Good morning, everyone. It's great to be with you in church this morning or joining with you online to kick off this season of reflection and celebration and looking forward to what God has next for us as a church.
So be grateful if you've got your Bibles, open up to Revelation chapter 1. That'll be fantastic.
In May 2017, Australian tennis legend and now Pentecostal Christian pastor from Perth, Margaret Court, wrote an open letter opposing the support of same-sex marriage by Qantas Airlines.
It received a whole heap of feedback at the time.
And one of the feedbacks, one of the responses to Margaret's letter came from another tennis great, Martina Navratilova.
She tweeted on her account, thank you, Qantas, for your support.
And Margaret, you've gone too far. Shame on you.
And it came with a hashtag, the wrong side of history.
It feels like that sometimes, I think, as a Christian, particularly in the modern West, that we are on the wrong side of history.
That is, history was for, sorry, Christianity was for times past, but we've kind of grown up as a society and now we just leave it behind.
You need to get new ideas, new thoughts about life and how life works.
Our society has been moving further and further away and even over the time of Vision 2020, in the last 11 years as a church, it has rapidly moved further and further away from Christian truths.
The foundation, in fact, of our society.
The Christian worldview is not just regarded as outdated.
It's not just the wrong side of history.
It's viewed as wrong in some circles and, amongst other circles, even deviant.
Church attendance is falling.
Christians in society are sinking into the shadows, hoping not to be identified as such, just wanting to stay under the radar.
So the question is, before us, as we just reflect on the past and as we look forward to the future,
what future does the Christian faith have?
What future does the church have in our culture?
What we're doing in this series, in terms of celebrating what God has done in the past and his work amongst us in the last 11 years,
and we also start to form a path for what is next for us as a church,
is this moment of this season we're in right now, this term, nothing more than just the band playing on the Titanic as it sinks,
entertaining us as we go down.
But we're almost at the end.
Is that what's happening for us?
Well, obviously, I think no.
But what we need to see as a church, what we need to see as Christians, and we need to see it again and again and again and again,
what we need to be convinced of again and again is that Jesus is reigning.
He's alive as much as you and I are alive, even more so that you and I are alive,
and he is reigning over all that is still.
He's resurrected, ascended, and he rules the universe.
We need to have him speak into the situations in our lives, in our society, in our church.
We need to know that God is right now on his throne in control in heaven,
and unlike us right now with masks on our faces and silent in the singing,
he is surrounded by myriads and myriads and myriads and myriads of angels,
beings far greater and glorious than us, on their knees, singing at the tops of their voices,
declaring his praise and worthy because he is so far even beyond them.
He is so great and glorious.
So right now when we can't sing, he is hearing the thunderous roar of that singing around his throne.
We need to see the way that this God who is so patient will one day pulverize wickedness and injustice
and obliterate those who oppose him and set up his kingdom for the eternal joy of all who trust him.
What we need in this season is the book of Revelation and these verses which are in front of us right now.
So I'd be grateful if you had your Bibles open, Revelation chapter 1.
If you have to, if you're using an electronic device, shut down every other app.
Shut down your notifications.
You need to be focused here right now.
Go to the St. Paul's app.
Shut down every app apart from this one.
Get to the St. Paul's app and there's a bit of an outline there for our message today.
Three points I want to get to.
First of all, which king is on the throne?
See, the message of Revelation was so essential for the first recipients of this letter about 2,000 years ago.
The first recipients of this letter were Christians living in the Roman Empire.
They were living in the Roman Empire and they were facing the biggest nightmare of their lives.
The storm clouds of persecution were building for them.
The might of the Roman Empire was against them.
Now this is important.
By the time the book of Revelation was written, the Roman Empire had been around for 600 years.
And it still had another 400 years to go.
What that means is the Roman Empire lasted four times longer than the British Empire, the Communist Empire, and the American Empire combined.
Four times longer.
It is so embedded in terms of its power.
The world has not seen anything like it.
And when John writes this word that we have in front of us now, Christians were facing the might and the glory of that empire.
Romans 1 verse 9.
Sorry, not Romans.
Revelation 1 verse 9.
The second half of it tells us that John was exiled on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Now these days, Patmos has around about 3,000 inhabitants.
And it is full of five-star resorts and luxury villas.
It's a great place to go for a holiday.
In John's day, it was a prison island.
It was a prison island for the Roman Empire.
And John is an old man.
And he is sentenced to work in the quarries, breaking stones on Patmos because of his faith in Jesus Christ.
And John is, if you like, typical of the hardship that many Christians were facing and were about to face.
Were about to face because of their emperor, Domitian.
Now we all hear of the emperor Nero and the way that he sort of set himself against Christians.
Domitian was, Nero was just sort of like a start.
Start of the persecution.
Domitian was a nasty piece of work compared to Nero.
According to the Roman writer Suetonius, the Roman emperor Domitian, who was emperor when John wrote these words, was both physically unimpressive and a moral catastrophe of a man.
Just to, I mean, I could give you a big long list.
But here's a couple of things.
He had many, many affairs with married women and eventually stole someone else's wife to be his own.
His own brother Titus fell ill while on a campaign and he ordered his entire army to leave him alone to die.
His own brother.
He seduced his married niece, got her pregnant, and then she died from the abortion that he demanded that she have.
This moral catastrophe of a man was physically unimpressive.
He was particularly sensitive about his boldness.
When what would be called nowadays a court joker made a joke, entertained the crowd, and made a bit of a passing shot at his boldness, Domitian had the guy executed straight away.
He was particularly sensitive about his baldness, his growing pot belly, and what was described by historians as his spindly little legs.
But he demanded that the entire Roman Empire referred to him as Lord God.
And Christians were suffering extreme hardship because they refused to have this Roman emperor as the dominant reality of their lives, as the point of their lives.
And so he threw the full force of the Roman Empire against them.
His persecution was horrendous.
He would have Christians laid out on the ground, have a horse attached to each arm and leg, and get the horses whipped so the horses would bolt and limbs would be ripped from torso.
And then the crowds would watch the person die in agony.
Some others, he would have them holes drilled into their skulls and molten lead poured in on their brains and watch them die that way.
Others were mercifully thrown to the lions and torn apart.
It was quicker.
This is what these Christians are facing.
And yet, they faced it with fortitude, with peace, and even joy.
How did they do that?
Because it is a historical fact they did.
It's a historical fact that lives throughout the whole Roman Empire were changed when Christians died this way with fortitude, peace, and joy.
And others wanted to know, how is it that you can live and die like that?
How is that possible?
Historical fact.
This, in fact, was written about Christians not long after Domitian's reign, but it was about Domitian's reign.
This is a Roman writer.
They loved everyone.
They loved everyone, but by everyone they are persecuted.
They are unknown, and yet they are condemned.
They are put to death, and yet they are brought to life.
They are poor, and yet they make many rich.
They're in need of everything, and yet they are bound in everything.
They are dishonored, and yet they are glorified in their dishonor.
They are slandered, and yet they are vindicated.
They are cursed, and yet they bless.
They're insulted, and yet they offer respect.
And when they do good, they are punished as evildoers.
When they are punished, they rejoice as if they are somehow brought to life.
And so Christians, when punished, daily increase more and more.
That is, the might of the greatest empire in the world could not stop them.
So how did they do that?
How did they live and die like that?
Well, it's because they were captivated by the cosmic king.
Revelation 1 was so important for them, and it's important for us.
It reminds these suffering Christians who is, in fact, the dominant reality of their life,
the cosmic king, Jesus Christ.
Have a look at how he is described here.
Verse 4.
Him who was and who is to come.
Verse 5.
Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Verse 6.
The one to whom power and glory belong forever.
And then we have in verse 8.
I am.
This is Jesus' declaration.
I am the alpha and the omega who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.
Verse 8 there is one of the most comprehensive statements in the entire Bible of the divinity of Jesus,
of exactly who he is.
During his ministry years, he consistently made these sorts of claims, claiming that he, in fact, was God himself.
It's claims that no other religious leader has ever claimed.
You know, Buddha, Muhammad, others have claimed to speak on behalf of the divine.
None of them dared to take the step of actually declaring that they were, in fact, the divine, that they were, in fact, the God, the almighty, the creator.
Now, I don't have time this morning to unpack all of that.
In fact, I do have time, but you don't have time for me to unpack all of that for us today.
Other times we do, and we will again into the future.
But I want you to know that this church here at St. Paul's, if you're watching me online, this church here at St. Paul's exists,
that you might grapple with that claim of who Jesus is.
It is so, so essential for you to understand who Jesus is.
And we would be delighted.
In fact, our missions team, I'd be delighted.
Our missions team would be delighted to lead you through exploring this claim and the many other claims of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith.
We want you to know him.
And so please send us an email.
Get in contact with us.
Our missions team, Adrian, would be very glad to pursue that with you.
But Jesus describes himself here as the Alpha and the Omega.
That is, that's the first letter and the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
He is, as we see a little bit later in chapter 1, he describes the beginning and the end.
He's the first and the last.
The Bible tells us that he existed before the universe was formed and he is its creator.
He is, if you like, the starting point of all that is.
He is the origin of all that is.
As the beginning of the Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 1, in the beginning was God.
When all things started, God was already there.
Now, every single one of us has a starting point.
I don't mean, you know, your birthday.
I'm not referring to that.
I mean your starting point.
The starting point of life, of how life came to be.
How we exist.
The starting point of existence and how we derive our life and our meaning and our purpose from that starting point.
It's the beginning point from which we explain the world as it is.
What's your starting point?
We've all got one.
What is your starting point?
Whatever your starting point is, it will fundamentally determine how you live.
And especially it will determine how you handle tough times in life.
Secularism declares there is no divine starting point.
It declares that everything that exists now started because of a random act, random collision of atoms and stuff and gas.
And so therefore, all life as it exists right now is an accident that happened billions of years ago.
And life, existence, is therefore a collection of events and chaos.
It's the only explanation of life that they have.
There is no meaning.
There is no purpose.
If you want to be a true secularist.
And it means therefore that we are left to our own devices to determine our own path, our own meaning, our own purpose.
Everything is subject to the elements in which we exist.
We cannot plan on a future whatsoever.
And therefore, we live, we breathe, we die, we're gone, and that's it.
So you better make the most of it right now.
And so in Western society, personal happiness is the highest goal of life.
Because there's nothing else.
I might as well enjoy while the earth spins and I stand on it.
And so there is therefore no explanation for hard times.
There's no way to endure hard times.
Because it's not the purpose of life.
If, however, there is a creator at the beginning, then it's essential that we discover his truth, his purpose, his meaning.
And we are told here that Jesus Christ is the starting point.
He's the starting point.
We're also told here that he is the end point.
He is the omega as well.
He created the universe.
And the universe is orientated towards him as the starting point and the end point.
He has built everything for him and around him.
All things are for his glory.
All things are for his knowledge.
All things are for his service.
We are built for him.
And as long as we connect our life, our existence, our understanding with him, there is hope.
He didn't just start history, but all of history is rushing towards him.
So what we think our starting point and our end point are will determine how we live now.
And Christianity declares that if Jesus Christ is your starting point and he is your end point,
and an end point that I must add never actually ends, it goes on living with him forever,
then he is your point now.
He is the point.
And the good news here is that the source of all our hope and life and meaning and purpose
is not just a cosmic king who rules, but he's a cosmic king who rules and is present.
He's close.
He's not a distant divine being.
This cosmic king is close.
He's approachable.
And this is good news for the imprisoned John, for the persecution Christians in the Roman Empire,
and for Christians around this world in a thousand hard places right now.
It's good news for the suffering, for those who are tired, for those who are weary,
for those who are running out of steam, for those who are confused, disheartened,
for those who are disenfranchised, for those who are insecure.
We need to see Jesus Christ, the risen, ascended, cosmic king, as ruling and present.
So, in verse 12, John turns to see whose voice it was that sounded like a trumpet in verse 10.
Verse 20 tells us the interpretation of what he saw in that moment.
And that is, what he saw was the cosmic king standing in amongst the churches, standing right in the churches.
He's not just merely as a king over the churches.
He's not distant away from it.
He's not standing outside the churches.
He is right there in the middle of his church.
Now, I'll unpack this probably next week.
But the idea of seven churches, he's not just a promise here for seven churches.
The number seven in the book of Revelation is complete.
So, the idea here is that he is amongst his church, his global worldwide church.
And John saw, according to verse 13, one like a son of man.
In Daniel chapter 7, it's a reference to Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 to 14.
The term son of man or one like a son of man refers to a great ruler.
So, when John says that he saw one like a son of man standing in the middle of the lampstands,
he means he saw someone with dominion and glory and kingly power.
The one who stands amongst the churches is the one who received from the ancient of days
a reference to God himself, dominion and glory and kingdom rule and power and authority in heaven and on earth.
That is, all of God's divine rule has been given to this one like the son of man.
And in verse 13, we also see this son of man was dressed in a robe,
reaching down to his feet and with a gold sash around his chest.
Now, the robe here is similar to the robe in the Old Testament,
where it is almost always refers to the robe of the high priest.
So, Jesus is not just the son of man as the cosmic king.
He's not just the son of man from Daniel 7,
who receives everlasting dominion and rule over all nations and time and eternity.
We also see that he is the final high priest who brings all of the work of the temple to an end.
He is the almighty cosmic king who mediates between humanity and God.
And he does that, as we see in verse 5,
by giving his own blood.
He gave his own blood once and for all to put away sin once and for all,
the sacrifice of himself.
This is a king who gives of himself.
These early Christians willingly put their lives on the line
and some of them died horrible deaths
because Jesus, the cosmic king, gave his life for them.
And verse 5 says,
To him who loves us.
He loves them.
In fact, in the original language, it is in the present tense.
He loves them now.
He loves you now.
In the present, right here, right now.
They are so blessed because this cosmic king,
in complete comparison to Domitian,
gave his own life for them.
And he has freed us from our sins by his blood.
Verse 5.
Those who sin, those who live life as if they are their own little Domitians,
set themselves up as the cosmic kings,
making everything, making them the point of all of life.
The Bible declares deserve to die eternally.
But Jesus steps in as the high priest,
the cosmic high priest who dies on the altar for our sin.
He cancels our obligation to pay the penalty for our sins against God
so that we might be reconciled with God and live with him forever.
See, the blood of Jesus frees people from lust and greed and pride and anger
and every other enslaving sin that makes us, me, you, the point of life.
The blood of Jesus breaks the power of canceled sin.
He is the loving, sacrificial, cosmic king.
And in verse 14,
John describes his eyes were like blazing fire.
You see, the eyes of this son of man, this cosmic king,
are not the clouded eye of fading glory.
It's not like this Jesus is from another world,
from times past.
He's not on the wrong side of history.
His eyes are the eyes of sharpest clarity and purification.
They miss nothing that happens in his universe from time and eternity.
They're exploding with energy.
We all know, I'm assuming you know,
but I just declare you all know,
the dripping eye that's about to sleep,
you know, about to drive off to sleep,
and the resentful eye and the grumpy eye
and the half-shut scowl and the bad mood eye.
You can look in someone's eye and you know when you've ticked them off.
We all know what it is.
But we also know the eye that is alive with wonder and excitement
and hope and expectancy and energy
and Jesus' eyes were like a flaming fire.
Know today,
2,000 years after John saw this vision,
that Jesus is God,
he is on the throne,
he is as alive then as he is today.
He is the cosmic king,
he's not tired,
he's not burnt out,
he's not fatigued,
he's not scrambling for answers.
His eyes are aflame
with the flashing fire of inexhaustible energy
and hope and love.
He sees everything that will be
and has been.
Nothing takes him by surprise,
nothing can make him love you less
or love you more.
When Jesus thinks about his plans for you,
when he thinks about his plans for this church
and for this country
and for Christians all across the globe,
beyond this day,
he's not hesitant,
he's not tired,
he's not bored,
he's not scrambling for answers.
His eyes are aflame of fire
with utter exhilaration
and passion and enthusiasm
for the work that he began
2,000 years ago on the cross
and will bring to completion
when he comes with the clouds,
as we are told here in Revelation 1.
It will go ahead,
nothing will hinder it
and it excites him.
Let me tell you,
this year I have been tired
because I don't know the future.
constantly making decisions
and changing and shifting
and when I think about
what St. Paul's needs to do next,
I get tired thinking about it.
Not Jesus.
Now friends,
if you haven't quite grappled with it yet,
this is a worldview-shaping passage.
Worldview-shaping passages.
Now there are two ways
to approach God.
Really only two ways
you can approach God.
Either he is
the means to your end
or he's the end
and everything else
is the means.
And religion
is one way
to approach God
as the means
to your end.
religion is doing
certain things
in order
for God
to do
certain things
for you.
I loved watching
Flora's video
this morning
and seeing
the work of God
in her life
and the transformation
of needing
to be a good student
to someone
who now rests
in the sovereign grace
of this Lord Jesus Christ.
Love to see that.
In the past
I've described
religion
as treating God
like a cosmic
vending machine.
You put in
your offerings
your sacrifices
in the hope
that God
will spit out
what it is
that you truly value.
What is
your true point
in life?
So in other words
you use him
to get to your point
and inevitably
the point
has something
to do with us
gaining our glory
for ourselves
in some way.
In one way
or another
it becomes
about us
being little
Domitians.
The other way
to approach God
is to see
that it's all
about him
that he is
in fact
the cosmic king
and we discover
our point
we discover
our joy
we discover
our freedom
when we pursue
him
surrender
to him
and so my last
call here
is for us
to worship
to know
and to serve
the cosmic king.
Our cosmic king
is not just a ruler
he's a loving
relational ruler
as I've said
and when John
gets this vision
of Jesus
here
what we see
is he falls
to the ground
as though
he is dead.
That is
what we see here
is
it's a position
of submission
it's a position
of worship
Jesus Christ
is
to be
worshipped
he's not
the means
to your end
he is
the end
he is
the omega
he's
the starting
point of your
life
he's
the point
of your
life
every human
being
has the
choice
of either
living life
as little
Domitians
or surrendering
to the true
cosmic king
secondly
Jesus
wants you
to know
him
I think
this is
really important
for everyone
and I want
to say
particularly
for those
of you
who are
Christians
and really
struggling
with it
right now
this year
has just
put you
on tender
hooks
and you're
really struggling
to follow
him
what happens
here is
God gives
John
on the
island
of Patmos
a revelation
and this
revelation
is not
just for
John
this word
is not
just for
John
we are
told
in verse
11
write on
a scroll
what you
see
and send
it to the
seven
churches
see the
point of
John
writing it
down
is to
transmit
to the
seven
churches
and ultimately
to us
the experience
that John
had
of seeing
Jesus
that's the
point
now can you
imagine John
sitting on the
island of
Patmos
suffering
breaking rocks
in the
quarry as an
old bloke
every bit of
him hurting
and he gets
his vision
of the
cosmic
reigning
Jesus
how much
his soul
must have
lifted at
that point
and John
wants us
to see
what he
sees
he appears
to John
and says
write in a
book
what you
see
and send
it to the
seven
churches
John
gets the
vision
we get
the
book
that's
the
point
he
wants
us
this
cosmic
king
wants
us
to
come
to
him
through
his
word
to
us
he
wants
us
to
seek
him
in
his
word
he
wants
to
know
him
by
his
word
he
wants
us
to
gaze
on
him
and
all
of
his
majesty
in
his
word
to
steadily
gaze
until
the
point
that our
hearts
are
lifted
and we
feel
deeply
encouraged
he wants
us to
know how
blessed we
are to
call this
cosmic king
our friend
our lord
so I
want to
ask you
what
would
it
look
like
for
this
Jesus
to
become
the
point
of
your
life
the
dominant
reality
in
your
life
what
would
it
look
like
for
the
things
of
the
bible
his
word
to
us
where
we
get
to
gaze
on
him
constantly
where
we
find
out
the
way
things
truly
are
to
have
his
world
view
as
the
creator
and
the
purpose
of
all
life
and
existence
what
would
it
look
like
to
have
the
things
of
the
bible
to
be
more
real
for
you
than
the
news
media
than
what
you
watch
on
television
than
for
the
internet
and
social
media
what
would
it
look
like
for
his
narrative
to
dominate
your
life
more
so
than
academics
from
universities
and their
opinion
on
world
view
what
would
it
look
like
for
the
scriptures
for
God's
word
to
you
to
dominate
your
world
view
and
to
be
the
point
of
interpretation
of
all
things
I
want
to
ask
you
as
I've
already
done
are
you
losing
heart
are
you
weak
because
you
aren't
commuting
with
is it
because
you're
not
commuting
with
him
in
his
word
in
this
season
this
year
which
world
view
which
narrative
grand
narrative
has
dominated
your
daily
existence
I want
to speak
to you
particularly
if you're
at home
watching
from
this
I'm
not
speaking
to you
if
you've
got a
particular
medical
issue
I want
to
specifically
point
out
those
who
just
finding
right
now
it's
just
a
whole
lot
easier
to
do
church
at
home
just
don't
want
to
do
that
battle
anymore
it's
much
more
comfortable
convenient
to sit
on the
lounge
with a
cup of
coffee
in my
pajamas
and do
church
which
world
view
is
dominating
your
reality
right
now
who
is
the
king
over
your
life
right
now
thirdly
as the
cosmic
king
Jesus
Christ
also
wants
us
to
serve
him
whatever
dominates
your
life
whatever
is
your
starting
point
your
end
point
whatever
is
your
point
whatever
it
is
that
you're
putting
your
offerings
in
the
cosmic
vending
machine
whatever
it is
that
you're
grabbing
at the
bottom
as
your
point
whatever
it
is
it
will
require
you
to
sacrifice
everything
for
it
Jesus
is
no
different
but
he's
the
only
king
the
only
point
who
has
first
served
us
and
given
everything
to
us
and
so
our
service
of
him
is
always
freedom
in
verse
6
we
read
Jesus
has
freed
us
from
our
sin
and
made
us
a
kingdom
and
priests
to
serve
his
God
and
father
that
verse
is
an
allusion
to
the
moment
when
God's
people
were
gathered
at
Mount
Sinai
to
meet
with
God
to
hear
his
law
to
receive
it
and
to
enter
into
covenant
relationship
with
him
and
God
reminded
them
in
that
moment
that
he
had
freed
them
from
slavery
in
the
same
way
we
are
reminded
here
that
we
are
freed
from
sin
and
then
in
Exodus
19
he
describes
his
people
as
a
kingdom
of
priests
that
is
Israel's
role
as
he
saved
rescued
people
was
to
make
God
known
to
the
world
and
to
bring
the
world
to
the
sacrifices
that
would
free
them
from
their
sin
through
blood
Israel's
life
together
was
to
display
the
glory
and
the
goodness
of
God's
reign
over
their
life
if
you're
a
Christian
you
belong
to
Jesus
we
are
his
people
as
the
church
and
our
allegiance
is
to
him
our
life
together
is
to
attract
people
to
him
we
are
to
bring
people
to
the
sacrifice
the
only
sacrifice
that
frees
us
from
our
biggest
problem
sin
we
are
to
bring
people
to
Jesus
death
on
the
cross
for
them
proclaiming
the
good
news
of
the
benevolent
cosmic
king
who
offers
us
life
forever
with
him
is
central
to
the
mission
of
this
church
and
as
just
not
just
in
the
past
but
as
we
move
forward
into
the
future
we
are
in
the
service
of
the
cosmic
king
and
therefore
that
proclamation
of that
good
news
is
central
to
your
identity
as
one
of
his
children
we
are
to
herald
his
return
and
his
priestly
service
by
making
by
that
that's
not
easy
in
our
generation
it
seems
to
be
getting
harder
we
face
misunderstanding
apathy
even
hostility
Christians
are
regarded
as
people
from
another
era
wrong
side
of
history
and
yet
we
serve
the
cosmic
king
who
has
all
of
history
in
his
hands
the
encouragement
here
is that
despite
the
difficulty
that
you're
facing
in
your
life
despite
progress
in
your
own
conquering
of
sin
and
dealing
with
sin
is
slow
despite
the
movement
against
the
gospel
and
the
church
Jesus
is
with
his
church
now
with
his
church
he is
with
us
he is
the
son of
man
who
reigns
with
dominion
over
all
that
is
he
reigns
over
secularism
he
reigns
over
Islam
he
reigns
over
communism
he
reigns
over
everything
every
individual
that sets
up
against
him
he's
the
one
with
power
over
all
that
is
both
seen
and
unseen
and
so
friends
I want
to
encourage
you
whatever
your
position
is
right
now
to
gaze
upon
Jesus
and let
his
royal
power
and his
priestly
forgiveness
and his
fiery
hope
his fiery
hope
fill you
with confidence
afresh
that
treasuring
Jesus
is never
ever
a vanity
I
got to
say
I
was
bursting
this
morning
both
the
early
service
and
this
one
as
we
sang
crown
him
with
many
crowns
I'm
so
grateful
for
our
teams
our
corporate
worship
team
here
and what
they do
in working
to just
lift our
hearts
to Jesus
they
certainly
did it
for me
this
morning
even
though
I
couldn't
sing
I
was
bursting
so
all
that
could
happen
was
I
burst it
out of
my
eyes
instead
if it
wasn't
coming
out
of
my
mouth
but
those
words
all
hail
redeemer
hail
for
you
have
died
for
me
your
praise
and
glory
will
never
fail
for
all
eternity
let
every
throne
before
him
fall
come
to the
cosmic
king
and
worship
and
serve
and
love
him