The Heart Of The Church

[0:00] Hallelujah. I wonder if that song should have said, Hum with me or something like that, because we can't sing just now, but hey-hole, we can sing in our hearts, can't we?

[0:14] Thanks very much, Kevin and Lane. Well, this morning we're continuing in our series on Acts. If you have a Bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 4, please.

[0:25] If not, don't worry, it'll be up on the screen behind. And we're going to be reading from verse 32 of Acts chapter 4. So the believers have come together and they are praying against persecution.

[1:07] And it says, just in the verse before, it says that they are filled with the Holy Spirit and they continue to speak the word of God with boldness. And then it says from verse 32, Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

[1:30] And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet.

[1:51] And it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles, Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, he sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

[2:12] But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. And with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

[2:31] But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

[2:44] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?

[2:59] You've not lied to man, but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

[3:15] The young men rose and wrapped him up, carried him out and buried him. And after an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

[3:26] And Peter said to her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. She said, yes, for so much. But Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord?

[3:42] Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out. Immediately, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.

[3:54] When the young men came in, they found her dead. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

[4:08] Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's portico. None of the rest dared join them.

[4:19] But the people held them in great and high esteem. And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord. Multitudes of both men and women so that even they carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

[4:43] The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits. And they were all healed. Amen.

[4:56] I pray that God would bless the reading of his word and speak to us through his spirit. Well, if I was to ask what fills your heart, what would you reply?

[5:10] You might say, love, love fills my heart. You might say, fear. You might say, joy fills my heart.

[5:21] Or you might say, anxiety. You might say, compassion fills my heart. Or in a particular moment you might say, anger. It fills my heart. Or you might say, shame.

[5:35] Or as I'm sure many of you have experienced, you might say, sorrow. Sorrow fills my heart. Many of us feel that way at different times in our lives. But what if I asked, what fills your heart?

[5:46] What would you say? Or perhaps if I asked, what is the heart of this church? What would your answer be? What fills this church?

[5:57] Well, this passage in Acts is a true account of the early church. And it's one that many Christians know. It's a striking, quite a disturbing account.

[6:11] Yet one that often sits out of context in people's minds. If I were to say, well, tell me the story about Ananias and Sapphira. what would you say?

[6:22] Would any of you start with Barnabas and the community of faith? See, the chapter break doesn't help us there, does it? Here's the thing, do we often miss when we're reading these accounts or even when we consider things today, do we often miss that there's more going on than just flesh and blood?

[6:45] Do we at times forget that there are forces at work to try and thwart the advance of the gospel? Powers at play trying to stop the kingdom of God advancing, even today.

[6:59] This is a prominent theme in Acts, but remember, Acts is not some tale, but it's an account of true events in the early church. So let me ask you, as I'm sure Christians agree that God has given us his spirit as well, let me ask, are there things going on today?

[7:19] Think about the things going on today. Are there things going on today that might be trying to disturb the advancement of the kingdom of God? Can you think of anything?

[7:32] Keep that in mind as we go through this. Now what Luke is really presenting here is a picture of what the church is. When he talks about the community of faith, that great grace was upon them all, that the apostles were preaching with great power, and that they were not holding anything of their own, but with great generosity and love they were sharing everything.

[7:54] Luke is presenting a picture of what the church is, and we might answer that differently. What would you say the church is? There are some things in this account that are both typical of the church and atypical, people, but what Luke is presenting as the church is this.

[8:10] The church is a community of believers in Jesus who are filled with the Holy Spirit, who are of one heart and soul, and who are abounding in generosity.

[8:23] The fellowship of Christ, the sharers with one another, and the Holy Spirit of God resulting in shared life where no one is in need. that's what the church is.

[8:35] This is what the community of Jesus followers looks like. Is that what this church is like? Is that what the church in Scotland is like? If you answer yes, then hallelujah.

[8:49] Hallelujah. Praise God. The verse before, as we said, stated that this community prayed in light of persecution, in light of the government threats against their speech to stop speaking the name of Jesus.

[9:05] And as they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they continued to speak with boldness, the Word of God. And this is one of the results of the Holy Spirit. This is one of the results of being filled with the Holy Spirit, is that people speak with boldness the Word of God.

[9:20] And then Luke writes the full number. The full number of who? Of those who believed. Believed what? Believed in the name of Jesus as the Son of God who rose from the dead.

[9:33] You see that in the next verse as the apostles with great power and effect were given testimony to the resurrection of Jesus. The full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

[9:46] No one said their own belongings were just for them, but they shared everything as others had need. Therefore, there was not a needy person among them. Some even sold their property to help those in need.

[9:59] And this is another result of the Holy Spirit. When those people are filled with the Holy Spirit, there's a unity in heart and soul. There's an abounding in generosity, particularly in sharing with your brother and sister in the community of faith.

[10:15] The result of the Holy Spirit filling the church is that people speak with great boldness the Word of God. People are of one heart and soul. People share with each other what they have and none are in need.

[10:27] And people don't count the things of this world worth holding tightly and more people than ever believe in the name of Jesus. They believe the testimony of the apostles, the testimony of the Word.

[10:42] See, Luke is not only describing the church, but that the church is like that because the Holy Spirit is the heart and spirit of the church. Without the Holy Spirit, the church would just be a club or a cult.

[10:55] That's all it would be. The Holy Spirit is the one who fills and moves the church. The one who brings light and life to the church and through the church, the Holy Spirit is the one who brings light and life to the world.

[11:12] The other day I saw a meme on Facebook. Don't know if you all know what a meme is. Just a picture with a text. I saw a meme on Facebook and it was a dig at the church and it said this.

[11:25] It said, if money is the root of all evil, why do they ask for it in church? Now, those of you that know the quote, those of you that know the Bible, you'll know the mistake in the quote because it's not money that's the root of all evil.

[11:43] See, what Paul says in 1 Timothy, if you were actually to take a literal reading of it, would be, a root of all kinds of evil is the love of money. Or as we all know it, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

[12:00] See, the meme on Facebook misquoted and as such, it completely misunderstands why people share their money and their possessions with the community of faith. Totally misses the point.

[12:12] See, look as shown as the typical attitude of believers filled with the Holy Spirit. it. And I said there were things that were atypical and a part of that would be selling property. It's not a thing that's required of people.

[12:24] It's not an obligation that we need to sell our property or anything like that. It's merely Luke is giving an example of the great love and generosity that comes from those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

[12:37] That's what he's talking about. And as such, Luke singles out a man as a representative example of the Holy Spirit community. a man named Joseph or as we all know him, Barnabas.

[12:50] See, he gets two verses in this account and they belong together. This part at the end of chapter 4 and the start of chapter 5 belong together. And Barnabas gets two verses and Ananias and Sapphira get ten verses.

[13:05] See, he's at the end of chapter 4, they're at the beginning of chapter 5. And it's one of the downsides to chapters and verses is sometimes you can miss the connection between Barnabas and them. See, these characters are opposites.

[13:19] And Luke doesn't just pick Barnabas as some random person out of the community. See, Barnabas acts as a foil character, if you're familiar with TV, film, literature. Barnabas is a foil character in the account.

[13:31] He's the protagonist that has the good qualities highlighted in order to contrast them with the bad qualities of the antagonist.

[13:45] See, Barnabas is set there as an example of someone filled with the Spirit. And he is set in contrast to Ananias and Sapphira who are filled with something else.

[13:57] These characters are opposite. See, he's the one, Barnabas is the one who encapsulates the Holy Spirit community. And they, Ananias and Sapphira, they're the ones that don't.

[14:10] And if you remember Sesame Street, you might remember this song. I'm not going to sing it, don't worry. I'll spare you. But as the old Sesame Street song went, one of these things is not like the others.

[14:27] One of these things doesn't belong. Can you tell me which is not like the others by the time I finish this song? Ananias and Sapphira.

[14:39] One of these things is not like the others. Luke's presented this community of faith, the community of Jesus followers, the community of people who, the specific people who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

[14:51] And then he says, one of these things is not like the others. Not like the others. See, because when he says, the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said so and so and so and so, the full number and no one said, well it certainly seems like it's putting Ananias and Sapphira in a different category from the full number, doesn't it?

[15:16] See, Luke doesn't explicitly say whether Ananias and Sapphira are believers or not. But he positions them as people who are not like the others. The ones that are filled with the Spirit and then a couple who are filled with something different.

[15:33] See, Peter even says to Ananias that it was, it was never, it was never about the amount. See, they don't quite fit or belong, do they? But Peter says it was never about the amount of money.

[15:45] It was never about that. The property was his to do with it, what he wants. And in fact, the money when he sold the property was still his. It was at his disposal to do with it what he wants.

[15:56] See, even if he honestly gave 5%, it wouldn't have been an issue. In fact, even if he didn't give anything, it wouldn't have been an issue. It wouldn't have been an issue.

[16:07] It's like Peter says to Ananias, you just don't get what this community is about, do you? You're just not getting what this community is about Ananias, do you? You just don't understand why the people are doing this kind of thing.

[16:22] You just don't. You don't have an idea. You don't get it. One of these things is not like the others. The thing is that Peter highlights in this account is that the true foil character of this account is the Holy Spirit.

[16:38] The Holy Spirit is set in contrast with another unholy spirit. See, when Luke shows us what this community of faith is like, it is because, it is precisely because this community is filled with the Holy Spirit.

[16:54] That's why they're like that. But then Luke shows us what Ananias and Sapphira are like. And well, they are not like the others because they are not filled with the Holy Spirit. And instead, as Peter highlights, their hearts are filled with Satan.

[17:11] It's a striking contrast, isn't it? See, this is what people are like over here when they're filled with the Holy Spirit. And this is what people are like when they're filled with Satan. When Satan fills their heart, they do this kind of thing.

[17:22] But when the Spirit fills their heart, the Spirit of God, they do this kind of thing. Now tell me in this account, when you're thinking about that, tell me which is light and which is darkness.

[17:34] Tell me which leads to life and what literally leads to death and destruction. See, not only does Luke contrast this tragic couple with Barnabas, the son of encouragement, but Luke parallels this couple with another person who was an agent of Satan within the community of grace, Judas.

[17:58] See, whatever you make of these two, whatever you decide about them and their faith or whatever, or their lack of, the comparison is there. And the point, as we'll see later, is that the community of faith itself isn't unable to be infiltrated by the enemy.

[18:13] Danger doesn't just exist outside there, outside the church doors, but danger can come from within our own ranks. See, as Paul warned the Ephesian elders later on in Acts, he warned them that they must pay attention to themselves and to all the flock, the church of God and their care, in which the Holy Spirit made them overseers, because fierce wolves will come in among you.

[18:42] That's what Paul says. See, we must understand that there's more going on in life than meets the eye. Even today, not just in Acts, even here today.

[18:53] What do you think the church is? What do you think the church is doing? Why are we, as believers, still on this earth?

[19:06] See, the believers are called out of darkness into the marvelous light of the kingdom of Jesus. Yet we remain in this dark world precisely to advance that kingdom of light.

[19:19] To advance the kingdom of light. See, the ruler of this dark world is Satan. But Jesus, make no mistake, has defeated him. The war has been won, but all the ground has yet to be taken.

[19:32] All the people who remain captive to darkness have not yet been released. But look at how much the kingdom of light has advanced. Look at it. How is it that me and you standing here or sitting here today, in Scotland, miles and centuries away can even say that we've been delivered out of darkness into his light?

[19:54] How is that possible? Except that the Holy Spirit moved his people to advance the kingdom of light throughout the world and throughout the centuries. Great victory that keeps moving on.

[20:09] The ruler of this world is Satan and this world is darkness. And the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. But one is greater. Jesus has defeated him and he's given his spirit.

[20:24] See, Satan is powerful. See, when Jesus was gaining ground with every miracle and every demon cast out, the people and their human efforts, though they tried many times to kill him, they just couldn't pin him down.

[20:37] So Satan stepped in and filled the heart of one of Jesus' own disciples, Judas. And that was the thing that finally got the ball rolling for Jesus' death.

[20:48] Satan intervened to great effect where humans had no success. See, Satan's powerful, but Jesus is greater. See, the death of Jesus was not Satan's victory.

[21:00] It was God's victory. Sins were atoned for. For righteousness prevailed. Life broke free and death lost in the end. Yet look at Judas, the agent of Satan, the one filled with Satan instead of the spirit.

[21:16] Look at Judas. John records that all along Judas had been dipping, dipping the purse of the church, the funds of the disciples. Judas had been dipping all along.

[21:28] And then with Satan filling his heart, he sold the Savior for 30 pieces of silver. And what did he gain? Well, with the money, he bought a field.

[21:41] And that field became the place of his own demise. See, when Satan fills someone, it only leads to destruction. Only leads to destruction. But when the Holy Spirit fills someone, it leads to life and life eternal.

[21:56] We see the same in Ananias and Sapphira. They likewise have property. They sell it and they pretend to be just like Barnabas. They wanted to be thought of as eminent disciples.

[22:08] They wanted to be one of the gang, just like the others. Yet they weren't. Now, here's the thing. They weren't like the others. And that they weren't like the others isn't necessarily the issue.

[22:21] See, you don't need to be one of us to be among us. You really don't. The issue is that they pretended to be just like the others and lied to the Holy Spirit to the face of Peter, the apostle of Christ.

[22:37] It's about their pretending to be filled with the Holy Spirit when indeed they're filled with Satan. It's not about them being among them when they're not like them.

[22:47] It's about their lie to the Holy Spirit. Satan filled their heart to lie and particularly to lie to the Holy Spirit. And again, like Jesus, human efforts failed to stop him.

[22:58] It's the same with Jesus' church. The efforts so far in Acts to persecute and threaten the church have all but failed to stop the gospel being preached. See, they've been threatened time and time again now.

[23:11] Stop speaking the name of Jesus. We're going to throw you in prison. We're going to beat you. Stop speaking the name of Jesus. But yet the believers pray. They're filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with boldness and they continue to speak the name of Jesus.

[23:25] So now, the devil steps in. Not only is the devil's schemes exposed by Peter here, but the death of Ananias and Sapphira is a signal that anyone Satan uses will likewise be defeated.

[23:42] See, Satan steps in and tries to stop it. That's the thing that Luke wants to highlight is that Satan's efforts, even at this point, when Satan rears his head, his efforts against the church of Jesus are no match for the Holy Spirit.

[24:00] The church belongs to the Holy Spirit of God and no effort of Satan will be allowed to succeed. And that's what happens when Peter exposes Satan and exposes his schemes.

[24:12] The agents of Satan are struck down dead. The Holy Spirit has victory. There's no match for the Holy Spirit of God. No match. Satan, the unholy angel, is absolutely no match for the Holy Spirit of God.

[24:25] Now, you might have heard it said before that God adds, that God multiplies, God even subtracts, but God doesn't divide. We see that that's the activity of the devil, to divide people.

[24:40] In Acts, we've seen from the very beginning that the Holy Spirit is the heart and spirit of the church and the Holy Spirit is the power behind the people of Jesus advancing his kingdom and his gospel.

[24:51] And now we're beginning to see more and more as Satan finally is called out that Satan is the force behind the opposition that is against the community of Jesus' followers.

[25:02] Even today, Satan is the force behind the opposition. He is, after all, the Antichrist. And here are three ways, just three ways, in which we see he opposes the Holy Spirit community.

[25:18] Number one, by persecution. Number two, by corruption. And number three, by distraction. See, we'll see these three methods of opposition throughout Acts.

[25:29] And if we've got eyes to see, we'll also see these three methods of opposition in our world today. For instance, in Acts, the disciples have been persecuted in the previous chapters by the Jewish leaders.

[25:43] They've been thrown in jail. They've been beaten, persecuted. And that kind of violence is perhaps the crudest form of opposition. But they are filled with the Holy Spirit and so it doesn't stop them.

[25:58] And then next here, we see that Satan attempts to corrupt the church. The opposition by corruption to corrupt the church from within using Ananias and Sapphira. But with Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, he calls Satan out.

[26:12] And so the opposition again fails. And then we will go on to see in later chapters, such as chapter six, they attempt to oppose the church by distraction as the apostles are tied up trying to sort out food for widows at the expense of preaching the word of God.

[26:31] But the Holy Spirit is at work and men full of the Spirit are chosen to do this. Do you see that? It's no surprise that the seven that are chosen to sort this out are filled with the Holy Spirit.

[26:44] Stephen, a man full of grace and of the Holy Spirit. They were all filled with the Spirit. Choose from among yourself men filled with the Spirit. See, the Spirit is at work to stop the opposition.

[26:57] And in this time again, when the enemy tries to oppose the church by distraction, seven men full of the Spirit, directed by the Spirit, step in to release the apostles again to continue praying and preaching the word of God.

[27:13] you'll see this kind of opposition over and over. Persecution, corruption, distraction. And the way to overcome that is the Holy Spirit.

[27:24] Being filled with the Holy Spirit. See, as John says in 1 John 4, 3, the Spirit of the Antichrist is in the world. But the very next verse he says, he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

[27:43] Amen. Well, what happened in Acts was that instead of the church being filled with corruption, the church was then filled with great fear. Not fear of Satan.

[27:55] Not fear of the world. But a proper fear and reverence of God. See, the Holy Spirit moved the apostles to continue to speak and to do many great signs and wonders.

[28:07] And as Luke says, they did so much with so great power and grace was upon them all and great fear was upon the whole church. As such, that verse 13, no one even dared to join them.

[28:22] None of the others, none of the rest dared to join this community of faith. Yet they held them in high esteem. The very next verse, it says, more believers than ever were added.

[28:32] Now this isn't a contradiction. Those that heard the testimony of Jesus and believed became part of them. But what Luke says in the verse before is that no one dared to join them without believing because they've just seen a couple of pretenders fall down dead.

[28:50] No one's going to pretend when things like this happen. Don't dare join them and pretend that you're one of them unless you really are. Again, it's not about being among them but being a pretender.

[29:06] So multitudes of men and women with people being carried out into the streets and laid so that even Peter's shadow might fall on them and heal them. And people are gathering from all the towns around the city and bringing them out, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits.

[29:24] And they were all healed. And let's not get caught up in things and details like Peter's shadow and stuff like that. See, whatever superstitions or understanding the people had, there was nothing magical about Peter's shadow.

[29:39] It wasn't about his shadow but rather that he was the well-known representative of Jesus. He was the very one who proclaimed the name of Jesus with great power and effect.

[29:49] and as such, people had such faith towards the name that this man presented that to even get close to this man was to get close to the name of the one he proclaimed.

[30:02] It was about their faith and God condescended to heal them because of their faith in the name of Christ. See, not just the sick were healed but those with unclean spirits.

[30:18] Again, don't miss that Luke is highlighting that the spirit is gaining ground against Satan. Satan's kingdom is being dismantled. The darkness is passing away.

[30:31] This world is passing away but the true light is already shining. And this kind of thing can be seen in the words of Paul. And you'll know if you know Paul that he was someone that was used as an agent of Satan against the church and against Christ.

[30:50] But he was a man who was won by Christ. See, this man Paul who we'll see later on in Acts was one of the most zealous persecutors of the church yet he was stopped in his tracks by Jesus himself.

[31:02] And Jesus told him what he would do for him and he filled him with the Holy Spirit. And here's what Paul himself says in Acts 26 about that first encounter with Jesus.

[31:14] This is what Paul says that Jesus when Jesus won him and told him what to do this is what Paul says that Jesus was sending him to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

[31:32] that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. Isn't that incredible? See, Jesus took one of the greatest instruments of Satan and made him his own instrument against Satan to great effect.

[31:52] See folks, the church is not just some club. It's not just some charity. It's not just some community of good folks trying to better their town. the church is the community of God's people bought by the blood of God's only Son and filled with God's Holy Spirit.

[32:07] That's what the church is. See, there ought to be fear and reverence. This is no ordinary community of people but a people rescued from darkness and brought into light.

[32:19] A people commissioned to speak the truth of who Jesus is and advance his kingdom of light so that others may be rescued out of darkness. That's what it's all about. So that others may be turned from the power of Satan to God.

[32:32] So that others may receive forgiveness and a place among the saints. See, what is the heart and spirit of the church but the spirit of God himself? See, when he is at the heart, when the Holy Spirit is at the heart of the church then the church is the light to the world and no opposition, no weapon formed against that shall prevail.

[32:54] Not even the gates of hell shall prevail. says, Jesus, I will build my church. Nothing will stand against it because the Holy Spirit is the heart of the church.

[33:05] See, we don't fight against flesh and blood, do we? Can we really look at the things going on around us today? This very day in our very country, can we look at the things going on around us and not think that the church is under persecution, that the church is under opposition, that the powers of darkness are trying to push against the church and stop the church.

[33:32] The believers right now in this country are being scattered, being separated, being divided. The church is on the brink of being closed again and has been England, Wales, Ireland, maybe Scotland.

[33:47] we are under opposition by the ruler of this world but Jesus says, take heart, I have overcome the world.

[34:00] Spirit of the Antichrist is in this world, it's evident but he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Amen. These are the things that are going on but when the Holy Spirit is at the heart of the church we go with great boldness and courage filled with the Spirit to proclaim the name of Jesus so that people would be turned from the power of Satan to God, from light to darkness, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, a place among the saints.

[34:32] Let me pray. God our Father in Heaven would you fill us with your Holy Spirit and fill your church with your Holy Spirit that the opposition against your church might come to nothing.

[34:45] Consider the threats against your church and give sense, we pray, for our government. Give sense to those that lead the country. Father, we are not naive.

[34:56] We know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one but you have overcome the world. We know that the spirit of the Antichrist is in the world but we praise you that your Holy Spirit is within us and is greater than the Antichrist.

[35:11] So we ask you Lord that by your Spirit you would give us boldness to proclaim your word precisely so that people would turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that people might receive forgiveness in a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus.

[35:31] Heavenly Father, we pray for our church leaders as they take on the burden of the church, as they seek to protect your flock from wolves, even from within the flock.

[35:44] We pray that you would give the leaders of your churches great power, great wisdom, that by your Spirit they would be able to see and protect the church from the evil one, that together we would have courage and boldness to continue preaching and speak in the name of Jesus and advance in his kingdom of light, that us as believers would support our leaders and we would be of one mind, one heart and soul, that we wouldn't be overcome by persecution, we wouldn't be overtaken by corruption, that we wouldn't be filled into distraction, but that by your Spirit we would share the good news with the whole world.

[36:41] Fill us with your Spirit, Father. We pray, may we fear you, God, and you alone, and know what it is to see your Holy Spirit fill us and move among us, and we give you all the praise and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[36:59] Amen. Well now, Kevin and Elaine are going to come and they're going to lead us in blessed be your name, an appropriate song to reflect on, and then I'll come up and close.