Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
My name is Matthew Gapone, and I'm the pastor here,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here,
and we're glad that you're here
not because we are trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community,
and as we follow Jesus together,
we become convinced that there's no one so good
that they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it,
and that's why we come back.
We come back week after week to look at God's word
because we believe that he has something to say to everyone.
If you've been with us,
you know we're in the book of 1 Peter,
and as I've been telling you, 1 Peter is a letter,
and it's a letter written by a man named Peter,
and he writes this letter to Christians
in the first century A.D.,
and these Christians are living
in what is now modern-day Turkey,
then would have been referred to as Asia Minor.
He writes to them around the 60s A.D.,
and he writes to them to both encourage them
and instruct them.
These Christians are going through a time
where they are experiencing opposition
from the world because of their faith in Christ,
and they're, of course,
because of that feeling out of place in the world.
So Peter writes, as I've been telling you,
to instruct them and to encourage them.
He writes to encourage them that Jesus is worth it.
He's worth living for and loving for,
and he's also worth suffering and dying for.
By the way, we're getting to the part of the book
where we're going to talk more and more
about the fact that Jesus is worth suffering for.
And he also writes to instruct them
how to live as Christians in that kind of world.
If you were with us last week,
you remember that we talked about
what it means to be close to God,
and we asked this question of
how do we not just bring honor to God,
but be close to him.
We're in this longer section of Peter
where we've had two principles, essentially,
that were introduced in chapter two.
The principles were, one, speak well about God,
proclaim his excellencies, our words,
and then also our actions.
We're acting in such a way
that other people would see how good God is,
both words and actions.
And I told you at one point about a quote
from a man named John Stott,
who said that our words without our actions
lack credibility,
and our actions without our words lack intelligibility.
And that's the principle that we've had
all through chapter two of 1 Peter.
And now we're moving beyond
just the question of how we're close to God,
but also a transition here in our book.
We're gonna be looking more and more
at the issue of suffering.
There's a real quick outline of 1 Peter,
and it goes like this.
1 Peter 1 and 2, we talk about God's salvation.
That's a lot of the encouragement
that Peter's giving to his audience.
1 Peter 2 and 3,
there was a lot of talk of submission,
submission to the government.
Submission to Authorities.
And now we're heading into the final section,
three through five,
which is gonna be about suffering.
And so I'll warn you just a little bit
that these sections are gonna be slightly heavier
than ones that have come before
because of the topic matter.
We talk about suffering as a Christian.
It's not a light thing to discuss.
We're gonna ask this question
as we come to this passage.
We're in 1 Peter 3,
starting at verse 13,
and it's this.
What do we do when we're afraid?
And not just fear in general,
but specifically fear of what we have to lose
for following Jesus.
What do we do when we're afraid?
We're gonna lose something
because we follow Jesus.
It's that question that Peter has in mind,
and so we're gonna turn now.
You can read with me along in your worship guide.
Our passage is near the end.
You can open it on your phone or your Bible,
but we are in chapter three,
starting at verse 13.
And remember as we come to this,
that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word
is more precious than gold,
even the finest gold.
And it's sweeter than honey,
even honey that comes straight from a honeycomb.
And that's why we read it together now.
Now, who is there to harm you
if you are zealous for what is good?
But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake,
you will be blessed.
Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.
But in your hearts,
honor Christ the Lord as holy,
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone
who asks you for a reason
for the hope that is in you.
Yet do it with gentleness and respect,
having a good conscience,
so that when you are slandered,
those who revile your good behavior in Christ
may be put to shame.
Verse 17.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that should be God's will,
than for doing evil.
I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven,
we come as we often do,
simply asking for your help.
We know living in this world as Christians
is something of great joy,
and also something that brings great hardship.
And so we confess that we need you to help us with that.
And so we simply ask that you would send your help
by your spirit,
and you'd speak to us through your word.
That you would open our eyes and unstop our ears
and clear our minds,
and that you'd soften our hearts.
That we'd be able to see and hear
and know and understand and believe
everything that you've written in your word.
And we ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Peter begins here in verse 13
with a rhetorical question.
Of course, if you're an English major,
you know the rhetorical question
is something that they're not actually
looking for an answer for.
They're simply asking it to make a point.
And the question is this,
who is there to harm you
if you are zealous for what is good?
The answer, of course, is what?
No one.
No one should be interested in harming you
if you're zealous for what is good.
Now we could preach an entire sermon
about the importance of being zealous
for what is good.
Peter asks us this to make a point.
In general, most of what he's been instructing them
in chapters two and three
is to be zealous for what is good.
Part of the reason for that
is to protect them from unnecessary suffering.
But after making that point,
he has a sub-point.
In general, as a principle in this world,
if you do good, you will probably suffer less.
However, there are some times
when that's not true.
And it's that sometimes
that Peter is going to instruct these folks about.
And you'll recall when we talked about suffering,
earlier in 1 Peter,
I told you that there are three categories for suffering.
And these are very important for Christians
to keep clear in their minds.
Now I'm going to give them numbers.
Whatever order you give to them
is not necessarily important.
But suffering, number one,
suffering because you're stupid
or what the Bible would call foolishness.
If you end up getting a DUI
and you end up in jail
and that costs you $10,000,
that is a form of suffering.
And it's a form of suffering
because of foolishness.
Type of suffering, number two,
you could suffer
because the general presence of sin in the world.
So type one, your personal sin.
Type two, the general presence of sin in the world.
You come down with an illness.
It's from no fault of your own,
but you live in a broken world.
That is a kind of suffering.
You're not personally responsible for that illness,
but it's suffering that comes
from living in a broken world
that's filled with sin.
Suffering, type three,
what I've called before,
suffering for the name of Jesus Christ,
where in this passage is suffering
for righteousness' sake
is the third and final type of suffering.
And that's the kind of suffering
that Peter is writing about.
He's not writing about type one suffering.
Clearly, he's trying to have them avoid that, right?
If you're zealous for what's good,
you'll avoid type one suffering.
You will not have to experience
the consequences of foolishness.
But instead, he's hitting suffering type three.
There are times when,
even if you do good,
you're going to suffer.
So we're doing a little math here today.
Three kinds of suffering,
and there's going to be two kinds of doing good.
There's doing good
that leads the world to praise you,
and there's doing good
that leads the world to persecute you.
There's doing good
that leads the world to praise you,
and doing good
that leads the world to persecute you.
We see this in verses 13 and 17.
Excuse me, verse 14 and 17.
Verse 14, he acknowledges
there's an exception to the rule.
Generally, if you're zealous for what's good,
you'll avoid suffering,
except there might be a time
you suffer for righteousness' sake.
And then in verse 17,
it is better to suffer for doing good.
Okay, there's a type of doing good
that leads to suffering
than for doing evil.
Three types of suffering.
Two types of doing good.
Doing good that will lead to others' praise, right?
If we as a church decided
we were going to be very specific in our mission,
and we, after a time of prayer and discernment,
decided that God was calling us
to start a soup kitchen
in southwest Colorado Springs,
we would almost certainly face
no opposition from the world.
We would be zealous for what is good,
and people would potentially praise us for that, right?
There's types of doing good
that God calls us to
as it's going to lead other people
to applaud us.
However, there's also good
that the world condemns.
There's good things that Christians do
that God has called us to
that will lead to suffering
for righteousness' sake.
Perhaps,
and these are less serious and more serious,
on the less serious side,
perhaps there's family members
who don't follow after Jesus Christ,
and they don't understand
some of your parenting choices.
And so they criticize you.
And they don't just criticize you,
they criticize you openly
to other members of the family.
That is a type of suffering
for righteousness' sake.
Maybe you're excluded socially
because you have to excuse yourself
from certain events.
You can't participate fully
because there are things
that are happening at those events
that you can't be a part of.
And this is true for some people.
Maybe you're single,
and as someone who is single,
you've decided you're going to live
with sexual integrity.
You're going to remain celibate
until you're married.
And in certain parts of this culture,
you'll be mocked for that.
People will tell you
that you are an idiot.
Maybe you're a prude.
Maybe you're stuck up.
That is a type of suffering
for righteousness' sake.
Maybe you're mocked
by someone else for that.
All Christians experience
some level of suffering
for righteousness.
And then there's more serious.
You could lose your job.
You could lose educational opportunities.
That's less true in this country,
but remember we talked about examples
last week under communism.
This was very common.
Christians would lose their jobs.
They'd be prevented
from educational opportunities.
Sometimes they wouldn't lose their jobs,
but they'd have their pay frozen.
That was common under communism.
You'd be working the same job
as someone else,
but you were a Christian.
Magically, your paycheck
was much smaller.
This is one of the ways
that the Communist Party
would coerce Christians
to try to have loyalty
to the party,
is using their paycheck
as bargaining chips.
Maybe you lose your business.
This is something that people
are facing in the U.S. right now,
because you refuse to participate
in certain things
that go against your conscience.
And then finally,
worst of all,
perhaps you go to prison
or the most extreme,
you face death.
There is real suffering
for the name of Jesus Christ.
There is real suffering
for righteousness' sake.
And at risk of stating the obvious,
if you choose to be a Christian
and follow Jesus Christ,
you will suffer for that decision
at some level.
God has a wonderful plan
for your life,
and it involves suffering
for the name of His Son.
That is part of God's wonderful plan.
And so that continues
to take us back to our question,
how do we respond
when we face suffering
for righteousness?
What do we do
when we're afraid?
And that's what Peter addresses here
in verse 14.
First of all,
he tells them,
if they suffer,
they'll be blessed.
And then he tells them,
have no fear of them,
nor be troubled.
Of course,
he's acknowledging
what would be normal, right?
Facing these things,
of course,
of course it would make you afraid.
Peter understands that.
God knows that.
God's not unaware.
He knows that we are just dust.
And so that's the natural response
as we face these things.
It's a natural response of fear.
And so he gives us
not just a command
to do away with fear.
Simply a command
would be moralism, right?
Just do this.
But we have to have something
that's able to expel that fear,
something that's even greater.
And so he gives them the solution.
Instead of fearing
or being troubled,
choose the opposite.
In your hearts,
honor Christ the Lord
as holy.
Don't fear man.
Fear God.
Now, he doesn't use the phrase here,
fear God,
but if you were paying attention
earlier in the service,
you know we read
from Isaiah chapter 8.
This passage quotes
that section
from Isaiah chapter 8.
In Isaiah chapter 8,
God is telling Isaiah,
don't be afraid.
Don't fear man.
Instead, fear me.
And this is in a very serious situation
because Isaiah is facing
hostile forces
that are coming in
to Israel.
It would be very tempting
for him to remain silent
and give in to that fear.
And God tells him,
in that situation,
don't be afraid
of men.
Instead, fear me.
The same thing
is true here.
Replace the fear of men
with a fear of God.
Be more afraid
of God's judgment
than man's judgment.
Be more eager
for God's approval
than for man's approval.
Replace one with the other.
It's not just
that you do away with fear,
but you have a new kind of fear.
You have a replacement.
You have something better
to honor Christ the Lord
as holy.
It's not just remembering
the fear of God,
but also remembering his power.
That's a lot of what we're going
to talk about next week.
Peter follows up this section
with another section
talking about how powerful
Jesus is.
Caesar is not the ultimate Lord.
Jesus is.
And so remember,
not just our fear of God,
but the authority
and the power of God
is greater than the authority
and power of men.
God's judgment
is greater than man's judgment.
God's power
and God's authority
is greater than man's power
and man's authority.
Give you a little preview
for next week.
At the very end
of next week's passage,
Peter tells them
in verse 22
that Jesus has gone
into heaven
and is at the right hand
of God
with angels,
authorities,
and powers
having been subjected
to him.
In other words,
Jesus' death
and resurrection
is certainly for our sins
and it demonstrates
God's power in that.
It also demonstrates
God's power in the world
over death and evil.
And so these people
afraid of what's around them
can look
both to the fear of God
and to God's power
as their hope.
Instead of being troubled
or afraid
in their hearts,
they honor Christ the Lord
as holy.
Last fall,
when we were going
through 1 Peter
in an earlier section,
I mentioned the book
Evangelism as Exiles
by a man named Elliot Clark
and in that book
he tells the story.
He was a missionary
in Central Asia.
So this is recent.
That book came out last year.
This is a story
from probably the last decade.
And he attended this church
and there was a pastor there
and the man's name
was Yusuf.
And Yusuf at one point
showed him a Bible
that he had
that had a bullet hole in it
just to demonstrate
kind of the suffering
that he was going through.
At one point,
people came to Yusuf's house
and they roughed him up
a little bit
because he was a pastor.
And finally,
Easter Sunday came
and this man was preparing
his preaching
and as he was preaching
on Easter Sunday,
there were some visitors
who came in.
Now, as Clark describes
in his book,
visitors
in that context
means something different
than visitors means for us.
In the American church,
we think visitors are wonderful.
We're glad they're here.
We welcome you.
In other parts of the world,
there's a lot of questions.
Who are these visitors?
Are they here
as government informants?
Are they terrorists?
Are they seeking
to do us harm?
And so he describes
that in this church,
there is a palpable sense
of fear and dread.
The kind of fear
that Peter is telling
these people about.
And the pastor doesn't notice
anything about these visitors
until he gets up to preach
and they watch him.
As he gets up,
he recognizes the visitors
in the room
and they can suddenly see
that he is filled
with fear as well.
He waits for an uncomfortably
long amount of time
and then begins his sermon.
And as he begins his sermon,
he chooses not the fear of man,
but the fear of God.
This man is trembling
in his voice
and as he trembles
in his voice,
he's very clear
about the reality
of the gospel,
that God's come
to save us from our sins,
that judgment is a real thing
and that he calls everyone
to repentance
and faith and belief.
Elliot says this,
Yusuf, that's the pastor,
had taken the inventory
of the fear in the room
and he decided
to stock the shelves
with an even greater fear,
the coming judgment of God.
His spirit-filled boldness
was amazing.
It's natural and normal
for us to be afraid.
But God gives his people
an even greater power
and an even greater fear.
Elliot goes on
to share this,
Yes, Christians in America
are increasingly isolated
and denigrated.
Yes, our cultural
and social capital
is vanishing before our eyes.
Yes, in the span
of one short week,
the Supreme Court
could easily rewrite
our futures
and remove many freedoms.
Yes, public school curricula
are being weaponized
to indoctrinate children
in secular dogma
and a new sexual ethic.
It doesn't even take
much imagination
to envision
how well-intentioned laws
could one day be used
to justify
the imprisonment
of Christians.
And it doesn't end there.
On a personal level,
we have plenty more room
for fear.
By standing up for Christ,
we run the risk
of forfeiting promotions
or positions,
of missing out
on a tenure
or a contract.
We might even
lose our families.
But this shouldn't
surprise us.
Jesus said
he didn't come
to bring peace.
But a sword.
We have much to lose.
Yet none of that
justifies Christians
being terrified.
We must not,
according to Peter,
tremble in fear
at the thought
of surrendering
a job or business
at a failed
school board initiative
or a particular
Supreme Court decision.
Because if we do,
we're preaching
the completely wrong
gospel to the world.
We're telling them
our greatest fear
is the loss
of money
and power
and influence.
the loss
of our beloved
comfort.
But as long
as that is the case,
we show that
our fear
and our gospel
is no different
from theirs.
Peter encourages
these people
as they are tempted
to fear.
Not to fear man,
but to fear God.
because he is the one
who is powerful.
And he is the one
that has
all authority
under his feet.
Peter then shares
with us
in a sense
a test
of our fear.
If you want there
to be points
in this sermon,
point one would be fear.
Point two would be
something like sharing.
Now verse 15
here has been
often isolated
by itself as a verse,
but it would be foolish
to take it out
of the context here.
Peter tells people
to have a reason
for their faith,
a defense for their faith
in the context
of talking about fear
of suffering
for Jesus Christ.
Verse 14
or verse 15,
it says,
always be prepared
to anyone
who asks you
for a reason
for the hope
that is within you.
In other words,
the temptation
to fear
and the temptation
to be silent
are combined.
How do we know
that we're not afraid?
How do we know
that we have taken
God's command seriously?
Well, we have it
with the example
from Yusuf,
we're not afraid
to speak.
And so there's
two things going on.
On the one hand,
there's this connection
between a lack of fear
and a willingness
to speak about
and for Jesus Christ.
And there's also
a reason that they need
to speak about Jesus Christ.
They're actually
not taking the initiative
in this verse.
They're always being prepared
to make a defense
for this hope,
not in general,
but specifically
to anyone
who asks you
for a reason for it.
In other words,
if you're living
in a 1 Peter 2
and 3 sort of way,
it should cause you
to look different
from the world.
And that difference
from the world
inevitably will cause
other people
to ask you
why that difference exists.
Not just that you're
living in a different way,
but also this lack of fear.
As you live in the world
living differently
and it's clear
that you're not afraid
of the threats
that other people
are afraid of,
when it's clear
that you can't be
intimidated
by the loss
of employment
in the way
that someone else
might be,
there is something
different that may
cause other people
to ask you
for the reason
of the hope
that's within you.
In other words,
be prepared
to explain to people
why it is
that you're different
and be prepared
to explain
that it's because
of your hope.
It's a hope
that as we discussed
before in 1 Peter 1-2,
God is coming back
to make everything
right in this world.
He is the most
powerful one.
And so if
we want to know
whether we reverence
God as holy,
we know
if we're willing
to speak about him
when it's risky.
That's the test.
That's our test
of whether we have
truly been able
to replace
the fear of man
with the fear of God.
A lack of fear
means a willingness
to speak about God.
And then he goes
on to tell us
if people are going
to be offended,
verse 16,
the only thing
that should be
offensive to them
is the content
of your message.
If you tell them
that our sins
are so great
that they require
God's judgment
and our only hope
is to accept
the sacrifice
of his son,
that alone
will be offensive.
There should be
nothing else
that's offensive
to them.
Not our tone,
not our manner.
And this good conscience
here,
part of what it's
getting at
is that
our lifestyle
should also
back up
what we say.
They shouldn't
be able to say,
well,
these Christians
say they have hope,
but clearly
they act differently.
Instead,
there's an integrity,
there's a continuity
between our lives
and what we say.
And so really,
Peter's just taking
the principles
from earlier
in the letter
and he's applying
them to a new situation.
We're living at peace
with those around us
as much as possible.
We're showing grace
and kindness
to others
as much as possible
and that extends
to our witness.
Of course,
we saw that
in the story
about Pastor Yusuf
that he talked
even when he was afraid.
We also see it
in the story
of Corrie Ten Boom.
If you're familiar
with her story,
she lived during
the 20th century
and she was someone
who risked her life
in Holland
to protect Jews
from the Holocaust.
Eventually,
she was caught for that
and she herself
was sent to
the very same
camps in Germany
that she was trying
to rescue people from.
And in her book,
The Hiding Place,
she tells the story
of her interactions
with one of the guards,
a man named
Lieutenant Roms.
And as she interacts
with this man,
his job is to interrogate her.
And so he interrogates her
as much as he can.
She's already prepared
for this for years,
so she's able to evade
a lot of his tactics.
But near the end,
she begins to speak to him
about the ways
that she has worked
with people
who face handicaps.
And this man,
having been indoctrinated
in Nazi doctrine,
immediately tells her,
well, that's kind of
a worthless thing
for you to do, right?
It would be much better
for you to convert
one person
who has no handicaps
than thousands
of people who do.
Coming at her
with the Nazi worldview,
right?
That there are some people
who are worth
more than others.
And so Corrie Ten Boom
begins to share,
and she's in this camp,
right?
She could face
incredible suffering for it.
She begins to share
her belief
in something different.
She says,
the truth, sir,
is that God's viewpoint
is something different
from ours.
So different
that we could not
even guess it
unless he had given us
a book
which tells us
such things.
She's telling us
to a Nazi guard
in a prison camp,
in an determined camp.
In the Bible,
I learned that God
values us not for our strength
or our brains,
but simply because
he has made us.
Who knows?
In his eyes,
someone who faces handicaps
may be worth more
than a watchmaker.
That was her profession.
Or a lieutenant.
That was his profession.
After taking this risk,
not knowing what's going to happen,
he ends up coming back to her,
and he comes up
and asks her
for the hope
that's within her.
The next day,
he says,
I could not sleep last night
thinking about that book
where you have read
such different ideas.
What else does it say in there?
Corey tells him,
it says that a light
has come into this world
so that we need
no longer walk in the dark.
Is there darkness
in your life,
lieutenant?
There is great darkness,
he said at last.
I cannot bear
the work I do here.
She goes on to share
the gospel with him,
and it's unclear
what happens.
We don't know
if Lieutenant Rahm's
ever had faith in Christ,
but it's clear
that he was someone
who was asking her
about the hope
that was within her.
In fact,
so explicitly so
that he had one major objection
to Christianity,
which is that he could not
understand how the people
in this camp,
like Corey,
still had faith in God
even though they were suffering.
Corey was not characterized
by fear,
and that was something
that caused someone else
to ask her questions
about her faith.
Even in a risky situation,
it would have been easier
for her not to share
about the book,
but instead,
what was most important
to her was that this man
would know
about the truth
of the gospel
and that as he lived
in his darkness,
there was the opportunity
for light.
I also share that story
with you
because
Corrie ten Boom
was a very simple woman.
She's described by some
as childlike.
It's tempting
to take verses
like 1 Peter 3.15
and believe
that there is
some heavy weight
on us
that we must
be people
who know
multiple
and various
complicated
philosophical defenses
of the Christian faith,
and that is a good thing,
right?
We need people
who know those things.
We also need
normal,
everyday Christians
who are willing
to share
the basic truth
about their faith
in Jesus.
The requirement
here in 1 Peter 3
is not
that we be
the smartest person
in the room.
The requirement
is that we fear
God more than man.
The requirement
is not
that we be
the smartest person
in the room.
It is that we fear
God more than man,
and because of that,
we are willing
to share the basics
of our hope
in Christ.
There is nothing
complicated
that Corrie Ten Boom
shared with this man.
She shared with him
the basics
that God values
all people equally,
challenging his worldview.
And then she shared
the basics
that this is a world
of darkness,
but God sent his son
into the world
to give us light.
And so Corrie
was able to share
the reason
for the hope
that was within her.
She wasn't
a seminary professor.
She wasn't
studying flashcards.
She was just
someone who
followed after Jesus
and was willing
to be bold enough
to share it
with someone else.
And so for us,
the hope is that
as we live our lives,
people would come
and also ask us
for the hope
that is within us.
As we see,
people see that
our family is a mess
and we are struggling,
and they ask us
how we keep going,
we can share with them
our hope in Jesus.
When our family
is going really well
and they notice
something is different
about our children,
we can share with them
that our hope
is in Jesus.
When you have
an incredible work ethic
and they ask you
about that,
you can share with them
that your hope
is in Jesus.
You can give them
a reason for the hope
that is within you.
You could pull
a Corrie ten Boom.
They could share
a situation with you
and you could give them
some biblical teaching.
Maybe they'd share with you
that they're struggling
with unemployment.
You could share with them
that makes sense.
I can understand
how that would be
so challenging for you.
And part of the reason
I know that that's challenging
is because God made
the heavens and the earth.
And when he made
the heavens and the earth,
he also instituted work.
And you as a human being
made in his image
were made to work.
Sharing our hope
is not something
that's complicated.
It's just something
that's hard.
It's not something
that's complicated.
It's just something
that is hard.
And yet we have
the hope
that God gives us.
What empowers us
to live in this way
is the hope
that we give
is the hope
that we're holding.
We're telling people
about a hope
that we have.
That's the hope
that empowers us
and it's the hope
that Jesus is enough.
That he's worth
living and loving for.
He's worth suffering
and dying for
because he suffered
for us.
Tells us in the end
of this passage
that it's better
to suffer for doing good
than for doing evil.
And who suffered
more than Jesus?
And who did more good
than Jesus?
He is our hope
and he's the reason
we share our hope
because he's the one
who suffered
and died for our sins
for anyone
and everyone
who's willing to repent
and have faith in him.
And so what do we do
when we're afraid?
What do we do
when we have a lot
to lose
for following
after Jesus?
First,
we let the fear
of God
replace the fear
of man.
And second,
we hold out
the hope
that allows us
to do it
to anyone
who asks.
And we have
that hope
because of Jesus
and what he has done
for us.
And so we can continue
living and loving
for Jesus
and suffering
and dying
for him as well
because he
is worth it.
Please pray with me.
Dear Father in heaven,
we thank you
that you sustain us
in our suffering.
And we thank you
that you've given us
a greater fear
and a greater hope.
We ask that you
would work that
deep into our hearts
that we would
be able to persevere
not out of a sense
of duty
or moralism,
but we persevere
because we know
the truth about you
and your love for us.
And we ask that you
give us boldness
to share the truth
about you
because we love you
and we fear you
more than anything else.
And we ask all these things
not because we have
earned them
or deserve them,
but because Jesus
has earned them for us
and so we ask them
in his name.
Amen.
I invite you to stand.