Beloved, please turn your Bibles to the book of First Peter as we continue our evening sermon series in this marvelous letter. As you're turning there, I do want to remind us of a couple of things about this letter that are important as we remember the context. This is the Apostle Peter, of course. He's writing to the churches in Asia Minor, and he is encouraging them to remember who they are, to remember whose they are, and to remember how to live in the light of their identity in Christ. It's one thing we talked about at the beginning of this series, that too often Christians have an identity problem. In other words, we put all of our thoughts, our efforts, our identity in the things that we do rather than in who we are. And so we end up living insecure lives. We end up not able to really reach out to others and live as we ought biblically. But Peter wants them to know who they are in Christ. And so he declares to them in verse 1, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, and the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with his blood. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. He tells them who they are. They are the elect of God. They are pilgrims. They are exiles, as he tells them later in this opening chapter. They are pilgrims in this world. This world is not our home. We're just passing through. And then as he tells them who they are, he moves in, chapter one, verse 13 and following, to this preparing of their minds for action, putting their hope fully on the grace that will be brought to them when Christ returns. And then he says in verse 14, if you look there, it says, And really what Peter is doing here after he tells them who they are, that is, those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, He tells them how to live, and he calls them to live holy lives. That is in no way to add to what Christ has done. No, it's the way that God's saved, redeemed children are called to live, as we read earlier from Proverbs chapter 4. It really actually dovetails beautifully with what we're going to be looking at this evening in chapter 3. It's a call to not turn to the right or to the left, but to look straight ahead, to live a life of righteousness and increasing measure for the glory of God. And so here we're called to be holy. We're called to live in submission. Peter talks to us in this letter. He's done so already in our studies so far. Living in submission to the governing authorities that God, in his sovereignty, has placed over us. Our government here in the United States, for instance, the police force. We're called to live according to the laws of the land, insofar as they do not ask us to do anything that is contrary to scripture. We're called to live under authority and submission when it comes to those who are in authority over us, whether it's in the workplace, kids, whether it's in the home, or whether it is in any situation, there needs to be a life of submission under authority, ultimately God's authority. The last couple of times we were together, we looked at the relationship between husbands and wives in the first part of chapter three, some very important verses. And this brings us to chapter three, and verse 8. Please stand with me now for the reading of God's Word in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 8. And as we come to this text, let me remind us of a thought that we had this morning. And that is that Christian life is not simply a formality. It's not checking off a box when you're signing up for some kind of a credential, saying, yes, I am a Christian. It's not going through the motions It's as John Calvin's seal represents to us visibly, it's our hands holding up our hearts to God. And in remembering those words of Calvin in his own seal, his own motto, my heart I offer to you, oh God, promptly and sincerely. So as we come to his word, let us have this in mind that we want God to work in our hearts tonight for his glory. First Peter chapter three, verse eight, He writes, finally all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless for to this you were called that you may obtain a blessing. For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Here in reading of God's word, let us pray. Our fathers, we come to this next section of first Peter, what is essentially a list of of statutes, of precepts, of commands, not suggestions, but clear commands and directives for the Christian life. And so we ask, Lord, as we spend time briefly looking at this passage, we ask for wisdom, we pray for grace, and we pray, Lord, that these very things, this fruit would be evidenced in our lives. as your people. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. By the way, these flowers are absolutely gorgeous, but I felt my breathing shutting down as I was leading the first part of the service, so had to move those. They're beautiful, very fragrant, beautiful flowers, but had to move them. Robert Layton, Robert Leighton lived from 1611 to 1684 and he was a Scottish theologian and pastor who studied at the University of Edinburgh and he ministered in churches in Edinburgh until he went to Glasgow to preach at the Glasgow Cathedral from 1670 to 1674. He has what I believe is the greatest commentary on First Peter that is out there. It's been a classic for the last 300 years. If you want a great commentary on First Peter, add Robert Leighton to your library. I refer to it weekly for insight into this book. Concerning this text before us, he gives a very helpful visual illustration, providing a mental picture of verse 8 and the life that God has called his people to. He takes verse 8 and he describes it as a cluster of five Christian virtues or graces. Brotherly love, brotherly love is the stock. So if you could just sort of see a diagram, brotherly love is in the middle. And then to the left, you have unity and sympathy. And to the right, you have kind heartedness or brotherly kindness and humility or courtesy as some, some, translations say. So brotherly love in the middle, unity and sympathy coming off of that, and kind-heartedness or brotherly kindness and humility coming off this side. Brotherly love is kind of the foundation and off of that are coming these branches of unity, sympathy, kind-heartedness, and humility. Of course, the ground and nourishment of all of this is the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is Christ. There, as we will see in a few moments, there is no fruit without the root and ground of our salvation being the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and word. We never want to be about trying to moralize people. We want to evangelize people. We don't want to moralize them. We are not trying to convince people first and foremost that they should change the way that they live. We are trying to convince people first and foremost that they should believe in Jesus Christ and abide in Him, because it's in Him that we have fruit. And apart from Him, we can do nothing. And so we need to say that right away. And the main point of this passage really is this, that receiving blessing and giving blessing are the root and fruit of the authentic Christian life. Receiving blessing and giving blessing are the root and fruit of the Christian life. The grounds of that, of course, being the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the first point is this. The first point is this. We are called to inherit a blessing. We are called to inherit a blessing. In verse 9, Peter writes to these first century believers that they were called for the purpose of inheriting a blessing. What was the greatest inheritance they received? Well, of course, it was Christ. It was Christ and his finished work of redemption and all the benefits of it. If you think of the Christian life, you must think of it in terms of union with Christ. And to be in union with Christ means that there are benefits of that union. What are those benefits? Regeneration, being born again. Justification, being declared righteous in God's sight. Adoption, adoption, being welcomed into God's family. Sanctification, that is growing in grace as a Christian believer filled with the Holy Spirit. And glorification, glorification, one day being made like Christ because we will see him as he is as we enter into glory. It's abundant life on earth and eternal joy in glory. This is what it means to have the benefits of Christ, the inheritance of Christ. And in introduction to this section, we have a kind of visual imagery. We have God's eyes, God's ears, and God's face. They are all mentioned here. And this is to help us to recognize that God is not aloof. We reject deism. We reject this idea that God has wound up the clock and he sits back and he enters in once in a while when something big happens in the world, which he may or may not be really directly involved with. Or perhaps we think of that in our own lives individually. No, God is involved in all things and he is not aloof. He's intimately involved in all the affairs of men. Look with me at verse 12a, which is a quote from Psalm 3415. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, or toward the righteous. The first thing we must ask is, who are the righteous? Who are the righteous that the psalmist is speaking of? Perhaps you're sitting there thinking, I'm not righteous. Is he talking to me? Where you are not righteous in and of yourself. And these people that Peter was writing to were not righteous in and of themselves, but in Christ they're counted as righteous. We are declared righteous by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. What is the definition of justification? It's an act of God's free grace wherein he pardons all of our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. We are righteous because of what Christ has done. Beloved, one thing that is one of the big mysteries even within the Protestant and Reformed tradition, is that we can sit under hundreds, even thousands of sermons, and hear the gospel clearly communicated, and yet still not really get it. How can it be? I remember a few years ago hearing R.C. Sproul say that he was driving down the road and reflecting upon something that had just happened in his Sunday school class, and he pulled the car over and he just wept. And it was because he had just done a semester-long Sunday school on the doctrine of justification, and then gave a little quiz at the end of the semester to his Sunday school class of about 100 people. And he said the answers that came back about what the gospel was and is, and how it is we are saved, were abysmal. Somehow, We sit and we listen to gospel preaching, sometimes for years, sometimes for decades, and still don't get it. It's so important, beloved, that we understand this doctrine of justification, that we are counted as righteous in God's sight. It's so important to recognize that if you stand before God apart from Christ, not in union with Christ, not having put your faith and your trust in Him, not abiding in Him, if you are just on your own, as it were, and you are standing before God, the only thing The only thing that you will have to offer to God is your own sin and your own weak attempts to obey His law. And even your best good work is tainted with sin. As one Puritan put it, our best good works are bad works. They are weak attempts to obey God. So this is the person who is outside of Christ. So what about the person who is in Christ? What transaction has taken place for the person who is standing before God, united to Christ, and is therefore declared righteous? Well, this person, because they put their faith in Christ, All of their sins are forgiven because Christ died on the cross as a perfect righteous substitute. Died on the cross for our sins. Our sins were nailed to the cross. And Christ bore the wrath and judgment of God for us. And so our sins, that robe of corruption and sin is taken off of us. And it was put on Christ on the cross. And He died for that. He paid the sin debt. He bore the wrath on the tree. The cursed tree for us. And so we stand there now, you think you stand there naked as it were without anything on, the robes of your sin have been taken off and put on Christ, so now what? Well, what happens in the transaction is your sin went to Christ on the cross and Christ's righteousness were imputed to you. So that now you stand before God, not only forgiven of all of your sins and washed clean by the blood of Christ, but robed in His very righteousness, His perfect life. And so when we stand before God, and if He were to say something like this, now why should I let you, John Payne, into heaven? My answer should not be, as it so often is among many, well, you know, I've tried my best to love my wife and to be kind to my family and to raise my kids in the Lord and to be a good neighbor. I once asked a Mormon who came by the house when he started trying to evangelize me, and I let him do his thing. And I responded and said, well, do you mind if I ask you a few questions? He said, sure. I said, Tell me exactly how it is that I, a sinner, can go to heaven. God is holy, I'm a sinner. How can that happen? You know what he said? After he fumbled around his words a little bit, he said, love your family, do the best you can, be a good citizen. Something like that. I know love your family was in there. And you know what I told him? That's the worst news I've heard all day. That's the worst news I've heard all day. Do you know how many million miles short I come from loving my family perfectly as I ought, God's standard? Million miles from that. Now let me tell you some good news. I know someone who perfectly loved people when he was on this earth and then gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for my sins. Put your faith and your trust in him. That conversation ended pretty abruptly and they left. But this is the problem. Sometimes we think like they do. Beloved, the gospel is that a marvelous transaction has taken place. And I stand before God as a Christian, as one who has been forgiven of all of my sins, by grace through faith in Christ, and by grace through faith in Christ, His righteousness has been imputed to me. So that when God sees me positionally, He sees someone who is in Christ, hidden with Christ in God, no longer bearing the weight and the guilt of my sin, but in Christ." Now you say, well, does that mean you're perfect? No, it does not mean I'm perfect. It means that in this life, though declared righteous in Christ, I still struggle with indwelling remaining sin. Does that sin rule me? Is it on the throne of my heart? No, it is not. Christ is on the throne of my heart. Christ is my Lord and my Savior. I live in Him. but sin still remains this side of heaven. And so there's a process called sanctification, whereby I'm being made more and more like Christ every day. So the eyes of the Lord, it says here in verse 12a, are on the righteous or toward the righteous. This is all a direct quote from Psalm 3415, and it's meant to encourage the believer. How so? It's to remind the believer that in Christ we are declared righteous in God's sight. Turn with me to Philippians 3, 8 and 9. Philippians 3, 8 and 9. We have a wonderful testimony of Paul here in this section. And he says in verse eight, well, let's back up to verse seven, but whatever gain I had, whatever religious accomplishments I had, he says, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. in order that I may gain Christ, now listen to this, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith. Not having a righteousness of my own. When I stand before God one day, I will not say, well, I've lived a pretty good life. I've got some righteousness to offer to you. No, it will be, I'm with him. I'm with Him, the One who has nail-scarred hands and feet, who gave His life for me, the One who lived a perfect life in my stead, and then gave that perfect life for my salvation. And because of our relationship with God through Christ, our prayers are heard and responded to by God. That's great news. Look at verse 12b again. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. What's the big deal, Pastor John? Doesn't God hear everyone's prayer and answer everyone's prayer? The answer is no. What is it that we say at the end of a prayer? In Jesus' name. I always get a little nervous when people don't pray in Jesus' name. Why do we pray in Jesus' name? Because He is the One Mediator between God and man. He is the High Priest. He is the One through whom we go to the throne of grace, boldly. It's through His blood and righteousness. And so we pray in Jesus' name. Because we don't rush into the presence of God and just pray, not acknowledging that we're coming through Christ, our Mediator. It's sound Christology. Now listen to what Proverbs 28.9 says. Is the Bible saying that the prayers of the unrighteous are an abomination to God? Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Proverbs 15.29, the Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous. Well, the second part of verse 12 says the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. This is from Psalm 34, 16, quote. Just as the eyes of the Lord are lovingly and protectingly upon those who are righteous in Christ and prove to be in Christ by their growing righteous lives, so the face of God, it says, is against those who are without the righteousness of Christ and lives lives of disobedience. You know, whenever I hear about the face of God, I think about the countenance of God. And when I think about the countenance of God, I think about the Aaronic blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to what? Shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace. You see, the reason we can hear that Aaronic blessing and receive it is because Christ heard something very different on the cross. He heard the Lord curse you, the Lord turn his face away from you, and the Lord give you hell and judgment. You see, the face of the Lord is only lovingly upon, and His countenance only shines upon those who are in His Son. Because the debt's been paid. But for those who are not in Him, it says here, the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Boys and girls, the last place you want to be on Judgment Day is standing before God. And for His face, to not be the face of a loving father, but the face of a wrathful judge. Oh, who would want to be in that state? God's word is teaching us that the Christian who has been called by God savingly is to inherit all the blessings of Christ, that he is also called to live obediently. for the glory of God, yes, but also to be a blessing to others. For a person can, on any level, be truly harmonious or full of unity towards one another, or sympathetic or kind-hearted, filled with brotherly love, or genuinely humble or courteous towards others, returning evil with good, he or she must first trust Christ as Lord and Savior. and through him receive the Holy Spirit. And this leads to our second point. We are called to be a blessing. We are called to be a blessing, the righteousness of obedience. Before we examine briefly each of the Christian virtues that Peter lays out in our text, we must keep in mind that there are two very legitimate and perhaps chief motivations for living out the righteous life that God calls us as His children. Remember, yes, we are counted as righteous in God's sight. Yes, we are born again by grace through faith in Christ. We are forgiven. But it doesn't end there. Our salvation is accomplished there, but the Christian life is to be lived out according to God's word. And here we have Peter giving explicit instruction. Beloved, this is one of the reasons why it is such a shame that in the modern evangelical church, the Bible is no longer really being taught. There are large swathes of scripture that many modern day Christians do not know because churches are not teaching the whole counsel of God anymore. And it's so important with texts like this. I mean, you know, a text like this isn't necessarily one you would go to and spend two hours studying. You would go to other more familiar passages, perhaps. But it's so important that we understand what these things are teaching us and how to live out the Christian life. But what is it that we are to be motivated by as we live out these various virtues of the Christian life? Well, first of all, we are to be motivated by love and gratitude. We have to be motivated by love and gratitude. Peter, in his book, we've seen already in many places, is full of love and gratitude because of God's mercy and his salvation. Full of gratitude for his son. Full of gratitude for his spirit. Full of gratitude for our adoption as sons. in Christ Jesus and full of love and gratitude for his word, chapter 1, 23 through chapter 2, verse 2. It is thankfulness and it is love to God, which motivates us to want to live out these virtues. And another motivation we have here is a desire to love life and have good days in the future. It says, let him who means to love life see good days. Whoever desires to love life, see and see good days. Let him keep his tongue from evil, so on and so forth. It's interesting. It sounds a little bit like the prosperity gospel. You want to live a good life? You want to be prosperous? You want to do well in life? Then do these things. And Peter is making the unashamedly bold assertion that there is a direct correlation between a good life and an obedient, God-centered life. From this quote from Psalm 34, Peter states, that if one desires to live a good life, that he must, number one, keep his tongue from evil and keep his lips from speaking deceit. You wanna have a difficult life? Be deceitful. Slander. Speak ill of others. Your life will be difficult, I guarantee you. He says if you want to have a good life, you must turn away from evil and do good. You must seek peace and pursue it. And there is the terrible misconception in our day, particularly here in the low country, that to love life and to have good days in the future, one must be focused on oneself. Self-promotion, self-exaltation, self-dependence. Everything is about self. The great irony is that one who lives in this way is more often than not disillusioned, discontent, and dissatisfied with himself and the life that he lives. It says here, whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, so on and so forth. Some might ask, well, what about suffering? The book of 1 Peter talks all about suffering. Does this mean that we will not suffer if we live righteously? Well, the answer is no. That wasn't true of the apostles. It wasn't true for Christ himself. But even in the midst of suffering, we will know that we are being transformed by God into the image of Christ, who is our example of suffering, without complaint and total trust in his Father. One writer puts it this way, quote, to love and enjoy life and to have good days, quote, does not mean that one has a trouble-free life. either in the context of 1 Peter or Psalm 34, it rather suggests an enjoyment of life and contentment in the life God has given, no matter what the outward circumstances. Earlier we spoke of the illustration provided by Robert Layton. Let's look briefly at these various Christian virtues or graces that God would have us each to live out on a daily basis. And here we have, I think, the five Bs of the church. The first one is this, be harmonious or be unified. Be harmonious. Remember, this is written to the church. This is written to the church. We're called to live in harmony with one another. We're called to cultivate harmony. One of the reasons why I wrote the pastoral letter that's in the bulletin this week is to help to encourage the fostering and cultivating of harmony and unity within our congregation. It doesn't just happen. It doesn't just happen. It's a beautiful thing in the life of the church to see God's people living life together, some like to call it doing life together, and in the margins of our schedules, and getting together intentionally during the week, and spending time together on the Lord's day, and being intentional in one another's lives, not holding each other at arm's length, but embracing one another, loving one another in very practical ways. You know, you wonder why you're you're at the church picnic and you are about to score 15 goals on max and you make a lunge and your calf just pops. And you wonder why this would happen. But then I just think back on the day and how I was shown so much kindness by people in our church I mean Keith said, get up you wimp, but other than that everybody was very kind. One of our members drove me home and spent some time together there in the living room. Another one of our members, who's a physician, came over and examined my my calf and gave us some good news. And it was wonderful to see God's people just being an encouragement. And those are the very simple things that happen in the life of a church. And you multiply those things by dozens if we are all being intentional in the way we are ministering to one another and reaching out to one another. And it becomes... more and more natural to do so when you are abiding in Christ and delighting in Him and living a life of gratitude for all that He has done for us. And so be harmonious, cultivate unity. It's not a command that says just don't be divisive. That's true, don't be divisive. But that's not what it's saying. It's saying be harmonious. intentionally do things that's going to create and cultivate unity within the life of the church. Secondly, be sympathetic. It says, have unity of mind and sympathy. Sympathy. What does this mean? Well, Romans 12, 15 sums it up. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Sympathy. is demonstrating care towards others. We don't want to be uncaring as Christian believers. We want, thirdly, to show brotherly love. And really, the first two spring off of this, and the next two spring off of it again, but brotherly, brotherly love. We don't want to be aloof, closed, cold, detached, holding one another at arm's length. We want to be familial. We want this to be truly a church family. The Apostle Peter is encouraging the churches in Asia Minor to live like this. We are called to do the same, to be brotherly love. You know, I love coming to church and hugging my brothers and my sisters and calling them that. It's a blessing. You know, you don't, probably you don't embrace a non-Christian and say, hey, brother, it's not your brother. You want them to be your brother, you share the gospel with them, but it's different. Fourthly, fourthly, It says, have a humble, have a tender heart, have a tender heart, a tender heart. We are not to be noted as harsh, critical, mean-spirited. We are to be kind-hearted. We are to make what I heard many years ago from Joel Beeky, this wonderful term, we are to have charitable assumptions of others in the church. charitable assumptions. We're not to think the worst of people immediately. We shouldn't have harsh or critical or mean-spirited attitudes in the church, but kindness, kindness, tender hearts towards one another, and then a humble mind. We are to be humble. Philippians 2, 3, and 4, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not look out merely for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. So here's God's Word telling us how to live. How should we live the Christian life? It's right here. This is not everything, but it's a lot. Pastor John, I really don't know what to pray for. I feel like I'm, I'm just repeating myself and using these tired old cliches all the time in my prayer life. How should I pray? How can I pray? Well, here's a great list of things to pray for, for yourselves and for the life of the church. How do we respond to this text before we come to the Lord's table? First of all, beloved, let us preach the gospel to ourselves every single morning. As you wake up in the morning, as you offer up your heart to God, as you spend time in his word and in prayer, consider the saving work of Christ on your behalf. Be daily reminded by doing so of God's love for you, his pursuing love for you, and flowing from your security in his love, from your satisfaction in his love, you will live a life of grateful obedience And also you will have a growing realization that the good life is indeed the life that God describes in these verses. This is the good life. Don't believe the brochure that's trying to get people to move to Charleston. I probably love Charleston more than any of you in this room, maybe. We can fight about that after the service, as we cultivate unity. I love Charleston, but Charleston, beloved, is not the good life. all things considered. This is the good life. We're told in his words that this is the good life. Whoever desires to love life and see good days, live this way. Secondly, consider the virtues Peter sets forth and pray about them. Purpose in your heart to obey them in God's grace and strength. One writer says, quote, in this passage, God provides a needed corrective to careless, half-hearted Christians living in any age and a powerful motivation to the kind of holy living to which Peter says all Christians have been called. And so let us be harmonious and promote unity and encouragement. Let us be sympathetic. rejoicing and weeping with others. Let us be brotherly, that is, let us be sincere and honest and warm towards one another. Let us be kind-hearted, having charitable assumptions of one another and being gentle and meek and courteous towards one another. And this, of course, does not mean that we do not at times rebuke and correct one another where we are wandering off of the path of righteousness. We love each other by doing that. We need to be humble. We're called to be humble. That is to be a lion for the Lord's cause and a lamb for our own. And this text says that we are called to return good for evil and blessing for insult. As it says in Matthew chapter five, we are called to keep our tongues from speaking evil. Let no unwholesome word proceed forth from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Our tongues used for the sake of encouragement and blessing and righteousness, our hands used to serve, our feet used to walk in the ways of God. Let us turn away from evil and do good. Remember that these virtues of Christian obedience do not add a thing to what Christ has done for us. In Him, we are fully pardoned for all of our sins. Now, from the overflow of our hearts and our love and thankfulness to God for the work of Christ, fully satisfying the requirements of our redemption, we live life Living out these virtues, God calls his children to live out, to bring him glory, to exemplify his life-changing power among the lost, and to enjoy the blessings of a life lived in humble submission and obedience to our loving Father. As we come to the Lord's table this evening, let us reflect not only upon the person and work of Jesus Christ, who gave his life as an atonement for our sins, but let us reflect upon the sins that entangle us and turn from them as we examine our lives and how we want to live in God's grace and strength, obediently for his glory. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for this text. Lord, it's often not easy to come to texts where there are bullet points, as it were, of virtues and commandments and statutes for living. But Lord, we know these are so important for us, that we reflect upon these commands and how we are called to live the Christian life for your glory. Lord, we all fall short. Every one of us in this room, we fall miles short of honoring you as we ought. And so we thank you for your patience, for your kindness and for your grace. And we ask that you would grow us and mature us that we might long for the true good life in Jesus Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.