Open your Bibles this morning to the book of Hosea chapter 8. Hosea chapter 8. The title of the message today is Wind, Whirlwind and Wild Donkey. The prophets were very graphic in their use of language to get their message across to the people. And Hosea was expert in this, perhaps even using Proverbs, wise sayings, as we will see. So according to Dr. Walvert in the Prophecy Knowledge Handbook, we would be in the fourth of the fifth series of indictments in the book of Hosea from chapter six, verse four, to chapter 11, verse seven, the fourth of these five series. And restoration and hope is coming in chapter 11, verses eight through 11. But right now let's dig in again to see what God has here, the message he has for the nation of Israel and the application that he has for us, the church in 2024. Let's pray. Our father, we give you praise as we have done in song and in prayer. We continue to give you praise for your word. We praise you that all scripture is God-breathed. And we thank you, Lord, that the word is profitable and that it is sufficient for our maturity in Christ. So we pray that you will feed us. We pray that you will enlighten us. We pray that you will cause us to rejoice as we open and study your word together today. You know the need of every heart. We pray that you will meet every need. If there's anyone who's not yet put their faith and trust in Christ, we ask that you will show them their need. They will run to the cross and believe and be saved. We pray that every believer will be strengthened. In Jesus' wonderful and loving name we pray, amen. Let me spend just a few minutes in review. From last week, we had the idle calf and the rejection of that calf by God. God would not have it. So the rejected calf, we saw last week that the Lord warns Israel of judgment and its causes. The shofar, the trumpet sounds the alarm. An enemy will descend like an eagle and the causes are very clear in Hosea chapter eight and verse one. They have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. In verses two and three, Israel cries out, in vain, but their cry is insincere. They say, my God, we know you, but it's insincere because they reject the good. They reject the good, Hosea 8, 2. Amazing, verse 3, I should say. He says, because of that, there will be consequences. The enemy will pursue them. They set up rulers, but a problem. but not by me, the Lord says. I did not acknowledge them. They did it without me. They, and I say it reverently, surprised the boss. They acted independently of God, the very essence of sin, to act independently of God. That's what they did. And then they set up idols, gold and silver. The silver and gold that God had made, they turned it into a horrific idol. offensive to an infinite God that it would try to make an idol and then bow down and worship them. It's a lesson in folly. Hosea 8, 6, For from Israel is even this, a workman made it, and it is not God, but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. And now we come to verse 7 and the wind the whirlwind and the wild donkey and Israel gets what she wants and we could put that into quotes what she wants that's what she thinks she wants among the nations chapter 8 verse 7 they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind So here is perhaps a proverb that Hosea is using or that he is creating and it speaks to folly. They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. So just picture this for a minute. Think of Jesus and the parable of the sower. a sower has his seed bag along with him here I'll put it on this side because let's say the sower is right-handed and so he goes out into his field he reaches into his seed bag and he casts the seed that's how he sows he sows for his field of crops his wheat or his barley now think about this what if the sower goes out on a windy day Where's the seed gonna go? I'll be blown away. Who knows where it'll end up, but not in the farmer's field. So maybe that's part of the picture here. Israel sows the wind. It's a lesson in futility. She sows, maybe we could say with the wind. And then how does she reap? With the whirlwind. So someone goes out, let's say now that some crops have come up and someone goes out on harvest day and they're trying to cut the stalks and this whirlwind, this tornado, this hurricane, this strong wind is coming by and he's trying to grab his stalks so they don't get blown into the next field or into the canyon or somewhere but not where it can be useful. It's a picture of futility. And so he's saying Israel's actions are futile because we depend on that seed, that kernel that was sown to grow up so we can harvest it, so we can grind it, so we can make flour, so we can make bread. So notice what follows. The stalk has no bud. The stalk didn't come up, it didn't have a bud. It shall never produce meal. It's not gonna produce flower. It was all futile. What a description of what was going on in the nation of Israel as they were turning their back on God and turning to false idols to bail worship. She sows with the wind, utter futility. So the stalks have no grain, produce no flower. And then, isn't this interesting? See the if in verse 7? If it should produce, aliens would swallow it up. So if there was a crop somehow produced, the foreigners would come, they would take the grain, they would swallow it up, and Israel would be empty-bellied, we could say. Hungry. Their futility has nothing to offer them. In verse 8 then, we see that Israel has lost her identity. 8, 8, Israel is swallowed up. Interesting, the line before says the aliens, the foreigners would swallow up that grain, would swallow up the little bit that they were able to produce, they would take advantage of it. And so now it says Israel herself is swallowed up. What does he mean by that? I think the next line tells us, now they are among the Gentiles, among the nations. Remember the silly dove? flitting down to Egypt, flitting to the north to Assyria to find help there. Well, now there she's gone among the nations, among the idol worshipers, but she's been consumed. What a lesson here about the church. Let's all understand this. If we know Jesus is our personal savior, We are part of the body of Christ, the church, the church universal. And the local church like East End Baptist Church is a small portion. It's a miniature of that body of Christ. It is the local manifestation and demonstration of that church. And God's plan for us is that we would be distinct and would be wholeheartedly following Christ The world system is all about us, the nations, the world system. We're not talking about sidewalks and cars and trees. We're talking about a system whose CEO is the devil. The world system, whose philosophy is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, 1 John 2. and whose root belief is we don't need God. We don't need Jesus. We don't need the Bible. That's the world, the world system. And it has many different ways. It becomes very attractive. But what does God want the church to do? Focus on him, love him, serve him. So let's put it like this. Let's suppose we get into a boat and we go out to the beach and we're taking a boat ride. And it's really a pleasant. Maybe it's a speedboat or maybe it's a sailboat. And the boat is in the water. But let's say that all of a sudden we look down and we see that our ankles are covered in water. And we say, uh-oh, the water is good out there, outside the boat, but now it's on my ankles. Is there a problem? And the captain of the boat says, don't worry about it. No problem at all. After a little time, the water is up to our knees. And we say, I think we have a problem. And the captain says, don't worry about it. It's fine. And then it gets up to our waist and we say, no, no, let me off. Take me back to shore. We have a problem. And the captain finally says, oh, we sprang a leak. And the water that's out there is coming in here. So the church is the boat in the water. The water is the world. But there's a problem when the water gets in the boat. God says, they're swallowed up. They're swallowed up. They're among the nations. They've lost their identity. There should not be among us a secret service Christian. I heard of a young man who went off to the army. He was from a Christian home, and people were very concerned about him. He's from a good church. And he came back on leave. They said, well, how did you do? And was there any opposition to your Christianity? He said, oh, no, it wasn't a problem. No one knew that I was a Christian. No, no such thing as a secret agent Christian. Don't let the world get into the boat. and let's be bold for the Lord and not be swallowed up among the culture all around us. And look at this, like a vessel in which is no pleasure. Say it's a cracked teacup and it leaks. I remember years ago as a teenager, there were these These ladies that had some of our family over, and they were delightful people to be around, but they were jokesters. And so I was, I think, 13 years old, something like that. So they're going to play a joke on me. So I'm sitting, and this table's very nice, you know. And I take a drink with this glass, my Coke, or whatever it was. And I notice, wow, I'm dribbling this thing. And so I'm a little embarrassed, and I put it down. And so another sip, and I'm dribbling. And here, it's not easy. It's not hard to embarrass a 13-year-old or a 14-year-old. And so I'm dribbling. And then I begin to notice that people are snickering around the table. They're laughing. And then we found out what the joke was. They gave me, on purpose, a glass with a hole in it. And so when you sip like this, it will dribble like that. And so we all had fun, or at least they did. So here is a vessel that is, there's no pleasure. We could say, I didn't have pleasure in it. Well, after a while, I suppose we did. A broken cup, Israel's like that, no pleasure in it. They're like one that's been discarded, a broken piece of pottery. The cup doesn't hold. the fluid, it doesn't serve its purpose. What a descriptive picture of this nation who should have been full of the blessing of God and should have conveyed it to the world around. Well, what do they do? Verse nine, they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey alone by itself. Ephraim has hired lovers. Israel sought foreign help, made alliances with Assyria to the north. Didn't check in with the Lord. No, we'll go find help to help us in the threat of war. Let's go up to Assyria. And Hosea uses this very graphic picture here, like a wild donkey. I think the picture is probably a donkey in heat. It's neighing about. Look at Jeremiah. Go back to the prophet Jeremiah. As I said, the prophets are very graphic in their language. Look at what Jeremiah says, chapter two and verse 24. Jeremiah 2, 24. A wild donkey used to the wilderness. Let's back up to 23. How can you say I am not polluted? I have not gone after the Baals, the false gods. See your way in the valley? Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary, breaking loose in her ways, a wild donkey used to the wilderness. that sniffs at the wind in her desire in her time of mating who can turn her away all those who seek her will not weary themselves in her month they will find her and so here Jeremiah uses this same picture and Hosea says they're like a wild donkey they're seeking to find help and fulfillment from pagan nations look at Hosea chapter 7 verse 11 He says there, Ephraim also is like a silly dove without sense. They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria, and go ahead in Hosea chapter 12 and verse 1, Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation. Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians and oil is carried to Egypt. So Hosea is saying, you sought foreign help. You are like a donkey in heat, sniffing the air, seeking to find fulfillment. And he goes on pressing the analogy, Hosea 8, 9, Ephraim has hired lovers. You've hired lovers. You look for people and nations to fulfill you but it was in vain. They look for fulfillment but were left empty. And they did this on a national scale. But let me say today that part of the devil's system is to tempt people to find fulfillment in ways that God did not intend, and it leaves them empty. Satan makes it so attractive, the world, the flesh, and the devil. If you were to cut out all the sexual innuendo of television or internet, or even on your phone, What would be left? The world system, pressing upon people, promising fulfillment in many different ways. And people come up empty because there's no fulfillment except in Jesus Christ. And he said, I've come that they might have life and might have it more abundantly. Hosea 8.10, and here we see that Israel will suffer because of her choices. yes though they have hired among the nations they have prostituted themselves they've hired among the nations now I will gather them that could be a line of hope of restoration but I think it's probably judgment I will gather them in judgment referring perhaps to the nations and to Israel. I'm going to gather them. I'm going to deal with them. And look at what it says. And they shall sorrow a little because of the burden of the king of princes. The Lord will diminish them. They will be diminished. They will sorrow because of this burden that this powerful king, the king of Assyria promises. They think they're gonna find help and fulfillment in this foreign help. But what's gonna happen is they're gonna be under a load, under a burden. And according to 2 Kings chapter 15, this likely was the burden of tax, taxation. 2 Kings 15 references this. One of the kings, Menahem, notice verse 19, 2 Kings 15, 19. Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land and Minahem, king of Israel, gave Pul a thousand talents of silver that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. A talent could weigh 60 or more pounds, think of that, silver. and that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. And Menahem exacted the money from Israel. He made taxation from all the very wealthy, from each man 50 shekels of silver to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. So here Menahem is selling Israel out, paying money to Assyria. And God says, there's this burden. of the king of princes, a consequence because Israel did not seek help from the Lord, but sought help from the nations around. Well, now we come to the last part of the chapter, verses 11 through 13. Israel practices false religious activity. Very important words here. Track along with me, Hosea 8.11, because Ephraim has made many altars for sin they have become for him altars for sinning he has a play on words here Ephraim has made many altars speaking of the altars to false gods false deities to Baal and others he's multiplied altars part of this being swallowed up among the nations he's multiplied altars the altars supposedly to expiate to deal with our sin problem but what did they end up being for Israel they have become for him altars for sinning because they were idolatrous there's something very interesting that's in the human heart and it's this We have a need for atonement. We have a need for forgiveness. I've shared this story before, but it made such an impression on me. I remember a young airman came to me for counsel, and he really had messed up. He had turned 21, got with his buddies, went out, and he got drunk. He wrecked a vehicle, and I don't think it was his vehicle, and now he's in trouble. Trouble in the law, in trouble with the Air Force. But I remember what he said, and he claimed to be Jewish. He came to me and he said, I feel like I need something or someone to atone for me. And I said, what would you say if I told you someone has done that? It's in the human heart. Yes, our sin requires judgment and it requires being dealt with. And I have wonderful news from the word of God. Jesus did that. He dealt with our sin problem. So we come to him as we are, and we can find cleansing and forgiveness, not of one, not of two, not of five, not of 25, all, not of a million, but all of our sins. We don't have to create altars. There was one. It was the cross of Christ. And that cross is where Jesus gave his life so that our sins could be forgiven, atoned for. And it's the blood of Jesus that will forgive us all our sins. And that blood, as the song says, will never lose its power. Praise the Lord. They were building altars to try to deal for sin, but those altars became for them sin. They were sinning because of those altars, because they were idolatrous. They were not turning to the one true God. They were not turning to the God of Israel who provided for all of this, who said, without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness for sins. And so what do we see around the world today in world religions? Some way to deal with the sin problem. And it involves human works. Sometimes it involves human sacrifice. All useless. All not effective. Because Jesus paid it all on the cross of Calvary. We come to him, his finished work, and we believe it, and we can be saved, and our sins can be forgiven. Have you come to the cross? Have you come to that altar, the altar of the Lord Jesus Christ and said, Lord Jesus, I believe that you took my sins on yourself. I'm calling on you, asking you to save me. And he promises that whoever comes to him will not be cast out. So their altars became instruments for sinning. And then they have another problem. Not only did they multiply altars, but they neglected the words of the Lord. Look at Hosea 8, 12. I have written for him. I just love that. I've written for him. I've recorded my truth, my words, the great things of my law. There is a possibility that you could translate like this. I've written 10,000 precepts of my law. He's trying to make a point to them. I have given you the fullness of my law. I've given you so much instruction. We have in the 66 books of Holy Scripture, the word of God, the message of God, the love letter of God for his children. What a treasure this is. The scriptures, the word of God, let's not Take it for granted. Why is it that through the centuries, Bibles have been confiscated, burned? Those who translated them, those who promoted the reading of scripture for everyone, not just a quote unquote clergy, why were they burned? Burned at the stake. Have you heard of Foxe's Book of Martyrs? I've had that on my shelf for years. I said, I'm going to read that this year. I'm ashamed I haven't read it before now, but I'm reading it now. It was written in the 1500s about martyrs. And you know what is common? You know what they did? They would condemn someone for believing that salvation is in Christ alone and in the scriptures, and it's not in The church, it's in Christ. And they would take them and tie them or chain them to a stake, a post, and build a fire and burn them alive. You read that and you think, this is unbelievable. What was their crime? That they believed that all of us should be able to read the Bible? They believed that salvation was in Christ alone? That it's not in the Pope? It's in Christ? It's not in the Catholic Church? It's in Christ? That's what they believed. And so what do we do? We gotta get rid of that. So let's burn these people. But you know what? It didn't stop biblical Christianity. People translated scripture. John Wycliffe is called the Morning Star of the Reformation. And he wanted everybody to be able to read the scripture. He wanted it to be in the common language. William Tyndale wanted the plow boy to be able to read scripture. John Wycliffe was so hated that after he died, they dug up his bones and burned them. He'd been dead. They dug up the bones and burned them and cast them into the brook that went into the river that went into the sea. And someone said, that's exactly what happened to his teaching. It was spread abroad. And God used that. And there's an organization today called the Wycliffe Bible Translators. It goes into primitive tribes and learns the language and translates scripture into their language. A tremendous effort. It goes back to that great man. When people neglect the Word of God, are they able to destroy it? No. When governments outlaw the Bible, can they destroy it? No. Can we as Bible-believing Christians neglect the Bible? Absolutely. May it not be. God says to them, I've written for him the great things of my law. I've given you all kinds of truth and instruction. And notice the last part of verse 12. But they were considered a strange thing. I'm sure you know this. Many of you could testify to this probably. There are many churches where the Bible is a strange thing. A friend of mine in college He was one of my best friends, Perry Cunningham, from the Bahamas. And there was a tract somehow in his house. And he saw it, and he read it, and it led to his salvation. And when he went to the Bible-believing church, he noticed that, wow, all these people are carrying their Bibles. This is really interesting. It was new to him. Oh, he was religious. He said, these people were carrying their Bibles to church. Wow. What a blessing when the Bible is not a stranger in a church or in a pulpit. And if you go to a church sometime and you see there's no Bible, I don't hear it, nobody reads it, they don't preach from it, leave. I say that in love, leave. Go to where the Bible is taught because the entrance of your words gives, it gives understanding to the, And we all stand as simple people before the Lord, needing to be instructed, every single one of us. Let's not neglect the great things of God's law. Let it not be a stranger to us. In your home, don't let the Bible be a stranger. If you are by yourself, read the Bible. Let it be your companion. If you have one other person or two or three, let the Bible be present. Fathers, husbands, read the word in your home. Gather the family, gather your wife, and read the word. We so enjoy, my wife and I, listening to the Dramatized Bible, listening to it every day, following our schedule, And well, we're off schedule because it takes longer to get through it. So we miss Sundays, sometimes Saturdays, but usually during the week. And we listen and mark off that little schedule. And after a period of time, wow, we went through the whole Bible just listening. It's a delight and it engages another sense. Don't let the Bible, the word of God be a stranger in your house. And don't let that great kleptomaniac come into your house and steal the treasure of the scripture. Thief! Thief! You say, what are you talking about? The big thing, the screens get bigger every year. That thing steals time. Turn the thing off. Throw a breakthrough. I mean, don't. Sorry, I got a little excited. It steals how many Christians all day long, but no time for scripture. It's a stranger. You understand the point. May this Bible not be a stranger in our home. And dads, men, our children need to see us reading the word of God. And mothers, read the word to your children. Listen to this from this scholar who wrote on Hosea, Dwayne Garrett. I just love this. It really stood out to me. He said, the priests had so little respect for the Torah. That's the law of God. However, and the people were so poorly taught. And he references chapter four, verse six. Remember that? My people destroyed for lack of knowledge. So the priest did not regard the scriptures, the people were poorly taught, that some regarded the Torah as the religious laws of some foreign land. The principles of Baal had been accepted as orthodox and indeed as the genuine expression of the Israelite faith. Now get this, For modern readers, the lesson is that we need to beware of how easy it is to substitute culture and prevalent opinions for true Christianity. It is possible to regard true examples of Christian spirituality as alien strangers. Wow, what a statement. For us moderns, it's possible to substitute culture and prevalent opinions for true Christianity. That's the world getting into the boat, the water getting into the boat. Chapter 8, verse 13, he goes on to say, for the sacrifices of my offerings, they eat flesh, they sacrifice flesh and eat it. Ephraim selfishly consumed sacrificial gifts. When they brought the animal sacrifices to the priests, there would often be feasts and they would eat. But he's saying here, they bring these and then they consume it. They sacrifice flesh and they eat. They're selfish in their worship. And notice what it says in verse 13, but the Lord does not accept them. Oh, they have religion. They're doing some religious thing, but God's not pleased with it. He doesn't accept it. He's not delighting in it. And the Lord then remembers their iniquity and punishes their sins. The Lord keeps account. He will remember. He will punish. And the last part of verse 13 is very interesting. They shall return to Egypt. So let's take that literally. They're gonna go back to Egypt for help or in captivity even. But think about this. Suppose Hosea is wanting to bring up to the Israelites that horrific memory of when they were slaves in Egypt. 800 years before. God delivered them from that. And he wants them to remember that and to say, that's what's coming for you. You're gonna go back to Egypt, wherever Egypt is. You're gonna go back into captivity. And that's exactly what happened. Assyria came and took them off into captivity because they had turned against the Lord because they did not listen to Hosea. Now we come to verse 14, the Lord has the final word as he always does, but notice this first line, Israel has forgotten his maker. Wow. Israel has forgotten his maker. Let's apply this in a few different ways. First of all, let's just take it at face value of creation. that we were created by God. We were created in God's image. We, as human beings, did not evolve. We didn't come from an amoeba that turned into, with many different evolutions, into an ape that then became a human being. No way. What a lie Satan has forced upon our whole world. And to be accepted in academic circles, you pretty much have to bow to the altar and the idol of evolution. God made us. Yes, the culture around can laugh all they want, God made us. But think of it this way, in a spiritual sense. Psalm 100, remember this? Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing, know that the Lord, he is God, it is he who has made us. and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. He's the one who's made us his people. He's the one who's made us his sheep. And Hosea says, Israel, you forgot. You forgot the one who called you to be his people. You forgot your maker. Whatever level that is, may we never forget the Lord. So what did they do? Because we are intrinsically religious. We will do something. Israel has forgotten his maker and has built temples. We'll get religious. Judah also has multiplied fortified cities. So Judah is going to trust in its power, its military might. It's going to create its own religious activity. And what's God going to do? Hosea 8, 14, But I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his palaces. A culture that thinks we're safe, we have all the military might that we can have, we'll be protected from every sort of evil, and we have no use for God. that culture eventually will fall. Because you know what? One day, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Communist China was an incredible military, increasing in strength all the time, and in discipline. But they deny God, the existence of God. One day, they will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we trust before then that many will be saved when they see the emptiness of atheism. By the way, while China trains with discipline, what do we put into our military training on transgenderism, pay for sex change surgeries with American tax dollars? May God help us. We've been proud of our military might. that God can destroy it in a moment. Look at Jeremiah 17. Let me close with this verse. Jeremiah 17 and verse 27. Jeremiah 17, 27. But if you will not heed me, to follow the Sabbath day is given to the people of Israel to Judah, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. Hosea spoke to his day to the northern 10 tribes about the threat of Assyria coming and capturing and taking them off. Jeremiah spoke to Judah, and this is exactly what happened in 586. Hosea, Assyria came in to Israel 722. Some years later, Judah, Babylon came. 586, Jerusalem fell. and there was fire, and God said that here. I'll send fire upon his cities, those things that you're so proud about, it shall devour his palaces. I sadly remind us that this great city, I love this city, most powerful city in the world, incredible mission field, the whole world is here. What an opportunity we have for the gospel. But can I remind you that in September 2011, September 2011, we celebrated an anniversary. What happened in 2001 when this great city was brought to its knees in a few moments, and there was fire and devastation and horror. I trust that never happens again any place in the United States. But we, as a nation, cannot be haughty and say, God, you can be on the outside, if at all. And we will do our thing. We'll build our palaces. We'll build our skyscrapers. I came onto a brochure that I kept. from before 2001. And it shows the Twin Towers. And the caption, this was a publicity brochure. The caption was, the closest some of us will ever get to heaven. Just think about that. And how tragic that was and is, and even in our memories. So we can be proud of our buildings, our palaces, our fortresses. We can be proud of our military might. But the Lord reigns as king. And in a moment, he can bring it to an end. And so he calls on us to humbly remember him. Let me apply this with three statements. You might want to jot them down. Three remembers. We must remember the law of sowing and reaping. Verse seven, they sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. The law of sowing and reaping is positive and it can be negative. We often think of it only in negative terms, but it's also positive. We sow the seeds of righteousness, we sow the gospel seed. That's why we call those bags that we use in distributing tracts, seed sower bags. I love it. We can sow positively the gospel. We can sow positively good works in the Christian life, but we need to be aware of this. Whatever a man sows, that we also reap. If I sow to the flesh, I can't expect spiritual blessing. The law of sowing and reaping, we must remember. And secondly, we must remember with appreciation, the wonderful word of God. Remember with appreciation, the wonderful truth of scripture. Oh, how I love your law, the psalmist said. It is my meditation all the day. I'm so thankful for the word of God. I'm so thankful that we have it in our language, in English. I'm so thankful that we can read and study it. We can hear it on our phones. Remember with appreciation the wonderful word of God and engage that, not take it for granted. Let me put this in a pinpointed way. If I, if you as a believer in Jesus Christ, if we are content to go day after day after day without the input of scripture, we're taking it for granted. It's a stranger to us. And what should we do about that? Repent and then open up the Word of God today and read it. Say, God, speak to me. I'm seeking you in your Word. So thirdly, we must remember that worship is about the Lord and not about us. We must remember our Maker. He's the one who made us. Remember his saving grace. We sang, there were several songs today about the cross. Jesus paid it all. That's remembering. Wonderful, yes. That's not just for Good Friday or Communion Sunday. We remember his saving grace. We remember that salvation is free, but it was very costly to Jesus. He gave his life that we could be saved. and his salvation is wonderful. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, we need your truth. We need to be guided by what is so valuable, the word of God. Lord, I pray that you will speak to our hearts Perhaps we've let any number of thieves rob our time from your Word. I pray we'll repent and give you special time. I pray you'll stir our hearts that the Word won't be a stranger in our individual lives, in our marriages, in our families. May the Word be very important. Dear Father, I pray that We will not take for granted what Jesus has done for us. And that we'll remember when we come together to worship, it's about you and giving praise and glory and honor to you. But if there's anyone that's not yet trusted Jesus to save them, show them their need and show them that they need Jesus who will forgive their sins if they will call on the name of the Lord. My friend, if you've not yet believed in Jesus, let me just put it in ABC form. A, admit your sin to God. And B, believe, not just in your head, but in your heart, that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. And C, call on the Lord. A cry of faith from your heart, Lord Jesus, save me. Give me eternal life. Forgive my sins. The Bible says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Oh, Father, speak to us as we need. Draw us close to you. We pray in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.