2 Timothy 4:9-22 "The Long Goodbye" -Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM - Pastor Ryan Nichols

Good morning, church family. It's good to see you guys. I'm really glad you're here. I want to welcome you and invite you to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, we just thank you for another day. Thank you for allowing us to be here, Lord God, to be in your house. And Lord God, we just invite you to move in this place this morning, God. To come and let us feel your presence this morning. And just move mightily in our lives, in Jesus' name. Amen. I have the realization, Lord, that without you, God, we are nothing.

And so just because of that fact, Lord God, let us praise you this morning. Let us lavish praise upon you.

Now as Pastor Ryan comes, I just ask that in this place this morning, we invite your Holy Spirit to come. And do something awesome and mighty in this place. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. All God's people said. Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning.

If you could locate your seat, grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. As always, over on the left-hand side, the things that go on throughout the week. Find yourself a spot to get plugged into. In the middle section of your bulletin, the Ark City Live Nativity is coming up at the end of this week. I know.

Where's Joe? Oh, there you are. I should be able to track you down a lot easier. You're really tall. Do we have everybody we need for that now? Or do I need to beg for day two, people? Come on. Remember, this is your job.

That's it. You got this thing. I believe in you. So we need some people for day two. And you all should go check it out. It's a pretty cool thing to go see. So that's this Friday and Saturday. Dallas OCC trip. Be praying for us that are heading down to, oh, two spots left, apparently, for that. So see Jana if you're interested. So, and be praying for us as we head down to work at the Distribution Center down in Dallas this weekend.

Ladies, there's a ladies' breakfast coming up this Saturday. So take note of that. Intercessory prayer is tonight at 6 o'clock down at the other end of the hallway. So if you could take note of that, we'd love to have you be a part of that. Christmas Eve candlelight service. We're going to do two of them this year because it just seems like that might be a need.

So at 530 and at 7. Come join us here on Christmas. Christmas Eve. And you're going to love it. It's going to be great. Also, one thing that's not in your bulletin, just a little housekeeping for those of you with the kids in the children's church. Second and third grade will be down in the solid rock room, which is the old two- and three-year-old classroom.

And then the fourth and fifth grade will be in the new building down at the far end on the south side, or the left-hand side for those of you that don't know your cardinal directions. So that's where they will be. Also, one thing before we get going here. Where is Nick? If Nick and Erica, I can't identify people anymore. If you guys want to come up here real quick.

So, and Alan and Jared, if you guys want to run up here real quick, too. So if you guys don't know Nick and Erica, Nick has been running all of our video stuff. He's the one that makes the magic happen. People come to me and they say, hey, I really like your live stream. How do you do it? I'm like, I have no idea. It's a magical land that I know nothing about.

But this guy does. And I give this guy's number to all kinds of people. And we'll probably continue to do so, even though he's moving away. And so he and Erica have been just a great blessing in our church. But he has taken a job up in Sabatha, Kansas. So in about two weeks, they are going to be gone from us. And so, but because they've been such a fantastic part of our church and great servants,

we wanted to send them out not only prayerfully, but also we're going to have a little dessert reception right after second service. If you want to go back and visit with them, give them a little hug, eat a Christmas tree or whatever's back there. I don't know what else back there. But we did want to lay hands on them and pray for them. So if you would join us in praying.

Father, we come before you. And Lord, I just thank you for Nick and Erica. I thank you for their servant hearts that they have. Lord, I thank you for the blessing that they have been in this congregation. And Lord, I thank you for the new adventures that await them. Lord, that you have a whole new church for them and a whole new place for them. And Lord, I know that you're going to use them powerfully in that place.

And so, Lord, we just want to send them out with the blessing of the Holy Spirit. And so, Lord, I pray that you would fill their hearts and fill their lives afresh with your Holy Spirit. I pray that you would lay out the path before them, Lord. All the details that need provided, I pray that you would provide all of those. And Lord, provide them with a congregation where they can not only share their giftings with that congregation, Lord,

but where that congregation can love them. And so, Lord, we just give them to you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Hugs. There it is. Love you guys.

Everybody gets a hug. Yeah. Yeah. Hug it up. All right. So, make sure you join us afterwards to have a little dessert. And for our responsive reading, we are going to be in Psalm 67 today. Psalm 67. Look at the New American Standard for this part so that prayerfully we sound the same. If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 67, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

Psalm 67. Forward the choir. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. For the choir director, with stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. God be gracious to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. That your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God.

Let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. For you will judge the people with uprightness. And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. The earth is yielded to its produce. God, our God, blesses us. And read verse 7 with me. God blesses us that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

And so, Father, we do praise you for who you are and ask that you would be gracious to us and cause your face to shine upon us. And Lord, I just ask that you would be with us as we spend time in your Word this morning. That you would move by the power of your Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy chapter 4.

Well, today we come to the end of our study, not only in 2 Timothy, but the end of our study in the pastoral epistles. And, of course, we have put an overarching theme on all of the pastoral epistles of faithfulness. While the theme of 2 Timothy has been final words from a faithful servant. And, of course, we come to the last of those words today. And I've simply entitled the message, The Long Goodbye.

So, we pick up in verse 9 of chapter 4 and it says this. Make every effort to come to me soon. For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you. For he is useful to me for service. But Tychicus. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

And when you come, bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus. And the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. And the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself. For he vigorously opposed our teaching. In my first defense, no one supported me. But all deserted me. May it not be counted against them.

But the Lord stood with me. And he strengthened me. So that through me, the proclamation might be fulfilled. Fully accomplished. And that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. And the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed. And will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet Pris and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.

Erastus remained at Corinth. But Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you. Also Pudens and Linus and Claudia. All the brethren. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Three things he tells us. Tells Timothy in this long goodbye. He first of all makes some requests of Timothy. He second of all recounts God's faithfulness.

And third, he gives those final greetings. The first thing that we'll look at, of course, is the requests he makes of Timothy. The first request that he makes comes to us in verse 9. He says, Make every effort to see me soon. For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me. And gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus to Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me. The first thing he asks of Timothy is he says, Make every effort to come to me soon. Make a strong effort to come to me soon. I think it's kind of interesting because Paul knows he's at the end of his life. Paul knows that things are drawing to a close. It's not just because of his age, but because he knows that there's a sentence of death that faces him.

And the thing that he wanted the most at the end of his life was the thing that's really the most important to all of us. And he wanted his friends around him. He wanted the person that probably meant the most to him on this side of eternity, and that was Timothy. He just wanted him to be with him. And I think that this is a word for all of us, that you cannot discount the importance of the strong friendships that you have.

You can't discount the importance of the relationships that we have. The last 23 years of my life in ministry, it's taught me some lessons. And one of the biggest lessons that it's taught me is that life is made up of relationships. Two relationships mainly. The relationship that you have with your creator and the relationship that you have with people. And as I like to often say when I do a funeral,

life is too short for bad relationships. You need to make sure that your relationship with your creator is everything that it's supposed to be. You need to make sure that your relationship with your creator is not marred by sin. That is separating you from him. That is not marred by bitterness. That is separating you from other people. That it is not marred by all of the things of this world.

But that your relationship with your creator is everything that it should be. Not only in being clear from sin, but being as close to him as you can possibly be. Because that relationship is the key to the rest of your life. But next to that are the relationships that you have with people. Because at the end of the day, at the end of your life, and I know this from experience because I've seen it happen,

the thing that you care about, the thing that you care about the most when you know that your final breath is within the final days is the people that you've lived your life with. It's the people that you have known the most. Because what we don't always realize about people is that people are who God uses in our lives to bring the greatest joy into our lives. As a matter of fact, in 2 Corinthians, you don't need to turn it, but you might just write this down.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul recounts a time when he was distressed. He said, we were in despair even of our lives, but God, who encourages the depressed, who comforts the depressed, encouraged us by sending Titus. You know what that indicates? That indicates that when Paul was depressed, he prayed that God would bring him encouragement and that God would bring him comfort.

And rather than God filling him with some warm, comfortable feeling, God sent him a person. God sent him a person. His name was Titus. And Titus came along and Titus brought comfort and encouragement and eased the depression of Paul when he found himself in his most depressed state. That tells me, something about us as people, that God uses us in the lives of other people

to be the ones who ultimately bring the comfort in people's greatest depression. That's why when you are the most depressed, what your flesh tells you to do is to separate yourself from everybody, but what your spirit will tell you to do is to have people pour into your life. That's why when you're depressed, the best thing that you can do is you can find somebody and you can say, you know what? I am freaking depressed right now and I gotta talk to somebody.

Because that's how you get that comfort into your life. And God, God wants to use you to be the one who brings comfort into the life of someone else. God wants to use you to be the one who will bring that comfort to the life of somebody because ultimately, that's what God uses relationships for in our lives because we were never intended to live this life alone. We were never intended to be an island.

We were never intended to live in isolation. We were always intended for community. We were always intended for relationship with others. That's why the one thing that God said that was not good about his creation is that man was alone. And so he provided someone for him. And so Paul says, Timothy, hey, could you come see me soon? I could really use a friend

because everybody else has left me. Matter of fact, the isolation is what you feel the most. It's like a weighted blanket over this entire passage of scripture because you just feel the heaviness in Paul's soul of knowing what he's facing. And even though he's facing the joy that is set before him, it's weighted with the heaviness of the loneliness, he's experiencing in this life.

And so he says, Timothy, come see me soon. You know why? Because Demas, Demas having loved this present life, he's deserted me. He's gone to Thessalonica. Demas is a fascinating case study. He's mentioned three times in scripture. He's mentioned here. He's mentioned in the book of Colossians. And he's mentioned in the book of Philemon. Interestingly enough,

Colossians and Philemon were both written during Paul's first imprisonment. And in both of those letters, Demas is mentioned as a co-laborer and a faithful fellow worker with Paul. That's how he's mentioned. And yet at the end of Paul's life, Demas all of a sudden is mentioned. We're talking probably 20 years later. Demas is mentioned as one who has loved this present life.

In other words, he loved this world. And so he abandoned, he deserted Paul. And you should ask yourself a question right now. A question that should probe the depth of your soul where you ask, what happened to Demas? What happened to him that he went, from being a co-laborer and a faithful fellow worker to somebody who deserted Paul at his greatest hour of need,

to somebody who potentially deserted the work of the ministry? We're not told he left the faith. We're not told he denounced Jesus. We're told he loved this world too much and he deserted Paul at his greatest time of need. How do you go from faithful fellow worker to deserter? I'll tell you how it happens. It happens when the things of the world become more important to you

than the things of God. It happens when this world gains a grip on your soul and you're willing to sacrifice your soul so that you can gain the world. How do we keep from becoming like Demas? How do we keep from that being the testimony of our lives? Because I'm gonna be honest, I've seen some Demases in my life. Their names look different. But I've seen them in my life

where they loved this present world and they've not denounced the faith, but they have denounced the faith. And they're no longer really truly walking with Jesus the way that they should. They'll call themselves a Christian, but their life would indicate the exact opposite. How do you keep from becoming that? I think there's three things you have to do. Number one, I think you need to identify

the parts of your life that still are too closely tied to this world. I think you have to be willing to ask God to identify the parts of your life that cling so tightly to this world that make it hard for you to want to depart and leave this place. That make it hard for you to fully commit yourself to Jesus Christ because we all have them. And if we're honest with ourselves, no matter how close we are to Jesus, we find that we still have those things in our lives, those things that still hold us down and keep us from being fully committed to the Lord.

We need those identified in our lives. As a matter of fact, part of walking with Jesus is the continual identification of where I'm too attached to this world and not nearly attached enough to Jesus. And so first, I have to identify those things. But you know what the second thing I have to do? Is I have to put those things in my life. I have to put those things to death.

Well, Ryan, that sounds really harsh. I know because it has to be. The Bible's incredibly harsh in the way it deals with our flesh. It says you have to crucify your flesh. You have to put to death the flesh. You have to cut off the flesh. In other words, the part of you that's still too tied to this world, you have to get severe with it and you have to cut it off.

You have to put it to death. And sometimes that's going to be making some really hard decisions. You may have to make some people around you really upset because you're not going to do the things they do anymore. You may have to make your flesh really upset because you've made a choice to sacrifice something in your life because even though that thing may be good, it's not the best.

Because that's discernment. Discernment is knowing what's good and what's best. Discernment is knowing this is what's going to hold me down and this is what's going to move me forward. And I know that there's maybe nothing wrong with this, but if given enough attention, that's going to tie me too much to this world, and so I've got to pursue. You have to put it to death.

Identify, put it to death. And then number three, you need to pursue Jesus. You need to pursue Jesus. You see, you can't just put things to death. You have to fill that vacuum with something positive, and that's the pursuit of Jesus Christ. Because I will promise you something. If you are continually pursuing Jesus Christ, he will automatically identify the world in you,

and he will show you how to put it to death, and he will give you everything that you need to do it as you pursue him. You see, the pursuit of Jesus Christ has to be the wholeheartedness of who you are. That's why one of the books I recommend, that everybody read, and you should read it often. I read it every couple of years because it's just good for my soul, is the book Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray.

Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray will ruin your life in the best way possible because it will make you completely discontented with this world, and it will make you realize that ultimate happiness comes as you fully surrender your life to Jesus, as you keep surrendering the things that keep you too tied to this earth, because you know if it keeps you too tied to this earth, it will not allow you to pursue your Savior. And that you can't do that. You fill that vacuum with the pursuit of the one who pursued you with his very life. He says, could you come see me soon?

Demas abandoned me. He deserted me because he loved this present world, and he left for Thessalonica. He mentions two other guys. He says there's two other fellows that had to leave. One is Crescens. He went to Galatia. One is Titus. He went to Dalmatian. And we're not told anything negative about this guy, those two guys. As a matter of fact, I believe that Titus is the one that he wrote one of the pastoral epistles to.

I think that these were probably very good. Guys, but they had to leave for really good reasons. They were called to another aspect of ministry. And listen, we have to understand that somebody's always going to be being called somewhere else. I have to deal with this right now with somebody that I just prayed for this morning. Somebody that I love is going to get called somewhere else,

and that's what God wants for them. And the hardest thing to do is to say goodbye to the people that are being called somewhere else for really good reasons. I've always said one of the hardest things about working with kids, one of the hardest things about being a youth pastor is that every spring I get depressed. This last spring was no different. I jumped back into working with kids.

Again, and this last spring I was depressed. You know why? Because I had to say goodbye to some of them. They thought they needed to go back to their homes. And they went somewhere good. But it doesn't mean it wasn't hard. And that's what happens with us in life. Sometimes we have to say goodbye to people for good reasons. But it doesn't mean it's not hard.

So in our lives, there will be people that leave for bad reasons because they're not pursuing the Lord, and it hurts, and it cuts you deep. And there's people that leave for good reasons, and even though you're overjoyed for them, it still hurts on the inside for you, and it still leaves you feeling a little bit lonely. It still leaves you feeling a little bit isolated, which is what Paul felt right then. Paul did say, but I do have Luke with me.

Luke's the only one I have left. And you can read that like, I only have Luke. Or you can read that like, I only have Luke. And I think it's in the best way possible. Luke is such a fascinating character in Scripture. Luke, as Paul refers to him as, the beloved physician. Luke joined Paul in one of his missionary journeys, and he was sort of a silent member.

Luke joined Paul in one of his missionary journeys, Luke joined Paul in one of his missionary journeys, Luke would go on to write the gospel account of Luke, and then he would also write a secondary portion of that, known as the book of Acts. Most believe that he wrote the books of Luke and Acts as amicus briefs to support Paul in both of his trials, both the one that he had in his first imprisonment, and the one that he had in his second imprisonment. And if anybody needed a doctor to travel with him, because that's exactly what Luke was. That's why he's the beloved physician.

He was a doctor for physical needs. That's probably why he joined Paul to begin with. If anybody needed a doctor to travel with him, to travel with him, it was Paul, right? Like, he had some gnarly thorn in the flesh that was never identified, but we know it was some sort of physical ailment that he dealt with. Not to mention the fact that everywhere Paul went,

he got the tar kicked out of him, right? Like, dude's having stones lobbed at him. He's getting beaten with rods. He's getting just destroyed everywhere he goes. Can you imagine? Listen, I know how long it takes me to get out of bed in the morning and stretch all that business out. And I only dislocated a few joints, right? Like, that guy got his business torn up everywhere he went.

And he had to have a doctor. Luke's like, listen, let's work it out. Okay, you got this thing. Stand up with a little ointment on your shoulders there. I have to do that too. I get it. Like, I'm going to need a Luke one of these days, right? So if you're a physician and you're looking for a job in about 15 to 20 years, I can't pay you anything, but we'll have fun.

Luke, the beloved physician. Luke, Luke is here with me. Isn't it great to have a faithful friend? Isn't it great to have somebody that you can count on? That no matter what goes on, I'm sorry, guys. You just got to, you're used to me by now. I know that. But I've had a really hard time putting this particular one together. Listen, sidebar. Can I trauma-dup on you for just a minute?

I mean, you can't go anywhere. I mean, you can, but you're not going to. Because you'd be embarrassed, right? I think I've come to a place of realizing that I haven't dealt with some things. And so passages of Scripture like this bring up some things I haven't dealt with maybe in the last six months. And so it's made me cry out of the blue. So for instance, yesterday, I'm mowing my yard,

picking up all of the leaves, and I am literally in tears. And all I can think is, well, I hope my neighbors don't see me right now. Because this isn't good at all. So at least I'm not sitting on a mower doing this. So hang with me, okay? All right, I'm done trauma-dupping now. It's good to have a faithful friend. It's good to have somebody you can always count on.

It's good to have a Luke in your life. A Luke that's always there. He's down for the struggle. He doesn't mind seeing you at your worst. He's happy to help you get to your best. And he's just there for you. You need to find a Luke. You need to find a Luke in your life. And you need to be a Luke for someone else. Because that's what the church needs now, is we need a bunch of Lukes.

We're willing to come alongside each other and be the one who's the only one left. He says, only Luke is with me. So the first request he makes is, he says, make every effort to see me soon. Second request he makes is, in verse 11, middle of verse 11, he says, pick up Mark and bring him with you for he's useful to me for service. Pick up Mark. And that's a great line.

If you don't know the story of Mark, let me tell you real quick. You probably know it. That's okay. I'll tell it again. It was Paul's first missionary journey. There was two guys that went alongside him. One was a guy by the name of Barnabas. Barnabas was called the son of encouragement, right? Encourager, that's his name. Pretty happy guy. And Barnabas' nephew, Mark.

Mark was probably somewhere between the ages of 18 and 20 at this point in time. Maybe even a little bit younger. Pretty young kid. He goes. He goes along with Paul and Barnabas on this first missionary journey. And nothing about that first missionary journey was easy, right? Like, Paul's getting beat up. And when they land at the next city, he's in a place where physically he is ill.

Matter of fact, they had to stay a little bit longer in one city because of how ill he was. And he couldn't minister for a while. And it was at that point in time that Mark said, I don't think I can do this anymore. This is really, really hard. Like, Paul looks like he's death warmed over every time I look at him. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere.

Everywhere. People are trying to show people hate us. People are trying to kill us. And our pet's heads keep falling off. And I just don't think I can be here anymore. Right? So he bails. He goes back home. Catches the next ship back to Israel. Well, they finish their missionary journey. They come back. And they make the report of their missionary journey. And they tell them all the great things that God had done.

They fight a little bit of a battle over what Gentiles had to do in order to be believers in Jesus Christ. They solve that problem. And Paul looks at Barnabas and says, Barnabas says, Barney, I got a great idea. Let's go back and visit all the churches that we started. We'll encourage them. And who knows, maybe we'll start a few others along the way. And Barnabas is like, great, let me text Mark.

He's like, why would you do that? We're not taking him with us. And Barnabas goes, yeah, he's not going to do that again, I promise. Listen, I promise he's grown. He's more mature than he used to be. And Paul goes, no, I'm never trusting that guy again. You can't bail on me in my hardest time and then tell me that I can trust you again. And the contention, it tells us in Scripture, became so great.

That Paul and Barnabas had to part ways. Paul took Silas and went on a missionary journey. Barnabas took Mark and went on a missionary journey. If you left it at that, you would go, wow, that's really sad. That one of the greatest apostles of grace wasn't willing to show some grace. The next time you read about Mark, I think was in the book of Colossians. When he greets Mark, his fellow servant.

And then you come to this passage right here where he says, Hey, listen, when you come back here, could you pick up Mark? He's really useful to me for service. Now, one of the things I want to find out is what exactly happened. How did they get to the place where Paul was so angry that he parted ways with his best friend because he didn't want to take Mark with him on a missionary journey to bring Mark because he's really useful to me for ministry.

Well, let me tell you what happened. God's grace stepped in. And let me tell you how I think that this happened. I can't prove this scripturally, but I've lived long enough to know that this is probably what happens. Because if two believers in Jesus Christ are surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit and willing for God's grace to do His work, then this is what happens.

See, as Mark was surrendered to the Holy Spirit, and as God was at work in his life in his daily abiding walk with Jesus Christ, God began to do something in Mark. First thing he did is said, Hey, Mark, you remember that time you bailed on Paul? That was pretty wrong. Shouldn't have done that. Mark, you've got to start keeping your commitments. Mark, you can't just leave every time it's hard.

You can't just run because you're going to face some confrontation or because you're going to face a difficulty. Mark, you have to learn to commit to something. And you have to stick with things no matter what it costs you. And as Mark grew, he proved that he was someone who could stand in there even though it was hard, who could stand in there even though it meant sacrifice, and he learned to be a man who kept his commitments.

And then, you know what I think? Jesus said, I think Jesus said, You need to go apologize to Paul. Just you and him. And maybe you have to do it publicly too because that was a pretty public blow-up that took place. But you need to go apologize to Paul and tell him you were wrong for not keeping your commitment. That's what I think happened. I can't prove it scripturally,

but I can kind of prove it from my life because that's what God does with us. And this is what I think happened with Paul. I think Paul, as he was surrendered to the Lord and as he was walking with Jesus and God's grace was doing its work in his life, God started saying, Hey, Paul, remember all those things I've forgiven you of? And Paul's like, Man, God, your grace is amazing.

And God said, Why don't you forgive Mark? He says, Lord, you don't know what he's done. You don't know what it's like to be hung out to dry. And Jesus is like, Jesus says, Remember all the things I've forgiven you of? And Paul said, Yeah. He says, You need to go forgive Mark. He's probably going to come apologize to you and you need to forgive him and you need to do it publicly

because you made it pretty public how angry you were with him. And as each individual walked with Jesus Christ and was surrendered to the Holy Spirit and allowed God's grace to do its work in their hearts, God brought restoration between the two of them to the point where at the end of his life, Paul says, Timothy, I need you to come see me and bring Mark because he, he's really useful to me for service. My friends, I want you to know that's what God's grace is able to do in the lives of people who will surrender themselves to him, who will live a surrendered life that are willing for God to invade every part of your life, to invade your bitterness, to invade your anger, to invade your lack of commitment, to invade all of the weaknesses that you have

and say, this is what I want you to do and I'm going to empower you by my grace to do it. And as you slowly but surely walk with Jesus and he works those things into your life, that's what he does. I can't explain it other than the gospel. I was just telling someone about this the other day. I said, you know, the beauty of the gospel is that the gospel doesn't just restore

a relationship with God. The gospel restores our relationships with each other because the gospel is in the business of restoration.

He said, pick up Mark and bring him with you because he's really useful to me for service. The third thing he says is, bring the necessities. That's what he says in verse 12. But Tychicus, I've sent to Ephesus and when you come, bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus and the books, especially the parchments. I love this because Timothy's a pastor, right?

And you may not know this, but a pastor just, it's really hard to leave your congregation with somebody else. It's really hard to think about abandoning your flock because a pastor just loves his people. I love you guys. I don't know if you know that or not. I probably don't say it enough, but I love all of you. I love all of you guys. And it would be hard to leave,

especially if I didn't know who was going to take over. And Paul knew that because Paul also had the heart of a pastor. And so he said, hey, I'm sending you Tychicus. He's going to take over at Ephesus, which is where Timothy was. That way you can come see me. He says, but when you come, could you grab a few things for me? And I love this because these are the most basic necessities

you can imagine, right? Like Paul was a simple man, right? Like that's who Leonard Skinner was singing about when they sang that. He did not need much out of life. He needed Jesus and these three things. He said, first of all, can you bring my cloak? I love this because it's the humanity coming out as someone that we view as such a great apostle. He said, can you bring my cloak?

Listen, I've never been to the Mamertine prison, but I've read a lot of scholars that have. And they're like, man, it's a cold place, you know. In May, it's cold there, let alone in the middle of winter. Stone walls underground, bad ventilation, right? It's just cold. And Paul's going, man, it's getting kind of cold and I really need you to come before winter,

partly because I really need that cloak. Could you pick up my coat for me? Can you imagine? It's the end of your life. You're like, could you bring me a blanket? That's all I really need out of life. He goes, but also, could you bring the books? I just want to keep growing. I just want to keep learning. I want to stay sharp, right? Like I don't want to get dull

in this ending time. I want to stay sharp. And he asked for one more thing. He says, and can you bring the parchments? Now, for some reason, scholars have decided to do that. They've decided to do that. They've decided to do that. They've decided to debate about what the parchments are. Listen, I can tell you what the parchments are and I don't need to be a scholar.

The parchments are whatever portions of the Old Testament that Paul possessed. You know how I know that? Because he loved it. Because that's what I would ask for. I would be, if I was stuck in a prison and I knew that my last days were coming, I would be like, actually, instead of a coat, I think I'd ask for coffee. But anyway, I would be like, listen, bring a coat.

Not only because I really like jackets, but also because it's cold here. And bring some books. Bring my Bible. I know that not only because that's what I would want, but I know that because I've been around people that are on the last days and you know what they want? They want to hear God's word read to them. Every believer in Jesus Christ I've ever been around

in their last days, and I've been around a good number of them, they want you to read the Bible to them. They may not even take in everything that's being said, but they just want to hear it because they know that those are the words of the Savior, that they're about to go see, and they're like, bring the parchments so that I can hear a little bit of it read to me. Brothers and sisters, if Paul in his last days, all he wanted was things to keep him mentally and spiritually sharp, how much more should that not be true of us? We have become a dumb generation.

You know why? Because people do not read anymore. I asked a kid one time, I said, do you ever read? Yeah, I get texts all the time. I read them. I'm like, that's not reading. Please never utter that sentence again. We've become a dumb generation because we don't read things anymore. You know what made America really great in the beginning? Is that they were

voracious readers. Matter of fact, if you read anything about early America, you will find that they consumed volumes about law. They consumed volumes about history and science and everything else because it meant everything to them. Because they knew if they were going to be a free people, they needed to think like a free people. And if they were going to think like a free people,

they had to be educated like free people. Brothers and sisters, you are a free people. Therefore, you need to learn to think like a free people. Therefore, you need to read the books of a free people so that you can be educated like free people. Because that's how you become who God intended you to be. Because if you're not going to be sharp now, I promise you,

when you die, you're not going to be sharp then either. You'll die in the end. As dumb as you are now.

And we've got to be people who take that kind of thing seriously. Paul says, listen, bring the necessities. I just need a coat, some books, and the parchments, and an incredibly good cup of coffee. I added that part. Then he gives a warning. Tells Timothy to be on his guard. This is what he says in verse 14. He says, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm.

The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. But be on your guard against him yourself. For he vigorously opposed our teaching. We don't know very much about this Alexander the coppersmith other than what's told to us right here. But Paul says something very interesting about him. He says, he did me much harm. And there's some debate about what that means,

he did me much harm. Most agree that this guy either did one of or both of two things. He either informed on Paul to where he would be arrested, to where the Roman soldiers would know where to go to find him. Because again, there's a great persecution going on at the church at this point in time. He either informed on Paul or he testified against Paul or both.

You see, there were two main issues with the church at this point in time. Two main charges that came especially against church leaders. Number one was blasphemy. Number two was cannibalism believe it or not. They said that blasphemy was the problem that the church had and they found them guilty of it. You know why? Because at this point in time in Roman culture,

they took part in what's called emperor worship. You had to bow down to the emperor and claim him as God. And because Christians would not do that and because Christians and Christian leaders were promoting Christians to not do that, they were accused of blasphemy. But also, there's a meal. We're going to partake of it this morning. It's called communion. And we know that

in the communion meal, Jesus said, partake of my flesh and my blood. And we know it's not really the body and the blood of Jesus. It's symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus. But they used that language against the church and said it was cannibalism. And so probably this Alexander the coppersmith, both, informed on Paul but testified against him. Yes, he spoke

blasphemous things against the emperor and said to worship another God. And he was always talking about this meal. He's a sick man. He should be put to death. He said this Alexander the coppersmith, he did me much harm but I love what he says about him. He says, he says that, but the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. And I'm reminded, again, that the best thing

that we can do is allow God to fight our battles. The best thing that we can do is allow God to be the one that defends us and God to be the one that brings vengeance on anybody who is opposed to us. Because not only is God much better at it than I am, but he keeps my hands clean. As a matter of fact, it's interesting because in one of Paul's earlier writings in the book of Romans, he says something very similar.

Go over to Romans chapter 12. Go to your left. If you hit the Old Testament, you definitely went too far. If you hit the Gospels, you went too far. Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. If you can get there, great. If not, just listen. I want you to start in verse 17. Romans 12, 17 says this.

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. But if you're not and if your enemy's hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty,

give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head, which is a good thing, not a bad thing. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Now I guarantee somebody in here has got some kind of an enemy that has probably done something bad to you and you've got a choice to make. You can take vengeance on them, either in your words

or your deeds, or you can let God do it. And then you can do what you're called to do, which is to show them love. That's right. The Bible's full of this one phrase, love your enemies. And you can do that. That's what God calls for us to do. Because in so doing, you will bless them and one of two things will happen. Either one, judgment will continue to heap upon them,

or number two, God will bring them to repentance and restoration. Those are your two options. Both of them God does. Your job is to love them. That's it. He says, God will repay him according to his deeds. I'm going to trust that God's going to deal with that. But just know he's out there. Back to 2 Timothy. And then he gives them this warning. He says, be on guard against him yourself

for he vigorously opposed our teaching. He says, listen, God's going to bring the vengeance, but you still need to be aware. You still need to have discernment of the fact that there is someone out there who vigorously opposes what we're doing and vigorously opposes the teaching that we're bringing. And he's probably going to come against you too. And so you need to be aware.

You need to have discernment to spot him and you need to have the wisdom to know how to handle it. And listen, in the world that we live in today, I've always been someone who doesn't like to name names of people that really disagree with the Bible. But the more I'm going, the more I'm like, why? Why am I scared to name the names of the enemies of the gospel?

It's important for you guys to hear it. And so I plan on starting to get a little bit more bold about that sort of thing because Paul does it all the time. He's not like, listen, there's this one guy who kind of says this sort of stuff. You should be aware of it. He's like, no, Alexander, here he is. Like if he could have sent him a picture, he would have sent him a picture.

Right? He's like, this guy, if you see this guy, run. Go the opposite direction. Right? I'm here because of him. He'll do the same to you. He says, be on guard. And we need to be on guard against the enemies of the gospel. We need to show the love of Jesus knowing that there's an ultimate enemy behind it. But at the same time, we need to be on guard for those who the enemy is using.

And so after he gives these requests of Timothy, he now recounts God's faithfulness. Notice what it says in verse 16. He says, At my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me, and he strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles

might hear, and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. He says, at my first defense, and I don't think that means his first imprisonment. I think he'd already had one trial, and at his first trial, everyone deserted him. What a tragic spot for Paul to find himself in. That here he is standing trial, and he is the one who has written the book of Romans to the Roman church.

He is one who has ministered to this Roman church, and when they could have stood with him, they deserted him. And listen, there was probably good reason. Persecution was, before we start judging them, let's understand, persecution was intense at this point in time. They would have gone after their families. They would have gone after them. They would have gone

after their businesses, which is why I think Paul says, Lord, don't hold it against them. Timothy, don't hold it against them. Did it hurt? Yes. Do I get it? Yeah, I get it. That's grace. He's willing to show a little bit of grace because he understands that at the end of the day, we're all just human beings. We're all just human beings doing the best that we can,

and sometimes we're going to do the wrong thing. And when people do the wrong thing, we hold them accountable, but we do so with grace. We say, don't hold it against them. He says, but the Lord stood with me. But the Lord stood with me. Literally, what he says is, but the Lord took his stand by my side. It's what Paul had always known about the Lord. When Paul was getting ready

to stand trial, the very first time at the end of the book of Acts, his first imprisonment, getting ready to stand trial in Jerusalem, and there was a plot against him. That would put him to death. And he found out about the plot and he reported it. So he's living in fear at this point in time about whether or not he's going to survive. And in that moment, in that prison,

the Lord stood with him. It tells us that in the book of Acts that the Lord stood with him. When he was on his way to Rome to stand trial for the first time before Caesar, we're told that the ship was being tossed about. And he stands up in front of all the guys and he says, listen, an angel of the Lord stood by my side and he said, everyone on this ship is going to make it because I have to get to Rome to tell you that I'm going to die.

I'm going to get to Rome to testify of the goodness of Jesus Christ. But the Lord stood by his side. And now in this moment, in his trial when no one else was with him, he said, the Lord stood with me. Now there's something interesting about who God is in his presence with us. And that's, it's an amazing thing when you face a difficulty and you can feel the presence of God

right beside you. But I want you to know something. There are going to be times in your life, as a matter of fact, there probably have been times in your life when you stood in hard times, when you stood in difficulty and you've gone, where was God on that one? Why wasn't he with me? Why did he stand with Paul but he didn't stand with me? And sometimes in the moment

you go, Lord, I don't feel like you're with me right now. I don't sense your presence with me. Why did you abandon me? It's throughout the Psalms. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Until you make it a little ways down the road and God brings you through and you look back and you realize that in that moment you couldn't feel the presence of God with you,

but he was there. And he showed it to you in ways that you didn't even imagine. When I first met my wife, she was a month into being saved. And so I got to be with her in the very beginning of everything in her walk with Jesus Christ. And one of the things I loved is that she started looking back on her life and realizing all of the places where God was with her

and she didn't even realize it. She said, we lived across the street from a pastor and I used to babysit his kids. She said, when I first, she was nannying for a family when I met her and she said, I would show up and they only had Christian music in their house. That's it. There was no alcohol in that house whatsoever. And she said, those were little things

that I didn't think about at the time, but I look at now and I realize that was God with me. And there was story after story like that where she was like, God was with me in that and I didn't realize it at the time. And that's what's so great about God is his presence is with you even though you don't sense it. It's kind of like a really cloudy day, right? Like an overcast day,

you're like, wow, I wish the sun would shine. I say this all the time because I'm a seasonal depression kind of a guy. And so the sun doesn't shine or at least it doesn't feel like it is. And then the clouds part and you realize something, the sun was there the whole time. You just couldn't see it. And that's what it's like sometimes when God stands with us

is his presence is there, but you don't always sense it in the moment. And then you look back and you're like, that was God. And he was right there with me. He says, the Lord stood with me and he strengthened me. That word strengthen means to infuse with strength. And what did he strengthen Paul to do? So that through me, the proclamation might be fully accomplished

and that all the Gentiles might hear. In other words, he strengthened me so that I could bring forth the gospel to everyone that I was supposed to bring the gospel to. Because I'm here to tell you right now, when you face the difficulties Paul faced, it would have been hard to keep bringing forth the gospel. It would have been hard to keep standing up and having room and having rocks thrown at you while you're preaching about the love of Jesus Christ.

But he kept doing it because Paul was a super saint? No. Because God was with him and he infused him with strength. In other words, he gave Paul in the moment everything he needed for that moment. He said, and he delivered me from the mouth of the lion. What does he mean by that? Well, somewhere like it was probably Nero the first time that he was set free from his imprisonment.

I don't think that's what he means here. Who else is referred to as a lion in scripture? Well, the devil is referred to as a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. And I think that's what he referred to when he said he delivered me out of the mouth of the lion because the enemy wanted to destroy him. But he was invincible until he had finished

the job that God had called him to do. He said, but everybody else abandoned me, but the Lord stood with me and he strengthened me so that I could finish my job and he even delivered me and he rescued me. He rescued me out of the lion's mouth. And he said, and the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely home to his heavenly kingdom.

I love this because as I've told you before, past faithfulness gives us present confidence. He had seen God deliver him every other time and therefore he says in a confident sort of way, and God will deliver me from every evil deed. Now I want you to think about something. He knows his death is imminent. He knows what's awaiting him as an executioner's axe.

And so why does he say the Lord is going to deliver me from every evil deed? Not to mention the fact that Paul had an incredible number of evil deeds perpetrated upon him in his lifetime. What did he mean God will deliver me? Well, we have to remember deliverance with God looks different than it does with us. You see, to me, deliverance is I'm never going to go through

anything hard, right? Like there's a hard situation in front of me and God's like, behold, and parts the waters and now everything's easy. I'm walking on sunshine. Right? That's deliverance. That's not deliverance as far as the Bible says. There's a great high priestly prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17. In John chapter 17 it says this. I pray for these disciples

and I don't ask that you would deliver them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. Here's the thing. God doesn't deliver us from the storm. God delivers us in the storm. And that's just a truth we can live in. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are going to face difficulties and he's going to deliver us in the midst of the difficulty and the deliverance

that he will bring will not protect us from every single harm, but it will bring us through knowing God in a way that we never knew him before. I praise God for the hard things that I've gone through in my life because the hard things that I've gone through in my life have made me who I am today. I would never choose them again, but they have made me who I am today. And that deliverance that God has brought into my life, not from the storm, but in the midst of the storm, is what allows me to not only know my Savior, but it's what allows me to minister to his people.

What did Paul say in the beginning of 2 Corinthians? He said, blessed be the God and Father of our Savior Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort, comfort, who comforts us in all of our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of tribulation. I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, that we have the sentence of death within us and we despaired even of life. But God brought deliverance because that's what God does.

And so he says, he will deliver me from every evil deed. In those ways, he says, and he will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. He will bring me safely home because that's what God does. And though the weight of the loneliness is on him, I think in this moment, he is elated with the thought that home is where he's going. And so he says, in spontaneous praise,

to him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. And like a good preacher, you think he's done, but he's not. The last thing he does, is he gives us greetings. Final greetings. Notice what he says. He says, greet Priscilla and Aquila in the household of Onesiphorus. Priscilla and Aquila were some of his faithful friends there in Ephesus. They were the ones who served alongside him,

not only in ministry, but in a tent making sense as well. They all had the same trade. And so they set up shop together and they ministered together. And they ended up being the ones who helped bring along other ministers in the gospel, not the least of which was Timothy. And so they helped, they helped bring those ones along in the gospel. He says, hey, greet those guys for me,

would you? Just give them a big hug for me. It's going to be great. You're going to love it. And then he says, and also the household of Onesiphorus. And Onesiphorus is such a fascinating guy. Matter of fact, go over to chapter one. Should just be one page. Chapter one, I want you to look at verse 16.

He says this, the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he was in Rome, he was not ashamed of my chains. He was not ashamed of my chains. He was not ashamed of my chains. He eagerly searched for me and he found me. The Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. What a wonderful guy

this Onesiphorus must have been. Literally what he says is, he searched house to house until he found me when he was in Rome. He heard about Paul. He heard he was in prison. He happened to be in that same area. And so he's like, well, let's go find Paul. And he searched high and low until he found him. He says, could you greet his household for me? Just give them all big hugs

and say it's from Paul. And then he gives a couple of names that we don't know very well. He says Erasmus, or excuse me, Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. This is another interesting one. Other than this, we don't know very much about these two guys, but this Trophimus was left sick at Miletus. And here's what's kind of interesting

about this. Paul had the gift of healing. And I have no problem with any of the gifts for today. I think God can use them however he wants to. But Paul had the gift of healing. Sometimes in very miraculous ways. Like unheard of sort of ways. Like people were taking his sweat bands and healing people with them. Like God was doing crazy things. And yet here's this individual

who Paul left in Miletus sick. Well, if Paul's got the gift of healing, why doesn't he just heal him? Because the gifts of the Holy Spirit aren't just for us to use however we want to use them. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are used at his disposal and his discretion. And if God's desire is healing, then he'll bring healing. But if God says, not today. There's still something

I'm teaching this person. That he delays healing. You just have to know that. Again, a lot of experience has taught me this. He says, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. And then he says this. Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you and also Pudens, Linus, and Claudia and all the brethren. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

He says, make every effort to come before winter. You know why he says that? Because in wintertime, the shipping lanes were closed down. It was too hard to travel. And so if Timothy didn't arrive before winter, Timothy wouldn't arrive. And he definitely wouldn't arrive before Paul was put to death. He knew if Timothy didn't arrive before winter, he wouldn't see Timothy.

And so he says, Timothy, you got to show up before winter. You got to make it here before then. Make every effort. Make diligent effort to show up here before winter. And one of the commentaries that I read said something that has sort of rattled through my head for the past few days. He says, the statement, make every effort to come before winter is like a siren cry to Christians

to say, don't put off what God is calling you to do. Don't put off what God is calling you to do. Don't put off the kindness that God wants you to show. Don't put off the restoring of a relationship that needs to take place. Don't put off the giving out of the gospel to somebody that needs to hear it. Listen, I've got, I've started getting very bold with people

in not only inviting them to church, but also giving them the gospel. And it's really hard for me because I fear rejection and I also fear looking stupid when I say things or offending people. But I've hit the point where I'm like, I would rather offend you on this side of eternity and have you go with me to the other side of eternity than protect your feelings on this side of eternity and leave you here. That's the way I feel at this point in time because there's not time for me to put off what God has called for me for me to do because brothers and sisters, winter is coming.

And we have to know that. Winter, not just because we're in the middle of December right now. I mean this spiritually speaking. Winter is coming. What are you putting off that God is calling you to do? What is it? What kindness is God wanting you to show? What relationship needs restored? Listen, if I've learned anything in the last six months, it's that none of us

is guaranteed tomorrow. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. What's God calling you to do today? He says, make every effort to come before winter. And then of course, he closes the way that Paul often closes. He says, the Lord be with your spirit. Interestingly enough, that word spirit's in the plural. It says, the Lord be with your spirit, meaning it's an address

to the whole church. And then Paul ends as he often does, grace be with you. I'll remind you of the line from Amazing Grace. It's one of my favorites. It's one of my favorites. Because essentially, Paul says, his grace has brought me safe thus far. And his grace is going to lead me home. There's a couple of quotes I would like to close with that I found to be very good.

One's from the Believer's Bible Commentary. And he says this, here he lays down his pen. The letter is finished. His ministry has ended.

But the fragrance of his life and testimony abides with us still. And we're going to meet him again. And talk with him about the grand themes of the gospel and the church. And I think my favorite one came out of the preacher's commentary. 30 years of remarkable ministry is about to end with the thud of the executioner's axe. But the word of the Lord will go on.

As long as people like Timothy and us heed Paul's last letter. Brothers and sisters, we come to the end of a life that was very well lived. We come to the end of a life that meant something to so much, or meant so much to so many people. We come to the end of a life, but we don't come to the end of a legacy. Because the legacy continues to live on in the truth of God's word.

Amen? Well, this morning is Communion Sunday. And I think the ushers are about to bring the kids in. So if you could keep an eye out for your kids as they come in.

If I could go and invite the worship team to come on up as well.

Is that all of them? No, it's not. We got one looking for a parent back here. There we go. Found them. Sweet. All right, it's Communion Sunday. And I love this because I feel like that last section was so much about the commonality of Christ and the importance of the brotherhood of Jesus Christ. Because that's what communion celebrates. The word communion literally means

to have in common. And that's what we celebrate when we come to this meal. A few days ago, we were able to have MCDs come and share his testimony. And of course, he called Michael up on stage. And if you were here, you watched online. You know, I grew up with Michael. And MC, I've gotten to know here lately. And you couldn't find three guys with more different backgrounds.

Mainly me and them. And yet we have this commonality. And the commonality that we have is Jesus Christ. Other than the fact that Michael and I used to get in trouble together here in junior high. Other than that, the commonality is Jesus Christ. And that's what bonds us all together. That's what makes us brothers and sisters with believers from all over the world.

No matter how different they look, no matter how different their backgrounds are. And that's what we celebrate here is that at the foot of the cross, there's a level playing field. At the foot of the cross, there's only sinners who have become saints. And we celebrate that commonality in this communion service. And so inside of each of these trays, there's a couple of cups.

The top one has the juice in it. The bottom one has the cracker in it. And in and of themselves, they're pretty insignificant. But what they represent has great power. Because what they represent for us is the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. And so scripture says to make sure that when we do this, we do it worthily. And so the first way that we do that is to understand what we're doing here.

And that's that when Jesus, on that last great night of the feast, took the bread and he broke it. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you. And so every time we partake of the bread, we are reminded that Jesus' body was broken for us. That he endured the beatings, but he also bore in his own body on the tree our sins. And that's our salvation. And every time we partake of the cup,

we're reminded that the blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all of our sin. And so we do so with the understanding of how important this is that we're doing right now. But the second way that we partake of it in a worthy manner is that we make sure our heart is right before Jesus. Listen, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you can't lose your salvation, but you can break off that fellowship.

And confession is the way to restoration. And so as the worship team sings this last song, I just ask that you'd ask the Lord to search. Search your heart. See if there's something between you and somebody else that maybe you need to confess to the Lord or something between you and God that you need to confess as you celebrate this commonality that we have with each other and with the Lord.

But the third thing that you need to do to make sure that you partake in a worthy manner is that you need to be a part of the family of God. This is a family meal. So if you're here this morning and you've never come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you've never surrendered your life to him. You've never believed that his sacrifice is enough for you. And today's the day that you need

to surrender your heart to him. And you can do it while we sing this song. There's no magic words. There's no magic potion. You just got to cry out to God. Ask him for forgiveness and ask him to make you brand new and he'll do it in that moment. Born again. And then you're a part of the family. And so as they sing this last song, I ask that you allow the Lord to search your heart

and do the business that needs to be done with the Lord. And as you receive your elements, if you would please stand and then we'll partake together. He's like a river washed over me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I want to thank you for your body that was broken for us. Father, for the beatings that you endured. Father, for burying our own sin.

Father, I thank you for your body that was broken. Lord, I thank you for your blood that was shed. Father, the blood that is enough to cover all of our sins. The blood that gives us brand new life. I just thank you for the blood of Jesus that was shed for us. And so Father, as we partake, may we know beyond a shadow of a doubt the great sacrifice that you've made.

In Jesus' name, amen.

And if you'd bow with me one last time. Father, we come to you now and I thank you for the time that we've had your word this morning. I pray that as we leave this place that you would move through our hearts and lives by the power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, continue to make yourself more real to us and fashion us into the men and women of God that you want us to be as we surrender to you.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Love you guys.