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Alright. Hey, everybody. Welcome to First Bee. How are we this morning? It is very good to see you.
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We are here to worship the Lord. So, would you like to stand with me? We'll open a song.
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I come at fountain every blessing. Do not hard to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never cease sing. Golfer songs on icebreak. And teach me some And here there's your life.
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God has blessed me, and thou has brought me to this place. And I know thy hands will bring me safely home by thy good grace. And Jesus saw me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God. Need to rescue me from danger, interposed to his breast. Oh, to grace how great a terror, dearly I am constrained to be.
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And that thy goodness, like a feather bind my wondering heart to believe. And prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's thy heart, Lord.
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Take it, seal it, seal it for thy courts of love.
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Let's pray together. Lord, good morning. It is good to meet with you and God, we just confess right out of the bat. We are prone to wander and Lord would you guide our wandering hearts back to you. We pray in Christ's name, Amen.
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You can have a seat. Well, it is good to see all of you. We got a few announcements. How many people grabbed a bulletin on the way in? Right there.
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That is very important. So, take a look at that bulletin. It has all the important information in it, I'm going to name just a few things here. Have, Renzi is going to mix that slide there for us. Yep.
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There it is. Last middle school group is tonight from six to eight, 06:30 to eight, last high school breakfast for the school year is this Friday morning 07:30, and then throughout the summer, Renzi will be texting people for information about youth group. Correct sir? Yes. Next, Zach and Sherry Turpin.
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These guys are seeking membership here at First B. As per our constitution and bylaws, we're to put these folks up and just introduce them to you, here at least on the screen and through the bulletin. So, there they are. If I don't see them here this morning, but that's a great looking couple right there. Ladies First Fellowship, they're going to take a break through the summer, they will pick up next fall.
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So, that's what's happening there. This one is really important. Sunday, that's a combined service here at First B, And it starts at ten. Everybody say ten. Ten.
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So, I'm not going to see anybody at nine here, right? Okay. Nobody's coming here at nine. It is at 10:00. Okay?
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Then at 11:30, there's a short congregational meeting, very short congregational meeting. Then there's a potluck, that's always fun. I think we're going to shoot for eating out there with a tent if we can get one. So, that is next Sunday. What time are we meeting?
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Yeah.
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Okay. Thank you. VBS is coming real soon. I want to thank you. You folks have grabbed a bunch of slips back there and turned in a bunch of the supplies that we need for VBS.
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So, just want to give a big thank you for that. But, we still need more and there's some slips back there left. Would you guys do a favor and grab some of those slips if you can, and then bring some of those supplies back early this week? That way we'll have everything that we need for Vacation Bible School. Sound good?
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Okay. Congratulations. Wait, I've got an addendum here, side dish. If you can bring a side dish, please do. Otherwise, we'll have pulled pork next Sunday.
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I'd like to invite up Renzi. We've got some graduates here we want to recognize.
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We do and I saw a couple of them here so far. So, if some wander in as we are going through this real quick. I just want to recognize our seniors who are graduating and ask them to come up on the stage. I see Chris is here. Could you come on up here?
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Let's give him a big hand. Sharon Tomlinson is here as well. If you are graduating senior, stand up so I can see you. Yes, there she is. Any Hardiman is here.
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Fantastic. Connor, come on up. Perfect. Excellent. That's it.
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I haven't forgot about anybody else, right? Okay. Anybody want to come up here? We do have a graduating senior way in the back. He's just visiting this week.
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You can just give us a wave. All right. Good to see you. All right. I'm going to go ahead and just let these guys introduce themselves as well as tell them what their plans are for next year.
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And then, I'm gonna give them this wonderful little gift from all of us at First B.
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I'm Chris Lundy. Next year, I'm heading to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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I'm Sharon Tomlinson and I'm planning on attending Emmaus Bible College next year. I'm Emily Hardiman, and I'm gonna stay here for the fall and take CWC credits. And then in January, I'm going to do up with people for a semester. I'm Connor Charver and I'm going to swim at University of Wyoming.
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Excellent. This is an exciting time for graduating seniors. Congratulations guys. One week left, actual school three days. Oh my goodness.
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You could skip two of those and still graduate. Just joking, don't do that. Don't do that. I just want to read a verse real quick out of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 30 one:eight, The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you.
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He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. That's a great verse for graduates, an encouragement and something to hold on to. As you guys go into a new chapter of your life, as you guys head into something that's mostly exciting but can also be a little scary, just know that the Lord goes before you.
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He won't let you down, He won't forsake you. Just like Moses sold the Israelites as they headed into the promised land. He wasn't going to get to go with them. And so, he sent them in knowing that, hey, the Lord is ahead of you. He goes in to protect you, keep you safe, and that's who you want to fall back on and rely on.
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And that's sort of mentality. I hope you guys will take with you heading to college or to up with people, and you're swimming, whatever you guys do. Know that the Lord will not fail you, He'll be there for you and someone you can always rely on. And let's give these guys one more round of applause and we'll just send them off with a quick prayer. Alright.
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Let's just pray real quick for him. God, thanks for this morning. Thanks for these graduating seniors. I pray that you would just be there for them to fall back on head in head in ahead of them as they go into this new adventure of life, and just let them know your presence. Be with them as they go through this last busy week of school, and get ready to walk walk down that graduation aisle.
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We love you. Thank you for them. In Jesus name, Amen.
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Let's stand up again and worship the Lord.
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Oh, my soul. What wondrous love is theirs on my soul? What wondrous love is theirs that caused the Lord in this. To bear the dreadful curse on my soul for my soul. To bear the dreadful curse on my soul.
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When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down. When I was sinking down, sinking down. When I was sinking down, beneath God's righteous crown. Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul. Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.
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To God and to the day I'll sing, I'll sing. To God and to the dam, I will sing. To God and to the dam, who is the great I am? While millions join the theme, I will sing. Will sing.
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While millions join the theme, I will sing. And down from death I'm free. I'll sing on. I'll sing on. And where from death I'm free, I'll sing on.
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And where from death I'm free, I'll sing as your foe be. And through eternity, I'll sing on. I'll sing on. And through eternity, I'll sing on. Alright.
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I'm not skilled. I'm not skilled to understand what got his will what God is plan. I only know at his right hand, stands walking with my savior. And in my heart I find me for him to be a savior that he wouldn't leave his place on high and come for sinful man to die. You come in strange, so once did I Before I'd be my savior.
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Yes. Living dying let me breathe. My strength, my soul is from the strain. Yes. He lives to be my king.
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Once died to be my
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God, we give you thanks this morning. It is good to meet with you and, I thank you God that you have left your place on high to come for sinful people such as I. It is an it's just a blessing. It is a blessing for for you to to extend so much grace to us, so much mercy. And so this morning, we give you thanks for that.
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And, we truly wanna give ourselves to you this morning. A lot of times there are just these big distractions, and, we want to for you God to to rid us of those distractions and set our sights on you. Amen. Alright. Now look to the hills.
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You're reaching out only. You are my savior. You are the door
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Come to the cross.
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Surrender the heart. You so strong. Because you are my that saves. You are the light that shines the same. You are the Lord almighty enough can stand against your name.
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Lord, your name has the power to save power to save you. Oh, the Lord almighty, there is nothing like your love or your love. You've got giving
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Let's pray together. Amen. God, we are thankful. Thank you that you are strong, that you are our savior. You truly have given it all.
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You've given your life and, lord, as we enter into the worship of giving here, let us keep that in mind. For God so loved the world that He gave, that is a trademark of the believer, is to be a generous and cheerful giver. So I pray God as we share here in the worship of giving, that would be us, that would define us, that we would be people that love to give because you have given. Amen. It was like a wave, everybody went.
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Raised in South Africa this week, and we have a treat this morning because one of our elders, Doug Walkup will be speaking. So, I'd like to invite up Doug, and can we just let him know we love him?
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Well, good morning. Welcome. This morning, we're actually going to be looking at a very, very familiar verse. But I want to give it a context that is really, I think, what what God had intended. And to try to sort of look at this two, three verses and then go backwards in time and say, why did Paul write this?
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How did he get here? What happened? So we're going to be talking about strength and contentment. I raised two sons, my wife and I. My boys and I were pretty physical when they were growing up in high school.
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And there was a lot of wrestling that took place in our house. And a fair amount of that, I think, was actually the boys testing their strength at the time against me, figuring out if they could take dad, then, you know, that they were strong, that they were good. My younger son, Adam, was particularly aggressive about this. We wrestled. We broke things.
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We broke furniture. We broke all kinds of things. We had a little tiny house. And the culmination of that was he came home from college one time, picked me up on his shoulder, and I'm not small, walked around the house with me like this. You know?
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At which point I said, put me down. That was kind of the end of it. It was the that physical strength. But we're not really talking about physical strength here this morning. We're talking more about spiritual strength.
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We're talking about emotional strength. We're talking about mental strength. And how that relates to contentment. What is the source of this strength? You know, a lot of times we equate contentment with our circumstances.
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How are you doing? Great. Everything's going just fine. And so therefore, our contentment is really determined by our circumstances. But it's not really what the message of the scripture has to say.
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Circumstances do not lend contentment. Contentment comes from from other places. And so we're going to start by looking. As soon as Renzi stands up, the feedback comes. We're going to start out by looking at the example of Paul.
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Very familiar verses. Philippians four eleven through 13. I'm not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned the secret of being content, whatever the circumstances. For I know what it is to be in need, I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether in plenty or want.
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I can do all this, back to those things, through Him who gives me strength. This is a much quoted passage. I remember seeing in Sports Illustrated, a kickboxer had Philippians four thirteen on his waistband. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And from a testimony standpoint, I get it.
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Like, yeah, I'm a Christian, Christ is in me, things like that. But there's a certain piece of that physical side that I just sort of have a difficulty with, and that is that, well, I'm going to beat you unconscious. How am I going to do that? Christ strengthens me. I think what Paul is really intending here is not so much that physical side, but the source of our strength being Christ.
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I actually prefer the NIV to to this. It's kind of hard to see here. This one says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And what you see there is is a climber hanging off a cornice on a glacier someplace. And you know, you could think of a 80 some year old man or woman.
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I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Can I really hang off a cornice on a nice climb? Probably not. So again, just want to point out that it's really it's not about the physical side. So let's take a look at what Paul is really getting at in these three verses here.
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Well, first of all, Paul's conversion. He needed to know Christ in order to have that strength or to be tapped into the source of that strength. But he wasn't exactly starting out that way. Meanwhile, Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
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And he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you'll be told what you must do.
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Paul was not exactly a seeker. He was not coming to a Bible study and sitting in the back and going, I wonder what this Jesus thing is all about. You know, he wasn't hanging around Monday nights. He wasn't having a conversation with Christians going, what's this Jesus thing? Tell me about this.
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I don't get this. He was actively opposing the church because he was a zealous defender of Judaism. And to him, these Christians were heretics. And he was gonna stomp them out. So how do you get to a guy like that?
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Well, bright lights on a road, voices. Oh my goodness. Who are you? And what happened? Well, he actually became blind.
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Now, I don't know how many of you have ever been blind, even for a short period of time, but it's a debilitating thing. I was snow blind once for half a day or something like that. Couldn't see. And it's pretty scary. My father-in-law has gone blind over the years and it's completely changed his life.
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Paul, he didn't know necessarily when this happened that he's only gonna be blind for about three days or so. He's like, what is going on here? This is a big deal. And Jesus reached out and grabbed Paul in a really big way. This wasn't about something that was was easy or or subtle or some still small voice.
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It was really about Jesus powerfully reaching out and changing this guy's life.
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So
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the rest of the story about being blind. And the men traveling with Saul stood there speechless, and heard they heard the sound but not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground and when he opened his eyes, he could not see anything. For they led him by the hand into Damascus for three days he was blind. But the Lord said to Ananias, go.
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This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. Then Ananias went to the house and said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately, something like scales fell from Paul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.
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Saul was connected to Christ. This was the beginning. But it's an interesting thing in that he became blind in order to do that. So we're gonna go through a series of circumstances in Paul's life. We're gonna take a little trip through Acts.
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We're going to look at some of these situations that Paul was in. But I want to emphasize, I've learned the secret of being content, whatever the circumstances. I've learned the secret of being content in every situation. And I can do this through Him who gives me strength. So now we're going to go on a little journey here.
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First Paul was blind. This is the first step. We're going to see some of the things that has happened to him over the years. And they're not necessarily wonderful, fuzzy, warm circumstances. Okay.
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He's still in Damascus. He went to Damascus. He was converted on the road. He's blind. He got his sight back.
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And after many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him. But Saul learned of their plan. Day and night, they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. Anybody ever here ever been the point of a of a murder plot? It's an unusual situation.
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But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. Now remember, he hadn't been a Christian for very long, but yet he was there in Damascus. A visual. They let him down. They got him away with a rope.
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They repelled him essentially down the side of the city wall. This is not necessarily your average ordinary kind of circumstance. This is not the kind of thing you get all warm and fuzzy about. This is not like, oh boy, I'm gonna sneak out at night so people don't kill me. This is a circumstance that has some real meaning to it.
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Okay, so he gets out of Damascus. What does he do? Well he heads off down to Jerusalem eventually. When
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he came
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to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. But they were afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. So he's like, I'm going back to Jerusalem. I'm going to see the apostles. I'm going to see where this place started.
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I'm to see all this stuff. They're going to be so excited because now the guy who is trying to kill them all is a Christian. And so he comes in and he goes, Hey folks, here I am. I'm changed. Woah.
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We're not sure we want to even be associated with you. Ever been rejected? This could have been a very ultimate rejection on Paul's part. It's like the apostles. You know, James and Peter and all these guys are just like, woah, don't want to talk to this guy because maybe he's not for real.
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Maybe this is some sort of plot. But Barnabas, bless his heart, took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. Essentially, Barnabas is like, guys, he's for real. And he connected them to them.
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But still, you ever been rejected? You kind of have that feeling sort of in the pit of your stomach like, ugh. You know? That could have been Paul's response. Not necessarily a great situation.
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So while he's in Jerusalem, murder plot number two. First one in Damascus, second one in Jerusalem. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Out of town again.
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Come on Paul, let's go. You gotta get going here. So there's there's a plot and a pattern here. Eventually, he's off on his missionary journeys and he's in Lystra. And some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came and won the crowd over.
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They stoned Paul, dragged him outside the city thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. Okay. This time wasn't just a plot and he got off the the wall with a rope, or just got out of town. They actually took him and stoned him.
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He was probably knocked out, so they thought he was dead. Romans at the time reserved capital punishment for that government. So the people that stoned him probably didn't hang around for a while and do pulses and all those kinds of things. They probably dragged him out of the city and took off because what they had done was essentially illegal. Now, what did Paul do?
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Get up and go to Caesarea or or you know head off to Tarsus? No he goes back into the city. Strength and courage. This time that plot you know nearly succeeded so to speak. Okay.
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You ever had a conflict with a close friend, with a family member, with a brother in Christ? Yes. Everybody should be going, uh-huh. You know? So later on in the missionary journey, Barnabas and Paul are out together and they were going to head off to someplace new.
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Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them. Paul did not think it wise to take him because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark, sailed for Cyprus, Paul chose Silas and left in a different direction. This was not just a, you know, let's have coffee over here or over there.
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This is a major thing. And what was the result of this conflict was is that eventually John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark. And Barnabas nurtured him, brought him back. But this was the center of a conflict between two close workers, between two missionaries. You know, I think that if you've ever had that ugly feeling in the pit of your stomach, there probably was some real heartache and angst about this particular conflict.
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Another situation that Paul ran into in his life. So later on, he's in Philippi. You can see the pattern starting to emerge here. The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
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Which is kind of interesting because it's a bit of foreshadowing there about the the the escape that was imminent. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in stocks. Okay. So he's maximum security. Got them locked up inside the basement of the jail essentially.
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About midnight Paul and Silas were praying, singing hymns to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them. So they get flogged, whipped, you know, backs torn open. They hurt. They hurt in a big way.
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They're put into essentially maximum security. And what's their response? Well, they have a little worship service down there in the basement. Not sure that many of us would have that level of strength, that level of contentment. Eventually then, the earthquake came, the jail was broken open, the jailer was converted, Those sorts of things.
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But Paul's response to being in prison was pretty strong. So chains is another visual for Paul. And then we go through a series of of on the missionary journeys through Thessalonica and other places. But the other Jews were jealous. So they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city.
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It's just kind of the average response to Paul's activities. Okay. Murder plots, riots, things like that. In Corinth, Corinth a little later, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to a place of judgment. They dragged him into court.
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So he's in front of a judicial system again. How do you feel when you're stopped by a traffic cop? Now, probably you did something wrong or you wouldn't get stopped. But you have that kind of, oh, oh, embarrassed sort of thing and you're like, man. I hope he doesn't give me a ticket.
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You know. Those sorts of things. And even though you might have done something wrong, Paul knew that he didn't. But you still have a response to that in terms of you feel somewhat less than wonderful. You're like, oh my gosh.
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You know, this is such a tough deal for me. Well, here he is again. He's in court. Another riot. When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting, great is Artemis of the Ephesians.
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So the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus and Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia. And all of them rushed into the theater together. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. What's he want to do?
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He wasn't there. He wasn't in front of this crowd. And he's like, woah, woah, let me get in there. Let me get in there. Let me talk to these people.
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But the brothers said, nope, not this time. They kept him out of the fray. Okay. So he goes to Jerusalem. The whole city was aroused.
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The people came running in all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with chains. K.
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Back to that theme. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd kept show shouting, get rid of him. Sort of seems that Paul's activities motivated people to action. Another riot.
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So they didn't get him. So the next day basically, some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than 40 men were involved in this plot. Another murder plot. People really wanted to get rid of this guy.
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This translated into trials before the Sanhedrin, kings, governors, and eventually an appeal to Caesar. Took a period of years. Paul had opportunities to speak to each one of these individuals through the years. And finally appealed to Caesar. And the understanding is that he eventually would have had an opportunity to speak before Caesar as well.
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So on the way, what happens? Well, it's a long journey from Jerusalem to Rome, and they took it part of it by ship. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move. The stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
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The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. So just a lovely Mediterranean cruise. Know, great thing. Stuck on an island, so forth.
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He finally does make it to Rome. But not before actually swimming ashore on the wreckage of the boat. So what's the background of of the verses we read? I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. What's his background to say this?
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Well, first, he had to know Christ. He had to be connected to the source of that strength. He went blind. He was a subject of multiple murder plots. He was stoned and left for dead.
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He had a conflict with a with a close brother. He precipitated numbers of riots. Okay. And many times was at very great risk during those riots. He was put in prison a number of times.
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He had trials before lawyers. He was shipwrecked. I can do all this. And so that this piece right here is not wonderful, warm, fuzzy, lovely, interesting kinds of things. It's tough circumstances.
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Really, really tough circumstances. So where does that bring us? Well, I think a couple of things to take away for ourselves here. One is that Paul really knew his purpose and his calling. He knew the source of his strength.
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He knew what he was supposed to be doing. And he also knew that God was in control of those circumstances. This stuff wasn't random. And it was one of the reasons why he wanted to like rush in when there was one of these riots and talk to the people. It's when the soldiers were carrying him away, he asked the commander, can you just set me down and let me talk to these people?
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He understood that he saw these circumstances as opportunities to achieve his purpose. He knew the source of his strength. He knew where it was coming from. He came from Christ and not from the circumstances. The result?
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No matter what he did, he could be content. Because he knew the source of his strength. He knew his opportunities. He knew his purpose and calling. So how about us?
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How about us? How do we view bad circumstances? Okay? Our bad circumstances are probably somewhat less than murder plots, being stoned and left for dead, shipwrecks, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. How can we really learn from Paul's life to be content in all situations?
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Well, it's pretty straightforward. If we understand what our purpose and calling is, if we really believe that God is in control, if we see our circumstances as opportunities and not just bad stuff that happens, and if we know the source of our strength and we're connected, if we have a personal relationship with Christ, that source of strength is available to us. I just think it's really a great way to think about this verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Not kickboxing.
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Not climbing cornices. But thinking about using the circumstances that come into our life as opportunities. Being connected to that source of strength. Keep that in mind. The next time you see Philippians four thirteen on some linebacker's black on the football field or on some kickboxer's waistband, think about where that really came from and what it really has to do to us.
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I can do all this through him who strengthens me.
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It's a good word. It's a good word. Thanks, Doug. This morning, we have the privilege in sharing a communion together. And I wanna say this, it really is a privilege because there's nothing that we've done to earn God's grace.
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There really isn't. Our salvation is a free gift of God through faith in Christ and his work on the cross. He truly is our our substitutionary atonement. That means he died in our place for our sin. And this time of communion that we're gonna share together here is a time to remember just that.
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It's a time to remember Jesus life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, that He came, that He died, that He rose, that He lives and that He lives in us. Philippians four thirteen, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength and I really believe the key words there are through Christ. They are through Christ. Through Christ, we are forgiven. Through Christ we have salvation, through Christ we are given new life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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So what I'd like to do is and invite the ushers to please come forward here and what we do, first we pass the bread that represents Jesus' body. At first B, we like to wait until everybody is served and then we eat together. The next we'll pass the cup that represents the blood of Christ. We'll wait till everybody is served and then we'll drink of the cup together. And I want you to know this too, this is an open table.
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You don't need to be a member here at first be to receive communion. However, the scripture is clear that communion is for believers and we are to receive communion with reverence. It's not a time to kind of be loosey goosey, it really is to receive this with reverence. It's a time to reflect, it's a time to repent, it's a time to pray, it's a time to give thanks, it's a time to remember what Christ has done. And so, I'd like to ask the ushers to begin serving the bread here to you and Kale will play the piano and can I encourage you take some time in prayer?
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Take some time in prayer and then we'll share in eating the bread again. The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, he took the bread and when he'd given thanks, he broke it. He said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this and remember to me. I'd like to ask the ushers if they would now pass the cup and as they pass the cup here, I want you to listen to this good word from Hebrews 10.
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It's about Jesus sacrificing the new covenant in which we live. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offers the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our high priest, Jesus, offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. I want you to know that one. Jesus said, it is finished.
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It was finished. He put an end to our sin. In the same way after supper, he took the cup saying, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink of it in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he come.
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God, we want to give thanks as we remember here. Your life, death, your resurrection, ascension that through faith in you and for your Holy Spirit that gives us strength That we truly can do all things through you who strengthens us. Lord would you take this message drive a deep into us during this week that we would see that our circumstances truly aren't based on our joy is not truly based on our circumstances alone, but on you that you can give true joy even in the worst circumstances. Thank you for Paul's life and his testimony that shows us that. But Lord, the real key is to practice, to put it into practice.
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And so may we be looking at all our trials as opportunities. Opportunities for you to do a good work in us that you started. Would you do this we pray in Christ name, Amen. Would you stand with me, we're gonna just close in one last song. What have we to dread, what have we to fear?
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What have I dread? What have
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Amen. Can I leave you a benediction here? If I can find it, it was a really good one. There it is. Colossians two, Paul says, Just as you received Christ as Lord, continue to live in Him.
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Amen? Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, overflowing with thankfulness. Enjoy your walk with the Lord this week, live in him, lean on him, be built up in him, strengthened by him, thankful for all he has done and continues to do. Bless you. You want peace this week.
