Welcome into worship again this evening as we open God's Word to hear about the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior. As we come to worship, He calls us to worship with the words from Psalm 34. I'd ask you to stand as we hear those words this evening. We read, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Congregation, in whom is your help? Lord, greet you this evening with these words. Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's turn together in our hymnals to number 103C. Number 103C, come my soul and bless the Lord. We'll sing stanzas one through four and then seven and eight. One through four and seven and eight of 103C. It is now, when mercy's doubt and guilt are withdrawn, I will be no use. My right is not defense, but practical rebuttance. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Lord, all the earth with love has paid. So to love, to fear, our Lord, this is the reviler's way. For as Jesus found the rest, he He is great among people, Lord, we offer Him praise. You are great in righteousness, God to each of His children gives. You are love to God and me. He is the Son of the Father, and the Son of the Holy Ghost. He is the Son of the Father, and the Son of the Holy Ghost. Tonight for our psalm selection, Psalm 149. The psalm speaks of singing a new song to the Lord. This is something which the people of God make a practice of, that we are singing God's goodness and his grace and his mercy. It's reminded this week again. Several people came to me and they said the importance of singing within the life of the body of Christ, one who has gone to be with the Lord, a friend of our families this week, had a hymn sing with her before she passed and she was just exalting in the singing of God's people. Another reminder this week of one who was who's losing his memory, and to hear of the recounting of his delight when they had songs together, singing together. This week we were able to sing at Beth Shan and to hear those that were sitting, the residents there, as they were excited and rejoicing in the songs that were sung. Here in this psalm, Psalm 149, just the importance of singing, and singing of God's goodness of delivering his people, but also singing of the warning of the coming judgment, that God executes vengeance upon his enemies, that we, his people, will be victorious. Not something that we often think of as we reflect upon our witness, We are not those who are executing that judgment with our hands so much as we're thinking of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged as we go forth with the Word of God. It destroys principalities and powers. It takes down strongholds and changes minds as God uses His Word. So with all of those thoughts in our minds, let's hear these words, Psalm 149. Praise the Lord, sing to the Lord a new song, his praise and the assembly of the godly. Let Israel be glad in his maker. Let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly exalt in glory. Let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two edged swords in their hands to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written. This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord. Let's respond with the words of this psalm. Psalm, the selection 149B, 149B, O praise ye the Lord and sing a new song. Those four stanzas. The beloved saint is praised and told, The days of their renewal his people shall see, When children of Zion rejoice in their King. So take the lamb and raise it aboard. Offer it in his church as a song in his heart. Lift up your body and sing forevermore. O'er the earth their hearts shall prevail. God in all salvation shall yield to their sway. To God in all glory Let's come to the Lord now in a time of prayer, let's pray. Heavenly fathers, we come to you tonight. We praise you and sing a new song amid all of your saints, your praises we seek to prolong. Praise of you, our maker. Your people shall sing and children of Zion will rejoice in their king. Lord, we thank you for music. We thank you for song that we can lift up our voices, that we can tell of your wonders and of your glory and your splendor. We know that the angels sing your praises. We know that your people are to be singing your praises and they do so, those gathered in glory and we with them here this evening. amid all the saints singing our praises, not we alone, but in accompaniment with the myriads who've gone before. We rejoice, O Lord, in the message of the gospel that speaks of how we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Tonight, as we think upon that, as we come to hear the word proclaimed and also to receive the bread and wine and the sacrament of Lord's Supper, we're mindful of a price that's been paid to rescue us from sin and from destruction, to bring us into life, that we might walk in the light. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to walk in the light, the light of your word, to glory in the richness of your grace, to know the power of your spirit in the battle against sin in our lives. As we think about the, The position of our Savior, Jesus, who is Lord tonight, help us to be strengthened, emboldened, and also directed into the path that we should go. We are weak, oh Lord, but you are strong. We want to sing a new song of deliverance as you free us from our sins, sins of immorality, of anger, of blasphemy, and of excess. The world looks on and sees your church and sees us struggle with sin, stumbling here below, and it is easy for them to mock and to scorn. Lord, we pray that you would sanctify us, that we might show the power of your spirit as we live for you and rejoice in our deliverance and find the delights that come with walking in your ways. Where we have known failure again and again, Lord, we pray that you would deliver us, help us to turn from sin, to delight in your Son who is our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption. You are our Lord. May our lives proclaim your glory in the way that we put you first in our thoughts and decisions in this new week. May we see how you Carry us on from grace to grace in our submission to you. Lord, help us in this, we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen. Let us sing once again number 284. Number 284, as we unite our voices, ye servants of God, your master proclaim, looking at the lordship of Christ tonight, we speak of his glory and of his splendor. Let's sing those four stanzas as we stand to sing number 284. ♪ O come, O come, O come, O come to Bethlehem ♪ Peace to Israel, peace to Israel, peace to Israel, peace to Israel. God is glorious, and rules the world around. God will build the world, always be his way, and still be his light, his presence be around. I need salvation through Jesus' name. Salvation's never far, nor sin's far from the throne of my love. O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave Please turn in your Bibles this evening to First Peter, chapter one. First off this evening, First Peter, chapter one. Page 1014 in your Bibles, as we look again, once again at Lord's Day 13, that theme of the Lordship of Christ, that is found in the back of our hymnals, Lord's Day 13, page 877. As I was studying Lord's Day 13 the previous week, struck by question answer 34 in particular and our confession of the Bible's teaching on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. What does it mean that Jesus is our Lord? Does He simply make suggestions for us to consider? Does His Lordship communicate the idea that His voice is just one among many Voices in the sea of opinions. What does that wording of Christ as Lord mean for us? And we see there the wording, I think that's very helpful to us in question answer 34. Why do you call him our Lord? The answer, because not with gold or silver, but with his precious blood, he, that is Jesus, has delivered and purchased us, body and soul, from sin and from the tyranny of the devil to be his very own. The Lordship of Christ pertains to our whole being. He's delivered us from sin's curse and power over body and soul. And sin has distorted our view of life. Things move from order to disorder where sin is present. And the church is to stand firm as the pillar of truth. We are to be those who hold to the Word of God, the confession of the Word of God, to be living stones firmly held together, being built up into a spiritual house, displaying God's truth to the world. That first passage in we want to look at tonight, 1 Peter chapter 1. Verses 18 and 19, where Peter is speaking to those scattered throughout the nations, surrounded by unbelievers and to be witnesses, listen to what Peter says. Know this, that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. The point that Peter is making there is that we are redeemed from that which is superior to all else, not from that which perishes, such as silver or gold, but by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has come to redeem you and me from darkness and from sin. And Peter says to his readers that they're ransomed from the futile and empty ways of their forefathers. The commentators say, many of the commentators say that refers to the pagan thinking and living of those who were before them. I think that's relevant for us here in our time because we see more and more of that creeping in all around us, pagan thinking, feudal thinking about how we are to live, how we are to exercise our lives in the flesh. As the family of God, we reveal what it's like to be living for our Creator, showing the world what that looks like. He's our Father through Christ, our Lord, who's purchased us to be His very own. Those are the words in the Catechism. Those are the words of Scripture as well. We belong to Him. That's first what we want to see tonight. Tonight we celebrate the meaningful death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This was not meaningless, what he did on the cross. The world looks at it and says, this is so ridiculous. What is he doing dying on the cross? And then you, as Christians, say that this is meaningful. It is. It's most meaningful. Because there it is at that point where Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers, where he removed all accusation against us, the giving of himself for our sins. Colossians 2.15 says that he triumphs over them in the cross. His death satisfies the just demands of God against our sin. For he bore the punishment that we deserved. The image of that blood being poured out harkens back to the Exodus there, the Passover in Exodus chapter 12, where the people of God were called to sprinkle the blood on the doorpost, over their doorpost, that the angel of death might pass over the house and not take the life of the firstborn. We belong to God. And we are to be living for Him, for He has purchased us with the precious sacrifice of His Son's blood. The devil can bring no accusation against us. Paul says in Romans 8, 33, who will bring a charge against us? Who is he who condemns? It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has been given for us. We come tonight to the table remembering that. Who can bring a charge against God's elect? It's God who justifies who is to condemn for Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who's at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. This is a meaningful work that the Lord has done. He has laid down his life only to take it up again and to be raised up into heaven interceding for us. We're no longer under the curse of death. It's defeated the one who holds that power of death, Hebrews chapter 2 tells us. We're now part of God's family, children of God, adopted into his family as that question answer 33 says it. at the opening of Lord's Day 13. And Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers, not ashamed to speak of us as those who are part of the family. So our Lord's sacrifice means first that we belong to Him. And secondly, our Lord's sacrifice means that we live for Him. Eternal life is ours. The Lord has given it to us. The Lord has given us life and no one can snatch us from his hand. John chapter 10. We belong to him and we live for him. He commands our destiny and our daily living. The Son of God has appeared, we recognize, to rescue us from the devil, to destroy the works of the devil, to deliver us, and to deliver us from the weakness of our own flesh, that we might say no to ungodliness. Listen to what it says in Titus chapter 2. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. Lord Jesus Christ has come to deliver us from sin, that we might live for him in this present age, in our bodies. He gave himself to redeem us from all wickedness, to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. We want to think about that over the next few weeks. I want this question and answer to kind of serve as the foundation upon which we look at the Lordship of Christ. We're going to look at what does it look like to live for the Lord? What is the goodness that He has for us in soul and body? We're not left to ourselves. God is freeing us from sinful desires. I want to think about what that looks like as it pertains to marriage and family and gender the next weeks as we think about what is God's design for us. We look in a culture today that is just, it's completely at loose ends to look at the world and wonder what it looks like. What is the design? What is the purpose? Our children being attacked from all sides, bombarded by ungodly, unbiblical teaching. God is redeeming us. He's freeing us from our sinful desires. Yes, we still sin. Yes, we're not perfect. Yes, there is forgiveness for sins, but we're being changed. And we're to reveal to the world what the new humanity looks like. We are to hate sin more and more, to seek to do that which is pleasing to God. We don't sin with the attitude, well, I sin, God forgives, it makes for a great partnership. We are those who desire to make His will known, not to simply say, well, yes, we're not perfect, we're just forgiven, as though that just gives us a pass to live however we want. No, indeed, we belong to Christ and we are to live for Him. Our society is rapidly moving away from God in any recognition of His authority. The Word of God is ignored and we're in free fall. I have to say I never imagined that we would be at the place we are at in the United States where people are declaring that their body has no bearing on their identity. It's beyond my way of thinking. I guess I can say humbly only because of the grace of God that I have that perspective. We can say that only because of the grace of God do we understand what God's design is for us, what we're redeemed from, our sin, and what we are called to, namely holiness of life and body and soul, living for Jesus Christ. But this idea that the body is no bearing on identity, that marriage can be between any two people who, according to the world's standards, love each other, that family can be made up of any number of combinations, any number of relationships without any damage done. The fact is damage is done whenever we turn from God's good design and try to make some sort of a new reality. Damage is done no matter what public opinion might say, what people might say in magazine articles saying, I've never been so happy, I've never been so free. We know that when we live outside of God's design, there is brokenness and there will be damage. So we are to continue to confess the truth of Christ's Lordship, of the authority of God's Word in all its parts. I agree with Luther, this perhaps was not something he said, but it's attributed to him. If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. I think we need to remind ourselves of what God does teach and confess it clearly and live it out faithfully. Authority is being challenged at every point in our physicality, according to our physicality and social structure. I wanna look at that in the coming weeks and just introduce it tonight as it pertains to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord. He's purchased us by his precious blood, delivering us, body and soul from sin, from the tyranny of the devil to be his very own. to belong to him, to live for him. As Peter spoke to the Christians there and scattered throughout Asia Minor, he emphasized that children of God are to be identified by holiness. Listen to what he says in the verses just before the verses we've read already this evening. Verses 14 through 16, he writes, as obedient children do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. It matters what we do in the body. It matters. We're to be, not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds according to the Word of God, as Paul says in Romans chapter 12. We're not to be controlled by sinful lust, but by the Spirit of God who lives in us. Listen to what Paul says. The other passage I have before you this evening, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, another of the passages that's found underneath question and answer 34, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. What does Paul say there? He says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Glorify God in your body with that design that God has made. marriage and in family, keeping with how he has created us. What we do in the body matters. God has given us our bodies. Our physicality is part of God's good gift. We don't idolize it. We don't make it something that we worship, but it is that which God has given in which we speak of his goodness. We should honor God with our bodies, glorify God in our bodies. He's given a clear design for our bodies. He's made us male and female to live in lifelong partnership with distinct roles for the common good to populate the earth. That way of looking at things, that what we call worldview is at odds with the culture today, with our world, and we think, we're told that we're the odd ones, that we're somehow lost in our way. We are those who are to proclaim the truth unashamedly. We hear people argue today that they're not defined by their bodies, their authentic self, as they say, is what they believe themselves to be on the inside. They talk about living together with no intention of getting married, with no desire to have children. Brothers and sisters, I think in a way that we haven't seen in a long time, we see we're in a battle. Battle of ideas, which has a very clear result in our bodies, what happens in our day-to-day living. Bad ideas have bad consequences. They don't just remain in one's head. They show themselves in our world, in our material world. The effects of sin are great upon us. However, we have been given a greater power, the Spirit of God. We recognize that sin brings struggle, but we're not to stop fighting. When people say, God made me this way, they're not taking into account the power of the Holy Spirit to transform. We don't discount the struggle and the difficulty that sin brings, but we also acknowledge that God has said, you can be made new. You can be transformed. Paul reminded his readers of the complete salvation of Christ, the lordship of Christ over soul and body as we've just read, 1 Corinthians 6. And he says that you cannot defend immorality in the body as though what I do in the body doesn't matter. He writes, flee from sexual immorality, verse 18. And what is he talking about? All kinds of sexual immorality as it's listed in verses nine and 10. Whatever is at odds with the word of God. We do just when we are alone. We do when we're in relationship in a way that is a perversion from the truth. Whatever's at odds with God's word. You cannot testify that we are living for the Lord, that we believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ if we say things like my body, my choice. I'll determine what I do with my body. It's my temple. It's the place where I worship myself. This is not in keeping with those words which we confess as part of the essentials of the Christian faith that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, our Lord. We belong to him, we must live for him. As I said, we're being bombarded by unbiblical teaching in all these areas, including how we live in our bodies, and we must not fail to consider God's teaching on these matters. The statistics are shocking, to put it very mildly. Many who identify as Christians simply embracing unbiblical teaching today. Denominations doing this, groups of churches, the Bible not serving as authority but rather what they feel or what they see themselves to be as they understand themselves within themselves. Statistics that I was reading this week, pornography, about two-thirds of Christian men watch pornography at least monthly, two-thirds. That's the same rate as men who don't identify as Christian, two-thirds. Cohabitation, one poll found that almost half of teens with religious backgrounds support living together before marriage. Divorce, among adults who identify as Christians but rarely attend church, 60% have been divorced. Of those who regularly attend church, the number is 38%. Homosexuality and transgenderism will be defining some of these terms as we go forward in the weeks to come. These issues divide even conservative religious groups. 2014 Pew Research Study said 51% of evangelical millennials, that's those who are born between the early 80s and early 90s, say same-sex behavior is morally acceptable. Abortion, another one. Lifeway survey found that about 70% of women who had an abortion self-identify as Christians and 43% said they attended a Christian church at least once a month or more at the time that they aborted their baby. Why do you call Christ our Lord? Because he's delivered and purchased us, body and soul, from sin, from the tyranny of the devil, to be his very own. To be his own. To live for him. To turn away from wickedness. criticism is level against the church. It seems like all you Christians talk about are these issues. Well, the response is we talk about them because that's all you talk about. Trying to erase any biblical teaching on the matter, making the new vocabulary something that wipes out Christian teaching, biblical teaching, to erase the memory of biblical teaching on the matters. We cannot remain silent. We cannot accept That this talk is merely about political matters. Government is not morally equipped to handle these matters. It was our Supreme Court who declared abortion as a legal right. It's our Supreme Court that's declared that marriage between two men and two women is a right. These judgments are destructive to society. They're not good. The devil knows this. He knows this. He wants the human race to be exterminated. Two men can't have children together. Two women can't have children together. Taking lives of children is a direct offense against God, the giver of life. These are swipes at God and attempts to cut off any passing on of the truth to another generation. I want to be very clear about what I'm saying here. These things are not the unforgivable sins. These sins that we all commit are to be brought to the Lord, and in the Lord we find forgiveness. That is what we hear tonight as we celebrate the Lord's Supper, that Christ's body was given, His blood was shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins. But that doesn't mean we remain silent on what is true, what we ought to confess, how we ought to live. Indeed, we need to keep it before us because the world is trying to erase it from our memories and from our lives. The devil wants us to be divided on all these matters and to demonize people who disagree with us. Friends, the church is only held together as we walk with God in the light of his word. the light of His Word and by His Spirit. Nothing else can hold us together. If we forfeit the authority of God and the Lordship of Christ, we end up walking away from life. That brings us then to our last point. We are those not only who belong to Him, those who live for Him, but those who celebrate Him. That's what we do here tonight. So we set before us the reality of our own hearts and our own sinfulness. We remember that we can celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, we must celebrate Him for in Him there is a forgiveness of sins. In Him there is newness of life. In Him there is transformation. In Him there is a moving forward. In him we see one who resisted all temptation, refused the temptation of the devil. He lived body and soul for his father. Through his perfect life and atoning death, he's delivered and purchased us that we might no longer be enslaved to sin. That is what he talks about here and now. Romans chapter 6. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, but live in newness of life. Listen to these words, verses 12 and 13. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. In your body, it matters, in your body. Not just to say, well, I'm gonna be saved one day, it doesn't really matter what I do now, I'm forgiven. Let not sin reign. in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, your members to God as instruments for righteousness. Be careful, little eyes, what you see. Be careful, little ears, what you hear. For the Father up above is looking down in love. So be careful, little eyes, little ears, what you see, what you hear. It matters. And we want to look at that. We want to consider that if Christ is Lord, then there will be a difference in how we live and how we process sin and where we go with our sin. Not dismissing it, not just simply pushing it away and saying, well, there's many who are worse than I am. But coming to the Lord Jesus Christ in whom there is life. That's how we're welcome to the table tonight. or welcome to the table, because the Lord Jesus Christ has died, has risen, has ascended into heaven, interceding for us, that indeed, when we come in confession of our sin, we might know forgiveness in Him, and the Father might say, come, my child, come and have life. Amen, let's pray. Father in heaven, that title is most marvelous, most wonderful, that we can call you Father, that we are your children living as those who are part of your family, bought back from sin and shame freed from sin's power. Oh Lord, we pray that that would be true, that we would be careful what we hear, that we would be careful what we look at, that our tongues would be careful what we say, what we repeat, for we know that you are looking from above, looking down in love. We want to be careful then how we live. Lord, we pray that you would help us to reflect on lordship in a way that enables us to see the warmth of it, that you, Lord Jesus, are jealous for us. You want to protect us from that which would destroy and to pervert. You're not doing this because you want to put a heavy hand upon us, but because you want us to live, truly live. Oh Lord, remove all uncleanness from us in thought, word, and deed. Not that we might glory in ourselves, but that we might rejoice in the transformation that is taking place through your spirit, to your honor and to your glory. As we come to the table, may our joy in Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord and Savior, be all the greater. As we consider how he has laid down his life for us, that we might live for you. Here as we pray for his sake, amen. Let's sing as we prepare to come to the table that insert in your bulletin, behold the lamb who bears our sins away, slain for us. And we remember the promise made that all who come in faith find forgiveness at the cross. Let's sing these four stanzas as we stand to sing Behold the Lamb. Oh, say, can you see, He dreams of a glory day. I'm going to set you free. As we come to celebrate the Lord's Supper, we remember what that supper teaches us. The Lord Jesus Christ invites all those who have confessed their sins and believed in him and are a member of his body to come. As those who are made acceptable in Him. Now listen to these words. Beloved, hear now the words of the Apostle Paul concerning the institution of the Holy Supper. If I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And our Lord said, do this in remembrance of me. He ordained this holy supper as a constant memorial and visible proclamation of his death. Apostle Paul also teaches us that as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death. As we partake, therefore, we bear witness that our Lord Jesus was sent by the Father into the world to take upon himself our flesh and blood to bear the wrath of God on the cross for us. We confess that he came to earth to bring us to heaven. that He was condemned to die, that we might be pardoned, that He endured the suffering and death of the cross, that we might live through Him, that He was once forsaken by God, that we might forever be accepted by Him. Sacrament thus confirms us in God's abiding love and covenant faithfulness, sealing to our hearts the promises of His gracious covenant and assuring us that we belong to His covenant family. Let us then be persuaded as we eat and drink that God will always love us and accept us as his children for the sake of his son. Our Lord also promises that as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we are fed with his crucified body and shed blood. To do this, he gives us his life giving spirit through whom the body and blood of our Lord became or become the life giving nourishment of our souls. Thus he unites us with himself and so imparts the precious benefits of his sacrifice to all who partake in faith. As a means of grace, this meal also unites us with one another in the bond of the spirit. As the apostle says, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Thus even as he unites us with himself, he strengthens the bond of communion between us, his children. Finally, the remembrance of our Lord's death revives in us the hope of his return Since he commanded us to do this until he comes, the Lord assures us that he will come again to take us to himself. As we commune with him now under the veil of these earthly elements, we are assured that we shall behold him face to face and rejoice in the glory of his appearing. Our Lord Jesus will surely do what he has promised. Let us draw near to his table in believing that he will strengthen us in faith, unite us in love, and establish us more firmly in the hope of his coming. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We're going to join our hearts in prayer. And at the end, I'm going to ask you to join in as we pray the Lord's prayer together. Let's go to the Lord in time of prayer. Almighty God, with one accord, we give you thanks for all the blessings of your grace. Most of all, we thank you for the unspeakable gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whom we have life, in whom there is the forgiveness of sins. As has already been stated, all shame is set aside. All life and power of the Spirit is given. We most humbly thank you that your Son came to us in human form, that he lived a perfect life on earth, that he died for us on the cross, that he arose victoriously from the dead. We bless you for the gift of your spirit, your Holy Spirit, for the gospel of reconciliation, for the church throughout all ages, for the ministry and sacraments of the church, for the blessed hope of everlasting life. We pray, gracious Father, that you would grant us your Holy Spirit, that through this sacrament, our souls may truly be fed with the crucified body and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant us the full assurance of your grace as we draw near to your holy table, filling our hearts with humble gratitude for your mercies. Unite us more fully with our blessed Lord, and so also with one another. Enable us in newness of life to pledge ourselves in service to Christ and all your children, and lift our hearts to you that in all the troubles and sorrows of this life, we may persevere in the living hope of the coming of our Savior in glory. Answer us, O God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who taught us to pray the Lord's Prayer, saying, Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. We draw near to the table of our Lord. We want to confess our faith using the words of the Apostles' Creed. I'd ask you to stand as we do this. There in your insert, if you need those words, we say together, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. You may be seated. Note that you will have response at the end of this portion of the form. Beloved, hear these gracious words of promise spoken by our Lord. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. I'm the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, let us lift up our hearts to the Lord. Let us lift them up to the God of our salvation. Lift up your hearts, you respond. We lift them up to the Lord. The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Amen. you Beloved, take ye to remember and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given unto the complete forgiveness of all our sins. Lord Jesus took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. It's okay. you you Beloved, take, drink, remember, and believe that the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed under the complete forgiveness of all our sins. Would like us to read responsibly those words of Psalm 103. You see them there printed in your insert. I'll begin. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Who forgives all your iniquity. who redeems your life from the pit, who satisfies you with good. Amen. Ask the deacons to come forward as we take the evening offering. Let's join hearts in prayer for that giving of the offering. Oh Father in heaven, we thank you for giving your son, Lord Jesus, you who are rich became poor for our sakes that we in turn might become rich, that we would give generously, oh Lord. We pray that you would stir our hearts to love and affection for that oneness that we've heard about even in the celebration of this sacrament that we observe here in the bread and the wine. So we're brought together. May we bear one another's burdens. May we hear and see and respond to the needs around us, both physical and spiritual. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Please stand as we receive the parting blessing, after which we'll sing the doxology, which is on the back page of your bulletin, the back page of the bulletin. People of God, receive this parting blessing. May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will. May he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. We sing this prayer of thine. Precious blood and body, clothed from your Son, our Savior Christ, give these, His creature, assurance we have. with all faithful people. The Holy Gnome, we ask you, for whom we are praised to evermore, and with all our saints ["Ode to Joy"]