According to New Testament teaching, the Christian life is meant to be a life of fruit bearing and good works. Jesus taught this clearly in John 15, eight, by this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So you will be my disciples. Paul taught this in Ephesians 2, 10, for we are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Paul writes that Jesus died in order to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works." Titus 2.14. And he went on to say in Titus 3.14, and let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. But what makes a good work good? This is one of the foundational questions that chapter 16 of our confession is answering. And today we'll look at the first three paragraphs of the chapter. But I want us to note at the outset, the four characteristics, the four characteristics are confession highlights that make a good work good. So taking paragraph one and paragraph seven together, we can outline it like this. Good works, in order to be good, are only such as God has commanded in his word. In order to be good works, they must proceed from a heart purified by faith. They must be done in a right manner. according to the scripture, and they must be done with the intention of bringing glory to God. These four criteria are the only criteria for what makes a good work good. So I want to begin today by focusing on this first criterion. This is what our confession says in paragraph one, if you would follow along with me. Good works are only such as God has commanded in his word. And this is an idea that flows out of the Reformation principle of sola scriptura. and indicates that scripture is sufficient for what God requires of us in terms of our obedience. And this brings us all the way back to chapter one, paragraph one of our confession, as well as paragraph six of chapter one. God makes clear in both testaments, old and new, that we are to follow what he has stated in his word. For example, in the covenantal context of Deuteronomy, It is reiterated that the people of Israel were to be careful to do all that God commanded them and therefore not to take away from God's word or to add to it. Listen to Deuteronomy 4.2. You shall not add to the word which I command you. nor take from it that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you." And this is reiterated in Deuteronomy 5, Deuteronomy 8, Deuteronomy 12. We're not going to get into those passages. And then in the prophets, God revealed the people's sinful deviation from the path of righteousness that he revealed to them in the law. And He called them back to the ancient paths revealed in the Mosaic Covenant, God's written revelation. Listen to Micah 6,8, God showed His people the good that they were to follow. And where was that good showed to them? It was shown to them in the scriptures. And this is reiterated in the New Testament in probably the best known passage on the Bible's inspiration in 2 Timothy 3, Paul wrote, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." In other words, God's written and authoritative revelation is useful to make Christians equipped for carrying out every good deed that God requires of you in relation to your evangelical obedience, your obedience rooted in the gospel of grace. Now, if it is true that good works are only such as God has revealed and required in his word, then the second part of the paragraph follows logically. Good works are not such as are without the warrant thereof. That is without the warrant of scripture and are devised by men out of blind zeal or upon any pretense of good intentions. As fallen sinners, we tend to supplement God's perfect revelation with what we think God will approve of. And this can happen through the supplementation of man-made traditions and commandments. Why would people do that? Why would people supplement God's perfect revealed revelation with man-made commandments? Well, there are two foundational reasons for this that our confession states. First, Some men do this out of blind zeal. That is out of ignorant religious devotion, they devise new commandments to follow. We could point to the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 15, verse nine, where Jesus condemns them for teaching as doctrines, the commandments of men. They supplemented God's word with their own gatekeeping legislation. And there Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 29, 13. This is a sin that impacted the people of Israel of old, supplementing God's written revelation with what they thought God would be pleased by. And others, because of a pretense of good intentions, or a false claim purporting to understand God's will apart from scripture might supplement the Bible with additional commandments. You can do all that God requires of you in the word, but then also do all of these subsidiary things For example, like you would find in the Roman Catholic Church, taking vows of poverty that God's never required us to take, vows of chastity that God has never required us to take in order to live the truly holy life. And Jesus warns against this in Colossians, Paul rather warns against this in Colossians chapter two, verses 16 through 23. Let no one take you captive or deceive you through empty philosophy, in man-made commandments. Our response should always and ever be to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8, 20. All right, the second criterion, purified by faith. Good works only proceed from hearts that are purified by faith. This is specified in paragraph seven of our chapter. And it means that unregenerate people simply cannot obey the law of God as he requires it to be obeyed. It is a strict impossibility. Paul writes in Romans 8, Paul says, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God, even though according to Romans chapter two, they might materially do the things that God's law commands. Paul says, even Gentiles show that the law is written on their hearts and materially carry out some of God's commandments, but they do not keep God's law as he requires it to be kept. Why not? Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Hebrews 11.6, without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Oh, but maybe just 1%, right? No, it is impossible to please Him. Without faith, operative in the human heart, it is impossible to live a God-honoring life. And the contrasting point is that only regenerate men can do works that please God. All right, the third criterion is that good works must be carried out in a right manner. We might do something that materially is good or spiritual, but just because we materially carry out the action does not for that simple reason mean that it is approved in God's sight. Jesus taught about this possibility in the Sermon on the Mount when he spoke about practicing your righteousness before men with the motivation of being seen by them. And Jesus makes clear there that if your motivation in doing something religious like coming to church is to receive the accolade of men, then that is all the reward you will ever get. However, his consistent point is that we ought to perform religious actions like praying, giving, and fasting in order to receive whose approval? In order to receive the approval of God, our Creator, and our Redeemer. And this is very important since most people think that a good work today ought to be done because it's just the right thing to do. Have you ever heard someone say that? It was proper that we do that because it's just the right thing to do. Well, this is not what makes a good work good. Even the greatest acts of self-renunciation we could fathom, if they are done without the motivating principle of love for God and neighbor, are worthless. And this is Paul's point when he says in Galatians, that faith works by love, that love is the motivation by which faith works. Paul also states in 1 Corinthians 13, one through three, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, And though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. actions that we would think would clearly indicate love, like selling everything that you have and giving all of it to the poor, without the proper manner of love for God, and that being our motivation, is without profit to us, Paul says. And this brings us to our fourth criterion. Not only do our good works need to be done from the right motivation, but a good work must be done with the express intention of glorifying God through it. All actions, therefore, that do not arise from the express intention that God received the honor and praise in and through them are sinful actions. Matthew 5, 16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and say, you people are really great. You people are really something. No, he says that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Jesus' point here is that the visibility of our good works as light in the world might redound to God's glory, especially expressed by the lips of those who see the way that we live. And Peter says the same thing in 1 Peter 2, 12. having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. As we think about using our gifts in the context of church life here at Grace, what should be the intention behind the use of our gifts for one another? 1 Peter 4.11 says, If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. We could also point to 2 Corinthians 9. where Paul bids the Corinthian saints to give to the poor saints in Jerusalem. He wants them to present their offerings every single week to be collected. And through this, he spells out how God is going to receive the glory and the praise through their own generosity, financially speaking. He writes this in 2 Corinthians 9, for the administration of this service, the offering of monetary support for the poor in Jerusalem, not only supplies the needs of the saints, it edifies the brethren, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God. While through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ and for your liberal sharing with them and all men and by their prayer for you who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God. in you." The basic principle of every action of the Christian life from the most banal, like eating food or drinking. Paul says, therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. All right, as we move on to paragraph two, therefore, we need to see that this paragraph is answering the question, what are good works good for? What are good works good for? Notice how paragraph two begins with a statement that interlocks with paragraph one. These good works done in obedience to God's commandments, the presupposition of paragraph one, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith. And by them, believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of adversaries and glorify God whose workmanship they are created in Christ Jesus there unto that having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end eternal life. So good works have very limited value, no point. No, they're extremely valuable and for seven reasons that our confession outlines right here in paragraph two. What are good works good for? First, they are the fruits and evidences of true faith. This is something that was mentioned previously in the Confession in Chapter 11, Paragraph 2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person justified. but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love." True faith is attested in a life lived for God's glory and in service to the church. We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone in the justified believer. Paul makes this clear, for example, in First Thessalonians 1.3, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and the sight of our God and Father. According to Paul, good works are the produce that grows on the tree of faith. And we ought not to confuse fruit and root. The root is faith. The fruit is evangelical obedience that is revealed in the lives of God's true people. James says the same thing. In the context of those claiming to have works, but no evidence to back up, the faith, claiming to have faith rather. James says, but someone will say, you have faith and I have works. And he says, show me your faith without your works. And I will show you my faith by my works. According to James, faith evidence itself in a life filled with good works, like giving to a poor brother in need, as he specifies in that section. And in verse 26, he writes, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Dead faith is not the true and lively faith that the confession is talking about. And we can add two verses to this from the gospel of John. The first verse comes from chapter 13, 35. By this, all will know that you are my disciples. if you have love for one another. Love for the brethren is a clear demonstration, Jesus says, of true discipleship. And discipleship to Christ is a relationship of faith, those who believe in Him, Matthew 18 verse 6. Jesus also says in John 15, eight, as I read at the beginning, by this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So you will be my disciples. The point there is that in bearing much fruit, we prove ourselves to be true disciples of the Lord. And Jesus makes this clear in the parable of the four soils in Matthew 13. The seed that fell on the good soil believing hearts, is described by Christ like this, but he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, has saving apprehension of the gospel message of Christ, and who indeed bears fruit and produces in various yields, some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30, and Jesus is saying, you know the good soil, not only by the receptivity to the gospel, but the real demonstration of receptivity to the gospel message is the fruit that is produced in the Christian life by that reception of the gospel. Good works are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith. Second, good works reveal a believer's grateful heart. By them, believers manifest their thankfulness. When we ask the question, how do believers show their gratitude to God for the great things he's done for them? The answer is simple. It is by living a life of worship and service to God. In Psalm 116, the psalmist asks, what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? And this is his response. I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Worship and prayer are the effects of receiving saving benefits from God, his forgiveness, his compassion, his pitying of us in our lowest state. How do we show our thankfulness to God? It is through a life of service and worship of his name. Romans 12, one. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The only rational thing to do in light of God's mercies revealed through the first 11 chapters of Romans is to present our bodies as living sacrifices acceptable to God. God gives us His saving benefits in Christ, that we might be to the praise of the glory of His grace. In fact, we have come here this morning to render our gratitude and our thanksgiving for all of the ways that God has blessed us over the past week. and all of the ways that He has blessed us over our lives and in drawing us into saving relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. God wants us, and we show our gratitude by coming here every single week and rendering our thanks to God. Give thanks to Him, all you peoples. Hebrews 13, verse 15. Therefore, by Him, Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. We ought to give thanks to his name, the fruit of our lips for all that God has accomplished for us. Number three, good works strengthen a believer's assurance. Good works strengthen a believer's assurance of faith. When a Christian perceives the evidences of God's grace working in them and a holy energy energizing them for the pursuit of a heavenly life and to press on in evangelical obedience to Christ the King, assurance in Christ grows and the enjoyment and comfort of being in Christ is strengthened. This is something that we have already considered from chapter 13 of our confession. In chapter 13, paragraph 3, it says, the saints grow in grace. perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after a heavenly life in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as head and king in his word has prescribed to them." Well, when we perceive God's effective working within us, there is assurance that is bolstered. We are called by Peter in 2 Peter 1.10 to make our calling and election What? Sure. And this does not mean that we need to make God's decree more steady and secure than it is. What Peter is saying is through stirring up the grace of God that is at work within you, diligently pursue a holy life for the sake of making your calling and election sure to yourself for your own assurance. This emphasizes the need for us to experientially grasp the reality of our effectual calling and election, which we know as we continually improve on God's grace. The book of 1 John is a long testimony of proofs by which we can discern whether we have eternal life. In 1 John 2, the apostle writes, now by this we know that we know him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked." So if we are walking in the straight and narrow path, seeking to keep Jesus' teachings and his commandments, we can infer from that that we are in Him and our assurance of our union with Christ grows. When we see Christ-like characteristics in our lives, this is an encouraging sign that we can have assurance of being in a gracious state. 1 John 3 states, we know that we have passed from death to life because of something, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. of love for Christian brothers and sisters characterizes you, you can be assured that you have indeed been born of God. The fourth thing that good works are valuable for is edifying our brethren. Edifying our brethren. And the point here is that good works encourage not only us in our assurance, but also nourish our brothers and sisters in the faith. When we see fellow Christians loving and glorifying God, serving Him and pleasing Him, we find our faith encouraged and our desires for holiness stimulated. This is what Paul writes in Titus chapter three, verse eight. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. This is the value of good works and the edification of our brethren. Fifthly, good works adorn Our gospel profession. Good works adorn our profession of the gospel. Our ability to adorn the gospel is clearly revealed by Paul in Titus chapter 2. where he writes to servants, he says, exhort bond servants to be obedient to their masters, to be well-pleasing in everything, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity with what intention? That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Now just consider that for a moment. You have the opportunity in your Christian lives to adorn the gospel of God. That should be one of the greatest privileges and benefits of our lives as believers, that we can make the gospel message attractive through the way that we live. That's what that means. What is true of slaves here is true of all believers. To adorn something means to help make the Christian message attractive and to commend it to the outside world. This is truly the right way of living before our God and Father and of living before Christ. All right, sixthly, good works stop the mouths of adversaries. God calls Christians to live in such a way that the enemies of the Christian religion may be proven wrong and unable to charge Christians with evil. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2.15, For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. So we should seek to do good works because we want to stop the foolish ignorance and charges of sinful men. This is why Paul tells Titus that he is to live a life of good works and to be an example to the Christians so that as people charge him with falsehood, it will be manifestly clear that these are false charges. All right, and then finally, seventhly, good works glorify God. This is the chief thing. This is the prime thing. Out of all of these glorious, valuable traits of good works, to glorify God is the height and pinnacle of them all. Philippians chapter one states, this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." And Hebrews 13, 16 states, but do not forget to do good. and to share. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased." Your good works glorify your Father in heaven. Now the end of paragraph two states this, that we are His workmanship, we are created in Christ Jesus there unto, and that having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end of that fruit, which is eternal life. And this is a joining of two scriptural quotations. The first is from Ephesians 2.10, which I read at the beginning. God has prepared in eternity these good works that we should walk in them. And this reminds us that the source out of which our new life of service to God springs is found in our mediator, Christ Jesus. If you take Jesus out of the equation, there is no new creation life. There would be no regeneration or indwelling of the Spirit. There would be no transformation of the human heart to walk in paths of evangelical obedience. So key. And the other text referenced here is Romans 6 22, which states this, but now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. All of our good works have an orientation towards the future. the perfecting of God's possession and glory and righteousness when Jesus comes again. This is the hope of righteousness that we look forward to receiving and that Paul talks about in Galatians 5.5. It is the goal and the telos of our holiness in the present life that we are pursuing resurrection life with Christ in glory. as F.F. Bruce has written, sanctification is glory begun. Glorification is sanctification complete or completed. So brethren, because of all these blessed benefits, I summon you and I bid you and I command you to do what God's word says, which is to do these good works for all of these reasons. You have bountiful reasons to serve the church, bountiful reasons to come here every Sunday and to not neglect the assembling of the saints and to stir one another up to love and good deeds like Hebrews 12 states. Actually it's Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, I believe. So think of the rich reasons that you have been given to live a life of holiness and service to God Learn to maintain good works. This is what Paul says in Titus 3, 14. Let our people learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. Do not be unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to serve him faithfully in this life, looking forward to the day that you will receive your eternal reward. All right, that brings us to paragraph three. And paragraph three relates to the source and the practice of good works. It says this, their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the spirit of Christ and that they may be enabled there unto, besides the graces they have already received, there is necessary an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them and to will and to do of his good pleasure. Yet they are not hereupon to grow negligent as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon some special motion of the Spirit, but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them." This paragraph teaches, first, that our capacity for good works comes from the Spirit of Christ. Considered in ourselves, we would never be able to do anything good And this is because, as Paul writes in Romans 7, we know that in us, that is in our flesh, nothing good dwells. What is clean cannot be brought out of what is unclean. What is right cannot be brought out of what is unrighteous. Thus, we need regenerated hearts and the active indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, giving us the power to live the Christian life. Jesus makes this eminently clear in John 15, when he says, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing." Here, Jesus is speaking about the spiritual union that he has with his followers in faith, and the power that is operative within them to bring about the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ. My dear brothers and sisters, Christ is in you. The hope of glory. Colossians 1, verse 27. So every time we do a good work, it is on the basis of the indwelling Spirit of Christ within us. When we do a good work to glorify God, this is evidence of His influence within at the very time of the performance of the good work. He was working in us to will and to work for His good pleasure. Because the Holy Spirit is the operative power who brings into effect Good works which accord with righteousness, the fruits of the Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit are those which the Holy Spirit produces in the lives of the saints." Galatians 5, 22, and 23. When you act gently with someone who is angry at you, Or when you act faithfully to the Lord in a particular circumstance, when you might have fallen into temptation, or when you have lovingly helped a brother or sister in Christ with something they have needed, you know for a fact that the Holy Spirit was operating and exerting His influence in your life at that very moment. This is the fragrance of new creation power at work within us on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus. So this means that if you have ever done a good work, and all believers have, that is because Christ's spirit was in you and was influencing you at the time of the performance of that good work. So we have to see that there is a delicate balance between God's operation within us and our walking in righteous paths. This balance is highlighted by Paul in Philippians 2.13, therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence alone, but now much more in my absence. And the idea here is, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Notice, Paul does not say that we are working for our salvation. We are working out of or from the gracious work of God within us. It's a big difference. Since God has already saved us, we are to work out the effects of that saving fellowship, whereby we, with fear and trembling, live for God. We work and we obey God reverentially and yet when and while we work, we know that God is at work in us by his spirit to both will the good and to do the good and that for his glory. Chapter on free will told us that we are able now to will that which is good and to do that which is good. Imperfectly, but we are able to do that. So there is what we might call concurrence. Concurrence in every good work that we do. There is an active and mysterious cooperation of God's spirit with every good work we will to do and that we bring to completion. Every time we have willed that which pleases God, we must say, I was willing to do that, I wanted to do that, and yet we can only say that while recognizing that that enablement and influence to carry out the action came from God the Spirit. If we extracted the indwelling Spirit and His influence in our lives out of the equation, you can kiss living for God goodbye. And so the paragraph closes by spelling out a stipulation here that Christians are not to lazily wait for their feelings to change in relation to good works. Someone might read about the actual influence of the Spirit in our lives and think, that must mean that if I don't feel like doing something pleasing to God today, I can lounge around. until I feel like doing it, or at least until the Holy Spirit moves my arm like this, as if I'm a puppet. That's just not the way that it works, is it? This is a faulty way of thinking. And the confession says this, yet they are not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty. There is still an obligation to perform what is good. even if we do not feel a special motion of the Spirit, but it says they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them. Negligent here means failing to take proper care in doing something, which here would be good works. It means to become careless or slothful. So we are not to wait upon some special motion of the Spirit to diligently obey God. We can never allow the working of God within us to dull the demand that Paul makes to the Philippians to obey God faithfully in Paul's absence. The indicative reality of God's empowering presence is the very force by which the imperative comes to the Christian. Because God is at work in you, so you work and will for God. Hebrews 6. We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. How do we inherit the promises? Through faith and through patience. We stir ourselves up. What does it mean to be diligent here? They ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God. To be diligent means to have or show care and conscientiousness in one's work or duties. So if Paul could write to Timothy that Timothy was to stir up the gift of God, which was in him through the laying on of hands. There is an application there for every Christian to stir up the grace of God at work within them, to be diligent, to present themselves to God blameless. And this is what Christians are summoned to do. In 1 Thessalonians 4.1, Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God. 1 Thessalonians 4, 9, and 10. But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. As the Thessalonians had been taught by God how to conduct themselves in order to live a God-pleasing life, So they were to abound in evangelical obedience more and more while God gave them breath and strength to do it. You do it too. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your preparation of our good works in eternity past. We pray that you would help us to walk diligently in paths of service and humility to you, the true path of liberty. You have shown us what is good. You have shown us what you require of us to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with you, our God. We pray every week as we read your word that we would be instructed in true doctrine, rebuked for our sin, corrected in order that we might amend our ways, instructed in righteousness that we might be those who are complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work. As we come to the time of worship, of calling out upon your name in the gathered assembly, with your church, with your saints, with your people, we pray, Father, that you would help us to stir up our hearts to come with understanding, with faith, with reverence, with godly fear, that we might will and work to do that which you will and work in our lives. Help our great goal to be the glorification of your name in thought, in word, and in deed. And where we have failed, Father, to glorify you, we pray that you would forgive us. We pray that you would forgive us and assure us of your pardon through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Remind us today that we can approach your throne of grace to find help in time of need and to stir up ourselves in love for you because of that sacrifice that was performed some 2000 years ago on the cross of Calvary. We pray this in Jesus name, amen.