Well, good morning. Good to see you all this morning. It's good to be back here at Brunsfield.
I think anyway, it's the first time that I've ever met anyone who names their plants, but
I guess that's an Italian thing, is it? It's all right. I got a bit of Italian blood running
through me as well, but never named any plants yet. But Graziella, was that it? Graziellina.
Is that like little thank you or something, or what is it? Graziellina. Grace is a name.
That's good. All right. I won't find out the rest of your plants' names just now.
Okay. Time's marching on, so let's turn to Luke chapter 8. If you have a Bible, go to Luke
chapter 8, where I understand you've been walking with Jesus through Galilee this morning,
chapter 8. We're going to look into two different occasions in the life of Christ here in Luke
chapter 8. There are so many of these in the Gospels where Jesus really does stun people
with the reality of who He is. I think that's probably, if you want a big picture of the Gospels,
I think one of the major themes of the Gospels coincides with what I think seems to be the major
theme of God's revelation in all the Bible, which is Him, how great He is. I think that's really what
glory is all about. It is about something to do with the expression of the greatness of God. And so that
theme just runs through all of the Bible. And particularly, you would expect to see it so much in the Gospels,
because the Gospels are just accounts of the life of God as a man. So you would expect to see just the greatness
of who this man is, God in human flesh, right the way through the Gospels. And you're not disappointed.
You see that it's right the way through the Gospels here. Jesus, again, stunning His audience by the
things that He does. The first incident takes place, we're told, verse 22, on a certain day that He got into a
boat with His disciples. And He said to them, let us cross over to the other side of the lake.
And they launched out. But as they sailed, He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake,
and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to Jesus and woke Him up.
saying, Master, Master, we're perishing. Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.
And they ceased. And there was a calm. But He said to them, where is your faith?
And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water.
And they obey Him.
Way back at the beginning of the Bible, we're told that Satan employs a tactic.
We don't quite know yet exactly who this is in the form of the serpent back in Genesis chapter 3.
But we find out as the Bible story unfolds that it is Satan.
And he is employing a tactic there that proves to be overwhelmingly successful.
Dethroning God ultimately in the hearts of men by tempting them to doubt.
To doubt. To doubt in this instance, God's word.
And to doubt, I believe, an extension of that, the greatness of His character.
So we are, in a sense, our word.
We're as good as our word.
Right? We even say that about people.
He's as good as His word.
And we mean that He's got character.
And so God's word is always tied in with God's character.
God's word is always tied in with God's spirit.
It always disturbs me when people describe churches as,
well, you know, this church has the spirit and this church has the word.
And, you know, people go around this church to get a bit of the spirit
and then that church to get a bit of the word.
It never works that way.
All these things have always been and will always be
just intricately joined together because that's who God is.
But back in the garden, Satan tempted the man and the woman
to doubt the word of God and the greatness of His character.
And ultimately, then, the faith and dependence
that the man and the woman had on God when they were created
were replaced with doubt and self-reliance.
And without wanting to be too overly simplistic here,
I'd like to suggest to you that the rest of the Bible story,
including the gospel,
is a revelation of God's design
to turn human beings back
from doubt and self-reliance,
which we're good at,
and I'll hopefully make that point as we go through this story,
to turn us back from doubt and self-reliance
to a life of faith and dependence on God.
Isn't that what the gospel is designed to do?
Because I'm not born trusting in God.
I'm not born depending on God.
I'm born with a very, very keen sense of self-dependency
and desire for self-fulfillment.
Is that not fair?
When I cried as a baby,
so I understand.
I wasn't crying because people weren't getting saved.
Because I wanted more people to depend on God
and I wanted to know God more.
I was crying because I had a need
and I wanted it fulfilled.
And as a young child,
when I threw tantrums
and I screamed and I yelled,
I wasn't screaming and yelling
because I wanted the church to grow.
I was screaming and yelling
because I wanted a toy
or I wanted a nap
or I wanted something.
It was just a very, very keenly felt sense
of what I wanted.
That's how I'm born.
That's how we're all born.
And the very point of the gospel
is for God to transform
that sense of self-reliance
that we're born with
and that we live with.
And if nothing happens,
that we will die with.
Is that fair?
We'll die
with that same sense of self-reliance
and doubt
if God doesn't do something to change us.
Wouldn't it be great
if somewhere along the line
we could just kind of get
like a doubt inoculation every year?
Wouldn't that be great
if we could just go somewhere
and get a jag
and that would be it?
One jab in January
and then we're kind of soaring
on the wings of faith
for the rest of the year.
The only problem is
the Bible doesn't tell that story.
The Bible tells a story
of men and women
who are earnest to please God
but really seriously want to do well.
Some of the songs we sang
or was it in your intro slides this morning?
I think that's what you were trying
to communicate about the church.
Just broken people
but serious about faith,
serious about Christ,
earnest to please God
and yet probably
if the truth were known
for many of us,
plagued in many ways by doubt.
From Eve to Abraham,
from David to Zechariah,
from Peter to Thomas,
even John the Baptist
succumbs to this one,
doesn't he?
Luke 7.20 tells us
that after John recognizes
that Jesus is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world,
he still asks,
Jesus, are you the one
or are we to expect someone else?
One man writes,
had the Bible been written
by a public relations agency,
they would have eliminated that verse.
It's not good PR strategy
to admit that one of the cabinet members
has doubts about the president.
I'm sure there may be
a lot of folks nowadays
that have doubts about the president
and won't go there.
You don't let stories like that
get out if you're trying
to present a united front.
But the scriptures
weren't written by personality agents,
they were inspired
by an eternal God
who knew that every disciple
from then on
would spend time
in the dungeon of doubt.
Could I suggest to you
that perhaps,
suggest to you,
this is up for grabs,
okay,
but could I suggest to you
that perhaps the real point
of this little story here
in Luke 8
isn't how flimsy the boats were
in Jesus' day
or how quick you could get caught up
in a storm on the Sea of Galilee
if you're not careful.
I'm not even sure,
and I say this carefully,
that the main point here
is how powerful Jesus is
in being able to still the storm,
although that is a main point here.
However,
I wonder if,
along with this amazing revelation
of the deity
and the majesty of Jesus
in this passage,
Luke is not trying also
to get us to see
how rotten we are
at trusting God,
but how faithful God is
at delivering us.
Now that's just a thought,
but I'd like to try
and develop that thought
as we go through here.
I don't think
the whole purpose here
is just to see
how great Jesus is,
because Jesus could have
just kind of flown in the air,
turned into a big flaming star,
and you know,
I mean,
that would have done it
for these guys, right?
But it's not.
The story here,
as is the whole story
of the gospel,
is entwined with humanity,
isn't it?
The gospel works
with just real life human beings,
and part of the real life deal here
is how quick these guys are
to doubt.
How easy it is for them
to doubt the Lord.
Where is your faith,
Jesus says in verse 25?
Or,
why are you so timid?
How is it that you have no faith?
That's how Mark records it
in his gospel.
Or,
oh,
men of little faith,
Mark's gospel says.
And so guess what?
That being the reality
that we struggle with faith,
the faith life is not an easy life,
is it?
It's a great life,
it's a great life,
but the faith life
is not an easy life.
I find it hard to keep going
when I've never yet met Christ
face to face.
And so I'm challenged
to give up everything,
all my dreams,
all my goals,
all my personal aspirations.
God challenges me
to give all those up
and I've never yet seen him
face to face.
That's not easy.
It's worth it.
And it's the way
that God has designed for us
to be reunited to him
through Christ
by faith,
right?
By grace you're saved
through faith,
but it's not an easy life.
And knowing that to be the case,
God sends a storm.
You'd think,
in a sense,
that the last thing
doubting people really need
is a storm.
You'd think they need a cuddle,
right?
Or a pat on the back.
But he sends a storm.
He knows what he's doing
to help the disciples
develop their faith.
Isn't that interesting?
Peter says,
1 Peter 4,
verse 12,
Don't be surprised
at the fiery ordeal
that comes upon you
to test you
as though some strange thing
were happening to you.
But rejoice
inasmuch as you participate
in the sufferings of Christ
so that you may be overjoyed
when his glory
is revealed.
Jesus had said,
we're told in the story,
Jesus had said,
get in the boat
and we're going
to the other side
of the lake.
How did the song go
that we sang this morning,
My Lighthouse,
My Lighthouse?
How was the bit about
he's going to lead us
safe to shore?
Right?
I just thought it was really good.
Somebody's been either
doing their homework,
okay,
in putting the service
together this morning
or God's just kind of
overrun the whole thing
and done what he wanted
to do anyway.
Jesus had said,
get in the boat
because we're going
to the other side
of the lake.
And off they go
across the water
and we're told
that somewhere along
the line,
Jesus falls asleep.
Just another great reminder
that Jesus was God,
yes,
but he was human.
He's tired,
he's weary,
falls asleep.
Soon as he falls asleep,
it seems,
there's this,
verse 23,
this fierce storm arises.
This fierce gale of wind
descends on the lake.
Matthew uses the word,
okay,
the terminology
that Matthew chooses to use,
the words are
megas seismos.
That's the two Greek words
that he uses
and you can almost figure out
what he's saying,
right?
Megas seismos.
Megas seismic.
This is a mega seismic storm.
Okay?
So you get the idea
that it's big.
It's big.
So the disciples
aren't being wimps here.
You know,
it's not that the boat
is starting to rock
a little bit
and they've never been,
you know,
they're fishermen.
A lot of these guys,
they know what it's like
to be on the water.
So they're familiar
with storms.
So for these guys
to be freaking out,
for these guys
to be freaking out
is big.
Is big.
The Sea of Galilee,
680 feet below sea level.
It's surrounded by hills,
some of which are
almost 2,000 feet
high above sea level.
The temperature
and pressure changes
because of all of that
result of the climate
in the area
along with the kind of
geography of the lake
caused some cracking storms.
It was just kind of
a storm center.
Really,
it was perfect for storms.
Perfectly suited
because of where it was
for some great storms.
And they're in one.
And the water is coming in
and the faith is draining out.
Isn't it?
They're in one.
It's a big storm.
And they're starting to doubt.
These are storms.
We have life storms.
And as we have life storms
and we feel the water's coming in,
it's very easy to feel
the faith draining out.
Is it not?
Anybody in a storm right now?
We've been in a bit of a storm
in our family here
for the last five years
and we're weary.
We're weary.
We're tired.
Our patience has run very thin.
We're very human.
God is showing us even more
how broken we are
and how easy it is
in those circumstances
for us to begin to doubt.
And so they wake Jesus up saying,
Master, we're perishing.
Now what are they forgetting?
What are they?
Well, they're forgetting
that Jesus is in the boat
with them.
They're forgetting
that it's not been all that long,
if you read before this account,
that he's healed
the centurion servant,
that he has raised
the son of the widow
of Nain from the dead.
But they're also forgetting
that Jesus had said,
let's go to the other side
of the lake.
How quick I am
to forget
that God has promised me
that not only
am I his treasured possession
in Christ,
Ephesians 1.14,
and his beloved child
by adoption,
John 1.12,
and his precious bride
by faith,
but how quick I am
to forget
that he is never going
to leave me
or forsake me
and that he is going
to lead me safely
to the other side.
So being aroused,
verse 24,
he rebukes the wind
and the surging waves
and they stop
and it becomes calm
and he says to them,
where is your faith?
It's not that they can't
have faith,
it's that they're looking
at the wrong thing.
My greatest need
when I get caught
in a doubt storm,
I think,
is a fresh recognition
of the power of God
in the person of Christ,
isn't it?
Many years ago,
I had a breakdown
and I was out of work
for almost a year
and one of the things
that God used
during that time
in my life
was the Gospels,
the life of Christ,
just walking with Christ
and walking with Christ
and listening to Christ
and observing how he lived
and what he said.
So glad you're going
through Luke's Gospel
just now.
It's a great place to be
when doubt storms hit,
turning my doubt
and self-reliance
back into faith
and God dependence.
Well,
that's the first scenario.
The second scenario
here in Luke 8
brings a different
kind of challenge
to the whole faith issue,
but it's still a challenge
to us,
to faith.
This time,
it's in the life
of a demon-possessed man.
So we'll pick it up
in verse 26.
And then they sailed
to the country
of the Gadarenes,
which is opposite Galilee.
And when he stepped
out on the land,
okay,
so that's just a reminder
that they had reached
the other side,
okay?
So it's just kind of
a continuation,
really,
of the last story.
But when he stepped
out on the land,
there met him
a certain man
from the city
who had demons
for a long time.
And he wore
no clothes,
nor did he live
in a house,
but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus,
he cried out,
fell down before him,
and with a loud voice
said,
What have I to do
with you,
Jesus,
Son of the Most High God?
I beg you,
do not torment me.
For he had commanded
the unclean spirit
to come out of the man.
For it had often
seized him,
and he was kept
under guard,
bound with chains
and shackles,
and he broke
the bonds
and was driven
by the demon
into the wilderness.
Jesus asked him,
saying,
What is your name?
And he said,
Legion,
because many demons
had entered him.
And they begged him
that he would not
command them
to go out
into the abyss.
Now a herd
of many swine
was feeding there
on the mountain,
so they begged him
that he would permit them
to enter them,
and he permitted them.
Then the demons
went out of the man
and entered the swine,
and the herd
ran violently
down the steep place
into the lake
and drowned.
When those
who had fed them
saw what had happened,
they fled
and told in the city
and in the country.
Then they went out
to see what had happened
and came to Jesus
and found the man
from whom
the demons
had departed,
sitting at the feet
of Jesus,
clothed
and in his right mind.
and they were afraid.
They also,
who had seen it,
told them
by what means
he who had been
demon-possessed
was healed.
Wow.
Then the whole multitude
of the surrounding region
region
of the Gadarenes
asked Jesus
to go,
to leave,
to depart
from them.
For they were seized
with great fear.
and so he got
into the boat
and returned.
But the man
from whom
the demons
had departed
begged him
to stay.
Begged him
that he might
be with him.
But Jesus
sent him
away
saying,
return to your
own house
and tell
what great
things God
has done
for you.
And he went
his way
and proclaimed
throughout
the whole city
what great
things
Jesus
had
done
for
him.
Now let me
say
that I find
that passage
at one
and the same
time
fascinating
and frightening.
Fascinating
because
of the
insight
that we're
given
into a
world
that we
can't see.
We would
never know
what's going
on here
if Jesus
hadn't told
us.
And this
is fascinating
that so often
in the Bible
God gives
us insight
into things
that we
would never
know were
there
or would
never know
are true
or would
never be
aware of
if he
hadn't
told us.
So
fascinating.
But I also
find that
passage rather
frightening
because
this
world that
we can't
see is
real
and it's
powerful
and it's
very evil.
Paul
writes
to the
Ephesians
that our
battle is
not against
flesh and
blood.
It's not
just you
think you're
fighting all
the time
against what
you can
see.
And God
says in
actual fact
we have
to be
really
careful
not to
get sucked
into fighting
the wrong
enemy.
And this
happens all
the time.
It happens
in life.
It happens
in offices.
It happens
in communities.
It happens
in families.
And it
happens in
churches.
Where we
get sucked
into in a
similar sense
bamboozled
by the
enemy to
fight the
other guy.
Not him
but to
fight the
other guy
and to
fight the
wrong enemy.
You've got to
be really
careful.
God tells
us that our
battle is
not against
flesh and
blood.
The real
issue, the
real fight,
the real
battle, the
real warfare
that we're to
fight particularly
as those who
belong to
Christ is
the enemy.
Not the
rest of the
body.
Not those
that we're
intimately
linked to
by faith.
But so
often we
take our
eye off the
ball again
and we
fight the
wrong enemy.
Our battle
is not
against
flesh and
blood.
It's
against the
rulers,
the powers,
the world
forces of
this darkness.
This stuff
is real.
It's here.
People think
that somehow
just because
we close
the doors
of the
church,
we keep
the evil
forces at
bay.
We don't.
We do
that,
what we'll
see in a
minute,
by resisting
them,
not by just
closing the
doors.
In fact,
sometimes I
think Satan
does some
of his
best work
right here
among
believers,
just causing
disunity
or distraction
from opportunities
that we have
to grow
and to
feed and
to be built
up and
strengthened
and a
real powerful
force for
God in
the world
and in
this city.
Sometimes I
think he
does some
of his
best work
here by
holding us
down and
distracting us
from the
real goal and
the real
purpose that
God has
called us
to as
followers of
Christ.
Sometimes I
think he
does some
of his
best work
here.
We think,
oh no,
Satan's out in
the pubs and
the clubs and
the brothels and
all.
That's the lust
of the flesh
that almost
just takes care
of itself.
It almost
just self
perpetuates.
Be careful,
be careful,
be aware.
Yes,
it's fascinating
to see beyond
the veneer of
just what we
can see and
sense with our
five senses.
There's more.
Yes,
it's fascinating,
but it's also
very frightening.
These are world
forces of
darkness,
spiritual forces
of wickedness,
Paul says,
in heavenly
places.
The Bible tells
us that demons
can do many
things.
They can exhibit
superhuman strength.
They oppose
the purposes of
God in the
world.
They're incredibly
subtle and
crafty.
They promote
idolatry.
They promote
false religion.
They deceive
and move the
nations.
They afflict
people physically.
They possess
people.
They're invisible,
but they're
capable of
manifestation.
They have
supernatural
intelligence.
They cooperate
with one
another.
They slander
God before
men, but
they also
slander men
before God.
They have
access to the
thoughts of
believers.
They blind
the minds
of unbelievers.
They accuse,
they pervert,
they bewitch,
they degrade,
they attack,
they tempt.
They even
disguise themselves
as being good.
Angels of
light.
Those are all
things and
there's more
that the Bible
tells us
Satan and
his demons
do.
So whatever
you do,
don't be
fooled by
the fact
that you
can't see
them.
They're as
real as
you are,
but equally
don't be
intimidated by
them.
Don't be
intimidated by
them.
I remember,
I'm sure it
was John
Piper,
I remember
him sharing
in a
conference
once,
you know,
just about
growing as
he's grown
as a
believer,
he's grown
to respect
the power
of the
enemy,
but not
to be
afraid of
him.
And then
he just
kind of
told a
story and
he said,
you know,
he imagined
himself just
kind of
waking up
one night
with some
kind of
green-looking,
ugly,
goblin kind
of creature
at the foot
of his bed,
just, you
know,
kind of
waking him
up in the
middle of
the night
and maybe
his first
response
was a bit
of shock
at this
thing in
his room,
this presence
that was
there,
you know,
just ugly
looking
creature.
And he
thought,
you know,
once I
gained my
presence of
mind,
I think I
would just
say,
and?
Yes?
Can I
help you?
Because
that's about
the best
they can
do.
Don't be
intimidated
by them
because
greater is
he who
is in
you than
he that
is in
the world.
Don't be
fooled by
the fact
you can't
see them,
but don't
be intimidated
by them.
The New
Testament
epistles,
and I
don't have
time to
go into
demonology
this morning,
but the
New Testament
epistles,
which I
believe should
be read in
a very unique
way,
distinct in
a sense
from just
the Gospels.
We're not
to take all
of our
marching
orders
necessarily
from the
Gospels.
That's an
historical
account of
the life
of Christ,
there's
many
lessons
to
learn,
there's
many
commands
to
obey.
But by
and large,
the New
Testament
epistles
are the
marching
orders
for the
church.
They are
the
marching
orders
for the
church.
And the
New
Testament
epistles
give us
one primary
bit of
direction
when it
comes to
dealing with
Satan
and his
cohorts.
Do you
know what
it is?
Resist.
One
primary
bit of
information.
One
primary
directive.
Resist.
Because the
greatest
weapon,
it seems,
that Satan
has against
us is
temptation.
So I
guess if I
wake up
tonight and
there's some
green kind
of goblin
looking creature
at the foot
of my bed,
I want to
say,
and?
It seems
as though the
greatest weapon
he has against
us is
temptation.
And if we
resist,
think about
this,
if the
greatest
weapon is
temptation
and I
resist,
where does
that leave
him?
Powerless.
That's the
whole point.
Matthew 4,
11,
Jesus resisted
Satan's
temptation in
the wilderness
and we're
told that
the devil
left him.
Ephesians 6,
we're told
twice to
stand firm
and in
verse 13,
we're told
to take up
the full
armor of
God that
we may be
able to
resist in
the evil
day.
James 4,
verse 7
says,
resist the
devil and
he will
flee from
you.
Do you
know where
he'll go?
He'll
go and
find somebody
else who
won't
resist.
But if
you resist,
he has
no other
recourse than
to leave
you alone
because he
can't do
anything else.
In 1 Peter
5, 8,
be of sober
spirit,
be on the
alert,
your adversary
the devil
prowls about
like a
roaring lion,
always ugly,
always big,
always ferocious,
always mean.
He prowls about
like a roaring
lion seeking
someone to
resist a
picture of
that.
Oh,
it's awful.
But resist
him.
Firm in
your faith.
We defend
with the
word,
we resist
with the
will.
We defend
with the
word,
we resist
with the
will,
being strong
in the
Lord and
the strength
of his
might.
So let
me just
finish by
again suggesting
to you the
gist of the
story here.
There's a lot
of different
intricacies you
could dive into,
do that in
your own time.
Let me just
pull back for a
minute and
suggest as we
finish just the
gist of the
story here.
I don't think
the main point
here is how
powerful possessed
people are,
or how horrible
demons can be
to people,
or how fast
demon-possessed
pigs can run
down a hill.
I think the
point is,
again,
how rotten
we are at
trusting God,
but how
faithful God
is at
delivering us.
And I draw
this conclusion
from the way
that the
account ends
with the
contrast between
the people of
the region
who can't
wait to get
rid of Jesus.
They want
him to go.
the contrast
between them
and the man
who's been
delivered,
who can't
help but want
to be with
him.
He wants
him to
stay.
Verse 34
says that when
the herdsmen
saw the pigs
and what had
happened,
they took off
like a shot
into the city.
They started
to spread the
word.
The demon-possessed
man was
apparently well-known.
People had seen
his behavior.
They knew of
his crazy,
secluded existence
in the tombs.
And when they
arrived back,
verse 37,
the people of
the surrounding
country,
they're gripped
with fear and
they don't ask
Jesus to stay.
They ask him
to leave.
And then there
is a striking
contrast between
them,
verse 38,
and a delivered
man who begs
Jesus to stay
or to let him
certainly go with
him and to be
with him.
And Jesus
says in verse 39,
No, I want you
to return to
your own house
and tell what
great things
God has done
for you.
And he went
his way and
proclaimed throughout
the whole city
what great things
Jesus had done
for him.
We're not given
interestingly the
history of this
guy.
We don't know
how he grew up.
We don't know
what caused him
to become demon
possessed.
We don't know
why he's a
target.
We don't know
what it is that
goes on in his
background.
We don't know
what his
relationship to
God was.
We don't know
any of that
about this guy.
And I find that
interesting because
as a kind of
counselor, I'd like
to unpick all the
stuff that maybe I
think may have led
to this guy going
a bit mad and
just kind of, you
know, falling into
this situation that
is so awful for him
now.
We're not told any
of that.
All we're told is
his response to
Jesus.
That's all we're
told.
That as Jesus
delivers him from
the demons, he
wants nothing more
than Christ.
And I think that's
really, when it
comes to this kind
of spiritual warfare,
I think that is the
most significant
thing.
Whenever somebody
calls me into a
situation where they
think there's some
kind of demonic
activity, the first
thing I bring with
me isn't a, you
know, a smoke
incense kind of thing
or holy water or
anything.
the first thing I
bring with me is
the gospel.
The gospel.
Because what I
understand from the
Bible is that when
Jesus comes in, the
devil goes out.
When Jesus comes in,
the devil goes out.
It doesn't mean that
we stop being targets
from an oppressive
sense, but certainly
from a possessive sense.
The gospel is your
greatest weapon.
I know how rotten
it feels to doubt.
Believe me, I do.
I know how rotten
it feels to feel
weak in faith.
However, I also know
how amazing it feels
to believe.
Don't you?
I know how amazing
it feels to believe,
to trust, and to
know that God's
faithfulness in
delivering me from
my doubt is one of
the greatest things
that he has ever
done for me.
So that I can go
and you can go now
and do everything we
can to help others
know.
That's what Jesus
told this guy to do.
Just go back to the
city and tell them
all of the wonderful
things that God has
done for you.
I want to leave here
today, and I hope
you do too, just
refreshed, reinvigorated
with a vision to go
and reach this lost
city for Christ.
Tell him all the
wonderful things.
Not all at once.
It's a little bit
here, a little bit
there.
Don't dump everything
on your neighbor
when you get home
today, but the next
opportunity that arises,
just tell people about
Jesus, all the wonderful
things that he's done
for you.
Let me pray.
Father, thank you for
the account that's been
preserved for us here
that I'm sure has many,
many, many things to
teach us.
But one of the
greatest things is we're
brought face to face
with our own reality
and weakness,
propensity to lack
faith, but also just
with the great faithfulness
of God in delivering
us from our enemy,
establishing us in Christ.
And Lord, we pray that we
would be like this man
and that we would want to
be with you, but also that
we would want to go where
we have to go to tell
others about you.
Help us to do that, I
pray, with a fresh sense
of urgency and faith today.
In Jesus' name, amen.