Good morning. I must say that it takes way longer to prepare for Sunday school than it does a high school history class or geography class. And then when I'm done I'm thinking, I've got about five minutes of stuff here. So I'm not sure. Anyway, we're looking at the 9th century outside of Western Europe. I think Western Europe was pretty well covered. Last week I was at a men's conference on creation. It was really good. But anyway, that's where I was last week. repeat something, or I don't know, Don, maybe some of this stuff you covered in the past, too, I'm not sure, but anyway. So in Scandinavia, ninth century, there were a couple of monks, or Ansgar and a group of monks, rather, were sent to Jutland. Now Jutland is what's now Denmark. So they were sent there, and there was a pro-Christian king at the time, and he was glad to have them come. And they were there for a couple of years, and they had some success with converting people to Christianity. a kind of a revolution took place and Harold lost, Harold the pro-Christian king, lost his throne. And so those missionaries left from there. They went back to Scandinavia, but not back to Jutland. They went into what's now Sweden a few years later in 829 and established a small congregation in 1831, which included one of the king's top men. but Scandinavia still remained mostly pagan during this time. You may know that people from Denmark, Vikings from Denmark area and some from further north, came into England and changed a lot of English thought at one time, too. So I thought I'd mention that our names for days of the week, they actually come from the Vikings. So like Thursday is Thor's day and Friday is Freya's day. So we've got a little bit of culture from that group too, but anyway. Then in Moravia, which is south of what's now Germany, and included parts of Germany. There were two missionaries went there, Cyril and Methodius. And I had to work on pronouncing, okay, how do you say that name? But it is Methodius. They went as missionaries to Moravia. They went as a request of the Moravian king, And he wanted services to be conducted in the Slavic language. And so Cyril and that was their assignment to do that. And they conducted it in Slavic language. Then some Frankish missionaries came and told him, ha, you're doing it all wrong. It should be done in Latin. It can't be done in the local language. And Cyril and Methodius didn't really want to have a problem with these guys. They didn't want to have contention and so on. So they traveled to Rome to talk to the Pope about it. And the Pope at first was thinking, well, no, everything should be done in Latin. But after they went there and spoke to him, he goes, OK, you have my blessing. You can go back and do it in Latin. in your Slavic language. Now Cyril also ends up making an alphabet. And that alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet, is what is used in Russia today and used in Serbia today. So Cyril is the guy who ended up establishing that alphabet there. Is that so that he could to translate the scriptures into their language. So he kind of established their written language for them. Go ahead. Are these missionaries coming primarily from the western, from Rome, or like to Scandinavia, or are they coming from the east at all? They are, that's a good question. I don't even know where Cyril was from. Do you? No, I don't. I was wondering, you know, because it seems like The mission to England, the mission to Germany, that was kind of prompted by Rome. And I didn't know if the East was as focused on missions as much. So I'm just curious where the ones to Scandinavia and Norway came from. Yeah. That's a good question. I've looked that up. I'm thinking they're not as, you know, because we had those Frankish men come, they're more central or East. where they're coming from. And they knew the Slavic language as well. So while they're in Rome settling disputes, Cyril actually dies there. And so it's up to Methodius to end up finishing it out. And he lives a long, long time and continues A later Pope then says, decides, no, everything has to be done in Latin. And so many of their followers, Cyril and Methodius' followers, end up going in exile because they want to continue to do everything in the local language. You know what, why didn't Pope want to have Latin as the main language? I think the Popes were convinced that that was like the original, and so it's a holy way of doing things. It keeps everything, the power within the clergy and the masses don't necessarily understand things and that's okay. They don't need to understand anything. Then that gives them some power too. Would you read it that way, Scott? Yeah, I think to some degree I think that's true. Although, you know, I find it interesting that Many of the devout Catholics today, I have a good friend, and he's convinced that the services, I mean, I went to his daughter's wedding and it was all in Latin, although they had a little brochure that translated it for you. But I think you're right, I think they think that there's something sanctifying or holy about the Latin language, There again, I find that really interesting because when Jerome translated the scriptures into Latin, he did it so that people, I mean, the common person could have the scriptures in their own language. And so that, you know, over the centuries, yeah, has been perverted. But I think, I think in many respects, I think, yeah, it's a way for them to keep the common people from having the scriptures because they can't possibly know how to interpret them. It sounds more holy. Yeah, I don't know that King James only people are afraid of the masses being able to understand the scriptures, but I think there's a sense in which they think that that's a more holy, yeah. Which, you know, when you consider the origins of that translation, you kind of have to wonder why they would think that. And when you've got manuscripts that are, that they've discovered that are later than the ones that were used in King James, and so there's some inaccuracies in the King James, why wouldn't you want to correct that? But I think there is something that, there's kind of a parallel, that feeling that for the Roman church, that Latin is kind of, it's a transcendent language, and then the King James is kind of transcendent to what, I know my dad, mom, they prayed in King James. language a lot. It was just, you know, that feeling that that's God's language, I think, in some sense, because that's what you... Well, you know, I think this is also evidence, maybe, I just thought of it, of changing to a sacramentalist system, you know, it's like, you don't need the word of God to be saved, you just need to have communion and you need to go to church, you know, and follow the seven sacraments. Okay, so Cyril makes a big difference in that world today that those people that have that alphabet, their culture is kind of pulled together. So we see a combination of religious and cultural stuff. So like that's, if you ever wonder why Russia has an affinity to Serbia, there's that language and that alphabet and that religion that kind of ties them together. And so World War I happens a lot because of that tie. we see a little bit today to get into Ukraine. There's some religious overtones to that situation right there too today because the Ukrainian the head of the Ukrainian church got recognized as separate from the head of the Russian Orthodox church. But some people in Ukraine still are tied to the Russian church. And so there's some overtones in that. Not that, I'm saying Putin cares about that, but he takes advantage of those kinds of feelings. Okay, Bulgaria. There was a monarch, Boris I, who converted to Christianity in 863, and he wanted missionaries to come from Constantinople. So they came, and then he began to get nervous about his people being kind of subservient or loyal to Constantinople instead of himself. And so he wanted the Bulgarian church to be recognized as independent from Constantinople, and it got denied. And so he turned to the Roman church instead. They didn't really want to give him his own recognition either in a lot of ways. So this back and forth between, okay, between Bulgarian church and is it going to be Roman or is it going to be from Constantinople? And ended up Boris went back to Constantinople And they ended up granting independence to Bulgaria. And so the Bulgarian church today is orthodox. And then Boris took it one step further by expelling the clergy from Constantinople and making Bulgarian the official language of church and states. So we have, it's really, really difficult to tell what was their motivation and you know are they really true believers or is it just a political thing or are they strong believers but they don't want to just be tied to the other church that strong it's really really difficult to tell Going on to the Rus. Now the Rus were originally people that came from Scandinavia and they moved into what's now Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. And they were pagans for a long, long time. And the Bulgarians sent missionaries to them in the 9th century and had some success. but it would be a long, long time before Christianity dominates. And so we'll look at that at another time when the Orthodox Church gets established in Russia. Okay, in the Byzantines, now the Byzantines didn't really think of themselves as Byzantines. I left a little spot if you want to write down. They thought of themselves as Romans. So the term Byzantine is actually something that historians added years later so that when we talked about the Roman Empire, we'd distinguish it from the Byzantine Empire. But the Byzantines just called themselves the Roman Empire. And they would have never said they were Byzantines. They would have said they were Romans. And so that probably seems kind of odd that people who live what's now Turkey, would have called themselves Romans, but they did. They saw themselves as the true Roman Empire. And for the Byzantines, their look at Charlemagne, they go, you call yourself the Holy Roman Empire, we're really the Holy Roman Empire. And then the Byzantines were fighting wars on three fronts. So they were fighting Islam, and they were fighting against pagans to the north, and they were really fighting against the Romans in a lot of ways. And when you say Romans, you mean? in Italy. They would not have said Romans, obviously, but they're fighting the Western group. And sometimes it would have been actual true fighting, taking up arms, and a lot of times it would have just been controversies between them. And are we talking religious controversies or political controversies? Both. I think it's interesting that Boris was kind of playing them against each other. And I'm trying to think, you asked if it was political or real. I'm just trying to think, when I get a question like that, I try to put myself in that situation. It's like, well, if I was Boris, and I was truly a Christian, and would I want to resemble the system with all of their flaws? I mean, I think if missionaries came and want us to Christ, and they said, oh, by the way, you have to be Roman Catholic, it's like, ugh. I don't know if I want to do that. So I don't know. Yeah, I think that's a good question. And want to be able to have the services in your own language rather than in Latin. And yeah, that you get to decide local, kind of local control of what you want to do in ceremonies and so on. Yeah, if you're a Christian, you want to be connected church. Right. But it's also interesting that it's, you know, this is being driven by the political leader. You know, we would, in today's culture, we would take, most people would take exception to that. Yeah. I mean, that would be like President Biden, you know, whatever his religious event was, having to be like him, saying, you know, everybody needs to be what I am. But America was really the first secular state, as far as I know. For a long, long time, yeah. Yeah. I mean, usually everybody, whether pagan or Christian, the spiritual authority was tied to political authority. Yeah. Still is today, in the Middle East. Yeah, in a lot of places. Europe, too, right? There's the girls, like, attached to church. Yeah, so yeah, officially France is Catholic and Germany is Lutheran and Catholic. So they actually receive tax dollars to fund their churches in those places. Of course, Church of England definitely that way. Yeah, it was interesting when Matthew and Sarah were in Denmark and how they talked about everybody in Denmark is a Christian, but nobody goes to church, but everybody's considered to be. And there's a Christian culture there, and it is. But the reason I bring this up is that it's hard, I think, for us in America to understand or maybe to reconcile what's going on here, because that's something that's, for our culture at least, is very formal. Maybe in Europe or other parts of the world they would be able to relate to that, but for us, you think back to when John Kennedy was elected in all the uproar because he was Catholic. What does that mean? Is he going to make Catholicism the national religion and things like that? You know, we just think very differently, I think, today. A lot of the colonies actually did have a state church, and when the 13 banded together then, there was a discussion, well, which one is going to be, and that's kind of when they said, well, none should be at that time. Which makes sense, because those states were kind of organized by the persecuted groups, right? I mean, like, specific people that landed in whatever Georgia or from whatever country, and I don't know the specifics, but that makes sense. Yeah, well like Maryland was actually used to be called Maryland because it was Roman Catholic. Yeah, it was established for Catholics from England to have a kind of a refuge because they were persecuted. And you think about the pilgrims coming, they first established kind of a state church and then moved away from that sort of thing. So the Puritans definitely did. Quakers in Pennsylvania. Yeah, so it's really kind of the coming together of all those that say, well, let's not do that anymore at all. So OK, we are on the second page now. There was a new dynasty that went into that ruled what we'd call the Byzantine Empire early in the ninth century. And they brought a lot of the glory that had been to the end that in that empire, they brought it back. They had campaigns against the Arabs, against the Rus, and tried to bring the Bulgars, which we talked about before here, Bulgaria, bringing them back into orthodoxy. And then a new dynasty, the Macedonians, and their emperors were Basil I and Basil II. They had wins over the Muslims in Syria and Macedonia, so they're taking back what used to be part of the Byzantine Empire. And they even recaptured the islands of Crete and Cyprus, and they reestablished power in southern Italy, which seems maybe kind of odd that the that the Byzantines would have part of Italy, but they did. And they recaptured Antioch, Syria, which was an important, because that's the first place people were called Christians in Antioch. And they annexed Armenia. So they reestablished a lot of what had been the empire before. Okay, so now kind of getting to some practice here about an Eastern Orthodox. So if we were to walk into an Eastern Orthodox church, it would look a lot different than ours, and it'd look a lot different than a Catholic church too. So no pews. no pulpit, and no organ or any other musical instrument. Now I have a good friend who, a fellow teacher that is Eastern Orthodox, in fact her dad is a priest, and so I called her and said, okay, is this true, no pews? And she said, yes and no. Yeah, so she said, originally they didn't, but if they buy a church, then, and as pews, they're not going to take them out. And she said some, there's kind of a Western tradition that has said, well, people need a place to sit. Let's put pews in. But if we'd go back to the ninth century, we would not have seen pews. And a lot of them don't. Yeah, they stand the entire time. Now, I went online and watched a service and that was put on YouTube, and they had some chairs put out, and people sat on the floor for a lot of it too. So that could happen too. But originally, they would have stood for it. And there's no statues, but there's lots and lots of these 2D images that they call icons. And the icons are really, really important. And talking to my friend, they're really, really important. But they don't worship them. So she likened it this way. She says, I carry a picture of my grandparents. And sometimes I kiss that picture. But am I really kissing my grandparents? No, I know I'm not. But it's just a way for me to show reverence or think about it or whatever. And she made a big point that these icons are not drawn. They're written. So that's the official, they don't draw them, because that would be wrong, they write them. And she said, I know that doesn't make any sense, but anyway, so. And not anybody, not just anybody can do it. She said she played around as a kid drawing stuff, but it would not be right that somebody, there's somebody designated that does it. And I said, well, does each church have their, then are made for them or can they be ordered? She said, oh, you can go online and order them if you want. Okay, so then one of the big things we would see, well, I have this, I want to read the quote I have there. Icons often have olive oil lamps burning beneath them. The ideas behind the icons is that the worship of the congregation on earth is joining and sharing in the worship of the glorified church in heaven. Icons are the window that into that heavenly worship and my friend used that term window, too So they're joining the icons help them but the icons aren't just They're not just a picture either. There's something really special about them to them. So they help them to the worship, but it's like that window, that part of it. So would it be like a reminder that there are people who are worshiping God in heaven? Yeah, yeah. And those icons in a sense are, we're seeing it happen because of the icons there. They're more than just a symbol, they're a little bit beyond that. Yeah, I would, yeah, and talking to my friend I would think that's absolutely true. Okay so there's this iconostasis, it's an icon stand, and it separates the part of the church where the congregation would be from the back of the church which is maybe kind of like the Holy of Holies, but they call it the altar. And that's where the priests are back. Only the priest can be back there. And I asked my friend if she had ever been back there because her dad was a priest. I thought, well, sometimes he probably took her back there during some time. And she said, absolutely not. I'm a female. I can't go back there. Anyway, so it has this, it started out probably as just a screen between it, and then over the years they added icons to it. And in my picture there, so there's three doors on it, and that represents the Trinity. The middle door is double-doored, and so that one is where the priests come in and out through that, and always on the right side is an icon of Christ, and on the left side is an icon of Mary. Okay, and like I said, the back part they call the altar, and it's always on the east end of the church, and it represents heaven. Okay, in that altar section is a special table, and we might call it an altar, the Catholics might call it an altar, they refer to it as a holy table. And it's usually draped, although I saw pictures of ones that weren't. And on it are two candles, a crucifix, and a copy of the Gospels. Now, chatting with my friend, the Gospels are probably more important than any of the rest of the Scriptures, because when they give, when the priest gives a homily, or what we might call a sermon, it's always from the Gospels, not any other part of the Bible. I found that interesting, too. they usually will have at least three separate readings, one from the Old Testament, one from the Epistle, and one from the Gospels. But when they go to read the Gospels, they have to stand. Not when you can sit while they're reading the other, but when they go to the Gospels, you have to stand up. And she told me that, yeah, they might read from other parts of the Bible, but the sermon, what we'd call a sermon, they'd call a homily. And they might have a time that's a sermon, but it may not be based on the Bible at all. It may be just, hey, I've been watching this in the news, and this is what we should think about it, or something. Yes? I was just wondering, why do Catholics drink from a cup instead of having them communicate? The priest then has that control then. That's what I would say. So the table then is used to get ready for the Eucharist or for communion as well. And the table is also positioned over the relics. That kind of surprised me, actually. But I asked my friend, so does your church in Omaha have relics? And she said, of course it does. So. Did she know which ones? I don't. She didn't tell me. So and it was by then I was texting her. So I didn't. Yeah, that's so there's there's relics there and it's positioned over them. So I don't know if they ever if they ever necessarily look at them or they're just important to them. Okay, so they prepare the communion then back at that table and then the priest would come through those double doors and serve the communion. And so I have a picture there. So you have the, I don't know if they call them altar boys, but boys that, young men that help, and they're holding a cloth here, and the priest comes with a cup, and for, in Orthodox, they actually have pieces of bread in wine, and then they spoon out, so you, the priest people are taking both together at the same time. They're taking the wine in because the bread is soaked in the wine. And the bread is leavened and it's not like they went back there and ripped it up. It's made already and has Greek letters on it that stands for Jesus Christ conquers. Then afterwards, if there's any bread left over, they give it out to everybody. Now, I didn't ask her because I didn't talk to her about transubstantiation or consubstantiation, whatever, but I did look up. and read on it quite a bit online differently. And they don't use any of those terms, but they believe it is the body and blood. It's like, why are we arguing when it happens? It's just, that's the way it is, and that's the way it is. But it doesn't, they also would say, it doesn't physically change. the bread isn't really physically, if we tested it, we wouldn't find that it's really, but it is the body and blood of Christ. So. Yeah, that's something I read elsewhere, too, is that the Orthodox Church, they don't think too deeply about those things. It's like in the West, you have to figure out every single detail about how this is possible and why. Yeah. It's kind of like, yeah, this is the way it is. Yeah, and I'd say that's kind of the way the icon thing is, too. Yeah, don't think too deeply about it. And on that site that I was reading, one person, one leader had written, it is, so just take it. It is the body of blood, so just take it. Trust me. Yeah. Well, there obviously must be a difference in their thought. If they're willing to spread it out to the masses afterward, I mean, the Roman Church would never do that. No. So it's it's kind of like but yeah it's kind of like well we don't want to waste it so people should just have it and it's people everybody gets that wants it can take it. So it must be a little bit more like our understanding of remembrance rather than the Roman Catholic where they say this is actually the body and blood and it can't fall on the ground and you know you've got to protect it and only the You know, I think in some congregations, only the priest can drink the cup. Yeah, yeah. And Catholics. Well, some maybe dip it in and give it to them. I've never seen where they've actually drank and passed the normal people. So obviously, it's not as mystical for the Eastern as it is for the Western. So could you or I go to an Eastern Orthodox church and partake? That's a really good question, too. I don't know the answer to that. I think probably it had to be a name. The services are also not as rigid, in a sense, as ours. We all do things together. They're doing things and somebody might drop to their knees and pray or start singing something or whatever. It's a little more open and fluid to it as well. So, any questions? Not that I can answer them. That's a good question. But to them, that represents heaven to the east. Thinking back to the Garden of Eden, if it's something related to that. Because didn't they get banished to the west? To the east? They got banished to the east. I think they kept going east because it almost seems like the worse it gets, the further east it is. And maybe it has to do with, it became the Eastern Church and so the Western Church. Yeah. So during this time of fighting, they made some, they regained some territory. Was it kind of always back and forth or was there a period of peace like in in Syria and areas like that where the Muslims weren't encroaching necessarily? Yeah, there had to be some years that they were. As we look back and write history now, we'll jump decades and stuff in a paragraph. So I suppose they saw themselves as kind of liberating those areas. Oh, yeah. You said on here, they have a crucifix, but in one of the ones I was, the crucifix was more of a Roman thing, and the east didn't have crucifixes because... Yeah, and it looks like on this picture, it's really just a cross and not a crucifix. I just saw where it said crucifix. Yeah. Well, that's what the, that source, I used Nick Needham's... That's why I wondered if you even had taught this already, this part. Some of it I came across, but it's so interesting just how they do things and compare the East and the West and the differences even between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox now, even to this day. There's Eastern Orthodox and there's Oriental Orthodox. The Oriental Orthodox are the Egyptians and the Ethiopians. So would that be the same thing as Coptic? Yeah, yeah. Coptic is the Egyptian. And they still disagree over the nature of Christ. And they've talked about coming back together, but there are those that say, we'll never come together because we're right and you're wrong. And it's kind of like over one really small word about the nature of Christ. But my friend, she's a little bit quirky about a lot of things, but she thinks that the Oriental Orthodox are the true Orthodox because they are the oldest ones. And so she thinks they'll be back together someday. I asked her about, And what she told me, she said, they have the Ark of the Covenant. And I said, are you sure about that? And I said, I think I like some of the evidence about that the Ethiopians have it, but I'm not convinced. Oh, it's absolutely true. And then there's, she talked about a holy fire that's in Jerusalem. that the priest will go back into the church that's over the Holy Sepulcher and there's no fire in there, but he will come and bring one out. He's being given the holy fire. So when I think of Roman Catholicism, I think of rules. You have to go to confession, you have to go to church, you have to do this or that for penance. Was there a similar kind of thing in the Eastern Church that you found, where there's a lot of rules that you have to follow? I think there are, we would find a lot of similarities on that aspect too, that they look at things as sacraments that we need to do, but maybe not as, it's probably not as rigid. Did you find any kind of confession? No, I didn't. That's a good question though. I'll have to, she actually offered to to be, you know, she said, let's set up a meeting. She's in Denver right now. She said, I'll meet your class online and they can ask me. I said, I don't know if we're ready for that. You probably get excited thinking you're going to convert, huh? No. And that was another interesting thing to me is that they don't really send out missionaries anymore. that their only missionaries are to where there's been Orthodox before. And I don't know if this represents all Orthodox, but she's going, you know, I have this disagreement with my friend that, He says that Hindus aren't going to heaven. And I said, well, I'm going to have to agree with Brian on that. And she's going, but they're sincere. So I don't know if that represents all of orthodoxy, that or just her ideas. But since they're not really sending out missionaries, it seems like they probably are a little more not so strong. She, he said, she said, when Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and life, she said, he wasn't being as exclusive as you think he is. Yeah. So anyway, after a while you just agree to disagree and, and move on. But as far as talking with her, but, uh, well, I'll talk to her again a lot. So, I was going to say, I really enjoyed going to the festivals and going in and listening to them give a presentation about what they believe. Yeah. Absolutely. So you noted on here that behind the iconostasis is this holy table or holy throne, right? Yeah. So from the perspective of that holy throne, looking out at the congregation, Mary's on the right. So my question is, do they reverence Mary? They venerate. There's a difference, huh? Yeah, there's a difference between worship and venerate in their minds. They highly venerate. They lift her to a place where she's very uncomfortable. She's number one amongst the saints. But she's not God, but she's number one amongst the saints. And of course, the whole idea of the saints thing is, I'm gonna challenge her on some of this stuff sometime, but for them and for Catholics, tradition becomes more important than scriptures in a lot of ways. So. How is it that there is such a highly, how did that originate? I don't know. Is it because of, Active conception or what? Well, I mean, you have early on, I mean, Pastor Scott, I think in one of his, you know, mother of God, you know, that phrase came up a little bit. Her virgin birth and the fact that many, you know, kept their virgin, I mean, said she never had relation. And that her, God preserved her somehow in her purity. And so you have both the Immaculate Conception, you have the Assumption of Mary, you have the perpetual virginity of Mary, all of that to protect or to, you know, elevate her. Yeah, so I guess, I think Mother of God was meant initially to defend the deity of Christ, but then you make a phrase like that and people latch on to it and then they run with it, you know. Well, I mean, the immaculate conception is actually with Mary. Mary was immaculately conceived. That's what the immaculate conception is. And so she's not even fully human. She's, I mean, based on that. So then... Well, they would say, they wouldn't say that. No, they wouldn't. But I mean, but the fact that she was immaculately conceived would imply that there's... Well, there's a difference. So they would say the virgin birth and that is different. Somehow her complete humanity is preserved, but so is her purity. So supernatural. Yeah. Well, I mean, there's just so many things about the Catholic religion that are just bizarre because there's things that happen like with the Eucharist. It becomes the body and it becomes the blood. It never looks like it, Tastes like it, feels like it. What's that? Doesn't taste coppery. So, you know, and it's, you know, that article that just came out about the priest who performed all of the baptisms incorrectly so all of those poor people are held down because of their baptisms. I mean, there's just, I mean, how in the world can intelligent people But, you know, you go back to your friend said, well, the Hindus are going to heaven because they're sincere. Well, does that mean the Satan worshippers are going to heaven because they're sincere? I mean, it's just bizarre things that people don't even think about logically. But I think a lot of times when it comes to religions, You're expected not to think logically. It doesn't make sense. You just have to believe it. And we talked about that today with regard to this. It is. Just trust me. And I think I like this one phrase in this song. Blind belief is sure to err. And I think that's exactly what most religions expect, is blind belief. Just trust me. It's like, well, it doesn't make sense. Well, it's not gonna make sense. Yeah, it has to make sense. Anyway, yeah. All right, closing prayer. Lord, we thank you for a look into the past and understanding of how other people approach you or approach just religion, and we pray that we wouldn't get trapped into traditions, but that we would wholly lean on you and your word for our faith and our practice. We just trust in you, trust in your son, and ask that you give us a good worship service that we might keep our minds and our thoughts upon you. Pray in Jesus' name, amen.