I'm going to ask that you turn in your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 5.
! Ephesians chapter 5, as we study together the passage that we have set before us by prayer
! And in our deliberate work through the book of Ephesians, I want to begin, if I may, in Ephesians
chapter 5, verse 1, to kind of set the frame in which our study this morning is going to
find itself. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ
loved us and gave Himself for us, a fragrant offing and a sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and
all impurity of covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints.
Let there be no foolishness, or no filthiness, no foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of
place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is
sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God
comes on the sons of disobedience, therefore, do not be partakers with them. For at one time you were
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found
in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
I want you to join me in prayer as we come to Him and ask for His help in both the preaching of the
Word of God and then its attention in the lives of God's people. Our Father God, this morning,
we are aware of the value and the power and the significance of Your Word. We are dependent upon
the Spirit that You have given to every believer. And our request this morning is not a matter of
habit, but a recognition of Your sufficiency and our frailty and a thankfulness that You answer prayer
as You do. We understand that it is Your intention that the Word be preached with clarity and the force
of the Spirit of the Spirit of God. And that people who have been called by Your name and given the high
and holy purpose of being examples of the Lord of glory would have their hearts molded and informed by
the Word and leave here with a passion to be effective in a dark and hopeless state. We thank You for the Lord
Jesus Christ. We thank You for what He has done in our lives and for the divine appointment that He has
given to us of being the light of the world. And so help us as we hear the Word of God to be affected
by it this morning and to grow in grace. And we ask this because of You. Amen.
Now, if you were to take the book of Ephesians and break it down into a very, very terse or short
summary, you would say that the first part of the book of Ephesians is about God's work of saving us.
And we recognize one of the songs that we sang this morning talked about the fact that God was the one
who did this in us. And if you're sitting here this morning and you know the Lord Jesus Christ,
you would say that you, when you look back across the path, you recognize He was the one who has drawn
you to the cross and brought you to the place of conviction and burden and recognition of your need.
And you, in faith, cried out and said, I believe that I'm a sinner and I need Christ. And He saved you.
The second part of the book of Ephesians really deals with the character or the behavior of the believer.
So He saves us. What is the result or the outcome of that salvation in practical daily living?
And as you look back for just a moment to Ephesians chapter 4, you remember the apostle says this,
Listen, I, a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called.
We have a walk or a life to live in front of the world that we've been placed before.
And I would like to believe that the Christian life is really kind of broken down into two very, very simple pieces.
One would be the idea that by grace you come to salvation and then here's the happy part that's not true.
And that after you're saved, it's all over and you're just kind of drifting on towards heaven.
How many of you realize that after salvation and God does a miraculous work in saving us,
nevertheless, there is the ongoing process of Him forming our life to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a process of progressive sanctification.
And as you read in the scriptures over and over again, you get very clear indications that this is not a once and done issue.
It's something that takes place over time and He continues to work in us.
That's one of the reasons why there in chapter 4 it says,
Walk worthy of the calling to which you've been called.
And then in chapter 5 he says, Listen, be an imitator of God.
In other words, act like your father.
And he, after having made that general statement, he comes down and says, Listen,
And you who are the children of God have no business being involved in immorality.
It is so unbecoming of a child of God to say in one hand,
Hey, listen, I know Jesus and He is my Savior and He has blessed me with salvation and He's changed me.
And then to go ahead and live like the rest of the unbelieving world who don't know any better.
Those who are the children of God have every reason to be different because our life has been changed from the inside out.
That being true, we also recognize that the process of growing in grace and growing to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ takes place over time.
And we find repeated reminders that we have responsibility in relationship to this.
And we have choices we have to make in regards to that.
And so I want us to think this morning about what this passage deals with, namely choosing between darkness and light.
Look at the passage there in verse 7.
It says,
And when Paul wrote this, he wrote it to people who were in a very wicked city.
He wrote it to people who were caught up in the culture just the way we are.
And he was writing to them saying,
Hey, listen, don't let the world draw you into its seductive pattern of living.
And actually by becoming involved with them, you become a partner with what's going on.
And so whether we realize it or not, we who are believers are called to be different than the unbelieving world.
I'm not talking about how we part our hair.
I'm talking about the attitudes that we have and the life that we live.
And I'm curious this morning whether or not your neighbors would say there's something different about you
besides the fact that you're about the only one on the block who leaves on Sunday morning
and goes somewhere for something other than coffee.
I trust that neighbors would say,
You know what?
That is the friendliest guy on the neighborhood.
He is the kindest.
He is the most considerate.
He is the person who is interested in the well-being of other people.
I've got to tell you, later on today, this is a little solicitation in case you're wondering.
Later on today, Caleb, you're going to be moving somebody?
Is that the deal?
You are?
Oh, amazing.
And you have maybe four or five people that are willing to help do this move?
A lot more.
Could you use any others?
There's a nod that means yes.
Okay.
Here's what I'm asking.
Or here's what I'm saying.
Guess what?
The testimony is going to be in this neighborhood when people...
How many of you have seen the way the average neighborhood move goes?
It's a man and his wife who's struggling to carry the other end of the couch, right?
And they make about 37,000 trips on and off and on and off.
And guess what's going to happen this afternoon?
We're going to have an opportunity to demonstrate to an unbelieving world that we're different.
And guess how we're going to do that?
We're going to be involved in moving.
Lots of us are going to be...
It's going to happen so quickly that if you don't show up at the right time, you'll miss it.
What's the right time, Caleb?
Let me try that again.
Charity, what's the right time?
1.30.
I actually said to Eddie, I said, Eddie, text me so I know for sure.
That's me too, that pastor talking about it this morning.
Text me so I know where we're supposed to be for the move.
My point is this, is listen.
The unbelieving world should see a difference in us and the way we go about doing things.
Am I right or wrong?
And that's what Paul is talking about this morning.
He takes it, first of all, in a little negative drift here.
And he says, listen, don't be a partner with the unbelieving world.
And when he says that, he is saying, don't partner with the darkness of this world, with
the mess and the ugliness and the difficulties that you see around you.
Turn back in your Bible just for a moment to a passage in Psalm 1.
Psalm 1, and the psalmist there begins the songbook of the Old Testament with a very,
very pointed reminder of the fact that we who know Christ are really to be substantially
different.
It says, blessed is the man who walks not in the, what?
In the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of
scoffers.
So let me ask you this.
Is it easy to get caught up in the worldview and the philosophy of the unbelieving world that
lives around us?
And the answer is yes.
Yes.
The world's attitude today is that athletics is of supreme importance.
Am I right or wrong?
And the world gets caught up in that.
The world gets caught up in the idea of retirement, and after retirement, guess what we ought to
do?
We ought to spend all our time being what?
Self-focused, self-indulged.
The world is caught up in thinking about themself and that which is of benefit to them.
And we who are called by God to be different are not to be caught up with the world's ideas.
And here the psalmist says, hey, don't be caught up with the world's philosophy.
Well, once we're caught up and we begin listening a little bit, then we begin to stand and talk
a little closer and be a little more involved.
And then finally, as it says there at the end of verse 1, it says, or sit.
We're actually seated there listening and caught up and involved in the unbelieving world's logic.
And as you look at the passage going back to Ephesians, you remind yourself there, it says,
Paul says, do not be a partner with those who in their unregenerate state have a worldview
that is contrary to the Scriptures.
Well, look at what he goes on there and says in that passage.
He says that we are to be different.
And how is that?
Every true believer is to be different because we are different by virtue of our nature and
what God has done in us.
We're different than what we once were.
Now, look at the passage in Mark, what it says.
It says that we were once actually darkness.
We were part of the dark.
And Paul's statement is a reminder of where the Bible stands on the question of what man's
nature really is like.
You know, I think the unbelieving world would like to think that men are basically what?
Pretty good.
And just given a little better environment or a little better education or a little better
opportunity, men would just, of their own nature, just become wonderful, nice, cute people.
And the truth of the matter is that's not the nature of man.
Over in John chapter 3, verse 19, I want you to look at a passage that clarifies what the
unbelieving heart is like in its attitude towards the light.
John chapter 3, verse 19 and 20, Jesus makes a comment about man's heart.
And this is the judgment.
The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because
their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light unless
his work should be exposed.
How does the unbelieving world react when the light is turned on?
They don't respond to it favorably.
They're not interested in hearing what is true.
They object to it.
In fact, they resent that which exposes the darkness of their heart.
And so if you're sitting here this morning and you kind of find yourself bristling at the
description in the book of Ephesians that says that unbelievers live in darkness, I want to remind
you that that is the natural reaction of an unregenerate heart to the exposure to the reality of what their
heart is really like.
But I want you to recognize that Paul goes on and he says something else.
He says, you were darkness, but now, now you are light in the Lord.
And what he's saying is that the believer is light in the Lord.
Now the term light in the Lord may be a little strange to us.
In fact, I was thinking this morning through the week actually, I was thinking of how to
best illustrate it and I really couldn't come up with a good way without being overly dramatic.
So let me just kind of have you imagine for a moment.
How many of you remember the last time that the power went out somewhere in Columbus and you were without power?
Come on.
You've had that happen, right?
What happens at night when the power goes off and you have no electricity in your house?
What do you do?
How many of you go try to find candles?
How many of you grab a lantern or a flashlight or something like that?
Light is pretty critical.
And when Paul was speaking at that time, they didn't have electricity like we have today.
When the sun went down, guess what happened to life in human terms?
It came to a rather pedestrian plod and everything was revolved or revolved around the few lights that were in the home.
I remember growing up in India.
We did not have electricity.
And one of the things that would begin to happen around dusk is we would go through the process of being sure that the kerosene lanterns and the Aladdin lamps were ready for dark.
And guess what that meant?
That meant being sure that the kerosene was in them, that the wicks were ready, that the globes were clean.
And before it got too dark, you had to light them because guess what happened when it got dark?
You didn't have any light.
And we did not have, it's like in America here, how many of you have only one bulb in your living room?
You've got one over here.
You've got one over there.
You've got one at the other place.
Some of them are just there for decoration, right?
Kind of add a little bit of ambiance to the room.
In the good old days growing up, we had one Aladdin in the room.
And when that lamp moved, guess what happened with everybody else in the room?
Like magic, they followed where the lamp went.
Because if you didn't go where the lamp went, guess what you were doing?
You were sitting in a very dark room wondering if anybody was moving furniture around on you
because as soon as you tried to leave the point, you were going to bump into something.
And generally, it was not a happy experience.
Desperately needed the light.
And Paul says, hey, you are light.
You are light.
And he says that we are light in the Lord.
The imagery in the scriptures of being light in the Lord is something that we find a number of different places.
For one, over in John chapter 1, it refers to Jesus as being the light.
Turn back there, if you will, for a moment.
John chapter 1.
It says that the light of the world is Jesus.
In verse 4, it says,
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Beloved, I want you to understand that apart from Christ, we would be living in dark and miserable days.
Judith and I, as we were having prayer and devotions this morning, we were thinking back over our past.
And I remember at a time in my life, actually sitting there, kind of pondering my life,
and just imagining my heart to be an incredibly black little ball.
Judith, at another point in her own life, had a very similar thought.
And both of us, as we were sitting there this morning, we were stopping to think,
what was it like to be at that point where our hearts were darkened and hopeless,
and Christ brought light into our lives through salvation?
Here, John says this.
He says,
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Aren't you glad for that?
You who have received the Lord Jesus Christ, there was a time in your life where you were floundering around
in the absolute misery and despair of sin, in the absolute darkness of the condition you were in,
and the grace of God got a hold of you, and not only brought light, but he made you light.
You're different than you once were.
And we look at this passage, and he says, hey, Jesus is the light.
But then he goes on, and he says, not only is Jesus the light, but we're light.
We're light.
And we see that we are that because of our relationship with Christ.
Our nature has been changed from being dark to being light.
Not because we learned some positive mental attitude to kind of hold on to, or a set of rules that we were to follow,
but really because he changed our nature in salvation.
I want you to look, if you would, just for a moment over to 1 Peter 2, verse 9.
Turn to the passage where the apostle speaks about the matter of conversion.
1 Peter 2, verse 9, he says this,
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Where were you prior to your conversion?
Listen to me.
The believer should never in one sense really get over remembering where he used to be prior to his conversion.
Paul reminds us of this.
Peter reminds us of this.
He says, listen, he called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
And if we do not remain with an appreciation of the darkness that we once were in,
there's probably a lack of affection and passion for the light that we now enjoy.
Well, what does being light really look like?
Turn back, if you would, now.
You're there in 1 Peter, but I want you to go to Matthew chapter 5.
We're going to look at a passage there where Jesus addresses this with his disciples.
Matthew chapter 5, verse 14 through 16.
You are the light of the world.
Is it a question?
Is he asking us to be something exceptional?
Is he speaking just a small category of believers?
Or is he talking to all of us?
What is he talking to?
Who is he talking to?
Every person here who is a believer, who has come to Christ by faith, is by definition a light.
That's what we are.
That's what Jesus says.
You're a light.
And so I want you to keep that in mind as we think a little bit further on what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5.
He says, you are a light.
Then he says, walk as children of light.
In other words, he says, do something with the nature that you have and with the appointment that you've received from him.
Walk as children of light.
Then in verse 9, he says, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.
So having reminded us once again that we are believers and reminding us that we are believers by his power and his grace,
we are given specific responsibility in relationship to what that means.
You're there in Matthew chapter 5, and I want to draw several things from this passage to apply to this issue of walking as children of the light.
I want you to recognize that being a light means being of use to other people, being used for the good of others.
Why did he save me?
Why did he save you?
Why did he die for me?
Why did he lift me up out of the pit?
Was it so that I could live just a comfortable and kind of pain-free life and kind of drift on eventually into the sunset,
everything working perfectly for me?
No.
He saved me for the sake of his glory, and he saved me to help other people see their need.
So I want you to recognize a couple practical facts in relationship to being light.
Number one, if you are light, you're going to get put in dark places.
I want you to think about that.
Listen to me.
We have a tendency of thinking, I don't want to be in those hard places.
Isn't that right?
How many of you like hardship?
Raise your hand.
I like it.
No.
Here's the deal.
If he made you light, he will put you in dark places.
Some of you are dealing with people at work, and they are incredibly insufferable,
and you wish that they would get saved, or at least that they would be extracted from the place.
God puts you in a dark place.
The dark place happens to be a person who is now presently where you used to be, and he puts you there to minister the grace and the power of salvation in that dark corner.
Now, by the way, go back, if you would, at that Matthew chapter 5 passage and recognize what it says there.
He says, you are the light of the world.
And then in verse 15, he says, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket.
Guess what you do when you light a lamp?
You put it in a dark place.
And so, you don't have a choice.
If he lit you, he's got a reason for it, and he's going to put you in a dark place.
And so, when he puts you there, you say, all right, this is your choice.
I accept it.
Now, help me be what you've designed me to be.
I want you to recognize the second thing about being a light.
You get used up.
Did you hear me?
Light gets used up.
That means that you will be spent if you are the light that he's called you to be.
I have to tell you, I was blown away Thursday evening by trunk or treat in a gymnasium.
We had seven, I think it was 17.
Where are you, Tim?
You're back there somewhere.
Okay.
We had 17 different candy stations.
We had a pirate.
Can we get the pirate up there or not?
Is that doable?
David, pirate.
Ah!
Do you know who that is?
That's the vice chairman of the deacons.
I can't believe it.
We had a gorilla.
We had a duck commander.
It was 17 candy stations, and we had six game stations.
We had more people from our community on our property than at any time in all the time I've been a pastor here.
I was blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed to see what God did.
Now, we could have probably done the same thing with dollar bills thrown on the floor.
But, did I hear an amen to that?
The thing that I was really just blessed by was how many of our fellowship were just on point talking with strangers, visiting with people they'd never met before.
There were five of our young people that had specific opportunities to share the gospel with people they'd never seen before.
That's what being light means.
You know what?
Does it cost something to be light?
You may not think so until you start doing it.
And when you are light, guess what you will find?
There is a process of some self-consumption.
You get spent being what he's called you to be.
That brings me to one other point that I want you to understand.
You will get used up as light, but you can be renewed in him through his spirit.
And if you are not being renewed in him, in his spirit, you will very quickly be drained if you're doing it in your own power.
Turn back.
You're there in Matthew chapter 5.
Well, go to John chapter 15.
There is nothing that is more revealing of what we are relying upon to pull off ministry than being actively engaged in it.
Because if we're relying upon our flesh, guess what happens pretty quickly?
You drain out.
And in John chapter 15, Jesus made the statement.
He says, I am the vine.
You are the branches.
And then he goes on there in verse 5 and he says, without me you can do what?
Nothing.
There are some of you actually sitting out here this morning that really have not been very involved in anything at all.
You're like that light that is being reserved by your own self-interest for nothing other than yourself.
God who saved you intends for your life to be spent for other people.
Now go back to Matthew chapter 15.
Or Matthew chapter 5 verse 16.
And I want you to notice one other thing.
Being light means deliberately doing things that reflect well on him.
Verse 16.
In the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
It's interesting that the point Jesus is making is it's the unbelievers who are to see the things we do.
Now are we to go around blowing our own horn and saying, hey, guess what?
I'm special.
No.
But just try being kind and generous and enthusiastic and loving and does the world notice the difference?
And the answer is yes.
How many of you know that I love my wife?
Have you heard me talk about loving my wife before?
Any of you women here ever heard me talk about loving Judith?
She's at home sick today.
But I do that on a regular basis.
I was in a doctor's office a month ago.
And Judith actually came into the doctor's office about two weeks after I had been there.
I was having a procedure.
And afterwards Judith was there two weeks later.
And she had four people including the doctor stop by and say, oh, you are Tim's wife.
And here's what they said.
Your husband talks very favorably about you.
For four women in that doctor's office to talk to my wife about that is a little signal of what?
What's the signal of?
How most men do not speak favorably of their wives.
Would you agree with that?
Should the unbelieving world see that we're different?
What's the answer?
Oh, yeah.
Monday morning, many of you are going to go to work where there are people who are recovering from an unbelievably wasted weekend.
Do you follow that?
They're going to walk in.
And how is their attitude going to be?
They can't wait for what day?
Friday.
You know, and you as a Christian, you do not need to go in like you just came out of a Disney movie.
But, you know, it's a hi-ho, hi-ho.
And off to work I go.
You know, I'm not expecting that.
But try being happy on Monday.
I mean, you could be in a hospital dying, right?
The other choice is working.
Now, watch what it says here in this passage in Matthew chapter 5.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, unbelievers, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Unbelievers should attribute your actions to someone other than you.
How are you doing that, Tim?
Why are you that way, Natalie?
What's going on in your life, Heather?
Oh.
Well, you know, I used to be in the dark.
In fact, worse than that, I was darkness.
God got a hold of my heart.
And he saved me.
And I cannot take any credit for the way I am because he began a good work in me that he just keeps on doing.
And I got to tell you, the only thing I can talk about is the one who saved me and the one who's changing me.
I love the story about the man born blind.
You remember that one?
In John again?
I will get to John, Lord willing.
But in John, remember the man who was born blind?
And by the way, Jesus pulled this miracle off on his favorite day.
Does anybody know what his favorite miracle day was?
What was it?
Sabbath.
I mean, it just really frosted the Orthodox Jews.
And he kept on doing these things on the Sabbath.
And so they had a gear, they had a meeting together.
They said, all right, what happened there?
And he says, you know, I don't know.
I do know this.
I was blind and now I see.
Hey, is your life radically different enough that you can say the same thing?
I was dark, but now I'm light.
I don't know all the details, but I do know the change.
So I wonder this morning as you look at this passage going back to Ephesians where Paul is saying to believers,
hey, listen, guys, don't act like you used to.
You used to be dark.
Now you're light.
He says, so you walk like children of the light.
I wonder if you're sitting here this morning a little irritated at the fact that this business of condemning darkness
and referencing the fact that the unbeliever is locked into that condition is a little irritating to you.
Well, I would propose that if it's irritating to hear it from a human voice,
it will be far more sobering to hear it someday when the Lord of glory judges you
and condemns you for the darkness of your heart to all of eternity.
He has sent me in advance and he sent others in advance to plead with you to be reconciled with Christ while there's time.
If you're sitting here this morning and your heart is convicted of its darkness
and you sense this morning the despair of your soul,
then I want you to know it is the Spirit of God that is drawing on you
and working to bring you to the cross.
And he's the one who gives to you the sensitivity to the darkness
and fact you can't save yourself.
And that draws you to the cross.
And if you're here this morning and he is drawing you, I would plead with you,
you cry out and say, Jesus, I need deliverance from my darkness.
The truth of the matter is most of us here are saved.
That's not bad.
But let me tell you something.
Every time a genuine believer hears a reminder of what his past used to be
and what he is now,
do you know what we ought to have happen inside?
Our hearts should be happy, isn't that right?
I used to be dark and I'm light.
I used to be lost and I'm found.
I used to be dead and I'm alive.
And all of that because of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don't think a believer can justly ever get over the awe
and the thankfulness that comes thinking about their salvation.
And so this morning,
I trust that you're sitting here thinking to yourself,
wow, I can't believe that.
What a reminder.
I used to be dark.
I'm light.
And in your heart, there is a desire to be effective as that light.
Let me review with you.
You are light by virtue of salvation.
Light gets put in dark corners
and that's where you guys are going on Monday.
Am I right?
Hmm?
Light gets spent in being bright.
And light can rely upon the Spirit of God to give energy
to do the job that He's called you to do.
Let's close in prayer.
Our Father, this morning as we consider this text,
we're reminded of the fact that Christ Jesus
came into the world to be the light of the world.
And having saved us by His grace,
it is His intention, your intention,
that we be effective in that being light.
We want to be effective by your grace.
We want to be effective by your power.
That God, who is our Father,
would be the one who gets credit for the fact
that we're different from the unbelieving world.
And that that difference would cause others to ask us
a reason for the hope that is within us
and ask us who it is that changed our life
and lifted us from the pit.
Give to us a holy passion for the glory and testament of Christ.
We ask this in your precious name.
Amen.
I'm going to ask that you stand together as we sing.
Amen.
And if God is speaking to you this morning
about a matter that you need to care for publicly,
would you come forward?
He may be speaking to you this morning
about being part of our fellowship
or talking to you today about the fact that you need Christ.
You've been sitting here thinking to yourself,
I'm in the dark.
And there is only one solution for being in the dark,
and that is the Lord Jesus Christ,
who died upon the cross and rose again
and has made this promise clear.
For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord,
you know what?
Shall be saved.
And if you're sitting here this morning
and you do not know Christ,
I would plead with you,
do not walk out these doors
without pleading with Him to save you.
It takes humility.
Come down here in the front and say,
hey, here's what I need.
I need Jesus.
He may be calling you to be obedient to the Lord
in a matter of baptism,
and you come down here and care for that.
Let's care for those things
as John leads us as we close.
Let's sing together.
I once was lost in darkest night,
yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy in life
had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that you would own
a rebel to your will.
And if you had not loved me first,
I would refuse you still.
But as I ran by hell,
God raised indifferent to the cause,
You looked upon my helpless state,
And led me to the cross,
And I beheld God's love display,
You suffered in my place,
You bore the wrath,
You bore the wrath reserved for me,
Now all I know is grace.
Alleluia, all I have is Christ.
Alleluia, Jesus is my love.
Now, Lord, I would be yours alone,
And if so I'd see the strength to follow your commands,
To follow your commands,
You never come from me.
Oh, Father, you let my ransom lie
In any way you choose,
And let my ransom forever be,
My only voice is good.
Alleluia, all I have is Christ.
Alleluia, Jesus is my love.
Alleluia, all I have is Christ.
Alleluia, Jesus is my love.
I'm going to ask Jack McEverican to come up,
The alias pirate.
We have two couples here
That are asking to be part of our fellowship.
Ty and Natasha Newsom,
And Mike and Charity Ritter,
And you come up and greet them
After I read a closing passage from Numbers.
The Lord spoke to Moses,
Saying,
Speak to Aaron and his sons,
Saying,
Thus shall you bless the people of Israel,
And you shall say to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you
And be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
And give you peace.
So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel,
And I will bless them.
To those of you.
Thank you.