WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.259 Christ. Now, can you turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy? We're going to look at a couple 00:00:12.259 --> 00:00:18.219 of different passages in Deuteronomy, beginning at chapter 4. As we continue to think about the 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:22.920 mission of the people of God, tonight we will think about the fact that God's people walk 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:33.000 in God's ways on God's mission. So, Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 1 to 9. 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:41.799 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:46.620 may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:52.299 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the 00:00:52.299 --> 00:00:57.899 Lord your God that I give you. You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. 00:00:58.339 --> 00:01:02.559 The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 00:01:03.239 --> 00:01:10.259 but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today. See, I have taught you 00:01:10.259 --> 00:01:15.679 decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are 00:01:15.679 --> 00:01:21.879 entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:28.280 understanding to the nations who will hear about all these decrees and say, surely this great nation 00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:34.640 is a wise and understanding people. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:41.599 the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:46.679 have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:54.980 Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen 00:01:54.980 --> 00:02:02.240 or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:11.599 after them. And then in Deuteronomy chapter 10 and from verse 12 to verse 19. 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:24.719 Deuteronomy 10 at verse 12. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:32.099 your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:38.939 with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for 00:02:38.939 --> 00:02:45.079 your own good. To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and 00:02:45.079 --> 00:02:51.840 everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:59.420 their descendants above all the nations as it is today. Circumcise your hearts therefore, and do not 00:02:59.420 --> 00:03:06.860 be stiff-necked any longer, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, 00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:16.920 mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:25.519 and the widow and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to 00:03:25.519 --> 00:03:33.560 love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. So the mission of God's 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:41.819 people is to walk in God's ways. Now, why does that subject matter? Why does it matter that God's 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:47.500 people walk in God's ways? Well, let's begin to think about that with perhaps a surprising voice, 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:54.139 with the voice of Gandhi. So in 1927, Gandhi was interviewed, and he famously said, 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:02.599 I like your Christ, but not your Christians. And as he went on to explain the problem that he had, 00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:08.699 as he saw, and bear in mind, sort of colonial background, not everything that was done in the 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:15.919 name of Christianity really reflected Jesus. Of course, that's true. But as he looked at his view 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:23.339 of Christianity, he saw Christians seeking after wealth at the expense of others. He saw the West 00:04:23.339 --> 00:04:30.639 exploiting foreigners for personal gain. He thought Christians were chasing prosperity over the life, 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:35.219 liberty, and happiness of others. And he said, the Christians are the most warlike people. 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:44.720 And of course, we recognize that he's responding to the West. And so there's misunderstandings bound up 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:53.800 with that. But it helps us to think about perceptions. Closer to home, perhaps you've been in discussion 00:04:53.800 --> 00:05:01.880 with someone, and they've spoken to you about, you know, Christians being hypocrites. And how can we 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:07.860 associate with a church when there's so many hypocrites there? Or perhaps you've had those awkward 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:14.120 conversations with someone who's not a Christian and wonders, how is it that Christians have such a 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:20.959 capacity to fight with each other? And why are there so many divisions within the church? Or maybe it 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:29.540 becomes even more pointed than that. And somebody who is a Christian is recognized as having some kind of 00:05:29.540 --> 00:05:34.439 immoral practice, immoral practice, perhaps having shady business dealings, and that's enough to turn 00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:43.460 someone off from Christianity. I imagine I'm not alone in having had those conversations with people. 00:05:44.460 --> 00:05:53.040 What becomes clear is that there is a connection between our Christian lives, the life of the church, 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:01.660 and the response of others. So we began thinking about how that can become a negative. 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:08.280 Perhaps the world sees the worst about us and decides to have nothing to do with Jesus on that account. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:15.160 But you know, that was intended from the beginning to be a positive. If you were here last week, you might 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:22.759 remember Abraham. We began thinking about Abraham. Abraham who was called by grace to live in faith 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:28.839 and obedience. And he was given that wonderful promise that he would receive blessing and he would in turn 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:35.439 be a blessing to the nations. And one of the things that God said to Abraham is that he was to teach his 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:45.500 children to walk in God's ways also, so they'd be living among pagan people, idol worshippers, in such a way 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:57.019 as to show what difference faith in God would make. God saved by grace people are to walk in his ways with joyful 00:06:57.019 --> 00:07:02.699 obedience so that others will be blessed and indeed that others might become followers. 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:11.139 Perhaps as we think about that expression, walk in God's ways, we can use some pictures to help us 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:17.519 to think about this. We talk, don't we, about people following in the footsteps of someone else. So, 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:23.819 children follow in the footsteps of their parents perhaps. Or we have a mentor or someone we look up 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:29.060 to and we want to follow in their footsteps. So, there's the idea of imitation. Christians are to 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:35.079 imitate the character and the actions of God. Of course, we will never do that perfectly, but yet we aspire 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:43.979 to that. So, we walk in God's ways in that sense. But also walking in God's ways, we can perhaps think 00:07:43.979 --> 00:07:51.019 about having a route map that gives us directions so that we might avoid dead ends, perhaps that we 00:07:51.019 --> 00:08:00.699 might avoid dangers. If you've ever arrived at a big city at night, you perhaps realize the value of 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:07.379 knowing here are the neighborhoods that you really want to avoid. Here is the safe route to go to your 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:17.279 destination. God's people are to walk in God's ways so that we have that right path, but so we might also 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:29.639 lead others, family, friends, others, to walk in God's ways too. That's very much where Deuteronomy places us. 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:37.340 Deuteronomy as a book connects three things over and over again. It connects the idea of election, 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:46.179 that God has chosen his people. It connects the idea of election with ethics. God's chosen people are to 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:53.500 live in a certain way, namely God's way. And it also connects election and ethics with mission, 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:59.600 that God's people walk in God's ways so that the nations might see and take notice. 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:08.559 And in turn become worshipers of the one true God. To remind us of the context for Deuteronomy, 00:09:08.819 --> 00:09:14.720 this is Moses speaking to God's people. They're about, sorry, they're about to enter the promised 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:21.100 land. And Moses, who's not going to get to the promised land, gives them extended guidance for life 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:29.279 in the land. And the big idea, God has chosen you. So when you get to the land, walk in God's ways so 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:36.040 that God's blessing might come to you and it might flow from you to others. So our two texts tonight 00:09:36.040 --> 00:09:42.820 will help us to see that. But we'll stick first in Deuteronomy 10 to just see these three principles laid out 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:50.820 really briefly. First of all, election. Sorry, I'm going to be very croaky this evening. Election. 00:09:51.920 --> 00:10:00.600 God's choice of his people. Verse 14 and 15, we see that. Who is the Lord? Verse 14, he is the God to 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.879 whom belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it. So God is king over 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:12.240 creation, king over all people. But what has this God done? Yet the Lord set his affection on your 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:18.399 ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants above all nations. Set his affection on 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:24.399 them, loved them, chosen them from among the nations. And one of the things that Moses understands is that 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:30.259 the people might think, hey, of course, well, he chose us. We're wonderful. And so he reminds them why. 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:35.980 Chapter 7, verse 7, the Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:41.240 more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest. So why did he choose them? It was because 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:47.019 the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:53.460 hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery. Election. He loved them because he chose to love them. 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:59.519 God loves the church because he chooses to love the church. Gracious love shown to the 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:10.720 unlovely. God shows grace, and his people are to gratefully respond to that wonderful calling in how 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:19.399 we live. So verse 14 and 15 talk about election. What comes before, verse 12 and 13, speak to us of 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:26.279 ethics of God's ways. You read the book of Deuteronomy, you discover there are so many verbs 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:32.100 used to speak about obedience. It's like one couldn't capture it well enough. So there's this whole 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:38.399 range of words. So we have them here. There's five in our section. 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:45.079 What does the Lord ask? That they would fear the Lord. They would walk in obedience to him. 00:11:45.439 --> 00:11:50.459 They would love him. They would serve the Lord with their heart and soul, and they would observe the 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:57.379 Lord's commands to take them together. What's this point to? It points the need for total allegiance 00:11:57.379 --> 00:12:08.980 in all of life to their creator, redeemer, God. It speaks to the direction of the life of God's people. 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:16.019 It speaks to the delight that should be in the hearts of God's people. It speaks to the devotion and 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:22.639 loyalty to God and no other that should be at the heart of God's people. 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:30.259 So before he gets into the details of what this might look like, first he wants to go to 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:38.039 Hut. Now, how do God's people obey? Here's a reminder that we're not given a tick box exercise. 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:43.360 It's one of the things that Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount, isn't it? He goes deeper 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:51.779 in explaining how important the heart and the motive and the attitude is. This isn't legalism. This 00:12:51.779 --> 00:13:01.580 isn't some kind of superficial obedience. This is obeying out of love and a commitment to the God who has 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:13.340 saved. Why obey? Back to verse 14. Because he is the Lord. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:21.220 He is the King of creation. He is the Lord over all of life. Again, you look at Deuteronomy. You discover 00:13:21.220 --> 00:13:33.139 every part of life matters to God. We find the laws in these first five books of the Bible about how 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:40.320 they do their farming and law court practices and life in the family and life in the marketplace and 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:48.180 life on the battlefield. All of life is to be lived under God, lived following God's ways. 00:13:48.179 --> 00:14:01.819 We don't compartmentalize our lives of faith. Well, today's Sunday, so this is God's day, so we'll live 00:14:01.819 --> 00:14:09.019 God's way. But the rest of our week at school or uni or in the workplace, it's kind of different. It's not 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:17.139 like that. God's law, our relationship with God is to govern all of life. And bear in mind the context 00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:22.899 as well. They're going to be surrounded by nations who worship false gods. They're going to be surrounded 00:14:22.899 --> 00:14:32.120 by idolatry and unbelief. And so they are called to choose to live differently for God, recognizing, 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:43.480 verse 13. All these commands and decrees are for your own good. There is a goodness in obedience. 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:51.899 I'm going to borrow from the wisdom of the rooted Bible study for a moment. I wasn't there when the 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:58.139 women were meeting, but I'm going to borrow their wisdom. In the realm of motivation to exercise, 00:14:58.139 --> 00:15:06.080 some of us will get this. There is a massive difference between I should exercise and I want 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:13.480 to exercise. One, that duty that you're going to really struggle to drag yourself up, but want to, 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:22.419 there's a desire there. You're much more inclined to get there. True heart obedience goes beyond, 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:31.159 well, I know I should obey King Jesus, to I want to obey King Jesus, because it's for my good, 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:38.919 it's for my family's good, it's for my community's good, if we are living God's way. 00:15:41.479 --> 00:15:48.519 Let's think about this a little bit deeper before moving on. So I may have mentioned to some of you 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:53.419 anyway, that I'm reading a book in our presbytery. We have a book group where some of us meet and 00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:58.399 chat about different books, and we're reading a book called Mere Evangelism, which is a really helpful 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:05.279 distilling of some of C.S. Lewis's teaching. And Randy Newman, who writes this book, he talks about 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:11.679 a thing, I've never heard this phrase before, but he discusses cut flower culture. So you think about 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:19.039 a bouquet of flowers, if you like that kind of thing, you can admire the beauty of those flowers, 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:24.859 but all the while they're in that vase, we know they're cut off from their roots. So we're enjoying 00:16:24.859 --> 00:16:32.000 their beauty, but they're in the process of dying, because they have no roots. And Newman went on to 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:40.199 say that for society in the West, or post-Christian society, we are by and large cut off from 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:49.180 the roots of biblical morality. We are not rooted as a society like we used to be to Christian morality, 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:57.860 but still, and we can see this, people still want the fruit of that morality. So one way that we can 00:16:57.860 --> 00:17:04.740 see this, sort of negatively, we will say at the one hand, people will say, because we're cut off from 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:10.200 it's not that biblical root. Well, everyone is free to create their own morality, you know? We can all 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:17.779 decide what's right and wrong. And everybody thinks that sounds fine until we perceive a moral failure, 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:23.960 and then people can be really judgmental. And so we understand, no, everybody has an idea of justice 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:31.319 and right and wrong, but because we've become, sort of, separated from the roots, from God who gives us 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:37.700 ultimate right and wrong, people are really struggling to know where it really comes from. 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:45.480 So one of the positive things for us as Christians, and when we think about our ethics, how we live, 00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:51.379 our truth, what we believe, is that we can show to people, yeah, well, we have that common ground. We 00:17:51.379 --> 00:17:57.359 also believe in justice, but we have the chance to reconnect people 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.919 to the Bible and to the God of the Bible, 00:18:01.639 --> 00:18:07.959 to the Creator God, in this case, who is righteous and just. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:16.359 And we can lovingly look to direct people to where their longings will be met. You want justice? 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:23.219 But all the while acknowledging that nobody is perfect, well, we can point to 00:18:23.220 --> 00:18:29.500 Jesus. And the forgiveness that He provides, and the justice that He took in our place, and 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:38.380 the justice of God, who promises in the end to right all wrongs. And so we have an opportunity 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:44.299 with our ethics, what we believe, to try and make contact points with folks who have those same 00:18:44.299 --> 00:18:49.120 longings, but just don't realize how to connect them to the Bible. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:19:00.379 But let's move from ethics, to think about how ethics and mission connect. Because what Deuteronomy 00:19:00.379 --> 00:19:05.039 does is it says that when God's chosen people live God's way, then God's mission happens. 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:14.179 And so here in chapter 10, here's one aspect that we can identify. We are to live God's way to be a 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:22.259 blessing to others. So as we walk in God's ways, as we are looking to imitate Him and to reflect His 00:19:22.259 --> 00:19:31.700 character, it takes on a particular form. So here in verse 17, we read this description that God gives 00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:38.620 of Himself. The Lord your God is God of God and Lord of Lords, the great God mighty and awesome. 00:19:38.619 --> 00:19:45.899 He shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and 00:19:45.899 --> 00:19:53.779 loves the foreigner residing among you. So how does our ethics connect to mission? Well, we pursue 00:19:53.779 --> 00:20:01.919 justice in Jesus' name. We shall love to the weak and to the foreigner in Jesus' name. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:09.120 The logic here is given to, verse 19, you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves 00:20:09.120 --> 00:20:17.220 were foreigners in Egypt. It's a reminder, you've been shown grace. God treated you with kindness when 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:25.360 you were a foreigner. Freely you have received, therefore freely give. Love the weak and the 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:30.019 foreigner in response to the way God loved you when you were weak and you were foreigners. 00:20:32.939 --> 00:20:43.000 The basic point is that living God's way is both the best way for us personally, but it will also pass 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:50.939 on blessing to others. In this case, justice and love and mercy and kindness. 00:20:50.940 --> 00:21:01.340 Living God's way also has that attractive, compelling quality to it. Attracting people to the one true 00:21:01.340 --> 00:21:09.440 God who is revealed in the New Testament in Jesus. So if you turn back to that passage in Deuteronomy 4, 00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:16.880 and especially verses 5 to 8. So Moses has just said, you're about to go into the land. What you need 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:24.540 to do when you get into the land is to observe God's laws. Live God's way. And when that happens, 00:21:25.360 --> 00:21:32.460 he says people around are going to take notice. People around are going to admire certain things. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:38.080 First of all, they will admire, verse 6, their wisdom. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:47.519 Observe God's laws and decrees carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:58.559 So the way that God's people lived was remarkably to be different. As they pursued the wisdom of God in 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:06.000 everyday life and in worship and in marketplace practices and in their homes, it would attract 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:14.200 admiration from those who'd never seen anything like it before. Then verse 7. It's a wonderful verse. 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:21.279 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:27.940 whenever we pray to him. So as the people of God worship, it draws admiration. There's something unique 00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:35.200 about this nation Israel. God is present with them. And God listens when his people pray. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:41.900 We thought about Elijah and the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Baal dancing around and shouting 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:45.859 around and cutting themselves and trying to force their God to answer, but their God's not true, 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:53.539 so he does nothing. And Elijah, he quietly prays and fire comes from heaven. Admiration because of a God 00:22:53.539 --> 00:23:01.880 who is near to us and a God who answers our prayers. I wonder, do we talk about the way God answers our 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:12.220 prayers? It's attractive to people. And then verse 8. The ways of God draw admiration. What other nation 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:19.580 is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I'm setting before you 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:30.159 today. So we see how our obedience matters. How important it is to the mission of God's people 00:23:30.159 --> 00:23:40.099 that together and individually and as families we are walking in God's ways. As Jesus put it in the 00:23:40.099 --> 00:23:48.799 sermon in the mouth, let your light shine so that men might see your good deeds and glorify your Father 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:59.539 in heaven. I want to pull it all together by turning to Acts just for a minute or two. So we began with 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:06.119 Gandhi, a negative example. I like your Christ, but I don't like your Christians. A positive example, 00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:17.119 Acts chapter 6. Here is a situation where there are some widows who are in need, in need of daily food 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:26.039 distribution. And the apostles decide that what needs to be done is that deacons should be appointed 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:35.879 in order to make sure that they are being cared for. And in verse 6 and then verse 7, as these deacons 00:24:35.880 --> 00:24:42.820 are chosen, they presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. And what happens 00:24:42.820 --> 00:24:52.140 next? So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large 00:24:52.140 --> 00:25:00.320 number of priests became obedient to the faith. From the beginning of the church in the New Testament, 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:05.540 God's people were intent on living out God's ways, in this case caring for the poor and the weak. And that 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:11.079 led to the mission of God continuing. And it's always been that way. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:21.659 So we need to pray for ourselves and to think, God has chosen me if he's chosen us. 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:28.819 What does that mean for how we're living? We need to connect our election with our ethic. 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:37.099 And to do that for the sake of our mission. Conscious that there is a world around who doesn't know 00:25:37.099 --> 00:25:42.500 anything about God perhaps, or Jesus perhaps. Who wants certain things and we share those values, 00:25:42.619 --> 00:25:46.000 but they don't know how to connect it with the God of the Bible. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:56.299 And very practically as we've been thinking about this, God said to the people of Israel to care 00:25:56.299 --> 00:26:02.380 for the foreigners, to care for the weak and the needy. And haven't we heard of extreme need? 00:26:03.140 --> 00:26:09.559 So we have an opportunity to pray for the church in Burma, to give for the church in Burma. 00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:17.539 Tomorrow at lunchtime, our connect group will start. People who are most likely new to the city, 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:24.899 wanting to practice their English, gain some confidence, but quite possibly to find friendship. 00:26:25.899 --> 00:26:33.059 We have a chance to pray for that group and to love them with the hope that we can share Jesus 00:26:33.059 --> 00:26:44.379 with them. And every day we can have that sense of purpose. My day-to-day acts matter. The love and 00:26:44.379 --> 00:26:52.759 service, the duty and the care that I offer in Jesus' name matters for his kingdom and for his glory. 00:26:53.419 --> 00:27:01.359 So let's pray as we close. Father God, we are thankful for your character. 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:12.039 And we pray that you would, by your Spirit, help us to imitate you, to be imitators of the Lord Jesus 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:23.139 Christ. We pray that with the help of the Spirit, our light would shine so that others might see our 00:27:23.139 --> 00:27:31.700 good deeds and glorify you as they understand that what motivates us is the love that we have received, 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:40.680 the love that we then want to pass on. Again, we pray that you would give us a heart for the church in 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:50.480 Burma to give our prayers and to give our money as we are able. We pray again for the Connect ministry as 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:58.940 it begins, asking that you would cause deep friendships to flourish and that those who are spiritually seeking 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:06.960 after you would find you and be compelled towards you as they see the love of your people. 00:28:08.440 --> 00:28:15.980 Lord, we recognize that people can be so quick to give up on Jesus because of Christians 00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:25.259 and perceptions of the church. Lord, please keep us from being a barrier and instead help us to be a 00:28:25.259 --> 00:28:30.039 bridge between people and their Lord and Savior. Amen. 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:43.059 Now we're going to close with a hymn which helps us to reflect on what we've just been talking about, 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:49.019 oh how good it is, unity and mission belonging together. So let's stand to sing. 00:28:49.019 --> 00:29:16.980 Oh how good it is when the family of God dwell together in spirit, in faith and unity, 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:31.279 where the bonds of peace, of acceptance and love are the fruits of His presence here upon us. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:45.240 So with one voice we'll say to the Lord, and with one heart we'll lift out His word. 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:58.379 Till the whole world sees the Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:19.359 O how good it is on this journey we share, to rejoice with the happy and weep with those who mourn, 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:32.500 for the weak find strength, the afflicted find grace, when we offer the blessing of belonging. 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:46.859 So with one voice we'll say to the Lord, and with one heart we'll lift out His word. 00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:59.960 Till the whole world sees the Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people. 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:06.960 Till the whole world sees the Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people. 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:24.299 Oh how good it is to embrace His command, to prefer one another, forgive as He forgives when we live as one. 00:31:24.299 --> 00:31:33.299 We all share in the love of the Son, with the Father, and the Spirit. 00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:48.159 So with one voice we'll say to the Lord, and with one heart we'll lift out His word. 00:31:48.299 --> 00:32:01.059 Till the whole world sees the Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people. 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:08.059 Till the whole world sees the Redeemer. 00:32:08.059 --> 00:32:13.059 Till the whole world sees the Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people. 00:32:13.059 --> 00:32:20.359 Lord, our God, for Your glory we pray that people might see the Redeemer in us, 00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:25.159 that You would cause us to walk according to Your wisdom, 00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:28.600 that You would give us wholehearted worship, 00:32:29.600 --> 00:32:32.700 a devoted loyalty to walking in Your ways, 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:38.340 so that more and more people around us and around this world 00:32:38.340 --> 00:32:43.180 might come to worship the God who has loved us 00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:47.460 and given Himself, given His Son Jesus for us. 00:32:47.460 --> 00:32:50.840 And we pray in His name. Amen.