You may turn in your Bibles to Psalm 87. And some of you who have been here the last few weeks anyway, maybe thinking, well, wait a minute, Pastor, we just started First Timothy. We haven't gone very far in First Timothy. What kind of rabbit trail are we going on already? You know how long it takes us to get through these books in the New Testament. Well, as we begin our study in First Timothy, one of the things I hope that you saw was the centrality and the importance of the church in God's plan. First Timothy was written specifically for the order of the church and to enable Timothy and also the church itself to order itself properly and to see its importance. And as a result, our hymn of the month, which is number 269, Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, has purposely been chosen to have us be singing five times because we have five Sundays this month, five times to be singing of the glories of the church. And that great hymn that John Newton penned for us is based on Psalm 87. And also, since the elders of the church continue to want to have more and more of the use of Psalms in our worship, both in the reading and they're using their singing of the Psalms, it makes sense then to pause this Sunday to preach through Psalm 87 on the glories of the church as we're starting a series, even in First Timothy, that emphasizes the importance of the church. And so that's why we're in Psalm 87 this morning. I think also, as we're preparing to be before the Lord's table at the end of our service, it's a good time to step back and to see what God would tell us out of Psalm 87. Psalm 87 is about Zion. And Zion in the Old Testament came to be used as a name for Jerusalem, the place where the temple was, the place where God would dwell in a special way and a place where God would call his people together into worship in a special way. And so you would see that in the scriptures that Zion then became also a word that would point towards its fulfillment in the Church of God in Christ Jesus. You can even see in the New Testament the same use of that. As we began our worship this morning, looking at Hebrews chapter 12, in verses 22 through 24, when the writer of Hebrews says, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. It goes on to explain this is the place where God's people are at Mount Zion. And so what we have, and when you look through the Psalms in the Old Testament, The fulfillment many times of the Psalms in the Old Testament, speaking of Zion is in the church itself. And we're going to look at Psalm 87 in that way this morning. Zion represents Jerusalem, which is where the temple resided, the temple ordained by God for the special place of corporate worship by his people in the New Testament. The church is said then to be the true temple of God. where we, the people of God, are living stones that are built up to make the temple, the church, as Peter tells us in the second chapter of First Peter. In that church, that temple, Christ is the foundation and its builder, as we see in Ephesians chapter two. Christ is pleased to indwell his temple with his spirits, and he meets us here in the church of God. And therefore, the commentators Throughout the history of the church, I've looked to Psalm 87 as a psalm that presents the glories of the church. And we see in verse three, glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. And again, city of God eventually comes to be known as the church itself. And so my goal this morning is to be looking at Psalm 87 to excite you, I hope not the first time, about the glories of the church. We love the church because God loves the church. We love the church because Christ loved the church and laid down his life for her that he might save her and present her as a blameless, sinless, holy church to the father. And so we look through Psalm 87 to see this, but I think as well, I want this to be a help as we sing hymn number 269, glorious things of the year spoken this month. I want this hymn every time we sing it to to reawaken you to the wonders of the church and the benefits and the glories we have in the church of God. Let me read Psalm 87. The title starts off a psalm of the sons of Korah, a song, and then in verse one, His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know me. Behold, O Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia. This one was born there. And of Zion it will be said, this one and that one were born in her. And the Most High Himself shall establish her. The Lord will record when He registers the peoples, this one was born there. Both the singers and the players on instruments say, all my springs or all my fountains are in you." This is the word of the Lord. It's a fairly short and simple psalm, and I'm not even sure if it matters whether you split it up into parts. It's one of those psalms that it maybe works best if you just take it line by line and look to see what the psalmist is saying. But if you did want to divide it into two parts, you might want to look at the first three verses as being entitled The Glories of the Church. The last four verses, verses four through seven, would be more apt to be called The People of the Church. Describing the people within the church, the members of the church, the sons and daughters of the church as well. It's one of those first three verses. We look at the glories of the church. We'll specifically be looking at how the church itself is built by God. And beloved by God. Built by God and beloved by God in verses one through three. Look at verse one. And the New King James, it says his foundation is in the holy mountains. What the psalmist is writing here is, God has founded this city. He has founded the city. He is the foundation of the city, and He has founded the city of God. The point is that Zion was built by God Himself. Zion was built by God Himself and founded in Him. It's hard not to think of the description of Abraham when we see this line, his foundation is in the holy mountains. It's hard not to think of Abraham when he's referred to or described in Hebrews chapter 11, and especially in verses eight through 10, speaking of his faith that he was called out of the land, not knowing where he was going, but he had faith to follow where God would lead him. But his his desire was not merely the earthly, His greatest desire was for the eternal. His greatest desire was for that city that was founded by God. In verses 8 through 10 in Hebrews 11, we read, By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out of the place which he would receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going, by faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. And then verse 10, for Abraham waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. As we see that Abraham is the Old Testament, Sates would have it, they looked towards the eternal, the spiritual reality of their promises. And we begin our service out of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 22, speaking of coming to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And we see here that God is the foundation and the builder of the city of the Church of God, Mount Zion. In the New Testament, we see that this is being fulfilled in the church. In Ephesians chapter two, verses 19 through 22, that great description of the Church of God, the fulfillment of what we're seeing, I believe in Psalm 87, where Paul says, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirits. Well, there's several hymns that speak of this church that's built on the foundation of Christ Jesus. We sing that Christ has made the sure foundation, Christ the head and cornerstone. We sing often, the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. And so we see that the foundation is God Himself. We know more fully that the church of God is founded on Christ Jesus our Lord. And since He built it, since He founded it, Then we then can trust that he will support it, provide its security and provide for the promised victory of the church as well. The church is built upon the foundation of Christ Jesus, upon the rock of ages. The church is guided by Christ as her prophet, who through his word and spirit and teaching, he will guide and direct the church and his word cannot be broken. The church is protected by Christ as her King to rule and protect her, and nothing can shake the church of God. And the church is provided for by Christ as priest who provides perfect salvation, perfect reconciliation to the Father. Brothers and sisters, we belong to our members of the imperishable church. Christ has declared that he will build his church And the gates of Hades will not prevail against her. What a glorious church who are members of that is built by God, that is founded on the Lord Jesus Christ. And so you might even look in your bulletins, I have printed out Psalm 87 on one side. On the other side, I print out the words to glorious things of thee are spoken. In that very first stanza, in Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, we read, Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, thy own city of our God, he whose word cannot be broken, form thee of for his own abode, his own dwelling place on the rock of ages founded. What can shake thy sure repose with salvation's walls surrounded? Thou may smile at all thy foes. So the church is built by God. It's founded on Christ Jesus. And the church cannot fail, because he who built it will keep it and will not allow it to fail. If we look on at verses 2 and 3, then, in this first part of the psalm, after looking at the church that's built by God, oh, brethren and sisters, the church is beloved by God. The psalm writer goes on to say, The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other, which is implied, all the other dwellings or places of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. It's interesting in verse one, the emphasis is on the foundation of God, and you have mentioned the holy mountains and in some of your versions it talks about founding upon the holy mount of God. It almost has the idea of the omnipotent God that's above all things. It's distance and it's scary. But then in verse two, we have the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. We have this omnipotent, holy God who now is turning now to emphasize the personal intimacy that God has with his people, especially in the church. Our Lord chooses to meet with his people in a special way in the church. He loves his people. God founded Jerusalem in Israel and then ordained in the temple to be built in it. And it's at that temple that is represented then the seat of God's special presence with his people. It's in Jerusalem that all the people would come back into the temple where the special place of worship, where God's special presence would be. He would meet his people there in the temple in Jerusalem. And that church now represents that now in the New Covenant, that in the church, the special place where God resides. And I will say, when we come together to worship on the Lord's Day, especially is the special place where God comes to meet his people and we can come to know him in a way like no other. The church Like the temple is the special dwelling place of God. It's where he makes his abode amongst his people. And we see this in the Old and New Testament in Psalm 46 verses four and five. The psalmist says, there is a river whose stream shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her. In Psalm 76 and verse 2 we read, in Jerusalem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. As we see how this is shown in the Psalms, we can see that Jerusalem is that special center of worship, that special place where God would meet His people. And in Psalm 122, in the first two verses, the psalmist writes, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. And so we see Zion as Jerusalem, the place for the temple, the central place of gathered worship was and the gates of Zion, a reference to is the access to that worship, that access to that special place of meeting with our God. And God says, I love the gates of Zion more than all other dwellings of Jacob. He's not saying that I only love Zion and I hate every place else. Notice the psalmist is saying the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Oh, he loves the other dwellings of Jacob. But in Zion, where the temple is, where the worship is, where that special place of meeting is, that's where he loves it more than anything else. God loves the corporate worship of his people on his ordained day of worship on the Lord's day more than anything else. God loves the place of corporate worship in the midst of his people more than the private worship or the personal worship or the family worship throughout the week. Here, as we gather together at the church, we're gathering together as the temple of God on his ordained day to meet him in worship. And it's from there that the means of grace flow more than any other day of the week. Any other time during the week? It's through the preaching of God's word that the means of grace flows, it's through the grace that we know in prayer, the teaching of his word, it's through the singing and the fellowship of the assembly of God's people on the Lord's Day. Jesus has said in the New Testament that we're two or three gathered together there, I am with them. And in Hebrews chapter two, it is said of Jesus that he's not ashamed to call us brethren. And he longs to sing praises in the midst of the assembly of his people. And so we gather together. As the temple and specifically as the church on the Lord's Day, we gather in a special way and God is present in a special way, I want to remind you that as much as listening to sermons on CDs or cassette tapes or eight tracks or whatever you're listening to on your iPod, as marvelous as those things are, it's not the same as when we gather together as God's people on the Lord's day and the preaching of God's word is presented in the midst of his people. It's not the same thing as gathering together and worshiping corporately where God is with us in a special way. Our worship on a Sunday is an event. Our Lord loves to be here. You should too. It's far greater than anything else that God provides for us during the course of the week. Matthew Henry comments on this very same point, on this very same psalm, when he says, God has a love for the dwellings of Jacob. He has a gracious regard for religious families and he accepts their family worship. You might remember when we taught on family worship, we used Matthew Henry's helps and he was a stickler on having family worship. So he's not saying God doesn't love those dwellings of Jacob, however. Yet he loves the gates of Zion better, not only better than any, but better than all of the dwellings of Jacob and family worship is family duty, which must by no means be neglected. Yet when they come in competition, Public worship is to be preferred before private worship. The gathering of God's people, in particular, the worship of God's people, there's nothing better than it. And it's where God meets his people more than any other time of the week. And so it seems fitting in verse three for the psalmist to say, glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Glorious things are spoken of you. In the wilderness, God's presence was made known by the fire by night and the cloud by day. God's presence was made known when they constructed the tabernacle and his glory filled the tabernacle. And the Holy of Holies is where God's presence was known in a specific way, in a similar way on the day of Pentecost. When the new covenant church was born and the tongues of fire came and the sounds and the fire, you could see that in a similar way, coming to meet with his church there, showing himself in a special way, in a personal way. But God is still lovingly and personally meeting with his people in the church of God to guide and to protect and nourish. But I dare say that although we don't have all the bells and whistles, the clouds and the fire that we see in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, God is with his people in even greater glory. The church is called the Bride of Christ. The church is the one that's purchased by the blood of Christ. The church is called the Holy Nation, a royal priesthood with a promised victory. Again, that the gates of hell will not prevail against her. And she will be presented as spotless, without blame, before God by Christ Jesus. Look at Psalm 132. Let's look at verses 13 through 16 in Psalm 132. to see, I think, a fitting end to these first three verses of how the psalm writer could say, glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God, and I believe this is fulfilled in the church herself. In Psalm 132, verses 13-16, we read, For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for His dwelling place. Again, the church is the dwelling place of God. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priest with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Glorious things are spoken of thee. And so the third stanza of our hymn of the month, We read, round each habitation hovering, see the cloud and fire appear, for a glory and a covering, showing that the Lord is near. Thus deriving from her banner, light by night and shade by day, safe they feed upon the manna which He gives them when they pray. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city Zion of God. The last four verses emphasizes more so the members of this glorious church. We've already seen that this church is built by God. This church is beloved by God. But now we see the members of this church. And I want us to see how the church members are born of God and how they are blessed by God within the church. Born of God and blessed by God. In verses 4-6, let me read that again. Verses 4-6 in Psalm 87. I will make mention of Rahab in Babylon to those who know me. Behold, O Philistia, entire with Ethiopia. This one was born there. And of Zion it will be said, this one and that one were born in her. And the Most High Himself shall establish her. The Lord will record when He registers the peoples. This one was born there. We'll stop there. Do you see a phrase there at least three times? This one is born there. Now, isn't there a rule if you see something repeated two or three times, perhaps you're supposed to pay attention to it. Kids, when your mother screeches with a loud voice about how you shouldn't do something or you should do something and they do it multiple times, don't you listen more often if they say it more often? I shouldn't say screech, but it might might awaken you in the midst of the sermon, though. Well, he mentions more than once that this one is born there. I think that's an important phrase in this middle section of the psalm. But first of all, what about Rahab and Babylon and Philistia and Tyre and Cush? What does that do? It almost seems like, what are these things doing in here? Well, understand that Rahab was another name for Egypt. And we can see in other places in the scripture where Rahab is used as another name for Egypt. Isaiah 30, verse 7 is one where you can look at to see that. I won't go there, but just trust me. When Rahab is mentioned, we believe he's talking about Egypt. Egypt was that great power and often enemy of Israel that was to the south of Israel. Babylon was a great power and enemy of Israel to the east of Israel. Philistia. We've heard about the Philistines in our home. We're reading through first Samuel and the Philistines come up more than once. And we saw them in the book of Judges as well. It was that constant enemy, that constant pestering enemy of Israel. But Philistia was a closer threat to the west of them. And Tyre was that powerful city state to the north. So if you're following my directions, you have enemies. Those who would be doing battle against Israel from the south to the east to the west to the north. That pretty much surrounds them. Cush most likely represents Ethiopia, which is often in the scriptures used to represent the far distant enemies of Israel. Those who aren't close by, but they're enemies in the distance. And so what you have here, I think with these five mentions, you have those enemies of Israel all around them. and both close by and far away. I think one thing this is showing us about the Church of God is that the redeemed, those who are brought into the Church of God, are indeed going to be those who are brought from all nations, tribes, backgrounds, Gentiles and Jews together. All of them will be brought into the church to be the true spiritual Jews. To think of Philistines being born there, in the Church of God, to think about the enemies being brought in in the Church of God. We saw it happen in Acts chapter two at Pentecost, which we mentioned earlier, how the words of God were spoken in all of the languages of the people around and they are hearing the words of God being spoken. And you had those coming all in from different areas, coming in and coming into the Church of God. What you see here is fulfilled what we read in Galatians 3, verses 26-28. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. All of these that know God, that acknowledge God, the psalm says. from them, they will be born here in Zion, in the church of God." This was being prophesied throughout the whole Old Testament, and you can even see it throughout the Psalms. It shouldn't have been a complete surprise, but it's amazing. I don't think we understand how amazing the church of God is, that all of those from different tribes and nations and tongues and backgrounds and different ways of life, and so often sinful, vile ways of life, are brought into the church of God. and the harmony and the unity within the church of God for people that should have nothing to do with each other. Philistines and Jews, Babylonians and Jews, blacks and whites, the farmer and the CEO of Sprint, masters and slaves. Name any kind of differences you can, and they're all brought together by the power of God, by the grace of God, and they're born here. in the church of God. I want you to see the beauty and the glory of the church of God. But that phrase, born here, I think ultimately that is speaking of being born again. Your entrance into the church of God, the entrance into the church of Christ is only through regeneration, through being born again, through being born of God. You can't born yourself. You can't birth yourself. It has to be done from God giving you new birth. And I believe this reference here is speaking of that very thing. They're born here. And the way this is worded and in the original, the way it's worded, it has this idea of pride that the Philistine would normally say, I was born in Philistia. Maybe you'd say, I was born in Iowa. I don't know where you're proud to be born from. There's some places you probably don't want to be proud to be born in. But it has this idea of these people would normally say, I was born, I'm a Babylonian. And we've been looking in the in some of the New Testament books, how well, even the Philippi, that was a Roman province. We're Romans. But the idea is here that that's put aside that greater than that, greater than any kind of prideful thing, you could say, I'm born here. This is who I am. The idea is I'm born of Zion. I'm born here. This is who I am. I'm born here. And for the Philistine to be born of Zion means spiritual rebirth, a new birth. The point is that by the grace and the power of God to be born of God, this is the highest privilege, the greatest joy to be part of the church. To be in Christ Jesus and all of our earthly achievements All of our inheritances, all of those things that we hold dear, that we have so much pride in our earthly achievements and our identifications. We should echo what Paul says. They're all rubbish. They're all dung. They mean nothing as compared to knowing Christ Jesus and being found in him and therefore be united to him within his church. And I think for our young people, it's so easy To have our pride be wrapped up in whatever we're doing, whatever we're trying to achieve and whoever we're trying to impress. But I want you to understand, there is no greater joy. There is no greater privilege. There's no greater identification to be identified in Christ Jesus in his church and with his people. Nothing compares to it. And so in stanza four, John Newton says, Savior, If of Zion's city, I, through grace, a member am. I love that phrase. I, through grace, a member. If I am a member of the church through grace, let the world deride or pity. I will glory in thy name. Fading is the worldlings pleasure. All his boasted pomp and show. Why don't you see that in our world, in our society? that everything we point towards is the temporal, the worthless at best, the sinful at worst. But John Newton rightfully says, fading is the worldlings pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show, solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion's children know. I appreciate how John Newton has made several references in his hymn that implies being children of God within this church. Solid joys and lasting treasures. None but Zion's children now. That brings us to verse 7. We've seen how the church is built by God. The church is beloved by God. The members are born of God. And from all different backgrounds and directions. But now look at that last verse. Isn't this a wonderful verse? to see how the members are blessed by God. This picture that the psalmist is painting, this vision that he's painting, is that of worship. Worship within the church. Worship within the people of God. In verse 7, both the singers and the players on instruments say, all my springs are in you. All my fountains are in you. All my satisfaction, all my strength, all my refreshment, all the means of grace flow from You. And the church of God flow from You, Christ Jesus, in the midst of Your church. I remind you what we read in Psalm 46, verses 4 and 5, where we read, there is a river whose stream shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High, God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. You have that reference of the streams of the rivers in the midst of the city of God. I don't believe there is a river passing through physical Jerusalem, but there's a river flowing through the city of God, through the church, providing all the helps and the needs and the love and the grace through Christ Jesus to his people. It has that idea that every good and perfect gift comes from above. Everything is from Him in the midst of His church. Everything we hope to be, everything we hope to have, all we hope to attain comes from God. And God's sons and daughters, they acknowledge this. All our streams, all our springs are in you. And we praise Him for it. And we can only be satisfied and sustained by the one who began a good work in us. who gave us new birth through his spirit through Christ Jesus and promises to finish the work he completes in us. And that same promise is given to the church as well. It's begun in the church will be brought on to completion. And so Matthew Henry comments on this verse as well by saying, so the psalmist says, reckoning the springs from which his dry soul must be watered to lie in the sanctuary, in the word and the ordinances, in the communion of the saints. The springs of the joy of a carnal worldling lie in wealth and pleasure. But the springs of the joy of a gracious soul lie in the word of God and prayer. Christ is the true temple. All our springs are in him and from him all our streams flow. It pleased the Father, and all believers are well pleased with it too, that in Him should all fullness dwell." A reference to Colossians. I love that phrase. All my springs are in you. I warn you, some versions and some commentators say that it shouldn't say both singers and players. It should be singing and dancing. Now, it might not be the dancing of the world today, The thing is, there's great joy, even the point of singing and dancing. All my springs, all my fountains are in You. I wanted you to see the beauty of the church. If you look at stanza 2 in Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, see the streams of living waters springing from the eternal love. Well supply thy sons and daughters and all fear of want remove. Who can faint while such a river ever flows their thirst to assuage grace, which, like the Lord, the giver never fails from age to age. Grace flows from that spring, grace flows from that fountain of Christ Jesus that will never fail. I did want to have you see the glory of the church, and especially this morning as we're coming before the Lord's table. So often we see the Lord's Table as a lone ranger sort of a thing that I take communion. But it's meant to be taken by us. It's the ordinance of the church. It's a means of grace that God gives the church to give a special means of grace to us when we gather together on the Lord's Day and we partake together as His people partaking of Christ together in whom we are found. And so the Lord's Table should always be seen as a corporate gathering of God's people in the local church. That's where it's been given. And as we do this, as we transition to go to the Lord's table, look back at the very beginning of this psalm and the title. The title says A Psalm of the Sons of Korah, a song. Now, when you hear the word Korah, what do you think of? Do you think of grace? Or do you think of rebellion? You might remember that in Numbers chapter 16, they have what's called Korah's Rebellion, where a man named Korah, with some of his friends and family, rebelled against the authority of Moses. Basically, how come you get to make all the decisions? This isn't right. And God was not pleased. This is a vile, rebellious act to rebel against what God had planned for them, and the result was then And in fact, the ground opens up and swallows up Korah and his cohorts and his family. This is the sons of Korah. If you go back and read the story, you'll see specifically, however, that there were sons of Korah who were separated from the family, who did not go along with Korah. And then by grace, though they did not deserve it by grace, they were spared. They were not swallowed up into the ground. It almost seems that as a result of that, that these sons of Korah then gave themselves over to the worship of God. Then they became known as the choir boys or the instrument players in the worship of God, the sons of Korah. I just have to wonder the grace and the gratitude they had to have known to see their family be swallowed up because of the sin of Korah. But God spared them. And they devoted themselves to the life of worshiping God and helping the people of God to worship God. They had to know this feeling of undeserved grace and mercy and the love of God, knowing the rivers of living water flowing to them and in their time of need. It's much like John Newton, who wrote the hymn, Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken. If you remember his lifestyle, he lived a horrible, sinful lifestyle, running away from God. But yet, by God's grace, when he was near death in a place where he was doing nothing to be pursuing God, God pursued him and saved him by his grace. He became one of the most influential pastors of his time. And it even goes on beyond his time to our time now. So we do not deserve this membership, this grace and privilege in the church of God. But we only come to the church of God. We only know this grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus, our great high priest. And it's through Him, then, that we come to the Lord's table. Let me pray first. Dear Heavenly Father, what a glorious church You have built for us. What a glorious people You have built for us. Not because of us, not because of our worth or our merit, but because of Christ Jesus and through Him and because of Your great love and grace and mercy. built your church yourself and you founded your church in Christ Jesus. You have set your church aside as your beloved people by your grace and mercy. Lord, you've given us new birth. You give us a new heart that we might be born into the church of God through Christ Jesus. And the blessings have been promised to flow to us through Christ for eternity, the streams of eternal living water to provide for every need now and forever. Lord, as we come before the Lord's table, help us to be overcome with gratitude that it's through our great high priest who offered himself as the final sacrifice, it's through our great high priest who offered himself as the only sacrifice, who took on flesh, who obeyed the law perfectly and suffered the penalty of the law that we would need to suffer, but we could never fulfill that. is only by your grace and mercy and through him. And he lives forever to intercede on our behalf, to keep us as his own bride and to eventually deliver us spotless and blameless before you. We praise you and we thank you for the church and the blessings that flow through her and through Christ Jesus. And help us then as we come before your table, before the Lord's table, to partake of Christ and remember what he has done. to know the means of grace that can only come through him. It's in Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.