at this time, if you would. And I'm going to ask you if you'll open up the word of God to the book of Hebrews, New Testament book of Hebrews. So getting towards the end of our scriptures there, the book of Hebrews and the chapter 13 and verse 20. And obviously I'm not going to preach a sermon that I had prepared for today. I just really, this morning finding out for sure that Brandon was here and that he was gonna be able to be with us. Just really, the Lord has compelled my heart to be in prayer for him and to give him the opportunity that I'm so glad the Lord gave you the strength, brother, to come and to share with us. And that's just very dear and precious to us and just reminds us of how important the church is to be a family How interesting that we're right in the middle of a series on the church, and we've talked about how the church is the family of God. And this really brings it to life for you, I trust. And so we're gonna talk more about church leadership and things that I had on my heart for this week. We'll just put that off for one more week. just want to share a few thoughts with you before we have some time around the Lord's table this morning. So I'm not exactly sure how this will come out, but just some thoughts that have been on my heart. And I know years ago I preached a series of messages through the book of Hebrews. And it was incredibly encouraging to me because the theme of the book is the incomparable Christ. Another way you could say that word incomparable is incomparable. The incomparable Christ. And that's really what the whole book is about, that Jesus gets compared to almost everything in the Bible, angels and Moses and Joshua and the priesthood, and all sorts of things that we see in the Word of God. And in every case, we see that Jesus is not just better, but he can't be compared to anything else, because he is high, and he's exalted, and he is glorious, and he's our majestic God. And the whole point of the author, as he's writing to the believers, the book just, we don't know who the author is. Some think it's Paul, some think it's a Paulist. We don't know, it doesn't say, but it is somebody He's a Hebrew himself, and he's writing to his Hebrew brothers and sisters who are Christians, and he is exhorting them to trust in Jesus above all things, and no matter what you might be going to face in this world, however difficult it might be, the Lord can be your portion, he will be your portion, and he will give you the strength that you need. In fact, these Christians were facing tremendous hardships and persecution, not only from the Romans at the time, but from their own people. I think if you go back to chapter 10, you can look at verse 32. The writer says, but remember the former days when after being enlightened, That is enlightened about the gospel having been saved. They had come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. You endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property. Knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one, therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. And so these were people who were suffering profound things that probably none of us have ever come close to suffering and yet our brother and their family and the church in Jorhat are likely going to be facing these very kinds of things. And so it's not new, but it's also not easy. And so we need the strength that can come only from the Lord. And we just really want to turn our attention and our focus on him in times like these. And so there's a verse that I just love. It is such an encouragement to my heart. And I know that it would be to yours as well. And that is in chapter 13, verse 20, the writer, Basically coming to the end of this book and having shared so much truth with these people, as we often see the writers of the New Testament doing, he decides that he's going to pray for them before he brings his concluding remarks. And he has a benediction and he has a prayer that we find in verses 20 and 21. And I just want you to follow along as I read these verses, and mostly verse 20. We'll just take a couple of points out of it that I trust will encourage your heart about our God and who he is and why that makes all the difference. Look at Hebrews 13 verse 20. He says to these people who have suffered greatly for the name of Christ and who deeply need encouragement and strength. Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we come before you having just heard these couple of verses, Lord, which have profound and beautiful and glorious truth about you and about the comfort and the encouragement, Lord, that we need, how you are the source of power and peace and strength that we need in our hearts and our lives. and how, Lord, even when we go through difficult times like what we are here, our brother and his family and this dear church going through, Lord, how you are actually using that to equip us Lord, to be your servants and to do all that is good and all that glorifies your name and all that is necessary so that more and more people could be saved. Lord, remind us that we do not know all that you are doing in your sovereignty and you have not revealed to us how you're going to use the circumstances of our life Lord to bring about our good and your glory, but you have promised us that that's what you are going to do and you are doing and so we trust you Lord and so just help us to fix our eyes in these few moments before we We come around the Lord's table to just fix our eyes on on you our God and on the Lord Jesus Christ our Great Shepherd and on the Spirit of God who empowers the people of God to do the works of God for the glory of God. Father, it's really all about you, and just remind us of that now as we consider these couple of verses. In a short period of time, Lord, encourage our hearts as we need so desperately this day, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. You look at this passage. particularly in verse 20. And you can see in these verses three things that really are true of God that are a great and great encouragement to our hearts. And I just want to point them out to you, that they are these. Our God is a God of peace. And I want to encourage you to be reminded this day that you, if you are saved and you're a follower of Jesus Christ, your God is a God of peace. And then we also see in that first verse that our God is a God of power as well. And I pray that you have some understanding of the power of God that is work. in your heart and your life as a believer. And then thirdly, I just want to point out that our God is a God of provision. And he is actually a great shepherd who loves his sheep and he provides for them, protects them, he takes care of them, he feeds them, and he loves them. And that is all true for you if you know the true and living God. So just a couple of thoughts. Number one, I want you to remember Brandon may be directing this to you and to all of us, but our hearts, brothers and sisters, our God is God of peace. Look at what it says, now the God of peace. Time to put a full stop on that and give some contemplation to that. The God of peace. What an amazing reality is that we have a God who is a God of peace. And there's a couple of things that we could think about that. We could think about the peace that God brings into our lives when he saves us. If you have been born again, if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, do you know the reason why Jesus died on the cross? It was to provide peace for you with God. Just stop and think about that for a moment. The reality of all of our lives as sinful people who have not loved the Lord our God, with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves, as Jesus says is the greatest command, is that our sin has separated us from the true God, the creator, the holy God, the one that is the only one who can give us life and keep our souls for all eternity and to keep us out of hell. We were separated from him. not at peace and not in peace with him, but against him and contrary to him and hostile toward him. And there was nothing we could do that could ever bring peace with God on our own. Nothing you could ever have done, no work that you could ever hope to do, no attempt to live a good life or to do good things could have ever brought peace between you and God. Only the God of peace is able to produce peace and he did. when he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. What a beautiful saviour he is. What a remarkable thing. That God would actually call himself the God of Peace. He should call himself the God of Wrath, and he is a God of Wrath. And that's how he ought to describe himself. But how wonderful that he describes himself as the God of Peace. And that when we come to him in a time of prayer as this writer was, that we could know that he is the God of Peace because of what he did in giving his son It tells us friends that that he wants you to be at peace with him. He doesn't want you to be his enemy. He doesn't want you to be opposed to him because he knows that that would result in your eternal suffering and your eternal separation from him and that would be the worst possible thing that could ever happen. And he is a good God. He is a God of love. And so I trust that you know him as a God of peace this day. And if you don't, that you would put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and come to know him. Looking to him, looking away from yourself. Looking away from your own efforts to try to earn God's favor and looking to the Lord Himself and trusting in Him, repenting of your sin and trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior brings you into a right relationship with the God of peace. And the amazing thing about that is he doesn't just give you peace in terms of your relationship with him saving you from your sin, but then he becomes a God of peace who gives you peace throughout your life, and he can comfort you, and he can help you. And that's the place we need to turn. Times like these, at every time, really, the reality of every day is that you need the God of peace, and there is a God of peace. I trust that you're hoping in Jesus Christ. What has this God of peace done? Well, he has exercised power that is the most extraordinary power we could ever think about, beyond anything that we could ever imagine. The God of peace has brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord. Our God is not only a God of peace, but he's a God of power. And we need to think about that as well, right? When we think about peace, we think about calm, right? We think about tranquility. We think about, you know, the water being placid. We think about everything just being settled. When we think about God as the God of power, I don't know what you envision, but I envision this God who is glorious and majestic and is able to, with the word of his mouth, create the entire universe. And you think of the amazing things that even we see in the created universe, and it was created by the God of power. He is all-powerful. He can do all things. He is glorious in His power. When He exerts His power, the angelic host praise the Lord, and they magnify His name, and they know something of the power of God. And perhaps you know something of it as well, if you just look at the world and the creation. But the greatest place where God displayed His power was not in the creation of this world, but it was in the rising of His Son from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ. He exerted his great power to raise his son from the dead. And what was so powerful about that was he was not just raising someone to life who would just die again, as happens sometimes in the Bible, but he was raising him in glory and majesty to seat him on the throne of God the Father in heaven, to rule over the entire universe, to rule over the church, to be the head of the church, and to usher in the age of the proclamation of the gospel so that so many people could be saved. What an amazing God he is, and the power of God is at work in all who believe in him. Just turn with me back to Ephesians, the book of Ephesians chapter one, and I want to show you something of the power of our great God. This is a prayer again, and Paul is praying in Ephesians chapter one, verse 18. And he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Christ, listen to this, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all ages. What a remarkable statement that is. Paul was praying that our eyes would be opened, that we would have our minds enlightened to understand that the very power that God used to raise Jesus Christ from the dead is the power of God that is at work in us by the Spirit of God in all of us who believe in God and in Jesus Christ. What a remarkable thing that is. We look at this situation, we look at the troubles and trials that we all individually face in this life. And we wonder, God, what can be done? I feel helpless. I feel hopeless. I don't know everything that I've tried, everything that I imagined in myself I could do. I wonder if there's something more I could do, but nothing ever really seems to be enough. And then And then he opens up our eyes and he enlightens our heart and our mind to know that we really don't have to do anything, do we, but trust in him. The power resides in God and he has made that powerful power available to us and he exerts it toward those who believe. And what an amazing thing it is. This is where hope is going to come for you, brother. And this is where all of our hope has to come from. is in the power of God, the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that conquered sin, that conquered death, that conquered Satan, is available for us, is at work in us, and God is going to cause all of his good pleasure to be done. I pray that you trust in that, and I pray you hope in that. If you feel today like you're a person who's just without hope, you just feel like, I just don't know how whatever's going on in your life, you know your circumstances. I don't know how this could ever be figured out. I don't know how this could ever be made right. I want you to do something this morning. I want you to take your eyes off of the circumstances of what's going on in your heart, in your life, and I want you to fix your eyes on God. The God who is a God of all power who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep. Do you believe that he has the power to work all his good pleasure in your life and to do what is good for you? And to bring about glory for his name and the salvation of other souls? Do you believe that that's true? I trust that you do. You must. Otherwise you will live through this world without hope and God wants you to have much hope. Hope in the God who is the God of peace and the God of power. And just one more thought for you. It says he is the God who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant even Jesus our Lord. Not only is your God the God of peace, not only is our God the God of power, but our God is the God of provision and protection. Look at how Jesus is described. He is described as the great shepherd of the sheep, and he is described as Jesus, our Lord. I don't know about you, but as soon as I think about the expression that Jesus is our shepherd, where does your heart go? Any particular passage in the Psalms? Psalm 23, right? Listen to these words. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David experienced great trials in his life, tremendous troubles, many difficulties, often being chased, often being hunted down for his life, very difficult times. Where did he find hope? Where did he go to find strength? Where did he go to find provision? Where would his help come from? It came from the Lord. He declared that the Lord is his shepherd. And because the Lord was his shepherd, there was nothing to want for, there was nothing that he would need. There was complete assurance of safety, protection, care, correction, love, feeding, provision, even a table prepared before him in the presence of his enemies. What a good God we have. What an amazing God. He's your shepherd as well today if you're hoping in Him, if you're trusting in Him. He provides these things for you just as much as He does for David if He is your shepherd. I pray that He is your shepherd. He's the shepherd of the sheep. He was brought up from the dead through the blood of the eternal covenant. Even Jesus, our Lord, he is the one who we are gonna celebrate that very covenant, the new covenant that provides forgiveness of sins because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. The fact that he is Jesus, our Lord, means that as Lord, he is master, he is sovereign, not just over us, but over all things. He is the one who controls all things. He is the one who understands all things. He is the one who plans and orchestrates all things, even the circumstances of our lives. What an amazing thing it is that we have a God, a God of provision, a God who is gonna help us in every possible situation we find ourselves in. And he's gonna bring about his glory again and his good. And so, trust in the provision of your great shepherd brother. When you talk to the dear folks over in Jorhat, remind them of what a great shepherd they have. That they have one that they are able to follow. And even if they get cut off and even if they have times where they're just alone and they get separated, they'll never be separated from Him. Remind them of these things. Tell them to treasure them in their hearts. And we will pray earnestly that the Great Shepherd will hold them together and hold them up and provide leadership for them and a place to meet. We need the same here, don't we, at Valley? We need to remember that our God is a God of provision, for he is the shepherd of his sheep, and he loves his sheep. I'm so glad for this table. I'm so glad for what it reminds us of, that our God is a God of peace. that our God is a God of power, that our God is a God of provision. As we come around it this morning, I just want to invite you, exhort you, encourage you to think about who our God is. To maybe take some time today to just look at this verse, be reminded in your heart Be encouraged by who your God is and know that he wants you to go and continue to live for his pleasure and for his will and he will work through your life all of his glory. What a great God we have brothers and sisters. You can run to him and you can be comforted by him and through him no matter what you face. I commend you to him this day. Let's bow before him. Let's just prepare our hearts for coming around his table now and communing with the Lord and with one another and remembering what our Savior did so that our lives could be and our souls could be saved. Father, thank you for who you are, thank you for, who you are declared to be in your word. Lord, thank you that we can open up the word of God and in a single verse we can see that you are the God of peace, our God of peace, that you are a God of power. You brought up from the dead Your dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are a God of provision. He is indeed the Great Shepherd of the sheep. We are your sheep, and through the blood of the new covenant, the eternal covenant of God, Lord, we have been made right with you, and we have been saved from our sin, and we are in a right relationship now with the God of peace. Father, what a joy that ought to be to our hearts as we come around this table, remind us of that truth. And Father, as we think about what you've done for us, may we turn in our hearts and our prayers, Lord, to you that many more would come to know Christ as Lord and Savior, that you would comfort each one whose heart is burdened this day, whatever we might be facing, Lord. And as we pray for your dear church in the world, Lord, watch over your people. Help us, Lord, to be reminded of the great love of God, a God who would love so much that you would give your only begotten Son. Lord, to be our Savior, to die on the cross, to see his body suffer there, his blood was shed, poured out in death. Lord, the blood of the new covenant that provides forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. May many, many more come to know him. May we, your people now, Lord, as we gather around your table, be encouraged and lifted up and strengthened as according to our need, Lord, we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.