Amen. Will you turn in your Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter 21. See, I told you it'd get warm in here pretty fast, right? Revelation chapter 21, that's page 1041 in your Bibles there. Don't anybody throw anything at me, but I'm going to turn the heater off up here, okay? Revelation chapter 21, today we're wrapping up a sermon series entitled Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace. These last several weeks we've considered how Jesus Christ brings peace. By his life, death, resurrection, and indwelling spirit, Jesus brings peace with God, peace with each other, peace of mind, and this morning we'll see that Jesus will one day bring peace on earth forever. Now as I read our text this morning from God's Word, it's important that you understand that the book of Revelation that our sermon is from this morning is apocryphal literature, which means it's talking about the end times, and often it does that through symbolic language. So I'll try to point that out as we go through the text this morning, but I just wanted to make that comment from the outset here. So please follow along as I read our text that we want to consider this morning. Revelation chapter 21, verse 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. On the east three gates, on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies four square, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysiopras, the eleventh jasoneth, the twelfth amethyst. Clay could have probably said those minerals better than I could, those jewels better than I could. Verse 21, and the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, And the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Thanks be to God for his word. So today's sermon is about the new heaven and the new earth that Christ will bring about at his second coming. And again, this is part of the series considering peace on earth. And this is what we all long for. This is what the world clamors for, that there be peace on earth. But we know that that will not take place until Christ comes again. And so the passage we read this morning is talking about that. It's about Christ's second coming. in the new heavens and the new earth, when Christ returns, there will finally be perfect peace on earth. And so today I want us just to rejoice in that peace, rejoice in the new heavens and the new earth. I want us to revel in the glorious inheritance that awaits us. But I don't want us to forget that this peace on earth is secured by Jesus Christ. His perfect life earned our inheritance. His blood paid for our sins. Christ's victory over death is the firstfruits leading to our resurrection. His body brought the gospel across our path personally. His spirit gave us the new birth. His power defeated the evil forces. His authority judged rightly. His reign rules over the whole land. His glory gives the light. His bride provides our community. Christ has secured this glorious future that we're gonna talk about this morning. And I hope you'll see he's all over this passage. And it's his return which will consummate it. All of this is for Christ and through Christ, that he would be all in all. So as we consider this glorious future eternity, when there will be peace on earth, I wanted to organize our time around what is absent and what is present in the new heavens and the new earth. And so with each point, I'll show from the text what it says about that. And then I just kind of want to imagine that with you, OK? So I trust the Lord will help us. So number one, what is absent? Well, first, no more chaos of a fallen world. No more chaos of a fallen world. Again, looking at chapter 21. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. As prophesied hundreds of years earlier by the prophet Isaiah, the apostle John, in his vision, sees a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth, our present one, is under the curse of sin. But at Christ's return, God creates a new heaven and a new earth, free from sin and its effects. And in this new creation, there is no more chaos of a fallen world. And we see that just even in that little statement, the sea was no more. Now, that statement does not mean that, oh, there's going to be no bodies of water in the new earth. No, that statement is a symbolic way of saying that there's no more sin. You see, the Hebrews were not a seafaring people. And in scripture, the sea is often a symbolic way of describing the source of earth's rebellion and chaos and danger. But in the new heavens and new earth, there will be no more chaos of a fallen world. There'll be no more rebellion from man or creation. All effects of the curse will be forever reversed. And so, I especially want us to think about, under this first point, what will creation be like? What will creation itself be like without any sin? The Bible tells us that creation itself currently is under the curse of sin. When Adam sinned, God told him, Cursed is the ground because of you. Romans 8 says creation currently groans in bondage to corruption, eagerly longing to be set free when Christ returns and Christians are raised. So we live in a fallen world. Yes, creation proclaims the glory of God, but it too is under the curse of sin. And even though we enjoy the beauty of creation now, we live under the threat of its potential danger. Hardly a week goes by when we do not see on the news about people suffering as a result of natural disasters, droughts, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, as we're seeing on the news now. hurricanes, mudslides, wildfires, many more, all pose serious threats to our well-being. But imagine what it'll be like to live in the new heavens and the new earth when creation is no longer under the curse. We won't need the Red Cross to provide disaster relief, because there'll be no more disasters. Never again will someone lose their home to a flood. No longer will people have to pick up the pieces after a tornado or earthquake has demolished their home. Never again will people have to evacuate their homes in the wake of a coming storm. There'll be no more accidents caused by fog and icy roads. No longer will man have to fight the ground to produce food. There'll be no weeds or thorns to choke out produce. There'll be no more disease or dangerous bugs to destroy crops. Creation will no longer fight against man, and man will no longer greedily abuse the earth. Man will live at peace with creation. Even, and I didn't spend long thinking about this, but it did cross my mind, even man and animal will no longer be living in fear of each other. Imagine the beauty of the new heavens and the new earth. We stand in awe of God's handiwork now, but how much more when we live in the physical new heavens and new earth with no effects of sin? What colors and designs will we see? What peaceful sounds will we hear? How much louder will creation proclaim the glory of God when it's no longer groaning under the curse of sin? Work will no longer be frustrating and futile. Our work and all that we do will be satisfying and done perfectly to the glory of God. So that's the first thing that's absent, no more chaos of a fallen world. Secondly, the second thing that's absent in the new heavens and new earth is there's no more sin in me. No more sin in me, no more sin in us. Look at Revelation 21 too. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This is talking about us, the church, those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are the bride of Christ. And when Christ returns, we'll be raised from the dead, glorified, and completely free of sin in soul and body. We'll have perfect bodies, perfect souls, and we'll be presented to Christ as a spotless bride. So Christ's people make up the new Jerusalem, the holy city. And in verses nine through 21, John gets to see just how beautiful this city is, which again highlights the power and the grace of God in purifying for himself a people. We will be a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without sin, perfectly set apart for Christ. Think of what that'll be like, loved ones, to never again sin against God. To never need to confess and repent of your sin before God. To never again lose your temper. To never again hurt people with your words. To never again be selfish. To never again struggle with lust. To be able to truly rejoice with others without coveting what they have. to have no more conflict between people, no more broken homes, no more church splits, no more arguing, no more misrepresenting others. Wow, what peace that will be. I mean, right now, the flesh and the spirit battle within us every day, Galatians 5 says. But one day, that struggle will be over. When Christ returns, we will never again be tempted to do evil. Never again will we know the sorrow of sin. Our relationships with others will be completely pure. There'll be no envying, no coveting, no judging, no gossip, no arguing, no hurt feelings, no cold shoulders. No more broken promises, no more shame for what we've done, no more tears for the hurt that we've caused. Imagine what it would be like to worship God with no sin. No more divided heart. No more mind that's wandering to the things of this world when we should be focusing on God and on His Son. No more worshiping someone whom we see as through a glass dimly, but we will see Christ in all His beauty. We will know God in all His glory, and then think of the worship that will take place. Our fellowship with God will no longer be hindered by sin and its limitations. Our faculties will be completely pure, purified to worship God as we were created for. We see that throughout this text, throughout the book of Revelation. The redeemed worshiping God around his throne. So no more sin in me, no more sin in us. Third thing that's absent from the new heavens and new earth, no more pain or sadness. Revelation 21 four, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away. I mean, I know we read over that and it is a beautiful verse, but I mean, you just gotta stop and think about that for a while. Can you imagine a world with no more pain? A world with no more sadness? Because it's a world with no more sin. There's no more disease, there's no more birth defects, no cancer, no germs, no physical pain of any kind. There's no more pain of seeing a loved one suffer from a disease, seeing a loved one lose their mental faculties. There'll be no more emotional pain. Never again will we experience the pain of hurting others or have someone hurt us. There'll be no more broken promises, no unmet expectations, no selfish demands, no more disappointments, no more abuse, no more sickness. Imagine a world where there's no more crying. It says he will wipe every tear from our eye. Whatever pain we have left from this fallen world, whatever Sadness we have from missed opportunities we see at the judgment seat of Christ, God's gonna wipe away those tears. And then we'll spend the rest of eternity never crying again. At least not tears of sadness, right? Imagine a world where there's no more crying. No child is crying because his parents are fighting. No father is crying because he can't provide for his family. No mother is crying because her child is dying of a disease. No more tears of confession, no more tears caused by betrayal, no more tears of loss, because we'll not feel loss of any kind. No more pain of being taken advantage of, no more pain caused by the selfishness of others, no more pain of a wayward child, no more fears about the future, no more regrets about the past, no more accidents, no more tragedies, no more aching for home, because we will be home. No more painful longing for what our soul needs, because we will be with God. We'll be completely satisfied. There'll be no more sadness or grief of any kind. Fourthly, what's absent from the new heavens and the new earth is no more evil. No more evil. I talked about no more sin in us, but there's also gonna be no more evil in the world around us. Again, Revelation 21, 4. Verse 5. Also, he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, to the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, Their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Again, God's people, those saved by His grace and redeemed by the blood of Christ, make up the holy city, the New Jerusalem. They receive the inheritance of the new heavens and the new earth, and they're the ones who get to dwell with God forever. But verse 8 says that all those who are not God's people, they have no part in this inheritance. Instead, their portion is the lake of fire. At the end of chapter 20, it explains that their names were not found written in the book of life, and so they're thrown into the lake of fire along with the devil. What a different world that will be to no longer have evil in this world. I mean, currently, there are many who walk as enemies of Christ. Anyone whom God has not saved is an enemy of God. They may not be actively against antagonizing the gospel, but they're not bowing the knee. And we see it as we live in this fallen world, that this world system is against God and against his son, Jesus Christ. The nations rage, but one day their raging will come to an end. There are many who have never bowed their knee to Christ, but when Jesus returns, he will defeat his enemies once and for all, and will separate them forever into eternal punishment. And then there will finally be peace on the earth. No longer will the kingdom of darkness persecute the people of God, because all of Christ's enemies will be gone. Look ahead to verse 23 of chapter 21 there. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Look at verse 25 now. And its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Throughout history, cities have needed walls. Why? They've needed walls with gates that shut at night. to keep the bad guys out, right? But in the holy city, its gates are never shut because there are no more bad guys. They've all been defeated. They've all been cast into the lake of fire. There will be no night where you have to, again, think about a night. Think about a city with walls at night. You've got to have watchmen up there, standing guard, because at night is when the enemy might try to sneak up and attack. But there's going to be no more night. There's no evil left to attack the people of God. Christ's rule will be completely unchallenged. There'll be no more persecution of God's people. Because the new heavens and the new earth will only be God's people. Revelation 15, 11 says the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God will encompass the whole new heavens and new earth. That means God's unchallenged rule will extend to every inch of the new heavens and the new earth. Christ's eternal kingdom will be a kingdom of righteousness and peace. Isaiah prophesied this in chapter 11 verse 9 of Isaiah. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the seas. Never again will one of God's commands be broken in the new heavens and the new earth. No longer will his name be used as a curse word. Never again will people promote agendas which are opposed to God's word. There'll be no more idolatry. All worship will be directed toward God and his King, Jesus Christ. Imagine what that'll be like. It's hard to imagine because we live in such a fallen world now. But again, just allow your mind to think about what that will be like. There'll be no more businesses soliciting evil. We'll not be bombarded with temptations to do evil. There'll be no wicked movies, no songs celebrating sin, no more cursing, no more crude jokes, no more sinful propaganda. There won't be any parade celebrating sin or laws being passed which go against God's word. There'll be no more abortion clinics, no adult bookstores, no casinos. Instead of our landscape being littered with dens of wickedness, our entire world will be a place of righteousness. There'll be no more shady parts of town. There'll be no place where the devil still has a foothold, because there'll be no more devil. He's cast into the lake of fire. Satan himself will be thrown into the lake of fire. He'll no longer be able to hurt, kill, or destroy. He'll no longer be able to oppose God and his kingdom. So never again will we hear about Christians being persecuted, Christians being ostracized, imprisoned, or killed. There'll be no more abuse, no more domestic violence, no more wrecks caused by drunk driving, no fraud, no rape, no stealing of any kind. We'll not need safes, or guns, or passwords, or locks on our doors. We'll have no need of insurance, security systems, or identity theft protection. All that energy that we have to dedicate to now and to preserving and protecting ourselves We'll be freed up, man. I mean, all that energy can just be worshiping God and enjoying each other, enjoying our inheritance, the new heavens and the new earth and the presence of God. And then lastly, on what is absent, there'll be no more death, right? I mean, isn't that kind of the culmination? of what is absent, no more death, Revelation 21, 4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation, excuse me, Romans 5.12 says, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all have sinned. See, God originally created this world without death. But when Adam fell, sin entered the world, and death as well, because death is a result of sin. And so ever since Adam sinned, humans have faced the evil reality of death. But Christ has defeated sin and death by his death and resurrection. And so even though now believers still get sick and die, we do so with the sure hope of resurrection from the dead and a glorified body fit for Christ's eternal kingdom. So when Christ returns, he will raise us from the dead, and our resurrection will signal the final defeat of death. Which is why we have those glorious words in 21-4. Death shall be no more. In the new heavens and the new earth, death shall be no more. Never again will we weep over the grave of a loved one. There'll be no abortion. There'll be no war. There'll be no homicide. Death, our last and greatest enemy, will be destroyed once and for all. Death, which has brought pain to every family of the human race, will no longer have a claim on us. Death, which has hung over every person since the fall, will finally be a thing of the past. Never again will we feel the loss of a loved one. Never again will we have to say goodbye. Never again will our hearts ache at missing a loved one. Never again will we see our bodies waste away. Death will be no more. Now let's consider briefly what is present in the new heavens and new earth. The first thing that's present is Perfect life supplied by God forever. Perfect life supplied by God forever. Revelation 21, six reads, and he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. Then look ahead to chapter 22, verse one. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. So you see that the spring of this water of life is the throne of God, and of the lamb. That's where the water flows from. God gives us this life freely, it says, without payment, because our salvation is entirely by his grace. This perfect life is supplied by God forever. Forever. Remember after the fall, Adam and Eve were banned from the tree of life, but in the new heavens and the new earth, ...will enjoy never-ending access to the Tree of Life. It's yielding its fruit... ...each month, it says. This perfect life is supplied by God forever. The life God gives us will be perfect, without sin, without death, and full of abundant blessings. And it's all by His grace. It's all given freely. And that leads me then to the second thing that's present in the new heavens and the new earth. Perfect, unhindered, unmediated fellowship with God. Perfect, unhindered, unmediated fellowship with God. You know what I mean by unmediated, right? A mediator is a go-between, right? Well, in the new heavens and new earth, we're gonna enjoy direct fellowship with God. Well, let me show you. The central feature of the new heavens and the new earth is that God is living with his people. Revelation 21 three, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. Verse seven, the one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son. Verse 22. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Chapter 22, verse 3. No longer will there be anything accursed. but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. I purposely saved this, the best for last here. This is the central feature of the new heavens and the new earth, that God is living with his people. That's what makes it heaven, the new heavens and new earth, right? Because we're with God. The best part of the new heavens and new earth is that we will be in God's unmediated presence. Think about it, the defining characteristic of God's people, as we read through scripture, has always been God dwelling in their midst. In the old covenant, God's glory dwelled in the most holy place, in the tabernacle in the temple. Then Jesus came and referred to himself as the temple because he became the place where people meet with God. Now in the new covenant, God dwells in his church, individually and corporately by his spirit. But in the new heavens and the new earth, God will live with his people. Not in a temple, and not merely through His Spirit, and I don't say that disrespectfully, but God's glorious presence will be everywhere. We won't need a temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb is its temple. We won't need the sun or moon because the glory of God shining through Jesus, the Lamp, will give us light. I know that's kind of hard to wrap our minds around. But that's what the Bible says. And so we rejoice in that. Every inch of the new heaven and the new earth will be filled with the presence of God. You see how different that is from, like, the old covenant? It's interesting, by the way, in verses 9 through 22 of chapter 21, remember it's describing the new Jerusalem, the holy city, that when it talks about the measurements, it's talking about a cube. And the only other place in scripture where you have a cube is the most holy place in the tabernacle in the temple. And so under the old covenant, remember, only once a year the high priest could enter into the cube of the most holy place where God's presence dwelt. But in the new heavens and the new earth, every person everywhere will be basking in the glorious presence of God. There's not gonna be a sweet spot where you go, there's no Wi-Fi hotspots for the presence of God in the new heavens and new earth, right? The whole new heavens and new earth will be filled with the presence of God. God will live with his people and be their God. We will live in the glorious presence of God and worship him. And that's what we were created for. That's why Christ redeemed us. That's why we'll be glorified. So that we can worship him without sin. We could worship God and live with Him forever. Think of what peace that will be. What peace there will be when we are living forever in perfect fellowship with God. I mean, we get just small tastes of it here in this life during corporate or personal worship, but those times are very limited. They're limited by our own abilities and they're quickly sidetracked by the presence of sin. But in the new heavens and the new earth, we'll have glorified bodies and we'll live in a sin-free world. We'll have perfect and heightened faculties to worship God perfectly with no distractions. We'll enjoy unhindered fellowship with God in the glory of his presence. Again, we get to enjoy that now through his spirit. But in the new heavens and new earth, no longer will we worship Jesus as dimly through a glass, but we will behold him in all his glory. We'll see his face. We won't battle any distractions or deal with any mortal limitations. In the new heavens and new earth, there will be nothing to hinder our full knowledge, enjoyment, and worship of Jesus Christ. God goes on to say in Revelation chapter 22, verses 14 and following. I didn't read this text earlier, but if you look ahead in chapter 22, look at verse 14. And with this, I bring our study to a close this morning. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, and sorcerers, and the sexually immoral, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The spirit and the bride say, come. And let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Jesus is coming again to reign forever in righteousness and peace. And that truth is an encouragement to believers, but it's also a warning to unbelievers. It's a warning because Jesus will defeat his enemies and punish them forever. No one who has not been cleansed by the blood of Jesus will be allowed in the new heavens and the new earth. But you see here in verse 17 that I just read of chapter 22, that the truth of Christ's return is also an invitation to unbelievers. The spirit and the bride say, come. Come to Jesus in repentance and faith. Come and receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Come and know for certain that you will live with God forever in His perfect kingdom. Let the one who is thirsty come. God says, take the water of life without price. God gives salvation freely. There's nothing you can do to earn it. Come to Jesus. Trust in Him as your Savior and follow Him as your Lord. That's the invitation today. And if the Lord is working in your heart that way, I'd love to talk with you after the service. Please come find me or come find any of the men that you'll see standing up here in a moment. And then finally, to us, the bride, the church, I think the word to us this morning is do not lose hope. Keep following Christ. Endure hardship because you have a beautiful inheritance waiting for you. An inheritance that's being kept safe until the day of Christ's return. And so we say amen. Come, Lord Jesus. We'll now continue to worship God by taking the Lord's Supper together. So I'd like to invite Pastor John to come forward and lead us in that.