If you would open up your Bibles to the book of Colossians, we are to page 1168 of your Pew Bible.
We are looking at Colossians 1, 24 through 2, 5 this morning.
Hear God's Word.
Now, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of His body, that is, the church.
Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the Word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints.
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.
In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order in the firmness of your faith in Christ.
May God bless the hearing of His Word.
If you're a human being, please raise your hand.
If you're a human being, you will face hardship.
This life is hard.
There's wonderful things about this life, but it's hard.
And if you're a Christian, seeking to live with Christ as the controlling center of your life, the treasured center of your life, you've signed yourself up for more hardship.
Hardship that's unique to being a blood-bought follower of Christ.
We've got Christians in this room right now who are discouraged because they've been trying to help other people live for Christ.
And it hasn't been going the way they wanted.
They've met that with resistance.
Maybe you're trying to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and it's not shaken out like you thought.
You might be asking questions like this.
Is this worth it?
What do you tell a discouraged Christian?
Here's what you tell them.
Christ is worth it.
Or maybe you've come into this building and you are distracted from Christ, and as a result, you're disoriented from Christ.
He's not the controlling center of your life.
You know what?
Our world, this world we live in, makes a persuasive case that Jesus Christ should not be the controlling center of your life, but you should be the controlling center of your life.
You do you.
You be you.
Speak your truth.
What do you say to someone who's distracted, disoriented from Christ?
Here's what you tell them.
Christ is worth it.
To orient your life around him.
In Colossians 1, 24 through 25, the apostle Paul gets very personal.
Did you notice all the eyes?
And he speaks a word that reorients the disoriented and encourages the discouraged.
I'm going to point you to five words in this passage.
Five words.
Suffering, church, mystery, mature, rejoicing.
And in those five words, Paul's making a case.
And it goes something like this.
We suffer together for Christ so that others would treasure Christ.
And if you want to reduce it to just four words, Christ is worth it.
So let's look at this first word, suffering.
Now up until this point, Paul has thanked God for what God is doing among the Colossians.
That's chapter 1, verses 3 through 8.
Paul has prayed that these Colossians would grow in their understanding of God's will.
What's God's will for your life?
To please Christ in everything.
In chapter 1, verses 15 through 20, Paul portrays this magnificent Christ.
The firstborn of all creation and the firstborn from the dead.
He's the king of all.
Verses 21 through 23, he assures these Colossian Christians that they belong to this king.
And here in verses 24 through chapter 2, verse 5, Paul shares about his suffering.
Suffering for Christ is when you experience and endure hardship on account of Christ.
It's like this.
You're like catching some heat and you can draw a direct line to Jesus for it.
I am catching heat because of Jesus.
So in verse 24, he says, I rejoice in my sufferings.
In verse 24, he says, I'm filling up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions.
In verse 29, he says, I toil.
I struggle.
This ministry of proclaiming Christ is contested.
In 2.1, he tells these Colossian church, he wants them to know how great a struggle he has for them.
And then in 2.5, he says this, for though I am absent in body.
What is that all about?
Where's Paul?
Have you seen those Werewoldo books?
Where's Paul?
He's in Rome.
He's writing to a church in Colossae.
They're far apart.
What's he doing in Rome?
He is suffering in Rome.
What is he suffering?
Turn to the end of Colossians, chapter 4, verse 18.
And he says something, and he's not trying to be a drama queen.
He's not trying to be dramatic.
He says, I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.
Remember my chains.
Why is he suffering in Rome?
Why is he under house arrest, chained to Praetorian guard, and waiting to hear whether he's going to live or die?
Well, you could say it's because of Christ.
Christ.
Did you notice that interesting verse, that line, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is church?
Here's what Paul's not saying.
Paul's not saying here that somehow the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was somehow inadequate to accomplish our salvation.
And so he is adding to what Christ has done in order to kind of fully accomplish our salvation.
That is not what he's saying.
As though the finished work of Christ needed anybody's help.
I knew what it is.
I wasn't going to say it.
Where was I?
You're not helping, David.
Yeah.
Okay.
We've got to end this right now.
Okay.
So Paul is talking about suffering the afflictions of Christ.
What is this that he's filling up?
Do you all remember what happened in Acts chapter 9?
Paul's on his way to Damascus to shred some Christians there.
The risen Christ meets him on the way.
Paul is converted on the spot.
And then this guy named Ananias kind of houses Paul.
Jesus, the risen Christ, shows up to Ananias.
And he has some words with Ananias.
And then he says this to Ananias about Paul.
For I will show him.
I, the risen Christ, will show him, Paul, how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
Do you know what that is?
That's a suffering quota put on Paul.
You're going to have to suffer.
Paul, you're going to have to suffer so that my name is exalted among the nations.
It's a quota.
There's only a given amount of suffering Paul would experience.
And by extension, we will experience.
These afflictions of Christ are afflictions, sufferings for Christ.
On account of Christ.
Paul's saying here, it's like, hey, I have to suffer on account of Christ for you so that you, Colossians, would treasure Christ above all else.
Suffering is necessary to the spreading of the gospel to all people everywhere.
If Christ suffered, we will suffer too.
In John 15, Jesus is very explicit about it.
He says this to his disciples.
If the world hates me, the world will also hate you.
Now, that's some encouragement for the church this morning.
What Paul is doing here is he's writing these Colossians and he's saying, we're all in this together.
We suffer together.
If you look at chapter 1, verse 11, do you remember this verse from a couple weeks ago?
Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.
Do you know what that's about?
That's an enduring and being patient with joy in the midst of suffering.
Hardship, discouragement.
Here's what Paul is doing.
He is normalizing suffering for us.
Did you know that 2 Timothy 3.12 is in your Bible, Christian?
Indeed, if anyone would live a godly life in Christ Jesus, he will suffer.
The question is, is Christ worth it?
Church, we suffer together for Christ
so that Christ would be treasured by others.
Let's look at the second word, church.
In verse 24, Paul says,
I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body.
That is the church.
Don't miss the connection.
The apostle Paul is saying,
the body of Christ is the church of Christ.
They're one and the same.
The body of Christ is a metaphor for God's people
and it's one of Paul's favorites.
We've already seen it in verse 18 of chapter 1
and he is the head of the body of the church.
It shows up in chapter 2 in verse 19,
but he's actually speaking about false teachers in this context.
He's saying that they're not a part of the body of Christ.
And here's what he says.
And not these false teachers,
they're not holding fast to the head
from whom the whole body nourished and knit together
through its joints and ligaments
grows with a growth that is from God.
It's a picture of the body.
That little phrase,
knit together,
it's in our passage.
If you look at chapter 2,
verse 2,
that their hearts may be encouraged
being knit together in love.
It's body talk.
If you flip over to chapter 3,
verse 15,
and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts
in which indeed you were called in one body.
We the church,
we the body of Christ.
And what that is a picture of
is interdependence among Christians.
We're not all gifted the same way.
We're a body.
And we need each other.
But we're all dependent on our head,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And did you notice it's His body?
Do you know what makes us His?
Turn with me to Acts chapter 20,
verse 28.
This is Paul.
He's meeting the Ephesian elders
in a place called Miletus.
These are his last words to them.
He says,
Pay careful attention to yourself
and to all the flock,
which is another metaphor for the church,
in which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers
to care for the church of God,
which He obtained with His own blood.
The His of His body
is a blood-bought His.
The church is obtained
by the blood of God,
by the blood of Christ.
The church is a people.
The people who have been purchased
by the blood of Jesus
were His,
and that's whom Paul is suffering for.
There's a couple other references
to the church in this passage.
At the end of verse 26,
to His saints,
His holy ones.
And then in verse 27,
to them,
the saints,
the church,
God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles
are the riches of the glory
of this mystery,
which is Christ in you.
Do you know what He's saying?
It's the church,
those people who would come
to believe in Christ,
the elect of God.
It's these people
that God will give eyes
and ears and heart
to believe and treasure Jesus.
That's who Paul's suffering for.
The church.
Paul suffers for the church of Christ
because Christ died
for His church.
Have you ever been around somebody?
Maybe you have a friend.
Maybe you've said this.
You say something like this.
You know what, man?
What's important to you
is important to me.
You're like loyal brothers or sisters,
and you're like,
man,
whatever's your priority
is my priority.
What is the priority of Jesus?
What's important to Christ?
Christ,
His name among the nations
so that all would believe,
but also His body,
His church,
His people.
Because Paul treasured Jesus.
Paul valued what Jesus valued,
the church.
Proclaiming Christ
that all those who would one day believe
would be incorporated into His body.
How important is the church to Christ?
He shed His blood for us.
If you're a discouraged Christian,
are you growing in your love
for the bloodbought of Christ?
Christ is this person
that you're trying to encourage
and build into.
Maybe it's another brother or sister in Christ.
Maybe it's one of your children.
Maybe it's your spouse,
and you just feel like
this isn't going anywhere.
Did you forget that they belong to Jesus?
Or maybe you're a fan of Jesus,
but you're not a fan of His church.
Guess what?
What's important to Christ
must be important to us.
So how do you grow in your love for the church,
for the bloodbought of God?
Even in all of her imperfections,
you remember who shed His blood for her.
Maybe you're disoriented from Christ
because you've been burned by the church.
You were sinned against.
You were disappointed.
And now you've been adrift.
You're going to need,
out of a love and treasuring of your Savior,
to come to forgive
those who've sinned against you.
Forgive those who've disappointed you.
There's no perfect church.
Anybody perfect in this church?
But we're all united by a perfect Christ.
We suffer together, church.
We suffer together
so that others will treasure Christ above all.
The next word is mystery.
Oh, and I love this word.
Three times the word mystery
shows up in this passage.
In verses 25 and 26,
of which I became a minister.
This is Paul speaking.
I became a minister, a servant,
according to the stewardship from God
that was given to me for you
to make the word of God fully known.
The stewardship that was given to him
is a sacred trust.
He was given a trust from God
for the church.
And that is this,
this making God's word fully known.
What is he talking about?
Look at verse 26.
This, the word of God fully known
is the mystery.
Hidden for ages and generations
but now revealed to the saints.
This mystery is not so much of a secret.
It's more like,
more like a treasure map.
You know what a treasure map is, right?
You have like different places you go
and there's this kind of dotted line
going from one clue to the next
and eventually it leads you to
X marks the spot where the treasure is.
Think of the Old Testament
and all of its law
and all of its poetry
and all of its narratives
and all of its prophecies
as one clue after the other.
One hint after another
pointing down the line
to the treasure.
The cross marks the spot.
Hidden.
But hinted at.
Paul's ministry was a making known
from God's word.
The mystery,
the plan of God's,
for the fullness of time.
The scale is remarkable.
Ages and generations.
This is getting at God's plan
for the fullness of time.
God's plan for the fullness of time
had everything to do with treasure.
This mystery revealed
was the revelation of a treasure
for all people everywhere.
Just notice all the treasure.
Verse 27.
To them God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles
are the riches of the glory
of this mystery.
Look it down to 2.2.
That their hearts may be encouraged
being knit together in love
to reach all the riches
of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God's mystery.
Verse 3.
In whom are hidden
all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge.
God's plan for the fullness of time
is a treasure plan.
Every human heart.
There's 8 billion people
on the planet.
And every human heart
is on a treasure hunt.
Every one of us
searching for treasure.
We want to find
fullness of joy
and be satisfied.
We want to have
fullness of purpose
and be satisfied.
We want to have
fullness of peace
and be satisfied.
But the problem is
with this treasure hunting
is our sinfulness.
And so we hunt for treasure
in all the wrong places.
The places where God
is saying very clearly
there's no treasure there.
There's no treasure there.
The mystery that Paul
ministry made known
reveals the ultimate treasure
from God for all people.
What is it?
It's not Paul.
He's a servant of the treasure.
It's not his church.
We're not the treasure.
It's not sex.
Sex isn't the treasure.
It's not a treasure.
It's not marriage.
It's not success.
It's not a big paycheck.
That's not the hidden treasure
that God has made known.
You want to see it?
Verse 27.
To them God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles
are the riches of the glory
of this mystery
which is Christ
in you.
The hope of glory.
God's plan
was to unite a people
Jews and Gentiles
all sorts of different people
from everywhere
and unite them
around Christ
and Christ would dwell
in them
as if they are
his new temple.
What a plan!
The hope of glory.
Jesus is our future hope
of the glory to come.
He's the treasure.
In chapter 2,
verse 2.
Being knit together
in love
to reach all the riches
of the full assurance
of understanding
and the knowledge
of God's mystery
which is Christ.
In Christ
are hidden
all the treasures
of wisdom
and knowledge.
The first home
Jenny and I owned
in Kenosha
was a ranch
on the south side.
15th Avenue
was on a cul-de-sac.
It was a great place.
A lot of memories there.
Well, we moved in
and we were
bringing this place
to order
like it needed some work
and so I was in
one of the bedrooms
and I was rolling up
this old rug
and behold,
treasure!
$200 cash money!
We're going to McDonald's!
No, I think we actually
ordered pizza.
That treasure
was lying there
for a while
and then it got revealed
when I pulled up the rug.
The Old Testament
is about hidden treasure
and then when Christ
is proclaimed
in the new
hidden treasure,
Christ is at the center
of it all.
God's plan
for the fullness
of time
is about Christ,
our treasure,
treasure,
the greatest treasure,
the only treasure
that can satisfy
the human heart.
You're discouraged?
Christ is your treasure.
You're disoriented?
Distracted?
Stop settling
settling
for temporary
trinkets
of this world
and set your heart
on the timeless
treasure of Christ.
He's the hope
of glory.
He's the mystery
made known.
in Him,
all of God's promises
are yes
and amen.
Everything
you long for,
Christ
is your treasure.
Brothers and sisters,
we suffer
for Christ
together.
Our treasure
so that others
would treasure Him.
The fourth word
is the word
mature.
We see this
in verses
28 and 29.
Him we proclaim,
warning everyone
and teaching everyone
with all wisdom
that we may present
everyone
mature
in Christ.
Paul
is giving us
the goal
of his
contested
work,
his ministry,
the toil,
the struggle,
the suffering
to present everyone
mature in Christ.
And if you're wondering
what is maturity
in Christ,
here's what it is
at a minimum.
At a minimum,
maturity of Christ
is when Jesus Christ
is the controlling
center of your life.
He's the treasured
treasured center
center of your life.
What you treasure
will govern
your life.
You live for what
you worship.
The question is,
how does
Paul present people
mature in Christ?
How do you do that?
Well, we're going to be
talking about this more
at the
disciple-making
workshop
in a couple weeks,
but let's look
at this passage.
Paul,
how do you present
people mature
in Christ?
Verse 28,
him we proclaim.
Him is the treasure.
He proclaims
Christ
to both
Christians
and non-Christians.
Him,
of course,
is the one
we just learned
about in verses
15 through 20.
He's the firstborn
of all creation.
He's the firstborn
from the dead.
He's the king
of the old creation.
He's the king
of the new creation.
He's the king
of kings,
Lord of lords.
He is the greatest
treasure ever,
Jesus.
That's who we
proclaim.
In light of
that,
who's the we?
Him,
we proclaim.
Now,
you could make a case,
well,
that's Paul's
apostolic posse.
Timothy,
Tychicus,
Epaphras.
But I've got a hunch
she's doing something
else here.
If you follow
the flow
of the argument,
I think that we,
he's talking about
the Colossians.
Him,
we proclaim.
Paul's like,
I'm proclaiming
Christ here
in Rome
to this
ching,
Praetorian card
next to me.
You're proclaiming
Christ in Colossae.
We're proclaiming
Christ in Kenosha.
Him,
we proclaim.
It's a uniter.
We suffer together
for Christ
in order that
others would
treasure him.
In light of all
this treasure talk,
it really kind of
changes the way
you think about
ministry.
You know,
you know,
we get to
declare treasure.
When we say
him we proclaim,
we're saying
the treasure
of every human
heart is found
in Jesus.
So to non-Christians,
we say things like
this.
Hey,
I know you're
hunting for treasure.
Turn from your
trinkets
and turn to the
timeless treasure
of Christ.
He forgives you.
He welcomes you
with open arms.
He loves you.
To discourage
Christians,
we say this.
Hey,
Christ is the
greatest treasure.
Don't give up.
Press on.
We say to
disoriented Christians,
hey,
you're living for
trinkets.
Treasure Christ
and live for him.
Him we proclaim.
How we go about
proclaiming him
involves warning
people.
Him we proclaim.
Warning
everyone.
There's a warning
in this passage.
It's in verse 4.
I say this in order
that no one may
delude you with
plausible arguments.
He say this as a
reference to what he
just said in verses
2 and 3 that
Jesus is the
greatest treasure.
Don't buy the
lies.
Our world
makes a very
compelling case
in a variety
of different ways
that you
should be
the controlling
center of your
life.
Not Christ.
And here's what
happens when you
become the
controlling center
of your life.
You end up
living for
something.
Maybe it's
U.S.
politics.
It makes a
lousy controlling
center of your
life.
love.
But when we talk
about the kingdom
of Christ,
he's our king.
Oh, that is the
controlling center you
want.
Maybe it's not
politics.
Maybe it's
pleasure.
Some kind of
hedonism.
Whether that's
sexual gratification.
Whether that is
like you just
love to eat
food.
Whether it's
materialism like
purchase buy,
buy, buy.
You know what?
Hedonism makes
for a lousy
controlling center.
Doesn't satisfy.
Pleasing Christ.
that'll satisfy.
Or maybe it's
not politics or
pleasure.
Maybe it's you
want the praise.
You're a people
pleaser.
You just want to
be liked.
Oh, the Bible
talks about that
as a snare.
It's a terrible
taskmaster.
But what
praise in
Christ as
your treasured
center, that
burns clean.
We warn
everyone.
We warn
people, don't
settle for the
trinkets.
Center on the
treasure.
people.
So we warn
everyone as we
proclaim him
and then we
also teach
everyone.
What do we
teach them?
It's what Paul
has already
modeled.
We teach them
the glories of
Christ.
Think about it.
He's the creator
of all.
He's the sustainer
of all.
He's the savior
of all.
He's the lord
of all.
And he's the
judge of all.
Do you know
what greater
than, less
than, or equal
is?
How about you
kind of measure
him next to U.S.
politics, hedonism,
or the praise of
man?
He's always
greater.
Because he's the
greatest treasure.
That's what we
teach people.
How amazing
our king is.
And why we can
then say, so
every day you
deny yourself,
you take up
your cross,
and you
follow him.
Because he's
the greatest
treasure.
He is worth
it.
And then we
start to see
what maturity
looks like.
When Christ
is your
treasure, then
verse 10,
you walk in a
manner worthy
of him,
pleasing him in
all ways,
bearing fruit in
every good work,
increasing in the
knowledge of God,
strengthened with
his power for
endurance and
patience with joy,
giving thanks to
the Father.
verse 23,
you are stable
and steadfast,
not shifting from
the hope of the
gospel.
And chapter 2,
verse 5,
for though I am
absent in body,
yet I am with
you in spirit,
rejoicing to see
your good order
and firmness in
the faith of
Christ.
The good order
is that Jesus
is the controlling
center of your
life.
And you live
for him.
Paul's like,
yes and amen.
Amen.
But Paul doesn't
labor in this
ministry by his
own strength,
but by the
strength that God
himself provides.
Verse 29,
for this I toil,
struggling with
all his energy,
that he powerfully
works within me,
Holy Spirit,
power in the
proclamation of
Christ as the
greatest treasure
to all nations.
worthy of
sea.
Not by power,
not by strength,
but by my
spirit,
says the Lord.
Did you notice
everyone?
Warning everyone,
teaching one in
order to present
everyone who
believes mature in
Christ, rightly
ordered, firm in
the faith, walking
in a manner worthy
of the Lord to
please Christ in
everything.
You see, the scope
of Paul's ministry
is global.
Do you know why?
Because the scope
of the ministry of
our Lord Jesus
Christ is global.
Gospel ministry is
a work of the new
creation.
Every square inch
of this planet,
the gospel bearing
fruit among all
people.
This past week,
I had a brother
send me an email
reminding me of
unreached people
groups.
An unreached
people group is a
definable group of
people by their
culture and
particularly their
language.
And an unreached
people group has
no access to the
gospel of this
treasure.
I learned that
there are 17,300
distinct people
groups on our
planet today.
I learned that
7,300 of those
people groups are
presently unreached.
They do not have a
gospel witness.
that's 3.4 billion
people.
So when
Paul talks about
him we proclaim,
warning everyone,
teaching everyone to
present everyone who
believes mature, he's
not just talking about
this church in this
city, in our
neighbors in the city.
He's talking about the
unreached hard places in
the 1040 window.
So if you want to
find out more about
unreached people
groups, Google the
Joshua Project.
But that is the
scope of what we've
been called to.
To present everyone,
every tribe, tongue,
and nation mature in
Christ.
Christ as the
treasured center of who
they are.
Brothers and
sisters, we suffer
together so that
Christ is treasured by
all.
Christ's worth it.
The last word is
rejoicing, and I'll be
lickety split.
But this passage
begins and ends with
rejoicing.
Verse 24, now I
rejoice in my
sufferings.
Chapter 2, verse 5,
for though I'm absent
in body, I'm with you
in spirit, rejoicing to
see your good order.
Rejoicing.
Time out!
How is it that this
guy in Rome, shackled
to a Praetorian guard,
is able to rejoice?
Here's why.
Christ was his
greatest treasure.
Philippians 1, 21, the
same guy said, for me
to live is Christ and
to die is gain.
Philippians 3, 8, the
same guy says, indeed,
I count everything as a
loss compared to the
surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus, my
Lord.
Treasure.
Why he was rejoicing?
He treasured Jesus.
But also, Paul rejoiced
in others treasuring
Jesus.
Now I rejoice in my
sufferings for your
sake.
124, chapter 2, 1, for I
want you to know how
great a struggle I have
for you.
Christ is worth it.
If you're discouraged,
disappointed by others'
lack of response,
Christ is worth your
toil.
He's worth your
suffering, your labor.
Don't give up.
Your labor's not in vain.
He's worth it.
If you're disoriented or
distracted in this
rejoicing in suffering is
like a foreign language in
your ears, you've been
distracted by plausible
arguments of this world.
You've swapped temporary
trinkets for the timeless
treasures of Christ.
Do you know what you do?
You just repent and
believe.
Say, no, forgive me,
Lord Jesus, for pursuing
this in your place.
And there you will find
joy.
what your heart was
created and redeemed
for.
Christ.
So what would you tell a
discouraged Christian?
What would you tell a
disoriented Christian?
You tell them Christ is
worth it.
I mean, Christ is the
center of our sufferings.
Christ is at the center of
the church.
Christ is at the center of
this mystery.
Christ is at the center of
our maturity.
Christ is at the center of
our rejoicing.
He's at the center of it
all.
So we suffer together for
Christ so that everyone
would treasure Christ.
Christ is worth it, church.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus Christ, we need to
ask you for something now.
We confess that we
regularly prefer trinkets to
you, our treasure.
So we confess that to you.
We acknowledge the idolatry of
that.
We forgive us for the offense
that must be to you.
And thank you for dying on the
cross for that too.
Father, would you pour out your
spirit upon us, your people,
that we would endure, we would
persist, we would persevere in
our treasuring of Jesus and
proclaiming him among all
people.
Would you help us?
Would you strengthen us?
Would you unite us?
And would you protect our union
in you?
And for those
who think Jesus is boring,
God, would you show them your
glory?
In your name we pray.
Amen.