A Living Stone

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. And as we get ready to sing, "This is our God," this psalm ends with God's people saying, "Continually, great is the Lord." So we're going to sing, "This is our God."

Remember those walls that we called sin and shame? They were like prisons that we couldn't escape. But he came, and he died, and he rose. Those walls are rubble now.

Remember those giants we called death and grave? They were like mountains that stood in our way. But he came, and he died, and he rose. Those giants are dead now.

This is our God. This is who he is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what he does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray. But he heard every word, every whisper. Now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of his faithfulness. Never once did he fail, and he never will. This is our God. This is who he is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what he does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. Who pulled me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who pulled me out of that pit? He did. He did. He did.

Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who pulled me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Him. This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God. King, Yahweh. This is our God. King, Jesus. He bore the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God. King, Jesus.

Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand when everything around me is shaken. I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus, 'cause He's never let me down. He's faithful through generations. So why would He fail now? He won't. He won't. I've still got joy in chaos. I've got peace that makes no sense. So I won't be going under. I'm not held by my own strength. 'Cause I built my life on Jesus. He's never let me down. He's faithful in every season. So why would he fail now? He won't. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. Rain came, wind blew. My house was built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make it through. Rain came, wind blew. My house was built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make it through. Yeah.

I'm gonna make it through. 'Cause I'm standing strong on you. Oh, I'm gonna make it through. 'Cause my house is built on you. Christ is my firm foundation. The rock on which I stand. When everything around me shows. I've never been more glad. I put my faith in Jesus. 'Cause he's never let me down. He's faithful through generations. So why would he fail now? He won't. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's pray. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For more information, visit www.fema.org/webcast.com For more information, visit www.fema.org/webcast.com www.fema.org/webcast.com www.fema.org/webcast.com www.fema.org/webcast.com For more information, visit www.fema.org/webcast.com www.fema.org/webcast.com www.fema.org/webcast.com www.fema.org/webcast.com

I generally like to be prepared and ready for things. When we were getting ready to have our first child, right? It wasn't just Rachel who read the books. I read some parenting books specifically for dads, so that in case we ever ran out of diapers, I'd be able to diaper a baby with a bandana, practice my swaddling. I was ready to go. And I realized this week that there are things that maybe you can't really prepare for. And I think it was Dave who I was talking to maybe Thursday when I said, "I didn't realize that it's far easier to have surgery," and I've had a bunch, "than to watch your child go into surgery." And even if it's not a major surgery, you still look and you say, "Man, I just wish." It's far easier to be in that bed than to all of those worries that you have as you watch your child go into surgery.

Now, here's the thing about that. Didn't really care about the people in the next bed over, right? I was like, "Yeah, you know what? They're kind of on their own. I'm sure they have family who like them and care for them." And as this week is reading and preparing for today, I was thinking about the songs we were singing. In Romans chapter 5, you have this picture on a much bigger scale. Paul writes this, "For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, someone would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And there is this picture that maybe we can understand taking the place of someone we love deeply.

Or someone who has done great in good things, but for those who are distant to us. Or maybe those who are our enemies, we would say, "You know what? You're on your own." And I want you to hear the description here that Paul writes that when Jesus dies for us, it was while we were weak. And while we were yet sinners. He didn't die for us because we were good or because we were strong. He takes our place. He goes into the cross. He bears the weight of our sins, and he dies for us while we were yet sinners. And so as we come to this table, I want us to come to a place where we see the grace of God and the love of God and the depths of his love for us and the depths of his sacrifice on the cross poured out to us.

Because what you see in Scripture is that when we see this clearly, it transforms us. It changes us. It encourages us when we're weak. It strengthens us and gives us courage when we're fearful, when we're fighting with sin to see God's love, and that he empowers us, calling us and helping us to walk away from that sin. So let's go to God in prayer before we partake of this meal together. Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus and I thank you for grace. And I thank you that while we were still weak and that while we were yet sinners, you died for us. I thank you that we have hope, that we have forgiveness, and I ask that in this meal you would nourish our hearts and our souls, that you would give us the strength that we need, that you would bring us peace and hope.

We thank you so much for Jesus. We ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would, take the bread with me as Jesus shares with his disciples, and let's partake together in remembrance of him. As Jesus shares the cup about to redeem people, let's partake together and remember him. And as Paul writes in Romans chapter 5, it's not just that we were sinners, but that we were under the wrath of God. And that through Jesus, we are reconciled and we are saved by his life. He starts, ends like this. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received reconciliation. And the good news of the gospel is that there is reconciliation for broken, hurting, and lost sinners.

I'm going to read from 1 Peter chapter 2. We're going to read verses 4 through 8. If you want to follow along in your Bible, and then we will basically spend our time in verses 4 and 5 tonight, or this morning. So Derek, if you would... I've got the remote, but I can't see the monitor, so if you just want to follow with the Scripture, I think I can get the rest. As you come to him, a living stone, rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious.

And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for those of you who believe, but for those who do not believe, a stone the builders has rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. This is the word of the Lord. Father in heaven, be with us as we look to Jesus this morning. May you encourage us, may you teach us, may you strengthen us, may you help us to see your goodness, and may you help us to see that we have a place and a people and a purpose in your kingdom. So encourage us this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So it's interesting that as you get older, there is a transition between burdens and joys.

There are things that you don't appreciate when you're younger, that you do appreciate when you're older. And so in one of those cases, for me, that would be naps. So I remember as a child, right, I did not ever want to take a nap, and maybe that's hereditary, because I found out later in life that there were others in my family who were new to my family who also did not want to take naps. And there could be denial, right? Eyes are closed, very tired, and you say, "Hey, you want to go take a nap?" "No, no, I'm wide awake. I don't need a nap." And then there could be bargaining, right? "Just five more minutes, just ten more minutes, and then we'll take a nap." And then there could be procrastination and delay, sometimes intentional, maybe sometimes unintentional, right?

It's always those big, big life questions that you get right before bedtime, right? Why does God allow evil in the world, right? Three minutes before you're supposed to be in bed? And it's not time for a theology class, but also when your kids are asking about God, you don't want to just be like, "Hey, it's time for you to go to bed." And what happens is that as children, at least for me, I didn't want to take a nap. My kids don't like to take naps. And I've said to my kids, and I don't think they believe me, there will come a day when you just wish that you could take a nap. Or you'll be too busy. You'll have too many things to do, too many responsibilities. You won't be able to lay down and take a nap. And what for once for me was a burden, taking a nap, now has become a joy.

And this is important for us to understand, because I think some of us may have been taught either directly by someone specifically saying something to us, or maybe indirectly through Jesus, or through speaking to us, that following Jesus is some kind of a burden or a struggle. And maybe that's been inside the church a burden of expectation, not from Jesus, but from those who say that they will follow Jesus, those who maybe bind up heavy burdens. But also from those who are outside of Christ. There may be a burden of fear. I could never do that. I don't think I could do that, or I don't want to do that. And what Peter is showing us, as we move through his epistle and his letter, that even in a situation filled with suffering, because Peter is writing to Christians who are being persecuted and who are struggling,

that there is joy to be found in Christ. And so as we look up these verses, I want us to see that this is a display of joy. This text on the surface that we just read to can be a little bit difficult to understand. It kind of seems like Peter is just saying the same thing over and over again. He says there's a living stone, there's living stones. In Zion, there's going to be a stone. There's a cornerstone. There's a stone that the builders rejected. It's become the cornerstone. There's a stone of stumbling. There's a rock of offense. And it seems like on the surface what Peter is doing to us is what I used to do when I wrote papers in high school. Where it's like, "Well, you got to have this much length." And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to cite like three different sources that all say the same thing.

And if I make them a quote, then I can push my paper just a little longer. Because what Peter does here is he references three different places, two in Isaiah, one in the Psalms that refer to this rock or this cornerstone or a rock that causes people to stumble or that people are offended by. We might say, "Peter, what is the purpose in all of these different quotations?" And what he is doing, although it may not seem evident to us at first, is he's encouraging those Christians who are struggling with rejection and who are struggling with persecution. We see it in 1 Peter 1:6 where he says this, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials." And in verse 4 he says, "You come to him a living stone," and this is the important part, "rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious."

And as Jesus comes to people who are going through trials, and who are grieved, and who are rejected, verse 11 he'll talk about sojourners and exiles, and what Peter does to these Christians, and to us, who maybe are facing trials, maybe facing opposition, maybe facing persecution, feeling like we're outsiders and far away, what he does is he counters the difficulty of this situation that we see on the surface with the joy over what God has done. You see, he's changing perspectives. And you see it right there in verse 4 where he says, "He's been rejected by men, but chosen and precious in the sight of God." And what Peter is doing with all these quotations is not just trying to take up a bunch of space or say the same thing eight different ways. What he is doing is he's

showing us different facets of the joy that can be found in Christ. So if you've ever played with a kaleidoscope, or you've got a tube with some mirrors and you've got little pieces of plastic, or we have one at home that a marble slips in on the end and you turn it and that light reflects through in all different patterns, what Peter is doing, and it is so wonderful, is he is holding up the Scripture. As he says, as it stands in Scripture, and he turns it and you see a pattern develop, and you turn it and you see a pattern develop, and you turn it and you see a pattern develop. He's showing us these different facets of joy. We don't have time to chase every pattern or every reflection. So our primary focus is going to be here in verses four and five. "As you come to him, a living stone rejected

by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And so Peter begins like this, that this stone is precious. And it's different, and it's more important than every other stone. So almost all children at some point love rocks. And so one of my favorite memories with my little nephews is we hiked down over this hill to this little brook at their granddad's house. And I was like, "Let's find some rocks." And they're like, "Why are we finding rocks?" I was like, "Let's throw them in the water." And so for like the next 45 minutes, right, me as an adult and these two little guys are just throwing rocks into the water, having the time of our life. We get back to the house,

we're like, "Where were you guys?" Throwing rocks in the stream, right? It's just something that, at least for me, like it's a joyful thing. Let's throw some rocks. Then as you get a little older, right, the rocks go from throwing to sort of the collecting of rocks. So the rocks aren't just good for throwing, but you're out and you're walking through a park or in the woods. You get back to your car or back to your house, and as a dad you realize you've got a pocket full of rocks and a handful of sticks, and you've got to dispose of them before your children see it. I never threw your rocks and sticks away, but you've got to dispose of them really quickly. They like to collect them. But then what happens? You get a

little older, and then you start to really collect the special rocks. You go from throwing rocks to collecting gravel out of a parking lot. You're sort of being a rock connoisseur, right? That gravel doesn't have the same appeal as a colorful rock, or maybe a rock that you picked up at a special place, or a special type of rock. And in my day, I'd have a rock book. Now you can scan your rock with an app, and it tells you what it is. And there's fossils, and there's geodes. And the special rocks, at least in our family rock collection, are very different, right, than ordinary rocks. Because there's something that distinguishes it. When Peter speaks of Jesus here, he's saying that he is a precious stone. He says that there is something about Jesus that makes him worthy of a

special honor, that he's different from all of the other things that we can build with, or build on, or build near. That Jesus, there is some sort of distinguishing characteristics that make him very, very different. And the wonder of the rock of Christ is twofold, because in some characteristics, he's very much like a rock. But in other characteristics, he is a rock that is so very, very different. And so we see, as Peter talks about the rock that is Christ, he says that there is an unwavering strength. Now, this is not a new idea. Probably the first place we see this in Scripture is in the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, where Moses has written a song. And time after time, I think five times in Deuteronomy 32, we see God as our rock, either as the one who protects us safely and who supports us, or in some

cases as the one who trips us because we have been running after something that is wrong. And rock is a common picture in Scripture, frequently used as a strong shelter, and of protection, and of something that doesn't waver or doesn't move. And the picture that Peter is giving us is that this, that Jesus, our hope, is not weak or unsteady. And Peter's readers need this reassurance. They've left their former way of life behind, and now are facing difficulty and persecution. And their journey that began with joy, and maybe their neighbors are curious, but then they're facing hostility and full-fledged persecution. And it would feel for some of these people like their whole world is shaking. And it's not a good feeling when everything shakes. I don't know how many of you remember the 2011 tipped over like two of our lawn chairs in the yard. And we were in the sound

room here. It was like a Monday or Tuesday morning. It was working on something. And I thought when the earthquake came that something had ran into the building. Some guy driving down the street, because the whole building just kind of shook for a minute. And then it's like, "What's happening?" And then the internet didn't work. The phones were super busy. All of this trying to figure out what happened. And it's a weird thing when the thing that isn't supposed to move starts moving. And what Peter is saying to people in the midst of a world that is uncertain and filled with struggle is that your rock doesn't shake. The world around you might, but your rock does not move. And you and I need this assurance so desperately. Consider the change that happens in our world. And not just the change, but the speed of

change that happens. I think in like 1924, something like 20 or 22 percent of people in America own cars. Now it's something like 92, according to the last census, 92 percent of people own cars in the last hundred years. But in that, that percentage, like 22 percent, that 22 percent now owns like more than three cars, right? In a hundred years, we've gone from walking and horses and trains and the occasional car. Now it's an everyday understood thing. Or think about, and I was thinking about this the other day, there are things my kids do not understand. Like eight-track tapes. I'm old enough to remember when eight-tracks, like our cars were old enough, they had an eight-track player in it. Now it was not a new car, but it was a car that had an eight-track

player that had an eight-track player. For me, primarily growing up, it was cassettes or tapes. And then it moved to CDs and you had to rebuy all your music. And then it wasn't long before all became digital, and now I can get on my phone and find any song from any artist anywhere and play it. Right? And we're just talking in the span of like 40 years, remarkable technological change in one tiny area of life. Like my kids will never know like a blockbuster. Right? They'll never know really having to wait for the next episode of something to come on. I remember when 24 was a thing, there was a few of us here in church, we'd buy the seasons on DVD and swap them back and forth, watching Jack Bauer save America. Our world changes really, really fast, and not just technologically, right?

Culture shifts. Value shifts. Priorities shift. Everything shifts. And in some cases, we seek this change. Maybe we want something newer, faster, better, easier. But then also everything wears out. So some of the change in our life is because things wear out. And what we need is something that doesn't move. That doesn't change. That doesn't wear out. Peter says there is a precious stone in the midst of a changing world. There's something that is solid. And so Peter says this, "As you come to Him." A living stone. Rejected by men. But in the sight of God, chosen and precious. There is a place that you can put your feet that is solid. In the midst of all of your fears, and the waves of change, and the brokenness that surrounds you, there is a place that is solid.

And it is precious. And then he says this, "There is a living stone." Now I'm not old enough for this, not by, maybe like some of you, but in 1975, there's a guy by the name of Gary. And Gary was in a bar, and all of his buddies were complaining about their pets. And I don't know what specifically they were complaining about, whether they, you know, the amount of time, or the amount of money, or my dog is sick. And Gary comes up with an idea, and for those of you who are alive in 1975, you probably know this. He said, "You know what you guys need? It's a pet rock." And so Gary goes home, and he writes a 32-page book about how to care for your rock. And he's like, "It's really good in some things. Like, it'll stay. It'll sit. Right? It'll wait for you."

But there's some things, if you want it to roll over, it's going to need some help and instruction. You don't have to feed it. You don't have to take it to the vet. You don't have to wash it. Here is a pet rock. And then, for six months, this craze sweeps the nation. It makes like 15 million bucks selling rocks with a booklet. Right? This rock that doesn't do anything. And for us, it may seem rocks might have an interesting or valuable characteristic, but they don't really do anything. And what Peter says is, "Jesus very much, like the stone of a solid foundation, will keep you in a place where you are safe." But he said, "He's not like every other stone." Jesus is not a cold, dead rock, but Jesus is filled with life.

And His unwavering strength is what makes Him precious. And I want you to see, as we come to this place that is firm and is solid and is precious, that we're not just talking about a dead rock, but we're talking about someone who is alive. Someone who has accomplished your salvation, who has paid for your sins, has defeated death, and is giving you a place to stand in the midst of a changing, difficult world. But then we see there is a wonderful purpose. Stones for us oftentimes are like trinkets or decorations, right? They value, they symbolize our love. Here's a diamond, here's an engagement ring made of some rocks that we dug out of the ground, crushed up and melted together. The stone of Christ is different. Look at what Peter says. Verse six, "For it stands in Scripture. Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

And if you've been around church very much, you've heard about the cornerstone. And if you haven't, the purpose of the cornerstone was the first stone that was laid as part of a building. And it was the point of reference to which everything else was measured by. So the length of your building was measured by the cornerstone. The width of your building was measured by the cornerstone. The height was measured from the cornerstone. It was an unchanging point of reference. And what you see, as Peter says, is God is not done. He is building something. And it's built upon a foundation that cannot be shaken, cannot be moved, that is wonderfully precious and is alive, that there is a purpose. There's energy. And then he comes to us in verse 5, and he says, "You are transformed by Jesus." As you come to him, speaking of Jesus, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

now here's verse 5, "You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And what he is saying is that we are transformed by Jesus. That as you come to him, in the uncertainty of life, here's Jesus. He's precious. He has an unwavering, unchanging strength. He's full of life. But not just full of life, he gives you life, and he's doing something wonderful. And in these words we find this, is that you have a place. That there is a place for you. Have you ever felt really out a place? Like you didn't belong, that you didn't fit in. I remember first moving from Vermont, or from Arizona to Vermont. Went from a fairly large city to a very small community that was primarily Dutch dairy farmers. And for me, in second grade,

that was a pretty big culture shock. We went around from running around at recess to building farms and playing with tractors. And for a little bit, it felt like you didn't belong. You didn't fit. Everybody was related, you were the outsider. Here's the picture, it says. You yourselves like living stones. That there is a place for you in Christ. You're not sitting outside going, "I wish I could be a part of that. I don't know if I will fit in here." Jesus is bringing you into his house. Secondly, we find that we are not alone. That you are not alone. It's never a good feeling, right, to be alone. Especially when there's difficulty. You might say, "Well, we have a living stone, and that's wonderful." But look at verse 5, "You yourselves like living stones." You have people, right?

Not an individual house where God takes his people, and he puts one house here, and one house here, one house here, and then maybe sometimes for the holidays you always kind of get together and meet with each other. The picture here is that Jesus, the living stone, the firm foundation, the one who is precious, is being built into something wonderful, and his people are being added as well. Now in the church, this is both sometimes very wonderful to realize that we are not alone, but also it can be difficult, right? What happens when all of your family comes over for the holidays, right? And you're all in the same place, and maybe it doesn't seem like there's enough room, right? My grandma had one of those decorative novelty throw pillows. It's like every time I go home I break out in relatives, right?

It's like one of those things that can be difficult. And Peter says, "Guess what? You don't get to do it by yourself." Like, no matter how annoying we might be or others might be, that God is changing us and transforming us so that we are not alone. I love this picture, right? Then he says this, "You have a purpose." Alright, there's a difference between watching and participating. We're pretty good at watching all different kinds of things. It's very different to be a part of it. What he says here is that Christianity is not a spectator sport. And he says to the church and to God's people, "Your purpose is not small." Your purpose is a holy priesthood offering sacrifices, the nearness and the power of being close to God. That we are transformed and we are changed. And it is wonderful.

I want to encourage you with the power of God. And maybe you hear this this morning from Peter, and you think, "Well, there's a rock. That's great." I could never do any of that. I'm not strong enough. And as a Christian, you feel weak. Notice what Peter says in verse 5. He says, "Are being built up." "You as living stones are being built up." That you're not building yourself up. You are being built up by God. Maybe you're not a Christian. And you hear about this place where, despite all the shaking in the world, there's a foundation. There's a place where there is hope, and there is power, and there is life, and there is love, and there is acceptance, and there is transformation away from your sin and into righteousness. And you go, "That's wonderful, but I could never ever get there."

There's an account in Jesus' ministry where He's walking by this pool, and what people had come to believe about this pool was that when the water got all ripply, it means an angel was stirring it up. And they thought that whoever could get into this pool of water first would be healed by this power. So every time there was a ripple, all of these sick and injured and hurt people throw themselves into this pool of water, trying to be the first and to find healing. And then there's this man, and he has been by this pool, not just for a day or two, but for years and years and years. Jesus comes up to him, and He says this. He says, "Do you want to be well?" And this guy looks at him and goes, "I don't have anybody to help me into the pool."

Completely misses Jesus' question. Jesus isn't saying to him, "Can you get to the pool?" Are you able to get to the pool? Do you want to work really hard to get to the pool?" Jesus just simply looks at him and goes, "Do you want to be well?" And for Christians and for non-Christians, in our struggles and in our discouragement and in our fight and struggle with sin, and we look at our own strength, we say, "I don't think I can do it." And Jesus comes, our living stone, and He says, "Do you want to be well?" Right? The question is not, "Can I?" But, "Will I look to Jesus?" Right? This living stone. Peter talks about the lamb without spot or blemish. Right? Our living hope. Just like this man learns that there is power in Jesus.

We as a church need to see the same thing. That in a world that is ever-changing and ever more difficult, in some cases more unpleasant or more hostile, more skeptical, more of a struggle, more hurts and more sorrows, that there is a place where we have hope. And that is in Christ. Let's pray. Father, direct us to the rock that is Christ. May you shelter us there. May you watch over us. May you shape us. May you change us and transform us. We thank you for Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen. 1 Peter 1, Peter says this: "Born Again to a Living Hope." So let's go ahead and stand, and we're going to sing about that living hope. How great the chasm They lay between us How high the mountain I could not climb

In desperation I turned to heaven And spoke your name Into the night Then through the darkness Your loving kindness Tore through the shadows of my soul The work is finished The end is written Jesus Christ My living hope Who could imagine So great a mercy What heart could fathom I've found this grace The God of ages Step down from glory To wear my sin And bear my shame The cross has spoken I am forgiven The King of kings calls me his own Beautiful Savior I'm yours forever Jesus Christ My living home Hallelujah Praise the one who set me free Hallelujah Death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ My living home Then came the morning That sealed the promise Your buried body Began to breathe

Out of the silence The roaring lion Declared the grave Has no claim on me Then came the morning That sealed the promise Your buried body Began to breathe Out of the silence The roaring lion Declared the grave Has no claim on me Jesus, yours is the victory Hallelujah Praise the one who set me free Hallelujah Death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living home Jesus Christ, my living home Oh God, you are my living home We want to thank you all for being here this morning. We've got a few announcements. Before I get to the ones on the slide, we are beginning Advent. Here in... I think two Sundays from now. And so if you have not been here during Advent, as we light our Advent candles that sort of walk us toward the arrival of Jesus, one of the things we do is we generally have a mob of children, and then we give them a torch.

And so it's like, it's a little bit exciting, a little bit uncertain, but it is kind of a wonderful moment of participation. So that is coming up. So I think most of us, we've talked about this or have been here in years past, but if there's kids who want to do that, we will talk to you about that, and we will do our best not to light anything or anyone on fire, but we make no promises about that. Also, coming up this Wednesday, November 20th, we are having Thanksgiving dinner here at the church instead of Bible study. We're going to gather together. We'll have turkey, so bring a side that you like to have, and come share some meal, a meal, and some fellowship, and a time of thanksgiving as we remember God's blessings. One of the things I love about how God speaks to us, or how God helps us remember, is in the Old Testament, one of the ways in which we celebrate God's blessings is by enjoying them.

And so, as we come together, and share a meal together, and just spend some time being thankful, we are trying this year to have a Thanksgiving Eve. We'll get to that in a minute. Thanksgiving Eve, night of worship, just kind of a few moments, around 6 p.m., kind of almost like a Vespers. We'll have some time of worship and share some Scripture together, but kind of a Thanksgiving Eve worship time on that. Also, Children's Church is the second and fourth Sundays, and so I think that's this coming Sunday, right? So this coming Sunday, and so we invite you to come and be part of our Children's Church and Children's classes on those days. I'm going to go ahead, and we'll have a word of prayer, and then we will read, end with Psalm 40:16, and then sing the doxology.

Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus and grace. Thank you for bringing us together, and bringing us together as a family to sing, and to pray, and to read Scripture, and to come to the table together. Thank you for your goodness. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Psalm 40:16. We begin our service with the first three verses. Near the end of the chapter, he says, "May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation say continually, 'Great is the Lord.'"

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. Thank you. Thank you.