My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the assistant pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian
Church, and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
A special welcome if you are new with us or you're visiting.
We're glad you're here.
And we're glad you're here, as I say every week, not because we are trying to fill seats,
but because we are following Jesus together as one community.
And we're convinced that there is no one so good that they don't need God's grace, and
no one's so bad that they can't have it.
And so we're convinced that God has something to say to everyone, and that everyone needs
to hear what God has to say.
Whether you called yourself a Christian for 10 years or your whole life, or whether you
don't call yourself a Christian.
Maybe you have questions or doubts or objections about Christianity.
God, in his word, speaks so powerfully that he's willing to speak to all of those things.
He's willing to speak to our faith, but also to our doubts and our questions.
If you've been with us, you know that we're starting a series in the book of Philippians.
And if you remember from last week, Philippians is a letter.
It's a letter that's written to a church, and that church is much like our church.
Now, that church in Philippi, it's a Roman city in Macedonia, would have been abound for
about 10 years at the time that this letter was written.
We've been around a little over 20, so it's a little bit different.
But we're both still churches that are relatively young, still trying to unify and figure out
how exactly we're going to move forward together in our community for the gospel.
This church also had deacons and elders and saints, just like we do.
We saw that in the very first verse.
But this church also has struggles, and they're struggles like our struggles.
This church has living in a culture that worships the emperor as king rather than Jesus.
And so the congregants in it, these saints and deacons and elders, have to face opposition
because of that.
It's a church where, while everyone agrees about Jesus, they don't agree about how to pursue
him.
There's disagreement about the best way to do ministry, the best way to move forward.
We're going to see that especially in chapter 2.
And so this is a church like our church that's in difficult circumstances.
And if that weren't enough, this church happens to be in a city like our city.
Remember that Philippi was known for its military history, and it had a large number of military
retirees and military families because of the tremendous benefits that were offered to them
in that city that were not available in other parts of Macedonia.
And that is because it was granted status as a Roman colony where other cities were not.
And so Roman citizens and soldiers had special rights and privileges that they would not
have had access to in other areas.
And so in the midst of all these difficult circumstances, we saw last week that Paul places the accent
mark on partnership in the gospel.
That the gospel, which is the news about Christ's death and resurrection, not only in the past,
but the power that it brings now, has to be joined with our partnership as we pursue
it together.
And so that great treasure of the gospel is what binds us together as one community.
As we follow Jesus together as one community, that's the treasure that keeps us together.
If you remember from last week, I said that the beginning of Paul's letters often function
as a movie trailer.
They tell us everything that's going to come later in the letter.
And we're not done with the trailer.
We only watched the first half last week.
So we're going to be in the second half of the trailer this week in Philippians 1, verses
7 through 11.
And if we saw last week the importance of what Paul tells us in verse 5, the importance of
partnership for the gospel, this next section is going to answer the question for us, if
that's so important, if a partnership in the gospel is so important, how do we know that
we have a true partnership in the gospel?
What does true partnership look like?
What are its characteristics?
Its results.
And so that's my question for you if you call yourself a Christian.
If you don't call yourself a Christian, then the question could be this, why is the gospel
true?
Why should I believe it?
Why is it something that I should seriously consider?
So we're going to ask that as we come now to Philippians chapter 1.
We're going to start in verse 7.
Remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold.
Even the finest gold.
And that it is sweeter than honey.
Even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so we're going to turn to it now.
We're in Philippians chapter 1 starting at verse 7.
Verse 9.
Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you, as Jesus tells us in the gospel of John, have
not left us as orphans in a merciless universe.
You haven't left us alone.
But you've formed us together as a partnership.
You've sent your son to pay the price for our sin.
But even more than that, you speak to us.
And you speak to us through your word in ways and words that we can actually understand.
And so we ask for that understanding this morning that you would help us.
That you would open our eyes and unstop our ears.
That you'd soften our hearts and you'd give us clear minds that we could hear and see and understand and believe.
Everything that is written about you in your word.
And we ask all of this in the name of your son.
Amen.
If you remember from last week, Paul is filled with lots of emotions.
He's filled with thankfulness in verse 3.
And then in verse 4, his thankfulness moves to joy.
And even more than that, in verse 6, we saw that he was sure.
He had this confidence.
He was sure that, as he says here,
And so he seems to have a tremendous amount of confidence, of sureness, of joy, of thanksgiving in this partnership that he sees in the gospel between him and the Philippians.
What is the basis of this joy for Paul?
Why is he so sure that this is something that he can give thanksgiving for?
Why is he convinced, in verse 6, that God is bringing this work to completion?
Why is he convinced that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead isn't just work in generally in Christians,
but it's work specifically in this congregation in Philippi?
Even as they're in the midst of conflict and disagreement.
Well, we find out in verse 7.
He says,
In other words, Paul is sure.
He's confident.
He's joyful.
He's thankful.
Because this congregation has stuck with him, both in the good times and in the bad times.
Both in his imprisonment.
Remember, Paul writes this letter from a Roman prison.
Philippi was a city where he was in prison back in Acts chapter 16.
And that's where we have the famous story of him singing in prison with Silas.
The Philippian jailer is converted.
That jailer is probably one of the recipients of this letter.
They meet a woman named Lydia.
Her and her whole family are converted to follow after Jesus.
She's actually, Lydia's very wealthy, we find out.
And so when we leave the church in Philippi in Acts,
we find out that they're meeting in her house.
She probably has a house large enough to fit all of them.
And they stuck with him then.
They stuck with him when things were going really well.
Prison bars were being destroyed.
He could have left the prison if he'd wanted to because God was doing a miracle there.
He'd set them free.
People were coming to faith.
They had Paul, the great apostle, with them.
Everything seemed to be going well despite opposition.
Things were exciting.
Things were good.
And so, of course, it would make sense during that time that people would stick with Paul.
That they'd want to be with him.
Who wouldn't want to be with someone who wasn't such a powerful communicator?
Who wasn't clearly demonstrating the power of God at work in the city of Philippi?
It would make sense, right?
That these people would be with him during that time.
Ten years ago, they were his.
He had them in his hand.
And so, Paul gives thanks not because of that, but because they've still stuck with him even when he's in prison.
They've stayed with him even when things weren't going well.
Even when things weren't exciting.
When prison bars weren't being opened anymore, the church in Philippi stuck with him.
In fact, we'll find out later that they're so concerned about him that they've sent a man named Epaphroditus.
And they sent him to go check in on Paul to see how he's doing.
So the point is this.
People come to the church for all sorts of things.
Some people want to be a part of the partnership in the gospel because they want to be important.
They want influence.
They figured out that the church is a really good place to do that.
If you know enough theology, if you have enough money, people will pay attention to you.
And so it's a good place to feel like you're powerful.
You have something to offer.
Some people come to the church because they just want the partnership.
They realize the church is a great place to meet people.
It's a great place to find community.
It's a great place to make friends.
Some people come to the church because they love being right.
And if you have a book that's inspired by God and you know it really well,
it's a great place to tell other people what to believe.
It's a great place to have confidence, to say things strongly.
And so people come to the church for all sorts of things that have nothing really at heart to do with the gospel.
All sorts of reasons people come through our doors.
And so the real test comes when things are hard.
If someone comes to the church for power and influence, when they're told,
no, we're not going to follow your brilliant plan.
No, we're not going to promote you into leadership.
If that person's goal and motivation is power and influence, they're not going to stay.
They're going to leave.
If someone's goal in coming to the church is simply to find community,
but they're there for the partnership and not the gospel,
when things get hard in the culture for Christians, they're not going to stay either.
When their friends that they are so close to leave the church,
they may stop attending church as well.
Because they were there for the partnership and not for the gospel.
Some people come to church for a man.
They come for a preacher.
They're not interested in the partnership.
They believe they're interested in the gospel.
They are mesmerized by someone's speaking ability or their wit or their stories.
But when that preacher leaves, so do they.
And so Paul's thanksgiving, his confidence,
his sureness that God is at work in this congregation
is because they have done none of those things.
They have stuck with him, even when he's in prison.
Even when he's not performing miracles for them.
He's far away from them.
He's expensive to them.
Epaphroditus is bringing an offering that they've made.
And this is apparently not necessarily everyone in this congregation is rich,
but they've all given what they can to help Paul.
And so Paul sees that they have stuck with the gospel.
That their partnership is real.
That they've proven it.
They've proven it by staying even when things were hard.
And so how do we know that we have a true gospel partnership?
How do we know that's the basis of our partnership?
Well, one way that we know is that we stick with it when things are hard.
We're committed to the partnership even when things don't go well.
That we come for the gospel.
Next week we're going to see that God can use anything to advance the gospel.
He's going to use Paul's imprisonment.
He's going to use people who are selfish within the church.
He's going to use all of it for his glory.
That God does not need what we want.
And so as we are here at Cheyenne Mountain, you see in verse 8,
Paul says,
For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
That's the affection that we can have for one another.
Because we at this church are in difficult circumstances as well.
It was this Sunday, the second Sunday of September last year,
that our previous senior pastor announced that he was leaving to take another call.
And it was this summer that we thought we had another candidate, but we didn't.
And that we discovered that we had mold in our building.
But it's not just this past year.
If you're familiar with the history of our church,
the past 20 years, those of you who have been here know
that there have been good times and bad times.
There have been times that perhaps we got close to closing our doors,
times we were unsure of what God was doing.
And so we can say in verse 8 to each other,
For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Because you are still here.
Those of you who have been here the past year,
and those of you who have been here the past couple decades,
the families who helped start this church,
Ken and Nancy O'Connell,
Paul and David Johnson,
we can have the affection of Christ Jesus for them
because they've proven their partnership in the gospel
by being here not just when things are going well,
but when they're going poorly.
Not just when the circumstances are good,
but when they're difficult.
And Paul is sticking with this as well,
and Paul is sticking with this even though he's in prison.
And so if you're not a Christian,
if you have doubts or questions or objections,
I'd ask you this question.
Why is it that Paul sticks with things when they're difficult?
Why is he willing to stay when he's in prison?
He had everything as a religious, a Jewish religious leader.
He was influential.
He was powerful.
He's going to tell us all about that in chapter 3.
And yet he gives all of it up and sits in a prison.
Why is he giving up everything?
Well, it's because Paul is convinced of the historical reality
that Jesus died, and then he was raised again from the dead.
Paul tells us in a different letter in 1 Corinthians 15
that there were over 500 people who saw Jesus
after he was raised from the dead,
including a man, he refers to a man named Cephas,
which is a reference to Peter.
So Paul knows, he has tremendous confidence,
not just that God is at work in this congregation,
but that Jesus really did rise from the dead.
And so the success of Christianity that it's had,
it's not because it's a good life philosophy.
The reason it's been able to make it through thick and thin
is because of Jesus.
Remember we talked last week that the gospel is the news
about Jesus' death and his resurrection.
And so we know our partnership is true
when we stick through thick and thin,
but we can also know that the gospel is true
because we look back to people who lived
when those events happened
and they stuck with it through thick and thin.
They suffered things that would have made no sense
did they not actually believe in Jesus' death
and his resurrection.
And so that's the kind of power
that we have with a gospel partnership.
Now if you had a friend
and they told you about their church,
it was in this place called Philippi,
and they were going through difficult circumstances.
There was some fighting going on in the church.
There were actually some teachers
who were teaching not because they loved Christ,
but because they loved themselves.
They loved to hear themselves talk.
And on top of that,
they were in a culture that didn't like them.
What would be your number one prayer request for them?
What would you pray for for them
more than anything else?
What does Paul choose to pray for
more than anything else?
For people who are trying to have partnership in the gospel.
Did you see verse nine?
And it is my prayer
that your love may abound more and more
with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent
and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ
to the glory and praise of God.
Paul does not pray for a change in their circumstances.
Paul doesn't pray that the Roman government
would suddenly have favor on them.
And Paul doesn't immediately pray
for the resolution of all their problems.
No, instead he prays that their love
would abound more and more.
That it's something that's there,
but it's also something that's growing.
And he speaks about it as fruit in verse 11.
Now, my housemates and I
made a decision this past summer
that we were going to
plant a little garden in our backyard,
and we haven't been the best garden caretakers,
so I'm not sure if it was a great idea.
But I bought several mint plants,
and I made a mistake,
so I bought,
this is my advice to you,
my pastoral advice,
don't buy your mint plants
from a grocery store.
Buy them from a place
that actually specializes in plants.
So I bought several mint plants,
and most of them died except for one.
But the one that didn't die,
if you know anything about mint plants,
you know that they abound more and more.
Because they're a weed.
I mean, it's a weed that you eat.
So this mint plant has just been growing and growing
all summer.
When I see it,
there's more and more fruit on it.
I haven't taken advantage of all of that,
but that is the idea here that Paul has,
that this love is just growing.
It's love that's already there,
so he's not saying you need to
do something that's not there,
but he wants it to be more and more.
This goes back to his vision
of the Christian life from verse 6,
that God who began a good work
will bring it to completion.
That the good things that are at work
in this congregation will grow more and more.
But this also raises a question for us,
because what in the world does Paul mean by love?
There are all sorts of definitions
for love in our world right now.
For some people,
I might say I really love pizza.
It could be I enjoy something.
For other people,
love means not questioning
someone else's choices in their life.
No matter what they do,
you approve of it because you love them.
For some people,
love is an emotion.
So what is it here
that's supposed to abound more and more?
What is Paul's definition of love?
I'm going to jump around a little bit here
between verses 9 and 11,
but we're going to cover it all.
Let's look first at the result.
The result of this love
is that it would be pure,
they would be pure and blameless
for the day of Christ.
So whatever this love is,
it has to result in being pure and blameless.
Now, we might think here
that Paul is talking about perfection,
that these people are somehow
going to reach perfection in this life.
That is not what he's saying.
We'll see that later in chapter 3.
He'll make it clear
that he has not reached perfection.
He doesn't think he's going to ever become perfect,
but he's working towards
the goal of growing,
of abounding more and more.
These words here,
they're less,
they're not the legal words
that we would expect
in other parts of Paul's letters.
These are more relational words.
And so this word pure,
one way we could translate it
is sincere.
Paul's going to speak
in the next chapter
about people who are not sincere.
They're preaching the gospel,
actually in the next section,
they're preaching the gospel
because they're selfish,
not because they're interested in Christ.
And so the purity here
is a purity in motive.
That you,
in what you do,
would be interested in other people,
not yourself.
Remember,
he's writing this to a church
that has division.
That you would be interested,
that your motives would be pure,
you'd be sincere in what you're doing.
And blameless here,
we could take it as
not causing other people to stumble.
In other words,
if there's been a conflict,
we're able to say,
that person had no part in it.
They didn't contribute to the conflict.
Parents, you know this,
if you have two children come to you
and one's complaining about the other,
often your first move is to ask,
well, what part did you play in it?
There's usually no one
who's blameless in these sorts of things.
There's usually no one who's pure.
I got to see this a lot
when I was teaching.
You know, students would,
Colin's laughing.
Students will come and complain
about another student
and you'll quickly find out
that they're not telling you
the whole story.
Oh, they hit you
after you kicked them in the leg.
Okay, I got it.
And so Paul is speaking about a love.
Not an emotion primarily,
but a selflessness.
He's asking these people
to grow as they're with one another
in a congregation,
that they grow in their selflessness,
that they would be pure,
that their greatest desire
would be for other people's good,
and that they would be blameless,
that nothing they would do
would cause other people to stumble,
that they would not be
the cause of division.
And how are they going to do this?
Well, this is a specific kind of love.
It's love with knowledge
and all discernment,
so that you may approve
what is excellent.
This knowledge here
is knowing the right way
and then the discernment
is being able to act on it.
And so this love
is something that's informed
by their knowledge of the gospel.
As they prioritize the gospel,
as they understand the gospel
and what it means for their lives,
they realize that the example of Christ
is their example as well.
And so they can continue
in this partnership
because they don't always
have to be right.
and they don't always
have to be in power and control.
That they're willing
to be in this church
that's not their perfect church
and still work
with the other people
beside them for the gospel.
They're willing
to keep pushing forward.
I've made jokes
with a few of you
a few times
about a church,
and this church is called
Matthew Presbyterian Church.
And at this church,
everything is done
exactly the way
I would like it to be done.
All my preferences are met.
All my convictions
about small things
that aren't important,
those are met to a T.
Matthew Presbyterian Church
is a really great place.
And it would also be
a really terrible place
because all of my
personality flaws,
all of my weaknesses,
all of my sin patterns
would be amplified
throughout that entire church.
church.
And you know,
I've been to
a lot of churches
in my life,
I've grown up in the church,
and I've never,
I've never actually
found a church
that's Matthew Presbyterian Church.
I don't understand.
But I would imagine
for many of us
that all of us
have a perfect church
in our minds.
a church where
everything's done
exactly the way
we want it to.
And what Paul
is telling us here
is that we push
not for our preferences,
but we push together
for the gospel.
That we would be
pure and blameless.
That we would be able
to know what is
actually important.
That's the knowledge
and discernment here.
We would approve
what's excellent.
That as we work together
for the gospel,
we'd be able to figure out
what matters
and what doesn't.
what we need to fight over
and what we don't need
to fight over.
By the way,
Paul is certainly
willing to fight.
In chapter 3,
he's going to refer
to certain people
as dogs and mutilators.
So if you think
that Paul is unafraid
of conflict,
that's certainly not true.
And if you think
he's not willing
to draw lines
over certain things,
that's not true as well.
He's going to start
throwing some names
around in chapter 3.
But he's saying here,
as you're moving
forward together,
as you love one another,
you would know
what's important,
what matters.
You would put it all
in light of the gospel,
in light of Jesus' death
and his resurrection,
but also in light
of the good work
that he's doing.
So that verse 11,
you would be filled
with the fruit
of righteousness
that comes through
Jesus Christ
to the glory
and praise of God.
So that they would be
these plants
that are growing
and abounding
more and more.
so that they would
stand on the day
of Christ.
Remember,
we talked about last week
that the day of Christ
is the day of Jesus'
second coming,
the day that he's going
to come with judgment
on the world.
His first judgment
focused on salvation,
his first coming
focused on salvation
but included judgment.
His second coming
will focus on judgment
but include salvation.
salvation.
And so,
these saints,
these saints
and elders
and deacons
are all in
God's garden.
And if they're
in God's garden,
they're producing
fruit together,
the kind of fruit
that he brings.
And that's how Paul
knows that there's
so much confidence.
That's how he has
this sureness,
this joy,
and this thanksgiving.
And so,
how do we know
that we have
a true gospel partnership?
First,
we saw that we know
we have a true
gospel partnership
if we stick through
things in thick and thin
and the hard
and the good times.
But we also know
we have a true
gospel partnership
if there's the fruit
of righteousness.
If we see that
we are abounding
in love more and more.
Remember,
I asked you last week,
I said we could
ask you how you
became a Christian
but we could also
ask you how you
are becoming a Christian.
How is God
not just bringing
theological truths
into your mind
but combining it
with knowledge
and discernment
that you're approving
what's excellent?
That you would have
love, joy, peace,
patience, goodness,
kindness, faithfulness,
gentleness,
and self-control.
And so,
we know that we're
a true partnership
as we see those things
springing up
in our church.
As we see those things
springing up
in our lives.
And so,
we should be asking,
how am I different
than when I became
a Christian?
how have I changed?
Maybe it's I,
I used to be
angry,
but now I lose
my temper less.
It used to be
that I hoarded money,
that my security
is more important
than anything else,
but now I realize
that God
is in charge
of my life
and so I can be
generous with those
around me.
Whatever it is,
we should be able
to look back
on our lives
and see God at work
bearing fruit.
If you're not
a Christian,
how do we know
the gospel is true?
Well,
I hope that as you
get to know us,
as you see us
in our lives,
not that you would
see perfect people,
but that you would
see people who have
the fruit of righteousness,
you wouldn't see
people who always
get it right,
but that you'd see
people who are growing.
And so if you're
a Christian,
ask yourself,
how am I growing?
If you're not a Christian,
you should feel free
to ask any one of us,
how have you changed
since you became
a Christian?
How are you
changing now?
Where do you see
the fruit of righteousness
in your life?
Now this fruit
isn't something
that we ourselves
generate or make,
we see that it is
through Jesus Christ
in verse 11.
I told you that we've
been planting a garden
in my backyard
and we have this
diagram,
this map
on our refrigerator
that my housemate
Rory drew
and it shows
where each plant
is in the garden
so we can remember
where we planted things.
But we don't really
need that map
anymore
because all the fruit
has come out.
I know whether
the mint plant
is a mint plant,
whether the diagram
says it or not
because it has mint leaves.
All I have to do
is break them
and smell them.
And I know
whether the tomato plant
is a tomato plant
because it has
tomatoes on it.
And so our partnership
is true
when the fruit
is produced
and yet it's not,
it's not something
the plant
makes itself.
That mint plant
produces mint leaves
because it's a mint plant.
And if it didn't
it's because it isn't.
But it doesn't
water itself.
Rory put in
this irrigation system,
kind of an entry level
irrigation system
but it's one of those
under the mulch
kind of hose tubes
that you put in.
And so he turns
on the water
and makes sure
the plants get
what they need.
And the son
comes and gives them
the energy
that they need.
And that is my prayer
for us every week
as I prepare to preach.
That God would send
his Holy Spirit
on us
to give us growth.
Because it's not growth
that we can do ourselves.
It's not something
we generate it
but it's something
that he does.
So our partnership
is true
when we stick
through the thick and thin
and it's true
when we produce
the fruit.
And it's fruit
that God is producing.
He is the great gardener.
He's tending his plants
and if we're in his garden
we'll see that growth.
We'll see it coming
and we'll see it
as we're working together.
And so last week
we saw that we're
in partnership
because we are pursuing
the treasure
of the gospel together.
That we're willing
to put up with differences
because we all agree
that that is the most
worthy thing.
But here it's a little
bit different.
It's not
it's a different angle.
We are
in partnership together
growing fruit together.
We're not just pursuing
the same goal
in the end
but we're pursuing
fruit together now
as we work
as a church
as a partnership.
filled with the fruit
of righteousness
that comes through
Jesus Christ
to the glory
and praise of God.
And so it's God
who is gardening
and feeding
and bringing out
this fruit in his people
in his garden.
And that
is not what earns
our salvation
but it's the fruit.
It shows that we belong
to God.
That Christians
produce fruit
just like mint plants
produce mint leaves.
because they're weeds
and that's what they do
when there's water
and sun.
And God's people
produce fruit
when they're in
his people
in his partnership
receiving
the food
of his word
working together
their love
abounding more
and more.
I read an article
this spring
there's been some
research
that's shown
what people suspected
for a long time.
And some people
who suspected
suspected this
others thought
they were crazy
but now there's proof.
And it's proof
of the fact
that plants
actually talk
to each other.
So it's been proven
that plants
can communicate
with each other
not just mechanically
not just when their
leaves touch each other
we all know
they're climbing plants
right
they can feel
the environment
around them
but they're actually
secretions
that they give out
sometimes through
their roots
to let each other
know how close
they are to each other
so that they can
adjust accordingly
whether they're
going to grow high
to get more sun
based on the plants
around them
or they'll grow out
plants have to make
these sorts of decisions
to produce fruit
and they're all
helping each other
they're sending out
signals to let each
other know
how close they are
so they can make
the right decision
to grow the right
amount of fruit
and even more
than that
they'll actually
communicate with each
other about predators
you can search this
on Google
if there's a
predatory insect
that's coming
at one plant
that plant will
send out signals
to all the other
plants to let them
know
that there's a
danger coming
and so if we're
tempted to believe
that we are
isolated Christians
growing our own
fruit just between
us and God
Paul is telling us
here no
that our fruit
is something that
abounds more and
more as we're
together in God's
garden
that we are plants
helping each other
communicating with
each other and
growing together
each for the other
giving each other
the information and
the help that we
need that we can
all grow
that we can all
bear fruit and so
that we can all
stand for the day
of Christ
and God is doing
that now
he's doing that
for all of his
children who are
in the partnership
of his gospel
everyone
who is here
following after
them
he's watering us
he's providing us
with sun
so that we can
grow
and he's doing
it with us
together because
he is the great
gardener
so would you pray
with me
dear father in
heaven
we thank you for
planting us in this
garden and this
church
we thank you that
you're the one who
produces the fruit
and the growth
we ask that you
would encourage us
with it
that you would
continue to sustain
us
not just in the
good times
but in the bad
times
and that you
would continue
to grow us
more and more
in love
for you
and for one
another
we ask all
these things
in the name
of your son
amen