[0:00] Father, we give you thanks and praise that you are a God who speaks, that you have spoken to us by your word written, and we acknowledge and confess before you, Father, that you both ask for us to use the very best of our minds and our imaginations and our will to understand your word, but at the same time that we can never understand your word properly by our own power.
[0:25] And so we ask, Father, that in your kindness and mercy to us, that you would pour out the Holy Spirit upon us to lead us and guide us into all truth, to grant us the renewing of your minds, our minds, so that we can live in a way that is good for the world and brings you great glory and spreads the gospel.
[0:44] And we ask that as you pour out the Holy Spirit upon us and as we think upon your word, that you would grip us with the beauty and the truth and the power of the gospel, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for us, that makes us right with you when we put our faith and trust in you.
[1:02] So, Father, we ask all of these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Please be seated. Those of you who come to the church know a lot of times I have conversations in coffee shops.
[1:17] It's been very hard for me not to be able to have conversations in coffee shops. It was actually so nice this week. I think it was on Thursday for the first time in a long time.
[1:28] I sat at a cafe at a table outside and had a cup of coffee and did some work on a sermon and I really felt very grateful. Just a small little mercy.
[1:41] Over the years, I've had lots of conversations with secular people. I've developed some secular friends. And a thing which once they get fairly comfortable with me, they'll often tell me is this.
[1:52] And it doesn't come up at first. It's only after they start to get a bit comfortable with me. And they might say, some of them will say, George, I sort of envy you. I envy your faith. I can see how it makes a big difference for you and it's really helpful to you.
[2:05] But the problem I have is I just think too much. Like, I just think and because I think, I just can't ever see how I could ever be a Christian just because I think.
[2:18] And they don't mean it as an insult or as a put-down. I mean, even though it is a bit of a put-down, what you think and I don't. Like, I mean, that's what goes through my mind because I'm proud, self-centered, you know, just like every other human being.
[2:28] What you think and I don't think. Like, I'll often have some cutting thoughts that fly through my mind, which hopefully in heaven I'll find out how many times that the cutting thought that went through my mind that I should really repent of.
[2:42] And it's a good thing I don't say it. It's because one of you were praying for me at that moment that I didn't say it. But it's well-meaning. And you know what? The fact of the matter is, is in many ways it's a very fair comment.
[2:54] In many ways it is a very fair comment that most, that many people, because they think, they can't have faith. Because you either think or you have faith. I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that when I first became a Christian, and these were, many of them were well-meaning people.
[3:10] I'm not saying that it described all of the people that were responsible for me becoming a Christian when I was in grade 12. But when I started to have problems with the relationship of the Bible and science, when I started to have problems with, and a variety of issues between the Bible and science, and I started to have problems with the problem of evil, and I had some problems with Christianity and other religions, and as I started to have these intellectual problems, and I go to share it with them, many of these well, well, well-meaning godly Christians would just say, George, you have to have faith.
[3:41] Like, you just pray about it. Just pray about it. And you're a Christian, and they're not a Christian, and they say something about how the, you know, only those who love, you know, know the things of God, and all that type of stuff.
[3:53] And it's all very well-meaning, but it was as if you don't have to have any reasons. You don't have to have an account of the Bible or Christianity and science. Just have faith. Just believe. And it didn't help me.
[4:03] And so, and there's many, many people when you challenge them. In fact, you see it on TVs and movies, but it's not something that's just made up. It's many people say, well, that's just what I believe.
[4:14] That's my faith. When you challenge them with questions. So our secular friends, when they think you have to make a choice between thinking and believing, it's not a completely, it's not a completely absurd thing for them to say.
[4:25] And in fact, it's not just that, because, you know, I think our secular friends, if they were to really be honest, they'd say, listen, George, in fact, Christian faith is just part of a pattern. There's a pattern of all religions.
[4:36] Like, look at Muslims. Muslims just believe that you just have to submit to God. I mean, Muslims even believe that there's a part of the Bible, you know, whatever was recorded in the Quran early, and then later on, if they wanted to disagree with that and contradict it, they even come up with a thing called abrogation.
[4:52] Somehow everything in Quran is true, but the early parts aren't true, and the later parts are true, and you just have to believe. And in fact, if they know much about religions, they'll know that for much of Hinduism and for much of Buddhism, the mind is particularly the problem.
[5:07] Like in Buddhism, the mind is the problem because the mind keeps creating difference. That's what minds do. The minds make distinctions, and you've got to get rid of this difference.
[5:19] And in Hinduism as well, it's often, many of the purposes of the meditation techniques is to stop the mind from working. And when the mind stops working, then you progress in holiness.
[5:30] And so for our secular friends, and they look at Christians, they see that many of their Christians that they know, it's just a matter of, well, we Christians are just part of a religious pattern.
[5:42] So you either can have faith or you think. Or you think in every other area, and then when it comes to faith, you just stop thinking. You put a big wall up there, you stop thinking altogether. The text of the Bible that we're going to look at this morning, Philippians chapter 4, verse 8-9, it's a verse which I hope, the main thing I hope comes out of this is that you desire to meditate upon this text and memorize it and meditate upon it.
[6:06] There are going to be points, but we're going to say the text a lot because it's a very, very powerful text. And it's not just a powerful text because it says something that I like, but in fact, it's one of those, occasionally you have verses in the Bible that encapsulate the Bible.
[6:23] And so the verse is Philippians chapter 4, verses 8-9. We're going through the book of Philippians. This is our second to last sermon. Next week we finish the book. And here's the verse. And notice what it says.
[6:36] Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
[6:52] What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Now, I'm going to read it again in a moment, but Andrew, could you put up the first point?
[7:05] Did you notice, and in fact it's far more clear in the original language, there's only one imperative or command in these two verses, and the command is to think.
[7:16] The Bible actually says, think. The Lord commands his children to think. In fact, if you just look at it again, it's very interesting.
[7:28] There's three parts of these two verses. If you look at the first thing, the first part is the Bible sets forth eight aspects of reality to think about. They're not watertight compartments, but that reality, what we need to think about, is in fact quite broad, very, very wide.
[7:46] And so, in fact, it's not a ghetto, like only think about religious things, or only think about the Bible, or only think about spiritual things, or only think about math and just have faith, or only think about history and then just have faith, or only think about the law and then just have faith.
[7:59] In fact, it says there's these eight aspects of reality. What are the eight aspects of reality? Look at them. It's in verse 8, and all finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, I only have five fingers, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
[8:24] So, it tells you, there's eight aspects of reality, think about them. Think about these eight aspects of reality. And as well as that, read the Bible. What Paul is saying next here is, in a sense, when you read the New Testament, this is both the Old and the New Testament.
[8:39] When you read the New Testament, what you are reading is the apostolic testimony to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and how according to the apostles, who studied under Jesus, how you should then live.
[8:53] And so, what does Paul say? He says, think about these eight aspects of reality. Then in verse 9, what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Practice these things.
[9:04] In other words, live them. And what's the promise? The promise is, that the God of peace will be with you. You see the power of what the Bible is actually saying?
[9:15] The Bible links, even though there are many Christians who, in fact, accept that you just have faith. There's thinking, and there's faith.
[9:25] There's the world that you think in, in terms of math, or history, or biology, or chemistry, or physics, or finance. You think there, but then when you come into this building, on a Sunday morning, you stop thinking, and you have faith.
[9:43] And what the Bible says, is that even though this is a pattern for all of religion, even though it's a pattern for all of religion, that, in fact, the Bible connects thinking, the command to think, with a promise of his presence.
[10:01] Just as a pause, I am so glad there's children here. And I appreciate that, you know, you have to take them out when they cry. I had nine kids.
[10:11] If you're a guest here, I had nine kids. And because I was up front for most of that, it meant that it would be my poor, long-suffering wife having to deal with it. But I am very, I am just so glad there's children here.
[10:23] And I know that that means occasionally, children will erupt. That's what children do. They erupt. Anyway, back to this. But, you know, this is one of the reasons I said this.
[10:34] I wanted, like, this is why the sermon is entitled Thinking. Thinking, God says think, and if you think, I'm going to be with you.
[10:45] I'm going to be with you. It's the opposite of what the pattern of the world is. Now, I don't always, I'm not always very successful in trying to communicate this to my secular friends.
[10:59] And that's fine, by the way. You know, when you talk about Jesus with your secular friends, if you wait to be able to talk about, if you wait until you can do it perfectly, you'll never talk. And it's a bit of a matter of just trying to figure it out.
[11:14] And you know what? If you fail, that's fine. You're saved by grace. You're not saved because you're perfect. And how do you learn? You learn by trying. You learn by taking the risk.
[11:24] You learn by thinking about it afterwards. And that's sort of how you learn. So, I don't always handle it very well when my secular friends say this. But here's the thing. Some people, when they hear this text, what I just read, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
[11:46] What they don't get is the thing. But what they get is all those other things. And in fact, it's a very common problem in certain Christian circles that this text will be a proof text to basic, here's what it is.
[12:01] For many people, when they read this at first glance, what they think it means is you've got to love the best things. And what does that mean? All you folks who listen to country music, has to be opera.
[12:14] Okay? All those people who like the funnies and the comics in the paper, you've got to go to the National Art Gallery. All of those of you who like reading Stephen King or something like that, I mean, for some of you, people actually read a book?
[12:29] For those of you who even read a book, Stephen King, has to be Shakespeare. And that's how many people take it. That real Christians read Shakespeare, listen to opera, listen to Bach, don't listen to popular music, definitely not country, and all of that other type.
[12:43] But definitely not hip-hop. I want to be equal opportunity here as well, that you're only listening to opera and Bach. And in other words, how they take this is that you have to fit in with the elite culture. And whatever the cultural elite says is the elite, that's what you have to do.
[12:57] That's not what the text says at all. It's interesting, Christians, when they talk about that, they forget about the gospel all of a second. The Bible doesn't ever baptize cultural elites.
[13:10] In fact, if you read the Bible, what is the Bible always doing? It's always undercutting the claims of the powerful to humble us before the triune God.
[13:23] So what's going on here in this particular text? Try to explain what's going on. And in fact, actually what the Bible text actually is saying is it's not saying you have to stop listening to country music and have to start listening to Bach.
[13:35] It's not saying you shouldn't listen to Bach, by the way, and that you have to listen to country music. It's just saying, it's not saying that you have to fit in with however the elites in Canada define the excellent and the worthy.
[13:48] The gospel and the Bible defines the worthy, not the elite culture. But what this text is actually saying is something which is very troublesome and challenging to Canadians.
[14:01] And I'll illustrate it with two quotes from C.S. Lewis. The first quote is this, there is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God.
[14:17] I'll say it again. There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God.
[14:30] That's what we Christians believe. We Christians believe that the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, who for all eternity, outside of time, before there was anything that was ever created, the Father loved the Son and the Father knew the Son and the Son knew the Father and loved the Father and the Father knew truth about the Son and the Son knew the truth about the Father and the Father sees the beauty of the Son and the Son sees the beauty of the Father and the Holy Spirit, of course, is in there as well as in a sense both the means of the communication but also the person himself and that from all eternity there is this love, there is a truth, there is reciprocity, there is both stillness and movement and this is going out of from all eternity and out of nothing.
[15:14] God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, out of nothing, God creates all things and out of nothing, God creates all things and sustains everything in existence in every single second, every split second is sustained by God, every square inch of the universe is sustained by God and God is sovereign over every split second and over every square inch and not only is God sovereign but God will bring this created order, this universe, to its proper end at his determination and he will bring it to its proper end every square inch and every split second with nothing left.
[15:52] when I am redeemed by Jesus, when I put my faith and trust in Jesus, what is redeemed is every square inch of who George is and every split second of who George is from the moment of my conception in my mother's womb to the moment and I hope unless Jesus comes back and I hope it's not for another 40 years until I die and even that which is future is redeemed by Jesus, every square inch of who George is and every split second of who George is is redeemed by Jesus.
[16:29] My sexuality, my mind, my body, my imagination, my heart, my will, my finances, my house, my car, my wife, my children, everything that makes me me, everything that makes you you is redeemed by Jesus.
[16:49] the same God who has created the entire, every square inch of the universe and is God for every split second in every square inch in the entire universe.
[17:03] And C.S. Lewis also said this, I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun, and he's spelling it S-U-N, I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.
[17:21] Isn't that a brilliant quote? I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.
[17:35] So in other words, when you become a Christian, it's not an invitation to live in a Christian ghetto. When you become a Christian, it's not an invitation to only, yet you think, you know, in your day job you code software or you build bridges or you figure out dances or you manage households or you do money markets or you work in the bureaucracy or you're a lawyer or you're a carpenter or you're a plumber or you're a truck driver and you think in all those areas but you come in the doors.
[18:06] Here you don't think, you just have faith. That's not the way it is. Why do I say that? Why do I say that? Because what does the Bible say here? Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's anything, excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
[18:24] Think about these things. And you want to know something else? The command here to think is even more powerful in the original language than it is in the English language because there's different words for think in the original language and the word which is used here for think is specifically thinking about reality.
[18:42] Just to give an example, if you were translating, trying to translate this conversation, this conversation, you had somebody, one of you had to try to explain to a person from New Testament times who happened to be here and maybe one of you is in financial planning.
[18:57] If you know anything about my life, I desperately need financial planning but that's a separate whole other thing. You know, the Lord provides and there you go. So anyway, I'm on the Freedom 75 plan just for the record.
[19:09] So Daniel, if you went into the ministry to become rich, you made a terrible career decision just for the record. Anyway, if somebody said, George, what do you think your net worth is?
[19:25] And I said, okay, what do I think my net worth is? Yeah, I don't want you to sort of guess. What is your next worth? What do you think your net worth? Think about what your net worth is.
[19:37] Calculate it. And the word think and the word calculate in the original language you would use the same word. And so if at the end of it I'd say to the person, I calculated my net worth and it's, you know, five billion dollars.
[19:51] I'm just not lying. You know, it's whatever. That word think, that word calculate is the word that's used here. It's only a word that's used to deal with reality. And that's what the Bible is saying.
[20:04] So this is a very big challenge, you see, because here's what happens in Canadians and part of it's a human problem and part of it is a problem made far worse for Canadians. That both people who think that faith is faith and thinking is thinking, but whether you're all on the faith side or all on the thinking side, everybody agrees with it.
[20:23] How do you know that? Very simple. If Victor, my friend, invites me to a party of some of his lawyers and some other people that are very, you know, important.
[20:35] And during the party, I discovered that one of the people says, you know, we're all having a little glass of a very good wine or something like that. And one of them shares with me how they've really gotten deeply into the truth of Native spirituality.
[20:52] They've been really, they've been studying the writings, they've been reading these creation stories and these other stories and they've really deeply are committed, they just, they're finding it so wonderful.
[21:04] And if I, with a smile and trying to be gentle, say, you can't really believe that. Like how on earth, if I said to them, how on earth could you possibly believe that and believe biology?
[21:16] Like how could you possibly, like you really believe that a, like a bird did this and a turtle did that and a bear did that and all things came into, like you really think that, how could you think that's true?
[21:27] Like you're an educated person. Now here's the thing. Victor and I are the only Christians in the room. There's 15 people and they overhear it.
[21:38] The other 13, the other 12 people will be deeply angry at me. They will think I am the rudest jerk in the world.
[21:50] They would say, how dare you challenge this person on the truthfulness of native spirituality. Same thing happens by the way with morality, doesn't it?
[22:05] It's a very, very interesting thing. I really try to find, it's very interesting how many people who on the first of March trumpeted that you do whatever you want and the state can't tell you what to do and by the 31st of March were saying that you were a bad and evil person if you didn't wear a mask or you didn't do this or you didn't do that.
[22:27] It's very interesting. The same people have gone from being extreme relativists to almost totalitarian in the way they talk. You can see it in columnists and it's a very, very interesting thing.
[22:37] But the fact of the matter is we all know that people basically say well that's just true for you like morality is just right for you and it's not, it can be right for you but not right for you. How dare you say that something's right or wrong for something else?
[22:48] Because you see the fact of the matter is that in Canadian culture we've broken thinking and not thinking into all these different silos and categories. And the problem with the Bible is this.
[23:01] The problem with the Bible isn't that it tells you to stop thinking. Andrew, could you put up a second point? The problem is that the Bible reveals that since your thinking is too narrow, incomplete, short-sighted, and unrealistic, it needs to be redeemed, reformed, and renewed.
[23:26] That's the problem with the Bible. Because the fact of the matter is that from a biblical point of view if somebody said so you're a Christian and I say yes so that you believe in God created all things I would say yes. That's a fair thing.
[23:38] Are you a Christian? Yes. Do you think Jesus rose from the dead? Yes. And if they challenge me on that that's a completely valid thing. In fact the Bible says be prepared to give an account for the reasons that you believe. The fact of the matter is that the four biographies of Jesus which we call Gospels are eyewitness biographies of what Jesus actually did in history.
[23:56] The central claim that goes back to the very first New Testament writers is in fact that on the third that Jesus predicted he would die upon the cross in fulfillment of ancient prophecies that he is the one promised in ancient prophecies that he has arrived that these miracles actually happened that he would die by crucifixion that he did die by crucifixion on the third day the tomb would be empty because he rose from the dead and the heart of the apostolic witness is that on the third day the tomb was empty because Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to give trustworthy proves to many, many, many eyewitnesses that in fact the Christians that's the Christian claim.
[24:38] Now we might not be very good at defending it and I'm not saying that every one of you I mean I don't have a master's in apologetics we don't have to have it but the fact of the matter is it's a valid thing to say to a Christian well how can that possibly be true and to try to give an answer and if you can't give an answer you call up Daniel you call up me you call up somebody else and you work it out you read some books and you have a conversation because we believe well here's the beauty of what the Christians believe and just think about for a second how beautiful it is.
[25:06] The Bible isn't saying that you have to listen to opera you have to read Shakespeare it says that whatever you think about think about eight aspects of reality not the way you normally think and think about the eight aspects of reality in the context of God's revealed word you see why is most non why is most secular thinking short-sighted it doesn't think about eternity it doesn't think about the fact that one day they will die and they will appear before God it doesn't think about the fact that death isn't the end but that there will be a judgment so much secular thinking is very very short-sighted and it's very narrow why well because as normal natural human beings we want to be very short-sighted not only about the distance but we want to think mainly about what it affects about ourselves or within our own discipline but if the Bible is true what the Bible here is encouraging you is this if you are a person who's working in the civil service and you work in the area of government policy if you are a business working a business and you're running a business if you're a mom or a dad and you're trying to manage your kids if you're retired and you're looking at how to manage your home if you're in whatever it is and you have to come up with a business thing or a policy decision or a financial thing and what the Bible is saying is don't be narrow in your thinking like first of all think about what is true like always try to find out what's true and true here in the Bible this also said true means what's real like when you stop believing it when you stop wanting it what actually is like think about what's true but don't just think about whatever is true think about what's worthy of honor think about those things because there are things in life that are just a gust there's a weightiness to it there's something about it that has a type of sense that if you're not moved by it moved by that act of heroism moved just by the the depth and the it's just honorable think about not just the individual little policy decision about what it is think big think about what's true want to know what's true want to know what's honorable think about what's just like what's actually just is this the just way to make a policy is this just a matter of caving into what the powerful want is this going to be just for the weak that's what you should be doing in policy that's what you should be doing in business and don't only think think about what is morally pure and think about what's lovely like why write something which is a policy thing which is unbelievably boring why can't you make it lovely why can't you make it beautiful don't just think of the most effective way to get a person into your shop to buy the coffee to get them out make the whole experience lovely make it winsome make it just think about how to bring in that which is worthy of praise why would you do something shoddy when you could seek excellence and why would you want to do something like why don't you want to take into account those things which really truly are worthy of praise and all of our secular friends we're all there's an inconsistency we all know that nobody consistently says that all morals and all things right and wrong are completely relative nobody lives up to that the second you the second you just put them in a line up and make them the first person in the line and then serve the second third and fourth person ahead of them and they'll say it's not fair like they it's just
[28:34] I mean it's not serious thinking when people say it's not relative and there's the same thing about things which are beautiful and worthy of praise like we all have this basic sense and understanding if you hear of an act of tremendous heroism there's this wonderful story of the fellow in England I can't remember his name that there was an alt-right demonstrator and the African the British African the black fellow he picks up the guy who's hurt and rescues him in the face that's just so worthy of praise isn't it that's just worthy of praise we see an absolutely beautiful sunset and somebody says yeah it's just atmosphere we think there's something think big think of all eight aspects of reality listen folks you believe in Christianity because not only the sun has risen but because the sun has risen you can see everything look at the world not just religious things look at business look at law look at politics look at your neighborhood look at your lawn look at your garden look at your kids look at your clothes the whole world is yours
[29:38] Andrew if you could put up the third point in the real world where the triune God claims every square inch and every split second in the universe only the cross of Christ can redeem comfort and propel you to live free in his creation in the real world where the triune God is where the triune God claims every square inch and every split second in the universe only the cross of Christ can redeem comfort and propel you to live free in his creation what I mean is this it's a frightening thing as it starts to grasp you that every square inch of who I am is claimed and redeemed by Jesus it can be very scary when you're thinking about your autonomy and your will and like really my money you know like the old Christian thing is if you give ten do you know how much of your money is
[30:38] God's well you know I've learned tithing so ten percent is God's and no no no a hundred percent is God's he asked for ten percent but a hundred percent is his how much of your mind is God's just the Christian no no all of all of your mind has to belong to God all of it all of it and that can be very frightening you know the only thing that can possibly comfort you is just to remember what most perfectly reveals the existence of the triune God read John 118 later on especially if you know anything about the original language in John 118 the beginning of John's gospel says it's Jesus his life and death and resurrection which perfectly interprets God to human beings and helps us to understand him the father the son and the holy spirit and God reveals himself most perfectly by showing that he loves you to the uttermost even to the point of emptying himself of his glory and taking upon himself your sin and mine and your shame and mine and your dishonor and mine and your uncleanness and mine and the accusations against you and the accusations against me he reveals his total claim and total redemption by taking upon himself every bit of shame and sin and uncleanness from the moment of your conception to the moment of your death all on him and so those times by which your conscience is afraid of such a total claim remember the total self-giving of God the son of God for the total you to comfort you three prayers in closing the first one
[32:16] Andrew if you could put it up Lord please transform me by the renewing of my mind that's a great prayer to pray the Lord the Lord gave you a mind he wants your mind to work as well as it is some of you have unbelievably brilliant minds and some of you have less than brilliant minds but whatever your mind is God wants it to work well for his glory he wants it to be uncluttered he wants it to be long-sighted he wants it to be broad he wants it to be generous he wants it to be rooted in the gospel and rooted his word he wants to renew it and so we pray Lord please transform me by the renewing of my mind the second prayer point number five Andrew Lord as I read your word written cover to cover please help me to meditate deeply on the gospel and the whole counsel of God Lord as I read your word written cover to cover please help me to meditate deeply on the gospel and the whole counsel of God in other words life death and resurrection is the key to understanding everything from
[33:27] Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 and so the gospel has to always be the center but you have to read Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 over the course of your life if the Lord lets you live long enough and meditate upon what God is saying in all of his word in light of the gospel and what the gospel means in light of all of his word and meditate upon it deeply and finally and finally last point Lord when I am afraid of your total claim upon my life please grip me deeply with the truth and beauty of the gospel because there will always be a time Lord you want me to do this Lord you want me to give up this you want me to learn this and you don't want to do it and so Lord when I am afraid of your total claim upon my life please grip me deeply with the truth and beauty of the gospel Jesus walk with me Jesus walk with me and trust that if I put my hand in yours
[34:33] I can face every intellectual issue I can face every moral quandary I can face every demand of justice with my hand in yours your nail pierced hand let's invite you just to stand in prayer nothing holy about standing it's just good to have a change of position let's bow our heads in prayer father you know how the culture Canadian culture can try to squeeze us into its mold and you know father how we can feel very uncomfortable about making the claim that morality there are moral truths that are true and there's truth about praise and value and dignity of human beings that's just true and truths about sexuality truths about justice that are just true just as there are truths about history and science and chemistry and biology that are just true father you know how deeply the world can try to form us into its mold how the devil can try to form we'll reject anything of you father you know this so deeply and we give you thanks and praise that you saw our helplessness and sent
[35:50] Jesus to be our savior and our redeemer in his life death and resurrection and so father we ask that the holy spirit would move mightily in each of our lives so that we might be gripped once again with the beauty and the greatness of Jesus and it's by our faith and trust in him that you make us right with yourself we don't make ourselves right with you you make us right with you all by faith you've done all the work and grace and father grip us with this truth and grip us father with your word so that we aren't formed in the mold of the world the flesh and the devil but as we think upon Jesus as we read your word as the holy spirit moves us that father we will be free more and more free to think widely and deeply about everything in all aspects of reality through the lens and truth of your word that we might be free to think for the glory of God for the good of people and for the furtherance of the gospel in your kingdom
[36:53] Lord please do that mighty work in us in Jesus name we pray and all God's people said Amen