And so as we gather this morning, I would ask that you would please take opportunity to turn in your scriptures with me. I'll be reading from two sections this morning. I'll be reading from Proverbs chapter 9, verses 6 through 10, and again from James chapter 1, verses 2 through 8. And I'd like to encourage you to please join me in the reading. For Proverbs, you can find that on page 445 of your Pew Bible. I'll be reading from the New King James Version this morning. And for the book of James, James chapter 1, you can find that on page 838 this morning. Let's come together in the reading of the word. Proverbs chapter 9, verses 6 through 10. This chapter is entitled, The Way of Wisdom. And starting with verse 6, forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding. He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself. And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will still be wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Now let's turn now together to James, reading from chapter 1, verses 2 through 8. James chapter 1 reads, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all of his ways. Let's come together in prayer. Our Father, as we look forward to the preaching of the Word, we ask, Holy Spirit, that you would be with us. Lord God, that you would make your Word once again real to us. Father, that it would take seat in our hearts, that you would use us. In building of your kingdom, Father, but that you would build us as well, that you would give us reassurance. Father, that you would give to us joy, that you would give to us hope. Father, that you would instill within us peace. Lord, that we would know that we have indeed been invited before the throne of grace and we are to do so boldly. Father, praying with the confidence that you hear and that you are faithful to respond. And Lord, in this day, we would ask that you would also, Holy Spirit, assure within us that your word does not return empty. And Father, that you might use this day of worship and this day of rest to strengthen us as your people. We ask these things through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, as we begin this morning, I'm, as I said, happy to be with you. I've brought to you a message that I have wrestled with now for quite a long time. Starting a sermon is much like starting a class lesson for me. You have to set the tone for the morning. And so we need to move together this morning from foolishness to wisdom. And so I need to begin by sharing with you about four young college students that hatched a plan to fool their professor. These four young college students decided to play instead of study for their final exam. This plan included showing up on the day of the final exam with only 15 minutes left remaining in the day, in the morning. And they pleaded to the professor, we blew a tire on the way to the exam. We couldn't get here. That's why we're late. You have to let us come back and take the test again later. The professor looked at these four young men and he said, I'll give you two days to study. Go home, study, come back prepared for the exam. Two days go by, and these four young men show up. And the professor says, I have an exam for you in this packet. There are two questions. Your exam is worth 100 points. I'm putting each of you in your own room. And when I close the door, you are free to open this envelope. They went in. The doors were closed. They opened the envelope. Question one, worth one point, what is your name? Question two, worth 99 points, Which tire blew? These foolish young men were not so wise after all, were they? My friends, I have been a foolish man. I was not one of these four college students. But I will tell you that I was dropped off at Oswego State on August the 25th. I was under arrest by August the 26th. I am not kidding. I was a foolish young man and perhaps you were too. Simply put, as we look back on our lives, the foolishness that we've been involved with, it often stays with us. And our moments where we actually exhibited wisdom are likely to be few and far between. I am thankful to tell you this morning that the Lord escorted me, even in my foolishness, through many challenges and situations that could have otherwise ended badly. My brothers and sisters in Christ, the fool is saying in their heart that there surely is no God. That is from Psalm 14, 1. For the fool is obstinate. There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. That is Proverbs 14, verse 12. My friends, if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then what's in a name? What is this name and who is this Lord? And how many people choose to be adversaries with this God simply because they will not utter his name and they will not bend their knee? I'd like you to consider these names for our Father in heaven. He is known as Jehovah. He is known as Immanuel, Yahweh, which is the compassionate one. He is known as the Elohim, the I am who I am. He is known as the Lord who heals, the Lord of holiness, the Lord of righteousness. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the banner of truth. He is the God of vengeance, and He is the God of justice. My friends, He is known as the God of truth. And it seems that there are many that are in need and are searching for the truth. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then know this. The fear that is being mentioned in this verse is not terror. The fear of the Lord is learning to live in awe and in reverence of God. And I must ask you this morning, when is the last time that you stood in awe of your God? What would it take for you to offer up the reverence that is due? Would your life need to be spared in some miraculous way for this to happen? Or would you have to be relieved of some tragedy or some pain? Or would you need to gain some material possession for you to see it? I would suggest to you the answer this morning is no. All you need to do is simply reflect upon your sins of your youth. Better yet, why not just take opportunity and reflect upon your sins of yesterday, or the inevitable sins that will find you tomorrow, perhaps even today? You see, we have an awesome God that loves us. And through His Son's atoning work on the cross, we have been forgiven. God is loving, my friends, and He is full of grace. But He is awesome, and He is holy, and He is righteous. And He is the Sovereign Lord, and He is our Savior. And what's in a name? I'd suggest an awful lot. It's a name, my friends, that we should take great care in using as it crosses our lips. We are told specifically not to use the name of the Lord in vain. The book of Proverbs, my friends, in large part offers the reader a provision for forgiveness. And they provide instruction for the foolish. If Jesus is the word of God incarnate, and the word of God is wisdom, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, then we can say with confidence that the fear of the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning as well. All that God reveals of himself is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. And I need to be clear, the fear of the Lord does not imply terror, at least not for those that love the Lord. For the guilty that have rejected God's merciful gift throughout their life, then they will stand before a righteous God in their sin. And my friends, that is a terrifying thought. Who is the Lord? Who is this one that is named? I love this. Isaiah says, He sits above the circle of the earth. I have been waiting and I have seen now for the first time, I've been waiting for the James Webb telescope. The first image has been now published and shared. It focused upon a star that is 2,000 light years away and that is 16 times brighter than our own sun. And yet our God sits in a circle above that. God said to Moses, tell them that I am sent you. God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He is the designer of all things. Psalm 19, the spacious heavens declare the glory of our God. He is unchanging in His character. James says this, I love this, James says, the Lord doesn't change as shifting shadows do. And Hebrew says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our God, where wisdom begins, is absolutely consistent and true. And he can swear by no higher authority than his own name. And he is faithful, and he is to be feared in awe. This thought of what's in a name continues. You'll all know this. A demon-possessed man runs at Jesus, runs directly toward Jesus as soon as he steps out onto a beach. And what does this demon-possessed man do? He falls to his knees and he says this, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High? What does Jesus do? What is your name? And this demon-possessed man says, I am Legion, for we are many. My friends, in the Roman army, a legion is 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers with up to 500 chariots. They are equipped with spears, and they are equipped with shields, and they are equipped with swords. And you need to know that kneeling was a sign of defeat. And this is the example that we're given of this demon-possessed man. And as for your relationship with God, you know this, but let me share it again. Knowledge does not save you. It only informs you. Faith is a simple trust that God did what he said he would do. Jesus himself said this. It is finished. I'm thankful for a gracious God that is quick to forgive, that is willing to forget, that extends his mercy regardless of our faults. I'm afraid to say that it took me, I think, years to really truly appreciate and become grateful for his care of me. And I try to live in humble reliance. But I must confess that I'm afraid at times that if I'm left for too long on my own, that I would find myself living a very sloppy and foolish life. You see, my friends, I'm a recovering fool. Perhaps we all are. Let me remind you that the old man still resides within us, doesn't he? I need to take a pause here for a moment and share with you the hazard of not preaching frequently. And the thought is this, I don't have enough time to say everything that I want to say. And I have to tell you that I laughed this morning. Jeff and Joyce and I were speaking a few weeks ago about kind of the acceptable sermon. You know it's actually a sermon and not a sermonette if you can go more than 20 minutes. Bill will tell you that he fit his first sermon in in less than five. As a master teacher, I can tell you that the biggest challenge for new educators is this. They try to take three or five days worth of material and fit it into a 50-minute lesson. It does not work. And the real hazard for me this morning is this. The scriptures are so rich, and they are so deep, that an infrequent preacher such as myself, we try to jam two or three sermons into one. And the congregation is the one that suffers the consequences. So I don't want to do that this morning and I have much to say and much to share about the progression of the rebellion of foolishness in people. There are five distinct types of foolishness that are outlined in the Scriptures. And I'd like to share these with you this morning, but I'd like to do that during our class. I want to summarize that now by saying this. Foolishness is a form of entrapment. We move from the simple fool all the way to the steadfast fool. My friends, the fool speaks folly his heart works iniquity they practice hypocrisy they utter error against the Lord they empty the soul of the hungry and they cause the drink of the thirsty to fail that is from Isaiah 32 verse 6 but hear this my friends hear this the fool is not without hope and they are not beyond God's grasp and where's the proof of I can think of one person that is well known to all of us this morning. What's in a name? How do you go from fearing the Lord and terror to love instantly? You need but look at Saul of Tarshish. In Acts chapter 9, Saul exclaims, who are you, Lord? What's in a name? That exclamation was made in terror. And yet it was followed by a complete and total commitment to the Lord. Paul spoke to any and all that were willing to listen. And his work on behalf of the kingdom of God continues today. And Paul went from prosecution and persecution of the church to proclamation and to praise. He was blinded by God's holiness and now he cannot be silenced. And the curse of foolishness in this age is a man-made religion which is known as spiritualism. My friends, being religious or being spiritual, if you interact or meet people that have that mindset, Spiritualism, it begins down here on Earth, and it looks up at the expanse of the stars. And an individual is then free to pick and choose what fits their desire or their apparent need. It's an attempt to find peace in their created reality. They have created God, and they have made him in their image, or they have made him to fit their mind's eye. Perhaps ignorantly, my friends, the spiritualist is at odds with the one that says, I am. I ran a Google search on the word spiritualism and religion, and I received 1,410,000,000 entries in six-tenths of one second. And I have to believe that for a person that is seeking answers or an identity or the meaning of life, I have got to believe that this must strike as a hopeless undertaking. What they find is an unlimited number of lies and false hopes. And we, however, have but one true hope, don't we? The living and true God, Jesus Christ. the one that lived in the heavenly places and condescended to be with us. God the Father sent his son to this world to live amongst us as the very manifestation of wisdom itself. The creator of all things, the beginning of knowledge was amongst us and he was rejected. Consider this, a fool will not be taught. They may learn, and they may even know much, but they will refuse to be taught. And yet, let me share with you what God has offered to us this morning. He's given us His revelation. It means He has spoken. He's given an invitation. It's what God offers to each man. He's given participation. It's what God wants of you. Mediation is what Jesus does on our behalf. Adoration is what you offer back to him and salvation is what you receive. My friends, taste and see that the Lord is good. Those who trust in him are blessed. The curse of the foliage age has even affected the church, I'm afraid to say. And I'm thankful to know that the men that serve here, Bill and Greg and Ryan, they are faithful servants. I pray for Ryan each week. I hope today might be an encouragement that you would do the same. I pray that the Lord would bless him in the preaching and the teaching of the word. You see, the beauty and the simplicity of a spiritual worship service is this. It allows your conscience to be free, and it allows you to focus upon the goodness of God. And Christ are all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That comes from Colossians 2, verse 3. When I pray, I also realize now that I'm somewhat selfish. Because if Ryan executes due diligence in the preparation of the Word, I'm fed. Pray for your pastor. The problem, my friends, is this, that this foolish age has stepped into the church to some regard. And for many, they are poorly taught. or they are misinformed about the church and its function and its charge, which is to exclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. That's our charge. And instead, people come to a church or they enter a building thinking that as they walk through the doors, they're going to find some method, some 12-step method to better themselves or to fix themselves. And this really saddens me. And it angers me when I hear it because this is worldly thinking and it has permeated portions of the church and it is so damaging and it is so misleading to anyone that is assaulted by it. You can't fix dead. We are dead in our trespasses and our sins outside of Christ. That is the proclamation of the word. And we come here this morning as we enter these doors, we come to bow down and we come to worship a holy God that we have offended with our sin. And we come not for self-improvement, but to express our adoration and our praise and our dependence. And we come to lift up our petitions, and we come to lift up our thanksgivings. And we offer up our repentance for our sins that we have committed. And we leave assured that we have a gracious God that is faithful to forgive us. My friends, the fool will not be taught, and the world will not bend its knee, because it has been blinded in darkness. And when your family, or your friends, or your loved ones, when they hear the offer of the gospel, and they scoff, or they reject it, or they politely pass it, I need to remind you of 1 Corinthians 1.18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. The soul outside of Christ, my friends, is darkened in their understanding and they are alienated from God. And I'm afraid to say that they are captive to a tyrant known as Satan. I find it amazing that in my studies this week that foolishness is addressed 360 times. I don't know when these little epiphanies hit you, but they do. 360 degrees, my friends, is a perfect circle. And a fool is captive, much like a hamster wheel, again and again and again and again. And there is no end. And yet, my friends, this is what makes us, and this is what ought to make us value our lives in Christ, which is part three of our outline this morning. My life in Christ, a blessing in wisdom, My friends, the way of wisdom is a blessing to all that know you. The primary theme of Proverbs is wisdom. And the words wisdom, wise, and knowledge are used 140 times in the book of Proverbs. I wish it had been 180, because then I could say your path is straight. But I'm close. It's 140. But my friends, hear this. We need encouragement, too. We need encouragement too. Life is difficult and life is hard. And we need to hear the promises of our God again and again. And what promises await those made wise in the Lord? Well, many of them can be found in the book of Proverbs. So let me encourage you to read it. If you begin reading discouraged, you will finish encouraged. If you begin in despair, you will end with joy. A Christian ought not to live a stoic life, my friends. We have been freed in Christ Jesus and we have, we are the ones with the innumerable numbers of reasons to give thanks. And the scripture says that we should do the following as we seek the way of wisdom. My friends, the scripture says this, listen, be silent, be still and know that I am God. I am always impressed that the words silent and listen share the same letters. My friends, do not stray from wise instruction. The Lord is a lamp unto our feet. Pray that the Lord would make your path straight. Ask Him to direct you in your ways. Acknowledge Him as He does this and you will find joy and peace in believing. And my friend, your acknowledgement of God's goodness in your life is a testimony to the close relationship that you have with Him. And His blessings, they come in abundance and they exceed all that we can ask or even think. And they are a testimony to the personal relationship that you have with a Savior. And we don't question our relationship with God, we rely upon it. And we trust Him. And through this trust, we receive confidence. And in this confidence, then we receive reliance. And my friends, we have victories over sin, don't we? we have victories they may be small but they are victories nonetheless and when we fall to sin we don't run from him we run to him in repentance and he is faithful to forgive us and this is the awesome God that we serve consider this and be most encouraged by these words from Proverbs chapter 1 verse 23 if you turn at my rebuke I will pour out my Spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. My friends, the Holy Spirit is known as the paraclete. He is the helper. The Lord will pour out his helper upon you. This is our life of sanctification and in sanctification. Walking in the fear of the Lord is a life where love is the central point, and we are reminded to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength, and with all of your mind, and you are to love your neighbor as yourself. From Luke chapter 10. Your obedient love toward God and our Savior will bring you closeness to his character. And our love for Jesus Christ is a reminder that we bend our knees to his kingship. And it's not out of mere compliance, which is motivated by fear. It is done out of conformity, which is motivated by love. His work in our hearts and in our minds turns us from hostility and anger to joy and peace. We don't run from him, we run to him. My friends, we are not people of pride, but we are men and women of humble reliance. We have gone from being self-rulers to being willing servants. And we are no longer lost, but we have been found. And this morning, I must say, I do not know all of you. I'm very happy to see some of you home. But I also do not know that you have all been saved yet. And I think we make a terrible presumption that everyone that sits within a church or within a building has been saved. Perhaps the day, perhaps today, is the day that your life begins in Christ. And perhaps today is the day that you have found wisdom. Our next point is a thief made wise, and I'm mindful today that today is Palm Sunday in a traditional sense. I need to remind you that this is the start of Christ's last week before the crucifixion. This was the last week for the thief on the cross that hang next to him as well. Man's wisdom, my friends, it offers no basis for hope in life. And it has made absolutely no provision for death. And yet God does both. And how do I know this? And where is this stated? You make these statements. Well, let me share with you where this is from. It comes and it's founded upon Ecclesiastes chapter 12, and it's verses 13 and 14, which reads this. Now all has been heard. Here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Is it possible, my friends, is it even probable, that in our desire to evangelize and to proclaim the gospel, that we obscure the cross? Do we unwisely complicate the simple? Are we inadvertently creating opposition and distraction as we try to introduce one to Jesus Christ? Are we putting trees and shrubs and bushes and thistles in the line of sight that should focus upon the cross? And I'm afraid in some extent we do. We do because we've forgotten that God's word does not return empty. And we think that we must be the ones that will persuade or encourage or confront the sinner. We are cracked and we are frail vessels that the Lord uses, but my friends, the Holy Spirit is the one that gives the gift of faith. The simplicity of salvation is known by no one better than the thief that was crucified next to our Savior, Jesus Christ. This thief spent his entire life being a fool. Foolish to the point that it cost him his own life. And yet he was wise enough to place his trust and his hope in Jesus. As I mentioned, the worldly man wants to be told that everything's going to be okay. Everything's gonna be all right. Don't worry, be happy. Somewhere over the rainbow, What about this thief? My friends, things were not going to be okay. They weren't even going to be getting better for him because tomorrow isn't going to be all right. For this thief, there won't be one. This thief needed and he met his savior. In this interaction between the thief and Jesus, it's very brief, but it ought to speak clearly and plainly and loudly to all of us. It is not in the scriptures by accident. It has not been given in order to be ignored. And it has not been simplified or dismissed. It does not fit neatly into our concept of evangelism, and yet it fits perfectly into God's character. This man received no baptism. He received no confirmation. He never spoke in tongues. He did not have the gift of prophecy. This dying thief couldn't even bow before the Lord, and he couldn't even bend his knees in prayer. He was being crucified because of his guilt and his condemnation, and rightly so. This man had committed sin and iniquity. He stood before a judge, he was found guilty, and death was his penalty. Consider this too, however. Consider Jesus' interactions with this thief. Jesus did not take away this man's pain. Jesus did not admonish or silence the scoffer that was hanging on the other cross. Jesus did not take away this man's fear of dying. What Jesus did was to assure him of the things to come, that his place in the heavenly kingdom had been reserved. And think about this, this thief walked into heaven in the same hour as Jesus. by believing. That's all. There was nothing that this man could offer other than his belief that Jesus was who he said he was. And he looked over at his Savior and he simply said, Lord, remember me. Is this not the purest form of the gospel? Lord, remember me. There was no spin in this. There was no ego. There was no arrogance. There was no pride. This man had no knowledge. He simply had trust and faith. And with that came wisdom. And this simple, naked, dying man that had sinned and was condemned to death by man was saved by God. And you are too. You are too. I'd like to ask that you try to complete this scripture verse with me, if you're able. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and what? Lean not on your own understanding, and in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. My friends, this fool, this thief, this fool, throughout his entire life, he was wise enough to place his only hope and his trust in Jesus. Think of us. We participate in the sacrament of the supper. This man spoke to the sacrifice. He spoke with the sacrificial lamb of God. And I'd like to point out a few more details about this thief on the cross. He heard the last seven sentences uttered by our Savior. And I'm sure he heard them. I've been told and informed and shared and spoken with people that have reminded me that these crosses don't necessarily need to be up high. They only needed to be a few feet above the ground. And they were often actually pointed at each other so they could, sadly to say, see each other's suffering. And Christ Jesus, as he died, he sought forgiveness for others. Forgive them for they know not what they do. He expressed concern for his mother. As he spoke to John, here is your mother. He assured a sinner a place in paradise. He cried out to his heavenly father in pain, and yet he declared his trust as he did so. And my friends, he expressed the frailty of man when he thirsted. and he committed his soul in faith. Every word spoken is one of evangelism and the thief responded in faith. However, the other thief being crucified did not. One was spared as his life ended and so my friends, please hear this this morning. There is no need for despair today. If you have been praying for a loved one or a family member that has not yet expressed faith, then know this, while they breathe, there is reason for hope. Do not despair. And yet understand this, the murder upon the other cross should not expect salvation. In fact, none of us should. No one should. Certainly not if they've heard the gospel presented and they have chosen to reject it or to scoff at it. Or they scoff at those that believe. They simply will not be taught. This invitation was given to both men. utterly one died in their pride and in their foolishness I am thankful that God himself knows a man's soul and is the one that makes the final decision that my friends is a terrible thing you've heard the word this morning you have received the message this morning What are you prepared to do about it? Joshua 24 verse 15 should sum it up for all families. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Put your trust in Him and move from foolishness to wisdom and stay there. And I ask you to consider the thief once again. He was saved in the last moments of his life and the other criminal was not. And as you consider this, don't be presumptuous and don't be surprised. The gift of salvation was offered freely to both of them, one accepted and one rejected, and yet no one has promised another day. If you're hearing the word today, grasp the offer. And if anyone is here this morning, and perhaps even joining in Zoom, you've received the invitation. And as we close, let's consider this, our need for prayer and our need for pleading in the pursuit of wisdom. If you're a committed servant of Christ Jesus and you've been careless, or perhaps you're a recovering fool like me, let me share some pointed and applicable things for you to consider this morning. All true worship, focuses on the exalted Lord Jesus, whom God the Father raised from the dead and placed upon heaven's throne. To be blunt, worship, my friends, is not about you. And it's not about me. It's about a risen Savior who sits upon heaven's throne. We ought not to be foolish. What we ought to be is faithful. And in prayer, express your unfaithfulness. Express your foolishness. Recognize it. Recognize it as selfishness. And understand that you fall into the temptations of this world. And if you're engaged in behaviors that elevate you or sin that elevates you, it likely does not honor God. So, my friends, pray for wisdom. Seek forgiveness and receive His strength. And if you're feeling broken this morning or helpless, or perhaps you are lacking joy this morning, let me ask, are you reading God's word? Is your prayer life suffering? Perhaps it's non-existent. Let me encourage you once again that in your brokenness, read. I've been known that I used to teach a lot of the young people at White Lake and my standing statement was, have a problem, go to Proverbs. Read, pray, find again your source of joy and contentment in the scriptures and in your holy and awesome God. If you lack control and you find that your sin and the inevitable guilt that comes calling afterward, then you know that the Holy Spirit is working on you. The Holy Spirit is working on you to make that sin repulsive. And in so doing, He is guarding your soul. And when your love for Christ is greater than your love for your sin, you will be pursuing wisdom. And as the thief did, my friends, simply cry out, Lord, remember me. He will reconcile your relationship. He will restore your soul. He will bring to you peace and contentment. He will give to you assurance. He will accept your repentance, my friends. He will mend you, and he will bind up your wounds. And the fresh air and the living water of the gospel is what will do this for you. James chapter 3 verse 17 says this, but the wisdom that is from above is pure, then peaceable, then gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits. It is without partiality and it is without hypocrisy. My brothers and sisters in Christ, God, in His immensity of love, condescended to be amongst us. He has been a sacrifice for us, and He now intercedes on behalf of us. And God said, knowledge and wisdom come from my mouth. I am a shield to those who walk uprightly. I will preserve the way of the saints. I will welcome you into my heavenly kingdom with these words, well done, my good and faithful servant. Let's pray. Father, as we sit under your word, we are reminded of our foolishness and Father, we are reminded of our sin. And yet, Lord, we are also reminded to come to you and to express our sin and to repent. And Lord, that you are faithful to forgive us and more so. Father, you are quick to remind us that we are indeed loved. Lord, you have known us before we were formed in the womb, and so father, we have no secrets. Father, allow us in our sin to come before the throne of grace and just simply father to sit to kneel to express our need and our desire to serve you. And Lord, would you be faithful to do so? Would you use us, frail though we may be and cracked though we may be? Lord, would you be pleased to use us? Might we be salt and light in our places of work? Might you give us opportunity to express the gospel and the saving grace that we enjoy in Christ Jesus? Lord, put into our mouths the words that might spark an interest. Lord, use the teaching and the preaching to persuade, and Holy Spirit, would you make your invitation heard, and might those that hear accept. Father, we are reminded in this day of this being your last week as you condescended to be amongst us. Lord, we are reminded of how much we have to look forward to in your resurrection as you are now seated above the circle of earth. Father, you are so merciful and you are so gracious to know us and to call us by name. We ask this day, Lord, that you would bring encouragement to us through the preaching. Father, we ask also that you would give to us in this day rest, as you have indeed made this day for man. And so, Father, as your people, we once again bring to you our praise and our adoration. We bring to you our thanksgiving. Father, once again, we bring to you our requests. And we are thankful that, Father, if we come confidently, that you've not only heard, but, Father, that you are faithful to answer. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.