Good morning, Rockford Springs. Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus. Welcome to our worship this morning. This is but one and perhaps the most important of our gatherings, but there are other activities that we do as a congregation of the body of Christ. And there are a number of announcements in your bulletin. We wanna draw those to your attention before we do that. In case you don't know, I'm the other pastor Sanford. And I have the privilege of being the father of Pastor Kyle and leading the worship this morning. So those announcements to know this week on Wednesday evening, I will have a Thanksgiving prayer service at 7 o'clock. Of course, you and any guests and family are invited to that. Saturday is the hanging of the greens. I always feel sorry for that family. But that's at 8 o'clock if you enjoy that sort of thing. And it will kind of go all morning long. You can come in whenever you're available to come in and participate and join in making the sanctuary look beautiful for the Christmas season. Then on December 10th is the annual Christmas dinner and we have already received a sufficient number of frozen turkey so we don't need any more contributions for that. But there is a sign up in the back for if you are coming to the meal and if you can bring a salad and or dessert you can sign up for that. And then I don't see him here. He may be working this morning. He has to do that on occasional Sundays, but John Soles graduated this week from the Frontline Street Ministries and we want to congratulate him. Now please stand with me as we turn our thoughts to the Lord and our call to worship from Psalm 95, which we'll read responsibly. O come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. For the Lord is a great God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege of being able to gather together here this morning, for the freedom we have to do so, for the blessings that we have living in this country. We thank you for the desire that you have put into our hearts to gather, to worship you, for the health and strength and ability that you have blessed us with to be able to be here. We ask for the presence of your spirit to anoint all of our hearts and minds as we lift up our praise to you. We ask this for your glory in our worship this morning. In your name we pray, amen. And the Lord greets us this morning, his church, through the words of the Apostle Paul, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And please take the opportunity to greet those who are around you. And if you don't know somebody's name, do not be shy, ask them. That is an instruction, a command. Ask somebody their name. Thank you. Thank you. All right, I don't mean to be unsocial However, we want to lift our hearts and our voices to the Lord in praise for his great grace to us as we join in singing, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. ♪ Come Thou Fount of every blessing ♪ ♪ To my heart, to my knees, to the mercy of God ♪ ♪ While the angels above ♪ ♪ Raise the mountains undisciplined ♪ ♪ And the flowers unchanging grow ♪ ♪ Here I am, I hear the answer ♪ ♪ Here I am, I know ♪ ♪ Here I am, I have the answer ♪ ♪ Secret to our heart and mind ♪ I am a stranger coming from the world of God. He's a blessing in the winter. He's a ghost in the sunshine. He's a grace I've been looking for. Come to me, come to me. We sing praise to God and we see Him in His glory. He is the fount of every blessing that we have. We see His great mercy and grace to us and that light of His glory shines on us and what do we see when we look at ourselves? We are unworthy. Our hearts are prone to wander. And if we are to worship the Lord in spirit and truth, we need to come not only with praise to him, but then the appropriate response is to humble ourselves and to acknowledge our sin. And we do that in the response of reading this morning from Psalm 25. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. of my youth, for my transgressions, according to your steadfast love. Remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches all the paths of the Lord, our steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins. We take refuge in the Lord because he is our source of forgiveness. We confess our sins not just to shame ourselves or to feel bad, but because it is the beginning of the process of reconciliation with God and the path by which we receive the grace of his forgiveness. And so we want to be assured of that forgiveness as we read responsibly from 1 John 1. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. In Christ Jesus, our sins are forgiven. Thanks be to God, who gives Himself specifically through our Lord Jesus Christ. And where do we find that victory? At the cross, and that's where we humble ourselves now as we sing hymn number 251, Beneath the Cross of Jesus. ♪ The open, the wilderness, the rest of the way ♪ ♪ From the diary of a dream-time beat ♪ ♪ And the word of a day ♪ ♪ Upon the cross of Jesus, my heart is empty still ♪ Yeah. Would the men come forward for offering. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, as you have called us here to gather to hear your words, and you have blessed us so greatly, may we give back to this congregation to do your works. And may it glorify you in all that we do. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. So, Let's join our hearts together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we praise you as the gracious giver of all good gifts. Thank you for every little blessing that we have. And one of those that we are acknowledging in this week of Thanksgiving is the country in which you have blessed us to live in. one of the most unique and the most free countries in the world or has ever been. We have the privilege of being here. not by our choice, but by your sovereign choice. Most of us have just been born here, and it's a gift that you have given to us. We ask that you would help us to be faithful in keeping those privileges and blessings that we have as a nation, and we ask for your blessing upon our leaders from our president down through even our local leaders, political leaders, those who serve in the government, May they do so with honor and wisdom. We thank you for this week that as we enter into a time of thanksgiving, we know that we can see many things to complain about, many things that are wrong in our nation, and yet I ask that you would help us to focus this week on those positive things and the many blessings that we have and to be mindful of those. So we pray for our leaders, we pray for the leaders of our congregation, for Pastor Kyle and Davee, for the elders and deacons, the trustees, those who teach in Sunday school and Bible study classes, those who are working behind the scenes, cleaning and maintaining and doing music and multimedia and every other facet, Lord, that we all work together as one body in Christ with a diversity of gifts all for your glory and to encourage and build up one another. We pray Lord for those who go out on our behalf as missionaries here in the states and around the world through the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and other missions who bring this good news of the gospel to those who have never heard and who have not yet believed. We ask for your grace to be with them while they're separated from their families in this holiday season. We ask for those who will be traveling this week to be with family and friends, for your mercies to be with them. We ask that you would give us wisdom and grace in our gatherings. Sometimes it's all joy, sometimes there are challenges. But we ask for your blessing on all of those relationships. We ask that you would bless the marriages and families of our congregation for they are a foundation to the way that you have created us as male and female and put us together in covenant relationship to reflect your love and mercy and grace to us. We pray for those who are struggling in their marriages and for experiencing challenging family relationships with children or parents or siblings or whatever those family dynamics are. Lord, we ask for grace to be with them. We're thankful that we're able to be here this morning. We pray for those who are not able to be here this morning due to health And there are a number of people in our congregation who are not able to be here for that reason. We ask you to be with Randy V for the test that he's had and that you would bring comfort to him, help him with the issues of his appetite and regaining strength. We pray for those who are facing cancer, for Christy W. and Betty S., we're bold to ask for their complete healing. We pray for those who are in recovery from strokes and heart attacks, Jan M., Jack V., and Jason. We pray, Lord, for those who are facing not just physical strugglings, but those whose battles are emotional, who are feeling depressed or anxious or worrisome or fearful. We pray for, Lord, those who are battling with addictions. that you might give them courage and hope in your promises, that you would help bring alongside them people to encourage and to guide and counsel and to help, and that they might find hope in the gospel of Jesus and the power of your spirit. And we pray for our unsaved family and friends, Lord, that they might know the joy and the grace that we know we receive by the gift of faith, through your grace, and we pray for those who do not yet know this. Lord, we ask all these things for your glory, and in the name of your Son, Jesus, amen. Whatever it is that we have and we're thankful for, we acknowledge all these blessings that God has given to us. Not a single one of them we deserve, nor can we earn any of them as we sing hymn number 461, Not What My Hands Have Done. He said I will be. ♪ O Lord, how high you're to me ♪ ♪ And in your wisdom, O Christ, ♪ ♪ You've set my soul free ♪ ♪ The grace I owe, O God, ♪ ♪ To be with my insane ♪ ♪ I bow to the Son of God ♪ ♪ In love we'll stay with you ♪ ♪ Through our years we'll never part ♪ ♪ As long as we're still together ♪ ♪ We know it's been years I've known her ♪ ♪ And I'll find her again in days gone by ♪ for the kids who like to come up for the lesson this morning. Oh, I'll explain that in a moment, but first I want to read to you the Bible passage that's our focus for our lesson this morning. It's from Matthew chapter 19, verse 21. And that's from a story about a young man who was very wealthy, had a lot of possessions. He came to Jesus and he wanted to know, what do I need to do to have eternal life? And part of the answer that Jesus gave to him was this. If you would be perfect, go sell what you possess, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me. So I want to tell you about Timmy, who on one Thanksgiving went to his grandparents' house for Thanksgiving dinner, and while everybody was busy getting the meal ready and going on, Timmy was looking around the house, and he saw this picture. And he was looking at it, and he decided he would stick his hand inside, and it fit in. And then he tried to get his hand out, OK. All right. You want to try it? No. OK. Next. Oh, no. Next. Don't grab the handle, though. That might break. OK. So you get the point? His hand was stuck in there. And his parents were really upset. What are we gonna do? How are we gonna get his hand out of there? So he said, okay, look, let's get some soap and water. We'll get all soapy and we'll get in there. Maybe it'll slide out. Didn't work. Didn't work. So well, maybe we could get some oil in there. So they went to the kitchen and got some cooking oil and poured that all around there to slip it up and. Didn't work. You know what they finally had to do? They had to get a hammer, break that so his hand could come out. And then you know what they discovered? Why it wouldn't come out? He had his hand in a fist. And you know why he had his hand in a fist? Because inside of the pitcher was a penny. And he wanted the penny. And he wanted the penny, and he didn't realize that in order to have this penny, they had to destroy this very valuable antique that was worth lots and lots of money. You think he made the right decision? No. That's right, he could have just let go of the penny and gotten his hand out. But that's the way we think sometimes. Sometimes we look at the things that are around us and the stuff that we have and we think it's so, so important. And we spend so much energy and time thinking about things and stuff that we have and focusing on that, that we forget what's really important. And far more valuable than anything that we have, just like this was far more valuable than a penny, are the things of the kingdom of heaven, things of the spirit, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the hope that we have in him, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, those are so much more valuable. So I want to encourage you, enjoy, we're at Thanksgiving week, we're going to enjoy the blessings that we have, and that's right to do, but realize the most important gifts that we have are always the gifts that God gives to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks for coming up, let me pray. Lord, thank you for your word that you give to us and the hope that we have in you and all the blessings of forgiveness and eternal life that we have. I pray that for these kids they may always see that that's far more important in their lives than anything else that they will ever have and let them turn to you and put their hope and faith and trust in you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Don't know. There's crayons and coloring and paper and stuff over there. Enjoy. If you have your Bibles, I'll get mine, what I left over here. I invite you to open to our scripture passage for this morning. It is in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 20. And let me invite you to stand as we read from God's Word. Let me pray first. Lord, we ask that you would open our hearts to your word this morning, and through your spirit, you pour out your spirit to us, that we might be able to not only hear words, but hear the message of hope and joy that we have as believers, and that you would bless us through the word, and may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. our rock and our redeemer, in your name we pray, amen. This is the word of the Lord. For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labors for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labors for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give you. So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one has hired us. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the labors and pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, When those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, these last work only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. But he replied to one of them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I chose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first last. Friends, the grass withers, the flowers fade. This may be a familiar parable to you. If we're going to understand it, we need to see the parable in its context. When the New Testament scriptures were written, they didn't have chapters and verses written in. Those were added centuries later to make it easier for us to use the scripture and reference things and find information. But there's really not a thought break between the end of chapter 19 and the beginning of chapter So at the end of chapter 19 is the story of the rich young man who comes to Jesus and asks Him, what must I do to have eternal life? And Jesus asks him to think what he's done. He explains the Ten Commandments, the second half of the Ten Commandments. These are the things that you need to do and love your neighbor as yourself. And he says, well, I've done all those things and I'm thinking What's in his mind is that when Jesus says, well, you know, what do you need? Or he asked Jesus, what do you need to do? And he lists out all these things. He expects Jesus to respond by saying, wow, that's awesome. That's really cool. You're good to go. Come on in. That's not what he says. He tells him he needs to sell what he has to give to the poor and to follow him. And what the thinking of the rich young man is, if he does enough good things, he will deserve or earn his way into heaven. Now the disciples are listening to this conversation between Jesus and the young man. And they're a little unsettled. Well, if it's so hard, Jesus says, for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, it's harder than a camel going through the eye of an eagle. How can anybody be saved? And Jesus says, well, with God all things are possible. And then Peter begins to think, oh, wait a minute now. What about us? What about us as disciples? You told the young man that he has to give everything and give to the poor. Well, we've given up everything and are following you. What about us? What do we get out of this? And Jesus answers, well, you will receive reward in heaven. As the apostles, they will be given positions of authority, but that's not how it works. See, the context of the parable is someone who wants to know, can I earn my way to heaven And Peter who wants to know, do we get rewards in heaven based on what we do? And they both are making the same mistake from different perspectives, thinking their relationship with God and spiritual blessings is based on what they do. And that's the issue that Jesus is addressing in the parable. And he's going to let them know that spiritual blessings are not based on your works, on what you do. So the parable is a contrast. He sees the way the young man and Peter are thinking, and he says, now it's different in the kingdom of heaven. So the earthly way that we tend to think is that you get what you deserve. The more you work, or the more that you suffer, the more you deserve. And that when you work hard, do it in your job, or you're just being kind to someone, you're being nice to them, that you have earned the right, you've actually obligated the other person to be nice to you. because that's what's fair. You've worked hard, you've benefited them, you've been nice to that person, they owe you now respect. It's a justice-based system of reward and punishment. That's how we think, that's the natural way, as in our fallen human nature, we think the world operates. And it's baked into us. We don't have to teach it. You all know if you're parents or grandparents or you've seen other little kids, you never have to teach your kid to say, it's not fair. Right? It just comes naturally at them. We have an instinctual sense, justice gene within us that says things need to, you know, you do good, you get rewarded. If you do bad, you get punished. We all should have things to be treated the same or equally. Now in this earthly realm, a justice reward system is appropriate. Justice is a good thing, but it's not the only thing. The big mistake that we make is when we try to apply this works reward justice based system to God. And that's what Jesus is correcting in the parable. So let's work our way through the parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house. So here's the contrast. We just saw this conversation about the worldly way. And it's gonna say, now here's what it's like in the kingdom of heaven. And the example, the focus of the parable is the master. In your Bibles, it often says, I think it says here in my Bible, the title for this parable is labors in the vineyard. So that's not the best way to describe this. I like what Jerry Bridges says. He calls this parable the generous landowner. The focus is the owner and his character and what he does. That's what we're looking at. So we can equate the master of the house to God and to his kingdom. And the master goes out early in the morning. A higher labor is for his vineyard. So we might be able to safely assume that this parable is taking place at the time of the harvest. So many other workers are needed, and he's going out to hire people. And if that's the case, if this is harvest time, then we could look at the context of this parable as in being at the time of the final judgment. What happens at the end of the time when the harvest is ripe and Jesus returns and a final judgment is made. And so the laborers here are, in this case, believers who are entered into the master's house, into his kingdom, into his domain. And the vineyard is the place of his work. In the Old Testament, very frequently, the nation of Israel is referred to as God's vineyard. So these are people who are brought into the people of God. Now after agreeing with the labors for a denarius a day, he sent them out to the vineyard. Now these are the early workers, and so perhaps there's a comparison here that these are considered the Jewish people who throughout the whole Old Testament had the blessings of God. They were the first of the chosen people of God. And they agree in this parable to a wage, a denarius, which was the equivalent of a full day's wage in those days. And so it was a just wage that they agreed to and the master agreed to pay them. So they go out to the vineyard. And there are more workers needed. So in verse 3, "...and going out at about the third hour, the master saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And he said to them, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you." It's now about nine o'clock. third hour. He doesn't come to a set wage with them like he did with the first workers. He just says, look, I'm going to pay you a just wage. And they are good with that. They trust him to be fair. And they go into the vineyard. And then They went out and going again at the 6th hour and the 9th hour. He did the same. So now we're at 6 noon time and 3 o'clock in the afternoon. No amount is defined. Just a just wage is promised. They go out and they work. And then in verse 6 about the 11th hour. So now it's about 5 o'clock. One hour left to go in the 12 hour work day. And he goes out and he found others standing there in the marketplace. He said, why are you standing idle all day? And they said to him, because no one has hired us. And he said to them, go into the vineyard too. So apparently it's not because they were lazy or they were avoiding work. They just didn't have someone to hire them. And here there's no mention or promise of compensation even at all. But they go out and they work. Verse eight, the evening comes. And so perhaps this is the final, comparable to the final judgment. The owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers, pay them their wages, which was the custom, Deuteronomy chapter 24, verse 15. So the workers should be paid at the end of the day. Don't withhold the money from the workers. and they're to pay them beginning with the last up to the first, which is the opposite of what you would think. And he's illustrating in the parable the point that the last shall be first and the first shall be last. If the first workers were paid, they might get their money and just go and never see what happened with the workers hired at the 11th hour. The master wants them to be able to see that. So the order is reversed. When those hired first came, they thought they, oops, sorry. When those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. So here's the shocker. They got a full day's wage for working one hour. That's a 12 time bonus. that they got for that one hour's worth of work. And why would the master do that? Perhaps what he was thinking is, I want each of these workers to get a full day's wage so when they go home, they're going to be able to feed their family and have what they need to care for their family. Even if they didn't get to work the whole day, I want them to have that blessing. Now, when those who were hired first came, they thought that they would receive more. Why? Why, after they had agreed for a denarius, would they think they should get more? It's because they are operating from this works-reward-based system. If those last people got 12 times a month, then we should also receive bonus or something extra. Because we work, we get rewarded. And that's how they're functioning in their mindset. But each of them also received a denarius. No bonus, just what was promised to them, a fair wage. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house. Why did they grumble if they received what they had agreed upon and what was a fair wage? It's because they had come to a conclusion that the master was unfair based on the works reward system and they accused him of injustice. But what it was really revealing was not the injustice of the master, but their own envy and greed, or their false operating system that they were functioning on. So in verse 12, they say, these last workers work only one hour and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. In other words, they're envious. They're envious of what the last workers received. And they go, look how hard we worked. We toiled. It was hot and hard work. We did it all day. And they weren't happy with the attitude of the landowner, the master. And then comes the response from the master. And this is the lesson that God is trying to teach to us about his character and the way that he functions in the kingdom of heaven. And it's a threefold response. First, points out the fairness of the master and of God. But he replied to one of them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for Denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. Was he unfair? No, he was just. The second point the master makes is his grace, or the grace of God. I chose to give to the last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me, or do you begrudge my generosity? How did this payment come out? It comes not based on the work of the people, but of the generous heart of the master. Each one's wage is a gift. Didn't matter how long you worked, it's all a gift. He gives to the last worker, he gives to the first worker. Is there something wrong about being generous? And the answer is no. But why do the first laborers feel that they have been treated unfairly? As if they have authority to tell the master what he needs to do. And it's because of the sin that's in their heart. My favorite definition of sin is thinking you know better than God. And that's exactly what was going on in the mind of the first workers. You choose as a master to do this, but we know better than that. You should be giving us more, or you shouldn't be giving them as much. And that's the nature of sin, thinking you know better than God. And the root of that is pride. You see, everything belongs to the master. He has the freedom to do whatever he wants, whatever he has. If he wants to give it to someone, he can give it to someone. The workers had two choices. The first laborers had two choices. They could look at the situation and say, well, that's unfair. Or they could have equally looked at the situation and say, that is amazing how generous this master is. But which did they choose? They chose to think it was unfair, unjust, because of this works righteousness mindset that they had. They thought it was unfair, and they grumble, and the master chides them for their pridefulness. And the third point that the master makes is that all believers, if we're thinking the master is God, that God views all believers equally. So the last will be first, and the first will be last. That's the pinnacle of the parable. It's the summary of what Jesus is trying to teach to his disciples and to you and me. In the kingdom of heaven, it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, or when you get there. We all get there only by the grace of God. It's a gift given to us from his loving and generous heart. Note that Jesus didn't say you will be first or last. As if it's one or the other. As if there's a system of ranking in heaven. He said, you will either be first and last, or last and first. In other words, you're both. The point being, it doesn't matter which you are. In the kingdom of heaven, we'll all be treated equally in God's sight. That's the meaning of being the last, first, and the first, last. So now let's step back and just take an overview of Jesus' answer to the context to the young man and to Peter. How is he answering their issues? Before I do that, let me insert a little parenthesis here, one set of guardrails so that we don't go astray here. First, Jesus is not rejecting a works reward principle in this world. There are lots of places in scripture where it's indicated if you work hard, you receive more. If you don't work, you would receive less. So that's not being rejected. And second, Jesus is not advocating for a Marxist ideology of social equity that we hear so much of. in the news today so that no matter what you do, everyone should have the same standard of living. That's not what's being taught. With that being said, how does Jesus respond to the rich young man's concern about receiving eternal life? The parable teaches us that God is the sovereign master or king of heaven. Everything belongs to Him and He can do with what He has as He pleases. The entrance into the vineyard or into the kingdom of heaven is not based on our works. God forbid that He would judge us only on our works. It doesn't matter if you work 12 hours, 9 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours, or 1 hour, they all receive the same blessing. If it were by our works alone, none of us would be qualified to receive eternal life because there's no one as righteous. We've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We enter the kingdom of heaven and receive eternal life by the invitation of God who graciously gives us the gift of salvation which he earned and paid for on the cross through his son, Jesus Christ. We receive this gift by faith alone, trusting in God's faithfulness to his promises, which are far greater than anything we could ever earn or deserve. As to Peter's concern about how believers will be treated in heaven, the parable teaches us this. The spiritual principles operating in the kingdom of heaven are not the same as a works reward principle that operates here on earth. Yes, the apostles will receive a place of honor as the apostles, and there will be others who will have different roles and responsibilities in ministries in heaven, but all will be equal in the eyes of God. No one will have greater or lesser blessing. Everyone will be exceedingly and fully blessed by God. Why? Because God is a generous and gracious God. All of our blessings come to us by His grace. We deserve none of them. They are all God's generous gift to us in this world and in the next. So that is a great reminder to us as we're entering into a week of thanksgiving. If you understand the generosity of God's grace to us, You cannot help but to respond in gratitude for all that you have and will receive. If we're not grateful, then we're prideful, thinking that we can take credit ourselves for our blessings. My prayer this morning is that this parable and the message in it will spur us on to greater gratitude and thanksgiving this week, recognizing that God is the gracious giver of every good gift. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would open our eyes to the generosity of your grace, especially in light of the fact that we deserve nothing. We thank you that you allow imperfect people such as Peter and us into eternal life. We don't have to have our doctrine and understanding all together and perfect. You still extend your grace to us. And Lord, in light of your grace to us, we pray that you would make us to be more gracious to the other imperfect people around us. Lord, make us thankful to you for every blessing every day. In your name and to your glory, we pray. Amen. Let's celebrate this wonderful grace that God has given to us as we sing wonderful grace of Jesus. be silent, I shall praise thee. ♪ His love is deeper than the mighty rolling sea ♪ ♪ I have a love that is stronger than the clouds in the sky ♪ ♪ I have a love that is deeper than the mighty rolling sea ♪ ♪ I have a love that is deeper than the clouds in the sky ♪ On your own, let us praise Jesus, deeper than the mighty holy sea. Higher than the mountains, higher than the mountains above, so rich in grace for him to be. On your own, let us sing of our tradition. ♪ His name ♪ ♪ Under the grace of Jesus ♪ ♪ He took us in fire ♪ ♪ By His holy power ♪ ♪ David, God's new child ♪ ♪ Virtues, peace, and heaven ♪ ♪ For all eternity ♪ ♪ And under the grace of Jesus ♪ I'm May you go forth with this blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you. The Lord be gracious to you and lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The world without end.