WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.440 Welcome to the Church of the Advent. 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:08.419 There's a lot of people who haven't been here in a while. 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:12.640 To this evening service at the Columbia Heights Parish. 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:16.440 If you're new, if this is your first time, you should know this is a special Sunday. 00:00:17.400 --> 00:00:22.339 Typically on Sundays we've had a morning and an evening worship service in two different locations. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:25.440 And this evening we've come together. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.039 This will be our last evening together here in this location. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.179 And next week we'll move to a new location on Sunday mornings. 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:34.259 More about that later. 00:00:35.339 --> 00:00:40.780 But what I thought, if this is our last time together in this space, 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:45.960 how about one last Lord of the Rings sermon illustration? 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:48.480 Yes? Good. 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:55.299 And for some of you I know that was a Tolkien sugar warning. 00:00:55.480 --> 00:00:56.560 So you're welcome. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.579 So in reflecting on the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:07.219 the English scholar and professor Tom Shippey asks, 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:10.180 what is the pivotal moment of The Lord of the Rings? 00:01:12.620 --> 00:01:17.079 In his opinion, it comes towards the end of the second book, The Two Towers. 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:24.340 Frodo and his companion Sam are engaged in the impossible quest of sneaking into Mordor. 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:32.319 Their mission is to throw the One Ring into the cracks of doom in order to destroy it and thus overthrow the evil Lord Sauron. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.219 It all sounds kind of silly when I say it up here, but it's really a lot of fun to read. 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.480 They haven't thought of what to do should they actually succeed. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.880 It's a suicide mission they're engaged in. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.620 And in this particular moment, they find themselves in the dark, wicked, lifeless mountains of Mordor. 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:52.780 And they begin to talk of tales. 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.760 And Sam asks, I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:04.980 And then he realizes that the light in the vial that Frodo is carrying comes from a star. 00:02:05.100 --> 00:02:09.080 And that star was once a gem that was set into the sky. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:14.980 And before that, that gem and two other gems like it had been warred over. 00:02:15.659 --> 00:02:22.140 And these three gems had been created thousands and thousands of years earlier. 00:02:22.139 --> 00:02:27.619 And Sam says, to think it, we're in the same tale still. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:29.500 It's going on. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:32.339 Don't the great tales never end? 00:02:34.579 --> 00:02:39.699 Realizing the part that they're playing, Sam imagines someone saying someday, 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:42.579 let's hear about Frodo and the ring. 00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:44.159 Frodo was very brave. 00:02:44.579 --> 00:02:46.239 The famousest of the hobbits. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:49.260 And then Frodo laughs. 00:02:50.920 --> 00:02:54.340 A long, clear laugh from his heart. 00:02:55.659 --> 00:03:02.200 Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. 00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:12.140 To Sam, suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. 00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:19.979 You see, that laughter dispelled some of Sauron's chief weapons. 00:03:20.399 --> 00:03:24.239 Gloom, depression, and defeatism. 00:03:25.979 --> 00:03:27.539 Why did Frodo laugh? 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:33.959 Where did that joy come from in so dreadful a time and place? 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:39.659 Perhaps it was the realization of how ordinary he was. 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:45.460 That it amused him to think of himself as a subject of a tale. 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:49.900 Perhaps because he was self-forgetful. 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:54.620 And I think this is what Psalm 100 does for us. 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:58.020 It takes our eyes off of ourselves. 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:02.680 So before we look at Psalm 100, verse 5, let's pray. 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:10.080 Father, we would want to see you. 00:04:10.140 --> 00:04:12.760 There are so many things around us that distract us. 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:17.040 There are so many things around us that beg our attention that shouldn't. 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:24.720 There are so many things around us that fill us with gloom and depression and defeatism. 00:04:25.280 --> 00:04:26.620 And so we come to your word. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:28.860 We come needing to hear from it. 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:29.960 To be filled by it. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:32.000 To be transformed by it. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.480 Lord, we would know you and your steadfast love through this passage tonight. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:38.839 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:04:39.339 --> 00:04:39.600 Amen. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:50.740 So Psalm 100 takes us from looking at ourselves and on to God. 00:04:50.820 --> 00:04:52.720 Notice that it's like a magnifying glass. 00:04:52.820 --> 00:04:53.740 Can we pull it up? 00:04:56.200 --> 00:05:00.720 Have you noticed that God is the subject and object of every verse? 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:01.940 Verse 1. 00:05:01.940 --> 00:05:04.820 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:07.080 Serve the Lord with gladness. 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:09.640 Come into his presence with singing. 00:05:09.780 --> 00:05:10.280 Verse 2. 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:12.720 Know that the Lord, he is God. 00:05:13.020 --> 00:05:14.040 That was verse 3. 00:05:14.320 --> 00:05:15.140 Verse 4. 00:05:15.320 --> 00:05:17.740 Enter his gates with thanksgiving. 00:05:18.820 --> 00:05:20.720 So why does it focus on God? 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.720 Well, what is the basis for singing and serving and blessing and thanking? 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:27.720 It is for the Lord is good. 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:28.880 This is in verse 5. 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:31.480 For the Lord is good. 00:05:32.080 --> 00:05:35.300 His steadfast love endures forever. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:38.280 And his faithfulness to all generations. 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:45.560 Now what is translated here as steadfast love is the Hebrew word chesed. 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:47.240 Chesed. 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:49.380 There's no exact translation for this word. 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:58.159 It could also be translated as mercy or loving kindness or covenant love or unfailing love. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.519 Would you sing for joy? 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:03.379 Would you sing for joy? 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:06.740 Would you want to be able to laugh in the valley of the shadow of death? 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:12.180 Then place yourself in a story that is larger than your own. 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:17.719 And what is the plot of this story according to Psalm 100? 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:19.540 It's God chesed. 00:06:19.940 --> 00:06:21.120 This tale. 00:06:21.260 --> 00:06:26.160 This true tale of the universe that has been told since the beginning of time. 00:06:26.520 --> 00:06:31.060 Its plot is God's steadfast love endures forever. 00:06:32.580 --> 00:06:38.020 Now I think some of us have grown up in the church with misconceptions about the God of the Old Testament. 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:42.700 As if there was a separate God of the Old Testament and a God of the New Testament. 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:50.060 And we may have thought that this God of the Old Testament presents himself primarily as harsh and aloof. 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.959 And then in the New Testament we learn that God is love. 00:06:56.039 --> 00:07:01.259 Well, the Hebrews always understood as God being love. 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:03.319 That's in his name. 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:14.620 In Exodus chapter 34, Moses ascends Mount Sinai to make two new stone tablets on which the terms of God's covenant with Israel would be written. 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:20.959 And as he did with the Ten Commandments the first time, God first names himself. 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:21.899 And what is his name? 00:07:21.899 --> 00:07:25.239 This is the account. 00:07:25.359 --> 00:07:32.859 We read that the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with Moses there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 00:07:32.859 --> 00:07:37.139 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord. 00:07:37.979 --> 00:07:38.599 The Lord. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.560 A God merciful and gracious. 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:43.639 Slow to anger. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:48.239 And abounding in chesed and faithfulness. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.540 Keeping steadfast love for thousands. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.720 Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.340 But who will by no means clear the guilty. 00:08:00.340 --> 00:08:04.000 God would prove his steadfast love over and over. 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:06.280 Rescuing Israel from Egypt. 00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:08.800 Feeding Israel as they wandered through the desert. 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:11.519 Going before her and conquering her enemies. 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:14.600 Settling them in a land flowing with milk and honey. 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:19.540 And even after Israel turns away from God time and time again. 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:23.600 Landing her in big troubles with its enemies around her. 00:08:24.080 --> 00:08:29.340 God always answered and rescued when Israel cried for help. 00:08:30.700 --> 00:08:33.680 Now I know from my conversations with you. 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:41.480 That many of you have a hard time squaring God's goodness with what you see in the world. 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:49.480 You've been in parts of the world where injustice and cruelty and desolation run unchecked. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:56.080 Recent history suggests to you that God isn't interested in this world. 00:08:57.539 --> 00:09:02.840 And your own history feels that maybe God is disinterested. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:06.019 Because you've experienced one betrayal after another. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:08.440 Where is God? 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:09.940 And is he good? 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:15.620 Well you should know two things. 00:09:16.520 --> 00:09:20.740 The first is that you should note that the Bible's poets feel you. 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:23.400 Despite personal trauma. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:28.440 Despite seeing their cities and their country destroyed and razed. 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:32.240 The poets still maintained a trust in God's goodness. 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:38.180 We're given their prayers to give voice to our own doubts and worship. 00:09:38.179 --> 00:09:41.839 Listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:48.500 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:52.100 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. 00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:54.300 He has broken my bones. 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:58.420 He has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation. 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:00.800 My soul is bereft of peace. 00:10:01.060 --> 00:10:02.420 I have forgotten what happiness is. 00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:05.379 But this I call to mind. 00:10:06.099 --> 00:10:07.459 Therefore I have hope. 00:10:08.699 --> 00:10:10.779 The chesed of the Lord never ceases. 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:14.399 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:17.740 The covenant love of the Lord never ceases. 00:10:19.099 --> 00:10:21.759 His mercies never come to an end. 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:24.339 They are new every morning. 00:10:25.479 --> 00:10:26.740 Great is your faithfulness. 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:38.740 How were Israel's poets able to keep God's chesed, his steadfast love, dominant in their field of vision? 00:10:40.139 --> 00:10:48.620 Well, as a people, Israel had a daily, weekly, and annual rhythm of regularly rehearsing and reenacting the story of their deliverance. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:52.360 God's faithfulness was constantly kept in view. 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:55.000 And this song would have us do that too. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:05.059 Perhaps daily at the close of the day before you drift to sleep, recount ways you sensed his presence and activity in your life. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:13.279 The Psalms would encourage us to have us ask God to where he was when he didn't feel present. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:33.480 When you felt drained of energy, frustrated, irritated, angry, sad, sorrowful, alone, isolated, unaccepted, fragmented, less than your best self. 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:48.420 And as we keep God's steadfast love in our field of vision, we often see how he was present in those moments too, working on our behalf. 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:55.799 For those of you who wrestle with squaring God's goodness with the evil and injustice around you, you should note a second thing. 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:05.159 So first is the Bible is full of poets who feel the same thing and wrestled with it and still kept God's covenant love in view. 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:12.699 And the second is that ultimately Psalm 100 points to the same place as the whole Old Testament. 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:19.860 Everything, indeed the same place that the story of the world points to, is indeed the cross. 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:30.800 The Son of God who doesn't remain aloof from injustice, but submits to it on the cross. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:36.280 The Son of God condescended to us, suffering the grossest of injustices. 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:44.259 His body ground up by the gears of a corrupt system, abandoned by those closest to him. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:53.959 It's on the cross that he makes provision for forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty. 00:12:54.319 --> 00:12:58.500 For on the cross he suffers the punishment that was meant for someone else. 00:12:58.980 --> 00:12:59.899 It was meant for me. 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:01.539 It was meant for you. 00:13:01.539 --> 00:13:07.899 Here, God's hatred is most fully expressed. 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:17.439 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:21.639 In a moment we're going to share a meal. 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:30.439 And in this meal, our field of vision can become completely consumed by God and his perfect love. 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:31.939 His unfailing love. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:33.939 This is not a feast. 00:13:35.199 --> 00:13:35.600 Excuse me. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:36.720 This is a feast. 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:37.799 It's not a funeral. 00:13:38.319 --> 00:13:39.399 This is a table. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:40.899 It's not a tomb. 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:43.639 It's a place to express our joy. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.159 It's a place to laugh. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:54.179 And may our spirit-filled laughter dispel the enemy's weapons of gloom and defeatism. 00:13:55.079 --> 00:14:00.219 For this meal places us in a much larger story than our own little stories. 00:14:00.579 --> 00:14:04.079 Here, in this story, God becomes the main character. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:11.520 And the petty, egocentric scripts that we walked in through those doors with are torn to pieces. 00:14:11.660 --> 00:14:17.020 And we're handed a new script in which we have new roles. 00:14:17.900 --> 00:14:23.259 And it's in this tale, this true tale, where we forget ourselves. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.500 It's here that we truly become ourselves to think it. 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:33.399 The true tale that God's been telling since the beginning of time. 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:36.419 We're in the same tale still. 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:44.340 Before we do that, you have words to add to this sermon. 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:47.379 You have words to add to this psalm. 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:50.919 Psalm 100 is general, okay? 00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:55.440 There's several other psalms that give specific reasons to praise God. 00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:56.879 God is on Zion. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:14:58.340 God is a king. 00:14:58.740 --> 00:14:59.799 God has rescued us. 00:15:00.340 --> 00:15:04.460 But in this song, we're supposed to read our situation to the text. 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:11.500 Not to add one theoretical interpretation of Scripture onto another, but to be interpreted by it. 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:14.240 So let's do that now. 00:15:16.340 --> 00:15:21.679 We're going to make known together how God has been good to us and to the church of the Advent. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:29.500 I feel like this is exactly what I at least needed to hear tonight. 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:32.219 You know, I came here with a lot on my mind. 00:15:33.339 --> 00:15:37.239 You know, we're right on the cusp of change as a community. 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.240 And change is always hard. 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:53.100 I mean, even if you're somebody who, you know, on the bell curve is very excited about change and you're a kind of early adopter type, when push comes to shove and the rubber meets the road and you're on that eve of change, it's always hard. 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:55.100 There are unforeseen challenges. 00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:55.639 There are unforeseen challenges. 00:15:55.639 --> 00:16:01.379 You know, sort of forging ahead into the unknown always brings with it a certain amount of anxiety. 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:05.059 And so, I feel like this is exactly what I needed to hear. 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:22.679 I feel like I needed to be reminded that at the end of the day, whether I prayed prayers and God said yes, which happens sometimes, or I prayed prayers and God said no, which happens most of the time, to me anyway, that God is good. 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:34.299 And His goodness sometimes comes in the form of a yes, and sometimes it comes in the form of a no, but it always means that His steadfast love is enduring forever. 00:16:34.459 --> 00:16:37.299 And I feel like I just need to be reminded of that again and again and again. 00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:50.599 And so, what we're going to do is just take a few minutes together as a family to reflect on ways that God's goodness and His steadfast love have been made evident through Canaan Baptist Church, 00:16:51.039 --> 00:17:00.159 through all of the memories and all of the experiences that we've had here in this building, the relationships that have been built in this building, 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:04.259 not just within our church, but between our church and Canaan. 00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:10.940 For those of you who may have joined in for morning worship with our brothers and sisters in the Canaan Baptist community, 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:16.019 for those friendships that will, God willing, continue for years and years and years, 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:24.759 for connections that may have been made, for times when you felt like God may have particularly pressed something into your heart, 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:32.920 ways that you may have grown in your faith, ways that you may have experienced a kind of spiritual breakthrough, 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:41.220 if you've, you know, met best friends or spouses or this is where you were when you had your first kid, 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:46.259 when you made a major life transition and you felt like God was in that change, 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:51.980 this is a time to sort of collectively reflect on God's goodness and His love to us. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:57.060 And we're going to invite you to do that silently, but also if you feel led, to do that aloud. 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:59.800 And so, we're going to have a few minutes for us just to pray together. 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:04.339 I'll open us, and then after a little while I'll close us and we'll transition to the next part of our worship. 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:09.759 But I invite you, if you feel led, just to stand, to speak loudly enough that everybody can hear and affirm 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:17.700 and join in with you as you're praying, and just pray prayers of thanks for ways that God has worked through this space 00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:22.919 and this time that we've been meeting together since our church started over ten years ago. 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:24.380 So, let's pray. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:26.019 The Lord be with you. 00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:36.900 Lord, we join together now and do what Your people have done since You have had a people from the very beginning, 00:18:37.300 --> 00:18:42.680 and that is to pause, to look back down the road that we have traversed, 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:51.279 and to recognize Your fingerprints in our lives, to recognize those ebon azars, those stones of help, 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:55.880 those places of intervention and provision, and to give thanks to You, Lord. 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:59.080 And so, we do that now for Your glory. 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:24.399 Amen. 00:19:24.399 --> 00:19:24.439 Amen. 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:33.319 Amen. 00:19:58.439 --> 00:19:58.839 Amen. 00:19:58.839 --> 00:19:59.559 Thank you, Lord. 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:58.819 Thank you. 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:28.819 Thank you. 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:58.819 Thank you. 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:00.839 Thank you. 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:01.839 Thank you. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:04.839 Thank you. 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:07.839 Thank you. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.839 Thank you. 00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:14.839 Thank you. 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:16.839 Thank you. 00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:18.839 Thank you. 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:25.839 Thank you. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:27.839 Thank you. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.839 Thank you. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:31.839 Thank you. 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:55.839 Thank you. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:59.839 Thank you. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.839 Thank you. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:03.839 Thank you. 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:08.839 Thank you. 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:12.839 Thank you. 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:14.839 Thank you. 00:23:14.839 --> 00:23:16.839 Mm. 00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:18.839 Mm. 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:19.839 Mm. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:21.839 Mm. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:23.839 Mm. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:25.839 Mm. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:27.839 Mm. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:29.839 Mm. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:31.839 Mm. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:33.839 Mm. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:34.839 Mm. 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:36.839 Mm. 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:38.839 Mm. 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:40.839 Mm. 00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:42.839 Mm. 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:44.839 Mm. 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:46.839 Mm. 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:48.839 Mm. 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:53.839 Mm. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:57.839 Mm. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:23:59.839 Mm. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:01.839 Mm. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:03.839 Mm. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:05.839 Mm. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:07.839 Mm. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.839 Mm. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:10.839 Mm. 00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:14.839 Mm. 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:15.839 Mm. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:16.839 Mm. 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:18.839 Mm. 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:19.839 Mm. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:20.839 Mm. 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:22.839 Mm. 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:23.839 Mm. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:26.839 Mm. 00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:27.839 Newę°“san. 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:31.839 The saying goes, we, we form the spaces that form us and we know that space is important 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:37.839 and it matters and that there are ways in which the time that we've spent here that 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.839 time has been formative for us, ways that you've used the, the wood and the 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:50.839 concrete and the stained glass and the stone that that's become a part of our story and a part of 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:56.359 of the DNA of our church, even more so the relationships, the friendships that were formed 00:24:56.359 --> 00:25:04.079 here that has shaped who we will be for generations. And it's a part of your story that's unfolding in 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:11.819 this city. And we pray your blessing on Pastor Owens and on this community, the Canaan Baptist 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:21.279 community. They have been generous. They have been open-hearted. They have taken a major step 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:29.740 in renting to us after never having rented to a church before. And as they desire to open their 00:25:29.740 --> 00:25:34.899 doors to another community like ours that may need to rent space, we pray your blessing and 00:25:34.899 --> 00:25:40.619 provision for that relationship, that you would protect it and make it fruitful as you have made 00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:46.479 this relationship fruitful. And I agree with all of the people who have praised you for the ways that 00:25:46.479 --> 00:25:52.119 you've continually provided for our church and provided for our space needs. And Lord, we move 00:25:52.119 --> 00:25:58.459 forward fully trusting that you're going to continue to provide what we need. And knowing that you do 00:25:58.459 --> 00:26:06.459 that not because you have to, but because it's your delight to be good and to show your steadfast love 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:12.880 and your provision to your children. And so, we as your children, Lord, as your family, give you thanks. 00:26:13.900 --> 00:26:20.120 This place is a symbol of your provision. We give you thanks for all of the ministry that happened here. 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:28.759 And Lord, we move forward trusting that there will be times down the road where we look back and only then 00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:35.840 begin to see the ways that you've provided for us as we move forward together, Lord. We thank you and praise you and 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:43.579 pray all of this in your Son's holy name. Amen. Amen. Now we're going to join together and stand 00:26:43.579 --> 00:26:46.439 and respond to God's Word by singing. 00:26:46.439 --> 00:26:46.519 Amen.