The scripture today comes from the book of 1 Corinthians chapters 1 and 2.
Please follow along your Bible and the bulletins are on the screen.
Starting in verse 26, we read,
For consider your calling, brothers.
Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.
Not many were powerful.
Not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God chose what is low and despised in the world,
even things that are not,
to bring to nothing things that are,
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus,
who became to us wisdom from God,
righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
so that as it is written,
let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
And I, when I came to you, brothers,
did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God
with lofty speech or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.
And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom,
but in demonstration of the spirit and of the power,
so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God.
So, this is the word of God.
Great. Thanks, Anastasia.
Let's pray together briefly,
and then we'll look at the scripture.
Heavenly Fathers, we come to your word this morning.
We want what Paul says in Corinthians,
that our faith will not rest in the wisdom of man,
but on the reality of who you are.
We want that to be true for us and our church.
God, we pray that you will be speaking to us
by your spirit through your word.
That's what we want, God.
We want to encounter the living God.
We're not interested in just self-help tips,
how to make life work.
We want to meet with the living God.
So, God, I pray, come by your spirit and be with us.
Help me, God, to explain your word.
Help us as a congregation, including myself,
to respond and to apply it to our lives.
We pray in your great name.
Amen.
I wonder how long you have been part of Watermark Church.
I wonder if there's some,
I think there are some that have been here
since the very beginning, 14 years and counting.
Some of us, it's your very first Sunday with us this morning.
For some of us, you may have been part of many churches.
Maybe for some of us, Watermark is their only church
you've ever been a part of.
For some of us, maybe you'll move overseas
and you'll have to look for a new church sometime.
For others of us, maybe you will stay here,
part of this church, for many, many years to come.
Some of us are so deeply involved in the church,
it feels like you have no time for anything else,
i.e. some of the young adults.
And some of us are less so involved.
Some love the church and some are weary about the church.
Friends, when you look for a church,
what is it that you look for when visiting a church?
What makes you want to stay in a church?
What impresses you the most?
What makes a really good Sunday at church?
If you're new to Watermark this morning,
we have been working,
we're just starting to work through the book of 1 Corinthians
and the New Testament.
It's one of two letters that the Apostle Paul writes
to a church in the ancient city of Corinth around 53 AD.
And he writes these letters.
And as we heard a few weeks ago,
the church in Corinth is going through a difficult time.
It's quite a messy situation.
There's lots of conflict.
There's lots of division.
The church has camps and factions.
There's this group over here.
And they really like this leader.
They're impressed with him.
And they want to follow him.
And there's this group over here.
They like this leader.
And so they think,
he's our guy.
We are his follower.
And there's all these camps and divisions and factions in the church.
And Paul writes and he shows them
that the division in the church
is a result of their wrong thinking.
And their wrong thinking is a result of their wrong values.
And he says,
you guys in Corinth,
you've adopted the values of your culture.
Your culture in Corinth values what's impressive
and brilliant and smart and sophisticated.
And you're thinking just like your city.
And so what you do is,
you align yourself with those that you think are smart
and sophisticated and intellectual and brilliant.
And that's causing all this division in the church.
What's important to you is what's important to the city,
but not necessarily what's important to God.
What impresses God is not what's impressing you.
You're impressed by the things that impresses your city.
And he says,
God is not at the center.
And that's why the church is divided
into all these groupings and these factions.
Now in today's passage,
Paul continues this same thought.
And what he's going to show us
is that worldly thinking suggests
that what makes a great church
is impressive people
and impressive leaders.
And most people think
that's what's going to make a great church.
If I can find a church
where they're really outstanding people,
really outstanding leaders,
that's going to make a great church.
And Paul shows us
that God's thinking is inverse to that.
It turns it on its head.
Because in God's economy,
greatness has nothing to do
with how great the people are,
but how great God and the gospel is.
In God's economy,
greatness flows downstream
not from how impressive people are,
human brilliance or wisdom,
but actually from the greatness of God
and the gospel.
Okay.
And to do this,
what he does is
he's going to give us
two pieces of evidence.
He's like a barrister in court.
And he says,
let me give you two pieces of evidence.
Exhibit A is the church.
Exhibit B are the leaders.
Okay.
Exhibit A,
you guys.
Exhibit B,
me,
he says.
Okay.
That's not me.
That's Paul.
Paul says me.
Exhibit B.
So let's look at this together.
Exhibit A,
God chooses unlikely people.
Now remember,
Paul's,
the thrust of argument,
of Paul's argument here is,
God's thinking
is not the way
that we typically think.
Cole Truman says it like this.
We assume
there's this basic continuity
between the way
the world is
and the way God is.
So in the world,
if power
is established
by raw strength
on earth,
then we assume
God's power
must be the same,
but just to the infinite degree.
And likewise,
he says,
if we think honor
and praise
is given to those
that are impressive
or rich
or influential,
we assume
that God
must just operate
the same way.
But actually,
in God's economy,
things are often inverse,
upside down.
God works
in the opposition
to how we naturally think.
And so Paul says,
let me give you
Exhibit A.
Just look at yourselves.
Verse 26,
he says,
consider your own calling,
brothers and sisters.
Not many of you
were wise
according to worldly standards.
Not many of you
were powerful
or of noble birth,
but that's deliberate.
For God
chose what is foolish
in the world
to shame the wise.
God chooses
what is weak
in the world
to shame the strong.
God chooses
what is low
and despised,
even things
that are not
that impressive
to show up
the things
that seem impressive.
And so Paul says,
here's my evidence.
Just look at the church.
There's nothing
particularly impressive
about us.
And here we see,
I know we touched
on this last week,
an incredibly important
principle
in the Bible.
that God's ways
of working
is often
the opposite,
the inverse
to how we work.
God accomplishes
His plans
through the opposite
of what we expect.
As we said last week,
if you're going to know God
and know Him deeply,
you must be willing
to be surprised by God,
even challenged by God.
Because God often
encompasses His plans
and purposes.
He takes what's ordinary,
what's unimpressive,
even what's rejected
and despised
and says,
that is going to be
my instrument of choice.
And so we see this
throughout the whole Bible.
Just think in the Old Testament
how often God chooses
not the firstborn,
but the secondborn sibling
to be the one
through whom His blessing comes.
Which in ancient culture,
I guess similar to
modern Asian culture,
was completely inverse
to thinking, right?
In ancient Middle East culture,
the firstborn son
gets all the goods
and the rest
just kind of
follow in the footsteps.
And yet how often
does God choose
the secondborn?
He chooses Isaac,
not Ishmael.
He chooses Jacob,
not Esau.
He chooses Joseph
rather than his ten brothers
in front of him.
Or think of King David,
right?
One of the greatest leaders
in the Old Testament.
And God says to Samuel,
the prophet,
go to Jesse's house,
Jesse's father,
David's father,
and choose one of his sons
to be king.
And so Samuel goes
and he says,
Jesse, bring your sons
before me.
And so he parades
seven sons before him.
And God says to Samuel,
no, none of these
are going to be king.
And he says,
do you not have
another son somewhere?
And Jesse says,
yeah, yeah, there's one,
but he is so young,
he's so mature,
we left him in the fields,
we didn't even bring him in.
You don't want to see that guy.
One of these seven
will surely do.
And God says,
no, that's the one I'll choose.
Despised,
rejected, forgotten,
out of the way,
that's the one that I want.
Well, friends,
think of Gideon, right?
God calls him
to defeat the Midianites,
the enemies of the Israelites.
And Gideon says,
no, no, God,
you've got it wrong
because I'm the weakest member
of my family
and my family
is the weakest member
of my clan
and my clan
is the weakest member
of our tribe.
God,
I'm the weakest
of the weakest.
And God says,
yes,
that's why I've chosen you.
Or think of,
think of Ruth.
Why does God choose Ruth
to be the great grandmother
of David,
the ancestor of Jesus?
Because she's a Moabite,
she's an outsider,
she's an outcast,
she's not part of God's people
and God says,
I want you.
Well,
think of Jesus.
Who does Jesus choose
to be his disciples?
Not the rich
and the powerful,
the sophisticated,
the educated,
the fishermen,
the tax collectors,
the outlaws,
the terrorists.
Friends,
remember how Jesus rejects
the rich young ruler,
the guy that has it all together?
And who does he
in the very next breath
invite to himself?
Grubby,
dirty children.
Those that have got
nothing to contribute
to his kingdom campaign.
Jesus says,
I'll take you children,
but you,
rich,
sophisticated ruler,
actually you're not quite ready
for my kingdom yet.
And friends,
we could go on day after day.
Throughout every chapter
of the Bible,
the Bible says the same thing.
This is how God works.
God takes the weak
to shame the strong.
God chooses the simple
over the wise.
God chooses the poor
over the impressive.
God works in the world
by working the inverse
to how we would work.
Friends,
the world thinks
that blessing
and goodness
and prosperity
flow downstream
from human brilliance.
And God says,
no, no, no,
they don't at all.
They flow downstream
from my grace.
Now,
there's one objection here.
You may have a question
in your head.
You may say,
okay,
I get that biblical principle,
but what about those of us
that are wealthy
or are educated
or are sophisticated
or are impressive
in the world's eyes?
Because let's be honest,
maybe some of us here
come from underprivileged backgrounds
or disadvantaged backgrounds,
but probably most of us
come from very privileged backgrounds.
And most of us here
are probably far more educated
than maybe even many villages
in parts of the world.
Friends,
some of us here
will earn more in one year
than many people in the world
will earn an entire lifetime
or 10 lifetimes.
And so what does that mean for us?
I mean,
are we excluded from God's kingdom?
Are we not,
never going to be used by God?
Well,
that's a good question.
And what the Bible says
is that we do have a real problem.
And we have two problems.
One problem
is that
we tend to compare ourselves
to those that are much,
have much more than us.
And so even though
we are generally pretty privileged,
we tend to look at those
that are more privileged
and say,
okay,
I know I own a car,
but at least my car's not like that.
Or I know I have a house,
but at least my house
is not that big.
Or I know I have seven degrees,
but I don't have 10 degrees,
you know.
And we always compare
to those that are further
and bigger and better
and we think,
I'm not that privileged.
And so we fool ourselves.
But the other problem is this,
that privilege
and wealth
and sophistication
and strength
and impressiveness
is not wrong
in and of itself,
but it does have a tendency
of getting in the way
of us knowing God
and knowing Him deeply.
And so we need
to be really careful
about the dangers
of privilege
because what elevates us
and makes us admirable
and respectable
in society's eyes
are often the things
that get in the way
of us knowing God
and knowing Him deeply
and being dependent
upon His grace.
And we see again
this often in the Bible
how God so often removes
that which is praiseworthy,
commendable,
before He uses someone.
Surely that's the point
of the rich young ruler, right?
This rich young man
comes to Jesus
and He says,
Okay Jesus,
I'm all in.
I'm ready to follow You.
Here's my resume.
Here's my credentials.
This is what I can bring
to the party.
And Jesus just removes them
one by one by one
saying,
Oh, let's just lay that aside.
Let's just lay that aside.
Actually take that away
and eventually He says,
Okay,
take all your wealth,
go sell your possessions,
give it away to poor
and when you've got nothing,
okay,
come to me.
Then you're ready.
Then I can use you.
Or think again of Gideon, right?
Eventually Gideon says,
Okay God,
you are God,
I am not.
I'll trust you.
Here's my army,
32,000 people.
It's not a lot
against 125,000 Midianites.
But God,
I trust you.
My 30,000,
I guess we can take them on.
And God says,
30,000,
that's a bit too many for me.
Why don't we just
whittle it down to 300?
300,000,
okay,
now you're ready.
Okay,
now I can use you.
300 against 120,000.
Okay,
that feels good.
Well friends,
think of Moses,
right?
God's great deliverer
from the people of God
from Egypt.
Moses is raised
in the palace of Egypt
for 40 years.
He's educated
and trained
in all the ways
of the Egyptians,
the most sophisticated nation
of the time,
trained.
And then God wants
to use him.
So He says,
okay,
first I will
take you out of Egypt
and I'll just
let you languish
in the desert
for 40 years.
And maybe just
exchange your prince's robe
for a shepherd's crook.
For 40 years
become a nobody.
Okay,
Moses,
now I can use you.
Now I'll send you
back to Egypt.
You can be my deliverer.
And friends,
here's the point
that God's way
of working
is often
diametrically opposed
to the way
that we think
God would work.
And why is that?
Well,
look at verse 29.
Paul tells us here.
Verse 29
and again
in verse 31.
So that no human being
might boast
in the presence
of God.
And again,
verse 31.
So that as it is written,
quoting Jeremiah 9,
that the one
who boasts
boasts
in the Lord.
Friends,
why does God
work like this?
So that it will be
absolutely,
abundantly clear
this is all
God's doing.
Everything the church
is,
everything God does,
everything God accomplishes
is all
His great kindness.
As Ephesians 1 says,
to the praise
of His glory
and His grace.
So that no one
may look at anyone
and say,
wow,
you are a great leader.
You have done
a great job here.
No, no,
that God may get
all the glory.
We sang earlier,
how great
thou art.
that's the anthem
of the church,
right?
God,
how great
thou art.
Not us,
God,
you.
Okay,
exhibit A.
He says,
just remember yourselves.
Exhibit B,
remember the leaders.
Paul brings
the second piece
of evidence
and he says,
let's consider
the leaders
of the church.
Look at chapter 2,
verse 1.
He says,
and I,
brothers and sisters,
when I came to you,
I did not come
proclaiming to you
the testimony of God
with lofty speech
or brilliant wisdom.
I decided to know
nothing amongst you
except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
That means I decided
to forget everything else
except Christ
and the gospel.
And I was with you
in weakness
and in fear
and much trembling.
And my speech,
my message,
were not in plausible
or persuasive words
of wisdom,
but in demonstrations
of the Spirit
and of power
so that your faith
might not rest
on the wisdom of man,
but on the power of God.
Paul says,
just think about
when you became a Christian.
You heard the gospel
from me
and you believed the gospel
and God forgave you
of your sins.
He welcomed you
into His family.
He changed your life.
He gave you an identity
and a security
and a peace.
He completely changed
your life.
And how did this
all come about?
Was it because I,
Paul,
was a great speaker?
Was it because of my
arguments
and convincing style?
Was it because
I'm so wise
and eloquent?
Is it because
I'm a great leader
and I can just
attract the following?
No, no, none of that.
He says,
I was with you
in weakness
and with fear
and much trembling.
My speech
were not persuasive
but in foolishness.
None of these things
came to be.
All that I brought
was my insecurity,
my fear,
my inadequacy,
my weakness.
God worked amongst you
in power.
God is the one
who built the church.
Paul says,
it's like God
looked around
and said,
in the city of Corinth,
I've got a really
important project here.
It's an important city.
I want to establish
a church.
I need a special
assignment there.
Who is the most
weak,
feeble,
insecure person
I can choose?
Okay, Paul.
Paul, you're the guy.
Okay, Paul,
you go to Corinth.
I need you
because you've got
nothing
of what that city
needs
but you depend
on me
so that your faith
might not rest
on the wisdom
of man
but on the power
of God
and of the Spirit
so that everyone
will know
it's not me,
it's all him
so that no one
will be drawn
to follow me
but follow him.
Do you see what
God is saying
to us in the Bible here?
Paul says,
let's consider
two bits of
human elements
in the church.
We've got the church
and we've got the leaders
and it's none of us.
It's all him.
It's all him
so that we may know
it's all his power,
his spirit,
his choosing,
his grace.
It's all him
and why is this?
Well, again,
look at verse 30
because look at what
verse 30 tells us.
He says,
he wants us to see
that everything
that we need,
everything that
in a hundred million
years from now
we're still
going to be having,
everything that's
going to last
the ups and downs
of life
are found in Christ.
Not in the leaders,
not in the church,
not in the people.
He says,
because of him,
that's God,
because of him
you are in Christ
who became for us
wisdom from God.
So Christ's wisdom
as opposed to
wisdom of man
is how we get saved.
Christ came for us
righteousness,
that means right standing
with God.
Christ was for us
sanctification,
that means being
set apart for God.
Christ was our
redemption,
which means freedom
from guilt and shame.
So in a hundred
million years from now,
what are the things
we're going to be
boasting in?
It's not our building,
it's not our church,
it's not Watermark,
our website,
our leaders,
nothing.
What is our confidence
going to be?
Christ.
Christ and Christ
alone.
Friends,
the point is,
everything we need,
peace with God,
belonging to God,
freedom from guilt
and sin
and shame,
being accepted
and loved,
security,
identity,
peace in this
restless world,
hope in an anxious world,
everything that we
really need
is found in Christ.
Christ is
our hope.
Friends,
privilege can't give you
those things,
advanced degrees
can't give you
those things,
a great career
can't give you
those things,
your family,
your parents
can't give you
things,
money can't buy
those things,
but Christ can.
And so,
Paul's imperative
to us is this,
let the church
be built on Christ
and Christ alone,
so that your faith
might rest not
on the wisdom of man,
but on the power
of God.
Exhibit A,
God's unimpressive
church.
Exhibit B,
God's unimpressive
leaders.
Conclusion,
it's all Jesus,
it's all Christ.
Okay,
so what does this
mean for us?
How do we apply
this to our lives?
Well,
let me close
with four bits
of application
for us here.
Four things
for us as a church
to think about,
and some of them
apply to us
as a church,
some apply to us
individually.
Friends,
first thing is this,
let the grace
of God
melt the pride
of our hearts
and evaporate
the division
in churches.
Remember,
what's the issue
in the church
here?
The issue
in Corinth
is the division
and the conflict
in the church.
There's groups,
there's factions,
there's fighting,
there's division.
There's this group
over here,
and they think
this leader's
impressive,
and they want to,
by association,
look impressive
themselves.
And there's this group
over here,
and they vicariously,
because he's a great
speaker,
want to look impressive
and sophisticated.
And so there's all
these groups
and divisions.
And Paul says,
what?
You're thinking
just like the world.
Don't you see,
the church is not
a place where we
promote ourselves,
where we try
and outdo one another
with our impressiveness.
The church is a community
of nobodies.
The church is a community
of sinners saved by grace.
From the leader
on the stage
to the six-month-old
at the back
that's crying,
hey, the church
is nobodies.
There's one person
that's important
in this church.
His name is Jesus.
And so let the grace
of God,
which is the one
common denominator,
melt the division
and the conflict
in the church.
Friends,
how is it possible
that we can look down
upon one another
when we grasp
the grace
and the mercy of God?
I mean,
how is that possible?
How is it possible
that we can sit
in judgment
of one another,
keep a distance
with one another
when we see
that everything
we have,
everything we've been given
is the grace
and the mercy of God?
Friends,
let the grace
of God melt
the conflict
and the division
of our hearts.
So friends,
let's just say,
Oscar,
Oscar's one
of my best friends,
so let's just say,
I don't like Oscar,
right?
I mean,
he dresses funny
and he's,
you know,
there's a lot
of reasons
to be upset
with Oscar,
right?
But friends,
when I look
at the mirror
of God's word
and I see
what an idiot
I am,
who am I
to distance
myself from him?
Who am I
to judge him?
So friends,
here are two
questions for us.
Is there somebody
in the church
you don't get along
with?
Is there anybody
in the church
you're tempted
to keep
your distance
from?
Is it possible
that maybe
we're thinking
of ourselves
more highly
than we're ought?
Is it possible
that we think
of ourselves
more impressive
than we are?
Is it possible
that the thinking
of our meritocracy
of Hong Kong
has gotten
to our hearts
and we keep
a distance
from one another?
Friends,
let's let the grace
of God
melt our pride
and division.
Secondly,
let's be a church
of prayer.
If the Corinthians
aren't that impressive
and they're not
and Paul is not
that impressive
and he's not,
where does the power
lie?
I mean,
where is the power
in this church?
What makes the church
the church?
And Paul gives
two answers.
He says,
Christ and the gospel
and the power
of the Holy Spirit.
This is the power
of the church.
This is the secret
weapon.
Look at verse
four and five.
He says,
my speech
and my message
were not persuasive
but I came
in demonstration
of the spirit
and of power
so that your faith
might not rest
in the wisdom
of man
but on the power
of God.
Now,
Watermark,
I think we as a church
are quite clear
on Christ
and the gospel,
that first one.
We try to be
quite clear on that.
If you're new
to Watermark,
one of the things
if you come again,
you'll notice
we talk about Jesus
and the gospel
a lot.
The one thing
I think we're not
so good at
is prayer.
We are not
a praying church.
I think we're
quite weak at prayer
and as this week
I was thinking
about this on Friday
as I was walking
down the hill
to go get something
from the shops,
I was deeply convicted
of my own
prayerlessness
and I just had
to repent.
God,
I am so sorry.
I am not a man
of prayer.
I think our church
is not a church
of prayer
and maybe
that's why
we don't
encounter
the power
and the spirit
of God
in ways
that we long
for.
Friends,
can I be honest
to you?
I long
for revival
to come to
Watermark.
I long
for a powerful
move of God
that is beyond
anything anybody
can explain
in human terms.
I long
for God's spirit
to be here
in such a tangible
powerful way
that it changes
people and sets
people free
in an instant.
But that's nothing
that any human being
can manufacture.
That's something
only God can bring
and God can give.
And so how is that
going to happen?
As we become
a people of prayer.
Dear friends,
we'll never encounter
the power of God
by wisdom of man alone.
And so here's a couple
of questions.
If you're a CG leader,
do we pray for the people
in our CG?
If we're a kids ministry leader,
do we pray for the kids
in our classes?
If you're a youth leader,
do you pray for the kids
in the youth?
Friends,
for those of us
that are elders,
do we pray for the church
regularly?
Friends,
how much do we pray?
What we need
is the power of God,
not the wisdom of man.
Here's a third
application for us.
For those of us
that are Christians,
when we share the gospel,
share the gospel,
talk about Christ
on the cross.
My assumption is that
if you are a Christian
this morning,
you long to tell people
about Jesus.
My assumption is that
you long to tell
your colleague
who sits across the way
from you in the office
about the wonder
of what Christ
has done in your life.
My assumption is that
we long to tell
our family members
or the person that lives
across the hallway from us
about Christ and the cross.
Friends,
if you're a parent,
my assumption is that
we long for our kids
to know Jesus
more so than to get
into the best schools.
friends,
when you share the gospel,
don't try gimmicks
and tricks.
Don't try and be
brilliant or winsome
or persuasive
in your own wisdom.
Tell your friends
about Christ
and the cross.
Don't try and be brilliant
in your own eyes.
You can't force anyone
to become a Christian,
but you can pray.
You can pray.
And so tell your friends,
tell your neighbors,
tell your colleagues
about Jesus
and what He's done
in your life.
Tell them about
how He died on the cross
and rose again
to save us,
to forgive us.
Don't come with lofty speech
or human wisdom.
Decide to forget
everything except
Christ and the cross
and share that.
Friends,
point people to Jesus
and then pray and trust
in the power of God
to speak to their hearts.
And then,
last thing is this.
If you're not a Christian
this morning,
I know that some of us here
are not yet followers
of Jesus,
I hope you can see
that our greatest longing
as a church
is not to be impressive,
is not to be smart,
is not to try and show you
how brilliant Christians are,
is to help you
to see the wonder of Jesus.
Friends,
we feel so privileged
that you would spend
a Sunday morning with us.
There are a thousand
other places
that you could be.
Thank you for the privilege
of joining us
this Sunday morning.
Our greatest longing,
our deep desire
of our hearts,
is not that you will
be impressed by Christians,
but that actually
you'll see how ordinary
and unimpressive we are.
But that you'll see
through the ordinariness
of the church,
you'll see something remarkable.
You'll see something
of the power
of the living God.
Through the unimpressiveness
of the leaders
and the band
and the church here,
you'll see something
that no human being
could organize
or orchestrate.
And you'll see
the power
of the living God.
The God who went
to the cross for you.
The God who loves you
so much
that He's calling you
to Himself.
Friends,
if you're not a follower
of Jesus this morning,
our great desire
is that you will come
to not just see that,
but experience that
and know God
for yourself.
So friends,
when you go to church,
what makes
a church impressive?
When you look
for a new church,
what kind of church
are you going
to stay at?
Friends,
when you decide
to join a church,
what impresses you
the most?
Don't let it be
the leaders.
Don't even let it
be the people.
Let it be
the power of God
and the Christ
and the gospel
at the center.
That here is
a community of people
that are not
impressed with themselves,
but impressed by God
and want to keep
Him at the center.
And let the power
of God change
your life
as you seek God
together with Him.
Let's pray together.
Oh, Father God,
as we conclude,
we remind ourselves
that, Lord,
so often our thinking
is like the thinking
of our world.
It's like the thinking
of Hong Kong, God.
We seek to try
and be impressive.
We seek to try
and look impressive
in the eyes of others.
God, we want to
we want to try
and boast in ourselves,
God.
God, won't you remind us
that
the cross reminds us
the only thing
in this church
that is praiseworthy
and commendable
is you
and what you've done
for us.
God, we pray also
for the power
of the Holy Spirit
to be at work
in our church, God.
We pray, God,
more than anything else
or anyone else
that this church
will be marked
by a move
of the Holy Spirit, God,
and your power.
That you, God,
will make yourself
known to us.
God, we pray
the words of John the Baptist
that we will decrease
and you will increase.
That more and more
the song
of this church
will be
how great
thou art
and not us, God.
And God,
where we are tempted
to look down
on others,
where we are tempted
to stay away
from others,
we are tempted
to pull back
from others,
God, won't you remind us
of the cross?
Won't you remind us
that your way
of working
and your way
of thinking
is so inverse
to the ways
of our world?
And may your gospel,
God,
melt the division
of our hearts.
Lord Jesus,
we need you.
Come and have your way,
I pray.
In your great
and glorious name,
Amen.