It's interesting the various ways we tend to mark and seek to remember history. When I was a younger man, one of the ways history was marked and remembered was by asking the question, where were you when Kennedy was shot? Even though I'm getting a little long in the tooth now, I was only two years old then. And today a different question is asked. Frankly, if you're in your mid to upper 20s or older, the question is, where were you on 9-11? And I know exactly where I was. I was in seminary, at Mid-America Reform Seminary. I came out of class and I was walking down the hall and I remember thinking it was a very odd thing that our dear office manager, was setting up a television right in the middle of the lobby. I can assure you that was unheard of at Mars. But it only took a second or two to realize what had happened. The nation had been attacked. And obviously this came to my mind because Monday was September 11th. And both legacy media and social media has inundated us, hasn't it, with stories and memes and slogans that all say something rather similar. Never forget. Remember those who died in the attack. Remember those who died in combat because of the attack. It's hard to imagine how many of those types of posts and news stories I saw in the span of a day or two. And again, I imagine you saw them as well. But here's an important question for us. Why are there so many of them? Why are so many people saying, don't forget what happened? I mean, on one level, it's because people care. They care about our country. They care of the lives that were devastated by those evil events. But why all the calls to remember? Because we just know intuitively, as human beings, we're prone to forget important events. We're prone to historical amnesia, and it can come upon us very quickly. And here's the thing we need to recognize as God's people, we're prone to spiritual amnesia. And we need to recognize that because God does. That's why his word is so filled with exhortations to his covenant people. Remember, remember who your God is. Remember what he's done for you. Remember your redemption. and think about how that should radically impact your life. You have to remember. I love how that's described, that this process of calling God's people to remember the way it's described in the great worship service when King David was bringing the ark into Jerusalem. I want you to listen to how Asaph exhorted God's people in 1 Corinthians 16, 12, then I'm gonna read verses 15 through 17. Israel, remember His marvelous works which He's done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth. Remember His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, His oath with Isaac and confirmed it with Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant. This is God's word telling us never forget. Remember his mighty saving works. And for Israel under the reign of David, the great mighty work that they were remembering was the Exodus. And the call was remember your God's covenant faithfulness. And one of the preeminent resources that God gives his people in all generations to remember is corporate worship. That's a place where a lot of our remembering happens. It's the opportunity for God's people to get together, to be renewed and refreshed in their covenant relationship with their God, to remember. Sure, worship is that which glorifies God, and that is certainly the highest purpose of worship, but biblical worship is also one of the great antidotes against spiritual amnesia. Now this morning, we're continuing this somewhat short series on corporate worship. And we're gonna be looking at the Great Covenant Renewal Worship Service in Exodus 24. And we need to know biblical worship is the best defense against our propensity for spiritual amnesia. And we get to gather each Lord's Day to remember the great and mighty acts of our God to save us. So we're learning what worship is and specifically why as a church we worship as we do. So let's seek the Lord and we'll get to work. Pray with me once more. Our great God in heaven, we thank you for your word eternally settled in the heavens. Assure solid foundation upon which your people can build their lives. We pray that that work would be written on the hearts of your people. That word would be written on the hearts of your people this morning. Teach us your truth. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let me ask you to open your Bibles first to Exodus 19. We're gonna read verses three through six, and then we're going to skip over and read Exodus 21, verses one through 11. Typically, as you know, we work through books of the Bible in a very expositional way. We're taking a little time to think about corporate So, again, Exodus 19, beginning in verse 3, this is the true word of our God. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. And then Exodus 24, Exodus 24. We're gonna read verses one through 11. Exodus 24, verse one. Now he, speaking of the Lord, said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord. But they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with him. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, all that the Lord has said, we will do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, this is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. And Moses went up also Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone. And it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank." Well, there ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word made blessed to our hearts this morning. congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's take a moment and do some review. What we've learned in Exodus 19 to 24 is the first large-scale covenant worship service in the Bible. And as I keep saying, that's why Israel was redeemed. They were redeemed from their Egyptian bondage to worship. We also want to remember that the language of Exodus 19 that describes Israel as a special treasure to the Lord and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, that language was picked up by the Apostle Peter to describe the church's identity and to teach us in 1 Peter 2 that the church was redeemed to worship. And what that means is that we can learn a lot about the nuts and bolts of worship from Exodus 19 through 24. Last week, we saw that Exodus 19 accounts for us Moses giving careful instructions to Israel. They're gonna take three days to get prepared for the worship service they're going to experience there at Mount Sinai. And the preparations have to be done with the utmost care because these men and women are coming into the presence. of a holy God. And of course we learn while our worship has been transformed by Christ, this principle really is still important. When we gather for corporate worship, dear ones, we are standing on holy ground, only we're not at the foot of Mount Sinai, we're at the foot of Mount Zion. And so the principle still applies to us, we ought to make special preparations. for the awesome privilege we have to worship our God. We'll actually have an opportunity to think more about that when we look at the Sabbath. And once more, Israel made preparations for worship in Exodus 19. This is sort of the flow of these four verses in Exodus 19. And then in Exodus 20 to 23, they learned the nature of their covenant relationship with God, or we could say the stipulations of the covenant for these men and women who are covenanted with God. And then the actual covenant renewal service, the worship service, culminates in Exodus 24. And you remember the other thing we learned last week? Is this worship service began with a call to worship. with God telling Moses and the other elders, come up. Call to worship was God's summons and invitation for his people to enter into his presence. And again, I want to hammer this point. One of the main purposes of this study on worship is to be reminded why we worship as we do as a church. And right here, we're learning an important principle that we seek to apply. Corporate worship is initiated by God, and it's God's call to us to come into his presence. That's why, if you were to glance at your bulletin, you would see that the first actual act of worship is when God calls us into his holy presence. We do this because it's biblical. It reflects principles that we derive from scripture. And frankly, the implications of God calling us into his presence to worship, the implications are glorious. Listen to the way Dr. Robert Vashels describes the purpose of a call to worship. With a scriptural call to worship, God invites us by his word to join the worship of the ages and angels. God does not simply invite us to a party of friends or a lecture on religion or a concert of sacred music. He invites us into the presence of the king of the universe before whom all creation will bow and for whom all heaven now sings. With the call to worship, God's people are invited to participate in the wondrous praise that already and eternally enraptures the host of heaven. That's what we're invited into and summoned to when God calls us to worship. And that's where we pick up this morning. The next thing we want to learn about worship from this passage, and this is something I allude to quite a lot, is that covenant worship is a dialogue between God and his people. And what that means is that worship's a covenant conversation with God. Of course, as we just learned, he's our sovereign, and so he initiates the conversation. We respond, we enter into a dialogue with him. And that pattern is actually all over Exodus 19 and Exodus 24. But we see it very specifically there in verse three of Exodus 24. Moses spoke God's word to the people and all the people answered with one voice. So God spoke, the people responded. And in verse seven, after Moses read the book of the covenant, the people responded in faith and obedience. They said, all that the Lord has said, we will do and be obedient. Again, through the mediator, God spoke to his covenant people and they responded. That's a dialogue. It's a covenant conversation with God. Now, last week, we learned that there are a few important and noteworthy literary features that unfold in Exodus 19 and Exodus 24. I just want to remind you of these. In Exodus 19, and this doesn't come across as well in the English, but in Exodus 19, the Hebrew verb yirav, which means to come down or to stoop down, is used seven times. Exodus 19, come down, is used seven times. In Exodus 24, the Hebrew verb alah, which means to go up, It's also used seven times. And we know in the Bible that number seven is never arbitrary. And this shows us something wonderful about God's heart toward worshipers. It's His desire to stoop down to us through His appointed mediator, and it's His desire to bring us up to Him through His appointed mediator. And of course, this points us to Christ, who's our all-sufficient, incomparable mediator. the mediator to whom Moses pointed. And ultimately, he's the one who mediates and facilitates our covenant dialogue. But there's another literary feature in this text that I believe helps deepen our understanding of our covenant dialogue with God. In Exodus 19, you find the Hebrew root, again, I know this is a little geeky, pardon me, but you find the Hebrew word dabar, used seven times. In Exodus 24, again, you find the Hebrew root, dabar, used seven times. And just so you know, when that root is a verb, it means to speak. When that word is a noun, it means word. Again, I apologize if this is a little geeky. But here's the point, when God stoops down to His people through His mediator in Exodus 19, it's through the fullness or the completeness of His Word. That's what 7 indicates in the Bible, isn't it? And when God invites His people up to Him through His mediator in Exodus 24, it's through the fullness and completeness of His Word. And here's what that points us to and what it teaches us. First, Christ, the word, stands at the center of every covenant conversation or dialogue God has with his people. Moses pointed to that, Christ fulfilled that. And second, this gets us back to our study, all of our worship should be intentionally word-centered. Now in just a moment we're gonna see that the reading and teaching of God's Word surely is the focal point of worship, but all of our worship, not just the preaching, all of it ought to be Word-centered, at least if it's our desire that our worship would be God-centered. That's why if you look at our bulletin, we include as many biblical references as we can alongside the various aspects of our worship. And we have those in there, not because we want to be men and women who are restrictive or legalistic or stodgy. It's that we want to follow this pattern that we see in the Bible, the pattern that tells us how to meet with God through his mediator that won't necessarily be grounded in his word. That's why we do it this way, you see? And while this can certainly be applied in various churches in various ways and be faithful, you should, when you see a church's liturgy, you should be able to work through the way they arrange their service and know I see this is a covenant dialogue centered around the word of God. I can see that at this part of our worship, God is speaking to his people, or in this part of our worship, we're responding to God. This is the pattern we actually see all over scripture, a covenant dialogue centered on God's word. We got a glimpse of this back in our study of John 4. A couple weeks ago, you find this pattern particularly in the Psalms, where God's people are called to worship, they respond. God speaks, the people respond. It's almost a perpetual pattern of Psalms. You find it in Leviticus 9, 1 Chronicles 16, you see this pattern in heavenly worship, in Isaiah 6, where Isaiah was called at what was essentially a temple worship service. You see it in Revelation 4, and in many, many, many places. So covenant worship is this dialogue with God centered on God's Word where he seeks and we respond. And so, if there's some part of worship that doesn't fit in this God-centered, God-focused dialogue, then we really should ask, should it be a part of our worship? Because when we gather, we want to express our adoration to God. That's primary, and the best way to do that is to hear God's Word, sing God's Word, pray God's Word, confess God's Word, find assurance from God's Word in all of what we do. So this tells us something about the way our worship is structured. It's a covenant dialogue. And as I said, the heart of the covenant dialogue, the heart of covenant worship is the proclamation of God's Word to God's people. And we see that in, again, our passage in the first part of verse three. It says, Moses came and he told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And then in verse seven, we learned that Moses took the book of the covenant and read it. in the hearing of the people. So this reminds us that the word, and particularly the preached word, is the focal point of worship. It's right there smack dab in the middle of this covenant dialogue and this covenant renewal worship service. Now the people, they had heard the Ten Commandments, which was recorded back in Exodus 20, and then those commandments were explained and applied in chapters 21 through 23. And here in chapter 24, Moses repeats that and essentially preaches a sermon using God's law and God's application to God's people as he opens up the book of the covenant. As I said, there's quite a bit of flexibility where worship's concerned if you're applying biblical principles, but if God's word isn't opened up to God's people, it can't be rightly described as worship. Because the Word of God tells us who God is, what He's done in history, how He's redeemed us, and how He lives His people. This is the most important component of faithful worship, hearing His Word to us. It has to be central. Now, as important as preaching is, I'm not going to spend any longer on this because less than a year ago I preached three sermons on the doctrine of preaching. I simply want us to see how the reading and proclamation of God's Word fits into the context of a covenant dialogue. Preaching and teaching is the longest and most comprehensive way that God speaks to us in this dialogue. It's the time when he says, I've got an extended message for you. Listen, right? Next thing we see in this covenant worship service at Mount Sinai is an emphasis on sacrifice. Glantz there at verses four through six. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. I'm gonna pause there for a moment. It's not within the purview of this sermon to work this out, but do you understand what this is teaching us? Moses is writing the canon of scripture. This is an early record of Moses recording scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So another time. Verse four, Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and he rose early in the morning. and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and he put it in basins and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And then look there at verse eight. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, this is the blood of the covenant. which the Lord has made with you, according to all these words. So let's get this picture in our mind. Moses started by building an altar, presumably according to the instructions given back in Exodus 20, verses 24 through 26. And the altar, which represented God's presence, was a place in the old Testament for making sacrifices. And this was essential because sinners can only worship a holy God on the basis of sacrifice. There is no other way. Now, people actually worshipped God long before there was a temple or long before there was a tabernacle, but they never worshipped without an altar. When Noah and the patriarchs worshiped God, they always started by building an altar. And the altar that Moses is building here at the foot of Mount Sinai, it was actually used for more than one kind of sacrifice. Initially, these two types of sacrifices here were being offered by Israel's young men who seemed to serve as a kind of temporary priesthood until God appointed priests. Remember, that hasn't happened yet. One of the sacrifices was a burnt offering, or what's called the whole burnt offering. And that's a sacrifice where the entire animal was consumed. You can read about it in Leviticus 1. It was a very costly sacrifice. And it represented the full atonement for sin that God's people have. And then because of that, the full dedication that God's people have toward God. The other sacrifice mentioned in these verses represented peace with God. Those will later be called fellowship offerings. Again, if you're inclined to read, you can read about those in Leviticus 3. Unlike the burn offering, the fellowship offering wasn't consumed completely by the flames, but the flesh of it was ultimately grilled and was eaten by the worshiper as, again, an offering of fellowship with God. But before any of this could be done, And this is paramount. The blood had to be drained out of those sacrifices. Blood from the fellowship offerings was carefully collected in large bowls and then sprinkled on the altar. And this work with the blood, this was the most important part of the ceremony here in Exodus. Moses took half the blood, he sprinkled it on the altar, And then after he read the book of the covenant, think about that, which was essentially the law of God and the application of God's law, he took the other half and he sprinkled it on the people. Now, we understand that the Old Testament sacrifices, including the ones that confirmed this covenant, they were ultimately to teach God's people to look forward to a full and final salvation that would come. from the shedding of blood. And so this was preparing the way for Jesus, who ultimately shows us the full significance of these old sacrifices, where his shed blood on the cross was once for all for our sins. And you can work through the New Testament, I'm sure you guys are incredibly familiar with this, but the blood of Christ is that through which we find Romans 3.25, God presented him, Jesus, as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. Romans 5.9, we've now been justified by his blood. Ephesians 1.7, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 2.13, you've been brought near through the blood of Christ. Colossians 1.19, for God cross over and over and over. These blood sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus who shed his blood once for all for a full atonement of our sins so that we would be forgiven. And when Israel made these sacrifices, this was just a little lesson that pointed forward to that great truth, right? And it's remarkable what it teaches us. The blood of these sacrifices was sprinkled on the altar. That signified God will receive a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Then after the law was read, that blood was sprinkled on the worshipers to say, you have participation. in that forgiveness. Now in the New Testament, we don't need any more sacrifices, right? But this still teaches us an important principle in worship. We hear God's law. It's in our liturgy, right? To remind us, not so much that we need Christ-shed blood, but that Christ-shed blood has been poured over the mercy seat in heaven It's been poured over us and we're reconciled to God. And so what we do is the fulfillment of the sacrifices. And we do that every Lord's day because we need to remember. I need to move forward. I want us to see how this worship service consummated. how this worship service is consummated. There in Exodus 24. Let's read verses nine through 11. Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone. And it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand, So they saw God and they ate and drank. This is an incredible passage, right? Exodus 24 is incredible because it's a comprehensive portrait of what worship is, but it's also remarkable what we read in Exodus 24. because certainly Moses was God's appointed mediator. So he was the only one that could go to the very top of the mountain and enter into, as it were, the holy of holies. But God's giving us a picture that these elders, these other priests can come into the holy place as worshipers. But what's stunning is they see God and they see something of the glory of his presence in heavenly splendor. And frankly, one of the things that ought to shock us is why God didn't strike these sinners dead. And the text even indicates that that's odd. Because we're told, on the nobles of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand. The implication is we would have expected that. But this is a special condescension of God. that teaches that worship is ultimately, even though in the Old Testament it was far off, worship was to be a picture of God's people drawing near to God in fellowship. And so you find these men that we might have thought should be struck dead are actually experiencing close communion and union with God. They were eating and drinking in his presence. That's remarkable, isn't it? That was a sign of close fellowship, something you only did with those with whom you had a covenant of friendship. In the events of Exodus 24, they tell the story of salvation. Moses and the elder started at a distance. They were separated from God by their sin. But then God invited them to come into his presence. He gave them his word. He atoned for their sin through the blood of the covenant. Then they brought him into his presence where they could gaze upon his glory and get a foretaste of heaven. And it culminated with these redeemed sinners eating a covenant meal in the presence of God. That's why we do this. That's why the consummation of our worship service is a covenant meal with God. And if we learn to see worship with the eyes of faith, then we understand what we're getting in our worship experience is a glimpse and foretaste of heavenly splendor. You know, when Jesus celebrated the first Lord's Supper and the last Passover, he said something remarkable. It sort of turned the Mosaic Covenant on its head. God said, this is the, Moses said, this is the covenant in my blood. my blood of the new covenant, the one who would fully ratify our covenant with God. Well, Phil Reichen makes a wonderful observation about Exodus 24. He writes, it's not only the story of salvation, it's the story of a worship service, the first one fully described in the Bible. And it contains many of the basic elements of a public service and thus sets the pattern for biblical worship. There was a call to worship, the reading of God's word, confession of faith, forgiveness of sins rendered, and the sharing of a sacramental meal. And this was all done under the oversight of Israel's elders and by the servant appointed to lead public worship. And it was all done in the presence of a holy and glorious God. This is what worship is, meeting with God. And this is why God saved the Israelites, so they could worship Him. And this is why God saved us, so we could worship Him. And we need to gather each Lord's day, even twice on the Lord's day to worship, because we're prone to forget. And we need to have this covenant renewed. And you know how we know this? Because right after these events, Moses goes back up into the presence of God. And do you know what Israel does? They forgot. They forgot. And they worship the golden calf. We worship as we do because it's biblical. And because we're men and women who need to remember what God's done for us. May his worship serve to that end, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Let's pray. Father, again, we bless your great and holy name. We're thankful for your word that teaches us all we need for life and for godliness. And we pray that as a church, we would be impassioned and even consumed with the desire to worship according to your word. Again, not because we're harsh, legalistic, overly committed to structure, but because we want to worship you. And we want to worship you in spirit and in truth. We want to gather in your presence and enjoy you and glorify you. So make us be men and women who worship and worship in such a way that we always are reminded that you're our God You've redeemed us. We're the sheep of your pastor. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Well, brothers and sisters, as we prepare to come to the Lord's table, the invitation to come and celebrate this covenant meal is extended to all those who are trusting in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. And what that means is that you don't think that there's some part of your salvation that's accomplished by keeping the law, doing good things, being a good and proper kind of Christian. You come to this table knowing that the only reason you're redeemed is that Jesus offered his body and shed his blood as a sacrifice for you. salvation and you're a member in good standing of a Bible-believing church, then this is a communion feast, a covenant meal for you that doesn't describe you. Or if you're living in unrepentant sin and when the elements are passed around, simply let them go by you, repent of your sin, come back and join us next time. As we come to the Lord's table, one of the things we do with the historic church is confess the basics of the Christian faith. We use the Apostles' Creed, which you can find in the back of your hymnal on page 851. 851. Christian, what do you believe? I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. He descended into hell. 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 there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. And I'm going to read Matthew 26, verses 26 through 29. And I have a meditation from a dear Puritan brother, Stephen Charnock. The first year of God's Word, Matthew 26, verses 26 to 29. This is the Lord Jesus having his final supper with his disciples. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I'll not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And I do have a little meditation here from Stephen Charnock I thought would be appropriate based on the sermon. You can either listen or follow along. printed in your bulletin. Charnock writes, divine goodness is eminent in the sacrament he's fixed to this covenant, the Lord's Supper. As he gave himself in his son, so he gives his son in the sacrament. He does not only give him as a sacrifice upon the cross for the atonement of sins, but as a feast upon the table for the nourishment of our souls. And the one he was given to be offered in the supper He gives him to be partaked of. The sacrament signifies that every believer does eat the flesh and drink the blood of the great mediator of the covenant. The words of Christ, Matthew 26, 26, and 28, this is my body and this is my blood, are true to the end of the world. This is the most delicious food of heaven, the most exquisite, dainty food God can feed us with, the delight of the deity, the admiration of angels. A feast with God is great, but a feast on God is greater. Under those signs, that body is presented, that which was conceived by the Spirit, inhabited by the Godhead, bruised by the Father, to be our food as well as our propitiation, is presented to us on the table. That blood which satisfied justice, washed away our guilt on the cross, and pleads for our persons at the throne of grace, That blood which silenced the curse, pacified heaven, and purged the earth is given to us for our refreshment. This is the bread sent from heaven, the true man. The cup is the cup of blessing, and therefore a cup of goodness. It is true, bread does not cease to be bread, nor the wine cease to be wine. Neither of them lose their substance. But both are set apart by the relationship to that which they represent. give nourishment to faith that receives them. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have given us this covenant meal, an opportunity to share intimate union and communion with our King. And we pray that this would nourish hungry souls to satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, as we know our righteousness is in Christ and Him alone. So grant us the faith, the empty hand of faith, to receive these common elements and have our souls nourished for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, let me ask you to stand, brothers and sisters, to receive the Lord's benediction. Peace to the brethren in love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus with sincerity and all of God's people said amen.