Everyone, we're very thankful to be so blessed to come and worship the Lord on this Resurrection Sunday. We see a few new faces out there, and if you're visiting with us, we hope you feel very welcomed and loved, as this congregation every week demonstrates to me the love of Christ with the desire to be friendly and to care for one another. So I hope you are able to share in that same love that we all enjoy with one another. We've been very blessed in the run-up to Resurrection Sunday to have multiple speakers deliver sermons in this pulpit, which have been tremendous. Both Matthew and Tony, Matthew was able to preach a few weeks back and he gave us a sermon dealing with Pontius Pilate, who we were reminded that all the things that happened in the lead up to the resurrection were not a mistake. It was not a mistake with God. And then Tony, last Friday, was able to take us into the very dark time where Christ was on the cross, the very moments where he atoned for the sins of man. where God in his wrath poured out his judgment on the sun, and where the earth responded in a great, powerful way. Of course, it is finished. It's done. We always take this path, it seems to be our pattern, to Resurrection Sunday. It's not just a historic precedent in the church, but we like to take this time of year to remember the most crucial doctrine, if you will, in the church, the fulcrum, the pivot point. at which all of Christianity hinges upon. For without the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we have no Christianity. We could have a church of be nice kind of people. We could do nice things, but would we be without power? And today as we contemplate the very morning of Resurrection Sunday, I'd like you to turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24. We'll focus in on Luke's account of the tomb and the resurrection this morning. Reading with me, verses one through eight of Luke's gospel, chapter 24, verses one through eight. Let me get there ahead of myself. And if you would follow as I read from the New King James Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared, but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified in the third day, rise again. And they remembered his words. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together this morning. Our father, what a privilege it is to serve you and to minister your word to your people. It's a privilege beyond words, such an honor. And we thank you for all those who minister your word this day and in this pulpit throughout the year. Lord, we pray that we would honor and glorify your holy name, that we would present the truth and the power of the gospel. Thank you, Lord, for these words. We pray that as we encounter them, as we think on them today, that they may change our lives. For the good, for your glory, or even in a salvific way, if one doesn't know you, Lord, I pray that they would turn, that they would run to you, Lord. Turn from their way, seeking Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of faith. In this, in whose name we pray, amen. So Resurrection Sunday is a very interesting event in its mentioned in all four Gospels to some capacity, and the Gospels look at things in slightly different ways, each Gospel focusing on a different perspective, and Luke is the same. But if we were to pull back and describe and weave it all together, and I actually listened to a sermon this week where a pastor took all the different gospel accounts, and he intricately wove it together, very detail-oriented. You're not going to get that from me. That's just not how I am, but I'll try to give you a big overview of at least what happened. In Luke's gospel, we see that there was a group of women heading to the tomb to bring spices. This is the morning after, remember, the Sabbath, which was Saturday, Christ was crucified on a Friday. This was the Sunday morning, hence the reason, in part, why we celebrate and worship on the Lord's day, Sunday, was because of his resurrection. As they're going to the tomb, Mary Magdalene must have been a little younger than the rest. For in John's gospel, it says that she gets there on her own. She must have run ahead. She gets to the tomb, and I'll just read some scripture, John 20 verses one and two. Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, and while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb, then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they've laid him. So Mary gets to the tomb first, sees the scenario and quickly runs back. And in Luke's gospel, the group of ladies is still coming and they get to the tomb after Mary is gone. Mary goes back to the disciples and Peter and John, remember the story, they run to the tomb. And apparently they get there after the women have gone back. Peter and John see the empty tomb, the grave closed, no encounter with an angel, no encounter with Christ. and they run back and then ultimately the entourage gets back to all the disciples and they have a meeting and a powwow. Luke's gospel deals with that second group of ladies getting to the tomb. It's very interesting when the story is woven together, how powerful and true it is as an evidence of Christ's resurrection. Little subtle details. that just tie it all off, make the story very realistic, very believable, not something that was fabricated, not something that could come off of four people telling the exact same line when like four witnesses corroborate together to tell the same story. But it all weaves together to tell the truth in a powerful and convincing way. Mary ultimately would come back to the tomb. This is not the story of Luke's gospel, but as you recall, Mary was the first one to encounter the risen Christ. She sees an angel as well. Jesus says to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She's crying, she's upset. Sir, if you've carried him away, tell me, she said. where have you laid him?" Jesus said, Mary, and then it just clicked in her head. She said, Rabboni, Mr. Teacher. The story though with the other women was the first encounter with the angelic message that proclaimed the truthfulness of the resurrection. And that's really gonna be the focus of this morning's message. We're gonna talk about the message of the angels that they gave at the tomb. And these were a trumpet call to men, all mankind, by the way, concerning Christ the Lord. It's a rebuke of sorts. to a practice of a dead, lifeless religion, and it points all of us, them especially at the beginning, to a living faith that proclaims the primary foundational doctrine of Christianity, the pivot point of the Christian faith. It rests upon it. We take away the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we have no Christianity. It does not exist. The message that the angels speak leads with a question. Take a look at verse four. Verse four, we see as the women have approached the grave, they've come up, they see the scenario, they assess it. And then the angels speak. Verse four, it says, and it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Some of your translations probably say radiant garments or some other extraordinary word. They were bright. They were glowing. They were glorious. Then in verse five, as they were afraid, they bowed their faces to the earth and they said to them, so the ladies bowed down, not to worship per se, but more out of fear. But then the angels speak and they say to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? Wow. It's a gentle rebuke of sorts, but it's a bit of a rebuke. The women were off mission. Everyone was off mission. Things were off kilter. Certainly out of sorts, they were wandering, they were floundering. The shepherd had been smitten. The Lord predicted, by the way, when he was crucified, before he was crucified, In Matthew's gospel, it says they had sung a hymn and they went to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus shortly thereafter said, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you into Galilee. The women were wandering, they were floundering. It was difficult. The ideas that they had had of what Christ was going to do were not coming to fruition. They had an understanding of what his work was that had fallen by the wayside. And maybe one of you today are here and you are wandering far from God. You're just wandering away from him. You're wandering, maybe like the prodigal. You left the fold. Maybe you heard the teachings of Christ when you were little, when you were young. Maybe a mom, a Sunday school teacher, I don't know. But you're wandering and you know it, and you know it. Are you seeking the Lord Jesus among dead things? I invite you this morning as we go on to seek the living Christ. He can reign in your heart. He can transform your mind. He can make you a new creature. He can save your soul. He can give you hope. He gives you purpose. The women had hopes like everyone else did. things that were happening didn't align with what they had understood. We get a glimpse of what everyone was expecting, not too far beyond this passage, when Jesus appears to a couple of disciples on the road to Emmaus. and they're just freelancing, they're freewheeling, they're talking. Jesus comes up on them and he says, as they're talking, well, what things are you talking about? And they start elaborating on it. So they said to him, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, they're speaking with Jesus, right? Who was prophet, he was mighty indeed in word before God and all the people. And this is what the women thought too, right? This is what everybody thought of Christ. He was a prophet, he was mighty in word before God and all the peoples. and how that the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. They were hoping. Indeed, besides all of this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. And when they did not find his body, they came saying that they had seen a vision of angels. and they said he was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as a woman had said, but him they did not see." This kind of describes the status of everyone post-resurrection. They were looking for Christ to do something. In their mind, it was probably rooted in national Israel's history. They were looking for a type of redemption that was political, that was physical, But you notice the angels, they asked a question, they said, why do you seek the living among the dead? It's almost like they're perplexed, maybe amazed just a little bit. You see, the angels have studied humans for quite some time. They've been able to observe humanity. They were involved, by the way, with Christ right from the very beginning, by the way, before he was incarnate as the word of God. It was the angels who announced his birth, remember, in Luke's gospel? They proclaimed his birth, now they're proclaiming his resurrection. In Luke's gospel, the angels talk to shepherds, here they're talking to women. The angels were surrounding the Savior all of his life. We know that after he was tempted in the wilderness, they ministered to his needs. The enemy even quoted scripture and said, you know, the angels are protecting you lest you dash your foot against a stone. The angels were observing Christ. They saw his ministry. They knew what he was all about. And they're a little bit perplexed because they're watching the people as they approach the tomb and they're forlorn and they're broken and they're weeping and they have no purpose because their understanding of Christ is wilted away. Their question shows the potential and wonder that the angels have. By the way, in 1 Peter, it talks about how the angels, this is great, a little verse that says, that the angels love to look into the things of salvation. They desire to look into these things. They're theological. They've watched humanity and they're a little perplexed. Here the women are coming to the tomb and they're seeking a living Christ among the dead. Their amazement is based on all of the things that the Savior has said. Do you think that the Christ, our Lord, hid his purposes? They question in amazement, seeing that the people had learned Christ, but they had missed his main point. They observed the life of the Savior. They ministered to him. But his magnum opus, his biggest work, was not recognized. Their question presses us to communicate to the necessity of seeking the living, risen Savior, or faith. Why do you seek the living among the dead, the angel says. By the way, this expression has been used through history with great preachers of the faith to call out individuals who are seeking Christ, but only through dead formalism, only through ritualism, the things that have no substance, that there aren't real. Charles Haddon Spurgeon would cry out in his sermon sometimes and say, some are still seeking the living Christ in dead works, in cold ceremonies, in sacraments devoid of grace, but he is not there, he is risen. Man's natural instincts are toward a religion. that doesn't seek the risen Christ, who by his grace transforms our lives, mankind naturally seeks a way to transform his own life, to change his own personality, his own mannerisms, his own life, rather than depend upon God and his grace. So the angels start with a question. Why do you seek the living among the dead? But notice it goes on and they go from a question then to a declaration. Note verse six. He is not here, but is risen. He is not here, but is risen. And that exact phrase comes up in several other gospels, maybe slightly different, but the same idea is there. Though the angels had declared Christ's birth and now they are announcing his resurrection. Not to the shepherds, but to the women. The women attended to Christ for his needs daily. They were the ones who were very involved in his daily minister. Remember, he had no place to lay his head. Foxes have holes, the birds their nests, the son of man didn't even have a place to lay his head. He was often sheltered by individuals who offered him hospitality. And the women, the ones who were at the tomb, were involved in that. They were the ones who were at the cross. It wasn't the disciples. Oh, there was John, but it was the women who were at the cross. They were the ones that saw him die. They saw him die. They followed Joseph of Arimathea as he took down the body of Christ from the cross, washed his body, wrapped him in linens, took him to his own tomb, hewn out of rock, and with the help of Nicodemus as well, placed Jesus's body in the tomb. The women saw this. They followed. They saw where the tomb was. Now here they are, the first at the tomb. They're the first ones to hear of the resurrection. Isn't the Lord amazing? How he reaches out in his grace to the humble, to the brokenhearted. He resists the proud, but he gives grace unto the humble. His gospel call doesn't go out to a man and a woman filled with pride. Oh, it goes out the called us, but it doesn't pierce the heart. These were women who had been broken, but they followed him. Mary Magdalene herself was a woman who, one of the gospel accounts says, from her were delivered seven demons. Like the shepherds, they were the first summoned with the message of his resurrection. He declared Jesus to be alive and risen, resurrected. The resurrected Christ had a glorified body. His body was radiant and glorious. By the way, Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection. You and I as believers will follow in suit with a resurrected body, which Philippians 3.21 says that he will transform our lowly body that it might be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able to subdue all things to himself. Christ was resurrected. The angel declares that he was given a glorified body. It was physical and material. It was real. He could be touched. It wasn't a ghost. We will also have a real tangible glorified body, not be a disembodied spirit. The body of Christ was immortal and incorruptible. It rose never to die again. He rose. We will be raised by the way never to die again because of Christ. Our first fruits, if we are in Christ. The apostle says in Corinthians, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, the trump shall sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Christ was the risen Lord. His resurrection was real. It was a glorious resurrection. It was an immortal and incorruptible. It was a physical resurrection. The resurrection was a necessity. The angel declares it. He is risen. He is not here. He is risen. It was a necessity. We cannot, as we've said already today, once or twice, have a Christian faith that is devoid of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I know we often frequent the passages in 1 Corinthians. But I wanna give a little bit of a overview of a few other scriptures that declare this. The resurrection of Jesus was a declaration of his divinity. Let me just read some scriptures, Romans 1, 4. And declared he was to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. It confirmed his deity. It confirmed his sonship. Romans 4, 25. We see that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was necessary for our justification. That's for God's righteousness to be placed upon our account. Here we read that who was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification, Christ was raised up for our justification. We read in 1 Corinthians 15, that if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you're still in your sins. Without the resurrection, there is no faith in Christ. Philippians 3.10 says that there's really no power for sanctification without the resurrection. Paul says that one of the goals is to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. Christ's resurrection is essential for our sanctification. Christ's resurrection is necessary for the new birth that's being born again. Peter says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Victory over death is only possible because of the resurrection. In Acts 2.24 we read, whom God raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be held by it because Christ overcame death. He defeated it forever. Jesus declared himself to be the resurrection and the life in John's gospel. He said, you remember the whole passage in 11, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Though we went through a few scriptures here just to prove that the resurrection is essential. It's essential to all the major tenants of the gospel and the Christian faith. The angel declared this, not only did he declare that Christ was risen, but he also declared that he was not there. He was not in the tomb. He didn't hang around the tomb. He moved on. He was alive. No person that is alive hangs around the tomb. He is not here. Those are some of the most beautiful words that were ever spoken in the scriptures. The attack that is so predominant against Christ We could call it gaslighting, if you will, individuals who, when they hear that you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, they think that you, from a secular standpoint, are just ridiculous. How could you believe that? He is not here. Do you know that the claims that are made against The resurrection, the false narratives have all been proven wrong by the scriptures. There are a lot of claims that are out there that maybe Jesus just fell asleep and he swooned. Have you heard that claim before? That's answered by a lot of things. He was completely wrapped. He was dead. He was rolled, a stone was rolled in front of the grave. The disciples, John and the women saw him killed. He died. The Roman soldier pierced into his side. He was dead. There's a wishful thinking theory that likes to talk about how the disciples had some sort of a collective hallucination that somehow they wished it so much that they all just believed it. But notice the surprise that you see in the gospels. They're surprised, what? He's risen? The disciples will even say, when the women come back and they're all probably talking at once saying, hey, he's not there. They're like, this sounds like tales, right? They didn't believe it at first. There are other theories. Maybe animals ate the body, but there was a stone, there were guards. Maybe the wrong tomb, but the women saw where his body was laid. There's a theory of that. No theory that's presented to disprove the resurrection fits in with the facts given in the gospel. That's a very profound and powerful thing. Jesus is risen. He's risen and his resurrection is the pivoting doctrine of the Christian church. Not only that, He's no longer there. He is risen. He's not amongst the tomb. He's not dead. He's risen. So the message today began with a question. The question was, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but he is risen. But the angels then turn it into an admonition. Notice in verse six, he is not here, but is risen. The angel says, remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee. The message of the angel returns into an appeal, a request. Don't you remember what he said to you? Do you remember his words? What did he say? You know, when an individual has wandered far from God, right? Just wandered from him. Sometimes something someone says brings up a memory of the past. You know, when we're in the prison, you see this with inmates. They had an upbringing. Somebody put time into them, talked about the word of God, and sometimes you'll see a tear come up, because they remembered those words. When someone wanders far from God, the admonition is to remember, remember what the Lord has said through his word. Sometimes a person hears the gospel over and over again in their life. They hear it time and time again. Sometimes somebody will be saying to you, I'm praying for you. I'm praying for you. I'm praying for you. And as the dark times come, it comes to mind that individual who's always praying, always saying, I'm praying for you. I love you. And you know what they're praying, right? They're praying that in the wanderings and in the, prodigalness of your life that you turn to the living Christ, right? They're crying out. Maybe you're wandering today and, you know, Christ isn't hidden. His proclamation isn't hidden. It's like right out there in front of everybody. These ladies are walking to the tomb. The disciples are are in sorrow. But Jesus didn't hide what he was gonna do. Over and over again as he was in his ministry, he would time and time again say, I'm going to die and be resurrected. Over and over again in Matthew's gospel, for instance. Right after Peter had confessed him as Christ, It says, from that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised the third day. Matthew 16, Matthew 17. Christ says about himself, the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him. And the third day he'll be raised up. Mark's gospel. And he began to teach them, the son of man must suffer many things and be killed, and after three days rise again. Mark 9.31, the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and after he is killed, he will rise the third day. Mark again, they will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again. Luke's gospel, the son of man must suffer many things and be killed and be raised the third day. Luke 9.43-45, Let me read this little passage. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples, let these words sink down into your ears for the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. But they did not understand the saying. It was hidden from them. It was hidden from them and they did not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about the saying. Over and over in Christ's ministry, he proclaimed that he was going to suffer He was going to be crucified and he would rise again the third day. It was not hidden. You know, Christ's plan is not hidden from you and from me. The gospel goes out. We proclaim the gospel freely. Sometimes people will say, I never heard it, but so many times they have. They hear his gospel, but yet there's something hindering. What is it? Sometimes the scales have to fall off the eyes or the chains are broken. We know that it is God who opens the eyes. He opens the heart. He shows us our need for him. There's a cry that goes out. It's like the cry at the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus is taking his core disciples with him up and there is a convergence of the old and the new, right? You remember that? And they say, they said, you got to listen to him. You got to listen to Jesus. You got to trust him. Jesus had not hidden his teachings, but it didn't sink in. The scales hadn't fallen off of the eyes, but it would. These ladies would remember. They would remember the words of the Lord. The gospel message would ring true. The message of the angels was one first with a question. Why do you seek the living among the dead? It moved into a declaration. He is not here, but he is risen. And then it works into an admonition. Remember his words, look at verse eight, or I'm sorry, look at the previous verse, verses seven. Hold on just one second. The angel says in verse six, actually, we'll go back to it. He's not here, but has risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was in Galilee, saying, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified on the third day, rise again. He did not hide his plan. His message was clear. The call of the gospel went out to them, but they did not remember until verse eight, notice it says, and they remembered his words. His words came back to them. Their spiritual eyes were opened, the scales were removed, the chains fell off, blindness was done away. If you would turn just a few verses forward with me, I'd like to finish up today with the conversation that Christ had with the men on the Emmaus road. Just like the women who are struggling and they are wrestling. They are wrestling with their purpose. They're wrestling with their mission. They've lost focus on the plan that Christ had ordained and that he fulfilled, but they'd forgotten it. And in verse 24, As we jump back into this context where there are two men who are walking on this road to Emmaus on the very day of the resurrection and Jesus has met with them, their conversation continues in verse 24 and says this, and certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. Then he said to them, O foolish one, slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and the prophets, he expounded to them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and he indicated that he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, abide with us, for it is toward evening. and the day is far spent. And he went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass as he sat at the table with them, he took bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were open. They knew him and he vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us? on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us. So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 and those who were with them gathered together. On the day of the resurrection, the angels gave several proclamations. They declared that we ought not seek the living among the dead, that Jesus Christ has risen and he is not here. And that we ought to remember his words the men on the road to Emmaus and the women at the tomb, both had their eyes opened to see the living Christ, to see him. You know, this is the constraining factor that comes with all of us. We're bound by our past. We have an understanding often of religious things. much like what the women at the tomb had. If we are living in some form of a man-made philosophy or a man-made religion, it crumbles, it falls apart. Not the words of Christ, not the words of Christ. We need to be brought back to remembering him. If we're a Christian and we're growing in God's grace, We need to be brought back to the remembrance of Christ. Remember him, remember what he's done, remember what he said. If you're a person who's wandering far from God today, and you've heard the word of God before, you've got to take hold of what he says to you. You've got to believe on him. You've got to take hold of the gospel. Your eyes need to be opened and God can do that. You can trust in Christ. You can trust in him as your savior. That means that he takes your life and he gives you a new spirit within. He rebuilds you. He remakes you. He rebirths you. That means his gracious work by trusting in him is that he forgives you. He sets you anew. He gives you a new life, a new purpose, a new hope. Everyone at this point, by the way, was in the same boat, weren't they? All the disciples. There's nobody who actually seems to have embraced and understood what Christ had taught. They all were floundering, but here was the point where they understood and they believed in what he had done. If we look at these disciples and we see how they flounder in these days, look at what happened when God got a hold of their hearts and they transformed the world for Christ. Look at this. It's amazing. We read this time and it's so weird. They struggle, they wrestle, they wonder, what is God doing? They doubt. Peter and the disciples go back to Galilee and they'll do their own thing. And then it's not but a few days later that God changes them. Their hearts are molded. They see the purposes of Christ. And by his grace, it is this core of early Christians that God uses to change his world with the gospel of Christ. We're so thankful for his word and these words that Luke gives us, this account of Luke's gospel. I'm so thankful for what Christ has done in my life. I'm so thankful that when the darkest moments of my life came, dark times, like a prodigal, right? I came running back to Christ, not because it was me, right? Because God took hold of my heart. There's no greater thing than running to Christ. Did you know that? There's nothing greater. There isn't. We need Him. We can't live without Him. I'm so thankful for what Christ has done for me. Let's pray. Thank you, Father. Sometimes we go over these passages, Lord, and we do them every year, and maybe they seem old to us. But I hope that it doesn't get that way. I hope that we continue to meditate upon you each year as we grow in your grace, and we think more about the power of your resurrection, and what it means to us in our Christian life, the victory that we can have over sin, the family of God that we're a part of, all those beautiful things. Thank you, Lord, for your holy word and your people. We pray your blessing on each one. Father, we give you the praise and the glory and the honor in the name of Jesus, amen.