Now, perhaps we can turn together in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 11. That's on page 977.
! We are going to read from chapter 11, verse 25 to chapter 12, verse 14.
And maybe just to say at this point as well, that shortly after the end of the service, we'll take a few minutes to pray together sometime around 6.
6.40. So if you want to stick around, we'll pray here. That'd be much appreciated, especially as we think about inviting other people to church,
as we think about, as Roddy was praying, the mission of God's people in our city and society.
But here we are in Matthew chapter 11 from verse 25. Let's again hear the Word of God.
At that time, Jesus said,
At that time, Jesus went through the cornfields. On the Sabbath, his disciples were hungry and began to pick some ears of corn and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, Look, your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.
He answered, Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
He entered the house of God and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
Or haven't you read in the Sabbath duty in the Sabbath, the Sabbath, and yet are innocent.
I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
If you had known what these words mean, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there.
Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
He said to them, If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
How much more valuable is a person than a sheep?
Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand.
So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
Amen.
So we're thinking this evening as we get back into Matthew's Gospel about the Christ-centered life.
But just as we get to our text, and as we place it in the context of where we are as a church,
Imagine a conversation with a friend or a family member this week,
and the conversation turns in such a way that it leads to an invitation.
Hey, would you like to try church with us this week or next?
If there was a follow-up question, why?
How would we answer?
I want to suggest there's three excellent answers to that question here in chapters 11 and 12 of Matthew's Gospel.
We might invite someone to come and try church because it's in church and in God's Word and in worship,
where we can discover how to have relationship with God.
And that's hugely important.
We also discover, as we gather around God's Word to hear His voice,
here's how to find true rest and true peace in our lives.
And we know so many people who are looking for that.
That's a great answer.
Or we might be led to say, well, you come to church so that you can discover Jesus
and you can find about His mercy and the compassion of God.
There's wonderful answers in here.
And notice that all of them involve knowing Jesus and a life that makes Him central.
Every one of us, we have a control center.
There will always be someone or something that is providing our sense of drive in our life,
that gives us our sense of purpose.
It's where we look to to find our security, our hope, and our joy.
And what we discover with Jesus as He comes on the mission of God into this world
is He makes the unique and the bold claim that what each of us need to do is to make Him central
if we are to experience the life with God that we were made for.
So this chapter reminds us that Jesus is calling us, God is calling us to the Christ-centered life.
But as we look at this text, we also see that running in the background, there's another way of life.
There's the way of life of the Pharisees.
And what becomes clear by the end of our reading, we heard it, they are getting together to want to kill Jesus.
The Pharisees are rejecting Jesus in favor of their own way to live, strict law-keeping to find salvation.
And in this passage and in many others in Matthew's gospel,
Jesus will lovingly confront those false alternatives that would make something else central.
And so one thing that Jesus would want to do for us this evening is to expose where perhaps we come to rely on other things than Jesus.
Perhaps it's a job or a family.
Perhaps it's even our religious performance.
And He wants to strip those away so that He might have in our lives the central place.
And so this evening we're going to hear Jesus calling us to the Christ-centered life.
And we'll also be at the same time comparing and contrasting with another way of life.
To see which is better and why.
And to recognize as we think about the Christ-centered life,
this is what Jesus invites His people, His church, to experience and to enjoy day after day.
And this is what He sends us out to invite others into.
Not into religion as such, but into a wonderful life where we know Jesus as our Savior and our friend and our Lord.
We invite people so that they too might discover relationship with God and rest from God
and the mercy of God that we find in Jesus.
So let's have a look at each of these things in turn.
First of all, recognize what Jesus says.
That He gives us relationship with God.
If you look at chapter 11 verses 25 to 27,
we hear Jesus say remarkable things about Himself.
And I suppose the foundation of a Christ-centered life begins here.
It begins with believing what Jesus says about Himself.
So as Jesus announces,
I am the center of God's revelation.
That I alone can introduce you to God the Father.
We need to take Him on trust.
To understand this is no small claim.
When we hear Jesus write, we hear Him saying,
if you and I, if we want to connect with God,
we need to go through Jesus.
If we are to discover who God truly is,
then we need to look no further than Jesus.
If we want to hear God speak and reveal Himself,
then we need to listen to Jesus.
So He's making huge claims about Himself in these words.
So look with me at Jesus' logic
as we consider His words and His claim.
So look at verse 25 and 26,
where God the Father,
Jesus is saying,
God the Father conceals and reveals according to His will.
Listen to Jesus.
I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because You've hidden these things from the wise and learned
and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for this is what You were pleased to do.
God's pleasure to conceal and to reveal.
Now the context for this section
is that we've just been told earlier in Matthew's gospel,
Jesus was active in a number of towns and cities.
They saw miracles, but they have not repented.
And we're meeting Pharisees,
and they've listened to Jesus,
and they've seen His miracles,
but they have not responded in faith.
But we also know Jesus has disciples,
He has followers,
so others have turned in faith.
And the point of that is this,
that we cannot understand God
or enter into true relationship with God
by our own efforts.
It's not our church attending,
or our Bible reading,
or our study of good theology
that is the basis of knowing God.
What Jesus says,
and what we need,
is for God to reveal Himself to us.
And He invites us to have a childlike trust
that's willing to be taught by Jesus
so that we might know by God's grace,
God the Father.
He continues, beginning of verse 27,
by making the recognition that Jesus comes
with the Father's full authority.
Look again at Jesus' words.
All things have been committed to me
by my Father.
He is the Father's representative on the earth.
He is the Father's approved agent.
Whenever we see Jesus act,
He is acting with the Father's power and authority.
When we see Jesus' love,
we understand this reveals to us
the Father's loving heart.
He perfectly represents God
to us in the world.
And that includes
the right that Jesus has
to our worship,
to our trust,
to our obedience.
The logic continues.
Look with me at verse 27.
No one knows the Son
except the Father.
To put it another way,
only God the Father
truly understands Jesus.
It takes God
to know God.
There is a level of mystery
that only God can fully comprehend.
How is it that Jesus
can be one and the same time
fully human and fully divine?
How is it that the immortal God
can take on mortal flesh?
How can the eternal enter history?
How is it that Jesus,
the Word of God,
becomes flesh
and made His dwelling among us
so that we see
the glory of God
in this man
who was born of the Virgin?
Only God fully knows God.
So there are more books
and more films
and more podcasts
and more videos about Jesus
than any other figure
in human history.
But the best of minds
will only ever
scratch the surface.
And so when Jesus
says no one knows the Son
except the Father,
this calls for our humility.
But doesn't it also call us
to hunger
that as God's people
we would want to know God better.
We will never know Him fully
but we can know Him more.
Jesus continues,
continuing in verse 27,
no one knows the Father
except the Son.
So this is the flip side
of what He's just said,
only Jesus fully understands
God the Father.
Now do we sense how bold
Jesus' claim is here?
Here is Jesus walking on this earth
and saying,
I alone can reveal the truth about God.
I know God completely.
No other human teacher
would dare to make this kind of claim.
while the best of human minds
have often grappled with
the great things of God
and we have wonderful theology
that's come from great minds,
only Jesus knows the Father
completely and intimately.
Jesus uniquely calls God
His Abba Father
and wonderfully as adopted children
we get to call God Father
but Jesus has a special relationship.
He is the eternal Son of the Father.
So again,
Jesus is helping us to see
that in a world full of opinions about God,
Jesus cuts through them all
as He says,
I alone know God fully
and absolutely come to me
to know God.
And that's where He goes next.
No one knows the Father
except the Son
and those
to whom the Son
chooses to reveal Him.
Jesus alone
can fully reveal the Father to us
and recognize that Jesus came
to reveal the Father to us.
The one who enjoys
perfect relationship with His Father,
the one who has enjoyed
eternal fellowship with the Father,
He has come to introduce us
to His Father.
That when we have faith in Jesus,
we now have direct access
to God's throne room
to know the King of the universe
as our loving Father in heaven.
So Jesus in these few short words
is making remarkable claims of Himself.
He is unique.
He has direct, perfect, personal
knowledge of God
and He is the perfect,
personal revelation of God
to the world.
He is the end of human speculation
and the climax of God's revelation.
But the point of all that He says,
why it matters,
is that it means we can know God.
We can know God as our Father.
That we can enjoy life
in right relationship with God.
That all the disharmony,
all the disintegration
that we're so aware of,
caused so often by
our own human pride,
our own rebellion,
that that can be fixed.
That by God's grace,
we can share life
with the eternal God.
That by God's grace,
we get to pray
and know God as our Father.
And that's a wonderful privilege
for God's people
and it's the start of our mission
as a church.
That our mission is to announce
that in Jesus,
God is calling people back to Himself,
to the end of wandering,
back into covenant relationship,
so that by faith,
we and others
can enjoy relationship with God.
And we,
as the people of God,
can invite others,
join us
to know this relationship
that means so much to us.
You can know God as Father too.
So Jesus comes
to give us relationship
with God,
His Father.
Father.
Secondly,
what we learn
about the Christ-centered life,
why our life needs
to be centered on Christ.
Here's the second reason.
It's because Jesus
gives us rest.
Look at the beginning
of verse 28.
Come to me,
all you who are weary
and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
A recent book
written by a Korean philosopher
based in Germany
called the Burnout Society.
It really drills down
on the reality
that the modern mantras
that we hear so often
of define yourself,
of be whatever you want to be,
of manifest
and make it happen,
while for a tiny fraction
of the population
that may get them somewhere,
for the vast majority
it is proving exhausting
and it's led directly
to greater amounts
of anxiety
and depression
and feelings
of hopelessness.
People are being told,
you can do
whatever you set
your mind to
and then,
so often,
we discover,
well, we just can't.
And rather,
we're pushing and pushing
and it feels like
we're pushing against
a brick wall
and we do that
for long enough
and it leads
to a whole generation
feeling hopeless
and worthless.
And importantly,
as we still hear
that voice,
so many people
never able to rest,
never able to feel content.
Things were different
in Jesus' day
but at the same time
not so different.
If you are part
of Jewish society
as Jesus was,
that society was led
by the Pharisees.
So much of religious life
and political life
and moral,
ethical life
was governed
by these Pharisees.
And these Pharisees
were pushing people
towards salvation
by their own religion
and by their self-effort
which is always
a recipe
for exhaustion
and insecurity.
That to try
and safeguard
God's laws,
they added lots
and lots
of additional
human rules.
pushing people
onto this
exhausting
rollercoaster ride
of a sense
of momentary pride
if they are having
a good day
and they manage
to keep the laws
but so often despair
when they couldn't
reach the standards
the Pharisees
were setting
for other people.
I wonder
when we come
to Jesus' words
do we identify
with some
of his sense
of life
simply being exhausting
of self-effort
being exhausting
perhaps we realize
for ourselves
for people
in our circles
what's needed
almost more than anything
is that sense
of peace
and the capacity
to rest.
Let's listen in
to what Jesus
says next
and listen
in verse 28
to how he begins
and again
this is radical
come to me
Jesus says.
He doesn't say
go to God
this is
a direct
invitation
and a remarkable
claim
I can offer
you rest
and it's remarkable
because the Jewish
people know
and Jesus knows
that in the Bible
rest is a gift
from God.
We could go back
to creation
God created
in six days
day seven
was a day of rest
God rested
to enjoy
his creation
he invited
Adam and Eve
to rest
to enjoy
their creation
and to worship
their God
or we can think
about what God
did for the people
in the story
of the Exodus
from being slaves
where they could
never rest
to enjoying
life with God
where they had
weekly rest
where they would
eventually go
to the promised land
which was the place
of rest.
Another significant
theme in the Old Testament
the theme of exile
and then the return
home.
Having been judged
because they turned
away from God
turned towards
false gods
there was this promise
that God would
restore people
back to their land
and to the rest
of God
and you turn
to the end
of the Bible
and still
rest is there
there remains
a Sabbath rest
for the people
of God.
The imagery
of new creation
involves resting
and feasting
in God's presence
in God's perfect world
so rest is a precious
gift from God
and here is Jesus
on his kingdom mission
and by God's grace
he is inviting us
to know rest
and a particular
kind of rest
to rest
from trying
to be self
righteous
and instead
to rest
in his
perfect
righteousness
because who
is Jesus
speaking to?
Look with me
again at verse 28
he is speaking
to those
who are weary
and burdened
and in Jesus'
day
those who are weary
and burdened
were those
who are under
the laws
of the Pharisees.
Listen to Jesus
in Matthew 23
verse 4
this is what he says
about the Pharisees
he says
they tie up
heavy
cumbersome
loads
and put them
on other people's
shoulders
but they themselves
are not willing
to lift a finger
to move them.
So the system
of the Pharisees
well it was an
absolute lie
and it was so
destructive
but the path
to God
they were saying
it comes through
ritual
and religion
and rule keeping
and so people
were weary
and burdened
and then Jesus
comes and there's
this wonderful
contrast
and wonderful promise
come to me
I'll give you rest.
Jesus
our saviour
he promises
to carry us
he promises
to lift
the crushing
burdens
off people's
backs
he promises
to give freedom
and rest
as we experience
and rest
in the grace
of God
he offers us
deep
and lasting
rest
peace
with God
peace
in our hearts
because Jesus
has come
ultimately
to remove
the heavy
burden of sin
off our backs
to end
our slavery
to sin
and to show us
that we don't need
to try and keep
the law
to deal with
that sin
because that was
never the law's
purpose
so he's inviting
us into rest
but maybe you then
wonder why in
verse 29
he moves to
an image of
working
verse 29
take my yoke
upon you
and learn
from me
for I am
gentle and
humble in heart
and you'll find
rest for your
souls
for my yoke
is easy
and my burden
is light
how can we rest
if we take a yoke
what's Jesus
talking about there
well to think
about the literal
yoke
Jesus lived
in a farming
society
so he'd be
used to seeing
a couple of
oxen
yoked together
with a harness
over the pair
of shoulders
so that they
could work
together
to plow
a field
but Jesus
was also
familiar
with a
bar mitzvah
when a Jewish
young person
became a man
came of age
there would be
a promise
given
along these
lines
where the
young man
says
I promise
to yoke
myself
to the law
of God
and do we
hear what
Jesus is doing
here
when Jesus
is saying
take my yoke
and learn
from me
he is inviting
us to
partner
in life
with Jesus
to a life
of discipleship
not trying to
figure out
our own
way to
please God
not trying to
figure out
our own
way to do
life
but to
partner
in life
with Jesus
and that's
rest
because there's
freedom
because now
we're living
the way
God made
us to live
but he's
also inviting
us
to show
loyalty
and commitment
to him
to find
rest
in enjoying
life
with God
because we
have submitted
to Jesus
the son
and there
is a freedom
in this
because Jesus
shows us
his heart
he's not a
harsh taskmaster
like the Pharisees
rather
and this is the
only time Jesus
describes his
own heart
he says
I am gentle
and humble
in heart
and he gives
us the deepest
rest
for our
souls
Jesus
has come
on a
mission
to give
us rest
by giving
us God's
salvation
and Jesus
will do
that by
himself
going under
the weight
of the law
and all
of its
demands
and he
will be
truly
and perfectly
obedient
at every
point of
his life
in our
place
as our
representative
and he
will also
willingly
take the
punishment
for our
law
breaking
as our
substitute
he will
satisfy the
demands
of God's
law
giving up
his life
as a
sacrifice
to death
so that
we might
be forgiven
and have
freedom
and have
life
and rest
knowing
we live
enjoying
relationship
and love
from God
because as
we are
trusting
in Jesus
alone
for
salvation
it
allows
us
to
rest
deeply
so
when
we
sin
as
Christians
and we
do
sin
we know
that
we don't
need to
anxiously
doubt
does
God
love
me
am I
really
saved
no
we're
trusting
in
Jesus
and we
know
that
his
work
is
finished
and so
again
we
confess
our
sin
but
we
rest
as
we
trust
there
is
rest
as
we
build
our
life
around
Jesus
because
we
don't
need
to
be
comparing
ourselves
with
others
all
the
time
so
much
of
modern
life
is
comparison
and
competition
and
Jesus
gives
us
the
security
to
rest
It's
wonderful
we
are
free
to be
unimportant
and
unnoticed
by the
world
because
we
know
we
are
loved
by
God
and
we
are
seen
by
Jesus
so
as
we
learn
to
look
away
from
ourselves
and
to
look
to
Jesus
and
center
our
life
on
him
he
gives
us
relationship
where
we
know
God
as
father
and
he
gives
us
the
deep
rest
that
our
hearts
and
lives
and
souls
really
need
one
last
thing
about
the
Christ
centered
life
we
have
here
and
it's
this
that
Jesus
shows
us
mercy
that's
the
message
of
those
first
14
verses
of
chapter
12
but
just
to
step
away
from
the
text
for a
moment
in
18th
century
England
we've
been
in
18th
century
England
a lot
today
I know
but
there
was
a
revival
of
Christianity
and
one
of
the
striking
things
that
social
historians
and
church
historians
noticed
was that
over
the
time
this
revival
that
happened
so
more and
more
people
being
active
in
social
change
so
it's
at
this
period
that
William
Wilberforce
was
working
in
parliament
for the
abolition
of
slavery
it
was
at
the
same
time
that
Lord
Shaftesbury
was
working
for
better
working
conditions
it
was
the
same
time
that
Christians
like
Elizabeth
Fry
and
John
Howard
were
working
for
prison
reform
down
in
England
and
it
reveals
a
principle
that
as
Christians
receive
and are
transformed
by the
mercy
of
God
we
are
then
moved
to
show
mercy
to
others
that
as
God's
grace
comes
to
us
and
changes
us
that
it
creates
a
channel
where
that
mercy
flows
from
us
and
we
put
the
mercy
of
God
on
display
in
the
world
the
Christian
church
has
always
been
designed
by
God
to
be
a
contrast
community
Israel
was to
stand
out
from
the
nations
the
church
is
to
stand
out
from
the
society
it
finds
itself
in
and
here
we
see
from
Jesus
we
can
stand
out
and be
a
light
to
the
nations
in
part
by
the
mercy
we
show
the
compassion
we
offer
the
kindness
that
we
extend
and
the
source
behind
it
the
force
behind
it
isn't
in
our
own
hearts
isn't
in
our
own
capacity
to
summon
up
mercy
it's
in
Jesus
Christ
himself
and
what
we
see
when
we
look
at
Jesus
is
a
life
on
earth
marked
by
deep
mercy
towards
sinners
and
sufferers
so
let's
look
really
briefly
at
this
little
section
so
and
remember
the
Pharisees
so
let's
bring
them
out
of
the
shadows
for
a
moment
so
they
have
been
and
they
continue
to
challenge
Jesus
on
his
law
keeping
and
remember
they're
not
challenging
him
on
are
you
keeping
the
law
of
God
rather
is
Jesus
keeping
the
laws
of
the
Pharisees
because
they
have
made
their
own
rules
to
justify
themselves
and
it's
turned
them
into
a
very
narrow
people
a
very
harsh
and
judgmental
people
and
it's
led
them
ultimately
to
turn
against
Jesus
and
so
they
are
dominating
as
we
said
religious
!
and
social
life
there's
this
two
of
them
here
first
few
verses
of
chapter
12
Jesus
disciples
are
hungry
on
the
Sabbath
and
so
they
go
and
they
get
some
corn
they
rub
the
corn
together
so
they
can
get
something
to
eat
and
the
Pharisees
jump
on
this
hey
you're
working
on
the
Sabbath
and
then
later
on
in
the
synagogue
from
verse
9
onwards
here
comes
a
man
with
a
shriveled
hand
and
they
want
to
test
Jesus
will
Jesus
work
on
Sunday
by
showing
mercy
because
they've
decided
basically
unless
it's a
life or
death
situation
don't
show
mercy
because
that
could
be
work
can
you
imagine
how
miserable
and
anxious
and
self
righteous
and
despairing
this
society
could
be
controlled
by
this
kind
of
justify
yourself
by
law
keeping
attitude
and
then
here
comes
Jesus
and
he
bursts
onto
the
scene
and
immediately
people
flocked
him
this
is
a
new
message
this
is
a
new
mission
this
is
a
new
way
of
life
because
Jesus
reveals
the
heart
of
God
look
what
Jesus
says
in
verse
7
if
you
had
known
what
these
words
mean
I
desire
mercy
not
sacrifice
you
would
not
condemn
the
innocent
mercy
lies
at the
heart
of
the
mission
of
Jesus
because
God's
heart
is a
merciful
one
so
Jesus
will
respond
to the
critics
human
need
hunger
it
trumps
your
ritual
and
your
rules
the
priests
need
to
worship
on
the
Sabbath
when
there's
many
more
offerings
coming
in
that
trumps
regulations
about
work
mercy
over
sacrifice
and
then
in
verses
9
to
14
we
see
him
apply
the
truth
as
he
shows
mercy
in
this
healing
miracle
and
Jesus
replies
to
his
opponents
look
at
verse
11
and
verse
12
if
you
had
a
sheep
and
it
fell
into
a
pit
on
the
Sabbath
you
take
hold
of
it
how
much
more
valuable
is
a
person
than
a
sheep
therefore
it
is
lawful
to
do
good
on
the
Sabbath
there's
that hypocrisy
at the
heart
of their
religion
but
Jesus
exposes
it
it's
good
to
show
mercy
to
an
animal
how
much
more
valuable
people
are
therefore
it
is
right
to
show
mercy
to
a
person
every
day
of the
week
a
Sabbath
day
is
a
good
day
as we
look
at
Jesus
and
as
the
church
builds
its
life
on
Jesus
we
discover
that
the
kingdom
of
God
the
community
of
Christ
it
is
shaped
by
God's
mercy
so
that
we
might
in
our
own
way
in
our
own
day
showcase
God's
mercy
in
the
world
it's
no
wonder
when you
read
the
gospels
the
weak
the
marginalized
those
who
felt
guilty
and
oppressed
they
flocked
to
Jesus
to
receive
this
mercy
and
grace
and
it's
wonderful
for us
to
remember
you
when we
invite
people
come and
try church
with us
what are we
inviting
people
into
well we
want them
to discover
a people
within this
place
who love
Jesus
and love
other
people
a people
who have
received
mercy
so much
that it
flows
from us
and is
shared
within
us
a people
drawn
into
relationship
with
God
through
faith
in
Jesus
resting
in a
secure
salvation
enjoying
God's
mercy
that
gives
us a
freedom
and a
delight
to invite
other
people
to
experience
it
for
themselves
with
Jesus
we
have
the
power
and
the
motivation
to
practice
this
kind
of
mercy
in
our
everyday
lives
to
let
it
shape
our
relationship
our
capacity
to be
patient
and
forgiving
and
welcoming
to
others
it
has
the
ability
to
shape
and
influence
our
work
that
we
work
to
bless
others
to
practice
kindness
over
competition
can
change
our
mindset
as
we
consider
all
the
mercy
that
God
has
shown
us
in
Jesus
gratitude
trumps
grumbling
we
prioritize
enjoying
God
and his
gospel
and in
ways that
mark us
out as
the people
of
Jesus
so
Jesus
invited
people
to a
Christ
centered
life
and we
who are
his
people
we invite
others
to the
Christ
centered
life
also
so
what we
do
when we
experience
anything
good
from the
most trivial
the new
restaurant
or the
new
book
so we
do it
as we
come to
discover
and discover
again
the wonder
of Jesus
the son
of God
and the
savior
of the
world
as we
believe
that he
is
God's
revelation
to the
world
we
come
to enjoy
him
deeply
and then
we
go
to invite
others
into
relationship
with God
through
faith
in
Jesus
rest
from
God
through
the
rescue
of
Jesus
and
mercy
from
God
knowing
the
compassionate
heart
of
Jesus
let's
pray
together
Lord
our
God
we
are
so
thankful
for
Jesus
and
his
life
as we
discover
it
in
the
gospels
we
thank
you
that
Jesus
is
the
one
who
can
bring
us
into
relationship
with
the
living
God
we
know
so
many
people
who
are
spiritual
and
who
are
longing
for
something
more
than
just
this
life
and
we
pray
that
they
would
come
to
know
Jesus
and
find
the
joy
of
real
relationship
with
the
real
and
living
God
we
thank
you
that
Jesus
has
come
to
give
us
deep
rest
we
don't
need
to
prove
ourselves
and
justify
ourselves
and
try
and
be
better
than
the
next
person
that
we
can
rest
in
your
love
and
rest
in
your
salvation
Lord
we
pray
for
those
who
are
anxiously
striving
those
who
feel
worthless
and
desperate
we
pray
that
so
many
would
come
to
discover
rest
in
Jesus
and
Lord
we
thank
you
for
his
mercy
for
his
mercy
to
meet
physical
needs
and
to
meet
spiritual
needs
we
thank
you
for
our
experience
of
the
mercy
of
God
through
Jesus
and
we
pray
that
you
would
enable
us
to
show
mercy
to
one
another
and
to
the
people
who
live
and
work
around
us
and
Lord
we
pray
that
you
would
be
pleased
to
bring
people
into
our
church
life
here
to
experience
the
goodness
and
the
glory
grace
of
God
in
Jesus
for
themselves
and
we
pray
in
Jesus
name
Amen