Well, why don't we pray as we come to God's word this morning?
The Apostle Paul would write this to the church in Colossae.
He says, we're asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding
so that you may walk worthy of the Lord.
And so, Father God, thank you that we can approach you because of Jesus
and we ask, Lord, that Paul's prayer for this church in Colossae
that they would grow in their understanding,
that they would be filled with all wisdom
and that they would walk in a manner that is worthy of you.
Father, that is our prayer today as your people.
Lord, we ask that your spirit would come and would he help us.
Father, we're so aware of our wandering hearts, of our distracted minds
and so we pray, Father, that you would come and help us now
as we turn to your word.
And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
I mean, folks, you might want to turn to Romans chapter 8.
We're in it verses 31 to 39.
Finishing this little series we've been in over the last few weeks.
Thinking about the building blocks of the Christian life.
And let me just say, as you're turning that there,
the evening service tonight is 6.30.
Andy Constable is going to be our speaker.
Andy's a good friend of mine.
But Andy's one of the pastors at Nidrae Community Church
and he's heavily involved with the work of 20 schemes,
which you may have heard of,
planting churches in some of the poorest areas of our country
to the glory of God.
We're going to have just a time this evening as well
being able to ask him questions.
So we'll have an open Q&A.
Andy's going to come with a few folks from Nidrae.
It'd be great to hear about their work
and some of the ways that they've seen God at work
and some of the things that we can pray about for them as well.
So that's 6.30 this evening.
Let me just say as well, on a personal note,
let me thank you for those folks who were just praying for us
when we were on holidays as a family.
Some of you were so kind and you texted us to tell,
texted me rather to say that you were praying for us.
And that's just meant so much over the last few weeks
that you, for both Alex and I, that you love us
and that you care for us.
And we just want to say that we love you back
and we were so delighted to come back.
So thank you so much for doing that.
Let me just give you two thoughts that have been in my mind
over the last few weeks, just as we've been away
and as we've come back, a few thoughts have been in my mind.
Here's the first one.
I wonder if you'd tap into any of these.
Firstly, there's no place like home, right?
No place like home, and that's home with a small h.
We found this when we were away.
I don't know if you find this, that you get there.
We were sleeping in different places.
We were different places on the holiday.
And we would get to bed and I would sit there and think,
oh, this is not my bed.
This is not my bed.
I've got a sore back.
The mattress is too firm.
These pillows are too soft.
I just want my bed.
And then you would turn on the shower and you would think,
oh, I just want my shower.
This temperature is not, I've got it set at the perfect temperature.
This is too hot.
This is too cold.
The pressure isn't hard enough.
I just want my shower.
And then I found this well down in England.
You would turn on the tap and you have a glass of water.
And you think, oh, I just want my Scottish water back.
If you've drank straight from the tap, especially down in London,
you know what I mean.
We've got it good up here with the water, haven't we?
And I just came back and think, there's no place like home, small h.
And then just as well as I've been tuning in to some of the sermons
when I've been away and as I've been thinking of my own quiet times
and conversations with people, I've just felt in my own spirit,
just there's no place like home, capital H.
There's no place like home, capital H.
As we've been journeying through Romans 8, we've hit that last week, didn't we?
This place that God has prepared for those who are in Christ,
whose trust is in Jesus, who are following him as their saviour.
This place where he's working towards, he's bringing all things together
in heaven and earth in Christ.
Christ, this place, the hope of the Christian heart, heaven,
we've been thinking about it there.
This place that's marked by things that aren't there.
There's no more groaning.
There's no more pain.
There's no more tears.
There's no more death.
It's been swallowed up.
Christ has defeated it, and we're there.
And it's not just defined by the things that aren't there.
It's defined by the things that are there.
Or more rather, it's defined by the person who's there.
Or the one who we love as Christians, Jesus Christ is there.
And what is the song, the Hallelujah Chorus that we read about in Revelation?
It's just we're singing his praise.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.
And my heart, as we read Romans 8 last week, as Wayne was here preaching about it,
we just longed for that day.
Come, Lord Jesus.
And as I've walked with many of you and as I've had friends who've gone through difficult times,
we say, come, Lord Jesus.
There's no place like home, capital H.
And as I've felt this in my own heart and as I've thought about the reality of my life as I've looked around,
I don't know about you, but that place, it feels a million miles away.
Because there's many things that would cause me, and I'm sure cause you, to doubt it.
Or to think that God hasn't got this one.
Or somehow it will slip from us.
There's external things that cause us to think that, isn't there?
As we live our lives in this world that is seemingly becoming increasingly hostile to the things of the Christian faith,
increasingly hostile to the things of the gospel.
And as we think we might have it a little bit hard here,
just think about our Christian brothers and sisters in places like North Korea,
and Iran, Pakistan, places where it's difficult, really difficult to be a Christian.
You really are taking your life in your hands as you put your hand up and say,
I follow Jesus.
External things can cause us to doubt it.
And there's internal things that can cause us to doubt it.
I know this in my own heart, that the sin that plagues me,
that the mistakes that I make again and again and again,
is this very unspectacular body makes very unspectacular strides
in sanctification and holiness and becoming more like Jesus.
And as I know my own heart that it's so often wayward,
so often gets distracted by things,
and it can cause us to doubt it, can't it?
External things can cause us to doubt it.
Internal things can cause us to doubt it.
And the thing, I guess, that I wanted to encourage us
is that we're not the first generation of Christians to feel doubt
or to feel like this might not happen.
Because remember that Paul is writing to the church in Rome here.
Now, historians reckon he's writing this in AD 57.
Now, why that is important is because serious persecution of Christians
is about to kick off in AD 64, right?
So, less than a decade later, Nero is about to,
go all out in his persecution of Christians.
You read some historians who were there at the time,
and they talk about how Christians were set on fire to light the streets.
They were going to be thrown to the lions.
And the thing is, what do they need to know?
What does the Christian in North Korea need to know?
What do you need to know as you stand for Jesus in this world?
What do you need to know?
You need to know that God is for you.
You need to know that there is nothing that is going to separate you
because you're in Christ from his love.
God has got this one.
He's got you.
No matter how hard it gets,
you can build your life on that wonderful truth.
God is for us.
God is for us in Christ.
He's on our side.
And let me tell you what,
it makes all the difference, doesn't it, in life,
knowing who's on your team,
knowing who's on your side.
I remember once when I was at school
doing the Scottish relay championships at Meadowbank down there,
and I lined up in my lane.
It was lane three.
And I'm lining up against guys who are much bigger than me,
much stronger than me,
much faster than me,
and I knew it.
But the thing was,
as they tried to psych me out,
I wasn't really listening to it.
I wasn't all that bothered with it
because I knew we were going to win.
And the reason that I was pretty sure we were going to win
is because we had the fastest guy in the country
at that point on the last leg.
And it wasn't my speed that was going to win that competition.
It was his speed that was going to win that competition.
All I needed to do
was get the bat in and get it to him.
And we were home and trying.
Makes all the difference, doesn't it,
knowing who's on your team,
who's on your side.
These verses, friends,
if you take one thing from this this morning,
let it be this.
This is a commitment from our God.
To us, to his people.
This is his commitment to us,
that he will never let us go.
It's a commitment from.
Now, automatically,
we're suspicious of commitments.
And we're suspicious of promises
as we live our life in this world.
I don't know if you've found this,
as you've been watching maybe the TV debates recently
with the prime ministerial candidates,
as they've been batting it out between them,
as they've made big promises,
or not made big promises,
about what they're going to do with the economy,
what they're going to do about Brexit,
what they're going to do about climate change.
And it's funny,
as the person on the TV has asked the question,
the interviewer asked it back,
have they persuaded you?
Have they persuaded you that they can do this?
And what came back every time?
No, they haven't persuaded us.
I don't trust them.
I don't trust their commitment.
And I even loved as well,
in that one a few weeks ago,
the eye roll that happened.
If you saw that,
somebody rolled their eyes.
Love a good British,
passive-aggressive eye roll.
That's what happened.
Because we don't trust their commitments.
But the thing about this,
what we have in our hands,
is not the word of a politician.
It's not the word of a mere man or woman.
What it is here is,
this is the word of our three-in-one creator,
God.
This is his word to us.
And as the psalmist would say,
we want to lean our whole lives
and hope in this word.
And if we do so,
we will not fail.
These verses are a commitment from God.
Friends, again,
if you take nothing else from this,
know how committed he is to you.
God says,
I'm committed to you.
I'm committed to getting you home
as one of my people,
as you trust in Christ.
I'm committed on the journey there,
no matter how hard it gets,
to shower my love upon you in Jesus Christ.
Shower that love upon you.
The love that I demonstrated
as I sent my son to die for your sin on the cross.
And I hold your life in my hand,
as we saw from the verses in Isaiah,
as we started.
God holds our lives in his hand.
He's got us.
He could not be more committed to us.
The great old hymn,
I love this hymn,
written by Daniel Whittle.
Remember when the first time
I came to Bronxville,
to the first service,
we sang this,
and it went like this.
I know what of good or ill
may be reserved for me,
or weary ways or golden days
before his face.
I see,
but I know who I have believed,
and I am persuaded
that he is able
to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day.
This is what this is saying this morning.
If your faith is wavering,
if you are fearful about the future,
if your trust is in Jesus,
be assured of God's unwavering commitment
to loving you and bringing you home.
And all that was by way of introduction,
right?
Because the power is not in my words,
the power is in this word.
So why don't you turn to Romans chapter 8,
and let's see what God says
through his word to us this morning
as we tap into what the apostle Paul
was saying to the church in Rome.
Picking it up at verse 31 of chapter 8.
Paul writes this,
What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us,
who is against us?
He who did not even spare his own son,
but offered him up for us all,
how will he not also with him
grant us everything?
Who can bring an accusation
against God's elect?
God is the one who justifies.
Who is the one who condemns?
Christ Jesus is the one who died,
but even more,
has been raised.
He also is at the right hand of God
and intercedes for us.
Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Can affliction or distress
or persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written,
Because of you we are being put to death
all day long.
We are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
Knowing all these things,
we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am persuaded
that neither death,
nor life,
nor angels,
nor rulers,
nor things present,
nor things to come,
nor powers,
nor height,
nor depth,
nor any other created thing
will be able to separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
This is God's word to us this morning.
These words have been so refreshing
to my soul this week.
We're just going to look at this
under two headings.
We've not got a PowerPoint this morning.
I didn't have time.
I moved house, okay?
Listen for these headings
and we'll try and group it like this.
First of all,
what Paul does is he asks some questions
to help them see it.
He asks some questions
to help them see it.
Group them together.
Four questions from verse 31.
Look at it with me.
And the thing about these questions
is he doesn't ask them
simply because he wants
a right answer.
Okay?
He's not going,
oh, Chris Tarrant on them.
This is not the chase.
This is not what he's doing.
He's asking these questions
because he's after their heads
and he's after their hearts
because he wants them
to mull over
the implications
of everything
that he's been saying
in this section
because that's what he means
by these things.
Right?
He's drawn this to a close.
Thinking through the logical implications
of everything that he said.
Follow with me
and we'll just think on these.
Verse 31.
If God is for us,
who can be against us?
Who can be against us?
And the answer is,
I guess,
plenty of people
can be against us.
Plenty of things
can be against us.
But what he wants them to know
is that they can have
the world against them.
But if the God of the universe,
because of their faith in Jesus,
is on their side,
if he's in their corner,
as their good father,
then his say,
it trumps it all.
It trumps it all.
You know,
German reformer
Philip Melanchthon,
he was one of the contemporaries
and good friends
of Martin Luther
when he was dying,
when he was on his deathbed.
He asked for a minister to come
and simply read this verse to him.
If God is for me,
who can be against me?
If God is for me,
who can be against me?
Because that's what he needed
in that moment.
Say it to me again.
If God is for me,
who can be against me?
But how is God for me,
you ask?
How do I know God is for me?
Is this wishful thinking?
Well, look what he says,
verse 32.
He who did not spare his own son
but gave him up for us all,
how will he not also,
along with him,
graciously give us all things?
He'll give us all things.
Maybe you had that experience
when you were a child
at Christmas time.
You opened the present
on Christmas morning
and you just thought it
magically appeared there overnight.
Right?
But actually what you realise
many years later
is that somebody took
a very great effort
to think about that present.
They thought about it,
they researched it,
they saved for it,
they went out to buy it,
they wrapped it,
they made sure you didn't find it,
and they presented it
on Christmas morning.
I don't know if you've ever
had this experience,
I remember this as a child,
opening a present
and those three dreaded words,
do you remember,
know those three dreaded words
that you read?
Batteries not included.
Batteries not included,
they hadn't got the batteries.
But here's the thing,
if you've gone to all that effort,
and I know this now as a parent,
okay,
if you've gone to all that effort
to get that present,
all that effort
to get that present,
can I say no parent in the world
would see that the batteries
weren't there and think,
oh, do you know what,
let's just put it in the bin
and start again.
Let's just forget it.
A parent would go out
and get the batteries,
wouldn't they?
And they would see it home.
Friends,
if we would do that,
then what he's saying here
is how much more
would God do that?
How much more
would God,
having done all the stuff
that he's done
and sending his son for us
and doing the hard part,
as it were,
how much more
will God
see it home?
It's,
we don't have time
to look into this,
but there's echoes
of Abraham and Isaac
in the language here.
If God was willing
to pay that price,
he won't fail
to get the job done
and he will give us
all things
so that it will happen
and that all things
doesn't mean
that he's like a genie
that we can rub the lamp
and he'll give us
our three wishes.
What it means
is that he will give us
all things
that are going to
accomplish his purpose.
We saw that just before,
didn't we?
As he conforms us,
as his people,
more into the image
of his son,
Jesus Christ,
day after day
after day
until one day
we're with him in glory.
That's what he's going to do.
He will give us
all things
for that purpose.
And if God is for us,
verse 33,
who will bring any charge
against those
who God has chosen?
Who then is the one
who condemns?
Because there's plenty,
again,
there's plenty of stuff
that could condemn us.
The devil could take his pick
from the multiple sins
that you and I
have racked up
in our lives.
But every time
he brings a charge,
God says,
God's verdict,
is that individual,
because they're trusting
in my son,
not only are they
not guilty,
but they are right
with me.
They are justified.
They are right with me.
Why?
How is that possible?
Well, because Jesus died for us.
We've been singing it earlier.
He took the death
that I deserve to die
for my sin,
my cosmic treason
against the God
who made me.
He took it on the cross.
He paid it all.
And he gives me
his perfect life,
meaning that I am
right in God's sight.
And do you see
what Paul says?
He didn't just die.
What did he do?
He rose again.
That's where he is.
Heaven's champion.
And it's so important
that we see
the resurrection there.
Because if Jesus died
and he didn't rise again,
friends,
we would have
absolutely no clue
that we were
in the right with God.
We'd have absolutely
no clue
that what he said
was true.
And if that were the case,
if he hadn't risen
from the dead,
not only would he go down
as the greatest
con artist
in all of history,
and if that's true,
you have to say
the trick has gone
remarkably well,
not only would he go down
as the biggest
con artist,
but we'd have no assurance
that our sin
has been paid for.
We'd have no assurance
that we're in the right
with God
like he said he would be.
But we have this assurance
because of the resurrection.
Think of it like
the time you go to the shops.
I had this experience
a few weeks ago.
Went to buy milk
from Tesco
and I tried to pay
with cash.
Tried to pay with cash
and the person
looked at me like,
what is this medieval
payment method
you're trying to do?
But how do you normally
pay these dates?
You pay with your card,
don't you?
You pay with your card
and what do you do?
You either enter
your pen into the machine
or you hold it
against the machine
and it reads your details.
There's always that moment,
isn't there,
after you've done that,
that you think to yourself,
has this really gone through?
Has this really gone through?
How do I know
there's sufficient funds
in the bank account?
How do I know
this payment has happened?
And all of a sudden,
five seconds later,
what happens?
You get the receipt.
And you think,
this has gone through.
This has happened.
Well friend,
how do I know
my sins have been paid for?
How do I know it's worked?
The resurrection
is like the receipt.
It's like the receipt.
Jesus is risen.
Our sins have been paid for.
He sits in the place of power.
Do you see,
Paul tells him,
at the right hand of the Father,
that position of authority
and power.
He is risen.
And this is what I found
so refreshing
for my soul this week.
What is he doing there?
Look at it in these verses.
What is our king?
What is our saviour doing
now that victory has been won?
And fill your souls
with this one.
This king isn't indulging himself.
What is he doing?
He's interceding for you and I.
He's bearing our name
before the Father.
He lives every moment
to pray for us.
Do you see,
this king isn't partying.
What's he doing?
He's praying.
Every moment of every day,
representing failures,
sinners like you and I
before the Father,
praying for our every need.
How encouraging do you find it
when somebody tells you
that they're praying for you?
I find it so encouraging.
Friends,
how much more should we be encouraged
that there is one
who ever lives
to plead for you and I
before our creator God
in heaven.
The God who is for us.
Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high priest
whose name is love,
whoever lives
and pleads for me.
What a thought
that he is doing that
right now as we speak for us,
as his people.
He's praying for us.
You know,
we've got that expression
in our culture,
don't we?
Talk about having friends
in high places.
I mean,
not only is that spatially
probably true,
but friends,
we cannot have a friend
in a higher place than him.
And I love how Paul drops in there.
If you see it in the text,
he says,
he also is interceding for us.
Right?
So in other words,
who do we have on our team?
What do we have going for us?
We've got the Father
who is for us,
who has chosen us,
who says we are justified
and right in his sight,
and also,
we have the Son
who is praying for us.
Do you see what Paul is doing?
He's asking questions
to help them see it.
Help them see it.
Understand what God has done.
And so the natural question
that comes to us,
isn't it,
is friends,
do we see it?
Do we see it?
This is what's going on.
Cannot fathom it,
but this is what's going on.
In Christ,
God couldn't be any more committed to us.
And do you see how all the three persons
of the Godhead are involved here?
God the Father was so committed,
do we see it in the text,
that he gave his only Son for us?
God the Son,
Jesus Christ,
was so committed
that he gave up his life
for his bride,
the church.
And as we saw earlier
in chapter 8,
God the Spirit
now lives in us
and helps us
every moment
of every day
in our every weakness.
Our three-in-one
creator God
could not be
more committed
to us.
Does that not encourage you
in your weak faith?
That this is not about
my ability to get home.
This is about
he who holds me
fast.
And having seen all that,
he asks him one last question
at verse 35.
And with this,
he moves from asking questions
to help them see it
to sketching dimensions
to help them live it.
Verse 35
brings it all together.
Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ?
Will anything block God?
Will anything hinder
his love for us?
And he lists all the contenders,
doesn't he?
Trouble, hardship,
persecution, famine,
nakedness, danger, sword.
Things that Paul knew,
of course,
apart from the sword
in his own life.
Things that we will face.
Things that our brothers
and sisters around the world
know all too well.
And that's why he quotes
from Psalm 44.
If you're wondering
what that little snippet is.
Psalm 44.
You can check it
in your own time,
but it's a painful psalm
of lament.
Love it, do you not,
that God has given us
in his word
this prayer book
which is the psalms
that strike the depths
of human emotion
but also scale the heights
of who this God is.
It's almost an invitation
from God, isn't it,
in life's hardest moments
and in life's best moments
to pour our souls to him.
He knows, he cares,
he understands.
But this painful psalm,
Psalm 44,
is written by
God's people
who are feeling the heat
for being his people.
And it's essentially
a psalm that says,
Lord, what's going on here?
Where are you?
Are we going to make it through?
And I think Paul
quotes it
because there are
many hard things
that will come
our way in this life
because we follow Jesus.
In other words,
this is the usual
Christian experience
to some degree
or the other.
But you see how Paul says,
even in those things,
right,
not despite those things,
not above those things,
not after those things,
in those things,
we won't be separated
from the love
of God and Christ.
Nothing,
nothing
is going to separate us
from his love.
And he's persuaded of it.
Do you see that little word
he chucks in there?
I love that.
In the Greek,
it's in the perfect tense.
Saying,
I'm fully in on this.
I'm persuaded.
God's got me.
I'm fully won by this idea.
Nothing's going to convince me
otherwise.
He's persuaded.
He's won.
What's he won to?
The truth that we are more
than conquerors in Christ.
Love it.
Let me just get my Greek geek
on for you here.
The Greek word for conqueror there
is the word Nike.
It's in the sports brand.
So if you've got trainers
on this morning,
you've got a t-shirt on,
something like that,
that's what that means.
Nike,
conqueror.
And what Paul has done
is he's,
he's taken the word more,
he pair,
and he's combined it
with Nikon,
Nike.
And what that means
is he said,
we are more than conquerors.
We are more than victors.
We are super conquerors.
He's mashed these two words together.
It's what he said.
It's his way of helping them
understand that we are
in this untouchable position
as Christians
because of our position in Christ.
That we are hyper victors.
We are more than conquerors
in Christ.
You can think about it this week
every time you put on your trainers
or you put on your top.
That's what I am in Christ.
More than a conqueror.
And because Jesus has made us his own,
nothing will separate us from him.
Do you see what he says?
Death won't.
Again,
he's just painting the contours.
Death won't.
Life won't.
Angels won't.
Rulers won't.
Present things won't.
Future things won't.
Powers won't.
Height won't.
Depth won't.
And I'm sure he paused for a breath
at this point.
And he added in a sweeper clause
just in case he's missed something.
Nothing in all creation will.
Friends, can I suggest
just as we bring this
towards a close this morning,
if we can grasp this,
then can I suggest
that there is no more
freeing place for us
to be in life?
That our God has got us.
He's got us in his hand.
We're to run to him,
to ask him,
to hope in his word,
to put our confidence in him.
And I was thinking this week,
how should this truth inspire me?
How should this truth impact
the way that we live our lives?
And I imagine,
I was thinking about it,
surely this frees us up
to take risks for the kingdom.
If he's got us,
if nothing is going to separate us
from his love,
we can take risks for him
knowing that he's got us.
That's exactly what Paul
is aiming for, I think, here.
Remember, he's trying to
stoke up the fires of these,
the hearts of these Roman believers,
people that he's probably
never met.
Because what does he want them to do?
He wants them to join them.
As they find themselves,
remember Rome at this point,
in the most strategic city
in the world at this time?
He wants this church to join him
in this great mission
of reaching the nations,
reaching the peoples of the world
for Christ.
And it's this truth
that's going to impact them
and help them to do that.
It's what's inspired generations
of Christian ministries
down the ages
to take risks
and to give it all for Jesus.
To quote Jim Elliot,
he is no fool
who gives what he cannot keep
to gain that
which he cannot lose.
Let me just ask you,
do you see that
in your own life?
Would you not love
to be more of a risk taker
for Jesus
as you speak for him?
I was thinking on it this week
as one of the movers
helped me pack up
the van for the house.
He said,
what do you do?
And I told him
I was a minister,
I was a pastor,
and he said,
I thought you were in finance,
and I took that as a compliment.
But he said to me,
I didn't have you down this up.
What does it mean?
And I had literally 10 seconds
to tell him what I did.
And do you know what?
I said it and I thought,
I can make more
of that opportunity.
I can make more
of those opportunities
that I have
with the people
who come into my life
every day.
I want my hope
to be in this truth
that he has me.
Now,
we bring Romans 8 together.
We think about it.
What did it start?
And read it in the text.
What does Romans 8,
1 start?
There is no what?
Condemnation.
And where does it end?
There is no separation.
No condemnation,
no separation.
What building blocks
to build our lives upon
as Christians?
That there is nothing
that is going to separate us
from the love of God
shown us in Christ Jesus.
Friends,
there is no place like home.
There is no place like home.
Just as we quote,
I heard a great story this week
about the hymn writer
Charles Wesley.
I didn't know this,
but he wrote his last hymn
on his deathbed
at age 81.
He just wanted to capture
his heart in the moment,
what he was feeling
at that moment.
He was so weak
that he had to get
somebody else to hold the pen
while he said it
and they wrote it.
81.
And as they say,
he wrote this hymn
to try and capture
something of his heart,
but he also wrote it
to try and capture
this truth
that he wanted
generations of Christians,
his generation,
but generations to come
to sing for themselves.
And he wrote this,
get these lines,
in age and feebleness extreme,
who shall this helpless worm redeem?
Jesus,
my only hope thou art,
strength of my failing flesh and heart,
oh,
that I could catch one smile from thee
and drop into eternity.
And 200 years later,
who would pick up Wesley's hymn
and be so inspired by it
that he would want to write it
in his own words
for his generation to sing it
and for generations to come
to sing it.
But Matt Redman,
he would write,
and this is going to be
our closing song,
and on that day
when my strength is failing,
the end draws near
and my time has come.
Still my soul
will sing your praise unending.
10,000 years
and then forevermore.
Oh, that this would be
the song of our hearts.
It's God's people,
unspectacular,
living our lives for him
in Brunsfield.
And let's make an effort
to pass it on
to one another
because there is no place
like home
and our God
could not be more committed
to us
and nothing,
underscored nothing,
will separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So just before we sing
our final song,
why don't we just have
a moment of quiet.
And friends,
let me just invite you
to be still before your maker
and to allow these hearts
to sink in
that if our God is for us,
who can be against us?
And so, Father,
I thank you so much
for this time
that we've had
in your word.
And I particularly pray,
Lord,
for my friends here
who are maybe doubting
this morning
or who are hurting
this morning
that this truth
that you are for them
in Christ,
that your spirit
would take it
and would it be
like a sweet balm
to their soul.
And Father,
thank you so much
for that wonderful truth
that if you are for us,
who can be against us?
I pray, Father,
that you would help us
have that mindset
this week
that to live is Christ
and to die is gain.
Help us to hope
in him.
Father,
thank you so much
for this time
we commit it to you
in Jesus' precious name.
Amen.