This morning we're looking at Hebrews chapter 7 verses 20 through 28.
If you're looking in one of the Pew Bibles, that is page 1004.
We are over halfway through February.
That means that spring is only one month and four days away.
Even though that may seem hard to believe, it will come.
Some of faith is believing what we don't currently see, but what we have reliable reasons to know will occur in the future.
Hebrews 7, starting at verse 20.
And it was not without an oath.
For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath.
But this one was made a priest with an oath.
By the one who said to him,
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.
You are a priest forever.
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
The former priests were many in number.
Because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.
But he holds his priesthood permanently.
Because he continues forever.
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost.
Those who draw near to God through him.
Since he always lives to make intercession for them.
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest.
Holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily.
First for his own sins, and then for those of the people.
Since he did this once for all, when he offered himself.
For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests.
But the word of the oath, which came later than the law,
Appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever.
I've never particularly enjoyed going to the doctor.
But there have been a couple of times in my life when I am very thankful that I did.
One of those times was just about a year ago, last February.
I'd been in bed for two and a half days with a fever and stomach pain.
It felt sort of like the flu, but I wasn't throwing up.
And it just felt different.
I felt like it wasn't something I had had quite ever the same before.
So I called the doctor's office on a Thursday morning.
Got the last appointment on a Thursday afternoon.
Long story short, I was diagnosed with possible appendicitis.
I was sent to the hospital that night.
A CAT scan revealed my appendix had actually ruptured.
And if your appendix ruptures and you don't get any medical treatment, you could possibly die.
So it's quite serious.
The next day, Friday and Saturday, February 8 and 9, I think, of last year, was Blizzard Nemo.
Which, if you were in New Haven last year, you certainly remember that.
New Haven received three feet of snow in 24 hours, and the city was basically shut down for five days.
So I watched the snow come down from my hospital bed on the fifth floor of St. Raphael's Hospital.
While my wife, Jane, and our two young children, Nathan and Grace, were confined in our house for three days because our street wasn't plowed.
And there was no way to get out.
Now, looking back, I'm thankful for a lot of things.
Throughout the whole process, I was well taken care of by the doctors and hospital staff and nurses of various kinds.
But I'm also thankful that I made it.
And that I made it to the doctors that Thursday afternoon, because if I didn't go then, then I might not have made it before the blizzard began.
And then who knows what I would have done with a ruptured appendix for three days in a blizzard.
Once I left, thankfully, most of the bill was covered by our health insurance.
Without that, we would still be in debt.
Now, when you face real problems that you can't fix yourself, it makes a big difference whether or not you are covered, as we say.
If you have distressing physical symptoms and you don't know what's causing them, or you do know what's causing them and you know it's pretty serious,
in our society, it makes a big difference if you're covered by health insurance.
If you're covered by a good insurance policy, you feel the freedom to go see a doctor, pursue a diagnosis, and if necessary, get the treatment you need.
If you're not, it's possible that you might be tempted to deny the problem or delay getting treatment,
until, at least in my case, it might have been too late.
But the same is true, not only when we face problems that are bigger than ourself,
but also when we face a mission that is bigger than ourself.
For example, if you want to start a medical practice to help all the rest of us when we get sick.
Or the same example could apply if you're wanting to open a restaurant,
or revitalize a troubled neighborhood,
or rebuild a troubled marriage,
or train for the Olympics.
Any mission that is bigger than you can sustain by yourself,
you need to have resources outside yourself.
You need to have someone who's going to stand behind you and cover you,
as you go forward in your mission.
Somebody who's maybe going to loan you some money,
so you can rent a building,
and buy equipment,
and hire staff,
and advertise in the community,
and defend yourself against malpractice suits,
and all the other things that doctors have to consider.
If you're covered with the resources and the support that you need,
on an ongoing basis,
not only financially,
but also personally,
it makes all the difference.
If you aren't covered,
if you don't have what you need,
you'll tend to be either crippled by anxious pessimism,
or blinded by naive optimism.
Nothing's going to go wrong.
Ever.
But if you are covered,
if you know that someone is standing behind you,
going before you,
protecting you from the dangers that you see,
as well as the dangers that you can't see,
you can go forward with freedom and confidence in your mission.
Now, what this morning's passage is telling us,
is that in our most difficult problems,
and in our most important missions,
there is one person who can cover us,
like no one else.
At the heart of this passage is verse 25,
which says,
consequently,
he, Jesus,
is able to save to the uttermost
those who draw near to God through him,
because he always lives
to make intercession for them.
In other words,
if you approach God through Jesus,
you are covered,
completely and forever,
to the uttermost,
without qualifications or limitations or exclusions.
Now, as we look into this verse,
and this passage as a whole,
we'll see three things.
First, why do we need to be covered?
Second, why Jesus is able to cover us,
and third, how he covers us continually.
So first, why we need to be covered by Jesus.
Now, the assumption of this passage
is that we need to be covered.
That every one of us is facing great spiritual dangers
that we cannot defend ourselves against.
Problems that we cannot fix on our own.
Verse 25 says,
Jesus is able to save us.
And it presents that as good news,
but that only makes sense
if there's actually something
that we need to be saved from.
You know, if you told me today
that I need to spend the next month of my life
in the hospital,
being treated by doctors,
my immediate reaction would be annoyance.
I don't want to spend the next month of my life
in the hospital.
I want to be home with my family,
and here at the church,
and out in the community,
and free to do what I want to do.
But if you told me,
and you really knew,
that I needed surgery tomorrow
to save my life,
and the doctors could do it tomorrow,
but I'd have to stay in the hospital
recovering for a month,
then I would gladly do it.
I'd embrace every single day
that I was in the hospital
as a precious gift,
and I would live the rest of my life
knowing that I had been rescued.
You see, it's basically the same way
with the Christian faith.
If you believe that you're basically okay,
and you don't need any outside help,
Christianity will feel like
an annoying imposition.
Right?
Like the new healthcare reform law feels
to a person
if you don't have any interest
in buying health insurance.
You feel like,
I'm perfectly fine without it.
I don't need it.
Well, why is there this law?
Right?
It feels constricting
and has all these rules
with penalties attached
that infringe upon your freedom.
And Christianity will feel the same way.
Or at best,
Christianity will be
an interesting enrichment activity,
a hobby to fill your time
until you find something better to do
on Sunday mornings.
But you know,
according to the Bible,
every one of us
is desperately in need
of spiritual help.
even if we don't realize it.
The prophet Jeremiah said,
the human heart
is deceitful above all things
and desperately sick.
In other words,
we're infected
with a deadly virus.
But one of the effects
of this virus
is to make us numb
so that we don't recognize
its symptoms.
And so especially
when our circumstances
are going well,
we may feel
very self-sufficient.
We might not feel
a great need for God.
But our present feelings
and our self-assessments
are not always
a reliable indicator
of our spiritual condition.
You know,
when I was single,
I thought that I was
generally a selfless
and servant-hearted person.
And then I got married.
And now there's at least
one person in the world
who knows otherwise.
The experience of marriage
has shown me
my self-centeredness
and my self-defensiveness
in ways that I wasn't
previously aware of.
It's not that marriage
made me a different person.
It just showed me
aspects of who I was
that I hadn't
seen before.
Sometimes when life,
or sometimes another thing
that can do that
is when life doesn't go
the way that we hope.
we become more aware
of our fallen
and needy human condition
more clearly than before.
You know,
think about the things
that make your life work
on a day-to-day basis,
that hold your life together,
that give you stability.
Physical health,
mental capabilities,
social connections,
a job,
a place to live,
a relationship,
your good reputation.
And then imagine
if over the next year,
just two or three
of those things
were removed
or seriously damaged.
On most Wednesdays,
I spend time talking
with people
at the Columbus House
homeless shelter.
And sometimes,
I'll ask people,
what brought you here?
Now, that's never
the first question I ask.
But as I get to know
people better
and they open up,
sometimes I will.
If it seems like
they're willing
to share about things.
And many people
have said to me,
I never expected
to be here.
I grew up in the suburbs,
a nice suburb.
My wife and I
had two cars.
I was going to college.
I was a mother of three.
I had a thriving business
and I was earning good money.
And then somehow,
over time,
my life fell apart
and here I am.
Now, if you've been through
a traumatic event
or a major loss,
you know deep inside
how vulnerable we are
at any time
to changing circumstances,
some of which are totally
beyond our control
and some of which we provoke
through our own foolish tendencies.
But you know,
this isn't only the experience
of someone
who's become homeless
or experienced
a major loss.
A few months ago,
I received an email
from a guy who I had known
when he was in college.
And he gave me permission
to share this.
He graduated from
a top-tier college.
He moved to New York,
found a high-paying job.
He's been very successful
in his field.
But he wrote this.
This email came to me
completely out of the blue.
He hadn't been in touch
for a couple years.
He said,
I really enjoy my current job.
I love the people I work with.
Unlike my last job,
I also have time.
I have time to spend
with family and friends
and to pursue other things
I enjoy.
But I feel very strongly
that something is missing.
I was raised Catholic.
The way I was taught growing up,
you are what you do.
You will ultimately be judged
by the sum of your actions,
good and bad.
And that became the source
of my self-worth.
Until approximately
junior year in college,
my sense of self-worth
was tied to a few
specific things.
Athletic performance,
academic performance,
and my relationship
with the girl I had been
seeing for some time.
One by one,
all of those things
went downhill.
Some of it was my fault,
but not all of it.
My life had essentially
been one big victory lap
up until that point.
I had always tried
to do right by others,
and I thought that good things
happened to me
because of that.
And now I did not understand
and couldn't accept
what was now happening.
Nothing was going my way.
I felt lied to.
I was angry
and turned away
from the Catholic Church
and religion in general.
Embraced the philosophy
of Ayn Rand.
But I felt so strangely
unfulfilled ever since.
Prestigious job,
lots of money,
expensive clothes,
nice apartment.
None of it means
very much to me.
And none of it
has substituted
for whatever it was
I was missing.
You see,
whether your life
has totally fallen apart
and you're forced
to depend on others
for your basic needs,
or whether you
achieve everything
that you hoped
and realize
that that still
isn't enough,
sometimes God uses
the circumstances
of our lives
to awaken us
to our spiritual need
that we cannot
fix on our own.
our need for something
outside ourselves.
And as we get older,
the signs alerting us
to our own dependence
only increase in frequency
because the older we get,
the closer we come
to the one reality
that is 100% sure
for every one of us,
which is death.
When every one of the things
that hold our life together
and that we hold dear
will finally be taken
out of our hands
and everything
that held us together
will fall apart.
Every one of us
will face death alone.
We can take nothing
and no one with us.
And Hebrews 9 says
it is appointed
for human beings
to die once
and after that
comes judgment
when each one of us
will give an account
of our lives
to a holy
and pure God
whose presence
is like a consuming fire.
And on that day
there will be nowhere
to hide.
All our illusions
about ourselves
and our own self-sufficiency
will disappear
in the blazing light
of God's all-knowing,
all-searching,
all-revealing gaze.
And when we come
into the holy presence
of God,
we will recognize ourselves
to be sinners.
Maybe for the first time
we will recognize
that we rightly deserve
to be forever excluded
from His presence.
And on that day
there will be only one person
who can help us
in any way at all.
Now the good news
of this passage
and the point
of this passage
is that unlike anyone else,
Jesus Christ
is able
to cover us.
He's able
to save us
to the uttermost.
That means completely
and forever
in this life
and in the life to come.
for all who draw near
to God
through Him.
And you know,
when it says
Jesus is able
to save us completely,
it's not merely
presenting
a hypothetical possibility.
It's not saying
Jesus might
possibly save you
if you come to Him.
It's saying
He is powerful
to save
completely
those who come to God
through Him.
The same phrase
is used
three other times
in Hebrews
to describe
the work of Jesus
or God.
In chapter 2,
verse 18,
it says Jesus is able
to help
those who are being
tempted
and He does.
4.15 says
Jesus is able
to sympathize
with us
in our weakness.
Chapter 5,
verse 7 says
God was able
to save
Jesus from death
and He did
in the resurrection.
And the point is
Jesus is powerfully
able to save us
and He has proved
His willingness
to do so
for everyone
who draws near
to God
through Him.
Unlike anyone else,
He is qualified
to cover us
completely
and forever.
Now you might ask
what makes Jesus
able to do this?
How can I know
that He will?
How can I have
confidence
to trust
that this isn't
just an empty promise
like all the other
empty promises
out there in the world?
Well, this passage
gives three reasons
why Jesus is able
to save us.
Verse 20-22,
it says that God
Himself is guaranteed
that Jesus is able
to save us.
In last week's passage
we saw how the ceremonial
law of the Old Testament
was set aside.
Verse 18-19 says
because it was weak
and useless.
And in the person
of Jesus,
God had introduced
a better hope.
But you know,
the people who first
read this letter
were most likely
Jewish Christians
who had lived
most of their lives
under the Old Testament
law.
And for them,
this would have felt
tremendously destabilizing.
Right?
God Himself
had given Moses
the law
at Mount Sinai
and instructed him
to build the tabernacle
and establish the priesthood
in the line of Aaron.
And now,
they might wonder,
wait a minute,
God is doing away
with what He Himself
established?
If that is so,
how can we really trust
that anything God says
is His final word?
Maybe Jesus is just
a precursor
to another prophet
to come.
Maybe we should
keep our eyes out
for something else
that God might send
to us.
Maybe it's like
an operating system upgrade
and Jesus is just
one of many
forthcoming upgrades
to your Mac OS
or your Windows
operating system.
But the author of Hebrews
is saying no.
He says,
when you read
the Old Testament
carefully,
it points forward
to something greater
than itself.
And it's an unfinished story
crying out
for a lasting resolution
and Jesus is
that lasting,
eternal resolution.
And He will not
be replaced.
God commanded Aaron
and his sons
to be priests
in the temple
but there was never
any oath involved.
In other words,
there was never a sign
that it was absolutely
unchangeable
and would never
point forward
to anything else.
God never swore
an oath to them.
By contrast,
in this verse
that He quotes
from Psalm 110
which talks about
a different kind
of priest,
not in the order
of Aaron
but in the order
of Melchizedek,
God did swear an oath.
So the point is,
Jesus is this priest
whom God has guaranteed
will be there forever.
So God has guaranteed
that Jesus is able
to save us.
That's the first reason.
The second reason
is because Jesus lives
forever.
This is verse 23 and 24.
The second contrast,
the former priests
were many
and they were many
because they all died.
But Jesus is the one
who lives forever.
And God has guaranteed
that Jesus is able
to save us
and He has demonstrated
that by raising Jesus
from the dead.
You know,
if you are not sure,
if you doubt
that Jesus is powerful
and able to save,
consider the fact
of Jesus' resurrection.
If you doubt
that it really happened,
look into the historical evidence.
It's quite strong.
There's a booklet
on the back table.
If you want to read
something short
or if you want to read
something long,
you can read N.T. Wright's
800-page book,
The Resurrection
of the Son of God,
which is a powerful case
by a leading scholar
for the bodily resurrection
of Jesus.
You know,
one of the most remarkable
aspects of the gospel accounts
about the empty tomb
is that the first witnesses
were women.
Now, at that time,
women were not allowed
to be legal witnesses
in either Jewish courts
or Roman courts.
They were seen as,
there was one writer
who said,
women are inferior to men
in every way.
And that was just
a common statement.
Nobody really challenged
him on that.
So if you were going
to make up a story
back then
that somebody had been
raised from the dead
and you wanted people
to believe it,
you wouldn't make up
this detail that women
were the first witnesses
as all the gospels do
unless it really happened
that way.
You see,
you would never make that up
back then in that context
unless that's how
it really happened.
And they really went
to the tomb
and it was really empty
and Jesus had really risen.
You see,
the early Christians
were confident
in the resurrection
of Jesus
because they were convinced
by reliable witnesses,
by women and men
who testified
that it really happened.
Even the early opponents
of Christianity
admitted that the tomb
was empty.
Nobody claimed
that Jesus' body
was still there.
That would have been
the easiest way
to disprove it.
You could go on and on.
But the more you look
into it,
the historical evidence
is strong,
pointing to the reality
of Jesus' resurrection.
And because Jesus
lives forever,
we can be confident
that he is able
to save us
forever,
unlike anyone else.
So God has guaranteed it.
Jesus lives forever.
And third,
the third reason
that we see
that Jesus is able
to save
is that he is
our exalted brother.
This is verse 26
through 28.
Jesus wasn't only
raised from the dead
to live on earth,
he was exalted
to the right hand
of God
in heaven,
the position
of ultimate authority
over everything
in the universe.
Verse 26 and 28
describes Jesus
as fully identified
with God
in his moral perfection,
holy,
innocent,
unstained,
separated from sinners,
the son who has been
made perfect
forever.
And yet,
verse 27 says
he is fully identified
with us
as our brother,
that he offered himself
up as a sacrifice
on behalf of sinful people
once for all.
You see,
Jesus is perfectly qualified
to stand before
a holy God
because he is morally pure
and without blemish,
unlike anyone else.
And he is perfectly qualified,
unlike the angels
or other heavenly beings,
he is perfectly qualified
to represent us
because he took on
our human nature.
And on the cross,
he paid the price
to cover us
completely and forever,
to pay the debt
that we owed
for our sin.
And when Jesus
ascended back into heaven,
you know,
he didn't just
leave his human nature
behind on earth.
He carried it with him
into the very presence
of God.
And so Jesus stands today
in the very presence
of God,
not only as the eternal
Son of God,
but also as
our brother,
our fellow human being.
And him standing
in God's presence
is a sign
that he is perfectly
and powerfully
able to save us
with whom he identified
and bring us
with him
into God's presence
forever.
Jesus is able
to save us
completely
and forever.
Well, finally,
this passage describes
how Jesus continually
carries out
his work
of covering us,
of saving us.
Verse 25 says,
he always lives
to make intercession
for us.
Now, to intercede
for someone
means to approach
an authority figure
with an appeal
or a request
on behalf
of someone else.
So what this verse
is saying is that
Jesus,
our exalted brother,
our ever-living Savior
and Lord,
is continually
approaching God the Father
with requests
and appeals
on our behalf.
Now, you might wonder,
what does that look like?
Well, you know,
we can actually get a clue
of what that looks like,
even though we can't
look into heaven
directly
and hear what Jesus
is saying to God the Father.
But when you read
in the Gospels,
there's some
records of the prayers
of Jesus
that he prayed
for his disciples.
So Luke 22,
31 and 32,
Jesus says to Peter,
he says,
Simon,
behold,
Satan demanded
to have you.
Satan was out
to get you.
He wanted to sift you
like wheat.
But I have prayed
for you
that your faith
may not fail.
And when you have
turned back,
strengthen your brothers.
Jesus prays for us
that our faith
in him
might not fail.
because it's not
something that we
can sustain on our own.
He prays to God
the Father
that our faith
would not fail.
And when we do
stumble
and fall
as Peter did
when he denied Jesus
that very night,
Jesus continues
to intercede
for us
that we might
not only turn
back to him,
but then strengthen
our brothers
and sisters.
John 17,
15,
Jesus prayed
for his disciples.
He said,
I do not ask
that you take them
out of the world,
but that you keep them
from the evil one.
Sanctify them
in the truth.
Your word
is truth.
Jesus does not
promise
to shield us
from the harsh realities
of life
in this world.
Jesus does not pray
that nothing bad
would ever happen
to us.
But he does pray
that in all the things
that happen to us
that we would be kept
from the evil one.
That even through
our greatest trials
and our hardest temptations
that we would be set apart
for holy service
to God.
That's what sanctify
means.
To be set apart
for a holy purpose
by the truth
of his word.
Perhaps the most famous
prayer of Jesus
is what we now call
the Lord's Prayer
in Luke 11.
And actually,
the context of that
is Jesus was praying.
And back then,
most people
prayed out loud
a little more
than we do today.
If you think
if you find somebody
praying,
you might expect
that they're praying
quietly.
But it's probably
Jesus was praying
out loud.
His disciples heard him
and they said to him,
Lord, teach us to pray.
And then he taught them
based on what he was praying.
And then the second half
of the Lord's Prayer,
he makes three requests
on our behalf.
He says,
give us each day
our daily bread.
He's praying for what
that we would be provided
with what we need
on a day-to-day basis.
Second, he says,
forgive us our sins.
Now clearly,
Jesus isn't praying
for himself there.
Right?
But even when he's
on earth,
Jesus is already
praying to God the Father
that our sins
would be forgiven.
And third,
lead us not
into temptation.
Even while Jesus
was on earth,
he was already
praying for his disciples
before the Father.
And how much more
since he is in heaven,
since he has completed
the work of the cross,
which paid the price
for our forgiveness
and for everything else
that we need.
So in summary,
what does Jesus pray for?
Well, Peter O'Brien,
a commentator on Hebrews,
summarizes it this way.
He says,
Jesus prays for anything
and everything
that might prevent us
from receiving
the final salvation
that he has won for us
at the cross.
In other words,
through Jesus dying
on the cross
once for all,
he has accomplished
our redemption.
And through his
continual intercession
on our behalf,
he applies to us
all the benefits
that he has won
and paid for
in his death
and resurrection.
You see,
Jesus has not only
saved us by dying
on the cross
in the past,
he continues to save us
by interceding
for us in the present.
And one day,
Hebrews 9, 28,
says he will appear
a second time
to save those
who are eagerly
waiting for him.
In other words,
he has saved us
by his death
on the cross
in the past,
he continues to save us
in the present
and he will one day
bring us to glory
and complete that.
That's what the
Romans 8 passage
that Kyle read
earlier this morning
is all about.
Called,
justified,
sanctified,
glorified.
He doesn't miss anything.
He carries us
all the way through.
So if you approach God
through Jesus,
Jesus says,
I've got you covered
completely and forever.
I've forgiven you
of your past.
I'm upholding you
in the present
and I hold your future
in my hands.
That's what it means
that he makes intercession
for us.
Finally,
if you know
that you're covered
by Jesus,
let me end with
three brief applications.
Number one,
if you know
that you're covered
by Jesus,
we can honestly
deal with
and face
our spiritual
sicknesses,
our besetting sins.
We don't need
to live in denial
or fear
that our problems
will be too great
to handle
or too much
for us
to pay for.
We can examine
our own hearts.
We can even receive
critical feedback
from others
without becoming
angry and defensive
because we have
a remedy
that is available
to us.
We have free access
to our great physician
who is already seen
into the depth
of our sin-sick heart
and paid the price
to bring us
the healing
and forgiveness
that we need
so we can face
our spiritual sicknesses,
our sin.
Second,
we can go forth
confidently
into the mission
to which God
has called us.
When Jesus prayed
for all who had come
to believe in him,
you know,
surprisingly,
perhaps,
he didn't only pray
about our problems.
Sometimes our problems
themselves can seem
totally overwhelming
and especially
when we see them
in the light
of God's presence
but Jesus not only
prayed about our problems,
he prayed about our mission.
He prayed for his disciples
that we might be one,
that they may all be one,
just as you, Father,
are in me
and I in you,
that they may also be in us
so that the world
may believe
that you have sent me.
So for those of you
who are involved
in,
for one example,
for those of you
who are involved
in the church plan
in New London,
Jesus is interceding
for you
that you may be united
with one another,
that you may enjoy
rich fellowship
with Jesus and the Father
and that you may declare
the unsearchable riches
of Jesus
to New London
and that people
in that part of the world
would come to believe
and love Jesus
as a result.
And you know what?
That's already happening
because Jesus has already
been interceding
on your behalf.
And so go forward
and continue in your mission
prayerfully and humbly
but also boldly.
For those of us
who are here in New Haven
and if you're not planning
to move to New London,
the same thing applies
to the mission
that God has given us
here in New Haven.
He has brought us together
as one body in Christ
and Jesus is constantly
interceding for us
that we might be
united to declare
to the world
how awesome He is
and that others
might come to believe
in Him.
So go forward
in the mission
that God has given you
with confidence.
Third,
finally,
in all the trials
and temptations
that we face,
be encouraged.
because even
if you don't know
what to pray
or how to pray
or if you feel like
your prayer life
is weak,
you have someone
who is praying
for you.
You have Jesus
who is praying
for you.
Louis Burkhoff
wrote this.
He said,
that it is a comforting
thought
that Christ
is praying for us,
that He is presenting
to the Father
those spiritual needs
which were not present
to our minds,
which we often neglect
to include in our prayers,
and that He prays
for our protection
against the dangers
of which we are not
even conscious
and against the enemies
which threaten us
though we do not notice it.
He is praying
that our faith
may not fail
and that we may come out
victoriously
in the end.
So be encouraged.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
we thank You
this morning
that You are able
to save us.
And we thank You
that You are
continually carrying out
that work
by interceding for us
at the right hand
of God the Father.
That we may know
that You may apply
to us all
of the benefits
that You purchased
for us
in Your death
on the cross.
Lord,
this morning
we join together
in the prayer
that You taught us
to pray
that reminds us
of how You are
praying for us.
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
Forgive us
our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
Lead us not
into temptation,
but deliver us
from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom
and the power
and the glory
forever.
Amen.
As the music team
comes forward,
we're going to
join together
in one last song
that speaks of Christ
as interceding
for us
before the throne
of God above.