♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ For my Savior loves me so ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ >>Guide each other. >>On the cross, you'll find. >>You'll find a shelter. >>Firm your faith. >>Your God is arms and legs. >>Your heart is your mind. >>Your heart is your mind.

(SINGING) Come on, Lord, He will indict. Christ will hold me fast. Justice has been satisfied. He will hold me fast. Rise with Him to endless life. He will hold me fast till our faith is satisfied. When He comes at night, He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast for my Savior loves me so.

He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast for my Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast for my Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast. Mm-hmm. He'll hold me fast. He will hold me fast. The splendor of a King clothed in majesty.

Let all the earth rejoice. All the earth rejoice. He wraps Himself in light. And darkness tries to hide and trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice. How great is our God. Sing with me. How great is our God. And all will see how great, how great, how great is our God.

Age to age He stands. At times He sends His hands. Beginning and the end. Beginning and the end. The Godhead, free and whole. Father, Spirit, and Son. The Lion and the Lamb. Lion and the Lamb. How great is our God. Sing with me. How great is our God. And all will see how great, how great is our God.

Name above all names. Worthy of all praise. My heart will sing how great is our God. Name above all names. Worthy of all praise. My heart will sing how great is our God. All right. Good morning, church family. Happy Lord's Day. It is with great joy that we can gather together again to sing of His steadfast love that never ceases, His mercy that never comes to an end.

So we will begin with a song, "As We Gather." As we gather, may your spirit work within us. As we gather, may we glorify your name, knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, we'll be blessed because we came. We'll be blessed because we came. As we gather.

As we gather, may your spirit work within us. As we gather, may we glorify your name, knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, we'll be blessed because we came. We'll be blessed because we came. His steadfast love. His steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning, new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord. Great is thy faithfulness. They are new every morning, new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. All right, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church, those of you who are here physically and those of you who are online with us.

First of all, I want to thank Rachel and Andy for hosting the online auction. They told me that they were able to raise, I think, $17,500. So there was a lot of people who were very generous. Even those who donated their time and their talents and different things to be auctioned, they said they had over 100 of them.

And so that's why we're able to raise all that. And again, every penny of that will be used for the work that is happening out in India. So we want to thank you for that. And then if we get an updated number, we'll let you know. But that's the tentative number that we have right now.

Next Sunday is Father's Day. And so if you are a father or if you're planning to become a father within the next nine months, or you have to-- your wife has to be pregnant. So if you want to make an announcement and you want to participate, let us know.

Or if you're bringing a father that doesn't normally attend, and we want to-- if you can sign up for that also online so that we can have-- we can make sure that we have enough food. And so that will be taking place after the second service-- this service at the other building.

So that's happening. And then for the moms and the children, if you're sticking around and you need lunch, when you're signing up for that, please let them know so that they can have pizza and various things ready for you as well. Berean membership class is taking place-- the next session in July 4.

So this is an eight-week course. And again, this is specifically for the purpose of becoming a member in the church. And so if you are planning to do that, please let Pastor Nate know. Go through the app or just ask one of the Welcome Team members and let them know that that's happening.

And again, it's an eight-week course. And that happens in the youth group room across the courtyard. And so they'll give you directions of that. And that's starting on July 4. Also for VBS, July 19 to 23. So if you have children at the age of three, all the way to sixth grade.

Sixth grade, going into sixth grade. So if you're a fifth grade and you're heading into sixth grade. So sixth graders who are graduating, there's going to be stuff for the youth group for you. So this is for those children who are turning-- going into sixth grade. If you have a child who is three years old, I think you need to be potty trained.

So you have basically one month to potty train your child. If he's not potty trained yet, if you want him to participate in the VBS. So along with that, they're still asking for volunteers if you want to come and help out. Again, the requirement for that is you need to be a member of the church.

And you need to be-- if you are directly serving with the children, you need to be at least a member of the church for at least a year. And again, this is for safety reasons. We go through that process. If you want to volunteer for other parts where you're decorating or you're just doing prep work, you're not directly working with children, again, those requirements are not there for that.

So if you want to help out along with that, again, you don't need to be a member for a year for that purpose. And then again, the evangelism outing that's happening, you can just continue to watch online for those announcements for the cafe outreach that's happening in July 31.

So this morning, we have a baby dedication. If I can have all the parents come up. So these are all the children that we are welcoming into church. And this is just the beginning of the tsunami that's coming. So the pandemic has been very good to our family members.

They've been very fruitful and multiplying. So this is-- in about a few months, we may be having this every week. Huh? Koroneans, is that the new name? Really? OK, so we have the parents. And then they're going to be introducing their children from, I think, from my right to the left, right?

So if you can grab that mic. So Pastor Alec, are you number one? OK, I hope you guys are in order that you received the email. So they're going to give you a brief presentation of their children and then any prayer requests they have. And then we'll take a minute to pray for them before we dismiss them.

So my name is Alex, and this is my wife, Jen. And we'd like to introduce you to August, Valor, Jangwon, Hiroto Han. So we-- yeah. Don't worry on his passport. It's just there. So we're being kind to him. But yeah, we named him-- all of our kids have names after heroes of the faith.

And so we named him not after Augustine, as a lot of people think. We named him after Augustus Toplady, who wrote the hymn "Rock of Ages." And we just felt it was appropriate for the season that we're in, just trying to be-- trying to be finding our foundation in Christ in the midst of all of these changes and transitions that our family is going through.

So yeah, so here's August. Thank you. Oh, a prayer request? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you have, yeah. Hi, everyone. I'm Daniel, and this is my wife, Helen. And this is Bennett Jongbin Poon. We chose the name Bennett because we like the sound and the meaning. The meaning comes from a Latin word, which means "blessed" or "little blessed one." And today, he's actually six months old, exactly.

The interesting story is that we originally hoped that he would be born on 12/12, December 12, 2020, two 12s and two 20s, because his name has a lot of double letters. So Bennett has two Es, two Ns, two Ts, and his last name has two Os. But as is often the case, God had other plans.

He was born on 12/13, 2020. So no beautiful symmetry or order in his name, unfortunately. We have two prayer requests. The first is that Bennett would grow up and know the truth of the gospel and accept Christ as Lord and Savior, despite growing up in what seems like a more and more secular world.

And the second is just that he would know that God is always with him and cling to Christ, no matter what challenges or difficulties he faces in life. Thanks. Hello, Good Morning Church Family. My name's Eugene, and this is my wife, Joanna. And we have two girls, and this is our second.

And she turns five months tomorrow. And her name's Eden, Eden Zoe Song. And our prayer request, ultimately, is that she would live out the significance of her name and that she would be a testament to a delightful, full life, the rich life, the abundant life that we have in Christ.

And so if you guys could join us in praying for that, that would be great. Hi, beloved Church Family. My name is Sean. This is my wife, Yen. Yen and I would like to introduce you to our second son, Ethan. We're very grateful to God for blessing us with another son, another arrow in our quiver.

Would you guys please pray for our sons, both Oliver and Ethan, that they would not only grow in stature, but of course, in knowledge of our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ. If it is God's will, we would like-- hopefully, our sons would repent, and God would grace both Oliver and Ethan with saving faith.

Also, just a little shout of praise, God, for my brilliant bride. She feeds our sons, cleans them, clothes them, teaches them, prays for them, and overall nurtures each day. She's really a remarkable reminder in my life that we are sinners saved by God's grace and continually being sanctified. So yeah, would you please also pray that our God would faithfully lead us to confession, repentance, and growing reliance on our Lord, and that our lifelong marriage would be enduring and God-glorifying.

Thanks, brothers and sisters. Hi, Church Family. I'm Johnny. This is Joyce. This is our son, Jacob Micah Nguyen. He's 2 and 1/2, almost three years old. We named him after Jacob in the Bible for three reasons. One, his name started with a J. Two, after going through the Hebrew sermons, and we learned more about Jacob.

And despite his flaws, was a man of faith. And three, we thought his name was cute. So some convictions we learned as becoming first-time parents is, despite not knowing what to do a lot of times, we have the word. We have the church. And God gives us the spirit in Jesus, and he's willing to give wisdom to those who ask.

So those are reassuring things for us. And so for prayer requests for us, if you could pray for Jacob's salvation, that God would soften his heart, to give him ears to hear and eyes to see, that God would reveal himself to Jacob so that he may meet and know Christ, who is holy God, but also a God of love and mercy, and know his kindness of God that leads him to repentance, and that God would use Joyce and I to give us wisdom and speak through us and speak in action.

Thank you. Good morning, brothers and sisters. My name is Lee, and my wife, Esther. And we would like to introduce our son, Boaz Hajoon Lee. And he's 3 and 1/2 years old. He's now the youngest of five, and he was adopted from Korea eight months ago. His name is Boaz because my father always liked the character Boaz, what he did, and what a man of character he was in the Bible.

And traditionally, my father named all our children's Korean name. He never got to name their American name. But since Hajoon, we kept his Korean name, we decided to name him the name that my father always loved, which was Boaz. His middle name is Hajoon because his birth mother loved him enough to carry him through pregnancy and loved him enough to put him up for adoption for a home.

And so we wanted to keep his Korean name. And obviously, his last name is our name. Our prayer requests. We would like to pray for two things. First, obviously, his growth for the love of the Lord, and that God woos his heart into his fold, and his name is written in the book of life.

But also for us and me in particular, that we continually be a student of our children, especially Boaz, as he grows so we can study and understand where his strengths are and where his talents are. So that we can support him and rear him up in the ways of the Lord.

Thank you. Hello, everyone. I'm Jason, and this is my wife, Jen. This is our wild and rambunctious little boy, Ethan. We came upon the name Ethan. I think we were going through the year of the Bible, and I looked up the meaning one day and saw that it said it was enduring, solid, persevering one.

So I really like the meaning behind that, especially because of the times that we're in. His middle name is Shiu. It's similar to Lee and Esther. We kept the original name that the biological mom gave him so that he would know his story. And a couple prayer requests. One, that he would come to a saving faith in early age, much like everyone else.

But secondly, just like his name says, that he would persevere and that he would be solid in his faith. Thank you. OK. Before we pray for the children and the family, I just want to encourage you guys. Part of the reason why we do this is we want our church, no matter what size it gets, that we would view these children as an extension of our personal families, that we don't watch these families as like, oh, they're disconnected.

We just happen to go to the same church. But that we would participate in raising these children. And so I know that a lot of our church members are already volunteering in Sunday schools and other things. But we're hoping and praying that our church would truly be a community.

In the midst of darkness and with all that's going on in the school systems, that our church would be a place where these children come and realize visually, not just within their families, but collectively, what God desires of his community. That we would really be able to build a church where they are being raised in a Christian community.

And so in order to do that, the commitment has to be beyond the parents. Just like they said, it requires a village to raise children. And so this is our village. And so we're asking not only for the parents, but every member, whether you have children or not, that we would put on the parental mindset when we see these children.

So when you see children running on the streets, like, oh, where are the parents? Take action. You're not allowed to spank them. But have a heart of parent for every child in our church that we would care for them. And so that just as every single parent is praying that they would come to the faith early, you don't have to be a Sunday school teacher to share the gospel with them.

Maybe one of these days, you'll have them at a table. And don't think that because they're young, they can't understand the gospel. They can understand. And so sometimes it could be a random situation where you're playing with them that you're able to share the gospel. And so my children heard the gospel that way as well, when people were over at our house.

And they would just randomly have conversation when they were young. And so we had various people in our church to share the gospel with them. And so whenever we heard that, we were so encouraged that our church was looking out for our children that way. So no matter how big our church gets, we're hoping and praying that that's something that we can continue to build together along with the parents.

So that's why we present the children so that you'd be aware of who they are, who the parents are. So let me pray for them. And then as I pray for them, I will also pray for the offering. And then we'll dismiss the families after that. All right, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the blessing that you've given each one of these families. And we know with all the ups and downs and the challenges that come from raising a child, Lord God, in this fallen world, I pray for parents, the fathers, to teach them, Lord God, what it means to lead, even with all the flaws and their shortcomings.

I pray, Father, that your love and your grace will be sufficient for them. And allow them to lead their homes in a way, Father God, that they may know you. I pray for the mothers in the time of exhaustion and tiredness, Lord God, that their fuel would come from you.

I pray that these homes would be a place where the gospel is shared and that they practice their faith, Lord God, in love. Teach them when to practice discipline, when to be gracious, what to teach, Lord God, that by example, not just by words, that they may see the love of Christ overflowing in this home.

That these children will know, Father, that the eternal things are much more valuable than the things, Lord, that are temporal. So for that end, I pray for your blessing, that the gospel may come into these homes early and that these children would come to faith early in faith so that they may live long lives, Lord God, be an example of Christ in this dark world.

So for that end, we pray for your blessing, that even in our giving, help us to give and that it may be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold, that the kingdom of God may continue to grow and that more and more people may know that salvation is in Christ and Christ alone.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. OK, we'll dismiss the parents now. OK, why don't we all stand up for the praise? Sing, who o Lord. Who o Lord could save themselves? Their own soul could heal. Our shame was deeper than the sea. Your grace is deeper still. Who o Lord.

Who o Lord could save themselves? Their own soul could heal. Their shame was deeper than the sea. Your grace is deeper still. You alone can rescue. You alone can save. You alone can lift us from the grave. You came down to find us, let us out of debt. You alone belong to the highest praise.

You o Lord have made a way the great divine unity. For when our hearts-- for when our hearts were far away, your love went first. Yes, your love. Yes, your love goes further still. You alone can rescue. You alone can save. You alone can lift us from the grave.

You came down to find us, let us out of debt. You alone belong to the highest praise. You alone. Lift up our eyes. Lift up our eyes. You're the keeper of light. Lift up our eyes. Lift up our eyes. You're the keeper of light. Lift up our eyes. Lift up our eyes.

You're the keeper of light. Lift up our eyes. Lift up our-- you're the keeper of light. You alone can rescue. You alone can save. You alone can lift us from the grave. You came down to find us, let us out of debt. You alone belong to the highest praise.

You alone can rescue. You alone can save. You alone can lift us from the grave. You came down to find us, let us out of debt. You alone belong to the highest praise. You alone belong to the highest praise. You alone belong to the highest praise. God, we hold the wondrous mystery in the dawning of the King.

Heed the theme of heaven's praises, robed in frail humanity. In our longing, in our darkness, now the light of life has come. Love to Christ who condescended, took on flesh to ransom us. God, we hold the wondrous mystery. He the perfect Son of man. In His living, in His suffering, never trace nor stain of sin.

Say the true and better Adam, come to save the hell-bound man. Christ the great and sure fulfillment of the law. In Him we stand. God, we hold the wondrous mystery. Christ the Lord upon the tree. In the stead of ruined sinners, He's the lamb in victory. See the price, see the price of our retention.

See the Father's plan unfold, bringing many sons to pour in. Grace unmeasured, love untold. Come behold. Come behold the wondrous mystery. Slain by death, the God of life. But no grave can ever strain Him. Praise the Lord. He is alive. And what a fortress of deliverance. How unwavering our hope.

Christ in power, resurrected, as we will be when He comes. What a fortress of deliverance. How unwavering our hope. Christ in power, resurrected, as we will be when He comes. Amen. You may be seated. All right. If you can turn your Bibles with me, Hebrews chapter 12, verses 12 and 13.

Hebrews chapter 12, verses 12 and 13. We'll be reading the NASB. "Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. Make straight paths for your feet so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed." Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we pray for your blessing. We pray for your guidance by your word. I pray that our hearts may be molded, Lord God, and that your word would guide and lead us and sanctify your church. Lord, we know that the preaching is just words, Lord God, unless you ordain it and illuminate us and cause us, Lord, to see who you are.

So we pray for guidance. We pray, Lord, that your grace would allow us, Lord, to hear and to practice and to be changed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Yesterday, myself, Elder James, and Pastor Mark, we did a podcast together on the subject of deconstructionism. So some of you guys who may have heard the term or maybe have been hearing it around, and basically what's going on, again, the latest trend is for people to re-examine their faith and possibly even questioning the fundamentals of what we believe.

Like, is the Bible real? Are the miracles real? Is the church necessary? And this was sparked by a few well-known pastors who basically denied their faith and walked away from Christianity, basically condemning the Christianity that they belonged to and they participated in, and even led. And many people came to Christ through them.

And so because of that, and I think it basically triggered a lot of people, just almost encouraging people to go back and re-examine their faith. I think re-examining our faith is always necessary, because we do live in a somewhat Christian culture, at least where we live. And you sometimes feel pressure to become a Christian when you're in college.

And then you make a bunch of Christian friends. Maybe you came from a Christian home. And as a result of that, being in church was a knee-jerk reaction. And maybe you never seriously examined what you truly believed. But in that process, the danger that we are seeing now is that it's almost encouraged, that it's almost normal that we go back and revisit, is the Bible even real?

Does God even exist? Did the resurrection really happen? And in that context, many people are beginning to realize that maybe they weren't believers to begin with. I think most of us, if you've been a Christian for any period of time, you can probably name at least one person, or maybe many people, that at one point, maybe you looked up to and you ran the race with, are no longer walking with God.

Maybe a professor, maybe your Sunday school teacher, maybe your youth pastor, maybe a good friend of yours, that at one point, you were excited and you're walking with God. And by all definitions of what the Bible teaches, what a Christian is, they are no longer walking with God. They're not believers in Christ.

This is not anything new. This is not a new phenomenon in what's going on in our generation, that all of a sudden, 2,000 years later, after the death and resurrection of Christ, this new thing of deconstructionism is going on. This has happened from the very first century, from the very beginning.

Jesus warned. He said that some seeds are going to fall on certain soils and they're going to look like they're going to bear fruit for a period. But then, because they don't have any foundation, they're going to disappear. Some of them are going to fall on soils and they just disbelieve and they walk away.

And then there are some soils where the seed falls on the third soil. And in the beginning, it looks like they're bearing fruit. But because of the worries and concern and deceitfulness of this world, their faith gets choked out. And as a result, they die. So whether you call it deconstructionism or backsliding or fading or slipping, whatever you want to call it, it is nothing new to our generation.

The Bible tells us that this will happen. And so people who are going through this process are only coming to realize that maybe they never really had faith to begin with. And this is why it's necessary for us to examine and make sure that we are truly anchored in Christ, that our dependency is not the community, that our dependency is not our support group and our family, friends, or our tradition.

But do I really believe in Christ? Am I anchored in Christ? That even if everybody that I know falls away, that I am anchored in Christ? Even if the biggest waves come, I am anchored in Christ. The text that we're looking at this morning is in the context of the larger context where the author has been trying to get the readers to continue to take their faith seriously and not drift.

Now, they weren't guilty of apostasy. They weren't guilty of waking up one morning and say, you know what? I don't want Jesus. And I'm going to run toward my old life. That's not what was happening. The constant warning is do not drift, do not neglect, do not drift. Because most people who experience deconstructionism or backsliding usually happens way before they're ever public about it.

That was probably happening behind the scene where they were questioning. Maybe they weren't walking right with God. Maybe there was a sin in their life that they weren't confessing that caused a strain or quenching of the spirit. And instead of realizing that maybe something in them was flawed, they turned that table around and began to point to the church or the pastors or to the Bible itself, saying maybe they're wrong and I'm not the cause.

It is in that context that this author has been going through Christology chapter after chapter after chapter that we do not drift from this. And so we're in chapter 12. We're saying, considering all of this, therefore-- so we have such a great of witnesses that has gone before us to lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us so that we do not continue to drift.

And then in verse 12 that we're looking at where it says, "Therefore, considering what Christ has done for us, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble." We have no reason to quit. If you are a genuine believer in Christ, there is no reason to quit.

That's what he means in verse 4 when he said, "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." Christ has shed his blood for us. Our salvation was given. We didn't earn this. So a genuine Christian has no reason to quit, no matter what struggle, no matter what trial, because Christ knowing our weakness, Christ knowing our struggle has shed his blood for us.

So the only Christian that truly fails in the kingdom of God is the one who quits. And so he's encouraging and challenging the church to persevere because it is for that reason that Christ died for us. Since we have a God who is perfect, who does not make mistakes, there's no reason to quit.

Since we have a God who loves us, and that even in the most difficult circumstances, it's a proof of our relationship with him, so therefore we don't need to quit. Since we have a God that even in our most difficult circumstances are orchestrating things for our own good to train us to be more like him, therefore we do not need to quit.

And that was the point that we were trying to make last week in the passages. And here in verse 12, he continues. He says, "Therefore, therefore we believe in a sovereign God who loved us, died for us. There's no reason to quit. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble." Let me stop right here because this is a passage.

Verse 12 and 13 is a passage that we know well. This is kind of like, let's get going type of passage. If you're struggling, find out what your weaknesses are and make a list of things that you need to correct. And then get things right, and then let's do it.

But before we even get to that, we need to first understand-- this is why we have inductive Bible study, because we want to make sure that all of the meaning and the imagery that is given in the text is actually what we are getting out of the text. First of all, the word for the passage, "strengthen the hands that are weak," is not an exact translation.

It's more of a transliteration so that we can have the gist of what the meaning is. But if you look at the King James Version, where they didn't care at all whether you understood it or not. They just kind of translated it exactly the way it is written in the Greek.

In the King James Translation, the meaning behind it is basically to lift up drooping hands. So lift up drooping hands. So the imagery in our head is right there. So imagery that's given in verse 12 is an individual where the hands are drooped. And then the second part of that, "and the knees that are feeble," meaning that there's no strength in their knees that are shaking.

So what do you think that's a picture of? Take a guess of the context of somebody who would be drawn that way. This looks like somebody who's in the middle of a marathon, maybe about halfway through. And they're just fatigued. And they're out of breath. And they don't have the same kind of vigor that they had in the beginning.

And so when an individual gets to that point, what are they thinking? Hamburger? What are they thinking here? Quitting, exactly. So this is a picture of an individual who started the race well, but at some point has lost their vigor and have no energy, is slooped down, and their knees are starting to buckle.

And in their mind, they're probably thinking that I don't know if I can continue on. That is who he's addressing. He's addressing an individual or a group of people who just don't have the strength. And they say, oh my gosh, how am I going to make it? I still have another 13 miles to go.

And I'm exhausted now. Am I going to be able to persevere? It is at this point where many people begin to change their theology. Maybe I'm not the problem. Maybe they're the problem. Maybe the reason why I feel this way and I'm exhausted is because the church has wronged me.

These people have wronged me. Maybe I was at the wrong church. Maybe I was at the wrong group. And we have a tendency to either change our theology, change our circumstance, change various things, because I don't think I can go on. This is the place where the thoughts of deconstruction comes in, because they're ready to quit.

So instead of saying, I couldn't finish this race, they say, maybe the race wasn't the right race to begin with. Maybe I was trained wrong. Maybe my trainers were wrong. It is these people that they are addressing. And it is these people who are at this point that the whole book of Hebrews is written to, who have their hands drooped, their knees are beginning to buckle, they're out of breath, they're tired, they don't know if they can continue, and the race seems like it's still so far away.

Can I continue to do this? In the world, when you see an individual at that state, what do we do if you're good friends? In the world, you can do it. Or maybe if you grew up in the church, you'll quote Philippians. I can do all things. Put it on your shoes, on your shirt.

Believe in yourself. You can do it. Don't let the naysayers get to you. Don't trust them. Whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve. And you get motivation speakers, you listen to tape or meditation, because we need to persevere. And that's the answer that the world is giving.

This is a Christian version of saying, hey, keep your chin up. But he's not simply saying, hey, believe in yourself. Just suck it up and find the strength within. And if you just discipline harder, if you just work harder, you can continue. That's not the point that he's been making.

The point that he's been making is you took your eyes off of Christ. And that's why he says he's the author and the perfecter of our faith. You started with Christ, but at some point in your walk with Christ, you began to just do things yourself, and you ran out of energy.

You're fatigued. So the answer is not to go back and try it again and do it harder this time. He says, no, the reason why you became this to begin with is because you took your eyes off of Christ. That's exactly the point that Paul was trying to make in Philippians 3, 3-7, where Paul says he is dealing with the Judaizers who are saying that salvation could not be by grace alone.

Yes, we believe in Jesus, but there's a part that we need to play. And so you still need to be circumcised, and you still need to respect the Mosaic law. And Paul is writing to them, and he says, "For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God in glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." I don't have confidence in my flesh.

Let's try harder. Let's be disciplined even more. You know, he says, "I put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more." And Paul was not exaggerating. You know, people may say that and not be true, but Apostle Paul, there's nobody who is going to go toe-to-toe with law-keeping and his background than Apostle Paul.

And then he goes on and said, "Let's go. If you think that that's the path of righteousness, and you think the reason why I'm preaching salvation by grace alone is because somehow I failed in the law, let me tell you who I am." And that's what Paul is doing.

He's presenting. Circumcised on the eighth day, meaning that he's a true Israelite. He has a covenant symbol on him of the nation of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin. In the nation of Israel, they were, you know, there's a pecking order as to which tribes were the most prestigious.

What's the most prestigious? Tribe of Judah, because that was the kingly line. But next to the tribe of Judah, the Benjamites were known for two things. One, if you remember the Book of Judges, the Benjamites were known as the mighty warriors. So they were known to be valiant warriors.

And then two, they were known to be the ones who remained faithful to Judah when the kingdom split, where the 10 tribes went with one group, and the Judah and Benjamites were the only ones who stayed on the side that was right. And so to say that he's a Benjamite right off the bat, right?

You want to go toe-to-toe, what tribe are you from? Manasseh? Is that where you're from, Manasseh? You know what happened to Manasseh, right? Say, "I'm from the tribe of Benjamin." Hebrew of Hebrew, as to the law, a Pharisee. Pharisees were the ones who took the law and they were OCD about the law, right?

They took the Sabbath and they said, "Well, we want to make sure that we never break the Sabbath, so we're going to..." They added all these other laws, like, "If you do this, if you touch this, if you walk this many, you know, steps and you go one step further, you broke the law." These were the Pharisees who took the law seriously.

And he says, "You're accusing me that maybe I couldn't find righteousness and that's why I'm reverting to grace? I'm a Pharisee." But Astezeel, are you questioning my passion? You're questioning my desire? Astezeel, persecutor of the church. You know, when he said he was a persecutor of the church, you have to remember that during that period, the Israelites didn't have authority to carry out capital punishment.

So when Stephen was being stoned and they put all their cloaks, everybody who stoned Stephen to put their cloak at the feet of Apostle Paul, who was Saul at that time, basically means that he's going to be responsible for this. And Apostle Paul basically said, "Yeah, if I go to jail and I die for this, I'm willing.

You're going to question my zeal? I was a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness, which is in the law, found blameless." Now, that's got to be an exaggeration, right? Yeah, maybe in the eyes of God, but to other Jews, Apostle Paul, not only was he a Pharisee, he was a direct disciple of Gamaliel, the top scholar of Israel.

And there's rumors that he was already a member of the Sanhedrin. So it was assumed that he was blameless in the law. But whatever thing were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. If my righteousness is based upon me being zealous and my background and keeping the law perfectly and said, "You want to go toe to toe, I'll beat all of you." But the message of the cross actually makes all of that rubbish.

It's not because we simply need to work harder. It's not simply because we need to be more disciplined. All of these things are things that we ought to do, but the primary reason why they got to the point where they were about to quit is because they took their eyes off of Christ.

They thought at some point that they can do it by their own strength. You and I all know the story where Jesus tells that you have a tax collector and a Pharisee who goes up to pray, and the tax collector is praying. He's like, "Thank God I'm not like them.

I pay my tithes and I obey the law." And then the tax collector is beating his chest. And he said, "I'm not worthy of you." And he says, "Who became righteous? Whose sins were justified?" He said, "The tax collector, because he received forgiveness." Now, we all know that story.

So in the beginning and justification, we know that we have to be like a tax collector, beating our chest, recognizing our sin, asking for forgiveness, and remaining humble. But at some point, after the justification, we come to sanctification, we become right back to the Pharisees. I know I have to be justified.

To be justified, I need to be like a tax collector. But to be sanctified, I need to be like a Pharisee. I need to get all my ducks in order, and I need to check off all the boxes. I need to read the Bible a certain amount. I need to have all my theology, and I need to witness to so many people, and I need to do all of these things.

And then we start to measure everybody else based upon these checkoff lists that we have. And at some point, we forget that we're always the tax collector before Christ. We're always beating our chest in need of His mercy. It is not by our own righteousness we are justified. It is not simply by our own righteousness that we will be sanctified.

And it is not by our own righteousness that we will be glorified. You know, one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, I think one of the most beautiful things that Jesus quoted is in Matthew chapter 12, verse 20. As He is healing the sick, the Pharisees and the scribes are offended that Jesus is performing miracles on Sabbath.

And instead of forgetting, instead of seeing the miracles, like, "Oh my gosh, this guy, He heals the sick. He has power. He must be the Messiah." Instead of seeing the miracle and glorifying God, how can you be healing on the Sabbath? Jesus in knowing what's in their heart, He says in verse 20, "A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out until He leads justice to victory." A battered reed basically is a reed that has been broken.

It's useless. A smoldering wick is kind of at the end of the candle. You know, that's what you light in order for the oil to burn. A smoldering wick is basically used, it's burned. So basically He's saying it's worthless. It's trash. In any other, any definition, it would be trash.

We wouldn't look at a smoldering wick and say, "Let's salvage that. We're going to recycle this." Right? We're going to floss our teeth. We're going to plant things. There's nothing to be salvaged. It's just trash. And so He's using that imagery, saying that He's having compassion. A lost sinner, really in rebellion against God, He's worse than a smoldering wick and a broken reed.

A broken reed is not cursing God. A smoldering wick is not in rebellion. But He's saying that even if that is the case, He says, "I will not put it out." I think it's one of the most beautiful scenes, beautiful things that Jesus has ever said. And it's His way of saying that, "I will not turn away, ever turn away a repentant sinner.

I will never turn away a genuinely repentant sinner." And that's what He means when He says, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 3, "For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." So let me stop right there. Look at that text.

You look at that and say, He endured hostility so that we will not grow weary. Does He mean that He set an example for us of persevering? And even though He was being attacked, He endured, so therefore He set an example. And so we need to follow that example that in the midst of persecution that we need to persevere as well?

Possibly, right? Possibly. I believe the main thrust of what He's saying here is that in the context of being weary and losing heart and arms drooping and knees buckling, He says, "Jesus has accomplished what you could not do." He endured hostility against sinners against Himself. What does that mean?

He went to the cross. Despite the suffering, despite the rejection, despite the pain, He said He went to the cross so that when we are weary, that we do not need to quit. Because God's not placing that on our shoulder that you better get your act straight. You better do this.

He says no. Because He knew we were going to be weak. He knew there are times that we're going to be drooping arms. We're going to have buckling knees. He says He endured for us so that you would not lose heart. In other words, to look to Christ. That when those situations happen, that we do not look to people, we do not look to leaders, we do not look to circumstances or community or finance or politics.

To fix your eyes upon Christ, the beginner and the finisher of our faith. Romans chapter 8, 26 to 28 says, in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Man, this passage is always so encouraging to me because even in our prayers, He says when you can't pray, I know I commanded you to pray. I know how important prayer is. But even when you can't pray and you don't know what to pray for, He provided for us.

The Spirit inside of us interceding and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

He even provided knowing that there are times where we're going to have a hard time praying. We don't know what to pray for. We're lost. What is God's will? That even in that context, He says, I made it so that the Holy Spirit will groan with words that even you don't understand.

So that there the Holy Spirit is interceding on our behalf even when we are struggling. Man, He thought of everything. Everything. He didn't just justify us and then said, you better get to work. He didn't just justify us and say, now everything, I've done everything I could, now you just go to it.

He said, no. He who started a good work in you, He will carry it onto completion. And He says, all things work together for good. For who? For those who are the most disciplined, for those who have the best theology, for those who have proven track record. No, He said, for those who have been called and for those who love Him.

Are you justified? And do you love Him? So the most important question that a Christian should be continually asking is, do I love Him? That's the greatest commandment. And that's the measuring stick that God uses. And He says, if you are justified and if you love Him, all things will work together for good according to His purpose.

He will do it. See, our struggle is, we have a tendency. And it's proof that maybe we haven't really truly even died yet. We have a tendency to live up to the expectations of people rather than the calling of the gospel. So we jump through hoops and do what we need to do because that's expected of us from our community.

Maybe our leaders, our friends, our family members. You know who is under that pressure more than anybody else? Right here. Me. And then the other pastors. Then the elders. The small group leaders. Anybody who leads is under that pressure. You don't have to be a leader. You just have to be a Christian.

You're a member of the church. You know? So we live up to the expectations of what other people think we ought to be rather than living up to the calling that God has given us as His children. So what ends up happening is we become experts in presenting ourselves.

The longer you've been a Christian, you know the knee-jerk answer. How are you doing? Good. Right? Struggling but getting better. Right? We have these generic things that deep inside is like, "Man, I'm about to die." I've been hooked on pornography for months. But the way we answer is like, "Struggling." Right?

It's just struggling. Because we know. We know how to get along. We know how to function. Right? And so when that begins to break down and we start the hypocrisy of a double life that we're living and all of a sudden either that causes us to repent and get right with God or we go through deconstruction saying maybe it's their fault.

Maybe I'm in this situation because they were the ones who put that pressure on me and then I try to live up to their standard because they started judging me. They told me I need to do this. Not realizing maybe from the get-go we were founded upon the wrong foundation.

You know there's a song from Twilight Paris. I don't think she is famous anymore but she was at one point and has a song called "Warrior is a Child." And this song, I wanted to read it to you. It says, "Lately I've been winning battles left and right but even winners can get wounded in the fight.

People say that I'm amazing, I'm strong beyond my years but they don't see inside of me I'm hiding all my tears. I don't know that I come, they don't know that I come running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around.

I drop my sword and cry for just a while because deep inside this armor the warrior is a child. Unafraid because his armor is the best but even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. People say that I'm amazing, I never face retreat but they don't see the enemies that lay me at his feet.

They don't know that I come running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just a while because deep inside this armor the warrior is a child." How many of you can relate to this song?

We try so hard to present ourselves a certain way because we think that this is what we ought to do. And so you do that for a year, two years, four years, five years and then the pressure begins to buckle because we're not standing on Christ. So when he says if your arms are drooping and your knees are buckling, that's what he's been trying to do, to fix your eyes upon Christ.

To fix it upon Christ. The reason why the Hebrews were in the position they were isn't simply because they weren't trying hard enough. It's because they forgot. They forgot what brought them to Christ to begin with. They forgot that they were the bruised reed. That they were the burned wick.

And it isn't until you and I recognize from beginning to the middle to the end that we will always be a burnt out wick that is desperately in need of his grace. We are always tax collectors beating our chest in need of his mercy. And until then, we don't need Christ.

We've been justified so we don't need Christ. My ticket's in heaven already so we don't need Christ. I'm going to use my intellect. I'm going to try hard. I'm going to be more disciplined. I'm going to read more than other people. And so since I'm justified, I'm just going to be better.

It's probably that very reason why they started to drift back to begin with. But here's the kicker in verse 13. He says, "And make straight paths for your feet so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." So you see this imagery of the race that he uses again.

Here's that man who's running and he's about to quit and he says, "Here's the solution. Strengthen that." In other words, get back up. And then he says, "Here's what you need to do. Make the straight path straight for your feet." So imagery-wise, it makes sense, right? If you're going to run this path, you need to make sure that you're on the right path.

But again, you have to understand that a first century Jew, when you talked about a straight path, there's an immediate understanding of what they were referring to. Like today, if I asked you, "What are the best streets in this area?" What are the streets that you feel like you can take a car and just go as fast as you can, not that you should?

But what are the best streets? What are the streets that they pay the most attention to, to make sure that there's no potholes, there's no quick turns, that you can get on that street and go straight and step on it and you're going to be able to be safe going on that street?

What road is that way? Right? Jamboree? No, it's not Jamboree. There's too many pedestrians there, right? And there's certain cities you have a pot, you know, like a, what do you call it, hole in the ground? >>Potholes. >>Potholes, yes. It may not be fixed for a while, right? You just drive slow and then you just have to be careful.

But you will never see a pothole on the freeway. Because if you have a pothole on the freeway, people can die. And you won't see the freeway turning real quick. All the best roads are on the highway. And they, if any, even an object is on the highway, somebody will come, the CHP officers will come and they'll clear that out because it's dangerous.

So the best roads around us are always the highways. They're the biggest roads, they're the safest, they're the flattest, and they pay the most attention to that. You know what the best roads were in Israel? All the best roads in Israel were the roads that led to the cities of refuge.

The cities of refuge, if you didn't know, were six cities that were commanded by God that as they entered into the promised land, and they were spread out in Israel in the six places so that any part of Israel you couldn't look up because they were built on hills and you were able to visually see where they were.

And you knew that if anything happened, you needed to run there, you knew exactly which city to go to. So the reason why he did that, he said that if somebody is like plowing or farming and accidentally he kills his neighbor, and so the neighbor's family member who becomes angry that their brother or sister or father was killed, even though it was accidentally, that they want to take vengeance.

And so they call that individual avenger of blood. And so when that avenger of blood wants to take vengeance on that individual who killed accidentally, that he would pack up his stuff and run to the city of refuge as soon as he can and then when he gets to the gate, they would have a trial to see if it was accidental, if he is innocent, that he didn't deliberately murder this person.

And if that's found to be true, they would open the door and the one who was fleeing, would enter into the city and the city was run by the priests. And the leader of these cities were the high priest. So under the protection of the high priest, the avenger of blood could not get to him and that's where he would live out the rest of his life in order so that the avenger of blood would not get to him.

Now think about that. How often do you think this happened in Israel? That he would establish six cities, right? How often does that happen? How often does accidental killing happen in our community? I mean, our cities are much more dense. I mean, it can happen, right? Car accidents, but they didn't ride cars back then.

So typically if they killed somebody by accident, it was probably they're, you know, throwing the whole back and then they hit somebody in the back of the head or something. Or they were getting carried away with their cows and they ran over somebody. How often does this happen? That he would, and it's mentioned in Deuteronomy, it's mentioned in the book of Numbers, it's mentioned in Joshua and Exodus, it's mentioned in all these.

This was significant enough that he has six cities, all this money dedicated just so that they can have, if that ever happens. And my guess is it was pretty rare that that even happened. So why was this there? Why was so much attention given to these six cities of refuge?

Every one of these cities was a visual reminder of the coming of Christ. Next time you read the New Testament, see how often the word refuge is related to God. How often you see the term refuge as Christ being our refuge. All of this was an example as Christ, as our high priest, protects us from the avenger of blood.

All of this to point to that when Christ comes, that he will be our refuge. And so the Bible says in the book of Deuteronomy that all the roads have to be paved well so that if this happened, the best roads in Israel would always lead to the cities of refuge.

In fact, in the rabbinical tradition written by Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, he says it was well known that the best roads in Israel all led to the cities of refuge. In fact, every year it was part of their law to clear out these roads in case it got damaged, in case there were potholes, in case there were, you know, like they had a flood and the road was wiped out.

Every year they had to go revisit, make sure that these roads were clear and it was flat. They built bridges, right? Even on the roads that are rarely traveled, they would build bridges to make sure that just in case if that happened, that an individual was running would have the clearest and the fastest path to the cities of refuge.

And then on top of that, to make sure that the people who are on this path would not get lost, they put signposts every so often so that as they are running, they are reminded that they are on the right road. So on these signs, it would say, "Refuge, refuge, refuge, refuge." So first century Jew, when he reads this, "And make straight path for your feet," the first imagery that he has is the cities of refuge that leads to Christ.

And it is in this backdrop that Christ comes to fulfill what he's been preparing, that he is our refuge. He is our strength. The refuge means when you are at that point where you're about to quit, that you don't have any strength to lift up your arms and your knees are beginning to buckle.

The only refuge that can truly protect us, where we can find life, is in Christ. That's why in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3 to 4, in the prophecy about the coming Christ, he says, "A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth path in the desert a highway for our God.

Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low and let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley." This was a prophecy about the Messiah coming. And this is exactly how John the Baptist's ministry is described in Mark chapter 2, verse 3.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight.'" So the primary ministry of John the Baptist was to pave the road so that the access to the Messiah would be the fastest and the best.

You know, that's the ministry of every minister. My calling in ministry is not so that I can know what the latest trend is in our culture and tap into that and find all the business ideas that we can implement in the church that will be the best organized and get the best money to do the best things.

And I remember early on in ministry just being burned out by all of that because it was just overwhelming. And it dawned on me, God never called me to do that. That was the expectation of maybe the church. That was an expectation from the Christian culture. But I didn't see that in Scripture.

He deliberately picked fishermen who knew nothing. I mean, if he wanted wise, smart people to build his first church, he picked the wrong people. In fact, when the Corinthians began to divide one another because they were so smart, he reminds them, "God chose you because you were dumb." That's my translation.

You weren't that great. And now you're trying to be one up on another, and that's what's causing this division, all kinds of trouble. As I was reading through Scripture, I was like, "Oh, I don't need to be that smart. I don't need to be that clever. I don't need to be that talented." The primary thing that he called me to do is to make the path straight, to make the access to God as easy as possible, and to constantly remind people where the city of refuge is.

It's not in your homes. It's not in your neighbors. It's not in your community, small group. It's not in your husband. It's not in your wife. It's not in your children. City of refuge is in Christ. And this is the same message I give every single Sunday, right? Different highlights, different passage, but it's the same message.

Don't drift from Christ. And I've made it very plain to you that I don't trust you. I don't trust you. And I've asked you, "Don't trust me," because you're a sinner like me, and I'm a sinner like you. Everything you struggle with, I struggle with. But the only reason why I'm here is to show you, to highlight.

It's kind of like God has given me a high beam to shed light on this road. That's the road we're supposed to take. That's who we're supposed to go to. That's where our living water is. That's where our bread is. You could be disappointed with me. You could be disappointed with this church.

But that does not change who Christ is in your life. In Psalm 46, 1 to 3, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride, though your arms are drooping, though your knees are buckling, God is our refuge and He is our strength.

Not only are we to run this race with perseverance, He says, "Help one another," Hebrews 10, 20 through 25. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Let us consider how to stimulate one another unto our love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembly together as it is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Not only are we called to be on this path, the purpose of the church, we gather together as a team to encourage each other. It's kind of like if you signed up on a marathon where you are running together as a team. Some of you run faster. Some of you are like me, don't run at all, right?

But you signed up and you want to get, we all want to get to the cities of refuge. That's the end goal, right? So in this process, the calling in the church is that some of those who are faster to encourage those who are slower to keep up, to strengthen them.

Maybe slow down a little bit so they can catch up. Maybe right now he's the one who needs the water, right? Maybe we need to take a water break and to make sure that we are running this together, right? And those who are a little bit slower to be challenged by those who are a bit faster.

But imagine if we're running together and the guy in the front is like, "What the heck is wrong with you? We're running at this speed and you're not coming along. What is wrong with you?" Imagine what kind of a team we would be in, what kind of a church we would be if the fastest runners are always yelling at the slow runners that they're not keeping up.

So you know what ends up happening? The slow runners are so discouraged that, "I can't keep up. I'm ruining this team, so I'm just not going to run." And the fastest runners are so frustrated that they're not running fast enough and there's no way that he could possibly win on this team, so he ends up quitting.

And then the ones who are running at the medium speed, keeping up with everybody, now that the fastest runners are gone and the slowest runners have quit, they're disqualified. So they all quit. God calls us together to stay on this path. Those who are stronger, encourage the weak. Those who are weak, be challenged by those who are stronger and make sure that we're running this race together.

That's what Hebrews 10, 23 to 25 is, for people who are frustrated and ready to go their own path. That's why the primary greetings in the early church was "Maranatha." You know what Maranatha means? The Lord is coming. The Lord comes. That's what they kept on reminding each other because Maranatha is where we find the greatest comfort.

Maranatha is where we find our greatest strength. Maranatha is where we find our greatest fuel so that those who are with drooping hands, those who have buckling knees, would find strength, refuge, and comfort needed to persevere in this race. And that's why they said Maranatha. Lord is coming. I know you're tired, but Maranatha, he's coming.

I know you're discouraged. Maranatha, he's coming. I know you're frustrated and you're hurt. I know you have past pains that you just can't erase from your head. Maranatha, he's coming. Some of you are in situations where you've been trying to shake bad memories from your past for years and sometimes you feel like you're making progress, sometimes you're digressing.

Maranatha, he's coming. He's coming. No matter how hard this gets, no matter how discouraged we get, no Christian has a reason to quit. Persevere. Maranatha, he's coming. Let's pray. Let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord in prayer. Again, ask the Lord. I believe, help my unbelief.

Lord, I drifted from you. I've been working and running so hard and I'm tired. I'm that person in verse 12. I need to make the path straight. I need to come to the Lord. Help me. Effective prayer is not flowery words or many words or even the intensity, but just the honesty before God.

Come before the Lord and take some time to pray as our worship team leads us. Let's pray. (gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - Church family, would you please stand with us for the closing praise?

(gentle music) ♪ Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪ ♪ In the fury of the storm ♪ ♪ When the winds of doubt blow through me ♪ ♪ And my sails have all been torn ♪ ♪ In the suffering, in the sorrow ♪ ♪ When my sinking hopes are few ♪ ♪ I will hold fast to the anchor ♪ ♪ And shall never be removed ♪ ♪ Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪ ♪ While the tempest rages on ♪ ♪ When temptation claims the battle ♪ ♪ And its sail the night has won ♪ ♪ Deeper still there goes the anchor ♪ ♪ Though I trust the stand of youth ♪ ♪ I will hold fast to the anchor ♪ ♪ And shall never be removed ♪ (gentle music continues) ♪ Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪ ♪ Through the floods of unbelief ♪ ♪ Hopeless somehow, oh my soul now ♪ ♪ Lift your eyes to Calvary ♪ ♪ This my ballast of assurance ♪ ♪ See His love forever prove ♪ ♪ I will hold fast to the anchor ♪ ♪ And shall never be removed ♪ ♪ Shall never be removed ♪ ♪ Oh, never be removed ♪ ♪ Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪ ♪ As we face the wave of death ♪ ♪ When these trials give way to glory ♪ ♪ As we draw our final breath ♪ ♪ We will cross that great horizon ♪ ♪ Clouds be high and life secure ♪ ♪ And the calm will be the better ♪ ♪ For the storms that wait in store ♪ ♪ Christ the sure of our salvation ♪ ♪ Ever faithful, ever true ♪ ♪ We will hold fast to the anchor ♪ ♪ And shall never be removed ♪ ♪ Christ the sure of our salvation ♪ ♪ Ever faithful, ever true ♪ ♪ We will hold fast to the anchor ♪ ♪ And shall never be removed ♪ - Amen, let's pray.

Isaiah 53, three to four, encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble. Say to those who are anxious heart, take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, the recompense of God will come, but He will save you. Lord, we pray that you would help us to fix our eyes upon Christ who is here, upon Christ who will come, and upon Christ, Lord God, who leads us.

I pray that your word has gone forth and that your children would have heard His voice and follow Him and Him alone. So wherever you send us, I pray that you would renew our affection for Christ, that as we sing our praises, as we declare your glory, that the work that you are doing in us mightily, Lord God, would overflow in us, that we may be the aroma of Christ wherever you send us this week.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪ God sent His Son ♪ ♪ They called Him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Heal and forgive ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to prove ♪ ♪ My Savior lived ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because He lives ♪ - Amen.

And if we can have this side of the room go out that way and this side go this way, thank you. ♪ In the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ The Lord of peace on high ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪