Good morning.
Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
It's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
Special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We're glad you're here.
And we are glad you're here not because we are trying to fill seats,
but because we are following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we are convinced that there's no one so good
that they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.
And so God is going to have something to say to everyone in his word,
and everyone needs to hear what God has to say.
If you've been with us, you know that we are in the book of Nehemiah.
The book of Nehemiah is a book about a man named Nehemiah who lived in the 5th century B.C.
And he lived during a time when the people of Israel, God's people in the Old Testament,
were returning slowly from exile.
They had been freed from exile in 538 B.C.
And what we read about here is in 445 B.C., almost 100 years later.
So the process of returning from exile is still continuing.
And this is the process of Nehemiah, along with God's people,
turning back from their sin,
abandoning God's city and his ways,
and turning back to God in repentance.
This is part of a much larger story that's covered by many books in the Bible.
And this particular part of the story is about the rebuilding of the wall around the city of Jerusalem.
The city of Jerusalem is the city that God had given his people,
the people of Israel, to be a light to the nations.
That everyone in the world could look to this city to see
what it is like when God's people follow after God's ways.
Now we've been through quite a lot together as we've gone through the book of Nehemiah.
We've seen internal problems and external problems.
We've seen oppression of the poor by God's people, not even the people outside.
We've also seen tremendous unity in chapter 3 as God's people worked together,
despite their differences, to build the temple, excuse me, to build the wall.
And then in chapter 6, we saw the fear that they encountered as they were going on God's mission.
And now we come to chapter 7,
which I know that many of you have been looking forward to.
And I say that only half-jokingly.
If you're not aware, if you haven't looked at the end of your worship guide,
you know that this is mostly a long list of names and numbers.
I only say that half-jokingly because this is a wonderful opportunity for some people.
There are some congregants, and you've already told me this,
who love passages like this.
I would love to think that it's out of Christian charity.
Some of it's just because this is a great stump-the-chump situation.
And it's fun to watch a preacher squirm.
So if that's you, you're welcome.
It also raises a question of why it is that we cover passages like this.
It would be easy for me to preach the very beginning of chapter 7
and just skip to chapter 8 and just tell you,
yes, that was a long list of names, and we're going to keep going.
And we read passages like this for two reasons.
First of all, we, and this is of lesser importance,
we read them because we want to stay honest.
It would be incredibly easy for me as your pastor to find passages that were easy to preach,
be tempting to find passages that talked only about topics
that everyone in this world could agree with us about,
about God's goodness and His mercy and His justice.
And so we pick books of the Bible, and we preach through the entire book
because it makes us preach through things that are hard at times.
Sometimes we have to touch on topics that our culture might disagree with us about.
And so we do this, first of all, to keep ourselves honest,
but that's not the most important reason we do it.
The most important reason that we preach through passages like this
is because they are part of God's Word.
And we believe what God tells us when He says 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.
God's Word is living and active.
It was His Word in Genesis chapter 1 that brought the very world into existence.
And it is God's Word that we find out in Romans 10
that takes sinners and brings them to faith.
And so we read Nehemiah chapter 7 as an act of faith and trust and hope in God's Word,
that He has good for us and He has something to teach us.
And so that's how we come and turn to this chapter in this book.
Now as we come to it, I'm going to name the same reality that I named last week,
which is that sometimes as we read long chapters like this, it is hard to pay attention.
So I'm going to give you not one homework assignment, but two homework assignments this time.
This is you, which is all of us.
First of all, I want you to look out for the problem that Nehemiah faces.
Nehemiah actually faces a big problem in this chapter, which is mostly of names,
and that problem is going to show up in verses 1 through 4.
And then if you are tempted to fall asleep during the list of names and numbers,
my challenge to you is to try to track the number of groups.
Not the numbers of sons, because we're going to hear about a lot of sonsets,
but numbers like people of Israel or Levites or priests, anything under that category.
Okay, that's my challenge to you as we go through this.
There's a problem, and then there are groups.
And with that, we are going to read Nehemiah chapter 7.
And remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that while the grass may fall and the flowers fade,
it is his word that stands forever.
In other words, while each of us in this room will die one day unless the Lord returns,
God's word is going to continue.
And so we're going to read it now, starting at verse 1.
Now when the wall had been built, and I had set up the doors and the gatekeepers,
the singers and the Levites had been appointed,
I gave my brother Hananiah and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem,
for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.
And I said to them,
Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot.
And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors.
Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.
The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few,
and no houses had been rebuilt.
Verse 5.
Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials
and the people to be enrolled by genealogy.
And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first,
and I found written in it.
These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles,
whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried into exile.
They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town.
They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Ramiah,
Nahomini, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpareth, Bigvi, Nahim, Banna.
The number of the men of the people of Israel,
the sons of Peresh, 2,172.
The sons of Shephetiah, 372.
The sons of Ere, 652.
The sons of Pehath-Moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818.
The sons of Elam, 1,254.
The sons of Zatu, 845.
The sons of Zaka, 760.
The sons of Benue, 648.
The sons of Bebi, 628.
The sons of Asgad, 2,322.
The sons of Edenakam, 667.
The sons of Bigvi, 2,067.
The sons of Aden, 655.
The sons of Atter, namely of Hezekiah, 98.
The sons of Hashem, 328.
The sons of Bezi, 324.
The sons of Heraph, 112.
The sons of Gibeon, 95.
The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188.
The men of Anathoth, 128.
Verse 28.
The men of Beth-Azmaveth, 42.
The men of Kiriath-Jerim, Shethra and Beroth, 743.
The men of Ramah and Geba, 621.
The men of Michmas, 122.
The men of Bethel and Ai, 123.
The men of the other Nebo, 52.
The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.
The sons of Haram, 320.
The sons of Jericho, 345.
The sons of Lot, Hadid and Ono, 721.
The sons of Sinai, 3,930.
The priests.
The sons of Jedi, namely the house of Jeshua, 973.
The sons of Emmer, 1,052.
The sons of Pasher, 1,247.
The sons of Haram, 1,017.
The Levites.
The sons of Jeshua, namely of Cadmiel, of the sons of Hodeva, 74.
The singers.
The sons of Asaph, 148.
The gatekeepers.
The sons of Shalem.
The sons of Eter.
The sons of Talman.
The sons of Akab, the sons of Hatata, the sons of Shobai, 138.
Verse 46.
The temple servants.
The sons of Zihah, the sons of Hassaphah, the sons of Tabiath, the sons of Keros, the sons of Siah, the sons of Paddan, the sons of Lebanon.
The sons of Hagaba, the sons of Sheolmai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Geddel, the sons of Gehar.
The sons of Reiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nakoda, the sons of Ghazm.
Verse 57.
Verse 61.
Verse 66.
Verse 79.
Verse 72.
Verse 70.
Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work.
The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 derricks of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments, and 500 minas of silver.
And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave unto the treasury of the work 20,000 derricks of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.
And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 derricks of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments.
So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their towns.
And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.
Please pray.
Very appreciated, but unnecessary.
I apologize, but I'm not sorry.
Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you are a good father to us.
You don't leave us to figure things out on our own.
You don't leave us to stumble around in the dark.
But instead, you shine a light.
You tell us the way that we should go in your word.
And you've given us Jesus to help us, to redeem us, and sustain us as we follow after you.
And so we ask all these things in his name.
Amen.
We have come here to the very end of the rebuilding of the wall.
Now, I've been telling you all along that Nehemiah chapter 7 is about building a wall.
And yet, if you've been paying attention, you know that we have many chapters to go.
So we're going to talk about many things besides walls.
But we find out here in verse 1 that everything is finished.
In chapter 6, we knew that the wall was finished, but the gates were not there.
And now we find that the gates are here as well.
Everything is finished.
But there's a problem.
While the wall is complete, there are not enough people to fill the city.
We're told in verse 1 that Nehemiah appoints gatekeepers and singers and Levites.
And he doesn't tell us explicitly why, but perhaps the most likely reason is that he did not have enough guards to watch the city.
And so just like we saw Levites and all sorts of people building the wall, which is way outside of their area of expertise, their experience,
so we also see them guarding the wall.
He has to set up folks who live in the city, the inhabitants.
Verse 3.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem are appointed as guards.
Some of their guards post, and then this is Nehemiah's brilliant, some in front of their homes.
So Nehemiah puts people to guard things that they personally find valuable.
But even this does not solve the problem that we find in verse 4.
The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.
And so in this place where we should expect a celebration,
we would think that at this point in the book, Nehemiah would tell us about the dedication service that they had,
about how everyone rejoiced at the building of the wall,
but instead of celebration, they have a much more important task on their hands, and that is triage.
No one has been living in the city of Jerusalem, at least very few people have, because there have not been walls.
And so while it's exciting on the one hand,
the task before them to hold down the city to guard it is overwhelming on the other.
And so as they follow God in his mission, as we've seen, there are many challenges that come to us.
Many things that we face.
We have fear on the one hand,
discouragement on the other,
God's enemies coming up against us.
But here the problem is that as they look around, it's not God's enemies.
It's just that there's not many people standing with them.
There's not many people that are there following after God's mission with them.
And while we are not rebuilding a literal wall around a literal city,
if we follow after God in his ways, there will be times when we look around,
and we do not see many people standing with us.
There will be times when we are all bought in on following God in his ways,
and we just realize there aren't many other people who are excited about that.
There aren't many other people who are standing with us.
There are times when we want to fight for goodness and justice,
and we realize that the people we wished and hoped would be with us are instead apathetic.
There are times that we are fighting and striving to remain sexually faithful,
following after God's commands and his intentions,
and yet no one else is with us.
And it feels at times like we're fighting the battle all by ourselves.
There will be times when we're trying to raise our children to love God in his way,
and yet it seems like there's no one else there.
There are very few people who share that goal with us.
There will be times where perhaps you're single and you want to be married,
but you also want to be with someone who follows after God.
And when you look around, there's not many other people who are doing that.
Perhaps you want to keep walking with God, but your family wants to walk away from him.
Perhaps you are not following after Jesus, but you want to, you're thinking about it.
But you're afraid that if you do, your friends and your spouse won't come with you.
There are many times when we're going on God's mission.
And the problem is not necessarily fear like we saw in the last chapter,
but discouragement, but loneliness.
Who else is going to stand with us?
If we are going to stand with God, is it going to be a lonely journey?
Is it going to be constantly uphill?
It's with that question in mind that Nehemiah decides he's going to call an assembly.
This list of names is not something accidental or coincidental in the book of Nehemiah,
but it is a response to this problem that they come up against
as they look to guard the city that they are trying to rebuild.
And so we see in verse 5, Nehemiah decides to assemble the nobles and the officials
and the people to be enrolled.
And it doesn't tell us exactly why he's doing this,
but presumably, as he knows that the city needs more inhabitants,
he is going to do an audit of the census,
figure out who there is that's in the surrounding town
so that he can begin to recruit people
and bring them back into the city of Jerusalem that had been abandoned.
And as he provides this list for us,
we're told that it's going to have three categories in it.
It's going to have the nobles, the officials, and the people.
And yet the list does not go quite in that order.
If you've been tracking, if you tried to list the groups,
you may notice that the first group that's listed
is actually not the nobles and the officials.
Instead, in verses 6 and 7, it's simply the people.
We see, first, these were the people of the province.
And then at the end of verse 7,
the number of the men of the people of Israel.
And so while we have a book of the Bible
whose title is a name about one man,
this is a book that has a surprising number of names in it.
While on the one hand, Nehemiah is the leader
and the person whose name is given to the book.
On the other hand, he doesn't look to do it all by himself.
There are other accounts, historical accounts,
of what happened during this time,
and they do not include these long lists of names.
Because to other historians,
historians outside of God's people,
that is unimportant and meaningless.
It's only the leader that matters.
But here the nobles and the officials
are pushed to second place.
Because it's God's people
that Nehemiah looks to for the work.
If we're tempted to believe
that Nehemiah is some kind of hero leader
who's just leading the charge,
he's the one we should be praising.
The long list of names that we find,
not just in this chapter,
but previously in chapter 3,
and we have a few more lists
coming up in future chapters as well,
cut against the grain of all of that.
This is a book with one man's name
on the one hand.
But it's a book with lots of names
on the other hand.
When we're tempted to believe
that we're alone
and no one else is standing with us,
we're reminded of the truth
that we saw in chapter 3,
that God's people are many
and they move together.
Not only are they many
and they move together,
but that's the only way,
that's the only way
that God's people can work.
That's the only way
we're able to go on mission together,
following after God
and going in his ways.
We've already talked a lot about this
in chapter 3,
about different people,
but one vision.
And so I'm simply going to say this.
We need a lot of guards
for our gates at Cheyenne Mountain.
And if you come to our church,
week after week,
we are glad you're here.
But we are not interested
in filling seats.
We are interested in following
after Jesus together
as one community.
And so if you do not have
a gate to guard,
please come and talk to me.
Talk to one of our elders.
Because if you look
and you think,
wow, this church is running great.
Everything is getting done
that needs to be done.
No one needs me here.
Nothing could be further
from the truth.
We don't just need Nehemiahs.
We don't just need nobles
and officials.
We need the people of Israel.
As we look at this long list
of names,
we're reminded of the number
of people who are available
in Israel to help live
in the city.
and work in the city
and come alongside
everyone who's there with them
to follow God in his ways.
And so the message here
is not one of shame,
but one of invitation.
We need you.
We need every single person
in this church
to come and work with us
as we follow after God.
And so if you don't have a gate,
if no one has asked you
to help guard
or work with something,
then come.
Help us as we are following
after Jesus together
as one community.
Be a part of the work
that God is doing
here at Cheyenne Mountain.
The work of rebuilding the wall
is not something
that Nehemiah can do alone.
It's not something
the nobles and officials
can do alone,
but it's something
that's going to take
all of these numbers
of people to do.
And so what do we do
when we look around
and we're following after God,
but it doesn't seem like
there's enough people
around us?
What we have to do
on the one hand,
what Nehemiah does,
he gathers the people
so that he can list them
and recruit them.
But on the other hand,
we have to do
what the people do,
which is come forward
and be willing
to stand up and serve,
to be part of everything
that God is doing here
through the city of Jerusalem.
If you are reading carefully, though,
there was a little bit
of a plot twist
here with the list of names.
So Nehemiah has a problem, right?
On the one hand,
he thinks that
he needs more people
to come into the city.
And so we would assume
that he's going to count
the people that are alive.
Except in verse 5,
we find something different.
He is going to assemble
the nobles and the officials
and the people
to be enrolled,
but that's not the list
that I just read to you.
I did not just read you
a list of people
who were from 445 B.C.
These, verse 6,
actually verse 5,
I found the book
of the genealogy
of those who came up
at the first.
In other words,
I found the book
of people who came up
in 538 B.C.
I found the book
of the first people
who returned
when they were allowed
to leave exile in Babylon
and come back to Jerusalem.
And so that's what he says
in verse 6.
These were the people
of the province
who came up
out of the captivity
of those exiles
whom Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon,
had carried into exile.
At the time that Nehemiah
is writing this,
Nebuchadnezzar is dead.
And most likely,
everyone's name
that he just listed
is dead as well.
This would be like me
thinking that we have
a problem guarding
our gates here
at Cheyenne Mountain.
We need more people.
Instead of listing,
instead of going
to our new church directory,
instead I make a phone call
to Ken O'Connell
and I say,
Ken,
I really need the role
of members from 1996.
And as I'm going through
trying to figure out
who's at the church
right now,
instead I just pause
and I pull out
the role of people
who started Cheyenne Mountain
in 1996
and I start reading through it.
And then I list it.
This list of names
that Nehemiah gives
would be like me
coming in front of you
and listing a group
of people who were
working for the church
in the 1930s.
He's looking to count people now
but instead he reminds
everyone of people
in the past.
It's sort of like
if you watch your license plates
in Colorado carefully,
you know there's
the Pioneer license plate.
And it used to be
until the late 2000s
that you would have to prove
that you had ancestors
in Colorado
going back at least
100 years
so that you could get
a Pioneer license plate.
Apparently that was illegal.
So now I could get
a Pioneer license plate
even though I've only lived here
for a couple years.
And you all would know
I was lying
but no one else
on the roads would.
That is what Nehemiah
is doing here.
He is showing
the people of Israel
that when it comes
to Jerusalem
they have Pioneer
license plates.
They can look back
almost 100 years
to the people
who came at first.
But why does Nehemiah
do that?
Why instead of just
counting the people
who existed
then who could help him?
Does he go back
and look at what
happened 100 years before?
First of all
Nehemiah is giving them
great hope.
As they're looking around
and they don't see
enough people
with them
they know that
they're not alone.
This was not their idea.
The city of Jerusalem
was not their idea.
They're joining
into a work
that God's remnant
has been part of
for over
almost 100 years.
They're joining
into something
that God had started
thousands of years
before with Abraham.
And so they're
continuing
a freight train
that will not stop.
As they're discouraged
in the moment
as they're wondering
in the moment
what's going to happen
all they have to do
is look back
to God's faithfulness
over time
through generations.
God's faithfulness
through real time
and real space.
There are very few
of us here
there's a few of us
but there's very few
of us
who were here
when Cheyenne Mountain started.
And there's none
of us here
who were alive
in the first century
when the church started.
And so if we look around
and we're tempted
to be discouraged
because we don't see
enough people with us
we only have to remember
that God
is still at work.
He's still at work
in the way
he's been at work
for thousands of years.
And he's put us here
in this moment
and this time
to continue
the work he has
for us.
But it doesn't
rest on us
and one day
unless the Lord returns
we will pass it on
to someone else.
And so Nehemiah
gives them
tremendous hope
as they look back
on everything
that's happened
in the past.
The remnant
their parents
and grandparents
and great grandparents
who came back
from exile
in 538.
but Nehemiah
is also giving them
tremendous humility.
There will come a day
when everyone
in this room
will be dead.
Unless Jesus returns
as exciting as it is
as we start
this new chapter
in our church's life
as many times
as I've been
in this pulpit
and it's not many
no one knows
the day or the hour.
And so whether
it's in 3 weeks
or in 30 years
there will come
a time
when I step out
of this pulpit
for the last time.
And unless Jesus returns
our prayer is that
there will come a day
when no one
in this room now
will be worshiping
at this church
because we will have
all gone to be
with the Lord
and there will be
a new congregation
and our hope is that
we will be like
this list in 538.
They can look back
not on our perfection
as we know
Nehemiah is coming
to make up
for what previous
generations have not done
but they can look back
on our faithfulness
and they can rest
on our shoulders
looking back to us
like we look back
to the people
who have come before.
Our hope is that
and prayer is that
Cheyenne Mountain
this church would be here
for generations to come
unless the Lord returns.
And so as we look
and work now
we look back
to people who have
worked in the past
and we also look forward
to people we'll hand it off
to in the present.
We're going to talk more
as our loan renegotiation
comes up
about our building campaign
and I hope that we reach
our goals for our
building campaign.
But no matter
how much money
you give
there will come a day
when the only way
someone will know
your name
is if they read it
in a list.
In fact that's exactly
what we see here
at the end
of chapter 7.
After the list
of people
now I widely advertise
the list of people
and numbers
we also have a list
of people and gifts.
We don't just see
the faithfulness
of these people
in returning back
from Babylon
as the remnant.
We also see
their faithfulness
financially
in building up
the city of Jerusalem.
We see the gifts
and the gifts
that are given
by the nobles
in the fathers' houses
are almost equal
to the same gifts
that are given
by the rest of the people.
And so not only
are they resting
on the shoulders
of these generations
that come before them
they're also resting
on their faithfulness.
Their faithfulness
not just in serving
but in giving.
As Nehemiah
deals with the people
who do not have
enough around them.
On the one hand
he encourages them
with the list
of everyone
who's come before.
But on the other hand
he reminds them
as they're tempted
to believe
that it's all up to them
God is at work
and there will come
a day when our hope
is that no one
will remember us
unless they read a list.
But that God's mission
will continue.
It will continue
generation
after generation
after generation.
And so the question
is not
will we be remembered
or not
because we won't.
The question is
what will we inherit?
Which city
will we be found in?
As we wonder
if there's enough
people next to us
the question is not
who is with us
but where are we?
God's city of Jerusalem
was the place
that he had given
to his people.
It was the place
where his kingdom
was meant to be
on earth
just as it is
in heaven.
As we move
from the Old Testament
to the New Testament
we expand
God's vision
expands beyond Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was never
meant to be
something that stood
by itself forever
but it was meant
to expand
to the whole earth.
God told Abraham
in Genesis 12
that he was going
to bless him
to be a blessing
and that all
the nations of the earth
all the families
of the earth
would be blessed
through him.
And so what begins
in Jerusalem
spreads throughout
the world.
And so while we
do not live
and work
for the city
of Jerusalem
while we don't
try to find
ourselves
within the physical
boundaries
of the walls
that Nehemiah rebuilt
our hope is
that we would
be found
in Jesus
through faith
in Christ.
And so our hope
is that we would
be found
with God's people
now
just as everyone
in this list
who is forgotten
was found
in the city
of Jerusalem
then.
What will you
inherit?
Where will you
be found
when you die?
will you be
in the city
when Jesus
returns?
Because one day
God's city
will be full
and complete.
While it's
imperfect now
people feeling
at times like
they're standing
alone
there is going
to come a day
when Jesus
is going to
return
for the second
time.
And when
that happens
his kingdom
will be full
and complete
on earth
as it is
in heaven.
And so our
hope
is that Jesus
uses us
as part of
his mission
while we
wait for that
to happen.
Our hope
is not that
we have enough
people around
us
but that we're
following after
Jesus together
as one
community.
Christians are
people who
work in the
present
guarding the
walls
as they look
back to the
past for
encouragement.
of what God
has done.
And then we
look forward
and hope
to the future
for what God
will do.
And our hope
is this that
as the prophets
tell us in the
Old Testament
in the book
of Habakkuk
one day
the earth
will be
covered
with the
knowledge
of God
just like
the seas
are covered
with water.
Jerusalem
is not the
ending point
but the
starting point
of God's
mission.
And one day
will continue.
it continues
now and one
day will
take over
the whole
earth.
One of my
favorite scenes
from The
Lion King
is when
Mufasa and
Simba
are up on
top of the
rock.
And Mufasa
tells his
son
look Simba
everything the
light touches
is our
kingdom.
God's
promise to
his people
is that
now in
part
and one
day in
full
his kingdom
will come
on earth
as it is
in heaven.
And when
it does
everything
the light
touches
will be
God
and his
kingdom.
And so
as we
stand
sometimes
wondering if
there's enough
people around
us or with
us
we take hope
on the one
hand that
God is
with us.
we're
taking part
in a small
slice of
his work.
We have
humility on
the other
hand knowing
that one
day we
will die
but God's
mission will
continue.
And so we
look to the
past taking
hope from
what God's
done.
We work
in the
present towards
what God
is doing
and we
have hope
to the
future knowing
what will
one day be
fully true.
And so we
keep walking
with God
in his ways.
Please pray
with me.
dear Father
in heaven
we thank
you that
you are
not ignorant
you're not
unaware of
the challenges
that we face
in this world
as we follow
you.
That you
don't leave
us there
but that you
meet us
with your
grace.
We ask
that you'd
show us
our need
for your
grace
that you'd
encourage us
as we follow
after you
that you
would give
us the
strength
and the
hope
and the
humility.
To continue
working.
And Father
I ask
that you
would remind
every one
of us
that one
day we
will die
and that
we will
make our
choices about
you and
your kingdom
in light of
that.
We ask
all these
things in
the name
of your
son.
Amen.