Love that Lays Down One's Life

Transcript:Perfect so the Apostle John is really nice to us this morning um when you were making a point uh there are two ways that you can make a point Point um you can do a deductive point where you state your point and then you explain it or you can do an inductive point where you slowly build to the conclusion and here's the point and John was really nice he did a deductive point the whole reading that we had today can be summarized by the very first verse that Matt read and that was this for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another so that's the point today I thought I'd save us all time in Jesus name amen um we're going to continueous some prayers just kidding can you imagine that would be ridiculous some people were a little too excited I saw a little like oh man we get a brunch early we'll beat the rush um no it's a Johnreally does make this point right off the bat um really quickly he he just says like hey this is what I want you toget out of this section right when you're reading this I want you to know that this message that you've heard from the very beginning that we should love one another now it's an interesting that he makes this point in this part of the letter um if you've been following along with this series chapter 3 is all about being children of God so at the very beginning of chapter 3 a couple weeks ago we had a sermon on this beautiful section where John writes um see how great a love that we have that we should be called um children that we should becalled children of God he goes on to contrast children of God versus Children of the devil says you're you're one or the other um he talks about uh at the beginning how we become children of God what Jesus has done to graft us into his family adopt us and then kind of what that looks like to live out as a child of God so it's interesting that he's talking about children of God and then he's like all right so love one another now it'sfunny because you think like oh if we're brothers and sisters in Christ if we're a family then loving should be given right that should be obvious that why do you need to rehash that that feels like it's just implied and yet John feels the need to talk to Christians and say you know what as brothers and sisters you should love one another it's that important to him to to bring this up because sibling relationships are kind of a funny thing like I don't know if you have brothers and sisters I'm the oldest of five and you love your siblings but you also do stuff to your siblings right things don't always go super smoothly like sometimes there's tension sometimes there a proximity I remember this one time I won't tell you which brother but when we were kids my parents are teachers by trade we were at a Teachers Conference in Minnesota and there's teachers from all across the state of Minnesota and at one point one of my little brothers we were probably in like Elementary School we're playing on this hill and and we're kind of up overlooking everybody and my brother goes hey Mom Dad look at me and he's kind of like shaking his hands or something and they look up and all these teachers look up and it's this cute moment and I saw an opportunity and so I see my brother waving and everybody looking at him and I'm kind of behind him I'm like and I pants him I know this was not good I I Repent of that okay I I've beenforgiven and I you know man what a jerk brother I just I like to think overall that I wasn't that bad of a brother um I don't think you know I hear some stories I'm like you I did pretty well but that was a moment I'm not proud of um and it's not like I just did it to him athome like in front of all these people like this shame and I look back and it's like how in the world could you do that to your brother right like this brotheryou're you're supposed to love you know parents are always telling their kids to get along like how could you do this to yourbrother and and so John is talking about sibling relationships here because he knows that even though you and I I getto call each other's Brothers and Sisters in Christ um those relationships are a little complicated sometimes andwe don't always love one another as we should now John takes this veryseriously he invoked a certain brotherly relationship did anyone catch what brothers hereferenced Cain and Abel if you don't know the story of Cain and a uh let'sjust say this is not the picture of how Brothers should act so you have these two brother s they're the first childrenof Adam and Eve and so the first humans sin has just entered the world and andit goes downhill pretty quick this beautiful paradise is devolving and descending into sin and you have thesetwo brothers Cain and Abel and they're both offer sacrifices to God now we'retold that Abel's sacrifice is really pleasing to God he loves it Cain's sacrifice for whatever reason notdoesn't have the same response so God takes delight and Abel's and not C's soCain like a like a responsible person goes to God and says hey God you know what's wrong with my sacrifice what should I be doing differently no hedoesn't do that instead Cain is jealous of his brother and so he leads him out into a field and he murdershim so John is like hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ you should love one another don't be like Cain now some ofus are probably thinking you know what I have murdered zero Christians I've actually murdered zeropeople so take that I am not like Cain and yet this is what John is evokingbecause he's so concerned about how Christians treat one another and this section we we're called to love all people but this section is very muchabout Christians brothers and sisters how do we get along that's what John's concerned about here and so yes he hereferences the story of Cain he says it like this he says we should not be like Cain who was of the evil one andmurdered his brother and why did he murder him because his own Deeds wereevil and his Brothers righteous now this last sentence is so interesting um that Cain would murderhis brother because his brother's Deeds were righteous we like to think that when you are good and loving and right that people respond well and generallythey do but sometimes um there's something about goodness and righteousness and Holiness that canbring out the worst in other people right so when a light shines it shines into all sorts of Dark Places andexposes what happens in the dark I uh I shared the story our renewal campus a couple weeks ago but when I was in highscho I went to something called boy State now boy state is this uh summer camp that's basically designed to teachpeople about how our government works how you can be a good citizen how you can be involved there's also a girl state so there's a boy and girlequivalent and and boy St was really cool because there's these high schoolers from all over the state and we had a chance to learn about um what itmeans to partake in government we got to run for the kind of mock offices and like here's what the postmaster doeshere's what the secretary of state does all of that now there was this guy at boy state that I met named name SimeonToronto which first off is like the coolest name ever I like that guy hit the jackpot Simeon Toronto I will neverforget that name um Simeon was awesome and I remember when I first met him he was just the most genuine compassionateperson he was just like hey if I can ever do anything for you please let me know and Simeon just was like everyonenoticed Simeon is a really cool dude and you know what happened I started to think he's got tobe faking it there's no way right because I saw all of these good things Simeon was doing and it exposedall of the things that I lacked right man I didn't tell all these people that I was thinking of them and wanted tohelp them I just said hi you know and so I I it was easier for me to try and knock him down to kind of hate him in myheart than it was to just be like wow this guy's great and that's exactly whatwhat John's getting out here with Cain right he he sees his brother and his righteousness exposes Cain's own evildoings and so Cain responds injealousy so much so that he commits murder I I want to share a painting withyou um this is by a French painter and I'm so bad with French I'm going to read his name his name is WilliamAdolf bugaro bgo o okay if anyone knows French find me afterwards I'd love tohelp PR pronounce that William Adolf borero now bgo paints this painting in1888 um called the first morning and when you hear that like when I first heard like oh there's a painting calledthe first morning I thought you know like good morning like it's the first day and I was like oh is this you know the first day of creation or somethingor what's this going to be but the first morning is spelled m o you areaning the first mour the first grieving and he painted this and what hedepicts is the moment that Adam and Eve find the body of their son Abel in thefield this is that painting it's called the first morning by Adolf burgo andwhat you'll see here is you see Abel's body the victim of this terrible monstrosity the victim of this Murder bythe hand of his own brother sprawled out limp dead pale you see Eve mourning herson crying you see Adam holding his wife trying to comfort her kissing her headwhile at the same time holding his heart as he Grieves as well a a a picture depicting whathappens in the most extreme case of when brothers hate instead of loving oneanother and this isn't in scripture but I can just imagine Adam and Eve wondering and talking to Cain and andasking that question that I asked my younger self how could you do that to yourbrother how could you do that to your brother and so John takes for us thestory of Cain and and says don't be like that don't go that route and again mostof us are probably thinking I haven't killed my brother I haven't committed murder and there's no no corpses aroundthat I caused and then John then follows It Up by saying this and and he references Jesus's teaching on The Sermon on theMount he says whoever does not love abides in death everyone who hates hisbrother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding inhim so for John for you to hate your brother is just as bad as murdering themnow there's different consequences and obviously one is much more extreme but it's the Same Spirit right if brothersand sisters are supposed to dwell in harmony then there is this spirit that we are prone to that we can fall victimto that we can give into that leads us to hate one another the same way ha Cain hated Abel that eventually led to murderand so John is concerned about Christians hating their brothers and sisters and he's calling them to dosomething different rather to love one another now um hate shows itself in alot of different ways we don't always see people screaming during worship I at least I don't see you guys screamingduring worship at each other nobody else I hate you which is good don't do thatum but hate shows up in a lot of different ways so John one of the examples he gives is is one of indifference one of the ways that we canhate each other is by being indifferent John says this but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother inneed yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in himJN says if you see a fellow Christian in need and you have something that couldhelp them and you close your heart and walk away it's like somebody drowning infront of you and you could just reach out and give them a hand and you're like oh that water's prettycold yeah and so he's saying if it's that extreme if you're going to see thesee a brother in need and just you have means to helping and you don't how can God's love even abide in youindifference right and and indifference shows all sorts of different ways Francis Chan he's a he's a pastor he had a very largechurch and then he moved overseas was part of the church in Asia came back he's kind of started this new kind ofmovement well he's a good author and he has this book called letters to the church and he's reflecting on some of the trends in the American church andways that um it can get back to its roots get back to kind of the historic faith and what that's supposed to looklike lived out one of the things he comments on is that the American Church traditionally not everywherebut has lost the idea of being siblings with one another and instead functions more like people who just happen to go watch the same movie in the sametheater think about that for a second he's saying we don't operate like brothers and sisters but instead people who just happen to go and watch the samemovie and and so when we look in this room God sees us as siblings brothersand sisters right I hope that you're not indifferent to your biological siblingsum I hope that when you see a need when one of your siblings is down is struggling that you you talk to them youask about them and John says that's exactly how we're supposed to love one another right we don't just walk out ofhere thinking like all right so long everyone but are there people here who need help are there people who I cancheck in on I have a friend who has a family member and there's a struggle in thisrelationship because this friend's family member whenever they are angry just quitstalking they just check out so this friend it's it's so challenging for them because they'll be communicating and allof a sudden they just get ghosted and this family member will just quit chatting because they're they're angry they're mad something offended themsomething was frustrating that's not a healthy way for families to function a healthy way is tosay hey I have an issue but how often in the the church is is it tempting when something is when somebody doessomething to us when somebody says something that we're hurt by or the church makes a decision that we don'tlike we just kind of disappear we just check out I don't want to deal with the confrontation I'm just going to leave orI'm just going to avoid that person right a certainindifference we do this other ways too by the ways that we speak about one another we think about one another yousee this in Generations all the time right so generally this is a generalization Ihave noticed that and this is true of the outside world but it happens in the church too sadly right older Generationstend to look at younger Generations as idealistic they don't really get itthey're selfish instead of older Generations looking at younger generations and saying you are an equal member of thisbody you are just as much much of a part of this church as I am and your opinion and your thoughts and the Holy Spiritthat dwells in you has a place here and my way is not the most importantway inversely um younger Generations s to look at older Generations as outdatedstuck in their ways right instead of viewing them as scripturetalks about as people who have been granted great wisdom right who the Holy Spirit has Sanctified and made holy overthe course of years people to honor and to respect and so this this seeps intothe way that we think of people we write people off it it seeps into the way we speak about oneanother and John's words is that that's hating oneanother and if you allow that to dwell in you if you allow that to be your your mode of operationthen John says how can the love of God abide in you so there's this great call from Johnto look at the people in this room the people in our church not as just other people who are interested in the sameproduct not just to be people who happen to sit near us but it's people that God has putright in front of us to love and to care for and not just in Flowery languagelike Matt read little children let us not love in word or talk but in indeedand in truth it's not enough just to say I love these people it's a whole another thing to actually do it to live it outso that the world sees the church and says wow those are people who really care about one another wow those are people who reallyknow how to love now all of this love is ultimately not something that we muster notsomething that we just come up with ourselves but it's a love that's been given to us which is why John tells ushow do we even know what love is by this we know love that he laid down his lifefor us now it doesn't say he who the he is but hopefully we understand this isJesus how do we even know what love is right the world has tons of definitions of love if you ask a 100 people whatlove is you're going to get 100 answers right John says You Want To Know What Love looks like look at the fact thatJesus laid down his life that's what love is and then John says therefore weought to lay down our lives for the Brethren brothers and sistersso what I want to think about now is again this love that comes from Jesusbecause Jesus saw God's people all sorts of messes right not loving each other umif you know the story of Israel you have these chosen people of God right they they called themselves children of Abraham God's chosen people and there'sall of these issues and people seeing needs and not taking care of it people fighting people hating people oppressingone another and then Jesus came into that to try and sort it all out to tryand fix everything to try and bring Unity to the family again he was righteous he was good andhe was holy and he and he brought love into Loveless places and hope into hopeless places but if we learn something fromthe story of Abel how do how do evil people react to righteousness not usually well I want toshow you this painting Again by adol bordo one detail I didn't uh didn'thighlight earlier is I want you to look at Abel's posture you'll notice his his palms areturned out as if they're stretched out on a beam and his legs are arecrossed so you could drive a nail right through them see what bero was getting at isthat in the story of Abel we get a preview of what would happened toJesus that this true and good brother who is right with God and who lovedperfectly would then be rejected by the very people that he came to love and soin Abel we see a picture of what Jesus would do for us it's like we sang earlier right why are weforgiven because he was Forsaken and that that cost was greatand as you look at Adam and Eve mourning here I can't help but imagine Jesus's own mother Mary there watching this allhappen when Jesus was on the cross I think of of God in heaven looking down on his son whom heloved or even John the Apostle who wrote this letter he was at the Cross Toomourning his savior but Jesus was willing to endure all of this so that as we look atourselves and we realize man I have been lacking love God is asking me to love all thesepeople like brothers and sisters and I barely give them a passing glance or I've been harboring anger I've beenrefusing to forgive I've been refusing to to reconcile I always love when Jesus talks about um reconcil ation he says ifyour brother sins against you who goes to make things right you go but they sinagainst me you go and and Jesus saw all of this and hecame to forgive it and he was willing to endure everything even death on a cross so that way those sins that shame thatwe feel the guilt that we feel from not loving we might look not to our own love but to the love of God made manifest inJesus and know that we were baptized into that death and into that Resurrection and because of it there is hope I lovein this reading that John writes when our heart condemns us when our heart tells us you know what I am messed up Iam sinful and I've geez I've really really hurt some people and I've failed to lovehe says God is greater than our heart and the love of God in Jesus Christ is far greater than any sin the sins thatwe've committed and the sins that we because of the things we failed to do far greater and so we look back to thislove to know that we are restored that we have hope this is why John could kind of summarize this whole section in verse23 by saying and this is the Commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another justas he has commanded us two parts believe in the name of the son hisson Jesus Christ believe in Jesus bring your sins to him trust him and then loveone another just as he has commanded us believe in Jesus and then love oneanother so I just want to take those two and I want you to know walking away from today I want you to know one thing Iwant you to do one thing okay one thing I want you to know whenever your heart condemns you whenever you feel as brokenwhenever you realize how little love you actually show people don't look to your love becauseit'll never be enough but look to the love of Jesus Christ that says in me you areforgiven it's the only way other If we're honest we're only going to fall into Despair and then one thing todo go out of here today maybe during communion while we're singing and you're in your spot reflect on this pray aboutthis maybe in your car ride you can talk to somebody if you came with somebody how can we love the people inthis congregation even better than we do now is there somebody that we have been hating is there somebody that we've been overlooking are there people that we'vebeen indifferent towards and again it sometimes it's small everyone's closer to some siblingsthan others right that's okay but are there ways that we can love better cuz the call of John and the callof Jesus is to love one another just as Jesus loved us and so the way that Paul puts this inPhilippians I love he says this when it comes to the Christians treating one another he says do nothing from selfishambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant thanyourselves I just think about this room for a second think for a moment and realizethat God is asking to think of every single person in this room as more significant than you every person I'm the leastsignificant person here how might I treat them but I treat them with honor respect should I see if I can help themand then Vice vers they then they think of you more significantly than themselves it's this beautiful family relationship that we have and so thecall is are there ways that we can bless this community are there ways that we can love better I think of the JFK quoteright ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country it's the same for us as Christians it'snot hey what can this church do for me but it's hey what can I do for this congregation what can I do for thesepeople right because Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us so we get tolay down ours for others and that doesn't mean only that you're willing to take a bullet forsomebody which you should you know that's good that's great that's you know what John says um No Greater Love isthis than we should lay down our life for another but but as I talk about it in marriage counseling um laying downone's life which is what husbands are called to do for their wives is not just I'll be the one to die if one of us has to but it means that I no longer view mylife is more important than theirs and this life and this gift that I have this is a wonderful opportunity tothen go out and bless other people so one thing to know when youfeel like your love is far shorter than it should be far less don't look to your love look to Jesus's and secondly howcan you love those around us even more than we currently do are the ways that we can Embrace each other as brothersand sisters not as just strangers not as just people who happen to watch the same movie but as people that Jesus died forand has called us into relationship with may that be our goal and our mission as God's familyamen we're now going to enter into a time of prayer um if you're on the live stream I thank you for joining us um youcan comment any prayer request we'd love to as a church pray for you um one thing that I love about prayer is uh Godinvites us to come to him um not just like all right sure I'll hear you out umbut God actually wants us to come to him prayer is actually a really cool thing that God wants to hear from us I'm afather um some of us are parents I love when my son asks me to do things I lovewhen my son says hey I can't reach this Dad can you go get that hey can you come wrestle on the bed it's usually what itis um but but it brings me joy when he wants something from me when he says Hey Dad could you do this for me and in thesame way we're told that God Delights when his children come to him and say hey heavenly father I'm struggling withthis could you help me says yeah I'd love to hey God I just want to thank you for this you're welcome you're welcomeDaughter you're welcome son so we get a chance to pray and to lift up the concerns on our hearts in our minds allthose things um that we're going through that loved ones are going through the world is going through it's one of the best things we can do as a ChristianChurch is just pray for the world and because there's only one person who holds everything in his hands and hisname is Jesus and we actually have an opportunity to come to him and say hey Jesus could you do this so we're nowgoing to go before God in a time of prayer I invite you to Bow your heads withme Heavenly Father we thank you for your son Jesus who was willing to be forsakenso we might be forgiven we we thank you for your love that knows no bounds That Forgives useven with our lack of love our lack of action we pray that you would make us apeople that loves one another that we would mutually lay down our lives for eachother father we thank you for your Apostle St John who wrote these beautiful words for us and as a churchnamed after him I just pray that people would see those words embodied that this is a place that loves one another andsays look how they love I just pray that you continue to stir up a heart of servicegenerosity of sacrifice that we might look at each other as you call us to lookat we now ask you hear these prayers on behalf of your people father we pray for the healingand recovery of Janet strong following knee replacement surgery um we thank youfor doctors and medical professionals who could perform such surgeries and we pray that the recovery would go smoothum keep Janet in good spirits and be with her throughout this whole process and hopefully making a fullrecovery Heavenly Father we lift up to you a request for resolution for theconflict in the Middle East we pray for peace between the Jewish and the Palestinianpeople God there are situations in this world that humanly we cannot see how they're going toresolve and our only hope is that it is all in your control and so we just pray for for all of those who are mourningright now all of those who have lost loved ones all of those who are caught in crossfire we pray for peace in theMiddle East Heavenly Father we pray for all families in our church we pray forhusbands and wives to cling to one another in steadfast love andfaithfulness pray that they would love and honor one another we pray for children to beraised um in obedience in love and in joywe pray that they might grow day by day to know your love and your will more and more we pray for parents that you wouldequip them for this great Duty that you would strengthen and enable them to raise their kids um in love and fear foryou and in love and fear for their parents father we pray for all of thosewho are expectant mothers all of those who have babies on the way um we pray that you would watch over both motherand child um that you would be with them that you would guide them safely to delivery that You' prepare thoseexpectant parents for this great calling that is being put upon them um that you would lead them and prepare them in thistime of anticipation to be good parents to their kids with that Lord we also pray forthose um for whom expectancy in pregnancy is is a struggle is a reminderof pain we pray for all of those who are struggling with infertility all of those who have experienced miscarriages andstillborns we pray that at a time of of tragedy and of mourning for pain that that does notjust go away that you would be in the midst of it that you would bring comfort and hope that you would use us as yourpeople to Bear their burdens with them so nobody has to walk alone through thosepains father we pray for the singles in our church um we thank you for the gift that they are to our congregation forall of those who are currently not married um we thank you for their gifts their blessing we thank you that they are a reminder that your true church isthe true family and that everybody can find a home in here so for those who are singlewe pray that you would give them meaningful relationships and friendships um people to lean on spend time with forthose who desire marriage we pray that you would um provide for them Godlyspouses in your time um but no matter what happens we pray that they would grow in love and Trust according to yourwill and we pray for our church family that we would continue to embody the great desire that you have for yourcommunity of people Heavenly Father we pray for the imprisoned on those who areincarcerated and behind bars who are a waiting trials or serving sentences your son Jesus said to hispeople when I was in prisoned you visited me we pray that we never forget those who are in a situation that isoften isolating and lonely often filled with Despair and we pray that you would bring comfort and hope in that darkplace that you'd bring community we pray for justice in our Judiciary System that everyone would receive faird processthat the truth would remain would come Supreme and we just pray for all ofthose who are currently incarcerated we also pray for all those who are currently exposed to the elements as thetemperature goes down lord there are those who lack shelter lack clothing we just pray that you would whether it'sthrough organizations or programs or through us um keep those individuals exposed warm keep them them fed continueto bless them and be with them Father we pray for your church on Earth we pray that you would remain pureand holy according to the teaching and the love of your son Jesus that youwould be unified and we pray for resolution to the many splinters in your Christian Church that we could unitearound the one true faith we pray that you would keep the church on itsmission to live out your will and to bring more people into the hope and life ofJesus finally father we pray for the victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan for the many people who have lost lovedones um for those who are trying to pick up the pieces um we pray that in themidst of disaster you would again be present to bring comfort and hope we pray that you would use what isbad for your good and maybe at this time you would use This Disaster for people to turn to you as the one source oflight father we thank you um for this time of prayer we thank you that you eagerlyawait our prayers that you love when we speak to you and we come to you and we ask things of you we thank you for yourgoodness and we have confidence that we can do this because of your son Jesus who in his sacrifice and Resurrection isnow the great mediator and so it is with boldness that we can come together and pray with one voice the prayer that hehas taught us to pray Our Father who is in heavenHallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is inheaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as weforgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but DeliverUs from Evil for yours is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and everamen we're not just going to have a time of confession um in the world we often have to try and dress ourselves up makeourselves look successful and good and like everything's together confession is a time when we get to be siblingssiblings see all your worse stuff um my brothers have more dirt on me than anybody but we get to just confess Godyou know what I haven't loved as I should I haven't loved you I haven't loved these people and I'msorry un likee a loving father the word we get back it's okay you're forgiven soI'm just going to give you a moment to silently confess anything that's on your heart or mind especially today's we think about the ways that we have orhave not loved our brothers and sisters in this congregation um we just get touh to confess that to God to be honest about it and then be released from thatand forgiven so I'm just going to give you a moment now to Sil confess [Music]that [Music][Music] please pray with me Lord Jesus Christ we confess to youthat we have sinned by our thoughts by our words and by ourDeeds by both those things that we have done against what you want and those things you've asked us to do that wehaven't done God we have sinned against you we've not Loved You Jesus with our wholeheart mind soul and strength and we have not loved our neighbors and our brothers and sisters asourselves and God according to your perfect holy righteous judgment we would deserve nothing but punishment and yetaccording to your infinite mercy and the love and sacrifice of your son Jesus we ask that you would forgive us that youwould cleanse us from all unrighteous ious nness you would not take your Holy Spirit from us but renew your spiritonce again in US lead us to lives of love not just in words and talk but indeeds and in truth we ask this all in Jesus name amen and our God Delights in forgivingus when we confess he is faithful and just and forgives us all our sins therefore as I called and ordainedservant of the word by the authority and command of my Lord Jesus Christ to hereby forgive you all of your sins in the name of the father and of the sonand of the holy spirit amen and now we have a beautiful opportunity to experience a and receivea family meal um we're told that communion is a foretaste it is a preview of that final Feast that we will getwhen Jesus comes back and we're United with all Christians across all time and place uh this week I got to go to aconference and we had service there and usually when I'm at a worship service I'm usually have a role in it I'musually leading it uh this was one of the first ones in a while that I just got to partake in and one of my favorite things to do when I take Comm communionis to be looking around the room at all the people I'm communing with and saying wow these are my brothers and sistersand these are the people that one day I'm going to be sitting at a table with and we're going to be rejoicing in the love ofGod and this is a family meal just like if you have a a Thanksgiving or Christmas tradition where everyone gathers together and everyone catches upand laughs and talks we get to experience that but this meal is so special it's not just any old food it'sactually Jesus giving himself once again giving his body and his blood blood to us for our life forgiveness andsalvation now it's a meal that we celebrate because Jesus himself told usto because Jesus on the night when he was betrayed tookbread when he had given thanks he gave it to his disciples and said Take and Eat This is my body given for you dothis in remembrance of me and in the same way he took the cupafter supper when he given thanks he gave it to to all of them said take and drink this cup is my blood of the NewTestament shed for the Forgiveness of all of your sins do this as often as you drink it in remembrance ofme so during this next song I invite you if you wish to receive Jesus's body and blood for your life forgiveness andsalvation as part of this family part of this Brotherhood and Sisterhood I inviteyou to come forward and come to the Lord'stable [Music][Music][Music][Music]wory of every song we could ever [Music]sing worthy of all the praise we could everbre worthy of every breath we could ever be we live foryou come on we sing Jesus Jesus the name above every othername Jesus the only one who could eversay you're worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live foryou oh we live for you holy andholy there is no one like you there is is none beside you open up my eyes inWonder and show me who you are and fillme with your heart and Lead Me In YourLove to those around [Music]me come on he's worthy let's sing to himworthy of every song we could eversing worthy of all the praise we could ever[Music] bring worthy of every breath we couldever breathe we live for [Music] you we live for youJesus Jesus the name above every othername Jesus the only one who could ever say youare worthy of every breath we could ever bre we live foryou oh we live for you Lordholy holy there is no one like you there isnothing beside you open up my eyes inWonder and show me who you are and fillme with your heart and Lead Me In YourLove holy we singHoly there is no one like you there isbeside you open up my eyes in Wonder andshow me who you are and fill me withyour heart and need in your love tothose [Music]me Hallelujah[Music] and I will build my lifeupon your love it is a firmfoundation and I will put my trust inyou alone and I will not be I will build youI will build my life upon your love itis a and I will put mytrust in you alone Jesus I will not beShen come on let's sing holy to him this morning andholy there is no one like you there isnone beside you open up my eyes inWonder and show me who you are and F mewith your heart and Le Me In Your Lovecome on just the voices let's lift it up [Music] holy there is no one like you there isnone beside you open up my eyes and showus Lord show who you are and fill me with yourheart and Lead Me In Your Love to thosearound me [Music]now may the eating and drinking of this true body and blood strengthen and preserve you to life Everlasting amenone quick announcement before our final blessing there are more pies this is the last week to buy them go get your piesit's great Sports a good cause and they are delicious um so please please uh know that those are out there um thanksfor having me it's always a blessing to be here thanks for your warm and hospitality and I want to leave you with this blessing from Romans 15 May the godof Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope amenhave a blessed weekEnglish (auto-generated)