1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,800 Okay, good morning, guys. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:07,800 Good morning, morning. 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:15,600 Just making sure I knew where all my kids were. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:29,700 This morning, as we begin our time of worship, we're going to be, Braden's going to be talking about the Holy Spirit and the helper that God has given us 5 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:37,700 to get through this life, and I wanted to read a verse from our psalm that we're going to be reading together today. 6 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:50,700 It's from Psalm 16, verse 1 and 2. It says, "Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you." 7 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:59,400 And that's a pretty powerful sentence that we have no good apart from the Lord when you think about things in our life that 8 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:08,400 that pretty much overtake our time with the Lord and how we kind of push sometimes Him to the side while we do what we need to do. 9 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:15,400 But when we're with the Lord and we're walking with Him, even in the bad times, we have good things. 10 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:23,400 And what an encouragement it is that with Him, we're never alone and that He's always made sure we've never been alone. 11 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:29,100 And you can see in the Old Testament, He was always with the Israelites, even in the midst of being in the desert for years. 12 00:01:29,100 --> 00:01:39,100 One of the verses I read this week about with my daily reading was, "They never ran out of food and their feet never swelled." 13 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:49,100 And if you've ever had your feet swollen, it hurts really bad. And so, He's always with us and He takes care of even the things we don't even think about. 14 00:01:49,100 --> 00:02:03,100 And that idea of never being alone when we follow Him gives us such hope from the moment we're born, even to death, He's with us. 15 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:16,100 If we're following Christ, there's never a moment where He's not with us. And I can remember, it's been almost six years now, being in the room when my grandmother passed away. 16 00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:31,100 And it's a pretty terrible thing, death, your grandma passing away, but the hope and the peace that was in that room because of her life that she followed Christ and knowing the security she had in the Lord. 17 00:02:31,100 --> 00:02:39,100 And she knew, like she lived, "I have no good apart from you." And it was such an encouragement to me, even in a difficult time like that. 18 00:02:39,100 --> 00:02:49,100 So as we go through our worship today, through our song, through our singing and our reading together, I just want us to kind of focus on how God is always close to us. 19 00:02:49,100 --> 00:03:00,100 He's always near to us, even in times when it doesn't feel like it. And so if we want to go ahead and stand, we're going to be reading our verses together today. 20 00:03:00,100 --> 00:03:09,100 If you'd like to read, that's great. If you don't, I would just ask that you just look at the words, think about them, and think about how they are. 21 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:18,100 It can be an encouragement to your life. We're going to be doing Psalm 16, I believe five through eight. Yes. So, and it begins, 22 00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:33,100 "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 23 00:03:33,100 --> 00:03:57,100 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken." This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you that we can gather here today. 24 00:03:57,100 --> 00:04:21,100 We thank you for the encouragement it is to be around other Christians and just drinking in the goodness that is you, God. And we thank you so much that you're always close to us. You never leave us. You give us help when we need it. You give us strength to get out of the pit when we need it. And you give us strength to get down the mountain when we're on top of it. And we just thank you so much for all that you've blessed us with. 25 00:04:21,100 --> 00:04:28,100 I ask that you be with our service today and help it to glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. 26 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:46,100 Okay, so today we're doing two new songs. The first Song we're going to do is called "Graves in the Gardens." And this one I heard over the summer, and I loved it, and I've been wanting to do it here for a while. 27 00:04:46,100 --> 00:05:02,100 And so if you've not heard this song, that's okay. It's pretty easy to learn. The words are really good, and it just describes how God makes everything beautiful. Even death he can make beautiful. 28 00:05:02,100 --> 00:05:12,100 And so we're going to be doing a couple verses of that, and then our other new song we're going to be doing before communion. And it's pretty easy to learn as well. 29 00:05:12,100 --> 00:05:18,100 So, all right, we're going to start with this, and sing if you'd like, or just focus on the words if you want. 30 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:36,100 I searched the world, but it couldn't fill me. 31 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:46,100 Man's empty praise, and treasures that fade, are never enough. 32 00:05:46,100 --> 00:05:58,100 Then you came along, and put me back together. 33 00:05:58,100 --> 00:06:06,100 And every desire is now satisfied, here in your love. 34 00:06:08,100 --> 00:06:27,100 Oh, there's nothing better than You. There's nothing better than You. Lord, there's nothing. Nothing is better than You. 35 00:06:34,100 --> 00:07:03,100 I'm not afraid to show You my weakness, my failures and flaws. Lord, You've seen them all, and You still call me friend, because the God of the mountain is the God of the valley. 36 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:32,100 And there's not a place Your mercy and grace won't find me again. Oh, there's nothing better than You. There's nothing better than You, Lord. There's nothing. Nothing is better than You. 37 00:07:32,100 --> 00:08:01,100 There's nothing better than You. Oh, there's nothing better than You. There's nothing better than You, Lord. There's nothing. Nothing is better than You. You turn morning to dancing. 38 00:08:01,100 --> 00:08:07,580 You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one who can. You turn graves into gardens. You turn bones into armies. You turn seas into 39 00:08:30,100 --> 00:08:59,100 highways. You're the only one who can. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you, Lord. There's nothing. Nothing is better than you. 40 00:08:59,100 --> 00:09:19,100 Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you, Lord. There's nothing. Nothing is better than you. 41 00:09:25,100 --> 00:09:34,100 Good job, everybody. The song usually has like a rock band in the back. I wish we had that, but this is good. You guys did great. 42 00:09:34,100 --> 00:09:41,100 So, our next song we're going to do is "Blessed Be Your Name," and then we're going to have our prayer and share time. 43 00:09:41,100 --> 00:09:50,100 And if you're watching online, just feel free to text the number with your prayer request that Brandon's going to have on the screen, or you can leave a comment or send us a message with that. 44 00:09:50,100 --> 00:09:55,100 And just be thinking about here in the congregation, if you have something you want to share with us, please do. 45 00:09:55,100 --> 00:10:00,100 We would love to pray together with you for that. So, we're going to sing "Blessed Be Your Name." 46 00:10:18,100 --> 00:10:21,100 Blessed be your name 47 00:10:21,100 --> 00:10:25,100 In the land that is plentiful 48 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:29,100 Where the streams of abundance flow 49 00:10:29,100 --> 00:10:31,100 Blessed be your name 50 00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:37,100 Blessed be your name 51 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:41,100 When I'm found in the desert place 52 00:10:41,100 --> 00:10:45,100 Though I walk through the wilderness 53 00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:50,100 Blessed be your name 54 00:10:50,100 --> 00:10:53,100 Every blessing you pour out 55 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:58,100 I'll turn back to praise 56 00:10:58,100 --> 00:11:02,100 When the darkness closes in Lord 57 00:11:02,100 --> 00:11:04,100 Still I will say 58 00:11:04,100 --> 00:11:08,100 Blessed be the name of the Lord 59 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:12,100 Blessed be your name 60 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:17,100 Blessed be the name of the Lord 61 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:21,100 Blessed be your glorious name 62 00:11:21,100 --> 00:11:28,100 Blessed be your name 63 00:11:28,100 --> 00:11:32,100 When the sun's shining down on me 64 00:11:32,100 --> 00:11:36,100 When the world's all as it should be 65 00:11:36,100 --> 00:11:39,100 Blessed be your name 66 00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:44,100 Blessed be your name 67 00:11:44,100 --> 00:11:48,100 On the road marked with suffering 68 00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:52,100 Though there's pain in the offering 69 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:54,100 Blessed be your name 70 00:11:54,100 --> 00:12:00,100 Every blessing you pour out 71 00:12:00,100 --> 00:12:04,100 I'll turn back to praise 72 00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:09,100 When the darkness closes in door 73 00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:12,100 Still I will say 74 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:14,100 Blessed be the name 75 00:12:14,100 --> 00:12:16,100 Of the Lord 76 00:12:16,100 --> 00:12:20,100 Blessed be your name 77 00:12:20,100 --> 00:12:22,100 Blessed be the name 78 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:24,100 Of the Lord 79 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:29,100 Blessed be your glorious name 80 00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:33,100 You give and take away 81 00:12:33,100 --> 00:12:37,100 You give and take away 82 00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:41,100 My heart will choose to say 83 00:12:41,100 --> 00:12:45,100 Lord, blessed be your name 84 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:49,100 You give and take away 85 00:12:49,100 --> 00:12:53,100 You give and take away 86 00:12:53,100 --> 00:12:57,100 My heart will choose to say 87 00:12:57,100 --> 00:13:01,100 Lord, blessed be your name 88 00:13:01,100 --> 00:13:31,080 Thank you. 89 00:13:31,100 --> 00:14:01,080 Thank you. 90 00:14:01,100 --> 00:14:31,080 Thank you. 91 00:23:31,100 --> 00:24:01,080 Thank you, Russell. As we move into our time of communion, if you need juice and bread, we have individual ones back there on the table. Before we sing our song, I just wanted to read something, read a prayer from Valley of Vision, one of my favorite books I bought last year. 92 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:31,060 As we get started and we just want to focus our minds on the rest of our worship today, this is called A Present Salvation: Creator and Redeemer God, author of all existence, source of all blessedness, I adore thee for making me capable of knowing thee, for giving me reason and conscience, for leading me to desire thee. I praise thee for the revelation of thyself in the gospel. 93 00:24:31,060 --> 00:24:41,060 for thy heart as a dwelling place of pity, for thy thoughts of peace towards me, for thy patience and thy graciousness, for the vastness of thy mercy. 94 00:24:41,060 --> 00:25:01,040 Thou hast moved my conscience to know how the guilty can be pardoned, the unholy sanctified, the poor enriched. May I be always amongst those who not only hear but know thee, who walk with and rejoice in thee, who take thee at thy word and find life 95 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:31,020 there. Keep me always longing for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings, for spiritual graces and blessings, for help to value my duties as well as my privileges. May I cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character. Help me to be in reality before thee as in appearance I am before men, to be religious before I profess religion, to leave the world before I enter the church. 96 00:25:31,020 --> 00:25:52,020 to set my affections on things above, to shun forbidden follies and vanities, to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace, to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good. Oh God, make me worthy of this calling, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me and I in Him. 97 00:25:52,020 --> 00:26:13,020 And so as we move on to our next song, this is a new one, so if you want to just follow along or focus on the words, it's called "Never Once," and it's just about how God has always been with us through all of our struggles and everything in life and how we can still have joy and find that hope in Him. 98 00:26:13,020 --> 00:26:20,020 So we're going to sing that together and then we'll move on to our service. 99 00:26:34,020 --> 00:27:01,020 Standing on this mountaintop, looking just how far we've come, knowing that for every step you were with us. Kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much you've done, knowing every victory is your power in us. 100 00:27:01,020 --> 00:27:13,020 Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say, "Yes, our hearts can say." 101 00:27:13,020 --> 00:27:28,020 Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. 102 00:27:28,020 --> 00:27:36,020 You are faithful, God, You are faithful. 103 00:27:36,020 --> 00:27:50,020 Kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much You've done, knowing every victory is Your power in us. 104 00:27:50,020 --> 00:27:57,020 Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say, 105 00:27:57,020 --> 00:28:04,020 Yes, our hearts can say. 106 00:28:04,020 --> 00:28:18,020 Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did You leave us on our own. 107 00:28:18,020 --> 00:28:26,020 You are faithful, God, You are faithful. You are faithful. 108 00:28:26,020 --> 00:28:39,020 God, You are faithful. Skies and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say. 109 00:28:39,020 --> 00:28:53,020 Never once did we ever walk alone. Carried by Your constant grace, held within Your perfect peace. 110 00:28:53,020 --> 00:29:20,020 Never once, no, we never walk alone. Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did You leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. 111 00:29:20,020 --> 00:29:47,020 God, You are faithful. Every step, we are breathing in Your grace. Evermore, we'll be breathing out Your praise. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. 112 00:29:47,020 --> 00:30:05,020 You are faithful, God, You are faithful. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. 113 00:30:17,020 --> 00:30:44,800 One of the things that Jesus says 114 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:51,360 that brings, I think, great comfort to us is found in Matthew, the 11th chapter. He'll say this, 115 00:30:51,360 --> 00:31:12,580 "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 116 00:31:12,580 --> 00:31:40,360 Sometimes when we're getting ready for dinner, it is exhausting. You're trying to wrangle three children, you're trying to cook food, and my personal struggle is trying to get all the food done at the same time, you know, so your vegetables aren't done an hour before your meat is done, and so we're running around and we're trying to get the table set, we're trying to get the kids wrangled, and meals for us can be exhausting. However, when we go eat 117 00:31:40,360 --> 00:32:08,140 with somebody else, right, it always tastes better, because we didn't have to make it, right? Rachel and I were talking about this the other day, I said, "Why does salad always taste better when somebody else cuts up all the vegetables and makes it?" Right? And part of it is that we come to that meal, and we get a break, right? We get some rest. One of the things that I love about gathering together with God's people around this table is this is not a meal that you have to make. 118 00:32:08,140 --> 00:32:37,920 This is not a meal that you have to make. It's not a meal that I have to make. That Jesus invites us to this table with his work in redeeming us completed. As he said on the cross, it is finished. And this meal for God's people is an invitation to rest in the finished work of Jesus. And the fact that he gave his body for our sins, that he gave his blood. 119 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:50,920 To bring us into fellowship with him. And so we come, and maybe we're tired, and maybe we're frustrated, and maybe we're struggling, and so I would invite you this morning to consider the gospel. 120 00:32:50,920 --> 00:33:03,920 That Jesus died in your place for your sins, that he rose again for your victory. That one day he is returning to make all things new. And that this would be a meal for us of rest. 121 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:09,920 I'm going to pray and then we'll read a little Scripture together, and we will gather together around the table. 122 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:23,920 Father, thank you for allowing us these moments. May this nourish us deeply. May it refresh our souls. May you give us strength and hope. 123 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:31,920 May you remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus, of the cross, and of the nails, and of the anguish, and the price that was paid for our sins. 124 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:38,920 And may you help us to see that salvation clearly and rejoice in it deeply. 125 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:44,920 I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for grace. I ask that you bless this bread. I ask that you bless this cup. 126 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:50,920 May we be a church who proclaim your son until he comes again. 127 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:58,920 Paul will say, "What I received from the Lord, I also delivered to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. 128 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:11,920 And when he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 129 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:25,920 In the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 130 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:36,920 And then he will say, "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 131 00:34:54,920 --> 00:35:23,920 Starting in verse 14, "But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, 'Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour 132 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:52,920 of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be," God declares, "that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." 133 00:35:52,920 --> 00:36:21,920 Even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood. 134 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:40,920 Before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is the word of the Lord. 135 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:50,920 Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for 136 00:36:50,920 --> 00:37:01,920 your prophets. Thank you for your apostles who teach us and encourage us and strengthen us. So help us this morning as we look at the beginning of Peter's sermon, as we look at this 137 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:11,920 prophecy from Joel, that you would teach us, that you would encourage us, that you would help us to see your goodness. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 138 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:19,920 So there are some things, as a parent, that grab our attention. So one of those things, and you wouldn't think this would be the 139 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:26,920 case, but when your kids are too quiet, right? You're sitting in the living room, and it's like, wait a minute, I'm not hearing 140 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:34,920 anything, right? It's quiet, but it's too quiet. And then there are times when you hear a crash followed by somebody going, oh, it's 141 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:41,920 okay, it's okay, don't come in here, right? And that immediately gets your attention. Or you hear one of your kids say, don't 142 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:48,920 worry, I'm not going to tell mom, right? That also gets your attention. 143 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:55,920 It was, I guess, last summer I was sitting in my office, downstairs here at the church, and I heard this gigantic 144 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:01,920 boom, and then all the power went out. And so what did I do? I walked outside to check it out, and Rachel walks 145 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:08,920 outside, and one of our neighbors over here walks outside, right? The big noise got our attention. Turned out our 146 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:17,920 neighborhood squirrels decided that they wanted to be crispified, and it grabbed our attention, right? That noise grabs 147 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:25,920 everybody's attention. What you find in the beginning of Acts 2 is it begins with this attention-grabbing 148 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:30,920 event. It says, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place, and suddenly 149 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:37,920 there came from heaven a sound like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the entire house 150 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:45,920 where they were sitting." And then down in verse 6, "At this sound the multitude came, and they were bewildered, because 151 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:51,920 each one of them was hearing them speak in their own language." And so you're outside, and you hear this 152 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:55,920 giant noise, and you go, "What's that?" Just like when you hear the boom, or when you hear your kids say, 153 00:38:55,920 --> 00:39:01,920 "No need to tell mom about that." And so you go and investigate, and that's what these people in Jerusalem 154 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:08,920 do. You come out for a look, and they begin to hear people telling the mighty works of God, and this is the 155 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:14,920 remarkable part, in their own language, right? They didn't need a translator. They didn't have to wait 156 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:19,920 for somebody to tell them what was being said, but all of these people from all of these different 157 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,920 places, through the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, get to hear the good news of the 158 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:31,920 gospel in their own language. Now there's two responses to this event that we pick up at the 159 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:37,920 end of verse 12 and verse 13, right? There's some people who are interested, and it says they 160 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:43,920 were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" So there's people who are curious, and 161 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,920 they're hearing this noise, they're hearing this sermon, and they're going, "What about 162 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:53,920 this?" And they want to investigate further. And then there's a group that are sort of 163 00:39:53,920 --> 00:40:01,920 mocking and dismissive. And in verse 13 we hear this, "But others mocking said they are filled 164 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:08,920 with new wine." Now, this is not really an honest critique, to look at what's 165 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:14,920 happening and say, "These guys are just a bunch of drunks." Because being drunk doesn't 166 00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:20,920 grant you the ability to speak in a new and understandable language, right? And 167 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:25,920 more so, these guys are Galileans. They're not super educated. In fact, in 2:7 it says, "They 168 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,920 were amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking are Galileans?" And 169 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:35,920 so these mockers, they're not being honest in their critique. And so what Peter is 170 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:40,920 going to do is he's going to stand up in front of this gathered crowd from all of 171 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:44,920 these different nations and places, and he's going to proclaim the good news, and 172 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:50,920 he's going to do so in a wonderful and powerful way. And what he's going to do is 173 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,920 he's going to inform the interested, those people who have questions, he's going to 174 00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:59,920 establish a foundation and answer those questions. To those people who are mockers, he's 175 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:04,920 going to respond and defend what is happening. And for us, he's going to 176 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:11,920 encourage us and strengthen us as he unpacks what it means to have the gift of 177 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:16,920 the Holy Spirit. So look at what he says, "But Peter, standing with the 178 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:22,920 eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them. Men of Judea, all who 179 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:27,920 dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you. Give ear to my words, for these 180 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:31,920 people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the 181 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:36,920 day." Now on the surface, right, this doesn't seem like a great defense. Well, it's 182 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:41,920 too early in the morning to be drunk, right, because we might know people or have 183 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:47,920 heard of people who like nine in the morning is not too early. I remember several 184 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:51,920 years ago, we were outside, and there was a gentleman who would occasionally come 185 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:56,920 by and want me to give him a ride. And one of the last times I gave him a ride, I 186 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,920 realized that his Sprite can was actually just filled with wild turkey. 187 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:04,920 And I was like, "Well, I'm not real comfortable with that." So he shows up, and he was 188 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:10,920 wanting me to do something, and I looked at him, and I said, "You've been drinking?" And 189 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:16,920 he goes, "Who are you to judge?" And I said, "Well, first of all, it's 10 o'clock in the 190 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:21,920 morning, right?" So this doesn't seem like a great defense by Peter to go, "Well, it's too 191 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:29,920 early in the morning." So just like in our day, there are some cultural taboos about 192 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:36,920 day-drinking, right? And in Jesus's time, these taboos were even stronger, right? So 193 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:44,920 we know that that's probably unacceptable in our day, at 9 o'clock in the morning. In 194 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:49,920 Jesus's day, it was even stronger. But more than that, this is a feast day. And 195 00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:55,920 so what would happen is the Jewish people would fast until the feast begins. And the 196 00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:01,920 feast has not yet began, and so everybody has been fasting. Even the guys who really 197 00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:07,920 like to party have been fasting. Now, if this has been two or three hours into the feast, 198 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:14,920 it might be a different scenario. But the feast hasn't started. So what Peter's 199 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:19,920 gonna do, his argument sort of has two parts to the mockers. One is that the feast hasn't 200 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:24,920 started, and then secondly, through his explanation of the Old Testament prophecy 201 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:29,920 from Joel and from Psalms, what he's gonna do is present this sort of cogent 202 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:35,920 logical argument that makes it obvious that these people are not out of their 203 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:40,920 minds. And so he's going to say in verse 16, "This is what is uttered through the 204 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:46,920 prophet Joel." And so in order to understand what is happening, you have to see 205 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:50,920 it through the lens of biblical prophecy. And so what he's going to do is build a 206 00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:55,920 foundation under these events to show that this is not ridiculous, but rather 207 00:43:55,920 --> 00:44:01,920 it's a remarkable gift, and it's a wonderful promise of God being fulfilled. 208 00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:06,920 For us as Christians, I think this is a text that we often take for granted. You 209 00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:11,920 know, when we round something a whole lot, we take it for granted. So growing up, 210 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:17,920 Mom would cook dinner just about every night, and never really thought about it. I 211 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:22,920 went to college, went to the cafeteria, and was like, this is not nearly as good as eating 212 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:28,920 at home, and I began to appreciate Mom a whole lot more. And then there was a week where we 213 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:33,920 had some time off from school, and I didn't realize this being a freshman, but the cafeteria closed. 214 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:37,920 And because I was in between paychecks at my job, and I was a college student who made really 215 00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:42,920 terrible financial decisions, I was like, alright, I've got 239, let's go get like six packs of ramen. 216 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:48,920 And then I appreciated the cafeteria, and my mom even more, right? Because I had become 217 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:55,920 so familiar with all of the good things she had done, right, I didn't think about it very much. 218 00:44:55,920 --> 00:45:01,920 Christians, we tend to approach this passage in Acts chapter 2 the same exact way, right? 219 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:06,920 We've heard it, we've been around it, we know it, we think we understand it, and so we just 220 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:11,920 sort of say, "Well, that's great for them, but what about me?" And this is a passage that 221 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:18,920 not only for that audience, defends and explains the events, but for us as Christians, encourages 222 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:25,920 and strengthens us in the power of the Spirit. And so the first thing that we see is that God 223 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:32,920 is keeping a promise. Peter begins his explanation by going back to the prophet Joel. And I don't 224 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:38,920 know how familiar you are with the prophet Joel, but the book starts out pretty dark, talking 225 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:43,920 about the judgment of God and the struggles that the people would face. In fact, I'll 226 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:48,920 just give you one example from Joel 1:4. He'll say this. He talks about a plague of locusts. 227 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:55,920 "What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. And what the swarming locust 228 00:45:55,920 --> 00:46:01,920 has left, the hopping locust has eaten. And what the hopping locust has left, the destroying 229 00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:06,920 locust has eaten." Right? So that's some cheerful stuff, right? You're going to get this locust, 230 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,920 it's going to destroy everything. And then whatever's left, this next locust is going to 231 00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:14,920 come on, and then this next locust. And I don't even want to think about the destruction locust, 232 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:19,920 right, who just gets everything that's left. It's not cheerful, and it's a beginning about 233 00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:26,920 the judgment of God. And what God will do is he will call his people to repentance, and 234 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:33,920 he will promise them what he will do. And this promise that Joel makes is fulfilled ultimately 235 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:39,920 in the gift of the Holy Spirit. And just as this promise for those who had heard of the 236 00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:44,920 judgment of God in Joel chapter 1 and most of chapter 2, as they hear about how he will 237 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:50,920 restore and renew, it brings them hope. So for us, when we hear that God keeps his 238 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:58,920 promises and he has fulfilled it, it's even more wonderful for us. The gift that God pours 239 00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:05,920 out is generous. One of the hardest things is to share food with your kids because they 240 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,920 think it's all there. So Luke had something the other day. We were sitting at the table 241 00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:13,920 and he was sitting in my lap. And I go, "Hey, can I have a bite?" And he goes, "Okay." And he puts his 242 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:18,920 hand out with a piece of food and I go to take a bite. You know what he does? "Yup." And then he's like, 243 00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:25,920 "Hold it out. I go take a bite." And he goes, "Nope." Right? Sharing food with kids, oftentimes not very 244 00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:33,920 generous. Twice in this passage in Acts, in our text, we find this phrase, "Pour out." In 245 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:39,920 verse 17, "In the last days it shall be," God declares, "That I will pour out my spirit on all 246 00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:46,920 flesh." In those days I will pour out my spirit. Now the picture of this phrase is 247 00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:53,920 not sort of a controlled pour, like when we put milk into a cereal bowl or water into a 248 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:59,920 cup. The picture here is not a sprinkle. It's not a rain shower. The picture here is like a tropical 249 00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:09,920 monsoon where it rains and it pours and it keeps going and going and going. This is a massive deluge of 250 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:15,920 water, the picture here. And when we talk about the gift of the Spirit, God's not just going, "Well, here, have a 251 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:21,920 little bite." Nope. Have a little bite. Nope. Or let me pour this gently into this thing. It's God just 252 00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:31,920 pouring out His Spirit in a tropical rainstorm on His people. Additionally, there's sort of a finality to 253 00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:39,920 what is happening. And the way this word is used in Greek, there's a picture of the pouring. This is poured 254 00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:43,920 out and not gathered up. And so we understand this a little bit because there's some things that when we 255 00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:49,920 dump out, we can pick up, right? So we can dump out. The kids dump out all their Legos, right? They have to 256 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:55,120 go and pick them out. When they dump the gallon of milk on the floor, right? There's no picking that up, 257 00:48:55,120 --> 00:49:00,400 right? It's just like, that's done. It's gone. And the picture here of God pouring out His Spirit is that 258 00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:05,600 He's not just going to pour it out, and then in a moment, pick it up and take it away. In fact, you see 259 00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:10,880 that in the Old Testament. God's Spirit would fall on His people and His prophets and His kings, and then 260 00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:17,920 it wouldn't stay with them. But the picture here of this pouring out is that God's Spirit is being poured out, and 261 00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:26,400 that it's poured out to stay on God's people. It says, "God's Spirit would be present for the last days." 262 00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:33,920 And what we mean when we talk about last days is those times between when Jesus ascends into heaven 263 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:40,720 and when Jesus returns. So when Peter talks about the last days, biblically, what he's talking about is 264 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:47,040 that time from the time that Jesus ascended into heaven until the time that He descends in judgment. 265 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:54,480 And so this period of time is the time that they lived in, and it's the time that you and I live in. 266 00:49:54,480 --> 00:50:01,840 And what is wonderful about this gift is that it's not only generous, that it's without regard for outward 267 00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:07,840 status. We're familiar with different restrictions. So for example, I remember once we went to the 268 00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:14,560 amusement park, the Great Escape when we were growing up, and I think now it's like Six Flags Great Escape 269 00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:20,640 or something, but I remember all the cool rides, right? It's like you have to be this tall, and I was 270 00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:27,760 this tall. I was like maybe if I stand on my tiptoes, right? There was some external qualifications in order 271 00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:36,640 to participate. Notice what it says here about this. "In the last days it shall be," God declares, "that I will pour 272 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:45,120 out my spirit on what? All flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall 273 00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:51,200 see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and my female servants, in those 274 00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:58,240 days I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy." Right? Without regard to gender, without 275 00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:04,480 regard to age, young men, old men, without regard to social class, talking about servants, and as we'll 276 00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:10,960 see moving through the books of Acts, it's Samaritans, it's Gentiles, it's the Jewish, it's men, it's women, 277 00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:20,400 that God gives his spirit generously, and he gives it without regard to outward status. Now, inward 278 00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:29,200 status is a little bit different, right? God gives this specifically to those who follow him. But if you 279 00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:34,880 are a follower of Christ, it doesn't matter if you are a man, or a woman, or young, or old, or where 280 00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:44,240 you're from, your background, or your social status, God pours out his spirit. And the purpose of pouring 281 00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:51,120 out the spirit is the declaration of good news about Jesus. So notice he uses three words: vision, dreams, 282 00:51:51,120 --> 00:51:58,880 and prophecies. And that's three ways of kind of saying the same thing. When we hear prophecy, 283 00:51:58,880 --> 00:52:03,760 and we'll focus on that one, because that's probably more familiar to us, it can mean different 284 00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:09,120 things throughout Scripture. So prophecy, in some cases, it means talking about the future. So when 285 00:52:09,120 --> 00:52:14,160 Joel prophesies that in those last days, he's talking about an event that would happen in the future, and 286 00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:21,920 most of us, when we hear prophecy, we think events in the future. But prophecy is broader than that. For 287 00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:28,560 example, in Israel, a prophet could be a job, or we would say that it is a specific 288 00:52:28,560 --> 00:52:34,320 role, or an office, like prophet, priest, and king. What do you do? Well, I'm a prophet of God. And what 289 00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:41,200 that means is not that you just spoke about the future, but you also spoke God's truth to God's 290 00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:48,160 people. And so Old Testament prophets confront God's people with God's truth. And so prophecy, 291 00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:53,760 sometimes it means talking about the future, sometimes it means a specific office, or role, or job in God's 292 00:52:53,760 --> 00:53:02,960 plan. And then in its most general meaning, it simply means this: declaring the truth about God. 293 00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:10,400 So in Acts 2:11, as the gift of tongues falls upon the disciples of Jesus, what does it say? They are 294 00:53:10,400 --> 00:53:18,960 declaring the mighty works of God. Martin Luther says it this way: "The knowledge of God through Christ, which 295 00:53:18,960 --> 00:53:25,760 the Holy Spirit kindles and makes burn through the word of the gospel, that you take this knowledge, and the 296 00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:33,120 Holy Spirit lights it on fire, and it just flows out of you, just like a campfire lights up the darkness, that 297 00:53:33,120 --> 00:53:40,560 this prophecy is God's people lighting up the darkness through the truth about God, which they share, because 298 00:53:40,560 --> 00:53:48,160 they are empowered and encouraged and strengthened by the Spirit of God to witness in Jerusalem, Judea, 299 00:53:48,720 --> 00:54:00,000 Samaria, and to the ends of earth to tell what God has done. What you find is this gift of the Spirit is 300 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:09,680 generous. It's without regard to social standing or gender or age. It has to do with following Jesus. It has 301 00:54:09,680 --> 00:54:18,480 to do with declaring the truth about Jesus. And for us, I think this is a wonderful thing. One of the 302 00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:25,680 things that you see very clearly as you begin in the Old Testament is that man is separated from God, 303 00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:35,120 and that separation is so clearly enforced. If you remember in Genesis chapter 3, after Adam and Eve sinned, 304 00:54:35,120 --> 00:54:41,280 what does it say? They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And 305 00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:46,720 what happens? The man and the woman hid themselves from God. Because of their shame and their fear, they 306 00:54:46,720 --> 00:54:53,520 separate themselves from God. And what you find is that sinful man cannot stand in the midst and in the 307 00:54:53,520 --> 00:55:03,840 presence of a holy and almighty God at Mount Sinai when God descends in His glory. In Exodus chapter 20, 308 00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:08,400 it will say this, "Now all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning, and the sound of the 309 00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:12,640 trumpet, and the mountain smoking, and the people were afraid, and they were trembled, and they stood 310 00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:19,840 far off, and they said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest 311 00:55:19,840 --> 00:55:26,320 we die." So Adam and Eve, they hide the Israelites at the base of the mountain as God descends in His glory, 312 00:55:26,320 --> 00:55:31,520 and they're just seeing a shadow of this glory and hearing a shadow of this glory and this might. What 313 00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:37,360 do they do? They say, "We don't want any part of that." Right? "Moses, you go and be our intermediary." 314 00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:44,800 Samson's parents, as they see the angel of the Lord in Judges 13, Manoah will say to his wife, "Surely 315 00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:53,360 we shall die, for we have seen God." And Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 5, they'll say, "Woe is me, 316 00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:59,200 for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, 317 00:55:59,200 --> 00:56:05,840 and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." And so as Isaiah beholds the glory of God, he says, "I can't 318 00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:15,120 do it! I can't be in the same place! Woe is me!" And Hebrews will talk about the priestly work in the temple, 319 00:56:15,120 --> 00:56:20,400 saying, "These preparations having been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, 320 00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:26,720 performing their ritual duties, but only into the second, but into the second only the high priest goes, 321 00:56:26,720 --> 00:56:33,600 and he but once a year, taking without, not without taking blood which he offers for himself for the 322 00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:39,360 unintentional sins of the people. But by this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy 323 00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:44,960 place had not yet opened as long as the first section was still standing." You see, the temple was separated 324 00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:52,400 into sections. So in the outer outer court, anybody could go and worship at the temple. And then you go 325 00:56:52,400 --> 00:57:00,080 in one court, and that's where the women were allowed to worship. You went in one more court, men were allowed 326 00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:05,200 to worship. You went in one more court, the priests were allowed, and Levites were allowed to worship. 327 00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:12,880 You go into the temple proper, only the priests allowed to work there, and into the holy place to 328 00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:20,320 stand in the presence of God, only the high priest, and only once a year. And to imagine that in our 329 00:57:20,320 --> 00:57:24,800 context, that you come to church, and you pull up in the road, and somebody says, "Well, where were you 330 00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:29,760 born?" "Well, I was born in New York." "All right, well, you can worship in the road." Somebody pulls in, 331 00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:33,840 "Well, where were you born?" "I was born in Virginia." "All right?" "You're a lady, you can worship in the parking 332 00:57:33,840 --> 00:57:38,400 lot." "You're a man, you can come up to the front steps." "You work for the church, you can come up on 333 00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:45,920 the front steps." But only one person, right? There was a separation, and it was a separation because 334 00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:51,920 mankind could not stand in the holiness of God. And what Hebrews says is that's no longer the case, 335 00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:58,880 because those things have been done away with. And because of the gift of the Spirit, you and I are no longer 336 00:57:58,880 --> 00:58:06,000 separated because of what Jesus has done on the cross, God's Spirit now dwells within us. Paul will 337 00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:11,920 call us the temple of the Holy Spirit. And the picture for those of us who are Christians right 338 00:58:11,920 --> 00:58:17,360 now is that we are not alone, that we are not unequipped, that we do not have to be fearful, 339 00:58:17,360 --> 00:58:24,720 because the Spirit of God dwells within us to strengthen us, to encourage us, to help us declare 340 00:58:24,720 --> 00:58:33,440 the goodness and the truth about God. Hard things are made so much easier when we are not alone. 341 00:58:33,440 --> 00:58:41,040 You see, the gift of the Spirit is a wonderful promise. And in Acts 2, we see its reality. 342 00:58:41,040 --> 00:58:48,880 And Peter will speak of receiving that gift in terms of those who come to Jesus a little later in this 343 00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:59,120 chapter. This is intended to be for us encouraging, but it's also a little bit sobering. Because in 344 00:58:59,120 --> 00:59:05,760 verse 19, it says, "I will show you wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood 345 00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:10,560 and fire and vapor and smoke, and the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the 346 00:59:10,560 --> 00:59:16,640 day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who 347 00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:22,640 calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And what you see is that God's judgment is a reality. 348 00:59:22,640 --> 00:59:30,320 Just as the gift of the Spirit and the fulfillment of prophecy is a reality, so is the judgment of 349 00:59:30,320 --> 00:59:39,120 Almighty God. And these words call us backwards, right? To the cross where Jesus dies, where he takes the 350 00:59:39,120 --> 00:59:46,240 wrath of God, and the sun stops shining, and the earth starts shaking. But it also points us forward to the 351 00:59:46,240 --> 00:59:53,440 final judgment. In Matthew, the 24th chapter, Jesus will say some of these exact words in regards to what 352 00:59:53,440 --> 01:00:04,000 will happen when the final judgment comes. You see, this is incredibly encouraging. But it's also sobering, 353 01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:11,520 because God's judgment is a reality. And what this is for us as Christians is a call to share the good 354 01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:16,480 news of the gospel. That Jesus has saved us from our sins. That we don't have to hide. We don't have 355 01:00:16,480 --> 01:00:22,640 to be separated. We don't have to stand outside the temple. But rather that we can come in, not as 356 01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:28,160 servants, but as sons and daughters. That we are welcomed into the family of God with hope and a 357 01:00:28,160 --> 01:00:36,800 future and an eternity with Him. It's a reminder that the invitation to call upon the name of the Lord 358 01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:44,640 is a serious one. And so if you have questions, I would encourage you, as Peter does, to encourage 359 01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:49,360 these people to dig deep into the truth of Christianity. God can answer your questions. 360 01:00:49,360 --> 01:00:54,400 He can handle your questions. There's no problems with answering questions. God 361 01:00:54,400 --> 01:01:04,240 wants to explain His truth to you. Maybe, like some of these people in Acts 2, you're skeptic. 362 01:01:06,160 --> 01:01:13,120 Examine the logic of your skepticism. Ask the questions. Look at the truth. For Christians, 363 01:01:13,120 --> 01:01:20,880 be encouraged, be energized by realizing that you do not walk through this life alone. Let's pray. 364 01:01:20,880 --> 01:01:27,920 Father, I thank You for Your Word, for Your church. I thank You for the gift of Your Spirit. May we 365 01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:33,920 not try to walk through this life on our own, in our own strength, in our own abilities, but may we depend 366 01:01:33,920 --> 01:01:41,040 on You. May we speak the truth about who You are and what You have done with courage and with power 367 01:01:41,040 --> 01:01:55,440 and with strength. Encourage our hearts. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing our closing song. 368 01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:27,440 Come, Thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. 369 01:02:27,440 --> 01:02:47,460 Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise Thy mountain fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love. 370 01:02:47,460 --> 01:03:07,480 Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I'm come. And I hope I, Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. 371 01:03:07,480 --> 01:03:27,500 Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, He to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood. 372 01:03:36,500 --> 01:03:55,520 Oh, to grace, how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be. Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. 373 01:03:55,520 --> 01:04:17,540 Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord. Take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above. 374 01:04:17,540 --> 01:04:29,540 I want to thank you for joining us this morning, whether you are joining us here in person or online. We are so thankful that you are here. You are a great encouragement to us. 375 01:04:29,540 --> 01:04:45,540 Coming up this week, on Monday, we've been doing Monday Psalms. We're just walking through the book of Psalms. Just kind of very briefly, about five minutes or so, which on some of these Psalms is kind of hard to limit to that point. 376 01:04:45,540 --> 01:04:57,540 The hour will be in the fourth Psalm. You can find those on Facebook. They post about six o'clock in the morning, but they're there all day, on our YouTube channel, and also on our website, collegeparkcc.com. 377 01:04:57,540 --> 01:05:05,540 So we'd encourage you just to spend some time in the hymn book and the prayer book of God's people as you begin your week. 378 01:05:05,540 --> 01:05:13,540 Also, this Wednesday night, 7:00 p.m., we will be here for Bible study. We are going through the parables of Jesus, beginning some parables 379 01:05:13,540 --> 01:05:24,540 about judgment. So you have workers in the vineyard. You have some of these parables that Jesus is calling people to repentance. 380 01:05:24,540 --> 01:05:33,540 So if you would like to read ahead for those parables, there is a handout on the back table, and I just encourage you to pick one of those up and kind of read through it. 381 01:05:33,540 --> 01:05:41,540 And we'll be here both in person and online Wednesday night. Go ahead and have a word of prayer, and we'll sing the doxology and be dismissed. 382 01:05:41,540 --> 01:05:46,540 Father in heaven, we thank you so much for all the good that you have done for us. 383 01:05:46,540 --> 01:05:54,540 We thank you for the love that you have shown to us. We thank you for your spirit that in these last days you have poured out upon us. 384 01:05:54,540 --> 01:06:03,540 Help us to speak your truth boldly and gracefully and with strength and power. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 385 01:06:11,540 --> 01:06:36,540 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. 386 01:06:41,540 --> 01:06:43,540 Amen. 387 01:07:11,540 --> 01:07:13,540 Amen. 388 01:07:41,540 --> 01:07:43,540 Amen. 389 01:10:11,540 --> 01:10:20,040 God bless you.