You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
The enthusiasm of Bob Dylan in that song about the salvation we have in the blood of Jesus
is shared by the Apostle Paul in our passage this morning.
Last week we started a study in the book of Ephesians,
and just as soon as Paul has said hello, he launches into a hymn of praise to God.
He writes for 12 verses.
In the Greek it's all in one sentence.
One big, long sentence.
In English we break it up a little bit for readability,
but I hope as I read it this morning you'll still hear Paul gushing with joy and excitement
as I read Ephesians 1 verses 3 to 14.
Ephesians 1 at verse 3.
This is God's holy word.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of His will,
to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.
In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace,
which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight,
making known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ,
as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him,
things in heaven and things on earth.
In Him we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things,
according to the counsel of His will,
so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory.
In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and believed in Him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory.
The grass withers,
the flowers fade,
but these words of our God will indeed stand forever.
Join me now as we pray and ask Him to teach us.
Indeed, Father,
blessed be Your name.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us so richly in every way.
What an amazing passage.
What a great chance to remember together and rejoice in what You've done.
Father, You know that our hearts can't even contain it.
That our minds are too weak to understand.
That my words are too feeble to even describe what it is that You've done.
And so, Father, I pray that You would speak.
Holy Spirit, would You open our eyes and our hearts to see wonderful things
in this, Your Word.
Please, please teach us and change us.
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
While I was in seminary,
my wife worked at Washington University in St. Louis.
One of the things she did was plan events,
and she helped organize one time a very large dinner
to honor distinguished alumni of the university.
It was a big night.
A thousand people were going to be in attendance.
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City,
was the keynote speaker.
And all these distinguished alumni were coming back
to be honored by the university.
Now, Christy had offered to work the event,
which meant that she could be at the ticket table out front.
She might get a plate if they had some left over,
or she might not get to eat at all.
But for sure, what that meant with Christy at the event for the evening
was that I was in a really bad spot.
I was home on the couch with probably frozen pizza
as my best bet for the evening.
This was a huge, huge deal,
and we had no right to be at the dinner.
Then we got our big break.
We found out that one of the distinguished alumni honorees
was Jim Barker, the president of Clemson University.
Christy and I had just come from Clemson
and knew the Barkers a little bit while we were there,
so I found that out,
and I emailed Mrs. Barker and said,
Christy will be there that evening.
She would love to be able to say hey to you.
If y'all can look for her at the ticket table,
you'll probably see her on your way in.
And thought nothing else of it.
And two days later,
the lady in charge of the event came to Christy
and said,
I got a call from Mrs. Barker today.
They'd like for you and Will to be their guests at the dinner.
They'd like for you to sit with them.
All of the sudden,
we went from on the couch with frozen pizza
and at the ticket table to table number two,
right up front for the whole night.
My name tag that night read Will Spink,
but it was only as guest of Jim Barker
that I could be seated at that dinner.
In fact, the people at my table figured that out quickly.
They were,
why are you here?
You know, let's see.
You're Will Spink.
Now, who is that?
Oh, guest of Jim Barker.
Oh, right, right.
So all night, that's what I went through.
Oh, you're just with him.
Yes, we're with him.
President Barker had earned the honors
that he was receiving that night,
the chance to be at that dinner.
And only as I was connected to him,
could I enjoy the food,
the company,
the other wonderful parts of that evening.
That's exactly what the Apostle Paul
is about to talk about
as he details every spiritual blessing
we have in Christ
because of our connection to Jesus.
And it's so important for us to see this this morning
because it's easy to focus on ourselves
and to feel like frozen pizza Christians,
for lack of a better word.
You've felt this way before.
Like, you know, you're a Christian,
maybe, I hope,
but only worthy of eating frozen pizza on the couch,
not steak at table number two.
Compared to others around you,
you feel on the outside,
insecure,
maybe not sure you really belong,
a second-class Christian,
if you even are one at all.
I mean, think about it.
You haven't really done enough
or been good enough.
The people around you
don't seem to be converted to Jesus all the time.
There's that huge moral failure you've done again.
And then last night,
you lost your temper with your family again.
Certainly, of all people,
you're not really, really in.
Someone else knows more.
Someone else has done better.
And so we don't think
we'll get God's love and attention.
He's probably not interested in us,
only the really spiritual people.
They'll sit with Him.
We'll eat frozen pizza on the couch.
You felt that before?
The Ephesians may have felt that way.
They may have had similar struggles.
Here they are in the midst of this city
that is rampant with immorality
and the worship of other gods.
And here's this little fledgling church.
The city of Ephesus is not repenting
and turning to Jesus immediately.
Maybe they really were a second-class church.
Lots of new young Christians,
you know, many of them Gentiles.
They really didn't,
they weren't steeped in how to do church.
Probably they didn't do things well.
Maybe numerical growth
wasn't what they'd hoped it would be.
Was God really caring for them?
Could they really count on Him
to continue to do that
in the midst of a city like this?
Would He really care about people
in a place that disdained Him?
Maybe some of them or all of them
felt like frozen pizza Christians.
And so Paul begins his letter
by saying to them and to us
that Christianity and your story in it
is not about what you do for God.
It's about what God has done for you.
He says that the blessings you have from God
are not ribbons you've earned
for your own performance.
It is every spiritual blessing
coming in Christ.
You're blessed over and over and over
because you're connected to Him.
Listen, our access to God
is based on what God has done for us,
not what we do for God.
Let me repeat that.
Our access to God,
our relationship with Him,
the interaction and engagement we have,
the blessings we receive from Him
are based not on what we do for God,
but on what He has done for us.
That's the good news of this passage.
Life is not all about you.
It's all about Him and His glory.
So what has God done?
What is it that He's done for you?
How has He blessed us in Christ?
This passage is so rich,
we could sit here and marvel at it all day.
Some of you think I'm about to.
But let's look at it in three parts
for just a few minutes.
The first part,
the Father's plan.
An anchor in eternity past.
Look at verses 3 through 6 of this passage.
Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who's blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places,
praising Him.
What is it that He's done?
Even as He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world,
that word chose
is the word in the Greek
from which we get the word elect.
He chose us.
He picked you.
He wanted you.
He moved towards you.
He intentionally did something.
In love,
He predestined us.
He's up to something.
Before you were even
a twinkle in your mother's eye,
before the foundation of the world,
God is setting His love upon you
and He's got a plan for it.
For what?
To what end?
What's His plan?
Why was He choosing you?
Two things at least here.
Look in verse 4.
The perfect record.
He chose us that we should be what?
Verse 4.
Holy and blameless before Him.
Not a passing grade.
Not merely tolerable to God,
but holy and blameless.
Perfect.
A perfect righteousness
that of course is not coming from us,
but from Jesus.
Perfect righteousness.
What else did He plan for us?
Verse 5.
He plans for a new family.
He predestines us for adoption
through Jesus Christ.
He wants us to be a part of His family.
Don't miss this.
Do you hear what He's doing?
He's decided He wants you in His family.
You're welcome in.
You belong.
That was His plan all along.
You're not just invited, you see,
to come off the sofa
and to bring your frozen pizza
into the banquet hall
and wander around the back
and watch and peer.
And I wonder about all those people
enjoying the wonderful meals up front.
You're invited to come
to the Father's table
because you're connected to His Son
and have actually become a son.
He's brought you into His family.
What a great comfort and security that is.
The God of the universe,
before you even existed,
intentionally purposes in His will,
plans for you to have a perfect record
and a new family.
His family.
He plans for you.
Listen, if that's His plan,
you can count on it.
He's God.
He's in charge.
He's loved you since before
the foundation of the world.
That's an anchor that will hold
that you can count on.
And then verse 6 reminds us
all this good stuff that He's doing
is He's doing it for us.
It's actually to the praise
of His glorious grace.
Not to our credit, right?
Predestination, for example,
is a source of glory to God
and comfort for God's people.
Not a topic for debate and controversy.
That's what it's become for some of us.
Listen, God says,
this is all about the praise
of my glorious grace
and how wonderful I've been to you.
How much I love you.
How magnanimous I am
and how comforted and secure
you can be
because of who I am.
You can be confident in His love.
Secondly,
we have the Son's sacrifice.
The cross
in human history.
Before the foundation of the world,
God makes a plan
and the Father having made this plan for us,
someone's going to have to execute it.
Someone's going to have to make this happen
and the Son volunteers.
I'll go.
Listen, we're not talking about
a distant deity
who's fatalistically and whimsically
just ordering all the events
of human history.
That's not the picture we have of God
before the foundation of the world,
is it?
When God chooses to save,
it costs Him His Son.
It costs Jesus His very life.
That's why this redemption is costly.
It's a costly redemption that we have.
Verse 7,
how is it described?
In Him we have redemption
through His blood.
The very blood of Jesus,
the perfect Son of God,
is the purchase price.
Redemption refers to
buying something back.
Like purchasing someone's freedom
out of slavery.
Buying it back.
And when God plans for us
to be in His family,
He had to buy us back
at the cost of the perfect Lamb.
Not with perishable things
like silver or gold
that we were redeemed,
but with the precious blood
of Jesus Christ.
That's what happens on the cross.
The Father who loves you
and wants you in His family
says,
I've got to purchase you
and it costs my Son His life.
As a result of that,
we receive what?
Full forgiveness.
Another spiritual blessing.
There's starting to be
a laundry list here.
Full forgiveness.
Look at verse 7.
We have redemption
through His blood,
the forgiveness
of our trespasses.
And this means that
our slate that's dirty
and that's smudged
is wiped clean.
Our sin and guilt
wiped away completely.
Not just some of our sins,
but notice full forgiveness.
Keep reading.
On what basis are we forgiven?
To what extent?
According to the riches
of His grace
which He has lavished upon us.
Riches lavished upon you.
Do you know what that feels like?
I like to eat,
so I pictured Christmas
at Grandma's house.
We were just there recently
and here's what it went like for us.
My girls would go to get dessert.
They'd find the cookies
in the cookie jar
and they'd eat a couple
or three
and they'd run out
and they'd say,
there's no more cookies left.
And we'd say,
perfect.
You know, we're through.
And Grandma says,
oh no,
oh there's plenty more
in the back room.
Let me go get you
some more cookies.
And we're like,
oh, Grandma,
two or three cookies
was enough.
And they get some more
and so, you know,
an hour or so later
you're sitting there
watching the television
and your kids come out
with a bowl of ice cream.
Grandma, ice cream?
I thought we'd run out of that.
We emptied that carton last night.
I had two more cartons
in the freezer
outside in the garage.
We got some more out.
They're having ice cream.
It runs out
but there's always more.
You never run out.
Always more.
Always given generously
until you're completely full.
That's lavish, right?
That's what it looks like
to have riches
lavished upon you.
That's what Christmas
should be like
especially for kids
who can still eat that much.
Have you had the riches
of God's grace
lavished upon you?
Poured on you
to overflowing
over all your sins?
The worst things you've done?
The biggest failures
to perform
where you left things undone?
The things you've never
told anyone else about?
The thoughts in your heart
you're embarrassed
you've ever had?
Hasn't He lavished
forgiveness on us?
Hasn't He done that?
What a great blessing that is.
Full, full forgiveness.
A great gift.
So the Son accomplishes
the Father's ancient plan
in real space
and time of human history.
But does it get to us?
The cross still seems
like a while ago.
Is it going to actually
get to us?
Is it going to be ours?
There's all these blessings
and the Holy Spirit
makes sure of that.
Finally, in this passage
we read of the Spirit's seal.
A stake in eternity future.
The last part of this passage.
Notice especially verse 13.
When we heard and believed,
we were sealed
with the promised Holy Spirit.
Now before we talk about
what the Holy Spirit does for us,
can we just notice for a second?
All three parts of the Godhead
working together.
God working in concert.
All three with unique roles.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Father planning to love and save.
The Son taking on flesh
to sacrifice and redeem.
And now we have the Spirit
applying that purchased salvation
to those whom the Father
has chosen
and for whom the Son
has died.
Because the word Trinity
is not actually in the Bible,
people sometimes suggest
that the Bible doesn't teach
about a triune God.
It's been suggested again recently.
That maybe Jesus
isn't really divine.
That these are things
we're making up.
This is a great example
of the Bible teaching
about the Trinity.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
working together.
They've come together
on this project.
What's the big project
they're partnering on?
All three of them
working together.
To what end?
It's securing our adoption
and our eternal salvation.
That's what they're up to,
isn't it?
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
together.
And so the Holy Spirit
comes and guarantees
that we have a certain
inheritance.
That's what it looks like
for Him to be a seal.
Look at verse 11.
God hasn't just adopted you
with the possibility
of taking it back.
In Him we've obtained
an inheritance
having been predestined
according to the purpose
of Him who works all things
according to the counsel
of His will.
You want to know
what's going to happen?
When this guy decides
it happens,
he works all things
according to the counsel
of His will.
This plan is not tentative
or tenuous.
He's written you in permanently
with the riches
of His kingdom
belonging to you.
He's engraved you
on the palm of His hand.
He's not changing His mind.
The Holy Spirit
is the one who seals,
validates,
authenticates
that we are indeed His.
The heir of the cattle
on a thousand hills.
We have a stake
in eternity future.
Something that we can count on.
And then there's
eternal security.
The Spirit is described again
in verse 14
as a guarantee.
The Holy Spirit
who is the guarantee
of our inheritance.
When you hear guarantee,
think of the down payment,
the deposit,
the promise of eternity
because we have
the Holy Spirit
in us now.
So this is not
social security
which may be there
in 30 or 40
or 50 years
but may not.
This is eternal security.
an inheritance
that cannot perish
or spoil or fade
because the Holy Spirit
lives in us
and assures us
that we'll obtain
the inheritance
until the day
He claims us as His own
and we receive
the fullness
of the coming kingdom.
Everything that God
has for us.
It's also interesting
in these verses
if you look
in this last section
Paul actually
changes some pronouns.
What does he mean
when in verse 11
he says,
in him we.
We, he's talking
about us Jews.
Paul was a Jew.
In him we've obtained
an inheritance.
Look at verse 13.
In him you also,
you Gentiles,
you also when you heard
and believed,
received the Holy Spirit.
So you get to verse 14
and whose inheritance is it?
Ours.
The Jews and the Gentiles.
We and you.
Our inheritance.
Whatever your background.
Regardless of your
religious pedigree
or your performance.
God has secured eternity.
He's the one who's done it.
So just take a look back
at your story for a minute.
What is it that
establishes your access with God?
What's the currency
of your relationship
with God today?
What is it that determines
whether you're on the couch
with frozen pizza
or at table number two?
What is it?
There's an anchor
in eternity past
all the way back
before the world existed,
before you existed,
that the Father loves you
and has a plan
before you existed.
That there's a cross
in human history,
time and space,
where Jesus comes
and purchases you.
This is actually the one place
you might have showed up.
That's the place
we should have been, right?
And Jesus alone
on the cross
in our place
purchases our redemption.
And then in eternity future,
already,
God's gone ahead of us.
The Holy Spirit there
knocking a stake in,
sealing us
and saying,
I'm preparing for you
a seat at a feast
that you've not arrived at yet,
but I've got it
in place for you.
Just notice two things
about this.
First of all,
what we said earlier,
the Godhead working together,
Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit,
all three of them
working for you.
And secondly,
the fact that you're not there.
You weren't there
before the foundation
of the world.
You weren't there
on the cross.
You're not there
in eternity future yet.
If you feel second class,
held at arm's length
from God,
then you're reading
the wrong story.
You're reading the one
about yourself
and about how you're doing
and what things look like
around you.
Hear the old,
old story again.
All three persons
of the Godhead
doing this for you.
He's just that good.
His grace really is
that amazing.
That's your story.
Two points of application
for us this morning
based off of phrases
that are repeated
in this passage.
First,
in light of
all of this that's true,
all these blessings
God has for us,
so what?
Well,
we have a new focus.
When Paul talks about
the process of our salvation,
who's the focus on?
You've probably picked up
on this as we've read
several times.
Who's it all about?
It's about God
and His glory and praise.
It started in verse 3.
Blessed be,
not you and me,
blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
It's going to be about Him.
Verse 6 says,
to the praise
of His glorious grace.
Verse 12,
we actually exist
to the praise
of His glory.
Verse 14,
the whole passage
closes to the praise
of His glory.
From beginning to end,
it's about His glory.
And that's our chief end,
right?
The glory of God.
Our lives
are about His glory,
not our own.
Not about winning
the game of life.
It's about God's glory,
even before it's about
these wonderful things
like our security
and comfort.
How can that be?
That doesn't seem
to make sense.
When I first think about it,
how can it all be about God,
actually be a benefit to me?
Here's how that works.
When it's about His glory,
when God is made great,
we're not made irrelevant.
It leads to our comfort
and security
because our salvation
starts and ends
with Him
and His work.
So if it wasn't ours to earn,
it's not ours to lose either.
When He gets the glory,
when His grace is magnified,
when God becomes big
and strong
and powerful,
we then revel securely
in a God who loves us,
who's purchased us
and will never let us go.
When the one who's holding you
is strong
and loves you,
you're safe, right?
If the person holding you
is strong
and loves you,
you're safe.
It's all about His glory
and that's good for us
because He loves us.
The problem is
we're so obsessed
with ourselves.
We can't stop focusing
on ourselves,
what we look like,
how we perform,
what our reputation is,
how comfortable we are.
We'll even ask God
to serve those things,
won't we?
To make us more comfortable,
to help us look better.
And the irony is
when we focus on ourselves,
things actually turn out
worse for us
because we miss
all these blessings of God
because they're found
in Christ,
not in self.
we miss out
when we do well
and when we do bad.
Just think about
some of the places
we look for these blessings.
Where do we often
look for security?
In money?
Even when we do
really well,
what happens when
we get a lot of money?
Things could change.
You don't know
how long it'll last.
I mean,
the stock market
could change.
There's some security there
but I better get
a little bit more.
This is eternal security
in Christ.
It happens when we fail.
What do we think
when our relationship
with God,
when our adoption
becomes based on our performance
and we fail?
And we start thinking
maybe He doesn't love me.
Maybe He won't hear my prayers.
I've been such a failure.
In both of those cases,
our focus is on ourselves
rather than on the glory of God
and the riches of His grace.
What would be different for you
if your focus was reoriented
from your glory to His?
What would change?
How you invest your money?
Where you spend your time?
What else would change?
What would you start doing
if that were true?
What would you stop doing?
Where could you trust
and rest and relax
where now you feel insecure
and anxious?
If it was really true
that it wasn't about
how many national championships
you won
and how successful you were
but that He has won
and that He's chosen you
to be on His team.
If His reputation
really mattered more than yours.
If His glory was really
more important
than your comfort.
Wouldn't our lives look different?
If we really believed that
and took that seriously?
It's about Him.
Secondly, we have
a new name tag.
At least ten times
in this passage
the phrase
in Christ
or something similar
in Him
through Jesus Christ
appears over and over.
In twelve verses
for a phrase like that
to be repeated
ten plus times
is really
something stark
that we ought to notice.
Our connection to Jesus
our union with Him
is highlighted
because it's the basis
for all of these blessings, right?
None of the rest
of this glorious passage
happens without that.
And so for us
the vital question is
do you know Him?
Do you know Him?
What do I mean
when I ask a question
like that?
Do you know Him?
It's an issue
of our defining identity
of our connection
of what's on our name tag.
Under your name
does it read
in Christ?
Does it read
guest of Jesus?
The question is not asking
do you know about Him?
Have you heard about Him
from a distance
or studied about Him
up close?
It's do you know Him?
Are you in Him?
Have you in desperation
claimed His record
as your own
and trusted Him
as your only hope?
I'm not asking
do you go to church
more than your co-workers?
Do you pray
more than your family members?
Do you know more theology
than your friends?
That's not the question.
This passage is asking
are you in Christ?
If so
all the blessings of God
are yours.
One more picture of this
from a guy
who is even worse off
than I was
with frozen pizza
on the couch.
His name is Mephibosheth.
Try saying that
even once.
Mephibosheth.
His story is in
2 Samuel 9.
King Saul
and his son
Jonathan
have died.
David has become
king of Israel.
Jonathan had been
David's best friend.
Had earned
David's affection.
And so David asks
is there anyone
left of Saul's house
to whom I can show
kindness
for Jonathan's sake?
He loves Jonathan
so much
he wants to
show kindness
to someone
for Jonathan's sake.
and he's told
there's one
but he's crippled
in both feet.
He's not worthy
to even
come in the palace.
Perhaps
he's a threat
to David's power
as an heir of Saul
still alive.
Listen to what happens
in 2 Samuel 9.
Mephibosheth
does come
to King David
and David says
to him
do not fear
for I will show
you kindness
for the sake
of your father
Jonathan
and I will restore
to you all the land
of Saul your father
and you shall eat
at my table
always.
And Mephibosheth
bows down
to David
and says
what's your servant
that you should
show regard
for a dead dog
such as I?
And the king
called Ziba
Saul's servant
and said to him
all that belong
to Saul
and to all his house
I've given
to your master's
grandson.
son.
And so Mephibosheth
ate at David's table
like one of the king's sons.
So Mephibosheth
lived in Jerusalem
for he ate always
at the king's table.
Now he was lame
in both feet.
Lame in both feet.
A self-described
dead dog.
But Mephibosheth
was connected
to Jonathan
wasn't he?
And because of
Jonathan's merit
Mephibosheth
always ate
at the king's table.
If they wore
name tags back then
I am certain
that his would have read
son of Jonathan.
Mephibosheth
son of Jonathan.
Southwood
Jesus has done
immeasurably
more
than President Barker
for me
or Jonathan
for Mephibosheth.
President Barker
earned me a seat
at an honored table
for one night.
Jonathan earned
for Mephibosheth
a seat
at the king
of Israel's table
for the rest
of his life.
Jesus
has earned
for us
for those
who are united
to him
a seat
at the king
of kings table
for the rest
of your life
and for
all of eternity.
He's done
that for you.
Does your name tag
read
guest
of Jesus?
That's the only way
to receive
every spiritual blessing
to have
a perfect record
a new family
costly redemption
full forgiveness
a certain inheritance
eternal security
and
and so much more
that's just
in this one chapter.
If you're in Christ
you've done nothing
to earn
your seat
at the table.
God chose
the you
that is in Christ
before the foundation
of the world
before you
did any better
or tried any harder
rejoice
he loves you.
If you're not
in Christ
you can do nothing
to earn your seat
at the table.
There's nothing
you can do.
Believe in him.
Cling to him.
Ask for his record
instead of yours.
dead dogs
second class
believers
repeated failures
the good news
of the gospel
is that it's not
about you
it's all about him
and he loves you
and welcomes you
to this table
in Christ
to this table
that he set
before you
and he welcomes you
in Christ.
I want you
to hear
the words
of institution
of this table
from 1 Corinthians 11
Paul says
I received
from the Lord
what I also
delivered to you
that the Lord
Jesus on the night
when he was
betrayed
took bread
and when he
had given
thanks
he broke it
and said
this is my body
which is for you
do this
in remembrance
of me
and in the same
way also
he took the cup
after supper
saying
this cup
is the new
covenant
in my blood
do this
as often
as you drink
it
in remembrance
of me
for as often
as you eat
this bread
and drink
the cup
you proclaim
the Lord's
death
until he
comes
y'all
this is
the Lord's
table
it's not
a Southwood
table
or Presbyterian
table
if it was
a Southwood
table
you might
qualify
I might
have a chance
but it's
not
it's the
table
of the
holy
glorious
perfect
king
of kings
and
Will Spink
on his
own
has no
chance
to be
at this
table
with the
imperfections
on my
record
and yours
no chance
but the
guest of
Jesus
is guaranteed
a seat
here
always
because of
his
perfect
record
if you've
despaired
of your
own
credentials
and trusted
in his
come
and eat
dead
dog
crippled
in both
feet
your new
name tag
says
in
Christ
you
always
eat
at the
king's
table
and if
you're
not
in
Christ
if you
don't
know
him
I'd
encourage
you
not
to
come
to
this
table
but
I'd
encourage
you
this
morning
imagine
what
if
your
record
and
the
imperfections
you're
aware
of
and
the
things
you
regret
and
wish
hadn't
been
a
part
of
your
story
what
if
all
of
that
could
be
wiped
away
your
imperfect
record
gone
and
you'd
be
handed
a
perfect
record
that
doesn't
take
months
of
rehab
and
trying
to
earn
things
better
trying
to
clean
it
up
and
build
your
resume
he
does
it
all
for
you
he
can
do
it
right
now
in
this
moment
you
can
ask
him
he
can
scribble
guest
of
Jesus
on
your
name
tag
in
this
moment
in
permanent
you
can
feast
with
him
forever
won't
you
trust
in
Jesus
pray
with
me
and
we'll
come
to
this
table
Jesus
thank
you
thank
you
all
the
blessings
that
we
have
are
because
of
you
your
body
and
blood
have
bought
us
what
a
great
precious
price
that
is
for
our
redemption
would
the
taste
of
your
body
and
blood
on
our
lips
assure
us
of
the
father's
full
forgiveness
and
the
eternal
welcome
that
you
have
earned
for
us
we
ask
in
your
name
amen
the
Lord
Jesus
on the
same
night
in which
he
was
betrayed
took
bread
and
when
he
had
given
thanks
he
broke
it
as
I
ministering
in
his
name
break
this
bread
and
he
gave
it
to
them
and
said
take
and
eat
this
is
my
body
broken
for
you
do
this
in
remembrance
of
me
in
the same
manner
after
supper
he
took
the
cup
and
after
giving
thanks
as
has
been
done
in
his
name
he
gave
it
to
his
disciples
and
said
take
drink
all
of
you
this
is
the
blood
of
the
new
covenant
in
my
blood
take
and
drink
the
body
and
blood
of
Jesus
given
for
you
come
all
of
you
rejoice
feast
come
trust
him
and
eat
and drink
to
his
glory
the
host
team
members
will
usher
you
forward
and
back
to
the
tables
and
we
will
feast
together
for more
information
visit us
online
at
southwood.org
our
and
you