(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) (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) (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) - All right, good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. It is always a joy for us to gather together for worship. Praise God for His great love. Praise God for His abundant grace over us. And before we begin, I'd like to read for us from Psalm 24, verses one through six. The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it.

For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully, he shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek His face, even Jacob. Amen, let's worship our God together. (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ As we see your face ♪ ♪ May we know your love ♪ ♪ Feel your presence ♪ ♪ A sentence ♪ ♪ As we see your face ♪ ♪ At your feet we fall ♪ ♪ Suffering ♪ ♪ We cry holy ♪ ♪ Holy ♪ ♪ At your feet we fall ♪ ♪ Jesus draw me close ♪ ♪ Closer Lord to you ♪ ♪ Let the world around me ♪ ♪ Fade away ♪ ♪ Jesus draw me close ♪ ♪ Closer Lord to you ♪ ♪ For I desire to worship and obey ♪ One more time, Jesus draw me close.

♪ Jesus draw me close ♪ ♪ Closer Lord to you ♪ ♪ Let the world around me ♪ ♪ Fade away ♪ ♪ Jesus draw me close ♪ ♪ Closer Lord to you ♪ ♪ For I desire to worship and obey ♪ - All right, good morning. Welcome to Bering Community Church.

Let me get the announcement started. First of all, the college study hall is taking place starting next Sunday at six to 2 a.m., Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. And so they're taking signups to bring snacks and stuff to encourage our college students. So if you can go to the website and sign up, or you can just kind of bring it to the cafe and they'll direct you to where to put that.

And then at New Year's Eve, we have a ping pong tournament that's going on at 3 p.m. So if you wanna participate in that, it's $5 and it will be held in most likely in this room. And then at 11 p.m., our New Year's Eve service is gonna be happening.

And then from 11 to 12, and then afterwards, we're hoping that by at the latest 12.30, we can send you guys off. So please mark that on your calendar. Galatians Bible study. For next session of Galatians Bible study is starting on February 7th. And so we have a little bit of break.

We have maybe about seven to eight week break, but we do need you guys to sign up now. There's only a couple more weeks before this session of Bible study ends, but we need to make sure we prepare. We have enough room and small group leaders and home groups to be able to accommodate the people.

And so please sign up if you haven't done so, please do that as soon as possible. And then Living Well Pregnancy Center, baby bottle drive. So if you've taken one of those, they need that returned by next Sunday at the latest. So if you have it, please bring that back by next Sunday.

And then one last thing I wanna remind you of, every year we have a Lottie Moon Christmas mission offering that we take and then to support the missionaries and for the International Mission Board. And so just mark that on your calendar and hopefully on that day on the 24th, you can take that.

You can give it earlier, but you just have to mark and make sure that it's for the Lottie Moon, the annual missions offering. So please pray and to give to those funds. And again, that's to support our missionaries and also to the other missionaries in the IMB. All right, if we don't have any other announcement, I'm gonna pray for the offering.

Again, if you brought physical offering, there's a box in the back on the way out. All right, let me pray for us. Father, we thank you for this morning. Thank you for the privilege we have to serve you. We pray that your grace truly would be sufficient. Help us, Lord God, to give you genuine worship in spirit and in truth.

May our worship be a pleasing aroma to you. May it calibrate our hearts and our minds, especially in this busy season, that we would honor you and be purposeful in all that we do. I pray, Father God, that you would multiply the offering that we give, 30, 60, 100 fold for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle music) (bells tolling) (bells tolling) (bells tolling) (bells tolling) (bells tolling) (bells tolling) (bells tolling) All right, let us stand together and take a minute to greet each other. (gentle music) ♪ There is love vast as the ocean ♪ ♪ Love in goodness as the flood ♪ ♪ When the Prince of life our ransom shed for us ♪ ♪ His precious blood ♪ ♪ Who His love will not remember ♪ ♪ Who can seize His selfless praise ♪ ♪ He can never be forgotten ♪ ♪ Throughout heaven's eternal praise ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ On the land of crucifixion ♪ ♪ Fountains of wine ♪ ♪ And deep and wide ♪ ♪ For the flood ♪ ♪ It's a God's mercy ♪ ♪ For the cross ♪ ♪ And His just time ♪ ♪ Praising God ♪ ♪ Like nine rivers ♪ ♪ Morning says ♪ ♪ So come on by ♪ ♪ Heaven's peace ♪ ♪ And perfect justice ♪ ♪ We'll stay here ♪ ♪ Till we all survive ♪ ♪ There is love ♪ ♪ There is love that conquered evil ♪ ♪ Christ of love ♪ ♪ Was born from the grave ♪ ♪ And has failed to be found equal ♪ ♪ To the life of heaven's save ♪ ♪ In the valley of our darkness ♪ ♪ Come His everlasting light ♪ ♪ Perfect love ♪ ♪ With all its goodness ♪ ♪ Has returned the blessed ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love of old ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love of old ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love of old ♪ ♪ His love ♪ ♪ Fast as the heavens ♪ ♪ Powerful as the stars above ♪ ♪ Are the souls that He has ransomed ♪ ♪ Precious done, their treasured sons ♪ ♪ We are called to feast forever ♪ ♪ On our love beyond our time ♪ ♪ Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit ♪ ♪ Now with man are intertwined ♪ ♪ We are called to feast forever ♪ ♪ On our love beyond our time ♪ ♪ Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit ♪ ♪ Now with man are intertwined ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ What gifts of grace is Jesus my Redeemer ♪ ♪ There is no more for Him but now to give ♪ ♪ He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom ♪ ♪ My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ For my life is wholly bound to Him ♪ ♪ Oh how strange that from the heart I can sing ♪ ♪ All is mine and I am blessed through Christ in me ♪ ♪ I am His love, but I am not forsaken ♪ ♪ For by my side the Savior, He will stand ♪ ♪ I will not run in weakness, I rejoice ♪ ♪ For in my need, His power is displayed ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me ♪ ♪ Through the deepest valley, He will lead me ♪ ♪ Though the night has been long and I shall overcome ♪ ♪ Yet my life is through Christ in me ♪ ♪ When I tread, I know I am forgiven ♪ ♪ The future sure, the price it has been paid ♪ ♪ For Jesus bled and suffered for the poor ♪ ♪ And He was raised to hold His crown ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my sin has been defeated ♪ ♪ Jesus now and ever is my King ♪ ♪ For the chains are released, I can sing ♪ ♪ I am free at last through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Day by day I long to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ For He has said that He will bring me home ♪ ♪ Day by day I know He will deliver me ♪ ♪ Till I stand in the joy of His love ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ All the glory evermore to Him ♪ ♪ When the roses come down, my wings shall remain ♪ ♪ Yet not out of the ground ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ All the glory evermore to Him ♪ ♪ When the leaves fall, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not out of the ground ♪ ♪ When the leaves fall, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not out of through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Yet not out of through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Yet not out of through Christ in me ♪ - If you can turn your Bibles with me to First Corinthians, chapter 11.

We're gonna be taking a break from the Luke's Gospel for just for today, so that we can focus our attention on the communion. Wanna make sure that what we're doing in the communion doesn't become a religious activity, and there's always a danger. And when we do some things in repetition, that you don't really put much thought into it, and the purpose of it just becomes a religious activity.

And we do that with everything, whether we come to church, or whether we're singing or giving, that it just becomes a habit that we participate in. So if you go to church, this is what happens. But we need to make sure that this sacred thing that we're doing repeatedly throughout the year, that it has the effect that God intended it for us.

And so let me read the passage in First Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 23 to 34. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you.

"Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is a new covenant in my blood. "Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, "you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

"Therefore, whoever eats the bread "or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner "shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. "But a man must examine himself, "and in so doing, he is to eat of the bread "and drink of the cup. "For he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment "to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

"For this reason, many among you are weak and sick "and a number sleep. "But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. "But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord "so that we will not be condemned along with the world. "So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, "wait for one another.

"If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home "so that you will not come together for judgment. "The remaining matters I will arrange when I come." Let's pray. Father, we pray for your blessing. We pray for your guidance. We pray for deeper understanding, Lord God, that everything that we do, that we would do it as an act of worship in spirit and in truth.

Lord, we ask for your help as we discern, understand, and practice the things that you've given us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now, we're in a season of the year where probably most of you guys are busier than normal. You're wrapping up the year. Some of you guys, you know, if it was in the business world or maybe you're working as engineers, there's projects that needs to get done by the end of the year.

And so you have deadlines that you need to meet. You have families, and so you get together and you have family gatherings. If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, you're busy making a list and you gotta go and shop and get all the stuff. In the midst of all of that, you're laboring in the church.

And so some of you guys have volunteered for so many things that your schedule is so packed. You know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And so in the midst of all of this, there's always a danger of getting burned out. And that typically happens around this time of the year where you get so fatigued, and then you're kind of waiting for the end of the year to come.

And then when January comes, you say, you know what? I'm just gonna take a break. And then I'm just gonna, you know, like pull aside and rest up. We need to be careful that, you know, when that does happen, oftentimes when we take a break because we're fatigued and tired, we automatically think that it may be because we're busy.

Busyness sometimes just reveals what's happening with us. But the idea of burnout basically is when you don't have anything to burn, right? So like in a campfire, when a campfire dies, it's because there's no more wood to burn. So oftentimes we automatically think that we're burning up because we're doing too much.

If you are doing things that feed you, encourage you, challenge you, you can do a lot more, right? Like, and I oftentimes think about when we go to India, I mean, it's one of the probably most tiring weeks out of the whole year, you know? Just the ride itself to get there is like 35, sometimes 40 hours.

And then as soon as we get off, we grab dinner, and then we fall asleep. We wake up early in the morning, and then we're out there working in the villages, you know, sometimes in the heat and the sun, come back exhausted, and then we crash at night, wake up in the morning, and we do that four or five days.

And then after we're done, we get head straight to the airport. We get maybe a few hours break in between and catch a plane back, 35, you know, sometimes 40 hours, and then we get back home, come to church, and then they gotta go to work Monday, you know?

But for whatever the reason, every year, we don't have a problem recruiting people to come. Like, why would they do that? Spending their own money, taking vacation, you know, to go and just labor and to be fatigued and tired. I guess most people that come in are repeatedly come because the fellowship that we experience, the sense of purpose, we feel fed and refreshed.

Even though I'm physically tired, I come back always refreshed. You know, people ask me, like, when do you take breaks? And I kinda consider that my break, you know what I mean? Because our team does such a good job, I don't really need to work too hard other than getting plane tickets and that kind of stuff.

But I actually get to enjoy the fellowship, enjoy the time that we're there, even though we're physically tired. Oftentimes, when we, there's a desire to just step away, and instead of getting restored, you go from burnout to being rusted out, right? 'Cause you go from too much to not enough, and then very rarely does somebody burn out and step away and come back refreshed.

You know what I mean? Usually you come back because you feel guilty. Like, oh yeah, you know, I can't do this anymore, you stayed away for so long, and everybody's huffing and puffing, and it's like, hey, maybe, you know, you took a break, should you come back? And you don't feel any more refreshed than when you first took a break, but by the time you come back, you're kind of like, okay, you know, I gotta get back.

And then you repeat the cycle over and over again. Burnout simply means that what was fueling the energy that you needed is exhausted, it's not there. You're burning more than that's intake. So your intake is much less than what is going out. That's what that means. The reason why I say all of this is because the communion table was meant for the refreshment of the church.

That God knew that our natural tendency is to run with our own energy. And he wanted to make sure that through the communion table, what he intended for that would cause us to be strengthened and refreshed. So everything that God calls us to do was really meant to be refreshed by the communion table.

So again, if we participate without really understanding what it is, it's just bread. In fact, it takes an additional 10 minutes of our Sunday morning to do this ceremony that really has no effect on anybody other than it's just a religious thing. No, I did something God told me to do.

So I wanna make sure that as we participate in it, and periodically I do this just so that we don't just participate in a simply religious manner. First and foremost, communion is a replacement of the Passover meal. Now, you guys remember when it was inaugurated as Jesus was preparing his disciples to go to the cross next day, he participated in this Passover meal that God inaugurated with Israel for 1,200 years.

For 1,200 years, it was to commemorate, to remember the exodus coming from Egypt, that how God delivered them, how they began a new nation, how God gave the law, how God sustained them through the desert. So for 1,200 years so that they would not forget their God, and Jesus says, "Do this in remembrance of me." I want you to understand just how important this statement is.

Luke 22, 15, it says, "And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you "before I suffer." And then verse 19, "When he had taken some bread and given thanks, "he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given to you.

"Do this in remembrance of me." Now, when we just read that, he's like, "Oh, he's doing Passover, "so now whenever we have communion, "that we are supposed to do this in remembrance of it." If they were understanding correctly, they would have understood that Jesus basically was saying that for 1,200 years, this Passover meal was given to them so that they would not forget God, Yahweh, who delivered them.

For 1,200 years, every single year, they went through the drama so that they would recognize who God is. And now Jesus is saying, "Do that, "and do this in remembrance of me." In other words, I'm going to be replacing what you've been doing for God. Now you're gonna do it for me.

If Jesus was not God, and he said this, and the disciples were paying attention, it would have been cause for them to pick up stone and stone him immediately. Because if there was any doubt in anybody studying the New Testament that Jesus is claiming to be God Almighty, this would have sealed the deal for sure.

How can somebody who is just a man, how can somebody who is just a Messiah, just a king, say this Passover meal for 1,200 years, what you've been doing to remember God, now do this in remembrance of me. Jesus was clearly saying he is God. And in verse 20, "And in the same way, "he took the cup after they had eaten it, "saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you "'is the new covenant in my blood.'" Can a man implement a covenant by himself with a nation of Israel?

No, this is something that only God could do. A unilateral covenant was that I'm gonna make this covenant with you, only God could do that. So Jesus says not only do this in remembrance of me, and I'm gonna inaugurate a new covenant that I'm gonna shed my blood. If the disciples did not believe that he was God, they were obligated to stone him right there, 'cause he made it absolutely crystal clear.

The Passover meal was replaced 2,000 years ago. All the drama of all the Passover meals, all the meals, all the festivals that God inaugurated to the nation of Israel, and this, above all, he said, was for him. It was for him, all of redemptive. It wasn't like God was doing one thing with one group, and then all of a sudden, there's another thing that's happening.

He said, no, all of it was being fulfilled in Christ. This morning, I don't wanna focus my attention on what exactly we're doing. We can sit here and talk about what does it mean? Is it transubstantiation? Is it consubstantiation? Is it dynamic presence of Christ? But I don't wanna spend this morning talking about just the theological aspect of what this is.

We're a Baptist church. We believe that this is symbolic so that we can remember, and the reason why we believe that is because that's exactly how the Passover was practiced. Passover, in and of itself, did not have any kind of power over the nation of Israel. It was given to them so that they can remember and not forget.

If this is a replacement of what they were doing at Passover, then the meaning behind the Passover is added to the communion table, which was for the purpose of remembering. What is it that they're supposed to remember? What is it that they're supposed to remember and then the consequence of not remembering?

So there's three things that I wanna highlight here of what this is supposed to do. One, the Passover meal is to remember God's deliverance of Israel. It was their day of freedom. July 4th is America's Independence Day. In fact, in almost every country, they have a day that they celebrate where they, significant enough, whether they were delivered from oppression or there was a beginning of the nation or a specific dynasty, there's a particular date that almost every nation will celebrate as their independence, as the inauguration of their country.

Well, this was their Independence Day, but this was unique to them because this Independence Day was not because of their courage. It wasn't because of their great leaders. It was that every Independence Day, their Independence Day in the Passover meal would cause them to remember it was God. In Exodus 13, three, it says, "Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day "'in which you went out from Egypt, "'from the house of slavery, "'for by a powerful hand of the Lord "'brought you out from this place, "'and nothing leavened shall be eaten.'" Every year, they would go through this drama of how God would deliver them, how they had to leave in haste, the things that they ate, the bitter herbs, all of it that we do.

Every Easter, we go through the drama of the Passover meal because in every aspect of this Passover meal, there was a clear pointing to Christ, that Christ was going to fulfill this. And all of this pointed to the fact that the moment that they forgot who they are and who God is in their life, what was gonna happen?

Everything that they do was going to be meaningless. The sacrifice that they give, the obeying of the law, all of it was an avenue to bring them to him. So that's why you remember when you get to the latter part of Israel's history, when you get to the prophets, God rebukes them for their many sacrifices.

God rebukes them for saying that the singing is noise to them. He calls their assembly an evil assembly. The reason why is because they forgot God. They were going through the rituals, making many sacrifices, but they forgot why they were doing that. What was the reason behind that? Instead of an act of worship, it was their way of earning righteousness in the kingdom.

And that's why God said this is detestable because the whole purpose of the Passover meal, whole purpose of all these festivities is to remind them that God delivered you, that you were saved. Every single one of us, when we talk about burnout is when you are engaging in activity that you're not even sure, after a while, you're not even sure why you're doing it.

Maybe you were pressured to do it. Maybe you feel obligated. Maybe your friends are doing it so you signed up 'cause they're doing it so you're supposed to do it. And so whether it's expectation, whether it's just maybe you're just, you were just good all the time. And you're just kind of applying that to your life and then after a while, you're not exactly sure why you're doing it.

So if you engage in something that you enjoy doing, it feeds you, encourages you. But if you engage in something that you're not exactly sure why you're doing it, even a little bit of it fatigues you, it tires you. I'll give you an example. If you're meeting up with somebody that you just love and adore, you put that on your calendar and you're waiting, so you're gonna go there and I wanna share this and you can sit there with that person and two, three, four, five hours go by and the only reason why you even separate is because you have other obligations.

And then you meet somebody where you're burdened. I mean, you have to meet them. For whatever the reason and you're already dreading it. It's Monday and Thursday's coming around. It's like, oh my gosh. And you get fatigued and tired. And then as soon as you get there, you gotta say what you gotta say and you're looking at your watch and looking for reasons to get out of there.

Even a little bit of time spent with somebody that you don't wanna be with versus a lot of time with somebody that you really want to be with, you know how that feels. It's night and day. Our natural tendency is when we forget why we are doing what we are doing, everything that we do in the church becomes a burden.

Eventually. What started out as an act of worship eventually becomes an obligation and then the obligation becomes a burden and then that's where the burnout comes in. Burnout doesn't simply come because you're doing too much. Now, there's always a danger of that. You have to know your balance. But usually burnout comes because you're not exactly sure why you're doing what you're doing.

So that's why he told the nation of Israel, do not forget who I am. Do not forget what you have. First Corinthians 11, 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. It's to remind us that we've been saved by the blood of Christ.

If grace is no longer amazing to you, it's just grace. Remember, Dr. Michael Horton wrote a book called Putting Amazing Back Into Grace and that's probably one of the best books I've read in probably the last 15 years. Putting Amazing Back Into Grace. When grace is no longer amazing, it affects everything that we do.

It affects our worship, it affects our discipleship, it affects our evangelism, it affects our prayer life, it affects our Bible study, where we are no longer awed by Christ and what he has done. That's why the communion table was given to us to remind us every time we participate in this communion, you don't come here by your own merit.

It's a reminder to us every time we do this that we're saved by grace. Son of God died for me. Now I know, I know that this is fundamental, this is basic, but you've heard it so many times that it does nothing. You've heard it so many times, it's just part of theology, that's part of the gospel, but put yourself back to when you first heard the gospel, that somebody died so that you can live.

I mean, let that sink in. Somebody died so that you can live. Now imagine the person that died was God. He died for you, not because you were a diamond in the rough. He said, while we were yet sinners, while we were hostile, not because we had potential, but simply because we were desperate and there was no way of life without him.

And this is what we celebrate every single week. This is what we sing, this is what we memorize, and this is what we're supposed to preach, and yet, if we're not careful, we become so inoculated by this truth, it does nothing other than, oh, okay, he's saying the right things.

But how does that affect you? Do you remember when you first met Christ? Some of you may remember very vividly, and some of you, maybe it was like a transition, you can't pinpoint exactly where it is, but every single one of us, we encountered the living God, and this encounter changed our lives.

So let me ask you, what was it that you were freed from? What were you afraid of, just loneliness? You lacked purpose, and now you have purpose? You're afraid that if you died, you don't know where you're gonna go, so you met Christ, and then now you know where you're gonna go, is that what happened?

Or maybe you heard some theological truth, and you say, you know, that sounds about right, and you just kind of gave mental assent, is that how you became a Christian? No, you didn't become a Christian because you found a set of facts to be more logical than these set of facts, and you say, okay, I'm not gonna give that.

No, that's not how you get saved. We got saved because we encountered this living God, and as a result of encountering this God, this holy God, we recognize our helplessness, our sinful state, which is what caused us to repent. If you don't recognize your sinfulness, and all it was just an assent, or you know, like, believing God makes more sense than not believing God, so I stand here instead of over there, that's not what happened.

People who are utterly helpless, dead in our trespasses, under the reign of sin and death, while we were yet sinners, Christ came and died for our sins. If that doesn't move you, that doesn't cause you to change, then something has happened, we've drifted. I don't care if you're doing the right thing, I don't care how hard you're serving, I don't care what you've done in the past, if the truth of the gospel no longer moves you in any way, you've drifted.

You've already drifted. Maybe your foot hasn't drifted, maybe your thoughts haven't drifted, but you've drifted. Because what God wants more than anything else is for us to worship him in spirit and in truth. To worship him in spirit and in truth. And so the communion table was given to us to make sure that as you're serving, as you're doing parking duty, as you're serving the children, as you're sacrificing, that you're doing it as an act of worship.

But the moment we forget who we are and what Christ has done it just becomes activity, religious activity. Hebrews 2.1, for this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away. So that we do not drift away. As a pastor, when I forget what caused me to want to preach the gospel, it just becomes a job.

And so as a job, I can just do my duty, give the messages, go home, and then just take care of my bills, do visitations. I could, it's just a job. And some people do a good job, some people do a bad job, but it's just a job. When it becomes a job, I can no longer lead this church.

'Cause my, I have not been, I was not called to manage this church. I have not called so that we can have a larger building and everybody feels welcomed and the church is growing and our music sounds great and our budget is good. That's not what I was called to do.

I was called to represent Christ. So when a pastor forgets why he's here, I have to constantly remind myself, why are you doing what you're doing? Why are you doing that? Why are you doing that? If a church forgets why they're doing what they're doing, it just becomes a place of gathering, to belong somewhere.

And just like any other belonging, there's rules and things that you have to do to belong. You have to be a member, you have to come to Bible study, you have to serve, you have to give. But it's just a place of belonging when a church forgets. When the congregation, Christians, forget, it just becomes labor.

Just worship. You're not worshiping, just labor. What do I have to do? Oh, if I'm a college student, what am I supposed to do? I have to go to Friday? Do I have to go to searchlight? Do I have to do this? If you're a BAM, is that retreat, is that mandatory?

Oh, is that mandatory? Like, oh, you go to Bible study? I have to do that? I have to serve? And so when you are shamed or obligated to do something, eventually, it's gonna break. And that's where the burnout comes from because you're exercising and there's nothing being fed. So first and foremost is to remind us of why we're doing what we're doing.

So hopefully, when we open up the communion table, we'll give you some time to reflect and think. Like, when you hear that God loves you and he sent his only begotten son to die for you, when was the last time that actually moved you? Caused you to worship and to change and want to be near him?

Secondly, the Passover served to remind Israel of God's care and deliverance during a period of hardship. Deuteronomy 7, 17 to 19, it says, "If you should say in your heart, "these nations are greater than I, "how can I dispossess them? "Then you shall not be afraid of them. "You shall well remember what the Lord your God did "to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt.

"The great trials which your eyes have seen "and the great trials which your eyes saw "and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand "and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God "brought you out, so shall the Lord your God "do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid." You know, this year, I think we've attended more funerals than all the other years, you know?

I know that in this room, many of you have gone through heart-wrenching hardship in life. Whether it was a death in the family that you cared for, or maybe it was a job situation, maybe it's a family situation, maybe it was with your children, maybe it was a health issue, but whatever circumstances are that you went through some hardship.

And in the context of hardship, there's always a danger to focus our attention on the hardship and not to focus on God. And God knew that nation of Israel, as they became free, that as they are walking in the desert, that they're gonna have greater hardship, different kind of hardship, than when they were in Egypt.

So remember, Israel, the moment they forgot, remember what they said? The moment they forgot of who God is and what God has done, remember what they did? Every time hardship came, they said, "It was much easier when we were in Egypt. "At least over there we had food. "At least over there we had water." Because they forgot.

And the moment that we forget, and we get squeezed, the first thing we begin to think is like, oh, okay, if we just tweak things, if we did this and we did that. In Isaiah 51, 12 to 13, it says, "I, even I, am he who comforts you. "Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies?

"And the son of man who is made like grass, "that you have forgotten the Lord your maker, "who stretched out heavens "and laid the foundations of the earth, "that you fear continually all day long "because of the fury of the oppressor?" When hardship comes, your faith always gets tested.

Your faith gets tested. Do you believe God? What kind of God do you believe? Do you believe that God just kind of made you and wound up the clock and just kind of let you go and for you to figure it out? Or do you believe in a sovereign God?

That who is absolutely in control of all things? And when hardship comes, in time of peace, you're not forced to deal with that, but when hardship and difficulty and trials come, it tests you. Do you believe? When trials come, our natural tendency is to think, what do I need to do?

What can I do? And then when we get overwhelmed, we say, oh my gosh. Maybe if we did this, maybe if we did that. But the Passover meal was to remind them that he who delivered you will sustain you. He didn't go through all that drama of delivering you to free you, to bring you out into the desert so that you would starve to death.

Remember, even as Satan was asking to sift Peter and the disciples like wheat, remember what Jesus said? He asked permission. He had to come to God and ask permission. Satan, isn't like someday like Satan wins and someday God wins? And then when hardship comes, you think like, oh, Satan's winning.

Why is God not delivering me? Said even in the most harshest, difficult trials, there's nothing that you will experience that is outside of God's sovereign hands. And sometimes you don't even know what you're thinking until the trials come into your life and it gets revealed. And anxiety and depression and all this stuff start to creep in because we fix so much of our attention on what we can't control.

But those circumstances are given to us to remind us that God is in control. So the Passover meal was given to them to remind them that you worship and you serve and you follow a sovereign God who is all-powerful, creator of the universe, who loves you and gave his son to die for you.

In Romans 8, 31 to 35, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Let me stop right there. And the question really is, do you believe that? If God is for you, what can be against you? Is there something bigger than God?

Is there something that can happen in your life that God wouldn't have any control over? Is there anything that can happen in your life, to your children's life, to your parents' life? Is there anything that can happen in life where God has no control? Obviously, it's a rhetorical question.

The answer is no, of course not. But sometimes we forget that. And because we forget that, he told them to celebrate the Passover meal, to remember in times of trials, God is still in control. He who did not spare his own son, how will he not, along with him, give us all things?

It is completely illogical that he was willing to give his only begotten son, but he's unwilling to give you health. He was willing to have his son absorb all our sins, but he has nothing to do with your trials. It makes absolutely no sense. It's completely illogical. And yet, we keep falling into that, over and over.

Every time trials come, every time difficult time comes. So where is God? Why is God not doing this? That even in the harshest, most difficult situation, the Passover meal was to remind them that God who delivered you out of Egypt is the one who will continue to sustain you.

So when we come to the communion table, to be reminded that these elements were given to you, it was an expression of his love and his care for us. Third and finally, the Passover served to remind us that God's provision during the time of abundance. Some of us are sitting in here and you don't have much trials.

You suffer through other people's suffering, but right now, your bills are paid, your children are healthy, you have a decent house. There's nothing really bad happening in your life. Maybe you made some good investments and you have your house prices going up, or maybe you worked hard and you have a big bonus coming at the end of the year.

And so as a result of that, you become complacent, where God has become a want and not a need. And then you made the material things of this world that is a want, a need. You make a bucket list and you gotta go down the list like I need this, I need this, I need this.

And so when something becomes a need, it becomes your priority, right? You put it on your bucket list and all of a sudden it becomes a need. I need to save this money. I need to buy this car. I need to do this, I need to do that. And so that becomes our priority.

But when it comes to God, we made a need into a want. I want to be better. I want to read, I want to pray. But that's the danger of being rich, that we don't recognize how desperate we are. We don't recognize how urgent it is for us to be with God.

We have forgotten because of our wealth. And that's why the communion table, the Passover meal was given to us, that in the time of abundance that we would not become arrogant. It's like, you know, it's nice if we have it, but if we don't have it, there's no huge consequence.

In verse 11 through 14, it said, "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God "by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances "and his statutes which I am commanding you today. "Otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied." When you have eaten and are satisfied, when things are good, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 'cause you made some good decisions.

You've invested in cryptocurrency and you became a multimillionaire. And so your belly is full, and then your heart become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You know, the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is to find success while you're not doing well with Christ.

That's the most dangerous place that any Christian can be. Your children are doing well, your bills are paid, you're healthy, your future looks bright, but you're not right with God. You haven't prayed in a while. You're not hungry for his word. There's no desperation in your heart. And yet your life is doing great.

And it causes you to be proud and independent. And you think that you can do this, as long as I can get to heaven. That's a deception that Satan brings to rich people. When we have forgotten the urgency of our heart, that I can't breathe, I can't live, I can't do anything without Christ.

And that's what riches does. The deception of riches causes us to think that I can go through this life just kind of straggling behind, instead of desperate for him. He says, "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, "my power and strength of my hand made me his wealth, "this wealth, but you shall remember "the Lord your God, for it is he "who is giving you power to make wealth, "that he may confirm his covenant, "which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day." Psalm 90, verse 12, it says, "Teach us to number our days, "that we may present to you a heart of wisdom." I want you to listen to this verse.

Basically, he's saying, "Lord, remind me that I'm gonna die." Right? That's the Peter Kim translation. That's basically what he's saying. "Lord, teach me to number my days." That's a fancy way of saying, "Remind me that I'm gonna die." Right? "Whether I'm 50 or 70 or 100, "Lord, please remind me I'm gonna die." That's a morbid thing to say, especially in a culture that celebrates life and youth.

Right? He said, "No, in fact, this is so important." He says, "That I may present to you a heart of wisdom." So the requirement for a heart of wisdom is a recognition that we're gonna die, that we are here temporarily, that we're just passing through, that even the wildest success that you may have experienced in life, you may have made the best decisions, and you have a big, fat bonus coming, that in the midst of all of that, if you really want wisdom, he says, "Remember, this is all temporary, "that I'm gonna die." Whether you're 20, whether you're 50, whether you're healthy or unhealthy, whether you have good genes or bad genes, we're all gonna die.

Why is this so important? Because in eternity, the life that you and I lived on this earth is a blip, it is a mist that comes and disappears. Now, those of you in your 20s, that's a theory. Right? That's a theory, because you have most of your life ahead of you, Lord willing, right?

And Lord may not be willing, right? But Lord willing, you might get to a bit older. Those of you in your 30s, like, "Oh, my back hurts." Right? And you act like you're old men, but you're not in your 20s anymore, for sure. Right? You can't run with a 20-year-old, so you're starting to feel a little bit, "Okay, I'm getting older." You're not old yet, but you're getting older.

In your 40s, nobody calls you young man anymore, right? 'Cause now you're starting to feel it, and then you go to the doctors, and then you say, "I can't see." It's like, "Yeah, that's normal." Right? They don't try to fix it. And then in 50s, if you're healthy, they're like, "Wow, that's great." Right?

'Cause they expect you to be, right? And I remember asking my mom what period of her life was the hardest, and she said it was in her 60s, because she has half the responsibility, but a quarter of the energy. Which is true, right? I'm starting to feel it. I said, "Teach us to number our days, "because it goes by so quick." And I was just, as I was preparing for this message, I was thinking to myself, like, "You know, my 25th birthday, "it felt like yesterday." It literally felt like yesterday, even though it was only like 15 years ago.

(audience laughing) Oh, you're paying attention, okay. All right. It literally felt like yesterday. They're thinking like all of it. So, you know, as we get older, our mind is still young, but our body says no, right? And those of you guys who play sports, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

You're dribbling to the left, and in your mind, you pass the guy, but your body runs straight into the guy. (audience laughing) He said, "The beginning of wisdom "is to recognize our finiteness, our weakness. "Where we become proud "is we think we can live independent of God. "We don't realize how fragile we are.

"We don't realize that that tiny little bacteria "shut down the whole world that we knew. "That tiny bacteria, we didn't even see it. "That's how fragile we are." And yet, pride, it's so easy to be filled with pride. It doesn't take much. You make a little bit more money, your eyes a little bit more rounder than other people, right, your hair's a little bit more blacker than somebody else.

It doesn't take much for us to become proud. That's why God inaugurated this. He said, "So keep them humble. "That remember, remember the height "from which you had fallen. "Repent and do the things you did at first, "because the moment you forget who you are, "the moment you forget who God is "and what he has done for you, "then you get burned out." It just becomes a religious activity.

And you can't handle doing all the things that you're doing. Before we open up the communion table, I want to say three things, three different titles that are given. If you were to comb through, there's all kinds of different titles given to this, but these three main things are what you probably are used to hearing.

One is ordinance, right? This communion table is called one of two ordinances. Ordinance basically means a set of rules. So if, let's say, if Irvine has an ordinance that people who are under the 18 can't be out past 10 o'clock, and there was a period, I forgot why they did that, may have been during the pandemic, that you couldn't be out after 10 o'clock if you're under 18, right?

Was that true? Am I making this up? Yeah, I remember, but that's what an ordinance is. Ordinance is a set of rules, a law, that is passed in that region that you have to follow. So when we say that these are ordinances, right, these are mandated, this is not an option.

So you cannot be a church and choose, ah, you know this ordinance, and we're not gonna practice it, right? Our desire to have three worships, the way we worship, we're gonna sing hymns or contemporary songs, which version of the Bible we're gonna use, these are not ordinances. These are just us trying to do our best to apply what we see in scripture.

But there's two ordinances that are mandated in scripture that every church that claims to be a church must practice. And so this is the difference between a parachurch and a church. A parachurch doesn't feel the necessity to practice these ordinances because they say they're not a church. So the church, if you are a church, these two ordinances are mandated.

Baptism is commanded, is not suggested, it is commanded in scripture. And that's why, because it is an ordinance that we examine carefully. What does it teach? How are we supposed to practice? What is the meaning behind it? And so we wanna make sure that every part of scripture is applied the way we see it in scripture.

It's not about how you feel about it, it's not about how tradition and you are brought up. At the end of the day, we test everything that we do according to scripture. So we practice baptism the way we see the Bible teaching it. Because it is an ordinance, it's commanded.

It wasn't suggested. He didn't just say, hey, practice baptism, but you can do whatever you want, however you feel. No, there's specific meaning, pattern, mode that was given to us, so we try to practice that. But today, we're not trying to get into baptism. But communion is the second one.

So baptism is the union with Christ. It is a marriage ceremony between two people getting married. They're making a public confession that we're entering into this covenant relationship with one another. That's what a baptism is. So that's why we believe that infant baptism isn't the baptism we see in scripture.

Because infant baptism has nothing to do with the infant. It was just done to that kid. So that's not baptism. That's not what we see in scripture. Baptism is a union between a sinner, repentant, being united to Christ. So he must be able to make a public confession of his conversion.

But the communion is a celebration of that union. So every time we have the communion, it's kind of like your anniversary. We're anniversary, and the reason why we have anniversary is so that we would remember why we got together. And every time it's the anniversary, you guys would write these poetic things about your husband and your wife, and how awesome it is, and how thankful you are that they met them, and they're perfect for you.

And you go through all of that, during the anniversary, to remember why you got together. To remind you, because once you forget that, oftentimes it causes contention. So that's what communion table is. Communion table is to come together, this ordinance that's commanded for the purpose of remembering our union with Christ.

That's why we say that if you've never been baptized, we ask you not to come to the communion table, because it is a celebration of your union with Christ. So if the union never happened, there is no power, there's no meaning behind anything that you're doing. That's why during communion, we ask you to stay seated.

There's no benefit to you by coming up. In fact, this is only for people who've been baptized. The second word that we use is the word sacrament. We don't oftentimes call it sacrament in the church, but the word sacrament basically means something sacred. This was not meant to be done haphazardly.

And I shared this before many times. Earlier in the church, when I was a young pastor, I was just kind of repeating what I saw as a youth pastor. And so we used to have the Hawaiian bread, and then we would have grape juice. And then so we would have people come up, and then they would take a chunk of it and dip it into the grape juice, and they would eat it.

And so that's how we did communion for the first, maybe about two to three years. And I remember somebody came to church, and he said, "Should we be eating that after service?" I said, "What do you mean?" He's like, "You know, it was a communion, "and so because it was Hawaiian bread, it's delicious, "so just bring some salami, and then whatever's left over." You know, we're a young church, so people were just breaking it and taking pieces, and whatever's left over, we're drinking it.

You know, and without much thinking, and then that person comes like, "That sounds, "you know, that's something wrong," because he came from a church where they were practicing it correctly. And it's just sacred, should we be doing that? And I remember just thinking like, "Huh, that's a good point.

"That's a really good point." From that day on, we stopped doing that. 'Cause he was absolutely correct. This is something sacred, and we shouldn't be handling it that way. That's why the way we handle it, we make sure that if possible, that the pastors and the elders handle it.

It's not because we're special people. We just wanna make sure that we understand that this is sacred. And that's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, 27 to 30, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread "and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner "shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

"But a man must examine himself, "and in so doing, he is to eat of the bread "and drink of the cup. "For he who eats and drinks, "eats, drinks judgment to himself "if he does not judge the body rightly. "For this reason, many among you are weak and sick "and a number asleep." When he says sleep, basically he's saying there was capital punishment.

That's how sacred this was. When people just kind of ignore the body, and they were in sin, they were in bitterness and hatred, causing division, and they came to the communion table, it actually caused them to be sick. God judged them immediately. To teach the church the sacredness of what we're participating in.

So every time we participate in this, we ask you to examine yourself. If you have bitterness, if you have sin in your heart that you're not dealing with, you just kind of excuse it. The communion table is to force us to deal with our sins. Now, whenever we say that, somebody would say, "You know what, I haven't been doing well, "so maybe I shouldn't participate in communion." If you reject the communion, you're rejecting the body of Christ.

So you don't have three options. Like I don't believe in Christ, I believe in Christ, but I believe in Christ, but I'm gonna hold them off for a while. That option's not given to us. So, communion table is mandated for every Christian. But as it is mandated, it is to force us to deal with unrepentant sin.

Now, you're not gonna come up here because you're pure. You're not gonna come up here because you didn't struggle. We come here by the grace of God. You don't earn your way into the communion table, but you cannot sit there and excuse your sins and continue to embrace sin and say, "You know what, "I'm just gonna hold off on the communion table, "and then when I'm ready, I'm gonna come to Christ." Whether you bring God's discipline by participating in a manner unworthy, or whether you reject the body of Christ because you think, "I don't want to do that," either way, you're inviting discipline.

And so the communion table, this sacred event, was given to us to sanctify the church, to make sure that when we participate in it, not because you're perfect, but repentant. God is calling people to this table as repentant sinners, that despite our weaknesses, despite our failures this week, that by the blood of Christ, by the grace of God, that he will make me new.

So before we open up the table, we ask you to take some time to pray, to genuinely confess, and to receive the Lord's forgiveness. Have every intention to reconcile. Have every intention to be made right with God. Third and finally, the table is called a communion table, or the Lord's Supper, and the idea of that word is the body of Christ together, communion, right?

Together union. And so that's why communion was never meant to be done in private. It was meant to be done publicly. When the body of Christ is together, so this is not something that happens between husband and wife. This is not that something happens at our church, we don't practice this at weddings.

Because it was meant to be done when the body of Christ is together, which would be Sunday morning for us. Because it signifies that we are one in him. In Ephesians 4, 46, "There is one body and one spirit, "just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, "one God, Father of all, "who is over all and through all and in all." I'm gonna ask the praise team to come up, and we're gonna open up the communion table.

Yeah, if we can ask the praise team to come. Because our church is getting bigger, we can easily make categories of people. These are people that I like, right? Whenever I'm with them, they're encouraging, I love them, they love me. And then we have a category of people that we put in and say, these are acquaintances.

I could tolerate them and they tolerate me. We happen to go to the same church, but I don't like being in their presence much. So we tolerate, these are tolerated. And then these are my enemies. You'll never admit that, but there's some people that you're secretly hoping that they leave the church.

You know what I mean? Then your life will be so much better. Bible study, home group, will be so much better if they just weren't in my life. The people that we have the hardest time with, God will use to bring you to him, to expose your prejudice, your pride, your difficulty.

And if you ignore that, if you're not obedient to that, you'll never be sanctified. Because the areas that is the hardest to sanctify, we keep ignoring. And you know where God forces you to deal with that? When you get married. So before you're married, if you have a habit of kind of like picking and choosing people you like or are uncomfortable with, and then you get married, all of a sudden, your husband and your wife is acting like that person you didn't like.

But you can't stiff arm this person anymore. And all of a sudden, you start having marriage problems because what you did before you got married, you can't do with your husband or you're gonna ruin your marriage. So God puts us in communities. There's some people you naturally get along with.

There's some people that you kind of like, okay, you're acquaintances. And there's some people that is very difficult. And that's why Jesus said, if you wanna be identified as a disciple of my disciples, he says, love as I love you. If you really wanna grow spiritually, if you really want to grow spiritually, determine to love people that you don't want to love.

Determine, make a decision to love people that you don't want to love. And you will see how God uses that to sanctify you and to draw you closer to him. So the communion table is to remind us that we're one. Not just the close friends, not just the people that you like, but the whole community is one.

So as we open up the communion table, we're gonna sing the song, the communion song. And then if I can ask the elders and the pastors to come and open up the communion table. And then when you guys are ready, after we sing, just one by one, come up and come down the middle.

We have the gluten-free table over here. So if you need that, go to that table. And everybody else, if you can come down the middle and then go to the side, and then we'll open it up that way, okay? (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) ♪ This is my body ♪ ♪ Given for you ♪ ♪ This is the cup that holds the blood ♪ ♪ Of the new covenant ♪ ♪ This is forgiveness ♪ ♪ Simple and true ♪ ♪ This is the way that I have made for you ♪ ♪ Before you eat ♪ ♪ Before you drink ♪ ♪ Take a long look inside ♪ ♪ Tell me what you see ♪ ♪ Beside, do this in remembrance of me ♪ ♪ Do this in remembrance of me ♪ ♪ This is the bread of life ♪ ♪ Broken for you ♪ ♪ This is the cup that holds the wine ♪ ♪ Of the new covenant ♪ ♪ This is the blood of Christ ♪ ♪ Poured out on you ♪ ♪ This is the Son of God who died for you ♪ ♪ Before you eat ♪ ♪ Before you drink ♪ ♪ Take a long look inside ♪ ♪ And tell me what you see ♪ ♪ Beside, do this in remembrance of me ♪ ♪ Do this in remembrance of me ♪ ♪ Before you eat ♪ ♪ Before you drink ♪ ♪ Take a long look inside ♪ ♪ And tell me what you see ♪ ♪ Beside, do this in remembrance of me ♪ ♪ Do this in remembrance of me ♪ (gentle music) - So as you take some time to pray, and when you're all ready, we invite you to come to the table.

(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) - Communion table is gonna be closed in a minute, so if you're not up, can you come up now, please?

(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (gentle music) ♪ In Christ alone my hope is found ♪ ♪ He is my light, my strength, my song ♪ ♪ This cornerstone, this solid ground ♪ ♪ Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ♪ ♪ What heights of love, what depths of peace ♪ ♪ When fears are still, when strivings cease ♪ ♪ My comforter, my all in all ♪ ♪ Here in the love of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ In Christ alone words will not flash ♪ ♪ The fullness of God in helpless pain ♪ ♪ This gift of love and righteousness ♪ ♪ Sworn by the ones he came to save ♪ ♪ Tell on the cross as Jesus died ♪ ♪ The wrath of God was satisfied forever ♪ ♪ For every sin on him was laid ♪ ♪ Here in the death of Christ I lay ♪ ♪ Buried in the ground his body lay ♪ ♪ The light of the world by darkness slain ♪ ♪ Then burst in flame in glorious day ♪ ♪ Up from the grave he rose again ♪ ♪ And as he stands in victory ♪ ♪ Since Christ has lost his grip on me ♪ ♪ With the light of the world he is mine ♪ ♪ And with the flesh his blood I'll drink ♪ ♪ No fear in death ♪ ♪ No fear in death ♪ ♪ This is the power of Christ in me ♪ ♪ From life's first cry to final breath ♪ ♪ Jesus commands my destiny ♪ ♪ No fire of hell ♪ ♪ No scheme of death ♪ ♪ He never fought before this day ♪ ♪ Till he returned from the dead ♪ ♪ Here in the blood of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ No fire of hell ♪ ♪ No scheme of death ♪ ♪ He never fought before this day ♪ ♪ Till he returned from the dead ♪ ♪ Here in the blood of Christ I stand ♪ - Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal love of God the Father continue to strengthen us, revive us and renew us.

That all that we do, Lord, will be an overflow of the tremendous work that you are doing in us. Help us, Lord God, that we would not be distracted with simply obligations. Help us, Lord God, to become true worshipers who will worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray, Father, that wherever you send us, that we would truly be your ambassadors, that the world will know, Father God, that there is hope in the name of Jesus Christ.

We pray, Father God, that your name may be exalted, especially in this busy season, that we would not forget why we celebrate the birth of Christ, and that your name may be honored, glorified and worshiped as a result. 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 lived ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ Amen.

♪ I know you, Lord, my dearest dream ♪ ♪ You are faithful and you will ever be ♪ ♪ I will embrace you ♪ (calm music)