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

Happy Lord's Day. We're gonna go ahead and begin our service by singing this first song, "Oh Great God." We come before a God who's magnificent and great, and we wanna reflect that in the songs that we sing. (soft piano music) ♪ Oh great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Occupy my lowly heart ♪ ♪ Own it all and reign supreme ♪ ♪ Conquer every rebel power ♪ ♪ Let no vice or sin remain ♪ ♪ That resists your holy war ♪ ♪ You have loved and purchased me ♪ ♪ Made me yours forevermore ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ When I was blinded by my sin ♪ ♪ Had no ears to hear your voice ♪ ♪ Did not know your love within ♪ ♪ Had no taste for heaven's joy ♪ ♪ Then your spirit gave me life ♪ ♪ Opened up your word to me ♪ ♪ Through the gospel of your son ♪ ♪ Gave me endless hope and peace ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Help me now to live a life ♪ ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ ♪ Keep my heart and guard my soul ♪ ♪ From the evils that I face ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ With my every thought and deed ♪ ♪ Oh great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Glorify your name through mine ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ With my every thought and deed ♪ ♪ Oh great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Glorify your name through mine ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Breen Community Church. We have actually quite a few announcements, so I'm gonna just jump in and get started. As you guys saw when you were coming on campus that we did some construction outside, and so there's gonna be a continuing, things that are happening, so the other side that has been open to us, where EBTA, because it left, there's construction going in there.

One part is being used, the other part, there's still stuff that needs to be done. So we ask that you guys stay out of that area because construction is going, unless you're a youth group and you're using one part of it. So other than that, we ask that you guys stay out of that area.

There will continually be things that are going on, and then eventually there's gonna be some construction that's happening in here as well. So I want you guys to be aware of that, and if you see any yellow tape or kind of blocking off, don't get curious and get in there.

So just try to avoid that if possible. Breen membership class, so if you are planning to take the membership class, that's gonna be starting next Sunday at 9 a.m., and eventually we're gonna be moving it to our new building, but for this session, we are gonna still continue to have it in our Sprouts room upstairs.

So starting next week, it's an eight-week course, nine to 1020, and if you didn't let Pastor Nate know, please let him know as soon as possible that you're coming next week. Seasoned fellowship, so if you are 50 and over, we have a lunch fellowship for you that's going on next Sunday at 1 p.m., okay?

And so Elder Phillip is gonna be outside. As you're going through the cafe, you'll see a little table to the left, and so the sign-up is happening there, so please let them know that you are coming because they need to order food and prepare, and so please go there right after and then sign up, and the lunch is going to be $10 per person, and again, please go and sign up as soon as you can after the service.

On July 23rd, there's gonna be a men's prayer breakfast/lunch that's happening at 9.30 a.m., so this is for all the men. This is including high school to all the way up to seasoned fellowship, and so this is specifically targeted for men, so we're gonna be praying over and we're gonna be talking about things just pertaining to men, so please sign up for that.

Light breakfast, and then lunch is going to be provided, so there's no fee, at least for the first one, so please sign up for that, and again, that's happening on July 23rd. Second Peter Bible study sign-up is happening now, so the Bible study, obviously, we're on break until August 31st, and I will be leading the study in Second Peter, but whether you're in a home group or whether you're in a small group, we need you to re-sign up because we need to organize the small groups and see if we need to add more home groups, and so we need you to sign up as soon as possible, so that sign-up has opened up already, so please go and sign up for that as soon as you can.

This morning, we have a special announcement from Pastor Peter Chung about our BBS, so he's gonna come give the announcement now. - Well, good morning. I have actually two announcements. The first one pertains to the family retreat, which is gonna be Friday, August 12th to the 14th. If you haven't signed up for it, next Sunday will be your last Sunday.

Grace will not be afforded to you because we are running out of space, okay? So if you have any changes to your plans or any questions that you wanna ask, there is gonna be a family ministry table right outside the cafe entrance, so please stop by there. So July 10th, next Sunday, will be the last day for the sign-ups, and as you guys may know, VBS will be running starting next Monday, July 11th.

It's gonna be five to eight, and we're gonna try to keep our time pretty set, so please do drop off your child before five if you can. The doors will open at 4.30, and we want to make sure that this isn't just a program that we run. We wanna make sure that it is covered and bathed in prayer, especially from the parents, and so for July 11th, Monday, and July 15th, Friday, those two nights, we're gonna have a prayer time for the parents at 5.30 to just to pray for the children in attendance of our VBS and for just our church in general.

So that's gonna be next week, so just a heads up on that. All right, thank you. - All right, so before I pray for our offering, right after our worship set, our sister Judy Kim is gonna come up and give her testimony and be baptized this morning, and so after I pray, we'll give you a minute to give your electronic offering.

Again, if you are here visiting us and you are planning to give a physical offering, there is an offering basket underneath that big clock as you're exiting, okay? All right, let's pray. - Heavenly Father, we pray for your blessing. We pray, Father God, that all the distractions that we brought into this room help us to be refocused, Lord, upon Christ, help us to have a greater and greater vision of who he is and what you have been doing in history, Father God, that our worship may be in line of us seeing a greater glimpse of your glory.

Bless this time, Lord, bless this offering. May it be multiplied for your use. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) - Church family, let's all rise together.

(upbeat music) ♪ Great are you, Lord ♪ ♪ Mighty and strong ♪ ♪ You are faithful ♪ ♪ And you'll ever be ♪ ♪ We will praise you ♪ ♪ All of our days ♪ ♪ For your glory ♪ ♪ We offer everything ♪ ♪ Raise your hands, all you nations ♪ ♪ Shout to God our creation ♪ ♪ Our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Where you send us ♪ ♪ Where you send us ♪ ♪ God, we will go ♪ ♪ You're the answer ♪ ♪ We want the world to know ♪ ♪ We will trust you ♪ ♪ When you call our name ♪ ♪ Where you lead us ♪ ♪ We'll follow all the way ♪ ♪ Raise your hands, all you nations ♪ ♪ Shout to God our creation ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high, yes, Lord, praise ♪ ♪ We will praise you together ♪ ♪ For now and forever ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high, sing it out, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high, yes, Lord, praise ♪ ♪ Raise your hands, all you nations ♪ ♪ Shout to God our creation ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high, we will praise, Lord ♪ ♪ We will praise you together ♪ ♪ For now and forever ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high, yes, Lord, praise ♪ ♪ How awesome is the Lord ♪ ♪ Most high ♪ (gentle music) ♪ How I love the force of Jesus ♪ ♪ On the cross of Calvary ♪ ♪ He declares his work is finished ♪ ♪ He has spoken this hope to me ♪ ♪ Though the sun had ceased its shining ♪ ♪ Though the war appeared as lost ♪ ♪ Christ had triumphed over evil ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ - The curse of the cross.

♪ Now the curse, it has been broken ♪ ♪ Jesus paid the price for me ♪ ♪ Will the pardon he has offered ♪ ♪ Be the welcome that I receive ♪ ♪ Only I approach my father ♪ ♪ Calling Jesus righteousness ♪ ♪ There is no more guilt to give ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Death was once my grip upon it ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ But the son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we might be free indeed ♪ (gentle music) - One more time, death.

(gentle music) ♪ Death was once my grip upon it ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ But the son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free indeed ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free indeed ♪ ♪ Free from every plan of darkness ♪ ♪ Free to live and free to love ♪ ♪ Death is dead and Christ is risen ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ Onward to eternal glory ♪ ♪ To my Savior and my God ♪ ♪ I rejoice in Jesus' victory ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (gentle music) ♪ It was finished ♪ ♪ It was finished ♪ (gentle music) - Hello, my name is Judy Kim, and I've been attending Berean since this past October, and I'm grateful to have this opportunity to share my testimony.

I recently moved and ruffled through a box of dusty journals from my childhood. I read through page after page, flooded with worries, discontentment, anger, blame, and doubt. At first, I laughed at myself for being so angsty and dramatic, but then I realized I once was imprisoned to this way of thinking.

Although my mom took me to church with her since the third grade, I felt that the supposed truth that I heard at church conflicted so much with the world and circumstances that surrounded me. Everything is within God's plan, yet my parents are fighting, my two older brothers were hurting, and my mom became sick with a chronic illness that would cause her heart and kidneys to fail.

Saved not by words, yet I felt most loved for my achievements and most devastated by my failures. I was aimlessly striving for some sort of control and peace, but it always quickly faded. Sometimes when I needed God, I would run to him, but my flesh was unwilling to fully surrender the passing pleasures that seemed to subdue the turbulence in my home and in my heart.

My allegiance was wishy-washy, that is, until God made clear to me how ugly sin was. It wasn't that life was just hard and painful and just the way that it was for no reason. Sin being the root of all evil was the culprit of division in my family and the cause for my every empty pursuit.

I see it as God's mercy that the feeling of helplessness persisted, and my desperation for a lasting hope was intensified by the brokenness that I not only saw in myself, but in my family as well. By the grace of God, I was fully convinced that my soul needed saving and that my hope and salvation could only be found in Christ.

As it says in scripture, Romans 5, 1 to 2, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. "Through him we have also obtained access by faith "into his grace into which we stand, "and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Don't get me wrong, doubt can still be intrusive.

Working as a nurse for kids with cancer, I am tempted to see their sickness and suffering as an injustice, as a flaw in God's plan. Hardship still comes by, and people around me challenge my faith. But when I turn to scripture, I'm reminded of the sovereign nature of God and come to full faith and assurance that God's character is impeccably consistent and God is always good.

So good that the holy God did the unfathomable thing of coming to this earth in human form to pay the cost of my sin and dying the death that I deserve. So good that the family that I thought would eventually crumble is held together beautifully in the palm of his hand.

The old journal entries show that I once was ensnared by worries, discontentment, anger, blame, and doubt. Page after page exposes failure after failure, feeling inadequate as a sister, daughter, and friend. And even though these feelings still come by, they are always overcome with the hope and joy that is in Christ alone.

It is a joy that I am made alive in Christ and that this life is not my own, that all things are from him and through him, and it is now my fighting desire that my entire life be of worship to him and to him alone. I would like to conclude with two meaningful verses that encourage me a lot.

Revelation 21, four, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away. And Romans 15, 13, sorry, be the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Thank you for listening. (audience applauding) (audience member speaking faintly) (audience applauding) (audience member speaking faintly) (audience applauding) (audience member speaking faintly) - All right, thank you, Judy, for that great testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter one. I'm gonna be reading starting from verse 57 all the way down to 74.

Before we even get started, I wanted to encourage you, on Saturday nights, usually I put up a post on our Facebook page, church Facebook page, give you a heads up on what text that we're gonna be going over, and then I'll add some questions to that so that you can kind of wrestle with what are some of the issues that I'm gonna be talking about when we get together on Sunday morning.

When we're going through the epistles, you know, we're only going through a few verses at a time, so it's easy to just kind of read, and it's like, oh, that's what's going on. But as we're going through the Gospels, obviously we're covering larger text, and so it would be beneficial to take some time to at least read and know what's in the context so that you would come and say, oh, I wonder what he means by this, I wonder why he says this, so that when I refer to it, you would be able to get more out of it.

And you'll know what I'm talking about this morning, okay? So those of you who read before you came, kind of engaged in the text before you came versus those of you who are just hearing it fresh, again, you can still understand it, but it'll help you a great deal.

And I'm just gonna give you a heads up. Today's message is not one of those messages that you can casually listen to, because we're gonna go pretty deep into the fulfillment of God's prophecy here, and so this is not one of those passages where you have one theme, that Jesus loves you, and here's five different ways that he shows example and what does it mean in this text.

This is one of those texts where Zechariah's prophecy, like how does this connect to what God has been doing in history? How is that being fulfilled? Why does he say it now? And what is the future fulfillment of this? And so therefore, if you don't really make an effort to engage, I'm telling you ahead of time, it's gonna go over your head, okay?

So, and what I'm gonna say today is pretty, it's pretty, you know, like an overview of you, and this is that important, that what we're gonna be talking about this morning is going to help you put on a particular paradigm lens in which you see the whole of scripture.

So I can't emphasize enough how important this is, so this is not one of those Sundays where you're just kind of like, okay, feed me, right? So I'm gonna make an attempt to feed you, and I'm already predicting there's gonna be a percentage of you that's gonna go over your head, and you may have to revisit this and go back and listen to this to kind of really dig through what I mean by that, and even if you did understand, I'm only giving you a cliff note version of what's happening, okay?

So I don't wanna go milk this too much, but I'm just giving you ahead of time, so this is, so those of you who already are giving me a glazed look, right? So I'm like poking at you, so it's like, you need to pay attention, especially this morning, okay?

So let me read this text, and then we'll jump into the text this morning, 57. Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed his great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her, and it happened that on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias after his father.

But his mother answered and said, "No, indeed, but he shall be called John." And they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives "who is called by that name," and they made signs to his father as to what he wanted him called. And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, "His name is John," and they were all astonished.

And at once, his mouth was opened and his tongue loose, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those living around them, and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, "What then will this child turn out to be?

"For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him." Starting from verse 67, "And his father, Zacharias, "was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, "for he has visited us and accomplished redemption "for his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation "for us in the house of David, his servant.

"As he spoke by his mouth of his holy prophets "from of old, salvation from our enemies, "and from the hand of all who hate us, "to show mercy toward our fathers "and to remember his holy covenant, "the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father, "to grant us that we, being rescued "from the hand of our enemies, "might serve him without fear." All right, let's pray.

Father, we pray for your blessing, we pray for your grace, we pray for deeper understanding, that we may see a greater and greater glimpse of your glory and what you are doing in redemptive history. So we pray for help, Lord God, to not only understand but to illuminate our hearts, that we may love you, honor you, worship you, and follow you.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As I mentioned, the beginning, the text that we're looking at starting from 57, John is born, and on the eighth day, just like any other good Jew, they came to circumcise him. And as you guys know, the circumcision for the Jews was a reminder to them that Israelites were God's chosen people and it was a covenant symbol upon them.

And so as tradition goes, as on the eighth day, they came to circumcise him and they fully expected that he was going to be named Zacharias because of his father, because that was the tradition. Either you were named as a father or a grandfather or somebody in that family in order to keep that name going.

Instead, John's birth obviously is not like any other Jew because he was specifically given to an old couple to fulfill God's promise. And so instead of giving him the name Zacharias, he said, no, the name is already determined. His name will be John. Because it was already given to him.

God had anointed this, so this was not up to the parents to decide. So God had already given him his name, John. And the reason why the name John was given is because his name was a foretelling of what God is about to do. His name means Yahweh is gracious.

God is going to demonstrate his grace, that through this man that God was going to appear in redemptive history at that particular time in order to reveal his grace. So this morning as we look at the text, as he breaks out into this prophecy, that he's going to reveal how this grace is going to be fulfilled, what God is doing.

And so this is all an introduction, really the text that we're looking at from 67 to 74, of how God's grace is being revealed. Because when we think about grace, when we think about grace, because our natural knee-jerk reaction to how we understand grace is us. How is God gracious to us?

Or to me in particular? So when we ask, like when Thanksgiving comes around, we ask, what are you thankful for? In other words, how has God been gracious to you? We kind of think through, scan through the year, and say, you know what, I got a good job, God has been gracious.

Or maybe I was sick and then God answered my prayer, so God has been gracious. Maybe there's some things that we were praying for, and so God shows up in our life, and so God has been gracious. So our typical thinking of how we see the grace of God is really centered on us.

What have we experienced? But here he says, in verse 68, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, "for he has visited us "and accomplished redemption for his people." See, God's primary revelation of his grace is his redemption. But we have a tendency to kind of like, well, you know, of course God saved us, but that's something that has happened.

But how has he been gracious to me today? What's happening now? Our natural inclination, as it says in Romans chapter one, is to give credit to man rather than to God. That's our knee-jerk reaction to everything, to give credit to man rather than God. Look at the way that we celebrate the seven wonders of the world, right?

I don't know how many of you guys have been to the Great Wall of China. You know, I remember growing up hearing through history books, you know, over and over how awesome this structure is and how you could see it from outside the earth, and it took so many years to build this structure, and how many people gave their lives.

And I remember the years of going in and out of China, I probably must have visited that wall about at least 20 times. And each time I went, it became less and less great, and more and more just a wall. You know, but when we talk about today, it's a great wall, it's so fantastic, the achievement of man, and how much time we spend being awed by the pile of stones that people put together, and then never recognize the mountain that it sits on.

And if you think about that, how much is written about it, how much history, and how people travel from all over the world to walk on this wall, and then not recognize the mountain that it sits on, the rocks that God had created, so that they could put it together, the sky above.

And yet our natural tendency is to look at the creation of man and say, wow, isn't that awesome? So even when we think about grace, we typically think about grace as it pertains to me, in particular, in my life. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, next year. How has God been gracious to me?

See, this prophecy that Zacharias breaks out, right, in response to what angel Gabriel says, and in response to what God is doing, and his son John, God is gracious. The first thing that we remember, that he points out in his prophecy, is that God is gracious by remembering his covenant.

God's grace is revealed through remembering his covenant. In verse 72, it says, "To show mercy toward our fathers, "and to remember his holy covenant, "the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father." He says, the covenant that God made with Abraham was 2,000 years before the showing up of John.

But he says, John's name, God is gracious, is a revelation of God being faithful to a covenant that he made 2,000 years ago, to be faithful to that covenant. You see, it wasn't by accident that this prophecy is happening at John's circumcision, because the circumcision was a symbol to the nation of Israel, reminding them of the covenant that he gave to Israel in Genesis chapter 12.

So every time a Jewish child is being circumcised, they most likely recited that covenant over and over again, that this circumcision is a symbol of God's faithfulness to Israel, the promise that God made in Genesis chapter 12. Now, Genesis chapter 12, one, two, three, is the beginning of this covenant to Abraham and the nation of Israel.

If you've ever read through the Old Testament and you came across Genesis chapter 12, one, two, three, you may have just read that as like, oh, God has made these awesome promises to Abraham, and then may have just skipped over it, not really realizing the significance. Genesis chapter 12, one, two, three, is the backbone of what God is doing all throughout redemptive history.

So how you understand that and how this is being fulfilled, why Book of Jonah, and why David, and why Micah, and why all these things are happening, it is a fulfillment of God's faithfulness to his covenant. If you don't see or read the Bible through the lens of this covenant, what's gonna end up happening is you're gonna see Jonah as a great story of don't mess with God, right?

Don't mess with God. If you run from God when God calls you, a whale's gonna eat you up, right? You're gonna hear the story of David and say, well, David, because he was so great and practiced throwing his stones, and how God was able to use him mightily because he became an expert in throwing the stones, so don't trivialize the gift that God has given you and become an expert.

And so you end up looking at all of Scripture and redemptive history as moral stories that you need to pick up so that we can become better people and be successful. But everything God says in the Old Testament and the New Testament is a flow, outflow of God fulfilling this promise.

Why he does, why Israel's the way it is, why does the Old Testament end the way it does, why is this prophecy here, what does it say in the book of Revelation? All of it is connected to this promise, Abrahamic promise. So how important is this, right? I can't emphasize enough.

So is it important for us to understand what he promised? Yes, so there's three things that he promised the nation of Israel. One, he promised land, right? In Genesis chapter 12, one, two, three, he promised land. Second, he promised numerous offspring, right? These descendants are going to be so numerous they're not even gonna be able to count.

Third, he promised a blessing upon them to the world, right? So there's gonna be a clear purpose. So just to kind of summarize, the promise of land is a specific promise of their political nation. It wasn't just like Abraham say, oh, you're gonna be rich and you're gonna have all this land.

Land, you can have a million people, but if you don't have a land, you're not a nation. You're just a people group. So when he promises land, he says, through your descendants, I'm gonna create a nation. A nation of Israel is gonna come out of that. But it's not gonna be any just ordinary nation.

Your descendants are going to outnumber even the stars, right? Today, when we consider who the superpowers are, I mean, United States, I think, you know, we can argue and say it's probably the most powerful nation in the world. But we're not the most numerous, right? China is, and then after that is India, right?

And so today, we don't measure the power of the nation by its size. We measure it by influence, economy, the military, right? But back then, to be numerous basically meant that you were the superpower. So when he says that your descendants are going to be outnumbered, your nation is not gonna be any other nation.

It's going to be the superpower, more than any other nation. And then third and finally, that God's anointing is gonna be upon them, that if they bless you, they're gonna be blessed. And if they curse you, they will be cursed. In other words, God's anointing, God's redemptive history, what he's trying to do to the world, through the world, is going to come through the nation of Israel, okay?

So keep that in mind. It's a promise of nation, it's promise of power, and it's promise of influence, right? After he makes this promise, again, all right, so if I'm losing any of you, pinch each other, okay? Like I said, it's not gonna get any lighter. We're gonna go even deeper than this, okay?

Again, but I can't emphasize enough how important this is. After he makes this covenant with Israel, Abraham, in Genesis chapter 15, he ratifies this with the covenant. You know, today, when people get married, right? We had a wedding yesterday. People typically sit, you have the bride's party on one side, and you have the groom's party on the other side, and why do we do that, right?

Is it so that they don't get in a fight, right? To identify who's who? No, it's a reflection of a biblical covenant, because in the time of Christ and prior to Christ, the way that they ratify covenants was, they would take an animal, split it in two, to two, and make an aisle, and the people who are entering this covenant would go hand in hand and walk through between these animals that have been split in half, and it was a bloody scene.

You can imagine the blood dripping everywhere, and so basically, what it meant was, if two people who are walking down this covenant, if any one of them breaks this covenant, let it be like these animals. That's what it meant. That's how serious this covenant, it was a blood covenant, that if anyone who enters into this covenant and breaks a covenant, let him be like this animal.

That's how covenants were ratified at that time, but in Genesis chapter 15, when God ratifies this covenant that he made with the nation of Israel, Abraham is put to sleep. He doesn't participate in this covenant. He falls asleep, and then in verse 18, it says, "On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, "saying, 'To your descendants, I have given this land "'from the river of Egypt, as far as the great river, "'the river Euphrates.' "God shows up in a pillar of smoke, a flaming torch, "and he passes it by himself." The significance of that is God was making a unilateral covenant.

This was not a conditional covenant based upon Abraham, that if you do your part, I will do my part. He is telling Abraham, "I will do this." There was no part that Abraham was gonna play. Abraham is just going to be a recipient of God's plan. Now, keep that in mind, why this is so significant.

It's gonna get deeper. Because this covenant that he makes with Abraham, unilateral covenant, is what God is doing all throughout redemptive history. So every part of the Bible that we read is God saving the world through the nation of Israel. So if you read any part of the Bible disconnected from this covenant, you're probably not reading it correctly.

Or again, you're making David a moral champion, or you're making Jonah a prophet, and this is what real repentance looks like, but you don't really understand why that story is there. Why is the book of Esther there? Why is Ezra there? Why are the prophets there? All of this is connected to God trying to fulfill this promise.

Now, he makes this promise, right, that you're gonna be a great nation, you're gonna be a powerful nation, you're gonna be a great influence. When does that get fulfilled? It takes a thousand years of Israel wandering in the desert, going through places in almost periods where they feel like they're gonna disappear, and then they go into Egypt to survive, and then they become slaves for 400 years.

A thousand years passes by before a nation even gets formed. A thousand years pass by between Abraham and David. And so when David becomes the king, the second king of Israel, God steps in, and then he clarifies how he was going to fulfill this Abrahamic covenant in 2 Samuel 7, verse 12 to 13.

"When your days are complete "and you lie down with your fathers, "I will raise up your descendants after you "who will come forth from you, "and I will establish his kingdom. "He shall build a house for my name, "and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." You notice with the Abrahamic covenant, he promises a great nation, but then here he says the way that's gonna happen is through a king.

He doesn't say your descendants, but your descendant, this king, this messiah. Going back to the text that we're looking at, Zechariah chapter one, 67 through 74, he mentions how he raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant. In other words, Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophecy that he made. But the fulfillment of that prophecy, how long did it take for Jesus to even show up? Another thousand years. Thousand years before Abraham and David, and then another thousand year passes after the promise that he's made. This Davidic covenant is so important that the Bible mentions this covenant 40 separate times.

And the reason why they mention it 40 times is because every period of darkness in Israel's history, they would recite this covenant to remind each other, we still have hope, because God made this covenant and the king is coming, who's going to fulfill God's covenant. So can you imagine the people during the time of Christ?

2,000 years have passed since the covenant that he made with Abraham, and 2,000 years later, Zechariah says that he is going to be gracious and he's going to visit us for the purpose of redemption, and the promise that he made to David is being fulfilled now in Christ, and John is going to come and he's going to prepare the way for that king to come.

You can imagine that during the time of Christ, many people probably already lost hope. I mean, it's been 2,000 years. When's the last time somebody made you a promise and it didn't happen right away, and you're just like, ah, forget it, don't trust that guy. How long would you wait before you cling on to this hope?

2,000 years have passed. Many of Israel has already forgotten. They moved on. They built their own plans. Some of them have just completely walked away from their faith, but the few faithful, like Zacharias and Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph, they were just clinging on, and that's why they, can you imagine the excitement?

But I can understand why so many people walked away, because after God promises to David, you would think like, oh, Messiah's going to come, and so Israel's going to become a superpower and we're going to be an influence to the world that we're going to take over the superpower.

Instead, right after God makes that promise to David, David commits a horrendous sin. He commits adultery. In order to hide that, he commits murder, and as a result of his sin, God says that the kingdom's going to be divided. His son, Solomon, comes into the throne, and instead of worshiping God all his life with all the wisdom and knowledge that God gave him, he uses that to pleasure himself, and all his life, and only at the tail end of his life, he's like, oh, man, I pursued all these things in empty, empty, vanity, vanity, all is vanity, and after that, the kingdom splits in half.

10 kingdom, 10 tribes end up rebelling against the nation of Israel. They create their own nation, and every single one of those kings after that were corrupt and evil. Only two nations, two tribes remained faithful, the Benjamites and the tribe of Judah, but even them, majority of them, with the exception of maybe about three or four of them, remained faithful to God, and all of them choose to rebel against God.

I mean, it's like, God made this promise. The kingdom's going to come. They're going to become a superpower. Instead, the guy who receives this promise ends up committing a sin, becomes a murderer. His son chases after the world. The kingdom is split. Every king that represents God to the nation is corrupt and leading them to worship idols, so every prophet that comes to speak to the nation of Israel, all the prophets fall into three categories, pre-exile, exile, and post-exile.

The people that God sends before the exile is to warn the nation of Israel, if you do not repent, you're going to be taken away. Your nation's going to be gone. Babylonians are going to come. The Persians are going to come. They're going to take you, and all that is precious to you are going to be forced into slavery if you do not repent, so they don't repent, and then you have the prophets who come during the period of the exile.

What has happened to you was not by accident. It's because God places hands upon you, so if you do not repent, there is no restoration, so the prophets come and try to get them to repent during the exile, and then there's the post-exile. They even, after all of that, a few remnant come back to Israel.

Majority of them has already abandoned God, and it's period after period after period, prophet after prophet after prophet appealing to Israel. Have you forgotten God? Have you forgotten God? Malachi is the last prophet that speaks, and after he speaks, for 400 years, there's dead silence, no prophet, nothing. There's a famine of the word of God, and God no longer speaks to them, so 1,000 years between Abraham and David, and then another 1,000 years of utter chaos from David to the time of Christ, so we can understand why so many of them have already drifted out.

Maybe we have exhausted his grace. Maybe God gave us a chance and we blew it, but the few who remain held on. But again, remember, the promise of a nation, promise of their power, promise of their influence, right? But it never happened. It never happened, right? Nation of Israel was never a superpower, ever.

Even when they got back, there was a remnant. In fact, after this prophecy happened, what happens to the nation of Israel? God says that Israel, God's gonna be faithful to the Abrahamic covenant, to the Davidic covenant, the king is going to come, he's gonna squash the enemies, and they're gonna be to worship God without fear because they're gonna become the superpower.

Does that ever happen? No, it never happens. The nation never comes back. In fact, they enter into the darkest period of their history. In AD 70, they are wiped out, completely, gone. You would think that after Zachariah makes his prophecy that Israel would be reestablished, Jesus is brought on his throne, in the end, we enter into eternity, that all the promise they've been waiting for 2,000 years will be fulfilled.

Instead, they go into the darkest period of their history. You can imagine why the disciples were so stuck on this kingdom idea because every hope that they had, every darkness that they experienced, they only had one solution, the Messiah's coming. The Messiah's coming. He promised us that we're gonna overthrow kingdoms, that our nation's gonna be the superpower, we're gonna be able to be an influence to the rest of the world.

That's why, as Jesus was going to the cross, remember in the Gospel of Mark, it says Jesus made it crystal clear, he's going to Jerusalem, he's going to be beaten, put to death, and then he's gonna resurrect. Remember what the disciples were fighting over? Well, who's gonna be great in God's kingdom when that happens?

Jesus says, "Well, I'm gonna die and be crucified. "I'm gonna be raised on the third day." Well, who's gonna sit on your left and to the right? Because they were so fixated. If he's gonna fulfill the kingdom now, and when that kingdom comes, when the Davidic covenant, when the Abrahamic covenant is ratified, it's fulfilled, man, we're his disciples, right?

We're gonna be the greatest. And so they couldn't fathom, like why would the Messiah go to the cross? He said he's gonna conquer their enemies. How is he gonna conquer their enemies if he dies? So they heard him, but they didn't understand him. So remember the passage in Mark, they didn't wanna ask him because they felt like they're gonna get rebuked.

You know what I mean? They didn't understand, and they didn't wanna even ask him. But that question doesn't end there. After Jesus dies and he resurrects, can you imagine, right? They were afraid, it's like, why is he going to the cross? They don't understand, so he dies and he resurrects.

It's like, oh my gosh. If they had hope before the cross, they can't even kill him. Even if they kill him, we saw what he did to him. They punctured him with a spear. It's one thing for him to raise Lazarus, but he raises himself. On the third day, he comes back in his glorified body.

So can you imagine the hope that was dashed before the cross and after the cross? Can you imagine? This guy, they can't even kill him. And so the disciples, before Jesus ascends, this is what happens, Acts chapter one, three. To these, he also presented himself alive after suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days, speaking of the things concerning what?

The kingdom of God. He spent that whole time after the resurrection because he knows that the Israelites are fixated on this. He knows that his disciples are fixated on this because this is what they've been waiting for for 2,000 years. So now he's explaining to them that some things that you're thinking may not be correct.

And so he's explained the kingdom of God, but the whole time, this is, when he says kingdom of God, the Jews are thinking Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant, right? But listen to what he says, verse six. So when they, the disciples, had come together, they were asking him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time "you are restoring the kingdom to what?

"To Israel, right, to Israel." He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epics "which the Father has fixed by his own authority." The disciples are not thinking kingdom as in just a spiritual kingdom. He's talking about the fulfillment of Abrahamic, Davidic covenant to Israel, right?

Now this is the part where you guys are kind of like, all right, just listen anyway. If I already lost you, just listen anyway. File it away because when I first heard it in seminary, I didn't understand it either. It took me a while and it started sinking in.

But this is that important, right? This is not one of those things you're kind of like, oh, this is for the theologians or these are for the pastors. This is the lens in which you see all of scripture. So if you have a superficial understanding of this and how this is connected to everything that God is doing, that you're always going to have a superficial understanding, right?

So understandable in the beginning that you're studying the Bible, that you're not gonna be able to connect the dots, right? But I guarantee you, once you are able to start to connect the dots, the Bible is going to make so much more sense to you. You're gonna see the connection between Genesis and Revelation and you see why we make a big deal about baptism and communion and everything that we do.

It's all connected to this, okay? No, that's just a side point, okay? The disciples ask, they've never given up on hope on this. We thought you going to the cross was going to nullify the covenant because you're gonna die. If you're the fulfillment of the covenant and you die, how is this gonna happen?

But when he resurrects from the dead, the hope is revived again. So he said, "Now are you going to, "are you now going to fulfill this?" And Jesus says, "You do not know the time or the hour." If he was talking about the church, 'cause some people say, "Well, the church fulfilled that." Then Jesus knows exactly when this is gonna happen because the Pentecost is gonna happen in the next chapter.

The Holy Spirit's gonna come, they're gonna be filled with the Holy Spirit and the New Testament church is inaugurated. But he doesn't say that. He doesn't say, "Oh, it's gonna happen," right? The spiritual kingdom of God's gonna happen. He says, "No, you do not know the time or the hour.

"It is appointed by God, but you, "the Holy Spirit's gonna come upon you "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, "to the remotest part of the world." Until the time where God has anointed that Israel is going to be established, until that happens, you go preach the gospel.

You establish the church in Jerusalem, Judea, and outside of Jerusalem to bring the Gentiles in. That's the period that we're in, right? Are you with me? You guys are looking at me like, I get it, but I don't get it, right? Fathers, this is something that you might have to go back and re-listen to, okay?

So put that mind on. The Jews are concerned, the disciples are concerned. It says, it's going to happen. You just don't know the time or the hour, but it's gonna happen, but now you go preach the gospel. The whole of the New Testament is written to convince the Jews that God's design for redemptive history is not just the Jews, that God has something much bigger in mind than the Jews, but he's going to do it through the Jews, right?

So in Romans chapter 11, the whole chapter 11, is to answer that question. If all have sinned, fall short of the glory of God, not just the Gentiles, but even the Jews, even though they've been obeying the law, at least the remnant of them, that everyone needs to be forgiven by the blood of Christ.

If that's the case, what's the benefit of being a Jew? Does that mean that God has nullified his promise that he made to the nation of Israel? Or does that mean that God has somehow fulfilled it in the church so there's no longer need for the nation of Israel?

Some people will argue and say, Israel's gone. They had their chance and they blew it, so God transferred what he was trying to do to the church. That everything that God promised the nation of Israel, when he said Israel, he didn't really mean Israel, he meant the church, right?

Everything that he promised, he was actually just talking figuratively, even though that's how the Jews understand it. So Paul is answering that question. Is God done with Israel? He made a promise. When Jesus was appearing, he says, God is fulfilling the Abrahamic promise. He's being faithful. He's fulfilling the Davidic covenant, and yet now you say that the gospel's going to the Gentiles?

And that's the question that he answers in Romans 11. I say that God has not rejected his people, has he? In other words, this covenant that God made with Israel, is he done? Is he moving on to the Gentiles? May it never be, for I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. When he says his people, he's talking about the Israelites whom he foreknew. He had a personal, intimate knowledge and love for them. He called them the apple of his eye. He did not change his mind. They did not fall from God's grace.

Romans 11, 11 through 15. I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Meaning, did they have their chance and then they blew it, and so now God is done with them? May it never be, but by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous.

Because of their failure, the period of the Gentiles has come in. Now, don't you think it's interesting that as soon as the church is inaugurated, Israel is demolished? Exactly the opposite of what it seems like is gonna happen. They waited 2,000 years. Angel Gabriel comes. The Messiah that you've been waiting for is gonna come, and he's gonna fulfill the promise that he made with David.

All the enemies are gonna be squashed, and then another 40 years later, Israel actually just disappears, AD 70. So, I mean, imagine if you're Israel saying, "God, it must be done." One final hope we had with Jesus, and now Israel doesn't even exist, at least before we existed with oppression, but now we don't even exist, and they disappear for how many years?

2,000 years. 2,000 years between Abraham to Jesus, and then 2,000 years, nation of Israel disappears, and then they reappear in 1948 as a nation. None of this is by accident. Let me continue to read in Romans 11, 24. It says, "For if you were cut off "from what is by nature a wild olive tree "and were grafted contrary to nature "into a cultivated olive tree, "how much more will these who are the natural branches "be grafted into their own olive tree?

"For I do not want you, brethren, "to be uninformed of this mystery "so that you will not be wise in your own estimation, "that a partial hardening has happened to Israel "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." So during a period of Gentile for the church to bring in the non-Jews into the kingdom, and so all Israel will be saved.

In other words, the nation of Israel will be reestablished, just as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is the covenant with them, when I take away their sins. From the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, and then this is the punchline.

"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Now, the scripture clearly says, right? Our sanctification is being transformed from one set of glory to a greater set of glory. The more we see the glory of God as we study the scriptures and as we interact with God, he says we grow and mature.

So sanctification isn't just adding more stuff and experiencing more stuff, it's understanding and recognizing his glory. And so when we recognize his glory and we begin to reflect that glory, he says that's when maturity and sanctification happens. Now, why do I say this? Because the more you dig through scripture, more you understand, what I just said was, I just gave you a Clipnote version.

He says, "If the fall of the nation of Israel has opened the door, God's own people that he loved, because of their fall, we're experiencing his glory." He says, "How much more glory will you experience and know when Israel is restored to that glory, and we experience that glory through his faithfulness to the nation of Israel?" That's what he says here.

When will that happen? Read the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, God fulfills all that promise that he made to the nation of Israel. All of that is fulfilled during the period of the millennium. Now, I already know a good chunk of this has gone over your head, right?

And I was wrestling back and forth. It's like, "Oh, it's Sunday morning, we have different people, and some of you guys are visiting today." And it's like, "Oh my God, I didn't understand a word he said." Right? And some of you guys who may have been here for a while, it's just like, "Well, how am I gonna apply this today?" Right?

"How do I be a good father, mother, brother, sister? I'm having financial problems. What is this gonna help?" Right? Character issues. "I'm having problems with my children. I'm struggling with purity. Like, how is this gonna help?" Right? Let me tell you why this is so important, and why, even though you didn't understand, okay, a lot of it may have gone over your head, I wanna give you three reasons why everything that I said is crucial.

Right? Hopefully, for the rest of your life, that you don't just become hearers of the Word. Right? You just hear it, and you just teach me, feed me, that you become Bereans where you're actually digging. That if this confused you, and I'm telling you how important this is, that this will cause you to study, ask questions.

'Cause what I gave you was just a ClipTalk version. But let me give you three reasons why this is important. One, it's in the Bible. In fact, it's not just in the Bible. This is the backbone of redemptive history. Everything God is doing is somehow connected to this. There's a reason why, after 2,000 years, he said the Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant, he is fulfilling.

There is nothing in the Bible that you and I are allowed to take and to add. We live in a period right now where deconstructing our faith has become popular. It's become cool, right? The new age people who really are in the cutting edge, we're gonna challenge everything that we know, and say, oh, this part, I think God said this part, I didn't, I don't believe God said, and we're deconstructing our faith.

And by doing so, we ourselves become God. We judge God and say, oh, I don't know if a God that I know would say such a thing. That doesn't happen, that didn't happen. And so we made ourselves God. If God is God, what he says is true, whether we like it or not.

God is God, if he's the God of truth, you and I don't get to sit there and judge him because God judges us. The word of God judges the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. So you and I do not have the right to take certain parts of the Bible and say, I like this and I don't like this, 'cause you are no longer a worshiper of God.

So every part of the Bible, if there's any part of the Bible, we just kind of say, you know what, this part, I don't like, this part I like. You are no longer following the God of the Bible. So one, it's important for us to dig and study and ask questions because it's in the Bible, all of it.

Leviticus, book of Numbers, Revelation, Ezekiel, all of it, God has written for us for a reason. So if we're in a habit just doing quiet time through John, just understanding 1 John, the epistles, and stay away from these difficult passages, then there's huge chunks of why God said what he said that you're missing.

Two, the Bible warns us not to be caught off guard. How much of Jesus' warning before he left was to remind us of about his second coming? He says to watch carefully. He says, do not be caught off guard, like the thief in the night. So when we're not paying attention, we're not digging, we don't understand what's going on, we naturally end up pursuing what we see, and sometimes even in the church.

So that's why if you're not eagerly waiting and seeking to see what God is doing, we end up pursuing whatever, at that moment, that we're attracted to. So we travel, we save money, we do, and none of this stuff in and of itself is wrong. But if that's what characterizes your life, I guarantee you, you're not eagerly waiting for the Lord.

And when he does come, he's not gonna be a welcome presence. If I told you that Jesus is coming tonight, your first reaction may be, not yet, not yet. Because your heart is not filled with him coming. You're not eagerly waiting for him. So you know what, wait a little bit, because I have a wedding coming up.

Wait a little bit, 'cause I have this trip planned. Wait a little bit, because I just saved up just enough money to retire, and next year, I'm gonna be able to retire and do whatever I want. And so when you say, Jesus is coming tomorrow, your first reaction is, not yet, give me some more time.

Let me enjoy what I was pursuing. But Jesus says not to be caught off guard, to watch the signs of the times, so that we would live with that in mind. That we're not playing tug of war with God to get him to submit to our plans and our will, but to see what God's doing, so that everything that we do is in line with what God's doing.

But third and finally, why this is important, is because this is a revelation of God. This reveals God, that even after 1,000 years, he never forgot his covenant. Even after 2,000 years, the promise he made to Abraham, he says, I'm going to fulfill. Even after all the trouble, all the chaos, all the rebellion, even after all of that, he says, for my glory, for my own glory, I will fulfill this.

What God says, he does. Our problem is, we see all of God's doing within the parameter that we give him. If God's gonna be faithful, he's be faithful today, tomorrow, or next year, or God's not faithful. But God has something much greater in mind. You and I cannot possibly begin to imagine how big God is and what he is doing.

So this is a revelation of God. This is who he is. What he says, he does. Jesus said, there isn't an iota, there isn't a single tittle that will disappear until it is fulfilled. Everything that God has said, he is working actively to fulfill. It may not happen the way that you and I are imagining, but God is fulfilling that.

It may not happen during our lifetime, but God is fulfilling that. You and I may not ever see that in our lifetime, but God is actively pursuing that. This is who God is. The question is, do you believe it? Do you believe it? Like many of the Israelites, after so many years have passed, maybe he's not gonna do it.

So you're just kind of salvaging your faith. That passionate pursuit of Christ was years ago, but your life didn't quite turn out the way that you were hoping that if I invested and discipled and disciplined and evangelized and sacrificed that you thought certain things were gonna happen, and when that didn't happen, maybe God isn't going to do what I thought he was going to do.

So like many of the Israelites, they just kind of gone and started to salvage what they had. Now I'm gonna make money. The Sadducees decided to use their political influence and gain money and control. The Essenes decided, you know, we're gonna just do our own thing, go into the cave and I don't care what's happening over there, we're just gonna do our own thing.

The zealots says, you know what, if God's not gonna come, we're gonna do it. We're gonna bear arms and we're gonna fight this and we're gonna make this kingdom come. How often, after years and years and years, because we see God in a limited time frame of where you and I exist, so many people in the church are simply salvaging their faith, not recognizing the promise that God has made is irrevocable.

It is irrevocable. God is just as fervently pursuing sinners as he did a thousand years ago. God is actively inviting as 2,000 years ago. God is just as concerned about this lost world as 3,000 years ago, 4,000 years ago, and 4,000 years from now. Let me conclude with this text and I hope that this would be the conclusion and application of our lives.

Number 2319. God is not man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good? This is the God that we serve, the God of the covenant.

He is, he was, and he will be. Let's pray. Gracious Father, we pray that you would give us a greater vision of who you are. Help us, Lord God, to dig deep into your word that we may see a greater and greater glimpse of your glory. We thank you, Father God, for your faithfulness to your covenant, to this nation of Israel, Lord God, that you have blessed as we eagerly wait for your kingdom come, for your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Help us, Lord God, to align our faith, align our lives, our hope upon the unwavering hope of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. We thank you, we love you, we worship you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Father of kindness, you have poured out grace ♪ ♪ You brought me out of darkness ♪ ♪ You have filled me with peace ♪ ♪ Giver of mercy, you're my help in time of need ♪ ♪ Lord, I cannot but sing ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Faithful forever you will be ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Standing all alone ♪ ♪ Standing all alone ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ You are beautiful, Savior ♪ ♪ Beautiful Savior, you have brought me near ♪ ♪ You pulled me from the ashes ♪ ♪ You have broken every curse ♪ ♪ Blessed Redeemer, you have set this captive free ♪ ♪ Lord, I cannot but sing ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Faithful forever you will be ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Yes, you are ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Faithful forever you will be ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Yes, you are, Lord ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ I will rest in your promises, Lord ♪ ♪ I will rest ♪ ♪ In your promises, my confidence ♪ ♪ It's your faithfulness I will rest ♪ ♪ In your promises, my confidence ♪ ♪ It's your faithfulness I will rest ♪ ♪ In your promises, my confidence ♪ ♪ It's your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ Faithful forever you will be ♪ ♪ Faithful you are ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ - Let's pray.

Lord, you truly are the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Help us, Lord God, to be anchored to Christ, anchored to his work, anchored to his promises, anchored to the hope, Lord God, that is unwavering. Lord, you know, as we experience this life, how unstable this whole world is, that all things come today and gone tomorrow.

Help us, Lord God, to put our confidence, our lives, our pursuit, our joy, our life, upon the unwavering promise of Christ and Christ alone. May your name and your name be praised wherever you send us this week. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪ God sent his son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Heal and forgive ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my poverty ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to ♪ ♪ My Savior live ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ ♪ Amen ♪