I'm going to try to get a better angle. No. Good morning, everyone. That was pretty decent. Welcome. Welcome to all of you. Welcome to Homecoming at Old Providence. For some of you, this means that you have come home to Old Providence after some time. For others, well, you come home every week. And for others still, maybe this is your first time visiting with us. And for that, we are grateful. But no matter the circumstances, we are so delighted that the Lord has brought you here. so that we can worship Him together, not just as individuals, but as His people. So I welcome you no matter the circumstances of your being here today. I will say that if you're a first-time visitor, you picked an excellent, excellent week to join us, not only because we have a great guest speaker, who I'm going to say more about in just a bit, but also because we have a fantastic meal today, next door down the hallway, in Providence Hall. We invite you to stay and join us and I hope that the rest of you will stay as well. Let me just point out that there are a lot of people here today, obviously, but we have extra seating set up down the hall in Providence Hall, the session room, the choir room. You can even sit in my office if you want to, but there's some interesting things in there that may bite. So, there's room for four in there if you're adventurous, but we've got all kinds of tables set up all over the church, so we do hope that you will stay, that we can accommodate everybody. If you leave, you'll miss out on the fantastic food, but even more, you'll miss out on fellowship with one another. Also today, we have the blessing of celebrating communion. The Lord suffered together. Elements are throughout the back of the sanctuary. If you didn't pick them up when you came in, right, those little baskets, then please go ahead and grab them now because we're not gonna be passing them out. So if you didn't, then grab those now. and while we're making announcements. Let's see, what else? Now, because today is homecoming, it's a special day. Obviously, it's the Lord's Day, but it's homecoming, and also it's the start of special services. They begin tonight at 7 p.m., and our guest speaker for this morning will be with us tonight and tomorrow night, then on Tuesday and Wednesday night, and again, it's every night at 7, but on Tuesday and Wednesday night, Reverend Lee Shelnut is gonna be with us to speak Lee's a good friend of mine and has actually just started work on the mission field in Rwanda. In fact, I think that he came home yesterday from Rwanda. So we are delighted to have him. Both of our speakers are just wonderful and I know that you'll be blessed. So please do make the commitment to be here. We will also have our ice cream social Wednesday night after the final night of special services. And we'll be taking up an offering tonight and Wednesday night, a love offering for our speakers. But if you know you can't be here and you want to make an offering now, just denote it on the check or write it on the envelope. As far as other announcements go, I want to be quick because we have a special presentation for our Sanctuary Refreshing Project before we get started. But let me just also announce that fall is upon us, right? That means lots and lots of things are starting back. We have Rally Day on September 11th in two weeks. That's also when Youth Group will start meeting again every Sunday night. So Youth Group in two weeks at 530. Little Lambs starts back on the 18th. That's for our younger children. That's the first and third Sunday of every month and they meet from 530 to 630. Let's see, other things. Ah, you'll notice that there are flowers on the pulpit. That means that the Lord has added to his family specifically. That means that John and Maggie Liptrap are new grandparents and we congratulate them as Caleb and Nikki were blessed with a son, Cody James, this past Wednesday. And also you'll notice a fern that is up here to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Nancy and Bud Brooks. And so we congratulate them on their anniversary together. Y'all, the Lord is so faithful. Really, His blessings are new every morning, aren't they? We see that here at Old Providence. We see that as He works among our people and our family. So, congratulations to you all. Now, there are other things like CDs for the daily devotionals are in the hallway, but I'm going to let you find those sorts of things in your bulletin. Do plan on staying for lunch and come back tonight at 7 p.m. Now I want to turn things over to Rob Marsh and Randy Brevard who are going to make a presentation about sanctuary refreshment. Y'all come up here, please. Hi. We're really excited to be in the process of getting ready to start the project. We're very fortunate that David Smith has taken on the challenge of heading the committee to organize the implementation of the work that's going to be done in conjunction with the Deacons. It's all the safety work and the changes in the sanctuary. You'll hear more about that later. But we're also excited to say we're ready to start our fund drive now. Our goal is $300,000 to complete this project. We already have $40,000 in the fund that we haven't started yet. There are different ways we're going to use, finance ways, to get the money to get to $300,000. One is you can just drop a check in any time. We have special envelopes back there for the refurbishing funds. Or you may want to, if you're in a Sunday school class or a group, you may want to have a fundraising project to help produce those funds. But we're also going to do what we did 15 years ago when we built the manse and we built Providence Hall at the same time, we had a pledge draw. And we're going to do it the same way. If you remember, for those of you who haven't been here, I'll explain how we're going to do it. But we have a form here, and you put in your pledge. And you put in whether you're going to give it in a weekly or monthly or yearly or just one time. This will give us an idea as to where we are in our fund expectation. But I can tell you, this is a no-pressure flood drive. By that I mean, when you put your name on here, we're not going to be calling you and say, hey, when is this check coming? It's a commitment between you and the Lord. And the way it worked last year, the last time we did this flood drive, once we met our goal, the flood drive ended. And it ended a year before it was supposed to end. So this is going to be, again, on low pressure. You know, we're not holding anybody, we just want to get a rough idea. So, we don't like to have these cards collected by the end of September so we can get an idea together of how much money that we're going to have coming in and how much we're going to be short. Randy's done a lot of work. on this, and we've got a committee in place. But I want to tell you that everything, everybody's gift is going to be anonymous. We're not going to be reporting out. Nobody knows who's going to give what, what the pledge is. We're not going to keep track of, hey, did you give this money this year or that year? That's up to you all to do that. We just want to get a rough idea. I just also want to make a little bit of note, because always, when we start talking about money in a church, people start to get a little bit nervous. Do we have enough money to do this, plus make budget? If on the inside, this is our halfway mark. And inside your bulletin, this is our budget plan. And as you'll see, we're actually over $2,000, though if you're reading the bulletin, we're under $4,000. That's an average that you take per month. We're actually doing rather well. We also have money in the bank that's already in the form of CDs. So if we didn't get anything in, we could pay for this project, right? We have enough money in TDs, but what we want to do is save one to that for right now, use what we need to do for the safety stuff, and then the session, once we're done, we know where we're at, what we collected, we can go over how much money we have, and then how we're going to deal with that. But I don't want anyone to be nervous. The Lord has been faithful to this church. He'll continue to be faithful to us. And so we're confident that we're going to finance this project without any difficulty. Randy, anything else you want to add? Just that these are set throughout the sanctuary down in the basket. And you'll see the church that we normally use to put money in, there are two churches there. One is for the general fund, and the other one is for our sanctuary refurbishing fund. And you can put your envelope in there, or you can put your checks in there, or you can put them in the offering plate. Which I also, for people who are not here, we're not, because of COVID, we haven't been doing passing the offering plates. So we keep them up front or on the side if you can prop them. So thank you all very much. What Robin said is true. The Lord has indeed been faithful. Think about the ways that he has provided for this church in our 280th year here together. We look forward to seeing how the Lord will remain faithful, but ours is also the challenge to seek the Lord's face, to pursue him together as the family of God. And we look forward to doing that together. Now, with announcements being made, let's prepare our hearts for worship as Donna leads us in the prayer. and and and StSq2 2.60 Our call to worship this morning, especially as it's homecoming, I think is rather appropriate. It's Psalm 100, and it says, shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His, His people. The sheep of His pastures, enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. Now, the psalm doesn't end there, it could, but the psalmist gives us a reason for all of these things. It doesn't have to. The Lord can command our worship and he is worthy, but the reason that's given is this. The reason we're called to do these things is in verse five. For the Lord is good and his faithful love endures forever. It doesn't matter what corner of Christianity you go to, we all have this claim pointing to God's faithfulness. But certainly here, today, this time, the fact that we are gathered in this place, that the Lord has given all of its points to His gracious love and provision. So as the psalmist said, let us turn our hearts to Him in joy as we worship Him together. Let me pray, and then after I pray, we'll pray the Lord's Prayer together and confess the Apostle's Creed, both of which will be on the screen if you need them. Let's go to the Lord now. Our God and our Father, what a blessing it is to be here. What a glorious thing it is to have this time. That you, in your love and your mercy, in your might and your power, you called us here. Not a single one of us by accident. You brought us here today and you brought us here to worship you. As a result, that means you brought us here to turn away from those things of the world that would distract us. To take our minds that may be filled with so many different things, and our heart as well, and to train them on you. Father, when we do so, we see your magnificence. We experience your love, your grace, your mercies that are new every morning. And as a result, it is with humble and grateful hearts that as the psalmist wrote, we shout with joy to you, thanking you for all of your blessings. Father, as we come into this time of worship, as we lift up songs of praise, as we go to your word later, as we are lifted spiritually into the presence of Christ to receive all those benefits that you promise us as a result of your covenant love. We pray that you would be with us in these things, that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit, that this time would be pleasing to you. And we pray it all in Christ's name and we pray are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. And now as we say the Apostles' Creed together, let me ask you, Christian, what is it that you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, Amen, indeed. Now let's stand together and take our hymn books. The words are on the screen also, as we sing together all verses of holy, holy, holy. It's number 11 in your hymn book. So please stand with me as we sing. holy holy holy merciful and mighty you. Alleluia, Joseph, O man, thy glory make us see. Only thou art holy. Holy, holy, holy! Lord Almighty! All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy! You may be seated. I'm going to ask the children to come down. I don't know how many we have this morning. I'm not good at judging those things. Let's start with the middle pew over here. Come on down, kids. But as they're coming down, you guys have a seat. I want to introduce our guest speaker right now before the children's sermon because Mr. Alex Pettit is going to be doing the children's sermon. But don't forget to come back up here for the regular sermon. There is a biography in the bulletin this morning, right? It talks about his wife, Jamie, how they met as three wonderful children, Abigail, Eliza, and Josiah. But Alex is the executive director for World Witness, which is the missionary agency for our denomination. And he does incredible work for our churches and even more importantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ. But all of these things being said, I also quite personally consider Alex a dear friend. He has been such a blessing to me, to my family, and I very much enjoyed getting to know him better over this last year in Europe. And now he's staying with us in the manse there. Alex loves the Lord, and his great desire is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world, and we are very excited that you're here, Alex. Now, I'll let you do the children's circle. I know you don't know me, and I don't know you, but I bet there's something we have in common. Do you like ice cream? Yeah? Okay, that's an easy one, right? Soft serve, right? Okay, so tell me, what's your favorite kind of ice cream? My favorite is chocolate chip. Chocolate chip. That's close to mine. What about yours? My favorite is chocolate. Chocolate? Chocolate chip? Okay, I'm hearing a theme here. Is your favorite chocolate too? Oh, it is? I'm sorry, are you sure? It don't have to be. And what about yours? Chocolate. Chocolate? Wow, okay. Can anybody guess my favorite? Huh? No, it's not chocolate, it's mint chocolate chip. But as I get older, I can't eat ice cream and stay the same shape anymore. So sometimes when I go get ice cream with my children, I will take what's called a dad tax. Do any of your parents ever take licks of your ice cream? Never? Well, this girl, her head's not moving at all, so she's probably the one-eyed. So I, unfortunately, my kids hate the dad tactics when they all get ice cream, and I'm trying to be good, because ice cream changes my shape, but I will take one lick of their ice cream, and they are not happy about it. What about Chick-fil-A? Do you guys like Chick-fil-A? Yeah, no? You don't like Chick-fil-A? You're the one, wow. She can clap her hands, she likes Chick-fil-A. How about chicken nuggets? Oh, yes, everybody. Why could you not like Chick-fil-A but like chicken nuggets? Oh, just in general, okay. Well, chicken nuggets, you get five nuggets in a kid's meal, and sometimes one of my kids will order a chicken sandwich and finish it really fast, and my son, Josiah, will get a five-count chicken nugget, and he'll eat three of them, and my oldest daughter, Abigail, will look over at that nugget and think, man, I wonder if he'll give me his nugget. Do you like sharing your nuggets? You do like sharing your nuggets? Okay, well, because my kids don't like sharing. You what? All right, so my kids sometimes like to share their nuggets, usually don't. What if I said though, what if you shared one nugget and you got two back? Would you want to do it then? Maybe, if you got two in return? What if you got two in return 50 years later? Would you want to share then? You would, you would? But my kids, not so much. Well, the gospel is something that we share the good news of Jesus. Sometimes we're hesitant to share it. We don't want to share it. We're a little embarrassed or we're scared, but sometimes it's because we think it's for our church only. And we know that's not true. The gospel is something that has been around since Genesis 3.15, we're gonna talk about that in a little bit. It's something that's meant to be shared for all people and for all time, and God promises as we share it, maybe not in this life, we don't see it, but we receive blessings and joy in return. So can I pray for us that we will be young people willing to share our ice cream, willing to share our chicken nuggets, and willing to share the gospel for all people, okay? Can I pray for us to do that? Dear Lord, I thank you for these children. I thank you for their hearts of sharing, their love for chocolate ice cream, and as they grow, their love for Jesus. I pray that it would be a great gospel that they are willingly and gladly shared to all the nations, that they would know that you are Lord and you are God, and you would do it through children such as these. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Jesus. Now, as they are being dismissed, let's turn our hearts and minds to the Lord as we go to Him in silent prayer, and then I'll lead us in the pastoral prayer. Let's go to the Lord. Eternal God and Heavenly Father, whether it is in the psalmic praise that we have lifted up or in your word that we have heard from, or even just now, the reminder of the good news of Jesus Christ that starts all the way back at the beginning. We have received so many reminders already today of your greatness, of your holiness, of your might, of your power, but also your mercy, that you are indeed seated on high, yet you are our Father, that you do oversee the affairs of mankind, that nothing happens outside of your sight, your vision, your control, and yet you direct our steps. You know our lives and what we need before we even know what we need and before we have the good sense to recognize what we need. You love us in so many ways, ways that we don't see, and your blessings pour out. And yet, Father, often we miss it. Whether it is our priorities taking precedence over your priorities for us, whether it's selfishness, whether it is getting caught up in sin of one variety or another, The evil one constantly attacks and looks for ways to exploit us, looks for ways to render our testimonies ineffective, looks for ways to drive us to a state of discord and disagreement and ultimately steal our joy, taking our eyes off of you. Yet, Father, again and again, you draw us back. We are prone to wander, but you hold on to us. and you display your love in so many ways. Father, forgive us for those times that we wander. Forgive us for those times where we seek our own way instead of your way. And our greatest desire is not what you want, but instead what we want. Work in our hearts in these ways. Help us to recognize who we are, what we do, why we do what we do. And in all of these things, remind us again and again of your love and your mercy, shown to us in so many ways, but especially through your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are here today because of him. The table is set, figuratively speaking, because of him, wherein we remember his body that was broken, his blood that was poured out, and all so that he would keep his word to build his church All for us. Father, again, keep us mindful of these things. Help us to not miss it in the cacophony of the world around us and the attacks of the evil one. Help us to keep our eyes set on you and on the glorious good news of Jesus Christ, that there is forgiveness of sins, there is newness of life, but only in him. Father, as we consider our challenges to this, we know that it is more than just the attacks of the evil ones that would prevent these things. We know that we struggle in this life, sometimes physically speaking. We face physical situations, health concerns. Some have had surgery, some are waiting on surgery, some have had COVID, some have it now, some are recovering. And there's so many other things here and there and everywhere that are taking place in our lives. All of us individually face challenges. So please intervene in these situations. Bring healing and restoration. And yet we face other challenges. Some are weird. Some are hurt. Some are angry. Some are lost and don't know you at all. They can hear my voice right now. Father, we pray again for your intervention. For those of us that need encouragement, please encourage. For those of us who need correction, In your mercy, please correct us for those of us who do not know you. Oh, Father, that you would open our eyes, draw them to yourself, and let them see Jesus Christ. Yeah, Father, we know that we are not alone in Christianity. It can feel that way. Your evil one can tempt us to only consider the affairs of old prophets, when in reality, the world around us is groping in darkness that manifests itself every day. Help us to have your heart, to have your desire, to see the nations come to you, and help our faith to be big enough to realize that you can use even old prophets here on this hill in Spotswood. You can use us to effect change that absolutely changes the world. can do it here. So help us to be mindful of these things. As it relates to our work here, help us to be ever cognizant of the opportunities that you bring our way. Help us to look, to be sensitive to your Holy Spirit, and to take those opportunities to testify to your greatness. For indeed you are great. And again, Father, as it's homecoming, I pray your blessings on this church. We thank you for your faithfulness that has been so evident. And as we wait on your son's return, we pray that in turn, we would be faithful to you. And we pray these things in Christ's name, amen. You know. ♪ Flow from your spirit ♪ ♪ In him I come from the present ♪ ♪ I know that I am a miracle of God ♪ Sing a hymn for Iowa City. We'll pay our rent, we'll buy our food, we'll run and we'll hope we can Nature is our help to guide me. I will guard your well-being. While you undergo this curfew. ♪ I will shine like the day ♪ ♪ I will shine like the day ♪ ♪ I will shine like the day ♪ I am your holy light. So I'll praise you. Father, I thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord. You give me everything. You give me my God as home. I praise you for I am here living. Your works are wonderful. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Thank you so much for once again, we welcome Mr. Alex. Through Europe, I'm sure he told you a little bit about that, but he was able to see us, the moderator for the Synod, kind of the world stage of what the Lord is doing. And tonight I'll give a brief update of what the Lord is doing through your mission agency. which is who I represent here this morning. And as we get ready to read the word Isaiah 49, one through six, let us keep our own minds and hearts that we have an opportunity to impact the gospel globally, right where you are as you live, people of worship of our God almighty. So if you have your Bibles, please open to Isaiah 49. And if we have it on the screen, of course, verses one through six, which is what we'll read today. Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, and the shadow of his hand he hid me. He made me a polished arrow, and the quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, you are my servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, I have labored a day, and I have spent my strength for nothing in vanity. Yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God. And now the Lord says, He who formed me from the womb to be a servant, to bring Jacob back to him, that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength. He says, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the preserve of Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. Lord Jesus, as we turn to meditate on what it means to be a light for the nations, as what it means to be a proclaimer of an eternal gospel, would you allow us not only to feel the conviction to speak, but the heart of change in our lives as we seek to worship you first and foremost. as our great God Almighty, the light and the gospel for all nations. Amen. As I looked and heard a little bit of the history of this church, Old Providence, this is an old church, it's in your name, and as I think about age and the oldness of churches in the South, I think about the hundreds of years of history that led up to the church to where it is today. relative. Because when you're a place like Israel, you don't measure things in terms of the last few hundred years, you measure in terms of the last 2,000 years. And then as you go down to a place like Egypt, you'll see that life is measured in terms of multiple millennia. So age is a very relative matter when it comes to the faith, but we see in Genesis 315, I alluded to it briefly in the children's sermon, that something that is ageless or timeless is the gospel itself. You've probably heard it talked about the Podo-Evangelium. It's the idea in Genesis 3.15 where it says, and he will bruise your heel and he will stomp your head. That is referring to how Jesus one day will crush the head of Satan and have eternal victory for all time. It's one of the very first things hinted as the scriptures were given to us in Genesis. And I hear hints and seed hints of this time and time again today. 15 years ago, I was in Israel. We served both in Israel and Turkey, and we were in a birthing class from our first child, Abigail, and our class was full of Orthodox Jews. We were the only non-Jews in the whole class. And there was one Jewish couple in particular, and his name was Micah, And he asked if I wanted to go out one night, because he hadn't really met a Christian before. And he wanted to know a little bit more about Christianity or get to know Christians. He'd grown up in an Orthodox Jewish community his entire life. So he and I go out, and we spend just a few times. And he's a guy that gets right to the point. He says, OK, I don't know you very well, but I'm just going to say something. I'm going to throw it out there. I heard that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. What does that mean for someone like me? set up like that. That's like a film clip on how to evangelize. That never happens. So I thought, where did you hear this? That was the only thing I could think to say. I didn't give him some epiphany response. Where did you hear this? He said, well, seven years ago, for some reason or other, I was in New York City. And a taxi driver turned around and shared that with me. And I've just been thinking about it ever since. You never know where or how the gospel is going to pop up. But you know what he proclaimed about the gospel, and that is a sinful statement. That was his Genesis 3 15. He died for the sins of the world. He overcame evil. He crushed the evil one. That very old gospel perseveres today in all our lives and everything that we're hearing is right here in Isaiah. In Isaiah, I would say, right now it's working to bring together fuller understanding of what that gospel is and who that gospel is for. So it's bringing past and future together in this one text in Isaiah. Now this is called, this part of Isaiah is the second servant song. We see this servant, we're going to talk a lot about the servant. But the servant in this text, the first question is, who is this servant? You get echoes of all kinds of things a servant could be. We'll try to distill that down. It may not answer perfectly for you. But there are four songs that discuss the servant Isaiah. And today we will discuss simply this one as the second servant song. And we see it both in Isaiah 42.6 and Isaiah 49.6, where the servant is referred to as the people of Israel. That's the most obvious one I think we see. In fact, it even talks about Israel in the text. It goes back and forth. Now, of course, it was talking to a people, Isaiah's writing this, knowing that the people are going to be in exile. For their sin and rebellion against God, they're going to be lifted out of the land of Israel, the Promised Land, and they're going to be sent over to Babylon. So Isaiah's writing a letter that will be read later on to the people there to remind them of who God is and where they're from. and what they're intended to do. So that's how this song of the servant is coming together. Let's talk a little bit more. Verse three, since you are my servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Now that seems to think that this must be the nation of Israel, who were supposed to obey God in all things, to show who he is. But you know, this word for glory is not the normal word for glory. The word for glory, when you study it, usually you come across the word for glory being heaviness. You've heard the weight of glory, this term. Weight of glory just means the heaviness of heaviness. But here it doesn't use that word, it uses the word beautify. So you will be my servant Israel in whom you will be beautified. Now what does it mean to beautify something? My wife has this orange and white shirt with orange flowers on it. She'll wear it on a date night sometimes. And my wife is beautiful. I think she's gorgeous. When she wears this shirt, for some reason, I think she looks even more gorgeous. And occasionally, she'll wear a shirt that maybe I don't like. And she'll go, what do you think? Men, what do we say? Well, first of all, I hold my tongue because I'm told I have no fashion sense. And this is true. And second of all, I don't want to ruin the date night, so I say nothing else. My wife, when she wears this shirt, she looks even more beautiful. But in this sense of being more beautiful, it means not that the people of Israel will have outward adornments, or even priestly clothes, that will show how beautiful God is. It's talking about a heart of obedience. In fact, if something is going to adorn God, that which adorns Him must be perfectly, perfectly beautiful. Was that Israel? If you look on Isaiah 48, 18, oh, that you would have paid attention to my commandments, then your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Oh, that you would have done that, but you didn't. Jeremiah 13, 11, for as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord. that they might be a people for me, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen. One author named Gilbert Pierre wrote, like a dog drawn to a fire hydrant, Israel is naturally and irresistibly attracted to false gods. Israel in the Old Testament, if you talk to Jews today, Jews are going to have a wide swath of opinions. We never think a Jew is one thing. Micah, my friend, is one type of Jew, one type of Orthodox Jews. But there's, like us, there's dozens, hundreds of different types out there. But many of them will say, when they look at these old texts, they are referring to the nation itself, not always living up perfectly. But in Second Temple Judaism, Second Temple is the time when Jesus walked the earth and before, about 100 years before during the construction of the Second Temple, they really don't talk about these verses. In fact, when it comes to being a light for the nations today, that gets very, very little discussion amongst modern scholars and ancient Jewish scholars as well. John Mackey says that the conduct of the people had been as such they forfeited the right to the name Israel. Because the nations did not give Yahweh his splendor and to ensure the continuance of Israel's purpose, there's a transfer of the title to the servant who will embody all that Israel was supposed to divinely lead up to. And think about this, this term Israel is so funny. What is Israel? We heard it first declaratively talked about the patriarch Jacob. So Israel's a person, right? The person Jacob. But then we understand that it was a nation brought out of Egypt, and it was of course an entire nation after the patriarch Jacob. And now, in this text, it's being reduced back again, back into a person, who is obviously at some points Isaiah, the actual author. of this text, of this book. But we know it's to be something else as well. You see these patterns of what Israel is and what it will be. Covenantal patterns are ultimately the key to understanding Messianic fulfillment. I know we haven't definitively named the servant. Let's tease it out a little bit longer by looking at what the servant is called to do. And verses one and two, the Lord called me from the womb. And his message has target areas, has a calling that's very early on, before the even birth of the servant, and it has target areas. He made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow. In his quiver, he hid me away. This tells us a few things. His mouth is a sharp sword, so it's not actually a sword for some sort of military conquest. When your sword is in your mouth, it's a battle of words, obviously. And what type of weapon is a sword for? A sword is for close combat, for everything that's around us right here. This is the purpose of a sword in the ancient days. And we see that the sword, of course, in the New Testament, the VBS theme over and over, the sharp sword, the sword of truth, is, of course, the scriptures. And I went, I served no time in the military, but I went to a military college called the Citadel. I understand you have some similar little school near here. Any VMI, any VMI grads in here? Oh, a few, all right. Top of the day, good deal. But anyways, I heard recruiter talks all the time. And one of the things that we were told early on was that any Marine, the very first thing that a Marine is, and there are probably Marine personnel in here, You're first a Marine, you're first a rifleman. The first thing you're taught and trained, no matter what kind of logistic job you're gonna do, no matter what kind of combat job you're gonna do, you're first a rifleman. This is what we are as believers in Jesus Christ. We first wield the sword of truth. We are all meant, we are all taught, we are also, no matter what job you hold in the church, no matter what job you hold in the world, when you are called to combat, you're a swordsman, called to close combat around you. But secondly, you have another weapon imagery employed here, that of a polished arrow. Now the polished arrows, or the archers of these ancient times, were artillery. And of course their job was to make sure that whatever type of damage or what's going to be employed was going to be employed at a great distance, comparatively, on the scope of the battlefield. So some, some of us, perhaps even in this congregation, from a young age have been polished. and maybe ready to be the arrow that goes far away. Now the difference is, of course, one, you have a mandate all around you. Whether you're a polished arrow, even an archer in those days would have potentially carried swords. But all of us have the responsibility of being gospel proclaimers, truth proclaimers, wherever you are. You're first to rifle, you're first to sword, truth bearer. But some of us are called to go away from this. Now, the definition of missionaries has been diluted, integrated over the years, and discussed. Yes, we're all missionaries. In the sense that we all bear God's truth around us, we're all missionaries. But the word missionary itself is not actually in the New Testament, that word missionary. It's not a word that, of course, is a Greek word. But we do get it from the word apostolate. What I mean by apostolate, and I don't mean declaring new revelation of God, what I mean by is that which is sent out in a way. So we sling missionaries are to leave the comfort and safety of a congregation or church to go into the heart of darkness in the land in a place and to do battle with darkness wherever they are with the prayers of the Saints and the hopes of the nations and the presence of the Holy Spirit with them, but not necessarily the church triumphant. This is why they are so polished. This is why they have to be, from a young age, mended and smooth and ready to be sent out. All of us are sword bearers. Some of us are polished arrows. And over these talks that I'm here for, the next three times, and as Lee Shelnut even comes in, I'd ask you to consider whether you are, or you know, a polished arrow in your midst. And what is his target? Verse five. We see that Jacob is to be brought to him. Now Jacob, as we understand it in this context, Jacob is ethnic Israel. Everybody who's genetically born of a child of the two Israel couples. So think about it this way. An ethnic Israel would be, let's say, ARPs who have been raised in this church and have given birth to covenant children in this church, your ethnic Israel. It doesn't make you more special, sorry, but your ethnic Israel. Israel itself is all those that are in gathering. So those of you who have come from the outside and are gathered in and now are part of this congregation or are visiting this congregation and looking on and seeing the Lord at work and the word preached and as the Holy Spirit guides your heart, maybe you are part of the broader family of Israel. And then, of course, the nations are the ones that have yet to hear. Everyone outside this church are part of the nations. See, the text here, the crux of it is a little bit of an admonishment for what Israel was supposed to do. Verse six, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob. and to bring back the preserved of Israel, I will make you as a light to the nations, that my salvation shall reach the ends of the earth." Do you think the nation of Israel ever got that? I've looked at the biblical texts a lot in the Old Testament to try to understand, was there a sense that they understood that calling? And today, I can tell you that that calling does not exist amongst the ethnic Israel, the reborn group of Jews that live in the land of Israel today. In fact, I was working in a ministry for a number of years there where our name was Sheva Nathim, which means Brothers Together. It was a medical ministry. And we thought about changing our name. trying to make something more palatable to the Jewish society. Now, Shabbat HaKim wasn't unpalatable like that, but we thought, you know, what else could we do a little better? So we looked at this text, Isaiah 49, and the word for light to the nations is or la goyim. Or means light, la, vi, for thee, and the nations are goyim. Have you heard the term goyim before, maybe? Well, there was an Israeli on our staff, And somebody said, what about the word orla goyim in the Israeli? Like, blurt out their matzah ball sequence. Don't ever call yourself that. Because the word goy, at least in the mouth of modern Hebrew speakers, probably everyone, but for the most part, is still considered a little bit derogatory, or a little bit of insult. You're not quite Jewish. So that is the modern mindset, for the most part. of the modern state, so no, I'm not sure that they ever fully got it. And we know that there is only one perfect, obedient servant that could really embody all that has been discussed. In the Gospel of John, we read who this was. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with the God in the beginning. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made. In him was life, and life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and darkness is not overcome. And in verse 18, it says, God gave us grace through the law of Moses, now grace and truth comes to us through Jesus Christ. And we see the full clarity of it in Acts 13, 47, when Paul himself reveals that he and his compatriots, and by extension, we the church, are the light to the nations. What is the servant? Israel as it should have been. the church, you, me, us, as we must be, with Jesus Christ as He is forever and ever and ever. That is the sermon. Israel, in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament, laid exclusive claims to Yahweh that made ingraphing Preclusive. But Yahweh is not exclusively ours as if we, the church, exercise some propriety over Him, but we are exclusively His. And His love is for all whom He appoints in an everlasting way, whether it is members of Old Providence, whether it is members of Baptist churches in this area, Virginia Presbytery, our ARP denomination, South Koreans, North Koreans, Ukrainians, Russians. I remember a world witness missionary named Scott Andy, he's telling me the story. In 2014, when Russia was working to annex Crimea, there was a pastor there, As the tanks begin to roll into Crimea, they said to the pastor, pastor, you know, you've got to flee. You're in danger by staying here. And he turned and he said, I am a pastor of the gospel, whether I speak Ukrainian or Russian. Isn't this the call of missions, the spread of the gospel without pride, without prejudice, or without preclusion? We as a denomination, you might know this, was founded in 1782. We took on different forms over the years, but let's say we generally agreed that it took us 110 years to send our first missionary in 1892. 110 years. That first missionary, who you may know as one of my heroes of the day, was a young lady named Mary Galloway, given after many false starts and efforts to send men. Finally, this woman who had been writing letters, theological letters under a pseudonym, was called upon by our denomination to be the first person sent out. She went to Egypt. She lasted about four years before she passed away after giving birth to her second child. But during those years, there are memoirs written about her. In fact, at her going away party, there was this celebration going on and people were weeping over her departing. And this family called the Presley family was so moved by the outpouring of love for this woman that they themselves committed to missions. And they went on to be the founders of the AARP denomination in Mexico. And as the letters were put together that she had written home by her uncle, the letters were called The Life and Letters of Mary Galloway Giffen. They became booklets that the AARPs used to use to help promote missions amongst their young people. And another lady, Minnie Alexander, began reading this book. In fact, there was, in the words of one author, there was too much hilarity one Sunday Sabbath in their home, and the mom was so frustrated with the kids, they made all the kids go read their Bibles, and they told Minnie Alexander to go read the life and letters of Mary Galilee, and she did, and she received, that was part of her conviction process, to where she would be, again, another type of founding missionary member of our denomination that was sent to India, to Pakistan, and became the first AARP person to minister in that area and help found the AARP denomination in Pakistan, which represents about 100,000 people, and is almost four times our size as a denomination today. We got late in the game, but when we came, we came with great courage and much conviction. I pray that you as Old Providence would consider continuing to stay in the game first by sword bearing right here where you are. Right here. That's your first area. Before you think of going anywhere else, If you were to look around 360 degrees, where is your areas of loving gospel, gentle proclamation of truth to your neighbors, your family members that you've been praying for, workers that you've been asking about, telling the gospel out for years. In fact, this guy, Zach, he texted me two days ago. He and I have a running, long thread going. This conversation hasn't stopped in 15 years. I'm not sure he was any closer to the gospel. I'm kind of tired. Are we keeping that going right where we are? And then you amongst you, maybe, is a polished arrow, ready to be sent away from the comfort of the community, of the church, triumphant and glorified right here, and into the heart of the battle of darkness, sent by your prayers and your love and your faith, your hopes and your dreams. Is that arrow present today? or would you be willing as a congregation to pray that one as such would be raised up? Before you think that you're too small, or that you haven't done it that way in a long time, or we don't know anybody like that, I'll close with just briefly a little story about the Morning Star ARP Church. You don't know, and that's fine. It's a little church in Florida. Many years ago, a missionary named Ron Brunson, who was the father of Andrew Brunson, who you probably know that name at least. He was speaking at this little Morning Star ARP church, and there was a visitor that day, a young woman whose dad was Pakistani. Her mother, I believe, was Pakistani as well, but she was born and raised in the States. Nonetheless, her father was a devout Muslim, and she began to visit churches along with her mother. And eventually she became a person of faith, much against and to the great chagrin of her father. She was a Muslim who converted to Christianity, and heard Ron Brunson that day speak about the need for missionaries to Pakistan, and this was her heritage and background. And she had a heart and a conviction to do it, so she goes to a conference in Atlanta, which is just for Muslim background believers called MBBs, who are there to kind of figure out how they can continue to bring the gospel to other Muslims in the world who could yet be close to converting. And she meets a man named Amjad there. Amjad is a Pakistani himself, who was greatly influenced, and under the discipleship of Frank Van Dalen, my predecessor, completely unrelated And there's no connection between Morningstar ARP and the mission work that's happening in Pakistan, other than they were both part of the same denomination. But during that, at that man's, early on in that man's life, Franklin Adelaide had influence over him, and he came to saving faith. And this young lady from Morningstar ARP and him met at this conference in Atlanta, and now they have one of the most successful underground churches for the Pakistanis themselves, right there in the United Kingdom. simply by inviting a missionary one day, and a young, visiting Muslim woman who became a believer in Christ, became one of Morningstar's biggest missionaries. Just faithfully preach, faithfully bring in missionaries, and see who the Lord has as a polished arrow from His congregation on His back. Lord Jesus, we thank you that we have obligations, first of all, to be the beautified Israel in our obedience to you. Second of all, within that gospel obedience and that gospel light, to be a witness for our neighbors, our family members, especially those that we have become tired of witnessing to, Lord, knowing that our time and your time are very differently measured and that, Lord, they may yet come into faith. Take a moment of privilege to pray for Zach, that you would pray for Michael, that you would continue to work on him. Bring him to saving faith in Jesus Christ. And also, for all of those who are sitting here thinking about that one family member, or that dozen family member, or that one friend, that one co-worker that they've been faithfully trying to share with for, but maybe have, it's been a long time since you've prayed for them. I pray for, right now, in these two seconds of silence, they would pray for this person to come to faith. Now I pray, Lord, that you would indeed begin to shape the heart of this congregation, to understand what it means to polish arrows, and to one day, out of the act of love for the nations and love for you, to send that out with our prayers and hopes and dreams, that we would become the Israel you have called us to be, a light for the nations. Amen. Thank you so much, Alex. What a wonderful, wonderful charge that is, which I'll speak more about in just a few moments. But first, for those of you that have been at Old Providence for some time, you know that we have a tradition, and I happen to love that tradition. on the Lord's day, and that is when we come together on the Lord's day and take communion, we always sing Bible song number 242. We're gonna sing the first two stanzas, and then we will save the last for after we celebrate communion together. But please stand with me now and take your Bible song books, or the words are on the screen, as we sing Bible song number 242, I Love the Lord, the green book. I love the Lord, for he gave me my voice and song. Because he hath in mind his care, I, while I live, will on him call. What gift, creature, for bid I live, for all I live, ♪ Come to Thee ♪ ♪ My servant and I can make sure ♪ ♪ Thou hast a heart deliver me ♪ ♪ What in greater good can I make ♪ ♪ For all I give to Thee ♪ You may be seated. My friends, as we consider the word that Alex has brought to us this morning, this charge to be a light to the nations, this charge to take up the sword of the spirit and to be ready to do battle. How are we to do these things? Well, it's only through the Lord's strength, that's how. Through the Lord's blessings. He's blessed us in so many ways. He's given us one another. He's given us old providence, and he's called us to be a regular part of worship, wherein we are iron sharpening iron, challenging each other, blessing each other. He has given us prayer, most certainly that we can go to him. He has given us his word, wherein he guides us. And he has given us, again, while we have dispersed the communion elements throughout the sanctuary, but he has given us his table. And of course, this is quoting Psalm 116, but that cup points forward to the cup that we take today. The elements that we partake of. For it's in communion that we don't just come together to remember, and we do remember. We remember the body and the blood of our Lord that was broken and blood that was poured out for us. We remember these things. But it's also through communion that we are lifted spiritually. into the presence of Christ to receive the benefits of belonging to him. And one of those benefits is the grace that we so desperately need to go through life in a manner that is pleasing to him. To use the language that Alex used, to be ready to wield that sword, to polish arrows, to be lights in the world around us. And so as we come into this time, let us come with grateful hearts. Let me tell you, as we take communion together, you are invited to take communion with us. However, be warned. Communion is for those, first off, that belong to the body of Christ, for those that are Christians. So if you don't know the Lord, and you know that you don't know the Lord, let the bread and the cup pass. But God's word also offers further warning. Communion is for those that follow Christ, but also for those who are living in faith. As I say every time I serve communion, this doesn't mean living perfectly, all right? If it was possible for you and I to live perfectly, then there would be no communion, because if we could be perfect, then God would have never sent Jesus. It would mean there's another way for us to be saved, through ourselves. But that's why I sent Jesus. We're not perfect, and coming to this table does not mean that you live perfect. If it did, I couldn't serve it and none of us could take it. However, God's word does point out that we ought to examine ourselves and determine if we are in active rebellion against God. Determine if there's a sin that you're holding onto that you won't turn loose. You know, sometime today, at homecoming, we celebrate the history of Old Providence. If you look back in the cabinet, in the back corner of the sanctuary, you will see these funny-looking little coins. They look like coins. They're actually communion tokens. The elders of Old Providence used to go through the community, those that were members, and they would examine those families. And they would determine whether or not they were running from the Lord, whether or not they were in sin. And if they were not, they would be given that communion token, and they could come to the table and take communion. If not, then they were not given that communion. Now, we don't practice that to this day. We do still fence the table, however. We practice the principle that we're about to read in 1 Corinthians 11, and we apply that practice differently. However, as I'm about to read, as Paul wrote, a man ought to examine himself, a woman ought to examine herself before you eat, before you drink, because of the danger that's involved. If there is sin that you won't turn loose, maybe it's a pattern of sinfulness. And no, I don't just mean the big things. And sometimes we look at those big sins and we say, oh yeah, that would prevent us from taking. Sexual sin, certainly. Bitterness in your heart, those sorts of things. Are you gonna gossip? Right? Is there something unresolved between you and somebody else? Do you hold bitterness in your heart? Do you refuse to forgive? I would point you not only to the parable of the unmerciful servant, That servant, though he had been forgiven more than he could ever have repaid, he refused to give his fellow servant. But I also point you to this warning that I'm about to read. In 1 Corinthians 11, we're instructed that, therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats the bread and drinks the cup, for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That's why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have died." Y'all, communion is a serious time. And so this time of examination is serious. However, let us not forget what communion represents. And again, It's the blood of Christ poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. If you'll go to it, if you'll confess your sin, then take and eat, take and drink all of it. And if you know that you don't know. Come and get me. Well, again, we're moving to Providence all as soon as this is over. I will leave my plate of glorious food to come and talk to you because let me tell you, there is no food on earth. There is no celebration on earth as important as you know in Jesus. But turn to him now and commit your heart to him. Let's now pray and thank the Lord for the body and blood of Christ, broken and spilled. Our God and our Father, what a blessing it is that you have blessed us in so many ways, but certainly in this time. This time where we remember, yes, but this time where we are lifted into your presence. We've done nothing to earn this. The only thing we've contributed to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. And yet, through Jesus Christ, we have belonging. We have newness of life, we have eyes that can see, ears that can hear, a heart that isn't one of stone but is of flesh that beats and beats for you and for your kingdom. We thank you for the body of Christ that was broken, for the blood of Christ that was poured out for it is by his wounds that you heal us. Our transgressions were laid upon him And he paid it all. So help us to be mindful of these things as we come into this time. And we pray it in Christ's name, amen. In 1 Corinthians 11, and I'll invite you to take the bread. But in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul goes on to write, for I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Take and eat all of it. And I'll ask you to prepare your boots. Paul goes on to write in 1 Corinthians 11, that in the same way, after supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me, for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he returns. This is the blood of Christ poured out for you. Take and drink all. My friends, as the sweetness of the juice is still in my mouth, as the deliciousness of the Old Providence communion bread is still there too, let these things remind us of God's goodness. Let these things point you to what he was willing to do. As I quote my beloved Hebrew professor that's with the Lord now, in chapel when I was in seminary, he served communion. It was just men there, of course. And he said, men, it's that communion. And this applies to all of us. He said, men, it's that communion where God grabs us by the lapels and gives us a good shake and says, look at it. This is what I was willing to do to save you. This is what I was willing to do to bridge that gap between you and me, not just now, but forever. Let us praise God for his faithfulness to us at this time on this homecoming, and let us continually seek his face. Now, please stand with me as we close by singing Bible song, the third stanza of 242, I Love the Lady. When with Christ our faith shall grow, Then God's pure love's fame will pour, Again, it is my hope that you will stay and enjoy our meal together right after. I'm going to pray and thank the Lord for the food, but wait until we all get in there and I'll tell you when we can get started. But let's pray and then receive the benediction. Our God and our Father, thank you for your goodness, your love, and your mercy. Thank you for the time that lies ahead, for the food that you have provided. We pray that it and the fellowship us to remember you and help us to be prepared and in fact to be likes of the world here on this hillside and beyond again father we thank you for the time that lies ahead we pray it in christ's name amen receive the benediction may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you may the lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace both now and forevermore