Well folks, it's wonderful to see you this morning after about four or five months of
preaching to an empty building.
This is refreshing to my soul even just to see you today.
And welcome to those who are joining us online as well.
Why don't we just pray, just really quickly as we come to God's Word.
Isaiah chapter 66, God says, but this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and
contrite in spirit who trembles at my Word.
And Father, we just ask that you would help give us that spirit today as we come to your Word.
Father, help us, challenge us, mould us, convict us, encourage us and spur us on, Father, as
we turn to your Word this morning.
We ask in Jesus' precious name.
Amen.
Well folks, let me encourage you to grab a Bible and turn back to Leviticus chapter 17.
So we are ambitiously this morning going to finish our series that we've been in in this
book of Leviticus.
And we're taking our 11 chapters this morning.
So buckle up, cowboys and cowgirls.
It's going to be a heavy ride, but I hope we'll get there.
But this is the thing that we need to see that kind of holds this together.
Here today is the call that this holy God makes upon the lives of his people.
And you can think about it a bit like this.
Okay, our little girl Grace, something that I've learned about her that she loves doing.
She loves a spot the difference puzzle.
And there was a spell certainly during lockdown where we read every night her Biff and Chip books.
If you remember these things when you were school, they're still going, Biff and Chip books.
And amazingly, they're still the same age, the characters in it.
But we read these every night, most of the nights.
And they often finish with a spot the difference puzzle.
So she loves doing these little puzzles.
So we'll be sitting there doing them.
And you know how it works.
You've got two pictures that are right next to each other.
And one's the normal one, one's got the differences in it.
So the two of us are looking at this.
And she's concentrating really hard.
And she's looking at it really hard.
And she says, Daddy, Daddy, there's a difference.
There's a difference.
Same routine again.
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.
There's a difference.
And then she turns to me and she would often say, Daddy, can you see any differences?
And there's never a more humbling moment in life, honestly, when as an adult, you look at some of these pictures.
And you cannot fathom it.
You have been defeated by a child's puzzle, right?
It's why we don't do Where's Wally anymore in our house at bedtime.
A humbling experience when you are defeated.
But she loves these spot the difference puzzles.
And we keep on going until we've seen all the differences.
And there's a ton of things going on in these chapters.
But here's the big thing that kind of holds it together.
This holy, holy, holy God is calling his people to be different.
If you remember one thing from today, remember that a holy God calls his people to be different.
And the key word in this section is the word holy.
Probably picked it up from the themes this morning.
Holy.
We get it 28 times in these chapters.
So if you want to think about it like this, if these chapters are like a stick of Blackpool rock,
okay, I'm the son of a dentist.
We're never allowed it.
But this is what I'm told.
Cut into it anywhere, these chapters.
And you'll find the holiness theme running all the way through the middle.
Now come with me to chapter 20 and verse 22.
And let me show you how this works.
Chapter 20 and verse 22.
Here's what God says to his people.
Verse 22.
Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them.
So that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you.
Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
But I said to you, you will possess the land.
I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.
I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the nations.
You therefore must make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.
Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground.
Those that I have set apart as unclean for you.
And here is verse 26.
And if you've not followed the reading so far, jump in at verse 26 of chapter 20.
You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy and have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
So hold on to verse 26 there.
What we're going to do is we're going to use it almost as our base camp verse from which we're going to explore the rest of these chapters.
So God is calling his people to be different.
To be holy.
And the challenge is going to come at us today as God's people is to consider whether we are embracing his holy call in our lives.
And verse 26 gives us the two sides of the holiness coin.
And these will be our two points for today.
Here's the first side of this coin.
Holiness is something that we're called to take in.
Now here's what I mean by that.
Verse 26 could easily be translated,
You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy and I have holied you from the nations to be my own.
In other words, to be holy is firstly a verb that's describing an action that God has done for us.
Before it's an adjective, this is to describe how we live.
And maybe at this point we need to tap back into the Bible story.
God has made a promise to Abraham way back in Genesis 12.
It's a massive chapter in the Bible.
That through him and his offspring, God is going to bless the nations of the world.
This God has a missionary heart to reach the peoples of the world.
And if you want evidence of that, look around at us.
And so here are Israel, the people who God has chosen to be the people that he will use,
to be the vehicle by which this blessing is going to come to the world.
Not because they are great or special or better than anyone else,
but because this God is so good and great and abounding in steadfast love.
And he's rescued them from Egypt.
He's called out his people.
And he's led them to Sinai.
And here is the way that he calls them to live as his people.
You know, my favorite creatures are in those little TV shows.
You know, the nature programs you get on telly.
I love the chameleons.
Love the chameleons.
Right? Chilled out little dudes, aren't they?
Never seen a chameleon in a rush.
But what are chameleons known for?
They're known just for blending in.
To their background, right?
Just blending.
And what we need to see is that God's people are called to be the exact opposite.
From the Egyptians, right?
The people that they've just come from.
Remember, they've seen that way of life.
They've been brought out of it.
And from the Canaanites who are in the land,
who they will rub shoulders with in the not-so-distant future,
who, if you look at the beginning of chapter 20,
the Canaanites are all out in worship of Molech.
Right?
You see, you get it quite a lot of times at the beginning of chapter 20.
Molech, Molech, Molech.
This is what the Canaanites worship.
And God, in his goodness and sovereignty,
knows that when the people go into the land,
this is the God that they're going to come up against.
These are the people who are worshiping.
And there's child sacrifice and all sorts of things caught up in the worship of Molech.
And in contrast, Israel are called to worship the Lord alone.
Okay?
The Lord, our God, is one.
Right?
We've only got eyes for him.
We worship him alone.
In contrast to the nations round about who are worshiping all sorts of different gods,
we worship the Lord, our God, alone in the way that he has told us to worship him.
Or just any way.
Or our way.
The way that he has told us to worship him.
And as they do this,
what's meant to happen is the people from the nations round about,
the people from the world,
and I hope you see where this applies to us.
Okay?
The peoples from the world round about are supposed to look in at Israel
and they're meant to say,
how lucky are Israel,
how lucky are God's people that they have their God dwelling right in the middle of them.
He dwells with them.
He's not somewhere out there.
He is right in the middle of his people.
He lives with them.
How lucky are Israel.
How lucky are they to have the laws of this God
and be able to walk in them
to see the goodness of the way that God has called them to live.
Israel are to live with,
and this is Chris Wright,
what he calls a missional magnetism.
Love that phrase, missional magnetism.
It's not just me that likes to alliterate, right?
Missional magnetism.
The world round about is supposed to see something
and be drawn towards it goodness.
In other words, the nations are like the moth
and they're to be drawn to Israel's flame.
And God's taken his people to the promised land
and it's why the Canaanites who are currently occupying the land
can't live there anymore
because they've defiled it with their practices against this God.
Because if God's people are to dwell with God,
in God's place, under God's rule, to God's glory,
enjoying him forever,
which is where the trajectory of the Bible story is going,
then holiness needs to be everywhere in the land.
Everywhere in the land.
And so bring that all together, friends.
To be holy by God,
to be his,
to be called apart for him,
by him and for him,
is a privilege.
Maybe you want to take stock to remember that this morning.
As a Christian,
it's not just you made a call to make a lifestyle choice,
but you did make a call to put your faith in Jesus.
God has called you out
to be his own.
You are his treasured possession.
You are chosen in love by God the Father
before the foundation of the world.
To be his is a privilege.
So holiness, you see,
is something that first and foremost,
we are called to take in.
And secondly,
the other side of the coin,
holiness is something
that God's people are to live out.
So here's the repeated frame
that you get in this section.
You shall be holy
because I,
the Lord,
your God,
am holy.
So God's people are called
like a mirror,
sun shining off it,
radiating it to the world,
called to reflect the holiness of their God
and the way that they live.
And what is striking
as you read these chapters through
is just how comprehensive a call this is
on every person
in society,
in every area of their lives.
Right?
There's a big Asda
just down the road from us
at Straighten.
I remember being amazed,
thinking that it was open 24-7.
You got one of those around about you?
Maybe it's,
doesn't need to be an Asda,
but something that's open 24-7, right?
I'm getting my head around that.
It's open all the time.
That is open all the time.
I can go there anytime I want.
You can go there anytime you want.
Never closes.
Never off duty.
Never stops.
Never ceases.
Always open.
God, do you see,
in such a greater way,
is calling his people
to 24-7 holiness.
Every day of their lives
and every area of their lives,
he's calling them
to 24-7 radical holiness.
And so here's what we're going to attempt to do
is dip in and out of these chapters.
And there's so much going on here.
You'll appreciate it.
You don't get time to do any of it.
Tons of justice.
But let me just pick out four ways
that God's people really quickly
are going to be different
from the world around them.
Four ways,
four marks would be like
of this holy community.
Here's number one,
mark one.
The poor will be loved.
So God lays out commands,
like the one we read,
Hannah just read,
chapter 19, verse 9.
When you bring in the harvest,
your crops and your fruit,
what's God saying?
He says,
if you own the land,
don't plow all the way to the edges.
Leave a bit.
Right?
Leave a bit.
Why have you to leave a bit?
So that the poor can come in.
Those who aren't as well off as you.
And they can be provided for.
Because remember,
the land is the Lord's.
Land is the Lord's.
Do you see in that way,
the poor are cared for.
God has got the poor in his heart,
in this community.
Or take the year of Jubilee.
You get that in 25,
chapter 25.
This year that happened,
every 50th year.
The cancellation of debts,
the release of slaves,
the reallocation of property
to its original owners,
that they can buy it back.
Again, what's at the heart
of the year of Jubilee?
This year that almost acted
like the great reset
in the life of God's people.
So that there doesn't,
surely it's this,
if you think about it,
so that there doesn't become
a huge gap
between the rich and the poor.
So that there doesn't exist
a society where the rich
are getting richer
and the poor are getting poorer.
And because of that,
envy is existing
between these two groups.
And who primarily benefits
from the year of Jubilee?
Surely it's the poor.
Who's given opportunities?
Who's given options?
Who's provided for?
It's the poor.
Do you see how God's community
are to care for the poor?
Or to do right by them?
Or to have an eye for them?
They care for the poor.
The poor are in God's heart.
So way number one,
mark number one,
the poor are loved.
Mark number two,
sex is honored.
God calls his people
to have a different sexual ethic
from the nations,
the peoples of the earth
round about them.
As God reaffirms
that to engage in sexual activity
outwith the good contours
of a marriage between one man
and one woman is sinful.
And yes,
homosexuality is mentioned here.
Got to see it.
But let's ensure that
because of the times
in which we happen to be existing
at this moment,
we're not so drawn to see it
that we miss out on everything else
that God is saying
because he's got so much more
to say in this regard,
in this area.
Because if you read it through,
he's got stuff to say
about adultery amongst his people,
polygamy,
incest,
sex with animals,
and uncovering another person's nakedness
probably means just to sleep with them casually,
could just mean looking at them lustfully.
As God said,
you will be different
from the peoples round about
in the way you think about sex.
And I take it, friends,
that we all need to feel the weight of that.
And I'm very conscious
that two things will be happening
as I'm mentioning that.
Number one
is that the Holy Spirit,
as he moves amongst us,
will be challenging us
in ways that we need to be different.
The things that we need to repent,
the things we need to say sorry for,
the things that we need to stop doing
and start doing.
I'm also aware
that the devil will be prowling around
looking for people to devour.
And maybe right now,
even as I mentioned that,
there's a lot of pain
that's coming back to mind
or mistakes
or shame.
And that's why I want us
just at this point
to come to John chapter 8
and marvel,
all of us,
because we have all fallen short here
at some point in our lives,
marvel at the grace of Jesus Christ.
Marvel at what God is like
as we see God in the flesh
in his person.
For all of us have failed here.
The Pharisees,
what do they do in John chapter 8?
They bring a woman
who's been caught in adultery
and it's almost like
they bring her to Jesus
and they gang up on her.
I'm always reading that,
thinking to myself,
where is the guy?
Right?
It takes two to tangle.
Where is the guy?
They're not interested.
I love how Jesus treats women
with such dignity.
He should meet them in the Gospels.
What do they say about this woman?
She has broken what?
The law of Moses.
They take Jesus right here.
She is guilty.
What are you going to do about it?
What does he say?
He says,
let he who is without sin
cast the first stone.
And one by one,
they start dropping off.
Love it how it's the elders
who start dropping off first
as if to say,
we know we cannot throw that stone.
Jesus doesn't condone the woman
for what she's done,
but neither does he condemn her
for what she's done.
He meets her with grace
and he says,
sin no more.
Sin no more.
Change.
Do you see, friends,
repentance is always a response
to Jesus,
the grace that we find in him.
It's almost as if Jesus
steps into this woman's situation
and says,
yes, she deserves to die.
We all deserve to die.
I'm going to take her death.
I'll take it.
That's what he does
as he goes to the cross.
Those, all of us,
who deserve to die,
I'm going to die in their place.
Friends, God's kindness
is meant to lead us to repentance.
This is Jesus.
Feel his heart here in this moment.
The heart of God
for people to come
to put their faith in him.
He changed.
And all that you see,
if you look at chapter 18,
all the different people
and relationships
that you get in Leviticus 18,
this list of people
who you are not to uncover
their nakedness.
There's that phrase.
The reason
is that these people
belong to somebody else.
Do you see it?
Verse 16, chapter 18,
for example,
do not have sexual relations
with your brother's wife
that would dishonor
your brother.
In other words,
there's other people
involved here
who are going to be hurt
by your actions.
People are not just
your playthings
to satisfy your appetites.
People are image bearers
of God's.
And you need to understand
that because of that,
they are worthy
of the greatest dignity
and respect
as you love your neighbor
as yourself.
Let me just say,
that is the culture
that we always want
to be creating here.
Right?
Just a culture
where we view people
differently.
Differently.
Where we talk about
the other sex
differently.
And as you think
about everything
that's going on
in our world
over the last number
of months,
friends,
we should be setting
the pace here
in how we relate
to one another
as people.
Setting the pace.
Striving to create
a safe place
where people can come in
and not be judged
but can heal
and be loved
and know
the grace
of Jesus Christ.
Where we can be honest
with our struggles.
Where we have a safe place
to practice repentance
as together
we deny self,
take up cross,
and follow Jesus.
God's community
will be a place
where sex
is honoured.
And Mark 3,
and these will be
a lot quicker,
these two.
Mark 3,
God's community
is a place
where justice
is done.
Right?
Did you hear it
as Hannah read it?
Do not steal.
Do not defraud
your neighbour.
Don't cheat
in your weights
and your scales.
Pay your labourers
their wages.
Verse 15,
you shall not render
an unjust judgment
that benefits
either the rich
or the poor.
In other words,
God really cares
that justice
is done
amongst his people.
Why?
Because again,
it just reflects
his character.
He is a God
of justice.
And Mark number 4,
real quick,
the days are special.
Days are special.
Chapter 23
and into 25,
the times of year
that are to be special
to the Israelites.
the Passover,
the Sabbath,
the festival of weeks,
the day of atonement,
these rhythms of life
that God tells them
to build into their calendar,
many of which
will only happen
once they're in the land
where they're going.
These days are designed
to help them remember
who their God is
and what he's done for them
and to be able to pass it on
to the next generation.
This is who our God is.
This is who he is.
Right?
One of the reasons,
if you want an example,
chapter 23,
sorry we're jumping about here
but it's the nature
of the exercise.
Chapter 23,
verse 43.
One of the reasons
they are to celebrate
the Feast of Booths,
23, 43.
So your descendants
will know
that I had the Israelites
live in temporary shelters
when I brought them
out of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God.
You picture that.
You're celebrating
that one together.
Child,
ask the parent,
why are we doing this?
Why are we living in a tent?
What is going on?
Because this is who our God is.
This is what he's done for us.
This is what happened.
This is what he did.
This is how good he is.
Let's worship him
and celebrate him together.
You see,
they're just built
into the life
of God's people,
passing on to the next generation
so that they don't forget
this is who our God is.
In chapters 26 and 27
that kind of end the book here,
chapter 26,
God saying,
I will bless you
if you live a life
of covenant faithfulness.
You will be fruitful
and multiply.
There will be an abundance
of grain,
verse 12,
chapter 26,
and I will walk
among you.
Now,
if you're on the ball,
biblical theology,
you'll feel there
in that language,
echoes of Eden.
Yeah,
I will walk among you.
What was God doing
in the garden?
He was walking amongst them.
Be fruitful and multiply.
Again,
you hear the echoes of Eden
in the language.
This is where God
is taking his people.
But you will incur
the covenant curses
if you don't.
Most importantly,
I think for the story,
verse 33,
God is saying,
I will scatter you
among the nations.
I will expel you
from the land
where I am taking you
just like I did
the Canaanites
because if you're
going to live
as my people,
my place,
you must be holy.
And I think just as we
maybe bring the chapters
to a close,
friends,
we need to see
how seriously
God takes the holiness
of his people.
If you're going to
represent me,
you need to be holy.
I remember when I was
a lawyer,
one of the clients
that we had
was an apple reseller.
Not as in an apple,
as in apple.
Apple got in contact,
I remember,
and sent us
this hugely detailed
document of everything
that they expected us
to do if we were
going to sell
their products.
Everything from the
texture of the surfaces,
the type of marble
they had to be made of,
the gaps between
the products
as you put them
on display,
and how the shop
was to be set up
and the lighting.
I have never seen
so much attention
to detail in my life.
But it is why
when you go to
an apple store,
you will see the same
layout all the way
through.
Because they are saying,
if you are going to
represent our brand,
this is what we expect
of you.
And in the same way,
friends,
these chapters
exclaim to us
as we read about
incident after incident
of people just
abusing God's holiness.
And what happened
to them,
just how much it
matters to a holy
God,
what kind of people
represent him.
because this God,
the Lord,
who is three times
holy,
he will not be
mocked.
He will not be
mocked.
And you want proof
of that when Jesus
turns up 2,000 odd
years later?
The tragedy is
that Israel
have swerved
off the track
so far
that they are
no longer
being this
holy people.
You know,
I never,
you make these
connections as you
read scripture
through.
I'd never noticed
before in Mark 11.
Mark 11.
You know,
Jesus is into the
temple and he's
flipping the tables.
What's one of the
things that he sees
there?
What's one of the
things that causes
such holy anger
in his heart?
What are the people
selling?
They're selling
doves.
What is it in
Leviticus we learned
at the start?
What do the poor
people who can't
afford a bull,
what did they come
bringing for their
sacrifice?
They bring a dove
or a pigeon,
but a dove.
And so here are the
people in the
temple selling
these things
and trying to
make money.
And who are they
making money
off?
The poor.
Do you see it?
And there's money
changers there as
well.
People from
outside coming in
to worship God
need to change
their currency.
Again,
probably people
making money
off of that.
Who are they
exploiting?
The foreigner.
The outsider
who's coming in
to worship the Lord.
Do you see how
Israel at this
point have gone
so far,
so far off
the tracks?
Matthew 5,
the Pharisees
are teaching
that we're
keeping the
law because
we are not
committing adultery.
What does
Jesus say in
the Sermon on
the Mount?
Yeah, but you're
burning with lust
in your hearts.
They say we're
keeping the law
because we are
not murdering.
What does
Jesus say?
Yeah, but anger
rages inside of
you.
You've missed it.
You've missed the
point.
I love the analogy
that Jesus uses for
them.
What does he call
them?
He calls them
whitewashed tombs.
I just picture a
cave where the
body would go
and they've
painted it white,
given the
impression of
life, but
inside is
death.
Whitewashed
tombs.
I love how,
and we should
see this,
that Jesus has
some of his
strongest words
for religious
hypocrites.
And he has
some of his
sweetest words
for those who
are religious
failures.
When he says,
do not think
that I have
come to abolish
the law of
the prophets.
I have not
come to
abolish them,
I have come
to fulfill
them.
Now, what
does he
mean?
Fulfill them.
What does he
mean?
How do we
understand the
law?
What are we
supposed to
do with
this?
Well,
commentators
generally agree
that you can
divide the
law into
three categories.
You've got the
ceremonial laws,
the rituals that
Israel were told
to do.
So, sin
offerings, etc.
The kind of
things that make
you unclean and
clean, like
eating prawns,
all those kind
of things,
right?
Which were all
pointing to
Jesus and his
work on the
cross, what he
would do.
Dies on the
cross, atones
for our sin.
He is the
atoning sacrifice
that we need.
He's the one
that can make us
clean.
And therefore,
because we stand
at this point in
the story, we
don't need to go
back.
Now that we've
got the full
picture, we
don't go back
to the play
thing.
We don't go
back the way.
And the
civil law, the
things that
specifically apply
to the nation
of Israel,
particularly when
they're in the
land, keeping
up special
days, etc.
All these
things fulfilled
in Jesus.
Paul in the
New Testament
talks about
Christ as our
Passover lamb.
Jesus is the
one who gives
us rest.
That is
everything the
Sabbath was
pointing to.
And moreover,
God's people are
no longer one
nation in the
land.
We are now
people from
every nation.
Every nation.
But friends, the
third category is a
lot more
interesting.
It's the moral
law.
In other words,
this is God's
heart.
And not only do
we see so much
of this picked up
in the New
Testament, all
these things that
God requires us
to do, he wants
us to do as his
people, but there's
another way that
Jesus fulfills the
law.
And if you want
to see what a
holy life
looks like, if
you want to see
what a life of
joyful obedience
and glad
submission to
God the Father
looks like, if
you want to see
what a perfect
law keeper looks
like, whether
that makes you
sad or happy,
look at Jesus.
Look at Jesus.
And in that
sense, you see
how he has
fulfilled the
law.
It's often what
people say about
Christianity, isn't
it?
It's just rules,
rules, rules.
You know, if I
wanted life in a
straitjacket, I
don't want it,
thank you very
much.
I remember
reading C.S.
Lewis's book
years ago, his
spiritual autobiography,
it's called
Mere Christianity.
He talked about
before he was a
Christian, he used
to view God as
a grand
interferer in
his life.
I viewed God
like that before I
became a Christian.
He was like a
referee.
He was just out to
spoil my fun.
It would be so
much better if you
weren't there.
But that's not
what you see when
you look at
Jesus.
Not only is he
the perfect law
keeper whose
righteousness we
need, we can't
do this, he did
it.
But if to be a
Christian, if to be
chosen by God the
Father, and to
have Jesus formed
in us through the
power of the
Spirit, friends,
and we should
begin to look more
like him.
You see, the
gospel of free
grace is never
about turning over
a new leaf and
saying, I'm going
to try harder.
It's about God by
his grace taking
out our heart of
stone and putting
in a new heart of
flesh.
It's about being
given a new heart.
And therefore,
friends, if you
bring those together,
holiness should be
the desire of
every child of
God.
In the words of
William Cowper,
to see the law by
Christ fulfilled,
and hear his
pardoning voice,
changes a slave
into a child,
and duty into
choice.
This is a privilege
to worship and
follow Jesus.
And so the
challenge to us
today as we
bring this to a
close as God's
people is are we
living in such a
way that the God
we claim to
worship attracts
admiration from the
world around us?
And I think back
just where we
started to spot
the difference.
Spot the
difference.
Friends, how are
we doing it
being different?
How are we
doing it being
different?
I remember hearing
a story of a guy
called Mark.
Mark got
baptized at
Charlotte Chapel
back in 2017,
and how he came to
hear about Jesus
was simply that
somebody new
started at his
work.
She was called
Kirsty, and in
her Mark saw
something different.
And he said this in
his testimony, because
I've got a transcript
of it.
He said,
she brought our
loving God to my
attention, and my
interest was
piqued.
And so the two of
them get chatting,
they start reading
the Bible together,
Mark encounters
Jesus, he's
convicted of his
sin, and he
finds forgiveness
in life in
Jesus.
Why did it
start?
Because Mark saw
something different.
There's always God's
plan for holiness,
that we would make
him attractive to
the world.
Friends, how are we
doing at being
different?
Here is the call
that this holy God
makes on our lives,
as we respond to
his grace, to
be holy, to be
holy.
Holiness is
something that
we're called to
take in, and
holiness is
something that
we're called to
live out.
Let's pray
together.
Heavenly Father,
we just thank you
so much for your
grace.
Lord, where would
we be without your
great love for us?
And so we just
thank you for your
precious word,
Lord, and everything
that we've learned
this morning.
And I pray
particularly, Father,
for those who
are perhaps
struggling with
something that
we've read this
morning.
Or, Father, in
their heart are
feeling perhaps a
sense of guilt.
Lord, would you
just remind them
particularly, Father,
of your love for
them, of your
Son who gave your
life to save
them.
Father, we just
thank you for your
wonderful love for
us.
We thank you just
for this last
number of weeks
we were able to
study this book of
the Bible called
Leviticus and
seeing its
relevance and its
challenge for us
today.
And so, Father,
we pray that as
we leave this,
that this church,
this people that
gather here, would
continue to be a
light to the
nations, a city on
the hill, a
community of salt
that makes the
Lord Jesus
attractive to the
world.
Father, help us,
we pray, in Jesus'
worthy and precious
name.
Amen.