WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 Well, good morning, everyone. It is truly a joy to see you all here. 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:11.460 Hope you've been reminded already today just how special a thing it is for God's people to meet together. 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:19.300 And in these uncertain times, uncharted territory for all of us, let's remind ourselves who our God is. 00:00:19.300 --> 00:00:26.960 Let me just take this opportunity to speak about our services kind of going on from here on in, particularly maybe about today. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:34.039 Let me just encourage you to follow all the guidelines that the government have published practically to do. 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:39.520 So things like hand washing and let's be careful about touching and the things that we're doing as we meet together today. 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:45.439 It's just common sense, a lot of it's just wisdom. But let me encourage you to think on it as loving our neighbor. 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:53.659 We've been thinking over the last while as we've kind of journeyed through the Genesis series about how all life matters to God. 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:57.279 And every human being is made wonderfully in his image. 00:00:57.859 --> 00:01:06.099 And it's a wonderful chance we have at the minute to practically demonstrate that we believe that that is true by caring for the most vulnerable in our society. 00:01:06.259 --> 00:01:08.399 So let me just encourage you to do that stuff. 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:11.799 You'll be looking around and seeing there's a lot of people not here today. 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:15.500 Let me again encourage you to be phoning them and checking in with them. 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:17.620 It's a way that we can practically love one another. 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:22.640 Over the next little while, we may be going to have to get good at being involved in one another's lives creatively. 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:28.319 So let's encourage one another to be thinking about who we can be checking up on and phoning. 00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:31.180 It's a great chance. We just need to get good at praying together on the phone. 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:35.599 It's weird to start with, but when you've done it once or twice, it's a wonderful thing to do. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:37.200 So let's be doing that. 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:39.879 Tonight, we're going to be particularly thinking about our government. 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:45.859 Now, we penciled in this series maybe about six months ago, thinking biblically about government. 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:48.480 And we're going to be particularly praying for our nation. 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:52.040 And you can see that the God's sovereign hand is in this. 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:52.840 We had absolutely no idea. 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:55.080 But that's what we're going to be doing tonight, thinking about that stuff. 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:59.260 I'm going to be praying particularly for our government and our health service tonight. 00:01:59.460 --> 00:02:06.460 So if you can and you want to come along tonight, if not, then let me encourage you just to pray in your own time for these things. 00:02:06.660 --> 00:02:08.200 We'll be doing that about seven o'clock. 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:10.400 So maybe that's the time when you want to start doing that. 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:11.379 We can do it collectively. 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:13.340 So that is today. 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:14.800 Looking ahead. 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:20.300 We're very conscious that stuff has progressed so fastly this week. 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:29.100 And so we're putting in plans in place with maybe the expectation that it'll be very difficult for us to meet publicly as of next Sunday. 00:02:29.660 --> 00:02:33.220 So let me encourage you to keep your eyes on the website and your emails. 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:36.000 Give us your email address if you want to be kept in the loop. 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:38.400 On Twitter and Facebook and things like that. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:45.420 We'll be thinking creatively about ways that we can continue to be involved in one another's lives and meet together, as it were, on the Internet. 00:02:45.640 --> 00:02:50.120 Because there's so many great advances in technology that we can do that these days. 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:54.439 So just keep your eyes abreast for developments as the week goes. 00:02:54.580 --> 00:02:59.540 And again, let's just be in much prayer for our nation at this time. 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:12.139 But perhaps the most important thing to say is that I was reminded this morning that in the storm, it is always good to be near the one who has got the power over the wind and the waves. 00:03:12.899 --> 00:03:20.299 And so we're going to turn to think about him now for just a little short time as we come to think about Jesus Christ. 00:03:20.299 --> 00:03:26.000 As you remember, in John's Gospel, John 11, we see he's the one who cries over his friend Lazarus. 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:28.859 So our God's not immune to this suffering and pain. 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:33.759 But Jesus is the one who said, I am the resurrection and the life and said, Lazarus, come out. 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:36.919 And he is the one that holds our lives in his hands. 00:03:37.019 --> 00:03:39.219 And so it's to him we want to turn now. 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:42.159 So let me encourage you to come with me to Matthew chapter 3. 00:03:43.399 --> 00:03:47.340 And you might want to have one finger in your Bibles in Isaiah chapter 53 as well. 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:49.219 We're going to be dipping in and out of these two. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.340 Well, particularly Matthew 3, these two scriptures today. 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:58.919 We're continuing on in this little series, looking at the key moments in Jesus's life. 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:02.759 And we've hit Jesus's baptism today. 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:09.560 Now, we have all sorts of different ways in our culture of identifying ourselves with things. 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:17.159 Let me just give you, as I've walked around this week, let me just give you three examples I've seen of people identifying themselves with things. 00:04:17.219 --> 00:04:20.079 The first one came at the end of last Sunday. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.240 And my family and I were outside. 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:25.379 We're walking up the hill towards the car. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:32.680 And we're very conscious that there's a lot of people wearing blue and white walking down the hill towards Murrayfield. 00:04:33.740 --> 00:04:35.459 And they had a good afternoon, didn't they? 00:04:35.479 --> 00:04:36.799 We did okay last weekend. 00:04:38.159 --> 00:04:42.299 People identifying themselves with a sports team, a nation. 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:52.079 Second was I was walking around Edinburgh University as well and bumped into people who were wearing blue and pink, I think was the colors that they were wearing. 00:04:53.180 --> 00:05:00.740 Standing on the street corner together as one, encouraging passers-by drivers to honk for their cause. 00:05:00.900 --> 00:05:03.780 And they were rallying together for pensions. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:04.540 That's what they were doing. 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:06.300 They were rallying together for a cause. 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:11.520 And I guess the third one is I was walking up the street just here, and you maybe need notice if you do this. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.900 The house in the corner has got a big yellow sign in its window with black writing saying yes. 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:22.699 And nobody's looking at that thinking, I wonder which way those guys are going to vote for us to do it again. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:25.920 They're identifying themselves with a political party. 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.240 So we've got all sorts of ways, don't we, in our culture of identifying ourselves with things. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:32.560 And you guys will have them in your own lives as well. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:41.560 And the thing about this passage today is that we're going to see Jesus identify himself with something. 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:46.340 Jesus, God in the flesh, remember who he is, God come down. 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:49.759 He's going to identify himself with something. 00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:52.819 And that's huge when we think about it. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:01.300 And so here is the scene of Jesus' life recorded by this guy called Matthew, who is a fascinating character, really. 00:06:01.300 --> 00:06:05.120 So Matthew is a Jewish boy who grows up to be a tax collector. 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:10.300 He spends his life working for the Romans, collecting taxes from his own people, the Jews. 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:17.259 But Jesus comes to him, and we get this encounter in Matthew's gospel later on, where Jesus comes up to him and says, 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:18.759 Matthew, come and follow me. 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:21.900 Straight to the point, Matthew, will you follow me? 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:26.900 And Matthew leaves everything, everything that he knows, everything that he does. 00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:29.959 And he gives it all up to follow Jesus. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:40.779 And Matthew has written this gospel to his fellow Jews with the explicit purpose of helping them see that despite their failings as God's people, 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:49.159 both personally and collectively, that Jesus is God's promised Messiah, the one that he said he would send. 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:54.840 And Matthew wants us to see that what he's writing here is really important. 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:56.120 It's really important. 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:59.460 I don't know what you guys do if you're writing something. 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.680 If you're writing an email, you're writing an essay, you're writing a document, something like that. 00:07:02.880 --> 00:07:07.800 How do you indicate that something's really important, that you want your readers to understand something is important? 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:08.340 What do you do? 00:07:08.780 --> 00:07:11.160 You do the highlighters, good old classic highlighters. 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:15.480 You maybe do the little red-colored flags to indicate that something's important. 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:18.819 If you've got an email, you maybe put it in bold or italics or something like that. 00:07:19.660 --> 00:07:22.040 Let me show you if you've got the text there, Matthew's equivalent. 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:28.860 So Matthew, verses 16 and 17, do you see how twice he uses the phrase behold? 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:31.840 Yeah, twice he uses it. 00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:32.819 Behold. 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:35.120 Behold, behold. 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:38.520 It's his way of saying, slow down for a minute. 00:07:38.819 --> 00:07:39.860 Slow down for a minute. 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:44.500 And lift your eyes and take what I'm about to tell you in. 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.140 Because what I'm about to tell you is really, really important. 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:50.680 And you need to understand it. 00:07:51.460 --> 00:07:52.259 So he says it twice. 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:54.220 He says, behold, behold. 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:58.360 This encounter here is really important. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.700 Matthew wants us to see two quick things from this passage. 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:03.040 We're just going to rattle through these today. 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:04.540 Two things he wants us to see. 00:08:04.840 --> 00:08:05.800 Here's the first. 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:10.920 He wants us to see the son who identifies with us. 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:13.900 So come with me to verse 13. 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:22.799 Matthew lets us know that Jesus has made his way south from Galilee in the north to the Jordan River. 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:27.359 Now, geographies, it's always important to think about why writers are telling us about geography here. 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.560 And I think the reason is that this is a long journey. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.399 Call this something like 70 miles. 00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:36.860 Jesus has traveled to be at the River Jordan here. 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:42.659 You want to put that into a kind of Scottish context, that is just more than here to Dundee. 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:44.259 Okay, it's a long way. 00:08:44.460 --> 00:08:47.100 And Jesus is doing this on foot. 00:08:47.560 --> 00:08:49.399 Which tells you what as you read this. 00:08:50.259 --> 00:08:52.379 That there's a real purpose to Jesus' trip. 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:56.419 He's here for a specific reason. 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:01.959 Jesus goes to the Jordan to meet his relative, who's John the Baptist. 00:09:02.339 --> 00:09:07.899 This man who God had spoken about years before through the prophet Isaiah, 00:09:08.599 --> 00:09:11.459 who was going to be the forerunner to the Messiah. 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:13.819 His job, he had one job. 00:09:14.419 --> 00:09:18.879 And his job was to get people ready for the Messiah's coming. 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:20.199 That's his job. 00:09:21.339 --> 00:09:23.299 Not a very long job description, that one, is it? 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:26.539 Get the people ready for the Messiah's coming. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.859 In the immediate verses, if you want to glance your eye back to the beginning of chapter 3, 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:33.159 this is exactly what he's doing. 00:09:34.819 --> 00:09:37.199 He's saying to people, you are not right with God. 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:40.179 Not right with God. 00:09:41.219 --> 00:09:45.859 Outwardly, you might be the right people, because you're Jewish. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.059 But inwardly, you are not right with God. 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:51.240 And you need to repent. 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:53.299 You need to stop going your way. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.019 You need to acknowledge your sin. 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:57.899 Your need for a saviour. 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:00.919 And you need to start going God's way. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:03.700 And the thing to see, as John the Baptist is doing his thing, 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.039 is that people aren't watching on, thinking, 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:08.799 what a load of nonsense that is. 00:10:10.560 --> 00:10:13.060 Boy, has he got a bee in his bonnet about something else. 00:10:14.700 --> 00:10:15.680 What are the people doing? 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:23.539 You see, what John is saying about God and about them 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:29.559 is absolutely striking a chord with the hearts of these people. 00:10:30.899 --> 00:10:32.819 Because they know what he's saying is true. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:35.839 They know what he's saying is true. 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.780 And they are flocking to John. 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:43.060 And verse 6, they are confessing their sins. 00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:47.259 Going down into the water. 00:10:48.280 --> 00:10:50.759 The water probably, I imagine, symbolizing to them 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:53.420 that they know that they need to be made clean. 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:55.820 They know on the inside that they're not clean. 00:10:56.160 --> 00:10:58.200 And they're throwing themselves on the mercy of God, 00:10:58.280 --> 00:10:59.420 saying, we want to be made clean. 00:11:00.700 --> 00:11:01.680 So this is going on. 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.520 This is the scene at the Jordan. 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:08.080 And then, out of nowhere, comes Jesus. 00:11:08.680 --> 00:11:09.300 He appears. 00:11:10.620 --> 00:11:11.600 And he comes on the scene. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.860 And the thing to see is, it's not as if Jesus comes up 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:16.920 and he says, right, John, you've had your five minutes 00:11:16.920 --> 00:11:17.580 in the sun, bro. 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:21.180 Move on and let the real professional come and do his job. 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:22.720 Doesn't do that. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.960 Now, he wants John, and get your head around this, 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:28.220 he wants John to baptize him. 00:11:28.420 --> 00:11:29.600 Now, John's sitting there. 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:30.720 He's standing there, to imagine. 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:31.240 He's not sitting. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:32.220 He's standing there. 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:34.360 And in his head, he's thinking, I know two things. 00:11:35.160 --> 00:11:35.460 Right? 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:38.980 I know, firstly, that I am in the same category 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:40.480 as the people that I'm baptizing. 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:42.000 Sinner, need a savior. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:43.639 There's two categories that exist. 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.220 And me and the rest of the world are in this one. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:52.100 And I know that Jesus stands alone in another category. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:54.139 Sinless is the savior. 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:59.379 So you can understand his puzzled reaction at verse 14. 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:01.879 He's saying, Jesus, you have got this one the wrong way around. 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:04.519 You're coming to me and asking me to baptize you. 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:06.180 It should be the other way around. 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:08.620 And you've got to say he's right. 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:08.879 Okay? 00:12:08.920 --> 00:12:09.580 Think about this. 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:12.500 Is it not a bit like Tiger Woods coming up to us, right? 00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:14.360 Rory McIlroy, you take your pick of golfer. 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:17.019 And saying, do you know what? 00:12:17.620 --> 00:12:19.660 I just need somebody to help me on my backswing. 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:20.220 Right? 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:21.879 My coach isn't really up to it at the minute. 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:23.460 Do you fancy stepping in and helping me? 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:25.180 Right? 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:29.200 Or Adele coming up to us and saying, listen, I've fired my voice coach 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.120 and I'm really struggling to hit that high note every time I sing hello. 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:34.560 Do you think you could come and you could help me out with it? 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:37.800 It's the wrong way around. 00:12:39.180 --> 00:12:40.220 It's the wrong way around. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:44.660 But Jesus is insistent that there has to be like this. 00:12:44.659 --> 00:12:46.679 Now, here's the million dollar question in this text. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:47.939 Why? 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:54.579 Why does Jesus need to get baptized? 00:12:54.719 --> 00:12:56.799 Because he's got no sins to repent of. 00:12:57.259 --> 00:12:59.480 Why does he need to do it? 00:12:59.699 --> 00:13:01.299 See him explain it in verse 15. 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:04.959 Let it be so now. 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:11.479 It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:12.579 So there's our answer. 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:15.459 Now, what's he talking about? 00:13:17.099 --> 00:13:20.719 Well, the answer is found in that passage we read earlier in Isaiah 53. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.660 And in there, in the context of that, God is speaking. 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:31.899 It's the fourth song in that little section of Isaiah where God is speaking about his servant. 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:37.860 The servant who will accomplish God's mission. 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:44.279 So the one, the mission that was hatched in eternity past to seek and to save sinners the world over. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:48.779 And God is going to accomplish it through the work of the servant. 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:55.899 And one of the things that the servant will do as he does that is that he will be, 00:13:55.980 --> 00:14:00.839 and you might have heard the phrase as we read it through there, numbered with the transgressors. 00:14:02.579 --> 00:14:13.299 So this servant is going to voluntarily humble himself and give himself over to be treated as if he were one of the guilty. 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:19.699 You know, it's amazing to think that Jesus, like every other Jewish boy growing up, 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:22.599 would have known his scriptures. 00:14:23.959 --> 00:14:26.219 You'd have read this countless times before. 00:14:26.319 --> 00:14:28.099 It's what you did if you were a Jewish boy, right? 00:14:28.379 --> 00:14:29.479 Scottish people, what did we do? 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.579 We grew up doing Cayleys. 00:14:30.599 --> 00:14:31.319 It's just what we did. 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:34.419 You're a Jewish boy. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:35.419 You grew up knowing your scriptures. 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:36.979 You just know them. 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:40.060 We'd have known that this was about him. 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:43.240 That this was to be his life. 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:48.180 He reads this knowing that he is this suffering servant. 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:54.279 The one who would be led like a lamb to the slaughter in the place of the guilty. 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:56.920 He knows he's this guy. 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:03.719 So here it is then, Jesus in Matthew 3, probably about 30 years old, 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:09.039 which is aside, is the age where a priest would fully begin his full-time ministry. 00:15:09.179 --> 00:15:11.899 We don't have time to go there, but that is a fascinating fact, is it not? 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.740 And here he is being publicly baptized. 00:15:17.199 --> 00:15:24.199 And in so doing, here he is, as it were, identifying himself with sinful humanity. 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.900 Here he is stepping in for us, right? 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:31.720 And you put your own names to this if you trust us in Jesus today. 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:34.920 But he stepped in because I failed. 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:41.700 Stepping in for us, declaring to the world, Jesus, I am willing to do this. 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:45.040 Willing to do what we couldn't do for ourselves. 00:15:45.140 --> 00:15:45.980 Now, what is that? 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:47.980 What couldn't we do for ourselves? 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:49.460 The answer is in the text. 00:15:49.920 --> 00:15:52.020 Live a life of perfect righteousness. 00:15:52.019 --> 00:16:03.500 Okay, it's one of these words that the Bible uses to describe a life that is fully and godwardly and perfectly obedient to the Lord. 00:16:05.199 --> 00:16:11.139 And you read on in Scripture, you get this constant refrain that it's the righteous who will ascend God's holy hill. 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:14.799 It is the righteous who will find favor with God. 00:16:15.319 --> 00:16:17.939 It's the righteous who will be blessed by God. 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:22.320 And so here's the problem, that no human being is fully righteous. 00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:26.800 So by nature, we are not law keepers. 00:16:26.900 --> 00:16:28.000 We are law breakers. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.000 We don't deserve God's blessing. 00:16:30.160 --> 00:16:31.620 We deserve God's curse. 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:38.280 And yet, here is Jesus, the sinless one, stepping in and identifying himself with us. 00:16:39.260 --> 00:16:42.920 Publicly saying that I'm standing in for them. 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:45.500 Now, this works two ways. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:54.699 Here he is declaring that he is both willing to take the curse that should be ours because of our sin 00:16:54.699 --> 00:16:59.500 and live the righteous life that we could not live. 00:17:00.719 --> 00:17:10.039 And as we are united to him in faith, that righteousness of his becomes ours. 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:14.279 It's an incredible thought, is it not? 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:19.079 So then God looks at me because of my faith in Jesus. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:19.519 Me. 00:17:20.940 --> 00:17:22.740 He looks at me and he sees his son. 00:17:23.399 --> 00:17:27.359 Because my life has become so caught up in the person of Jesus. 00:17:29.899 --> 00:17:34.799 And the baptism here pictures the life that is ahead of him because he is willing to be that suffering servant. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:35.619 He will die. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.000 He will go under the water, as it were. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.579 As he dies on the cross, and yet death will not have the last word over him. 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:45.960 He will rise up from the water. 00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:49.359 The two greatest enemies against us were what? 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:52.720 Sin, our sin, and death because of it. 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:54.220 What does Jesus do? 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:55.440 He dies. 00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:57.900 The death we should have died, he deals with our sin. 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:04.940 And he rises again, showing that death will not have the last word over us because it did not have the last word over him. 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:07.279 And he lives. 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:09.240 He lives. 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:15.680 So friends, it's a wonderful time for us to remember that Jesus lives. 00:18:16.900 --> 00:18:20.019 And he is the one that said, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:24.059 And I was reading an article from an Italian pastor this week. 00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:25.440 And I'll send you the link if you want. 00:18:25.500 --> 00:18:27.579 I'll maybe post it on my Facebook or something like that. 00:18:27.620 --> 00:18:28.299 You can check it out. 00:18:28.299 --> 00:18:31.419 Talking about the difficulties they're having as a church in Italy. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:36.680 They're having to get creative, like we might have too, about how they can meet together, be involved in one another's lives. 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:38.220 What they've done is they've started just streaming. 00:18:38.879 --> 00:18:41.279 He's live streaming his sermons and everyone's tuning in. 00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:47.859 And what he's seeing happening is that there's a massive spike in people from outwith the church who want to view it. 00:18:48.879 --> 00:18:49.639 This is what he's saying. 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:50.980 This is going on right now. 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:56.299 And he reckons the reason is that people are looking around thinking, what on earth is going on? 00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:02.279 Now, you even hear that the non-Christian professionals talking about the fragility of life, don't you, in our news at the minute? 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:03.400 Fragility of life. 00:19:03.579 --> 00:19:06.220 I heard somebody this morning use the word, it's sobering. 00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:08.440 And it is sobering. 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:16.099 And so Pastor Nathalie is surrounded by people who are asking big questions about life, big questions about the hope that Christians have. 00:19:16.380 --> 00:19:18.360 And so they're tuning in to see what this is about. 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:22.159 People in our world, they're asking big questions about life and death. 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:23.740 Right? 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:26.879 And so, can I say, we just don't want to be known at this season. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:32.839 It wouldn't be awful if 20 years' time we looked back and the biggest concern in our minds was whether we had enough toilet roll. 00:19:33.959 --> 00:19:35.000 But it would, wouldn't I? 00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:35.659 I'm being serious. 00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:39.299 It would be a tragedy if we looked back on our generation and we saw that. 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:44.879 But wouldn't it be great instead of, as a generation, being known for hoarding toilet roll, 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:50.200 that we were the generation, as Christians, God's people here, who were known for giving toilet roll. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:51.380 Yeah? 00:19:52.520 --> 00:19:52.780 Right? 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:53.960 Holding out life. 00:19:54.060 --> 00:19:56.860 There is hope in the person of Jesus. 00:19:57.580 --> 00:20:00.820 And he is the one who has conquered death and come back to life. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.080 And we're going to see this in a minute. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.399 And it's him we look to as our saviour and as our king. 00:20:07.379 --> 00:20:08.279 He died. 00:20:08.879 --> 00:20:09.519 He rose. 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:14.119 Let me just ask you, in your own devotional life, are you savouring Jesus? 00:20:15.159 --> 00:20:17.579 Because of his willingness to be the saviour for you. 00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:18.740 Right? 00:20:18.779 --> 00:20:22.119 In a world where people, they duck out of responsibility all the time. 00:20:22.199 --> 00:20:24.559 I heard two phrases in the last couple of weeks. 00:20:24.639 --> 00:20:27.519 I heard somebody refer to somebody as having Peter Pan syndrome. 00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:28.579 Right? 00:20:28.659 --> 00:20:30.519 And that they just won't grow up in life. 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:33.500 I heard somebody else talk about a kidult. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:35.359 You heard about kidult? 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:36.819 A kid, adult. 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:38.019 You just meshed the words, right? 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:39.980 So it's an adult who behaves like a child. 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:42.059 A person's a kidult. 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:48.200 And so in life where we are surrounded by people who often don't take responsibility for things, 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:55.079 here is a saviour who took responsibility for our sin and our lives head on. 00:20:57.379 --> 00:21:00.279 The words of Graham Kendrick, and I love this song of his, 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:06.619 My Lord, what love is this that pays so dearly, that I, the guilty one, may go free. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.740 Amazing love, oh, what sacrifice. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.599 The Son of God given for me. 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:17.059 My debt he pays and my death he dies, that I might live. 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:19.119 That I might live. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:26.119 Matthew wants us to see the Son who identifies with us. 00:21:26.239 --> 00:21:31.439 And secondly, and this will be a lot quicker, he wants us to see the Father who rejoices over him. 00:21:33.219 --> 00:21:39.959 So see in the text, and this is glorious, see how heaven reacts to this scene on earth. 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:44.420 Jesus comes out of the water, verse 16, and what happens? 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:45.299 Who's in the scene? 00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:47.880 The Spirit, you see? 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:52.840 Sent to strengthen Jesus in his ministry. 00:21:53.120 --> 00:21:55.360 Come to empower him for his mission. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:56.299 Come as a dove. 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.680 And people have all sorts of different theories about what that is. 00:21:59.840 --> 00:22:00.940 No one really fully knows. 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:08.220 My guess would be that it's most likely symbolizing that he has come to make peace between God and man. 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:10.019 Thinking about to Noah and the dove. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:14.100 And that is going to be a reality for all those who look to him in faith. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.220 Peace between God and man. 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:18.980 So the Spirit's in the scene. 00:22:19.120 --> 00:22:21.180 And verse 17, the Father's in the scene. 00:22:21.340 --> 00:22:22.920 So here we have, think about this. 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:25.360 The Father, the Son, and the Spirit right here. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:30.059 All three persons of the Godhead are playing their role in this mission. 00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:36.559 And we should sense, if we're on the ball, just because of where we've been over the last month or so, 00:22:36.979 --> 00:22:39.639 we should sense echoes of Genesis 1 here. 00:22:40.979 --> 00:22:41.799 Remember Genesis 1? 00:22:42.399 --> 00:22:44.659 The Spirit of God hovering over the waters. 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:51.959 And where there's a sense of anticipation about what God is about to do in his creative work as he glorifies himself. 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:59.079 And of course, the mission that's been publicly declared to a watching world by a thrilled Godhead 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:03.200 is all about bringing the possibility of you and I sharing in the new creation 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.700 to the personal work of Jesus. 00:23:08.740 --> 00:23:10.860 And so Matthew says, behold. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:13.200 Behold. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:14.299 See it. 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:15.420 Lift your eyes. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:15.980 Take it in. 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:17.200 What does he say specifically? 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:18.460 Verse 17. 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.579 He says, behold what the Father says about the Son. 00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:22.980 Verse 17. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:28.539 This is my Son, whom I love. 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:33.380 With him I am well pleased. 00:23:34.860 --> 00:23:37.200 Now, I don't know what you do when you book a holiday. 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:40.380 One of your experiences is ever like mine. 00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:41.140 You go online. 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:45.960 You enter the dates that you're looking for in travel supermarket or something else like that. 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:47.240 And the search results come up. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:48.259 And you're scrolling through. 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:50.799 And you're looking at the pictures, thinking that looks great. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:52.879 Pool looks great. 00:23:53.019 --> 00:23:54.519 The buffet looks nice. 00:23:54.639 --> 00:23:56.399 People seem to be having a good time. 00:23:56.779 --> 00:23:57.740 But I don't know if you're like us. 00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:03.399 What sells a holiday for us is not so much what the hotel says about itself. 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:08.840 It's what the people who have been to the hotel say about it. 00:24:09.740 --> 00:24:10.140 Right? 00:24:10.300 --> 00:24:11.360 Did they have a good time? 00:24:11.560 --> 00:24:12.620 Was the food cold? 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:13.740 Were there bugs in the room? 00:24:13.820 --> 00:24:15.880 They tell you the reality of what it's like. 00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:17.400 Is it worth it? 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:20.680 Here's what we need to see. 00:24:21.560 --> 00:24:29.380 That with this son, not only could there not be a better recommendation of him to us, 00:24:30.100 --> 00:24:34.060 but do you see how it could not come from a better source? 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:40.480 This is my son, says God. 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:40.759 Right? 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:44.259 If you can check this out in your own time, there's echoes there of Psalm 2. 00:24:45.139 --> 00:24:48.159 God says, I will install my king on his holy hill. 00:24:48.779 --> 00:24:50.679 I will sing over him, says God. 00:24:50.779 --> 00:24:52.159 I delight in him. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.000 That's echoes of Isaiah 42. 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:55.899 If you want to check that out in your own time as well. 00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:57.299 We just don't have time to go there today. 00:24:57.299 --> 00:25:06.460 And I love him, says God, because I know everything that's in my son's heart and mind that he's going to do. 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:07.919 And I love him for it. 00:25:09.819 --> 00:25:13.559 Because of that, I am well pleased with him. 00:25:13.639 --> 00:25:19.960 You've got to understand, we've got to see that God the Father beams as he thinks about his son. 00:25:22.779 --> 00:25:25.039 But here's a question I was asking myself this week. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:31.440 As you look at this scene, why does Jesus need to know that? 00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:36.019 Surely he already does know that. 00:25:36.139 --> 00:25:38.839 That's what the Godhead have been doing ever since eternity passed. 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.639 Just existing as a loving community of the three in one. 00:25:43.379 --> 00:25:43.980 I know that's deep. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:44.839 Just go with it. 00:25:44.940 --> 00:25:45.039 Okay. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:46.180 It's what they've been doing. 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:50.240 Why does Jesus the Son need to know that the Father loves him? 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:53.859 Okay, I can understand why I need to know it. 00:25:53.859 --> 00:25:55.959 I'm pretty slow on the uptake at the best of times. 00:25:56.019 --> 00:25:58.819 But why does the Son need to know this? 00:25:59.000 --> 00:25:59.699 Think about it. 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:02.399 Because I think it's so powerful. 00:26:03.319 --> 00:26:04.479 Why does he need to know it? 00:26:06.959 --> 00:26:13.979 Surely the answer is that the Father gives him this public affirmation. 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:17.360 And it's not directed simply to the Son. 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:18.660 It's directed to the world, isn't it? 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:20.099 But what he thinks about the Son. 00:26:21.019 --> 00:26:22.940 It's written because the Father knows. 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:26.059 He loves the willingness of his Son. 00:26:26.120 --> 00:26:28.960 But he knows what it's going to cost him. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.240 And the suffering that the Son is going to take on himself as a result. 00:26:33.700 --> 00:26:37.339 And could it not be that the Father knows that the Son might doubt this? 00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:41.359 Okay, you turn to the very next chapter of Matthew. 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:42.459 Very next chapter. 00:26:43.299 --> 00:26:45.679 And the devil's there saying, if you are the Son of God. 00:26:46.619 --> 00:26:49.619 But you've got to understand, it even gets even greater than that. 00:26:49.859 --> 00:26:52.199 As Jesus hangs on the cross, what does he say? 00:26:53.439 --> 00:26:55.480 Bearing the sin of the world on himself. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:59.159 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:00.319 That's what he's crying. 00:27:00.439 --> 00:27:01.740 The words of Psalm 22. 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:09.779 So has the Father on the cross turned his face away as Jesus bears the wrath of God upon himself? 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:12.839 Has the Father turned his face away? 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:13.400 Yes. 00:27:13.819 --> 00:27:18.960 But has the Father ever, for one moment, stopped loving his Son? 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:20.079 No. 00:27:22.019 --> 00:27:23.099 What's the lesson? 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:28.299 That if our faith is in Jesus, and this is so powerful where we are in a minute. 00:27:28.299 --> 00:27:32.740 If our faith is in Jesus, we've got to understand that we are his. 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:36.180 No matter what goes on in life, we are his. 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:38.319 He has made us his own. 00:27:39.460 --> 00:27:45.619 And what that means is that we are adopted as God's son or daughter. 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:50.000 And what that means is that as hard as life gets, 00:27:50.399 --> 00:27:56.659 we can base our lives on the truth that our Father will never stop loving us. 00:27:56.660 --> 00:28:00.900 in the same way that he loves his Son. 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:04.640 No matter how hard life gets, 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:10.060 and we need to be speaking that truth to one another and to the world during this next season, 00:28:10.580 --> 00:28:14.080 that is a truth on which we can base our lives. 00:28:15.560 --> 00:28:16.600 He loves us. 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:19.660 And what does Paul write at the end of Romans chapter 8? 00:28:20.120 --> 00:28:23.540 Nothing will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. 00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:25.299 Nothing. 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:29.039 And so the invitation then, 00:28:29.399 --> 00:28:32.339 as we see the swelling heart of God, 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:35.759 beaming with love for his Son, 00:28:37.159 --> 00:28:38.339 is to stop 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:40.259 and to behold 00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:41.879 and to come 00:28:41.879 --> 00:28:44.259 and to breathe him in 00:28:44.259 --> 00:28:47.420 and know him as your Lord and Savior 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:49.099 and delight in him too. 00:28:49.099 --> 00:28:52.359 So what happens when we become Christians, isn't it, 00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:54.219 is the Lord transforms our hearts 00:28:54.219 --> 00:28:58.619 that obedience to Jesus no longer is a duty. 00:28:59.419 --> 00:29:00.579 It is a delight 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:02.659 because we love the Son. 00:29:04.899 --> 00:29:08.339 And as the Son publicly here identifies himself with us, 00:29:08.399 --> 00:29:10.899 the question we need to ask ourselves as we close 00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:15.140 is whether we're willing to identify ourselves with him. 00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:20.300 That's what we do when we get baptized. 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:22.120 Many of us here will have done that before. 00:29:22.280 --> 00:29:24.040 Some of us won't have done that. 00:29:24.120 --> 00:29:25.340 Let me encourage you 00:29:25.340 --> 00:29:29.180 that if your faith is in Jesus, 00:29:29.300 --> 00:29:30.759 if this reality is for you, 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:32.100 if he has made you his 00:29:32.100 --> 00:29:34.280 because you trust in what he's done for you on the cross, 00:29:34.340 --> 00:29:35.340 if your faith is in him, 00:29:35.820 --> 00:29:37.460 friends, we need to obey him and get baptized. 00:29:37.460 --> 00:29:39.059 We need to say to the world 00:29:39.059 --> 00:29:42.120 that as the Son identified with me in my sin, 00:29:42.340 --> 00:29:45.100 I am publicly identifying with him in my baptism. 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:46.140 It's the same, isn't it? 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:48.039 We go down, we come up. 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:49.759 We identify with him in his death, 00:29:49.840 --> 00:29:50.600 he died for us, 00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:52.140 and his life becomes ours. 00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:56.200 Saying he has made me his. 00:29:56.860 --> 00:29:59.100 Therefore, I'm declaring that to the watching world 00:29:59.100 --> 00:30:00.319 that I love the Son. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:01.940 I love him. 00:30:03.660 --> 00:30:05.140 And just as we close, 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:06.620 you think to yourself, 00:30:06.700 --> 00:30:07.820 well, what is it we're declaring? 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:10.480 And I just want to put up some words, 00:30:10.520 --> 00:30:11.460 and we can read these together 00:30:11.460 --> 00:30:12.680 just as we close. 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:14.640 These are some words 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:16.860 from the New City Catechism. 00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:18.840 Catechism was just a way that 00:30:18.840 --> 00:30:20.300 years ago, 00:30:20.360 --> 00:30:21.400 and the church still do it today, 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:22.120 years ago, 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:23.200 this was a way of 00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:26.100 parents particularly teaching their children 00:30:26.100 --> 00:30:27.540 the truths about the faith. 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:29.520 And it was done in a question and answer thing, right? 00:30:29.940 --> 00:30:31.840 And it's a way of helping one another 00:30:31.840 --> 00:30:33.040 publicly, 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:34.779 helping us think about 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:35.680 what it is we believe. 00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:38.000 So this is the New City Catechism, right? 00:30:38.019 --> 00:30:38.879 We're going to read this together 00:30:38.879 --> 00:30:39.659 just as we close, 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:40.299 and then I'll pray. 00:30:40.879 --> 00:30:41.960 So let's read this together. 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:43.339 This is what we believe. 00:30:44.539 --> 00:30:47.099 What is our only hope in life and death? 00:30:47.139 --> 00:30:47.899 There's the question. 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:48.940 Okay? 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:51.559 That I am not my own. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:52.259 Read with me, okay? 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:53.859 That I am not my own, 00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:57.000 but belong with body and soul, 00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:59.660 both in life and in death, 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:01.779 to my faithful Savior, 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:02.880 Jesus Christ. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:06.660 He has fully paid for all my sins 00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:08.619 with his precious blood 00:31:08.619 --> 00:31:10.619 and has set me free 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:13.119 from all the power of the devil. 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.279 He also preserves me in such a way 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:20.599 that without the will of my heavenly Father, 00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:23.679 not a hair can fall from my head. 00:31:24.419 --> 00:31:27.119 Indeed, all things must work together 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:28.779 for my salvation. 00:31:29.779 --> 00:31:32.559 Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:35.919 he also assures me of eternal life 00:31:35.919 --> 00:31:38.500 and makes me heartily willing 00:31:38.500 --> 00:31:40.939 and ready from now on 00:31:40.939 --> 00:31:42.319 to live for him. 00:31:43.419 --> 00:31:44.519 Why don't we just take a moment 00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:45.579 just before we, 00:31:46.219 --> 00:31:47.939 I pray and then we'll sing our final song. 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:49.039 Why don't we just take a moment 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:50.860 and in light of everything 00:31:50.860 --> 00:31:53.200 that's going on in our world just now 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:54.039 and in our lives, 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:57.360 why don't we just bring our own prayers to God, 00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:01.559 knowing that 1 Peter chapter 5, 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:05.940 that he wants us to cast all our burdens on him 00:32:05.940 --> 00:32:09.640 because he cares for us as our good Father. 00:32:10.100 --> 00:32:11.539 So why don't we do that just for a moment 00:32:11.539 --> 00:32:12.200 and then I'll pray. 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:19.059 The words of Psalm 23, 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:20.640 The Lord is my shepherd. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:22.680 I shall not want. 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:25.759 He makes me lie down in green pastures. 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:27.820 He leads me beside still waters. 00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:29.960 He restores my soul. 00:32:30.779 --> 00:32:32.740 He leads me in paths of righteousness 00:32:32.740 --> 00:32:33.920 for his name's sake. 00:32:34.019 --> 00:32:35.880 Even though I walk through the valley 00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:37.440 of the shadow of death, 00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:39.799 I will fear no evil 00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:42.779 for you are with me. 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:45.259 Your rod and your staff, 00:32:45.820 --> 00:32:47.059 they comfort me. 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:48.319 Heavenly Father, 00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:50.399 thank you so much for sending your son. 00:32:51.159 --> 00:32:53.599 Thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ. 00:32:54.819 --> 00:32:55.240 And so Father, 00:32:55.319 --> 00:32:57.899 I pray simply through your Holy Spirit 00:32:57.899 --> 00:32:59.359 that he would lift our eyes 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:00.500 to look upon him 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:02.980 and to gaze upon his beauty 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:04.839 and to know the reality 00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:06.759 of what it means to be his. 00:33:07.639 --> 00:33:08.299 So Father, 00:33:08.399 --> 00:33:10.299 help us this week 00:33:10.299 --> 00:33:14.919 to be the community of salt and light 00:33:14.919 --> 00:33:16.000 that you call us to be, 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.400 to be that city on a hill. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:19.599 Father, 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:22.059 we ask for your enabling help 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:23.619 through Jesus Christ, 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:23.960 our Lord, 00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:24.339 we pray. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:24.980 Amen.