I was taken back as the worship team started doing that first song,
To God be the glory, great things he has done.
And it took me back to right after my little bride and I got married.
I was 25, she is 21.
I had her pregnant, snowed in, and barefoot.
For two years on a ranch, about 75 miles,
from Twin Falls. We were in the brush, to say the least. But we had a little old Baptist preacher
that would come out once a week, come rain or shine. And we were over 6,000 feet there. And this
old boy would come, he would come and do a Bible study with Connie and I and taught me a lot about
faithfulness. And he's been with the Lord for quite a while. His name was Bob Schreckenberg.
He was a World War II vet, Air Force, and I can hear him singing that song.
To God be the glory, great thing.
And he would sing that to me and Connie.
And I'm just thinking, this guy would drive 75 miles once a week to do a Bible study with a couple in their 20s.
And I thought, what kind of faithfulness is that?
right? It was pretty powerful. And as you walk with the Lord and as you get old and you,
all those people that you've known in your life, and they all start going home.
And pretty soon you look back and it's been over 40 years now and I look back and I think,
wow, our generation is next. And it's almost like you're coming to a place in your life where you know more
people there than you do here.
And so I think that's kind of how the Lord creates a yearning in our heart to really go home
sometimes.
And so it's those, those memories are sweet and those examples that, you know, many of us
have of those who have gone before us.
And we learned something from years ago, I had an old racehorse man tell me, he says,
you know, you can learn from anybody.
I mean, anybody you can learn.
He says a lot of times you learn what not to do, but you can learn from anybody.
And that's so true.
So that's how we need to approach each other, you know, whether we're inviting or kind of a stench.
We need to treat each other that way.
So anyway, we're in Luke chapter 12 this morning.
I'm going to start by reading the first seven verses here.
We looked at the woes last week.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I believe there was six woes there.
And we see those woes again in the book of Revelation.
And in the cowboy world, it's spelled a little different.
Woe for the horseman is W-H-O-A, right?
Is that right?
Do I spell it right?
I never did spell very good.
But this is wo, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That be careful.
The judgment might be coming.
The Lord might be bringing.
the thunder and and we need to take heed and just because we sit in church or just because we've
asked Jesus in our heart doesn't mean we're immune to these woes we need to need to need to take heed
what the Lord says to those who who need to woe or need to listen to what what the word of the
Lord says so here we go verse 1 of chapter 12 of the gospel of Luke it says in the meantime when an
innumerable multitude of people had gathered together so that they trampled one another.
He began to say to his disciples, first of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed nor hidden that will not be known.
Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have
spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the house.
tops. I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more
that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed has power
to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins,
and not one of them is forgotten before God, but the very hairs of your head,
head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. Let's pray.
Lord, thank you for your word. And Lord, I know that I'm feeble. And a lot of times I just don't get
the things that you present to us in your word. And yet they're riches and they're wonderful,
as your word says. Jesus, you told us that your words are spirit and their life. And so may we be
filled with that life as we look at it today and speak to our hearts Lord and remind us
Lord that you're sovereign and that you got us and Lord I just pray that we have a hold of you
as your word encourages to lay hold of Christ Jesus. May we do that today in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. All righty. Well he starts out in the meantime there this this in this meantime or no
doubt he's making his way towards the direction of Jerusalem and these vast multitudes
came to hear him. In fact, they were so intent on listening to or maybe some of them just
wanted, you know, yeah, you've got different reasons why people show up or different reasons
why people seek after Jesus. Some people just want to see a sign. I know, I went to some
churches growing up. I think people came just to see the freak show.
right you've been to those churches when man some whole bunch will be jabbering in tongues at the same time or they're doing the flag thing and dancing around and now i don't have a problem with that i'm just saying that a lot of times it's it's pulling attention away from the lord you know so if you want to do that you can do it in the parking lot or you can do it maybe in the back across the back you can you know i i don't know but
It's really just about having a relationship with Jesus.
And a lot of people just come, and I think that people came,
part of these multitudes, they wanted to see something.
Maybe they wanted to see a demon cast out or somebody healed or a leg grow
or the blind made to see or the dead raised.
I don't know.
But our greatest need is not to see some miracle.
Our greatest need is to be saved from the judgment that is,
sure to come. And so the crowds were so large, right? Jesus was creating quite a stir. And then he kind of
got right in the business of the religious people of the day. And so they actually trampled on or
hurt one another, trying to get close enough to see what was happening. You know, some of us as we get
older, what's that you say? You got to get closer.
right so you can hear i'm starting to get that way i know when my kids say my full name they've already
said it 10 times oh oh you're talking to me it's it's a little rough um but it is interesting though
there were great crowds i think some of the people or the same people that would cry hosanna
blessed as he who comes in the name of the lord will later cry crucify him
and people are fickle.
And yet the Lord calls us to a narrow, through a narrow way.
And it's interesting in that passage where he says,
strive, agonized to enter the narrow way.
For broad is the way that leads to destruction.
And there are many going that way.
And I don't mind being narrow for Jesus.
Amen. And we're going to get called that more and more as we see the day approaching.
But here's what he tells his disciples, right, in verse one. He says,
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Beware. Beware of being a hypocrite.
And yet not only do I know and have seen hypocrites over the years, I have been the hypocrite.
That's when you say and don't do.
This hypocrisy is just, it's the biggest turnoff.
And being the pastor of the Christian school for years,
Christian school really teaches kids to be hypocritical.
Not only that, but they can identify it,
and it just turns their stomach.
And I think it drives some of them away from the Lord.
But all that is is an excuse.
well, there's too many hypocrites.
I'm going to the bar.
Like there's no hypocrites in the bar.
The bar is full of hypocrites.
And so it's almost like, but Jesus says,
beware of this.
Don't become one of these.
Beware of that lemon.
It's like that little jar,
of sourdough started that my wife got. And then she adds to it and it just, it, you know,
it ferments the whole thing. A little leaven, leavens the whole loam. And he so, so beware of this.
This is, this is what brought on all the woes that we read about last week. And unlike those who
trampled one another to hear the words of Jesus, not only did the religious people not want to
hear Jesus, they wanted to kill him.
Hypocrycy.
Warren Worthby says, first, we must understand what hypocrisy really is.
Jesus compared it to leaven or yeast, saying that every Jew would associate with evil when
they talked about leaven, according to the Old Testament.
Paul also used this in 1 Corinthians 5 and in Galatians 5.
Like yeast, hypocrisy begins very small, but grows quickly and quietly, and as it grows, it infects the whole person.
Hypocrisy does to the ego what yeast does to bread dough. It puffs it up.
And one thing I know about being puffed up is there's a time when we're going to be deflated.
And the Lord will, in fact, pop our bubble.
Soon pride takes over and a person's character deteriorates rapidly.
If we want to keep hypocrisy out of our lives, we must avoid the first bit of leaven.
Once we start to pretend, the process goes on quickly and the longer we wait, the worse it gets.
That is so true.
I believe it was Sir Walter Scott, who wrote,
oh, what tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
And we deceive ourselves in thinking that we're okay sometimes we're not.
Hypocrisy is foolish and it's futile.
And according to verses two and three, let's read those,
for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed nor hidden that will not be known.
Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard.
in the light and what you have spoken in the ear and inner rooms will be proclaimed on the
house tops and so because nothing can really be hidden hypocrisy can't be hidden you've heard that old
saying right your actions are speaking so loud i can't hear what you're saying and uh and that and that's
really true but it can't be hidden but some people think it
can be. Jesus referred here primarily to his own teachings, but the principle applies in many
areas. I think a lot of times people who've never even heard the word of God, if they've done
something that is against God, there's a, you have a God-given conscience that it whispers to you
going, what are you doing? Right? You've heard somebody say in your lifetime that that was wrong.
it reminds me where Jesus saying is nothing can be hidden it reminds me of the the story in second
kings when the king of assyria the king of syria thought that he had a mole among his ranks
thought there was a traitor somebody who was was telling the king of israel on him second king
six verses 11 and 12 it says therefore the heart of the king of syria was greatly troubled by this thing
and he called his servants and said to them,
will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?
And one of his servants said, none, my lord, O king.
But Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel,
tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.
Right? God, it's supernaturally given Elisha this gift.
The king of Syria,
thought he was cutting a fat hog and was going to whip Israel.
And they were always one step ahead.
It's kind of like thinking people can fight against God and win.
You read the book of Revelation.
And the armies of the earth, they come and they shoot.
They shoot.
It says they shoot at him who's in the sky.
And he laughs at them.
Like, what are you doing?
That's how ridiculous us.
as humanoids are as foolish people. And yet, a few years back, I heard somebody asked Joel
Rosenberg, some of you know Rosenberg, he's a born-again Jew that lives in Israel now,
and somebody asked him if this verse two, it says, for there is nothing covered that will not be
revealed nor hidden, that will not be known. He asks him, he says, is this prophecy of WikiLeaks?
You know, that's when that Julian Assange, back in Assange, however you say his name, back in 2006 and 7, launched the WikiLeaks that published secret classified or censored documents primarily from government and corporate sources.
You know, just kind of blowing the whistle.
Or there was also that Edward Joseph Snowden, who was a former National Security Agency Intelligence.
contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global
surveillance programs? Man, I wonder where these global surveillance programs are with this
whole Nancy, was it, Guthrie deal? It's kind of, it's been three weeks and they, they don't
know where she's at? It's kind of, kind of crazy stuff. I bet it was it in China, they would have
found her.
Or how about the Epstein files?
Huh?
Holy cow.
It's, it's, uh, the Epstein files, it's, it's so vile according to Lauren
Bobert, uh, the congresswoman and Dan Bongino, they say it's demonic, the things that
they're finding in the Epstein files.
It's so vile.
And these people think they're,
got away with it. Nobody gets away with anything. Now, we don't have the global surveillance
now now here as humans, but there's a heavenly surveillance that doesn't miss anything, right?
Daniel calls them the watchers or the holy ones. They see it all. They hear it all.
And people think they can get away with stuff.
it's crazy
numbers 32 23
Moses told the children of Israel
actually was talking to the
the children of manasse
and gad
and
somebody help me what's the other one
the three tribes that didn't go over
but but the Lord told him
he says listen
Moses tells him he says you guys
if you prepare yourself and you come fight with us, that's good and you help us.
But if you just abandon us to the other side of the Jordan and you're not going to be a part of
helping Israel conquer its enemies, know this, your sin is going to find you out.
It's going to find you out.
It does every time.
It tells on you.
It tells on me, mostly to my own heart.
And then what do you do with that?
If you harden it, it's as though hypocrisy.
it's an open door to seep in and to infect your whole being.
I remember in 1985, a nationally known evangelist and preacher wrote a book condemning sin in
America, especially sexual sin and pornography.
Just a short time later, he tearfully confessed years of involvement in these very sins
and promised repentance, but was arrested for similar crimes, again, a few.
few years down the road. His hypocrisy may have surprised many people, but not God, right? The Lord knew all along.
Isn't it that's so true that statement, our sin always looks worse on someone else. It always looks
worse on someone else. I think instead of having these seeds,
secrets that can destroy us, it would be better to find our place in the secret place.
Find ourselves in the secret place.
Psalm 91, right?
Many of you know this Psalm by heart, but verse 1 says,
He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and fortress, my God, in him, I will trust.
Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
So important for us to stay close and to stay tight with the Lord.
Because the Lord has some good secrets.
He's got some things prepared for us that we probably can't even imagine.
I love Deuteronomy 2929.
It says, the secret things belong to the Lord are God.
God. But those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever that we may do
all the words of his law. Right? So those are the kind of secret things I want to know is the
secrets that the Lord has for us. And as we seek him, he seems to reveal stuff to us. And then
what is it for? It's for us to proclaim from the house top. It's not for us.
to keep secret.
It's really important to bring our lives out in the open and be transparent.
There seems to be great freedom in transparency.
And yet so many people are just, they live like this trying to cover their tracks.
I think the Proverbs tells us that he who would cover his sin shall not prosper.
No, don't cover them, confess them.
that's how you get free
Isaiah tells us he says
for since the begin of the world
men have not heard nor perceived by the ear
nor has the eye seen
any God beside you
who acts for the one who waits for him
he's got things
planned for us
ear has not heard, I has not seen.
It says this again, I think this is probably what Paul's referring to in 1st Corinthians 2.9.
But as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love him.
Because secrets are brought on by fear.
sometime back I listened to the whole
in the entirety of Victor Marx's testimony.
If you've never listened to it, you should listen to it.
It's unbelievable.
The secrets that he kept.
And after he becomes a Christian and is married to his wife,
all hell breaks loose.
He had never dealt with these things.
In fact, never even really talked to anyone about the things that he had been through as a child.
He thought these horrendous abuses were normal, which so many kids do, right?
It's all a relative to how you grow up and if it's constant that that's, but he had never really dealt with any of it.
And his wife's looking at him like, dude, you're, you're losing your mind.
You've got to go get some counseling.
In a nine-month period, he went through 123 counseling sessions.
So how many times a week that is?
I don't even know.
But just to deal with it, to get it out in the open, to get that weight of all the impact of the things that he'd been through off of him.
And so often we don't talk about these things for fear.
That's why you keep secrets.
It's for fear. What are people going to think of me?
Right?
What of what? I can't tell that.
I've had women talk to me about an abortion.
They'd go 40 years without telling anybody that they had had an abortion.
Just packing it.
No.
Confess it.
Right?
Talk about it.
Bring it out into the light.
Take the ammo away from the enemy and give it to the Lord.
And if you will love God, he will use that for the good.
because that's what it's predicated upon, right? Romans 828,
to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose.
And he'll use it. He'll use it for good.
I don't fear of being found out anymore.
Because I've confessed it up here.
I'm a bozo.
I'm a sinner. I have a desperately wicked heart. I've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
And why he would choose to use someone like me, I don't know, but he does. And if we're really honest,
he don't have another pool to draw from. Right? Because here we are, all of us. And we're all in the same boat.
But thanks be to God for his indescribable gift to us.
We just have to beware.
Beware of what we are capable of.
Always beware of that.
In fact, I think that was the title of my message.
I forgot to share it.
But believers beware.
So I know what I'm capable of, but I need to walk.
in the fear of the Lord,
not in the fear of the world or the devil,
or even the flesh that I know raises its head every morning.
It wakes up, my flesh wakes up every morning.
And I have to deal with it every morning.
I was hoping that I could get past that.
I remember my grandpa when he was 80 years old,
having this tremendous crisis in his life
in his marriage with my grandma.
I'm going, really?
That's what I got to look forward to.
Is it really going to be that bad?
And he told me, yes, until you die,
until you're going to just have trouble.
But praise God, we, yes, we have done wrong.
We've sinned, we've fallen short.
But we have an advocate, the Bible tells us, with the Father.
Jesus Christ, the righteous one, right?
That he deals with our sins.
So those things that are going to be revealed, they're not against us anymore.
My sin of the past, which I got lots of them.
They're not against me anymore because my Savior has covered them up.
He's dealt with them.
You know, I remember reading that verse that Jesus talks about, right?
When he says, hey, listen, at the end, in the judgment,
man is going to give an account for every idle word he's ever spoken.
Like, you think about that.
I know, I just, I remember hearing a family, not a family member of mine, but a friend of mine,
they butt dialed somebody while they were driving down the road,
and they were bad math on a family member as they're driving down the road,
and the family members sitting here listening to the whole thing.
Every idle word.
And it just got blasted right over the speaker.
They could hear everything.
And if you don't have Jesus, yes.
Every idle word that you've ever spoken is going to receive a judgment.
But I mentioned it earlier.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift, Psalm 10312.
As far as the east is from the west.
I think it was that song, wasn't it?
And we didn't coordinate that either, by the way.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Can anyone say amen?
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord, that you don't hold that against me.
Because honestly, folks, I look back on my life sometimes and I'm thinking,
how could you, Lord, have forgiven that?
And I talk to myself, how could you, Scotty, have done that?
And yet I did.
But as far as the east is from the west,
that's a infinite line, by the way.
Right north to south would be finite.
East to west is infinite.
Thank you, Lord.
As far as the east is from the west,
so he removed our transgressions from us.
Isaiah 4325,
I, even I am he who blots out your transgressions,
transgressions. Listen to this. For my own sake, God blots out your sin and mine,
not necessarily for our sake, but for his own sake. Because when he does that and you're
actually thankful for it, it starts to permeate the people in your life going like,
what's up with you? Why is there this joy? How can there be this joy? How can there be this joy?
And the Lord uses us as his mouthpiece to share that good news.
That God has come into the world to save us.
For my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
This ability that God has to not remember our sins,
wouldn't you like to not remember your sins?
I mean, I try, but all of a sudden they'll just kind of come back.
When we're in Jesus, we honestly have nothing to fear.
Except for not coming to the Lord with all of our stuff.
You should fear that.
Because he can take it all.
right he can take all of our stuff which leads us to verses four and five he says for i say to you my friends
do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do but i will
show you whom you shall fear fear him who after he has killed has power to cast into hell yes i say to you
fear him. And one of the other gospels, it says, fear him that has power to cast both body and
soul into hell. That's who you should fear. Nothing else should scare us in comparison. You think
about that. This should cause us to tremble in fear. I think it was in the reading this morning
in Proverbs where it says, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
to hate it, pride and arrogance.
That's what the fear of the Lord is.
So we shouldn't fear persecution.
We're seeing that firsthand in the country of Iran right now.
They say that between 50 and 100,000 people that regime has executed.
And actually they are crying out in the streets.
all over the world right now for them.
I don't know what's going to happen there, folks,
but I'll tell you what, you better be watching.
I better be watching what's going to go on here.
Because this could be prophecy on steroids, right?
Things could get really wild, really fast
in this whole deal with what's going on over there.
But them young people over there,
because they said most of them were under 30 years old that were killed.
And they've come to the point to where they are so burdened by this regime and how brutal it is,
they would sooner lose their lives.
They would sooner lose their lives.
In verse four, he calls them, he says,
He says, and I say to you my friends, you a friend to Jesus?
My friends, if you're my friend, you're going to fear the Father.
You're going to fear the judgment of God.
And they, the disciples here have been these friends of Jesus.
They've been watching Jesus, pull no punches with these elite people of the day.
and they are seething with murder in their hearts to kill him.
And they're watching all this.
And Jesus is warning them.
Right?
They're seeing it firsthand.
He's warning him,
don't get leavened.
Don't be like these people.
That name the name of God with their mouth,
but their hearts are far from him.
Don't be afraid of those who kill the body.
When Jesus spoke to these disciples of his about
martyrdom and persecution, he knew that all of them, except John, would die a martyr's death for him.
He also knew of his own coming suffering.
This was very fresh in his thinking, that this is going to be a real deal.
People are really going to die.
So don't be afraid of anything, except that one who, after your dead, can determine your eternity.
So the most important thing to fear or person to fear is God.
Warren Wersby says again here, he says,
the fear of God is the fear that conquers all other fears.
Right?
The fear of God is the fear that conquers all other fears.
Because when you fear God, what else is there to fear?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
All that a man is.
can do is kill the body, but God can condemn the soul. And since he is the final judge,
and he judges for eternity, it is logical that we put the fear of God ahead of everything else.
Our God knows us. He cares for us. He's even concerned with the sparrow and the hairs of our head.
I heard a story this week of a fellow named Roland Taylor in 1555 who was executed in England because he believed this.
Check this out.
This is what he got killed for.
He believed that priests could marry and that the bread and wine of communion did not become the actual literal body and blood of Jesus.
That's what he believed.
And that's why he was incarcerated.
It says, when they brought him to the state,
where he would be burned, he kissed it, stepped into a barrel, and stood with his hands folded
in prayer and his eyes toward heaven as they tied him to the stake. After some agonizing delays,
they finally lit the fire, and Roland Taylor prayed out loud. Merciful Father of heaven,
for Jesus Christ, my Savior's sake, receive my soul into your hands. And then he stood perfectly still as a fire
fires rose around him without crying or moving until a guard clubbed him in the head and his brains fell out
and his dead corpse fell into the fire a marker was left that simply said
1555 dr taylor is defending that which was good at this place he left his blood
the account goes that it was quite a track quite a journey to where they were going to execute him
it took him two or three days they said he almost he almost started running he had a spring in his
step and a smile on his face right no fear and and god takes notice of this
Every detail is seen by the father, right?
Versus six and seven as we close up here,
are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins
and not one of them is forgotten before God?
I think about that as a kid with a BB gun.
I killed a lot of sparrows.
God saw every one of them.
Sure, I'm glad it's from the east to west.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Do not fear, therefore, you are more of more value than many sparrows.
Think about their hair, especially us who are getting older.
I'm not going to go to bald jokes, but there are some statistics about hair that I thought was kind of interesting.
It's been said that a red head has about 90,000.
hairs on average. A dark-haired person has about 120,000 hairs, and a blonde has about 145,000.
That's a lot to keep track of.
And yet, God knows exactly how many hairs you have, how many you've lost, how many you're going to lose.
And then there's the really important things that God knows.
God knows who fears him
and he loves them
and he reaches down and he blesses them
and he prepares places for them
I don't know about you but that's the camp I desire to be in
and
we as especially as American Christians
we don't do not like this idea of persecution
and people coming against us because we love Jesus.
And sometimes that fear, I think, keeps us silent.
Obviously, I think that's why we're in the pickle we're in in this country
and why there's so much division
is that we've been quiet for so long.
And yet it's a promise from God's Word, right?
2 Timothy, Chapter 312, verse 12,
yes, and all whole desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
This is going to happen, you guys.
Jesus isn't popular.
He's popular to hate.
And Jesus said they hated me.
They're going to hate you.
Right?
Just reach out there, embrace it.
But please don't become a hypocrite.
That old saying, my buddy shared with me one time,
still just resonates and rings in my heart,
especially when it comes to passages like this.
And he said, an unbeliever actually challenged him and said,
listen, you follow Jesus, you say you believe it?
If you believe it, then live it.
And if you don't live it, you don't believe it.
You don't believe it.
And so, beware believers.
Lord, help us not become hypocrites.
We're going to enter into communion, so if you have your elements, would you pray with me?
Lord, we just come before you right now.
And we thank you that you spoke straightforward to these folks.
Lord, who had honored you with their lips, and yet their hearts were far from you.
And I just pray that our hearts wouldn't be, but that we would just draw near to you, Lord,
especially in these times in which we live, times of uncertainty,
maybe in our lives personally or, but definitely nationally.
And even in our community here, Lord, I think you've called us for such a time as this to be salt and light in this world.
And so Lord, now as we just come to you and we remember Jesus, your body that was broken for us, Lord,
and the representative or represented by this bread that we hold in our hand.
And we just thank you that you were willing to, you didn't fear the death that was coming
and the punishment, the actual judgment for our sin, but you accepted it.
And you displayed a courage, Lord, that I know that in and of a lot.
ourselves we don't have, but I pray that you would give it to us as we remember you now
and as we actually commit ourselves to you. We lift up this bread before you right now and
just pray your blessing on it, Lord, that as we partake, Lord, that we'll just remember
that brutality that you experienced, as Isaiah tells us, Lord, you were marred more than any man,
any human being had ever been marred and still had breath, Lord. So we just thank you.
you for that and remember it Lord and and just knowing that with your help and what the
empowering your Holy Spirit you'll give us that power that that raised you up out of
that grave after that brutal beating Lord so we just remember your body now and
thank you for it would you bless the bread as we partake in Jesus name let's
partake
and likewise the cup Lord
You took and said, this is the blood of my new, this is my blood of the new covenant.
And you covenanted with anyone who would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
And I don't know if that's you right now, but maybe as you're holding this cup, you've already taken the bread,
but you don't know if you're committed to the Lord.
Just do that right now in your heart.
Just say, Lord, remember me and fill me with your spirit and forgive me of my sin.
help me to turn from it and just turn to you with all that I am.
He's so ready to forgive.
He's so ready to hear.
He's so ready to dump a bucket of mercy on our lives.
And Lord, we just praise you for that.
And we just take the cup now and bring it before you and thank you for it.
Just remembering this blood that was shed that has washed us and cleansed us, Lord,
and showed just the power that you had to be able to shed it.
and be a drink offering poured out for us.
And Lord, then you call us to do the same.
And so we have to have you help us do that, Lord.
So would you bless the cup as we partake and we thank you for it?
And Lord, just for bleeding for us.
And just pray that you would just remind us of all the things that we've been forgiven for,
Lord, that it would fan the flame of love in our hearts for our God.
God. And then for our fellow man, Lord, the folks that you put in front of us, even the ones that
aren't very desirable, Lord, you've called us to love, just like you loved us. So bless the cup
we take as we partake in Jesus' name. Amen.
That's all stand, shall we? Worship team's going to come up. And we're going to close in a song.
The prayer team's going to be up here over to my right, ear left.
so if you need prayer for anything would you just feel free to come forward and be blessed
and be the fragrance of Christ Jesus this week as you go about and may we not be hypocrites
Lord forgive us