Well, good morning. It's great to be back with you this morning. We definitely appreciate the invitation. We're happy to be back with you. As many of you may remember, Holly and I are members at Grace Harbor Church in Providence, Rhode Island. And we just wanted to pass along to you that Grace Harbor is praying for you all, praying for you as you search for a pastor, We have prayed for you in our prayer services, and they've prayed for us this morning. So know that other churches are praying for you. And before we begin this morning, let's go to the Lord ourselves and ask for his blessing on our time together. Father, we do thank you for the privilege that we have to meet together with other believers to worship freely, and to hear from your word. And so now as we turn to your word, we pray for the work of the Holy Spirit in aiding our understanding of the scriptures and in enabling us to live them as we seek to follow Christ. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, the Bible makes it clear that children are a gift from God. They're a heritage to be valued And when we understand this as parents, I say we, Holly and I don't have kids yet, but we look forward to that someday in the future. And when parents see their children as gifts from God, their parenting can begin to serve as a way of reflecting God's character to their children. Now, of course, as humans, as people who are not perfect, we don't get this right all the time. But we do our best to represent God to our kids in showing his authority properly and in showing his love. And so we nurture our children, we protect them, we provide for them. And I think any parent would tell you we would do anything for them. We would give them anything that we truly thought was in their best interest. And there's a sense in which we even give them a part of ourselves. This probably becomes more obvious as they mature and take on aspects of our personality and that sort of thing. But perhaps representative of the fact that they carry a part of us with them is the fact that we give them our name. And as children grow to maturity, they can either bring us great joy and pride with the way they carry that name or at times even shame. because by carrying our name, there's a sense in which they represent us. In the same way, we have the immense privilege of being called children of God. We have been given, those who believe have been given the authority to be called children of God, and as his children, we carry his name. We represent God. And this has major implications. And this is what we'll read about in our text this morning. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. I apologize, I don't have the page numbers. But it's Philippians chapter two. And this morning we'll be reading verses 12 through 18. So Philippians chapter two, beginning in verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. This is the word of the Lord. What we want to do this morning, of course, is to understand these verses in the context of the book of Philippians. And really the overall theme of the book of Philippians is Paul's plea to the church to give their lives for the advance of the gospel. A lot of times if I said book of Philippians, probably the first thing that would come to many of your minds is the word joy. Joy is a major theme of the book of Philippians, but I would argue that it's not the main theme. As I said, joy is a theme, but when you study closely, you see that the root of that joy is found in the advance of the gospel. And so you can trace this theme of advancing the gospel throughout the book of Philippians. For example, Even in Paul's greeting in verse five, sorry, verse four and five, he says, always in every prayer of mine for you, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. You skip down to verse 12, and he says, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. In verses 15 through 18, he talks about how no matter what one's motive is, he rejoices when the gospel is preached. And that's why he can say in verse 21, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And in verse 27, why he pleads with them to say, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. And so he repeats, Several times at the end of chapter one, beginning in verse 27, he says, strive side by side for the faith of the gospel. And then in chapter two, he says in verse two, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. And that mind is to strive towards the gospel. And so then we have in chapter two, this command, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And it's on the heels of that that we arrive at our text this morning. And Paul is saying to the church that just as Christ has obeyed God in fulfilling the gospel, so the church is to obey God in living out the gospel. And so our main point this morning is reflected by this in that he says, to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And then in verse 15, so that you will shine as lights in the world. The objective is that we would shine as lights to the world around us. And so our main point this morning will be this, live as an accurate representative of God. The phrase from the text being, shine as lights in the world. Live as an accurate representative of God. In order to unpack this, we'll be looking at it from three points. And the first won't actually come from our text this morning, but will come from our reading from earlier, and it'll be a warning from the nation of Israel. And so the first point will be a warning from the nation of Israel. Our second point then from the text will be work hard to live out your salvation. Work hard at living out your salvation. And then our third point, shine as lights in the world. Shine as lights in the world. So first, a warning from Israel. And I will have you turn back to the first text we read this morning, Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32. In Deuteronomy 32, we're reading a portion of the Song of Moses that God instructed him to read to the children of Israel just prior to entering the promised land. And in this song, we actually find God predicting that Israel would sin, that they would forsake him, that they would pursue other gods. And so just before this moment of triumph, Moses reads this song to all the people, and I'll actually read verses one through five. Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the earth. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God, The Rock, his work is perfect, and all of his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. They have dealt corruptly with him. They are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation. We've read in Philippians 2 this morning that the church We as God's people are to shine as lights in the world in contrast to a crooked and perverse generation. Here in Deuteronomy 32, we see the nation of Israel being called a crooked and twisted generation. And so again, we want to understand this in the context of the Bible as a whole, in the context of Israel's history. And I would just give us four points to help us understand that. First of all, Israel was chosen to represent God. God reminds Israel that they are his witnesses on the earth in Isaiah 43.10. God's people are called to be ambassadors for Christ. a foreign people living in a foreign country, but representing the interests of a different kingdom. This is clearly stated of Christians and the church in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 20. It says, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. And we are the means by which God appeals to the world. But before the church was given the charge of ambassadorship, God's plan for how he would represent himself to the world would be through a chosen nation, the nation of Israel. And so in Isaiah 43, 10, God reminds them they are his witnesses on the earth. And many of the things that God would do through the nation of Israel were for the explicit purpose of showing who he was to the nations around them. For example, you might think of the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. And just before David goes and fights Goliath, and he's asked, why is he doing this? He says, it's being done so that all the earth may know that there's a God in Israel. And throughout the Old Testament, we see that pattern of the reason God is doing this is for his glory, for his fame, so that the nations around Israel would see who he is. So Israel was chosen to represent God. But number two, Israel fell short in this responsibility. And that's what we've seen in our text this morning. In verses three and four, we see some of the attributes of God. The Rock, his work, is perfect. All of his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright, is he. And God is completely faithful, but what we see is that he's being represented by a people that are anything but faithful. It says they have dealt corruptly with him and are no longer his children. because they are blemished. And at the very least, Israel's conduct is just not consistent of who a child of God would be. They are no longer identifiable as his children. And instead of standing out against a crooked and twisted generation, they themselves can be called a twisted and crooked generation. So Israel was chosen to represent God, but Israel fell short in this responsibility. Now, the primary ways that Israel would represent God would be by witnessing to the existence of God himself, by witnessing to the truth of his word, and by witnessing to the promise of the Messiah. So while they failed in representing him accurately, by God's grace, through Israel, a Messiah was provided. And so that's our third point. Through the nation of Israel, God provided Christ. And Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God, came to the earth and lived a sinless life. And in Jesus, we see the only perfect representation of who God is. And so, this is important for us to realize this morning. that Christ was everything that Israel could not be. He was sinless. He did represent God for who he was. And then ultimately, Christ died on behalf of our sins and did what the law could not do. And so while Israel fell short in this responsibility, through the nation of Israel, God provided Christ, who was a perfect representative of God. And so finally, we, the church, are now God's people. We are that group of people that Christ has redeemed. And we now partner with Christ in representing God to the world around us. So church, this is our responsibility. As children of God, we are his ambassadors. We carry God's name with us, and we do have the responsibility of proclaiming his name, of showing who he is to the people around us. As Christians, we need to make it a priority to engage our culture with the gospel of Christ, not to isolate ourselves in fear but to compassionately meet people where they are, we can keep ourselves unspotted from the world without separating ourselves from the world entirely. In the past, evangelicalism has gotten so caught up in avoiding sin, which is a good thing, the pursuit of holiness, that they've had a tendency to isolate themselves or to avoid sinners. But scripture makes a very important distinction when it comes to how we deal with sinners. And what it comes down to is that there are two groups of people. There are those who profess to know Christ, and there are those who don't. And Paul tells us in Corinthians that if we have a brother who professes to know Christ, but is openly living in unrepentant sin, that we're actually not to associate with that person. He even goes so far as to say that we shouldn't eat a meal with them. On the contrary, though, when it comes to people who don't profess to know Christ, that restriction doesn't exist. The Bible tells us that it's our responsibility as believers to go and meet those people where they are, to engage them with the gospel, and join our Savior in being called a friend of sinners. We have to engage our culture with the gospel. We can't sit back and just wait for Christ to return or to wait for the moment when we will go to glory. There's work for us to do. So knowing that we must engage our culture, knowing that we must go to them, we have to keep in mind that we will be different than them. We can't forget that we will not always line up with where the people around us are. See, our culture is crooked and perverted. And by that, I mean, if you think of crooked, they've bent off of the straight path laid by God's word. They've twisted what is right. Scripture tells us that in latter times, people will call what is good evil and what is evil good. And I think we see that around us. And so, If we're going to stand out against the backdrop of a crooked and perverse generation, we do have to start with realizing that it is crooked and perverse and that there are areas where we're going to be different. Now, as Christians, we don't strive to be different for the sake of being different. Now, God did do this with the nation of Israel. He gave them certain distinctions that weren't necessarily moral, but that were to set them apart from the nations around them. For instance, their dietary laws or certain regulations for what they'd wear during worship or that sort of thing. And God sets them apart with these arbitrary distinctions. But as Christ comes and abolishes the law, those are gone. And so we don't set ourselves apart with just whatever we can find. It's not, well, we'll dress a certain way and then everyone will know we're Christians, or we'll put a certain bumper sticker on our car and then everyone will know that we're Christians. That's not the goal of the New Testament church is just to be different in any way we can, but rather we align ourselves with God's word and where our culture breaks off from that path, where they twist what is true, we represent God's interests, and then we stand against cultural norms. So we're still on this point, a warning from Israel. They were to represent God, but they didn't, they just didn't get it, they failed. And I'm so glad we read 1 Corinthians 10, one through 13 this morning. There we see outlined their failings in that they pursued other gods. They committed sexual immorality. They tempted Christ. They murmured and complained. And we have those examples of how they failed in representing God to the world. We'll look at those closer in a minute. But Israel failed, and so listen, it's not automatic that we would, as God's children, would represent him accurately to the world. We are called God's children, but in order to represent Him accurately, we do have to be intentional about it. We need to strive to live accurately as God's representatives. So take this first point, a warning from the nation of Israel, representing God is not automatic. Let us heed the words of Paul and Corinthians and allow Israel to serve as our example. We must work to represent God accurately. And so that'll bring us back to Philippians chapter two and our second point this morning. Work hard at living out your salvation. Work hard at living out your salvation. So we're back in Philippians chapter two, verses 12 and 13. And there we read again. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Now we'll jump in and we'll start with this phrase right here, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We wanna make sure we understand it in context. And as we've walked through Philippians and talked about the advance of the gospel, it makes sense that what Paul is saying here is similar to what he says in verse 127. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. And so I wanna be clear here that I don't believe Paul is saying that we need to work for our salvation, but rather that we work out our salvation. And so this is not a contradiction. For instance, what you would say in Ephesians chapter two and verse eight, for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so we don't want to confuse the gospel here this morning. When it comes to justification, God does the work. The Bible tells us that we are sinful people and that we miss God's mark. And not only are we simple, but we are completely sinful. If it were up to us to gain favor with God, we just don't have what it takes. So God, in his mercy, sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. so that our sins could be paid for. And whosoever would believe on Jesus would have eternal life. And so the Bible calls us to repentance and faith. And in that act of justification, there's no works done from us. There's nothing we can do to earn God's favor, but merely through faith in Christ, by grace, through faith, we are saved. And so in the work of justification, God alone does the work. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. No contradiction here, but in our sanctification, there's work for us to do. And so that's how we read our scripture here this morning. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And it is serious work that has to be done with fear and trembling. It requires complete dependence on God and true humility. We can't have the pride that Israel displayed in 1 Corinthians 10, 12, where it says that they sat down to eat, and then they got up and committed sexual immorality. It happened that fast. And so we must be careful not to think that we stand unless we fall. It requires true humility that we would live out the gospel. And so I'll say this statement again. I'll admit that I stole it from my pastor. Just as Christ obeyed God in accomplishing the gospel, so we must obey God in living out the gospel. And the only reason that that's possible is because God is the one working in us. So there's work for us to do in sanctification, but we're not doing that work alone. It's not even dependent on us because God will bring about the good purpose for which he saved you. We see that actually in Philippians chapter one, verse six, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Salvation from start to finish is the work of God, but that doesn't mean we're lazy about pursuing Christ, about becoming more like him, about striving to do good works and to show the world who God is. We must do the hard work that he is working in us to do. we work because God works. And so church, be encouraged that God is working in you. I mean, these verses are full of the Holy Spirit. He's saying, work out your own salvation for it is God who works in you. And so we work with the help of the Spirit to become more like Christ. So continue to pursue Christ. Go to his word, seek him in prayer. And even when it feels like you're not getting anywhere, strive to be more like Christ. Work hard at living out your salvation. And as we do that, it brings us to our third point, shine as lights in the world. As we work hard at living out the purposes we were saved for, for God's purposes, for our joy, we will shine as lights to the world around us. And so we look at verses 14 and 15. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. That phrase lights in the world, you may notice some translations use the word stars, among whom you shine as stars in the world, and that's kind of the picture here. It is against the backdrop of a dark night sky, a star shining out in contrast. And so the message is be willing to stand out for the sake of the gospel. And so this is where we'll make most of our application this morning, how do we do that? How do we work hard at living out our faith so that we shine as lights in the world? And so we'll keep in mind the example that we have negatively from Israel and the instructions we have here in our text positively to talk about how do we do this? How do we live out our salvation for God's purposes and our joy in order to shine as lights in the world? And I say, first of all, at the risk of oversimplifying, by worshiping God, by worshiping God. We are identified by what we worship. And we have the example from the nation of Israel, who, as they failed in their witness for God, were actually pursuing other gods, and worshiping other idols. So if we are going to represent God, if we are going to worship God, this means not worshiping other things. Of course, pagan idol worship isn't so common in the United States in 2016, but we certainly have a culture that worships things. And one could make the argument that everyone is worshiping something. Everyone places high value on something. As believers, we need to place supreme value on God and on worshiping him. This means not placing supreme value on money, things, experiences, relationships, entertainment. Those things are frequently worshiped by the people around us. And when we worship God, instead of worshiping those things, we will shine as lights in the world. Another aspect of worshiping God, of course, is making corporate worship a priority. And so I commend you for being here this morning, and I would encourage you to continue to make worshiping with this group of believers a priority. Making corporate worship a priority will speak volumes to the people around us. There's no need to be arrogant or obnoxious about it, but there's no harm in telling your coworkers or your family that you're not available on Sunday mornings because you're at church. Making corporate worship isn't common anymore. And as you make it a priority, you will stand out to the people around you. Another way that we worship God is by worshiping God in private. And this is a category we have to make in our minds as believers. A lot of times when we think of worship, we only think of corporate worship. But your personal scripture reading and your personal prayer time, it may be helpful for you to think of that as private worship. Just one-on-one, you and God, worshiping him. in private. And so in all those ways, we worship God. But I also wanna make a connection here. Worshiping God means gratitude. Another of the sins we mentioned from the nation of Israel was grumbling and complaining. And we read here in verse 14 that we're to do all things without grumbling or disputing. If we think about grumbling and disputing, it's kind of one of our pet sins that we don't take so seriously. A lot of times we just will off the cuff say, oh, you know, I complain a lot, or I know this person complains a lot. And we just don't take it seriously. But what is grumbling and complaining saying? And to think of it this way, what is it saying to God? It's almost to say, God, I deserve better than this. I deserve better than this situation. I deserve better than this job. I deserve better than these relationships. When we grumble and complain, we're saying, God, I deserve better from this. And let's stop and think about how crazy that is, that we would complain and say to God, I want something better than this. Because if God were to give us what we deserve, it's worse than nothing. It's worse than nothing. And so I don't think you want to be in that place of saying, God, please give me what I deserve. No, as Christians, we say, God, thank you for giving me what I don't deserve. Thank you for Christ. Thank you for grace. And thank you for all of the other blessings that I have in my life. And so another phrase that I'll take from my pastor and say, complaining and mumbling, grumbling and complaining is almost anti-worship. It's almost a way of saying, God, this isn't good enough, instead of, God, you are supreme. And so, as you worship God, do all things without grumbling and complaining. And so, how do we shine as lights in the world? Well, at the foundational level, by worshiping God, by identifying as his people. Secondly, and again, maybe sort of obviously, is by sharing the gospel verbally with the people around us. We see the phrase here in our text this morning, holding fast to the word of life. And so we could talk a lot about what it means to hold fast to God's word. But perhaps one of the most obvious ways that we would represent God others in this way is by telling them about him. There is no message without the words that form that message. And so there's no good news without words. We must tell others about the gospel of Christ. And as we read Paul, we feel this. For instance, Romans 1, 14 through 16, I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then in 1 Corinthians 9, 16, for if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. Again, one of the more obvious ways we will shine as lights, one of the ways we will represent God to the world is by sharing the gospel with them. And at times this will cost us. It may cost us popularity or friendships or just the fact that we stand out. But church, this is the work that God has called us to. And so look for opportunities to share the gospel with extended family as the holidays approach. Of course, maybe those are some of the most difficult relationships to navigate in our lives, but be open to God's leading in that way. Build relationships with your coworkers or other people in your lives during break times or even outside of work for the purpose of impacting them with the gospel. Continue to teach the gospel to your children or your immediate family. And even be willing to start conversations with people you don't know, and pray that God will turn those conversations into gospel opportunities. But we do need to be reminded this morning that we represent God to the world, and one of the ways we do that is by telling them about him. Third, however, is in our conduct. In Galatians 2.14, Paul is confronting Peter and he says that, speaking of the group of people that was there, that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel. And so not only do we worship God as sort of something we do among ourselves, not only do we tell other people about the gospel, but by the way we live, a statement about the gospel, a statement about who God is, is made. And it is possible that our conduct would either be in step with the truth of the gospel or out of step with the truth of the gospel. And so there's no gospel without words, but at best, there's extremely limited evangelism without gospel conduct, without backing up those words with the way we live our lives. And so if we remember, again, the example of Israel, one of the ways in their personal conduct that they were out of step with God's character was in committing sexual immorality. And that's one of the ways that we need to guard against as the church is in sexual purity. If we're going to live in step with the gospel, we must be sexually pure. And you might think of how many leaders or ministries you've known that have lost all credibility because of the fall of a leader. sexual immorality certainly hinders our witness to the world around us, and that's an area that we need to guard carefully as Christians. Another way, just in terms of how we live our lives, is in our love for our neighbor. Our family, often our family relationships are built on on unconditional commitment. And that's a good thing. But don't let this commitment be the basis of you treating your immediate family poorly. Eventually, the way you treat your family will manifest itself. And this is a critical aspect to just how we begin to love our neighbor is by showing love and respect for the people who are closer to us. You might also think about loving your neighbor in terms of how you show God to your coworkers. Integrity is vital to your witness, to your co-workers. However, your work itself is also a witness. For instance, if you're known for being the person who kind of slacks off so that everyone else has to pick up the burden of your work, I don't know how much credibility you have when you tell people you're a Christian. And so if you're known for laziness or uncommitted effort, you may be doing harm to your witness for Christ. And so be known for turning in quality work, be known for being reliable, dedicated, trustworthy, and of course, be known for integrity at work. Another way in just in terms of the way you live out the gospel in love for your neighbor would just be how you treat strangers. Basic manners, chivalry, and decency are becoming less of a priority to our generation. So continue to hold doors for people and let other people cut you off in traffic without losing your cool. Be patient with your waiter. Say please and thank you. Just show that basic level of kindness to people around you And people will be noticed, they'll begin to notice. Your witness for Christ can only be made more credible through these actions. So one way we show Christ to the world is of course through our worship, through our verbal sharing of the gospel, but just also the way we live. And finally, and I'll even say most importantly, is in our love for the church. This is probably the most explicit way that Christ said that other people would know that we are his disciples. John 13, 35, it would be by our love for one another. For other Christians in general, yes, but for the people in this room more specifically, So Paul says in Galatians, let us do good to all men. And perhaps you've heard me say that as I say, love your neighbor. Yes, let us do good to all men, but especially those who are of the household of faith. In Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, he says that our unity will be one of the ways that the world will know that God sent him. If you stop and think, how will the world know that Jesus is actually from God? by the unity of the church. And the Bible teaches us that because the unity of the church is supernatural. When the church is functioning as it should, you're left with a group of people who have nothing in common, perhaps, except the gospel of Christ. And the unity of the church is a testament to the authenticity and the power of the gospel. And this is one of the major themes of Philippians, as we've read, striving for one mind in unity for the advance of the gospel. And that's throughout chapters one and two, even in chapter three later on, straining toward the goal in unity. And so your love for one another will be the most powerful testament to the authenticity of the gospel. This means that we'll have to prefer one another above ourselves, another theme from the book of Philippians, and that we're going to have to put a priority on fellow church members. And so I think some of the ways we do that are by making them a priority in our calendars. I said earlier, make corporate worship a priority, but I'll say this also, make your fellow fellow church members a priority throughout the week. Get together with one another. Build these relationships, not just in this room on Sunday mornings, but as much as God gives you the grace to do. Build relationships with each other. I think it means making each other a priority financially as well as need requires as you give to the church. Church, make your fellow, fellow church members a priority, and do not grow weary in doing that well. Be hospitable, open up your home to one another, sacrifice for one another, and find the unity of the gospel even in your diversity. You might think of people in the body who you really don't have that much in common with. Find unity in the gospel. And this is one of the most important ways that we represent God. to the world around us. And so as we close, just in summary, we, the church, are given the responsibility of carrying God's name, representing him to the world. We must live as accurate representatives of God. And so we take first a warning from the nation of Israel to remember that this isn't automatic, that we do have to put effort into it, and that's also what we see in our second point, that we must work hard at living out our salvation, that we work, that God enables us both to desire and to work for his good pleasure. And so we put in the effort to live it out, and as we do, we shine as lights in the world, and that is we will shine the light of the gospel in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And so we can do this through our worship, through our witness, through our purity, and our love for one another. And in this, the gospel is advanced, God is glorified, and we find true joy. And so what an amazing privilege it is to be called a child of God. But remember that as his child, you carry his name. Work hard to live out your salvation. shine as lights in the world, and live as an accurate representative of God. Let's pray together.