Now, while our boys and girls are heading back to their places, we can also be turning in our Bibles to the book of Philippians.
Philippians chapter 2, and we're going to look at verses 1 to 11 together in God's words.
Philippians 2, and the first 11 verses.
Let's hear God's word together.
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of one mind.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.
Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
This is God's word.
Now, let's once again come before God in prayer.
Let's pray together.
Our Father, we give you thanks for what we have just read, of the humility of Jesus in coming into this earth to become one of us,
to lay down his life for us, to die on the cross for our sins before being exalted to the place of all glory and honour.
Lord, we pray that as we see the pattern of Jesus' life, that you would help us to be a humble people,
that you would help us to be ready to help other people and to sacrifice for them.
Father, as we think about being built into a church, we pray that you would enable us to be having the time and the energy and the will
to use our gifts, to use our opportunities, to help other people, to serve others in the name of Jesus.
Lord, we pray that you would establish our faith on your word of truth.
We ask that you would make us attentive listeners, that we would allow your word to do its work in our hearts,
that it would comfort us, that it would challenge us, that it would rebuke and correct and teach us,
so that we might live according to your righteous will.
Lord, we pray that you would have soft hearts whenever we gather around your word together,
to hear your word read and preached.
And we pray that you would give us soft hearts when we read our Bibles alone or with others.
And we ask that you would help us to apply those truths that we learn to our lives.
Help us to meditate deeply on your truth, so that it would change our hearts and our will more and more.
Lord, we give you thanks for the country in which we live.
And we thank you for the peace that we enjoy.
Lord, we thank you for the peace that we live.
Again, we thank you for the freedom that we have to gather together to worship.
Lord, we thank you for the relative security that we have,
even as we acknowledge turbulent times and times of crisis.
Lord, we pray for our government today.
We pray recognizing the struggles that continue,
the need for wisdom that there is,
for guidance as to how to steer our country through an energy crisis and a food price crisis.
Lord, we pray especially for the ability of government to care and to help for those who are
the most poor and weak and vulnerable within our society.
Lord, we ask for compassion and for justice.
Lord, we pray thanking you for the freedom that we have to worship and to live out our faith
without fear of extremes of persecution.
Lord, we pray for the peace that we have to worship and to live out our faith in our faith.
Lord, we continue to pray for our government towards that end,
that we might be able to live with that peace,
that the gospel might be able to flourish.
Lord, as we give thanks for the freedom that we have,
we want to pray for the nations that don't have such freedom,
where there is persecution and where there is opposition.
Lord, we give you thanks that Jesus is a savior for all nations,
that your word declares it wasn't enough that he would just be a light to the Jewish people,
but he was to be a light for the world.
And so we thank you for wherever the gospel is spreading today.
Lord, we pray for the church in hard places,
where it is illegal to meet publicly,
where to confess that you're a Christian could mean the loss of everything,
including one's own life.
Lord, as we see the unfolding scenes in Iran and Ukraine and Russia,
as we see troubled places,
Lord, we recognize that Jesus is the only solid hope for the world.
And so we pray that you would protect your persecuted church,
give them a solid and eternal hope,
give them the ability to love you and to love even their enemies.
And may you turn hearts and minds towards Jesus as they see and hear the good news as it's lived out among your people.
Lord, we pray for the nations to be glad in confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.
Lord, help us to be prayerful.
Help us to be doing our part in supporting mission around the world.
But we also pray that you would give us that boldness and that courage that we need,
that love for the Lord Jesus and that love for other people that we need
to be able to share good news in our communities,
in our families, with our friends.
Lord, help us, we pray,
so that you would be glorified among us and in every nation.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, let's sing together again a section from 119.
We're going to sing from verses 105 to 112.
And again, we'll stand as we sing.
Your word's a lamp that shines before my feet.
It is a light that guides me on my way.
The oath that I have taken, I've confirmed,
that all your righteous laws I will obey.
O Lord, you know that I have suffered
much.
Preserve my life according to your word.
Accept the willing praises of my mouth.
Instruct me in your righteous laws, O Lord.
I will not disregard your holy law,
though constantly my life is in my hands.
Although the wicked set us near for me,
I have not left the path of your commands.
Your statutes are my heritage always,
And every day they make my heart rejoice.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees.
And to the very end, they are my choice.
Now, can we turn once again in our Bibles
to Luke chapter 18.
Luke chapter 18, and we're going to read
from verse 9 to verse number 34.
We're going to be thinking this morning
about verses 9 to 14,
thinking about gospel humility,
but we'll read this whole section.
To some who are confident of their own righteousness
and look down on everyone else,
Jesus told this parable.
Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed,
God, I thank you that I am not like other people,
robbers, evildoers, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
But the tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven,
but beat his breast and said,
God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
I tell you that this man, rather than the other,
went home justified before God.
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
People were also bringing babies to Jesus
for him to place his hands on them.
When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called the children to him and said,
Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Truly I tell you,
anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God
like a little child will never enter it.
A certain ruler asked him,
Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Why do you call me good?
Jesus answered,
No one is good except God alone.
You know the commandments.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not murder.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony.
Honor your father and mother.
All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him,
You still lack one thing.
Sell everything you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.
When he heard this, he became very sad
because he was very wealthy.
Jesus looked at him and said,
How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Those who heard this asked,
Who then can be saved?
Jesus replied,
What is impossible with man is possible with God.
Peter said to him,
We have left all we had to follow you.
Truly I tell you, Jesus said to them,
No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children
for the sake of the kingdom of God
will fail to receive many times as much in this age
and in the age to come eternal life.
Jesus took the twelve aside and told them,
We are going up to Jerusalem,
and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man
will be fulfilled.
He will be handed over to the Gentiles.
They will mock him, insult him, and spit on him.
They will flog him and kill him.
On the third day he will rise again.
The disciples did not understand any of this.
Its meaning was hidden from them,
and they did not know what he was talking about.
Amen.
So we're thinking about humility and how that connects with the gospel.
Let me begin with an image,
just to say that the church is to be like an accident,
an emergency waiting room,
not like an interview waiting room.
When we gather together week by week,
we recognize that we all need help.
We all stand in need of mercy and healing and wholeness.
We come as a waiting room of sinners and sufferers
looking to God, looking to Jesus for help.
That's very different to the image that you find with an interview waiting room,
where everybody is doing their best to put on their very best self,
carrying the CV of our own personal achievements,
perhaps eyeing up the competition in the room,
ready to show that we deserve a place more than the next person.
John Stott once said that humility is another word for honesty.
So we've been thinking for the last six weeks or so about the gospel
and how time and again we've seen the gospel reveals our problem.
In the gospel we discover that by nature we are slaves to sin.
Indeed we are dead in our sin
and we deserve the wages of sin,
which is death, which is eternal,
separation from God and all that is good.
But we've also heard the good news.
We've heard the good news of God's heart of love
towards sinners and sufferers.
We've heard of God saving by grace
through sending his son Jesus.
To be our savior.
We've heard of that great exchange
that has taken place on the cross
where Jesus takes the judgment and the wrath that we deserve
and he gives us his righteousness
and the glory that he deserves
and all of that as a free gift.
So that God's church
should be a place of deep humility.
Every Christian heart should be a place of deep humility.
Church culture should always look different
to what we see in the world.
And when Christians and churches live with pride
and when we're boasting and we're criticizing and judging
and we're comparing and competing,
there's something desperately sad about that.
There's something so opposite to the character
and the pattern of Jesus in that.
And so we're going to look today at this parable,
Luke 18, verse 9 to 14,
which shows us that the way up in God's economy
is to go down.
It's those who humble themselves
who will be exalted.
And of course, we read in Philippians 2
and we saw that was the pattern of Jesus' life as savior.
In his coming, he humbled himself.
In his taking the place of a servant,
in his being obedient to death on the cross,
Jesus at every point in his life humbling himself
and then God exalted him.
Resurrection, ascension to the Father's right hand.
So let's use this parable of Jesus
to consider gospel humility.
And let's think, first of all,
in verse 9 about the problem.
So boys and girls,
there's a first point on your worksheet,
the problem of pride and prejudice.
Look at how it's put here,
to some who are confident of their own righteousness
and look down on everyone else,
Jesus told this parable.
Sometimes we don't know who the audience is
that Jesus is telling the story to,
but here we do.
It's a group who are always confident.
Confident that they are self-righteous.
That they are, in effect, saying,
I, by myself, I'm good enough for God.
And they are always despising
those who are not like them,
those who don't make the grave.
Most likely, the audience is made up of Pharisees.
The Pharisees, with their badge of honour,
we keep the law better than everybody else.
We keep ourselves separate from the bad people
better than anybody else.
We are the great and the good,
and God should be so happy to have us.
The problem with that audience,
and the problem with self-righteous pride,
is a wrong view of goodness.
When Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler,
he reminded him,
no one is good except God alone.
Pride compares with other people.
Well, I'm better than that person,
I'm better than that person.
When we're invited to compare against God,
God's perfection,
God's perfect standard,
that should humble us.
So religious pride always has this problem.
It's always going to have
too high a view of self.
I can, by myself, live to please God.
And we'll always also have
too low a view of God's holiness,
too low a view of personal sin,
and too low a view of other people.
We'll always tend towards prejudice.
How does this pride and prejudice
show itself today?
How does it show itself in us?
Do we recognize a tendency sometimes
to compare and to compete,
where we're boasting about our own achievements
or performance,
where we build ourselves up,
and in the process,
we want to tear others down,
where we have a critical or judgmental spirit?
Do we know that?
Perhaps we find ourselves
being puffed up in pride.
Tim Keller, in his wonderful little book,
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness,
uses the image of people with pride
being like a big balloon.
Boys and girls, think about a big balloon
that you've seen at a party,
and you just know it's ready to pop
at the least moment.
When we are like that,
when we are puffed up,
what's true about us?
We are empty at the center.
If we make life all about me
rather than God,
that is too small a center.
That is not a good foundation to build on.
And if we don't have God
at the center of our lives,
our lives will also be very fragile.
We don't have that security
that we know that we belong to God,
that we are in right relationship to Him,
and so we're going to feel
every time we get snubbed or ignored,
we're going to struggle to enjoy
the success of other people,
we're often going to feel deflated.
This pride and this prejudice
can also lead to us
living in the wrong courtroom,
where what matters most to us
is public opinion.
What are other people saying of me?
What do other people think of me?
Or living in the courtroom
of personal opinion,
where my whole life and identity
is bound up with
what do I think about myself,
and we forget,
what does God think about me?
The problem of a proud
and self-reliant heart
is a deadly one.
Jesus tells the parable against it
because it goes against
the pattern of the gospel.
What have we seen week after week
as we think about the gospel?
We've seen that we are so bad
because of our sin,
that we are so bad
because of our pride
that someone had to die for us.
The sinless, spotless Lamb of God
died for us.
We have seen time and again
that our sin, our guilt,
and our need is so great
that we by ourselves
could never earn God's salvation.
But what we have seen
is that Jesus came
and He took the sin and death
that we deserve
and He gave us
His righteousness
and glory
as a gift of grace.
And we're being led
constantly to understand
that all we have
as a Christian
comes from the mercy of God.
So the only boasting
we should ever make
is to boast about
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
as Paul encourages us.
So even as we consider
the audience of the parable,
we are invited to hear
the call of Jesus today
to turn from our pride,
that instinctive pride,
and to trust in Him.
To receive His mercy,
to find our identity from Him,
and to ask Him to be our Lord
and our Saviour.
Now let's get to the parable
and let's get to the two prayers
that we find here
in verses 10 to 13.
Again, we find a setting
for our story.
Boys and girls,
this is the second part
of the worksheet.
The setting for the story,
verse 10,
is the temple.
So this is taking place
in the context of
public worship.
So we can imagine
people sitting across
the aisle from each other,
but these two figures
could not be more different
as they gather for worship.
There is, first of all,
the Pharisee.
The Pharisee who was admired
by everyone,
part of the religious elite.
Let's notice a few things
about how he sees the world.
First,
what's his view of God?
God.
It's very interesting
to look in verse 11
at the beginning of his prayer.
Sounds like we're about
to hear a psalm of praise.
God, I thank you.
But instead of,
God, I thank you
that you are holy
and good and merciful
and righteous
and compassionate.
God, I thank you
that I'm not like others.
He glances briefly at God,
but he stares at himself.
God, I thank you
that I'm so great.
Sounds really ugly, doesn't it,
when it's put there so boldly.
What about his view of self?
Just to hear his prayer
reminds us that
for this man,
as Jesus pictures him,
I, me, is right at the center.
I thank you
that I'm not like other people.
I fast.
I give a tenth of all I get.
He compares with pride.
I'm better than that person,
better than that person.
Here's my religious record
of achievement.
What's his view of others?
He doesn't hide
his disgust of them, does he?
In his prayer,
he's actively pointing fingers.
God, I thank you.
I'm not like that tax collector
over there.
And his posture says it all.
He stood by himself.
I'm a cut above everybody else.
If we were to ask
what's his view of his need,
we would have no answer.
He doesn't feel any need,
certainly nothing that he asks God for,
except that he comes expecting a reward.
I've lived this way.
I've done this thing.
Therefore, I expect reward.
Augustine, in his day,
said if the church was like a hospital waiting room,
the man in this parable is sitting there
in the waiting room saying,
well, I'm glad my disease isn't that bad
as that person.
I'm glad my sickness isn't like that person.
And he never talks to the doctor
and he never gets help.
In the sickness of sin,
he never gets help.
He is so full of himself.
Think about our catechism.
He cannot see that he does not love God.
He cannot see that he is not loving his neighbor.
He does not recognize
that he is actually far from God,
even as he comes to the temple to worship.
He has a very deadly blind spot.
If you cycle in the city,
you probably notice on the back of buses or lorries
those warnings to cyclists
to beware of a driver's blind spot.
There is danger.
If you find yourself in the blind spot,
well, when it comes to God,
there are some spiritual blind spots.
If we fail to see our sin,
if we fail to acknowledge God's great holiness,
if we fail to acknowledge
a need of mercy of Jesus
as the Savior that we need,
like this Pharisee,
we stand in eternal danger.
And so we are invited out of pride
and to humble trust in Jesus.
Jesus, when he tells stories,
likes to use contrasts.
So if the Pharisee shows us pride
and a pride to avoid,
let's see the tax collector
in his humility
that we should embrace and practice.
So let's think about this tax collector.
Who is the tax collector?
Well, the people in Jesus' day,
instantly they would know
this is the villain of the peace.
He's one of the lowest of the low.
He's one of the bad guys in society.
So we need to ask the question,
why has Jesus made a bad guy
the hero of the story?
Why does Jesus often do this?
Think about the story of the good Samaritan
who shows love to his neighbor.
Think about the wild younger son
who receives the welcome from the father.
Why does Jesus choose to do that?
To show us that grace is amazing.
To show us that grace is shocking.
That actually grace is outrageous
in the way it comes to us.
Here is Jesus in the flow of Scripture
saying anyone can be saved.
They choose the way of humility.
Even the lowest of the low.
Even the tax collector.
Now let's think about this man.
Let's think again about his view of God.
Look at verse 13.
The tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven.
He has a proper sense of who God is.
The holiness of God.
The majesty of God.
He knows that he has no natural right
to approach God's mercy seat.
What's his view of himself?
Look on at verse 13.
How does he talk about himself?
He talks about himself as a sinner.
Or the sinner.
He's not busy looking around
as a way to boast.
Well at least I'm not as bad as that person.
No he's looking in and he's looking up
and he's comparing himself to God.
In God's holy law.
What's his view of others?
We're not told.
Because he is doing business with God.
He's not looking to judge and criticize.
Not looking to make himself feel good
by making others seem worse.
He understands God is holy.
He understands he is the sinner.
What's in the middle
between God and the sinner?
It's mercy isn't it?
It's mercy.
Have mercy on me.
That's really significant language.
In the temple this is temple language.
This is atonement language.
This is an acknowledgement.
I need a sacrifice to cover my sin.
I need a substitute to take my place.
I need for one to turn away the wrath of God
that I deserve to take it on himself.
He understands the gospel.
In this spiritual hospital
he is looking to Christ.
Not to himself.
for the cure that he needs.
He needs mercy.
We all need mercy.
Where is mercy to be found?
For sinful people.
For suffering people.
Mercy is found in Jesus.
The humble savior.
Look at verses 31 to 33.
And we are reminded of the humility of Jesus
as he predicts his death.
A third time.
As we are being reminded of Jesus
in his humility
coming as a suffering servant.
Coming to give his life
as a loving sacrifice.
Coming to be the sin bearing substitute.
Coming to pay the penalty of sin
in full for his people.
For all who would trust in him.
All the way back in 1779
John Newton wrote a diary entry.
He was aware on that day
I imagine every day
of his sin
and of his guilt.
And that prompted him
to write this.
He said
I may
I must
I do
mention the atonement.
I have sinned
but Christ has died.
There's mercy.
I have sinned
but Christ has died.
That we might enjoy mercy.
Friends, our daily diary entry
should be Jesus Christ
came into the world
to save sinners
of which I am the chief.
The gospel,
when it does its work
in our hearts
will always serve
to kill pride
and to cause us
with humility
to look to Jesus
our humble
saviour.
Let's move from there
to the verdict
how this story
finishes.
Verse 14.
Luke in his gospel
loves the reversal theme.
And so we read
I tell you
that this man
the tax collector
rather than the other
went home justified
before God.
Showing us the way up
is down
in the gospel.
So there's this picture
of these two men
they've been at the temple
and they've been
in the place of worship
and they're going home
to two very different
verdicts
in God's law court.
This Pharisee
who had the view
well I'm good enough
I'm a religious person
I try my very best
to keep the law
and I certainly keep it
better than others
God's verdict on him
he was not justified.
He's not in right
standing with God.
Why?
Because he never
sought God's mercy.
He presumed that he
could please God
by himself
and he never
looked to God
for mercy.
To ask the question
why should God
accept me
is to ask one of the
most important questions
we ever could.
How do we answer
that question
is equally vital.
If we answer
that question
God should accept me
because of my
efforts
because of my
morality
because I come to church
because I read my Bible
because I try and be
a good person
those answers
miss the point.
Those answers
miss God's grace.
the only answer
is because Jesus
because Jesus
loved me
because Jesus
died for me
because Jesus
paid the price
for my sin.
That's the only
basis for our
acceptance.
The tax collector
who prayed
God
have mercy
he was the one
who was justified.
He humbled himself
before God
and he was the one
who would be exalted.
He came
to the accident
and emergency
room
in his sickness
and in his distress.
He asked
the doctor
for the help
that he desperately
needed
and he received
the cure.
Humility
coming to
Jesus
is the way
to find the cure
from the sickness
of sin.
The way
to be right
with God
the way
to healing
and wholeness
is not
entrusting
in ourselves
it's entrusting
in Jesus.
So the tax collector
and the Pharisee
teach us
about humility
in the gospel.
Now as we finish
three lessons
for us to begin
to think about
when it comes
to gospel humility.
One for our heads
something to believe
something for our heart
something for our hands
a point of action.
So first of all
for our head
we are
Philippians 2
called to have
the mind
of Christ.
We are called
to this
humble
way
of thinking
and to do that
according to
Philippians 2
what we need
to do
is we need
to fix
our mind
on
our humble
Christ.
We need
always to have
our mind
fixed on him
the one who
gave up
privilege
to rescue
us.
The one who
humbled himself
to become
one of us.
The one who
gladly became
an obedient
servant
for us.
The one who
in love
died
to save
guilty
people like
us.
And when
our mind
is fixed
on him
that's
when
God
by his
grace
and by
his
spirit
is able
to bring
an end
to
the selfish
ambition.
The end
to
the self
interest.
This is
where the
beginning
comes to
value
others
above
yourselves.
Gospel
humility
begins
with
having
the
mind
of
Christ
by
having
our
minds
fixed
on
Christ.
The second
thing,
to think
about
what we
need
in our
hearts,
we need
to
believe
the
gospel.
And when
we truly
believe
the gospel
and as
it
transforms
us,
we
recognize
that as
we reflect
on what
Jesus
has done
for us,
it is
impossible
to have
pride at
the foot
of the
cross.
There is
a wonderful
fact for
us to
treasure
that should
always
humble
us.
That Jesus
loved me
and gave
himself for
me.
There is
also a
wonderful
truth for
us to
treasure
about
Jesus
right now.
That
Jesus who
humbled
himself to
become one
of us,
to die
in our
place for
our
sins,
he is
now
exalted
as the
Lord of
glory.
He rules
and reigns
in heaven.
And that's
where our
hope of
salvation
is found.
That God
exalted
him and
gave him
the name
above every
name.
That at
the name
of Jesus
every knee
would bow
and every
tongue
confess that
Jesus is
Lord.
We need
to believe
the gospel
for our
own sense
of identity
and security.
To remember
every day
that in
God's
law
court
the
verdict
on your
life
is
already
in
if
you're
trusting
in
Jesus.
We need
to relive
that reality
that in
Christ
I am
loved,
I am
welcomed,
I am
accepted.
When I'm
tempted to
pride and
despair,
when I'm
tempted to
become
anxious
about
how people
view me,
here's where
security is
found,
here's where
our identity
rests,
here's how
we can
live with
humble
confidence
as we
remember
that in
Jesus
God's
verdict on
our life
is already
in.
And then
something for
our hands,
we are
called
to follow
Jesus'
pattern
of humility.
That begins
with what we've
been thinking
about,
since Christ
did that
for me,
since he
humbled
himself
for me,
surely there
is nothing
too low
for me
to do,
or for
you to
do.
There is
no sacrifice
that we
can make
for others
that will
ever compare
with the
greatness of
Jesus'
humble
sacrifice.
The gospel
says that
Jesus was
humble so
that you
and I
could be
humble
too,
so that
you and I
could
live our
lives making
the gospel
seem good
and beautiful
and true
as we
love others,
as we
sacrifice
for our
others,
as we
put the
interests of
others ahead
of our
own.
So this
week,
can you
and I
find one
person to
sacrifice
for in
order to
put their
interests
first?
Can we
begin to
put this
gospel
humility
into
practice
in our
lives?
gospel
humility
changes
everything.
It means
we look
across the
aisle,
not to
compare and
criticize and
judge or
boast,
but in
humility,
we're looking
for opportunities
to extend
the grace and
mercy of God
that we have
come to
discover to
others.
We want to
spend ourselves
and to be
ready to go
low in order
to lift
others up.
because we
know that the
church is a
place of
mercy and
we have
come to
find mercy
and we
want to
extend that
mercy to
others.
Let's pray
about that
together.
Lord,
our God,
once again,
we want to
praise you
for the
humility of
the Lord
Jesus,
for his
readiness to
leave the
glory of
heaven,
to be born
of the
Virgin Mary,
to live a
life of
humble
obedience,
to suffer
and die
for us
before being
exalted
once again to
his Father's
right hand.
Lord,
we pray that
the humility
of Jesus
would move
us,
would remove
pride from
us,
would instill
a humble
confidence in
us as we
trust him
as Savior
and as we
understand that
we are
justified as
our faith is
in him.
Help us
to wrestle
with pride
and anxiety
that we feel,
prejudice that
we can show.
Help us to
pursue this
kind of
humility.
for the
sake of
our
church,
for the
sake of
our
community,
for the
sake of
our
world,
to make
the gospel
look good
and beautiful
as we have
discovered that
it is.
Please help
us, we pray,
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Now we're
going to
close with
a wonderful
hymn to
help us to
reflect on
these truths
when I
survey the
wondrous
cross.
And let's
again stand
together to
sing.
Amen.