12 Steps Series - Steps 8 & 9 - Sunday, September 17, 9 a.m. Service
September 17, 2023 · The 12 Steps
Scripture referenced 7 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Colossians 1:16 quoted at the opening to call the congregation to worship, describing Christ as creator of all things visible and invisible
16 For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.
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Keep this verse
Psalm 147:1
cited as summing up the reason the family of God sings praises together
1 Praise Yah, for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and fitting to praise him.
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John 8:12
quoted as a favorite verse, Jesus declaring himself the light of the world and promising his followers will not walk in darkness
12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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Psalm 51:10-12
read as a congregational prayer before the offering, asking God for a pure heart and restored joy of salvation
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
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1 John 1:9
quoted to explain confession as agreeing with God about sin, with the promise of forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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James 5:16
referenced as the call to confess to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed, with the prayer of a righteous person described as powerful and effective
16 Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
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Romans 12:18
paraphrased as the basis for peacemaking, pursue peace with all and as much as it depends on you be at peace with all
18 If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message was the eighth installment in a series walking through the twelve steps of recovery alongside Scripture. The focus landed on step eight: making a list of all persons we have harmed and becoming willing to make amends to them all. The preacher described it as the hardest step in the series to preach, not because it lacks biblical grounding, but because it asks something genuinely costly of us.
What was said
The earlier steps were covered quickly as a refresher. Steps one through three follow a single thread: admitting that we are powerless over our problem, coming to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us, and making a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God. The language "as we understood him" in step three was read not as permission to invent a god of our own choosing, but as a statement of humility and openness toward the God who actually is.
Steps four and five involve an honest reckoning with ourselves. Step four is a searching and fearless moral inventory, not of other people, but of ourselves. Scripture provides an objective standard for that inventory, specifically the vice lists found through the New Testament. Step five is admitting the results of that inventory to God, to ourselves, and to at least one other person. That, the preacher said, is what the Bible calls confession, agreeing with God about our sin rather than excusing it as simply the way we are.
Steps six and seven move into what happens after that honest look. Step six is being entirely ready to have God remove those defects of character. The question Jesus asked the man at the pool of Bethesda, whether he actually wanted to be made well, was held up as the heart of this step. Step seven is humbly asking God to remove those shortcomings, and the preacher connected it to the biblical pattern of God resisting the proud while giving grace to the humble.
Step eight is where the message spent most of its time. It requires making a list of specific people we have harmed and becoming willing to make amends to them all. The preacher was careful to say that step eight is about willingness, not yet the act itself. Step nine, which follows, is about actually making those direct amends, and that step carries an important qualification: amends are made except when doing so would cause further injury to others or to yourself.
A passage from the AA book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" was read to describe what steps eight and nine are trying to accomplish: looking back to see where we have been at fault, making a vigorous attempt to repair the damage where possible, and then learning to pursue the best possible relations with everyone we know. The preacher connected this directly to Paul's instruction to pursue peace with all people and, as much as it depends on us, to live at peace with everyone.
The message closed with the observation that most of the sins on the New Testament vice lists are relational in nature. The church's own stated mission, loving God and loving people through Christ, maps almost exactly onto the structure of the twelve steps. The first steps are about getting right with God. Steps eight and nine are about getting right with other people. And the preacher noted that hurt people hurt people, but forgiven people forgive people.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The preacher said that step one, admitting powerlessness, leads to despair unless you get to step two. Where have you seen that play out, either in your own life or in someone you know?
- Step four calls for a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, not of other people. What makes it so tempting to turn that lens outward instead of inward, and what has helped you resist that?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 5,040 words
Speaker 1Raise raise the hand. Yeah.
Speaker 2Well, good morning, everybody. Very glad to see you this morning. Hey. Would you stand and join us in song? I've got a good word from Colossians to lead us into worship, and it says this, for by him, and it's it's speaking about Jesus here.
By him, all things were created, both heavens and earth, visible and in... Visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. That's a good reason to praise, isn't it? Won't you say? So would you join us in singing glory to God forever?
Before the world was made.
Speaker 3To God glory to God forever glory to God to God to glory to God God forever
Speaker 1Contingency plans. There they go. Alright. Is time for announcements. So let me click to them.
Does anybody know one of them?
Speaker 2I got one while
Speaker 1you're searching. And
Speaker 2that is... Tomorrow is the Awana kickoff. Official Awana kickoff. So 05:45, your kids to to come in and and register and check-in. If your kids have not registered yet, would you please, between the services, grab a little brochure?
And on that brochure back there, it has the schedule and the place to to register. So we'll
Speaker 3see you
Speaker 1tomorrow at 05:45. Perfect. That's good. Thank you, Carl. Children's Church, lower elementary, so kindergarten through second grade, upper elementary, third through fifth, and middle school, high school all have a time downstairs, 09:30 to ten.
That'll happen. Thank you, Nick. That is happening. And there's also coming up next week is small group Jamboreeapalooza. Small group Jamboreeapalooza is about equipping and encouraging folks to be a part of a small group.
So whether you host or lead or attend or are interested or honestly, you're not even interested. Okay? I'd like for the whole sanctuary to stand up, squeeze through the hall, get to the fellowship hall, and consider being a part of a small group. It's it's it's great to worship in large groups. It's really really wonderful, but you get to know each other so much better in small group, and it helps so much.
So equipping, encouraging, fellowship hall. Thank you, Mick. Come on up.
Speaker 2We can do this together. Ready?
Speaker 1That's good. Yeah. Wonderful. Men's men's lunch study is happening on Thursday. That means it's happening at lunchtime.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3Thank you.
Speaker 1Thank you. I'll put that back. That happens at 11:55 down the hall in the Fellowship Hall. You can come as go as you need to. Some people bring a brown bag lunch and eat during.
You're welcome to do that. That has become a real... Just a great high point in the middle of my week and I know a lot of other guys too. I would I would strongly encourage you guys if you would come in. We're in second Peter finishing up before too long.
Things are going really well in there. There is the Jackson Hole Women's Community Bible Study that's meeting in this room. They are from ten to noon on Wednesdays and it was great. It's great to see a room full of people that are here to praise God together. It's absolutely fantastic.
So ten to noon on Wednesdays, you can sign up at jhwomen'sbiblestudy.com. Would you stand up and enjoy being here together as we start this next song?
Speaker 2From Psalm one forty seven, as we sang that, I thought, this this Psalm sums it up. How good to sing praises to our God. How delightful and how fitting. Isn't it fitting that the family of God together, we would be singing his praises. Right?
Making much of him today. Let's continue on. Let's keep singing.
Speaker 3Jesus and find your way. The If you want freedom, need forgiveness. Just come to Jesus and find his grace
Speaker 2He's the comforter, counselor, prince of peace, author and baker of everything, defender, deliverer, king of kings, heals. Is helper and healer This is one of my favorite verses from John eight twelve. Jesus says that he is the light of the world. And if we follow him, we don't have to walk in darkness because he gives us the light that leads to life. Thank you, lord, that in you, there is life and there is light.
And, God, may we see it. Maybe we get a glimpse of it today as we worship you in faith. Lord, thank you for all that you are. We've described it in this song, comforter, counselor, the prince of peace, author and maker of everything, defender, deliverer, king of kings. You're the helper and healer forevermore.
You're our savior and our shelter through every storm. You're our refuge and our redeemer and our lord of lords. You're the child of heaven. You're the son of man, provider, protector, the great I am, alpha, omega, beginning, and end. That is who you are, and we worship you, God, because you are worthy.
In Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 3Selfless faith I see you near revival stirring as we pray and seek open up my eyes to the things unseen show me how to love like you have loved break my heart for what breaks yours my everything I am for your kingdom starts as I walk from mirth into eternity
Speaker 2You can have a seat for a minute. I'll invite the ushers to come forward. This is the worship through giving. And I have a verse that I'd like to share just right in line with that song before before we pray, and it's Psalm 51. Can we make this make this our prayer together?
It's from Psalm 51. It's create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me, within us. Don't cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Before we sing, Ray, may I ask you to pray?
Sure.
Speaker 1God almighty, thank you for this gathering this morning. People gathered in your name, Lord, in all humility, Lord, would you bring to our mind and to our awareness everything, Lord, that you would have us to do today, today. Would you show us those divine appointments? Would you show us who you are? We're so grateful, Lord, to be a part of the body of Christ here and extended, Lord.
There are lots of people visiting here. I pray, Lord, that you would use your humble, willing, and obedient servants to do your will in your way. Lord, would you show us today exactly what that is? We have here vocational missionaries. We have here a whole group of people who have turned their lives over to you.
And so Lord, I pray that that you would direct us, that we would know specifically what it is today. May the words in the songs touch our hearts in a way that they have not before. May the words and the messages today touch our hearts in a way they haven't before. May we connect with someone. May we connect with you first, Lord, but then may we connect with someone in a way that we have been resisting.
In Jesus name, I pray that you would give us good good relationships, that you'd give us good good direction, and that we'd be filled with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead to be able to accomplish what it is in his name, for his glory. Amen.
Speaker 3All my words fall short. I've got nothing. How could I spread
Speaker 1So it's interesting that you mentioned the 12 steps because we've been going through these lately. And I'm gonna try to kinda hurry through one through seven. I'm gonna try to hurry through one through seven, but then get to number eight. And I'm gonna admit this upfront, this is the hardest one for me to preach. It's the hardest one for me to preach not because it's not biblical.
It is thoroughly biblical. Our actions have consequences and when we come to realize that we've caused harm, we need to be willing to make it right. We need to be willing to get there and that's what we're working towards. But let's walk through these. If you don't know the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous or of just about any 12 step program since Alcoholics Anonymous, they're thoroughly biblical.
Step one, we admitted that we were powerless over whatever our problem is and it's a sin problem. We admitted we were powerless over our problem that our lives had become unmanageable. That is a good step to know. But if you just get to this step, it will lead you to despair unless you get to the next step. Now deflation at depth is what the early literature of AA called step one.
Knowing that you've got a problem that you are incapable within yourself of solving. So step two is coming to believe that there is a power greater than yourself that could restore you to sanity. So we admitted that. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. I can't, but there is a power that can.
We'll call that God. I believe it is God. Don't get me wrong, it's God. But there are a lot of people who've been hurt by church, there are a of people who've been hurt by religion, and there are a lot of people who've been oppressed by religion or religiosity. And so the power greater than ourselves is something that is easier to take.
Step two, a willingness, belief and seeking. I believe that there is a power higher than me that could restore me to sanity. I'm looking for that. Step three is to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. Now, the the perfect example of this, the perfect example of this is anytime anybody says, not my will, but your will Lord be done.
Right? Jesus said that he didn't have any sin to deal with, but he did get to the point of seeing that I don't want this. In my humanity, I don't want this, but not my will, but your will be done and God's will was done. There was no other way that that could happen. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.
It's a decision to surrender And actually, it has another line. The next line is, as we understood him. That's a statement of humility. It's not saying you can just make up whatever God you want and that's gonna help you get sober. That's not the way that works.
It is an openness, a willingness, a seeking, and believing that God can. And then seeking out how God will, and it requires some humility to... As we understood him as a statement of humility. Step four, we made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. It's of ourselves.
Okay? Not a fearless and searching moral inventory of our brother, our cousin, our wife, our dog. No. It's just ourselves. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Now, as a primer, as a as a as a start, it's kind of funny. I've been doing this now for like seven sermons, think. In self examination, where do you start? Well, you're sitting here on a Sunday morning, so I'm assuming that the Bible has something to do with your understanding. And so if you start with the Bible, this is the list of all of the vice lists in the New Testament.
I realize you cannot read these from where you sit, most of you. It's helpful to allow scripture to give us a clear picture of who we are, of what we are. So step four, the fearless and searching moral inventory. If we just look around and we think, I'm better than that guy. That's not a clear and objective standard.
Right? This is an objective standard of some of the things, some of the ways that we can get off track, some of the ways that we can be powerless in ourselves. All of us are wired differently. We're gifted differently. That comes up quite a bit in church.
We talk about our spiritual gifts and how we're gifted differently. But I think that our proclivities towards sin are deep wired in our being too. And so we struggle with things that are different from the things other people struggle with. And one of the reasons that AA works so well is because they link together around their common issue, common problem and it helps. So this list, I put it up there probably after step four.
I put it up there five, six, seven, eight times. I don't know. And my daughter finally said, are you going to read that list again? Are you really going to do it again? I I will give this to anybody who asked for it.
Okay? It's a good thing to recognize. It's not just the big hot button sense. Okay? They're on the list, but it's not just those.
There are a lot more of them up there. Step five. Okay. After you go step four, fearless and searching moral inventory. Lord, I want for you.
I want your will for my life, so I need to see myself the way you see me. And think on this for just a second. How do you know if you're self deceived? Small groups are great. Small groups are great because if you're deceiving yourself and you're willing to lie to yourself and you're willing to believe it, you're not gonna know yourself deceived.
God's word is an objective standard and he accompanies his word. It's one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit. When you realize you can't, you realize he can and you say, I'm gonna let him, he will do it. He will help you do it. So some of these things which you've just skipped over to get to the ones that are your pet peeves, you're gonna start seeing as this is my problem.
And if you start seeing it as your problem, step five is admitting it to God and to ourselves because we might have been resisting that for some time. And to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. If you have a small group of people around you, believers, people that are struggling, all of us are struggling. If you have a group around you, it gives you the opportunity to have that person. I'll be that person for you.
If you don't know somebody else, we have elders here. They'll be that person for you. If you don't have somebody else, you have... If you have friends, I'm not assuming that you do, but if you have friends, they can be that person for you. Right?
And it's really, really helpful. Six and a half years ago, a friend of mine asked me... Told me this is the exact deal that I'm going through and I need help. And I said, man, I'm going through this. It's different stuff, but that's been the reason I'm preaching this is because that's been the most positive step forward in my spiritual life has taken these things seriously.
Admitting it to God to ourselves and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. That is confession. Homo in the Bible in first John one nine, is to say the same thing as God about our sin. If God says it's sin, if it's on that list, and Jesus goes even further into the definition makes it a little harder to sidestep. If we'll agree with God about our sin, he will forgive us of that sin and he promises to continually be cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
That's a great one. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just. He will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. That's primarily about agreeing with God instead of saying, it's alright for me because this is just the way I am. There's one about confessing to each other and praying for each other so that you may be healed, set free from this.
Prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Step six, we're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. If you wanna hold on to the defects as a part of who you are, as a part of your identity, it's what has come to define you. If you wanna hold on to them, the the process, the program breaks down right there. It stops right there.
When Jesus asked the man by that pool of Bethesda, do you want to be made well? This is that step right there. It's recognizing I'm ready to not be what I have been. I'm ready for you to make me into what you want me to be. I've turned my will and my life over to you Lord.
Make me what you would have me to be. I'm entirely ready to have you remove the defects of character. This is conviction and the readiness to change. And step seven is humbly asking him to remove our shortcomings. Now, I preached this one kind of bumped into it with step six and then went back and talked about how it really is about rebirth.
It is a humble submission to the will of God and it's God's will that you would be saved, that you would come out of that. And Jesus says, the way to be saved is to be born again. Born from above he says, but God resists pride and he gives grace to humility. Humble submission and rebirth. We humbly ask him to remove our shortcomings.
And now here we are up to date. This is it. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Do you see why this is the hardest one to preach? This is tough.
But what this step says is that actions have consequences and they have relational consequences. Most of the sins on that list, well, willingness to make amends, willingness. Actually, should say willingness. It's about willingness. Let's say you're looking at this list.
I could slowly reveal these one at a time, but it was just too much. You look at this list and you go, I have enmity. I'm walking around with an us and them mentality all the time. We are right. They are wrong.
I have enemies. What does Jesus say to do with your enemies by the way? Love them. Pray for them. Even if they pursue and persecute you, even if they say all manner of evil things about you, you are still to be praying for them and looking out for enmity.
I have enmity and because I'm... I have enemies and it shouldn't be that way. I'm right. They're wrong. It's just that they're wrong.
And then that leads me to fits of anger. And I have that. I have abusive language. When I talk about me and my side, it's pretty positive when I turn a blind eye to some of the stuff because our circumstances, you got to understand that. But when I go about their side, oh, those miserable, awful curves.
Abusive language. That in itself shows that I'm conceited, Lord. I think I'm better than other people. Oh, the Internet. Filled with a morbid craving for controversy.
Overtaken with stupid and senseless controversies and quarrelsome. Those are on the list. Swollen with conceit, abusive, heartlessness, ruthlessness. If you were to look at the list, I'm not saying this is my list, but if you're to look at this list and this is your list, when you get to step four, you made the list. When you get to step eight, it's more specific about how that has hurt other people.
To whom have I been abusive? Who do I think I'm better than? My abusive language is is not usually spoken in silence, just me. I'm speaking to someone abusive language. Either I'm abusing them or I'm being abusive of other people and now they've got to deal with that.
Speaker 3Step
Speaker 1eight. We made a list of all the purposes we had harmed. It's not an easy step. This is not an easy step. It's saying that everything that we do...
I had a... Let me back up for a second. I had a pastor friend for a while, for a long time. He's dead now, but he's... He said, love must have an object.
You can't just love. You're loving someone. Right? Or you may love something, but you're loving someone or something. A lot of these sins...
A whole great deal of these sins are relational in nature. And if our goal, I mean our motto of this church is with all we are loving God and loving people through Christ. With all we are loving God. Oh, the first steps are really about that. I can't, you can, I'm gonna let you, hey, that's my relationship with God.
I'm gonna do a fearless and search in moral inventory. I'm gonna agree with you about that. You're gonna forgive me. That's my relationship with God. I don't wanna keep doing this Lord.
I end up here again. I need to know I'm forgiven. And then, it extends out. It's loving God and getting that relationship right first is great, but it then it goes into relationships with other people, loving God and loving people. Step eight, the rubber really hits the road here.
We made a list of all the persons that we had harmed. We became willing to make amends to them all. Now, this goes against legal advice completely. Right? In our litigious society, it is never admit guilt.
Never admit guilt. Never admit guilt. Never admit guilt. Can I get a lawyer to say, amen? Right?
Became willing in step eight, it's becoming willing. It's not actually making that step and doing it in step eight. Now step nine is about doing it. It's coming. But I think that this is where it's really important to have a sponsor or a dear trusted friend, pastor, elder, some sort of relationship that you see to be more mature walking with God than you are.
Right? Find someone and follow after them as they're falling after Christ. Have them point you to whether or not you need to go to that person. If someone comes to me and tells me I did this and it's awful and it's terrible, and all I wanna do is just run back to them right now. I've just come to realize that I wanna run back right now and wanna tell them all of the times that I abused them when they were little.
Oh, is that helpful or not? Step nine actually. Here we go. I'll just give you a little precursor. We made direct amends to such people wherever it was possible except when to do so would injure them or others.
Causing another injury is an actual possibility. Causing an injury to them, causing an injury to yourself, to your family is possible. So this one is a really hard one to weigh and you really need to allow the spirit of God and the word of God direct you as to what you do. But the willingness of this step in step eight, the willingness to admit that you are wrong and that you hurt other people is huge. It's really really important.
I'm gonna read a paragraph here. Steps eight and nine are concerned with... This is from the twelve and twelve. Okay. The twelve and twelve.
It's 12 steps and 12 traditions. AA has a great app, by the way. The AA app has all this stuff in there. It's really, really good. Steps eight and nine are concerned with personal relations.
First, we take a look backward to try to discover where we have been at fault. That's like step four also. But next, we make a vigorous attempt to repair the damage that we have done if it's possible. And third, having thus cleaned away the debris of the past, we consider how with our new profound knowledge of ourselves, seeing ourselves clearly, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being that we know. And this is a very large order.
It's a task which we may perform with increasing skill, but we never really will finish. Learning how to live in the greatest peace partnership and brotherhood with all men and women. That sound like Paul? It does. Pursue peace with all.
And as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all. If we're gonna pursue peace, it's not just peacekeeping, it's peacemaking. Peacekeeping, all you have to do is keep them separated. Right? Us and them is fine.
I'm at peace with all these people. Who cares about those people? Let them go to whatever. Peacemaking is when you step out towards an oppressive regime and society and people with beating hearts that God loves and you work to having the best possible relations. And it is easiest and best when it is loving God first.
You all heard the saying that hurt people hurt people. Well, forgiven people, forgive people.
Speaker 3Healed
Speaker 1people help heal people. The relational damage that happens in community is best handled also in community. Becoming willing to make amends to the mall. Step eight, and I will go to step nine. I got four minutes left.
The first bbq is outside after this service right here. Making direct amends to such people wherever it's possible. I would say as a part of step eight, nine, you become willing but you hold on to that and be sure before you immediately jump out and start trying to make direct amends. You may cause greater injury doing that. You need to be careful with it.
But being willing is what God is looking for. Being humble is what God is looking for. If you're humble and you're willing to be made right with other people, he will show you that way. I constantly am using a little... That's restitution.
We'll get back to that next week maybe. I'm constantly using this little deal. I do it every time I do a premarital session, I use this. It's past, present, and future. And at the risk of sounding Buddhist, the goal is living in the present.
The goal is living in the present knowing that you have dealt with the past and the way you deal with the past is by forgiving other people. And in the present, you can know that you have forgiven everyone and you can forgive other people. Does that make sense? To live in the present, you need to know that the past has been dealt with. You know that you are forgiven and you know that you have forgiven.
Now in as much as it's possible for you, because of you, you live at peace. Some people are not gonna forgive you. It's just the way it is. There's nothing you can do to make them do that. You can't make them love you, can't make them forgive you, but you need to do all that you can.
And as much as it depends on you, you live at peace. So the living in the past where you're constantly going over the stuff that you did that harm somebody, at step eight, you say, I'm willing to make amends. Lord, show me how and I'll do it. And step nine, after you're certain, you make those direct amends when it's possible and appropriate. To know that you are forgiven and that you have forgiven is the best.
The reason I use this in premarital is because you should keep short accounts. And when they come in, they're absolutely Twitter pated, absolutely in love, and they're not holding anything against each other at all. And the next time they come through the door of a counselor's office, on average, on average, on average. The first time that somebody comes in for marriage counseling, they have been needing it for five years. So if we can keep short accounts with one another, it's really really really helpful to know, I don't hold anything against you and you don't hold anything against me.
We can be at complete harmony and peace. It's a beautiful beautiful thing. Back to step nine next time. Back to scripture next week. That was a refresher course.
Can I pray and invite the band back up? Lord, I ask your blessing on everything that happens this morning. I pray your blessing on everything, every one of us as we look at scripture and see ourselves and not in a favorable light. May we see ourselves as we are. May we see ourselves not in just the victorious heroes of the Bible, but in their down moments too.
May we recognize ourselves exactly as we are and may we allow you to be our hero and to bring us into those great victorious times. In Jesus name, I ask your blessing on this first b b q outside, on the fellowship around the tables, on all that will happen in our hearts and homes this week. Lord, we ask that you would be glorified. Thank you. Thank you for making the way possible for our good.
In Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 2Would you stand and and make this our prayer in our song, Jesus. Take my life and let it be.
Speaker 1Lord bless and keep you. Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Speaker 3Good job.
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