Beyond Proximity: The Danger of Intellectual Faith

• The Nature of the Word (Logos) [00:28:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the Greek concept of 'logos' as an image or physical reality of thoughts, arguing that Scripture provides a window into the heart of God, not just rules.
• Faith vs. Knowledge [00:34:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between mere belief/knowledge (which even demons have) and faith, defining faith as knowledge and belief that result in changed behavior and action.
• The Example of Judas [00:35:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses Judas Iscariot as an illustration of someone who had proximity to God and knowledge of His word but lacked faith, resulting in no righteousness.
• Doers of the Word [00:32:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes the command from James to be 'doers' of the word, asserting that religion without action (like controlling the tongue) is vain.
• Proximity vs. Righteousness [00:36:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses Judas as an example to argue that being in the presence of God and hearing His word does not guarantee salvation or righteousness without faith and submission.
• Submission and Surrender [00:39:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that good works and kindness come from submitting one's will to God ('not my will, but yours'), rather than from human effort alone.
• Love as the Foundation of Law [00:40:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that love is the foundation of all law and that religious observance without love is a waste of time.
• Discipline as Love [00:41:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor illustrates that love is not always pretty and can involve rebuke or discipline, citing Jesus as an example of necessary, valid correction.
• Manifesting Christ [00:42:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls the congregation to seek to 'vanish' so that the light and essence of Christ shines through them.

• Sermon Illustration [00:27:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about attempting to study Greek and Hebrew simultaneously, calling it a 'terrible idea' and admitting he is not a scholar, which establishes his reliance on an interlinear Bible.
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the Dead Sea Scrolls as an analogy for how writing preserves the 'logos' (image of thoughts) of people we have never met, allowing us to access their hearts across centuries, paralleling how Scripture allows us to access God's heart.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a brief joke about a man who liked silver but got mad when he got second place, leading into the illustration of Judas and the 30 pieces of silver.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Judas Iscariot, noting that despite spending years in the direct company of Christ and hearing God preach, he lacked faith and righteousness, illustrating that proximity does not equal salvation.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Judas spending years in the direct company of Christ, hearing God speak, yet failing to achieve righteousness, illustrating that proximity does not equal salvation.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor makes a humorous reference to the song 'Jesus Take the Wheel' and a personal anecdote about his dog Percy's discipline routine (a 'cedar shingle') to illustrate that love can be unpretty and involve correction.

• Pastoral Charge [00:26:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > To actively practice and make real the teachings of the scripture.
• Pastoral Charge [00:43:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > To do good to all people, with specific priority given to fellow believers.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] Thank you.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:30] I love you and report more perfectly and magnify your brains with you.
[00:05:51] God spoke these words and he said, I am the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods but me.
[00:05:55] You shall not make to yourself any graven image nor the likeness of anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath.
[00:06:01] Or in the waters that are under the earth you shall not bow down to them and you shall not worship them.
[00:06:05] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
[00:06:13] Remember that you shall keep holy the Sabbath day.
[00:06:17] Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord your God has given you.
[00:06:22] You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not cut.
[00:06:31] Lord, have mercy upon us.
[00:06:33] Christ, have mercy upon us.
[00:06:35] Lord, have mercy upon us.
[00:06:37] O Lord God, you did first deliver your commandments from a mountain which burned with fire amid darkness and the storm.
[00:06:44] We give you thanks that this law has been published unto us from Mount Zion.
[00:06:48] Through the mediation of a new and a better covenant, we humbly beseech you to put these words in our minds and to write them upon our hearts, that we may always take delight in your law
[00:06:59] and serve you in the units of spirit.
[00:07:01] Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:07:04] please please remember that if you want to participate in the independent parade. Let Dr. John know the parade begins at June 27th and they're going to meet at the church and travel together to line up and I believe line up starts at 3.30, correct? So I'm assuming we
[00:07:41] have to be before 3.30, 3.15 or 3.10, something like that. I will let Dr. John Paul do that time.
[00:07:49] Please note that we're going to be canning beans Tuesday, but we're going to do it Tuesday evening at 5 so that way some you know more participation we are going to be scanning green beans Tuesday at 5 p.m. we had a property committee meeting this
[00:08:07] week and we decided we're going to split the property committee into two committees maintenance and grounds that way we can have a little bit more effective approach on that if anybody wants to be head of the grounds committee
[00:08:20] please let us know I'm heading up the maintenance committee if you were on the committee but couldn't make the meeting just make sure you see me and we'll figure out which side of the house you want to be on i have some ideas but i'm not going to tell i'm going to ask so
[00:08:32] just uh just a little note on that are there any birth announcements one thing that i have

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:08:40] is and i guess technically it's an invitation if anybody would like to join us tomorrow at two o'clock here uh i will be conducting an ordination of one of our emr senate pastors Originally, he was supposed to be ordained at the end of the month at the Classist Gathering
[00:08:59] in Lexington.
[00:09:00] However, he is a U.S. Army National Guard chaplain candidate, so he is going to be under orders at that point in South Carolina and unable to be here.
[00:09:11] So we've arranged that as he's driving from Ohio down to South Carolina, he's going to stop and spend a little bit of time with us tomorrow, and we're going to do his ordination tomorrow at 2 o'clock here.
[00:09:22] So if anyone would like to join us for that, please, please feel free to join us so that we can make that a special moment for them.
[00:09:31] His name is David Dunkey.
[00:09:35] Thank you, Dr. John.
[00:09:36] Are there any further announcements?
[00:09:38] Yes, Ms. Catherine.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:09:39] Just a reminder that Bible school is coming up in a couple weeks.
[00:09:43] It's coming fast.
[00:09:45] June the 1st to the 5th at 6 o'clock in the evening to 8.15.
[00:09:51] Many of you have already stepped up and volunteered.
[00:09:55] If you haven't and you would like to help, see myself or Debbie, we'll find something to do because there's plenty of things to do. We hope to have a good crowd of children. I don't know who's getting me a
[00:10:11] form, I mean who's getting our, who's getting me a registration

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:10:15] form? Did I not? There should be a stack of copies.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:10:19] There will be forums. The forums are in process.
[00:10:28] I may have stuck them somewhere and forgotten where I put them, but I know that I make copies of them.
[00:10:35] There will be forums. There will be forums. There will be forums.
[00:10:38] Thank you, Ms. Cash. So again, BBS is great every year, and just make sure you sign up once the forums materialize.
[00:10:47] Are there any further announcements?
[00:10:50] If we can have all the children meet in the back, because we have some special presents for the mothers, and then when those are passed out, we will come up for children's time.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:10:59] ...important one today, specifically, okay?
[00:15:33] You shall honor your father and mother, very good, so that your days may be long.
[00:15:44] That, but so that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God has given you.
[00:15:48] That's here, because, once you think about it, and I'm going to get a little long-winded on this, If you do what Mom tells you to do, you've got a much higher chance of surviving to adulthood.
[00:16:02] Boys, we're talking to y'all especially.
[00:16:05] Okay, I don't make the rules. I don't make the rules. Okay, it's true. Boys do dumb stuff a lot better than girls do.
[00:16:16] Alright, when Mom says don't climb up in that tree, you'll fall and break your arm.
[00:16:21] Mom says don't play in the road or you'll get hit by a truck don't play in the road all right number six number six you shall not murder everybody say do not murder very good number seven you shall not commit adultery that's
[00:16:42] something that the adults need to worry about you will ask your parents about it later, not right now. Number eight, you shall not steal, okay? You don't steal, right? Number nine, you shall not bear false witness against your, okay? I mean, don't tell lies about
[00:17:00] people. If they didn't do it, don't say that they did. Got it? Got it? Sure, all right.
[00:17:06] And number ten, you shall not covet. Very good, very good. All right, let's say a prayer, everybody. Blessed Lord, we give you thanks for the time that we have to come together today. We give you thanks for all of these
[00:17:18] children.
[00:17:20] We give you thanks for the mothers that brought them into the world, for the mothers that love them, for the mothers that care for them, for the mothers that invest in them every day. We ask
[00:17:32] that you would bless them, both the children and the mothers, and the fathers that support their children and their mothers as well. We ask that you would strengthen them with your Holy Spirit, that you would put your
[00:17:44] of protection around them so that they might always walk forward doing the things that you have prepared for them to walk in and completing the service that you have set before them. We pray these things in the
[00:17:56] precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:17:59] Amen.
[00:18:00] God, we give you thanks who have called us out of our wilderness and called us into your flock so that we might do the things that you have set before us and called us to do.
[00:19:14] Help us always, not to listen to your call, but to act upon it.
[00:19:20] Not only to see your image, but to seek to conform ourselves to it. We pray these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Word, incarnate.
[00:19:33] Amen.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:19:34] The first lesson comes from the General Epistle of James, chapter 1, verses 22 through 27.
[00:19:48] But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
[00:19:55] For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.
[00:20:04] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straight away forgiveth what manner of man he was.
[00:20:11] But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word this man shall be blessed in his feet if any man among you seem to be
[00:20:26] religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart this man's religion is vain pure religion and undefiled before god and the father is this to visit the fathers and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world here ends the first lesson please stand to

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:20:51] sing the gradual number 46 crown him with many pounds verses one two and four the lord says are you asking my name i have been speaking figuratively a time is coming longer use this this kind of language but I will tell you plainly about my father in that day
[00:24:08] you will ask me you will ask in my name I'm not saying that I will ask the father on your behalf no the father himself loves you because you have loved me and believed that I came from God I came from the father and entered the
[00:24:24] world now I'm leaving the world and going back to the father then Jesus's disciples said now you're speaking clearly without figures of speech now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone
[00:24:41] ask you questions this makes us believe that you have come from God the gospel of the Lord praise be to thee O Christ Let us profess our faith together in the words of the Apostles Creed which is printed on the inside back cover of your bulletin board
[00:25:28] I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
[00:25:35] It was conceived out of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and was born of the Holy Spirit, the Son of Pilate, who died dead in Mary.
[00:25:44] He descended from the dead, he ascended to heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
[00:25:53] From there he went to judge the living and the dead.
[00:25:56] I believe in the Holy Spirit.
[00:26:44] little words. Be doers of the word. Get out and do it. Make it a reality.
[00:26:53] One of the biggest things that we often overlook is that word, word.
[00:27:03] Whenever we read the scriptures, particularly the New Testament, we come across this simple little collection of letters that we translate and we use the word, word.
[00:27:16] I'm going to say that a lot. It's going to be weird.

[00:27:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:27:18] Get used to it. We use the

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:27:20] word word as the English translation.
[00:27:24] But there's a lot packed into those couple of letters.
[00:27:30] In the Greek, and I am by no stretch of the imagination a Greek scholar. I attempted Greek and Hebrew once together at the same time. Terrible idea.
[00:27:39] As a result of that, I never actually went back to study Greek in depth.
[00:27:42] I just do it whenever I have to and I use an interlinear Bible. Thank the Lord for those and my mother-in-law who gave it to me a couple years ago. But this word in Greek
[00:27:53] is logos. And there's a lot there. It's more than just letters on a page that have a meaning.
[00:28:03] The word logos, that's a lot easier to say than the word word. The word logos means image.
[00:28:10] It implies the physical reality of something that is beyond our comprehension.
[00:28:23] Words, logai, are something that exists in our minds and in our hearts.
[00:28:33] They're made manifest with our voice, but they are preserved in written form.
[00:28:40] We talked a lot about this last week and how important it is, this technology that we have that allows us to take our thoughts, our ideas, our inventions, our experiences, and preserve them, not just from one generation to the next, but to the next and so on and so forth.
[00:29:02] We don't think of writing as being some wildly advanced technological breakthrough.
[00:29:10] But we have to think about the fact that there was a point in human history where writing did not exist.
[00:29:18] There was a point in human history that the only way to transfer ideas from one person to another was to speak to them, was to use the spoken word.
[00:29:29] And the image of God was present in that as well.
[00:29:37] Now, we, through that technological advancement, the idea that we were able to record ideas, that we were able to commit words to paper, that we were able to take the images of our thoughts, the images of our beings,
[00:29:58] the images of God's work, and impose them in a written form so that you can pass them to someone that you would never, ever see.
[00:30:13] We think of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for instance, which are a bunch of pieces of paper that people wrote down the word of God.
[00:30:24] And there are some other things included, too.
[00:30:26] There are some more personal letters.
[00:30:29] There are some instructions that are not part of the scriptures specifically that are included in that.
[00:30:37] But the people who took pen, dipped it in ink, and set that ink to paper, we have never seen.
[00:30:47] We have never looked into their eyes.
[00:30:49] We have never heard their voice.
[00:30:50] but we know their thoughts we know their words because they were able to impose their logos the image of their thoughts the image of their ideas the image of their mindset on paper to preserve it so that today so 2,500 years later we're
[00:31:18] still able to see it. We have a window into their hearts. We have a window into their thoughts.
[00:31:29] That's amazing. It's mind-blowing. It's boggling. How much more powerful is the idea that when we read the scriptures, we have a window into the heart of God. Think about it.
[00:31:50] Every time we read the word of God, every time we read the words that he has manifest through his prophets, through himself in the form of Christ, we have access.
[00:32:06] We have a window, we have a portal, we have an opportunity, we have a glimpse of the heart of God.
[00:32:17] Through the prophet, we have this commandment.
[00:32:20] And it is a commandment to me.
[00:32:23] It's not a, hey, if you get around to it, you should do what you read.
[00:32:29] But James tells us, be doers of the word.
[00:32:34] Put the word into practice.
[00:32:38] It's not just what we're reading.
[00:32:40] It's not just the rules and the regulations and the you shalls and the you shall nots.
[00:32:45] We have a glimpse into the heart, into the being, into the ideas, into the thoughts of God.
[00:32:52] And we are called by the scriptures to manifest God's heart, to manifest God's love, to manifest God's thoughts and designs.
[00:33:06] We are called not just to read it and walk away and go, oh, I've forgotten what it says.
[00:33:14] But we are called, we are commanded, we are expected by the words of scriptures to glimpse, to notice God, to dwell, to ponder, to think, and then to do.
[00:33:35] That epistle goes on and says if anyone considers himself religious and doesn't keep tight the reins of his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
[00:33:51] What James is telling us is, you can say, Lord, Lord, all day.
[00:33:59] But if that belief is not manifesting your life, it's not faith.
[00:34:07] There is knowledge.
[00:34:10] There is belief.
[00:34:13] And these are both very important things.
[00:34:15] They're very, very important concepts.
[00:34:18] But then there is faith.
[00:34:22] And faith is where belief and knowledge meet action.
[00:34:27] Faith is whenever you encounter these words and these ideas and they change who you are.
[00:34:37] Because of the Spirit of God.
[00:34:39] Because of the Holy Spirit.
[00:34:42] If we read on in James, we hear him tell us that so you believe in God.
[00:34:48] You know who else knows that God exists?
[00:34:54] Satan and all his minions.
[00:34:57] They know who God is. They know what God is. They have encountered God before. And yet, they are no better for it. Their knowledge, their belief, their understanding has no effect because it is not faith. It changes nothing.
[00:35:20] The same could be said for a guy who really liked silver, but he got mad when he got second place.
[00:35:29] 30 pieces of silver, to be exact.
[00:35:33] It's a joke. Ha ha.
[00:35:35] Judas spent many years in the direct company of Christ.
[00:35:42] He encountered God every single day for an extended period.
[00:35:49] He heard the voice of God speak.
[00:35:52] He heard the voice of God preach.
[00:35:57] He spent years of his life in the presence of the living God.
[00:36:05] And yet, what is the outcome?
[00:36:11] Nothing that we want for ourselves, that's for sure.
[00:36:17] Proximity and knowledge do not equal righteousness.
[00:36:23] Faith, trust, and submission are what we are called to.
[00:36:32] We hear the Word of God.
[00:36:37] We read the Word of God.
[00:36:39] We glimpse into God's heart, into His being, into His intentions, into His design.
[00:36:49] We seek to become the light.
[00:36:52] We seek so that our sinful wills, our sinful desires, our sinful selves would die.
[00:37:03] So that that essence of God, that spirit, might take its place and live within us.
[00:37:16] Jesus came from the Father to live with us, to walk amongst us.
[00:37:25] So that we would see him.
[00:37:27] So that we could know his word, that we could know his ideas, we could know his commandments.
[00:37:34] We could manifest the spirit, the being, the essence of God, the love of God.
[00:37:46] Scriptures also tell us, not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, will enter into my kingdom, but he that does the will.
[00:37:58] Now, that is not to say that our actions win us favor, that our actions, the things that we accomplish, are what opens for us the gates of salvation.
[00:38:14] Absolutely not.
[00:38:15] Do not think that that is what I am saying.
[00:38:19] But by being conformed to Christ through faith, by being conformed to the image, to the heart, to the love of God, Faith takes over, and it's not our actions that are being done.
[00:38:36] It is the action of God.
[00:38:39] The goodness, the righteousness, the good things that we undertake are not our own, but they belong there ascribed to Him.
[00:38:48] The good things, the kindnesses, the mercies, the charities, the compassions that we extend do not come from us.
[00:39:01] They come from our submission to God.
[00:39:06] They come from our surrendering of our own wills, our surrendering of our own hopes and desires, to our kneeling down and saying, not my will, not my will, not my will, but yours, O Lord.
[00:39:22] You can have the wheels, too, if you want.
[00:39:26] For some reason, it makes me think, Jesus, take the wheel, and then not that one.
[00:39:30] jesus said if you love me keep my commandments if you seek if you desire if you intend if your will is to become my will as not just as i say but do as i do follow my example christ says he lived
[00:40:08] His life as an example.
[00:40:11] He preached from His mouth the words of God.
[00:40:16] The Logos.
[00:40:19] He made Himself manifest so that we could glimpse into the heart of God.
[00:40:28] So that we could see what it means to be like Him.
[00:40:35] To be love.
[00:40:40] Love is the foundation of all the law.
[00:40:43] We can go through the you shall and the you shall nots all day.
[00:40:48] But if you have not love, if you have not a love for God, a hope, a desire to submit yourselves to His will, then the religion is a waste of time.
[00:41:12] And we would not have it so that the sacrifice of Christ was worth it because of our lack of love.
[00:41:24] As we go through the world, as we encounter people, We must manifest the love of God.
[00:41:35] On this Mother's Day, we can think about what that looks like in the forms of our mothers, in the forms of our parents in general.
[00:41:48] Love is a beautiful and powerful thing.
[00:41:52] Love is a beautiful and a powerful idea.
[00:41:56] And guess what?
[00:41:56] It's not always pretty.
[00:41:58] Sometimes love is rebuke Sometimes love is a spanking Sometimes love is a cedar shingle For those of you who know Percy's discipline routine You'll know what that means If not, ask Nicholas to do it

[00:42:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:42:15] Sometimes love is not pretty

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:42:20] Just ask Jesus But it's always It's always necessary It's always valid As we submit ourselves to Christ, let us seek to conform our image to His.
[00:42:46] Let us seek that we should decrease constantly, that we should...
[00:42:50] The light of Christ and Christ alone should shine so brightly through us and in us and around us.
[00:43:02] That His love, His light, His essence, His being is always seen.
[00:43:10] Seek to vanish.
[00:43:12] Come, let us do good unto all men, especially those who are of this household of faith.
[00:43:48] Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as he says it is more blessed to give than to receive.
[00:43:53] Let us lay up not for ourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
[00:43:59] Instead, let us lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where no moth or rust will ever corrupt and where thieves will never break through.
[00:44:06] we ask especially for your mercy to fulfill the needs of those who are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other adversity especially those whose names we call out now before you

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:46:59] Rachel, Shelby, Karen, David, Denise

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:47:24] For these and for others who for whatever reason have chosen not to call their names out publicly we ask the Lord that you would fulfill their necessities, their needs in a way that is most expedient to them
[00:47:39] according to your will.
[00:47:42] We bless your holy name for all the blessings, the glories, the miracles, and the gifts of this life.
[00:47:49] But especially we take time now to claim those that are most meaningful to us.

[00:48:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:48:04] The blessing of rain and sunshine

[00:48:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:48:16] for children and for mothers that bring them into the world.
[00:48:35] Their sacrifices to the betterment that's the maintenance of a new generation well lord we ask that you would open our hearts to see your blessings and to give you thanks always remembering your mercy o lord your church militant
[00:48:53] throughout the whole earth let her ministers be clothed with righteousness and her priests for salvation build up her desolation to restore her disorders heal her division and grant unto her prosperity safety unity and peace we commend unto you o lord this particular church this
[00:49:10] congregation, this pastor, and these people. We beseech you to accept our piety and our faith and to increase towards us your heavenly grace so that we might abound more and more in knowledge and love of thee and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:49:26] Blessed Lord, we ask your continued blessings and provision for the ministers and the members of this our Evangelical Reformed Synod around the world and every land and every nation. Increase these congregations by your power and by the power of your holy spirit both the number and the depth
[00:49:48] of our commitment to your service today we pray especially for in our church in ella idaho enable your faithful servants always to do your work and to hear your word we pray for the rulers
[00:50:02] of all lands and all nations and the people committed to their charge we ask the lord that you would look the favor upon your service the president of these united states and the governor of this state and all others who are in authority.
[00:50:15] We pray that those who are not members of your eternal kingdom, that their hearts would be softened and their eyes would be opened, so that they might be brought into the fold and into the cloth.
[00:50:30] Enrich them with your wisdom and with your grace, that under their governance, we might lead quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and honesty through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:50:42] Send forth, O Lord, your light and your truth to the ends of the earth.
[00:50:46] Cause the glorious gospel of your grace to be proclaimed among all the nations of the world and powerfully incline the hearts of mankind everywhere to hear and to obey the joyful sound. Through Jesus Christ
[00:51:00] our Lord who lives with you, O Father, and the Holy Ghost and reigns ever as one God world without end.
[00:51:08] Amen.
[00:51:09] I invite you now to earnestly search your own hearts and desire to forsake sin and wickedness to follow after Christ and Christian holiness.
[00:51:22] Approach with me now unto the throne of all grace and all mercy, and let us join our voices as we make our humble confession to Almighty God.
[00:51:32] Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time in the street of sin have committed
[00:51:47] by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty, for thou hast been much trusted by wrath and in the nation against us.
[00:51:56] We leave our hearts to your hand and our faiths on your students and his greed is such of us.
[00:52:03] Hearken now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God that is promised to all who truly turn unto him who is God.
[00:52:37] If you hear his word, if you respond to his call, if you confess your sins to the penitent heart, Your sins shall be forgiven.
[00:52:48] Rest assured that your sins have been washed away by the precious blood.
[00:52:54] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
[00:53:00] Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as he calls out to all who truly turn unto him.
[00:53:06] Come unto me, all you that travail or are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
[00:53:11] So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to the end, that all who believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[00:53:19] Here also, what St. Paul says, this is the true saying worthy of all mankind to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
[00:53:29] Here also, what St. John says, if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father.
[00:53:34] He is Jesus Christ, the righteous.
[00:53:36] And he is the propitiation for our sins.
[00:53:41] Once again, let us turn our voices and our hearts to the throne of heaven as we pray the words that our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to say, following the Lord God, our Father, who art in heaven.
[00:53:53] Hallowed be thy name.
[00:53:54] Thy kingdom come.
[00:53:56] Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:54:00] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
[00:54:08] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[00:54:14] The Lord bless you.
[00:54:23] The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
[00:54:28] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace today and forever.
[00:54:35] Please stand and join us in singing as you are able.
[00:54:39] Our closing hymn number 417, My Faith Looks Up to You.
[00:54:46] Our flesh sing for joy to the living God.
[00:57:51] When the sparrow finds a home and the soul a nest for itself, where she may lay her young at your altars.
[00:58:01] O Lord of hosts, our King and our God, Happy are we who live in your house.
[00:58:08] Happy are we who know your presence.
[00:58:12] Happy are we who sing your praise.
[00:58:16] Amen.