Sunday Worship: Together

Yes. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure I had the right thing here. We're going to be reading together out of Psalm 95 today as we focus on worship today, as Brandon continues in Acts. And if we want to go ahead and stand, we'll go ahead and read our verses together. We're going to be doing verses one through six.

And it starts, "O come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth. The heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands form the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker." This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray.

God, we thank you that we're able to gather here today, and we thank you for those that are joining us in person, and those that are joining us online today, and we just ask that this service is a blessing for everyone here, and that it glorifies you, and we thank you that we can come together and worship you, and worship all of these mighty and amazing things that you are, that our minds can't even fathom. You holding the depths of the earth and the mountains, like, we just can't even comprehend that, but you can, and we're so thankful for you, and we are thankful for the opportunity to worship you, and we ask that you just be with our service today, and, again, may it glorify you. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so our first Song we're gonna start with today is, "Come, now is the time to worship."

Come, now is the time to worship. Come, now is the time to give your heart. Come, just as you are to worship, come, just as you are to worship. Come, just as you are before your God. Come. One day every tongue will confess you are God. One day every knee will bow. Still the greatest treasure remains for the Lord. Those who gladly choose you now. Come. Now is the time to worship. Come. Now is the time to give your heart. Come. Just as you are. You are to worship. Come. Just as you are before your God. Come. One day every tongue will confess you are God. One day every knee will bow. Still my greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now. One day every tongue will confess you are God. One day every knee will bow.

Still my greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now. Come. Now is the time to worship. Come. Now is the time to give your heart. Come. Just as you are to worship. Come. Just as you are before your love. Come. Come. Come. Okay. All right. Our next song we're going to do is "How Great Is Our God," and then we're going to have our prayer and share time. And if you're watching online, there will be a slide up for a number that you can text. to share your prayer requests. We'd love to pray for you. If it's not muted and there's music playing, that's good because we're trying something new again. But if it is muted, don't worry. We haven't left you. We'll be back after we share that time together here in person. So we're going to be singing "How Great Is Our God."

The splendor of the King. The golden majesty. Let all the earth rejoice. All the earth rejoice. He wraps himself in light. He goes to high. He trembles at His voice. He trembles at His voice. How great is our God. Sing with me. How great is our God. Oh, see how great. How great is our God. And page to page He stands. And time is in His hands. Beginning and the end. Beginning and the end. The God had dreamed in one. Father, Spirit, Son. The Lion and the Lamb. The Lion and the Lamb. How great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God. Oh, see how great, how great is our God. How great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God. Oh, see how great, how great is our God.

Name above all names. The worthy of all praise. My heart will sing, how great is our God. Name above all names. The worthy of all praise. My heart will sing, how great is our God. How great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God. Oh, we'll see how great, how great is our God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Amen. Amen.

It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Amen.

Thank you, Russell. As we move into our time of communion, we're going to be singing together "How Deep the Father's Love." If you haven't gotten your juice and cup, it's back there on the back table, and be sure to get that so we can partake together in that.

The Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss! The Father turns His face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory. Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders. Ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why soon I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom.

Let's pray together and worship you, and we thank you so much for the deep love that saves us from all of our sins and that we would be humbled to know that we can't boast in anything that we do, but only in what you've done for us, and we thank you for that gift, and we thank you for your grace, and we just ask that you continue to be with our service today, be with Brandon as he brings a sermon, and just help it to be glorifying you in Jesus' name. Amen.

So last night we were trying to find a movie to watch, and we wanted to watch something new, and I don't know if the kids did, but I did because there's really only so many times that you can watch Toy Story before you just want to throw the TV out the front door. And so I was looking through movies, and I was thinking about the movies that we used to watch when we were kids. And one of the movies that we watched with kids that was kind of influential on us was the movie Heidi. It was influential enough that our first dog was named Heidi. And so we watched the one, I think it was from 1968, and as we were watching it, there was something that struck me. And so Heidi has just gone to go and live with her grandfather. She feels like she's not wanted, and she's up on the mountain with a young boy who's herding goats, and she asked him how he became a goat herd.

And he said, "Well, my father and his father and his father and his father." And she said, "Do you want to do this when you grow up?" And he says, "Absolutely." And he's like, "What do you want?" And this is what she said that struck me so deeply. All I want is a place at the table. When everyone sits down to eat, they point to it and they say, "This is Heidi's place. Something all my own that nobody can take away." And he looks at her and he says, "Well, everybody has that." She says, "I don't." And there is something in all of us that longs for a place at the table. A place to be accepted, a place to be loved, a place that says, "This is my place and these are my people." And as we gather this morning together as a church,

whether we're here in the building or online, God has made for us a place at his table. One of the comforting elements of the 23rd Psalm is what? That the Lord has prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. In Revelation 19, it says, "The angel said to me, 'Write this, blessed are those who are invited into the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." And so we have been invited to a table. We have a place made for us. A place that if you're a Christian, God looks at you and he says, "This is Brandon's place. This is your place." And that it can't be taken away from you. And as we gather, we would remember this morning the cost of being brought to this table.

A cost not with gold or silver or dollar bills, but that of a lamb without spot or blemish. And so as we remember the cross, as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, as we remember the cost of our salvation, remember that you have a place at the table. Let's pray. Father, thank you for giving us a place. Thank you for protecting us and watching over us. I ask that you would bless this bread and bless this cup. May we rejoice in the Gospel. May we be transformed by the Gospel. May we be strengthened by the Gospel. And may we proclaim the Gospel. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Paul says this, "What I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you." The Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,

"This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also, He took the cup after supper. And if you're not familiar with Passover, this would be the cup of thanksgiving. A cup where you remember the good blessings of God and Jesus will say, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." Let's remember God's good gifts. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." Let's pray. Father, thank You so much for the sacrifice of Your Son. Thank You for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank You that You have given us a seat at this table. Thank You that You watch over us. Encourage us and strengthen us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

This morning's Scripture reading is from Acts 2. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking the bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray before we wrap up Acts chapter 2. Father, thank you for your word and for your church.

We thank you for your people. We thank you that we can hear your word proclaimed, that we can read your word together. We thank you that we can gather together around the table to be encouraged and strengthened and convicted and helped and nourished by the good news of the gospel. Be with us this morning as we look back to the beginnings of the church as we know it. Thank you for strengthening us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So one of the, I guess it was the second or third time that I've met Rachel. So this is a, I guess it's Valentine's Day, so you've got to talk about how you met. The first time I met Rachel, it was here at church. I was not very nice to her. The second time I met her, she had just had knee surgery and probably doesn't remember it because she was on a lot of pain medicine.

The third time I met her, back when IHOP over here was 24 hours a day. It was like the middle of the night. It was like one in the morning, and I was at IHOP eating breakfast, drinking coffee, and reading a Greek poet by the name of Aeschylus. Just all by myself. Looking back on it, it was a pretty sad situation. And as I was getting ready to leave me, I paid my bill, and I had, you know, my Greek poets. And I'm walking out. There was this crazy lady that was like, "Brandon Merrill!" And it turned out it was Rachel and her basketball team coming from Shenandoah over here. And so one of the things I realized after being married to Rachel is that it turns out it's a lot better to go to IHOP with a pretty lady than with a dead Greek poet, right?

Especially in the middle of the night. And so there are things that are better, and we find this in most of life, there are things that are better when we're with other people rather than being by ourself. And what we find biblically is that it is God's design for His people to be together. In fact, if you look through the New Testament, an interesting way to look at this is just look for that phrase "one another." And if you move through the New Testament, what you'll find is that we're called to love one another. We're called to be united together, to live in unity with one another, to outdo one another in showing honor, to instruct one another, to have concern for one another, to bear one another's burdens, to be kind to one another, to be compassionate to one another, to encourage one another, to pray for one another.

And this is just a sample of the "one another" passages throughout Scripture. And in the text that Brent read for us, one of the things you find is that the first group of believers, those who responded to Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, who will later become, we'll see in the book of Acts, come to be called Christians, they were together. In fact, all of the pronouns in this text are plural, right? It's they met, they did this, they devoted themselves, they were in the temple, they were in each other's houses, that this is a picture of Christian community. And the thing that we need to understand is that God's people are intended to be together. We are intended to be in community, whether that's to encourage, whether that's to help, whether that's to strengthen,

whether that's to help each other deal with sin, to watch each other's backs. God has intended us to be together in community. And so I want to take a look at this text this morning, and I want to pull out, I think, three specific things. First of all, I want to take a look at what the early church is doing. Secondly, and I think this is important because we often miss it, I want us to look at how they're doing it, not just what they're doing. Oftentimes, that's where we look at in this text. We look at Acts 2:42. We say they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, breaking of bread, fellowship, and prayer. But I want us to look not just at they do those things, but how they are doing those things. And then third, we see what God is doing in the lives of the church.

And so let's take a look, first of all, at what the church is doing. Now, it's interesting the way this text divides out. It divides out into sort of generalities and specifics. And so we see sort of a general overview in verse 42 that they were devoted to the apostles' teaching, to the breaking of bread, to fellowship, and to prayer. So those are sort of the general categories. And then in the rest of the verses, we see the specifics of how those play out. And so what you find, first of all, is that they were a people who learned together. They were devoted to the apostles' teaching. And when Luke sort of expounds on that, look at what he says in verse 43, "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles' teaching."

And so we might ask, "What are they teaching?" The apostles were called to be witnesses about Jesus. That's what Jesus will say in Acts 1:8. He will say that, "You are going to be my witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem, into Judea, and into Samaria, and into the ends of the earth," sort of picture, throwing a rock into a pond and watching circles spread out. This was how the apostles were to share the gospel, sort of ever expanding to the ends of the earth. When they choose a replacement for Judas, remember they wanted to choose somebody in Acts 1:21, that had been with them and had witnessed the resurrection because the big part of the apostles' message was to tell people what they had seen and what they had heard and what they had experienced with Jesus.

In Acts 2:11, we hear them in our own tongues telling the mighty works of God. Peter will emphasize in his sermon the plan of God. Brothers, the Scripture that had been fulfilled before. That's Acts 1. As they appoint a new apostle in Acts 2, we see that this all happened according to the plan and the foreknowledge of God. We see the gospel proclaimed, the life, death, burial, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus. And so you might say, "Well, how does Acts 2:43 about signs and wonders and awe fit with Acts 2:42 with the apostles' teaching?" One of the reasons that there are signs and wonders is so that the truth of their message can be credentialed. Just like when we ask somebody for identification, to prove that they are really who they say they are, or to prove that they are as old as they say they are,

one of the things that signs and wonders do, they're not just to be showy, or to have an interesting experience, or to draw a crowd, but rather to put a stamp of authority upon the teaching of the apostles and say, "This is true, and you know it because you see them doing something that no human can do, that can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit working through their life." And so they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. And they loved each other. And not in a romantic Valentine's Day, Cupid-shooting-you-with-an-arrow kind of way, but in a sacrificial, deep kind of way. Look what it says in verse 44 and 45, "All who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and their belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had needed."

And so when we talk about fellowship, most of us have a very shallow view of fellowship. For most of us, fellowship means that we hang out with some Christians a little bit. Maybe we have dinner. We go get a cup of coffee with a picture here of fellowship. And certainly, that enjoyable community with God's people is an aspect of fellowship, but it is not the entire thing. It goes far deeper. And biblically, what we see is fellowship sort of divided into two categories. There is, among God's people, a spiritual fellowship, where we are in Christ, and we have the same Savior, and we have the same mission, and we are equipped by the same Spirit. There is a spiritual fellowship between all of us. But there is also here a physical fellowship. And notice what it says, that they shared their physical stuff.

They had all things in common. Now, this is bigger than when you open a bag of chips and you're sitting next to your friend, and you say, "You want some chips?" Or you share a sandwich at lunch. This is bigger, deeper, and more sacrificial. They were selling their possessions and their property and distributing the money among those who had need. Now, I don't know about you, but immediately this kind of makes us feel uncomfortable, right? Some sort of weird communal situation, or maybe even we would say communism, right? Where everybody pools all their money and you get money from here or from there. What you find is that's not what this is. This is radical generosity. And we'll see it sort of exhibited throughout the book of Acts, but this is something that is voluntary.

And it's done in accordance with the need that when somebody in the church needed something, the rest of the church helped them. When somebody was struggling, the rest of the church stepped up and walked alongside them. And remember, the need in this church is likely great. Because as all of these people are converted, remember they're from all different places and they're visiting in Jerusalem. And now they're sort of staying there in the excitement and the joy of what God is doing. And the church takes care of each other. And so what you find is they learned together, they loved each other, and they worshiped together. It says this in 246 through the first part of 47, "And day by day, attending the temple together, and breaking bread in their homes, they received food with glad and generous hearts,

praising God and having favor with all people." But notice, first of all, that they are consistent in their worship, day by day. And I would just remind you that one of the reasons that we need to be with God's people is not because we're trying to sort of pay God off or make Him happy and say, "Well, God's going to be mad at me if I don't do that," but He has established this body of believers and He has established the church because you and I need to be with other Christians. And so there are times when my brother will text me and say, "Well, we're not going to make it to church or something." And I'll reply to him with Hebrews 10:25, which says, "Not forsaking the assembling of the believers as is the habit of some."

And so I'll just reply to him, "Not forsaking the assembly of the believers." That's not how that verse is supposed to be used, right? That verse is not a club that you beat your brother over the head with to make him feel guilty. In fact, if you read the whole context of Hebrews 10:24-25, the picture there is that you and I need to be encouraged because we live in a discouraging world. We need to be helped because we live in a hard world. We need to be together with our people because we feel alone in a lonely world. And God has created the church to strengthen us and to help us and to be close to our brothers and sisters in Christ. And so rather than using that verse to beat each other over the head,

rather it's a reminder of the good things that God does in his body, the church. I need to gather with God's people because I need to be encouraged, because I need to learn. I need to be with others who strengthen me and help me. And notice that their worship is both formal and informal. So they're in the temple together, which would have been their formal worship. And they're with each other in their homes, and they're worshiping privately. And they're worshiping in big groups, and they're worshiping in small groups. So in the temple, likely many of them could get together because there's a lot of space. And then you have small groups breaking out and going to the homes and spending time together. Part of that worship was the breaking of bread. Now that can simply sometimes in Scripture mean a meal.

So for example, in Acts chapter 27, Paul and his ship, they've been in a big storm. And what Paul will say to them in Acts 27:35, "He took bread, giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. And then all were encouraged and ate some food themselves." And so the word breaking of bread can sometimes mean just having dinner together. But it can also mean something a little more specific. And while I think the early church definitely shared food, in fact, we see them doing that, eating together in their houses, I think that based on the context and the language, this refers to what we just did a few minutes ago. Breaking bread together around this table. You know what Paul says, "I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, the Lord Jesus,

on the night when he was betrayed, took bread." What did he do? He broke it. He said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And it's interesting, as Luke records what they did, he says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, and he doesn't just say breaking of bread, but he says the breaking of bread. It's called a definite article. It's the difference between generalities and specifics, right? It's the difference between saying a dog and the dog, right? There's a specific one. And when he writes about this, he's very specific. This is not just a breaking of bread, but he says it is the breaking of bread. That the church gathers together, they're encouraged in meals together, but they're also encouraged in the gospel as they break the bread and they drink the cup,

and they celebrate, remember, strengthen, and are convicted by the sacrifice of Jesus. They also prayed together in the temple and in their houses. They prayed for one another, and we'll see more of this as we move through the book of Acts. And so many times I think our primary focus on this passage are these things that they're doing, that they learned, that they fellowshiped, and they loved one another, and they shared what they had, and they broke bread together, and they prayed together, and they worshiped together. But there's more to this text than simply what they did. And I want you to see, not just what they're doing, but how they're doing. It says, first of all, in Acts 2:42, that they devoted themselves. And the Greek word there literally means "toward strength." That this is not something that they did once, and then never did again.

It's not something they did for a little while. It's strength in a particular direction. And we're used to passing fads, right? So if you go back and look at old pictures of yourself, and you say, "I can't believe that I used to wear that because it was popular at the time." Or, "I can't believe I used to do my hair like that because it was popular at the time." We're used to passing fads. We're used to things changing. Everybody being excited about something for a little while, and then what happens? The hype dies down, and we go to something else. That's not the picture of what is happening here with the learning, with the fellowship, with the worship. This is something that they devoted themselves to. They continually and intentionally directed their attention at these things.

They were not distracted. And the word also carries with it the connotation that you're not distracted even when things get difficult. So this is not a fair-weather practice, but it is rather a practice that is intentional even when it's hard and when it's difficult. The second thing we see is that they were in awe. Verse 43. It's a picture of reverence. And what it means is not only were they intentional about what they did and an attitude of intentionality, they also took it seriously. Because sometimes we take things not very seriously. I have a tendency, especially when things get tense and difficult, to try to make a dumb joke, and I think it really annoys Rachel. That's not what they did. They took things very seriously. Maybe you saw the news this week where during the Super Bowl,

parade. You know, they did it on the water so everybody could be socially distanced. Some of the guys really were enjoying themselves. And so Tom Brady took the very expensive Super Bowl trophy and tossed it over the water to Gronk and did not take it. And people are upset because he didn't take it seriously, right? Here's something that's worth thousands of dollars and you just tossed it across from one boat to another. They are not treating what they are doing flippantly, right? When the church comes together, what we do is, it's not small, right? This is not unimportant. This is something given to us, ordained by God for our good. It's not a small thing we do when we gather with God's people. The third thing we see about what they're doing is they did so. This is verse 46.

They did so, as they're breaking bread, they did so with glad. And the English Standard Version says, "Generous hearts." Other translations will say, "Sincere hearts." I want to deal with the gladness first, because this is like an exaltation. It's not just somebody who's happy, or having a good day, or smiling just a little bit. This is the picture of overflowing joy. In fact, this word is the same word that's used. Remember when Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, and Elizabeth says, "The baby leaped in my womb for joy." It's the same word here. The same word as John the Baptist, in the womb, is overjoyed at seeing the Messiah, Jesus. That's the same picture here. That God's people aren't doing this grudgingly or sadly. It's like, you gotta take the dogs out when it's cold and raining, and they just stand at the front door and say, "Nope."

Nope, nope. We'll just stay inside till spring. That's not the picture here. It's not grudging. It's not like asking your kids to pick up their room. This is something that is joyful and wonderful. And it says, "Generous or sincere hearts." And what that means is literally not holding anything back. And the picture here, and the word here is very interesting because it means sort of stony ground, but not stony ground with rocks strewn all over, but ground that is smooth. A smooth rock. And the picture here is there's nothing to hide behind. That they aren't holding back some joy. They're not holding back some generosity. They're not holding anything back. But they are sincere, and they are glad at what God has done. And look at verse 247. "While they are learning, worshipping, fellowshipping, and doing so gladly, taking it seriously, with devotion,

here's what God is doing." And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who are being saved. And look at what God does. He grows the church. It's not these people. We don't convert people, right? We can tell them about Jesus, but ultimately the work of conversion is done by the power of God that God added to their number daily, those who are being saved. God grows the church through the witness of His people and the power of the Spirit, but the work belongs to God. God is the one who adds. So what this means for us, I think first of all, it has to do with our priorities. What is important to those first believers should be important to us. The Word of God, understanding what the apostles taught. Fellowship with each other, not just on a superficial

level, but on a deep level where we care for each other's needs, both spiritually and physically. That we worship together in prayer, and in the Gospel, remembering what Jesus has done for us. It shows us a pattern of life that is a pattern of life in the church. It calls us to evaluate our hearts. Especially in those three attitudes that you see exhibited, where they are intentional, that they are serious about what they are doing, and they are joyful while they are doing it. As we consider our relationship to God's people, do those things apply to us? Are we intentional? Do we see the wonder and the awe in what God has done by bringing a people from all different places and all different backgrounds and all different lives together to proclaim His glory? And do we do so joyfully? It's also an invitation. Right? To those who are

outside and who see the good news of the Gospel, this is a call to find your spot at the table. That God is the one who is calling you, God is the one who adds you, and God loves you, and He wants you to be part of His family. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your Word and for Your church. As individuals and as a church, may we evaluate our priorities. May we look to the example that is set. May we examine our hearts and may we trust in You as You are at work. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand in. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and blessed. Watching, awaiting, looking above. Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. I want to thank you for joining us this morning. Just a couple of quick announcements. First of all, on Mondays we post on Facebook and YouTube and on our website just sort of a short devotional from the Psalms. This week we're in Psalm chapter 7. A Psalm that is sort of a picture of what happens when you face opposition from outside. And so I think it's good for us to be encouraged by what has been the prayer book and the hymn book of God's people.

And so we're just simply walking through the Psalms. So you can find those on our Facebook page, on our YouTube page, or on our website. Also this Wednesday night we will be in sort of wrapping up our study in the parables. We've been here for a number of weeks, I think like 13 or 14 weeks. That's live here at church, and you can watch it online. So that's Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Also next we are going to go to the Book of Job, Wednesday, February 24th. We're going to be spending some time in the Book of Job. Just a little bit of an update, we'll add this in the email that goes out this week. We'll send out sort of an introduction video this week to give a little bit of background, and once again that will be here at the church and then online as well.

And this week, weather permitting, Thursday ladies Bible study will be here at the church at 1 p.m. that's through the women of the Bible. And so if for some reason they're predicting precipitation, which means either we'll have something or absolutely nothing, we don't know. So we'll let you know if for some reason it's a little too icy or weather isn't very good. But that's planned on Thursday at 1 p.m. We'll go ahead and have a word of prayer and then sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you for allowing us to be here together this morning. This morning, thank you for your church, your word. We thank you for your people. We thank you for the gift of your spirit. We just ask that you would encourage us and strengthen us through your word and your spirit throughout this week. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Thank you.