Fuel for Faithfulness: Breaking the Cycle of Rebellion with the Power of the Gospel

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
He's righteous.
[00:00:05] Righteous.
[00:00:10] Jesus.
[00:00:13] Jesus.
[00:00:18] Sing amen.
[00:00:20] Amen.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Glory, glory, I see you on the throne I've seen the grass wither I've seen the flower fader But your word it stands forever Through all my days I'm trying hard not to find it
[00:01:23] The Lord is with you.
[00:01:50] Hallelujah Your love will overcome Oh, I've danced with the darkness The light that evil's light Felt the weight of my chains Coming down on my life But I found the redemption
[00:02:18] In the sacrifice, I've been saved by the truth, the truth of Jesus Christ By His wounds I'm wounded, by His Word I'm made free By the strength of the Spirit, I will have victory

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let's pray.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The love will overcome I'll receive it, bring it here like I receive it
[00:03:47] I laid it in my Father Oh how I love Thee Be my first love that's come for You Holy Spirit Bring me healing I receive it Lord

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
My first love, Lord, is known before you Glory, oh glory I see you on the dawn Glory, hallelujah

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Your love will overcome

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Good morning everybody.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Welcome to Center Church.
[00:05:57] It's wonderful to see you.
[00:05:58] We're going to get started here with a few announcements.
[00:06:02] So go ahead and grab your bulletins and open them up.
[00:06:04] There's a lot of stuff in there that we need to tell you about.
[00:06:08] And Nancy, did you want to come up and share with us about the boxes?
[00:06:19] Grab that green microphone.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Susie has already gotten her box.
[00:06:31] Susie has already brought her box in.
[00:06:34] And there are a few boxes left out there.
[00:06:37] I think there are 12 of them, actually.
[00:06:40] So if you'd like to pick up a box, they are going to be done on the 23rd.
[00:06:45] That's a Sunday before the very next day we start the collection.
[00:06:51] We are a drop-off location.
[00:06:53] I am proud to tell you that I filled up all the spots.
[00:06:57] People have volunteered.
[00:06:59] Bless your hearts.
[00:07:00] I appreciate it so much to be workers for us during that time.
[00:07:07] And we will collect all the boxes.
[00:07:09] We're shooting for 600, so we shall see if we can do 600.
[00:07:16] But we appreciate this.
[00:07:17] If you haven't done it, this is Susie's, and she's got all kind of
[00:07:21] Crayons and wonderful things in here so anything you see she's so full she had a spare that she brought along so we'll have to find a box for that to go in but uh thank you so much for being a part of operation yes you can bring them we could put them right up here uh and unless you just want to wait till the 24th to bring them in
[00:07:50] Thank you.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Bring them.
[00:07:51] We'll stack them.
[00:07:52] We used to stack them here, but eventually you could only see the top of my head.
[00:07:56] So yeah, go and we'll start stacking them over here and build a nice little fortress out of them.
[00:08:01] Also, I want to mention a couple of other things.
[00:08:04] We have, if this is your first time with us, a bathroom over here on the right-hand side.
[00:08:10] We have a mother's cry room over here.
[00:08:12] On my left, your right, I invite you to take advantage of those if you need them.
[00:08:18] Also, a few months ago now, we went to Barcelona after church all together just to share a meal with one another.
[00:08:26] And we're going to try to make that more of a regular thing.
[00:08:28] And so we're going to start doing that on the first Sunday of every month, which would be next month after the service.
[00:08:35] If you want to hang around, we're going to drive over to Barcelona and get a few tables and
[00:08:40] Just enjoy one another's company.
[00:08:41] So mark your calendars.
[00:08:43] We'd love to see you there.
[00:08:44] And finally, we have a couple of things I've noticed in our church lately.
[00:08:50] It's been an interesting season of growth.
[00:08:54] We've had lots of new people join and we have people who come from kind of all over the spectrum when it comes towards
[00:09:00] We're trying to offer a little bit of both of that, both of those things for everyone.
[00:09:20] On Wednesdays now at noon, we have a communion service that is a full liturgy.
[00:09:26] I wear a robe.
[00:09:27] It's very kind of sacred space oriented.
[00:09:31] And we do that from 1215 to 1245 every Wednesday.
[00:09:36] We also hope it will be an outreach to our neighbors around here, especially those working in the medical community.
[00:09:43] But also once a month on Thursday nights, we have a worship night.
[00:09:47] And the worship night is...
[00:09:48] and so intended to be really a free-flowing kind of unstructured space where we come and we sing and we praise the Lord we share communion together and it is if you like the kind of service where
[00:10:03] We might just spontaneously start singing a song and you the words aren't going to be on a screen or on a piece of paper but if you know it you know it if you just follow kind of the lead of of the spirit and where it's moving this service is for you and i would encourage you to come and check it out it's going to be 6 30
[00:10:19] Thursday night it's honestly one of my favorite events when it happens we have times of prayer we have times of praise and it's really been a beautiful place to come and experience the Lord so please check those things out attend those finally you have your connection cards we love that you're here and we would love to pray for you
[00:10:43] So please put your name on this card, fill it out, and you can throw it in the offering plate as it comes around.
[00:10:49] You'll also notice these little, my list of five card is back.
[00:10:53] We're going to talk about that in a moment, but for now, if you're looking in your bulletin already, you can go ahead and take this card and fold it in half in the middle.
[00:11:02] Ordering you some nice perforated paper this week, and it did not arrive in time.
[00:11:06] So you will be asked to tear this soon.
[00:11:10] You might as well fold it now.
[00:11:11] All right, with those things, we're now going to prepare our hearts for worship.
[00:11:18] So I want to invite you just really quickly before we transition right into singing to pause.
[00:11:29] This is a moment for us to become
[00:11:32] Not just aware of God, but aware of ourselves before God.
[00:11:40] How are you coming into this space?
[00:11:45] What are you bringing with you?
[00:11:49] What are the joys?
[00:11:52] What are the sorrows?
[00:11:57] What are your excitement?
[00:11:59] What's your anxiety?
[00:12:03] The Lord sees you.
[00:12:07] And in this moment, He is calling to you, inviting you to worship Him.
[00:12:35] Please rise for this call to worship.
[00:12:40] Our service today is about living a life motivated by the gospel, and so we enter this place with praise for that good news.
[00:12:50] Clap your hands, all you people.
[00:12:52] Shout to God with loud songs of joy.
[00:12:55] For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great King over all the earth.
[00:13:04] God has gone up with a shout.
[00:13:06] The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
[00:13:09] Sing praises to our God.
[00:13:12] Sing praises to our King.
[00:13:16] Sing praises.
[00:13:18] Let's worship the Lord together.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let our praise be your welcome Let our songs be your sign We are here for you We are here for you Let your breath
[00:14:00] Come from heaven, fill our hearts with your light.
[00:14:18] We are in your room.
[00:14:18] We are here for you.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
To your halls.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
You alone are holy, only one worthy, God, let your fire fall down.
[00:14:46] Let our shout be your anthem, your renown, let your hail the skies, we are here for you.
[00:15:11] We are here for you.
[00:15:11] Let your word, let your word
[00:15:16] We are here for you.
[00:15:41] We are here for you.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
To you our hearts are open.
[00:15:42] Nothing here is to be lived.
[00:15:43] You are our one desire.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
You alone are holy, only You are worthy, God, let Your fire fall down To You our hearts are open, nothing here is hidden, You are our one and only God
[00:16:09] Holy, only you are worthy, God, let your fire fall down We welcome you with praise
[00:16:27] Almighty God of love, we welcomed in this place We welcome you with praise, we welcome you with praise Almighty God of love, we welcomed in this place Let every heart adore, let every soul awake
[00:16:51] Almighty God of love, we're welcomed in this place We welcome you in praise, we welcome you in praise Almighty God of love, we're welcomed in this place We welcome you in praise
[00:17:19] We welcome you with praise We welcome you with praise Almighty God of love We welcomed in this place We welcome you with praise We welcome you with praise Almighty God of love We welcomed in this place Let every heart adore
[00:17:48] All that ever stole away Almighty God of love We welcome you this way Almighty God of love We welcome you this way Come and have your way

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Come and have your way Come and have your way

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
In the darkness we were waiting Without hope, without light Till from heaven you came running There was mercy in your eyes
[00:19:28] To fulfill the law and prophets To a virgin give the Word From the throne of endless glory To a cradle in the dirt Praise the Father, praise the Son
[00:19:58] God of glory, let us sing Praise forever to the King of Kings To reveal the kingdom come
[00:20:28] Pentebrae, exile the lost To redeem the whole creation You did not despise the cross For even in your suffering You sought to the other side Knowing this was our salvation Jesus for our sake you died
[00:21:00] Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one.
[00:21:23] God of glory, let us sing, praise forever to Thee.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the morning that He rose, all of heaven held His breath.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Till that stone was moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death.
[00:21:51] And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe.
[00:21:56] The souls of all who come to the Father are restored And the church of Christ was born And the Spirit lit the flame Now His gospel truth of old Shall not kneel and shall not fade By His blood and in His day His freedom I am free
[00:22:25] For the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrected me!
[00:22:44] Oh, we praise your love!
[00:22:44] Praise the Father!

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Praise the Son!

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Praise the Spirit, free and one God of glory, majesty Praise forever to the King of kings Praise the Father
[00:23:20] God of glory, majesty and glory,
[00:23:35] Praise forever to the King of Kings!
[00:24:02] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
You are worthy of all praise, and my heart will sing our praise.
[00:24:32] You're the name above all names You are worthy of all praise And my heart will sing how great is our God Oh you are wonderful Lord Sing it one more time
[00:25:01] Oh you're the name above all names.

[00:25:28] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
You are worthy of all praise.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
And my heart will sing how great is our God.
[00:25:29] Let's sing that, just the voices.
[00:25:31] You're the name above all names You're worthy of our praise And my heart will sing how great is our God

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
I just want to invite you to take this moment, and as you're seated, continue singing that song in your heart.
[00:26:18] Seeing the Lord high and lifted up, His name above every name, worthy of all our praises.
[00:26:35] As you consider His holiness,
[00:26:38] As you consider who He is, remember that His Son, Jesus, declared to us a new commandment I give you, that you love one another just as I have loved you.
[00:26:59] As we come into the presence of this holy God, Lord, we recognize our need for salvation.
[00:27:08] We recognize our need for cleansing from sin.
[00:27:12] We recognize our need for your Spirit to make us like our Savior.
[00:27:17] And so let's take this moment as we silently confess our sins before you.
[00:27:43] Let us pray this prayer of confession together.
[00:28:01] God of justice, we long for peace within and peace without.
[00:28:09] We long for harmony in our families.
[00:28:13] For serenity in the midst of struggle, we long for a day when our homes will be a dwelling place for your love.
[00:28:24] We confess that we are often anxious.
[00:28:28] We do not trust each other, and we harbor violence.
[00:28:33] We are not willing to take the risks and make the sacrifices that love requires.
[00:28:41] Look upon us with kindness and grace.
[00:28:45] Rule in our homes and in all the world.
[00:28:49] Show us how to walk in your paths through the mercy of our Savior.
[00:28:55] Amen.
[00:28:57] And now look up here, because the Gospel tells us that we don't continue with our head bowed, but we have this great assurance to us through Scripture.
[00:29:09] It says, you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.
[00:29:20] When we cry, Abba, Father, it is the very Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
[00:29:30] And if we're His children, then we're heirs and joint heirs with Christ.
[00:29:36] Amen.
[00:29:38] And so in this moment, we're going to collect an offering and I think it's important that we do this now rather than right at the beginning because I wouldn't want anyone coming here thinking that you need to give something to God in order to get something from Him.
[00:29:55] But after this moment, as we've received this assurance from Scripture that Christ has given us everything that we need, we get to worship Him by giving back.
[00:30:06] And so if you're here as a visitor, please don't feel like we're twisting your arm or that you have to give.
[00:30:11] But for everyone, I invite you to give and give joyfully, recognizing that this funds the mission of God.
[00:30:18] It funds the gospel going forth in our community.
[00:30:21] It funds seeing lives transformed in this place.
[00:30:30] You know, we, each week, we get up here and we talk about our mission as a church.
[00:30:35] We say that we are a church making room for everyone to experience joyful, life-transforming connection to Jesus and his people.
[00:30:46] And I've said before, but that's just nice words if all we do is get up here and read them.
[00:30:55] But what we're invited to as a church is actually to live out this mission every day.
[00:31:04] Think about your neighbors.
[00:31:07] Think about those people that you work with every day.
[00:31:11] Think about your family members, your friends.
[00:31:17] I think it was the Beatles that asked that question.
[00:31:20] All the lonely people, where do they all come from?
[00:31:25] But we live in this community filled with people looking for connection.
[00:31:30] Filled with people looking for others who they can count on.
[00:31:36] who won't turn their back on them when things get hard, who won't be surprised when they suffer.
[00:31:40] They're looking for a community that can only be found in Christ.
[00:31:47] And so last week I gave you this thing.
[00:31:48] This was the My Five list.
[00:31:51] And I encourage you to just live this past week out looking around, seeing who God has put in your life that he wants you to pray for.
[00:31:59] And I want to encourage you again one week later
[00:32:04] To now take this card in your seat and fill it out.
[00:32:08] And I want you to fill it out twice.
[00:32:09] The first time I want you to put the names for yourself to remember.
[00:32:15] And then the second time on the bottom here I want you to put down the names for the church.
[00:32:20] You can write your name on the back so we know who you are, but we're going to commit to pray with you for these people.
[00:32:26] I'm going to take time this week to pray for your five.
[00:32:31] and to start believing that God is going to do something here in this church at this time.
[00:32:38] I'm actually really excited about that.
[00:32:40] I'm excited that you're here right now because I know it's not an accident.
[00:32:45] God wants to do something in your life with your five.
[00:32:51] And so, as we consider that, I think it's appropriate to enter back into praise with the Lord.
[00:33:02] So I want to invite you to stand as we sing together.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I was a wretch, I remember who I was I was lost, I was alive, I was running out of time Sin separated, the breach was far too wide But from the far side of the chasm, you had me in your sight
[00:34:01] So you make a way across the great divide Left behind heaven's throne to build it here inside Anywhere at the cross you pay the debt I owe
[00:34:23] Broke my chains and freed my soul For the first time I had hope Thank you Jesus for the blood of Christ Thank you Jesus it has washed me white
[00:34:47] Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life.
[00:35:11] You brought me from the darkness into glorious light.
[00:35:13] You took my place.
[00:35:13] You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin.
[00:35:15] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:35:34] Thank you, Jesus, for the blood of Christ.
[00:35:52] Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white.
[00:35:53] Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life.
[00:36:16] You brought me from the darkness into glorious light.

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
There is nothing stronger than the wonder-worthy power of God.

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We are ransomed by our Father through the blood of the Lord.
[00:36:46] The blood of the Lord impairs nothing stronger than the wonder-working power of the Lord.
[00:36:56] We are ransomed by your Father through the blood
[00:37:11] Jesus, for the blood of thine.
[00:37:34] Thank you, Jesus, you have watered me white.
[00:37:35] Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life.
[00:37:41] You brought me from darkness into glorious light.
[00:38:02] You brought me from darkness into glorious light.
[00:38:05] What can I show?
[00:38:10] Nothing but the blood of Jesus What can make me whole again?
[00:38:33] Nothing but the blood of Jesus How precious is the flow
[00:38:41] Nothing but the blood of Jesus Nothing but the blood of Jesus Nothing but the blood of Jesus

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We've been reminded of the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus.
[00:39:15] I encourage you to turn to your neighbors and pass them the peace of Christ that we have with one another.
[00:39:21] And kids, as they do, you are dismissed for Children's Church.

[00:39:37] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:39:59] ... ... ... ... ...

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
If you'll please...
[00:40:55] Please join with me as we sing the doxology.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[00:41:08] Praise Him all creatures near below.
[00:41:16] Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts.
[00:41:23] Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Amen.
[00:41:37] Please remain standing for the reading of God's word.
[00:41:40] Our scripture passage this morning comes from 1 Samuel chapter 12.
[00:41:46] Samuel said to all Israel, I've listened to everything that you said to me and have said a king over you.
[00:41:54] Now you have a king as your leader.
[00:41:56] As for me, I am old and gray.
[00:42:00] As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you.
[00:42:12] I have been your leader from my youth until this day.
[00:42:15] Here I stand.
[00:42:17] Testify against me in the presence of the Lord who is anointed.
[00:42:19] Whose ox have I taken?
[00:42:21] Whose donkey have I taken?
[00:42:23] Who have I cheated?
[00:42:24] Whom have I oppressed?
[00:42:26] From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes?
[00:42:30] If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.
[00:42:34] You have not cheated us or oppressed us, they replied.
[00:42:37] You have not taken anything from anyone's hand.
[00:42:40] Samuel said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have found nothing in my hand.
[00:42:52] He is witness, they said.
[00:42:55] Then Samuel said to the people,
[00:42:57] It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt.
[00:43:03] Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with the evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors.
[00:43:14] After Jacob entered Israel, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
[00:43:24] But they forgot the Lord their God.
[00:43:26] So he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
[00:43:35] They cried out to the Lord and said, We have sinned, we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.
[00:43:47] Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel.
[00:43:54] And he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you so that you lived in safety.
[00:44:00] But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was moving against you, you said to me, No, we want a king to rule over us, even though the Lord your God was your king.
[00:44:14] Now here's the king that you've chosen, the one you asked for.
[00:44:18] See, the Lord has set a king over you.
[00:44:22] If you fear the Lord and serve and obey Him and do not rebel against His commands, and if both you and the King who reigns over you follow the Lord your God, good.
[00:44:31] But if you do not obey the Lord and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you as it was against your ancestors.
[00:44:41] Now then, stand and see the great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes.
[00:44:46] Is it not the wheat harvest now?
[00:44:48] I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain, and you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.
[00:44:56] Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that day the Lord sent thunder and rain, so that all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.
[00:45:05] And the people said to Samuel, Pray to the Lord your God for your servant, so that we will not die.
[00:45:11] For we have added to all our other sins
[00:45:16] The evil of asking for a king.
[00:45:18] Do not be afraid, Samuel replied.
[00:45:24] You have done all this evil, yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
[00:45:30] Do not turn away after useless idols.
[00:45:33] They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.
[00:45:40] For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased
[00:45:46] to make you his own.
[00:45:49] Ask for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.
[00:45:54] And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
[00:45:57] But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart.
[00:46:02] Consider what great things he has done for you.
[00:46:09] Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.
[00:46:16] All flesh is like grass, and its beauty is like the flowers of the field.

[00:46:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God shall stand forever.

[00:46:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
You can be seated.
[00:46:34] Pray with me.
[00:46:35] Lord, as we come before your Word today, we come remembering, Lord, that we first are a people with hard hearts oftentimes.
[00:46:47] With ears that can't hear, with eyes that can't see, and so we ask God that you would open our eyes, that you would open our ears, that you would give us discernment, that we would hear not just from a man on a stage, but Lord, that you would allow us to hear from your Holy Spirit.
[00:47:03] Lord, we also come carrying burdens.
[00:47:06] This morning of a hurricane sweeping into Jamaica, threatening the nation and its people, and we know even in this room there are people with family members in that space.
[00:47:18] We pray, God, for your protection.
[00:47:20] We pray for your provision, Lord.
[00:47:22] We remember also at this time Peggy Cashin and her family.
[00:47:26] Peggy passed away this week at 89 and now stands in your glory, having received the promises that we're all clinging to.
[00:47:35] But we pray for your comfort as we mourn.
[00:47:39] We pray for Bruce and Karen as they drive this morning to go visit his mother as she's unlikely to make it after a heart attack.
[00:47:47] We come with so many cares and concerns on our minds and on our hearts and so we ask God in these next few moments we could lay them at your feet.
[00:47:55] That we could trust you to be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and that you would speak.
[00:48:03] We pray this in Christ's name.
[00:48:05] Amen.
[00:48:07] Well, I want to open our time by asking you a simple question, and that is, are you living the life you want to live?
[00:48:19] Does the way that you spend your time each day, does the way you spend your energy each week, does it reflect what you really value?
[00:48:28] If you're like most people, then your answer is probably mixed, right?
[00:48:34] Yeah, there are some things in your life that you're proud of, some things that are well aligned with who you are and who you want to be, but there are also elements of your life that, well, they don't.
[00:48:49] There are certain patterns that you find yourself repeating, and you want them to change, but you never seem to make much progress.
[00:49:00] Well, if you're like most people, if you can relate to that, well, this passage is here for us.
[00:49:05] This passage is here to give us some hope in the midst of that feeling.
[00:49:10] We just read this moment where Samuel gives his farewell speech.
[00:49:15] And as he was doing that, his goal was to inspire the people to pursue God with all their hearts, with their whole lives.
[00:49:27] And in order for them to do that, he invited them to look at their story, to consider what God had done, to think about how they had been living up to that point in hopes that seeing those two things would change the way they live forever.
[00:49:42] And today, we're going to study it ourselves, and as we do, we're invited to do the same thing.
[00:49:48] We're invited to examine our own lives, examine our own patterns, the ways that we're living, and get a glimpse
[00:49:56] of what our life could look like if we were truly caught up in God's story, if we served him faithfully and wholeheartedly each and every day.
[00:50:09] And so this morning, I want us to get there by seeing three things in this passage.
[00:50:16] I want us to see what it takes to break the cycle of rebellion,
[00:50:23] What this passage shows us about discovering the joy of a gospel-filled life.
[00:50:28] And then thirdly, what it shows us about carrying out the charge that always follows.
[00:50:35] Okay, so breaking the cycle of rebellion.
[00:50:40] Samuel's speech, if you don't know, if you haven't been here with us in previous weeks, it comes at an unprecedented moment in history.
[00:50:51] He's speaking at the end of an era.
[00:50:54] The people of Israel had been led by judges for hundreds of years, ever since the days of Moses.
[00:51:02] But now they have appointed a king.
[00:51:04] And so Samuel's stepping down in chapter 12, and Saul is taking over.
[00:51:13] But you've probably gathered from the tone when we just read it, it's not a celebratory retirement party type of vibe.
[00:51:23] this is a precarious moment in his mind because God told him just before in chapter 8 he said it's not you they have rejected but it they have rejected me as their king and so as Samuel gives this outgoing address he wants to remind them where they've been he wants to tell them about their history
[00:51:54] And so he does.
[00:51:56] In that chapter we read, he shows this amazing picture of God's holiness and his steadfast love so that they, in return, can see their own history of foolishness and sin and hopefully choose not to repeat that cycle.
[00:52:15] Okay so just a quick summary the first seven verses it begins with use his power and he led them since he was a child in the temple and he says is that right and the people we read it they unanimously agree before the Lord they say you have done all of these things well which alone is kind of like in today's world I think a miraculous moment right
[00:52:41] Can you imagine any leader today on their last day of office just having the whole nation unanimously agree, yeah, yeah, you did great.
[00:52:51] We're with you.
[00:52:52] You did everything well.
[00:52:53] You did a great job.
[00:52:53] Nobody could argue.
[00:52:56] But that's where they are.
[00:52:58] Samuel, he was incredibly faithful.
[00:53:01] And so he takes the integrity that he has displayed before them and he takes the trust that he had earned with them
[00:53:12] And he confronts them.
[00:53:15] In verse 7 it says, I'm going to confront you with the truth.
[00:53:20] And then in verse 8 he gives, verse 8 through 11, pretty much I think the shortest summary of Exodus through the book of Judges you'll ever find anywhere.
[00:53:30] but in those verses he's trying to present to them the basic beats of this pattern that they have seen over and over and over again it started out when they were slaves in Egypt and they cried out for help and God sent Moses to deliver them and not only to deliver them but bring them into this blessed nation of their own but then once they got there and they got comfortable they forgot about him
[00:53:59] and they went their own way and they found themselves in that same desperate place where they were crying out to God for a deliverer and again he gave them one and it wasn't just once or twice
[00:54:17] Go look at the book of Judges.
[00:54:19] It's over and over and over again.
[00:54:22] He says here there was Barak, there was Jerubbael, there was Jephthah, and then he says, and there was Samuel.
[00:54:29] There's me.
[00:54:32] And so he shows this cycle, right?
[00:54:34] This cycle where the people turn away from God, and then the people suffer apart from God, then they cry out for help.
[00:54:44] And then God rescues them and he gives them peace.
[00:54:51] He shows them how each one of these times, their choice to rebel ended up putting them in this place of misery.
[00:55:02] And every time they found themselves there, God faithfully responded.
[00:55:10] He redeemed them.
[00:55:12] But then in verse 12 he says,
[00:55:15] But when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was moving against you, you said to me, No!
[00:55:23] We want a king to rule over us, even though the Lord your God was king.
[00:55:31] It's kind of like Samuel saying, Hey, what a surprise.
[00:55:37] Does any of this sound familiar at all to any of you?
[00:55:41] Do we really need to go through this again?
[00:55:46] Do you think it's a good idea to turn and go your own way?
[00:55:51] Do we really think, as we remember our story and we look at our history, do we really think that God has been the problem in this story?
[00:56:02] Is it Him that's been unreliable this whole time?
[00:56:07] Of course not.
[00:56:09] And of course, when we look at it in this chapter, it sounds so obvious to us, right?
[00:56:13] The people of Israel, they look really dumb as we sit and listen to them begging for a king.
[00:56:23] But let's be honest.
[00:56:26] Isn't their story the story of every believer in this room?
[00:56:32] First, we come to faith.
[00:56:35] And we find joy and we find life.
[00:56:38] We find a relationship with this God who knows us and created us to know Him.
[00:56:44] This God who finally is able to satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.
[00:56:51] But then, like people with amnesia, we forget.
[00:56:58] We forget the pain of our previous way of life.
[00:57:03] and the disaster that it brought.
[00:57:07] And we start to entertain the thought that, you know, maybe another way might be better.
[00:57:13] Maybe something else would be a little more exciting, more pleasure-filled, more satisfying.
[00:57:22] And then before you know it, we're flat on our faces again.
[00:57:29] Crying out, overcome with despair, filled with grief and shame, saying, Lord, rescue me.
[00:57:39] And of course he does.
[00:57:42] Israel's story, it's all of our stories.
[00:57:46] And so in this moment, in our passage, Samuel decides he's going to do two things to try and break through to the crowd.
[00:57:55] The first thing he does is he warns them.
[00:57:57] He says, if you fear the Lord and serve and obey Him and do not rebel against His commands, and if both you and the King who reigns over you follow the Lord your God, then good.
[00:58:08] But if you do not obey the Lord, if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you as it was against your ancestors.
[00:58:20] He says, hey, if you turn away again, this same cycle is going to repeat itself.
[00:58:28] But then secondly, he does something maybe that's a little surprising.
[00:58:32] It says that he calls down thunder from heaven.
[00:58:38] Now, what's that all about?
[00:58:41] Do you guys know what an arrhythmia is?
[00:58:44] You know, our hearts are designed to kind of beat in a normal sinus rhythm.
[00:58:49] That's the way they've been created.
[00:58:51] And sometimes when they get offbeat, that's called an arrhythmia.
[00:58:55] And if you go to the doctor, one of the fixes for this, they've discovered, is to shock your heart.
[00:59:04] They put the paddles on you and that electric shock will put you right back in to sinus rhythm.
[00:59:10] It'll knock you back on course.
[00:59:14] I kind of think that's what is going on here in this moment with Samuel.
[00:59:17] as he calls down thunder from heaven.
[00:59:20] Israel has been in this sinus rhythm of worship and faithfulness while Samuel has been leading the nation.
[00:59:29] And now all of a sudden there's a rumbling.
[00:59:31] Now all of a sudden they're threatening to get off course.
[00:59:33] They're threatening to go in a different direction.
[00:59:36] And so Samuel uses this moment to shock them back, to remind them of who God really is.
[00:59:47] One of the themes that we find over and over again in Scripture is this idea that we can only see ourselves clearly when we see God clearly.
[01:00:00] We can only see ourselves clearly when we see God clearly.
[01:00:06] And so Samuel wants people to see God clearly.
[01:00:10] God is gracious.
[01:00:12] God is faithful, God is loving, and He is merciful, but He is also holy.
[01:00:22] In our lives, when we are in those moments of guilt and shame, we often need a fresh vision of God's grace.
[01:00:32] We need a fresh vision of His love and of His mercy.
[01:00:37] But also, in times of stubbornness, in times of hard-heartedness, in times where we are dismissive of God, we need a fresh vision of His power.
[01:00:48] We need a fresh vision of His majesty and of His might.
[01:00:52] We need to see who it is that we're dealing with.
[01:00:58] It takes us being reminded that God is the Creator of all things, and we're just creatures.
[01:01:08] He's infinite.
[01:01:10] And like we just said, we're like the grass that withers and fades.
[01:01:15] He's holy and we aren't.
[01:01:19] And I think a great way of understanding this passage is that Samuel's not just the judge, right?
[01:01:25] But he's the priest, he's the prophet, he's the shepherd of these people.
[01:01:29] And as a shepherd, he knew this is what the sheep needed.
[01:01:33] And you know he's right because in verse 19, here's how they respond.
[01:01:39] The people said, Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.
[01:01:53] When they see God clearly, they see themselves clearly.
[01:01:57] When they see God's holiness, they see their own sin.
[01:02:00] They see their own hearts.
[01:02:01] And it's just like that moment in Isaiah, right?
[01:02:04] You remember that story?
[01:02:05] Isaiah, he's worshiping in the temple, and all of a sudden he sees God, holy, high and lifted up, the angels around him, and he responds by saying, Woe to me, I'm ruined.
[01:02:16] I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.
[01:02:26] and so before we go on with the rest of this chapter I think it might be worth us just pausing here for a second looking at this moment in the story looking at maybe this cycle right here and asking ourselves where am I in the cycle what might it take for me to
[01:02:55] Be shocked back into a rhythm of faithfulness before things are too late.
[01:03:05] But secondly, we have here the truth that once we have seen the cycle of our lives, we need to discover the joy of a gospel-fueled life.
[01:03:25] That moment in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah cries out, Woe is me, that brings him back to his senses.
[01:03:32] But when that happens, we're not meant to live there.
[01:03:36] We're not meant to stay there for long.
[01:03:38] If you read the story in Isaiah, as soon as he cries out, it says that one of the angels flew to him and touched his mouth with a coal and said, See, this has touched your lips.
[01:03:50] Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.
[01:03:56] And that happens here in 1 Samuel as well.
[01:04:01] In the same way that Isaiah is met by God's grace as soon as he acknowledges his holiness, well, the people are also, they have an encounter of God's mercy.
[01:04:13] The very first words that Samuel says to them after they cry out is he says, Do not be afraid.
[01:04:22] Do not be afraid.
[01:04:24] And then he gives them what I would consider a pretty profound word.
[01:04:29] He says, Do not turn away after useless idols.
[01:04:32] They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you because they're useless.
[01:04:39] For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not reject his people because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.
[01:04:51] Don't skip over that part of the passage.
[01:04:53] Samuel, he says what you might expect him to say.
[01:04:56] He says, obey God.
[01:04:57] But at the same time, he assures them that God's attachment to them is unbreakable.
[01:05:07] He says, the Lord will not reject his people.
[01:05:16] And maybe you hear that and you're just kind of thinking,
[01:05:18] Logically about this thing you hear that and you wonder well well doesn't that kind of undercut everything I mean if you tell these people that no matter what God is not going to reject them well then what's going to motivate them to actually obey what's going to motivate them to remain loyal if they know that God's not going to reject them
[01:05:45] If the people aren't afraid that God's going to abandon them, if they are so convinced that he's gracious, won't they just sin more?
[01:05:58] Well, that's actually exactly the argument that Paul engages with in Romans 6.
[01:06:06] At the beginning of the chapter he says, what shall we say then?
[01:06:09] Shall we just keep on sinning so that there'll be more grace?
[01:06:12] Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?
[01:06:17] By no means.
[01:06:19] We are those who have died to sin, so how can we live in it any longer?
[01:06:24] I bring that up because the gospel that we preach here in this pulpit every single Sunday, no matter who's up here,
[01:06:34] is that anyone who turns to Christ is saved.
[01:06:37] And they're saved not based on their own good works, but they are based on the perfect work of Christ received by faith alone.
[01:06:49] They are redeemed not based on our own faithfulness, not based on the strength of our own commitment, but based on the unbreakable strength of God's covenant promises to His people.
[01:07:05] God's rescue through Christ.
[01:07:07] It's not something that we have earned.
[01:07:11] It's something that we receive.
[01:07:13] And because that's true, it means that there's nothing we can ever do to lose it.
[01:07:22] And if you don't believe me, at least believe Jesus.
[01:07:26] He says, All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
[01:07:37] Paul says, he who died, he who did not give up his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things?
[01:07:55] He says it's not only that God rescues us, our salvation is only the beginning of the good stuff.
[01:08:02] The gospel is that we who were once the enemies of God are now members of his household, heirs of his kingdom.
[01:08:11] He now graciously gives us all things and no one can ever change that.
[01:08:20] So yeah, we live in awe of a holy God.
[01:08:25] But we don't need to be afraid of God.
[01:08:30] because on the cross he took all the wrath that we had earned once and for all.
[01:08:36] There is no wrath left for you if you are in Christ.
[01:08:40] Samuel commands the people in verse 25, he says, fear the Lord, but we need to look at what that means, right?
[01:08:52] Verse 24, he says, be sure to fear the Lord
[01:08:56] and serve him faithfully with all your heart consider what great things he has done for you he says fear the lord but remember that paragraph began with him saying do not be afraid in other words yeah god is holy god is powerful he is awesome but it's actually a vision of his kindness and his grace that truly changes your hearts
[01:09:28] God is righteous, but it is an experience of His love that is what's actually going to transform any of our lives.
[01:09:38] And I think we really need to keep putting that out there because that is the main distinction between someone who actually knows Christ, someone who truly is a Christian, and someone who is just a religious person going to church every week.
[01:09:54] Think about it.
[01:09:55] The child of an abusive parent.
[01:09:58] They will follow the orders their parent gives.
[01:10:02] They'll do the things that they are expected to do, but why do they do it?
[01:10:08] They do it out of fear.
[01:10:10] They do it out of anxiety.
[01:10:11] They do it thinking, I don't want the punishment, so I'm going to do what they say.
[01:10:19] But a child who truly loves their parent, a child who knows that they are loved by their parent, that child will also live an obedient life, but the heart driving their obedience will be totally different.
[01:10:38] They say, because I am loved and secure, of course I want to live in a way that pleases the one who loves me.
[01:10:51] It's tricky because in a church, in any single church, right sitting in the pews, there can be two people whose lives look nearly identical in every facet on the outside, but inside it's completely different.
[01:11:06] One of them is truly living in the freedom of the gospel and the other one is living enslaved to a religious fear.
[01:11:16] Only one of those people knows the promise
[01:11:20] The promise that Samuel declared way back in 1 Samuel chapter 12 and the promise that Jesus fulfilled in the Gospels.
[01:11:29] That word, the Lord, will not reject his people.
[01:11:38] And it's only when we know that, only when we believe that, that we're ever actually going to be able to disrupt that cycle that's happening in our lives.
[01:11:47] It's only when we experience God's power and His presence, His love for us, that anything is ever going to change.
[01:11:57] That ongoing experience of God's love will change us, not because it will change our actions and our behavior.
[01:12:08] Yeah, it will do that.
[01:12:10] But it will change us because His love will change our hearts.
[01:12:14] It will change the motivation behind our life.
[01:12:17] So that's what I'm talking about when I say the dynamic of a gospel-fueled life.
[01:12:22] But I want to get practical now.
[01:12:26] I want to get a hold of what all this theology really means for us today.
[01:12:32] I want to talk about carrying out the charge that follows the gospel.
[01:12:40] Samuel's pretty clear here.
[01:12:43] He said, okay Israel, look at your story, look at our history, look at what we've gone through time and time again.
[01:12:49] Our God has been so good to us, and we have not.
[01:12:55] We've blown it over and over again.
[01:12:58] And not only has He remained faithful to us, but He has promised that He is going to keep being faithful to us, even the next time, because that's who He is.
[01:13:12] and so then in light of that he gives them this final charge he says but be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart Samuel says go out there now and serve him faithfully with all your heart you know it strikes me that if we would take time to do that just individually to remember our own story to remember
[01:13:40] all of these moments when God has been faithful to us to recount this amazing good news of his love in Jesus Christ and and to to allow us to see how he has come through and he's rescued us in his time and and time again it strikes me that if you really grasp that you can't just sit there with it in fact as
[01:14:08] As we see the gospel proclaimed in Scripture, we see that God gives us a charge right along with it.
[01:14:18] Each week I talk about our mission statement, we did it a little bit here, that we're making room for everyone to experience joyful, life-transforming connection to Jesus and his people.
[01:14:33] We had a consultant come in and help us kind of think about what is a creative way to express God's unique version of his Great Commission for our church.
[01:14:44] And that's the statement we came up with.
[01:14:47] And the reason we came up with that one, the reason we keep putting it that way, about making room, about bringing people into connection with Jesus and his people, because we want you to realize that there are people all around you
[01:15:02] who don't know him.
[01:15:05] Every day you live your life around neighbors and friends and family and coworkers that need the hope of Christ.
[01:15:18] This morning, as we met here, there were people who woke up and they went to brunch or they made the last edits in their fantasy football lineup.
[01:15:28] And all the time,
[01:15:31] They were also wondering if there were answers to the deepest questions of their hearts.
[01:15:40] All the time they were also wrestling with their fear of death.
[01:15:46] With their worries about their marriages, with their anxieties about the future, with their assumption that this world is out of control, with their fear, that depressing thought that really maybe this life just has no purpose at all.
[01:16:07] And our Savior, He has commanded us to go out into that world and to love our neighbors.
[01:16:17] and to love our enemies and to go and tell them the good news we've heard to go and tell them the grace that we have experienced the rescue that we have received to go and he says make disciples of this world when Samuel was standing there that day and he gave them that charge to to live faithfully and serve him with all your heart well he told them their grace story
[01:16:50] Because He knew that when we have that fresh experience of God's mercy, then we'll respond with action.
[01:16:58] When you remember just what He has done for you, when it's real to you, when it's not just a page on a book or a fact that happened a long time ago, then something different will happen in your life.
[01:17:11] And that's what I want for us.
[01:17:14] I want that for you.
[01:17:16] I want that for me.
[01:17:17] I want each of us to experience God's grace today so profoundly that we can't possibly stay the same.
[01:17:27] That we can't possibly just sit around and do nothing.
[01:17:31] I want us to respond to His charge.
[01:17:36] In the late 1800s, Charles Spurgeon, he wrote some questions to the church.
[01:17:44] The questions were meant to remind us of our grace story.
[01:17:48] And I think it'd be good for us to think about them.
[01:17:52] He asked, has the Lord ever done anything for you?
[01:17:57] Has he forgiven you your sins?
[01:17:59] Has he covered you with a robe of righteousness?
[01:18:02] Has he set your feet upon a rock?
[01:18:05] Has he established your goings?
[01:18:06] Has he prepared heaven for you?
[01:18:08] Has he prepared you for heaven?
[01:18:11] Has he written your name in the book of life?
[01:18:14] Has he given you countless blessings?
[01:18:15] Has he laid up for you a store of mercies which eye has not seen nor ear heard?
[01:18:22] If you've come to him by faith, then the answer is yes.
[01:18:27] He has.
[01:18:28] And if you don't know Him today, then I want you to know this is exactly what He will do.
[01:18:33] Even now, if you come to Him in this moment, if you turn your life to Christ, all those blessings will be yours.
[01:18:40] He has not withheld anything from us, and He will not.
[01:18:44] Not ever.
[01:18:50] God rescued Israel time and time again.
[01:18:57] But what you start to realize is we have a far greater rescue than they've ever had.
[01:19:03] Those people in Israel, they heard His covenant promises made, but in Christ, we have seen the promise fulfilled and lived in its blessing.
[01:19:14] And so, in light of that, because of that incredible rescue God's given us, just as Samuel charged the people on that day, let our God charge us today.
[01:19:27] Receive His charge today.
[01:19:29] If you know the rescuing love of Jesus, serve Him faithfully with all your heart.
[01:19:36] If you know the love of Jesus, don't just think about it at lunch.
[01:19:41] Don't just meditate on it, but let His love motivate you to actually do something.
[01:19:51] Think of that list of names that we just filled out.
[01:19:55] I realize we didn't collect them yet, and so I'm just going to ask you, as you leave, lay them on the table as you exit the door.
[01:20:04] Those aren't just names, right?
[01:20:07] Each scratch of your pen on that page represents an eternal soul created in the image of God.
[01:20:19] And I want to invite you not just to look at that list, but to actually begin to pray that the Holy Spirit might do something that we could not possibly imagine in that life.
[01:20:30] And so Spurgeon wraps up with this charge.
[01:20:35] He says, consider how he has loved you and given himself for you.
[01:20:43] Do you know the power of that love?
[01:20:45] Then let it be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul and sweep out the clouds of your worldliness and clear away the mist of sin.
[01:20:56] For Christ's sake, let the gospel be the tongue of fire that sits upon you.
[01:21:03] For Christ's sake, let this be the divine excitement, the heavenly empowerment to bear you up from the earth.
[01:21:12] The divine spirit that will make you as bold as lions, as swift as eagles in the Lord's service.
[01:21:21] His love should give you wings for your feet and strength for your arms.
[01:21:29] Let us display our love for Jesus in this world.
[01:21:37] Let's respond to the charge.
[01:21:40] And as we do, may we see
[01:21:43] May we see families, may we see even this whole town transformed as we let His love for us fuel our lives.
[01:21:59] And let's just sit here for a moment.
[01:22:11] What is it that the Lord is wanting to speak to you in this message?
[01:22:18] Maybe you are in a place where your life has gotten off course.
[01:22:25] Maybe you're feeling for the first time that you need someone to rescue you.
[01:22:30] Speak that word to Him.
[01:22:34] Pray to Him.
[01:22:43] Maybe you've been afraid that the Lord might leave you.
[01:23:07] As you've heard today, that He will never cast you out.
[01:23:10] Tell Him thank you.
[01:23:16] And as we think about the people whose lives surround us, those connections He's given us that are not by accident, let's begin to lift them before Him.
[01:23:47] Lord, you've given us these words of life to share.
[01:23:53] But you're the only one who can change a heart.
[01:23:57] Only your power can transform us.
[01:24:03] Only you can make the dead live.
[01:24:10] So I invite you to join with me and we pray this prayer together.
[01:24:16] Almighty God, our Savior, you desire that none should perish, and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who repents.
[01:24:32] Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world.
[01:24:38] May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers
[01:24:43] that the lost may be found and the dead made alive and that all your redeemed may rejoice around your throne through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[01:24:56] Amen.
[01:24:58] I want to invite you to stand together as we come into the presence of the Lord declaring His praise.

[01:25:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Light of the world, you step down into darkness.
[01:25:27] Open my eyes, let me see.
[01:25:36] Beauty that made this heart adore you.
[01:25:42] The hope of a life spent with You Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God
[01:26:06] You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.
[01:26:24] King of all days, Lord so highly exalted, Glorious in heaven above.
[01:26:39] Holy you came to the earth you created All for love's sake he came home
[01:26:54] Here I am.
[01:27:09] Here I am to worship.
[01:27:09] Here I am to bow down.
[01:27:10] Here I am to say that You're my God.
[01:27:10] You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.
[01:27:33] I've never known how much it
[01:27:39] Let us pray.
[01:27:53] In Jesus' name we pray.

[01:28:13] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[01:28:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
How much it costs to see my sin upon that cross
[01:28:31] Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that you're my guide For altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether wonderful to me
[01:29:02] I'll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that cross I'll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that cross
[01:29:31] Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether one
[01:30:01] All together lovely, all together worthy, all together wonderful to me.

[01:30:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
I hope you will join us again on Thursday night at 6 30 to continue worshiping our Lord but until then I want to send you out with this blessing now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen go in peace

[01:31:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Oh Jesus you always shine When have you ever loved me?
[01:31:31] Oh when have you ever loved me?
[01:31:31] Oh when have you ever loved me?
[01:31:33] We have to sing that Oh, when have you ever loved me?

[01:31:59] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Not once, not once Oh, when have you ever loved me?

[01:32:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
No, you don't leave us When have you ever loved me?
[01:32:01] You don't leave us When have you ever loved me?
[01:32:02] Oh, you always show up