Good morning. We are here in Luke. If you're new with us, we're thankful to have you. We're in Luke chapter 22, and we will continue to meditate upon this Passion Week and the last events of Christ's life before he dies on the cross and then rises again soon. Here we return to a teaching. As we consider what Christ is teaching, I want us to think about a question. Do you want the happiest life? Do you want the happiest life? I'm guessing, assuming most of us are gonna say, well, yeah, of course. That's why I'm exerting all this energy. That's why I commit myself in so many ways over things. I want the happiest life. Question today, if we can consider, look at ourselves from outside, are your efforts working? There's two prominent ways in which our culture is understanding a way to pursue the happiest life. One says, I need to understand what reality is, what the truth is, and I need to adjust my desires, expectations, and feelings to work in with the reality. The other way says, what I believe is good, how I feel is good, what I expect is good, and I need to make reality adjust and change so that I'm happy. We're asking this morning, what needs to be adjusted for your happiness? Here we have Jesus teaching what greatness is. We have Jesus teaching, I believe, what the true happy life is. Are we gonna let our desires be adjusted, or are we gonna keep trying to find loopholes and adjust Jesus? These are some weighty teachings. Here is God, the way, the truth, the life, presenting to us what is right, true, good. Are we going to receive what he says and seek to adjust our expectations? The reality is the teachings of Jesus, they call it the upside kingdom because in every way what he teaches us is good and right seems to be counterintuitive in every way. And here he is. He's not just teaching us a new value, a different value. Brothers and sisters, we have to believe it's a better value. Are we going to let the Word of God evaluate us to help us come to the right values of Jesus Christ? I present it this way, as I hope you feel the weight of it, because Christ is presenting us a way of living that's costly. We don't believe in cheap grace. We don't believe in cheap discipleship. Christ is presenting us a costly way of living. If you want the happy life of Christ, it will cost you everything. It will cost you everything to know him and enjoy him who has given you everything he is. So here we are looking at three specific ways I believe Jesus is teaching us to Consider what we value. Three topics, greatness, failure, and suffering. Greatness, failure, and suffering. Three ways in which we need to change the way we think about these things, value these things. Let's first look at greatness, verses 24 to 30. Here we see the king teaching us what it means to be great in the kingdom. Verse 24, a dispute also arose among them, that is the 12, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. All right, if we go back to last week, and we think about Christ has just instituted the Lord's Supper, and he's warned them, one of you will betray me. And they're disputing, well, which one of us would be the worst? Right? Which one of us is going to be the one who betrays? Surely not I. Maybe it's you. I think as we see this turning, now they're disputing who's the greatest. Surely not you, but probably I. All right, so this is pretty basic, pretty classic. There's 12 guys in a room. Who's the greatest becomes the debate. Jesus addresses their dispute to help them understand how they need to have a conversation about it that's better. He redirects the way they're thinking And we see there's really three sections to what Jesus says. He contrasts their idea with greatness. The idea he has for greatness is contrasted with the kings, that's 24 and 25. He clarifies that they will lead with service, that's 26 to 27. And he promised them a future greatness as a reward. If we look at what Jesus says, there's a contrast. The greatness of the kingdom is not like the kings of this earth, 24, 25. He tells them what? Greatness really is, it's leading to serve. And finally, there's a promise of greatness in 28 through 30. He said of them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, the Gentiles. And those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. That's a significant negative declaration. Jesus here is a good teacher. He's gonna say what is not, then he's gonna tell us what he is. But we really gotta wrestle with this not. How is Christ teaching his disciples how they're not supposed to be great? The disciples who he's going to give them a mission with the greatest power anyone's ever had on this earth with the Holy Spirit to go out and proclaim the message that has the greatest power this world has ever heard. This world has ever heard. What's the not? Well, the kings or the Gentiles, they rule with authority. They exercise a power. They're called benefactors. They sit back and pretend they're doing so much good for the people, but they're ruling harshly. They're demanding of others. They're taking others. The disciples are told greatness is not going to be like those kings. It's not one that has might. and power in the way the world knows it. He's not one that uses threats and harshness as the world knows it. Christians, we need rule, but good rule. There has to be authority and it must be used in God's good way. God's rule is a pouring out rule. Those who believe God's people are called to be givers. They must reflect and represent God. All God's people are supposed to grow out of being mere consumers in order to be contributors. The whole Christian life is learning that God gives you more and more so that we learn how to give more and more of ourselves. You think about this. What kind of greatness are we pursuing? The way of the world is to conquer with power, to fight fire with fire. Not the way the king of kings thinks of rule. If you go back to Psalm 2, we thought about this with Dr. Gentry. The nations, the kings, they rage against God with what they think is power. But our almighty King of Kings, he laughs at them in derision because of how silly their use of power seems to be. Significant, Christian, that we learn what God expects of us. Today is Reformation Sunday. thinking about the Reformation, and we're gonna learn some historical stepping stones to the Reformation tonight, but today I wanna take us to the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, everyone's favorite Reformation document. I believe it is one of the most significant, but it's also one of the few things that Luther wrote that's really confusing for many. We'll send this link out in the weekly to have a helpful lesson about it that I think explains it better than I will even now, but the Heidelberg Disputation may be one of the more mature moments of Luther. He separates out, he makes a contrast. The theologian of glory versus the theologian of the cross. The theologian of the glory, he says, calls evil good and calls good evil. The theologian of glory, he says, is someone who thinks God is going to keep working in the way this world works. Basically, since this world values people based upon power, popularity, wealth, that's the way God shows his blessing and what he values. Luther says, no. We're called to be theologians of the cross. We don't know God through those kind of blessings, through those kind of means of the world. No, we know God by the way he revealed himself. We know God most in the suffering. On the cross is where we see God most truly as the righteous one who judges sin. On the cross is where we see God most clearly as the merciful one. God makes himself known in apparent weakness. The theologian of glory has this arrogance and boasting that because all things are going good, God must really like me. The theologian of the cross says no. God reveals himself in what is apparent weakness but his great power. In short, the Heidelberg Disputation shows the contrast of a prosperity gospel versus the true gospel. I believe it's the first anti-prosperity gospel teaching that I know of. And he's writing it because the Catholic Church has embraced a prosperity gospel that abuses the peasants. We need to learn how to think about greatness in a whole new way. How do we value ourselves? How do we value others? Is it according to what God has said? Is it according to what God is doing? Do we seek to work in the kingdom according to the king's ways? How do we lead? How do we serve? What do we expect? Now, he's told us what it's not supposed to be. You're not supposed to seek greatness like a king would. No. but not so with you, and then he launches in to tell us exactly what it is. Notice, but not so with you, and rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? It is not the one who reclines at table, is it not the one who reclines at table? But I'm among you as the one who serves. Verse 26 is very straightforward. The greatest becomes as the youngest. The leader is one who serves. Now, he's flipping the world upside down the way we think about greatness. We have to do a little bit of translation because we live in a Peter Pan world where everyone thinks we should stay as young as possible, as long as possible. That's not biblical living. We're supposed to grow up. The youngest in this culture would have been seen as somebody who can't contribute to society. The youngest is someone who would be looked down upon. No, the greatest takes the posture of the youngest, one who's gonna come to serve. The leader, he doesn't come to be served, he comes to serve. The leader, the great leader is one who pours himself out. And then verse 27, he asked a rhetorical question. Who is greater? Is it the person who sits at the table or the one who serves? Well, in every public gathering they would have gone to, you would assume the servants are not greater, the person being served is greater, and then notice what Jesus says. But I am among you as the one who serves you. Christ is the model. Christ is greatest. He has the name above all names. and he took upon himself the one who would serve. If you're not a believer today, this is that wonderful paradox. He who is great and worthy of all glory came to be like us, to be mocked, spat upon, denied, rejected, to die, even to the point of being nailed to a cross. Because that was the only way we could be saved. He came to serve us by becoming our Savior. He came to serve us to take away our sin by taking upon Himself. The only salvation we know, the only salvation we can have is that He came to give Himself up for us. The way you receive that salvation is by believing in Him. Trusting He has forgiven you. And if you believe, we now recognize that he who saved us is he who calls us to serve. We're not greater than our master. If our master came to save us from our sin, he's going to come and also direct us and here he's directing us to have a posture to serve. This is kind of cool. He made serving cool. He took serving something lowly and he made it holy. and great. Our culture's dying for some kind of greatness that's equal for everybody. Jesus already has. He took serving and made it great. We all can learn what it means to be great in the kingdom of God because Jesus took what was lowly and it made it great. What a change. What a power. What a counterintuitive teaching for us to embrace, right? Am I the only one that has a difficult time embracing that this could be true? Christian, sin is demanding of others and not expecting from God. Christ calls us to expect much from God and give ourself over to others. That's the worldview shift, and it begins with God. Sin says, I'm going to demand of others and not expect anything from God, whereas a Christian says, no, God gives me so much to pour out to others. Practically, what does this look like? Well, we can ask some questions. Things to ponder upon after the service. Who are you serving? How are you serving? Are there intentional ways in which you're seeking to be known and know others that you might actually serve others? Because there's no way to really serve someone unless you know them. This is not random acts of kindness. This is not some kind of spontaneous. There's no such thing as spontaneous discipleship. That was learning how to be reliable, faithful, dependable. To grow up and see how God can use you by serving others. Here's truth to adjust your life to. It is Christian to serve. It is godly to serve. It's great to serve. What an incredible privilege. It's an act of worship. The word serve is tied so closely to worship throughout the scriptures. It's an opportunity for growth. It's an opportunity to be a blessing. So let me just clarify some things. Is it possible to be a Christian who does not serve? Yeah. Is it healthy? No. Is it dangerous? Yes. A model here, we see just explained through our scriptures. All of the letters explain how important it is to be known, to be united with a body where you're known and serve others. Ephesians 4 is a key text where we try to develop our own life together as a church. When each member does its part, the whole body grows up together to Christ the head. Every member has a predestined work to do. That's Ephesians 2.10. Every member has a part to play in the whole body growing up together. The whole body grows up in wholeness when we actually all work together in serving together in the way Christ is ordained. means we gotta be present, prayerful. Let me give you a few examples. A couple weeks ago, I was at one of my children's recitals, 8.30 a.m. on a Friday. I look back, and one of our UVA students, a 19-year-old male, is at a second-grader's recital at 830 on Friday morning. What is he doing here? Well, he was asked by a second grader to come to the recital, and so he woke up on Friday morning and decided that was the best use of his time. How did he get there? Well, this young man committed himself to being present. He said, I want to join this church as a freshman. First year, sorry. He made himself known. He said, how can I serve? Let's put you with the youngest children possible, where he met these children. The family started inviting him over to their house. They said, would you come over to this recital? He said, well, of course. What else would I do? That's the servant mentality. It wasn't a random act of kindness. It was developed over building up a relationship with the children of the church, with the family of the church, by just being present. Just even this evening. The amount of hours spent by 19 and 20-year-olds to develop a whole plan of fun things for your kids tonight was so encouraging to see. Justin has spent hours in preparing a lesson. The fellow doing all the food took a whole day off of work. These things just don't happen spontaneously and randomly. No, you're present. You're looking for ways to serve, you're seeking to pray. We had a young man who hung up lights so we're safer at night. There's a pattern that has to take place, a change of posture. Let me blow it down just one more level maybe. During the Sunday school hour right now from 9.15 to 10.15, women are meeting below us and men are meeting down there. And the whole idea is that women are able to have a good conversation, a necessary conversation about what it means to be a biblical woman. And men are having a conversation about what it means to not be a toxic man. We do this because we think it's important. We think it's important for you young folks because I don't know if there's another place where you can come and have a good conversation about what it means to be a man without fearing that being a man is toxic. There's actually a biblical formula to being a good man. And we think it's important for us to press that in and open the conversation so we can talk about it with you. Come. A few weeks in, but I believe in so much. If you come down, I'll give you the book for free. And if we run out, I'll order some more to give it to you for free. Young women, the same thing. Where is it you can go and find a conversation where we can open up the word and hear the things God has given you? Specifically the womb. It's a blessing. Where can you hear of how women can learn how to learn who they are in Christ and grow up and using all their gifts in Christ, in the church? We do this because we think it's good. I hope we're all somewhat concerned about how gender is being taught in schools and politics. We should think about how to change that. The reality is we can change it right here. This is boots on the ground, first line of defense. If you're not a young man, you should come to Thoughts for Young Men. Why? Probably still helpful for you. Two, where else are you going to learn to walk alongside a young man to help him learn to be a young man? That's the idea of service. It's not, oh, I don't really know about that. I'm not concerned. It's too early. No, it's we can actually develop a new culture of being godly men and godly women together. You're already coming. It's an hour earlier. Set your alarm for two hours earlier next Sunday. Heads up. Verse 29 and 30. You are those who have stayed with me in my trials. And I assign to you. So they've been with him for three years. They've heard the crowds love him, and they've heard the crowds deny him. There's a sense in which, because they stayed, and we'll get to that word in the next section a little bit more. And now I assign to you. As my father assigned to me, this is eternal truth, a kingdom. The son has been given a kingdom. He's telling us, you're now part of our kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. Notice the kind of greatness we're probably wanting is delayed, it's future. Notice the intimacy of how he describes it. He just had the Lord's Supper. He just said, I'm not going to take this fruit again until the coming of the kingdom. I'm not going to participate in this meal again until the coming of the kingdom. It is, by definition, future. But the table represents so much about intimacy, family, an intimate gathering. I was once taking a walk with a young man, and I was just asking, what are the new patterns? Because you just had, you know, you're newly married, you had a baby, and well, they were eating meals in front of a TV. Stop it. No, you create a culture in your home by eating a meal together. There's something sacred about a meal. Turn the devices off and enjoy the meal together. There's something wonderful here about Christ and the way he's gonna invite us in to the meal presence where everyone comes as a family member to enjoy him, the king. There's an intimacy here. There's a greatness here. And then he tells us even more. Judgment of even the 12 churches of Israel. That's all future. If you've been with us in Luke, we've seen over and over again how the disciples just really get confused about something specific. They don't understand there's two comings of Christ. One humbly to die and the next one to come with power and absolute victory. We need to be careful not to confuse the two comings of Christ. Greatness and judgment are to come. Serving and giving ourselves are where we are. We need to be careful not to confuse those two comings of Christ. Now let's look at how we can consider the value of failure. Simon, Simon. He's focused in now. He's changed direction. He's not just talking to all of them. At some level, he's focusing on Simon. Behold. Okay, that's a significant word that catches our attention. Luke's drawing us in. Satan, we've seen Satan before. Judas had Satan enter in him to betray Judas, Jesus, I'm sorry. Satan has entered Judas to betray Jesus as an inside job. And this is very Job-like. Satan demanded to have you. We're not sure what this looks like exactly, but Satan has come and demanded Peter. The great ancient foe has demanded Peter. The you there is the good old Southern y'all, but he has demanded that all the disciples would be shaken, but specifically Peter, Simon Simon, that he might sift you like wheat. Satan wants to shake you up. Satan's demanded you to discourage you. Verse 32, notice these passages are all built on these wonderful contrast. But I have prayed for you. Satan entered into Judas, and Judas betrayed Jesus, and he ends up as the son of destruction. Satan tempts Peter, he sifts him, and he's gonna fail. Here we have to ask, did Jesus' prayer fail? How is it that Jesus is going to pray for Peter that his faith may not fail, and spoiler alert, he is going to end up denying Jesus three times to a crowd, a soldier, and a little girl. His faith was sifted, he failed. Notice what Jesus says next to him. When you've turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter does the classic Peter thing. Lord, I'm ready to go with you to prison and to death. No, you're gonna deny me three times before the rooster crows. Well, Jesus tells him that to be very clear, so he understands. This is good for us. We need to know how to evaluate failure. We understand that there's a failure in Peter here. His faith failed. He failed Jesus. He failed the disciples. He failed himself. There's a way in which this failure is a teaching moment. See, when we fail, we have shame. And the most intuitive thing you're going to do when you have shame is to do what? Hide. Isolate. Let's go back to the garden. There's something silly about Adam and Eve hiding from God in his garden behind his trees, right? What does God graciously do? He comes out and he asks them, where are you? That's grace. Shame is supposed to help us see how much we need God and how we found God and come to God who's merciful. When the cock crows, it's a wonderful blessing from God to remind Peter, you failed just as I said. So he would come out. Come back to Christ. There's something very important in verse 32 that we need to linger upon. For if we fail, when we fail, the remedy for failing is turning again. The remedy for failing is turning again. To turn back, we use the word repent. The only failure that is permanent is the one that you hold on to. The only failure that's permanent is the one that you refuse to repent of. So today, if you feel like a failure, you may have actually failed. In fact, you probably have. If you don't think you failed, you probably have failed. You're failing to see your failure. We've all failed to be faithful. There's many ways we can fall away. Deny Christ, refuse him, keep him at a distance. Hear the invitation that Christ has here. Turn back to me and I'll receive you. In failure, Christ's invitation is turn out of that sin. Because all failure is a failure of faith. Turn out of that sin of not believing me and trusting me and obeying me. Turn out of that sin and come to me. And I'll receive you. That invitation has to be rich. It has to be the part of we, the way we talk about Christ with one another. There's another way we can think about our falling down. We might think, why do we fall down, Mr. Bruce? Well, so we can learn how to pick ourselves up again. Okay, that's helpful advice if you're a billionaire vigilante. Or if you ever find yourself with a broken arm at the bottom of a bat cave. or if you found yourself with a broken back in a pit, prison somewhere. It's a good movie, but it's not the gospel. You're not Batman. You're not Iron Man. You're not Spartacus. You're a sinner who has a great savior. You're a sinner who has a great savior. What Jesus gives us is so helpful. We strengthen our brothers after we turn back because we don't learn about some kind of strength we have then. No, we learn about the strength God gives us from outside. We are able to turn back because then we're going to learn how God is so gracious, so patient, so kind. Peter has a fear of man. That's what leads to his falling. Christ invites him back to repent so that he can then strengthen his brothers. Again, I appreciate today is Reformation Day, so let's actually think about the 95 theses. October 31st, 1517. Let me read for you the first three. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, repent, he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. What a fantastic summary of the gospel. Number two, this word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is confession and satisfaction as administered by the clergy, yet it does not mean solely inner repentance. Such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortifications of the flesh or sin. Peter, you're going to fail. When you turn back because of grace, when you repent, strengthen your brothers. The lesson learned is that pride has been crushed. The way we get entangled with sin, we see how twisted our hearts are. We see how good God is. One last thing before we move on. Why did Peter's failure lead to repentance and then him preaching the first gospel versus Judas's failure led to his destruction? but I have prayed for you. Jesus's intercession is the only reason Peter doesn't remain a failure. Jesus's intercession is the only reason we don't remain in failure. We need to let that sink in. It's Christ who, who paid that penalty. It's Christ who now sits at the right hand and is interceding for us all the time. It's Christ who alone in his grace is the reason we're not always failing and never returning and remaining in failure. Oh, what good news. He holds us fast. It isn't that God's grace failed. It isn't that the prayer failed. No, it's Peter's sin that caused him to fail. It's the grace of Christ that lifts him up out of it by saying, turn back. Praise be to God. The last value change is suffering. Verses 35 to 38. And he said to them, when I sent you out with no money bag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything? They said, nothing. Okay, we can go all the way back to Luke 9, and that's where Jesus sent them out with nothing and said, go preach the gospel. I'm giving you the power to heal and to cast out demons and to proclaim the kingdom. And the key thing is this question. He's reminding them, when I sent you out with nothing, Did you, without any of these things, did you lack anything? They said, nothing. He's teaching them God was faithful, right? You've learned the great pedagogical opportunity. I sent you out and you learned God is faithful. 36, and he said to them, but now, let those, let the one who has money back take it and likewise a knapsack. Let the one who has a sword sell his cloak and buy one. Okay, well, this is encouraging for those who go on mission trips. You get to take stuff. You probably can't take a sword, though, if you're flying international, or at all. So that's, the word of God might need to be rethought what that means there, but the whole goal is you can take the provision necessary. Okay, the sword is the new piece of equipment that isn't from Luke 9. And it's even emphasized, let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. That seems significant. The sword was a common thing, but here, if you don't have a sword, you need to make sure you have one. Well, why? Probably for self-defense. We gotta wrestle with something that could be fun. Is this the verse that we can stamp and know our Second Amendment rights as American citizens? This could get awkward. Before we go and engrave on our arms Luke 22, 36, let's wrestle with this. Because what he does next is counterintuitive. For I tell you that the scripture must be fulfilled in me. That's his rationale. That's his reasoning for getting a sword. And he was numbered. with the transgressors. For what is written about me has its fulfillment. Notice how this declaration, verse 37, it's so powerful with the words fulfillment on front and end. All of God's words, we looked at last week and we'll look at again a few more times in Luke, how all God's promises are a yes and amen in Jesus Christ, how God has designed this incredible story that all comes to a clear fruition and climax of activity and fulfillment in Christ. Specifically, he's talking about the fulfillment that he was numbered with transgressors, the passage that Houn read earlier from Isaiah 53, the suffering servant. One of the most clear pictures of Christ dying for us. Christ suffering for us. How is this a rationale for the sword? Let's first just see Christ came. And he was praised by many, he was rejoiced greatly, he was received, but then he's denied. They're gonna bring out Barabbas, who's a rebel. Do you want Jesus or Barabbas? Barabbas. They mocked him. They spat upon him. They killed him. There's a significant turn. Jesus is going to suffer. And I believe he's telling us we're going to suffer with him. We can see throughout all the scripture. We're going to suffer with him. The world despised Jesus. We're called to serve like Jesus, our master. We're called to suffer like Jesus, our master. It's not an if, it's a when. We need to recognize as much as serving has had a transvaluation, a change of value that is great now, suffering, because our master came to suffer, is great. So why the sword? I believe it's for self-defense. But as we think about the suffering, We're supposed to rejoice with any kind of suffering? That's James 1. That's not our first response, typically. We're supposed to ask for wisdom. We're supposed to rejoice. So as we look at this, I believe it's teaching us that a sword can be used for self-defense. But I think we need to be careful of trying to come up with an idea of a militia force because there's, at best, two swords, and there's 12 of them, and they're fighting Rome. Right, well, we need to be careful here. I believe it's simple to say, be prepared, the road ahead of us is dangerous. You need to think about defense and self-protection, but let's just deal with that, it is enough, verse 38. Look, Lord, here are two swords. That's how they respond to his teaching. And he said to them, it is enough. It is enough is not referring to two swords. It is enough is their reference, oh heck yeah, we got two swords. Stop it, did you not hear what I just said? It's time to suffer. It is enough is declaring, stop talking about this. You just heard the declaration of suffering. It is enough, it cannot be about the sword count. It's about them talking about swords. As we think about this passage, when Paul calls himself a servant, I believe he's actually referring to himself as a Christian who's serving and suffering like Christ. Christ is the true suffering servant. Paul understood himself to be a servant. We're called to suffer like our master. And as we just think about what it means, I'm intending to cause all kinds of fun, questions and conversations afterwards. The apostles never used a sword when attacked, an axe. It was used in Luke one more time, wasn't it? Jesus said, put it away. They rejoiced when persecuted. They didn't avoid suffering. I want to challenge this. Are we trying to figure out how can we defend ourselves so we don't have suffering? Or are we trying to think, how can I have a faith that's going to endure suffering? How can we have a faith that knows how to endure and persevere? The call this morning is to challenge our values. We desire comfort too much. We desire entertainment too much. We need our faith challenged. Do we value Christ and Him crucified enough? Do we value Him who invites us out of failure enough? Jesus has invited us into his greatness. He's invited us to repent, to come out of our failure. He's invited us to follow and to participate in his suffering. He's invited us out of our pride and to come to him. The question this morning is what are we gonna keep holding on to that we keep thinking is gonna bring us a happy life and keeps failing that keeps us from trusting Jesus? Let's come back to the most basic point. God gives us the greatest gift, himself. And then he calls us to give over ourselves. Let's bow and have a moment of reflection before we close. Father, forgive us for not being eager to hear your word that would show us a better way than the one we think we figured out for ourselves. Thank you for not leaving us in foolishness and darkness and mischievousness. Thank you for bringing us wisdom, light, virtue. We thank you that you take broken things and make them straight again. Thank you that we no longer have to live in the shame of failure, but we can come out and rejoice greatly in Christ, our Savior. Lord, help us to know how to order our days, hours, minutes, and seconds, to know how to pursue the greatness you've set before us, purchased for us by your Son, modeled for us by your Son, instructed here in your word. Thank you. Thank you, Father, for giving us your Son so that we know life. And thank you for giving us your Spirit so that we can enjoy and live that life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us stand and sing our song of response, He Will Hold Me Fast.