Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM- 2 Timothy 1:1-7 - Pastor Ryan

All right, good morning, church family. It's good to see everybody. Glad you're here. I just want to invite you to stand with me. We'll pray. We'll get started.

Father, thank you for another day. God, I thank you for allowing us to be here, Lord, to be in your house this morning, Lord, and to just to be able to sing some songs to you, Lord, to sing some praises, Lord, and to glorify you. And I just thank you for being this time that we can spend in your word, Lord, God. I just pray that you move mightily this morning, God, move in our lives this morning. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Worship the God who was. We worship the God who is. We worship the God who evermore. Yes, Lord, God, we just thank you for how faithful you are to us, Lord, God. We thank you that even when we're not, you are still faithful, Lord. Even when we fail, you won't. God, we just thank you and we praise you this morning. Amen. I want to go ahead and stand with you for the last one of the goodness.

Well, God, I just thank you for how good you are to us and how faithful. Lord, you are. God, no matter what happens, Lord, God, no matter how many times we fail, Lord, you are still good and you are still faithful to your word. And Lord, we just thank you. We thank you for that. I just want to return praise to you this morning, God, for how good you are to us. And Lord, this morning, as Pastor Ryan comes, Lord, I just pray that you would

overflow him with your Holy Spirit, Lord, God. Move mightily this morning. Speak mightily through him. I want you to do something awesome. This place, Lord, we invite you to do that this morning. I want you to do something awesome in each of our lives this morning. Lord, we come with open minds and open hearts, Lord. Open to the truth of your word. And Father, we love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Let's see you

right. Look to your left this morning. Find somebody and say good morning. Good morning. If you could begin the process of locating your seats, grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go through some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. Handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. As always, the things on the left-hand

side that are going on throughout the week. I'm over in the middle section. A reminder that church directory is coming soon. This is the last Sunday we'll be doing pictures. We'll be doing some on Wednesday. So if you haven't signed up for that yet, then today's the day. I mean, come on. You got to get in there, right? Which by the way, this, so my mom's been going through some, some things that were my dad's old books and things

like that. And she, she came across some sweet old directories from 1997. And can I just tell you, those are a jewel. They, they are the gift that just keeps on giving. And so here's what you have to look forward to. Okay. Get yourself in this one so that in about 30 years, you can pull that guy out and you can go, how about that? What was I thinking? Right? Cause that's, well, I knew

I didn't know what everybody else was thinking. It was great. So, so make sure that you get signed up for that. Intercessory prayer tonight down at the other end of the hallway at six o'clock. Ladies, there's a women's breakfast coming up this Saturday, October the 11th. All of the details are right there in the bulletin. A couple of things that are not in your bulletin is that there are

still a handful of tickets available for the family life services banquet. If you would like to go to that, please come talk to me afterwards and I'll put your name down. Fields of faith is coming up October the 11th. October the 8th. That's this Wednesday. So youth group will be meeting at the football field and that starts, uh, the gates open at five. The service starts at six 30. Um, and then youth

group, the pumpkin chase is coming up October the 10th. If you find yourself asking the question right now, what's the pumpkin chase, you should go talk to Jared afterwards and he can give you all the details on that. Uh, those are the main things that are going on. However, it is the magical time of the year. I know it's going to be 90 degrees today, but it's time to start

thinking about Christmas and operation Christmas child. So we have a sweet little video to show you and then we'll have some announcements about that. As Christians, we are tasked to introduce Jesus Christ to every person. Operation Christmas child gift boxes, open those doors. When they hear about Jesus, there's nothing like it. Operation Christmas child is driving children, families,

and communities to the heart of God. Every box is an opportunity for a child to hear God loves you. At outreach events around the world, the gospel is shared in a child-friendly way. And of the outreach event, children receive a tangible gift of God's love through the gift boxes. Packing gift boxes is the beginning as we seek to make disciples to the ends of the earth.

The boxes are like seeds. He's working the miracles. We are just providing the seeds. May every shoebox reach the right child. And Lord, that they would know you. The gospel unites all of us. We are coming together and giving gospel opportunities to these kids. There's a lot of children out there that we want to try to reach. We want to give them a gift and

we want to give them Christ. These boxes go to some of the most difficult places of the world. They go by sea, truck, tractor, camels. It's our responsibility to make sure everybody hears and knows about Jesus Christ. I want these kids to know their love. They're not forsaken. And that's what Operation Christmas Child does. It goes around the world. When the Category 5 hurricane, which created complete destruction,

hit Acapulco, Operation Christmas Child delivered that gift of hope.

After children receive a shoebox gift, they're invited to the 12 lessons, which are the greatest journey discipleship classes. We take children through the process of knowing the gospel, growing in the gospel, and sharing the gospel with other people. Through the greatest journey class, I know who Jesus Christ is. I want the world to know he's the one who came and died for our sins.

She brings children in the area. That's how come Daniel and the whole family has become part of the church. Within a year, we have grown massively into a huge church. The whole project is about evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication. Through the gift boxes, we are helping churches to see this as an outreach to those that have never heard the gospel. We are seeing children coming to the Lord, taking the gospel back to

their families, and the gospel continues to go places where it has never gone before. All of them, my children, are going to be a part of the church. They're going to be a part of the church. They are going to hear them. They are going to come to Jesus Christ as we are giving them the word of God. Boxes are an opportunity for a child to hear that Christ came to this earth for them. Keep

packing these boxes and continue to pray for these children. We couldn't do this without you. Thank you for being a part of this ministry. God bless you.

Good morning. Hey, does everybody know what month this is? It's Pastor Appreciation Month. And we all appreciate Ryan and the rest and Jared and the other pastor. helpers that are here, right? Because we're getting the word out, right? Everybody comes here to hear the word of God taught and to understand the word. So he's doing it. What I'm here today for is this. First of all, my name is Phil A. Box. There you go, Phil A. Box.

So just make sure everybody knows who I am. Last several years, we've had the opportunity to partner with Samaritan's Purse to deliver these shoeboxes. And thanks to all of you here who participate. In 2019, we started, we did 91 shoeboxes. Last year, we did 325. I got my numbers right for this service. Jana provided them for me. In 2025, we want to do 350, right? So we plan on

blessing, you know, God will use these boxes to bless a lot of children. So don't you just love the smiles you got to see on the videos? We've got to meet some of these people who will come back and we're going to do a little bit of a show. So I'm going to do a little bit of a show. One kid came back to us, or came to the kickoff event up in Wichita, and he had gotten a yo-yo when

he was a kid, still had that yo-yo. And that yo-yo had been used to spread the word. So imagine a yo-yo in a box touching so many lives. To date, 232 million children have received a shoebox in 170 countries, thanks to the efforts of you all. They get to experience God's love through the power of that box. Right? They also, from the box, you know, we get to see the boxes. You guys are going to pack them,

but they also get, they get some, a little workbook and they get to accept Christ. And then they get to go through a discipleship program, right? We're supposed to be making disciples, right? So you get an opportunity to make a lot of disciples with these shoeboxes. And each shoebox can touch up to 10 lives. So for those of you who haven't been with us before, you know that we're going to do

this again here in the collection time. We'll be, November 16th, I think Tammy has a message for you. November 16th is when we'll be collecting these boxes. So you don't have much time, right? Joe and Danielle will be heading up a packing party here at the church on October 19th. So Jared's going to mark his calendar. He's already marked it from this morning, right? October 19th. So you can show up, I think it's in the afternoon.

Is that right, Joe? Two to five. There you go. Two to five. And it's not at the Palmer's house. It's going to be here. It's already outgrown the Palmer's house. So it's going to be here to pack in the back there. And you can, for a small cost, everything is provided for you. You don't need to pick a box out of the hall. There will be a box there, right, Joe? Yeah, there'll be a box

here for them to pack. Or you're welcome, of course, to pack your own and bring it. There's information on what to put in, what's excluded. We'll have more of that as time goes on. You can always ask Jana or I or Danielle and Joe. They'll know. And if you are, if you're coming to the packing party, pack it yourself. Please write a letter. I'm sorry, if you're coming to the packing party, you can pack it there or you

can bring one of your own. Please write a letter. Make it fun, filled, and personalized. And then last thing, the shoeboxes leave here and go to Wichita, where they get prayed over and packaged. And then they go to either Denver or Dallas, as far as we know. Then they get to the processing center. So we have...

We have 35 spots for the processing center for us to go to. So please sign up if you want to go there and work the boxes. It's always a lot of fun. We go down Friday morning. We will be there in the afternoon to pack the boxes, spend the night and come back on Saturday. If you're 13 or older, you're welcome to join us. And you get to meet new people. You get to meet people from sometimes around the country who come there. It's an unbelievable competition to get there.

The thing opens at 8 o'clock on one morning. Jan is sitting there at the computer waiting for it to open. And in a few minutes, all the spots are taken. That's how much competition there is to go there and to work at these processing centers, because it's such a blessing. There's things you can't take, like soap and toothpaste, which was talked about. So that party, that event is December 12th. Okay, so December 12th, we will be meeting here at the church. And we provide transportation.

And I don't know what else we provide. We'll work that out as we go. So if you have any questions, please talk to Jana or myself, and we'll be here to see you after the service. Thank you.

One step at a time. Yeah, there. Okay, good. All right. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced, and for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 5. Psalm 5. Look at the New American Standard for this part. So if you need one, there should be one in a row around you. That's not on. And while you are turning to Psalm 5, if you are able,

please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Jared and the even verses. Psalm 5, for the choir director, for flute accompaniment. Got you a flute. Bummer. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O Lord. Consider my groaning. In the morning, O Lord, you will hear my voice. In the morning, I will order my prayer to you and eagerly watch.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood. The Lord abhors. The man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for you, by your abundant loving kindness, I will enter your house. At your holy temple, I will bow in reverence for you. O Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my foes. Make your way straight before me.

There is nothing reliable in what they say. Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave. They flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God. By their own devices. Let them fall. In the multitude of their transgressions, thrust them out. For they are rebellious against you. But let all who take refuge in you be glad. Let them ever sing for joy.

And may you shelter them. That those who love your name may exult in you. For it is you who blesses the righteous man, O Lord. You surround him with favor as with a shield. And Father, with the psalmist we pray, give ear to our word, O Lord. And consider our meditation. And so, Father, as we seek you this morning, I pray that you would hear us as we cry and we say,

Lord, speak for your servants here. And so, Father, minister to us through your word. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see, hearts to perceive exactly what you have for us this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1.

Today we begin the last. The last of the pastoral epistles. And so, let me build a little bit of context for us as we get into this last letter of Paul called 2 Timothy. Around the year 8061, it was the end of the book of Acts. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and he was taken to Rome where he would stand trial before the Caesar at that point in time. At which point he spent three years in his own rented quarters there in Rome.

Under house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier. But really with a certain amount of freedom for people to be able to come and go. And for an imprisonment not nearly as bad as it could have been. Around the year 64 AD, he was released from that imprisonment. And he went on to do more missionary journeying. Some say even as far as Spain. And during that time, he penned the letters of 1 Timothy and Titus.

Very instructive letters that were not only for those pastors, but they were instructions for the churches. For how they were to act and conduct themselves in his absence. Not only his absence because he was away on a missionary journey. But he knew that his life was drawing to a close. Well, in the year AD 67, he journeyed back to Rome. And there was a Caesar who was in power at that point in time.

That Caesar's name was Nero. And Nero hated the Christians and had begun to unleash a persecution upon the Christians. Especially in Rome. And under Caesar Nero, Paul was imprisoned. Only this time he was not under house arrest. Only this time he was not under house arrest. Only this time he was not under house arrest. Only this time he was not under house arrest.

Chain to a Roman prisoner. Or chain to a Roman guard. This time he was in what you think of when you think of a Roman prison. Tradition and history both teach us that he was in what was called the Mamertine prison. Which was nothing to be laughed at as far as a prison is concerned. Picture, if you will, a dungeon or perhaps an underground cave. Stone walls all around.

Very dark. Because the only source of light was a hole in the ceiling of this cave. That allowed fresh air and light in. It was a cold. It was dark. It was probably damp at this point in time. And Paul is at the end of his life. And remember, everything that Paul had been through had probably affected him physically to a degree that sometimes we don't always take into consideration.

The undoubtedly arthritis that had set into him. The scars that he bore in his own body. And he was in a very uncomfortable physical position in his life. But not only that, he felt very alone. Many of the believers had abandoned him because he had become such a hot button of, of controversy, not only within the Jewish community, but also within the Roman community.

There was one who stuck by him. And that was Luke, who penned the gospel account of Luke, as well as the book of Acts. Luke was with him. But Paul, quite frankly, found himself very alone. And yet, from this prison, Paul is going to write an incredibly encouraging letter to Timothy. Because as Paul is in this prison at the very end of his life, knowing that this time he's not confident of his being released from this prison,

as a matter of fact, the very opposite, he's confident that this prison will ultimately end in his execution. An execution that will come about through beheading. And he knows that's what awaits him. And so as he sits in this, in this prison, he begins to think of, of one of his favorite people he's ever worked with in his entire life. Someone that's more like a son to him than like a fellow co-worker.

He thought of Timothy. And so he penned this letter of 2 Timothy. Only, the difference between 2 Timothy and 1 Timothy, is that 1 Timothy was instructive of the church. 2 Timothy was instructive of Timothy. As a matter of fact, this is a very personal letter on the part of Paul. This is a very emotional letter on the part of Paul. And I have simply entitled our entire study,

though it bears the idea of faithfulness, I've simply entitled it, Final Words from a Faithful Servant. Because in this moment, Paul thought to himself, what do I need to tell Timothy if I never see him again? What do I need to tell him if I never see him again? What do I need to encourage him of if this is it for me and I never have the opportunity to see him again?

What do I need to share with him? And so, as a father who is nearing the end of his life begins to give instructions to his son, he pens these words to Timothy. And so, today we'll look at the introduction. And again, within the introduction, there will be three things that we pay attention to. This is not uncommon to the way we started all of these epistles.

We're going to look at the writer. We're going to look at the recipient. And we're going to look at the greeting. We're going to look at the writer. We're going to look at the recipient. According in verse 1 of chapter 1, it says this. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you even as I recall your tears so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that is in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of discipline.

And so the first thing that we look at is the writer. I won't belabor the point on who the writer is, because we've done this several times, but of course the writer is Paul. And if you would like to know more about the life of Paul, I would encourage you to do a little study on your own. So if you were to go to the end of chapter 7 of the book of Acts, really honestly through the end of the book of Acts, you would learn about the life of Paul.

And I would highly encourage you to do that, because I think it will really color for you everything that he has to say here, and really color for you the understanding of the servant of God that he was. So end of chapter 7 of the book of Acts, on through the end of the book of Acts. I'll tell you about the life of Paul, but it was a fantastic conversion that took place, and he went from a hater of Jesus to one who was the most faithful servant of Jesus. But I would like to point out to you what Paul says of himself by way of introduction.

Paul refers to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Of course, the term apostle means a sent out one. And in Paul's case, he was a specific type of an apostle. One who carried with him apostolic authority, along with the other 11 apostles that were with Jesus. He had that apostolic authority to set the doctrine for the early church.

And so in that way, we don't have apostles anymore. But to an even deeper degree, he was an apostle because he was sent out to do the work of God. He was sent out to do the work of the ministry. And in that way, we are all apostles of Jesus Christ, because we have all been sent out to do the work of the ministry. But I got to thinking about this. Remember, this is Paul's last letter.

This is the last letter. This is the last letter. This is the last words that we're going to see from this great servant of the Lord. And if you look at the beginning of Paul's ministry and the early epistles that he wrote, he referred to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. And if you look at the last letter that he wrote, this one, he refers to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

And he lived with the reality in his life. The reality that he lived with is the mission that he started his life with, is the mission that he ended his life with. Because he started his life with the mission of being an apostle of Jesus Christ, who was sent out to simply carry the truth of Jesus Christ that had fantastically transitioned his life from one of death to a real life in Christ. He started off with that as a mission.

He lived that as a mission in the end of his life. And he finished his life with the exact same mission. And there is something to be said for us as believers in Jesus Christ to understand the mission, to live the mission, and to finish the mission, which is why. He's able to finish this book of 2 Timothy with the statement, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.

There's a crown laid up for me. A little sidebar here. Just understand I've put off this book as long as I can because I know that the swan song of Paul lines up very well with the swan song of my own father's life. And so this is an emotional one for me. It was an emotional letter that Paul wrote, and it's going to be an emotional one that I teach. And so you just have to bear with me on that.

But that's why Paul says, this is who I am, an apostle. I'm an apostle by the will of God. I'm just one who wants to give out the truth of Jesus Christ in every aspect of my life. But I want you to point out what he says about himself as an apostle. An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. There's an interesting line he includes at the end of verse 1,

according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus. According to the promise of life in Christ Jesus. I think there's two interesting things to take note of about this line that he adds in 2 Timothy that he doesn't add in any of his other, the first thing I'll tell you is this, is that the promise of life is the very purpose of the gospel. The promise of life is the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It goes all the way back to John chapter 3. You remember John chapter 3 when Jesus met with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a religious ruler that was around when Jesus was doing his earthly ministry. And Nicodemus set up a nighttime meeting with Jesus. And the question that Nicodemus asked was not the question that he really had. And so when he asked, asked Jesus the question,

Jesus doesn't answer the question that he asked. He answered the question that was burning deep inside of his soul. What he asked was, how do we know that you're from God? And Jesus said, that's not really why you're here. He didn't actually say that, but that was the intent of what he said when he said, I tell you the truth, unless one is born again, he will never see the kingdom of God.

He said, what do you mean by born again? How can I go back into my mother's womb? That's weird. And I can't do that. And Jesus says, you've been teaching the law all this time. You don't know what I'm talking about. Unless one is born of water, that's a physical birth. And one is born of the spirit, that's a spiritual birth. You will never see the kingdom of God

because the very heart of the gospel is for someone to go from dead in their sins to alive in Christ. One of the things that hurts my heart so much is when I hear somebody say, I don't have a cool testimony. I don't want to share my testimony because my testimony is not cool. It doesn't involve a life of drugs and murder and all these kinds of things. It doesn't look cool like everybody else,

as I said, but it's still the most miraculous thing that's ever taken place. Just because you weren't as decayed as the other people doesn't mean that you weren't as dead as they were. Because the most miraculous thing that God ever does is to take someone who is dead and make them alive. Because that is the heart of the gospel. And whether you're dead in your sin

because you're just a self-righteous person who thinks you're better than everybody else, or you're dead in your sin because you have done everything in the world to try to fill yourself and it left you feeling empty, either way, you went from being dead to being alive. Because the promise of life in Christ Jesus is the very heart of the gospel. But I think there's something else for us to look at here when Paul says that I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus. And that's the fact that Paul is facing death right now.

And the fact that he knows he's facing death. As a matter of fact, that statement is peppered throughout this entire epistle. The fact that he is facing death has caused him to realize that the one promise that he has to hold on to is that the life that he has experienced spiritually, he is about to experience physically. And that's the hope that he's holding on to is the promise of life in Christ Jesus.

And can I tell you, the very nature of my job and the things that I've been through in about the past 10 years of my life have caused me, like Paul, to say, I'm going ahead and continuing to preach the gospel because I am a preacher of the gospel according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus. According to the will of God, or by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus. Because I could not do what I do on a consistent basis if I didn't believe in the life that there is in Christ Jesus. I could not deal with the things I've dealt with in the last 10 years of my life with the loss of people that I love if I did not believe in the promise of life in Christ Jesus.

And quite frankly, Paul could not with confidence pin the words of, from 2 Timothy to this young protege of his, to this young man that he loved so dearly, he could not have pinned these words as confidently as he did if he didn't believe to the very core of his being that there is the promise of life in Christ Jesus. He says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus. That's the writer. The second thing that we see is we see the recipient.

The recipient is Timothy. And there's just one simple line that's given to us about Timothy. He says, to Timothy, my beloved son. We again won't go into detail because we did that in 1 Timothy. But Timothy had been his companion since his second missionary journey, a long time now. And he'd been his faithful companion. He'd left him behind in Ephesus to pastor a church

that was undoubtedly about to face struggle. It was about to undoubtedly face not only attacks from the outside, but attacks from the inside. And he simply refers to Timothy this way. He refers to him as my beloved son, which is kind of interesting. In 1 Timothy, he refers to him as his son in the faith. But you see, now things are very different. Things are very different

because Paul is facing the reality of his own death. He's facing his own mortality. And as he thinks back on his life, he doesn't look at Timothy as simply some guy that he led to faith in Jesus Christ. He views him as his son. Literally, the phrase that he uses in the Greek is my dearly loved child. That's how he viewed Timothy. So he says to Timothy, my dearly loved kid,

you're like one of my own. Paul never had kids of his own. And that's who Timothy was to him. And so again, allow this to give you a view of everything that Paul says in this letter, that these are not just instructions that he's giving to another pastor. These are his words to his son, knowing that he is facing his certain death. Well, then we come to the greeting.

And the greeting looks very familiar to the way Paul handles this a lot. Notice what it says in verse two. He says, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Grace is one of his favorite words. It's sprinkled throughout all of the epistles and we'll see it multiple times

in the book of 2 Timothy. Of course, grace is unmerited favor, but it's also the Gentile greeting that was used at that point in time. And so as Paul writes this, he not only is reminding Timothy of the firm foundation that he stands on, of the firm foundation that has allowed him to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, that has made him the man of God that he is today, and the grace of God that will ultimately promise him and guarantee him that life in Christ Jesus. But he was also saying, whoever you are, Jew or Gentile alike, this letter's for you.

And of course, he also uses the word peace, that idea of inner tranquility, the inner tranquility that comes from the understanding of the grace that we have in God, that comes from the understanding of the fact that I've been gifted God's unmerited favor that is in that unmerited favor that I stand in so I can live a life of peace because I also am experiencing a life of grace. Not only that, it's the typical Jewish greeting of the time, shalom to you. There's an interesting word he uses right there in the middle. I think this is, if I understand correctly, only the second epistle that he uses this in.

He uses the word mercy. He adds mercy in there. And of course, mercy is not getting what you deserve. And I have found in the fact that I've walked with the Lord for about 27 years now, a need for God's mercy in my life. And I'm pretty sure that you find that the longer that you walk with God, the more you realize you need God's mercy in your life. Because what you find is the closer you get

to the one that's perfect, the more you realize you're not perfect. The more that you walk closely with the God whose standard is holiness, you realize that you don't meet the standard of holiness. And so you find yourself crying out, Lord, give me your mercy. No more justice for me. I just want mercy. But I find it interesting that as Paul is writing this letter to Timothy,

as he is pinning this second letter, and he says, this is the thing that I think back on. As I look at my life, I am so desperately aware of my need for the grace of God. And I'm so desperately aware of my need for the mercy of God because those are the only two things that continue to fill me with the peace of God in my life. Because there's nothing quite like drawing near to the end of your life to make you feel better.

To make you estimate who you really are and to make you estimate who God really is and to make you realize how much you need God's goodness in your life. I've shared it before and I'll share it every time it comes up because I think it's such a necessary statement to be made. I'm always reminded of my good friend. My good friend, Truman. I used to take care of his lawn

when he lived at Lakeview Village. And somebody told me you should talk to that guy. He knows a lot about the Bible too. He's a geek like you. And so I'd go over to his house. I'd go over to his house every day and he would teach me things about the Bible. Things I didn't even know were in the Bible. He taught me all kinds of things. He'd walked with God for about 50 years.

And I got to experience time with him. I was gifted the time that I had with him to learn with him. And I was gifted the time to be with him when he was in the healthcare center in the last period of time in his life. And I'll never forget sitting next to him in the healthcare center there at Lakeview Village. One week left in his life. I think he was within the last five days.

And I'll never forget him looking at me and saying, Ryan, I'm more aware now of my need for the grace of God in my life than I ever have been before. And I remember thinking that's just amazing. Well, when I saw my dad nearing the end of his life, I will never forget sitting next to him and him looking over at me in a moment of clarity and saying, Ryan, you know that story you always tell about Truman Page about being aware of his need for the grace of God in his life more than he ever had been before? I said, yeah.

He said, it's true. I agree. Because there's nothing like coming to the end of your life to make you go, Lord, I need your grace and your mercy and your peace in my life. Because as long as we're on this side of eternity, we still need that work of God in our lives. And so he says, Timothy, grace and mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, this time his greeting is much longer. It goes into thankfulness. I want you to notice what it says in verse three. He says, I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did as I constantly remember you in my prayers day and night. He starts off by saying, Timothy, I thank God for you. Now, as a sidebar, I want to point something out to us

because something was pointed out to me this week. I never thought about it this way before, but I thought it was fantastic for us to pay attention to. Now, I know it's not November yet, so you can't do something you're thankful for every day because we can only do that in November, right? So, because November hits and, you know, we get a pumpkin spice latte and we start writing what we're thankful for every single day, including PSLs, right?

And so, I know it's not that time yet, but it's fascinating to find out that thankfulness is actually one of the most important things in our lives. So, I sat in a group that taught us about discipleship this week and in this little discipleship little packet they gave us, they said, you should start off every week by asking kids what they're thankful for. He said, they'll think it's kind of cheesy or cringy at first. Matter of fact, when I taught at Ark City Christian Academy, I always asked a question of the day.

When it got closer to Thanksgiving, I say, okay, it's Thankful Thursday and they all said the same thing. Mr. Nichols, this is so cringy. Why are you making us do this? Thankful for my family, right? But you realize that thankfulness is one of the most important things that we can have in our lives. You know why? You might, in the margin of your Bible, write Romans 1.21.

Romans 1.21. This is what Romans 1.21 says. It says, they did not give thanks to God and they became futile in their thoughts and God gave them over to a debased mind. Where did their futility or their emptiness of thought begin? It began with the fact that they refused to give thanks to God for what God had given them. You know why? Because when we give thanks to God,

what does it put all of the focus back onto? It puts all of the focus back onto the Lord. It puts all of the focus back onto who God is. Do you know why all of those little kids on that video that you watched were so thankful for what they had? Because they didn't have very much. And so everything that came their way, they were incredibly thankful for. I've seen pictures of some friends of ours

went on a mission trip to Guatemala a couple of years ago and they came back with pictures and it was in the background of one of the pictures in Operation Christmas Child's shoebox. It was incredibly well loved. You know why? Because they don't have very much and so they're thankful for everything that they've got. Therefore, they are way more content than we are.

We live in the United States of America where we have abundance the world has never dreamed of before and I bet you still wish you had more because you're not thankful. Which turns us over to futility of our minds. And so Paul said, I thank God for you, Timothy. I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience. Whom I serve with a clear conscience. I hadn't thought too much about this

until one of the commentaries that I read pointed out but it said, think about the beauty of the clear conscience. There's two things I want you to think about with a clear conscience when it comes to Paul. Paul said, I serve God with a clear conscience. What does that mean? Well, number one, it means his conscience was clear from the guilt. His conscience was clear from the guilt of sin.

His conscience was clear from the guilt of sin. Again, in the margin of your Bible, you might write Titus 3.5. Titus 3.5, I'm gonna tell you why in just a minute. I think if anybody struggled with having a clear conscience with the guilt of sin, it was Paul. And the reason why I think that is because of how many times in his epistles and in the accounts of the book of Acts,

he talks about the fact that he persecuted Christians. I think he struggled with really, really having a clear conscience. I think he struggled with really, really having a clear conscience. I think he struggled with really, really having a clear conscience. I bet the screams of those Christians haunted his dreams at night. And I think he struggled with a clear conscience.

And I think towards the end of his life, he dealt with that. Because you know what he wrote in Titus chapter 3, verse 5? He talked about the washing of regeneration. Do you remember how we defined regeneration? Regeneration is the process of being restored to a pristine state. Restored to a pristine state. In other words, he had come to the place of realizing his sins had been washed clean.

He had been cleansed. Those sins were not his to hold on to any longer. And he lived with a clear conscience that was clear from the guilt of sin. I point that out because every week, every week I talk to somebody who says, I just still struggle with the things that I did in the past. I just still struggle with who I was before. And I struggle with the guilt of that.

And I want so bad. I understand because I used to be the same way. And I want so badly for people to understand that you have been washed clean. That you have been cleansed from all of the garbage from the past. You don't carry that with you any longer. God doesn't see that when he sees you. And he doesn't want you to see that when you see you. He wants you to realize that you're a brand new creation in Christ Jesus.

Those old things have passed away. Everything has become new. And that will color everything about the way that you live your life now. Because no one will ever see you again. No longer are you living from a place of hoping that you can outrun your guilt. To now you're living from a place where you're confident in who you are in Christ. And I want people to live like that.

I want people to understand that that's who they are. So that they can stop living in the guilt and start living in the freedom. And so he lived a life that was with a clear conscience. Because it was clean from the guilt of past sin. But not only that. He lived with a clear conscience through faithful service. He lived with a clear conscience through faithful service.

The very last thing that he told the Ephesian elders. Which is where Timothy would have been. The last thing he told the Ephesian elders at the end of the book of Acts. Is he told them. He said, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. In other words, I did everything that God called for me to do. You see, here's the thing about serving God.

In serving man, you have to keep a list of everything that you've done, right? You have to be able to hit milestones. You have to be able to hit your rocks. You have to be able to hit your, whatever it is that you've set up for yourself. And as long as you've hit those things, I'm successful. The problem is with God, he doesn't view success like that. He doesn't view success by you hitting some sort of milestone of this is the number of converts that I had.

Or this is the number of things that I've done. No, he views success very differently. He views success as being faithful. Being faithful in everything that he calls you to do, even if it's hard. Even if it's a hard thing to do. Listen, I would love to be able to only preach the happy. Messages to you out of here. I would love to just use my black highlighter on all of the sad parts of the Bible.

I would love to use the black Sharpie on all the parts of the Bible that are controversial. All of the things that, that make me look political. All of the things that, that could have potentially offend some of you and make you leave. But I can't do that because then I'm not being faithful to God's word. You see, if I'm faithful to God's word and no one shows up, all I've done is do what God calls me to do.

And that makes me successful because I'm faithful. Kind of like Jeremiah. But if I just give you a message, it tickles your ear. And a whole lot of people show up. It may on the outside look like I've done everything great. And I'm successful, except in God's eyes, I'm not because I'm not faithful. And so he says, I serve God with a clear conscience because I have served him faithfully.

He goes on from there. In verse three to say, I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. I'm always struck by the prayers. I'm always struck by the prayers of a man that God uses or the prayers of a woman that God uses. Because the prayer life of people that God uses powerfully is constant. The prayer life of people that God uses powerfully is consistent.

Now, I don't think that Paul had his head bowed and his eyes closed all day long. And yet I bet you that he was in prayer all day long. Now, I want you to understand something. I think you should have a prayer time during the day. I taught kids this last week. So you need to set up a time. Needs to be a time where you have communion with the Lord. That's just you and him with nothing distracting you.

But there's also something to be said for creating space throughout your day for prayer. You see, I have a hard time just sitting down and praying because I'm a little bit ADHD in the way that my brain works. And I'm an incredibly active human being. And so I don't sit still very well. I don't know if you notice that about me or not. But I don't sit still very well.

And so I have to create space where I can focus on Jesus. I had a guy ask me this the other day. He said, how do you do that in your life? Like we're athletes. We're active people. We like doing things. How do you sit and listen? Because when I try to sit and listen, I can't listen. I said, well, my space is created through activity. Mindless activity, but activity nonetheless.

I said, I like to go on runs and I like to walk. Sometimes mowing does it for me too. Because anything physical that I'm doing, all of a sudden not as much blood can go to my brain so I can clear my thoughts. And that's where my communion with the Lord takes place. Amen. And if I can do that, then I find that. The rest of my prayer time throughout the day is pretty good because all of a sudden I've set my mind on prayer.

And now as things come to my mind, I just have to stop right where I am and I have to offer those to the Lord in prayer. The other night when that message came in about Seth Aerosmith, who, by the way, used to be one of my youth group kids and I'm praying he's doing okay. When that message came in for that prayer request, I was just getting ready to turn on a TV show on the Netflix to find out exactly how my political thriller was about to end. And I said, I've got to stop right now because I've got to pray for this thing because that's a serious situation.

He's in the middle. I love right now. And so I stopped, shot a narrow prayer up to the Lord and continued on throughout the rest of the evening. When it would come back to my mind, I would pray again because I know that that's an intense situation. That's what it means when he says, I constantly remember you in my prayers. He goes on to say, I read this in a commentary.

I thought it was great. He said, what a way to end your life. A clear conscience engaged in daily prayer. What a way to end your life. He had a clear conscience. And he was engaged in daily prayer. Well, he goes on from there to say in verse four, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears so that I may be filled with joy. Again, as Paul comes to the end of his life, the thing he wants the most is to be able to see this young man that meant so much to him because he remembered the tears that he cried.

This is why I can really appreciate Timothy, because he remembered the tears that he cried when he left the last time he said, verse five, for I am mindful of the sincere faith that is within you. Which first? He said, I am so thankful for the sincere faith that's in you. That word sincere is a very interesting word. I was reminded of it again this week. The word sincere literally means without wax.

Now, if you were a sculptor living at the time when Paul was living and you used clay, perhaps something might happen to the clay. A lot of what they would sculpt were things like what are on this table down here, some sort of a vessel, right? Or something like that. Or a vase or something. And so if you sculpted this vase, if you didn't dry it properly, it would develop cracks in it.

And so what they would do, the shrewd business people, what they would do, or the shrewd sculptors, is they would take a little bit of wax that was colored very similarly to the stone that was used at that point in time, and they would cover over all of those cracks. The only way you could tell if that piece of artwork or that vase that you were about to use or that vessel that you were about to use, The only way you could tell if that piece of artwork or that vase that you were about to use or that vessel that you were about to use, didn't have any cracks in it, that it didn't have any wax in it, is you would have to hold it up to the sun. Because one thing that was true about the stone is the sun wouldn't shine through it.

One thing that was true about the wax is that the sun would shine through it. And so when you held it up to the sun, you could see either A, it's without wax, or B, no, this isn't the real deal. Isn't that kind of interesting? Because that's very similar to our lives. You see, as our lives are held up to the sun, not the S-U-N, but the S-U-N, O-N, we are able to see, yes, it's without wax, or no, it's not the real deal.

Paul says of you, I know that you're the real deal. I know you have sincere faith. And what was that sincere faith implanted by? It was implanted by his mother and by his grandmother. Now listen, fellas, I'm going to give you a little break here, okay? I usually give you a very hard time at moments like this. But ladies, it's your turn, okay? You do not always understand the influence.

You have on kids. And I know that there's this whole thing going around right now. Are you saying that the best place that women can minister is to the kids? Can you think of a better place? I know that's an incredibly unpopular statement to be made. But I want you to think about that one of the men that God would use in the greatest way possible, his name was Timothy, was influenced and affected by his mother and his grandmother,

meaning that everything that Timothy did in his life that God credited to his account is also credited to God. To the account of his mother and his grandmother. You tell me that's not important. You tell me that they didn't do God's work in the way that they handled that. And so moms and grandmas in here, I want you to know, the influence that you have in the lives of your kids is greater than you will ever know.

The influence that you have in the lives of those tiny people is greater than you will ever understand. Listen, I am here because of a praying mother. I am here because of a mom who shared. She shared the truth with me and occasionally commercial jingles, but mainly the truth of Jesus Christ. Because she poured the truth of God's word into me. And you do not underestimate how important you are to those kids that you're raising.

Listen, they may be little turds right now, right? They may be little knuckleheads right now. They don't listen to a word that you say. They're listening to more than you think. They're listening to more than you realize that they're listening to you. And you faithfully pouring the truth into them. You faithfully pouring the truth into them will create a whole bunch of Timothys in the world today.

Because Timothy was the man that he was because of his mother and because of his grandmother. And I, like many others in my position can say, I am the man that I am because of my mother and my grandmother. So don't underestimate the influence that you have in the lives of these kids. He said, I'm mindful of your sincere faith that was first in your mother and then in your grandmother.

And, and, And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is in you. And then a part of this introduction, he gives him a reminder. Notice what it says in verse 6. He says, for this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of discipline.

He says, for this reason, because of your sincere faith, I want to remind you of something. I want to remind you to kindle afresh the gift that is in you. Now, this is the second time each in a letter that Paul has reminded Timothy of something. He has reminded him to use the gift that God has given to him. In this particular instance, he says, kindle afresh,

literally fan the flame of the gift that God has given to you. How do you fan the flame of the gift that God has given? That's a question I've been asking myself all week. What does that mean to fan the flame? Well, I think it means a couple of things. Number one. I think it means you've got to stay close to the, to the source of the fire. Sat around a campfire the other night.

I love a good campfire. And so sat around this campfire the other night. And if any portion of the fuel, if any portion of the wood rolls away from the rest of the fire, what happens to that portion that rolls away from the rest of the fire? It eventually begins to fizzle, right? Because it has been removed from the source. But if you roll it back in, it immediately begins to flame back up again because it has gone back to the source.

And so, so fanning the flame, first of all means that you need to stay, stay, stay close to the source, which of course is none other than Jesus Christ himself. But it also means that you have to keep putting in the work of doing what God has called for you to do. In Timothy's case, he was called to be a pastor. He was called to teach the word and he was called to make sure that he taught it faithfully, even when it was unpopular.

And so that's why I think he has to be remembered. And in the first letter, he was told to not neglect the gift that God had given him. In this letter, he's told to fan a flame or to fan the flame of the gift that God has given to him. In other words, use it. Use what God has given you. And I don't know who this is a word for here this morning, but I know it's really easy to show up to church.

And I love you all being here. Listen, you guys are my family, right? We talked about that last week. And I love you being here. I love you being a part of the church. But God didn't call you to go be a part of the church so that you could be the one that fills the seat. That's not your job in the church. Your job in the church is to use the giftings, the gifts that God has given you to further the work of the gospel.

And for some of you, you've been ignoring that gift. For some of you, you've allowed your gift to roll away from the fire, and it's fizzling. And God wants you to know, fan the flame of that gift. Start to use it again. Pour your life into what God has called for you to do. Because listen, I'm not the only guy that should be using his gift in the church. Some of you have been gifted in very unique ways,

and God wants to use you in those ways. And for me, this is a reminder. Don't allow myself to become stale in the gifting that God has given to me. Don't allow myself to use old manna in the gifting that God has given me, but pour my heart and my life into it. But I would give you the same exhortation. Pour your heart and your life into what God has given you to do.

I've loved that people have stepped up as I've made this announcement about, hey, we need servants in the church. People have stepped up, and we're getting people plugged into different places in the church. And I love that. Because each of you has been uniquely gifted to do something by God. He says, fan the flame. But he tells them that because he knows Timothy has a tendency to want to step back and let somebody else do it.

Step back and let somebody else be in that position. Step back and let somebody else do the hard thing. I just want to go do something else now. You have to understand something about ministry, about full-time ministry, right? Like this is a little bit peeling back of the layers, and you see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see.

You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. You see. We've tried. And it didn't work. And we're here because this is what God has called for us to do, even though we maybe came kicking and screaming. I'll remind you of a man in my life that helped me to fan the flame in my life.

And that was my Uncle Joe. I've shared this with you before. The first time that he ever asked me to teach, I had given up on ever being a part of ministry. I didn't think God could use me. I thought I was too far gone. I thought I had screwed up too much. I just didn't think I could do it anymore. And he called me up, and he said, I want you to come teach for me.

And I was like, no, that's a terrible idea. And he, of course, used the pastoral trump card, right? Pray about it. Anybody ever said that to you, and you're like, no? And like, oh, that's really wrong. I can't just not pray about things. So I prayed about it, and God said yes. And because of my Uncle Joe fanning the flame in my life, I'm here today. That's what it took for me.

I was kicking and screaming, and now I look, and I go, I can't do anything else every now and then I want to. But I can't. And every now and then I'm like, oh, I'm just not going to worry about ministry today because it's hard. And then Jesus is like, really? And I'm like, yeah, I get it. I'm back. Tear up my resignation letter and throw it away.

But he says, fan the flame. It may be hard, but do it anyway. Why? Verse 7. Verse 7. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and discipline. God has not given us a spirit of timidity. That word timid there means cowardice or fear. We live in a world where there's a lot of fear, right? That's not from God. God has not given you a spirit of fear so that you would constantly cower behind everything.

Listen, I need you to know something. Timothy was ministering in a time when his ministry could have cost him his life. Timothy was ministering in a time when his ministry could have cost him his reputation. Timothy was ministering in a time where everyone was opposed to the true teaching of God's word because they wanted their ears tickled. Every other teacher that came along.

And Paul tells him, keep doing the hard work. It's not a lot different than the world that we're living in today because today we're living in a time when if you're the person that tells the truth, it very well could cost you your life. If you're the one that tells the truth, you're the one that could very well cost you your reputation. It very well could be that nobody likes to listen to you because you're sharing the truth.

That's the world that we live in today. They're experiencing it all over the globe right now. Have you been following what's going on in Nigeria? Have you been following what's going on in Nigeria? Where Christians are being slaughtered over there? But what else are they going to do, right? It's kind of like when Jesus asked Peter, Peter said, Jesus, do you realize a lot of people are getting a little offended by what you're saying right now?

Like we're kind of losing followers through this. And Jesus looked at Peter and he goes, what about you, Peter? Where are you going to go? And Peter kind of thought about it for a minute and he said, nowhere. Because only you have the words of eternal life. And kids, at the end of the day, we just have to realize that only Jesus is going to do that. Jesus has the words of eternal life.

And that eternal life gives us confidence. Why? Because the promise of life in Christ Jesus gives us confidence in a world that tells us, I will take your life if you keep telling me that message. Because then you become like Paul, where you say, for me to live is Christ. And for me to die is gain. Which way am I going to go? I'm just going to keep preaching the gospel

because the love of Christ constrains me. God has not given us a spirit of fear. No, what's he given us? He's given us, first of all, a spirit of power. That word power in the Greek is the word dynamis. That's where we get our word dynamite from, right? The idea is strength and ability. I was just teaching some kids this last week in that prayer of Paul's at the end of Ephesians chapter 1

where he prays that they would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened into the hope of the calling, the glorious riches of their inheritance in the saints, and the mighty power that works in them. The same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. That's the spirit of power. That's the spirit of power.

That's the spirit of power. That's the spirit of power that you have in you. Not the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power. The power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. But lest we use that power for the wrong purposes, what other spirit did he give to us? He gave us the spirit of love so that we will not use power to lord it over people, but that we will use that power to assist people,

to give people the truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. But not only has he given us the spirit of power, not only has he given us the spirit of love, but he's given us the spirit of discipline. All right, get your listening ears ready, because there's a great definition of discipline here. The word discipline here means sound judgment and personal discipline that result in a calm, well-balanced mind.

It's okay, I'll read it again. Sound judgment and personal discipline that result in a calm, well-balanced mind. One commentator, I think it was William Barclay, but I can't remember. One commentator said it like this. It's the sanity. It's the sanity of saintliness. The sanity of saintliness. It's the ability to maintain a level head. That's discipline. And that's the spirit that God has given to us.

Final words from a faithful servant. It's a beautiful introduction, is it not? I'm excited to learn what all Paul has to teach us through the power of the Holy Spirit in the rest of this book, amen? Well, this morning is Communion Sunday, and there's an incredible amount of small children out there that are ready to come in here to partake in communion with us.

If you have one of those small children, you should keep your eye on the door because they don't know where you're sitting.

And as soon as all these kiddos get in here, we'll talk about communion.

All right, is that all of them?

All right. Well, this morning is Communion Sunday. And so, what's that? We got one little guy looking for his mom and dad back here. We're here somewhere. Back room, maybe? Well, this morning is Communion Sunday. And I always like to take a few minutes to talk about what communion is before we partake in it together. And so, inside of each of these trays, there's a couple of cups that are stacked together.

The top cup has the juice in it. The bottom cup has the cracker in it. And in and of themselves, pretty mundane implements. But what they represent is incredibly powerful. On the last night of the feast, Jesus took the bread and he broke it. And every now and then, I like to point this out. That the bread's not what you and I think of when we think of bread.

We think of some, you know, beautiful loaf of bread that's very fluffy. Perhaps came from a sourdough starter. And some fluffy loaf of bread. But that's not the bread that they would have used. Not for this feast. For this feast, they would have used the unleavened bread. And it was very specific. There were two specific things about the bread that were used.

The first thing is that it was striped because of the way that it was baked. The second thing about the bread is it was pierced because of the way that it was baked. So, in Jesus' name, we're going to pray. Jesus held up this, what would have looked like a giant saltine cracker. It was both pierced and striped. So, it's kind of interesting to think that he took this

piece of bread that was pierced and striped and he broke it. He said, this is my body which is broken for you. Because we are reminded that Jesus' body was pierced and Jesus' body was striped and he was broken for us. And then he took the cup, the last cup, the cup of redemption in the Passover feast. And he said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood

which is shed for you. Take and drink. And so, we are reminded that when we partake of the bread and we partake of the cup, we are declaring the death of Jesus. We are declaring the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ which is enough to cover our sins. Not just cover them for one year, but to do away with them completely. To help us to return to a pristine state,

to be washed cleanly, clean by the blood of Jesus. And so, we are told when we do this, when we partake in this, we are to do so in a worthy manner. And that means a couple of things. Number one, if you are here this morning and you have never committed your life to Jesus, you just need to understand this meal really isn't for you. Because this meal is a meal for believers.

And so, it is important that you understand that. Now, that step is a simple step of you surrendering your life to Jesus, confessing your sin and asking him to become a part of who you are. And in that moment, you will become born again just like Nicodemus. But the second thing that we know is that to partake of this in a worthy manner means that there can't be things between us and Jesus.

So, as Jared comes up to sing this last song, I'll invite him to come on up. As Jared comes up to sing this last song, I would just invite you to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in your heart that needs to be done. That there would be nothing between you and the Lord. And then we can partake together and commune together as a family. So, the ushers are going to come down

and they're going to hand out the elements. And as you receive those elements, we stand and then we'll partake together.

Would you bow with me? Father, we come before you now. And Lord, I thank you for the body of Jesus Christ that was broken for us. Lord, your word says that you were wounded for our transgressions. You were bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our people. The peace was laid upon you. And by your stripes, we are healed. So, Father, I thank you for the body of Jesus

that was broken for us. Father, I thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that is enough to cover our sins. Or the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all iniquity. That redeems us from the power of sin. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that was shed for us. So, Father, as we partake in this now, I pray that we would always keep in mind the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us that has given us brand new life. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's partake.

And if you'd bow with me one last time. Father, we thank you. I thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you for these words of Paul. I pray that you would minister them to our hearts. Draw us near to you.