene was left alone to grieve in the garden by the tomb. She still reasoned that someone stole the body of Jesus, the infamous “they” getting the blame once again. It could have been the work of the Scribes and Pharisees. It might have been some of Herod’s hired thugs, or even the Romans themselves, for whatever reason. She felt cheated, betrayed, and most of all, alone. But the empty garden was not really empty.

“Woman, why are you weeping?”

She thought it must be the one of the keepers of the garden graves. Maybe he knew something about all this.

“Sir, just tell me where you put him and I will take him away”.

For a second it was silent in that beautiful place where the dead were buried. It was almost as if Heaven was holding it’s breath for a brief moment. Then he spoke.

“Mary.”

She knew that voice! How could this be? He is….standing….there.  Alive.

“Rabboni!”

This scene in a garden, beside an empty tomb, preceded a vast array of “aha” moments experienced by untold multitudes of people as they discover for the first time that Jesus is alive. He is not just a character from an old, old story. He lives today in the hearts of those who believe. Unlike the founder of any other religion, Jesus left an empty space for the world to contemplate. The value of that emptiness is measured by the transformation of countless lives throughout the ages.

In the tomb of religious endeavors there is an emptiness. But seekers of truth will find a quiet place to  consider the words of Jesus. If you listen, you’ll know when he speaks your name.

He is risen indeed!

by Pastor James Bell

For years now, that phrase has graced our church sign and all of our media. But now, more than ever before, we are becoming that. What do you think it means to be a church for all people? Non-denominational? Multi-cultural? Accepting of everyone, no matter how, er, “different” they might be?

I think it means a place where anyone would feel at home. That can be a challenge because Houston is a huge melting pot of many races and cultures. Those who sit in our sanctuary today grew up experiencing a wide variety of religious experience. It’s very possible that on any given row you will see hands raised and voices lifted in worship by believers who were raised Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, or one of many denominations represented here.  Some didn’t attend church while growing up, yet they have become united in their love for God and for each other.

You will hear a lot of accents around here. It might be South American, Nigerian or Scottish in it’s origin, but when it’s spoken here, it’s still family talk. Our building is not rented out or shared with a Spanish-speaking congregation. That congregation is a part of us! We have the same heart and the same vision. Katrina was instrumental in sending us some “cajun conversation”, as well as some good, solid leadership. At Hosanna, we don’t have Hispanic friends, African-American friends, Asian friends or Caucasian friends. We just have friends. And that’s enough.

At any point in time, we have generous folks who have been greatly blessed financially and other good people who are struggling. Some have experienced miraculous healings, and others are dealing with severe health issues. We have blended families, single-parent families, racially-mixed families and just plain- old-vanilla families, and they have become great friends to each other. It is important to note that this is not how we became a church for all people, but rather it is a result of us being a church for all people. God blesses and multiplies unbiased hearts. God brings the healing of past hurts, and love flows from unselfish caring. The result is pretty awesome.

We might well be on the doorstep of something even more amazing. When worship and pray as one, the windows of Heaven are going to open. During the outpouring of the Spirit upon the infant church in Acts 2, there were worshippers of many different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities who saw and experienced it. Being in “one mind and one accord” was the focus that started it all.

If we all agreed on just a few things about worship, moving into a new dimension of intimacy with God would spontaneously happen. If, for example, we agreed on these:

• Gathering with hearts already focused on the glory and majesty of God.
• Lifting up praise together, unanimously speaking forth words of worship to God.
• Interceding corporately for needs brought before the congregation.
• Praying prophetic words of positive affirmation to Jesus, the head of the church.

The first churches in West Houston to erase barriers and worship passionately in unity will need to quickly expand to make room for the harvest God has already prepared for churches that are “for all people.

Believing,

James

by Pastor James Bell

In one of those rare commercials that actually touch your heart, a young man has returned home for the holidays and his young teenage sister is thrilled to have him back. She sticks one of those adhesive-backed bows on his chest and exclaims, “This year you are my Christmas present!”

From the perspective of Jesus, the ultimate Christmas present is you. He came to earth, suffered being misunderstood and humiliated, and even endured the cross, for a single, significant reason. The Bible calls it “the joy that was set before Him”. That joy is Jesus knowing you personally. It is the joy He feels when one of His chosen, someone like you for example, chooses Him over the options offered by this world. When you represent Him to others, the Holy Spirit within you is stirred with emotion. When your praise for Him is expressed, the Christ within you is joyful. Spiritual intimacy with you is what He desires. Your heart is always your best gift to anyone. You have it to give. It is what Jesus wants.

Kind of leaves the evil one in the lurch, doesn’t it? Well, not for long! Satan tries to re-introduce you to guilt. I believe that, along with lust, guilt is his primary weapon against people. He convinces us that our lust (grasping for what we want instead of receiving what God provides) is justified, and everything will be okay. Then when we fail, he clobbers us with guilt.

“How could you do that? You are so messed up! And God is furious with you now!”

But Jesus understands our weaknesses. He picks us up, dusts us off, and points us in the direction of maturity. He doesn’t leave us. He is constantly transforming us into something we could never be without Him.

When the brightest minds on earth discover a tiny fraction of truth about the keys to the universe, we see it as a scientific breakthrough. To God it is a reminder of our limitations as humans. When we become aware of the opulence of a privileged few, we sometimes imagine what it would be like to have unlimited financial resources. Jesus, however, is aware of the brevity of life and the selfish choices we humans so often make. His thoughts really are higher than ours.

The babe in the manger is now seated at the right hand of the Father. What do we bring Him? What can we offer the one whom God has exalted above all? I mean, after all, He is the creator of everything. I believe our best gift is to glorify Him, as is stated in many traditional Christmas hymns.

But how do we glorify Jesus? More than anything, it is by loving him and obeying his teachings. This is the highest praise. It is the best worship. That is why Sunday’s expressions of worship are so greatly blessed when they are offered on a foundation of serving Jesus all week long. The worship never ends, and our Christmas gift to Him is not just for one day. It is a relationship designed to last beyond the ages of time.

Actually, our gift to Jesus is the same as His gift to us. It is the love affair with Jesus and the expression of that love to others. Everything that is good, fulfilling, and joyous is right there in the package!

Wishing you a blessed Christmas season,

James

by Pastor James Bell

Great weather, encouraging words, and wonderful people expressing a “family” kind of love in myriad ways are all good reasons to be thankful for this rehab time. An assortment of minor-but-nagging aches and pains and the patience required to do everything more slowly for awhile balances the experience to some degree. But the time alone with God is the most significant aspect of this time of healing. Here are some “aha!” thoughts along the way:

1. Intimacy with God can be hindered by service to God. God is relational in his dealings with us. To the extent that we categorize and systemize God, we quench the work of the Holy Spirit. We have a tendency to see service as “assisting God in his work”. God views service as the “obedience aspect” of a loving relationship. We can serve our way out of relationship with God if we substitute our methodology for the consistent, yet spontaneous, voice of God speaking to our spirits according to his will.
2. Each one of us is in some way…broken.  It is our human condition. Sooner or later our brokenness will bring us before God, acknowledging that we really are, and really have, nothing without him. Intimacy with God often begins with the realization of our own brokenness and the dependance on God that follows. This might be why the scripture states that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.
3. Lots of good people love religion. True believers love Jesus. There is a huge, though often invisible, difference. The Apostle Paul was pulled away from his obsession with religion by his love affair with Jesus. Many who consider themselves “Christian” are substituting a religious lifestyle, filled with regulations and guidelines, for a profound spiritual connection with Christ. The key to conversion from religious Christian to relational Christian is the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is to really know Jesus.

I want to acknowledge the outstanding preaching and ministry from the anointed members of Hosanna who have stepped up to replace me during this time. The Elders, Deacons, and other servant-hearted people in our church family have been providing excellence in all phases of ministry. I am blessed and deeply moved to see our anointed leadership team moving our church forward.

I hope to see you before long. Thanks for your prayers and kindness during this time.

More love than ever,

James

p.s. I can follow the sermon series by hearing the podcasts. How cool is that! 

by Pastor James Bell

The title of our new sermon series might seem a little arrogant. Actually, it’s a reference to the sad truth that we get it wrong about God sometimes. Would you believe lots of times? Our culture’s concept of God seems a bit skewed, to say the least. Maybe that’s why the Bible tells us to be transformed, not conformed, in the way we think.

It’s pretty obvious that people create their own gods today. How often have you heard, “The god I serve doesn’t do (this or that, fill in the blanks).” We take the liberty of defining God according to our own personal moral standards and beliefs. We assume God is on our side because, after all, we’re right about practically everything. Some are even deluded enough that they pray to, and think they hear from, the one true God, not knowing that it’s really their own self-created “god”. This is often an over-active conscience or an egocentric imagination that has led many sincere Christians from true charismatic giftedness to an overstated (but spiritually insignificant) charismatic folly. Bottom line: It never was really God to begin with.

What is even more common, and is the focus of our series, happens when people of faith incorrectly understand the nature and character of God. We think He is mad at us. We aren’t sure He is always walking with us. We are intimidated by His holiness and our (sometimes gross) humanity. We anticipate His wrath and at times we hope He isn’t looking at us right now, at this very moment. We need to re-think our view of God.

The Bible is a real good place to look when re-thinking God. It is, after all, the ultimate resource for a definitive view of God. Jesus came to give us an understanding of God from a human perspective, which is, incidentally, the only perspective we are much good at understanding.

Intimacy with God is a blessed experience, a taste of eternity. This happens through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But even intimacy with God is defined, as well as encouraged, by biblical principles about the wonder and majesty of God.

Remember the character who said, “Sometimes I sit and think. Other times I just sit”? Well, let’s not just sit! Re-thinking your concept of God might open some new doors of spiritual growth in your life.

Let’s do it together!

Thoughtfully,

James

by Pastor James Bell

We like to think that Jesus is present with us at church. Without the Spirit of Christ we are simply empty people going through a religious exercise. We invite him, even implore him, to come as we gather in his name. But what about after that? Does the presence of the Lord descend and ascend on weekends? Do we really take his presence with us wherever we go? And does Jesus get out in the community, even if we don’t?

I can’t say I’ve literally seen him at one of our hospitals, but I know I’ve felt him there on many occasions. He doesn’t hesitate to enter any room or waiting area, and he so often does. He comes early and stays late. Sometimes he stays all night.

He stoops low to comfort a lonely child on the playground at the elementary school. He stands beside the middle-schooler, whispering encouragement as she is ridiculed for her faith. He strengthens a weary high school teacher who wonders if we are losing the cultural battle for the souls of our kids. He cries over the disintegration of faith as another one of his children is led astray by peer pressure.

He sits under bridges with homeless people, sharing the heartbreak of lies, deception and addiction. He just won’t give up, even when they use his father’s name in vain. He knows all the dark backstreets and alleyways. He has been in some dangerous situations. He know where women are hurting and when grown men cry.

He walks back to the car with the disappointed mother who couldn’t afford all she needed from Kroger’s. He saw what she had to put back. He watches the dad who doesn’t have seconds at supper, knowing there isn’t enough for everyone to have more. Their kids pray to him that night before they go to sleep. Jesus knows stuff.

He visits some beautiful homes where his name is shouted loudly and hate fills the conversation. Marriages are bending, almost breaking, as he enters the room. He whispers to a woman who feels rejected. He reasons with a man who is misunderstood. He tries to put back broken pieces of people’s hearts. All those things were just on Monday. Six more days ’til Sunday.

What does Jesus want us to do? There must be a better solution than relocating the church to Cinco Ranch. Could it be that Jesus looks around during our services, spotting someone here, and another one there, who could really make a difference? What if we added some skin to the Holy Spirit? What if we invited the King of Kings to manifest through us? Now don’t react too quickly. The results could be devastating to us personally. Consider these possible negatives:

You might have to miss America’s Got Talent.
You could delay the purchase of the new 52” Samsung for a few months to help someone.
You risk the emotional scars caused by thinking about people other than your immediate family.
You would possibly become a servant of God instead of a consumer of God (Yikes!)

I have this vision of Jesus on a Harley (the white horse comes with the physical second coming). He leans over to some of us, as we survey the under-resourced (read it “poor”) in our community. He says with a tired-but-determined voice, “As often as you do good things to these people, you are doing them to me.” Then I imagine how glorious the Sunday services will be when we have blessed him before he blesses us.

Some people are content to send money to the mission field and that’s a really good thing to do. Some people will go on a mission trip and try to help for a few days, and that’s also a good thing. But God is calling us to be a conduit of love and compassion right into our own community all year long.

You will be hearing all kinds of ways you can help. Pray about joining Jesus for some of those days between the services. I guarantee it will enrich your relationship with him.
Just another servant,

James

by Pastor James Bell

Jesus heard the laughter, even the punch line of the joke the greeter was telling some other folks. And it was a funny story, but Jesus had heard it many times before, usually in churches. No one took much notice as he quietly slipped through the door and across the foyer. You simply can’t greet everyone who comes into a service, especially if they all seem to wait until the last minute to arrive.

“Is this your first time with us?” asked a smiling receptionist at the welcome desk.

“Actually, I’ve been here a few times, but not in a while.”

“Well, it’s good to have you back. Be sure to fill out a visitor card!”

“May I ask why?”

“So we can have a record of your visit. Also, the pastor will send you a nice letter.”

Smiling once more, Jesus entered the Sanctuary and found a seat near the back.

“Look at someone and tell ‘em Jesus is alive!” bellowed the service leader. “We’re gonna give him our crazy praise today!”

The band was good. Very good. And the singers could do more than just sing. They were dancing, grinning, vibrant vocalists who never lost eye contact with their audience. The place was rocking. Everything ended with a crescendo exactly 23 minutes later. The pastor smiled his approval. After all, this service was being shot by three cameras and exported to five remote locations. Timing was everything.

After a video of a man asking people on the street why they didn’t come to church, which ended with an obese, unshaven homeless man wiping his nose and saying the preacher’s sermons didn’t make sense to him anymore, the pastor boldly approached the pulpit.

“My message today is ‘Why the Gospel Makes Sense’. If you are the man in that video, blow your nose and listen carefully!”

The congregation roared with laughter. They realized they had been set up, but it was great to be part of a church that was never boring and always so creative. The pastor worked his way skillfully through his power points, streaming from huge screens above his head.

“Even if you didn’t believe in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, just following his principles would change your life for the better”, the Pastor said, “And as your faith deepens, you start to realize that the poor choices you have made are hindering your search for true joy and fulfillment. Look in the mirror! You were designed to be something special!”

There was an impressive response to the call for transformation. You simply had to stand to respond. Many people did. After a prayer of agreement, they were thanked for coming and dismissed. One of the ushers approached the pastor after the service, striding quickly across the altar area and leaning to whisper in his ear.

“There’s a man sitting on the back row. Looks like he’s been crying.”

“Did anyone talk to him? Did he fill out a visitor card?”

“Don’t think so. He has kind of a strange look on his face. Seems like I’ve seen him around here before, but it’s been a long time. Always looks kind of outta place …”

Exiting the Sanctuary, the worship leader walked past the single figure sitting on the back row with one arm across the back of the pew. She smiled at this man with a troubled look on his face. She thought about how you often don’t really know who you are ministering to on a Sunday morning. She remembered that he didn’t seem be very demonstrative in his worship response, especially to the new song she had written, “Dancin’ Throwdown (a Hallelujah Hoedown)”. She consoled herself that he was probably too old school to appreciate cutting edge stuff.

The Sanctuary was quiet and almost empty now. Ushers were cleaning and straightening.

“Could I help you, Sir?” an usher said, walking toward the only person left in the Sanctuary.

Jesus smiled. “I don’t think so, but thanks for asking. And I was just wondering if there might be some way I could help you?”

“Nah, not really. I just gotta straighten up the church and get all the trash and stuff outta here before the next service.”

“I understand. I have a lot of experience doing that myself.”

The usher smiled, sighed, and shook his head, remembering how someone said at the last ushers meeting that this church seemed to attract some really different kinds of people. Reaching the front of the Sanctuary, he turned to get one more look. The visitor was gone.

Our new series, "Where in the World is Jesus" starts this Sunday.

by Pastor Kenny Innes

We know that God is gracious, loving and merciful. We know that God forgives sin. Does that mean that God doesn’t care about our sin, and therefore, neither should we?

There is a false grace movement on the fringes of our faith which says that we can sin all we like because God will forgive us anyway. This “grace” of God “frees” us to indulge our sinful desires, safe in the knowledge that God will forgive us for it all. This is an evil thought.

God hates sin, and wants people to be free from the sinful desires that separate them from Him. Furthermore, God says that He will judge all sin, and the consequence of an unrepentant life is death and eternity in Hell. To those who repent, He offers forgiveness.

The forgiveness that God offers us is not free. It was bought with a price. Jesus, God’s Son, became a man to live the perfect life that we cannot live, to die the death that we deserve to die, and to rise again to offer us new life. God poured out all of the wrath and judgment for our sin onto His own Son. When we believe and trust in Jesus, His righteousness is given to us. Our forgiveness is very costly indeed.

The cross shows us another very clear thing about our sin – we are not able to pay for it ourselves. It takes action on God’s part to remove the stain of the very sin that we commit against Him. All of our good deeds are not enough to satisfy the wrath and judgment of God towards our sinfulness. We need to throw ourselves on His mercy, confess our rebellion and wrongdoing, and surrender ourselves to His forgiving, healing, changing power. Only then can we gain any power over the sin that holds us back.

This is what David recognized in Psalm 51. He couldn’t appeal to his own goodness as a basis for forgiveness. He could only appeal to God’s merciful character upon those who sincerely repent and desire to be changed. So David, distraught by his own sin and unable to see a way to change within himself, cries out to God to rescue him.

Many church members forget that God is the only source of change and forgiveness. Instead, they try to hide their sinfulness under an outward appearance of godliness and good works. This works-based righteousness leads to a life of defeat, guilt, and shame. No matter how hard they work to cover their sin, they still have no power over it.

What God desires is for His Church to conquer their sin by depending on the work of His Son upon the cross to forgive them. Every one in the church will battle the sinful desires of the flesh. Those who hide it from God and from others will struggle in their faith. Those who confess their sins and cling to the cross will have victory after victory over sin as they experience the sanctifying work of God’s grace in their lives.

Trusting in Him alone,

Kenny