and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever. Let's pray. Father, we are grateful that you have given us your Word, particularly on this topic, that we get to look today at the access we have to you because of Christ. We get to look today and be reminded and instructed of the worship that is due you because of who you are, because of what you have accomplished. So in these next few minutes, I pray that our minds would be alert, that we would not be distracted by goings on outside before or after. but that we would be able to focus, and most importantly, that your spirit would be at work in our hearts, even as we lift up your son, and we pray in his name, amen. You may be seated. It is a beautiful thing, isn't it, to be able to join together as a congregation and worship the Lord together. We worship the Lord throughout the week in different ways, by ourselves, with our families, but it is a particularly blessed thing for us to be able to join together as a congregation. But have you ever asked yourself what it is really we are doing? What does worship really mean? What does it mean to worship God? Well, we spoke on this topic a few months ago, and in that sermon when we talked about worship, we focused mainly on the regulative principle. We focused on the idea that God is the one who lays out for us in Scripture how we are to approach Him. And so, we as the worshipers ought to approach Him in the ways that He has laid out and not through our own imaginations. We looked briefly or reminded ourselves about what happened with Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus chapter 10 when they decided to bring strange fire, when they decided to bring worship before God that had not been prescribed. It was a different kind of incense. And God made a point out of them as He actually took their lives. And so, the Bible would have us take note about this concept of worshiping God in the way that He has told us to do. The Second London Baptist Confession in chapter 22 describes the regulative principle this way, the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by Himself. and so limited by his own revealed will that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures." And in laying that out, what God has required of us in worship, what He has told us to do, how He has described we are to approach Him. We talked about words, sacrament, and prayer that we read, we sing, and we preach the Word, we celebrate baptism, we celebrate the Lord's Supper, and we pray together. These aspects make up an outline of what it is we are to do in worship. Well, that was the sermon a few months ago, but we want to go a little bit further. We want to talk more specifically about worship and define more precisely what exactly is worship. And then secondly, we want to talk about why does the Christian render worship to God. So, the first question before us is what is worship? Well, when you read it in the original, and it shouldn't be any surprise, it means basically to bow down. At least that's the idea behind it, that's the language behind it, to bow down before. Well, so it's not just a bending of the waist or lying down on the ground, though that word seems to have that idea in mind, but it's one that occurs really hundreds of times in the Bible, the idea of worship. So what is it? It's not just a physical genuflection. It is something else. There's not only the physical that goes on, not only what's outwardly visible. You can sometimes tell when people are worshiping because they've got their hands raised and they're singing. That's a physical outward thing, right? Or maybe you can imagine in different cultures or in different times or maybe even you yourself in worship, you might actually bow down. Of course, God is not visibly there before you, but you're bowing down, and that's one of the reasons, perhaps, we close our eyes when we pray and do things like that, is that there is a physical expression of the deeper thing that's going on underneath. So what is that deeper thing that's going on underneath? Well, one author has said that worship is communing with God through Christ. Well, that's helpful. Communing with God through Christ, that we have access to God because of what Christ has done, and we are communing with Him. It's like being face-to-face with Him, only not face-to-face. That we are enjoying His presence, that we are recognizing we have been united with Christ, and thus we have access to the Father. We are communing with God through Christ. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines it as pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of his holy perfection. It's adoring him, lifting up our spirit, and not just any old person can do it, it's someone who's redeemed who is able to do this. And only the redeemed person can truly worship God the way he ought to be worshiped. in contemplation of His holy perfection. There's a mental component. There is an emotional component. As we are adoring, we are recognizing the gratitude that we have because of what He has done with a love we have for Him because of what He has accomplished for us. We are holding in our mind who God is and what He has done in redeeming us. Yet a third author says, true worship is rendering to God the glory or value, honor and praise due to His name. It's rendering to God, returning to Him, giving to Him what is due to Him. Worship is related to the word worthy in English. We are declaring, we are giving Him what He is worthy of receiving. It's a rendering to God the glory, the recognizing His value, honoring Him and praising Him in the ways that He deserves. That's what worship involves. And so we might boil it down, and I don't often do this, but it kind of worked out this time, and I thought it might be helpful for us in remembering four C's of worship. Worship is coming to God through Christ. That's the first aspect. We get to come to God through Christ. Secondly, communing with Him with a deep adoration. Communing with Him, adoring Him, being in His presence and loving being in His presence. I'm sure it's the same for every other married couple, but I know that when my wife and I were just dating and had gotten engaged or were newlyweds, we would just love to be in each other's presence. And everybody around us probably got sick watching it. They're just sitting there looking at each other. We just loved communing with one another. There was a relationship of adoration. And we still like to annoy our kids with the same thing, even 30 years later. But when we're worshiping God, we are coming to him through Christ, and we are secondly, communing with him with a deep adoration. Communing with him with a deep adoration. Thirdly, that adoration is inspired by contemplation of who he is. Contemplation of who he is, his character, his nature, his glory, his honor. So we're contemplating who He is, we're communing with Him, and we have come to Him through Christ, and then fourthly, calling out praises to His name. There's a verbal component, there's an outward component to it. We might ask what the relationship is between praise and worship. We might ask, is the singing that we do before we open the word and preach it, is that our time of worship? Well, sometimes we use the word in that way and that's not wrong. But if we wanted to be more specific, worship is this broader category with these four Cs. It's us coming to God through Christ, communing with him in contemplation of who he is and calling out praises. So the worship may or may not have a vocal component, but a praise always has a vocal component. So when we are expressing our gratitude, when we are expressing our worship of God, we do so in the form of praise, praising Him for who He is. Maybe that's a helpful way for us to think about the distinction between what is worship and what is praise. What we are doing right now is not exactly praise, but it is worship. In our time together, we are coming to God through Christ, we are contemplating what He has done, we are communing with Him, and we are, even maybe in my voice, calling out praises. So this is a time of worship, but it's different. Maybe the time before, the time of singing is more the praise function. It might help us to think that praise is just the verbal expression of our worship, where we're telling someone, telling God, singing about it. So the definition of worship, I think, is rendered by or helped by these four Cs coming to God through Christ, communing with Him with a deep adoration, contemplating who He is and what He's done, and calling out praises to Him. That's worship. So you can recognize we get to do that in all of life. We get to do that particularly and in unique ways as a congregation where we are together thinking the same thoughts. We are together contemplating the same things. We have come before Him together. It is a time of worship. Well, our passage today goes beyond just defining worship. Actually, it kind of uses that concept, and we're gonna look at not only the definition of worship that we've just looked at, but we wanna look at the reasons for worship. And so we turn to our passage in chapter 10, and we look at verses 19 and 20 to begin with. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. If you think in biblical terms, you think of what the holy places are, what the holiest place is, the holy of holies. Think of the construction of the tabernacle in the Old Testament, the temple in the Old Testament. There was a room, there was a place that as you got farther into the tabernacle, as you moved from the outer areas more towards the inner areas, those were holier and holier places that fewer people had access to. so that you get down to the Holy of Holies, that room that's in the very middle, that's where the ark was, that's where no one went into except for the high priest and him, not every day. Only once a year did he even enter into that context. God is telling us in the very architecture of the temple, the construction of the tabernacle itself, he's trying to convey that the presence of God is precious. And not everybody gets to go into it. Only by very specific steps, only in very particular ways that have been laid out by God, do we have access. All the way through, when you're reading the Old Testament, that's what we're learning. That access to the presence of God is a precious thing. And not everybody even gets it. only one man in a generation, and him but once a year. And here we read what our author says, we have confidence to enter the holy places. Here we are, we're not even good Jews. We've not been raised in this context where we've been raised on the law of Moses like they had. We don't have the temple that's been there as the point of instruction for us. And here we are. We have access to God. very specific, only in controlled circumstances, and only one of you will have an election, only one of you will get to. No, we have confidence to enter in. What an amazing statement that is. If you were to start reading, it's early January, if you were to start reading in Genesis right now, and you were to pay attention to how exclusive is the presence of God. And who gets to go there? You would quickly learn that it is a very precious and rare thing. And here, we get to go in. We have confidence to go in. How can that be? How can I have confidence to go right into the holy places and be in God's presence? Well, the author tells us at the end of verse 19, it's by the blood of Jesus. You remember Jesus when he's on the cross and the innocent one, the one who had always obeyed God, there he is on the cross dying as if he were a terrible sinner and rebel. As he's dying, what happens to that veil? that curtain that blocked off that inner room. What happened to that curtain? This giant curtain that was too tall for anyone to reach and it was thick because of the way it was constructed was torn from top to bottom. That curtain being torn was a symbolic pointing to His flesh being torn. that Jesus Himself was like that curtain, that when He died, that way was open for us. The penalty of our sin, having been placed on Him and paid by His death, gives all of those who have faith in Him access to the very presence of God, confidence to enter in. And if you think carefully and if you think systematically through this, that is shocking, shocking. We kind of look back from our perspective and we look and see, well, yeah, I mean, I've read the New Testament and I read the New Testament first. So I learned about, you know, access to Him before I ever learned that that was a big deal. Maybe we need to think about how big a deal it is. And the author here is saying, oh, it's a big deal. because of the ministry of Christ, because of what he has done, because he has offered that right sacrifice, because of what he has done in his own life and death and resurrection, we, who are such people, get to have access. And not just hiding in the corner, afraid to look, we have confidence and boldness to enter in. because of what Christ has done. We have, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is His flesh, since we have that confidence now, He's going to build His argument based upon that. But the context of Hebrews, the recipients were Jews who had come to faith in Christ and experienced terrible persecution. And now, having experienced and lived through persecution once, they're a little gun-shy about it coming again. They're thinking there's going to be more persecution and it's coming upon Christians. And each of them was thinking, or they were thinking together, you know? It was better when we were just Jews because the Jews in this context had a degree of protection, a degree of acceptance. The pressure and the persecution was not coming upon the Jews. The pressure and everything, the persecution was coming upon Christians. And so these people were thinking, well, maybe if we backed off a little bit and went back to just being Jews. We wouldn't have to face the fire. And our author here is saying, oh, in Christ, through the sacrifice that He has made, you have access to the very presence of God, confidence to enter in. Do you think you want to give that up to spare your skin? since we have confidence to enter in. And then he continues, so first of all, he's pointing to the first reason for us to worship God the way that we do, and that is this great salvation that we have, but then in verse 21, not only this great salvation, but our great Savior, priest, in verse 21, since we have, second reason being given, since we have a great high priest over the house of God. Hebrews is developing this idea and does so for chapter after chapter, pointing out the difference between the ministry of Jesus as our High Priest versus the ministry of the priests of the Old Testament. The priesthood existed as a layer between the people of God and their God. The layer of ministry that went between those two, representing one to the other in the That's what the priesthood was. Well, turns out these priests were sinners also, just like the people they were representing. And so when they would go to offer sacrifice, they'd have to offer one for themselves. When they would go to serve in the temple, they would have to be purified. These different procedures and these different sacrifices, they had to get themselves ready to be able to perform that work. And then guess what? Even if they did it perfectly, Even if they had gone through all the procedures of being purified and offering the proper sacrifices and stuff, they would still have to offer that sacrifice again next month or again next year. And so you see that the sacrifice itself was insufficient. The blood of bulls and calves doesn't suffice for the sins of men. You mean the death of an animal is supposed to pay for me? A human? No. So you recognize that there's a problem. There's an inadequacy with the sacrifice, though the sacrifice points to the need for a greater sacrifice. And there's inadequacy with the priest offering the sacrifice, that he had to have his own sins purified, and then he would offer these sacrifices, and then he would die, and there would need to be another priest instituted. They would bring Him in, there would be another priest, He would go through the same thing, and here is Jesus. Jesus who has no sin of His own to be purified. Jesus who comes and offers the perfect sacrifice, offers it once for all, never having to be repeated, never able to be repeated. And Jesus actually is himself that sacrifice being offered, the perfect sacrifice that actually does pay the penalty for sin, that actually does bring reconciliation between God and all those who have faith in Christ. That's our high priest. That's our high priest. And so if you were talking to these Hebrews who were looking at going back, you would say, what are you doing? What are you doing? You've got the great, the perfect high priest who has offered the perfect sacrifice, who has given you this great salvation and entrance into the very presence of God. That's what has been accomplished for us. And these are our reasons for wanting to bow down before God. These are the reasons that we ought to bow down in worship before God. our great Savior and High Priest and this great salvation that He has given us. Those are the reasons. And our part is to respond in faithful worship. And we continue on through our passage. So you'll notice if you write in your Bible or if you just pay attention there in verse 19, since, so he's making an argument, he's giving reason number one is since. And then there in verse 21, he gives the reason number two, since. So since we have confidence to enter and since we have this great High Priest, those are the two reasons. Now comes the punchline. Now comes the significance for us, the commands for us. Verse 22, let us draw near. Let us draw near. The people of God, those who have been redeemed in Christ, want to draw near to God. They have a desire to be in His presence. They want to enter in and they rejoice that they've been given that ability to have access to God by the ministry of the great high priest. And so he says, since we have that great salvation and since we have that great Savior, let's enter in. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. A heart that is true, desirous to be in God's presence, not just going through the motions. You know, sometimes, maybe it's true today, you came to church because you're supposed to go to church on Sunday. And today we sweeten the pot by having a breakfast, right? Sometimes that happens. When we draw near, let us draw near with a true heart, a heart that genuinely desires to be with God and His people in full assurance of faith. God wants us to draw near in full assurance of faith, not whimpering and cowering. Is it more honoring to a father to have a daughter who is confident in her relationship with her dad? Or is it more honoring for a father to have a daughter who cowers and cringes because she doesn't know where she stands with him? Of course, it's more honoring for the daughter to know who is her dad and how she's related to him. For us to have full assurance of faith and drawing in, not hoping that maybe we'll have access to God today, confident that we indeed do. because of what Christ has done. We get to draw near, we get to enter in, and the desire that the children of God have to enter into the presence of God is met when we draw in. So let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Our body is washed with pure water. The baptism that we perform when we baptize Christians is, among other things, it demonstrates, it pictures for us outwardly by the bodily washing of the person who went into the baptismal, pictures for us the washing internally that has been accomplished by the blood of Christ. Our sins washed away, our consciences made clean, we can stand before God. And so, since we have those great blessings, let us draw near in worship. In verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Let us hold fast, let us cling. Praise God, He clings to us, and there are times when we don't do such a great job of clinging, but the command here and the instruction for us is to cling to Him, to cling. Hold fast the confession of hope without wavering. Hold fast to it, cling to it. We have hope because of what He has done. You'll notice He doesn't conclude the sentence there by saying, for you have been really faithful. Hold fast and keep holding fast because you've done a pretty good job so far, but just press on to the end." No, it says, he who promised is faithful. Our confidence, our hope, our holding fast, our confession of hope, it's all rooted in His faithfulness. He who promised, that those who put their faith in Christ. have right standing before God because of what Jesus has done in his life, death, and resurrection. He who made that promise is faithful and he keeps that promise. Thirdly, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Let us gather. Let us gather. Here's an exhortation for the children of God to gather with one another and come to worship God together. We get to be here. Let us draw near. Let us not audit. Let us not skip out and play hooky. Let's not forsake the gathering together. Let us join together to stir one another up. I'm pretty good at provoking people. That's easy. Just poke a little bit, right? If that didn't work, you poke a little bit harder or poke them somewhere else. The idea here is to stir them up to love and good works, that we are to consider one another. Let us consider and think about what my brothers and sisters in Christ need so that they will be stirred up to love and good works. that they will be stirred up, not provoked in an awful sense like, he keeps poking me, but how can we encourage one another in love and good works? This is part of us joining together in worship. It's part of the benefit of us being together is that we are carried along by the presence and the worship of one another into a deeper worship ourselves of our God. So let's think about how we can do that. We have to consider, we have to think about it, we have to ponder it for a while. How best can we encourage one another? And of course, I have to do this as the preacher, have to think about how it is this passage and the truths in it apply to our lives. and how can I help us to see how these things are to be applied in our lives, and even encourage us to apply these things appropriately in our lives. Of course, I have to think about those things. I need to think more about it, but it's not just about this time and the words that I say here, it's our whole time together, that each of us would be thinking how best to encourage our neighbor, to direct our neighbor to love and good works. to lift up Christ, that they too would be carried along and be motivated to bow and worship before God. I love the structure of this passage. The reasons are given, two astounding reasons, this salvation and this Savior. Do you need more reason to come and worship? No. And then he goes into detail about what's involved. How is it that we can encourage one another to enter into worship in that way? So this passage has a couple of points of application. At least four. I could go on, but we'll settle for four. Because there's application for us individually, isn't there? As we think about our own entering into worship. How is it that we can be appropriately motivated to worship? How is it that we can go beyond just the genuflecting, just the raising of the hands, just the making noises with our mouth at the appropriate times? How can we go beyond just the outward? The outward needs to be there. How can we make sure and go beyond for ourselves to make sure it is a spiritual form of worship? First of all, call to mind the incredible reasons that you have to worship. One of the reasons we preach the way we do in reminding you of what Christ has done again and again and again and again and again is so that as Christ is held up in the perfection of what He has done for us, our affections will be drawn more and more to Him, that we will come to appreciate in a much greater way what it is He has done for us. What is the glory of this salvation and entrance into His very presence? That's one of the reasons we do that is because when you look at a beautiful thing, you admire its beauty. And so we hold up the beauty of what Christ has done that we might admire it more so. So the first point of application, call to mind the incredible reasons we have for worship, this great salvation granted to us by this great Savior. Contemplate that. Hold that in your mind as we sing. Hold that in your mind as you're on your way to church and as you're listening to a sermon and as we're going to the Lord in prayer. Secondly, and particularly, focus on and marvel at the forgiveness of sins that you have in Christ. When we come to the Lord's Supper that we'll come to in a few minutes, it's a joyous time. It's a celebration and part of the reason it is so joyous, part of the reason it is such a shining moment of celebration is because of the dark background of my sin. Why is it so glorious that my sin has been forgiven? Because my sin is awful. And so I contemplate my sin, not because I want to wallow in it, not because I really care to recall it. But because when I glance at it, when I have an appropriate understanding of what my sin really means, only then do I really appreciate the forgiveness of that sin that I have in Christ. And I'm all the more thankful. And I'm all the more drawn to worship. So focus on and marvel at the forgiveness of sins that you have in Christ. Thirdly, root your confidence in the faithfulness of God. I talked to a man one time whose confidence was rooted in his faithfulness. He told me that literally, just like that. He was confident that when he died, he would be in glory because of his faithfulness. Our confidence is rooted in the faithfulness of God. And when we realize that, We don't come to worship thinking we're gonna give a great gift to God today because I'm really a great gift to God. He ought to appreciate that I made it today. I mean, it's pretty great that I'm here, right? Of course, we would never say those things, we would never. But if our confidence is rooted in my faithfulness, well, the Lord's really lucky he's got me on his team. That's somewhere in there. But the author tells us here, no, our confidence is to be rooted in the faithfulness of God Himself. He who promised is faithful. He's the only faithful one. I'm the forgiven one. I'm the beggar. I'm the one who, the only reason I have the blessings and the benefits of being in Christ is because of His faithfulness to save me by faith alone, not by my faithfulness. Root your confidence in the faithfulness of God. I said there are at least four applications, that's three, and those have to do with each one of us, and we could go on. But consider those same points of application in regard to your neighbor. How can you consider how to stimulate your neighbor, your wife, your husband, your kids, your friends, the people sitting next to you that maybe you don't know? How can you direct them in the same way? How can you help them? Not prodding, provoking, but stimulating one another to love and good works. That takes thought. That takes conversations that might become uncomfortable. You're not trying to go, you know, you don't look for uncomfortable conversations, maybe some of us do. But you do, in considering this particular person, how can you stimulate this person to love and good works? It might involve a conversation that's not a ton of fun. But be willing to do it gently, patiently, prayerfully, and for their good, not because you're excited to have an uncomfortable conversation. We have every reason, Christian, to worship God. And when we come to worship, Let us hold those things in mind. Let us hold in mind the wonders of this salvation, that we who deserve entirely different results have the benefits of being in Christ. We get to be united with Him, get to have peace with Him because of what Christ has done, and then let us draw near. Let us be confident because He is faithful, and let us encourage one another in the same direction. One of the ways we get to encourage one another is by the Lord's Supper. It is communion. We get to commune with God and at the same time we are communing together with God, joining together in this supper that He has provided, that He has made for us, that He serves to us, to nourish us. This is the meal that He has given us. We get to worship and praise Him in obedience in this regard. So if I could have the men come forward who are going to serve today. What we are celebrating here and celebrating the Lord's Supper is something that is for For those who have faith in Christ, it really makes sense only to Christians, and it's only for Christians. Now, I would encourage anyone who has heard what we've talked about today and heard about this great salvation in Christ and the work that He has accomplished, come talk to me after the service. I'll be standing in the back, and ask me about that. That gift of salvation is yours by faith. And I would love to see you receive that. But for those who have not yet put their faith in Christ, let the elements pass and just contemplate what we're saying here. This is not for you yet. But for Christians, as we think about the elements, we think about the bread and we think about the cup, and we ponder what it is Christ has done for us in giving His own body to be torn, to be broken on that tree, that we might have forgiveness of sins, because we needed it. That when we partake of the cup, we think about the blood that has been shed, that He shed for us inaugurating the new covenant in His blood, where His obedience to God is credited to all those who have faith in Him. Not just the forgiveness of sins, but even His active obedience of Him walking in obedience to His Father is credited to all those who have faith in Christ, where He has done the work and we receive that benefit. We get to be united to Him in this new covenant, and we celebrate that in the cup. And so men, if you would take up the bread, please. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11, 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 given for you. As we're passing the elements in just a moment, contemplate your sin that necessitated the giving of the life of the Son of God. Confess your sin before God. Ask Him for forgiveness and rejoice that in Christ you have that forgiveness. Let's pray. Father, we come to the supper that has been prepared for us. And the first element is this bread, representing the body of Christ, torn for us. in payment of penalty for sin, our sin, placed upon the innocent one, placed upon the righteous one, and him executed for it. We have peace with you. We have access to your very presence through the veil that was torn through his body. We confess our sins to you and confess that they are awful. that they would serve to bar our way, but for the sacrifice of Christ. And we praise you for that sacrifice of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. Yeah. Jesus said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Next we come to the cup. As we pass the cup, contemplate the fact that you get to have bold, confident access to the very presence of the one true God. Let's pray. Father, as we think about the fact that we have access to you, we recognize it is only because of Jesus. that he has accomplished that, that he has given his own life, his own body broken, his own blood spilt, that we might have access to you. We rejoice in this truth. We praise you for this truth. We worship you for this truth. And we pray it in Jesus' name, amen. the the Jesus said, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Paul concludes, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Men, you can be seated. Christian, isn't it a wonderful, wonderful thing to have access to the very presence of God Almighty through Jesus? Praise God for that. I would encourage you, I'm gonna pray in just a moment, I would encourage you to give in the benevolence offering. This is the Sunday of the month where we contribute to our benevolence fund. If you want to write benevolence on your check or if you want to write benevolence on the envelope and stick it in the box in the back, that would be great. That's a helpful thing for those who find themselves in need. I would encourage you as well about our evening service tonight, which will be six o'clock. We will be back in the arc of redemption. Join us for that, we'll be covering the book of Job, so that'll be a wonderful time. Let me close this in prayer, and then we will close in song after that. Father, we are grateful as we get to draw right into your presence, not having to go through some earthly priest, not having to go through some other jumping through hoops or anything like that, because of Jesus and his sacrifice because of his life lived in our place. By faith in him, we have access directly to you. Getting to draw near in worship, getting to draw near in prayer. We worship you today and we praise you for that. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Join us in song if you would. Let's stand together as we sing. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. With every breath I long to follow Jesus For He has said that He will bring me home And day by day I know He will renew me Until I stand with joy before His throne To this I hold My hope is only Jesus, all the glory evermore to Him. When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, yet not I but the Christ. When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. If you would like prayer, there'll be a prayer couple up here that'd love to pray for you. And other than that, you guys are dismissed. you