You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
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Amen is right.
Thank you, guys.
You're going to get a turn to sing it later.
Hang in there.
It's so good to have a God like that, isn't it?
To have someone whose faithfulness you can trust.
All the time.
We're in Ephesians 6 this morning.
In fact, we're in the last four verses of Ephesians 6, the last chapter of Ephesians.
Don't say amen yet.
This is not the last sermon in this series on Ephesians.
We're almost there.
But there's a couple more.
Did you know there's another letter in the Bible to the church in Ephesus?
It's a shorter one.
We're going to look at that very briefly.
But we're almost at the end.
We're close.
And you can be excited then and make me feel bad.
But the last time we were in Ephesians, we wrestled with the reality that we are at war.
That there's spiritual warfare going on day by day in our lives.
That demands of us that we stand firm in Christ.
That we be taking up the armor of God, actively abiding in Christ in order to battle against the forces of evil that rage against us.
We talked about the importance of standing firm in Christ.
And knowing that wartime demands different priorities from peacetime.
Demands sacrifices.
Demands looking at things differently because of where we are.
And this morning, Paul picking up on that is going to give his parting words to the church in Ephesus.
Words that are full of significance and meaning for us.
What would Paul like to leave us with at the end of this letter?
Let's give our attention again to God's holy word.
Ephesians 6 at verse 21.
So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.
Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything.
I have sent him to you for this very purpose.
That you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.
Peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.
The grass withers, the flowers fade, but these words of our God will stand forever.
Let's ask for his help as we look at them together.
Pray with me.
Father, we come to you because these are your words.
Because we believe you spoke them not only to the church in Ephesus,
but to the church in Huntsville today.
And that we need them.
And that we need you to speak, Father.
We hear from men and we know of men's good ideas and advice.
We need to hear from you.
Would you speak clearly by your spirit?
Would you speak to our hearts?
And would you change us?
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Apparently, it never really happened this way.
But there's a great scene anyway in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace and his ragtag
bunch of Scottish soldiers, if you can call them that, are fighting against the more numerous,
more highly trained, more confident English army.
And there's a scene where they're so, they've been discouraged.
They've been frustrated.
Things haven't often gone their way.
And they're just outnumbered by the English army.
So much to the point that as they get ready for this one battle,
the leader of the English army says,
we can beat them with just our Irishmen.
We're just going to send the Irish out against them.
They can handle them.
And so he sends the Irish out front and they run towards the Scots and they're charging towards
each other and then they stop.
And they get there and they slow down and they shake hands and they hug and the Irish switch
sides.
And they come over and it's reinforcements for the Scottish army.
A jolt of energy.
A burst of excitement.
They have more than they thought.
These guys will stand with us too.
There are many great battle scenes and movies where reinforcements come just in the nick of time.
I'm sure you have your favorite.
I'm going to mention just one more.
These are two examples of just movies I've seen so that you know that I do watch things
other than Disney princess movies.
So I figure Braveheart and Lord of the Rings, maybe I can get my man card back at the end.
And so Lord of the Rings in the two towers, there's an epic battle between the forces of
good and the forces of evil, the Battle of Helm's Deep.
And if you've seen the movie and if you haven't, you can probably imagine a little of what it
looks like.
You've got Aragorn and Gimli and Legolas and the rest of the good guys fighting hard to
defend a fortress.
But they're battling against these unearthly creatures of Saruman.
And he sent them against them and they've come in the battle.
They're just overwhelming them.
The fortress is collapsing.
They're flooding in.
One black creature after another flooding in and overwhelming the guys which of course
are painted in shining clothes.
And Legolas' hair is brighter than anything else on the screen.
And here they're just being overrun.
And the leaders are backing up and saying, we've got to get out.
We've got to give in.
This is over.
We've been defeated.
We couldn't hold out long enough.
And then what happens?
Gandalf, of course.
Gandalf shows up on the hill, the wizard riding a horse.
And the battle stops.
And everyone turns and looks at Gandalf.
And just a few seconds later, hosts of men on a horseback come rushing over the hill,
right?
Reinforcements that Gandalf has recruited and brought in.
And all of a sudden, the good guys are back on top.
And they chase the Uruk-hai away from the fortress and into the forest for them to get
destroyed.
It's a great, great victory.
They showed up just at the right moment.
Now, in both of those examples, things turn out well.
It ends well for the good guys.
But can you relate to how those discouraged soldiers would have felt before the reinforcement
showed up?
To feel overwhelmed, to feel at the end of everything you have and you've done everything and you're
going to get defeated.
This is the end of it.
In the fight for the kingdom of God, in the battle that we wage against the forces of darkness,
it's easy to get discouraged, isn't it?
Have you ever felt that way before?
Do you feel that way this morning?
It's easy to think we aren't strong enough, that we should just give in, give up.
Perhaps you feel outnumbered, overmatched, lonely even in your labor for God.
Maybe you can relate to how I've felt wrestling against personal sin in my own heart and life.
Like it just keeps coming up.
Even in the middle of a worship service.
There's my sin.
I thought I had that idol under control that I'd really managed it and then it comes back
up again.
Like I'm never going to just be done with it.
There it is, rearing its ugly head again.
Maybe you've been seeking to live sacrificially.
To seek first God's kingdom and His priorities.
To live with kingdom priorities in a world that tells you to seek first yourself.
To get your own pleasure and fulfillment taken care of.
And you feel alone.
No one else is trying to live this way.
I'm discouraged.
It's discouraging to be alone.
Maybe you've been seeking to honor God in a difficult relationship.
You feel you're the only one who cares.
Nothing seems to get better.
You're alone in the fight and now you're, to be honest, ready to quit too.
Why bother if he or she's not going to be a part of it?
Maybe you've been laboring to see God's kingdom come here in Huntsville and He's given you
a passion for a part of this city or an aspect of your life where you want to see God's kingdom
come and you want to see things change but you feel like you're fighting fire with a water
bottle.
That you're just spitting on the fire.
You're seeking to bring light into darkness to push back the effects of the fall in your
community and you think you're doing what God wants you to do but it seems like there's
no progress.
So you're overwhelmed.
Discouraged.
And Paul understands the Ephesians could easily feel that way.
Called into spiritual warfare against the forces of evil and indwelling sin.
Surrounded by a culture of idolatry and self-serving hedonism.
Struggling with difficult relationships even within the church.
They can't find someone who's easy to get along with.
As he closes this letter, here's Paul's heart.
Here's what he wants to do.
He wants to offer some encouragement to discouraged believers.
That's what he has for us this morning.
Not only is there the armor of God for us as we fight these battles but also there are
reinforcements.
We won't be left alone.
We need not ultimately be discouraged.
There are reinforcements both for today, for daily strength and support and for eternity,
for eternal security and blessing.
Let's look at the great hope and encouragement offered to us in this passage.
Paul begins by speaking of the daily reinforcements that we have here and now.
What I'll call gospel partnership.
You could just say people.
Starts with P too so that works.
You can just people.
All of the words today start with P.
Look at how clear Paul is.
That the Christian life is not one lived on our own.
In isolation from others.
At first he mentions our mutual need for prayer in the verses leading up to our passage.
Look at verse 18.
He's just told them about the armor of God and what's needed in this battle.
Praying at all times in the spirit.
With all prayer and supplication.
To that end keep alert with all perseverance.
Making supplication for all the saints.
And for me.
That words would be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
For which I'm an ambassador in chains.
That I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.
Pray for me.
As we put on the armor of God for the battle we fight each day.
Paul says praying all the time.
For all the saints.
Paul shared several times in Ephesians how he's praying for them, hasn't he?
He writes his prayers out for them right there in the letter.
Now he's doing what?
He's asking them to pray for him.
Here's what you can pray for me.
They're together in partnership for the sake of the gospel.
So they share in that together.
Even when he's been sent out from them.
They share in it together by praying for each other.
Bible commentator Matthew Henry once wrote,
The greatest remembrance of our friends is to remember them before the throne of grace.
It shouldn't be just a spiritual platitude when someone says,
Pray for me.
And we think, Oh sure, I'll pray for you.
And don't.
Prayer is the work of the kingdom.
And it's the way we can partner with someone because God works through our prayers.
He's active there.
He works in places we can't.
In times we can't.
For the gospel to advance.
So prayer.
And then secondly, the written word of God.
We're about to be told that Paul is sending Tychicus to Ephesus to encourage them.
But first, before we see what he's going to do,
notice that Tychicus almost certainly was carrying the very letter we've been studying for the last few months with him.
Paul sends Tychicus with God's word for the Ephesian church.
Paul doesn't merely pray for the people he's in partnership with.
He tells them what he prays for them.
And he encourages them with God's word.
Do you share God's word with your brothers and sisters?
Do you tell them how you're praying for them and how they can pray for you?
Isn't it a great encouragement to get a note, a text, an email?
Whatever it is, something that shares God's word with you,
that encourages your heart in the loneliness and busyness of the battle,
that says, I'm in it with you.
You're not in it alone.
And both of those things are encouraging reinforcements in the battle that God uses in our lives.
But there's one more, and I want you to think about it this way.
Suppose you have some longtime friends from way back.
They knew you when, and you haven't lived in the same town with them for a while,
and you love them, and you pray for them, and you care about them,
but you don't get to talk much anymore.
You keep in touch through Christmas cards.
You got anybody like that?
You hear from them once a year, and you know what's going on
because you see that they've gotten one year older than the last time you got to talk with them.
And it's great.
You love them.
You can pray for them.
You can be excited to see their family grow.
But imagine that this year, instead of a Christmas card,
they came through Huntsville over the holidays.
Imagine you got to spend a whole evening with them,
sharing stories, catching each other up,
telling them what was going on in your life,
laughing together, crying together,
after not seeing them for years and years.
Someone who knows you and your story.
That's a different kind of encouragement, isn't it?
To be with them, to have them in your presence.
Wasn't it different last week to have one of our missionary partners here with us?
Someone who'd grown up here and gone out,
and then Justin Houston is here.
You can shake his hand.
You can hear his stories.
Have him open God's Word and encourage us
to be able to put my arm around him and pray for him.
It feels different from praying for him from thousands of miles away.
God often sends reinforcements,
spiritual aid and encouragement for the weary among us,
often through the presence of other Christians.
Look at verses 21 and 22.
Paul says,
Paul says this,
I'm going to live the reality that I've been teaching you about
through this whole letter.
I'm going to start living it in front of you.
The reality that in Christ,
God has connected us to each other.
That y'all aren't just numbers to me.
Your names,
even terrible names like Tychicus,
that you have to say over and over.
It's unnecessarily difficult.
But your names and your faces,
you actually mean something to me.
I remember y'all,
I was with you.
You're partners for the gospel.
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
we're connected to each other because of him.
And so God is building us together.
What has Paul been teaching us?
He's making a family out of us
that we would be built up into a temple
where he can dwell by his Spirit.
Paul says,
that's the reality that I'm going to live in front of you.
Enough that I would send Tychicus to you.
Notice he sent him there to tell you how we are.
That may not strike you as strange,
but Paul, you've just written us a letter.
It's a long letter.
Just tell us how you are.
Why does he have to travel thousands of miles over sea
to tell us how you are?
Because it is different in person.
Because we care about and love each other,
because there's an encouragement there.
It's not just writing it down.
Time and time again in Paul's letters,
messengers like Tychicus go
and they give information from Paul
and bring reports back to Paul.
They need to know about him.
And he needs to know about them.
People are valuable to Paul.
They're valuable to us here at Southwood too.
They must be if we understand
the kind of community the gospel creates.
It doesn't create nameless faces
that sit in a sanctuary with you every Sunday.
It doesn't.
It creates a community of people
where you know who they are
and you're able to lock arms.
Vital relationships,
partnerships together for the sake of the gospel.
These aren't just random people
Paul goes to church with
or used to go to church with.
They're partners with whom he must lock arms
for the sake of the gospel.
Because it's hard to fight alone.
And it's hard to sacrifice alone.
Amen?
It's hard.
The discouragement of the struggle
can be overwhelming.
The sense of isolation can be devastating.
And so Paul needs them
and their prayers.
Paul needs them
and their prayers.
They need him and his.
Two brief points of application
here about gospel partnership.
The first is we need it.
You need it.
I need it.
Don't fight alone.
Paul didn't try it
and he doesn't recommend it.
And you say,
oh, but I don't have time
to connect with them.
To be part of a community like that.
To lock arms over there.
It's just,
it takes too much.
I don't have margin.
I know that feeling.
But I've learned actually
you don't have time not to.
We don't have enough time
on this earth
to neglect partnership.
We need each other.
You need gospel partnership
in your life.
Not just formal church membership.
A functional church family.
A small group,
so to speak.
Partnership across miles and miles
that you can share
and labor alongside.
I'm convinced
some of the most vital members
of our church
rarely come through
these doors anymore.
Some of our elderly
shut-in members
pray for this church
and for the advance
of the kingdom here
so faithfully.
people you may not
have even met.
Every time I get to see
Delilah Harris,
some of you know Delilah.
Every time I see her
she tells me
how she's been praying
for me
and for this church.
The last time I was with her
you know what she said?
She said,
well I need to remind you
I need that list.
You know what list she wanted?
The entire membership list
of Southwood.
You only gave me part
last time.
I pray for each one of them
by name.
Most of you don't know Delilah
but she prays for you
by name.
And you need that.
I need that.
I need to know
that she's praying for me
and I need her prayers.
What a great encouragement
that is.
Even if you don't know her
we need prayer.
We need people
who point us to God's word.
We need people
who show up in our lives
to encourage us
for the sake of the gospel.
We're not okay on our own.
We're not just strong enough
to power through.
We need gospel partnership.
And so do others.
Your spouse needs it.
Your kids need it.
Your friends need it.
Your pastor needs it.
Your search committee needs it.
Were you listening to Tripp?
Thank you for your honesty.
Y'all led us in that
through this season.
Grace Crawford wrote
in the issue of branches
that will be in your mailbox
this weekend
or this week.
She's another search committee member.
She says,
why am I grateful
to you all?
Because you've provided
much needed support
with your prayers,
emails,
recommendations
and words of encouragement.
The weight that we feel
is heavy
and yet you continue
to remind us
this is God's sovereign will
not ours.
He knows Southwood
and loves her dearly.
This is his church
and we remain confident
that he will continue
to bless us,
keep us
and forever make his face
shine upon us.
Thank you for reaching out to us
as your words and prayers
have been tremendous
in feeding our spirits
and she finishes this way,
please continue.
While progress continues
to be made,
the heaviness is real
and Satan has attacked
in various ways
attempting to distract
and deter from God's will.
As we move forward
in these final stages,
your prayers,
support and encouragement
are needed more than ever.
To say again
what Tripp just told you
in the announcement.
Pray for them,
partner with them,
you get to be a part of it.
And it's not just
the search committee.
Who needs your gospel
partnership this week?
Who needs you to pray for them
and also needs to know
that you're praying for them?
Who needs you to talk football
or kids with them
and also show them God's word?
Encourage them from his word.
Who needs you to show up?
Just to show up.
How many times in your life
has the most encouraging
and helpful person
in a difficult situation
been the one
who didn't say a single word?
Has that happened in your life?
The most helpful person
of all the people
who wanted to engage with you,
the one who just came
and hugged you,
held you,
cried with you?
How many times is that
how God brought encouragement
into your life?
What a great encouragement that is.
Who needs it from you?
Is there a loved one
hurting and grieving?
Is there a friend battling
through the pain
and loneliness of divorce?
Is there a mission partner here
or around the globe
feeling overwhelmed?
The gospel partnership,
people locking arms
and working together
for the sake of the kingdom
is so much what God
has called the church to.
It's so much who we are
that we want to make it easy for you.
It's so important to us
as a church.
You don't have to go
30 steps outside
the doors of this room
to find out what's going on
and how you can pray
for every single one
of our local
and global mission partners.
Did you know that?
Every one of them.
There's a wall right out there.
It says express grace over it.
It's our mission partner wall.
You can go there
and it's really served up for you.
You can watch a video about them.
There's postcards
and you can write them a note.
Send it around the world
and you don't have to leave
this building.
30 steps, I counted.
You can go over there.
We'll take care of the stamp.
There's pens.
There's notes.
And you can send it to them
and encourage them
and have partnership with them
in what they're doing.
Where would God send you
to be a Tychicus?
To carry His word of encouragement
to someone who needs it.
What a great gift
that God has called us
not into isolation,
not as individual people
who are now on our own
to figure things out,
but into community
with others
serving Him.
Daily reinforcements
in the battle.
But that's not all
that this passage references.
There are daily reinforcements
in gospel partnership.
There are eternal reinforcements
in gospel promises.
Look at verse 23.
Peace be to the brothers
and love with faith
from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace be with all
who love our Lord Jesus Christ
with love incorruptible.
Paul concludes with a benediction,
a good word of blessing
for God's people.
And the whole point
of a benediction
is that these gifts
and promises are lasting,
that they're eternal resources
of encouragement and hope
for God's people.
They're gifts and blessings
now in many ways,
but especially
they're eternal promises.
Maybe if you're writing a hymn,
you'd say strength for today
and bright hope for tomorrow
would be good words to use.
Notice the last word
in this verse, incorruptible.
It's a really significant word,
but it's a little hard
to know where it fits
in this verse.
It means something that lasts,
something that's immortal,
something that never decays.
Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 15
to talk about our resurrection bodies.
They'll be glorious
and that will last
and not break down
like these bodies.
Something that won't decay,
that'll never end.
And it fits in this verse
equally well with grace
and with love.
And translators and commentators
disagree on where to put it
and how to understand it.
Let me tell you,
the net of that
is actually the same thing.
Because Paul is not saying,
when we talk about
love incorruptible,
Paul is not saying this.
Grace will be
and will come
to all those
whose love is strong enough
that it never fails,
that you never let Jesus down,
that your love never wanes,
that it's strong to the end.
Anybody who does that,
those people will get grace.
Grace, that's not what Paul is saying.
That can't be the meaning.
Why?
First of all,
because that's not what grace means.
Grace is not something
I have to perform well enough to earn.
Grace is an unmerited gift.
Secondly, that can't be the right way
to understand it
because the whole book of Ephesians
has been telling us
it's God's love
that is so beyond measure,
so without end,
is so perfect.
It's His love,
not ours that's described that way.
This is not about
the quality of our love,
but about the permanence
of God's blessing.
And so the reason
the word incorruptible
still works right here with love,
the reason it can be
love that doesn't decay,
is that it works with both of them.
It's eternal grace and love.
God's eternal,
never-ending grace
rescues us
and gives us a love
for our Savior
that will indeed last
through eternity,
won't it?
Because of what He's done for us,
we will indeed love Him forever.
It will not fade away.
Not because we never fail,
but because He never fails.
Because the resources of His grace
never run out.
Because the reinforcements for us
are eternal.
That's His promise.
So in addition to love,
Paul offers the blessing of God
in his two favorite words for this
throughout his letters.
He started this letter
with these two things.
Grace and peace.
When they're from God,
they're more than mere well wishes.
Just a nice thing
at the end of the letter.
You know, be happy.
Have a good day.
They're promises of His blessing
because they're coming from God.
Peace from the only one
who can truly offer it.
Peace already with Him
because of Jesus,
we've learned.
And ultimately,
one day,
peace altogether
because of Jesus.
We spoke of the encouragement
of a long-time friend
coming back
and spending an evening with them.
What's better than those videos
of a soldier coming back home
to his family?
Is anything more encouraging
and tear-inducing
than seeing them surprise
their family members?
Bring tears and shouts of joy?
All of those videos are special.
Imagine if instead of just that,
instead of just I'm home,
the soldier after saying,
I'm home,
whispers in his loved one's ear,
for good.
The war is over.
How much more exciting is that?
How much more encouragement
and rejoicing happens there?
And that's exactly what God says.
Peace to you
for good.
The war will be over
and we'll be at peace.
What a great word of blessing
to the one who's struggling
and tiring
in a battle against sin.
Grace be with you.
Jesus has conquered
even your sin.
Your God is at peace with you
and one day you'll battle sin
no more.
To the one who's feeling alone
in the battle against evil,
peace be to you.
Jesus has conquered.
Don't forget what's true.
You battle a defeated foe
and God's still at work
so the broken things
will be fixed.
Justice will come.
All will be made right
because God is working
alongside you.
He stands with you.
You're not alone.
Eternal reinforcements
in the gospel promises
of God's benediction.
I hope that's what you hear
every Sunday
at the end of our service.
I love the benediction.
It's not a mere ritual
or formality
that we say
we gotta end somehow
so we do this little thing
at the end.
It's spiritual resources
for God's people.
And it's always about
grace and peace.
All the way back
when God told His people
to receive a benediction
back in number 6,
God told Moses
that when Aaron the priest
was going to speak
blessing to his people
he would say this,
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 what?
Peace.
The Lord be gracious
to you
and give you peace.
That's the word
that He speaks
to His people.
God didn't say
tell Aaron to do it
because something
has just happened
and they need this message.
God said this is how
He should always
bless my people.
Grace and peace.
Those are present
and eternal realities.
Whatever words of God
we use in the benediction,
the call is not for us
to go do something.
It's for us to sincerely
receive God's blessing.
It's why I'll say
lift up your heads
and receive the Lord's benediction.
Look up and revel
in that the love of God
is exactly what we sang
about it being today.
That the grace of God
in Jesus is as amazing
as we talk about.
That you're actually
at peace with God.
That that's real and true
with the creator
of the universe
who's your Father.
That's what's being spoken
to you.
A word from your heavenly Father.
A gospel promise
to encourage you
in your difficulty.
To empower you
in your weakness.
To lift your eyes
as it were
to an eternal reality
in the midst of a darkness
that you don't feel
like you can see beyond.
There's a guy in the Bible
I really relate to.
His name is Gehazi.
We're rolling on good names today.
First Tychicus,
now Gehazi.
Gehazi was Elisha's servant,
the prophet Elisha.
And what happens
in their story
is that the king of Syria
gets tired of Elisha
messing up his battle plans
by telling the army of Israel
where he's going.
And so he decides
to send his army
to get that prophet.
And so as they come
to the city therein,
one morning Gehazi walks out
to get the paper,
so to speak.
And he looks up
and this is what he sees.
2 Kings 6 at verse 15.
When the servant
of the man of God
rose early in the morning
and went out,
behold,
an army with horses
and chariots
was all around the city.
And the servant said,
Alas,
my master,
what shall we do?
He comes back in,
wakes Elisha up
and says,
it's over.
Let's give up.
Let's turn in.
There's nothing else
for us to do.
It's only going to get worse
from here.
It's just the two of us
against all of them.
That's all I see.
I know that feeling.
Do you know that feeling?
Here's what happens
to Gehazi and Elisha.
Elisha said to him,
do not be afraid
for those who are with us
are more than those
who are with them.
Gehazi's like,
come outside.
You haven't seen yet.
And so Elisha prays
and says,
O Lord,
please open his eyes
that he may see.
So the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man
and he saw.
And behold,
the mountain was full
of horses
and chariots of fire
all around Elisha.
What happens?
Elisha knows
Gehazi doesn't see
the reality
of the reinforcements
that they have.
The army of God
there with them.
So he prays God
would allow him
to see what is true.
And he does.
And God delivers them.
That's what happens
in gospel partnership
when through others
God sends reinforcements
to encourage us
that he's with us,
that it is true.
It's especially what happens
in gospel promises
when through God's blessing
of grace
and peace
to his people,
he opens our eyes
to the reinforcements
with us now
and always.
He opens our eyes
to and presses
into our hearts
what's really true.
Lest we give up.
Lest we despair
in our discouragement.
We're not alone.
This is true.
There's grace to you.
There's peace
in the midst
of what you're going through.
I'm in control
and I'm with you.
God has reinforcements
for the battle
and the victory
is his.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Oh God,
open our eyes
that we would see
like Gehazi.
We so struggle
with feeling alone,
with feeling discouraged,
with feeling outnumbered
and overwhelmed
and we often don't see
the point.
Why keep struggling?
It's exhausting.
Would you open our eyes
that we would see
you for who you are
as the glorious
king over all,
as the one
who is caring for us
and even,
Father,
holding us
in the palm of your hand.
Give us that vision
of you
that we would know
that you're caring for us
moment by moment
in this life
and that you have
everything taken care of
for the life to come.
Give us great hope
and encouragement
because of that.
May we trust you
more today.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
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