Pleasing God, Part 1

You know, Christmas Eve is my favorite service of the year. Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving Eve, those two services mean more to me than any other service that we do throughout the year, simply because of what we talk about and what they mean to us as believers. And we left you on Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas, looking at the manger and what it meant. And we left you with the phrase that the manger is a place of royalty and a place of responsibility. Because it's the birth of the king, we have a responsibility.

And we took you to Psalm 116, verse number 12, which says, What shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? And I want to be able to have you ask that same question that the psalm asked and answer that question. Over the next couple of weeks, to help you understand what it is you render to the Lord for all of his benefits to you. In fact, I think you can sum it up in one word. Because as we examine that word over the next three weeks, you will begin to understand how it is you can live the kind of life That honors and glorifies the name of Christ.

It's summed up in the book of Revelation, the fourth chapter. When the four living creatures, along with the 24 elders, which is, as we understand the scriptures, is representative of the church of Christ as they are in glory. It says, they were around the throne casting their crowns, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou didst create all things, and because of thy pleasure they existed and were created. We ex for one purpose, and that is for the pleasure of God.

We were created to give him pleasure, to please him, to honor him, to magnify him. When we go to heaven, that's what exactly is going to happen. But everything was created for God's own pleasure. And so, if we are to live our lives, if we ask ourselves, what shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? I should want to live a life that's pleasing to God, that brings pleasure to his being. In fact, I was designed for that. We were created for that purpose. In other words, if we don't live to bring pleasure to God, We live opposing all that God created us to do.

In fact, in Romans chapter 1, verses 18 to 25, it speaks of those who refuse to give pleasure to God, but instead worship the creature rather than the creator. And there it talks about how the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience because they refuse to give pleasure to God. We are designed and created for God's own pleasure. Like the Bible says in Psalm 115, verse number 3, it says that our Lord is in the heavens.

And he does whatever he pleases. He does whatever he pleases. He can do that because he's God. The Bible says in Psalm 13, these words, verse number 5: For I know that the Lord is great.

And our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all The deeps. In other words, God does whatever He pleases. And He created us for His own pleasure. And so we are designed to please God. So if we ask ourselves, what shall I render to the Lord? For all of his benefits toward me, then I will live to please God. The question comes: how do we do that? What does it mean to please God? The Bible says in John 8, verse number 29 of our Lord Jesus Christ, he said, I always do those things.

That are pleasing to my Father. I always do those things. That are pleasing to my Father. So, if we're going to be like Christ, Christ lived his life to the pleasure of his Father. Therefore, we can begin to learn what it means to please God by looking at his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I love what the Bible says in the book of Romans.

Rom chapter 15. Speaks to us much about our responsibility when it says this. Romans 15, verse number 1. Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength. And not please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please him, but as it is written, The reproaches of those who rep thee fell upon me. So Paul says, when we live our lives, we don't live to please ourselves. We live to please others for their good and for their edification or for their building.

We live to build others up. And so we need you to understand the significance of that as it applies to your life every single day. How is it that we do that? As we embark on a new year, so many times we want to live the year for our own pleasure. We seek to please ourselves. Well, the Bible says we are to make it our ambition to please Him who is invisible.

2 Corinthians 5:9, Paul says, It is my ambition in life. It's my drive, it's my passion to please him. Who is invisible. In other words, I can't see him, but I seek to please him because I know that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. That everyone will receive that which is done in his body, whether it good or whether it be bad. So he knew that he was accountable to Christ. And so he lived his life with this ambition to please God. The question is, is that our ambition? Do we live our life to please ourselves, or do we live our life to please the Lord God?

The Bible also speaks against the fact that we should not look to please other people. In other words, Paul says over in Galatians chapter 1, verse number 10, these words, For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bonds of Christ. In other words, I can't live my life to please other people. I live my life to please and honor God because if I seek to please other people, I cease to be the bonds of Christ, the one who seeks to please his master.

So, as we embark on a new year, what shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? I need to live a life that's pleasing to him. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says. Hebrews chapter 15. Hebrews 15, verse number 20. Now the God of peace who brought Up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will. Working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. God is working in you so that you will do that which is pleasing in his sight. So, in your endeavor to make it your ambition to please him, he is at work in you, making sure that what you're doing is p him. So, when we ask the question, what shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? The answer is, I need to live a life that pleases my Master. That pleases my God. And the question comes: is that your ambition? And if it is, how do we do that? Over the next three weeks, I'm going to explain to you how it is you do that.

Number one. If you're going to live a life that's pleasing to God, you must be involved in proclaiming the message of the cross. You must be involved in proclaiming the message of the cross. If you have your Bible, turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

1 Corinthians chapter 1. It says in verse number 18, For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleas through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

What was God well pleased about? He was well pleased that the message of the cross, although it's foolishness to man, is that which is the power of God unto salvation. So if it's well pleasing to God to proclaim that message, then we need to be involved in proclaiming the message Of the cross. Why? Number one, simply because it all was determined in eternity.

The message of the cross was determined in eternity. The Bible says in Revel 13:8 that He is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.

Way back in Genesis chapter 1, when God said, let us make man in our image, there was a plan that had already been established. in eternity past, that the lamb would come and be slain. And so it was determined in eternity. That which was determined in eternity was delineated In prophecy. It was delineated in prophecy. Way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15. It was the seed that would crush, the seed of the woman, that would crush. The serpent's head that was done at Calvary's cross. In Genesis chapter 22, it was about the lamb that would be a substitute.

God would provide Himself as a Lamb, as a substitute. Way back in the Psalm, Psalm 22, it speaks once again of the crucifixion of the Messiah. And so, when you go back and you begin to read scripture, you look at Isaiah 53 and you realize that everything there is about the suffering servant that would bear in his body our sins.

And so that which was determined in eternity was delineated in prophecy. It was spoken of over and over and over again, so much so that on the road to Emma in Luke chapter. 24, it was our Lord who said these words: O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets had spoken, was it not necessary? For Christ the Messiah to suffer these things and to enter into glory. In other words, he's saying, Look, everything that happened was specifically delineated through the prophets that the Messiah would come and die.

So it pleases God to proclaim the message of the cross because it was determined in eternity. It was delineated in prophecy. And, thirdly, it was declared by de.

It was Christ him who would always preach the message of the cross. On that very first occasion in Mark chapter 8, when they were in Caesarea Philippi, and that great confession came by Peter when Christ asked them.

Question: Who do men say that I am? And they said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He began to declare to them his death. It says in verse number 31, and he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. Peter makes this great declaration: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Christ says, Shh, don't tell anybody that.

Instead, tell them this: the Son of Man must suffer. He proclaims to them how necessary the cross is. And then in Mark chapter 9, it says these words in verse, excuse me, Mark chapter 9. Yeah, that's right. Mark chapter 9, verse number 30. And from there, they went out and began to go through Galilee, and he was unwilling for anyone to know about it. For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, that they will kill him. And when he has been killed, he will rise three days later.

And then again in Mark chapter 10, it says these words. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again, he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him, saying, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. and will deliver him to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit upon him and scourge him and kill him.

And three days later he will rise again. Everything determined In eternity. Everything delineated in prophecy was all declared by de him. He declared the purpose of the cross. He tells them he came to die. Seven times in the Gospel of John, he speaks about that hour for which he came, speaking of the cross itself. Everything centered on the cross. So much so, he would even preach the gospel by saying, If any man come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me. It was always about. Follow me, follow me, follow me.

That was the message of the gospel. Follow me, follow me. And so as he went to the cross. Simon of Cyrene was called out of the crowd to carry the cross, to follow Christ, as that one illustration that would magnify the fact that this is what happens when you follow me. You will bear your cross. You will die. See, that was the message of the cross. And that was what was well pleasing to the Lord God Himself. It's foolishness to man, but it brings great pleasure to God. So, if we make it our ambition to please Him, we will be involved in proclaiming the message of the cross.

That which was determined in eternity, delineated through prophecy, declared by deity, was demonstrated at Calvary. When Christ went up the mount and was crucified there on Mount Moriah, as was prophesied in Genesis chapter 22. That would be the exact location of the substitutionary atonement of the Lamb of God. And so in John 19, 30, he would cry, what? It is finished. What was finished? Everything that was determined in eternity, delineated through prophecy, declared by deity, was now demonstrated on Calvary.

It's done. It is finished. Okay? The work of redemption had been accomplished at Calvary. That was the purpose for which he came. When he comes a second time, he'll say, it is done.

It is done. Everything's done now when he comes the second time. But again, the first time it says it is finished.

What was finished? The work of redemption. Now, why is that so important? Why is that so crucial for us? Simply this. On Christmas Eve, I was look at something that had been declared on Fox News just a couple of days earlier.

By what is commonly called America's pastor, as the USA Today has proclaimed him to be, which is Rick Warren, the pastor of Sal Church in Down in Orange County. And he was on Fox News. And here was the question that was asked him. Mr. Warden, could you tell us what is the purpose of Christmas? Now you're on Fox News. You had this grand opportunity to tell the world the purpose of Christmas. And this is how he begins. He says, The purpose of Christmas is summed up in the three statements made by the angels that night outside Bethlehem.

So far, so good. They're summed up in three words: celebration, salvation. Reconciliation. Again, so far, so good. But that's where it ends. Because this is what he says. He says, first of all, celebration.

The angel said, I bring you good news. Great joy. And I quote: I want to encourage everybody to go out and have a party because that's what Christmas is about: having a party. And I'm taking a brick to my head about this and I'm going, pay, pay, pay. Seriously? He says, not only Christians, not only Christians, but the whole world should have a party. And then he says, that's the word celebration. Then he says, the word salvation. Now, right now he can redeem himself, but he doesn't. He says, we all are in need of a Savior.

Savior from, well, ourselves. Savior from our grief, Savior from our des. We all need a Savior. That's not the purpose of the Savior. That's not why he came. He came to save us from him. The God of wrath. He came to save us from him because of our sin. But sins, though, meant no nowhere mentioned in the statement. And then he says, celebration, salvation, then reconciliation, peace among men. He says, you know, when we gather together at Christmas time, there's a lot of conflict in families. That's not what the phrase means.

It's about reconciliation, yes, but not between families. When Christ came, he says, I didn come to bring peace, I came to bring a sword. A sword. Why? Because the gospel message will divide families. It's the reconciliation between God and man, not between man and man. So I'm sitting here listening to America's pastor to obliterate Christmas and its message. But see, people buy into that stuff. They buy into that stuff. And I'm thinking, how could you buy into that and love Jesus? How can you buy into that and know Jesus?

You can't. Because all of that was wrong. It's all wrong because that's not what the Bible says. Yes, I bring you good news of great joy. That shall be for all people. Why? Because it's Yu Gal, the gospel message, the evangelistic message, which is what? For unto you this day in the city of David, there has been a Savior who is Christ the Lord. It's about God. In fl. It's about the reason God came. He came to die. He was born to die. He had to die. Christmas is not so much about The birth of the child as much as it is about the death of the child that will be born and what that death accomplishes.

Because it's all about the message of the cross. God had to become man. He had to become man in order to die as a man, as God-man. That he would be our substitute, die in our place. Hebrews 2:9, he tasted death for every man. You see? That's why the statement by Mr. Warren was not pleasing to the L. Because he did not proclaim the message of the cross. That's what Christmas is. It's about the birth of a Savior, the Savior who was born to die, so that he could save us from him, the God of wrath. Because of our sin.

And that's why Christmas is celebrated by us as believers, because we understand its significance. We understand what it's about. We understand why Christ came. If we, as belie, are going to be pleasing to the Lord, we must be involved in proclaiming the message of the cross. It is the power of God. Unto salvation, for it is the purpose of God to man that He might save them from their sins. And that's the message we preach. That's why it's so significant, that's why it's so powerful. Listen, if Jesus preached that message, why don't we preach that message?

A. W. Tozer said it well years ago when he talked about in his book, The Pursuit of God and the Pursuit of Man. He says the cross where Jesus died became also the cross where his apostles died. The loss, the rejection, and the shame belong both to Christ and to all who are, in very truth, are his. The cross that saved them also slays them. And anything short of this is a pseudo-faith and not true faith at all. But what are we to say when the great majority of our evangelical leaders walk not as crucified men, but as those who accept the world at its own value, rejecting only its grosser elements?

How can we face him who was crucified and slain when we see his followers accepted and praised? Yet they preach the cross and protest loudly that they are true believers. Are there then two crosses? And did Paul mean one thing? And they another? I fear that that is so. That there are two crosses: the old cross and the new. He goes on to say this. If I see it right, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is rather a new bright ornament upon the bosom of self-ass and carnal Christianity, whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel, but whose voice is the voice of Cain.

The old cross slew men. The new cross entertains man. The old cross condemns man. The new cross am man. The o cross destroyed confidence in the flesh. The new cross encourages confidence in the flesh. The old cross brought tears and blood. The new cross? It brings laughter. The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross. Before the cross it bows, and toward the cross it points with carefully staged hist. But upon that cross it will not die, and the reproach of that cross is stubbornly refused to be.

I well know how many smooth arguments can be marshaled in support of the New Cross. Does not the New Cross win converts and make many followers, and so carry the advantage of numerical success? Should we not adjust ourselves to the changing times? Have you not heard the new slogan, New Days, New Ways? And who but someone very old and very conservative? would insist upon death as the appointed way to life. And who today is interested in a gloomy mysticism that would sentence its flesh to a cross and recommend self eff humility?

as a virtue actually to be practiced by modern Christians. These are the arguments, along with many more flippant still. which are brought forward to give an appearance of wisdom to the hollow and meaningless cross of popular Christianity. Doubtless, there are many whose eyes are open to the tragedy of our times. But why are they so silent when their testimony is so sorely needed? In the name of Christ. Men have made void the cross of Christ. Men have fashioned a golden cross with a graving tool, and before it they sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play.

In their blindness, they have substituted the work of their own hands. For the working of God's power, perhaps our greatest present need may be the coming of a prophet to dash the stones at the foot of the mountain and call the church out. To rep or to judgment. He is so right on. Are there two crosses? The old cross and the new cross? Is it true where the old cross would slay man, the new cross entertains man, amuses him, and causes him to laugh? He is so right on. If we're going to please God, we proclaim the message of the cross.

Because when we were created for his pleasure, the phrase in Revelation 4: wor is the Lamb. Who was slain to receive glory and honor and praise In this new year, as you seek to render to the Lord those things for all the benefits He's given to you. You render to him this, I will be actively involved in proclaiming the message. Of the cross. That's what God's called us to do. That's what we must do. That's number one.

Number two, if I'm going to live a life pleasing to God, not only do I live a life proclaiming the message of the cross, I live a life living the life of faith living the life Faith.

If you got your Bible, turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. It says in verse number five, by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up. He was pleasing to God. And without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For He who comes to God must believe that He is. And that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Without faith, it is impossible. to please God. So if I want to live a life that's pleasing to God, I must be actively involved in living a life of faith.

Faith simply is Living and believing in what God has already said. So I live a life based on what God has already said in His Word. So let me talk to you just a few moments about faith that you might understand it, its origin, and how it manifests itself in your life and mind.

Let's begin with faith's inauguration. How does it begin? That's important. If the Bible says without faith it's impossible to please God, then how do I ob faith?

Do I muster it up? Do I just grit my teeth and go down and pull up myself by my bootstraps and just believe what God says?

Well, 2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 1 says, Simon Peter, a bonds and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Faith is a gift that you receive from God. That's why it says in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9: For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves it is a gift of God. Yes, we understand grace is a gift. But you must come to grips with the fact that faith also is a gift from God, as repentance is a gift from God.

Everything when it comes to salvation is a gift from God because He is the great gift giver. And so you must understand faith's inauguration. It all begins with Christ Himself. He grants us. Faith. John 6:6 says, No one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father. No one can. No one goes to God unless it has been granted to him by the Father. Philippians 1:2. To you it has been granted not only to suffer for Christ, but to believe on his name. In other words, it has been granted to you as a gift.

To believe on the name of Christ. It's been granted to you to have faith in that Christ. It's been granted to you by the gift of grace that allows you to believe. Christ. It says over in Acts chapter 3, the book of Acts, the third chapter, we understand these words in Acts chapter 3.

That when Peter was preaching and the lame man, the begging man, was saved, he says this in verse number 16. And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man, whom you see and know, and the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. In other words, the faith that this man has obtained only comes through the one who healed him. Faith's inauguration comm with the Christ. The only way you can believe is if God grants you the gift to believe.

The gift to have faith. And then it says, Hebrews 11, verse number 6: He who comes to God must believe that He is, for He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. Okay? So you not only need to know faith's inauguration, you must know faith's expedition. Okay? There is a part of us that diligently seeks after the Lord God. But the only way we diligently seek after Him is because He has already sought us and granted us The gift to believe. So we, in response, now seek after him. That's why the Bible says in Jeremiah 29, verse number 13: You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of Your heart.

Romans 3:11 says that no man seeks after God. And that's correct. No man does. But when God draws him. Man then seeks him and seeks him diligently. That's faith's expedition. He seeks after God. He goes after God. Amos chapter 5, verse number. Four says, seek me that you may live. Faith's inauguration. Is commenced with the Christ. Faith's expedition is sought after sincerely by those who've been called by God. And then you must understand faith's reception. If faith is inaugurated by the Christ, which causes me to seek after him.

How did I receive that faith? Yes, it is a gift. Okay? Romans 10:1. Faith cometh by hearing. In hearing by a word about the Christ. It's all about Revelation of God, the truth of God. That faith is received through the revelation of God that's preached. That's why, if we're going to be pleasing to God, we proclaim the message of the cross. Because men need to hear the truth. That's why it says over in Psalm 19, verse number 7, the law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul. Listen to what it says over in the book of Colossians, chapter 1.

Colossians, chapter 1, verse number 5. These words are recorded. Colossians 1, verse number 5. Pick it up, verse number 3. We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith. In Christ Jesus, and the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel. How did you receive that faith? How did you understand that faith? It was through the word of the gospel.

That's why it says in 1 Peter 1, 23, you're born again through the living and ab word of God. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse number 6, God gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. That is the gospel itself. So faith comes through the revelation of God. Faith's reception comes through the revelation that's been given to us, through the word that's been spoken to us. That's why we're born again by the washing of water. And the renewing of the Spirit of God, which is, as Ephesians 5:2 says, the Word of God, which washes us and cleanses us.

So, in order for us to live a life that's pleasing to God, we must live a life of faith, a faith that was granted to us by Christ, which caused us to seek after it. Which would allow us to receive the revelation that was given. And then you need to understand faith's conviction. It says in Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 1, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Seen. Faith, once it is received, has a conviction. That conviction is characterized by confidence.

Why? Because, you know, faith is believing what God has already said. Hope is living in anticipation of promises to be fulfilled. And so faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It is the certainty of what has been promised. The trustworthiness of the one who has promised it is going to be fulfilled. The conviction of things not seen. In other words, people with faith have a conviction. And that conviction is based on what God has already said in His Word. It's not based on anything else other than what God has already said because God is trustworthy.

God cannot lie. He is totally reliable. His truth is exactly that. It is true. And so I believe in what God has said. It causes me to have this great conviction about the Word of God. Faith's inauguration leads to faith's expedition. Faith's expedition leads to faith's reception. Faith's reception leads to faith' Conviction. And faith's conviction leads to faith's manifestation. In other words, if you have true faith, It will be manifested in how you live your life. That's what Hebrews 11 is all about.

By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous. God testifying about his gifts. And through faith, though he is dead, yet he still speaks. By faith, Enoch. That's verse 5. By verse 7, by faith, Noah, being warned by God about the things not seen, in reverence, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household. by which he condemned the world, and he became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith, by faith Abraham.

And it goes on, by faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham, they understood the worship of God. The work of God, the obedience to God. Faith was man in their lives. In other words, Faith is the root, but works are the fruit of that faith. If Christ is the vine and we are the branches, He then is that vine dresser that makes sure the branches produce the fruit necessary. And therefore, faith is always man. It is seen. You can view it. It's there. And so these people all lived a life that was pleasing to God.

Abraham, Enoch, Abel, Noah, Moses, Jephthah, goes on down the line, Sarah, because they lived a life of faith. And that's how we should live our lives: want and willing, making it our ambition to please God, proclaiming the message of the cross, and living a life of faith. Living a life that says, I believe exactly in what God says, and I will manifest that every s day.

You also need to understand faith's continuation because true faith never quits. True faith never ends. Paul said, being confident of this very thing, that he who performed a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ. In other words, he will accomplish that feat. He will bring everything to fruition. Faith's continuation is crucial. It perseveres through pressure. And Hebrews 11 is about all those people who persevered through pressure. Through difficulty, through hardship, they didn't quit.

That's why we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, the Son, who intercedes for us. And pleads our case and prays for us. That's why Christ told Peter, I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith will not fail. Finally.

Or totally, because I've prayed for you. John 17, Christ in his high priestly prayer prays not only for his men, but for those who will believe in him after his men are dead and gone. So Christ has prayed for us. There is a continuation of our faith. It never end. We keep on keeping on because it's God who keeps us. 1 Peter 1:5, we are kept by the power of God. As you embark on a new year, as you conclude this one, our whole ambition as Paul's needs to be a life that's pleasing to God. Now you can live a life that seeks to please yourself, but that's contrary.

To your origin. It's contrary to why God created you. We live in a world that's all about pleasing itself. That's why the world celebrates Christmas because they're into pleasing themselves. They sing the same Christmas songs that we sing, they just don't understand the meaning of those songs. But they're so narcissistic that they're into pleasing themselves. It's all about the gifts I receive and the accolades I receive for the gifts that I gave to you. It's all about them. But we live a life that's pleasing to God.

We want to honor God with our lives. And so I want to take you through. The principles that will help you understand how to live a life that's pleasing to God. You don't have to please me, you don't have to please your family. But you need to please God. Because that's why you were created. You were created for his pleasure. And so you look for ways to. To bring a smile to his face, to one day hear those words, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. My prayer for you and for me as we embark on 2014, that we would live a life that pleases the Master by proclaiming the message of the cross, by living a life.

Faith. Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today. Lord, you are a great God, and you alone are greatly to be praised. And our prayer, Father, is that you would take your word, cause it to take up root in our lives that we might live for thee and glorify thy name. That we would truly live a life that's pleasing to thee. That we would live a life for you and not for us. As we seek to honor you before you return again, as you most surely will. In Jesus' name, amen.