(soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) - Good morning, church family.

We're gonna go ahead and start our worship here. (soft music) ♪ Oh God, before the mountains were brought forth ♪ ♪ Before days of spring and summer filled the earth ♪ ♪ From everlasting ♪ ♪ You are God ♪ ♪ We dwell beneath the stars in ancient skies ♪ ♪ A thousand years are nothing in your sight ♪ ♪ Everlasting ♪ ♪ You are God ♪ ♪ And all our days are held within your hands ♪ ♪ Your perfect love and favor have no end ♪ ♪ We rest within the wisdom of your plan ♪ ♪ Everlasting God ♪ ♪ Oh God, in joy and tragedy come ♪ ♪ You must remind us life is but a start ♪ ♪ Forever everlasting ♪ ♪ You are God ♪ ♪ And all our days are held within your hands ♪ ♪ Your perfect love and favor have no end ♪ ♪ We rest within the wisdom of your plan ♪ ♪ Everlasting God ♪ ♪ Oh God of light ♪ ♪ Oh God of light our ways are known to you ♪ ♪ But by your grace you're making all things new ♪ ♪ So satisfy us in our number, our day ♪ ♪ And stature we offer while we wait ♪ ♪ Everlasting ♪ ♪ You are God ♪ ♪ And all our days are held within your hands ♪ ♪ Your perfect love and favor have no end ♪ ♪ We rest within the wisdom of your plan ♪ ♪ Everlasting ♪ ♪ And all our days are held within your hands ♪ ♪ Your perfect love and favor have no end ♪ ♪ We rest within the wisdom of your plan ♪ ♪ Everlasting ♪ (soft music) - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Bering Community Church. Let me jump to our announcements before we get started. First of all, our weekday Bible study is gonna start not this Wednesday, but next Wednesday. And again, our kickoff for that will be this coming Friday. We have praise and prayer at 7.30 p.m. in this room.

And so that'll kind of get us ready for the Bible study. So our Bible study, the home groups, and all of it is kicking back up next week. So just keep that in mind. Child safety training for volunteers. So if you are involved in any kind of ministry where you're watching children, even if you're just babysitting, there is a child training that is required in the church.

It's taking place on January 29th at 1 p.m. So the sign up for that is gonna be on the website and various channels in the church. So please look out for that. And again, that's happening in January 29th. And then Bible Lab. As we're kicking up the Bible study, if you are new to the church and you're not familiar with how to do inductive Bible study, or maybe you kind of want a refresher in how to do the inductive Bible study, we have a Bible Lab that's starting on January 29th through February 19th.

I think it's three sessions that's taking place at 2 to 3 on Sunday afternoon. And so I highly recommend that you take that class. It'll help you to jump into the Bible study and kind of figure out how to do this inductive Bible study where you examine it, ask good questions, looking at the context.

And so even if you've taken it, if you think it's gonna be helpful, we encourage you to take that class. And again, that's happening in January 29th. After this service at 1.30-- okay, some of you guys may have looked at the app and said 2 o'clock, and that was corrected.

At 1.30 in this room, we're gonna start our members meeting, which is, again, our quarterly members meeting. If for whatever reason you can't make it, please give us a heads-up on that. We are recommitting to our covenant as a church, and so please make sure you come to that at 1.30.

And along with that, in order for you guys-- for us to start at 1.30, we wanted you to stay on campus. So our BAM group is basically made lunch, a boxed turkey sandwich lunch that's gonna be sold for $5 at cost just so that you can eat here and then come straight into the meeting at 1.30.

You don't have to be a member to eat that. You don't have to have signed up. If you just want to go and grab lunch there, make sure you do that. So right after service, you'll see where you can go and grab that lunch, and you can just spread out in the church.

And if we're not able to eat outside, we are okay eating in here. We're hoping you don't, but if you have to, you could use that front desk, okay? But if you don't have to, don't do it. Okay, but again, we don't know what the weather's gonna be like, just right after service.

And then along with that, our youth group-- you've already probably seen as you're going into the cafe area, you'll see the youth group out there wanting your money. So they have a bake sale going on, and that's to raise funds for their retreat that's coming up. So they were here Friday night, and then Saturday, making the baked goods.

And so if you go to that table, they can take Zelle or cash. So you can go visit that table and then support them by getting that. And along with that, they are also selling the Borean sweatshirt. I don't have a sample to show you, but I heard it was awesome.

It's coveted, and we have limited supply, so I'm gonna go there as soon as possible to get that. So that is also going to help them with their summer retreat, so please visit that table to help them out. All right, so after our offering time, our brother Josh Yunui is gonna come up and give his testimony, and we'll be baptized this morning.

For those of you who brought physical offering, there is an offering basket over there by that door as you're exiting. All right, let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace and love over our lives. The things that we are aware of, things that we are not aware of, that you're orchestrating behind the scene, help us, Lord God, to have faith, confidence.

Lord, that our profession would not be empty words, but our very hearts, our lives, Lord God, would reflect the songs that we sing, the doctrines that we confess. We pray that your name may be honored, that even in this giving may it be an act of worship to you, and may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Church family, let's all rise together. What a joy and privilege it is to gather at the corporate body of Christ. Let's clap and sing for He's worthy. Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name. The land that is plentiful, where streams of abundance flow.

Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name. When I'm found in the desert place, I'll walk through the wilderness. Blessed be your name. Every blessing. Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to pray. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. Sing it out, blessed be. Blessed be your name. The sun shining down on me. The world's all as it should be. Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name. On the road marked with suffering, the pain in the offering.

Blessed be your name. Every blessing. Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to pray. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name, yes, Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name.

Yeah. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, the blessed be. One more time, again. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, the blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. Oh, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name, yes, Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - Amen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - My hope is built.

♪ My hope is built on nothing less ♪ ♪ than Jesus' blood and righteousness. ♪ ♪ I dare not trust the sweetest spring ♪ ♪ but wholly lean on Jesus' name. ♪ ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ When darkness fails. ♪ ♪ When darkness fails, His love leaves no trace. ♪ ♪ I rest on His unchanging grace. ♪ ♪ In every high and stormy gale, ♪ ♪ my anchor holds within the veil. ♪ ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand.

♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - His oath is covenant. ♪ ♪ ♪ His oath is covenant, His blood ♪ ♪ support me in the whelming flood. ♪ ♪ When all around my soul is wet, ♪ ♪ He then is all my hope and stay.

♪ ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ ♪ - When He shall come. ♪ When He shall come with trumpet sound, ♪ ♪ O may I then in Him be found.

♪ ♪ Trust in His righteousness alone. ♪ ♪ Faultless to stand before the throne. ♪ ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand. ♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand.

♪ ♪ All other ground is sinking sand. ♪ ♪ ♪ - Amen, you may be seated. - All my life, I went to church. I had faithful parents who always tried to point me to God, and I believe I was a pretty good person growing up. But that's the problem.

I was a regular churchgoer without seeing my need for Christ as a wretched sinner that had no true good inside. When I was younger, I remember thinking that certain sins and sermons were relevant to me. In fact, I would completely zone out the pastor and pinpoint the people who I thought really needed to pay attention as I sat there judging and comparing my life to theirs.

I would try to convince and justify that I'm a better Christian than others, making me so blind to my own sin and twisted views of faith, deeming it permissible to be this way. I didn't see how prideful, judgmental, greedy, disobedient, selfish, impure, envious, and wicked of a person I was.

The worst of it all is that I thought this whole time I was saved, and that was the furthest thing from the truth. It was apparent that I had no real understanding of the gravity of my sin, no idea how wrong it was for Jesus to die on the cross in my place, and no comprehension of how undeserving I am of God's grace and mercy.

Things began to change for me in middle school, as a lot was going on circumstantially. I was going to my third different school in three years, and with that came a lot of social anxiety and weariness, as I had to make new friends, lose old ones, and adapt to my surroundings again and again.

I felt like nobody understood what I was going through, making me feel isolated and alone. But that's when God intervened. Amidst all this... Sorry. I felt the nearness and comfort of the Lord. God opened my eyes to see Him as the orchestrator of these events in my life, and to trust in His plan.

I felt so undeserving of God's love, as the reality of the gospel hit home. That Jesus, the perfect Son of Man, died in my place on the cross, in love and obedience, so I can be reconciled with God, in Christ's victory over sin and death. It was the first time I saw my sin, for what it truly is.

The debt I couldn't pay that only Jesus could. I remember breaking down in tears, as I couldn't help but think, why would God, Creator of the universe, sacrifice His Son for a sinner like me? I was destined for hell, but God spared me with grace and compassion. I was supposed to be His enemy, yet He called me His own.

I no longer wanted to be a sinner, without remorse, but a redeemed soul with a heart of repentance. Fast-forwarding to my junior year of college, I faced a humbling trial that tested my faith. My walk with God took a turn, when a relationship I cared about so deeply fell apart.

It felt like my world flipped upside down, and I did not know what to do. I turned away from the Lord and stopped going to church. In an effort to numb myself to the pain I was feeling, I turned to alcohol, smoking, and the pleasures of the world. I desired temporary fulfillment as a means to satisfy my flesh, while my soul was left to dry.

I again had no remorse for sin, and would not care that I was offending God, as I sought to fill this void within. I was hopeless, empty, and lost. This path of destruction bled into this year of my senior year of college, as I had no desire to redirect my course.

Yet again, God, full of grace and mercy, stepped in. This past summer, God drew me to Berean. I had no interest in coming to church again, as I thought I was too far from the Lord, coupled with the guilt and shame I felt inside over the life I had been living.

When I look back on this time, I cannot explain why I walked through these sanctuary doors. It really is the work of the Holy Spirit that drew me, as I had nothing inside that wanted God. I was reminded of Jesus' redemptive work on the cross and his victory over my sin.

There is no soul out of his reach or beyond saving. I was filled with repentance and gratitude, as I remember the God who saved me years ago, and how he has remained faithful to me, even when I was unfaithful to him. It baffles me that God would pull me out of my pit of depravity, when all I have to offer him are my sins, failures, and shortcomings.

This past year made me think of Luke 15, 11-32, which is the parable of the prodigal son. I felt like the reckless, wasteful young son coming back to his gracious and loving father. Instead of God pouring out his wrath upon me and leaving me to suffer my sin and worldly sorrow, he had compassion on me and longed for me to walk beside him once again.

I was deeply humbled through this trial, and I took for granted how good the Lord has been to me. Rather than trusting in him and being grateful for the way he has sustained me, I idolized and fixed my gaze on other people and the things of this world. Instead of turning to him when I had no direction, I relied on my own ability and strength to get me through my circumstances.

God had to break me for me to realize that all I need is him. Even when I felt so distant, God was always right there holding me in the palm of his hands. Ephesians 2, 4-5 says, "God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved." Colossians 3, 1-3 says, "Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God." Praise the Lord for the work he has done in my life and the grace he has given to me.

I thank God for who he is and all his holiness and majesty and how he has opened my eyes to the truth of the gospel. A life without Christ is a life not worth living. There is no other name than Jesus. Thank you for listening to my testimony. You understand when you're going into the water, you're being united with Christ's death.

And when you come out, you're being united to his resurrected life. And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All right, Josh, thank you for that great testimony. And then I guess the college mob can go now. All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Colossians 4, verses 2-4.

We're going to give our final message on this topic. James 4, verses 2-4. "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving, praying at the same time for us as well that God will open up to us a door for the Word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned, that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us, that your Word, your Word only, would go forth. Lord, we desire to meet with you. We desire to worship you and to listen to you. So protect this pulpit, protect the words that are coming out of my mouth.

May it be anointed with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Oftentimes, and I'm sure you may have said it, and I've said it often, that when we think about revival, we need to be more like the early church. We read the book of Acts and say, "We need to be like the early church." But when you study the New Testament, you find that every problem that you see in today's church, you see also in the early church.

There's divisions, there's chaos, there's false teachings, lack of unity. Every problem that you can think of exists in the early church. In fact, the whole book of James is written because there was division and infighting within the church. And there was this sharp division where before, the rich people would hang out with the rich people and poor people would hang out with poor people.

And so you can see how uncomfortable it would be if you are a slave owner and you're a slave, and there happened to be in this, a former slave, it happens to be in the same church. And yeah, they caused a lot of problems in the early church, and so there was a lot of divisions and concerns.

Well, James writes to address this issue. When we think of the book of James, we think of faith without deeds is dead, which is true, but the specific thing that he was addressing was the division in the church between the rich and the poor. So you'll notice that if you study the book of James, that that's peppered throughout all of scripture.

In fact, James says this, and this is how he describes the problem, James chapter 4, 2-4, "You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and you quarrel." I mean, that doesn't sound like an ideal church. Now, he says there's divisions, there's envy, there's fighting, quarreling, and then he says you commit murder.

Now, I'm not sure if he's talking about literal murder or he's referring to metaphorically when Jesus says that if you hate your brother, you're committing murder. We don't know, but the fact that he describes and says that you commit murder, you have lust in your heart, you have envy, and he says the reason why these problems exist in your church, he says, "Because you do not have because you do not ask." And then secondly, "You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." In other words, he says all kinds of problems entered into the church because you're not praying.

And if you are praying, you're not praying effectively. So he pinpoints in the book of James, he said, "It is the lack of prayer that has caused all this problem in your church." You're not asking. You want it from the world, you want it from each other, you want it from hard work, but you're not asking.

And then even when you are asking, you're treating God as some sort of a genie, that here's my wish list, and then God, you know, would you bless me and give me that? And then when it doesn't happen, you get frustrated, and then basically you have a room filled with frustrated people.

There's division, there's envy, there's coveting, there's slander, all kinds of things that come into the church. And that's why you ever notice that if you've ever traveled, that if you go to the large cities, they tend to be more groggy and cranky, and they're not as friendly. Then if you go to parts of the world where it's kind of rural, they just naturally tend to be more friendly and hospitable.

And I think the answer is pretty clear. If you're around a lot of people all the time, you receive crankiness. So as the church gets bigger, and if the church is filled with people who are frustrated, relationships are going to be more difficult. You're surrounded by cranky people. That's why people at DMV are so miserable.

You know what I mean? And I'm pretty sure if you have a job where you are doing customer care constantly, that you're probably cranky at the end of the day, right? And you want to find another job. So if you are surrounded by people who are frustrated, that's what it leads to.

And he says that's what happened in the church. The reason why there's division and envy and slander and even murder is because you're not praying. And when you are praying, you're praying ineffectively. See, when he told us to pray, he didn't just say, "Hey, make a list of things that you want." "I want to get married, and here's the qualities of a guy that I want." And you make this wish list.

He needs to have a certain kind of eye, certain skin, certain height, certain job. And then you pray. You put it in this prayer incubator, and God's going to answer your prayer. What kind of job do you want? Put it on the list. We don't believe in the health and wealth gospel.

It's heresy. And yet, if we're not careful, the way we practice prayer is no different than the health and wealth gospel. Because the health and wealth gospel, the only difference is that they come out and say it, that God is going to do this. If we believe him, he's going to bless us, so we do it.

We're savvy enough, and we know the Bible well enough, to know that that's not what the Bible teaches. And yet, the way we practice our faith is no different, that what we desire from God is a bunch of wish lists of what we want. And he says the frustration, division in the church is happening because of that.

We need to pray. And so when Paul tells them to be devoted to prayer, and then in today's section, starting from verse 3 and 4, he says, "Be devoted," and he gives them specific prayer requests. One is to pray that the door will be opened for the Word of God, for open doors.

Like I said, the praying is not just making a list. The primary thing that we are called to pray for is to pray according to his will. He didn't just say, "Pray whatever you want." In John 15:7, he says, "If you abide in me, my words abide in you.

Ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you." So there was a condition to answer prayer. There's a condition to answer prayer, that we have to pray according to his will. And the Bible lays out for us so clearly what his will is. We often seek his will in, "Do I get this job?

Should I go into this career? Should I marry this person? What should I do with my children? Where should we live?" And so we want to know the will of God. But that's not spelled out in the Bible. The Bible never says, "You need to be this, or you need to be that." But what is clearly spelled out is what he desires for mankind.

If we're not careful, a deep study of the Word of God can cause us to understand the mind of God without knowing the heart of God. You cannot know God until you understand the mind and the heart. That was exactly the problem with the Pharisees. The Pharisees understood the letter of the law.

They studied the book of Leviticus, and they wanted to make sure that they kept the Sabbath holy, and they wanted to be perfect in abiding by the law. And that's exactly how Paul describes himself. When it comes to the law, he said he was perfect. Every Jew would have said that.

Not Jew, every Pharisee would have said that because that was their source of pride. And yet, in Luke chapter 15, as Jesus is hanging around the tax collectors and the sinners, it says in verse 1, they're coming to listen to him, and he's engaging them. But in verse 2, he said, "Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, 'The man receives sinners and eats with them.'" Before we harp on the Pharisees, think of it from their point of view.

The Pharisees are trying to keep the law. And the reason why they're trying to keep the law is because they went into captivity because they didn't keep the law. God said, "You didn't practice Sabbath." So he said, "Because of all the years that you've ignored my Sabbath, I'm going to take you into captivity for 70 years, for every year that you didn't obey, we're going to give the land rest." So when they broke out of that, the Pharisees were created so that they can keep the law.

And that's why they said, "You're hanging around with sinners," and they were trying so hard to be clean. They're trying so hard to keep the letter of the law, what was taught in the book of Leviticus. And yet, they completely missed God. So if you notice, the Pharisees come to rebuke Jesus for not only him being unclean, but you're dragging everybody else with you to be unclean.

And if you keep doing that, then we're going to lose the blessing of God. So you remember, in Luke chapter 15, Jesus turns the table around, saying, "You don't know the Father." And he gives three parables. The first parable is the lost sheep, the 99 sheep versus the one.

He says he leaves them behind because that one sheep is so precious to God that he would go and get him and come back, and it ends in celebration. So he's not saying the 99 are important. He's saying every single one of these sheep are important to God. The second parable is just like the first parable, the lost coin.

And the owner goes and sweeps the house, and when he finally finds the coin, they throw a big celebration. And then the third and the final and the main point that he was trying to get is the prodigal son, which Josh mentioned this morning. The prodigal son, in rebellion, wants his inheritance.

He disappears, and when he hits the pits, he comes back, and the father, instead of rebuking him, embraces him and reestablishes him, and then has a huge celebration. And then he turns around to the older brother who's complaining. "I did all the things right, but you never celebrated for me." And yet this guy goes in rebellion, he comes back, "You're celebrating for him." The point of the story, all three of them, started because the Pharisees pointed at Jesus and saying, "You're hanging out with sinners, and you're making not only us unclean, you're making our country unclean." The point that Jesus was trying to make is, "You know the law, but you don't know God." "You know the law, but you don't know God." "You're trying to keep the law perfectly, but you don't understand the purpose of the law." "You understand the Bible, but you don't know the purpose of the Bible." "If we don't understand the heart of God, you end up dissecting the Bible, doing inductive Bible study, and getting theology right, but you completely missed the whole point." This whole reason why Leviticus and Sabbath and all of that was established was to prepare them for what Jesus came to do.

Jesus says in Luke chapter 19, 10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost." That was the summary of why he came. To seek and save the lost. Not to simply show them an example of what a man looks like when he perfectly obeys the law.

He says the primary reason, the main reason, why all the law was given was so that it would prepare you for my coming. To seek and save the lost. In fact, Paul himself says, 1 Corinthians 3, 9, "For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building." This is God's heart.

This is why we do everything that we do. And he says we are simply joining his work. We're not just observants. We don't just watch him. We don't just celebrate him saving. He says, now that we are saved, we are to be his co-laborers for the same purpose. And then in 2 Corinthians 5, 20, Paul says, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us." We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

What Christ came to do. Everything that God's been doing, now that we are saved, we are called to do the same. To join him. To plead with the fallen world to be reconciled with God. That is our purpose. That is why we are established. That is why we are here as a church.

This is his heart. And so he prays. Be devoted to prayer. But in your devotion, it's not just being devoted and after you make a list of things that you want. I want my career to be this way. I want my marriage to be this way. I want my children to be this way.

All of that, every Buddhist prayer, looks the same. Making a list of things that you desire and then taking it to the temple. Taking it to wherever you go. Say, "Lord, answer my prayer so that I can have a better business. My children will be healthier. We can have a long life." Every Buddhist prays that same prayer.

Every Mormon, every Catholic, every Muslim prays that same prayer. If our prayers don't look any different, then we're no different. We just have chosen this avenue to get what we want. That's not what he's saying when he says to be devoted to prayer. He said, "Be devoted to prayer that the door may be open for the Word to go forth." But what does an open door look like?

We can be praying for the open door and say, "Well, I don't see any open doors." I hear people say that a lot. It's like, "We live in Orange County, so we don't see a lot of open doors." We used to see a lot of open doors in China.

We used to see open doors when we traveled, but we don't see much open doors here because people are not welcoming. I remember back in the '80s, as a young Christian, watching missionaries preparing to go out. And I remember in send-off services, people would be in tears. And the reason why they were in tears is because back then, when people went out to missions, we didn't expect them to come back because just travel was difficult.

Even in 1993, when I was in China, just to make one phone call cost me $30. You couldn't just come in and out. You couldn't communicate like that. Today, you're on Facebook. You're chatting. So it's a blessing because we're able to communicate, and it's easier to travel. But back then, once you left, that was your life.

I had one of my friends, one of my roommates, I remember when they were headed out for missions, he had an aging father that he had to take care of, and at the end of the day, he entrusted him to the Lord, and he left. And when he left, he left knowing, or at least believing, that he's never going to be able to see his dad again.

That's what missions was like back then. Today, again, it's not a curse. All of this, if we recognize it for what it is, is a blessing from God that the world has become a lot more accessible. But along with that has created a spirit of ease within the church where an open door means a rolled-out red carpet.

Our bills are paid. Our children are taken care of. There's proper schooling for our children. Our retirement is paid. And so all of that's to be laid out, or else the door's not-- door's not open because they don't want us here. Door's not open because they're hostile. Door's not open because we don't have enough money.

But look how Paul describes an open door. In 1 Corinthians 16:9, he says, "For a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." I mean, in our culture, he says "many adversaries." It means the door's not open, right? They don't want me there, so maybe the door's not open.

But Paul says, "The door's been wide open, but there's many people who don't want me to be there." You notice that Paul says, "Pray for the open door," not for him, but for the Word. For the Word. Opportunity to share the Gospel. Opportunity even in the midst of opposition.

In fact, oftentimes, the opposition was what led to the revival. In Galatians 4, 13-15, he says, "But you know that it was because of bodily illness that I preached the Gospel to you the first time." Because he was ill. And we say, "Well, if I'm ill, that means the door is shut." Because I have to be healthy, the bills have to be paid, we have to be welcomed, there has to be somebody welcoming us, and so retirement's going to be good, but he says, "No, because I was ill, because God caused me to be ill, the door was open, and I preached the Gospel to you the first time, and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself." So open door for him was his illness, was his sickness.

And then 2 Thessalonians 3, 1, he says, "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did also with you." He didn't just pray and then wait to see the red carpet. He said no. He had a sense of urgency to get the Gospel out.

So he prayed and he acted to see in what avenue, where is the best place for him to go. In fact, in Ephesians 5, 15-16, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil." Making the most of your time.

Think about what has happened in the last two years, two and a half years. The pandemic hit. Churches were shut down for a period, and some churches shut down a bit longer than that. More people went online. And during that period, there was a disturbance in the church because they were saying this is not essential, and that you're not allowed to sing, you have to wear a mask.

And so restrictions were given against the Constitution, and it was outright wrong. But there was an uproar in the church. How dare they do this? How can they do that? And we live in a free country where we can fight, where we can vote. But in the midst of this, if we're not careful, we can completely miss the open door that God has created for us.

That our primary problem should not be complaining that they're making it harder for us to get together, but our primary thing is, what has this caused for the purpose of the gospel? Doors have been opened more widely than I've seen in my whole ministry career. People are walking into the church, wondering if there's more to this life than this, than ever before.

Just non-Christians who've never attended church are just walking in, asking questions. I've had phone calls at the beginning of the pandemic from people that I've known when they were younger, who've fallen away many years ago, calling me, because they were scared. Because they walked away from their faith, and they were scared that maybe they're going to fall, and then they don't want to die in that state.

So they were calling me, asking me for prayer, so they would bring to prayer and repentance and come back. And it all happened because of the pandemic. That although on the surface, there were some restrictions and discomfort, but behind the scene, it was clear that God was working. When our mind and heart is focused on ourselves, it's easy to miss that.

That God has opened doors to make every opportunity. That when we're sick, we're in the hospital, we say, "Oh, God is stopping us," He says, "But there's tons of people, nurses, doctors, other patients." I feel like the hospital is one of the best places to share the gospel, because people are desperate, they're in need.

Those of you who are nurses, those of you who are teachers, those of you who are in the corporate, working, doors are open when we are praying and asking God, and we are seeking. And there's a sense of urgency. But when we look for an open door, meaning they're inviting us, the red carpet, and I come to, I'm desperate, can you come teach me?

What is the gospel? We're all looking for that Ethiopian eunuch. It's like, "What prevents me from being baptized?" Like, man, I wish that happened every day. That didn't happen, so there's no door open. Paul was eagerly, "Devote yourself to prayer for opportunities to preach the gospel," he says, "so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ." Speak forth, to proclaim the mystery of Christ.

Why is the gospel called the mystery? Is it because he means it to be mysterious? No one is really supposed to understand this, it's the mystery. It's meant to be mysterious. Is that what he means? Clearly it is not. There are some parts of it where it's reflective of what the Bible says, but repeatedly over and over again in the New Testament, the gospel is called the mystery of Christ.

You know, I looked up to see, like online, to see what is a mystery? How does the world describe a mystery? And I came across seven things that is required to be a good mystery, right? Seven things. And this is not a Christian thing, it's just their definition of, if you're going to make a movie, if you're going to make a mystery novel, you need seven things.

First, it says it requires a strong hook, meaning a problem, something that draws you in. So if you watch a movie, like it starts with an event, boom, you know, they're all having drinks and they're having fun, and boom, the light turns off and somebody's dead, right? And usually some kind of a big crime, who did it?

So it says every mystery has a strong hook. Well, what's the hook in Christianity? All of sin falls short of the glory of God. Genesis begins with God's glory in creation, and then he says, "If you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die." And they eat.

And as a result of that, God said, "You're going to die." So the hook is, the problem is, how are we going to solve this when God clearly says in the beginning that we're going to die? Do we just die and that's it? So the whole book of the Bible is solving this problem.

Is that it? Well, second thing it says, there's a detective. They call it a sleuth, there's somebody who's there who's examining, trying to figure this out. So every mystery has somebody who's there trying to figure this out. Well, that's me and you, right? The whole purpose of reading the Bible is to get the hook, this is the problem, how do we figure this out?

And we're examining and putting the pieces together. And then third, it says it requires a villain, right? Somebody who's always trying to mess up the story. And who is that? The Antichrist from the get-go. He's tripping people up in everything that God is doing. There's an anti-movement to trip you up.

Fourthly, there's a flowing narrative. That every part of this mystery, they're all connected together. So something that you found out in chapter 2, you reveal is connected to this. And then you see Genesis, how connected to Leviticus, and how Leviticus is connected to the book of Daniel. And you see a flowing narrative, what we call the meta-narrative.

Meta-narrative is every part of the Bible that's connected to each other. A flowing narrative. Fifthly, it says it needs trails of clues. Clues are dropped all throughout this meta-narrative to kind of get you to be sucked in, that this is coming, that this is what's going on, but this is coming.

What is that? They're the prophets. All throughout the Bible, the prophets are dropping hints here, this is coming, we know this is what's happening, and this caused this, but at the end, this is what it's leading to. Sixthly, it says there's a red herring. Meaning there's things that cause you to go astray, thinking like maybe this is the answer, and you realize that's not the answer.

Maybe this is the answer, that's not the answer. Who's that? Those are the false prophets. False teachers. Promising peace while they themselves are prisoners of their own flesh. Again, this is not--I didn't get this from the Bible. This is what Hollywood's saying is if you want to make a good narrative, write a good mystery, this is what's required.

And then, seventhly, satisfying ending. That there is a conclusion to this. You don't start with a hook and say, "Oh, well," and then it finishes. The purpose of this is to draw the people into the narrative so that when we come to the conclusion, we all realize how we got here.

That's why you can't jump into the middle of the story in the mystery, because by the time you get to the conclusion, you don't really understand why this needed to be solved. So, why does he present it this way? Why does he present the gospel? Why does he just say they sinned, Jesus came, you believe, and we're in heaven, and then let's just celebrate in heaven?

Why all this drama? That's the reason why you get hooked on mystery, because as you get hooked on the mystery, we become engaged in this story. We're not just studying it. We're not just examining it. We're engaged. We become part of this story as we try to unravel this problem.

And as we observe what God is doing throughout history, by the time when Christ comes and we are glorified, we're part of this story. We're not just observers. All for what purpose? So that he may open our eyes to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That we may know the value of what we have in him.

And that's why Paul says to be devoted in prayer, so that the door may be opened for the word, that I may speak forth to proclaim the mystery of Christ, that I may make it clear, so that other people may be drawn into this mystery. Not just to say, "Yeah, I believe," but to be sucked into this mystery so that we may celebrate Christ together.

That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, 1-5, he says the power of the gospel is the message itself, is Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 2, 1-5, "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom." He was not a salesman. Paul was not effective because he was gifted in speaking.

In fact, the New Testament describes him as they weren't impressed with his preaching. Apollos was the preacher. Peter was the man of action. Paul was more like a scholar. But they were not impressed with his preaching. He said, "I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God." Think about it.

If his primary call was to make the gospel clear, you would think that the best person for this is the most gifted speaker. God didn't pick the most gifted speaker. He was a passionate man. He loved the Lord, but he was a broken man who recognized his own sins.

"I didn't come with superiority of wisdom, for I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling." In other words, I can't take the credit for what happened. If you were to look to me, it says I was weak, I was trembling, I was in fear.

I wasn't fruitful because I was gifted. I wasn't fruitful because I knew better or I was more disciplined. The power is in the cross, it says. "And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of man, but on the power of God." Now, some people look at this and say, "Well, he demonstrated the power of God.

He was an apostle, so he performed miracles." Now, that's not something we can do, so therefore this is not relevant to us. Now, we may not be apostles and we may not be showing sign gifts, but that same Holy Spirit is in us. That power is also in us.

He was able to perform miracles because there were sign gifts to prove who he was. But that same Holy Spirit, that same power resides in us. So he says he was determined that in his preaching, that in his sharing, that the power of the Holy Spirit, not his power, but the power of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated.

Now, let me break this down in practicality, what that looks like. When we pray, we're communing with the Holy Spirit. And we are abiding by the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus said in John 15, "You cannot bear fruit unless you are abiding in me." And then he was talking about the Holy Spirit that's going to come, the Counselor who's going to teach you all things.

And you need to continue abiding in the Holy Spirit if you want to bear fruit. So when we pray, we are communing and abiding in the Holy Spirit. So when the Holy Spirit is ignited in us, if you can use those words, when the Holy Spirit is groaning on our behalf, what happens?

The spiritual things become more real. We sing every week songs, we study doctrines, but our problem is our life doesn't take us down that direction. Our natural life takes us down a direction like everybody else. We're worried about paying bills and taking care of our children and getting jobs and being sick and not getting sick and putting enough money in retirement.

And so that's our natural life. So we come to church, at best, 10% of your life, at best, it's probably not even 10%, 10% of your life you're being reminded that this is empty. We're going to go. We're just sojourners passing through. But the 90% of our life is, "I don't want my kids to miss out.

I want to give what's best for my children. I want to live a long life. I want my parents to do well. I want to financially be stable." And that's where 90% of our energy goes to. But when the Holy Spirit is ignited in us, all of a sudden, everything that we profess to believe becomes real.

It becomes real, that this is just--we're just passing through. We see everything through the lens of the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, conviction comes over us. Conviction. Not just profession, but conviction. We can profess, we can sing about the words that we sing, but you know the difference between convicted by those words and just hearing and singing those words.

So when the Holy Spirit is working in us, conviction, things become real. Life and death and judgment and grace and eternity becomes real. It's not just a doctrine of the church, it's the reality of our lives. And then when conviction happens, conviction brings boldness. When you see somebody who is on a boat, ready to fall off of a cliff, or a fall, your natural reaction--because if you believe that that's happening, your natural reaction is, "Get off that boat!" You don't have to be an extrovert to have boldness.

Boldness doesn't come from training. Boldness doesn't come from talent. Boldness comes from conviction. If you believe that that's what's happening, your natural knee-jerk reaction, no matter what kind of person, no matter what gifting you have, your natural reaction is, "Turn!" Or else death is on the other side. But the reason why we don't feel a sense of urgency is because of lack of conviction.

And the reason we have lack of conviction is because we're not walking in the Spirit. And the reason why we're not walking in the Spirit is because we're not praying. So what we are engaged in requires us to pray, to open our eyes, to be convicted. And this conviction leads to boldness, and this conviction also leads to compassion.

Because if we're really convicted that this boat is going to fall off the edge, we don't look at them as, "Oh, we're so disgusted by these people because they don't listen. We're so disgusted because they're so dumb." Even though they oppose us, even though they hate us, we're headed to eternal life, and they're headed to eternal judgment.

And that causes us to be compassionate. And it is our compassion that causes us to pray for the lost souls. And this is the circular life of a Christian. That we come before the Lord, devoting ourselves to pray, opportunity for the gospel to be preached. He gives us conviction and boldness and compassion, which leads us to deeper prayer, more urgent prayer.

I'm going to conclude today's message of how the prayer was unfolding in Paul's life. As he was asking, "Devote yourself to prayer, Lord, for the word to be opened, so that I may make the mystery of Christ, to make it clear." Well, those of you who were with us in the study of the Book of Romans, you remember how Romans ended.

Romans, Book of Romans, at the end in chapter 15, ends with Paul's plea for prayer. And this is what he says, Romans 15, 30-33. "Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." So he asked for prayer.

He ends almost every letter with petition for prayer. But I want you to pay attention to specifically what he prays for. Now understand that Romans was written while Paul was in Corinth. He's never been to Rome. He's hoping to go to Rome. So he's at the tail end of his third missionary journey, and he's writing to the Roman Christians because that's the epicenter of the world at that time.

That's where the power of Rome was. And if you wanted to be anybody, you needed to be able to go to Rome. But the problem was the persecution was so heavy that in Jerusalem there are people waiting to kill him. And it's almost impossible to go to Rome because of what's happening with the Romans.

But he says, "I'm praying." There's a reason why he was avoiding this trip, but he said, "Pray for me so that the door may be open so that I may come to you." But this is specifically how he prays. "That I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints." Pray that I can go to Jerusalem, and these people who hate me, they're waiting for me to show up so they can kill me for protection.

But not only protection so that I don't get hurt, but that I may preach the gospel and minister to the saints. In this very hostile--I mean, that's where it started, remember? That's where the first martyr happened. That's where the gospel was first preached. And that's where the persecution was so intense.

And Apostle Paul was the one who was in the middle of all of that. And he said he wants to go back to Jerusalem knowing that they want to kill him. So pray for me so that I can go there and be protected, but still be able to minister.

And then he says, "So that I may come to you." "So that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company." I want to ultimately do ministry in Jerusalem and then end up in Rome so that I can continue to minister and preach the gospel there.

Humanly, that's like going into North Korea. Pray that I may go into North Korea and not only be protected and not get arrested, but that I may have fruitful ministry out in North Korea knowing everybody is coming to get me. And then after that, when I'm done, pray that I can go and talk to Kim Jong-un himself.

That's what that prayer would have sounded like. Well, when you look at the book of Acts, it tells us how this unfolds. Paul, after he writes his letter, about a year later, he is planning to go to Jerusalem. And the prophet Agabus comes and says, "You can't go to Jerusalem because God has revealed to me when you go there, you're going to be bound.

They're going to put you in prison." Paul responds to them, "Not only am I willing to be put into prison, I'm ready to die for this." And they couldn't persuade him. So they spent all night praying for him, weeping because they were afraid that they're never going to see him.

Paul is determined. Sure enough, in chapter 21, 27, he shows up in Jerusalem and he enters into the temple. And they recognize him. As soon as they recognize him, a mob forms. That's the guy we've been made. He's the guy who's been disturbing our faith. And so a mob comes and attacks him and beats him and ready to kill him.

But then the Roman guards hear about this and the high officials say, "We've got to stop this or we're going to have a riot among us." They go down with soldiers and they protect him. They protect him. So they can't touch him anymore because the Roman guards have come.

And instead of walking out of that safely, Apostle Paul says, "Give me an opportunity to defend myself." So he said, "Okay." So he turns around and the mob that wants to kill him, he preaches the gospel. But they can't touch him because the Roman guards are protecting him. So he preaches the gospel and they're infuriated.

They're angry. So they demand of the Roman guards saying, "This is not right. We need to crucify this man just like his Lord was crucified." So by the protection of the Roman guards, they take him and place him in front of Ananias, the leaders of Israel. And he says, "Okay, what do you have to say for yourself?" And he preaches the gospel.

And they can't touch him because the Roman guards are protecting him. So can you imagine the stir? People are so angry with him. It says that 40 Jews took a vow of starvation until this man is killed. And so they were scheming and said, "You know, when he gets moved from there to go to Felix, we're going to find the road that he's going to take and the 40 of us are going to jump in and he's going to kill.

And we're committed to this." And then a family member of Paul hears about this and then he goes and tells. And then the Roman guards are ignited. And look what it says, Acts 23, 23 to 25. "Get 200 soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea.

With 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen, they were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix, the governor." 470 soldiers. 470 soldiers are ignited to protect him so that he can get. So all the while he's in Jerusalem in the area ministering to God.

And I always wonder whatever happened to those 40 people. I figured like, you know, maybe some of them starve to death. My guess is at some point they had, you know, maybe it was kind of rash. You know, it doesn't tell us what happened. They just kind of just disappear.

Paul, under the protection of the Roman guards, put into house arrest. And Felix, not because he had some sympathy toward Christians, but because of his greed, protects him, puts him under house arrest, and this is what it says. Acts chapter 22, 23, sorry, 24 verse 23. "Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him." You notice that?

Under the protection of these Roman guards, he said because he wanted a kickback, he was hoping that Paul, this man seems like he's connected and maybe he'll give us some money. So he kept him there for two years, protecting him. And he said, "Give him some freedom and let his friends come back and forth and minister to him." For two years!

Under the protection of the Roman guards, he's ministering to people there, preaching the gospel. I mean, check, right? Who could have imagined, like, what could he have orchestrated? What planning, what training would have provided that? It was supernatural. Only a sovereign God could have done that. After two years, Felix realizes he's not going to get any kickback.

The next governor comes, Festus. He stands before Festus and begins to preach the gospel. But Festus is a just man. He hears the case and he says, "This man has done nothing wrong. He should be released." But Paul didn't want to get released. He said, "I'm a Roman citizen.

I demand, I demand an audience with Kim Jong-un, Caesar." Right? They said, "Because this man has done nothing wrong, but because he appealed to Caesar, by law we have to send him." So he chooses to remain in custody. This is awesome! I'm preaching the gospel with Roman guards protecting me at the epicenter!

He said, "But now it's time to go to Rome." So they put him on a boat, and on this boat with Roman guards, they run into all kinds of trouble, and they think they're going to die. And they're worshiping their idols, and then Paul stands up in the middle of this, and the God that I serve has told me this, and you do this, and this, and this.

And then he saves all of them! So they begin to say, "Oh my gosh, your God is the true God." And so all of a sudden he wins the whole guard over, and then they end up in Malta to recoup. And while they're at Malta, a vandal comes and bites Paul.

So all the people in Malta say, "He must have done something wrong. He survived the shipwreck, but clearly the gods are against him because he was bitten. They're waiting for him to die, but he doesn't die." And because he doesn't die, all of a sudden their opinion completely changes.

This guy was saved from a shipwreck, and he survives the venom! God, his God, must be the real God! And so not only does he win over the guards, he wins over Malta, and then he gets on his boat, and they finally end up in Rome under the protection of these guards.

But he's not just any prisoner. He's the guy who saved them. There's something supernatural about this man. So even before he goes, he comes to Rome, and they're not hostile. They're intrigued by him. Look what it says in Acts 28, 28-25. "When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers." So he was kind of like a celebrity already.

So they're coming, they're intrigued, so they're coming to him. "And he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe." Paul was making clear the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ under the protection of the guards as a celebrity, and they're coming.

He's not going out looking for them. He's not church planting. He's just in his prison, whatever that is, right, at that moment. They're coming to him asking questions, and then some people are persuaded and some people are not, and those who are not persuaded usually were angry and want to kill him, but they can't touch him because the guards are protecting him.

And then in Acts 28, 30-31, it says this, "And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered." How could you have planned that? How can any man have orchestrated that?

If we didn't study the Bible, we wouldn't have known that this was a specific answer to the prayer at the end of the Book of Romans. I remember the first time coming through the Book of Acts after, and it's like, "Oh my gosh, it's like a puzzle coming together." I've never read this in any commentary.

I've never heard anybody preach on it, but clearly it's spelled out here, and I remember the chills that I got. It's almost kind of like God opening up the curtain. If we feel that way reading this, can you imagine how Paul felt as he prayed, as doors being opened, protection of the guards, they're coming to him, and you say God's not real?

And you say God's not real? When we don't pray, we don't understand. God is just a theory. That's why you can admire him, you can sing songs, you can study, but you're unwilling to give everything to follow him because it's a theory, because it's theology. But when we pray according to his heart, his will, he said, "I will answer." Ask whatever you wish, I will answer.

That's what causes us to evaluate everything with that lens. If we don't understand the heart of God, you can spend all your life raising godly children, paying your bills, saving up for retirement, and look no different than any other religion. You're just doing it in the name of Jesus, but it's about you, your safety, your children, even the discipleship, all of it.

But when we see things through this lens, good and bad is evaluated by whether this is happening or not. Persecution is good if the gospel is more powerful. Sickness is good if that opens the door for the gospel to be preached. Even early death is good in that perspective if the gospel is able to spread.

We have to know more than the mind of God. We have to interact and fellowship with the heart of God. Because when he said that he came to give this life abundantly, can you imagine the joy of Apostle Paul, even in the midst of being beaten and early death, to be in the midst and in the middle of the will of God?

That knowing that he's fellowshipping with God, he's walking with God, he's working with God. And then that's why we can understand, and only then can you understand when Paul says, "If you ask me, do I want to depart or stay here? Do I want to get out of this prison?" He says in Philippians 1.

"Do I want to get out of prison and live a long, prosperous life? Or do I want to die and be with the Lord?" He said, "If you ask me, if I want to be selfish, I'm ready to go. I want to meet this Lord face to face, the person I've been worshipping, the one who saved me, the one who's so gracious to me, the one I've been communing with.

I want to go." But because it means more fruitful labor for you, I know that I'm going to stay because God's not done with me here. Can you imagine the joy? Can you imagine the worship? Can you imagine the passion that Apostle Paul lived with? That even as he is being beheaded, it was glory.

My prayer is that in some small way, that we would taste what that feels like, that we would devote ourselves to pray, devote ourselves to what God is pursuing, that somehow, someway this year, that we would become prayer warriors, not just the leaders but the church, and that we would actively pursue what He is pursuing through us.

Let's pray. Let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord in prayer. Again, asking specifically, what does devoting yourself to prayer look like practically in your life, not just wishful thinking, but how is that going to be applied in our lives? What doors are open? Ask God to open my eyes to see.

What doors has He opened that I'm not being obedient to? Let's really commit ourselves to be devoted to pray, to make the gospel clear. Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. For my waking breath, for my daily breath, I depend on You, I depend on You, for the sun to rise, for my sleep at night.

I depend on You, I depend on You. You're the way, the truth, and the light. You're the well that never runs dry. I'm the bridge and You are the vine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. You're the spirit, You're the spirit. As I follow You, I depend on You, I depend on You.

The rain don't stop, still it flies high. I depend on You, I depend on You. You're the way, the truth, and the light. You're the well that never runs dry. I'm the bridge and You are the vine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. Be my strength, my song in the night.

Be my all, my treasure, my light. I am Yours forever, You're mine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. When I pass, when I pass through death, as I enter Heaven's, I depend on You. I depend on You. Eternal life to be raised with Christ. I depend on You, I depend on You.

You're the way, the truth, and the light. You're the well that never runs dry. I'm the bridge and You are the vine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. Be my strength, my song in the night. Be my all, my treasure, my pride. I am Yours forever, You're mine.

Draw me close and teach me to abide. Be my strength, my song in the night. Be my all, my treasure, my pride. I am Yours forever, You're mine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. Let's pray. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the eternal love of God the Father, rest, encourage, rebuke, and strengthen the Church, Lord God, wherever You send us, that we would be the sweet aroma of Christ.

May Christ's name be exalted in our private lives. May Christ's name be adored and exalted in our public lives. May You and You alone receive all the glory wherever You send us. 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 party An empty grave is there to My Savior lay 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 Faithful forever You will be Faithful You are All Your promises are yes and Amen All Your promises are yes and Amen Beautiful Savior You have brought me near You pulled me from the ashes You have broken every curse Blessed Redeemer You have set this character free Lord I can't help but sing